Chris's Michael Jackson Is Dead Mix

This mix was created for you by the amazing artist, Chris Stewart ... You can check out his blog, which showcases much of his art right HERE.

And HERE is his rather awesome mixtape.

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Well, since Arts Camp came to an abrubt end, this past week for me has been this weird, abstract sort of timeless and very high-temperatured void ... No more did I have the rigid schedule of :

A. Wakey

B. Drive to museum

C. Class with kids

D. Snack

E. Class with kids

F. Lunch

G. Class with kids

H. Drive home

I. Pass out from exhaustion

J. Paint by night

K. Sleepy

So, in a way, I felt kind of disoriented with my own Life for a while ... The best part was that I had around 7 painting commissions that came up while I was working at camp, so this week gave me a chance to actually finish them all, as opposed to working on bits and pieces in small increments nocturnally ...

Also, in a way, I felt like I'd kind of missed out entirely on enjoying the month of June (save for the weekly Bad News Bearons games and afterparties ... we won our last 2 games!!! that's 3 wins altogether!!!) So, with that in mind, I'm glad i've gotten to visit the river at least twice lately ... once, with David and Hayley (which was crazy because recently the rednecks have also discovered it, so it was kind of like trying to find an uncrowded spot on the beach!) and then again at a very distant Montevallo spot with Brianna and her new boyfriend, Grant (this visit was photographed ... you can view some highlights below) ... We got lost while driving, trying to find the spot and ended up finding this really crazy medieval-looking castle in literally the middle of nowhere! Then, later while we were swimming, a looooong black snake decided to slither past our belongings! The only bad thing about the whole trip was that I was so excited about getting into the water that I forgot to take my phone out of my swimming trunks before jumping in ... ARGH! A pretty expensive mistake to make ... haha, but all-in-all it was very satisfying being able to finally splash around in the waters of our own beloved Cahaba...

Dama's Whistles Go Whooo! Mix

This mixtape was created by the ever-wonderful Dama, who I believe is still enjoying her "teacher's summer" as we speak ... It seems that every time I see Dama, one of us is bound to shout out "the whistles go whooo!" ... so it would be only fitting for her mix to be titled so! In case you're not familiar with the age-old Youtube gem that inspired this phrase, i've included the video below to educate you! 

You can check out Dama's mix right HERE.

and below is a very inspiring educational video:

Speaking of Dama, when I was on the phone with her, talking about her mix and so on, she asked what I was doing ... and at the time I was driving my truck and hanging my camera out the window, randomly snapping photos around the city with the zoom all the way up (you can see some of the results down below) ...oddly and psychically enough, she had been doing the exact same thing earlier that morning ... weird, huh?

So I'm done with Arts Camp, which basically means I have my Life back ... for, even though it was fun and exciting, some kids can honestly drain every drop of energy out of you! I had a great weekend of karaoke and swimming, too ... It was Erin's birthday and she had a big karaoke bash at Bourbon Street, this crazy converted Pizza Hut bar in Crestline ... she and I did a pretty funny version of "Love Shack" and later, to issue in the 1st day of Summer, I performed "Blue Christmas" while everybody in the crowd helped with the "oo-oo-oo-oo-oo"s!

 The next day I ran into Theresa and Amos and hey asked me if I'd like to swim in a salt water pool where they were house-sitting ... it was a pretty amazing place and a very relaxing experience ... Daisy and Ann were there too ... it was a more than perfect way to spend the beginning of what is apparently going to be a very hot and sticky Summer...

Oh yeah, as promised ... HERE is the Bad News Bearons kazoo orchestra performing some tunes! Incidentally, we WON our last game!!! HURRAH!

Kwesachu Mix

Believe it or not, this is me at 18!

My friend from high school, Julie Still Norden took the photo.

For the 2nd time, I'm stealing a mixtape from Micachu! Here's a little info about it:

"East London wunderkind Micachu has made available another one of her lovely mixtapes for your listening pleasure - of course in digital format, how else?

Following on from last year's "internet hit" Filthy Friends mixer, Mica roped in one of her mates, XL's Kwes. As a result of the collaboration, it's been called Kwesachu. "

Enjoy it right HERE ... sorry, they didn't include a tracklist this time around.

Speaking of Micachu, here is some amazing video footage of Tim Exile remixing The Shapes live:

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This is my last week doing Arts Camp, so in case yer sick of seeing kiddie photos, these will be the last for this year! (note: the last one is a bit freaky: double-jointed BFFs?haha)

Also, for your laugh-out-loud entertainment, Charlie Smith sent me these early 80's gems from the show "Stairway To Stardom" ... my god:

And lastly, HERE is the 4th installment of the infamous "Mystery Tapes" series.

Double Stuff Mix

       (awesome painting above by Daisy Winfrey)

I called this mixtape "double stuff" simply because I used 2 songs by each band/artist this time ... When I was growing up, I remember this radio station that had this "2 for Tuesday" thing and they'd play 2 songs by each band, one song right after the next ... my "2 for Tuesday" is a little different, though ... cuz the way I organized the songs was like a mirror ... you'll see ...

anyway, it's right HERE to double yer pleasures.

I don't have much to say this time, really because coming home from Arts Camp each day this month is making my brain feel pretty much like mush.

The Bad News Bearons have another double-header game tonite ... it'll be the 1st game we've played since the "hair metal victory", thanks to Mother Nature consistently raining us out ... Tonite should be pretty fun and exciting ... it'll be the debut of our supporting crowd's 70 kazoo orchestra! I can only imagine what that's gonna sound like ... I'll be sure and record some of it and post it on here next week!

Also, my favorite band, Micachu & The Shapes have a new and amazing video for their awesomely rad song "Golden Phone" ... it's right here:

In other news, sometimes I edit videos for complete strangers ... Here is the latest one:

Rain Music Mix side 2

This is side 2 to that way old mixtape I made from Jazz records from the Montevallo library ... this side, to me, makes me think more of "after the rain" and the wet landscape and smells of post-thunderstormness ... so i didn't add rain and thunder sounds this time around ...

HERE it is for your rain-soaked jazzy pleasure.

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This past week I had to get an absolute slew of commissioned paintings done because I knew that once June started, I'd be all too consumed with working with kids at the Birmingham Museum of Art Arts Camp ... which I now am (you can see some slight photographic evidence of both commissions and kids below) ... I also had a video commission due as well ... I'll have an excerpt of that ready for next week's blog ...

Aaaanyway, so it's been a busy week (Bad News Bearons got rained out of our 1st post-victory game, but I used the time to work feverishly instead) ... also, Elise sent me this really amazing animation clip by Tomas Mankovsky called "Sorry I'm Late" ... check out the brilliance: