when you wake up early, you wake up bitter.

i realized that some people's blogs are really boring,
i say this as a person who generally doesn't peruse blogs...ever really.
i find i just don't have the time
maybe once in awhile one might fall into my retnas
and i'm forced to finish what ever the fuck thought that person had at that time

or sometimes i may read blog TO,
but to be honest, that shit can get just plain boring
and i think most people read trite like that just to be trendy
(the bastards)
but yeah, blogs...
i just happen to have one
it's mostly for myself,
experimenting with visual discourse
and rhetoricalness
but as the tangent I was trying to stick with a few lines back was about to state...
i came across a really fucking boring piece of shit which just made me question why some people even try

substance isn't something that magicially appears;
because when you're boring, i hate you
and when you record it in long drawn out, poetically void phrases covering extremely subjective material, the world hates you too.

therefore, get a job at McDonalds. (so i never see your face again)

i am tired,
i hate fundraising.

reaffirming my love...

with Travis Barker's drumming abilities...

So I got seasonally ill,
though I tried avidly to avoid the harsh weather
and large groups of unsanitary people

then I remembered that I work in front of a casino
with thousands of vagrants, slobs, unbathed obsessive gamblers and creepy people
plus some really fucking awkward guy who shook my hand.

also I took a cab

it really could be either or.

the new photography continued

this is the second chapter in the new phtg. 

matt versus nat photography has a new location for 1/2 of the partnership and its ..... dare i say ... sextastic:

NCphotography

and here's that old gem...soon to be revamped: 

MHphtog

oh, ps.

i checked out 'american gangster, ' Jay-Z's most recent drop.
it should have been called 'american piece of shit at rapping' because damn, that fool fell off.
more on that later.....

photogs!

I felt that I needed to hit you with some fresh stuff, so here it is.
eerie, black, white and beautiful.
These are from a collection of shots from late fall. It is now winter, and I need to go out and sanctify my soul with some creative work. I've got new shots from before the snow hit. It's only about a week old, I just haven't uploaded it.
But you'll get it when I'm ready world, stop your bitching.



this is the new wave in photography, the new photography, the sex love and drugs photography, this is....

wow

I fucking love Jude Law, that is to say, I respect him immensely. His calm British vibe reminds me of what I'd be like if I'd been born over seas,
or simply taken a semester abroad.

The British swagger is really more of a subtle moxie,
a quiet confidence that is usually drown out by us North American talkers. With our loud screams of arrogance we try to cover up for a lack of style. Obvious exceptions rise ready to hop the fence on both sides.

This stands as just a general observation, of which I am obviously removed.

But I digress,
This short film (which is actually a trailer) is absolutely fucking golden.
Not only does it inspire me to go hang out around a European marketplace, it delivers poetic philosophy and a well thought out script.

A visual golden horse, this piece reminds me why Jude Law is one of the classiest motherfuckers in the game: because he chooses to perform for the art, rather than his pocket book.


Prove me wrong:

blahh

treachery and betrayal,

these are two themes rampant throughout my sleeping life.

my only limitation is fear,
anything I am not afraid to face, I can defeat, or move beyond

my sleeping life transcends time and space,
I live a thousand days every time I close my eyes.

I think I'm going to start organizing and writing them down.

bitch please.

drama, naiveté, locomotion and troll do not mix,
especially when they all come together in the form of a purple haired hoebag at your place of work
and she's all:

"cha....i'm overly emotional and can't make sense of life"

which really means:

"I was rejected by someone with your level of moxie and swagger, therefore I resent you."

Then she goes all highschool on your ass with a verbal onslaught of behind the back smack jiving, which makes you think of all the fun times you had while you were ACTUALLY IN THAT AGE BRACKET AND NOT PRETENDING YOU STILL ARE (pathetic)

and then you're like "yeah, whateva..."

...and the obnoxious chorus comes in....

Dear Weather,

please get nice again soon,
I apologize on behalf of the world (or at least my surrounding area) for taking you for granted.
The sunshine was nice, and so was the warmth.
Hell, I'll even take the cloudy rainy days over this cold godforsaken blizzard storm.

Or maybe it is unavoidable (in Canada).
If that's the case (which my 20 years here suggest) the city should build levies,
except for the wind.
They could block it out, and save us from being overtaken by these high-speed snow-carrying face-blasting soul-destroying gusts of wind.
It wouldn't even be hard...just plant some fucking trees and stop vacating the natural wind breakers from the land.
We wouldn't have to worry about them breaking, because unlike the people (lazy assholes) who designed and built the ones that ultimately led to the destruction of most Louisiannian lives, these levies would be designed by nature, and perhaps god -
and unless I'm mistaken, those are two mo'fuckas who know how to get the job done, slack free.

i hate you all.

I've decided to become a Luddite
and smash my laptop.
Though this will not be because of it's replacement of me in society, rendering my existence useless (which it hasn't...and at this rate, never will)
but because i can't stand the sounds.

The micro follow-up was done inline with the aforementioned concept. However, with this I wanted to have something more organic so I went for a heartbeat vibe. The offset fades are meant to cause confusion and spark out the whole design.

The throw down was relatively easy; (the challenge) was figuring out how to maintain a consistent style while experimenting with a new execution-ique.

for this (contrived) banner I was working toward an erratic in-your-face style. I used a silhouette which I had made from a photo of my brosef as a defined shape, multiplied it and tried to get the clone-threat aspect working for me. Originally I just had it stutter in and out, but threw on a fade out while playing around with it and liked how it jived. The overall theme is 'awkward,' as I was trying to play against existing themes found in contemporary banners. It's a quasi throw back to the good ol' days of choppy frame rates and wicked bad video games (doom, mostly.)

Also, (as i realized right this second) it has a zombie-esque allure to it. goodtimes.

The pulsing is a heartbeat.

ewwww

there was this awkward douche that sat down next to me on the bus, and he was the type to sprawl out across the seat in an uncomfortable fashion, so i turned up my ipod and kept reading, but even over the blasting taking back sunday throw back i could still hear him making lame comments about the weather and trying to pick up the (unnattractive) girl across the way.
bastard.
also, he smelled like rancid cat piss.
I wanted to fight to take back my space, but at the same time....cat piss.
I was afraid his scent would rub off on me,
so i zoned out and transcended metaphysical.

suckaahhssss

stop stealing my theories world.
or perhaps i should just stop expressing them
and keep them all to myself
and you'll all suffer, void.

yeah, take that contemporary world view!

Nas retrospec', and we can all breathe again.

finally, contrived website as follows:

tekzt musical engineering (a website)

read it,
love it,
live by it,

bitches.

dreamweaver is a piece of shit
there's no way anyone could ever pay me enough money to figure this out for a living.
no matter how many approaches i take
or how many options i try to make happen
it just wont happen
my teeth hurt, and i don't know why...this whole situation has got me so agitated i just want to punch a baby.
...or smoke an entire package of cigarettes
but probably neither cause fuck that.
and fuck this
its so poorly written
just like your face
bet ya saw that one coming,
and if you didn't
try harder to actually know me, creep.

we'll travel to infinity, i'll always be there....

so drunk girls?
annoying. some would call them easy, but the old fish in a barrel thing was never my scene. I actually just pictured that in my head and threw up a bit. FISH + BARREL = PUKEFEST/ANCIENT EUROPE.
drunk girls that are hideous?
the fucking worst, especially when you're working
and you tell them to leave
and the ho's all "i'm not even....that, drunk!"
WELL BITCH, TELL ME WHO THE FUCK SPEAKS WITH THAT SORT OF PUNCTUATION?
Drunk ugfos, that's who;
ones that need to get shot in the face.
i'm not advocating murder,
but the intense emotional trauma may cause the sickly slut to shut the fuck up once in a while
and the drastic surgery may actually help the looks department of her life.
(YEAH I'M TALKING AT YOU SQUARE FRAMES, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.)

don't get it twisted, drunktimes are goodtimes. (mostimes...where's the t? RIGHT THERE!)
in fact, if you don't drink, you are a fucking fascist.
there, i said it
i didn't want to go there, but look where we are....
dragged out into the brutally honest realm of truth and me, bitches.
but i digress, and then return to my previous point. follow? awesome.
if i like you, you can get drunk
if i don't like you, you should probably lock yourself in a cave
which really won't be that easy when you realize there are no doors in a cave
or locks for that matter
that is, unless you are in the bat cave
but if you have access to the bat cave then you must be batman
in which case we'd already be friends
unless you're that tool robin, then you should test your flying abilities by jumping off the nearest bridge.
THE POINT?
caves bitch, caves.
and drunk hos.
all around me
oh no,
i seem to have lost myself for a moment
well chew on some broken glass - i'll get to it sometime next week. (oh that elusive point...)

quote of my life, today.

"The problem with communists is they act like bossy know-it-alls in a country where nobody has any power and information is banned."


-oh vice, you slay me like i'm some sort of mythological being and you're a sword swinging black knight of truthiness spitting fiyahhh.

i have the soul of a fat kid.

I've developed a taste for __________ snack mix. That is to say, it's infatuation verging on obsession. I look at fat kids and suddenly understand the 'why.' I feel like a fat kid whenever I sit down with a bag...mostly cause only one of us ever gets up...and I ain't talkin' bout the bag. It's lightly dressed heaven in crunchy edible form. THANK YOU CAPITALISM you bastards finally got something right. SUCKS FOR YOU...NORTH KOREA!

when did referring to people as 'muffin' become so damn trendy?

if someone's dropping a term of endearment on me, i want it to be something awesome, like optimus prime, or supreme overlord...maybe even sexbot....not a baked good.

if you think you had a bad morning....

dear world,

i put butter in my coffee. it was a bad choice, and i think i may now have lymphoma.

because jokes are only funny when they aren't sad....and in human form....

i hate kelly rowland.

Not just because she can't sing, or that she only really has that one song she put out way back with the lamest rapper of all time (which ps. sucked harder than a vacuum cleaner endorsed by a hooker) OR EVEN that she was the retarded destiny's child. It's because she stole my baby.

okay, that's a lie, but still...she could be shot in the face and no one's world would be shaken. (maybe a little stirred, but who are we, James Bond? everyone knows he was just Britian's douche-y answer to Dirty Hairy...or maybe Dirty Hairy was the answer to James Bond...either way a .44 magnum is way better than a fucking laser watch - AND DON'T EVEN SAY BOND GETS MORE WOMEN CAUSE FUCK THAT, IT'S QUALITY OVER QUANTITY unless you've got low self-esteem, which sucks for you...i guess?) Don't lie to yourself. If she put out a solo album I'd probably throw up in a thin plastic bag, track her down, then precede to beat her with it in hopes that it would knock her out, break open AND ruin her hood-rat-esque attire. (there, i said it, bitch looks like one of those hookers desperate old white dudes with scruffy beards and four kids drive by and say to themselves 'well i do want to taste chocolate, but i promised myself no more tranny's')

Where does this seemingly unprovoked hatred stem from? Well I watched Sway's interview roll from Fashion Cares and realized that yeah, it's one thing when artists try to milk the success of something that hasn't been cool for 7 years (and won't ever be worthy of a throwback) - but it's something COMPLETELY sad and precocious when that same ho drones on about some shit she knows nothing about, especially when that 'shit' is AIDs.
What is this, the 80s?
GET EDUCATED, BITCH. SHIT AIN'T HARD, WE GOT THE INTERNET NOW. GOOGLE IT. GO ON. I DARE YA.

oh and while you're there, read this:



Dear Kelly,
take a shower and dry yourself with a toaster, bitch.


-live by it.

lunch at 6

i'm searching for a digital camera

i have one, but i need a compact.
i love my motherfucking cannon, don't get me wrong,
but i need convenience sometimes.

is that so much to ask?

Who cares! It’s like the Matrix without all the depressing scenery and homicidal robots.

Attention America:

Deliciousness kills!

Everyone knows that the world is getting smaller. Borders are tightening and people are spreading. But as the population grows, so too does the average waist size. The shocking news isn’t this decade-old fear which has been disseminated to the point of redundancy, but rather that it is becoming a global affliction. Is the world getting butter with its rolls, or is the planet finally shrinking?

Most credibly experts believe the former. The human condition has swayed from the tragic melodrama to extra fries on the side of a triple cheese burger. But is obesity an individual clinical condition? Society says yes. The idea here is that people are in charge of their own lives and therefore determine their own dietary and exercise habits. Although in lieu of increased technological barriers to personal fitness, the downward slope of healthy meal options, and the trite image of nearly unattainable aesthetics in advertising – it isn’t hard to see why many are starting to see obesity as a growing health problem.

The exciting and sensationally-charged other side of the fence screams pandemic, and after reviewing the numbers it’s hard not to join in. Like our chain restaurants, cheap music and obnoxious slang did decades earlier, North American medical conditions are now creeping across the globe. A French study released its findings earlier this week which revealed that roughly half of the world’s women and nearly two-thirds of the world’s men are obese. Now Mandeep can enjoy diabetes with his Big Mac without leaving the comfort of his own country.

What does this mean for culture and the future of science itself? The major concern is that obesity is leading to a greater incidence of diabetes, increased risk of dying young and high ratio of unattractive people in our society. The insight that this new study brings to the table is that these problems are quickly becoming global. New methods of food production as well as action-oriented technology will need to be uncovered if we ever plan to turn this sinking ship back to shore.

One idea coming out of the pharmaceutical conglomerate Roche and Abbott is drug therapy for the global population. This of course will come at a cost, which makes you wonder if this wonderful and selfless corporation had any hand in producing the foods which got us here in the first place. But I digress; two pills, one solution. The red pill will break down the existing fat cells in your body, combating your current weight problem while the blue pill suppresses your appetite. This of course comes as a shock to the coffee-and-cigarette population who have already been skipping breakfast for years (but no one asked those skinny bastards.)

The alternative is to hire someone to yell at you 24/7 for even thinking about eating obesity-inducing foods as he chases you down the block forcing you to sweat out those extra pounds. However, if paying someone to stalk and verbally abuse you isn’t your idea of a ‘solution,’ simply eat right and exercise regularly.

The first step is to promote this positive choice without the use of stigmatizing labels. Experts say that calling someone, especially those who are younger, terms such as overweight or morbidly obese can be damaging. So if the beautiful models plastered every five feet aren’t soul crushing enough, demeaning comments coming from authority figures will be the factor leading to eating problems and the avoidance of exercise.

Social ills such as decreased self-esteem and discrimination can be brought on by this unfortunate affliction. These are issues that an individual can carry with them for life, and that’s no laughing matter. Additionally, medical conditions such as heart disease and ultimately premature death are areas of extreme concern. Obesity is a serious pandemic that has swept North America and the world over. It is time for responsible individuals to stand up and take action to protect themselves and their loved ones from such hardship. For more information on how to stay healthy, visit the Canadian Food Guide.

i used to x off days,
now i barely get through them

and with all of this
i wonder

what did my father do with his spare time?

CONTRIVED POST AS FOLLOWS

the best site ever: mh. phtg

Sexy, clean and well put together. If you don't like it you are a holocaust denier and that's all there is to it.



the worst site ever: facebook

Terrible. The clutter is damn near blinding, the features are pointless, the art direction is questionably existent AND it's a life ruiner.


If you disagree then you should be shot from a cannon to a communist state and forced to manufacture bland products for the rest of your life.

never watched carebears...

as a child, my idea of a good time was far removed from watching that trite bullshit.

first off, i hate bears...especially obese ones that live in the sky and care about things.

secondly, there were better shows going on...like x-men and ninja turtles, and everyone knows that mutants trump acid-trip animals every time.

i had a bottle of juice break open and soak my dress shoes today.
it made me realize that the overuse of plastic material leaves our society open to breakage;

our downfall is coming in the form of leaked mango concentrate.



also, obesity is an epidemic - even for poor people.
preach consumption and question our gains....oh the media, how i love you so.

because I'm up this early on a friday...

there are thing in this life that i hate; here's a list in no particular order....

• when the coffee's bad
• being out of cream but half asleep
• the mornings your significant lover is at work by the time you wake up
• having to work a 12 hour day
• people
• bullets that are diamonds
• when douchebags pretend they're all righteous even though they've lived a kush lifestyle and couldn't deal a day in the life they criticize
  
• the measurement of time
• commitments
• the gradual transition from nice weather to hellish cold
• rain when you've got somewhere to be
• waking up when you'd rather be peacing
• dryer lint that only ever seems to get stuck to my only blank black polo
• plans not far enough in advance that its too late to do anything
• plans so far in advance that you forget they even exist
• people who shouldn't plan shit but do anyway
• fake pregnancies as an attempt to hold on to a burnt out flame
• girls that have actually tried that
• girls that WILL eventually try that
• trifling ho's
• uniforms
• drunk people (mostly just when I'm sober)
• the platypus
  
• junkies that ask you for change instead of just robbing some body (it's just being lazy)
• drunk polish people that I don't know who revert back to a drunken language I don't understand while I'm waiting in line behind them
• people who don't appreciate post-its
• judgefulness (HA)
• time that keeps on slipping like a Del song
  
• bears
• arbitrary lists of ambiguity

the list of things i love outweighs this ten fold,
kinda like a gypsy in a knife fight with a high school student.

TIME TO GO TO WORK

i work with depressing ghetto cats pissing their money away on glue factory rejects,

my girlfriend works at a high-end fashion mag where her work gets published.


oh, life.

i just finished my first dj set
it was my first time spinning cd's
and i don't really use/hold on to cd's anymore
why?
because they're obsolete mostly,
except in vehicles without ipod connectability.

i've decided to buy a mac when i get back from amsterdam.

lavish in the ghetto.

people that gamble should probably not gamble.
eloquent, i know.

those who can't, gamble.
those who can, know better.

well let me rephrase:

those who can't play slots,
those who can know better.

...and betting your child's college fund on a future adhesive just has bad choice written all over it,

yet some how they manage to make so many cash dollars every day.
if a corporation rakes in billions of dollars every year from providing false hope,
why do they have such a sleazy atmosphere?
because people die there, and it's easier to clean up the death in a place that screams murder.

soul buying is the sport of kings.
slots are the devil's cash register.

this is not my most artful post....

I hate when doucherags comment on the fact that I look tired when I didn't sleep at all the night before. I know I look like I haven't slept. It's because I didn't asshole. At least I know what it feels like to look good and you, well i guess a down day for me is kinda like your life. ROUGH.

Also, sweat pants. That might not really seem like a sentence, and you're right. It's not, but here's one: I dress myself, so thanks for talking to me as if you're discovering words for the first time. Yes friend, sweat pants...not jeans, not dress pants, but somewhere in between....and magically they're made of the same material as both! How does that work? Oh science. PS. How about I look better in sweat pants than you look in your dreams. And that sucks because in your dreams your free too look however you want. which evidently isn't good either, so how about you never sleep and see where that gets you. Homeless I'm hoping, and in a ditch.

OH AND the fucking silent button on my phone means i don't want to talk to you, so don't call 5 times, cause that just verges on pathetic....so go kill yourself or something.

this is truth (because I said so)

Muskens also has drawn attention for other ideas such as encouraging the hungry to steal bread and offering condoms to combat HIV and AIDS.

a news analyst for FOX News Channel, also called the idea impractical. "Words and names mean things," Morris said. "Referring to God as Allah means something."

How is this journalism? Because when you write for FOX, the news is what you make it - and a Catholic Priest advocating acceptance, understanding and peace is really just a misguided deviant. Also news analysts are apparently THE MOST ARTICULATE PEOPLE EVER.

full article:

Roman Catholic Bishop Wants Everyone to Call God 'Allah'

and now for a change of pace....

I recently got into an indie-eclectro artist by the name of Bonobo. Hailing from Brighton, his soundscapes are so chill that they make Josh Davis seem like a speed junkie. His drum lines, offset by the interesting and eclectic collection of orchestral samples, back the serene vibe . Bonobo's musical stylings put me on a beach where I'm being served by European models wearing nothing but what God gave them. It's a beautiful thing. His music doesn't necessarily inspire much action, he's a chill curator, and that's often just what I'm looking for. No wrist slitting angst, or rage driven thrashing, just sit back relax and shut the fuck up music.

What does that mean? Well I'm not talking 90s new age lame-as-flip-flops-and-a-chicken-killer style "chill" like Enya. This is far greater than ambient noise that could have very well been a recording of an emu fighting a manatee....underwater. Subtle aggressiveness comes from the sharp stompings on the kick drum and the harsh snap of the snare. The drum hook drives his tracks along like a slave parade some time during the roman empire, but then drops into a free form break giving a sense of spiritual enlightenment. Okay, maybe that's a little intense...but it's really good music to vibe to.

Does this mean you can't dance? Hell nawwww, dance up a storm brothas and sistas!

Personally I've always had a place in my musical heart for deejays of the obscure, especially those who exhibit a strong sense of energy in their music. To be able to blend chill with energetic drive is a skill few can muster. Thankfully there are respectable killah's out their doing there thing.

The design of www.bonobomusic.com however simple, was lacking in terms of graphical style. Although I did like the quasi-animated header panel which changes (like the background colour) from section to section, it was not enough to deliver any form of visual appeal. Aesthetically speaking his site flopped - a good idea executed in poor fashion. I agree, sometimes pragmatism takes the wheel and form gets thrown in the trunk.... but I also agree with design purists that it makes for a slack design.

The stutter effect when you click photos, the reload factor when you switch pages...it all amounts to a sub-par site for a phenomenal artist. Unforch? Definitely. To its credit, the site was designed for people who know Bonobo. It is for those who know music and not necessarily for freshies on the scene. You have to be a part of it naturally and when you are, you realize it's about the music.

because the day after a breakup is always a bright one....

i feel so lost
so empty, so heavy
thoughts weigh a ton
and now the strings too
pulling me down down down
i wish i could cut the ties
and just let it all go
i dream of beaches
and prisons
i dream of freedom
and cages
if i can control it all
then why did i let it get this black
the south never get this cold
but this city is freezing
and so am i
i need to run from the changing leaves
and land somewhere south of haiti
and typically, no one will know my name.

thanks for tainting my mind, emo artist.

i'll dye my hair i swear
i'll wear ill fitting jeans
and fit in, because self-destruction is in
as far as the illusion goes anyway,

signal to noise pt. II

"The Bathing Ape Has No Clothes (and other notes on the distinction between style and design)" Adam Greenfield takes an in depth look at contemporary design - or the lack there of....

While exploring the world of design, Greenfield begins by tearing into the self-proclaimed designers of the online world. He goes on to relate the creator of BAPE, Nigo, to a stylist rather than a designer. His argument is that modern design - or what most people consider to be mod-des is a half-assed method which leaves out the most important aspect - functionality.

According to the laws that Greenfield lives by, a design must suit the needs of humanity, and be a perfect blend of function and form. His old-school approach separates artists from designers - not definitively, that is to say it's not that an artist cannot cross the line and put out a legit design, or that a beautiful design is anything less than art, BUT self-expression is not enough when it comes to putting together something for the masses. It becomes somewhat of a science to fulfill all needs and still make it look good.

Generally speaking, this article was well written. In fact it was the best article I've come across on A List Apart thus far. Greenfield's combination of wit and articulate style made the piece enjoyable AND informative, two lines that -unfortunately - do not intersect very often, or for very long. His ability to combine humour with educated deconstruction and criticism using a very static form of discourse was commendable. Bravo.

To be honest, I was surprised when I saw his photo at the base of the article. I had envisioned a young urban gangsta type. Okay, maybe not that last part, but lets just say I was definitely more than a little thrown off when I saw his face. Just goes to show that you can never judge a dude by his mug, and that insight can come from a hobo on a bus. That was kind of obscure, but we all get the message - kid is dope, despite his appearance. Maybe I've just never been a fan of the bald head with beard vibe - its too Mandel-esque (puke! ohhhh gross!).

go with the flow and figure it out

FRESH! is a collection of images taken at Fortino's grocery market. The harsh florescent lighting made for an interesting group of shots. I focused on fruit not only for it's deliciousness, but because the vibrant colours made for a visual orgasm. After about 10 minutes, the store manager informed me that I had to stop taking photographs because of "legal issues." He then proceeded to watch from a distance making sure that I cooperated - the bastard.

Oh well, the shots I managed to get were pretty sweet, next time I'll shoot faster, and AT A BETTER STORE.

signal to noise

"I’m not even sure why they’d bother to call themselves designers, except that it has a vaguely contemporary sexiness to it, whereas stylist sounds like someone named Marcel you might find working at a hair salon."

photog common

the photos:
inspired by vietnamese cuisine and a little bit of love;
nat and i went downtown for the afternoon, we both brought our cameras - these are my shots...









the common show was actually amazing. the first show in a while that i'm actually glad to have been to. q-tip was a little on the let down, but common picked it up and rocked the mic well. somewhere between him throwing down his own rendition of 'new york state of mind' and rehashing some of the greatest lines as a tribute to hip-hop, i realized how fucking strong a performer this cat really is. his frees were on point, his melodies were fresh, his live mixes were off the fucking hook, and what bad can i really say about the show? the beer cost too much, BUT THATS ABOUT IT. sound was dope, and the deejays didn't leave a jaw left undropped. GOLD.

"hip-hop is the people, the people need to get better"

support the movement,
support culture

latenightlights

these shots were taken in an attempt to capture the cityscape view from my apartment. fueled by alcohol, the results are interesting to say the least. the concept builds on my earlier 'painting with light' theme.

someone I knew was stabbed to death.
A year ago he kicked it in my basement,
now he's kicking it in limbo.
life is short and life is fucked up.

saw it all, not the blade.
a violent end, a thousand new
but so it goes
we're all living with ghosts...

Why did I get a plug for a Brazilian internet service provider posted on my blog?

Because Google is a whore.

the biggest problem is that i can't remember my url

Daoism versus webdesign...

I feel that the web is an unnatural manifestation of human existence imposed upon nature. Where as Taoism was written to be a natural philosophy, Allsopp appropriates it as another unnecessary method of comparing mac's to PCs.

He loosely allots passages of Tao's writing to aspects of his own profession....which just goes to show how transparently subjective all media can be. I agree to an extent with some of his suggestions, but even then he is asking us to reach....

Overall, the best thing about this article is the setup of his blog. If he added some red it would be very stijl. Regardless, aside from the 'riveting' comment he drops early on, the piece lacked the personality I not only enjoy, but have come to expect from blogs.

2.5/10

Riveting indeed.

food is where i draw the line

...or:

never let another man eat your food.


in order (top to bottom)
shot 1: I took this shot just after getting off the subway at St. Pats station. (on my way record digging- ended up with some fresh Gil Scott -got to love those flying dutch.) It pretty much looks like a transformer, really it was just a collapsed set of escalators. Nat got pissed, but I stayed till I captured what I first saw in them.

shot 2 A - C: Bedroom design was a collab between Nat and I. The red/white/black with simple exaggerated pieces. The very stijl room was lit up by the sun setting so I took out my camera and this is what it caught.
'A' is the untouched version,
'B' the black and white with slight channel adjustment, and..
'C' is the selective 'trip out shot'

shot 3: The subway was leaving, I was right there. BAM it just happened. The green lines actually happened too....in real life....they just shot out of the train.....it was like the matrix...

if my cream doesn't mix in my coffee, is that bad karma or just bad coffee?

poet and madman

This image is an album cover I'm working with. The photo was taken by Natalie Castellino.
I'll probably make it more square....

The rest are photos from a collection I was putting together. Each one represents its text. Figure it out.

I was inspired predominantly by Emily Haines' knives don't have your back, and a fleeting feeling or two. (chronic haze?)

i really like sugar crisp, even without milk.

a conversation, static.

declare independance. don't let them do that to you. says:
(blow) its ruining peoples lives
declare independance. don't let them do that to you. says:
whyd your ex gyal ruin yours?
matt. (the killah) says:
she just did, drove me to drugs
matt. (the killah) says:
as escapism
matt. (the killah) says:
i've found a postive light that supports me
matt. (the killah) says:
well
matt. (the killah) says:
again
matt. (the killah) says:
a subjective term
matt. (the killah) says:
i've found what..for right now, i am defining as love
matt. (the killah) says:
not having to change myself, being embraced fully, completely
matt. (the killah) says:
and growing
matt. (the killah) says:
intellectually, emotionally, spiritually
matt. (the killah) says:
the depth of this is far greater than any interaction i've ever been a part of
matt. (the killah) says:
so
matt. (the killah) says:
we're both new people
matt. (the killah) says:
the important thing is that we're happy
matt. (the killah) says:
more withourselves than anything else
matt. (the killah) says:
afterall, our world, our life....is what we create
matt. (the killah) says:
it all stems from our own ability to cope with ourselves
matt. (the killah) says:
everything else is a creation, a construct, a negotiation
matt. (the killah) says:
what can we negotiate if we don't have a basis?


***'drugs' is a subjective term. for the purpose of this conversation it related to any negative substance, situation, or otherwise which removes one from themselves and temporarily suspends relative conscious thought***

everything stems, so why not try to find the roots?


my take on 'supposed' over-analysis.

polarizing yourself in either direction is the only tragedy

I don't know about you, but I hate it when douche rags at bars don't buy me drinks for free.
Free drinks are the basis of a free democratic society

if you don't buy me drinks, your a fascist. That's right, I didn't want to go there...but I had to.
So if you like Mussolini, to the point of wanting to emulate his contemptible ways...don't buy me drinks.

If you do however support free will, goodtimes and freedom in general...you must buy them for me every time you pass my way
even if I haven't been drinking
and I try to turn it down
do it like a nike ad
and if I throw it in your face,
take it as a sign of grace

sleep versus science

I woke up from a dream about going to a hockey game which rapidly transcended to a break battle with three deejays. The hockey players had more moves than crazy legs. What does this mean?
I'm lost in the stadium of life, waiting for something I hate, trying to see it for something I love? Do I just need to go out dancing?

Actually, I don't really hate hockey, so much as I am indifferent to it. Maybe that is the message streaming from my subconscious mind. Stop wasting time on indifference!

It is such a nice day outside, and I am sitting here beside the window. I should be out shooting. Making things happen. Not learning about telescopes. I understand the cultural implications of scientific discoveries. Do I really care about Hubble's Linear Theory? No.

More than anything I just resent the time of this class. It's never a good day if I'm up before noon. Maybe I'd enjoy science in the evening?

Also my throat still hurts, I hate summer colds.

old photos, new work: the 7:52 collection

I came across a folder of photography I had taken one night while walking to a friends house in Meadowvale. For those of you who aren't familiar with the area, it's pure suburban sprawl with a ghetto mentality. I was shooting in early fall, just as the leaves had started to golden. The streetlights combined with the wet streets and bright leaves gave me some interesting scenes to work with.

I shot about 30 frames on a walk that usually takes me half an hour. I didn't have much of a theme in mind, but thats the way I prefer to work. Freeform expression is my thing.

Almost 2 years later I've come back and worked with the images. I started off desaturating and blasting them out with the channel mixer, then I slowly brought back a touch of colour. The results were actually pretty sweet, so here's a few of my favourite ones.....










SIDEBAR: you'll notice I added music to this bad boy.
The track is called dopetastic, and it was produced using my bare hands.
I plan to release a mixtape with my beats and the vocals of my co-collaborator Nate, a.k.a. illnotes. It will probably drop sometime after I get back from Amsterdam.

gratuitous use of a subjective vernacular

***WARNING, CONTENT MAY OFFEND, BEST NOT TO BE READ BY THE OVERLY SENSITIVE OR THOSE WHO PRETEND CERTAIN PHRASES DON'T EXIST...WHEN THEY REALLY DO, HARDCORE EXIST....ALL THE TIME***

**ALSO THIS IS NOT WRITTEN TO ANYONE IN SPECIFIC...SO RESERVE YOUR OFFENDEDNESS...IF THAT IS IN FACT A WORD, WHICH IT IS NOT....TECHNICALLY...BUT I JUST USED IT, SO IT IS A WORD... KIND OF**

*POINTLESS THIRD WARNING*

As you may already know, blog-hosting giant Blogger.com just dropped its latest feature allowing internet users everywhere to creep like they've never crept before. Play Blogger allows users and the general public alike the chance to actually watch images being uploaded to the sites database in real-time. What does this mean you ask? Well since you're too incompetent to click the link I just provided, allow me to retort: it means you can sit there and watch a consistently updated slide show of images from bloggers across the globe.

So if like me you have your blog settings jacked on open, Jane Watson down in Memphis, TX can be setting your overexposed face as her background. AWESOME! Not only can people save the images you have up on your blog, (to doctor in amusing and incriminated ways) but they can also click your photo of you and your friend Carlos (who they will later claim is your migrant slave) and be taken directly to your blog.

The privacy perks that arise with this new tool are too numerous to mention. Actually they aren't really...here's a list of possibilities in case you were wondering:

1. Upside: People can sit and watch other peoples lives like some sort of television show that lacks any sort of continuity - instead of actually living out their own lives!
Downside: The people on television meet some sort of standard aesthetic requirements, the people on Blogger Play do not. Also some images are less interesting than the carpet in my apartment. Actually they just really fucking suck.
2. Upside: People can save your face and print it on t-shirts with amusing slogans like "I fought a bear and lost"
Downside: A lot of people are crazy
3. Upside: Even more randoms can find your blog
Downside: Some people you don't want finding your blog (i.e. Billy the-crazy-hobo-with-a-laptop....who may or may not exist....or your boss when you talk some smack after a terrible day of work...or your mom.... "well then why don't you just keep that stuff off your blog?" because I don't, smartass.)


What are people saying about this new cross cultural mosaic? I don't know, I haven't really read up, nor will I. However I feel that this wondertastic feature, though jammin at first, is really just another attempt to capture the fleeting attention of the online community in general. It is interesting to feel for a moment that you really are a part of something greater and that we are all connected....but then again, who cares?

Do I really give a fuck about what Larry the shoe salesman ate for breakfast this morning? No, I actually want to punch him in the face and my computer screen for displaying the image. Then again no one really has a gun to my head forcing me to creep, creep, creep.

The truth is, like so many previous online fads, this is bound to get old fast. Destined to be one of those crowning achievements that everyone will forget about by tomorrow, if they even know what it is today, Blogger Play will go down in history as yet another superfluous waste of life, just like myspace, and soon to be facebook.

Like television, the web was built to educate. Luckily, just like the cancerous box in every living room, it too has deteriorated to just another means to a lifetime of uselessness.

Though aesthetically speaking (not on behalf of the photos themselves but...) the setup is well done. It's sleek, streamlined and functional (though the point of which has already been dissolved). And while were on the actually upsides of the feature, Blogger Play is an interesting idea. To be fair to its designers, this technology was never sold as something life altering, but simply something that is "fun, often beautiful, but above all, compelling."

HMMM, compelling? Perhaps that's a little too ambitious...unless they mean in the sense that it compels people to upload more crappy photos (some are interesting). To be honest, my time on Blogger Play made me doublethink about what photos I'll ever upload to this blog....temporarily....not that I really care (don't judge me cause I'm awesome). Also, I saw a total of about 20 photos (about 30 seconds) before I got bored and started writing this. Perhaps that says a lot because that is 30 seconds of my life that I'll never get back... kudos Blogger.com Staff, kudos. (Now get back to the drawing board for some other way to compete with real life!)

If I had to give some sort of arbitrary grade I'd give Blogger Play an E for effort, but a D for staying power. They've created a service that is so far from functional, yet is able to draw the attention of someone so utterly amazing as myself for the amount of time it would take me to steal a bowl from Tim Horton's (I'm not saying I necessarily stole a Tim Horton's bowl, I'm not necessarily saying I did not....possibly).

Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. But we can all agree that Eva Longoria looks better now than she did 15 years ago, and after all....isn't that what we're really thinking about?

Time it takes a blogger staff member to read this: 45564939494949493 minutes.
Time it takes a giant tool to calculate how long that is in rational terms: GO GET LAID

*IF YOU ARE OFFENDED, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE READ THIS FAR*

random!

bamboo smells terrible if you don't change the water.
people that don't store toilet paper in the bathroom are misguided.

no knock, they can knock your door down

I recently came across a speech by typing the words: "I wish I had..." into a Google search. One of the first results that appeared was not necessarily what I had intended to find, but I suppose the random nature of the search gave way to random results. The byline on the top of the page noted that this was a speech written for high school students and that it had never been delivered. The school he had been asked to speak at, upon reading over the copy, had decided that his speech wasn't quite what they were looking for. Needless to say, I was intrigued. What content could be so dangerous that a high school administrative staff would be forced to veto its delivery? I read on.... The first line that really got me was this:

"don't give up on your dreams... implies you're supposed to be bound by some plan you made early on. The computer world has a name for this: premature optimization"

Premature optimization, to try and make the most of something before you even realize what exactly it is. This was my greatest fear in high school: I didn't know what I wanted to be, where I wanted to go...half the time I didn't even realize where I was at. But still, there would be some head at the front of an nondescript classroom telling me to act on it. In fact if I take a step back now, to gauge where I'm at... I still don't know exactly what I want to be, or where exactly it is that I'm going and these heads still exist. I doubt I'm alone. I see it in the faces of the everyday. The drones working for 8.50 and hour, the old ladies on the bus sucking humbugs. Are they where they want to be? Are they going anywhere?

I do know this, what I want to be - more than any practitioner of a specific profession - is happy. Where I want to be - more than anywhere specific in the world...even a beach with a waterfall - is surrounded by people that share the same passion for life that I do.

Money is irrelevant in this argument, it's about what a person does with their own capital. The gap between the average human being and Niche far from marginal. Why is it that so few of us strive for greatness? That so many would rather settle for someone else's cookie cutter life? Instead of 'don't give up on your dreams' the phrase should go something like: 'let your dreams be your own.'
That was the problem with high school, or maybe it just went unmentioned. It was there for us to figure out for ourselves. Though it would have been nice to have someone let us know that it wasn't the rest of our lives at stake. High school, at least to me, was about the social atmosphere. It was about doing something you hate, you don't understand, or just plain don't care about just to complain to the next person about it all; To create some common ground.

But I digress, the most fascinating thing about this article is that I wrote something similar when I had graduated high school. An expository for those who cared to read it. I did not necessarily set out to inform, but inform is what I did. I did not necessarily intend to impact readers, or advocate the reevaluation of views...if it happened, so it goes. The interesting thing to consider goes beyond the content of either, but the censorship that attempted to offset and obstruct it. Selective education versus something more free. Why not allow the kids to hear what else is out there? Why not allow them to see that there is truth beyond those red brick walls. Are we so far removed from ideals such as democracy? Isn't the cornerstone of our society supposed to be choice? Are some ideas really that dangerous? Granted there is a certain structure to the system, one that requires a hierarchy of affluence and respect (fear) to keep the masses flowing through and fulfilling the duties that keep this society running. I feel that it's cultural suicide, but maybe that's just me.

Perhaps there was no formal governing body subjecting my work to censorship. Perhaps it was my lack of regard for the student masses out there that kept me from transforming my private discourse into something more public. Now, based on an arbitrary example I will assume that I too would have been blocked out like the sun had I tried. Self-defeating, or self-absorbed? Well I'm not a hero, let them discover it for themselves, or perhaps not at all. After all, the world does need garbage-men.

If I had to break down his entire speech and combine it with what I had intended to communicate it would be that high school exists to encourage the questioning of itself and other similar institutions. That the ones who get the most out of any institutionalized education are those that reject and find new methods of attaining truth, objective or otherwise. The byproduct of such are masses of robotic, barely self aware creatures ready to serve yet another hierarchy. It's like using bacon grease to cook your eggs. mmm... functional.

Now let me end with a quote,
I forget who originally said it, not that it really matters in this context,
for me the words came from an eclectic old carpenter:

"it's not the answers that are important, but the questions"


Anyone that doesn't understand that needs to keep flipping my burger.

note: yes, I used a semi-colon. Though many have joined the hate parade dedicated to their destruction, I am keeping them alive.




[to read the article/speech by Paul Graham click this]
[to read the article I wrote 2 years ago click this]
***WARNING MATURE CONTENT***

life, bar, example. this is freeform.

i had a really interesting conversation with a group of people i never met before tonight.
we spoke about culture, politics...to an extent...not the baseline jargon so many people get caught up with these days.....it was unexpected and real, two things that get all too often overlooked in this busy city life that we all strive to achieve.

jamaican jerseys, african dialect, polish surnames....it was an amalgamation of random points of interest.
there was no wrong
no right,
just conversation.
the most beautiful ends are achieved this way
with no prejudice
no preemptive shutdowns
no definitive bias
we were all open to new ideas

maybe the alcohol fueled this,
but i think a lot of it began before we even started drinking
the drinking was a byproduct of our conversation
if you really have to label it either way

some people are so scared of opening up
afraid to bare themselves to the world
and on what basis?
what the media has setup?
precognition is one thing
preperception is another
to try and justify your own ideals with constructed fact
or to create a view based on what you'd like to hear....
what benefit can really be revived
what gains can be made?
what about progress?
or is that not what we are really striving for?
is it all about sameness
about being docile robotic slaves?

fuck that
i'm moving to argentina.


also, on a sidebar...drunken people are idiots
you can gain a lot
(or a little..depending on how you gauge it)
just by being surrounded by lush motherfuckers.
(they're all perverted...not in the prudish sense...but the strict functional sense of the word.)

I realized golf and pretentiously rich go hand in hand.

go figure...

dopest recipe i've ever stolen from Natalie...

• 3 sweet potatoes (mashed)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• NOT A LOT OF salt

heat over stove. pour in a pan. pour a ton of brown sugar on top and broil till it caramelizes let it cool, hot sex on a platter.

I had a discussion today
it was an informal discourse
a private discussion of all the ignorant hypocrisies that exist these days
and I suppose they always have....
consumption, consumerism, the environment
maybe it's only a north american thing.
maybe the 'north american thing' is just to pretend to be passionate
to turn around without any real care
to be as trendy as possible with the issues that plague us

the problem isn't overproduction
or imperialist consumer-slavery
those who care don't do enough,
those who do enough have their own priorities.
fear or laziness,
which is more universal?
i believe in the teachings
i read the five per cent
a nation is alive,
eighty-five trapped.
the organized move,
philosophizing the difference.

comtemp-photog:
matthewhigginsonphotography 2006-2007
































































"If you saw that, you should check the philosophy...."