my buddies from the Far-east Movement (FM) preformed at the palace of fine arts in san francisco this past week (international secret agents put on by fm and wong fu productions). they were gracious enough to invite me to check it out and i had a blast. those guys can really carry a crowd and put on a show. wow. it’s wild to think that it was only a few years ago that we were freestyling to beats in my living room and casually joking about making music a lifestyle. well, they’re doing it and they’re on the rise so keep a lookout. they’re also getting some local radio play on power 106 on the 7 at 7 with their track ‘girls on the dance floor.’

i took my camera to give ‘concert photography’ a shot and needless to say i was quickly humbled by all the rookie mistakes i made. of course, at the time, i thought i was on fire! striking my semi-squat photo poses on the stage, pushing composition to the eXtreme~!!1!, and turning this medium into my bitch.

then i got home and 3/4 of the shots were overexposed, blurry or simply in poor taste.

yeah.

go me…

here are some selects. hopefully they’re small enough to hide all my blunders.

also had a bit of fun with audrey and shae at the cafe du nord this past thursday seeing mother mother open for the sam roberts band. it’s too bad mother mother wasn’t headlining but i still had a great time. good music and a good venue. drinks are on the soft side, but i’m not complaining.

some of their music for those not familiar:

Quick update:

pensketch //

I’ve relocated pensketch to a new server thanks to Kevin Le (kevworks.net) so the forums and this blog have had a rocky few weeks. The mysql databases are back up and both should be working now, but there might still be some bumps to iron out so if you stumble across anything, let me know. Other than that, the uptime should be much more reliable.

work //

So I’ve wrapped up work (dec ‘08) and parted ways with Los Angeles at the beginning of the year. I’ve been living in San Francisco for about 3 weeks now, adjusting to the new city. It took a little over a week to move in but I’ve now got a cozy little workspace carved into our dining room. Now all I need to find is, well, work. Or paid work that is.

Gutting Pasadena studio.

Driving over the Bay Bridge.

1,2,3…

Tada!

life //

In the meantime, I’d like to get up to Mammoth or Tahoe as much as possible. If anyone is interested in making a weekend trip with me and doesn’t mind driving, I’m more than willing to split the gas/driving. And in the case of Mammoth, can offer a place for you to stay.

I’ve been eyeing one of these, and think I can find one for a good deal since they’re so damn ubiquitous in the bay area :

If you’re selling one then get in touch. Until then, I’d love to make some snow friends up here. Like this guy.

i have been completely overwhelmed with the amount of great music passing through my bose. i’m also reminded that i need to blog about the band in the moment before it passes as it’s hard to speak emphatically about groups that mean a bit less and aren’t quite as moving as they used to be. i’ll do my best.

so here are a few from my ‘need to zone and get this painting done’ work rotation:

The Faint: http://www.myspace.com/thefaint (who i recently saw at the henry fonda and couldn’t keep my feet from moving. they’re playing soon at the wiltern. i HIGHLY recommend!)
The Ting Tings: http://www.myspace.com/thetingtings (uk indie rck band that’s also having a show at the wiltern in oct. midweek. with santogold. should be good)
Cut Copy: new album is lovely. http://www.myspace.com/cutcopy check out ‘out there on ice’
Hot Chip: truthfully i think their live sessions and remixes are stronger than their album cuts. i’d recommend ‘boy from school’ itunes live session. http://www.pensketch.com/bfs.mov
 Ghostland Observatory: a new album – robotique majestique! thank god! these guys scream to make me dance. and yeah, straight guys can long to go out and dance. especially when the music is this good. http://www.myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory check out dancing on my grave and go from their down the tracklisting. solid work.

The Verve: new ‘forth’ album is really good. http://www.myspace.com/theverve

more to come!

and some concert pix. radiohead at the bowl was TOO FUCKING BRILLIANT~ monday night madness. i’ll post vids!~

where did my sake go..?

In other news, I’m back in Los Angeles.

My first impression was ‘wow, people here are fat.’ It really hit me when I was at the Getty and I was surrounded by several groups of school kids just bursting out of their clothing. It’s a bit appalling after spending so much time near fresh, affordable food and surrounded by fit / thin folks.

Living in a city that is so car-centric doesn’t help.

Living in a country that is so fast-food oriented doesn’t help.

Working in an office behind a computer all day doesn’t help.

But it just means I’ll be putting that much more effort into maintaining my health.

- – -
Audrey is up in San Francisco and I’m scrambling to follow suit. I’ll be here for two months working as a concept illustrator on an untitled Zemeckis project, then I’ll be on my way. More commuting, but hey, it’s a good team and a fun project.

I’ll finish posting pics about my trip to India when things simmer down a bit. I haven’t forgotten.

It’s been quite a stir at Art Center and I somehow got in the mix (and I’m a drop out).

It all started here: http://designercowboy.blogspot.com/2008/05/serious-trash.html

then here:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.viewVideos&channelid=82433

and then ended up here:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-artcenter11-2008jun11,0,7266639.story

and here:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/arts-news/controversy-surrounds-yet-anot/

and many more places.

Please take a moment to read through this and sign the petition if you feel you believe in the cause. We’re (students, faculty, alum) are trying to re-prioritize the education of the current students and make the school the best it can be without the need for name-brand (gehry) buildings. There will be a time and place for that type of expansion, but it shouldn’t happen if it will compromise the education of the students now.

- – - – - -

Dear Art Center Trustees,

We, the undersigned, are members of the Art Center Community: its students, alumni, faculty, and staff. First and foremost, we are requesting that the Board of Trustees act — in its capacity as governing body of the school — to put an immediate halt to the current Art Center Master Development Plan which includes the Gehry designed DRC.

The mission of Art Center has traditionally been and should be the nurturing of professional design and artistic abilities through the education of its students. We believe that this tradition of educational excellence has been compromised under the direction of the current administration and its president Richard Koshalek, and we ask that the Board of Trustees take immediate action to again make education the school’s top investment priority.

That prioritization of education should result in tangible and immediate improvements for students, classes, facilities, and teachers. To that end, we request that the Board also take action to dramatically reduce non-educational administrative expenses. We ask that fund raising efforts place the highest priorities on scholarships and endowments which directly benefit current and future students.

Lastly, we request greater alumni representation on the college’s senior leadership team and we respectfully request the opportunity for one or more of our Community delegates to formally address the Board at its next meeting in order to make our concerns known.

As members of the Art Center Community, we stand together: firmly committed to the legacy of the school, its students and alumni. Art Center is not made up of one man’s vision, but one vision built from the whole of past, present and future students. Please do not allow yourselves to be distracted by the legacy needs of one man. Do not continue to allow critically-needed capital to be diverted to non-essential uses. Do not spend more time and money on the distant future, when there is great present need. Put education first.

Thank you for your time and attention.

- – - – - – -

You can find the Art Center petition at www.accdpetition.com.

We have over 1000 signatures and we’re shooting for 1500 in the next few days. Please help out!

And don’t be misguided by the top administration’s attempt to rally support for Richard Koshalek with their ‘counter’ petition. If you read through theirs it doesn’t really make much sense.