Jacob All Trades #308
Backwoods Roadtrip, Midterm Madness, Alien Storyboards, Vexillography, and Snow White Inspired Directing Portraits
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I got back last night from a whirlwind trip to the backwoods of Colorado for a documentary project I’m working on. We drove about 2000 miles in three days to conduct an interview tucked under some trees in the pouring rain. I was glad to finally make full use of my Subaru’s all-wheel drive — and even then, things got a bit dicey.
I’m excited to share more about that project when it’s appropriate. For now, I’m happy to be home and wish I’d had more time to hike around the beautiful scenery we only passed through. Meanwhile, some quick thoughts about the trip that I can share:
Flagstaff is a lot cooler than I expected and unlike any city I’ve been to in Arizona. It’s way up in the mountains and feels like Boulder, Colorado. We ate at Pizzicleta, where I made Danny uncomfortable by bragging to everyone who worked there that “he’s the guy who makes Chef’s Table.” They were into it (I think).
Blanding, Utah’s Arch Canyon Inn is run by a cat named Cat. We had a good time.
The sky in Western Colorado is not messing around. Also, if you’re going somewhere in the middle of nowhere, I recommend a paper map because we were f*cked once we lost our cell signal.
Monument Valley is the real deal. I wish I could have spent more time hiking here OR that we would have been able to get to The View Hotel in time to sleep in the park. Also, the entire Navajo Nation is taking COVID seriously and still masking anywhere indoors. A fascinating place I would like to spend more time in.
Lastly, is this a thing? While pulled over to watch the sunset I started taking these trippy panorama shots of passing trucks. They look like a Dall-E AI rendering.
Anyway, here’s a newsletter for ya. Enjoy!
Jacob
DO SOMETHING
The midterm election is in less than two months and two-thirds of the country has flat-out 2020 election deniers on the ballot. I feel like we’re going to have to actively protect our democracy for the rest of our lives. Rather than fighting that fact, let’s embrace it.
If you don’t have time to volunteer, please consider donating. My recommended political donation location is Swing Left’s Blueprint which spreads funds across the races where it’s most likely to make an impact.
If you have time to volunteer a good all-over resource is Vote Save America from Crooked Media. If you think you can’t make a difference because you live in a blue state, or blue city — there are races to volunteer in remotely. Also, there are several state, local, and congressional races in so-called blue states that will have a ripple effect nationally. If you don’t know where to start, let me know and I can help.
CONSUMPTION JUNCTION
Three things I’ve seen, heard, or otherwise experienced recently that I want to share.
Mike Dawson’s Instagram is delightful. I’ve been really enjoying them and highly recommend them. His strip about 9/11 really got me as did this one about how Covid is being portrayed (or ignored) in tv and movies. BTW - the photo above the first panel of a bunch of different strips. Click through to his IG though, you won’t regret it.
The DGA recently reposted some hand sketched storyboards from Alien drawn by director Ridley Scott himself. There is so much previsualization that can be done now, and it’s really cool, but dang do I love seeing stuff from a time when everything had to be visualized and communicated by hand. These are really cool. More via Instagram.
Laura Mayer was a producer at WNYC, employee number one at Slate’s Panoply network, an EP at Stitcher, and has worked with the likes of Adam McKay, VICE, The Atlantic, and so many more. Her new podcast, Shameless Acquisition Target, is a deeply meta project about selling out in the ‘wild wild west’ world of podcasting. She’s super smart and cool and I’ve been loving this podcast.
INSIDE DESIGN
Flags For Good is a rad company that redesigns flags and only sells flags for worthy causes. Some flag manufacturers will make Trump or Confederate flags and pump them out right alongside BLM flags — anything for a buck. When our son started getting into flags I bought a few from FFG. The American flag on our porch is their DC Statehood Flag and has a sneaky little 51st star.
Aaaanyway — Michael (aka the dude who owns Flags For Good) posts great videos about vexillography (the design of flags). Here’s one about the new flag for the city of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Flags for Good also redesigns State flags… and explains why they need redesigns in the first place. Here’s an explanation of their updated Colorado flag:
And here’s a compilation of some of their other redesigned state flags:
Have fun dropping the word vexillolography at your next cocktail party, btw.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Earlier this year, the wonderful Clay Larsen and I collaborated on a portrait series. We had the idea while we were on a hike and I’m so excited about how they turned out:
The illustrations were done by an amazing artist named Brianna Moore who just posted an in-depth behind-the-scenes post on her blog that shows sketches, outtakes, and a bit more of our process. Here’s a sneak peek but def check out her whole post.
Alrighty, that’s it for this week. Feel free to leave a comment or share the newsletter using the links below.
Party on,
Jacob