YOU DECIDE 09'

Ludwig and I are itching to make another radio show now that people are flowing back into the city. There are good vibes all around and we feel confident that the next one will be a success. I thought the Reunion Special was hilarious (but I heard the complaints people, 2 parts is too many) and I'd love to top it. That's where you come in.

Here at A Journey we like to keep things simple. We like direct democracies. 

Also, we can't decide between the next theme. I'm going to write them all here and you can vote in the poll located on the top right of this page underneath the banner. It will be up for 1 week. If you read this but never comment (which is a lot of people) please take the time to just pick whichever sounds funniest. 

Here are the candidates:

BBQ Special

No Sleep Radio Special (would be recorded after we stay awake for two days)

Connecticut Radio Special/Camped out Special

Classical Music Special with Daniel Rutkowski

Jamie Lidell Radio Special

Live Music Special

Radio Theatre Special (narrative)

YOU DECIDE!

Bamhoo Fun

I have this gig coming up (starting this week) which requires manipulating photos to make em' look like comic books or something similar. I decided on this look ala rotoscoped films that was pretty easy to do in photoshop. However, I got tired of making every single path a stroke and it became such a pain in the ass that I decided to get a Wacom Tablet. It's something I have always wanted and this sexy one came out that's cheap as shit. I introduce you to my new toy:

I thought I would take her for a spin. Here is my first drawing ever with the Wacom Tablet. It's Carlos.

Booyah.

Editor's Notes:

After spending a few hours with the tablet I decided to try another shot at Carlos Galarza. The Quality of improvement is so incredibly large that it's fucking hilarious:

The Weed Smokers

You don't need to hear it from me. Times have been tough. The Kevin Gannon estate isn't immune to this shitty economy and recently things over here have been a little more humble than usual.

I have learned something pretty crucial this summer. It's a basic principle of capitalism and rather than keep this secret to myself and make millions I choose to share it with the ones I love (that's you, Starlets) so they too can become successful no matter what the economy is like. Here it is:

When an individual necessitates a regular,

fixed amount of money every week to live

it is critical that he/she finds a job.

Booyah. It's that simple people. I have come to realize and accept this bullshit puritan work ethic and I too am now a working man. 

Carlos Galarza and I have founded a new company. We are called The Weed Smokers. What do we do? We get down on our hands and knees and rip those pesky weeds that take over your Connecticut garden. We also mulch the place too. All for $10 an hour.

Our first day on the Job was yesterday and boy was it fun. First off, let me show you how serious of a fucking problem weeds can be:

Yes, people. That huge thing I'm holding that has uprooted a yard of dirt is a weed. The same type of weed that Carlos is holding. See what happens when you let them run rampant? See why you need to call us to smoke em' out?

Here is Carlos thinking about nothing but how much he truly loves weeding. Honestly, it's why we do it. It's a passion.

At the end of the day, we ended up with quite a large bit of shrubbery. Here is Carlos after throwing in one of two boxes of weeds we ripped out of the earth with our bare hands:

If you are wondering how this whole "work in exchange of money" thing functions, allow me to put it into perspective for you. Diagram A depicts how the above pictured weeds directly translate into cash money, yo. Diagram B shows how the same said money can be exchanged into an entirely different, unrelated good.

Diagram A:

Diagram B:

Simple economics, people.

P.S:

Got a weedy garden? Let us know. We will smoke em' out.

Something worthy of your perusal

Last night while walking through Tompkins Square Park with Ludwig and Silvia, just as we passed the chess tables I was told about a pretty remarkable blog. 

It's called Neither More Nor Less and it's a daily recap of the events surrounding Tompkins Square park and it's group of those not so well accepted breed of New Yorkers that dwell in it. Yes, those people who hang out in front of Odessa's. Some are friendly, some aren't. Point is, I have been reading this fucking thing since it was shown to me. If you are at all familiar with the Neighborhood I think you should check it out.

I must say, however, reading it there is the knee jerk reaction I have to anything involving the homeless: I wonder if it is exploitative. It's sort of hard to tell with this one. I will say some posts are and others aren't at all. Probably going to strike some chord of controversy as you read it no matter who you are. 

Sleepless in Manhattan

One of my favorite things about being home is that I get to stay up all night long partying with my buddy Carlos. When I say party I don't actually mean party (we will watch movies, play video games and/or tell stories over a few brews) but when I say "stay up all night long" I literally mean we go to sleep at sunrise. 

It's a sort of tradition. It has destroyed my sleep cycle (even when I'm at school) for what will probably be the rest of my life. It's worth it though. We get a lot of thinking done and almost always have a good time.

Today was the first of these all nighters we have pulled since I have been back. Around 5:30 I saw the sun was almost out and I decided "why the hell should I go to sleep now and wake up at Carlos' place  at 6 tonight?" and I decided to walk home.

Let me say, starlets, one thing I rarely experience is this city, the Lower East Side in particular, very early in the morning. Every time I do I say "holy shit I gotta' do this more often"

It smells wonderful, it's not sunny, has a perfect breeze, not a soul out on the street and you never have to wait to cross. Wonderful.

Today, starlets, was the beginning of a beautiful day. Now I will go sleep it away.

That's what happens

Arriving back in New York after spending 6 or 7 months saying: "Oh, boy, when I get back to New York I'm gonna' _______" meant there was a lot to do. A lot of blanks to fill and a hell of a lot of sleeping to do.

Since I haven't been posting much I was contemplating on whether or not I should announce an official hiatus rather than just disappearing. It's sad because the last few months my "post a day" mentality has gotten a hell of a lot of readers. 

Time will tell what happens, starlets. Just know I'm not dead and that I love you.

Biggie is Gone

The old saying "God giveth and taketh away" has always been one I totally agreed with. Not really because I think a god has a master plan but because conservation of energy is Newton's third law of motion.

Right now, God has giveth me the opportunity to live with my homies in New York City, yo! He has also taken away a very important figure from my life. Biggie Smalls Fish.

Yes, I must acknowledge here that this is my fault. I thought I could bring him (and his huge tank) over to my Buddie's loft in Wicker Park on the day of the move out. It became more and more obvious with all the shit we had to do that taking a few hours out of the day to do that would ruin us. 

I read how bad it is to drop exotic fish (especially Chichlids!) into American bodies of water but I chose to ignore most of the facts. Preston Wollner and my dear friend Al Porto walked Biggie Smalls down to the river, found the most majestic looking spot and dumped him in. 

The new, bigger fish tank.

I hope his instincts kick in and he swims south before it gets cold again. 

Bon Voyage.

Back in the New York Groove

After a loooong moving out process I am finally back where I belong. New York City.

I have been here for one day and already I have encountered more friendly people than I do in a month back at the North Loop. It's nice to bump into people on the street I know and really nice to ride the 6 train.

Got two posts in mind but I'm just too sleepy and tired to post em right now. Later tonight for shizzle. 

Also, expect a radio show if my boyfriend Ludwig Persik ever come back from New Jersey.

Tucker Everding - New music sensation

You know how every time I post a video I introduce it by saying:

"here is a video I had to shoot and edit

in one day because it is due for a 

critique tomorrow. I hope it goes well!"

Thankfully (or not) for you, this is the last time you will hear this for a few months as I am done with my classes. It seems oddly appropriate that my last critique of freshman year would be in a video class. It doesn't seem odd, however, that I rocked it.

Here is a film I am pretty proud of. There seems to be a split in the crowd, some people hate it and some people love it. I, personally, think it's fucking hilarious. It's starring the great Bruno Smith who is a talented musician and evidently an equally talented actor. You know what else? He's from New York City. Notice a trend here?

Yes. We are awesome (sorry to everyone who is offended by that. I just can't help it).

So, alas, here is the film. A journey into the mind of one of the decades most talented and influential musicians: Tucker Everding.

Also, I should say, youtube compressed the aspect ratio and quality funny (as usual). For full effect double click the video and watch from youtube's homepage itself. 

Finished the first year

Well, starlets, it's official: I am done with classes as a freshman at SAIC. All I have to worry about now is getting my stuff packed and making my way home.

I gotta' say, it went so fast. I can't believe I'm heading back home already. It's hard not to look back at these things without sounding too emotional or stupid so be warned, this might sound emotional and stupid. 

My time here has been so much of an eye opener. I have a better sense of who I am not just as an artist, but also as a person. More importantly, I see what I can become if I work at it. I have met so many talented individuals who have all rubbed off something on me (if you read that with as an innuendo it's funny) and I am willing to say that coming here might be one of the more important and genuinely correct decisions I have made in my life.

The best part? I have an entirely different, wonderful city filled with talented friends as well. I can go to it with all the new things I have learned this year and learn some more things to bring back to Chicago come fall. 

Till then:

Stress stress STRESS

Got to edit a movie for tomorrow. After that I am free of work for a whole summer. It's actually sort of depressing. I have adapted fairly well to Chicagoland. More importantly, I'm going to miss having to do some crazy ass project every week that seems totally un-Kevin-like to be doing in the first place. Oh well.

The real stressor, however, lies all in the fact that I'm moving out of here tomorrow. I'm looking around this room right now and realizing exactly how much shit there is to take care of. I have so, so much stuff to move.

Even more heart wrenching is the idea that I have to part with a lot of this stuff for summer. It's being left in storage so the obvious things (like my sexy TV) weren't that shocking to leave behind. When I start looking around though, little things pop up that I'm going to miss for a few months. I mean, that Seinfeld box set is just too big to put in a carry on without being an asshole. My Ukulele won't be played for months and of course, Biggie Smalls Fish will be taken care of by someone else. Oh, Biggie. How I will miss you.

Then again I'm moving back to New York so it's pretty reasonable. Yeah, in fact, ignore everything written in this post. I'm cool with it.

DON'T PANIC

Things have been slow around blogland for a good reason: Everything over here is going really, really fast.

I have 2 DAYS OF CLASSES LEFT (booyah) till' I can party with Carlos and Ludwig and chill in New York.

How was my Hive critique? Dope. The presentation was clean, the crowd liked it and it was the best feeling in the world to see people walking around all day with my hives on their faces and arms. Someone took pictures (but not I, regrettably) and I am trying to get my hands on them.

How was my birthday? Dopealicious. 19 baby.

Yesterday after spending 9 hours in class I got on a train to shoot a film with my buddy Bruno Smith out at his apartament in Pilsen. I just got back. In a few hours I gotta' got to my last english class, come home and edit and hopefully (finally) have something to post on this blog. 

Then (friday), have a critique for that film and then (saturday), move all my shit into storage and then GET THE HELL OUTTA' HERE!

Oh, here is something. A rat monster:

Message from the fans

The other night I had a few people over who read the blog. I thought I'd whip out a camera and ask them what they have to say about it.

TATTOOS

Today I did my first test of the Hive tattoos. Shockingly, I didn't botch the job (which was actually really complicated. I thought all you had to do was print them but you also need to cover each image with a thin layer of adhesive and leave em' out to dry over night).

In fact, I would say the test was a full success.

Here's a closer look:

There will be a total of ten sheets each with 15 hives. There are going to be 40 people at the critique so I should have more than enough. 

Paired with the beautiful prints I framed (posted a few days ago) I think this piece is really going to come together. 

God, I love it when that happens.