jackzerby:

I have days like these sometimes…haha

As a kid my family traveled up to my grandparent’s farm for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  On one of those trips, I found in their house a large, hard bound book of Norman Rockwell’s work, and was instantly transfixed by it.  Even as a child I recognized how concisely he captured large volumes of social commentary and insight in a single moment. 

In much of his work, he captured moments of bliss.  His pictures and paintings depicted an event that many could relate to, but that event was reproduced in it’s most perfect circumstances (i.e., the perfect Thanksgiving, the perfect wedding proposal, the perfect summer day).  However, his range extended beyond humanity’s joyous occasions to include occasions born out of the darker side of the human mind; the issues over which we fought and killed one another also came into his lens and under his brush. As always, he captured these events in the most succinct and precise way, saying volumes with a single image.

As a videographer, I have been fascinated by the many ways people use the medium of video to tell a story.  Over the past 6 months, I have been particularly drawn to the challenge of telling an informative and engaging story through video, but without any dialogue - no interviews, no voice-overs, just imagery, in combination with the sound that comes with it and music.

 In my most recent project on the city and culture of Seattle, I realized there was a great parallel in what I was trying to create and what I find interesting in Rockwell’s work. As I walked around different parts of Seattle over the course of 7 days, I shot whatever caught my eye.  I saw an artist on a hilltop painting the skyline of Seattle. I saw a man on heroin who could not stand. When I opened my eyes to look at the world with a Rockwellian perspective, I found that I was surrounded by moments and snapshots of the human experience.  This piece on Seattle is the attempt to weave these moments together in a way that hopefully gives the viewer another insight into the vast range of the human experience, and hopefully to do it in an interesting way.

Click here to view:    Simply Seattle

Lindsay Campbell nails it as usual.  Also, hello again Tumblr.  It’s been a while.

lindsaycampbell:

Here’s the whole story…

Here’s my favorite excerpt:

Ridiculousness and inappropriateness are often the very foundation of humor,” Judge Philip Simon of Indiana wrote. ” The provocative context of these young girls horsing around with objects representing sex organs was intended to…

Big Basin Redwoods, CA

Travel Dates:  April 2 - 9, 2009

This blog entry servers as a catalogue to myself for future re-visits and as a brief guide for those interested in visiting Big Basin Redwoods that have never gone.

This park is absolutely beautiful.  The redwoods are not as big as some of the redwoods you find in northern california (i.e. the redwood that is so big they cut a hole through it and you drive your car along the road right through the center of the tree).  None the less it is dense with trees and a joy to hike through and camp in.

How To Get There

The park is about 65 miles south of San Francisco. From Santa Cruz travel approx. 25 miles northwest via Highways 9 and 236 to reach Park Headquarters.  The drive from LA (according to Google Maps) is about 6 hours.  That’s taking the 5 and then cutting over to the west.  One could also take the 101 but I imagine that might be a longer drive and would probably have slower speed limits.

Cost

The campgrounds cost $25 and hold up to 8 people.  You are allowed 2 vehicles and I don’t remember there being a entry fee for the vehicle as there are in most national campgrounds.

Amenities

The campground has a fire ring, picnic table/s, coin operated showers, restrooms and a water faucet for washing dishes etc.

Things To Do

Hiking, hiking!!  There are many different hikes ranging from 25 minutes to a rather unimpressive waterfall to a 12 hour hike all the way to the ocean!  We did a 6 hour hike along a beautiful creek where the trail climbed and fell along the side of the mountain.  This particular trail was a long loop in which you got to see 3 small waterfalls, one of which (Berry Creek Falls) was quite beautiful.  There is a small town nearby (about a 10 minute drive) named Boulder Creek.  Here you can get most anything you would need.  In fact there is free internet access at a very bizarre and fun coffee shop.  Can’t remember the name:  Rainbow something.  If you need equipment (i.e. sleeping bags, etc) it’s another 10 to 15 minute drive and you are at a Target.

Final Notes:

The weather here was very moderate when I went in April of ’09.  A light jacket was all I needed during the day and a good sleeping bag took care of me at night.  Obviously check the weather before you go.  Also, as is usual, firewood is an issue.  You can buy firewood in Boulder Creek and there are many local who sell firewood along the road.  The campground itself does sell firewood but it can be scarce depending upon how many people are buying at the time.

This blog servers as a catalogue to myself for future re-visits and as a brief guide for those interested in visiting Joshua Tree that have never gone.

If you live in LA, this is a great place for a quick escape.  It can be a several day and night get away or a one day dash.  It takes 2 to 3 hours to get there (depending upon if you drive like a grandma like I did).  Take the 10 east to the 62 north (near Palm Springs).  Travel about 22 miles on the 62 to Joshua Tree Town and then turn right on Park Ave (you can’t miss it).  You can pick up supplies in Joshua Tree Town if you forgot anything and make sure to buy campfire wood if you go during the winter because it is friggin cold.  You’re in the actual park within 6 miles and then you go to whatever campground suits you.  We stayed at Campground Ryan.  Most don’t take reservations so you go from campground to campground until you find an empty site.

Costs:

$15 per vehicle

$10 per night for campsite.  

They make this easy as you just get an envelope from the campground dropbox, put your money in it, drop it in the box and post your payment receipt on your site wood post.

Scenic Beauty:

I was quite surprised.  I thought Joshua Tree would be typical desert terrain, which while it has it’s own beauty and simplicity is often not very awe inspiring.  Joshua Tree comes off more as another planet then a desert here on earth.  There are two reasons for this.  While it is flat like a desert, the scattering of Joshua Trees make it look like alien terrain.  The Joshua Tree itself does not look like a cactus or a tree.  Because it is not very tall and because of the scattering of the trees, there is no similarity to a forest.  But because of the presence of the trees it doesn’t feel like a desert.  In addition to the trees, the rock formations are quite odd.  If you climb one of the small mountains/large hills that surround the small valley, the rock formations come off as space ports or small space cities.  It seems like someone put them there.  In the Sierras the groups of large boulders that are often found at the bottom of the granite faces are there because they broke off of the granite face over the years.  I’m sure there is a geological reason for these odd gatherings in Joshua Trees but as I am not a geologist I don’t know the reason.  I was quite pleased with the scenic beauty considering Joshua is desert terrain.

If you are a rock climber this place is a playground.  If you are not a rock climber there are still plenty of boulders and gatherings of rocks that the average person can play on.  There are many trails to hike but as far as trail hiking goes they are not impressive.  By far the most fun I had was climbing on the rocks.  Even if you are not a rock climber but like to push your limits a bit, this place is for you.  I watched my friend AJ pull some pretty impressive climbs considering he has no rock climbing training.  But if you are going to do this type of thing, make sure you are with somebody as it will not go well if you fall and break a limb and there is no one around to help your broken ass.

Tips For Camping During the Winter:

Bring firewood and your own kindling (Joshua Tree Park does not allow for gathering from the vegetation).

Lighter fluid may be helpful.  I know how to get a fire going but the firewood we bought was a major pain in the ass.  I am no fire master but never had as much trouble as I did with the firewood I bought in town from the gas station.

Don’t bring kids.  It gets pretty damn cold.  It dropped to 20 to 25 at night.  For pros this is obviously mild but for the average person you want to overdress and have extra blankets or extra sleeping bags in addition to the one you will be sleeping in. 

Water Fuel Car 

I don’t know what to say about this.  I’m completely dumbfounded.  Am I missing something here?  How long has this HHO Gas technology been around?  If it is what it appears to be on the surface it is nothing less than world changing.  Granted, huge industries that would lose billions of dollars (i.e. Oil) will do everything to stop it from being instituted main stream.  But I still can’t imagine it not getting out.  I really can not wrap my mind around this.

I stumbled across this site through a newsletter I am subscribed to (thank you Lindsay Campbell).  The guy who has started watchdog.net, Aaron Swartz is the guy responsible for inventing RSS at the age of 14!  If you do not know what RSS is, pat yourself on the back:  you are the reason Asia is beating us in the realm of technology.  Heh heh.  Seriously though he is a remarkable person and has started watchdog.net as a way in which average citizens can get pertinent information about politicians in an easy to read and understand format.  The site is in a rough state at the moment, but I suspect within months it may have a great impact on people and politics played out over this year.  Here is a sample as to what they are up to:

 Thanks to the work of Alex Gourley and data from Taxpayers for Common Sense, politician pages now have basic information about the earmarks they’ve requested: the size and number requested and the size and number eventually passed.

“Earmark” is the catch-all term for the requests that Congresspeople attach to bills requiring Federal money be given to particular people or places. They’ve been in the news a lot lately, criticized as a form of corruption in which Congresspeople hand out money to lobbyists or campaign contributors instead of letting civil servants or the bidding process handle it.

As with other Congressional perks, they’re not exactly distributed evenly. Our chart shows how House leaders like Nancy Pelosi come out on top, with hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks, while newcomers like Laura Richardson get only hundreds of thousands.

Whatever your feelings on earmarks, we hope this data is interesting to you. Thanks to Alex and Taxpayers for Common Sense for making it possible.

 Again, this is just the beginning and the site is very rough.  But if Alex is able to do with this site what he has accomplished in the past it will be a great tool for American citizens. 

20 plays

The following excerpt from NPR is Damian Kulash (lead singer of OK Go) speaking on the importance of net neutrality and the influence that the internet has had on music and art.  His argument is very well constructed.  I’ve seen him speak before at the Apple Store Soho and was instantly taken by his charisma and insight despite the fact I own none of the band’s music.

“The April financial reporting deadline is at midnight tonight, and the media and superdelegates, whose backing we need, will be watching closely.”

I donated $25 and within 10 minutes received an email that my offer to match had brought in another person.  If you love Obama chip in the $25.  It’s spring time and you could do without the six pack of beer tonight.  At least I can.  :)

My long time friend Elaine Reid is a god damned twisted genius.  I will always love her.  Her blog is worth your 30 seconds.  She also happens to be a great photographer.

http://www.elaine.org/blog/

There is no doubt that the guys posting on this blog wish they were the douches they are making fun of.  Or at least they wish they were with the women that the douches are with.  None the less, the writing is really funny and the pictures are unbelievable.  Human beings blow my mind!

Thanks to Charlie Miller for pointing me to this page. 

In my attempt to actually plan my finances I started looking online for a program that would allow me to enter transactions from my phone.  I have a hard time doing something every single night which is why I never record my spending.  But if I can add it on the go as soon as it happened, I might be able to pull off keeping track of my spending.  I came across a great web 2.0 site called mint.com.  While it is relatively simple, it rocks!!  

 www.mint.com