Back in November (2011) I shared some photos from my time spent in NY and Boston and ended my post with a session at Tompkins Square Park. There, I was visited by a hobby photographer there who kindly asked if I minded him snapping off some photos and I promised to share them on here no matter how embarrassing they were.

I was curious how they'd turn out because I could hear he was shooting off sequences. This is what I got back... I particularly like the 'banana hands' overly photoshoped one. It's the only one he sent me where I'm actually doing something, but all the 'eye of the tiger' ones are just as funny.

Recently Bneeth.com published another awkward story of mine from this trip. Check it out HERE.

just kidding. Battle Of The Brigade though. It's coming from Stacey Peralta!

If surviving this past week's opening reception for the Hour Hands group photography show was based solely on my ability to tell about it, than I can not ignore the gentlemen above. Plague Vendor, as they're known, are a young band out of Los Angeles who traveled up to do an other event with us for Know Show, but much to our benefit, stayed an extra night... more on that a bit further down on the page though.

The story at hand (no pun intended) is that of a movement of artists. Photographers practiced in the ways of skateboarding and trapped in a paradigm of time unknown. And for some unaccounted for. But let me clear yet another elephant out of the room. These special creatures shown above of whom adorn the Dynamo arts building on the East Hastings St. in Vancouver along with our music editor Justin Gradin, friend and artist Andrew Pommier and of course Natasha Lands whose studio space sits at the fornt of the building where we chose to exhibit the works of over 40 current and past contributors to Color.

Everything went swimmingly as visitors for Know Show and eager local eyes alike swarmed the perimeter of the space, soaking in all its timeless aesthetic glory so soundly curated by Color photo editor Gordon Nicholas and contributor, Brayden Olson. "Classy" was a word trending strong amongst the trade show crowd as they took back complimentary Cariboo beer and watched as the local colour drifted on in groups and outsiders grew gitty.

It was these too that may have had something to do with what came next.

Unannounced to all, with a shriek, shout and friendly hello to all, the gallery was closed with the high energy jams of L.A.'s grooviest quartet of garage rhythmed punk rockets. Plague Vendor (PLG\VNDR) showed our sequestered seaport what stage presence sounds like all while casting smiles with even the guys eyes glazed in utter disbelief of frontman Brandon Blaine's Jagger swagger.

It was the coldest night of the year in Vancouver, but things were plenty heatty inside Dynamo as hundreds of people from all over our country came to celebrate the works of these photographers who represent our tastemakers so vividly.

two art enthusiasts enjoy a little personal space c/o Comune's Corey Smith.

Every good art exhibition should end with an equally exciting after-party. When you throw some people into an RV with balaclavas and a case of Cariboo you know you're on to something.

These (dudes?, look closer) ahem, folks... have been quietly popping up at our events for a while now. We're still waiting on more info from Color intelligence, but something tell me the jokes on us (skateboarders)... I wonder if they picked up any babes.

The art show came together excellently. The event couldn't have been better attended so thank you all who braved the bitter cold and those from the interior that laughed at us for thinking it was so. Your being there makes it all worth while! Hour Hands could have almost taken on the title "Outa Hand", and we hope to do it all again with our friends in NYC real soon.

If you can't view the above slide show, simply CLICK HERE, and bang! you're jamming!

Thank you Waldorf, Nuba, RVCA, Gman, and everyone else who helped make this exhibition a reality. You order up yourself a copy of Color 9.6 in the Corner Store, featuring many of the artists listed in the show, and we'll ship it right to your door like magic.

[ o ] mark gutknecht

In this week’s episode of Hand in Hand on Ride Channel Sonic’ Youth’s Thurston Moore discusses the impact skateboarding had on his life.

Tell us the best way to get down this holiday season. Best answer gets themselves a FREE BOARD!

comment on any of these:

You might remember Brett Nelson from Rob Harris' NYC skateboard video Rich Mohogany that came out a couple years back. Since then he's found himself a place behind a guitar and even has this music video to show for it. I quite like it!

filmer/director Cameron Cuchulainn was psyched enough on our Skate Rock Revisited article in Color 9.2 to share with us this 2-part feature he did on skateboarder, Brett 'Sweet Tooth' Nelson's music, and I recommend watching it, cause Sweet Tooth is our kind of people!

switch to 1080p, maximize your screen and be amazed by the beauty of New York City and skills brought to it by the 5Boro team in this new video for Holiday 2011.

For more like this (well, less HD - more VX but same dudes!) order your copy of Poisonous Products here. Now, for a limited time only when you place an order - go to our facebook page and leave a comment to let us know and we'll mail you the current issue of Color (9.5) with your video order, absolutely FREE!

If you're from here or you've spent any time at the plaza in Vancouver, then you know Motown. A homie for life, Morgan put in some serious time staying on the Color couch in the early days and has been going about skateboarding his own way since I can remember. Finally at the age of 29 some likeminded companies (Spitfire, Axion, JSLV, Sk8 Mafia) have grabbed hold of the madball and hooked him up and allowed him to share his skateboarding with the masses.

Check out his interview over at SkateNewSpot.com