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Happiness

The TED Radio Hour

February 21, 2014

What? We did just go to the James Turrell retrospective—how did you know?

We just wanted to write a brief piece to share a really great TED Radio Hour we heard this past weekend devoted to happiness and how finding it might be a little easier than we all think.

For anyone who doesn’t already know, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. It started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago and has since grown into a global platform for identifying and spreading world-changing ideas.

In this TED Radio Hour, host Guy Raz assembles short, easy-to-digest pieces from a team of experts to address how things like the pace of our lives, the things we surround ourselves with, and the simple concept of gratefulness all affect our overall happiness. Speakers include the inventor of the Track Your Happiness app, the author of In Praise of Slowness, the founder of small-space-living company LifeEdited, a psychologist who argues that our beliefs about what will make us happy are often wrong, and a Benedictine monk who writes about gratefulness.

So we implore you to now leave this Web site, head on over to TED’s, and take an hour out of your day to find a little happiness. We promise—it’ll be worth it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Year Walk

October 17, 2013

Reader, I’m going to share with you a cold, hard, indisputable fact that’s not often brought up in this space—I am a big nerd.

Now, to be clear, I’m not at all saying I’m a ‘cool’ nerd—for instance, someone who wears ironic t-shirts and geeks out on futuristic music tech or an aficionado of some obscure, dark corner of intellectualism who smokes pipes and has a crazy, gravity-defying mustache. No, I’m talking about the most traditional, common kind of nerd; the kind that would be the butt of jokes in an 80s rom-com; the kind that enjoys sci-fi, post-Tolkein high fantasy, computer role playing games, and actual Dungeons & Dragons, with its polygonal dice and awesomely intricate character sheets.

Hello. My name is Troy, I am a nerd, and this Dungeons & Dragons t-shirt is totally un-ironic.

Ah. That felt good. Thank you, Reader.

Such subjects rarely surface on the pages partly because this is a shared blog, addressing interests I hold in common with my wife + partner, Katie. These common interests are manifold and numerous but, on the Venn diagram of our respective interests, such nerdy pursuits fall far, far, far away from our area of intersection. Far away.

Another reason you don’t read about my personal nerdy hobbies on this blog—we’re a cutting-edge independent design studio, man. We’ve gotta write about design and art and culture and music and stuff like that. We can’t be cluttering up these pages with my doodles of Chimeras battling Blue Dragons or my highly detailed, multilevel, secret-door-filled (-~-) graph paper dungeon maps.

But, thanks to Sweden’s Simogo Games, I now have a safe space to talk about a particularly well-done, artsy, and appropriately seasonally spooky game for iOS.

In a market saturated with one-dimensional console rip-offs + revivals from the 8-bit era, Year Walk proves itself a refreshingly original game in terms of both content and style. The game draws from the real-life ancient Swedish custom of Årsgång, or ‘year-walking’, whereupon practitioners embark on fasting-induced vision quests in an effort to tap into otherworldly foresight and—for better or worse—catch a glimpse of their future.

As Scandinavian folklorist Theodor Almsten puts it in the Year Walk Companion, the free “definitive guide to the mysterious myths and creatures encountered in the game Year Walk”:

“The church was the final destination for a year walker. On his way he would typically encounter a number of supernatural creatures, which would pose a threat physically, mentally, and spiritually. If a year walker made it to the cemetery, he would walk around the church in an intricate pattern. This would open the year walker’s eyes to the future, but it would also lure out The Church Grim (the fearful, mythical goat-like creature of Scandinavian legend). After having completed the year walk, the walker would see visions that could manifest themselves in different manners. When the walker left the cemetery he might, for instance, see a sombre procession of dancers dressed in their finest church clothes. These would be the people that would die the following year. A reoccurring theme is, of course, the year walker who meets his own ghost on the road. Another story tells of how the walker would see newly dug graves. Love played a great part too, so a walker would typically meet wedding processions or even attend weddings yet to come.”

How this all plays out in the actual game is through first-person perspective controls that allow players to move side-to-side and back-and-forth through simple screen-swipes and by touching or dragging to activate items of interest. Through these simple, intuitive controls, though, players are immersed in the world Year Walk creates—a starkly beautiful, stylishly illustrated, wintery woodlands, complimented by the ominous sounds of the character’s solitary footsteps in the snow and Daniel Olsén’s spookily apropos, era-appropriate soundtrack. Progress through the narrative is based on solving a series of inventive puzzles, some based on visual patterns, some on user movement, and some on tonal frequencies, even.

The game is succinct in its scope and less of a long-play—though I got hung up on a couple of the puzzles, I think I finished it in a total of a few hours or so—and, at times, I felt a bit lost in terms of direction and goal, but I think that just added to the overall sense of exploration and quiet sense of foreboding that the game establishes.

So if you’re looking for something to shake things up since the 42nd iteration of that game with all those upset birds and thieving pigs, I’d recommend giving Year Walk a try. Especially with Halloween around the corner, it’s a great way to introduce a little bit of manufactured fright into your nights—there were seriously some gasp-worthy moments for me. I recommend playing late at night with the lights off and headphones in.

Year Walk—available for iPhone + iPad—can be downloaded for $3.99 at Apple’s App Store. The Year Walk Companion—an interesting read on Scandinavian folk lore by its own right—is free and also available via the App Store.

So get your spooky gaming on, Reader.

To the right, the trailer for Year Walk (full-screen button for a larger version). Below, a nice little song by Jonathan Eng from the game and some of our Year Walk gameplay screenshots.

…and yes, I am super-psyched for Elder Scrolls Online. Thank you for asking.

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Banksy Month in New York

October 3, 2013

More street art news—elusive British artist Banksy recently announced a month-long residency—“Better Out Than In”—that spans the entire city of New York. Our friend + artist, Melissa, spotted this excellent piece—Banksy’s second of the ‘show’—yesterday soon after it was…eh, installed?

According to Los Nuevos York Veces: “Reporters from the Village Voice located the first image, at 18 Allen Street, near Canal Street, on the border of the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Painted on a concrete wall, it shows a child holding a can of spray paint, standing on another child’s back, below a sign that reads ‘Graffiti Is a Crime.’ The images in ‘Better Out Than In’ are accompanied by a loopy audio guide, accessed by calling an 800 number that appears beside the stencil. (Dial 1-800-656-4271, ext. 1 for this one.) ‘This piece is typical of Ban-sky’s output,’ the guide says. ‘The children in this case represent youth, and the sign represents – well, signs.’”

Listen to Banksy’s announcement of the show and keep up with new pieces on the official site. And stay sharp, New Yorkers—it’s like an artistic scavenger hunt!

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Dithyrambalina

October 1, 2013
Soon after we first moved to Brooklyn, back in the early aughts, Katie + I started noticing these bizarrely beautiful, elegantly delicate paper cuts being pasted all around North + South Brooklyn—intricately illustrated figures locked in various states of action cut out and pasted to the sides of abandoned buildings, water towers, derelict walls. At the time, we had no idea who was creating the pieces, but I especially treasured finding new ones around town and mourned their loss as they fell victim to the elements over time. Without a source for the pieces, I even dreamt up some elaborate fairy tale of their origin; some invisible urban witch who spun out these artworks in the dead of night when the rest of us dreamt scenes far less fantastic than what she was creating for all to see.

As it turns out, the Brooklyn-based artist known as Swoon (Connecticut-born, Daytona Beach-raised Caledonia Dance Curry) isn’t—to my knowledge—a witch or practitioner of any sort of dark arts, though, still to this day, her works draw me in with a seemingly mystic pull. Swoon continues to paste up similar works in cities around the world but, of late, she’s also been turning her eyes to more collaborative creations, like the Swimming Cities of Serenissima that she helped create and then piloted directly into the 2009 Venice Biennale.

Two years ago, she continued to cultivate her collaborative tendencies, teaming up with New Orleans Airlift—a group that encourages collaboration with New Orleans-based artists—to create The Music Box, an experiment to create musical architecture. That experiment, declared a run-away success, has now grown into a larger project named Dithyrambalina. And no, I have no idea how to say that. As they explain:

“Two years ago New Orleans Airlift and the artist Swoon launched the Kickstarter campaign that funded The Music Box, our prototype for an ongoing musical architecture project we call Dithyrambalina. That proof-of-concept was more successful than we ever believed possible!  We transformed a blighted 150-year-old house into a temporary village of playable musical houses with interactive instruments embedded into the walls, floors and ceilings of structures. The Music Box welcomed over 15,000 visitors for days of interactive public exploration and nights of ground-breaking concerts, as well as over 500 students for engaging workshops.”

Now, the group is raising funds for an expansion of five more musical structures that will act as the first of Dithyrambalina’s ‘growing musical village’ and, as they travel across the country, brand ambassadors of sorts, “sharing the wonder and possibility of musical architecture with new audiences as we continue to grow our village and work towards securing a perfect and permanent site for Dithyrambalina in New Orleans.”

Cool, right? Watch the video below to find out more and visit Dithyrambalina’s Kickstarter page to support them + check out their very donation-worthy rewards.

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The New Americana

September 26, 2013

Ever since its opening, the Williamsburg outpost of high-fashion Brooklyn boutique Bird has functioned as not only an emporium for all things in vogue, but also as a cultural hautespot.

And yes we are fans of alliteration + the written pun. Thank you for asking.

With high ceilings, a big, open floor plan, and beautifully rich wood features, the Ole Sondreson-designed space begs to be used for events + parties and owner Jen Mankins has never let it—or us—down. She’s consistently + regularly hosted events for Fashion Week, trunk shows for featured independent designers, and a steady stream of artists’ works on her store’s considerable walls.

Next Wednesday, Bird will celebrate its first ever group show, The New Americana. As the show’s organizers explain:

“The term ‘Americana’ has come to be associated with traditional folk art from the country’s past. This exhibition, however, makes the argument that the American view of our shared cultural history has expanded to include more recent national experiences of religion, race, politics, entertainment, and commerce. In that vein, the curators hope to present a counterpoint to the big-box retail environment that has become a defining feature of the United States landscape by exhibiting these works in a small, privately owned business.”

The show brings in artists from all over America with their paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces to help convey this new view of our country, its people, and how we all live amongst one another. From commentaries on California’s state of mind with Karolina Gnatowski’s mixed-media-with-hashpipe ‘This is a Pipe Dream’ (detail above) to pieces that explore stereotypes in what most of us can now agree is not ‘post-racial America’, the show goes well beyond photos of run-down gas stations in rural America…which, to be fair, I created many of myself in college.

The New Americana—curated by Justin Anderson, Peter Joseph, and Rachel Stekson—features works by Chad Andrews, Ben Bertocci, Dan Bina, Clara Claus, Brad Fesmire, Karolina Gnatowski, Jake Kean-Mayman, David Maddy, Easton A. Miller, Clive Murphy, Ramon Silva, Kristianna Smith, Tribble + Mancenido, Darryl Westly.

An opening reception will be held at Bird Williamsburg—203 Grand b/t Bedford + Driggs—next Wednesday, October 9 from 6-8PM and will feature music by DJ Nancy Whang. Go because we can’t. We promise a good time. RSVP on the event Facebook page.

Below, a full shot of and detail of Gnatowski’s ‘This is a Pipe Dream’; Tribble + Mancenido‘s ‘Family as Trees’; Ramon Silva‘s ‘Greedy Genius’; Dan Bina‘s ‘I Am a Man’; Easton A. Miller‘s ‘Fool Me Once’; and the show poster.




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The Goldberg Sisters

Interview with Adam Goldberg

September 9, 2013
Chances are, whether you know the name or not, you know Adam Goldberg’s work in TV + cinema. He’s one of those ever-present actors who, even in his smallest roles, demands the attention of the viewer with his performances. What you may not know, however, is that he’s also prolific in the realm of music. Employing a slightly confusing, seemingly reluctant alter-ego/sister, “Celeste”, Goldberg has created The Goldberg Sisters—his moniker for his solo work. As Celeste puts it:

“My brother is known, if at all, largely to the Western world—and Turkey, inexplicably—as that guy from Dazed and Confused, Friends, Entourage, Saving Private Ryan, The Hebrew Hammer, 2 Days in Paris, etc. Oh also he as been anointed “King of Vine” recently. So he is the king of a phone app. Well, good for him I suppose. Some may also know, but I doubt it, that he is also the writer/director of two films—Scotch and Milk (1996) and I Love Your Work (2003) and the author of a third he will direct later this year.”

Goldberg’s music…er, the sisters’ music, provides a whole new creative outlet for Goldberg though, building off of an earlier era of song-writing but creating something anew that’s rife with personal, reflective lyrics, compelling vocal melodies, and rootsy, psychedelic-tinged guitar lines that drive the songs and give them a classic, timeless feel. Though Goldberg has collaborated with a number of musicians on past work—most notably, the Flaming Lips‘ Steven Drozd—he chose to go it alone with the new album, Stranger’s Morning, playing every instrument on the album and recording it in his garage with the help of Andrew Lynch. And Celeste.

Read on to get Goldberg’s thoughts on writing as a solo musician, what inspires him musically, and how to grow a great beard. Scroll down to listen to our featured song, “It Can Get you Down” and check out the two videos mentioned in the interview.

Kindness of Ravens: Alright, I’d attempt to avoid this question for your sake as I know it’s been asked of you ad nauseam, but, being a branding/marketing studio, we kinda have to ask—what’s with the confounding name, The Goldberg Sisters?

Adam Goldberg: My name is Goldberg. Sister bands are huge. It’s the most brilliant marketing move of our time.

I mean, that’s pretty fair. But what’s with the whole dual personality thing with ‘your sister’ ‘Celeste’…is your family worried? Do they have reason to be?

Dual personality? I dont’ follow. I wouldn’t upset her if I were you.

Hm. Okay. Well, let’s talk about the new album then. It’s your third, yes?

Yes. The first, under the LANDy moniker, was a cross between songs I had been recording in a variety of environments, from home “studios” to studio studios. Some of the songs were more or less just mixed by Aaron Espinoza, while we overdubbed others, and some, like the song “BFF!” we made from scratch.

I’ve read that you played all of the instruments on the album yourself. Um, control freak much?

Hmmm, I’m already pretty well taken care of in the self-doubt and abject insecurity department and Celeste already asked me that same loaded question when she interviewed me for my blog. To quote her: “Oh myyyyy. Someone’s kind of a control freak huh?” So, if I wanted abuse I’d just go upstairs. But yes I like to control the sound of things, but moreover the scheduling and cost. It was a far easier proposition to schedule myself and save the money, as I am a completely independent “label.” Also I don’t get to play very often as I don’t play live so this is my opportunity.

Furthermore, these songs were born very intimately by myself and demoed by myself, and uploaded to my Tumblr blog. It seemed fitting to re-realize them in a similar context. I missed having real strings and horns (Andrew Lynch, my engineer is a brilliant musician and horn player, and Roxanne, my partner, has played violin on all my records), but once it became a sort of dogma, I felt compelled to see it through. 

No, I kid with regards to the control freakiness. And I totally get the idea of it just being easier to be able to, say, play a guitar line when you personally are inspired as a song-writer to play said guitar line. But I also feel like songs evolve differently and sometimes more deeply when you’re building from and incorporating someone else’s creative force. Do you agree or not so much?

I’m not sure what to say here. Yes, sometimes I’m sure that’s the case, other times it’s very frustrating to have a vision or a sound and have to illustrate that when you can simply just do it yourself. I would never drum or play bass again on a whole album, as I did on this one. Maybe that will mollify your objections. Anyway, I’m not the first. Elliot Smith, Sparklhorse (Mark Linkous), Dave Pajo…I’m not comparing myself to their brilliance but it’s not an unheard of way to create a record. I spent many years relying very heavily on the instrumentations of others and it made me a very lazy musician. 

No objections—just wondering your take on the creative process alone vs. with others. And I was a huge fan of both Smith + Linkous. What’s more, the new album turned out great the way you did it. I’ve seen comparisons made to the work of someone named John Lennon. I looked him up and, yeah, I could see that. Regardless, I think it’s fair to say the sound would most commonly be associated with popular music from earlier eras—the 60s + 70s, let’s say—when rootsy, folksy, melody-driven rock was the only game in town. There’s no denying that the music of the Beatles, and the Stones, and CCR, and so many amazing bands form back then was phenomenal, but I often get hung up on contemporary musicians essentially doing something sonically that’s been done before. I’m not saying that’s what’s going on here, but does that idea ever bother you? Or are you more like ‘Fuck it—it’s good music and it’s what I want to write’?

It’s a style of music I write. Also, it’s funny, since I was sure the big complaint would be it’s over eclecticism or lack of cohesion. But yeah I’m definitely in love with The Kinks, Beatles, Zombies…but also America (more ’70s bands really than ’60s)…but also well, I like a lot of music. Anyway, I plan to make an album of music that is more inspired by the sorts of soundscapy things I do with loop pedals, which is often how these songs are born before they get the Bacharach treatment (that’s really how I think of it). Also I would like to have a band that is much more stripped down, an actual band band. That said, I don’t like to play live, so that’s not probably in the cards.

Who are some more musicians, contemporary and older, that you’ve looked to for inspiration? Or even just like a lot, you know, if it’s less of an ‘inspired by’ kinda thing?

Bridget St. John,  Neil Young,  Tom Rapp,  Paul McCartney (“Ram” mainly),  America,  Gary Higgins,  Sonic Youth,  Television,  Nina Simone,  Chalres Mingus,  John Coltrane,  Steve Reich,  Philip Glass,  Velvet Underground,  Karen Dalton, The Rutles,  Angelo Badlementi,  Dionne Warwick,  Burt Bacharach,  Lou Reed,  Erik Satie,  David Lang,  Bill Evans,  Zombies,  Loscil,  Brian Eno,  David Bowie,  The Who,  Blonde Redhead,  Elvis Costello,  Built To Spill,  Sebadoh,  Debussy,  Colleen,  Sebadoh,  Built to Spill,  Dinosaur Jr, Al Stewart,  The Clash,  Wire,  Minutemen, American Music Club,  Claudine Longet,  Harry Nillson,  John Lenin,  Billie Holiday,  Leonard Cohen,  Big Star,  Nick Drake,  Kronos Quartet,  and others.

…so, not a huge music fan then? Okay, so, I’ll be honest—when I read that you made the video for the album’s title track, “Strangers Morning”, using Vine videos, I was like “This is gonna be duuuuuuuuuumb.” But it’s seriously moving, in a not dumb way. Really, it’s beautiful; very cinematic. It seems like there’s a definite narrative there and story running through it not just, you know, six second clips of your cat rocking out to Justin Beiber. How did you go about making that?

Thank you. I think. It was just sort of fitting, that I had spent the early part of the year making these clips that seemed to jibe with the sensibility of that song I also made around the same time. I cut a bunch together as an experiment, sent it to my distributor and publicist and they were encouraging so I spent some more time with it. Also, frankly, I’m in pre-production of a movie I’ve written that I will be directing next month, so without as much time as I might normally commit to music videos, I felt repurposing was perhaps a worthwhile avenue.

No, it’s really cool. And the other one you made was from photo stills, right?

Yeah, that I made in a few hours but I like it about as much as any I’ve made. Except frankly one of analog/instant stills (and 16mm) I made for Agnes Obel. I’m very proud of it even though she shitcanned it. Inexplicably (to everyone including her label). But it was a wonderful experience. For a while.

Ah, that’s too bad. Back to your two videos though—that’s the same woman, Roxanne, in both of them, right?

And on the cover of the last two records. And the designer of the album covers. And sitting next to me now.

Got it. So, honestly, you do a lot of stuff, man—music, acting, directing, photography, Vining, I assume some other things like weaving and/or practical microbiology in a hospital lab setting—do you ever feel like you’re spreading yourself thin? Like, what if you just focused on the microbiology? Maybe you could make big strides.

I often wish I was only interested in doing one thing and doing it well. Thanks for the shiv-twist.

I’m just a huge fan of your scientific work. While we’re on the subject of side jobs though, chances for Saving Private Ryan II? I didn’t watch it all the way to the end, but I really liked your character. I could see some really promising, post-war spin-offs. Maybe involving a wacky German roommate?

…no? Nothing? Alright. So, we often like to pull a particularly compelling line from a musician’s songs and ask about it in an effort to really get inside of the headspace they were in when writing it. So, tell us, where were you, creatively, when you wrote the album’s opening line—”Would you know a good thing if it crawled up your ass?”

The song is a self-indictment.

Hm. You seem a tad hard on yourself. So really no plans to maybe play a show or two of new material?

I’m afraid I’m just really uncomfortable playing live. I rarely do it and, because I don’t have a band, it’s always a frantic process. I really like the recording environment and I love playing with other people at very low stakes, but trying to reproduce my music live has always been difficult and scary for me.

Totally makes sense. Now, where can I get one of those snazzy ‘The GS’ t-shirts? Follow-up: Do I have to have a strange mutant two-face to wear it?

You can find them on my site.

Finally, you really have a fabulous beard. I’ve personally never had much look with beards—they come in spotty and I end up looking like I have facial mange or I fell face-first into some particularly sticky moss—but I think a proper beard would look great on me. Any tips?

I couldn’t grow facial hair until I was in my 20s. So my tip I guess is to be a very late bloomer.

Hm. I think I may have missed the beard-growing window then. Nonetheless, I thank you for your time, graciousness, and beard.

We thank you for your interest.

Listen to this week’s featured song, Goldberg’s excellent “It Can Get You Down”, below and then check out the videos for the album’s title track + “Wandering I”; the first of which is made up of a series of Vine videos created by Goldberg; the second of which he made using 2100 still photos. 

You can listen to a full stream of The Goldberg Sisters’ new album, Stranger’s Morning, on rdio if you have (or create) an account or over on Pop Matters. Purchase + download the album via rdio or iTunes or you can pre-order an autographed CD via the Sisters’ site. Photos courtesy of Adam Goldberg.

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Tarot Tour

August 27, 2013

Crafters of all things spookily beautiful, The Wild Unknown will touring up + down the West Coast starting tomorrow to show off their awesome Tarot Deck—which we wrote up at the beginning of the year. They’ll be visiting like-minded retailers from LA to Vancouver in the next week or so doing free, in-person Tarot readings, which we’re super-psyched about.

Get it? Psyched?

Events will feature ‘mystery’ raffles + refreshments for added excitement + refreshment, respectively. We’ll be at one or both of the LA ones, being held first at Silverlake’s ReForm School (super-cute home goods, clothing, and bric-a-brac) + then at Highland Park’s Mount Analog (curator of all things artistically musically artistic). See you there?

You can see a couple of the shots we took of TWU’s stunning, hand-illustrated Tarot Deck below and read January’s full write-up. With the full write-up, be sure to check out the comments, where an anonymous reader classily refers to me as an idiot in all-caps.

Oh, the Internet.

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Fête Paradiso

August 20, 2013
What do you get when you creep into the gaudily bright, whirring, click-clacking dreams of a late 19th century French child and throw everything you find on a formerly abandoned island between Manhattan + Brooklyn? Fête Paradiso, it would seem.
This is something we heard about from friends shortly after opening and have been meaning to write up since we visited, just before leaving New York. Situated on Gotham City’s newly shining jewel of idyllic recreation, Governors Island, Fête Paradiso is essentially a traveling festival of original vintage carnival rides, carousels, and games. But to leave it at that would be a bit of travesty. We’ve been going to Governors Island since it reopened in 2010 and this is easily the coolest thing that’s ever taken up residence there. From Paradiso‘s site:

“The extraordinary festival of artisan-crafted, vintage carousels and carnival rides—like a French film miraculously come to life—is the first of its kind to appear in the United States. Among the attractions, which come from the collections of Francis Staub and Regis Masclet, is a bicycle carousel from the late 19th century—one of only two in the world that were created in Paris to encourage the use of what was then the new mode of transportation, the bicycle (the only other bicycle carousel can be seen in the feature film Midnight in Paris). Fête Paradiso…also include(s) an early 20th century Music-Hall Ball Guzzler, a carnival game that features life-size caricatures of Josephine Baker, Charlie Chaplin and other celebrities of the time. To further enhance the nostalgic, dreamlike experience, a bumper car pavilion from 1900 has been transformed into a beer garden and special event space, and food reminiscent of a French carnival will be served by New York’s legendary French bistro Le Gamin. In addition, a 1930 children’s carousel has been repurposed into a music kiosk, where performers will entertain visitors with period music and side show performances to heighten the Fellini-inspired environment.“

Truly, the old, wooden rides are excitingly rickety and unforgivingly rough in this overly safe age of walled in trampolines + overly sanitized living. And, while the hand-painted, hand-carved embellishments are beautiful + enchanting, some of the end products—like the menacing Mickey Mouse + militaristic centaur (?)—are downright creepy, again, in only the most charming, French way. But, more than those individual parts, the atmosphere that’s created by the carnival and its sometimes in-character, dressed-up carnies is what’s most remarkable + lovely about the Fête.

Fête Paradiso is open to the public every weekend through Sunday, September 29 from 1030AM to 630PM, so, if you live in New York or plan on visiting soon, get thee to the carnival. Note that, though the island itself is open from 10AM to 7PM, the first ferry from Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 doesn’t leave until 11AM. Full ferry listings here.

Below, various shots of the rides and games at the Fête and a quick video of us riding the bicycle carousel with our friends, Thad + Agatha.

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August 13, 2013

Reader, this writer isn’t exactly a fitness buff. Don’t get me wrong, I hold high the after-effects of exercise—the endorphin production, the undeniable health benefits, the ‘welcome to the gun show, admission if free’ biceps—but sometimes I feel like, if I did have access to a time machine, I’d primarily use it to fast forward past intense workouts at the gym so I could get all the benefits without the time/work required.

That said, one thing I really do enjoy is running outside with our dog, Owen (seen driving our car cross-country in an earlier post). And, honestly, he seems to really like it too, especially now that our primary form of exercise is running in the canyons of Los Angeles.

Which is part of the reason I was struck by the mission of Ruff Ruff Rescue Runners, an Arizona-based non-profit that pairs volunteers with shelter dogs to help get the animals active + out of the shelter in their bright orange ‘Adopt Me’ vests. It just seems like such a great way of getting needy animals both away from what can often be over-crowded, chaotic settings + in-front of potential adoptees.

We took some time to talk with one of the group’s co-founders, Vicky (left, below), about the idea behind the group and how it works.

So, what’s the inspiration behind Ruff Ruff Rescue Runners?

I read about a similar group in Texas calledThe Rufftail Runners on the Ruffwear blog and was immediately inspired. I’ve been a runner for most of my life and have two rescue pups of my own. Being able to combine both of these interests sounded perfect! I actually sent the article to (co-founder) Crysti on Facebook and jokingly said “You should start something like this.” We had several of our mutual friends comment that they would volunteer if we did and so we “ran” with it and it exploded! Crysti is also an avid runner and has the same passion for rescue dogs that I do, so she was the perfect person to partner with on this endeavor. 

That’s awesome. And how does it work on the back end exactly? Do you all partner with the majority of the shelters in the area or just a few or…?

We are currently partnering with seven different rescues throughout Arizona. Cities include Gilbert, Tempe, Phoenix, Prescott, and Flagstaff. Some we have contacted directly, others have contacted us. We plan to continue growing as long as there are interested volunteers, rescues, and, of course, dogs to run. 

That’s really great. Then how does it work form a volunteer perspective? If I’m looking for a four-legged running partner, I’d just contact you all and you’d take it from there?

Volunteers contact us and let us know the area in which they are interested in running. If we have a partnership established in that area, then we will invite them to join one of our group events or an orientation (depends on the rescue—they all operate a little differently). Volunteers are required to sign the rescues waiver, the Ruff Ruff Rescue Runner waive, and fill out an application. Once that is all done, they just need to keep an eye on Facebook for upcoming events. We try to have a group run at each of our partner rescues every Saturday. Due to the intense summer heat, we’ve had to take a break down in the Phoenix area but have been working on getting the cooler areas (Flagstaff and Prescott) going. We’ll be starting back up as soon as the morning temps start to cool down…hopefully in the next month or so. If we are contacted by someone in an area that we don’t currently have a partnership with, we add them to our volunteer database and contact them as soon as we have something going in their area. 

Very cool. One thing we’ve always worried about from the perspective of fostering animals is becoming too attached to them, not wanting to give them up and, say, ending up with 25 cats and 13 dogs. Do a lot of your volunteers end up adopting the dogs in the end?

We haven’t seen any of our volunteers walk off with any dogs…yet. BUT we’ve only been around since early May so we expect it will happen eventually. We had actually worried about that ourselves and, although we hate to see the dogs stuck in shelters and living in cages, we still walk away knowing we did something good for them, which, in my mind, makes it a little easier. Our ultimate goal would be to see them all adopted and living it up in happy homes. 

Do dogs actually enjoy running recreationally/for exercise? I run with our dog all the time and assume he loves it, but I’ve never actually read up on that kinda thing.

Are you kidding? They LOVE it! Well, actually, not all of them do. Some of the dogs prefer to walk and some prefer to just sit in the middle of the sidewalk, probably waiting to be carried back. We ask our volunteers to be sensitive to the needs of the dog. If the dog doesn’t want to run, then don’t make them run, but if they want to run then let them, but within reason. Many of the dogs we work with have no leash manners so we encourage our volunteers to stay in control of the dog and the run, working with them on leash skills and how to be a well mannered canine citizen. We also provide ‘Adopt Me’ vests so that the public knows that these dogs are available for adoption. 

Ah, good. Because I’ve definitely stepped up my runs with our dog now that we’re in LA and he seems to love it. And is it safe to assume you + Crysti run with your dogs?

Yes, I have two boxer rescues and I do run with them. Crysti has three dogs—two boxers and one English Pointer. Her dogs love hiking or running like crazies through the park. 

Any tips for beginners who maybe haven’t run with dogs before?

Expect the unexpected! Most of these dogs aren’t your well-mannered family dog who walk nicely on a leash. Instead, many have been abused, neglected, starved, injured, and spend 22 hrs of their day stuck in a small kennel in a chaotic and noisy environment. Some will be fearful or shy, some will not be very social, and some will want to eat anything that moves, but the more time we spend with them, the better they become. We see them change over time—they get better on a leash and become more social and less reactive to other animals and people. When people ask us what they should bring, we tell them their running shoes, water, and a whole lot of patience. They need it and they deserve it! 

Nice. Finally—who let the dogs out? Who? Who who who?

Ah, I love pictorial interview responses. Nicely done.

Below, pictures of Ruff Ruff dogs + volunteers in action. All photos (minus the dog who let the dogs out), courtesy of Ruff Ruff Rescue Runners.

If you live in any of the cities mentioned above, fill out the group’s online volunteer form and they’ll be in touch about volunteer orientations + events. Not in the area? Find out if a similar group exists in your area or start your own! Here’s a list of similar groups created by Pennsylvania-based Miles and Mutts. The New York Times blog also posted a piece a few years back that collects some helpful information on running with dogs from Runner’s World magazine, including a nice chart breaking down the best breeds to run with, how to train your dog for longer distance runs, and five reasons to run with your dog.







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Sooooooooooo, we’re doing this right now. I know—crazy, right?
Stay tuned to this space for either: 1. Awesome pics of us trekking across our glorious United States; or 2. Nothing for a week in the case that we decide to just gun it for the sake of the cat + dog in the back seat.Either way, you can surely catch up with us in the meantime pictorially via my + Katie’s Instagram accounts (@RavenAndCrow + @KatieFrichtel respectively) and textually via the Twitter (@RavenAndCrow).

Regardless, we’ll hit you up soon, Reader, with some solid LA-/NYC-based knowledge + excitement on all things musical/vegan/style-y/design-y. Wish us luck!

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