Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 21:14:38 -0400
Subject: Thug4Life update
From: 31grand <gallery31grand-AT-earthlink.net>


 Hi everyone,

Below is the weekly update for Tom Sanford's "Thug4Life Project".

http://www.Thug4Life.org

Update as of September 7th, 2003

I have now been working on my Thug4Life project for just over two months and
posting my daily web log for just under a month. I am well on my way to
successful executing this project, and am very pleased with the progress.

I plan to transform myself into Tupac Amaru Shakur to be completed the day
of my opening at 31 Grand Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. So far I have
lost almost 30lbs, shaved my head several times, had my nose pierced, drawn
all of Tupacıs tattoos as reference for the tattoo artist, consumed a great
deal of Hennessey and marijuana, and made considerable progress towards
achieving Tupacıs beautiful physique.

As well as documenting my progress (with the help of photographer Presscott
McDonald and others) I have been posting my musings on the project as well
as feed back and correspondences with various people who have contacted me
with their reactions (both positive and negative) to my project.

One highlight of the project was receiving email from Bruce Washington
A.K.A. Hussein Fatal. Fatal is a member of the OUTLAWZ, a group of rappers
who were very close to Tupac. Initially Fatal was critical of my project;
however we have corresponded, and while I believe that he is still skeptical
of my project he seems to understand that I mean no disrespect to Tupac.
Fatal has kindly provided me with some photographs of himself and Tupac, as
I plan to paint a portrait of Fatal in the near future. I also hope to
arrange a meeting with Fatal before the project ends in five weeks, assuming
Fatalıs schedule allows for this. He is currently working on several film
projects as well as an upcoming album. From what I hear he has been
traveling a good deal for these projects and has not spent much time in the
metro area as of late.

The next week of the project is especially important to me because seven
years ago today (September 7th, 1996) Tupac was shot. He would die seven
days later. Consequently, this week is central to the project ­ I will be
focusing on the events that surrounded this tragic event and the many
conspiracy theories that attempt to explain this yet unsolved murder.

Please check in and enjoy my progress, also feel free to post comments or
email me privately with you feedback, questions or concerns about the
project. I post entries at least once a day, and hope that you enjoy
watching my progress. I have a lot of interesting activities and events that
will unfold over the remainder of the project.

Hope to see you at 31 Grand on October 11th at the opening of ³Bling²,

Tom Sanford



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