Silkblog

The Wages of Glory

B Bloch — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:40:01 +0000

Wow. The images combined with the music in this video make it weirdly emotionally charged, and give it some unique artistic flare. Check it out…if bone-breaking ski jump falls don’t make you too queezy.

Gnarly Fun Surprise

B Bloch — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:07:59 +0000

At first you’ll be like “what the hell is going on here!?” especially if you don’t speak spanish, but wait until halfway through for a surprise.

A Bolt of Lightning!

B Bloch — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:38:35 +0000

Here is a 12 second clip of a magnificent bolt of lightning I happened to catch yesterday while out doing some filming.

What will people do for some free gas?

B Bloch — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:35:23 +0000

This is a strange little article on what people will do to get some free gas these days, given the outrageous prices. It reminds once again of the desperation, humiliation, and even savagery that people will sometimes go to for as little as $100 in gas. Let’s hope the days of Thunderdome are still far off!

People Desperate for Free Gas

Grizzly Bear - KNIFE

B Bloch — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:19:33 +0000

This is a cool song and video. Bizarre and delightfully so.

Fantastic Flying Dildo!

B Bloch — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:26:21 +0000

This is just an amazing little piece of footage. Absolutely Brilliant.

Goatsilk’s PORTRAITS FROM AN ARK on Youtube

B Bloch — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:54:26 +0000

Goatsilk has just placed all of the PORTRAIT’S FROM AN ARK project onto it’s own tidy little youtube channel. It’s pretty cool. Check it out at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/GoatsilkArk

For anyone unfamiliar with the PORTRAIT’S FROM AN ARK project, here’s a brief synopsis. When it has appeared in galleries, the videos are activated by voice request activation.

The 55 participants in Goatsilk’s PORTRAITS FROM AN ARK project sat down without knowing what animal they’d be painted to look like. When they were told midway through the filming, they enacted the creature using only facial expressions and minor hand gestures. Each video is set to music that we wrote to bring out the particular spirit of the painted animal, and digital effects are added at the end of each video to define the animal even further.

Photogenic Butte, Montana

B Bloch — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:15:14 +0000

If you haven’t guessed yet, Goatsilk loves Butte, MT. and wants to live there someday, to be fully submerged in Butte’s beauty. One remarkable thing about Butte is how photogenic it is. Photogenic-ness is a bit of a mystery, isn’t it? Why do some people always look good in pictures, and others always look busted? When someone is photogenic we have to wonder whether or not the camera captures some attractive energy which is beyond what the naked eye can see. Butte is like this. It’s hard to take a bad picture in Butte, whether you’re in the hills of nearly abandoned Walkerville, the historic district, or the commercial strip. The surrounding mountains and ruins and old mining infrastructure add poetry to nearly every shot/angle. Here is another set of photos from beloved Butte.

Antelope

B Bloch — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:14:34 +0000

Improv Everywhere’s Living Mirror!

B Bloch — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:31:39 +0000

Improv Everywhere has done a number of clever performance projects in NYC, including the Central Station and Home Depot freeze/slo mo actions, but this may be their best yet, IMO. They got 15 pairs of identical twins to ride the subway, sit across from each other, and mimic each others actions on the train. Talk about a mindf*%k if you happened to step onto that car. Check out this video to see for yourself. Great idea!

Trout Break The Surface on Quake Lake

B Bloch — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:09:43 +0000

Here goes a cool series of photos taken last evening on a Quake Lake boating excursion. The disturbances in the water’s surface are action shots of rising trout, like a fisherman’s dream.

Obama was there! For two days!

B Bloch — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:27:15 +0000

I imagined that Obama’s Butte visit was just a couple hours long–a jet pit stop–but today I learned that he in fact stayed in Butte for 2 whole days, and during this time Davis Guggenheim, the maker of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” was making a 5-10 minute documentary about Obama’s campaign using Butte as a backdrop. This seems so genius. since Butte is in many ways like Chicago in its early days. Obama is definitely aiming to have Montana vote democratic in the presidential election for only the 3rd time since 1948. I think it’s a good shot for him. Strategically the Obama campaign and those hovering around it can’t seem to do much wrong. Here’s some evidence he really was there, and you have to love the Butte mining structure in the background. Beautiful!

Oh yeah, and that’s Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana, in the lower right there. Apparently there’s buzz about him being one of ones they’re considering for VP. Interesting indeed.

Butte, America

B Bloch — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:55:19 +0000

Here are a few pictures from the 4th of July Parade in Butte, Montana. Barack Obama was actually in Butte today, and it had been publicized that he would march in this parade. Can you imagine the world’s eye suddenly turned on Butte? It reminds us of a time long ago when candidates canvassed the country by railroad. Unfortunately, however, a lack of security detail forced a last minute change of plans–to everyone’s disappointment–and Obama instead looked on from some safe-point. It’s a strange thing to have such a highly protected individual in a place like Butte, and frankly reminds us a little of the precious lone pregnant woman in the movie “Children of Men.” Later, Obama was present at a picnic event inside one of the town stadiums, which was limited to 2000 people who had been lucky enough to score free tickets in the days prior. We didn’t get any. Still, a good time was had by all in Butte, America.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #20: Golden Deer Leg Fetish

B Bloch — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:11:48 +0000

Well, we’ve arrived at episode #20, the grand finale goal for Goatsilk’s Daily Treasure’s project. 20 days of treasure hunting, 20 rapid-fire videos with accompanying e-bay auctions. We’ve been heartened (and surprised!) at how many of Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures have sold on e-bay.

We found this severed deer leg and challenged ourselves to make it into something glorious, desirable, auctionable….watch the video to learn about the aura it contains, and see the visual upgrade we’ve applied by gold-coating it and attaching a set of Mongolian peacock feathers. BID HERE to make this magical piece your own! Happy bidding! And be sure check back regular to see what comes next from Goatsilk.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #19: Lottery Nut Souvenir from West Yellowstone Curb

B Bloch — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:03:02 +0000

When scouring the wild land gets tiresome, we head for more urban terrain. West Yellowstone. It’s easy to find the valuable booty left behind by the millions of tourists passing through this hotspot at the edge of Yellowstone park. Yesterday we found a most curious object in a patch of grass on the edge of the sidewalk. It’s a comic sculpture of a “lottery nut,” depicted by a walnut who is crazy about playing the lottery. Sound familiar? I’m sure we all know one of these “nuts.” A bit more investigation revealed the origin of this unique piece-one of the nearby gift shops (of which there are dozens!) has a complete collection of these nuts. Stress nut, shopping nut, racing nut, golf nut, gun nut, sex nut, and so on. Who of us in America isn’t a “nut” about something. Plus, it’s just plain fun to say “nut” after almost any word in the English language. Try it out. “Goatsilk nut.” See how we imagine this unique (and nearly brand new) item came to be where we found it, and BID HERE to own this original souvenir from the kingdom of nuts in the heart of America.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #18: Memento Pipe From Pioneer Estate

B Bloch — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:33:12 +0000

Today we stumbled upon the remnants of an individual with big dreams. Nestled into a remote and stunning hillside (we had to hike into 4 miles to get there) we found the modern day equivalent of some Grecian ruins. Bare steps, a fireplace, and a plumbing system with some genius behind it - not dissimilar from the ancient aqueducts. Also at the site was a set of paint cans, some of them still unopened and preserving the remains of a brilliant orange color paint. It amazes us that somebody would have attempted to set up such an elaborate living situation at such a time; the evidence defies the typical homesteader’s cabin and lends itself more towards something estate-like. Still, big dreams are quickly crushed by even bigger conditions. This person may have wanted too much; too much beauty, too much freedom. In the long run lust will sink anyone, and ambition becomes delusion. Our treasure today is a memento-sized piece of the pipe that was used in this adventurous attempt at plumbing system in the middle of a nowhere heaven. Like our other items from this special “midas touch” week, we’ve gold coated this luscious piece of piping, making it simply irresistable on the eye and in the hand. BID HERE to own this amazing pioneer artifact, and let it remind you that all dreams- even the ones that can crush you–are worth pursuing.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #17: Bernadette Caruth’s Hammock Chain

B Bloch — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:45:17 +0000

History has taught us that rural life is hard. The prairie can rip you to shreds mentally. Communities are built and sustained on the understanding that you don’t let your melancholy bring the group down. But obviously people everywhere in every time have betrayed this “group committment” by indulging in their own existential despair over the horrors of life. Bernadette Caruth is one such figure from this lot. She withdrew from her clan into her hammock, and soon afterward the entire village was blown out. Today, more than a hundred years later, Goatsilk scavenged the Caruth home and found some remnants of Bernadette’s hammock refuge. This gorgeous hammock chain, which - like the bolt from earlier this week - we’ve coated in Excaliburian gold, is a one of a kind rare find. This could easily be used practically as a bike chain, decoratively as a necklace (i.e. Mr. T), or simply treasured for its historical poetics. Place your BID HERE without hesitation. You won’t be disappointed!

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #16: Verizon Vehicle Cell Charger

B Bloch — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:17:03 +0000

Every so often, we find something that gets lost before it ever even gets used, and that’s the case with today’s find, a Verizon cell phone car charger. The packaging is sealed but weathered, indicating it’s been exposed for some time, but the charger itself appears in fine condition. This charger works with the Verizon VX8100, VX1000, VX3200, VX3400, VX3450, VX4650, VX4700, VX5200, VX5300, VX6700, VX7000, VX8000, VX8300, and VX9800 models. It is notably not an aftermarket product, making it actually worth far more than the starting price of this auction (99 cents!) All you Verizon cell phone owners looking to take a road trip, this is your chance for a steal! BID HERE to make this item yours.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #15: Golden Bolt From 1959 Earthquake

B Bloch — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:16:43 +0000

Here on Silkblog, Goatsilk likes to make you think, laugh, delight, and cry. Today’s daily treasure is somewhat of a heavy one in more ways than one. This golden bolt is solid as can be, produced in a time before steel was anodized. But we also believe this bolt to be a piece of the leftover wreckage from the infamous Aug. 17, 1959 earthquake (7.6 on the Richter scale!) that split a local mountain in half, severed one side with a clean slash, caused a massive avalanche that damned the Madison river and formed what is now known as Earthquake Lake, which exists today - quite beautifully - as a reminder of Mother Nature’s sudden powers. Many people lost their lives beneath the rubble on that fateful night. Highways were washed clean away, cabins set afloat, dams burst. It must have seemed like the end of the world had arrived. This bolt likely came from some of the infrascructure that preceded the massive quake, and we have taken the liberty of gold-coating it in honor of one Ms. Marylynn Gold, a nurse from Ennis who heroically helped in the rescue efforts. It’s dazzling in this gold plated format. An artifact and an artwork in one! A symbol of a tragic event that continues to create wonder, don’t be a fool and miss the opportunity to BID HERE and own the Golden Bolt from 1959.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #14: Improvised Swimming Goggles

B Bloch — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:48:01 +0000

We live off the land, but we also live off the water! Today, our search took us to the bottom of Wade lake, where we made a strange discovery of a pair of aviator glasses lined in old masking tape. One can only imagine how these modified glasses came to rest on the lake floor- to be found and featured as the latest discovery in Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures. This is truly a one of a kind object, worthy of display or a stylish everyday use. Watch the video on how we imagine these glasses became encrusted by masking tape, then click HERE to bid and own this one of a kind pair of aviators!

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #13: Country Mailbox with Bulletholes

B Bloch — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:48:25 +0000

A Mailbox is in some ways like a book cover, where the pages of our lives–or at the least, junk mail!-get torn out daily. This beautiful country-style red flag mailbox was discarded in a nearby woodpile some time ago, but has now been found and “rebound” - so to speak - by Goatsilk. We think it’s probably refuse from the days of the unabomber, when Tori Dixon led a campaign to upgrade the security of area mailboxes. She succeeded in her campaign, but failed in her effort to avoid a tragic fate. Watch her story in today’s Daily Treasure video, and bid HERE to own this splendid Norman Rockwell-esque American relic, bulletholes and all.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #12: Neanderthal’s Clam Fossil

B Bloch — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:55:20 +0000

You never know how far back in time an object might take you. In Montana, parts of the land were covered by ocean water many millions of years ago. Today we stumbled upon a rocky beachside littered with perfect fossils of organisms that once lived on the ocean bottom. Up for auction today is a pristine piece of flat shalestone fossilized from this distant ocean floor. On its surface are imprints (both concave and convex) of numerous clamshells. These clams could easily have last been in the hands of some cavewoman out doing a bit of gathering for her clan. Watch the video than BID HERE to own this splendid object and journey back -way back- to a time that we all still secretly long for. The age of neanderthals.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #11: Vintage Tonga Banana Matchbook

B Bloch — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:52:05 +0000

In Charles Bukowski’s word’s - one out of every hundred broken shoe laces puts someone in the nut house. Lighting matches in the outdoors is no different. Out on the hunt for Goatsilk’s daily treasure earlier today we found a matchbook stripped clean, tucked under a campfire rock and oddly preserved in an old zip-loc. Turns out to have been at one time redeemable for a collectible edition Tonga Banana stamp, and also carries on it a bizarre piece of scrawl telling someone they were “going to be dealt with.” But instead it was nature that did the dealing with.

Watch the video than click HERE to bid on this rare and beautifully designed piece of “pyrophenelia!”

Big Horn Rams Fight and F**k! by The Side Of The Road

B Bloch — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:45:29 +0000

Here is an astonishing clip I shot a few days ago while driving along quake lake in light snow flurries. It’ s a group of big horn rams involved in some strange dynamic: they appear to be hostile but also trying to hump each other. Clip starts in black and white and switches to some color footage shot through the windshield of my truck. Classic Silkblog wildness!

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #10: Beadhead Nymph and Strike Indicator

B Bloch — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 07:23:44 +0000

Well, we’re at the end of another week of the Goatsilk’s Daily treasures project. Amazing! Our first two auctions from early last week have ended, and both the antique pepsi bottle and the Model T door handle have sold to lucky bidders! Today’s bounty was a bit more mundane, at least for these parts. We scavenged a couple of fisherman’s items (a beadhead nymph and a strike indicator) dropped under Raynold’s bridge on the Madison river. Imagining how they got there is not difficult, but it may make you laugh! Bid on the auction HERE and get a couple of cheap used fly-fishing trinkets for that fisherman you love.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #9: White Arrowhead

B Bloch — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:17:45 +0000

Today’s discovery of a partially carved white arrowhead is linked to the story of Noah Epstein, the son of Jewish immigrants who came to Montana, via Ellis Island, in the late 1800’s. Noah’s dreams of converting to Native Americanism eventually came true in this heartening outsider’s tale. Bid HERE to own this precious relic and tell the tale to all your friends.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living off The Land! Episode #8: Cisco Systems Golfball

B Bloch — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:49:55 +0000

This Cisco Systems Teitlist golf ball is an obscure little item to find out here in the sage brush. A recent deposit on the land, it serves as a reminder of a life of leisure and relaxation with friends. A Cisco Sysytems golfball stands for a way of life that isn’t a struggle, but a triumph, filled with snowcapped mountains, hybrids, and home cooked organic chicken dishes. Conversely, The romantic dream of a marriage between poor folks is a delusion. Who after all wants a life of 1 am Carl’s Junior, shag carpet with xbox 360, traffic school, and frozen pizzas? Bid on this Cisco Systems golf ball to remind yourself that marrying a business professional is much better for your long term health.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #7: Antique Gold Sieving Pan

B Bloch — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:01:57 +0000

Goatsilk is joined by Dr Roy Winters, founder of the Northwest Gold Institute. He finds a gold-sieving pan from the frontier days which he believes may have belonged to the first female gold digger, Molly Kearney. He tells a fascinating (and tragic) story which would make anyone want to own a part of the unique history of gold in the USA. Hear his expert summary and bid HERE quickly to receive a free 19 ounce replica of the largest gold nugget ever found in the region.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #6: Futuristic Sceptre

B Bloch — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:16:56 +0000

Well here’s a surprise. Today we found something buried in the ground which is not from the past, but the future. Amazing. Items from the future - not surprisingly - are quite desirable. Hurry up and place your bid HERE!

Allow Me To Break Your Heart

B Bloch — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:17:43 +0000

Exquisite new footage of bluebird chicks only hours after hatching. These little guys hatched from the beautiful eggs shown last week in THIS post) Amazing to watch their almost featherless bodies squirm in contest for the warmth of the middle. This is a picture of life, raw and tender enough to break your heart.

Ripe Season Wildlife

B Bloch — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:49:13 +0000

We took a jaunt up to Bozeman today to pick up my brother at the airport. It was stormy on the way back down 191 but there was crazy wildlife. The spring season is indeed the ripest, the rivers full, animals are out in droves, everything fresh, raw, biting. We stopped a couple times to take pics. This moose walking along the Gallatin river is majestic, but watch to the end of the clip to see a trio of Big Horn Rams stand stoic then make a hillside dash through the trees. Strong gothic beasts! The footage of the rams was taken almost at night with the aperture and shutter way open, thus the grain/ blur. Still pretty cool.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #5: Sharecropper’s Shovelhead

B Bloch — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:09:03 +0000

This classic sharecropper’s shovelhead auction caps off a bountiful week of treasure hunting on the land . We like to think of it as a regular work week, and we’ve already begun to see the profits with fresh ebay bids for the antique pepsi bottle, the turn of the century water bucket, and the Model T door handle. Don’t be caught in the cold without a treasure of your own. Click HERE and bid!

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #4: Modernist Pillow

B Bloch — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:51:57 +0000

This pillow found by the side of highway 87 near the Raynold’s pass bridge has been touched by the artful hand of nature. It struck us immediately as having similar qualities to a Vija Celmin galaxy drawing, or maybe a combination of Yayoi Kusama and Agnes Martin. This pillow is alive, literally. It could be framed and hung, or more practically it could be preserved and used as a driving cushion or a stylish camping grade baby changing mat. View the ebay auction and bid on this exciting find HERE.

Goatsilk’s Daily Treasures - Living Off The Land! Episode #3: Turn of The Century Water Pail

B Bloch — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:37:48 +0000

Today’s auction features a perfectly weathered turn of the century water pail. Sometimes you find something that has aged in a truly magical way, and this pail is one of those things. Found nestled at the root of a sage bush, it’s likely not been touched by anyone until we found it with our keen appreciation for historical relics. As to what this pail was used for, and who used it, it’s a wonderful thing to imagine. We certainly did! Enjoy, and please visit and bid on the auction which can be found HERE.