TONITE AT THE HKAN : SOUL II SOLE SATURDAYS WITH DEEJAY DRASTIK AND GUESTS!

EVERYONE REMEMBER HOW CRAZY LAST SATURDAY WAS! WELL WE'VE GOT A REAL TREAT AT THE HKAN TONITE! tonites guest deejayS, plural, are DEEJAY HANK D, and DEEJAY BIG JOHN STUD, these three deejays ran the pittsburgh hip hop scene when yinz were thirteen... WE ARE GOING OFF TONITE! see yinz there

THE EQUIPMENT ARRIVED TODAY!!!!!

SO , this morning, the equipment arrived on schedule, got set up relatively smoothly.. minus almost knocking myself unconcious while levelin this wheel! beware of the pallet arms hahah ... today was the culmination of many years of planning and many months of paperwork and it feels fantastic! thank you everyone for your continued support and kind words, we are definately gonna be doing alot of awesome stuff here! BOOT PRINTS CREW! WE'RE HERE NOW!

waiting

the day ive been waiting for is finally here! for years ive been telling people .. "when i get my own equipment ill be able to do this and ill be able to do that..." well ... guess what?!?!? ITS HERE!

our doorway!

made this face out of some broken pieces of plastic that were in the shop when we moved in, just painted and placed.. neat!

little wheatpaste action
we still have to pain these doors black! and gonna put a white border around dude

the ordering process underway

the ball is officially rolling, the equipment has been ordered today, and will be delivered very shortly! its almost surreal! seriously the last stages of a dream, cusp of reality, like so close i can taste it! i suggest everyone follow your dreams no matter whats in your way, i promise its worth it. nothings ever been more rewarding. i have to give a shout out to my peoples, dan thank you for believing in me and being in a position to give this company a kick in its ass to get a move on! arlo! thank you so much for everything, you've been here before me at times always ready to work and make it happen here. its a privelage to be working with you. jewels! my dude, we been tight so long like family! i know you got what it takes fammo! thank you for keepin me grounded and for all your help with everything.. blessed 'at. billy my brother from the same mother! i cant wait to get you on this wheel like a demon! thanks for everything! yinz'r the best!

and of course shouts to brad bianchi (ill sculptor) who said he could make anything and did.. a screen washout tub that is perfect in everyway! thank you! and tommy g! good look on this plumbing your a beast for real, i didnt think it was possible but you made it happen! big stu! couldnt have a dark room without a red light.. couldnt have a red light without electricity! your that dude!

and anyone else thats brought us lunch, or donated any items needed, or just said hey! good job yinz'r are doing good shit! that means more than anything! and of course THANK YOU! FOR READING MY RAMBLES AND SEEING OUR PROGRESS! your witnessing history! very soon my friends. its been a rough and long couple of months, you wont appreciate the sun as much if you dont weather the storm.

joe boots. out.

screen shelving was fun! and once again arlo is a beast!

the biggest thank you to brad and his dumpster divin money savin ways! and arlo for comin thru to get his build on as always!!! lookin great guys!

so everyones clear all wood used for this wall and shelving was recycled from a mckees rox dumpster! we're greener than you!

McGRUNK GETTIN HIS ROLLER ON!

these slats will be painted black and secured in place once the screens come so we can give them the best fit possible

these are some old screens we had layin around collectively, the new ones will be bigger .. like twenty ten! bigger and better!

gettin there!

LAST NITE / TODAY

Last nite was another smash success at the hkans weekly SOUL II SOLE saturdays with DEEJAY DRASTIK and special guest: DEEJAY HANK D! KEEPING HIP HOP IN SAHSIDE ALIVE AND WELL!!!

It was so warm yesterday and everyone had such a great day, of course that spilled over into the night... and for me, the leftover energy from the TIME BOMB SUPER SALE had me ready to go off! Luckily Drastik and Hank D were illin and killin it! By midnite it turned into a full blown freaked reggae dancehall! Everyone that was on the dance floor was in a serious zone for much of the night.. I for one managed to skank and oi! for approximately 4 hours straight! Then after the party was the after party! WHAT UP V.dot! Drastik! Earnie! Miranski! and Franski! Solving the worlds problems, listening to the great ghost dieni.. PERFECT END to a PERFECT NIGHT!

Unfortunately because I strolled through the door in a fiery haze at 0330, I didnt roll out of bed until noon. So I gave myself an order, 2 to 10 at the shop WORKING ... a quite extensive list of things that need to be accomplished prior to getting the equipment has been building up. Because of the construction that was neccesary, some other things took the back burner; invoices, labels, business cards, shop signage, etc. had to be designed. Plus a twitter account had to be set up. twitter.com/bootprintscrew btw. So the 8 solid hours put in today were VERY productive.

All design work on the list was completed (including some design work for dj Drastik .. hes got some platinum creations in the works), and another list for tomorrow has been drawn up.

Everyday needs to be like this.

ps. were ordering the equipment on wednesday!

This has all been such a whirlwind experience and is much more exciting (and frustrating) than I ever could have even imagined. Since the capital was secured Jan. 4th, we have transformed an empty warehouse into the PERFECT screenprinting shop, locked in a few jobs, and got most of the in-house paperwork / design work taken care of. There has been quite a few bumps in the road in the past month, and i expect there will be more, but this is all about the work you have to put in. Nothing will ever be handed to you. Work hard, and it will pay off.

"Ambition without authenticity will spoil the riches"

GOOD AFTERNOON!

its a great day in pittsburgh today. the sun is shining, and the cold has (temporarily) been lifted! im down the shop with the one and only arlo, bout to install the shelves for the screens shortly! pics to come! ... oh my it is getting so close i can taste it.

sometimes you gotta lose your mind to get it back to where it is supposed to be. and i am right where i need to be now. the shop is coming along amazingly, the equipment will be ordered in like 48 hours... moving right along.

and now were off to the bank to get this shit set up! DAMN THIS FEELS GREAT

THE FACADE

BOOT PRINTS FACADE HAS BEEN BLESSED!

THANK YOU DON DILLY! KNOWN TO GET ILLY!

WASH TUB ! WE CAN WASH BIG SHIT NOW!

TOTALLY WATERPROOFED AND SEALED

BIG SHOUT TO BRAD BIANCHI FOR BUILDING THIS WASHTUB/TABLE COMBO! HE TOLD ME HE COULD BUILD ME ANYTHING I NEEDED.. AND HE WAS NOT LYING!

AND A huge shout out to TOMMY GMITER! HES A BEAST PLUMBER AND DID THIS SHIT SO EFFICIENTLY FOR US! THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES!

THERE WILL BE A HOSE SPRAYER ADDED IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.....

GETTING CLOSE AND WE ARE VERY EXCITED! AS YOU SHOULD BE !

this is the very last stages of the dream.... on the cusp of reality!

so, we got our LLC entity and such, and are waiting on our EIN paperwork to be filed, then we deposit mad dough, then GET THE EQUIPMENT! my energy the past month has been diverted to a bunch a bullshit, but im totally focused now! fuck the bullshit, this is my dream! and i will be successful... cuz i dont know how to be anything else! HI! IM JOE BOOTS! I MAKE TEE-SHIRTS AND ALL SORTS OF OTHER COOL SHIT!

BPC! ONE! TWO! THREE! LETS GET IT!!!!!!!

and im very excited to unveil my whole teams individual lines.... they been cookin that fire... if your a local "designer" and your shit is wack.... well... just get out of our way for real... but all ILL shit welcome!

SHOP PRESENTATION AND ORGANIZATION.. a never ending road.

UNCLE ARLO! HITTIN THE TRIM!

SHELVIN PAINTED, SOMEWHAT ORGANIZED!

J.V. AT THE DESK!

SUPREME ARTIST STATION!

OF COURSE ANOTHER HUGE SHOUT OUT TO THE BOOT PRINTS CREW!

ARLO, BILLY FLEABAG, DAN, AND V. DOT.

WE ARE THE ILLEST!