Knocked out the logo/type treatment for the latest video off the long awaited soon to be released album from Outkast and Atlanta's own Sir Lucious Leftfoot, aka Hot Tub Tony, aka Billy Ocean, aka Francis the Savannah Chitlin' Pimp, aka Big Boi. Also, fortunate enough to sit in on an impromptu listening party for the entire album (The Son of Chico Dusty) put on by none other than Mr Leftfoot himself the other morning over some Purple and Krispy Kreme. Another one off the bucket list. Free Gucci
Yesterday, news of a Texas judge’s decision to imprison a teenage vandal for eight years without parole caused quite a stir, with most people agreeing that the punishment was way too extreme. Judge Marisela Saldaña clearly didn’t dole out such an egregious sentence to cover the cost of cleaning up the $7,300 of damage Sebastian Perez caused, after all, his incarceration will run Texas taxpayers than $140,000. And that price tag doesn’t include the considerable public expense and burden of a four-time felon lacking credible experience or job prospects, which is what Perez will be when he’s scheduled for release at age 26 after spending nearly a third of his life locked up. No, this sentence is about making an example of the 18-year-old and a bad one at that. Earlier this year, the District Attorney’s office for Corpus Christi adopted a policy offering nothing less than maximum sentences to adult vandals, hoping to make the point, “If you spray, you pay.” District Attorney Carlos Valdez claims, “there’s deterrence in the message,” but when have tougher penalties ever effectively stopped vandalism? Pretty much never. Whether it’s artistic or strictly for fame, graffiti can’t be eradicated, only managed. Ludicrous prison terms more effectively embolden writers with added notoriety and ensure those who are caught only get an extended criminal education. Though Judge Saldaña believes eight years will reform Perez’s life, it’s more likely to ruin it irreparably. Whatever your views on this sentence, you should consider sharing them, not only here but also with Judge Marisela Saldaña who has surprisingly been commended for offering “understanding and compassion,” as well second chances, to offenders. She conveniently offers up her Facebook page and Twitter account in addition to other means of getting in touch: Email: votejudgesaldana@aol.com Mailing address: Judge Saldaña Campaign PO Box 968 Corpus Christi, TX 78403 Phone: (361) 549-8420
Actually interviewed the insanely elusive Mr Hambleton for Frank151 magazine at the behest of our friend CHINO BYI for the Ssur curated chapter of the book back in 2003. Very insightful stuff. We didn't live through it but from what's been passed down duke deserves all of the recognition and then some. Cool cat. Link's busted check it here Well placed Futura 2K tag
Far from the glorified ramblings you'd expect of your typical incarcerated graffiti writer, these remarkably well-crafted, candid reflections on surviving life in a maximum security facility as told from the perspective of inmate Cyrus Yazdani, aka BUKET, are arguably the best defense for why vandalism should never warrant serving hard time. Kinda depressing but check the Blog here
Congratulations all around to Hense and crew for this excellent new mini documentary filmed down south earlier this year. The ambitious five minute short offers a very rare and personable glimpse into the world of our good friend and collaborator's life and art.
Just goes to show how much disruption two people can create if they set their minds to it.
In a country of 300,000,000 people it's truly surprising that such instances of terroristic violence don't occur far more often. These guys were basically outliers almost 6 standard deviations away from the mean; after marinating in America's fear-based culture, ones intuition about such things tends to skew towards assuming that terroristically violent people would be FAR more common. Thinking about it, this kind of restores your faith in human nature: just about anybody *could* do this, but far fewer than than one in a million actually do.
In related news we don't know them and not to be on anyone's jock or anything but Malvo BTM hands down takes the prize for best tag name going in graffiti right now... the crosshair "O" c'mon son. Too good.
Was an honor being involved with close to 15 of the 50 of these that got produced and this is some of the best press we've seen relating to the project thus far. If you're ever lucky enough to make it to West Philly, take the Market-Frankford El between 42nd St an 69th St and you won't leave disappointed. Many thanks to Adam Wallacavage for some of these flicks. That's all us on Black Jesus (with Freeway/Muslim beard) duty on the roof of Pastor James Brown's church...
In a move that could be right out of a Hollywood movie, a brazen crook apparently used a Craigslist ad to hire a dozen unsuspecting decoys to help him make his getaway following a robbery outside a bank on Tuesday. He then made his escape in an inner tube on the Skykomish River.
The robbery happened about 11 a.m. on an armored truck guard at a Bank of America branch.
"He was wearing a dust mask, a particle mask. At first I thought it might be a surgical mask. I still didn't think anything was wrong, just unusual. Then I noticed he had a pump sprayer," said Mitch Ruth, who had looked out his office window and noticed the man walking into the bank.
The robber sprayed the guard with pepper spray, grabbed a bag of money the guard was carrying and ran about 100 yards to the creek that runs into the Skykomish River, shedding clothes as he ran.
But apparently, the robber had planned ahead. In case anyone was hot on his trail, he had at least a dozen unsuspecting decoys waiting nearby, which he recruited on Craigslist.
"I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour," said Mike, who saw a Craigslist ad last week looking for workers for a road maintenance project in Monroe.
He said he inquired and was e-mailed back with instructions to meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. Tuesday. He also was told to wear certain work clothing.
"Yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt," he said.
Mike showed up along with about a dozen other men dressed like him, but there was no contractor and no road work to be done. He thought they had been stood up until he heard about the bank robbery and the suspect who wore the same attire.
From there, the cook made his watery escape in a creek that dumps out into the Skykomish River. One witness said the robber swam away, but another said he used an inner tube to get away.
"We did get an inner tube that was about 200 yards from the place where he entered the water and took that for evidence," said Debbie Willis, Monroe Police.
Investigators believe accomplices could have picked the robber up at a nearby boat launch or park.
The FBI is helping Monroe Police trace the ad and want to talk to anyone who responded.
"Any piece of information anyone has could be the piece of the puzzle we need to apprehend the suspects," said Debbie Willis, Monroe Police.
Some Monroe residents, while not endorsing what the robber did, are somewhat amused.
"Creative. Not a right way of doing it, but creative," said Monroe resident Byron Bevard.
"I grew up in LA and I never heard of anything so crazy in my life," said resident Sarah Vazquez.
The suspect is described as a white man in his 20s, between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10, wearing a dark blue shirt, jean shorts and a mask.
New Year's Day 1969, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones initiates a series of letters to M.C.Escher because Jagger wanted to use an Escher piece on the jacket of a new LP, "Through The Past Darkly". Mick was one of MCE's biggest fans, but it seems the feeling was not mutual. As we know, Escher's musical taste was for classical music with an emphasis on J.S. Bach, whom Escher referred to as "Father Bach".
The following passage is from a 1974 Holland Herald Quote:
"The artist (Escher) claimed he didn't have time, let alone the inclination, to cooperate with anyone who addressed him as:
Dear Maurits, For quite some time now I have had in my possession your book (Graphic Works Of..) and it never ceases to amaze me each time I study it! In fact I think your work is quite incredible and it would make me very happy for a lot more people to see and know and understand exactly what you are doing.
In March or April this year, we have scheduled our next LP record for release, and I am most eager to reproduce one of your works on the cover-sleeve. Would you please consider either designing a "picture" for it, or have you any unpublished works which you might think suitable -the "optical illusion" idea very much appeals to me, although one like "Evolution" would of course be equally as suitable. -and would say the same thing. You might even like to do a long one like "Metamorphosis" which we could then reproduce as a folding-out sleeve. It could be either in one colour or full colour, that would be up to you entirely.
Naturally, both you and your publishers would get full credits on the sleeve, and we could negotiate a fee on hearing of your decision to do it. I would be most grateful if you could contact Peter Swales or Miss Jo Bergman at the above address or telephone (reverse charge), and either will give you every necessary assistance. However, I am not so fortunate as to possess a Dutch interpreter, and so if you do not speak English or French, I would again be grateful if you could fix up somebody in Baarn to oblige.
Yours very sincerely, MICK JAGGER for ROLLING STONES LTD.
Escher's reply left Baarn on January 20. It was addressed to Mr. Peter Swales and read: Quote:
Dear Sir, Some days ago I received a letter from Mr. Jagger asking me to design a picture or to place at his disposal unpublished work to reproduce on the cover-sleeve for an LP record.
My answer to both questions must be no, as I want to devote all my time and attention to the many commitments I made; I cannot possibly accept any further assignments or spend any time on publicity.
By the way, please tell Mr. Jagger I am not Maurits to him, but Very sincerely, M. C. Escher.
Via VBS For years we've been reading about a patch of garbage the size of Texas floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, ingeniously dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Basically, any trash that gets dumped in the water rides the currents to this one spot and joins an ever-increasing flotilla of crap. For all the breathless accounts of the mess and its impact on the area's sealife, however, no one seemed to have a picture of the buildup.
In order to sate our own curiosity, VBS joined the crew of a research vessel studying the trash and sailed out into one of the most remote spots of open water in the world, the North Pacific Gyre, in search of this mythical garbage island. What we discovered once we got there was an ecological disaster beyond any of our expectations and possibly the single worst thing human beings have done to the planet and ourselves. Hope you're into cancer and sex-reversal!
