Matt Cooper’s Blog

Did you know there’s a lot of cool stuff happening on the open ocean RIGHT NOW? You might think that every record must have been broken by now. It would seem like it would be pretty hard in this day and age to think of something new to do on the water. Not so, check this out. I’m gonna to post these in batches so stay tuned for updates.

Right now there’s a 16 year old dude who just set out on a solo around-the-world cruise. His name is Zac Sunderland, and if he can make it back in time, he’ll be the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe. You might know about Robin Lee Graham who left Los Angeles in 1965 and made it around the world by himself in a tiny 24′ boat. But that story is so different. Unlike Zac, he wasn’t in such a hurry. He seemed to be more interested in experiencing life on a very extreme level. Along the way he met his wife (who he’s still married to), chilled out in Tahiti, Africa, The Bahamas, and The Galapagos. Robin and his wife Patti even managed to get pregnant along the way. The motion of the ocean! (brown chicken brown cow)Anyway, all that adventure took some time so he didn’t make it back until he was 21. So again, if Zac stays on his schedule he’ll be back before he’s old enough to vote and will take the title of the youngest person to ever sail around the world alone.

Zac has sponsors and a few cameras on board so his story will be captured for a TLC special at a minimum. If you’re interested in reading about Robin’s adventure get The Dove in paperback. I just finished it and, to say the least, it was inspiring. It’s truly hard to compare Robin and Zac as today there’s so much more technology. Zac is calling home everyday and speaking to his mother on a Iridium satellite phone. I’m not saying that Zac isn’t facing danger and that he’s not unusually focused and gifted. I guess I’m just saying that 1965 was—oh hell I don’t know what I’m saying.

Here’s a Youtube Deep Cutâ„¢ that shows the original Dove. Look how small that thing is. Can you imagine? No phone. No internet. No satellite weather reports. No GPS. All he had was a sextant and a huge pair of balls.

But that was then and this is now. Zac is out there in the middle of the Pacific. He’s just as sleep deprived as any single handed sailer. It’s just as cold and even though he gets to call home I’m sure he’s a little lonely. Wish him well if you like by checking out his blog. I love the internet!

If you don’t remember Nina Hagen or you simply don’t know who she is here’s a little crash course. I’m gonna walk you through this in order so try to keep up.

This first clip is a quick one. This is just an appetizer.

Notice the Frech guy exhale with relief when she was done. Too good.

Moving on. Nina is a signer who was considered an opera prodigy by the time she was nine. She started performing in the 70′s and became famous during the punk rock era. So Imagine a punker who can sing opera. What would that sound like to you? Now watch the clip below.

Ok that was fucking amazing right? I mean the woman is channeling another dimension. So, what’s she like? Well, she’s into UFO’s and she even saw one with her won eyes in Malibu of all places. At 5:00 minutes in she talks with David Letterman about her experience of seeing a 10 meter round glowing object. But, she says something that I’ve never heard anyone ever say about a UFO experience. The UFO was changing colors “…and each color had another feeling—made me feel different.”

Here’s Nina in possessed gypsy mode. Looking at this I start to see that she my be an alien herself. Watch this next clip and tell me I’m wrong. I’m pretty convinced this woman is just visiting the planet.

A little creepy huh. Ok, well here’s how it all comes together in a hit song and video from the 80′s. Notice how this video is a LIVE performance. It was a different era…

Wasn’t that a cool song? So, if you didn’t know who Nina Hagen was before this, now you do!

Now go visit her website.

You know the first thing he did when he bought this car was to take it up to 88 mile per hour.

I walked around this weekend and was blown away at how nice is was there. Firstly, all the kennels are outside and everything was super clean. They had a special cat room. They had a reptile room, an aviary, and a area for bunnies. The pound isn’t an easy place to visit but I’m telling you they are doing a great job here. Van Nuys is coming up man!

It’s getting remodeled. I can’t wait to see what it’s gonna look like.

Before:

After:

May 31, 1948 – September 25, 1980

When was the last time you listened to Led Zeppelin? Will music ever be this good again? I was 13 when John Bonham died and I was just starting to listen to music. Over the next few years I would learn every note of every album—yes those black things that spun around, they were so Victorian. These days I gobble up a new CD in a month and then it’s off the radar: lost somewhere under my car seat. After that I move on to the next new release, if there is one. After reading the list below go listen the “The Rain Song”. Fergie? Nickelback? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Old grumpy man signing off.

This Weeks Top 10

Kanye West
Graduation

50 Cent
Curtis

Kenny Chesney
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates

Soundtrack
High School Musical 2

Miley Cyrus
Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus

Fergie
The Dutchess

Nickelback
All The Right Reasons

Colbie Caillat
Coco

Various Artists
NOW 25

Justin Timberlake
FutureSex/LoveSounds

I put together a little website for Chad’s documentary. It’s a really goood film he made. I think he gonna start selling a DVD pretty soon.

Check out the site and watch the trailer here Buskers: The Story of Street Performers

I took these on top of Mulholland on the way home from work. There’s this new thing where you take a few shots at bracketed exposures and then you fuse them together on the computer which gives it this crazy look. It’s a pretty fun little gimick.

More HDR photos on Flickr.