Being old enough to have the name “Old Man” in your show, you get to witness a few things over the years. As time has weathered my once youthful good looks and vigor, I have seen friends come and go, through punk rock’s revolving door. For most people, it is a fad or a quick way to spend 4 to 6 years as they drift through high school or college and then trade it all in for a picket fence and reality TV.

But then there are some who are always there, doing what they do, and basically keeping on.

That’s where Eli Arrington comes in.

Over the years, I have seen Eli grew up from a kid who took my band’s demo tape from his big sister, to a snotty teenage punk, to a snotty adult, and now having an art show during one of the best underground festivals Texas has every year.

 

 

I really began to take a closer look at Eli’s art a few years ago. I remember in the old days of punkfests and Oi! shows in Victoria Texas, once and a while we would tap him to draw up a flyer with some original art, but looking at the stuff he does now, his work has matured (although the artist is still a bit of a jerk). Seriously.. Eli’s stuff has really taken off and he seems to be making quite a name for himself out in the punk world, which is something we at OMBG really want all our friends to do. From show flyers to record sleeve and cassette demo art, Eli’s trademark black and white lowbrow punk and thrash pictures are giving us new visuals of an old feeling.

 

 

So if you are free Sunday in Austin, go check out his stuff. The skate decks are for sale and from what I understand the prints are going fast.

Aritsts:

Kate Collins and Eli Arrington

     2pm
@Multiply Infest
5th st and Lavaca
Austin TX

 

 

Opening this weekend is the 12th Star Trek movie (and 2nd for J.J. Abrams) Star Trek Into Darkness.  It’s no small feat for Abrams, to take a movie franchise that was on it’s last legs (save for the die hard fans) and make it something that is once again exciting and fun.

Look, I love the franchise, it was my subsititute best friend as a kid while I waiting patiently for Star Wars to get it’s rear into gear… and when the SW franchise was seemingly over, Star Trek TNG became a regular watchable treat. I enjoyed the shows and the movies, but I also began seeing the end of the road. As the actors got older (Next Generation actors too) and they tried to keep squeezing themselves into outfits and do movies that still required sci fi action, I knew that something had to change. As much as I loved the old actors, I would rather have them burn out early than watch them get older and worse for wear as they pulled out yet another lackluster movie that none of my friends would want to watch with me.

Then J.J. Abrams came, he did something I would never have had the guts to do, and recasted all the beloved characters… and it worked. Using Star Wars themes and visceral images, he made Star Trek what it should be. Now don’t get me wrong, ST was already good, but like SW sometimes it needed saving from it’s creator, and Trek’s creator has been dead for some time.

If there is a problem with Into Darkness, it’s not the story or the fact that it’s not canon (Abram’s established altered timeline lets the purists have their Trek while he explores this new one) It’s that this movie at times may be too dark. I wondered that in various times as Kirk and crew went on a manhunt to kill for revenge, (something Roddenberry would certainly never have written) and Starfleet is caught up in a plan to go to war with another species. It is a far cry to the original premise of mankind learning it’s lesson from war and being a peaceful race.

Despite that, it’s got everything I want in a science fiction movie. Explosions, a great climax, and a chick in her underwear. This movie (and it’s 2009 counterpart) suceeds in doing what other Star Trek movies have failed to do. It grabs the casual movie fans attention. You don’t need to have seen the other 11 movies to get what is going on here, and even more so, you can whole heartedly enjoy the movie when you do see it.

Will there be people who don’t like it? Sure. There always are. But I submit that for the purists’ beloved franchise to survive, it needs this update and it needs this director. Seeing the Enterprise soaring through the screen leaving a cosmic vapor light trail when going into warp is a treat, and one that should be witnessed in a full theater rather than an empty one.

Sunday morning The Texas Zoo offered a unique addition to the film fest, kids were able to decorate a graffiti wall and special guests Rubio and Crispy from the Antagonist Art Movement came out to demonstrate the use of stencils on wall art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning The Texas Zoo offered a unique addition to the film fest, kids were able to decorate a graffiti wall and special guests Rubio and Crispy from the Antagonist Art Movement came out to demonstrate the use of stencils on wall art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Day 3 from OMBG’s wandering Camera

The first cool thing that happened was we synced up with Ethan Minsker of the Antagonist Art Movement and he came over to the OMBG studio home to shoot some footage for an upcoming film project. Ethan and the Antagonist crew have been very inspirational the past few days just like our German friends Boris, Karla and Stohead. They have shared their stories and experiences with us and have given us the inspiration we need for those dark days when it seems like we should just quit. I can’t thank them enough for their inspiration and it was a treat to be on the other side of the microphone for once as he explained our story is just as interesting as anyone else’s

 

Soon afterwards Crispy and Rubio showed up and we were able to interview everyone about their role as artists and the film “The Dolls Of Lisbon”

 

 

After that, we went downtown where Ethan did a quick workshop with us teaching stop action animation with a camera…

 

 

Then we caught ALL AGES at the Golden Gecko

 

Then headed over to VIP to catch up with our buds from WHEN WE RULED H TOWN

 

watched Wackford Squeers play at the Golden Gecko…

 

and Something Called Nothing…

 

 

There is a lot going on at VTXIFF, here’s OMBG’s wandering camera

First we went to the Stout City Luchadores recording session

 

 

And we stuck around for Joe Reyna’s session

 

We finished up in time to catch Joe Reyna at Cinema Under The Stars

 

 

Then we walked over to the Welder Center to meet Rutger Hauer who gave us lots of insight on indie films and his roles over the years.

 

Then stayed for the Q&A of Il Futuro

 

 

Grabbed a bite at Tasty’s Tacos…

 

Then headed over to Cinema Under The Stars

 

and capped the night off at the insanely crowded Roundball Afterparty…

The Film Fest has a lot going on, so we strapped the camera to Timothy Danger and let him chronicle his way around town

For us the festivities started early as we showed up to the Antagonist Mural behind the Children’s Musuem. They were making great progress…

 

 

 

Then we walked over to The Golden Gecko where we watched Ted Riederer from Never Records record local poet Michael McClanahan and cut the poems immediately to vinyl. The process was amazing and beautiful to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was close to showtime, we went over to the art exhibit at the Welder Center to check out stuff from Avlo, Stohead, and Jake Ramirez

 

Then headed over to the Cinema Under The Stars to catch Kevin Gant

 

 

Then stayed for the screening of Never Records you aren’t listening…

 

And despite the cold, the movie was so great we stayed for the Q&A

 

We capped off the night by heading over to the Femme Fatale Short program, specifically to catch Beth’s film AVE D, and the Q&A, this locally made short brought down the house.