Posts filed under 'Rant'
I don’t know what I’m really about to write… I think I’ll make this stream of consciousness… As of this very moment I feel completely unmotivated. I can’t seem to solve the most simple problem on one design. An illustration. Thats all. I feel like this problem goes a little deeper than just this project, I don’t think that it has anything to do with… I don’t know, I think it might actually be because I’m inside, at home all fucking day, working, creating, thinking, reading. I usually do good with this but lately, it’s been kicking my ass. We were at the screening for Beautiful Losers the other day. It was an awesome documentary. Everyone who isn’t cool should go see it. I’ve seen Aaron Rose like 4 times around Minneapolis and yeah… We also went to Chris Johanson’s show at some gallery on Nicollet. It was odd. Kinda fun, but odd. Aaron, Chris & Jo were there, I wasn’t sure if they were tired or just sort of chillin. I think the art scene here is totally different than in Denver. It seems to be more of a thing for your friends and if you aren’t a homie you are sort of that weird person who nobody knows that showed up… I haven’t been able to feel totally involved in it yet, but I think it’s kind of uncomfortable still, to go. I feel like I need to draw more. Maybe that will help. I want more coffee, and can’t seem to enjoy much if any of my own music lately. I wonder if I’m dying…? No of course not. It’s all imaginary, it’s a subconscious excuse to be lazy… maybe it’s nothing. Shit. Ass-clown.. Thats a rad word. Well, I guess I’ll go make some more coffee and try to eat enough to go for longer on this whole creative spurt I’m not having. Poop.
May 5th, 2008
Moving out of state has proven itself distracting, at least from the expected daily routine. If you don’t know already, Celeste and I are moving to Minneapolis in like 24 hours. We will attempt to bridge the gap between these two flourishing communities via related content and interesting things we think are worth sharing with Colorado that are going down in MN. I hope that all 4 of our readers don’t think that we are leaving you out. The plan is not at all to leave anyone out, but rather to add some people in to the circle. More soon.
February 26th, 2008
The Denver Egotist just recently posted an interesting thread referencing people’s take on the similarities of work and style in CO, from an outside perspective. I personally think it’s completely true. Colorado as creative region is stale and safe. Which, in some peoples eyes, is ok. There are only a handful of creative people here really doing anything to push the limitations in creative communication. This is known, and obvious in our output. I would think that because, we have such a close and comfortable community, we would be more excepting of stretching the expectations and raising the bar. Instead, we are all faced with conformity, on certain levels, just to be noticed as an asset. My aim isn’t to discredit hard working people or to make anyone feel bad.. maybe feel bad.. If you ask me, it feels like there are a few decent agencies running Colorado, and they pimp it out like a pack of prostitutes. Anyone that comes of as hard to tame, gets the smack down. Anyone that wants a decent or realistic salary gets turned away. The emerging potential talent gets no love or motivation to be involved, just gang raped. It’s so obvious when you don’t fit in, like walking into a Kiwanis club meeting wearing Dunks and a bright colored hoodie. You get the glare and no handshake at the door. When you are shown your seat it’s a busted ass chair next the the trash can or the bathroom. This is not only the perspective of one or few, but many.
February 5th, 2008
This shit needs to stop! Johnny Cupcakes has fallen victim yet again to large corporations looking to profit off of those who don’t know any better. As you can see in the photo above Billabong recently released a shirt that is a blatant RIP OFF of a Johnny Cupcakes original that was released back in 2005. So what can we do? Well for starters spread the word… if you’ve got a blog please re-post this.
Unfortunately in today’s market… the only voice we have other than shaming Billabong… is our wallet! They cannot survive as a company or brand if we stop providing them with the means to sustain themselves… DO NOT buy their products, DO NOT wear their products, Send them and email expressing your frustration and disgust. Let them know they will never again see any of your hard earned money.
This isn’t the first time Billabong has been caught either… they did the same exact thing to Mike Giant a year or two back. Example here.
Democracy = Participation
As a community and as a society… we really need to start taking a stand and showing corporate America that we call the shots! WE DRIVE the economy… and we determine if a brand is successful or not…
Please support your local designers and retailers who carry conscious driven goods that are made and produced in an ethical manner!
January 10th, 2008
If you’ve been reading lately, you probably have a decent idea of how I have been feeling, not only about the “scene” here but in general as well. Lately, Denver has little to nothing exciting going on. No fantastic art shows, no new people sticking their necks out to be noticed and ridiculed for being different. There haven’t really even been any little fights brewing on the Egotist. As a matter of fact the only things that are keeping me motivated as of lately are, the grand opening of The Shoppe, Design Jam 08 and finding a good (emphasis on good) job either here or some other place in the giant world that most, only live to see nearly none of. I’ve actually found myself spending more time thinking about what I want to eat or how I want to organize my desk. I’m beginning to think it’s mostly being convinced that things are exciting, rather than actually being so. I love to stay motivated and as aggressive as possible in getting better at what I do. But how can I stay that way if there is nothing to keep me attentive? I don’t mean to bring anyone down or sound like I’m down. I’m attempting nothing more than to stir up an emotion in you, the reader, or even myself. Sometimes we need a push or a reason to do something great. Actually, not to change the subject, I just recently saw “Good Night, and Good Luck.” I learned a little bit about a very important media figure in the 50’s named, Edward Murrow. He had some really amazing things to say that were important to what was going on then, and even reflect importance on today’s culture and state of being. I’ll leave the specifics up to your own findings. Make sure you look intently. I’m sure there is a lot of little pieces of information you won’t be able to find that rapidly. Hmmmm. I guess the moral of this post is two things. The first being, if you know of anything fun and exciting happening in Denver or that might affect anyone in Denver, let us know. The second, my new hero, Ed Murrow, might say something like,
“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”
I heard this and do my best to remember it every day. A new mantra perhaps, from Edward Murrow’s mouth and my fingers to your eyes. Use it to your greatest advantage.
January 5th, 2008
JoyEngine has an exciting new project in the works. We just recently got a sneak peek, and we are starting to get a little antsy over here at Because We Like To waiting for the hotness to drop. C’mon guys, we’re ready.
November 27th, 2007
I hate to admit it, but I think I fell into doing the very thing I attempt to dismiss. To me, holidays are misinterpreted and over celebrated with a lack of understanding. Generally the holidays bring gluttonous spending of potentially hard earned American dollars on unneeded items, and lazy fanaticism mixed with sports related television programming. BLAH. These are all things that seem harmless in their mention but, in ways more than one, they slow our level of achievement and distract us from our responsibilities. It might sound like I’m saying relaxing is bad or unnecessary but in reality, I am only bringing mention to the route of what I think are some of the most obvious problems with people and our way of life today. I mean how is it that the entire country can stop running because of a holiday like Thanksgiving (a day to think about what you have and how lucky you are to have it…), but then is directly followed by the largest shopping day of the year? It seems slightly contradictory to me… Hooray for discounts on shit we can’t generally afford or standing in a huge line at 3:30AM just to make it into a store filled with completely miserable people and employees only to spend money on crap. Don’t think of me as a negative person, think of me as a honest person. All I attempt to do is discuss things I don’t think are right with consideration that it might lead to debate and resolve of other super important and under discussed issues. I also want to say thanks to Chris for doing what he does. He sort of inspired this rant and is one of the few people I know that attempt to speak out in a responsible fashion… In closing, I promise I’ll make sure to stay on top of writing better content and so on…
November 24th, 2007
Today is another day, and with it, comes more plotting. The past few months have been spent plotting, planning and scheming, on not only ways to make enough money to pay the bills, but also whether or not our job search will take us out of the state. Celeste and I have been looking for good jobs for a long enough period of time to where, if our thirst can not be quenched here in this lovely town, we will move on. Its nothing personal or anything, I just feel like I am a go getter not a sit and waiter. If Denver won’t let us do what we dream about doing, then we can take it to a place with more open arms. Of course I only speak for myself when I say any of this, but I am just trying to vocalize my frustration with this whole situation. By no means do I assume we are doing anything so extraordinary that no one can keep up, I also do no think that we are the only ones here that are making effort to change this place for the better. I’m not really sure how I feel entirely, but the one thing I know for sure is that I will make every attempt I have at being creative, learning from everyone else around me and doing my best at making an impression. I will stay busy and constructive until I can’t physically do it any longer. I don’t know, I have really high hopes and expectations for people and I wish I could be given a chance to to share my ideas and enthusiasm with a group of creative people and get paid and save a little loot in the process. Just a little piece of the dome, for you, my very respected readers.
October 31st, 2007
Lately I have debated whether to wear contacts or not. Contacts really suck when your on a computer all day and generally make my eyes really tired. So how dope would it be to rock like 4 different glasses depending on how you feel and get a pair of vintage cazals and throw prescription lenses in them. Dope! I just might have to do it.
October 21st, 2007
As I am sure you know, I’m quite involved in art and the “scene” here. I’ve been drawing since before I was walking and have painted since I could read… Later on in my life I learned to appreciate alternative and less familiar forms of art, such as graffiti, film, design, dance, fashion and so on. Still, in all of those years there are things I don’t understand about the people who enjoy it (art). I’ve met all types of people from all different backgrounds and all of these people still express either an interest or an understanding about art, but for some reason in the past 6 months or so I have realized that there are some people who have no understanding or appreciation for it. They only seem to look at it as a status thing or like a “hip” thing. They actually only want to be around so they can say they were there or touched, or met the artist, whatever…
Also in those 6 months or so, I have heard and or witnessed these same people steal or attempt to steal work, art, time and least importantly money (all referring to the same thing) from the artists and the people who really respect it. Scot Lefavor’s show, a while back at JoyEngine, had a dirty little thief attempt to take something from his show. She treated the whole thing like it was a pack of gum or something, like it was cheap and replaceable or unnoticeable piece of merchandise… Later at the same place, Shannon Bonatakis had a piece stolen right off the wall. And now another JE affiliate had a couple pieces “walked off” by some turd college kid who has no idea what he/she just did to the community.
All of these things have happened in Boulder, which doesn’t mean it can’t and or hasn’t happened here, but what the hell does that say about that magnificent little wonder town full of karma? I don’t really know what else to say… Is it us, the artists, who have let this happen?? Could it be the place we live? Maybe its all unrelated and random occurrences? I actually think its a couple of things. I think that art is becoming just a scene to a lot of people. I also think its because, in a lot of cases, we are all spoiled to have such a seemingly creative community where we can go to an art show almost every day of the week. We are lucky in that way, no doubt, but I think this also means that the creative community is over saturated with a lot of people who are only along for the ride and don’t care to see Denver/Boulder grow into its full potential. Its all of that shit combined with the fact that so many people don’t live this stuff. They are just the 9-5er’s doing as little as they can and stealing our jobs and our art… I think that if you are in it, you should be in it to win it.. There shoud be no half assing here…
In all, the moral of the story is: Don’t steal, especially something like art. Next, do this shit because you want to, not because, “art school was an easy alternative or because artists are so cool right now” be true and you’ll end up being mo’ fresh than the rest. Respect.
P.S. Sorry for the lengthy post, I was feelin’ it…
October 17th, 2007