Tiki Magazine Spring 2008 Out Now

Hey the new ish of Tiki Magazine is now available. It's got a killer Bamboo Ben cover by Ernie Keen and a bunch of great articles, including three by yours truly (along with some of my photography). I did a couple of write-ups from last November's California Road Trip, one about Tiki Magazine's art show at the Bali Hai in San Diego and the other about Tiki Central Crawl in the San Franciso. The new issue also features my piece about visiting Rotterdam and hanging out at the only tiki bar in the Netherlands. Gee, when I put it all down in writing, it makes me realize how ridiculously fun my life can be at times. Mahalo Tiki Magazine for the opportunity to cover some really fun events and to travel in the name of Polynesian Pop!

Visit tikimagazine.com to get your copy and to subscribe!

Breakin' the Law - Judas Priest

You don't know what it's like ... Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!

Wee Week in Review (April 25, 2008)

London Daily Photo: Layered by Chris Osburn © 2008

Wee Week in Review


Not a whole lot to report. I Checked out David Hochbaum's "Tracking Invisible Cities" at Strychnin Gallery. Good stuff.

This week's London Daily Photos at ontoLondon feature some stellar shots by London photographer, Anna Krsikova.

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

David Hochbaum's "Tracking Invisible Cities" (Juxtapoz)

David Hochbaum's "Tracking Invisible Cities"
by Chris Osburn
Juxtapoz
Tuesday, 22 April 2008










Friday, April 18th saw the opening of Manhattan-based artist David Hochbaum's solo exhibition, Tracking Invisible Cities, at Strychnin Gallery's London outpost. The show includes a number of David's signature photo constructions: mixed media collages built from "a mélange of wood, metal, and paper, with photographic and printed matter" …painted with oil, acrylics, varnishes, pencils and inks with custom-made frames.

Click here for the complete post and all the photos.

Weeeeeeeek in Review (April 18, 2008)

London Daily Photo: On the Job by Chris Osburn © 2008

Weeeeeeeek in Review

Check out a couple of interviews I conducted for Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art. One with French artist Chris Von Steiner about his recent Snow King exhibition, the other an incredibly insane Q&A with LA sensation David Choe, an interview that's well worth a read! I mean, where else ya gonna read quotes such as "God still gives me spots once in a while to keep me humble."

Other cool stuff this week? I started blogging for PhotoBox, the UK’s number one destination for online photo sharing, storing and printing. Click here for more about that.

Of course, there's yet another week's worth of London Daily Photos at ontoLondon including a couple of really nice shots from London photographer, Marta Alabau.

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

Chris Osburn Interviews David Choe (whitehot)

Chris Osburn Interviews David Choe
by Chris Osburn
whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art
April 2008

Anger comes from having giant boils filled with creamy yellow puss on your face that won't go away when you're in high school, so a girl would never even consider touching any part or anywhere near your penis, when that is all you want and desire - for someone to touch, or accidentally bump into your stiff pubescent cock, and so you look like a MUTANT and why you relate to the X-MEN, and then you start to draw the X-Men, and then you get really good at it, and the girls still won't look at you, but at least they'll look at your art, which of course has a million lines and details, because everything you lack in composition and anatomy and perspective you make up with obsessive details, which is fine, because the longer they stare at the art, the longer you can look down their blouse and catch whiffs of their beautiful hair. God still gives me spots once in a while to keep me humble.

Click here for complete interview.

Interview with Chris Von Steiner's Snow King (whitehot)

Chris Von Steiner's Snow King
by Chris Osburn
whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art
April 2008










My influences are all very different. It depends on the show that I am working on. For The Snow King, I drew from Disney for the snow. I really like the winter scene in Bambi. I also went to museums and studied the Old Masters, such as Rubens. One artist who especially inspired me was John Singer Sargent because he painted a lot of portraits. He wasn't classified with the impressionists, but his kind of painting is kind of between impressionism and realism. With this show, I tried to translate vector illustration with what he did with oil.

Click here for complete interview.

PhotoBoxing

Recently I started blogging for PhotoBox, the UK’s number one destination for online photo sharing, storing and printing. I really appreciate the interest that the good folks at PhotoBox have taken in lil ole me. I reckon this opportunity will be a fun way to further integrate my love of photography with online babbling. I'm looking forward to blogging about my experiences with PhotoBox as I learn about all the services and features they offer. So far I’m impressed. I’m also keen to blog about PB's progress as they work toward launching a new platform for their entire site ... and to simply further inundate the world with my thoughts and images. Here are the links to a couple of posts I've done thusfar:

Meet our new blogger!
Chris Osburn, PhotoBox Blogger
PhotoBox Blog
April 7, 2008












Hi. My name is Chris and I am pleased to let you know that I’ll be logging in to blog for PhotoBox two or three times a week. As a pro-am photographer and writer living in London, I think this will be a super opportunity to share my thoughts (and photos!) with all you lovely PhotoBox members ...

Click here for complete post.

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Easter weekend in Marrakech
Chris Osburn, PhotoBox Blogger
PhotoBox Blog
April 9, 2008








I’ve just now got round to uploading my pics to PhotoBox (see ‘em here). It was my first time uploading photos to PhotoBox. It was a pretty easy process really but I’m still getting my head round it. I will say the photos uploaded quickly and more smoothly than has been the case with similar sites out there.

Click here for complete post.

To All the Girls I've Loved Before - Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias

The winds of change are always blowing.

Marrakech Quickies, New Jersey Chicken and More in Review (April 11, 2008)

London Daily Photo: New Jersey Chicken by Chris Osburn © 2008

Marrakech Quickies, New Jersey Chicken and More in Review

Oh geez! I'm so frickin' bizzy right now that I almost forgot to write this weekly update! Anyway, here's the best bits from this week:

For checking out the recent Phil Frost book signing for Juxtapoz, Katie - the webmaster at Jux - referred to me as "our trusty British buddy" - nice one.

I (finally) posted a new review in my South Seas Cinema series.

Emiana's series of Marrakech photography at ontoTravel continued through the week with more still to come! And if that's not enough for you, I posted two videos from that same Marrakech visit: one of aphenomenal street musician in Marrakech's night market, the other of a really cheeky kid acting kinda dirty up in the Atlas Mountains.

Also, it snowed on Sunday. I filmed it.

Of course, there's another whole week's worth of London Daily Photos at ontoLondon too!

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

Death by Blogging

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop
By MATT RICHTEL
New York Times
Published: April 6, 2008

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

Click here for complete article.

Vote for Skull-a-Day!!!

One of my favourite blogs, Skull-a-Day, has been nominated for a Webbie, which Skull-a-Day's administrator (Noah) describes as "basically the web equivalent of getting an Oscar nomination!" Awesome. Here's more from Noah:

Hey folks, I'm incredibly excited to announce that Skull-A-Day is an official nominee for a 2008 Webby Award! My site is one of only five included in the Personal Web Site category! Not only is the site eligible for the The Webby Award, but you, yes you, can help the site win the The Webby People's Voice Award! Voting starts today and runs til May 1st. The winners will be announced May 6th and be honored at the 12th Annual Webby Awards in June! So what are you waiting for? Please vote for Skull-A-Day today!

Halloween Skull Mask Project by Skull-A-Day (Virginia) © 2007

Aloha Oe to Ft Lauderdale's Hukilau

Odds are if you happened upon this post because you're contemplating attending this year's Hukilau then you already know that this year will be the last of these brilliant events. Here's more about the news from a recent email from Tiki Kiliki, the event's co-creator, co-founder, producer and organizer:

As we go into this 7th year I see how we’ve grown as an event, I see familiar faces and so many new ones each year. I’ve seen your children grow and some of you get married or engaged while at the event. I’ve met some of the most incredible people from all over the world – it’s become a personal journey, one I will never forget ... I encourage all of you to try to make this last year, as I promise to make every effort to bring you the last and the very best yet. There will be additional performances, seminars and surprises announced within the next week to accent our already stellar lineup. You will also see schedule changes so keep a good watch for those so that you can plan your vacation accordingly. It has been my extreme pleasure bringing Hukilau to you year after year, this has been an extremely difficult decision to say the least. I’m so looking forward to seeing all of you in June as we celebrate one last time together!

Sounds like a lot of fun. Now I'm doubly bummed I can't make it. Click here to visit the Hukilau's website.

South Seas Cinema: Eux et Moi

Welcome to South Seas Cinema, a series of posts about films set in – or pertaining to – Polynesia and the South Pacific.

Okay okay, so it's been months since I posted anything in my SSC series. I blame an ocean of other obligations and, honestly, just not coming across any truly inspiring movies with the right sort of South Seas slant. Anyway, I recently happened upon a set of good ones that has me all fired up to rant about. It's called Eux et Moi, a DVD collection of two short films by French ethnographer, Stéphane Breton, about his experiences in "the field" - a small village in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Eux et Moi is post-modern Anthropology at its most compelling. Breton shares his insights, discoveries and doubts openly in equal measure as a social scientist and storyteller. His rapport with the villagers makes for great viewing, and - without giving too much away - his inadvertent role in shaping the dynamics of the village is fascinating.

Eux et Moi is narrated in English and French with subtitles in both as well. I'm not quite sure how to get ahold of a copy. Unless, like me, you pick one up at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris. Here's a link to the museum's bookstore; they might be able to help.

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South Seas Cinema is sponsored by
DESIGNinBLUE
architecture&design
mail@designinblue.com
+44 20 (0) 7947 359 456
+44 20 (0) 7950 674 636

Phil Frost Book Signing at Elms Lesters (Juxtapoz)

Phil Frost Book Signing in London
by Chris Osburn
Juxtapoz
Friday, 04 April 2008










Before Elms even opened its doors, a queue had formed outside. Once the doors were opened, the queue of fans eager to meet Phil and have him sign a copy of book snaked through the gallery and continued to grow for at least the first hour.

Click here for complete post (and all the photos).

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

Dylan at his orneriest!

Good Times at the Coach and Horses, hosted by Qype

Qype throws a good party. But don't take my word for it:

Qype party and almost missing last Tube home
Annie Mole
Going Underground
Friday, April 04, 2008

Went to the fab Qype party last night, so was able to help drink them dry as the booze flowed (quite literally) freely.

Click here for complete post.

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Qype Party: The Aftermath
from Rob
Qype Blog
4.04.2008

Judging by the decidedly hungover emails we’ve had today it seems that everyone had a great time.

Click here for complete post.

Bracing Week in Review (April 4, 2008)

London Daily Photo: Warning by Chris Osburn © 2008

Bracking Week in Review

Hi. Emiana and I were in Marrakech over Easter weekend, where Emi took a bunch of great photos. Check out the series of her Marrakech photography at ontoTravel (there are two pics up now but it will continue through this coming week). Emi also provided the unfortunately close to our flat crime scene content for one of this past week's London Daily Photos at ontoLondon.

While she was doing all that, I got around to wrapping up my posts from the Fusion 5 Festival in Cannes. There's a killer video interview with porn, comic books and horror movies aficionado (and brilliant artist) Matthew Bone and a two part video interview with the quirky Angie Mason. Part 1 is a brief conversation about her cute yet brooding art and Part 2 is a fun lil fast motion clip of Angie drawing me a pic. You'll love it.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention: I got braces.

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

Fusion Five Festival: Angie Mason Interview PART 2 - Angie Draws!

Here's Part Two of my video interview with the quirky and lovely Angie Mason conducted during the Fusion 5 Festival in Cannes hosted by Strychnin Gallery. In this segment, Angie, a visual thinker, decides to draw an answer rather than deal with any more of my babble! Enjoy.

Metal Mouth

Yep I got braces. Maybe a couple of decades later than most folks, but I got 'em. And it certainly didn't impede me having a ridiculously good time at the Qype do at the Coach and Horses in Soho.

Fusion Five Festival: Angie Mason Interview PART 1

Yet another interview from the Fusion 5 Festival in Cannes hosted by Strychnin Gallery. Here's the first of a two part interview with the super friendly Angie Mason. Stay tuned for Part Two!

Fusion 5 Festival: Matthew Bone Interview

Porn, comic books and horror movies - here's my video interview with LA artist Matthew Bone conducted during the Fusion 5 Festival in Cannes hosted by Strychnin Gallery.