We watch a lot of Adult Swim in our household, which also means watching a lot of Family Guy and American Dad. After a few years of this, I have come to the conclusion that Seth MacFarlane is a creative genius (unlike the watered down kind at the Apple store). Though many people are involved in the creation of the aforementioned shows, those shows are still MacFarlane’s babies. And I am definitely a fan.
Please allow me to introduce my new song – the first in a long time – and a tribute to mr. Seth MacFarlane. The song was written, recorded and uploaded to the Interwebz in about five hours.
Kelly and I have been talking about how many television shows, movies, music videos and other pop culture treasures, that have been “tainted” by MacFarlane through references in his shows. This was a major source of inspiration for the song.
Not all the inspiration came from MacFarlane, however. In fact, two other tribute songs played a part as well. One is “Nugget Man” by Paul & Storm, which planted the idea of writing a tribute song in my head, and the classic “Song for Bob Dylan” by David Bowie. All of this was mixed together in my brain, and this is what came out. I hope you enjoy it.
Since Thanksgiving is upon us, I would like to share something I am thankful for. Recently I had the pleasure of photographing two very awesome and different shows, two weekends in a row. It was the first real work since Kelly had surgery. She is recovering nicely, but has since started follow-up treatment which comes with its own unpleasantires. Her prognosis is good and she is a trooper, and so the time was right for me to get back to work. I was nervous. I felt rusty, still shaken after a run-in with some paranoid private investigators who happened to be at a client’s place of business that I was photographing. Long story short, it had been a rough few months and I was in need of a break.
Jason Webley’s Night of Elevens
The first concert I shot was Jason Webley‘s 11-11-11 concert at The Moore theater. It came about through a question in a short e-mail: would I like to cover the concert, which was the culmination of a year of massive touring and over 200 gigs? Webley had invited a host of friends, performers and fellow musicians to drop in and add some flavor to the show. And what a fantastic show it was. So riveting at times that I had to put my camera down and just watch. Other times I caught myself doing just that, when I really ought to have been taking more photos.
I shot a few hundred frames that night, and for a moment forgot everything else in the world. There was just the work and the music. These are the kind of experiences I live for as a photographer, when you’re in the zone and the camera almost becomes an extension of your body. Also, it was great meeting one of my favorite authors – Neil Gaiman – with whom I also share a connection to…
A W00tstock Surprise!
Comedians Paul and Storm are half of the master minds behind the traveling geek fest that is w00tstock, and also the subject of my second photo shoot. Having photographed them twice before, returning to the Triple Door to shoot the Wil Wheaton vs. Paul and Storm show was something I had been looking forward to for a while. It was – as all w00tstock productions – a show with many friends involved as well, in this case they were co-hosting with Wil Wheaton (Star Trek the Next Generation), and were backed up by drummer Jason Finn (Presidents of the United States of America), Molly Lewis and John Roderick (The Long Winters). Oh, and apparently – me!
This is something I have definitely never done before as a photographer: early in the show, I was called out and introduced to the audience as the guy who’d be walking around on stage, taking pictures of the performers in action. Not in front of the stage, but on it! This was of course just as awesome and amazing as it sounds, but also a bit of a challenge. Not so much the stage part – I’m fine with making a fool of myself in front of hundreds of people – but I quickly realized how ingrained it is in me not to be in people’s way while covering an event. Stepping out between performer and audience just felt wrong! So I stuck mostly to the sidelines. Mostly.
These experiences were wonderful and just what I needed to revitalize. I am super thankful for being invited in and being able tell kind of stories my camera loves, to follow the process and even become part of the show. That is pretty cool, inspiring and motivating – and definitely something to be thankful for.
I’m going through my musical archives and it occurred to me that I had two related songs, in both theme and style, about getting drunk. I mean really drunk, but in a good way. So I turned a photo I already had into a cover, called it an “album” and put it on Bandcamp.
The lyrics are in Danish, and the first song – “Midnatswaltz” [Midnight Waltz] – is about that feeling of letting the booze guide you – maybe to do a little dance, maybe something even more stupid. The second track – “Vodka” – is a celebration of one of my personal favorite drinks: vodka on the rocks. If the vodka is good, you don’t need anything else.
Music is something I’ve only ever made for fun. And because I believe dabbling in more fields than one increases overall inspiration. Though I used to be in bands, play the occasional gig and write a lot more than I do now, it was never with the ambition of turning it into a professional careeer. That’s not to say I don’t sometimes miss performing in front of a live audience. Maybe some day…