Happy Holidays!

Album of the Week - A Christmas Treat

My gift to you this Christmas is "The Six Million Dollar Man, Christmas Adventures - The Elves Revolt"

which features machine gun toting elves, melting polar ice caps, under paid workers, action figure product placement and of course a union busting Steve Austin (who sounds a lot like George Bush).  The other tracks, The Toymaker, The Kris Kringle Caper and Christmas Lights.

enjoy and happy holidays!

Etch-a-sketch Brutalism

Thanksgiving at my parents house always brings out some of the best (and oddest) forms of creativity.  Just before leaving, I'd ordered Spomenik, Jan Kempenaers photo essay of brutalist monuments of the former Yugoslavia.  I found myself day dreaming about the monuments when I picked up an old Etch-a-sketch.

It's a perfect tool for sketching brutalism.  Hard edges mixed with crumbly corners.  Seemingly permanent but quickly discarded.  Every time I sat down I found myself drawing a monument,

Show I'm In - REVERBERATION

Depending on the day, I've got about a half dozen pieces in a show at the Huntington Beach Art Center.  It's called

REVERBERATION!

and it features- Christian Tedeschi, Evan Holloway, Kristen Morgan, Mason Cooley, Ruben Ochoa, Sean Duffy & Thomas Muller.

It was curated by Andre Woodward (who is awesome) 

it will be up until December 15 and there will be a panel discussion on November 23.

Anyway, they used an image of one of my darts pieces for the exterior banner and it looks pretty good.  I did try to get them to use this one

but it was a bit punky (but isn't that the point of being in Huntington Beach?).  Then I'd hoped they would use this one.

because the show really is the Velvet Revolver of the art world.  

Actually that's not true.  Even though the show is a bit of a supergroup of Los Angeles sculpture, unlike Velvet Revolver, the end result is really great.  Here are some images but really it should be seen in person.

Oh and theres' been some good press in the Huntington Beach Independent and Installation Magazine.

Group Show 12

front

back

- Trick Tips - Last Second Pumpkin

So, Halloween has snuck up on you (like it should) and you haven't carved a pumpkin.  Here's my recipe for a 10 minute Jack-o-latern.  All you need is a jig saw, drill and some bits.

Step 1 - The Starting Hole

If you're handy with a jigsaw you can just plunge the blade in but, not only does the starting hole make things cleaner, it gives you a point to align the lid.

Step 2 - Cut the top off! and scoop

This is easy.  Try to use the longest blade you have and run the jigsaw around the top at an angle.  

pop the top off and scoop it out (scooping is probably the most time consuming part of this job).

Step 3 - Drill some Holes and Cut the mouth

Drill a line of holes where you want the mouth (5 in this case).

Then use the jigsaw and cut up to a point from each hole. 

Pop the pieces out and you've got a mouth.

 4 - The Eyes

If you got one, grab a hole saw and put it on your drill (if not just freestyle with the jigsaw)

2 different sized saws make for a more animated pumpkin.

There you go HAPPY HALLOWEEN!*

*okay, so after this pumpkin I just hacked at a pumpkin with a butcher knife and made a faster and more disturbing jack-o-latern.   So, I guess the point of this post is to say there's no excuse for not having a jack-o-latern on Halloween.*

*second disclaimer - yes, I know I'm sure there are tons of other excuses.

What I'm working on - Rehnquist Deck

Another Supreme Court deck.  This time William Rehnquist gets the Pushead treatment.

The board I went with was the Zorlac Double Cut (ignore the shape above) as drawn by Pushead.  Rehnquist really needed to be put through the skull, monster zombie mill.  One of the things I always loved about this deck was the great scary shrunken head combined with the 70s looking Zorlac logo.  It really encompassed what skateboarding was about in the 80s.

Album of the Week - 27 Hours to La Paz

I picked up "27 Hours to La Paz" on ebay recently.  It's a seven inch ep that came with a Revelle model kit and a document of the first Mexican 1000.

There isn't much to it, the cover art is great but there's only one song with some funny lyrics.  I shot a video of it playing.  The sound isn't great but it really isn't worth reshooting.

After the song, there's basically the narration track of this video "27 Hours to La Paz."  The video is definitely worth watching.

What I'm working on - The O'Conner Deck

Here's another skateboard deck based on the 1986 Supreme Court.  I figure Sandra Day O'Conner would deserve one of the coolest decks.

So I went with the 1985 Vision, Mark Gonzales deck designed by Andy Takakjian.  I think there's still a bit too much pink in the hair but it's working.

Rowher Shut Down

The sequester really hasn't affected me much much until today.

I decided to head out to Rowher Flats to give the car a work out.  It had been running funky, not starting, etc.  It turns out the DUI Ignition needs 10.5 volts to spark.  So, even though the starter was turning the engine there wasn't enough juice to start it.

The Kirkland battery that was in it was just outside of warranty and the race had really beat the crap out of it so I replaced the battery with a Sears Platinum.  It was pricey but after a lot of poking around the internet it seemed to be the choice for a car that sits for chunks of time and then bounces around the desert.

The car ran great until it didn't.  The car stalled driving back from the locked Rowher gate.  I managed to limp it into the Lowes parking lot and was getting out my AAA card when I decided to check the wiring again.  Turns out the red wire on the distributor wasn't all the way on.

There's the culprit - the little red one.

I must've pulled it loose when I put the battery in.  So, I pushed it in and it started right up.

Hopefully fixed?  We'll see.

What I'm Working On - Powell Deck

It's odd when an idea comes to you that makes no sense but makes perfect sense.  That's what happened when I started working on a set of 1980s skateboard decks based on the 1986 Supreme Court.

Here's the first one Justice Lewis Powell, appointed by Nixon and served on the Supreme Court from 1972-1987.

It's in the style of the 1986 Tracker, Dan Wilkes deck, illustrated by Garry S. Davis.

Powell had a bit of a reptilian feel to him.

My drawing hand is way out of practice and I don't feel like I'm doing the original justice.  Then again it's for Powell, who led us down the path to "corporations are people" and "money is speech"- so maybe I'm being too flattering.

Summer of Cars 4 - Monterey - Gooding Auction

So, wrapping up the summer I had a chance to go up to Monterey for Pebble Beach, the Historic Races and lots in between.

The weekend started out with the Gooding Auction.  There were some amazing vehicles, all of which I couldn't even consider affording.

I loved this 1934 Packard.  It was giant and somehow understated.  Maybe it was the company it was in. 

MINI-RANT,  If you're not going to "restore" a car, don't upgrade it half way.

 I was stunned that this FJ40 went for $71,000.  It's a good looking car but falls into the gap between restored to stock condition or resto-mod.  There was plenty that wasn't stock, toyota emblem, short bumper, color, upside down bezel, ostrich skin dash pad (yes, there was an ostrich skin dash pad) and more.  So, if your not going to make it stock, why not clean up some of the mechanical bits.  Get rid of the sluggish 3 speed transmission and add a four speed one.  That way driving on the freeway goes from terrifying to just uncomfortable.  What about power steering?  It's a period correct upgrade and really nice.  And while your at it, front disc brakes - it's nice to stop.  I mean, for 70,000 why not?

other highlights

cool Fiat

cooler fiat

James Bond reference triggered

cool hood ornament

 cool plastic

 After the evening it was refreshing to walk out of the auction and see this Manx Buggy parked across the street.