Friday, December 25, 2009

Image of the Day

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Photography by Kyle Johnson, from a new series of portraits of residents at the Morrison Hotel in Pioneer Square, Seattle. Click here for more images and info.

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

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Inez: "What the hell is Christmas?!"
Jeans: "More food for everyone, I says."

Records I Own Only For the Cover

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Christmas edition, what. I love the color circles over the black and white photo, and the type is kind of festive too. The music is played solo by the "bell master of Princeton University." Could use some drums or mushrooms.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Image of the Day

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Noted without comment

Switch It On

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When he's off duty, Santa is a freaky moog weirdo freak. Don't look into his eyes.
Sy Mann Tijuana Christmas mp3
Sy Mann Jingle Bells mp3

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Move over, Bacon - Here Comes Something Leaner

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This past summer, my parents were adopted by a kitten, Gus. (Her name is short for Augusta, which references the month she made her appearance – my mom is one for clever names.) Gus just showed up out of nowhere at the cabin one day when my parents were having a beer on the porch, all beat up like she'd been in scrape with some other animal (cat? dog? coyote?). She's all healed up now and has become the Cabin Cat.



Gus clearly knows how to earn her keep: in her first couple of weeks she killed one mouse and a chipmunk (eating all of the latter and leaving only the tail behind to demonstrate her prowess to ol' Art and Toni). She's as cute in person as in the photos – super sweet and affectionate (as long as you're not a rodent, that is), and with a little meow that sounds more like a squeak or a chirp than something a cat should say. She likes to be scratched on the belly and suffers attention in just about every form.



Anyway, my parents attempted to find Gus's original owner with no success, and so I expect that catching up with her will become an enjoyable part of our future visits to Idaho. (Don't worry, Jeans, you're still top cat here at Pacific Standard...but we all have to put up with a little ribbing from time to time, don't we?)
...

Related – A few photos from the rest of the September trip to Idaho (it feels like a lifetime ago):


The weather was beautiful, as it often is there in the early fall.




Some deer came to enjoy the apples that had fallen from the tree 
near the cabin. You can't really see it, 
but one of them was starting to get antlers.


A few fall colors were starting to appear...



...mostly, though, everything was muted by that early fall haze. 
There is something really peaceful to me about 
the washed-out colors that time of year.


Looking toward the pond from the living room...


...and looking back.


The view out the back bedroom window toward the Old Forest.


The old farmhouse looks like a very small part of the new. 





Some of the fall harvest: tomatoes, onions, and apples.
 


Headed west toward home.

Image of the Day

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Carmen Herrera (Untitled), 1950. Herrera has been painting for over sixty years; she sold her first painting five years ago at the age of 89 and collectors have taken great interest in her work. A slideshow and article about the Cuban-born painter is at nytimes.com.

Obscure Sunshine

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An odd little snippet from London-based producer Arch-M, via Naturalismo (who also posted a rare unreleased Beach Boys instrumental – click that link). More Arch-M info and downloads at ccaavveerrnn.

More Obscure Sunshine

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For whatever reason, the Arch-M video I posted above reminded me of the video for Triumph of Lethargy's "Sincerely, L. Cohen," which I used to watch in Brooklyn when we were thinking about moving back to Seattle.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Image of the Day

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Postcard photo by Max R. Jensen via vintageseattle.org

Don't Wake Me, I Plan on Sleeping In

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Lanvin Spring 2010. style.com

Hello? This is she.... Alber! รงa va? ....Yes, yes, of course I would LOVE to wear your incredible dress to the party this New Year's. It's perfect! The necklace aussi? AND the shoes? You're too much! Drinks are on me next time I'm in town!

A girl can dream, can't she?

...

See the whole show here:


Courtesy Elle magazine

Talk Amongst the Trees

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Eirik Johnson Confluence of the Rogue and Illinois Rivers, Oregon

I stopped by G. Gibson Gallery the weekend before last to see new work from Eva Skรถld Westerlind, Julie Blackmon, and Faryn Davis, which is on view through January 2nd. Among many other artists and photographers, Gail Gibson represents Eirik Johnson, whose show Sawdust Mountain at the Henry was among my very favorite photography shows of the year, along with the Richard Avedon and Edward Steichen shows at ICP. (The Jacques-Henri Lartigue show, also at G. Gibson, would be high on the list as well.)

Gibson mentioned that Eirik Johnson was on KUOW the other day discussing his work; you can download the podcast
here – it's definitely worth a listen or two.

Sawdust Mountain is on view at the Henry through the end of January, and signed copies of his beautifully designed book of the same name are available at G. Gibson. See more of Johnson's work at eirikjohnson.com.

Wow, that was a lot of links.

Here's one more, unrelated to the above, unless you stretch:
Eluvium New Animals from the Air mp3
from Talk Amongst the Trees (2005). More info at eluvium.net or listen & buy at temporaryresidence.com.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Wall of Santa

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My friend Josh found a gem for me at an estate sale earlier this year: an '80s re-issue of Phil Spector's Christmas Album, a 1963 album featuring Spector-produced Christmas jams from The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, Bobb B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, and Spector himself. A few sample cuts:

The Crystals Santa Claus Is Coming To Town mp3
Darlene Love Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) mp3
Phil Spector Silent Night mp3

In the never-ending December search for holiday music that doesn't suck, this is definitely a must-have. It's not too tough to find copies in used record stores (for the locals: last time I was in Atlas/Jive Time on 10th they had a copy) and Amazon has it on CD with the original cover art.

Image of the Day

A ceramic sculpture by Kelly Breslin, from South Willard. I like this for a lot of reason, one of which is that it reminds me of the free-form mussel beds on the beach at Penn Cove.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

A Solid Home Base Builds A Sense Of Self

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One of my favorite people in the world – artist Jenny Holzer, shown above at home in Hoosick, New York – discusses her life, work, and routines in an interview for this week's New York Times Magazine.
Click here for the article and slideshow.

Photo by Ben Stechschulte/Redux, for The New York Times.