Michael Lau has been a favorite of mine for many years now. Unfortunately I’m not really the type of guy to invest in expensive toys, that was up until recently. I aquired my first Lau not too long ago while working this year’s Comic Con. On one of my breaks I was able to sneak over to the Toy Tokyo booth and grab a Solid Snake in the in grey version. Yeah!

Miguel over at De La Barracuda had told me a while back that it might be a possiblility he would be hosting a show within his space dedicated and curated by Michael Lau coming some time this September. Well it’s the end of September and the opening reception is this Tuesday. So f-ing stoked! Come on, check out the invitation in the pictures above. You know it’s going to be good!

Hopefully in the near future this will be mine. For more info on the EP-1 check the Olympus here.

So basically I broke down a ton of what you see in photo one and made what you see in photo two. Pallets. Yeah. If they’re busted but they still have a few good planks then grab ‘em and turn it into something grand. It’s better then them getting scraped all together. Our patio in which you see above, consists of wall covering made from pallets. 3″ nails are stratigically placed about and twine roped around them to form a latice system for the vines to grow on. Last but not least, the planter box. This was framed up with scrap MDO and clad in the planks from broken down pallets. After collecting all the material, breaking it down, fabricating the planter box, clading the wall and and setting up latice for the vines, I’d venture to say I had about roughly two days work into this project. Not included design time, but I feel it was worth it though.

Speaking of shotguns, check out this jewel I found on YouTube. The AA-12 has a 8 round clip, a 20 round drum or a 40 round drum (apparently in develpment) which will make zombie killing so much more fun. Not to mention easier too. Think about all that time you’ll save not having to re-load. Seriously, laugh at me now, but when it happens…

Flickr Video

Flickr Video

Jeremy and Jordan were back in town for a few short days. Luckily I had some time off, so Jeremy and I were able to kick it for a day. We grabbed pulled pork sandwiches at the Oinkster, shot close to 200 rounds off at the LA Gun Club, chilled at the crib for a bit, hit up the Redwood for a burger and beers, then finished the night off with more beers and cathching up at the Seven Grand. It sucks to have your close friends so far away, but it makes you enjoy the time spent so much more and not take it for granted. Thanks amigo, we’ll go skeet shooting next time! It’s always great to have you around.

Yes, this was my first car. This 1971 VW Type III Variant (otherwise known as a Squareback) was my very fist set of wheels. I got it when i was sixteen.  My dad and I put about two years work into it before I was able to drive it. There was so much amazing custom work done to it. The dash alone was feat of amazement. That’s not a fiberglass replacement, it’s all metal! Not to mention all the recessed lighting, tweed interior with Jetta seats, single panel rear window, 8 speaker stereo with a 10″ sub and 10disc changer, dual carbs, custom exhaust, Hurst shifter, custom arm rest, power locking doors, etc… Truth be told, I miss that car greatly and I think about all the great time spent with my dad working on it. That was the best part about the car.

AWESOME!!! I guess I might be a redneck.

Back in mid July was Jillian’s birthday and here’s how it went down: Ace Hotel-Palm Springs, 115 degrees, pool time with drinks, dinner at the Amigo Room, comfy bed, nighty night, wake up, Evan Hecox prints in an amazing room, breakfast with Clark, Rusty and the rest of the Griswalds in Europe, 113 degrees, DWR Annex sale, George Nelson lamp for $90 and two filing cabinets for $50,  more pool time, more drinks, burgers for room service and movie, nighty night, wake up, 110ish degrees, pool time with food, back to the room and clean up, check out, thank-you Ace, drive back to LA, install new lamp, get ready for dinner, pre-dinner champagne at our place, meet up with the family and close friends at Bottega Louie for a fantastic meal and birthday cake, drinks at the Seven Grand, nighty night! I would have taken more pictures, but we were having too good of a time

Happy Birthday my Jillian, I love you dearly.

-j

Well in the past two days, the smoke has finally subsided. The five to seven days prior were an absolute nightmare. Smoke everywhere, ash on the cars and really poor air quality. The pictures above were from our balcony at the house. This is the first time in all of my life of living in California that I was able to see actual flames from my home. Sucked! But like a train wreck or a car crash, I couldn’t stop watching.

So the next time your thinking to yourself, “Man I really hate the rain. This is why I moved from Boston (or where ever) to California, to get away from weather like this”. This is what you need to do: Step 1) Stop everything you’re doing. Step 2) Pack your bags. Step 3) Get on the first f*%king flight out of my state because I don’t want you here. You’re projecting a ton of negative energy towards the rain gods and thats some sh*t we don’t need!

In all seriousness, if you have an iPhone, get this app. Sure it costs $1.99, but it’s so worth it. Check out the gems above that I took!