Wednesday night art fart

I felt like making something today but didn't feel like drawing, writing or filming anything. I have a shit load of paints I bought last year as an investment for times like these and I whipped them out. 

I decided to attempt painting a Triffid. I'm a terrible painter but thought maybe tonight would be different. 

Guess what?

Tonight wasn't different. 

I failed miserably at rendering a triffid. I painted over it and tried again. Fail. Then again. Major fail. After a thick layer of paint was covering my precious triffids I took my palette and tossed it on the canvas saying "fuck this I prefer the paint bucket tool in photoshop"

I pulled the palette off and liked what I saw. I put more paint on it here and there and tried my best attempt at a flattened Pollock. How's that Ezra?

Here's the big question. Which would go in the Museum? The piece?

Or the palette?

You decide. I vote palette because it would piss people off. More realistically, I think I'll be using this piece as a gigantic coaster.

Check this out NOW

Today in Millennium park there was a DJ spinning some shit and he played a dope song. The only lyric I heard was "I should Tell Ya Momma on You" and I made a mental note to find it online.

I couldn't find it on Youtube. Bummer. Instead, I found something INCREDIBLE. Anyone who has any interest in music needs to listen to this right fucking now.

I don't know anything about this cat but that he's homeless. Holy shit. Someone give this guy a house.

Breaking news!

I found the song I was originally looking for. It was a lot better the way the DJ played it because he mashed it up with "Rock the Casbah" 

Here it is, its called Step Daddy. After listening to it, actually, it's fucking dope. 

Fall fell, night follows

It's gotten pretty chilly here and the smell of fall is in the air. It's oddly exciting knowing that the infamous Chicago cold is on it's way. I did something incredibly out of character today and did all my work due tomorrow and the next day. That means for the next 48 hours, aside from what I do in class I can just relax and wait for Thursday and Friday to roll by (two, wonderfully classless days).

I went for a nighttime stroll tonight to snap some photos for a class tomorrow. It was beautiful out.

King of (Silent) Cartoons

I want to introduce you to a pretty cool cat. His name is Tom Stathes and I think he might interest all you film junkies out there. 

Tom is an avid collector of early animated films. He has an encyclopedic knowledge on the topic and through our dialogues I have come to admire not only his appreciation of a medium but also his emphasis on the preservation and celebration that must go into it.

He sells quality prints at fair prices off of his website (which I will link later) and I myself have been a customer of his. I came across him through a Craigslist back when I just got my projector. He was selling some 16mm prints that were lying around and didn't really have a place in his collection (mostly PSAs and propaganda flicks). To be a nice guy, he threw in a free reel or two. What was on them? Cartoons, of course. 

It's definitely worth checking out if you want to purchase some films but also if you just want a good read. He hosts screenings occasionally and if I'm in town for the next one I'll definitely hit that up. 

He just put up a cleaner, new site and I thought I owed it to him to let you guys know about it. To visit his new site, click HERE. I highly recommend doing so.

Also, my final thought on Tom. In his blogger default picture he looks a little bit like Ernest Hemingway. 

Major plus.

First Print

Remember that NBC Baby Jesus I showed you last week? Well, I printed it yesterday and boy oh boy was it fun. 

I have never done screen printing and the process was completely new to me. Because of that, it took a little tinkering to master properly and the image didn't come out as good as I was expecting it would. Still, my eyes were opened to a new medium that is a lot of fun. How often do you get to point blank a power washer to the face of Baby Jesus? 

If you answered "often" to that please contact me immediately. I want to learn from you.

The first print came out looking pretty crappy. It was clear I over estimated the power of water color and crayons. It's tough going to art school when you can't recall the last time you picked up a paint brush and expect crayolas to work like a sharpie.

I stopped whining and made some darker layers of color. My print was still not coming out that well but to the professor and TA's eyes I was doing everything right. After a few run troughs we came to the realization that I was a total pussy and couldn't put enough pressure on the squeegee to get a good image. Even when I pushed my hardest, shaking and nearing an aneurysm I just wasn't strong enough. I added "Screen printing" to my long list of reasons to start weight lifting. 

The print came out decently.

The most fun I had was when I took the screen to the wash room. The joint is a fucking dump in the most charming way. It's dark, it's small and everything is wet. Also, somehow, you are always alone. The pictures don't do the place justice but I felt obligated to snap a picture anyway.

I hope that as the semester progresses I have some better prints to show off. I'm already thinking about my next one and have one hint: Triffids.

Flies, Birdshit and a Good Omen

One of my favorite posts Ludwig has written in his career as a successful blogger popped up last week. I will properly link it here, but to paraphrase it roughly went as follows:

"My hair was in my eyes and it was pissing me off. 

Right there and then I said "God, please stop the

wind from blowing my bangs into my eyeballs"

Right then and there a bird shat right on my forehead. 

God answered. I laughed all the way to work"

This has been on my mind lately because, frankly, it's hilarious and defines life beautifully. Today I was walking through Millennium park and starving. I was thinking about where to get grub but nothing in the loop really satisfied me (and those that did were notorious for long lines come lunch time). I said, literally, out loud:

"God, I'm fucking hungry. This sucks."

Right then and there, a very large fly flew into my mouth. To the shock and horror of the crowd I stopped walking, wrestled with it and gave in: "gulp"

I swallowed that sucker. Immediately I thought "this is hilarious" but then realized something: Ludwig's done it.

On the topic of Ludwig it's worth mentioning something. He has formed the Good Omen again and this time with an all star cast. The demo is out and (though rough) it's fucking good. It's a foreshadowing of what's to come. I can't wait until these guys get in a studio and churn out some real deal masterpieces. 

Give em' a listen here. 

Best wishes, Good Omen, from yer' brother on the Journey. Kdog.

There will be MILKSHAKES!

My name is Daniel Plainview. I'm an oil man. I drill for oil. I also like milkshakes. 

Not.

When "There Will be Blood" came out Robbie and Carlos kept going on and on about how good it was. I, for some reason, thought it didn't look like my sort of film and opted out on paying the 13 dollars to see it in theatres. 

Eventually I did see it with Carlos on some movie channel and I was blown away. It was indeed my sort of film and I regretted not seeing it on the big screen with everyone else. 

Needless to say, "There Will Be Blood" was one of my most desired films to add to my Blu-Ray collection. I looked everywhere for it and (somehow) couldn't find it. One quick visit to Amazon cured my fix and saved me a couple of bucks. When I got it I made a phonecall. It was time to watch "There Will Be Blood" in crisp 1080i accompanied with killer surround sound with good company. 

Take this opportunity to meet my dear friend Monty. I can't remember if I have ever talked about him in previous posts but we met on the shoot of "War of the Ants" and am I glad we did. Monty is a big fan of the film and can do the best Daniel Plainview impression out of all of us. He was integral for what followed. 

After making a pit stop to stock up on refreshments, Monty, Preston and I decided to settle down and watch the film. There was one problem, though. Our stomachs were growling. "There Will be Blood" is not a film to watch hungry. It's already such a stimulation of all five senses that hearing your stomach eat itself will only further plummet you into the depravity of life. This, though serious, is nothing a little baked chicken boobie couldn't fix.

The hunger and anticipation was a catalyst for my new recipe: "There Will be Heart Surgery" chicken. It's easy, folks. Get an entire stick and a half of butter, melt it down and then put an equal amount of Worcester sauce in it. Mix that up real good and rub it all over the chicken. Throw whatever spices you have on top of that in the mix, fill the rest of the pan with olive oil (and if you have it, some beer) and let sit in the oven until the grease pops loud enough that you fear an explosion. That, my friends, is good eating. 

After eating we were all stuffed and a little, well, "giddy". The film hadn't even started yet and Spuds had drank waaaaaay  too much. We had to put him to sleep and let the men take care of business. 

After finally sitting down to watch the film the atmosphere changed. Daniel Day scared the shit out of us and we were transported to another world. The quality of this Blu-Ray is superb. The darks were a little too dark (which for a film that has entire scenes playing out hundreds of feet underground with no lights is a bit of a problem) but I can't say whether or not it is my TV or the Blue-Ray itself. I have actually recently been considering bringing my Blue-Ray collection to someone elses house so I can see how a television will effect the process. I have yet to meet anyone with the proper HD set up, though, so that is for another post. 

A few refreshments and three acts later the film was over. What a great time. I swear to you, I have never heard three individuals making so many "Milkshake" jokes. It was truly hilarious. After an hour Preston and I had just as good of an impression of Daniel Plainview as Monty did. 

It was during all of this that Monty, very seriously said "We need MILKSHAKES!"

One very late night trip to Jewel Osco later and what do you know?

We have Milkshakes. Delicious, chocolate milkshakes. I can't verify as to whether or not any of our refreshments made it into that milkshake but I can say that by the end of the night I was most certainly ready to hit the hay. Hard. 

I can honestly say, it was one of the most fun nights I have had since moving out to Chicago. I can also say, with absolute certainty:

I. Will drink. Your, MILKSHAKE!