Why America is Fucked (Graphically, At Least)

America Is F*cked.......(Graphically at least) from Jess Gibson on Vimeo.

This video has been making the rounds lately, so I guess it's about time that it finds its way here. Art Director and branding guru Aaron Draplin provides anecdotal evidence on why America is going down the pisser graphically. In my opinion, you can say that about every aspect of the visual arts right now and it all pretty much stems from the lack of respect for history and the never ending chase of Cool. Dudes need to start sitting down and thinking about their shit. I only have so much time in my life and I don't want to waste it sifting through mediocrity. Oh yeah, I like Futura Bold, even though Wes Anderson pretty much owns it cinematically right now.

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Hot Episode: Post-It Show 3

Yay! While I'm sure it has more to do with Giant Robot's built-in base than it does the quality of my work, the latest episode of LA Is A Nice Place to Live has made Blip TV's list of Hot Episodes. The latest issue was shot at GR2's recent Post-It Show 3, where established and upcoming artists created over one thousand Post-Its. By Giant Robot founder Eric Nakamura's own admission, the idea is not a new one, but it is a great way for fans of art and illustration to pick up some cheap pieces for their collection. Anyway, check out the episode and look for one of the official GR doggies.

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SPACE: Hipster Runoff

Interesting. I was linked to this recent post over at Hipster Runoff that is basically a reaction to the fifth episode of LA Is A Nice Place To Live. While I think it's really funny and amusing that they watched it in the first place, reading the damn thing made me remember how valuable spaces such as the one GOOD provides actually are. A physical space where you can interact with human beings IRL and be productive and positive? You might as well be describing the El Dorado if you are at all entrenched in the smug and divisive hipster culture. I recommend everyone head over to GOOD or another space like it and participate in an activity or a workshop. It's actually nice to have a genuine good time once in a while, as opposed to ones brought about by cheap Pabst and $1 Dewar's.

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Back(b)log.

It's been a pretty crazy and busy (and crazy busy) week for me, thus explaining the lack of posts here but a number of posts elsewhere. There are a couple of show reviews up on The FADER blog as well as a new episode of "LA Is A Nice Place To Live". Links to the articles as well as the complete set of accompanying photos can be found after the jump. I'm going back to bed.

Friendly Fires at Spaceland. More photos at Flickr.

Little Joy at Detroit Bar. Even more photos.

New video at the recently opened GOOD space on Melrose. Seriously the most positive vibe I've felt at a space in a very long time.

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Macaframa

Macaframa, the long awaited high-definition track bike video has been making its rounds in various cities across the country past the couple of weeks and will finally be making its way to Los Angeles. I think the project has been in the works for almost two years, now, so it almost matches MASH SF in the amount of times its release has been delayed. I guess that makes sense, as the whole scene changes everyday, and footage gets obsolete the moment you throw it on your hard drive these days. You can RSVP for the whole deal by e-mailing the address on the flyer, then pickup tickets over at Blends. You can check out a couple of the movies many trailers and teasers after the jump.


Macaframa from MACAFRAMA on Vimeo.


MACAFRAMA Trailer from MACAFRAMA on Vimeo.

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J**z In My Pants

For those that can't wait another month for the new Conchords, this should help ease the pain.

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Miss Dior Cherie

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit that, yes, I have seen one full episode of Gossip Girl. And while my taste in just about everything has admittedly become more inclusive over the years, watching it made me die inside a little. I would have gouged my eyes out had it not been for the show's (only) strength: babes in their late-twenties playing babes in their late teens. Anyway, apparently Sofia Coppola helmed the new commercial for the Miss Dior Cherie fragrance and it premiered on the show a few weeks ago. It's very Lost in Translation in its handheld, dreamy visual style, although very airy in content. Kind of like her wine. Zing! Obviously, I still like it or it wouldn't be on here.

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Thurston Moore @ The Smell

File this one under "crazy, shows that will be". After his stint in Europe for his day job, Thurston Moore will be coming to Los Angeles to play a show at The Smell. Some other bands will play before him, but who cares? Jesus could have come back to front an opening noise band act and that shit still wouldn't be as nuts. Be there or be L7. On a side note, some guy at the No Age show the other night was talking about how witnessing the emergence of No Age and their brother and sister bands is analogous to being in New York at the time that Sonic Youth was blowing up. I wouldn't go that far, but it doesn't seem like a coincidence, seeing as No Age idolizes Sonic Youth. Perhaps its no coincidence that Thurston Moore would take the time to hit up No Age's home base, then?

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Mike Mills @ The Selby

You just have to love The Selby. The whole residences-of-creatives thing makes me think of an unironic star map for hipsters (if hipsters were into anything unironic). One of the latest subjects to be lensed is Mike Mills, my mancrush subject and one half of my my favorite multi-hyphenated power couple. Looking at the photos of Mills' house in Silver Lake is realizing how this whole project is so much better than star maps. Instead of creepily cruising past a stranger's house at 5MPH, it almost seems like you got invited in and dude's about to offer you some sweet tea.

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Road To 'Till The Casket Drops

I know I'm posting this pretty late in the day: this shit probably went ghetto gold by the time I click "Publish Post", but who cares? Clipse came out with their long-awaited (by me, anyway) mixtape, Road To 'Till The Casket Drops today. Every time I listen to anything from those dudes for the first time, I'm always surprised that I even listen to Clipse at all. Do I secretly want to push 'caine and Gallardos? Of course not. Well, maybe the Gallardo. Get me one of those in black.

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BUZZ: Exclusive Kanye Interview at The FADER

With Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak release today, the folks over at The FADER have released his exclusive interview regarding the album and it's inspiration available to read online. Incidentally, the article has been buzzed over at Yahoo! Links to the Buzz page and the article can be found after the jump. Make sure to Buzz it up!

Yahoo! Buzz.

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HATING: Cinespace

Text after the jump.

I'm not saying that I've never gone to Cinespace. I've been there a few times and apparently, a few times is enough for me to realize I shouldn't go there without an eight ball of coke in hand. But I have to say, it feels good to hear that someone did a good set there, and that the set didn't consist of a greasy haired dude or dudette rocking a leather jacket and an iPod. We're getting to the end of 2008 here, folks: we've got a black President and people should admit that Misshapes and the twins from Good Charlotte have no right to be on the tables.

Anyway, the set in question comes from Laidback Luke, who brought some house (it gets electro-y here and there) to what I've seen to be the most arrhythmic spot in the world. While he doesn't go as far as playing house tracks with vocals of dudes talking about how great house is, he gets in a bit of "Show Me Love" in there, which is good enough for me. A clip from the set can be seen below:



Snorlax out!

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808's & Heartbreak

Me likey. Kanye just has a habit of coming out with the right shit at just the right time. As everyone may know, his new and completely sung and auto-tuned record, 808's & Heartbreak, comes out on Tuesday, but you can stream the entire album at his MySpace starting 12:01AM on November 23rd. Dude held back his usual bag of tricks on this one and managed to deliver his most personal songs yet. Who knew after listening to College Dropout that Yeezy was one artist that you could grow with?

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FADER TV: Abe Vigoda

The new episode of my LA Is A Nice Place To Live video column is up over at The FADER blog. This one (the fourth, for those keeping track) features the Los Angeles by way of Chino band Abe Vigoda at their recent homecoming show at The Smell. I think the scariest thing about the video is how similar Juan, their guitarist, and I talk. Maybe it's in my head, but the nasal dragging of words might just be an Inland Empire thing.

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Watch the Watchmen

Yessssss. The new theatrical trailer for Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Watchmen is now up on Yahoo! and it just added to my excitement. Sure, comic book movies are getting tired and should be on their way out, but not before we see this damn thing in theaters. This trailer, unlike all of the others, actually focuses on the film's central plot, hopefully making it more palatable to folks who managed to exist over the last twenty years without reading a page of the book. My only concern (and apparently, I'm not the only one) is the overuse of the word "watchmen", which hints at the possibility that they're using it as a replacement for the Minutemen or Crimebusters. Way to chip away at the depth of the text, n00bs.

Edit: Zack Snyder explains its use to the good folks over at CHUD.

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The FADER: TV Books Exhibition @ Hope Gallery

Last week, I interviewed Tim Barber for the third installment of my video column for The FADER blog, LA Is A Nice Place to Live. The episode is now up for view (complete with my least edited writing so far), so head over and check it out.

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Prop. 8 Protest Poster

It's kind of sad to think about how on the very same election where we elected out first black President, a majority of Californians also voted to take away the rights for gays to marry, rendering them second-class citizens. As you may know, there will be a organized nationwide international protest this Saturday, November 15th. The flyer above was designed to promote the event, with other versions created for their respective cities. Good work for a good cause. Head on over to Join the Impact for more information regarding the protests and to look up where your local one will take place.

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Jeff Wall + Bullet Time = Toshiba?

Chalk this up as more proof to Picasso's idiom that good artists copy and great artists steal. The latest and, I'm sure, greatest Toshiba TV commercial takes the whole bullet time thing Michel Gondry pioneered to the next level by taking a page from Jeff Wall's cinematic yet painterly photography (how is all of that even possible?). The whole thing reminds me of a better executed (and bigger budgeted) version of a music video that Patrick Daughters did for King of Leon a while back. Visual references after the jump.

Kings Of Leon - New Music - More Music Videos

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The FADER: Kanye and No Age

Say word? The upcoming issue of The FADER, which should be hitting newsstands next week will have Yeezy and the boys from No Age taking time off from their respective blogs to share cover duties. Oh yeah, they make great music, too. The issue is a good one with separate interviews from both acts that show off how much they have in common. Really.

Edit: Kanye hates the cover. Whoops.

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The FADER: Flying Lotus in Los Angeles

My review of the Flying Lotus/Brainfeeder show at the Echoplex is now up at The FADER blog. Having my shit up at a real publication's online entity really makes me wish that I wrote better and took better photos. Oh well.

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MASH TX

This has been online for forever, but it seems timely as the cooler weather lately has seen me on my bike more often. Earlier this year, the guys from MASH SF flew down to Austin, TX to handle some biz. While there, they got to ride with the only cyclist America knows by name and tentative Tour 2009 contender, Lance Armstrong. Dude's been training on fixed for forever, but I think this is the first footage I've seen of him on one. Well, maybe it's just the first footage I've seen of of anyone blowing through reds in cargo shorts. Needless to say, that dude's fast. I hope he's fast enough to suck every Livestrong wristband into a vortex so I don't have to see another one of those things again.

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Hibachis We Believe In

Hibachi! It's not too often where I can actually side myself with a dude who can build a million dollar pool complete with sharks, but if I had to do it, I'm glad that it's Gilbert Arenas. Dude has the most interesting blog this side of Yeezy and as it turns out, he recently (and permanently) showed his support for the new President-Elect with this "Change We Believe In" tattoo. Crazy. What's even more of a trip of the recently discovered phenomenon of NBA dudes having long and sharp nails. I'll sell them my own personal pair of nail clippers for a millie. Via Ball Don't Lie.

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No Age Free at the Troubadour

No Age, my favorite band to come out of the whole Los Angeles DIY scene, is giving back to their fans (with a little bit of help in the form of corporate sponsorship from Hot Topic). The duo responsible for the most tastefully executed rainbow-themed t-shirt ever will be playing a free(!) show with Titus Andronicus at the Troubadour on December 2nd. Tickets can be ordered online here, and will be available for pick up on the day of the show. Get yours soon, No Age fans are almost as nuts as those Twilight devotees.

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Passions Just Like Mine

Finally. Passions Just Like Mine, the long-gestating documentary about the inexplicable devotion of Latinos in Los Angeles to Morrissey is finally getting its premiere at the Vine Theater tomorrow. This movie is somewhat mythical in some circles, as rumor has it that the project started as a mere assignment at my art school and then quickly grew to be a feature-length documentary. A few of my friends have watched the one copy on campus and have had nothing but positive things to say about it, so this looks like a must watch. If you're in town tomorrow, November 13, you should check it out. The film gets projected at 8PM, doors open at 7:30. Expect a line. The trailer can be viewed after the jump.

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"Magic Man" by The Aliens

Fabian Unternahrer, the dude honored with my inaugural Image Of The Week and overall super cool guy, referred me to this reverse music video directed by John Maclean and Christian McKenzie for The Aliens. To be honest, this completely flew under my radar, so I'm glad that Fabian put me on. The video feels like an amalgam of Jonze, Gondry, and Patrick Daughters, which is a good thing. And the music is handled by former members of the Beta Band, so you know it's on point. Good stuff. On a side note: I was ready to declare a moratorium on the whole reverse video thing after Jaron Albertin's early Jeff Wall-esque take on Metric's "Empty". After this clip, though, maybe we should end it on a high note and put this particular horse to pasture.

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Ninja Kittens

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a middle-aged cat lady stuffed into the body of a Filipino boy in his early twenties, so I would have posted this even if this commercial was total shit. Luckily enough for you, it was directed by Anonymous Content's Garth Davis, so it's actually pretty good. The tracking is a bit off at times, but seriously, it has cat heads on dudes doing ninja shit! How can you not love that? And also, how does that concept even relate to the Toyota Corolla? Further proof that ad creatives should have balls of steel.

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Paul Paper's Postcards

Paul Paper's a cool dude. First of all, the guy's from Lithuania yet he still takes photos that make it seem like he got a press pass to heaven. Second, his website is called It Is My Party, the lack of contraction skyrocketing him from the status of merely good photographer to the foreign guy who happens to take awesome photos and who you're sure will steal your girlfriend because he's more romantic than you are. Anyway, Mr. Paper recently came out with a set of postcards entitled Tiny Photographs of Melancholy. All of the images used for the postcards have that ethereal lens flare vibe that makes his work so appealing. Don't send them out. These things look so good, you'd be crazy to fuck them up with stamps and bad handwriting.

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Beautification Software

It's kind of a trip to think that everyone you knew was once all about shit like MS Paint and Paint Shop Pro. At a time when almost everyone I know is an expert at Photoshop, it's really funny to look back and think about when people were tripping out over the Emboss Filter. Flash forward to now and we've got computer software from Israel that algorithmically beautifies photographs of you. Big deal, right? We've got retouchers for that. The most interesting part of this development, though, is that there's a fucking formula somewhere that knows what types of chin or cheekbones look the hottest. And there was probably a team of dudes that did nothing but go through Google images as research. Where do I submit my resume for that job? Save your boners, dudes, this is like MySpace angles taken to its logical end.

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William Hundley @ Kinsey/DesForges

Damn, it feels good to see people up on it. William Hundley, who has been my Flickr friend for God knows how long, has been blowing up before my eyes. Hundley creates images that are at once both funny and magical. Most of his work has him taking photos while his buddies jump around draped in fabric. Making the creative process personal is something I'm familiar with, I'm just not all that familiar with the other stuff. You know, like, all the acclaim stuff. Dude recently got interviewed by Fecal Face to promote his upcoming solo show at the Kinsey/DesForges gallery in Culver City, which opens on November 22nd.

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The Bird In My Mouth

It might be because I've been reformatting iChat interviews for my boss over at The FADER lately, but I've been looking all over the places for iChat screenshots. The Bird In My Mouth takes the cake. The site has a collection of a iChat conversations with a range of topics that go from being drunk to the recent Presidential collection. Knowing that my friends and I aren't the only ones that can talk about the search for 'tang to the climate crisis in two or three lines makes me feel just a little bit better about myself.

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