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.

Veiled Beauty opens tonight at FIFTY24SF Gallery from 7 to 9 PM.

FIFTY24SF Gallery
248 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
7 to 9 PM

Veiled Beauty is a solo exhibition by Hush, a graphic designer and illustrator from the U.K.

Hush is an urban artist who worked in Hong Kong for a number of years as a graphic designer/illustrator before returning to the UK. His popularity is soaring, with sell out shows in London and Los Angeles, along with high profile street pieces, sold out print runs and collaborations. Influenced by various facets of modern culture, he is inspired by graphic-novels, animation, graphic-design, graffiti art, urban art and contemporary painting. He’s known for his portrayal of female Manga characters juxtaposed with his mixed media layering techniques utilizing screen print, spray paint and multi-levels of paper. The confluence of East meets West, destruction meets construction, and classic versus contemporary style, all leave the viewer feeling the same conflicts and energy that his work embodies.

Hush has worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director in London, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Hong Kong where he worked for a few of the largest toy companies in the world. His work has been featured in numerous selected exhibitions in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Now and again you might still see Hush on a wall in your city.

Mark your calendars. 1 hour only! This shit is going to be so epic!

On May 30th, history will be made and you’ll be a part of it. What we’re looking for: Heart-stopping, jaw-dropping gnar shit like switch heelflips, nollie flips (nollie anything, really), fakie flips, switch threes… Everybody knows the ABDs so there won’t be any cash for those. The amp ramp will be provided, but the talent is your part. All I know is that someone’s walking away with 10-large, and the first girl who jumps the Big Four will get a grand. No hands, no grabs, no crybabies. 12 noon; team managers take note. —Phelps

The contest back in 04′:

After Party at Mars Bar:

Sometimes offers get thrown my way and as I input all the info, I am like For real? About a month ago, I received an e-mail asking if I wanted to shoot a photo gig for a DJ that would be spinning at the Warriors vs. Memphis game on Monday night. In return, I would get the golden pass to sit courtside with other season ticket holders that either a) have old money b) fucked someone that has old money c) fucked a basketball player that has money but doesn’t love you enough to call you “boo” so as a consolation prize, he tosses two tickets to a game for you and your fat friend to watch him play. I have fortunately/unfortunately have done none of the sorts but managed to be sitting side by side with these mongrels. Holy hell these basketball players are big as shit in real life!











The cool kids Derrick and Jeremy. Props for the opportunity to let me shoot at a GS-Dub game like a true poporazzo.

The creator and genius behind Metal Gear Solid Touch will be in store in the next hour if you can make it at the Apple store in San Francisco at 3pm. I happened to stumble upon it at lunch and even though the geekery will be strong, I wouldn’t mind sitting in on this.

Great for the wall or the streets. Get yours on April fools fool!

In these unfortunate times we face, it is always sad to see good people go due to this economic crisis that plagues our country. I am a East Bay resident and have met some good solid folks and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately FRESH in Berkeley will be closing on the 27th. Make sure to come through to grab some good gear for a good price from some good people. Good luck fellas!

It’s unfortunate, but due to the downfall of this economy, we have been forced to close our doors. We would like to thank all of you for the much love and support. It’s been a great 3 years and we wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Be sure to come join us on our last day, Friday, March 27th. to bid farewell.

I planned on posting this here once this was all done. This is a copy/past from my other blog so if you have time to read it all, I would gladly give you a cookie……and like all tattoo fans say, once you get one, there will be more. So I am sure expect more if my money is right.

Without getting into the whole intense culture of tattooing, let me tell you the story of me finally choosing what I wanted. If I could pin point my inspiration to a certain person, I would say Brandon Boyd (Incubus) would be on the forefront. Man crush? I am not too fascinated with shafts and balls unless if they are my own but I just like his whole demeanor in the way he lives life. Even though music is a big part of his success, he still keeps up with his passion for art, photography and surfing. His tattoo always had a classy look unlike some other musicians out there (fuck you going to get ESPN tattooed on your body Weez!) and the placement of it didn’t scream attention but still displayed the art piece well.


Back a couple of years, I was fortunate enough to see Usugrow’s artwork at one of his shows at Upperplayground SF. My first recognition of the guy was from his t-shirt he designed for The Hundreds. I don’t think it was a big hit at the time. This was back when shirt designs were nothing but all over prints and cheesy photoshops (wait…isn’t that right now?) and his tattoo style wasn’t a crowd favorite….even in my eyes. I always take note of artists regardless and I grew more fond of his work as an art form and not graphics for clothes.

The whoa-factor was high on this one. I subliminally showed it in a post back in September which was the first time I went to Everlasting Tattoo to talk to them about this piece. When I saw it, I just thought it was the one. It was perfect for that arm piece that I was looking for. It didn’t have that sleeve shape where it looked like I would be wearing a wonder woman bracelet but had more of an organic feel. It was an easy sell since Usugrow’s style already has that tattoo look with the only exception that the shading wouldn’t be stippled.

After he signed my book, I pretty much told him that I would get a tattoo of his work on my body and I think all he did was blush in that Japanese “no-trouble” kind of way. Meeting the artists was a big deal for me. Aside from his work, his attitude had to be straight and with his reassurance on it, I was one step closer to sealing the deal.

Months would pass and the next step was to look for a tattoo shop that could do this operation. I stay on the grind with a couple of blogs and noticed a certain shop being mentioned in Mike Giants blog and The Sciolist. Both of these guys have a greater knowledge on the tattoo game in the Bay Area so I went to do the research and checked out Everlasting Tattoo. Come to find out that they have a pretty creditable history and clientele resume consisting of talents like Margaret Cho and Kat Vond D so I knew. I probably went down to the shop about 10 times and talked to 3 artists until I finally set up the appointment to have Luke do it.

So after getting more advice as far as getting a fuller arm piece and some ghetto photoshop techniques (I printed two of Usugrow’s artwork, cut up the bug one and scanned it in on top of the other collage them as one), here is the the tattoo design in all its glory. People always ask me on the meaning of the whole thing. In the literal sense, it is a bug on a flower but my interpretation of it all is….I just think it looks fucking cool! I am in no way a bug trying to plant seeds in every girls vaginas and if any since Usugrow is Japanese, this is just a homage to the land of the East since I am half. One of the best advice I have ever took to heart with tattoos that I can give to others is to take a potential artwork that you want for a tattoo, hold it for about a month or longer, look at it again and if you still have the same feelings about it when you first saw it, then it is worthy to be put on your body. I had this piece in mind for about over a year and two months and on Tuesday, it will be on my arm forever.

First session was over. I loved the pain! The buzzing sound of the needle dragging in my skin was music to my ears. I could have sat through the whole 3 hours session if they would have let me, but seeing that this was my first tattoo, Luke and Everlasting decided to break it up into two. Did it hurt? Imagine someone telling you that on a Tuesday, a guy is going to come by and punch you in the gut as hard as he can and on the day it happens, a 5 year old boy comes out and pats the tip of your dick with his bare knuckles. It stings for like a hot sec but it ain’t no thang. More to come on this Fongstarr X Usugrow X Everlasting tattoo in two weeks (Collabo!). Geez….I feel like I have a gay henna tattoo. It will probably match my pierced vagina.

And here it is in its entirety as of today. Okay, let me first start off by saying that me not liking my tattoo has nothing to do with Everlasting as a shop and their talents as tattoo artists. I 100% back them all and recommend them to the fullest if anyone is out there shopping for tats. I think this has more to do with not really knowing how tattoos work and of course I can’t (holy shit…..the tattoo realization has kicked in) but if I can do this over I would have made the tattoo a tad bit larger and had no thick lines. I mean it looks cool, right? I’ve showed it to about 20 coworkers today and they have all congratulated on me having a might fine tattoo. So what is the problem? NO ONE CAN TELL WHAT IT IS!!! Regardless of the cleanliness of the tattoo, if no one can tell what it is, that means in some sort of way….it is bad. Usugrows artwork is pretty abstract in general but I think I should of had this more as a tattoo and not a replica of his work. First off the tattoo has way to many intricate details and to show them off, the lines should have been more subtle. Look at the bug (if you can see it). With thin lines, it came out really nice and if you revert back to the original art work, there should have been a thick outline surrounding the whole body but with the tat, we left it alone. I think that is what failed with the flower. I think we should have left the stroke a lot thinner then the original. Other few adjustments could have made it better but all is pretty much said and done. I don’t know man….they say I will be my own worse critic and I am harsh in general with art but I have to live with this thing for the rest of my life so it is hard not to. Plus masturbating is totally weird now……

Sac-heads wake up! This looks like a pretty dope event with John Cardiel DJing and some special offers from the DLX fam as well as Nike SB. I am sure some Sac pros will be in the house too so don’t sleep.

Today really….I mean really made me want to quit skateboarding and just stick to the photography game. Sometimes I just don’t get it. The spot at Treasure Island is not for the faint at heart but falling from pebbles on the god damn ground and not the actually obstacle is ridiculous. Frustrations had clouded my mind and all I got were these lousy photos.