New York Summer

Got to show Megan the homeland go Geneva and the college stomping grounds in and around Ithaca and Watkins Glen. Introductions to aging—albeit still cute—dogs. Murphy won a fan. A first time trip to the 1000 Islands in Clayton, NY to experience a dear friend getting married amongst other dear friends. Laughs and meals shared with family. A welcome respite before the deluge of festivals and events with Jam in the Van throughout September and October. Not as many thunderstorms as we would’ve liked. Some pictures below.

Telluride Jazz Festival 2018 with Jam in the Van

Drove a 15-person passenger van from LA to Telluride and back, herded some proverbial cats in and out each day, stopped at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino (won some mulah, may or may not have gotten addicted to Roulette) twice, took a gondola to work each day, heard some jazz, had a lot of free cocktails, etc.

A very nice trip with a good group--well taken care of by the festival folks and the lodging was gorgeous. Piled in some massive bands into the van, complete with brass sections and wacky percussion and the various student bands really shined...JAZZ IN THE VAN, BABY!

Here are some of the snaps commuting to and from the festival site via gondola, the festival grounds and simply walking around town. 

Sojourn to Arcosanti with Tastes of Sedona Spirituality and Desert Hot Springs Relaxation

Recently took a trip with Megan to visit her friend Jona--welder/hostess extraordinaire--at Arcosanti in Arizona. It was a devilish trip in terms of temperature (with my car's AC compressor biting the dust as evidence, but shout outs to Dean's Auto Repair in Phoenix for a day-of fix) but boy was it nice to taste and feel the heat, a mere mortal humbled. We had a great time despite the car setback and the "arcology" of Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri's passion project, was truly inspiring: with domed ceilings and fluid block construction with elements of sci-fi spirituality providing lush backdrops for the pervasive golden light. Definitely worth a visit. Sedona was an hour-away day trip and the options for hiking, vortex cleansing, crystal shops and thrift boutiques were impressive. Highly recommend Chocolatree for lunch or vegan-sweet-treat delighties!

Stopping at The Spring in Desert Hot Springs for an afternoon soak in their myriad of pools and then Rooster and the Pig for dinner in Palm Springs capped off our trip on Sunday.

Some of my favorite photos below, shot on my FujiFilm X-T2 and Polaroid OneStep 2.

Faces of: JITV @ The 27th Annual High Sierra Music Festival

Trials and tribulations. "Pits and Peaks". BuzzBoxes and Beers. Supporters and antagonists. Ween and Tank. Terrapins and Crossroads.

High Sierra (+ Terrapin Crossroads) proved to be a long week full of sweat, laughter, beer and even some tears (from laughter). Everyone worked hard and we survived 5 nights of camping a mere 60 feet away from the Jam Van amidst 10,000+ hippies, wooks, tots, tykes, vendors and outdoor folks. 

My favorite line of the week came courtesy of a grizzled Quincy local, chirping to the gas station attendant as I was purchasing ice that "...and by tomorrow, they'll all be gone and I'll have my cell service back!"

Here are some Fuji X-T2 pix of JITV's many fans: thanks for coming out to hang with us everyone!

Faces of: JITV @ Monterey Pop 50th Anniversary

Had a nice weekend in Monterey, California with happy families, nostalgic couples, buzzy colleagues and beautiful sunshine with a touch of heartbreak.

My grandmother--Pop Pop Jane--passed away on Friday and my mother called me mere minutes after Charles Bradley's set concluded, at which he proclaimed that his battles with cancer and chemo would never stop him from spreading love out into the world. I weeped silently against a wooden fence, as my recently purchased Lamb Curry cooled on the service counter. I could picture my mother and aunt at her bedside, as summery wafts from the lilac bush blew into her room through the open window. She went peacefully. A sporty red (PPJ's go-to car color) hearse came and it was deemed fitting. I saw a group of butterflies fluttering underneath a tree later on in the day and I couldn't help but think they carried her spirit with them. She was always partial to butterflies and birds and presumably, most winged creatures. She was a stand-up lady, quick to laugh and make others laugh too.

The loving community and quality musicianship at the festival, along with the support of my colleagues (thanks for the otter shirt from the aquarium, y'all!), helped me get through the weekend with a smile, of which I am more comfortable wearing than bearing an overarching sadness. I'll always cherish the memories I have with PPJ, and they flooded back ten fold this weekend as I processed this life change amidst smiling families, music-loving couples and friendly artists.

A "Museum" of Ice Cream and a Field of "Dreams"

Visited the Museum of Ice Cream in DTLA on Sunday and it was a short but sugar-filled trip through several rooms with modern sculptures built in the name of ice cream. More Instagram frenzy than a history lesson, but it was a technicolored treat (with actual ice cream treats on hand) enjoyed on a breezy Sunday. Yesterday, I helped Jay Diaz and Jack from JITV shoot a new music video for Honey County, one of the acts that Jam in the Van manages. We ended the day at Golden Hour in a nondescript but nonetheless beautiful field in Agoura Hills. Here are some pix: a mixture of iPhone Hipstamatics and FujiFilm X-T2 shots.

I'M STILL HERE

Dang, it's been a minute. 

I promise I will update more frequently. Honest engine, cross my heart, hope to live.

Been doing pretty good on my New Years resolutions...lowered my blood pressure, on book 7 and 8 this year, drinking a good amount of luke warm water with honey and lemon juice each morning AND I've even gotten to travel around a bit (Austin/SXSW, various desert locations for photo shoots, Lightning in a Bottle, Vail, Colorado, etc.).

Work with Jam in the Van has gotten steadier/crazier/more involved and I'm tackling it all the best I can.

Gotta work on the other resolutions (like WRITING MORE).

OH YEAH! My friend Jesse and I had our first photo show (ever/together) back in February. It was truly a blast and my love for photography grew exponentially (usually grows incrementally when I have time to actually focus on it).

Recently, I got to see some of my photos published on various websites as my friends Robot Teammate & The Accidental Party have received wide acclaim for their 2016 Fringe Festival play "Thug Tunnel". I like shooting promotional things with friends who are beautiful and game (per chance to shoot more stylized, conceptual portrait sessions in the future...)

Welp, I'm going to my favorite pool in the world right now so I can eat a lot of food. Happy 4th, chuckleheads!

-Slip

Friendsgiving 2015: The Numbers

  • 16 people
  • 35 logs on the fire
  • 11 beds
  • 22 pound turkey
  • 3 types of stuffing
  • 2 coffee makers
  • 3 rounds of Shave the Ace
  • 1 Drone Enthusiast
  • 3.5 bathrooms
  • 2 hiking crews
  • 150 "floors cllimbed"
  • 70+ 35mm photos snapped
  • 4+ pots of Mulled Wine and Whiskey Cider
  • ~100 pieces of art/memorabilia featuring bears
  • 1 very fun cabin getaway

Film photos to follow. Here are some phone pix: http://bit.ly/21prvmg

Big Sur Camping

For an all-too-brief 36 hours, I finally got to see Big Sur in all it's beauty this past weekend. I had only driven that winding Highway 1 road once before, in the dark, on a desperate and dilerious mission to Monterey Bay and San Francisco many years ago...

Lo and behold, I finally got to see the coastline. The days were sunny and clear and the night was shockingly mild. Here we were in late November, encircled around a crackling fire in nothing but flannels, switching out sips of Fireball Whiskey and Bud Light. Chloe the Dog sniffled and snuffled between our legs, inspecting the countless foreign forest smells as thoroughly as her leash would allow. Camping is truly the potluck of living: everyone brings a piece of equipment, chips in some food scraps here, offers up positivity and laughter there and before you know it, it's an experiential feast; a purer sense of Being.

We encountered many things, but not limited to: a surly convenience store clerk, torn between pulling pins off a board to satiate my curiosity and ringing out a befuddled woman for her pumped gas; mossy forests, green and quiet, adjacent to pristine beaches that stretched far and wide below suspended bridges; hundreds of beached elephant seals doing the darnedest things; and open shorelines, filled with glassy and polished stones, where Dog and Man could run together, untethered, waves lapping at naked feet. 

More photographs will follow, but for now, here is a link to some phone snaps I took: http://bit.ly/1I8TTm8

A short week welcomes me back, and as I fit in work with Jam in the Van and my internship at Chris McPherson's studio, I must also pack up and prepare for Wednesday, when fifteen of us depart for Friendsgiving and cabin life near Bass Lake and Yosemite, where good food and snow await. Many photographs will surely trickle out into the world from this pending trip: a most joyous time...#getyourasstobass!