the photography:
it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. i have quoted that statement so many times it now just flows from my mouth without the slightest touch of irony or snark. these days, when i get together with my best friends for a weekend of crazy, i’m pretty sure i actually mean it. two weekends ago, the pitchforkmedia music festival was in chicago for three nights of fun, music, art, crowds, and above all, drinking- festival style. what a great excuse for three of my groomsmen to float into town for some down home festival loving. and friends in a band who were playing showed up to boot. it was great. with said band, came some VIP passes. wow. you know what makes a great festival even greater? free beer. friday night, after a great noshing on lots of pork (thanks Publican, you rule. i will be back), i endured one of my “Top 10″ going out on the town nights. needless to say, saturday hurt. the photos are from running around the festival grounds and from getting ready in my TV room. count the number of Sparks wrist bands that show up and make sure you look around in each photo, sometimes the best moments are happening outside of what you’re looking at. thanks again to the Bowerbirds, you guys are amazing. shot with the fixed 28mm f1.8. nice.

the music:
dinosaur jr. kick butt. i have been listenign to them, pretty much non-stop, since i was in the 8th grade. it’s one of those bands that are so instantly recognizable and oh so gosh darned love-able and warm and fuzzy, and above all else, loud. this new CD with the original lineup of Murph, J. Mascis, and Lou Barlow, is their first output as the original lineup, in decades. i love it. it’s 1994 all over again. bring the fuzz boxes, the marshall stacks, and shimmy yer butt. i said shimmy!

the photography:
i have been filling in my days making ends meet with various freelance jobs from here and there. the largest of these projects is a bit of work that i am doing with the MFA creative writing department at Columbia College in chicago. i’ve been taking portraits of various contributors for the student run Fictionary magazine. it’s a great opportunity to take portraits of people i have never met before and it’s a great opportunity for me to hone my art direction as I need to put all of the portrait-ees into places and positions from scratch. each of the writers and editors that i have met have been so relaxed and pleasant about the entire process that i wish the rest of the client side of the world would be so kind. the only real guideline that was set before i started was that the images be in black and white. so i’ve been playing a bit with trying to find some really diverse natural (and unnatural) places to shoot. it’s been fun. up next? more portraits. enjoy.

the music:
i absolutely love watching and listening to bands that have fun when they make music on cd and in a live setting. montreal’s Stars fit so nicely into both of those categories. ever since i heard their breakout first record, heart, these kids from canada have been killing it abroad and slowly gaining fans in america. it helps that they are indeed a part of the greater collection of canadian artists known as the “broken social scene”. those crazy socialists in canada actually give money to their artists because it’s a way to progress as a society. society, socialists, communists? while you sit on your hands and try to make a case against socialist tendancies, i’m moving to montreal to get paid to make stuff…

the photography:

Portrait #27 is Doug

so if you know me (and you may not), you know that i like sausages. if you like sausages in chicago, then you know this man. introducing the true sausage king of chicago (Abe Froman can get bent), the one, the only, Mr. Hot Doug. with almost 10 years under his belt as the owner and operator of Hot Doug’s, The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium, Doug has made a name for himself in chicago and throughout the world. the secret ingredient to Doug’s success? a warm inviting hot dog joint jam packed with the essential hot dogs mixed with grand high-art cooking/foodie variety. you can belly up to the counter and order a $1.75 traditional chicago dog (get it charred, that’s my fave), or try a $3.50 spicy chicken sausage, or you can really step up to the plate and order yourself one of the weekly/daily specialty sausages that are filled with anything from Blueberry-Infused Venison Sausage, to Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage and topped with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Sel Gris. normally one of these specialty sausages will run you close to $8 and/or more but it is definitely worth it.

recently, a rather famous food writer named Doug’s one of the “13 Places to Eat Before You Die”. the awkwardness of that statement is that when i die, heaven better look a lot like Hot Doug’s or i want my money back. with this kind of exposure you would think that Hot Doug’s would be this slick, pretentious, hotbed of hipster know how. in fact, Doug has kept it exactly the opposite. it’s laid back and unpretentious just like the man in charge. to prove my point, Doug has had zero turnover in his employees since he opened this location more the 4.5 years ago. that’s an astounding statistic that points directly to the man in charge as someone that people want to work for. it’s a cash only hot spot that looks a lot like a 70′s diner that was remodeled by a blue/red/yellow loving hot dog memorabilia collector and there is always a line around the door. people may say this a lot but i actually mean it: Hot Doug’s is the perfect place to eat.

so if you make it to chicago and you’re hungry, please give Doug a visit. he’ll make it worth your while. thanks to Doug for taking some time out of his busy morning to chew the fat and allow me to take his picture. if i had the time, i would have stayed all day. i’m not sure he would have liked that! did i mention heaven? photos are with the 28mm prime and again, amazingly, they are in chronological order. they just look best that way.

also, if you run into friends and loved ones at Hot Doug’s? please don’t be a sausage NARC. say hello but never let on that you saw them there (especially if they are eating Hot Doug’s without their wives… shhhhhhhhhhhhh).

the music:
gene and dean ween have been doing their thing for some time now. and i have seen the destruction of their live shows, and i have seen their warnings against and for the use of drugs, and i have seen them fall over wasted, and i have seen them break a drum machine, and i have seen them make fart jokes on stage, and i have seen them play 12 Golden Country Greats with a slide guitar player, and i have seen the coming of the lord during the second set when they broke into a 24 minute long version of Poop Ship Destroyer, and i have heard their music loud and clear. ween fans are better than phish fans. don’t let anyone tell you different. ween’s shit don’t stink. that’s the truth.

the photography:

Portrait #25 is Amy | Portrait #26 is Gareth

before you all get into a tizzy about “where the hell did all the famous people go?”… just chill out. amy and gareth are famous but none of ya’ll know it yet (including them). amy works behind the scenes at the truly fantastic television program, Antiques Roadshow (the american version) and is partly responsible for keeping me on track in college during my early years. i met amy when i worked at admissions as a tour guide. she was the one who called me and got me out of bed when i missed my tours. she’s awesome.

gareth is her husband. he and i have done many stupid and fun things together including one bourbon filled night that ended with some metallic paint on our faces, a happy birthday balloon, and helium. luckily only roger slept under someone’s bed that night. back in the early oughts (00′s), gareth and i started (with a number of other people) an online magazine for twentysomethings looking to make more out of their lives than a paycheck and a pension. it was fun while it lasted and gareth and i have stayed friends throughout. we also played ultimate frisbee together in college back when we were both hippies. this piece of knowledge will be denied in person so don’t ask us about it. he currently is starting a new job with CBS Sports (as he formerly worked for the New England Patriots and Fox Sports) working on their 2009-10 football season and on the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. he’s also just as fantastic as his wife.

and again, i shot them entirely with the prime 28mm. the photos were taken during a day of checking out the new modern art wing at the Art Institute here in chicago. it was a glorious day with lots of thinking and lots of people watching. a good time was had by all. SIDE NOTE: i take full credit most of the credit for introducing Amy and Gareth (the hahn picks up 10% for early date help and in cultivating interest). in turn, Gareth takes credit for introducing me to my wife. a karmic high-five indeed. when i get famous, they will definitely tell people that they know me much like the current state if things where i tell people that i know them.

the music:
mark linkous, the brains and hands behind sparklehorse, is a solemn dude. i think that’s why i point to this record so much when i’m chatting to someone about my long path towards maturity as an adult. i purchased this disc solely on the advice of mike, the owner and operator of Aboveground Records (one of the best) on the vineyard one afternoon. i think i listened to this record for about two years straight without stopping. it lead to some heavy decision making within my personal life with losing friends who wanted to mold me into something i wasn’t, leaving boston, finding raleigh, drinking, finding myself, losing myself again, drinking, breaking up with a girlfriend who wanted to mold me into something i wasn’t, and finally waking up one day in chicago. PJ Harvey guests on this track. and she rules. it’s a deep record with lots of sad tones and somber lows. luckily it’s not all tears in beers, there are some uplifting tracks sprinkled about. much like this one.