Gallant is a musician out of Los Angeles, California. Listen to his music via Soundcloud.
I know this song is about a relationship coming to an end. About the artist pulling his own weight in gold. Its universally appealing because we all can relate to having to hold our own weight in a relationship, partnership or organization. But beyond fulfilling our own expectations, sometimes we carry other peoples load as well. Cheers to those who elevate others and stay positive.
Enjoy the song.
It is now 2 in the morning and the moment you've been waiting for. I spent the weekend sorting through 90 gig of footage, 2 Micheladas, 6 beers and 5 milk teas. I'm excited to present to you the final cut of my "Highway 101 Adventures." I'm also excited because this marks the completion of my vacation post Matter and a beginning to Playground. I start 10AM sharp. Good Night.
Please share and enjoy. Leave a comment below if you're curious about the places I visit.
I'm just gonna leave this here. I really, really love the beat to this track.
As I've said before, I will come back to see these massive trees during the day. Here I'm cruising down the "Avenue of the Giants" but which of the 8 stops am I at? Search the coordinates to find out 40.2664° N, 123.8703° W.
I'm happy to report that I'm back from Portland. Alive and well. The drive up & down the 101 was grand. I recommend it to anyone. To be honest I prefer the 101 vs I5 North.
During college my brother and I often drove home for the holidays. We mainly took I-5 North because it's the quickest route home. Looking back I wish we considered alternate routes like the 101 or the 1. We had so much free time then, than we have now. I regret not taking full advantage of luxury school breaks provided. I'll just blame it on us being poor college students. I'm glad I've done it, and can't wait to share with you more photos/videos of the trip.
The photos should make it pretty easy to determine where I am here. If not search the coordinates 42.9500° N, 122.1000° W to find out. Here's a hint, this place is the fifth oldest national park in the United States. It is near the California, Oregon border. It is the only national park in Oregon.
If you've been following I recently left Matter and will be starting at Playground soon. Before starting I took some time off to reset, visit family & friends in Portland, and explore Highway 101. It's crazy to think that I've grown up in the Northwest and have yet to drive either up or down the 101. I figured this is the perfect time for this.
I left San Francisco pretty late so the chances of snapping awesome photos were slim. I figure I'd snap some on my way back to the Bay. Good news is my friend Anna Lee joined me for the ride up. She's an awesome co-pilot, provided good conversation and music. We drove through the night to meet up with my best friend Ethan Vu at his coastal house. Search these coordinates 44.8436° N, -124.0496° W to see where we ended up.
One thing to note. Although the drive up was dark I could still make out the silhouettes of massive redwood trees lining the road like skyscrapers. I can only imagine what they're like during the day. I can't wait to take photos on the way back.
Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of Ethan's beach house. But, I'm posting the photos I did manage to squeeze in. Enjoy them.
Firstly I want to wish Arnelle Lozada a happiest 30th birthday. May this year be more fruitful and amazing than all the years past my Virgo friend . Arnelle is one of those friends that is always doing something fun, cool and envious. I like to live vicariously though her. Check her BLOG out.
As usual I've listed the coordinate to last nights shenanigans above. I met up with Arnelle and friend for 25 cent wings, wasabi poke and drinks as a belated get-together. The poke was fresh and I recommend the garlic cilantro wings. Both tasty and visually appealing. Afterwards we continued the celebration by snapping photos, more drinks and karaoke.
"If your dreams don't scare you, they ain't big enough."
-- A friendly reminder to dream & do things so grand they scare you.
If you're not familiar with Stefan Sagmeister, he is a New York-based graphic designer, and one of my faves. The image above is taken from his show - "The Happy Show."
I find this image entirely relevant to me today as I leave my role at Matter and on to new opportunities. The same familiar entrance I walk through everyday, has become an exit to new adventures. I am nervous, excited, and sad, all at the same time. I'm sad to leave the friends and relationships I've built. I'm excited for the things they'll do without my crazy-ass around, and the projects coming in. I'm nervous of the challenges and learnings that await me with Andy Ruben at Playground.
I believe anything we do is not worthy of doing if it doesn't scare you a bit. Yes, I am nervous about Playground. I'm nervous because of the uncertainty of not knowing what to expect. I'm nervous because I will be surrounded by people as genius as Andy, who have a track record of success. I'm nervous because they trust my design insights and outlook. I almost feel unworthy of this opportunity - but then again, I have never been more prepared in my life than right now. It's one of those moments where you feel blissfully ready. I'm at the right place and this the right time. I trust my intellect, I trust my design sensibility, and I am confident, thanks to my experiences at Amazon, Matter, and Creative Session. My track record is concrete and I'm excited to share it with Playground.
On a more introspective note, the image above reminds me of the whole "glass is half empty & half full" quote. It's a very bittersweet feeling at the moment, and I feel great about it all. Good things are coming.
#foodforthought
The joy of writing on this blog is that it's my personal thing, and I cannot give a fuck!! Unlike Creative Session, I can touch on topics beyond design, and be more intimate about my life and thoughts. Really, HOBO is meant to be an excuse for me to get out of the house and away from the computer. To be in good company and enjoy nature because I work too much. #naturesdistractions
Let me begin by apologizing for the fact that I'm ten blog posts deep and still haven't taken a proper HOBO trip. I had imagined it was as easy as strapping Bentley into a baby carriage and riding my motorcycle out to some awesome location. Film the whole experience, then make an adventure video. That was the romanticized version of HOBO. In reality I'm ill-prepared. I don't have proper equipment and I foolishly modified my Bonneville (not expecting HOBO to happen) into a more racing stance bike. Sorry guys, give me sometime to reconfigure.
Bent and I joined some friends to camp and swim out east last weekend. The sun was blazing and the water, refreshing. I made a short video of us swimming in the lake. I realized if I modify the formula for my HOBO trips, that any blog posting that includes either me, Bentley or the motorcycle is still a valid HOBO trip. I'm opening my self up to variety. I added the coordinates to where we were, lets see if you can figure it out.
About a week ago Canary reached out to Creative Session and sent us their first product to use. It's a smart security camera that connects to your network and let's you keep an eye on the things via the app. In my case, BENTLEY!
Thanks for the hook-up, Canary team. Special thanks to Brittany of the marketing team-I won't put your full name here so you can avoid any potential stalkers, unless you want me to. Then send an email stating so.
A little background on Canary: They're a startup based in New York. I like their modern approach to security cameras by adding smart sensors that provide me data such as: Air Quality, Temperature, Motion, Humidity, Night Vision, Audio, Siren & Cloud Storage. These features are all valuable. I thought I was just receiving a internet-connected camera. Sorry Dropcam! You've been beat.
The packaging is impressive and made really well. Can someone over at the Canary HQ please let me know who produced your packaging? Because it's nicely executed, and the soft-touch paper and the folded box are great design decisions. My favorite part of unboxing the camera is the tasteful pops of Canary yellow at unexpected moments.
The camera is nested nicely in a paper pulp tray and properly protected. I'm shocked to discover how small the device is. I was imagining something twice as big. It's a bit taller than my iPhone 5s. BTW! if you're reading this Apple, I'd love to get my hands on an iPhone 6 or 7 - I'm familiar with how Industrial design works.
The setup was a breeze, it literally took me 5 minutes. The toughest part was probably downloading the app. I forgot my iTunes password.
I'm super stoked about this camera, the live stream is crispy and high def, and most importantly I can see what Bent's up to when I'm gone. Recently he's discovered a way to get onto the kitchen counter. . .
I couldn't help but to pull the trigger on these Nike Huarache 2015 NM lava. Had to pay a bit more since they're only sold in Europe, but it's well worth the bills. Its funny lately 've been buying exclusively red shoes, thinking about only rocking red shoes moving forward. I think it'll be an interesting branding element, no?
Before the photos, here is a little fun fact for you. In the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall he writes about the Mexican tribe Tarahumara. The Tarahumara Indians are some of the best long distance marathoners in the world. Beyond being some of the best runners, the coolest discovery is that the thin leather slippers they run in are called Huaraches. I wonder if Nike was inspired by this? Probably not...
PHOTO CREDIT : MATTHEW KARSTEN OF EXPERT VAGABOND
And here are the now, less-cooler Hauraches.
Straight out of Trinidad & Tibago we have Flight Facilities. This Soundtrack Sundae is 1 of 4 tracks mixed by FF while being Triple J's EXCLUSIVE residents. Conceptually I really like the way these mixes are made, it reminds me of the story telling I do in my designs. Check out the transition at 4:30 to 5:30 - there are some good history time stamps in these.
If you like this song check out the others here. "The Decade Mixes"
I can't imagine what life is without this blonde dachshund. Because of Bentley I get out of the house more, I take breaks often, even started a this joint blog with the dude. I loves ya yungbent. Happy National Dog Day!
Unfortunately I failed miserably trying to pick up a pair o Yeezy Boost so I settled for these poor mans Yeezy. The Tubular Primknits stone grey are pretty underated, personally i think they're hot. I'm digging everything Adidas has been dropping in the last year.
I've been meaning to do a more detailed analysis of the Moment lens kit but haven't had the time to. I took the wide lens out camping with my brother and friends last weekend. But due to too much fun I gave up photographing anything. The weather was just too nice and hot to sit around and get into the science of comparing iphone w/ lens vs non lens output. I promise ill get around to it soon.
For now here are a few shots my buddy Sean & I manage to take using the wide lens. Notice the vignetting around the corners. Ive made the image black and white so you can see it easier, its subtle but still there. In full color it's less distracting.
I've been following Moment since I accidentally stumbled upon Marc Barros's blog about getting fired from his own company "Contour." He then bounces back and starts a lens company called Moment. Sometimes the world has a cruel way of correcting our course. Click his name above to read that entry. I recommend it.
This post isn't about Marc. Its about Moment the company he started after Contour. More specifically its about the lens kit for my iPhone. Marc took all the learnings from Contour and applied it to the worlds best mobile photography lens. I'm excited to use it, I think you'll agree when you get a hold of one of these. THEY'RE HEFTY.
I pre-ordered the housing + two lens kit on Kickstarter. I'm happy they're successfully funded. I Received my kit earlier this week and just now got around to unboxing it. The packaging inside is covered in nicely folded, black paper goodness. I appreciate the attention to detail, the fun little cards celebrating other photographers and their work. I love the brand message reading "We believe the worlds a better place with beautiful photography."
The case is what sold me, I like the color break up. I've been a huge fan of the stark contrast between the colors white & black in consumer products. The case with the added lens makes my iPhone 6 look like a beast of a camera. I can't wait to test this thing out. I might just get rid of the GoPro and the Fuji.
Stay tune for photos from this kit.
Une Belle Journée D'été = A beautiful summer day.
TRACK LIST:
01. 00:00 Filous - Summer
02. 05:18 Dickystixxx - Make Me Feel Better
03. 09:50 Haze-M - Lucky Love
04. 15:10 Dickystixxx - All I Need
05. 18:50 Fabich & Ferdinand Weber - Aaliyah
06. 22:40 De Hofnar, Mr. Belt & Wezol - Small Rooms
07. 26:55 SNBRN feat. Kaleena Zanders - California Love
08. 32:57 TEEMID & Tessa Rose Jackson - Hey Brother
09. 37:55 Addal feat. Neenah - Waves
10. 42:02 Kav Verhouzer - It's All Good
11. 46:15 Last Lynx - Curtains (Dinnerdate Remix)
12. 50:27 Fabich & Ferdinand Weber - Joy
13. 54:20 Felon - Swimwear
A few of you folks have asked about the images in the photo section, and why are they soooo amaaaazzinnggg. I mean If you've got a keen eye like ya' boy, give me any camera and the results will be just as dope.
I usually don't reveal these type industry secrets, but I'm gonna put you on my camera game. Because I want to travel light, I'd like to keep my camera quiver pretty lean, this way I can stay nimble and not stress out about lugging around too many things.
They say the best camera is the one you have with you. So by default the Iphone is my first shooter. The Fujifilm X100S fixed 23mm f2 is second in line. Last up the GoPro Hero 4. I'm not gonna review these camera cause there are plenty of in depth reviews out there. Just thought I'd share what I'm shooting with.
I'm calling these Sunday music drops "Soundtrack Sundae"
OHD is Eli Way from Indianapolis, Indiana. Check out his Soundcloud here.
