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

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.

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.

Machine Gun in the Clown's Hand

I did go to "Off the Wall" yesterday to check out their posters. They're on Haight Street in SF, and have a reputation of stocking the most recent posters by the best artist. I saw a lot of great Emek and Rogers prints, along with others. No Kozic though. The prices were reasonable as well. I scoured and purchased a Chuck Sperry for $15. The salesman was a bit of a prick when I asked for a cardboard tube though. He wanted to charge me $2, I told him I was surprised, and that "Artrock" doesn't charge for tubes. He says "we're not Artrock."

No shit.

They also do framing there, but it doesn't seem to be archival quality. A customer was asking the guy if one "had to get these framed. Couldn't I just tack them to the wall?" I almost went up and punched the guy in the throat. As my wife, an artist and archval framer, says "If you're spending the money on a piece of art, don't you want to preserve it for a long time?" It's an investment, right? I want her to go to Artrock and get them to work out a deal so she can frame in their space.

The Sperry piece I purchased is a poster for a book release show, if I remember correctly (it's at home and I just got it). you'll recognize it though as the cover of a Jello Biafra CD from last year. the CD only has Osama on it. As you can see, the poster shows him along with that other wacky clown, GW. The piece I posted is not the exact one I bought, the text is differnt.

I checked out the Firehouse website, and was displeased to find so few posters to gave at in their gallery. I had to search around a bit to find something similar to what I bought to post here. Also, they scan their posters to look like they've been ages in an old west style. I understand copyright protection, but this did not make me want to order from their site.

Link

Wishing you my best

Dear Jermaine,

Although we have only spoken on the phone once, I regard you as a friend. Has this ever happened to you before? Me either. when I ordered that MC5 poster from you, I figured it would be sent, I stuff it away somewhere until I had the funds to frame it (sometime in 2015) and that would be that. But no! Instead it never got to me. I emailed you...emailed you again. You emailed me saying that you sent me three previous emails and that you only received one of mine. It went on like this for a few weeks. A few more lost emails here and there between the two of us, and then you got the smart idea of asking for a phone number exchange.

After three more lost emails between the two of us, I get a phone call from you. All I expected was a brief business conversation. What I got was beautiful, man. A twenty minute conversation about the fine art of silkscreening, how to get the band you love to allow you to make a poster for them, family ( I hope your daughter and wife are safe), and of course, talk about Hurricane Katrina, never once thinking about "what if it happened here". Now it's happening here...or should I say there. You live in Houston.

I still have yet to receive the poster, but what I'm most concerned about is the safety of your family. San Francisco may appear to be a world away from Texas and Lousiana, but in our hearts you are right next door.

Be safe, and be certain that you will survive and thrive. And when I do receive your fabulous work in the mail, you can bet it will be the next one framed and up on the wall. Even if that is in 2015.

Check out Jermaine Rogers' site here.