Stephen Ash photography - a review

When I was home last weekend I decided to swipe some old prints collecting dust in my brother's closet. They were made in the mid 90's, sometime after Nevermind came out, in Mrs. Martins photography class. Stephen doesn't blog and has pretty much retired from his life as a photographer, but that's okay because today I am going to blog his 90's photos for him!

I think this photo (of the window/reflection above) was published in the annual West Potomac poetry/literary book, if I am not mistaken.



Goofy ass portraits of me (circa 1995).


Here's a shot of Tyler crushing the Rosslyn rail with a big ass ollie back in 95' (while Brendan Kelley catches it on film!) And finally, the much photographed, Pulaski park fountain...

In review, I give Stephen a 5 for catching images well before the digital age and snapping action shots (like that ollie) at just the right time on a Pentax 35mm (non D)SLR camera, and putting in the time in the darkroom to make just the right exposure. Well done.

weekend part 2 (Sunday)

On Sunday, we arrived in Richmond around 12:30 to Dave and Kristin's new apartment.

This is such a superrad apartment - its SO huge and there is so much room to kick it and do whatever you want (I rode a bike around in it).

Their space is located right above an Art Gallery on Broad St. (Oops-sorry guys I guess I just blew up your address for unwanted visitors; predators, space ghosts, pirates and other such villainous creatures).



After the tour of the apartment, a healthy lunch and some pony beers, we hit the rocks of Belle Isle!


Fighting rapids and trying not to drown, we whooped it up with the locals.



I really think these little kids had a death wish.

Then we eventually went back to their place to avoid the rain, where Kristin made us a sweet dinner and we drank WAY too much wine. Kristin kept topping everyone off with well before they were gone! Then we had a photoshoot because that's just what happens at a time like this, in a place like this.


Dave and Kristin rule. Thanks again for everything and sorry you guys didn't get to make it to IKEA. *Also, thanks to Rachel for not drinking so much and getting us home alive.

weekend part 1 (Saturday)

On Saturday Rachel and I went up for a surprise birthday party for Rory. The event was totally blown out with mobile phone blogger-heads so I don't have too much new to show you (at the risk over massive overexposure). We took a boat from Georgetown to Old Town and it was sort of like a monument tour.

We narrowly escaped a gnarly thunderstorm.

These guys must have seemed like a kind of monument to some of the tourists on the boat, not suspecting a booze cruise when they first boarded.

I love Devin so much! He kills it at life.

KOAM peeing (the mobile blogger's natural environment, apparently).

These bros turned this upscale restraunt bathroom into a full scale mobile blogger photoshoot!


Then Rory's wonderful wife Jessica surprised him with a little cake right in the urinal!



Rachel, probably praying she gets out alive! (just kidding, no drunk driving tonight! I had my dad pick us up at the bar, 7th grade style).

yikes!

I was almost okay with going to this event when I first heard about it several months ago and then I decided that I wasn't once I began hearing of the details. Today I received a notice in the mail.

I guess I just wasn't that close with many of the classmates from my year. I was a skateboarder before that was such an undeniably awesome thing to everyone. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was cool and all my friends did too, but it wasn't totally accepted in 1997 Alexandria. Anyway, I guess that really has nothing to do with nothing - I just don't really feel the need to "catch up" with all those old faces, but I understand the ones who do (after all not everybody has a July 29th crew in their life). Although I'm sure there will be plenty of people there worth a beer and a chat, I can't get past the notion that a high school reunion, for better or worse, is one big "judgement-fest." It's like, "What's been going on with you" is just a veiled question of "How do I measure up to you" and so on and so on. Now, maybe I am just sounding paranoid and insecure here, but the whole thing seems a little lame to me. Nowadays with Myspace and everything else, if you want to find someone you can. However, I understand that some good connections could be made or rekindled and that the event could be mutually beneficial for many, but this time, I think I'll pass. (Although it would be nice to show off my beautiful wife to all those jakes!)

Spin dot com

Kevtron you're my idol! Nice job.

Animal Collective

(wow)

Cell Phone pics RELEASED!

When I take moving pictures with my cell phone camera, the world looks bent. Maybe the world is bent sometimes.

French doors mean vacation.

The best wine on Earth is the BR Cohn, Silver Label Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003. I'm not joking.

I'm not a vegetarian but I know good stuff; Vegetarian Burrito and Spinach Lasagna.


Wind in sails.

Kevin risking his life.

Stephen enjoying his life.



The view from the dentists chair yesterday. (Why do dentist offices seem so old and musty?)

For those of you who missed the myspace bulletin...

Rattler


Olympia

The no good horrible rotten beat down day.

Yesterday morning, Rachel and I went out to my car for a day at the beach, to find my car stereo had been jacked overnight!

About two miles away from our destination, I got a flat tire!?

I tried to ignore all these shitty things happening to me before noon and I took out Andrew's longboard for a ride.

After spending some time in the choppy sea and on the windy beach we came back and played Guitar Hero 80's edition,

and ordered the biggest pizza you have ever seen! Seriously, this thing was HUGE, we had to bring it in the back door because it wouldn't fit through the front.

My bad luck day wasn't over yet though. Just before getting to enjoy a tasty slice of 28" pizza I stepped on this rusty nail,

left hiding in the grass of Andrew's recent house reconstruction. It must have been 30 years old! Man, let's just go crusin' some more! Damn this day! "Don't worry Brendan, things happen in threes," I heard someone say.




Then we went back to the beach around shark feeding time to check the waves with Cronin and take some mock Beach portraits (complete with Wu-Tang shirt).