How to Shake a Stick. Updates!

As much as I was tempted to not remind everyone that I have not yet sent your copies of How to Shake a Stick, I still feel it is best that I let you know where the project currently stands. True, when I launched the fundraising/pre-sales campaign I mentioned that "the book was basically done"—which was essentially true at the time. I had a road map in place for all of the steps needed to complete the project  yet I hadn't fully anticipated the amount of time it would take to complete each step. I will spare you all of the details, but here. Here's a short list of what I have spent long hours working on over the past couple of months: book design, cover design, writing copy/proof reading, hand lettering the captions, purchasing and registering the ISBN's, marketing, designing and ordering the postcards, getting postage and packaging for shipping (Stamps.com!), accounting, website management and coordinating printing resources/orders. Being self-UNemployed has become more of a challenge than I ever expected. Just know that the project is still moving along and I am still working (almost obsessively) to get this thing finished. I have attached a few pictures of the stuff I've been working on (rather than explaining in detail.) Luckily, I do have actual real-life experience getting magazines to print and delivered, so I do know what it takes to finish a project. Applying this experience towards a book has posed a bit of a learning curve. I have a schedule set for the next  two weeks to keep working every day to get this thing done. The book is available for purchase at Big Cartel. There is more info about the book at the website howtoshakeastick.com.

"The shortest distance between two points is often unbearable."
–Charles Bukowski

"No amount of hot air you add to the balloon will replace the need for a hatchet to cut the mooring lines."
–James McLeod

"There's nothing cool about a half-finished hot rod."
–Dru West

Whole Foods, Part Way Open

  This morning marks an historical event, the grand opening of the Whole Foods Grocery store in Boise, Idaho. This is the national chain's first store in Idaho and today has been a much anticipated date for many Bosiean grocery store enthusiasts. Today's store schedule: 7:30 am oatmeal breakfast in the parking lot, proceeds going to Idaho Food Bank, 10:00 inaugural speech from Mayor Dave Bieter, followed by normal operations of a grocery store, ie. putting food in a cart, then paying for it.

 8:00 am Let the buzz begin.

Octo-Copter sky-cam ready for take-off. Will be filming RedBull Atheletes purchasing groceries.

 “You'll never guess where I am....”

 Get your wallet out. It's time party! (Organic Bud Light!, Here we o.g. Boise!)

Efficeny.

Security guard explaining to yet another person that you can't buy stuff yet.

We kept you in suspense about this store opening for months, who wants oatmeal?

 $3.00 for oatmeal, all proceeds got to the Idaho Food Bank

2 hours to kill. Plenty of time to read the paper.

 Keeping it local. Whole Foods arranged a ceremonial fly over from a flock of geese that hang out in the park across the street.

 8:15 am - This guy was doing a test drive of the shopping experience or in his words “I'm doing a demo.”


I would have stuck around for the commerce part of the event but I was in a hurry to post this blog. So I'm forced to share the sentiment of one already disgruntled would be patron that I passed in the parking lot. “What kind of grocery store opens at 10:00 am?”
Happy Shopping!

How to Apply for a Real Job.

A job posting just showed up at Northstar-At-Tahoe for the position of Ripparoo, the Ski School Mascot. Here is the email I sent in addition to my online application.

Ski & Snowboard School Dept.

Hello, I have just submitted an application for the Mascot job opening. I heard about the job yesterday from a friend of mine that works on the mountain ( Anna Weber , Burton Academy ). This sounds like an awesome gig. I imagine the position would require some hard work and dedication as well. I wanted to send this email in addition to my application to attach some photos of myself dressed as other mascots. Thank you for considering my application.

James

Vic Roman: Truckee Skatepark

The snow has yet to fall here in Truckee, but who cares? The weather is still great for sessions at the skate park. I just learned how to make an animated .gif using this tutorial.

First here's a few stills, then scroll down to see the animation. If I look at it too long I get dizzy.

This is Vic Roman shredding a wicked backside tailslide into the setting sun. Hee-Yawwww!

My New Job: Taxi Driver

So this weekend I started working as a Taxi Driver in Truckee. First I had to go to the Police department to get an operators permit. I asked them for the craziest looking picture I could get and they were rather cooperative.

So far I have had 2 shifts. Below is the meter from my first fare. It's pretty sweet to watch the money add up as I drive.

The season hasn't quite got under way here in Truckee, but I know its gonna start getting crazy when the snow starts falling. Be sure to shoot me a call if ya need a ride.

Mustache In A Jar?

“There comes a time in everyone's life when you need a mustache and you need it now!”

This may seem like an advertisement, but so far this product isn't actually real. Maybe someday soon though. In the world of cosmetics Mustache In A Jar could really go places. It's easy to apply but impossible to remove. It's so easy to use it doesn't even come with instructions.

Fun, But Not In Love...

This is a photograph that I shot of a recent work of art I made titled Fun, But Not in Love. Media: disposable plastic hanger, disposable sunglasses, disposable men's bathing trunks (complete with liner) and sharpie marker.
Like “I really love the beach––today, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready to make a real investment yet.”

I think this piece kind of illustrates my attention towards blogging in general. Regardless, I’ve decided to start blogging more often. For several reasons. One: Although I have gotten really bored of facebook and deactivated my account, I apparently still have some kind of digital obsession, so I'm using this option of blogging to fill the void for now. Reason two being that I will be launching a new website soon and publishing a book so I want to raise some hype. I don't know if this is actually number three on the list of reasons, but I've noticed quite a few blogs that just take stuff from other places on the internet and then talk about them. I'm trying to cultivate a different approach with this blog by finding cool stuff in real life and then posting about it here. Though I've noticed an occasional lack of commitment to other facets of life, I'm kinda curious to see how long my interest in this new blogging habit lasts.


Below is the production still of the lighting arrangement. Two 95 watt incandescent bulbs and a white bounce card from below. Nikon D200, 60 mm, 1/80s @ f5.0, ISO 400.

Business Card Designs

Today I made some Business Cards for Dylan's room mate Anna. As you can tell she's a snowboarding instructor. We ordered 1000 (2-sided, full-color) for a really good price from GotPrint.com. I'd love to work on more projects like this one, so let me know if you are looking for some creative business cards.

Front

Back

Sample Ads

This is a concept for an ad I dreamed up a while back. Not sure what its advertising or for who.
The photo shoot with Dylan Metz yesterday turns up these results.

Trash Stand-Off Day Day: 38

October 1st.  Another week wraps up and the trash stacks up too. Just cleaned the bathroom around the paper pyramid. Maybe this is how the Pyramids of Gyza started out. Or maybe this is the work of aliens.

 

Trash Stand-Off Day:35

September 28th ,  Wednesday Evening. The cardboard corner post seems to have been a great addition. There's no telling how long this can continue. In the mean time I have emptied the trash in the lobby area. As well as made a trip to the dump to empty the trash cans out back to make space for this trash if they ever decide to take it out.

notice toilet paper not on holder

Trash Stand-Off: Day 33

September 26th, I just got back from a weekend of kayaking and skateboarding out on the North Fork of the Feather River out near Quincy ( Dylan Metz' least favorite town in CA) and Monday morning nothing had changed with the trash status. But by closing time, evidence of pure trash laziness had appeared. Empty paper towel tube stuffed in the corner to allow for a taller trash tower reconstruction. Wow!

Notice the fresh roll, ready to go.

Trash Stand-Off: Day 31

So the next day, I check in with the trash status and notice that some one has cleared the top of the trash totem pole but left the foundation upon which the trash tower shall rise again.

Trash Stand-Off: Day 30

     This is a shared restroom in the building where I have my studio. I would assume that the other tenants might share in some of the general house keeping as well, but I am currently baffled.

      The date today is September 22, 2011 and I emptied this trash can almost a month ago. In fact I've been emptying this trash can regularly for the past year, under no agreement really. But I've decided to let the other tenants have a turn at taking the trash out.  Besides, I don't even use paper towels. I'm curious to see how long it will take.

Used paper towels have never impressed me much––until now!

I'll Keep you posted as the paper piles up.

Am I the only person that finds this hilarious?

Well Folks, The job hunt has taken a turn for the better and I've decided to get a bit more assertive. Here is my latest and greatest resume ever. If this doesn't get me a job, I don't know what will.



Experience and Contacts:

1998-2008 West Virginia, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, California, Arizona and Idaho
Raft Guide/Safety Kayaker/Videographer
References: Marc Goddard, Bio Bio Expeditions 800. 246.7238, h20marc@bbxrafting.com
Sean Glaccum, Payette River Co., 208.726.8467, info@payetteriver
Lorraine Hall, Tributary Whitewater Tours, 530.346.6812,rafting@whitewatertours.com

2001-Present Endless Orbit Productions On Location: California, Tennessee, and Hawaii
Video Production and Photography Services
Personally owned business, offering video and production. Projects include: Art Demonstrations,
Whitewater Rafting and Kayaking, Skateboarding, etc.
Website Links: http://geekernet.blogspot.com, http://youtube.com/user/geekernet,
http://endlessorbit.smugmug.com, http://thebanksmag.com,

2004-Present Banks Magazine Banks, Idaho
Founder, Co-Editor, Writer, and Advertising Consultant for The Banks Magazine.
References: Melissa Newell, 520.548.4519, mnewell@mdsd.org
Ryan Bailey, Consulting, 509.833.7619, eaglefunk98@gmail.com

2006-Present Production Assistant California, Nevada
General Television Production Assistance, Supporting Camera Operator
References: Jill Soble, HBO Production Coordinator, 213.210.7952, jill_soble@hotmail.com
Todd Stanley, Productions, 530.295.3927, todd@boillineproductions.com
CE Courtney Gaffer, 213.503.808, c.e.courtney@mac.com

2001-2008 Professional Driving Experience Lake Tahoe, CA
Commercial Bus Driver and Pizza Delivery
References: Cheryl Jones, Alpine Meadows Ski Area, 530.581.8341
Joe Wilmar, Jiffy’s Pizza (owner), 530.318.4577

Skills and Interests:
- Ability to understand and correctly perform instructions and tasks.
- Strong customer service and conflict resolution skills.
- Experienced in quickly training and utilizing resources of small
groups in order to successfully navigate life threatening rapids.
- Creative consulting and artistic design.
- I enjoy, cooking, Backgammon, Greek Mythology and Astrology.
- Seriously addicted to skateboarding, whitewater kayaking, skiing, and basically just living rad!
- CPR and First Aid Certified, Class B Commercial Passenger Drivers License.

James McLeod 530.902.9475, geekernet@gmail.com

National Boil Your Toothpaste Day

It came to me in a dream. Which is where most national celebrations, like this one, must originate from.

Waking up today and noticing the outside temperature reading in the single digits (4° F), the thought of hot toothpaste didn't seem like such a bad idea.

It's worth the effort and is sure to quickly get you into the Christmas spirit.


I think you will agree, once you have experienced the true luxury of boiling hot toothpaste, you will be scrambling to mark this date on next years calendar so you can celebrate it for years to come!

As an added bonus: What better way to celebrate Brad Pitt and Christina Aguilera's Birthdays.
Águila is the Spanish word for Eagle! Check out more weird holidays celebrated on December 18th.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/490789/holidays_on_earth_today_december_18.html?cat=74

The Banks Magazine: Immersion Research ad shoot.

Well, we are now distributing our 3rd edition of the Banks Mag.
We are a locally produced mag out of Banks, ID. Loosely based around whitewater kayaking in the summer months, and soon to be covering snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, etc. for the winter months. Any how, for the late summer 2008 edition, we were recruited by Immersion research to design an ad. Mike McKee inspired the idea for the ad (and also got Immersion Research on board as one of our advertisers). "How about a photo of what we do every day: hitchhike to paddle the North Fork Payette?" So here is the process we went about getting the photos for the ad.



Yes McKee, we are gonna need our paddles.

Luckily our boss, Phil White, at Bear Valley River Co., let us borrow his truck. Also his girlfriend, Wendy, let us borrow a bale of hay. We had our fellow employee, Shane, drive us up to go kayaking.




Now of course if we wanted it to look like were going kayaking we decided to really go kayaking. So, I thought it would be a good idea to get some shots on the way up. I also thought it would be a good idea to stand up in the back of the truck while we were ripping up Hwy 55. Mike, Melissa and Preston thought it wasn't a good idea but they did think it was funny.














The temperature read about 105° F on the stick this particular day and we hadn't brought any water for our mid-day shoot in the blazing sun. Everyone did really well, despite the miserable heat, dehydration and the seemingly ridiculous directions from the photographer (me).





So here it is: the final ad. With the creative guidance of McKee, I was able to come up with this tag line: "Gear for the rich and famous."

I think that kind of sums up our lifestyle.

A Big thanks also goes out to Roger from Immersion Research for helping to support the Banks Mag.

Check out more photos at endlessorbit.smugmug.com, and videos at liverad.net!