Hardcore, trunk full of 7" records, tacos, skateboarding, lowriders, cute Latinas, tattoos and more...why not?
Amenity SD with "Shine" (2009)
Rock, hip-hop, auto-tune, screamo?, skateboarding?...why?
Manafest with "No Plan B" (2010)
If you disagree and think Manafest are the "best thing ever", you can catch them at The Calvary Temple right here in Winnipeg on April 15th. Have fun with that!
In a random effort to up the girl content around here I broke out the scanner to scan a couple of shots from the b-sides.
Here's a shot from an afternoon spent in Kildonan Park circa 2001 shot on Agfa print film.
I saw some brown grass emerging from underneath the snow today so hopefully sooner than later we'll be back in full swing with plush green fields like in the picture above!
This is from a spontaneous back lane shoot that went down during the winter of 2007 ...the always beautiful Sigourney.
Nice people still doing nice things in 2011. Japan Relief All Vegan Bake Sale going down this Saturday! Click on the link and invite your friends! You wouldn't want them to find out you knew about it and forgot to tell them prior to the bake sale. Who wants to hear about what they missed? Most people enjoy sharing treats. Sharing treats WHILE helping those in need... win/win!
Here's my fiend Mark with the one and only Nicole hanging outside of The Princeton circa 1991?
Fast forward twenty years and a couple of months later and here's Mark hanging outside of War on Music.
Here's Mark doing what he used to do best prior to many worldwide adventures that didn't include skateboarding on the agenda.
We try our best to focus on the positve around here. That's why I'm happy to report after a few good intentions to come out of some sort of retirement, Mark is officially back on the board!
Forecast for this summer...one heck of a great time!
A very long time ago (ok maybe a couple of decades ago) I was bummed out to find out Nuclear Assault wasn't going to play a show they were booked to play here in town. I regained my sense of humour when I saw someone had written in marker on one of the gig flyers on a pole downtown "waaah it's too cold to play in Winnipeg" in a cartoon speech bubble.
This time around I was excited at first when I heard they were headlining the Manitoba Metal Fest ,then quickly bummed out all over again only when I learned it was going down at last place on earth I feel like patronizing as of late...so seeing them live is going to stay on the bucket list for now. Last time, they got hung up, this time I've got hang ups.
Thanks to War On Music the day was not lost and we headed down to meet the band.
Danny
Glenn
All very nice guys.
Some band members maybe showing signs of too much speed metal over the years. For the record: His eyes aren't really like that! He's just expessing a portion of the bands sense of humor.
Danny having fun inside the store with his own sense of humour.
Everyone loves Tetris.
Chillin' with the fans. Yes...this is one fan. I assure you the store was packed full of them!
This is what "Louder, Harder, Faster" means...Nuclear Assault.
Yesterday I was only teasing about the World of Wheels. I was hoping I'd make it down there at some point this weekend to check out my friend Mario's 64 SS Impala. He's been geared up about this weekend since the fall when he decided he would show his ride again as it had been a couple of years since he took part in this ISCA event.
Usually a return to an event like this calls for some changes since the last show attended. A good deal of this past winter was spent chrome plating the majority of anything metal that could be peeled off of the car. Any good lowrider knows this is a must do.
I met Mario shortly before he acquired this car and since the day he picked it up many years ago, his passion for his Impala and lowriding has only grown stronger over time.
I knew this was evident when he picked up the car and his next move was to show up at my place in the middle of the winter insisting he'd rather buy the wire wheels and white walls off of one of my cars, peel them off outside in the cold and get them that day instead of waiting two weeks to order them and wait for them to show up from south of the border.
Mario insisted on perfection when I installed his hydraulic set up not too long after and as you can see he still insists on perfection showing up an hour before the show opens to polish the mirrors laid down to show off all the under body chrome and paint!
As I mentioned last summer; Mario and his USO Car Club buddies are working hard in getting their local USO Chapter up and running and rolling strong.
Keep an eye out for their crew rolling deep when the snow is gone, the potholes are filled in and the street sweepers have prepped the boulevard for cruising.
The annual World of Wheels car show kicked off earlier tonight. We don't have much to report on that as we weren't there due to the fact that we were a bit busy getting down with our own "world of wheels".
The Call Response Present, Past and Beyond Volume 1 is now available for purchase at McNally Robinson. Proceeds from the book go towards Kids Help Phone which is obviously a great cause so if you haven't already, go pick up your copy now!
A few local celebrities were at the official launch...
Mat for one. If you've seen a live punk/hardcore show in Winnipeg in the last ten years then you can't not know Mat.
There were readings and stories shared from some of the contributors as well as live music from Ivan Reimer.
Last, but not least there was contributor and CBC radio show host Jim Agapito representing with his CBC Radio 3 scarf.
There of course was a lot more to it than that, but we had a limited amount of time as it was "past our curfew". Thanks to Nathan Terin and team for another successful event linked to a great book and a great cause!
Just when you thought the bottomless pit of archives hit bottom this happens...
When I bumped in to the the dudes from Supra Distribution the other day we started talking about my archives and early 90's hardcore. More specifically Toronto, Buffalo, Syracuse and Boston. That led to talking about Chokehold, Snapcase, Strife, Bloodlet and Earth Crisis! This of course motivated me to do some digging...
This picture was taken New Year's Eve 1993. I can only imagine this was in the middle of "ALL OUT WAR!"
I woke up from taking a much needed nap in the bleachers to take these pictures. We arrived late afternoon that same day after driving the 3000km trek from Winnipeg to Boston non-stop to see this festival. The mission was to see some of the bands mentioned above at a YWCA and to meet up with our friends that were on the road with Chokehold if my memory serves correct.
The outcome was great times with great friends both old and new.
"I'm old enough to bleed. I'm old enough to breed. I'm old enough to crack a brick in your teeth while you sleep"
A reader e-mailed me a link to this video perhaps due to it's Die Antwoord content yesterday. Today one of my friends sent an e-mail shortly after returning home from SXSW in Austin and in the e-mail she made mention of both David Zellner and Harmony Korine in regards to the festival. Well if that's not a sign I don't know what is?
Here's Harmony Korine's new short UMSHINI WAM (Bring Me My Machine Gun) featuring Yo-Landi Visser and Ninja from Die Antwoord
Who doesn't want holographic mags after watching that short?
Friday night bonus... since the above short is related to SXSW and Austin here's something a little older from Zellner Bros.
Mr. Mike McDermott himself after a long run of much work/little sleep.
The lack of sleep probably has something to do with getting ready to show off the new kicks. What better way than converting the entire store to a Green Apple/DVS Temple of sorts. Seriously.
Kevin (left) was in town from Supra Distribution to help the launch flow smoothly. Marky (right) never misses a good time. Frankie (his dog) never misses a good time either, but he did miss getting in this picture (dang those restrictions of the 24mm lens).
Mitch was on a short lay over from his hectic New Line schedule and still made the time to say hello to some old friends.
I have a hunch Ryan was working around the clock as well, but he still shows up to work with a smile (and caffeine).
From new hand made wallets, to t-shirts, hoodies, new shoes and decks....there were no shortage of Green Apple logos today.
I think it's part of Mike's mission statement to give his store that family feel to his customers when they walk in the door. Having the support of his own family makes that task all that much easier.
I'm not sure who the kid is in this picture, but when the weather hit +3 Degrees Celsius today it only made sense to dig through last summer's archives to find a suitable image to remind us of good times coming our way (weather wise).
A conversation with a friend tonight reminded me to maintain the mindset that whether it's -40 Degrees outside, you have a rough day at work, a fight with a friend or your girlfriend dumps you (I'm not saying all these things happened to me)... it's always good to take a look at all of the things going on in this world beyond our own little piece of turf to regain a perspective of how good some of us really have it day in and day out!
The online store is extremely close to being fully functional and the new t-shirts themselves are almost ready for public consumption? To keep things exciting in the meantime, I've posted the Apparel link up on the header. Check it out!
Many noteworthy things went down yesterday, just like any other Saturday. Here's a quick summary of three things I have to share with their accompanying images:
1. I finally made it down to see Fred's indoor haven for skateboarding. Here's a front side 180 over "the goonie gap".
2. I noticed a workbench equipped for skaters only.
3. My friend James has complained on more than one occasion that there are never any pictures of him on my site(s). Pictures of his truck maybe, but not him.... I was waiting for the right moment and it finally presented itself when he e-mailed me this self portrait from his iphone. I noticed the "LLC" (Low Life Customs) tattoo in his new sleeve outline that he obviously just had done and just like that pa-pow! Posted!
For those of you who enjoy the longer posts and think three is just not enough...well here's a bonus moment from last night just for you. Note: This didn't end well at all!
Here's a list of crucial ingredients that help to have a good time when the day turns from 0 degrees Celsius to -31 with the wind chill in a mere few hours:
An indoor skate contest which involves viewing video submissions from local crews and a best trick contest.
A program director.
Photographers to capture the action.
Master of Ceremonies.
Beautiful girls.
Front row seats.
...and some friends to not only work behind the scenes to help make it all happen, but to show up for the party!
"Operation Plaid" in full effect.
Grady!
Frankie,Keiran and Josh
A portion of the Girl Crew who just happen to cross over to our own crew on the regular.
Adam wearing his "there's got to be something wrong with that guy" hat (that's a reference for the Jon Lajoie fans).
After watching the awesome video submissions, people were urged to submit their votes...
..."Rain-Bro" Crew took first place and $200 (Cole was M.I.A.)
The video
After the winners were announced, part II of the best trick contest continued.
Mr. Matt Waver
Mr. Mat Nowak
Kahlil coming out strong after a product toss.
Will Power with some gear from New Line Skateparks that he earned during the best trick contest.
Finally...here's our own video submission. If the sound is disabled one more time by big brother at WMG I will switch it up to an ALL Forgiveness Denied soundtrack...because who wouldn't want to 10+ minutes of the only music I actually have full copyright to!
It was great to see a full house consisting of a large portion of one awesome local skateboarding community where everyone was fully supportive of what each other had to offer! Go Winnipeg!
