Big Head? or Go Wide!

Here I am listening to a rendition of the Nutcracker on KUSF after a Raider’s victory and a day spent largely indoors.

So here’s my big head, courtesy of the 16-35 mm on the 1D. The reduced crop factor makes it much wider at 16mm and I am enjoying going wide, which is a bit of a departure from my usual desire to get closer.

Psychic?

Well, once again I think I’m psychic. Tonight was a ‘me’ night, and I enjoyed the guilty pleasure of the film “Bring it On” which I had only seen in an airplane before (and I mean seen – I didn’t listen to the audio, just looked up every once in a while to look at the monitors).

Anyhow, I was inspired to check out some hip hop and thought of going to Storyville, but instead didn’t make it out there (the two clubs I went to weren’t open), and when I got back home, saw that Scratch was playing after this other film “Two Hands” so I watched it.

Of course, if you’ve seen the film, there’s tons of SF in it, and a few scenes from Storyville, as well as this guy I met the last time I was there, who’s a hip hop producer I now realize.

Pretty interesting films, both of them, actually… and now I am going to crash out…

Leaking Fuel

So this was my ‘shot of the day’ that I took on my only trip outside the pad. I was feeling a bit sick today – probably due to exhaustion – as I’ve been extending myself a bit much lately. Too much work, shooting, and travel is all catching up, so I’ve drank like nine cups of tea today, as well as drank soup for lunch and dinner.

Well, I am quite enjoying the macro lens as you can see from the pic. I have a fetish of getting closer and closer to things I think. Hopefully I’ll be feeling better tomorrow, since I need to get well before we get even busier with the holiday rush of gigs for orange – joy!

Why I love SF

Ah, you know you are in San Francisco when you awaken to the sound of a German-born Austrian singing along to Bob Marley reggae. That’s how my day started today, then I puked from drinking too much last night.

Loving Your Job

Sometimes you feel like you don’t have enough time to get everything done, and today is one of those days. Since I will be going out of town yet again this coming weekend, I have to process all the photos from the past weekend and then archive them as well as write up a show report, etc. etc.

Well, going through nearly 1500 shots isn’t that fun, but it’s cool when you find funky shots that you didn’t necessarily mean to take (well at least not the way you were supposed to be) and this one is one of those.

Ah work…. 🙂

Artists?

I forgot about this bit from TAZ (by Hakim Bey) that I thought was pretty interesting:

Art in the World of Art” has become a commodity; but deeper than that lies the problem of re-presentation. In the TAZ art as a commodity will simply become impossible; it will instead be a condition of life. Mediation is hard to overcome, but the removal of all barries between artists and “users” of art will tend toward a condition in which (as A.K. Coomaraswamy described it) “the artist is not a special sort of person, but every person is a special sort of artist

LA Style

Well, I was in LA for the past five days, and am glad to be back in SF.

While there, I kept thinking to myself, this or that is so LA. Of course being in LA, I guess that’s OK, but for my own tastes, it wasn’t quite the right energy. However, I definitely managed to have a great time, even going to the obligatory party in the Hollywood hills at a “mansion” with a breathtaking view of the expanse of city lights and haze.

I’ve also decided that I may be a bit too laid back. It seems that everyone has things to tell me about things going wrong or not quite the way they had planned. Perhaps it’s just the timing, or perhaps I should have higher expectations from myself? I don’t know what it is… luckily, I did see an unauthorized charge on my credit card, so that’s something that’s gone wrong for me so I can feel a bit relaxed in the knowledge that my life, too, is not perfect…

perverse optimism

OK, so I’ve found some optimism in the misery of friends. No I’m not experiencing schadenfreude, but rather I think it’s just the way I try to look at all things positively, because ultimately whatever happens does, so you should make the most of every situation.

So I used schadenfreude, don’t hate me. You know you’ve seen this word all over the place lately. What’s the deal with that anyhow. If you want the Webster definition here it is. I came across it a while back when I was trying to learn more new words all the time for my budding journalistic career (which didn’t go longer than a year in college, when I realized I hated working on hard deadlines and that’s a big part of the journalistic world – well, that, long hours and being underpaid…)

So back to my perverse optimism. Lately a lot of things are going shitty for a lot of my friends, and two of my closest friends I’ve recently learned have been writing a lot (like I am now too). What I like is that writing, as any other outlet for expression, is a wonderful thing. In fact, I really like writing now (as in the writing on paper or other surface) more than I ever have in the past. Perhaps it’s techno overkill that’s bringing me back to analog indulgences, but it’s fun to write. Of course I’ve penned a few letters with a Sharpie, and it expressly says on the Sharpies that they are NOT for letter writing… oh well…

Continue reading perverse optimism

Our Litigous Society

So I was having lunch with my friend Taura today and we were going to Chili’s to do our suburban adventure. I had to print out the directions and I came across this at the bottom:

“These maps/directions are informational only. No representation is made or warranty given as to their content, road conditions or route usability or expeditiousness. User assumes all risk of use. MapQuest, Chili’s Grill & Bar, and their suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use.”

ah lawyers, you gotta love them!