Long time coming

I know it's been a while since I posted. Things have been crazy and I don't know when they'll settle down again. New shows at work have kept us busy, busy, busy, 14 hour days are not uncommon right now, and this week has been 6 days at the office as well. I got hit and it totaled out my car last weekend, now I've got to find a "new" one, well, maybe just another one. So many other little fires going as well. I don't want to stop the Merry-Go-Round I just want to slow down a little for a couple of turns. Christmas is coming and so is my brother, this means moving on more furniture a little faster than I had wanted. From crisis comes opportunity they say so maybe this is just the kick in butt I've been waiting for to make changes and revitalize my life. I guess that's the best spin I'll get out of all this, and who knows if I say it enough maybe it'll be true.

At least I got out tonight and took some more photos!

Black Friday

It sounds like a disaster movie, and for most of us it may as well be one, I'll be keeping my head low, I hope all of you make it out as well.

Christmas???

I know it comes earlier every year but come on, I can still smell the candy and burnt pumpkin guts. I saw this today, November 7th and I say too early.

Halloween at last!

Well tomorrow is the day, Halloween itself! What will you be doing? Stalking around a graveyard? No did that tonight, maybe howling at the moon? That's someone else's gig I think. Gliding through the corridors of some Victorian manse? Not yet I think, the other 999 spooks can keep it creepy till I get there again. Chasing promiscuous teens through the woods in my best mask? No did that last year. I know let's go to a haunted house! Haunted Cave tomorrow night everybody! Here's a little taste of tonight's adventures in photographic form, enjoy.

Autumn

Fall is finally here, I guess. The leaves began to change sometime this past week or two and the temperature came down but it just didn't feel like fall for some reason. I don't know what happened but it started to yesterday, and now it feels like it'll be over and next year too soon. Crap! my clock seems all outta whack. Well make the most of it while you can I guess.

More of the night

I love the images you can get at night, since I had the shot from the Sunsphere earlier, I thought I'd go back and try some from the outside tonight. I think this is the best of them. I dig what's been done with the Worlds Fair Park in the past couple of years. I'm sure it would be cool to still have some of the original exhibits or at least buildings (alright there are still a couple) but with what was left I think they've done a decent job.

The 80's

It was this afternoon, while playing a little hooky from work at the Sunsphere, that I realized it doesn't matter if you are looking at pictures taken thru windows in the 80's or taking pictures thru windows from the 80's, they all look bad.

WOW!

I don't know if there are any other words for THIS but WOWOWOW!!!

This is what I did with my night.

Call it what you want, but I'm really getting into this whole digital photography thing. I went out Wednesday night with Chris and Maria and did some shooting. Here's a little taste of what we got.

They did it!

No smoking in restaurants in Tennessee any more!

I'm a what???

Well it looks like I ran afoul of the law this past weekend. We went out for a late drive heading north and it ended up taking us all the way to Middlesborough, Kentucky with a sliver of Virginia thrown in for good measure. In doing this we passed through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. Heading into the tunnel we saw someone being pulled over coming out and I made some joke about it. On our return trip through the tunnel a friend riding with me extended his hand from the vehicle to take a picture. Upon exiting the tunnel I noticed a law enforcement vehicle sitting in the median and remarked they seem to be out thick tonight. That's when the lights came on and we pulled off the road. The officer approached and I rolled down the passenger window to speak with him. He asked if we had been brandishing a weapon in the tunnel as "they", I can allow assume "they" were watching cameras, had noticed a red light and a "device" being held out the window. We explained it was only a camera and showed him the picture that was taken. He took our ID's, my car registration and proof of insurance back to his car to check us out. When he returned them he explained we shouldn't be taking pictures because of the current threat of the big T ( I don't want to type the whole word you never know who's watching!). I have no idea what to make of this, and don't want to make too much out of it on the web lest the Men In Black come and spirit me away. All I can take away from all this is that America is incredibly paranoid, you can say what you want about protecting this and that but taking pictures as you drive? Come on, if we had stopped and taken pictures of specific things, I don't know something more than going 45 mph and photographing the road directly ahead, in a small town, hmmm, I just don't know. No pictures to post, if I did then they would be coming after me.

More Dragon Con

I just added a few more pictures to the Dragon Con set. Again sorry for the somewhat poor quality, I'm really kicking myself on this one.

Roll the dice

Sounds like I've been gambling. Nope just gaming (just a little) at Dragon Con this past Labor Day weekend. This is the second year for me at Dragon Con and for all the frustrations there were, long lines, moved panels, cancelling celebs, smelly fanboys, I still think of it as money and time well spent. I saw friends I don't usually get to (Bob, Dave, Andrew, "Onion") make new ones (Will, Harry, Kent, Sarah, and so many others), and of course hang with the usual suspects (Jim, Anna, Allison, Jon, Chris and Maria). I saw celebs (Kari and Eric were looking good) and missed others (Claudia and Vanessa), went to panels on one of my fan faves "The Venture Brothers" where Doc Hammer (one of the creators) talked about the past episodes and discussed some of the upcoming subjects (yes there will be a third season, and we do meet Dr. Orpheus' wife he says) and in the second panel he did a live commentary on one of the episodes and then answered even more questions. Probably the biggest disappointment was that the flash on my camera wasn't working and this in turned caused most of my photos to be just out of focus.

That was last weekend and this one is the TVA&I Fair. I know some people don't like it but I love the people watching aspect. I also find an odd window in to part of American culture that I don't usually see, the agricultural and animal husbandry that are so removed even in this so-called "back water" part of the country. I think it's cool that people still compete in the food contests, the 4H events, the knitting and sewing, it's not my thing but that's what interests me about it. Here's an example, how do you judge hay bailing? Think about it seriously for a minute, what are the properties, or aspects, or whatever you look for when you judge hay in squares? Somehow I think I like not knowing and keeping it a riddle to ponder. Maybe I'm a rube or a simpleton but I do really enjoy going. Check out the first batch of pictures, and yes it's just the first batch, I'm going at least two more times. Next time I'll get to the food that only lives at the Fair.

Over heard at Dragon Con...

Two young ladies dressed as Mario and Luigi, Luigi"Can I kiss you?" Mario "No, Batman might walk by."

BUSY???

Busy, am I? It's been said by me several times in this blog that I'm busy, and I'd love to blame it on LIFE! But I can't, ooo, paying bills, cleaning, cooking, yard work, day job, stress , yeah? MY ASS! Seems lots of other folks have time to do lots of extracurricular activities, I think I've just fallen into a pattern of sloth and laziness. It's easier to use the excuse of being busy than to expend the energy to get off my ass and do it. I've realized this since (of course) seeing someone else doing it. I love the nearsightedness of human nature. Slack on my part does not constitute a problem, only when you're doing it, damn it all! Time slough off this husk of self pity or whatever and get moving ... my favorite TV show is coming on!

Actually I'm beginning to get ready for Dragon*Con this year, and who knows maybe even ReMix Hotel later next month. Travel plans are always enjoyable for me, maybe I have a little OCD in me but that structure, knowing what's coming and the minutia of packing satisfies something in me. Not that I'm great at it, I just like doing it. This Dragon*Con is my second and the first time I'll be there for all 4 days. Lots of panels I want to see, the space elevator, NASA, the apocalypse talks, all the folks in costume (one of THE draws!) seeing friends, and hope making some new ones. Enough for now more later.

Late again, as usual.

I've been neglectful again with my posting. Things have been busy though, lots to do at work and home. If you looked at the retro-moderns you might have seen a couple of pictures from the wedding of a good friend, and ex-roommate Downtown Brown, which was the focus this last weekend. A really good and a cool wedding. Also started a new hobby, making chainmaille, yes like the armor from yester-year and days (or knights if you will) of old. Who knows maybe this'll come in handy some day.

More on the end of things.

If you read the last post you can probably guess that I love those post apocalyptic and disaster type of movies, books, comics, whatever, but I have to say that Cormac McCarthy has written one that stands out in a very crowded genre, "The Road". It is literature, it is eloquent in its stark portrayal of the end, in a world stripped bare and burnt, the characters even lack names. How did the end come about? We as the readers aren't given that info in its complete state, I don't know if the characters know for certain what's transpired. It doesn't matter, the story is the father, his son and their struggle to survive. It won a Pulitzer Prize this year, read it if you dare. This story doesn't pull any punches and I have to be honest that made me love it, but other people I know have said it made them feel sad for days. Just like that first time I saw "The Day After" it served as a stark reminder that those apocalypse scenarios are not the rollicking shoot'em up and it'll be ok later we've seen in some movies. Not that I don't love those as well, but sometimes its good to reminded of the reality and consequences of the actions that we as a species commit have on the world around us.

Whew! Literature and social consciousness in one post, way too heavy. I can't wait to head to DragonCon and lighten up some.

Mmm, mmm zombies!

The end is coming! Whether by flood, fire, nuke, microscopic bug, alien invasion, or zombie the a-pocky-calypse is on the way! Are you prepared to fight off cannibal corpses? war lords run rampant? over zealous shoppers looking for toilet paper and milk before the nuke-u-lur winter sets in? Popular Mechanics magazine has a cover story on surviving disasters, and even Dragon Con has a track with panel talks, guests and who knows what else about the end times. We've all seen it countless times in movies, on TV and in books, things can't last forever, and they never end good. I just finished Richard Matheson's story "I am Legend" about the last living man on earth , and he wasn't alone. What a cool story, the Charlton Heston movie "Omega Man" didn't do it justice (I still liked the movie). Vincent Price did a version as well, and later this year Will Smith will put his spin on Robert Neville, last living man on earth. Another in the line of Romero remakes, "Day of the Dead" will come out sometime in the not too distant future starring Ving Rhames, looks like he might be just the guy to know when it comes to making the dead deader still. Not too long ago the History channel had a special that featured multiple ways for the old home planet to cease and desist that ranged from asteriods, to killer germs, to of all things some type of particle accelerator. Any way you cut it man we're DOOMED!

So stock up on ammo and MRE's and I'll see you at the rally point!

Anime lately

I've been watching a lot of anime lately, and I'm always amazed that even thru the filter of another culture the work seems so superior to what I see in american animation. Not all of it is good by any stretch of the imagination, nor is all american animation bad, but in general the japanese stuff sports good story lines, detailed writing that carries an arc for one or more seasons. You can't really judge on what you see on tv here because those are what the american distributors think the viewing public can understand.

Ugh, I didn't start this post to be a rant but praise for a couple of recent shows I have finished, one being "Black Lagoon", a story of a group of mercenary/pirate types, its the interpersonal story that played out I wasn't expecting. It was also just a good ol' bloody shoot'em up some times. It has gangsters of all types, thieves, hustlers, and arms dealing nuns just for good measure.

The other was a story about a junior high kid feeling like he's stuck in a rut, until he "saves" this oddball little dog, and meets the dogs owner a local musician. His life gets better and he does join the band but that's all I want to give away. I really enjoyed this one despite myself, and in the end it made want to listen to music the rest of the weekend.

I have a couple more to watch "Darker than Black", "Mushishi", "Death Note" and a couple of others but the list is of course always growing. On the american side I watched the new "Hellboy: Iron and Blood" and it definitely rocked. I really hope they continue with this series of films, both animated and live action.

Historical Facts

I'm a day late on this but the spirit of the season is still upon me. Here is a link to the fate of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The rockets red glare

Those words took on a new meaning this evening. On the way home from a cookout with friends my ride began to feel like a night flight over Baghdad in the early days of desert storm. It started on Cedar Lane headed toward Merchants Road when quite literally I was the target of a barrage of some type of fireworks rockets. I couldn't tell if it was a couple of kids shooting bottle rockets at the same time or one of those little boxes that shoots multiple rockets, but when one of them hit the front fender just in front of the driver's side door, I let out quite a few expletives that I'll leave out of the post here, and it didn't end there, a second barrage went off near the railroad tracks on Merchants (right next to the Weigels) I think it came from the driveway to my immediate rear. To finish it off a really big rocket came screaming across the South Knoxville connector in front of myself and several other cars.

I guess I remember doing stupid things when I was a teenager, and in recent years fireworks seem so much more prevalent, meaning more people who have no business shooting them are, as well as letting their kids (read way to young to have explosives of any type) play with them. This year seems especially perilous with the extra dry weather we've had, thank goodness I'm not a fireman. Well that little slice of "drama" is over, and I guess it made the ride home interesting at least.

Happenings

The car, running again, $328.01 later.
Bought Mom a Baker's Edge brownie pan for her birthday (only bakes edge brownies).
Helping at least one friend move this weekend, maybe two.
and....
...uuhhhh....
...wow, that;s about it, life seems pretty simple right now.

Photo fun

Just got around to going through some of the miscellaneous photos from my life and posting them to my Flickr account in a new set. I'm trying to get better about using the tools I have in some meaningful way (meaningful to me). Keep checking back on that set it promises to grow quite a bit.

Mom's birthday is this coming Friday and I have no idea what to get her, or for that matter her exact age (although I'm sure it would mean my head if I put that on the web). Maybe just a really good cake and nice dinner, who knows.

Made final plans for my trip to Dragon Con this year. Got the time off, made my lodging and travel arrangements, can't wait to go and see the other geeks.

On a darker note my car decided yesterday that it needed a new distributor. It did this by failing to start, but I was able to convince it of the error of its ways with a couple of sturdy whacks to the said distributor. I guess that's getting replaced tomorrow, along with the plugs and the wires.

A quiet weekend

It was a wonderfully quiet weekend, lunch and a movie with friends (28 Weeks Later) on Saturday. Sunday, nobody called, nobody emailed and I don't give a shit! It was quiet I tell you, quiet! Did the grocery shopping, the laundry, watched the TV, went for a drive. Now I'm sure I could have done more, called people, finished jobs, but I'm tired of all that, things will just have to come to me on their own, I'm done chasing for a while. Not that I have a bad attitude, it just feels like I have been trying to hard to have things go right, maybe it's forcing things to go wrong. For the moment I work on what I want, finish the jobs I want, all on their own schedule. I know I sound pissed but really I'm not, just in that state of flux we all find ourselves in from time to time, as the man said "Nothing endures but change." (Heraclitus said that by the way.)

Where I've been

Over the past week the entire Knoxville contingent of the company has moved to new offices on the third floor of the building. This not only entails moving the furniture but we got an entire new machine room, and with the integration of this has of course brought it's trials and tribulations as well as long days, some of them 12 hours or more. I'm worn out, and tonight we played about and hour and a quarters worth of racquetball. I hope to one day have my peice of mind and my free time back. No photos of the office, but some new ones from a trip to Texas I took a couple of years ago, up on the Flickr page.

A schedule?

How in the hell do people do this with regularity? During a full week I have a hard enough time with just the day job and trivialities of everyday life let alone thinking of posting all the time. Still sometimes, just sometimes, I have to admit it helps to sort things out to sit and mull over the happenings of the day. We moved our office for the second time in about 6 months this week. First we moved to the building the company bought downtown, and now we are moving to the newly renovated third floor. I'm trying to see this as a reboot of the job, a fresh start of sorts, but all the little details keep getting in the way. I'll keep trying to see past them and look for the elusive silver lining I'm told this storm has, I sure hope it has one.

I'm just an odd bird...

I say this because I had a weekend pass to AdventureCon, (a science fiction and Autograph convention that happens here in Knoxville each summer) and I am a big SciFi/Horror/Genre...ummm.. whatever "geek" or "nerd" name is being applied to the social group I belong to is in vogue right now, but I found myself bored. I got in for free, and they had a lot of things I'm interested in, but I was BORED, BORED, BORED. That's not saying I didn't have some fun and I did buy a limited edition "Hellboy in front of the Sunshere" print, I just couldn't get into it, I think I somehow felt...OMFG... old wow did I just say that? That's the only way I can describe it, I felt disconnected, or maybe without a purpose would be a better way to put it. Maybe the lack of enthusiasm just sort of fed on itself, and it just seemed to carry over to what I was doing outside the convention.

On a brighter note I saw "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" tonight and it was really good, a bit slow sometimes, and definitely darker, but all in all really good. Now I just need to see "28 Weeks Later" and "Spiderman 3" to complete my summer sequel viewing I think.

My Saturday

Today saw a lot of things getting done. I got my cable TV connection worked on, did some laundry, put in some time on a project for my day job, and moved toward the finishing of filming on a documentary that started this time last year. The last item took me back to AdventureCon this year. There I saw a lot of costuming I did not in years past. The Klingon Elvis might just take the cake. Regrettably I didn't take a lot of photos, but I hope to get more tomorrow. It's late and going to crash, so I hope this one will hold you over til tomorrow.

A what?

I went to my flickr account earlier and the pic you see is what I got, I didn't know web sites could do things like this, or is it that the staff is out getting a massage? Boy, I wish this didn 't say as much about my day as it does...

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2: Dave and Paula's House

Today Dave and Paula hosted a cookout at their place, and it was a smash! There was an ebb and flow of guests all day long, but the fun never left. 21 pounds of chicken, who knows how many hotdogs, 30 pounds of ribs, hamburgers, pies, salads and dips of all kinds, plenty of food and good company to go around, hell there was even badminton played.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1: Hickstock, don't eat the brown what?

Hickstock, My boss's Memorial Day Party/Wedding Anniversary happened yesterday. I helped out by arranging to have a band, and providing the base for the sound system. It was a little on the slow side for me during the pre-show hours as I don't do a lot of the water activities (skiing, tubing, kayaking, etc.) but then Philip and Jennifer showed up, with Princess Eliot of course (quite the cutey and almost walking). Played some Bocce Ball with Brian , and lost but had a fun doing it. Dinner was fantastic, Famous Dave's catered the whole thing. The band, The Naughty Knots (at least Trisha, and Sarah with Jeff Barbara filling in) went on about 7 and played a couple of sets including some picking in the round with some of the guests who just "happened" to have a stand up bass, banjo, mandolin, and guitars. The whole show was great, and we even got a really good fireworks show thanks to Gary. I ended up having a really good time.

More

That's what I need to do, more, more of everything especially updating my blog. Still haven't completely gotten my stuff out of Randall's place, and I'm still getting used to the new place. I need to settle into a routine of doing things, and with all that's going on it's been hard. I know excuse have no effective range (old military saying) but that's the way it seems. I don't want to "settle down" but I do want to take a couple of "minutes" to settle. Well we'll see what comes this weekend.

Home Sweet Home

I'm finally settling in to the new place, although it still feels odd at times. MOst of the time that's because I used to have a roommate. Even if we weren't running into each other all the time, at some point there was another soul in the house. Here it just seems to quite sometimes, if that's possible. With all that being said I love being a homeowner (at least at this moment). I got my desktop computer up and running, the kitchen is in good shape, the office, livingroom and bath are all on their way, so life is good.

The camping has happened

The big camping trip I went on this past weekend was wonderful. It had all the things a camping trip should, bumps in the night, burned marshmallows, flame licked hotdogs, warm sleeping bags, bugs, and lots of fun. There were plenty of us, Connor, Dave, and Paula, Jon and Allison, Jim and Anna, Andrew, and myself. We also had day time visitors, Philip, Jennifer, and little Eliot, as well as Chris. Of course I left my camera behind so I have no photos.

After we broke camp on Sunday morning (breakfast was "Eggs in a Basket" from Anna and lots bacon from me and the Paula) Jon, Allison and myself went to Cades Cove and drove the loop. We stopped to the cable mill, barn, and home near the gift store at the center point (or there about) of the loop. We saw deer but no bears on this little side trip, maybe next time.

Everyone should visit a national park from time to time. There are so many things I could say about why but everyone comes to some reason on their own, so go forth people and camp, camp, camp!

Candidates

Why is it that a "good" candidate for government and especially for President is one that has a lot of money? I realize that advertising costs money, but that in itself to me is a problem, why do they need advertising? They need to have spin this early? I don't want to rant too long but there's something that just seems fishy with all this money required to become President. I know this is no real revelation to any thinking person, I just keep hearing about fund raising and how that is the focus (not issues or qualifications) and measuring stick for the candidates right now.

I could go on forever without ever saying anything meaningful, much like the people asking us to make them our leaders. I'll stop here as this post was a spur of the moment, first thing in the morning act and was not well thought out.

On a different note my Mom is out of the hospital and back at home recuperating.

My Mom

Well today I got a call from my Dad who told me my Mom was going into surgery for a heart stint. P&M didn't want to upset or alarm myself or my siblings, but I have to say getting that news minutes before the event was the alarming part. I think I'll let them know (in a nice way) when this is over.

Long time comin'

Ah, cutesy titles, where would I be without them I wonder? I feel like every time I start one of these I need a snappy, catchy, oh so hip thing to say. I'm a sad victim of news headlines and my own ego. I'd love to go a rampage about "hipper-than-thou" people who blog, and otherwise "write" in cyberspace, but I'm as guilty of possessing no skills to speak of in this area as the next Internet hack. I guess that could be the hook if you will, that we're more genuine than a trained or skilled individual. I would have to say that I just don't feel as bad when I see other people making the same mistakes I make.

My birthday came on the 7th and I completed another trip around the sun (thanks for the phrase Big Al). It's been a good one all told, and the impromptu party that friends had for me that night seemed to highlight the good parts of the last year. It made me think a lot about friends that I haven't seen in a while and a couple who aren't with us any more. I wish I could say that I made some changes in the face of this, but I make any resolutions ( again thanks Al), things are on a good track and get better little by little all the time. I think I'll ride this out for a while longer and see where it takes me.

Where I am is not moved into the new house yet. Every time something comes up. I think I'll be there by the end of the week though.

Herculean task?

I know that cleaning out the new house is not the cleaning of the Augean stables but it seems to be taking forever. Each time I open a cabinet, drawer, or closet there is more detritus from the previous owners life. Porcelain cats, frozen meals, four plungers, and so much more hidden in places all over the house. Enough of this bitterness, things are nearing the completion and all is good.

It's done.

Well, like I said it's done. I closed on my house this past Friday. The clean up began on Saturday with the removal of the carpet. It'll continue all thru this week, and I hope to move in this coming weekend.

Even more graffiti.

I traveled to the big ATL this past weekend with friends and took advantage of this to get some great graffiti pics from Hotlanta. That was Saturday (great trip), and on Sunday I spent the day in the Great Smoky Mountains NP checking out campsites for an upcoming trip. I'm going to recommend Cades Cove, I like the Canteen better, there are bike trips for those who cycle, water for any kids (includes me), and historic hikes for the walkers in the group. I've posted the graffiti pictures and hope to have a couple from the park later.

Of houses and graffiti

I got word today that everything was pretty much set to close on the house this coming week. Maybe I'm putting the jinx on things by saying this, but it feels good to be getting this close to the finish line.

Went on another graffiti trek this morning in downtown proper this time. I really do love some of this stuff. Some of the pieces near market square just stand out as not your typical graffiti. Here's a sample and you can find more on the flickr page. I have to find a way to incorporate graffiti into the new house.

I find it sad that most people think of graffiti, or should it be graffiti style art to be vandalism and undesirable. In other cities it's put on display, Los Angeles has graffiti murals on the walls of the highway as you pass through downtown, and it's gorgeous. To be certain there is some that is simple a fool writing his or her name, or an obscene comment, but as in these pictures there is art to be seen as well.

Just my opinion and that's what my blog is all about, me.

My Dad

My Dad turned 67 this Monday, and we had a little dinner for him tonight. All my aunts and uncles turned out and we had a grand ol' time. Here's a photo from the evening, and if you check the flickr page there's one of my uncle John there, I think he might want to check the seam in those pants.

No news is...good news?

I guess it is, I know the process of buying a house can take a while and in reality after some of the fees and payments the wait is a monetary relief.

Camping, something I haven't done in quite a few years, and I'm looking forward to doing again soon with a few good friends. We're looking at the open campgrounds in the Smoky Mountains NP. I have a lot of fond memories from my childhood of summer and fall camping trips to Cades Cove with family and friends, cooking marshmelllows over the fire, swimming in the river, sleeping outside, long days of relaxing.

Still waitin'

It's just a waiting game now I guess. I've been pre-approved for the mortgage, made an offer, got counter offered, accepted that and filled out all the paperwork for the real mortgage along with every last detail of my financial life (how embarrassing) . Nothing left to do but wait.

House Hunt follow up

I made an offer on the house I have been looking at for the past couple of days. Nothing outrageous, but simple and clean. A small yard (less work) and just enough room inside.

The house hunt

The hunt continues for shelter, one of my basic needs. It might end tomorrow, I think Rob (my realtor) may have found just the place for me, I'll know soon.

Long time no see

I was told that I wasn't holding up my end of the bargin. If you have a blog, it seems, people expect a little something now and again. I wish I had a little more substance to exhibit right now but I'm fresh out. Watched "kiaju" movies with a friend on Friday night and had dinner and talk with more friends on Saturday night (Thanks P and D for hosting!). Today it was breakfast with the parents and I went to see "Pan's Labyrinth" this afternoon. I also scanned some of my childhood in so I could put it on the interweb.

A tshirt to die for...

... or eat brains while wearing. Too bad I think they got shut down by Slubway, uh...umm, I mean Subway Mr. Jared sir.

Headlines

I love it when in an effort to shorten a headline it takes on a new meaning, such as the one here. If you couldn't see it was from Istanbul it would have a much more comical meaning.

Breakfast and graffiti

I had breakfast with a friend this morning and then went to check out some of the graffiti in the Old City. I love the stencil type, not that the huge murals aren't amazing pieces of art, but somehow I identify with the stencils more. Maybe it's just that stencils might be within my limited artistic grasp. Here are a few of the stand outs from this very limited excursion, I hope to find more soon. The rest of this mornings catch are on my flickr page, just click on the badge to the right.

A little more LA

I went thru the pictures from LA and uploaded a couiple more, I'll try to keep placing any interesting ones I find as I go through them more.

...and one more thing...

I also find the fact that my roommate has a catalog of beekeeping supplies disturbing. I guess I'll have to start my collection of dental tools and latex gloves up again.

In someone else's house.

I just finished house sitting for friends who were traveling, and I had forgotten how odd it can feel to be in someone else's house. I travel a fair bit and I'm comfortable staying in hotels, so when my friends asked I thought "Cool a mini vacation!".

No such luck.

It was fine and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but it is unsettling in some very odd ways. I don't want to seem crazy but the sounds a house makes at night, from the HVAC unit to pets are all sounds you should know, but sound so alien in a house that's not yours. I traveled a good for work in the past few years so I have a lot of experience sleeping in places, mainly hotels. I always find myself pretty comfortable in hotels. In a hotel it's just the crazy guests down the hall who got drunk and are banging on your door, or the ice machine in the hall, I can't explain why but these things I find easy to dismiss, but not that loud bang I just heard from upstairs it could be anything! (I'm not actually there right now) Was it the cat knocking something off the counter in the kitchen? or was it someone forcing the back door open? Or was it just the air kicking on?

I find it odd where we develop our comfort zones, in crowds, all alone, at home or on the road with no reasonable rhyme or reason. (and home owning friends whose names I won't mention I had a great time)

Wow that was a ramble.

Missing you...

Yesterday people were stocking up on the snow day essentials, milk, bread, and toilet paper. Alas all their buying was for naught as no real snow came. I guess that means a lot of milk drinking toast, and ... well you know what in some homes tonight.

I'm house sitting for friends this weekend, and boy are they missed. Both the cat and the dog are looking for them. Nothing too serious though. We've been having a good time tonight, so sleep well if you're reading this post, Easton says hello.

A quiet weekend...

...is what I tried to have. I visited my dad in the hospital and he's doing better, visited with friends (and ate at the Pizza Palace), and did laundry. Nothing exciting, nothing strenuous. I have added some more pics from my trip to Cali', the beginning of the hydraulic leak at NAMM, and some from Disney.

Back on the grid.

I've missed a couple of days recently due to a couple of unforseen things and I'll try to tell those stories in the correct order.

On Sunday night after the NAMM show we were waiting for our packing boxes to be returned from storage when we heard an evacuation alarm. We thought at first it was a false alarm like the Hilton had the night before, but it turned out to be a broken hydraulic in the ceiling just outside the door for Hall E in the convention center. I hope to have a couple of shots of this later from a video we shot. Needless to say this slowed down things a good bit and we didn't get our boxes back until about 1 AM. After we got the boxes back we realized that another member of the crew (actually the company president) had the combination to one and he was already asleep. We pack what we could and hit the hay so we could get back early in the morning. Monday we finished our packing and headed out.

The next two days were hectic with moving to L.A. digs and studio visits (like the Mutato I mentioned in a previous post). I flew out Wednesday leaving Mitch to visit the likes of the WB studios to watch motion pictures being made and Trent "NIN" Reznor for an album sneak peek. When I got to Knoxville my bags were AWOL. I got them the next day along with the news that my father had just experienced a cardiac arrhythmia and possibly a heart attack. He has since gone under the knife for the implanting of an in heart device to regulate the heart beat in case of another arrhythmia and if need be shock it back into the correct rhythm.

Well this has been a log and dark post so we go with a lighthearted picture to finish up. We saw this place in Inglewood, who knows maybe Jules and Vincent had a tasty burger here once.

Some of us didn't make it back...

It's the wee hours of Thursday morning and I'm home, but my luggage didn't fare so well. If I'm lucky it'll show up tomorrow, maybe it's gone to the Roosevelt for a nights vacation.

Nothing says Mutato like a pug.

Day 4 at NAMM has come and gone as well as a day spent at Disney and in LA. There's a long story behind that and I'll go into it tomorrow or the next day when I'm back in Knoxville.

Just a quick note, I went to visit John Enroth and Albert Fox at Mutato Muzik (the studio owned by the members of DEVO) today. If you visit their website you'll see the pug, I have my own photo from the visit.

Ahhh NAMM day 3

Day 3 here in Anaheim is in the books. Saturday is usually the busiest and today was no exception. Good day and a good evening. We went out to eat (Anita's again) and went sight seeing. The laughs were good and plentiful. You need to check out the Flickr page for the days goodies and I did enjoy getting some of them, thanks Cassia!

Day two NAMM. part two

Well now the day is done, and even though I didn't see that much of the show, I did see a lot. If you follow the flickr badge on the right side of the page you can see a few more photos and I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow, it'll probably be the busiest day of the show.

After the show tonight we had a really good meal in of all places Downtown Disney. We went to Catal, and had wonderful tuna tar-tar, cheese assortments, prime rib, braised rabbits, scallops, compressed salads, deserts and sangria. We shopped the Lego store, bought kettle corn and more. You get the idea I think. Well off to dreamland so we can start again in the morning.

Day two NAMM

Well this is the beginning of the day for a change. Yesterday was long, but I saw a lot of old friends on the show floor. Never realized before how long I've been on the user side of things in this business, and more than that how different what I do as a post for television engineer is from that of a music engineer. Audibility is one of my major concerns, less that of fidelity many times. Not that I don't care but with the material given sometimes it can't happen. My job is often more salvage as opposed to creation. I have what has come in from the field and that needs to work with any music, effects, and narration that are added during the editorial process. Car noise, city sounds, and everything else in life that we don't think about makes noise and when you "flatten" that out by recording it voice often gets lost and voice is king in the reality TV world. There aren't any over dubs or voice replacement in reality TV either. That being said I still like going to the shows and talking the talk. All the new speakers, like those Focal speakers (pronounced "faux" Cal from what I understandd) we are using in the booth and all the new soft synths, compressor and eq flavors coming from every directions it's like being a kid in a candy store. And those are just the beginning there are also instruments and celebrities.

Last night we went to an eatery called Anita's, WOW! It's a southwestern place and I forget year to year that it's as good as it is, Santa Fe enchiladas with a fried egg on top and pork adovada inside, mmmm.

NAMM day one...

We moved to a swank new hotel this morning right across from Disney. Well nothing tremendous on the first day of the show, but I spent most of it in the booth. The AudioCube and Loop Master guys are right next door and that can be amusing at times.

We're back...

After almost two days without internet I've finally gotten back on the inter-web! The booth is set up and the show starts tomorrow. I haven't seen anything too aweful cool yet but the trip is still young. Here is my favorite so far.

We leave at first light

Actually before first light, gotta be at the airport by 5am tomorrow. If all goes well old man winter will let me pass and I'll be in L.A. by 12:50 EST. Last of the packing is done and I'm hittin' the hay, more later, from the left coast.

What a Saturday

I didn't do anything I was supposed to do today. Instead I spent the day with EMS crews and Explorers from Morristown and Hamblin County. I was recording their extrication classes and I hope to be able to pull some sound effects out it all.

I guess it's laundry and editing tomorrow.

West of the Fields

A night of chinese food and margaritas, the pleasures of Elysium are such. Good friends, good conversation, good times. Where were the rest of you?

It had to start somewhere...

Everybody else is doing it, so I thought I'd jump off the bridge as well. I will do my best to keep this filled with interesting subject material and as few misspellings as possible. I guess I should put something in this that says a little bit about who I am in life outside the internet. In my day job I do sound design and mixing for television, and in my spare time I'm all over the place. I've done live sound for bands, worked in the theater, helped in the making of indepenant and student films, done lots of field recording for a sound effects library I'm trying to build, and wasted a lot of time.

This coming week I'll be in L.A. for a tradeshow for the music and audio business called NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants). That being said, there will be dealers from around the world, as well as celebs at the show. I'm going to be assissting a company called Sound Toys (http://www.soundtoys.com) who make plugins for Pro Tools. Pro Tools is an audio application used to record and mix audio. Most likely your favorite album, tv show and movie of this last year all went thru Pro Tools at some point. Plugins are the effects for audio, and that song, TV show or movie might have even had Sound Toys used on it.

The packing has begun and I fly on Tuesday for L.A. so more to come once I hit Hollywood.