Yellow on the Inside

Coachella

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:02:00 +0000

Coachella is coming up this weekend. How sad I am to not be going.

Some of my most memorable music experiences were at Coachella:
• Jeff Tweedy singing from Jesus Etc. "...Everyone is a setting Sun" while the sun was setting

• Probably the best DJ set EVER from DJ ZTrip

• Probably the other best DJ set EVER from Daft Punk

• Wandering in the desert heat, passing out in the Lounge Tent

• Hearing Kanye giving all us white folks (or Asian white folks) permission to say the N-word

• Discovering countless other great acts, art, and people

When I'm Feeling Low...

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Two favorite videos, from one of my favorite DJ duos, Lemon Jelly:

Graphic Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:05:00 +0000

Perfect Day

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:54:00 +0000

Once in a great while, life hands you one of those days... perfect weather, beautiful friends, lovely times...

Fruitvale Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:35:00 +0000

There are four bridges connecting Alameda to other parts of the East Bay. I'm in love with all of them.

You can't see them, but there were a bunch of fishermen casting off the dock below the bridge. Apparently, the fish in the Alameda Channel are edible. Who knew?

Paso Robles Wine Country

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Another Bay Area Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:06:00 +0000

I think watching the sun set over the Pacific is neat. There's something cool about being practically one of the last people in mainland America to see the sun for the day.

Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:52:00 +0000

Loving this:

... for its shot of the kewt kitty kat at the start
... for its washed out retro 70's era photography
... for its 'how the hell did he do that' intrigue
... for its inside-baseball references to really old movies, that I never would have figured out, had I not gone here
... for its cheery, happy London atmosphere
... for the awesome doggie at the end!

Plus... it's freakin' Goldfrapp, for crying out loud.

Interactivity Takes to the Streets

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:15:00 +0000

(photo credit: Damon Castroviejo, via Flickr)

I don't know if this campaign is 'seeded' in other cities, but for some reason the SF Bay Area seems to be Media Market Number One for the Forgetting Sarah Marshall 'viral' campaign - an UBER ANNOYING attempt to make me think that there's something clever coming to a theater near me, via slightly misogynistic billboards with scrawled missives towards the poor character of the movie's title (real-life Sarah Marshalls, apparently, totally disregarded).

/Film.com, while misguidedly calling the campaign 'brilliant', has the scoop on the actually brilliant backlash - someone out there is as annoyed as I am.

It got me to wondering, has today's digital age - enabling anyone to comment on the commentary in virtual time - influenced our offline behavior? Street graffiti in reaction to its environment is, of course, nothing new (see Banksy, et al.), but lately, I've been noticing a lot more subversive detournement and offline comments on the commentary...

(via Wooster Collective)

(via Wired)

I'm a sucker...

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:20:00 +0000

... for marketing. As an advertising professional, I should be savvy to blatant attempts by marketers to win my loyalty - the obvious faux-cool facebook friend-ing requests, the free schwag given out at Sundance, the 'by invitation only' parties thrown at Coachella (which, when you get there, are packed to the gills). Anyone with half a brain in our cynical 21st century recognizes marketing for what it is: a shallow attempt to get something without giving too much in return (great brands, like Apple, excepted).

But as my friends can attest, I'm pretty shallow myself. So when an invite for the "Tanqueray Style Sessions: An Evening of Art, Fashion, and Music" landed in my inbox - well of course, I accepted, went, and will now probably become a loyal Tanqueray drinker. I have to admit, a Tanqueray No. 10 martini is pretty damn good, even when it's served in a cheap plastic cup.

Plus my friend Terry got to meet Tony Sinclair - I'm not sure why that's a big deal, but apparently, according to Terry, it is.

Great Photographers: August Sander

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:42:00 +0000

Ovation TV (an arts channel on DirecTV - feels like the old Bravo, and YAY for that) did a week long special on photography. Sadly, I stumbled on it yesterday - the last day - but luckily was able to tivo all 6 episodes of the documentary "The Genius of Photography."

For actual photography students and professionals, the doc may feel rudimentary, but for amateurs and newbies like myself, it's a great backgrounder for where photography came from, where it is today, and where it's headed.

I'm inspired to catalog some of the great photographers featured in the doc, and hopefully continue sharing great photographers I discover in the future.

Best known for his influential (and banned/burned by the Nazi's) book Face of Our Time and his definitive collection People of the Twentieth Century, August Sander is considered the father of modern portrait photography. His unerring eye caught faces of all types, and he perfectly captured each subject's 'human-ness' - that which made them frail, flawed, noble, and real. His photos show a depth of feeling and present in complete stark reality how every detail makes a person an individual.

Sander also highlights for me the usefulness of photography in typology. Though cataloguing and recording people can have evil intent (as with the aforementioned Nazi's, who objected to Sander's photographs on the grounds that the subjects did not represent the Aryan ideal), photography allows us to access, see and understand groups of people at a macro level. The digitalization of photography has especially democratized the discipline - for example, see here (a very stylish typologist), here (a communal style typology), and here (an urban typology).

sourced: Wiki, Getty

A Favorite

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:05:00 +0000

One of my favorite videos of all time, made for Modest Mouse's video contest. Shot entirely with (3000+) digital still images.

Finally bought my own tripod, so maybe i'll try this at some point.

Bay Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:27:00 +0000

The whole day out, one (semi) good picture...

My Etsy Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Helping my mom drum up interest in her Etsy store:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5653104

She handcrafts beautiful kimonos, quilted wall hangings, jewelry and other crafts, all inspired by her Asian heritage.

Desolation

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:14:00 +0000

Dolores Park Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:13:00 +0000

Abandoned Alameda

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:05:00 +0000

A Beautiful Day in Sonoma

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Traveling

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:24:00 +0000

A Taste of Tokyo... in downtown Berkeley

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:43:00 +0000

Another (cliched?) View

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:31:00 +0000

In Rest

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 04:32:00 +0000

Jailbird

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 07:16:00 +0000

Sailing

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 07:13:00 +0000

Sun Spots

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Phin) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 06:54:00 +0000