Day Job Awesomeness Part Deux:The Big Sleep and Home Delivery

First we have Sigur Rós playing in the lobby, and now The Big Sleep's "You Can't Touch the Untouchable" soundtracks one of our installation videos. I almost like working here today! The full context is available at the exhibition Web site for Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, but here's the video itself...



(Video by my good friend David Hart, who is off getting married right now. Congratulations, David!)

Sigur Rós @ The Museum of Modern Art, June 17, 2008

Iceland's finest purveyors of soaring etherea, Sigur Rós, came to my day job last night. Surprisingly enough, not even the music-killing acoustics of the five-story-high atrium was able to ruin their set... the show sounded pretty good (if a tad quiet). I had a fairly shitty vantage point for pictures, but I do like how Rodin's Monument to Balzac looks like it's a member of the band...







Brooklyn Vegan has an extensive selection of pics as well.

R.I.P. Stan Winston (1946–2008)

Makeup and visual effects visionary Stan Winston died yesterday after a battle with multiple myeloma. He was 62 years old.

The best way to explain Winston's impact on the cinematic landscape is to list just a few of his most notable projects...

The Thing, The Terminator, Aliens (Academy Award), Predator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (two Academy Awards), Pumpkinhead, Edward Scissorhands, Jurassic Park (Academy Award), A.I., Constantine, Iron Man, and of course, the Mr. Roboto mask from Styx's Kilroy Was Here album and tour.

On a personal note, well, it's hard to overstate Winston's impact on my childhood. I spent all of junior high school (and much of high school) planning to be a special makeup effects artist when I "grew up"... a goal mostly inspired by Winston, Rick Baker, and Tom Savini. The Thing remains, in my eyes, one of the finest cinematic achievements of the last fifty years, and much of the credit goes to Winston's astounding creature effects. And beyond these fanboy proclamations of admiration, there is the undeniable fact of his influence on how movies look today. Just take a gander...

NYC Popfest 2008... Well, Sort Of

Despite managing to miss 50% of the events that comprised this years NYC Popfest—too tired and sore to make it to Love Is All's set at Cake Shop on Thursday; to late to make Tullycraft's show at Piano's on Friday—it was still a fun event to try to be a part of. Saturday's Ladybug Transistor set at Music Hall of Williamsburg was an adorable treat, despite the fact that massive thunderstorms apparently scared many twee nerds away from the show. And the Popfest Recovery BBQ & Farewell Show at Union Pool was fun. Granted, the sunshine was so nice we couldn't bring ourselves to go inside and watch the bands. Okay, so the bottom line is that my indie-pop street cred (library cred?) took a massive beating over the weekend. Bad fan! Baaaaad twee nerd!

Anyway, despite my apparent shortcomings as an indie-popper, I still managed to get some good shots of Ladybug Transistor...

The Breeders at Webster Hall June 10, 2008

Well the new camera has arrived, and as it turns out... well, it seems the problem may not have been the old point-and-shoot after all. Rumor has it there are lenses and other tricks that will conceal my rank-amateur abilities. Let's hope so.

The show was fantastic, culminating in a rousing "Happy Birthday" serenade to the Deal twins (who were both in high spirits throughout the evening). Along the way, the band trotted out several favorites from Pod, including their cover of "Happiness Is a Warm Gun." An incomplete setlist (missing "Safari" and the second encore of "Fortunately Gone") and more pics are available over at Brooklyn Vegan. **UPDATE** Kim wrote a post on the show over at Spinner.com, and there is apparently a gallery by yours truly going up in that post as well. In the meantime...

White Rabbits at Music Hall of Williamsburg, June 7, 2008

Behold, the only decent shot I got at this weekend's excellent White Rabbits show...

I am very excited to be getting a new camera.

TWO-HIT WONDERS AND MORE SASQUATCH PICS

Head on over to Spinner.com to read my latest feature, Two-Hit Wonders. (Okay, I only wrote like fifteen out of twenty or something like that... close enough.)

And here's some more Sasquatch pics. I'm still ironing out a place to post a bigger chunk, so keep your pants on.