Atomic Dave Saves The Day

This is goodbye

2009-08-10T12:08:00.002-05:00

Well, I am officially shutting down the blog. I have been keeping in touch with a lot more people via Facebook, and just haven't had the time or inclination to keep the blog going.

I'll be removing the blog completely in the next few days.

Yes, I am still alive

2009-04-10T09:18:00.002-05:00

Well needless to say, I have not been updating weekly. The "other website" (which I won't name to maintain some vestige of anonymity here) simply consumes most of my free time these days. Which is a happy thing for the most part, I am really enjoying it and starting to have some measure of success.

My civil case on Jury duty went quickly, only two days. The experience was not too bad. Everyone on the jury was pretty civil and level-headed, so deliberation did not take long.

It's spring here, which means a yo-yo of up and down temperatures; shorts one day and a jacket the next. We even had some snow flurries yesterday. I expect it will level out in the next few weeks. I hope so, because I am tired of catching a cold every two weeks. And I am ready to drive the Mini around with the top down!

And the duty goes on...

2009-03-02T23:06:00.002-05:00

One thing for sure you never see on shows like Law and Order is that jury duty means a lot of sitting around and doing nothing. I have to say that the jury office in my city isn't bad--free coffee, free wi-fi and lots of magazines. But it gets a little tedious when you don't know how long you'll be waiting.

I did get selected for a criminal trial last week. The first day was lots of questioning of the jurors to determine who would make up the final panel--several hours for that part alone. I ended up being selected.

Then on the second day we waited in the deliberation room until noon, went to lunch, came back, and found out that the guy had agreed to a plea bargain (which took all morning to complete). The case was going to be pretty brutal from what I can tell (I won't put details here) so I can't say I am sorry I missed being on that particular jury.

Then today I got put on a civil case...

Duty Calls

2009-02-17T12:30:00.004-05:00

For the first time ever, I've been called for jury duty. I have no idea how long it will go or what kind of trial it is. I'll find out more first thing Monday morning.

I'll bet we don't get a cool glass-walled courtroom like on CSI Miami.

Fun with Weather

2009-02-09T12:53:00.002-05:00

We seem to have gotten through all of the ice and snow storms relatively unscathed. It snows an inch here and everyone panics and raids the supermarket. Several times last week I went into work only to discover I was the only person from my group that had come in.

G hits her big three-oh birthday this week, so I am still figuring out what to get her... if anyone in the family has a great 30th birthday gift suggestion, let me know! We're likely doing a big birthday bash in a week or two when we've had some time to prepare.

Mini Me

2009-01-16T10:14:00.005-05:00

I wanted to wait for a nice sunny day to snap some pictures of the new car, but apparently this isn't going to happen until spring gets here:

The mini handles pretty good on the ice and snow.

Bringing in the New Year

2009-01-06T12:59:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone!

My New Year's resolution for the year? Update this blog at least once per week. As any of you who know me personally know, my energy has been devoted the the "other blog" (not listed here for anonymity). It's now in pretty good order.

G and I had a great Christmas and New Year's Eve. We spent Christmas with her family this year in Tennessee. My best present was G surprised me with a new Mini Cooper! Actual pictures to follow in a later post.

(not my Mini, but close!)

We're back

2008-08-05T11:33:00.004-05:00

At long last, here are pictures of our recent vacation: First to Colorado Springs and then Las Vegas (you can just click the "View Now" button in the upper right hand of each album. You don't have to join snapfish). Both trips were a lot of fun. We got to see G's Grandfather on his 92nd birthday, and meet a lot of here family that I'd never met before. Also made a trip up Pike's Peak, which the photos don't do justice to--very beautiful.

The Vegas trip was also fun, although VERY hot (112 degrees during the day). We stayed at the Planet Hollywood in the "Good Will Hunting" room, which had props from the movie in cases. Cirque del Soleil's "O" was of course fantastic, although we were not allowed to take pictures.

Trip-O-Rama

2008-06-30T11:55:00.005-05:00

G and I dashed down to Dickson, Tennessee for her friend's engagement party over the weekend. It was a quick trip but fun. We are now gearing up for a none-too-soon week of vacation. First we are going to Colorado for her Grandfather's 92nd birthday on the 4th of July. It's pretty amazing to think what he has seen in his life--when he was born (1916) World War I was still going on, and people were driving model-T's. I'll get to meet lots of G's family for the first time.

Then we are off to Vegas! Neither of us have been before so we are very excited. It's pretty amazing how inexpensive the hotels are--we are staying at a 4-star hotel that will cost us less per night than the 2-start motel we stayed at in Dickson. The highlight of the trip will be going to see Cirque de Soleil's "O".

I'll make sure to post lots of pictures when we get back.

Spore Critters

2008-06-23T11:55:00.005-05:00

As promised, here are my favorite creatures (so far) I've made in Spore:

One thing I find really cool is that the data for the creature is actually stored in the picture file. For the technically minded, it's evidently encoded into the alpha channel of the PNG file. So all you need to load it into the Creature Creator is the picture itself. From the web site:

How do you see one of these Creatures in your Spore Creature Creator? Right Click on the thumbnail image of the creature. Save the image to your desktop. Drag the saved image from your desktop into the Spore Creature Creator. Voila! The Creature is in your game.

I promise to move on to something else on the next post :-).

Addicted to Spore

2008-06-19T11:42:00.005-05:00

Well, I think I'm officially addicted to the new Spore Creature Creator. It's a simple program that lets you design and test out your own alien life forms. Despite having no real game play to speak of, I can spend hours tinkering around and making new critters with this thing. It's very simple to use and automatically figures out the animations and sounds for whatever you make. I splurged and spent the $10 to get the full version (comes with more creature parts), but the free trial is great in and of itself. I'll post up my latest creations in the next few days.

The full game comes out in September that lets you take a creature from a single-celled organism all the way up through civilization and space flight (the original title for the game was "SimEverything"). Looks pretty cool. More information here.

Everybody's Doing It

2008-06-16T12:42:00.001-05:00

Well, not to be left out by my sisters, here is my blog wordle:

A little respite

2008-06-10T12:41:00.002-05:00

Well, last weekend was the first in a month that we didn't have relatives in town: G's Dad and Brother three weeks ago, my parents two weeks ago, G's Mom, two sisters and niece a week ago. All three visits were great, but it was nice to have a little time to ourselves this weekend.

We are slowly but surely getting the condo furnished (thanks in large part to the nearby wonderfulness of Ikea). We are planning on doing Thanksgiving at our place this year, so any relatives reading this who want to come, please give us a heads up!

Now that's love

2008-05-13T11:38:00.005-05:00

In addition to my Kindle, G also gave me an Iron Man action figure for my birthday. Proof positive that I married the right woman.

Iron Man wields his
mighty dry-erase marker

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-05-13T09:25:00.006-05:00

The big birthday present this year: a Kindle book reader. I've had it for about a week now.

I've read a lot of reviews of the Kindle, are here is my take: I love this thing and use it every day. I think Amazon knew their target audience here--it is definitely designed for book geeks instead of techno geeks (I can say this being a proud member of both groups). The e-ink screen really does read like paper, and you can do things like bookmarks and notes very easily. In addition to the books you can buy, there are a ton of free public-domain books (see Feedbooks.com) and I have been catching up on old H.G.Wells and Jules Verne novels that I've never gotten around to reading before.

The free web surfing is limited but handy, especially for checking email when I am out-and-about. Don't expect this thing to be an iPhone but it's more than adequate for simple internet access.

There are a few minor design issues--it's easy to accidentally flip pages until you get used to the buttons, for instance--but overall I am extremely happy with it.

Get Along Little Froggies

2008-04-17T13:11:00.006-05:00

We had a "Pet Expo" here a few weeks ago, and I got some African Dwarf frogs for my desk at work. They are very cool but quite hard to get a good picture of with my phone. They like to swim around and then strike tai-chi poses for minutes at a time.

Surreal and Disturbing

2008-04-10T13:32:00.001-05:00

I don't remember how I found this, but I find it unbelievably funny for some bizarre reason.

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com

A Picture from St. Patty's Day

2008-03-28T08:25:00.003-05:00

The funny thing is, there was another guy in the bar with hair just like this, only it wasn't green and wasn't a wig.

(No, neither of these women is G. She was working that night).

What do Buckaroo Bonzai, Shawshank Redemption, and SpongeBob have in common?

2008-03-25T12:46:00.007-05:00

I've always been good at spotting someone in a movie or on TV and recognizing where I have seen them before. A few weeks back, we were watching the old 80's sci-fi movie "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" and I said, "Hey, isn't that guy the Guard from "The Shawshank Redemption?" And so he was.

Upon further investigation, the actor's name is Clancy Brown. What's more strange to me is that he is also the voice of Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob. I guess you could say he has quite the range.

Ice Ice Baby

2008-02-22T10:45:00.004-05:00

Winter has returned with a vengeance. Here is the view from my office window. Lesson for today: in a pinch, a Pampered Chef metal spatula makes a great ice scraper.

My sister was nice enough to post a bunch of old pictures that my Dad sent us. You can see them here. I'm the little red-headed boy who evidently didn't know what a hairbrush was.

Herbie vs. Kitt

2008-02-14T15:36:00.005-05:00

With the new Night Rider movie coming out on TV this weekend, the inevitable question was raised around the office: who would win in a fight, KITT or Herbie?

Consensus around the office seems to be that it would be Herbie, because as one of my co-workers put it, "Couldn't Herbie fly and stuff?"

Caffeine Addiction

2008-02-11T13:16:00.000-05:00

I toyed with the idea of giving up coffee for Lent but gave up the idea one day in. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

You can find out how much coffee or energy drink would actually kill you by clicking here. Evidently 92 cups of coffee would do me in.

I found this little windup dancing robot at World Market this weekend. G thinks I am strange that I like it so much--I don't know why, but I think it's hysterical.

Hurray for Tunneling

2008-02-06T15:24:00.000-05:00

So I finally figured out how to create a secure TCP tunnel from my work computer to home. What this means for the non-technical reader, is now I will actually be able to read other people's blogs and update mine during the day (only during lunch, of course) by connecting securely to my home PC. Sometimes being a geek is good.

Remembering Mawmaw

2008-01-15T23:09:00.000-05:00

As my sisters have mentioned on their blogs, my Grandmother (aka "Mawmaw") passed away last week. G and I had the chance to go and visit with her a year or so ago. I am glad she got to meet her before she passed. I am also very glad I was able to go down for the funeral on Friday and be with (and reconnect with) the family.

Probably my favorite memory of Mawmaw is this--I went and visited her by myself about ten years ago (amazing it has been that long). I had a really great visit and really talked to her person-to-person for the first time in my life. I found out, among other things,that she liked football, went to college at at time when not a lot of women did, and lots of background about the family I never knew. We spent a lot of time just sitting on the back porch in rockers, drinking iced tea and talking.

Even though I didn't get to see her often, I still miss her.

2007-12-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

Hardwood floor!

And the first snow of the year. My poor Miata is not exactly an ATV.

Hurray for hardwood

2007-12-04T21:17:00.000-05:00

At long last the hardwood floors are going in! Flooring arrived Friday and the work started today. I managed to twist my ankle carrying boxes down the back stairs of the condo Friday night. Luckily I had the phone number of our friend Marsha who lives in the building who came and rescued me. Still a little achy today but I seem to be none the worse for wear.

So I think I am officially addicted to Wikipedia. I can't resist looking up random things as I go through the day. A few interesting things I have discovered (assuming Wikipedia is actually accurate):

* Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year.
* SpongeBob Squarepants was originally named "SpongeBoy." The name was changed because it was already trademarked by the creator of "The Flaming Carrot."
* Patents for "sporks" date back to at least 1874
* In England, it is very offensive to call someone a "spaz"
* On "Futurama," Bender's apartment number is 00100100, which is "$" in ASCII.
* Hasbro once produced Mr. Potato Head counterparts named "Brother Spud" and "Sister Yam." One can only wonder what religious order they were in.

Blogger Woes

2007-11-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

So a few weeks ago they started blocking Blogger.com from my work. This has put a major kibosh on my blog upkeep, since I had normally updated my blog as well as read my family's blogs during lunch. It's still a bit mysterious what they block and don't block.

As of today, the house painting is officially done, and looks great! The hardwood floors are delayed in shipment but should be here next week. We are anxious to not be living in a construction zone anymore. Most of our stuff is sitting in our garage, since we didn't want to haul it back and forth while the floors went down.

No more cave!

Time keeps on slippin, slippin...

2007-10-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

Time flies--the end of October (i.e. moving deadline) looms ominously close. The painter is in now, transforming it from a series of caves into an open, airy space. The two main bedrooms, for instance, had dark red walls with dark red ceilings and dark red trim, accented by dark red blinds. The hardwood flooring has been ordered and is on the way.

G had the good sense to snag a disposible camera on out last venture over and get some "before" pictures. Until we get those developed, here are a few pics snapped with the phone. Click a picture to make it bigger.

New Home

2007-09-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

We closed on the condo yesterday afternoon! The previous owner fixed everything we asked for, so now there is just getting the new floor put in and painting done. We are planning to get fully moved in by the end of October.

Labor Day

2007-09-05T12:04:00.000-05:00

G and I had a great Labor Day with my parents in Mascoutah, Illinois. It's always a little surprising when I go back to see how small the town looks (hint: you are never more than a five minute drive from a corn field). As always my parent's house is a good place to relax and put your feet up. Got to see one of my sisters and her family as well, which was fun.

We are set to close on our condo on the 17th. After that several weeks of updating the place before we move in. Time to start confronting all the boxes to sort through before we move...

WE GOT IT!

2007-08-15T22:54:00.000-05:00

The seller accepted our offer! We are now (almost) the proud owners of a new condo. Just all of the inspection, appraisal, loan finalization etc to work out...

You can see the condo here.

Diets and Condos

2007-08-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

I am on this diet where they recommend that you not weigh yourself as you go, since it can be distracting. I have been on the diet for about three weeks and I noticed that my pants are loose so I caved in. 11 pounds gone! Unfortunately I did not take a "before" picture to make comparisons. If I can drop another 15 pounds I will be an extremely happy man.

G and I made an offer on a condo today! We may know as early as tomorrow if it is accepted. More news as things progress!

The Amazing Plexiglass PC

2007-07-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I was looking on-line for a new computer case, and stumbled on sites where people had made their own cases. I found a few sites where people had constructed their cases from plexiglass. At that point I became a little obsessed with the idea of making one myself. Two weekends and some long nights later, here are the results (click to enlarge):

There are a few things to add--fan grills, lighting, making the wiring neater, etc--but I am pretty happy with the results. I found out in the process that there is a huge PC "modding" community and industry out there. Some of the most interesting cases can be found here. I especially like the wooden PCs about halfway down the page.

P.S. Special thanks to my friend John for his help and use of his power tools!

House Hunting

2007-07-27T15:46:00.001-05:00

G and I have started doing serious house hunting now. I moved into her 1-bedroom apartment with her when we got married two years ago, and we are just completely out of room. Plus we are really ready to have a place to call our own--somewhere big enough where we can entertain, and have guests stay in comfort (i.e. not sleep on the fouton in the living room) when they are in town.

Luckily we both have the same tastes in houses. We've found several places that we are very interested in, including a condo in downtown Cinci. We are now jumping through the various hoops to get pre-approved for a mortgage.

Anniversaries and Reunions

2007-07-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

G and I had a great 2nd anniversary last weekend. We went to Palomino Steak House for dinner (this is now officially a tradition since we've done it twice). Then we basically took it easy for the weekend. Relaxing + Being Alone Together = Good. We got our picture taken at dinner but both our eyes were closed so I'm not posting it ;-)

We also went to her 10 year high school reunion this weekend. Very laid back and fun. In spite of what the TV and movie industry has taught me growing up, my experience of High School reunions is that mostly people are great and happy to see each other. I think anyone who would show up and be a jerk just doesn't come to the reunion in the first place.

Punta Cana

2007-06-25T20:38:00.000-05:00

G and I are back from a very relaxing vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Pictures can be found here. Unfortunately, we didn't really get any pictures of us--but you can see the place was very pretty. I highly recommend para sailing to anyone who hasn't done it, it was a blast.

Pretty much the only black spot on the vacation was that I accidentally left my laptop at the resort, which has all of my email and planning info on it. They are shipping it back to me. In the meantime I am realizing how dependent I am on it... time to start making backups more regularly.

Seperated at Birth?

2007-06-07T20:37:00.001-05:00

So I got this picture from my old college roommate. Axl Rose now looks a little bit like I used to look in college. I'll let those of you who know me be the judge. Oddly enough, we've both also dated supermodel Stephanie Seymour.

I have been helping my friend Darla set up a blog for a race in memory of her father who passed away last year. If you are going to be in Tower, MN in August, or if you would like to support a medical scholarship in her dad's honor, check out the site at www.ballardturnbull.org.

I see that they have made a new Transformers movie. The effects look cool, but all I can say is that it won't be the same without Scatman Crothers as the voice of Jazz and Casey Kasem as the voice of super computer Teletraan 1. And do they have "Chip", the super-genius kid in the wheelchair? Perhaps my expectations run too high.

Optical Illusion TIme

2007-05-09T21:51:00.001-05:00

Here's something neat I figured out how to do:

When the color picture appears, stare at the red dot for 30 seconds. Then, without moving your eyes, slide your mouse cursor over the image. The picture will appear to be in color until you move your eyes again. Cool.

Cool Animation

2007-05-06T11:13:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law sent me a link to this. Looks like someone spent a LOT of hours with a whiteboard. Very impressive.

Stop-motion dibujado - ZappInternet

Riding Around

2007-05-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

I'm always impressed that my sister updates her blog every day. I'm still working to hit mine every week.

It's been nice and warm here now, and one of the best things ever is riding around with the top down in the car. I remember distinctly growing up that my mother did not like convertibles because they made her hair feel greasy from being blown around. Luckily, I have hair that can withstand hurricane force winds.

I'm number two!

2007-04-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

I am finishing up the first full week of the new job and things are going great. I am doing ASP and Java development (for those of you who know what that means). It's been a while since I've been in a formal development environment with other people. I am enjoying being on a team again.

I have moved back up to #2 on Google (when you search on my name) after a brief tragic fall to page 3. I can't seem to get in front of that band conductor...

The Magical Mystery Snail

2007-03-29T21:37:00.000-05:00

So I look in the fish tank today and a snail has appeared out of nowhere. This struck me as very strange, especially since I do not have any live plants in the tank. After research on the internet, it turns out this is not that uncommon. Evidently it hitched a ride on the plecostomus (algae eater) I got a few weeks ago. The internet is also rife with stories of one snail appearing, then a major infestation of snails appearing shortly thereafter. I'll let you all know as the drama unfolds.

M.U.L.E. Music

2007-03-28T08:56:00.000-05:00

So how can I do a post about M.U.L.E. and not mention the catchy theme song? I have had it stuck in my head for several days now. I found several versions on the Internet:

Midi version
Remix (close to the original)
and of course, the jazz/funk remake.

Enjoy.

M.U.L.E. returns

2007-03-26T23:20:00.000-05:00

I found an Atari 800 Emulator on the web over the weekend. This of course means I have been spending my time playing M.U.L.E. and Miner 2049er, among others. The great thing is that someone has spent the time getting the legal permissions from the original copyright holders, so it's 100% legal (unlike many emulators on the net). More info here and here.

I have been offered a job by a consulting company! Whoo-hoo! As soon as I am officially placed with a company I will start, should be in the next 3-4 weeks. The company seems like a great place to work, needless to say I am very excited. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

2007-03-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

So the colonoscopy is done and no bad results. My bloodwork should be in next week so I can find out exactly what I have going on. New medication is making a big difference in relieving my symptoms. Whoo-hoo, modern medicine.

My job hunt continues--the last two hot prospects didn't pan out. At G's suggestion I am reading "What Color Is Your Parachute" which has a lot of really great stuff in it. Anyone else who has resource suggestions, please let me know.

I'll keep you all updated...

And suddenly a month has gone by

2007-03-04T17:13:00.000-05:00

Where does a month go? Sorry for the gap in posts.

After returning from another quick hop to Denver, my current job is almost done (only two more days!) I did not get the job that was looking promising, so now the game is to create something great, fast... I'll keep everyone up-to-date.

Beer and Eggs

2007-02-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

One of the things I like about the hotel where I'm staying is that it's right next to one of my favorite things in the whole world: an all night diner. As anyone who knows me really well will testify, I could eat breakfast three meals a day. Add the fact that I can get a beer with my combo platter at 10:30 at night and I'm a very happy man.

Back in Atlanta

2007-02-04T23:39:00.000-05:00

Back for two weeks in Atlanta. I am now counting down the last month of my job. I've got a face-to-face interview set up when I get back in town. Wish me luck!

So I saw that Chewbacca got arrested. I believe this is the same Chewbacca I saw on my trip to LA--I actually heard him complaining about not being tipped when I was there. Video is here. The most surreal part for me is seeing Spiderman getting interviewed.

Back Home

2007-01-24T18:32:00.000-05:00

I'm back home for a whole week after a quick trip to Chicago. It's nice to be home!

I've got about a month left on my current assignment and have started job interviews. My headhunter is lining me up for a face-to-face with a potential employer this Friday or next Friday. Send your positive energy my way. I'll keep everyone posted.

By Popular Demand

2007-01-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

Per the many requests, here are the wedding pictures. They will also always be available on the right-side menu of the Blog.

A Few Photos

2007-01-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

Here are the previously promised pictures from LA. Enjoy. Remember, you can just click the "View Now" button in the upper right corner.

The New Year

2007-01-04T00:42:00.000-05:00

After being deluged over Christmas with requests for more frequent updates, my New Year's resolution is to update this blog at least once a week. I had no idea everyone was actually reading this so much.

G and I had a wonderful Christmas with her family. We both had the entire week between Christmas and New Year's off from work. We got to lay around a lot, see some of G's old friends, and spend some time with our one-year-old niece. And, buy a new car for me!

It's a little silver Mazda Miata. It's much nicer than my '83 Rabbit, which was literally held together with duct tape and wire, on frosted up on the inside of the windows when it got cold.

I am once again back in LA. I am in the lobby of my hotel and there is a cool little jazz band playing. I'd post a picture but it seems kind of rude to snap a shot while they are playing.

I seem to be having trouble with SnapFish--more pictures coming when I can get it working.

Back in LA

2006-12-04T03:27:00.000-05:00

I apologize to my loyal readers (both of you) for the delay in posts. After quick trips to San Franscisco and back to Denver, I am back in LA for two weeks. Rather than hitting more touristy stuff, I am choosing to relax and catch up on some reading this go round. I'll upload the LA and San Fran pictures later this week.

G and I had a great Thanksgiving with my parents. As always, my mom made a great dinner, and they were great about letting us relax and do what we wanted. We also got a chance to sit in my sister and her husband's hot tub and drink muslides, do a little Christmas shopping, and go see my old friend AGR. All in all an awesome break for G and I from our busy schedules.

As a parting note, here's a little example of what too much time in a hotel room can lead to.

Sick in LA

2006-11-06T21:46:00.000-05:00

One thing's for sure, it's no fun being sick away from home. Especially when there's nothing to do but watch TV with the slew of irritating California political ads. I'm sitting in my hotel room in LA where I have been most of the day, fighting some sinus thing.

I did get out for a little bit last night to see Grauman's Chinese Theater and some of the Hollywood walk of fame. It's hard to really read the names without walking into people. Liberace's star is in front of a vintage clothing store, which seems oddly appropriate.

More blog to come when I am feeling better.

Meeting of the Wonkas

2006-11-02T16:42:00.000-05:00

So I went to a Halloween party as Willy Wonka and ran into another Willy Wonka. Luckily we were able to settle our differences peacefully without having to step out back for a Wonka-off.

I have to admit he had a better jacket.

It Makes You Think

2006-10-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

G and I have passed like ships in the night. She flew out to Dallas yesterday morning and I got back home from Boston last night. She's back tomorrow night and we'll get about 4 waking hours together before I am hopping back on a plane. Happily we have a three day weekend together coming up in a couple of weeks.

I am back from a week in Boston after a week in Philadelphia. I enjoyed Philadelphia a lot. I have never really been in a city with a lot of history in it for any period of time, at least not as an adult. I did the historical trolley ride tour. I know for myself that historical figures like Washington or Jefferson live almost like fictional people in my mind. At the risk of sounding cliche, when you see Betsy Ross' house or Benjamin Franklin's grave or Independence Hall it makes it all very real.

The hilight of the Philly trip for me was the Rodin museum--very cool. I've never seen his work up close before. It's a very small museum and you can get right up next to everything. You also get some context of the breadth of his work and what he was up to as an artist. A not-to-be-missed.

My Boston trip was a short hop, so I did not really get to see the city, in addition to which I could not get the digital camera to work. I am on a quick hop to Denver next week so I will make sure that the camera is working for that.

As a parting note, if you like Outkast and Charlie Brown, you'll love this. Later.

Acrobats, Free Beer Glasses, and Screw-On Heads

2006-09-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

G and I went to see Circque de Soleil's Quidam last week--it was completely freaking amazing. In addition to being incredible from an athletic/acrobatic standpoint, it was just beautiful to look at. The clowning parts were also very funny. We got seats about four rows back, and from the looks of it there's not a bad seat in the house. If you get a chance to see it, don't pass it up.

The new job has started and is going great. I am in Atlanta for a week and a half. I was walking down the street in downtown Atlanta and some guy just walked up and said, "Here's a present for you. Merry Christmas!" When I opened the box it was a Hard Rock Cafe beer glass. I guess that he got it when he bought a beer then decided he didn't want to carry it around. In any case I took it as a sign and went into Hard Rock for dinner.

To my great happiness and delight, I have found a place on the web where you can watch The Amazing Screw-On Head (based on the comic book by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola) in its entirety. It is, of course, the story of a metallic screw-on head who acts as an occult expert and secret agent for Abraham Lincoln, fighting the evil Emperor Zombie. You can watch it here. For those of you like me who are fans of this sort of thing, it's hysterical and very weird. And unlike other Mignola adaptations, they have stayed true to his original style. You gotta like that.

Back from the trip

2006-08-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

G and I just got back from a great vacation in Niagra falls and Toronto. The Chinese Lantern Festival in Toronto was especially cool. If you are in the area it is a must see. Niagra pictures are here and Toronto pictures are here. Just click the "view now" button, you don't have to create a SnapFish account.

For those who don't know, I have left the company I was with and taken a 6 month assignment with my old company. I will be flying around the country to train people at my previous job. It should be a lot of fun and I am very excited about it. I'm planning to take the camera with me so I can share the different cities on the blog.

My first rant

2006-08-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else noticed that they are still making station wagons and calling them "Compact SUV's"? Prime example: the BMW X3:

It just needs some wood paneling and the little seat in the back that faces backwards.

And so we begin again

2006-08-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

Inspired by my sister's blog, I am once again going to get this thing going.