upper playground

NEW UP BLOG

2008-10-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

You've heard right. We're moving up in the blog world and our new blog is now going to be part of our main site at: http://www.upperplayground.com. So move your bookmarks, update your homepage, tell your friends, tell your mom, take a deep breath, and then get click on the link and enjoy our new spiffy site.

We'll still be using this site as our archive, so if you want to see any past posts, they'll all be up here for you.

Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers

2008-10-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Before it hits the wall, graffiti is often planned out in a black book—a common artist’s sketchbook sometimes called a “piece book”—“piece” being short for “masterpiece.” Well-worn and dog-eared, these books are used to develop and trade ideas with other graffiti writers, and are often passed from artist to artist, becoming unique records of creative expression. Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers chronicles the evolution of graffiti via images that weren’t intended for everyday people to see, focusing on the works of New York City writers active from 1970s until the mid-1980s. It brings together hundreds of drawings, most never before published, reproduced on uncoated paper to resemble the pages of an authentic graffiti writer’s black book. Bold works from graffiti history’s most important sources or “seeds”—Zephyr, Dondi, Daze, CRASH, Lady Pink, T-Kid, CAP, and Ghost, among others—represent a dizzying array of techniques and styles. Fans of graffiti will find this an irresistible inside look at how their favorite artists perfected their talents.

This Sunday, authors Sacha Jenkins (of Ego Trip fame) and David Villorente (the Source) will be at Fifty24SF Gallery from 5pm to 8pm, discussing their newest project, Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers. Come and hear the background of the book from the authors themselves!

About the Authors:
Sacha Jenkins co-founded the seminal hip-hop magazine ego trip and parlayed the brand into numerous books and television shows. He is currently editorial director of Mass Appeal—an urban lifestyle magazine rooted in the culture of graffiti.

David Villorente was the editor of Source magazine’s graffiti pages, writing under the byline of his graffiti tag “Chino.” He lectures widely on the art of graffiti.

MEAR ONE @ ZERO ONE GALLERY LA

2008-10-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

The magnificent Mear One is coming back to the gallery where he got his start at fifteen years ago, the legendary Zero One Gallery (530 South Hewitt Street #141 / Los Angeles CA 90013) in the downtown arts district of Los Angeles. The opening reception is this Saturday, October 11th from 7 - 10 PM, so if you're in the LA area you're not going to want to miss it.

Over his career Mear One has made quite a name for himself in the art world, from being at the forefront of the movement that began to blur the lines between fine art and graffiti - to holding solo shows in Paris and Portland. And most recently he's contributed an in-your-face tee to our collection as well as a fine limited edition print (only 50 copies!) for our Obama series.

There's also an after party immediately following the gallery reception (invite below), tell them Upper Playground sent you and they'll be somewhat nice to you.

Big Shoes To Fill

2008-10-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

I visited the adidas campus in Portland a few weeks back and Sam Flores' face is plastered all over the place. From the outside of buildings, to offices, large posters of Sam loom overhead. The best part was seeing Sam's oversize adidas shoe that he painted smack in the middle of campus . . .

NEW GIVEAWAY ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

2008-10-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

Upper Playground just got its hands on two new hardcover books that have photos as cool as the one above, and we thought why not share the love with our fans? All you have to do to enter is become our fan on Facebook, add your wisdom to our discussion board and we'll randomly pick two winners from there.

Also, check out FIFTY24SF’s page for how to enter another contest we’re doing.

The Recap: SPARKS Ignite What's Next Art Tour 2008 - PHOENIX

2008-10-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

I don’t know whether to be happy or sad that the latest Sparks/Juxtapoz/Upper Playground tour is done with. On one hand, it’ll be nice to get back in to some sort of routine, without being torn by my roots and thrown in to some new city w/ a bunch of creepy artist dudes. On the other hand, what could be better that being ripped from one’s routine to go hang out in new cities with creepy artists dudes… ok, ok… the creepy artists dudes happen to be my buddies, so it does make it a little easier. Plus, I have been fortunate to work with great new people, in each city. I really have to give it up for all the musical acts (DJ Pickster, Silver Medallion and the Insects). The last dude I want to thank is Dumperfoo. His stage name is kinda weird, but the dude is cool as shit. Without him, the AZ leg of this tour would have suffered, so hats off to you. Now, for the photos…

Yet ANOTHER picture of the boys. Straight from the plane, I knew that it was long past time to get a bite/beverage (despite the fact that I was sick as a muhfuggin dog). N8 and Alex had already been in AZ for a day, when Tarrant, Flores and I arrived and because of this, felt like they already had a lay of the land. They actually ended up taking us to a pretty sweet place (food/beverage-wise), even though it was kind of like a sad Tempe version of Hooters. Unfortunately, this was the only pic I was able to snap, as I was distracted by the minors that worked there (remember that this place was very hooters-ish), the amputee magazine cover models and the plethora of motorized wheelchairs that seemed to zip past us, every 30 seconds.

Later, we headed over to the Phoenix art-walk. Shit was crazy. There was a huge strip, with a few side streets, that branched off of it. On said strip/side streets, were about 100 “galleries” and about 1,000 people. I throw galleries in quotes, because half of these places were garages/basements/etc. A few of the artists that I spoke with were justifiably bummed about this, because it really takes away from the folks who have worked hard to build a legit art scene out there. Not saying that a good gallery can’t sprout out of creative use of space, but most of these people just wanted a spot to show their own awesome graffiti sketch books. If you say you are showing in a gallery in PHX, generally nobody really cares, because it all seems to get lumped together. That being said, there were definitely a few places that were cultivating some amazing talent. Oh yeah… the Ghostbusters were there, too.

Finally, it was time to get some real drinking done. When we demanded that we be given directions to a bar with a) rock, in the jukebox, b) a pool table, and c) bud + jack, behind the bar, we were unanimously steered to the Bikini Lounge. After typing the coordinates in to TomTom (Alex Pardee’s crappy version of a GPS device), we drove, parked and started walking. As we were walking, we looked across the street and saw this billboard. e all thought it was a little weird, but whatev’s…we’re in Phoenix. Then we looked up and saw another billboard connected to this, that said (in HUGE letters), TEEN CHALLENGE. We weren’t really sure to make of things and figured it might just be a good idea to get to the bar, ASAP. N8 had other ideas…

Yeah, N8 had other ideas… Passion of the N8.

That egg on N8’s head is the result of dropping that huge cross and having it land partially on his head. The funniest part about this (aside from the fact that a gargantuan dude was lugging a huge cross, down the sidewalk, much to the dismay of all the residents) was that Alex Tarrant thought that the bump was totally normal and had always been there.

We finally made it in to the Bikini Lounge, after talking our way out of a pummeling (for f*cking with the cross… turns out the Teen Challenge place keeps a cross in front of their building, because they are a drug recovery place run by some gnarly dudes who don’t take kindly to a bunch of f*ckwads screwing around with their religious paraphernalia). This is N8 and our new pal, Jessica (sister of Jeremy and wife of Dumperfoo).

Just after I put a couple bucks in the jukebox and played the entire Ride The Lightening album, the bartenders screeched, “Everyone out…this is an emergency…EVERYONE OUT!” Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled (who doesn’t love Ride The Lightening?), but what I didn’t know was that this was a blessing in disguise. This forced us to find Chez Nous. Have you ever seen Animal House? If so, then I’m sure you’ll remember the part where the Deltas roll in to the Dexter Lake Club and realize that “we’re the only white people here.” This place was sick. There was a crazy soul band finishing up, the lights were dim, there were beautiful leather booths everywhere. And then N8 happened… again. Mind if we dance with your dates?

After all was said and done, I decided to ride the lightening, my own way.

The next morning we all needed to soak up some of what was sloshing around in our tums. For this entire tour, the waffle houses that freckle this fine country had proved to be a fascination for the dudes. On this leg of the tour, we just happened to have a Waffle House within walking distance of our hotel. Oh, and NEVER ask them (or possibly anyone) to put mushrooms in your grits. Ol’ Sammy Count Chocula Flores found this out the hard way.

How tall? This tall.

Alex claims to not drink, but when he couldn’t hold it anymore and we saw that his urine was the same exact color of the sparks we’d been drinking, he definitely aroused some suspicion.

The dudes finally start getting things underway.

OK… here’s where the pretty starts and the loafers start feeling lighter. Right when we noticed the sun setting on the Tempe skyline, the dudes immediately wanted their picture taken, to capture the moment. I think it may be that gigantic spliff in Floreezy’s mouth that really kicked this off.

More pretty shots (this one is one of my favorites).

Pardee and I agreed that this tower/sunset combo kind of looked like a J. Soto painting. Nice work, Jeff.

Last of the pretty . . .

Back to work.

I have to say, I was very impressed with the Tempe/Phoenix folks. The doors opened @ 8 and even though there were no performances until 9, there were already about 150 people watching our guys, by 8:30. People had really followed the history of Sam, N8 & Alex and seemed truly honored to have these guys doing their thing, right in their hometown. What was even more impressive was the age spread… there were 15 year olds, who seemed to know as much about these artists as some of the 30-40 year olds in attendance.

Fruits of labor and love.

What a bunch of jerks. Can’t wait to do it again.

Citrus Report #4: "Take the Fifth" now up

2008-10-05T12:13:00.001-07:00

The newest issue of The Citrus Report (www.theCitrusReport.com) is now up and running with features on Jeff Staple, Armsrock, and Jesse Reno. The look of the site has changed slightly, but we still have features, columns, daily news from the world around us, and now, we are featuring 11 Questions with various artists, UP team members, and the occasional celebrity that we deem worthy of the vaunted 11 Questions.

So go check out the new issue, "Take the Fifth," read about Armsrock and Staple and all the others, and don't worry, you will have more news than you will know what to deal with.

Cody Hudson x Upper Playground x Obama limited print

2008-10-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

Graphic design and fine artist Cody Hudson is the latest artist to partner with Upper Playground (UP) to produce a Barack Obama print. The Chicago-based Hudson recently published a book with UP’s FIFTY24SF Gallery books entitled Save My Life, as well as exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago this past year.

There are 200 prints made that are signed and numbered by the artist, and retail for $200. The limited-edition 18" x 24" print is available exclusively online. Please note: prints will not ship until November 3, 2008.

All proceeds from the sales of the poster will go directly to creating more campaign t-shirts, posters, and stickers by other artists in support of Obama's bid for President. Stay tuned for more Upper Playground projects in support of Barack Obama to be announced up until the election on November 4, 2008.

Cody Hudson’s Barack Obama poster is part of an ongoing series from Upper Playground of artist collaborations in support of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Upper Playground has endorsed Obama's campaign by creating posters featuring artwork from Justin Bua, David Choe, Grotesk, The Date Farmers, Munk One, Ron English, Alex Pardee, Morning Breath, Mac, Sam Flores, Burlesque Design and Mear One, in addition to printing T-shirts with Shepard Fairey's Obama graphics to help support the campaign.

Tonight @ FIFTY24PDX Gallery, Mel Kadel + Michael Sieben + Travis Millard

2008-10-02T10:32:00.001-07:00

Look at what is going in Portland tonight: Mel Kadel, Michael Sieben, and Travis Millard, all together for a show at the FIFTY24PDX Gallery. Go check it out. Say hi to Michael for us.

The set up.

Michael and Mel, sitting, blogging, surfing, writing, etc.

Koralie, this Thursday, October 2, FIFTY24SF Gallery

2008-10-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

A little reminder goes a long way. Thursday night, at the FIFTY24SF Gallery, Koralie is opening up her new solo show, "Haiku," in our downstairs gallery. Come by from 7-9:30PM for a little bit of art goodness. Here are some set-up shot.

A wall of good Koralie work.

Koralie, in set-up mode.

She paints, we watch.

And another reminder, the "Catalyst" show has moved solely upstairs, so if you can't get enough of Horkey and friends, well you got another month to check it all out.

Upper Playground NYC

2008-10-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

Finally, we have moved ourselves to NYC as today, Upper Playground opened shop in the East Village. We guess the UP logo and butcher paper covering the store was not enough to squash the rumors, but UPNYC is officially opened. The UPNYC location also has a massive, permanent mural by David Choe on the inside walls, which is a major highlight to the store. Read below for our official word . . .

That's a nice David Choe mural we got there. David is good. You should know by now.

Upper Playground is excited to announce the unveiling of its first East Coast retail establishment in New York City. Upper Playground’s new East Village location will provide shoppers with a unique fashion and fine art experience.

Upper Playground offers apparel for men and women including their popular line of hoodies, t-shirts, jackets, shoes, luggage, and more. Similar to other UP storefronts, the store will feature an exclusive line of localized themed designs from a variety of contemporary artists and designers.

The walls of the new location will be adorned with a permanent art installation from fine artist and NYC resident David Choe. In addition to its NY location, Upper Playground has retail locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Portland, London, and Seattle, which also opened this month.

A superFishal design for UPNYC.

WHEN: The store will be open to the public on: Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Store Hours: 11 AM – 7PM, Mon-Sun.

WHERE: Upper Playground NYC
437 East 9th Street, West Space, New York, NY 10009
(212) 254.2233

12Grain for UPNYC.

Grotesk for UPNYC.

Final "Ignite What's Next" Event this Saturday, Ocotber 4, in Phoenix

2008-10-01T08:35:00.003-07:00

The third and final leg of the Sparks x Upper Playground x Juxtapoz "Ignite What's Next" Art Tour is upon, and the closing event is this Saturday, October 4th, at the Marquee Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. The gang of three—Sam Flores, Alex Pardee, and N8 Van Dyke—will again be painting live and showcasing their internationally renowned talents as some of the biggest stars in contemporary art. Previous Tour stops in both Atlanta and Boston had the three artists painting live including live performances from some of the best DJs and MCs in their respected cities, including a major performance from Killer Mike in the ATL.

Check out a couple of videos from the first two events: ATLANTA and BOSTON.

Atlanta:

Boston:

The Phoenix area "Ignite What's Next" Art Tour stop at the Marquee Theater will feature musical guests DJ Pickster One, Ill Al the Anglo-Saxon + OHM, Silver Medallion, and The Insects. Don't forget, this Saturday, Octoboer 4, 9 PM.

Upper Playground x Burlesque Design X Obama limited print

2008-09-30T11:15:00.001-07:00

Graphic design and screenprinting studio, Burlesque Design of North America, are the latest artists to partner with Upper Playground to produce a Barack Obama print. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Burlesque Design have gained international recognition as one of the premier printing and design studios for various music, poster, and tee-shirt projects. Burlesque has also been responsible for printing the entire series of Upper Playground collaborative art posters to support Obama’s campaign.

Burlesque Design’s Barack Obama poster is part of an ongoing series from Upper Playground of artist collaborations in support of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The poster features an excerpt from Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention this past summer. Upper Playground has endorsed Obama's campaign by creating posters featuring artwork from Justin Bua, David Choe, Grotesk, The Date Farmers, Munk One, Ron English, Alex Pardee, Morning Breath, Mac, Sam Flores and Mear One, in addition to printing T-shirts with Shepard Fairey's Obama graphics to help support the campaign.

There are 200 prints made that are signed and numbered by Wes Winship of Burlesque Design of North America, and retail for $200. The limited-edition 18" x 24" print is now available exclusively online. Please note: prints will not ship until October 20, 2008.

All proceeds from the sales of the poster will go directly to creating more campaign t-shirts, posters, and stickers by other artists in support of Obama's bid for President. Stay tuned to a new Upper Playground project in support of Barack Obama to be announced later this month.

Koralie @ FIFTY24SF Gallery: Opening Reception: Thursday, October 2, 2008 from 7–9:30 p.m.

2008-09-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

“HAÏKU” is a solo exhibition featuring French artist Koralie, an internationally renowned fine and street artist.

The show will mirror the concept and form of a haiku, focusing on what Koralie explains as, “Little canvases, little frames, little supports, all recounting a little story.” Koralie has made a name for herself in the international fine art community with her unique street art and gallery work, capturing Geisha-inspired characters with beautiful textures, patterns, colors, and forms. Apart from exhibiting in galleries across the world, Koralie has contributed designs to Upper Playground’s apparel line.

Koralie is based in Montpellier, France. Her Geisha-inspired characters are some of the most unique pieces to pop-up in cities across the world. Her work has been recently seen at Galerie L.J. Beaubourg in Paris and Joshua Liner Gallery in New York City.

Koralie’s “HAÏKU” solo exhibition will be on display at the lower level of the FIFTY24SF Gallery from October 2–30, 2008.

The upper level of FIFTY24SF Gallery will continue to show “Catalyst,” a group exhibition showcasing the works of Aaron Horkey, Josh Graham, Aaron Turner, Seldon Hunt, Justin Bartlett, Stephen Kasner, Dwid Hellion, and Florian Bertmer. The exhibit brings together an underground community of artists in which aural and visual expressions converge. Artwork on display comprises of a wide source of media, including new two-dimensional paintings, drawings, video installations, screen prints as well as an installation of seminal works from each of the artists’ extensive catalogues. Guest curation by Brett Aronson.

Mac in Holland

2008-09-26T15:06:00.001-07:00

Looks like Mac is working hard in Holland, the land of the Dutch. The Netherlands, if you will. If you remember, Mac made an Obama print for us.

Because everyone is talking about Letterman bashing McCain

2008-09-26T12:10:00.001-07:00

VitaminEnergy event this weekend.

2008-09-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

If you live in the Bay Area or somewhere close and have a dance crew (doesn't everybody have a dance crew?), go to San Leandro this weekend, present your crew and get filmed so you can be part of an online contest presented by Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew and sponsored by UP, VitaminEnergy and Wild94.9.com. The two crews with the most votes will perform on Saturday, OCT. 11th @ 7:30 PM at Oakland’s Paramount. And the battle will ensue, with the winner heading off to perform this November at WildJam concert. Its all up there on this flyer.

Upper Playground is sponsoring the event and has a special giveaway contest for you. The giveaway includes a winner to receive (2) tickets to the show (and as a presenting sponsor we have some great seats), along with the tickets for the winner to receive (1) VitaminEnergized "Boogie Bag" prize pack, plus a month supply of VitaminEnergy personally delivered by the VitaminEnergy hit squad. (You have to be in the Bay Area to receive the month supply of VitaminEnergy, sorry Norway.)

You may be asking yourself, well how do I win? We made it pretty damn easy. Please RSVP to the event invite on Upper Playground's Facebook page to be entered into the contest. A random winner will be announced on 10/7 based on the RSVP list. How is that?

October New Eras. Available. Now.

2008-09-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Upper Playground New Eras for October are now available. Look, they have a Halloween theme. Chris Lee designed the one with the jump rope killers, Dora Drimalas gave us the upside down bat design, and Sam Flores' 12Grain provided the bathing branches design. All the New Eras are available at our retail stores and online at UpperPlaygroundStore.com.

Chris Lee. Buy it here.

Dora Drimalas. Buy it here.

Sam Flores. Buy it here.

The UP x Jux x Sparks Action in Boston

2008-09-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Remember, you got one event left to attend, and that would be Phoenix. October 4th. The Marquee Theatre.

The Cainchurian Candidate

2008-09-23T17:03:00.001-07:00

We know you're laughing, we know you are thinking how damn clever this tee is, and we know you are going to buy it and wear it around and others are going to laugh with it and think how damn clever you are for wearing a tee that is so damn clever. But, it's true. And the laughter could stop. Available at our webstore right now, UpperPlaygroundStore.com.

UP x Juxtapoz x Sparks Ignite What's Next: THE BOSTON SPARKS PARTY, PART 1

2008-09-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooo, here we are back in the land of false idols, bloggotry, and Sparks. Yet again, I’d really like to give it up to the artists, who worked it out on a pretty big wall under some questionable conditions (poor lighting towards the end, viagra hangover, no drinking on the job, etc…). N8 Van Dyke, Sam Naughty No-No Flores, and Alex Pardee . . . way to effin’ go! Another big-up needs to go the MC’s and DJ’s who kept things rolling smoothly: DJs Frank White and T-Scraps kicked things off, right into Raydar Ellis’ set. After that came Top Choice Clique, finished up by 7L & Esoteric. Despite technical difficulties and illness (what do you know about chugging honey and tea, for an hour, before a set?), the performers really came through in the clutch. Thanks again.

Before I get to the picture portion of this entry, I need to make sure to thank the behind-the-scenes folks. Without the following people, I would have been a quivering sack of nervous exhaustion (at least more than normal). Patrick Leery (Underground Snowboards) hooked up the spot, the permit, the snow, the skate obstacles + a jacket for Sam, who left his only long sleeved item on the plane. Tom Kelly and Selena Hoover (Sparks / Street Attackl) really kept things lubricated. That’s all I think I can say on that, but use your imagination. Lastly, Jeremy Sullivan (Underground Hip Hop) was, as always, a huge help in logistical s**t, as well as simply rally support for Upper Playground. —Mickey

The photo above: Generally speaking, I like to keep my blog photos in chronological order. That being said, I feel like this photo really captures the essence of the trip; determination with a twist of fear and the perfect amount of exposure. Oh yeah, not to mention painful and bloody (kinda like jail sex).

We should have known that this was going to be an interesting trip when we opened up the trunk of the rental, only to find the remains of Angelo "Sonny" Mercurio. They then upgraded us to a 4Runner, which worked out, since N8’s and Alex Tarrant’s legs took up the entirety of the smaller whip.

I always try to grab one photo that doesn’t have any boobs, beers, dudes, condoms, blood, etc.

This picture was rallying to be the first, but I really feel like N8’s dome kind of trumps this. At any rate, it actually fits a little better here, as a condom was found in Pardee’s mouth shortly after this picture was taken.

The crew . . . couldn’t be happier with this team, although there are two problems with this picture. 1) My cheeks look fat. 2) Wrong shirt to wear on a Sparks tour.

Pardee, tying up some loose ends. Speaking of loose ends, it was time to get our check and move on in to phase two. Sam thought he had a good way to get this going.

We then moved on to a spot called The Enormous Room. The room, itself, was a tiny (non-ventilated) sweatbox. The only thing that was enormous in that room were the dude egos, the female asses, and Van Dyke.

It’s pretty much a guarantee that ol’ Sammy the staple-remover Flores will have his arm around a girl within two hours of arriving anywhere. This is fine . . . it’s the shirt off within three hours part that always seems to throw things off the tracks. From here, ______ spearheaded the move to various venues of ill repute.

Just over the 3 hour mark.

One more of these knocked some sense in to him and he realized that it was true love.

Carrying Sparks across the threshold.

The next morning, I woke up in a panic. As tour manager, it is my responsibility to make sure that things run swimmingly (not like swimming in fountains of beer, but like smoothly). On this particular day, I rose from a dirty haze and realized that it was a couple hours later than it was supposed to be. I immediately rousted the dudes and headed to the hardware store to pick up supplies.

Once we got to the spot (on Amory, just off of Comm. Ave), they were already setting up this snowboarding drop-in. As soon as it was ready to go, it was apparent that there were two camps. On one side, you had dudes who seemed to know what the fuck they were doing.

On the other side, you had dudes who just couldn’t wait to satisfy their appetite for concrete. This particular member of camp didn’t have a great day.

This is Jeremy from Underground Hip Hop. When is Boston, cruise by his shop and say hi. If you’re in need of vinyl, go to their site, Undergroundhiphop.com and you might find some hip hop. He’s a good dude and if you’re not a jerk. He’ll take care of you.

N8 getting eaten by his own creation.

This was a hilarious scene. The Red Bull covert-ops team (not very covert, were they), rolled up on the event. Little did they know that Selena was on the scene and ready to handle them, in what ever fashion she deemed appropriate. Lucky for Red Bull Selena was in a good mood. Although, I do wish that she’d swiped those hideous sunglasses off ol’ Red Bull’s face.

This dude may have been the highlight of the trip for me. Granted, he kept stealing my hat (which I finally gave him, because I was sick of chasing him), but he was so in to the music, dancing, art and just general scene, that I couldn’t help but get stoked on him. Here he is, busting one of his stationary head spins. I tried to call him out on the fact that a head spin entails actual spinning, but he held fast that this is how little dudes do ‘em in Boston.

FINALLY . . . it’s about time!

This was the first MC to grace the stage . . . Raydar Ellis.

I will go more in to this story in my next blog entry. Concisely put, this lil’ lass had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of one, Sam U El Flores. Apparently they had arranged for him to draw on her and that she would get that drawing tattooed on her, the following day. Sam made sure to spend some quality time w/ her, to ensure that the drawing didn’t get erased, before it was time to get inked. From what I hear, the tattoo happened. Again, more pics/info later.

After Raydar Ellis played, Top Choice Clique rocked the stage. Not only did they come out on short notice, but they played with one mic even though they’re a crew of 2, who usually spit verses @ the same time. Shortly after they departed the stage, 7L & Esoteric come on, to finish out the night. For a while, I’d thought 7L had been chugging some weird intoxicating concoction over the course of the evening, but then realized that it was tea and honey (straight out the honey bear). Dude was playing with a jacked throat, but managed to slay the audience anyhow. What a muhfuggin' soldier.

The more I watch him paint, the more Alex Pardee kinda scares me.

The next day, we revisited the scene of the defilement.

Finished product.

Snap . . . I almost forgot. Boston giving a little street-level love to an Arlen, TX O.G.

Paris Hilton endorses Anthony Lister

2008-09-22T17:04:00.001-07:00

The reigning heir of, well, something, has endorsed our friend, Anthony Lister. She must have seen his new FIFTY24SF Gallery book, Tales of White Trash Prophecy, that is on sale now in our webstore. Perhaps, she's just down with the Upper Playground vibe. Or she was just jocking the fine art. Who knows with these young, talented folk, right?

And then the Australian newspapers get involved, and the word is officially out in Oceania.

Opening night pics from Upper Playground Seattle

2008-09-21T20:36:00.001-07:00

The jewel of Washington, Seattle, was hopping Friday and Saturday night with the opening festivities of Upper Playground Seattle and FIFTY24SEA. Here are some photos from the Friday night store and galley opening, and thank you to Tyler for photos. On we go . . .

Estevan Oriol signing his UP x Estevan Oriol line "LA Woman" 2009 calendar for a very lucky group of fans.

Estevan talking to LA graffiti artist, Mear One.

A Munk sighting.

And of course, there was art.

An Adam chat.

Mear One.

A store with a view.

Hello.

Mear and Munk put on a live art display on Saturday night.

Estevan made sure the crowd got a signature.

They both know how to do a proper tee shirt design.

An Upper Playground weekend, coast to coast

2008-09-19T09:37:00.001-07:00

First, we got the Upper Playground Seattle and FIFTY24SEA opening tonight, with a special appearance by the greatest street photographer on earth, Estevan Oriol. Estevan will be signing copies of his new calendar, "LA Woman," that we released this past week. Then on Saturday night, we get the live painting going on with Munk and Mear One. Northwest, we got you covered.

Upper Playground Seattle
4730 University Way NE #109
Seattle, Washington

And then, on the East Coast, we got the UP x Juxtapoz x Sparks IGNITE WHAT'S NEXT tour stop, starring Sammy Flores, Alex Pardee, and the tallest man on the UP roster, Nate Van Dyke (sorry Mr. Tarrant). The team will be at Underground Snowboards on Saturday night. Mickey will have all the photos and mayhem from Boston on our blog next week. And, oh yeah, the Nate Van Dyke Pay Day toy, the "Orange" version, was just released. Plenty of art to go around.

Limited "Orange" N8 Van Dyke Pay Day vinyl figure

2008-09-18T09:45:00.001-07:00

The Upper Playground exclusive, limited "Orange" N8 Van Dyke Pay Day vinyl figure is now in our web store. This orange UP limited edition version retails at $60.00. Buy it here. Actually, we have an even better idea. Go to the Upper Playground x Juxtapoz x Sparks Ignite What's Next event in Boston on Saturday, September 20th, at Underground Snowboards, where Nate will be painting live with Sam Flores and Alex Pardee, get on your iPhone, buy the toy online through the WWW, and you are on your way.

Just a reminder, the brown and gray versions of the Pay Day toy each retail for $55 and are available at UP retail stores and online. The glow in the dark toy is available exclusively online and retails for $70.