anti-stuff

Throwing out (or giving away) all the unnecessary stuff that cramps your living space comes highly recommended from teh Chemical Kiln. I undertook this activity, in a manic yet not panicked daze, during today's rainy weather. While it may seem like simply cleaning one's room, fret not, the implications are deep. Especially if you smoke weed. Which I don't... Usually.  

Anyways... once you delve deep into the process of deciding which artifacts are worth holding on to, its actually quite a meaningful and enjoyable process. I found some crap that was just crap, and some crap that I had no idea I still had. At the end of the whole process, one thing became clear... most of the time, stuff is not worth hanging on to. It crowds functional space, gathers dust, and is a general nuisance. The less stuff you have around you, the freer your environment feels, and the more freely you can think. However, now that I have made myself out to be a emotionless prick, consider this... All the stuff that you hang on to for the sake of memories... it ruins the memories. Think about it... when you are attached to an object because it is linked to a memory of a particular moment in your life, you are holding on to that object to preserve the memory, for fear of letting it (the memory) go. Memories don't work that way though... I'm sure you've heard the expression that fondness grows with time... well, it is true. Our minds are generally wired in such a way that particularly beautiful and pleasurable moments in our lives are created as memories (which take up physical space, chemically) in the brain. Every time that particular memory is recalled as a happy thought, the brain makes adjustments in it's own wiring to even more strongly link the neurons that represent said specific memory to the ones that represent the abstract notion of happiness. Now, holding on to a particular object only complicates the process and makes more work for the brain which now has to effectively link that object's touch, smell, color, and mental position to the memory of what the object means to you, and then to the abstract notion of happiness (or whatever feeling you may wish to harbor). That sounds like a lot more work when the brain can do a fine job on its own. Let your stuff go... it's not that important... A little ironic coming from a photo blog, isn't it?

Oh well, on to the skateboarding...

Ahh, wait... we realize that Simpler Times giveaways at the Chemical Kiln Have all but vanished. We do apologize, but rest assured that OG winner Andrew Haskell did in fact receive beer for his extensive knowledge of footplant tricks. And, with that segue, we go on to the photos. 

Tim Coolidge - Madonna Footplant

Kevin Leslie - The devil's own son; bleeds upside down crosses on the regs

Kevin Leslie - Ollie Up Highland Gap

Matt Lane - Frontside Flip (please view this one large)

I had a couple tidbits of coverage this week... Thanks to Buddy Bleckley @ Focus for setting up a Sequence Saturdays edition of solely my work, and thanks to Austin Mayer @ The Skateboard Mag for throwing in a couple of my photos (two of the above) into The August Edition of Photofile. 

The following are more shots from my trip across the country, a few months back now. All shot on the good stuff... Provia 100 with a 45+ year old camera. 

Somewhere in Illinois... 

Was this run down dam

Entrance to The Beerics

Checked that website... bunch a liars

really, I just like how film portray colors. Nothing important here 

I drove out of the way from Chicago to Detroit to go through the little town of Kalamazoo. Solely for This reason. While we're on the subject of the Kinks, This song rules, As does this one. What a bunch of beautifully sarcastic bastards. 

That's the Michigan Central Station in the background

ground floor of aforementioned station

Snapped this just in time while driving somewhere around Schenectady, NY. No focus, no exposure adjustment. Film Rules. 

Since we talked a little bit about memories and happiness, heres a fairly recent one,

Ellie not takin no shit in the newsroom. Know how you can tell this is a rad newsroom? There's that Democracy Now sticker on the monitor. Frequent readers of the Chemical Kiln will note that I have an odd and at times incredibly awkward affinity for grammar. Well, This girl helps perpetuate the habit. The newsroom had one sign which read "Keep your legs closed to plagiarism"  

 And a fairly older one I just dug up!

Figz eating his thumb, circa 2007