Mike Ming: September 2008

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

080830-0901 Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA

Tina of High Fashion Studios.
Do your hair? Seattle says,'HELLS YEAH!!'

Super!Alright! on stand-by!

Mike and Josh Langlais. Custom Furniture Designer/Carpenter.
Discussing Costa Rica and Portland Waves.

Pacifica. Great Band, Great Smiles.

One of my life influences, ROB Undril.

A Seattle Bus Sign Notice.

Thugs in the dome. Dustin and Jonny.

Steve Whitacomb, Dave Mazak, Sean Quinn.

Jonny and Skateboard.

A rebel painter girl, Kumiko.

Late Night San Francisco's High Fashion Crew!!

Squint your eyes, it's LEE Scratch Perry!!

Big UP, Theme Magazine! They are in American Photographer!!!!

GOURMET SEATTLE. Two of the Finest.

Famous Ivar's Employee of the Month!

JJ!

Jonny and Valley, the band. Preparing for interview.

Jonny kills it in Ping Pong. Jonny also sharks in pool. Watch OUT!

Fantagraphic, SUN!!

Big Fountain people run through.

Good Bye, Summer.

Dell dome at night.

Black Eyes and Neckties. The Band.

Me and my friends. Nice and Beer Blurry.

Welcome to the Bus. Don't we make you want to come inside?

Carny Heroes! Hopeless in Seattle.

The Beautiful Chris Pfeiffel.

The Living Room of the 9 Pound Hammer.

My Home away from Home. The 9 Pound Hammer in Georgetown.

A beacon in the thick of despair.

The light in the dark, for the Morning after. All City Coffee.

One Hundred Feet. Don't miss it. Anthony.

Seattle was space needles. Seattle was fish markets and rivers and EXP and Jimi Hendrix spirit and hills and REI and friends who were once east coasters like me and Seattle was flannel and the last port city before alaska and the spirit of miners and rough around the edges and Georgetown and Pioneers and 9 Pound Hammer, my one and only favorite free pool bar. Seattle was hope and possibilities and explorers and potential and new friends and lots of men and not enough women. Seattle from what I saw was like that. Bumbershoot was the oldest music festival I have ever witnessed. It was also Ichiro Pride, a humble great baseballer from the far east, my neck of the islands! Seattle was all the grunge I ever listened to and it was the toughest girls with mouths that backed up with fists and attitudes and it was cold. It was the end of summer. It was the beginning of week long coughing fits. It was all it was hoped to be and all that it wasn't. I loved it. I hated it. I admired it. I wanted to run away from it. It was tough. It was soft. I really loved my 9 pound hammer and I really missed my friends, ALL CITY COFFEE. It was a good place to be at the time, because slowly, the tour is coming to end and although I worry about what I ll do next, I ve got hope! Hope, like Seattle, is a high quality potential survivor port town in the northwest.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

080828 Portland Oregon

Hippo Hardware. Unique.

Jose. Super! Alright!

Made In Oregon. Pride.
Burnside Bridge.

A Weather. At Open Bar.

Getting Down to Business. Jonny Santos. Charles Lahti. DJ Joee Irwin. ED the Man.

Jonny Ping Ponging.

Public Radio. Community Radio. Community FIRST. Portland. Oregon.

When a Polar Bear Attacks, them hide their noses.

DJ JOEE IRWIN. Holding it Down in Portland, Oregon.

Mike Ming. Brena. Jonny Santos. She is a killer!

DJ JOEE IRWIN at work. Bringing the BMP from Far Away Places.

The Lovely June. Super!Alright!

Metal Martin. Puddin' Mike. Super!Alright!

A Weather. Sound Checking.

In Portland, Oregon, there were several events Jonny and I were invited to, courtesy of DJ Joee Irwin. I can't remember all the cool places we ended up getting into but I do remember a few details. One detail was a killer Ping Pong Player, Brena. She had surgery and a messed up knee but she was obviously owning the local ping pong table. I mean, so much so, all the guys who came through and played were getting their nuts cut off and left shriveled up. Maybe the lack of alcohol and her pretty but univiting competitiveness was an advantage but definitely her lack of side to side movement was her biggest disadvantage (which I believe no one really used to their advantage.. are the men more gentlemen in portland?). She even managed to take out a serious Jonny Santos, twice. We found out later that she was a woman's soccer player and had injuried her knee on the pitch. She is a monster on the table and I bet she is a monster in the game. Brena, keep ruling! There was a live band, a weather, and there was the biggest line for some free mixed drink courtesy of Open Bar. I mean, it looked like no one had change and booze was the objective. That's fine. They definitely needed more bartenders to supply the alcohol. Me and Jonny was drinking Tecate. After the Bar with the house sized backyard, we went to our friend, DJ Joee Irwin's Party on the other side of the river. Portland is a town with many bars. There is also a chinatown, but with no chinese! Alot of heroin addicts, tho. Damn. It s a really hard town. You know, though, when shit is down, the creativity gets up. It is a hardcore town. There are people on bicycles everywhere, there are cruisers and hard wheel skaters everywhere and all the stores are hugh and the land seems plentiful. I have a bunch of graduated friends who call Portland home and they are breathing life and sharing life with a town in between Seattle and San Francisco. This is a city with hugh potential to blow up big like Gus Van Sant. I hope so, cause it is a pretty ass city with crazy roots! My biggest complaint about touring, is the lack of connections I have to really see a city for what it is. Oregon has always been a bit of a mystery and actually many many years ago, I ve thought about attending art school there. Many many years later, I ve still got crazy question marks about this town. I ve nothing but gaping awe for this city. People are straight foward and they do not mess around. Respect.

080828 Burnside Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon was a stop in between San Francisco, California's Outsidelands and Seattle, Washington's Bumbershoot. There was no specific event that Jonny and I were involved in, rather, this was the stop for Super!Alright! crew to get some on-the-road band stops and filming. I had been in Portland about two times before, all very very long times ago and each time, it was for a minute. This time, it looked like we were there for ten minutes. My only priority in Portland, Oregon was actually visiting one of the skateboarding's mecca of the world, BURNSIDE! The two time I had been in Oregon, I did not have my skateboard. This time, I had my board. And, I was up very early to beat the rush, wanting to ride the sacred location by myself. When I showed up, I was surprised to find two guys in sleeping bags in the middle of the park. Skaters here in this part of the world is crazy hardcore. So hardcore, I didn't want to wake them up. I returned a couple hours later and it was a glide. I don't think I ever appreciated skateboarding as much as skating burnside. Burnside was built by hand, sweat and blood. This is a living park. As a living park, the organic lines available here are all very much different feet to feet. All the trannies have their contours and honestly, I don't think a day is even enough to really appreciate the park. Big UP to the creators and skaters and locals and pilgrims. I am thoroughly humbled.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

080822-24 OutsideLands, San Francisco

Even after the dome was shut down, the glowing orb always manages to interest and attract some festival goers. A family of three checking it out.

San Francisco in my mind is.. of course, Haight&Asbury. I grew up fascinated by the west coast 60's, psychedelic arts, improvisational jam bands, free love and the illest street skating. I didn t get a chance to indulge in many of this beautiful city's offerings but I can sense, San Francisco still has that heavy vibe. The event, Outsidelands, is the first three day festival in SF's Golden Gate Park, this was 'history in the making...' is what I heard a lot. The festival grounds was set in the most foggiest and chilliest part of town and there were Bisons in the park. Of course, they were caged in, but still, that is pretty nutty to me. But as I've gotten some chance to talk to west coasters, I think these things are pretty normal. The festival was fun as heck and after having seen chicago's Lollapalooza and baltimore's Virgin Mobile Fest, this particular festival had much more art representation and a more granola crowd participation. There were booths with artists selling art ART, Custom wooden jewelry, custom hand made rugs, organic food vendors(!!), Handmade hats, Tie-dye anything, music lessons, organic village(!!!) and way more stuff I saw/ didn't see. Even in the environment of the mega corporate sponsorships and big venue revenue, it was an interesting demographics of people represented at the fair. There were older peoples with their kids and grown up kids and there were younger people with their kids and grown up grandchildren and the young age festival participants. I had a great time. My crew was awesome and everyone was just enjoying being. I think that must be the San Francisco thing. My highlights in the festival was seeing Donovan Frankenreiter. He had a great show and he came into our tent to be interviewed(!!). We were set up in what is the polo fields in the park. Directly across from our dome was the Lands End Main Stage and to our right was The Avenues. I heard , Steel Pulse(WHA?! I got RastaCEntenial Live album), Manu Chao(Blasting!!), Radiohead, the Dynamites featuring Charles Walker(Sick ROOTS Blues), Lyrics Born(pumping up the crowd!!), Galactic Crescent City SoulKrewe, Steve Winwood(?!), Ben Harper(!!), Tom Petty(!!!!!), TOOTS and the Maytals(!!!!!!!!), Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings( I ve seen her four times this summer, never dissappointed, NEW YORK REPRESENT!!), Rodrigo y Gabriela (played twice near the dome!! Chicago and SF, Sick guitar DUO) and Jack Johnson. The only complaint I can say is that there is not enough of me to see all the music that goes on during these festivals... But it s work and later on, I ll see them when I am not working, hopefully! Before San Francisco, we were at different festivals just concerned with getting the dome done. In san francisco, we had to also start thinking about wild animals and nature. We even had a gopher we later dubbed, MAX. I was not a big fan of the west coast, but I have to say, I am thoroughly inspired. Thank God and my parents for my life. Experience is the food for living.