Graham Glass, etc.

Beautiful Asian Photography

I just got back from a nice stroll through the Union St. Fair in San Francisco, and one of the street stalls was selling prints of some beautiful Asian photography. The name of the company is Mille Feuille and their web site is http://www.mfotography.com.

My favorite shot is of a novice monk walking though an ornate temple. I imagine that selling prints of cool photos on the web would be a nice way for a talented travel photographer to get some extra exposure and income.

Amazing Photos

Check out these fantastic photos from the Cambridge gallery. There is also a digital photography tutorial section with lots of information about how to obtain great results.

Cirque du Soleil: Ka

I'm a big fan of the Cirque du Soleil, so while I was in Vegas over the July 4th weekend, I was sure to check out Ka, which is their latest production at the MGM Grand. At its core, Ka deals with themes of duality, such as male and female, love and hate, darkness and light. According to the official program, Ka is different from previous shows because everything revolves around a storyline involving the separation and subsequent reuniting of a brother and sister. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the various acts, the storyline didn't seem particularly clear to me and it felt just like previous shows; a bunch of great scenes with a minimal thread connecting them together. All in all, it was still classic Cirque du Soleil and I highly recommend it; just don't expect too much of the storyline.

The Gates, NY

This weekend, a large-scale art exhibition called The Gates is due to open in Central Park, New York. Designed by the husband and wife team Cristo and Jeanne-Claude, 7500 gates will be assembled over 23 miles of walkway and draped with saffron colored fabric.

Cristo and Jeanne-Claude have displayed many other imaginative large works of art, including islands surrounded by pink plastic, and hills covered with umbrellas. I bet The Gates will be an amazing sight, and great fun to walk through! If you're going to visit it, do it soon, because it's due to be dismantled at the end of February.

Update: If you're interested in art that is similar to The Gates, NY, then check out my blog entry The Gates, Japan.

Hello Kitty Turns 30

My favorite brand, Hello Kitty, just turned 30.

Idea for new Cirque du Soleil Act

This evening I saw Ocean's Twelve; enjoyable and thoroughly recommended. One of the most striking scenes involved a French thief dancing acrobatically through a maze of moving laser beams. During that sequence, I couldn't help but think that this would make a fabulous basis for a new Cirque du Soleil act. At the beginning, there would be just one or two lasers, and a single performer dancing around and between the beams. As the performance progressed, they would gradually add more lasers, speed up their movement, and add some more performers. By the end, there would be an incredible blur of light beams and acrobats. I contacted Cirque to Soleil via their web site and submitted the idea. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be in the audience and see this idea in action!

I Like Lik

I was recently in Cairns, Australia, and happened upon an art gallery of photos by a guy called Peter Lik. The photos, large and framed, made an immediate impact on me, especially the ones that looked like alien landscapes. I ended up purchasing two of them, both in fact shot in Arizona desert.

Antelope Canyon:

Shadowland:

They should look fantastic when hung on large, stark white walls.