melissa, lev, nico and i went to the EAT REAL street food festival in oakland a few weekends ago. it was awesome to see the whole street food movement in one place- tricked out food trucks (and buses!), the wacky food fusions, the massive numbers of people showing up to eat locally produced meals. we started at le truc, where melissa's brother, myles, was serving pork buns and from a converted school bus!! next was gerard's paella from ginormous pans; korean tacos and pancakes from namu; nopales fries from 51st state, and a veggie bahn mi from ebbett's. we had some good bites but somehow i left feeling a little overwhelmed by the crowds and underwhelmed by the food. best of show definitely goes to these weird korean pancakes from namu! and um...the huge bowl of ben and jerry's we devoured (what!? the local ice cream and gelato lines were unapproachable!)
wow, look at these rad anodized aluminum cups i'm fawning over! being the nerd i am, i did a little research into the process of anodizing. according to wikipedia, anodization "changes the microscopic texture of the surface and changes the crystal structure of the metal near the surface." it pretty much thickens the aluminum and prevents it from wear and corrosion. the resulting layer is quite porous and accepts dyes easily, hence the fabulous rainbow of colors! it was was first used to prevent seaplanes from corroding but since then has been used on everything from buildings to cups to carabeeners and ipod covers. can't wait to make a pitcher of iced tea and serve them in these babies...
a few weeks ago we went to gabe's birthday bbq at his parent's house in berkeley. they've dug this deep pit bbq in the backyard and slowcook meats in there overnight....this time it was brisket, buffalo, pork, and ribs. we brought veggie burgers and some corn on the cob- whateverrrrr!!! gabe's mom always makes the best desserts and she busted out this incredible chocolate cake, which was essentially chocolate pie crust dough baked in thin layers, stacked up, and frosted. delicious!!! it was great to sit around the pit and stare into it, mesmerized by the possibilities of what you cook 5 ft under the ground. next pit victims- TURKEYS AND DUCKS! happy birthday gabe!!!
back in the city, we headed to melissa's bday blowout at booty bassment at the knockout. god i love to dance, so glad the girls do too! we definitely grooved to some jams with melissa and the gang. shout outs to lev, eyon, kevin, noah, phoebe and everyone else who came out. happy birthday melissa!!!
you know how you sit around with your friends and dream up some awesome, ironic idea that you're sure no one else has had and you all get into character and screw around for awhile with silly voices and dances and maybe you even bust out some costumes. then you're all, "duuuude, we should totally record this shit!" and everyone agrees that you could make a killing selling your raver version of lambchop and friends. then you probably pass out and forget all about it. well victor solomon is the friend that actually writes that shit down, shoots and directs it while you're busy ordering another pizza.
the valentine sainsbury series is probably my favorite. featuring victor himself as 80s-inspired charlie-rose style talk-show host, valentine sainsbury, various "intellectuals" muse on their work and the state of the arts with ironically upturned noses. these shorts are a good example of victor's style-- dry, mocking, and hilarious. his most recent project, life of leopold, is a mockumentary peek into the world of LOLcats. plus cat puppets!!!!! april also just told me that she plays a big role in the movie, as beatrice, leopold's assistant! life of leopold premieres this sunday, september 12th at viz cinema, the new underground theater in japantown's new people shopping/art/entertainment destination.
Where are you right now? I’m in my office. It’s 2am and I want to go to bed.
What do you do? Film-maker, anecdotalist, silly-idea-haver.
Where are you going? Somewhere good I hope!
What will you be doing when you get there? Making new things every day.
How did you decide to go in this direction? Because everything else is boring!
Do you have any expectations? I generally don’t have expectations, but am simultaneously completely unaware of failure. I’m almost always in a perfectly ignorant state of forward momentum because I don’t care much how things turn out.
Are you excited? Nervous? Terrified? Thrilled? The first one and the last one.
What are you looking forward to? I’m looking forward to finding financing for my projects so I can shoot every day.
What are you scared of? I have a phobia of bridges and vomiting.
What happens if it doesn’t work out? What?
What is the worst thing that could happen? That nothing happens.
What is the best thing that could happen? That everything happens!
Did you ever think you’d be where you are now? It never occurred to me. “where you are” only exists to me in retrospect. I can look back and say, “hey, look where I was”, but I never think of it in the present.
Have you ever felt like this before? This tired? Often.
What are you leaving behind? Nothing I regret.
What will you miss? Nothing I’ll miss.
What did your friends say when you told them? Only the best things.
now im obsessing over these salterini chairs. these first two are from the vintage supply co on etsy and the others courtesy google. that last image from the old salterini catalog is me preparing for my guests in my dining room complete with green shag carpet! OMG!
