Happy NYE 2009 from LoveHate!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe New Years Eve 2009! 2008 was a tough year for me with a lot of set backs and in the end, some steps forward.  Tonight I shall raise my glass to everyone who has supported me and been my friend in 2008 and every year before that.

Love and Peace.

Sean W Bowles

Happy Holidays from LoveHate!

Wishing all of my readers and supporters a very happy and safe holiday season.

Peace and Love.

Artwork for Seeing is Believing

Last night Seeing is Believing, a collection of some of Vancouver's finest artists went amazingly.  This being my first show, I aimed to create some pieces that not only grabbed the attention of the viewers, but most importantly stretched the limits of my own ability.  As a result I created the Run Man collection; a collection of graphic artwork that represents the how much technology has taken over our lives.  To represent this theme I chose to replace Pop Culture icons, people who followed no path and broke every mold, with machinery... in this case, Robots.

Title: RUN MAN

Original Image: RUN DMC & Jam Master Jay

Size: 18" x 18"

Available for Sale - Offers Accepted

Title: Robot Wings

Original Image: Michael Jordan - Wings

Size: 33" x 10"

Available for Sale - Offers Accepted

Title: The Robots

Original Image: The Beatles

Size: 24" x 33.5"

Available for Sale - Offers Accepted

All images are framed and matted.

Email offers to: seanwbowles@yahoo.ca

LoveHate Poetry... Installation #4

Tonight (December 20th) I gave my first ever spoken word poetry performance at Seeing is Believing.  The following installation is the poem that I delivered.

I wanna Write a Poem...

By Sean William Bowles

I want to write a poem...

I want to write a poem that will blow your mind an rock your world

I want to write a poem that will weaken your knees, make you sick to your stomach a destroy your beliefs

I want to write a poem about what you are thinking, how you feel and put a screw on your face

I want to write words profound enough to make you transcend this space

I want to inspire you and then to strike a nerve

I want to write with passion, with fire, with contempt and with verve

I want to write a poem about love and sex and burning desire

I want to write about heartbreak, and loss and the resulting gun fire

I want to write a poem about my anger and fear

And about the path that I took that led me up here

I want to tell you that I always choose die over fly

I want you to believe it, even if I think it's a lie

I want to make you think, "what the fuck did I just hear?!"

I want to make you clap, make you yell and sometimes even jeer

I want to write a poem...

I want to write a poem about being a kid

About Saturday cartoons, cops and robbers and bike tire skids

About ow none of us had cell phones like Zack on "Saved by the Bell"

And how playing house, for us boys, was a special kind of hell

I want to write a poem about the first day of school

I want to speak in hyperbole like that Napoleon Dynamite fool

Like how I am the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government

I want to tell you these lies simple for the fun of it

I want to write a poem about new clothes and new shoes

About the smell of erasers, used books and playground rules

I want to write about the old gymnasium and older substitute teachers

I want to write about passing notes and "your mommas so fat" jokes...

I want to write a poem about how High School is everything while you're in it

And then means nothing when you're done it

I want to write a poem about how hard my life seemed back then

And in retrospect, how easy it seems right now

I want to write about how I think today, innocence is wasted on children

And how old people think youth is wasted on the young

I want to write a poem

I want to write a love poem...

About first girlfriends and first kisses

About sweaty Saturday nights and sweet Sunday mornings

I want to write a poem that will take you from the dance floor and on through the bedroom door

About first base, second base and eventually home runs

About how the first time, for both of us... it wasn't really that fun

I want to write a poem about how my heart aches without her

I want to write a poem about how my heart breaks because of her

I want to write a metaphor to describe her beautiful eyes

Like, "Her eyes are the ocean; terrifying and striking, vast and profound. eternally drowning in their magnificence I feel at ease with death as if I have found peace... in heaven..."

But I am just not that deep

So I'll just say that she, is simply, beautiful

I want to write a poem

I want to write a poem about how much I love music

Art Tatum, Jill Scott and Thelonious Monk

Nina Simone, The Commodores, and Felonious Funk

I want to write about Round Midnight and Holiday's Strange Fruit

I want to write about piano, saxophone, the bass and the flute

I want to tell you how I can listen to The Strokes followed by Thriller

Throw in the Big L, Little Brother and then maybe The Killers

I want to write about how Weezy sold a millions albums in one week

And how the media still talks about him with their tongue in their cheek

I want to write about how nobody seems to write lyrics anymore

How artist after artist is just another label whore

I want to write about how House Music still pisses me off

And how on the issues Hip Hop music is getting too soft

I want to tell you how I've got this spoken word shit down to a tee

'Cause no one on the corner has swagger like me

I want to write about booze, ice and every other cliche

But 50s got that covered, so on the subject I've got nothing left to say

I want to write a poem

I want to write about my family

And how divided it is

About growing up black and white

And how difficult it is

I want to write a poem about my mother and how her strength inspires me

I want to write a poem about my grandmother and how her ways can tire me

I want to write about shared Christmases and birthdays and growing up in two houses

About my father, his new life and how I have no idea who his new spouse is

I want to tell you how growing up like this can make you feel like, you're only there to take up space

About how life seems twice as long wen you have no rightful place

And complete families seem to be doubling the pace

I want to write a poem

I want to write a poem about hatred and rage

About how a nigger can't break through the glass ceiling,

But he can damn sure make it up on stage

I want to write about how the United States elected a man named Barack

And how we've finally managed to paint that old slave house black

And why today, all of a sudden racism doesn't exist

Slavery has been forgotten and lynching is no longer considered a twist

What I want to know is who is going to prosecute the KKK

And when will there be equal rights for every person asexual, straight, or gay

I want to write a poem about all of this because it is important to me

I want to write about all of the inequalities I see

I want to write a poem that will break own these walls

I want to see hatred tumble and prejudice fall

I want to write a poem

I want to write a poem about misery and death

About how I wasn't around to see my grandfather take his last breath

I want to tell you how he passes with my grandmother at his side

And how they say he died of Cancer, but I say he died from pride

I want to write about feeling lost and alone

About how is it the people and not the place that make this my home

I want to write about how too many leave us too soon

How final heart beats can feel like final heart booms

I want to write a poem that will make you remember your friends

About their beautiful beginnings and in too many cases, their tragic ends

I want to say it in a way that brings a tear to your eye

Because I know the beauty in the truth and the fear in the lie

I want to write a poem that makes you feel all fucked up in side

Like Knight did, when he said, Hard Rock had had his brain fried

But this is my poem, so I might say something like this...

"I dreamt of the moment Death will leave with my soul/ Standing bare black naked alone, knee deep in the snow/ I see my face mirrored beneath Death's dark hood/ my eyes become his, looking back where I once stood/ I am merely a shadow now, the wisp of my last breath/ I lost my life the moment I dreamt of death..."

Yeah, I want to write something just like this

About my death and I might call it, "The Long Goodnight Kiss"

I want to write a poem...

I want to write a poem about all these things and so much more

But I just can't seem to find the words.

Peace.

Inspiration... Period.

Today I finally purchased a book that I have wanted for weeks now.  A Bathing Ape, one of my favorite clothing lines and one of the major reasons I started LoveHate Apparel, has released a collection of photography, stories, interviews, and other imagery, chronicling it's 15 year existence as one of the most prolific and imaginative clothing companies in the world.  Calling Bape a clothing line really only begins to scratch the surface of what this company has achieved.

Nigo, Bape's enigmatic leader has, in my view, changed the clothing game forever.  To people who know of him, Nigo has become a pop culture icon, the likes of which has not been seen since Andy Warhol.  It is only more fitting that Nigo, like Andy, has made his name designing some very sought after shoes; and throughout his life and career, has collected the world around him.

The immense success that Bape has achieved in the past 15 years is definitely something to aspire to.  I am inspired... period.

My Night in the Snow.

As I sit here listening to Anthony Hamilton's new album (so good by the way), I thought I should write about my Saturday night.  It was a Saturday night like no other.  After leaving Jen's place around 10:30/10:40-ish, I began my drive home through the increasingly worsening conditions.  

To my peril I chose to take the road most travelled by and that my friends made all the difference.  I decided the best route to travel was Broadway to Granville and then Granville to Richmond via the Arthur Lang Bridge.  My logic was that although Granville would be busier than other routes, the sheer number of cars on the road would hopefully keep the snow from building up on the road and thus ensure a smoother ride home.  I was wrong.  Unfortunately the number of people who do not understand how to drive in treacherous conditions was unusually high on Granville and as a result I got stuck behind a number of cars at the worst possible places.  Eventually I had to concede to the snow and abandon my attempt to traverse the snowy hills of Vancouver.  At this point I pulled my car into a side street (West 29th to be exact), zipped up my vest, affixed my wool cap to my head, retrieved my gloves from the trunk, and began my long journey through the snow on foot.  Destination, East 7th & Fraser.

The first part of my journey on foot was actually enjoyable.  With music as my ally I jogged through the snow in an attempt to keep my core temperature up.  When not jogging, I found myself strutting through the snow to songs like Make my Day by Common and Cee-Lo.  I am sure that I gave the people in their cars a good laugh.  Anyways, upon reaching Broadway, I decided the best course of action was to either catch a cab or take a bus.  Thus I paid a visit to the Mac's on Hemlock to get some cash. 

After obtaining some cash, I enquired to man about the parked buses sitting on Broadway only to find out they were parked at least an hour earlier and we're not moving any time soon.   This led to a very boisterous rant about the poor state of public transportation in Vancouver and eventually a conversation with a very interesting man from Texas and young lady from England.  Eventually we decided to prudent thing to do was to head up Broadway to Fir and hail a cab, since we were all traveling in the same direction.  This turned out to be a fruitless endeavor and after spending 20 minutes on hold with Blacktop Cabs, we decided the best thing to do was to walk.

Now partially because my shoes were very slippery, but mostly because I did not feel like walking up the street in a pseudo Monkies arm in arm format, as the charmant english girl suggested, I allowed my new found companions to move on without me.  Upon reaching the Mac's on Hemlock once more I decided to sit down and think about my options.  I considered offering a stranger in an SUV money to drive me to my destination... but none came by.  Then I thought about waiting out the snow in Tim Hortons on Fir, but that would be far too boring.  Finally I reverted to my original plan of walking the rest of the way back to Jen's.  Onwards to 7th and Fraser then!

As I resumed my journey I noticed a girl in front of my dialing and re-dialing her phone, over and over again.  I quickly understood that she was attempting to reach a cab company; I quickly decided to crush her resilient spirit and causally recounted my failed attempt to get through to anyone for the past hour or so.  We resolved to walk on, together, through the snow and cold, hoping against hope to see a cab with its lights on.  And so we walked and along the way I learned quite a bit about my new companion.  She is a student, studying languages and literature, though with no expectations of working in that field upon graduation; she is a poet, not unlike myself and extremely interested in what the people in the world have to say; she is a traveller, spending the majority of her life growing up all over BC and Alberta; but most importantly, she is funny and kind and willing to spend her journey talking to a total stranger, in the hope that together we can make our journey that much more bearable.

Before we knew it, we had walked all the way to Main and Broadway.  And then we saw it, the most beautiful sight in the world; the angelic yellow glow from the top of an unoccupied cab.  We were able to wave him down and after a quick dusting off were in the back of a cab headed in the direction of our exclusive directions.  Upon reaching Fraser and Broadway, I said goodbye to my new friend and disembarked on the rest of my journey to 7th.  Albeit, somewhat diminished as I realized the cold night air had killed one of my headphones during my tumultuous journey.

West 29th and Granville to East 7th and Fraser... what an epic journey.

For my Godson.

Tis the season to buy awesome things for those you love and my godson Jaiden (and his little brother Carson) definitely fit the bill.  But this post is strictly about that little boy Jaiden... the kid is jockin' my fresh, jockin', jockin' my fresh or at least he will be with these Creative Recreation shoes I picked up for him.

So Fresh and So Clean Clean.

My New MacBook!

Yesterday I decided to finally take the leap into a life of MacNess... by purchasing a brand new, aluminum bodied MacBook.  My progression to MacNess started slowly.  After my Sony Minidisc (do you remember those?) died, I purchased my first iPod, the original Shuffle.  I used my Shuffle for nearly a year until the now extinct Video iPod was released, then I upgraded to a 30gig iPod video, which I used for about 8 months.  That was then sold to a friend of mine when the 160gig iPod Classic was introduced (the move to this also required me to purchase a 270gig external hard drive).  My next move into MacNess came a few months later when the iPhone was still in its early life.  Ignoring my better judgement I sold my Samsung Slider, retired my Palm Treo and purchased the 8gig iPhone at a Mac store in the states (which of course I unlocked) and never looked back.  Now, 4 years after replacing my first laptop (which died catastrophically) with a Dell laptop, I have replaced the my now ailing PC with my first MacBook and I couldn't be happier.  There is some getting used to this computer that will have to take place over the next few months, but it was an investment in my future... an investment in LoveHate Apparel... and I love it.

LoveHate Poetry... Installation #3

Running up to Seeing is Believing I thought I might share a poem of my own creation. It is dark... but that is what makes it what it is.

I Dreamt of Death

By Sean William Bowles

I dreamt of the moment Death will leave with my soul

Standing bare black naked alone, knee deep in the snow

I see my face mirrored beneath Death's dark hood

My eyes become his, looking back where I once stood

I am merely a shadow now, the wisp of my last breath

I lost my life, the moment I dreamt of death...

I walk alone now with nothing left to feel

The ground beneath my feet is cold and hard like steel

Death has consumed me, I see him with my waking eyes

The shadowy figures of loved ones are nothing but cruel lies

No flesh, no bone, no body, just a spirit in its stead

I ceased to be living; the moment I dreamt I was dead...

They say a dream cannot harm you, but I feel tortured forevermore

I wonder what his plans are, what Death may have in store

You may not believe this, but death will cause you no pain

You dies so you can feel, so Death does not come in vain

We become the earth when in peace we are laid to rest

I began living, the moment I dreamt of death.

Decorate Your Snowboard with LoveHate...

Check it out... I will be giving away RUN MAN and LoveHate stickers at Seeing Is Believing on December 20th; with every t-shirt comes one of five different waterproof stickers, perfect for your snowboard. Check out the special edition RUN MAN sticker below...

LoveHate Poetry... Installation #2

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to LoveHate poetry. In today's installment we move into the more contemporary realm of American Poets to Hip Hop's Poet Laureate, Saul Williams. In his book, The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop, Saul Williams destroys all pretenders of written word with lyrics and imagery that will blow your mind! I hope you enjoy this poem, it is one of my all time favorites...

Co-dead Language

Whereas, break-beats have been the
missing link connecting the diasporic
community to its drum-woven past.

Whereas, the quantized drum has
allowed the whirling mathematicians
to calculate the ever-changing distance
between rock and stardom.

Whereas, the velocity of spinning vinyl,
Cross-faded, spun backwards, and re-released
at the same given moment of recorded history,
yet, at a different moment in time's continuum
has allowed history to catch up with the present.

We do hereby declare reality unkempt
by the changing standards of dialogue.

Statements such as, "keep it real," especially
when punctuating or articulating mode of
ultra-violence inflicted psychologically or
physically or depicting an unchanging rule
of events, will henceforth be seen as retroactive
and not representative of the individually
determined IS.

Furthermore, as determined by the collective
consciousness of this state of being and the
lessened distance between thought patterns
and the secular manifestations, the role of
men as listening receptacles is to be increased
by a number no less than 70 percent of the
current enlisted as vocal aggressors.

MTHRFCKRs better realize, now is the time
to self-actualize. We have found evidence that
Hip-hop's standard 85 RPM when increased
by a number at least half the rate of the standard
or decreased by 3/4's of its speed may be a
determining factor in heightening consciousness.
Studies show that when a given norm is changed
in the face of the unchanging the remaining
contradictions will parallel the truth.

Equate rhyme with reason. Sun with season.
Our cyclical relationship to phenomena has
encouraged scholars to erase the centers of
periods thus symbolizing the non-linear
character of cause and effect.

Reject mediocrity. Your current frequencies
of understanding outweigh that which has
been given for you to understand. The current
standard is the equivalent of an adolescent
restricted to the diet of an infant. The rapidly
changing body would acquire dysfunctional
and deformative symptoms and could not properly
mature on a diet of applesauce and crushed pears.

Light years are interchangeable with years of living
in darkness. The role of darkness is not to be seen
as or equated with ignorance but with the unknown
and the mysteries of the unseen.

Thus, in the name of: Robeson,
God's son. Hurston, Akhenaton,
Hatshepsut, Blackfoot, Helen,
Lennon, Kahlo, Kali, The Three
Marias, Tara, Lilith, Lourde,
Whitman, Baldwin, Ginsberg,
Kaufman, Lumumba, Gandhi,
Gibran, Shabazz, Shabazz,
Siddhartha, Medusa, Guevera,
Gurdjieff, Rand, Wright, Banneker,
Tubman, Hamer, Holiday, Davis,
Coltrane, Morrison, Joplin, Du Bois,
Clarke, Shakespere, Rachmaninoff,
Ellington, Carter, Gaye, Hathaway,
Hendrix, Kuti, Dickerson, Ripperton,
Mary, Isis, Theresa, Plath, Rumi,
Fellini, Michaux, Nostradamus,
Neferttiti, La Rock, Shiva, Ganesha,
Yemaja, Oshun, Obatala, Ogun,
Kennedy, King, four little girls,
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Keller, Biko,
Peron, Marley, Shakur, Those who
burned. Those still aflame. And the
countless un-named.

We claim the present as the pre-sent at the
hereafter. We are unraveling our navels so
that we may ingest the sun. We are not afraid
of the darkness. We trust that the moon shall
guide us. We are determining the future at this
very moment. We now know that the heart is
the philosopher's stone.

Our music is our alchemy. We stand as the
manifested equivalent of three buckets of water
and a handful of minerals, thus, realizing that
those very buckets turned upside down supply
the percussive factor of forever. If you must
count to keep the beat then count. Find your
mantra and awaken your subconciousness. Carve
your circles counter-clockwise. Use your cipher
to decipher coded language, man-made laws. Climb
waterfalls and trees. Commune with nature snakes
and bees.

Let your children name themselves and claim
themselves as the new day for today we are
determined to be the channelers of these
changing frequencies into songs, paintings,
writing, dance, drama, photography, carpentry,
crafts, love, and love.

We enlist every instrument: acoustic, electronic,
every so-called race, gender, sexual preference
every per-son as being of sound to acknowledge
their responsibility to uplift the consciousness
of the entire fucking world!

Any utterance un-aimed will be disclaimed,
will be maimed. Two rappers slain!

I am down with these...

I was doing a bit of surfing for some shoes and came across these kicks on the Dave's Quality Meat site; don't let the name fool you, Dave's Quality Meat is actually a shoe store in NYC. I must admit, I am a little biased when it comes to the Nike Skateboarding line, strictly because they add "SB" to everything... and there is nothing wrong with that.

Oh and these are pretty tight too.

I also really like these... who knew I'd ever want striped shoes?

Peace.

Snowboarding Withdrawals...

I have this question weighing on my mind... what is my sanity worth? A little over a month ago I rushed out on a Sunday afternoon to the Vancouver Snow Show in order to purchase a One-Night a Week pass for Grouse Mountain. It was a really great deal... except for one little hitch; yeah I saved over 60% on the pass, but is a mere $220 really worth going insane over? Before purchasing this pass I carried only a small desire to get up the mountain... since? I have been craving that white powder like a crack addict. Luckily I have found a solution to my problem and it has come in the form of a Wii balance board and the game Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. I like to think of it as crack-lite, it's great! So as I patiently await the skies to open above Grouse, Cypress and Hemlock; the snow to start falling; and the local mountain season to begin... I have SW Snowboarding to keep me sane, what do you have?

See You In My Nightmares

Today Kanye's new album, 808s & Heartbreaks hit the stores, so I decided to pick it up. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of music on it; I assumed with Kanye using the auto-tuner on every track that it would be repetitive and eventually boring, but I was wrong. The beats are nicely varied; the guest appearances do the best the they can for the songs, they make sense; and the album art work is simple, yet very interesting. It all makes for a very nice package and I am quite happy with my purchase.

Seeing is Believing flyer... wicked.

Check out the flyer for Seeing is Believing coming up on Dec. 20th... better yet, check out the show.

Leave a comment, send me an email, or call me for tickets.

Seeing is Believing Date Announced!

The date and venue has finally been set for Seeing is Believing, a showcase of Vancouver's youngest, finest and most creative artistic talent that yours truly will be participating in.

Venue: The Sweatshop (http://www.skatethesweatshop.com/)
Location: Hastings and Victoria
Date: December 20th, 2008
Cost: $10/ticket

For those of you who are not familiar with The Sweatshop, it is a retail clothing store, an art gallery and an indoor skate park. On the night of the show there will be live performances, some fantastic art and merchandise for sale. It'll be a great place to pick up some last minute, extremely thoughtful holiday gifts.

As I mentioned earlier my artwork will be on display. I will also be selling the first of hopefully many LoveHate Apparel designs. To top it all off, I will be reading some of my own poetry on stage for the first time ever.

Check out artistperspective.ca for more information. You can also leave me a post here or call me to let me know you'd like some tickets.

I hope to see you all out there. Peace.

Coolest Keyboard Ever...

I'd like to thank my friend Katt for bringing this to my attention. If I had gone my entire life with never seeing this, well it would not have made any difference... but now that I have seen it I cannot imagine my life with out it.

This is the Optimus Tactus Keyboard, designed by Artemy Lebedev. From what I can gather, the entire keyboard is one big touch LCD screen. This means there are no physical keys that limit the size and shape of each key. This also means the keyboard can be programmed to view video and any other image. This may seem pointless and excessive, however if the keyboard is connected through bluetooth it opens up a whole new world of possibilities away from the screen...

Unfortunately it is only a concept and for the time being will not be made. Lame.

Very Interesting Lounge Chair...

On one of my random searches of the Internet I came across this chair designed by Victor Aleman. It is called The Loopita. I must say it does look like it would be a great place to lay out and read a book with a friend or a loved one... that said, I also think a really big pillow and a foam mattress accomplishes the same thing for a lot less.

Check it out anyways.

LoveHate Poetry.

In case you do not already know Seeing is Believing is coming up in a few weeks and along with my pieces (yet to be revealed on this site) I will also be reciting a couple poems of my own design. In that vain I thought I might post a few poems by other writers that I am quite fond of now and again in a new segment I am calling, LoveHate Poetry. I hope you enjoy this first installment.

*Warning: This poem contains imagery and language of a graphic nature. Basically what I am saying is, if you're lame... don't read it.

Feeling Fucked Up
By Etheridge Knight

Lord she's gone done left me done packed / up and split
and I with no way to make her
come back and everywhere the world is bare
bright bone white crystal sand glistens
dope death dead dying and jiving drove
her away made her take her laughter and her smiles
and her softness and her midnight sighs--

Fuck Coltrane and music and clouds drifting in the sky
fuck the sea and trees and the sky and birds
and alligators and all the animals that roam the earth
fuck marx and mao fuck fidel and nkrumah and
democracy and communism fuck smack and pot
and red ripe tomatoes fuck joseph fuck mary fuck
god jesus and all the deciples fuck fanon nixon
and malcolm fuck the revolution fuck freedom fuck
the whole muthafucking thing
all I want now is my woman back
so my soul can sing

Second Love Hate T-shirt.

This is the second T-shirt that has been inspired by my pieces for the Seeing is Believing art show coming up in a few weeks. Check it out. Peace.

First LoveHate T-shirt design.

This is the first of two or three T-shirt designs that will be released by LoveHate Apparel. I will be debuting this design at the Seeing is Believing art show later this month/early next month at the Sweatshop in Vancouver (more information to follow)...

...stay tuned for more designs inspired by my pieces for the show. Peace.