a new leaf

Spring has finally completely sprung, yay!

thanks to the folks who emailed / called / commented on the last post, I appreciate that. I don't usually go all off on the intellectual rants like that because a) most of the time I don't really know what I'm talking about which just makes me look even more like an asshat than usual and b) stuff like that bores the hell outa even me. christ that was a pompous post. but thank you. seriously, kick me if I do that again.



Before I get too far gone with the pics, I'd like to give a quick shout to Daniel at pouringdown. if you don't have a machine capable of running quicktime, oh geez do I feel sorry for you... and what the hell are you doing in the twentyfirst century anyways? throw that 486 out the nearest window and run, don't walk, to your nearest Best Buy or CompUSA or wherever because seriously, 1995 called and they want their technology back.

ahem.

anyway, on the pouringdown site, check out the Purgatorio vlog post from back in mid April, it is pure genius. you might have to watch it a couple times thru (like I did) to catch it, it's very, very subtle. Check his other links, they're all very short clips. some of them are pure performance art.

along that theme here's some of the stuff that passes for graffiti in Boulder.


this one's actually not bad. and it's got a cool backdrop too. I've been meaning to shoot this for weeks, but I've never had good light. seeing as it is now the season where it rains every day at 4PM like clockwork, it looks like I never will have both a) time and b) decent light to shoot this with, so I made do. I think the moody sky actually sort of fits the theme.



then there were these yuppie tags I discovered on an electrical box behind a trendy condo complex. hmmm. While I don't think the urban artists in Boulder have much to fear from the competition, I do have to wonder if Martha Stewart also got prison tattoos...



Back when I was a little kid and I couldn't really deal with big pronunciations and stuff these right here were 'blowy things'. Guess they still are. We got a ginormous wind/hail/thunderstorm going on this afternoon and I imagine these are in Wichita by now.



Hope you got that dandelion digger ready, lotsa baby dandelions ready for action right here. (edit: what is it with people and their immaculate lawns anyways?)

So, I don't really go for the casual / candid portraiture thing. I'm too paranoid someone will get pissed and/or confront me. as much as I hate dealing with strangers, this rates high on the trauma / to be avoided scale.



However, something about yon boy and his dog demanded documentation. Actually (and feel free to scoff those who know me) it was the dog that caught my eye. He has a really wonderful expression and was making a good job of being tied up outside of the single yummiest smelling doggy paradise in Boulder (Snarf's sandwich joint). Very well behaved little guy; he didn't even hassle the bystanders for treats but was content to gaze longingly at the Portal O Bliss where perchance his owner might (just maybe) produce a snack.


The fact that dude himself was totally oblivious to the camera was a mere side perc.



and this dude here certainly wasn't oblivious to the camera but it was just a fun shot. I figured since I was holding a bike, I could just hit him with it, or kick him in the shins and knock him off his skateboard if he decided to go all aggro on me.

I cropped this all wrong, but it's too late now and I'm too lazy to go re-work it in photoshop. blah.



I had just been to an ATM and was walking the bike up the alley (silly me for being all law-abiding) -- there are all these scary official signs back there: NO BIKES NO DOGS NO SKATEBOARDS OR WE WILL BLOW UP YOUR HEAD AND GIVE YOU THE ANAL PROBE... well maybe that last part is a little out there but there were big scary signs. and a lot of them. and all of a sudden this skateboard dude just appeared out of nowhere. so I just whipped the camera up and shot, unfortunately the low light meant the shot got messed up some with camera shake, which is why I converted it to a faux-lomo. a 100% crop of the original file shows the look on the guy's face and it's pretty priceless, tho why he thought some prat with a bike was gonna turn him in to the cops. whatever. I keep looking for the tinfoil, guess it's hidden under the toque.

and of course I can't post this without a shot of the trusty steed, without which none of this would be possible. well, it wouldn't be IMpossible, merely highly unlikely. I hate walking.



and I just can't leave it without the cliche beauty shot of the Flatirons. It just wouldn't be right to write a blog from Boulder and not be doing the cliche mountains shot, right?



cheers,

LFR