Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City was a great event held in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles), celebrating “the power and energy of cutting edge design and technology now emerging from Japan and its intersection with current trends materializing in Los Angeles.” Complete with symposiums, storage PODs turned into exhibits, DJs spinning records, film screenings, food trucks, and more, the event was a great success. Pictured above is Brandon Shigeta, an exhibitor who won the “Golden Astro Boy” award for his awesome installation called ARTCUBE. Made up of 65,000 postcards from 80 different photos, ARTCUBE was an interactive exhibit that allowed visitors to take any postcard(s) they wanted. The exhibit started out with a neat stack of postcards in the center of the POD, but as the event went on Shigeta’s ARTCUBE became just that—a cube (well, rectangular POD) filled with a plethora of postcard photographs (art). It was a really neat concept, and over the course of a few days I spent a lot of time in there, sitting on the ground with strangers rummaging through a great array of postcards and images. If you missed out, don’t fret just yet!! Shigeta had a camera set up in the roof of the POD to create a timelapse, which you can view below! I definitely recommend checking it out.

One of my [film] professors from last semester is good friends with Wes Craven and asked if he’d be willing to come speak to my class about SCREAM 4 and answer some questions. He obliged, so we screened the film and went straight into a Q&A series after. I met a lot of really cool people in the industry this semester, but mister Craven blew most of them out of the water. He’s a really funny, down to earth guy. I recorded about 45 minutes of him speaking, and plan on making a short video from the footage, but still haven’t had the time to do so. Anyway, here’s a photo I took during the Q&A portion of the evening. Hope you enjoy!

One of my film classes this semester is focused on the different stages of a production, starting from pre-production and ending with post-production. Throughout the semester we created a few short [group] films where we took on the role of a director, cinematographer, or editor, and our final project for the class was to create our own narrative film. I’ve always been more into documentaries than narratives, so I decided to do a documentary for my final project instead. For my documentary, I spent the day out in Santa Ana at Sid’s Tattoo Parlor, documenting tattoo artist Los Ocegueda and bassist Ryan Wombacher (of Bleeding Through).

Please note: I’d like to make changes to this piece, but I had to keep it pretty short due to assignment restrictions.

Recently took some headshots of my friend Karen, who is trying to get her foot in the door in the industry. For many years she sang for the band Chase Long Beach, but quit when coming to the realization that she’d rather spend her time acting. In addition to taking acting classes at the local community college and taking on gigs where she acts as an extra, Karen is currently in the process of writing a rock-opera. Never a dull moment in the life of Karen.

Browse YouTube and you’re guaranteed to find tons of videos from during (and after) the quake and tsunami in Japan. Though I’ve watched a large number of these videos, which show peoples reactions, swaying skyscrapers, and towns submerged underwater with houses literally drifting away, it wasn’t until I saw the video above that I really began to comprehend just how powerful this natural disaster is. I mean, I’ve been experiencing earthquakes my whole life (I live right near fault lines in southern California) and not once have I seen the ground move like this.

There’s no doubt that those in Japan will be needing our help in the coming days, weeks, months, and maybe even years. More than a thousand people dead, still tons missing, people expected to run out of food and water. And think about all of the damage—parts of Japan will have to be completely rebuilt.

I know that we’re all hurting for money these days, but for just one second think about the people you can be helping by donating even $1. As broke as I am, I’ve already donated $20. Japan needs the help more than I need the couple gallons of gas, the crappy fast food, or those few drinks at the bar. Below are some of the ways you can donate (borrowed from SignalNoise):

• Canadian Red Cross
• American Red Cross
• Doctors without Borders
• The Salvation Army
• Oxfam
• Global Living
• Care
• ShelterBox

Canada: Text REDCROSS to 30333 to donate $10
USA: Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10
Ireland: Text REDCROSS to 57500 to donate €5

New Found Glory recently played at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA, marking their first show in approximately 151 days. Fans had the opportunity to leave a song request at their merch booth, which the band then used to compile a set list of 27 [requested] songs… so awesome! I’ve been seeing these guys since middle school and every time I go to one of their shows I’m reminded of why I love them so much. Besides the energy that the band gives off, the overall vibe at their shows is one that will have you groovin’ and leave you wanting more! I highly suggest checking out one of their shows if the band rolls through a town nearby!

Haight Ashbury always brings back good memories for me. Although I’ve traveled to San Francisco quite a bit in my short life, Haight never gets boring. There’s such an eclectic group of people on the street that you’re bound to always be entertained. Even if you don’t enjoy people watching, there are tons of awesome shops, eateries, and wall art for your enjoyment!

Took a little trip up to San Francisco this past weekend to get away for a few days and it was a blast, as always. From seeing The Get Up Kids to trading with hippies on Hippie Hill, there was never a dull moment. This is a photo I took out of the window where I was staying and I really like the way it came out, so I hope that you will too! Keep your eyes open for more photos from the trip… I’ll probably be posting them soon!

This was the view I got to see every day before walking down a few flights of stairs and stepping foot in the “real” downtown Los Angeles. It’s crazy the difference that just a few stories can make, especially in terms of aesthetic beauty.

When I woke up this morning I noticed that this photo I took of Billie Joe Armstrong’s (Green Day) guitar now has over 20,000 views. Kind of awesome!!