Zanziblur

I can't be sure, but I think I have a few loyalists who have been watching my blog, if only intermittently, more or less since it started. If you are one of those treasured few (I genuinely appreciate your persistence), you may remember a series of photos I showed of my trip to Zanzibar with a few friends. Well, around the time that those photos were posted, I began the frustrating endeavor of tweaking a few thousand photos to be strung together in a speed-show. Operating on a system that couldn't handle the photos, and a program that literally shut down every fifteen minutes due to some sort of error or overload, it took me a couple months to arrive at a finished product. I was suitably excited to export the final product and upload a little more noise onto the internet - only to have the bizarre and irreconcilable issue of the film's sequence de-syncing. Thinking the project an abject failure, I left the files skulking around the darker corners of my hard drive.

With my recent purchase of a computer more tuned to editing, I was able to solve in an afternoon the issue which had clouded the back of my mind for months. Anyway, I'm glad to finally show you the first 'video' project I've worked on. I hope you enjoy it.

*Side note - maybe don't watch this if you're prone to epileptic seizures.

The Wailers

I saw the legendary Wailers burn Snowmass to the ground. I've never seen so many white people persistently grooving.

Moving Pictures

Filmfiftyonedegrees? Well, maybe. I've been looking toward editing and shooting short films for a long while, and after a couple years of scrimping, I now have the means. This video was very simply edited on iMovie - yes, wring your uncalloused hands Adobe kids. The fact is, I don't have CS, yet, and I was eager to get started.

These scenes document my first few weeks in Aspen. I loosely gave the video a day-in-the-life feel, just to assist with the editing. The timing isn't perfect, and camera shiver plays a big role when it's twenty below. Anyway, that's enough of an exorcism of my insecurities; I hope you enjoy the film.

 

Winter X Games

It's taken me a little while to get to this. I got some photos of the 2012 Winter X; it was a rad event and maybe the coldest I've ever been. Trying to take pictures when it's circa eighteen below is a tricky situation. On the final evening, I scored a guest pass to the snowboard final on the superpipe, and after a guard denied entry to one guy, pointed at me in front of a gathered crowd and said, "That guy can enter", I ended up on the backbase of the ramp with a view of the whole show. Awesome.



















First ever frontflip on a ski-mobile.







Shaun White.



See if you can spot Shaun White getting dominated by the crowd.





















Shaun White hearing he got a perfect 100.

Mansions on the Moon w/ Flashlights

I've been aching to see a live show. It was a little heartbreaking to hear that my local dive, Unit 11, was closing about two weeks after I arrived in Aspen. Being a pretty small town, I was glad to hear that there was a coveted gig venue by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority junction called Belly Up, and that it was frequented by bands big and small. For instance, The Flaming Lips played a sold out show there a few weeks ago, and while I would have loved to go, the $165+ tickets were a little excessive.

I was in luck before too long though, as  indie-electro rockers Mansions on the Moon came to town, and they were supported by the two-piece Flashlights. Flashlights were a little lost on the stage, and I can't blame them - a DJ and a skinny singer hardly scream stage presence. It's a pity they couldn't fill out a little more, because they were good, and the kind of band that would thrive on sizable, tumbling crowd.

After a the conclusion of their slightly self-conscious set, Mansions on the Moon buzzed the Belly Up stage, firing through a tight and energetic set. Initially expecting them to be a fairly quiet, introspective group, they blasted deep synth loops over a fat, low guitar-driven sound. They immediately filled all those empty spaces Flashlights couldn't with an atmospheric resonance that hummed and smoked with rattling vibrations. Floating seamlessly through Indie, Electro, Drum and Bass, and Dance, the band encored and ended with a ditty of a song in which they invited a girl from LA to sing with them. It was a subtle flourish on an impressive set, and one that solidified my bemused pleasure at getting my American gig-hopping going.

Flashlights










Mansions on the Moon