In the midst of all modern technology...

Science and Sons have updated a classic form of amplification. Needless to say, I want one of these. What a way to turn an ipod dock into a functioning room decoration? This sculpture could stand alone in the living room and be just as cool. The fact that it amplifies sound no matter what media device you use is great also. At $500, I'll have to keep saving for this one, though. (available for sale at Charles & Marie)

Designercize

So these are a few designs I put together for a "designercize" project put together by a designer friend of mine. They're designed to be album art for ficticious bands. I'll post the instructions below the images so you can make your own if you like. It was pretty fun, and kept me from spending my whole evening browsing deviantart as I normally do. So yeah, I'd like to hear any feedback if you've got it.



Welcome to the inagural launch of Designercize. I'm hoping to turn this into a weekly/semi-weekly/once-in-a-blue-moon thing. The goal is to create something quick within a small set of

Alright here's the deal: many have seen this floating around Facebook, but I'm taking the reins of this wild pony and turning into a force of good instead of another scummy Facebook chain letter.

Here's the drill: follow the instructions below. There's no time limit (because if there was, we'd all just go over it anyway). Seriously...if you tell yourself "this will take to long, I'll work on it more later," then you're probably working on it too much. Then, when you're done, email a copy of what you come up with, along with your name, and a link to your blog/website/twitter feed/etc. (if you so desire) to designercize [at] gmail.com. In about a week I'll make a blog post on http://strawdogdesign.com featuring some of what I've been sent (with a link back to you).

Feel free to include your outcome on your blog. I suggest also linking back to your original Wiki article/quote/image/etc. (because it's interesting). If you do, I would ask that you link here > http://tr.im/gEly (I'll update that post with a link to the finals after it wraps up).

P.S. You don't have to be a designer, and this doesn't have to be visual (I've already had a request for an aural creation...). Just have fun. Create.

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More... Read More” or > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go here > http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words (or less) of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. Seriously, 5 words or less. Make it work.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” > http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - File > New > 537 px x 513 px (If you're making an image..). Use photoshop or similar (heh...yeah right) to put it all together as an album cover.

5 - Send it to designercize [at] gmail.com. Include the image, your name, and a link to your site/blog/virb page/twitter feed/whatever.

PS - Please believe I will censor these for content and/or quality.

A Truly "Legit" Snowboarding Day

Being in the snowboard industry allows me the opportunity to test the product! This weekend my cousin Lisa and I took a day at the mountain to try out some gear for Winter 09.10. We had some fun with my trusty old Polaroid as well...

Shooting in 2009 with equipment from 1959

Ok, I know it's been a really long time since I've blogged... I have been not only too busy to blog, but too busy to shoot anything worth posting. I finally got the chance after Christmas to play with some new Christmas presents. My dad got me some super old lights that were my grandma's back in the day. They are like a combo of the two images below:

The lights look like that of the first photo, and there are four aligned on a bar like the second photo. They are very bright, and very hot. They also made a really cool vignetted lighting effect.

I got together with my friends Monica and Reina and we threw together some fun outfits and make-up and started shooting. The lights being so bright allowed us to use high shutter speeds and make some cool actions shots. My favorite is the one of Monica jumping.

We were shooting in Monica's basement, so when editing the photos, I played around with some color replacement to make the backdrop more fun.

I doubt I will get a good chance for another shoot this month, but hopefully February will be more accommodating.

Fall = Mushrooms

As much as I love summer, I definitely love fall. The only trouble is that in Portland, fall comes and goes so quickly. It practically goes from summer sunshine to rainy, which then lasts until the following June. One of the things I enjoy about fall is the mushrooms. Since my freshman year of college, I have fallen in love with mushrooms and get excited whenever I see one. It is so fun to hike around searching for mushrooms because once you get an eye for finding them, you realize they are everywhere! And there are so many different kinds that will live in the same vicinity. These little guys I spied outside Zach's house, so of course I got out my camera. They have already grown much larger than when these photos were shot. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see some more mushrooms before the rains come.

From Iceland with Love

Last night, Sigur Ros played at the Arlene Schnizter Concert Hall in Portland. I bought Zach tickets for his birthday. Let's get out the bad stuff first:

1. I had no idea there was an opening band.

2. I had no idea the opening band was named "Parachutes."

3. I figured "Parachutes" was a Sigur Ros album? I didn't really even question it.

4. I bought a Parachutes poster. Turns out.... they suck.

Good stuff:

1. Sigur Ros was amazing and captured my attention for the entire set.

2. Playing electric guitar = cool. Playing electric guitar with a bow = extremely cool. Playing electric guitar with a bow, while wearing a French Regent Jacket = AMAZING. This really put the show over the top for me. I am very biased toward French Regency fashions. Especially a punked out militia jacket. It just would not have looked as cool if he was in normal clothes.

3. The lighting and visual effects. They fit with the songs so well and was just spectacular to watch.

4. Confetti - I know I'm a nerd, but it almost had a Gladiator-esque feel when they shot confetti into the entire hall on their last song.

5. Acoustics - Seeing a show like this in a hall where the Oregon Symphony plays is not only visually appealing, but the sound was amazing and made the show ten times better.

New Room!

So I have taken up a new residence with a couple very good friends. I'm still settling in, and have a few more things to transport, but I'm here! Zach is 2 houses away, work is MUCH closer, and we pretty much hang out with our friends over here all the time anyways, so it works out super well!
Here are a few pics of my new room. It's a really old house and has very cool "nooks" and "crannies."