dystaind

ah--- i've been wanting to ride fixed for a long time-- maybe when i go back to san francisco. the roads here in pittsburgh are pretty awful and the hills are abound...

i might post up some pictures of my schwinn world sport if i'm not too ashamed to show my junk.

but i'm surprised nobody put up videos of lucas brunelle.... probably my huge inspiration for sticking with gears.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3123908086916868348&q=nyc+bike+messenger&hl=en

my situation is a bit different. pennsylvania's min. wage is $5.15. so the boost to $8.50 is pretty damn good out here. i have some friends working there and they get 50% discounts + the allowance (i feel like it was $200 to spend on 50% off clothes every 3 months, but i might need to double check.) so also yo ushould account for what your state min. wage is etc. also my friend has access to "damaged" goods. this ranges from uneven stitching... to "sun-damaged" shirts that were on models. he recently got a flex fit hoodie in that awesome blue color in his exact size (small) for $10.

but uhhh, if the 50% is all you want with AA-- there's other routes to get cheap prices. there's always the Ebay store Tuffy McPuggles or you can try and get a wholesale account. i got one a month ago and although i use it for screenprinting for stuff, i also buy clothes off of it for fun. the wholesale price list is here:

https://www.americanapparel.net/wholesaleresources/prices/US.asp

which is a higher discount than employee on the major items.

i'd say just find a place that seems like you would be happy working there and has decent pay. i know people who are miserable in both environments, the food service retail and the clothing retail ends and i've seen others happy in those situations. in the end, this won't be a life career- so a few hours out of your week for some extra pocket $$ + a decent discount on clothes you would wear often isn't such a bad thing.

Waldo.... from where's waldo.

i'm psyched to ride in pittsburgh's critical mass and be lost in a sea of bikers.

yep.

and heres my little brother 5 minutes ago just getting home from the gwar concert

30 mins after getting thrashed at the GWAR/Municipal Waste concert.

my friend and i had solid red contacts after the concert and had to throw'em away.

i seriously haven't drawn in a year though. all of my work is turning into electronic media driven stuff... (programming, max/MSP/video + sound art.)

if anyone is interested:

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~nblee/index.htm

had a horrible midterm week. shaved off hair as part of an art exhibition. hair is wet from washing out the excess.

threw on the studded belt and hanky for shits and giggles, took'em off before i left the room.

the jacket is really high/short because it's a 1950's era WWII Eisenhower jacket.

oh nice, another bay area dude. yeah, during the summer i returned home to CA and was craving a road bike to get around-- but San Jose is pretty barren and you can't really get around some of the areas like you can in a city like San Fran or even pittsburgh. while i was in CA i found a cheap 1990 Miyata which i'm missing quite the bit. some dude in Los Gatos was selling around 100 bikes and i was lucky enough to nab the miyata before anyone else could grab it. my friend also has rocks the 1970-80 world sport schwinn, his is steel grey and even has the original foam handlebar grips.

can we start a bike thread? i'm curious to see whta people are riding. i'm not completely sure what mine is yet (i haven't looked around for my serial #) but it's circa 1970 schwinn world varsity. god i love the thing-- it's heavy and steel but it absorbs all of those potholes and tanks everything the pittsburgh hills throw at me. seriously considering a fixie-- although it might be suicide in such a hilly/bike unfriendly city like pittsburgh-- but i'm craving the skid stops in wet/snowy weather + being able to stop and not have to get off my bike but balance on the pedals.

ohhhh man. 2nd night in a row i'm up till 7 AM (mostly working) and this one's probably going to be an all-nighter. figured i'd post since i havne't done so in a year or so and been lurking recently in the past few weeks.

got nothing but a laptop cam, so i got a little creative with the mouse and so on.

you can't really see the details on the shirt

here's the most ungratuitous shot i could think of to show the details of the shirt. horizontal stripes meet vertical, god i love this thing.

and i can't really show off a hamburger belt buckle on a laptop cam without taking a crotch shot, so here it is-- the real McDonalds Big Macâ„¢, a 1975 piece of americana dug out from some thrift store in who knows where utah.

and basically these last two pictures to sum up my mood and the fun that can be had with a laptop cam

i'm starting to get delirious...

mstrkrft - the looks

the bronx - the bronx

melvins -(a) senile animal

i've been blasted by caffeine in the past 3 days and also been on a music high (i'm just browing sendspace/rapidshare threads and i think i've neared 5 gigs in the past week)

been really really psyched on dance music ranging from the new rapture to mstrkrft and the most recent daft punk album. uhhhh, also getting into a stoner/doom/sludge riff with the melvins, kylesa, eyehategod. anyone got any electric wizard, municipal waste? i need some of that in my life right now.

just finished rekka: deadly outlaw (directed by takashi miike)

and i'm probably gonna have to go out and buy the soundtrack they used, a prog rock band from about 30 years back. check out:

satori-- by Flower Traveling Band

(trailer for the movie + the song in the background)

Quote:

I have the Chrome Civilian Messanger Bag.

Someone recommended it on here (Thanks a lot.) Found it at a local spot and bought it.

Very comfortable... I just wish mine went over the right shoulder, instead of over the left...

Well worth it, in my opinion...

--- Original message by stuntastic on May 31, 2006 10:22 PM

it also has a secret pocket which i use to keep my wallet and valuables high and dry (i like to bike when the going gets wet and it rains a lot in pittsburgh)

also if you order it from the site-- you can determine which shoulder you want it on (there's also more options and camoflauge options)

i hear the same thing about Borders (i know, not fashion related, but bear with me for an interesting story)

my friend worked there one summer and their policy on shop lifting? don't confront, don't say anything, just try and make a note of what book they're stealing so we can re-stock later.

Quote:

During mid summer, it gets damn hot and humid here, so ive seriously been contemplating wearing short shorts during the height or summer this year... something like the american apparel PE shorts or poplin shorts... partly because they are comfortbale and partly because people will probably react comically to them (laughing, pointing, spewing generic insults)... anyone else wear anything like this when its super hot out?

--- Original message by jwied82 on May 5, 2006 09:36 PM

i usually rock a head band and tuck in my shirt too. most of my shirts are pretty fitted so it is me rockin a straight out of the 70's look.

yo man, aside from the beatles, none of those really fit ""uplifting/light hearted" in the vein of wheat.

Edited by dystaind on Apr 27, 2006 at 09:27 PM

light + uplifting... these aren't very ambient... some are on the bounds of power pop and dancey. hope it helps:

super grass (mid 90's super pop)

new pornographers (dancey super group)

my favorite (super post-new wave, total 80's but total fun)

(nobody listed )Belle and Sebastian?

mates of state (husband/wife drum/elec. organ duo. great harmonization. cute to verge of gushing)

rainer maria

south

low

longwave

cardigans (try and get the album Life)

the warlocks (bubblegum 50's highschool prom kinda music)

the autumns (le carillon, it comes on bubblegum pink vinyl and is inspired by 50's love songs)

maybe throw in the kinks for good measure? that was my natural progression from the beatles.

if you want a bit more moody/ambient music, well... they can be a bit darker in tone but:

m83

explosions in the sky

and maybe try some trip hop:

morcheeba

portishead

massive attack

thievery corporation

if you're interested in anymore, just list and i can probably list off of those and wean down more of what you want.

to hole:

i agree that some of the shots aren't technical masterpieces. but in some ways they don't have to be/cannot be. i feel that personal and portrait photography of the most candid sense is a difficult field that not many have mastered. i feel in some ways your criticisms may be valid if they were compared to photography similar to your own, but his work is different: apples to oranges. personally, i am a bit of a beginner to photography but i've experienced the stark difference in taking documentary photography and basing your series around people. lighting, movement, all of these things tend to work against you and you usually only get a few good shots of a night.

i have a few photos to show of the documentary series i took on the superbowl riots in Pittsburgh. the series was meant to show fervor and spirit everyone felt with the victory of Pittsburgh, a slowly dying, "forgotten" post-industrial city. the series isn't the best photography technically, but i'm proud of the portrayal for the most part of the night. the conditions were awful to, so rip on my lighting and camera work if you want, but i don't think there's too much that can be done when it's night, snowing, and thousands of students are decimating the downtown area.

also i've recently put a portfolio web page up. countless hours of work and 3 years (kinda, i gotta document more recent prints etc.) in the making. feel free to comment and criticize, as that's how my work is evaluated and bettered.

www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/nblee/index.htm

define edgy or different.

would you be interested in some screen prints?

OH SHIT! guitar woolf! RIP billy wolf

the photo thread is nice. i'm enjoying the seriality.

right now i'm taking a documentary photography series. i'm working mostly in black and white since i love the dark room.

perhaps i'll post up my URL soon?

i have some beginning photos from my first dark room class, and my first documentary series up there from the Super Bowl riots in Pittsburgh (drunk college kids, swarms of people, snowy weather, and overturned cars. unfortunately I wasn't close enouhg to the fires to get some good shots)

thanks for the update on the stores and stuff dude.

but shit-- my quest for a dunderdon hood (and high neck hood for the past 3 months) is pretty much getting shot to shit. on the dunderdon website, Vice was listed as a seller.

but i'll check out the places you listed-- maybe i'll find some nice shoes for the summer.

what's it called? i'm heading up to toronto this weekend and don't know a thing about the place (except i'm planning to be running up and down Queen St. between Vice and the museum of contemporary art)

been really really really keen on getting one--

i know there's a store in NYC, but i'm a student in PA with no way of getting there.

Quote:

Quote:

strangely all of my friends like the other album, dead cities, red seas, & lost ghosts better.

i really like how cheesy and saturated the synths feel on before the dawn heals us. always reminds me of blade runner.

glad to see quite the few people resonating similar tastes (glitchy autechre, aphex twin, drone khanate and sunn0))), liking the finntroll video, city of caterpillar, chain of strength, red sparrowes, joni mitchell, go team.)

..........

really been into death from above 1979 of late. can't stop listening to their bloc party cover, Luno.

--- Original message by dystaind on Mar 14, 2006 03:27 AM

in my opinion, dead cities... is a far superior album to before the dawn heals us... though i say this probably for the same reasons you say you like before the dawn heals us better (cheesier and more saturated). I find dead cities to be emotionally powerful, while before the dawn heals us is a little hollow in that respect. Apparently one of the 2 members of m83 quit the project between the two albums, so before the dawn heals us was basically just a solo project for the remaining member

--- Original message by jwied82 on Mar 30, 2006 01:27 AM

i think some of dawn heals us is empty because of the heavy handedness. there isn't that emotional rapport but instead this need to try and bridge things using the ridiculous amounts of synth and the vocals/voices. that really really tears it apart for some people.

been in a folk mood today, the spring air and losing an hour, i guess it's nice to have some slower, mellower music than my usual fare.

devendra banhart

joni mitchell

joanna newsom

also saw some really great neo-folk experimental stuff last night

mike tamburo (a local who runs a label with tusk lord and a few other greats)

fursaxa (solo act with multiple tracks recorded and played back. uses instruments ranging from african talking drums, rain sticks, slide whistles, and her voice)

and the crowning act-- Jack Rose of the pelts. freaking amazing steel guitar neo-folk experimental stuff. atmospheric... makes you feel like you crossed an arabian desert bareback on a wild stallion.

also saw municipal waste and baroness that night.

so i'm taking a small trip to Toronto later this week

anyone know where I can find the small logo Dunderdon hoodies?

also, any other shops to check out while in Toronto?

Quote:

^^ Wtf??

--- Original message by englandmj7 on Mar 22, 2006 01:56 PM

so i tried to be helpful with another french actor(ess) who's name rhymes with jean reno.

plus that name basically popped up into my mind immediately after hearing jean reno. i mean, the thread name is partly titled-- "YOUR Thoughts."

Edited by dystaind on Mar 22, 2006 at 11:15 PM