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Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Taul “Toy Crusher” Waters is a Jacksonville, Florida–based artist whose practice evolved the way street knowledge usually does: illegally, obsessively, and with a sense of humor sharp enough to draw blood. He cut his teeth in graffiti and illustration, learning early how to communicate fast, loud, and without permission. That foundation expanded into graphic design, painting, digital illustration, and blogging—each medium treated as another surface to disrupt, remix, or interrogate. His work balances discipline with defiance, blending professional execution with the residue of alley walls, sketchbooks, and long nights spent refining ideas that refused to behave. Taul draws inspiration from hip hop culture, drum and bass rhythms, science fiction, horror, skateboard graphics, and the kind of absurd life experiences you only understand after surviving them. More recently, his exploration of synthography has pushed his visual language into stranger territory, where machines collaborate in the chaos rather than clean it up. Darkly comical and deliberately confrontational, his work invites viewers to laugh first, think second, and then realize they’ve been implicated the entire time.

Saturday, November 14, 2026

Episode 26: Cerebral Lounge

I once walked into a Bank of America and deposited $200 in quarters. It was a BoA in Mandarin, so...no regrets…
You see that suprised and confused look on my face? That's the face of a man who still hasn't finished that painting. It's staring at me right now. Anyway, the amount of gray hairs on my face have grown exponentially since this photo was taken, and a general sense of the absurdity of that painting still not being finished seems almost comical in this moment...

...from the archives!...
FREESTYLES FROM 2003

These were all scribbled during a time when WinAmp was still an available streaming platform, social media basically consisted of just Friendster, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who was brave enough to post a selfie - but it was definitely coming...obviously. Being recently separated from the military, this was right before the time I'd begin releasing my socially awkward shenanigans upon the general public. You don't want this life.

Remember, this is A24 we're talking about...

SLAYGROUND TRAILER

From A24:
"Scare-actor “Metal Mike” Graves wakes up in a haunted attraction surrounded by the dead bodies of his co-workers with no memory of how they got there. As a state-wide manhunt closes in, he races to uncover the truth - even if the trail leads straight back to him."
...so we can't really judge the novelty of this film by the trailer. On the surface it seems kinda like your straight forward scarehouse slasher mystery. However, considering the studio backing it, there's probably a twist in the plot that's so left field that it's registered to vote. I guess we'll find out, but after watching The Houses October Built I've developed a little bit of a taste for these types of Haunted House types of horror films. Keep the train rolling...


I've always put 1408 up there with Resident Evil, for some reason...

1408 SEQUEL IN THE WORKS
From Dread Central:
"We might be checking back into 1408.

According to Daniel Richtman on Patreon, John Cusack (Identity) and Samuel L. Jackson (Deep Blue Sea, Snakes on a Plane) are returning for a follow-up to the 2007 Stephen King adaptation, with original director Mikael Håfström (The Rite) also coming back.

Released under the Dimension Films banner, 1408 adapted King’s short story about Mike Enslin, a skeptical author who makes a living investigating supposedly haunted locations. Against the increasingly desperate warnings of hotel manager Gerald Olin, played by Jackson, Enslin checks into room 1408 at New York’s Dolphin Hotel. What follows is a night of psychological torment that turns his skepticism against him.

We don’t talk about this one nearly enough. It was a pretty solid supernatural thriller, with Cusack carrying much of the film himself and Jackson making you question why anyone would step into that fucking room after hearing his warnings."
>>> READ THE REST HERE <<<

This is one of those movies that I've watched at least 15 times, and every time I get frustrated with Cusack when he gets that cocky "A-ha!, I've figured this out!" attitude and he's clearly going to fail. It's one of those Stephen King classics that just doesn't get old no matter how many times you watch it, but I'm now at an age where I understand why my uncles would yell at the people in horror movies when they behaved in counterintuitive ways.

There's so much internet out there now, I forgot these existed...

TOP GUN BAD LIP READING

The thumbnail to the video had me chuckling immediately. I'm not even a fan of Top Gun - although I've seen it - but this brand of comedy works so well for something, or really anything, that Tom Cruise is in that it outshines the whole Hot Shots franchise. I'm both entertained and infuriated by the concept of randomness, but the work the Bad Lip Reading camp puts out will definitely make you decide to not choose violence.


This next segment is strictly for nerds only - absolutely no normies whatsoever...

HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY THROUGH 2,600 YEARS OF PHILOSOPHY
From Big Th!nk:
"A quick note! This Mini Philosophy article features “The Chart of Western Philosophy” — a new poster that traces more than 100 philosophers, schools, and movements across 2,600 years — now available in Big Think’s online store. It’s the fourth poster we’ve released with our friends at Pop Chart, which has been making stunning infographic posters since 2010. We plan to keep making posters like this, so drop us a line if you have suggestions for our next project. Visit the Big Think store on Pop Chart to find our latest poster — the code Philosophy25 gets you 25% off for a limited time.

— Stephen Johnson"

>>> READ THE REST HERE <<<

The actual article is pretty interesting - I just wanted to plug this poster because how awesome is that?! You didn't think you needed something like this posted up on your wall, but now you know you do need it. Imagine how much cross examination will be solved by having this as a reference? Also, I'ma email Big Think and ask...whomever is in charge of these types of matters if they can do something like this for Art History. Then we'll really see what happens...

Look, I've witnessed some off the wall plot twists in my day, but...

THE COFFEE TABLE TRAILER

I first have to say that this film is UN-NERVING. Within the first 20 minutes something uncomfortable happens, followed by one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a film in weeks (I've been told I watch a lot of movies like it's a bad thing). It proceeds to get eerie from there - even borderline comical. Although I couldn't bring myself to even giggle after what I saw in the beginning of the film. I can't go any more into it because this is truly one of those flicks you have to watch in order for it to have it's desired effect. However, if you've seen films like When Evil Lurks then you understand there is cinema that exists which can completely throw off your expectations. This is one of them.

>>> WATCH FULL MOVIE HERE <<<

Listen, man...

LEGENDARY TECHNO PIONEER AND CO-FOUNDER JUAN ATKINS DIES AT 64

From Pitchfork:
"Juan Atkins, the lifelong producer and DJ who co-founded Detroit techno music, has died; Green Smith Artists, Atkins’ management company, confirmed his death. Atkins was slated to perform at Yu Yu Club in Mexico City last night (October 31). He was 64.

As a member of the Belleville Three, Cybotron, and Borderland, Atkins’ impact on electronic music is, at this point, incalculable. By age 18, he had formed Cybotron with his friend Richard “3070” Davis. The two merged funk, electronic instrumentation, and futuristic themes that helped redirect the genre’s sound on their early singles—“Alleys of the Mind,” “Cosmic Raindance,” “Cosmic Cars,” “The Line”—before fully dominating the dancefloor with “Clear” in 1983. The electro track was an instant underground hit that soon broke into the mainstream. The single sold 50,000 copies and became a genre-defining composition, famously sampled by Missy Elliott and countless others. Cybotron went on to release three albums: 1983’s Enter, 1993’s Empathy, and 1995’s Cyber Ghetto. In 2023, Atkins revived Cybotron with co-producer Laurens von Oswald to release their first EP in 28 years, the two-track Maintain the Golden Ratio."
>>> READ THE REST HERE <<<

I never got to see Juan Atkins live, and that's a shame. Detroit heads will know this already, but techno is considered to be a form of Black music. People will probably fight me on that, but if you look at all of the American techno pioneers...
...however, I've been priviledged to hear sets by Kevin Saunderson, Feelgood, Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Derrick May, and even local techno dj's in various cities drop Juan Atkins tunes and absolutely slaughter the dance floor. Old heads everywhere will miss the OG, and for those who don't know...

JUAN ATKINS BOILER ROOM SET


DOOMSDAY just passed a couple weeks ago, and to commemorate the passing of the beyond legendary MF DOOM, I wanted to share a few of the synthography images I did over that weekend:
I literally did hundreds more of these, but I'm not going to drown you all in my obsessiveness. Take the time to pour one out, blaze one, whatever it is you do to pay homage to a true lyricist...

VIKTOR VAUGHN - FALL BACK TITTY FAT


It's that time of year again where the weather in Florida dips slightly and people start wearing clothes that aren't appropriate for a 5 degree weather drop. For those of us prone to hibernating when this happens, here's a video of some Jim Gaffigan Fall jokes. It's either this or you cuff someone that you'll probably get rid of come summer...

Stay up!

BEST OF JIM GAFFIGAN FALL SEASON JOKES


#toycrusher #taulwatersuniverse #mechdirective #art #artblog #jacksonville #jacksonvilleflorida #jax #jaxart #jaxartist #duvalcounty #duuuval #horror #jacksonvilleart #jaxartblog #slayground #a24 #jimgaffigan #twonks #1408 #badlipreading #topgun #thecoffeetable #viktorvaughn #mfdoom #juanatkins #detroittechno #bigthink #philosophy

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