Archive for December, 2008

Thanks for having me, Bob. I am honored to be part of the Club. Good timing too, as I’ve been meaning to get some bloggage going but have let the mind-numbing particulars of pixel manipulation keep from actually uploading words into the pipeline. With the year ending and some down time to contemplate, I’ve been thinking about the following quite a bit and this seems like a perfect opportunity to put it down and stake my introductory flag on Mumble. Have at ye.

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The first subject I ever taught to an official “class” was the Yang Style 24 Tai Chi form to a group of friends in Elysian Park. I had studied Taoism and Taijiquan for two years with a Chinese Master, and he had given me the go-ahead to lead a small beginner’s class towards learning this basic and popular set of martial art moves that frequently occupy old people in comfortable track suits and are reputedly among the most lethal in the world.

I met with the group (which included my wife and my brother) and began leading a willing group of people with my words and actions, unsure that I could channel a measure of knowledge to them, a knowledge that I wasn’t even sure I myself possessed. But I acted the part and gradually conveyed some of the basic movements and philosophy of the Yang 24, as best as I understood them at the time. Therein lied a great revelation: for even as a teacher, my understanding of the subject matter was always developing. Even the highest teacher remains a student to the subject matter, and the resonant affect of teaching someone anything allows you to know your subject and yourself better. The role of a teacher allows a different perspective.

This lesson- the teacher learning from the student- is obvious enough that tinged with a Chinese accent it becomes a weary punch line. But obvious things have never been my specialty, and I often take a circuitous route to the most pedestrian and common sensibilities. I was 32 years old when I taught my first class, and more than a decade had passed since I attended a formal learning institution (not counting some martial arts and yoga practice I had undertaken.) Despite attending a great public school with excellent teachers, having lots of friends and girls and extracurricular activities and getting decent grades, I detested school from about 2nd grade until the bitter last days of high school. And when I went to college, hoping the idyllic sunshine of Southern California would at least partially offset my repulsion to the classroom setting and allow for a modicum of higher education, as soon as I really put two and two together and understood that I was now paying a royal price to attend school, I bailed out on the whole operation and never stepped in an admissions office again.
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As a little token my appreciation for being invited to be part of Club Mumble, furni (my company) is gonna offer a few bucks off our new watches for Club Mumble readers, just type MUMBLE in the checkout. The watches are our newest offering brought to you by us and our fine friends at Raised by Wolves. To celebrate the launch last month we offered a watch set with a 3d book (Bob K’s page pictured above) called “You, Me and 3d…workspaces in different places” which featured 3d images of the desks and workshops of some of our friends, favourite designers and awesome dudes (Club Mumble contributors Michael Leon and Mr McFetridge grace a couple pages) More info and checkout here. Happy New Year all!!

Greetings fellow mumblers! I’m very stoked to be a part of this mumble crew. Thanks Bob!

I made a short video yesterday to illustrate my very illogical explanation of human’s relation to jellyfish. I hope you enjoy it.

Star Dust from stevie raya on Vimeo.

lately ive been into making collages out of old skate magazines. this one is from the skateboard mag issue #22 featuring fellow club mummble member Grant Brittain.

I shot this photo from my roof in San Pedro a couple weeks ago. That’s the mouth of the LA Harbor on the horizon back there. I guess this is my start to this Mumble Club for me. Thanks for the opportunity, Bob.

welcome to the club.

Hey there everybody,

Without wanting to sound like a broken record, really stoked to be part of this community – I think it’s a really great idea and I look forward to discovering some wild and wonderful new things from all of you.

I thought I’d kick things off by sharing this little website, ifeellondon, which lets you discover what’s going on in and around the city according to your mood. It’s not my own project, I’m actually working on something similar but was really inspired by the way that through this guide, places in the city have been associated with how they make you feel as opposed to what they can  offer you… if that makes any sense?! It creates a far more personal guide to a city than Timeout can ever give you. And like this very blog, it’s the community that makes it work. Anyway for all those living or visiting London, NYC or Toronto, check it out!

the city by mood

Here goes my first post!  Thanks again Bob, I am really excited to be a part of this. Okay. Some of my work is up on Lindley Warren’s (of The Netherlands) project, The Photographic Dictionary. It is a a really cool and unique concept that is dedicated to defining words through literal, figurative, and personal meanings through each photo. Here is my favorite, the others below. Take some time on the site to check out some inspiring work by many emerging photographers from around the world.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Yikes lots of people out there…  Here we go!

Swiv Tackle Circus is hosting my showing of the images I worked on for a couple years. Opening is on Jan 17, 2009.
Along with the show, we are going to do a zine workshop with the likes of Dustin Koop, John Antoski, Mike Carter and anyone else who shows up. (With the great help of Lifetime Collective). Knives out. Photocopier in effect. Check lookforwardtothepast.com for more stuff.

TOdays my birthday. I love when people dress horses up as elephants.