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5/31/2008

Boeuf

Flight of the Conchords were amazing in concert last night. We heard all of our favorite songs, plus some new ones, as well as witty banter in between. I feel bad for all of those people who couldn't get tickets, but there were some scalpers outside the theater if you want to take your chances on Sunday. It's probably worth it.

The show last night was my fourth night in a row of live music. Thursday night I saw The National, Modest Mouse, and R.E.M at the Hollywood Bowl. I wasn't very familiar with The National, but they were good. My friends G and R really love them and enjoyed it. Modest Mouse is probably better in a smaller venue, as there sound was kind of lost in the expanse of the Bowl, much like Ben Folds. It was my 5th R.E.M. show and they were incredible. Considering they have fourteen studio albums, plus a fair share of b-sides to build a set list from, they did a nice varied set. They also have a new album out, which I highly recommended.

I really wasn't planning on or expecting to go to a concert this past Wednesday, but we missed part of the Elvis Costello/The Police show on Tuesday, so E found a really good deal on some really good seats for their second show on Wednesday. That too was amazing. I'd never seen Elvis live and that was quite a treat. The Police have really come together on their tour and were even tighter than last summer.

The major complaint I have about the live music events this past week are the audiences. E was correct in saying that people at outdoor venues are just far more drunk and obnoxious, as that was made clear last night. The FOTC crowd was quite mellow with only the occasional shout-out of "Take off your pants!" or song requests. No one was talking on their cell phone during the performance. No one was having a conversation that they had to scream over the music so everyone could hear them. And no one was blowing stinky pot smoke in our faces.

I'm not just some old "get off my lawn" person. Wil Wheaton wrote about it on his blog, as did Ren, who is allergic to weed smoke. I endured the three people right behind me during the second Police show who were the only people not standing in our section. They complained the whole time about how they wish we'd sit down. Oh, and I didn't even mention the physical fight that broke out in my section at the R.E.M. show. Some random drunk guy was picking on the guy at the end of my row, so a guy in the row behind us reached forward and slapped him. It got ugly and a little scary. I just don't get paying so much for tickets and then acting like such as asshole. But, my guess is that these people are always assholes with no regard for other people whatsoever anytime.

5/26/2008

Yes, I Did

What blog doesn't need a companion. Who doesn't need one more thing to distract them from being productive? I give you...Snarky Dogs! It's just getting up and going, so there will be some tweaks I'm sure. Go on and take a look. You might be amused or you may just close your laptop, shaking your head. It's okay. I can take it.

5/25/2008

All I've Got Is A Photograph

I'm finally uploading some photos. I've put up a set from Maker Faire, which includes a subset of Craft Hamsters @ Maker Faire. I was really impressed by people's creativity. You also might want to check out the Elephant Seals of San Simeon. We took a detour on the way home from San Mateo just to see them. They're loud and stinky, but so cute!

Elephant Seal

Up next: Photos from our weekend in the desert for the Scion United event.

5/23/2008

Shout Out

Congrats to E on his first nationally published article. Check out issue 14 of Make: magazine, which has a special optics section. He contributed an article on homebrew digital 3D movies and it appears on page 50.

Photobucket

For other 3D goodness, check out E's blog, Retinal Rivalry.

5/21/2008

If I Should Stumble, Catch My Fall

I didn't even realize Memorial Day was approaching until this past weekend. As I try to play catch up, 2008 is whizzing by and I keep piling more on my plate. Granted, I've been dragging my feet on several things, so it makes the to-do list ever so much more daunting. I do it to myself.

In the meantime, 75% of my pets are being neurotic and E is working hard, and hardly sleeping, to finish a film with our neighbor in time for a submission deadline this weekend. We still haven't unpacked from our trip last weekend, which I haven't gotten around to writing about. Maybe I will after I say something about my Maker Faire experience.

I'm also in the process of uploading a ton of photos starting from the end of last month. Here's one from the private photo tour we took with the Stereo Club of Southern California at The Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Aerial Pathway
Aerial Pathway

Would you catch me if I fall?

5/19/2008

I Heard You Making Patterns Rhyme

  • As part of our weekend getaway, we knew we'd be treated to a free concert. Unfortunately, it was a hip-hop show featuring Redman and Flo Rider. It made sense within the context of the event we attended, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I guess if I was all about the blunts and booty it'd be a different story.
  • E braved the line at the Hollywood Bowl box office recently and picked up a bunch of tickets for the summer. We like to get the least expensive seats so we can go to more shows. The cheap ones weren't available online this year, but going in person saved us $200 in Ticketmaster fees.
  • I got a text message from my mother yesterday that read, "I'm going to see Duran Duran tonight!" I was telling my sister about it later and she said the first thing that I had thought, "Mom knows how to send a text message?" We decided that our youngest brother had probably helped her.
  • I'm looking forward to the 3 kickass shows I'm going to next week. Two at the Hollywood Bowl (Elvis Costello/The Police and Modest Mouse/R.E.M.) and one at The Orpheum (Flight of the Conchords).

5/16/2008

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

...or at least 50 or so, in my case. The look on this dog's face says it all.

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Don't bother clicking to see this pooch bigger.
I haven't made it public on flickr yet. Sorry.

I'm skipping town tomorrow...well, in a few hours. I should probably sleep. So, another weekend will go by without me catching up on life. And when I get back, I should have even more to share. I'll just add it to the queue.

Happy weekend!

5/11/2008

The Real Housewives of N. San Diego County

What a busy week! Not only was there the end of Maker Faire, lunch at Pixar, lots of driving, viewing the elephant seals near San Simeon (photos soon, I hope!), more driving, work, Iron Man, more work, some cool interactive media, the Rose Bowl Flea Market, Ren Faire, and the premiere of a friend's film, but there was more driving and Duran Duran!

Jenn already recounted the good and the bad of our trip to the middle of effing nowhere to see my favorite '80's boy band. She was kind in that she did not mention the fact that I drove about 30 exits past where we were supposed to get off the freeway. We're lucky we didn't end up in Mexico! Luckily, we did find the place where old diabetics go to smoke and gamble in plenty of time for some good food and even better music.

Well, she also left out the amusing conversations we heard from the women behind us at the show. They were chit-chat about all of the cocaine use, etc. that occurs in a certain school, but gets ignored by the administration. That was followed by comments of how great the school is and how they will all send their kids there. Huh? It was a little chilly and one of them said, "Remember how you called and asked if I was wearing my slut outfit tonight? It's so cold, so of course not!"

The kicker though was when one of the fans said, "As soon as my house sells, I'm getting lipo. He doesn't like that idea, so I'm thinking we're going to need some sort of prenup." (I peeked and she wasn't even fat!)

The important thing is that Duran Duran rocked, in spite of Simon forgetting some of the lyrics to "The Reflex." And yes, I'm still trying to catch up on photo uploads and blogging, which will happen soon.

5/06/2008

Not Yet

I'd hope to report on my Maker Faire experience, but am just too tired. We got in around 1:30 this morning. I hugged the dogs and went to bed as I had to be at work by 7:30 am. I was nearly a zombie by 6pm. Well, I actually didn't even to make it to the end of my workday and left a little after 5. I haven't uploaded photos from before, during, and after Maker Faire. There will be shots of giant metal sculptures, various creative craft hamsters, and elephant seals, among other things. E is also still working on getting his 3D photos online, but you can view a set from Maker Day here with your red/cyan glasses (with red on the left).

5/04/2008

Maker Faire '08-Day 1

Before:

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During:

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After:

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I ran out of almost all of my supplies over the course of the day. So, I had to go to Michaels when the show ended.

5/03/2008

SuperHam!

Long day of setting up for the start of Maker Faire in...oh crap!...a few hours! I'm excited, but a bit nervous about how it will go. I've made some specialty hamsters recently and really like this one from today:

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5/02/2008

Live From San Mateo!

I'd hoped to do a proper post tonight, since it's been a few days and I have material. Oh well, it's not happening. We made it to the Bay Area safely, got a little sleep and had a very eventful Maker Day. We've been rendering, printing, and doing other various tasks to get ready for Set Up Day, which starts in less than 7 hours! So, I'll leave you with a crappy camera phone picture of one of the awesome outdoor displays that is already in place at Maker Faire. It's made out of steel cables and is ginormous (check out the humans in the photo for comparison).

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More later. Sooner than later, I hope. And for those of you coming to the event, my booth is #290 in Expo Hall (Orange).

 

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