Few weeks ago I walked around my neighborhood with a very specific purpose. There are a few of these landmarks in the heart of Jamaica right on Jamaica Ave., which is populated by McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Multiplexes, Duane Reades, cell phone providers and so on. This makes it quite shocking to see something with such presence like these historical landmarks. This one church that I pass by all the time really blew my mind in how awesomely creepy it looked. Not only did it look sinister but it had some of these incredibly old tombstones that reminded me of old horror movie cemeteries. I had to capture some of it with my camera. Below are only some of the photos taken that day…

This church screams horror movie backdrop with that big red door, tall dark trees and just general eeriness.

The address in case you wanted to peep this place for yourself. Bring a flashlight, your group of best-friends/mystery solvers and scooby snacks, you’ll need ‘em.

Note the yellow sign and the man in the right of the photo scavenging for God knows what.

Now I’m obviously not adhering to the sign either but I just wanted to show how ancient these tombstones look. I’m surprised many of these are still standing, which leads me to the next photo…

The broken tombstones are just placed against the wall. If you look in the back, you can see a few of the tombstones are still in the ground but leaning over, ready to topple soon. Here’s another photo…

These are some of the most decrepit graves in the cemetery. Almost all of these are unreadable, but I did happen to get information off of one of the graves.

I blurred out the name of the husband and wife but the dates are still visible. This woman died August 12th, 1872 at the age of 77. So if this is one of the only legible stones and it dates back to 1872, makes you wonder how old are some of the other ones.

I hope no one takes this post as disrespectful, I just wanted to post some photos of an interesting spot right off Jamaica Ave. that is an historical landmark, and on the subject of historical landmarks, here are a few photos of the Rufus King Manor which is right down the block from the Grace Church.

This house and the 11 acre area once belonged to King and served as his farm. Now it is reserved as a park and his house is a museum. The park is usually filled during the summer time with kids, people playing soccer, handball, etc. Check out this site for information on King and the museum/park:

http://www.kingmanor.org/Home.asp

This house gives off a spooky vibe, in my opinion. Go ahead, knock on the door, see if anyone is home.

Our friends over at Single Second got some new product up.  I just went over to their site to see what’s been going on and I found a nice new revamped site. I like to watch their brand grow and it’s fun to talk about our own projects to each other.  Check out their new line and visit their site!  

Chris Evans has recently been given the role of Captain America and not that I think he can’t do it, just, he is the Human Torch first in my mind. I thought it was excellent casting when they chose him for the role. He is too good of a Johnny Storm to switch to Steve Rogers. Rogers is All-American gentlemen and soldier while Chris Evans plays that smart-ass wise guy role of Johnny Storm so well that being in a born-leader role like Mr. Rogers seems like an ill fit.

I think Chris Pine (Captain Kirk in the most recent Star Trek movie) makes for a good young Captain America while also not messing with the current Marvel universe movie cast. He proves in Star Trek that he’s young but still got the chops to be the leader and make important decisions. This is the man who you want leading The Avengers, not the fun, smart ass guy making jokes and showing his inexperience.

Read a little bit about the character to get the feel of who Steve Rogers/Captain America is. Check the Wikipedia page here or if you’re looking for some great comic book material, look up Civil War, by the Mark Millar. (This  guy who brought us Wanted [the comic is much better than the movie with Jolie], Old Man Logan, and the most recent comic book turned into film, KICK ASS, and his most recent comic book, Nemesis, first issue has just been released this month and I already got mine)

Side note: BHSC writer is a huge comic book fan, so expect more posts like this. If you don’t like comic books/graphic novels, re-evaluate your life.

I think pomade is one of the best hair products out there. Everyone is all about gels, paste, mousse, hair spray nowadays. The stuff is trash. Pomade is the real McCoy. This is the ‘grease’ where the term greasers came from. Your daddy used it and his daddy as well. How do you think you got here? Your old man ain’t that smooth.. but his hair was. This stuff, once applied, takes a few washes to get entirely out. Some people think that’s bad, nah kids, that’s excellent if you’re lazy like me. You apply it once and you’re looking slick as the devil himself for a few days, despite showering your filth ridden body. The problem with pomade is that it is hard to come by, that’s why places like Tomcat’s are great because not only do you get a rad haircut but you also get the added bonus of finding some rare pomades. Here’s a quick picture of my little pomade collection because let’s face it, once you start using pomade, you’ll want to learn the difference between them all, strength, weight, hold, shine, etc.

Starting with the blue container on the left, this is Sweet Georgia Brown, good hold, good smell and decent shine. Cost around $8 bucks and you can find this at Tomcat’s last I was there. This one I believe is the in between, there’s a stronger hold Sweet Georgia Brown, and a lighter one, depends on your liking.

American Crew pomade is the black container with the beige label and is probably the most expensive, being around $14. This stuff, while smelling great and excellent shine, never had enough strength and hold to my liking. Still, I spent $14 fucking bucks on it so its not going anywhere.

Next is Layrite, the second tallest, yellow container around $7. This actually does wash out very easy but that’s because its a water based pomade made specifically to do that. Problem with Layrite is you need to apply a good amount to get a strong hold but it then starts to have that hard, crunchy feel that’s common with gel. The best part of pomade is the free form your hair has while still doing what you want, depending on how much is applied results will vary, like with most pomades.

My go-to pomade recently has been Black & White. This shit is rare, you gotta go to UK’s amazon site to get this stuff, well at least that’s how it came into my possession. This is the stuff Elvis supposedly used and I now know why. Good smell and great hold while still being able to let your little lady run her hands through your hair and if you play your cards right, maybe run her hands elsewhere… ha HA!

The orange container in the middle was my first introduction into this stuff. Murray’s, is a staple in the world of pomade. Cheap, strong as bull and the most abundant. You can find this in any Rite-Aid, Duane Reade, Walgreen’s, take your pick, all for about $3. You might have to look in the ethic section but don’t be shy, we’re all entitled to good hair, even white people. I guess as the hair market got flooded with the stuff we know now, the African American community was one of the few markets that still enjoyed the strong hold of pomades like Murray’s so that’s where it’s found nowadays. (the stuff works incredibly well but is tough to get the hang of, tips on use of pomade later)

And I’ll close it out with my old go-to pomade choices, American Greaser Supply Co. In the picture I have the light weight (kustom pomade) and medium weight (flat-top wax). Good shine also around $8 bucks each, the light weight is easy to apply but I wouldn’t recommend using it if your hair is longer unless you like the messy look. If you do have longer hair, try the flat-top wax, stronger hold, and great smell. I’d have to say American Greaser Supply Co. has my favorite scent of them all but that’s just opinion.

Now, the slightly tricky part…

You might need one of these bad boys to get some of the stronger hold pomades soft enough to apply in those beautiful locks of yours. Murray’s? Ever try to jam a finger into that cement mix? No dice. Warm it up for a minute or two with a hair dryer on full blast. Once it gets more manageable, scoop some with your fingers and throw it on. You’ll thank me later.

Does anybody remember those “No Rules” shirts. There was some cartoon kid on them with white hair, which I always wondered why white hair? Maybe he wasn’t even a kid, maybe he was just a really old dude. Like some old short 60 something that never grew up and dressed like the youth, hanging out at skate parks and dodging truancy police.

Anyway, I used to wear these all the time. These shirts, along with my JNCO’s. All these clothes had cool cartoon graphics on em, guess it make sense I still dig really good cartoon illustration. There’s something great about a graphic thats illustrated just right.

One day I was running late to computer class in middle school. The teacher took me to the back of the class to speak to me in private. He explained that lateness will not be acceptable and he noticed my “No Rules!” shirt. He reminded me that there are rules in school, no matter what my t-shirts might say. Bummer.