Vote!

Since tomorrow is Election Day, I want to take this opportunity to encourage you to vote. The decisions made tomorrow will affect all of our daily lives and futures, and you have the opportunity to have a say in these decisions. That being said, please also take a moment to educate yourself about the candidates and issues at stake in this election:

Project VoteSmart, a nonpartisan nonprofit voter-education organization, has excellent and easily-accessible information about all of the candidates in this election (including those running at the local level). By far, this is one of the best voting resources out there.

Vote411 also provides nonpartisan voting information at all levels. These voting guides are compiled by the League of Women Voters, a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization that supports voter education. (Click here for LWV 2012 Arizona ballot guide)

For Arizona voters: click here for this year's ballot guide (issued by the state of Arizona). 

For Arizona voters: click here to find your polling place

For everyone: find your polling place using Google

Rock the Vote's Election Center has some helpful voting information for all 50 states

To see the candidates' stances on extreme poverty and preventable disease, click here

Finally, one of the most poignant articles about tomorrow's election I've seen, from the BBC

Please take a moment to research your options and vote in tomorrow's election. 

photo by Kara Haberstock, all rights reserved

Monday's Music: David Byrne & St. Vincent

A friend introduced me to this wonderful collaboration Saturday morning, and I've been listening to them near-constantly since then. "Who" is the first track on the fantastic album that David Byrne & St. Vincent recorded together. (Some of you may have seen them perform this track live on the Colbert Report last week.)

The first video from David Byrne & St. Vincent's collaborative album "Love This Giant", out September 10(UK)/11(US) and available for pre-order: http://bit.ly/RuaPCR 
Directed by Martin de Thurah - http://www.dethurah.dk/ 
http://lovethisgiant.com/
http://www.davidbyrne.com/
http://ilovestvincent.com/
http://www.4ad.com/


This video is pretty great, but I'd argue that they're even more impressive live-- check out their performance here.

Happy Friday!

Amy Adams for Band of Outsiders

It's the weekend and I'm almost done writing the first part of my thesis! It's been quite a productive week, and I am quite pleased. It's so nice to finally have tangible progress. I hope you have wonderful weekend plans. I will probably be hunkering down for some more work and studying (Russian oral exam next week-- Eeps!), but I hope to get out an enjoy the beautiful weather for at least a little bit. It should be a lovely weekend.

A fantastic photo shoot with Amy Adams

Haunted house-sitting

Hurricane Sandy and the aftermath, in photos

These cakes are crazy

A glass house

How great is this clock?

The island where people forget to die

Beautiful bowls

An incredible treehouse-church

Make your own hanging planter (I could use one of these for my houseplants)

Marriage can't be everything

Have a wonderful weekend!

Short Films: Pumpkin Carving

I know that Halloween has come and gone, but I couldn't resist sharing these two awesome pumpkin-carving films with you. The first tells the story of the "Maniac Pumpkin Carvers"- two crazy-talented artsy dudes who've actually made a business out of carving pumpkins. The second is a creative little stop-motion short filmed with actual pumpkins. Enjoy!

The year is 1992, and Marc Evan and Chris Soria are sitting next to each other in sixth-grade Spanish class. They don't know it yet, but these two twelve year olds are going to become best friends. They're going to construct epic haunted houses each year, petrifying parents more than peers. They're going to attend an artsy high school, study illustration at Parsons, grow up, and move to Brooklyn. They're going to freelance and bartend and, per their favorite holiday, casually carve some pumpkins for bosses and friends. And then the Yankees are going to put in a double-digit order, and Maniac Pumpkin Carvers will be born.

An animated carved Pumpkin Stop Motion I finished this week.
Animation - Auke de Vries
Music - Jelte de Vries
Pumpkins by - Taylor Vegetables Express

Favorite Reading: Liz Climo

Liz Climo draws pretty hilarious animal comics. She also draws charming Halloween comics. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. (I love the hedgehogs!) Oh, and you can buy her prints at her Society6 shop!

Gangnam Style

Impala

How we roll

Super squirrel

All images belong to Liz Climo

Autumn

Autumn in Tucson can be quite frustrating. The cool evenings and light breeze provide a welcome respite from the heat, and all around the city life springs up again. The mornings are crisp and clear, the perfect weather for sweaters and boots*. However, with afternoon highs still hitting the nineties, it's the season of on-again-off-again layers, the time of teasing weather, of "just-wait-a-little-longer-fall-is-almost-here-for-real-this-time." These photos from Prescott remind that it is indeed autumn somewhere, at least. And perhaps autumn will be here soon as well.

*anything under 75 degrees is sweater-and-boot weather here in Tucson

all photos belong to Kara Haberstock, all rights reserved

Songs for Sunday: Bon Iver

This week I found another amazing live session that I simply must share. This performance by Bon Iver at AIR Studio's Lyndurst Hall, a former church and missionary school, features one of the most beautiful renditions of "Babys" I have ever heard. All of these pieces are performed by Justin Vernon and Sean Carey on two grand pianos, and the result is absolutely stunning. 

1. Hinnom, TX 
2. Wash. 
3. I Can't Make You Love Me 
4. Babys 
5. Beth/Rest 
Director: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard 
Recording & Mixing: Jake Jackson with Brian Joseph 
Recorded in London at AIR Studios, October 16, 2011 
"Hinnom, TX", "Wash.", "Beth/Rest" (c) 2011 April Base Publishing (ASCAP) "Babys" (c) 2009 April Base Publishing (ASCAP) "I Cant' Make You Love Me" (c) 1991 BMG Songs, Almo Music Corp., Bird Blues Music, Hayes Street Music (ASCAP)

Happy Friday!

just living, tripod diaries

It's finally the weekend! I just turned in a 3800-word literature review yesterday, so now I'm procrastinating on writing another essay by rounding up links for you all. Can you believe it's the last weekend in October? Fall is flying by so fast...

A fun, fall-inspired craft project

Life in a town in Ohio

How cute are these stamps?

Make your own sugar cubes

A beautiful 1969 home in Australia

Does anyone else love brussel sprouts? (Because I do!)

A DIY bike light

I love this table

These gin tonics look fantastic

The case for handmade costumes

Ginger Pumpkin Pecan Muffins! 

Autumn's revealing

Have a wonderful weekend!

Short Film: The Green Ruby Pumpkin

Since Halloween is right around the corner (next Wednesday!), I thought I'd share this enchanting CGI-animated short film about a particular wondrous pumpkin. What blew my mind is that this entire film was shot in a living room! I'm quite impressed:

The Green Ruby Pumpkin is a magical and fun short film that captures the enchantment of Halloween.
It was a passion project that was created by two Senior visual effects artists. Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma.
This entire project was shot in the living room. watch the making of here: https://vimeo.com/51538157
If you enjoyed the film, please take a moment to vote for us by clicking here:
http://shortoftheweek.uservoice.com/forums/134313-submit-a-film/suggestions/3266593-the-green-ruby-pumpkin
You can see our other visual effects work at: www.monstersculptor.com
You can watch this film as well as Other directors films at the Stage5 site: : http://www.youtube.com/stage5



Oh, and in case you're curious, here's the making-of video. 

This is a small selection of some of the assets, and VFX created by Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma
for the short film "The Green Ruby Pumpkin" watch here: https://vimeo.com/51358765
The entire project was rendered on 7 computers, Running Maya for 3D, Mudbox for sculpting,
Mari and Mudbox for Texture Painting, Vray for rendering, Nuke for compositing. A lot of shortcuts had to be used in order to manage our render times Including 3d projections in nuke, miniatures, and practical elements.
The majority of the vfx work was just us two, however we had great help from friends on the rigging and animation side of things. We wanted to make sure everything you see on screen was designed and or fabricated by our team.
We learned a lot and hope to keep improving as storytellers and visual artists. Thank you for watching.

Is anyone looking forward to Halloween?

Inspired: Melinda Beck

the objects in my house talk to me

I discovered these illustrations by Melinda Beck via Creature Comforts. And I love them.

The inanimate objects in my house tend to talk to me too. The plants don't though-- they just listen to me ramble on and on and on...

(P.S. all of these illustrations and more are for sale in her shop!)

Small Type

keys to places I use to live

They seemed like a good idea

run



All images belong to Melinda Beck

Dusk in the Desert

A little while back, Nate and I hiked up around Gate's Pass after work. It was that time of day when the sun has just fallen beneath the horizon and everything is still. The moon was just beginning to shine over the mountains above us, and all around the desert was slowly coming to life. Small creatures began to rustle around in the bushes as a cool evening breeze swept over the mountainside. Lacking flashlights, we headed back to the car before the light faded altogether, quiet in the hush that came with the end of day. I took a few shots, mostly in black-and-white since the light was so low- a few glimpses of the desert at summer's dusk.

All photos belong to Kara Haberstock, all rights reserved

Monday's Music: The Lumineers

I think this live sesssion by the Lumineers was my favorite find this weekend. I know "Ho Hey" is the song that everyone's familiar with, but "Charlie Boy" is my favorite song by them by far (cello + mandolin= love). Overall, I think it makes for a great listen on a sunny Monday morning:

The Lumineers performed a live, intimate session with Liveset from @thecajunboy's house in the lower garden district of New Orleans. The Lumineers played, Liveset filmed, Brett cooked, and we all retired to his back porch after the show to relax and hear stories from the road. Produced by Ross Hinkle, Rachel Puckett and Ben Lavender for Liveset. Shot by Hunter Holder. Bottlerocket mics provided by Tyler Barth at Blue Mic. With special thanks to Wes, Jer, and Neyla, Hank and Brett (@thecajunboy).

Happy Friday!

Roasted Beet, Pear, and Walnut Salad, by Jean Donofrio via In Season

It's finally the weekend- and I actually have part of my thesis written! It's a tiny, tiny piece, but it's still a bit, which feels very monumental. It's so nice to finally feel like I'm finally making concrete progress. I will be putting the books away for at least part of the weekend as I head up to Phoenix for some pre-wedding festivities (my mother's wonderful friends are throwing a bridal shower for me- how nice!). I hope you have some fun weekend plans. Per usual, I've gathered up a few links for you before I go:

A beautiful fall salad

Typeface for doctors

Want to help put together Anthropologie's holiday displays?

The toll of war, in photos

Rain as art

Firefighter vodka

This packaging tape is adorable

A modern beach house in Uruguay

DIY origami desk organizers

On dogs and humans

Have a wonderful weekend!

Simple Supper: Guacamole Egg Cups

This is one of my favorite weeknight suppers- it's a super-simple vegetarian, gluten-free meal that's actually quite packed with protein and fiber. Plus it uses one of my favorite foods- Avocados!

Guacamole Egg Cups

serves two

Ingredients:

2 medium avocados

1-2 tomatoes

juice from half a lime

Garlic powder

Chili powder

Salt

Pepper

[optional] peppers of your choice

[optional] small purple onion

4 eggs

Sriracha or salsa of your choice

1. Dice the tomatoes into small cubes. (Do the same with any desired peppers and/or onion). Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the flesh, being careful to keep the outer rinds intact. 

2. Mash the avocados in a medium size bowl until only small chunks remain. Mix in the lime juice along with all the spices to taste. Add in the diced tomatoes (and onions and peppers). 

3. Scoop the avocado back into the rinds, dividing them evenly between the four rinds.

4. Poach the eggs. I'm pretty lazy and unsophisticated in my poaching technique, but this guide from Smitten Kitchen is great for anyone who's not so familiar with poaching.

5. Dry the poached eggs on a paper towel before placing one on top of each of your cups

6. Top each cup with Sriracha or salsa 

Eat and enjoy!

Photos and Recipe by Kara Haberstock