Tune into Hell's Kitchen Radio, with John Hell, every Monday night 8-10PM (Pacific), on Radio Valencia (https://radiovalencia.fm) in San Francisco. You can find my playlists and links to the podcasts right here.
Friday, October 28, 2005
It takes courage
I'm sick of the lies, aren't you? Over 2000 American sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers are dead. For what? It's for more than oil. It's for a way of life that is killing us all: capitalism! It's destroying the world. If it were up to the conservatives in congress, (and sadly it is) this war would never end. Laissez Faire economics has turned into corporatism, which is just a fancy word for fascism.
The only thing our leaders care about is how much the profits have grown for all of their wealthy CEO friends and relatives. Maybe, just maybe with the recent indictment of Tom Delay, and the possible future of indictment of Bill Frist, this county will wake up to the shameful way our "representatives" have been acting. Thank god for a special prosecutor who may actually hand down an indictment to our very own Spiro Agnew: Dick Cheney. I know, I know, I'm dreaming, but who knows, it may happen sooner than later.
Anyway, check out this short flash film about our fabulous leaders and their wonderful war.
Enjoy
Monday, October 24, 2005
Hatch Show Prints?
One of the oldes print houses in America is Hatch Show Prints ( "Advertising without posters is like fishing without worms."--The Hatch Brothers), out of Tennessee. They have been around for over a hundred years. Their work has been copied time and again by many poster companies throughout the years. Today, it has a retro 1920's looks, but they haven't really changed their style at all over the years.
I think they did this poster, which I got a few months ago. My wife, Alison and I attempted to attend this free show, featuring Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, but after driving around for over an hour looking for parking we gave up. We should have known to take the bus, but being complete idiots we decided to drive into Golden Gate Park. Have you ever been there? I love this park, and I live about fifteen minutes (by car) away. It's a great place for live music too. There must be a dozen good places to have a show. The weather was beautiful that day too. Damn! Too bad.
If Hatch Show Prints did not make this poster I would be surprised; then again, many have copied their style.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Jermaine Rogers is truly "The Man"!
Allow me to say, right off the bat, that artists, those wonderful, hungry, wistful, socially conscious adornments of fate and destiny, have always inspired me, and driven me to spend more money than I have.
Ok, with that said, I must acknowledge, again, someone who I hold dear as an amazing artists, and social contemporary; whose work speaks beyond the band they are promoting for; someone who knows that his silkscreened work will last long past the event, and will bring memories, for those who attended the event, of a performance perhaps better than actually witnessed. You see, this is the work of someone who could quite possibly be the best soap opera writer of our day. The star: usually a cuddly little teddy bear that you would be best not come anywhere near. The story: like any good daytime soap: he keeps you guessing. The feeling you get when consuming the message: a bit queezy at first, then euphoria.
Jermaine Rogers of Houston, Texas has his finger on the pulse of the underbelly of the American Day, where we wander around bright streets and avenues in the inner city, waiting for the bar to open; not so we can drown our miseries in a pint, or a shot glass. No! But so we can share our true selves with the other loesome creatures who share a desire for pranksterism.
It's cowboy kareoke. It's punk rock twister. It's Bad Movie Night. It's comments from the bartender like "drink this. I don't know what it is, but I've been pouring all of the overfilled drinks into it all night." And you drink it, not giving a shit who sees, or doesn't see. It's not about who sees you. Who cares about being seen? it's about knowing that the only thing getting you through your existance is knowing that there are others like you out there. Good luck America. You're going to need it.
Jermaine Rogers: I salute you brother.