It's Getting Better All The Time

Our fourth year at Maker Faire (Bay Area) has come and gone and I have to say that it was the best one yet. There were even more makers on hand exhibiting their talents, as well as an impressive number of how-to activities available to attendees. It was a whirlwind few days full of friends, whimsy, discovery, absurdity, laughter, learning, and lot of fun.

ArcAttack's Tesla Coils and "The Imperial March"

E's 3-DIY exhibit has grown along with the show. He started out showing off some of his homebrew displays and rigs on his own and then expanded to sharing a small area in a large hall with a couple of friends on either side. This year, he was asked by the Maker Faire producers to curate an entire room of 3-D goodness, which came to be known as the 3-D Village. The dimly lit room contained Do-It-Yourself 3-D Cameras and Displays, 3D Phantogram Imagery, 3D Virtual Reality for the iPhone, Hologlyphics, [I am a Bird], as well as other live 3-D projection, demos, and imagery by at least three other artists. We were swamped the entire weekend. Fortunately, we finally managed to get some friends to come up, help out, and join in the fun.

Even with the extra hands on deck, we seemed to get away even less, perhaps because of the high traffic. I did steal away though to watch the ArcAttack group perform a few times (see video above) and managed to take a stroll with some droids. I also finally got over to the EepyBird Coke Zero and Mentos show, which was tons of fun! One of the guys visited our table and was super nice.

At the end of Sunday, a few of us got to shoot OK Go's supremely absurd (which I mean in a very good way) partially submerged performance in 3-D. Hopefully, some of that footage will be publically available soon. The video above shows "rehearsal" and some of the show.

If you didn't make it to this Maker Faire, hope to see you at one in the not-so-distant future!

In The Merry Month Of May

I know I should update my calendar on the right side there. May has been an amazingly fun and busy, sleepless month though, so I sort of hate to remove things. I'm working on a post that should go up this weekend and perhaps I will update by then. June looks so sad with only one event. I know there are other things I haven't added yet and some that will added along the way.

Eight Nights A Week

No, this isn't an early Hannukah post...

A lot of our friends always say things like, "You guys do SO much." I often downplay it and insist that sometimes we do sit at home and drool in front of the tv, but come to think of it, that is more the exception. This past week leaves me defenseless as we did something every single night.*

Monday: Neil Finn @ Largo, who was joined by his son on the drums and Largo's favorite son, Jon Brion, on all sorts of instruments. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that the show was amazing.

Tuesday: As part of the Downtown Film Festival-Los Angeles, E and several members of the L.A. 3D Club , put on a special screening of independent 3-D short films at the Downtown Independent, a really cool, fairly new film and event center. We had a great turnout and a reception on the roof. (I had to go back to work from 11:30pm to 1:30am).

View from roof of Downtown Independent

Wednesday: VisionFest is the annual Filmmakers Alliance (FA) event which gives an award to a prominent figure in the world of independent film (this year's recipient was producer Ted Hope), a presentation of short films, followed by a party with food, booze, and mingling. During the festivities, E ran a video theater to show other shorts by various FA members.

Thursday: Of course we attended the 3-D Club's annual officer installation and awards banquet. Not only are we members, but E is the VP and usually the projectionist. One of our members was quite boisterous this year, making it a unique occasion, but that's neither here nor there. The important thing of it all is that I not only got my participation ribbon for entering each , but I also got a 3rd place medal for the newbie group!

Friday: It was Avatar Day and by the time we remembered to request tickets, the only place left in the L.A. area to go was Long Beach. That was fine since some friends who are also into 3-D live there and joined us. We made the trip worth our while and had some Peruvian food with them after the sneak preview. We stopped at Scoops once back in L.A. & I got the last of the Brown Bread for the day! P.S. Avatar looks pretty effin' cool.

Saturday: After a long, exhausting day at work, we went to closing night of the DFFLA. We got a very rare glimpse at a dated, but fascinating, documentary called The Jackson 5 in Africa. The footage from 1974 had only screened once before in New York and it's unknown when or if it will ever be seen again. Unfortunately, the after-party was a bust, but we ended up going to Wurstküche, an exotic sausage restaurant in the Arts District. We'd heard wonderful things about the place and they were all true!

Sunday: After sleeping in a little, we decided to drive down to Laguna Beach to catch the soon-closing Sawdust Art Festival. We strolled around the art galleries along the ocean first and then took in the arts and crafts. There was also a lot of candy, but I don't want to talk about that.

Laguna Beach, my favorite place in the O.C.

Monday: Now we're up to last night. We met up with an old friend from college, who will soon be moving back to L.A., and a couple of his friends. It was a good time and even though some business-type stuff was discussed, the hours flew by as we indulged in good food and conversation.

*You may have heard me complain about being broke and that hasn't changed. We're very fortunate in that a lot of these fun things we do often cost very little to nothing, for a variety of reasons. We did pay full price for the sausage, though, and it was worth it.

May The (G) Force Be With You

So, Disney is promoting the hell out of G-Force, which if you ever open your eyes when you venture outdoors-especially in L.A.-you know.

Gadgets. Gizmos. Guinea Pigs. In 3-D.

A collage of some of the ads I've snapped photos of around L.A.

I just had to ask myself a few questions.

Will it be stupid? Probably.

Will Tracy Morgan annoy the bejeezus out of me: Most likely.

Am I afraid kids will do really stupid, dangerous things with their guinea pigs after seeing it? Unfortunately, yes.

Will I bother seeing it? HELLS YEAH!

They had me at Guinea Pigs. 3-D is a nice, nice bonus.

"...think about new & creative ways to engage young people in science & engineering, like science festivals, robotics competitions, & fairs..."

I know I bitched a lot about Maker Faire on twitter. I spite of that, I did actually have a good time. I mainly complained because it was a non-violent outlet for those moments when I really felt the need to stab people. Most of the folks I met were polite, intelligent, and eager to learn about our array of 3D displays. Then there were the a-holes. We had a lot of electronics at our table, such as projectors, LCD shutter glasses, paired still DSLR cameras, several video cameras. I was amazed that in the first half-hour an ADULT threw a pair of the expensive glasses across the table. I said "Dude!" and he mumbled "Oh, sorry" and walked off. Jerk. I grew weary of telling kids to stop pushing our tables. Most of their parents were present and watched as the kids continued to push the tables 4-5 times. Next year, we will put up a barrier. Oh, and SO many pairs of the plastic glasses we borrowed from the L.A. 3D Club were broken. We've been using them at the club meetings for years without such breakage.

While Comic-Con is a haven for geeks, Maker Faire is all about the nerds. Hardcore nerds. One of my favorite things at the event is the t-shirts. And they're nerdy, not ironic. Since I had my own hectic craft exhibit last year and worked at E's even busier booth this year, I only have a photo (above) from 2007. I made a mental note though of a few of my favorites over the course of this past weekend. I really wish I'd taken snapshots of them.

The cutest was one that luckily E pointed out to me. I would have missed it. The shirt had a schematic of a turbine engine, which contained a hamster wheel. Next to it was a little hamster dressed like an aviator. Unfortunately, it was a Shirt.Woot exclusive.

Seen on a shirt somewhere in San Mateo:

SCIENCE. It works, bitches.

When I was your age, Pluto was a planet.

Every time you call tech support, God kills a kitten.

There are 10 types of people in the world:
Those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to catch up on life after the blur of the weekend and get moving on the next things, on which I'm already behind. Sometime in the near future, I'll try to post a couple of the five or so 3D photos I took at the faire. I know at least a couple turned out fairly decent and I still have a few to download. In the meantime, grab your red/cyan glasses and check out E's blog where he posted a 3D video of Eepybird's Diet Coke & Mentos fountain.

National Poetry Month: Haiku A Day #5

Shot a 3D film
My dog has gone Hollywood
Will he be a star?

Okay, so it was a friend's indie short film (yes, in 3D) and Rusty was a last minute replacement for his dog who ended up going out of town. Rusty was a good sport, until the slate spooked him and he left the set! He was easily coaxed back on with food though and the show went on.

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.

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

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

Would you catch me if I fall?

Nerd Alert!

I'm not feeling up to doing much of a post, but I wanted to let at least a couple of my nerdier readers (you know who you are!) about E's new blog, Retinal Rivalry. As the name suggests, it is 3D related. It does give me a little thrill to come home and have him ask me, "So did you see my new blog entry?" I've been bugging him to start one for awhile. This one will obviously have a niche audience, which is okay. There will be lots of content in the way of photos, video, and projects. So, if you are into that kind of thing, grab your red-cyan anaglyph glasses and head on over.

Hello, Hello...Hola! Hola!

Do you know the best time to go to Universal CityWalk? Well, I found out and will let you in on the secret. When it's pouring rain, that's when. Easy to park and NO PEOPLE...how awesome is that? I'm not a fan of their multiplex, but it has one of the two IMAX screens in L.A. showing U2 3D in limited release. I can see Universal City from my back yard and I certainly didn't want to drive all the way to The Bridge in the downpour. As a bonus, we had AMC passes and a gift card that we used for tickets and concessions. We paid only $5 for parking, movie, and snacks.

So, U2 3D. It's pretty fanfreakintastic. E saw some footage a couple months ago and prepared me somewhat for how incredible the film would be. It was truly something to experience, especially if you are a U2 fan and/or you appreciate 3D. You've never been immersed in a movie like this before and you've never seen a concert film of this nature. Also, there is no seat in an arena during a live show that can give you the perspectives offered up on the ginormous screen.

Prior to tonight, I've seen U2 twice in concert. The first time was in the fall of 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour and the next was fall of 2006 on the Vertigo tour. I now feel like I can say I've seen them live three times (but I won't!). I got teary-eyed at least three, maybe four, times, like I often do at a show that moves me. I think my favorite thing was seeing The Edge and his quiet intensity so up close. Bono is a spaz and we alway see him everywhere, so it was fun to have some focus on the other guys as well. Great band, terrific music, and amazing 3D footage.

U2 3D will open in some non-IMAX theaters on February 15th.

Dorks R Us

This past Saturday was the monthly Dorkbot SoCal meeting. People are encouraged to bring projects they have done, so E brought along a couple of things to share. You can check out two of his projects, the blue tooth "old school" handset and the cross-century 3D viewer at cre.ations.net.

E will actually be curating a program related to 3D imaging for the March Dorkbot. Some of his expert friends will be presenting along with him.

In the meantime, we registered for Dorkbake, in which we have to design a device that will cook food with a 100-watt bulb. E has pretty much come up with a design and the initial tests are promising. We are just waiting for the mandated list of ingredients to start experimenting with recipes.

Geeking Out In 3D

I borrowed a pass to attend the World 3D Film Expo this past Friday night. E had his own pass and went to most of the screenings during the festival. I was excited to see Kiss Me Kate, which I'd heard was beautiful in terms of the 3D and fun as a film. It did not disappoint. After that movie, we got back in line for The French Line, starring Jane Russell. The film legend gave a Q&A before the movie and stayed in the audience to watch it. It's not every day you get to hear Jane Russell dish on Clark Gable.

The Glamorous Life

In case anyone mistakenly has the idea that I live a glamorous L.A. life, let me tell you how I spent my Saturday afternoon and night. I arrived early to help Eric set up screens, projectors, etc. for the movie division meeting of the Stereo Club of Southern California (as in 3D, not hi-fi). We were there from 4:00pm until about 2:30am. Parts of the event were fun, there was good food and many of the club members are fun to chat with, but the night just dragged on too long. And frankly, some of the geeky conversations went way over my head.

Today we slept in, to recover from last night, and then ran some errands. First, to Best Buy to and then to Petco for a hamster motorcycle (aka "Critter Operated Chopper"). It's super silly, but I just couldn't resist, especially since it was on sale. I'll be trying it out tonight and post photos of the occasion soon, I'm sure.

After shopping, we had dinner at our favorite Mongolian barbeque restaurant, Mogo's, in Sherman Oaks. I noticed an actor from 24 sitting at the table next to us. Eric kind of knows him through a mutual friend and decided to say 'hi' when we finished eating. I hurried off to the restroom while they talked about an upcoming poker game they'll both be attending. I just couldn't risk the possibility of saying something completely inane and inappropriate like "Tell Kiefer I love him." It's so sad when you can't even trust yourself.

The Sky is Falling!

We went to the midnight show of Chicken Little in Disney Digital 3D. It was cool. We decided to spend the bucks and go "VIP" at the El Capitan and I'm glad we did. I went in with fairly low expectations for the film itself, but it was entertaining. I laughed out loud several times. Besides that, the 3D was amazing and hopefully this new technology will take off.

Since 3D is having a bit of a popularity resurgence, it's not surprising that there is a 3D part on the new Duran Duran Live From London DVD that I picked up last night. Even cooler though, is the easter egg of the full anime video that played during their shows. (Enter '16' while on the main menu).

I finally got all of my photos from the past week's adventures uploaded to my flickr site. Go there to see my various Halloween costumes, lots of dog photos, farm photos, West Hollywood Carnaval photos, and of course U2. So much went on last week, it may just be easier to let the photos do the talking. I guess the only "events" I didn't get photos of were the two haunted yards we visited before going to West Hollywood on Halloween and the Paul Reubans Q&A at Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

I think I need a nap.