Shooting Perfect Strangers

There is this blog I read everyday called greyscalegorilla, and a month or so ago he posted about taking pictures of perfect strangers, so I decided to try. This is my first attempt.

It’s really bad, but I will keep trying.

If you haven’t been to the Greyscale Sight, I would definitely peep it, the author kind of yell’s at you to do your best and to get creative from time to time. Sometimes you don’t want to hear it, but sometimes it’s what you need to hear. Also, tips on design and photography. Look I’m not on this dude’s jock or anything, although this post seems like it, just if you’re into creativity, just look it up and get inspired by a white dude from Chicago.

Another thing, I should just break down and buy a really good point and shoot so I’ll always have one in my pocket. The D80 is too bulky to take everywhere.

Filed under: California, Los Angeles, Nikon D80, Photography, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , Adobe Lightroom, greyscale gorilla, Los Angeles, Nikon D80, Photos, stranger, Update

JPG Stories

My friend Chad Cheverier wrote this very nice piece about a friend of his that has passed.

Read it here:
Phil Park

Thank you friends.

Filed under: California, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , a-rod, britney spears, celeb gossip, chad cheverier, Friends, jpg, madonna, perez hilton

My Top 10 Albums of ‘08

10. Vampire Weekend | S/T : Released Jan 28, 08
The Buzz band of ‘08. I have no idea what they’re talking about. maybe because I’ve never been to Boston, but overall fun, catchy album.
Key Tracks: Mansard Roof, Campus & Walcott.

9. Fleet Foxes | S/T: Released June 3, 08
I’m kind of embarrassed this is on here, because they kind of became the Starbucks house band, but there’s no denying these hippies can sing.
Key tracks: White Winter Hymnal, Ragged Wood & Meadowlark.

8. Nas | Untitled : Released July 1, 08
Nas is hands down my favorite MC, and this album is a little disappointing only because he has set the bar so high from jump, it’s hard to live up to those expectations every single album.
Key tracks: Sly Fox, Breathe & Black President.

7. Erykah Badu | New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War : Released Feb 26, 08
I never listen to R&B except old school Jodeci and Mary J. Erykah is another exception. Every single album of her’s is a great great listen. This one also does not disappoint.
Key tracks: The Healer, The Cell & Me.

6. Radiohead | In Rainbows: Released Jan 1, 08
This album would probably be number 1 had it came out later in the year, but it already feels like it’s 3 years old. I can’t add anything new that the critics haven’t already said.
Key tracks: House Of Cards, Nude & Jigsaw Falling Into Place.

5. She & Him | Volume One: Released Mar 18, 08
This is probably my daughters album of the year. Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward create an album that sounds like it was made 50 years ago. All songs written by Zooey except her Smokey Robinson cover.
Key tracks: I Thought I Saw Your Face Today, I Was Made For You & You Really Gotta Hold On Me

4. Kings Of Leon | Only By The Night : Released Sept 23, 08
One song on this album, is better than about 75% of anything you’ll hear on the radio right now. Manhattan is probably the greatest KOL song ever.
Key tracks: Manhattan, Sex On Fire & Revelry.

3. The Roots | Rising Down : Released April 28, 08
Best Hip Hop album of the year. 75 bars is Black Thought ripping everyone a new asshole. More guest stars than I usually like, but after awhile it added a new element that i came to appreciate.
Key tracks: 75 Bars, The Show & Rising Down with Mos Def & Styles P.

2. TV On The Radio | Dear Science : Released April 28, 08
TVOTR and KOL are probably the most consistent band putting out music nowadays. Dear Science is near perfection. They might also be the most off putting band that’s able to sell tickets to shows and sell merchandise at the rate that they do, but I’m beginning to think that they might also be the band nowadays that people say they like just to look cool. Bright Eyes, Death Cab and the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s were also victim’s of this hipster curse. This album is also impossible to pigeon hole as well, due to the soundscape being all over the place. Call it abstract, but I think it’s more confusing than that. I call it dope.
Key tracks: Family Tree, Dancing Choose, Stork & Owl, Golden Age, Red Dress & Halfway Home.

1. The Last Shadow Puppets | Age Of The Understatement : Released May 6, 08
This album is number one because I probably listened to it more than any other album that came out this year. Fronted by The Arctic Monkey’s & The Little Flames lead singers, they channel The Kinks, The Monkees and craft pop ditty’s your momma can listen to.
Key tracks: Standing Next To You, Calm Like You, The Meeting Place & My Mistakes Were Made For You.

Honorable Mentions:
Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
Conor Oberst – Self Titled
The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Tanya Morgan – The Bridge
Q-Tip – The Renaissance

Q-Tip’s album is amazing, but I just got it yesterday, so I don’t know if I’ll still love it in a week.

I did my list a little earlier than usual because I got other shit to do.

enjoy your holidays.

Filed under: Current List, Fun List, Music, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , College, End Of Year, Hip Hop, Indie, Jenny Lewis, List, Music, Rock, Top 10

End of the day. What’s in your pocket?

JPG magazine did this little theme a few weeks back about what’s in your pocket at the end of the day. I looked the article over, thought it was cool, but never paid any mind after my initial look over. Well, it sat and sat in the back of my mind for these last few weeks, and today I realized that I had something different than the average keys, phone, & wallet.

Now I have two daughters, Sofie who’s 4 and Tegan, who’s now 2, and they have brought me more joy than anything else in this world. I know that when they get older I’m going to miss finding these little surprises in my pocket. My wife Amber cut Sofie and Tegan’s hair the other night, and Tegan isn’t going to need a barrette for quite some time, as Amber cut it short to avoid the tangles she causes.

Today was a nice surprise and yes, it did bring a small tear to my eye.

I rode my bike to school tonight and it was so relaxing. I listened to my iPod all the way there and back and man o man was it fun.

TV on the Radio’s latest album Dear Science is in constant rotation, but on the way home I put it on shuffle all.

Filed under: Fun List, Nikon D80, Photography, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , Adobe Lightroom, Bike, everyday, Fun, Green, hand, Ipod, Kids, Nikon D80, Photo, pocket, Shuffle, Transportation, TV on the Radio

Wal*Mart is Still the Devil

I read recently that Wal*Mart lost a case in which a blogger used the yellow smiley face in a ad parody. All I can say is Ha HA!!

Halloween is in 2 weeks, and that means Christmas will seem like it will be the following weekend because stores are gonna rush out their Christmas decorations.

Do me a favor. Don’t buy me a Christmas gift. Also, do me an even bigger favor. Don’t shop at Wal*Mart this holiday season.

If you go to Youtube and search for Wal Mart Black Friday, you’ll see a 100 videos of people fighting for a cheap cheap gift that by now is probably either broke or sold twice over in a garage sale. Materialism is what people think makes them happy, and I know I’m guilty like everyone else, but truth be told, it’s the time we share with our friends and family that make Christmas special.

Sounds hokie doesn’t it.
So boycott Wal-Mart this holiday season. Sleep in. I know we can do it!!
Now that’s change we can believe in.

Filed under: Fun List, Introduction, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , Black Friday, Boycott, Christmas, Holiday, Money, Season, Shopping, Wal-Mart

My Top 3 Favorites as of 10/13/08

These last 2 weeks have been a huge adjustment period for me, and getting time to take pictures and post the story behind it is something I haven’t been able to factor into my everyday life. So I figured I’d post my favorites of the last two weeks.

I’ll start with reading material.

Blogs
1. Mudflats: Recently nominated Best Political Blog from bloggers choice awards.
2. The Consumerists I’ve found out quite a bit of money saving tips and also tons of info regarding the recent collapse of our wonderful economy.
3. LifeHacker : Geek blog about DIY tech projects, and hacks for Gmail and other cool tools.

Websites
1. Hulu : Website that airs the latest TV Show’s from Fox, NBC and Comedy Central. I’ll never miss the Office, It’s Always Sunny, Daily Show or King Of The Hill again.
2. Flickr : Still an all time favorite. Flickr is KING!!
3. Surf The Channel – Dexter : I’m addicted to Dexter, and this has all the episodes.

Music
First let me say that iTunes has this new Genius playlist option and it really works well. I’m not gonna list albums because lately I’ve been listening to random playlists.

Artist first – Song title second

1. El-P – Deep Space 9mm : Off the Fantastic Damage LP
2. Justice – Planisphere Pts. 1-4 : Created for a fashion show. It sounds amazing.
3. Rilo Kiley – Someone Else’s Clothes (Acoustic) – Off of the Live @ Fingerprints EP

Podcasts
1. Real Time With Bill Maher : People either love or hate Bill Maher, but our views on religion are very similar and he usually has both sides of the political spectrum represented on his talk show.
2. This American Life : Stories from around the U.S.
3. NPR Wait Wait..Don’t Tell Me: Political satire from a live venue in front of a studio audience.

So that kinda sums up all my interests right now. Enjoy.

It’s Santa Ana Winds time, and the Southland is on fire again. LA, San Diego, Ventura & San Bernadino counties all have fires right now. Hopefully it will be over quick.

This time last year I took some pictures from the Foothill Ranch fire here in Orange County.
Here are 2:

Good night everyone…

Filed under: Books, California, Current List, Fun List, Los Angeles, Music, Orange County, Photography, Random Thoughts, Thoughts on Movies, Uncategorized , Blog, Favorites, Fire, List, Photo, Podcasts, Politics, Santa Ana Winds

New House New Post

So we moved from one end of the county to the other. I hate moving and unfortunately, I’ve done it more times than I care to remember. I am really stoked on the new neighborhood that I live in though. I’ve met some very nice people and it seems like everyone has a beach cruiser that they ride around on. Kinda cool everyone is so active.

Also, as I’ve mentioned before, Halloween is coming up, and while I was unpacking, I did put up a few decorations.

Also, it’s freaking hot today.

While I was moving I noticed a few things.
1. We have way to much stuff.
2. We have way to much stuff.
3. Listening to your iPod on shuffle is the best. Good way to find hidden gems.
4. I rely on the internet for all of my news.

#4 is because I felt way out of tune with no internet or tv for 3 days. I need news, sports, and Daily Shows.

Filed under: California, Fun List, Nikon D80, Orange County, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , Adobe Lightroom, Daily Show, Halloween, Moving, Nikon D80, Orange County, Pumpkins, Thoughts

Halloween – My first of many posts

Halloween is coming very soon, and I’m super stoked. I’ve got my costume all set up and plan on making pumpkins with some pretty cool designs. I found this little tutorial on how to use led lights instead of candles, because with kids, my big fear is fire. I plan on dressing up as a Scarecrow and I plan on scaring as many little kids as possible…

I hope this doesn’t happen:

Filed under: California, Fun List, Orange County, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , 2008, birthday, Fun, Halloween, October, Scary

People love old photo’s

This picture is like 2 months old but I played around with it in Photoshop and aged it a bit.
People love old photo’s.

I love the color’s of old photo’s too, and I saw an old picture of my Grandparents at a birthday party from like 1983, and the colors were just way cool.

Photoshop is sooooo cool.

Filed under: California, Fun List, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , Adobe, CA, Kids, Lightroom, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Photoshop, San Juan, South

Real Life Breakdancing Ninja’s..

If there is one regret in my life, it’s I wish I took the time to learn how to BREAKDANCE . When I was a kid growing up in Santa Ana, I went to a elementary school called Heritage and during my 3rd grade year, everyone was way into Breakdancing. Beat Street and Breakin’ was huge, and everyone would Breakdance on card board boxes at lunch, try flips in the grass, bug out, and just try anything that was Breakdance related. I loved public schools.

I can honestly say that when I see Breakdancers on piers and public places dancing, I’m genuinely jealous.

Also, I always wished I was a ninja. My buddy Steve , my cousin Leon and I would always do flips and play fight in my front yard, but Steve was always better at ninja shit. Steve would run up to my fence, and land into a somersault and Leon and I were just blown the fuck away…Steve was a real life ninja as far we were concerned.

15 minute Breaktime..Aqua Teen Hunger Force is on.

O.K. I’m back. That was some funny shit, Shake and Carl deep fried a whole cow, with cheese in the middle. That’s banana’s.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Breakdancing and Ninja’s. Also when I was little, Voltron was king. Not Go-Bots, they were lame, but Voltron was pretty badass.
I always wanted a Voltron lion. The red one.

I’m done. Below are pictures.

Here’s the house I lived in for 2 years, grades 4th and 5th. The fence is the one Steve would run and flip over…

Here’s a picture of the 10 yard line from Carter’s last game at San Clemente high school.

What the hell does the 10 yard line have to do with ninja shit? Well to be honest, nothing.

Leave me a comment telling me about your ninja moves..I’ll mail a brownie to anyone who tells me a story about a real life Breakdancing ninja. I mean a real one..Breakdancing Ninjas are so badasssss!!

Filed under: California, Fun List, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , 80's, Art, Breakdance, Childhood, Culture, Entertainment, Family, Friends, Home, Humor, Life, Ninja, People, Personal Random, Photography, Photos, Santa Ana, School, Toy's, Voltron