Alexander Stuart

On Sunday, we picnicked and hiked at Lyons Lake Dam, one of our absolutely favorite spots in Tuolumne County.  All photographs and video by Alexander Chow-Stuart 2012. The forest around the lake has both a tranquil quality...and a subtle sense of a David Lynch silence haunting the spaces between the trees. The dam itself is magnificent and a thrill to walk across and to walk under. Our children love it here - and so does our dog, Husky Go-Go ("go-go" is Mandarin for "dog;" she is seen running in the video above), whose first major excursion off the leash led to a wild run back and forth through the trees and the water. Total abandonment and joy. A heartwarming welcome.

I have become so enamored of Lana Del Rey's exquisite songs and equally beautiful music videos.  This one, for Carmen , is quite extraordinary - please watch all the way through to the end, when the music changes and Lana dances to one of the most haunting classical piano pieces ever, Erik Satie's   Gymnopédie No.1 - just astonishing.

I'm rapidly becoming a fan of the work of Sean and Seng , who made this short film of model Frida Aasen for Dazed & Confused , as well as the Interview magazine film of Lana Del Rey , a few posts below.

Artwork by ACS 2012. I'm aiming to have a totally superficial day .

I LOVE every minute of this video for Lana Del Rey's National Anthem - and I love the song.