| odd jobs |
The way I make my living is kinda strange, and kinda rad. Sometimes I have to eat Ice Cream across the room from Samantha Bee, sometimes I have to turn the air conditioning on for Paul Thomas Anderson, and sometimes I have to video tape an alligator for Catherine Ledner. I’ve been working a lot for Catherine lately, in different capacities, sometimes as an assistant on set and sometimes as a documentarian and editor. I met her through my friend Bob, whose job it is to airbrush her photos to erase the most minor imperfections. Catherine’s putting out a book of her animal photos, and I’m helping her edit and shoot a behind-the-scenes type video. Here are some pictures from behind the scenes on the making-of video, and a short clip from the video (with footage shot by Becca, Catherine’s other assistant). |
Outré is the name of the new monthly party that my boyfriend, Rudy, is putting on with fellow superstar DJ Cody Wayne. The first installment of this much-anticipated event came last Saturday, and it was a veritable blast. Unlike the nights Rudy ordinarily puts on, Outré is held not in a bar or a club but in a new space for events that also serves a record label office and art gallery, Pehrspace. Each month, Cody and Rudy are having someone different redesign the gallery entirely, and this month they called upon our roommate, Mary-Ann, a geology enthusiast and art teacher. Her decorations included a forest-bed of balloons, some filled with blue LEDs, a series of crystal cave-esque stalagmites carved out of enormous chunks of Styrofoam, and elaborate silhouettes ornamenting the walls. Team Andrew performed spontaneously, and a dance performance was scheduled but failed to materialize. Overall it was a hella rad time. Come check it out next month on April 21st! Here are some pictures I took throughout the night: |
[subscribe to the podcast in iTunes] Just days before my friend Mimi defected from Los Angeles and returned to the snake pit that is New York City, I wrangled her and her friend Aleeza in to the state of the art Future Shipwreck Podcasting Studioâ„¢. With their powers combined, Mimi and Aleeza form an indefatigable duo known only as Tape Safari! Tape Safari took a unique approach to their podcast, cultivating a cavalry of mysterious thrift store cassettes and arranging them into something at once nostalgic, foreign, and delirious.
Track listing, safari secrets, and photos after the jump… continue reading |
This week has been busy, but good busy. I’ve worked a lot and I’ve been unusually productive and I’ve been watching a lot of movies and TV on DVD. I went to the New Beverly with my friend Bob for a kung fu double feature at the two-month-long Quentin Tarantino-programmed Grindhouse Film Festival. I’ve been watching Twin Peaks with Rudy (his first time) in preparation for the impending release of Season 2 on DVD. We made the trek up to CalArts for a screening of Wild Tigers I Have Known, one of the most affecting and unique films I have seen in a long time. The director, Cam Archer, did a Q&A (moderated by my former mentor– the illustrious French critic of Chinese cinema, Berenice Reynaud– who, literally, had no idea who I was) after the film. Cam holds claim to the title of being the youngest person to have participated in the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab. It was inspiring to hear such a down to earth filmmaker talk about how he got his film made. It made me realize that, even with my propensity for doing things my own way, I think way too much about making films the “right” way as opposed to how I’d be naturally inclined to. I go to a weekly poker night organized by my friend Kyle, “for talented and interesting gay men”. What that means is: no straight people, and no women. Kind of fascist, but that’s how we roll. I hosted the night for the first time on Monday, clearing out the Black Diamond living room (which was still in post-traumatic shock from our recent out-of-control crowded Pisces Party) to make room for twenty talented and interesting gay men. Wednesday I photo assisted for Bob’s boss, Catherine Ledner. She was shooting a veritable menagerie of assorted animals in synthesized domestic settings– a sloth, an alligator, a hedgehog, a miniature fox (who, in a moment of true tragedy, devoured a mouse– and fellow animal model– that the trainer was dangling above him, in a bid to make stand on his hind legs) and the two remaining mice. 
But most importantly, this week I put together my very first zine. It’s called “Green Nights Ablaze With Snow“. I wanted to create something physical and put it Out There. There’s something highly satisfying in holding an object in your hands that you created. I mean, what would I do if the Internet collapsed tomorrow? There would be no record of my existence. Rudy used to write a zine called Scutter back in the 90’s that eventually turned into a nonprofit music festival that donated college scholarships to gay teenagers. So that kind of inspired me, even if I can’t hope to be so radical or philanthropic with this simple offering of my short stories and photos. I’ve been meaning to make something like this for a long time, so I finally organized a photo shoot last weekend and spent the rest of the week going back and forth to Kinko’s putting it together. It’s three short stories and a handful of new photos that are all kind of about gay love (and shit like that). I’m going to try and get some independent book stores to sell it through consignment, but for now you can buy it directly from me (you know, if you have a couple extra bucks). It’s $5.00, including shipping. |
[subscribe to the podcast in iTunes] For Podcast #4, I recruited my friend Aaron, a man of impeccable music taste, to guest DJ. We have collaborated in the past, on a photo series called Bubbles. Here’s what he has to say about his mix…
Track listing after the jump… continue reading |
The gray roots of her hair were starting to show. “I know,” she said, following my line of vision, “I know. That’s one of the things you probably don’t remember, either. Your hair grows much quicker on this planet. The days are shorter, your average life expectancy is shorter, your hair grows faster. Our bodies compensate for the slow grind of time, here, by speeding toward the grave.” She took a drag on her herbal cigarette. Her room was so dusty. There was only one window in this long pine box above the apothecary, I could see the soft square of light moving. It was yellow there. A dozen pictures on the wall had not been looked at for a long time before I had come. continue reading |
