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MOVING

2007-05-19T22:32:00.000-04:00

Change your bookmarks!

My blog and website are melding and I'm closing this bad boy out.

Plenty of new updates.

I've been slacking on entries because of getting the move together.

The blogging and art continues here....

www.hookermedia.com

Weekend recap

2007-05-14T12:22:00.000-04:00

Oh Monday is here again. Yet another sunny day but fortunately today isn't 50 degrees. I'll be able to ride without a jacket.

First thing's first, Caity, here's your painting as of today.

Friday night I went out for a drink with Jenny and some of her friends. It was at... crap I can't remember what D bar? I think it was D Bar on Dorchester ave in Dorchester. Turns out Fridays are gay nights and they were having some American Idol style contest where people signed up for $10 and sang as much or as little of a song of their choice a cappella.

After going back and forth with the notion for a while I decided what the hell, I'll sing.

When it was decided that I was going to sing I realized that I don't remember lyrics for the life of me unless I'm listening along to a song.

I had to go out to Jenny's car and scan her ipod for a song to do. I ended up choosing "To Be With You" by Mr. Big.

I stood there on the tiny stage in the corner of the bar scanning my brain for the lyrics and finally went into a shaky rendition of the song all while feeling the gaze of 100 gays.

I've played in bands for ten years. I've played the Hatch Shell on the Charles River...

I've played the Hampton Casino Ballroom in front of a near sellout crowd...

...but I've never been more nervous onstage than the time I sang Mr. Big for the gay dudes.

I have no idea what the hell was wrong with me. At least I got a free martini out of it. Even though that tasted like seawater.

Saturday was sweet. Went to the gym. Printed some prints. Rode a little bit. BBQ'd all night with friends.

Sunday was mother's day as we all know and since Skip and I both have out of state mom syndrome we decided to take our motorcycles out for a good ride while everyone else was at brunch with thier moms.

After slacking last week I'm going to get down to business with the remaining commissions I have left.

Enjoy the weather.

www.hookermedia.com

Runnin with the devil

2007-05-09T12:06:00.000-04:00

That title doesn't really have any meaning. It's just the song I'm listening to while posting this entry.

Well where do we start?

The weather is ridiculously nice. I should be riding right now before I have to go into the hell that is my office. But NO... I have to work on paintings. I paint on this beautiful day completely without remorse or bitterness. I really had a strong desire to paint since I was away for the weekend and since I checked out some Alex Ross books that my roomate bought.

Alex is an incredible painter who works primarily for comic book titles using watercolor gouache.

Today I finished the Geisha. Unless you want anything added/taken out, Lili. Email me. Let me know.

I also started a new commission for a dude named Matt that lives the next town over from me. He and his brother restored a badass '32 Ford and I'm going to render it for him in sweet sweet oil paint.

Here's the canvas so far. It's going to be very layered and each process is going to possibly be none-to-exciting to look at for you until times comes to put the car on last.

Look at this goddam thing.

Ok now time to clean the brushes and hopefully do a little bit of riding.

www.hookermedia.com

Triumph Part III

2007-05-07T15:32:00.000-04:00

Well, good news. I got a Triumph. A Bonneville 750.

For free.

Only problem?

It's been sitting in my friend's yard for the better part of the last 25 years.

I'm not worried though. I have all the time in the world and no worry of screwing it up. How can it get any worse? I'd love to learn how to fix up engines using my current bike, but I'm afraid to screw it up since it's already running. This one will hopefully uncover some of the secrets of motorcycle engines.

Ideally I'd love to chop it's ass end off and turn it into a hardtail. White walls, Z shaped bars, minimal as all hell.

I was talking to my stepfather over the weekend and his eyes lit up when I told him about the dead Triumph. "I'll fix it up!! I can get that thing running in no time!"

He happens to be a master mechanic of like 40+ years. He wasn't keen on the hardtail idea. "You run over a cigarette butt with a hardtail and you'll feel it"

Oh well. I have yet to even grab the bike.

Thanks for the hookup, Sarah!

www.hookermedia.com

Triumphant trip

2007-05-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

Skip and I took the bikes to Riverside Kawasaki in Somerville to go look at Triumphs. I fell in love with a Speedster 900. Only thing is, they don't come with spokes. I hate any other type of wheels. They are retarded unless they are spokes. I love the bike, but that's a dealbreaker. I've shied away from numerous bikes in the past because of this problem.

In other news, watch this totally radical video of insects getting hit with pies.

Triumphant

2007-05-02T12:52:00.000-04:00

I have no news or stories today.

I'm thinking of switching to a Triumph motorcycle. That's about all.

Maybe a Bonneville America.

Or maybe a Thruxton.

I like the looks. I love the power they have.

Only thing I don't like is the quiet purring pipes. I'm a firm believer that loud pipes save lives (and scare the shit out of would-be jaywalkers). I love going into a tunnel and lighting it up to hear the obnoxiousness of my bike. I'm an American after all.

Caity, here's the progress for today. It's slow going on city scapes. Hi, Matt and any other lurkers that Caity might have brought over who are too lurkerish to comment.

www.hookermedia.com

Gone Silverfishin'

2007-05-01T10:23:00.000-04:00

So today I woke up sort of groggy. I was afraid it was much later than it actually was. I pawed for my lap top on the ground next to my bed and opened it to find that it was only about 10:00 am. I sat up in bed and checked email and whatnot. I was ready to get up and have some breakfast when over my leg, like the Seven Samurai cresting the cliff on horseback, came a huge goddam 1,000 legged silverfish bug.

I scared the shit out of my roomate Anthony who's working from home in the office/art room this week with my girlish screams of terror. I took this picture after the fact and realized that I sort of look like the king crimson guy when I scream.

I killed the sucker and we had a laugh about my Mammy Two Shoes tirade.

AHHHH!!!

Anthony informed me that silverfish love paper and cardboard. Oh great.

GAH.

I'm going to go eat breakfast. Pray there aren't locusts in my shredded wheat box or something.

www.hookermedia.com

Back to earth

2007-04-29T23:47:00.000-04:00

Months ago I signed up for this cultural exchange arts seminar type dealie at Mass Art and Northeastern University. This weekend I woke up all early both days and headed into town to the campuses to attend presentations from people all over the world speaking about exchange programs for artists.

Like exchange students coming to the U.S. to stay with suburban families. But instead of students, it's artists of all disciplines who may get to stay at an incredibly serene rural artist resort in Oregon, or a beautifully renovated foundry in downtown Montreal, or a government funded museum-quality exhibition/living space in the art district of Shanghai.

I went into this the way I, being a small time guy, go into every setting: "How in the hell is a schmuck like me going to be able to achieve something in this environment?"

The international seminars were a little daunting and my doubts grew as the first morning rolled on. Then on Saturday afternoon I caught a presentation by a woman who spoke about exchange programs in the U.S. which are available to artists who are just starting out, emerging artists with a small following... all the way up to seasoned pros. I felt much better.

I went home Saturday with a ton of pamphlets and handouts and a healthy sense of "I can do this. I will apply to several places and possibly travel solely for the purpose of creating art."

Then Sunday morning I had a one-on-one session with the art director of an artist's collective located an hour from Paris, France. I showed my website to this dude. Who's name was Jean.

In a nutshell, I have... some skill, no real direction, and his favorite piece was not a painting but the mixed media "Hell On Earth" that I put together in photoshop. I confessed that it was my attempt at ripping off an artist named Sophie Toulousse.

Awesome.

I admit I walked around for a while by myself pretty crestfallen. Then I got home, pulled my head out of my ass and started working on commissions.

Here's the work I did on the Geisha tonight.

And Caity... I started on your painting. It ain't much tonight, but give me time.

I'm not a deep, emotional, tortured artist who paints from the soul about current events or timeless themes. I'm a douche from Quincy who's making cool paintings for people who have never bought original art before. I felt pretty down about that earlier today. Now after working for six hours in my own element I feel pretty shitty about ever letting that dude get to me.

www.hookermedia.com

Triptych 3

2007-04-27T11:04:00.000-04:00

For anyone not familiar with my triptychs let me give you a bit of background.

I had no idea what a triptych was until I discovered Francis Bacon in highschool. I tried copying this one in art class...

A while back my friend Dara had a photo exhibit and I went and I really wanted one of the framed photographs she had on display. I offered her a trade and she went for it. In the back of my head I always sort of feel like I'm swindling someone when offering to trade one of my paintings for something.

She wanted a painting but she had no idea what she wanted a painting of.

I had her give me a list of words. Adjectives, nouns, verbs, anything. I came up with this.

Next triptych started when I ran into some highschool friends at the Fort Point open studios. Same deal. No idea what they wanted to I asked for a list. Here's what came of that...

The third and latest triptych came once again through a trade agreement with an artist in Washington named Counsel Langley. I hornswoggled her into a trade and she gave me a list and promised me this painting...

So here now is my third triptych which will soon be shipped out West to it's rightful owner...

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

www.hookermedia.com

Kroenen on wheels

2007-04-25T21:30:00.000-04:00

Anyone who is familiar with either the comic books or the recent movie Hellboy knows the character Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. He was born in 1897. He had angelic features and a voice to match. He sang until puberty ended his career. He was also a sadomasochist and cut his own eyelids and lips off. He looks cool as hell in my opinion. Well, with his mask and stuff on. Without it he's terrifying.

Last week Skip and I took our first ride together on the motorcycles. It was marvelous. Riding 2 x 2 just like in CHiPs. Ponch and ... the other non-Ponch guy.

We stopped by an Army Navy store downtown to get some new goggles for night riding. He chose some big ass fighter pilot goggles. I chose a highly uncomfortable, mark-leaving, bug eyed pair of Swiss goggles. After I tried them on we remarked on how Kroenen-esque they would be with a black mask. Sweet.

Here they are. I am channeling Tom Waits' brilliant performance as Renfield in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Here's what I looked like when I rode around Friday after buying a balaklava. Not baklava. Balaklava.

And after I remembered that I have this sweet hat hanging high on my wall.

Enough about that. Pinhead is nearly done! And he has a pet tiger. A ceramic pet tiger. The frame will be on soon, but I have to take a router to the wood on the back this week in order for the canvas to fit.

www.hookermedia.com

Memoirs of a gayshur

2007-04-25T16:04:00.000-04:00

Hi ho.

Hi ho? I have no idea where that came from.

Counsel, your triptych will be posted. Don't worry. Promise.

So the weather has been nice. Until just now when I was on the bike without the full face helmet getting pelted by stupid rain. But the weather has been nice and I'm thankful for the sun and heat and my non-burning olive skin. (thanks mom)

As I said a while back I'm getting started on a painting of a seductive geisha for my seductive friend Lili. I tried in the least creepy way possible to ask her for a reference photo since she said she had a kimono-esque robe... and knows how she wants her own painting to look. Well she took a few but they weren't quite right. No tripod, no Asian heritage, etc. So I asked the only two Asian girls I know if they'd be game. Both of them date dudes in the same band and had a show to go to last night. Nuts. So I finally asked my friend Danielle who's no stranger to being in front of a camera. She's a Suicide Girl.

Danielle was nice enough to let me come over for five minutes before she had to leave for work and I got a useable shot. Life as an artist is tough. I have to drive around all day on a motorcycle in perfect weather in search of girls to take pictures of.

The pose is semi suggestive. Either she's coming or going. Or just did. OH! She has her robe down off one shoulder. Not off both shoulders, as made popular by Naomi "Skeeter" Harper.

Today it's gone from blank canvas to this so far....

Up next... the tale of the '32 Ford hot rod. A badass car makes a badass painting. Hopefully.

www.hookermedia.com

Hellrisen

2007-04-22T23:17:00.000-04:00

So a week or so ago I stopped in this tiny antique shop in Roslindale in search of cool frames. I found a badass gold victorian frame that was a little beat up for $20. Awesome.

I thought for a few days "what would I like to put in this awesome frame?" I didn't come up with anything good.

Then last weekend I went to the Fogg Museum on the Harvard campus. I had no idea Harvard even had museums. It has many. My new thing lately is finding destinations when I have no idea what to do with myself during spare time. Museums and historical homes and stuff.

So I hit the Fogg museum and saw portraits by a French artist named Ingres.

Here's my favorite that are on display at the Fogg....

I researched Ingres a bit (went on wikipedia.org) and found out that his last name rhymes with "bang" with a little a tiny trace of the R on the end. It reminded me of the time went to Trader Joes looking for a grain called quinoa that I read about in Men's Health. I searched and searched without knowing what the stuff looked like. I finally stopped this little bespectacled employee and asked where the "kwah-noah" was. He looked at me as if I had just asked him if I could poop in his shoe. Then he finally laughed "oooohh... you mean KEE-noa" Whatever. Ingress.

So anyways, back to my frame. I had no idea what to paint but I knew I wanted it to be Ingres-esque. Well, to the best of my ability anyway. I'll most likely never be in a class with him or his Frenchy peers.

Bleh yeah I chose to paint a portrait of Pinhead from Hellraiser.

Here's the progress for tonight. More to come.

Oh and after painting for like three hours I found out that I had blue paint all over my face.

Then after looking at the photo of my face I found out that it looks like I'm wearing lipstick or something.

And Counsel, your triptych is done. Pictures later in the week.

www.hookermedia.com

Sho nuff II

2007-04-17T14:24:00.000-04:00

Worked on Mr. Nuff for a while today. Once this dries I should be able to finish what I need to on it. With luck.

Been lazy

2007-04-17T11:20:00.000-04:00

Sort of. Been lazy about blogging.

Friday sucked ass. I couldn't get work off for my own art show, so sorry to everyone who was planning on going.

Here's some progress on the latest triptych.

It's like London meets Seattle as far as weather goes around here. It hasn't broken 45 degrees in .... ever. I'm bitter and full of delicious hate nougat. That's all I have for today.

I'm trying to get my new website together. That's the main reason for the sporadic posting.

Am I..... the baddest?

2007-04-10T01:04:00.000-04:00

SHO NUFF

You never know what commission is coming next. This is for my friend Pat.

I have more good stuff on the way. Come back and check for progress as always.

Soon I'll be tackling paintings of:

A seductive geisha for my friend Lili.

A view of Boston only visible from the exit 20 ramp to the Pike/Chinatown. It's my favorite part of the commute on the bike. Makes me feel like I'm flying into some futuristic city whenever I hit that ramp. This painting will be for my friend Caity.

What else what else...

I'm sure there are more but I am sitting amongst too many unfinished paintings for Friday's show. Time to get back to it. After this beer.

I'll ship out a free print of my choice to whoever can guess the musical artist I was listening to when this photo was taken. Try as often as you like in the comments.

www.hookermedia.com

Art show time

2007-04-09T10:43:00.000-04:00

This Friday I'll be having another art show opening party at the Red Dot.

Come out and see some new paintings of mine as well as tons of other cool stuff from the artists listed above.

Weekend was good. Friday I went to a bar for the first time since ... hell I can't remember. I lasted for one shot (which was more like a half cup) of Jameson and one Guinness. Age has waned me drinking capacity. Probably for the better.

Saturday I took the bike out without the full face helmet. My eyes felt as though someone held a vacuum attachment to them for ten seconds afterwards. Although it was sunny and is right now and has been for several days, the temperature hasn't broken 40 degrees. Alright, dude it's April. I know you're New England and you're an asshole, but seriously. Enough.

Sunday I took the bike (like a stubborn moron) an hour down to Cape Cod to my grandparents' house. The ride down was fine. Couple coffee stops and I made it alright. The ride back was crap. Traffic. Colder. Sitting on a needle that could easily thread the rows of crappy traffic, but I held off and didn't drive like a dick.

Well I'm off to finish up paintings and start on new commissions. Stay tuned. Hope to see you Friday.

www.hookermedia.com

Ahoy

2007-04-05T02:00:00.000-04:00

I have work to get done within four or five days for the show I have coming up but tonight I worked solely on the new triptych.

This is turning out to be one of those rare ones that just flows like water once I start it. I wish I could bottle and sell the work ethic that certain paintings bring out. Some are just more fun than others, some are easier despite detail or size, some are done in a night... some just click.

She ain't done yet but here's the progress.

Here's to Thursday. Hey is that a unicorn over there?

www.hookermedia.com

Moving on

2007-04-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

I spoke with my spiritual web advisor the other day and we discussed options for total website rebuilds. Something is going to change soon, so I'll keep you posted on that.

In the mean time I've been working nonstop on paintings galore. Commissions, content for my next show, trade pieces.... everything.

Sarah, I'm happy to report that Paris is done. I hope Adam is feeling alright.

It's a gloomy day so my camera isn't grabbing the best shots ever, but here's what I have for updates sake.

Here's the reaper. Not completely finished yet. I'm giving it a rest and coming back to see what kind of critters or happy clouds I want to add to him.

This is my latest triptych. It's being done for the mighty Counsel Langley. We're trading paintings and I couldn't be more excited.

The painting I'm getting for this triptych is featured this week on Juxtapoz.com just like mine was a few weeks ago.

"Cityscape 15"

In the misty morning

2007-04-02T10:48:00.000-04:00

Good morning. Go listen to "Children of the Sea" by Black Sabbath.

Weekend was pretty cool. Nice weather up until last night. Now it's grey and wet outside and Merle Haggard is lamenting over the speakers of my laptop.

I worked a bit on the couch painting but for some reason I was just rushing the hell out of it. I ended up washing out everything I was trying Saturday night.

Last night I worked on Paris and will finish it soon after the paint from last night dries.

I worked on the reaper painting and also need to let that dry before moving on. I updated the photoshop reference sketch for that one. I'm debating whether or not to give the reaper sweatpants in the painting. Given my love of all things sweatpants I probably will. You gotta reap souls in comfort.

Crap season is almost over at work so that'll be nice. I have to get focused and finish these paintings this week. The show opening is April 13th.

www.hookermedia.com

Wretched surprise

2007-03-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

Got some good progress last night both pre and post work. March is poo season at work so we've all been staying late and doing overtime. We'll have to work both days this weekend as well.

Still, the painting continues. Here is the first painting I started for the upcoming spring-themed art show for the Red Dot in April.

When I was at the Red Dot last weekend and Jeff, one of the curators, invited me to be in the show I instantly got this image in my head. I only have the background done and a ramshackle photoshop reference thrown together.

Even Death gets spring fever and loves to frolic.

I need to come up with a few more paintings for this show in the next week or so and I brainstormed on the train ride home last night. For inspiration I went up to the saloon and took photos of my old victorian couches. I got to work and before you know it I had a case of sleepy eyes and the beginnings of the painting below...

About the wretched surprise.... Just a little while ago just after 9 am, I was taking the photos of these canvases in my office and I heard this horrible wretching noise. And another. Another. I looked outside and saw a dude propping himself up on our stone wall heaving into the yard. Then he'd move ten feet down and repeat into our yard.

I threw open the front door and barked "THE FUCK?" at him. He quickly looked up and apologetically patted his chest, lunged down the street and kept heaving.

"What did you do for breakfast today? Oh a western omelette? Sounds good. Yeah I had a Puerto Rican guy barfing in my yard."

Enjoy the weekend, all of you who aren't working both days.

www.hookermedia.com

Brux and floss

2007-03-29T12:01:00.000-04:00

I always carry stress in my jaw. Any time I'm doing any exercise I curl my tongue into a U and hold it there tensely. I "play drums" on my teeth, clacking to a beat in my head. I tense up when I type for long stretches at work. I try to correct all of these as I notice them but the habits always sneak back.

I was alerted recently that I grind my teeth in my sleep. I've only heard this noise a few times. The first time I heard it I had no idea what it was. I was amazed to find that the human head could produce such a terrible noise.

Years ago when I was around 12 I'd have vivid dreams where my jaw ached and I held a strained underbite for long intervals. Then I'd wake up and my jaw and teeth would be killing me.

All of this freaks me out and since I'm 26 and have only maintenance to worry about teeth-wise, I decided to buy a mouth guard for when I sleep.

I sleep easier knowing I'm not going to wake up with a mouthful of teeth dust.

Tommorow, with any luck I'll be able to throw a photo of a new painting in progress for the upcoming April 13th show at the Red Dot gallery in Dorchester. With that I'm going to get to work on that badboy.

www.hookermedia.com

Well well

2007-03-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

Got into town early yesterday.

Took the subway to Central sq and decided that waiting for the bus is about as cool as giving Paul Stanley a nude piggy back ride.

So I decided to walk from Central to Union square (bout a mile and a half) to the motorcycle shop.

I was like a proud parent picking his kid up from Gymboree or something. As I waited for the mustachioed walrus behind the counter to get my paperwork together I peered out back to the stable of motorcycles, looking for mine.

It took a little while but when I actually caught site of my bike I actually muttered "theeere he iiiiis" like a complete buttclown.

Within a few minutes I was pulling out of the parking lot. It was as if I hadn't stopped riding for three months. Didn't skip a beat. Like... riding... a bike. Pure joy washed over me like a river of pure uh.. joy.

Here. I asked the guy to snap a photo of me.

I headed to the tattoo shop just to put my backpack and jacket down so I could go back out and take a nice ride, but I was immediately bombarded with a task of putting together and mailing a package. This meant I had to walk to the P.O. Where is it? Four blocks down? Ok.

No. Not that simple. Not for me. I walked four blocks. Five. Six? Couldn't find it. I ended up walking two miles. To Harvard. Halfway through my journey this dude walked up behind me and blurted a shitty joke.

Even before he was in my line of vision...

"Ever hear about that zen vacuum cleaner? It comes with no attachments"

He walked a little faster, sidling up next to me. I made a face as if he had just farted in a ski mask and put it on my head.

"I don't get it"

"Oh. Well I don't normally just tell jokes to strangers. I'm just happy to be alive today."

Wonderful.

I finally got to the P.O. Then I waited in line in front of and behind mothers with crying babies. Package sent. Took a bus back to the shop.

Last night and tonight I'm doing double duty. The shop and my crappy office job just cause I'm a nice guy and March is hell in the office.

Go tell a friend about my paintings and ramblings. Get me out of here.

www.hookermedia.com

Narcoleptic Disco

2007-03-26T16:51:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been feeling similar to how I often felt in the last few months of senior year in highschool.

Back in those days, nearly ten years ago... jeez... I'd get up, go to school, get home around 2:45... get back on the train by 3:15 and then work, in the same office I'm sitting in right now... jeez... until 8 pm, then do it all over again the next day.

Most of the day I'd feel as though I had a slight pressure weighing down my brain pan. A drowsy, inviting hum that beckoned me to drift off to sleep. Sometimes I'd take a 20 minute nap after work and I'd wake up confused with ever-so-echoed hearing that lasted a few minutes.

That constant nap feeling is back and I can't stand it.

When I step back and take note of my schedule, it seems like a lot. However, I'm still working in this office. Still.

I'll spare you the weekly itinerary, but this stupid tiredness makes me wonder, should I take one day off a week? A day where I sit and do jack shit?

My 20's are running out. Jack Shit'll wait.

If anyone needs me I'll be using my desk as a pillow for 20 minutes.

Here's the progress on the Paris painting...

24 hours ago

12 hours ago

and...Taylor Hanson. Zac Hanson. Sorry.

www.hookermedia.com

Comrade!

2007-03-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

After months of searching craigslist I found what I've been looking for. An olympic bench and a squat rack for the basement. I got them cheap and now with these items added to the other stuff I already had, I pretty much have a small gym down there.

February I didn't touch anything heavy and did all these balancing corrective routines in preparation. Now I am getting back to normal weights and whatnot three times a week. March is almost over and I've tired of my current regimen so I've been looking around at different options for the April workout schedule.

The other day at the shop the guys had 300 playing on the dvd player. Two of the guys live with a kid who always gets movies on DVD a year before they are out. He works for some movie studio or something. Anyways, everyone was all fired up at all the violence and muscle.

Kurt (pictured below) started jokingly yelling "HOOKER YOU WANNA GO GET A FLEX ON?" They have a bowflex in the basement of the shop.

The dvd had a feature showing the grueling workout that all the actors did to prepare for the role as Spartans fighting to the death. They kept mentioning these things called kettlebells. I had never heard of them before.

Kettlebells are basically cannon balls with a handle. The Soviet army has been using them for 100 years. Think strongmen of yore with twirly little moustaches and leopard print singlets. These are people who use kettlebells.

They caught my attention though because it's something new. I did some research and ended up finding this hilarious video.

So unintentionally homoerotic. You gotta watch the whole thing and listen to the guy's quotes.

Reminds me of this...

Tomorrow: I'll have pictures of Paris and another commission I'm working on... Zac Hanson. From. Hanson.

Also: There'll be another show for April. More details to come. Friday night soiree for anyone who wants some free drinks and good art to gawk at.

www.hookermedia.com

Not a bad couple days

2007-03-23T14:53:00.000-04:00

So now that I'm going to post about what I was excited about yesterday it doesn't seem nearly as awesome. But it is. So what the hell. Just keep in mind I'm a complete ass and it'll all read smoother.

The other day I was on the computer at the shop and this girl who got a small tattoo on her wrist was standing and watching while her friend got something touched up on her shoulder.

I had been chatting with them both since they came in and they were both nice and it was pleasant and all that crap.

So I'm on the computer and the girl tells me to search for her myspace page. I do, and she points out a photo of her and another smiling black woman. It's Queen Latifah.

I love Queen Latifah.

No irony, no smarminess, no joke. I have a crush on Queen Latifah.

Turns out the girl went on Oprah and met her. Hung out with her. Has her phone number. Address.

Also turns out Queen is going to be in Boston in early May.

I must meet her. I asked the girl if Latifah's skin was a perfect and smooth in person as it seems on t.v. 'tis she said. She also likes motorcycles. I wonder if she likes white guys built like praying mantii. Mantises? Mantii?

....and now the good things about the last 24 hours.

Last night at work we had a large in house client. They left two platters of sushi literally untouched. I had carte blanche on about $200 worth.

Earlier today I got stopped by a dude at a kiosk at the mall. He somehow coralled me into trying some Dead Sea salt scrub thing. As I walked away from the kiosk I noticed I got a year's supply for $3.05 instead of $35.00 when he screwed up the credit card transaction. Gay that I bought Dead Sea minerals? Pfff. Whatever. I'll have smooth, supple skin. Like this guy....

On the way home I heard a song I fell in love with nearly 10 years ago. A song from the year 1969. A song by R.B. Greaves called "Take A Letter Maria".

That's all I got. Enjoy the weekend. U.N.I.T.Y.

www.hookermedia.com

What the hell day is it? UPDATED*

2007-03-22T11:45:00.000-04:00

I swear I had a good idea for a blog entry today. It's rattling around in my head like a widget in a krylon can. This is pissing me off. I can't think of what it was. I thought of it last night. Riveting reading this eh?

Well dammit I can't think of what it was so here's the latest progress on the Barcelona Cathedral painting.

What a useless buttface.

*I finally remembered what it was that was blog-worthy about yesteday. I'll post it allll tomorrow. Awwwwww.

www.hookermedia.com

More Paris

2007-03-21T00:31:00.000-04:00

Not Paris Hilton. She looks like Powdered Toast Man.

The painting I'm working on.

I'm excited about how this one will turn out.

And here is a little gem I found tonight while looking in a drawer with old papers and photos in it.

THIS ... is the Matt Hooker Signature Series custom shop order form. As you can see Mr. Hooker was very particular about details on his namesake guitar. With good reason too. He was a founding member of the seminal singer-less, gig-less, original song-less metal band "Nepenthene" back in 1994.

It's funny looking back on this fantasy guitar I drew for myself back in the day before I ever got the chance to really play a variety of guitars and see what I preferred.

This guitar would have featured:

24 frets. ... i hate 24 fret. prefer 22.
a rosewood fretboard.... i prefer ebony
a whole mess o' pickups and pickup variations. .... i use a bridge pickup and that's about it.

I'd still love to see this thing built if for nothing other than the MELTING SKULL GRAPHIC!!!

www.hookermedia.com

YES!

2007-03-19T20:11:00.001-04:00

Goddam. The hits keep coming. I keep jumping back to the top of this post to update while I'm typing.

Real quick...I just put my headphones back on at work and Badlands is playing on the internet radio station I listen to. I think I'm the only person who still loves Badlands. They were a short lived band in the early 90's comprised of guys who went on to or came from bigger bands. Eric Singer, drummer of KISS. Jake E. Lee, Ozzy's guitarist for a while.

GAH! Speaking of Jake, "Shot in the Dark" just came on!

I got an email tonight from a name I didn't recognize. Turns out it was from someone at Juxtapoz Magazine.

If you're not familiar with Juxtapoz, it's an art magazine that caters to people who are not into shi-shi "highbrow" art. I've been an avid reader for years and I'm a featured artist this week on their website!!

SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE BIT

Juxtapoz was created by Robert Williams, probably best known as the guy who painted this:

I'm so psyched. This is a much-needed boost after the shit weekend I had.

www.hookermedia.com

Noreaster

2007-03-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

Oh awesome.

I can't believe I still bitch about New England weather, but I'm from New England. It's what we do.

It was near 60 a few days ago. And now I'm in a snow globe. Weee.

Well in happier news I started Sarah's Paris painting.

Wet paint does not look good with flash photography, but it'd be lame to say "I started a painting but no picture for you. So there."

Have a good weekend, everyone. This weather better calm down. I'm supposed to get the Admiral out of storage next weekend.

www.hookermedia.com

Unbelievable

2007-03-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. I woke up pretty early and exercised and then headed into town with my roomate to meet our friend Josh and Jenny for lunch at the Other Side Cafe. The weather was perfect t-shirt weather, the lunch was awesome, the day was off to a great start.

After lunch I headed across Mass. Ave to wait for a bus that would bring me to Central sq. I called my friend Tacky to shoot the shit and see if he wanted to hang out later on after I got out of work. We went back and forth for a few and then he asked

"Oh did you hear about Greg?"
"No. Greg Puricelli?"
"Yeah. He's... he was killed."

I screamed at the bus stop.

Greg was at the opening at the Red Dot gallery back in February. He and his fiancee Audrey had showed up and it was great to see them both. Audrey was there in my highschool art class when I first picked up a paint brush. I knew Greg for years having grown up down the street from him in West Quincy.

That night it had been a couple years since I saw him since he moved to Arizona to become a master motorcycle technician.

He had just recently moved back. He congratulated me on my artwork and invited me to come to Daytona with him and his buddies, one of whom I bought my first motorcycle off of. They were getting a trailer to bring their bikes down and I was welcome to come with them and ride the first week in March.

That invitation stuck with me all month and I wished I could have gone. I thought of the invitation often. I hadn't seen him in years and he happily invited me along. Sweetest thing ever. That is how I'll remember Greg.

Monday, March 12 he was killed on his motorcycle when he was struck by a van. He was on his brand new Ducati sportbike that he told me about excitedly at the art show.

I haven't stopped thinking about Greg and Audrey since I heard. I won't for a long time.

Bye, buddy.

Loft party

2007-03-14T15:06:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a good day. Got up early and painted and then my buddy Gary came by around 6 and we loaded up his truck with artwork and headed to the South End for an art party.

We had no idea what to expect and when we got there. We pulled down Harrison ave and then down the dark street that was on our scribbled directions. The street was like some sort of valley made of endless, identical brick fortresses.

We saw a dude putting a crappy scribbled sign up in a stairway out front and sure enough he was Kurt, the dude who put the whole night together.

He wasn't an artist or anything, just a regular dude who was "bored" and decided to do something worthwhile with his time by putting nights like Saturday together for local artists. He's a rare breed and a very cool kid.

I brought a twelver of Bud and realized too late that I forgot to eat dinner. I was benevolently drunk by 11 pm, giggling all high pitched and uncontrollably at all the nonsense pouring out of my mouth. I didn't sit in the corner like a fat kid at a prom though. So that was good. Talked to people and had a great ol' time.

Next time one of these rolls around I'll let you know in advance.

www.hookermedia.com

BACK

2007-03-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

Goddam it's been a week since I last blogged. I know everyone has been biting their nails, glued to their monitors for my triumphant return.

Frrrrrrrrrrt.

Well I'm back, and I have actual content. First, just to get it out of the way, here is my favorite picture of the month...

Ok. That's done.

Now, here's the weekend progress I made on the Barcelona Cathedral painting. I had intentions of going to bed early on Friday night after work but I was up till 3 and up again at 8:30 working on this piece. It's finally starting to get interesting.

I have prints available on my website for both the newly finished Elvis Costello painting and the dearly departed Big Bird & Bert, which was recently sold to Ulli

Go check out the finished Elvis and maybe pick up a print if you want.

www.hookermedia.com

Tomorrow I'll be back with photos from the South End art loft party that I had pieces hanging in this past Saturday.

Stay tuned.

Done with China

2007-03-06T12:37:00.000-05:00

Goddam it's cold out today. I went outside today at 8:00 am to take the plates off my van and in three minutes my fingers turned into pure ice. Worst part is? I can't find my awesome flannel flappy hat that my mom got me years ago. It's around here somewhere dammit. On the way to work my ears are going to fall apart like a delicious, flaky Vienetta ice cream treat log.

Holy shit. Remember those?

Moving on.

Taipei is finally finished. I'm just going to call the painting Taipei since it's already force of habit, even though the photograph I used as a reference is actually a place called Kaohsiung.

Check out the painting under the Oils section on my website and let me know what you think.

www.hookermedia.com

I also made more progress on the Barcelona Cathedral. It doesn't look like much, but this pillar section on the right took a total of four hours to get to where it is now. Pray for me, people. And if you're a reader from Spain who has the opportunity to actually go to the cathedral itself... si puedes poner una vela para mi.

Here's the progress.

Bundle up, suckers.

WHERE IS MY FLAPPY HAT THAT MY MOM GOT ME.

All I ever wanted...

2007-03-04T23:21:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago in Newark I was part of a ragtag wedding band that hammered out a few classic fist pumping songs like "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake and "White Wedding".

The groom Ryan (who was also the bass player in his own wedding band) being a huge Elvis Costello fan, threw the song "Human Hands" into the mix. That one was particularly fun to play and was only the second Costello song I've learned to date. Coincidentally, years and years ago I recorded a version of "Allison" with Ryan for my cousin of the same name after someone close to her died. It's not exactly a pleasant lovey song when you really pay attention to the lyrics, but it was a well received effort nonetheless.

And now, after my pre-requisite tangent, I present the second Costello-related coincidence.... After I got home from the wedding I was contacted by my friend Angela about painting her her very own non-velvet Elvis. Here he is today after a day's work...

I got some commissions at the beginning of the weekend so stay tuned for progress on such subjects as Boston, Paris, two headed birds and all the stuff I'm working on for my own jollies.

www.hookermedia.com

Friday post of awesome stuff

2007-03-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

I don't have anything clever or poignant or whatever to write. Not that I ever really do. So today I'm just going to list a bunch of stuff that I dig for no reason. A rainy Friday blog post. Damn is it rainy here.

Awesome staple of my life #1.

Jif peanutbutter.

I eat it straight out of the can, on bananas, Ritz, toast... whatever. At least two large cans a month. Skippy is too sugary. Reese's in the can is a joke. I choose Jif.

#2 Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy.

Who else could pull off having a fro, creepy moustache, being a half black Irishman in leather pants all while writing some of the best songs in one of the best bands ever? Phil. Go listen to Thin Lizzy "Runningback" now. If you want me to email you an mp3 of it let me know.

#3 Liquin.

Most people talk about how oil paints take too long to dry. I understand their pain. I also used to find it frustrating how thick and unspreadable some paints were. Liquin is a drying agent that lets me get more work done quicker and it thins paint out just enough to help me wash large canvases for backgrounds. Thank you, Kiley for bringing it to my ignorant little unschooled art world.

#4 FLH Harleys.

I love the lines on these bikes. The curves, how they sit, everything. I've never driven one, but if I had my choice of a custom bike it'd be modeled after an old FLH.

#5 Bud from the can.

I have no idea why, but the end of this week has found me craving Bud from the can. Last night my roomate called to me as I stepped in the side door, which is right next to the fridge asking me to grab him a St. Pauly girl and one for myself if I wanted. I love St. Pauly Girl. I grabbed one of my Bud cans. I think it's like fast food. Sometimes you just crave it. I can't say the same for myself with fast food, but sometimes I'd rather slum it with beer.

#6 Calling myself "Best Man"

I stole it from this....

Sometimes I yell it like a superhero war cry in the supermarket or wherever I feel like it. Try it out.

Alright that's enough. I'm going to get ready for work. Enjoy the weekend.

www.hookermedia.com

Dug it *updated

2007-02-28T15:36:00.000-05:00

I just picked up a copy of the Weekly Dig Issue Feb 28-March 3... and sure enough, spanning across pages 22 - 23 is a huge print of "1793".

Proud of me? Aww man, go hang it on your fridge. Weeeeee.

Mom, I promise I'll mail you a copy or four. Keep on me about it.

www.hookermedia.com

The weather is lovely today. T-shirt weather. High 40's. Sunny.

And we're supposed to get slammed with snow this weekend.

No really. Where the hell is my motorcycle?

*Here's my friend Rog rubbing the print on himself excitedly.

Dig this

2007-02-27T11:58:00.000-05:00

I just got an email from Boston's Weekly Dig telling me that my painting "1793" will be featured in the magazine's "Dig This" section tomorrow!

Here's the Dig's website.

www.weeklydig.com

I'll post a link to the article and most likely scan the paper version and post it as well because I am a dork who gets way too excited about stuff like this.

Watch out.

In the ongoing saga of Taipei, here's the latest progress after an early day of work today.

www.hookermedia.com

Snow like whoa

2007-02-26T11:28:00.000-05:00

Last night was a really nice night for a stroll. I walked the mile or so from the tattoo shop to the T and slowed my pace a bit because of the pleasant crispy night. This morning I wake up to snow everywhere. Still coming down. Should be a nice sloshy walk to and from the T today. Just when I thought winter was on it's way out.

Where's my motorcycle dammit?

One odd thing that happened last night while on the train...

As anyone who's ridden a subway knows, the announcer guy usually just comes on and grumbles whatever stop is next once the doors close and the train starts rolling. Last night after a stop in south Boston the dude gets on the system accidentally and tells the driver "Tom ... a kid just spit at me!"

I've wanted to slap announcers before while they poke their head out of the window to make sure no one gets closed in the doors, but spitting at one?

I just realized how idiotic that sentence is. Love slap. Not malicious. You know.

Worked on a few commissions last night. The blue one will eventually be a painting of Elvis Costello. The bird crest is something I designed for my friend Peet's band.

www.hookermedia.com

Heading to church

2007-02-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

Friday. Sort of.

I may have to work both days this weekend. Whatever. We'll see. That Loverboy joke yesterday came back to bite me in the ass.

I got an idea last night for a plan for the next four months or so. I want to have a series of paintings with a common theme to show to galleries and the like. I need everything to be A-list stuff. I plan on nearly going insane trying to execute this plan.

As I mentioned in an entry a while back I don't have a passport. I have a healthy wanderlust and no passport. A sad state. The painting of Taipei.... which I'm told is actually not Taipei but Kaohsiung.... is the first of a series I'll be doing of faraway lands. I started a new one last night. I just have the sketch and some base colors on right now. This is barely 2 hours old.

I have a romantic thought about what Spain is like. I'm starting on this painting of the Barcelona Cathedral with that romantic spirit in mind.

Doesn't look like shit now, but give me some time. Check back for updates on this and Kaohsiung.

Happy weekend.

www.hookermedia.com

Thursday

2007-02-22T11:31:00.000-05:00

With the weekend approaching I'm curious as to how I'm going to fill my time. Saturday with any luck I'll head to an indoor climbing wall with my brother and then over to the Red Dot gallery so he can see my newest paintings in person. Hopefully he won't, as he always does, get too banged up with his buddies on Friday night to move on Saturday. We'll see. Oh very young, what were you drinking this time?

I've been getting up early this week and getting back to exercising after last weeks stomach virus debacle. I've also put some quality time into Taipei. Here's the progress....

What's everyone doing for the weekend?

I hope you're not working. Hyuck.

Sidenote: As goofy as his band was...how incredible is Mike Reno's voice?

Balmy

2007-02-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

Supposed to be in the 40's today. I may not need a jacket.

I've been having dreams of the motorcycle lately. Those vivid dreams where you feel motion and centrifugal force and you wake up confused and disappointed. Every surface is covered in salty footprints. The inside of the train cars. Every foyer and lobby. I was driving around with my friend Frank in his ancient dying Cadillac.

The Caddy has no heat and one night we were laughing about how funny it was to have a Cadillac with an affliction as crappy as a broken heater. We were driving to get some food some night where it was a high of 20. I told him "You know though, it makes me miss the summer more." Frank cut me off "you gotta earn the summer right? That's bullshit. A buddy of mine used to say that. Then he moved to Santa Monica. He called me in February last year and said 'Frank remember how I told you all those years that plowing and shoveling and freezing made us appreciate the summer more? I was wrong. I was this weather all year round. I'm an idiot and I was wrong'."

I still think balance is good. I'll be having these dreams until hopefully April or May. When I get the bike out of the garage I'm heading somewhere far with no plans of telling anyone until maybe after I get back. Maybe I'll have earned it by then.

Newark

2007-02-19T14:47:00.000-05:00

This weekend I went down to Newark NJ for a friend's wedding. I was in the wedding band.

I won't get into all the crap that went down while arranging the transport of all the stuff to NJ. Luckily it was handled mostly by my roomate and not by me.

We stayed here.

The Hilton in Newark. Smack dab in Newark.

Here's the view from our hotel room.

Bleeehhffhh.

I'm back. I'm not in Newark anymore. That's all I got today. I'm here at work and the Securities Exchange Commission isn't open. That's like opening a .... god dammit I can't come up with a good analogy.

Bleh.

Damn Cupid laced the arrow with something *updated

2007-02-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

I'm back.

Sort of.

Eh, I know I've talked about poo on here before, but if you're not up for some grossness, I'd pass on today's entry.

It all started back on Tuesday. I went about my normal routine, I got a call saying that my friend Sal was coming down to pick up his van at our house just as I was going to take the train into town. I being the clownfish to Sal's sea anemone, struck up a most symbiotic deal, offering to drive Sal's van into town for him. It went smoothly.

But... for some odd reason... out of nowhere there came a nausea that lived in my core. Sourness that seemed to appear as instantly as a bowl of delicious Cream of Wheat.

I ran upstairs and like a confused 6'4" squid, rocketed two alarming jets of Yoohoo from my bottom.

I shook it off and wondered what the hell was going on. Maybe it was the Thai I had for dinner the night before.

Into town I went.

When I got there I went to the tattoo shop and talked shop about motorcycles for a while with a couple artists and a dude who works at Greater Boston Motor Sports.

I continued to dash off to the bathroom to make the same noise one makes when one aims a firehose into a toilet and turns the pump on.

The guys at the shop were merciless. One even put his ear to the door and laughed and yelled "Hooker was there any poo in there or was it just blood?"

This terrible scene played out literally six or seven times in two hours. Around 4:30 I started feeling terrible chills and the masochistic bastard who eavesdropped offered to give me a ride home.

Long ride and long story short, I got out of his car after a crappy ride through traffic and felt dizzy when I stood up.

I hadn't been here in nearly 13 years.

Throwing up while sober.

I was terrified.

As a kid my family used to make fun of me for a notorious story my mother told all of them about when I barfed multiple streams and in between motioned the sign of the cross out of pure terror.

I put my bags down in the first convenient place I could find. Not on the walkway leading to the house, but in a large bush next to the driveway. Then I saw my roomate out walking the dog. He asked how I was. I shook my head "no" and waddled over towards the trash cans. I propped myself against a tree and heard him coming towards me. I waved him away like I was prissy Dracula and he was wearing strands of garlic. Pure fear. I was like a cat hiding in the basement just before it dies.

The next 48 hours were filled with trips to the upstairs bathroom (the pipes in the bathroom close to my room froze on Tuesday), curling into a tiny ball and whining, not eating, guzzling pedialyte, halucinating, throwing up two more times, more poo, etc. etc.

Jesus. Sorry.

I'll stop.

There's a new painting up I think. I don't know. Someone hold me.

www.hookermedia.com

*Wait a minute. After scrolling down and giving it some thought... this may have been some act of vengeance by the universe. I depicted a beloved childhood figure on the toilet showing an obscene gesture to another childhood figure and a week or so after I complete the painting I'm doubled over muttering "oh no.. oh no... ooooh no" in a quiet, shaky, unintentional Droopy Dog voice.

I'm sorry, Big Bird.

I am so sorry.

Maybe I'll hold off on the painting I was going to do of Ernie tying his shoes. I don't even want to know what would happen to me if I went through with that idea.

Taipei

2007-02-13T11:38:00.000-05:00

Here's some more progress on the painting of Taipei.

Anyone doing anything good for valentine's day? Don't tell me you're one of those d-bags that gets depressed while single on V-day.

The coolest Valentine's day I ever had was back in the 80's when I got home from school and found that my mother had bought me one of these bad boys:

...and some cinnamon hearts.

THANKS, VALENTINE MOM!

Tired of metal

2007-02-12T17:40:00.000-05:00

I've been tired of metal for a number of years. It started with Sabbath tapes bequeathed by my uncle when I was barely old enough to use the tape player. Then the whirlwind of Metallica, Slayer and Pantera as a pre-teen. Then death metal in highschool. Then more death metal. Then the Gothenburg sound exploded. Then back to death metal. I loved it all.

I haven't bought a new metal album in forever. I believe the last one I bought was Mastodon's "Remission" when it came out. As much as I loved Remission I didn't bother to listen to anything they put out after that despite the hype. I just stopped buying metal altogether.

Now it's official. Slayer has won a Grammy.

Bleh.

The singing/screaming combo, ultra slick production, chug chug riffs and predictable drumming have bored me to death since it started.

The ultra-spazzy, mathy metal has always bored me since it started.

I'm going to go listen to Seger on vinyl.

This sucks.

Procrastination

2007-02-11T23:18:00.000-05:00

Recntly I've found out that when you are fortunate, the only thing that can hurt you is your own procrastination.

I've been procrastinating lately on some things. Nothing huge. Just menial tasks...etc. It's a lucky place to be. Clear perspective is important...etc. I won't get too deep for fear of sounding like some douche hippie. Might be too late.

Anyways... for any of you dear readers who are out of state or any of you dear readers who won't get a chance to see my new pieces currently hanging at the Red Dot gallery I've put them up on my website. Finally. There are four new oils and one new acrylic.

I hope you enjoy them.

www.hookermedia.com

Money moron

2007-02-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

Why is it that I have some sort of phobia about transferring cash from savings to checking whenever I need to? I'll write a check and wait until last minute to transfer the cash. By then I'm overdrawn and I have to fork over extra money for fees. Not every time, but too often. It's some sort of disease. I have no idea why I do that.

Great way to start the day. Dammit.

HEYYYYYY!

2007-02-07T10:38:00.000-05:00

Can't you just picture him screaming that in his nasally woman's voice?

After yesterday I'm pretty far along with the stuff I want to paint for myself. Where are the commissions, people? Own a painting already.

www.hookermedia.com

and a bit more

2007-02-06T19:46:00.001-05:00

Taipei circa 8:00 pm.

Rock.

Progress

2007-02-06T13:17:00.000-05:00

So the installment is up and done at the Red Dot, as we all know. I worked for two weeks coming up with the material and luckily (depending on how you look at it) commissions have slowed this month. I'm taking the down time to work on some pieces for my own enjoyment.

I recently got lost for hours trolling flickr.com for photographs of anything and everything. It's sort of like youtube where you search for something and before you know it an hour and a half later you're still on the site, but you have no idea how you started and how you got to where you are at the moment.

I started work on rendering two photographs from flickr. I'll show them and their photographers when I'm done with the pieces. Here is a little preview on the progress I've been making this week. The last painting is something that popped into my head months ago and if you know me at all, you're not surprised by the fact that the scened depicted randomly appeared in my mind's eye.

Enjoy.

www.hookermedia.com

Weekend recap

2007-02-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

Well it's another sunny but frigid day. I'm going to continue working on the new paintings I started last night, but first I'll give a weekend recap.

Friday I took advantage of my boss being tied up on the phone with his insurance company describing a recent fender bender he was in and slipped out the door just a little before 4 o'clock.

Everyone was expecting snow or maybe even a Noreaster Friday evening. I took the long way over to the BCEC to meet Jenny and enjoyed the stroll through Fort Point channel. The weather was perfect. It wasn't too cold, wasn't too windy. The sky looked nice. Highly enjoyable.

I was lucky enough to get a ride out of town with Jenny and we dealt with nearly no traffic. We stopped at a supermarket and picked up the aforementioned cupcakes and Busch and then headed over to the Red Dot.

From the time I got there to the time I left friends of mine were dropping by to check out the whole scene. Some of my family showed up, some old friends I hadn't seen in forever, some people I only knew as acquaintances... just tons of people. It was a really cool feeling. One piece sold that night, the latest Truck Wars. Very cool.

Saturday my friend Ryan came up from Brooklyn to practice with myself and two of my roomates. Together we form what will be Ryan's wedding band in two weeks. We're packing up and heading to Newark to play in front of a bunch of old people. Should be interesting. I swear my throat was bleeding from singing the lead on Bon Jovi's "I'll BeThere For You" and Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again". We do a sweet rendition of "Walk This Way".

After practice nearly a dozen of us headed to the good ol' Foxy Lady in Brockton for Ryan's impromptu bachelor party. It was a tame night by Foxy standards.

Sunday was more practice, dinner at a sushi place, cursing Peyton Manning's name and new paintings.

When they are worth showing I'll get some progress pictures of the new paintings up.

Happy Monday.

www.hookermedia.com

Gallery day

2007-02-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

Well today is the day. I got up at the ass crack of dawn in order to get to work by 8. I got to work by 8 so I can get out around 4 so I can get over to the Red Dot and hang out with the droves of art fanatics who will be clamoring to see my new pieces.

So tonight, at the reception of my first proper gallery show ever '07, I'd like to give the place a taste of Hookerness. I believe I'll be showing up with a twelvie of Busch and some cupcakes. Yellow sponge, chocolate frosting of course. I was going to wear a blazer or a frilly pirate blouse of some sort but I think I'm just gonna go with the tried and true Screaming for Vengeance t-shirt.

Which reminds me, I met Rob Halford a couple years ago.

SEE YOU ALL TONIGHT.

Hooker Media

Heat's out

2007-02-01T10:01:00.000-05:00

Got home last night long after everyone was already asleep. I took my boots off and walked through the house. Almost immediately I thought to myself "hmm. it's chilly in here. I wonder.." and then my fear was realized. I walked into the living room and saw a space heater next to the lay z boy.

I'm hearing talk of tons of snow tomorrow. I hope it doesn't deter anyone from coming down to the Red Dot gallery. We'll see.

I also hope it doesn't deter me from getting over to Harper's Ferry after the art reception to see Winger play. Lame you say? Yes Winger gets a bad rap. Mainly because of this guy...

But this is Winger with the original lineup. With Reb Beach playing guitar. And say what you will about the lameness of Winger as a whole, but Reb Beach is a monstrous guitar player and I'll gladly sit through Kip Winger's pirouettes and hip grinding to see Reb play.

Gotta have balls

2007-01-29T00:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend was a good one. Friday night I played a show. Saturday I slept in (till 10. weee) and had a lovely day of errands and last minute painting. Saturday night was poker and Basil Hayden whiskey. Today was a beautiful day with a balmy temperature around the high 30's. I didn't even need a sweatshirt under my jacket.

I headed over to the Red Dot gallery and dropped off all my pieces for the art show. A weight was lifted from my mind. I can focus on the few commissions I have left for this month as well as some pieces I've just been meaning to do for myself.

After dinner (taco night... bonus!) my friend Liz stopped by and brought me a gift for picking her up at the airport at midnight one night last week. Here it is:

Take a guess.

Nope.

It's a dog ball. A doberman ball.

Liz is a vet tech.

I have a history of asking for and randomly receiving strange gifts.

Years ago when my stepmother went to Ireland she asked what I wanted. I had no idea. What does Ireland make? I ended up asking for a shilelagh. She-lay-lee. Walking stick. It rules.

Couple years ago my buddy Shawn grabbed me THIS little gem when the record shop he worked at closed their doors for good....

Fantastic.

Last Christmas while hanging out with my mom in NC we ended up going to a huge huge huge outdoorsy hunting emporium. I told her I wanted an elk call. She shook her head in disbelief while the guy rang up my sweet elk call Christmas gift.

So a week or so ago while Liz was talking about her job I blurted "can you get me a dog ball?"

I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do with this thing, but I bet you don't have one on your desk. I'm sure my mom is shaking her head while reading this.

New trucks

2007-01-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

It's getting down to the wire. I have to finish everything within 24 or so hours or I can't hang it this weekend. The opening is one week away and I told the gallery I'd have my pieces ready this weekend. Last night my friends Dave and Suzanne came by after I got out of work and picked up their triptych. We caught up a bit, reminisced about highschool... it was a good time. After they took off I started finishing the latest Truck Wars installment. Working till 3 a.m. Resumed at 9 a.m. Here's a sneak peak of it....

If you want to see it in person, you can starting next Friday at the Red Dot Gallery in Lower Mills.

You know the deal by now right?

Have a good weekend, everyone. Try to keep warm. I have a feeling when I go outside today my nose is going to fall off and shatter on the ground.

Pangs of loss

2007-01-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

I was on craigslist today looking at Triumphs for sale when it hit. My first phantom motorcycle ride. You ever go swimming all day at the beach and when you lie down for sleep at the end of the day you can still feel the waves crashing and tossing you around? I had that feeling today, but it was the rumble of starting the bike up, clicking into first gear and taking off.

It's going to be like a high of 9 tomorrow. I'm glad the bike's safe and sound in a garage. I'm pissed that I forgot my sweet sweet flannel hat my mom got me years ago, pictured below.

I wear this thing even in the house. I have no idea how I forgot it today when I left for work.

Oh well.

SCYTHE OF DOOM

2007-01-23T02:48:00.000-05:00

Scythe is one of the coolest words ever. It's almost vowel-less. It's sexy. It takes some skill to say. Short. To the point. And I found a goddam huge one while walking home from the train last week after work. It was like four doors down from my house. Just hanging out on the sidewalk. Someone was throwing out this totally awesome huge scythe. Wait. Dammit. It has an E. I had to go back and add those E's.

Well here. Here look at my sickle. Scythe is so much better than sickle.

And lo, there's another peek at one of the new pieces that will be up in my first proper gallery art show bonanza.

This post is for banjeroo.

Enjoy. And look out for that package soon.

My first gallery show!

2007-01-22T18:27:00.000-05:00

The Lower Mills section Dorchester, MA is a pretty cool area.

See?

Friday, February 2nd I'll be showing brand new paintings there. It's not a solo show, of course. There are other artists, and wine, and cheese, and probably at least one dude wearing a beret. I'm excited though. They emailed me a few weeks ago and I got to work right away on new pieces. It's a nice thing to work towards. If anyone wants to come down for the opening night I'd love to hang out with you. Hope to see you there. I'll be reminding people about it from now until show time.

Here's a flyer:

Woke up confused.

2007-01-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Worked on a painting last night titled "Hey, that guy has a cannon for a head" from 11 to about 3:00. Set my alarm for 9:30 just to get an extra half hour. Woke up at 8:45 with the thought screaming in my head "I graduated high school 9 years ago. That's almost ten. Nine years ago. When is the reunion? Where will it be? Who will be there?" I had to get up and shake my head loose of the fog and waddled out, confused as hell, to the kitchen.

I was still half asleep for about ten minutes after waking. My brain screams at me between sleep and consciousness. Sometimes I am nearly asleep and the thought "You'll die some day. No really though, not now, but at some point it will be happening" will blast through my head. Then I have to sit up, take a deep breath and finally drift off to sleep.

Today was the same frantic manner of thought, but with the fact that I graduated high school nearly ten years ago.

Shut, up brain. How about screaming something useful for a change?

I wasn't gonna post the painting until it was done, but here's the progress so far. This was a blank canvas last night when I started....

It's going to be one of the pieces in the show I'm in at the Red Dot Gallery in Dorchester's Lower Mills. www.reddotgallery.org

ENJOY THE WEEKEND.

Back in khakis

2007-01-18T15:29:00.000-05:00

So today I suited up in my khakis and button down office garb. Begrudgingly. Wow. Is that how that word is spelled? I have to research this... one sec..

Wow. What an ugly word.

Bleh. I've been waking up around 8:30 or 9 this week. Trying to get into a rythm. The rhythm was broken today by the dog who was frantically barking in the living room at 7:00 a.m. I walked out to find her doing her usual blank stare into space. I had her follow me upstairs and ushered her to her dog bed where she slept once again, safe from whatever the hell she was barking at.

She's either retarded or some scene out of a Japanese horror film where the dog goes bat-shit crazy at the ghost of a seven year old girl with a severe head wound standing unnoticed behind the master imploring his pet to calm down happened earlier today in my goddam living room.

I painted for a bit and called the garage again about my still-broken van. Then I packed my lunch and backpack and suited up in the khakis that unbeknownst to me until I got on the train, have a foot long rip up the outside right seam. They look like half belbottoms.

Work is status-quo. Bleh. Time for a green tea. The one thing I missed about this place.

Freedom

2007-01-17T09:40:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was the beginning of the Tuesday and Wednesdays off from work. I woke up about 8:30 and grabbed a quick breakfast and then started painting. I finished the triptych I was working on.

After painting for a while I emailed back and forth with a guy who wants to buy a painting from me. We met up at a restaurant near my house and talked about doing a show at a shop he owns on the south shore this summer. I'll have more details on that as it's a ways off. This guy is a well-known clothier in Boston. Exciting.

I have to grab more canvas for the upcoming Dorchester show at the Red Dot Gallery.

Gah what else... hmmm.

OH. Jesus. A while ago I stumbled upon the artwork of Counsel Langley

I emailed her with a painting-trade proposition and somehow she was interested in doing a trade with me. Painting for a painting. Amazing. While I was away in NYC I got a text from Jenny freaking out about the painting which was posted on my myspace page. I scrambled to get to a computer and checked it out and was blown away.

I get to have this!

Off to the post office soon. I have to go try to ship Vigo to Ohio. Don't worry there will be prints of him.

I'm off.

NYC

2007-01-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

Well I'm home. I'll just give a list of pros and cons about the trip.

Pro: Seeing my friend Xavier and his recently-impregnated wife at their awesome house in Brooklyn.

Con: Getting a dead fish handshake from his English landlord.

Pro: Seeing X's brother Ryan at the bar he owns on Bowery.

Pro: Free shots of Jameson with our Guinness.

Con: Free shots of Jameson with our Guinness.

Pro: The bartender taking a liking to me at Edwards. All the free Patron I can stomach.

Con: Bartender at Edwards is a dude.

Pro: Being able to hang out at the bar well after last call.

Con: Waking up with one of the worst hangovers of my life on Sunday.

Pro: Pats, baby.

Con: Indy, dammit.

Pro: Singing "Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You" by Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson with a black girl who almost sang better than Roberta herself at a kareoke bar.

Con: Getting aggresively hit on by a dude who looked like Fred from the B-52's at the kareoke bar.

Pro: Chinatown at 3 a.m.

Con: Realizing after the trip came to a close that I don't attract women. Only gay dudes. I am a boner magnet. Oh that and I look like the Geico cave man.

New landscape, new photo of me.

2007-01-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone likes it.

I also hope everyone likes my new blouse. Father Christmas brought it for me.

I'm off to NYC this weekend. Just a random trip.

Quick news: I have a show coming up on February 2nd. It's a Friday. I'll give you full details next week. Excited.

I'm going to finally get off my ass with prints soon.

You should check out David Stoupakis.

I saw his stuff in Juxtapoz magazine this month and it took a while to realize but a friend of mine had a couple huge paintings of his in her house years ago. Very cool seeing them without having to push through a crowd at a gallery. He's from the area and it's a small world.

I'm off to Somerville to finally let my motorcycle hibernate for the winter. I'll miss you, Admiral.

In happier days.

Maine getaway

2007-01-10T17:53:00.000-05:00

My aunt works for a very large law firm in Boston. My corporate white guy office job does quarterly reports for said firm. It's all one big happy family. She, unlike me, enjoys the company of and does nice things for her coworkers. Last year before Christmas she asked if I could draw a house for a guy she works with. He's building this small place way the hell up in Nowhere, ME and is very passionate about his getaway house. It's his refuge from the grind of working for a florptastically successful law firm in a major US city.

My aunt asked me about the drawing just before I left for NC in the middle of the month so I didn't get to it until last last last minute, but I ended up getting it done for her. She said she had it framed and gave it to him the next day. I guess he was pretty touched by it. That was nice to hear. Anyways... here's the drawing I did for Maine house dude.

On an unrelated topic... if you have a roomate that considers making fried eggs once or twice a month and eating canned soup "cooking for himself"... don't be surprised if you wake up to find a skillet over flame with nothing in it, a bottle of vegetable oil with the cap off beside the smoking skillet and his car gone from the driveway one morning.

The teeth cleaning swan song

2007-01-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

Next week it's official: I'll be working part time at my job so I can concentrate more on art and music. I can't believe I didn't try this before. I've been at this job so long. My boss and his boss were very cool about the whole thing. I'm willingly giving up health and dental benefits and almost half my paycheck, but it'll be worth it. I figure I'm going to be storing the motorcycle soon so that takes a pretty big risk out during my no-benefits time.

I'll be taking Tuesdays and Wednesdays off from here until... who knows when. If I can maintain focus and use my time wisely, I should be able to achieve a lot of the goals I've had set forever now.

Tomorrow I'm going in for the final teeth cleaning, then I'm done. Any doctors want to trade a painting for a checkup?

In triptych news, I worked on it for a while last night and also today after I woke up. Here's the latest progress.

Dave, I hope you and wife are as excited about it as I'm starting to be.

Hooker Media

Tryptich? Triptych?

2007-01-09T14:46:00.000-05:00

Hang on. I've been spelling this different ways for too long. Let me www.m-w.com it.

Ok it's "triptych".

Whew.

Now that the holidays are over I'm working on new paintings. Another Joe Strummer painting, this time for one of my oldest clients, Mark Lind, buyer of the Joan Jett.

I've started sketches for front and back album covers for my good friend Peet Golan. This one will be interesting. The concept he gave me to work with is cool as hell. More to come.

I'm also working on, you guessed it, a triptych for a couple friends of mine from highschool. They were married recently and need some new decoration for their home.

Just like last time with my friend Dara, my friends had no idea what they wanted, they just new they wanted one of my paintings. So I went about it the same way I did before. I had them send me a list of nouns, adjectives, verbs... whatever came to mind... just as long as it was things they enjoyed. It worked pretty well for Dara and hopefully it'll work for Dave and Sue.

Here's Dara's painting to refresh your memory...

And here are the progress photos over the last week of Dave and Sue's triptych to be...

It's funny how both lists from completely different people had quite a few of the same things on them. I'm sure me putting both lists through my ringer had a part in the similarities.

Regardless, I enjoy doing these stream of consciousness paintings. It's a cool way to manifest someone's thoughts. Acting like a visual mouthpiece.

If anyone wants to send me a list... you know where to find me.

Hooker Media

Horrible horrible memory

2007-01-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

I went to NC in the middle of December. The Friday night I was there I went out to a bar with a couple friends of mine and we had ourselves a good ol' barhopping night.

I'm not really into the scene that downtown Charlotte had to offer. The first bar was full of beautiful girls and dudes all dressed the same in designer jeans and button down shirts with the first two buttons undone. Then the cover band fired up and the hits started filling my poor ears. Third Eye Blind. Sublime. Sister Hazel. AH! Thank god I always carry earplugs with me! I put them in as conspicuously in front of the band members as possible.

We moved on to a few other places before settling at some huge two story bar with a small line out front. The guy in front of us was a dork dressed in the same aforementioned clothing, but he was about 15 years older than everyone around him. He started boasting to us unprovoked about how he did more drugs, more chicks and saw cooler concerts than us. Great. Good work, dude. We stared at him puzzled.

My friend Will just told me about a song he was listening to earlier today. "Play" by David Banner. I'll spare you the lyrics, but it describes in great detail, one man's quest to pleasure his woman on a dance floor.

That sparked the horrible horrible memory from that night in mid December in Charlotte.

An hour or so after getting to that bar where brodude one-upped us in every aspect of awesome dude life, I caught up with him later on. He and his woman were standing with their backs to the bar. He was in front of her with a drink in his hand. He blurted something to me over the loud music and I kind of nodded and smiled and ignored him. I had no idea what he said. As I reached out to pay the bartender for my beer I noticed he had his left arm crammed down the woman's pants. He looked so proud of himself. I got the hell out of there as quick as I could.

Boiling oil

2007-01-06T18:46:00.000-05:00

Last night was pretty sweet. We played in Portland, ME. My "real" band. Not the cover band. We're about two hours from Portland so the drive wasn't bad. The club, Genos, was pretty cool. The stage looked like a diarama. We played pretty well since we had a show the previous night here in Boston. The crowd was kind of small and I bummed out on that, but when we played everyone in the entire place was paying attention. The bartender stopped what she was doing to watch, the doormen stuck their heads into the room to see what the hell was going on.

After the show we headed a few miles south to a cheap hotel room and shared a 30 rack of Bud and a thousand potty stories that kept us all in good spirits.

We headed out this morning and hit Denny's for some pre-road diarrhea. We made it back to Quincy. The day was beautiful and apocalyptically warm. Don't get me wrong, I love nice 70 degree sunny days, but not here. Not in January. I'm kind of scared.

Anyways, we get about two miles from my house and as we drive by a house with a few teenagers on the porch I notice them staring at our van as we drive by. One of them points to the underside of it in amazement. I was the only one who saw this and told Andy to pull over. I get out and look to see smoke starting to billow from the engine's underside. Then everyone gets out in time to see our beloved Ford E-350 diarrhea her now-boiling oil out onto the street below her. Yes we used diarrhea as a verb. It was the only thing to keep us from total depression. Talk about poop jokes.

Long story already long, our van is now in a lot in Braintree, awaiting her diagnosis. I am without a means of transporting band equipment, the huge Vigo painting that has to come down this weekend, the weight set I've been wanting to buy and the screen printing press I've been saving up for.

I'm sorry I took you for granted, sweet E-350.

I hope you'll be alright.

Ong Bak - Donkey Fist Rap

2007-01-04T19:35:00.000-05:00

Last year I read about some movie called Ong Bak - Muay Thai Warrior starring a dude named Tony Jaa, a martial artist who prided himself in never using wires for aerial stunts. This was on my way into work. I picked up a Metro off the floor of the train and saw a little sidebar blurb on the movie.

For some odd reason I went to see it after work by myself later on that night. I go to the movies maybe once, twice a year. Friends always find it odd when I turn down offers to go see awesome movies with them and there I was by myself near Boston Common watching sweaty Thai people squawk, florp and fleep their odd language while kicking eachother's asses.

All in all the movie was meh. Cool stunts, but I'd rather watch Tony Jaa do his thing in some sort of competition rather than a crappy movie.

So today I went to youtube and watched some videos of just that.

Then things went sour.

This made Jipjep, Thai goddess of music weep a river of warm tears from her trunk.

It sort of reminds me of a video I was obsessed with a few months ago:

Criminal G!

I love his dietchpossition. Such shwaggurtz. Such bollzen.

Dust and bones

2007-01-03T18:30:00.000-05:00

I work shitty hours. 2:30 to 10:30. Well... I've worked every shift imaginable and whether it's over night, early morning or mid day... any hours in an office are shitty hours, but the previous statement still stands. I work shitty hours. 2:30 to 10:30.

So when I do get around to showering it's around 1:00 pm and I usually dry off in beams of afternoon sunlight that shine into my room like spotlights from heaven.

"Why the hell does he dry off in his room" you may ask. Well recently I started a practice that just may be one of the few rights of passage into manhood I have left to experience: The face towel... and the separate grundle towel.

That's right. Two towels. One for above the belt. One for below. I had heard of this practice over a decade ago when a friend told me of his father employing the face/grundel towels. I couldn't believe it. How decadent. How wasteful.

They said I'd like broccoli someday. And now I do. Never would have thought I'd be shoveling broccoli in with glee and using separate towels for my upper body and my (jingling bell noises).

But back to the part where I dry off in beams of light. You know how much crap flies off your body and your towel when you dry off?

Little dust particles. Dead skin. Once a girl left some lotion on my nightstand.

This stuff.

Instead of using some of the lotion on my dry ass New Englander skin, I thought it'd be cute to scratch the "Oce" off the label.

I'm still clutching the doorjamb leading to manhood as tightly as I can while the rest of the world is trying to drag me in.

Tai chi, chai tea....etc.

2007-01-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

Anyone ever tried Tai Chi? Learning from books and dvd's is rough. I wish someone would get it right and film themselves from behind. I'm starting to get it though.

Qigong, a cousin of tai chi, is really really simple if you break it down to individual exercises but putting them together makes my head explode.

Oh yeah, happy new years. I played a show on NYE. What did everyone do?

Two hours worth of 80's covers. I never want to learn another cover song again.

The show was a really good time though.

Anyone have any new years resolutions? Me neither. Cept maybe take a tai chi class from a live human.

New Paintings Here

Finally some website updates

2006-12-28T21:26:00.000-05:00

Well as I said before I've been slacking on many things. I'm trying to right the wrongs here. I put up some of the recent pieces I've finished and, more importantly, updated the navigation on the Oils and Acrylics page.

Yesterday I mentioned to Jenny that I was thinking of throwing some thumbnails on my site per request of more than a handful of faithful viewers. She being smarter than me and more web-savy, guided me to the website I needed to make the slick flash files that you'll see when you kindly click the link to my art site.

Hooker Media

After the new year I'll be working on the commissions that are slowly rolling in post x-mas.

Another thing I'm looking into is a mailing list.

If you'd like to receive updates via-email please drop me a line at matt AT hookermedia DOT com with the subject "mailing list".

Last Christmas

2006-12-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

Dammit. George Michael's "Last Christmas" is stuck in my head yet again today because of someone's myspace page playing the song.

Oh what a whirlwind of idiocy this Holiday season has been.

Last year was Holiday Bender time. Everyone in the house, including our many houseguests, was all-guns-blazingly drunk most of the time from December 1st to New Years Eve. This year money's a little tighter and we're all a little older.

I had a show Friday night and opted to stay dry for that. Saturday I cooked a sweet ass dinner. Chicken breasts with rock shrimp white wine sauce. First try came out pretty good I must say.

Sunday I got my younger brother to come out for Christmas Eve kareoke. He drank about a half dozen rum and cokes and then polished off most of a liter of jack after we got back to the house.

I was livid the rest of the night as he tried giving me the drunken heart to heart. I had to drive both of us down to Cape Cod yesterday while he kept making loud clicking sounds with his throat as he choked back vomit. It was wonderful.

All in all it was a nice Christmas. Hope everyone had a good day too.

Splorsch

2006-12-21T22:46:00.000-05:00

I walk out of my building tonight at about 10:15. I see my motorcycle parked across the street where it's been since 4 pm.

See a dude strolling behind it.

I get about halfway across the street just in time to see the dude spray a geyser of puke directly behind my motorcycle. Like tire-splashingly close. Thanks, dickhead. He parks a half gallon or so on the sidewalk behind my bike and then stumbles ten paces and repeats the process next to some trashbags in front of a bar.

I start the Admiral up and it smells like cheap beer everywhere.

DELICIOUS!!

I've been everywhere, man?

2006-12-21T03:09:00.000-05:00

No.

It's become more and more clear to me... I don't have a passport.

The furthest I've been off of North America is the Bahamas for a few hours. I checked out the Garden of the Groves and Sidney Portier's house.

Check out the lyrics to Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song".

I have every resource of the modern man (except for my own personal jet) needed to travel to far away lands.

No dice as of yet.

Every time I travel out of state I remark to myself how strange it is to wake up in one state and go to sleep in another.

Sometimes on tour I can't keep track of the day, the city, the state, the timezone... etc. But it's not enough.

My buddy Keith who's staying with us until the 30th is a drum technician for high-profile bands. He shuffled in tonight while I was mixing a session I did last month and lamented about how though he thought he had the week off he got called to fly down to NYC to do Letterman with the band he's currently working for. Last time he was here he geared up for Japan before leaving our house.

Wanderlust I believe they call it. It grips me so.

King of slackasses

2006-12-20T15:25:00.000-05:00

I've been slacking on all sorts of shit lately. Though I've gotten files ready to show new paintings on the website, I haven't uploaded them yet. I haven't exercised in a week. I still haven't changed the oil plug on my motorcycle. I have one painting that still isn't done for Christmas (but it will be goddamit). I never blog anymore. Oh and worst of all I haven't bought a single xmas present.

Wait no I did last night.

After watching Christmas Vacation with my mom on Sunday night I ordered her a set of these bad boys.

But like a moron I got them delivered to my house instead.

I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to try to pull my head out of my ass soon.

I wish I had pictures to post on here. I spent Saturday afternoon wearing cowboy boots and a snakeskin thong, drinking recklessly on my friend's backporch, flanked by two brethren; one wearing a pink thong that read "balls deep" on the crotch with matching pink Chuck Taylors; the other wearing a less flashy thong.

Goddam dead batteries.

Back from NC

2006-12-19T09:48:00.000-05:00

Oh joy. I'm back home finally.

Flight down was fine.

Rental car was expensive.

Got a mini van.

Saturday night my friend tried peeing out the side door of said mini van on the highway, resulting in pee covering the inside wall of the mini van.

Mini vans are good for whipping around turns while burning tires.

Chopping wood is therapeutic.

Having your mother's husband ask why the hell you used the small ax rather than the far-easier wood splitter after you already chopped all the wood is comical.

I finally rode a sport bike. It was odd. Sitting forward on a motorcycle that can hit 80 mph in third gear is odd for a guy who has always rode cruisers. Fun, but odd.

Riding in a t-shirt in December is even more odd.

Waking up on a couch with an 85 pound doberman between your chest and the backrest of the couch is a terrible fate after a night of jager bombs and shitty college bars.

The south brings out the worst in people's diets.

There are no sidewalks in NC.

I can't think right now. Still waiting for the fog to clear.

Glad to be back above the Mason Dixon line.

Fuck you, new blogger

2006-12-12T14:34:00.000-05:00

Quit making me sign in twice. Remember me when I click "remember me"

Goddamit.

Anyways. Here are a few things I've learned in the past 24 hours.

If you eat a salad for dinner it needs to be big since it's a just salad.

Asian rub panfried chicken, red chard, broccoli, croutons and avocado will do nicely.

If you eat this concoction out of a large mixing bowl a few hours before going to bed you will, upon lying down for sleep, wake yourself up with a seven-second foghorn of ass.

If you roll over and absent-mindedly readjust your blankets, you will unleash the contents of the Arc of the covenant from underneath your covers.

And this will happen.

You will not be able to fall asleep for another fifteen minutes.

Also...

UPS is expensive.

It may not be smart taking a motorcycle to work on a night that will probably dip to the low 30's, but it sure is fun.

Showering, packing and ironing are overrated.

I eat like a bear. Not volume wise, but in regards to how I'd rather let stuff sit for a while before eating it. I can eat twice as much reheated pasta as I can fresh pasta at a restaurant table.

Cereal must be semi-soft.

Bananas must be near-fruit fly stage.

Alright that's enough.

Weekend recap

2006-12-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

Friday night I had a great time playing the Middle East upstairs with RAOV. The crowd was nuts and I think after years of having pretty much only friends in the crowd... we actually have fans. People I've never seen before coming out to check out the show.

Damn good night all around.

Saturday All Fired Up had a disastrous time making it to our show at the Shriner's Auditorium. We dealt with forgotten gear, a parking ticket, a car accident, inadequate equipment issues, hell, high water, locusts, rivers of magma... etc. But in the end we ended up playing for a thousand people that night. It was awesome.

Sunday I woke up stiff as a board after sleeping on my friend's couch. I watched a few episodes of pimp my ride for some reason. Idiot.

Headed back to Quincy and hit up my uncles' house for a turkey sandwich and the first quarter of the Patriot's latest abortion.

Went to Weymouth to see my buddy get married. Drank a lot.

Took the bike into work today. Tonight I have to finish the hell out of my last commissions before Christmas.

I'm leaving for NC two days from now and I'm planning on dropping off the face of the earth more or less.

I need it.

All Fizzled Out

2006-12-07T15:05:00.000-05:00

So the show last night went well. Really well. Lots of rock. Hot chicks. Booze.

The set we played was a trainwreck, from Johnny's bass drum sliding away from him for the first four songs, to me unplugging my own amp three times, to missed notes and fucked up timing... but it still went well. The people were rocked.

Speaking of trainwrecks, today I woke up in leather pants on a couch and realized that I was still drunk. At 1:20 PM. Also realized I left my shoes at Johnny's house, and wearing tattered cowboy boots to my boring white guy office job wouldn't really work out too well.

Went to TJ Maxx and found that they have no men's shoes at the Brighton location. With time ticking I was given a lift to Faneuil Hall where I bought a hideous lumberjack buttondown from American Eagle and some brown dress shoes from ... some shoe store... thus spending my hard earned cut of the show money on shitty clothing for this stupid job I'm sitting at.

So far I've ingested a pink star burst and a hershey kiss for breakfast.

At least I got most of the eyeliner off before schlepping through the door. Most.

Wonderful

2006-12-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

Last night was great. I saw people I haven't seen in over a year, I met new people, I hung with old friends, the vibe was cool, I didn't pass out, the food was good, everyone dug the art as far as I could tell....etc.

A sincere thank you to everyone who showed up and even to those of you who entertained the thought but never made it out. It was a Tuesday afterall, and who the hell goes out on a Tuesday?

The website is due for updates and I'll be working on them soon. I have three shows to play this week between my real band and my 80's cover band so I'm still feeling the heat.

Anyone waiting for their commissions, know this: I'm working my ass off to get them to you before Christmas. Here's one I finished last night:

Karen, I hope you like it.

Tonight I'm busting out of work and heading to the Sports Depot in Allston to rock the panties off a bunch of Girls. Bartender girls, college girls, suicide girls, fat girls, thin girls...etc.

All Fired Up

Rejoice. For it is only Wednesday.

www.hookermedia.com

Drawn, Hung, Quartered

2006-12-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

Shot, stabbed, poisoned, etc. Thusly, Vigo was killed.

Hung.

Not William Hung.

Bolo Yeung?

NO.

Hung. As in... the art show at the Other Side Cafe Tonight at 9 pm is hung. Thank Christ.

Me and Jenny were there from midnight to 2:30 am hanging shit with crappy wire and crappy hooks.

I'm running on three hours sleep.

Later on...get out of work at 4.

Go to RAOV practice.

Go to art opening.

Hope to see you there.

If anyone is a George Romero fan you should come. I'm going to be a fucking zombie for sure.

Weekend recap

2006-12-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

Saturday night my roomate and I were talking about Monday mornings in our offices.

Most coworkers are like...

"How was the weekend?"

"Oh it was good. Me and the lady went to an improv comedy show. We hadn't had a wild night out like that in months!"

"Did you catch Saturday night live? It was actually hilarious for once"

"Oh heavens no. I was asleep by 8 after I cooked myself some hamburger helper stroganoff."

And when asked how the weekend was we have to bite our tongues and say "hmmm. It. It was fine. Low key."

That's my go-to lie. "Low Key"

This weekend was low key though. Friday was a relaxed night. Got out early. Went home and quietly worked on paintings.

Saturday I took the motorcycle up to 80's cover band practice and then headed home and picked up groceries for dinner.

Then I hit up the art store for canvas and finished Vigo.

Then I put on black leather pants and in the 35 degree climate, shirtlessly hung upside down from a rafter 13 feet off the ground in the saloon we have next to the house for a video the 80's cover band is going to use at our shows on Wednesday and Saturday.

Then I videotaped two girls wearing next to nothing with a guy on our pool table. Same purpose. Not a personal video library thing.

Sunday I painted all day alongside my roomate who was dressed like Batman the entire evening in our office.

No real crazy moments. But I still muttered "low key" when I got in here hours ago.

Rock on, weekend warriors.

ALL FIRED UP

Hooker Media

Age Rings on Woxy

2006-11-30T20:10:00.000-05:00

So my roomate Ted, the ever-prolific songwriter behind the band Age Rings just called and told me of his latest feat with his record "Look.... the Dusk is Growing"

It's up on WOXY's website as "most added" for the past few months and my cover is up on the front page.

Whatsy?

WOXY

Apparently Woxy is a sweet ass radio station. Congrats, Ted. And thank you for choosing Hooker in Sweatpants LLC for your oil painting and digital layout needs.

Dammit, Boss

2006-11-30T10:23:00.000-05:00

The one week I want my boss to be in and he's out almost every day.

I want to talk to him. Offer him a deal. Hopefully not get shut down.

I can't work full time anymore.

I'll start knocking old ladies out at random if I have to continue to give a third of my week to financial printing.

Plus I'm actually trying to do things these days. Trying to sell paintings. Trying to engineer in a recording studio. Trying to start a tattoo apprenticeship. Trying to keep playing in a band. I've chipped away at each of these things, and it's felt pretty cool to do so, but it also reminds me how rigid my life has been. How far up my ass the "man" has his hand.

I'm going to hopefully talk to my boss today. I have no idea if he's in as of press time. More later. Hopefully good news.

UPDATE

I talked to him finally.

He's open to the idea. The key was to keep the conversation geared towards the fact that I'd like to take classes, not the fact that this job makes me want to drink a bottle of bleach.

He has to research all sorts of shit. I pitched a three 8-hour day a week schedule. He needs to check with his higher ups to see if it's even possible.

At least he's open to it. Step one finished.

Vigo part 91

2006-11-28T00:47:00.000-05:00

HERE HE IS THUSFAR.

He will be done by Tuesday the 5th for the opening of my month-long run at the Other Side Cafe.

Fell off

2006-11-27T10:45:00.000-05:00

Man. Missing that day a week ago totally threw me off. Maybe the whole Thanksgiving thing did too a bit.

Either way I'm back. Ish.

The weekend was long and full of black out good times.

Saturday I did a session in the studio with a band called Hangover Black from 10-6. They were an interesting bunch. Their bass player had the worst gas I've ever witnessed. He looked like a yeti. Luckily I was far away enough from him in the control room that I didn't get the brunt of his ass fumes. His bandmates next to him on the couch hated life though. I finally doused him with air freshener. He ate a chicken salad sub with mustard and pickles for lunch. No wonder he was so gassy. He saw nothing wrong with his lunch of choice until he was doing vocals later on and remarked, on tape, that his "asshole feels like an upside down volcano".

After the session I was greeted by a bunch of classy broads and dudes dressed up for a strip club outing. I threw down five tacos real quick and threw my suit on. See some pics right here

The strip club was good enough. I like the upstairs better at the Foxy Lady. Little less cluttered. Couple physically flawless young women in there.

I stayed for a few drinks and then drove back to Quincy for my buddy Tacky's bachelor party. The details are spotty since I mistook my beer for a keg cup full of Jameson and downed it in a gulp, but I do remember Tacky furiously churning butter at one point. I think.

A week from today I hang my show at the Other Side cafe on Newbury and Mass Ave. Tuesday December 5th is the opening night. Come down and have drinks around 9 PM. I've been working on some new pieces specifically for this show.

www.hookermedia.com

So this is Thursday

2006-11-23T03:25:00.001-05:00

Oh hey check it out. I'm flying to NC to visit my mother in December. I've stated on here before, the only time I see her is on tour when we roll through NC for a night or so. No good. I only see her once a year for over a decade. So I figured it'd be nice to see her during a normal holiday time trip.

The trip is getting close and she needs some info about flights, time off work, etc. So I called her last night while I was at work in the evening.

Now this is where it gets tricky. I don't know how concise anyone else's mom is when trying to gather or relay information, but mine was as clear as mud for some reason. She couldn't finish a sentence or a thought. I couldn't finish a sentence without being cut off. She said my name after every phrase she blurted. It was chaos. It drove me to the point of snapping and I got worked up and told her that if the trip was going to be anywhere near as stressful as this phone conversation....

eh... b....I had no idea what to say. I just wanted to get the fuck off the phone.

That's when it was her turn. Being 26 and have your mom tell you you're acting like a "prick" and an "asshole" is odd. I had to think quick to difuse the situation. She was hurt and mad at me.

So...

...I explained to my mother how "normal people talk". Then I launched into a 30 second impersonation of her trying to ask me a simple question. Yeesh. Obviously we hung up on bad terms, still unresolved as of press time.

Thanksgiving.

I have the option of hitting up my great uncles' place in Cape Cod. I turned my brother's offer down for a ride earlier today.

The more I think about it, the more attractive a completely empty house is on a long rainy day off. This will be my first Thanksgiving completely alone. I've done Christmas completely alone, but not Thanksgiving.

It's my choice. Hopefully I won't regret it.

Thanksgiving? Bleh.

2006-11-22T10:02:00.000-05:00

This year will be the first year my brother and I have neither parent around for the holidays.

The whole family get together situation is a mess. Mom's out of the question since she lives in NC and our stepfather's family are pretty much strangers.

Dad and stepmom are now in CO and even when they were here encounters with his inlaws were rare at best.

That leaves mom's siblings. One of which is going to his inlaws this year... so that leaves him out.

The grandparents don't want to come up to Quincy from Cape Cod.

My brother doesn't want to come from Western MA to Cape Cod.

I don't want to leave the house.

I think I'm going to buy a pound of black pepper deli turkey and a 12 pack of something decent and sit in the house and work on the recent commissions I've gotten:

Batman and Wonder Woman standing back to back on a rooftop on a dark Boston night. (Wedding gift commissioned by the groom)

A portrait of Joe Strummer from the Clash.

A couple truck wars paintings.

And lastly some stuff I'm working on for my upcoming show at the Other Side Cafe on Newbury st. More details on that soon.

www.hookermedia.com

South Dakota

2006-11-21T12:37:00.000-05:00

According to my sweet ass map of dots on Google Analytics, South Dakota is the only state that someone hasn't seen my site from.

Anyone got a guy?

Someone tell me "Hold on. I got a guy in South Dakota."

Then tell him to hit me up.

I have admit, the only reason I have so many dots is because my site was linked on fussy.org.

Eden was nice enough to put a link to my turkey painting on her site. My numbers spiked to a scary number and it's cool as hell. I know it's gonna be short lived so I'm relishing it while I can. The map of the U.S. looks like the underside of a Nestle crunch bar.

DOTS.

But I want that damn South Dakota.

well crap

2006-11-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

I forgot to blog yesterday. I was in the studio for twelve and a half hours recording Low Red Land

Well that knocks me out of the running for personalized baby booties and hand-stitched biker patches.

I feel I've let myself down. Like a fatty cheating on a diet in the wee hours.

Like a sprinter who forgot to tie his shoe.

Like a street with no name.

I have no idea what any of that means.

BUT. Here are some updates on stuff I'm working on. Vigo and the man himself, John McClaine.

And there are a couple new things on the site for you to check out. Well, most of you have seen the turkey painting under the acrylics section, but there's a new oil as well.

It was actually painted... maybe six or seven years ago but it has been in the posession of my friend Pia Schachter for the past few years. She was nice enough to take a few shots of it for me. Enjoy.

www.hookermedia.com

busy weekend

2006-11-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

This weekend will be filled with two seperate photo shoots, painting, meeting with buyers, painting more, buying canvas for truck wars orders, making love to sweet Vigo, recording my first ever full session with a band that I'm not in... Low Red Land.

SO. I'll take it easy today on the blogging and just give you a random thoughts post.

Jennifer Aniston? Dude. Same jaw as Powdered Toast Man.

Does that mean I wouldn't let her rub her bare ass on my face? No. Just saying.

Loud eaters. If you smack and nose breathe all loud while you eat you should be dragged into the library of a university and tazed repeatedly.

Dickhead jock bullies in highschool growing up to become security guards at Universities: Bad.

Dickhead jock bullies in highschool growing up to become state troopers: Worst thing ever.

Enjoy the weekend.

Mine's busy but I'm going to enjoy it.

Fleeb

2006-11-17T01:09:00.000-05:00

First "word" that popped into my head when thinking of what to make the title of this entry. Fleeb on.

Alright tonight I'm going to bed earlier than 3. I worked a bit on a painting I was hired to do of John "Diehard" McClaine. Badass. I'm not posting it yet. It looks like a melted Bruce Willis at the moment.

I hope to wake up at a decent hour tomorrow. Not grumpy.

Man. Blogging before bed makes for some random boring crap. Such as:

Derp... dah... I stuffed myself with garlic hummus and pita and black cherry seltzer water tonight.

Geh... derrrr.... why do people feel the need to number their blogs? We all know what day it is. We're with you. You sound like alcoholics at a meeting.

Bleeeeffff ggguuh... if I had the body I'd be John McClaine next halloween.

Tom Wait's "Ruby's Arms" is mind numbingly good.

Florp.

Oh... and here's a little more of Vigo for those of you eagerly awaiting.

Hooker Media

Is it the weather?

2006-11-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

Why the hell can't I get out of bed before 11:30 am?

I hate this shit.

Also, does anyone live off a part time job? Full time is not conducive to everything I'm trying to do with my life. Unfortunately I'm thinking part time is not conducive to eating regularly and paying rent.

Any time I think it may be possible to quit my job and work half the hours I'm currently working, thus leaving more time to paint, I remember that winter in Massachusetts is a dirty oil-eating whore who slaps households with $500 a month bills. The uncertainty keeps me tied to the boring white guy office job like Prometheus and his boulder.

Sorry. I'm just a basket of puppies today.

In other news, I'm offering truck war paintings if anyone's interested.

Hooker Media

Bigger than hell

2006-11-15T01:59:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been going big.

I've juggled a handful of commissions from people who want tight, small, ultra-detailed paintings. Those are fine, and I encourage all you lurkers I've never corresponded with to email me for your own paintings, but I need some balance with canvas size.

Yeah I said lurkers. The old Google Analytics dot game has been more interesting every day. People checking my site out from Petersburg, Alaska? Ahmedebad and New Delhi, India? Belgium? Oklahoma? Anyone and everyone drop me a line. Make yourself known. It's always fun to hear from people.

Back to the bigger subject...

A few posts ago I mentioned the painting I'm going to be tackling of Vigo the Carpathian right? Well here. Check out the first night's progress.

Looks pretty good sized right? About as big as the Cliff Burton painting I did? Nope.

This painting is six friggin feet tall!

I'm going to be creeped out eternally when I finally finish it. Check back for more coverage on the Scourge of Moldavia.

I also mentioned previously that I did a banner for my band of our mascot Busifer.

Here's a better shot of the devil/Gary Busey logo.

Any bands out there want a similar banner 6 ft. by 6 ft., white on black let me know. I'm doing them for $80 a pop.

Bed time.

Hooker Media

The glass armonica

2006-11-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

A while ago I was standing in the kitchen at work, eating something and I flipped the usual channel, ESPN, to the History channel on the TV. It was some show about Ben Franklin.

Dude was incredible.

At that point the show was focusing on an invention that I had never heard of before. The Glass Armonica.

Long story short Ben was in Europe watching some dude play crystal glasses filled with water by rubbing his fingers along the rim of each glass (tee hee! rim! rubbing! fingers!)

Ben got to thinking and figured it must be a bitch filling each glass with just enough water to get the right pitch. So he invented the glass armonica.

Here. Play on it.

Glass Armonica

Weekend recappiness

2006-11-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

What the hell day is it? Oh Monday? Yesterday wasn't? I'm all screwed up. Yesterday I worked a day shift which I usually only do on Mondays. But I'm being redundant... Weekend recap time.

Friday I met up with my friend Tacky and handed the original Thanos over to him. Had some beers and called it a night.

Saturday I woke up to a lovely day and was excited to be able to wear my little toy death helmet instead of my full face helmet while riding the bike. I headed up to the Bayside Expo Center to play guitar for three hours straight using a VW Bug for an amp.

It was an odd gig to say the least. I showed up and walked over to the Volkswagen area and told a dude behind the counter I was here to play guitar. He looked and sounded like Ned Flanders. "We'll yer the man then!"

He handed me the guitar and off I went.

I started just jangling through chords warming my hands up. When larger crowds would gather I'd rip solos and play riffs that people knew.

I was 5 for 5 with requests:

"Some Boston" Sure. "More Than a Feeling", comin right up.

"Hell's Bells" Right away, sir.

"Stairway" Fine.

"Stairway again" Fine. Here.

"Smoke on the Water" First riff I learned. Here, dude.

So it was a sweet way to make $60. I got to walk all over the interior of a brand new Bug while blazing riffs out of a crappy guitar.

The rest of saturday was canvas buying, as seen below, drinking and sleeping.

Sunday I worked as stated 18 times before, then grabbed a few beers at home while I recorded some acoustic solos on my friend Mark's new song

THEN... HIRAX.

We finally got to try out our new banner that I painted.

We have a long-standing obsession with pop culture and warshed up TV actors. We have a song called Tom Selleck. His face adorns the cd face of our latest release "Cathartes Aura"

Years ago I made a shirt that appeals to our metal side with the Baphomet adorning the front. But it also appeals to our penchant for Busey.

I give you...

BUSIFER

On the left. Not our drummer, the homeless Tarzan.

The show was sweet. The guys from Hirax are way too nice to be wearing that many spikes. Check them out in Rochester tomorrow. Wait... do I have Rochester dots? GIVE ME MORE DOTS.

I'm gonna go steal cold pizza from the fridge at work. Breakfast of champs.

Overtime

2006-11-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

Stuck in work from 9-5 today. Oh well. I could use some overtime.

Played Horse with the other two guys in here with a recycling can and a crumpled piece of letter paper. I didn't win.

Now I'm listening to Tom Waits and working on a sketch for a painting that a friend of mine in West Hollywood commissioned. It'll feature Russian Jews, L.A., dirigibles, the pacific ocean, and who knows what else I come up with.

Dear friends step up and get your own painting.

This weekend I discovered some great art. You should check out Counsel Langley. Very original style.

I also hit up my new favorite art store in Avon and picked up two 4 foot by six foot canvases. I'm excited about these bad boys. One of them is going to become this....

Minus Billy Murray of course.

I just hope a river of slime doesn't start to collect in my basement.

AH. I finished the prize I'm giving away to a Nablopomo winner. Here he is:

WHO'S EXCITED?

EH?

Eh?

Oh.

www.hookermedia.com

slow motion

2006-11-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

This is cool as hell. Busy day. What do you want?

BAM

Free shit

2006-11-10T15:04:00.000-05:00

Free is good. We all know this.

Right now I'm sitting in work trying to keep from exploding like Thunder from Big Trouble in Little China.

Remember that shit?

Vultures vultch. It's what we do. Any time clients pick at their sweet ass expensive lunch buffets and then leave the remainder out, we swoop down and grab the leftovers.

I believe a wise old sheep dog named Chrissie Hynde once said "Wasting food is a sin". I agree. Vultch on.

I'm currently brimming with rice, chicken, hummus and pita. If I barfed right now I could feed the citizens of New Delhi for a day. If I pooped they could all hop on, hook it to a tug boat and ride up the Yamuna river.

SO... free stuff is good.

One Saturday every month you can take a tour of Symphony hall in Boston. Free.

The Arnold Arboretum in JP. Free.

Mt. Auburn Cemetary. Free.

World's End in Hingham. Free.

Open studios in various neighborhoods in Boston. Free.

Castle Island. Free.

Qigong with ancient Chinese people in the Commons at 6:30 in the morning. Free if you know any qigong.

What kind of free shit do you like to do?

­__

MOVING

Weekend recap

Runnin with the devil

Triumph Part III

Triumphant trip

Triumphant

Gone Silverfishin'

Back to earth

Triptych 3

Kroenen on wheels

Memoirs of a gayshur

Hellrisen

Sho nuff II

Been lazy

Am I..... the baddest?

Art show time

Ahoy

Moving on

In the misty morning

Wretched surprise

Brux and floss

Well well

Narcoleptic Disco

Comrade!

Not a bad couple days

What the hell day is it? UPDATED*

More Paris

YES!

Noreaster

Unbelievable

Loft party

BACK

Done with China

All I ever wanted...

Friday post of awesome stuff

Dug it *updated

Dig this

Snow like whoa

Heading to church

Thursday

Balmy

Newark

Damn Cupid laced the arrow with something *updated

Taipei

Tired of metal

Procrastination

Money moron

HEYYYYYY!

and a bit more

Progress

Weekend recap

Gallery day

Heat's out

Gotta have balls

New trucks

Pangs of loss

SCYTHE OF DOOM

My first gallery show!

Woke up confused.

Back in khakis

Freedom

NYC

New landscape, new photo of me.

Maine getaway

The teeth cleaning swan song

Tryptich? Triptych?

Horrible horrible memory

Boiling oil

Ong Bak - Donkey Fist Rap

Dust and bones

Tai chi, chai tea....etc.

Finally some website updates

Last Christmas

Splorsch

I've been everywhere, man?

King of slackasses

Back from NC

Fuck you, new blogger

Weekend recap

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