My Favorite Temple

I am going to do a series of drawings for Jogyesa Temple in Seoul. It is for the calenders they make each year. I will do 12 paintings for the year 2014. This is the first. Usually I don't like to work in a horizontal format. When I post them online they appear very tiny. I usually work vertically, this way, you can see all the detail in the drawings I do. I am constrained by the width allowance. That's why I am also showing a detail of the painting too. Look for more by the end of the year.

Raw Egg

My good friend, Craig Cutler, happens to be a brilliant photographer. We were working together in Seoul recently and we took a little time and went to a Temple to take photos. Craig posted some on his blog which is called, Raw Egg. This is a good blog to bookmark because he posts new work everyday. Please check it out.

Proteus Magazine Interview With Me

There is a new interview of me in Proteus Magazine. It's good to read interviews of me because I always say a lot of stupid things. You can read it here. Check out the magazine, there are a lot of great artists on there.

Let's Dance

Most people don't know that I have an eye for dance choreography, but I do. Most people don't know that I love musicals, but that's a whole other story. In my free time, I've put together one of the great Dance Videos of all time. It's 4 minutes of heaven or maybe it stinks. What the hell do I know. It gave me something to do to kill some time. The music is by a groovy band called Antibalas. The song is, "Dirty Money." I have to thank my friend, Frankie Vigilante. He's a musician and I was over his house when he was playing this on his stereo. He told me what it was and I've wanted to make a little video for it ever since.

What To Read

I'm often at a loss of what book to read next. Right now I'm reading, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. My last few were: City Of Thieves by David Benioff, The Greater Journey by David McCullough, Down And Out In Paris by George Orwell, A Moveable Feast by Hemingway and Back To Blood by Tom Wolfe. The way I read books now is on my iphone, using the Kindle app. I'm always on the subway and it's how I kill time. My friend, Tony Gilroy, happens to have written a slew of Hollywood hits and blockbusters. He's also directed and written Michael Clayton, Duplicity and The Bourne Legacy. His brother Danny is a great screenwriter too. He wrote one of my favorite freaky movies of all time, The Fall, directed by Tarsem. This might be hard to believe but there is another brother, John, who is a brilliant film editor. They all have lengthy IMDB pages. If that isn't enough, their father is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer. I think that's what the New York Yankees call, a dynasty. Anyway, Tony sent me an e-mail the other day informing Yun and I that his father just released a Kindle Single called, Anything For You. I had never heard this term, Kindle Single. What they happen to be, are essays or short stories rather than full length books. Plus they only cost $1.99. I love that concept. When I finish some gigantic book that took me weeks and weeks to read and I'm about to start another monster, I often wish I could take a break in between. That's why I dig this Kindle Single concept. So if you are like me and always fishing around for something to read, why not give Frank's book a try. You can purchase it here.

Hats

Ever since I was a kid, I've been in love with hats. As a result, I own a lot of cool ones. I've developed an eye for them. What happens is I get stopped on the street a lot by people, first telling me how cool my hat is and then asking where I got it from. The other day at a flea market, my wife saw this in action. Today I was walking in Soho during lunch and a girl stopped me to talk about my lid. Being an expert I also know when a hat looks awful and ridiculous. With all this Pope stuff going on, the newspapers and television screens have been full of bad hats. Really bad hats. I may have to watch some Downton Abbey reruns so I can look at groovy hats again.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I am re-posting my video of our trip to Ireland for my cousin Brian's wedding. The music is great.

Koosje Koene

An illustrator from Amsterdam did a little post about me on her website. You can check it out here.

The End Of New York's Little Italy

The Daily News says that Little Italy is over. A lot of the famous old restaurants are about to close. The rents are going through the roof. Say goodbye to Umbertos Clam House. It will soon be a few blocks of boutique shops, condos and little hotels. On Grand street is 2 old cheese shops, Dipalos and Alleva. I hope they don't close too. They've been there forever. Once in a while, I head over there for a sandwich. When you stand in Dipalos, there are 30 huge prosciuttos hanging on the walls. Giant wheels of cheese are stacked up everywhere. The smell is overwhelming. My mouth is drooling just thinking about the place. The joint may not survive because, Lord knows, we need another Chase Bank or sneaker store in it's place.

Photo Booth

I love playing with the Photobooth application on the mac. I've managed to create a few masterpieces lately. The best effect to use is, mirror effect. You make make yourself look really hideous. Not everyone wants to do that but I don't care. I'll do anything to make a little art.

The Entire Vietnam War In 3 And A Half Minutes

Stanley Karnow wrote the definitive history of the Vietnam War. I, on the other hand, was able to condense the entire war into a 3 and a half minute spoof. No easy feat but I did it. A must see for history buffs.

What's With The Balls Everywhere

My wife and I live near Red Hook in Brooklyn. The supermarket we go to was Fairway but it got destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. It hasn't been open for many months. So now whenever Yun and I go visit someone like my parents or Yun's mom or my cousins on Long Island, we always hit the local supermarket to get a little shopping done for all those little odds and ends you can only get at one. Because these supermarkets are unfamiliar to me, I notice things differently. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this either but every supermarket now sells ping pong balls. When did that start? I'm checking out pickles, ketchup, spices and all of a sudden, ping pong balls. Now I start to notice that all the bodegas in Manhattan are selling them too. The other day I passed a news stand and there they are, ping pong balls. I have tons of friends and whenever I go to someone's house or apartment, guess what I don't see? That's right ping pong tables. So why the selling of ping pong balls everywhere? I actually think maybe I should buy some. You know that someday, someone is going to be at my apartment and turn to me and ask if I have any ping pong balls. You know and I know that that is going to happen. I could just tell them to go to the bodega on the corner. Not me, I will be prepared. There will be a dozen in my food pantry.