democracy for the cartoons [BABL]

democracy for the cartoons is where artist drew christie stashes his amazing linocuts and sketches. christie takes an interest in the intricacies of certain histories, and, accordingly, most of the linographs come with a somewhat ambiguous historical blurb. makes for fun goose chases.

jack kerouac + fantasy baseball [books // baseball]

when i was 8, the very nice volunteer librarians at the dodgeville public library had to break the devastating news that my months-long relationship with one particular hank aaron biography (title long since forgotten) was coming to a forced end - i could no longer continue to renew the book repetitively. this was jarring. i did the only thing a burgeoning 8-year-old baseball fanatic could do: i went home and threw myself into becoming annoyingly well-versed in the minutiae of every single one of the 792 cards in topps' 1988 set.

when i was 18 i read on the road. every small roadtrip with friends became more vibrant, mischievous and hairbrained; my college choices were affected; i broke up with my long time girlfriend for two whole days. i read the thing three times consecutively and i've read it a half dozen times since.

i knew that kerouac liked baseball, but i had no idea. apparently old jack was a regular fanatic on the down-low, and there's a new book about the fantasy baseball world he created over varying stretches of his youth and adulthood. read the times article linked below; reminds me a whole lot of the universal baseball association, inc.

LINK: Another Side of Kerouac: The Dharma Bum as Sports Nut (nyt)

eric and jeremy murn [family]

if these guys look angry, it's only because when one brother is hung over and the other isn't and you have to answer to somebody else's goddamn plan and wear a tie and be there on time and you can't find parking and... well, you can probably see that much. anyways, these two bottlerockets graduated from wisconsin this past weekend. and the less angry looking one (on the right) just landed an internship at the daily show. look out new york city/world. congrats boys, i love you and miss you.

this is home. i miss it. jeremy's in my spot, though.

garry trinh's giant bonsais [photography]

DOWNLOAD: the sads - you turned me into morrissey [mp3]

pedal ID [bikes]

the big thinkers over at pedalmafia have come up with one more amazing way to waste a whole afternoon - pedal ID. a simple drag and drop template program, pedal ID let's you "build" your dream ride. above is a mock-up of my forthcoming whip(!).

david meskhi [photography]

honesty and curiosity are rarely employed in such naturally seamless juxtaposition - in any medium of storytelling - as in david meskhi's photographs. accordingly, i am taken aback by the bio on meskhi's page. can't help but feel a bit goaded by the dichotomy his words create between his impression of his own work and the individual perception of anyone who might see it - at times he borders on being brashly arrogant - he delineates and pontificates almost as if he is discarding the need for the viewer to experience and react to his own emotions and process them. and yet, at other times, meskhi says perfectly rational, not-really-revolutionary, nice things in broken english, like:

i want to make other people co-participants in these emotions through pictures. for me, if that happens, photo is a success and if photo is a success, then process of taking pictures is a process of seeking and finding oneself.

alexander lobanov [art]

the self-portraiture of russian outsider artist alexander lobanov is singular in its ornamentation and its weaponry, or, perhaps, its weaponry as ornamentation. lobanov's repetition, attention to quirky detail, and use of color are immediately evocative of the likes of henry darger and adolf wolfli. like darger and wolfli, lobanov spent a considerable portion of his life institutionalized, and, as with the others, his artistic output was prolific. deaf and mute from a very young age, lobanov was reputed for violent outbursts in his youth and it is believed that a form of art therapy may have helped him find a certain level of peace. much of lobanov's work shows the heavy influence of russian propaganda during his lifetime, and he often presents himself as the pundits of the time. little seems known of lobanov, though a short documentary was made about him. anybody seen it?

debauchery, my old friend [hijinks]

this chat transcript was sent to me in an email at 11:15 AM yesterday from one of the participants. hope you can appreciate the drunk-centricities (bazaar crew, etc.).

10:44 AM (A): om gosh lover
om gosh
where do i begin???
10:45 AM i'm sooooooo drunk right now
l slept for an hour
was really late to work
partied like a fucking rock star last night
with a bazaar crew
10:46 AM or townie pool players
hooked up with this random hottie from west virginia that lives in williamsburg
(B): weird!
oh man
me: drank from like 9 to 9am
10:47 AM saw the sun come up on a billyburg roof top
smoked a bit more than cigarettes
made friends with a guy that did 5 years in sing sing
that
wants to cook for me
haha
10:48 AM om gosh you would have LOVED it
(B): um what??
(A): dude is jamaican
has like a million dollars stored in bags around the city
has recovered most of it
like a fuckin pirate's burried treasure!!!!! no kidding
10:49 AM like the count of monte cristo!
10:50 AM has a scar on his jaw from where he was stabbed with a tooth brush in his first gang fight in prison
that went through his jaw
(B): oh god
okay
you're insane
10:51 AM (A): and cut out one of his back molars
then in his second gang fight he had his chest slashed
nice scar
10:52 AM and then his third and final fight his left lung was pierced
after that they respected him and left him alone ;)
he has his only clothing line
and used to provide drugs for like
every fucking music group you can think of that was popular in the 90's
10:53 AM (B): color me badd?
(A): his gf waited for him to get out of
hahaha
(B): please say new kids on the block
(A): prison and it's insane
haha
i didn't ask him that
dude was waaaaaaay too legit for my own good
10:54 AM (B): so how did you meet these people?
10:55 AM (A): um...
went to moonshine
the WV hottie was sitting at the bar alone
hit it off with her
it'
was her bff's bday
so she invited me to tag along
10:56 AM ended up going to like...4 or 5 dif bars
good convo
etc
we ened up making out in a bed with the bday girl passed out next to us!!!!
haha
effing classic
10:57 AM she's a singer and a nanny and had to be up by 8 and at nanny stuff by 9
we woke up at 930
and were like FUCK!
staying at some strange apt in the burg
roof top was insane
great view of midtown
with like 20 peeps
10:58 AM and weed
and smokes
and a dog running around
and my god i wish you could have seen some of the outfits on these people
(B): did you smoke crack right now? you're going a mile a minute?
!
(A): valuer jump suits with ed harvey hats and sun glasses
um
i don't think so???
10:59 AM (B): awesome
(A): just adrenaline and an americano :0
and no sleep
ok
i'm done now
haha
(B): no
tell me more
I don't mind
11:00 AM (A): i'm just hoping no one comes close enough to me to realize i'
m
effing wasted as all hell
like
holy shit
wasted
like i was drinking two hours ago
wasted
11:01 AM (B): that's insane!
(A): i feel like i should go throw up in the bathroom
sooo ghetto
11:02 AM so i'm supposed to see the chick again tonight
her bro plays in a band that is main stage at joes pub tonight
11:03 AM and apparently she's got an agent and is a really good singer
backup or something
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
that makes it even more perfect, right?
soo deceiving
i mean
looks like a cross between
11:09 AM kelly rippa
11:10 AM (B): and who?
11:12 AM (A): and evangelline lilly from lost
11:13 AM (B): oh hot
(A): right?