| Wewease Wavage! |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|11:00 pm] |
Shortpacked!: The difference a day makes. (And a sister?)
 Man, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. All I've got left is this Burger King toy to talk about. I've been busy mailin' books and drawin' comics and gettin' ready for my onslaught of conventions (a conslaught?) to go out and about to search for toys. There's not even really any out there that I want! I'm pretty good at the moment.
So have "Ravage Reveal," one of Burger King's kids meal toys. He's basically this big clamshell thing with a thick plastic keychain ring on it. You open up the halves of the shell, and a little Ravage drops down via an assemblage of levers. Set Ravage down anywhere, and the shell closes back around him.
(That's why The Fallen is propping him up. There's no way to lock him in that position, and gravity will thwart you every time.)
I'm amazed by the efficiency with which I was able to get the three Burger King toys I was interested in. Usually I end up with all these extra guys I didn't want. No, I got Devastator, The Fallen, and Ravage, the only three I was interested, in three consecutive visits.
But basically that just means that many fewer potential blogpost subjects. D'oh!
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|07:23 pm] |
Word on the street is they're putting the best radio show ever back on the air in September. ;D
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| Sarah Louise |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|07:22 pm] |
You all remember Michael Jackson died?
There has been a lot of media crap around since then about that guy.
You want to see something really good and really poignant about it instead? My friend Sarah Louise (Sally Bloodbath on livejournal) made a really wonderful comic about her memories of MJ, and it is a refreshing, good thing.
I am just telling her as I write this that she needs a website, because that is the truth, the lady is talented. You should tell her so, because I am hounding her to get on it.
Check out her recent interview on Everything is Wonderful. |
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| Carpet Cleaning |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|04:23 pm] |
Anyone have any recommendations on who to hire for carpet cleaning? We're going for cheap because our apartment could probably pass without any sort of cleaning, but we're not gonna risk it.
Thanks guys!
(If it matters, it's a two story apartment, so there are carpeted stairs.) |
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| Help! I need somebody! |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|05:16 pm] |
Sometimes I feel like I am lacking in people to talk to about photography.I know people, and I talk to them from time to time, but it's usually kind of uncomfortable. Unless it pertains to the use of equipment and techniques - unless it has to do with identifying the speacific means to achieve something, I actively dislike conversations about equipment.
It's not just that I don't care for technical specs or new models or old classics. It's not that I don't have any interest in the accumulation of equipment - I do - equipment is how you achieve the goal of taking a photo. You can't build a house without tools. But I feel a real, guttural discomfort with conversations about equipment for the sake of talking about equipment. It's like when car guys talk about engines or cars - I feel the same way about that. I don't derive any pleasure from that kind of interaction - that kind of fixation and recitation.
I don't know how to put it to really drive home the fact. It's like... people get into hobbies or professions and then they get this impulse that drives them in social situations regarding that hobby or profession to say things that seem to have no purpose other than to say "yes, we are one, we are special, these are the things we worship". or to stir up conflict, which is an impulse everyone has regardless of interests. Even though I sometimes fall into that mode I always feel sick and disgusted with myself afterward. I don't even know why I feel sick about it, I just know I hate it.
So what do I want from people when I want to talk about photography? What do I want from my own photography? Well, I postulate that I want the same thing most artists want. I want to be uncompromising in my vision and expression, but I want to cause some kind of resonance in people. I face the same challenges I see in other artists, to be honest and objective with myself and grow and develop my art but to retain something intrinsically mine in everything I do. I want to know exactly how to create something that is universal, that is marketable, that is finely tuned to cause the response I want. And, like I assume other artists do, I struggle with finding a match between what flows out of me and what will cause some number of other people to tell me I'm a good boy and that I deserve to have the time and luxury required to pursue art. I want to be justified. Because, lets face it, art is inherently selfish. It's only when you reach a certain level of response and can touch people to a certain degree that your selfishness is forgiven by the people.
At any rate, sometimes my ability to express why I like what I like bleeds over into my insecurity about my photos that I don't like, or that I wish were better. I want other people to help me identify things that I know that I want to change and to make better but that I wont admit to out of fear of not being good enough. But I don't want what is readily available - people who have developed a skill set of irrelevancies to tear art down with. Worthless opinions that do nothing but make the person giving them feel superior. I want someone I can talk to about artistic matters from the level of openness and vulnerability that art makes me feel. But at the same time, that's so deeply personal and unique that there's very little hope of finding anyone I can talk to like that - someone I would see eye to eye with artistically. And if I did, well, I fear I wouldn't believe them. I'd think they couldn't possibly be feeling what I feel.
I want the perfect advice. I want to hear exactly what I need to hear to make myself a better photographer, without experiencing undue pain or compromise of what I want to express. I want instruction and guidance but a sensitivity to the subjective aspects of art. I want a muse and a kindred spirit. I want someone who tells the truth but knows the difference between something harsh and something true - and between something subjective and possible and something objectively true. I want someone who knows the difference between my truth and my lying to myself - because they often sound exactly the same.
At any rate, I like this photo more than the two pictures of deers I posted before, but I feel like it's hopeless that anyone would like this photo as much as I do or for the reasons I do (none of which involve the experience of taking it). I love the composition, how it demands that the viewer accept what would normally be consider3ed a very awkward layout, I love the colors, how they are vibrant and rich but at the same time a somewhat flat, small pallet of visual experience, I love how the soft focus and narrow DoF create a surreal mix of bokeh, shapes, and textures. I love the form and expression of the animal and the way the animal behind it blends together in the same line of their backs to create a sort of surreal partially cropped six legged thing. I love the overall feel and tone and how it combines with the creature's expression and surreal blending with the creature in the background and the odd composition and the bokeh and color scheme all work together with the visual cues of what is actually going on and where to create this semi-detached surreal slice of wilderness that is nearly magical and yet very mater of fact and unexcited. That is the quick and colorful reason why I love this photo. But I don't know that it works that way at all for other people. I don't htink it would work that way if it was anything other than what it is and how it's composed and shot.
the textures and shapes of the out of focus regions and the animals face are better seen at full size, or half size at least. but here's a monitor friendly size behind a cut.
( image behind cut ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|01:27 pm] |
If you haven't read the comic yet, this is a good time to start. These first three updates are kind of like a TV pilot, where by the end everybody's in their place for the story to really kick off.
As always, feedback is very welcome.
The comic took way longer than it should've to finish (among other things, going with my dad and Kelly to Virginia slowed things down), and I had a really stressful week (our landlord is trying to make us leave by claiming that we wrote him a letter saying we were leaving. I asked him to show me the letter and he sort of backed down, but it's weird), so once I got the comic up I decided to head to Santa Cruz to go to Chris's birthday party.
As I drove through San Jose at rush hour, I started to doubt the wisdom of this plan, but it ended up being a really good time. The party was ridiculously huge, a massive crowd of friendly hipsters covering Chris's backyard, as band after band played (and they were all really good!).
When I came in, it took me a minute to find any of the people I was expecting. However, I immediately ran into Deena, Erika and Laura's friend, who's an awesome artist and has a show right now at SubRosa. And then...Bowen, returned from Latin America!
It's been so long since I'm seen Bowen that he's become more of a mythic figure in my head than an actual human being. He told me to stop using shampoo. Had a fun conversation with him and Sophie about communism vs. anarchy.
Then Brittain Ashford played and I was really blown away. She has a really strong voice, pretty compelling lyrics (which is hard to get across in a live show), and played alternately autoharp and uke while the bass player moved through the crowd accompanying on harmonium (or something similar). Written like that, it sounds overly cutesy, but it really worked.
Sophie introduced me to Ari, Greta's girlfriend who will also be tabling with us at APE in October. I have yet to see her comics and can't find her online, but it was cool to meet another comic person.
Here's a couple pictures--
( Read more... )
As the party winded down, a guy in line for the bathroom really liked my shirt. I told him my name, and he started talking about Michael Caine and I started saying something nonsensical about how Michael Caine silkscreened my shirt on the set of The Prestige.
His name is Vince and he's Brittain's drummer, and I ended up going to Saturn with the two of them. I was worried it'd be weird since they don't really know me, but it went off really well. I gave them a Laika-23 book and he bought me a drink at The Rush.
I headed home around 1 in the morning, and the 880 was blocked off completely and without warning, forcing all the traffic to some awful place in Hayward. As infuriating as it is to be trapped in Hayward at 2 in the morning, it was totally worth it.
Coming soon...
A new photocomic!
And...a movie on the horizon? Time will tell, and I will be sure to relay the message. |
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