Worst Joke Heard On the Houston Metro

This is the worst joke overheard yet on the Houston Metro:

Can you get mononucleosis on the monorail?

Second worst joke:

Was antipasta invented in Avignon?

www.phony.com

WOW

I didn't realize you were talking about Houston.... until I realized you were talking about Houston. CRAZY! I'm so sorry that I'm missing out on the party.
Take lots of photos for us boring austinites.

Todd
I love the pink and brown shots. I was at the flight path at about 10:30am-funny we don't cross "paths."

I saw the Mosquitos tonight. Great show. I'll get Taggart to share the album via iTunes. Carolina would dig it.

The Main Event

It was madness downtown! There were concerts and people on stilts and cops on Segways and people dressed up like colonial New Englanders and an even two dancing beers and a blue poney.
Downtown looked real nice with all these spot-lights set up and the streets blocked off so's folks could walk/stumble/stilt around.
There were a ton of people too. Some more scantily clad than other despite the wintery weather. I was on a mission to find sausage wraps cause I had a hankering for some bbq, but alas my search was in vain.
Oh, and as you can see in the photo they got this neat fountain set up near the Main Street Square stop. The trains actually roll through a water-like substance!

Hi from Boston

Hi to all the blog-o-mite sandwiches in the audience. I have finished the interviews here at the reebok facility. Who knows if they are gonna offer me something. They all loved my work, or at least said they did, introduced me to more people the I was scheduled to meet, met with the people that i would most likely be working with, I think they all liked me alright. I don't know, it's quite possible that I come across as a pompous asshole, you all know me. So I am typing here at this corporate hotel with alot of suits, out in the middle of no where, not in boston but some little town outside of it...........tired. I think I'll go sit in the sauna.

cock-a-doodle-doo

OH, Killy, I love the line about wrinkled black football players.

Pink...

...is a pretty nice color. i found these chairs and the wall they are displayed against near the Flightpath coffeshop in south(ish) austin. i found myself that far south because i was out fulfilling the requirements for getting the !@#$ ticket i received dismissed.

we are soon to be releasing our first self-promo piece, a 4x6 postcard to be mailed to a targeted list of 1500 local businesses. wish us luck

Poolside

Another benefit is that I get to work on my tan between shots.
Downside is that I miss Liz and Bodi.
Cant wait till I get home and kiss my wife and play with the Bodi.

Hello you all!

I'm here Carolina! I just found the PERFECT toy for my dog. It's a little squeaky soccer ball that I throw as far as I can and he runs after it EVERY time and brings it back while squeaking. non-dog people probably wouldn't understand how cute this is. But Taggart will! So cute! and it effectively wears him out so he leaves me alone long enough to check the blog!

School is cool-we're learning everything about pregnancy. So somebody (other than me) get pregnant so I can assess you!

Austin is great. going to a show tonight, tomorrow night (Mosquitos, a brazilian pop band from NYC), and the next night (Shane Bartell-check him out). Study? who needs to study?

Breakfast of Champions

Behold the Breakfast of Champions! This hearty meal is composed of:

• Eggs: for healthy arteries!
• Avocados: to increase range of telepathic powers!
• Flour tortillas: to block the harmful effects of cosmic rays!
• And, of course, Cheese: The Great Binder!

I forgot to mention the healthy dose of "Cholula" Hot Sauce that was added to assure the free flow of air through the nasal passages.

This could be useful for Piston clients, etc

SubrosaSoft.com FTP Droplet

Desert Springs

I am not one to like or love the desert. I hate this place.
HOWEVER. THere is something to be said about waking up and eating breakfast
next to the mountains.

The State of Things

There is something comforting about stepping outside on these cold mornings. Old Fort Road is blue and dark intermittenetly broken by cones of sickly orange light from street lamps; the horizon is rimmed with wispy veil of clouds and it's quiet. Only one house, the one directly across from ours, has it's porch light on.

I am immediatly reminded of the duplexes that I grew up in. Particularly, i am reminded of the first days of school. It's these days, right after weeks and weeks of warm long mornings and sleeping late, that are the most memorable. I sleepily carried out the trash. I would sling the bag over my shoulders to make it easier to carry. It banged on the backs of my legs as i walked the distance of the driveway towards the sagging decrepid tower of duplex mailboxes, each with their mouth's hanging slightly open (ours never closed right). There, around this leaning tower, the trash was huddled like wrinkled black football players.

It was cold too. Even in my sweater. My mother didn't have the foresight (or the time) to start up the car twenty minutes before we left so it could warm up, so we would sit in the car and wait for the heater to crank up. The exhaust would billow behind the car, and the foggy windows would slowly become transparent. The school was literally right around the block so it wasn't long before i was pulling my sweaer off to keep from sweating in class.

And this is what i think of when i step out in the mornings, as i pull myself into my own car warming it up for our trip into town. One house over, light seeps through the cracks of the garage door; if i listen hard enough i can hear the neighbor loading herself into her SUV. Her door opens and she slides out and waves. I wave back, start up the car, and retreat back into the house.

man...

i miss diana. that is really all i have to say right now.

miss miss miiiiiiiiiss.

where is everybody

why isn't anybody saying anything

adolph
re the apple store incident

I'm sorry that you had such an ugly experience at the apple store

next time, tell me about it and I'll take care of them!

Remember, I have WORLDS of experience dealing with customer service

Colin
Any more drawlings
have you been to NY yet?
will you look up amber and antny?

Todd
where are your movies

Paul
More paintings please

All
I love my job
so there

HEY KILLY---- I THINK DEPECHE MODE IS LOOKING FOR SOME NEW MUSIC.

MORE LITTLE PICS.

STUFF FROM A CHARACTER DESIGN PROJECT.

iLife - First Impressions

iPhoto 4

iPhoto's been mis-named. This is iPhoto 2.1. No 'outstanding' functionality that shouldn't have already been there such as the much touted faster scrolling and faster action on renaming rolls.

Haven't been around anyone yet to share photos (My younger sister's laptop is with her at my older sister's house), so i can't comment on that, yet.

I'm not really impressed with the 'upgrade'. In edit mode, you still get the a substantial pause when you go from photo to photo. Scrolling is still a little jerky, but admittedly, faster. So is renaming rolls. Adding keywords to photos is a first for me, i don't recall if this was available in the previous version. I never used it till tonight. Obvious negative: you can't assign a keyword with a right click on a photo. You have to have your 'keyword pallette' open and you can't just double click a keyword to apply it; you have to highlight the keyword and then click another button to assign the keyword. Kinda tedious. I wish there was an easier way.

iTunes 4.2

Aside from supporting AAC....same thing.

iMovie 4

Definately faster performance, but the startup is still sluggish and it still opens up the last project you were working on by default. I wish this would change. It took a 45 sec count for iMovie 4 to open my current file, which does have a good amount of footage...

GarageBand



This is the coolest application that I know i'll never have time to truly use well. It's not as intimidating and aloof as say Flash, but it is a pretty robust program! In goofing around with it this evening I realized quickly that one NEEDS that keyboard to really use it effectively. I mean, you could play around with looping and stuff, but if you wanted to make a real song (and belive me, you could very very easily) it would be too tedious without a keyboard.

I read a lot about performance issues, with this app. I had none. Ran as smooth and killito's butt. Not a single hickup, but then again, I didn't have any other apps running.

for your enjoyment

message delivery boy

Message delivery boy Doc Searls defends Dean::

"Watching Howard Dean's rousing 'speech' (I'm not sure what to call it... rant?) to his troops at the end of the day, it occurred to me that Kerry and Edwards aren't just the best looking candidates, but the best-talking ones as well. They are practiced and excellent public speakers. As message delivery boys, they hit the porch every time.
Dean is an okay speaker. He's not great. I'm told he can be very good, but I haven't seen it yet. But he's also a doctor. Good politicians tell you want you want to hear. Good doctors tell you what you need to hear, whether you want it or not."

Doctor sez: "NORTH DAKOTA, ALABAMA, CALIFORNIA . . . ." whether you like it or not. Hilarious.

Whats up with this Economy seating crap?!

Okay, I got my itinearay from the Reebok people......and Laura and I had joked back and forth that if someone was going to literally fly you across the country to interview you, they would want to make a good impression on you. So of course I was expecting first class seats on the plane, you know to fit my high profile stature and such, I get the itinerary and it lists me as sitting in economy........I feel it must be some sort of typo, I am gonna speak to the lady and clear this whole matter up. Thats how you have to handle this sort of stuff. I mean come on, I'm a busy Executive.

poop. pee.

How Bizarre

Mac Forums - Pepsi/iTunes Superbowl Ad Details

USA Today offers details on the upcoming Pepsi/iTunes Superbowl ad campaign which will launch the 100 million iTunes song giveaway.
The new ad campaign will feature 20 teens who were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal music downloads.

Customer Service Culture

BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis

It is often perplexing to me when the culture of an organization appears defensive rather than accepting of criticism. Last month the New York Times did not cover large demonstrations protesting the terrorists within Iraq who are bombing things, etc. It was apparently well covered by local bloggers and since then, American blogs like Jeff Jarvis' (linked above) have attempted to take the Times to task for this oversight. In Jarvis' latest update, the Time's has responded and the response is composed of excuses.

This reminds me of my last interaction at the Apple Store. The power supply of my laptop went out and I went to the Houston Galleria Apple Store to get a warrantee replacement. The power supply is one of those show stoppers for a computer, nothing runs without it (although I'm not certain what failing on a laptop is not a show stopper). However, it is a small object that is readily available from anywhere. Still the Apple Store didn't have it.

The guy at the genius bar said, "we'll have one in two days and I will give you a call when it is in." I thought that was reasonable, because if they were out, it would take a weekday for them to order it and a day for the shipment to come in. However, that didn't keep my laptop running. I wound up buying a spare power supply, something that I had wanted anyway so I didn't have to cart it between the house and office all the time. Amber said that I should have been more upset, however, I have an understanding and acceptance of this sort of stuff.

The guy from the genius bar didn't call until the following Friday. Amber said that I should definitely say something about this, so when I picked up the replacement, I said that I understand about supply shortages, but would like to register a complaint about how long it took to get a replacement. The guy immediately gets defensive and starts saying how they never know when their supply gets low and it is hard to forecast, etc.

I said okay, just to shut him up. As a result, I really hate the Apple Store and this guy in particular because (a.) I wasn't treated like someone who bought something for $2,500 with tax since they didn't fix the damn thing even though they had other stock sitting on the shelf, and (b.) when I try to politely state my complaint, with the utmost of understanding that it isn't his fault personally, I get treated to excuses as if I am being unreasonable.

This goes against the social mores of customer service culture. It isn't that the customer is always right, but when the customer has some input you accept it as their viewpoint and respect it as their viewpoint even if you do plan to file the input in the trash. If the complaint is due to an error, you can optionally state the reason for the error, but in all likelihood you don't bother because it doesn't focus on fixing the error for that person, the reason for the error is only helpful within the organization to avoid the error in the future.

Why am I thinking about all of this? It goes back to the Dean Scream. So screaming is part of the internal culture of the Dean campaign and the scream speech was meant as a rallying the troops rally instead of a general "this is who I am and this is why you should vote for me" speech. What, they all do a collective Rowdy Roddy Piper or Hacksaw Jim Duggan impression while listing the states they're going to go to? I think that it is pretty disappointing that Dean didn't respect and accept the viewpoint of Iowa voters but instead retreated to his internal campaign culture.

But maybe it isn't so bad. Matt Welch writes that . . .

. . . having Dean going to all those states he named keeps the pissed-off wing of the party (not to mention non-voters) focused on the anti-Bush crusade, rather than trying to cook up some new Naderite charge.

I can't wait to fire up Garageband and product political fun like this: http://homepage.mac.com/kmickey/.Public/LileksBushKnewRobots.mp3

The Dean Scream Reloaded

I agree that Dean's speech after the Iowa Caucus was intended to rally his supporters rather than to re-iterate his platform. In that sense it was clearly campaign focused. But I think this focus is understandable given the sense of deflation that his campaign must have felt after finishing so poorly in a contest that they were so hyped to win.

In contrast, Kerry and Edwards did not need to 'rally the troops' in their speeches because: A) Kerry came in first place, and B) Edwards came in second place (when most people didn't expect him to make the top four). Both candidates had the luxury of focusing on the issues because both campaigns were, naturally, very pleased with the results of the caucus and did not need any 'rallying'.


I too found Dean's speech clumsy and the 'scream' bizarre, but it [the scream] does make more sense in light of what Dave Winer wrote in the Scripting News: 1/23/2004:

Several times during the meeting a loud crazy-sounding scream came from the room, everyone was doing it, and it was really frightening. The stuff of nightmares. This was before Howard Dean's rant. I asked Jim Moore what that was about, he said it's an Indian war yell or something like that, they used to do it in United Farm Workers rallies, and they adopted it at Dean For America. A few minutes later Dean let out the famous scream, it was the same scream I heard in the conference room.

They're probably not saying this publicly because it wouldn't seem contrite to do it, and they probably know they'd get roasted for saying the scream and ranting you heard was part of the motivational culture at DFA. Some have compared the Dean speech to a similar rant by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that made the rounds of the Net. So Dean gets a bit whacky, but after seeing it so many times, the shock value is fading. Taken at face value it wasn't anger, it was a steam-letting, and an attempt to rally the troops, and totally understandable.

Here Whiner explains that The Scream was "part of the motivational culture at DFA".

Now, I too had seen the Scream about a zillion times and was quite put off by it. I too saw it as an outburst worthy of the World Wrestling Federation. But had I seen coverage of The Scream along with the explanation that it was not a wild outburst, but rather a cheer that the Dean Campaign had adopted, I would not have concluded that Dean was an unstable, undignified Rowdy Roddy Piper. But now its too late.

The Dead Scream

Scripting News: 1/23/2004

The thing about the Dean Scream isn't really about the scream (it was more of an out-of-breath yelp anyway). It is about a politician who is so focused on the campaign that the campaign is what he talked about. If you watch the other candidates' speeches, they immediately start talking about the issues that they feel are important. This signifies recognition that the campaign is a means, not the ends. In Dean's speech, the campaign, the list of states that they are going to go to, is what is important. I wasn't particularly impressed with Kerry's or Edward's speeches, but at least they are issue focused. Dean came across as Rowdy Roddy Piper from the World Wrestling Federation pre-declaring victory in the towns the WWF will visit. (Maybe I was just peeved that Louisiana didn't make it on the list . . .)

One of the criticisms of the current administration is that they are using the bread and circuses of a minor prescription drug benefit and various military conflicts as a way of maintaining their grip on power. Well, in Dean's scream speech he doesn't seem very different, just more clumsy. When did rallying the troops start being about winning for winnings sake and stop being about the things that affect ordinary people in everyday ways?

Besides being undignified, it seemed like his campaign didn't have a clue what their message would be if they lost. The campaign-centered and undisciplined speech indicates to me that either Dean's team doesn't plan for failure as well as success or that Dean doesn't follow his team's plan. Either way isn't a pretty sight.

Testing The Fade

Button
This is a test to see if fading will work here.

colin

i had a dream last night
WHEW
crazy nightmare
many issues
first -
Laura called me
from Sunny Beach
a tropical place, she explained
and reasoned that I should already know that
since she lived in Virginia with all of you
she called me to ask me
so how long have you been pregnant?
she had sensed it over the many miles because of a change in the wind
then i discovered that Killy knew i was pregnant too
but that I didn't know
so i pretended i knew
and laughed insincerely that I knew for weeks already
THEN
later that day
I got fired from my waitressing job
because of gossiping
and as I was ready to go home
a really nice asian guy
one of those ultra hip super souped car jag guys
parked ON TOP of my little car
squashing it into the shape of a box
i cried from having lost the job
and felt bad for making the nice asian guy fell bad
so i took my baby to a petting zoo
which was the best petting zoo in the world
because it had a whole slew of llamas to pet
and a big yard full of kissing cows
yep - that's right - cows that, instead of mooing
made BIG WET kissing sounds
so loud that sometimes it came out sounding like a high pitched squeak
and then - these cows looked like something that dr. Seuss would draw
anyway
the baby and i went through the zoo and ended up at my old bosses house
(Don was the baby's second godfather)
where we ran into quickly upon seeing a six foot rabbit in the back yard
who really wanted to get into the moon
so my boss shares a trick from the 60s with us
this time, it was barbara ann and the baby and me
hanging out at Don's house
he showed us how to take essential oils
and rub them on our gums
for a REALLY stunning, natural high with no side effects
(except for a dry mouth)
and it was good for the baby too!
SO
there we were when all of a sudden
the cops busted in and arrested Don and Adolph
(I don't know how Adolph got in there)
for being Hector Molesters
hmmmm
so barbara was confused and argued
ineffectively
to release don and adolph
but the cops wouldn't have any of it
i finally got her to stop talking as i saw that this was just working against us
and i let the cops do their thing
but just before they left
i pleaded to their common sense
which i realized they totally lacked when they insisted on arresting don and adolph
and they took them away
and barbara ann, the baby and i were left in don's house
afraid to go outside because of the six foot rabbit
who kept looking at the moon

then i woke up

Reebok Sample Size

Colin,
If the sample size over at Reebok is size 10, 10 1/2 I say you take the job.

Congratulations!

congratulations, colin. Now, first dates are important, so wash your face, brush your hair (or at least your sideburns), stand up straight, and remember your 'pleases' and 'thank yous'.

congratulations, killy and paul! i hope you both get a chance to sit back and enjoy the fruits of a job well....done.

Follow The Gourd!

Killy just informed me that he recieved his first order of prints from his PhotoGourd (tm) powered site! This is great! Now I will finally get paid the 2 apple pies stipulated in my service-contract! Whoo hoo!

Via Satellite

Hey PAUL,
Here is a thumbnail of the via satellite drawing



I've noticed that some folks are able to place LARGE pics on the blog. Are ya'll using THe Amazing Uploader Thong, or something different????

OKAY BLOGGAMITES

I was contacted by Reebok a little while back and we shared some correspondence as to me being possibly interested in them and them possibly being interested in me.

So after typing back and forth and getting a basic comfort established, they asked me out on a date.

So, They still have to book the tickets, I am flying out to Boston to go and have an interview. This is pretty cool. I have never been flown anywhere for buisness, other then once for my brother, but that kinda doesn't count.

So whatever happens is whatever, but I'ma get a free trip to Boston out of it.

I asked them to provide me with several escorts, seeing as how I get so lonely at night in big strange cities.

Ecto Blog Client

I am testing out the ecto blogging client. It is jam packed full of features, including the ability to upload images directly to your blog (assuming you are posting to a blog that supports the Metaweblog Api for uploading images; Our Blogger blog does not support this).

Show/Hide Features

Ecto Features

• support for multiple weblogs and servers (with easy-to-use Account Manager)


• intuitive interface for creating and editing weblog entries (customizable with spellcheck, syntax-coloring, and find-replace)


• full local control of recently posted entries and drafts (with search function)


• quick access toolbar menu with HTML tag templates plus keyboard shortcuts (fully modifiable)


• support of all available remote control options of MovableType and TypePad (posting entries with continuation, summary, keywords, multiple categories, trackback, text-formatting, comment options)


• easily change the posting date of entries


• full-featured HTML-rendered preview of entries using Safari's WebKit


• advanced file and image upload tool (supports converting and thumbnailing images, with history of uploaded files)


• save settings on a per-blog basis


• send notifications by email (with Address Book support)


• insert details of the currently playing iTunes song in your entry


• embedded debug console to troubleshoot network connections


• extensive help documentation accessible from within ecto


• hate the metal and icons? Just switch with the supplied aqua-metal switcher!


• and much more!

first image loader thingy

Carol's First Day

Took Carol to work this morning @ around 9:30. (will she start so late EVERY DAY?) the drive was easy -- i think we got there in about 20-25 minutes. Look for her first day post coming soon!

KA-POW!!

Have I mention
"I luves mi knew kamera!"

MORE POSTED PICS.

Look at this.

Some european fruitcake playing tennis.

ALERT!

MacInTouch Home Page:

"The iPhoto read-me does gently recommend a backup prior to the installation, but it's clear this should be mandatory."

perty pitcher

i thought this one turned out pretty well.

that's it.

i did not accomplish much this weekend. visited w/taggart, and wrote some text for a self-marketing piece we are going to put out.

i spent some time working with the Amazing Image Uploader and managed to get real damn frustrated. i still don't get CSS, or PHP for that matter.

Amazing Image Uploaded

Colin, that soccer playing image is great. It reminds me of all the times I beat you to the ball and headed it spectacularly into the goal.

Also, I noticed that you tried to upload a .psd (photoshop?) file. The Amazing Image Uploader only digests web viewable images, such as jpgs, gifs and pngs. If you try to feed it other kinds of files, the poor beast will suffer horrible indigestion.

HMMMMM..lets see.

Tribute

O-Tay!

City of Tod

Sounds like the best place for the Serpa's to raise their kin.

A Public Service Announcement

most people do not realize that horizontal scrolling is truly hazardous to you browser's health.

please use paul's amazing uploader thingy and prevent the heart ache of horizontal scrolling.

it will also help with that vexing 'text-that-is-to-damn-wide-to-read' problem.

Icon

Damn Rain

Spending the day mostly indoors.
Overcast.
We need the rain but I so want to go outside and take pictures.
errr......guess I will have to make do.

Carol loses a job, Carol finds a job

Carol's recent brush with unemployment was a real rollercoaster ride. We've been making so many plans that her sudden lay off was a real blow: what about a montessori school for the baby? what about a house? what about paying off our debt? what about fixing the cavalier?

All of this was thrown into limbo for exactly three days.

3 Days!

The same day she was laid off, Carol went into professional job hunting mode. She updated her resume the same day and called her old headhunter, MK Personnel, to set things in motion. Carol also had submitted her resume to a number of places she saw on Monster.com.

Interview on Wednesday (second day after having gotten laid off), and then offered the job late Thursday (day three)... i was speechless and she was gloating all day - and beaming. She deserved to; she even managed to get a pretty good raise to go along with it.

I think it's a good idea to have a "Sorry you lost your job but you found a new one so quickly!" party this weekend?

WOW

Well it definatley has been an interesting week.
I got the Sd-10
used it all day Today at the Driskell where I rented it out to Mark.
Then my brother bought my Canon s40.
we sold the s40 because liz wanted a smaller camera for her.
So we went to bestbuy and combined her best buy gift cards
and my brothers cash and we bought her an sd-10
the canon one.
and the WOW is because Adolph's repost of the dog shot is a whole lot more yellow than the one I posted.
at least on my computer it is.
hmm.
Well I will be sure to post some images soon.

Carol

I just read the post you made on Nov 5 2003, the verse about your baby.

I'm so very glad your a mom.

S-10

Does this camera support tethered shooting (shooting directly to computer) via firewire? I didn't think to ask about that.

carolina on the prowl...again

Read about the demise of my job
and current opps for me

so all of you know by now that i am out on the streets again
high heeled and well coiffed
such a production first thing in the morning
baby is not familiar with deafening sound of the hair dryer
he stands nervously by
sure that this heat producing screaming monster
will somehow hurt his vulnerable mama

I don't know about you
but I learned that a 3.50 strand of pearls is just as good as a 50.00 one
when it comes to interviews

New Collage Technique

. . . Or it is new to me at least. I forgot where I learned this, maybe Killy or Taggart showed me. I took some pics in the normal collage technique of click and pan. Then I took a step to the side and took the same pictures. Once on the computer, I masked the telephone pole that was in front of me, put the second collage of images behind the first and scooted them around to match (mostly). Voila, the telephone pole disappeared (mostly). Unfortunately, I only adjusted horizontal and not vertical, so the arms of the traffic lights are still visible.

SD-10

Hey Taggart,
Sorry to have missed you and Mark day before yesterday. Does the SD-10 add extra dog-leggs to your dog, or what?

congratulations taggart!

nice!

i've got jobs coming up from the guys i've done ads with before. i'd much rather give you the $100 rental fee than HPI.

Sd10

It has been a long day.
I first have to apologize to Adolph and Paul....
for waiting up so long and then Mark and I never showing up.
Yesterday Mark and I were shooting the Mercedes-Benz dealership on the corner of Highway 6 and 59 South
in Houston.
We left Austin late and made it to the dealership on time, but we had to forgo a trip to Adolph's house.
We shot and shot and shot until about 1:15 a.m. Twelve Shots and all.
Mark at that point decided he wanted to go home.
He later began to regret his decision because not 15 min out of town
we began driving through the worst fog I have ever seen in my life.
Visability was about 25 ft.
Seriously.
We were both freaking out.
Mark being his stubborn self and returning to Houston decided he would forge on.
Thinking the Fog would let up.
3 hours later we were still on the edge of our seats driving a very dangerous 70 mph.
We were going to die, I was convinced.
Well we made it home despite Marks best efforts at around 4:30 a.m.
I crept inside the house and scared the living daylights out of Liz and Bodi.
Crawled into bed and slept till 10:30.
Spent the rest of the day calling people. Went to a meeting with Action Figure.
Then went over to Mark's house to see if my camera had arrived.
Picked it up took it home.

HOME ON THE RANGE.

I'm back in Portland. All in all it's good to be home. Life is funny. I was just in Texas yesterday. And this morning I was once again scribbling the likenesses of my fellow public transiters into my little book. Chella has two dance classes today. Hannah starts up fencing tomorrow. there are a million things to get done. Laura has a show going up in March and another in April. We are building frames and getting slides made and getting promo stuff printed and organizing play dates for the kids and organizing the homeschooling co-op. Vacation was short and somehow......ya'll remember Tron. When they are on that shell like boat/plane and there is that energy pulse that is caught in front of the ship. Alot of shit to get done.

Television is a waste of time. If you find yourself in front of it, remember, you are going to die someday and this is the one chance you have got to kick ass, there is so much to do that is real.

colin.

gotta be grapenuts. no contest

best cereal ever.

One of the first ready-to-eat cereal products ever made available to the public, Grape-Nuts was first introduced in 1897. Made of wheat and malted barley, Grape-Nuts was so named because its inventor, Charles William Post, said that grape sugar was formed during the baking process and described the cereal as having a nutty flavor. Post was a pioneer in introducing and making popular cereal, a food product that today has become a standard breakfast staple.

Current Favorite Cereal

Plane Cheerios, Special K and Grape Nuts are probably my all time favorites, but for right now Quaker Squares is taking the cake.

What are yours?

For Real!

red+green+blue=these.

  

i took these while talking to killy. unfortunately none of his skill rubbed off. none the less, i think the images are pretty neat. the sun was pouring in making everything look spraypainted. i wonder if the colors are intentional, or coincidental. either way it is a pretty neat effect.

Weekend In San Antonio

I just got back from a lovely weekend in San Antonio. The highlight of the trip was the amazing sunday morning gospel mass we attended at the Mount Zion First Baptist Church. The preacher was incredible, and his sermon kicked so much holy ass that I thought the roof was going to blow off of the church-hall. Since it was a memorial service, we were also lucky eneogh to hear a few words from the Rev. Claude Black Jr, one of San Antonio's outstanding citizens...

The couple I was visiting also took me out to the Blue Star to see Sky Patterson's (a relation of theirs) latest show. Some of the compositions were pretty interesting, and the colors were pleasing. I had never been to Blue Star, is that where San Antonio has First Friday?

To finish off the day we went hiking out at Friederich Park. It is a nice little hike in the shrinking Hill Country. We were attacked by a bear but I fought it off with my pocket knife.

I was dissapointed not to have had a chance to see the Flynns, but maybe we can all get together for Flynn Fest 2004 this summer?

SO MUCH TO DO SO LITTLE TIME.

Hello to ya'll. I am indeed here in texas. So close yet so far. Funny that all of ya'll are right down the street and yet I am still using the blog for interaction. I guess that is part of being a grown up. Learning to let someone elses needs surpass your own.

The girls and I are going to eat lunch with my grandma today at her retirement city. Let her show the greatgrandkids off to the other craggy old folks.

Tomorrow we once again engage in air travel and leave the sun for colder and wetter places.

It is lovely to see the live oak trees, and the sun so big and the sky so blue. Come and vist.


Colin.

What was that printer, Taggart?

That nice one that can print CD's too?
CompUSA.com - Product Details: i950s Color Photo Printer

A Relaxing Weekend

Friday, 6 p.m.

Walked in the door to my room, pulled off my shoes and shirt, slipped under a thin blanket and slept.

Saturday, 14 hrs. later

I woke up at 8:30 or so, but didn't actually get out of the house till sometime around 2:30. We had a big, slow breakfast; we cleaned our room; did laundry; and put the kitchen back together. By the time adolfo iv had woken up from his nap, we were ready to head out.

Got a haircut, and headed to the children's museum. Adolfo iv headed straight for the bubble machine (as usual) and mommy and daddy eyed the snack bar. Eventually, we all ate an early dinner there: pb&j sandwich, one chicken ceasar salad, and a bag of cheetos.



We ended up at adolph's for a diaper change, but ended up taking the train downtown for coffee.



Sunday, another early rise, but late start

House hunting in the area just north of the north loop aroound ella, t.c. jester, 34th, and 43rd streets. We drove around a good while till adolfo iv started getting restless. We ended up taking him to CherryHurst Park just off of Fairview. He climbed, swung, ran, and played till he was worn out.



One last stop before we head home for a long nap: lunch.

Friday was my first rail commute.

It was pretty nice. The train stop is just over 500 paces from my office. The picture above is the scene at the Fannin St. Museum Station. When I arrived they had just dragged a car off the tracks. It was a car turning left in front of the train. I don't think it was a legal left since the train follows the lights, although in benefit-of-the-doubt land, I supposed you'd have to ask if the train ran the red.

Notes:
Dryden TMC stop has a Starbucks and a Chipotle and a Subway. I'm certain that they get mobbed during lunch, I can catch them on the way home. I need to find a dry cleaners on the route. I like my dry cleaners, the guy there knows me by name (most of the time), but it is over there on Almeda, not in my commute path at all.
 
In terms of the number of people using the train, I think that a lot of people are probably like me, you have an investment in your commute and it takes time to change it. You have to make sure it (a.) works and is reliable, (b.) doesn't take too much more time, (c.) has good stores and services on the route, and (d.) probably a lot of other stuff I am forgetting. If it has taken me an entire week to get out of my ruts and try the train, I'm certain a lot of other people are eye-balling it for the plunge.

Related:
Houston's Light Rail System

Nevermind the Brushed Metal...

...Here's Woodgrain!
Chaosmint :: Apple GarageBand 1.0 Screenshots

Colin Flynn Reportedly Seen Boarding Aircraft in Seattle, WA

His Mother says they are hoping that the Flynns will arrive later tonight ....

Is the weekend back on?

weird.

these, to me, are scary.

these images were made at Austin Found a sort of permanent garage sale on south Lamar.

so, i guess there is no gathering planned in san antonio, huh? poor diana has had her classes cancelled for the last four days. normally, snow days are pleasant breaks, but they have missed four days of an amazingly tight schedule, and they are going to have to be made up somewhere. i am afraid they will come out of one of her scheduled breaks, which may put a crimp in some of my plans.

damn ice.

Forced Perspective

Forced Perspective

A forced perspective primer

Recently, I have been thinking about forced perspective techniques. Anyone know anything?

You saw the films, now take the research survey!

The Lord of the Rings Research Project

Snow Daze in Portland? No More Party? Wuh?

OKAY FOLKS........NO MORE PARTY........FUCK!

Hey ya'll,

I am still here in Portland. We were supposed to leave yesterday. Cancelled. We were supposed to leave today. Cancelled. We are supposed to leave tomorrow. The news says that the airport is closed untill 5:00 am tomorrow. Our flight is supposed to leave at 6:38 am. So it may turn out that we do not come to Texas at all.

In all the years that I have lived up here in the Far reaches of the continent, it has only snowed twice. Both times it has been meerly for decorative purposes. Not functional snow. "Gone the next day" kinda snow.

We are currently blanketed.

At first it was the sort of rare blessing that you dream of. The Grey sky takes on a benevolent tone and the tiny crystalls descend in a wonderfull swirling flock. People you never even knew lived next door to you emerge from there television comas and step out into the world. I say this because, we often take walks around our neighborhood and we are the only people on the streets, ever, save for some disgrunteled dog walking units. But each and every house we walk past is illuminated by the blue glow of mass media. We are losing sight of reality as a society because of our own ability to let ourselves be entertained by the creative products of superficial greed. How much space in our collective minds can be filled with bullshit. Tangent.

The wonderful snow.

We walked for hours around in it. snow balls and a crunching sound underfoot. having all of the forgotten spots covered over to sleep for a bit. everything new and hopeful.

The next day the snows cousin showed up.

Freezing rain. At first it was interesing. Glass ball bearings falling by the thousands falling from the sky, and hitting me in the eye. so the "awe of change" wears off and all the happy people retire into the houses for hot choclate and jocking for position over the heater vents. All the while the ice falls in an innocent audible snaredrum roll.

There is a two inch thick shell that completely encases my car. It is actually really interesting to pull large pieces of this off the vehicle and attempt, jigsaw style, to reassemble a hollow replica of the car.


POINT BEING. We are unsure if we will make it to Texas at all. So I am writing long-wind-ed-ly to say that there shall be no wonder twin power meeting. No "FORM OF A FRIENDLY GATHERING!" No "SHAPE OF LAUGHING PEOPLE."

ALAS, to you my good friends, I cannot tell to you how much my want to bask in your pressence. And how much I will miss this lost chance.

OH well. Screw you all. I don't need friends............I've got my army of snow and ice to keep me company.

c.

Hollywolitics

EIB Extra: The Making of the Money Shot:

"In the first frame, Bradley is speaking - and you'll notice that he's standing on a platform, while Dean watches far in the background. When Bradley introduces Dean, they switch places. Dean steps up, and Bradley steps down."

It looks like this is shaping up to be a vicious campaign year. Rush Limbaugh is counting coup by pointing out the stagecraft that goes into these political speeches: looks like Peter Jackson gave them some tips on the forced perspective and stepping stool techniques he used in LOTR. I saw a link to this at http://whatdoiknow.org/, not that I am against reading Rush Limbough's website. . .

new pics

so i was at the local starbucks last night and there was a firetruck parked in the lot. it was all big and red and had these cool ground lights and stuff, so i took some pictures. slow shutter speeds, flash and chrome produce some interesting effects. if you wish you may view them here : fire truck.

who is going to be in san antonio when on saturday? i am thinking about going down friday night, mostly to visit with my sister.

The sabattical

1.7.04 - The last day of a seemingly long vacation (10:40 p.m.)

The grand total time away from my little family was three and a half days; i missed them terribly. The first few hours were nice, but once i got to todd's house and lay my small frame in between the sheets of the king sized guest-room bed, i was aching for their fragrant bodies next to mine.

It was after a nice salad dinner, a couple of beers, and some conversation that we ended up back at todd's house. We got high and played a few rounds of ghost recon. Maybe it was the drugs, but the game seemed much harder.

I had troubled sleep. Aside from my absent family I had an overactive dream; not the kind that leave you with details, but the kind that leaves you with a bad taste in your brain, as if you've just had a taco full of cow brains.

I made todd some creamy oatmeal and coffee (well, actually, todd brewed the coffee.). We ended up meeting taggart and liz at El Sol... before heading to san marcos where i would be left at Carl's place for the remainder of my stay in central texas.

The first day was mostly settling in. We pulled into carl's around 1. We met carl's roommate, david; todd and carl had a brief talk about working on a new website. todd left soon afterward and i settled into the studio, where i would be sleeping. I unpacked myself and looked outside: cloudy. Really cloudy. The kinda cloudy that would rain on you the second you settled yourself outside.

After i had copied over some Imacon tutorials that carl insist i watch before using the scanner, i pulled out my book and went for a walk around 'the grounds'. The light was flat, grey and uninspiring. I read and walked at the same time. I walked along his fence. I found a poorly lit shot, but figured that i had to shoot something. I pulled out my camera and shot -- slowly and deliberately.

I got maybe half a roll.

more to come...

GarageBand

Ottmar Liebert: Mixed feelings about Garageband:

Why would a child attempt to spend years learning a musical instrument when s/he could be making music with GarageBand instantly? It takes about 2-3 years of practicing to make music on any 'real" instrument.

For most intents and purposes, the musical instrument is a rich interface for music creation. The idea isn't that computers or new technology to supplant traditional instruments, a la those 1980's synthesizers worn like guitars; the idea is eliminate all the expensive stuff preventing you from simply accomplishing a creative task. True, a Mac and assorted ya-ya aren't free, and GarageBand doesn't compete with the high-end stuff, but it is relatively inexpensive and it looks like it will do a good job.
 
I'm wondering if Garageband will support the transfer of its working files, so that one person could do something, and then another person far away work on top of that, and so on and so on, to create new colaborative efforts that couldn't happen if you had to get everyone in the same room....

I love product detail pics

www.macitynet.it Expo Report
I think that there is a third kind of tech porn: the trade-show product detail photo. You can see the grain in the aluminum, the depth of field is very shallow...It is like you are getting nose close to the new iPod mini.
Other kinds of tech porn:

• New Purchase Unpacking Pics
• Desk/Computer Setup Shots

Doh!: I just bought some...

Apple quietly lowers the price of DVD-R media
5 Pack of 2x speed is $7.99, down from $14.99, I think...i'm going to make archives to my archive disks so that if I overuse the archives, I still have a backup...

New Years Resolutions

• Write more complete sentances. With fully spelled words.


• Vote More.


• ?

Ars Technica's Keynote Wrapup

Ars Technica: A Jade Keynote: Macworld San Francisco 2004 - Page 1 -
(1/2004):

"'We love music, we love it just like you guys do.' In that one sentence it seemed like everything [Apple CEO Steve Jobs] was doing was because he really believed technology was cool, that it could be used for things, and not just as end in itself, that he wanted to make something -- besides a buck. It was very cool."

Time For Speedpads/Mice/Etc

dealnews. Belkin Corporation: 50% off no min

Hey Paul: Weblogic on Mac OS X

O'Reilly Network: run WebLogic Server 8.1 on Mac OS X (Panther) [Jan. 06, 2004]

BRING ALL YOUR SHOES...AND YOUR GLASSES......ASS NECK...PISS CLAM.

to much of that which should have come before, not after.

I will post some directions....to my parents house......so you can get there.

Adolph's physical expressive vocabulary is very strong indeed

very strong indeed.

Video conferencing and video chat with Killy

This evening marks the first time I have ever video chatted with anyone. This isn't a new technology really, I followed CUseeMe software as it developed years ago, I think before PowerMacs were around. This evening, I finally talked to someone over the internet.

In some ways, even though it has been around for years, it is still a technology in its infancy. The camera is an add-on cludge to the computer, even though it does have an elegant clamp-on perch and a short, non-tangly cable into the firewire port. But compared to text messaging, video and audio messaging is still limited. For example, it doesn't record the conversation as with text, and if it did, it would take up vast amounts of space on my hard drive (relatively). More importantly, perhaps, is that I do not have a physiological vocabulary that adds value to the video conversation other than "hey I can sit here or I can walk around with the computer and talk to you at the same time." In the larger scheme of things, motion pictures themselves have only been around for a hundred years or so; with that in mind if doesn't seem strange that my physical expressive vocabulary is limited. Sure, people have been watching each other talk since before there were written words, but motion picture transmision is far different--it rewards a different set of movements and lighting, which reflects the its gamut of experience is more limited than that of live in person.

I wonder if my kids will live in a world where one's physical vocabulary will be as important in communications as one's verbal?

NEWS FLASH!!!!!

Kerri and Christopher Gholson are expecting their second child!

Call in Sick Adolph!

Tomorrow's office schedule has an all staff meeting at 10 AM, which is 9AM Pacific time, the exact time as the MacWorld Keynote! Yuck! "GarageBand" will be announced tomorrow.

Fascinating

Bizarre pictures from cheap digital camera!!: Canon Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Yes, we will come...

we will, yes. we will.

HEAR-YYYYYYEEEE!!!

You of the confusing word and never ending syllable. I shall bring forth MY fair maiden from this land of Gurt to thyne own parents kingdom. Their will be merry-making. I too wear the size of 9. or 9 and halfling.

I-O-KAINE POWDER, .........I'd bet my life on it.

ARE you out there RYAN????

Are you out there crying,
Are you out there lying,
are you out there buying,

hmmm.

Oh Yeah.

Is anyone down there a shoe size 9, that also happens to be in the need of footwear?

let me know.

FUC-A-POW

MUCH ADO ABOUT YOUR MOMMA!!!

Hi to the folks out there in bloggerland.

Once again the troop of mine will sweep like migrating geese, with much honking and flapping, onto the home of my parents in San Antonio. On the 11th day of this month I have informed my father that some of my friends might come by for some visiting and merry making.

If one such as yourself, that being the one in possesion of the eyes that are reading, would like to come and admire my offspring and clasp hands in much shaking and a bit of laughing and comparing of gut sizes and amount of hair and the like. Feel free to inquire of me directions to the house of my Parents. Paul of Mercado and the Duke and Duchess of Chavez have said in one form or another that they are to be expected. A of Dolph, you are welcome. Tag of Gurt are as well. Todd of the Red and hard working, I shall expect, if you are not working, to see you.

Blagh blagh blaghgity blagh. so forth and so on.

contact me directly for directions.

flynncolin@yahoo.com

2004

We spent the coming of the new year with friends