NWR just released the [remixed] version of the Karmakaze EP with no less than 3 ArK47 remixes. I made these tracks back in 2008 while living on Venice Beach and it looks like they are now seeing the light of day. I think I gave H3wig about 6 different versions of these tracks – as usual I could not decide which one to finish. Its cool to see that he picked 3 of them to be on this album. Its an interesting little view at how I was making music during that time. I think that if I had to do it again today it would have turned out different – but I guess I can say that about anything I do.

Other notable artists on this album are Austrian Rock/Electronica group Sofa Surfers. Check out Karmakaze on iTunes or listen below.

NWR is produced and fronted by H3rwig Maurer a.k.a. Agent H, a charismatic Venice Beach-based community organizer, multimedia artist and space/time traveler (academy award nomination for sound on Mel Gibson’s’ Apocalypto, Hostel, Mankind Liberation Front, Smack3000, art featured in Rolling Stone, electronic hits charted by Star DJs like John Digweed and Carl Cox)

At 9am on Saturday morning I suddenly felt inspired. I’d rented a camera and some lenses the previous day from Adolph Gasser, the camera sales and rental store near my office. The new breed of DSLR cameras out there can shoot HD video with as much clarity and color as the photos themselves. I’ve been wanting to rent one of these cameras for almost a year. My fun experience with Max a few weeks ago added the final bit of fuel to my motivation. I rolled over and announced that I wanted to make a movie about Zoe brushing her teeth. At first she looked at me like I was completely crazy, but I’m used to that.

“Ummmm….?” She said.

“A movie about waking up, getting up, brushing your teeth and having tea.”

“Tea?” She asked.

I nodded.

“I’m in!” She said.

We do love our morning tea.

And so we made a movie…

… and here’s what I learned: Making movies is hard.

It is definitely many orders of magnitude more difficult than just taking a photo. There are so many more variables at play. I rarely use a tripod for photos, but its almost essential for most shots in a movie. Making the music was also more challenging than I ever imagined.

Zoe was so great to work with. She has a lot of experience with TV and film. She knows about continuity and she makes sure that she moves exactly the same in each shot. There were details that she was paying attention to that I didn’t even notice until I reviewed all of the raw videos. She also has a wealth of knowledge about the story-creation and editing process that really helped me break through some obstacles.

Overall I am really pleased with the results. There is always room for learning and improvement but it is a great first try. If you don’t see the video below you can click on this link to see it in HD on vimeo.

Morning Ritual from Ron Kurti on Vimeo.

“The Passport Sling gives you freedom for your every move, protection for your DSLR and lots of space for your personal items.”

“Designed for the photojournalist. Adopted by the enthusiast. Enhanced for all. Lowepro updates the best-selling and award-winning SlingShot AW series.”

These two gnarly bros left Berkley Music School and moved to LA to start a production company. In the process they came up with a concept band called Mankind Liberation Front (LaLa). MLF quickly signed a contract with one of those archaic companies (ie: a record label) and were soon making music videos and appearances.

I was working in a design firm at the time, but I spent the majority of my spare time hanging out in the studio with them, working on their website (1999), smoking weed, then smoking Ran’s weed, and helping out. When the guys started practicing a live show they recruited me to be the backup keyboardist. Mostly because I was free, eager, did not require the limelight, and followed directions well.

The rest of the details are pretty hazy.

MLF’s sound combined rock music with electronic beats. At the time the record label didn’t really know what to do with them. I wonder how they would have fared now in the age of online marketing and self-promotion. I imagine they could have gained a pretty large following of young fans.

Soon thereafter Ran’s younger brother, Tal (creator of Dopetracks.com), came on board and added another layer of vocals to the mix.

You probably never heard of MLF, but if you heard them today what would you think?

I love this part of an airport. The airplane… docked.. being prepped for its journey. I have a child-like obsession with this kind of big mysterious technology. Why?

The physics of flight is simple; in theory. Wing surface area + Air pressure. But… this is just a big metal thing!! How can it float like that?

There’s something about airplanes. I can’t quite put my finger on it; it is a combination of mysterious technology coupled with their size and strength.

The hotspot on the top left which then grows downward is probably the Gmail logo and my gmail folder/labels. The hotspot on the bottom is my fireworks tools. The hotspot along the right side is my os x dock.

Geeky art at its best!

Well, not really together. Back-to-back. Same surgeon. Same hospital. Same room. The hospital staff got a kick out of it. Our mom’s thought we were nuts. Our friends were really sweet – thanks LexPau for coming over to babysit us.

You may think we’re crazy too, but imagine… We got to spend a whole day together in a cool hi tech place. We had very friendly staff look after us. We got to wear pretty yellow socks. Then we went home and took pain killers all weekend. Doesn’t sound so bad now does it?

The videos below are not leaked scenes from James Cameron’s latest underwater films. These are our very own inner worlds shot during our surgeries by the steady hands of Dr. Kenneth Akizuki. (warning: not for the fait of heart)

Video watching bonus: see if you can spot the part where the camera leaves our bodies and films the operating room.

Ron’s Labrum Lasso

Anthroscopic Shoulder Surgery – Repairing a torn labrum from Ron Kurti on Vimeo.

Zoe’s knee cap cleanup

Anthroscopic Knee Surgery – Removing tissue from underneath the knee cap from Ron Kurti on Vimeo.