Aurora - Life on Mars (Bowie-cover) @Eurosonic 15/01/15

Whang Od: The Kalinga Tattoo maker

20141023 Two Typhoons later.

The speed at which time travels when on a shinkansen and just trying to get through projects and just getting through a trip always overwhelms and surprises. I'm back from Japan and am thoroughly jet lagged. I'm sleeping like I am napping and napping like I am sleeping. Feels like I am awake but my eyes want to close. When I lay down, my body wants to shut down. When I am walking I feel like every step is the one before I collapse on to the floor and I get to close my eyes to rest. I exaggerate but not really. I don't know when I became such a weak traveler but I realize I am now. I think the fumes of excitement of being in unfamiliar settings just keep me going. At home, although feeling a bit unfamiliar to me these days, all guards are down, all pressure is gone. Of course, this is not true as I ve got some projects waiting for my attention, but time feels different at home. It just does. So.. let's recap, shall we? Traveling through typhoon one, leaving Hamamatsu to go western japan was a bit of a problem when first arriving in Nagoya. The morning of the 6th of October, the east to west traveling typhoon was creating problems to commuters and travelers. The winds were raging enough to make fast traveling trains stationed unil the winds subsided. What was a 2 hour trip in the middle of the day became a 3 hour 'rush hour'-esque commute to Kaliya , Nagoya. The trains were PACKED. There were salarymen who was turned away from work, as offices and school shut down. Same with children who spent most of their morning on the platform. And travelers who squeezed into this mess with luggage and backpacks. Once off the train in Kaliya, it was a whole other scene. It was a quiet town and it was as chill as can be. Why were we in Kaliya? We were there to see a good friend who owned a snowboard/skateboard/surfshop, Sidecar. There, we found out there is also a nail salon, nanonail salon, which specializes in painted nails and a jewelry line, Linea. We were there to check out the shop and help, Linie with their english translation and do some copy writing. We also were there to enjoy fresh homemade yogurt from an amazing indian restaurant pretty close to the shop. That night, we went out with Yoshi, Bernadette, Somen Masters and Sidecar family to eat what Nagoya is most famous for.. FREE ROAMING CHICKEN!! That is right, the most softest tastiest chicken in all of japan! SO Fresh, we had chicken liver SASHIMI!! yep, RAW!! It was an amazing evening of Yakitori. All parts and all tasty. That night, it was a pass out. The following day, we had lunch with the Niimi Kaliya family. The best thing about traveling is eating over at someone's house. No restaurants can ever top homemade food. Nothing compares to eating what the locals eat when they eat at home. Fueled for the next leg of our travels, we made a quick stop off at Nagoya to 8ball tattoo studio to see how they ran their shop. It was a really nice experience to see this walk-in shop and I got to observe some clients getting some ink on. There was a 'Betty Page' Rockabilly ladies shop in the basement as well. Our next destination after Nagoya was a quick trip to Osaka. There, we stayed with a friend in Ashiya. We ate the best okonomiyaki in osaka area in a local 2nd floor restaurant very close to Ashiya station. We didn't do much Osaka sightseeing, but we did make it to American Town and the big arcade area whose name eludes me that was filmed in 'Black Rain', the american version. Osaka is cool when you are chilling with friends, but it is a major city with big city things that are hard to overlook as a tourist. Or rather, if you spend only a couple hours in Osaka, chances are you are looking at shopping areas. I don't know Osaka enough to know where or what anything is and so, my idea is rather tweaked. Definitely helps to know someone here and also helps to have more than a couple hours to look around. Why did we not spend more time in Osaka? Because we were headed to KYUSHU! The furthest biggest western island in Japan! This is coming into day 3 and by day 5 I would have to return to Hamamatsu. By this time, we have traveled across the southern part of japan minus going to Shikoku, the furthest southern big island in Japan. We took the shinkansen and arrived in Hakata, Fukuoka later that evening. From Hakata, we were picked up by my old studio mate in NYC and drove another hour east to OITA. In Oita, we stayed in a Ryokan type hotel, a traveler's lodge, where there is an onsen on the third floor and a traditional breakfast is served every morning. The room where we stay is in a traditional tatami room with blankets and futons laid out in the middle. It is a very traditional style of lodging in japan. The next day was an all out family trip to Beppu, Oita. Beppu is known for many things onsen or hot springs. Apparently some of the onsen's are so hot, we only go to look at how hot they are and eat eggs that are cooked in onsen and see exotic tropical alligators, crocodiles and caimans that can survive next to these hot springs. There are an assortment of hot springs ranging from clear blue ocean~esque waters, to blood red 'hell onsens' to soak your feet in stinging hot onsens. Beppu is also known for another tourist site. They have a monkey mountain where there are 2 groups of japanese mountain monkeys that are protected and attended to. It is also an educational site and the monkeys roam freely as people go up and observe what monkeys do in their space. It is a bit intimidating at first because there are a lot of warning signs of not looking at monkeys with eye contact or touching them or watching out for the bags you bring because they might want to get into them. They also like plastic bags and sometimes they will take them from you. When we arrive in their territory, the first thing I saw were a group of monkeys all hanging about the entrance ways. They don't do anything but they check people coming in. Then I realize they are literally all over. Everywhere. But they mind their own business and people are nothing new to them anymore. They go about doing monkey things and that is how it is up there. There was one thing that I did notice right off and it was that every few minutes, the monkeys started to howl together. It sounded a bit like protesting or some group pleading. The monkey keepers explained to everyone up there that there was a film crew that specific day filming a morning variety show and that the monkeys' feeding time has been postponed for a little bit. They, in fact, was protesting to be fed. We arrived in the perfect time. We were about to witness monkeys feeding time! The crowd at the monkey mountain was a mix of families, tourist visitor couples and school children. When it was time to release the food, basically the monkey handler would come out with a hand cart, not unlike a hotdog cart filled with japanese yams. They would open the cart from the rear and run across the park with yam falling out the cart and the monkeys would all converge in and grab whatever yam pieces, as much as they could carry away and scatter every which way. When the handler ran across the park with his cart, the monkeys would all run at the cart. Unfortunately for some school children, the cart would run behind them and what would incidentally happen is, a sea of monkeys would run straight at them to get to the cart. I m not sure how old these kids were but they were definitely grade school kids and I would further guess that there are probably a few kids in that group who are traumatized by the sea of monkeys. I saw a few jump into the arms of one and another crying and screaming and trying to get off the floor. It was pretty intense. There were stone mountain walls that the monkeys all scurried up. After Beppu, we went to Yufin Onsen to chill out and take advantage of Oita's onsens! One thing I always associate with japan is its onsens. A trip to japan without going to the onsen is like really missing out on going to japan at all. This is a volcanic island chain with hot springs everywhere. Going to Onsen in japan is super relaxing and feels like connecting to nature through bath. I would recommend a trip to the onsen when visiting Japan. I think this should be on everyone's priority list when visiting japan. So as the quick western foray comes to a close, there is another talk in the news about a giant typhoon heading to Japan, again. But this time, they are talking about a giant so big, it is like the once in a 50 year storm. By the time we are getting ready to leave, the predicted storm is slow and gai-normous. I head back to Hamamatsu for the last weekend of the show before it closes. There is talk of the typhoon affecting swell so with hopes in heart, I am praying that there will be surf in hamamatsu one last time before I have to head back to Tokyo. Friday night is rather windy and the rain starts to come down. All week, it has been sunny and beautiful. As the looming storm begins, the rains and cloudy weather begins to appear. Saturday is like a wash out and only a few people make it out for the last saturday before the show closes. That night, I go see some really cool guitar and mandolin duo, Taro and Jordan. Taro is an ill musician from Osaka and Jordan is a luthier from canada. They play a very cool blend of dueling strings sound and folksy bluesy soul tunes. Kinda hard to describe but easy to understand when you hear it. They played in a very cool venue called Park/ing, a cafe bar above hamamatsu's only VINTAGE Surfboard and Custom WetSuit SHOP, Muni SF. Sunday morning was a roll of a die to see if there might be some surf or a skate session.. neither which happened but we tried. The surf was not cooperating, large and disorganized and the skate session? indoor spot was closed until the guy with the key shows up. The door says 10 am, my friend on the phone says 11 am. I had a meeting in Shin Yokohama with Luz e Sombra, so shinkansen sounded like a plan. It was too bad, but I wasn't disappointed. I think I was pretty tired and I ve learned I can't force these things to happen. Besides, heading back worked in my favor because now, I wasn't forced to carry around a luggage of a week's worth of clothes and supplies and rather, could drop it all off in my base in Yutenji at Tsurukame-Kobo before the meeting in Shin Yokohama and a dinner in Kamakura. Sometimes things have a way of working itself out. In kamakura, the dinner was hosted by my friend whose office I was basing at in Tokyo. My friend, Jun Shimada, was introduced to me by Naomi Kazama, who used to run Gas-Exp gallery which eventually became DYZ-EXP. He has been on a six year mission of live screen printing and promoting an idea called the BIG O. The purpose of live screen printing and BIG O was to promote an idea of recycling and environmental stewardship. He was also pushing the idea of using organic sustained farming and small localized farming for the environment. Him and Jun had been on the road for the last 3 months promoting the BIG O in Japan, traveling from their home town in Kamakura/Enoshima to nothern japan to western japan , all over! The following day was going to be their last event in Kamakura and although it wasn't a celebration meal, it felt like a homecoming meal. The food was plentiful and the meal of onabe was excellent! Another Japanese traditional casserole cooking on the table. We had fresh fish, vegetables, noodles and meats to fill up on. The food was local and the onabe was what we needed in this cloudy chilly october evening. The next day saw day three of surfing in shonan. A quick 5 minutes stroll from Jun's house brings us to a famous shonan surf break called sichirigahama. For the past few days since the emergence of the second typhoon, Shonan has been getting a steady swell of surfable waves. What was disorganized in Hamamatsu was clean in Kamakura. Although the line up was a bit crowded, it wasn't nearly as crowded as it could have been because of the cloudy skies and occasional showers. The typhoon proper wasn't supposed to hit tokyo and eastern japan until later that evening. My chance to surf appeared and was wet for a few hours, riding my most favorite Larry Marbile Twin in my favorite reef break in shonan. My friends who are locals always worry about me and how the locals might feel about me in the water with them but I tell them to always not worry about it. I m pretty respectful when it comes to waves and I am quick with a smile in the water. Better wet than dry, how can anything be wrong? Surfing is a communion with nature. As far as I am concerned, it lets me reconnect my roots with our ocean beginnings as living organisms on this planet. She is as alive as anything else on this planet. The ocean has a pulse and more chemical make up than any living creature. She breathes and flows. We are only a small part of her. And that day, I was lucky to play on her waves. As always, I leave Japan with an amazing memory of a great surf session I had in sichirigahama.

20141005. Typhoon visitor.

I finally caught up to blogger 21st century. Nothing to brag about but at least now, I can write my blog on trains or waiting rooms because all this road/track tripping is making it hard to sit at the laptop to update my trip. So...
The opening of my show in kagiya bldg in Hamamatsu went well. If you are familiar with Hamamatsu, then I think you get it... If you are not, let me tell you. It was a quiet evening with friends and soon to be friends. Family members I won't have a chance to see, conversation of secret spots and surf safaris to far away places and eccentric local loco artists and collectors. One thing I take away from this experience of Hamamatsu is, this is a small town of nice slow pace and extreme nerds life style with shops and restaurants. Japan is a culture that champions high technique and heart. its some thing I have known in my heart but couldn't really express in words until now.
We spent the evening in Naru, a hand made soba restaurant, run by Gori San, an ex NYC adventurer, hip hop soba master. All night long, the soba shop played classic late 80s to 90s beats. Super chill vibes and super great creative washoku and of choose, soba.
The next day was spent meeting anyone who came by to check out the art show, 4 floors up in a recycled old building housing artists and creatives of all types. The temperatures in Hamamatsu was hot and humid... Felt like the Singapore heat was following me, reminding me of a distant past in tropics, Okinawa. This trip has been a prelude to a trip I know has been long time coming.. But first...
In Tokyo for the week. Working on projects, having  meetings and making future plans for okayama bus painting project with Kapital Denim and hopefully another trip in the near future for another exhibition and painting.
This past week saw the birthday of my wife, Asako. To celebrate, my mother who flew in from NY who just so happened to be in Tokyo and her pops, who drove in from 4 hours away in the mountains of nagano, had a very fine Japanese lunch talking about Nagano and future plans. after our lunch, we all parted with warm hearts, a beautiful memory and a new appreciation of family. I guess one never stops becoming the child and the other the parents but somewhere in age, we all get closer, parents get warmer and children get wiser. At least for me, it felt like this. We walked away feeling time slipping and memories and  perspectives broadening. Never before have I felt a sense of fatherly responsibility for my son and a new determination to spend quality time and hopefully travel time. I believe one can learn alot about ones self by putting themselves in unfamiliar situations. Learn a lot more about their traveling companion as well.

2014.09.27 'Connecting the dots' Hamamatsu

I m finally feeling that drag when the communication I'd love to share begins to drag away day to day and the time in front of the keys to put my thoughts into words are further and further apart. A week later or so, I m in Hamamatsu. We just set up the show for Botanica Gallery in Japan. I am having a solo show, 'Connecting the dots', that opens today. I 'll be in the gallery prepping and screening shirts for the event and probably hanging around to talk to anyone who just happens by. That seems to be the plan. So, lets see what I can remember. I still do not have images to share. But you can follow me on instagram and post to that a bunch. Much easier and very immediate. @surfnuts195 After arriving in Singapore, Shingo Wakagi and I began our little 'look-see' of Singapore. We did about as much research as the original 'Lets Go For a Drive'. The conversation before arriving to the sprawling city/country pretty much goes like this. Shingo- where do you wanna go in Singapore? Mike- I did some google research on Singapore and there is are Skate parks and two aquariums! No surfing beaches, tho. Shingo- cool. I heard they raze graveyards to make housing for all the people they expect to move to the island. One of the last remaining graveyards, Bukit Brown might get the ax. I'd love to go see it before it's gone. Mike- Sounds interesting. They raze graveyards, huh? That sounds like Poltergeist and zombie movie scenerios... Shingo- Oh, there is a really cool book store in Singapore Housing Projects for young married couples. The government supports married couples who might be financially unstable to help them get up on their feet. They are cool asian buildings that was modern in the mid 1900's. I want to take photos of that. Mike- Housing Projects in Singapore for married couples, young and old? Don't they cane people in Singapore and arrest people spitting on the streets? Shingo- .... No man, they only kill drug traffickers. And you only get a fine for spitting. Mike- .... why are we going to Singapore again? Shingo- Its gonna be cool, man. I have a friend trying some new format gallery/store front at Robinson Walk in Robinson Quey. It is a concept store where they invite 'curators' to set up unusual or original one-of goods to a city whose citizens are thirsty for new things beside all those Mall Shop Shops. Something more personable. And we are going to curate ourselves an art show and revisit 'Lets Go for a drive' because we've been talking about it for awhiles now. Mike- Right. This is going to be awesome! Can we do 'Let's go for a drive' on motorcycles? scooters? Shingo- I got mad camera equiptment. Mike- Are we renting car? Shingo- Taxis are cheap and plentiful. We can avoid getting ticketed, getting lost and paying outrageous amounts for gas. Mike- .. uh.. I m gonna look at Singapore more on the google. Shingo- I got a history book with little excerpts from all kinds of writers from pre-british occupation times to modern day observances of Singapore and why Singapore is a big deal on a little tiny island of 5 million inhabitants probably smaller than the size of NYC's 5 boros. Mike- It's tropical down there! It's next to Indonesia and Malaysia! The other outward islands all surround Singapore from waves! Crazy. Shingo- yea.. I think it's going to be pretty hot. I was there a few months ago having a meeting and checking out the opening for the new shop, Edit Life. The food was really good. Mike- Sounds great. New York is cold for summer. I love the tropics and the humidity (not sarcasm). so on and on.. we learn a little bit about Singapore but nothing but brain fodder until we finally do arrive. It always feels like this to me. No matter how much I read about a place I ve never been to , I think I ve read enough to feel like I might have a handle on the situation only to be pleasantly surprised by all that slips out of my grasp of control and find myself immersed in it.. head first, kinda. The first day, we did the graveyard in the jungle. we did the aquarium. we went to Malaysia's Johor Baru by bus across the one bridge that separates Singapore, which was once a Malaysian City from the Country of Malaysia, so that we can take a photo of Singapore insted of taking a look at Malaysia. The difference from one side of the water to another was overwhelming. Felt like an iron fist controlled Singapore whose PR makes her look super pristine with no problems to the I-didn't-bother-to-fake-my-appearance-what?!-Malaysia. I could write a lot about this but you should just ask me. I m pretty sure your eyes will glaze and I ll have ate up a lot of your life filling it with third person baggage. It is a fascinating dichotomy. Two countries, pretty much with similar roots, two completely different peoples.. separated by a bridge. I guess like Brooklyn and Manhattan.. or maybe more like any of the five boros from the other five boros. Same city. Different attitudes. Terrible comparison. The second day felt more like what we do. Get up and eat 2 plate full of breakfast. Fill up and go travel all day long. First stop was the Extreme Skatepark. SUPER FUN! all concrete. At 82 degree Fahrenheit and humidity real feel index at 102 degrees and sunny, sounded like a dream! An hour later, 10 pounds lighter without the water weight and my pants looks like I peed all over myself, we moved on. We went to check out the housing units and it was a cool part of town. Tight little streets and housing units that look like small city housing in chinese art house films of Wong Kar-Wei of yore. Singapore is also a hugh hub of asians from all over asia living together for many generations. They are not only their ancestors roots but also Singaporean! Complete with Singlish and a local dialect made up of at least 4 chinese dialects, malaysian, indonesian, indians and english. A very religiously tolerant city with temples next to each other and lots and lots of vegetation! even the modern building they build boasts of gardens and trees growing in and on and part of the architecture. We had lunch from recommendations of our japanese ex-pat living in Singapore for the last 6 years at Colburn, originally british housing but currently asia housing neighborhood complete with a local Singaporean rice and meat dish diner~esque eatery who fields a futbol team for about a century, while we waited out a tropical storm.

2014.09.19. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

It's 5:30 am. I'm not really a morning person and I'm not getting ready for a surf session with good friends. I'm in a hotel half way around the world from my home in Brooklyn. It's been a few days away and I find myself in the hot, humid climate of Singapore. It all started at 5 am in Brooklyn on september 15. Last minute packing is becoming one of my fortes. I'm never ready to leave for a trip because somehow in my brain, I know I am going to travel but the preparation of packing always gets put off to the end. Somehow the idea of going to the trip always makes me feel excited that some new adventure is waiting for me around the corner and the part that I love to ignore is the logistics of actually packing and getting myself on board and sitting and waiting and sleeping and getting off and doing it all over again after I've managed to drag myself off the subway to the airport. This trip has been a big journey adventure in so much that I wanted to/ had to travel on the cheap. I took my overweight carry on luggage, two rolled up 10'x 5' canvases and a backpack that carried all the extra things my luggage wasn't big enough to carry and rolled out the door at 10 am for a one o'clock flight from JFK. I arrived at the terminal at 11:30 and proceeded to check in my bag and enter security. Of course, in my haste to pack at 5 am, I did forget one very important aspect of air flight security. I made a mental note while packing to make sure I absolutely do not forget to pack my OLAF two bladed Cutter in my check in bag. What I did forget was that my Leatherman which was neatly packed away in the check in bag was suddenly re-packed into my carry on bag because I wanted to make space for other items. Mind you, the leatherman was actually packed in another smaller bag that contained soft goods and nothing of danger. Had I checked more carefully initially in that smaller bag, I would have easily just taken the tool out and repack it to my check in. Here is where an old wise saying sticks to my mind... measure twice, cut once. Yes, this is not carpentry, but yes, it is about not being hasty. Let that be a lesson for all my traveling friends who are hasty in their packing. The next few hours on the plane is me replaying the loss of my tool. It is a big deal for me and I still reflect on it. A very hard lesson to learn indeed. I see that security guy's face light up and his poker expression giving away to success when I realized I had not enough time to exit the security and re enter... or did I? This little moment in my life replays itself over and over again... 14 hours later I arrive in Incheon, Korea. This was all part of a brilliant plan, but I won't let you in on my secret until the proper time. At 7pm Incheon time, I board another vessel for my destination, Narita Airport, Japan. The 2 hour flight is without incident and during the travels I am in between sleep and restlessness. So far, I've clocked in 4 movies and had another travel epiphany! I like to put my overstuffed backpack under the seat in front of me because somehow I think I am going to need access to the bag during transit. It is kind of a security blanket issue for me. I want that bag there under the seat so I can get at it in my whim but I've begun to notice a trend of not going for the bag in my past few airplane travels. On the plane, I want to just sleep, eat, watch movies and zone out. And anything I want from the bag, I can easily take out and put it in the pocket in front of me. This is a revelation! Apparently, there are lots of little lessons being taught me in all kinds of different scenerios. But they are all kind of the same lessons. I've never been a very quick learner even though I like to think I am. Give me directions on a map and I'm pretty good at finding my way back and forth after once though. Different skill sets, I bet. My final destination is Yutenji, Tokyo, Japan. My friend is very accommodating. While he is on a business trip, he lets me crash at his flat. Getting out of the air terminal one at Narita takes an hour of waiting on line at the customs/immigration window. After getting my luggage and rolled canvas, I quickly make my exit without incident and plow through the gates. At 10 ish, there are no more limosine buses to Shibuya/ Ebisu, taxis are like $1,000 rides (of course, I am completely exaggerating but it is still expensive.) and the metro is a great option. I've been to tokyo a few times and I know the train to tokyo is pretty fast. Dear reader, I am not sure if you know that in tokyo, metros and subways all stop after midnight for a daily maintenance that sees the trains sleeping for a few hours. Arriving at 10 pm might not seem so bad but tokyo is big and where I needed to be was going to be at least a couple hours away. So in my haste, again, I buy a ticket for Tokyo Station and board what I think will be a 60 minute express ride to Shibuya. Incidentally, Shibuya Station is a 30 minute train ride from Tokyo Station. The train I jump aboard on, although heading to Tokyo is not the express I was hoping for. I get on the 'RAPID' Service train from CHIBA to Tokyo. Rapid in this case means, if you live in Chiba, which is like living in New Jersey to New York and your daily commute is from say 2 hours from the border, your train probably can skip some of those smaller residential stations and try to hit the major residential stations insted. In this term, a local train from Tokyo to Narita is about a 2 hour plus train ride is cut down to an hour and a half. Again, a little bit more research might of put me on the right express train but what I think I know and what I know often conflict and my what I think I know unfortunately gets louder when I am tired and just want it to be done. After arriving in Tokyo Station at 11:30 ish, now it is starting to be a scramble to try to get to Shibuya/Ebisu for my full metro journey to Yutenji. I make my way to Yamanote Line, which is the big circle line that travels around Tokyo. Not the shortest distance by a long mile but the most convenient as I have an over weight luggage with , did i mention that my top handle strap broke as soon as I stepped out the house? Of course not, I try to forget all the uncomfortable memories! For convenience sake and avoiding walking through very long station hallways and staircases, I go for what I know. By this time, I m pretty sure I will not make the last train from Shibuya to Yutenji and use my 'local' knowledge to bridge the distance I have to travel to Yutenji by exiting in Ebisu, one station away. I come off the very close to last train and stumble to the taxi stand for my last transfer for the day...uh.. night. The taxi ride is about 15 minutes and without incident. Although I kept telling myself the flat was in Jiyugaoka, another station away, I know by sight where the flat is and it is actually in the neighborhood of Yutenji. Final time of arrival? 12:30 am, Tokyo time or 11:30 am NYC time. I stay up for about an hour and crash out, only to wake up at 5 am. I have hard Jetlags. When I travel, I don't acclimate at all and time has her way with me. It s not so bad when I am on my own time, but not so cool when I am scheduled for meetings. At 8:15 am, I start out the door to go see my sister in Ginza Section of town. On the yamanote line, it s about a 30 minute ride from Yutenji via Ebisu, but on the subway through long hallways and lots of staircases, it is a 20 minute trip from Yutenji. I see my sister, we hug it out and we catch up briefly before she heads to work and I , some wifi. After about an hour and a half in Ginza, I head back to Shibuya to meet up with my art collaborator friend, Shingo Wakagi. About this time, I m pretty hungry but don't really realize it. We meet up and discuss our up coming trip to Singapore and a couple art projects we are planning to do while I am in Japan. Always good to see my friend. He is very successful and is a model for me in how to make it. Like a book I ve often read or a theory I ve often studied, un-applied, means absolutely nothing. UGGHHH. We go eat burgers for lunch and just chat up on what we've been up to and what we've done. I've been on a very loose GAPS diet since January of this year, 2014. It is very strict and eating out is almost nonexistent. In Japan, although I have access to a kitchen, most people do not cook and supermarkets are not plentiful. It's work to get it together in a foreign place and so, I try to do what the roman's do in rome. I order the double cheese burger with fried eggs and avocado, no buns (grains) and french fries (starch). I am positive in New York, this could fly. I eat like this at home, no problem. In Japan, an hour later , it is giving me big problems. I think the meat is seasoned with something other than salt and pepper, which , I will season my burgers or meat with only salt. The combination of seasonings, the kind of cheese and oils used to cook the food makes me feel like crap. I tried to go to Ukiyo-e Museum in Harajuku. A MUST FOR ANY Ukiyo-E FANS. SERIOUSLY!! Amazing. But with my stomach not agreeing with me and my body trying to eject the food, I spend more time in their very well maintained bathroom trying to throw up and .. so, we skip a few hours and I m laying down in my flat. I ve been sweating bullets and my stomach/body is slowly starting to recover. I was hoping to use this sleeping time to work things but have only managed to just put out fires and keep it contained. I am supposed to fly out for Singapore the next day and all I am doing is trying to rest. Crazy. I get up and check emails and go back to sleep at 9 pm. I finally wake up at 5 am the next day and in order to not repeat the last day's eating experience, I preemptively go to the convenience store and pick up some vegetables, fruits and eggs for breakfast. I make a nice conservative eats and get my self ready to fly out. I get picked up at 8 am and we make our way over to Kaneda International Airport. Our flight leaves at 11 am and it is a 6 hour flight. I take my carry on bag, stuff it in the overhead bin and make myself comfortable. 6 hours later, one meal and 2 pieces of movies later, we arrive in Singapore. Phew.. we jump in a cab and arrive at our hotel. This is the weekend of the F1 Racing. It is supposed to be crowded with crazy loud sounds of formula one race car engine sounds screaming through Singapore at night. We eat in something Quay and stroll back to the hotel. It is tropics here. Feels familiar but the government sounds a bit spooky. They are very much into censorship. There are punks and anti censorship groups here but they don't get far out of this country and their protests gets muffled by the government. Not sure how I got to this point but, Vice should do an article about modern day Singapore... Which brings me to now. If, dear reader, you have managed to keep reading this far, I thank you so much! I am proud of having traveled a bunch in such a short frame of time and I am hoping that I can get myself to doing some art! That is really why I am doing all this travel in the first place. And, although there are no images to accompany this post now, I will get some images uploaded very soon. I am also on instagram and I seem to post up there pretty frequently. Check me out, @surfnuts195. Okay, Over and out!!

073114. from Kent

'midtide wind shifting backwash blues.' As we sat out on a beautiful tuesday morning, chilly, a bit like a warm autumn day, sittin off the jetty waiting for the sets. a few lumpy, some dumpy, staring out and out,
willing
coaxing
begging
and
hoping

another sideshore wave.
perfect in the day's imperfections.
perfect in the way every person is perfect.
magic of the surf is really
all
in
the
mind.

140603. CSC in a da news!

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140516. Picture Farm Gallery. May 17th and May 18th EVENT

Picture Farm Gallery in beautiful Willamsburg, 338 wythe street between South 1st and South 2nd. They will be hosting Naomi Kazama aka STRANGE and Mike Ming aka Weird's, Big Organic Screen Printing Event and selected Art Works. The event will run on both days from NOON until SIX-ish. COme down and recycle your old gear or customize your new gear! Come for the ART! Come for the Print! Watch the magic!! Around the corner is also a Kara Walker Dominos Sugar Sphinx exhibit on KEnt! Come one Come all!!

140111. Days 2,3 & 4...

all my days are a blur. Lots of meeting friends, painting and eating and commuting on train and web trolling with a good measure of Sarutahiko Coffee in Ebisu.
Days 2: prepping and late night line painting. running around town getting the wall ready for paintin'in'. If you've never come to Japan in the beginning of the year, you will never have the pleasure of specialty shops with select items, 'you want, right now', closed for extended holiday. plus a three day long weekend two weeks after the long break. whoever say japanese only work and work hard is right. but the japanese also party and break hard. Thanks to my friends, Hitozuki, I was able to get supplies enough to start. phew. friends in far away foreign countries are a Godsend. As a matter of fact, friends are a Godsend. Appreciate all who are our friends and allies in this life. In almost any situation, the perspective you choose is the difference between possibilities and un possibilities, your choice, of course.
Day 3. painting in the morning. Visiting the World Cup Stadium Final 2002 neighborhood, a futsol store with other independent brands of proper futbol gear. seriously. more painting and a real life japanese yokocho with a couple characters who claim to work for japanese army strategist. more painting and more commuting. Oh!
Nori and I were interviewed by On your Mark Magazine! Thank you, looking forward to it!
Day 4. paint supplies replenished!! new colors and fresh paint. lunch in ebisu garden delicatessen, gifting by Oakley Sunglasses, some chocolates and more painting.
Day 5 is art reception day!! painting in the juice bar and gonna go see Naomi Kazama in Kamakura Patagonia doing and spreading his good word of environmental stewardship!!

130108. Japan!!

I arrived yesterday, Jan 6, 2014. To my surprise, a TV show asked me what I was doing in Japan.

Funny they should ask. '.. why it just so happens that I am here to promote my new artshow in Jyugaoka at a gallery called Dig+Inner. It will be a 2 person show exhibiting the changing of old into new. The show title is ' Reflections and Scribble Roots'. The artists are, Roran Miyahira and Mike Ming. It runs from Jan 8-12 with reception on the 11th. I hope you can make it.'
'I am also invited to paint a Mural in Ebisu for my friends at Sunshine Juice. I designed their logo and now, will leave a nice image for their wall.'
'After that, I hope to have sometime to explore Kanda/Ueno and drop to Kanagawa for a day or so. I am quire excited about the trip. We ll see how it goes.'
They thanked me, I thanked them (I hope I did not leave my manners at the security search) and went on my way to set up art show.

121913. Luz e Sombra x Mike Ming

Luz e Sombra and Mike Ming. 'Life is a Journey' collaboration. Waterproof breaker, Proper Futbol top and bottom. Cool patterns and nicely designed up by the Luz Design Team. Thanks, Sohshi et Luz. Now, I can chant for club Luz and me!

131213. work in progress.

Workin on my abstracts. ArtShow at
Dig Inner Gallery in Tokyo Japan.
a very short engagement. jan 8-12.
Will come with more information very soon.

130914. Joey Garfield.

On a bright SOHO Broadway afternoon stroll, Joey Garfield wanders along. Pre David Ellis opening at Joshua Liner Gallery. For me, post-Jun Marie walking session. For those who are unfamiliar with Jun Marie, I'ld like to direct you to her page. Extremely talented artist involved in fashion.

130824. Wall of Fame. 2013

Wall of Fame in uptown was hosting a painting grafitti event of all types writers. I m not reporting this to name all those involved or talk about graf or debate about anything. I happen to go up because a fellow wall/therapist, Maxx Moses was there, getting involved and sharing his heart, art and expression. It was a cool family vibe with dudes from ZULU NATION and BLACK SPADES representing. I like the dragon by Topaz and well, all the walls were still being worked on. There ws some hoop shooting, photo ops and general chill out vibe happening.
Pretty much after hanging for a minute, my son and I skated down to Union Square from uptown. Thats how we roll.
On the way down, there ws some Comic Con esque carnival gathering at central park west.
Further south at Madison Park, there ws some cool rope art installation.
There are people expressing themselves everywhere.
I also know for a fact... in brooklyn, Afro-Punk is going down.

120915. RedBulls vs Columbus Crew. 3-1

REd bULLS vs Columbus Crew on saturday was an amazing game!! This is not a sports commentary page so not much else to tell you but.. the Columbus Crew scored within the first 10 minutes if not 5 minutes. Then shortly after that, a Rafa Marquez bomb pass to a sprinting Tierry Henry leveled the game. During the first half, Dex McCarty and Tim Cahill were relentlessly shutting down and creating movements. TIM CAHILL! In the second half, Dex McCarty got a beautiful header from a Henry corner in 78 minutes and the final goal was scored by Henry Again.. this time, a high lofted optical illusion corner kick to the far post to bend it in to the net without a goalie movement... SICK!

I know people who enjoy futbol and complain about their leagues because it s not as good as europe, south america, mexico.. etc.. MLS is growing. There are super quality players coming to the league, who are not passed their prime and rather, I think what they bring to the pitch are ideas that strengthen the league. On top of that, MLS has a hugh crop of internationals that may not be the greatest, but definately like a great pot of stew, deep flavor. Definately into checking out more NYRedBull Games!! and if there is any concern of distance.. it s really really close, less than an hour.

120917. Scribbles, Doodles, Drips and Stuff... some images...

Appreciation is definately worth mentioning over and over and over. This particular show would ve never been possible without John Shimazaki of Battery SR. It was through his generosity of lending me his ShowRoom that I was able to have a dry run of sorts for an art show that will be opening on October 12, 2012 at Dig+inner Gallery in Jugaoka, Tokyo, Japan. I hope this will be a momentum to keep me rolling through out the rest of this year and beyond...

120914.ThANK YOUSES Who Attended Last NIGHT!!!

Thank you for coming out and attending the 'Scribbles, Doodles, Drips and Stuff' show!

It was great to see everyone and I m sorry if we didn't get all that much time to break down the laws of the universe in our conversations and/or discuss the finer points of molecular cell activity in the usage of alchol versus water in finer permenant inks.

If you missed the show, there is another two days before the ship will sail out the harbor!
I will be at:

Battery SR LTD, 313 west 37th street #605
from 12 - 5 to greet any visitors friday and saturday, september 14 and 15.

It would be great to see you and I m sure I ll have plenty of time to chat it up.

Thanks again for those who came out and to those who do make it out!

Bless!

120912. Scribbles, Doodles, Drips and Stuff

Opening Reception on September 13, 2012! 6 pm until 9 pm. Location.. Battery SR LTD 313 west 37th #605 Show will run from thursday to saturday. A mini 3 day Pop Up Shop. Friday and Saturday hours are from Noon to 5 PM. I encourage and hope to see you there! Cheers.

120615. Friday, going San Francisco.

After Georgetown on saturday, a cloudy to bright day in portland. 'last week's weather was poop, you guys lucked out...' We got that a lot. I want to take the time to thank Missing Link, Franz, his family, Christine and their lovely dynamic duos, Nico and Stephan. Through them, I learned about 2nd generation born austrians in Belize. I love how the lines of race and culture are always blurring in infinite combinations.
Portland was cool. It was like a city outside a spawning Georgetown.  I ve been to portland in spurts but could never really figure it out. This trip found us in south east neighborhood. It reminds me of an old saying, 'if it aint broke, don t fix it.' In that respect, it was easy and cool to be in your hood and be absolutely chillin while the whole city churned to industry monsters and the small guy goods that are just as important. What do I mean? It is a town where things get done and her citizens make it happen! We were hosted by NY ex pat, Filth aka Lucas Irwin and his beautiful family, Jay, Isaiah, Silas and my new girlfriend, Chewbacca. We were supposed to drive out to Yosemite on monday and we ended up leaving on monday... For a 13 hour drive to Cali. I learned about makin stuff happen with whats available and diggin deep! I learned about raising two boys and a dog in a house and a backyard. This house was one chill house and one beautiful family. Thank you.
The following morning had us driving out at 6 am. One last hug to chewbacca, while the family slept. It was us driving south towards another family home before reaching our next host family, Green.
There in Grass Valley, it was an ex-sanFran family escaping the urban noise and distraction, trading in for organic country living. Thank you Doze, Nikki, Kalihil, Noah and Nina! I learned about family in the country.