SUCKA PANTS

LOVE + BULLSHIT

2009-07-02T01:42:00.004-04:00

(photos from in and around Venice)

Venice and living on floating art-islands:

- "It's that moment of: We're going to regret this... let's go."
- On our first night in Venice a group of the crew heads into town in the little skiff boat. On the way back late at night they sink due to too much weight and have to swim for it. Soon after sinking a fishing boat comes to help them, and Orien (the captain of the skiff) promptly yells out to them "Take our women to shore!" And somehow in all of this, Tony Bones is able to keep his bag (with his digital camera) dry.
- After Robyn Hasty made it back from the unexpected swim, she went to take a shower, only to find that there is only cold water. After that she came back to the boats to find that someone had "appropriated" her sleeping bag for the night and she had to tough it out with some garbage bags.
- Cold showers, you get used to them.
- Infected eyes, again.
- Ending up docking on the beautiful island of Certosa just across from Venice. It's full of overgrown abandoned buildings and feral goats. Venice's version of Governor's Island, but with a boat building school, design school, and a cafe/restaurant + hotel. Really a nice place to spend a couple weeks.
- Dark Dark Dark playing in a field on the island of Certosa, just in front of a giant abandoned building with trees and vines growing in/out of it.
- Crashing the Icelandic Biennale party with the full crew.
- Wolf falling thirty-five feet off a building while checking out some B&Eing after the Biennale parties. He landed flat on his face. We got him to the hospital and he was out a week later in neck and knee braces.
- Going to bed as the sun came up, again.
- Due to language issues, I drew pictures of all the items I needed for the lighting for the performance at the electrical store. The guy was obviously annoyed as hell, but patient nonetheless. I never did figure out how to draw a fuse though.
- The worst food of the entire trip = a cafe in Venice. And that's being compared to thrice-used leftovers.
- So many mosquito bites on my face from sleeping on the rafts.
- One morning Orien wakes up to find that the skiff has disappeared while parked near an apartment we were staying at in Venice. The cops tell us it is most likely stolen. We start to notice that everyone locks up their boats.
- Chicken John decides he needs a break from the project. I end up taking over as the engineer on Maria for a while.

MP3:

• Beck - Lost Cause

A band's place in myspace.

BAD KIDS HAVE MORE FUN

2009-06-30T10:40:00.003-04:00

(photos from the Adriatic and entering Venice)

And the rafts keep movin' on:

- Gluing + duct-taping my shoes together for the third time this trip. Eventually I work out a combination of zip-ties and copper wire retainers.
- Finding some amazing old weapons charts in an abandoned customs station.
- Fried pizza. Yes it's that good.
- Napping and I do not get along.
- A snake set up home on Old Hickory for a bit in all the nooks and crannies.
- Waking up one morning to a giant sword fish head hanging on the shore next to the rafts.
- Having a Venetian lecture series on board, where every night someone can present info on any topic related to Italy. Conrad's lecture on Italian disco turns out to be a trick to have a DJ Dirtyfinger dance party on Alice. Complete with crowd surfing, climbing the structure, and propane-balloon-fireballs.
- Making up dances corresponding to parts of the trip: "Whip a shitty" = turn in a circle, "Do the Robin" = hold your hand up in the air as if you were protecting your injured thumb from getting bumped on the dance floor, "Pickles" = bite people around you like a rabid swan, "Kill the cat" = act like your pounding something with a paddle.
- The warning whenever someone is climbing something sketchy = "Built by clowns!"
- Moving from "Torre di Fine" (The Final Tower) to "Laguna di Morte" (Lagoon of Death).
- "There are some things you just can't unsee." (referring to a crew member taking a shit off the raft)
- Homemade hot chocolate, fireballs, and medical repairs.
- One of the crew had found a dead cat and brought it to the boats for the Cabinet of Curiosities. Before heading to Venice, there was some dead-stuff house-cleaning and the cat end up over the side of the boat. It floated around between the rafts for a bit, until Paul the Plumber tried to sink it by pounding it with a paddle repeatedly. When that didn't work, Orien took over and repeatedly backed the skiff over it, trying to cut it up with the prop.
- Connie ramming into the coast guard boat while driving our safety boat during our first entrance into Venice. She was trying to tell them to chill out.
- We arrive in Venice, all in one piece, for the most part.

MP3:

• Mayyors - Ghost Punch

A band's place is no longer myspace.

HIDE YOUR HAIRY BUBBLEGUM

2009-06-28T15:55:00.006-04:00

(photos from the first leg of our junk raft adventure)

Selections from traveling on the Adriatic toward Venice:

- Constant problems with the Coast Guard every step of the way. Apparently it's standard operating procedure here to halt any vessel you don't recognize, boldface lie to them about what papers/clearance they need, drag your feet making copies of all their paperwork, including passports (even though your buddies 10 km away just did the same thing the day before), and then finally (hours later) smile and say everything is fine, have a nice day.
- Being stopped by a closed drawbridge right after leaving Marano. The next day being grounded just past the bridge by high winds.
- Patience and negotiation skills are the key to anything in Italy, it seems.
- Exploring an abandoned farm with tons of air-born cotton-fluff.
- Paying a visit to Gulliverlandia.
- Doubling Franny on the handlebars with a giant stuffed caterpillar on the back, riding down pitch-black country roads with no brakes.
- Bone fish stew = equal parts bone to stew.
- Scary mutant ice cream man.
- Ben Wolf joining us, and Callie being so excited she ran and jumped on him - splitting her chin open on his face. . . requiring stitches.
- Little kids bringing us a six-pack of beer in Caorle.
- Sleeping on the roof of an abandoned school on the beach.
- A lot more abandoned buildings.
- Little old ladies fixing our sewing machine.
- Having a bike break down while on a grocery run. When they return to fix it, they find someone had gone through the groceries and stolen just some of them.
- Dark Dark Dark comes for a visit and performs for us on the rafts at night.
- Having a moment that is actually TOO utopian.
- Traveling on the sea in large swells = a few crew get seasick.
- The Coast Guard stopping us out on the sea and ordering us to stay there while they took out Italian-speaking crew member back to headquarters to explain everything. They take so long that the sea goes from calm to large swells, so much so that when we do say screw it and head in, we have a very hard time navigating in the waves. Thanks for looking out for boater's safety, Coast Guard.
- The Bora lands while we are in the small canal town of Torre di Fine ("The Final Tower"). It is dramatic and powerful, with sweeping clouds and rain clusters. I was out in a field hiking to an abandoned farm house, and was having trouble keeping my tripod and camera from getting blown over.
- More abandoned buildings.
- Children in Torre di Fine bringing us rum, making it the third time kids have brought us booze.
- Someone brought us a kite as a gift. While flying it next to the rafts it gets hit by a car, and then a bus. All while about twenty school kids are watching while singing to us with their teachers. The kite flyer promptly jumped into a tent to hide when the car stopped.
- The restaurant Luigi in Torre di Fine randomly bringing us a giant pan of "Frutta di Mar" (fruit of the sea) pasta, with mini-lobsters, calamari and mussels. All they asked was that we return the pan.
- A night of music by Harrison is followed by kidnapping a bartender to go on a late-night cruise on Old Hickory to an abandoned farm house, which ends with two crew members heading to the hospital.
- Cereal with no milk = not so bad if it's good cereal.
- Some minor issues develop when a language barrier results in mixing up antibiotic cream with psoriasis cream.
- Heading out into the sea at dawn one morning, only to be warned frantically by some fishermen to go back because a Bora was coming. Sure enough, before we could even retrace our short path the seas had doubled in size and the rafts were taking a lot of water across their decks. Maria was even towed in to help her get out of it faster.
- The next time we tried to head out, our rafts had collected a massive amount of flotsam underneath them. While dragging it all out, one of the gems we found under there was a dead hedgehog (which was promptly gutted and salted for future transformation into a nail pouch).
- The Cabinet of Curiosities had officially become the cabinet of dead things.

MP3:

• Luminescent Orchestrii - Amaritsi

A band's place in myspace.

RIGID ANTITHESIS TO POSSIBILITY

2009-05-16T10:32:00.008-04:00

(photos from a day-n-night on the build)

Goodbye Slovenia, hello open water:

- Returning to camp in Slovenia to be greeted by a film crew shooting on the build site.
- Breaking down camp and moving everything to the end of a jetty where the boats were docked.
- Having the boast inspected by a serious but friendly guy from the Slovenian Harbor Master.
- Then having to delay our departure by an extra day because the head Harbor Master lost our papers.
- Setting sail for the first time.
- Meeting some street musicians in Trieste and inviting them to come visit the rafts. Six of them show up later that night and play traditional Italian folk songs for us on the pier.
- Leaving Trieste at dawn to make the 21 mile sea crossing.
- Crossing the rolling Adriatic Sea for over eight hours, and having two rafts (out of three) break down during the trip.
- Crapping off the side of a rocking moving raft isn't as hard as you would think. Although it does lack for dignity.
- Having some nervous moments tying two rafts together to exchange tools in 2.5' high swells.
- The waves getting bigger throughout the day, causing some seasickness.
- Landing on a muddy beach with tons of little crabs everywhere, which turns out to be nesting grounds for some endangered birds.
- Exploring the beach in the rain.
- Passing out in the afternoon, waking up the next morning at 9am.
- Overheard from a crew member: "I was so drunk I did the dishes!"
- Riding a bike on a small road alongside a canal, scattering wild pheasants on the way.
- Exploring some abandoned buildings, one of which was full of swallows that kept buzzing your head.
- Spider and Dead Eye Dave joining us for a couple of days on their European bike tour, and then taking Ben Mortimer with them.
- Some of my friends trying to send a very drunk n' rowdy Spider over into my tent one night. He shows up on the rafts the next morning rowing over to them standing up in the canoe wearing nothing but a t-shirt and pink leg warmers.
- Entering the canals on a Sunday = lots of pleasure boat gawkers.
- Meeting some friendly Italians on the water who invite us to their island in the lagoon for champagne and fresh-picked cherries.
- While traveling in the afternoon, the wind picks up enough to slow us to walking-speed.
- Tying up to a channel marker for the night. The only thing around is an old family-run restaurant on an island, where the Austrian film crew's money buys us all a dinner of grilled fish and fried calamari/whole shrimp/grass fish/hermit crabs/tiny starfish.
- Later we explore some abandoned buildings (that some crew had been considering sleeping in) and find scorpions and mating millipedes and bring them back to the rafts with us.
- The next morning we receive a visit from the Carabineri (Italian Military Police).
- Tobacco-scented air freshener in the bathrooms.
- While navigating some tight channels, our lead raft got stuck in the mud. The next two rafts followed suit exactly and duplicated the first raft's mistake. The debacle culminated with an attempt to throw a line around a channel marker, only to discover that the other end of it was not attached to anything.
- No love lost among some crew members: "If he was on fire, I MIGHT piss on him."
- Making stand-up-female-piss-assist devices out of coke bottles.
- Bouncing around from handling lines and poles, to driving, to manning the engines, to trying to photograph everything definitely keeps it from getting monotonous.
- Seeing adult comics sitting on a bottom shelf next to Yu-gi-oh and other kid comics in a stationary store.
- The nice mayor of Marano opening up the soccer field locker room showers for us.
- A bunch of little kids coming to visit the rafts and sing a song to us on a field trip. They then went back and drew pictures of us and the boats which they gave us.
- Camping on the outside grounds of a graveyard.
- Riding bicycles down a dark road lined on either sides with open fields full of fireflies.

Learn Itialian
"Mi kazzo è un razzo pazzo." = My cock is a crazy rocket.

MP3:

• Doo-Rag - Bullhorn

A band's place in myspace.

INTO THE ASSHOLE OF THE WHALE

2009-05-12T22:55:00.002-04:00

(photos from days of traveling by dinghy along the coast)

From Slovenia to scouting our route to Venice along the Adriatic coast:

- Italy is winning for the cutest old people.
- When using your shirt as a pillow, make sure you take all the drywall screws out of your pocket first.
- Gelato and big moustaches don't go well together. Neither do moustaches and puking.
- Gianni the friendly fisherman in Grato tipping us off to great spots to go in the lagoon.
- Overheard from one of the crew: "It can't sink, it's a boat!"
- When campgrounds sound luxurious.
- Squat toilets and I just don't get along.
- Puking and driving a skiff at the same time is difficult.
- The friendly brothers of the Da Mira restaurant letting me sleep in their parking lot during the day while recovering from my attack of sun-sickness.
- Almost sleeping at the end of a pier with a lighthouse, but opting for some cement behind a shed at a kayak place because it was a lot closer.
- Vacation beaches completely covered with umbrella tables and lawn chairs.
- The guy walking all the way down a dock with a dog biting him in the ankle.
- An old man in a campground teaching us how to cook and eat the flowers from a tree he was picking.
- Climbing all over an old bridge and lock with our tape measure.
- Navigating the canals after nightfall in our tiny boat by searchlight.
- Sleeping on some raw scrubby beach and being awoken by a guy on a dirt bike who took off with Arielle's ID.
- Meeting an old man living in an old traditional thatched fisherman's hut on the canal. His family had built the shack and had lived there for 100 years. He fed us fish, bread, wine and coffee and told us stories of WWII.
- Meeting the nice manager of a campsite in Caorle (who is in the hard rock band Wonder) and talking Italian politics.
- Being mistaken for the pony-tailed gardener at the campground (if you know what I look like, you'll understand why this is funny).
- After scouting in a bathtub-sized boat for days along the canals and Adriatic shores of the Friuli and Veneto regoins of Italy, our ride back to Slovenia and the rafts cancels after they put diesel fuel in a van that only runs on benzine.
- Showering and changing some clothes for the first time in seven days really does make you feel like a new man.

You can follow our progress on our spankin' new Flickr account that I have been managing/contributing to.

Learn some Italian:
Ciao (chow) = Hello/goodbye
Grazi = Thanks
Scuzi = Excuse me
Prego = Please/you're welcome
Non parlo Italiano = I don't speak Itialian
Perfecto = Perfect
Dove il negozio di ferramenti? = Where is the hardware store?
Barca = Boat
Zatera = Raft
Bagnolo = Tiny bathtub
Orrmeggiare = To dock
Vietato = Not allowed
Pescatore = Fisherman
Isola = Island
Spiaggia = Beach
Oro = Gold
Ponte = Bridge
Acqua = Water
Marea = Tide
Benzine = Gas
Bambini = Baby
Bellisima = Most pretty

MP3:

• Liquid Drip - I'm That Type Of Guy (LL Cool J)

Buried in the halls of the interweb.

YOU'D LOOK GOOD WITH FACE TATTOOS

2009-05-03T10:25:00.006-04:00

(photos from the May 1st celebration in Slovenia and raft-in-progress)

Slovenia continues. . .

- Breathing fireballs of "grappa" (homemade liquor) into the fire drum.
- Snails in your tent.
- Shark steak, black wine and elderberry tea.
- "Crowd Control" = chocolate wafer cookies dipped in grappa, lit on fire, then consumed as dessert.
- Almost stepping on a leaking squid lying on the dock at night.
- Tony Bones making a flying dive off of his moving bike to capture a hedgehog in his hat.
- May 1st is big a national holiday in Slovenia, marked by giant bonfires the night before. It apparently has something to do with warding off bad spirits and the end of winter.
- Hanging out at a giant bonfire on the edge of the sea, meeting friendly locals and talking about black metal.
- Trying to sneak in to shower at the nearby campground with Doyle on a tall bike. His chain pops off just as we are passing in front of the guards at the main gate, who look at this six+ foot guy riding the six foot tall bike. . . and choose to say nothing.
- A friendly Italian gentleman stopping by on his bike tour to Greece and making turkish coffee and asparagus omelets for us.
- Planning our future Slovenian presentation.
- Booty-bass dancing on the soccer bleachers.
- The soccer field clubhouse next to us BLASTING cheezy dance music till early in the morning. Who knew the town of Ankaran had it's own theme song?
- Our little inflatable dinghy is named "Regardless."
- Spiders in your tent.
- Frannie of the Cutthroats dropping by on her European bike tour.
- Exploring the gypsy dump and finding some new clothes along with a female torso cast.
- Getting 30 liters of wine in a giant glass bottle from a gas pump dispenser.
- Having dinner in the middle of Old Hickory under red light.

MP3:

• 13th Floor Elevators - Baby Blue

A band's place in myspace.

WITH A LITTLE BIT OF THE STINK-EYE

2009-04-28T04:54:00.008-04:00

(a partially-completed Alice sits quietly on the Slovenian coast)

Raft building in Slovenia:

- Being stopped trying to carry-on small silk screens on to the plane, "You could hit someone with them."
- Long ride in an overloaded hot-wired van with many pee stops.
- Hanging out with "Pusher" cooking shark and sardines over a fire drum.
- Power tools in the rain.
- Red pepper & ? "muck" sauce is popular.
- Who knew ginger in fruit salad could taste so good?
- Some great finds from the local flea market.
- Shipping containers make great workshops/sheds, but are kind of cold to sleep in.
- Clogging/breaking the squat-style toilet at the marina. Not even the professional plumber in the crew could fix it.
- Graduating down to a shit-bucket, even before we are on the water.
- A lot of locals wandering by to see what we are up to.
- The new raft, "Old Hickory," is kind of huge.
- The scrapping crew running into a lady calling the cops on them, accusing them of trying to steal the scrap wood in her garbage. Conrad explains the project to her as best he can (language barrier) and shows her photos of the rafts. After questioning their sanity, she sends them on with "You are good boys. You go."

Learn some Slovenian:
Hello = "Dobradon"
Thank you (very much) = "Hvalla (liepa)"
Hello, I think I love you = "Pozdravljeni, mislim, da te ljubim"

MP3:

• Moby - Sailin' On

A band's place in myspace.

LIVE LIKE THERE ARE NO WRONG TURNS

2009-04-23T00:28:00.002-04:00

(photos from the abandoned beach town, full gallery of our adventures here)

Well that's it folks. I'm off to join the Swimming Cities of Serenissima in Slovenia. I will try to post updates and photos if I can, but without a computer your guess is as good as mine if/when that will happen.

Ever wonder what Matt & Kim look like naked? Well now you know (and in Times Square, no less). So awesome.

Lessons Learned

MP3:

• We March - Ethnic Electric

A band's place in myspace.

SLIPPIN' AWAY AGAIN

2009-04-20T16:45:00.005-04:00

(photos from IRT: A Tragedy In Three Stations, a play that took place in the NYC Subway this past Spring, full documentation here)

Just more of why you love living in the city.

MP3:

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Skeletons (Acoustic Version)

A band's place in myspace.

NOT SO SERIOUS

2009-04-15T15:59:00.003-04:00

(promo photo shot for Matt & Kim's new album Grand, logo designed by Erik Kowalski)

I leave in less than a week for the Swimming Cities of Serenissima, to traverse the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia to Venice on three junk rafts. After two months there, I head to Indonesia and Japan to travel by bicycle with a couple friends for another two months (only catch is that so far I don't really have a bike for the trip yet). So updates around here might go from sporadic to sparse, but I'll try to do my best.

In conjunction with the above-mentioned junk raft trip, Ad Hoc is hosting another fundraiser art show for us that opens this Thursday (tomorrow!). Please do drop by, there's some handsome art on the walls at great prices.

:::

SWIMMING CITIES OF SERENISSIMA ART SHOW FUNDRAISER
Opening this THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 7-10PM at Ad Hoc Art: 49 Bogart St. Brooklyn NY

See several brand new works by SWOON as well as an abundance of other visionary comrades' artistic marvels as we raise funds for their latest naval plan, SWIMMING CITIES OF SERENISSIMA, which has already begun! The list of work is deep, and there are many gems in the mix.

Some of the people in the house are:

DAVID ELLIS

DENNIS MCNETT

ELISABETH TIMPONE

ESPO

FAILE

GAIA

IMMINENT DISASTER

JOSH MACPHEE

KRISTINE VIRSIS

LEE QUINONEZ

MARTHA COOPER

MARTIN MAZORRA

MIKE HOUSTON

MONICA CANILAO

RYAN DOYLE

STEVE POWERS

TOD SEELIE

& MANY MORE!

See the work here:
http://adhocart.org/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=70&gid=102

* IN THE PROJECT ROOM - TheDirtyFabulous - New Works

TheDirtyFabulous was born in the year of the Dragon and travels the windblown highway of Interstate 40. TDF's work's defy standard human comprehension, as they are from the windblown highways of the interstellar consciousness. Not to be missed!

This body of work actually began in 1997 – in a small, run-down house on some wooded land. The place has since been deserted. Working in that place helped bring into focus the narratives TDF would continue to work with. Over the years, the work has been slowly accumulating. TDF sees this as an ongoing project – a book of fables, with large paper drawings as pages. These drawings have no set sequence of images or reading. The word fable is derived from the Latin word fabula, meaning “story”.

TDF repeatedly explores themes such as myth, psychology, philosophy, apparition of beauty, eroticism, machines of fate, human folly, nostalgia, mortality, history, consumer culture, industrialization, loss and regret. Imagery is used from many sources and typically a work is generated in response to readings or in reference to life experiences. TDF uses nineteenth century mechanical relics, sequences from dreams, vintage pin-ups, scientific historical images, anatomy and nostalgic panoramas as symbolic references. Combined in the work, they allow for commentary, connection, and invention on many topics and ideas.

In short, these works are super divine!

See them here: http://adhocart.org/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&gid=96&Itemid=70

Props of TDF's work in Juxtapoz:
http://www.juxtapoz.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5383
http://www.juxtapoz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5587&Itemid=1

* IN THE ALCOVE - Elisabeth Timpone -"Tails from the North"

After studying communication design at Parson's in NYC, Elisabeth Timpone unexpectedly began an extensive endeavor into a world of fine art. Her whimsically obsessive lines, and delicate but ferocious images capture moments in nature that may otherwise go unseen. Her drawings create a portal to the unscathed forest where animals live to play and fight to survive. Since her start, she has shown at galleries in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Elisabeth is currently working on a letter pressed children’s book called “Baby Bestiary”.

http://adhocart.org/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&gid=97&Itemid=70

Come see amazing art by some of the most fun, positive, and creative people we know!

If you would like to volunteer your expertise and skills to help us in our creative experience, please drop us a line via http://adhocart.org/index.php?option=com_performs&formid=1&Itemid=57

Thanks for all the love and support. We can't do it without you.

Our best to you and yours,

Ad Hoc Art

:::

MP3:

The Whites Stripes? What?

• Band Of Skulls - I Know What I Am

A band's place in myspace.

CRUSTY TIMES ARE HERE AGAIN

2009-04-12T18:36:00.005-04:00

(photos from the guerilla art installation Overtake in Bushwick, full gallery here)

File this under "no duh."

I almost forgot about this video I shot of patriotic flag burning at Slaughterama 6.

Slaughterama 6: Flag Burning Patriots.

MP3:

Guess who's reuniting and playing a show in NYC? That's right.

• The Mummies - Stronger Than Dirt

A band's place in myspace.

WHERE IRONY IS A DIRTY WORD

2009-04-09T02:28:00.007-04:00

(photos from Slaughterama 6 hosted by the Cutthroats in Richmond, VA, full gallery here)

The Musebox is offering Sucka Pants readers a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Wesc as part of a promotion for Deadbeat Darling's show at Pianos TONIGHT (Thursday the 9th). For details on how to win, read below.

:::

The New York City based rock group Deadbeat Darling are preparing for the June release of their first full-length album as they feature many of their new songs at a showcase this Thursday April 9th, at Pianos. Attracting fans from bands such as The Cure, U2, The Killers and Bloc Party, Deadbeat Darling has been able to pack out many NYC venues after forming only two short years ago.

Show details are as follows:
4/9 – Deadbeat Darling @ Pianos, NYC
Doors - 8pm, Showtime - 9pm

The winner of the gift certificate will be the first one to email deadbeatdarling@themusebox.net with the title of the first song on Deadbeat Darling’s myspace page.

:::

So there ya go. . .

MP3:

• Mission Of Burma - Wounded World

A band's place in myspace.

INUNDATED UNDER ALL THE MOUSTACHES

2009-04-03T18:36:00.003-04:00

(photos from the last date on the Newmore Switchblades tour at Danger Danger in Philly, full gallery here)

My friend Nick is doing an interesting project at the ICA this weekend in Boston. He is offering open submission to his magazine, Article, and anything submitted will be distributed. Details below.

:::

This Saturady in Boston is the ICA/AIGA's Design as Social Agent Day. It is a day of events surrounding Shepard Fairey's retrospective show Supply and Demand. There are a lot of amazing designers and artists speaking and some good events.

As part of the day, Article Magazine will be setting up drop boxes around the museum to collect contributions for their next issue. Anything placed in the boxes will be distributed in a single copy of the next issue. Any submissions that catch their eye will be included in the print issue and distributed with all copies. The boxes will be up only for Saturday during the Design as Social Agent Day.

http://www.icaboston.org/programs/talks/design-agent/

DESIGN AS SOCIAL AGENT DAY
Saturday, April 4, 10 am - 5 pm

Through a full day of presentations, interviews, gallery tours, author talks, and more, this program considers the place of Shepard Fairey's work in a powerful design history of civic empowerment and resistance, seeks to understand how images resonate and gain momentum, examines the latest trends in communication and messaging, and discusses the implicit challenges of social agency in design.

Featuring speakers from fields of design, street art, music, and advertising, the programs explore the intersection of visual culture and social transformation, and how our understanding of originality, plagiarism, legality, and the artistic process has been exploded.

:::

MP3:

• Peaches - Search And Destroy

A band's place in myspace.

LIKE A RAZORBLADE IN A KNIFE FIGHT

2009-03-30T04:32:00.001-04:00

(photos from the second annual Skull By Skull Now hosted by the Skidmarxxx in Austin at the Shitpit, more carnage here WARNING: a fair bit of nudity, mainly dudes)

Skull By Skull Now II:

- Jumping over the junk car on bikes, only one guy made it.
- Jumping on a trampoline where the windshield should be, until one girl misses and cuts her leg to the bone.
- Mad Dog challenge = Six-pack-attack relay race with Mad Dog booze (equals more colorful puking).
- Obstacle course along the side of the house, complete with flying folding tables.
- A car drove dangerously and aggressively through the slowly dispersing crowd in the street in front of the house, resulting in someone knocking their rear view mirror off. The driver then came back with his mom who was yelling at everyone and calling the cops. One guy's response was to pull out his dick and pour beer on it. Everyone shuffles to the back when the cops come.
- Mosh pit and metal bands in the backyard, this time with flying cans of yellow and white house paint.
- Nothing is complete without roman candles into the crowd.
- Junk mattress catches fire next to the shack, pee and water put it out (three times).
- The strange band Funderstorm that ran around in the crowd on a megaphone yelling at people to tear his clothes off. He ended up naked (even the fishnets and purple undies came off) and then lit microphones on fire and swung them at people.
- Mud wrestling commences, this year with more friendly mud (less broken glass and rocks, more smell of manure) and mostly mixed (boy/girl) matches.
- Neighborhood kids hammering forever on the car with bats and pipes.
- One dude who was there on crutches had been clocking people when they bumped into him throughout the night. One majorly drunk dude really pissed him off and received a few decent whacks, prompting him to complain, cry, and call the cops (again). Four cars roll up this time, and people either take off or chill in the backyard to wait for them to leave.
- Once the cops disperse, bike-jousting gets rolling.
- After bike-jousting, the grand finale: blowing up the car. It's done with some sort of explosive device detonated by gunfire. A healthy fireball erupts and the car burns for a while before being put out and re-lit a handful of times.
- Before taking off, the guys from Chief Mag set off a barrage of fireworks inside the car, causing them to ricochet off the ceiling and out the windows in all different directions.
- For myself only very minor injuries sustained: banged up shins, a cut open knee, ripped pants, decent covering of paint and manure.

Kind of goes without saying, but this one day is way more fun than all of SXSW. You can read about it on the Vice blog too.

MP3:

• The Casualties - Criminal Class

A band's place in myspace.

MORE OF THE SAME

2009-03-27T00:46:00.007-04:00

(photos from SXSW: ecstatic crowd at Matt & Kim; Matt & Kim; Pre; Valient Thorr; The Mae Shi; Team Robespierre (x2); Cerebral Ballzy; Team Robespierre; Golden Error; She Rides; Annihilation Time (x2); The Vivian Girls (x2); Trash Talk; Dark Meat; Pre; Popo; Japanther; Ponytail; The Homosexuals; Mika Miko; Todd P; Mic on mat; Aids Wolf; Finally Punk; Gabe's head wound; Monotonix (x4); passed out at the Vice party; and if that wasn't too much, there's more here)

The tail-end of the Newmore Switchblades tour into SXSW 2009:

- When someone hits on you with their opening line being how you look too old to be at this show too... You know that you're looking a little too tour-weary.
- Meeting the friendly (and mildly toothless) $10 prostitute working at Saturn Bar.
- Having the owner of the Saturn Bar threaten to do bodily harm to more than one person in our group on several occasions. And no one thought he was kidding.
- While some of us catch a couple hours of sleep before the 9 hour drive to Austin, some of Cerebral Ballzy head out to Bourbon St. In the morning there are reports of alternately getting flashed and attacked on the street by different(?) women.
- While leaving New Orleans headed to Austin, I realize my camera has totally crapped out. Nothing works on it, no buttons, no focusing, no LCD screen. I'm on my way to SXSW with no camera. Great.
- Getting splashed in the face with horse piss.
- Finally, after four years of SXSW, finding real free BBQ.
- Going to see Annihilation Time, The Vivian Girls and Trash Talk play a late night show on the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge. Right before the first band starts, they toss dozens of free pairs of Converse shoes into the crowd. And the deluge of flying shoes starts promptly during the first song.
- About two songs in to The Vivian Girls set, Cassie hints that it's okay to dance to their music. A girl sticks her head through the crowd and shrilly asks "You really want us to dance?" For the rest of their set there is a mosh pit frothing to their music, getting to the point that the band gets knocked down a couple times. Guess that means that The Vivian Girls are officially punk, huh?
- Gabe (the drummer from Cerebral Ballzy) getting his forehead split open by a flying traffic cone, spending the entire night waiting in the ER for stitches, and then going straight to an early day show and rocking the f*ck out.
- Total Abuse having to cancel the one show I planned to see them at after one of their members gets arrested.
- Going to Black Label's first Austin bike event over at the Amtrak station, until some workers show up and kick everyone out. Tall bike jousting on the Lamar pedestrian bridge follows.
- Thank you to Dustin (Best Fwends/Total Abuse) for letting Ballzy and myself crash on his floor.
- The kid who brought his BMX into the crowd with him during Black Lips at Mess With Texas, which resulted in a steady stream of people tumbling over it in the dark.
- Realizing that I only took photos of about half the bands I saw, which was pretty unusual for me.
- Annihilation Time's singer taking a soupy shit on stage at the Vice party.
- The sadistic genius of putting cacti as decorations in a dark space full of drunk people.
- Sneaking into the hot tub at the Hyatt (scenically located on the Austin River).
- Cleaning up the yard where MyOpenBar.com had their festival in exchange for a place to sleep, even when that meant getting up at 6am after going to sleep at 3am.
- Stumbling sick to the airport in paint-splattered clothing caked with mud so thick you can't tell what kind of shoes I was wearing (more about why in the next post).

- Best show: a tie between MyOpenBar's Four Square Punk and Timmy's Lamar bridge show.
- Worst show: FMLY at Hi-Lo, rough sets and rough crowd.
- Best new band: B.o.B. (if Kanye was less cheezy, maybe)
- Most difficult band to shoot: Trash Talk, too many flying elbows/feet/bodies to even get close.
- Most intimidating: the Fader Fort.
- Least intimidating: Todd P's festival at Ms. Bea's.
- Best (and only) free thing: BBQ at the Battle of the Bands.
- Most valuable asset: Progress Coffee.
- Worst venue: Ballet Austin.
- Best food: East Side Pies (who knew pizza could be that good?).
- Biggest let down: the Vice party, partially because last year it was so good.
- Best way to end SXSW: sneaking into a fancy hotel's hot tub.

MP3:

• Royalchord - I'd Rather Go Blind

A band's place in myspace.

UNDERAGE DRINK FOREVER

2009-03-18T22:21:00.010-04:00

(photos from the last few days with the Newmore Switchblades, more here)

Newmore Switchblades tour - part 2:

- Grabbing dinner at Rosetta's Kitchen in Ashville, NC where they had pay-what-you-wish soup and corn bread.
- Zipco bringing a lazer-sighted pellet gun to the show and shooting people when they least expected it. Feels a bit like a bee sting and leaves a nice welt many days later.
- Meeting some interesting characters outside of the venue in Ashville, including a guy trying to sell us a bag of "Soapium" which was a small bar of soap in a plastic bag.
- Immediately after crossing the border in to Alabama, stopping to buy fireworks.
- Ty of Team Robespierre: "Sometimes you talk so much shit that I have to get unsick to talk shit to you before I can go back to being sick."
- Team Robespierre gets some smoke-bomb-treatment in their van in Birmingham.
- Jason from Team Robespierre waking up drunk in the van after the show and banging on the door to the house to get in at 4am. . . only it was the wrong house. They call the cops but when the police arrive their cruiser breaks down.
- Another bit of equipment disaster on the photo front: while someone is packing my bag in the van, it comes open and my pouch falls out, containing my chargers and external hard drive with all the tour photos on it. It gets placed on the hood and is not seen again. I spend the next night looking for it and trying to recover what photos I can from my memory cards.

MP3:

• Tilly And The Wall - Beat Control

A band's place in myspace.

THE HAZARDS OF HEADBANGING IN THE SHOWER

2009-03-15T22:35:00.005-04:00

(photos from the Brooklyn and Baltimore shows of the Newmore Switchblades tour, more here)

Newmore Switchblades tour - part 1:

- Honor taking over half an hour to pee in a Gatorade bottle in the van.
- Swinging by the Copy Cat Annex after the show in Baltimore for a quick surreal black light dance party.
- Hitting up the 24-hour Subway and watching people shuffle in wearing their pajamas.
- Crashing at Joey's (ex-Death Set) place in Baltimore where everything was candle-lit because they didn't have any electricity.
- First out of town show (Baltimore) the mirror in my camera breaks off. Second show (Virginia Beach) my external hard drive starts corrupting my photo files. Kind of worried about the third show at this point.
- Cerebral Ballzy opening at the practically empty Virginia Beach show: "I'd like to thank the staff of The Jewish Mother for coming out to our show. You could have called in sick, but instead you're here."
- An all-out brawl breaks out right before The Death Set's last song at The Jewish Mother. A drunk audience member took offense to something said by the drummer and got a little too physical about it. The chef ended up hauling the guy out after the fists and feet had stopped flying, but he still smashed a window on another audience member's car on his way out. Injuries sustained by the bands were minor, bruised faces and busted knuckles.
- Nothing easier to fall asleep to than the all-knowing accents of the BBC.
- I haven't spent time in a mall in a while, but apparently you can't wear your hood up in malls anymore.
- Roadside panhandlers have to get permits and wear orange reflective vests in Durham, NC.
- Crashing at TJ's house in Durham. Woke up to tons of rain, skateboarding in the garage, and Totally Michael's car window falling down in the night = a soggy interior.

MP3:

• The Knux - Bang! Bang!

A band's place in myspace.

DIGGING ON YOUR DERISION IN THE DARK

2009-03-12T20:50:00.002-04:00

(photos from the Atlantic Tunnel)

It's that time of year again, time to hit the road down to SXSW. I'm fortunate enough to be able to tag along with some of my favorite bands on the Newmore Switchblades tour (schedule below). Which then rolls right in to the marathon o' fun that is SXSW. Let's hope I can still hold it all together again this year.

:::

The NEWMORE SWITCHBLADES Tour!
Featuring: The Death Set, Team Robespierre, Ninjasonik, Totally Michael and Cerebral Ballzy

Mar 12 2009 - Tour Kick off at The Shank; Brooklyn, New York
Mar 13 2009 - Ottobar; Baltimore, Maryland
Mar 14 2009 - The Jewish Mother; Virginia Beach, Virginia
Mar 15 2009 - Emerald Lounge; Ashville, North Carolina
Mar 16 2009 - Bottletree; Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 17 2009 - Club Downunder; Tallahassee, Florida
Mar 18 2009 - The Saturn Bar; New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 21 2009 - Lounge on Elm; Dallas, Texas
Mar 22 2009 - Arkansas Community Arts Cooperative; Little Rock, Arkansas
Mar 23 2009 - Gargoyle Club; St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 24 2009 - Sonotheque; Chicago, Illinois
Mar 25 2009 - The Cactcus Club; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 26 2009 - The Ratheskellar; Madison, Wisconsin
Mar 27 2009 - The Summit; Columbus, Ohio
Mar 28 2009 - The Grogshop; Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 29 2009 - Danger Danger House; Philly, Pennsylvania

:::

MP3:

• Rio En Medio - Let's Groove

A band's place in myspace.

PUNK DIDN'T DIE, IT JUST LEFT YOU BEHIND

2009-03-09T01:02:00.007-04:00

(photos from the last Bikes In The Kitchen show, with Spank Rock, Ninjasonik, Team Robespierre, Juiceboxx, Wyld Yaks, and Cerebral Ballzy, more here)

Word to the wise: producing and running a booth at an art fair will completely take over your life. It ended today with an unexpected last-minute rush-uninstall, but we're done. Thank you to everyone who came, helped, and bought art to support our project. There are also some other great causes out there to help if you can.

If the above photos look like fun, you'll have your chance to relive it this Thursday as the Newmore Switchblades tour takes off at The Shank. Let's just hope they've fixed all those problems with the bar, beer and green room(s) by then.

:::

Newmore Switchblades tour kickoff!

Thursday 3/12/2009
The Shank 99 Bayard St. Brooklyn

featuring:

Team Robespierre
Ninjasonik
Totally Michael
Cerebral Ballzy

:::

MP3:

• Kid Cudi - Day 'N Nite

A band's place in myspace.

BAPTIZED IN FIRELIGHT

2009-03-03T03:08:00.007-05:00

(studio visit with artist Dennis McNett, and some miscellaneous stuff from a test roll)

This is almost all I've been doing for a while, but it's for a great project and is going to be pretty cool. So come out of your snow-bound burrows and see some art, smile at some people, and have a chat or two.

:::

What: Fountain Art Fair Benefit Exhibition hosted by Glowlab
When: March 5-8
Where: Fountain Exhibition at Pier 66 at 26th St in Hudson River Park

Benefit Exhibition for SWOON’s Swimming Cities of Serenissima at Fountain NY

Dates: March 5-8; 11am–7pm
VIP/Press Preview: Thursday March 5, from 11am to 7pm
Open to the public: March 6-8 11am-7pm
Reception for the Artists: Friday, March 6; 7pm–midnight

Location: Pier 66 at 26th St in Hudson River Park NYC
Admission: Suggested donation of $5 at the door for all weekend access

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima is a fleet of three intricately hand crafted vessels that will navigate the Adriatic Sea from the Karst region of Slovenia to Venice, Italy in May of 2009. Designed by the visual artist SWOON, the floating sculptures are descendants of the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (Hudson River, 2008) and the Miss Rockaway Armada (Mississippi River, 2006 and 2007).

The benefit art show will take place in New York City during Armory Show week, March 05-08, as part of Glowlab’s exhibit space at Fountain, the alternative art exhibition known for presenting cutting-edge and independent art galleries.

Participating artists include:

- Swoon
- Faile
- David Ellis
- Maya Hayuk
- Martha Cooper
- Elbow Toe
- Chris Stain
- Monica Canilao
- Brad Downey
- Dennis McNett
- Imminent Disaster
- Josh MacPhee (Just Seeds)
- Mike Houston (Cannonball Press)
- Eric White
- Chris Uphues
- David Kesting
- Beka Goedde
- Alice Jarry
- Jason Cantoro
- Tod Seelie
- Molly Crabapple
- C. Damage
- Kristine Virsis
- Elisabeth Timpone
- Gilbert Oh
- Francesca Romeo
- Hardland/Heartland
- Laura Lee
- Ian Farrell
- Adrian Kondratowicz
- Denise DeSpirito
- Leslie Stem
- Public Discourse
and many more.

Glowlab Director Christina notes, “We’re thrilled to host this benefit for our long-time collaborator SWOON’s latest project, the Swimming Cities of Serenissima. It’s an ambitious project with an incredible creative spirit that, in the most physical way possible, engages contemporary art in the development of culture and community. I believe it’s critical to support projects like this, especially now, and we’re excited to help launch these beautiful boats in the spring.”

swimmingcities.org
glowlab.com
fountainexhibit.com

:::

MP3:

• The King Blues - What If Punk Never Happened

A band's place in myspace.

A DREAM LIKE THIS MUST DIE

2009-02-26T22:40:00.004-05:00

Before there was the Newmore Switchblades tour, there was this:

:::

Bikes In The Kitchen & Jelly NYC present:

Secret Special Guest!
NinjaSonik
Team Robespierre
Juiceboxxx
Wild Yaks
Cerebral Ballzy
Dre Skull
dj C.lo

Saturday, February 28th
11pm. All Ages. $6
@The Shank
98 Bayard St. + Leonard St.
Brooklyn. NY 11222
FREE PBR 11pm til gone
Flyer here

:::

MP3:

Further evidence that if you start with a really good sample, it's hard to go wrong (M.I.A. - Paper Planes, anyone?).

• RQM - Bloody Sunday (Robot Koch Version)

A band's place in myspace.