Fashion Week (Fall, '07) is here and this might be the first time in a long while that I don't particularly care whether I participate or not. My once week-long shifts have been dropped down to 4 or 5 days (depending) and the access I used to get has been reduced to 'whenever the talent decided to go to the tents... then you too will go. No, you don't need a press pass.' So as someone who has a history of exploiting access for his own gain, this is a sad development indeed (cf. the 'People' section of the main webpage with the Betsy Johnson stuff).
I was at the Lisa Perry launch party last night (see above). There were tiny hamburgers and tiny french-fried potatoes and tiny lobster rolls. We didn't get into the Gotham Mag party because the 5-0 shut it down for some reason. Apparently Oksana Baiul got in eventually. So... not much to speak of yet, especially in terms of pre-game parties, as it were.
Courtesy of my good and dear friend George Burroughs, director and bon vivant, The Secret Agents,
...is a documentary currently in production which follows the hip hop dance group, "Fire-Dean and the Secret Agents", from street performances to stage. The group is comprised of five middle-aged men who dance to Fire-Dean's brand of hip hop. Based out of Washington D.C. they perform anywhere in the world at any giving time in the universe.
This particular project is of some importance to me as George will have my legs broke if I don't hype the shit out it (that and I have an outstanding crew offer if they get picked up for commercials). So please visit and forward to your friends, family, and lover(s)!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Sea Otter Skulls, Santa Barbara, CA
I'm making a few mixtapes for a friend -- the playlist being a skill I've sent packing into semi-retirement. Long story; not very interesting; traditions are hard to break. I give good tape though, if I do say so myself. Plus, The nice thing about having expensive toys is using them to print your back catalogue for frivolities like liner notes and tracklisting graphics.
These little buggers were part of an exhibit put on by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History of errata that isn't on display; obscure stuffed birds, Native American oddities, dead shit in jars of fluid. From the press release,
Over a span of 90 years the Museum has collected more than 2.5 million artifacts and specimens to preserve, document, and promote understanding of the fascinating diversity of the world around us. TREASURES provides a glimpse at some of our more eclectic and rare collections. Also enjoy a video that gives a virtual "behind-the-scenes" tour of the Museum's collections and research areas.
These are Sea Otter skulls, and apparently the bones acquire a tint over time due to the purple pigment in their favorite food -- sea urchins.
In another one of those you-can't-go-home-again moments, this exhibition was set up in a hall that used to have an expansive display of small stuffed local birds in wall cases, as well as rows and rows of floor cases containing sample nests and blown eggs of the various California species. Of course, now it's cleared out for this particular traveling show and I suppose the bird exhibit probably wasn't as cool as I imagine it would be now (it was pretty boring back then; not as cool as the mammoth skeletons, anyway).
It feels like I'm primarily using this Blog-thing to catch up on releasing stuff from last year, and feel a little lame about it -- I really only had two resolutions this year:
1) To make crisp decisions.
2) To make sure I didn't bitch out and carry my camera At All Times (emphasis mine) no matter how heavy it got.
Neither have been lived up to with any sort of regularity.
Anyway, this is Anna from These Are Powers from November of last year when they opened for The Fall. Sadly, I only saw their set because of an outstanding comittment to work at 6 AM the next day. These things happen. I'm pushing for the 7" cover with this particular one.
When I first got my Holgaroid (after much searching and hand wringing and research as to whether the stock would be discontinued* or whether I could even find one in the tri-state area), my first thought was, "OMG NOW I CAN MAKE ART BLABLAZOOBOYYARLYNOWAI!" which I think is a fine attitude to take with something like this. Of course, having not had a darkroom since college, any sort of immediate gratification when it comes to appreciating your own crapulence is... appreciated. Plus I love toy cameras. So when I combine Favorite Number 1 (toy camera) with what may be my favorite place in New York (North American Mammals wing; American Museum Of Natural History), I get happier than a fruit fly in an orchard.
*Of course, the stock was discontinued as of the first of the year. An unfavorable start, to be sure. I'm doing the math to see if I can easily adapt the back to take (what I guess would be...) the 600-series. Any ideas?
I recall the Wagon Wheel Motel vividly, but only from passing by on the way to Thousand Oaks or Los Angeles from Santa Barbara. The marquee and property was described thusly in the January 13th 2007 LA Times,
Its Western facade and neon sign depicting a whip-cracking wagon driver were a throwback to 1950s-era California. The property was part of a strip of businesses near Highway 1 that were a favorite stop for families, tourists and an occasional movie star on trips to Santa Barbara.
It was also a pretty good telltale for letting Little Richard know how much further he would have to wait until Disneyland (Little Richard was usually asleep on the return drive).
Now it's shuttered, and my first actual visit to the grounds consisted of breaking and entering and if you want a good scare, I would encourage you to hang out in an empty Motel at least once in your life. There are more images at my Flickr site, which will host all the images on this blog until I decide that I want all the hits instead of the nice people at Flickr. Or until my reputation is secure.
ADDENDUM:
While searching for blurbs about the history of the Wagon Wheel, this appeared as the 5th or 6th Google result. So... let's say that the Wagon Wheel has served its purpose.
I seem to have a fondnesss for mannequins (especially the living kind, cf. NY Fashion Week), and especially the creepy ones (again, cf. NY Fashion Week) -- this lady was in a thrift store in Hempstead, TX. We had mexican food at the joint next door after a long day of shooting Civil War reenactors at nearby Liendo Plantation.
I'll begin this weblog formally with a quote from Picasso, because I am very vain and yet (or because of it) my ego bruises easily,
Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don't start measuring her limbs.
To this end, I submit what I hope will be a series of ongoing projects and eratta that will be of some value to anyone who reads this. Please consider the portfolio portions of my site static and this fluid; This will be for working through and soliciting opinion. I begin with this,
I made you a triptych. It is entitled:
"An Unlikely Advance In Intercontinental Relations."
It's Monday at 12 PM and I'm testing this for the first time. No images to speak of yet, and we're working through all the hiccups that come with a site strip and rebuild. More to come!
