Monkey

A Week of Dreams in (Almost) 3 Words or Less

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:16:00 +0000

SUN – Talking decapitated head.

MON – Ants. Guilt.

TUES – Hotel. Vintage beer.

WED – Lifesize dolphin photographs. "Hibachi Squirrell."

THUR – Dog (pack). Morels. Cafeteria.

FRI – Can't remember.

SAT – Southwest tourist trap.

New Art Book Acquisitions

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:35:00 +0000

Hover over the image for more info.

Fall Colors

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Candy WTF of the Month

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000

The Chi-town Download

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:10:00 +0000

Ok, finally here's the download from my Chicago trip. All the images (except the Miller's Pub cinemagr.am – click through to the album to see it in action) shot with my trusty Mercury II CX.

Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection at the Chicago Cultural Center was a really great show. Skulls and bones and more skulls, oh my. Some really amazing work by Otto Dix, Dana Salvo and James Ensor to name but a few.

Meals taken at Moto and Xoco. Gold Coast Chicago dog at Midway Airport. Runaway favorite course at Moto was gazpacho with grape. The grapes were somehow carbonated and it included the best rabbit I've ever had. Period.

New Orleans Photo Alliance Blog: NOPA Seeking Entrants for $5000 Clarence John Laug...

noreply@blogger.com (Sesthasak Boonchai) — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:22:00 +0000

The New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) is pleased to announce its offering of its annual $5,000

Clarence John Laughlin Award to recognize and reward a fine art photographer who is creating or has completed a significant body of photographic work.

The application deadline is Friday, July 20.

The award grants one $5,000 prize annually to a photographer whose work exhibits sustained artistic excellence and creative vision.

Deborah Klochko, Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, California, will serve as this year’s juror.

The award is open to emerging and established photographers who reside in the United States.

The online application process requires a portfolio of 10-20 photographs, a written statement, a bio or CV and a $25 application fee. Only one photographer will be selected to receive the $5,000 award. Finalists will be announced on August 20 and the winner on October 1.

The Clarence John Laughlin Award was instituted by NOPA in 2010 to support the work of photographers who use the medium as a means of creative expression. It honors the life and work of Clarence John Laughlin (1905-1985), a New Orleans photographer best known for his surrealist images of the American South.

For more information, and to submit an entry for the award, please visit the NOPA website's Clarence John Laughlin Award page.

Nerdiest To-Do List Ever

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:28:00 +0000

1. Ship some spit to 23 and Me for an ancestral genetic work-up. I've become a fan of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s TV show "Finding Your Roots" and his part good old genealogical footwork, part scientific approach. By the way, that's my mom in the photo. And she would probably like me to say that this was after I was born.

2. Take a free class from a prestigious university at Coursera. I signed up for Basic Behavioral Neurology from Penn State. I'm excited. Doesn't start until July. I'm already prepping people to call me Dr. come August.

3. Build this DIY Third Hand. I'll never do it.

Does Owning Stuff Matter?

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Most of you folks know that I run a small Etsy shop, and have for five years now, selling a print occasionally. In the last year or so, however, I seem to have sold a lot less. In a way, this correlates for me with the rise of "collecting" images via things like Pinterest and Etsy's internal Favorites and Treasury boards. In a sense, if you pin it or favorite it, is it almost as good as owning it? I started wondering if anyone else was experiencing something similar.

There was an article in SAY magazine titled, Why Owning Stuff Doesn't Matter:

"What's become increasingly clear is that this generation of children is placing a higher value on the consumption experience rather than the amassing of goods. Their value is placed on the interface – the ability to access, share, discuss and move on. As this generation grows up and longs for more innocent days, physical goods will take on special meaning. The fetishization of good and lasting craftsmanship will only become more prominent."

Technology and craft exist at the end of a pendulum, and invariably swing forward, then back. Certainly tastes are in a constant push forward overall, but all opposing forces reach a peak over time at which point we always begin to desire the "other" thing. Although these days there are plenty of interesting projects using both at the same time. I put this up for discussion at work and came across some interesting responses ranging from "physical goods are dead" to "physical good will become all the more precious."

Here's a well-made made point:

"I agree with the notion that the convenience and versatility of digital "stuff" is going to continue to proliferate, then become almost invisible as a normal part of our daily life. By "invisible" I mean that the concept of whatever we're seeing, reading, interacting with will not be thought of as "digital" but just seeing, reading, doing…However, the tangible aspects of "handmade" things are really important as well. A physical item — that is "always on" and doesn't change — gives us pause to reflect in a way that temporal digital work may not. Don't count out the nostalgic feelings that physical goods can provide. We're already seeing a similar move with apps like Instagram that attempt to create a "sense of nostalgia"… but we also know it's not quite the same thing as an old photo, or piece of artwork, or a cherished gift from a friend or family member. As members of the advertising world, we can find that sweet spot where both coexist — digital work to convey both broad and very specific types of images and information, working in tandem with physical items, to make our messages memorable. – Mark Robinson

And it brought up another point about how we create our identities:

"I think a lot of the question for me hovers around how we create our identities (or whether that even matters any more…), as "stuff" – and more particularly the ownership of it – has for so long helped in that creation." – Tom Allin

And does it matter if it's stuff you actually own or stuff you aspire to own? Which leads me to a quote from Stephen Marche's article Is Facebook Making Us Lonely in the Atlantic:

"But now we are left thinking about who we are all the time, without ever really thinking about who we are."

More questions than answers here, but I'm OK with that.

Repurposed Benches

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Industrial fiberglass bins repurposed (or turned upside down) with cushion stencil as bench seating for a bar area at North Midtown Arts Center.

The Table Comes First

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:50:00 +0000

"Having made food a more fashionable object, we have ended by making eating a smaller subject. When ‘gastronomy’ was on the margins of attention it seemed big because it was an unexpected way to get at everything — the nature of hunger; the meaning of appetite; the patterns and traces of desire; tradition, in the way that recipes are passed mother to son; and history, in the way that spices mix and, in mixing, mix peoples. You could envision through the modest lens of pleasure, as through a keyhole, a whole world; and the compression and odd shape of the keyhole made the picture more dramatic. Now the door is wide open, but somehow we see less, or notice less, anyway. Betrayed by its enlargement, food becomes less intimate the more intensely it is made to matter.”

Adam Gopnik from "The Table Comes First"

New Collage

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:03:00 +0000

New collage series, "A Week of Kindness," made entirely of paper including gold medallions via a special gold leaf/embossing process. One medal for each day of the week because you know you put up with some kind of crap everyday. You know you deserve it.

Studio Project, New Years Cards

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:24:00 +0000

Happy New Year! Here are my New Year's cards for 2012. I made them in the style of a cookie fortune but with a Dorothy Parker quote. And, I carved my own number set in order to number the edition. I randomly selected each person's so that they would also function as their lucky number.

Studio Project, "Agate" Cocktail Rings

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:21:00 +0000

Latest studio project is "agate" cocktail rings cast entirely from crayons. Stylish and useful – if you're in need of jotting a note and haven't got a pen, you can use your ring.

Vintage Photography Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Found a scrapbook from Weimar-era Germany this weekend. In it were photographs from the Pressa Koln (Cologne) Exhibition of 1928. The international exhibition was a showcase for media and graphic design. One of the images is of a sculpture by Michail Plaksin and El Lissitzky done for the exhibition. I found a similar image, but mine seems to have been taken inside, and has the initials "Ka" on the front.

Sushi Themed Halloween Candy

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Found at Walgreen's.

Food From North and South

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:50:00 +0000

An interesting collection of Civil War era recipes as served recently at a tasting at a Manhattan hotel, the Roger Smith. I guess I was expecting something that seemed more spare, but Roast Rabbit on a Spit with Boston Mustard sounds pretty tasty to me.

NYC Hurriquake Week, Eat

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:57:00 +0000

OK, OK, finally to the good stuff. The pic above is from a Japanese butcher shop we passed by. First night SB and I headed off to one of my personal favorites, Russ & Daughters for a real bagel, schmear, pastrami cured salmon and sour pickles. Also, they had a delicious lemonade/beet "shrub." A shrub is supposed to be a vinegar based fruit drink, but I have to say I was surprised to find this out. I could have just eaten there all week and been happy, but of course, no. On to Jimmy's #43 for a sparkly beverage and more snacks. Among others, we had the shishito peppers – a big bowl, blistered and dusted with salt.

Next, off to Kajitsu, for a kaiseki-style 8-course (our menu above) Japanese dinner. Here's the twist – they "serve Shojin cuisine, an ancient Japanese cuisine developed in Zen Buddhist monasteries. Following the Buddhist principle of not taking life, Shojin cuisine does not use meat or fish." But they do use something called a finger lime which is an Aboriginal Australian fruit. Can I say I did not miss meat? Do you believe me? Would you believe me if I told you the price is really way less than you think? Oh yeah, and they have a couple Michelin stars.

OK, now for the meat course. Porchetta is a small joint with just a few stools and counter. That means there's more room for the giant ovens to cook tender pork with a cracklin outer shell. Have it on a sandwich or get it on a plate with beans and greens. Either way, it doesn't need much in the way of extraneous sauces or crap like that. Here's a little history of this traditional Italian street food. We cap off the meal with some ice cream from Van Leeuwen.

Special shout out to Ground Support who provided me my morning fuel.

NYC Hurriquake Week, Shop

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:07:00 +0000

So, I was working in NYC last week, surviving the earthquake and flying out just before hurricane Irene. But there was still plenty of time for fun. I'm divvying things up this time, shop first, eat second, because I'm still digesting.

My new favorite store is Kiosk – the entrance pictured above. It's a wonderfully curated selection of items from around the world. Almost as if I picked them out myself – everything from German nun tonic to Japanese powder coated steel toolboxes. I picked up a Kaweco Sport Pen as my expandable Rotring finally fell apart.

To go with my pen, SB picked up a Whitelines notebook for me at Sam Flax. White grid lines (or ruled lines) on a light gray paper instead of dark lines on white. Genius!

For some reason, I had never been to the Strand bookstore – "18 miles of books." The entire second floor is the art section. I picked up Luc Sante's Folk Photography: The American Real Photo Postcard 1905-1930. Now that I know they have a website, I might have to pick up the other books I put down in the store that day.

Needing a friendly neighborhood drug store, I wandered into Thompson Chemists just down the street from my hotel where I was able to find both generic Claritin and Marvis toothpaste.

Lastly, a great store called Love, Adorned that carries beautiful handmade items – especially jewelry. And they had a shoe-maker in-residence making custom moccasins.

Dirt Track Date

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:28:00 +0000

Here's what the folks at the dirt track have figured out. Instead of making 6 trips back and forth to the concession stand for beer, these folks fix you up with a sort of temporary cooler – plastic sack, ice and as many beers as you want. And, yes, Mr. Loaf went to the gun show and dirt track in the same day.

Ogden Museum Install.

noreply@blogger.com (Sesthasak Boonchai) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:29:00 +0000

NOLA Food/Art Mashup

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:41:00 +0000

The image above is "Flaming Watermelon Ship" by Floyd Shaman. The Ogden Museum kicked off it's new season with the opening of several shows, one being Self-Taught, Outsider and Visionary Art from the Collection of Alexa Kleinbard and Jim Roche. Of which the ship is a part. Also on tap was Mississippi Photographs, 1860s-Present featuring friend and Monkey contributor Seth Boonchai. And I ended up having a camera conversation on the rooftop with Birney Imes and his daughter – he has his Whispering Pines photographs up now also at the Ogden.

That was the catalyst for the trip, but of course we had to eat. So, we start off with an incredible lunch at the Green Goddess where we discover Timanoix, a washed-rind cheese made at the Abbey of Timadeuc in the Brittany region of France. And let's face it, monks know how to do these things. We were tipped off that St. James Cheese Company supplied it locally. Unfortunately, they're closed on Sundays in August, but they ship. Or, forget running liquor across state lines, I'll bring a cooler and run cheese.

We then took a short break from eating and went to Euclid Records. I found a few things to pick up, including Cameo's Word Up!. Interestingly, in the credits, Jean Paul Gaultier did their wacky outfits and Paula Scher designed the album.

Dinner was had at a Mano, and I can now say I've had some good Italian food. We had a large table of 8 and they offered us the Chef's tasting menu served family style. It won by unanimous decision, and a good decision it was. It is more food than you can ever hope to eat, but we gave it our all. I have to confess that I was pretty much all washed up by the time the Secondi came out. Have a Chinotto cocktail while you're there.

Thinking we may never be hungry again, but of course being wrong, the next day we had lunch at Middendorf's. I've heard about it for years, and now understand the pull of the "thin" fried fish. Cheers to a light dinner and the week ahead.

Hot Dog Wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:49:00 +0000

1. NO BRAINER
Dog House, Flowood Way ass out in Castlewoods, but I'll make the trip anyway ASAP. As in tomorrow.

2. NEXT TIME I'M THERE
Dat Dog, New Orleans Did you see the photo? It looks like the happiest place on earth.

3. TRAIN RIDE
Hot Doug's, Chicago OK, so this is on everybody's list but it's "The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium." Need I say more.

Snap Dragon

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 21:31:00 +0000

From MISC FOR BLOG

Just back from an estate sale where I picked up a 1944 edition of "New Orleans Recipes" by Mary Moore Bremer who was from Waveland, MS. Lots of creole recipes that sound pretty good in there along with some obscure sounding things like "Crab Chops," "Dimples," a recipe for tomato ketchup purported to be "over 100 years old," and lastly, why not, "Chop Suey." But in the drinks section, something odd caught my eye – Snap Dragon.

From MISC FOR BLOG

But apparently this was a longstanding Christmas tradition from the 16th - 19th centuries. It died out because, well, you could get burned and safety and all that crap. So, here's a more useful drink recipe from the book:

ROCK AND RYE (Old Recipe) Pour into whiskey glass one teaspoon pure rock-candy syrup; add a small bar spoon and allow guest to help himself to the whiskey – if you think it advisable.

Happiness Aids Digestion

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 20:59:00 +0000

From Design Reference

Bud's Broiler

noreply@blogger.com (monkey) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:48:00 +0000

There's no excuse for eating at a fast food chain in New Orleans because there's Bud's Broiler serving up char broiled burgers 24 hours in a row. Saved my life this weekend.

And while you're there, check out the Birney Imes show at the Ogden Museum – portraits that are part of his personal work.