WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?

I knew their demise couldn't last too long. Nau is now back, dontcha know? Their blog was excellent, glad to see its back up and running. Interested to hear about why someone brought them back and whats the new plan of attack.

signs of democracy

I like this. I like the end point that the actors came to outside of AB and did it with a small comedy group. Maybe that's a sign that the economy is that bad.

Let your imagination die

This is probably a side effect of thinking to early, but . .
Perhaps it’s the crisp cold smell of fallen leaves that bring up the topic of change and death. The topic of death seems to be following me slightly closer. Lyle Owerko has put out some cool work but he keeps being noted as that one guy who photographed the world trade center jumpers (his work is worth more credit than a one hit wonder). However people’s draw towards the work is undeniable. What is it with people’s fascination of death? “What were they thinking right before they jumped?” “The rush of oxygen must have made them pass out, no-one would jump in their right mind” “does your life actually flash before your eyes?”
Maybe it’s the looming of all hallows eve (the best holiday in American culture, in my humble opinion), but the personage of how American’s think about death, is all about us. The ominous scarecrows on porches and the shadowy faces carved in pumpkins, all point us to America’s fear of death. SIDE NOTE: Most countries in the world celebrate death, as much as anyone can celebrate the death of friends, family, et cetera. Other cultures understand that death is inevitable and celebrate death as another step in life. Just as you have your years of teenage angst, you have your dead years. We on the other hand have built a billion dollar industry on shielding us from death. We have medicine to extend a terminal life, we have housing for our elderly loved ones (healthcare provides approx. 13 million job of which 25% are for elder care); death seems to be an admission of our flaws, loss and defeat. One the other side of our coin of denial is a bottomless pit of imagination that fosters its own industry, scary movies, Halloween costumes and candies.
All industry and notes aside, when people talk about death they talk about it with imagination. I’m sure you could pass people through MRI machines and see the creative centers in their brain light up like a Technicolor dream. I’m sure this isn’t any profound idea. Any time you peer into the unknown, you use your creativity. The simple fact is, that it is unknown.
I was discussing with some friends earlier this week, as Chuck Klosterman nears the end of his novel, living to die, I half expected a summation of why we canonize all of the artists that die. Some artist live underwhelmed lives but their death creates an explosion of fame. Other artist, meet death as they were half expected to die, that would be the only way people could see that artists career go. However they die and what their path may have been fans like to preserve the image of their death famed artists in their own mind. In a fans mind they can have a pristine image of what they want, with out any corruption. With art creativity come easily, with the fear of the unknown dusting off the unfamiliar art of creativity is harder. Fear seems to become some. It seems as though some people have a fear of their creative side just as much as they fear death. Maybe chuck had it right, don’t tell us what to think about death leave us to our own tools, let us become the artists of fame and the result will be much more fearful.

Jus' chillaxin'

You can't make this shit up. Relics in my yard




There was an amazing double rainbow, but I felt like taking a picture of the trash instead




Who has a miner cart in their backyard, I DO



"Horse shack," an un-known diddy by the B-52s




My unbelievable back yard

My procrastination project

A pic taken by my college roomie, Bredan (very talented photo taker). Only some touch up. Much love for Tyler "Baker" Thurman, the skater in the frame.



The Tres Hombres headed to surf trestles.



Suiting up



The two boys into the water like fish



Dude you totally could have kicked that guys ass from prison break, that was him right?
Man he had a huge head.

Boulder Love

Never thought I would see so much heart in a wolf tee! Nor did I think my next door neighbor and tallest kid ever that I played lax with would come out with music as sick as this. Much boulder love!

right department?

With the economy in shambles I have been trying to reshuffle my finances so that I can best managing them. Suffice to say, it’s a mess to begin with. Three different firms, seven accounts and no unified plan. As I go about consolidating them, one rises to the top, of being a royal pain in my ass. Charles Schwab, if you know him well you can call him chuck, or just call him chuck anyway. This cheap marketing ploy is weak at best. The lack of connection between the idea to how the Charles Schwab business is run, is none existent. You would hope that talking to chuck would mean that everyone is personable and friendly. Hopefully when you talk to “chuck” he listens, right? Euro RSCG is one of the largest agencies in the world. No blame to them, great campaign, shake of the finger to the partnership between the two. Just as they talk about in Life After the 30 Second Spot, agencies need to do more than just write a new idea for each client. The idea works, but Chuck isn’t there to answer the phone.
My side of the story:
Closing an account was a pain. I had to activate an online account to avoid the transaction fee. In order to get the account to work I had to call, go into the office, show my ID, go back home and then closeout the account. Why cant they, one, put a computer in the lobby or solve the back and forth. Two, have the online assistance service be able to process the order for me. If I was someone who traded regularly the ease of doing one trade for me would be a great aid.
Changing the name on my account. For some reason my account had my mothers last name and not mine. Apparently the names have to match perfectly, never mind your social security number. After talking with the people in the office again, I was referred to the client services department. It took me three client service representatives and a manager telling me that my name is different and asking for proof of name change to get no where. It shouldn’t have taken so many people (Insert joke, how many Charles Schwab employees does it take to _________. My fav. How many Charles Schwab consultants does it take to screw you in the ass? 4, something I never want to see). I have bosses, parents and teachers that have told me what to do. I don’t need my finical firm telling me that my name is wrong and I need to fix it. Having everyone trying to be so polite and using my mother’s last name calling me Mr. Flaster, didn’t help. Oh the irony. Calling to correct them on my name and they don’t listen. “I’m sorry Mr. Flaster, there is nothing I can do . . Mr. Flaster you must fill out this form.”
Sure there are rules that help govern a company. But, if you are presenting the image of being a helpful listener, you should at least remove some bureaucracy, or cross-train people so that they can actually help your clients. At the end of my many calls, I asked if I was talking to the right department. Maybe I should be talking with the marketing department, since there is no way client services can help me.