I've found the fountain of youth!

And it resides in old commercials like this:


Hey, all you old-ass Winnipeggers! There's more!
RetroWinnipeg's YouTube vids

That poor fucker Triple H.

Five years to the day he tears his quad...he does it again. I'm not a fan of a lot of things he's done in the past, but that really sucks.

Random Thoughts: January 6th, 2007 (A 2006 postmortem)

1st: December 31st, 2006, 2:13 AM
2nd: Hanging out with Neil Lee and Chris Pointon, December 31st.
3rd: Buck 65 after his New Year's DJ set.
4th: The sun at Fort Whyte Nature Centre.

Damn. The holiday season was nuts, but now it's over. However, things have started to get crazy again. On my plate:

• 3 posters: One for Mr. Nestor Wynrush, another for the upcoming Clash of the Titans soundclash, and third (and most importantly), a poster for my wedding social.
• adjusting to the night shift at Naylor, which starts Monday for me.
• I was chosen to do a card for the third gigposters.com playing card deck! I'm stoked!

I'm a little scared about it all (I really want all of those endeavors to turn out well), but this is really good. 2006 was the year I "got my hustle on", so it seems I'm carrying on the momentum I gained.
This first week of 2007 has been a bit dismal and lackadaisical, and the condition of my apartment has taken the brunt of my ennui. I'm looking to turn this around.
Let's do a bunch of fucking lists, shall we?

All The Stuff I Got For Christmas

• H2O Mega Luge
• Mastercraft Pivoting Cordless Screwdriver
• Winnipeg: Heart of the Continent
• Lindt Peanut Butter Chocolates
• The latest issue of Magnet
• Money from Mom
• A glue gun
• assorted chocolates
• WD-40 No-Mess Pen™
• a bungee cord set
• Heat Treat® hand warmers
• Wildly Delicious Bruchetta
• AVID 4 Shaving System
• A Rip Racer™
• Bula Face Guard
• a scarf
• Pine Pocky™
• Strawberry Pocky™
• Senjaku Ice Cream Candy
• A 7 pack of Marukawa Gum
• C.O. Bigelow Rosemary Mint Superb Body Cleanser
• a corkscrew
• HMV gift card
• double fudge hot chocolate
• Avalanche gift set

And my personal fave: an IKEA "Jerker"desk! I'm typing at it RIGHT NOW! If it weren't for the scuzzy condition of my apartment, I'd post a picture.

The Stuff I Bought on Boxing Day:

• J Dilla's The Shining
• Madlib's Vol. 1-2: Movie Scenes
• Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards
• The Roots' Game Theory
• Samurai Champloo Vol. 7
  
• An Energetics jump rope
  
• Illustration: Issues 15 and 17
• An Orgy of Playboy's Eldon Dedini
• All Flee!
• Schizo No. 4
• Top Hats and Flappers: The Art of Russell Patterson
• The Comics Journal no. 279
• The Comics Journal Library: Harvey Kurtzman
• 2 Frederix canvases

Needless to say, I went nuts. And now...

The First Random Thoughts of the Year:

• In retrospect, my argument with John K. made me love rap music - and music in general - all over again. Buying rap albums during Boxing Day felt exhilarating not only because I had the money to get 'em (thank you new job), but because my personal passion for music was re-ignited. It bugs me when I hear folks at gigposters say "people still buy music?" I say yes, emphatically. Gotta have those liner notes, gotta get the artists their money. So there.
• No, I don't make resolutions anymore, I make guidelines. This year: 1. I'm gonna get healthier. 2. I'm gonna draw more. 3. I'm gonna try to live life a little fuller. Less bitching.

I think that's it.
Where's my best of 2006 albums list, you ask? Well, due to the fact that I had very little money during the year, I've had to change it up a little. Here's what I posted at gigposters a while back:

Al'z Top 3 Releases I Heard Via MySpace or Band Site:

1. The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America
2. The Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury
3. A tie: Cut Chemist's The Audience's Listening and Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor

I've been sitting at this desk typing this for way too long while listening to CBC Radio 3. Here are some more thoughts/observations before I go do some important shit, like eating:

• While listening to Talib Kweli and Madlib's Liberation, I thought of something: rap music is too fucking concerned about being "classic" instead of being just plain good, for fuck's sake. Rappers have been so hung up on how many fucking mics they get in The Source instead of writing good shit. Fuck that. C'mon...you know Tribe, Biggie, Dre, and a gang of others just wanted to drop shit that smashed everything else and got in your fucking ear. Stop it with that "instant classic" bullshit, too. That doesn't exist. A classic takes time and has to affect a population before it reaches that level. It's gotta get all up in your soul. Until then, it's only really good to you right then and there.
• With that being said, Liberation is a great way to start off the year. Talib is fierce on this, and Madlib brings it with the beats. Cop that shit NOW.
• And if you haven't grabbed this yet, do so: 800 tracks in 48 minutes.
• Lemme throw one more in there: Co-op and Hunnicutt's 98' Dodge Neon Mix.
  
• Okay, that's it. Y'all do your muhfuckin' thing in '07. F'real.
  

The Godfather Is Dead.

R.I.P. James Brown.

?uestlove's Tribute
O-Dub's Tribute
O-Dub's Video Tribute

Skillz's 2006 Rap-up

Listen via Real Player or grab the MP3 from Spine Magazine.
I'm glad he does these, because most years are a blur to me nowadays.
On a related note, Pitchfork posted their Worst Album Covers of 2006. Personally, I dig Chuck Anderson's work on Lupe's album, but whatever. And, I'm surprised that I managed to see 5 of Pitchfork's Top 25 Vids since I cut my cable (by choice and necessity) in September.

Spreading Myself Thin Online

It just occurred to me that I might have too many online community haunts. Here are the top 5:

1. Gigposters.com: Surprise, surprise. Hell, this place is one of the reasons I get up in the morning. In my 5 plus years on this site, I've learned stuff that I couldn't learn in school, and I think I've become a better illustrator and designer because of it. This site gave me (and continues to give me) the impetus to do projects that keep me happy outside of work, so one day, I may actually get hired to do this fun shit.
2. flickr: Over the past year and a half, I've transformed into this chronic shutterbug. Flickr has only fed this sickness. Sharing my pics with complete strangers and my contacts (who ain't strangers no more, especially the ones I've seen naked), especially when they deem something I shot worthy of a comment - or better yet, a "favorite" designation - gives me an unimaginable high. Someone oughta bottle that.
3. MySpace.com: Yeah, I know...shut up. I can't put my finger on what makes MySpace so addictive, but that bastard Tom obviously knew what he was doing. I mean, I didn't fuck with Friendster one bit, but along came this, and I got hooked. I started a profile because Johnny Crap said he was getting a number of jobs through this thing, so I gave it a go. Now I've got 702 "friends" and counting (some of them I've actually met! In person!). Admittedly, I consider myself a bit of a "collector". Among my "collection" are notable folks like emcees Mr. Lif and Blueprint, Roots leader ?uestlove, anal sex expert Tristan Taormino, Ashlie Atkinson (in her Maggie T. and Chunky Pam personae), cartoonsists Bob Fingerman and Peter Bagge, and porn director Eon McKai. Now if only it weren't so full of bugs.
   
4. The Fat Forums: You know me, I like porn. And, I love fat girls. Well, whaddayaknow...a site where BBW models and their fans can shoot the shit?! I think I'll kick my shoes off n' stay a while.
5. The Break Bread Board: I've been a fan of Peanuts & Corn Records and its roster practically from day one, and this is the place to find out what's going down. It's quieter compared to its ezboard days, but it remains essential nonetheless.

The rest, to a lesser extent: Illustration Mundo, Drawn.ca Community, BBWRadio Forums, and The Drawing Board (which is a shame, since I've been there for over 4 years).

I should spend more time outside.

(EDIT: When I said "to a lesser extent", I meant that I'm not there as much as I should be. That wasn't a remark on the quality at all, y'nahmean?)

Surly Santa

For Sugar Frosted Goodness! Click the picture to view larger.

Xmas Rap!

For a show next Sunday. If they get 50 people on such short notice, that'll be dope. Dope, and amazing.

Random Thoughts: December 3rd, 2006

Top: My favorite parking lot.
Middle: The Disraeli Bridge, which I've become quite familiar with.
Bottom: Mark Saunders' statue keeps watch over a wintery Portage Ave.

• So, I've just put one week behind me at my new workplace. Everyone's been really cool so far, and I've been teamed up with a fine mentor, who's been showing me the rather complicated ropes. In a month or two, I should be working the evening shift I was hired for. Until then, it's all about waking up at 5 (occasionally 5:30) to get there for 7:30.
• I'm SO stoked to be down with the first print version of I Want Your Skull. When Ryan (August, the creator of this skull-based art thang) has a full list of contributors, I'll post it here.

Photo courtesy of the good folks at Anti.

• Yeah, I was amped for Lupe and The Roots' albums, but when I found out a couple of months ago that Tom Waits was dropping a 3 CD set, I nearly swallowed my tongue. Now that I have a new job and Christmas is comin', the possibility of getting those joints in my hands is far greater.
• Speaking of albums...the new Clipse? HAWT! Normally, I hate on all that drug-dealing shit (no matter who's doin' it), but good music is good music. Admittedly, when "Grindin'" was hot, I was a very outspoken critic of that song. I thought the chorus was dumb as the dumbest thing imaginable, and it was about the drug hustle. But like most things The Neptunes have touched, it got under my skin. I remember hearing "Young Boy" at a Hunnicutt and Co-op jam, and from there, I was down to hear anything that the Neptunes put their name on. "Wamp Wamp" will get me on the floor. I don't give a fuck who's playing it.
• Gotta get ready for bed. Peace, y'all.
  

Lil' Rider

Click the picture to access the larger version.

If I sent this in on time, it'll be in the print version of I Want Your Skull.
Admittedly, I waited until the last minute to do this, but I like the spontaneity of it. The genesis of this lil' thing was a sketch I did in preparation for Fecal Face's Sketchbook Monday (aka SBM, an homage to Illustration Friday). The topic was "Rider".