Checked out the last hour of my friend’s art show this past weekend at the Buckwild Gallery (normally a skate/clothing shop) on Venice Blvd. The anti-Valentine’s theme was pretty clear from most of the art on display.

Karin Anna (aka: The Facebook Poking Queen) doing some live art

The show featured a variety of styles from abstract to commercial, to graff.

Graff artist Spent was selling stickers to buy more paint - I got one on the back of my beloved laptop now.

The store itself featured a lot of local work including lots of handmade gear

Had a good time and would definitely check out the spot for future events. If you wanna visit the space the address is:

12804 venice blvd
Los Angeles, CA.

So I have this co-worker who my other co-workers and I think is secretly a ninja assassin. Well…she’s not. But! She’s actually a drummer in this really cool ska band called Half Past Two.

I happened to catch an acoustic set of theirs (something very rare for them and perhaps not as high-energy) at 2nd Street Jazz in Little Tokyo not too long ago. I had actually heard their EP before seeing them live and already knew that their music was good. I think though, because they were performing acoustic, it wasn’t as fun as I imagined (I imagined a large polar bear pounding a snare drum running amuck with a marching band on an after school special or something like that). Oh well, I will def have to catch them when they play with their electric gear!

Anyway, some really cool news about them:

1. They will be playing a couple of shows in NorCal with Reel Big Fish next month!

2. Their song, “We Want More” premiered on KROQ last night on the Furious Five at Nine. Check out the song on their Myspace and if you like it, you can vote for them here: http://www.kroq-data.com/ffatnine/index.asp or call in to 1-800-520-1067 and request “We Want More” by Half Past Two!

P.S. - Closet Polar Bear is the band’s 5-song EP. I’m not quite sure what the whole meaning behind it is…but they seem to have a thing for polar bears…

Myspace: myspace.com/halfpasttwoska

Panic At The Disco’s new video ‘Nine In The Afternoon’ is up now!

courtesy of MTV Buzzworthy

Although Michael Jackson didn’t make it to the Grammys, the King of Pop has big plans for 2008.
Celebrating 25th anniversary edition of King’s top-selling album,
Thriller 25 (featuring Kanye West, Akon, Fergie and will.i.am) will release tomorrow.

Thriller 25

To make it more thrillin, MJ is also planning to release his new album in 2008.
Some say album won’t be released, others say this will be the ultimate pop album..
Either way, I want to leave you with one of my favorite music video of all time.

Scream

Last night RAD held a fabulous event of art, music, and clothes over at Diamond Bar’s “It’s a Grind” coffeehouse. And we were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at RAD’s new designs for their second line.

RAD, or “Random Artistic Design” Clothing, may be a newcomer to the industry (the company was launched about five months ago), but they are making a name for themselves. A favorite amongst local fans, this innovative team of creators has come up with some really fun and awesome T-shirt designs. As their site suggests, “some are complex with meaning, and some not.” But much like their signature “Zelephant” shirt, many are, in fact, random. They have stuff for girls and guys, and these graphic tees will surely garner you attention wherever you go. Clothing with a story. Do yourself a favor and keep a look-out for their upcoming ventures because RAD is definitely true Future Rockstars of America in the making.

Here are a few samples from their new line:

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I teach teenagers how to do figure drawings twice a week - this takes place in LA, La Crescenta, Fullerton, and Cerritos. Pretty much covers LA right? Well we end up talking about music every now and then and it still amazes me the reactions I get from the kids. I’m 27 but apparently that’s ancient to some - when one of my students found that I like the Arctic Monkeys, he was like, “Woah! I didn’t know people your age liked music like that!” (so what do people my age like? “I don’t know, 2Pac?”) This of course led me to probe about “old music”. When I mentioned Kriss Kross (along with Cross Colours) the whole class went blank. “You guys have never heard of Kriss Kross?” I was pretty shocked. Guess what? They also never heard of New Kids on the Block!!! (these old school acts are too awesome to mention w/out showcasing some video!)

It was interesting though because one of my students (who is in 9th grade) loves the Red Hot Chili Peppers… and they started before New Kids on the Block… makes you realize that there’s a whole other level of fame - When you first saw this: did you think they would still be as popular 17 years later? So what do the kids like? Well my La Crescenta kids LOVE Metro Station Funny enough, when I first heard the music playing in class I was like, “who is this? Kind of sounds like a contemporary Duran Duran”. I looked around and all the kids just gave me a blank stare - “Duran who?”