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December 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This is the best stuff I’ve seen, read, or listened to this week. Everything here is worth checking out and taking note of. Here we go…
Photography
1. The Bottom Line, Dallas Morning News.
A photo-essay by Mona Reeder tackling various problems in Texas - poverty, pollution, juvenile justice, teen pregnancy, etc. Absolutely amazing work. I can’t say enough. [rating: 5/5]
Film
The Kingdom, [rating:4/5]
TV
Extras Series Finale Special, HBO [rating:4/5]
Music
A couple years back, if you ordered merch from Manowar around the holidays you’d get a piece of Manowar fudge. That was great, but now comes the Warrior’s Shield, the Manowar-branded condom. Product of the year from any band, in my mind. And that’s even if someone else has done it already. Manowar does everything better and bigger. You can order a 5-pack by clicking here.
This week’s prominent tunes: Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light, Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me
, Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest Of Times
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December 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This is the best stuff I’ve seen, read, or listened to this week. Everything here is worth checking out and taking note of. Here we go…
Photography
B. The Whale Hunt / A storytelling experiment / by Jonathan Harris
A. Classics in Lego - Balakov/Mike Stimpson on Flickr. Only 4 photos (so far).
News & Journalism
Crunks 2007: The Year in Media Errors and Corrections, Regret the Error. Best and worst corrections through the year. A long read, but rewarding.
In The Land of The Juggalos, Vice Magazine, with photos by Brad Troemel. A well-written look into the subculture of Insane Clown Posse fans. NSFW.
Film
No Country for Old Men, [rating:5/5]
Music
When it comes to music, the above design says it all for me. You can get the t-shirt at diesel sweeties.
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December 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This is the best stuff I’ve seen, read, or listened to this week. Everything here is worth checking out and taking note of. Here we go…
Photography
3. Motels, 14 photographs by Marc McAndrews
2. Motherland, photographs from a year-long trek through Russia by photographer Simon Roberts.
1. Free and Uneasy: The First Year Out, The New York Times
This is a fascinating multimedia piece, with photographs by James Estrin, allowing Jeffrey Deskovic to tell his story. Deskovic spent 16 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of rape and is now adjusting to life in the outside world after DNA cleared him of the crime.
News & Journalism
30 Miserable Lives Lost in Greyhound Bus Crash, The Onion
Film
Darwin’s Nightmare, [rating:4/5]. It’s not an easy documentary to watch. Let’s sum it up by these images: Pilots landing huge Russian cargo jets in Tanzania, filling up their cargo bays with filets of fish from Lake Victoria and flying off to feed the European Union. The people of Tanzania left in miserable poverty with famine breaking out and maggot-ridden fish heads to eat. The oxygen levels of Lake Victoria dropping to dangerous levels, threatening dead lake status. It’s a monumental downer. But I didn’t really know how to feel about the film until the scenes of children breaking into fist fights over a handful of rice. The next scene: Billy Bass the Singing Fish on the wall of a decrepit office, singing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” It’s an indictment of us all. Netflix it here.
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December 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This is the best stuff I’ve seen, read, or listened to this week. Everything here is worth checking out and taking note of. Here we go…
Photography
1. Single Category Winners - 2007 Atlanta Photojournalism Contest.
A gallery of powerful photojournalism. Kudos to my man Chris Detrick, whose image above took a first place.
2. Philip Jones Griffiths, Photo Histories.
Philip Jones Griffiths, who’s seminal work Vietnam Inc. publised in 1971, defines goals for the thinking photojournalist. As he says, “There are millions and billions of sheets of paper in the world and millions and billions of ball point pens and pencils, but there’s only a handful of poets, great poets”.
3. Did Not, Did Too, Redlights and Redeyes.
An amazing set of images from Chip Litherland, who photographed “the Republican CNN YouTube Debate for The New York Times the other day up in St. Petersburg…I think I’m a little hungover too much Giuliani & Huckabee because something about the oversaturation of red, white, and blue in these photos just got to me.”
4. Nicolai Howalt “Boxer”, Galerie Poller.
From the page: “Throughout the years of 2000-03 the award-winning photographer Nicolai Howalt followed young Danish boys boxing in Denmark and abroad. The result is the book ‘Boxer’. The book portrays a series of young boxers in the moment before and after the match.”
I personally had this idea back in ‘03 and tried it out at a Toughman competition. The problem was that the guys were so bashed up they wouldn’t sit for the “after” photo. The one guy I got to agree looked exactly the same before and after. Sucked.
News & Journalism
The Man From Fallujah - PDN
A thorough look at the short career of Bilal Hussein, the Iraqi photographer held by the U.S. military without charges for the past 19 months. I can’t tell you he’s innocent or guilty, but there are so many troubling pieces to this puzzle.
Polygamy
What Warren Said to William - The Polygamy Files
On my colleague Brooke Adams’ blog, The transcript of a call from a jailed Warren Jeffs to William E. Jessop.
Books
My review of Locas, by Jaime Hernandez, [rating:5/5]
Video
Thanks to Wooster Collective for pointing out this video, Chocolade Haas, by Sander Plug:
MusicBusy week, but this counts: Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest Of Times
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November 25, 2007 | 2 Comments

This is the best stuff I’ve seen, read, or listened to this week. Everything here is worth checking out and taking note of. Here we go…
Photography
pictures. » Scott Strazzante. You’ve really got to see Strazzante’s diptychs that contrast a small family farm and the modern, suburban community that now occupies the same land.
clayton james cubitt commissioned galleries Lagos Calling Lagos Calling. An anthropological study of African skinhead fashion from the early seventies.
George Jardine on Lightroom and Digital Photography » Blog Archive » Podcast #42 Posted, with Jay Maisel, Seth Resnick and Greg Gorman. This episode of the podcast is a must-listen for all photographers. Go download the episode now.
.:. The gaze of 45 mexican photographers .:.. Ten photographs each from 45 different photographers. A great place to click through the afternoon.
Polygamy
A fascinating article by Daphne Bramham: A Battle for Bountiful’s Children, in the Vancouver Sun, detailing the life of Teressa Wall Blackmore, sister to the victim in the Warren Jeffs case. The last days, prophets, and practice famines.
Books
My review of Worldview, the photos of Leonard Freed, [rating:5/5]
Film
Little Dieter Needs to Fly, [rating:5/5]. This 1998 Werner Herzog documentary tells the story of Dieter Dengler, a pilot shot down over Vietnam. Dengler tells most of the story himself, and he’s a fascinating character. In a telling moment, Herzog asks Dengler how he feels about being a war hero. Dengler says, “Oh no, I’m not a hero. Only dead people are heroes.”
Rescue Dawn, [rating:4/5]. The dramatic film of Denger’s story. Great film, but watch the documentary first.
TV
Look Around You, [rating:5/5], is a series of fake 1970’s era educational films produced by the BBC. It’s not available here in the States just yet, but you can watch it on YouTube. Here’s the brilliant first episode Maths:
More Look Around You episodes:2 - Water, 3 - Germs, 4 - Ghosts, 5 - Sulphur, 6 - Music, 7 - Iron, 8 - Brain, Special Report - Music 2000, 0 - Calcium, Computers, Part One, Computers, Part Two, Computers, Part Three, Casserole, Synthesizer Patel, Psilence, HRH Final with Prince Charles, Special Report - Computer Games.The Look Around You DVD will be a must-have when it finally gets here. You can find more info at the Look Around You website.
Music
This week’s prominent tunes:
New releases: Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light, Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me
, Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience & Grace
, Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest Of Times
Old releases: Dag Nasty - Can I Say, Heavens - Patent Pending














