Alex Martin’s Little Brown Dress website

Alex Martin sewed her own dress and wore it every day for a year as a statement against overconsumption. I admire the effort, though I was a tad disappointed to find out she wore the rest of her wardrobe such as sweaters, pants, etc. with the dress.

Still, I laud what she did.

My friend Gabe turned me on to this photographer, Chris Jordan, who makes stunning pictures of consumerism. Based in Seattle, Jordan has exhibited around the country and also has three photographic series on his website.

In one series, called “Running the Numbers,” Jordan takes statistics about American consumption and literally visualizes the numbers.

So what do two million of these plastic bottles look like?

Come closer for a better look.

Even closer to make the bottles recognizable.

There’s some digital manipulation involved, but his images remain staggering. Also in the series is a photo of what 426,000 cell phones look like. That’s how many are discarded in the U.S. every day.

Check out the rest of this series and his other photographic art by visiting Chris Jordan’s website.

This is a photo of the Yu Gardens in Shanghai. If you look closely, you’ll see there’s a Starbucks (woo hoo!) in the middle of the picture. In my part of the world, people freak out if there’s a Starbucks opening in a chain-free neighborhood. But this is a Starbucks in communist China. Where were the picketers to protest this from happening?

Anthony stayed at a hotel next to the Plaza 66 shopping mall in Shanghai. He said the mall stores were so posh, the place was almost empty.

At the Shanghai Metro, this billboard for the latest Spider-Man movie. I’ve always thought, the best way to spread capitalism and democracy is to distribute Hollywood movies everywhere in the world.

And finally, Anthony couldn’t resist taking a picture of this Beijing restaurant which, he observes, borrowed from American Kentucky Fried Chicken by depicting the face of the founder with a red color scheme. Col. Sanders, meet Mr. Lee.

There’s a similarity to all the pictures that make me suspect they’re all done in PhotoShop. Still, they’re fun to look at.

The full email:

These are 7 pictures of (European) semi-trucks whose trailers are decorated to look like the sides are missing and the products they are hauling are painted on the sides and back.

The first one is of a bottle of beer and looks so real, like it is coming out the side of the trailer.

The second is of canvas tote bag.

The third is of Pepsi cases and they are all stacked on the ceiling, and the bottom of the trailer is empty.

The fourth is of another truck with the windshield facing the back and there has been a driver painted in the driver’s seat looking back over his shoulder to appear like he is driving backwards.

The fifth one is of an aquarium with fish swimming in it.

The sixth one is of a bookshelf with books lined up in it and a post-it-note with an advertisement on it, probably for the company that sells the books.  (Again, in a foreign language.)

The last one is for Pringles-Hot & Spicy. The ‘inside’ of the trailer has the appearance of having been through a fire.

Some of these are too delightful to be real!

This one (below) is a see-through sign for a brand of paint.

There was also these — truly imaginative ways of delivering a message in our urban jungle.

Every now and then, though, my cousin does send me an email with some startling photos in them. These are photos she sent with the subject heading “Creative Packaging.” I wish I knew where she got these pics so I can give proper credit.

In our culture today, apparently even religion can be sexualized.

This is a new one! “Freedom of the Press in the Middle East? Only in Israel.” That’s the caption below a photo of two guys, each one reading a newspaper written in a, uh, a language that’s not English. I think the guy on the left is holding a paper in Arabic, but I’m not sure. The guy on the right, though, is hella cute.

This is certainly different than “The Real Israel” billboards which came across to me as promoting tourism. This freedom of the press-themed ad is more political in nature.

And why are these Israel billboards placed in such odd locations? Judging by the modest  size of the billboards and the (speaking kindly) modest-income neighborhoods I’ve been finding them in (Richmond’s Iron Triangle, West Oakland, the edge of Oakland Chinatown), I’d guess perhaps the media buyer was able to get these for cheap!

I saw this “Only in Israel” billboard at a parking lot on the corner of 8th and Broadway smack dab in downtown Oakland, California. Here’s a wider shot to show how small it is.

If you’ve seen this anywhere else, let me know. Better yet, send me a photo!

I was never one for buying CDs especially when they’re being sold in a place that isn’t a music store. Starbucks, however, has been promoting different recording artists for years now by selling CDs next to the cash registers.

Now they’re starting their own record label. That’s quite a stretch, by my standards. If they had started a line of ceramic dishware, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

I’m not sure if anything Starbucks’ Hear Music puts out would be of interest to me. When I go to Starbucks, I’m certainly not there to listen to their music. Not when I have my own musical preferences on my iPod.

A documentary on how credit card companies prey on the most vulnerable consumers — and how the American government looks the other away. Screens at Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinema on Van Ness in San Francisco for six days starting tomorrow, Friday the 9th of March.

Here’s the synopsis of “Maxed Out” which is directed by James Scurlock.

If I can swing it, I’ll try to catch it tomorrow.