Neat Neat Neat

I've been listening to alot of my old records from the late 70s and early 80s lately, and two of the best are The Damned and the Code of Honor/Sick Pleasure split L.P. Both bands were kind of beyond their peers in wildness and sheer song writing ability/live performance antics. For me, Captain Sensible and Michael Fox were guitar players to look up to, unpredictable and without any rock cliches. If you haven't heard these albums, ask Santa Claus for them next year.

Written Word

This year I had two little writings published, one in a major exhibition catalog and the other a foreword to my good friend Brad Hayes' new book of paintings and skate philosophy, But I Did. I was very gratified to be asked by both the National Building Museum and by Brad to contribute to their publications.

If I had to choose between the two as my favorite, I have to choose the foreword to somebody else's book, which is always a real honor among writers. Both were killer, do not get me wrong, but to write the foreword to your best bro's work is the ultimate writing gig, that is, it's really hard to write about your best friend's artwork! The essay on the NMB catalog is scholarship, which I consider kind of like work and the result of years of scholarly training. You can purchase either publication on my link list, Yale University Press for Designing Tomorrow and Sharklahoma for But I Did.

End of a Year

The record release party for Wartime Sugar was awesome last Saturday night at the Opolis. The best thing about playing a gig is seeing all your friends before and afterward, with the performance itself a weird interlude of Bergsonian intensity. These photos are courtesy of Brad Hayes and Chuck Ivey.