Daily Door

Analog Dreams

Check out these slick Nakamichi Cassette Decks.  These completely feed into my love for obsolete electronics of questionable functionality...  if only my mechanical tinkering skills would ever catch up with my insatiable urge to rescue ancient personal electronics off the street, my wood-encased Marantz tuner with matching speakers would be more than just musically suggestive decor for my living room.

Woldwide Pinhole Photography Day

Pinhole photography has always seemed like a mysterious art form that only people infinitely more pretentious then I could master - thus we here at The Light Telescopic were happily surprised to find out that the folks at Rayko took a much more user-friendly approach to their Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day exhibit last Sunday.  On top of workshops and displays of homemade cameras, the piece de resistance was the Bus Obscura, a roaming multiple-aperture camera obscura which gave passengers free rides around our gorgeous city.  The windows of the bus were blacked out except for hundreds of tiny pinholes, which projected images of the passing landscape onto plexiglass screens inside the bus.  

For just $5 you can buy an original piece of work from the Art-O-Mat.


We took multiple pictures in Rayko's Photobooth - look for those soon!




The view from inside the bus!

I almost forgot one of the most enjoyable aspects of our amazing Bus Obscura experience - sound artists Michael F. Zbyszinski and Walter Sisper providing the live soundtrack for our trip. When we thanked them for the great music Michael had to double check to make sure we weren't being facetious. Flabbergasted, we assured him that here at The Light Telescopic we pride ourselves on our highly refined appreciation of all types of art, sound or otherwise.  Thanks again, boys!

Daily Door

Rayko Photo Center door. More to come soon on Rayko and their infamous World Wide Pinhole Photography Day Celebration....

Tonga

Good evening, and Mahalo!  Just returned from a ridiculously festive dinner with my friend Will, who is visiting from NY.  He was eager for the full SF experience, including the famed Tonga Room, in the Fairmont Hotel, so being the supportive friend and excellent tour guide that I am, I obliged and joined him as his date for an evening of Polynesian delicacies, Mai Tais served in fake coconuts, and "feel good" music played by a 3-piece band floating on a pool surrounded by fake rain.  If that doesn't scream San Francisco, I don't know what does.

After several courses of "exotic" fare (and one flaming volcano-shaped dessert), and trying to outdance retirees to MJ's "Rock With You" (stiff competition, I'll say), we took a stroll through the ground floors of the Fairmont and admired the museum-caliber collection of artifacts and photos from the famed hotel's history.  Among old brochures and advertisements were many photos from the era that begat kitsch: royalty wining and dining at the Fairmont, bathing beauties, pre-war extravagance.  There was also an entire hall of photos chronicling the citywide destruction from the fire at the turn of the century.

It's amazing that so much history (and so much South Pacific style fabulousness) is right here in our little city.  Just walking through the opulent lobby with its gold mouldings and velvet settees makes one feel decadent.

Well, despite my coconut-cream Tongaccino, I'm feeling a little drowsy...

Over and out,

gillian

Haste makes waste

Someone took this message a bit too literally...

Wallpaper Love!

While browsing Marimekko's new Spring line of fabric's I came across a link to Ferm. Founded by Denmark textile designer Trine Andersen, Ferm specializes in one of a kind wallpaper designs but has also started using their textiles for diverse products such as bedding, kitchen accessories, and stationary. They even have their own line of wall decals which are a great option for renters, such as myself, who can't wallpaper their apartments. Am considering using the feather wallpaper below for an upcoming commercial design project I'm working on at school which you'll be hearing all about as the project progresses.

Feather

Branch

Orchid

Polka Dots

Marimekko's Pelmanni Black fabric

P.S. I love how all of Ferm's wallpaper has the most literal names ever. I have a feeling if they had named Marimekko's print above it would have been called black squiggly lines.