Code Breaker Creative and Aztlan Contra Danza

So three of the most talented and creative people I know here in Austin - Omar Jimenez, Steven Garcia, and Paul Del Bosque - recently founded an advertising company called Code Breaker Creative. I was fortunate enough to be able to consult on some work they're doing for the Aztlan Dance Company and their upcoming luchador-themed Aztlan contra Danza show. The Code Breaker guys came up with the idea to build a viral video campaign around the idea of luchadores in everyday life, and here's a sampling of the results (I shot the one in the office and helped edit the others):





Check out the rest of the videos here, and if you're in Austin be sure to check out the Aztlan contra Danza show April 29th-May 2nd.

Milton Reppert (my grandpa)

My grandpa, my mom's dad, Milton Reppert, passed away on January 1st of this year, a couple of months ago. He was one of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever met, and I don't think I'm incorrect in assuming that everyone who met him felt the same way.

In a lot of different ways the past couple months have been very hard for me. Besides losing my grandpa, I've been doubting myself creatively, and less and less sure of my place in the world. It may sound strange, but one thing that has consistently cheered me up and helped me to focus lately has been reading my grandpa's obituary. There's something about the way it captures the sweep of a life I knew very well, reminding me what an amazing guy he truly was, that makes me feel like everything is going to work out.

I've excerpted the obituary in its entirety below, but emphasized my favorite parts if you just want to skip to those.

Milton Edmund Reppert Milton E. Reppert (84) passed away on New Year's Day, 2010 after a brief illness. Born in Washington D.C. on Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1925, he was the only child of Mary Eagles and Edmond Hugh Reppert, a colleague of Admiral Nimitz. They moved to San Diego, where Milton grew up and graduated from Pt. Loma High School. Milton attended Georgia Technical Institute, on a G.I. scholarship, after serving in Germany during WWII. He earned a degree in electrical engineering there and also attended San Diego State. His artistic abilities allowed him to earn a degree from The Art Center in Los Angeles and land a job painting insignias on airplanes for a living. Around this time he met his wife, Winnie, on a blind date, and it was "love at first sight". Milton's big break came when he joined the Independent Press-Telegram as a commercial artist in 1952 drawing away until 1961. He later joined the American Advertising family in the City of Industry where he commuted 36 miles a day by bicycle. He happily returned to the Press-Telegram in 1978 until his retirement in 1990. Among other things, Milton created the caricatures on the cover of Tedd Thomey's Stepping Out section. He had an inimitable style, which made his drawings a hit with readers. When he retired from the Press-Telegram his fellow employees turned out a six-page layout of lauding letters and commendations. Milton began serious bicycle racing in his 40's and continued to race and win, well into his 70's and belonged to several bicycling clubs. His trophies and ribbons adorn his garage. He cycled thousands of miles every year, and always rode as many miles as his age on each birthday while in his 70's. Milton was a creative designer and meticulous wood worker, sculptor, carpenter , fountain builder, painter, mobile maker, a true jack-of-all-trades and master of most. After retiring from the Press-Telegram, Milton and Winnie became world travelers. They visited every state in the Union, traveled to every continent and sailed all of the seven seas. He is greatly missed by all and remembered for his humble, good-humored nature, integrity and quick wit and his keen eye for the beauty life has to offer. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Winifred and four children, Hugh Reppert of Naselle WA; Susan Glass of Corpus Christi TX; Ann Webb of Grover Beach CA; Nancy Reppert of Long Beach CA; and Janet Underwood of Rossmoor CA., and six grandchildren, Austin, Ian, Molly, Callie, Walter and Andrew.

I don't think that I could fabricate a life better lived than his. I hope some of it rubbed off.

Big Banks for Blanche

So this weekend I got to be part of something fun. Big Banks for Blanche has been following Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) around the country as she wages a desperate campaign to salvage her political career against electoral threats from the left and right.

The stance of Big Banks for Blanche (one that I share) is that Blanche Lincoln is a radical corporatist. I won't spend too long on the soapbox here, rather I'll just steer those interested to her voting record , her top campaign contributors, and her committee assignments, and then anyone who really cares can look up some of her really odious public statements.

So I'm holding one of the (hidden) cameras in the above video. Basically we snuck in to a private, $1000-a-head fundraiser being held in Austin for Lincoln, using fake names and leaving envelopes holding fake checks in the collection basket, listened politely while Blanche Lincoln delivered a short speech packed with blatant lies about health care reform, unions, and the cap-and-trade bill, and then the video starts. In my heart, I genuinely believe that we ruined her day, and I'm very proud of that.

So if anybody is really, really interested, Arkansas' Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter has mounted a primary challenge against Lincoln, and is actually making it a pretty tight race. He's not bad on most of the issues I care about, and if he manages to get the nomination it would send a powerful signal to other Blue Dog Democrats like Lincoln that there's a price to be paid for fucking with your base. Check out the link at his name above if you'd like to learn more.

The End of Photos

So for the past couple months I haven't had much news to report, but I have found a new mini-hobby in iPhoneography. This is either exciting and creative or obnoxious and pretentious, depending on your perspective I suppose, but some very innovative developers have designed what I think are some really stunning photo filtering applications for the iPhone that I have been enjoying immensely. My favorites are Hipstamatic and ShakeItPhoto, although there are lots of other cool apps to explore and new ones coming out every week.

I know that my massive readership can't go a week without hearing something from me, so I've been trying to keep the masses sated by updating this blog every couple days with my latest iPhone photo. Things are starting to pick up again so I think I will be posting actual content and relegating the photos to my new Flickr stream, which you can find here, if you're interested.

To see some really great iPhone shots (with a cool concept to boot), check out my new favorite blog - old new york in a modern world. Photos of New York processed with lo-mob, another one of my favorite apps.