"I remember halloween...."

Halloween night, 2002. I made my way to North Six club in Brooklyn to see my friends the World Inferno Friendship Society for their annual Hallowmas celebration show. Which are always a good time. This one was a little more special because they were recording it for a live record. The show was nuts. Kids going bonkers, dancing and jumping all about. The band brought a whole lotta candy corn to throw out. Buckets and buckets of it. It really seemed like a never ending supply. Now, candy corn is gross to begin with. But when you add it to a large crowd of rowdy punks it becomes very very messy. And oh what a mess it was. I grew and inch taller due to all the candy corn stuck to the bottom of my shoes. Many people had clothes now permanently embedded with candy corn. The dance floor after the show had a nice coating of melted sugar. It was kind of sticky and kind of slick and ever so gross. I remember seeing Doggy Style throw out doughnuts and the floor becoming a total mess with punks trying to maintain balance in the circle pit. But that paled in comparison with the floor after this Inferno show. I've always been curious as to what the club did about this for the next nights show. I've asked members of the band, but they were always a little too scared to find out in case the club was pissed about the mess.

Light Leak Magazine

I've got a photo in the new issue of Light Leaks Magazine. Which is a wonderful little magazine focusing on "low fidelity" photography. The latest issue is all about Polaroid. Look for it in a camera/magazine store, or check out their site: www.lightleaks.org/

First camera

Way back, late in the year of 1988, I was just starting my fanzine making days. Did a few interviews but had no photos to go with them. A friend offered to take photos for me, but I wasn't into the results from that. So, early in 1989 I made my way to a local department store and purchased the little camera in the photo above. I got this little automatic for a couple of reasons. One was the size. Small enough to fit in my pocket and to keep it out of trouble when kids started going bonkers around me at shows. The other reason for an automatic was that I knew next to nothing about photography. So I needed something simple to get me started. The first show I took this too was No For An Answer, Hard Stance, Head First, and a couple of others down in a hall in San Diego, CA. A fucking great show. I did my best with my little camera, not really knowing what I was doing or how the images would turn out. Luckily I got a few good shots that night. But that was all it took. I was hooked. I took that little camera to a whole lotta shows. Snapped a whole lotta photos. After a while though, I needed more. I took a photography course in college, but mostly for access to a darkroom. I learned my way around there, but did nothing for the actual course. I didn't have a proper camera for that nor the money for one. So while I might have failed that class, I did get a lot of prints for my fanzine. And so my love of photography grew deeper. Fast forward to the present time. I no longer make a fanzine. But now I've got about 11 cameras of all shapes and sizes. I still have yet to take a proper course in photography, so everything I know, I've learned on my own. Sometimes with the help of friends, and now these days, with the help of the internet. I love the journey to knowledge that playing with my film cameras takes me on.
Hard Stance

Fall

Central Park, NYC
Fall is by far my favorite time of year. The cool crisp air. The changing colors of the trees. It's good stuff. But those are the things people say when they're describing why they love the fall season. One thing that might not be mentioned as much is the awesome sunsets and sunrises during fall. And so far this year, they've been jaw droppingly beautiful. Enough to make me slow down on my rides to work. Fall also means the start of hockey season. The winding down of the road cycling season. The start of the cyclocross season. These are all great things. Just adding to the greatness that is fall. Now it's time to head out with some color film in the cameras and try to capture some of this fall greatness on film. LINDEN,NJ

Neko Case

I've been listening to Neko Case a whole lot lately. I'm not a writer who can put forth some elegant wordy explanation of her greatness, so I'll just say this: She rocks. I've only had a chance to see her live once. And I almost missed that chance because I didn't even know about the show. Luckily my friend Konstantin called me asking me if I was heading to the city. I said nah, got no reason, why do you ask? He then informs me that Neko Case is playing in Central Park for free. Well, whatever I had planned that night went out the window and I rushed to catch a train. Waited in line for a bit. Then tried to get as close to the stage as I could because who knows how many times I'll have a chance to take photos of Neko. Her set was great. She played just about every one of my favorite songs of hers, including older tunes. It was a beautiful way to spend an evening in Central Park.

Radio Silence Weekend

This past weekend was all about celebrating the release of the fine book, Radio Silence. On friday my wife and I met up down in the lovely DUMBO section of Brooklyn under the Brooklyn Bridge for the big release party. And it was indeed a big party. Lots and lots of people came out. I was expecting to see lots of old faces or as Glen Maryansky put it so well, it was like going to a high school reunion. But, surprisingly there weren't too many people there that I knew. And it was a little too crowded and loud to really try to mingle and meet other contributors to the book. Which I was hoping to do. No such luck, but I was quite honored by the presence of some friends who chose to come out to celebrate with me. They made it a truly special night. Especially the good hang out times at the bar after the party finished up. The next night it was all about the photo show. Anthony and Nathan had the photographers in the show (those in town that is) show up early so we could all see the show before the little gallery filled up. Smart move. Also, it allowed me to meet some wonderful people. Great people like JJ, Rusty, Gail, Jeff, Glen, Claudia, and Alex to name a few. But it wasn't all fun, Anthony and Nathan put us to work by having us sign 100 books. Special editions. If you're into that sort of thing, find your way to the gallery and pick one up. Also available are some limited edition shirts with some images from the book. I've got one of a Chain of Strength shot. It's pretty cool looking. The gallery quickly filled up and good times were had. Some more friends came out to help me celebrate this event as well. It was truly a wonderful night and a great way to start the celebration of the release of this book. It was a great weekend. Thanks for Anthony and Nathan for doing all the work in providing the good times. The photo show moves to Boston next. Be prepared.