Gotta say I kinda floored myself yesterday. For the past few months I have really been increasing my workouts, more for psychological reasons than trying to "look" any particular way. But I did two and half hours of cardio yesterday, not to mention about a half hour of weights...and I am so exhausted today I can barely stand it. I did get up with Nick at six-thirty this morning to go do cardio, but I struggled the whole half hour. Legs just felt whipped. I have noticed that my looks have changed quite a bit since I have been training like a madman, but that was never my reason for doing this. I think it was partly because of my sadness when I lost my doggie, and then, of course, having quit smoking several months prior to that. Now I am kinda glad the psychological reasons made me do it because my birthday is monday and I think I probably look so much better even than last year that it was, inadvertantly, worth it. I average about an hour and a half of cardio everyday, seven days a week. When I thought of how many hours a week that was it kinda surprised me.

Funny thing is I haven't mentioned my birthday to anyone including Nick, so I don't think anyone around me even remembers. Truthfully it doesn't matter. He's kinda busy with another wedding this week. I think its the last of his fraternity brothers getting married so its a big deal.

I think for my birthday I'm gonna buy a new tripod and another battery for the camera since it looks like one of the shoots coming up is gonna have me traveling out a ways..

over and out.

left the tv on last night...woke up this morning with Comedy central playing "The Amazing Jonathan" I never laffed so hard or so loud... probably woke the whole neighborhood..

but aint that a great way to wake up?
dan

As I was usually perusing the various blogs this morning, I was so happy to see that I was getting some wonderful coverage for my cover and spread in Horizon Mag from the UK and Barcelona. Sitting there, drinking my excessively strong coffee that I tried to mute with creamer, I found myself critiquing my work as usual. I never give up trying to be better or more original. There is a saying I live by, I believe it's anonymous that goes: "Art is never finished...just abandoned." Which means a True artist really never completes his piece, or perfects it. He will work it to death and when he thinks all hope is gone...he will walk away. Such is the price of perfectionism.

But I am beginning to believe that some of these photographers don't even blink twice after clicking the picture. I honestly and truly believe that they think if they just put a perty model in front of their lens and click..that THEY are some kind of miraculous genius. Again, I ran across this same photographer, who is well known, but no names mentioned, who shoots many male models. How he ever got in the business I will never know.Maybe when the male model became popular he was one of the first guys around. He is either very very lazy or unimaginative or both. Same shots over and over and over...just different models. And now he isn't even bothering to take time to do the shots right. I saw one beautiful model in four shots... he looked like he was freaking scared out of his mind, back arched like he was gonna leap away from the photographer, arms jutting like defense weapons at his side...and worse... the biggest no-no of all..his head reared back so we could have the ole "I can count the hairs in your nostrils" pose. That he would even release these travesties, or this poor model allow them to be seen is reprehensible. I once or twice talked to this fella on the phone and remember thinking as I listened to him.. "this dude must be high to be this boring".

Don't try to get his name out of me, just review the blogs. You will see the stuff enuff to recognize the "blur". Same shots, different models.... pathetic. God it angers me...so much talent wasted. If I had a few of those beautiful faces I would take enuff time to give them something that ,pardon my friend, "would make them want to f@#K themselves".

AND THEN... as I scrolled further I saw again..something you heard me rant about before. Long ago, a very original and beautiful shot was done of a young muscular man carrying two huge tractor tires I think. I believe it was originally done by my friend Eric Jacobson. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen this shot done over and over and with less professionalism than the original. And yet...again today... I saw that another photographer did the same shot with a different model. This is like watching remakes of I Love Lucy to the tenth power. I am beginning to believe there is a hollow core in the head of some of these guys who get behind the lens. They open up a book of great shots done by other people and then go down the list of duplicating them. I don't believe they could come up with something wholly and truly their own if held at gunpoint.

I mean if you read my earlier blog on Fashion Marketing Logistics and start looking at what is out there right now, you will see...laziness is abundent. We are supposed to be attracted to these shots so much that we can't take our eyes off of them. We should want to make them our screen savers, print them out, hang them on our wall.

I seriously can't scroll past them fast enough because I simply start feeling sorry for the models.

GAWD!! So much beauty ruined by idiots who think with their dicks instead of their heads..

stop by Horizon Mag and check out the wonderful cover and layout they gave me. Link is Here: [link] and take a moment to use their contact address here: info@horizonmag.co.uk and let them know what you think of them taking a chance on putting my work so predominantly in their mag. They took a biggie on me...very few people get the opportunity and I am so proud... but we should let them know WE are proud of them too..

thanx
dan

had an interview with two models yesterday on future storyboards...what's more interesting: a hitchhiker scenario? A Trueblood-type scenario? A "300" type scenario? and WHY?