The Harvest

Thought I should post this because it's just really good:

http://www.dshed.net/harvest/

Watch it and you'll see.

Oh, and Wanterstock 2.0 is on August 16th, so if you don't have anything better to do come out and support local music! It's also free.

Oh vinyl, how I love thee!

Good finds while record shopping today.


The first to grab my eye was The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan by...well you know. The spine is cracked and there is some other cover wear but the record seems to listen just fine. Some of my favorite Dylan songs are on this record such as A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Girl From the North Country, and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. Score! (Upon further listening Don't Think Twice, It's All Right has some scratches in it which make the song skip and subsequently make me look like an idiot when I'm singing along, but the sheer awesomeness of the song make it okay.)


The next would be Street Legal by Bobby again. This record is mediocre as far as Dylan goes but the opening track, Changing of the Guards, will forever remind me of Luis Morales, 823 Turner Ave., among other things.

The next record I bought was Slowhand by Eric Clapton. It's a timeless album, and one of his first after separating from Derek & the Dominoes I believe. And it was only a dollar!

The only new album I bought was I'm Wide Awake It's Morning by Bright Eyes. It came with a free mp3 download, which is one reason why I have so many new LPs. There are so many I want to get still! Anyways, this album is great, continuing my as-of-late Bright Eyes kick.

I successfully managed to not make brownies tonight, but it isn't my fault. The oven wouldn't heat up. But when it does, those are going to be some delicious brownies! I also succesfully rode my bike to the store today without half killing myself and succesfully paid off one of my credit cards today. Sounds like it was a succesful day, huh?

Or the Paris of the South...

I've been listening to Cassadaga by Bright Eyes a lot recently and have discovered an entirely different side to the album. Before, I received the album just as part of the Bright Eyes' library. However, after listening to the album over and over and over again, it has become it's own beast. It has taken on a sort of folk-rock-country-alt-country feel collectively with each song being independent and different in its own right. All the tracks together and in order meld perfectly and completely to form Cassadaga. I previsouly thought that Conor Oberst's voice was on the border of too "emo" for me, but after listening more closely, I realize that he makes it his own very successfully. When he wants to, Oberst can have a good voice, as in he can sing well and very well at that. If you don't like Bright Eyes or maybe haven't thought about listening to it before and you feel that you are such a person that appreciates music, listen to this album. Otherwise, you're missing out. Oh, and the vinyl/cd package is very very cool, so go out and buy it and support your local record shop.

I drew a picture of Ginsberg (again) last night but couldn't quite seem to get his eyes right.

Crash!

And that is exactly what I did this morning.

Today is a beautiful day! So I decided to ride my bike across town to the bank. While taking this leisurely ride to the bank, I came upon a part of the sidewalk that didn't quite agree with me. I raised my handlebars to get up the sidewalk and when I came back down, disaster! My front wheel went haywire and I flew maybe a foot or two over my handlebars. I used my hands to block my headphones and my head from being damaged but managed to get some nice cuts and sprain my right hand. Pics from the damage below via cell phone. Fortunately for me and my semi-broken bicycle my mom and Mike were in town and came and picked me up. All is well and hopefully nothing comes up that is worse. Now for portabella mushroom burgers!

Bummer!

Man, what a bummer. Only $25 to see some awesome bands in an awesome city with an awesome girlfriend and some awesome friends and they're alllll sold out. I guess shit happens, right?



Angel and I watched Meet Bill last night. Aside from the so-so acting, the movie was pretty great. Bill, played by an overweight Aaron Eckhart, is stuck in a dead end life with a wife who is having an affair and a job he hates and blah blah blah. The movie progresses as Bill's student partner who he is supposed to mentor sets him free, albeit via a joint or two of White Widow. I would recommend it, and if you can get through some of the cheesier parts, it's not half bad.

We also watched Be Kind Rewind featuring the talents of Danny Glover, Jack Black, and Mos Def. It wasn't too bad, considering the last Jack Black movie I watched was School of Rock. In the film, Jack Black becomes magnetized and erases all the videos in the store, and so him and Mos Def (and eventually almost the entire cast) have to recreate all the films as they rent them and it turns out to be a huge success! Until a very angry Sigourney Weaver fines them for copyright infringement and they owe like a trillion dollars. They then make their own movie and the day is saved, sort of, because their building still has to be demolished and Danny Glover still has to go live in the projects, but they go out with a bang screening their original film that they created for the entire city.

All for now.

I gots a fever!

For counterculture icons that is!

Tonight I downloaded Timothy Leary's Turn on, Tune In, Drop Out speech recorded in New York in 1966 that I stumbled upon. Awesome find. I got it here. I also drew a picture of Allen Ginsberg.

Cheers!

Boycott Beijing!

And I mean it too. Nothing should stand in the way of human rights. Granted, the United States has many of it's own human rights issues to straighten out (did someone say Guantanamo Bay?) but boycotting the Beijing Olympics would at the very least be a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, there is too much Olympic fever to stop that train now, so the only thing that each one of you can do is ignore the Olympic Games like they aren't even happening. Paste magazine had a special Olympic advertisment with some bands recalling their "favorite" Olympic moments. It wasn't too bad until at the end I saw 3 Doors Down staring back at me. I guess if you were a washup band with no talent and depending solely on if the mainstream will swallow you back up for your livelihood you could ignore human rights too, right? I guess some people will do anything for fame, money, etc., etc., etc.,...

Visit boycottbeijing08.org.

Any wattage lower than the sun...

What a past few days!

Thursday Angel and I went up to Cedar Point and being the champions we are hit every ride in the park we wanted to. The new (as of last year) Maverick was phenomenal. In my opinion, the best ride at the park. When we were done there we went to the Knight's Inn in Sandusky and crashed on a massive king size bed and watched The Who on Vh1's rock honors. Talk about rock n' roll. Friday we got up at 9, had a filling continental breakfast and went to Soak City. We had an awesome time on the water slides and, well, got soaked. As well as badly sun burned. We then went back to the Knight's Inn and ordered some Cameo's white pizza without chicken and mac and cheese triangles and then crashed. We came back today.

Today I went on a bike ride down to my grandma's house. It's about two miles or so I believe. I listened to Spoon's GaGaGaGaGa the entire time. It was a great ride but I was completely and utterly exhausted when I got back to my house.

Oh yeah, I bought a bike! It is a 1990-ish Trek Antelope 800. It is black with neon green lettering. It was only $100 and is still pretty much brand new. Now I just have to switch the seat with my old bike so I can get the gel seat.

I did a painting of Dylan today but don't think it is good enough to post.

I also stumbled upon this. Crazy.

Oh. My. God.

Holy shit. The Who on Vh1 Rock Honors. Fucking incredible. I shall type more later.

Late night...

Indeed it is. And I'm going to get about three hours of sleep before heading off to Cedar Point for the next few days! It's going to be a good few days.

I've discovered recently that, as cliche as this may sound, you have to believe in yourself more than anyone else believes in you. That is where it all begins and that is where it all comes from and that is where it all comes back to. You cannot let other people tell you anything.

I've decided that I'm going to paint something for the new place that I'm moving to in just about a month, but I haven't quite decided what it will be yet.

This has been sort of a boring blog post but I wanted to get one in before I left for a few days and I don't really have any pictures to share right now, except for maybe this one

oh, and this one too...
And one last time... (ain't she pretty?)

Later skaters.

http://freedomlovingrepublicans.com/

Visit. Laugh. Enjoy.

Vanished from my hand...

Today ended well, much better than it had begun but not nearly as good as last night. All my friends had come up for my birthday party and they are all very, very much appreciated, and even more so is Angel for throwing the whole shindig (even if she made everyone sing me happy birthday.) Everyone was safe and nothing too bad happened so all in all I do believe the party was a success!

And thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday and all that. It was extremely nice of everyone. Birthdays always give you a chance to recount your friends.

Going to work today wasn't fun, and it's going to suck tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after, and after that, and so on and so on...it's making all the days run together and become almost meaningless. But I did draw a picture of Mr. Zimmerman that I believe is the best thing I have ever drawn (which isn't saying much).


His lips make him look he was in KISS and the centering of his face needs work but other than that it isn't bad I don't think.

I need to make time to watch that Woody Guthrie DVD I bought. It's on the floor staring at me.

Oh! I almost forgot! The show at The Nervous Dog went well. I did okay by me, Hayden Calling played a good set, and the rest of the show I spent in the parking lot discussing the current and past trends in the music business. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of Hayden Calling or anyone else, but someone took pictures of me, and here they are:

The girl in the last picture = 100% uninterested.

Oh, how awesome Joan Baez sounds with Dylan on "Mama, You Been On My Mind" from The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Live 1964!

Read This Now!

Everyone reading this and everyone you know should read THIS:

http://nightweed.com/printableusavotefacts.html

The website has sources to back up all of its claims. Most importantly it leaves the connections to be made by YOU. This is something that slipped through the fingers of the sheepish lazy minded American public and is going to continue unless there is a very very significant change.

WAKE UP!!

Revolution!

I just like the sound of the title.

I didn't post yesterday because I just didn't have anything to say. Everyone has days like that and I'm sure I'm entitled to one, let alone as many as I want.

Last night was spent listening to records that one of my friends hates and the rest of my friends like and drawing. This is what happened:

(it's okay I guess, George Harrison sort of looks like a woman.)

Regardless, my friends are my friends and there is nothing that can change that. I've been a bastard of a friend for far too long and I've missed some really good times with some really good people at my own expense. That ain't gunna happen no more.

Tonight is the show at the Nervous Dog, it starts at 7. I'll probably post pictures tomorrow before heading off to my official birth-day par-tay. Wooo!

2 decades ago, in a hospital not that far away...

I was born! Darn-tootin' today's my birthday, which is perfect timing for the Woody Guthrie DVD I got today entitled This Machine Kills Fascists. Two and a half hours of documentary folky goodness. Mmmm...

In other news, the storm outside is threatening to blow half of this town away, so I may just get struck by lightning posting this. I'm risking my life for this blog!

No but seriously. What a week! Yesterday, Angel and I had our one year anniversary. Today, my birthday. Tomorrow, I don't have to work which is exciting enough. Thursday I, or rather Professor Greenhouse, will be opening for Hayden Calling, Box the Stars, and Overcoming the Trial at the Nervous Dog Cafe in Akron so if you happen to be in the area you should come on out! The facebook event page would be right...oh where is it...umm...oh here it is. Friday is my birthday par-tay so I will most likely post some pictures up of that.

Now it's time for a delectable vegetarian birthday dinner (veggie lasgana and fruit tart!).

Crying like a fire in the sun...

My books came today! Both promise to be a very good read. They are The Strawberry Statement by James Simon Kunen (thanks Steph!)

and the other is Anarchy! An Anthology of Emma Goldman's Mother Earth


Both promise to be very good reads. However, I have to finish Alice in Wonderland first. Oh man.

I also bought a brand new Hohner harmonica holder (that really is the official name). It does a much better job than the wire hanger I was using before but I'm still sad to see the wire hanger go. I'll probably keep it for a while because I'm a pack rat like that.



I listened to a lot of Rage Against the Machine yesterday, and a lot of Bob Dylan to calm me down today. Now I am at a happy medium. And now I have to go to work.

In the calm nite sky, eternal youth appeared by Chris Wallis

Oooh! Aaaah!

Fireworks were last night. Had a better time after however with some cool people. Most of the night went like this:

And what I've been working on? Well here it is:

Ta-da! Just some stencil work on canvas I did for Angel.

Off to go paint.

You sent me to Toledo...

For old times sake.

Cue patriotic music now...

Hey all,

On this day celebrating that rebellious nature of our forefathers that brought our country to fruition, I thought I would post...a picture I drew at work on the back of a ticket.


Now I am going to celebrate this great nation's great holiday cuz I ain't no Commie.

Viva la revolucion!

The words are the same...

and that's the important part." - Robert Zimmerman

Anyways,

Today I got sort of finished on something that I've been working on but can't quite reveal it yet. Oooh mystery! Pictures to come very soon. I did so while severly rocking out to the Simon and Garfunkel and Van Halen LPs I got yesterday.

It's funny, now that I have a blog I thought that I would have more to say, but I've been a bit dry lately.

And I thought I should post this:

Muto - An Ambiguous Animation Painted on Public Walls
http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm

This Is...A New Blog!

Indeed it is.

Today was a beautiful day. Went to Square Records with Knick and Steph and bought four vinyls for $20.75.

The first one is This is Johnny Cash released in 1969 on Harmony, a division of Columbia. Some really good Cash and an awesome cover of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right".

The next one and the only new record I bought was Against Me!'s 2005 Fat Wreck Chords release Searching for a Former Clarity. An awesome two disc set with one vinyl being black and one vinyl being white. Needless to say great album.

Up next is Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends, which begs for an Almost Famous quote. Good buy, it was only $3.00.

Track 3, side one...Finally, Van Halen's sophomore release from 1984 it's...1984! This cd was the first rock n' roll cd I bought that I had to hide from my mother. Now I have the vinyl and can listen to all my favorite tunes tinted with that rich, vinyl flavor.

That's all for now, more to come.

Folk the government!