Summer Jams

What have I been doing? This and that. I planted a garden, and it kind-of looks like what would happen if Charlie Brown tried to grow vegetables. You might think that because I am an aesthetic creature, handy with two-dimensional renderings of owls and raccoons, that my garden would look quite organized and pleasing to the eye. You would be wrong. I'm not even going to post a picture until things grow(?).. its just too embarrassing at the moment.

Oh yeah, this happened! Great night, killer lineup. The Maxines are lo-fi two piece garage awesomeness, and Hurry Up are three-piece punk radness. My old bandmate, Maggie Vail, plays bass and sings, and my new favorite drummer Kathy Foster keeps the beat. Kathy's bandmate in The Thermals, Westin, switches it up to guitar. Really great straight-forward jammers!

Kathy has the #1 best drummer hair too, in my opinion. Might there be a Hurry Up/Western Hymn tour on the horizon? Hmmmmm... stay tuned.

And here's what's on the platter for next weekend: Survival Knife's 3rd show ever, in downtown Olympia. As the Knife's unofficial 'hype-man', I implore you to check them out. Justin + Brandt from Unwound, plus (stolen from Western Hymn!) best drummer ever Kris and bass machine Meg. Someone described them as Black Flag meets King Crimson meets Unwound? That might be apt. 

Flyer by moi.

This Town

Meanwhile:

Last night's scene in downtown Oly. All-ages punk action, just like it was 21 years ago, when I (by some miraculous twist of fate) poked my head in the side door at the Capitol Theater. Now we have Northern, a nice little space just off the main drag, run by volunteers who make sure the teenagers and 'aging-juvenile-delinquents' (me + my friends) still have a place to play and watch. Pretty cool. The picture above is of Hysterics, they are crazy rippers. Stephie, the singer, turns into some sort of feral wildcat when she has the mic, its really quite a sight. We're going to make a new band together! If I was a teen mom, I could be her mom, so this should be especially interesting and fun.

Spider and The Webs played a bunch of new songs, sorta dreamy reverbed-out jangle with Tobi's melodies, really really great. Their cover of Some Velvet Sidewalk's 'Dinosaur' was super cool. Bongo Randy showed up, and he can totally groove, man. Chris gave me a painting! James showed us all a killer new dance. Imagine teens and 40 year olds wiggling our legs around in some kind of free from dance-art. Hilarious. I love this town. Weirdo punks everywhere.

In The City

Wow. YES. Such a great weekend in San Francisco! I often forget, as a secluded woods-dweller, that I LOVE being in a city. Just for a visit. But man, it so re-charges whatever that is which lives in the core of my being. Sights, sounds, friends, family, friends-who-are-family, burritos, baked goods, culture, dogs, etcetera to infinity (and mostly the amazing community that exists within such a place: this trip re-affirmed to me that it IS possible to really make-it-happen, in a truly punk and caring/inspiring way, while existing in a land of nearly a million). Lying in the grass in Golden Gate Park, infinite blue sky and sunshine above, weaving amongst caged sculptures and prehistoric succulents. Traveling with unlikely companions, camping next to railroads, walking a thousand blocks in a day. And the best surprise? Staying in a part of town I've never experienced, 'Outer Sunset'. Right on the ocean, so beautiful with its wide sidewalks and quiet pastel architecture. Dreamy:

And then today when I got home to Kamilche:

Northwest beauty; a different sort of paradise. But worlds apart.

The whole reason I trekked down was for the Board Aid Benefit! Here's my freshly painted and glassed Paul Jensen hollow wood board, propped up on a stand so people could see PJ's amazing zebra-wood inlay work on the back (sorry no photo of that, I am such a forgetful documentarian!)

Lots of talent in the show, and I met The Nicest People. Good times!

This is Merle. He's kind-of famous in Sunset. He lives with Aleks who helped to organize the show, and where myself and the traveling NW crew stayed for a few days. I LOVE it when I'm on the road and I get to hang with a dog or a cat or a parrot! Merle rules. He's even a movie star.

Merle's dad has an insane tiki collection, this is the bar in the backyard. SO rad!

And here are my traveling companions and fellow craftsmen, Mike and Paul. I can't wait to see Paul's tour diary, since he takes about a hundred pictures a day. Next up = Paul teaches me how to build a paddleboard! Wild.

P.S. I'm so sunburned.

Beggars Banquet

A haiku!

Feline and canine

They came wearing tuxedos

Begging for my eggs.

Weirdos.

Occultance

Visually speaking, today's transit of Venus in front of the sun is fascinating! The path Venus has taken between the last transit (8 years ago) and this one forms a perfect pentagram. And because Venus is traveling backwards, or retrograde, the transit is also forming five heart-shapes. The hearts then form a five-petaled rose. Crazy.

Astronomy Explained Under Sir Isaac Newton's Principles, 1799

My friend Sarah (there's a lot of us born between 1975 and 1981 it seems, I have five friends named Sara/h Elizabeth!) has given me these instructions for today's event: make a deep wish, one to last for the next 117 years. 

Thinking on that.

ed. note 9:46 pm: I got to see it! When I woke up this morning it was raining and howling and windy and grey, and I thought 'well, well, HOSED AGAIN, pacific northwest' (astronomical happenings often get clouded over in our special region).. but this afternoon the sun came out in a big way, and pal Matt (he recorded the first Western Hymn record!) set up his fancy telescopes in an alley behind a pizza joint in downtown Oly. He also made special sunglasses with solar filter thingies so we could stare right at the sun and see the little dot! 'Like a fertilized egg' said Michelle. Indeed.

Live It

Oh wow! Just saw this vid from last year of Western Hymn.. thanks Frank! We are back in action with a ton of new songs and a show at the Brotherhood w/ Hurry Up (Maggie from Bangs, Kathy and Westin from the Thermals) and Oly's garage babes The Maxines on June 24th. Come hang! In the meantime, try to figure out what kind of weird shirt I'm wearing (I have no idea).

Me Big Mouth

I know I said no more surfboard photos, but I just can't help but post one last pic of this piece, because of the masterful craftsmanship and teamwork that went into it. Here it is, circa this afternoon, gloss-coated with fins, ready and waiting to head to SF straight from Paul Jensen's shop:

Man! I want to start painting on beautiful things all the time. Whatever, "paper"...  Things are so much cooler.

Thought my next project was Slim's hyena tattoo, but it seems I've had a personal request put in for this weekend. JT would like me to letterpress song titles and re-illustrate the above horse papercuts for the epic Unwound Archive first download release.. select tracks from their last tour in 2001. Pressure!