Trampolines in Music Videos: Trend or Coincidence

This one brings out the inner geek in me. You computer jockey's know what I'm talking about. (link via Robin)

And this one just makes me smile.

This post has already gone downhill and this is just the title

So i was walking down Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn yesterday when I happened upon the now defunct Ex Lax factory. A peek inside revealed a sign on the wall proclaiming "the chocolated laxative" which confirmed my finding.

According to Nancy McKiernan Realty,

"No “cookie cutter” apartment here. This 1200 square foot loft is the unique one bedroom, plus den/office (a potential second bedroom) space that makes the apartment search rewarding.Unique: An all new huge chef’s kitchen with acres of stone countertops, a 5 burner DCS range, Jenn-Air double door refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher, breakfast bar, and space to prepare a banquet. Unique: A flexible entertaining space that can let your imagination create a configuration that suits your personal style. Unique: 13 foot tall ceilings, 7 large tall south facing windows giving both tons of light, and great distant views. Unique: More closets and storage than you can imagine…a huge floor to ceiling storage room, 3 separate large clothes closets, and a linen closet too.Unique: Located in Boerum Hill in the building-with-a-history, the former ExLax factory, it is just steps to 11 subway lines and all the restaurants and shops on Atlantic Ave. Smith St. and Brooklyn’s Fifth Ave. And the building has an enormous landscaped roof deck for your use."

I'm concerned that she doesn't mention the bathroom.

But that wasn't the reason I'm writing. Atlantic Avenue has a lot of antique shops, some are full of 18th Century guilded crap and some are warehouses for the coolest shit this side of Ex Lax. Boar heads and Chester A Arthur my friends. Well above my tax bracket but fun to look anyway. The site seems to have older pics unfortunately.

Jesus, it's been a while.

I've been in Hong Kong for a bit. It was fun while it lasted but I'm glad to be back in the states.

While I was there I visited Wanchai and went to the Agnes B. Gallery. I didn't know that Agnes B. had galleries. Apparently they also have a movie theater.

Anyway the current show was called "The Changing Face of Portraiture" and featured portraits by people like photographer Rankin, web guru Joshua Davis, and designer Hillman Curtis. The above image of Bruce Lee was by Eboy. Actually most any illustrator or designer who has gotten buzz over the years thanks to the internet was probably showing. It's a traveling show that was born from the book. I believe there were about 100 portraits. Some of them were clever, others were beautiful, but all were digitally printed and somehow looked cheap. Perhaps the medium was appropriate.

IDN was one of the sponsors of the HK show and they have a few more images of the gallery space.

The authority of course would be the WIWP site, check out the impressive list of artists.

YouTube Music 3-14-07

Frank Zappa has appeared on TV countless times and he's always seemed uncomfortable. Here's a great clip of Frank on the Steve Allen show playing a bicycle, clean shaven and as awkward as ever.






Fast Forward to Frank several years later. I prefer this version of Montana to the 1981 show (with wanker Steve Vai) that's also posted on Youtube.

Yet Another Social Network

So has anyone signed up with Virb? I had no idea it existed until Jeremy Cowart pointed it out on his flickr page (he happens to be featured on the front page). I'm assuming it's another myspace with a marketing tweak. The interface looks tons better than myspace. I just wonder if it's really worth the hassle to create yet another profile, find all of your friends again, etc.

If anybody has tried it out and would care to share their experience with everyone, please comment!

On the Johnny Cash Show

As countless others do, I routinely mine youtube for musical content of gold. And just like others, I have decided to start posting my favorite finds.

Most people cringe at the thought of "Feliz Navidad" when they hear the name José Feliciano. A small minority of this generation; however, recognize that he is a bad ass and was blind at birth. Witness amazing muscle memory!

DIVA Fair

Their moniker is a bit misleading. It's actually the acronym for Digital Video and Art Fair and they have a very clever way of displaying work. I was walking around near Chelsea when I discovered one of their "galleries" sitting next to the sidewalk. I had not yet discovered it's purpose and was surprised to find a small projector displaying video art onto a screen at the end of the small metal container. A black curtain separated the experience from the daylight.

You can find a map of all the different containers here.

If you don't live in the city you can still watch the films online.

You know what I think of this day? oh nevermind.

Happy Valentine's Day to my lovely wife, Katie. Im still getting use to writing the words "my wife".

Now I'm just waiting for the flying car.

I was shocked and horrified to learn that the Pentagon has unveiled a new "non lethal" weapon for crowd control called ADS or Active Denial System. It is a heat-ray gun. Beam my f'n ass up Scottie. We have a heat-ray. Brought to you by the same folks who made the microwave oven, Raytheon.

Mounted from a Humvee this gun sends a silent beam that reportedly penetrates 0.4 millimeters into your skin to give you an awful burning sensation as if you might catch on fire. Beautiful.

Some light reading.

Democracy Now interview with Marc Garlasco, non-lethal weapons expert at Human Rights Watch and Gary Anderson, retired Marine Colonel and defense consultant.

Link referred by Raytheon

Proof that I still get out and Dystopian road trips

Things have calmed down a bit and it has afforded me the opportunity to do things like drop by Headquarters Studio to see the gallery show, "I'm Celebrating My Love for You With a Pint of Beer & a New Tattoo". It was a collection of collages by Matt Maust, bassist for the Cold War Kids. Some real lovely typography.
To be honest I missed the bandwagon and never heard their music but my friend, Lucy, enlightened me. You can read more about the show here and here (not very informative, but sports my likeness).

I also finally got around to seeing Children of Men and it lived up to my hyped expectations. Alfonso Cuarón is now on my awesome list. The cinematographer ain't to shabby either – the much talked about single take action sequences were absolutely stunning. It was also quite refreshing to sparesly see any gadgetry that will inevitably read as dated 10 years from now. If there is a 10 years from now :) Plus, it's the only movie I've contemplated seeing twice in the theater this year. My wife wasn't as thrilled, however.

Urban Sprawl

As I was driving back to Brooklyn from TN after the holidays I started thinking about the immediate geography.

Here is a collection of links I have made in honor of urban sprawl. Enjoy.

The paintings of Josh Keyes who was selected for the juried exhibition in print, New American Paintings.


The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

100 Largest U.S. Urbanized Areas ranked by square miles of sprawl.


Flickr photoset for the documentary, Subdivided.

David Maisel's series, Oblivion.

Urban Sprawl and Public Health by Howard Frumkin and Lawrence Frank


Maps

Google Maps at Night

Sprol's Google Map Mash-up

Head (Cold) in the (dave) Cloud(s)

I've started the new year with a hearty strain of the common cold. It's bittersweet because I feel like hell, but I finally get a chance to slow down. The holiday from the holidays if you will.

And now our narrative will be tainted by NyQuil.

My friends Brian and Elizabeth came up from Nashville to see the Tropicália exhibit at the Bronx Museum and were staying with us for the weekend. Somehow, over a glass of wine, our conversation turned to Dave Cloud and the Gospel of Power who Brian was once a member of. I asked about finding some of their recordings under the assumption Dave's heyday was over. Yet, the opposite was true and I was directed to their new UK label, Fire Records, and a compilation cd called that was released in 06'. Plus, they are touring in Europe!


This video however was the Christmas miracle I have been waiting for.

Still Way Too Busy

Much time has passed once again. The holiday's and work deadlines are ruining my flow. I did have a chance to tune out for a bit on Wednesday where I found myself once again in Dumbo. Powerhouse Books held their annual "Holiday Extravaganza" in the very impressive Powerhouse Arena. Many authors and photographers were there to sign books available for purchase. I was surprised to find some books that I had been pining over where actually published by them.

This post gives me the opportunity to plug my favorite street photographer at the moment, Boogie, who's book "It's All Good" was also on display. My wife's a sucker for anything horse related so it was ok that we purchased the very interesting, "Fletcher Street".

Also on display were photographs from the bygone disco years.

And yes, the best part was free booze. Go check out their books!

Rock the Vote

Now that the task of reinstating a balance on the hill has been accomplished, it's time to vote for your rock n' roll candidate. The Hold Steady wants your vote for "Who's Next?". No, our democracy isn't perfect by a long shot. But hey, at least you know that the voting machines really do work on Yahoo.

8:00 AM: Having my coffee

I've been so incredibly busy playing art director that I have neglected the blog I just started. We shot on Thursday and Friday so the hard part is over. The photographer was the lovely, Sarah Silver , who was lot's of fun. I hope to get back with some good linkage soon.

Super Awesome

Check out the greatest pinhole camera I've seen yet. One of those projects that makes you think, "Damn, I should of done that."

Other treats:
The photobooth is becoming a rare commodity thanks to digtal photography and printing (not to mention the wane of malls). The said photobooth has now been cloistered at your local dive bar. But wait, is there a glimmer of hope?

I urge you to check out Home-Tapes, a haven for artists as musicians. As I mentioned, Nick Butcher played the CMJ showcase and it was beautiful. Oh, the confusion for anyone looking for easily consumed product. With little regard for the "too cool for school crowd", Nick served up some challenging compositions made with primitive keyboards,ancient tape recorders,an old radio, and no compromise. It was if these forgotten, archaic electronics were having their own private dialog. Once you settled into the drone of a looped chord through the speaker of an old radio you start to notice things you haven't before. The same way you start to relate to a color field painting which is also deceptivly simple. It was fun to see Nick's strategy for implementing all of his tools, which included scotch tape and a bit of dexterity, as well as some well timed jack inputs. Yet, no amount of preplanning could compensate for the pervasive element of chance. I found the whole the whole performance to be quite genius. Nick is truly an artist and I wouldn't expect less from his music. Good times.

I didn't get a chance to stay for much of the rest of the showcase but I did catch the beginning of The Carribean's set. Of what I heard it was quite enjoyable. But what the hell do you care what I think? Check it out yourself.

Eternal Damnation and Powdered Doughnuts

Out of all the places I might think to find the evangelical shock treatment that is Hell House, Dumbo would be the last place I would look. Yet, lo and behold, Les Freres Corbusier, the same folks that brought you A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, has staged a production straight from the Hell House kit.

I attended last night and it was surprisingly good fun. I won't go into the head trip about the elephant in the room named irony. I think the New York Times theater review sums it up pretty well.

To me it felt like a grand experiment where two worlds collide. And what it yielded is hard for me to articulate. Which is unfortunate for a blog.

So on that note. Get tickets if you can. You'll have all the fire and brimstone without the painful conversion pressure at the end. Bonus = free powdered doughnuts.

p.s. If you do attend, don't pass by "Pin the Sin on Jesus" without taking a gander. It's a cut out of Jesus that you affix your confessed sins to via push pin and paper.
My favorite sin posted that night was, "I like to stick Jesus with pins".

Eat your heart out screamo pansies

Check out these kids playing a Sepultura cover. They are going to kick your ass when they turn 15. Link via Josh

Dear Technorati Spiders

I just got word from Nick Butcher. He will be playing a show at the Trash Bar in Williamsburg for CMJ.

Ever see his screen printed book, The Complicated Bicycle? You should. Comes with fabulous lo fi music. Check it out at Placetapes

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Apollo Up on Woxy

Download Apollo Up's performance at Woxy. Chariots of Fire is a real solid album. But don't take my word for it. Visit their site and check it out for yourself. Almost makes me regret being a Tennesee expat.

Track Listing:
Walking The Plank
Situation: Hot!
- interview -
Even If You Don't Die
Custom Critical
The Job's A Game