Zillah

Ok, so I know I’ve been taking a lot of dog pictures lately, but what can I say? They make for great subjects. They’re cute, they’re not self-conscious, and they don’t talk back.  Pictured above is Zillah, taking a walk with her owner, Denver, on Bainbridge Island, WA.

Kids Draw the Darndest Things

Well this is awkward.

The Beauty of The Fight

Found out yesterday that one of my instructors at Seattle Central recently finished working on a feature length film and is now in the promotion stage. My teacher, Rick Clark, worked as a script consultant for a project entitled Beauty of The Fight, a documentary on life in the barrios of Panama, and the beauty that can thrive beneath a desolate surface. The film is directed by John Urbano, a commercial photographer turned cinematographer, who was inspired by the culture and stories of the Panamanian people he met during his travels. I haven’t see the film yet, but in the hopes that my teacher might randomly stumble upon this post, I’m gonna say it’s awesome! Actually, I checked out the trailer and it like a pretty worthwhile viewing, especially from a cinematography standpoint. If you’d like more information, check out the official site at www.beautyofthefight.com.

The Thing About Belts

via.

One Drink, Two Cups

Double cupping is my newest pet peeve. Why are two cups doing a job that is normally reserved for one? Have these cups unionized? There has got to be a better way to guard against the terror of hot liquids than by wasting a perfectly good cup for a couple of minutes of heat protection. I tried to give the protective cup back to barista, but she said she couldn’t reuse it due to health concerns. Science has provided answers to some of mankind’s most pressing problems, surely it could spend a little time figuring out how to make a more insulated paper cup. For now, I’m toughing it out and requesting one cup, and I’ve got the scorched palms to prove it!

Happy Hydrant

I was riding the bus the other day, and thanks to some good tunes coming through on the RJD2 Pandora station, I zoned out and wound up missing my regular stop. I got off a few blocks later, just as a torrential downpour settled in overhead, drenching me with rain. In a huff, I turned to walk back to my house when what should I see out the corner of my but this googly-eyed fire hydrant standing happily in a nearby bush. I felt a lot better seeing that yellow face staring back at me, his metal arms stretched out in an eternal hugging position. I thought about my day, and then I thought about his. If he could keep a smile through the cold and wind and the constant stream of neighborhood dogs marking their territory on him, then I could certainly endure a few extra blocks in the rain.

Spot on the Bus

I love the bus. Always have. As a kid, I can remember going to a family excursion downtown via Metro. By the time we got to where ever it was we were going, I didn’t want to leave my seat. I just wanted to ride around on the bus all day, taking in the city as it passed along through the big block windows. I took this picture on my way home from school. This woman got on the bus with her dalmatian and rode for about 15 minutes. Maybe she just didn’t want to walk her dog that day. Or maybe this is some sort of dalmatian training program that they have to go through before they can ride on firetrucks? Gotta start somewhere, right?

Danse Serpentine

As some of you may or may not know, I recently enrolled in the Film and Video Communication program at Seattle Central Community College. Classes started a few days ago, and the material began with a History of Film course to help show us the foundation of modern day cinema. After discussing some of the roots of film, we then watched a video on the pioneering Lumiere brothers of France, who in the late 1800’s not only invented a camera that could record live action, but also develop the film and project it in one self-contained unit! (Impressive, especially when one considers that I can barely walk and chew gum without tripping). The brothers went around the world documenting different people in their environment 50 seconds at a time (that was the longest amount of recording time their film strips provided). While watching the clip, the segment entitled “Danse Serpentine” stood out to me the most for its simplicity and its beauty. Filmed in 1899, the video shows a dancer performing in a flowing dress, which seems to magically change colors as she twirls around on stage. The color effect was added on by hand, frame by frame, after the film was developed. The technique may be basic, but its effect is profound. After watching it a couple of times, I still find it hard to believe that something so visually engaging and unique could have been made over 100 years ago.

This one, performed by Loie Fuller and filmed by Thomas Edison, is pretty cool too.

Babushka Acquisition

I had some time to kill in between classes today so I went to the Value Village on Capitol Hill to see what I could see. After browsing aisles full of discarded softball jerseys and t-shirts celebrating various corporate team-building exercises from years gone by, I came across the “Collectibles” section of the store. It was here, tucked away alongside a plastic garden gnome, a glass seahorse figurine, and many other random tchotchkes, that I found the sweet Babushka doll pictured above. Why this babushka doll was made I have no idea, but that didn’t stop me from buying it (and at $2.99 how could I afford not to?). The five separate dolls commemorate the past five US presidents, and then, for no reason that I can ascertain, Vladimir Putin, the current prime minister of Russia. I especially like the hapless expression on George W’s face, and it makes sense that someone would put his mug on a traditional Russian doll. After all, you can’t spell Babushka without Bush.

Street Portraits

Here are few more portraits I took while in Seattle’s U-District. Pictured above is a guy who calls himself Hurricane II. He sells the the Real Change newspaper behind the UW bookstore. I think he liked getting his picture taken. The flag was his idea and he waved it around like a real pro. If you ever see Hurricane around, be sure to buy a newspaper from him.

This is a picture of Maggie. She works on the Ave as a direct fundraiser for a children’s charity. She’s one of those people who stop you on the street, shake your hand, then convince you to sponsor a child. I think that must be a really tough job, but judging by Maggie’s smile, the work doesn’t seem to be getting her down.