My buddy Tom is making a mexicocentric gnar gnar surf film called Dias Tranquilos. He’s got some insane footage in the can and over the past few swells we’ve been shooting at the same spots and sharing boats. He just put together a teaser reel from some of the amazing swell that rolled through our parts last month. Some of the footage was taken during the same session as the photo above, check it out.
Incidentally, on the afternoon the above photo was taken, Tom was shooting from the middle of the boat and I from the front. After a particularly large outside set, the boat barely made it over and landed a bit on it’s starboard side, me in the air. I landed in between the front of the boat and the first row of seats, on top of Chicharro’s board bag. A soft landing followed by the unmistakable sound of a stringer cracking in half. Big oops.
Colorful writing – The Mex Files the fine art of "notas rojas" (red notes). Mex Files details the "purple prose typical of the yellow journalism" of police reports in local mexican newspapers: "While sometimes the author — to stretch out the word count — has to resort to low tricks like referring to a police car as a “blue and white 2008 Dodge Neon, with plate number… “, the nota rota writer strives for variation in his or her craft. The banality of criminal activity sometimes reduces even the most creative of nota roja writers to clichés (there are a plethora of ways to say “corpse” — the center of attention but least interesting character in any murder story – all of which have been use to death), but the best are true artists. They still manage to surprise us, enlighten us and delight us with their mastery of the language."
Jessica Hische / Humble Pied. great newish video + ichat based site about creatives sharing advice. and the best quote I've heard all week: "“The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” – Jessica Hirsche
I Gave My 3 Year Old an iPhone: Have I Created a Monster? awesome piece on young children using the iphone to learn. some of you are already cringing (yes you, in the back), but I think it's great. this kind of thing is gonna be so standard in 20 years. I thin it's kind of scary to think that the jobs your kids will have when they grow up, won't be invented til they're in high school. and your kids will learn two to four times as much as you have, in your whole lifetime, by the time they get out of college. [via Stevey]
Polaroid PIC 1000 mock-ups of the new film-based under-$100 Polaroid cameras that are coming out. These are the result of The Impossible Project that I linked to a while back. They bought the rights to produce Polaroid cameras and film stock. Freakin' awesome. I'll have the wood grain one, thank you!
Jamie's posterous – Home did you know that Jamie Watson (pineapple luv) has a photoblog as well? i didn't either. go now. soak up the luv and radiate back to the people around you.
How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room | Mark Lynas | Environment | The Guardian "Copenhagen was a disaster. That much is agreed. But the truth about what actually happened is in danger of being lost amid the spin and inevitable mutual recriminations. The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful "deal" so western leaders would walk away carrying the blame. How do I know this? Because I was in the room and saw it happen." – sheeeit.
70-Minute Video Review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | /Film the best critique on old star wars trilogy versus new star wars trilogy you will ever see. the guy's voice is a little "silence of the lambs" but that will come back around later on in the review (i.e. it's a joke). And his critique is dead on. He says it best, "for someone who is under the age of like 20 who says his least favorite film in the series is The Empire Strikes Back because it is the boringest one, then I suggest you shut this review off right now, before I carefully explain how much of a fucking idiot you are." – love the f-bomb. Despite the hokey, weird diversions, I'll bite.
James Cameron and “Avatar” : The New Yorker gynormous article on Cameron and his new film Avatar. I have a friend who is working on the film who says that it will be one of the most amazing films ever seen, with mind-numbing new special effects stuff going on. we'll see….
Lemire Surfing Platforms new website designed by the guys over at the newly minted Quiver Studios. I really like this site. minimal, easy to use, blogesque design, good photography. kudos Graham.
Mockingbird awesome web-based website wire-framing tool. so simple anyone can use. and you can share your wireframes. So you want to put together a website for some new idea you have. this tool will help you figure out exactly what you want on your site. it will take all the guess work out, when you hand the site off to a web designer, who is used to having to guess what you'd like on your website.
Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska on Vimeo your inspirational video for the year! a guy gets caught in an avalanche and his crew find and rescue him in 4 minutes and 30 seconds. and the whole thing is captured on video. the vimeo page has a full account of the process. this guy is so lucky.
Werner Herzog Film School | Reel Guyz "Werner Herzog is either a freak, a god, or a figment of our collective imagination. Take a look at his track record." – click through to see the interview where Herzog gets shot during an interview by a sniper and continues the interview. I'm pretty sure Herzog has the voice of god.
Maureen Dowd – Boy, Oh, Boy – NYTimes.com This basically sums up my thoughts on the vast teabagger of this summer right up to Joe Wilson's douchbaggery – "But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it."
Mexico Now Enduring Worst Drought in Years – NYTimes.com we're definitely feeling the first signs of a drought, here in Nayarit, rain fall is way off. usually we're swimming in rain this time of year. Lately it's been sprinkling every 4 or 5 days. the winter is gonna be rough.
Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America' – Telegraph "…according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution." and ""It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules."
YouTube – Deconstructing Sgt. Pepper DJs, beatmakers and sound sampling peeps check this out before it disappears, a youtube clip that isolates all 4 tracks on the Sgt. Pepper intro. awesome for sampling and cool just to hear/see the tracks isolated.
Jordan : History of Flight beautifully done artwork and flash site for the Jordan/Nike brand. this site is awesome. as for Jordan sneaks the III, IV and V were my favorites. the rest became too gimmicky. great artwork on that timeline site.
Kid Vlogs From Apple Store, We Smell a New Commercial Campaign "Kids. They grow up so fast these days, with the Twitter and the MySpace and Tamagotchi and sports drinks. You've gotta hand it to them, though: they've got their technology and they know how to use it.
Which is why the dense YouTube account of Nicholifavs, filled with a kid who vlogs exclusively from New York City's Fifth Avenue Apple Store, is merely a natural progression in the realm of Things Kids Do Now." via Beau Colburn
David Byrne: I Have Seen the Future and It Is Broken Byrne talks about one of my favorite design subjects that no one seems to talk about, that form and function are interdependent. and when they don't follow each other it's not design, it's something else.
Claim Chowder this made me laugh just a wee bit, when I read it today: Lewis Samuels from 6 days ago: "Do you believe in South Swells? I don't. In norcal we spot bigfoot cookin meth more often than a South that lives up to the hype."
Steven Frank / Internet Garage Sale Steven Frank (co-founder of Panic) has created a minimal trust-based online auction system for your no-longer-needed tech gadgets. awesome idea. i'm gonna sell my current mac book pro on this thing in a few weeks' time.
Comic Con footage of Tron Legacy turn the geek meter up to 11. Can't wait to see this in 3D. and Daft Punk are doing the soundtrack. instant cool points.
Daring Fireball: Pay Walls "The primary problem with newspaper companies isn’t their revenue. It’s the size and scope of their operations. Again I say: mammals and dinosaurs. Simon, along with everyone else who thinks online subscription fees can save the newspaper industry, is effectively arguing that the world will change to support newspapers. The truth is that newspapers must change to adapt to the world. Just because the extinction of newspapers would be a tragic loss doesn’t mean it won’t happen."
I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel on Vimeo 1000 frames per second video. ultra slow motion. skip to the 2 minute mark to see the block of jello bouncing (shot at 2500 fps). so amazing. I'd love to see this camera used on a fatty Teahupoo wave from inside the barrel.
Al Jazeera English – Focus – Iran on the brink? if there is only one article you read about what's happening inside iran right now, politically, read this one. amazing! Mark Levine walks through the different power structures in the government and the potential scenarios for dealing with the protests.
Food, Inc. Movie Site and Trailer – Hungry For Change? Great trailer, for what looks to be a great movie. That most people won't want to see, because the truth hurts too much. Incidentally, they used to say "you are what you eat". and us gutter punks would chime back "if you are what you eat, then we're all dead meat!" and stick up our two fingers and make the screw face like Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten. The early 90s were a bright, young, innocent time. Now the refrain goes something like "if you are what you eat, than were all highly processed food products" or even "if you are what you eat, then we're all full of shit." that last one is more true than most people know.
Asia Times Online :: Divine assessment vs people power a huge article on the internal power struggle going on in Iran right now. This is just about election results. It's about a failed system of government and their attempts to stay in power: "As much as corporate media – from anywhere – has been rendered mostly irrelevant. Iranians are deploying an absolute non-stop, 24/7 thriller; a guerrilla communication redux, an ultra-raw version of history in the making via blogs – this is a nation of young bloggers – YouTube and Twitter, battling by all means necessary ultra-slow or shut down Internet, jammed phone lines going in and out, blocked chats, blocked SMS."
Nathan Bransford – Literary Agent: Query Letter Mad Lib This is an explicit how-to recipe on the proper way to put together a "query letter" for contacting potential literary agents. good advice, wish i found it first before sending out a bunch of queries. oops.
On Assignment: Covering Tehran – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com images from the Iran election protests taken by 28-year old Newsha Tavakolian, a Times freelanc photographer. These images have a very different feel from the ones we've been seeing from Getty and AP. much more intimate.
Stanley's Surfboard Logo Library A to Z wicked awesome insanely deep collection of surfboard logos. invaluable resource. one niggle: could use a more "modern" cms managing the content.
PineappleLuv: Surf Fridays! Tandem Surfing Jamie Watson does a quick historical rundown of Tandem Surfing. Beautiful balletic surfing. I love all the old photos. Tandem Surfing is definitely an under appreciated aspect of surfing history. and this quote is the clincher: "Most women will say it’s the most incredible experience they’ve ever had. For the first time many say they were able to trust a man, and in the process, all this grace and beauty was released through them."
Seahuggers: Wood is Good Seahuggers has collected all 4 parts of the Tom Wegener / Patagonia film on one page. If you don't know who Tom Wegener is, he makes sustainable wood surfboards and he specializes in making finless surfboards called Alaias, which were the first surfboard planks used by Polynesians to surf waves. Wegener is partly responsible for the Alaia's strong comeback and surfing's renewed interest in alternative materials and shapes.
Patagonia – The Tin Shed Amazing website documenting all the cool things going on, over at Patagonia. really nicely executed flash website with a ton of video and other goodies. I wonder who created this site. definitely worthy of some heavy time wasting. plus there is a hidden discount code in the site, so keep your eyes peeled.
Mark Batty Publisher This book imprint publishes some really nice titles. I was turned on to them by the "Mexican Blackletter" book and pleasantly surprised to find all of their titles are just as interesting. a heavy slant towards design, typography and street art. and all of their titles are moderately priced. definitely worth a look.
Hey fellow New Yorkers, one of my favorite films is playing at Film Forum right now, until Tues. Feb10th. I’ve written about SILENT LIGHT before, it’s set amongst the Mennonites in Chihuahua, Mexico, written and directed by Carlos Reygadas. Most of the film is dialogue-less, with long panning landscape shots and long, quiet interior shots. The movie starts with a near real time sunrise and ends with a real time sunset. Couldn’t be more awesome. I have no idea why this film isn’t nominated for a foreign film Oscar, my guess is that they couldn’t get a run in the US in 2008, so hopefully it will be up for an Oscar next year. This is exactly the kind of film that needs to be seen on a big screen, surrounded by people who can appreciate subtle beauty:
From the acclaimed, provocative director of JAPON and BATTLE IN HEAVEN. SILENT LIGHT begins with an unforgettable sequence – a slowly unfolding, time-lapse shot of daybreak over a rural Mexican Mennonite community, whose inhabitants speak an archaic form of German (Plautdietsch) and wear traditional attire. Johan (Cornelio Wall Fehr) is a married farmer who, against the laws of his faith and traditional beliefs, falls in love with another woman, Marianne (Maria Pankratz). His conflicted behavior threatens to destroy the soul of his wife, Esther (Miriam Toews). This tale of profound love and conscience casts a spell, evoking the eerie religious tones and rigor of Carl Theodor Dreyer.
and
“I was amazed by SILENT LIGHT – the setting, the language, the delicacy of the interactions between the people on screen, the drama of redemption. And most of all by Carlos Reygadas’s extraordinarily rich sense of cinema, evident in every frame. A surprising picture, and a very moving one as well.” – Martin Scorsese
The Place We Live amazing web presentation of people talking about the neighborhoods they live in. really nicely done interactivity.
The Photo Marketplace That Never Launched: Flickr Stock awesome article with screenshots of Flickr Stock. I can't believe they torpedoed this project. so dumb. prolly the dumbest thing flickr has ever done – and I love Flickr. there must be some business reason behind it. like dealing with a million people trying to sell their dumb camera phone shots or royalty licensing or payments or something. The getty thing makes me a bit uneasy.
:: The Playlist ::: Will Smith and Steven Spielberg remaking "Old Boy" "Spielberg and Smith were operating from the graphic novel source, which, without spoiling things, doesn't feature the absolutely demonic twist of the film, and is considered by manga fans to be significantly weaker than the movie it inspired. In other words, Smith and Spielberg are near-guaranteed to be ditching one of the greatest endings of any recent film in favor of a pedestrian chase story." – in case you haven't seen it, "Old Boy" has one of the rawest, most non-Hollywood endings of any movie I've ever seen. Great film, but definitely twisted.
the wonderful world of angie rex this blog is super nice for an occasional dose of visual art inspiration. it's curated by Sunshine Fox and has a fashion slant to it, but only slightly so. it's like peeking into where high-art fashion designers get their inspiration. i hope i didn't butcher that description. just got check it out. it's a nice change up.
During the 60’s and early 70’s, as the war in Vietnam threatened its borders, a new music scene emerged in Cambodia that took Western rock and roll and stood it on its head-creating a sound like no other.
Cambodian musicians crafted this sound from the various rock music styles sweeping across America and England, adding the unique melodies and hypnotic rhythms of their traditional music. The beautiful singing of the renowned female vocalists became the final touch that made this mix so enticing.
This documentary film, “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten,” provides a new perspective on a country usually assocated with war and genocide. By celebrating this powerful music, and the people who created it, Cambodia’s musical heyday emerges from the shadows of tragedy into the light of history.
The site for the film has several songs that help define the sound, they are a trip. Surf Rock from an alternate dimension.
The Playlist is “a place dedicated to that sweet spot where movies and music meet”. It’s the place to go if you’re a soundtrack junky like me. Articles usually focus on not-so-commercial upcoming film news with an emphasis on soundtrack related info. Their movie and music tastes follow my own, their sense of humor is unorthodox* and they’re in my top five daily blog reads.
The Playlist has an on-going feature called The Sountrack Series where the author picks a director who has an established sonic palette that accompanies their films, and creates 20 song playlists of music that could be used in said director’s films. The series is ongoing and current volumes include: Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, Cameron Crowe, Michel Gondry, David Gordon Green and Miranda July, Noah Baumbach, Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson. I downloaded the David Gordon Green volume (part 1) and dug it so much, I’m now downloading all 12 parts in the 9 current volumes.
This series is more then just an ode to soundtrack genius, it’s a great resource for discovering new music and possibly listening to music you’ve heard before through a different context. It’s a great freakin’ idea and I’m nonplussed I didn’t think of it first. As a consolation prize, I have hours and hours of new music to listen to. go check it out.
– * read: good and twisted
Hi, my name is Ed. I’m a graphic designer who lived in L.A. I quit my job, sold my car, rented out my house and moved to Mexico. Along the way, I learned how to surf and fell in love. This blog is my story. In these pages I write about and photograph my daily experience. I also post about things I find interesting: art, design, photography, music, tech, etc...
