Ka-ka-ka, Ye-ah!

I bet you have been wondering what exactly is better than brownies? Well, I am here to tell you what that thing is. That thing which is better than the illustrious, traditional brownie is this...the...cheesecake brownie! I am afraid that it is quite spectacular. If you haven't been to allrecipes.com, it is a most useful site for those who wish to cook your food rather than heat up/have someone heat up your food for you.

My back has been giving me whatfor this week. I am too young for kidney stones. I know that's not true, but I want to believe it is. I actually don't care what the pain is, I just want it to go away. On the opposite end of the news-related spectrum, I have a meeting with a client tomorrow to discuss her wedding photos. I think that is pretty much a done deal. Might have an actual job job soon, too. My band is going to be playing shows...a month from now. So, good things to look forward to. Also, I don't know if you have heard that N.E.R.D. song, "My Drive Thru," but initial reaction has been extremely positive. Of course, that could be attributed to BET's playing of a music video that isn't total garbage (see: Lil' Wayne). The album, Seeing Sound, is pretty dern good, too. Photos and such. Without the such. Maybe a little such.



Not to toot my own horn, but this is probably one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. There is something arresting, disturbing, off about this. Still employing the cuteness that is my great niece, Madison, the open area on the right side is nothing short of haunting (at least to me anyway). I'd like to think that this was my sole intention with this photo.

"Splattering Poop...

...like a monkey's racehorse." - Jason from Home Movies

Later today, I will have more film than I know what to do with. Later today, I will be photoing a birthday party at Shelby Farms for pretty dern cheap. Tomorrow, I might be photoing products (and model holding products) for the talented Ms. Maggie Hendren. I looked through some old art school projects and can't wait to start making my own prints again on Fiber Paper. Here are some black and white scans for your Friday -

(: D

The Watchmen trailer - Wow!

The Dark Knight movie - Double Wowee! Wowee!





Nicole is obviously a good model. Will be doing more shoots with her in the near future. My next photo-related purchase seems to change from day to day, but currently, I am adamant about getting a large format camera.

Suck My Blood Like a Leech...

Yo. What's up? This is what I am listening to right now. I saw Hellboy II: The Golden Army yesterday. It was awesome fun. The creature design, as per usual with a Guillermo del Toro joint, were fantastically perfect. I absolutely cannot wait for Thursday night to see The Dark Knight. Thankfully, I have been pretty successful at evading any of the TV spots over the past month. I am finally getting around to finishing the Watchmen comic. I started it probably 5 years ago (don't worry, I am starting over from the beginning). Amazing book. I don't understand how it will translate to the big screen.

I have a new great niece. Her name is Clara. This is her sister, Madison:





I should get some photos of Clara back from the lab soon. Can't wait!

I Am Going to Blow Your Mind

Today, we had childrens over that my sister keeps so they could swim which naturally means that we partook of something very kiddish for lunch - corndogs. I prepared my corndog with the usual mustard and being in snacking-mode, casually snagged a piece of leftover bacon my mother was using to prepare tonights supper. I had the first bite of corndog in my mouth as I proceeded to chomp on said bacon. "WOW!" was the only word I could come up with for this unlikely combination.

I highly recommend that you try this once in your life, BUT if you, in any way, value your life and health, you won't make it a habit as you will feel your ateries hardening as you eat.




A few months ago, Jason asked me to do some photos of the New Daisy for his job. There are supposed to be some flyers around town that feature some of these shots. I am pretty pleased with how these and the flyer came out.

baby hammock

Sometimes I forget that flickr is not the be-all, end-all of photo-sharing and photo-appreciation. I say this because I got rejected from a group called Quality over Quantity. Now, I didn't spend over $15,000 in other peoples money to not know what makes a good photograph which is to say that I know my stuff is good and moreso, that many of the photos in this group are not, in the least, above-mediocre images. Although, I am not trying to say that there is no art like my art is art. There are plenty of people who downright mop the floor with me in all areas aesthetic and technical.

Anyway, my first reaction is not happy, but like I mentioned, flickr, while being invaluable with the amount of technical information it contains, is not a fine-art-centered community no matter how moderated and pretentious their groups may be. So, I now know how ridiculous it is to let that bother me. That being said, my group is awesome. BTW, this is the photo that got turned down:



Rant Over.

Welcome to China, Janine!

One of the potential photo jobs I am awaiting is the photography that is the photographing of foods.





That last one was inspired by nectar and light. She does some awesome polaroid-food-beverage photoing!

I saw The Happening this past weekend, and the more I think about it, the less impressed I am with it. It was pretty good. I understand what M. Night was doing with the 50's paranoia thing, but it just lacked something. Though popular opinion is not necessarily favorable on his last two, I thought Lady in the Water and The Village were excellent. There was something a lot less ballsy about this latest film, and it was probably his least cinematically pleasing film to date. So, overall a bit on the disappointing side.

I need to buy the Home Movies seasons.

1+2=McGuirk

For having such a productive night (developed two rolls and shot a few night scenes), I feel obligated to give you something that I've done (not today):




We are dangerously close to being caught up, folks!

Dragging Across the Tundra

I needs me some work. Something parttime. Unless you are in need of a photographer and are willing to give me moneys. This is my most recent wedding and the rest of my portfolio. Tired of being poor. Tired of being bored, too. And a moocher. Patience is key, but a temporary crap job is overdue.



I will stop complaining now. I hope that you otherwise enjoy the visuals that I bring you.

Roid it Up

I have really been going through a quasi-miniepiphany lately. I think I am finally doing things (photography, music, drawing, etc.)because I genuinely love and want to do them as opposed to escaping apathy. It's a good feeling. I actually drew and inked and lettered a comic last night and today. I am not especially proud of it, but boy, is it a finished product!

As usual, irons in the fire, playing the waiting game, etc. I actually got connected to a site called decidio.com. Hopefully, I will get some jobs out of that. I knew about the site for some time now but couldn't think of a good name. I finally went for the on-the-spot approach. Right now, I am Certain Words Photography. It may change later. Anyway, instant-film-shots-that-are-not-polaroid-because-polaroid-doesn't-make-instant-film-anymore, anyone?





The latest All-Star Superman is so good that I don't want the next issue to come out for fear of the mini-series being over.

Meh

Today has been a pretty do-nothing day which I justify by saying that yesterday saw some progress. Mostly, I think I can make a legitimate go at photographing for a living. I just have to do the waiting game.

I have heard the first bit of the new Weezer album. I really, really dig it. Weezer is one of those bands that have never really returned to form over their three albums after their hiatus. That being said, I have always found something about these (Green, Maladroit, Make Believe) that I liked. I can be almost pretentious about music at times, but I have always wanted to give Weezer the benefit of a doubt. So far, I think this album is quite unique which, to me, comes off awesome.

I can't wait until Friday. I have been itching to record some stuff to help push along my creative process. I have a couple of songs in the works that, if I make myself record them, I will be more apt to complete. I have a tumblr site. It is more of a scatterbrained, nonsensical thing than how I tend to treat the blog, and also, I post a photo here and there that I didn't upload to flickr (outtakes if you will). It is because of this guy that I even know about tumblr. Mostly, I think he is overrated, but that probably directly correlates with the fact that I am probably jealous of his loyal following on flickr. Anyway, more me now:





Those last two are Polaroid, by the way. I did a photoshoot this past week that was quite productive. I can't wait to get them back and stare at my awesomeness. Long enough entry for you?

Arrrgh!

I have been going crazy over the past couple of hours trying to find this movie that I loved as a kid. I remembered quite vividly the cover of this movie saying The Quest, but the internet set out to make a liar out of me. There was an 80's short movie called Quest which is not the movie I saw as a kid, but it is based on a Ray Bradbury story. Looking on endless 80's kid movie forums, not a single title remotely resembled the title and font that my eyes beheld in the Video Shop many years ago.

At this point, I am grasping at straws. I think to myself, "The kid in this movie kind of looks like the kid from E.T." So, I arrive on the imdb page of Henry Thomas and begin investigating his early works. It's called The Quest not Frog Dreaming, imdb!!!





There needs to be much smaller gaps in these blogs o' mine. I was almost caught up on picture posting, but then I did a wedding. Someday, I might actually post a blog with photos I took that month.

It's Just Like Diamonds...

Still jobless. I did, however, get some film back today. Also, I'll be developing 3 rolls myself in the coming week. So, I have still been productive. Read a bunch of comics and watched a few movies. Wanted (the comic) is just flatout awesome which is much more than I can say for the movie trailer. I mean, I could see someone not having read the comic think it looked kind of cool, but in relation to the comic itself, it looks tame. The Alan Moore run on Supreme is another fantastic read. It is a shame that it didn't get to officially end story-wise.

I saw Funny Games this past weekend. It was so disturbingly, terrifyingly brilliant. I wish the guy who made that movie was making Wanted. I won't say that it was the most disturbing movie I have ever seen, but it is still uncomfortably wrong for a mainstream audience. Some other movies that were a pleasure to see - Thank You For Smoking, Hi Mom!, The Ten, Hot Rod, Deer Hunter (so depressing), The Mission (incredible music), The King of Kong (watch it now!), The Shape of Things (still conflicted on that one), and Living In Oblivion.

I got a frickin' lot to catch up on the photographs:

Spontaneous Dental Hydroplosion

Either I am working hard and too exhausted to blog, or I am enjoying lazyness and so used to not-blogging that I just don't do it. I suppose blogging can be an art, and if it is, it would explain why my inspiration to do it happens whenever I am completely unable to get the ideas out. Never have a pen when I really want to draw - never have my camera when I see the "perfect shot" - never near my computer when I have something semi-interesting to write about.

One of my best friends, Ryan, is in town for the week. He is my personal motivational speaker so this should be fun. Eventually, I will venture to his woods to visit (although, I must confess, it is with an ulterior motive - I want to go to Europe!). He lives in Vienna at the moment. Anyway, nothing really clever in mind to say today (because you know I ALWAYS say something clever).







So, there is much more to catch up with blog-wise. although, I am not currently taking photos as ferverently because I am awaiting the return of the lens which goes to my square-shooting camera. I am finally getting it cleaned. Poop.

Too Long

Since I have posted. I have a new job loading trucks which demands a lot of my time and energy. This, in turn, has left me with little energy left over to think of things to type and form sentences and whatnot. I have restarted my darkroom and now have 5 rolls of film under my belt. I love processing my own pictures. This weekend I saw a slew of movies - No Country For Old Men (a-freaking-mazing-ingly-azing), Do the Right Thing (which I rather enjoyed), and Smoke (all the while I thought it was a Jim Jarmusch film and this is not the case - still very good, though).

I am faced with a big decision this week. In my mind, I have my paycheck spent on a new camera/other photo-related things, but I am torn on what to get. Not that the majority of readers even know or care, but the choice is between a Kowa Six and a Pentacon Six. I will eventually get both. The results I have seen from either camera have both been very pleasing. I guess, we'll see:

I Beg Your Pudding

Just saw I Am Legend tonight. It was pretty good. Kind of a 28 Days Later meets Castaway. Monsters-formerly-humans chasing hero plus one guy all by himself going a little loopy (that's not an implication of a twist, I assure you). It wasn't bad, but something about it was...bland.

But the reason I paid my $6.50 (would have gladly paid the $8.50) was for The Dark Knight trailer.

Holy Ca-cow!!!

It looks frickin' amazing. There were things I didn't like about Batman Begins, but all in all, I still enjoyed it. This new one looks to be much more Nolan-esqe. Heath Ledger was not my first choice for The Joker (Tim Roth was always in my head to play a new Joker), but I am certain anyone who sees the trailer will be won over. The laugh alone will convince you. I am officially, overwhelmingly excited about this movie. Which is a whoooole lot more than I can say about the twenty or so new "epic" movies that I saw previews for before The Dark Knight one.

Recent pictures: