Wednesday, April 29, 2009

City City Lookin' Good!



Greg Hebard, who I've mentioned before, Just got a D90, one of those mad-wiked Digital SLR's that records video. This is his first timelapse sequence, and I gotta say he makes SLC look good!

Love it. Those quick pans are looking great, really fun and snappy, they're way hard to do. I'm picking up a more 'street' version of this type of camera tomorrow, can't wait to see what it can do! Read More......

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Love of Bikes.

Saturday we raced through the rain in the Pastry Alleycat, hustling up the huge hills of Salt Lake gathering ingredients to chocolate chip cookies and taking shots along the way. The downhill was terrifying, sliding in front of busses with no intention to stop, finishing the race at Johnny's and puking in the gutter for all to see (what, that part was just me?! weird...)

Next day, to celebrate my thesis completion, Chris suggests we wake up at 7, drive to Moab, bike the 36 mile Porcupine Rim trail, and drive back home. I say OK. 15 miles of climbing on a singlespeed followed by some of the most intensely technical trails I've ever seen, bone-jarring downhills for adrenaline madness. I'm smiling the whole way, thinking of touring this summer, the day before, and what's to come. Loving the aches and the bruises and increasing skill and stamina. Slept soundly, settling like dust.

Monday is work, biking sandwich orders at double speed, saving late orders that the cars can't get to, not feeling tired after the weekend of intense riding, netting $96 dollars in tips.

I'll never stop. Read More......

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Race in the Rain tonite!



Come killit! Read More......

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I've Started a New Hobby!

We'll see where it takes me...
Read More......

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

This one's for Chris

From BikesnobNYC today, some beautiful stuff:


I see stuff almost this cool (*edit, dude just did a bunnyhop tailwhip, that's impossible, and I've never seen anything that cool) every day in my back yard. Let's make a video, buddy! Read More......

Monday, April 20, 2009

Getting cool stuff is tantamount to happiness!

So as you know, I'm a big dork. As you didn't know, I've decided to get a Velo City Backpack. The two are related, because Nathan from Velo City encourages his customers to customize every stitch, and when it comes to customization, I have a weakness. I obsess over things. Observe:

Velo City Example Bag (Look Familiar?)


Handcrafted sketch created by my art minions (me).


ENDLESS COLOR COMBINATIONS!










I've made 5 so far, but I assure you the only thing holding me back is the fact I have to graduate in the next 2 weeks. I will upload more color combos soon, it is your job to vote on the best one or suggest a better combination in the meantime. It's the only way I'll ever be happy. A list of Velo City's colors appears here. So awesome.

Nathan and I have talked about customizing the bag to hold camera inserts modularly, so I can take my SLR everywhere and not worry about it dying, I'll keep you posted on that, too. Read More......

Friday, April 17, 2009

Struttin your stuff: intellectually and phyiscally.

What follows is a story of bike fashion, wherein our hero, Davey, goes from being a total anti-consumerist prick to being a model, twice. Starting tonight:



So I'm a total hater sometimes.

Much like the bikesnob, I get all pissed off when I see a commercial interest co-opting something that is simple, individualized, and accessable, like biking. As a result I often react like a traumatized victim experiencing a flashback whenever some new product 'drops' that is supposedly designed for bikers.

You can imagine my reaction when Krista approached me about being a model for a 'bike fashion stroll' in May. "Stupid." I thought. I exchanged a lengthy email flurry with Tara,
who is organizing the event, starting with one more or less like this:

Hi Tara,
Very cool you've got this all up and running. I'm really glad this event is happening, and I think it'll do great things for cycling in Salt Lake, but I not yet sure if I'll participate. I don't really see a reflection of my attitudes towards cycling clothes embodied in any of the sponsors. I don't mean to preach anything, but I do ride a lot and thought I'd share my perspective and see how it ties into your perspective and your show.

I appreciate things that are durable, functional, and not tied up with a lot of accessorizing. I think as a general rule people complicate cycling. I'm not going to carry around something to wrap around my leg to keep my pants from getting caught in the chain, I'll roll them up instead. And roll them down when I get off the bike. But things needn't be ugly, either, they just need to work. For ages.

Outlier does a pretty good job, I think, of combining style and cycling-specific functionality:

and maybe with a little bit of Chrome's no-nonsense durability thrown in, though they're a little 'urban ninja.'

At about this point in my windbagging I started actually using my brain and thinking about it. I had decided in my mind that this event wasn't going to promote my values, but there was really no indication that it wouldn't. I had just made it up based on past prejudice. So I changed my tone a bit, and told her about Velo City Bags and mentioned that the only cool sponsor was Saturday Cycles.

Amazingly, Tara not only responded to my rant, but she informed me that she was doing all this work without charging the vendors, simply to promote cycling in Utah and show the different clothing options out there. So if I'm into durable, functional things like waterproof bags and indestructible pants I can show them off, all on Saturday Cycle's bike. I'm in.

So then of course the next day Esther calls me in a panic. "All my guy models bailed!" Apparently she's behind Velo City's appearance at tonight's gallery stroll. So now I'm repping their bags, twice. Money where my mouth is, I guess...

Come out to either of these bourgeois fashion events and tell me how much I've sold out :) You'll enjoy yourself, I promise. Tara's got a website up for the Cycle Style Show, I'll post more about it as it comes up. Tonight the bikers should be on at 7 pm. Read More......

Concerning Thursdays and Perfection.







That is all.


These and many more on Ryan's Photostream. Read More......

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Short notice!



My senior thesis film "A Slingshot Out of the Valley” will be shown as part of the Annual Student Exhibition opening tonight at 5:00 to to 5:30 PM.


Come check it out in Room 158 of the Art Building on campus. The student show also looks pretty cool, and there might be treats!

If you can't make it, no biggie, I prefer the film to be watched on Youtube at your own pace. Read More......

Saturday, April 11, 2009

In awe of human madness...

A thousand things I have to do today. Still I spent an hour reading this article Al sent me and thinking about it:

The Dark Side of Dubai

Dubai has been a fascination of mine for years, from its simulated histories to its booming excesses, but this article flat-out destroys me. The portrait the writer produces of the city-state is nothing short of terrifying in the prospects it reflects for humanity. Read this article. Tell me what you think. I'm in awe... impressed and afraid.

Some amazing pictures to augment the article here:




Editorial and subjective though he may be, Johann Hari is one hell of a journalist. This story seems like a life's work to me, I'd love to be able to process the enormity of any place as well as he does, even with a monster like this. I love how he ties the Dubai back to how we run our globalized economy as a whole, just hyper-condensed into one place. Read More......

Epic Flat Tire

Meaningless Spectacle.
Read More......

Monday, April 6, 2009

Bike News

Hey hey hey.... 2 things really quick. First:



Yeah! Should be fun. and email 'em at pastryraceslc@gmail.com if you wanna help out. and check it out... judging in men's, women's, and people in overalls! Cool! Speaking of women...

Esther MeroƱo of the snarky sexy squad has started her self-syndicated snazzy sonorus cycling site, the Salt City Saddle Sisters!

So far it's the talking post for her and her lovely sister, but they want you (girls) to join in the madness and get this here bike community some estrogen. So check it out! Read More......

Sunday, April 5, 2009

CocoRosie



After about a month of watching this video on Casey's Blog and having the song stuck in my head I decided to snag it. I love everything about this video, the french, the song.... I totally dig CocoRosie's live presentation here, the guy's endless beatboxing, the sister's outfits and how they match their singing style, so cool. CocoRosie's Wikipedia page is quite the read, by the by. They appear to be Ur-UR-UR-hipsters. I mean freakin' cream of the crop.

Incidentally, Casey is in Europe right now and refuses to send me stories about all the hot French girls he's hanging out with.

Even more incedentally, Jay's writing about werewolves in a screenplay for Al's screenwriting class, being taught at Nobrow every monday. Independent learning is the coolest. Read More......

Friday, April 3, 2009

Jann Haworth



It is impossible to do anything concise concerning Jann Haworth. From the 60's to her 60's, she's been actively making art her whole life, and her simultaneous roles as artist, teacher, community builder, mother, hellraiser, and trickster make her quite the act to summarize. I had the unenviable task of taking all the great things she said over an hour interview and pairing them down to a 7 minute clip.

I sat down with Jann to talk about her current art, her background in the pop movement, and her relationship to Salt Lake City and Sundance, where she currently lives. Jann has only a tiny local market despite being one of the giants of 20th century art, but her status as a historical figure allows her to straddle the art world and work in Salt Lake while exhibiting in Paris and London. She has the advantages of a global artist but connects her passions with the community, helping to initiate local art projects like The SLC Pepper Mural and the 337 Project.

This is an excerpt from my senior thesis, Slingshot Out of the Valley

Check out more of Jann's Work on her website. Read More......

Cein Watson



Cein Watson is a knockout of an artist. I first saw his stuff in Disorderly House last summer, back when they were doing a different installation piece each month rotating on Gallery Stroll. He had covered their entire back wall in Sharpie, making a giant tessellated structure that looked like a robot's nervous system.

He is a printmaker, painter, and illustrator based out of Salt Lake. Cein Watson moved here from the east coast, but his heady academic influences and complex pieces make his work difficult to palate in Salt Lake, he has trouble finding a market here even though his work is astonishing and immersed in theory. He expands upon the ease with which you can afford to pursue your passions in Salt Lake because the community is supportive and laid back, as well as how he wants to tell early 20th century scholar and critic Walter Benjamin to 'Go fuck himself.'

This interview is an excerpt of my senior thesis, Slingshot Out the Valley

Check out Cein's wonderfully unnavigable website and his studio's blog. Read More......

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