Hits to my website have totally jumped in the last month, with the amount of good press and high visibility I’ve received recently. There were the greeting cards at the NYC Leatherman booth at IML with an exclusive set of new images, there’s the gallery show going on at the Antebellum Gallery where I get to host my own punk and skinhead night, doing the scooter patches (see previous posting) for S.Q.R.E.A.M. – all good things in my book, as I crave the attention.

To make all of this even sweeter – a nice furry chested fan bought a hot and hairy cigar 13″x19″ piece “Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em” since he saw my cards at IML and I got a note from a big fan in Toronto who loves my piss and cum images and a check is on the way for 6 of my works! I nearly fell over.

Just when I didn’t think it could get any better for me, the NYC Leatherman store is doing a window featuring my artwork to push the greeting cards during Pride! So I better get some new business cards printed up soon.

I’m riding a high right now and loving the comic book story I’m inking for Hard To Swallow Comix #3. It’s going to be a short story based on a character I’ve been toying around with, that I’d really like to flesh out and make into a big old comic book series. The story is called “Dem Bones” and it involves a warlock bent on finding his boyfriends killer, but this involves conjuring him from the depths of Hell. I’m playing with a different inking style and going for a dark, yet humorous spin on my story. Keep your eye’s peeled, folks!

So if you are in the Los Angeles area, please do stop by the Antebellum Gallery on June 30th for free beer ($5 admission with ID), tunes spun by yours truly, and plenty of eye candy to shake your stick at. I hear some established Scandinavian Art Foundation has decided to have a “punk and skinhead” night on the same night as my reception, but I doubt they have my taste in beer or my record collection. See you at 7PM at the better party!

I bought some new music this weekend.

I decided to check out M-Theory Music, a smallish looking record store on the edge of Hillcrest on that big dive down Washington St. to Gelato Vero. To my surprise, they have listening stations there – which I always think better of a place that does that. I would have stuck around longer but I decided this was either going to work or it wasn’t. I’d go in and look for exactly what I wanted and if they didn’t have it then they didn’t pass the sniff test.

Happily and maybe 10 minutes later, I was the proud owner of The Aggrolites new release and Tim Armstrong’s solo release.

My first listen to The Aggrolites, Reggae Hit L.A., and I was pleasantly relieved over the improvement of the production values of this new album which is a truer match to the sound and energy you get from getting to see these guys live. The local boys do it again for me and crank out an nicely flavored set of songs that only a band like The Aggrolites can do. This album works for the purist and the newby alike, though a seasoned listener of ska and reggae can hear bits and pieces from other greats like Toots and the Maytals or the Upsetters to Alton Ellis. Most people, I think, are eager to write off ska and reggae as “party music” but this album smokes, strolls and swaggers it’s own way to favorite status. I’m glad I picked this one up!

The other CD I snatched up is the solo release from Tim Armstrong of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame. Tim has enlisted the help of the Aggrolites to back his venture into solidly rocksteady and roots reggae and of course it’s a hit. I’d heard bits and pieces on his MySpace page and it’s gotten some pre-release radio play that had me very interested. When I heard he was doing a non-punk album I wondered about his trademark mush-mouth, raspy voice over a ska backing, but I was totally relieved that it was a stunner and not absolute crap like the Transplants experiment/releases were. The songs cover the gamut and range from the pop-ska rump shaker “Into Action” featuring Canadian Skye Sweetnam to the rocksteady “Translator”. I found a few problems with the album, and this could be a pet peeve of just me but, I hate songs about how cool a songwriter/singers favorite city. Given that, I like it. Initially, I really liked the idea that it came with a DVD with videos for each song, but it’s all done in that black and white, Fischer-Price Pixelvision technique, but I’m kind of undecided on that.

Just in time for the summer scooter rallies – two new scooter patches for the S.Q.R.E.A.M. scooter club!

Enjoy! (click them to see them full size)

So the opening is over and it was really fun. It was good catching up with and meeting other artists I haven’t gotten to meet in person before. I really enjoyed talking to people I’ve only chatted with online and putting faces with their online personas. What’s really interesting and surprising is seeing all these people in one place and all that fun schmoozing with genuinely likable people.

I’m hoping the June 30th party that I’m hosting at the gallery is half as fun as that. Also, I really hope I don’t have a 4 hour drive up because of traffic being god-damned horrible!

Check out the promotion and chatter I was able to quickly harvest with a quick Google search:

http://www.frontierspublishing.com/mag/index.php?o=art&article=1484

http://prismcomics.com/display.php?id=1413

http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/2007/04/13/ww7-and-toonfetish-exhibit/

http://fleshbot.com/sex/events/toonfetish-gay-comic-superheroes-unite-260760.php

http://ring-my-bell.wowtv.tv/episodes/glen-hanson

See you there! Tonight at 7pm the show opens… Click the image for all details.

I always pictured that when a person goes insane, that they imagine or actually hear an icky, wet popping sound coming from their cranial cavity as their brain explodes at key points. I sit very still sometimes waiting for that sound to make itself known, swirling down into my ear canals as I stare into space. I can escape without leaving.

The news, daily events, or an interaction with somebody quite unpleasant sends me there, wanting nothing more than to be at home swaddled in sheets that smell of lavender. The warmth of the comforter does just that as I drift off into the subconscious, to a world of my own making. Safety comes when the eyes are closed.

The truth is, I dislike most people. I always believe that many people have secret agendas and I’m pleasantly surprised when somebody is truly friendly without strings attached. It’s those magic moments when I’m thrown off guard by those eyes and the offer to cuddle. Out of one man’s arms and into another far away, more perfect than the last.

Side-by-side, you stand and fight off the horrible people, the fakes and phonies, the prejudiced and unkind. You both force them out, you grow, you laugh, you cry, but most of all it feels right. You know it is and you realize you aren’t crazy after all. All this time, you were just together alone and growing apart and searching. It’s time to stop having imaginary conversations that never took place, but this time for real and out loud.

When you are faced with a crossroads, which path do you take? The loving arms, of course. At long last, you leave and escape at the same time.