. . .was one of those strange landmarks that came up in conversation surprisingly often. I drove by today to find it had been torn down.
Monthly Archive for July, 2009
Over the past few years, I have become increasingly wary of things labeled DIY (Do It Yourself). On one hand, it is easily applicable to what we do here at Cantab, as well as 1026, but more and more it seems to be applied to shoddily made things or poorly run events. It has almost become a mea culpa when things are not done right, “well … it’s DIY.” I hate that. If you are going to do it yourself, do it right. Like this DIY Peking Duck Dinner that we saw last night here in Philadelphia. Thanks to Bill for the photo.
French publisher Le Dernier Cri put out this amazing silk screened book of drawings by Mat Brinkman a while ago. It was expensive and I think they sold out quickly, but it is so, so good. If you can find a copy, it is well worth whatever it costs.
More images after the jump
The people at Arsenal Pulp Press used a drawing of mine for the cover of one of their new titles, The Mere Future by Sarah Schulman. I was super excited to get a copy in the mail today.
About a month ago a friend lent me a copy of David Mazzucchelli‘s much anticipated graphic novel Asterios Polyp. Mazzucchelli is a master of comics storytelling. When I had him as a teacher, he would always emphasize the possibilities of using the ALL of the elements of comics to help tell the story. In Asterios Polyp, he makes use of EVERYTHING, from different color themes to differentiate time, (purple and yellow for the present, cyan and magenta for the past) to different shaped word bubbles for different characters, to different drawing styles to convey different emotions, and that is only scratching the surface. As always, you can get it on Amazon, but we all know the local comic shop could use your support.
In Friday’s New York Times, Alan Feuer and Allen Salkin eulogize Dash Snow. The article quotes the New Museum’s Benjamin Godsill as saying that Snow’s work “captures this period bracketed by the fall of the World Trade Center and the fall of the financial system.” This photo (via Tiny Vices) has always stuck in my mind as a reminder of what a strange place downtown Manhattan is. The same streets are at once home to a world-famous subculture known for being completely detached from/disinterested in the reality of the outside world, while at the same being the setting of events that reverberate around the globe.
. . . have been the talk of the nation this past week. I think we all know race is still a serious issue in the city of Boston, and Cambridge too, as much as those of us from the Peoples Republic like to think we are above the fray. A few years ago, I read
J. Anthony Lukas’* Common Ground. This Pulitzer Prize winning work is one of the most riveting pieces of non-fiction I have ever read, and while it is 20 years old, I found it still casts light on many of the issues that face the city today. If you are from Boston, or have ever lived in Boston, or have ever watched The Departed and wondered what the fuck Jack Nicholson was talking about at the beginning, read this book.
*no relation.
CF (Christopher Forgues) is an amazing artist, I don’t think I need to tell anyone that, I have a feeling readers of this blog will already be very familiar with his work. Anyhow, this poster, reproduced in the catalogue for the 1996 Wunderground exhibition at the RISD museum, is so damn good. 11 x 17 xerox with 6 color spray paint, who needs to silkscreen, right?
Tax Report is an amazing zine made of a double-sided Xeroxed sheet of paper, cut once and folded in eighths, featuring photos of Philadelphia Graffiti. Every so often we get an envelope anonymously in our mailbox here at 1026 with the request to “Please distribute.” Tax Report is free and in the eighth issue of volume three. They list an e-mail, and for the first time I noticed a P.O. Box address, but no website. Tax Report is really an inspiration, an amazing ‘zine with great content, made anonymously and given away for free. I don’t know how anyone outside of Philadelphia would go about getting a copy, but we have 9 copies here while they last.
More images after the jump
I like stuff and people who know me know when I find something cool, I keep it even if its a peice of torn up packaging or an old rusty bolt. The problem is I have way to much stuff. So I am going to try and turn over a new leaf and instead of keeping the cool stuff I find i’ll photograph it share it here and pass it on. Enjoy these awesome graphics from these antique monopoly boards
check the detail shots after the break
Continue reading ‘Antique Monopoly Boards’
I put together a small mix of music for The Worlds Best Ever. Nothing newer than 1990, and 5 of the thirteen songs are from 70-71. You can download the playlist here.
Chris Kline is working on another one of his HUGE prints. He told me that it’s about half way done and “guesstimated” that he had already pulled 20 screens.
More photos after the jump.
Picture Box just published a collected version of Mat Brinkman’s Multiforce, originally serialized in the now legendary, free comics newspaper Paper Rodeo. It is well worth the $15, you can order it from Picture Box’s website here.
