Category: Uncategorized

Don’t ask me how this happened cause I don’t really know. We found a chicken McNugget hiding behind the flatscreen in the living room this afternoon. I don’t remember bringing home McDonalds since like March, if not early April if I really stretch it. But McDonald’s rarely finds it’s way into casa Garcia/Asamura as McDonalds is fairly unhealthy…I did see Supersize Me.

I can’t help but to think about my childhood and Ma (Mommy in those days…) would take me to get a Happy Meal and how I eventually graduated to a Quarter Pounder and then to the glorious Big Mac. I mean, heaven on earth…that McDonalds on Fredricksburg Rd in San Antonio. And oddly enough, we had our resident nut who would always be at the restaurant, drinking coffee and talking to himself, bearded and all. These days, a nut with a beard drinking coffee at McDonalds would probably get a free ride to Cuba but those days were back when Star Wars was first released.

Yet as stated, McDonalds was still great. The Burger War had not started and the best burgers in town could still be found at the yellow arches. Now, McDonalds is nothing but drunk food, or at worse, a meal on the cheap. Did anyone say recession? It was good, somewhat healthy (not that tortilas and salsa are any better) and inexpensive. McDonalds as a corporation probably wasn’t pumping nasty things into our food just yet…well…I didn’t know as I was a kid and it all tasted WONDERFUL.

Back to my dilemma…

We moved a few things around and lo and behold a single little McNugget was hiding behind the tv. I don’t really know how he got there. There are only six/nine nuggets in a batch so either we didn’t notice his escape or G-D just so happened to allow this bugger to escape and avoid a beer sodded belly…well the beer sod might be part of how we, rather I, didn’t know a prisoner escaped his cell.

Either way, a little McNugget was found. Oddly enough, the specimen was found in absolutely great shape. Roughly a month has gone by and the sucker was found almost edible.

Now this scares me. He, aside from looking slightly shriveled, he (he could be a she, I don’t know…) looked absolutely edible. Aside from a bit of an oily feel, it seemed as if he has just escaped, his little six man prison and hid out for a month behind the Samsung.

Now…something is not right when food doesn’t rot/decay. I can’t leave a papaya or pineapple on the counter for a week without it attracting every little fruit fly in Hawaii. Hawaii is slightly humid and since its a tropical place, there are a number of gokiburi (cucarachas) having a go at anything edible left out. But nothing…no roaches were scene scampering around the carpet to get at Ronald’s delectable little morsel.

Scary. How the hell does something like this not rot? Oil content, preservatives, black magic? What? I put the little bugger in a zip lock and am going to keep it for some time to see if it develops fugus or whatnot.

Could it be that those McNuggets are so unhealthy, they are not rotting thus not digesting in our intestines? Are they full of things that are not at all good for us? Like I said, I saw Supersize Me but I still tango with Ronaldo every so often only because Ronaldinho is cheap. Dirty cheap…for two bucks I can get a McDouble with McFries. But is that two bucks going to be the end of me? Are those preservatives keeping that little McPhantom alive killing me?

Something is not right at the McCasa if their McNugget didn’t rot.

Will post on this in the future.

I’m back from swine flu Texas, or should I say H1N1. Same difference, little bang or something hidden in between the lines.

San Antonio is not the place I left…neither is my family and for that matter myself.

Will have a larger post and thoughts once I get over the jet lag and finish my film scanning. Film, dear readers…no digital…lasting memories on cellulose, dust and scratches in all its glory.

“I’m sitting in 31F. Next to me is a little blue eyed bundle. She’s about six months old. I’m concerned about her and her two siblings across the way. Way too young and loud as this is a night flight. Blue is calm as her blue serene eyes. She’s sucking away on a pacifier. Amazing how white babies are so cute. They are obviously military kids. Mom looks like she carried three kids too quickly and too young. Surely the future of little blue eyes next to me.

A pill, a drink and a snooze and it should be over quickly.

BTW muzak killed Stevie Wonder”

I sent this posting post flight from the HNL airport while sitting on the plane. I didn’t know till now by mobile device seems to limit how much I can txt. Go figure.

As the recession looms over the public, jobs are getting more and more scares as magazines, companies, and ad/pr agencies are slowly running out of money due to the credit crunch. Our economy is based on credit as businesses don’t have to maintain major cash reserves as they can borrow the dough they need all the while the lenders make fees off the interest they charge on those loans. In many ways, personal credit cards serve as individual micro-loans for the public. I can’t easily cough up $50k to start up my photo business (lights, lenses, and computers are expensive!) so a bank issued credit card helps lubricate the wheels of commerce. B&H Photo and Apple are happy I have credit, as is MasterCard. For that matter, I am happy cause without credit I couldn’t buy the lens I need to shoot golf, food, or whatever comes my way. Americans are notorious for not saving their money so credit is what makes the US economy run.

Nowadays, as Obama and his team nationalize banks and investment/insurance companies, banks are not issuing credit as they once were. Although you’d never think we were in a major recession\depression, the economy is hurting. Banks are not issuing enough credit to the magazines and their budgets get smaller. It is much more complicated as ad revenue is shrinking, yet, media always needs a steady stream of images flowing onto their pages, websites, and whatnot.

Job creation is happening, for sure. For me, I am getting job offers at lower rates. I had an ad agency based in several major cities around the globe offer me a tiny amount of money to shoot a fairly elaborate photo for a international brochure. I mean a tiny amount that wouldn’t have covered expenses at all. I had enough gumption to say “no” although I struggled with that decision. But I realized I can’t issue credit or make someone else rich at my expense. I have bills to pay.

The photo business is notorious for making photographer float expenses on his own credit for a multimillion-dollar magazine or business in the past and will continue to do so. But like any risk/reward scenario, the rewards outweighed the risks. And when work was a constant stream, I could wait or “issue credit” to clients as I had other jobs waiting soon afterwards. But those days are now gone. Jobs are limited and budgets are smaller. And to make matters worse, big name mags and companies do not/are not pay(ing) on time. They have no problem not processing an invoice 30, 60, 90, or even 120 days after publication or usage of your hard work and sweat. Can you imagine McDonalds allowing you to pay for a big mac six months later? I’d hope my work is at least worth a couple of McNuggets.

I am not in the business of credit issuing and floating a corporation x amount to do their jobs. Yet so many of my peers are willing and able to do so to get those jobs, tear sheets, and bylines. I did a job in November where I shot a very well know musician for a cover of a magazine. I still haven’t been paid. I am also out x amount of money as I had to pay a stylist, assistant, and equipment. I am loosing money as I wait as I’ve had to pay interest on credit cards, etc…

If I had known this magazine was going to take so long to pay, might I have done something differently? Did I ask the wrong questions about getting paid? Might my priorities now be when do I get paid or should I completely change my business model and create a cash on delivery business? Wedding photographer do…so why shouldn’t editorial photographers?

Why should I float x company who could easily have a check sent to me directly to pay for expenses? Why shouldn’t I have the power to ask or do so?

I’ve toyed with websites like www.printroom.com where you upload images and clients pay to get them down. Imagine, I shoot a job for x magazine in which I have no relationship. I shoot, process, then upload to this server where an e-commerce transaction takes place via a credit card. I get paid (minus a small service charge) and the client gets their images. No waiting for months for money that may or may not come. I mean once you give up the goods, the company has no purpose to pay you on time or quickly.

Photographers, we need to rethink our business models, take on the current business situation, and push forward with new strategies in order to make it. I am still out of money from this company but this expensive mistake has taught me loads.