Michael's in town for his show that opens this Friday @Fecal Face Dot Gallery, but before he left he blogged up some Austin. Get to know the chap!
To start this blog off you should know that Michael has a show at Fecal Face Dot Gallery which opens this Friday the 9th. He's showing prints in which he collaborated with Nat Swope of Bloom Press here in Oakland. Below is the flier for the show. You should stop through to see it.

Hi. So basically I told Trippe that was going to do an insider's perspective blog about SXSW. Since I live in Austin year round. And then SXSW came and went and I counted the photos in my camera and the number added up to 16. That didn't really seem like enough photos for a proper blog. So I told John I wanted to wait and see if anything else happened in my life that was interesting enough to photograph. And... well, not much happened. But I took some photos anyways. Just to validate my life on the internet. I hope you like at least five of them or more.

The SXSW blog started out strong. Street photography of a girl and a chicken.

Their was a weird van parked in front of my house for a few days.

There were some weird dudes staying at my house for a few days also. Weird like, California weird.

My buddy Mike Aho was here.

We all went down to Okay Mountain one day.

There were already people there enjoying sunshine, beer, music, and art.

Steve Stratton set up some drums in the gallery.

He and Mike perform together as ((Sounder)).

That's Mike again. He's what my wife refers to as "a bad influence on me." I'm pretty sure his wife feels the same way about me.

Freakin' Gary Higgins played at Okay Mountain too. Pretty rad.

Did I mention Bratrud crashed on our couch? That dude is rad.

One of the days we went to my buddy's warehouse and saw some bands and watched Zac Martin destroy a ramp. You ever seen that guy ride a mini ramp? Ray Dickles.

Heavy tunes.

I saw the motorcycle graveyard.

I bet Evan Hecox could draw this thing awesome.

This was the last photo on my camera from SXSW. It kind of sums up most people's experience during the festival.

So what else has been going on since SXSW...

Well, there's a new spot to skate in Austin.

Dream Destroyer built and tested. This spot is good enough to come out of retirement for.

My buddy Adam just finished a ramp over at his place.

We got another BBQ spot for the Summer. Single pipe coping is the now.

I've been hanging out at Okay Mountain when I can.

Just trippin' out on the art. (Installation shot of Ryan Lauderdale's work)

Somebody came by the gallery and did some "street landscaping."

We don't know who did it but we think it's awesome. Thanks ghostscaper.

Speaking of Okay Mountain, our intern Dustin just turned in his uniform and moved to Brooklyn to pursue his photography career.

He had a going away party a few weeks back.

I hadn't been to an honest to goodness house party in quite some time.

Apparently the kids are wearing shark masks now. Who knew?

I bet Andrew Pommier could draw this pretty awesome.

Anyway, while we're on the subject of parties.

My buddy Justin had a party to celebrate becoming a man. (Turning 30.)

"This isn't fun anymore... next."

We're probably going to have a going away party for Justin soon because he just got accepted into a Graduate program. Good for him, bad for us. Sniff.

Anyway, while we're still on the subject of parties...

We went to my buddy Jonathan's birthday party a little while back as well. It was at a rollers-skating rink.

or Die.

Roller-skating rinks are pretty cool to look at.

Xanadu, Xanadu,

now we are here in Xanadu.

There was a great view of the sunset.

And some undercover vice squad action.

Man, it's really hard to pee when you're on roller-skates.

It was a good way to spend a Friday night.

What else has been going on? Well, it's about to get hot in Austin so we're trying to squeeze in those last few weeks of pleasant outdoor time.

Sunday is a good day for a BBQ Backyard Ramp Jam.

Who put that sticker in the beer chute? Todd? (It was actually me.)

"So Lee, your hair will pretty much just do whatever?"

"Yeah."

It hasn't all been just partying though.

Allison and I went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center the other day.

To enjoy some pretty nature.

They had round things, in

tricate things,

heart shaped things,

dead things

and live things growing out of dying things. Nature is cool.

Man... what else happened... oh yeah, did some yard work. About 22 bags worth.

My buddies Andy and Adam helped me fix my fence. Thanks dudes.

Have a mimosa and a Lone Star dudes.

I've been checking out some art here and there.

Went to a show at the LMNL Gallery (which is in the space that Camp Fig used to occupy.) My buddy Mike Parsons curated a show there titled "Nature" It was rad.

I've been hanging out with Nathan reading magazines.

I saw a moth.

We stuck it in a glass and then let him go.

I worked on a bunch of art for a ((Sounder)) video that Mike Aho and I collaborated on.

I started working on a new skateboard company. It's sort of a secret though.

And I saw a really weird pinata. Hmmm... that's... uh... yeah, weird.

So anyway, I had pretty much decided that this blog was just going to be totally mundane when out of nowhere I get a phone call from...

Brian Brannon from JFA? Is this a practical joke?

You're in town and you want to go skate some ditches...

Do I want to go skate some ditches with JFA...

Hell yeah I do! Oh wait, you just fell. Here, let me take a photo.

Yeah, so how crazy is that?

Turns out I'd met their drummer about twelve years ago when I was living in Colorado.

Good to meet you again, Carter.

Looks like we just missed Luda Crooks. (Not to nerd out, but skating with those dudes made me feel like an excited little kid again. Thanks dudes. That was fun.)

Anyway, that's all the photos I have. I have a couple of art shows coming up soon so I've been inside painting a lot the past few weeks. Next blog will definitely be more art heavy. If you like art or whatever.

*Don't forget to check out my show Friday.

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