COFFEE AND SNOW

Blue Scholars.

8-3

I have a small, but slowly growing collection of old film cameras that I come across at antique stores.

Today I went to Stars, Portland's antique mecca, and picked up this guy:



With some research, I found out that it is the Canon Reflex Zoom 8-3. An 8mm movie camera originally manufactured in 1962, with a retail price of 48,800 yen (about $490).

Canon itself broke the record it set with its 4x zoom lens by developing this 5x model while making the total length of the lens 5 mm shorter. The accuracy of the CdS exposure meter, first applied in the previous model, was improved, and the design was renewed, including a white alumite finished lens barrel. This new design looked unbalanced at the beginning, but later it was recognized as an ideal new design that solidified the prestige of “Canon with zoom” by becoming a best seller.

I like it because it's a really peculiarly designed shape. The one I bought is missing the grip attachment on the bottom, which makes it even more odd looking. I also realized that there was some film left in it, which is exposed and no good by now, but I would've been really really interested in processing it and seeing what was on it.

CHRISTMAS 2008

Had a real nice day.

Began with breakfast with the family (bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls, roast beef hash, toast, coffee).

Then gift opening by the fireplace, while Bon Iver played on the stereo.

Then just chilled around the house for a few hours.

Then went to hang out at Wieden & Kennedy, Chinese food for dinner (Chinese people are always open for business).

Then met up with some family friends to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Then back to Wieden & Kennedy for more gift exchanging, coffee and conversation.

I'm back in Portland, with family, and there is snow outside. Couldn't ask for more.

Brief, not so in depth thoughts about Benjamin Button:

I was entertained by the second half of the film. In general it was not my taste, the whole concept of the film (a man born old and growing younger) was gimmicky in the first half, and less annoying in the second. There is no doubt that this will raid the Academy Awards, it is tailor made for their approval. Cate Blanchett was kind of great as I usually think she is. Movies about people on their deathbed recalling their life story (especially if its being read from a diary, WTF) is supremely obnoxious. It was too fucking long. My friend Nick and I had a whole conversation afterward picking apart the film's logic, before realizing how futile it was to be questioning the logic of a film about someone born as an old man.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

HORSE FEATHERS

is my new obsession.

Born and raised in Lewiston, ID, Justin Ringle has a natural affinity with the West. Its space, beauty, and nonconformity seem to be reflected in the music of his band Horse Feathers, named after an expression he heard his grandfather use. In Ringle’s hands, the common meaning of this expression comes to life: two things that can’t possibly exist together are spun into a gossamer delicacy of music shot through with lyrical weight.

Justin grew up on Northwest labels like Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars, and K Records, but soon broadened his horizons. ‘Nebraska’ by Bruce Springsteen, Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson and old country and blues like Lefty Frizzell and Son House have all contributed to shaping Horse Feather’s arrestingly spare sound.

Moving from Idaho to Portland, OR in 2004, Justin recorded some demos, one of which found its way to Peter Broderick (Norfolk & Western, Dolorean, and Loch Lomond)a talented multi-instrumentalist. Peter was so taken by the songs he contacted Justin and offered to help record them properly. Later Peter’s sister Heather Broderick joined the band on cello and backing vocals. Justin and Peter worked together to polish the material that became the group’s first album, ‘Words Are Dead’ which was released on the local Lucky Madison label in 2006. It received an enthusiastic response, including a nomination for the Plug Awards ‘Americana Album of the Year.’

After a year of touring the US in various incarnations, Horse Feathers signed to Kill Rock Stars and proceeded to record this, their second album: ‘House With No Home’. On it they have distilled their sound into a brilliant statement of minimalist Americana. Peter and Heather’s precisely arranged strings step cautiously in and around Justin’s haunting vocal lines, and the economy of music is also reflected in the lyrics – a few evocative phrases tell rich stories, each word weighted and delivered with careful purpose. It is an album infused with rare power and emotion, restrained but always present, where the gaps between the notes can be as important as the notes themselves.

MYSPACE

Support and BUY

WE GO WAY BACK

I finally got around to watching Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton's debut feature WE GO WAY BACK.

I've been eager to check out Lynn's work for a while, and she was kind enough to send me a copy of WE GO WAY BACK while I wait for her most recent film MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE to see its release through IFC Films.

WE GO WAY BACK introduces us to Kate, who on her 23rd birthday, opens a letter that she wrote to her grown-up self ten years prior. The innocence and naivety of the 13 year olds words come as a juxtaposition to the aimless and indifferent life that present day Kate drifts through. She passively partakes in meaningless casual sex, allowing various men to take advantage of her. A gig in a pretentious theater director's play serves as something to apply herself to, just for the sake of it. And a banal desk job fills in whatever time is left over.

As we follow Kate through her tiresome and draining cycle, the voice of her 13 year old self punctuates the low points as events subtly propel her toward a face to face confrontation with her former self, and the reality of her unhappiness.

Lynn's background as an experimental and a documentary filmmaker result in a really fantastic and effective blend of realism and the dreamlike. I particularly loved the manipulation of audio, the way voices frequently overlapped with each other and with images as if in a clouded and confused state of mind.

As well as being a fellow Northwest native, Lynn is also a graduate of my college, School of Visual Arts in NYC! I should mention that WE GO WAY BACK is set to the music of Portland based singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, and features music from other local Northwest musicians like The Decemberists, Menomena and Harvey Danger. It's always exciting for me to meet or discover talented filmmakers and artists in general from the Northwest.

As mentioned, Lynn's second feature film MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE was picked up by IFC, and her most recently completed film HUMPDAY was just announced as an official selection of Sundance. She is also nominated for the "Someone To Watch" award by the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards. Somehow during all of this, she also found time to act in Joe Swanberg's web series YOUNG AMERICAN BODIES as a series regular. Quite a good year for this girl!

WE GO WAY BACK isn't available anywhere except through Lynn herself, so if you're interested in checking it out, please give her a shout through her website!

"Very funny...beautifully shot with a terrific soundtrack...WE GO WAY BACK has the feel of an early-70's American independent, willing to challenge the audience to follow it into a very personal, uncommercial direction."--Robert Horton, Everett Herald

DAD IS BACK

After a few months hiatus, my dad is back posting regularly on his blog at HONEYEE.COM

So if you deleted your bookmark thinking he was gone for good, you know what to do!

http://blog.honeyee.com/johnjay/

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Its 1:57 AM, nobody is awake.

Our cat is sleeping on the velvet blanket under the Christmas tree.

I'm sitting by the fire, reading some Sam Shepard, listening to some Iron & Wine, drinking cider.

And its snowing outside.

I don't think I could be more relaxed.

the wind blows outside
a glass jar in the window
her shape blocks the candle light..

HE IS MISSING

He Is Missing from Matt Jay on Vimeo.

A recent short film I made. A man goes missing while searching for someone who is missing...

EAMES & SAARINEN

My love for Eames and Eero Saarinen designs are a direct inheritance from my parents and the furniture that I grew up crawling and playing on, long before I had an appreciation for them. Eventually I developed a real affinity for furniture and architecture from that era, modernism I suppose.

I have incredibly fond memories of Saturday morning breakfasts around a Saarinen dining table, and I've just known the name "Eames" for as long as I can remember as it was frequently tossed around the household.

I'm also really interested in seeing what Ray Eames' experimental films were like. I've seen the DVD box set in stores before, but keep forgetting to check it out.

Here is some brief info cobbled from online sources about these legendary designers...

Charles Eames was greatly influenced by the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen (whose son Eero, also an architect, would become a partner and friend). At the elder Saarinen's invitation, Charles moved in 1938 with his wife Catherine and daughter Lucia to Michigan, to further study architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he would become a teacher and head of the industrial design department. In order to apply for the Architecture and Urban Planning Program, Eames defined an area of focus - the St. Louis waterfront. Together with Eero Saarinen he designed prize-winning furniture for New York's Museum of Modern Art "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition. Their work displayed the new technique of wood moulding (originally developed by Alvar Aalto), that Eames would further develop in many moulded plywood products, including, beside chairs and other furniture, splints and stretchers for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

In 1941, Charles and Catherine divorced, and he married his Cranbrook colleague Ray Kaiser, who was born in Sacramento, California. He then moved with her to Los Angeles, California, where they would work and live for the rest of their lives. In the late 1940s, as part of the Arts & Architecture magazine's "Case Study" program, Ray and Charles designed and built the groundbreaking Eames House, Case Study House #8, as their home. Located upon a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and hand-constructed within a matter of days entirely of pre-fabricated steel parts intended for industrial construction, it remains a milestone of modern architecture.

In the 1950s, the Eameses continued their work in architecture and modern furniture design. Like in the earlier moulded plywood work, the Eamses pioneered innovative technologies, such as the fiberglass, plastic resin chairs and the wire mesh chairs designed for Herman Miller. Charles and Ray would soon channel Charles' interest in photography into the production of short films. From their first film, the unfinished Traveling Boy (1950), to the extraordinary Powers of Ten (1977), their cinematic work was an outlet for ideas, a vehicle for experimentation and education.

Charles Eames died of a heart attack on August 21, 1978 while on a consulting trip in his native Saint Louis, and now has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Ray died 10 years later to the exact day.
At the time of his death they were working on what became their last production, the Eames Sofa which went into production in 1984.

From the beginning, The Eames furniture has usually been listed as by Charles Eames; indeed in the 1948 and 1952 Herman Miller bound catalogs, only Charles' name is listed, but it's become clear that Ray was deeply involved and should be considered an equal partner.

Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and product designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.

Saarinen first received critical recognition, while still working for his father, for a chair designed together with Charles Eames for the "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition in 1940, for which they received first prize. This chair, like all other Saarinen chairs was taken into production by the Knoll furniture company, founded by Hans Knoll, who married Saarinen family friend Florence (Schust) Knoll. Further attention came also while Saarinen was still working for his father, when he took first prize in the 1948 competition for the design of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis, not completed until the 1960s. The competition award was mistakenly sent to his father.

During his long association with Knoll he designed many important pieces of furniture including the "Grasshopper" lounge chair and ottoman (1946), the "Womb" chair and ottoman (1948), the "Womb" settee (1950), side and arm chairs (1948-1950), and his most famous "Tulip" or "Pedestal" group (1956), which featured side and arm chairs, dining, coffee and side tables, as well as a stool. All of these designs were highly successful except for the "Grasshopper" lounge chair, which, although in production through 1965, was not a big seller. His Womb chair and ottoman, as well as his "Tulip" collection, have remained in production and are considered iconic.

SEA OF SHOES

SEA OF SHOES is the personal style blog of Texas high schooler Jane Aldridge. This girl has insanely sophisticated and fearless taste, it is hard to believe she is only 16. Like other personal style blogs, Aldridge posts daily outfits, wish-lists and inspirations, but SEA OF SHOES benefits from both an in depth knowledge of designers and actually owning designer pieces. But it is not a blog of label whoring - Aldridge's family comes from a fashion background, and the concept of clothing as art/self-expression permeates.

http://www.seaofshoes.com

When I was 16 I thought I was well dressed because I had all the new Digital Gravel t-shirts and a rotation of LRG hoodies... lol

FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2008

1. The Kills - Midnight Boom


2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago


3. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs


4. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours


5. Ola Podrida - Ola Podrida (cheating...mid '07... but didn't discover until early '08)


6. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes


7. Santogold - Santogold


8. M83 - Saturdays = Youth


9. Sigur Ros - Me› Su› í Eyrum Vi› Spilum Endalaust


10. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

I'm not really tied down to the order of that, except for Bon Iver and The Kills at the top.

Top 10 film coming soon, after WENDY AND LUCY comes out =D

CREATING DISCOURSE

A new find.

This shit looks amazing.

Been trying to contact the filmmakers about how to see it, haven't gotten a response yet. If any of them happen to read this, please holler at me!

http://www.obpfilms.com

SOUTH PAS

Saskia and I just got back from exploring South Pasadena, and the verdict is that it's the shit.

It's like the lost separated twin of one of my favorite streets, Mississippi Ave in South East Portland. Great old houses converted into coffee shops and bakeries, abundant antique stores, an independent/foreign cinema DVD store, all sorts of mom and pop shops. And apparently there is a monthly Farmer's Market.

It's so charming and laid back, a world away from where I live in Old Town Pasadena which has effectively been taken over by commercial businesses and douche-bag attracting bars... and a galaxy away from most of Los Angeles.

We had coffee and croissants at this place called Buster's:



Browsed DVDs by country and director at Videotheque:



and then browsed artifacts at the next door antique shop that I didn't catch the name of.

I have a feeling I've found my new hangout.

ALEXANDER THE LAST

Joe Swanberg's new film!

What are you working on right now?

JS: The one [film] that I'm working on right now is called Alexander The Last. It's got Jess Weixler, Justin Rice and Barlow Jacobs, who was in Low and Behold. It's also got Amy Seimetz. She produced Medicine for Melancholy and just finished her first feature, called City on a Hill. I'm producing it with Anish Sanjani and Noah Baumbach. It's completely improvised. We shot a little bit of it last month. I'm going back to New York in July to shoot a little bit more. It's about a married couple -- the wife is an actress and the husband is a musician -- and how they deal with their creative relationships with other people while keeping their marriage together.

Produced by Noah Baumbach?!?!

Screenshots look great!

http://www.alexanderthelast.com

http://www.wonderlandstream.com/stream_articlemove.aspx?article_id=72

JEANNE DIELMAN

Apparently JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES is finally going to be available in America thanks to who else but The Criterion Collection.

Difficult to find even in Europe until recently, the film has been non existent in the U.S. home movie market since it's release. I've been wanting to see this for a loooonnng time- everything I know about it is from online articles and hearsay. But now it looks like I will finally get my chance.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is a 1975 film by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman.
At 201 minutes, Jeanne Dielman examines a single mother's regimented schedule of cooking, cleaning and mothering over three days. The mother, Jeanne Dielman (whose name is only derived from the title), also prostitutes herself to a male client daily for her and her son's subsistence. Like her other activities Jeanne's prostitution is rote and uneventful. The picture's third day witnesses Jeanne's routine benignly unravel.

Upon its release, the New York Times called Jeanne Dielman the "first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema." Chantal Akerman scholar Ivone Margulies asserts the picture is a filmic paradigm for uniting "feminism and anti-illusionism."

Jeanne Dielman's static framing, extended duration takes and lack of reversal shots force the viewer to objectively experience its protagonist and her social role's oppression. Through exposure to "images between the images" Akerman forges new content that, resultantly, requires new form. Though the filmmaker's static frame and extended duration shots stem from structural cinema, their unique application to women's domestic work position Jeanne Dielman outside dominant patriarchal film languages and into one specifically "feminist." The picture inverts normal filmic expectations by removing drama from emotional intensity and attaching it to extended duration takes - takes, that is, connotative of boredom. Jeanne Dielman's temporal dilation equalizes its exposition and drama to transform "knowledge of an object" - Jeanne's oppression - into a "vision" of it.

Proof of forthcoming Criterion release: http://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8425&p=208 823&hilit=Jeanne+Dielman%2C+23+Quai+du+Commerce%2C+1080+Bruxelles# p208823

SLANT Magazine review: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=709

MANHATTAN

It's always been hard for me to imagine that there was once a time when my parents didn't have me and my brother to look after. So much of their lives has been about raising us, making us their priority. But before I showed up in '87, they were still two thirty-something New Yorkers trying to figure out their careers, their lives, and probably each other.

Watching Woody Allen's MANHATTAN (1979), was like a glimpse into that era. I could imagine my parents exploring the museums and art galleries together as Isaac and Mary do. Strolling along the East River or down Central Park West. Falling in love with places that they would one day introduce me to - Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney, Bloomingdale's, Zabars (all locations in the film too!)

MANHATTAN has probably one of the greatest opening sequences to a film I've ever seen. Cinematographer Gordon Willis paints New York City like an Ansel Adams photograph, in a montage that sets the tone for film's breathtaking black and white imagery. Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Mariel Hemingway and Woody himself all deliver pitch perfect performances, and that damn planetarium sequence could be one of the most beautiful romantic scenes ever.

THE CITY

So while watching some trashy MTV show recently, I saw that there is this new show called The City premiering this month.

The show apparently is a spin off of The Hills and follows one of the girls as she moves to New York to work in the fashion industry, specifically to work for legendary designer Diane Von Furstenberg.

Not going to lie, I'm kind of excited to see this... When my parents worked in fashion, my mom worked for Diane for many years and became like family. I practically grew up in Diane's weekend home in Connecticut, and on the floor of her office in Manhattan. She wrote my college letter of recommendation bwahaha. She's something like an aunt to me.

So besides the fact that the last thing the world needs is another pathetic reality television show, I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and places on TV.

O BROTHER WHERE BART THOU

That was one of the best episodes of the season thus far.

A really memorable performance by Ed Westwick, Chuck Bass stole the show for sure.

Was definitely one of the show's darker moments, and from the looks of the preview for the next episode, it's gonna get darker.

Liked the Bloc Party montage, brought me back to the OC a bit...

But why are we on hiatus until January 5th?!

THE OREGONIAN

My dad was interviewed for The Oregonian the other day about the future of Portland's Old Town/Chinatown.

There's mention of the new restaurant Ping, and Studio J as well.

Check it out:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/visualarts/2008/12/interview_john_jay_talks_about.html

LUKE AND BRIE ARE ON A BIG SCREEN

On Saturday night Cam, Natalie and I went to go watch LUKE AND BRIE ARE ON A FIRST DATE at the Zero Film Festival. Wanted to show up and support director Chad Hartigan and his fantastic film. The screening was held at the Downtown Independent Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which I had never been to before, but was quite impressed by. Seeing the film on the big screen, and more importantly with a great audience was really awesome. It felt like everyone was really in sync with each beat of humor and emotion.

Afterward, finding that all the laughter had worked up an appetite for us, the idea of Red Robin got brought up and we found ourselves headed to Glendale to satisfy the craving.



Me: Whiskey BBQ Burger
Natalie: A1 Peppercorn Burger
Cam: Sante Fe Burger + Vanilla shake

It was a fun night.

Oh by the way, this finally came in the mail from Sam:



Its not in a real watch-able stage yet, but nonetheless it was very exciting to see everything thrown together in relative order. More substantial updates in the coming weeks.

TEXAS SNOW (REVIEW)

TEXAS SNOW eavesdrops on a romantic entanglement between three St. Louis twentysomethings: Caroline and Jesse tentatively pursue a mutual attraction, while attempting to keep their relationship a secret from Lee, Jesse's roommate and Caroline's ex-boyfriend.

The premise is simple enough, arguably playing in highly treaded water even. But to be completely succinct, this is not a film that is interesting because of an unknown outcome. It is not hard to guess how TEXAS SNOW will end. What the film is truly about is how it gets there. A magnification of the emotional process that drives feelings to change and a relationship to move from point A to point B, to point C. For me, this is a more interesting avenue to explore than one structured on plot points fed to an audience to build suspense.

TEXAS SNOW is worth seeing for the dialogue alone. It is worth it for the experience of getting sucked into triumphantly naturalistic conversations that make you realize how beautiful imperfect, everyday speech is. All of the pauses and inflections are elevated to high importance, and it was literally mesmerizing to listen to what the characters of TEXAS SNOW had to say - even if at first you don't understand their point yet.

The relationships in the film are not pushed and pulled by dramatic occurrences or defined turning points. Nobody really does anything specific to cause their relationship to crumble. Instead, characters drift apart and move on to someone new for no reason other than that is what often happens in real life.

The cinematography by Keith Hueffmeier is loose, slightly hazy and sun-faded, mirroring the interior life of Caroline, Jesse and Lee. I'm a huge supporter of filmmakers who don't sit around and wait for someone to give them money to make their movie. Shot for $2000 on simple 24p digital video, TEXAS SNOW is more beautiful visually than a lot of these recent HD (or even film) features that have been blessed with higher means of production.

And of course, Keegan Dewitt sprinkles the tenderest of piano notes over the film, creating some of the most poignant and memorable moments. It was hard not to think of QUIET CITY during the scene where Caroline and Alison danced under the non-diegetic Keegan score, but like the dancing scene in QUIET CITY, this became one of my favorite scenes in the film. It was the first indication of where these characters were headed. As Lee and Jesse sit quietly and watch Caroline and Alison perform, you slowly get the sense that these two guys are powerless before Caroline, perhaps women in general. The free spiritedness Caroline displays in this scene will surely come full circle with her actions in the end.

Yes you've been told this story before. But not with this attention to realism and subtlety.

Good luck to director Aaron Coffman with the festival circuit.

TEXAS SNOW is available to watch online in its entirety:
http://www.texassnowmovie.com

Julia Misaki, holler.

WINTER WISH LIST

RVCA
Blipblam Long Sleeve


RACHEL COMEY
Hazard Boots
Thick canvas upper, leather soles.


COMMON PROJECTS
Officer Lace Up Boot
Italian waxed Nappa leather upper with leather sole.

I'm a bit of a scarf fanatic... these next two pieces by PRIA are ridiculous. PRIA has been making fabrics in Italy since 1824... thats 184 years to perfect my favorite garment.


PRIA
100% Virgin Wool Scarf
**8:04 PM UPDATE: COPPED**


PRIA
Italian Wool & Silk Scarf


RAG & BONE
Leather Top Tote


WINGS + HORNS
25OZ. FIeld Jacket
Dense fleece knit.


HYDEN YOO
Soho Cartigan
100% cashmere, herringbone knit shawl collar.


RAG & BONE
Sting Blazer
Wool tweed, tiny flecks of rust, gold and cream through out the weave.


HYDEN YOO
Cashmere Chelsea Sweater
100% cashmere, subtle diagonal stripe knit, double breasted placket.

All courtesy of BLACKBIRD in Seattle. (http://www.blackbirdballard.com)

ERIKA SOMOGYI

Erika Somogyi is a Brooklyn based artist whose had solo exhibitions in NYC and Miami, and contributed to numerous group exhibitions in Paris, Copenhagen, Tokyo, and all over the U.S.

She's displayed work at the Aidan Savoy gallery in Manhattan and at the Motel gallery in Portland, two spots I frequent quite a bit. Although I think Motel just recently closed down unfortunately...

Oh and she is also a 1999 graduate of my college, School of Visual Arts!

I really like the ethereal quality of her work, and the running motif of characters drifting through these colorful landscapes. I realized recently how much I like watercolor, because of its transparency. Its kinda ghostly.

I've been talking to Erika about working on some stuff together recently, so hopefully that works out.







Check out more of her work at http://www.throughthetrees.net

LOST IN GLITTERING SHADOWS

I'm kind of late on this since the show ended a few days ago already, but artist collective FAILE recently displayed their latest work "LOST IN GLITTERING SHADOWS" at the Lazarides Gallery in London.







I really wish I could have gotten to go see this, it looks like it was pretty incredible. FAILE has remained one of the most exciting things going on in street art for me, I've always been really struck by their imagery. What they do is way more interesting than what Shepard Fairey has done, to compare people that had their start in wheat pasting and stencils.

I really like the Native American themes running through this new stuff though, and the wood work on the totem pole-esque pieces are especially cool.

Also here's a nice interview BBC did with Patrick squared: