yesterday….
-ALOY and Myself made a bet… ALOY seems to think GSP can take my man BJ this time… aint going to happen. Anyways, the loser has to paint 5 pieces of the the winner’s(that would be me) name… expect to be seeing a bunch of REVOK pieces done by ALOY/GREAS on the pages on my blog soon…

today…
glad i didn’t bet money.

I came across these guys blog today on HURT YOU BAD there isnt a whole lot of content, but what they do have on there is pure fire! -some sweet panels from around the world… check it out.

HOW & NOSM

SEOUL subway…

Looks like a tribute to LA this time…

click on the thumbnail to view large…

A Friend emailed me this today… seems this guys is doing paintings of street scenes and graffiti around NYC.

Here is a few featuring fam members NEKST, AUGOR and SOME…

PEEP HIS SITE.

FRANK COLE JR.

_thanks Roger and KC.

ALLEGED “MTA” MEMBERS GET ARRESTED…

-WHILE CHILDREN ARE BEING ABUSED, WOMEN ARE BEING RAPED… THE SHERIFFS DEPT IS SPENDING YOUR TAX DOLLARS CHASING AFTER PEOPLE WHO SUPPOSEDLY PAINTED SOMETHING ON THE WALLS OF THE MOST POLLUTED, NEGLECTED, OUT OF THE WAY LOCATION IN THE CITY… THE L.A. RIVER(AKA THE ASSHOLE OF THE UNIVERSE)

MILLIONS OF $$$ TO CLEAN IT UP? -WHY?, WHATS THE FUCKING POINT!?… ITS NOT BOTHERING ANYBODY. CHILDREN NEED BOOKS AND COMPUTERS, TEACHERS NEED BETTER PAY, AND HALF OF THE CITY IS WITHOUT HEALTHCARE OR ACCESS TO DECENT MEDICAL FACILITIES… WHY WOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER WASTING 10$ PAINTING OVER SOMETHING SOMEWHERE NOBODY CARES ABOUT….?

-AND THAT WHOLE BIT ABOUT IT COSTING MILLIONS TO CLEAN UP IS TOTAL BULLSHIT… GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! -SOUNDS LIKE SOMEBODY IS WORKING OUT A DEAL WITH THE ARMY COPRS OF ENGINEERS TO RAPE THE CITY AND GET A SERIOUS KICK-BACK.

GREAT PHOTO THOUGH!

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies today arrested at least eight alleged members of the notorious Metro Transit Assassins tagging crew, some of whom are believed to be responsible for a several-blocks-long “MTA” tag in the concrete Los Angeles River bed that authorities say will cost millions of dollars to remove.
The arrests occurred during a series of early-morning raids centered in the Hollywood area. Among those detained for a parole violations is a famous tagger whose work “SMEAR” has has won acclaim in the art community.
Those arrested were booked on suspicion of vandalism, drug possession, narcotics for sales, weapons possession and other parole violations, officials said
“These individuals are responsible for tags not only in Los Angeles but Las Vegas and San Francisco,” said Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dan Finkelstein, who is chief of the Metropolitan Transit Authority police. “The Army Corps of Engineers estimates that removing the “MTA” tag from the riverbed alone will cost $3.7 million.
Cleaning graffiti from the river is far more expensive than cleaning other areas. Officials use high-pressure water spray to remove the toxic paint.
But hazardous-materials crews must then dam and capture all the paint and water runoff to prevent it from getting into the river. The crew did an additional $20,000 worth of damage to transit vehicles and facilities. Finkelstein said the Los Angeles River “MTA” tag, in a vast industrial district east of downtown between two rail yards, took about 400 gallons of paint — 300 gallons white and 100 gallons black. “It took them four nights to do it,” he said.
The three block letters cover a three-story-high wall and run the length of several blocks between the 4th Street and 1st Street bridges. The tagging crew, which is also known as “Melting Toys Away” and “Must Take All,” began about the time the transportation agency began using the MTA letters. Investigators say they have statements, including some on video, that implicate some of the crew members in the enormous tag.
“Some of this group could face federal charges,” Finkelstein said. During the raids, Finkelstein said, investigators found customized high-pressure fire extinguishers that, when filled with paint, allow the tagger to hang upside down on the underside of a freeway and quickly scrawl massive graffiti. These taggers are not kids, he said.
Most those detained are in their 20s; one of them drives a $60,000 BMW, and another member possesses a diamond-and-ruby-encrusted Metro logo pendant with paperwork suggesting it’s worth $29,000, Finkelstein said.
– Richard Winton
Photo: Police car shows scale of the giant “MTA” tag in the Los Angeles River in May 2008. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
SOURCE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/sheriffs-deputi.html

*** here is a great response i found on the LA TIMES blog…

Posted by: prim | February 01, 2009 at 02:18 PM
You caught the vandals that threw a coat of paint on the L.A. riverbed…now that’s news from the frontlines. I feel so much safer knowing that these guys can’t come into my neighborhood now and sharpie their devil signs on my house. Smashing good job detectives! And so unexpected and out of the blue…I mean there wasn’t even a unwarranted shooting, a corruption case or another batch of police brutality we needed to distract from.
And then you jock up the damage to a surreal 3.7 million to warrant lengthy prison sentences for these difficult and vicious…err, painters, right?! Astonishing.

I wonder how many of the concerned citizens advocating hands chopped off and labor camp for the taggers were actually offended by the tag…just a hunch - like none? Because that’s really not your neighborhood, right? Isn’t it down by the tracks where the wild things are? Or did you actually get out of the car to survey the damage they inflicted on the precious concrete river bed? What happened - did you get eye cancer?!

If a real estate group pays to erect 50 feet tall letters for everyone to see it becomes a beloved landmark, a bunch of local punks do the same in a pathetic concrete tub they’re jail bait. If you don’t understand the motive behind a gesture like the tag, sit on that for a moment…that’s how the disenfranchised and powerless lay claim to their city.

Consider the feeble crucible: Is it art?
Does it have to be?! Would you feel better about it if it had been curated by a LACMA trailblazer or say, Christo had paid all permits to validate it as an installation.
It’s so much more than art. It’s an unadultered, immature piece of bravado, a massive finger to the mundane. It’s the underbelly of L.A. giving you some heartburn.
My take is, the taggers created a true L.A. icon.
These inspired lunatics got more moxy than most of the ranting drones here and lay claim to their city just like anyone should. That tag is an idiosyncratic heart with three letters carved in the bark of our city.
L.A. gleefully tolerates, building size billboards, cookie cutter mall monstrosities, cell towers popping up on the double for the convenience of an uninterrupted phone call, but can’t stomach signs of life.
And that’s what chaps the blue hide, can’t have that authority knocked….to much color for a vanilla mindset.

And consider how most graffiti writers are much more respectful towards their city than our developers and institutions. The river is unmarked territory, nowhere-land, space that belongs to all and non.The writers don’t come to paint your house, they seek out the in-between spaces, the abandoned, the ugly, the unclaimed… Few Angelenos even know that we have a river.

The real perversion is to actually consider paying 3.7 mill for the clean-up.
And you got the gall to pull the environment card (.. toxic paint! …costly hazardous clean-up! ) when you ignore the environmental atrocity before your very eyes - the concrete corset laid over what once was a living river, eco system and all.
Instead of paying a no bid tab to the army corps, leave the tag and give the money to FOLAR, the friends of the L.A. river and let them use it to evaluate strategies to re-naturalise the river and make it a viable recreational option for Angelenos. It could happen.

Meanwhile your twisted sense of justice will throw the book at these vandals and with that give them every reason to go even bigger, higher, bolder.
And since the rules of engagement are always stacked in favor of the beige goons I’m rooting for the hoodlums that mix it up….props MTA!

I Just got a shipment of the new 94… THIS PAINT IS THE BEST SHIT I HAVE EVER USED.

_go get some.

THOU SHALL… HUSTLE HARDER.

-Is that a “purple drink” Kool-Aid man busting through the wall???

click the thumbnail to view large…