Goodbye Hipster

Aw! I have been away from the blog because of an insane amount of homework. Grad school is infinetly more work than an undergraduate program which makes me all the more happy that I went to school after finishing my B.A. so that I am still in the swing of things.
That Being said I am sorry that I haven't been very consistent with my writings both for myself and people who read this blog. I will try my hardest to write more frequently
I encourage everyone to pick up the recent issue of New York Magazine and check out the article "What Was the Hipster." It is an utterly hilarious look at hipster culture and hipsters in general. Its funny when I first moved to New York this term was completely new to me as was Williamsburg or East Village culutre and initially I thought wow, this is pretty cool, a community of young "artist" type people. In a short time this curiosity was dimmed as the hipster is a complete contradictory in itself. They feel as though they are rebellious while dresssing all the same, anti establishment while building up massive companies that they inevitably work for, Urban Outfitters, American Apparrel etc., and want to appear poor(drinking cheap beer, etc etc) while living in apartments paid in full by their parents.
This article points out some of the funniest aspects of a culture they assume is dying in NYC.
Like I always say you can't judge everyone based on a term, and there are some really cool hipster-ish folks I have met that are nothing like the above. Check out the article in stores or the link below, Let me know what you think!
What Was The Hipster

"The hipster moment did not produce artists, but tattoo artists. It did not yield a great literature, but it made good use of fonts." - This is my favorite line from the article

Google is Everything.

I got the opportunity to head over to the Google Headquarters for my Digital Art in Context class where we got to meet Digital Artists who have combined Science with Art for their work. It featured the work of Eduardo Kac(the most controversial, but also the most interesting in my opinion), Marina Zurkow, and Andrew Senior/Sandra Cordero. Eduardo spoke about his work with Alba the rabbit, something I have learned about in both Science and Art during my undergrad. I think it is very cool that a huge company like Google is doing this event and I hope to attend more.

Photo taken by me with my Verizon Blackberry Tour.

Japanese Cartoon Meets 13th Witness

My latest.

I decided with my first paycheck from my assistantship to treat myself out and upgrade my point and shoot. Fortunately I still had a giftcard from my Aunt Rhea to B and H and so I headed over to the superstore near 34th street to check them out.

I originally had the super slim canon 1400 in mind because of its small size and cheap price. But I decided to upgrade from that as this is just more of an average camera. I wanted the Canon s95 but couldn't afford its price tag so I decided to cross to a new line and see what Nikon had to offer me. I ended up getting the AMAZING NIKON S8100. It has a great CMOS sensor, 10 X zoom, 12.1 Megapixels and shoots full 1080 HD video.

Gone Mad.

I very rarely get the chance to sit down and watch TV. But I always make time for Mad Men the show I connect to in so many levels and is continuously more and more intriguing. I'm so suprised I havent blogged much about it so I thought with the finale of Season 4 that I share why I like this show and why it is so important to me. I relate very much to the character of Don Draper. He is a self made man who worked incredibly hard to make it to where he is, and did this all on his own, by finding what he was good at, constantly marketing himself, and mastering his skills. Don has faced rough patches in relationships and with his business and always finds a way to come out on top and become a better businessman and person. The show helped lead me to interning for TrailerPark in Hollywood one of the biggest agencies around, and going to Pratt in NY for my Masters in Digital Arts. During my 2nd and last year here I hope to intern for BBDO or Ogilvy through my college.

The characters have grown so much it is amazing to see their transformation. Peter Campbell who I originally hated has really grown from a spoiled brat to a man, and someone who would clearly replace Don or start his own agency one day and Don see's this in Peter. Peggy has grown more assertive and also a character that could run the company one day. She outworks nearly everyone and carries that Rocky mentality of the underdog rising to the top.

So what can I hope for in Season 5? Less Betty. January Jones is gorgeous, but her character is so childish it makes me not like her. More Roger Sterling, Roger is the only comedy relief of the show and he pulls it in brilliantly. And hopefully for SCDP a rise back to the top!

Erase Me.

Vimeo Award Festival

Morgan Spurlock

This past weekend I won tickets to the Vimeo Festival for Friday and Saturday. I wasn't able to make it on Friday because of work and class, but I went all day on Saturday with a friend from Pratt and it was an amazing experience. My day started off with a lecture from Morgan Spurlock, director of Supersize me who I got to meet after te show and discuss the future of filmmaking. I attended several more guest lectures and later took a class with Philip Bloom a world class director who uses DSLR for video. The night ended with a party at the IAC building full of directors, festival attendees and a fully stocked open bar. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget and I made plenty of great contacts here in the city.


Video footage broadcasted in synchronicity across the IAC building.

I love space.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

This was ultimately one of the best films I have seen for a long time. The actors, script, and film production was perfect. I rarely this but this film was done exactly as it should have been made! I recommend to anyone who grew up as facebook as an imperative part to their lives or those curious as to how this site became what it is today to check out The Social Network.

Gulfkar

Gulfkar from Alex Ingram on Vimeo.
This is a short cut and paste assignment. It is an attempt to show my view on the news, media, and the power of pop culture.