via FTC:

Opening Saturday @ White Walls Gallery, May 9th from 7pm – 11pm, artist Ian Johnson will be showcasing his prolific jazz portraits in a solo show featuring over forty new works on wood and paper.

Going bigger and brighter, Ian reinterprets portraits of iconic jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Nat King Cole in black and white using dry brush techniques. Juxtaposing the black and white faces against psychedelic rays of color and wood grain backgrounds makes these images pop. Ian’s skateboard company, Western Edition, then uses these images on skate decks to highlight the movement, action, and energy inherent in both jazz music and skateboarding.

I will definitely be there to this. I’ve been trying to get my order of Ian’s Western Edition boards for quite sometime and hopefully I can get them in time so I can get them signed at the show. Full coverage on this later in the week and check out his White Walls interview.

Heard it was going to rain Saturday but if not, don’t sleep on this demo. Hopefully Nilton Neves and Karl Watson come out.

Edit: Demo rescheduled due to the rain.

via the Shoegame site:

Omar Salazar Nike SB Shoe Sample

Nike SB blessed Paul Rodriguez with his own signature shoe and this year Stefan Janoski’s shoe will makes its debut. Up next to get their own Nike SB shoe is pro skater Omar Salazar. Here we have an early look at Omar’s upcoming shoe. Is that Flywire along the back panel? A simple sneaker that features “Omar Salazar” on the tongue.

We don’t have any info about when Omar’s kicks will drop, so stay tuned. Props to Chris Gomez for sending us the images.

Sac skaters are sure getting their props. I heard about a couple of months ago that Omar would be the 3rd pro skater on Nike SB to get a signature shoe. Rumors spread that it would be a tech shoe compared to Janoski’s boat shoes that were just released not to long ago. Notice the fly-wire technology that you would see on the new Kobe signature shoes. Pretty odd hybrid of a shoe so far (think blazer+harbor+dunk mid=Omar). I am sure there will be some minor changes in the future but this will be an interesting skate shoe nonetheless.

Another picture leaked. Omar x Alien Workshop Blazers.

via Upplerplayground:

WHO: Amplive, The Tourist + DJ Centipede
WHAT: 3 dudes cooking up some beats to make that mouth water
WHERE: Laszlo (2526 Mission St. – between 21st and 22nd)
WHEN: 5/1/09 : 6-9 pm (and every first Friday, thereafter)
WHY: To celebrate the artistic union between 2 Bay Area pillars of music and art culture…Upper Playground & SonicLiving

Upper Playground and SonicLiving are joining forces to change the face of Friday nights, as well as the face of sonicliving.com. Upper Playground is now going to be heading the art direction for the default concert posters on SonicLiving’s site, giving the musicians that post events some serious visual weight behind their show’s listing (these posters will be up, as of 5/1).

U.P. has long had roots in the Bay Area music scene, which is evident in everything from the fact that they started off as a record store, to the musical artists that have been rocking the gear for over a decade, to the slew of designs referencing music culture. SonicLiving seemed like an obvious choice for the partnership, due to the fact that they are also an integral part of the Bay Area’s music scene and have been working on expanding their reach, to become more of a taste-making organization, as well as an interactive hub for info on concert listings.

To celebrate this new pairing, Upper Playground and SonicLiving are going to be hosting a monthly happy hour party, on the first Fridays of every month (starting on 5/1/09). The resident DJ’s are Amplive (Zion-I) and The Tourist (Magnificent 7). There will also be a guest DJ each month and for the inaugural event, we are proud to have none other than DJ Centipede (Mophono).

UPPER PLAYGROUND WILL BE BUYING THE BEER (Trumer Pils and Shiner Commemorator are on U.P.’s tab until 7pm) + there will be great drink specials and surprise giveaways (concert tickets, clothing and more..), so you will absolutely not want to miss it!

Meet the man and the shoe Saturday @ B Street skatepark.

One of the best bang for your buck happy hour spots (minus the crowd) is Palios on Sacramento street. Get two alcoholic beverages and receive this nice thin sliced pizza for free.

The beautiful streets of North Beach. Only about a couple blocks up was the line for Dave Chappelle’s show at Cobbs. I found out about his show on Wednesday and still couldn’t get tickets for all 3 of his shows this week.

So it’s not like I haven’t been hip to this info before. Apparently one of SF’s most slept on venues is the night life experience that they have at museums and exploratoriums. Okay, don’t expect top notch ho’s and booty shakin’ strippers. This is just an alternative thing to do when you’ve done almost everything in the city. Still, when you have enough drinks in your system, the place does turn into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory at times. But for some reason, science and liquor just hurt my head.






I am not going to go out on a limb and say this was totally worth my while, but luckily Maria knew someone that worked at the Exploratorium and we got in for free. We grabbed about two drinks each and called it a night and ate cheap chinese in Chinatown. Consider these pictures a window into this place and just save your money but this is an idiot telling you that science is dumb.

Stopped at the Volcom store in Berkeley and they happened to have a photo exhibit by some of their riders. I was most interested in Mark Appleyard’s work and surprisingly, he’s a pretty decent film photographer.

First look at the FTC X Lakai shoes dropping later in the fall. So far no real info aside from them using a potential Carroll 5 low model and that only the black one above will be released but only time will tell. The other two below are just scrapped samples.



Some honorable mentions that I ran across. New suede PJ Ladd’s by DC Shoes. $98 price tag unlike the $120 leather versions.

Stefan Janoski new Nike pro model. Vacaville in the house!

Retroed Emerica Marc Johnson 1’s. Sole Tech’s response for Lakai releasing the Koston 1’s.

Karibbean City, Chris C & Friends, Spicey Promotions, & DeeCee’s Soul Shakedown
Presents
LIVE FROM JAMAICA
Mr.Vegas
Jamaican dancehall super star, Mr Vegas finally returns to the Bay Area on Friday April 24th 09. With smash hits like, “Heads High”,” Hot Gal Today”, “Hot Wuk” and Mus Come A Road! I can go on and on. It promises to be a show to remember. If you have haven’t seen him perform make it a date and don’t be late. .
Also performing Bobby Tenna
Music provided by
DJ Jah Yzer (Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi)
Doogie (TNT Sound)
Toks (City Cat Sound)
Date: Friday April 24th 2009
$25 in advance
VIP Tickets $50 which included Valet parking, drink and food special
Purchase your tickets NOW
Drink specials all night long
510*251*0769
 http://karibbeancity.com

Buy tickets here

Surreality in Reality presents:
HELLA LOGOS!!
Logo Design Competition
S.I.R is looking for the hella good logo design for next up coming art shows.
Let’s vote for THE hella good logo (voting ends at 10pm)
21+ | FREE | Door 8pm | Result announcement 10:30pm
Music by Yusai / Junzo / Zaion / 8doors (Sound Design, DJs)
Info: www.sir-sf.com

Buy tickets here.

Come celebrate Ankh Marketing ’s 5 Year Anniversary Party!
with Mos Def Performing a FULL SET Live!!
Also featuring special guest performances by dead prez and The Bay’s own DJ Big Von on the 1s and 2s!!
Sunday April 26th
@ Mezzanine 444 Jesse St
Get your tickets now at http://going.com/ankh5yrmosdef
9PM Doors
21+
For More info email :  ankhmarketingevents at gmail.com
Official Site: http://www.ankhmarketing.com

To coincide with my cousin’s days off, I decided to take a much needed vacation from work on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sounds kind of cliche to go to the beach on a vacation day but if there was anytime to go enjoy the smoggy fresh air of San Francisco, it was this day. Brought some bento boxes and did it Japanese style with some fresh Stellas to chase down the food.



Later decided to go to Golden Gate Park and take a piss at one of the free bathroom facilities iat the De Young museum since we didn’t want to pee in the ocean. It probably wouldn’t have mattered since the water is infested with boots and spare tires, but the water was freezing cold and my nuts would have sadly fallen off from frost bite.



And to finish the day off, we set off to little Manila to celebrate Filipino Heritage Night at the Giants game.

And yes you are seeing things right….that is a pet rat the size of the guy’s forearm.







The game was straight and Renteria was the man slapping in the game deciding grand slam home run. Got to the stadium a little late but still managed to see Manny Pacquiao on the jumbo screen with that dreaded knock-off bobble head that they were passing out that night. Speaking of which, I am sure all you Pacman fans know by now but Fatlace will be exclusively dropping his Nike Trainer 1 shoe on May 2nd. Don’t even get at me with any hook-ups or info cause honestly I don’t have them, but support the store anyways and wait in line like all the other die hard fans. Good luck to yah.

For today, I tried to do the noble thing. Past couple of days have been nothing but drinking and hanging out so I decided to spend some quality time with my cousin, uncle, aunt and my Bachon (grandma in Japanese) at the Japanese Tea Garden.

There is a lot of history affiliated with my family and mainland Japan (for those that don’t know, I am half Japanese). My late grandfather fought in World War 2 where he lost his brother in the line of duty. I remember when I was a kid, there was always a shrine downstairs in the basement for his brother and everyday my grandfather would take some time to pay his respects. Now we have a picture of my grandfather down there in its place and sad to say, I haven’t seen that thing in quite some time.

At my grandparents place, there used to be a Japanese garden in their yard. Nothing nearly as nice as what I had seen today but the silhouettes and shapes are the same. A bridge, ponds with fish, afro looking bushes and other plant life.

Shinto shrine in the building.

Ironically enough as clean as everything was in the garden, the pond was just infested. Sad to see even koi fish in San Francisco water. Half of them didn’t even move and the other half looked dead.


The cherry blossoms are in full effect. Gotta love this time of the year! Everything and everyone looks so damn good. Hope everyone had a good Easter. Back on the grind starting tomorrow.