Chocca Lefties...

Deciphering writing's one of those weirdies where you can look and look and pull apart a piece letter by letter and not be able to work out what it says but when someone tells you, you're all Of course!!
And I'm sure that's what I'll say when someone enlightens me on these two...




So much is happening in the hood as per.
DR got chased out of Lefties by the BKK, Erase has joined CFG, Eeks has got a few pasteys up around the place, DRYPNZ is working like a crazy thing on an international graf collaboration show at Mankys in Nov (will let you know more when there's more to know) and Neonate has split for a few months.
And speaking of the BKK, I heard they used a bit of the rough and tumble with a few writers they cornered a few weeks back.
Settttle!

Lately it's been such a pleasure to walk to work and see all the burners around the place. And maybe the tag nazi's are having an effect cos I'd swear on my Mk4 Zodie that there's been way less of it lately.
For now the scene seems to have caught onto the concept of quality over quantity and there's no sorrows to drown over that news...

Dusk Maiden

One Divine Dusk over another. Is there any such thing as too many Dusks?

My eyes hurt sooooo bad.
I was convinced they were going to fall out, on my lap, throbbing and writhing. And I just knew it would have been while throwing back sake at Catch Sushi, making it understandable that the Sushiettes might mistake my bloodveined, tearstained eyeballs for something that could go on the conveyor belt - black plate for effect, uncooked, with or without wasabi - which would've been dead cert to start a frenzy once the other punters discovered there were only two to go round.
I knew you'd be horrified at the drama, not to mention the images (that someone else would've had to take cos I wouldn't have been able to see), so me and my wary eyeballs took a rest.

I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. I work 8 - 10 hours at my computer at work then another 3-5 up the alley and on the street. (Luckily I know you know what I mean!)
I'm going to lay off the Street for a while - that's where I have to do the most work - but I just can't give up the Alley! (Next I'll have a website called Marion Street then you really will wonder! Lol)

Lefties is looking it's finest right now with representation from almost every local writer and artist that has anything stunning to offer. And cred to the toys who've pulled their heads and posca's in enough for pieces to dry, let alone go a few weeks, without being done over.

Call this Fight Club but I'll keep coming back here until I have no choice but to go kicking and screaming...

SIN

SIN the Superhuman. He always looks a bit pale but when he did these he'd been in bed sick for the previous 3 days. Maybe that's where the skull with wings came from - I can relate to that 'just take me away' feeling when I've been sick...

MORE SLAPPERS

I never know if this is Gee2, Gees or GEEZ. Sin and I were yarning when we saw some gansta looking dude tagging his way up the alley. We found out it was this guy and when I tried to find out what his writing name was, he told me but I still couldn't work it out.


Erase has been doing more stickers than throwies lately. Is it just me or is his stuff totally watchable?!

CFG/NEONATE/LIGHTBULB MAN

Have to say it's the first time my pool ass has been whipped by a crew!
I was out with NeoNate and his girl when some CFGers came in. They were up for a game so games we played - 5 of them. Their pool style can only be described as unco but they just kept getting them down and I heard this rumour that's all that counts in pool.
I'm not going to make any wus excuses about my lack of form but the fact that Kwiva was playing with his cast on and still winning - well - lets just say I've suddenly got a case of Convenient Amnesia ;-)

DELT2 rocked in a bit later too. 

The Cue Room was totally the Writer Room that night...


It's taken me a good year to work out this is CAST.
I never said my name was Lightening Speed ;-)
And the lightbulb man. Haven't seen him for a while but good to have him back in the hood...

Matey Potatees...

I just wanted to do a quick shout out for all the support you guys (and girl) are giving Lefties. Most of the time it feels like I'm posting to a black hole of nothing and no-oneness so every comment, liking or hating, tells me you're there.
About 25 of you are regulars who check in everyday and there's another 20 to 30 Leftie Virgins daily with the weekends being double those numbers (and rising weekly).

I'm happy with that ;-)

And as long as you keep coming back, I'll keep scrounging around the alley to put something on the table each night. I think you know by now that I can only serve you what goes up, burners or bogies, and cred to you because when you find the offerings unpalatable, you're grown up enough not to take it out on me personally.

As you know, sometimes I don't do things very beautifully, I often get things wrong and I can get a bit emo but I'd rather dish it how I see it, albeit naively and idealistically, and cop your bleats than get dead air, so don't hold back.

Thanks again - means tuns
E

That's all.
As you were...

Letters From Lost Memories...

It was a no brainer to guess this was compiled by SIN.
I asked him who had an obsession with him but he said he and Beware found these letters on the ground near Left Bank.
Not long after he left this lying against the wall in a patch of sun in Lefties it disappeared. Was the writer of the letters mortified to see her beating heart flacidly pinned to a piece of cardboard for all the wwworld to see?

I've left the images at full res so if you click on them, you should be able to read them.

Cred to SIN for the effort and for blankedyblanking the blankable parts ;-)








Beware was up the alley this week taking pics when a not-so-young (70ish) lady wandered up to him and asked if he was "photographing it or adding to it?" He cautiously said he was photographing it for a website. She then commented "Oh - it (the pieces) does brighten up a dull alley doesn't it".
Aww...bless ;-)

While he was there, he saw Walkwise doing their note taking gig again.

And we've seen more of the BKK (Blue Klux Klan as Silenc calls them) than both DR and Ikon combined lately - they're really ramping up the heat. Maybe they've got a warehouse full of Pink Vests they're keen to get rid of?
By the way - apparently Frenchies staff have got a bit tired of vouching for writers when the BKK come in (understandably) so now writers have to get a written consent from the owner. I'm not quite sure how that works but I'll try to find out for you.

Here's some good news though...somebody we shall hereafter refer to as God's Gift To (a few selected) Writers , has given permission for their walls to be hit up. That's Bewares gig though so I'll let him fill you in when the deeds done - watch his space...

Burn Factor 57

We're getting some serious retina burning action lately! This is left to right - truth is - I wasn't quite sure where one started and one left off...






I thought this style looked like a writer I got in Mays Lane in Sydney but we heard the guy was from Aux. Could he have done a piece in Syds? Or is it a commonish style. Not sure but McLovin it...(feel free to enlighten us if you've got some dish on it)




Slap me round the chops with a full can but I've often not taken images of Cast's stuff because I haven't been sure if he's finished or not...

BTW - total side alley here - heard today that AK was Shiv - is that true?

Even though Editor and Cast are bro's from South Africa, it doesn't take much more than an alleyway IQ to work out what's being said here ;-)

Slaps Around the Hood...

Yep - you just know I'm going to thrash that SLAPS word and put it in as many sentences I can until I either lose all (ok - both) my friends or get arrested - whatever comes first...

It was all on down the alley this weekend. In fact, there were so many writers, and their girls, and their hanger ons and homies that Beware couldn't even get any pics of the wallage. I went down after playing pool all night but they were in the non lit area of the alley so you'd need an army issue infrared viewmaster to make out anything.

I'll get some images today and get them up tonight for you...

You're welcome ;-)

Last Weeks Leftovers...

Back Alley Humour...

Free Photos

OK - so this isn't strictly LB related but this is rules being bent - cos I can. Lets call it Friends of LB Day.

Beware does this thing where he takes an image of some graf then gets the image printed, you know, like old school printed - an actual photograph - and sticks it to the place where he took the image.
When he first told me about them, do you think I could get wtf he was trying to explain to me? It took being dragged to this one for me to get it.
Vague?
Yessum...

EEKS

Glad to see EEKS hasn't lost his Mojo after being sprung by the PVP's a few months ago - although fairly sure the Total Crap comment was written by him - if so - Jury's still out on the state of Mojo...

Slap Stick

Beware told me today that stickers are called Slaps in the States - dunno why but I really like that - I suggested that made him a Slapper...


Here Lies SIN Gone To Hell...This has got to be the hardest thing I've ever tried to take an image of!

Agent 66

Late Saturday avo, Beware and I had done the scope down the alley to get Ikon and Vents pieces and anything else we'd missed, then BW went to work and I went to Maxwell Smart.
When I came out of the movie, I had three text messages. Two of them were from a random number I didn't know.
Cops hassling writers at t mo at left bank...
I asked which writers and did anyone get arrested?
I don't know who they had but was a big grp both police and writers...2 guys painting earlier got away...

Now, I don't give my number out to anyone for obvious reasons, so it felt weird coming out of Maxwell Smart all Agent 99'd up then getting those mystery texts. Lets just say that there was a mission to be had and me and my Nokia were locked and loaded.

So - even though the time on the texts were 30 minutes earlier and all the action would have been over, after reporting in to BW at his work, I slid back down the alley to stake out what had gone up since we were there a few hours earlier.


Mission accomplished ;-)

BTW - I also worked out who the mystery texter was too!
So - hyped up on Agentroids and the nights adventures, the games of pool I went on to play sounded something like this...
tssss! ;-)

Totally random side note - Now that Ikon, Vents, TU/NL, DRYPNZ and Yelz's pieces have gone up, not only does Lefites look less alley and more gallery - they make the toys throwies look even more like kiddy doodles.

YELZ / DRYPNZ

Every few weekends I like to take a trip down past the skatepark and capture what's gone up on the legals down there. Today was stunningly sunny so, because I could see a few writers skating and hanging out, I decided to make like a cat and lounge in the sun, taking in the action.
Beware texted me to see what I was up to and ended up meeting me there.

Eventually, as always, we ended up down the alley where we were stoked to see DRYPNZ, who had just finished the above face, and Yelz. Neither of us had met Yelz before but we'd both wondered on our respective sites where he'd gone.
Once DRYPNZ introduced us, we told Yelz we'd missed him and he said he'd had a bunch of papers to hand in.
I guess studying must fill in the time while he's waiting for the paint to dry ;-)

On amicable, sunny days like today when graf love is everywhere, I wish the GP could meet these 'reckless vandals' and find out how charming, peaceful and egoless, yet motivated they really are...

VENTS / IKON

Beware should be a psychic! A few weeks ago we were all wtf about Lefties bad attitude and BW said You wait - when the sun comes out, writers will start painting again. I wish I'd put a fitty on that one!

A few days ago I'd cleaned out the pantry but luckily I don't buy into poverty consciousness and knew we wouldn't go hungry. My names not Marie Antoinette but I can say Let Them Eat Cake cos there's so many treats down Lefties it's like a banquet hall.
My advice is to get down there over the next few days to cop a looksee before they get capped...


BTW - Lefties isn't the only place VENTS and IKON hit this weekend. If you're around town, go see their burners in the carpark opposite Dick Smiths on Vivian - I'll be putting those up on The Street in a few days...
As one Graf Hound said - Ikon's changing our landscape...

TU/NL

Apparently this guy is European. He went and got permission to do them. He signed the two pieces TU and NL so Beware wondered if it could be like Tunnel? But then, if he's European, who knows what they might stand for in his language...

There's lots to show and tell that's happened down the alley over the last 24 hours but I want to get some better images for you than the ones I have.

It's a rare sunny day here so I'll go out now - might do a mish round the skate park and some other hot spots while I'm at it. See you back here soon ;-)

Mother Hubbards Cupboard

I've been working from home this week (remote accessummgood!!!) and no ops to get down the alley so this is the cleaning out of the Lefties pantry...

You can tell this one's old because you can still see the original colour of the (then) newly buffed wall April 07. There's been so many go overs since then that the masses of layers of paint are closing the alley in - soon you'll have to hold your stomach in and walk sideways ;-)



I mentioned that AK found a spot and just keeps capping himself - this was taken mid July and he's still got that spot ;-)

"There's nowhere to escape from Lefties!" was SIN's response when I asked him what Quick Hide meant.
We already know my Nokia is shit at taking close ups so I'm not even going to apologise for the crappy res - it was on the back of the TV not long before it got munted then taken away

BEWARE

Stens and below (mutey) pastey by BEWARE.

After experimenting with different media's, BW has settled on stickers, pasteys and stencils.
When he was putting up the gasmasks, Ikon wandered down and commented that there needed to be more stens around the place.
Have you ever noticed no-one can get enough of stencils? It doesn't seem to matter what artists and writers personal style choices are, almost everyone appreciates a good clean stencil.

BW's one of my favourite human beings. He's a fellow graf hound and obsessio and all we talk and text about all day is graf (taking the pressure of his long suffering non-graf partner I hope!). If it wasn't for BW, I would never have had the courage to start this site. In fact, if it wasn't for him, I still wouldn't know what a pastey or a throwie was, even though I had been taking images of both for a few years for the Street. Graf was a language I loved the look of but didn't know how to speak until I met BW who gave me a crash course. He's like a graf wiki and, as far as Leftbank resources, BW's more crucial than both my Nokia and laptop combined.

So here's the thing...
I'm a toy (and I know I'm not doing myself any cred favours by saying that), but I have BW who I can ask for help. Even though he's almost 20 years younger than me, he isn't protective of what he knows and isn't scared to share it, he notes, encourages and big ups my progress without making me feel like an old fool tool - and on a sub-conscious level he does what all the best mentors do - he makes no mention at all of the bad but always high tens the good.
The effect is that I get courage to try new things (coming soon by the way) and push myself harder and most of all, after hours at work then having to come home to do another mid-nighter here, night after night, it helps me stay motivated.

Now, you must know by now where this is headed...

Adopt a Toy!! lol ;-)

Share your knowledge - give someone a hand, or a can. Help a dribbly toy with no can control but a ton of potential feel like they're not up a dark alley risking arrest or being done over for nothing.

What goes around, goes around, goes around, goes around, comes all the way back around...
We all know JT's singing about Graf Karma right?

Next day...
Now that I'm not cross eyed and exhausted, I just read over this again.
It's obvious what my name E stands for.
Emo!
How about S.I.E?
Sickeningly Idealistic Emo?! haha

CFG

I just noticed CFG are now Cool Fools Graffin' - easier to spell and makes more sense ;-)

Multi Media Installation - Lefties Style ;-)

After the shock and disgust of seeing Have Fun Cleaning Bitch tagged on the knitting shop window, it was probably just as well my internet connection went belly up and I couldn't post for a few days.

That was yesterday and today I'm over it, and marveling at this image taken last night as the sun was setting, I can only laugh at the thoughts I had of not doing this anymore.

What's not to love about this unpredictable derelict tract of pipes and concrete...

Otis and Silenc Speak Up...

Just in case you missed them, here are Otis and Silenc getting up real good!

And this, at the very end of the interview in the TV3 studio this morning with Otis and the Councilor in charge of Zero Tolerance for Graffiti programme in Auckland, Paul Greenwood...

Interviewer: Any merit, do you think, to the Council providing an area the people are allowed to use for these kinds of purposes?

Otis: Absolutely - Yes!

Councillor: I don't think so - I mean - I think that's the old just hug them a bit more, love them a bit more and they'll stop doing it. I think you've actually got to catch people.

Otis: I think loving and hugging more would actually probably work.

And from the interview with Silenc...

If the Council members, the Mayor and all these anti-graffiti people, if they're coming from an angle - like if I come at you like this and punch you, you're automatically going to throw up the defensive right? Well - it's natural - ok?
So I think that's not the way to actually solve the problem - by attacking. The best way is to, you know, just basically, to reason...

I couldn't help but think that both the graf guys looked so zen.
And when will the Councils, Police and graffiti activists et al start taking notice of what they were both saying, what we've all been saying, for how long?...

Ich Gehe Schlafen...

Remember the story I told you about my German couch surfer Sarah and how I ripped off Dusk on Ghuznee St and gave her to her to take back to Germany?

And do you remember that I told you she made the sticker Eye Opened that went onto the Lefties Sticker Window of Fame (then got tagged over)?

Well - she sent me an email last week and toward the end she asked if I'd seen her other stickers. I said No - that I thought there was only the one.

A few nights ago I was walking home in the dark and rain and for some reason I looked up suddenly and right in front of me was one of Sarah's instantly recognisable stickers. I looked at it closer and burst out laughing because it said Ich Gehe Schlafen.

The whole time she and Theresa stayed with me, the only piece of their language they were able to get through to me was Ich Gehe Schlafen which loosely translates into I'm tired - I want to go to bed now (or similar). This is exactly what I would say every night when I had been editing and posting here for hours until I got too cold or went cross eyed - whichever came first - and it didn't take long to become our In joke.

So - seeing a random sticker on a random street that hundreds of people must have walked past and knowing immediately it had been specifically made for me and had just been biding it's time until I finally discovered it was trippy! On a cold winter's night, this was an ultimate treat which made me feel strangely special and I could almost feel Sarah smiling at me as I peeled it off for my collection, grinning and giggling like a crazy thing all the way home ;-)
Gute nacht Sarah!
xxx

Clink...

Lots of hating going on down the alley. Is it like Hyena's who don't have much turf and fight constantly over the small amount they have?
Or is it bad apples and eggs?!

I heard today that DR is going for a Government sponsored holiday. That would explain why he's been going hard and not giving a shit in the process. He's been banned by at least one venue in town for tagging their stairwell (they had fliers with his photo spread around the place) and there was another huge tag on a hallway wall the other day.
It'll be interesting to see if much changes down Lefties with him gone but more interesting is what he'll get up to before he goes. Something tells me he won't put down his cans quietly...