My brother sent my husband a book by Found Magazine for Christmas. Daniel’s not very into that stuff, but I sure am. It’s a book of found notes, photos, letters, etc. It’s really interesting to get little glimpses into people’s lives.
There’s a website where people send in things that they’ve found and they’re posted. I was just skimming through—it’s fun to do every once in awhile.
Skin Yard were one of my favorite early Seattle bands from back in the day. Matt Cameron, drummer for Soundgarden and now Pearl Jam, was in it. Along with Jack Endino, legendary grunge recording engineer.
I once saw Skin Yard play at a small all ages club in Tacoma when I was a teenager. Malfunkshun opened for them. (The singer from Malfunkshun, Andrew Wood, eventually became the singer for Mother Love Bone, and after he died, MLB became Pearl Jam.)
From the Blabbermouth site:
GRUNTRUCK/SKIN YARD Singer BEN MCMILLAN Loses Battle With Diabetes - Jan. 28, 2008
After a eight-year battle with diabetes, Benjamin Scott McMillan, legendary vocalist for GRUNTRUCK and SKIN YARD, died in his hometown of Seattle, Washington at age 47.
Complications from a related blood-clotting disease are said to have worsened his diabetic condition, which was severe.
The survivng members of GRUNTRUCK, as well as other Seattle rock luminaries, are planning an assortment of tributes and memorial projects in his name; details to follow
Gruntruck were around in the early 90s, and even had a couple semi-popular songs. I’ll post a few songs by both Skin Yard and Gruntruck to the radio.blog, top right.
I sort of messed up with this roll. I went to various places trying to use up the film. I went all over Long Beach, to different thrift/vintage stores. Long Beach has the most colorful buildings everywhere. I forgot I was using black and white film! I need to go back sometime with a color roll of slide film that I can cross-process (it gives really bright colors when you do that).
Then I messed up when I was developing the roll, and most of it was all exposed along one side, so I had to crop a bunch of the pictures into sort of panoramic shots. Some of them you can still see the light leaks on.
Here’s Cat in our kitchen:
Yes, that’s a drill on the table.
Sunset Psychic, in Sunset Beach (this building is pink and white):
The Metro Blue Line in Long Beach (took this in the car at a stop light—light leaks along the bottom):
A deli/liquor store, for all the hungry alcoholics in Long Beach:
The deli above is right across the street from this thrift store called Out of the Closet:
They were playing Liza when I went in. Seriously.
A vintage clothing store in Long Beach—these coats were bright red:
I tried taking a roll with this one but messed it up when developing, so I’m still not sure what it’ll do:
But this one was my best find:
I got it because I know the brand Yashica—an old Japanese camera brand. And it has a Carl Zeiss lens, and Zeiss is known for great lenses. I found the thought of a little point and shoot 35mm Yashica w/a Zeiss lens funny, so grabbed it for $5.
Turns out it’s worth a little bit more than that. I saw some selling on ebay for $20-$50 (or more). I’m still working on the first roll of film I put in it, need to finish it off and get it developed.
My parents also just sent me a little camera but I don’t have a picture of it yet. It’s intriguing though because it says “Close up” on it. So I’m curious to see just how close up it can do.
I thought the show would start at 8, or maybe doors at 8. Nathaniel and I got there about 8:30. There was a pretty big line down the street. They were just starting to let people in. I don’t think we made it in until about 9:30, just in time to catch Lichens, the opening “band.”
Lichens is a one-man band. He played some notes on guitar and looped them back, then would caterwaul over them. Check the video I took to see what I mean:
He didn’t play all that long. Om came out and joined him, and he played guitar for a few minutes when they began their set, then he left.
Om are a drony, doomy stoner rock band, with just a bassist and drummer. The bassist sings. The two guys in the band used to be in a doom metal band called Sleep. When Sleep broke up, the singer, Matt Pike, formed High on Fire.
It’s funny how it all sort of blurs together. I actually couldn’t tell you how long the Lichens guy was playing with them. Seemed like only a few minutes. There were other times later in Om’s set when it felt like 20 minutes had passed, but I’d check my watch and it was only five. Om does weird things to time.
I was worried my son would hate it, but he didn’t. I don’t think he was totally enthralled, but I was just happy he didn’t hate it. He sat in the back for most of it. I was up off to the side of the stage, right in front of the speakers, and I think my ears were bleeding. Even with ear plugs.
There was no stage banter other than “can someone get me a new mic stand, please” and “can you turn off these disco lights, thanks.” The singer kept having trouble with his mic stand. Oh and at one point he asked for more vocals in the monitors and someone in the crowd yelled, “Out here, too!” The fuzz on his bass disappeared once and he kept jiggling wires and prodding pedals until it came back. Other than that it was pure doomy drony groovy goodness.
A lot of people will tell you this isn’t possible. But it is. You just get some weird effects/color casts.
I took the boys to the San Juan Capistrano Mission yesterday and took along a couple cameras I picked up at thrift stores. I decided I’d test out not just the cameras but also developing color film in B&W chemicals.
Developing color film is more complicated than developing black and white and requires more steps and different chemicals, at certain temperatures, stuff like that. I just developed this film like I would my black and white film. Same time in the developer, etc.
The white splotches on the film are water marks (just like you’d get on dishes). I think I should’ve rinsed the film longer at the end but I didn’t have time.
These are ruins of a Catholic church built in 1797. It was destroyed by an earthquake a few years after it was completed. It’s really impressive. And really sad—people were killed when it collapsed.
The original church bells were destroyed as well, I think, but they have replicas that are themselves very old.
There are over 2,000 buried at the Mission, but most graves are unmarked. This is a monument for someone, can’t remember who, I think it was one of the head priests there.
There are lovely flowers all around, these poppies were totally lit up from the evening sun.
As were these roses.
Only Nathaniel let me snap a picture of him. I think I got one of him and Elijah on the other roll, but I haven’t developed it yet.
The first time I rode a school bus was in 6th grade. I was *very* shy. We’d just moved for the first time, ever, and I’d just attended a brand new school—traumatizing.
When the bus drove right past my house without stopping, I watched my house go by from my window, and didn’t say anything. I froze, too scared to tell the bus driver she’d missed my stop.
I must’ve managed to say something to a kid next to me, because he spoke up and told the bus driver. We were already a mile or two away from my house. She had to turn the bus around and drive back.
What makes this story funnier is that I rode the short bus.
