happiness is a warm gun

My first memory of the Beatles was in 7th grade social studies class. A classmate had recently discovered the band and became obsessed with them. I quickly dismissed seeking them out. You have to remember this was pre-Napster and we still had to actually buy music. Plus, I had gotten the impression that the Beatles was "my father's music" and I didn't have any interest.

Fast forward to a few months ago, just right before the remasters and The Beatles: Rock Band. I was obsessed with Rock Band for a while, but had never sat down and listened to the Beatles. I thought it was a good time to get the full catalog and see if the music would interest me enough to get the game.

I'm kind of glad I held off for so long and can "discover" them for the first time now when I can have some context and really be amazed by some of it. I've only really listened to Abbey Road and the first disc of the White album but damn, that first disc of White is amazing. I've also noticed that I've been hearing various Beatles songs a lot more in general after knowing it's the Beatles- in commercials, bars, etc. Now I'm just slowly going through all the albums. I should probably go in order, but whatever.

I wish they had released these albums on vinyl. That's about the only music format I buy these days.

a new winner

I was in Greenpoint today. We decided to have brunch and went to Brooklyn Label. I had taken a photo of the space for The L and noticed they served Stumptown coffee. They are really picky about who they let serve their coffee so I was interested in trying it.

The only way to test is to order a cappuccino, so I did. I have to tell you, that first sip hit me with a wave of emotions I haven't felt since 2005. I was instantly transported back to my favorite cafe of all time, in Florence, Italy called Cafe Rapphella. This cup of cappuccino tastes the most similar to what I can remember of Cafe Rapphella's. I still can't get over it. It was a really well made cappuccino and was only made better by the fact the Stumptown coffee tasted really balanced. I used just 1 sugar packet and it was the perfect amount. I don't even have to go to Joe's anymore after this. It's going to be really hard not going to Brooklyn Label every day soon to get a cappuccino. Holy shit.

how do you find the people you like?

This week's New York Times Magazine cover article is about how people around you affect you. First, I want to say, "well, duh!". Seriously, can you get more obvious than that? Yes, my peers have a huge effect on how I am. I think everyone can generally say the same.

People generally gravitate towards others with similar interest or personalities. It's called "having things in common." The article did get me thinking though. Do I have any people I regularly talk to that I have nothing in common with? And why?

I do. His name is Paul Dai. I've known him since junior high school. He lives 3 blocks away from me. We rarely hang out anymore, except under specific circumstances (it usually involves girls, or the lack of). Before we both became the persons we are today, we use to hang out. In junior high I guess we hung out because we were both Chinese. There was another article somewhere saying how in schools there is still a huge racial divide- the blacks tend to befriend other blacks, Asians with Asians, whites with whites, etc. while the teachers all say they have an integrated school (which is true in theory).

Anyway, we both did art and liked videogames. That was enough back then. But he has left that part of him in the past and have no interest in art now. He's a stock broker now. All business. Can you imagine me being friends with someone like that? And yet, here we are. He is definitely a dependable friend, but we have almost nothing in common anymore. We used to shoot pool regularly. He was teaching me. But then he got bored and we stopped.

I recently got him into biking. It's not that hard to do though. I guess at some point growing up, most people stop riding their bikes, but now you tell someone to ride one after not having rid one for a few years and they remember how fun it is right away. I really do think that is the hurdle to getting more people to ride bikes regularly again- just remind them how fun it is. So we've been doing that a lot.

I realize now that it's good to be friends with someone you have almost nothing in common with, although hard to do since you'd have little to talk about, or you'd both be disinterested in each other's passions and hobbies. That is how people become friends right? A shared, mutual appreciation of certain things.

I guess what this long post boils down to is, I want to try and met more people that I have nothing in common with to get their perspective on things, be less ignorant. I need to make some republican friends.

Grizzly Bears

Grizzly Bear played the last Jelly NYC Pool Parties show yesterday. It was fun, but they aren't exactly a high energy band to photograph. Here is a few, plus beach house. View the rest on The L Magazine's blog.


Beach House opened.







The real story of the show was Jay-Z and Beyonce coming to see Grizzly Bear. I think I'm the only person to have missed Jay-Z. He was under the sound tent. Mischa Burton was also there, but who cares about her.


Peter, me, Sandy, Ray

After the show we went to Caracas for dinner. Their service was terrible last night. Seems like they were swamped. The food took forever. I still love them, but they need to fix that shit.

Mid-summer update, life.

I know I haven't updated this blog at all in the past few months- since China in April really. But that's because I've been too busy having fun this summer. It's been the best one for a long time so far. Everything and everyone I enjoy the company of is here, there is no drama (except for a few girl problems) and we've just been having a blast.

Rosemary came back into our lives like a hurricane in late May and has added a lot of dynamic to my group of friends. It's great that my Alfred friends and my high school friends get along so well too. I've been holding out colliding those 2 worlds for years because til now but that's because 3 years ago, it was 2 different groups whose dynamics wouldn't work. That's the funny thing about NYC though. It will eat you alive if you can't handle it, and I know more than a few who have since left the city for one reason or another.

I haven't been this tight (pause) with my group of high school friends since high school I think. No one can really say why we started hanging out this much again. It just reaffirms my belief that you can't force friendships, or relationships, for that matter. At some point, everything just clicked all over again.

Here are some pictures from the Girl Talk show I shot for The L this past weekend. Go to my flickr for the rest, or the L Mag's blog.

hit the heartbreaks, baby

Adam: "I don't think he's physically sick, it's heartache."
Dapo: "Yeah, I think you're right."

None of us could sleep last night.

Like a sniper, shooting at Northside

The Hold Steady at Music Hall of Williamsburg

A few weeks ago, The L Magazine put on Northside Art and Music Festival. I shot a few shows. It was my first real time shooting live music. I think live music and wedding photography are tied as the 2 hardest types of events to cover. One has erratic lighting conditions and the need to shoot at high ISO and the latter is often has really high contrast situations. Both are hard to deal with if you don't know what you're doing.

I looked at the photos I shot over the course of Northside and can see huge improvements in my shots from the first show to the last I shot. I learned a lot about shooting shows. I am getting shots that are usable and that I can stand behind (and so can Brooklyn Vegan).

I don't enjoy doing it though. It doesn't become about listening to the music anymore. You have to pay attention to everything else but the music. I feel like a hunter stalking a deer. Camera pointed at all times, waiting for the light to change so that I can get a good shot, the musician in just the right spot and pose. Don't hesitate or you will lose the shot and end up with a awkward or blurry mess of a photo. It's all in the details. You're not just shooting the people, you're shooting everything else around them when all the conditions line up to make a good shot.



Take this shot of Bishop Allen for example. It's a bit purple for my taste. Taking a shot between the lights changing colors would have resulted in a better photo. But the band members are ok. If you look at their faces, none of them are at an awkward moment.



This photo of Darbie is decently lit. It's not red (I hate the red/purple lights).



The photos that are really red or purple are good for one thing though- turning it into a black and white photograph. This photo would not work otherwise.


The Dodos at Studio B

Overall, Northside was a great time - pretty much 4 days of binge drinking free Heineken. Can't wait til next year.