Tonight I was playing around with my camera at C4 Workspace. It had been raining off and on all day and the streets were wet. I wanted some shots of the traffic lights and headlights glancing off the wet and reflective intersection of Durango and S. St. Mary. A drizzle was coming down and I was hanging in close to the building enjoying what little protection an overhang from the roof provided. With no warning there was a blast of light. I blinked and looked up and around just as the explosion of thunder cracked like a length of lumber splitting. I watched in awe and bemusement as a line of sparks arced down from the transmitter tower of Univision, just across Durango from me. This mini fireworks display was fleeting and short-lived, evaporating after maybe a second. I do believe the television antenna a mere block to the north got struck by a bolt of lightening. Nature, in all her tempestuous displays, can surely amaze and entertain; you’d just better hope you didn’t book a front row seat by accident. Because–and here, a word to the wise–she can fuck you up.

Here are a couple of photos I was working on:

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These winter days of cold and wet bullshit are wearing on my nerves. I want sunshine. I want to go on bike rides along the Mission Trail. I want fine and warm respite!

Because of this nasty weather, I actually found myself hanging out fairly late tonight at C4. I thought I’d just wait for the rain to slack off some. After an hour of sitting on the sofa catching up on my RSS feeds and listening to the incessant gurgle of hundreds of gallons of that shit running down the rain spout off the roof, I had to bundle up and make a dash for my truck. And so now I’m home listening to my neighbor’s music through the wall. I have no idea what he listens to, but for some reason the throb of bass and drum makes me think it’s nothing by Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” on a constant rotation. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a serious fan of fast and loud music (I’d not give up my Scratch Acid albums without a fight); but, correct me if I’m wrong, all music heard from someone else’s domicile seriously sucks.

Oh, wait. I just turned down the Jesus Lizard blasting off my stereo long enough to realize the neighbor’s turned off his music. Good for him.

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Welcome to another typical San Antonio day for Erik Bosse, the unemployed art busybody.

I began the day a bit late. Near noon I made my way to my desk at C4 Workspace with coffee and a late breakfast of a sandwich from the Filling Station next door (they make great pizzas and phenomenal sandwiches, and they’re great people–so, folks, feed there!). I looked over some old emails I’d put off. One was from a woman in Portland who’s on FaceBook with me. She’s a cyclist and has somehow befriended the Rev. Phil Sano, this guy who has curated a traveling film event called “the Pornography of the Bicycle.” It’s got my attention. Two things I love. Bikes and porn. What a magical melange!

It seems this bike porn guy (I’ve gotten in the habit of referring to him thusly) wants to move his traveling show into the Texas market. About fucking time! So, this FaceBook friend of mine, in the interest of spreading bicycling goodness, has connected me with Phil Sano. I sent off some possible allies in San Antonio who might help bring this unusual and curious (and, perhaps, educational) experience to San Antonio.

If this show comes to town, you’d better believe I’ll be there!

Later in the day Seme Jatib dropped by C4. We discussed some collaborative projects. It looks like I might be providing a single channel projection piece that she can dance along with at the January W-I-P. Jump-Start, Wed., Jan. 27th. Oh, and don’t come just for Seme. There will also be works in progress presented from Maggie Lasher (contemporary dance), and Laurie Dietrich (a performance art piece). Like all of the W-I-P performances, it’ll be outstanding, This monthly fruitful collaboration between Jump-Start and the San Antonio Dance Umbrella is put on by ST Shimi and Amber Ortega-Perez–they are heavy-hitters in the performance and dance scene, and I’m honored that not only do they both return my phone calls, but I have worked with both of them on creative projects. These girls kick ass–not just as performers, but also as curators. W-I-P is, hands down, the most interesting and yet over-looked venue for super-cool performance work in town. What are you waiting for? It’s only five bucks.

But I digress.

The video work I hope to provide for Seme will truly work as a work in progress. Seme will consider the feedback provided by the audience at this upcoming W-I-P and the both of us will work to further the piece for Luminaria, and other possible venues. Following the W-I-P performance, we’d like to work on a live collaboration: instead of a prerecorded single-channel video projection to accompany Seme’s unfolding choreography, the video component would be real-time manipulation of the projected images, accompanied, most likely, by a manipulated projection of a live camera feed.

I all sounds very interesting. Oh yes, and loads of fun.

The next stop was a meeting over at URBAN-15. George Cisneros is co-chair, this year, of Luminaria. I’d wanted to talk with him about the film/media component of Luminaria (me and Adam Rocha are co-chairing this committee). We need to firm up the A/V needs to see if the budget can handle what the film/media artists are wanting. Unexpectedly, today, I was lucky enough to find myself in a meeting concerning a large scale multi-media project. I was included because this proposed project needs video projection and might well impact the works I will be facilitating.

The last stop on my typical art and cultural day was meeting with Angela and Rick Martinez of Slab Cinema. They joined me at C4 before the big rains began. Angela and Rick have been at the forefront of outdoor cinema in San Antonio for years. They were involved in Luminaria all along–2008 and 2009. They provide the outdoor screenings of films at HemisFair and at Main Plaza. Having a Luminaria without this couple would be plain stupid.

That was my San Antonio day, hanging out with cool folks in the arts. It’s not a bad life. I might not be making any money, but lately I have been graced with a well-paying sporadic job. This lets me do a lot of freebies. I’m thinking now that I need to be a lot more cautious with the freebies I give. As I said to Seme today, I want to work with people who are smart and creative and dependable. I’ll add to this trifecta, those who have a sense of humor. All of the people I’ve gushed about in this blog fit these criteria.

Anyway, we’ll just have to see if I make a clean and smart break from projects that don’t benefit from me, and put my energy in those which do.

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To end on a film-related note, I don’t know how this ultra-groovy coffee mug clearly created by the San Antonio Film Commission made it’s way to my home away from home–C4 Workspace–but it looks great. I had to take a picture.

Let’s all share the love! The San Antonio Film Commission is tops! And who don’t love that logo?