Taking longer than I thought...

Haven't had much time to do anything it seems.

...I am LONG overdue... but might as well... a few weeks ago I got a phone call from my good friend Milka (who has been on tour since the beginning of time! I missed you buddy!)... next thing I know I'm driving down to the House of Blues San Diego to shoot Marilyn Manson's show. What an awesome surprise! 

It's always amazing how the pre-show jitter still get me... then again, the guy who briefed us didn't help..."Okay you guys are only going to be shooting for 1 song tonight instead of the usual 3, and by the way, there's a 2 foot knife on the end of his mic that could really fuck you up!"

That line takes the cake....this was my craziest photo adventure to date... and I can't wait to share my shots with you all.  Stay tuned.

Here's a photo of Milka (still reppin' the ASSILEM Shirt) and me after the show...

Next order of business...

Rebelling against the rain and cold weather...I am leaving later this week for the warm waters of Hawaii to visit those Incubus boys and see Silversun pickups (finally)! If any of you are going to be at the show let me know. I'd love to meet you all!

Thats all for now folks. : )

Cheers!

MG

Site of the Week!

Finally back into the swing of things, and enjoying the lovely chaos of life. 

Updates! Updates! So let's get to it! I just found out that I nabbed Livebooks site of the week!

(http://www.livebooks.com/community/sitesoftheweek/2008/02/w4/gross.php) 

Definitely go check that out. I'm really excited that the new layout is receiving such positive response - finally a site to be proud of! 

Thank you to everyone who has sent me e-mails and other messages. It really means a lot of hear from you all. If I haven't responded yet, hang tight. I'm slowly going through my inbox.

Next up! Finally got back in the barricade this past monday! Who you ask?...

Maybe we should wait for the photographs, eh?

Be anxious! Verrrry anxious!

Cheers!

MG

American Caveman

Product of some nice threads. Boredom. And a cheapcam.

I really need to get out and shoot huh?

"I am ASSILEM" - Amendment

I have an obsession with sharpies. (How silly of me to forget)

In fact.

Stick me in a room and bore me.

I will probably draw all over my stuff, myself, and the person next to me.

*see Hit and Run advertising*

: )

Those were the days...

Found this in a box of old things. 

Inside were photographs from a concert. 

The Who. 

I suppose we are all a lot more like our parents than we originally thought.

"Trying Something New On For Size"

This was originally written on October 1, 2007. However, not many people had the chance to read it. So I'm republishing it. Enjoy!

"The other day, I received an e-mail from a photographer I have looked up to for years. More than the surprise of actually receiving this unexpected gesture was the amazement that we both admired each other's accomplishments. "I've seen a lot of your work too," he wrote, "Your live shots are very cool." I was stunned.

That same day, a friend came to visit me for the weekend. When I walked into my living room, he was sitting on the couch, making ringtones with his laptop. The song he was dissecting was by an upcoming "band"- for lack of a better description, solo-artist – a virtually unknown side project, with a small fan base. It occurred to me then, had this artist known someone loved his music enough to make it into a custom ringtone, he would be happy that someone valued his work. But, he would never know, because he would never hear that cell phone ring.

Similarly, had I never received that e-mail the other day, I would have never known that someone admired my work. Perhaps, I thought, there are many more instances like this.

So I'm "trying something new on for size". Today I start with you. A random compliment - thought - whatever it may be. Tell those you admire, you look up to them. Tell those you enjoy the presence of , that you like having them around. Tell those you care for, that you love them.

Whatever it may be, don't wait for a certain holiday, or date. Just pick up the phone randomly. Message someone on MySpace or Facebook. Send an e-mail or Letter.

Just remember that without saying anything, nobody will ever know how amazing you may think they are.

I urge you to pick one person (or two, or six!)...and spread this like wildfire. Maybe you can make someone smile. It doesn't take much."

Thank you to everyone who has touched my life and helped me along the way.

Also, extra special thanks to:

- Michael Scott Kenney (http://michaelscottkenney.net) - You will always be a huge inspiration. Grazie for your wonderful advice, pointing me in the right direction, and never being too busy to give me the time of day!! : )

- Sam Morgenstern & Amber D. - For their joint effort writing my Biography

- Famus Jamus - For putting up with random delusional rants, artistic goofiness, and intense photo narrowing competitions (and other obvious reasons)

- BK (http://www.benkenney.com) - For many reasons, posting my photograph on your site a few years back, and letting me steal my logo from you

-All of my GCI friends - Some bad ass, unique crazies! (No bullshit, you guys cut to the chase - I love it! My family away from home!)

And the rest of yous guys.

Cheers! 

MG

Here we go! (New ASSILEM site. 1st Blog Post)

Hey everyone!

Trying this blog deal on or size…. and I can’t help but admit that I used to (and probably will continue to) mock the entire concept of bleeding your inner thoughts on the internet. Though, before I get myself into too much trouble I will say this, I think the blog also has the potential to be a great communicator: a great way for me to keep in touch with you all, get some feedback, and give updates as to what I am up to (and why, possibly, I have dropped off the side of the earth again!).

Now that I have my disclaimer…on to the good stuff!

By the time you read this, my new ASSILEM site should be up. (Finally something to be proud of! - Thanks Michael) It took longer than I expected, but hopefully it will prove to be everything you wanted and blow away your expectations.

This past year has been a beautiful whirlwind. I had the amazing opportunity to travel the world and meet some of the most unique, intriguing and genuine people of my life. And occasionally get caught off guard by a few ASSILEM fans here and there (You guys are awesome!). For everything I am truly grateful.

On top of that, I am finally, after four years, starting to overcome my stage fright: giving it a second go, and starting to release all those photographs I kept hidden for so long! On the new site you’re going to see a lot of entertainment-based photographs: some familiar, some dug up from archives, and the majority from the past year.

Beyond that… I’ll admit the “everything else” photographs (i.e. Downstage: non-entertainment related photographs) have not changed terribly much. That being said, I have some great concepts in the brew, and am just waiting for all the elements to come together at the right time. Please bear with me as I switch gears and start updating those sections.

I hope you all had a chance to grab Incubus’s Look Alive DVD – partially because I am biased, partially because I want you to see my shots, and well, it’s a pretty damn good work of art (CL - you know who you are!)

All in all, I’m pretty excited about the new site. It’s going to allow me to post photographs on a continual basis (as opposed to the one year anniversary overhauls from the past) and be more dynamic.

I urge you to keep in touch…periodically check back on the site, and this blog…and if you want, leave me a myspace message here and there!

Cheers!

MG