Bowling in the 21st century

Austin, TX

Bowling has come a long way.  Did you know that the lanes can be programmed for left and right handed bowlers?  Bumpers can pop up for some players and slide back down for others?  Tips for improving your game can be displayed based on your bowling patterns?

The things you learn when you go home for the holidays!

Here is my 3 year old niece Ella contemplating the ball as it slowly makes its way down the lane.

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Hylton Nel Gets a Light Bulb

Barrydale, South Africa

Hylton Nel is the most well respected and well known ceramicist in South Africa. But all that attention and acclaim haven't gone to his head.  He is about as unassuming and unpretentious as a man can be.

His studio, located about 4 hours outside Cape Town, on a lonely stretch of highway, is all about isolation.  As he explains, he doesn't like to be influenced by what other people are doing.  Everything comes from his own experience, his books, and his immediate surroundings.  

In fact, he was so unaccustomed to having visitors, that he had to follow us around with his only light bulb, which he would transfer from room to room as we made our way through his house (he's carrying it in the photo). The man had lots of wine, plenty of mature fruit trees, rooms filled with books and artwork, but only one light bulb.  

Made me wonder - could I be happy with only one light bulb?  I sort of wish I was that "one light bulb" kind of guy, but I just dont think I am....  I think I will always like TV and the internet with my wine, books, artwork and mature fruit trees.  

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Paved in 250 Billion Dollar Bills

The Road from Zimbabwe

South Africa is filling with immigrants from Zimbabwe, along with their useless Zimbabwean dollars.  One guy I met planned to wallpaper his bathroom with 250 billion dollar bills, figuring the whole job could be done with currency worth less than 1 USD.  Though the currency has recently been revalued at 750,000 to one USD, the old bills, like the one featured below are still circulating through the holidays.  But using them is difficult, since buying any one item at the 99 cent store would take a stack of money higher than the average person  (1 USD = 7500000000000000 old ZD).  

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Ceramic Food

Johannesburg, South Africa

We visited an artist who specialized in ceramic food.  He literally had a ceramic feast spread across the length of the table.  Its really one of those things you have to see to believe. Pictured is a tiny piece of that table, with a real strawberry thrown in for a little perspective.

Just another one of the many amazing artists that can be found in South Africa tucked safely behind a thick concrete wall topped with electrified barb wire 

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A Little Love for the Giant Tortoise

Western Cape, South Africa

This is the living room of the acclaimed South African artist Michael Medven.  He does those lit paper animal sculptures that are so popular.  (Though the deer heads seem to have been reproduced ad nauseam).  Much of his work is truly amazing, and his home is filled with it - life sized zebras on the run, eagles in flight, dogs napping by the door... and, bizarrely, meandering among all these sculptures, was the family pet, a giant african tortoise.  This sweet lady would make her way from room to room, following us around on our tour of Michael's studio.  At one point, she actually got stuck under the coffee table, pulling it all the way across the room until it jammed in the doorway, allowing her to escape. This was an impressive - and determined turtle

I had many questions about the daily care required for an african tortoise, but we didn't have the time to satisfy my curiosity - after all, Keith was working and I was supposed to be shooting a show about shopping.  

But the tortoise was pretty amazing.  And surprisingly fast!  I want to learn more...

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She's Waiting for Her Boyfriend

Johannesburg, South Africa

Downtown Jo'burg is very post apocalyptic.  Like one of those movies where a strange virus takes over and the city is quarantined.  But every now and then, you see signs of life.  Like this girl in the park.  I think she is waiting for a call from her boyfriend.  A call that will never come.  (at least, thats the drama I have created for her).  

At any rate, there is something about her that is profoundly sad....

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One Giant Leap

Wilderness, South Africa

Our last stop during our trip to South Africa shooting "Man Shops Globe", was at Magpies, which is an artists collective that create chandeliers (among other things) from found objects and trash. Keith knew it was a very good thing and he was right. The chandeliers have since been shipped back to the US and have ended up in some very prominent households. They are truly amazing - you have to tune in to Man Shops Globe to see them and find out more....

After leaving Magpies, we were all on a real shopping high. I decided to celebrate the days finds by leaping from the highest bridge in Africa.

This is me obliging the staff photographer who insisted I give the "thumbs up". It was a very good day....

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My Two Dads

Los Angeles, CA
Though this photo reminds me of that awful show, it also reminds me of how far we have come.

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We protested H8....

Los Angeles, CA

The march was made more memorable by the always entertaining company of San Francisco based artist, Clancy Cavnar, who not only recently had an amazing art show at World of Wonder, but took her protest experience and translated it into her 101st owl.  See Misguided Unpopular H8 Owl below....

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Arabic for beginners

Tunis, Tunisia

For future refernce, this is what "MUSLIMS ONLY" looks like in Arabic:

موسليم] فقط

Good to know, for people like myself who like to wander.  Sometimes, where I am not wanted.

More on that later...

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Glassblowing for the masses

Hammamet, Tunisia

Yes, Tunisia is more than a resort hotels, beaches, and camel safaris.  When traveling with a buyer, every country can be boiled down to what's for sale.  For such a small country, Tunisia has more than you might think.  The ladies and gents at this factory can blow a pink teapot for you in under 20 minutes.  And if you are Keith, you can make up new products on the spot and a team of folks will make it happen before your very eyes.

Even better, the raw material for all their work is piled up in from of the factory.  most of it appears to be broken Coke bottles collected from the streets around town.  Recycling in Tunisia is alive and well, (though, the anti-smoking campaign still has a long way to go) 

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A Little Break

Amsterdam, Holland
So, Ive had to make my blog an invitation only situation for a few months while I finish the Project with Keith and Anthropologie.  Anthro and Sundance want to be sure that the roll out of the project is controlled and there was alot of traffic generated by the mention of the project on this site.  So, until then, this blog is only for the few.  My friends.  The people I love.  Welcome.

I hope you will continue to visit.

By the way, this is a shot of a liqueur that is known in amsterdam as a favorite among elderly ladies.  It tastes like alcoholic ice cream.  Yum.

If I lived in Amsterdam I would hang with the old ladies....

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Dream Girl

Oud West, Amsterdam

Who doesn't dream of packing it all up one day, taking off for a dream destination, and making a living by doing what you used to do in your spare time?  

This is Leslie, the former visual director for Anthropologie who worked herself to the bone (loving every minute of it, of course) but then, one day, made a radical decision.  She quit her good paying corporate job, packed up her life and moved to Holland.  The plan was then to figure out how to blend what she loved about her former job at Anthropologie, and take it one step further.  

The result is swarm (www.swarmhome.com).  

Through a little known agreement with the Dutch government, known as the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty, American citizen can live and work legally in Holland if they are independant contractors, own their own business, or otherwise work for themselves.  Leslie took full advantage of this, and began doing what she has always wanted to do: make her own line of functional art.  From chairs to tables, paintings and more - leslie combs the flea markets of Europe, turning other people's trash into something loved and cherished, giving it the time and attention of which no one else deemed worthy.  I think her work is a celebration of life and humanity.  It is inspired and passionate, and knowing her only re-enforces that. 

Her home is literally bursting at the seems with the tools of her trade, and you really get the sense that swarm is growing.  ...and that the next phase is going to be very exciting.

Now the irony of all this: who, would you guess is her biggest customer?  Yep - Anthropologie....

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Great Lighting

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And if I Lived in Amsterdam, I'd Probably Live Here...

Prins Island, Amsterdam

Cute.  Almost like LegoLand

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The Other Side of Amsterdam

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Just north of the Central Station, an explosion of modern architecture has been happening for the last 15 years.  Its a very strange neighborhood.  Canals have been built with modernist tract canal houses lining them.  Each canal hosue is different (probably 20 or 30 different styles), and yet each canal is lined with the exact same sequence of homes.  It's a bizarre blend that attempts to take the best of the past and the present, with somewhat mixed results.  

There still isn't much of a "community" to speak of.  Street life is pretty minimal compared to the rest of Amsterdam, but what an interesting experiment.  And I really wonder how it will develop in the next 10 years and if it will be considered another Dutch success story.

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Little Amsterdam

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Still my favorite city.....

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Anish Kapoor at Axel Vervoordt's Kanaal House

Antwerp, Belgium
Heres a wider view of this amazing Anish Kapoor installation at Axel Vervoordt's Canal House.  For those who don't know, Axel is one of the world's top collectors and interior designers (who seems to have a fondness for celebrity castles, having designed both Sting and Madonnas just to name a couple...)

More of the Canal House to come...

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Shooting the Black Hole...

Antwerp, Belgium

More about this later, but wanted to post the photo...

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Goodbye De Longpre...

Silverlake, CA

This is the view from our bedroom.  I think Los Angeles always looks beautiful from here.  It's one of the many things I'm going to miss.  

sigh.

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Monkeys at Breakfast

Bal Samand Palace, Rajastan
Several unruly monkeys turned our patio breakfast table into a jungle gym this particular morning.  Wicker furniture was tossed around with reckless abandon.  

We were amused.  The staff was not.  

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People Like TV...

Mumbai, India
...which is good for me, or I wouldn't have a job.

This is a photo of the biggest electronics shop in The Chor Bazaar.  I like that the salesman only turns on the TVs he is capable of watching at a given moment.  In the west, we would call that "earth friendly" - in India, however, it's a function of limited access to electrical outlets (that  work half the time)

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The World is a Wonderful Place to Shop

Jodphur, Rajasthan

In Keith's world, everything is available for purchase.  Its not just the bracelets that the lady is selling, but maybe her sari, or perhaps the shelves on which they lay.  Where most of us direct our attention to what is displayed in a store, Keith sees it all.  He buys signage used to advertising a sale, lighting fixtures, carts used to haul the merchandise - anything is potentially a new product.  It's the ability to see things that one would normally editout - and envision it in a totally different way.  Keith thinks of his job as an editor - distilling   down a mountain of merchandise to the very best of the best - but really, he is opening up my world.  I had been subconsciously editing things so many things out.  

It's really whats great about my job.  I can go somewhere I've been a dozen times, but doing it with someone new, and seeing it through their lens makes it a whole new place.  It's never about where you go, but how...

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Who To Know In India

New Delhi, India

This is Mr Sunil - India's Fashion Maven, President of India's fashion Board, and all around Socialite.

I was introduced to Sunil as nothing more than a producer working on a project with the Sundance Channel.

Since that point, however, everywhere we went, Sunil introduced me as "Mr Jeremy, who is working with Robert Redford". Obviously, thats quite a leap, but it became his reality.  And in his world of fashion models and Bollywood stars, image is everything.  (Though, I do wonder how many of these Indians actually knew who Robert Redford was.)

Sunil is a force of nature.  And in India, he is king.  Here, he is pictured with his favorite Ambassador to his left and a cast iron version to his right.

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The World's Greatest Treasure Hunt

Mumbai, India

I spent the last couple weeks in India filming the found objects buyer, Keith Johnson.  From the dark narrow alleyways of Old Delhi, to the Thieves Market in Mumbai and the scavenger yards filled with pieces of old havelis scattered across Rajasthan - it was truly a visual feast.  

And I've started my Christmas shopping early this year...

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What to Wear in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Rajasthan
The women wear brightly colored traditional dress and the men mostly wear mismatched western hand me downs.

why is that??  

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Cows Are Calming

Jaipur, India

This visit to India was radically different from any of my previous visits.  For one, I was seeing India from a whole different perspective - eating in the best restaurants, staying at the best hotels, and seeing things that most people only dream about.  

But through it all, it was work - not a luxury vacation.  And the stress that goes along with shooting doesn't dissipate just because you are filming in the maharaja suite at the Umaid Palace.

But strangely enough, where I found my peace and joy was back on the choas of the streets - with the lonely street cows.

Cows are hypnotic.  Its not hard to see why they are revered in India.  

But, to be sure, the environment does make all the difference.  After all, I don't get the same feeling passing the massive feedlot on the I-5.

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The Blue City

Jodpur

Rajastan, India

These were taken from the fort overlooking Jodpur, known as the Blue City  (for obvious reasons.)  Click on the image for the full effect...

Pretty spectacular, isn't it?

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A Little Love for the LA Zoo

True, there are no elephants, no reptile house, no penguins or polar bears. 

But, there's a flamingo pool, and a sea eagle with a broken wing.  And fewer crowds of spoiled children than one will find on any given day at the san diego zoo.

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14 hours in Vermont

Burlington, VT

I was only in vermont long enough to see the inside of a Holiday Inn and beetles mating on a flower out front.  

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Respect the Mushroom

Newport, PA

OK - these aren't great photos, but they have inspired me to dedicate some serious camera time to the lowly mushroom.  Dennis, the nature guy from a previous entry, pointed out these mushrooms to me on a nature hike.  The brown one is poisonous enough to kill everyone in town, were it to fall into the local water supply.  be afraid... 

And the red one is really pretty - though I can't remember anything significant about it.  And the last mushroom was part of a fairy circle of dozens of mushrooms, which I couldn't really capture on camera too well.   Anyway,  Im on the look out for new mushrooms.  

Mushrooms are the new owl. 

  

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The Honey Man

Sioux City, IA

This is the VP of Research and Development at Sue Bee Honey.

You might be wondering what research and development would mean to a company whose only product is honey.  

Turns out, its more about developing more and better ways to ensure the purity of the honey, as more and more of it is imported from around the world - Argentina, Vietnam, India. (everywhere but China, he tells me). At one point,  honey imports were widely used to import contraband (the smell of honey masks whatever else might be hiding in the box, so Im told).  But those days are over as regulations have been stepped up, and the R&D department at Sue Bee continues to work tirelessly toward their mission of honey purity.

 And who is their biggest client for the honey once it's packaged?  The United Arab Emirates.  "They like honey over there... and bees don't do too well in the desert."   You can see SueBee's Arabic Label on the far left of this picture.  

From around the world, to Sioux City, Iowa and back again.

And for the record, Sue Bee treated us really well.  and even helped carry our equipment when the cameraman threw his back out.  Long live Sue Bee....

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A Tree House in Appalachia

Near Newport, PA

This is Dennis.  He lives down a long dirt road, in a small clearing of trees, totally and completely removed from any sign of human life.  

Dennis is the Pennsylvania State Apiary Inspector by day, but when he comes home, you see him as he was meant to be, totally and completely surrounded by nature.  

He has an open house.  No windows, only screens.  Really nothing more than a wood floor and a roof.  I wondered if he got cold in the winter.  He says he just throws on an extra duvet at night.  I ask if the rain ever gets to him.  he says sometimes it soaks the bed , but it's a small price to pay.  I ask him what his wife thinks of all this.  He was a little less direct with that response.  And she wasn't there to answer for herself.

Dennis spends alot of time out in the elements, collecting things that interest him and putting them in resin blocks.  Leaves and insects, mostly.  He has taken these resin blocks and created incredible pieces with them.  Below, you will see a chandelier that he is currently working on.  As well as a box filled with bits yet to be incorporated into larger projects.

Being with him as he enthusiastically shared his passion for his lifestyle - his home and his hobbies - as well as his philosophies on life, was truly a highlight for me.  It was a beautiful night, he cooked steaks for me and Goro, the cameraman.  We watched hummingbirds and deer and drank beer.  After a particularly difficult shoot, it was greatly appreciated.  He claims that I am suffering from NDD - Nature Deficit Disorder.  That may be true, though I don't think Id feel the same if I had visited him in early January...

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Harare and Dinner with Mugabe

Harare, Cape Flats, South Africa

This neighborhood, I found out, was well known as the most dangerous in all of south africa.  Though, just like everything in South Africa - the best and worst, the most dangerous and the safest, the ugliest and the most beautiful, are all defined neatly along color lines.  

So, while the black township of Harare was well known as the most dangerous to my Koi San ("colored" being the local label) driver, my  Xhosa (black) security staff all knew it as being a perfectly safe neighborhood.  It would be Athlone, the "colored" township that was the seat of organized crime - and therefor, the most dangerous.  

Everything breaks down this way, which, given the country's history, is no real shock.  And even though there is fear across the board about whats happening in Zimbabwe - the causes of the economic woes in the country are a result of a mad dictator if you are white, or western sanctions if you are black.  Mugabe is a freedom fighter in the flats and a corrupt dictator in the city bowl.  I thought Mugabe would be something the world could agree on.  How very wrong I was.  

I've been reading this book, written by a white woman, because it purports to chart the history of Mugabe from freedom fighter to dictator, and reveal all the shades of grey in between.  Hopefully, I can learn a little bit myself and have a more educated opinion about the whole thing.    In the meantime, whatever you think of Mugabe, a stark reminder of the crisis that country is in can be had by checking out the exchange rate on a daily basis and seeing how many zeros are added everyday to the price of a loaf of bread.  Looks like they are headed toward a cool quadrillion (thats 15 zeros), according to this article.  

And while you contemplate all that chaos, check out this little green bird on a Harare Tin Roof.  Cute.

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Dodging the Ball

Barrydale, South Africa


I was taking this picture, thinking how much I dreaded games involving balls when I was younger. Baseball, football, basketball.  Anything ending in "ball".   I couldn't catch, couldn't throw.  The ball was my enemy.  Dodging the ball was a way of life.  So, obviously, it was the only game that didn't leave lasting psychological scars.  I was pretty good at running.  And pretty good at hiding too.  So, Hide and Seek, along with other games that don't have national leagues, like Red Rover, Musical Chairs, and Connect Four, were more my forte.  

While I was watching these kids, I was looking for that one kid that didn't want to be there.  I always do that when  I see kids playing.  You can usually spot the miserable outcast pretty quickly.  But these kids were all genuinely enjoying themselves.  And that made me happy.  It looked like they were playing some strange hybrid between volleyball and dodgeball.  

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3 Phones, a Stack of Phone Books, and a Calculator

Mumbai, India

Apparently that's all you need to open a travel agency in Mumbai.  This is a photo of the travel agency where I bought my ticket to Sri Lanka.  I took it because it looked suspiciously like the travel agency where I was held up 3 years earlier - same room set up, same glass top table - same phone and calculator.  Its funny the things you remember...  But realistically,  most all travel agencies in India are probably nothing more than a table with a phone and a calculator.  

Which then got me thinking about Jan Chipchase.  I read about him in this article a few months ago and now check his blog regularly.  He works for Nokia and travels the world, studying people's habits to figure out how people are using their cell phones, and how that might change in the future.  Its pretty fascinating stuff.  Cell phones, in many parts of the world, have become much more than just a way to communicate.  In uganda, houses are now identified by their phone number, not an address number.  It's become an identity.  And in villages across africa, people are buying phones primarily to be used as ATM machines and facilitate the transfer of cash from family members in the city to family in the village - in exchange for airtime!  Phones as banks!

What an interesting job.  And an Interesting guy.  

Now, if these guys at the travel agency got one of those phones with a calculator built in, they could really save on costs.

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