Author Archive

Hipstamatic will release a new lense!

I really enjoy taking photos with Hipstamatic for my iphone. Through the use of filters the application takes what would be a normal photo and turns it into something magical.

The new lense is out for fashion week, after that it will be for sale for a $1.

Check it.

-Paul Palandjian


My Favorite Iphone App: Hipstamatic

Turn camera into a nostalgia machine!

As technology speeds past us it’s perhaps not surprising that we retain an affection for analogue clunkiness. Hipsters have shown a taste for taking everything from the crackle of vinyl to tatty Barbour jackets and dragging them back into fashion. It’s this trend for thrift-store artiness that’s responsible for one of last year’s biggest-selling iPhone apps, the Hipstamatic. For just £1.19 it lets the iPhone’s digital camera produce pictures that look something like your parents’ 1972 holiday snaps.

The app itself recreates the look of an old square-frame camera and takes Polaroid-style pictures. With the swipe of a finger you can change its virtual lenses and film formats to create a variety of over-saturated or discoloured effects.


Checker Board Foundation’s film series

Excerpted from the Checker Board Foundation’s film series of famous architects and their lifes work, this footage displays his most recent residential masterpiece, Woodstock Farm. Located in Woodstock, Vermont, the master architect who as dubbed by Steven Holl as the “poet of place” shows his sensitivity to his New England routes and his unique blend of purity, warmth and vision with respect to context of place. I am interviewed about my experience of working with Rick and our successful tribute to the New England family farm. Recently selected for the 2010 Architectural Record – Record Houses of the Year Award, it is the fourth such award for Rick Joy, and my first. Special mention must be made to Erik Tobiason and Tucker Johnson of Colby and Tobiason Builders whose skill and craftsmanship is clear evidence of their elite status among the world of luxury home builders. Jason Eaton and Mark Johnson of Chippers Inc. Land Enhancement Specialists are enlisted to commence a 10 year program for forestry, wildlife, recreation and agriculture as we have placed the land into protection under the Vermont State Current Use program. The home and barn and future buildings planned for the property will be completely “off the grid” while embracing geothermal, solar, hydro-electric and wind technologies.

-Paul Palandjian

Woodstock Farm Interview


Besa Tsintsadza – Drill Demonstration

There’s a revolution heading toward Boston….line up boyz.
Clinics for Eagles and shhhh… perhaps a new skating coach to be named for next 3-6 yrs…?


Dad & Me

I was so sun burned that I had to be carried everywhere sitting in a chair…my dad was driving the boat chatting with his friend BM and forgot my mom was waterskiing….she fell and he drove about a mile leaving her in shark infested waters for a solid half hour….well they stayed married for 37 mostly awesome years but that was a major blunder.

Peace, P.


Experimenting With iPhone’s Hipstamatic Photo App

Surrealistic photography, including solarization, cross-processing or just plain dark room manipulation was once a labor-intensive art form (still is art, I think), but can now be done with a smart phone, an app and a snap. Done. Of course, there are many more, let’s say, noble benefits of this new wave of mobile technology, but this ability to be creative on the spot can be a huge bonus to anyone’s life.

The photos below were created using Hipstamatic on the iPhone, and there are many more out there, like Camera Bag and Lo Mob.

Hipstamatic
Camera Bag
Lo Mob


Bannik, the Spirit of the Bania

Medieval Europe had its bath house fairies, Finland’s sauna was the home for elves, the North American Fox Indians had Manitou in their sweat lodges, and the Russians bania was the haunt of the Bannik. Unlike other sweat house spirits, the Russian Bannik had a mischievous streak and rarely did anyone good. Bannik was described by rare witnesses as an old man with hairy paws and long nails. He lived behind the stove or under the benches and revealed himself only when he was unhappy with the bath or if someone had been disrespectful. Often it was the newcomer who received his wrath.

If Bannik became angry, watch out! Bathers were known to have lost their skin and had their bodies wrapped around the stove for loud singing, talking or swearing in the bath–or simply for being a stranger. You were wise not to lie or boast, and certainly not to have sexual intercourse in the bath! Red hot rocks and boiling water have also been known to be thrown by a displeased Bannik.

To protect yourself from the Bannik, etiquette required making the sign of the cross before entering the bania, wishing your comrades a good bath and, when leaving, wishing the Bannik a hearty goodbye. Since the Bannik liked a clean room and bathed at least once a week, cleaning and heating the bania were duties that could not be neglected. The Bannik could control the quality of steam and could transform harmless steam into deadly coal gas if he wasn’t satisfied.The third or fourth round of bathing was always reserved for the Bannik who liked to bathe alone in the dark. Soap, lye, and birch twigs were left behind for him. And a little extra because the Bannik sometimes invited his forest friends to join him–sometimes the Devil himself.

You knew when the Bannik had his friends in by the purring noise of their conversation. This was never a time to enter a bania alone. However, if you were curious and wanted to see the bania spirit, you had to go alone. You would step in with one leg and at the same time take your cross off your neck and put it under the heel of your left foot which symbolized your denial of God.

The Bannik might then reveal himself. From time to time, Bannik expected a sacrifice. After an old bania had been burned down and before a new one could be erected, a black chicken had to be choked and buried under the building site. Then, to assuage the rascal, salt was thrown over the stove during the first heating of the bania.The bania also housed benevolent supernatural forces. Witches and sorcerers gathered in the bania to estahlish a link with these superior powers and here, surrounded by the magic forces of the bania, evil could be extracted from the body and the future prophesied.

The magical attributes of the sweat bath were the reason that the critical stages of a Russian’s life–birth, adulthood, marriage, and death–were conducted in the bania. The moment a person moved from the known to the unknown, they were vulnerable to evil forces that could enter and consume the Russian soul. With proper ritual, the bania’s powers could be summoned to protect the Russian during life’s crucial transitions.




Paul Palandjian

I am quite proud to have worked on behalf of the Denis Leary Firefighter Foundation. Along with a lost sense of Americana and the post WWII patriotism found in our culture, Firefighters, Police, Military - once the hero's to youth generations - are now over worked, under paid and over looked. It disgusts me.

It seems to me that those things we now value - have no substance what-so-ever. People are famous for being famous. People gain fame and fortune from having fame and fortune. Journalism has morphed into infotainment and there is no longer a discernible difference between the National Enquirer, The Boston Globe or the Nightly News. It's disgusting. Lies become reality in the multimedia age. There is almost no sense of civic responsibility that converts to duty.

In this age of the sensationalism of unsensational people, a few people - rise above the rest - give of themselves and inspire us simply by being responsible and kind. Denis Leary is an example of a great American. Much of what he does to help various causes and groups of people is not known to the public. He courts no fame or favor for his various acts of kindness. He simply helps others because he can.

Denis s pursued a passion for acting and entertainment, has risen to the top of a profession populated largely by flakes and the self-absorbed and all the while; Denis has remained authentic and responsible. He exhibits an undying commitment toward public service men and women. Specifically, Denis' work on behalf of Firefighters in the U.S. is tangible and has made a huge difference in their lives and the lives of their families.

I am humbled by the contributions and sacrifices made by Firefighters - you know, the men and women who run into a burning building when everybody else is running out. What ever happened to thanking our public service men and women for their service and protection? Why are those that do so much get paid so little?

Denis was so complimentary to me in this interview, I must also thank him for his comparisons he makes to describe critical and creative thinking on the Board, the quality of my acting craft, and my unpredictable puck control and moves while playing hockey.

Thanks Denis...you are too kind. P


  • SUBSCRIBE

  • Paul Palandjian

    Paul Palandjian
  • CATEGORIES

  • Copyright © 1996-2010 Paul Palandjian. All rights reserved.
    Jarrah theme by Templates Next | Powered by WordPress