| Out of Nowhere |
[Feb. 7th, 2010|10:23 pm] |
I had this urge to listen to Our Lady Peace's _Clumsy_ the other day. It was kind of weird. I hadn't thought about that band, that album or even that song in years, even though that album marked my end of middle school through my early high school years.
It makes sense the song would slip in- I've been feeling very clumsy and awkward lately, and no one could sum up internal turmoil better than Raine Maida back then. I decided to dig up my copy of the album and listen to it while I cleaned up the upstairs. To my pleasant surprise a small note fell out from the CD sleeve- it was a note from my friend A, written years ago.
She and I went through some painful, awkward things in high school. I lent her this album shortly after we became friends. It would end up meaning just as much to her as it did to me.
So, here's the song:
You can stream the album here: http://www.lala.com/#album/504684633477559850
I know Canadian rock may not be to your taste, but you might dig. The band spoke to the awkward kid I was and gave me an outlet for all my anxieties. As an awkward adult each song is still a blanket to crawl under.
Thanks, guys. You got me through so much back then and still get me through so much now. |
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| Go Forth and Add as a Friend |
[Feb. 6th, 2010|01:20 pm] |
My stills for the Any Time with Cardon Ellis pilot are now posted on the Facebook page.
This was my first TV shoot and I really liked the color scheme chosen for the show. The lighting made for some great mood.
Please become a fan of the page and keep an eye out for Cardon. The show has all the makings of a great run if picked up.
----
I'm not a position to release the following quite yet, but keep an eye out for band portraits of Laughter, and the start of my sex worker portrait project.
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| Memories |
[Jan. 29th, 2010|08:56 am] |
Via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rm, Lawsuit: Teacher tied boy's hair in ponytails, encouraged students to mock him
I couldn't help but be reminded of what felt like a solid truth growing up: humiliation via teachers was normal. Humiliation was expected.
I never experienced anything to the outright disgusting degree that this young man did, but I do remember comments. I do remember the things that were said to other kids. One of my seventh grade teachers made use of the phrase "he/she" when a boy or girl didn't fall into our sometimes gender-divided lines, as we were escorted out at dismissal or back and forth to church services.
I'm sure I laughed at the time, but now I'm thinking it was completely unnesessary. This woman wasn't a bad person, it wasn't a constant thing- I have worse second hand stories of humiliation from my first grade school- but it really makes you wonder if she ever caught herself afterwards. If she ever thought about how saying something like that was perhaps overkill. All she wanted was the kid to stay in line.
I feel for this kid. Completely. Children are taught to never retaliate- and life really fucking sucks when someone does you wrong and you're at a bloody age where doing something about it will do nothing but backfire. |
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| Right, so... |
[Jan. 20th, 2010|02:34 pm] |
Remember how I posted about fangirlish embarassment? ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) ohnotheydidnt brings us this piece of work: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/43099676.html. [Link plucked from rm].
When you're a teen, socially sheltered and have a slight lean towards adventure and risk taking, shit like this happens. I'm sure much of it is aggravated by the new standard we have for friendship and communication via the internet.
When I was a baby-bat of 15, I thought the coolest thing in the world was the occasional query e-mail to Voltaire. I'm sure it's shredded by now, but seriously, I carried a printout of his responses with me through high school like a gold nugget. The ability to bridge that adoration gap was the shit- but at least I knew well enough to let it alone.
The idea of musicians and actors who are active on things like their Twitter intrigues me. The appearance of being accessible 24/7 clearly does something for people who don't have a proper sense of boundaries- if they add you back, Celebrity X must REALLY have an interest in you. If he tweets about his landing schedule, it must CLEARLY be information you're privvy to and it's totally cool for you to act on it, at the expense of he and his family/friends' expense...
E-mails to info@ accounts are the new hand-written letter to the fan club. Your rock stars are there for the taking- after all, they take the time to put themselves out there... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 19th, 2010|11:29 am] |
Kicking off the day angry. This can't be good. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 12th, 2010|11:39 pm] |
Serious Loss of Life Expected...
My thoughts are with you.
Tomorrow, after I take care of some bills, I'll be making a donation to a reputable aid service. If you can, please do the same. |
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| Real Fast |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|08:09 am] |
My shoot last night went better than expected. I can apparently think on my feet faster than I thought. I executed three shots in two hours [I average about an hour per shot, this usually includes several minutes of fumbling and testing, which was dramatically reduced].
So, with this current project, I've decided to shoot through it to get to the point. I'm finally starting to take portraits of sex workers in a photo documentary style but haven't quite decided what I'm looking for. L, my model, suggested I just go for following someone around until I decided. To go full on documentary until I find a core. I might just do that.
Really, this just forces me to shoot and expand my skill set. My rediscovery of scrims and combs has bumped things up a bit. As soon as my credit card issue clears [read as soon as I get my paycheck from my last job] I'm going to try to rent a new light shaping tool a month to see what I can do with it. Now that I have two working heads, very little should stop me from making the work I want to make.
Speaking of my last job, it went well. This was my first assignment with a design firm and though I was nervous, it was a very relaxed atmosphere. The Creative Director and Account Manager [acting as styling assistant that day] were fantastic to work with and I hope to be considered for future jobs.
Here are the unclean picks by the CD. I couldn't help but smile at what I knew was a rule of thumb: I shot 215 photos and only four were chosen...:P
I was always told that food photography was not as delicious as one would imagine and this truth extended itself to the mint leaves in the mojito in the last shot. The three of us learned they wilted quicky...very quickly...so the CD will likely have to pull some Photoshop-Fu to make that drink look more drinkable.
Fun fact: those ice cubes are plastic, hence their perfect, unchanging shape.
My favorites are the martini in the third shot and the mojito, despite its flaws. I'm really proud of that martini shot- that's a shot I expect to come from someone else but it came from me. From all my practicing beforehand and from my better understanding of light flow through practice.
I remember I had a similar assignment in my studio class back in college where I had to photograph an unusual drink. I made the mistake of lighting the glass directly and even positioning it over a very warped plastic panel. There wasn't enough light behind it, so the the base and stem disappeared completely. It was a spectacular failure.
Learning to properly light glass is a big step up. It's rare I consider a photograph a success, but that one is, 100%.
Alright...off to shit-shower-n'shave... |
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| Let the Beat...Drop |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|10:35 am] |
Late Show Rewind has a buttload of Beastie Boys late night show clips: http://mog.com/kidpretentious/blog/1665508#play
My love of the Boys was resurrected by the opportunity to share the same breathing space as Ad-Rock for a few sweet minutes. I remember spending a few days after that event shoot just spinning as many Beastie Boys mp3s as I had in my small collection.
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| Taking Inventory |
[Dec. 25th, 2009|09:52 am] |
It doesn't feel like Christmas. Walkng into James' place, you'd seriously never know short of our stockings hanging in front of the fireplace. His parents didn't kamikaze decorate this year, which was unexpected. We usually get a surprise wreath tacked to our door.
Anyways...I did receive many a great gift this year, even if it didn't land on Christmas day. I got my head back in time for a job [paying for it was painful, but at least doable, thanks to my mom and grandmother's early Xmas gift], I have my first major job scheduled next week [practicing over the weekend to get everything just right], finally kicking off the next major leg of fine art work portfolio and well, just very happy to have a choice of two rooves over my head.
The older I get- the happier I am to just be warm.
The last 365 was a gift, even though this year was terrible, at best. One of my closest friendships was salvaged, my partner [J] and my extended circle of friends gave me several legs up professionally [kingmob23, jane_birkin, I'm looking at you]. There were parties [I couldn't imagine Dances Of Vice without A.], adventures [with my generally unadventerous partner. He really came out of his shell this year, in many a way], and new things to explore.
So while I may not have been given that kickass subscription to Kink.com or my very own copy of Dj Hero to while away my dwindling slacker hours...I got pretty much everything I wanted.
So, off to shower and to do Christmas with the in-laws... |
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| Just A Little More Bullshit |
[Dec. 23rd, 2009|04:12 pm] |
In my junior year of college, there was a girl who made unusual photographs of her family. Each week there were strange photos of her mother laying casually on their couch in her swmsuit, portraits of herself and her mother's boyfriend. I believe in some search to find threads of physical similarities.
She did a set of her and a male friend, standing nude in the Fall/Winter. These were in her wooded backyard, in a town further north in New Jersey than where I lived. Her portraits were cold and intimidating. Behind her and her partner was a large, empty, in-ground pool.
It was as if they had forgotten themselves and tried to find a way back to more comfortable envrions. Like chasing the sun...
I remember how beautiful those photos were every time I see this Fever Ray clip. The sense of childish actions marked with neo-tribalism bring me right back to that photo of the pair and the empty pool. There was something magical going on between them, and all they could do was stare at you to keep you away.
There's a part of me that would almost kill to see those photos again. |
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| Oof |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|10:51 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | okay | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Intervention | ] |
ProFoto knocked off $50 as a courtesy. Calumet knocked off the shipping charge to get my head back.
So, it's down to $339, flat.
The further down side is that I may not be getting my head back until next year, so now I'll have to hunt for a spare head for a job I have on the 30th.
Wellsir, at least it's not $400 + shipping. I'm proud that I made the effort to bargain and it knocked off nearly $100. I would have prefered something to the tune of two hundred something, but, this is probably the best it will get.
At least by the time it gets here, I'll be able to afford it. |
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