Blenheim Ginger Ale- Holy Smokes, this is a spicy ginger ale!  I mean, it actually tastes like ginger.  How novel, eh?  I apparently got the "Hot" top, as it was kinda hard to drink- cool, refreshing, and spicy-hot.  Pretty good, but I couldn't make it through the bottle.  If you want to know what the "hot" top is all about, check it out on their website: http://www.blenheimgingerale.com/

Is this snack so unhealthy that they have to make the logo in the shape of a coffin?  Sad thing, they taste pretty good.

Did I ever tell you the time when my artwork was used on a billboard?

1985 The Year of Matt Houston.  If you missed it, you missed out.  But it's probably out there, Netflix?  Youtube?  Yep, youtube.

I got to meet Ira Glass from NPR's "This American Life," yesterday!!!  I've been a listener for so long... good times. 

P.S. Guess which one I am (hint: glasses, and not a host of a NPR show) ;)

I sold this shirt for a friend last year.  Damn, I kind of wish I kept it, fIREHOSE.  
By the way, my mom wouldn't let me drive to Fargo (3hrs away) to go to this show.  I was a Junior in high school and it was mother's day.  Oh well, I've heard they were great that night.  I did finally get to see Watt, years later and it was great.  I'm going to make shirts that say "Listen to Mike Watt."  Yeah? No? 

'Round Christmas time, we celebrate the birth of our Lord by eating Peppermint flavored yogurt (or something to that effect).  What does it taste like?  Well, peppermint flavored yogurt, dummy!  It's actually not that bad, but also the type of thing you get sick of quick.  You may buy one container, but it's "limited edition" for a reason (you probably won't buy a 2nd!).

Wanted- this deck.  Black Label Emergency Lance Mountain guest model.  Lucero put it out after Lance shut down the Firm Skateboards.  A re-do of his first graphics, when he was on Variflex (and Variflex was still legit).  Hit me up with any leads. 

Found some of my artwork hangin' in a local burger joint.  Never mind the guy pointing to it.  ;) 

And thanks PBR, you misspelled my name.  :(

What?  Too football?

Svitak, one of my favorite skaters.  This guy "gets it" (as far as I can tell from afar, not ever meeting him or anything).  He does 1031 now, but you knew that.

Freshly printed today, fresh off the rack.  They turned out exactly like I had hoped.  I had to draw this one out- not my strongest talent, but I'm proud of it. 

I'm pretty convinced that this $20 was used to buy beer for an underage drinker.  Party on.

If you missed out on one of these, they're probably all gone by now.  Purple, over-dye, wizard shirt for This Skate & Snow, Fargo.  Ya snooze, ya loose. 

Fargo Police Mug Shot. 

Okay, a Sarsaparilla, not a root beer.  Earp's Original Sarsaparilla- "After a hard day of Gun Fight'n, Nothing beats a real Sarsaparilla."  Well, I didn't really have a hard day of gun fighting today, just some skateboarding, hit up a couple 2nd hand stores, than made stir fry for dinner.  Just as well, this fits the bill.  Right off, the bold flavor hits you, but as your pulling the bottle away, the flavor flattens out a bit.  It didn't  really have an after-taste, but left me longing for the flavor that I was first hit with.  Some describe that as the "smokey" flavor.  My opinion is that it's a 3 of 5 stars type of drink. 

Groholski!  I've always wanted this deck (so, always being about 22 or more years), since  a friend of mine gave me the shirt in Jr. High-School.  My mom hated her boy wearing skulls, but this was cartoony enough to sort of  pass.  This was sort of a birthday gift to myself, since it was priced right.  It needs some cleaning, but I can't wait to see what it looks like when I'm done. 

Groholski still rips and has a deck on Pocket Pistols Skates. 

I heard Crass today on PUNK FM: http://www.punkfm.co.uk/

A GREAT internet radio station only playing 1976-1979 punk rock.  You can't go wrong there.   P.S. Donate to keep 'em going.  And thank me later when your afternoon is gone, with a head full of good  tunes.

Pretty much Root Beer.  Nothing really stands out about it, it tastes like root beer should.  That said, it's good, not bad at all.  No weird after-taste, no "shutter" moments while drinking it.  I actually put the whole 2 ltr. bottle down in a couple days.  I, uhhh, didn't want it to go flat.  Pretty much the 1990 Ford Taurus of root beers. Not the best, but it'll fill the void. 

I made this yesterday- Rootbeer Float Cake!  I added the 3 tsp. root beer extract (for added root beery flavor), and went with a butter cream frosting.  Don't forget the ice cream!
I found it here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Root-Beer-Float-Cake-I/Detail.aspx

Schroeder dummy by Lucero Ltd, just before they changed to Black Label.  I stole this pic (sorry), but I don't think I'll ever land one that's NOS.  I have a good used one, and I'm pretty happy with that (why I don't a pic?).  Oh well, here's a dummy I won't ever sell (and yes, it's real):

I snapped my ACL on this board.  I thought I wanted to ride more of a "pop" shape, oh, well.  Cool deck, sold it a long time ago.  I cruised it around that summer with a messed up knee.  Funny that I still have a pic of it. 

This one goes out to all the "Street Rockers!"

Geez, is this what punk is?  Or is this what it was/is seen as?

Image stolen from an ebay auction of some junky skateboard.

Olson, Skull Skates, Brooklyn Banks. So sick.

Funny stuff!!!  Sorry about the photo being too wide.

So, where do the Root Beers come into play?  Well, right here! 

Pearson Bros. Root Beer of San Francisco is a hit!  Rich, creamy, sweet... I like this.  It's creamy taste does not get in the way of it going down.  In my opinion, a sweet cream soda feels like drinking a mashmallow, and Pearson Bros.' goes down easy.  I'm not a cream soda guy (figured that out by now?), but this is about as close a root beer can get to cream soda without crossing the root beer line- a real vanilla/carmel-leaning root beer.  Really no after-taste to speak of, a good drink all around. 

Somewhere I read that Pearson Bros. is outta business (Geez, how long has this been bouncing around in my fridge?!?), but you can find it around (google that sucka!).  No website, no real address.  3 1/2 of 5 stars.

Luceros- bedroom of our old house. 

NYC artist Alex Duke does a rad site called Wizard Skull, and has done tons of rad artwork for Consolidated, 1031, Death Skateboards, etc.  (http://www.wizardskull.com/)

I did a shirt for him a while back and this is what it looks like.  I think he still uses the lettering for other things, which is pretty rad.  This was a design I used for a Halloween poster years ago, and I thought that was too good to die a death of a forgotten poster from Halloween past. 

If you wanna order it (and a Biggie Smalls one, holding a cat) : http://www.silkysbk.bigcartel.com/category/wizard-skull

Happy New Year!!!  Good luck in 2013.