Highlights! And I’m not talking about the Scholastic magazine either…
* I enjoyed the splendor of breathtaking Big Sur with the San Hos earlier in the month for our annual local getaway. We had a spacious (though slightly creepy) cabin, in which we overdosed on junk food, magazines, and soulful conversation. Photos.
The second issue of Electric Ant — a compendium of cool given birth by my pal Ryan Sands — will debut tomorrow at APE (Alt Press Expo). It’s definitely something you’ll want to check out if not POSSESS for your own library. And look at that juicy Hellen Jo cover!
CLICK HERE TO BUY A COPY OF THE ZINE!
Some of my closest talented friends have contributed to it, and I guess I did too. I had the great honor of drawing a page for the comic jam. It’s a zany adventure of a scruffy guy, his cyberpunk-looking ex GF, a put upon pinniped, and a lovable tooth. Sci-fi overtones, lots of humor. Even better is that I came after the distinctive Ryan Germick and before Lisa Hanawalt — she’s one of my faves.
Check it out. Comics, stories, photography, interviews, illustrations…all kinds of goodies.
ps – I somehow ended up on a panel on comics, zines, community, and the Yay Area at APE tomorrow. Phoebe Gloeckner is on it too. GULP. Wish me luck! Please send me all your best eloquence / public speaking positive vibes!
back in the day, my mom frequently took us to the library (berryessa, what what!?) and it was always a joyous occasion. i was practically a barnacle in the young adult section, but i often wandered the other aisles too. i guess there could be a map that charts my favorite spots correspondingly with my age…
there are vivid memories of excitedly hogging the spinner racks that housed the christopher pike collection (r.l. stine was his weaker, diluted counterpart). i think this was after graduating babysitter’s club and boxcar children but before i moved onto the stephen king canon. in the classics area, i distinctly remember thinking, “wow, what a cool title!” when stumbling upon of human bondage (i never even read it).
at any rate, we all have our beloved library memories. we all know libraries are super cool places. we all know they bring us back to simpler, satisfying states of being. so why is it that that i rarely take advantage of the main library, literally next door to my work? a visit yesterday reminded me how stupid i am for neglecting this neighborhood treasure. i was rewarded handsomely: some flicks that i’ve been dying to see, and random CDs i’m eager to dig into:
anyway, i’m looking forward to the newly re-opened inner richmond branch!
i know i’m overdue for an update when i can’t even remember what my last post was about.
lots of photography things have happened, so i’ll debrief here. everything’s been thrilling and enriching, but i’m not getting my hopes up. “photographers” are a dime a dozen, and anything good that’s come my way is 95% luck and guanxi. so far, i’ve been dang lucky. i’m having a great time, and that’s key.
en route, the air canada magazine contacted me asking if they could use a photo of mine of dottie’s for a piece they were doing for SF. yes, of course! pretty random, but there’s an example of why it pays to tag the hell outta your pictures on flickr. that’s how they found it. the funny thing is that it’s a totally random, useless photo.
i guess a couple of my photos made it into the april issue of food & wine? in an article about gastropubs (magnolia). i’ll have to hunt down a copy. to clarify, they used photos i had taken for magnolia gastropub awhile ago. it’s not like they hired me to shoot for them, though ultimately that’d be my dream!
and then i woke up this morning i found an email from jeff adachi — our public defender and passionate filmmaker — asking if he could use my photos for his film’s (you don’t know jack: the jack soo story) website.
i also recently bought a domain! jenntakespictures.com
all it does is take you directly to my flickr portfolio page. chintzy but practical. it’s the best i can do at the moment, and anything’s better than giving people a cumbersome, lengthy link to work with.
not a big deal, but for a small fry like me these little things can make or break my day. okay, so on to the recap:
i splurged and purchased a bigtime beautiful lens (60mm 2.8), thanks to all my wonderful friends (and ringleader peggy) for getting me a GC to looking glass in berkeley. this pup’s been especially good for portraits, and i haven’t even taken it for a macro spin yet.
in february i shot for SF Beer Week. dave mclean, the kind owner of magnolia and alembic (both of which i’ve previously photographed), asked me to take pictures so i jumped at the opportunity. i documented nine events, each one a little different. i met many sweet, passionate people (the craft brewing community is not unlike the comics community), and cultivated a deeper appreciation for the craft. i was TERRIFIED with nervousness the first night, fumbled like an idiot poseur, but quickly dropped the whiny little bitch act and acclimated. another bonus was that i had to rent some gear, and that in itself was a big step. learning how to operate a speed light (though very crudely) was nice.
these guys were at a 21st amendment event. i overheard them speaking mandarin and found out that two were from taiwan, and one from china. i enjoyed meeting them.
there was a slight sabbatical from eater sf’s “gatekeeper” series, but it returned with a spotlight on bar tartine’s lovely, hospitable xelina.
afterwards i ate there and awkwardly took some general shots during the peak of their brunch hour.
and then, just this past weekend, i suddenly threw myself into the fire and signed up to be a volunteer photographer for SFIAAFF, thanks to gracious photog albert chau for offering me a chance. it all transpired on friday afternoon. i was hella stressed and didn’t feel adequate, but despite my baggage i thoroughly LOVED the experience! it’s a perfect fit for me — i’ve been a film fest groupie ever since working at the museum, so it makes sense. going year after year after year, you get a strong sense of community, and being able to capture the energy on camera is a pleasurable thing.
the highlight must’ve been seeing older generation asian american folks like these, and being able to photograph them. they were so plucky and cheerful, just having a jolly ol’ time with each other. tugged on my heart strings.
here’s our public defender at his post-screening reception
kiyoshi kurosawa
joan chen
well, that’s it for now. fingers crossed for onwards and upwards…
To all the artists in the hizzouse, I'm asking you not only as a friend, cohort, and supporter of the arts, but also as a desperate museum professional, to please help spread the word about a design contest we're hosting. Deadline is March 13, 2009!
The Asian Art Museum is counting on talented designers to come up with a provocative, compelling creative treatment for MATCHA — our popular evening mixer program that unites art and culture with cocktails and mingling. Geared toward the younger crowd, this is a thriving Thursday evening event offered at a discount price.
The winning design will be used prominently in the MATCHA marketing campaign, which entails but is not limited to print ads, posters, online banners, postcards, club cards, t-shirts, website, e-blasts, etc. Prizes include $500, membership to the museum, guest passes for friends and family, MATCHA swag, a conceptual and visual challenge, and good exposure. More importantly, the winner would be part of a vibrant, fun, educational program from the largest museum in the western world devoted exclusively to Asian art!
For details, guidelines, and more, please visit (yup, it's Posterous!):
http://asianartmuseum.posterous.com/
Questions? Shoot them over to: jyin[at]asianart[dot]org
I'm hoping that I can count on you to share this with all of your friends and family. I know y'all are in the know and have a ton of creative pals. THANK YOU!
i love pizzeria delfina’s fun, subversive, and clever semi-rebellion against yelp. they found the choicest quotes from yelpers’ one star reviews of their establishment and printed them on t-shirts for waitstaff to wear.
back when yelp debuted, i was an avid participant, but now i can’t help but feel loathing and disrespect for it.
good idea, pizzeria delfina!
got the SFIAAFF program in the mail a coupla days ago, and i already got into my obsessive ritual of printing out a blank calendar, grabbing a pencil, and gettin cozy with the program to plot out a robust movie-watching schedule. srsly, there’s no way to plan for this unless you have a chart or calendar system to visualize how the days play out.
so i sent my mom and sister a tentative plan of what films we should watch when the fest has its share of screenings in san jose.
this is mom’s reply:
back in college, or as peg likes to call it, “the dark ages,” i got hooked on call & response, a favorite band of mine from oakland. their musical aesthetic totally nailed it for me. they managed to create funky, jazzy, soulful, substantial californian breezy pop that was super infectious, sweet, and sway-inducing. classic. you couldn’t listen to them and stand still. golly, even thinking about emperor norton records catapults me back to the “dark ages.”
two of the sassy gals from call & response have formed another band called rubies. they sound more or less like C.A.R., but with even more depth and maturity. i dig the sophisticated layering.
i am so addicted to this tune! i’m not into catching live shows anymore, but i immediately looked up their schedule and saw that they were playing at mollusk gallery in april. alas, i will not be around for that. anyway, i hope you are as mad about this sexy song as i am.
been neglecting this stupid thing so it’s time to get back on it with some big ol’ updates. i’d like to take a moment to remind (beg) visitors (hi mom, hi sis) to please please PLEASE leave comments! they bring me more pleasure than any lethal narcotic ever could. it’s all i want for xmases and my bdays for the rest of my life.
and away we go with the backtracking.
*
november kicked off awesomely with APE, that beloved annual tradition of nerding out and seeing old friends. this year i ingratiated myself to the coolest kids in the hall, the bang gang (see happy shiny people below). you’ve all heard me wax poetic on what a nostalgic thing APE is for me. it’s nice seeing the same passionate, geeky folks year after year after year, but again, it reinforces my reputation as a lame groupie. oh well. at least this year i was a barnacle at the bang gang table.
(that’s johnny ryan with our ryan)
it was a synergistic year for the bang gang, with hotly anticipated debuts, such as hellen’s jin & jam. it’s awesome, sexy, and sweet. if you like beautiful girls and/or remember what it was like to meet someone who mystified you and with whom you developed an electrifying chemistry, it’ll resonate even more. i remember when hellen started working on it last year during her residency at the museum (for the tezuka exhibition), and the pages were gorgeous. now the finished product is even more gorgeous. it sold like hot cakes. dan clowes told hellen she’s going places. well duh.
anthony peddled gorgeous prints and magnets alongside evan’s trademark photo-illo prints in candy color frames. anthony and derek also reminded ppl of their purdy pieces in the newest popgun. derek debuted deth’s head (the red mini on the table, you can spot it in other pictures), a punchy and hilarious mini about digging for maggot-infested burgers; features a splash page that still cracks me up to this day.
calvin sold out of his prints and ramble on, a lovely mini that i suspect music fiends may especially appreciate. like everyone else in the bang gang, calvin is an incredible soul and talented artist.
another ssssssizzling debut at the bang gang table was ryan’s electric ant zine! it’s a real beaut, aesthetically and content-wise, a reminder of why i got turned onto zines in the first place — passionate people with something interesting to say channeling their earnest energy into a compendium of cool. this one’s got an interview with our hero fred schodt, a gallery of bad guys from our cartoon-infected youthl, NIN mad libs, comics about first kisses, etc.
ALSO, i had the major honor of contributing to the dark lords gallery in EA. being a part of this special project made me feel very, very good. i’m no artist, but to have something i created keep company with artists whom i admire is a throbbing emotional boner for life. drawing it was healthy practice; challenging but fun. i’m surprised i was able to do it. it’s no big deal, just a drawing, but i actually got off my lazy bum and made something. if i’m lucky, i’ll have the pleasure and honor of doing it again.
if you’re curious about my contribution, see if you can find it on EA’s website (tip: preview gallery).
i’m also deliriously giddy, not only cuz Ain’t it Cool News (and others) gave EA a glowing review, but cuz there was direct reference to my piece: “you’ll never look at Shredder the same way again”
and then stuff like this, as silly and non-eventful as it is, makes me high:
so the moral of the story is, surround yourself with the funniest, smartest, most talented friends you can find (artists, writers, strippers, car mechanics, etc) because it’s good for your health, and you can live variously through them! also, it can kick you out of your crippling self-pitying stupor and make you do something that makes you happy.
ALSO, you can support the arts and buy copies of what i’ve mentioned above by clicking on the links.
ps – this is definitely not an exhaustive report of APE.
pps – publisher last gasp held their usual pre-APE shindig (on halloween) where they open up their vaults to the public. i had such a great time. you can see pix here. the warehouse is a wonderland; i could’ve spent hours and hours there!
me & larks!
calvin & hellen as pigsy and monkey king
