17 November 2005

Just who is Michael Roberts?

He's the fashion editor for The New Yorker. And he's just released a book full of his collage artistry. More info here.

31 October 2005

You're my invitation to...


Okay so I just wanted to post some pictures I found, that I thought were beautiful. Look at those shorts with those shoes. Woo!

Then I uploaded a song too. Happiness.

25 October 2005

Raining through my sunshine...


1. Manners are love in a cool climate. © Quentin Crisp

2. It's been days of rain in Toronto. I keep thinking of running away to sunnier climates. Oh Nassau my happy home, when shall I come to thee? Thy joys when will I see? Donate some money to me.

3. Culture up your self.

Art for sale on the interwebs:

http://www.preysone.com/prints/
http://www.alifolio.com/
http://www.thumbtackpress.com/

21 October 2005

Do they know it's Hallowe'en?


An all-star cast of rock stars get together to record a wicked Hallowe'en Track. The kicker in it? They are supporting the United Nation Children's Fund while doing it. That's kinda ill.

Artist's include:

Arcade Fire's Win & Regine Redd Kross' Steve McDonald
Beck R.E.M.'s Joey Waronker
Buck 65 Rilo Kiley's Jenny & Black
David Cross Roky Erickson
Devendra Banhart Sloan's Chris Murphy
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Smoosh's Asya & Chloe
Feist Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore
Gino Washington Sparks' Russel Mael
Les Savy Fav's Syd Butler Subtitle
Islands' J'aime Sum 41's Stevo
Malcolm Mclaren Tagaq
Peaches That Dog's Anna Waronker
Postal Service's Jimmy Tamborello Wolf Parade's Dan & Spencer

Yeah Yeah Yeah's KarenO

NICE!

In other news, GLTSS has launched a new issue.

20 October 2005

L.A.M.B. Royal Elastics


Sometimes I bump into something that makes me say: whoa. So I slow down. And this line of shoes did that to me. It would have been suffice to just knock out a gold shoe. That gold was enough for me. But I had some time to kill and I started looking at these shoes more thoroughly. The detailing is amazing. AMAZING. Interesting leathers, rubbers, tiny little print in gold ink, and stitching all over. I also quite enjoy how the designers have flipped the typical Rasta lion in to an innocent lamb. Smooth.

The kicker for me, is that L.A.M.B. is owned by Gwen Stefani. Damn. And Damn nice.

17 October 2005

Good Vibrations


I have 2 Roy Ayers tracks for you today. Both are from 1976 when Roy Ayers & Ubiquity recorded Vibrations. Both tracks make Mondays a little brighter.

Better Days
Come Out and Play

12 October 2005

lookey luke




My little nephew is better than yours. It was a happy Thanksgiving this 2005. How do I say thank you?

10 October 2005

(We) don't know how to think in a box.

The reason Roc-A-Fella was successful was because we didn't know protocol. We won because we didn't know anything. So I think there's a need for a certain ignorance in the music business because it means you're going to try something new. What could a book teach me about that? © S. Carter

A look in to Shawn Carter's 9 to 5 is just what I need on this late Thanksgiving Monday.

Give thanks!!

05 October 2005

everyone's gotta have a dream...





I saw a movie last night that touched me. A movie has to be on some upper level dynamic to touch me. I'm usually entertained by movies, but being touched is a rare treat for I. Hustle & Flow is a fairly simple story of redemption but the plot has twists that make you enjoy every little frame of film. I'm calling it a classic. Would I lie to you?

P.S. That smile up there (that beautiful one, not mine dummy) belongs to Julia; she hangs out with me on the street, on the beach, you know, we do this and that together.

P.P.S. That pablum was random. 5 cans of it just sitting around waiting for some baby's mommy. Thinking about it now, I should have grabbed it because my 10 month old nephew Luke is flying in to Toronto today with his Mom and Dad. Woo!

21 September 2005

Is art boring?


Is art boring?

It's an opinion I've held since 1998. Back then, I was a 3rd year student. The illest painter in the world. I still think I am. Even though I gave it up in my senior year. I told myself painting is antiquated and I developed a huge interest in interactive, computer and internet art. Soon enough I gave that up too. Art is boring. All of it. Looking at art most of the time, is so depressing. After you've seen the classics, it's almost never impressive. Or so I thought.

I had dinner last Friday with a young woman who held the opposite opinion of mine. She loves art. At first I was arrogant and thought that she was crazy. I didn't say that, but I thought it.

Art is boring, my mind held on.

Over the weekend, in between the busy madness that is my regular day, I dis-thought my stance on art using a foreign point of view. Her point of view. I remembered how exciting paint once was. I remembered how looking at painting was once so interesting, so wild on the mind. I remember the first time I saw a de Kooning, the hours I spent with a certain Picasso at the MOMA just before Y2K. I remember how I had stayed up all night reading about the early 1900's in Paris and being fascinated by the art world of yesterday. I remembered a time in my life when art was not boring.

Yesterday evening it hit me like cold rain on a hot day. Art is not boring. My opinion on art is boring. Perhaps I wasn't looking at it right, or not looking deep enough or maybe I have been seeing a lot of low quality art. Low quality art can be boring. But so can low quality music, as can low quality blockbuster movies. But how to make high quality art? Or where to see high quality art? What is quality art? The little answer I have, is right here.

"Art is -- among other things -- continuity, and unthinkable without it. Lacking the past of art, and the need and compulsion to maintain its standards of excellence, Modernist art would lack both substance and justification." © Clement Greenberg

Janis, thanks for making me read that. Thank you for teaching me to paint.

19 September 2005

it's the new millenium...

and I'm still old school. My grandmother is proud of me. Who else is there to impress?


So, I know not that many people read this blog but you see the font for that capital C? I need that. Email me. info at rockonski.com PLEASE.

Cal Tjader is someone you should know. Buy a CD. Lick it up. Music lovers know. I like how the Verve logo on the white breaks up the horizontal on the above sleeve. It's obviousness... is what I like about it. The green is handsome yes?

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Gratuitous photo of Pelé macking fur coated women...

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& Senor Coconut:



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Audrey Hepburn's slicked wisp's are kinda ill too.




Crazy weekend. Should be a solid week. I miss you. Yeah, a lot. See you soon.