Food Photography vs. People Pictures

 We've been discussing food photography a little bit and how it can be both amusing and repulsive--slyly appealing to the same place inside of our minds where we get urges for other kinds of hungers to be satiated as well.

In keeping with the photography theme, and also in honor of all the sinfully delicious "fair foods" that will be at Tulip Fest today (which I fully intend to gorge on) I wanted to show you guys this collection of food photography that was on NPR this morning. This is food photography done WELL. It actually makes me hungry, rather than making me feel like I have to go take a shower. I think this photo collection is to the Ihop set as a Vogue photo shoot of a naturally beautiful girl would be to a  Hustler magazine shoot of Tara Reid or someone with massive plastic boobies and a fake face, haha. Food for thought!



http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/05/07/126610610/food

Oh, and by the way--I went to Friendlys yesterday, and BOY are they guilty of pornographic food advertising! I was looking over the menu and laughing my ass off. "Happy Endings?!" For visual reinforcement of what I mean, go to the website and take a look at the Mango Raspberry Swirl Sorbet on the left hand side. Ummmm...Was it really necessary for them to position a mango in the picture right next to a scoop of identically sized sorbet? The mango even has a little nub on it like a nipple! Needless to say, I did get the sorbet and it was pretty amazing...

Writer's Almanac

(*Please read all of this aloud, slowly and with undue emphasis, in Garrison Keillor voice.*) If you don't know what that sounds like, listen first to this:

Now, if you're also wondering what the guy looks like who is speaking in such a manner, let me assist you:

Ok, now that we've got that taken care of....


The Writer's Almanac for Thursday, April 29, 2010:

Here is a poem for today by surrealist lunatic Poet-in-Residence Jessica L. Towne, entitled "Weasel Moon."

 "Weasel Moon" was conceived on this very spring evening, while Towne stood in front of the refrigerator pondering the meaning of a chocolate chip cookie. (Which was made fresh just moments before by her co-inhabitant and close friend, the popular musician T.D. Krebs).
"Be well, do good work, and keep in touch."

Nothing to Say

...But it's OK!

I am working on a clever little ditty on a theme I think everyone will be able to relate to. As this has been an on-going saga of bullshit over the course of about seven years, it's going to take quite a bit of cataloging and organizing in my brain to write a truly kick ass post. You'll see what I mean when I'm done. :o)

In the mean time, you should check out this NPR photo slide show of international breakfasts by photographer Oliver Schwarzwald. It just makes me happy. NPR always has the best photography galleries!

Where the Wild Things Are

Although I went to see Where the Wild Things Are when it premiered on Friday afternoon, I have been putting off writing a review about it.

Why?

Because I really, really wanted to like it...But it turned out that I didn't like it at all. I wanted to refrain from going on a huge "anti-hipster" rant, although the obvious bent toward young adults, rather than children, is a big part of why this movie was so disappointing. I didn't want to complain about how the film didn't seem true to the spirit of the Maurice Sendak book, or about how the trendy Karen O. soundtrack was more distracting/annoying than refreshing, or even about how this movie didn't have any real point. However, I think that it's not really about the movie by itself, but rather about the turn that American "Counterculture" has taken in the past five years, which I think is important to consider, debate and change to become more individual again.

I think the reason why the "hipster" movement (and all that it has colored in the media, fashion, music, etc.) bothers me so much is because it has become so void of originality. I was thinking about it on the way home from the movie theater, and wondering if this is how "Hippies" felt in the mid 1970's after the culture and fashion of "hippie" became commodified, and void of the core values that started the movement.

I feel that before hipster was "Hipster," there were some cool stuff going on. I think that the point was kind of a return to the basics; do-it-yourself fashion, indie music, recycling, celebrating intelligence and geekiness, rather than standards of beauty and status that many of us grew up with. These are things that I really got behind and thought to be positive.

Now, however, I feel like this isn't even what "Hipster" means. It seems more synonymous with buying expensive clothing that LOOKS vintage or beat up (which, I believe, leads to the perpetuation of high prices and over-production of retail stores.) It's also about fetishizing everything that has to do with childhood and the unwillingness to grow up (while not being able to honestly emote or be vulnerable.) Essentially, "hipster" is all about an image, without any core beliefs or responsibilities needed to back up an honest movement. It's just an aesthetic façade, and that's disappointing to me.

Instead of going on further about how this relates to Where the Wild Things Are, I will just post an audio clip from NPR that condenses my main ideas about why the movie was so odd and uncuddly.

Sorry about the rant, guys--If you liked the film, all the more reason for you to comment! Let me know what you liked about it, I'm always open to debate.