LA Art Walk

3.11.2011

Every 2nd Thursday of each month DTLA has an art walk where most of the galleries stay open late and the citizens of LA come out and, well.. walk around. It's great to see these city streets full of people who normally wouldn't come down to DTLA at night because, let's be honest, DTLA isn't lively as NYC or Chi-Town, but it is for one night a month.
There was a lot of cool and interesting art that I'm not going to post because YOU should head down there yourself and experience it first hand...
Instead i'll show you evidence that people actually do walk in LA.
I never get tired of taking pictures of The Alexandria Hotel.


All art forms are welcomed at LA Art Walk... even freestyle rapping.

My view

Her view

Lars and Kjerstin came along for the ride




I loved the shadows in these next few shots.



Kjerstin, Ruwi, Ruthie, Mike, and Lars were great walking buddies. thanks for the great night!

Eat your heart out Peter Parker... Ruthie is on the prawl.

Enjoy!

posted by m

The Cube: Where Cool People are Made

3.10.2011

If you know me, then you know what The Cube is. The Cube is a creative space in the form of 2 lofts occupied by EYES LIPS EYES and Toy Bombs. These two bands moved from Utah to California to leave their mark on the local music scene and have been successful at it. I had the opportunity to tour with these two bands in October of 2010 and it was a glorious time. New friendships were made, and amazing memories... but i digress.
The Cube is a hang out where different artistic mediums take shape. Amanda paints, Tony Hello films and edits videos, Aaron records and masters music, Thomas uses photoshop to express his art in creating gig flyers, and Cole, Brandon, Gardner, Thomas, Spencer, Tony Hello, Ryan Darton aka RSD, and Aaron express themselves musically. Before The Cube was a work/live loft, it was a venue where bands played. LCD Soundsystem actually played a show there once, but it was made into lofts soon after. The Cube was home to Gunnstock where Bastard Lovechild of Rock n Roll, Toy Bombs, and EYES LIPS EYES played to celebrate Amanda's 22nd bday. It was a great night full of music and dancing inspired by CORPSEWALL's excellent choice of music. This inspired everyone to make The Cube a destination for small shows to showcase new talent from LA or anyone passing through. (more on this as details become available.) The Cube is my home away from home. You can often catch me sleeping or editing photos on the couch in EYES LIPS EYES' loft or convincing Spencer to grab some tacos at the local Taco Truck.
Last Tuesday I showed up at The Cube and walked in on Toy Bombs playing one of my favorite songs.
Check it out!

Here's a fun video i made walking to The Cube

There will be more videos like these as more and more bands come by. If you're interested in playing at The Cube, go to The Cube's Facebook page and "like" it and send some love.
The Cube has also been in many videos likes the ones below:




In conclusion: The Cube is the place to be. One day you'll have the privilege of hanging there and enjoying some live music or maybe partake of some of Spencer's tasty french toast at Breakfast night or Aaron's German Pancakes. The Cube is not only a place, but a creative movement that's secretly planning to take over LA and your heart.
see you there!

posted by m

135 km: Pai to Chiang Mai aka Day16 and Days 18 and 19

When we arrived to Pai from Chiang Mai the bus service we took also rented motorbike for local use around the city. It's very easy to see Pai on a motorbike and ride to the serval waterfalls close by or even some of the elephant camps that aren't within walking distance. They also gave you the option of renting the motorbike for a trip back to Chiang Mai for 500 Thai Baht (roughly about 15 American Dollars). From the moment my travel buddy told me about this I couldn't get the idea out of my mind. How great would it be to have a "Motorcycle Diaries" experience, minus the communism, in foreign country. I wanted to take that ride back to Chiang Mai on a Motorbike and have a pseudo Che Guevara experience. So early Friday Morning I woke up and got my stuff ready and I paid the 500 Baht and took off for Chiang Mai. If i hadn't mentioned it already in the previous post, the ride from Chiang Mai to Pai was one winding rode... one that would inspire Sheryl Crow to write enough songs to make 2 albums. The ride was great. Funny how much thinking you can do while riding a motorbike 100km/h (roughly 60 mph) on a straight away and bobbing and weaving through traffic. It was a great experience. I could go on for hours about this solo excursion, but I'll let you look at the photos instead.

Name of a guest house right outside of Pai.

Cool little display.

Not mad... just determined (to not die on the road).

Pai

View from ontop of a Buddhist Temple in between Pai and Chiang Mai.

Buddhas



I arrived in Chiang Mai after 5 hours of travel. I stopped a lot to check out the view, offer a Buddhist Monk a ride, rest, and get gas. There was this sense of peace traveling through the mountains of Thailand on a motorbike. Feeling the wind and sun on my face. The Arcade Fire's Song "The Suburbs Continued" kept playing in my head long after I took my earphones off... My ride was a cathartic experience. Don't try and synthesis too much out of that. It's amazing how much you think about when you're on your own. My mind and body were exhausted that once i got got a guest house in Chiang Mai I fell asleep for close to 10 hours. And those how know me know that i never get more than 5 hours of sleep a night on a good day.

Day 17 and 18 - Jungle Flight was so much fun i did it twice.








Check out dude's glasses. Half rounded and half square frame. This guys was an interesting cat... very smart and actually had learned Thai very quickly. From what his gal pal told us, he seems to catch on foreign languages fairly quickly. He credits it to knowing several computer languages and asking questions about other languages like "How many alphabets does the Korean language have?" about a million times. Aside from his repetitious questions, he seemed like a cool cat... and a good dancer.

Enjoy!
posted by m
p.s. sorry for the long breaks in between posts. I've been back from Thailand for a little over a month and I'm still posting photos. in my defense i've been crazy busy with some projects that i will reveal very soon. so check back! tvb

Days 12-15: Chiang Mai and Pai

3.04.2011

Day 12 - Train Ride to Chiang Mai
After only one day in Ayutthaya, we took a train to the northern city of Chiang Mai. We were well aware that the train was slow as molasses and it would take about 12 hours of travel to get to Chiang Mai, but we decided to bite the bullet and take this journey up north.
Want the full experience of this train ride? Stare at this photo below for about 12 hours, have someone sit next to you and sing random Pearl Jam songs and 90's grunge hits mixed in with some Enrique Iglesias and other Top 40 hits. Don't forget to add the 2 meals comprised of 90% rice and 10% meat.

After a 12 hour train ride we finally arrived in Chiang Mai at 9pm. Upon our we were immediately approached by Tuk Tuk drivers soliciting their services, but were still trying to orient ourselves as to where we need to go. As we walked towards the main road, a very small man with a hunchback (i wish i was making this up) emerged from the shadows. With one hand placed on his chest and the other one directing us towards his Tuk Tuk, this hunchback of Chiang Mai stole our hearts. We took the ride and he took us to our guest house. We never saw the Hunchback of Chiang Mai again, but his adorable selling tactics worked on us. The two photos below are of the only photos i have of the Hunchback of Chiang Mai. He does exist and consider yourself lucky if he ever gives you a ride.


Day13 - Chiang Mai













Day 14 - Chiang Mai - Day Market/Silk Shops



Day 15 - Chiang Mai


Day 16 - Pai
Our next stop on this trip was the city of Pai. One has to take small bus 3 hours to get to Pai and 2.5 hours of that trip is spent traveling uphill on winding roads to prevent motion sickness... the payoff was this.




enjoy!

posted by m