What Are You Waiting For? - (Added Animation)

+Animation by Jay Morton.

For many years I had waited tables in a variety of restaurants, mostly small family run places with the one exception of a corporate italian restaurant called Pasta Pomodoro.

Man,

the hatred that grew in me when i was a waiter was rarely offset by the occasional AWESOME customer(s). Usually most people who come into the restaurants I worked in got served are just ordinary folks looking for a good meal, some basic suggestions on food and/or wine, a few witty words and the occasional smile...and that's fine...i can play that game no problem.

But to offset any niceness we got a strong handful of pathetic, ignorant, bile-creating, egotistical, fuckheads who either haven't a clue or don't f'ing care about basic logic+manners.

That is what it REALLY comes down to in the social food setting that a restaurant provides: logic+manners. (which that evil handful of people don't seem to have)

I'm not gonna get into details on this cuz the details will be heard on our upcoming one-hour long documentary that we (Olu Johnson and I) are producing next year, called, "What Are You Waiting For?".

FJP

One more new Ryan Adams. (Happy Holidays).

Ok...
After talking with someone...
I do have one more but it's sort of like the other one...partially recorded. My excuse is I left and came back and he was singing and i grabbed this with my phone.

Sounds great...really love this song and look forward to see what Ryan will do with it in the studio. I think it's called "Ashes and Fire".

FJParsa

PARTIAL new Ryan Adams song from 826LA show called, Dirty Rain.

Hi
seems like people won't stop bugging me for new Ryan Adams songs.

What I have here is HALF (I walked in as soon as I heard him rehearsing)
of a new song, entitled "Dirty Rain".
Keep in mind it's HALF of a new song.  So for those of you who keep pestering me for his new music I'll give you what i got and this is it.
.
And, one more drawback, I just propped the damn thing on a chair and all you see is the curtain so visually no RYAN and no BAND.

Okay then...
You've been warned.

By the way if Ryan has a problem with me posting this I will take it down
but I think even though it sounds great, it is only a partial song.
But I hope he'll understand
that his fans have been persistent and consistent (which is awesome for him and sucky for me) so much so that I'm relenting to expose this video.


Happy f'ing Holidays.

FJParsa

The Candy Bombers

A must read...especially for those attracted to American history. This book showcases our near loss of Germany via Berlin due to Soviet bullying and the underhanded tactics of Stalin's army.

It shows Americans at their best; the tiny effort of one man to lighten war's burden that was shouldered by German children and women (by dropping candy from an his airplane onto NO-ACCESS land) - then the politicians catapulted his gift into a media fireball lit by tightly-wound generals and "Red Tide" paranoia within the State Department and White House.

It's a BIG book but for people who can read, it ain't so bad...
Google PREVIEW



FJP

Ryan Adams with Mandy Moore -" Oh My Sweet Carolina" (iPhone4 video)

I decided to profile this song/video even though i briefly mentioned it in an earlier post...If you haven't seen this iPhone video I shot of Ryan Adams and his band rehearsing for 826LA's benefit for Judd Apatow's (and Dave Eggers) book, "I Found This Funny"...then you should.

It's a sincere, beautiful song that Ryan Adam's (with his wife Mandy Moore singing the chorus) voice really gets to me. Lyrically playful with depth, it's a song that I find myself singing out loud, much to the chagrin of those around me. I actually like this version better than the album...but that's really two different stories (studio versions and live).

Click above or CLICK HERE to go to YouTube to watch a higher res version of this song.

FJP

David Bowie 1983 Dallas Rehearsals.

Another collection of songs I'd like to share with y'all is set in 1983 when Bowie was getting ready for his "Let's Dance" tour
or whatever it was fucking called.

Bowie had heard and convinced Stevie Ray Vaughan, then generally an unknown guitarist, to play on his album and tour with him but Vaughan
opted out of the tour (SRV decided to focus on his band Double Trouble and record an album). He did however play on the rehearsals which are these ones here.

They are soundboard recordings but they are at 128k, so not the best (and not the worst) audio resolution.

Anyway, for any and all Bowie fans they are interesting to hear Bowie at probably his high point (popularity wise...not creatively in my opinion) of his career.

The set LIST: (by the way, this is not the full set list...deal with it.)
1. Star
2. Heroes
3. What in the World
4. Look Back in Anger
5. Joe the Lion
6. Wild is the Wind
7. Golden Years
8. Fashion
9. Let's Dance
10. Red Sails
11. Sorrow
12. Cat People
13. China Girl
14. Rebel Rebel
15. I Can't Explain
16. White Light/White Heat

Here is the link: CLICK HERE

If you don't have the password to get to the songs make it easy on yourself
and just join my cult, i mean blog, and it'll be automatically sent to you.
Otherwise just contact me.


FJP

California College of Arts (CCA) has a film of mine up...

On their media site...
For some reason my school (CCA) has kept a music video i did then (1999 or 2000??) online...i haven't seen this in 10 years...if you have time and feel like spacing out to a sound/image dream landscape...then click on this 4:13ExperimentalFilm.

Feels weird watching something I created but don't remember doing (well...i remember a few moments but it's hazy).

FJP

826LA: I FOUND THIS FUNNY

I donate the little time I have to only ONE organization and that is 826LA. I was asked to create a special "spot" for photographs for Judd Apatow and Dave Egger's benefit for 826LA, a after-school writing program created by Dave Eggers. ( I decided to mimic "Between Two Ferns"...

I had an amazing time hanging out with and being around such folks as Ryan Adams + band (plus his wife Mandy Moore), Aziz Ansari, Eric Idle, Garry Shandling, Lyndsey Buckingham and Fiona Apple.

Check out some of the photographs and some from the show.

http://gallery.me.com/fjparsa#101000

Lastly

I recorded Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore sing at rehearsal. (with my iPhone)

It was lovely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWfHYj5NBfg

FJP

The John Peel Session featuring The Cure. 1978-1985

To all my favorite peeps

here is a group of live tracks from the John Peel Sessions with The Cure.

If you know/knew of John Peel you will know that the recordings are of the highest quality
and that the bands admitted to his list have to be super awesome. Supah.

Six John Peel sessions over the course of Seven years with about Three to Four songs a session.

(I'm listening to A Forest right now...)

Attached is a screenshot of the track list.

The link provided will take you to a private site of mine which will host the file (it's a .zip file)
in the folder YOUS GUYS. The link will be valid for only ONE WEEK.

CLICK HERE

Sign up as a "follower" and get new music etc while it's up. (i never post anything for more than a week).

By the way, I have a Live in Cleveland 1985 for those of you still hungry for more.


FJP

Q&A with me by Kickstarter

Kickstarter interviewed me for my 1234NYC series.
Check it out.

http://blog.kickstarter.com/post/1210889962/creator-q-a-1234nyc


FJP

1234NYC and Kickstarter

Hi!

I have some good news because the online art union, Kickstarter, has accepted my application for project funding!!!

Now I am allowed to raise money for my 10 year photography-film project 1234NYC. Please check out the link (and slideshow) when you can.

I am hoping beyond hope to finish this body of work I so love; 1234NYC. Times have been brutal with my occupation and I have had to do whatever is necessary to make it day to day. I actually need more money than I am asking for but for now the goal is to cover the basics.

The video above are the photographs from the series. It begins with the work I was able to cover last time i was in NYC and the work I began in 2007.

I wish to complete the 2nd Phase of this project by it's Autumn deadline. I have approximately 30 persons to photograph and will need a little more than two weeks in New York to schedule everyone and complete this work. Without financial assistance I cannot complete this project.

I need the money for a lot of things: equipment rental, photo assistant fees, test prints, transportation to and from location to location, data storage (massive files require lots of hard drives and back ups), and of course finding a place to reside while I am in New York.

I have estimated that the costs of finishing this project will be around $3,000. Again I am asking for less but I would LOVE IT if we could raise more to cover ALL my costs and not just the basics. In the past I brokered everything but today I need assistance.

Here is the link: http://kck.st/a1dXvx

Thanks

FJP

What is 1234NYC?

What is 1234NYC?
1234NYC is a personal 10 year photography project I have undertaken that follows the lives of 40 New Yorkers whom I am connected to on a professional and/or personal level.
All persons I have chosen for 1234NYC are "creative professionals" and/or small business owners who either live, work or go to school in Manhattan.
How's it work?
This project began in Autumn of 2007 and will end in Autumn of 2017.
The series is divided into the numbers in the title, 1234, which establishes the year(s) I photograph them. For example: in 1234 (or think of it as 1+2+3+4) the groups are..
1=2007 to 2008. (Autumn to Autumn)
2= 2009 to 2010. (Autumn to Autumn)
3= 2012-2013. (Autumn to Autumn)
4 = 2016-2017. (Autumn to Autumn)

If anyone leaves NYC during those times then they are OUT of the project. But if they return to NYC they are back IN the project.

Each section I have asked questions regarding the private and professional lives and will gather it all in the end as a way to look back over a decade's worth of living (hopefully).

Why did I start 1234NYC?

It was a slow spark that ignited this project. The economic difficulties of New York's increasingly expensive day-to-day and higher rents saw my friends and business owners close up shop and move to other cities because New York had bled them mentally and financially dry.
+
The dissipation of New York's creative energy and the loss of it's neighborhoods went hand in hand with the people who were moving into Manhattan and robbing it of it's character. Boutique stores and Starbucks surfaced like crocodiles forcing families, artists, artist spaces to abandon their apartments because of GREEDY landlords and higher costs. Soon enough Friday and Saturday nights became a "Netflix night" since none of the locals wanted anything to do with the throngs of projectile vomiting hookah smoking trash dumping human insects that invaded our blocks over the weekends.
+
It came to me one day that I should photograph some of my friends before they disappear. Too often someone close to me would 'check out' either by moving, by going crazy or dying. The past 11 years have been tough for everyone but especially artists. Living artists are often ignored by society until they make money and only the dead ones really do well. Musicians, painters, designers, chefs, photographers, glass blowers, writers, business owners...everyone is trying to create a world, a wink to the undefinable nothingness that can either fill us with life and love or shatter us into a living death that always leads to the final heart stop beating death.
I do not want to forget these creators I have grown up with and I don't want them to be forgotten...so I photograph them in their world and try to show THE WORLD their face...their faces, their eyes, their hungry souls.

FJP

My moment with Soderbergh

The story behind this linked article and photograph:
http://www.slamdance.com/forum/permalink/2008/12/11/201728.html
Slamdance asked me to photograph Steven Soderbergh. I said okay. They told me to come to the IFC center off 6th Ave. where there would be a screening of his film, Schizopolis, and a Q&A session afterwards. Then I was to photograph him...
Sounds easy enough. Never is.
I arrived there about 20 minutes before 7 with my photo assistant Logan and my battery powered Lumedyne lights fully charged and ready to go.
I have photographed celebrities before and the thing about celebrities is that they are a multi-layered beast who have minions designed to 'protect' them from harm. Whether it's their agent, publicist, manager, BFF, or what not, it is difficult to get permission to photograph a celebrity. And here's the other thing, once you get permission they usually slot you within his or her schedule...and that slot can consist of anywhere between 1 minute to 1 hour. Yes, 1 minute to photograph someone.
So, I arrived at the IFC Center with Logan, lights and camera when I was informed that Slamdance was "not sure" if Steven was cool with me photographing him. "Not sure" usually means that in order to get someone somewhere they didn't mention to that someone everything that somebody wanted that someone to be aware of, just in case that someone didn't want something to happend during that time that someone was somewhere.
Follow me?
The only choice I had was to convince Paul to interrupt Steven for a moment before he flees the scene for me to run up with Logan and blind him with my lights.
And that's essentially the direction we headed.
As the Q&A ended Logan and I sprinted toward Steven. Logan carried one of my lights on it's stand like a banner and I slipped past participants who wanted to tell Steven how awesome they thought he was and if he had a sec if he could look at their reel...
I stood by Steven and Paul with my gigantic camera in hand and waited as people hounded him. This was pissing me off because I knew that the more other people delayed Steven with anything the less time I would have to photograph him. So I mentally kicked Paul - - -
"Hey Steven, would you mind for a quick photograph for Slamdance?"
Steven turned, glanced at Logan and I and probably pondered..."Fight or flight?"
Luckily Steven acquised: "Okay, I have a couple of minutes."
Quickly Logan moved into position as did I.
To get Steven's mind off me I told him. "I saw Schizopolis in the theatres years ago, the UC Theater in Berkeley. That was such a great theatre, they played a lot of foreign and independant films before they got shut down."
Steven stared at me blankly.
"That's great." he said.
Fuck, i thought, I may have loosened him up for a second but now i sound like all the other film geek fans.
I tried again.
"Your film was important to me."
He looked at me again, instead of the lens.
I continued.
"I was in a weird place back then and the film made me laugh. It was such a gem at that time for me, it's hard to explain."
Soderbergh gave me a nod. "Thanks...I guess."
I laughed.
"Turn your head a bit this way."
One and a half-minutes later I could tell Steven was done.
"Okay, thank you."
Steven smiled and turned to walk out when Parker Posey stepped out of the darkness to say hi. (I would love to photograph Parker Posey.)
I turned to Logan and nodded, "We're done."

Document LA

This is the exhibition I am part of at the UCLA Fowler Museum.
The show has been extended until the 6th of September.

Check it if you can.

http://education.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/document-iranian-americans

FJP