Berlin Photos

Here are some photos that I feel describe my experiences in Berlin. They embody the urban landscape: design mixing with rebellion, creativity mixing with urban decay, and new being born out of old. For those that have been to Berlin, these photographs were primarily shot in the Kreuzberg area. I'll save the Berlin Wall photos for another blog.

Hope you like them, please let me know what you think.

Love.

-Rusty

Click Photo to Enlarge

Jose Gonzalez

A couple years ago while living in Cali, I came across this stunning Sony commercial. It was this moment that I was introduced to Jose Gonzalez. I really didn't follow up and buy any of his albums, but now I'm getting the chance to catch up by checking out his concert at the Fox next Friday.

From my listens so far, it seems like mellow acoustic indie music in the vein of kings of convenience. He recently won a Swedish grammy, but is a native of Argentina. HERE IS A LINK to his new album, Our Nature. And below is the description from iTunes.

THE JACKET LIVES

For all you My Morning Jacket fans out there, 

check out this show from this past weekend at 

South by Southwest. 

It features some new tunes, 

and the sound quality is pretty good.

HERE'S THE LINK

Wait till 4 mins into the first song

 and the dueling guitars come out! 

And then the second song comes

 and it's all over with "Off the Record".

I really wish I had the pic of me and 

Jim James from Bonnaroo '05, 

but who knows where it is... 

Anyway, go see these guys in concert. 

Best American Rock & Roll Band. 

Wilco gives them a run though.

Can't wait for the new album in June!

griffin house new music video!

Check this out! It's a great video for his song "I Remember".  

This is actually griff's grandfather... enjoy.

2008 Summer Olympics

I would like to bring attention to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing… I’m sure you’ve heard this is the location for the summer games.

Not only have some athletes pulled out because of the incredibly high level of air pollution, see here, but China is one of the world’s leading nations in human rights abuses. They also are feeding the crisis in Darfur, enough that the Creative Director of the Olympics (Steven Spielberg) has pulled out of his position (see here).

I think this years Olympics, instead of serving equality, serve to point out the gross inequalities and human rights abuses in China. 

On an environmental scale, China is also one of the worst polluters in the world, so much that Beijing is banning cars and factories weeks around the Olympics so the athletes can breathe easier. I recently read an article that asked some Chinese college students what they noticed after being in America for a couple days. Their remark? “The sky is so blue!” My point exactly.

So, when watching the Olympics this summer, consider that this country is one of the most oppressive in the world and journalists and individuals are not free to speak their mind without fear of retribution. The government also blocks websites that portray all of the above things, because they won’t let their people see open and free information that paints China in a negative light.

Check out this survey from the United States State Department: HERE.

Boycott it, or tell your friends, or root for America to crush the Chinese and speak out after they win their Gold... whatever... just be aware.

Obama throws some sarcasm Hillary's way

Thank God he spoke up about all this nonsense she's been talking about with him taking a VP slot under her. Hillary is out of her mind with spin and manipulation, how anyone could vote for her is beyond me. 

From Ben Smith's Blog:

My colleague Carrie Budoff Brown e-mails from Columbus, Miss., with Obama's response to the Clintons' flotation of the notion that he could be her veep: scorn.

COLUMBUS, Miss -- Sen. Barack Obama delivered an animated rebuke today of suggestions from the Clintons in recent days that he could run as her vice president.

“Now first of all with all due respect, with all due respect," he said here during a town hall meeting. "I won twice as many states as Sen. Clinton. I won more of the popular vote than Sen. Clinton. I have more delegates than Sen. Clinton. So I don’t’ know how someone in second place can offer the vice presidency to someone in first place. If I was in second place I could understand but I am in first place right now.

He referenced comments from Bill Clinton in 1992 that his “most important criteria” for vice president was that person must be ready to be commander in chief.

“They have been spending the last two or three weeks” arguing that he is not ready to be commander in chief, Obama said.“I don’t understand. If I am not ready, how is it that you think I should be such a great vice president?” Obama asked the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation during his defense.

“I don’t understand.”“You can’t say he is not ready on day one, then you want him to be your vice president,” Obama continued. “I just want everybody to absolutely clear: I am not running for vice president. I am running to be president of the United States of America.”

Obama was responding to comments from Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson on a conference call earlier today, in which he suggested that Obama could pass the "threshold" and become commander in chief material this summer.

Food Reviews

Recent reviews by Rustafarian -.

What's this?

I recently joined the yelp.com community. It's a rad social networking / review site that is user driven. It focuses on restaurants and bars but also includes other types of businesses... so if you need to find out what people think of a pub, a restaurant you've driven by a thousand times, or something else... just search for it on yelp!

Here is my review page, check it out for what I've been visiting recently:

http://rustafari.yelp.com/

If you find my review useful, give me a rating!

This Holiday Life

here are some sample shots from our semi-impromptu photoshoot. click to enlarge.

Check out This Holiday Life here... 

ghouse sample...

here's one from the photo shoot last week...

-rusty

Daniel Lanois at Exit/In: One of the Top 5 Concerts of My Life

Here is a review I wrote on the night of May 14th, 2003. This was one of the best concerts I have ever seen, maybe the most creative musical moment of my lifetime. Funny thing is that this got passed around my office at CAA, and one of the agents insisted I show Billy Bob Thornton when he was in the office that day. So, yes, I talked to Billy Bob about Daniel Lanois and gave him the review, ha.

Above is video from a live radio recording at KCRW in 2003. Not my concert, but still great.

Review of Daniel Lanois - 5/14/03 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN
-rusty

There are some moments in our lives, musical or not, that have some sort of transcendence. It's almost as if there's some kind of mystery in the air that we can feel and encounter, but it alludes to something much bigger than us. Sometimes these moments are encountered outside wading in a river fly-fishing and becoming enveloped in the outdoors, sometimes these moments are encountered with the best of friends, and sometimes we are lucky enough to experience music in such a way that it becomes a full-on assault on all of our senses. It's when our whole spirit opens and layers upon layers of sound are bypassing the ears and going straight to the heart, straight to the soul. It's almost as if it was any stronger, we might pass out from an experiential overload. Ha, now that would be interesting. But the experience was so intense...

Church, I felt like I was at church. Not church as in sing some hymns, hear a sermon, and meddle in religious banter. I mean church as in the Spirit was in the room. There was a feeling that something magical was happening and a concentration on what was happening in the moment... not thinking about tomorrow's work schedule, and not a thought of yesterday's parking ticket. Just the moment, and last night at the Daniel Lanois show, I'm proud to have experienced something bigger than just hearing songs.

Musically, the show was incredible. Lanois pulled luscious tones out of his vintage Gibson guitars. Unlike most experimental guitarists who rely on pedals to constantly tweak and manipulate, Lanois had the tone set where he wanted it and instead of playing with his pedal board, he made the music come out of his fingers. Lanois constantly was changing the pickup settings on his guitar, constantly entwining his pickles fingers with the strings, slamming his open hand energetically across the strings, and essentially doing whatever he could with his body to create the most incredible sonic soundscapes.

This, mixed with his backing band, Mother Superior, was more than enough to make most industry types walk away from the show in complete shell shock. His songs were brilliant, covering old material such as The Maker to most of the new tunes on his latest record, Shine. I felt as if I was in on a historic show, as if I was watching Buffalo Springfield with Neil Young and Steven Stills, or sitting in on a Cream set in the late 60's. And to top things off, Daniel and his band didn't neglect his instrument of his choice since the age of nine, the pedal steel guitar. The richness of the atmospheric and haunting slide ricocheted through Exit/In and hauntingly brought the crowd to an even greater awareness. Nashville might be the home of the pedal steel, but somehow Lanois resurrected it to life. He then capped the night off with the instrument and performed a hymn that he has been writing recently.

With the vocals absent and the story being told on the Nashville-made instrument, it was a timeless and stunning conclusion to the night and a further emphasis on the spiritual nature of his music.

Whatever it was, there was something in the air last night. It was in the music, the vibe, the people, the air. It was just one of those magical moments, and I'm proud to add it to my life experience.

New Art Photos Designs...

Hey guys,

Since being back from Europe, I've been really busy working on several projects. I have yet to get to the Europe photos, but here's what has been keeping me busy:

1. Visual art Book and large giclee prints of photos I took of the Berlin Wall, juxtaposed with iconic images of the time... like photos and east german propaganda. I'm about 50% complete, so be on the lookout for this in the next month. I'll post some samples when finished, and I'll be selling the books, as well as Giclee art prints (28" x 20") on fine art paper or canvas. The images are looking awesome. They're extremely detailed and you see different perspectives each time you take a peak.

2. Just finished 2 photoshoots, one with Griffin House, and another small one with Gregory Alan Isakov. Hopefully Gregory and I will shoot some more in the next couple weeks. Check out one of the photos of Gregory here. Above is one of Griffin and I playing around on the set.

3. I also have a photo/design portfolio to complete... and trying to throw a website together in the next couple months. And I have a full time job... can someone please add about 10 hours to each day? Please!

Cheers!

The Mountain Sun: Boulder's Best

Being back in the states has given me a new appreciation for the things of Boulder, especially one of my favorite local breweries: The Mountain Sun.

The Mountain Sun is the quintessential Boulder establishment. It has all things heady, and provides the liberal hippie town of Boulder with a beating heart. With over 20 Mountain Sun brewed taps, this is beer paradise. Throw in the best bleu-cheese bacon burger, dreadlocks, facial hair, and the spirit of the Grateful Dead and their jamband brethren... and voila, you have "The Sun". February happens to be Stout Month, so The Sun has over 10 stouts on tap, including their own 8 beers and several guest taps from places like Young's (England) and Dogfishhead (Delaware). My favorite stouts include the Coconut Cream Stout, The Korova Cream Stout (or the tangerine zest version!), Old School Stout, The Trickster Stout (think IPA meets Stout), The Stoked Oak, The Ladies Man (my friend Brady's homebrew winner).... shoot, they are all my favorites! Not to mention all the other beers including my favorite hoppy beer of all time, the FYIPA. FY does not stand for "For Your", they abbreviated another saying to decribe how amazing this beer tastes. Like I said, this is Beer Heaven.

The employees are also a wonderful group of free-spirited people... they share tables, share cooking responsibilities, share tables, and share beers during the busy hours. I have come up with 3 requirements that one must have to work here, in no particular order... only one needs to be met, but all three are preferable:

1. Dreadlocks. Either you have them, or have had them at one time in your life. Dreadlocked Rastas for sure.
2. Hops. You must have an insatiable thirst for Hops! The IPA is king here.
3. Stash. You must have a nice little stash of "herb", or at least some at home awaiting your arrival.

I don't think most employees have a problem meeting one of these requirements, and for this we are grateful because if this were not the case, it would not be the Mountain Sun.

Here are a couple photos of one of my favorite hippie Boulder places:

"Jerry" chillin from the rafters

Best nachos in Boulder, and of course the best quesadillas...

When you sell 18 million pints in 3 hours, you must wash them quickly.

Support your local brewery... err, bartender.

Mikey, one of my favorite people at the Sun, and all the amazing selection behind him

The Guest Tap: Young's Double Chocolate Stout on Nitrogen Tap

Now, I have an M.A. in Beer (aka, I've lived in Boulder for 2 years) and I have also traveled through Europe on different occasions and tasted some of the best beers the old world has to offer. Given that, I am willing to issue a challenge to any city in the world... pick the best of every beer genre (IPA, Stout, Porter, Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, Amber Ale, Etc...) and compare those to Boulder's selections. With the Mountain Sun, Avery Beer, Boulder Beer, Twisted Pine, Oskar Blues, B.J's, Walnut and other breweries... I don't think any city in the world can touch Boulder, which is why I love this place.

Cheers to that!
-RUSTAFARI