Thursday, December 29, 2011

holiday ....brrrrr...it's cold outside!





Well, we decided to do a little trip to the Delaware Water Gap (border of New Jersey & Pennsylvania) about 1.5 hrs drive from NYC. We spent 2 nites in a lodge belonging to the Appalachian Mountain Club. It was a bit like camping up there. Very basic, NO frills stuff...but in the heart of the wonderful park along the Appalachian Trail . In case you didn't know ...we're big fans of hiking and camping. A break from the city was needed and this was just what the doctor ordered! We got in 1 really good hike ....because it rained for most of the time. No cel or puter service the whole time (yay)!!! very cozy in the lodge (which sleeps 4 families), but we had it all to our selves. The heat wasn't working for 1 of the days so we were all bundled up to stay warm...but it didn't chill our spirits...we took advantage of the fireplace every nite! I caught up on LOTS of reading (brought my Denis Kitchen biography...plus a bunch of underground comix, and a mess of New Yorkers!!). AAAAAND, as you could imagine we brought some yummy food to cook while there. We hit up Fairway Market and bought all our staples...The highlight was the NY Strip steaks, pan fried to perfection.....baked potatoes and salad on the side...nice bottle of red wine to accompany.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

it just goes to show...


That after all the years of hard work and dedication to comic art dealing and art collecting, I finally got what i deserve!!! and I feel like it's finally beginning to pay off! Check out the prestigious award i just won (i got it in my email...so i KNOW it's real!!)
I've made the big time!
i'd like to thank all the doubters and haters for inspiring me to such great heights!
CHEERS!!!

back to BJJ....and a nice reward after!


As some of you friends know i've been "dabbling" or some might simply say "suffering gladly" my way thru the Alliance BJJ school in NYC . BJJ stands for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. A martial art prevalant in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. With injuries (a torn meniscus in the left knee) and work and travel, and more injuries...it's been 6 months since my last class. but that ALL changed last night! I went back and had a great time, and collected my usual trophy bruises and scrapes (including a nice knock in the jaw!...how? ....i don't know). I got to see several students i haven't seen in all this time (progressing nicely....) and to say hi to the head of the school Fabio Clemente, and of course my teacher Lucas Lepri (world no gi grappling champ, and numerous world title holder). While the class was great...i was saddened to discover that Lucas is leaving to live and teach in the headquarters school in Atlanta. While all the students at the NYC branch will miss him, i'm sure we all wish him (and his wife) the best as they settle in to their new life. Luckily for me, i picked a great time to come back as he's leaving this tues!! so....it was nice getting to say goodbye. Enjoy the pic of me eating at Minca (Ramen noodle restaurant)

Sunday, December 18, 2011

dave cooper, l'image




One of my fave artists (Dave Cooper) was in town...! He came by for a visit and i picked up some art work ...surprise!!?? yeah right.
We all went out to dinner to our local Italian place (Pepe Giallo), and had a very nice meal. I had the stuffed chicken special (eggplant inside!) with Polenta, and a nice salad. but that's a whole other story! it was great.

After dinner Dave had arranged to interview Steve Gadd for a comic strip project he's working on about drummers (Dave's a drumming enthusiast and player)...pretty natural to combine the 2 interests. The plan was to see Steve in the band he's playing with later that night: L'Image featuring him, Tony Levin (bass), Mike Mainieri (vibraphone), Warren Bernhardt (piano), and David Spinnozzo (guitar). It was a great show at the legendary Iridium club. I'd seen Tony play with the prog rock/fusion band King Crimson back in the 80's ...i said hi after the show, and pointed that out to him. He remembered those shows at the Pier in Manhattan and said it was interesting for me that he noted that they were among the best shows KC did. Tony's still on top of his game and played the Chapman Stick, a regular bass, and a really cool electric upright bass. I had also seen Mike Mainieri play with Steps Ahead (the fusion super group) in the 80's ...um yeah, i loved fusion in the 80's!! Watching Mike play is very exciting, vibraphonists in particular really put on a show. And i had NEVER seen the legendary Steve Gadd perform before so it was a real treat.
Capping off the evening was a nice walk home thru times square round midnight...the city was wide awake as you would imagine...packed with people and street merchants, the energy was intense.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

art is everywhere!






or just possibly aliens trying to tell us something?? just look around you and you'll find "art" in the details. I found these Con Ed drawings by the local power plant in Dumbo scrawled all over the side walks. these kinds of drawings can be found all over the city, but they usually get worn out by car and pedestrian traffic. these are fresh!















The Factories all around against the clear sky...don't expect this area to look like this a helluva lot longer. the property along the river is really valuable as the neighborhoods of Dumbo and Vinegar Hill continue to grow and gain popularity...

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Mark Bode TAGS my door


Mark was in town today, to have his interview done for the Jeffrey Jones Documentary. Maria (the documentarian), Mark & I all met for lunch at Katz's Deli...yes i had the Pastrami on Rye!! and then
we headed over to the gallery to film the interview. here's a super cool pic of Mark "hitting" my door!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

my 30th HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (Bronx Science '81)




What a great event and evening it was!! So many old friends and classmates....the evening went by WAY too quickly. Highlights? hmmm....too many to mention them all. How about seeing Ms Strauss, the fairey godmother of the Ultimate Frisbee team! that was awesome! what a sweetie!!!
And soooooo many others....while most of you reading this won't have a clue as to who anyone is in these pix...i'm posting them anyway! btw, check out the snazzy suit i had on!!!!

New York Comic Con 2011



















It was a hectic and busy show....rather than blabbing about it...here are the pictures!

way back when.....before this year's fall





We did a very nice hike up in Harriman State Park. This is our "go to" hiking spot...the trail we use most is a fabulous loop that passes thru undulating hills with several great vista's and nice brooks, streams, a lake and a pond. And yes...it's our secret... enjoy the pix! only 1 hour from NYC!! Check out Grant up in the tree (lena's former classmate from P.S.11). it was a great day...a fall/winter hike is definitely in our near future!

Later that day we went apple picking and stuffed our faces plenty. Brought back a huge bag of apples for eating and making pies with. We've done this 2 times this fall.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

out an about in NYC- the past few weeks












events from the past few days:

driving in to the gallery (i don't usually do this...subway or bike for me) it was time to drive our recyclables to the processing plant. i spotted this art luminary and took a quick pick of his head. answer? at the end of this blog!

recently we've been enjoying the extenstion of
the High Line...despite the huge crowds and the extremely annoying people who stand in groups along the narrowest part of the path, we LOVE it.
also include here are pix from the grounds below where they had the opening party and where resides a really cool beer garden!
we are psyched to partake!

also spent a great day a few weeks ago biking to and around Governer's Island. No cars, and a very nice place to bike around on.

next up is the fabulous sculpture in Madison Sq Park. and also a note about the food court that was gone in a flash (only 1 month :-( ...). i enjoyed a beer there with Marcia. and another time i took John Lind and his wife there.

Jeffrey Brown and i out and about when he was in town for his FIRST solo show at our Gallery!

then a coupla nice Chelsea art gallery days... a fabulous Picasso show, and a wonderful Keith Haring show featuring a whole mess of small pen & ink drawings.

a great day. and lastly a picture of Marcia & Lena in our community garden~!

answer: Andres Serrano

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Zap artists, & High Line opening!

The incredible High Line in Chelsea just opened the extension north of 20th st!
Marcia and i went for a walk the opening nite and we're both amazed!

there's a really cool Zap Comix artists art show at the Andrew Edlin gallery in Chelsea, curated by
Gary Panter (like they need me plugging the show?!!). most of the art isn't for sale as
it's loaned from a private collection. Great viewing...and it's right across the street from the High Line! what could be better?

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

3 cons down, 3 art shows~....1 con to go (san diego!!!)

it was a crazy busy spring for me.
-secaucus nj, art con!
-wondercon, sf! and then a week visiting my brother in L.A.
played pitch and putt golf, and did some awesome hikes in the malibu canyons.
-c2e2 chicago! cool show, and 1 free day to visit the art institute, and the natural history museum,
eat lots of great food, and watched the UFC live with Jeffrey Brown at his house! it was great.

squeezed in the middle of this was the Tony Millionaire, Peter Bagge, Jeffrey Brown art shows!
and of course our trip to Costa Rica.

now i'm getting ready for San Diego and YES, i will be bringing tons of awesome art. including brand new ASHLEY WOOD art!!! we will also be making an exclusive art print with Ash.

Good lookin out to all who attend S.D.

s

5 minutes

trying to recover my password for this blog!!
5 minutes.

in this age of pass protected accounts is it possible to have too many of them?

this isn't a rant...more of a self deprecating look at how many accounts to keep track of.
emails (personal & biz), banks, credit cards, blogs, websites, auctions houses, etc...

originally when i tried to retrieve this password i had it sent to one of my emails which is forwarded
to another email address. only it didn't show up. so i went to the other email account, and, you guessed it...i couldn't remember that one either!

there's a list somewhere with all of it.
now if i could only remember where that list is!!!!
lol

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

long over due- what order to tell- COSTA RICA

it's hard to ramble on about yourself. but what's a blog to do? so get over it!!!
in no particular order, i will recount the previous months adventures.

starting with......

we went on a big family trip to COSTA RICA!!!
absolutely wonderful. 12 intense days of running around doing all kinds of Eco Touristic things.
the highlights of the trip were all the wild animals we saw: Sloths, 3 of the 4 types of monkeys (squirrel, spider, cappuchin), an arboreal anteater, the resplendant quetzal, the Jesus lizard, many types of birds, snakes, frogs, and all kinds of butterflies and other creatures.

Spectacular jungles, and beaches. yes we got sunburned. even with tons of block..it IS powerful down there.

awesome food: Ceviche!!! great fresh tropical fruits....mmmm awesome.

in the jungle the humidity was so intense our clothing was NEVER dry!

one day, while in the bathroom, my daughter called out claiming there was a scorpion in the room. yes, the kind that can EASILY kill a child. i ran out, took a coupla pictures first! and then caught him in a jar and released him. i'm 100% positive NO costa rican would have released him.

the off road 4 wheel driving i did was incredible!!! thru small rivers, up and down steep muddy slopes! if it wasn't for our guide i wouldn't ever have known what i could do in a 4 wheeler! worth every penny to pay a guide i can assure you!

tours: the coffee plantation! incredible. if you're a fan of the bean, you must do this sometime in your life.
we also went to a cacao plantation. again if you're a fan of coco or chocolate it's a MUST

the incredible thing about CR is that it's a 5 hr flight from NYC. so easy, and with good planning you can have an incredible time. and we DID!!!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

WonderCon S.F. short report

just got back and i have to say that the San Fran WONDERCON is by far my favorite convention in the U.S.!!
it still feels like an oldschool convention, with a flea market atmosphere and all kinds of dealers (many local cali dealers...who probably only do this show). the biggest plus for me: a mostly low-key presence for the big publishers (marvel & d.c.), which i prefer....and very little movie & t.v. stuff.

a big tip of the hat to Dan for all the great underground comics. his buddy who sold me a couple of Ted Richards strips. it really was hard for me NOT to buy more comics...but space is always an issue at home.

there are so many people i can see out there...so it was nice to hook up with my old friend alan and his wife jinky!

hanging with Spain Rodriguez again was fantastic. cheers brother!

we had good sales all 3 days and i was sad when the show was over.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

why L.A. ?

-Because it's sunny and nice in late March!
-because where my brother lives (near sawtelle ave.) i can walk to a gazillion Japanese restaurants...oh and did i mention the sun?

other notables:

-45 minutes to Malibu Canyon hiking trails
-Venice Beach canals
-my brother lives here
-i love the garden behind his house (otherwise known as a back yard)
-in that garden a humming bird visits
-pitch and putt golf up the hill at the V.A.
-jamming with my bro...him on guitar, me on bass
-eating Ramen almost every day!

i'm usually on vacation here...so i love to chill.

that's why !


Saturday, January 29, 2011

Millionaire opening highlights!!!

Whatta night!! Driving to the gallery felt completely surreal. The streets and cars buried in snow and traffic moving at a snails pace. We stopped at Union Square Wines to pick up xtra supplies and then we were lucky to find parking in Dumbo. Benjamen Walker came early to do an interview for WFMU radio. It was a pleasure listening in and gaining some xtra insight into Tony's approach to art. And then the faithful started to arrive...and they kept coming ALL night long. I wasn't sure what would happen because of the weather, but Tony has some great fans!! It was a helluva show.
Some people drank too much. Ahem. But everyone was quite well behaved...for a change! I made a lot of new friends and got to meet a lot of cool people! So a big shout out to all the friends and family who showed up and all the new friends we have. Dig the pictures here

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

cops !? & 2 more days!! TONY MILLIONAIRE art show...

my latest run in with the law. oy!!! i was in Williamsburg postering for the latest show and wouldn't ya know it...the cops nabbed me! ug. i received a summons and have to show up in court. probably getting a $50 fine! it blows.

but everything else is shaping up well for the show. the silkscreen prints are ready, the walls are finished being spackled and painted...most of the art is already hanging! i convinced Tony to show up early...

Big snow storm here this morning. i love it when it's storming like this. the city is SO BEAUTIFUL in white.

s