Life is a Blur

Celebrity-Photographer Tyler Shield's new Gallery "Life Is Not A FairyTale" opened this Saturday night in Downtown Los Angeles. One of my roommates played the social ladder in order to attend the Guest-List-Only opening party just so he could see Lindsay Lohan. Why anyone would go out of their way to meet her? I couldn't tell you.                                                    


Unfortunately for him, it just wasn't in the stars and Lindsay was at the opening for less than ten minutes. My guess is that she got lost looking for the women's shelter in Skid Row she's supposed to be volunteering at for her community service hours and walked in to the gallery on accident.

I don't know why she came and left so soon. These photos seem to be the best thing she has going. Maybe she was late for an AA meeting.

Edge of Mediocre

It has come to my attention that Lady G has a new single out. I can't say that I've been a fan of her last two, because in all honesty I think they suck. This one does little to change my mind. What...an improvement. 
What do you think? 
There are parts that I like more than others but I think girl should have cut it back about a minute and a half. It feels like she's trying to make all of these new songs something more than what they are. The songs and music videos have to be like ten minutes long so that they "tell a story" and she has to throw in as many instruments, sound effects and verses as she can get her long bony hands on in those ten minutes. What happened to the simple days when pop songs were stupid and nobody said anything? Nobody felt the need to question why Britney Spears was being gifted the necklace from the Titanic in the middle of her hit "Oops I Did It Again." It just happened and we went with it.  If Lady G is making a so called "Cultural Baptism" she needs to tone it down a little bit so people can actually hear the message. 

Lykke Li is a Blessing

For my Brand X class I'm currently working on album packaging for Lykke Li's new album Wounded Rhymes. 
For inspiration I'm listening to these Wounded Rhymes. A lot. 
Above is the newest video from the Swedish singer called "Sadness is a Blessing." I feel like the video accurately sums up my past few weekends; drinking alone and then doing an interpretive dance of Jesus's life.  

Your Shopping Cart has 6 items

Check these glasses dubbed the "Embarrassing Photo Protective Glasses" found here. 

I can't decide if these are something I am going to wear once or by some stretch of a miracle twice.

I also want one of these Family Guy figurines from kidrobot. But the catch is they are all "blindboxed" meaning there is no way of knowing which one you're gonna get. At 10$ I feel like it's worth the gamble, but then again knowing my lucky I'm going to end up with a character I don't even give an F about. You can check these out for yourself here.









Then again, Urban Outfitters is always a gamble. Or should I put this money toward something more useful like beer?

The Principles and Elements of Design with Gareth Pugh & Ruth Hogben

Say what you want about Fashion Film, after watching the two examples above I dare you to prove these aren't brilliant design. Is the genius in the design of the garments? Or is the genius in the direction of the film? Would these clothes market the same way if you saw them in another format? Could a video like this sell you someone wearing a trash bag and a diaper? 
The Principles of Design -BalanceEmphasisMovementPatternRepetitionProportionRhythmVarietyUnity
The Elements of Design-LineShapeFormSpaceColorTexture
I can find all of the Principles and Elements of Design in the videos above. Can you?

Return from Hibernation

This entry marks my return from winter's hibernation. Due to being ever busy and hectic with school, and the fact that I thought nobody read this, I took time off from posting. 


But I'm here now. And starting now this blog will be going through construction until I reach a platform that I am truly happy with. 


To start off I want to share with you some of what I am influenced and inspired by at the moment:

Depending on how observant you are, you will realize that both the video and image above depict losing a limb in order to reach something else you desire. Something greater. 

Broken Bells' "The Ghost Inside" and the film "127 Hours" have both sparked my curiosity into self-sacrifice.

How far are we as people willing to go to reach what we desire?

What is necessary and what is secondary?

Cobrasnake!

FACT: I met this man at his old hangout in Hollywood and he told me he liked my Megan Fox T-shirt. I was speechless. It's fuckin Cobrasnake man. 

2-18-11

It's funny because It's true

 I need one of these to go on my FIDM bag. You can buy one here.

TRL: Dubstep Britney

Fresh out the oven.

Hollywood Infected Your Brain

I was feeling lucky this morning since the rain took a break and I could finish this week's photography assignment. My luck took a slight turn for the worse when I arrived in Hollywood to find the spirit of the Boulevard dimmed by the construction setting up for The Academy Awards.


Where there are usually street performers, and tourists taking turns laying down on Britney Spears' star, there were rows and rows of metal bleachers. How...convenient. I didn't realize it took over a week and a half's construction to set up for that stupid shit. I had to work around it, but at least I had the weather on my side this morning. 

2-17-11

Say whaaaat.

Sorry I've been slow on posts. School is keeping me pretty busy.

2-16-11

2-15-11

Goodnight and Glo

Last week, on a whim, I picked up some Night Glo Screen Printing Ink at a Pearl art store. I initially wanted the classic green glow in the dark color and an interesting turquoise color, but when I got to the checkout it turned out that each 8 oz jar cost $16.00 and not the $8.00 it was listed as. 
The bitch at the checkout put the little enthusiasm she had into judging me for not already knowing that glow in the dark products are "always more expensive." Clearly I'm not gifted in the art of predicting paint prices like she was, which explains why I'm not the one destined to spend the rest of my life working as a cashier at an art supply store. 
Since I didn't have enough cash on me at the time I decided to just go with the classic green. 

You can buy your own Night Glo Screen Printing Ink (minus the bitch cashier) online at Amazon here.

On the corner of Hollywood & V(alent)ine

It seemed today was another Valentine's Day where most of the people I came into contact with were unusually grumpy or bitter about this so called "Singles Awareness Day." Honestly, this is how I feel about Valentine's:

For my photography class we have to shoot Travel photography this week. We had to pick a distinct area of Los Angeles to shoot six photos:

-an anchor shot

-a scenic shot

-a culture shot

-an architecture shot

-a people shot

-a food shot.

My true favorite places in Los Angeles are Venice and Santa Monica, but because I don't have a car those are harder for me to reach than Hollywood. 

I was able to get a few pictures of the Capitol Records building for my architecture shot today but since I went in the afternoon after class the lighting wasn't as great as I wanted, and I will have to go back early Thursday morning to get the rest. 

2-14-11

DIY: Computer Case

Is this genius or madness?

Have you done this before or does this surprise you?

I don't know if I'm brave enough to try, considering the worth of my computer, I don't want it to fall out and break. Imagine the look the douche bags at the Apple Store would give me if I walked in with my computer in a hoodie bag. 

Song + Quote of the Day

TRL: Ellie Goulding

Check out the newest release from Brit sensation Ellie Goulding.

What is Love?

 I haven't posted in a week because I've been busy with  midterms at school, and because I didn't think anyone read this stupid thing.


Peep this mural I spotted the other day in front of the Los Angeles Public Library. It seems that Valentine's Day is upon us folks.

Mr. DJ Won't You Turn the Music Up?

All Day, the new album from Girl Talk is available for FREE download here.

The album, including 12 tracks, was made to play as one continuous track but is broken up to make it easier to find certain parts.
The list of artists sampled on All Day is as long as a list filled with negative adjectives to describe the Black Eyed Peas Superbowl performance. That's a lot.

I highly recommend this album, and why not give it a shot? It's FREE.

Your Name Here

First things first:

1. If you haven't heard the insanely catchy "Barbra Streisand" song by Duck Sauce yet, you must listen here



2. Thanks to GoBarbra.com you can put your own name into the song! If I had theme music, I think this could be it. . .

TRL: Yeasayer

The video for "Madder Red" by Yeasayer featuring Kristen Bell hits close to home this week.
For any of you who've lost a loved one, whether it may be a pet, friend, family member,
or in this video's case, a blob, this video goes out to you.

Waiting for Rachel Bilson

The other day when I was at the Grove buying a book for school I looked on the Extra! filming schedule that was posted outside and saw that Rachel Bilson would be back at the Grove on February first at 5 pm.

When my roommate and I came back to see her on Tuesday we were there around 5:05 but ended up missing her Extra! taping. We figured since we were there, we would wait for the movie premiere anyway.
Unfortunately, we didn't realize it wasn't until around 7:15 that the premiere started and we would get to see Rachel and the rest of the cast, as well as a random group of skinny, good looking, D list celebrities.

But here's the good news:
while we were waiting to see her we got invited into the premiere. Of course I was going to say yes to an opportunity to stalk Ms. Bilson further.

Once I was inside the theater I was thankful for two things:
1. That I picked that day to shower and
2. That I ate beforehand because the popcorn they were serving tasted like the popcorn they would serve you in hell, but I'm not surprised at the low level of effort that was put into making the popcorn; they must have realized that none of the celebrities eat anyway.







Rachel was the only actor who walked into the theater with bodyguards, four bodyguards to be exact, but again this isn't surprising because she must weigh all of 82 pounds and need big men to stand around her in case a gust of wind were to pick her up and take her away. I walked closely behind her and her bodyguards trying to snap a picture on my phone but it was proving tricky to get a picture of her face. We made eye contact a few times and I kept trying to ask to get a picture with her but she didn't stay locked on my face long enough to read my lips.
For a moment she broke free of her guards to throw her away her gum, which was probably her dinner, and I walked up to the trash can, pretending to throw something away while trying to take a picture of her. This time she looked up at my phone and at me, and looked like a deer in headlights; partly because she has very big brown eyes and partly because I'm sure she wasn't expecting to have her picture taken at a garbage can.

She sort of hesitated and turned to go into the screening room. I decided it was also time to go find my seat so I followed her in. She stood at the bottom of the section waiting for someone, while I pretended to be looking on my ticket to find my seat number I tried to take a picture of her again. Once more, she looked up at me and I gave her a creepy "me again!" smile.  In that moment I decided, fuck it, I already made an ass of myself, I'll just ask her to take a picture together right here. As I approached her, her friend came up to her and they walked up the stairs to their seats. What... a bummer.

At first I was a little disappointed  in myself that I didn't have the balls to walk up to her and talk to her in the first place instead of acting like such a creep, but then looking back I realized that this was exactly how her relationship with Seth Cohen on season one of The OC unfolded. Adam Brody stalked her awkwardly and she just sort of kept going on with her life. In that way, my Rachel Bilson experience was satisfying because I've heard when people meet actors from their favorite TV shows they can be disappointed that the actor isn't exactly like their character; while I felt like I stepped out of an episode of the show and became Seth Cohen stalking Summer Roberts last night.

What... a whirlwind.

The movie was a little cute but mostly crappy and I wouldn't recommend seeing it until it's on DVD or until it's released at a movie theater that serves alcohol.

February 1

1-31

Free Music

Enjoy Skull Tape's cover of Whip My Hair by Willow Smith.

Click on the picture to download. 

Lego my Eggo

"I don't understand LegoLand. How is it safe if all the rides are made from Lego?" - Nicole Richie

Amazingly enough, the camera at left is made from Lego, and is a functioning digital camera.

Can you dig it?
Get it on sale for 78$ here.

Fashion/Glamor Shots

 These are the photos I turned in for my Fashion/Glamor assignment for my Intro to Digital Photography class this week! I'm really happy with the way they turned out (with the exception of the Satellite DISH behind Ashley's head in a few of the shots). My professor liked my photos the most out of the entire class, and out of all the other work I had the least errors. Nevertheless, I still had errors and I have to re-do all my fashion shots.
But here's the good news: I'm on the right track and now I can do it bigger and better for my final portfolio. Updates to come, Stay tuned!

Caught in a Pickle

Last night I went to Hooters on Hollywood Blvd. with some friends for a classy Saturday evening. I tried fried pickles for the first time, which I was somewhat hesitant about doing even though I have a love for regular pickles.
At first taste I was indifferent. I definitely didn't hate it, but I wasn't overwhelmed by them like I am by Hooters' curly fries and ranch dressing (Ranch dressing by the way costs an extra 1.50, and worth every penny). Though the more I ate, the harder I found them to put down.
Now here I am, the morning after, craving fried pickles. I guess I'll just have to wait until next happy hour...

Cause havin 2 chicks is better than no chicks

At left, the Ice Cream Tee you can buy on sale for $14.99 at Urban Outfitters here.

And on your right, The Gossip Girl Rolling Stone cover shot by the famous Terry Richardson.

Resemblance? The girls on the shirt are even wearing the same colored outfits, and have the same pink ice cream. Too bad they're not as attractive as Blake and Leighton or this shirt would be a must have. 

Lazy Sunday