I haven’t gotten around to interviewing DJ yet for the podcast but meanwhile check out his blog from the frozen bottom of the earth. Is this the 3rd or 4th season he’s gone down now? Congradulations on the engagement as well!

Buddy Jasonaut and some others are involved with a new site Art Relish. Check it, bookmark it, and for lawd’s sake darlings…relish the local arts!

Like many cities, Portland, OR (PDX) is changing quickly. C’est la vie - I came late to the game myself. But my personal beef is with destruction of landmarks from Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy. They knocked down the St. Francis hotel, one of the more dramatic examples. And while I’m not positive about this, I believe the opening ‘home movie’ shots of the crew cutting up where shot under the LoveJoy viaduct, now gone. This used to be my bike route when I worked in the bottleshop of a nearby brewery. There is still a ramp off the Broadway bridge that leads in this direction, but it isn’t the great seedy view over warehouses the Pearl district still was in the late 90’s. I’m sure all those yuppifucks enjoy their current high rents, views and conviences, not to mention those fat developer’s bankaccounts, but anyway…

The good news is: common sense did prevail enough to be sure another artistic landmark was preseved. Back in the late 40’s, Greek railroadman Tom E. Stefopoulos drew these great chalk drawing on the concrete columns that supported the viaduct during his spare moments working as a switchman. The columns were saved and now sit half a block north of NW Everett and 10th in front of some flash condo building. True, what you see are large photo reproductions encased in plexi of the actual drawing that lie beneath, but in the name of preservation, this was most likely the best route to go. You can see some more of my personal shots of the columns in their new home here. Also, for cultish fans of the film, an exploration of “hats on beds” that ties into a C. McCarthy novel.

I’ve been coming across some heavy hitters lately, like the stark Jock Sturges (who I first thought to be NAMBLA, but quickly realized he was presenting something far more challenging to our culture), and the japanese great Nobuyoshi Araki; as well as subject matter, like the abandoned island of Gunkamjima. And here’s another sex freak found through Flickr, Peter Klaushorst, does photos and paintings of either whores/models, or has had a phenominal amount of girlfriends…

But I especially love this emerging age of social networks that brings you in contact with people like Akif Hakan Celebi.

You can see his Deviant Art profile, also an interview he did with Ukranian MAX magazine. Also don’t neglect his main site and spend some $ if you can!

Wow, I just saw a really intense program on the documentary channel about James Nachtwey called War Photographer. You must see some of the images this guy has captured, understand the reason behind what he is doing.

I’m feeling really conflicted right now about the travel I’ve managed to do myself: some of it relatively ballsy perhaps, but all in the name of selfish kicks and “adventure”. I guess a more positive way to express this feeling is to say the man is an inspiration.

Mt. St. Helen’s blew it’s top on this day almost three decades ago, what wikipedia calls the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. The biggest earthquake was Alaska, ‘64.

I intentionally use a less than completely dramatic shot (actually of Mt. Adams from St. Helens) from Jasonaut, as we hiked around out there at one point a decade ago together, though I never summited that mountain as he later did. In the shot you can barely make out still stunted tree growth in the area. You’re hiking along, then come around a bend to see what was the blast area. All of the trees are cut off at the height they would have been at the time, giving the illusion it only happened years ago. Elsewhere in the area, there is the world’s longest lava tube, which is far enough away to not feel like the mountain per say. But lava was forced out of the ground at some point in the past and created a sort of smooth lateral hole, which is a natural trail through a cave, with other fissues and tubes leading off of it. You can climb into these fissures, squeeze yourself through an area that might open into a bigger space. At some point it might occur how close you are to an active volcano, and if the earth were mearly to belch, as it were, you would become human jelly without even a moment to realize it was happening. It adds a little something to the spelunk.
To tell more of the story of that ‘97 hike: we went with another individual (who shall remain nameless for the sake of posterity, let’s just say a less than experienced hiker). Back in nearby Portland, OR before the trip, this guy had ‘gone to the store’ to get supplies and strained our patience by being gone for a very LONG time while we waited. So we finally loaded ourselves into the truck, drove north into Washington and the area park, messed around in the lava tube, then off to hike/camp overnight on the mountain, a nice little walk but well below the snowline. Suddenly, just as we were about to make camp for the night, Other Guy announced that he didn’t have any food! It turned out his entire lengthy trip to the store was to get/obsess over picking out boots and he’d completely neglected the thought of what he would eat in the wilderness after a day of hiking. Luckily, the others were prepared and had extra to eat. What was he carrying in that little pack anyway? Moral of the story: never underestimate a novice.

So this guy Rikki Kasso is a photographer and artist, and is also working on a film, I believe called Somewhere in the Middle. Here is a trailer, wow. Another site affiliated is called Tokyo Undressed. Lots of links through the provided, WARNING: much sexy weirdness throughout.