Last Friday First Friday

i had a brainstorm last friday for a crossroads art district first friday show: i wedged myself between YJ’s snack bar and the fire jugglers, and made electronic sounds from various instruments (and non instruments). this mp3 features an optical theremin with kyle and kevin using their cell phones for a light source. most people were startled and annoyed, but the ones who dug it stood around and joined in after awhile. big thanks to kyle, kevin, danny, and parker for making the scene!

Thanks Hoove

jeff hoover is an old friend of mine from high school. a couple of weeks ago his wife sent me a facebook message asking for my address. last friday jeff sent me a box of cool t-shirts with old boombox and turntable art. as i write this i realize that over the years he has mailed me multiple bowling shirts, a route 66 t-shirt, and a drive in speaker. in the mid 90′s i wore the bowling shirts for a temp assignment that required business casual attire (aka shirt with a collar).

Out With The Old…

spent a half hour at lake olathe thursday. over the years it’s been a good place to get the creative juices flowing for songs and art. back in the 80′s it was a good place to throw a frisbee or start a fire. these days most of my friends work normal hours, and i’m the only one who comes back. on this visit i saw a new playground that was built recently, it made me miss the old one with a tall pole that my nephew climbed when he was little.

The Coffee Review

the review above is  one that jon starcke wrote on homer’s coffee a couple of days ago. if you clicked on the about tab, then you know that homer’s is one of my income sources. jon is a friend that i met through alex makin, alex became my friend when i discovered he had seen the treasure of the sierra madre almost as many times as i have. jon can also quote much of the movie.

Flower and a Robot

forget cold and flu season– the pixel art bug is the thing to catch. after getting a nice note from kristen (one of our co-workers at homer’s) kelly and i pixelated a flower and a robot. if you can draw a stick man, you can pixelate too.

Pixel Skills

i found a website where you can make and save pixel art. after the first try i realized that i had rethink and simplify the images in my head: i couldn’t draw them like i usually do– they had to look like stick people before they could evolve into  something that resembled an 80′s video game character.

New Children of the Revolution

neon indian is a band i rediscovered while checking out noise maker gadgets on bleeplabs.com. i had heard them before, but didn’t realize how hard they lean on retro futuristic sounds. so far they are the only band that can cover a t. rex song, and make it sound like THEY wrote it.

Christmas Surprise at Rich Hill

on our way back home from my sister’s house we stopped at rich hill to gas up & get coffee. as i was topping off the tank i heard someone say “aren’t you a little early for the black reunion?” it was my cousin nick. he was traveling south with his sister and nephew (above). we visited inside the gas station and swapped numbers before wishing each other a merry christmas. the world is smaller than you think.

O Christmas Tree


we took our tree out of the box and put it up last night while wrapping presents and listening to reggae christmas music.

Dad’s Knife

just got off the phone with my dad. he told me about an outdoor project he’s in the middle of that involves some woodwork. he still has an axe that he & i used to chop firewood. i told him i still have his knife that he used to clean fish.