HOLLY DAZE

Did anyone do anything this week besides holiday stuff? Not me.
Although personally I could just as easily get into celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Easter Bunny, whatever, this year I celebrated Christmas once more.
Which is not to say I don't LOVE the holidays. The VASF Holiday party was the best Holiday party ever in history, and I've been listening to my favorite Moog record of all time:

I think it's good every year because we never really expect much. Generally, I'd say you're guaranteed food, a present, and to hang out and be kinda bored (in that good way where you don't feel all guilty) all day with your family and friends. Low expectations always equals a decent time.
That said, I don't think we're the only ones dreading New Years. Not only does everyone have high expectations for this epic and literally time altering night, but these expectations are rarely met. Plus some of us have really bad New Year's Karma because last New Years was so awesome (because we planned on it being really bad).
So good luck out there people. I hope you find fun and warmth during these darkest, shortest days of the year.

Mistletoe is poison,
Jen Snyder

LUGGAGE STORE ANNIVERSARY

RVCA X-MAS

DINNER AT HANABI

THEN ON TO KARAOKEE!!!

MADDY BUSTED SOME ACE OF BASE

JIHAARI RULLED IT WITH A CLASSIC JOE JACKSON TUNE

THE BARTLING BROTHERS SANG UNDER PRESSURE

AND MEGAN ROCKED GREEN DAY...

THEN JOSH AND MEGHAN'S INSANE 2 LIVE CREW "HEY WE WANT SOME ****"....

JEN AND HER FLAMINGO SERENADED US WITH A TOTAL ELCIPSE OF THE HEART

ALL IN ALL IT WAS A BLAST! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

oh brother

Last week as planned I ended up going to "Incest: A Love Story" at Oxenrose Salon. Obviously it was entertaining.

There's just something about incest that really draws a crowd. Taboos always have this centrifugal force that draws you to even the most ridiculous and gross stuff. And although I would rather drink someones blood than hook up with my brother (or my cousin), you've got to admit there's something kinda hot about it. Especially when the people are as cute as Frankie Norstad and her boyfriend/cousin/whatever.
Amazingly, not everyone shares my opinion. Norstad's show spurred me to ask my friends and coworkers whether they would ever hook up with a cousin and I was impressed to hear that a lot of people are totally FINE with hooking up with second cousins. Not that I even understand what a third cousin is, but I wouldn't even deal with a fifth cousin.
But maybe I'm being prude. Jerry Lee Lewis, Franklin Roosevelt, Rudy Guiliani, and Albert Einstein all totally married cousins. And, you know, Einstein was pretty smart. And Jerry Lee Lewis is pretty cool.

I also found this map of the USA's incest legality

Looks like all cool states are in.

Frankie Norstad was egalitarian in her show about the real truth. She posed two stories. One was that she and her boyfriend met, looked remarkably alike, went to a specialist and found out that they in fact, were not related.
The second story, I believe, was a torrid love story about an orphaned woman discovering her family too late in life only to meet a man who would become her fuel and life source. The lovers overlook painful scrutiny of their bond of blood and focus on how lucky they are to find someone, ahem, cut from the same cloth.
I don't care who you are or what you think is right or wrong, because you totally want the true story to be the latter.
No brainer.

Always,
Jen Snyder

LIVE MUSIC

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE HAIGHT

THIS KIND OF ATROCITY HAPPENS SO OFTEN ON HAIGHT ST. THAT YOU RARLEY NOTICE IT. ALTHOUGH, JIHAARI THOUGHT THIS MAN WAS SPECIAL, SO HERE IS A PHOTO TO SHOW THE REST OF YOU IN THE WORLD WHAT WE LIVE WITH...

YES, THIS MAN IS SHAMELESSLY WEARING BIKING GEAR, LEATHER PANTS (GROSS ALL BY THEMSELVES) , A BEARD BRAID, UTILITY BELT, AND A CAPE... JUST IN CASE.

WED-NEWS-DAY

So, this week I’m going to be going out to a couple things. If you’ve got any sense in you, I’ll see you there.
Tomorrow. dec. 13th at Oxenrose (salon/gallery) come check out Frankie Norstad‘s opening reception for her new photo-project from 8pm-11. It’s 448 Grove St between Octavia and Gough, which is pretty much accessible by anywhere in like 10 minutes.
I’m going because the show is called “Incest. A love story,” she references Daniel Johnston in her photos, and because she takes pictures like this:

Please let these guys be the incest reference. They’re so cute that I don’t even mind that she totally had pictures of her dressed up like a playboy bunny on her myspace that I snooped.
ALSO
With a little more notice, The Luggage Store is having a very RVCA-esque and super epic art show featuring five million artists and musicians.
Notables from our end: Barry Mcgee, Ed Templeton, Tommy Guerero’s sweet tunes, Chris Johanson, Phil Frost… Basically if you liked our opening reception, or just like us at all, you’ll also like this.

In other news, something not so artistically amazing or inspiring fell into my lap. But nevertheless, it totally got me charged.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

These, are flip flop creepers. I swear to God I banished both of these things years ago. I don’t even wear flip flops to the beach and I never (seriously even in my “punk” phase) even owned a pair of creepers. The awe is a mixture of their mysterious and unmerited union and the fact that somehow in this twisted universe I am now the parent of their half-breed offspring.
In the name of journalism, I just totally put them on. They were actually totes comfortable, just about as comfortable as turtlenecks and sweatpants. Just as cute too!!
It’s really crazy because to the naked eye it’s like someone just took an aerial photograph of a creeper with a skull and crossbones and then just like, Elmer’s glued it onto some foam. It’s also platform for authenticity.
The toe harness, bridle, whatever, is also kind of a translucent Pepsi color so it wholly blends into the photograph without having too striking of a contrast with your foot!
On the bottom, these “shoes” are labeled R and L, for your right and left foot, respectively.
This ain’t no balance of opposites. This is two bad things.

-Jen Snyder

HARD

HARD AT WORK.

TY'S HARD WRIST.

VASF BASEMENT GRAFFITI -PRETTY HARD

RAY POTES' PHOTOS-MEGA HARD!
IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY BEEN TO THE HAMBURGER EYES
PHOTO EPICENTER-THEN YOU MUST GO! FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT http://www.burgerworldchronicles.com/

PHOTOS FROM:
http://teenageteardrops.abstractdynamics.org/

PUNK IS DEAD

REMEMBER FUCKED UP AND PHOTO COPIED? WELL THE MAN BEHIND THE MAKING, MR. BRIAN RAY, HAS A NEW CLASSIC CREATION! 'Punk Is Dead Punk Is Everything'. THERE WAS A SIGNING ON HAIGHT ST. LAST FRIDAY AND IT WAS AWESOME!

SIGN AWAY BRIAN RAY SIGN AWAY -

THESE PHOTOS WERE STOLEN FROM MY DEAR OLD FRIEND MR. CALI DEWITT'S WONDROUS BLOG. HERE IS THE LINK:
http://teenageteardrops.abstractdynamics.org/

-MEGHAN

WED-NEWS-DAY

Hi.

I’m Jen. It’s tough to try to show everyone all the things we’re doing. Not just here at the store, but in the San Francisco community as well. As a fervent supporter of the arts, we wanted to get more involved in our new habitat. That means everything from music, visual art, fashion, to hang out time…whatever. So that’s what I'm here to do.
Obviously, and in every major metropolitan city, there’s a lot going on. Luckily, VASF is a mixed bag of pretty original people. Suffice to say, we’ve got some of the bases covered here in this rag-tag team. Meghan will let me know if anything spooky is going on, Jihaari will let me know when to bring my roller skates, Ty will let me know when to bring my earplugs, etc.
Anyway, every Wednesday I'm going to update you on all the goings on. It’s not going to be a critique, or a review. It’s not going to be a “we’re you there?” thing either. In fact, it’s totally unstructured and based kind of on whatever we’re doing. It’s more of a way to get ideas out there, and to show you some of what we at VASF are involved in and discovering in our new stomping grounds, and then some.
You can also let us know when something’s happening that we really shouldn’t miss out on. Consider this an open invitation or a platform of sorts for everyone to be a part of our community .

Thanks!
-Jen Snyder

LOCALS ONLY

LOCAL GRAFFITI ARTIST JAUT HAS PUT OUT HIS FIRST ZINE. HE DID EACH ONE UNIQUELY BY HAND. YOU CAN ONLY GET THEM HERE IN SF! PICK ONE UP FROM EITHER BROWN BEAR, OR ANUBIS.