dominic mallary, totally great person, passed away last week in a fluke accident. thursday, while singing for his band at a show in boston, he developed a bruise on his neck, and later in the night a blood clot traveled from the bruise to the brain. he fell into a coma, and died friday afternoon. i met dom when he came in the shop with some noise cds he and his girlfriend angela made. soon he was volunteering at the shop every week, on thursdays. dom was always working on a new musical project or developing an existing one, and working the shop on our slowest day gave him a rare opportunity to do nothing but sit around and read books of philosophy, and interact with random people.

dom was 24 years old, and as a teenager frequented the firecracker bookstore, an anarchist bookstore in downtown worcester that i was a part of. one of the first times we met he claimed this as a source of inspiration, and this became a genuine point of personal pride for me– to think that i could have had an effect on his growth into a brilliant punk living beautifully. even more meaningful to me was that he wanted to be involved with the shop in an effort to carry this forward, and give others the experience of something new, something different. i will say this: he was someone i had a great deal of hope in, and we will have to simply imagine the fantastic heights he could’ve achieved. that i did not get to know him better, is one of my few regrets. but of course, i feel lucky that i got to know him at all.

punks rarely talk about an afterlife except to say that it doesn’t exist. nonetheless i can’t shake the feeling of dom watching over me, making sure i’m: squeezing every last bit out of life, falling in love a million times a day, trying my hardest to achieve my full potential, helping others do the same, and enjoying every minute of it.

dom, i have no intention of letting you down.

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this saturday (the 13th) HBML will be having an event to raise money for hospital and funeral expenses. if you bring in a blank garment, we will silk screen onto it an image of a very very thorny and wonderful plant in tribute to our friend. the image will be available in both black or white ink. the print will cost $5 or whatever, and all money will go to dom’s family.

HBML exclusive! each order gets 2 bandanas: one pink, one grey. $10

SOLD OUT!!!!!!

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right now the worcester art museum has a great show of the art of tom lewis. tom was an artist, an activist, and a friend of ours, who passed away last april. the show includes paintings, prints, drawings, and newspaper clippings from the times he was arrested. the show is located in the education wing of the museum, and hence, free to go and look at (the rest of the museum has free admisssion saturdays before noon).

hey EAB, what time is it?

summer time!

also:
full text of walden on project gutenberg
free walden audiobook from librivox

john cage reads from “mureau”, an “i ching determined mix of letters, syllables, words, phrases and sentences from the journals of thoreau” concerning music.

this is joe, he volunteered at the store one day while his mom ran errands, and when he left all the action figures were arranged such that they were either fighting or humping or standing with their hands outstretched touching each other directly and exactly on the tips of their noses. anyway, joe’s really into aloe, so i got a case of this aloe drink, which is good, and you can decide that it’s refreshing, but it has thick wads of aloe floating in it, and not many people allow the ideas “refreshing” and “chunky” to cohabitate a thought. but joe liked it, i like it. if you want some we have most of a case of it, it’s a dollar a can, the going rate.

tom was a friend of ours, an artist, a teacher, an anti-war activist, and a million other things. in 1968 he was arrested for walking into a draft office and setting fire to all the records. i only met him last year, but we had a good time at pizza hut that one time, and he tried to volunteer at the shop but schedules never worked out. almost every time i saw him i think, he was wearing two hats, which is cool. tom passed away in his sleep a few days ago. he was 68 years old. scott wrote a really good obit here. you are missed, tom!

Clarice >> 22
t-shirt >> Salted Slug
Skirt >> ReGenE
Scarf >> Scarf City
Glasses >> New Wage
Point of fashion >> spring hero
Current Obsession >> Hero Cliks

Tennis Dreyfus >> 24
Jacket >> Jon Dhoe
Skirt >> Valid Joint
Shoes >> Devoe Flow Train
Hat >> Den of Equippage
Point of fashion >> chaotic good
Current obsession >> Drug Traffic

it’s the ass-end of winter, some would say the toughest part. here’s some summer haircut pics to make you insane, from danzig day:

cj gets the haircut from our noble nonunion hairstylist pat scully.

more pictures after the cut:
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sam works at the store every friday. this action figure isn’t for sale, but his new comic book “pizza wizard” is, so swing on by!