sparkrobot

Hey October… It’s March. Yeah, well, better late than never. I had forgotten about these photos I shot at Hell’s Kitchen back in October of 2006 when I found them again recently while digging through hard drives. The Turn Ons (Seattle) brought their own light show and dressed up as cats for Halloween… Go on, see the photos of The Turn Ons.

I’ve posted a couple of submissions to JPG magazine for the upcoming issue, including an image taken in Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood last summer of the Western State Hospital ruins under the umbrella category “Entropy: Things fall apart.”. Another theme for image submission is “Breakthrough: Discovery, progress, and revolution.” for which I’ve submitted an image taken at the Hotel San Jose in Austin, Texas last summer. The themes are to be included in Issue 10, which closes in 18 days. So this is a call to you—my really-good-very-best-super-awesome friend—to vote for my images. This is a democracy. You don’t want to be responsible for its elementary breakdown. This is about freedom. So go vote.

If you haven’t heard of it, JPG magazine is a new concept magazine / community built around people who love photography. I have a few of the early print-on-demand issues and a purchased a subscription when it became their new offset press publishing model. Unlike most photography magazines, JPG is not one of those magazines with reviews of every new digital camera (gear gear gear) and ads that consume most of the available page real estate. It’s about photography and there are huge spreads of (believe it or not) photographs. There are some ads, but not the variety that are huge bargain price lists that clutter other mags.

The manifesto:

JPG Magazine is for people who love imagemaking without attitude. It’s about the kind of photography you get when you love the moment more than the camera. It’s for photographers who, like us, have found themselves online, sharing their work, and would like to see that work in print.

If you want to see more images of the ruins of the Western State Hospital facility in Lakewood, they’re online on my flickr account. Sorry if you’re reading this twice, WordPress is tripping out on jpgmag’s promo banner javascript…

A couple weeks back I was at Bob’s Java Jive and some bands bands were playing, presumably because it was my birthday. Both Tacoma bands, Waves and Radiation (photos) and Sons of Ivan each played. Waves and Radiation taps the instrumental space rock vein, reminiscent of Duster, but let’s say eating a Mogwai sandwich. (Mmm. Evil fairy sandwich.) Sons of Ivan (photos) had a droney shoegazer 60s pop sound.

The show was also a benefit to keep the Jive alive and there was a raffle between sets with lots of donated goods. Tacoma rock stalwarts Girl Trouble donated a bunch of stuff to the mix. The apex being a signed Estrus 7″ box set that went home with a lucky gal. Good reason to be jealous.

Surprise, I brought a camera and some film. I’ve posted some photos to the gallery.