Emily

Emily made a big diorama of her grandma in a garden of color that now sits in the window of the ATA space on Valencia St. in San Francisco. Emily's drawings are already really beautiful, and lately she's a talented jeweler as well, but I was particularly floored by her genius in this project. I'm not sure what's the best part--her drawings turned three dimensional, her grandmother looking out for the city or her impeccable sense of color. They're all the best part.






To celebrate this artistic feat, Tim's band played for only the second time ever. And they were very good! There were so many friends. Everything was perfect.

Soul Style

In the last year, I've rediscovered music videos. I took a break through college from MTV, et al, and haven't had cable since high school, so now when I see things like this my jaw hangs agape and I'm really fairly bowled over by all that marvel. Sure, they're a bit frivolous. And of course, they're basically commercials. But I love intelligent advertising; it is most absolutely a genre like any other. A good music video is exciting, in its own way, like a blockbuster movie or primetime tv. When it happens to be great and mainstream, well then you know it's really something.



This, for instance. The style in this is unreal: the lead singer, her big hair, that white dress, the dusty old theater and that Porsche 356 convertible. London in the 80's never looked so polished. I love a good song with inspired visuals to set the tone for fall. Don't you?

In Costume and Pretty Crazy

Last weekend John and I went to see Chris play in his new band, Eldridge Eyes at Fort Gallery here in Oakland. Hardly ten blocks from our house, it was a breeze to get to and the venue is really nice for music, as well as for art. Bands usually occupy their rearest room (there are several) and its intimate but roomy, bright but dim. Right now the gallery is showing a collection of motley photos, by various photographers, framed in sort of raggedy old mis-matchy frames which I rather like.

EE was really great, especially considering it was their very first weekend performing anywhere. They're last song was heavy and optimistic and had some pretty psychedelic vocals I'll be anxious to hear more of. They were joined by another baby band, Free Execs, who were a one boy, one girl duo that sounded ten times bigger than they were. An orchestra sized sound coming out of only two people. And then there was this other band, which might have annoyed me if I were performing with them because it sort of turned into a one band show, owing to a string of three dimensional teddy bear bunting that read "I Like You" and the spectacle that followed. This band was called Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, to give you some idea. Their music is a bit manipulative, as they basically repeat affirmative sorts of phrases, like There's Nothing About You I Don't Love and I Know We All Get To Be Like That Sometimes. So that half way through their first song, I felt like I'd seen them somewhere before, maybe at a Dan Deacon/Atom and His Package split 7" release party, but this time they'd come bearing disguises for the YOU to wear and expected some help in putting this big old show.

Because I realized it'd be difficult to explain in words what this experience was like, I just took my handy dandy video camera and made a quick sample sized movie for you. Keep an eye out for the giant glowing robot:

Costumes Dancing from Mary Casper on Vimeo.

It's not that it wasn't pretty fun. Fun, as in Chris wearing a shark hat and a pumpkin costume simultaneously, mind you. It's just that it feels difficult to wholeheartedly enjoy that particular hipster, art kid, prop-based brand of fun and still go home and look yourself in the eye again, you know? So, while the curmudgeonly gentlemen who lives inside me remains skeptical of such antics and showmanship, I think it was still technically fun. And I like fun.