Atom Heart, Anton, Caroline, Olaf, John

JWise Photo of the Day

Uwe Schmidt aka Atom Heart, Anton - the skull, Caroline Wise, Olaf Finkbeiner and John Wise in the background in a photo from early 1990

Early in 1990, with our Digiview image digitizer connected to our Amiga 2000, we grabbed this photo of Uwe Schmidt (Atom Heart) on the left, Anton the skull, Caroline Engelhardt (to become Caroline Wise 4 years later), Olaf Finkbeiner, and that’s me, John Wise in the back row. This photo of the day prior to a recent scanning only existed on a piece of paper printed on a dot-matrix printer, the original file is lost in time. Photoshop and Neat Image helped in bringing this poor-quality image back to life.

Uwe Hamm-Furholter / Exground Filmfest

JWise Photo of the Day

Mail from Uwe Hamm-Furholter in Aldlingen, Germany telling me of The Exground Filmfest

An old friend, Uwe Hamm-Furholter, wrote me and sent this brochure for the Exground Filmfest held in Wiesbaden, Germany, for the past 18 years – he and I went to the first one back in 1988, and I got my clock cleaned by Ari Roussimoff following the Exground showing of his film Shadows in the City in 1990 or 1991. Uwe brought the likes of Nick Zedd to Germany to show his films, did some documentary work with Richard Kern, and has always had a liking for extreme films.

Las Noches de las Luminarias

JWise Photo of the Day

Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona

On the trail at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona for Las Noches de las Luminarias. The garden transforms into a holiday wonder – at least as far as this desert is concerned. There are half a dozen stands along the trails selling coffee, hot chocolate, wine, and soft drinks. We watched and listened to no less than eight musicians or groups as we strolled between the luminarias with their candles flickering. A woman playing harp greeted us at the front gate, and a barbershop quartet serenaded us and even made us laugh. Onlookers gathered around a Native American flutist in an Indian-style hut while the Scottsdale Bell Ringers drew a large crowd in the Patio Cafe. A cowboy sang songs of the old west, not to mention two jazz bands, mariachis, and more. It was a blast; we only wish we’d shown up at 5:30 when it all begins instead of coming in at 7:00. The luminarias are lit from 5:30 till 9:30, and quite a few weekend days are already sold out – well worth a visit.

John Wise circa 1992

JWise Photo of the Day

John Wise 1992

This is me, John Wise, at my office in 1992 in Frankfurt, Germany. Caroline and I started producing record covers for Techno music in 1989 and eventually made many a t-shirt design, postcards, CD covers, magazine advertisements, posters, slides, and various other graphic designs, 3D modeling and animation, video, and multimedia stuff. We worked under different monikers, including:

Caroline Wise Dweeb

Dweeb, Magic Donut, 4-Eyes…

Dreamfish

…Optic Kiss,  Kommunaggresion, Intrinsic Dimension, and…

Jo Lincke in Frankfurt, Germany

…The Hippies. Prior to this, I did live concert documentary work for bands including…

…The Pixies, Nitzer Ebb, Dinosaur Jr, Front 242…

…Nirvana – (live in Hanau, Germany 1989),

The Sugarcubes, Psychic TV,  Laibach, and about 100 other bands.

Mike’s Murals

JWise Photo of the Day

Detail of Jungle Mural in Mike DeVarennes home - contact Mike through his website www.mikesmurals.com to have Mike paint one for you today.

Visited long-time friend Mike DeVarennes for the first time in quite a while and was surprised to see the inside of his house had become a giant canvas. The front entryway is what you are looking at above – his two kids love the jungle motif. A nearby closet door has taken on the magic of a Mayan temple passage. A bathroom has received a tropical underwater treatment that I wish were in our bathroom. This is how all children’s rooms should be painted! Well, I might opt for a circus feel or maybe bring ancient Egypt into our abode. Then again, the rainforest holds a lot of appeal. Contact Mike through his website: www.mikesmurals.com

The Grass is Greener

JWise Photo of the Day

Living out west the grass just may be greener. The United States surrounding the southwest is entering winter, this photo of green grass was taken outside someplace in Phoenix - it is nothing special, just very green.

Reports of snow, road closures, emergency facilities for those stranded by ice, and poor weather are starting to litter the news. Here in Phoenix, the grass is greener and the weather pleasant. After suffering through our 110-degree summer days, which seems to have abruptly ended just days ago, we are lulled into climactic bliss. Images of parka-clad Minnesotans and snow-buried Buffalonians tease our sense of revenge-gloating as we stroll with bare feet and short-sleeved shirts down our green grass-lined boulevards punctuated by the occasional thorn-bearing cactus.