• Tag Archives Vince Ray

  • “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture” Alfred Hitchcock

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    First, was the knife.  Then it was the keytags. Followed closely by my Mp3 player. Okay, okay, it was an old 2nd generation iPod, but still.

    I work in a decent sized company, essentially a cube farm,  surrounded by what I think are fine upstanding individuals.  Still, I believe that. I also believe that one of them is a raging kleptomaniac.

    Last week was a hellaciously busy week for me.  Small amounts of sleep, large amounts of work. I’d arrive and throw all the extra junk in my pockets next to my lunch box.

    Apparently that was a mistake.

    Swwwwwooooooossssssshhhhh. Away they went.

    I didn’t bother dog paddling through all five stages of grief, I’m already at “Acceptance”. So, I need to buy a new knife, start collecting stupid shopper key tabs again, and get myself another ipod.

    More interesting to me is my “go forward” plan.  Do I bait my cube and plant a motion sensitive webcam? For sure, I’m not leaving my sunglasses alone, undefended. Have to be a little more careful from now on.

    Lastly, I need to thank Tokenblackgirls.com for pointing out that Louis CK’s hosting stint on Saturday Night Live last night will surely bring more Abraham Lincoln fans to my blog.  I can’t explain why, but Abe Lincoln is a pretty popular guy.


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  • “He who wants a rose must respect the thorn.” Persian Proverb

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare 2 Comments

    “Cha-na-na-na-na-na-na-knees! Knees! In the jungle….”, she sings.
    “Wait”, she says. “How come I know this song?”
    “Probably because you’ve heard it one million times playing Guitar Hero”.

    Guilty as charged. Guns ‘n Roses “Appetite for Destruction”  has been rotating in and out of my CD player in my car.  It started at the last “Heavy Metal Burlesque” show that I went to – the sponsor had hired a GnR tribute band to play. The dude that was playing “Slash” didn’t impress me much, but that was because his Les Paul kept pulling out of tune. But it reminded me of all the songs off Appetite that I loved. I sang along to a bunch of them and couldn’t believe that I remembered the words. Stopped at Forever Young and scored a used copy.
    Initially, I didn’t warm to GnR until right around the end of high school – around 1991.  In passing, we would see the video for “Paradise City” when waiting for the Metallica video “One”  (somewhere around 1989). GnR initally struck me as kind of a hair metal band so at the time I was pretty non-plussed. Looking back, we also didn’t think much about the instability of the guys in GnR. Just when you thought they SHOULD be releasing an album or something – they just didn’t. There was a LONG stretch of them releasing nothing until that double album set came out (which I only bought one of – and I can’t remember why). At that time, I wanted my music to be harder/heavier

     on AM radio! Rawk!
    It wasn’t until a few of us drove down to Galveston with Ty’s crappy boom-box sporting a (cassette) copy of Appetite did I really start to dig the album. I have to say, it still really holds together and stands the test of time (for me anyway). Whenever I listen to it, the reckless-energy vibe still is there for me.
    As a guitar player I’ve never been a huge Slash fan, although his playing on Appetite (to me) is a great exercise in judicious Wah usage. When I got bored at lunch, I popped over and picked up his autobiography. There were only two things that really surprised me. One is that he got a pacemaker at 34. (After continually having heart attacks onstage!). The other that shocked me was that Slash drove a Honda CRX. Seriously? A CRX? I was in an accident (as passenger) in one of those. I can’t imagine a less masculine car for a guitar-guy like Slash to be driving. I mean sure, it was black-on-black, but c’mon…..a CRX?  Heroin usage? Blah, blah, whatever. Expected. That CRX thing blew me away though.
    Listening to Appetite now, I have to agree with Slash’s assesment that Stephen Adler was essential to that album’s success. No matter how much you dog him for whatever else he’s done, his drumming is really an essential part of that album.
    I haven’t gotten into GnR live stuff yet – their Youtube stuff is not really doing it for me.  If you see me walking around with a top hat on, you’ll know I’ve lost it.


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  • Impress your friends, your frenemies, your enemies and your neighbors! ~ Me

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    Like the new header?  I’m pretty proud of it myself.

    One of the things that I wondered for a long time was, “How can I get one of my favorite lowbrow artists to draw something for me?”  As it turns out, it’s as easy as sending an e-mail.  Since my blog gets an occasional flurry of hits thanks to various sources,  it was time to give it a little more life (or death….)

    Having been a fan of Vince Ray‘s artwork for a while, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if he would be interested in working with me on a design.  Several e-mails later, we nailed down the specifics and he got to work.  As with all artists that I’ve worked with, Vince was extremely cool, open to suggestions and executed my ideas perfectly while adding his own signature touches.

    Getting a custom art piece is really cool regardless of the reason – you don’t have to have a blog. I have to say it’s a lot like getting a custom tattoo, although you don’t *usually* have to take any clothes off for anyone to see it.

    I can’t recommend Vince highly enough. He’s open to ideas and is fair on price for his work (although I will hunt you down if I hear you tried to lowball him).  Even if you’re not into the entire lowbrow angle, the guy is a talented artist and can come up with a design that’s going to make you happy. As a matter of fact, he and I are currently in discussion about another piece that’s more sci-fi related.

    Anyway, enough with the sales pitch – I got his permission to post his FB page in case any of you were interested in commissioning him for a custom piece yourself. Vince is a cool cat to work with.

    Vince Ray’s Facebook Page

    The full image –


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  • “Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change.” Jesse Jackson

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    In passing, there was some blog post about Rob Zombie directing a Woolite commercial? I’m not going to hate on it – seriously.
    He’s obviously got directorial talent, and I’m sure that shooting a short form commercial is much more appealing than fighting with a movie studio for months/years to get a full length movie released.

    In fact, in no way should my blog ever be considered hateratin’ against Zombie.  The prior post wasn’t a “call to arms” for White Zombie fans – it was merely observations that I had at the time. Nothing like ancient history to keep you on your toes.

    Regardless, having someone who came from the fringes directing such a mainstream product is pretty cool. Introducing such a twisted influence on mainstream society gets an A+ in my book.  A younger me would have called him a sellout, but the older me knows better. Doing what makes you happy is a better path in the long run.

    Speaking of the long run, Vince Ray released a new album called “The Sound Effect of Sex and Horror”. Like his others, it’s killer. As he’s based overseas so I always have to order his discs as an import, but it’s always worth it.
    iTunes is a great service, but getting a Vince Ray album is a hands on experience. Each album has great art that always matches the songs. The latest album is another rock n’ roll bash and I’m especially impressed with the production – everything is exceptionally clean and well mixed. There’s really REALLY creepy gap between the last song and the….uh…other last song, but the secret song really rocks.His music has the kind of swagger and vibe that’s hard to top. But, I am completely biased. I’ve got Vince’s artwork all over my house and my biggest tattoo is based on one of his pieces.


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