Liesbeth Bussche

via - though not much help if you don't speak French! This is what the site says when translated (poorly, sorry): "A curious idea of the Belgian designer Liesbeth Bussche with the use of the urban decoration to create there jewels of very big size. A series “Urban Jewelry” which presents for example earrings and collars. To discover in the streets of Tielrode in Belgium."




I love these pieces, they're all so clever!

Berkley Illustration

Alright - if you know me at all, you know that I love animals a great deal, and for them to be in silly outfits or situations only increases my love for them tenfold. With that said, for me to stumble upon Berkley Illustration awhile ago practically stopped my heart! Their specialty is portrait style drawings of various animals in quirky ensembles and they are totally adorable. I featured them in my tumblr a while ago but figure they deserve an official posting in here. And the best thing about Berkley Illustration?The You can buy their prints for cheap on etsy! They have oodles of animals to choose from so it's impossible to not find at least one (or ten) that you adore. I hope to one day have the space above my fireplace covered with framed prints of these guys.

Caroline Royce

I love her work! Check out here flickr here. Here are a few of my favorites of hers (click the image to see full size):

Jethro Lazenby Cave

I wrote a big shpeil (? how the hell do you spell that?) about this guy, but I sound like every other douchey blog when I do. I'll sum him up real quick: 19; from Melbourne, Australia; Nick Cave's son, rather rebellious, aaaaand my new favorite model. Seriously.







Hot damn.

Brandi Strickland

Boy, I sure have been lazy with this thing. I'm going to continue this streak of "showcasing" artists that I am currently into. I meant to post this artists work a few months ago, so it may come as old news to some but if not, you are in for a real treat.

I don't know a whole lot about Brandi Strickland, but I don't always think it's necessary to know about the person who makes the art. If you are curious about her though, there is a small bio on her website, www.brandistrickland.com







From top to bottom: "When you're done here", "Universe Kite", "Zenith", "The Explorers", and my personal favorite, "Intuition".

She's got a helluva lot of art on her website so I strongly suggest you check it out - she's got major talent.

I have a Tumblr now and I use it a lot more frequently than I use this.
http://soontherainwillcome.tumblr.com/
Check it!

John Baizley

Not only a very talented artist, Baizley is also the singer (and guitarist) for Baroness. I'm not going to say much about him other than he produces incredible stuff. Here are a few of his pieces:

(The artwork for the Red Album, by Baroness)

Harvest of Hope Festival - Pt. 2

In my last post I briefly mentioned how fun it was to watch people dancing at Harvest of Hope. I'd like to elaborate on that a little more.

First off we have purple headband girl. I fortunately snagged some pictures of her during Diplo's set, in her glorious coral body suit. The dude in the blue tank is Travis, from BLORR. I'm not sure if he was hollerin', but I wouldn't doubt it - she was a fox.


Thank God for camera phones, otherwise I'd have no way to prove that this majestic creature exists.

There were tons of other insane dancers, but unfortunately I have no photos. But here are some descriptions, in the various styles of "Craigslist".

gray & teal striped shirt guy during Diplo - w4m: u were dancing with a group of friends and i think u were on xtacy or something. idk, u were sweating a lot and kept moving like u were pushing a lawn mower or grocery cart. i tried to do it but couldnt cuz i felt like i was starting a chainsaw or something. would luv 2 have u teach me how to "mow the lawn".

blues brother looking guy in white polo and bucket hat- w4m: i think u were watching the national. i think i was watching yr butt. i know that for a fact actually. it was hypnotizing. your butt, not the national. somehow when u danced u made just yr butt move.... but nothing else. u r like 6'5" and had a lumpy belly and a friend that looked like a more straight version of u. u r an enigma to me. neway, the point of this is to ask u how u get just yr butt to move?

This one doesn't have to do with dancing, but whatev.com:

ginger girl that puked on my foot during against me! - w4w: you were walking through the crowd right by me when you abruptly stopped, threw up directly onto the ground and my foot for about three seconds, and kept walking. i cursed you, recovered, then wiped my tainted foot on my jeans. that exchange of stomach acid and rumrunner will never be forgotten. i saw you after their set by the fence, still retching. hope you made it to your tent/trailer/grassy knoll safely.

Honestly, it makes me mad I did not get video of bucket hat guys butt. It took serious talent, and now the memory of it is taunting (and haunting) me.

Harvest of Hope Festival - Pt. 1

So this past weekend, I went to this:



One word sums up that weekend: EPIC. My friend Sandra and I got there around 5 on Saturday, so we missed quite a few sets, but that's okay. Why is that okay, you ask? Well let me tell you, friend. I saw Bad Brains. BAD BRAINS. It was like a religious experience seeing them, no joke.
In case you aren't too familiar with them, here is a little video about them that I found on their site:


They played Stage 1 on Saturday along with Strike Anywhere, The Bouncing Souls, Propagandhi, and Against Me! I unfortunately missed all of those except Against Me!, though they were amazing enough to make up for the rest. There are few bands that I love as much as I love them, have seen as many times, own as many records from, and have loved as long. That whole sentence is weirdly constructed but basically what I'm trying to say is that Against Me! is one of the best bands ever. They just never disappoint. Here is a video from AM!'s set at HoH.

It cuts off at the end just a little, but this song is one of my favorites so I chose it anyway.

I also saw Tilly & the Wall, the good dudes in BLORR and Clock Hands Strangle, Black Kids, Diplo (who seriously knew how to get a crowd moving), This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and The Mountain Goats.

Now for the "thumbs down" reviews of the weekend. The two main bands I have a bone to pick are with The Gaslight Anthem and The National.

I thought I liked The Gaslight Anthem. They're cute, have an Against Me! vibe (liberal usage of 'whoa-oh-oh' and the like), kind of gritty with a smidge of blue collar charm, and have some pretty decent songs. But now that I've seen them, I don't know where they stand in my book. I found that while watching them live if you closed your eyes and just listened, you'd think they were some dime-a-dozen buttrock band. I thought the beer might have been affecting my judgement, but Sandra mentioned later that they sucked and "sounded like Nickelback". Oof. Looks like the beer just honed in on their crappiness.

And as for you, The National... I never fell head over heels over "Boxer," though I tried to. It's a decent album, but always felt like some sort of slurred Interpol knock-off. Sorry, guys. Regardless, they are talented and have gotten tons of attention recently so I had high hopes for their performance. After all, they were headlining Stage 1 on Sunday. Well, after getting off the ferris wheel we strolled over and were immediately disappointed. Isn't that terrible? Within seconds I was over it. But we stuck around because watching people dance was pretty entertaining, and I had to kill time somehow before This Bike is a Pipe Bomb played. Maybe they need to pick up a wicked coke habit to kick things up a notch (kidding!), or at least have a damn Redbull or something. Yaaaawn.

Now here are the winners of the weekend (aside from BB and AM!):
Ra Ra Riot, Holy Fuck, Tigercity, and Monotonix. Oh golly. They all played in a row Sunday afternoon and it was worth the sunburn, let me tell you. Here are some main points:

-Monotonix: Singer reminded me of a more tan, less tame version of the System of a Down singer. That could be bad, but in this instance it is awesome, and he is hilariously grotesque. He balanced on the barrier rail near the stage, pulled his shorts down, shoved the microphone downtown and then sang with it just seconds later. He also was held up by the crowd for the majority of the set, as was a drumset so he was just "floating" on top of the crowd, banging around, singing (I use that word loosely) in what I presume is Hebrew (they're from Tel Aviv). I ran into the singer later near a food tent in the band area and was astonished by how hairy he is up close.

Yeah... have a taste of that.

-Tigercity: Had no idea who these guys were, but they instantly won me over. Perhaps it was the singer saying that he was turning into a raisin, or their ridiculously cute bassist? Those things in addition to their refreshing sound is what really bowled me over. I'm not really sure how to explain their sound, so you go figure it out!

-Holy Fuck: I have heard this name all over the place, and not in the expletive sense, but had no idea what they sounded like or anything about them. But once they started playing, it was ON! I was an automatic fan from the get-go. They reminded me of Battles somewhat, which is a great thing. They were super tight and focused, but unfortunately their recordings don't even touch their live performance. Hopefully they'll throw some better recorded songs up soon.

-Ra Ra Riot: They rule, basically. It looks like they are having a ton of fun on stage, and they're really tight, musically. I used to have more written here, but it was a bit contrived so I'll just post a video of theirs instead.


Overall, the weekend spent at Harvest of Hope was one of the best of my life. It was exhausting - constantly walking or standing, swampy port-a-potties, heat, booze, no real bed - but all so incredibly worth it.

A few more fun and trippy videos for your enjoyment

Chairlift:


Fare Soldi:
(Warning: This song isn't that good. Or at least it hasn't really grown on me yet..)


Late of the Pier: (00:48 is so intense!)

Trippin'

I've been a big fan of trippy and psychedelic inspired things recently. I'm talking about stuff like this:

Tahiti Boy and the Palmtree Family


Simian Mobile Disco:


Parts of the video remind me of this little trick:


Deerhunter:


Animal Collective:



The artwork for Animal Collective's most recent album, "Merriweather Post Pavillion":

(It's an old internet meme but will always be awesome)
I'd also like to add that "Merriweather.." is SO GOOD.

Ah, I almost forgot one of my favorite videos of ALL TIME:


And if Universal Music Group weren't jerks I'd post this video, it's an older Presets song but the video is absolutely NUTS and super unpredictable:
The Presets - Are you the one?

It's fun stuff and I used to think it was too spastic and annoying but something in me switched, and I'm glad because there is sooooo much of this stuff out there. Post some of your favorites if you've got 'em!

"Hope for the Fallen" video

Here's a sweet new video from Facedown Records band Call to Preserve.



(Fun Fact: You can see me in the background of some shots, awkwardly jivin' along on the right in my sweet Obey 'Obama' shirt.)

Very nice video, gentlemen!
But really - poor Harbor, why can't he just enjoy his drink?! Him getting his drink slapped out of his hands reminded me of something, and I think it might just be this video:


Anyway! Call to Preserve will be performing at this years Facedown Fest in Pomona, CA.

CTP will also soon be on tour with hardcore greats MADBALL and REIGN SUPREME, starting with a show in Erie, PA on March 6th.

Anneli Olander

A Swede with a penchant for watercolors, Anneli Olander is one of my favorite artists of today.
These first two are very recent pieces of hers, and after that are gallery pieces that are a bit older.





And my absolute favorite (and is framed on my bedside table):


A lot of her work feels very ethereal and floaty, but wet and soft, all at the same time. Those might be strange adjectives to describe art with, but her work really makes me feel a lot. I just love it. What does it make you feel?

For more info on A.Olander Illustration:
http://www.anneliolander.com/
www.myspace.com/anneli_in_wonderland

Oh my Coachella

I'm generally not a big fan for fests. Big ones, I mean. Bonnaroo, Bamboozle, Bumbershoot, South by Southwest... those types of fests. Expensive tickets for the actual event, plane tickets, lodging costs, food, and booze equals a lot of hours at work to pay for an event which would most likely just leave me sunburned, hungover, dirty, and broke. No thanks. But I'm not gonna lie, these fests have some seriously killer performers and seeing lineups like this year's Coachella in Cali makes all the effort seem worth it.



That is a boatload of bands, and those are not even close to all of them. To see Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, and Morrissey in a single day would be so epic you'd be picking up my gray matter after my head exploded from the insanity that just occurred.

At $269 for all three days and with a lineup like that, it almost makes me want to get a second job. If you do have the means and time, though... please go.

And try to make out with Morrissey.

Slap the butcher!

"Summer Heights High" may be old news to some, but if you haven't heard of it... you'll be thanking me by the end of this post.
It's my current favorite show and quotes from it have swiftly infiltrated my vernacular, possibly to the annoyance of others. It's an Australian program that can be viewed in America on HBO. The main characters for the show are: Mr. G, a drama loving egomaniac; Jonah, a rebellious and trouble-making Polynesian native; and Ja'mie, a cocky private school snob. Here are some videos to show what you have been missing out on:

Mr. G, aka Mr. Gregson, aka Greg Gregson, aka Helen 'Greg' Gregson:


Ja'mie King:


Jonah Takalua:



Go check out the SHH site where you can make Mr. G dance, dress the characters up, and my favorite - have Jonah write up some graffiti that you compose. It's also got videos, bios, and merch (a "Puck You" shirt? yes plz!)
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/summerheightshigh/#home

First post!

Hello, and I hope you enjoy the randomness that I am about to thrust upon you.