A few pieces of my mind...
Ok, so I've written a rebuttal to Shutterbug's comments (déjà vu all over again), but rather than argue, I'll concede to a certain degree (ever protecting my manly ego) and start spilling a little of what's been on my mind lately...
Ok, so Miller Brewing Co. had that bullshit "Man Law" ad campaign which I initially found pretty clever until they had that whole "Don't fruit the beer" campaign. Now, I realize it was a direct attack on competitors Corona (lime wedge) and Blue Moon (orange slice), but it wasn't 'Don't lime the beer', or 'Don't orange the beer." They deliberately used the word 'fruit'... imparting a sissy homosexual context to drinking any beer other than their testosterone-icon-endorsed studly manly skunk-pee American beer. But I shrugged it off as a silly caricature of, and nose-thumbing at, traditional masculinity. I still found it actually quite entertaining.
Then there's the mildly amusing and more current Miller High Life ad campaign, featuring an African American Miller beer truck driver with that stereotypically strong and folksy 'black attitude' personality that us white folks find so appealing. On a radio spot featuring that particular actor as a radio talk show host, and callers asking "Am I living the high life?" and then describing their social situations, one mentions the fruit/beer thing again, to which the host has a strongly negative reaction.
That irked me a little as an endorsement of homophobia from the "common" man , but I just shrugged it off as a cross-over of the two ad campaigns.
Then they introduce Miller Chill... flavored with LIME. Miller Brewing Company, champion of the anti-gay war cry 'Don't fruit the beer' FRUITED THE BEER. Hypocritical manipulating bastards! I swore a staunch and solemn boycott of any Miller Brewing Co. products from that point onward, activist hippie that I am, so help me God!
I don't make a whole lot of money. I drink cheap domestic chicken-piss beer out of financial obligation and medicinal effect. The cheapest beers around here in 16-oz can six-pack format are Milwaukee's Best Ice (The Beast) and Steel Reserve. I drink a lot of both, but mostly Milwaukee's Beast Ice, and have done so for quite a while. The other night I took a closer look at my Milwaukee's Best can...
... Miller Brewing Company.
So much for my boycott. I tried a Miller Chill. It was ok.
---
Yes... lather, rinse, repeat. But I'm not the only one with a cyclic nature and redundant themes. It's the rhythm of my life, and of everybody elses' too.
Dark Haired Girl and Photography are the only things in my life right now between my two jobs and school. I don't have time for ice hockey, and this record-hot summer has made skating and street hockey impossible. I post photos because that is what is on my mind, almost exclusively. They aren't sawdust, but rather windows into my life. The vast preoccupation of my thoughts revolves around projects: who I'll get to model by the due date in a couple of days, what locations I'll shoot, props, lighting schemes, time of day for optimal light direction, etc.
Ok, here's a little bit of what's been swirling around between my ears. I've been having fitful sleep lately because of the pressures of this quarter, and of the impending quarter next which will be not only the toughest, but also my last, and the one which determines whether I have a graduate-worthy portfolio or not. I know full well I'll pass portfolio. I'm a quality shooter, and I've built up a subtle reputation at school for being a smarter-than-your-average-bear photographer. I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to stand out from the crowd, but not to do so in a 'different just to be weird' way, but rather more of a 'thinking outside the box' way. I honestly have a lot of trouble thinking outside the box. I'm given examples and the project requirements, and then tend to follow suit.
I'm also worried about hitting the ground running once I have some paper behind my name. That worry is lessening of late, as I am slowly building up satisfied customers here and there. Only one repeat customer yet, but many voiced intents to do so. In the mean time, I'm faced with the dilemma of just how aggressively to pursue work. My main bread source is my day jobs, and they already interfere enough with school project work. My boss is only happy to give me infrequent time off (usually saturdays, traditionally a big no-no to request off in the restaurant biz) to shoot jobs, but I can't take on much photography and keep my job simultaneously. See what I'm getting at? To drum up more jobs would require taking a gamble and quitting the day job, and I can't afford to lose that bet a second time. (remember Chipotle?)
So, yeah, that's what's eating Gilbert Grape right now. Thanks for listening. :-)
---
The commercial and portrait classes at school usually post their final submissions for display on the walls to be judged. For each class's gallery there are a couple of achievement ribbons and a few excellence ribbons, and then one Best of Show ribbon. Of all the times my work has been up over the last year and a half, I've never earned any ribbons. Our portrait 1 class last quarter went up on the wall this quarter. The prints were judged.
My print of a very pregnant Liz won Best of Show. :-)
Pardon me while I gloat just a little.
---
Ok, so I have been doing something else on the side. Mom and Chuck are avid golfers, so I've been with them to the driving range a few times. I found a crappy driver at the thrift store for $1.28 a month or two ago, and have really been hooked on going to the driving range lately. It's become a twice-a-week habit, and after mom passing her golf lessons onto me, I've become downright wicked with that driver. 200 yard marker, baby!
---
Never mind that I have to stand aiming 45 degrees to the left to hit the marker because I shank the ball every time.
---
Ok, so Miller Brewing Co. had that bullshit "Man Law" ad campaign which I initially found pretty clever until they had that whole "Don't fruit the beer" campaign. Now, I realize it was a direct attack on competitors Corona (lime wedge) and Blue Moon (orange slice), but it wasn't 'Don't lime the beer', or 'Don't orange the beer." They deliberately used the word 'fruit'... imparting a sissy homosexual context to drinking any beer other than their testosterone-icon-endorsed studly manly skunk-pee American beer. But I shrugged it off as a silly caricature of, and nose-thumbing at, traditional masculinity. I still found it actually quite entertaining.
Then there's the mildly amusing and more current Miller High Life ad campaign, featuring an African American Miller beer truck driver with that stereotypically strong and folksy 'black attitude' personality that us white folks find so appealing. On a radio spot featuring that particular actor as a radio talk show host, and callers asking "Am I living the high life?" and then describing their social situations, one mentions the fruit/beer thing again, to which the host has a strongly negative reaction.
That irked me a little as an endorsement of homophobia from the "common" man , but I just shrugged it off as a cross-over of the two ad campaigns.
Then they introduce Miller Chill... flavored with LIME. Miller Brewing Company, champion of the anti-gay war cry 'Don't fruit the beer' FRUITED THE BEER. Hypocritical manipulating bastards! I swore a staunch and solemn boycott of any Miller Brewing Co. products from that point onward, activist hippie that I am, so help me God!
I don't make a whole lot of money. I drink cheap domestic chicken-piss beer out of financial obligation and medicinal effect. The cheapest beers around here in 16-oz can six-pack format are Milwaukee's Best Ice (The Beast) and Steel Reserve. I drink a lot of both, but mostly Milwaukee's Beast Ice, and have done so for quite a while. The other night I took a closer look at my Milwaukee's Best can...
... Miller Brewing Company.
So much for my boycott. I tried a Miller Chill. It was ok.
---
Yes... lather, rinse, repeat. But I'm not the only one with a cyclic nature and redundant themes. It's the rhythm of my life, and of everybody elses' too.
Dark Haired Girl and Photography are the only things in my life right now between my two jobs and school. I don't have time for ice hockey, and this record-hot summer has made skating and street hockey impossible. I post photos because that is what is on my mind, almost exclusively. They aren't sawdust, but rather windows into my life. The vast preoccupation of my thoughts revolves around projects: who I'll get to model by the due date in a couple of days, what locations I'll shoot, props, lighting schemes, time of day for optimal light direction, etc.
Ok, here's a little bit of what's been swirling around between my ears. I've been having fitful sleep lately because of the pressures of this quarter, and of the impending quarter next which will be not only the toughest, but also my last, and the one which determines whether I have a graduate-worthy portfolio or not. I know full well I'll pass portfolio. I'm a quality shooter, and I've built up a subtle reputation at school for being a smarter-than-your-average-bear photographer. I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to stand out from the crowd, but not to do so in a 'different just to be weird' way, but rather more of a 'thinking outside the box' way. I honestly have a lot of trouble thinking outside the box. I'm given examples and the project requirements, and then tend to follow suit.
I'm also worried about hitting the ground running once I have some paper behind my name. That worry is lessening of late, as I am slowly building up satisfied customers here and there. Only one repeat customer yet, but many voiced intents to do so. In the mean time, I'm faced with the dilemma of just how aggressively to pursue work. My main bread source is my day jobs, and they already interfere enough with school project work. My boss is only happy to give me infrequent time off (usually saturdays, traditionally a big no-no to request off in the restaurant biz) to shoot jobs, but I can't take on much photography and keep my job simultaneously. See what I'm getting at? To drum up more jobs would require taking a gamble and quitting the day job, and I can't afford to lose that bet a second time. (remember Chipotle?)
So, yeah, that's what's eating Gilbert Grape right now. Thanks for listening. :-)
---
The commercial and portrait classes at school usually post their final submissions for display on the walls to be judged. For each class's gallery there are a couple of achievement ribbons and a few excellence ribbons, and then one Best of Show ribbon. Of all the times my work has been up over the last year and a half, I've never earned any ribbons. Our portrait 1 class last quarter went up on the wall this quarter. The prints were judged.
My print of a very pregnant Liz won Best of Show. :-)
Pardon me while I gloat just a little.
---
Ok, so I have been doing something else on the side. Mom and Chuck are avid golfers, so I've been with them to the driving range a few times. I found a crappy driver at the thrift store for $1.28 a month or two ago, and have really been hooked on going to the driving range lately. It's become a twice-a-week habit, and after mom passing her golf lessons onto me, I've become downright wicked with that driver. 200 yard marker, baby!
---
Never mind that I have to stand aiming 45 degrees to the left to hit the marker because I shank the ball every time.
---
posted by Grover at 8/16/2007 12:32:00 PM
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