Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Christmas(ish) Episode

Well it started talking about Christmas but then somewhere in there we started talking about Impalas and cop cars.  Happy Holidays everyone!!

Enjoy.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

You ever played D&D? Yeah, me either.

Yeah, i grew up in a different world, D&D was nowhere near my circle of life.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that no one in my area was playing it.  If anyone grew up in McCarthur Park area in LA that can prove me wrong, please let me know, i'd love to have a conversation with you.  In the meantime, Juan teaches me how D&D works and how to play it.  We even try it, but i die in the tavern, after 45 min of playing. Seriously, it's a good listen, dont let the orcs and dwarfs and elvins and wizards and god knows what throw you off.


Enjoy.

Friday, December 16, 2011

We return to familiar ground

Can't believe i forgot to put this up yesterday.  We're back on familiar ground, lower ceilings, beers and catching up since we hadn't gotten together since the CS Gallery two part episode.  So that's basically do, catch up and talk art.


Enjoy

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

More music i've been listening to for a long time


ALBUM:            Pinkerton

YEAR:             1996

ARTIST:           WEEZER

I got introduced to Weezer by a neighbor i had at the time with the Blue Album, a kid my own age who also introduced me to BUSH.  I found Weezer to be refreshing at the time, just smart college guys having fun making good music together.  I listened to that album a lot, still to this day i listen to it but their follow up was the one that did it for me.  Lyrically it is one of the best albums i've ever heard, the honesty of Rivers Cuomo is heartbreaking at some points, yet the music was fast paced and full of energy.  Now that i think about it, it was a pretty emo album, the dude was going through some stuff, women were a main character in his little opera but he punks through it in some parts.  But yeah, heartbreak, heartache, not being able to understand the opposite sex and acting out because of it is the main theme of the album.  Unfortunately it was not a well received album, no, the fans hated it, they wanted the sequel to the Blue Album.  Instead, Rivers felt like his fans could understand him and he unleashed on them, he vented out but only got rejected just like so many girls in that same album.  It was so heartbreaking for him that for a long time he couldn't play the songs live.  Which was heartbreaking for fans like me who really did love the album as much as he did.  Fast forward to the present, it's built quite the cult following, i think it's easily become of the most popular of their albums.

Lyrics that sums up album:

The world has turned and left me here
Just where i was before you appeared

If i had to pick a song:

ACROSS THE SEA



Thursday, December 8, 2011

Part 2: At the CS GALLERY






We kept drinking and kept the mics rolling after our conversation about Art Basel.  A little liquor loosens the tongue and we have a good time talking about everything.

Spoiler Alert:  FUCK MOTHER'S OF AMERICA!

I'm not discounting that at some point they have done some good, i'm sure the care packages are awesome and the words of encouragement must boost morale.  But not everyone who joins the military is destined to sit behind a desk for their term.  A lot of individuals are there to learn how to fight and prepare for war.  Last i saw that shit isn't pretty.  So you need some tough muthers going out there and even tougher muthers training them.  Don't limit them by setting so many rules that hurting the feelings of this Boots is the worst they get.  They are making men out of boys and preparing them for war, they are making men that will not come back in body bags but instead rack up confirmed kills.  So yes, worry about little Joey cause he's 19 years old, away from home and going through a tough time.  But don't complain cause he's having a harder time than he's ever had, something he chose to do by the way.  Be thankful it's only someone yelling at him to shoot straighter than his enemy and not an enemy shooting straighter than him.



 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Sometimes it's just that simple

There are a few things i've never expected from myself: I've never expected to have to sit in front of a computer, behind a desk to make my living; I've never expected an easy day at work; I've never expected for my body to give out on me; I've never expected someone to do something I myself was unwilling to do; I've never expected to lead others with just words; never imagined living past 70; never expect to win the lottery; and never expected to ever stop needing things.
But there are days when I have had my morale beaten, trampled and felt the thumb of an unknown giant pressing down on my back as I walked on torn boots being held together by sheer will.  Yesterday was one of those days.  A day when I missed the 8 hour mark, the 10 hour mark and around the 12th hour at work I realized that this was not how a Monday was supposed to be.  I hit a wall, a large poured cement wall that hurt my hand more than it made a sound as I pounded on it for an explanation.  Then there was a moment of enlightenment, epiphany even, I remembered that I never expect to be home until the work is done.  It's masochistic almost that at that moment I felt a huge relief, I've never accepted a job I did not intend to finish.  An hour later I was in my car pulling out of the parking lot and heading home.
I won't lie about it, I was not happy driving home, I was mad at an unseen force that no matter how hard I work it always seems to have a little more for me to do, I've never expected to have a pass on hardship.  That drive home was too short it seemed, I've always been fond of driving at night when there is little or no traffic, it feels great to have the windows down and have a refreshing breeze wake you up from a funk like that.  But all I could think about was the hour and a half I had to get to sleep so I could do it all over again the next day. I've never expected to sleep so comfortably that i didnt want to get up.
I walked into my house, grabbed a few beers and checked the mail.  There was a large package waiting for me.  My eyes actually lit up for a minute, it was a weird sensation to catch yourself forgetting about what was bothering you for a single moment.  The best part really was that I had forgotten about having ordered this item, so finding it there after such a long and tiresome day really centered me.  It was The Black Keys new album "El Camino" on vinyl, if you know me a little, you know I love music, I've never stopped believing.  
I grabbed a few more beers, placed the needle down a centimeter away from the first track and for a second, maybe two, heard the familiar static of a record as I backed up against the nearest wall and slowly slid down to the floor while the intro kicked my overwhelming day right out of my body.  Half way through "Lonely Boy" I was ok again, my dog came to comfort me too, he pushed his face into my chest, with one simple sigh he let me know he understood that today was about me and that I didn't need to chase him around the house like we do all the other days. I've never expected it to be anything other than this.

Friday, December 2, 2011

And now back to our regular scheduled program.

I visited the CS Gallery and got hang out with Juan and JC in their element, plus Eddie Arroyo was there and he sat in with us for the podcast.  We had a great conversation about Art Basel and all the activities in Miami surrounding it. Some of which i will hitting up this weekend. But it's also about the state art is in, the value of art and artists themselves.


I first met JC through Juan at one of the exhibits held at CS Gallery a few years back and have always heard of him through Juan and the stuff they have going on.  I've always wanted to sit down with JC because of how Juan speaks of him, not just as an artist but as a person.  I went to his TWENTY EIGHT exhibit and was very impressed with his work.  The only way i can describe what i've seen is "beautifully messy", his paintings show you a perfect picture, but are very loud with colors and strokes.  They hold your attention and you recognize his work after one viewing. Not really knowing much about art i've always just been a fan of things by how attracted i am to them.  Juan has always said that it's the best way to look at art, since i'm the one who has to live with it.  I finally get the chance to sit down with him and honestly i'm not entirely happy with the outcome.  As pretty as the gallery is, well it's got high ceilings and empty space which can cause an echo, so the recording is good, but not great.  At least not as good as i'd like it to be, but i can put up with it because a good conversation happened between everyone.  But i definitely need to sit down with him again.  His sense of humor and view on what art is and what an artist should be deserves more air time.

Eddie Arroyo i met the night we recorded the podcast.  A funny and enthusiastic guy about art and the experience of it.  The funny thing is we both knew of each other but had never met.  He listen to the podcast for Juan, i've been to one of his exhibits that i really liked.  While talking to him preparing for the recording i realized who he was and vice versa.  The exhibit i saw of his was very cool, a mounted exhibit you could say.  He turned the gallery into a living room, wall paper and all, and with his unique style of capturing people in rare moments, almost like a photograph made the scene so perfect.  Like i was at a house party and things had dulled a bit so i was just walking through this strangers living room.  He was great during the recording, very informative and even better in the second show.  I'd definitely like to get him on wax again in a smaller setting.

Once the beers had kicked in we decided to just keep recording, everyone was looser and conversation flowed like we did it every week.  It was a great first experience, a learning one, but overall a fun experience.  Like i've always said, do what you want to do until it stops being fun.  This is the start of something good.

Enjoy.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanks today

Let's just cut the fat out, Thanksgiving just hides a murderous event with a giant feast.  Let's get that out of the way for a minute, facts are facts people.  You know what else is a fact, that people don't care.  Let's reinvent the wheel for a minute and just have a day of thanks, fuck the history behind it, let's start anew.  Let today be the christening day for Thanks Day, let's be honest with ourselves and give thanks for what we feel is important for each of us.  No reason why, no amazing story to be twisted up years from now, no, on November 24th 2011 a day of thanks was born. 

I am thankful for what little I have and how sometimes it feels like it's so much.  I am thankful for the sacrifices my mom made so that I could be here right now talking shit about Thanksgiving.  Thankful for my brothers and brothers in arms.  Thankful for having someone in my life that thinks pretty highly of me.  Thankful for my friends, those around me now, those waiting for my triumphant return to the motherland.  Thankful for the job that keeps a nice roof over my head, food in my dog's bowl and rum in my cup.  Thankful to be able to say I am not in need, just want of things.  Mostly thankful to have a passion in my life that keeps me sane for the most part.  Finally, thankful for every memory locked up in my head that I like to replay over and over from time to time.

Cheers everybody.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Taking it back on this one





So here's the thing, we drink when we record...and it shows sometimes.  Sometimes we're seamless, like ninjas, who really don't do anything subtlety to begin with.  Sometimes we're like vikings, who just drank out of the empty skulls of their defeated enemies, just saying, it happens.  

Enjoy.http://bit.ly/vYIJXz

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Let me clear my throat, i feel a rant coming on

A veteran pissed me off today.  Why, you might be wondering.  Cause god damn him, he was/is a proud veteran.  Turns out he caught the tail end of a conversation i was having.  Now, i don't normally speak loud, but i won't lie i have been caught once or twice using my outdoor voice indoors.  Such was this situation, i was explaining something to a person and as the veteran was walking out he heard "...nobody gives a damn about veterans".  For the most part people don't that's not a lie or an exaggeration.  The funny thing is he let it fester, it was 5 minutes before he came back into the establishment and asked, loudly and proudly, "did someone say that nobody gives a damn about veterans?".  The young lady who i had been having the conversation with pointed at me and i agreed as i turned towards him.  The veteran then began to cite his career in the military, proudly but not as loudly.  I said a few things, but not many as he walked away having said his peace.

Facts are facts man, unless you're directly related to someone in the military for the most part you could care less for vets.  It's sad but true, and it's cool, seriously it is.  This is isn't so that you can feel sorry, or bad, or anything.  I think the veteran was hoping i'd say something back so that he could have said more, like "you're only enjoying that cookie and coffee cause i fought for your freedom asshole!" or something.  Instead he got "relax dude..."  At least he's probably got a good story to tell his buddies when he sees them again, you know where someone talked shit about veterans and he set them straight.

Here's another fact for you brother, the mail person, he doesn't get a special day.  Neither do cops, firefighters, truck drivers or security guards, you know why? Wanna know why?  They're just doing their jobs.  That veteran signed a contract that pretty much stated what was expected from him, there's an oath too.  I think it says something about foreign or domestic threats, might have the word war or combat in it too and pretty sure there was nothing about rewards, recognition or of anything owed to him for those services.  I know because i signed one of those contracts myself, took a similar oath and also went overseas.  True story.

Here comes the rant.

Do you know how many people have served since the military was created? No? Neither do i?  Don't care, just glad they did.  But tell you what, non of those guys and gals went in there for glory or fame, far from it i imagine, and for the most part non got any of that.  You do your time, you get out, you live a life.  It looks good on a resume, it turns a boy into a man, the stuff you learn and experiences you have serve you so often after it's not even funny.  Do you know who gives a fuck you're a veteran? Not a lot of people, seriously, it shouldn't matter.  Your brothers in arms matter, your loved ones matter, that's about fucking it.  I loved that the veteran stood up for what he believed to be right, but seriously brother, get over yourself.  This was never a promise, this is what it is, no one put a gun to your head and made you sign.  If you're looking for someone to kiss your ass or suck your dick for being a vet it's probably going to cost you, cause no one's giving it up for the vets like they used to i hear.  

One last thing, i kinda feel bad for the veteran cause he did want to see that great expression of surprise.  You know the one, when someone over heard you say something and they call you out on it.  I did steal his thunder, sorry about that.  I'm sure when he cited his military stint he wasn't expecting to hear "Relax dude, i did my tour and i know, no one gives a damn about veterans".

Let's talk video games.

If intervention is after the fact, this podcast should be studied as to how a relapse happens.  Yes, if a person tells you heroin is awesome, over and over, why wouldn't you take a hit.  It happens right.  Having said that, i think Juan relapsed and hasn't slept since this episode.  Stay tuned for next week and we'll see what happens.

Enjoy and thanks for listening.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Let's talk about the fun and exciting world of reading.

This week we got a little carried away talking about books and reading and we didn't even mention Reading Rainbow, damn.  But by how it ended there must be a part 2 somewhere in the future.  By far one of my favorite conversations i've had with Juan, it made me think about a lot of things.  For a while there i forgot how much reading meant to me when i was younger and had all the time in the world to read, before the real world took over my hours and started dictating to me what my schedule would be.  It sucks to realize that as a kid you wanted to be an adult cause of how free we'd be from all the things our age stopped us from doing.  Yet as an adult, all we realize is that there isn't enough time in the day to do half the things we'd like to do and even less time for the things that we need to do.  I'd be curious to know what percentage of people actually do what they want for a living and are able to make enough to live off.  Until then, listen to us excitedly talk about something we hardly do now, which might explain why we sound like bitter old men sometimes.


Enjoy.http://bit.ly/rC0jmQ

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Let's talk about the New York Comic Con

 
Here we go again. Juan gives us a rundown on NYCC in today's episode.

ENJOY and thanks for listening.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

BACK IN THE DAY

Anyone in their 30's, get ready for a trip down memory lane.  Anyone under 25, click open a new tab and go to wikipedia, you might need it.

I asked a few people the following question.  What are some things an 18 years getting out of High School right now would no nothing about from when we were 18 and getting out of High School?  The answers were more fun than i thought.

My favorite answer by far was the Dewey Decimal System, what a geek i know, but i remember we had to take a class just to learn how to use the damn thing just so we could find a book.  While we're on the subject of books, remember the Encyclopedia?  Yeah, before the internet, and expensive as fuck.  A set of those was like $800 dollars back in the day, you can buy two computers for that now a days.

Speaking of computers, remember the floppy disk?  Yup, i think it had the equivalent of like 3 or 4 MB, yet somehow enough back then, weird how now 8GB memory card is just for quick things.  Yet somehow it's always full when i need it.  Oh damn, remember dial-up for the internet?  What 18 year old now knows the tortures of dial-up? 

On the note of dialing, let's give it up to payphones and having to dig through your pockets for change to make a phone call.  Or returning a page.  Who had a pager back in the day? This guy right here, more than one actually.  I look at my cell phone as I write that and see my voicemail is full.  Reminds me that there used to be a machine that used to take the messages in your house, yeah the big ass answering machine, not even digital, it was tape.  What about actually knowing people's phone numbers? Huh, remember when you didn't take a shit if your cell phone died?

Now we're getting to the serious stuff.  I remember when boomboxes came with tape decks, remember recording from tape to tape and making mixtapes.  Yes kids, that's where the word came from.  Fuck, i'm old.  How many of us had walkmans confiscated in school? Even the discman made it's appearance during the end of High School right? Remember going to the store to buy CD's?  Or taking two buses across town to the right store to find the CD you wanted.

Before megastores came out where you could buy your music and movies.  Which brings us to VHS, yeah, told you it was getting good.  The funny thing is that there are still a few movies that haven't been released in DVD format yet.  TV's used to be big ass boxes, heavy too and always a little fuzzy.  Well, we really weren't aware of it at the time.  Remember going to the movies and waiting like a year for the movie to come out for rent.

Let's end it with the word processor/typewriter, with how social networking was with actual people and the name Urkel was something we could all talk about.  I'm not saying these 18 year olds have it better, but you know how you don't know how bad you have it until you see how the other half lives.  Yeah, kinda like that.


Later folks, thanks for coming along for the ride.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

New York Comic Con episode, well, prequel

Juan gives us some insight on being a vendor at cons, the whaffs, the laughs and the fans.  He's at NYCC so if you're out there go by Creature's booth and say hello.  Here's more info on that.
And listen here to our latest.

Other project i've been working on

So, i like sketching and drawing once in a while.  Lately i've been really spending a lot of time with some ideas, mainly trying to combine my love for writing with what i can draw.  Recently a good friend of mine moved into a new place and asked me to draw something for her.  That simple idea turned into a tidal wave of ideas and the following drawings are the outcome.  What do you think? I present, The Lily Collection.

















 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Just another day at the office.

INT:  OFFICE – DAY

CHRIS appears through the open door but doesn’t come in, taps on the door twice to get ALEX’s attention. 

ALEX
What’s up?

CHRIS
Trying to leave early, do you have the back-up for the new shoe account?

ALEX
(confused look on his face)
Shoe account?

CHRIS
Yes, the one you set up yesterday.  Shipping every week? Plenty of work?  European guy you spoke with on the phone?

ALEX
Right, right!

(pause)
So, what do you need???

CHRIS
Back-ups.  Account info, from where to where, contacts, prices.

ALEX
And those would be???

CHRIS
You tell me you took the call.

ALEX
Refresh my memory.


CHRIS
Really dude, do we have to go through this every time?

ALEX
I really don’t remember 5 mins ago, it’s gonna be tough to remember yesterday.

CHRIS
(sigh)
Ok, you woke up when?

ALEX
7 ..

(pause)
I think.

CHRIS
Then what did you do?

ALEX
Pretty sure I showered.

CHRIS rotates his hand to signal to ALEX to keep going.



ALEX
Right…ummm…shower; something in the shower; fed & played with the dog.

(thinks)
Couldn’t find my keys; found them; jumped in the car; stopped at the gas station; got my coffee; got to work.



CHRIS
How the hell do you remember that but can’t remember a conversation you had on the phone with someone?

ALEX
I don’t really, it’s just what I do every morning.

CHRIS looking a combination annoyed and defeated.

ALEX
You giving me hints just helps me remember, like getting a motor warmed up.  Ok, so yeah, new customer, shoes,

(fishing in the air for answers)
right, right.

(flips through his large legal notepad)
Here it is, Paulo, he’s got a shoe factory, will be sending every week, right, yeah, here we go.

(starts taping his keyboard)
Ok should be printing out in your computer right now.

CHRIS
Anything else on your notes?

ALEX
No the usual stuff.  Company information, credit application, we have to call a Maureen before anything can happen, umm…

(flips more pages)
oh they are going to need an extra person for the loading and they can accept on Sunday nights if they get there early.

CHRIS
Ok good and you already talked to Maureen and we’re good with her right?

ALEX
Who?

CHRIS
The lady we need to speak with before anything can happen?

ALEX
(quizzical look on his face)
A little more.

CHRIS
You just read it to me from your notes.  Did you speak to her?

ALEX flips through the pages again, back and forth, looks up at CHRIS looking for some help.


CHRIS
Are you serious man?

ALEX throws his hands up in and then drops them back down, hangs his head.

CHRIS
(pauses)
Ok, you woke up at what time?



CREDITS