Op ed

"Hey, look at me! I'm a [Republican or Democrat] member of Congress. I like to publicly interrogate the CEO of BP about its safety and environmental record even though it was my pushes for deregulation that helped cause this crisis. I have to apologize if the irony is lost on me, however; I'll be too busy furiously masturbating to my signed 8x10 photograph of Milton Friedman."

I know I used to listen to a lot of ska, but I really don't like bowling.

Painting was always something I avoided while in undergrad. By the last two years of my college career, I couldn't create anything without some kind of outline. In the past year or so, I've become more comfortable with using a brush for ink drawing. I began to experiment with paint again when I was privately commissed for a couple of pieces.
For a recent commission, I decided to just dive in and try to do the whole thing in oil paint. I'd never used oils before, so this painting took me longer than it should have, mostly because I needed some time figuring out how to work with oils and to understand the medium. So without futher ado (but please do excuse the poor photo quality), here is my modest first attempt with oil.

An Expedition For Momentum, 16x20", oil on panel, 2010.

Between a bike, a skateboard, and a machine gun; the machine gun is the safest choice.

I got back to Illinois last week following a two-week tour through eastern Canada with my friend's band. Many good times were had; we swam in five different bodies of water, played a lot of good shows, played a few not-so-good shows, ate a lot of cereal, slept in vans, slept on couches, developed bizarre inside jokes, met some great people, listened to a ton of Chumbawamba (seriously), fed cows, made new friends, and didn't see any moose.

I'm already hard at work on some art prints, as well as some new paintings for my show at Fillintheblank Gallery in August. To the left are some films for a new art print, which is based on a sketch I made in the van two weeks ago.

Sorry for the lack of updates here. I do, however, have one more item of possible interest:

Summer Mystery Tubes
Each tube will contain (at least): Three posters and/or art prints, one slightly imperfect print, one uniquely hand-manipulated print OR a test print, and one original drawing or sketch.
Not bad, eh? But there are only 15 available! Check it out.

The Curry is but a Metaphor

To the left is the Gummi House in Moncton, New Brunswick. We played our second Martimes show here with a bunch of great local bands who cooked veggie burgers and veggie dogs for us, as well as let us sleep on their couches. This was the only house show on the tour, so we made it count. It was one of our tightest performances so far. We also played in our underwear due to the intense heat accumulating in the house (and because it was funny).
This drawing was my little gift to our new friends in Moncton for having us play, letting me use their shower, and giving us couches to sleep on.
The next day, we ate at an excellent vegetarian restaurant and swam in the Atlantic Ocean before heading to the next show. It was really cold, but seeing a bunch of jellyfish, sand dollars, and hermit crabs was totally worth it.
The show in Halifax was more or less canceled, but I got to skate at a pretty rad spot and managed to buy a couple of Superchunk CDs from a used record store.
Yesterday, we were off and managed to make the drive from Halifax to Quebec City (which is no small feat in an Econoline full of four tired guys and a good thousand pounds of equipment). We made a few detours; stopping to see and feed some cows in New Brunswick, another quick swimming stop, and eating sandwiches at a Quizno's at which the employees traded us a sandwich for a CD and then (hilariously) requested autographs, even though they had never heard the band.
Tonight, we're in Quebec City. Two more shows to go after tonight, and then I'll be playing one last Montreal show with these guys. Then I've got to get back to Illinois and back to work. I can't wait!

Seriously.

Upon arrival in downtown Ottawa, before we could even put the van into park, we were given a handwritten note from a man claiming they were "words for the future." It reads:
Iron man at Salvation army shelters, they trying to kill him, he need civil support

The band we're on tour with received a similar and equally cryptic message:
Iron man at Salvation army ready to be kill, it is hepocracy (sic)

Just thought I'd help spread the word. You know, for the future.

Never trust a man what's made of gas

We are in Peterborough, Ontario tonight. We just played at a small venue that has put us up for the night in a room on the above floor. The room is fitted with several beds, comfortable couches, and (awesomely) an original Nintendo. I think we have experienced more hospitality in the past two days than any of us expected. We spent the afternoon checking out the town, playing Super Mario 3, and eating a bunch food we bought at a nearby grocery store.

At yesterday's show, we managed to get a bunch of people to hula hoop for an entire song (the venue had a bunch of hula hoops for some reason). Tonight, we performed a twenty-second song that my friend Franck wrote using words from the window of a payday and loan place two doors from the venue. He insisted on playing it between songs tonight. Awesome.

Sailboats, hummus, and forty-five dollar bills

Today is technically day three of the tour, although we didn't officially leave Montreal until yesterday (which was technically day two) due to some van troubles. We played last night in Toronto, and today's show was in Hamilton, ON. Today was one of those shows where everything that could have gone right did. The promoter actually prepared a ton of delicious vegan food for our band (since three out of four of us "swing that way," so to speak), including banana bread, sandwiches, and bean salad. Hamilton is a beautiful town, and we played with a ton of great bands.
Tonight, we're staying with some friends outside of Toronto, and we're off to Peterborough, ON tomorrow. I've taken to making a sketch/drawing for each city we play. I'll post a few of those when I can.
I'm still looking forward to getting back to work. The funny thing is that about eight years ago, I wanted nothing more than to be touring full time. This is a nice change of pace, but my place is at the light table cutting films and in my studio.