THE BOXPILOT

boxpilot shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-11-08T22:47:00.001-08:00

Hi there,

boxpilot just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"Happy morning"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

boxpilot shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-11-08T22:46:00.001-08:00

Hi there,

boxpilot just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"In his favorite hat"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

little photog

2011-10-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

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"Tiny photographer"

zoey loves taking pictures.

eugene

2011-05-04T09:14:00.001-07:00

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""Eugene with his eyes" by Zoey"

Leaning

2011-04-10T19:57:00.001-07:00

Breakfast Time

2011-04-08T15:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Britney!

2011-03-23T20:21:00.001-07:00

We love you! Hope you had a fun day.

No birds yet

2011-02-01T23:35:00.001-08:00

We check every day, but have yet to see birds at our feeder or on our house. Where are they? I had speculated that perhaps they were all gone for winter, but then I saw a whole tree of perfectly sized birds right outside our front door. So, maybe we miss them, time wise, or maybe we've got to wrong kind of food. Any suggestions? We'll keep watching.

The birdhouse is up!

2011-01-18T22:16:00.001-08:00

Zoey and I love looking for birds together out of the front window. Luckily, Britney and Zoey made me this excellent bird house for Christmas! Now we can watch for our friend the Black Phoebe. Hopefully we have enough bugs around for him to eat, but at least he'll have a good perch, right?

Thanks Girls!

Back to blogging

2010-03-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

well, i haven't been here in a long time. lets see if i can make it back. here's what i've done most recently at work. i animated the little mini tanks. enjoy.

More Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Info

Hand, pt 2

2009-11-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

so, i'm wondering if i can embed this and save people the trouble of going to the website, and still get the views counted. . . we'll see. . .

Hand

2009-11-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

so, i got a bee in my bonnet about a month ago, and made a spot for the Doritos Superbowl Ad Contest. Check it out. Share it with others. Dortios will pick their top 6 ads, then, starting in January, America will vote for their favorite. The team and i pulled off this spot in about 4 weeks, all told (one week pre productions, 3 weeks production), and i'm proud of what we've done. everybody put forth a superb effort. thanks guys!

to see it, click the link above, or here: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/4057 skip the intro, and it'll be there. sadly, the website for this contest is one of the most obnoxious sites of all time.

little chicken

2009-11-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

5 months, 5 cans!

2009-08-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

you may recognize the above right picture from this post. well, after Britney posted some excellent then and now pictures, some people wanted to know how Zoey stacked up against the cans at 5 months. well, one can a month isn't too shabby.

Hilarious

2009-08-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

i can't not chuckle when i see this face. best pic yet.

Holga

2009-08-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

so, for mothers day I got Britney a Holga. Like any good husband, I then promptly took it out to take pictures. Britney has taken some too, when she uploads them, i'll post a link.

*edit* britney's pics here

Dodger Dogs

2009-08-07T22:41:00.001-07:00

went to Mormon night at Dodger Stadium. we sat in the all you can eat section near friends, ate dogs, watched ball, and had a generally excellent time. Britney posted nicely about it, but i couldn't help but mention it. mostly cause i wanted an excuse to post a picture of my baby girl :)

Madeline

2009-08-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

went up to Utah for Madeline's blessing. who can believe that Dan is a dad? probably the same people that can believe that I am.

i've got more pictures here. britney has lots of great ones here.

The Happenings

2009-08-07T22:08:00.001-07:00

well, lots had been happening since the last we spoke. we've had mothers day, fathers day, i turned 31 , every event made the more wonderful by my lovely wife and beautiful daughter. . .. we've been visiting, we've been visited. work has been happening, projects around the house and otherwise have been nearing completion, and Zoey gets bigger and more fun every day.

WINNER!

2009-05-14T00:10:00.001-07:00

that's right. after a couple of hours an one minor bit of trouble shooting, i am now typing this on the machine you see pictured above. thanks to "mechdrew" at the MyDellMini forum, and nearly idiot proof instructions, not to mention the files i needed to make booting to my USB drives work, i now have a Hackintosh Vostro a90.

i even uploaded my picture from the SD card in the SD card reader. just one of the many (mini?) reasons to build your own. (no, Britneys new Macbook doesn't have an SD card reader built in, how about THAT!?) and it only cost about $350. 250 for the netbook from Dell Small Business, and 100 for OSX on Amazon.

has my inner geek been satiated? sure. for now. untill i upgrade the ram to 2gb for, like, 25 bucks. BOO YAH!

Mini Monolith

2009-05-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

It's here!

The a90 has arrived looking sleek in it's all black case. I took I to work to test out the Ubuntu OS that came pre installed, and let's be honest, it's not bad for a Linux OS. For a fleeting moment I even considered giving it a go. Yeah, untill I tried to play a quicktime on the computerweb (Linux and QT don't get along. Odd since OSX is built on a Linux kernel). Thus, my resolve is solidified, OSX here we come!

Tonight, we'll see how good I am at following directions . . .
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Yeah, that's the real deal

2009-05-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

oh man . . . oh man . . . oh man . . .

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Obsessions

2009-04-29T10:15:00.001-07:00

well, what's up internet. i've got a couple of new obsessions -

1 - making my baby smile

2 - squirrel suits
3 - hackintosh

Britney is better at 1 than me.
Squirrel suits are apparently hard to come by, for a one day rental in LA.
and my inner geek is freaking out beacause i have to wait a month for my Vostro a90 to show up. thanks Dell . . .thanks for NOTHING!

Fixit Week, pt. 1

2009-04-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Check it out-thanks to the generosity of my brother (Chris donated the faucet) and the help of my father (it was definitely a two man job) , Britney got a new kitchen faucet!

The hardware is really nice, the assembly was relatively simple, and it was a great excuse to get a new tool! Hooray!
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mi amigo, Rob, needs your help

2009-03-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

dear kind friend,

my man Rob has made it to the finals in a contest of creativity. if you would be so kind as to go here: http://www.melrosemaccontest.com/vote.php and vote for his song, #7 "So Close" , you would be a kind friend indeed.

if he wins he gets a bunch of gear to enhance the production of more creative endeavors.

thanks you,
me

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITNEY!

2009-03-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

well, it's been a big year, and here you are at the anniversary of your birth. i hope today is cool for you, since i had to go to work instead of hanging out, and i cant throw you a big party. maybe next year?

here are some pictures of you that i love, from the last year (plus one from a little before).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

you are super cute, and i love you :) <3

Bake Master

2009-03-16T22:05:00.001-07:00

Luckily for us, Britney's sister Kim came to help with the baby for a couple of weeks. "lucky why?" you ask? Well, not only is she the mother of 4 (loads of practical experience) , she is super helpful around the house, she's not bad for conversation, and she apparently loves to bake us treats, as evidenced by the above picture.

Shown here she is baking some super tasty smores cookie bars, that Brit found on Jill's blog (billiej.blogspot.com). She also made some killer stuffed cupcakes. Raspberry mouse is delicious. I probably are a dozen of them myself in, like, 2 days.

Last time she was here she baked some excellent coconut cupcakes. Mmmmm . . . Coconut. . .

Needless to say, i'm going to have a hard time shedding my excess 30 lbs. While she's around. Thanks Kim!

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March 15, 2009

2009-03-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

an historic day. today, Britney and i have been married for one year! i can't believe it. what a crazy year. who would have thought that i would be married AND have a kid, all within the year? not me, that's for sure, but what great blessings!

to celebrate, Brit and i went to Hustons last night for dinner, and spent a whole hour and a half out of the house together, alone! that was huge, since the last time we did that was . . . um . . . yeah. (i dont count the times of being with fetus as "alone" :) ). we both sort of procrastinated the doing of something for each other, but i suppose it was due to a worthy distraction. we were laughing about not having done anything for each other, but in the end, we both agreed that little Zoey was probably the best present we could have recieved.
in other news, at Britney's bequest, i painted this little triptic for above Zoey's crib. i got that and a whole lot of other things from my "list" finished up this week, including fixing my and Dan's beach cruisers, which brings our total number of functional cruisers in the garage to 3. equal to the total number of actual cruisers in the garage for maybe the first time ever. not that they needed much fixing- a flat tire and some broken spokes-but who has the time, right?

Zoey also had her one week Dr's visit. She was back to her leaving the hospital weight of 5 lbs, after having droped the expected couple of ounces to 4 lbs 12 oz earlier in the week. she gets cuter every day.

now, as i get back to my list, i just need to find a campsite in Yosemite in July (may be impossible), get people some gifts (probably possible), and find a million dollars (improbable). i guess i'd better play those numbers on the back of the fated fortune from that cookie. . .

WOO HOO! IT'S OFFICIAL!

2009-03-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

i'm a DAD! and it is cool.

on March 5 at 12:20 pm, little Zoey entered the world and made us a family. She weighed in at 5 lbs 3 oz, 18.5 inches long. The delivery went well enough (easy for me to say), after the pushing had started, though getting there was a little rocky due to Britney's extreme needle phobia and some adverse chemical reactions - magnesium makes your skin feel like it's on fire, and if your epidural works too well, and they turn it off for a while, there is a chance that it might not work that well when they turn it back, and you'll have the full experience of a natural birth on half of your uterus.

But, all in all, everything went fine (but what do i know, being the moral support/annoying camera guys is the easy part), i got to cut the cord, and watch the birth. And, by the way, watching the birth is TOTALLY AWESOME. i've heard that it grosses some people out, but . . . seriously. if you get the chance, i highly recommend it.

so, now we've been home for a couple of days, working out the eating sleeping schedule. i have embraced my roll as diaper changer, Brit has embraced her roll as lunch box and we're just having an over all good (if sometimes sleepless) time.

Coming Soon

2009-02-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

Today we got little Zoey's last ultra sound. As long as nothing drastic happens (which is unlikely) Britney will be induced next wednesday, and our girl will be here on thursday!

Yeah, it's crazy and awesome. The anticipation mounts with every Dr. Visit. I think that it's harder, in some ways, to know the day that your baby will arrive. Harder to wait, that is.

Who's ready!? This guy!

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How long would you wait for free

2009-02-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

Breakfast? Lunch? This is the line at my local Denny's for today's free Grand Slam promotion. Is the novelty of a free $5.99 meal really worth a 2 hour line wait? Not for me, but maybe you didn't have that much to do today. . .

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Go Clippers

2009-01-26T20:54:00.000-08:00

So, my brother got Clippers tix from work today, and I got to go to the game, where I am currently writing this. Go Clippers!

The stadium is not quite filled to capacity, but what can you expect from a Monday night Clippers game?

The tix are awesome, cause they are in the VIP section, where you can order food and they'll bring it to you in your squishy seat. Sadly, my burger was not as awesome as my seat, but probably not as bad as the Clipper who Chris just watched miss 14 free throws in a row during second half warm up. Why isn't the stadium full?

I love free game tickets. I wonder where the mega gan is. Did Mark Cuban buy him after all?

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Now in Stereo

2009-01-22T10:03:00.001-08:00

So, I just made this rig. Wait. Let me rephrase that. Chris and I just made this. And, let's be honest: it was a lot Chris.

Let me elaborate. I came home from work wanting to make a rig to see if I could shoot something in stereo with 2 HV20's. Admittedly, this thought was dreamed up by Piotr, but it seemed like a good excuse to shoot a test shot that I've been wanting to put a 3D character in. So, I took it upon myself to build a rig. When I got home, I asked Chris if he wanted to help, and, of course, he did, so I unfolded to him my wood based idea. Luckily, this resulted in 2 thing. Chris pointing out that it would be cooler if it was made of metal, and he becoming excited enough about it to really take the lead in its new meticular execution. Also lucky : Chris has loads of tools that I don't have, making metal work in the garage feasible.

I can't wait to see it the test footage I made tonight worked, and if the footage I will shoot tomorrow will work.

STEREO!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Ice Cream Sundae Wednesday

2009-01-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks work! A nice mid week treat. Wait, is it wednesday already?

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the Table

2009-01-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

so, speaking of furniture, i present you this fine specimen of hand wrought oak.

my father is a worker of wood. he makes really fine furniture. he has made me tables, shelves, a cedar chest. and now, the best thing he has made me: this fine table.

i dont know when my father decided to do this. maybe it was a long meditated decision. but i do know it was at least made when my brother, the first in our family to take the plunge, got married. at his reception my father presented he and his wife a very fine piece of work, a gift - an oak table. i then realized that this was setting the pattern, and was excited that i would, one day, receive my own table.
this table is representative of our family tradition of eating, conversing, and generally living around our kitchen table. the table has long been a center of family life, and this has held true in my family. a symbol of home and time spent together. my father now gives each of us kids one when we get married. each of them is unique.

ours is small, but has a leaf, since we are likely to live in a small place for a long time, but will need the expandability in the future. one of the most interesting features of this table was its modular nature. my dad made it so it could be easily shipped and easily assembled. and even after assembly, it has a 2 sizes: with and without the leaf.
this is the best wedding present i could have asked for. i was super excited when it arrived, and i couldn't wait to put it together and have our first meal on it. it fits perfectly in our house, and i'm excited to carry on the tradition of family dinner and living around the table.

thanks dad!

The crib maker

2008-12-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

This is Tony. Not only is he the husband of my hot pregnant wife's sister, he will also be very kindly making us a crib for our impending offspring.

Today we went to the wood store to get the wood. He recommended Poplar, who were we to disagree? Britney wants to paint it white when it's done, so apparently poplar is good for that, not as strong a grain.

Thanks Tony. Now the question becomes, how will we get it to LA. Looks like we'll be making another trip.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Steve at his desk

2008-12-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Steve Steele, Britneys dad, checks the news. We've been staying with Steve and Nancy, his wife, for our little christmas break.

Yay Christmas!

Steve and Nancy served a mission in Russia, so they're always interested in the news there.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

in the news

2008-12-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

This is my hot pregnant wife. She is currently incubatting our little girl, to be named Zoey , unless otherwise decided. Though a name change is unlikely.

Yes, internet, I'm going to be a dad! And I am super psyched. We're expecting her early in March. Its fun since she'll have 3 girl cousins and one boy all close to her age, not to mention all the friends coming out of my friends at right about the same time.

YAY KIDS!

You may be wondering why she is standing in an empty room. Sadly, this is not her portfolio picture for Americas Next Top Pregnant Model. It is, however evidence of some great news : my brother got a job here in LA, and he's coming down at the first of the year to work, with sarah and izzie soon to follow.

And, I tried posting this with my new blackberry, but blogger was having some sort of issues. I opted for not the iphone, we'll see how it goes. So, that's fun. more news to come!

Mustache time?

2008-09-24T10:03:00.001-07:00

is it? is it that time again?

i am caused to reflect by this article, forwarded to me by a friend, and fellow occasional mustache enthusiast. from that article, i was forwarded to what may be one of the most important awards to be presented this year. . . the Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year. i dont feel i particularly qualify, but what inspiration! GOULET!

CYBORG!

2008-09-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

is it the future, or an abomination? i saw this article a while back, and found it fascinating. that's all i can really say.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080813192458.ud84hj9h&show_article=1

I'm on Youtube, what's next?

2008-09-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

so, last week i delivered the final video to Nettwerk, the record label . . . finally. no pun intended. i asked them what their intent for distribution was, and they said all of the standard outlets, which is way cool, cause maybe my video will be on TV!

over the weekend, a friend said that they had watched the video on YouTube, which i thought was unlikely, because i hadn't posted it there, but maybe someone else had? so, i searched for it today, and HERE IT IS! on youTube!

now, you may be inclined to wonder "why is that such a big deal" ? well, good question, and i answer you dear reader: this is the final version which i delivered to the label, not one that i gave to anyone, or posted anywhere else, which means that they have begun their distribution! sooo . . . watch for it on your nearest favored music video outlet :)

In The News

2008-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

hey, one of my favorite blogs for checking out cool stuf, no fat clips, put my video up! that's awesome. and, ok, yes, i did send it to them anonymously, but i wanted to see if they would think it was cool enough. cause, you know, who doesn't need a little ego padding? :)

right now, at 5:28 pm on thursday, it currently is at the top of the page. it might not be by time you get there, they post a lot of stuff all the time, but scroll down, if you want, and you may find it.

or, you can just watch it here

they also posted a friend's excellent PSA a little while back. it's really cool, check it out.

in other self serving news, if you google my name and the weepies together, you can see a press release and other blogs that have liked the video.

She's the One

2008-07-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

my wife is fantastic. have i told you that? what, you didn't know i had a wife? well, i know that's not true since, the fact is, if you're reading this, you probably know me personally, however, in the off chance that you were forwarded here from some other blog, perhaps by a mutual acquaintance, allow me to elucidate.

well, internet, remember this one post? its time for a follow up. why have i waited so long? you may be inclined to ask, and for good reason. but really, i don't know. maybe everything got crazy, and all of my good intentions were brushed to the wayside. maybe i avoided it for fear of an inability to articulate my feelings, or maybe for a fear of actually just articulating them (sometimes that's hard, you know?). maybe i thought i would wait till we had some pictures posted, and then let my procrastination get the best of me. no matter what the "reason", there is not a good one. this story is long overdue.

so, lets start at the beginning, or is it the end? i suppose its both.
on March 15, 2008, i married the girl of my dreams in the Salt Lake City Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

at the thought of the day, i am struck instantly by a myriad of images associated with the event. Thoughts, feeling, emotions, it's overwhelming.

the day started in a relatively relaxed way, due to the fact that my (obviously) inspired wife to be scheduled our sealing for 1:30 pm. so many people talk about their wedding day being a blur, that they barely even remember it, that they can't even remember who was at their reception. i think that's a terrible shame. i feel like i remember everything about the day, and i attribute it all to the fact that we didn't have to rush to make our sealing time in the morning. starting the day off right made all the difference.

i got to the temple, it was busy that day, and after changing, getting a little advice from one of the Temple presidency and getting pointed in the right direction, met Britney and we waited in the celestial room until it was our time.

i don't think i ever remember a celestial room looking so beautiful. even when we were in it, just a few days before, it didn't resonate with such light and color. i think i must have almost cracked my face, i was grinning like an idiot.

we got sealed in a very straight forward and efficient little ceremony. it was so exciting to be there with my future wife, hearing the sealer pronounce us husband and wife. it was great to be surrounded by family and friends.

after the sealing, of course, it was picture time. Salt Lake had sported beautiful weather the days previous, so we figured we were in luck for a nice day of pictures. boy were we wrong. sure, the sun was out (sort of), but it must have been broken, cause even on the times it peaked out from behind the clouds, it was generally ineffective.
of course, then it started snowing. no, i mean hailing. like, you know when you get a fountain drink from some places and they have that ice which is bigger than snow cone sized crystals, but smaller than regular ice, and then it gets a little melty and gets all compact in the bottom of your styrofoam cup? yeah, hail like that.

so, we tried to bust out the group shots as fast as possible. our photographer was fantastic. she must have eaten her weaties that morning (or . . . you know, her speed) because she was like a 7 year old who forgot her ridalin. which was actually really helpful, when you're trying to get pictures that include 7 year olds, and adults with the attention span of 7 year olds.

so, the group pics whent well, everybody left . . . and then it really got cold. yeah, we thought it was cold before, but, you know, we were wrong. it got frozen hands people crying due to exposure cold. (no, not me, i wasn't crying. i'm a real man, and real men never cry, right?).

luckily our photographer only needed us in the freezing cold, for, like 7 more hours, so we finished up, got some nice shots, and were off to the reception. where we took some more pictures.

and had a party!

and it was a fantastic party. Britney had organized everything: the decoration of the place, the cake, the food, the Mariachi band. yes, the Mariachi band. yes, they were real. yes they were awesome.
the food was awesome too. we had little pulled pork sandwiches. little barbeque beef sandwiches, little key lime pies, churros - so much good stuff. apparently, the 2 hits of the evening were the brazilian limeaide and the stuffed churros. i dont remember if i had any limeade, but i know i missed the stuffed churros, which is driving me crazy because whenever anybody talks about our reception, the only thing they can talk about is the stuffed churros! if they were so good, why didn't anybody bring me one!? oh yeah, cause everybody was too busy eating them. there was a line all night at the churro stand. i didn't understand it at the time, but now i get it. i guess . . .

oh, and we had the best wedding cake ever. ever. sorry to everyone else, in the whole world, our cake beat yours by a mile. you can cry about it later, but its true. and, it looked cool too. we even took the lemony top to our cake with us when we left and ate it for the next 3-5 days. oh man, it was so good. i wish i could eat some of it right now. of course, it might also have been the beginnings of my 20 lbs of excess baggage. . . . but it was so worth it. . . mmmm . . .best cake ever . . . .
well, the evening went well. so many people came. it was so excellent to be surrounded by family and friends for the big day. that's whats it's all about, being able to celebrate the momentous occasions with family and friends.

so, we took off from the party, spent a couple of nights at the Grand America hotel in Salt Lake, and we were off to Hawaii for a week of relaxing on the beach. . . sort of.

Hawaii was great. we were on Kauai, the north most island. we weather wasn't too rainy, so we were able to to so much stuff. we went diving off of the forbidden island (a natives only island, just off the north west off Kauai), saw some sharks, dove through some killer arches. we went horseback riding, snorkeling, up to Waimea canyon (the "Grand Canyon" of Hawaii), sat on beaches, took loads of pictures, and ate seriously tasty apple turnovers from Yumi's. we ate alot of great food, and just had a great vacation.
it was all over too fast, and before we knew it, we were off to VA for a quick weekend open house with my folks, and then we were back in Santa Monica. i went straight back to work, and Britney went straight to work turning out little apartment in to a home. she's done a fabulous job, none of our friends even recognize it as the place where Andy and i used to live.

so, that is the short version of the story of the beginning of this new life, and the end of the old. i'm going to have alot more to say about my excelent wife, and our adventures now that we are married, so stay tuned.

Megan got married

2008-07-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

so, last weekend Britney and i boarded a plane for the Right coast to witness the matrimony of my littlest sister, Megan. We hung out in VA with the family, had a wonderful time, and the wedding day was fantastic. luckily, my lovely wife got me a D40 for my birthday, so i was able to take 7 hundred billion pictures, as opposed to my usual couple of rolls of film. so, now i've got to sort through them, or just post them indiscriminately for your perusing.

did i mention that i turned 30? yeah, i also haven't written a word about actually getting married - sorry babe - we'll get to that soon.

one of the wedding weekend highlights was taking Mason, my recenly acquired nephew (you know, acquired by marriage. . . me being the "new") fishing in the backyard. he is still developing his fishing attention span, but has found his rock throwing attention span to be quite sufficient.

Mason caught the most fish (2), Britney the biggest fish, while i came in with the award for littlest fish, barely bigger than the bobber i used to catch him. i don't even know how he got the worm in his mouth. he wont have to eat for a month.
other highlights included seeing my brother Matt's new (old) '68 El Camino on blocks in the driveway (my mother was thrilled, she loves it when we, as a family, display our occasional redneckness. pass the Mt. Dew.), Tony's pizza on the back porch with Jojo's family, watching Avery freak out about the dogs, shooting skeet, burning meat on the charcoal grill, and the bumpiest roller coaster-esqe takeoff i have ever experienced in a plane.
anti-highlights include sitting on the runway at Dulles for an extra hour and a half, thus missing our connecting flight, and "getting" to stay the night in Chicago on our own dime. but, hey, a hotel is better than a cot in terminal A, right?

and, now we've been back for a week, Britney's tired (for reasons to be discussed in the future), and i'm just animating some bugs, robots and servers. luckily it hasn't been too hot here, in the last couple of months, and when it is a little warm, we have a nice new window unit A/C. thanks Frank.

Hideaway

2008-07-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

well, its been a long time since i've posted. i kept waiting for time to write that perfect post. one that would describe everything that i've been doing . . . but, reality has struck, and that time will never materialize. which is sad.

so, due to my procrastination, i feel like i've missed lots of opportunities to share fun stuff. oh well, time to move on. i dont want to miss any more opportunities, so i will begin again to share "fun" stuff starting now, with a little video i made for a contest. hope you like it, hope it wins :) .

Hideaway, song by The Weepies.

Hideaway - Michael Warner

Dear The Internet,

2008-04-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

i'm sorry i've been neglecting you. its just that, i've had a lot to do. i wish i could tell you all about it right now, but, i'll have to give you the full story later. for now, a snapshot.

Blue Delorean

2008-02-28T10:52:00.001-08:00

i've been updating my website.

its been a little slow, and there's not much to look at, yet, but its on its way . . .

I Hate Sending Flowers

2008-02-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

well . . . maybe thats a bit of an erroneous statement. well . . . maybe not.

i like GIVING flowers. i just dont like SENDING flowers? "But, Mike," you may be inclined to wonder, "what does that mean?"

well, i have tried to send flowers to my lovely financee several times. and, she always loves them. and i feel great! i'm so glad i could brighten her day just a little but blowing some cash on something useless. after all, that is sort of like art, right? at least, according to Victorian philosophers and art critics everywhere (art being a useless item meant to look pretty. . . art for art's sake.)

i am always glad to find out that the flowers actually arrived at the time and place designated. and went to the right person. and brightened her day. and i'm glad i did something "right" (because, lets face it, i'm a a guy, and we gotta do what we can :) ). and i sit back and bask in my own awesomeness, feeling proud, and maybe a little cocky, and then she sends me the picture of the lovely blossoms.

and then i deflate.

why, you ask? i mean, it sounds like everything was nearly perfect, right? well. nearly. except that almost every time i send flowers from an online retailer, they are wrong. sure, Britney is appreciative, and i'm sure she feels all the feelings i would have hoped she would feel from the thought of me sending flowers. but SHE ALWAYS GETS THE WRONG ONES!

but, at least she got flowers, right? i mean, its the thought that counts, right? well . . . . almost.

you see, how can i be sure that she felt as loved as she could have, if she didnt get the flowers i intended. take, for example, exhibit A (or "why i hate FTD"):
notice the little roses in the top right corner. britney got those from me one day, back in , i dont know, septemeber or something. and, you're thinking, whats wrong with those, they seem nice. and sure they are, but notice the big flower dead center in the picture. yeah, thats what she was supposed to have gotten.

whats the problem, right? oh, well, 2 things. for one, the big flowers are Hydrangeas. not roses at all. they delivered flowers that were not even remotely similar. the second problem HYDRANGEAS ARE HER FAVORITE!

so, am i to assume that, though having received some admittedly nice flowers, her emotional response would have been the same as if they had been her actual favorite flowers? and, am i to just be ok with the fact that she got some flowers, even if they weren't the ones i paid for?

way to go FTD. it wasn't even a holiday. how could you screw that up?

they screwed up another order too, but i cant remember what that was. oh, yes i do. at Halloween they had a special orange rose bouquet. so, i thought, i love Britney, and Orange is her favorite color, i'll send her that, since we live far apart, and it would be fun. well, she didnt get Orange roses. she got some crappy little red ones that were already browning when she got them.

nice.

yeah, i called them. they gave me, like, a 5% refund. now THAT's customer service. they said it had something to do with their right to substitute an equivalent flower, based on availability or something. well, thats bullshit. if you're advertising a special arrangement, and someone orders that specific one. . . .maybe there's a reason for that. maybe. . .

consider, for example, exhibit B:

these are the flowers that Britney got for valentines.
they're lovely, right? sure. but does that arrangement look like this one?
admittedly, i was a little late this year with my flower ordering. i ordered on wed. (the 13th) for a thursday (the 14th) delivery. however, i found this bouquet on a website, and wanted to send it, it was perfect, i thought. exactly what i was hoping to "say". sadly, the site said it would not be available for a next day delivery. so, i figured that would be the same for all of their flowers, so i navigated to a different site and, to my excitement, found the same bouquet, which COULD be delivered next day!

i ordered a very specific bouquet, with the very specific promise that it could be delivered as i ordered it.

well, i think you get my point by now. . .

i think that flower delivery places take advantage of distance separation to screw people. i dont know the monetary value of the bouquet recieved. i mean, it could have been worth more than the one i ordered, so they felt justified in sending it instead of my intended selection. i probably would never have known, if digital media hadn't made it so easy to share images. but, i didnt want a more expensive bouquet. i wanted the one i ordered.

flowers, to me, have a specific language about them. maybe that is something that has been brainwashed into us by flower companies, but i dont think so. historically, flowers have always had meaning (or here) Red roses for love and passion, pink or yellow Roses for friendship (i guess depending on the time period), Edelweis denoted a real warrior, etc.

these days, flowers have different or no specific meaning at all (is that a societal commentary in and of itself), except for what you give them. if i wanted her to think i didnt know her so well, i'd send her a bouquet of purple flowers (not her favorite color). if i wanted her to think i was cheap and still in middle school, i'd send her a couple of lame carnations. so, for me, when i want to send the girl i love the flowers that she loves the best, by either type or color, i have a reason. and the places that have been claiming to help me in that regard have nearly always let me down. in exchange for ludicrous sums of money.

except for one place in Lindon, UT, that i couldn't locate, and who's URL i thought i had saved. they got it right. and same day delivery to boot. i wish i could plug them. (that would also be a good illustration or, or parallel to my feelings about chain vs. local restaurants. . . interesting. . .)

well, luckily, Britney and i will be in the same place forever soon enough, and i can just BRING her the flowers i intend for her to recieve. then she'll know exactly what i'm trying to "say". maybe :)

but dont give your money to FTD or Orem Floral (i even tried to call Orem Floral on the number they included in my confirmation email, but all i got was fax machine noise. nice one guys.)

23 or 28 . . . it depends on the circumstances

2008-01-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

that is. . . assuming that i am of average build, average reach and a little above average height, and that these are just all regular 5 year olds that haven't had their naps or something.

after discussing it with kyle, and considering the question with certain caveats, such as:

are they zombie kids?
are they all severly ADD?
have they all peed themselves withing the last 5 minutes?
do they want to kill me?

and kyle pointing out that you have to assume all of the above, and that "you have to fight there mothers next," i retook the test and found out that i could take 28.

i feel pretty good about that. i would like to thank my one time Taekwondo teacher for helping me up my chances by teaching me the effect of the round house kick.

Thanks Johnny O.

Where Do I Start?

2008-01-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

its the new year, where do i start? i mean, after such an eventful holiday time, it seems almost anticlimactic writing on the internet. . .

and WHY was it eventful, you ask?

well, i went to 3 different states, visited the capitol of the free world, celebrated the birth of Jesus spiritually and secularly . . . oh yeah, and GOT ENGAGED! yeah, thats right. dope.

well, the reality of it is that, if you're reading this, you probably already knew that that had happened, but, as articulated by Kristen in email, and by everyone else:

1. How did you propose? (and am i ever going to see pictures?)

2. What does the ring look like?

3. Are you actually going to manage to get the SLC temple reserved in two months? Isn't it kinda crazy?

4. What is it, exactly, that Britnee does?

5. Are you going to blog this?!

so, i answer your questions:

1.) it has been a family tradition to have family and some family friends over to the house on Christmas Eve for dinner and a little program. at some point, we all started receiving pj's on Christmas Eve, in what was, i'm sure, and attempt by my mother to have us all look presentable in the inevitable Christmas morning photos.

at some point, in the last couple of years, the parents have stopped getting us the pj's, because jolly old Saint Nick has been showing up at the house to distribute them to the kids.

well, this year, Santa had a special final gift for one young lady. he proposed for me (since i was scared), and brought me the good news - SHE SAID YES! which was kind of amazing, since she was asked by a fat guy with a beard in front of a bunch of people - and you know how much she likes to be the center of attention. oh, you dont? well, lets just say about as much as having honey poured over her body and being lowered into a hive of red ants.
2.) the ring is/will be a non standard type of setup, consisting of 4 bands - three thin and one fat. two of the thin bands will be yellow gold, one rose gold, with various diamonds set flush. the fourth band will be fat and white gold. all gold will be brushed.

one of the gold bands is the band that i used for her place holder/initial engagement ring. it looks hand made (and is, i guess), and has 3 organically spaced small diamonds.

since its so custom, it has to get made, so i dont have pics of it yet, cause, you know, its getting made.

3.) yes. in fact, its already done, for one of our prospective dates. when we have the real date, you'll know.

4.) Britney (watch that spelling :) ) is currently an account manager for Logoworks, where she interfaces with clients. she is excited to quit this job.

5.) yes.

so, there you have it. complete with pictures of me in a fat man suit.

Britney came to VA for Christmas, then we went together to AZ to hang out with her family for a couple of days. Then to UT for a couple of days cause Britney had to work but i didnt.

speaking of work, i am no longer working at Digital Domain, but have been given a staff position at Asylum, which is the best place i have ever worked. ever. they gave me a beanie today. just cause they're like that.

i started there yesterday. guess what my first task is, post Speed Racer. . . . cant guess? ok, i'll tell you, its prevising a car commercial! good thing i've had months of training :).

Its That Time of Year Again . . .

2007-12-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Its the time of year where various people gather at Sarah's mother's house in an attempt to create the ultimate gingerbread construction. the hours are long, the constructions difficult, and the voting harsh. this is a contest after all. what better way to entice people to push themselves to their creative construction limits than with the promise of voting by their peers with prizes to be awarded for First and Second place house (or, Best House and First Loser).

the trash talking was thick this year, as various teams, remembering their defeats of the past were rallying themselves for the ultimate battle. Chris and I had won the contest twice before with our superior constructions, but we had been defeated last year, as skewed and questionable voting rewarded simple cuteness over technical supremacy and conceptual awesomeness.
i was looking forward to this year. Chris and I were destined to regain the title - we are a superior team of creativeness and construction knowledge, after all. but Sarah and Amy had pulled off a coup last year, and Sarah was counting on Britney, her partner this year, to help her do it again.
Megan Showed up with Joseph, a first time team with a self proclaimed killer idea up their sleeves. And Dan and Ashley, a wild card team, having just returned to the bluster of UT from the fun and sun of Florida were any ones guess.
Jacob was meant to team with Sharon, but ended up flying solo, as she wandered throughout the house supervising the replacement of light bulbs and talking on the phone under the auspice of providing snacks. He was able to recruit the occasional help of Lauren and Ian, who sadly dropped out of the race due to a broken nose. (no, the nose was previously broken, but the pain relieving drugs were heavy). This turned out to be to Jacob's favor, as he constructed his most well designed, well made and complete house to date.
We started around noon, making the plans, baking, building, embellishing. Tensions were occasionally high, as people tried to scope out the plans of other teams, or steal their dough or building supplies. But by 6pm all of the houses were completed and the teams cast their votes.

The voting rules seemed fair enough: vote for the best house. You cant vote for your own.

and here is the field, team members followed by entry:

1.) sarah and britney
2.) mike and chris
3.) dan and ashley4.) megan and joseph
5.) jacob

well, how did you vote, dear reader?

and the winner was . . . team Sarah and Britney, with their Whoville inspired creation.

second place went to . . . Jacob's log cabin.

and we (mike and chris) came in third . . .

Chris and i felt confident that our house stood superior (our windmill vanes actually spun for crying out loud!), but the voting told us otherwise. now, not to discredit the creativity of the Who-house. it was excellent. a fantastic idea, and well executed. everyone did a fantastic job on their houses, in their own right. but still we placed 3rd. that's right, second loser. Once again, the spurious voting of the "judges" proved that our skills were far inferior to those of, say, the creator of the log cabin.

i couldn't help think of the sentiments echoed to me by others about the state of our nations voting lately, where those voting feel more inclined to vote against someone than for the "best" choice. indeed, after our loss, we received many consolations. "it's OK, you know your house is the best", "i couldn't vote for you, because your house was too awesome", "i felt bad for *name omitted* because i thought they wouldn't receive any votes . . .*

well, if they didn't receive the votes, you can tell the loser that they won all you want, but they still don't walk home with the prize.

i fear that this is the obvious result of the over liberalization of our public schools by those who want everyone to feel better except those who truly excel. like, letting kids spell things phonetically in elementary school, so that they don't have to feel bad that they can't live up to the exacting standards so harshly imposed upon them by the constructs of their native language. or letting everyone win, so that no one feels like a loser.

well, i'll tell you who loses in that case - the American people, that's who. if we crush the spirits of those who excel, but punishing them for their brilliance, we will eventually wallow in an eventual state of idiocy. Much like Southern California, or the film Idiocracy.

till next year. . .

Think You Know the World?

2007-12-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

this little game kept me occupied for longer than i'd like to admit. but i think i did pretty good, considering.

"Here he comes . . . "

2007-12-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

GO!

2007-12-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

there has been a lot of buzz in the last couple of days about Speed Racer. i guess the Warner Bro's marketing machine is gearing up for the big race!

The trailer is out with Golden Compass now, and i assume will be online soon.

for the interested, here are links to the various articles of the day.

AICN
USA Today
FirstShowing.net
*Gizmodo

Speed Racer - the official website. not much to it, yet.

more to come, i'm sure. but also, this photo of the Mach 5 is actually a digital rendering done at DD. nobody seems to know that. funny, huh.
i got these photos from the interweb, where they are now ubiquitous.

Seriously?

2007-12-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

i suddenly and strangely feel the need to dance.

Space is Cool

2007-12-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

ok, who wanted to go to space camp? c'mon, dont be shy.
well, i did, so i love seeing sweet images of space. like this one: from the personal website of some guy named "Texasjim." and, yes, according to his bio, he IS from Texas, believe it or not.

i went to Texas once. it wasn't so bad. in fact, it was kind of nice. and so were all of the people. and they have lax gun laws. that sounds great. but i digress.

Texasjim got these pics from "A friend's granddaughter who works for NASA." (?) well, thats nice Jim. and thanks for sharing.

and thanks NASA . . . . for being awesome.

p.s. i also love sweet movies of space. . . like this one

what kind of gun IS that?

2007-12-03T16:25:00.001-08:00

the question was posed relative to the previous post. well, THAT is a Sig p229. a German made .40 caliber pistol with 4" barrel and American made stainless steel slide.

aannnndd. . . it rules. Sig Sauer makes fantastic firearms.

next, i need a 1911 of some sort. old Brother Brownings masterpiece. i also think i'd like eventually collect one from each of the war era's in which its been pivotal.
i also would like to get a .22, for plinking around, and having recently shot a Beretta 9mm, and finding it to be quite enjoyable, maybe i should get one of those too. you know, to round out the collection.

speaking of collections. i guess i should also get a Sig 210. and a Mauser "Red 9." Maybe a Luger. Should i get a M1 Garand?

dont worry, i can own all of those legally in the state of California. despite what the liberal wack jobs would like.

my new toy

2007-11-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

well, Peter is all full of himself, now that he started a new blog. great. way to go guy. glad you could make it to the party. but, sorry, we're out of guacamole, and the stripper already went home.

anyways, reading peters self absorbed ramblings, i realized that it has been a while since i posted myself. i did have great, introspective post that i started two weeks ago, complete with relevant cell phone pictures, but now it just seems silly and self aggrandizing to post it. but maybe i will later anyways.

for now, please enjoy this photo of my new toy, taken by my super hot girlfriend. its awesome. i love shooting guns. and britney even pretends to have a good time when i make her come with me.

DHL

2007-11-16T11:54:00.001-08:00

i'm trying it. maybe it will work better than UPS has, lately. anybody?

camera 2.0

2007-11-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

my monitor finally arrived! HOORAY! its an 8" HD monitor from Ikan. hopefully, today the final pieces of my little rig will show up, then i'll really be in business.

guns and pumkins

2007-10-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

had a great weekend . . . more evidence here and here.

I Was an Art Major . . .

2007-10-25T19:50:00.001-07:00

BECAUSE: i like art more that science, and this might as well have been in Greek . . . it makes no sense to me. And its not just because of the narrators science-y sounding accent.

apparently, Discover Magazine had an online video contest to see who could best explain String Theory in 2 minutes. and that was the winner.

well, i liked the ducky, anyways.

for Eastern European sounding accents, however, i prefer the more political science explanation of the end of the world seen here:

". . . here is ze Earth . . . chilling. Damn! That is a sweet Earth, you might say. . . "

Ah, online merchants, i love thee, i hate thee

2007-10-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

soo, i'm sure we have all experienced the joy and wonderment which is online shopping. i know Andy has. he used to buy so many things online, that if a box showed up at the house, he would just open it, assuming it was his. he was often confused, not remembering having ordered The Art of Incredibles or Disney Treasures DVD's . . . (i dont know WHO ordered those. probably an artist . . .)

its just like Christmas, or your birthday, when the box shows up. being that, by time it arrives, you have been either eagerly anticipating its imminence, or you had forgotten that you ordered it in the first place (unless your roomate opens it first, in which case, its like getting a pair of hand me down socks. . ..) you rush to open it, wondering if this particular cardboard treasure chest contains that camera gear you've been lusting after, or that guide to little known hot spots around town, which will undoubtedly make you the coolest guy in your particular circle, famous in your own lunch line for your knowledge of the underground (i suppose, that is, until you realize that by time the guide was written, published and ordered on Amazon, the particularly unknown nature of that "hot spot" is not so clandestine after all . . . )

however, i'm sure that we, at least a few of us, have also experienced the furor generated by inept sales departments, broken promises and slow shipping.

both of these experiences have been my lot, of late. and i cant help but analyze my dependence on online shopping. is it really worth the wait time for shipping, the hassle of researching and ordering, entering your personal information time and again, hoping that the site is actually secure enough to protect your precious financial information from the prying eyes of the internet savvy, and the extra chore of returning an incorrect or unwanted item. is it really worth the cost savings?

i suppose i have to say yes/no. or . . no/yes. for example, i was recently in the market for a tripod. but all of the information i could find was subjective, and i couldnt find pictures of products big enough to make me even want to spend the small money on their lower internet prices. i lucked out and stumbled on a sale at one of my local emporiums of camera merchandise, and got a great deal. but that deal was definitely enhanced by my ability to be able to touch and use the item. so, in that case, the internet purchasing option was not optimal.

of course, many of my recently ordered items could not even have been purchased at a local shop, and are only available through an online resource, as it has allowed me to purchase from far off states like Texas and Georgia. and there is a big YES for the convenience of being able to buy at and have my items shipped to work, where i basically live, depending on the project.

i find that i would often prefer to buy my items at a local retailer, if only for the convenience of possible return and instant gratification, but i suppose, and fear, that in the end, internet commerce will continue to thrive, and local shops will continue to struggle to match the needs and demands of inventory and customer consumption. i know i am a prime example of going to a shop to research an item in person, then buying it online, for a cheaper price.

but there must be a way for local retailers to compete. perhaps with the model of Circuit City, where you can shop online, and then have the option to pick up your item in a local store, or have it shipped. this is great, because once i am in the store, i am obviously more likely to buy something that i had forgotten i needed, or at least on impulse. perhaps local stores will become small store fronts, where you can see an item in real life, and then order it on the internet, either there, or from home, thus allowing them to keep their inventory and, therefore cost, to a minimum.

it will be interesting to continue to observe the future of commerce in our digital age. what do i think? i dont know, i'm not a business man, i'm just an artist.

New Toys

2007-10-01T13:36:00.001-07:00

so. . . i've been in the market lately for a camera. you know, for the production on independent video content. so, after a mind numbing amount of internet research, here's the beginnings of my rig.

i have decided to go with a Canon HV20 camera, with a Red Rock M2 cinema lens adapter. "but, mike," you may be inclined to ask, "why did you decide to go with THAT camera? cant you pick that up in the kiddie aisle at Toys R Us?"

"heh heh, funny you should ask. . . " would be the beginnings of my response to you, while shaking my head. . .

well, suffice it to say that, despite its limited manual control, it was its price tag that was the deciding factor. a camera that can shoot 24p, HDV for under $1000?! and, being that i could get this cam, and spend the bulk of my funds on a lens adapter kid, and still come in under the cost of a Panasonic HVX200, this seemed like the ultimate way to share ideas. and i can always get an HVX later. . . if i need it.

so, i'll be posting test footage, methodology, and anything else that comes to mind about my little cam, as we get to know each other. i still need to get a real tripod, a follow focus, and i need my monitor to come, and a few more peripherals, and i'll really be in business, but this is a pretty good start. . .

now i just have to figure out how to capture the test footage. . . :)

Reading is A Very Fresh Way to Learn

2007-09-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

"King of Kong . . .

2007-09-07T00:14:00.001-07:00

a Fist Full of Quarters"

i just got out of this film, and i must add my voice to the undoubtedly numerous that say: this is one of the best things i have ever seen. ever.

you need to go see this film immediately. i don't have words to describe it. it is beyond words. i posted about it when i first saw the trailer. i couldn't have known that i would post about it again.

i think Matty put it best when he said: "You cant write dialogue like that. . . "

go see it.

Vegas is Hot

2007-08-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

its 104 degrees here . . . annnnd. . . thats kind of . . . not so awesome.

britney gets irritable in the heat, which seems funny for a mesa girl.

jordan and meg still insist on living in the city of sin, with noah, their little booger.

and i love it.

aannnndddd. . . . back

2007-08-20T17:53:00.001-07:00

so, i'm back in LA now. i celebrated by falling off of my beach cruiser on my Sunday ride with Andy. i felt it would be a fitting way to reintroduce myself to the mean streets of Santa Monica, after 4 months of safe riding in Berlin.

on the way back to LA, i stopped in UT to visit family and see about a girl. and, i dont mind telling you, it was a fantastic two weeks. . . we spend a weekend in the Tetons, and hung out around the great state of UT.
before leaving Europe, i was able to spend a weekend in Barcelona, and that was fun. even more fun that i had expected, really.

but, now i'm back. i was supposed to ride my motorcycle around the great state of CA with Andy and Dan, but i dont know if thats going to happen now. i might have to go solo . . . we'll see about that.

It's Official

2007-07-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

i guess Speed Racer production has finally had enough of me, i got my marching orders, and i will officially be returning to the US and A on the 1 of August. WHAT!? yes, that is just 7 days away. and, though i'm sad to leave Berlin, i'm . . . uh . . . looking forward to a more normal existence . . .? ah, who'm i kidding, LA blows/is awesome.

well, don't get too excited, Los Angeles, cause here's my plan: i will go to UT immediately, and stay there for a couple of weeks (since my apartment is still sublet for the rest of the month), then i'll be hopping on the ol' bad motor scooter, and heading up to Yosemite with Andy and Dan and maybe Morgan (c'mon Morgie, your job is gay . . . come hang out with a bunch of dudes instead).

and, after that, i'll be back in the city of angels, and back to work. my life is dedicated to the Speed Racer for the next couple of months.

and there you go.

Last night . . .

2007-07-22T13:22:00.001-07:00

i fell asleep at 9pm . . .

and woke up at ll:30 am this morning . . .

MELT! and the Reformation

2007-07-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

so, near the end of the day on friday, Andy came by and put forth this proposition: want to go to MELT! tomorrow? ummm . . . . YES! well, truth be told, i was exhausted, and dont really like festival type concerts, but the interesting lineup, combined with my over whelming desire to NOT stay in the city again this weekend, and the proposed laid back nature of our journey won out.

so i saw Harry Potter 5 with a bunch of the work peeps (loved it) on friday night, and woke up late on sat. (around noon) because of my week long exhaustion. andy and i had planned to figure out MELT! around 1, so, about then we started making plans.

we figured out how to take the train, and then thought: maybe we should just rent a car and drive? so, we attempted that option. however, due to the sunnyness of the weekend (finally), all of the rental cars in the entire city of Berlin were rented. seriously, all of them. we talked to 5 different rental car places. how, you may wonder, could EVERY car in a city be rented? well, no idea. but, thats the way it was. so, we took the train.
the train was cool. we met some guys on the platform that were trying to get a group together for a cheaper ticket. apparently, a ticket for one person on a regional train costs about 20 bucks. a ticket for 5 people costs 33. . . soooo . . . . hooking up with random tain buddies it is!

we took the train to Dessau, the bus to Ferropolis, and our feet through the door to one of the most excelent venues i have ever witnessed.
the place used to be a mine of some sort, but now they have made a lake out of the quarry and built concert stages around the big leftover equipment. seriously, it's one of the coolest places i have ever been. i love big machinery, i love lakes, and i love music, so, put that altogether and what could go wrong? apparently nothing.

we had perfect 85ish degree concert weather, and we arrived just in time to catch the Shout Out Louds finnishing up, and from then on it was killer bands all night long (litterally)

we saw:

Shout Out Louds
The Rifles
Hot Chip

Werle & Stankowski
Goose
Mouse On Mars

Polarkreis 18
The Horrors
Shitdisco
The Presets

Tocotronic
Kelis

plus some others that i cant remeber. everybody was excellent at what they were doing. The Horrors were dumb, to my disappointment, but the music sounded great. they just acted dumb. too much of an "act" , felt forced. and Tocotronic was totally lame, and Kelis was just out of place.

Andy and i sat and listened to Tocotronic for a few minutes between other band sets, and we came to the conlusion that they were A. lame and B. would have been relevant 12 years ago . . .maybe. an anecdote: when i told Mohen, Berlin native, about the fest, he was interested in the fact that we has seen Tocotronic making the comment : "yeah, the were big here, like, 12 years ago . . ." when talking to Keith, he was stoked on Tocotronic, saying that he loved them, like, 12 years ago . . . apparently they've come out for some sort of nostalgia tour . . .about about that . . .context. . . ha. funny. funny cause its bigger than a normal size hat . . .
there were a couple of cool things about things about this particular fest. for one, it seems like at any fest type scenario or flea market or whatever, you can always find some thai curry. i had a delicious bowl of chicken and eggplant in milk curry. yes, delicious at a concert is relative, but it was actually pretty tasty. and the fact that i could get it, and for less than 5 bucks, seemed crazy.

also, all of the soft drinks came in bottles. this may seem strange, but its pretty cool for a couple of reasons. they say, or, imply that its for the environment. recycling at all, but here's how they do it. you buy a 2.50 soda in a bottle for 3.50. they give you a little "deposit" chip (this also happens at a lot of concerts and bars), and you get a buck back when you bring back the bottle and the chip. well, you gotta take the bottle back, cause if you want, say, 5 drinks through the day, you dont want to blow 5 extra bucks on 'em. so, if you are always bringing your bottle back, there is alot less trash lying around. also, this is good for the retailer, cause if you dont bring it back, they make a lot of cash.

now, the only reason this really works, i think, is because of the other reason that i dug this fest - it was really small. the main stage maybe had the capacity for a crowd about the size of the GA floor at the Wiltern in LA. now, there were some concrete "bleachers" around, but this made the main stage still not quite the capacity of the Wiltern, so even for the "big" acts, you were still really close to the action. the whole fest was really small. you could walk to each of the three stages and back before the band even finnished their song. so, that was pretty awesome.
well, around 4 am i was partied out, so i found a nice place on the side of the lake, put on my sweat shirt and rain coat . . . and went to sleep. i crashed out for a couple hours while Andy partied all night. that guy is a machine. i was only disturbed one time by some guy who i think had mistaken me for someone he knew. he woke me up and wanted to talk about something. i tried to explain that i dont speak German, but after he got over the initial surprise of not recognizing my face, he carried on with his story or whatever it was. i just went back to sleep. maybe i was in his spot. (thats a little joke, see, cause i was in the middle of a big open area with no one around. . .)

andy came back around 8 am, and we had a swim in a lake colder than the pacific ocean - i guess we hadn't had enough sun in the last couple weeks to warm it up - and then made our way through the tent city to the bus stop.
we caught the bus to the train stop, where we struggled to understand the German train system. Luckily, we met Chris, an freelance software designer specializing in voice recognition software, who walked us through buying a ticket, and explained that the German train system is rediculously hard to understand, even for the Germans who use it on a daily basis. well, it was nice to know that we weren't completely retarded, and then we got to split the ticket with Chris. not bad.

Wittenberg

well, on the way back to Berlin, i noticed a cool church tower, it turns out that it was the place where we had to change trains: Wittenberg.
you may think that sounds vaguely familiar, and if so, you're doing better than me, because i had no idea that it was where Martin Luther lived, taught, and wrote his 95 thesis' and hung them on the church door. Luckily, Chris, our new German train buddy pointed this out for us.

having an hour or so till our next train, and noticing that the trains were running on 2 hour increments, i, having the history bug, may have talked Andy into going into town to check it out. now, Andy, though raised Catholic, is fairly areligious, and keeping in mind that he had just partied at a festival all night, i was a little surprised that he agreed to go. but he did, and we were off!

we checked out all of the major historical landmarks (of which there are approximately 3) and all of the minorly relevant land marks (of which there are . . . approx 3 or 4 - luckily most of them are on the same road. hey, the town is small) ate lunch, and made it back to the train in 3 hours (though we did cut it a bit close there).
for me, the highlights included Luthers house, including some of his actual furniture and a table where his "table talks" took place - informal theological discussions recorded by some of his students. yeah, i touched it while no one was looking. it was pretty cool. and seeing only surviving copy of the second edition Luther's hymnal (no first editions are know to exist) which was the first time his hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God appeared.

a funny story about that room - it has basically been preserved since his death in the same state is was when he was living. i guess its sort of a big deal. when Peter the Great came through the house on a tour, he totally signed his name on the south door of the room. they didn't offer any explanation for this, but the signature is protected under glass. its a short mark (not many characters) made with chalk, i guess. it looked more like a tag. Peter the Great totally tagged Martin Luther's house. hahahah. "Peter was here." you know he totally went home and told all his buddies and they all had a laugh . . . i wonder what else old Pete tagged.
saw the church where Luther used to preach as well as the one where he hung his Theses. unfortunately the original doors and much of the original building were destroyed at some point or another, but some new bronze doors were given, by the Elector or something, that had the theses engraved on them.

it was very cool to see the birthplace of the Reformation. it was a beautiful day to walk around a quaint town, and explore what may constitute the most significant religious rift in the Christian world.

slept on the train all the way back to Berlin and called it a day. er, weekend.

what did YOU do?

me on thursday

2007-07-13T09:49:00.001-07:00

this is how i felt at work . . .

Beef Patties

2007-07-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

well, after 3 months and some change, i finally did it . . . i ate at Burger King. i've been threatening to do it ever since i got here. but some co-worker inevitably talks me out of it. or, its just not convenient. the reality of it is, why would i eat there when there are so many tasty Doener's, Schwarma's and Curry Worst's around?

well my friend, curiosity is the answer. and tonight, as i walked into the grocery store at the Freidrichstrasse station, i saw the big BK sign and suddenly wanted a cheezeburger, but i though: "no, no, why would i do that? i'm going to the grocery store to get some real food. and as i walked out of the grocery store, with a back pack full of fuits, lunch meats, cheezes and health tasty bread. . . curiosity won, and i gave in to the need for some flame broiled goodness. and i have to tell you . . . it was . . . THE SAME! and by the same, i mean, the same as in America. yeah, you probably already knew that. i mean, thats the point, isnt it . . . but still, dont you just have to KNOW some times? of course you do. admit it. stop fooling yourself.

no, i haven't eaten at McDonald's yet. i've only stopped there for cold tasty bevereges on occasion. but, lets be honest, it's only a matter of time . . . and i've still got two months. after all, i have been to Dunkin Donuts several times. (mmmm . . . donuts . . . )

however, tonights burger experience brings me to another point i've been trying to get to: the Best Burgers in Berlin.

and the Best Burgers in Berlin can be found at . . . . BURGER KING!

HAHAHAHAHA! just kidding, Morgan (i know you choked on your own spit just then. i hope you didnt have to call the nurse.)

in reality, the best burgers in Berlin can be found at: The Bird.
started a year ago by two American guys that, for some reason, found themselves in Berlin and in need of a good burger, the Bird has, possibly, one of the best beef patties i have ever had anywhere. i know you Americans at home can't possibly believe that this could be true, but it is. these burgers are better than 5 Guys, and even better than Brians Grill . . . (i miss you, Brians Grill). and the fries are fantabulous, and they even have malt vinegar, and roll's of paper towels on the tables.

no, Morgan, i have never been to Fathers office. my one attempt was thwarted by its penchant for only being open after 5pm. but i dare say that these burgers may be better than The Counter. . . . i'm not sure, i'm just saying . . . .

as a side note, after work, a bunch of the peeps and i frequented the Bird for a low key fourth, with some quality American fare and some pool on one of the crappiest tables ever. its part of the ambiance.

so, for Morgan: in my limited experience, having only had burgers from 5 places in Berlin, they rank like this. included is a scale of 1 - 10, for relative comprehension. 1=barf, 10=beefy heaven

The Bird (10)- see above. a little pricey for Berlin, but you get what you pay for.

The White Trash (5.5) - dont be confused by it's catchy name, this punk rock location done up in Chinese decor offers quite a menu of "American" food. the burgers and fries are pretty good, for "not America" , except they put some kind of sauce on the buns, resembling mayo (that travesty of a spread), and the couple time's i've been there, they seem to refuse to take it off. . .

Burgermeister (4) - located under the U-band in Kreuzberg, this place was recommended by a local friend. though the burgers are cheap, again, you get what you pay for.

Burger King (3.5) - flame broiled goodness. as a "fast food chain" it can't really be in the running, but it sets up the worst burger ever . . .

The Oscar Wilde (0) - yeah, the place is named for an English guy (or was he Irish), so could i expect a good burger? probably not. but it was by far one of the worst burgers i've ever eaten in my life, only to be surpassed by the absolute worst burger experience of my entire life, and maybe the only time i could not bring myself to finish my food when i was starving - the fast food burgers in the airport in Manaus. not even the suplemental bacon and cheeze could save this poor excuse for a burger. i guess i should have gotten the fish and chips. and the soccer game that Steve and i went there to watch was boring too. oh well . . .

My Computer is Killing Me

2007-07-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

i dont know if its actually my computer, or if its Maya. . . but either way, i feel like i'm hurting to get things done today. and even though i've gotten a few shots "squared away," i should be well into the completion of a certain sequence . . . . son of a B*#$% !! (note my excessive use of the exclamation point!)

and, nearly all of my friends have been slacking on blog updates, i have turned to a few of my favorite web comics to help pass the time. like this one, from The Perry Bible Fellowship.

do you need help passing the time? here you go.

The Perry Bible Fellowship
XKCD

29

2007-07-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

i hit it this weekend, and it was great. my sister would be proud that i didn't keep it secret like i often do. one year i hiked a whole mountain with my uncle on my birthday, and i never got around to telling him. hey, i just wanted to hike a mountain for my birthday, big deal, right?
the celebration started on friday nigt, with Karaoke Friday. a whole lot of the work peeps and i met at Knaack, where we proudly and energetically sang the limited catolgue untill 4 am. it was great. i offered up an excellent version of You Give Love a Bad Name, in the style of Bon Jovi; Whip It, in the style of Devo; a duet of Space Oddity, with Gian, in the style of David Bowie; Baby One More Time, in the style of Britney Spears; and Wind of Change, with Thomas and Kyle, in the style of Scorpions.
Some of the highlights included Gian's rendition of LA woman, in the style of The Doors; Andy's rendition of a song who's name i forget in the style of Editors; Thomas' rendition of Minnie the Moocher in the style of Cab Calaway; and Scott's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody in the style of Queen.

Other hightlights included the two hot german chicks, and every song they sang with their 8 years of classical training. The mutant tall guy and his short budy, in matching dress doing something indescribable, and John Goodman doing a fantastic version of Ring of Fire.

all in all it was an excellent night.

Sat included waking up late, watching Die Hard 4 at the theater, and a killer show by Daft Punk in the evening.
Daft Punk was great, as i suppose they usualy are. Their light show is fantastic, and the music is just so dancable. one of my European adventure goals was to catch them, if possible, and how excellent that they played ON MY BIRTHDAY! the show was not long, maybe an hour and a half, max, but every minute was rocking.

Motor-RAD

2007-06-27T14:37:00.001-07:00

so, this weekend past, i was feeling stir crazy, and though the threat to rain was in the air, i rented a motorad from Cintula Honda - a Honda TransAlp 650 - and headed south to check out Dresden, and some other relevant historical and natural German sites, as well as to meander through the countryside.

though not my first choice, enduro bikes are very popular around here these days, as the guys like to drift them around mountain curves (yes, like drifting cars, but different) and this one did the job adequately. i actually recieved a couple of compliments on the bike - one in particular from an old guy who, i found out, even with our limited capacity to communicate, rides an '84 BMW R80, set up for touring. i tried to explain that i have a '72 BMW R75 in America, but i think that was beyond my ability to communicate, and his to understand. but, he seemed impressed with my chosen steed, and put it best when he said, with a huge old guy grin, "Riding motorbikes is the best."

i had been wanting to rent a bike for a couple of weeks now, to take a trip somewhere, and Dresden seemed like an obvious choice. It's close, it has "relevant" history, with WWII and as the long time capital of the Saxon area there, and because it was close to the Czech border and a huge fortress and a crazy outdoor area.

So, i rented the bike, and with clouds in the sky, hoped to make it out of Berlin before the rain hit. Well, that was not meant to be. had i been 10 minutes earlier, i would have been fine (i guess i should have skipped the salami baguette), but as it was, i got hit by the worst rain storm i had seen in days, at the first redlight i stopped at by the hotel. For those familiar with my pad in LA, that would be like leaving the driveway - no rain, stopping at the redlight on 26th - downpour. HA!

well, luckily i had commited myself to inclimate weather, and was wearing full riding gear, courtesy of the shop, so i didnt get that wet . . . sort of. my shoes were soaked, but i got onto the autobahn, headed south, outran the rain, and had a nice 1.5 to 2 hour ride to dry out. Lets hear it for syntheics! by time i got to Dresden, i was totally dry. i was afraid i was going to have to buy some new shoes.

Dresden was very cool. a charming little place on the Elba river, it is more well know for the fact that we (the allies) basically completely leveled it at the end of WWII. i spent most of my time in the "historic" section, which i loved. because i love history. i didnt really get much of the history from my time there, mostly because i dont speak german, but i got enough. and i went on a tour of the "old fortess."
as a mideval city, dresden was originally surrounded by a big wall/fortress enclosure, the gates and original bridge of which are now covered by a park. it was built right on top. however, you can still tour the old gates, and see some of the fortifications, etc. through a cool little museum under the park.
after the fortress, i checked out an art gallery, with works by Martin Kobe. i was impressed with his geometry, and his use of light and color. being not an art history major, i'll just leave it at that.

i ate dinner in on what was basically the touristy restaurant street. i had the Sauerbraten, witch beef "dresdener style" (read: heavy brown gravy), with red cabbage and these funny little potato dumplings that they like to eat over here. it was very tasty. i finished it off with a "local delicacy" egg custard, which was boring and dry. how unfortunate.

after dinner, i wandered around a bit more, and went to bed, and the Hilton, where i stayed for no better reason than: it was there, available, close, and i didnt feel like trying to find something cheaper. it was right in the middle of the historic stuff, and that was enough for me. they offered a complimentary breakfast which was fan-freaking-tastic. complete with omletes, sausage, potatoes, eggs, bacon, pancakes, bread, pastries, fruits, baked beans (for the English), and fresh squeezed juice. soooo goood. there were some engilsh peeps there in a big group, must have been for some kind of conference or something, and i heard one skinny little girl complement the breakfast to her friend saying that she had eaten four plates of food - and the plate she was holding was not empty by anymeans. i chuckeled to myself judgementally: "way to go fatty . . . " i thought as i glanced down at the table in front of me . . . . wich also had . . . four plates . . . (oohh those pancakes were gooood). at which point i promptly finished my omlet, got one more piece of hypocritical bacon and left.

so i headed south, my destination: Festung Konigstein - an old fortress first built in the 1500's, which has been used in every military conflict that the area has been involved in . . . ever. pretty impressive, i think, for a crazy huge fortress built on top of a rock in the middle of nowhere, basically.
however, on the way there, i missed my exit and took a little detour through the Czech Republick. that was really cool. after the border, the hiway is lined with huge walls, you cant see anything past them, untill you get to the first exit, and then, suddenly, you're in these beautiful mountains, on your way to Teplice. the hills reminded me alot of West Virginia, beautiful countryside, bored teenagers in little villiages.

so, after my little scenic detour, i was back on my way to the fortress. the border crossing was actually not as easy back into Germany. the border gaurds were very confused by my work visa, and i had to wait a few minutes on the side of the road wondering if i'd get my passport back. but, of course, i did, and i was off.

the fortress is indescribable. its basically a villiage on top of a rock. you'll have to see the pictures to really get any kind of idea. but, i'm telling you, i had seen pictures before i got there, and it was still impressed. i did the walking tour, with my english language headphones guide, and i think i learned about every nook and cranny of the place. i think i walked aroud for 4 hours discovering history. and, as i got to about #40 interest point - (out of 60 or so. incidentally i think it was the well, which is 152.5 meters deep, the second deepest in all of Germany) i was struck at one point by the fact that it was probably a good thing that i was alone, as i dont know if anyone else that i know could have possibly tolerated 4 hours of historical minutia. but, i loved it, so there.

after the fortress, i headed out through the countryside to Bastei. some crazy rock formations across the river from the Festung Konigstein. due to its popularity with toursits, already, in the 1800's, somebody thought it would be a good idea to build a big stone bridge across some rocks. why they picked the location that they did, or why they even thought it was a good idea to build a stone bridge in the first place, i dont know. i heard it was meant to replace a wooden bridge in the same spot. whatever reason, i'm glad they did, cause its crazy!

after an enjoyable day cruising through history and the great outdoors, i pointed my motorcycle back toward Berlin. i had thought to drive through the towns of Radeberg and Pulsnitz on my way out, but, i learned something important about Germany and signs and maps here. The signage here is not really designed for the out of towner. you get to the middle of a villiage (and there is one about every 5 km or so) and you see, oh, maybe 10 signs, all pointing down a road to another villiage. This, at first glance seems very helpful. however, the problem becomes that, though you have a myriad of signs to chose from. . . none of the names on those signs correspond to the names of villiages on your map of all Germany. HA! so, you just cruise around it what you think is the right direction for a while, untill you find something you recognize, or a highway, or fireworks in Dresden, 20 km away.

so, i stopped in Neustadt in Sachsen for some food, which is where i met the old dude and talked about bikes. i also met the kid at the pizza place, who responded with my desperate inquiriy of "English?" with the slightly amused "of course." now, i quickly pointed out to the kid the hilarity of that statement. that "of course" the one kid in an open pizza joint on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere Germany spoke excellent English, when even the people in service capacities in Dresden, where there seemed to be more Americans, per capita, than Berlin, didn't speak much English at all. we laughed about this, and it turned out that he spoke great english because he was part of a pit crew for an international racing team, and was just in town saving money to go to college. he was a cool kid.

the kid pointed me in the right direction, and eventually i made it back to Berlin, even if a little later than expected. but man was it a great trip.

Dresden, Etc.

2007-06-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

today i rented this
and went to here, where i currently am writing from.
tomorrow i'll be checking out some cool stuff that i will hopefully tell you about tomorrow night, along with the whole story.

neet.

Epic Battle

2007-06-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

or, you can watch it in HD here

Dear Craig,

2007-06-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

you know how i said i would post something cool on the blog for you last night? well, i went to karaoke instead. but can you blame me? i mean, c'mon, who doesnt want to see crazy germans doing rousing renditions of '80's balads, and one asian lady screaching out Bridge Over Troubled Water, and owning it?
besides, i had to do a pulsating rendition of My Sharona, as originally done by The Knack. and even though we ran out of time and i didnt get to do Living On a Prayer in the style of Bon Jovi, or Winds of Change in the style of Scorpions,

Scott killed it with Superstition in the style of Stevie Wonder, and that one Hoobastank song in the style of . . . Hoobastank . . . (shout out - Morgie!)

it was great. i love karaoke.

this guy only occasionally seemed to even know he was on stage, supposed to be singing . . .

the host finnished us off with some ballad about "the end" . . .

yep, its legal

2007-06-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

seems like just about everything is street legal here in Berlin . . .
and some rides are just plain sweet.

National Donut Day (+1)

2007-06-02T05:11:00.000-07:00

so, yesterday i heard that it was National Donut Day in America. so, in observance of a day dedicated to one of my all time favorite delectibles (i could be said that i have a problem) - i went to one of my favorite places, The Europa Center, to a Dunkin Donuts, and had, what may have two of the worst donuts of all time. i had a Lemon donut - i'm a succer for lemon - and a blueberry crunch donut.
the problem wasnt that they didnt taste good, so much as that it was 8:00 pm by time i got there (thats 20:00 for those of you in europe), and if they are a real Dunkin Donuts, that means those babys had been sitting on the shelf for 15 hours. ("Five am, time to make the donuts . . . ).

well, what can you do. at least i had a donut. although, this morning i had a cruler from the grocery store before playing soccer, and it was fantastic. who says the Germans cant make a good donut?

More Than Meets The Eye

2007-05-31T13:20:00.001-07:00

i'm afraid some of you, my friends, may have not seen the international trailer yet. well . . . here you go (hint, click on the picture). and thank you, Dark Horizons.

i totally geeked out over this trailer. see if you can figure out where. winner gets a special prize. . . that i havent invented yet.

I'm Sorry, The Arcade Fire

2007-05-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize to The Arcade Fire. for a while there, i didn't care for them. and not only that, i was vocaly abrasive, and even negative toward their existence. well, i dont know what made me do it . . . maybe it was my interminable curiosity. maybe it was the nagging need to understand people around me, and why they like things that suck, maybe i just needed to use up some downloads on Emusic. whatever it was, the other day i picked up Neon Bible, and, i have to say. . . it is FAN-TASTIC! that album is so good, i must have listened to 100 times already. almost as many times as i listened to Coconut Records. well . . . Arcade Fire . . . i'm sorry. and. . . i salute your genius.

right now i'm listening to that new one by The Shins. so good.

in other news: saw Wilco the other day, out touring for their new album Sky Blue Sky (also great). the show was full of Americans, which was interesting. hearing mostly english around you after growing accustomed to hearing mostly not-english can actually catch you off gaurd a bit. it was a fantastic show, even though they played for, like, 2 and a half hours.

who wants to start a band?

Cola Light /= Cancer!

2007-05-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

("/= " means "not equal" in todays discussion)

hooray! after reading some disturbing news today, i immediately went to the fridge at work and grabbed a Cola Light* to read the ingredients. luckily, sodium benzoate is not listed in the ingredients, and there fore will not be breaking down vital parts of my DNA, or causing cancer when mixed with vitamin C in my fizzy drink. oh man, what a relief. however, andy, you should watch out for that Dr. Pepper, which was listed specifically in the article with Fanta, Sprite and Pepsi Max for having that magic ingredient.

*Cola Light is also /= to Diet Coke, the one truebeveredge, though i am getting used to it, as long as its ice cold (sometimes hard to come by). also, Cola Light with lemon /= to Diet Coke with lemon, or Diet Cherry Coke, or that liquid crack of beveredges Black Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke.

also, regardles of the fact that above advertizement is written in German, nobody here has any idea what a "coke light" is, and if you ask for one, they look at you in bewilderment at the strange language you speak, untill a helpful native interjects "cola light" or "coca-cola light" to wich they immediately respond in the affirmative, bringing you your desired beveredge. though getting it cold, or with ice (mit ice), is some trick.

The Apology of Spiderman

2007-05-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

well, i finally saw Spiderman 3, and i dont know what everybody is up in arms about. Am i the only guy in the world that actually enjoyed watching it? i mean, seriously! who doesnt enjoy crazy fight scenes, huge explosions, hot chicks, Bruce Campbell as a French maitre de, emo Parker, goth suit spider man, deus ex machina butlers comming out of nowhere, memory loss after a bump to the head (a personal favorite), unresolved setups, lots and lots and lots of characters, "last time on spiderman . . ." opening title sequences, banal speaches by old ladies, Kirsten Dunst, Bruce Campbell as a french maitre de, long FX sequences featuring sand that can form itself into human shape and has the corporeal ability for flight, Goblin Jr. on a flying snowboard, still life painting, internal confilct, bad guys with emotional vulnerability, reinventing the mythology of a fictional institution, serious pacing problems, big explosions, love triangles, silly cameos, alien symbiotes, expositional speaches, explosions and Bruce Campbell as a french Maitre de?

i mean, seriously folks, what did you want? its a comic book movie for crying out loud. now, granted, when i saw the movie, it could have been that i only slept about 3 hours in the previous 39. it could have been the inexplicable intermission right in the middle of the phone call that Peter gets from the police station, offering about a 10-15 minute break, which may have broken up the "narative" long enough for me to not be as bothered by the pacing problems. it could have been that i knew what i was getting in to. i mean, i had talked to enough people who had worked on it to have an idea what was going to happen, and apparently the film industry learned nothing from the catastrophe wich was Batman and Robin.

but that goes back to my big question: what did you want!? maybe our expectations have been set too high recently by such works of excellence as Batman Begins, and the first two installments of the Spidey seriese. but didn't you see Fantastic 4 or the abomination wich was Superman Returns? maybe you were expecting more out of such a huge budget? well, whatever it is, dont be afraid to admit that you had a good time watching it. i mean, it didnt take us to an ancient and interesting little known or explored society for a 2 hour chase scene after all, even though i am sad that they blew up Eric Forman.

it was silly, i enjoyed it. get overyourself, just admit that you love Spiderman.

050607

2007-05-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

today in america. cool.

happy birthday to my brother matt, who turns 18 today. on this, his big foray into "adulthood" i give him this sweet airplane which looks totally anime, and can apparently turn on a dime. i wonder if it can transform into a mech. . .

i give him this sweet leather flight suit . . .

and these port-a-potty's , for when he has to pee after a long flight.

good luck matt, have fun attacking the skies.

Happy Riot Day

2007-05-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

May 1 in Germany is Labor Day, a national holiday. as such, all businesses and government jobs are closed in observance of people's right to work, and the people plan a riot to show their appreciation. Historically, the anti-fascists have squared off against the police in neighborhoods like Kreuzberg, and have celebrated their hate for fascist government by getting boozed up, throwing pieces of cobblestone at the authoritative figures, overturning and setting ablaze the cars of citizens, and looting shops. lots of innocent rioters get arrested as the police invoke their right to keep the peace, and lots of citizens get pissed cause their stuff is ruined. afterward, everybody goes home, has a brotchen an rests for next year.

according to reports, the riots have calmed in the last years, as the government has been organizing huge parties with bands and food vendors in an effort to get the people dancing instead of fighting, and it appears to be working. because, after all, when you have a beer, a bratwurst and David Hasselhoff performing at the foot of the Brandenberg Gate, what is there to fight about? i suppose we'll see tonight . . .

Bike = Rad

2007-04-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

no, seriously, its true. look it up.

its very cool that Berlin is a bike friendly city. everyone rides bikes here. men in business suits, women in dresses, people going out for a night on the town, casual or dressy, kids cruising to the park, whatever. you go to a club for a show or to hang out, and there are bikes everywhere. it's excellent. this weekend Kyle, Alex and I took out bikes out to Spandau on the train, and then road them down to the Luftwaffen Museum, which was pretty cool. i love riding my bike through the now super green Teirgarten, and all over town.
i love having a bike, the city is much more accessible. my friend Jan let me borrow this bike for the durration of my stay here, and i cant thank him enough. i love riding my bike, and it makes me dig Berlin that much more.

Slow on the Draw . . . or Write, or, Rock and Roll Stops the [internet] Traffic

2007-04-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

so, i suppose some of the 2 or 3 of you out there reading this might wonder why i dont post very often. well, apart from having crappy internet reception (see below) and not having time to post while at work (too much work to do, too busy trying to find a schwalbe), its because i've been going to too many concerts at night, and doing too much awesome stuff on the weekends . . .

let me list for you, for example, the concerts i went to last week

Thurs - Amon Tobin
Fri - Dragon Force
Sat - The Blood Arm
Mon - Fujia and Miyagi and !!! (Chk Chk Chk)

Thurs - Jeans Team, The Pipettes, and Klee

and i dont even remember if there were any i forgot. this weekend has had less concerts, even though my man Andy wanted me to go check out Malcom Middleton with him tonight. . . i need to try to start the week off right, even if it is a short week. i'll probably kick myself in the morning, but, hey, thats the way it goes.

but, i do need to say that Amon Tobin was a nice surprise, Dragon Force was excellent, and i am in love with all of the Pipettes . . .

also, speaking of music, i must mention that, thanks to keith, i have been introduced to coconut records, and have been wearing it out on the ipod all week, like i've made a new friend. also, i have to say that i find sufjan stevens to be more and more like a soundtrack to my life. call me cliche, but whatever. the music is so contemplative, that while i'm just cruising around, say, on the subway or in the airport, or whatever, it makes for the perfect soundtrack. like i'm watching silent movies, or music videos the whole time. nice.

also, i love myspace, and i love emusic.

why my hotel rules and sucks all at the same time

2007-04-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

for one, i live right in the heart of berlin. litterally. the actual center of the city, and that rules. however, the internet never works well . . . i mean, it's supposed to be high speed DSL, but puh-LEASE! although, i guess in the land of 4 hour dinners at restaurants, DSL that goes slower than a Soviet junker at an Italian car auction is not unusuall . . . however, this IS the land of the no speed limit auto bahn (on which i rode shotgun at 137 mph today in my friends Audi), and super fast go carts (yeah, i rode those today too) you'd think they could keep up on their technology at a hotel.

however, i cant get too mad at the hotel. i mean, the girls at the front desk are cute, and they do leave my excellent chocolaty treats, like this bear, from one of the best chocolatiers -ever - on my table for me, just for being here :)i was just going to nibble off one of his ears, for a taste, but then i ended up eating off half of his head . . . so sweet and tasty . . . . he didnt last very long . . .

also, today i saw this place, but didnt "go" there, yet. just went in to check it out . . . and it was amazing . . . there will be more on this place at a later date, be assured of that . . .

I Ate the False Rabbit, or Chicken: The Other Pork

2007-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

or, "wrong rabbit" or "meatloaf" as the case may be. It was tasty and delicious. it came with some veggies and some mashed potatos, and that was my lunch on . . . thursday, at the Bistro Tasty, just accross the street from the office. no, seriously, just accrosst the street. look out your window, and accross your street, and Bistro Tasty is probably closer to where i sit that whatever you are looking at is to you.

I find it funny that Germans call meatloaf "false rabbit" - that being the litteral translation, of course. they will, when asked to translate "meatloaf" call it something like "hackbraten," but if you point to meatloaf and ask what it is, you will get "falscher Hase," or, "false rabbit." that is also how you will see it on a menu, as falscher Hase.

i wonder where that came from. did someone want rabbit for dinner one day, and he found instead some mystery loaf of meat on his plate? is it because the typical shape of a meatloaf is somewhat bunny like? did someone once bit unsuspectingly into what he thought was supposed to be rabbit, only to find a loaf of nameless meats on his plate, thus prompting him to shout "this is false rabbit!" ? i may never know. . .

but that brings me to a few other fun food facts, which seem to have been my theme for the week. . .
Berlin claims little as a regional food specialty, or even significant to the region, other than Curry Worst, which it loves and is very proud of. if you want a worst, you will always see the curry worst option at the top of the list at the sausage stand. and, let me tell you, it is delicious. it is basically a sausage with a curry katsup. the recipie for the curry sauce is, apparently, much like the recipies for bar-b-que sauce in america. carefully gaurded from place to place, claiming to be always different, and better than the next guys. personally, every curry worst i have had has tasted exactly the same, the only difference being the worst that i get under the sauce. p.s. curry worst and fries and coke light is a super tasty lunch.

very rarely is there a pepper shaker on the table at a restaurant. there is salt, but it is lonely. there is also never any butter, but there is sometimes some sort of bread. where did we, as americans, get the idea for butter with th rolls all the time . . . was it a marketing ploy? is it english?

wiener schnitzle is good. big flat fried veal. mmmmm . . . .

there is no such thing as a McGriddle at McCafe here . . . Kyle and i were very excited to get one the other day on the way to work . . . but it was not to be. they have "Indian" burgers (like, as if from India), but no McGriddle. now, c'mon, i know Germans love them some pork . . . and some pancakes . . . how hard is it to add and egg and eat it for breakfast?

which brings me to breakfast. most mornings i get a breakfast sandwich from the bakery on the studio lot. and by breakfast sandwich, i am not speaking of anything even remotely similar to the afore mentioned McGriddle, but a sandwich which i happen to be eating for breakfast. these sandwiches are available all day, and seem to be available in most bakerys in Germany (from my limited experience). i usually go with a turkey and cheese. it has lettuce and usually some red bell pepper and slice of hard boiled egg on some sort of nutty roll. many mornings i wake up and think: "what should i have for breakfast? not another stinking breakfast sandwich, thats for sure. . . " but, as soon as i get to "the office" the pavlovian responses kick in, and i crave a nutty, lunchmeaty, cheezy delight. sometimes i even go for the salami.

the bakery also has these little almondy horseshoes, which have had their ends dipped into dark chocolate. yeah, those kill me. i love them.

chicken: the other pork. there is a serious lack of chicken in Germany. you cant go to a restaurant and assume that there will be chicken there. i saw a rotiserie chicken place the other day, and the German guy i was with couldnt begin to understand my enthusiasm, after all, "why eat chicken when you can eat pork" is the mantra here. it also reminded me of the time i wanted eggs in Mexico, where the mantra seems to be: why eat eggs when you can have steak. well, cause i freaking like eggs, OK!? the English guy i was with understood my want. and i thought of my friend Tom, who would choose chicken, if he had to choose one meat to subsist on forever. i would chose fish, myself, and i have had some excellent fish here. and duck.

there is a bit of a rivalry between the Prussians (Berlin) and the Barvarians (Munich). apparently Barvarians eat a lot of meat. and when asked, from time to time if a certain restaurant is good, they might respond "no, its barvarian food. . . " which is interesting, because that does not so much objectively quantify the quality of the food, which is usually excellent, as it speaks to the bias of the person, who is also usually excellent.

in my neighborhood, there is a Pizza, Pasta, Salad place on every corner, it seems. there is also one of the best chocolate shops i have ever been in. The Rauch Schokoladen, which has its own factory for hand made chocolate, as well as importing chocolate from around the world. i got some chocolate with black pepper from peru. it was wierd, but oddly tasty. i also procured from this establishment 4 of the best truffels i have ever eaten in my entire life. One with balsamic vinegar (yes, you read that correctly), one coconut, one tiramisu, and one that was red and i cant remember what it was called, but it was probably my favorite. . .

there is a grip of Turkish food here, being that Berlin is home to the third larges Turkish population in the world, the other two being in Turkey. turkish food is delicious.

i have had three o.f the best Italian meals of my life in two Italian restaurants here. . . i guess its because they are run by acutal Italians. sorry Spumoni . . . i dont know if you're going to cut it any more. . .

oddly enough, i have also had excellent sushi here.

but it is hard, sometimes to find some food on the go. . . Germans always like to sit down to eat. which can be a serious pain, because you have to be ready to commit some time. if you sit down, they assume you will be there till they close, you die, or you trick them into bringing you the check. which is better than getting rushed out of a restaurant, but makes for a hard time if you are on a schedule at all.

food is good.

We Might Have Welcomed Him . . .

2007-04-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

two words: dacron polyester

Tragedy

2007-04-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

i have just heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech. many people have died, and many other lives have been disrupted due to the deranged actions of a single person. i have been to Blacksburg, where the school is located. i have spent time at the school. many of my high school friends continued their education there. i have spent lots of time in the general area, in small town southern Virginia. if the number is correct, 32 fatalities, then according to the news, it is the worst mass murder, not to mention school shooting, in the history of the United States of America. even halfway around the world, this story hits close to home. how bizzare. this will invariably raise questions about gun ownership and gun control. i wonder if the shooter accquired the gun legaly, myself. i wonder what the gunman was thinking. i wonder how incidents like this occur, what could possibly be the catalyst. some questions will be easier answered. others will take some time, and may never be answered. regardless, my thoughts and prayers go with the victims families and friends. a sobering moment indeed.

Curriculum Vitae

2007-04-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

. . . can you spare a smoker?

2007-04-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

so, i've decided to take up second hand smoking. i'm pretty sure it will help me feel better, smell better and look cooler. you could say that this decision coincides directly with my move to Berlin. it seems like everybody smokes, and since the packaging of the cigarettes here makes is so obvious that smoking is bad, i figure i will only smoke second hand, cause that cant be nearly as bad, and i will look cooler.

i've been doing the good majority of my second hand smoking at these two places: Wild at Heart, a punk rock club where i saw a pretty good punk band,

and Magnet Club, where i saw a couple of ok bands (see pic) and danced the night away. literally.

of course, i also get to second hand smoke at every restaurant and public place, so i think i will have plently of oportunity to not light up, but still breath through that burt tobacco laced air.

Why I Love the Internets

2007-04-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

for one thing, this digital communication link provides instant access to friends and family world wide. NEAT-O!

also, it is an archive for excellent things like this: the original opening sequence to Mach GoGoGo! the original japanese version of Speed Racer.

and this: the opening to the [aparently] lame remake of the seriese in 1997. i guess american audiences didnt really go for it. other than that, i dont know anything about it, but i love theme songs. and i love speed racer.

thank YOU, Japan.

Call a Bike and Collections

2007-04-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

took some more pictures this weekend, and flickr made a new collections tool. i made one for Berlin, and it lets you make this cool little representative collage. nice. way to go flickr, yet again.

and rode a Call-A-Bike! these bikes are everywhere throughout the city. they are locked and unlocked with a security code that you get over the phone, and tracked by GPS, so they can't "escape". and they are strangely reasonable. $.08 a minute, with a $15 day maximum. so, you pick it up wherever you find it, and leave it wherever you want. pretty cool!

Berlin Chronicles, pt 1

2007-04-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

this may be the longest post ever . . . if you just want the highlights, click on the links, otherwise, read on lonesome wanderer, read on . . .

On Monday I boarded a plane for Berlin.

I woke up early, to finish packing a few last minute things, Dan came and picked me up (what a guy) and I got to the air port at around 12:15 for my 2:45 flight. You might be thinking that sounds early. Well, ever since I missed my flight to Brazil that one time*, I have made it a point to be a little extra early for international flights. (No, I don’t take that many international flights, but its still a good idea.)

Upon entering the international terminal at LAX, I found the Lufthansa check in area, and waited in the long line to check my bags. It moved pretty well, and I was up to the front in about a half hour. When I got to the front, they informed my of 3 things, which would have been nice to know earlier. 1) I was flying business class, so I shouldn’t have waited in that long line (but how was I supposed to know, the itinerary never specified . . . and nobody ever told me, and you know what they say about assuming). 2) that in business class I had a 70lb weight limit per bag, as opposed to the standard 50lbs for “regular people.” Also would have been nice to know when packing, as I took extra stuff out of the bags for fear of the weight. Still it ended up better, because I probably left out some superfluous crap that I would have questioned my sanity in bringing anyways. And 3) I should have brought my bike. I had wanted to, but I was sort of scared off of it by the people on the phone who warned me that I could be looking at huge extra baggage fees and over size fees. However, the girl checking me in made two points in her little German accent: A) - the people on the phone know nothing. And B) - “ . . . besides, how big can be a bike?” So, I had no bike. Oh well, I figured I would just find a cheap one when I got to town.

I made it quickly through the check in line, and receive a voucher for some food, since I wouldn’t have time to visit the Business Class Lounge (there’s a “Lounge” !?) only to find out that I had to wait in the baggage screening line. You know, that annoying step where you have to take your bags over to the TSA so they can scan them. I don’t understand why I have to take my bags . . . what’s that stupid conveyor belt for after all? So, I waited in the line with a little Irish kid, who must have been about 5, and, who, even though he was pulling his sister Dora Explorer bag, still looked like he could head butt me unconscious. Man he looked like a bruiser. But he was actually pretty shy. I guess my weird English through him off.

So, after you give the TSA guys your bags, you then have to wait around for them to screen then, so you can make sure that they give them back, and that they end up on the plane. Yes, the TSA guys give the bags back to the bag checker people, who then put the bags on the conveyor belt. Well, at least the belt is being used . . .

So, I took my food voucher, thought about using it at the Daily Grill (that place is great), but since I wasn’t hungry, opted for a Hagen Daz Macadamia Nut Brittle Milkshake. Oh, I’m sorry, does that sound too amazing for you to comprehend? Well, it just might be. It was freaking tasty. I’m still craving one today, 5 days later. Gotta love the international terminal. It’s a far cry from the news stand and Jodi Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom.

So, I got on the plane, and prepared to leave LA behind. Not a minute too soon, if you ask me. And just when I thought that I was free of all things LA, that guy from Idiocracy, and the hot dark haired chick from Brick got on the plane and sat just across from me with some nameless dude. At least, I didn’t recognize him. I did, however, recognize Tom Arnold, who I can only assume debased himself to come down from first class to talk to this motley crue about some show they were doing in Frankfurt. Tom Arnold shook like he was on crack (?), and the Idiocracy dude was totally loud and annoying. Yes, we know you were on Saturday Night Live. No, nobody but me and about 5 other dudes ever saw Idiocracy, and no, most of those guys don’t even know your name. And, no, the ones that do know don’t really care.

Man that guy was driving me crazy. And just when I thought I was getting away from LA . . . it followed me to Frankfurt on the plane. Although, I do have to say, even though I thought the guy was retarded at first, I saw him working on his show for Frankfurt during the whole flight, and that’s gotta take a little dedication, right. Plus, he was awesome in Idiocracy. Although, he seemed to be playing the same guy on the plane. . .

Well, at least I was in business class, so I just reclined my chair and watched a couple of movies (that’s right, you can chose your movies in business class), while the hot Euro stewardess brought me hand towels, tasty food and a table cloth for my dining table.

After all the food and the movies, I reclined my chair flat (yes, they recline flat in business class) and went to sleep for some hours. I don’t know how many. How long is that flight, 10 hours or something? So, two movies, some food, and some general looking out the window time, not to mention perusing the Duty Free cart, and I think that leaves about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. . . nice. Oh, and did I mention that flying business class international is, maybe, one of the coolest things ever? Well, it is. I didn’t even have to open the entire huge backpack of stuff that I brought to keep myself from getting bored.

Well, I changed planes in Frankfurt, which was interesting navigating a German airport for the first time. They have these weird exit signs that are green, with a silhouette of a man running through a door with an arrow. Sound confusing? Yeah, it is. I kept expecting to end up on a sidewalk somewhere. . . outside of the airport with no idea of how to get back in. Well, luckily, that didn’t happen, and instead, I got on the plane, got another hand towel (Germans love their hand towels on planes apparently) and sat next to a cute journalist from Seattle, who has been in Germany for 5 years covering the state of the airline industry and, apparently, writing stories about it. Who knew that there was enough news on the state of the airline industry in Germany to have someone’s whole job be reporting on it.

About an hour later, I finally landed in Berlin! Apparently there are 3 airports in Berlin, and they are all smaller than the smallest airport you’ve ever been to. Oh, what, you think the airport in St. Thomas Virgin Islands is smaller? Think again. You go in the one gate, to the one baggage carousel, which is in the one room between you and the street. Well, at least its efficient.

So, I got my bags, and headed toward the street, where I met Sebastian, who would be driving me to my residence, and Matt, who works in wardrobe, specifiable in textiles. I thought that was and interesting speciality, but, unfortunately didn’t get to talk to him much about it. I guess I’ll have to learn more about it later.

So, we drop Matt off at “the hotel”, on the way to take me to “the suites” (Mandala has 2 units), and low and behold, what is the first thing that I see? Why, none other than the familiar pink and orange of Dunkin Donuts, glaring at me defiantly from across the street. “What’s that mister bigshot-got-out-of-LA-guy? Think you can escape Dunkin DONUTS!? Well . . . you CAN’T” apparently, according to Sebastian, Dunkin Donuts is, of course, a great place to go late at night when you have the munchies from your extra curricular activities . . .if you know what I mean. Although Sebastian was quick to have me understand that he didn’t necessarily know from experience . . . cause he’s settled down now. . . he’s going to be 40 this year, after all. . . . Uh huh. Riiiiight.

Well, I finally made it to the suites, where I got checked in by an attractive and energetic young lady, because apparently Mandala Suites only employs attractive intelligent young ladies that speak English as well as German, and who knows what other languages. She took me up to my room, and explained how the whole place works. The gym, the Breakfast, the everything, then left me to unpack.

Well, I checked out the pad, unpacked, and immediately fell asleep for 5 or 6 hours, which was really bad, because it was still only evening. Hooray for jet lag! I woke up around 9 or so, and thought I might just try to force myself back to sleep, to get ready for work the next day. . . Well, that wasn’t happening . . . so, I decided to go find some food.

I headed out for a walk, and found the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and my neighborhood in general. It was totally surreal, like a strange theme park at night. Suddenly, with not much pre conceived notion about where I was, was standing in front of one of the most historical landmarks in Berlin, if not in Europe as a whole. I wish I had had my camera.

The area where the gate is sort of feels like the Federal area in DC at night. Quiet, a little spooky, nobody around but the random tourist here and there. Except for the large pack of school kids. Late high school, early college, something like that. They seem to be everywhere. They just show up out of nowhere at all hours of the day and night, in touristy areas. Who takes a field trip at 11pm on a Tuesday anyways? Well, apparently these guys.

I headed back toward the place, and ran into some of the crew having some food, and I stopped and got a chicken curry pasta with them. It was midnight. Well, I ate, headed back to the pad, and couldn’t sleep till about 2 am. I trepidatiously set my alarm, assuming I’d be totally hammered. . . Buuuut, no. I woke up at 6 am, and had no ability to go back to sleep.

Well, I wasn’t supposed to meet the van to work untill 8, so I grabbed my camera and walked around some more. I discovered two very excellent things. Checkpoint Charlie, of Berlin Wall fame, and the fact that I actually live in East Berlin!! One of the few places in the world I have had sycophantic fantasies of visiting, and now I LIVE HERE. How cool is that!? I’m still discovering the area, so more on all of that later.

So, I went to work. We actually work in Babelsberg, next to Potsdam, at UA film studios, of Film Studios Babelsberg. This is a famous and historical type of place. Not only is it the oldest running film studio in the world, or something like that, it is the place where Marlena Dietrich shot many, if not all of her films, and holds some dark history as well, as we share the same halls and offices that Heir Himmler used in WWII while creating his monstrous propaganda films for the Nazi war machine.

The studio is not very big, but all in all, it is very cool. Apparently they also shoot a bunch of German TV stuff there, including some soap opera that features some American guy from Kansans, who is pretty big in the show. I don’t know why that is cool, but the guys at work kept talking about it. Maybe its just funny that some guy from Kansas is big on German soap TV. Maybe he’s like The Hoff.

I totally made that up, by the way, calling David Hassellhoff “Hoff” or “The Hoff.” Seriously, I was calling him that way back last year when I was working on Zoom. If you don’t believe me, I will fight you.

Right now, as I type, I am fighting the sleep of bitter exhaustion. Hopefully next week will be a little bit easier on the schedule.

My first two days of were slow and punctuate with frustration at being tired, and having to learn and try to figure out CG tools that are a little bit counterintuitive, to say the least. I think I’ve got it figured out though now, and Friday was especially productive.

Friday night, after a rather productive day at work, for me, hit the town with the dudes. Alex, Stephen, Matt and I went first, with Dan and Kyle meeting us there. I cant remember which part of town we went to. It was some happening kind of place, where there were a lot of restaurants and clubs. We went there with the purpose of getting some food and to catch this punk rock band, the Varanes.

We started by walking around the whole area, to get the lay of the land, then we settled on a Turkish restaurant, where we got kebabs and other food items. It was tasty, and we met a crazy Turkish band from west Germany somewhere who was in town to do a show tonight (sat.) unfortunately their English was very limited (though not as limited as our Turkish, or German for that matter), so I don’t think we ever figured out what the name of their band was, or where they were playing. They were fun people, however, and were impressed that we were from LA, and here to work on a movie. We had a great time talking with them and laughing, too good a time, because I guess we were getting a little loud, and the waiter actually came over to tell us to be quiet. He was less impressed with us - HA! But it seemed unnecessary, being that we were in a separate area from the restaurant. Oh well, it was just funny. We laughed up, finished our drinks, and went to the show.

We went to this club called Wild at Heart - a total hole in the wall, in a great way. It was tiny, smokey, and just the kind of place you expect to see in a movie. The decor was totally over the top, the people were cool, and the bouncer seemed to enjoy that we were obviously American, at least It seemed that way from the huge grin on our face as we struggled to pay the cover and make it in.

The Varanes played soon after we got in. They were a groovy punk rock band, with two guitars, bass, drums, and three microphones for excellent harmonies. They did all of their songs in English, which was funny, but cool. They did an especially groovy cover of Rebel, Rebel, by Bowie. They wore matching black shirts, like button up work shirts bearing the single moniker VAR-312 over the left pocket. The lead singer had a 50's throwback hairdo, updated for today with black dye. The lead singer and lead guitarist were both 20something, but the bassist and drummer were old dudes. The bassist looked like he could have been the lead guitars dad, and the drummer looked like a work camp escapee, he was totally skinny with his head shaved baled, and he looked like he was going to collapse at any moment. He was, however, and excellent drummer. In fact, the whole band was excellent.

After the show, while we decided weather or not to party all night, or go home early (2:30 am) we got some beveredges and decided to call it a night, much to the chagrin of Alex and Michelle, who wanted to party all night. I felt good enough to keep going, but knew if I didn’t go to sleep, I would sleep all day Sat, and I wanted to check some stuff out on Sat, so I opted for sleeping. Which was a good idea.

Got up late on Sat. - 13:20 pm. Not bad though, considering I got to sleep around 3am, and was exhausted.

I started my day with a walk to the TV tower. Apparently a joke to the West during the cold war, now one of Berlins most beloved land marks. It has some interesting history around it, including that on a sunny day, the reflection on the ball makes a cross, which was a huge deal when it was done, grinning snidely in the face of the A-religious communists who erected it. Apparently a lot of people got fired from that one. The ministry was not pleased that this symbol of their technological strength was usurped in the eyes of the people by the symbol of the death of the Son of God.

On the way, I went into this little cathedral by the Humboldt University. It had and interesting design, with all of the pews ringing the center where I presume the ceremonies take place. It also had a multi level design which I didn’t understand, but probably had to do with the old days, and class separation. The best part of the cathedral was the organist, who was playing gothic music on the future-retro pipe organ. A real live organist, whom I can only presume plays there all day. He played the most interesting gothic arrangements, none of them having a particularly “happy” sound. Actually sounding wholly tragic and dark. But, I guess that’s the nature of Catholicism . . . or, maybe that’s too harsh. In any case, I sat and listened for while, because the music was beautiful, and the organist was masterful. I stayed for a little while, then it was off to the tower.

I saw a gullible tourist get taken for 50 euros by a “find the ball” guy. Wish I had pictures of that, I passed the Berliner Dom, which is huge, and amazing, crossed the river, and found a bunch of museums to check out another day. I also got an excellent Nutella and Banana Crepe from the guy in the crepe truck. (Like a taco truck for crepes). It was probably one of the beast crepes I’ve ever had. And I don’t think it’s just because I hadn’t eaten all day, before I got that around 3pm. (Although, I guess I didn’t really wake up till 1:30, so I guess it wasn’t that long)

I finally made it to the tower, didn’t go inside cause now it’s a café, and the line was too long to bother with it, took some pictures of some communist statuary, and headed to the store on the way back to my pad.

I went grocery shopping for the first time.

I got:
1 tiny loaf of bread
peanut butter
jelly (strawberry)
ham (I think)
cheese (cheddar and . . . Swiss?)
salami
orange juice
water
yogurts (3)
q-tips
toothpaste
shaving cream
shampoo
bananas
apples
some pasta thing for the microwave pene and meatsauce - I hope its meat sauce and not baloney sauce, as the label says tomato bolognese, or something like that . . .
Tortilla chips
baby carrots
mustard
and a coke light
cost: 38 euros
--keep in mind that everything is half the size that you think it is right now in your head. Except for the fruit.

luckily, there were several American products in the aisles, and being without a translator, I opted for some of those because I knew what they were, like toothpaste, and just needed some stuff for the apartment.

I love Berlin.

Photos come slow, as I only have my film camera, and have to wait for them to get developed, and put on a CD. I did find a place that will do it for me for 5 euros, and they’re done the next day, and the girl at the counter is cute and knows my name, so that’s not too bad a deal, is it?

There must be some sort of bandwidth problem here at the hotel. Either that or my connection just sucks. Its pretty slow, and it seems to have problems when I’m uploading pics to flickr. It always times out, and takes a looooong time.

a few other thoughts.

I think sales tax here is 19% . . . that’s crazy.

It seems like nearly every block in the city has a “pizza, pasta, salad” restaurant. Though not nearly as popular as bars, they still seem nearly ubiquitous. But, they don’t cut the pizza here. Or, at least not at the place where I got mine. Which makes it hard to eat when you get it to go.

A few thoughts about berlin:.

I love Lufthansa
3 ply toilet paper is awesome
cafe’s are open late, but the cleaners is open early.
Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks.
the “no ice” rumors are true
not as many people in Berlin speak English as I was lead to believe
German girls are beautiful
they don’t cut the pizza for you . . . (What is a slice?)
No such thing as “fast food” - you always sit down to eat.
Germans eat late, even with their kids.
People don’t seem to drink much beveredge when eating, unless its beer.
prostitution is legal
so far, no pizza I have had in the world is as good as American pizza, though it is good in a different way, and, admittedly, my experiences are somewhat limited..
You can smoke nearly everywhere in Europe. You know, if that’s your thing.

The Euro coins. One and two dollar coins take some getting used to. You always have change in your pocket, which would be seriously hard for some people I know back home. I will admit, I’m not a huge fan of change either, but its kind of funny, because you get sick of it jingling around, and just when you are about to get rid of it, you take it out, count it, and realize that you have 10 euros in your pocket. . . so, you submit yourself to the power of the coin, put the change back in your pocket, and think twice about wearing the pants with the pockets that change always falls out of when you sit down . . . how much did you want to keep that 10 euros?

Well, after staying out too late last night, I did the call a bike thing, and rented a bike to get home! It was awesome. Something like 8 cents a minute, with a day max of $15. And you can just grab the bike anywhere and drop it off anywhere. All with a phone call. So cool.

I woke up kind of early to get the subway to church. I am geographically in the Teirgartten ward. I forgot it was general conference, but it was pleasant surprise when I got there. There were plenty of great talks today. Though I only heard the priesthood session (live at 11am here) and the sat. afternoon session on tape. It was nice to meet some of the members, and be reminded again that our church really is a world family. Its nice to know that the gospel is consistent no matter where you go. Its interesting to see that the church organization works, no matter where you are, and its nice to see that, no matter what the design, all of the chairs will have the same ugly green ish upholstery.

Now, its 8pm, and I’m about to pass out from tiredness. As soon as I finish this, I thin I’ll consider going to sleep. . . although I might try to watch The Castle of Cagliostro, you know, for work and stuff.

*story for another day.

Black and White

2007-03-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Reach Out and Touch Someone . . .

2007-03-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

today . . . i used a pay phone! no, seriously, i did. it was dirty and smelled of cigarettes, but i was able to make a call to Andy, and it totally worked.

"but, mike," you may be wont to ask, "what's a payphone? is that like a pre-paid cell phone or something?" ok, well, here's how it works. there are large boxes with anitque style hand set recievers on them, and buttons that you have to push to make a call. oh, and you have to insert coin money into them to get them to work. these boxes are attatched to their surroundings - not portable.

in exchange for this coin money - 50 cents these days (yes, dig deep into those pockets, or go buy something and get change), you can talk to your friends and family on their mobile phones. because, obviously you either forgot to plug yours in, or are from 1983.

also, it seems that you can call anywhere in the country for 50 cents these days. oh, and you can call international for a dollar. thats pretty good. maybe just airport pay phones work that way these days.

remember when pay phones used to only cost a quarter? no? well, i do. my mother used to always admonish me to have an extra quarter or two with me at all times, in case there was an emergency and i needed to make a call. that was back in the days of land lines and car phones.

and i remember when pay phones became 35 cents. what a pain that was, to come up with an extra dime.

who would have thought that, in this world of modern technology, where people would rather have a wierd ear parasite than potentially engage in face to face interpersonal communication, the good old fashioned pay phone would still prove relevant and usefull. well, usefull at any rate. i mean, payphones are so pase, that Andy took a picture of himself with one that we found the other day, because it seemed like such a novelty.

rember the days when people didnt seem afraid to talk to strangers on the street? you could just walk up to anyone else walking on the street and politely ask them for information, like directions, or the location of the nearest payphone.

i guess a diatribe on my feelings of the cell phone breeding interpersonal disconnect in our society are for aonther day. as it stands, i'm just glad that the pay phone actually worked.