My piece in the latest @tsptr journal is out now, via tsptr.com:
“It never got fast enough for me”
Hunter S Thompson.

Piece explores the Gonz’s darkly charismatic ideology and his obsession with motorcycles, drugs and guns.

Douglas was ‘Minister of Culture’ at The Black Panther Party for the duration of its active years – 1966 to 1982.
The distinctive visual look of the Black Panther Party was as a result of the creative direction of Douglas – and that’s a BIG achievement because their visual game was STRONG.
NOTHING looked or sounded like The Black Panther Party – nor has it since.
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SEIZE THE TIME.
REVOLUTION IN OUR LIFETIME.

As featured in The Modernist Magazine.
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Photos taken whilst visiting the the pop-up exhibition: Beyond the Streets by Roger Gastman, NYC 2019.
Emory Douglas portrait by Bryan Shih.

I guest-edited The Modernist Issue 33: Junction.

Stay or go, left or right, backwards forwards, in or out? How remiss it would be at this point in history not to begin the J series on the subject of Junctions. The figurative kind: those between being in and out of favour; those with the establishment on one side and counter-culture on the other; spaces evolved from many cultural moments and the junctions that connect where you’re from, to where you went, to where you’ve returned. And, of course, the concrete sort. As in made of concrete. For all you fans.
As if I’d forget you lot.

Includes pieces by Wayne Hemmingway, Chris Difford from Squeeze & The Haçienda architect Ben Kelly.

Take a trip around the world from east to west and back again. Stop off at various locations where you can find interesting pockets of Modernism.
Seventeen correspondents share personal experiences of their travels – of which I am one, reporting on Basel, Switzerland; acknowledging its Modernist status – surprising as most people associate Switzerland with bell-wearing purple cows, mountains made from chocolate, cheese and those funny wood-stack cottages that Heidi lived in.

In 1974 Stephen King and his wife checked-in for the night at The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park. It was the hotels last booking before closing for the winter and they were the only guests. During the night, Stephen King dreamt of fire hoses, his screaming three-year-old son and corridors. Not surprisingly, he woke in a sweat and reached for a cigarette. “By the time the cigarette was done” Stephen King had the bones of a book set in his head.

I visit the hotel that inspired The Shining.

The toughest, but ultimately most rewarding part was getting rid of everything I owned. A massive WHATEV’S to all you ‘Life-changing-Magic-of-Tidying Gurus’.
5-years ahead of you lot. AND I didn’t just do a bit of de-cluttering. I liberated myself from a life-time of clutter.

An account of what lead to my 9-years of remote work / living life.

How exactly are they making a living out of travelling the world? By telling YOU how to make a living out of traveling the world, that’s how. It’s like some psychedelic travel pyramid scheme in which no one actually does anything but create a self-proliferating army of travellers all doing the same none-specified ‘work’.

An account of why you should / could save your money and organise it yourself instead.

*In my opinion.

“The one constant in my life would be the ocean. So surfing has always been a big part of my life. Living by the ocean is a big part of my life. So that’s kind of what it needs to be. It needs to be – I need to be – near the ocean”

Whilst in Bali, Under Rocks speaks to Damea Dorsey.

“We built an indoors D.I.Y skate park and we organise events, birthdays, skate camps and art shows. Events that promote skateboarding and rock and roll bands from Belgium. We try to keep it simple. Like, not a big contest.”

Whilst in Brussels, Under Rocks speaks to Youssef Abaoud.

“I don’t like the way that culture goes, especially in Brazil, and especially if you turn on the TV. I don’t like the way a lot of things are made these days, a good reference for me is the ’20s and ’30s when everything was handcrafted and handmade and focused. Ipods and cell phones? I feel like you have to keep getting a new one all the time and for me that’s bullshit.”

Under Rocks speaks to Santiago from São Paulo.

“All my life I was fortunate to do or not do whatever I wanted. With an immense amount of effort, of course…I never had the intention to be different. I never wanted to be hip or whatever, I just wanted to do my own thing. That’s all.”

Whilst in Berlin, Under Rocks speaks with Thom Piston.

The crowd inside the diy-bar above the office of the Choque Cultural art gallery pour out onto the roof. I slide out with them, hoping to escape the thick mugginess inside and the awkwardness of not being able to understand that evening’s entertainment. Bit stoopid going to a Brazillian-beatnik-style poetry event when you don’t understand Portuguese.

The Under Rocks city guide to Sao Paulo, Argentina.

It’d appear from my promenade through George Town this morning that I’m walking through the 1930s. It’s like being in one of them elegant Chinese smoking adverts. I haven’t been invited into any opium-dens yet but still, its early days.

The Under Rocks city guide to Penang, Malaysia.

*I wasn’t (nor have I ever been) on a passport run

A monthly column of automobile-related stuff. Subjects tackled in no particular order and with scant respect for chronology, engine stats or fuel consumption.

More:
What make & model was the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine?
What did Al Capone drive? What’s the best car to make a hand-brake turn in?
How many Bugs are in Mexico and what’s the design flaw on a 1972 Porsche 911?

(*answers after the click)

More oomph, less Top Gear-style jeans.

As featured in Decor Punk.