Gnumoon's Stuff

My Grass is Blue.

(This was written Friday night beside the Watson stage at MerleFest)
I’m sitting here, listening to Sam Bush finish up his set. So far I have shot 1311 photos of 16 sets, including Gillian Welch, John Prine, and crowd favorite The Waybacks with special guest Bob Weir (of Grateful Dead fame). The award for “I’m damn glad I was here to hear that in person” goes to Weir, the Waybacks, and Gillian Welch bluegrassing up “Like a Rolling Stone” as an encore as the sun set over the Carolina mountains and the hippies twirled the night away.

I am exhausted. So here are some tidbits:
- The Avett Brothers are the most fun band I’ve ever seen live. You should check them out.
- I thought that there were no interesting female bass players in the world. I was wrong- there is Laura Love. BTW, her most well-known song is called “My Booty.”
- If you switch your Flash card from your camera to the card reader too much it will break and you’ll find yourself in a mad dash to find somewhere in Wilkesboro to replace it. Good luck with that.
- MerleFest is without a doubt the best-run festival I have ever attended.
- Everyone here is from California. Apparently the Americana scene is big there.
- Wilkes Co. teenagers like to go to MF dressed all in black and gothed-up to freak out the fest-goers. Note to the sullen girl with the half-shaved head wearing the black Avenged Sevenfold sweatshirt, studded belt, and black camo pants: you look stupid. (plus, it was easily 85 degrees today. I bet you were stinky too.)
- My husband is awesome, because this morning as he was leaving to play golf he noticed my tire was flat. Instead of playing, he changed it for me while I got ready to leave. Awwww.

(This part was written at 12:55 am back at home)
OK, I’m dead, and I have to shoot 12 sets (1-1.5 hours each) tomorrow. It is a lot, but it is a better crash course in photography and networking and portfolio building than I could have imagined. Thanks for the support- hope y’all are having a great weekend! More pictures will be posted whenever I manage to recover from this weekend!

PS- This picture of Bob is for my dad. After all these years I’ve finally done something he can be proud of.

I swear I didn't huff that "Air in a can" stuff.

Lenses and sensor cleaned.
Extra batteries purchased.
Rain gear stowed.
Suncreen applied.
Time to go.

A black and red spiral of ickiness

THANKS for all the support on yesterday’s post, both comments and emails- you guys are the best. I’ll give more details soon! And now for something completely different:

I love animals. I love reptiles and mammals and all the creatures of the world. Except millipedes. Just looking at millipedes makes my skin crawl- it always has. This was never a problem, since you don’t run across these buggies much in the urban jungle, until I moved into the woods. Now, once or twice a year, one of these guys gets into my house and I go into full “shrieking girl in comic book” mode. Incident #1 for 2006 happened this morning, and here is the offender.

I didn’t notice at first- I would have stepped right on him (barefoot even! blecch!) if Max hadn’t been lying on the couch intensely eyeing the little beastie. I follow the dog’s gaze down to the floor where, sure enough, this striped alien was trucking right across my carpet, destination unknown.   I chucked the ‘pede out onto the deck, where it curled up like this and played dead.

It bothers me to be icked out by something so benign, so next time I see one I am going to make myself pick it up and let it crawl on my arm. So I say. We’ll see if it that happens.

Ps- Max did not dispatch the big bug this morning because he isn’t an exterminator, he’s a hunter. Friday night he killed and brought home a wild turkey. We’re very proud of his skill. (please note the sarcasm)

Currently Listening to: Dad I'm in Jail, by Was (Not Was)
"I like it here, it's nice..."

Clawing my way through the aperture

Saturday night I shot some Possums. Possum Jenkins, that is…I covered them for a local newspaper, which is a new freelance gig I have going on. I haven’t mentioned much about it, and I still won’t until something actually gets published, but suffice it to say that I’m pretty jacked about the whole deal. (I told someone the other day that I was “jacked like bauer” about something. I don’t even watch that show. WTF?)

Much is afoot in gnumoonland- much that I’ve been hesitant to write about lest I jinx the whole shebang. I’m sure that by now anyone who reads this blog knows that I’m a huge music fan and that I love photography, and some of you have probably picked up on my desire to combine those two passions. Alas, Spin magazine doesn’t just call up random sports photographers and offer them money (not to mention press creds) to shoot bands, so it’s been a process of talking to people (OK, bugging the shit out of people, I’ll be honest), working on a portfolio, juggling this dream with my real life job, and attending to all sorts of other details. In short, I’ve been working hard to not let this be a pipe dream. (Sleep? Who needs that?)

Well, besides the aforementioned photo/writing gig (which I’ll talk more about when it’s official), this morning I was offered an incredible opportunity to build a bangin’ portfolio, and I have been giddy with anxious excitement all day. It's a quick turnaround- the job starts Thursday(!). Again, I’m slow to write about it until I have inked my name on the contract, but it has the potential to be something really special. Let’s just say it’s a music festival, a pretty high-level one in the region. (Sorry hip kiddies, it ain’t Coachella.)

I’m experiencing all these feelings all at once- giddy, excited, nervous, nauseated, overwhelmed, thankful, overwhelmed (did I mention that one already?). I’m basically being driven by one this self-imposed mandate: “Do NOT screw this up. Don't you DARE screw this up.”

And I’m determined to NOT let anyone there know how nervous I am. When I started my first job out of school, one of the first things I did was help out at a Wake Forest football game press conference. I was terrified, and it must have showed. My boss took me to the side and said, “You may not know exactly what you’re doing, but pretend that you do until you know it for sure. No one else will ever know, and it will make you more confident.”

In other words, “fake it ‘til you make it.” Strangely enough, his advice helped me a lot- it was comforting to know that not everyone is sure of what they’re doing all the time, and that sometimes we’re all full of it. (Special gnote: TO any doctors reading my blog...this little bit o' advice does NOT apply to you.)

While I can’t fake the photos- they have to be perfect the first time- I can pretend to be confident until I actually am. Here's hoping that works!

Currently Listening to: Morning Song, by Matthew Sweet (I must write about him soon. TomC's post  reminded me just how big an influence M. Sweet was on my adolescence. I still have that SuPeRdEfOrMeD t-shirt somewhere.)
Quote OTD: "Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream." - Malcolm Muggeridge

The "Spinal Tap" review of "Silent Hill."

Here are my two-word reviews for “Silent Hill”:
Mindnumbingly mediocre.
Artisic, tedious.
Yawn, stretch.
Not scary.
Shit Sandwich.

This movie suck-diddly-ucked, Flanders.
The only tension or interest for the audience was found in wondering when the hot girl-on-girl action with the no-nonsense butch cop was going to happen. (I found myself humming that old RHCP song Sir Psycho Sexy every time she was onscreen.)

And it was boring, the final nail in any horror film’s coffin. Although the sets were cool and the camera angles mimicked the video game reasonably well, the film just plods along, not really even bothering to throw in the occasional cheap “jump” scare to keep the audience awake. 

Not even having a few drinks before this movie made it entertaining, except in a “let’s laugh at that unintentionally amusing dialogue” way. And that’s saying a lot, because I love bad horror movies. And I also love having some drinks and then watching bad horror movies. Sadly, this one made me wish I’d drunk so much that I vomited on myself in the theater and had to leave to clean it up and was then too embarrassed to return, thus sparing myself two hours of unabating celluloid shittiness.

***
Well, it’s another full evening on the mountain, so I’d best get to it. First it’s baseball, then the end-of-the-year BBQ and afterparty, then it’s on to the saloon to watch Possum Jenkins rock the night away.
Hope you guys all have a great S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y…NIGHT! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y…NIGHT! 

Currently listening to: No Way Back, by Foo Fighters. Head FFer Dave Grohl and his wife had a baby the other day, but sadly did not name her Cindy Lou Foo.

Ugh.

Well shit. Nevermind- that was a horrible movie.
Anything that makes Evil Dead 2 look like it has the plot of the decade deserves a special place in cinema history. That place is out back in the dumpster, underneath the surplus blueberry pie projectile vomit from the "Lardass Hogan" scene in Stand By Me.

No, seriously. A character named "Pyramid Head" really can be scary.

It is reviews like this that give me hope that Silent Hill is going to be exactly my kinda movie...

Luckily, “Silent Hill” is the kind of screwy epic that has those particular qualities in abundance and the result is perhaps the most perversely entertaining bad movie I’ve seen since “Constantine.”
...
In fact, I would guess that about 95% of those of you still reading this are likely to regard it as one of the worst movies ever made. However, that other 5%, the 5% who, God bless them, revel at the sight of a film that revels in gleefully pushing the boundaries of sanity and good taste, are going to have a blast watching it.
(Here's the full review from hollywoodbitchslap.com)

I also tend to push the boundaries of good taste in my life, but not the same way Pyramid Head will. I've played the game. And I do worry about myself because when I saw the Pyramid Head version of the poster, my first thought was, "Ooh, nice arms."

And for the record: Pyramid Head and Buckethead are not even vaguely related. Not even the raping, murdering, damned undead will go anywhere near Axl Rose these days. One has to have standards.

Currently Listening to: Outshined, by Soundgarden

Dude...like maaaan- seriously dude.

4/20 and Earth Day, on the same day? I’m surprised campus didn’t spontaneously combust in a puff of blue smoke, green building techniques, and orange Cheetos dust.

ps- Remember all that satanic music backmasking? Well the Tool song Intension contains a bit of it that would make Ozzy cringe. Around the :42 mark, if played backwards, one can clearly make out MJK commanding the youth of the country: "Work Hard. Stay in School. Listen to your mother. Your father is right."
I'm sure the PTA will be up in arms about this outrage.

Currently Listening to: To Rid the Disease, by Opeth
Quote OTD:
Angels on the sideline,
Baffled and confused.
Father blessed them all with reason.
This is what they choose.
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over a piece of another's ground.
- Right in Two, by Tool

Leaky Tool? Maybe you should see the doc about that.

In this, the digital age that we live in, it is damn near impossible for a band to release a new CD that hasn’t been readily available on the internet for at least 2 months. Last year someone gave me a ripped copy of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb before it was even on my personal radar that U2 was releasing a new album. So the fact that Tool  managed to keep 10,000 Days under wraps for so long is damned impressive.

The official release date is May 2…the leak happened yesterday evening around 6 pm. So we’re two weeks away? That may be a record for album-secret-keeping. For comparison, May 2 is also the official release date for Pearl Jam’s new avocado, err, CD, and it’s been available on bittorrents and filesharing programs for weeks now.

Of course, it’s the Tool megafans (SuperTools? Gearheads? Keenan’s Krazies?) who are clamoring to be the first to own new album, but they’ll all buy it anyway. Even if they buy it for no other reason than Tool’s legendarily nifty packaging, since they already have the music. So from that standpoint it may not hurt album sales that much. Some industry analysts opine that for established bands like PJ and Tool, leaks may actually help sales. (I read that somewhere, but I can’t find the specific link for citation. Google if interested, YMMV.)

So my question is this: who leaked it? Who is patient zero?
Considering the extreme precautions that the band took to ensure it wouldn’t happen, who was that one ninja pirate who was able to get a copy of the forbidden treasure long enough to spread the wealth to the world?
Was it a disgruntled factory drone stuffing liner notes into CD cases at the factory who paused long enough to stuff a jewel case into his pocket? Was it a disheveled groupie who nabbed it from a nightstand as she left the airport Hilton the next morning? Was it a Sony exec’s kid who pulled it out of the CD player in the old man’s Beemer as he hopped out of the car at the Hollywood Middle School for Spoiled Snotty Rich Asshat Children?

And all of this of course begs the next question:
Will they ever find the body if Maynard finds out who it was?

 (Seriously, though, kids. You all have the tracks by now. If you like it, buy it in May. This has been a Gnumoon PSA. The more you know….)

and ps- As a photographer and music fan, getting to shoot Tool would be one of the brass rings for me (NIN was as well). I imagine it would be like Blue Man Group on acid, like Hairspray-meets-MASH-meets-thesmurfs in an orgiastic battle royale set to a fantastic soundtrack. Someday, maybe.

Currently Listening to: Vicarious, by Tool. (This is the first single from 10,000 Days, legitimately leaked, I believe, by the band itself several days ago. Sounds good, like maybe it should have been the rock-to-prog segue between Aenima and Lateralus)
Quote OTD: “Dim my eyes if they should compromise our hope.” – Tool, Jambi

Dog and Weeping Cherry

"Dog and weeping cherry." Oil on canvas, 2006.
Oh wait, my bad... this is actually "Dog whining underneath weeping cherry because he didn't get any Easter ham." Digital, 2006.

Currently Listening to: Bill Hicks ("Me? I'm reading a book! Yeah, we're evolving back East! Is that the Big One I hear in the background? Bye, you lizard scum! Bye!")
This sketch reminded me that today is the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. NPR did a fascinating story this morning about how the conditions are right for another major tectonic event on the San Andreas faultline.