Death Cab's New Video

This morning I was in Pearl Paint buying supplies that will enable me a new creative outlet. i will post my progress as I make it. In the meantime, while I was checking out, I heard a familiar voice. It was Ben Gibbard on the radio. Singing to me to come find this video and post it on my blog.

Death Cab for Cutie has been my favorite band for many years now. When I was in Europe, traveling by bus, train, plane, tube, escalator, boat, land and sea, I listened to Death Cab. Constantly, along with some Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, but Death Cab possesses my heart, for sure. Enjoy the video, it's long, but amazing.

East Village Adventure 3/17

Last night my friend Laren and I met up in the East Village to go to 24 1st Ave. where a good friend of mine, Katie Key, was performing. Katie, who recently received an acceptance letter from CU Boulder to attend grad school for dance accompanied by a teaching assistantship, warned us that some of the dancing might be "cheesy," that some of the other dancers may not have much experience.

The scene at 24 1st Ave was like nothing I've ever experienced. The place was completely unmarked and sort of in a basement. When we walked in, the five dancers, other than Katie were already performing and the d.j. who reminded me of the wizard of oz turned us into the entertainment as he demanded we put money in his hat. The dancers made their way over to us, pawing at us and pointing to the hat until we payed up. A glowing egg and a red blinking bike light were intertwined with the scantily clad dancers who were basically crawling and rolling around on the floor, lined with leopard print booths.

Katie performed and all of us there thoroughly enjoyed it. Laren and I were amazed at how effortless Katie makes her movement seem, so fluid, natural; and when dancing next to 5 clueless bodies, her talent really shines.





By the end of the performance it seemed like she had released some frustration as she covered herself in red oil pastel and went on to mark the audience as well.

Next, we headed over to the Mars Bar where the Ramones used to hang out evidently...and as you might expect, it's a total shithole, but so charming as such. Below are a few photos I found on flickr.

photo: Brandon King

photo: Christopher de la Torre

I really like this detail of one of the window panes. So while we're in the bar, a fight breaks out outside. Beer bottles are smashed over heads, people are yelling, and a window pane, not unlike the one above gets knocked out. We were properly entertained by the commotion but when the blood soaked, beat up dudes started yelling about coming back with guns and shooting us all, we headed home.

All and all, it was a great night in the east village.

Jamie Baldridge

My dear friend Jamie Baldridge recently completed his first book, The Everywhere Chronicles. It's obviously amazing as it's being treasured in the rare books collections at the Library of Congress, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Cornell. Jamie was also just featured on juxtapoz.com. Above is one of my favorites from the book, called The Martyrdom of Saint Tilden. The book includes 12 original prints and a fantastic story that ties them all together and though I haven't read the story myself, I understand that it is somewhere along the lines of Alice in Wonderland, but darker I imagine, much darker.

Although I didn't make it into The Everywhere Chronicles, I have worked with Jamie quite a bit. This image, The Annals of Steam, comes from his newer work, that's me!

Another great one... A Dainty Phyletic, The Everywhere Chronicles.

I've officially moved to Brooklyn.

I know I've been slacking on the blog lately, but for a good reason. I am officially a New York resident and I hope to have plenty of new and exciting events, places, and influences to write about.

Loft 910, the creative space I lived in summer of '06 is having an art show. These kids really know how to do it. Here's the flyer, I'm waiting on the digital version of the other side. Saturday March 15 at 910 Bedford, Brooklyn. Every one's invited! It's a great space, always a lot of fun!!

More Panos

Here are a few more of this panoramic series. The first and second photos are from Bill Matthews' house on the bayou in Grand Couteau, La. The third is from Toledo Bend, on the Louisiana/Texas state line. The final photo is taken from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Panoramics

This is a series of panoramics I've been working on.
The first one is from Coney Island, June 2006.
The second is from the first night I arrived in Europe in the Montmartre area of Paris, January 2007.
The third is on the Southbank of London looking across the Thames, July 2007.

nathanael

My boyfriend Nathanael is working his ass off in school right now and is just putting the finishing touches on his portfolio site. Check it out at nathanaelwolfe.com. He's designed it so that you navigate through the site with the arrow keys, very cool.