RWANDA: PART TWO

Monday, June 15th: We got up early and drove out to the Akagera Game Lodge in the Eastern Province. Scene of the now infamous Baboon Incident. An interesting thing about Rwanda is the quality of the roads. The paved roads are great and even the dirt roads are better than some "paved" roads in California. We passed by mud-brick house after mud-brick house. And there were little kids everywhere. But nearly everyone has food and water and many have electricity. We got to the national park and signed up for a total DIY safari. We supplied the car and driver and they supplied the park ranger (named Kalimbu Charles). He was awesome. We drove into a grassland valley and found Impala, Zebra, Water Buffalo, tons of birds, 2 snakes, Antelope, etc. (Check out my Ryan McGinley-style zebra shot). Ha! We also encountered biting Horse Flies and Tse Tse Files. Damn those things are ugly. We even got in a motorboat and cruised out into the lake looking for Crocodiles and Hippos. We only saw some lame birds but being out on the water was great. And we had a nice view of the hills of Tanzania. After the day long safari we retired to the Game Lodge.













photos © geoffrey ellis

RWANDA: PART ONE

Sunday, June 14th: We went to the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. It was intense. No words can describe. Just so unbelievable. 1,000,000 killed in 3 months. How is that even possible? Wall of names, mass graves, photos, tributes, skulls, bones - totally horrifying, but very well done and tasteful in terms of memorial and education. After that we visited a metal co-op where they make things out of old oil drums. Woks, BBQ grills, cake tins, chairs, foot lockers... it was incredible. Then we walked around a vibrant neighborhood with tons of local businesses and all of them had the most kick-ass hand-painted signs. I felt like we were in Memphis for a minute! We also ate a lot of great fish and chicken and Sarah did a bunch of "legwork" before I got there and found our favorite beer for us called Mützig.









photos © geoffrey ellis

WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK!

I was going to post from Rwanda a few days ago but internet wasn't cooperating so that post will come later. More importantly, this morning in Akagera, we were eating breakfast at the lodge and a baboon charged into the dining room, jumped on the table and stole our pastries! We jumped up from the table and I grabbed my camera and started shooting. Sarah was screaming like crazy and we were both totally freaked out - but laughing too. It was completely ridiculous. All I can say is, Africa is awesome.

SLAPPETIME

Sarah was in China so I went to Portland for about 36 hours to see my friend Stephen Slappe's amazing 3-channel video installation called Shelter In Place. It's at NAAU and it's awesome so if you are in PDX you should go see it before it's gone (it closes June 14th). Go, go go. Now, now, NAAU!





photos © geoffrey ellis

TEN YEARS LATER

I met Sarah 10 years ago today. A couple of days later I asked her out and a couple of days after that we went on our first date and I never looked back. I can't describe how lucky I am to have her. She is better than the best wife I could have ever imagined.

This is the earliest known photo of our relationship, taken on May 22, 1999. A decade may seem like a long time, but believe me, we're just getting started.



photo © geoffrey ellis

MY SLPS SLIDESHOW

Here is the original edit of my SLPS slideshow (which for some reason they edited when showing the other night). Enjoy!

GEOFFREY ELLIS: SLPS SF II from geoffrey ellis on Vimeo.

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW SF II

My photos will be shown Friday night at the Slideluck Potshow SF II. It's a slideshow/potluck party packed with art and free food. What a combo!

Artists in the show are:
Adam Lau * Alan George * Andy Freeberg * Alexander Warnow * Ariel Zambelich * Bryan Alberstat * Carmen Winant * Christian Peacock * David Butow * David Paul Morris * Deanne Fitzmaurice * Douglas Adesko * Elinor Carucci * Geoffrey Ellis * Grant Ernhart * Jeff Enlow * Jon Feinstein * Khaled Hasan * Kira Sugarman Shemano * Lara Hata * Lorenzo Triburgo * Matt Reamer * Melissa Barnes * Michael Jang * Robert Herman * Robin Schwartz * Shepard Fairey * Stephen McGee * Todd Hido * Toni Greaves * Victor Blue *(I didn't have time to do everyone's links, but if you are on here, email me your link and I'll put it up!)

Hey, that's a pretty good list! Although sad to see a couple of other local friends didn't make it, I will pour some developer fluid on the block in their memory.

My slideshow features images from my current record store project.





Details:

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW SF II
Friday, May 8th, 2009
7pm Potluck
9pm-11pm Slideshow
LeftSpace, 2055 Bryant Street, SF

RSVP on Facebook

AFTERPARTY: Mission Hill Saloon
491 Potrero Ave [Between 17th & Mariposa]

RECORD STORE DAY 2009

Saturday, April 18 is Record Store Day! It's a "celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA."

So tomorrow, go to a record store, if you are in Memphis, check out GONER (one of my favorites) and if you are in the SF Bay Area try Amoeba, Aquarius, Vinyl Solution. If you are elsewhere, consult the HUGE list of participating venues on Record Store Day dot com.






photos © geoffrey ellis,

EASTER VALLEY OF THE SUN

Happy ridiculously tacky oversized bunny and chick day.




photo © geoffrey ellis

SOMETIMES, PROGRESS CAN SUCK IT

Horse racing is fun. Sarah and I win all the time - well, Sarah wins all the time. The key is to pick the horses that remind us of our cats. The hell you say? Well, once we won $500 at Bay Meadows on a trifecta based on the looks of our cats. So it pains me that in the name of progress, the city of San Mateo has torn down the Bay Meadows racecourse, the longest continually operating thoroughbred racetrack in California. It's was so old that even Seabiscuit ran there (and won) back in 1937 and 1938. So thank the Lord for closing something awesome and historical so a new commercial and housing development can be built.

Here's what's left of Bay Meadows.



photo © geoffrey ellis