Gotta burn a copy of Bob Marley's "Trench Town Rock" album for some folk.

Was listening to it/demo-ing it to someone in her car on the way back from lunch.

Old-school and still goodshit over 30 years later. This was before he got rich and WAAAAY high.

(My favorite scene from Mississippi Masala was Sarita Choudhury in only a Marley t-shirt... listening to old school Marley. *rowr*)

Normally I try not to 'introduce' music to people.. but this is good chit. Funny how I started appreciating the music from my childhood after I turned 30....

Listening to "Trench Town Rock" makes me feel good.

The lunch company and the music has me on a sort of a high right now.

See? You dont always NEED the weed.. :-)

"One good thing about music..
when it hits ya
you feel okaaay

Hit me wid music, yeah
Hit me wid music.."

Want a copy?

Reading for knowledge:

Getting it Printed" and rereading "The Non-Designer Designer's Book" after just finishing a book on the principles of Typography (cant find it on Amazon).

Visit your local library today. Its very worth it. Right, Em? :-) Heheh.

Reading for experience ...

The current issues of Juxtapoz and Elemental magazines.

The art, and the people doing the art, are amazing. Odd, that Im discovering all this after all this time.

Im seeing the world, Im seeing more, differently. Every single day.

Amazing.
-------------

Sitting in that little screen-printing shop is interesting....

Guy walks in, slick-backed hair and ponytail, dressed in an olive green suit, black italianate shirt, gold chain, "USA" ribbon.. and Nikes.

In a scruffy kinda way, he manages to look GOOD. Shit, if I hadnt gotten on the heterosexual band-wandwagon from birth...

"I was incarcerated recently.."
"Oh. Ya? Why?"
"Oh, I ripped down the "Wanted" poster of Bin Laden in the (business around the corner)."
This place had a buncha patriotic-type posters in the window.
"So, they hauled me off and I did 4 days in the bayonne lockup.. Im on my way to court right now."

All we could do was say... "Oh. Ah." in response to that.

He did this inflammatory act in conservative, blue collar, Sicilian/Polish/Cuban Bayonne, NJ.

After he left, DaGuy goes.. "Man, That fucker is a PSYCHO. And a very rich fucker. He body lifts all day long, and has no job. And yet comes in and buys 500 bux worth of stuff."

All I could do was go.. "Oh. Ah."
-----
A few of the young mobster guys came in to order a buncha t-shirts for a .. umm.. colleagues.. birthday bash..

People do things like order t-shirts for birthday parties around here. *shrug*

DaGuy, being Italian, knows the ins and outs of whats goin on in the area..

I wanted him to confirm the 'occupation' of those young guys for me..

" ***, these guys - I see em every day. They have no discernible source of income, and yet live pretty well. You gotta tell me how."

*pause as he tried to put it in words for me to understand, without saying anything.."

"Jo-EY. You gotta understand.. this stuff - mirrors, its all done with mirrors."

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah."

And, implicitly - I understood the message that it'd be better not to ask any more questions.

So, I didnt.
--------------------
Thanks to george, the regular schedule of pictures will resume soon.

Thank you. :-)

Right now, Im missing, kinda want to satisfy the longing for..

The smell of San Francisco.

I didnt even realize it had a distinctive smell, depending on if youre by the water or inland, until just now.

I wouldnt mind being there right now, say for a week.

Dried shrimp.

I dont know the chinese name for it, but I used to eat it as a kid. ( Jamaican food, being the food of immigrants - is not just rice and beans.. I grew up on kimchee and lychee too..)

Although Im pretty sure I could find it in Chinatown if I really looked - I havent seen any in all the time Ive been here.

Of course, I lived on the stuff in SF - as I could find it tres easily in SF's and Oaktown's chinatowns.

*sigh* I could use me a trip.
------------

Why I like having Cappy folk in my circle...

Much thanks to Clint... who over da years, keeps proving why he's in my will. :-)

...and a deep thanks to george, who aint a cappy - but still.. I'll treat him like one. ....
------------
I try not to list weird google searches, cuz that is an exercise in self-defeatism, as it seems to further encourage da fuckers... but now, really I have to say:

No:

- I dont gots no pictures of 'the devils face in the wtc smoke'.

The term 'credulous cretins' comes to mind. Jesus.

The pictures are doctored, if no one has clocked onto that fact yet.... plus you can see 'em in the Enquirer at the checkout line. Sheesh.

- WHY, oh in gods name, WHY would anyone think Id be showing pictures of innocents leaping to their deaths?

Sick motherfuckers.

Even if I had them.. no.

- "hardcore lebanese porn"?

Lord.

Oh. Some of the more specialized mob brothels are advertised in the Jersey Journal.... but, nyet, not here.

- "phucket island"?

I make *one* play on words, and lookie what happens. Thailand is thataway.

The rest of the folk.. thank you for stopping by.

I do indeed have NY skyline pictures and everyday scenes of the tri-state area....

*blink*

- ' womens. toilet. pictures. '

You have GOT to be kidding me.

No.
---------------------

You know they like you when they rag on ya....

Late last night:

DaGuy (on the phone wit DaCappy): ".. yeah, Joe is really workin here.- you should see him.... what?"
"She sez 'Take a picture'.. HAHAHAHA.."

shown with the kind permission of allaboutgeorge.com

Incredible timing, his visit to The City.
----
Jamie writes...

Also it is hard to write these days. Also I think that some of the stories I hear from people in my life are deeply personal, and are not mine to share. Also I feel differently about this site, my craft, my life in general. I am just different.

So I guess I'm just letting you know what's going on over here at w-w.net. I'm fine. I'm not really nearly as depressed as I might sound, it's just that it's hard not to report what I see or hear without sounding somber, because most things going on these days require that tone.

But I laugh and smile daily. I'm praying quite a bit. I've done some shopping, and seen some movies. I hang out with people I love. I'm staying right here. It's just that the here is now somewhere new.

Todays horrorscope....

VIRGO
Your money worries will come to an end this week, not because you win the lottery or inherit a fortune (GODDAMIT. Heh. -ed), but because you suddenly realize how silly it is to get worked up about cash, possessions and other material things.
Strangely, the moment you stop worrying about dollars and cents is the moment when it becomes easier to make money, simply because the fear of losing what you own no longer holds you back.

Doesnt quite cure that ongoing agita in my stomach, but *hokay*......

--------
On a somewhat related note...

2:30 am

I am in a cramped and busy shop silkscreening "God Bless America" on handwoven indian cotton placemats.

And it doesnt seem strange at all.

A week ago, I knew jack shit and less about all screen printing and the business of t-shirts.

A lot can happen in a few days.

Not long ago, I had a panic attack. I stood in the middle of my darkened apartment and said to myself..

"What the fuck???? T-SHIRTS??? Im doin' fucking T-SHIRTS??? What the FUCK am I THINKING???"

The dry heaves lasted the rest of the day, although I eventually calmed the hell down, if still a bit tense to this day.

Yes, Im selling fucking t-shirts on the way to my dream of being a publisher.

The guy who owns the business calls me up..

(Imagine an Archie Bunker-Soprano's-Joe Pesci wise-guy accent..)

"Jo-ey!"
"Yah."
"Whats yer dream car?"
"Dream car? Tha fuck.. I dunno. I dont think about that crap."
"Duznt maattah. Think. about. yer. dream. car. Which one do ya want?"
"Shit.. I dunno." *thinks* "Okay.. a Mercedes E550.."
"A mercedes, eh?"
"Yeah."
"How much does wunna dem cost?"
"I dunno.. about 70 - 80 G's nowadays."
"Yeah? Awright. You an me. Next week. We gonna go to a mercedes dealership, go pick one out. I always wanted a mercedes."
"What th..."
"You heard me. Jo-ey. We are gonna fuckin make a LOTTA fuckin money, you hear me?"
"Uh-huh."
"JO-EY. Trust me. Its gonna *fuckin'* happen."

I would normally think that someone who talks like this has lost his everlovin' mind.

Except for the fact that I know he himself isnt exactly hurting in the funds department. And his business is busier than ever.

What fuckin recession?

As we are working late into the night, shooting the shit...

"Remember I told you when we first met that you looked familiar?"
*shrug* "Yeah, but I get that a lot."
"Im tellin ya. *You* looked fuckin' familiar. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Because...." And this is the first I'd ever heard him at a loss for words.. "..Its like I was WAITING for you.. like I saw you and recognised you and it was like .."
"Heh. Like 'Where the hell you been!.."
"EXACTLY!"

My mind wryly went back to the day I was introduced to tisha. Yeah, I know the feeling well.

"Look. This is what I believe." he continued. "There are things in life we have no control over. And then there are things that we DO have control over. And the things we DO have control over are set out for us. We have SO much control over that shit that its ridculous. Its all so fuckin' simple. But, we make them so goddamned complicated that we sit down and THINK about it, making life MORE complicated than it really is."

I didnt really answer.. I just went "Hmm" and continued thinking....
-----------

Comment on the above from a man who lives in car mad Cally, where Mercedes and Beemers are as common as Fords in the real world...

B.Y: and don't say a mercedes... :p
JPennant: Or mebbe an Audi S8
JPennant: You forget, this is the side of the country where them fancy cars arent parked on every other block. :-P
B.Y: heh, i'll be posting a "typical" LA shot on my site later on, with a merc in the shot :p
JPennant: heehee

ACTUALLY, I wouldnt mind a BMW 540i or M5, but shit - a black man driving a Bimmer on the East Coast is BEYOND stereotypical.

Nah. I dont need New Jersey state 5-0's having a friendly chat with me on a daily basis.
-----
JPennant: lemme stop thinking and therefore complicating what isnt complicated at all.
george: Good idea.