I made my first appearance at the Latin Grammys yesterday as a photographer for Remezcla. The event took place at the Avalon in Hollywood where a number former and current nominees were in attendance.
Check out all of my photos of the event over at Remezcla.
The image of the passenger-plane-as-weapon is meant to provoke a reaction that challenges people’s long-held fears over terrorism, including their initial reaction to the attacks on 9/11, as well as the immediate calls for revenge.
“It’s overtly shocking,” Gomez says of the image. “That was purposeful because we did immediately go for an eye-for-an-eye. It was almost like they exploited our fear and they were like ‘now’s the time to do it.’ I know that we fall into it quite easily.”
Read the full story and interview at Remezcla.
I don’t recall exactly the “how” or even the “why” this began but for some odd yet humorous reason I ended up planking a number of sites during my trip to Spain. What began as a simple one-time joke became a long-running gag funny in its silliness and pointlessness. The photos were taken by various friends who were more than happy to oblige (and egg me on!)
VALLADOLID:
The wall is one of the original borders of the city of Valladolid still left standing.
Everyone was upset during our group dinner as it was our last week together…so I cheered them up with a plank!
VITORIA-GASTEIZ:
PAMPLONA (Iruña):
Apologies to Ernest Hemingway and family! Continue reading “Planking Across Spain”
I’ve done quite a bit of work for Remezcla since my return from Spain. I posted them in my Twitter feed. Here they are in one convenient location in case you missed them:
Listen: Neon Indian’s “Polish Girl”
Free Download: Pato Machete’s “Soy”
Free Download: Maluca & Party Squad’s “Lola (ging danga)”
Visionary Sounds Music Festival feat. Zuzuka Poderosa, Niña Dioz, Andrea Balency & More
Cansei de Ser Sexy’s new album: La Liberacion
The summer of 2011 quickly became the summer of Kreayshawn, a 21 year-old rapper/pop singer from Oakland who blew up after she released her track “Gucci Gucci” this past May:
It only took a week for the video to reach 1 million hits and it didn’t take long after that for Columbia Records to offer her a contract (yes, she signed it).
Naturally, fame brings its own load of unique baggage along with it such as the eventual parody. Kreayshawn now has her own official parody thanks to the sketch comedy artists at Loud Village. Their version is less concerned with swag and more interested in fish tacos:
“Will [Reese] thought ‘Gucci Gucci’ would be a funny song to parody,” says Jeremy Burke of LV. “I wrote the lyrics and he recruited Wendy McColm, who plays ‘Kreayfish,’ from UCB. She’s on a sketch team there called ‘The Get Go’ and his roommate made the beat. I got the locations and everyone else and made a hilarious video.”
“I wanted it to be just like her video staying very true to vibe and most of the shots. We basically swapped out all the weed for fish tacos. It was pretty funny especially when we took it to Fairfax to shoot because that whole scene is blowing up. There were those kind of kids everywhere and we show up with a girl that looks JUST like Kreayshawn and a fucking dude who’s playing Lil Debbie. It looked ridiculous!”
“Immediately there were people coming up to us. A lot of them said they were friends with the actual Kreayshawn.”
“They thought it was funny for the most part but not enough to actually be in the video since they didn’t want to offend anyone, haha.”
“We even had a few scary moments like when one guy skated by and yelled out ‘Don’t get yourself killed’ but the best was when this little girl and her big sister went up to Wendy and asked her for an autograph. She had to be like 8 years old!”
“Loud Village is basically the fusion between alternative music and alternative comedy,” says Burke (pictured above at SXSW). “After working in music for years, I decided to start doing what I loved most, which is comedy. With the way that the internet is now, I noticed a lot of parallels between music and comedy, like how it’s distributed and how they connect with their fanbase so I started taking classes again at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre.”
“While there, I met a lot of other up-and-comers in comedy. I met Will Reese in my sketch writing class and he started helping me on the technical end of things. In the meantime, for work, I started doing freelance social media for anyone I could my hands on.”
“Best Fish Tacos In Ensenada {featured in the video. ~Afrox.} is right around the corner from me and one of my favorite spots so I reached out to them. Joseph Cordova, their owner, was all about the idea of me making some videos for him and helping him with social media.”
The rest is comedy history and comedy gold!
My friends at Feeding Birds Boutique held their annual Midsummer Flock Party this past weekend. The event featured a number of free shows by local musicians, rare photos of Bob Marley for sale by photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker, the Calbi food truck and Los Angeles shaved ice truck.
Local art(ists):
“There’s Griffith Park.”
“Griffith Park? Is that where the observatory is at?!”
“Yeah, up this hill.”
“Let’s go!”
20 minutes later, my friend and I were at the top of hill, parking her car and giddy with excitement. Neither one of us had visited this Los Angeles landmark since we were children:
Not our ride.
A bust of actor James Dean.
Ximena Sariñana swung by the Warner Bros. Records office this past Friday for a mini-concert before her trip up north to San Francisco for the Outside Lands Festival. I was lucky enough to receive an invite to the event and, as always, took a few photos while there.
The world-famous WB water tower! No word if the Animaniacs still live inside of it:
Some of Ximena’s younger fans became distracted by the stage props:
Open bar courtesy of Red Bull:
There’s a livestream of the show courtesy of the WB which you can find HERE. Look for my cameo halfway through the show. There are a few more photos on my Flickr as well.
Museo Casa de Cervantes (House of Cervantes Museum) is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Spain’s greatest writer, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
The museum is the former home of Cervantes who lived in Valladolid with his family from 1604 – 1606. He completed his masterpiece, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, here and published it in 1605. Monarch Alfonso XIII and Archer Huntington, then-president of the Hispanic Society of America, purchased the property in 1912 and later donated it to the State. The building was officially inaugurated as the Museo Casa de Cervantes on April 12, 1948.
Take a brief phototour of the museum after the jump. As always, all photos can be found on my Flickr. Continue reading “Museo Casa de Cervantes: The Former Home of Don Quixote’s Father”
I wonder if History teachers in Spain toss their written materials out the window and book a field trip for their students in place of a lecture. It wouldn’t surprise me if this were the case considering the amount of living history and architecture contained, for example, in a city such as Segovia.
Segovia is home to many pieces of architecture that hold a significant spot in history, so much so that UNESCO declared in 1985 that a portion of the city to be a World Heritage site.
Segovia’s most notable piece of history is a Roman aqueduct that is nearly 2,000 years old and erected without the use of cement or mortar. The city is also home to a large Alcázar (castle) where various monarchs including Alfonso X El Sabio (Alfonso X The Learned/Wise), Los Reyes Católicos (The Catholic Kings), Felipe II (Phillip II) and Carlos III (Charles III) lived and exercised their power.
There is also an enormous Gothic cathedral that contains 23 chapels built in 1525 at the behest of Emperador Carlos V (Emperor Charles V).
Below are a number of photos of these monuments as well as other photos from my time in Segovia. All can be seen on my Flickr.
Continue reading “Segovia, Spain: Romans, Goths and Catholics”
Afroxander (aka Iván Fernández) 