op-ed: Thank You John Edwards, It's About Time

Today's endorsement of Barack Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination by former rival John Edwards was a huge step toward the legitimacy of Obama's claim for the presidency, and will hopefully bring this incredibly long Democratic Primary closer to its inevitable conclusion.

Though Hillary Clinton refuses to give up, she trails in pledged delegates, superdelegates and the popular vote. Her campaign is over $20 million over budget. The time for her to drop is approaching, and though she vows to fight on until the end, the window for her nomination is nearly shut.

Even Clinton herself made a nod toward party unity and support for Obama if (or when) the time comes.

"Anybody who has ever voted for me or voted for Barack has much more in common in terms of what we want to see happen in our country and in the world with the other than they do with John McCain," Clinton said on CNN's "The Situation Room."

"I'm going to work my heart out for whoever our nominee is. Obviously, I'm still hoping to be that nominee, but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that anyone who supported me ... understands what a grave error it would be not to vote for Sen. Obama."

However, exit polls are currently indicating that only 36 percent of Hillary supporters would vote for Obama over McCain if he were the Democratic nominee.

What does seem promising is the potential benefit of an Obama-Edwards ticket. Following the nearly 2-1 Clinton victory in West Virginia, Obama's inability to pull white, working-class supporters has once again called into doubt. However, that key Clinton demographic was actually an even stronger Edwards demographic before he dropped from the primary race.

Though the partnership is no more than rumor and theory at this point, the concept carries some weight. The reality of an Obama-Clinton ticket is seemingly long gone. Bill Richardson, though a good candidate and running-mate, has been seemingly vacant from the public eye.

As it seems now, the support garnered by an Obama-Edwards ticket has the best chance for popular support and political success.

As Edwards said to the crowd gathered in Grand Rapids, Mich., "Brothers and sisters, we must come together as Democrats. We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I."

photos: May Day Immigrant Rights Rally

It's been a little while — over two weeks to be exact — but I'm finally posting my May Day Immigrant Rights Rally photos. The rally was an incredible experience... though I'd been to one similar back in 2006 in Wenatchee, this blew that out of the water in every way. Though I haven't heard official numbers, there were definitely thousands upon thousands of people, legal and illegal, black, white, brown and other, all marching for peace and equality. That made me pretty happy. It was the first time I'd ever done anything like it, and I hope it won't be the last. What I do need to improve on, however, is my storytelling ability through photos; for instance, I wish I'd had a chance to talk with the man in the first photo. It all comes back to the idea that "everyone has a story," and the goal of photojournalism is to help tell it. A pretty image only goes so far.

These were all shot with my Canon 40D and 16-35 f/2.8 lens.

ABOVE: This is definitely my favorite from the day. I actually overlooked it when sorting through on deadline for publication at The Daily, but in retrospect this should have been my cover shot hands down. There's one lesson in the way of sorting through frames on a tight deadline. I think it's the cross-lighting that does it most for me, accenting his face and the American flag draped across his shoulders. There's a passion there, and I can feel it looking at this image the same as I could when I was looking at his face that day.

ABOVE: The hard hats and safety vests that a large group of rally leaders wore were really symbolic to me. I liked this image because it was crisp and really froze the action at a time where things were actually moving very quickly.

ABOVE: This is another more standard "chanting and marching" rally photo. Again, I liked that I was able to freeze the action in a very fast-paced moment. Backpedaling to keep up was intense, but worthwhile and necessary. I really like the framing of the man in front between the two behind him.

ABOVE: At the front of the procession, there were several people dressed in traditional outfits beating drums and chanting. Though I don't claim to understand what they were doing, saying or representing, I did realize the significance of connecting with history. On an aesthetic level, I think I liked this photo both because of the bright colors and the mysticism that the incense smoke added.

ABOVE: One of the things that was most interesting to me as a photojournalist was presence of children at the rally. Though some were barely able to walk and clearly too young to understand what was going on, others (who were still quite young) were incredibly passionate about the cause at hand. This boy's sign reads "I don't want immigrants to leave to Mexico, because I want my family together!" This is actually the only photo posted here that was printed, but I'm glad that it was; I think it represents an important part of the day and the movement as a whole.

ABOVE: This boy was one of my favorites of the entire day. There was definitely a lot of emotion in his face, which I honestly don't think I quite captured, but I did recognize it. My friend David Kasnic captured an amazing shot of this little guy during the actual march.

news: Red Bull Gravity Challenge held at TDX

PHOTO: Marked eggs were used to promote the Red Bull Gravity Challenge, held on May 9 at Theta Delta Chi fraternity at the University of Washington. The competition, a science fair egg drop "done Red Bull style," was accompanied by a grand prize trip to Flugtag in Portland.

It's not often that the opportunity arises to drop eggs from a scissor lift over two stories high, but that's exactly what several teams got to do at the UW Red Bull Gravity Challenge held at Theta Delta Chi fraternity on May 9.

The event, emceed by UW Brand Manager Ryan Berry and DJed by local cut-master DJ Dyce, was scored by three celebrity judges: Steve Rock of 99.9 KISW, Greg Young of Northwest Riders and a member of the Red Bull "Wings Team." Points were given for style, accuracy, egg survival and whether the egg actually touched the ground.

"Team Feldman," made up of two Theta Delts, took first place with 84 points and won the grand prize trip to Flugtag in Portland.

The winning contraption was colorful and complex, consisting of helium-filled balloons attached to a shot glass — the egg container — cushioned by other air-filled balloons. It was "engineered" to let the egg roll out onto the target, scoring extra points.

Many other ingenious and creative designs made an appearance as well, including one made of a styrofoam container that used streamers as air resistance and another that used a shock-absorbing jar of peanut butter as their main element.

The Red Bull Gravity Challenge has been making appearances on college campuses from coast to coast.

review: Minus The Bear Rocks Tour End

PHOTO: Fans cheer wildly for hometown heroes Minus The Bear at their North American tour finale on May 8 at Showbox at the Market. The sold out performance was a huge hit for fans and the band with a wide variety of old and new songs.

As far as hometown shows go — or any show, for that matter — Minus The Bear's triumphant return to Seattle and The Showbox couldn’t have gotten any better.

Ending the two month North American tour in the Emerald City was fitting. Though New York trio The Big Sleep and Alaskan trio Portugal. The Man are great opening acts, the crowd was clearly there to see the hometown heroes.

Make no mistake — these guys rock really hard. That’s the one thought that circled through my head during the entire performance, and there’s no other way to say it. The concerts they’ve been selling out from coast to coast since early March are a clear reinforcement of that fact.

The band played through their entire hour and twenty minute slot plus a four song encore, breaking between sets just long enough to switch equipment or take a breath. Factor in how hard they were going at it, and the performance has to be respected at the very least.

Though some bands sound better with the benefit of studio equipment and post-processing, Minus The Bear — whose name comes from an inside joke referring to the 80s TV show “B.J. and the Bear” — is not one of them. The energy of the stage performance translated into musical energy at the same time, and let the audience feel what a great concert should.

The 1100 person capacity of Showbox at the Market was completely consumed, and it’s almost hard to put into words how in love the audience was. It was clearly a symbiotic relationship: the band fed off of their fans, the fans fed off of the band and the show escalated.

Drummer Erin Tate definitely deserves a shout out for his impressive playing. Minus The Bear’s music is incredibly rhythmic, and watching Tate flail wildly with intense precision showed how the sound is made possible. It’s hard to imagine working as hard as he was for one set, much less an hour and a half.

There was no out-with-the-old mentality either, though plenty of songs from their latest album release “Planet of Ice” were played. Plenty of crowd favorites from every past LP and EP were eagerly eaten up by the audience, including the first song Minus the Bear ever wrote called “Lemurs, Man, Lemurs.”

It was a successful and fun, if short, reunion between the band and the city. The thumbs up that bassist Cory Murchy kept giving the crowd said it all: Minus The Bear was happy to be home.

LISTEN: MINUS THE BEAR - "PACHUCA SUNRISE"

review: Pete and the Pirates - Little Death

8.2/10

Though they’ve been making lots of noise in Reading since before their European LP debut on Feb. 18, Pete and the Pirates’ US debut will undoubtedly be a spectacle.

“Little Death,” the Brit-popsters’ first full-length album, is upbeat, poignant, tender, raw, raucous and refined. Saying they bring a new sound to the scene would be a lie, but that doesn’t mean the well-kept rhythms and smooth, catchy melodies are any less impressive.

The sound really isn’t original; there are smatterings of Interpol, Bloc Party and Editors all mixed together. But, though I wouldn’t give them good marks for originality, it doesn’t matter in the end. The formulaic sound for successful and catchy British indie-rock is always a winner when it’s done well, and Pete and the Pirates do just that.

Though many of those bands, once up-and-coming, have moved on to bigger and better studios and a more refined sound, Pete and the Pirates do well to latch onto an urgent and energetic sound. Hopefully they’ll be able to hold on to that in the future.

One note to keep in mind is that the album is incredibly short, clocking in at just less than 36 minutes, but with 13 tracks it doesn’t feel undersized. The alternation of upbeat and slower songs keeps the album moving until the end.

The single “Mr. Understanding” is easily my favorite track on the album; it embodies everything that a pop-rock indie song should be. The music video is pretty entertaining too, in all of its apparently homemade splendor.

There are other great singles on the album too. “Knots,” the album’s first single release, is another great piece of pop-rock indie-ness, and “Moving” is a slowed-down track that rides on singer/guitarist Tom Sanders’ soothing vocals. Even the latest single, “She Doesn’t Belong to Me,” picks up after a slow start.

Though they don’t have any tour dates lined up outside of Europe yet, it would be worth it to keep watch. And now that “Little Death” has made it stateside, you should probably pick it up.

LISTEN: PETE AND THE PIRATES - "MR. UNDERSTANDING"

feature and photos: Red Bull Snow Warz '08

About three weeks ago I hitched a ride with the Husky Snowboard Team down to the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort in Truckee, Calif. for the third Red Bull Snow Warz competition. The trip was a blast, and I got an amazing opportunity to work on a few different parts of my journalism game. First, of course, was writing an "embed" type story, which I loved and really want to do more in the future; it was my first "gonzo" type experience, and it really reinforced my desire to pursue this as a career. Second, it was a huge learning experience for my photography. Shooting action sports is tough, and I really forced myself to get up in the action, even if it meant almost getting clipped by boarders on multiple occasions. And, after I had been shooting the jumps for a while, I wandered behind the scenes to look for other types of photos. Unfortunately, I wasn't good about getting names or other caption information... learned my lesson there. Third and final, it was my first time experimenting with audio — you can hear an exclusive freestyle clip from the event's MC below. I've also included five of my favorite photos and the story I wrote.

LISTEN: DUSTIN "DIRTY D" AMATO EXCLUSIVE FREESTYLE

Snow Warz: West coast comp tears up Lake Tahoe

It was time to roll out.

We were in the car, bumping Wu Tang out of a mini battery-powered iHome. The proverbial peace pipe was loaded. The boards were in back and the skis were strapped to the roll bar inside the roof.

It was a snowboard and ski competition. There were 14 hours of driving ahead of us. We were ready for Red Bull’s Snow Warz 2008 at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in Truckee, Calif.

After arriving and getting way too little sleep — the Hammer Award went to the rider who was “the last to stop drinking and the first to stop riding” — it was time for breakfast. There were tall tees and lazy beanies everywhere, and plenty of the riders were hung over.

But it didn’t matter that everyone had too much alcohol and too little sleep the night before; it was a perfect day to hit the mountain.

The sun was so bright and the sky so cloudless that anyone who didn’t have goggles or shades would go snow-blind. The only cold thing was the snow, and spring riding in 70-degree weather is just as good as it sounds.

The course was a legitimate pro construction. Through the gate was a down rail, followed by three jumps and ending with another down rail. It wasn’t huge, but it fit. The course flowed and was well put together, especially considering that the event is only three years old.

Snow Warz originated in 2006 as something completely different, a wakeboarding competition, at Western Washington University. Later that year the decision was made to trade in water for snow, and teams from 16 West Coast colleges showed up at The Summit at Snoqualmie. More than 230 riders registered at the 2008 event, more than tripling the first showing just three years prior.

“It’s grown a lot, and we brought it to Northstar and centralized it,” said Dave Goto, one of the original founders and this year’s organizer of the event. “It’s just huge. Kids are just killing it.”

Goto said he wants to see Snow Warz “taken to the next level” as a circuit for collegiate skiing and snowboarding, with a multiple-stop tour and a national championship. But even as a one-day event, the competition was a great opportunity for West Coast riders to show off their skills.

The day was definitely a good showing for the University of Nevada, Reno, the (almost) hometown heroes. Not only did all three of the school’s teams make it to the final round, but one of the teams, Eat Waffles, snagged the silver. Team Harvard, grabbed the gold, and Montana State University’s team rounded out the top three.

“The competition was off the hook!” said Dustin “Dirty D” Amato, the day’s emcee. “Team Harvard was throwing it down over there. They were wearing suits and ties, putting the cosine with the sine and doing their trajectory. Once they got the tangent lined up they had the right velocity and were just throwing it down.”

Team Harvard — called “Hard Vert” by the judges because of members’ ability to fly off the jumps — came up with its name when registration required a college association. They spent the rest of the trip convincing reporters, fellow boarders and even event staff that they had ponied up the cash to fly from Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, UW’s team Boss Tycoon didn’t fare so well. Though the members had thrown down big the day before at the nearby Boreal Mountain Resort, at Northstar they guys had a pretty weak first run and didn’t show for their second. While there was no Husky presence in the final heats, the team members were satisfied with their work.

“Snow Warz was dope,” said Parker Worthington, a freshman and captain of the UW team. “It was more about hanging out with everyone than the competition. It was like a Snoqualmie reunion. We had a lot of fun and kicked it with the homies.”

Washington’s roots in the competition showed despite the long drive, with three other teams from the Evergreen State making an appearance: Western Washington University, Central Washington University and Gonzaga University.

“It was a long way to go,” said Nathan Brown, a skier for Gonzaga’s team. “It’s a super sick event, almost all paid for, just a big party. It’s the last ski weekend of the year, and we can go out and just have fun out in the sun. You don’t need to be really competitive; we’re just here to have a good time, and everyone’s loving it.”

Even one of their teammates, who won the Tom Broke-Off Award for best crash — which involved him tearing a ligament in his shoulder after overshooting the course’s second jump — won a snowboard deck and seemed to be doing just fine.

The jump that he had an issue with gave other riders trouble as well, though there were no major injuries. Still, it brought light to the fact that there was a wide range of skill levels entered in the competition despite the course’s difficulty.

There was everything from skiers nailing 1080s and boarders throwing down switch backflips to riders who could barely clear the jumps. And, of course, one girl chose to hit the run in a chicken suit. But that didn’t matter; having fun was first priority. As one rider put it, “It was definitely more of a party mission than a snowboard one.”

review: The Roots - "Rising Down"

Here's my review of The Roots' latest (which, I'd just like to add, I rated the exact same as Pitchfork — crazy!):

7.8/10

“Yesterday I saw a big girl crying/I walked up and asked ‘What’s wrong?’/She told me that the radio’s been playing the same song all day long/So I told her ‘I’ve got something you’ve been waiting for…’”

So says “Rising Up,” the first single from The Roots tenth studio album Rising Down. The beats are steady, and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter’s flows are as fluid and seamless as ever. But the Philly hip-hop group, whose original lineup was formed over 20 years ago, doesn’t need to prove their musical worth.

Though the group always pushes the envelope with their sound, what’s much more important here is their message. The political nature of Rising Down is visible beyond the music. Its name comes from William T. Vollmann's 3,300 page treatise on violence titled “Rising Up and Rising Down,” and the release date falls on the 16th anniversary of the Los Angeles Rodney King riots.

The album was supposed to be headlined by the track “Birthday Girl,” an “easy pop song” with a chorus sung by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. Instead, the track was turned into an exclusive iTunes release, and I’m glad — it’s a great song, but would have been utterly out of place on this release.

Instead, “Rising Down” is a starkly real portrait of a Philadelphia where drugs, guns and a crime culture are pushing the murder rate higher than one a day and the mindset that its created.

“Criminal,” a track dedicated to Sean Bell, is a reflection on the streets and unjust persecution. Bell was shot and killed by New York Police Department plainclothes detectives in 2006 outside a Queens strip club. The four officers, who fired a combined 50 rounds at the unarmed man, were acquitted of all charges last Friday.

There are some powerhouse guest appearances, Common, Talib Kweli and Mos Def included. But to get a real feel for the deeper ideas and message of “Rising Down,” it makes all the difference in the world to listen to the album’s freestyles like “@ 15,” “Unwritten,” and the album’s hidden track.

As much as the group insists Rising Down shouldn’t be a downer, it sort of is. The opening track is a recorded shouting match, and the only real chance to breathe is the track “Singing Man.” Despite that, the message is what shines through any issues with sound or tempo.

As drummer ?uestlove said in a Vanity Fair interview earlier this month, “Our approach has to be that Looney Tunes image of that professor having the mallet behind his back — unsuspecting and then mashing it over someone’s head. We’ll see. I just don’t know if people listen anymore. That’s the problem. You have to spoon-feed it to them. We'll try to open some ears.”

LISTEN: THE ROOTS - "RISING UP"