Zombie Everzalez
Zomibe WebAnna
Zombie Vampyristic
This year for Halloween we’re actors in a haunted house. It’s been two years since I’ve been deep in the woods with glow sticks, so I couldn’t be happier. What’s more is the moon has been full, making it romantic to be with my husband as we scare people.
The only problem is, I barely know how to put on regular makeup… so Vampyristic gave us a few tips:
Apply the dark shade in the hollows between your cheek and jawbone, blend REALLY well with the lighter shade you used on the rest of your face (run your fingers or a makeup sponge along the border between the two until it blends) to give the illusion of hollowed cheeks. Jim actually did a GREAT job of this in his pic.
To add more depth/dimension, use the same basic technique to all deeper points of the face (eye sockets, temples, under jawline, edges of nose, even deep points in the neck).
You might also consider adding a lighter shade to highlight. If you used gray for the mid-tone, use a light gray or a white on the top of the nose, center of the forehead and cheekbones. Blend this extremely well to adds extra contrast.
If you can get a hold of some liquid latex (cosmetic kind in makeup stores or Halloween stores, not hardware store kind).
**Shredded skin: BEFORE you apply any color makeup, apply a thin layer of latex on clean skin. Apply tissue paper and spread thin layer of latex on top. Let dry (~5-10 minutes at most, less if you use a fan). Pull small strands of the tissue paper down so you have pieces hanging from your face. Apply makeup as normal, adding extra blood on shredded skin area.
**Rotting skin: BEFORE applying color makeup, apply a thin layer of latex (or Elmer’s glue for this method only). Shred a cotton ball and stick it into the wet latex. WHILE STILL WET, pull bits of cotton slightly away from face. Let dry, then apply makeup as usual.
Standing on top of the tallest building in Austin, there is nothing between me and city. Below, people are stuck in traffic; they’re meeting up for happy hour and some are enjoying kayaking on Towne Lake.
I had the opportunity to see Austin from this vantage point with about 25 other people as part of Good Life’s downtown Austin condo tour. The tour gave us a taste for what downtown living is like in a no-pressure situation. (Of course the tour guides WANT you to buy a condo, but they took more of a “let the game come to us” sales approach.)
The tour began at the Austonian, which is still under construction. On the highest level, the windows have yet to be installed. Standing on the platform, I couldn’t help but feel empowered, like I owned the city. And if you lived there, maybe you do, considering how much it takes to afford the view at the top. The ballpark is somewhere in the one to two million dollar range. (Story continues after slideshow.)
Floor plans vary by customer and have not been set. You can carve out a one/one for yourself, or a sprawling two/two layout. You could also, of course, choose to buy an entire floor.
From there we moved to a point tower with 42 floors – The Springs. While I was taken back by the views, I was also surprised by how small the rooms were. One of the people on the tour said she felt like she was in a dorm room.
Obviously you’re paying for location in this development. Spaces here start at $265,000 for a one bedroom/ one bathroom. A 2/2 starts at $450,000 and a 3/3 starts at $797,00.
We ventured across the river next, where you can get more space for your money, but the views aren’t as spectacular. Bridges on the Park is across the street from hiking trails and Butler Park Pitch-n-Putt. There will be no developments to the east, so you can guarantee there won’t be anything to change your view.
As of Friday, there were only 12 homes available. Some of the spaces are 1,600 or more square feet. A 1/1/ starts at $261,000; a 2/2 starts at $349,000.
Back across the lake, Condos at the Shore start at $182,000 for a one bedroom; 2/2s start at $352,500. The pool deck and fitness center over look downtown Austin, and residents here also have direct access to hike and bike trails.
Over the last three years, I’ve heard about the overgrowth of condos in Austin. Some of the complaints being:
There aren’t enough people to fill them!
They’re destroying the fabric of Austin!
Let’s take the first argument. There are only about 480 condos to be sold, and most of them are luxury residences. According to the Austin Chamber, Austin is growing at more than 4 times the national average, and more than twice the rate in Texas as a whole. Surely in a city of 1.65 million, a couple hundred will want to live the high life.
In fact, many of the condos we visited were almost filled to capacity. Because of the state of the economy, the condos are also being offered at below market price – or so I over heard.
Developers admit there will probably be more condos built, which fuels the fires for people who fear the condos will destroy the fabric of Austin. This argument seems to stem from fear of change in general.
No matter where you are in Austin, there is a green space within ten minutes. This is something the community fights for, just like they financially support and stand up for those who want to live a counter-culture lifestyle (also known as ‘bums’). Then you have the music and art scene. As more people move in, they’ll only contribute to the culture – not stomp it out.
Austin residents put their money behind their values, and I don’t see that changing as Austin grows.
Now back to the condo tour. You can still sign up for a personal tour or hop on the Good Life’s bus and tour in style.
Our tour ended at sunset with a happy hour over looking Downtown Austin. The image of the city at this hour is inspiring, and for many of us on the tour, it gave us something to keep working for.
*Condo pricing information from the Good Life Team.
Click here to compare Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth condos on MLS (add the cities, choose CONDO for the property type and hit search).
Anyone miss oldies?
I used to listen to Ron Chapman on my boom box. One time my mom pushed me into saying, “I KLUV my oldies” as we walked by their tent at an event.
Debi Diaz looked bewildered as she staggered out of the trailer. “Who said that?” Oh shit. My mom raises my hand; I’m pulling back.
“Here you go.” She hands me a shirt.
Most of the music has been so commercialized, so while I tried to stick with the hits for list walk down memory lane, I also tired to stay away from the ones we’ve heard over and over. I also tried to say within 1950 and 1960, I had to go outside the decade for a few others I had floating in my mind.
Create a MySpace Playlist at MixPod.com
Our roommate brought home a pumpkin. It was a consolation prize from his work after they told him they didn’t need his services that day. Jim carved a pumpkin and was inspired to try cooking with the insides. The result was Porktoberfest.
Pumpkin Marinade
1 large pumpkin to create:
- Roasted pumpkin seeds
- Prepared pumpkin pulp
1/4 cup of olive oil
The zest of one lemon
A handful of sliced almonds
Pinch of ground clove
Pinch of salt
Tablespoon of sugar
One table spoon of butter
Step One: Carve pumpkin and save the scooped out seeds and pulp you pull out from the inside.
Step Two: Prepare the pumpkin insides:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Separate the seeds from the pumpkin pulp.
- Put them on a cookie sheet with a little oil on top.
- Sprinkle seasoning salt to taste.
- Then put in the oven to toast at 375 degrees. It should take 10 minutes for them to dry out. Take them out and let them cool off.
Prepared Pumpkin Pulp
- Peal the rind away from the pulp as best you can. This should leave just the pulp and no seeds. Place in 375-degree oven for just a few minutes. Keep your eye on it. When it gets less slimy, you can start to cook with it. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes for it to dry out.
Step Three: Prepare The Marinade
- After the pulp and seeds cool down, blend the following ingredients together to a paste-like consistency: 1/8th of the pumpkin seeds; olive oil, prepared pumpkin pulp, clove, salt, sugar, lemon zest and sliced almonds.
- Put the pumpkin paste in a pan with butter in a sauce pan at medium heat. Stir frequently. Once everything heats through, remove from heat and let cool. Put the marinade on the protein of choice.
Porktober Loin
Pork Loin
8 Potatoes
Pumpkin Marinade
Lemon cut in half
Pinch of Paprika
Pinch of Chinese Five Spice
Oil
We chose to put the marinade on a pork loin. It leaves a ton of left overs and once cooked, you can turn into a variety of different meals. For example, you can slice it into thin pieces and mix it into your morning eggs with salsa.
Step One: Spread out the pumpkin marinade evenly on the pork loin. We only marinaded the pork for a few minutes because we were hungry.
Step Two: Squeeze half of a lemon over the top of the meat.
Step Three: Prepare Potatoes
- Potatoes are a good choice for the winter time. They fill out a meal and are inexpensive. We bought a whole bag of potatoes at HEB for $3.50, and they will last us a good three meals. We don’t cook them all at once because Jim has a variety of ways to cook them.
- You can pick any kind of potato, just make sure they are all the same size in terms of thickness so they all cook evenly.
- Chop the potatoes into spears – down the length of the potato three times like pickles.
- Sprinkle paprika and Chinese Five Spice on top. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil to keep from burning.
- Line bottom of glass cookware with potatoes and put marinated meat on top.
Step Four: Place entire meal in oven at 375 degrees for about an hour. The amount of time the pork needs to cook varies on the size of the piece, oven temperature, etc. Usually the meat packaging or a meat thermometer will tell you what the internal temperature of your pork needs to be for it to be safe to eat.
Step Five: Once the pork is at the right temperature, pull it out of the oven and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
Step Six: Portion out plates and enjoy!
Portions
We eat large portions of food. Jim was born with a second stomach. It fits perfectly in his long and skinny leg, and I used to match his meal. However, I’ve since learned to listen more to the “I’m full” trigger when it’s been pulled on the large plate overflowing with food. And Jim cooks so there will be left overs for the next day. So please keep that in mind for portions…
How do you integrate art with technology when your technology capabilities are less than professional? Is it OK to to even attempt to create art with technology if all you have is a digital still camera capable of taking video and a PC laptop (gasp! I know)? Or is this all part of the challenge?
These questions come from a very insecure place. I keep hearing tech snobs talk about how “If it’s not in HD, it’s just not worth viewing.” If you check out some of the productions coming out of Los Angeles or Philadelphia right now, you see how we might be intimated.
So @Everzalez & I took our limitations as part of the challenge when we created Shorthand For The Process Of Connection.
Fall is always a very creative time for us, and we have four big projects coming up around the same time. The deadlines are over at the end of November. We took the weekend to consume as much media as possible to get us ready for our next stream of creative production.
We watched Into the Wild and Where the Wild Things Are. Both are beautifully directed movies that brought me to tears and made me terrified of having children. They also heightened my desire to shoot video in the woods.
But the flame that sparked our creative flow this weekend came from the animation we discovered.
We saw a documentary about the process of making an animated film about the once great Canadian animator Ryan Larkin.
(I’d just like to mention here that I’m substituting art school for watching Ovation TV. I just need your help with the critique, which is why we like having an audience – for feedback; to grow.)
I talk about the limitations of only having a laptop. Ryan only had traditional art materials and yet he was able to create stunning animation – frame by frame. Watch carefully:
Click here to check out more of Ryan’s videos.
We also find a great source of inspiration in the Austin community, particularly with Dafne Torres and Rene Gonzalez. When we mentioned experimental and alternative video making, Dafne pulled up these videos done for the band Pinker Tone:
“You must be a muñeca if you‘re still standing still…”
Rene then pulled up these videos from the Swedish band The Knife:
(The audio has been disabled on many of the videos for this song. Go about 45 seconds into the video to see the animation)
Now take those concepts and turn them into a live event:
More inspiration for shooting video in the woods:
I like the direction some bands are taking with their live shows. The music is part of the entire show, which shares the stage with digital art, maybe even performers. It’s the type of set up I know the Flaming Lips have been doing for years. The Knife’s live performances are another example.
And that is where our new challenge comes from: creating visuals for a band’s live show. We’re going to invest money in equiptment for this challenge, so my Sony will have to sit this one out. This is where the technology barrier pops up – I’m sure – for most bands: getting the money for the equiptment. Our budget isn’t very large, but we’ll see what we can create on a small budget. I’ll let you know how it goes.
This video was originally shown in a different format during the Ascension in the Recession show at Arts Goggle. If you dig the work, please become a fan of Everzalez Ink on Facebook.
“The video of the eyes is about the process of meditation, and reaching for something beyond myself. The images seen in the pupils of the eye are a type of shorthand for the process of connecting to something beyond the self. Some people refer to this as God, others call it the Source.
The symbols in the eye began to appear in my work about one year ago, and because up to that point I had only done abstract work with no recognizable symbols; I began to feel that I was channeling something through these images.”
- Jim Everton
Credits:
Jim Everton came up with the concept of the shifting symbols in the eyes. Adam Scott shot the video and made it come to life. The original creation was a loop of the eyes with rhythmic symbols. The video was displayed in a 5″ x 11″ closet with no lights on. Mirrors lined the walls along side the television. The installation of the mirrors was thought of and put up by Pedro Gonzalez.
An audio piece was also created for the show. Tim Derrington voiced written thoughts on time travel (sources found below), while Stephanie Marie created a 3-hour playlist. Anna Gonzalez spliced in Tim’s voice throughout the 3 hours of music Marie provided.
After the show was over, Anna and Jim sat down and edited a five-minute sample from the playlist using video Anna had shot over the last three months (since being in Austin).
LYRICS:
“JUST because we perceive time flowing in one direction, does that mean there “really is” a difference between the past and future?”
“Relax physically, emotionally, and mentally – accepting the suggestion to avoid thinking in rational, verbal, and/or evaluative terms – to a suitable frame of mind for focused imagistic thinking. Imagine that the strategy is actually being implemented at the present moment, and that you are going to explore what it leads to in the future.”
&
“Allow yourself to be carried along into the future as the strategy is implemented across time, simply watching and feeling things as they occur. Often it is useful to let yourself be surprised by what futurists call a “Wild Card”—some unanticipated event that is sure to bring strong impacts and effects.”
&
“After scanning to – or beyond – the desired time frame (or event sequence), record the impressions and questions that seem most relevant.”
- Mental Time Travel: A practical business and personal research tool for looking ahead
PAGE ONE
Musical Artist: Lemon Jelly
- Written by Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin
Imagine – if you can – what it is like to have no possessions at all
Nothing
Very few people can imagine such a thing, to have nothing at all
Well let us, you and I
Try to imagine something a hundred times harder
Not just to have nothing at all, but when there was nothing at all
The very beginning of time
The dawn of history
Page one
Nothing at all
The earth itself without form and void
Only an emptiness, formless, a dark endless waste of water
No living thing. No plant or tree. No bird or animal
Nothing
This is before people
Before anything at all
A void
Sitting silent
Still
And then…
NOTHING
These are a few consciousness streams I did the other day. They are all light-hearted and I did all the writing in one block with no spaces between words or punctuation-a fun way to write without censoring one’s words. I’m planning to do more of these and vary the subject matter somewhat.
THEREWASTHATONETIMEWEWENTSWIMMINGANDADAMCANHOLDHISBREATHFORA
LONGTIMEBECAUSEHEHASSECRETELYBEENSTUDYINGMETATRONICSEVERYNIGHT
WHENHESAYSHEISGOINGTOBED.
HETHINKSMIKEBIRBIGLIAISFUNNYANDIGUESSHEISSORTOFFUNNY
THENTHEREWASTHATTIMETHATBILLJONESCAMEOVERANDWEALLPLAYEDGTA4
BUTWEWEREN’TDOINGTHEMISSIONSWEWEREJUSTSEEINGWHOCOULDDIETHE
COOLESTBYJUMPINGOUTOFAHELICOPTERANDIHADTHEBESTONEWHENMYGUY
JUMPEDANDTHENFOUNDARIPINTIMESPACEWHICHLEDTOTHEDAYWEALLGAVE
THERANGERFANSFREEICECREAMBECAUSEOFHOWMUCHTHEYHAVESUFFERED
BECAUSEOFTHEMEDIOCRITYOFTHETEAMOVERTHELAST40YEARS
EVENWHENTHEYWERETHEWASHINGTONGENERALS.
ONEDAYADAMWASONTHEPREDICTIVEDIALERANDHEHADTOGETUPBECAUSEOF
THEBADSNAPPLEANDHOAGIESHEHADBEENHAVINGFORLUNCHANDWHENHEDID
HEFORGOTTOSETHISSTATUSASNOTREADYANDLIKEAHUNDREDCALLSWENT
THROUGHANDEVERYONEOFTHEMSIGNEDUPFORPRETENDBATTLECLIPS
BUTADAMNEVERKNEW
THATWASTHESAMEDAYADAMFOUNDOUTTHATGROUNDTURKEYISVERYHIGH
INCHOLESTOROLANDHEWASMADBECAUSETHATWASALLHEHADBEENEATINGIN
HISRAMENALONGWITHGUMMYBEARS.
THATDAYANNAANDIDECIDEDTOMEDITATEINOURROOMINSTEADOFWATCHING
TOPCHEFANDITWASOKAYBECAUSEITWASARERUNANYWANDAWEFOUND
OURSPIRITGUIDES
MINEWASANINSECTANDITTOLDMETHATINEEDEDTOFOCUSMOREONMY
CREATIVEPURSUITSANDLESSONTRYINGTOGETRICH.ANNASWASALADYWHO
LOOKEDKINDOFLIKERHEAPEARLMANBUTTALLERANDTHELADYTOLDYHERTHAT
SHEWASDOINGTHERIGHTTHINGBYGOINGBACKTOWORKFOR
THELOCALNEWSSTATIONANDANNASAIDTHATSHEWANTEDTHELADY
TOSTAYWITHHERANDGIVEHERSOMEMOREADVICE
THENEWMIKETYSON’SPUNCHOUTISWAYTOOCARTOONISHANDITDOESN’THAVE
THEGREATPARTSOFTHEOLDGAME.
ADAMLIKESITBUTDONWAKAMATSUDOESEN’T.
HETRIEDITTHELASTTIMETHERANGERSWEREINSEATTLEONAFIVEGAMEWEST
COASTROADTRIP
ANDHISREVIEWWASLUKEWARMATBEST
WHICHISNOTMUCHBETTERTHANTHEREVIEWITGOTINGAMEINFORMERMAGAZINE.
IWASTHINKINGTHEOTHERDAYABOUTHOWIHAVENOTMADEMYSELFASMOOTHIE
INALONGTIMEANDINEEDTODOTHATBECAUSESMOOTHIESAREAWESOMEBUTIDON’T
LIKEGETTINGTHEMFROMSMOOTHIEPLACESBECAUSETHEYAREOVERPRICED.
BUTIDOUNDERSTANDTHEPRICESBEINGHIGHBECAUSETHEINGREDIENTSARE
EXPENSIVE.
THEREARETHESEHIPPIESTHATHANGOUTINFRONTOFDAILYJUICEONSATURDAY
NIGHTSANDHOOLAHOOPANDITHINKTHEYAREALITTLERIDICULOUSEVEN
THOUGHICAN’TJUDGETHEMBECAUSE
IWASALITTLEWEIRDOONCETOO.
IFIWEREPUTTINGTOGETHERADREAMTEAMOFBATTLECLIPPERSITWOULD
INCLUDE ELTONBRAND LOLA ALFREDOROBERTS THEGEICKOGECKO KINGHIPPO HITLER
LIONO THEROBOTFROMMETROPOLIS ANDADAM’SMOM.
ONEDAYADAMWENTTOTHUNDERCLOUDSUBSANDTHEYWEREWATCHINGTHE
PHILLIESPLAYTHEEXPOSANDSOMEONEGAVEHIMFREECHEESEANDANNA
LAUGHEDBECUASECHEESEISNEVERFREE
UNLESSYOUAREJOSHHAMILTON.
TAKINGBPWHILETHATMOVIETHECUTTINGEDGEWASONINTHEBACKGROUND
CAUSEIT’SBYFARTHE
BESTSKATINGMOVIEEVERMADESTARRINGD.B.SWEENEY
ANDWHENMARKCUBANBRINGSNATIONALLEAGUEBASEBALLTOTHEMETROPLEX
ITWILLBEAWESOME
BECAUSEALLOFTHEPOLICEHORSESINTOWNWILLKNOWWHOISTHEBOSSANDIT’S
NOTTONYDANZAIF
YOUKNOWWHATIMEAN
ANDIKNOWYOUDOBECAUSEYOUADVOCATETHEUSEOFPERFORMANCE
ENHANCINGCHEESEANDTHAT
ISWHATMAKESYOUSUMMONDEMONICSPIRITSINANEFFORTTOENHANCE YOUR
EXTRASENSORYPERCEPTION.
Florence And The Machine – Dog Days
Florence and The Machine | MySpace Music Videos
I heard this song on KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR affiliate. When we first moved down from DFW, I was a thrown off by the fact that I couldn’t listen to news 24-7. Why would an NPR station play more music than news?
I’ve since gotten over the feeling of being left in the dark without a consistent stream of news programming and just opened my mind to listening to the consistent stream of music. It doesn’t really have a good or bad quality now. It’s just something new to experience. I feel like I’ve rediscovered a love for music, which I turned my back on a few years ago after our entire music collection went up in digital flames when my Mac had a melt down.
I especially appreciate this songs because I think our dog days of instability might be over. I live for meeting strangers, the world of the weird and random calls at 3 a.m., but more than consistent news, I need consistent work hours (and a paycheck) to survive. This, I feel, is coming.
We live near a wooded area. When you climb to the top of one of the hills, there’s a clearing and you can view downtown Austin. The sight of the city is a symbol of great things to come. Working in the city is a sign that you’ve made it. Finally, you’re part of something much larger than yourself.
I don’t feel the same sense of ‘home’ with Austin as I did in D.C. I still feel like a visitor. This isn’t my city. It belongs to everyone else, and I’m just… passing through as I did all those years with my family on vacation. And as I continued to do for years when I came to visit cousins, aunts and uncles.
I’m determined to decorate the woods in time for my birthday, when I plan on having a redo rave. You know how some people who missed prom in high school will hold a redo prom years later? I never got to go to a rave, so I want a redo.
Maybe by then I’ll feel a little more connected to the place we’re living.
The humidity in Austin has been relentless. Sometimes it’s heavy enough to actually turn into a light rain, and then maybe that will burst into a thunderstorm. We’re all thankful for the rain. At a time when everything is supposed to get ready for the winter slumber, it’s actually caused the trails we frequent to blossom.
Since my last post, the small random white flowers now cover the ground in clusters and the lichen has spread. We found a cacti that was almost 5-feet-tall, and yellow flowers have blossomed next to them.
The girls have discovered how to flush out animals from the brush and since it’s cooler, they can run fast for longer periods of time. We’ll see everything looks next month.
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The start of Fall always gets our creative juices flowing. In the process of making new art, we stumbled upon some great finds. We also helped another artist set up for his show. And it’s just the beginning.
You can see more of the work featured in these pictures on http://EverzalezInk.com/If you did the work, please become a fan!
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Everzalez Ink