annyong

Well after a long journey involving four flights, including the final flight where we had to circle Jeju due to headwinds, a very slow limo ride through snowy west Seoul, and a lucky happenstance into my boss once on the campus of Cheju Halla College, I am finally here. Actually, I am not on campus right now since there is no internet there, which is pretty silly for a junior college in one of the most heavy internet using countries in the world to not have wifi, but whatever. I got in yesterday afternoon and quickly got to orientation, which was more of disorientation, my boss has a pretty weak grasp of English, which deteriorates even more when he is not reading verbatim from a powerpoint slide. It isnt really clear how many hours of english I will be teaching per day or where exactly I am required to be. I am relying heavily on my assistant "Dorian" (Choo-Sun) who is a really amazing guy, he is in his second year studying communications at University of Seoul, and is from Jeju, but lived in Las Cruces(cities my Korean counterparts have lived in in America: Las Cruces, Eugene, Apop for two years and honed his English really well to the point where he read portrait of Dorian Gray, hence his english name being Dorian.

I am really enjoying Korea so far, the food is wonderful, although I think I might eventually tire of the combinations of red pepper, cabbage and mushrooms that are the side dish of any meal (and thats not even including the kimchi!). Jeju is a really interesting city, because as an American flying over the city, I was worried it would be a sprawling suburb. While it does have sprawl, there is no real distinction between city and town and suburb, it is just a never ending network of mixed use buildings. You never walk more than 500 feet without seeing a FamilyMart of GS25, the equivalents of seven-elevens, cafes (like the one I am sitting in now), or restaurants. The city is really teeming with life all over.

The most surprising thing so far I have seen is the 'superstores' that dominate the city. Imagine a super walmart or super target where everyone goes for everything. Last night one of my fellow teachers, Graham and I went there to get some adapters for the outlets in our dorm, and we just browsed around the store for an hour. The cost of living here is very low, so we were marveling at all the things we could buy, like washing machines, that we couldnt back home in the states. Unfortunately a single can of Budweiser would be W3500 ($3.50) at the store we settled on some Hite to enjoy after dinner, a six pack of which cost W2000 or $2.

It is also really cold. And koreans dont turn on heat, so while it is 45 degrees outside, the door is open and my fingers slowly freeze as I tap this out on my keyboard.

I'll leave you with the haiku in english on the wall behind me,
Admiration of coffee
It's blacker demon
like the hell its' hot
like the angel being pure and like love it's sweet.

Its almost like Im bad at this.

My productivity certainly took a dip during Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead and never really rebounded. The play went well, The Alive Theatre got named one the top ten LA companies of the decade in the LA Weekly, congratulations to them. I absolutely loved working with them and just wish driving all the way to LB was not such a chore, but I will definitely be seeing more of them in the future.

There has been much decorating at my apartment in Los Feliz, and we are closing in on our goal of a joke behind every corner and making it more like "A Beautiful Mind" for the verbally neurotic.

I am leaving for Korea this weekend to teach in Jeju for a few weeks. Afterwards I will be touring around Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing, if anyone knows of any hot spots of the beaten path be sure to let me know.

Some pictures since the last post:

The Opposite

Here is my new reel scene "The Opposite" by Dan Moyer, with myself and fellow USC BFA grad Lizzie Fabie.
http://vimeo.com/16713278

opera is playing very loudly on los feliz blvd

I'm sure somebody else will cover the election results better than I can. I am only concerned with my favorite part of elections in this blog post, election day photography. There are a few categories of these, photos so there are a few number 1s from yesterday's election.



The Signs Picture: This is a classic signs picture for election day, all the signs are the generic campaign posters, no personal message, some clues to where the election is (you can tell because it is cold, and alaska is cold.), and early morning light. very election day. (Runner Up: Boxer)


The Cheesy Online Banner: From the usually classy LA Times, a very ">Tampa Tribune ish move.



The Concession Call Picture. This picture of Boxer is the real quintessential concession call, the low angle, the out of focus stars, the absurdly large phone...




The Ballot Picture: I took this today at my polling place on Finley Ave in Los Feliz. I like how cold the ballot itself is as compared with the hype and bluster of a political election.

today, I accidentally messed up my ballot when I first filled it out, then I figured out what I had done wrong and promptly voted for meg whitman on accident and had to request a new ballot and then hear a full explanation on Los Angeles County Vote Voiding Procedure. very intense. but I finally rose above my floridian roots and abstained to vote on prop 21.



The I Voted Sticker: I remember when I was a kid how I Voted stickers were this random thing that would randomly appear on my dad's jackets or my teacher's dresses in elementary school. I remember vaguely associating it with public radio and the musky smell of my dad's car seat.

Today I went to a bunch of public places like Haskell Elementary, the grocery store, the Long Beach Pier, a cafe in Long Beach, a rehearsal for a play opening this weekend, and only saw about 15 I voted stickers.

It was kind of disappointing.

NPR

So, I need this written somewhere as a sort of copyright. Weeks ago I was watching Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck (my roommate and I are sending fan mail in hopes of being mentioned on-air) and they both had off handed comments about 'NPR-like bias' and casual chatter about cutting funding toward NPR. Ignoring the fact that the bulk of NPR's operating cost are covered by members, unlike, say, Fox News. NPR also somehow still manages to do more in depth and comprehensive coverage than Fox News, I also find it to be more than coincidence how the NPR 5pm news break during All Things Considered is often identical to the 10pm Fox News news break, maybe Rupert Murdoch could learn something from Terri Gross. Sure enough soon thereafter Fox News got it's fight with NPR that is was looking for in the form of Juan Williams, a former NPR commentator and recipient of a new $2 million contract at Fox News when he made off color statements on Fox News. NPR deemed these comments inappropriate and fired Williams promptly, whether or not this is justified is up for debate, it surprised me that he was fired since NPR has to be smart enough to know it would be engaging in direct conflict with Fox News. NPR is unfortunately very ripe very low hanging fruit due to public fervor against 'media bias' and a deep seated mistrust of how the government uses its funds.

Needless to say, I'm just saying I called this controversy weeks ago, but I could feasibly pick a more annoying topic for Fox News to squabble over a week before midterm elections.

October

This is how I will always remember October 2010

I miss the sun.

(the view from my jog yesterday)

The last few days here in Los Angeles it has been overcast. Not in the California its-cloudy-so-let's-call-it-overcast way, but as in real total overcast. No sun. It is like constant civil twilight from Santa Barbara southward. I saw the sun in the valley on Tuesday as I walked across the Haskell Elementary schoolyard, but by the time I got out of my class. It was gone. All this darkness has a weird effect on a boy from Florida. When I sat down and thought about it today this might be the longest prolonged darkness I have ever experienced. It is taking a physical toll on me too, I have been having bouts of dizziness, nausea, lightheadedness, trouble sleeping, all of which I directly attribute to my lack of sunlight. Tonight I made myself dinner, and was sitting listening to a hockey game, when I got very sleepy so I decided to rest my head on my table while I listened to the post game show. Next thing I knew I was waking up to a random commercial about a furniture store in Dale Mabry in Tampa.

I might also have some horrible cancer that is undiagnosed, but I dont go to doctors because when I do they convince me that I have mono. or worse.

Not enough sun or terminal cancer? you decide.

__________

unrelated: my good friend, high school valedictorian, and columbia graduate Anna Wood is published in Line Zero next month for her short story "Tandem" you can pre order here

http://www.mediafire.com/?7ld94tr759lmf38

anthropomorphic songs

maybe it has something to do with being an actor, but I really like anthropomorphic songs. here are the best ones in existence. so maybe I just like when good bands pretend they are objects not people.

"I am a grocery bag" They Might Be Giants. The simplicity of listing lyrics in a grocery bag is really good, but the tone of the song is even better. The voice is exactly how I imagine my grocery bag talking to me. TMBG also had the excellent, if significantly creepier Birdhouse in Your Soul sung from the point of view of a night light.

"Dime" Cake. A song about the trials and tribulations of being a small unit of United States currency. This song is barely anthropomorphic because it is a song sung by a human about what being a dime would be like, not the actual day to day life of a dime. With this loose of rules you could almost include Cake's Satan is My Motor. It would be outrageously narcissistic to post one's favorite song in high school on his blog though.

"Wrecking Ball" Bruce Springsteen. The only song on this list about being a building, specifically Giants Stadium this time last year. It is my favorite recent Springsteen song, I love how the character singing the song seems to be like the "Born to Run" Springsteen 20 years older.

The main reason for this blog post though is a song I recently stumbled across off Pandora. "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" The Weakerthans. A song about a cat running away from his drunk and depressed owner and life on the streets of Winnipeg. It includes the lyrics of the cat looking for 'the sound that you found for me' which I thought was the cats name but my friend thought was the sound of a can opening, I cant decide which is right.

"Plea From a Cat Named Virtute" The Weakerthans. Is the prequel to Virtute's departure. When I described this yesterday to Tomm as "a cat complaining about his lame owner" he just said "thats just Garfield." He is right, but this is much better than Garfield, maybe not as good as Garfield Minus Garfield though.

Dan Moyer

Dan Moyer is a playwright who graduated from NYU- Tisch a few years ago, I know him through one of my BFA classmates(no, not that one) he went to high school with in Northern California. He wrote THEM PILOTS, which I produced at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in July 2007. I truly think he is the best contemporary playwright, and now he has some of his short plays available at his website.

Dan B. Moyer, short plays for rainy days.

what I mean about boston

so, I try to explain my problems with boston. how the lines are all choppy visually throughout the city. this is my primary example of that, this picture has all these cool lines and shapes, but they arent pulling in the same direction, so it looks sloppy. so boston.

-

the st pete times had a good article yesterday about the future for baseball in the tampa bay area if the rays lost to texas, and guess what happened? I'm not the biggest rays fan by any means, but tampa losing a team would hurt.

where the palm trees grow and the rents are low

october 8 2010. icon at twilight. naples island, long beach, california.

this is my favorite LA landmark, the enormous palm trees.

this picture is well paired with our track of the day

"Palm of your Hand" - Cake

tweeting about my breakfast

this week on several different NPR programs, there were jokes about people tweeting, facebooking or blogging about their breakfasts. somehow the idea of sharing information about our breakfast is an especially inane impulse. that said I want you to take a look at that picture above this text. that is what my breakfast looked like this morning while I was on the phone with my sister.

there is an enormous amount of information and misinformation about my life in this little slice.

the time of day I am having breakfast? this guy must have had some wild night because he is sleeping so late (no.)

the paper newspaper? this guy is way over 30(no.)

access to a nice camera, french press coffee maker, and chess board? total yuppie kid (yeah, probably.)

his mug says Tampa? so he must be happy about the rays winning(yes.)

EVK cup? this guy is a total klepto

(well, it was localized upon one central los angeles cafeteria,

but yeah.

it was a skill honed in the wilds of maine.

12oz cups are, in fact, a privilege.

(this answer doubles as a haiku to my adolescence) )

is that a recreation of the famous game when Andrew beat his brother in online chess? I've always been his biggest fan. (thanks, my games with friends name is slow owls)

The recently neglected track of the day: On the Radio - Regina Spektor (I think even my music disliking sister would like this song)

the hills.

when you move to california from tampa, florida there are a few adjustments you have to make. first off, the actual los angeles winter. los angeles is on par with atlanta for winter as far as I am concerned. the temperature drop after the sun goes down is something I still have not quite grasped, in tampa, the weather in the day is the same at night, here when the sun goes down LA moves to the dark side of the moon.

this week I bought a bike. some of the happiest days of my life where when I was tooling around south tampa, from new suburb beautiful to davis island to ybor city. the worst hill I had to contend with was thrill hill (not yet built in that picture). biking was simply a matter of getting momentum and going as fast as you want, here in los feliz though, the hills make life incredibly frustrating and stupid.

thesis: hills are dumb.

picture tuesday

#63 in the 'my morning' series. June 2010, logan international, boston, ma
#62 in the 'my morning' series June 2010, camp waziyatah, waterford me
#41 in the 'my morning series' December 2009, tampa convention center, tampa, fl
#57 in the 'my morning' series May, 2010, university park, los angeles, ca

#64 in the 'my morning' series, where I take a picture of my newspaper and coffee/breakfast. This picture is from September, at my los feliz apartment.

I have a nice little collection now spanning from my first apartment in DC, dorm at USC, coffee shops in Boston, and holiday meals in Tampa.

nancy can ride her vespa

so, I've heard when big guys(myself being 5'10" have to rely on the testimony of others) walk into bars or are just out in public* in general, people threaten to fight them more often than their shorter counterparts. as aforementioned, since I am regular size I do not get this type** of aggressive attention (except in the la cienega coffee bean parking lot). since I have announced I am a chess teacher though, everyone who meets me quickly says, "oh I should play you" or the weirder, "my boyfriend is russian***, you should play him."

some People just say they didnt know that was a job.

some Just want to talk about owls.

some Ask why I spilled their coffee.

some Questions arent even related to chess.

people just ask questions.****

*by far the coolest link.

**not as cool as retro publix.

***not as cool as movable type.

****anyone need any postage?

comic genealogy

I recently realized the links on my blog are quite similar to Stephen Colbert's "The Word" in terms of humor. It is important (or massively narcissistic (or both)) to know one's comic roots. I like to think I find myself on a comic family tree with Woody Allen, circa Annie Hall, circa the opening monologue, which I believe is one of his best written pieces. This places me in the same family as Larry David Jason Alexander and to a lesser extent Jerry Seinfeld. This sense blends in with my definite comedic father, Bill Murray (ignore his striking resemblance to my pediatrician's husband). A professor(no not that one) I had once described my sense of humor as recognizing the same "screaming madness" as Bill Murray, although for a period of time last winter I probably was taking things too far. Honorable mention on my comic family tree goes to Jeff Goldblum, Bradley Whitford, Ira Glass and John Cusack. The biggest philosophical drive behind my comedy definitely goes to the Bush Administration, in particular the DOJ and AGs, for teaching me there is no such thing as too destructive or too crazy, and lastly nothing, nothing is sacred. A friend of mine once likened my comic sense to Sherman's March to the Sea, and simply refers to it as, "scorch the earth".

Completely unrelated but somehow similar, in performances I tend to make references to movies or songs or anything that have found their way deep into my subconscious. It is not always overt or intentional, but I will lilt a sentence a certain way, or move a prop in a way that harkens to some piece of art I love. The most common thing which recurs is a reference to Christian Slater in the 80s teen movie, The Heathers. Heathers isnt the best movie ever made, but I think because I watched it so many times while falling asleep when I tell jokes on stage I find the same caustic dryness that Slater had at that time. The most similar resemblance is from a song, Alice's Restaurant, by Arlo Guthrie. In practically every play, I find I steal some turn of phrase from the song, normally during a long stretch of text, most frequently I return to the "you may find yourself in a similar situation" line, or the near hysterical (seinfeld esque honestly) pitch Guthrie's voice reaches when talking about files in folders in Washington DC. The man who has fused himself most closely to my cerebral cortex though is Garrison Keillor. The man who made me scream as a child because of his hypnotizing fluency, still appears every time I go on stage. Thanks WUSF.

frame of reference.

this summer I spent a good deal of time in boston. the first night I was there, I told my brother my main complaint with boston. a lack of straight lines. when I think about boston I see the curving banks of the charles river, which is much different than my experiences with rivers (see: the hillsborough, the los angeles) which are usually tamed by large concrete walls, except when things go wrong. the houses themselves have these curves and flourishes in the northeast, the interiors usually have some amount of clutter, and coat rooms and vestibules, designed to keep out the elements. when I spoke to Ben about it I described it as a city built entirely in serif fonts. when what I really crave is the helvetica-like streets of washington dc.

yesterday I was walking on hillhurst though, and I realized I live in a neighborhood of curving(I live on the right side of that image) streets, above ground power lines, hills and infringing wildlife. objectively I life in a serif landscape, but when I am going about my life, walking to the grocery store, and seeing and old professor (one of the great unexplained characters on the west wing) they all melt away and I live my ideal san serif lifestyle.

___

As a side note: I was cast as Hamlet in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead performing in November in Long Beach with the Alive Theatre. It opens Nov. 5.

too much postage.

Last friday I put together a mailing a many agents and casting directors here in Hollywood. A professor(no not that one) of mine once referred to this as 'taking a shower in money' which may or may not be right. I arrived at the post office with my stack of postcards which had eaten up my day with applying labels and running around town doing dumb errands. I thought I could just hand over the stack, they would put the stack through a postage machine, and would tell me the total. This is wrong. There was a big line and the lady asked me how many I had. I started to count the stack and could hear the line at the los feliz post office groan, so I just guessed. 600, and paid the appropriate amount thinking I could just return the unused stamps. This, too, is wrong. I had $84 in $0.28 stamps this morning, and now I have $83.44 in $0.44 stamps this evening, because I could only trade stamps for stamps, but not stamps for cash.

So if you or anyone you know needs $84 in postage. I will sell it for $80. Im not a very good investor, but I do have experience scalping hockey tickets, so if you need me you can find me at Vermont and Finley selling stamps to passersby until the LAPD makes me move.

an ode to southern california modernism.

when your name is as common as wright, you learn there are many wrights in many fields(like kitty hawk). I find it to be kind of a rorschach test of a person of what famous 'wright' they identify the last name with.

the people I truly love are those who know 'wright' as Frank Lloyd Wright. who I love because of his contributions to southern california modernism, but more particularly how that movement manifested in the southern california middle class home later. my friend ian lives in one of these houses, but his beach house in laguna niguel is the best example I have ever spent much time in. here it is in a few pictures.

this american life/my american life.

this is a combination of pictures from my life, combined with the words of this american life.

may 1. los angeles harbor, san pedro, california.

september 15. los feliz boulevard, los angeles, california.

july 28th. keith and duck, raymond, maine.

july 14. boston T, cambridge, massachusetts.

sony 3d workshop

This week I started with this workshop at Sony Pictures. The idea is that there will be a lot more filming in 3D in the future so directors, cinematographers, and directors of photography all have to learn how to use this technology. So they have these little nonsense scenes on various sets for the directors to play with. On tuesday a pretty star studded cast of directors was there, not to name names but the directors of Thirteen Days, Boys Dont Cry, and Alvin and the Chipmunks were all in attendance. In the morning they were loudly arguing over the technology, some bemoaning the fact they had to be there, others wondering what would become of their critters in 3d. So me and Lauryn Cantu went through a scene with a pizza delivery boy, too much furniture and ex cons operating the cameras. In the afternoon I got to watch the footage and it was really just a cool experience all around. Today I did it again for some directors of photography and it was a completely different experience, and a room with more polaroid cameras than any room since the late '80s. It isnt paying but it is a useful experience any time you can get up in front of the best technology in the world with some of the most successful directors working today.

Track of the Day

Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars

drew carey walks into a bar

let us entertain conjecture of a time where you have limitless power. you have had a self titled sitcom. your glasses are a signature trait.

monday night rolls around.

nothing to do.

where do you go? the big foot lounge.

why? because its karaoke night.

what songs do you sing?

undercover angel

indian lake

kanye west and a snake

#1 today I saw a big snake in griffith park, at least 3 feet.

#2 Kanye West Tweets as New Yorker Cartoon Captions

wright files

the wright files moves from my bathroom door, to my blog.

Wright University

Just this morning I realized I have essentially cultivated a fake university for myself. This is very important when you work a 25 hour work-week that pays like a full time job, and you need time in your day for auditions. Unemployment seems to be getting the better part of some of my friends, particularly the ones who are living with their parents in the South Bay. So, without further ado I would like to present my schedule at Wright University this term.

Monday

Guided Hike at Griffith Park - Tuition $0

Restaurants of Vermont Ave Independent Study - Tuition $5-$15/w

Tuesday

Photo Editing and Posting on My Silly Blog - Tuition $0

Chandelier Design - Tuition $50 in lights from Target

Wednesday

Advanced iPhone App Research - Tuition $0.99 - $2.99/w

Chicken Frying 101 - $10/w

Spanish Class at YMCA - $0

Thursday

Jazz at LACMA - Tuition $0

Guided Research To Find Best Restaurant in Westside with Prof. Sofer - $10-$20

Friday

No class!

Sunday

Williams and Sonoma Technique Class - $0

Track of the Day - Boggis Bunce and Bean from The Fantastic Mr Fox

tuesday photo: comic sans

last night at calvin's house funemployment 2010 rolled on, and the legos rolled out. I present my masterpiece, "Comic Sans"

the 110 south

when I graduated college I was worried not being in school would give me some disconnect from community. there was always something comfortable about belonging comfortably to a community, waziyatah, tampa prep, and usc normally being my communities. tonight as I was driving though I realized I am part of a really cool community of all the people who came out west looking for something, it spans across time to oklahomans risking life and limb to see the pacific ocean. the life and limb I risk to see my friends in manhattan beach on the 110 south is not exactly comparable, but you know what I mean. also LA has so many actors, that even though it is a fierce competition there is wonderful community among the artists. just today a playwright friend and me talked about just getting together some friends to work on a script in development. this is the kind of work I love doing, and its really invigorating.

these revelations are wonderful because I had been watching these civil war documentaries. every time I watch those documentaries I totally assume I would have died in war before age 22 at any other point in history.

dwarves?

So this week I went back to my account on Actor's Access, a site where actors can submit themselves to auditions at the low low cost of $2 (great) per submission(not great). That cost is only to tell a director, or casting director that I am interesting. The equivalent of having to pay $2 to apply to starbucks. So I was already less than enthused with being back on Actor's Access, especially after this past spring I paid +$100 on LAcasting to only get 2 auditions.

Anyway, so I'm back on, cruising around looking at breakdowns, having a good time. Then Actor's Access asks me if I want to sign up for email notifications of breakdowns that fit my profile, sounds good no? Then I start getting these emails, and they are all for dwarves. Like little people. Here is one of the latest ones:

1,000 WAYS TO DIE (Little Person)
Non-Union Episodic
NON-UNION
LITTLE PERSON
A person with Dwarfism, less than 4 feet 10 inches tall. He is a junkie that pulls a gun on Marcus - who owns an Ice Cream Truck and deals drugs from the truck. SHOOTS 9/15

sometimes I think L.A. is trying to drive me insane

wazi wazi waziyatah

this past summer I returned to my old summer camp, camp waziyatah. when people hear the name waziyatah they generally have an immediate reaction and say they know it from somewhere, and then start singing the theme song to salute your shorts. unfortunately these people are morons, wazi was on a tv show, but is was on the far superior disney channel show bug juice(5 stars on imdb.). I was a camper at wazi from 1999 until 2003, coincidentally the years wazi was at its largest in a post-disney channel boom. While I was there I made some of the best friends I have, whenever any of us are in the same city it is an immediate bond and no time has passed, even when we dont see each other for two or three years. When I was there I learned improv, fell in love with theatre, had my first kiss, learned how to sail, and had just an absolute blast. I would come home from camp, and it would feel like I had just been laughing for a month.

Then in 2004 I wasnt able to go to wazi, then again in 2005, when I could finally be a counselor I was going to school in los angeles and wanted a little time in Tampa, so I missed 2006. 2007-2009 I was in resident advisor training and had a conflict. This year I was convinced it was important to break into hollywood immediately after graduating USC, I set my eyes on Wazi 2011. Then a friend of mine died in a car accident in february, and I realized I didnt have forever to go back to Wazi so I signed up and was named the director of the performing arts.

Which was huge for me, to go back to a place where I had the experience that really launched me wanting to be an actor. I remember I was 15, had just finished freshmen year of high school, without a real niche. No particular path in front of me, and then I was cast as Charlie Brown. This was a really cool shock, I lied and told my mother I was cast as Schroeder before I heard official news because that was the best part I could conceivably get. Then I was a great Charlie Brown, counselors who were young campers when I performed Charlie Brown said they remembered it being great, which is a clouded, dumb compliment but I still love it. Regardless I felt great about it, and it was all thanks to Wazi. Coincidentally in second session I would direct You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, with my old counselor as my technical director, talk about full circle.

In june I showed up back in Waterford, Maine at Wazi, kind of on the run from Los Angeles. I had stressfully produced, directed, and acted in a show in west hollywood, graduated college, moved out of the place I lived for three years and seriously needed a break. So when camp was really a lot of work I was seriously overwhelmed. My co-counselor was a total deadbeat and I was in charge of ten ten-year-olds running every which way by night, and by day I was directing a production of seussical which would not have passed muster at USC.

So I tried to quit, but the owner got a few more days out of me... then a few weeks........ then the whole summer.

I still can not say whether I had a 'good' summer this summer. It was tough, I was stressed, I was dealing with people talking behind my back, I was feeling like a total failure, like I could not measure up to the great counselors who changed my life, but at the same time some of the kids were really great. I saw some of my campers really have a great time, just like I did when I was at camp. There was no particular moment when things got better so I didnt have to quit, but I am glad I stuck around. Towards the last few days I realized the reason I always camp back to wazi was because of my fellow cabinmates who I was with every year from age 11 to 15. Last time when I got together with my friend Jack who lives in Los Angeles these days, we talked about how cool it would be if we had kids the same age who could go to wazi and bunk in Pines 11 together.

It is really hard for people to understand the summer camp thing. When I meet people I can pretty quickly tell who went to summer camp and who didn't, invariably when I talk to people who went to camp there is this tremendous moment of recognition between two people. Almost like when you find out someone went to your high school or college, or you were at the same concert, but a million times more powerful.

The best way to get the idea of what camp is is the 'track' of the day, from my favorite radio program This American Life, Episode #109 Notes on Camp.

photo tuesday

in addition to my performing arts pursuits, I am a photographer as well. so every tuesday I will be uploading a picture from my portfolio.

this photo called 'pacific' was taken on pacific coast highway, I think just north of malibu but I dont know the exact location.

Tampa Remodeling P. 1

so as alluded to in an earlier post, I am very into the aesthetics of sports jerseys. growing up in the city of Tampa I was exposed to various tragedies in jersey design. each team in Tampa though has had its dark days of design, from the Tampa Bay Terror and their awkward shark, to the Rays faux-back powder blue alternates on display vs. boston last night. so I am going to address what each Tampa sports team could use to improve their overall design. starting with the team with the best logo in the city, but still susceptible to some silly mistakes, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So the bucs have a really cool look to them, the red and pewter is very unique and distinct. when you see them on tv, they are hard to mistake with any other team, especially when they are playing in raymond james with a cool pirate ship. the biggest aesthetic offense the bucs are guilty of are these white pants they wear with white tops at least once a year, take a look. this all white look can be pulled off. however tampa is not penn state, the penn state helmets are predominantly white, thus the 'weight' of the helmet is not out of balance. on the tampa jerseys, particularly because the grey color is metallic pewter it appears as though the bucs players are top heavy and prone to fall over if they were to run at too much of an angle.

but what they should really do is wear the jerseys that got them their first win last year.

the youtube mashup

For four years I was in a bfa acting program. I can only really explain the program as equivalent to locking 20 massively insecure, self loathing narcissists, megalomaniacs (myself included) in a room together, making them work on projects, and generally encourage them to go even more insane. It was during this time I would sit in my dorm room, turn my iTunes on shuffle, and watch the tv on mute and cackle to myself. Then I started to surf youtube and make these mashups intentionally, so without further ado I encourage you to watch the visual on this video the best cat video you'll ever see and the audio from Prince's "Pussy Control."

Track of the day: G.R.I.N.D. (Get Ready Its a New Day) by Asher Roth

gary hustwit

it wasnt until six months ago when I got netflix instant that I really got a taste for documentaries. I have always had a minor obsession with typography and fonts stemming from the days when me and my father would attend tampa bay lightning games, at a time when tampa was really bad. so, with the hockey not worth watching I began to take an interest in the array of logos and typefaces around the ice palace, in particular the old numerical font for the lightning (the new one is so boring). The documentary Helvetica by gary hustwit really delves into the emotional connection which people instantaneously form with fonts and typography. Hustwit interviews designers of fonts who originally designed helvetica and the circumstances around the creation of it. Helvetica seems to articulate ideas that everyone has about the signage and design that surrounds us everyday. there are people in the documentary who have an entire artistic vocabulary which many of us have never even fathomed, but when spoken it makes perfect sense. For anyone else who is frustrated and stimulated by design in the world, particularly if you live in a hyper designed city like los angeles, Helvetica is an engrossing film that I have watched repeatedly to satisfy certain visual cravings.

last night I watched another of hustwit's documentaries, objectified. again I was totally blown away watching this movie. at one point the film delved into the design of the handle on a pair of hedge clippers which was absolutely amazing. understanding the thought and intention of every object we touch is amazing. as an artist who stands in front of people in a 'look at me' sort of way, seeing these other artists intentionally mining away in total anonymity but having a much more profound effect on people's lives it was pretty humbling. I go back and forth on how I felt watching this movie, from being completely absorbed by it, to feeling a slight depression at how fundamentally silly it is to worry about the handles on a pair of clippers.

I routinely feel overwhelmed by the world, and how vast it is. I have trouble going on vacation because actually putting a face to all these other people that exist is really troubling to me, and the fact that I will never get to know them, and that they have whole background stories, and commutes, and toasters and favorite t shirts is totally inconceivably huge. Objectified touches on that same idea, only considering objects instead of people. The amount of backstory which goes into something as simple as a toothpick which can be a deeper reflection of cultures is really inspiring. The documentary essentially views everyday items from an anthropologist's perspective, except, where as anthropological studies usually focus on historic or antique objects, this is about the present.

I highly recommend setting aside an evening to watch one of these movies then to sit and soak in the amount of design all around you.

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hello and welcome to andy wright's blog where you can keep up to date on the latest with andy wright.

I have just moved into a new apartment in los feliz. The whole experience makes me feel like more like an adult than I ever really planned on being. I have a job teaching kids how to play chess in the afternoons, which is a pretty sweet way to pay the rent if you ask me.

andy and his alter ego, randy warhol, whom you can friend on facebook, will be hitting the spotlight comedy club this friday night at 6pm for five minute set at 12215 ventura blvd.

today's track of the day, jack kerouac + chet baker "the unpublished book of blues/get lost"

Testing

Okay. So this isnt wordpress but it is eons simpler.