A few years ago, I found myself in a dumpster taking photos of some lovely textures (What, you have never been in a dumpster before?). Among the garbage I found a box of photographs. I was so fascinated by these found images that I have been collecting discarded photos ever since. I love the idea of finding beauty in things that other people consider garbage. Whether it is a texture on the inside of a dumpster, or in a photograph you find in the trash, the exercise of keeping your eyes open for design is something I believe most designers practice. Actually, this is the same process that BE A DESIGN GROUP is built around. Our collection of BA photos is a metaphor for always keeping our eyes open to ways design is interacting with the world around us.

As a way to display some of my own photography as well as to share my collection of found photographs, I just finished creating a photo blog called Found Photography. I have been sharpening my Movable Type skills with the plan of incorporating the templates of Found Photography in the upcoming BE A DESIGN GROUP photo blog. Hopefully all it will need is a quick tweak to convert it, but let me know if you have any suggestions that would improve the usability or structure of the site. Look for us to launch our photo blog in October.

The time has come to write about my favorite group, The Shins. If you haven’t heard of The Shins, don’t assume they are another “The” band like The Strokes, The Thrills, The Stills, The White Stripes, The Vines, The Stills, etc. In my opinion, this band is better than all of them.

Chutes Too Narrow came out about a year ago, a follow up to the masterpiece Oh Inverted World from 2001. I have listened to both in heavy rotation and they have held up amazingly well.

The Shins’ songwriting is incredible. The phrasing is curious and the melodies are inventive without sounding awkward. The poetry is rewarding, and never stoops too the level of ready for radio simplicity. The lyrics remain eerie even when upbeat, and the delivery is honest and magical. The production is so clean that it is easy to miss how layered and complex the arrangements actually are.

On the design side, Chutes Too Narrow is very cool. The cut paper illustration is fun, and the liner notes have a cool die-cut and spot varnish. Not that I need any additional candy too enjoy them, though.

This post isn’t really about Elvis, its about found photography. We have been throwing around the idea of creating a photo blog for a while, and I want to get some feedback. A few years ago, I found myself in a dumpster taking photos of some lovely textures (What? You have never been in a dumpster before?). Among the garbage I found a box of old photos, and took them home and started sorting through them. Well, since then I have been collecting photos that people discard. To get to the point, I have registered the domain www.foundphotography.com, and I am wondering if you think that would be a good place to put our photo blog. Here is my rational…
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In preparation for their concert in Denver in a few days, I thought I would throw a quick review up of the Black Keys new album Rubber Factory. The album is great, but rather than waste my breath I thought this description of the Black Keys from One Percent Productions was especially well written:

“Two young men, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, college dropouts the both of them, are working together for an Akron, Ohio property owner. In addition to working together, these two childhood friends play in a band, a duo called The Black Keys. Dan, a year Patrick’s senior, compact and sometimes bearded, quiet and wry, plays fuzzed-out guitar and sings - scratch that - howls sweetly and growls soulfully, like a man whose only friends in the world are his songs of suffering and true romance. Patrick plays his drums like he’s dragging them into a ditch and strangling them, attacking them like they stole his mother’s purse. The combination sparks. Folks come on down to see their shows. They play show after show after show, getting terrifically road-seasoned. Their explosive, compelling live shows become the talk of the town. And Dan and Patrick, to this day, still haven’t held another day job between them.”

If that doesn’t make you wish you were coming to the concert with us, nothing will. I will let you know how it is after Wednesday.

I couldn’t wait to get *12 Memories* earlier this year. The follow up to two great albums *The Man Who* and *Invisible Band,* couldn’t miss. Well, it didn’t miss, but it isn’t perfect. Let me start out by mentioning the very good parts of this record. The amazing melodies the vocals are as strong as past efforts. I get the impression that the production is a little tighter in this album which could be good or bad depending on your tastes. Aside from my upcoming complaints, this is a great album.

Now for my criticism. Unfortunately, Travis commits 2 of my pet peaves on *12 Memories.* First in a track called *Beautiful Occupation,* they push their political agenda. This is getting more and more annoying as it seems to be the popular thing to do right now. Maybe it just bothers me now because of how pathetic all the political bickering is right now due to the upcoming election.

My second complaint about this album is from a track called *Peace the F Out.* What is the point of profanity in music? In this case, I don’t even understand what this statement means. Is it necessary? My advice is delete tracks 2 and 4 and enjoy this album like they never happened.