Here's some hints: It was painted in the spring in Minnesota. It was a sketch. I used all Rustoleum and American Accents with Krylon Fixative tips and a Spray and Wash fat cap for highlights. Some of the colors were; Rasberry, Grape, Summer Squash and Teal. This piece was on the bridge wall right next to the Sears towers. It was actually painted in the daytime but with careful watch out to the streets above. I was only in AKB for one year. The piece I painted after this one was on the front of Intermedia Arts with Crest and Self and said Graffiti Funk. Great Guesses from all of you that participated. 1994 was the year when the Tracks really started to get busy (Even though they had been active for many years). Competition was getting pretty fierce for space. A lot of Minnesota pioneering was going on down at the Tracks. Guys like Mope/Kept (who rocked characters), Ewok HM, Crisis, Chen, Spel, Meta, Pocer and many others had decided that it was the place we all were going to really focus our energies on. I was hitting fr8s at this time as well but on a much more limited basis early in '94 but would almost exclusively hit them by the end of '94. I would have loved to say that I painted this in the late 80's but I really only focused on bombing during that time and quick 2-5 color pieces. Which I actually did quite a few but wasn't really focused on getting photos (must of been my bomber mentality). It sucks now 'cuz I'd love to have some of those shots in my collection. Which is a good lesson to anyone new starting up, always take photos of your pieces. Even though you may think they are wak (and most likely they are in the beginning), someday, you will want to look back at them and see where you came from or what your style looked like when you first started. As for this piece, I wasn't particularly happy with it at the time because most of my wall pieces at this time didn't really look like this. This was more of a train style piece that I had probably drawn up with no bottom to the sketch, like it was a panel piece on the bottom of a subway car. I really was just trying to do something different with my style, to keep it different then everything else that was down there. Also, I was smashing a lot of bridges down there at the time and really didn't care who I was going over. I don't recall ever buffing a wall down there but I was always painting on freshly buffed walls or going over recently pieced walls that just were really wak. (wak compared to everything else at the time) There was probably about 25 writers using the tracks as our main wall spot in the city, until the Wall of Fame became a known spot. Once we saw the attention the Wall of Fame was getting (it was located off a main highway in downtown Minneapolis), the tracks became a lesser desired spot and was left for all the other writers and toys in the city to paint. We would still go down there to hit the bridges on occasion but at a much lesser degree. It was like a been there, done that, type of mentality. From that, writers would soon branch out and pioneer new places all over the Twin Cities in search of fame, privacy from other writers and the ultimate spot to leave burners. Some writers spawned new places that once known, got rocked by everyone hard, others found the cutty spots that until recently (last 8-10 years) had stayed relatively unknown. It was a great time-period for Minnesota/Midwest Graff, with writers from other cities coming here often to paint and check out the scene and leave behind a piece or technique for us to learn from or be influenced off of. Everything that was happening at that time was like adding a piece to a complex puzzle that would shape the future Graffiti scene in Minnesota. Good times were had with great walls to paint. Nowadays, I would kill to have those walls back. Currently the city has buffed all of them and built a citywide bike-trail with parks and other things within it, to take the place of our graffiti relics. They have placed video surveilance equipment up all over the place and the police patrol it often. That doesn't mean it still can't happen. It just will never be what it once was.

One year ago today, I had plastic surgery and lost about 30 pounds. After retiring in Dec. 2009, I started exercising with a trainer and eating less calories in January 2010. Today Jim and I ate lunch together at the VCC Grille and celebrated my healthier body. Afterwards I went to Wal-Mart and bought a few groceries--fruit, bread, vegetables, Nutella, etc. It had been a long time since I'd been to the Wal-Mart on Perimeter Road and didn't realize that the outside had been repainted--tan. Even though the thermometer on my car registered a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, I pushed the grocery cart out to my car and all the way back to the store. Walking around the store was just more exercise to me. Then I went to the Fitness Center and worked out with Billy. I had difficulties completing the sit-ups; so, he had to hold a large ball at my back because I couldn't lay all the way down and sit up. I do expect this to change as I continue to work out. BTW: The first season of Ruby was on the Style channel this morning. I had not seen them and have Tivoed them. I'm looking forward to the Daytime Emmy's Sunday night (June 27) at 9:00 PM on CBS since Ruby has been nominated for an Emmy.