One gloomy December a few years back I was struck by the realization that I simply do not like Christmas.
A bitterly disappointing love affair might have had something to do with that, but the truth is that despite decades of cultural marination in the year-end hullabaloo, I’d never liked it. Rather than joy, inevitably [...]
In another life, I was a wannabe luthier.
The intoxicating scent of Brazilian rosewood and Sitka spruce, the arcane and elegant tools and forms, the thrilling sensation of bringing an instrument to vibrating, singing life … ah well, turned out ’twas not to be.
I have built a couple of guitars, and fixed a whole [...]
The seed was planted a few years ago, when my elderly grandmother pointed me towards a small bookshelf. “Take whatever you want”, she said, “I’m not planning on leaving anything behind when I go”.
I picked up two volumes of poetry, carefully annotated in her spidery hand. A history of the Mennonites. Then I noticed a slim book entitled, of all things, “How to play the Ukulele”. Grandma had a notoriously wry sense of humour, and was infmaous in our family for — and this was way before my time, so I’ve only seen photos — a raucous, knee-slappin’ ukulele-flailing, vaudeville comedy routine.
Whoa, Grandma!
I kissed my grandmother and tucked the books into my bag — and not long afterwards, she passed away.
What is it now, ten years later? Well, that ukulele seed has finally sprouted. I’ve just become the proud owner of an early-50’s vintage Bobby Henshaw ukulele. It’s a little beauty, ridiculously fun to play, a fabulous graphic design stress-reliever, but best of all — every time I pick it up, I remember Grandma..
Well, exactly.
Were you reading my mind, Alberta Street stenciler, or my graffiti post from last week?
I practically hopped in excitement: a surreally non sequitur graffito, stenciled in an original location, and — in an admirable display of restraint — just the one.
And did I mention it was a squid on a crosswalk?! Brilliant.
Squidney (as I have dubbed him) is even biodegradable … or just degradable … whatever.
Point is, after a few months of bicycles and bio-diesel fueled Subarus grinding over him, there won’t be anything left but a faintly tentacled memory.
A friend and I wandered through Golden Gate Park one idyllic afternoon. The tree-shaded, tunnel-like paths were the perfect complement to our mildly altered states (this was many years ago), and we ambled along in companionable silence.
The path opened abruptly into a small clearing, and there, perched on a stump and bathed in a shaft [...]
In these troubled times, what more perfect candidate, what finer nominee for the highest office in the land than a bright yellow non-phthalate avian bath toy?
Goose our enemies? With a bounce in her step! Use the presidency to feather her own nest? Don’t say that to her face without duc– without dodging quickly!
Selma will shed [...]
My last day in Berlin for the year, so I decide to drop by a museum that don’t know thing one about, save for its intriguingly all-encompassing name: Museum der Dinge, the Museum of Things.
Well. Aren’t they all?
Ye-es, technically correct, but the categories that museums typically set for themselves are very, very narrow. Things [...]
I’m not sure what attracts me to these metal box signs. Perhaps it’s their bulky physical presence, the seams, the dents, the peeling paint, the dirt — or the simple fact that they were crafted by hand. An internal backlash to years of staring at 2-dimensional representations of mathematical constructs?
Yeah, I think that might [...]
Another generous helping from Berlin’s graffiti/street art scene, a kaleidoscope of ornamented walls from (at least) three eastern ‘hoods — Prenzlauerberg, Freidrichshain and Kreuzberg. The first Berlin graffiti post befindet sich hier.
One of my private Berlin pleasures … a quick currywurst at Curry 36 on Mehringdamm, and then a stroll through the graveyard at Hallesches Tor.
The contrast between the non-stop noise and action of the Kreuzberg street and the instant blanket of verdant silence that prevails in the cemetery could not be more vivid. Mature [...]
Berlin is plastered with graffiti. And I love it.
Despite a recent crackdown, a decades-long history of (ahem) ‘public self-expression’ can be be read on walls all over the city, from ’80s wild-style to left-wing squatter provocations to the artsy paste-ups of the newly bohemian-chic Prenzlauerberg and Friedrichshain.
Though some of it would have been better off [...]
Spotted in a working-class neighborhood in a northern part of Berlin — the storefront of a ’50s-era architectural glass workshop, sheathed in gloriously ’50s style tiny glass mosaics.
The signage is even more beautiful … yeesh, need I write anything at all? Those colors, that texture, the Bauhaus-meets-the-Fifties vernacular letterforms … Just. So. Cool.
I spotted this sign on the side of a recently renovated building in Berlin’s hipster-cum-yuppie neighborhood “Mitte“. Every year more and more money pours into this area, and more of the gorgeous multi-story turn-of-the-century buildings here — fallen into terrible disrepair during the 60-odd years of Communist rule — are brought back to life.
Because [...]
The “Dissolve-O-Matic” is the latest in the series of illustrations created for Havi Brooks’ self-work products, in the quirky style semi-officially dubbed “Steampunk meets Yellow Submarine”… »
Leaving for Berlin in a couple of days!
Even though I’ll be hanging out on the eastern side of the city (P-berg, X-berg, Friedrichshain, Mitte), after arduous days of cafe-sitting and strolling along the Spree I’ll be laying my head in the slightly more fancypants western neighborhood of Charlottenburg.
How fancypants? I dug up a couple of [...]
No, no, no, not rhino leather — it’s a rhino on leather.
See, a CD package I created for Albino! features a badass rhino on the cover. A friend of the band was so taken by the illustration that he carved it into a leather guitar strap.
He’s pretty new in the world of leatherwork, [...]
Entering competitions isn’t really my cup of tea strong-ass coffee, but I’ve just discovered the massive coolness that is Threadless.com. Whoa.
I knew I’d found a home for my recently-excavated Kung Fu Girl illustration the second I arrived. Some judicious editing, new color selection, and the girl is online with a brand new name: “Can I [...]
In anticipation of my annual journey to Germany, an alluring photo of a partially obscured green and white S-Bahn sign — these ubiquitous, illuminated typographic symbols beckon Berliners towards the over/underground network which (along with the U-Bahn) connects the re-unified metropolis with shining, singing rails.
o … sometimes my train of thought leaves from an unusual station.
During my morning perambulations a car cruised past, blasting bass-heavy tunes from enormous speakers. The sub-sonic frequencies made the vehicle’s bodywork vibrate so loudly that the music itself was completely drowned out.
You probably hear this particular kind of sonic sandwich all the time. In [...]
The work of some smarty-pants at the Alberta Street Co-op — intended to quell the fears of the squeamish, or quash the hopes of vampires straying into the produce department?
Can’t say for sure, but it succeeded in inducing an involuntary chuckle from me.
