Is this thing on?

Fuck if I know.

Hello and welcome to All Hail The Black Market’s 2,269th post. It promises to be better than my 1,263rd post, but likely won’t be as good as my 3,000th, maybe.

So as I’m want to do here on a weekly basis, I’d like to throw out all of the black goo that collects inside of my head, and see if it lands in any semblance of recognizable patterns.

Firstly, anyone who’s spent any amount of time here knows that I’m a big fan of the rock and roll musical group called Planes Mistaken For Stars, a band I had the supremely good fortune to randomly catch a few years ago while on my 2019 walk about;

Sadly, vocalist and guitarist Gared O’Donnell died of cancer in 2021, but was working up until his very end.

Well, it was just on Halloween when the following photo appeared on their IG account;

The very notion of this is so bittersweet it makes my face wrench up with grief, but my need to hear it outweighs the sadness of knowing that once this is out, it’ll be the final time the world hears Gared’s growl.

I can never not reflect on how Our Friend Christina Sinkhovec described their album Mercy as ‘sounding the way heartbreak feels‘.

For all of the excruciatingly obvious reasons, ‘Do You Still Love Me?‘ promises to deliver that in spades.

Moving on to other matters- it was here I mentioned the forthcoming Radical Rick book sale, which was done and listed before I even published the post (though I’ve heard murmurings of a paperback version). I was as keyed up as hell about this release, and would have been crushed to have missed it, so I posted up on my computer and pulled the trigger straight away. A few days later the goods arrived, and it’s everything I ever imagined;

And not to humble brag, but I was joyed to find the panel that I bought back in 2014;

If you were a little dirtbag BMX kid like I was, or maybe you’re a dirtbag BMX kid now, and have a penchant for the artistic stylings that Damian delivers, and the whimsical adventures that Rick and Mug get into, then you certainly have to get your hands on a book asap, or whenever they become available again.

Of course, if you’re local to Canada’s Tijuana, feel free to swing by my studio, provided you supply your own linen gloves.

And while we’re on the topic of high art- I assume anyone who was within ear shot of me knows well and good about Bobby Fingers.

If you don’t, (and how could you not?) here is another introduction.

He is an enigma. A musician, a comedian, a special effects master, and an extremely prolific artist of the highest order who I initially discovered shortly after his first video was released about a year ago.

Before I direct you to his output, I need to preface it with a request that they have your undivided attention. Yes, they are long, but they are worth every second. Don’t let your short attention span do you the disservice of not savoring every piece Mr. Fingers has to offer. I’ve watched each of his videos at least fifteen tines each and have seen or heard something new each time.

Secondly, while it’s not necessary to watch them in order, it is of benefit simply to understand his genius.

Thirdly, if it wasn’t apparent enough by all of the words that preceded these, it is one of the very best things the internet has ever provided me.

I say all of this in part to continue to project his efforts to a community who I think would appreciate them as much as I do, but to say after months of waiting, a new video will be debuted on his channel tomorrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HabwNdVjzp0
I don’t care about much, as much as I care about this.

I ended up signing on as a Patron so I could help support a bit more consistently (a first for me), and in doing so got to watch his latest effort which is just as incredible as all his others.

Man, what a time to be alive.

Moving on to bicycle related things- As most folks might be aware, the whateverth running of the SSCXWC happened over the weekend in my former home of Santa Cruz, California. While some of my Hodala compatriots and even two Amigos were in attendance, I was decidedly not.

Thankfully, Amanda made sure her offspring pulled the weight that I could not;

If I had a heart, it would be warmed by this.

You know you’ve lived well when little people who don’t know any better have begin dressing in your likeness.

Finally, how about you sit back and drink in the 102nd episode of Revolting;

It’s just additional noise potentially being projected into the universe.