Obama Is The Coolest

Well, the hipsters have spoken. Obama is the shit. First, here's a poster by Mr. Obey, Shepard Fairey. The article is actually pretty good with Fairey making a good case for the candidate.

But luckily for me the one man whose opinion matters most in this election for the power of the free world has thrown his endorsement to the Obama camp. Moz has finally spoken and I, for one, will listen.



You can see a detail of the shirt that has Morrissey as Obama's running mate in 2008. It's a vote for change. And style.

Dropping out

Well, this sort of sucks...Edwards is out.

I haven't made up my mind completely, but I was pulling for Edwards.

Why? To be honest I'm not a Hilary fan. I don't hate her or anything, I just feel that she's not out to change anything. When she bailed on her health care plan during the male Clinton reign it left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm just not sold on her experience. And Barack? I guess I'm not impressed yet. Plus, and I know this is not PC, I just don't see the USA voting for a black president. Sure, in the polls they say they'll vote for him, and there are a lot of young people ready for change, but the south and mid-west take up a lot of this country. Bush won TWICE remember? When the curtain is drawn and 'Average Dumb Ass US Citizen' is looking at choices...I feel that's when the REAL vote will be made. But I'm a cynic.

And then there's this little piece of film...



I have this illusion that money and media attention should be secondary to message and experience. Silly, I know.

UPDATE: Here's a good article on Edwards.

UK TV

With the writers strike going on, and having a baby that likes to be held, I've been returning to old TV favorites. Which leads me, as always, to British television. Bare with me, as I've gone on about all these before via neckdeep.net.

Top Gear - Thanks to BBC America for opening my eyes to more than a few good shows...the best being Top Gear. Often described as automotive Jackass with adults, it takes creative car reviews and adds British humor and fills an entire hour. Certainly my favorite show this year. There are more than a few clips on You Tube, this one on the Bugatti Veyron could be my favorite and the most exciting thing I've seen on TV in a long, long time.

Black Adder - This classic never gets old. I've almost worn out these DVDs. This is the real Rowan Atkinson, pre - Mr. Bean and whip smart. Although Season one is a wash, two, three and four are close to perfect. Oh, and those familiar with the FOX drama House will recognize a younger Hugh Laurie (this clip is amazing) and those down with Rik Mayall (Young Ones) won't be disappointed either. Fucking genius.

Spaced - Only two seasons and not available in the states, Spaced is the show that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright created pre - Shaun Of The Dead. So damn funny with perfect writing and clever, warm characters, I watch these 14 episodes over and over. The Spaced fan site mentions that FOX is working to adapt the show for American audiences. It worked for the Office, but being a purist...I can't see it happening. You can view a few full episodes on You Tube. I tried to pick a top clip, but I favor them all.

Gumball Officially Dead

I recently viewed the newest Gumball film, 3000. After dreaming of driving the Gumball 3000 for years I can honestly say I'm over it. The film, in short, is a piece of shit. It's basically 90 minutes of Bam Margera and Tony Hawk bitching and moaning. And, for some reason, Mike Vallely is also along for the drive. Oddly, he's listed as a main 'character' in the film. At most Vallely mumbles two or three lines and pushes around on his board at check points. Who cares. It's a sad state of affairs that this is the Gumball film founder Maximillion Cooper has created and directed. Where are the REAL drivers? Let's see some cars? What if I'm not a teenage girl wearing a HIM hoodie?

And speaking of cars, Bam's Lamborghini Gallardo really sums up what Gumball has become. It's the car a 14 year old boy would want after seeing it on a poster at Spencer Gifts. Margera spends $160,000 on this thing and THEN paints it purple. Class act. I'm not going to waste the time and space on the better autos you could get for a quarter of the money. (OK, one. The only Lamborghini worth owning, the 1969 Miura P400 S. Beautiful car).

The idea of a group of drivers traveling 3000 miles across challenging roads in incredible cars is a great idea. Hopefully there will be more and more people gathering to do this that aren't rich, faux celebrities looking for a way to show off.

Susan Makes The Moz Video

First Susan's stage invasion at the Hollywood Bowl made the LA Times article, now she's appearing in the video for the new Morrissey single, That's How People Grow Up. The video consists of footage from all the shows there last year and Susan is the first stage invader around 17 seconds in. Damn. Not sure I'm sold on the single, but the video is great. I'll be watching for 'Black Eyed Susan' on the DVD release of the show later this year. You can also see Susan in my photos from the three LA shows I attended here. Moz's 'Greatest Hits' album is out February 11th.

Depression?

I caught a TV commercial last night advertising a mental health center. Their lead in went something like,"Does it feel like it's been raining for weeks on end? That's what a deep depression feels like...come in out of the rain." I couldn't help but start laughing. Did they know they were running this in Oregon? It actually HAS been raining for weeks on end. Maybe they figured they would get even more business linking metal health problems and rain? Maybe they are on to something...

Sunday Drive

For the first time since Ian was born I was able to take out the Porsche for an afternoon drive. It was actually not raining and sunny (it's been weeks) and I was able to replace a burn out brake light (more work than you think when a bulb is in place for forty years).

I was also motivated to drive after the wife surprised me with a new book, McQueen's Machines: The Cars And Bikes Of A Hollywood Icon. The book not only covers McQueen's personal cars and cycles, but also goes into the details of every vehicle he's every driven in a movie. Yes, the Bullit Mustang is in there...as are countless Porsches and Triumphs. A good read if you're into that sort of thing.

Top Sites Of 2007, part 2 : Artists

I thought I'd finish this up with the artist / designer sites I visit the most. All have different content, but are all link worthy.

Drapin Design Co. - Aaron James Draplin is a Portland based designer who spends a good amount of time creating very solid work for the snowboard industry. His client list is great, but it's the Daily part of this site that warrants return visits. Draplin has the best design links out there. Pages of vintage logos, interesting Flickr sets and quality personal lists. The DDC knows how to blog.

Todd Bratrud - Bratrud is spread all over the internet and it's all worth a look. You've got the older portfolio site of Burlesque the photo blog over at the Skateboard Mag and the downright crazy ass posts of Teenage Runaway. Not all art and design, but all are still worth multiple visits.

Benny Gold - Gold is the designer behind the HUF store logos, a ton of Real Skateboards related apparel and countless New Era hats. He also crafted everything MASH related (the DVD is an amazing piece of work). This site often shows sketches, one-offs and highlights details in his creative work.

Bend Press - The blog / information / store for Andy Jenkins has been on my link list for years and never disappoints. Check out the original artwork for sale, the Wrench Pilot archives and all the fantastic links. He's the guy behind visuals for Freestylin', Club Homeboy, DIRT and Girl Skateboards (aka The Art Dump). What else can you say?

NECKDEEP® STUDIOS Blog

I've been updating my blog over there a bit, so I figured I would note that on here. How many sites can I possibly have? Too many is the answer. Too many.

Top Sites Of 2007, part 1

I used to do my top records of the year...but that really doesn't appeal to me anymore, so here are a few sites I visited quite a bit last year.

Last FM - If you aren't on this yet, you should be. Past tracking all the songs you listen to on your computer, it also groups them and creates a personal radio station based on your favorites. You can also 'browse' a station based on an artist. It also works as a social networking site, with friends you can add and share music with. Once you've connected you can listen to THEIR stations. It's a great idea that actually works well. I listen and discover new music all the time. If you sign up, add me as a friend. Here's my user page. You'll also notice my little Last FM widget to the right. Pretty damn trick.

4Q Conditioning - Max Schaaf's blog site with motorbikes, skating and all sorts of crazy ass stuff. It works just like a blog should...quick, quality updates that makes me excited to visit each day.

The Onion AV Club - There are a lot of entertainment / review sites out there, but the AV club has the best content overall, hands down. With daily updates and intelligent interviews and creative reviews there is always something to read. I've spent way too many lunch hours reading page after page. I'm actually a bit bored with the regular Onion, but this is a quality daily visit for me.

more later...

The Stone Roses

Been listening to their first album on a daily basis. Great stuff.



The NME named their first record the best British album of all time in 2006. The Smiths' the Queen is Dead was number two followed at three with by Defintely Maybe from Oasis. No way it's better than both of those...but it's a solid record.

Back.

I shut down neckdeep.net for a number of reasons. First of all, hand coding is insane. It's an old, outdated concept and I was doing it for far too long. Second, the viewers were sort of freaking me out. 95% of the people checking it out were great, but then I would get that random email that would remind me that seven years of my life was up online for the world to see. I'd rather just have a group of friends check stuff out. Third, I already have too many damn 'blogs'. SKATEDAILY, my studio site, not to mention my new son's site.

But that being said, I do like sharing links, photos, and all the rest with friends PLUS I was curious about this whole blogger deal, which is damn impressive. I may cancel this thing after a week or two, but who knows, maybe not.