For Stephen

A few months ago, in one of our last conversations, my dear friend Stephen reminded me that this blog once existed. Today, I honor his memory with the first Cognitive Coffee post in many years, to add to a collection of photos and videos (mainly in the earlier half of this blog’s invention, check ’em out) which honor our friendship and the work that we’ve done together. I spent 16 hours in what would be my last Oregon Voice all-nigher with my dear friend and mentor to try and do justice to a man of so many words. I love you, Stephen. You are so deeply missed.

Summer: Take One

Over the last few weeks, I have had a lot of luck with the Holga. I have gotten my first two consecutive rolls of 120 film back in which all 12 pictures have been printed, and more or less pretty awesome. In an attempt to summer-ize, some things I have experimented with and/or learned are explained below.

One of my biggest nemeses in Holga photography….

1. BATTERIES: THEY ALMOST ALWAYS SEEM TO FALL OUT

AND DO FUNNY THINGS TO THE FILM BY THE END OF THE ROLL.

Seen here:

Sasquatch Festival

George, WA

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 100T-Max

Sydney: First shot with Fisheye Adapter

Sasquatch Festival

George, WA

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 100T-Max

Clouds?

Sasquatch Festival

George, WA

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 100T-Max

2. DOUBLE EXPOSURES ARE AMAZING

As seen here, in two of my favorite pictures yet….

“Stoop John B”

Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

Sunrise on the Gorge

George, WA/Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

Err… Lamp?

Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

3. LIGHT LEAKS ARE UNPREDICTABLE,

BUT WORK IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS.

Clouds over the Gorge. Sunrise? Sunset? I’m not sure.

Somewhere, Washington

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

Lorax Manner

Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak 100 T-Max

Lorax Manner Take 2

Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 100 T-Max

Sunrise somewhere.

Somewhere, WA

Shot on Holga120 CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

4. TOO MUCH SUNSHINE WILL BLEACH THE PICTURE OUT

(BUT STILL CREATE INTERESTING RESULTS)

Sam-In-A-Tree.

Silverton, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

Adam and Eve.

Silverton Reservoir, Silverton, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 100 T-Max

5. SOMETIMES, PICTURES COME OUT JUST HOW

THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO.

(Some nice vignetting, too!)

Myself and John Z.

My Backyard, Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 100 T-Max

Tara in soft focus.

Ferry St., Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 160 Ektar

Voice Dawgs. (L to R) Noah, Scot, Tyler.

13th/Patterson, Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 100 T-Max

Go Ducks. (Taken on mine and Deirdre’s first ever “Wednesdate”)

Willamette River, Eugene, OR

Shot on Holga120CFN, Kodak 100 T-Max

“In Transit”, Finally!! Online

This project started as one accidentally gorgeous moment that was caught on a FlipCam along I-5 en route from Salem, OR back to Eugene. After catching that clip, I started collecting footage of my travels along the I-5 Corridor and integrated them together alongside the memories, emotions, and people who have inspired me to create this project.

This is my first short film, ten minutes in length, and has had a tumultuous history. When it was supposed to show as part of a collective presentation of student work on the big screen at the Bijou Cinemas in Eugene, my DVD was burned in the wrong format for screening and couldn’t be shown. Two hours before presenting at the Subversion Gallery (a.k.a. my friend Brenna’s basement), my hard drive crashed and I lost the video in its entirety. It seemed like “In Transit” was never meant for anyone’s eyes but my own, until it was recovered by my computer genius roommate Nathan, just in time to squeak it into Brenna’s projector that evening. In the recovery from the hard drive crash, some of the HD quality of the film was lost, and consequently there are some pixelations and low-fi quirks that were never meant to be that have now become part of the art (hehe, that rhymes!).

Anyways, I suppose I should just let the video speak for itself and mean what it does to the individual viewer. But for me, this project is all about memories and revelations gathered and formed whilst between here and there. Thanks for checking it out!

the Books: “A Cold Freezin’ Night”

Check out this video from The Books. Their forthcoming album The Way Out features samples from random Talkboys (remember that toy from Home Alone?) that the band has been supposedly collecting for years. Anyways, this video and song is super dope, and if you get a chance to see the Books this fall when they go on tour, they put on a great show- with video projections!!

Twas the Night Before Solstice

A night before the longest day of the year, and consequently the last night of spring, I bring you Spring 2010 in a photographic retrospect (with captions!). Hope you enjoy.

Tearing down the Fringe Festival installation that was put up at the Lord Leebrick Annex in Eugene in conjunction with the first annual Cinema Pacific Film Festival at the University of Oregon. Installation was a work of myself, Stephen Person, and Brenna Cheyney, and featured student winners from the Fringe video remix competition of the Korean film The Housemaid.

Shot on a Canon Rebel, Kodak Portra 35mm 100 VC

Eugene, OR

Experimenting with soft focus filters. I was very pleased with the results.

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak Ektar 100

Eugene, OR

After watching this squirrel get run over by a bicyclist, I thought I could only do it justice by taking a photo of it… with a triple prism lens.

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak Ektar 100

Eugene, OR

Johnny enjoying the daily dose of whiskey and cigarettes on Tara’s front lawn.

Shot on a Canon Rebel, Kodak Portra 35mm 100 VC

Eugene, OR

An unidentified Pig and Stephen’s arch nemesis Officer Stone (who has got his piece out and ready to go) put on a show for us while we enjoyed aforementioned whiskey and cigarettes.

Sneakily shot on a Canon Rebel, Kodak Portra 35mm 100 VC

Eugene, OR

Beautiful Tara.

Shot on a Canon Rebel, Kodak Portra 35mm 100 VC

Eugene, OR

After a long road trip to and from Eastern Washington, we stopped to check out Multnomah falls. Sam was kind enough to let me snap a touristy photo of him.

Shot on that brand of crappy green 35mm disposables that I love so much.

Multnomah Falls, OR

“We’re back in Oregon! Yay!”

Another 35mm Disposable gem.

Multnomah Falls, OR

Fun with filters.

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak Ektar 100

Portland, OR

Noah’s roses with red soft focus filter.

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak Ektar 100

Eugene, OR

I left my camera at Sam’s apartment in Portland, and I found this picture in the bunch. I didn’t take this, and Sam claims he has no recollection of it being taken. Where did that chicken come from? Who is that ghost girl? It’s a mystery.

Shot on Holga 120CFN, Kodak Ektar 100

Portland, OR (or so we think!)

Scot B. drinking his free birthday beer at Eugene City Brewery. His beer was three times the size of mine, and mine was $4.50. Damn. Scot got a killer internship at NPR’s All Things Considered Arts and Information Desk in D.C., and has graduated U of O leaving the Editor-In-Chief position at the Oregon Voice behind to pursue bigger things. Good luck, Scotty!

Snapped via camera phone.

Eugene, OR

Megan and Stephen making beer music… Even though I’m pretty sure Megan’s cup isn’t making much of a noise at all.

Disposable 35mm.

Eugene, OR

Noah D., myself, and Tyler P., Voice Dawgs of the Past, Present, and Future. Noah and I will be Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, respectively. Tyler P. (aka T. Pell, Pell Grant, Alexander Graham Pell) will be holding down the Managing Editor position in style.

Disposable 35mm

The Boys of Silverton: Jesse, Kyle, Sam and Henry. Sam came back into town from Hawaii and Kyle was on leave from the Marines for a week, and both of them turned 21 on June 12th… to quote a friend, “the camera seemed to be as drunk as they were.”

Shot on a Canon Rebel, 35mm Kodak Portra 100 VC

Portland, OR

This is Ned. He got locked out of his house earlier in the afternoon, and consequently got to hang out with us across the street.

Shot on a Canon Rebel, 35mm Kodak Portra 100 VC

Eugene, OR

Who is this girl? I don’t know or care, but that’s a great outfit.

Disposable 35mm

Portland, OR

A beautiful day at the reservoir after a beautiful weekend with my west coast family.

First 3 Photos by Jeff Harris, Picture of feet by yours truly on Jeff’s funky digital.

Silverton, OR

Durga’s chewed up toys and our weathered boombox that came with the house.

Shot on a Canon Rebel, 35mm Kodak Portra 100 VC

Eugene, OR

For as much as he didn’t seem to want his picture taken, every shot I snapped of Chase was gorgeous.

Shot on a Canon Rebel, 35mm Kodak Portra 100 VC

Eugene, OR

Jeffery, smiling with delight as he attempted to explain why my computer was doing what it was doing. I was uninterested in the technical jargon, though. (This is the same Jeff that took the photos of the reservoir.)

Shot on a Canon Rebel, 35mm Kodak Portra 100 VC

Eugene, OR

Sunshine=Happy Aperture

Finally, after 6 months of toiling with the Holga I have finally discovered it’s one true secret: sunshine. It seems in the grey scattered skies and the beautifully light-polluted overtones in Eugene have hindered the magic of the Holga, thouguh I am sure with time (and maybe a tripod) I will figure out a way to get some good shots. I digress. After a trip to southern California with Scot, Megan and Noah, I finally got a roll of film that came back happy. 8 out of 12 came out, which is a record yet.

But wow, was I astounded when I got  this roll back. A lot of double exposures, some accidental, that came out so whimsically. No matter how rad digital is, there is nothing like those spontaneous and accidental gems that come back on a roll of film. The instantaneous aspect of digital has lessened the value of a photographic moment, allowing us to take endless photos without a care in the world. Enough ranting, though. These are some gorgeous frozen moments in time:

Megan with Martin and “the Neighbors” @ Coachella, April 2010

Slight hint of the front of my house in Eugene in there, too. Curious!

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

Group Shot in B-Boy Stances. Unfortunately, the one posed photo that we were so excited about was the only one on the roll that didn’t come out. Oh, the irony.

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

These two images overlapped, so I stitched them together.

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

Noah D. and Megan G., respectfully.

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

After 18 hours in the VW Golf, we arrived in Indio, CA at 3:30 AM. It was so disorganized getting in that we didn’t pull up to our campsite until the sun was up. By that time, it was far too hot to sleep. That day, Scot (pictured above) felt everyone and everything, and the Man in particular, was against us.

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

Bike tire and beer can. (And that one yellow tulip, that some scoundrel plucked from our front yard just a few days after this photo was taken.)

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

Sunny day in Eugene. Amy and my feet. View from the Monroe St. house stoop.

Holga 120CFN, Kodak Portra 120 VC

More pictures to come, because hey! It’s springtime, and that means more and more sunshine is makin’ it’s way through my camera lens. Yahoo! More photos soon. Until then…

Happy Spring!!!!

More Dance-Off Photos

All photos courtesy of Courtney Hendricks, Oregon Voice Staff writer, photographer, and future layout director.

Noah layin’ down the law on Ethos, and this is just the warm-up!

Deirdre gots the funk. Tutu made by Amy Lange.

Stephen, looking like he just broke his neck, but he is actually attempting to breakdance.

Grace and Noah’s double’s routine.

More than likely, this is the response to Noah’s pindrop. Ooooohhhhh!!!!

Hooray for Birthdays!

This year, I found myself graced with the most beautiful and love-filled birthday that anyone could ever ask for. I have reached twenty one years of age, hoorah! Everyone was so kind and adoring throughout the entire weekend, which spanned Thursday to Sunday.

On the evening of my actual birthday (Friday), I celebrated a sweet victory with the Oregon Voice Dirty Dozen in a Dance-Off battle of epic proportions against Ethos Magazine:

Above: The poster Courtney and I made for the Dance-Off/Annual OV 420 Party.

Above: Deirdre goes ballet-istic on Ethos.

(Photos courtesy of Ethos/CTRL+Shift+4 Screenshot Method)

The Oregon Voice Dirty Dozen

(Photo courtesy of Ethos/CTRL+Shift+4 Screenshot Method)

Sweet Victory. (L to R) OV Editor-In-Chief Scot Braswell, myself, and Tyler Pell

Facebook smack-talk.

Oddly enough, after the Dance-Off, Noah realized that the Voice box by the library was mysteriously broken, when it had been perfectly intact earlier that day. Who would do such a thing? We’re not pointing any fingers… but Noah and I scoped it out the next morning…

“Why!!?!?”

(Also, check out Noah’s fresh dance-off haircut, it was the first I’ve ever given.)

After the success of the Dance-Off, I retired my weary and booze-soaked bones to bed. The birthday weekend was only just beginning, after all. Local bands On the Tundra and The Secret Whistle came out to play, as well as good friends the Daveys who drove down from PDX, though due to some police interference were only able to play an acoustic set. On the Tundra played in the backyard with a subtle glowing ambiance generated by a fire in the BBQ pit and one measly house lamp. They played SO loud and it absolutely rocked. The police said that the music could be heard all throughout the Whiteaker neighborhood (whoops…).  Needless to say, we moved it inside for Max and Sam’s acoustic set and Secret Whistle.

Tons of people showed up, and consequently all good people who heard

word of mouth or by paper invitation. Wow, people actually heard about parties before Facebook?

A from-scratch and delicious cake that Noah, Guilia and Gina brought for the potluck. Wow.

They sang me happy birthday with 21 matches in place of candles. Such ingenuity…

the fact that they barely worked was oh so charming.

Half a plate of Mara and Maxx’s extra-special chocolate-and-caramel-glazed shortbread. Note the “C” heart-shaped one for me in the middle. How thoughtful! To the right is a tin foil and rose Rogue from the lovely Brenna.

And on top of it, look how many people “remembered” that it was my birthday!!! Kudos to those who called and vocally pronounced their birthday greetings. Honorable mention goes to my friend Kenny, whom I met only once at an Animal Collective show in Brooklyn, who called me to wish me a good one. What a guy.

All around, the birthday weekend was a daring success. My friend Meg took me out for lunch today at the Cornucopia, where the waitress had the bluegrass band playing/the entire restaurant sing me a happy birthday. Apparently, when you turn 21 your birthday lasts a lot longer. She gave us free Hemp Ale, drink tokens, and a pendant that she made herself. So beautiful, the love I have felt in this community is out of control. Thanks to all who made this weekend so memorable and lovely, and I will post more pictures soon… When our photographer C gets back into town the Oregon Voice should have a nice spread from the Dance Off. So keep your eyes peeled.

Also, to read Ethos’s account of the Dance-Off, and read a slightly inaccurate but nonetheless hilarious quote from yours truly, check it out here: “Let’s Dance! Oregon Voice vs. Ethos Magazine Dance-Off”

Winter Retrospective in Snapshots

Here are some snapshots of the last few months, a little peek through my eyes (and a few from some other eyes, too) of life’s travels through Eugene, San Francisco, a friend’s 4000 acre property in Northern California, and New York City. 

(L to R) Tara and Johnny.

J-Ranch,Middletown, CA.

Words cannot describe the surrealistic beauty

that surrounds that place…Disposable 35mm.

Walter Cron-Cat, up to no good as usual. Disposable Kodak 35mm.

Early morning hours of a Brooklyny-New Years Eve,

Zack’s apartment in Bushwick, right before a long subway

ride for a 3:30am falafel at Mamouns. Holga SF120

Graced with a beautiful week, both in climate and company,

Sarah  visited Eugene after a five day train ride across

the country. Radical. Disposable Kodak 35mm.

(L to R) Stephen, Lyzi, and Jeff in San Francisco over

Spring Break. Just one of many magical afternoons.

Disposable Kodak 35mm.

Weird double-exposure from the first ever roll of Holga.

It’s Bryan, doesn’t it look like him? Holga SF120.

(L to R) Jeff, Javier, Cooper, a new friend whose name

escapes me, Me busting a move, Bryan. Before the

San Francisco screening of the Animal Collective

visual album ODDSAC. Photo cred. Stephen.

Disposable Kodak 35mm.

(L to R) Stephen, Javier, Jeff, Alex, Me, Cooper

An interesting turn of events led me to meet the boys

at Zeitgeist, a sweet bar in the Mission, where no photos

are supposed to be taken. (see no photo stencil on back

wall.) How devious and touristy! Photo cred. Guy at the Bar,

Disposable Kodak 35mm.

Thank you sunshine for coming out… once in a while.

Disposable Kodak 35mm

Through the basement cat-door at my Dad’s house.

This is Mara, she was visiting me in NYC from

Oregon over the non-denominational holiday break.

First roll of Holga SF120 ever.

Cyndi Lauper, Finally On My Turf

Finally, Cyndi Lauper and the gang made it out to see me. Rather, after years of seeing my dad play drums with Cyndi, Cyndi did it big up in Oregon. The show was at Spirit Mountain Casino, and it wasn’t the best of venues. Our palettes were not wet enough to dance properly, as there were strict beverage consumption rules in place that forbid us from bringing drinks inside. It’s been interesting to watch the band play over the years and observe how they grow and change together, experiment with new arrangements and cover old favorites I would never expect. Last summer, it was Joni Mitchell. This time around, it was White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. Whew! So radical.

My dates to the show were my dear friends Stephen, Lyzi, and CJ, and let me tell ya, the crew could not have been better. We danced and shmoozed and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. CJ posted some insight on the show too which you can read by clicking here: “Observations Upon Meeting Cyndi Lauper”

Here’s some low-fi iPhone photos courtesy of my Dad:

From left to right: Sammy Merendino (my dad), Cyndi Lauper, me, Lyzi Diamond, Stephen Person, CJ Ciaramella

The first time me and my dad have ever been together in the state of Oregon. We are so happy, woohoo!