Disposable Content!

Life is busy, too busy to blog

2011-04-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

Just thinking aloud today, haven't blogged in long while. Because quite frankly I've lost all interest in blogging, especially when it turns into something I feel I have to do and feels more like a self promotional tool for my photography business. The good blogs out there are about spreading information and educating, although I hardly have the time to pay that much attention to the good blogs either. I just don't plain have the time. Just about any creative thing you can think of can be applied to the computer and the fast progression of technology. Well it seems that everything is progressing these days, some for the better, others for the worst. I used to think it would make things easier and in some ways it has. But its also made other things more time consuming and time wasting for myself. Besides I feel I'm doing a shorthand blog when I update facebook or twitter, so why should I spend more time writing about something on another self expressive virtual journal/diary.

Well I think if you love writing, the blog is a great thing. If you love spreading new and old information around then blogging is super great. Its a good tool just like anything when used for a good purpose. I get pretty amazed when people can find so much stuff to write about that they're blogging every hour or day! That's finding a lot of stuff that you personally can get into or criticize. I personally cannot find that much stuff, well because I just don't have the time to look around and I'm just not that super psyched on all things and I really don't care to write up negative things about stuff I can't stand like politics, bad music, and the just plain horrible culture that lurks out there in our daily lives. Besides, I'm more hands on when it comes to making stuff. I'd rather be out there taking a picture or playing an instrument than writing about it.

I'm not quite sure if I've killed this blog, as far as what a more prolific blogger might consider of my blog. But I will come back and write when I feel like it. Maybe I'll find something in this ever growing information landscape that will get me psyched on it enough to feel compelled to get on the keyboard and type away. But for now thanks for reading and checking this blog out!

I remember when keyboards weren't cool!

2010-06-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Was Looking at this photo recently of the band Brainiac and was thinking how a lot of bands utilize keyboards, computers, and synthesizers to create music these days. This photo was taken in 1996, a year when Nirvana was the biggest thing since the Beatles and when hip hop and rock where fusing together in different ways. The band Brainiac and a few contemporaries of the time like Girls against Boys and Clickatat Ikatowi where utilizing keyboards in heavy, punk rock infused ways. Some of it a little danceable but mostly in way that most people probably overlooked at the time. Besides it was way too uncool to have a keyboard in your band, especially if you rocked! A band like Brainiac not only made it sound and look cool but they created an energy that was very punk rock in uncertain punk rock times. Here the late great Tim Taylor can be seen frozen in time during what was probably a noisy spazztic freak out of a Brainiac show. I've noticed how those that are way ahead of their time are often overlooked and forgotten, despite the contributions of their art. Hopefully there is some documentation of what has been done to remind us that somebody helped paved the way and contributed to the progress that we take for granted. Cheers to Brainiac and the other pioneers of their days, RIP Tim Taylor.

Pics from the Protec Combi Bowl Pool Party 2010!

2010-05-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

Some pix from last Saturday's Protec Pool Party 2010. Was a good one this year with Cabby dethroning Chris Miller in the 1st place masters category and Bucky Lasek winning in the Pro division. Also a great live performance by Punk rock super group OFF! Fronted by Keith Morris, with Steven McDonald on bass, Dimitri Coats on guitar, and Mario Rubalcaba on drums! The bands these guys have been a part of, reads like a great punk rock mix tape. And I really liked the sticker that was on Dimitri's guitar.

Nicky Guerrero lofting a big frontside tail grab in the square bowl.

Keith Morris making the set list!

Keith and the rest of the guys doing what they do best!

Hosoi entered and skated really great! Came close to a Mctwist, but hadn't tried it in some time. That's alright because he'll probably be back next year doing them super big. Best style on that spin as always.

One of my favorites Jeff Grosso, wasn't in the best place for a good skate shot of him, but I like this shot of him exiting the pool.

Duane Peters making a fakie rock look super sick! Man I hope I can still do a 50/50 on a four foot trannie at 49.

First place winner Cab and third place winner Lance Mountain!

Alien Skin Software Rules!

2010-05-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

A friend recently turned me onto this great plug in software for Photoshop called Alien Skin. The software has great simulated film stocks that make for a great starting point when working on your digital pix. That is if you like the look of film and want to get close to the look of tri-x 400 or say 160NC Portra. There are quite a few film stocks ranging from Fuji, Kodak, Ilford and Agfa, in both color and B&W. There is also filters for infrared and slide film simulations that are quite impressive. I know film purists will probably disagree with me, but if your that into film your probably not going to shoot digital anyway. But if you are this is a great way to get something as close as possible to making your digital files look like you scanned a print, neg, or slide. Trust me nothing comes close to a B&W fiber print in my opinion, but if your a working photographer and workflow and speed is important. Then this might just be a great solution for you!

Standard processing from RAW to jpeg, no color film simulation.

Kodak 160VC simulation.

Fuji Astia slide film simulation.

Kodak tri-x 400 simulation.

Infrared film simulation. Never was big on the infrared look, but its nice that you can play around and have this option with this software. For more info here is link to the Alien Skin website.

iPad=iPortfolio

2010-04-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I'm one of those Apple nerds who got the iPad the first week it came out! I thought the devise looked really cool from the day I heard about it, but now I'm for sure convinced that this is where the laptop or portable devise is headed. User friendly and compact, the iPad is exactly how I thought it would be and more. I've heard people say its just a big iPod touch, and yes it is the same user interface as the iPod touch, but its got a 9" screen! A bigger screen means something closer to a laptop or compact flatscreen tv. Since my main purpose was to use this as a portfolio, I definitely wanted to get my hands on one to tinker around with and start creating sample portfolio's. Its cool because the Photo application allows you to sync with iPhoto much like an iPod, and create your own galleries. Since most photographers have multiple portfolio's this is great, because you can catalog, categorize and create separate galleries. Instead of having an entire separate book/portfolio for different kinds of work you can now create a separate portfolio with a button that instantly accesses your specific portfolio. I'm always trying to look forward 5-10 years into the future and this devise gives a pretty good indicator to the evolution of personal computing. I won't be surprised if we will start to see more of these types of touchscreen devises used all around us. I'm just figuring this thing out, but so far I've been using it more than my laptop for all non Photoshop, lightroom, or other professional applications. Just downloaded my first ebook and so far it has a nice feel when reading. Its also cool because I'm not adding to more household clutter with another book lying around. I just hope that the ebook store library expands quickly, right now there aren't a whole lot of titles that get my attention. Man, I wish I had one of these when I was in school, I remember carrying a backpack that weighed a ton. Now you have a virtual book case library and all you have to carry is a 1 pound flatscreen devise! Well, back to the subject of portfolio's. Right now I have a few 11x14 portfolio's that I mail out when requested. The iPad is a little pricey and delicate to be doing that right now, but for a personal meeting I think it would be really cool! I feel certain that as the price point comes down on these things, perhaps we will see a portfolio specific kind of devise that won't put you too much out of pocket expense wise. You gotta figure a nice portfolio these day will run you anywhere from $350 to $600 and thats not including the prints or carrying case! All in all I really like this thing and am excited to see where things go from here!

SKATEBOOK!

2010-03-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is my friend and fellow Photographer/Publisher/Editor Mike Ballard. Also his friendly Dachshund

Mike works on a cool book called SKATEBOOK! Mike has always had a really strong work ethic and has been committed to skateboarding for as long as I've known him!

This is Mike's other Dachund who was recovering from surgery but wanted to eat my face and camera!

Mike is on his 6th SKATEBOOK, which not only covers current skateboarding, but also the past history of skateboarding. If your a fan like me, these are a must have for your bookshelf collection. Some of the older ones are hard to come by but you might find a copy on ebay going for whole lot more than what they were going for when they came out! For more info log onto www.skatebook.tv.

Jim Marshall R.I.P.

2010-03-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sad to say that I learned of the passing of one of the best music photographers of all time, Jim Marshall. Not only was he present in some of the most monumental times of music history, he captured a visual history of a special and unique time in music. From the Beatles last concert at Candlestick to Johnny Cash at San Quintin, Jim Marshall is one of the reason's I take pictures today. If you've seen his book 'Proof' then you know the proof of his ability to take great lasting images. From a 35mm roll burning through one of his Leica cameras, Jim has given us moments that have burned into my brain forever! You're images will live on and create inspiration forever Jim Marshall! Check this great video out for some insight and history to this timeless photographer!

Here's a link to a video portrait I did for artist Megan Whitmarsh!

2010-03-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Megan Whitmarsh Video Portrait

New Season 3 Yo Gabba Gabba Episodes Airing this week!

2010-03-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

Nickelodeon is now airing new episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba from Season 3! I was able to see the Circus episode yesterday that has Sarah Silverman and Weird Al Yankovic in it. Can't wait to see the rest, I saw some trailers during the commercial breaks and it had clips from the Weezer and Mos Def episode. The live show is on tour right now, so if you get a chance, check it out! Its a whole lot of fun for the family and gives a great live rendition to the TV show. Here are some of my pics from Season 3 of the show's airing this week!

Sarah Silverman Clowning or Miming around.

Weird Al as the Ringmaster!

Weezer Bugs!

Mos Def and the Heroes episode!

Life with Robots???

2010-03-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

Okay so I just saw this documentary yesterday on Robots. Its a mini doc promo for the Honda website that I just happened to come across while ironically waiting for my Honda Element at the dealership. Its a very nice and slick documentary, well I guess thats obvious because its paid for by the corporation that is making the Asimo robot. Being a fan of science fiction and technology, I have to say that I'm a bit mixed by this presentation. I've seen Asimo at Disneyland and its a very cute kinda nondescript kinda robot. Like a child spaceman of sorts trying to assimilate to the human world. It seems that as of yet Asimo can just move around doing minimal interactions with humans. And I'm sure there will be future generations that will slowly enter the everyday world as we know it. I'm sure the intentions for the people making these robots is good. I do agree with some of the speakers that there are a lot of robots that help us out with things today. My only concern is if people are ready for robots like this and if the state of our civilization won't lead to someone who will abuse the technology that these people have created. Once Asimo is commercially available, who can control someone going out, figuring out the technology and and creating a soldier versions of Asimo. We already have robot drones dropping bombs on unsuspecting people, why not go all the way with a humanoid drone that can fight instead of people. You have now just created a real life terminator for those on the other end of the stick. Trust me I think a robot would be cool and with computers being what they are all this stuff seems like a Philip K. Dick story come to life. I guess what I'm getting at is that no one has control over the future and no one has complete control over their own creations. So we're just going to have to wait and see which way the path goes.

You can check this documentary out yourself and form your own opinion here @ http://dreams.honda.com/#/video_wi

Don't know, kinda cool and kinda creepy!

One thing Asimo will be great for is space travel, I mean he doesn't need oxygen to breath and 6 month travel to mars would kinda suck. And just walking around a whole planet that is a red desert would suck too. So as far as that goes Asimo can be the planet earths space ambasador!

Real Ultimate Power and Ghost/Aliens!

2010-02-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm

Been a while since I checked this site out, but I forgot how funny these guys are! Ghost/Aliens is pretty rad and hope these guys keep doing what their doing. Make sure you watch the video parts on Ghost/Aliens.

http://www.ghostsaliens.net/

Blogging on other Blogs!

2010-02-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

So I've kinda been checking out other blogs as of lately. Mainly because I've tried to make the conscious effort to understand and get a little better at communicating through the use of the internet. I was once a skeptic and very anti internet social. I couldn't stand people that were into Twitter and thought "What's the point, I facebook, it's the same thing!" Well, It was probably just that I didn't understand what people were doing or how these other social networking sites were being used. Not only that but I had a big change in my outlook and perspective on things. 2009 was a very rough year for me as well as a lot of others out there and I realized there are things that I must change in order to get better at things that I felt were my weaknesses. Besides the more I looked around and observed the more I felt out of touch. It didn't really bother me except for the fact that I would look at my daughter and realize that she will be growing up with all of these things and they will be second nature to her. And as a parent I felt that I would want to understand the next generations of youth growing up with all this technology around them. I mean, I can't even imagine how things will change by the time she hits my age and I didn't want to get old not understanding my own child and her behavior. Besides there were quite a few things I felt that needed some improvement in my life as well. One being my communication skills with others, and where is a better place to begin than with on facebook. I mean I feel that in order to get better at communicating with those I don't know, I should at least get better at communicating with those that I do know. So I signed up for Twitter, became more active on Linked In, and even started a radio show on blip.fm. I'm still learning how to use and navigate these sites, but at least its put things on my radar. Like this great blog site called "Bit Rebels" http://www.bitrebels.com/ I've found some really good blogs to read. Founded by Richard Darell whom I guess has a previous successful blog called Minervity.com . Richard and his team of really good bloggers seem to find some great online content on a minute to minute basis. Now I know that some may think ah who needs minute to minute content. Well, you don't, but if you want to check it out, there's a site that you can check out and even edit through depending on your own interest. Besides, no one is pointing a gun to your head telling you, "you have to look into this and that" and "you have to be more active on the internet". I'm finding that as things are becoming more available and widespread. So is the freedom to find things out on your own time and at your own level. So far I'm pretty excited at some of the things I'm finding and doing on the internet! Its kind of a new open virtual frontier that you can choose to be a part of on your own time.

The Cove!

2010-02-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

Finally was able to see the great documentary The Cove recently. The movie pretty much speaks for itself, showing the visual power of documentary film making. The OPS team does a great job taking the viewer along for the ride through the planning and execution of the undercover operations of finding out what goes on in the hidden cove of Taiji. By the time you see the end credits rolling to the sound of Heroes, you'll probably be asking yourself "how can I contribute to this cause". And thats something I liked a lot about the picture is that it doesn't present an elitist perspective from the people making this committed effort to save these dolphins. Rather more or less asking for your help and contribution to their cause. An almost open invitation to help out in an effort that affects us all or will affect us all in the coming future. The film also does a great job on educating the viewer about the widespread amounts of mercury found in not only the dolphin meat being consumed by an unknowing Japanese public, but also the high levels in larger seafood animals like Tuna. As a fan of the local sushi bar and fresh sashimi, this is a very sad thought to ponder. There's nothing like a nice slab of Toro over some rice dipped in some soy sauce with lots of wasabi. Toro also being very fatty Tuna probably has some of the largest concentrations of mercury. Combine that with over fishing, I'm amazed we haven't fished the sea's to the point of an underwater desert already! For large populations across our planet there are many who depend on the sea for survival. I believe that if we all don't become educated sooner than later, us and our children will be looking into a very grim future for humanity. This film does a great job in that it educates us, as well as gives us a head start to fixing our mistakes. For more info and how to become active in this subject log onto http://www.thecovemovie.com/home.htm and see the movie if you haven't already!

Harbour Chronicles Exhibition: The life's work of Rich Harbour!

2010-02-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

Rich Harbour has been making some of the best surfboards for over 40 years. On Saturday Feb. 13th, Rich's life work as a shaper/designer/photographer was honored at the Harbour Chronicles: A Life in Surfboard Culture Exhibition in Costa Mesa, CA. From the Rapier, San-O, Banana, and Cheater, Rich has demonstrated his mastery at Surfboard Design and Shaping. The minute you see one of his boards firsthand you'll either want to buy a board adding to your quiver or perhaps take some surf lesson's and start surfing. The glassing is always super glossy with some of the coolest color ways I've seen out there. I've just always liked how Rich's boards looked aesthetically. The Concave,Nose Channels, Stringers and Tail Block work all seem to flow perfectly with each different board I've seen. Having a 9'8" San O, I've come to really appreciate the board design and how it performs from paddling out to surfing a wave. Rich helped me pick out my first surfboard and since catching my first wave I've been hooked on the feeling of flying across the water, and cruising down the line of a right or left. This exhibition also has a companion book that is due to be released on February 26th. The art show will be running up until April 9th at the Frank M. Doyle Art Pavilion at Orange Coast College. For more info on Harbour Surfboards log on to: http://www.harboursurfboards.com/index.asp

Photo by Rich Harbour.

A Shapers Workspace!

Check out that Gun!

Current line up of Rich's modern longboards.

Professional Photographer and friend Daniel Hennessy, Quan Nguyen, and Nabeel Hatin. Thanks to Dan and Melissa Hennessy for getting me into surfing.

Legendary Waikiki Beach Boy Rabbit Kekai and Langdon Taguiped. Langdon's going to be my random sightings guy who happens to pop up in my blogs from time to time.

A classic Harbour pin stripe design!

Me and the man of the hour Rich Harbour. Hope to see you in the water soon!

One of my all time favorite Photographers: Herman Leonard!

2010-02-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

Buddy Rich, NYC 1954 © Herman Leonard Photography, LLC

Herman Leonard is an American Photographer who is known for some of the coolest portraits of jazz legends during some of the best era's of jazz. Around 1996 I was at a book store trying to find "Fuck You Heroes" By Glenn E. Freidman. I was checking out the Jazz book section and happened to come across a book with some of the most amazing black and white portraits of all the Jazz greats. Poeple like Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, and Buddy Rich to name a few. One thing that struck me about the photographs was Herman Leonard's use of light. Now I know that back in those days they didn't have all the fancy strobe equipment that most of us modern photographers come to rely on. So its either using the available stage lighting or sculpting something with hot lights. Either way Mr. Leonard is obviously great at lighting, composition, and tonality of his photographs. Also you can see a great relationship with the subject matter, there seems to be a very personal feeling to all of his imagery. Each photo always felt somewhat posed and not posed at the same time. Almost a choreographed sense of reality that I love about each portrait. Whether its cigarette smoke billowing in front of a saxman like Dexter Gordon. Or a backstage/rehearsal moment with Charlie Parker. Leonard has captured a great photo of a great individual in an exciting time during the jazz age. As a Photographer myself, I've strived to create timeless imagery. There are certain moments in the musical landscape that will never exist again. Its always a great discovery to find that someone has not only captured it but has captured it in a way that makes the documentation Art worthy. To see more of Herman Leonard's work log onto http://www.hermanleonard.com/ Upcoming gallery shows at Fahey/Klein Gallery on April 1, 2010 and currently at Jazz at Lincoln Center-New York,NY Exhibit Oct.13, 2009-Feb. 14, 2010. Thanks to Geraldine Baum at Herman Leonard Photography, LLC for letting me use the above image of Buddy Rich!

Too Much Fun on Blip.fm!

2010-02-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

Just been going a little online DJ crazy as of lately. Martin Wong over at Giant Robot turned me onto this new DJ social network site called Blip.fm. You as well as everyone you know can now become a virtual DJ on the web. Which is totally okay and rad because so many people are self proclaimed DJ's anyway. Don't get me wrong, there are some great DJ's out there. But they hard to come by and just like a good live band, you either know about them or you don't. Well you can have some fun too and create your own playlist's online with what seems like a large database of material to pull from. I really like this site for a lot of the live tracks that I've found as well as just putting up some of my favorite songs. I've also linked it to my twitter account which is linked to my facebook account. So every time I list a song on my playlist it updates the other 2 sites as well. This may annoy your twitter and facebook friends. But I haven't heard any negative comments yet, but if your annoyed with my posts. Sorry twitter and facebook friends! Join in the fun and create your own playlist, I think a playlist of songs says a lot about someones personality and mood. So its definitely cool to see what kind of a playlist you may come up with. I'm just having fun with it and hopefully it doesn't get me to addicted, although I guess I could be addicted to something much worse. Anyway, its a fun way to listen to music and listen to your friends taste in music. http://blip.fm/BenClark

Extra juice with the iPhone mophie case!

2010-02-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Not sure how often the rest of you run out of battery power on your iphone. But this happens to me all the time. Especially if your running applications, watching movies or surfing the internet. Well I recently purchased one of these battery life extender cases made by Mophie. Not only will it double your iPhone's battery life, but its not that bulky and still contours to the iPhone's sleek design. The case acts like a separate battery that you turn on when your iPhone is down to about 20%. Then the mophie will act as a charger and charge your phone back up. You can still charge your phone through the mophie usb wire also. It'll run you about $80.00 which isn't a big investment if you depend on your phone a lot. I'm constantly being surprised at how high tech gadgets are changing the way we live. Apple and its accessory companies are constantly turning us all into high tech humanoids.

Regans Birthday Party at Wurstkuche!

2010-02-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

Had a great time at Sol Tech, Emerica, Altamont buddy Justin Regan's Birthday last weekend. This was my 3rd visit to Wurstkuche within 2.5 weeks and was stoked to go back. The last 2 times I got the Austin Blues, but this time I had to try the Rattlesnake, Rabbit and Jalapeno Sausage. It was a bit gamey but with some sweet peppers, sauerkraut, and spicy peppers, I was good to go. Also the fries with the Chipotle Aioli sauce is something that shouldn't be missed. The night was a fun evening seeing lots of old friends and eating some great food!

Fellow Photographer and Goat band member Atiba Jefferson.

From the right me, Steve Robert and Steve's lovely date that I forgot the name of. Sorry Steve, send a comment if you read this and I'll correct it!

Vice Magazine Editor Chris Cechin and Chris's Steady/BabyCakes owner Erin McKenna.

Justin is loved by many.

A certificate from the Skate Industry!

A sweet pair of Emerica's that are appropriately named.

Justin and Beautiful wife Beth.

Ako Jefferson with one super cool t-shirt!

Baker Pro Skateboarder Kevin 'Spanky' Long giving me the double thumbs up.

Donny Miller careful where your peeing in public. I just read this about the state of CA http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-jose-peeing-in-public-register-as-a-sex-offender

Donny's Beautiful wife Angie and a very sleepy little Indy.

iPad, iPad, iPad, you know you want one!

2010-02-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, so there's a whole bunch of people out there already talking about the iPad. I'm sure there's a million blogs out there about the product as I'm writing this. But I just wanna say, Apple has pretty much done it again in creating another computerized mobile devise that we all want. Think of the future generations of the iPad, will it take over, and will it evolve the personal computer and laptop as we know it. I do think that we are just beginning to see the potential of what may come ahead in the future. Just remind yourself that this is a 1st generation of this apple product and to me, it looks pretty damn awesome for the first of its kind. Kinda like Led Zeppelin I, what a doozy of a first record. I don't think another band or musician has topped that record for a 1st record. Lets just put it this way, as a photographer I'm seeing several uses already. One that could save the print magazine world, if that world is open to it. Lets face it, I love checking out the magazine stands and printed material is always nice. But the future of the media is changing and so are a lot of things. We are now in a part of our culture that says keep up or fall behind and fade off into obscurity. Which is fine if you like being obscure. I just think that if someone can develop the app or program to make magazines online. It would even cut print costs for the magazine's out there. Just imagine getting a folder emailed to you with a file that is an issue of a magazine. You would still have either a subscription or there would be some online mag store to purchase these files. You then have a virtual magazine that can be viewed by your iPad. Now I know its only 9", but like I said this the 1st generation and apple can decide later if it will create larger or even mid and smaller versions of the iPad. Magazine's could still charge for advertising depending on their circulation and popularity. They could still even release a printed product if they like. If the content is good I would still buy a magazine. Or even if a magazine just created an annual printed edition at the end of the year. The online material could be something that could create a tangible book edition at the end of the year and could be sold as a collectible. This could be pretty thick and they could probably charge more for it than a news stand cover price. I'm just throwing this out there because I see the potential in the future. I've heard that apple has already made a deal with college textbook companies that will probably increase the number of sales of the iPad and eTextbooks to that age group. Now that sounds like a vision of the future out of some Sci Fi movie. A bunch of college students walking around or sitting at table's on campus with their iPad. You now just need Marty McFly to cruise by with his hover board. And thats supposed to be 2015 I think, which is 5 years away. All I'm saying is that the potential is just scratching the surface and it will be up to new generations of Entrepreneurs to lead the way. And Apple is definitely one of those Entrepreneurs in the now.

Yo Gabba Gabba Art Party!

2010-01-29T13:53:00.000-08:00

Well it seems that post production has come to an end for Season 3 over at Yo Gabba Gabba. And to celebrate the post production dept. threw an Art Party. Which was a fun party that invited all who worked on the show, either during production or post production, to hang some art up. It was a fun party and a great way to see everyone who worked on the show again.

DP Jay Lafayette, Show Creator/Director Christian Jacobs, and Makeup Artist Marissa Deleon.

Motion Graphics FX and part time DJ for the Party Jordan Kim.

Show Creator/Director Scott Schultz.

Production Assistant Evan Sinclair.

Artwork by Erin Pierce A.KA. Brobee and the voice of Toodee.

Motion Graphics FX and amazing time lapse artist Joel Fox and girlfriend Michelle.

Animation Art Director Parker Jacobs.

Artwork by Parker, you might recognize some of the character design from the show.

Camera Operator Langdon Taguiped showing me his bounty for the evening.

Great external storage system if your on a budget!

2010-01-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

If your a photographer or anyone who needs lots of storage space on your computers hard drive. Then you understand how costly it can be and how easy all those hard drives add up and take up space. Well someone over at Newertechnology has a rad solution. The Voyager SATA I/II hard drive docking station. It kinda reminds me of ATARI 2600 from back in the day but for hard drives. The dock is a pretty simple design and is pretty much what it sounds like, a plastic docking station. The nice thing is the initial cost of buying the dock will only run you about $88.00 for Firewire 800/400, USB 2.0+eSATA or about $30.00 for USB 2.0+eSATA. You then have to purchase the 2.5 or 3.5 SATA drives to plug into the dock. Its pretty raw looking to see a SATA drive just sticking out like a video game cartridge. But if your someone who can shoot 50 to 100 gigs every time you do a photo shoot or you record music and video which I assume takes up massive amounts of hard drive space also. Then this might be a great inexpensive solution for you. I'm using mine as an off site back up storage system. I also use a drobo at home which is another great storage devise. Best place to purchase the dock is at the OWC(Other World Computing) Site. Probably the best place to get non dedicated accessories for your mac or pc. They also sell rad DIY kits if you want to build your own external drives as well as their own brand of external drives. Here is a link to the shops site http://eshop.macsales.com/ I've been a customer of OWC for about a year and haven't been disappointed yet.

GR Bienalle Art Show Closing Party!

2010-01-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

Last night was a fun evening at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown LA for the closing party to this years Giant Robot Bienalle Art Exhibition. I actually had 10 photo's up in the show as part of the photo retrospective for 15 years of Giant Robot. I was honored and stoked to be in such good company with so many respected artists and creative people. It was great seeing friends and GR collaborators, there was also the rock band "The Binges" to end the evening with some loud guitar wailing sounds.

David Choe

Stella Lai

Jeff Soto

James Jean

Deth P. Sun

The Binges.

GR friends Ayako Fujitani, Bill Poon, and Publisher Eric Nakamura

My good friends Carlos and Angelyn De la Garza.

My good friends from Vienna and Motmot design, Anna and Steve.

Steve also does a rad comic called Cheetahs Never Win! If your in Vienna check out their store or you can check out their stuff online at http://www.motmotdesign.com/

Great Free Password App for iphone and ipod touch!

2010-01-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

Nowadays if your on your computer or mobile devises it seems that every little thing requires a password. Well I don't know about the rest of you out there, but I pretty much suck at remembering my passwords. Because of this I recently wanted to find some kind of app. so I can make one stop and have access to my confidential information. Well I found this one created by Epicomm technologies Ltd. Its called Password Keeper and is a very simple app. I mean come on you don't need anything too technical to store passwords. Just something thats simple enough to navigate, use and store your info. Best part is that its free, for now at least!

Donny Miller's rad Vans shoe the "Slip Up"!

2010-01-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

Here's some pics from Donny Miller's Shoe release party at Fred Segal in Santa Monica. Donny has been a great friend for a long time and is always doing something fresh, wether its doing art, writing, or designing a shoe for Vans. He also has a classic high top and slip on with his astronaut riding a shark graphic. I've been meaning to get a pair of slip ons for some time now and the "Slip Up" will be a good reason to go and get a pair.

The Donny Miller "Slip Up"! Donny also directed a commercial for his shoe that's pretty rad and ties to the graphic element of his shoe.

Donny and long time good friend and surf bro Dan Johnson.

Just in case you can't quite see the art behind Donny and Dan in the last pic. Here's The Gardener of Eden.

Friends and iPath Art Director and Web Wizard, Bret and Happy Banta.

One of the dudes responsible for a lot really cool things happening at Vans, Nate Iott and Wife Teresa.

I've Always loved this piece by Donny, I think death by saxophone would be the best way to go.

This months Random Notes in Rolling Stone

2010-01-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of mine from Yo Gabba Gabba Season 3 of the Flaming Lips that ended up on the Random Notes in this months Rolling Stone. That was one of my favorite days on set this season and getting to photograph Wayne Coyne, Steve Drozd, and Michael Ivins was something I've been trying to get to do for a while. Luckily being the on set photographer for the show allowed the band to come to me instead of me chasing them. I remember hooking the talent producer Justin Lyon to the Flaming Lips Warner Bros. guy Rick Gershon during season 1 and have been waiting patiently for this opportunity to happen and it finally did! Can't wait to see the episode with "I Can Be A Frog" on it. It looked great from where I was standing and I'm sure after the editing the footage will look just as awesome!

Open Sesame with Ray and Martin

2010-01-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

Okay so I've had some technology burnout towards the end of 2009 and totally neglected this blog. Had lunch with my good friends Martin Wong, editor for Giant Robot and my go to person for finding out about cool stuff, and all around rad dude and legendary Pro Skater Ray Barbee. Its always nice to have friends you can talk to and find inspiration from. To make what could be a long winded blog short. Martin convinced me that I should keep up with doing this blog and try and find ways to keep it fun. So that's just what I'm gonna do, starting with this one. Thanks guys!

Video for Aaron Watane's Song!

2009-12-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a little video that began as an inside joke between sound & camera crew, that turned out to be a fun little video project for myself. This was my first attempt at editing video all shot hand held with the 5D mark II and edited in imovie. Besides being one of the sound technicians on the show Aaron is also a talented songwriter who writes some of those catchy tunes on Yo Gabba Gabba. Songs like "Get the Sillies Out, I like to Dance and the Goodbye Song" to name a few. This song is inspired by all the down time that seems to accumulate waiting for the freshly painted sets to dry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AynDwNhE-xY

Here's a little video I put together for the Yo Gabba Gabba Live shows LA & NYC!

2009-12-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well Season 3 of Yo Gabba Gabba has wrapped and a Live show is on tour as I write this! The mini tour ends this weekend in Chicago. I had the opportunity to shoot the LA & NYC shows and while shooting I ran some video on my 5D mark II. Edited it and here is my little edited video of the behind the scenes and highlights of the live show. Enjoy!!!!

Three Mile Pilot reminds me why I like their music.

2009-07-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

After a 15 year hiatus, one of the coolest San Diego bands decides to go on tour and record another record. Well its not like they completely disappeared or something. 1 third of the band was busy with The Black Heart Procession and another 1 third was busy with Pinback. Both great bands in their own right, but more of a splintered progression from this band. I can remember hearing Na Vucca Do Lupu for the first time and the wierd photo of a mouth on the inside of a traffic cone on the cover. I was an instant fan, besides I had to check out Zach's bass playing technique, because I couldn't understand how he made the sounds he did on a bass guitar. I can remember seeing them play for the first time at either a cargo/headhunter show at the Roxy or some show in San Diego, I think maybe the womens center club or something like that. I remember seeing Pall use a bullhorn to sing through for circumcised and just loving the chords that Zach was playing on his bass. From then on I would try and see them play as much as I could. And believe me it seemed like they played a lot back then almost like every weekend their would be a Three Mile Pilot show. I think it got to the point where it kinda was like any great band thats active and playing you think you can see them whenever and take it for granted. Then one day it seemed like there were no more Three Mile Pilot shows. Pall was playing more shows with Black Hearts and I didn't even know Pinback existed until I saw their record on the shelves. As both of those bands became more popular on their own, it seemed like everyone had kinda forgotten about the previous band and how good they were. I actually had a chance to see these guys back together at Touch and Go's 25th, but hadn't heard of any other shows after that. I'm glad I got a chance to see them again at the Echoplex last week. I didn't have a photo pass for the show but luckily ran into Pall outside in front and was able to hook one up. Thanks Pall. Overall the show was super rad and opening was one of Rob Crow's many musical creations, Optiganally Yours. I can't even keep up with Rob musically, he seems to have side projects all over the place. He keeps it fresh without trying to repeat himself creatively and I'm always down to check out what he's got going next.

Waiting for the band to start.

Rob Crow's Optiganally Yours, there seemed to be a kind of underwater or oceanic theme to the performance, will have to check out the record when it comes out.

Artist/Mad Scientist Matt Lorenz, providing Oceanic props and background video art to Opt. Yours and 3 Mile Pilot.

Pall, belting it out when it needs to be belt out.

One of the few dudes who can strum chords on a bass guitar and make it sound great. Armistead Burwell Smith IV.

Shellac at the Echoplex!

2009-06-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

I can remember back in 92 when me and a few of my friends after having been big fans of Big Black and Rapeman, had heard that Steve Albini was doing a new band. Didn't know the name of the band, but we did know that it was probably going to kick some serious ass! In 93 when the first 7 inch arrived at the record store, I can remember asking the dude if he could hold a copy for me cuz I knew that they were probably going to be hard to get at the time. I can remember getting the 7 inch manilla sleeve with the word Shellac lacquered over the front and the stamp "The Rude Gesture:A Pictorial History" stamped below. I knew by just looking at the 7 inch that I would like it. There seemed to be an overall aesthetic to the band that went into every detail of what they were doing. When I got home and listened to the record, I was right, they kicked some serious ass! Not only was the artwork engaging and original, but the sound was as well. From great overall tones of all the instruments to Albini's delivery on vocals. I had found a band that I was dying to see live. And since I read most interviews and articles about the band at the time, I knew that Steve Albini seemed to not care much for Los Angeles. So I guess It would be a while before I saw them play live. I was right, it wasn't until around 97 or 98 that I would have to trek up to San Francisco to the Great American Music Hall for an afternoon matinee show. Waiting for the band to start seemed like it took forever, with Bob Weston's bass line leading the way as they opened their set. After the show, me and my friends new it was worth the wait and we had just witnessed something rad and unique. Since then I've been fortunate enough to see them play finally in LA at the Knitting Factory around 2002 or 03 then in Chicago in 2006 for Touch n Go's 25th Anniversary and then back in LA at the Echoplex just about a week ago. Well its been 14 years and 4 LP's later since I opened that first 7 inch and Shellac still kicks some serious ass! The Travis Bean Guitars, weird guitar and bass heads/cabinet, and Todd Trainers ruling drumming. Shellac have achieved what most bands probably never will. They've been able to make the music they want to make and stay in control of how their music gets out and where they want to play shows. If you're reading this and have never heard of the band despite the 14 years they've been around its probably because the band has made it so their way. If you want to find out about Shellac and see a show your going to have to make an effort to find them. For those of us who've been witness to the radness that is Shellac, you already know what most music fans are missing out on. I hope Shellac keeps putting their music out and touring when they can. Because no one is going to play the songs they've written they way they play them.

The shadow of Steve Albini looming over that customized super rad guitar head that is a signature of the bands live performance. The originality of this band even goes into the detail of how Steve attaches the guitar to himself.

Todd Trainer, one of the best rock drummers out there that you probably won't see in drummer mags like Modern Drummer or some Hot Licks Video. Todd also does a solo project called "Brick Layer Cake" that is a departure from Shellac but still engaging musically if you've got the ears to check it out.

One of the best Bass tones I've heard on record and live is Bob Weston. One of my all time favorite records is a band Bob joined in their later history " Volcano Suns". "Career in Rock" is a gem of a record to this day, with some of the coolest songs that were never heard on the radio.

Lance Mountain Art/Skate Demo!

2009-06-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

When I think of skateboarding in the context of what it is to be a skateboarder and the history of the sport. There are a few names that come to mind, but one that always seems to represent the fun and creative side of the sport is legendary pro skater Lance Mountain. From the days of the original Bones Brigade to being owner of The Firm, and now still at the professional level with Flip and Nike. Lance has been through several of the ups and downs of the skateboard industry. Recently ran into Lance at a skate demo in Costa Mesa. Where Lance was demoing his art while the younger groms were proving themselves on the street course. Having recently come off of a leg injury, Lance is currently busy filming his part for an upcoming Flip video. Lance has also been doing art as early as I can remember me getting my first skateboard. Before skateboarding professionals could transition to lucrative careers in fine art. Lance's generation were just doing their own graphics for their boards and ads, along with guys like Neil Blender, John Lucero and Mark Gonzales. As a kid it inspired me to try new creative outlets other than skateboarding like drawing, painting, music and photography. Still committed to the skateboarding lifestyle and still shredding over kids twice as young. Lance represents a level of commitment that I can only hope I still have as the years pass.

Lance doing some realtime freejazz art demo.

I hit Lance up about doing some skate pix and some video of him skating for a future blog. So be on lookout for a future blog with some skate footy.

Big Business and Tweak Bird @ Detroit

2009-05-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just recently checked out one of my favorite bands Big Business at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Big Business is Jared Warren, who used to be in one of my favorite bands of all time Karp, and the super rad drummer Coady Willis who used to play in Murder City Devils. They are both recent additions to another awesome band The Melvins. Almost not fair how much awesomeness they've contributed musically. They've just recently released their new Lp Mind the Drift and added a guitarist Toshi Kasai to the lineup. The new record is a bit different from the previous two records. The guitar definitely sticks out more now that its seems to be a fixture of the band. Not sure if there was guitar on all of the songs from the first two albums, but what I did hear of the guitar on those records was more minimal and in the background. I still dig the direction Big Business is going in though, its still heavy as shit. Thanks to that killer tone Jared gets out of his Sunn bass heads and whatever else he's using. And Coady's drumming live is like watching someone run a marathon at full sprint. Opening the show for Big Business was the band Tweak Bird. I didn't know anything about these guys going into the show, besides the fact that they're record is on Volcom Entertainment and they have a pretty cool/weird photo of themselves on their record cover. And since I'm super down with a band with a cool/weird photo for an album cover, I was interested in hearing their sounds. Their set was pretty heavy with some interesting singing that I couldn't quite remember if I thought it sounded like anything I've heard before. The dudes seemed like young guys and I think their record is their first or second EP. Besides that I'd have to say they are a rad live band and I'm digging their EP Reservations as I'm writing this. Both bands played awesome and if I were a bit younger and had less responsibilities I'd have gone to the LA show that was tonight at the Troubadour.

Tweak Bird, the drummer rockin a cymbal way up high in the sky. That sky high cymbal setting is all John Stanier's fault

Jared rockin all the while rockin in those New Balance's.

Marathon Man Coady Willis

The Hive Dwellers & Chain and The Gang @ The Smell

2009-05-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night went to check out the new Calvin Johnson band The Hive Dwellers and new Ian Svenonius band Chain and The Gang at the Smell. I have to say this might be one of my favorite shows that I've seen in some time. Both of these punk rock veterans manage to do what most music makers cannot. Stay relevant, keep writing cool material, and put on a great live show. If you're already familiar with these guys and know their history then you already know what I'm talking about. If not, then a brief introduction to both of these dudes is in order. Calvin Johnson, owns and runs K records out of Olympia WA. He's been influential in the underground music scene since the 80's and has released a large amount of cool records. Also has played in the bands Beat Happening, Go Team, Dub Narcotic Sound System, Halo Benders and now The Hive Dwellers. Ian Svenonius has also been a huge influence in underground music since the 80's. Nation of Ulysses, Cupid Car Club, The Make-Up, Weird War(aka Scene Creamers), and now Chain and The Gang is a list of rad bands that Ian has been a founding member of. He also wrote a book "The Psychic Soviet", a collection of essays that says a lot about pop culture in only the way Ian S. could write it. I'd like to think one day that there will be a college class offered to the analysis of The Psychic Soviet. Large discussions and debates on Rock n' Rolligion and The Mix Master Race. Maybe this will be in my daughter Isabella's generation to come. To get back to the list of radness that is Ian Svenonius, he also is presently hosting a show on VBS called Soft Focus. On the show Ian interviews other influential music makers like Ian Mackaye, Henry Rollins and Steve Albini to name a few. Now that we're up to speed, let me say a few words about last Friday nights show. I haven't seen Calvin Johnson or Ian Svenonius perform for quite some time. I think like around 97 or so. So I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed both of their new bands. The Hive Dwellers don't have any recorded material yet, but Calvin told me that some of the songs were off his solo release Before the Dream Faded. I have to say I enjoyed the Hive Dwellers version of When you Are Mine as much as the recorded version. Chain and The Gang's Down With Liberty Up With Chains was recently released on K records. With a running time of 36:55, I found myself listening through this one quite a bit. My favorite tracks have to be Reparations and Interview With the Chain Gang. The second song having one the coolest guitar riffs and tone to be heard over vinyl or digital 1's & 0's. Overall I'd have to say this show reminded me of days hangin in San Diego, going to Jabberjaw shows and just stoked to be witnessing a night of rad music. I took some video footage of the show, hopefully I faithfully captured the blood, sweat, sounds, energy, commitment that these dudes create.

LB premier of Tmos new film The Present

2009-05-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Barbee family for the nice meal before last nights show at the Long Beach Art Theatre. Thomas Campbell's new movie The Present premiered last night with Ray Barbee and the Mattson 2 opening the show. The new surf epic is a good follow up to Sprout and makes Thomas's trilogy a must have for any surf film enthusiast. A lot of familiar faces from the previous films as well as some modern additions. Ry Craike and Dane Reynolds both had some awesome footage that makes me wish I could shred on a short board. While Dave Rastovich and Dan Malloy had some truly epic parts as well. Overall I will have to pay a visit to Shelter or Harbour surf shop to get my copy once it hits the store's. Opening the show with some epic instrumental tunes was Ray and the Twins. They've been playing together for at least a couple of years now and it really shows. The dudes seem at ease jamming in and out of neat rhythm's that seem to flow with the visuals that Thomas puts to screen. I had a lot of fun last night and hope Tmos keeps makin these rad films.

Maxwell Barbee downing some chips n salsa.

mmmm, enchilada's!

My man Ray B.

Nolan Barbee getting in some Star Wars action figure time before the show.

Sound Check.

Ray, getting in some single notes.

Now that's a sharp dressed band!

GP playin drums for Brushfire Artist Zee Avi

2009-05-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

My good friend and ex fellow bandmate from way back in the day. Gabe Palmer recently picked up a gig, playing for new Brushfire artist Zee Avi. Gabe also works at one my favorite hang outs and one of the best drum shops I've ever been to, West Coast Drum. Going to a drum store is kinda like going to a good surf shop, the craftsmanship of the drums just makes you want to buy everything in site. Unfortunately, this is super unrealistic because unless your some super loaded rock star drummer, it ends up being some pipe dream left to the casual window shopper. I was super psyched to see Gabe playing drums last night at an instore performance at Fingerprints in Long Beach with Brushfire artist Zee Avi. Zee has a really pretty voice and creates cool melodies whether she's singing with a back up band or just singing with a ukulele. Although her sound definitely has a modern indie pop feel to it, you can hear elements of her homeland island sound as well. Here are some pix of GP at work and at the show, also a little video footage I took with my G10.

I'll take a few Ludwigs, DW's, vintage Gretsch sets and some Zildjan, Paiste, or Sabians with those fish taco's to go.

Snare's and more Snare's.

GP gettin down with the robot synth electro drums.

Gabe "The Mariner" Palmer. We call Gabe the "Mariner" because as well as being a rippin drummer, GP also shreds the waves and can tell you just by puttin his finger to the wind if the surf is any good that day.

Palmer family with new addition Anderson.

Zee's Ukulele.

Zee playing the instore at Fingerprints!

Listen to Death!

2009-05-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

3 Bros. from the Motor City making punk rock in 1975. 7 tracks of a long lost gem of a record. Thanks to Drag City for releasing this stuff, its nice to see that some record labels are interested in undiscovered old sounds as well as the new.

GR Hangin with Mulder!

2009-05-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

Spent the day with Martin and Paul Kwon, doing a piece on Pro Skateboarder Richard Mulder. Richard used to skate for Chocolate and now skates for Hosoi Skateboards. He also is doing his own apparel line called Heel Bruise. Richard is a rad dude that is totally committed to skateboarding. He took us to some mini ramp on a rooftop then did some switch frontside nosesliders on a really high ledge. Got some cool pics and had a lot of fun that day.

Martin pickin me up in Pedro.

Element Shoe guy and all around good skateboarder Paul Kwon, checkin the latest issue of GR.

Heel Bruise elephant graphic. Appropriately named, Richard is quite the street skatin dude and I'm sure he's had his share of heel bruisin.

Besides being an ripper on the rolling plank, Mulder also is a stock guy for Merrill Lynch and helps other fellow skate pro's with their investments.

Anthem Coachella Party 2009

2009-05-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dre's doggy.

Dre's doggy got a little sick, almost hit that beer that was sitting on the ground.

Dave Mau was there cookin it up with the rest of the Memphis dudes. Some super good eats that day.

Pool Party with lots of boomin bass coming from the guest DJ's.

Anthem's 2009 Coachella party has come and gone. Was hired to shoot party goers, dj's, celeb's and all sorts of interesting people that showed up to this years house party. There was a lot of sun, beer, dancing, swimming, bikinis, loud bass, and a whole lot of hangin out in the Indio heat. Good thing there was a huge pool, man made lake, and giant slip n' slide for all to enjoy.

Judging by the trailer, this movie looks great!

2009-04-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Always been a fan of Spike Jonze Photography, Music Video's and Movies. Just saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. From the trailer everything about this movie's look and feel seems really cool. The creature design alone looks awesome. Can't wait to check this one out!

Where The Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze - Trailer

Canon G10, Best Point & Shoot Out There!

2009-04-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Just recently picked up a Canon G10 Point & Shoot, and I gotta say its not only really great as a point & shoot,but its just a really great all around camera. Recently just wanted something I could put in my pocket and carry around all the time. Was tired of taking my SLR wherever I went. Did a little research and was totally sold on the G10. Mainly because it shoots RAW, is 14 megapixel and you can shoot in manual mode. I was kinda boggling my brain between the Lumix LX3, but when it came down to it the G10 seemed to fit my style a bit more. Don't get me wrong the LX3 is a great camera with its Leica and 24mm 2.0 lens. I just felt I needed something a little sturdier and didn't quite need the lens width and speed. Also canon has a cool feature on one of its settings that let you preview your shots to compose a panaramic or larger stitched photo. It doesn't actually do the stitching of images but lets you have a good ball park guess as to compose several images to make a larger one. I've been having a lot of fun with this setting because it has a lot of potential for creating some neat shots. Here are a few sample shots I've taken, its nice to use as kind of a sketch book camera. Always carrying around a camera is a habit I've always had, its nice to just have something a bit smaller that you don't have to worry about drawing attention to yourself with.

Who's House? Uh Danzig's house. Was just in the Neighborhood and had to snap a pic of the Evil Elvis's pad.

Anthem Mag publisher and fellow Photog. Dustin Beatty.

Baby Bella with rad Kumquat hat, I love this hat cuz it makes her look like a baby Sherpa.

My favorite record store of all time Vinyl Solution, in Huntington Beach. The dude in the background is Jeff "Tornado Head" Davis. Jeff knows a shitload about Punk Rock and Music in general. If you want that old school feel of going into a record store seeing loads of 12"Lp's and getting your fingers a little dirty then you gotta love this store. I can remember many a day spent here, listening to records with Jeff, Drack, Mike, & Tom. Probably spent a whole paycheck a few times back then. My fondest memory has to be the band Rock*A*Teens showing up and doing an instore for like 5 people, myself included. So Cool!

Giant Robot office and headquarters. Emelio, Martin & Julienne working on getting the next GR issue to press asap!

Props to my LA faves!

2009-04-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

Just gotta give props to my favorite LA bands and No Age bros. for some good times out at SXSW!

Abe Vigoda were awesome with new drummer Dane. Look forward to hearing new recordings with him.

Best female rock band out there right now, Mika Miko keep it punk at the Smell showcase.

Protect Me dudes Luis & Jordan hangin after their set. These kids were really cool and look forward to hearing more of them in the future.

Wheatsville bros. and finders of great healthy eating on the road, NO AGE!

This was No Age's last show on the last night at Ms. Bee's. The crowd was super big and super into it. Lots of cameras and lots of sweat.

SXSW Radness!

2009-04-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm finally getting up blog about the bands at SXSW. Was so busy trying to see everything I wanted to see and a little shoot I did for NYLON, I neglected the blog. Well here it is 3 weeks later, like I said I blag not blog! Was also sick for like 2 weeks when I got home, so that kinda sucked too. The drive back home was one long ass lonely drive. 1 day to Las Cruces, 1 day back to Cali. Was psyched to be back home with my girls and to sleep in the comfort of my own bed and not another motel 6. Anyway, here are some highlights.

Saw my buds from way back in the day Yoshi and Marjan, they play in a band called Still Flyin, Their from SF and have a nice indie pop meets Reggae, Dub kinda sound.

Red Red Meat has been a band thats been playin and makin records for a long time now. I've never really checked em out, but really enjoyed their set at the Sub Pop Showcase, gonna have to go out and get a few of their records now.

Hisham Baroocha and his one man band called Soft Circle is super good. Hisham used to play in Lightning Bolt and Black Dice. He's a rad dude and makes really neat music. He was playin the PPM labels showcase, which is Dean from No Age's label.

Wavves was raddd. Playin some backyard bar show on the outskirts of the SXSW. This show was a nice break from all the downtown Austin fair of SXSW. More of a punk bar scene in the seady side of town. Wavves was kinda one of the buzz bands at SXSW, they're really good live and despite all the hype that kid Nathan writes really cool songs.

I was really looking forward to seeing Obits play, and I ended up seeing them twice. At the Sub Pop showcase and the last evening at the Vice Party. I've been a fan of Rick Froberg's Bands for a long time now and I have to say I enjoyed Obits a lot. For those who don't know Ricks history here's a brief 101 of his past bands. Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes and now Obits. Rick is also a super rad artist who seems to go under the radar when it comes to the so called art scenes out there. If I had the luxury of collecting art, I'd be buying up a shitload of his stuff. Anyway, I had a great time and it was cool hangin with Rick and the rest of his band at the Vice show despite the crazy party hard atmosphere.

Final Destination SXSW!

2009-03-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

Finally arrived in Austin, TX after a long day and drive. The day started with some breakfast diner where some old timer gave us some weird jokes, stories and song & dance. Then it was a few skate missions where Garrett got broke on a hubba ledge with a large kink at the bottom. Spanky got a blunt slide while me No Age dudes and Andrew sat around playing guitar by the vans. Then the Lubbock locals took us to some ditch with a bunch of gaps. The largest one in which Slash threw down a huge ollie over. By the time we got on the road to Austin it was already 6pm and at least a 6-7hr drive ahead of us. Me and Spanky got seperated from the caravan for a few hrs. Driving through Texas at night on a one lane road that never seems to end gets a little spooky. You can go for an hour straight without seeing another vehicle or any signs of civilization. Then you got numerous amount of deer on the side of the road that you hope don't decide to bolt in front of your car. We kept expecting to see Leatherface run across the road with Chainsaw in hand. Our soundtrack of Earth blasting through my car speakers didn't help that stretch of the drive either. We finally caught up with the rest of the team at a random gas station in the middle of nowhere. Then about 4 hrs later and at 3am we hit Austin. By the time I hit the sack it was 5am. Now its the last leg of our trip and time to check out the sounds of SXSW!

Lubbock Texas Show

2009-03-18T02:48:00.001-07:00

Well, we left Albuquerque yesterday morning and hit the Goat/No Age show in Lubbock Texas. Hometown of Buddy Holly, there's a rad statue of him with some transition brick planters that we were thrown out of by coppers. The show was really cool, good crowd, sound and the Mai Shi met up with the bands for this one.

Justin, Andrew and Shane lookin' one half traveling wilbury and one half rock n' roll thuglife.

Speaking of Rock n' Roll, Regan getting a little frontside while we wait for everyone to meet at the vehicles.

Atiba and Spanky rockin and mess'n with Texas.

Mae Shi dudes rockin it out on the way to SXSW!

Dean is such a rad punk rock drummer, that look on his face here is of pain and pure energy. Dean had a really bad cramp in his stomach that night, but powered through their set with no complaints.

Last Day and Skate Missions in Albuquerque.

2009-03-17T02:22:00.005-07:00

Well yesterday was our last day in Albuquerque, and it was a day filled with skating. The first spot was a really great skatepark. The big bowl looked gnarly, it had a semi full pipe and was about 11 to 12 ft. in the bowl section. There was also an over vert part with marble coping. The street area was really cool, cuz it looked like it kinda wasn't meant to be skated. Almost like a real street spot. Crazy banks hitting walls ending and starting in weird places. The guys were shredding it up and it was kinda hard to focus on everyone. Almost too much radness happening at once. The next stop was a triple set of stairs at one of the high schools in Alb. Where Andrew, Theotis and Kenny threw down some whopper bangers.

This thing looked too gnarly for my skills. Maybe if the bowls were 4-6ft, I could hang.

Spanky getting a line of tricks while Miner keeps up!

Andrew with a massive backside on the hip. This hip looked pretty steep to me, oh yeah by the way he kickflipped into this backside grab!

Spanky hit this wall first with a layback, then to top it off with this rock n' slide n' roll.

Dude I remember seeing Jason Lee do a 360 flip on the flatground and being amazed. Andrew throws one super high down a triple set. Check out the feet catching that board, sickness!

Albuquerque Altamont team signing and rock show.

2009-03-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well first day in Albuquerque had us at a team signing at Beach Zone skate shop. Funny that beach is the name of the shop considering we're no where near a beach. The kids all seemed pretty stoked to see pro skaters in their hometown and there was quite the line for autographs. The show was at a place called 1kind Studios, pretty cool spot. Reminded me of the cool DIY shows of back in the day. Good size room and the sound was actually really good for such a punk rock show. When the show was well over the bands both played rad sets, minus a few power outages for No Age. A girl singing blues tunes in the exit door and back to the motel. The same girl singing blues tunes ending up naked in Reno's room and the rest of the dudes finishing off some Jim Beam and random beers. For me it was a night on my computer, downloading pix, facebooking and blogging. I'm the old boring dude on this trip, still can't get to bed early though. Seems like 2am is the earliest I can get some shuteye.

On The Road from Flagstaff to Albuquerque!

2009-03-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

On the way to Albuquerque, we made a stop at some mystery wierd spot. Out in the middle of nowhere is a barn looking structure thats totally torn to shreds and an abandoned empty pool. The kind of spot I can only guess that people show up with their big trucks with KC lights, a twelve pack and shotguns to shoot stuff with. The pool looked unskateable to me, but this is a team of skaters used to skating crazy shit. The thing looked like it was 4 ft. of vert and 3 ft. transitions. After a little sessioning, some band pics, and an exploration of some sketchy caves with some sketchy wood bridges. We were off to Albuquerque.

Freezing in Flagstaff with The Goat and No Age!

2009-03-15T02:48:00.000-07:00

Flagstaff was cold, real cold. Checking into the motel felt like it took forever.

Shane Heyl and The Goat. Singin bout Billy.

Dean and Randy puttin the P in Punk.

Flagstaff kids going Nutzo for No Age!

Double Set and Water Park in Phoenix

2009-03-15T01:59:00.000-07:00

Seen this waterpark in many a skate video and was stoked to actually get to go and check it out. Didn't get to skate it because I was to busy taking pix and video of the dudes shredding. During the day we hit up a massive double set of stairs that Theotis, Andrew and Kenny put to some use.

Slash gets a blunt slide that he alley ooped and came in frontside.

Spanky getting a frontside kickflip.

Figgy hangin while Theotis and Kenny get to work on the double set.

Theotis hangin a lofty kickflip over the rail of the double set.

Andrew doing a massive backside 360 ollie over the double set.

SXSW with Altamont Skate Team, The Goat, and No Age!

2009-03-15T01:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm kinda lagging on this blog. I think there should be a term for people like me, I'm not a blogger but more of a blagger, otherwise a lagging blogger. We started this trip on the 9th and we're almost at the halfway point in our trip. Here are some pics from the first stay in Phoenix, AZ.

No Age at Modified Arts, cool little DIY punk place, totally ripping night of music.

Slash gets a little crail slider at the wall at Glendale, while Pat O'Dell takes some video.

Garrett Hill does an amazing 360 flip to frontside 5-O grind on this mini Hubba ledge!

Thank to Staff Magazine

2009-03-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Juan and everyone over there at Spain's Staff Magazine, for taking an interest in my work and doing a piece on my Photography. The images and layout looked great and really like the size of the mag. The mag is about 11x11, so my scans here are bit cut off. The issue is really cool and features a handfull of other artists like Shepard Fairey, Pat Graham, & Jason Farrell. Look forward to see who else makes it in there on future issues.

The Right Attitude With Attitude, Cool Kids Abe Vigoda

2009-02-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

I know I've blogged about them in the past, but I just can't get enough of this band. One of my recent favorite bands that is actually from the LA area. Abe Vigoda always puts on a great show with their melodic, spazzy, frantic, sonic, and awesomely energetic music. They recently played the smell which was drummer Reggie's last show. Its okay because the kid pictured here on the left is Reggie's replacement. Not that Reggie didn't add to the specialness of this band. Hopefully the new kid will keep up the AV radness. Well if he can deliver on songs like Animal Ghosts and Bear Face then I will most likely still be a fan.

Abe Vigoda members with past and present drummer.

Always packing the house at The Smell and making everyone sweat. I look forward to the new AV lineup and Reggie's sweet beats will be missed.

Chandni Chowk to LA

2009-02-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Giant Robot recently sent me and Martin W. to check out the screening, take some pix and interview the director and stars of new Bollywood pic Chandni Chowk to China. Martin having a much better vocab of Bollywood pics than me. Gave me a little Bollywood 101 before the screening. This is what I learned so far, Bollywood pics are long, kinda corny, and have large dance numbers with awesome Indian music! I guess this is the first Bollywood pic to combine Bolly style movie with Kung Fu. Not sure how American audiences will embrace the movie, but it definitely makes me want to see more of these style films. Apparently the director has a 3 picture deal with Warner Bros. , so I guess we'll be seeing at least 2 more by director Nikhil Advani.

The very beautiful Bolly actress Deepika Podukone, I had 5 min. to get a pic. Good thing she showed up with full make up and styled to the floor.

Chandni Chowk main star Akshay Kumar checking out a recent issue of GR. Akshay was really cool and I guess the story is sort of autobiographical to his own life story, minus the crazy kung fu high jinx.

Jabberjaw photo submission finalized and sent off!

2009-01-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well I just finished sending out the pix for the in the works upcoming book about legendary 90's underground punk rock club The Jabberjaw. Try and think back to the 90's, what were you into, what where you dressed like? Unless you paid attention to what was happening in the underground, you probably liked Grundge or whatever lamo pop music was around during that time. And you probably wouldn't want anyone checking photo's of you during this time dressed like a dorkus malorkus. Cuz mainstream fashioned sucked, remember everything being size gigantic. This was before the internet and popular clothing brands that just copied what they found in thrift stores. Anything cool you had to hunt that shit down! If there were any great original bands to hear and see, you either had to already know about them or catch them during one of their tours through your town. No myspace, internet blog, magazine press, just word of mouth or you happened to catch a flyer with a listing of the show. The Jabberjaw, if you knew about the place, was the one stop showcase of super cool bands. Most of these bands weren't on any major labels to get them showcases at the local Roxy and Whiskey type venues, so it was all DIY with help from friends. Plus the shows were 5 bucks, a bargain for then and now. I happened to be in my 20's during this time and was really into what was going on at the Jabberjaw and other DIY punk venues. Wanting to be a part of it, but somewhat an outsider, I relied on my camera to document in my own way, something I thought was cool and had an energy that I could'nt quite describe, but inspired me to want to go and check shit out. Every generation has something underground happening that will always remain special for that time period. For me it was the shows at Jabberjaw. These bands to me are as timeless as all the legendary bands that came before them. It also put the final stamp on the so called Punk genera before the term totally became a meaningless marketing term for a music sound. Don't get me wrong, punk rock still exists it just isn't called that anymore. To check out more pics during this time, I've got quite a few on my facebook page, so check em out if you liked these bands. And if you like these photo's and never heard of these bands, do yourself a favor and listen to these bands.

Some kids putting up with the heat, probably was 100 degrees in there. You could see the perspiration on the walls.

One of my favorite Chris Thompson bands, The Monorchid.

Rocket from the Crypt

The Make Up

One has to experience the sonicness of Unwound.

L.A.'s Derby Dolls

2009-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well if you've never attended a Derby Dolls event, you're really missing out. Probably one of the coolest new sports that I've become a fan of. Like the roller derby of the 70's but with more of a DIY punk rock aesthetic. Attending one of these derby's will have you up and out of your seat cheering in no time. I believe the 70's roller derby was scripted like wrestling, but here you get the real deal. The girls are actually competing and most of them are really great skaters! They all have great team names and alias jersey names. Like Gori Spelling, Mila Minute, and Kung Pao Tina. This particular event was a holiday all star line up. Thanks to my friend Ane Jens a.k.a. Gori Spelling, who was able to help me out with a photo pass. I was able to get some fun pics from this derby. Looks like Gene Simmons and family were also fans of the derby, because Family Jewel's also happened to be filming an episode that night at the derby, with the Simmons family doing their verson of The Star Spangled Banner. I believe there are Derby Dolls in numerous other cities in the U.S., so treat yourself and support a sport that is in the early underground stage. They don't seem to have any huge corporate sponsership deals that in most cases take away from the heart of the neat things. I'm sure this sport will grow as more people attend and find out about it, everyone involved seems to be having a fun time, so hopefully wherever this sport goes that will remain true.

One the fastest skaters on the block, Gori Spelling will show you how the L.A.D.D. girls jam!

Here is another speed demon, Mila Minute leading the pack against team Santa's Little Helpers.

You know a sport is cool when all the players give hi fives to fans and audience members at the end of the game.

Team L.A. Ri-Ettes!

Our Bella is officially 2 months old.

2008-12-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

It is now Dec. 18th and Bella has passed the 2 month mark. Wasn't shure if I was going to blog about her here, since we have another blog set up for the family. But I just really dig these pix!

The Gudauskas Bros.& Layla Hurst totally shred a crappy day at zuma

2008-12-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

Layla cruising Zuma.

How these guys find the speed to do the maneuvers they do is beyond me. Tanner getting a little vertical, while his bros find enough speed for some nice carving and spray's.

On a recent shoot for Vans, we had Patrick, Dane, and Tanner Gudauskas on the shoot. Did some stuff at a campsite with a bigfoot costume that might have been a wookie costume. Next morning asked the Bros. and Layla Hurst to paddle out, just to get some shots of them in the water with their boards with Scott S. in the Bigfoot costume. Didn't even think the waves looked rideable, I guess I was wrong cuz I saw some amazing shredding in some sorry ass surf. Patrick cruised down a little left to end it with some double rail grab rodeo flip thing on a 2 ft. wave, WTF. The Gudauskas Bros. are some of the coolest and friendliest dudes ever, as with Layla and her dad who made this shoot one of the funnest shoots I've done for Vans.

More Cool Music, thanks to Giant Robot!

2008-12-08T21:34:00.001-08:00

U.K. electronic music makers the Fuck Buttons rocked a cool set opening for Magwai.

Brazilian band CSS played a cool show at the Mayan in LA. I didn't know anything about this band when I saw them except that they had a song on an Apple commercial called "Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex". They put on a cool show and their singer Lovefoxxx is a great front person that is hard not to watch once she takes the stage.

A definite nugget of a band is Ponytail from Baltimore, Maryland. They recently played the Smell, I missed the show due to another job that I had to get to, but I bought the cd and couldn't stop listening to it over and over. They have a great sound that I can't quite describe as well as great personalities. I'll definitely be checking in on their music to see where they take their sound.

2nd Season with Yo Gabba Gabba

2008-12-08T20:25:00.001-08:00

Well another season of Yo Gabba Gabba has come and gone. This season saw some really great guest stars, music groups, some new characters, and cool places created by the awesome art dept. and creators.

Brobee learned how to play the drums.

John Reis from legendary punk bands Rocket from the Crypt and Drive Like jehu is the Swami who introduces the bands. Show creators Scott Schultz and Christian Jacobs take a moment to help the swami cast a spell on the crew to make sure we all get the shot.

O's band Reeve Oliver showed up to teach the kids about making sandwiches.

Ray Barbee takes some direction from CJ on some Cool Tricks.

Ladytron played some cool songs and took some time to explore Brobee's land.

Paul Scheer takes a moment to take some pics of Jack McBrayer with Muno after filming their knock knock jokes.

Questlove laying down some seriously awesome beats with his band the Roots for the family episode.

Songwriting great Paul Williams takes a breather before filming his song Rainbow Connection. I felt like I was a kid again and could of listened to this song over and over all day long.

Jack Black filmed a whole episode in one day. Totally pro, he makes it very easy to create great pics.

Once again I had the pleasure of working with the awesome cast and crew this season. The last day of production was definitely a little sad, when you get a job like this you wish it would never end.

More New Music

2008-09-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here's another Southern California nugget of a band. They're called Health and they seem to be gaining popularity here in the southland and other parts of the world. I can't quite describe their sound, but they sure are pretty sonic and loud. Some of their stuff live sounds like Japanese Taiko drumming with kind of a DC punk flavor. Add a little electronics here and there for some frosting on this sonic cake and presto Health music will enter your ears and either make you want to dance or break shit. There seems to be some really good music happening lately and Health is definitely on my list of bands to watch.

Do Yourself A Favor And See This Band!

2008-08-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

King Khan & The Shrines recently rolled through LA, playing a great show at The Echo. Having a sound that would be mistaken for something recorded in the 60's with a lot of soul, r&b, and just plain goodtime rock n' roll. You won't be disappointed once you experience King Khan hitting the stage with his band The Shrines. With 3 horn players a dude in African getup doing percussion stuff and a drummer that looks like he should be in some death metal band.

This bands look and stage presence just compliment the energetic lead of King Khan. The guitarist and bass player also do their share of shredding out great riffs with hints of James Brown and Bo Diddley style rhythms. All coming together with some great songwriting and lyrics.

Their latest release on Vice Records "The Supreme Genius of King Khan and The Shrines" has 16 original tracks with some cool song titles. The album has a handful of standout tracks, my favorite includes "(How Can I Keep You) Outta Harms Way, Crackin' Up, and Tell Me". For sure an album I could listen to all the way through without jumping to the next song. I always think that the bands that I enjoy the most always have good records that make me want to go see their live show and play great live shows that make me want to listen to their records. King Khan is definitely one of those bands. Shooting this show for Giant Robot was a nice surprise. I had heard about this band from my friend Steve who lives and saw them play in Vienna Austria. Steve has always had some of the best taste in music out of a my list of long time friends. So his recommendation is always taken with some interest. He also went out drinking with them and said they were really cool people as well. Martin at Giant Robot is also one of these friends with great musical taste. When he asked me to shoot this I

got pretty psyched, cause I'd heard they were rad from Steve. So 2 people with whom have good taste made me pretty excited to check them out.

Well I wasn't disappointed, King Khan came across as a dude genuinely into what he's into. He knows his music and knows how to play his music and found the right band to express it effectively. He also seems to have a good sense of humor and takes his music seriously without getting too serious about it. I definitely look forward to seeing this band again, although I'm sure each time they revisit LA, they will be playing bigger venues with each visit. If they swing by your town or city, check em out.

2008 Protec Pool Party

2008-06-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

One of the best skate competitions came and went yet again at this years Protec Pool Party. Taking place in the Combi Bowl at the Vans park in Orange, its a one day shred fest with skate legends coming out of the woodwork to show what they still have and todays pro's and future legends coming out to show what they got. Although the placing of the masters and pro's was similar to last years results, it was still a fun day of seeing some incredible skating.

One of the original Upland Pipeline Combi skaters,1st place Masters division Chris Miller shows that at 38 he's still one of the coolest skaters to watch in the combi.
Bucky Lasek placing 3rd in the pro division blasted huge airs all day. A method to fakie in the round bowl, wonder what that must feel like? Probably pretty amazing.

3 of the Combi Masters out of commission due to injury. Salba, Lance Mountain, & Jeff Grosso showing his flexibility, with Omar Hassan checking out the contest. Having these 3 guys injured and not able to skate was kind of a bummer. Because they would've definitely added to the awesomeness.
1st Place Pro division all around ripper and last years winner Rune Glifberg launches a high frontside tail grab.
The winners circle, all the skaters seem to have such a fun time at this contest. It feels like the placing doesn't really matter. But I'm sure it feels good to take home a piece of cement coping and a big check.

The Kids Aren't Just Alright They're Totally Awesome

2008-05-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what happened to Punk Rock, although punk has lost most of its power and meaning in the onslaught of mass marketing and commercialism. It still lives on in a handful of bands that create their own kind of energy that can only be described as original. Pre definitely fits this description. Coming from the UK with a new release on Skin Graft records. The band just finished a grip of shows throughout Southern CA. Checked out their show at UCLA while taking some pics for Giant Robot.

Clockwise from the left Kevin,J, Matt, Richard and Akiko.

Singer Akiko Matsuura showing that Punk Rock isn't totally dead it just wakes up every now and then to remind people like me that the kids will always find a way to keep it unpredictable and cool.

Josh Peck for RADAR Magazine

2008-05-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Shot Pix of young actor Josh Peck for RADAR Magazine. You might recognize Josh if you've seen the recent movie Drillbit Taylor. His newest movie coming out is called The Wackness. Co staring Ben Kingsley and Method Man. Set in the 80's the movie is about a young kid who deals weed and ends up trading his shrink for therapy sessions. At the same time falling for the shrinks daughter. Somewhere in there is a coming of age love story and lots of 80's hip hop. Look forward to checking the movie out when it hits theatres sometime in August. Josh was a really nice kid and I wish him luck in his future career in showbiz.

Shoot for VANS

2008-05-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Recently did a shoot for VANS shoes, we shot at Pooh Bah's Record Store in Pasedena and Echo Park in LA. Pooh Bah's was a really cool store that had a lot of great records. I've been on a huge Sparks kick lately and they special ordered Kimono My House and Propaganda for me. Totally cool dudes over there running the store, a good reason to go shopping at a real record store rather than downloading mp3's. Echo Park is a interesting little park located off of Glendale in LA. There are a lot of duck's and geese there, so much that its hard to walk around without stepping in bird dookie. They do have some cool paddle boats to peddle around in though. Vans crew was really fun to work with. And thanks to my great assistants Patrick and Langdon that day. Really made the job go as smooth as possible.

Me and Langdon in paddle boat 14, whatever you do, don't paddle too close to the fountain at Echo Park. The water in the park is really murky looking and you might not want to get the stuff on you.

Me demonstrating my photography skills. You can get really great pictures of your subject when you point in the opposite direction and aim your camera straight at the strobe.

Recently shot for Forbes Magazine

2008-04-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

Shot young web investor Ryan Jacob in Redondo Beach for Forbes. Ryan had a very nice office overlooking the ocean(as seen in the pic). He must be investing in the right places to have a location like that. Ryan was a very nice dude with a pleasant personality. Looks like he's trying to also give surfing a go now that he's relocated to California. I've never been to the beach in that part of town so I was surprised when I was scouting to see that Torrance Beach is a really nice break. There also seemed to be a nice point break just south of Torrance right where Palos Verdes ends. It looks like it breaks left at the point and I think on the other side is the Lunada Bay point break. Gotta be careful surfing these breaks though, I've heard the locals are kinda modern day pirates. Won't be expecting any friendly smiles and hello's at these beaches. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you've got a nice wave in your backyard and you don't want the crowds to spoil your spot. I wonder if these same locals inspired the masked surfer gang bank robbers lead by Patrick Swayze, from the film Point Break. Gotta check that movie out again!

CJ7 Premier by Giant Robot

2008-03-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Stephen Chow has a new film out titled CJ7. Giant Robot recently had a LA premier for the new movie and guest discussion panel including director, actor Stephen Chow and his co-star Xu Jiao. The movie is about a poor working class construction worker Ti and his son Dicky, who has to deal with class prejudice at his school with fellow students and particular teachers. Being too poor to afford new shoes or toys for his son, Ti comes across a strange ball in the junkyard and tells his son that it is a new version of the toy he had his eye on in the toy store. The toy turns out to be a space alien of some kind with special powers. Hijinx ensues between all the characters of the film that will leave you laughing, smiling, and maybe crying at times. Although a bit of a departure from his previous films Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. This film still has Chow's sense of humor, slapstick and good storytelling for fans of all ages. A great film to take children to although not sure if they are releasing this movie with an English overdub. Children will definitely have to have reading skills for the subtitles. Having been a big fan of Chow's previous movies I was little disappointed that there was very little martial arts in the film. But this isn't a martial arts film its a childrens movie that relies more on its storytelling and effects than martial arts. So don't go into seeing this film expecting another Kung Fu Hustle. If you can get beyond expecting to see over the top Kung Fu sequences, then you will enjoy this film.

The maestro himself Stephen Chow.

Actress Xu Jiao during the panel after the premier. When asked why he chose a girl to play the lead part of Dicky Chow. Stephen Chow said that Xu seemed to be the child that would be easier to work with from the casting for the movie. Either way she does a great job and if you didn't know beforehand that the character is played by a girl then it probably would never occur to you until you found out this info.

Martin Wong of Giant Robot leading the discussion panel questionnaire. CJ7 is playing now in limited release, the trailer can be viewed on Youtube and the movie's official Sony Pictures site.

Bob Burnquist's ramp and mega jump

2008-02-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

Recently had a chance to skate, take some pix, and hang out at Bob Burnquist's place with Bret Banta and Dave Smith of Ipath. Bob's place is somewhat of a vert skateboarders playground. Having an assortment of cool ramp constructions that prove as quite a training ground for any professional skateboarder. You get a good sense at what it takes to be a pro skateboarder in this day and age. Seeing what Bob skates on a normal skate session you can see how he is definitely one of those innovating and progressing the sport of skateboarding.

Panoramic view of the mega jump. I still can't believe he owns one of these and has the yard space for it.

View from the top of the Mega Jump. Once you commit to dropping in on this there is no turning back. You will have to at least commit to a 20-30 ft. leap and then if you make that you've gotta prepare for a 30ft. vert quarter pipe that will launch you at the least 10ft. above the coping even if you try and slow down. Jake Brown and Pat Duffy are reason enough as to the dangers of skating this leviathan.

View from the garden. Bob grows his own veggies and edible organic goodies.

Bob and daughter Lotus giving me a ride through the compound.

Bob's old decks, probably a future ebayer's treasure.

Bob's gotta loop too!

Ipath Art Director Bret Banta standing in the mini 8ft. section of the vert ramp.

Bob B. and his Mega Jump. To find more info on Bob check out his website at www.bobburnquist.com

The Night Marchers @ Alex's Bar and All Star Lounge 02/10 & 02/11

2008-02-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

John Reis of Pitchfork,Rocket From the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, & The Sultans just unleashed his new musical creation The Night Marchers on Southern California the weekend of Feb. 10th. I caught two of the shows on the 10th and 11th at Alex's bar in Long Beach & All Star Lanes in Eaglerock. Teaming up again with fellow Hot Snakes Gar Wood and Jason Kourkounis and newcomer Tommy Kitsos of the CPC Gangbang's. Its always cool to see a band that looks like their having as much fun playing as I'm having, listining. Hearing tones and sounds that sound familiar in a Bo Diddley to Captain Beefhart way, but always staying true to a sound that is very John Reis. The Night Marchers are definitely a band that I look forward to seeing more of in the future. Be sure to catch them if they pass through your city or town.

Alex's Bar 02/10/08

All Star Lanes 02/11/08

Aquabat's TV Show Pilot

2008-02-05T22:30:00.000-08:00

Just finished a week of working on the production set of a new TV Show Pilot for the Aquabats. If you're familiar with their hit kid TV show Yo Gabba Gabba, you'll get somewhat of an idea of what's in store. The TV show will follow the Aquabats on live action and animated adventures, with plenty of fun and humor thats similar to their live performances. Whether its battling cool monsters like The Toxic Tortilla, Kitty Litter, or The Sand Fleas. You know there will be plenty of entertaining fun, lead by MC Bat Commander and fellow Bats Crash McLarson, Jimmy The Robot, Eagle Bones, and Ricky Fitness. Get ready to become a future fan of these neat creative dudes.

Team photo, is that a Toxic Tortilla on the top of that mountain?

MC Bat Commander.

Eagle Bones battling the Toxic Tortilla with his trusty Axe.

Crash McLarson summoning his power to GROW LARGE.

Its raining Tortilla chips, time to party!

Another authentically cool product from the Aquabats merchandise catalog, The Insta Bro.

Bat Fans and Cadets.

Catch the Aquabats live in a city near you.

The Smells 10th Anniversary Showl

2008-02-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

On January 06, 2008 The Smell celebrated its 10th year anniversary. One of the few cool spots to see underground music in LA. Its great to see that newer generations are still able to experience live music in a small place where you can really get up close and personal. Here are a few of the Smell's local favorites Abe Vigoda, Mika Miko, & No Age.

Little plastic pooches, I think they stayed up there for a whole set without being knocked down.

Always good to see some audience participation.

The original weirdo rippers.

2008-02-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

Highlights from 2007

From Monuments To Masses

2008-02-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

Shot Dim Mak band From Monuments to Masses for Giant Robot. Really good live band. Francis, Sergio, and Matt gave a rocking show at Safari Sams in LA. Good to see bands play all age venues when they can.

Opening for FMTM was the great Don Caballero with Drum virtuoso Damon Che. Still a super drum ripper.

Sounds of the SF underground

2008-02-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some cool new sounds from SF that I recently checked out at some little LA room, club, art gallery? Check em out on myspace for a sample.

Burmese, sounds of Death Metal and Grind, doing their best to abuse your eardrums.

Fuckwolf, not just another band with the word wolf in it.

Death Sentence Panda, bringing the experiment back to experimental punk rock.

Skating with Ray Barbee at the Channel St. Skatepark in Pedro

2008-02-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

Ray doing a sick Frontside rock on a tight vert wall .

T-Pain and Jeff Dodes for the Cover of Billboard Magazine

2008-02-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

Carbon/Silicon live at the Troubadour

2008-02-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

Shot some portraits of Mick Jones and Tony James for Giant Robot. They have a new band together called Carbon/Silicon. If you've ever liked the Clash or B.A.D., then you won't be disappointed. They only played two shows this time around one in LA and the other in NY. Hopefully they will do a longer US tour next time around.

Clash city Rocker are still rocking.

Hawaii trip Oct. 2007

2008-02-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

Went to Hawaii for vacation. ALOHA spirit still alive in Oahu. Makes our going back to Cali. like going back to Minnesota.

I gotta get back to Hawaii!

Imprint Culture Lab 2007

2008-02-05T17:51:00.001-08:00

I had a great opportunity late last year to attend the Imprint Culture Lab. Documenting the event and also to listen to the guest speakers. Sponsored by Giant Robot Magazine and Intertrend, last years conference was a cool meeting of the minds and who's who of innovators discussing popular crossover trends within Asian and popular culture. Here are some of my portraits of the guest speaker panel.

Partner and Executive Creative Director at Weiden + Kennedy, John Jay.

Blog super stars Danny Choo & Brian Lam.

Urban Fashion Designer Pioneer Alyasha Owerka-Moore.

Actor, Director, & Wushu martial artist Daniel Wu.

Music Biz Producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura.

Youtube Star XIN Sarith Wuku a.k.a. The Urban Ninja.

To find more info about Imprint Culture Lab 2007 check out Giant Robot issue #51 or www.imprintlife.com.