The Goose, MFP

Two great scenes from one of the best movies ever, Mad Max. The Goose, Main Force Patrol, on his Kawasaki K1000, aka 'Kwaka' - I always loved this bike - turns out there are people making replicas of it all over the place..

This is an ad for a japanese company making replica

parts - i tried to contact them once but got no reply, apparently

no one else has either...

The word is that production of Mad Max IV, "Fury Road",  is still planned according to director George Miller, but it won't include Mel Gibson, who no longer wants to be involved, and Miller also mentioned the possibility of it being animated, which could be ok I suppose if done right.. According to 'certain people' close to me, I sometimes imagine things in the worst way, not the best way, so maybe i'm being negative, but i should mention that George Miller was also responsible for "Happy Feet" which is an animated movie about "penguins"...

American Originals

Several years ago, i stumbled onto a book called "American Extremes", which was about many of the (then) underground trends, lifestyles, and cults, etc lurking just below the radar here in the U.S. of A. It was way before idiotic activities such as "rollerblading" were labeled "extreme sports", and was one of the first times the very term "extreme" was used to describe these types of shenanigans - now of course it's become a catch-all marketing gimmick-phrase used to sell anything from energy drinks to rubber trousers.

The book showcased (at least visually) some of the things we were into growing up, like skateboarding and the wonderful world of punk rock, etc, which was a still a bit unusual at the time - apart from Thrasher Magazine there wasn't too much out there for us in the blazing 100 degree Texas heat - but the main reason we liked it was because it had pictures of half of the people we knew who hung out at the Clown Ramp, teenage punk rockers and skinheads, already covered in tattoos, skateboarders "of note" with crazy dreads (for a short time i remember dreads actually did look cool, i dont know what happened though cuz god damn what a hippie nightmare now!), and so on..

Anyway, a few years later i started working in the film business and got called to assist an art director on a Negro Modello Beer commercial. "Take the labels off these 500 beer bottles", said George Toomer, Jr, who later became a very good friend of mine. As we got to know each other i found out who his dad was, and realized he was George Toomer, Sr, the guy who wrote "American Extremes". He was not only an author but a prolific and well-known graphic artist, and all around interesting character.

More recently I had called George Sr to talk about doing the artwork for upcoming Lost At Sea EP, we talked and bounced some ideas around, and after seeing some of my kooky sketches he paused, and then diplomatically and politely stated, "Well, the logo idea is a bit UN-interesting.." It still puts a smile on my face.

Sadly George Toomer, Sr. died a few weeks ago, and he will be missed. But he lives on through his artwork and books, and especially his perspective and kooky sense of humor - check out this clip from the Baltimore TV News from back in 1982 and you'll see what i mean...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHnnS89WbFQ

Into the FUTURE...

So here it is, the first installment of what will no doubt be something you'll cling to mentally and turn to regularly on your 'pocket computer' or even on your outdated 'home computer'. (commodore 64 users full respect)..