Just Another Blogger

Well, post election, I have to say that blogging is not nearly as fun. Now I am just another douche bag that has absolutely nothing to say but chooses to write about it anyway. I need a topic, or a theme... I will think on this. But now it seems forced... the internal struggle continues.

Anyway, Carpoolers is fun to make, and I think we will try a few more episodes. Future episodes will be shorter (I will try to keep them in the 3 minute range), as that is what seems acceptable for the internet. Nobody wants to see a married couple chatting about their day for 10 minutes. That's why we moved out of our parents house, right...

I have some other video and graphics ideas in my head that I should really pursue. I really enjoy editing, as well as creating graphics and animations in Photoshop, AfterEffects, etc. I also mess around with Flash quite a bit, and do a lot of interactive stuff with it at work. I need to brush up on my ActionScript though, because if I knew it better I could do so much more. Anyway, I have some animation courses coming up later this winter and early spring that should be fun, and hopefully inspiring. I really enjoy design; I just hope it is a recession proof occupation.

I am looking forward to the holidays! Erin and I leave for MN 2 weeks from today...

Carpoolers Episode 1

Well, we did it. Carpoolers lives. It is a bit long but we will refine future episodes. This was a lot of fun to make!

If you follow the link to Youtube, you can watch it in higher quality.

Giving Thanks

What a great weekend. Not much to report, but it was great to relax and spend time with family and eat until I wanted to puke. Definitely have to hit the gym tomorrow. Back to the routine.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend (great for blogging right?) but it seemed really long, which is nice since these things typically go by too fast. My sister and nephew were in town for the holiday which was great, because they haven't been out east in 2 years.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. My step-mom, Nancy, is a fantastic cook and there was an unbelievable spread to feast upon. The stuffing was especially delicious and was the first dish to disappear. She really knows how to do Thanksgiving right! The table was beautifully set and the house was decorated tastefully in traditional fall garb. It definitely made it feel like fall had come, and winter was soon to follow. The day was mild but crisp... it was just a quintessential movie-like Thanksgiving day.



We had my Christina (sister), Connor (nephew), and Sean (little bro) over to our house on Wednesday night. The boys are a handful together and they probably felt a little trapped in our small house, but we made due and did some puzzles and watched The Incredibles, which was actually a cool movie. Sean made us a breakfast of pancakes (he's only 6) which were delicious, and then he helped me make an apple pie. He thought it was funny to eat the skins!



The one event that actually got us out of a house was Saturday. My Dad and Nancy treated the family to dinner and a show. We saw White Christmas at the Marquis Theater and it was quite a treat. I have never seen the movie, but I was told the live show is similar. The music was fun, and I am a sucker for the old time Christmas feel. All the men wore suits and said things like "golly" and "its a million dollar proposition!" Funny.

We spent today (Sunday) hanging out at the house, winding down. Erin has come down with a wicked cold and she was glad to have today to work through it. I had a little school work to do and pulled out the Christmas decor. Now, I am glad to sit down with one of my home brews and watch the Vikings winning (for now) at the dome.

Hope all of your holidays were happy and healthy. A few more pics on Flickr.

Financial Times Ahead

As I read in the paper about the bailout of yet another major financial institution, I start (progress) to get worried. The bailout of Citi is a signal, not that the other major bailouts were not. It makes me worried because I am not clear of the scope of this crisis. I do not know how deep the rabbit hole goes, and I do not know the consequences. But it is clear the government does. I am worried because I trust that the government would not bail out these institutions unless it was absolutely necessary.

Even Obama says it is going to get worse, and he is the ultimate political optimist. But I guess it is back to reality now that the election is over. It is my understanding, from the papers, that Obama and Bush are working on financial solutions together at this point, telling me that these bailouts and extreme government interventions are agreed upon by both parties. Scary.

The government keeps buying up the economy, and owning our futures. Is this the end of capitalism in America, or is that too dramatic? What do all of these extreme government interventions mean for the financial system? Will they help? Do you think the government will give back their stake once these institutions gain the appropriate liquidity, or is this for the long term?

I would like to know what you all think. I know my readers are a small group, but I respect your opinions. Where are we headed financially, and are these bailouts good or bad? Are we headed in the right direction financially?

I am worried...

School Help

Hey everybody! I am taking a course right now on research and design solutions and for the current assignment I need to create and distribute a survey about vacuum cleaners. If you have a couple of minutes, please fill it out. It is completely anonymous, and will help me get the data I need for this assignment.

If you wouldn’t mind passing it along to a few others as well, it would definitely help. The more results I get, the better I can analyze the data.

Thanks in advance for your help! The link is below:

Vacuum Cleaner Survey

About Beer

Larger image if you click the pic - and yes, I know how self aggrandizing my new background is. I like it anyway. I like me!

An open letter to old guys at the gym

Dear Old Men,

It is time for a change.  I would like to be able to come to the locker room without seeing one of you nude, sauntering around like a sharp dressed man.  I understand changing clothes, showering, etc. requires a certain level of nudity, but hanging out, chatting, taking cell phone calls, using the scale, and general loitering are activities that require clothing.  

If your wife calls, put on a pair of undies and call her back.

Want to weigh yourself?  Put on your favorite pair of boxers and I will gladly spot you the extra pound.  Helpful tip: If you weigh yourself with your clothes on every time, you can keep pretty good track of you fluctuations in weight.  No wrinkly coin purses please.

I appreciate your cooperation,

Locker Room User

PS: I am not a prude, but just a concerned citizen that has been exposed to more old wieners in the last month than any human should have to endure.  

Clarification

After recieving comments on my post from yesterday, I just want to clarify.  My impatience is with the media and the pudits, on either side.  I do not want to discount the gravity of an Obama presidency, and I realize the positive nature of the impact it has on black people in America.  Now they can literally tell their children, "You can be anything you want, even president" and mean it.  That is huge, and stands in sharp contrast to the negative messages that are displayed to and about black people daily.  That is definitely a positive thing.

The media is giving itself a collective pat on the back, and gloating all the way.  It is silly and worthless, and annoys me.  Piggy-backing all the way on Obama's victory in a blind grab at credit and power does not benefit anyone.  This media is an outlet of partisanship, and goes against every journalistic code.  

Joe, I agree that Obama has the ability to be great, but it will be a struggle not to let us down.  The bar has been set so high by his campaign staff, that it is going to take a masterful four years to get done what everyone hopes will get done.  Actually, yesterday in the NY Times was already published comments from his staffers saying they need to draw back some high expectations and set some more realistic ones.  Absolutely neccessary, but it will make some loyal voters angry.  A lot of promises were made... big ones.  My hope is he keeps them, no matter if they are against my political beliefs or not.  Americans need to believe politicians can be honest and trustworthy again, and in this he absolutely cannot let us down.

Bottom line, on January 20th he is my president.  Regardless of politcal beliefs I will support him and my country, but also speak out when I think he is wrong.  That is the beauty of this country.

Now what?

Well, first blog back after the election. Having had time to let it sink in a little I still really don't know what an Obama victory means for America.  It does seem the rest of the world is "proud" of us though.  I guess we got that going for us.  Maybe we can get the respect as a country that we deserve, no matter who leads.

The reality is, everything is still the same for now.  Same financial crisis, same war, same country.  The rhetoric will now end and maybe we will get a glimpse at what Obama's true policies are.  A lot will become clear with his presidential appointments, which I understand are already in the process of being made.  

All we hear in the media is how proud we should be for "growing" as a nation.  How proud to have a black president, and I cannot help but remember how all of the pundits did not want this race to be about race.  We shouldn't vote for him because he is black, or shouldn't not vote for him for the same reasons.  Considering only 4% of black people voted for McCain, I would say Obama got a lot of votes for being black.  That is based on the assumption that I believe more than 4% of black people hold views different from those on the far left.  Anyway, the race that wasn't supposed to be about race was going to be about race no matter who won.  Great if he wins, racist if he doesn't.  I don't know, maybe I am just bitter and fed up with the pundits and the media garbage... I just feel nothing about it.

maybe that is the nature of politics.  Two years of build up and, NOW WHAT? Wait and see?  I guess I shall...

Go Vote

I don't care who you vote for, just vote.  It is not just your right, but your duty as an American.

May whoever wins protect America and its people... retain our integrity and strength.

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend was especially fun this year because Erin's parents came for a short visit and it motivated us to go out and see the sights.  Fall foliage is a little past peek, and took a hit from the snow last week, but we decided to go up to the Delaware water gap and take a short walk.  

After slowly cruising a couple trails we came to a crossroads where we had to decide whether to head back or make the commitment to go all of the way to the top (1500 ft) of the gap and loop around on a different trail for the way back.  We stood around, no one wanting to be the one to make the decision, but came to the conclusion that we didn't have anything else planned, so what the heck.  This was bold because we did not bring any lunch... or water for that matter.

It was totally worth it.  When you get to the top it is like standing on the edge of the earth.  You can see for miles and miles.  Pictures do more justice than my writing skills.

There are more pictures on Flickr.  After a much steeper climb down (glad we didn't go up that way) we headed to my Dad's house for a more traditional Halloween celebration.  You could say he enjoys this holiday.  The house was just as decorated inside as it was out, and was scary enough to make kids cry and one peed their pants (not due to scariness actually, but waited until the last minute to tell her parents it was time to go).

Update: Tree

The power company did show up to remove the tree and reconnect the power lines... at 12:30 am.  Nothing like waking up to the sounds of cherry pickers and chain saws.  The cats thought the apocalypse had arrived.  On the plus side, all is back in order.  

Early Winter

To just about every ones surprise, a dose of winter weather hit us yesterday.  In a state that can barley handle snow when it is expected, to get 3 inches dropped on you out of no where was sure able to clog up the works.  Drive to work = 2 hours.  Drive home (I left at 3:00 knowing it would be terrible) = 1.5 hours.  Normal day = 45 mins.  

I arrived home to find this:

In case you were wondering, that is half of a tree, hanging over live power lines, blocking the road, and nearly clobbering my house.

No big deal, I will call the town.  The police arrive to assess the situation and let me know the power company is in a "state of emergency" and they cannot even provide a time frame for when they can come out.  

15 hours later... situation is the same.  Half of a tree still pressing on the live power lines about 10 feet from my front door.  I will keep you updated on the saga.

Day 1.

Serious Implications

I saw in WSJ today that the US engaged in military action within Syria.  This is a serious endeavour in a country that has recently been friendly to the US.  The fact that Syria says it is unprovoked is silly(they send militants over the border to Iraq every day), but nonetheless this is not the time to engage yet another middle eastern nation.  Bush may be pushing a legacy, but we all prefer the lame duck.  Chill out dude, you've done enough.

Background Fun

Fun with geometry/photoshop!  Preliminary design.  Let me know your thoughts/ideas.

It's Done

After much anxiety and false starts, I have made my DSLR purchase.  Even got a good deal on Amazon.  I was going back and forth between the Nikon D60 and the Sony A300.  In the end I got the Sony.  It seems like more bang for the buck.  It has live view, which Erin prefers, and a tilting screen.  Those are the only two major differences between the cameras other than price.  I got the Sony for the same price as the Nikon, plus it came with 2 lenses instead of one.

Pretty pumped about it.  Should arrive tomorrow.  I will try to get up to the Delaware water gap this week and take some shots of the foliage before it is all gone. 

Be prepared for more pictures on the blog.  

Man, I wish Biden was a Republican.  The SNL skits would be so much better.  Here is a speech the Obama campaign felt worthy of YouTube posting.  Is this campaigning or Last Comic Standing?  10:35:  "He's got a backbone like a Ramrod."  Love it.  Biden is a horrible public speaker.

Barney Frank is the worst

A glimpse into the democratic fiscal policy.  You better believe that Obama will be implementing these extreme big spending, socialist, class warfare, "solutions."

Truth About Obama Tax Cuts

Great article in the WSJ.

Fun Wedding fun fun

We are back from a wonderful weekend back in Minnesota.  We were only in town for two days, but I was glad we really got around.  Friday, we landed and headed straight to dinner with Amy, Jeremy, Brian, and Andy.  It was fun getting together and having my favorite dinner, Savoy's Pizza!  Connoy and I took the long way back to uptown, cruising University Ave crosstown.  Got to see the new Gophers Stadium going up, the new 35W bridge (which has a curiously low guard rail), and the new Twins stadium.  Then we cruised down Hennepin and past the old apartments on Girard.  It was truly a quick trip down memory lane.  It was great.  We had high hopes of having a beer or two in uptown, but Erin was sick and everyone was pretty exhausted, so we just crashed at Amy and Jeremy's new place on 31st.

Saturday was a ton of fun.  150 of our closest friends and family for my sister's wedding reception.  I finally got to meet John and Tara's beautiful twin girls (pictures are on Erin's camera, coming soon).  Got to hang out with them all afternoon before they went home with their grandma for the evening and John and Tara stayed to celebrate with us.  The reception was so much fun.  Everyone had happy and smiling faces all night.  We truly danced the night away.

Pictures are on Flickr.  Link is to the right.

Here are a few of my favorites.

From NJ to MN and back

Erin and I are off to MN today for part 2 of my sisters wedding.  Part 1 was in Vegas and we had a good time, but part 2 should be a lot of fun because the whole fam will be there.  Going to hit Uptown tonight to confirm our love for Minneapolis once again.  I haven't bought a DSLR yet, but will take some pics with Erin's camera.

Will post pics upon my return.  Peace suckers!

Change You Can Count On

You can count on a leader who thinks that "...we struggle to keep the promise of liberty."

"...because sometimes it is easier to hold on to your own stereotypes and misconceptions; it makes you feel justified in your ignorance.  That's America." - Michelle Obama

We are not as ignorant as they hope.  I wonder what it is like to look down your nose at a country you wish to lead.

"NYC Transit"

First week into my Visual Literacy course and things are getting interesting.  This first week was basically a crash course in artsy vocab, but also a little interpretation of works of other famed digital designers.  One on the list that really struck my fancy was Paula Scher.  She has done a lot of poster work for the Public Theater in New York, and designed a lot of other commissioned logos, signs, posters, ads etc.  All very good.  But what struck me was her work on a map series she has created.  Specifically "NYC Transit."  

Love it!  Make sure you follow the link and peak at the detail.

Not Relevant?

The Ayers association is relevant.  If McCain was friends with Timothy McVeigh, you better believe there would be EXTREME scrutiny and his political career would end.  Ayers was acquitted due to a legal technicality, but said, "Free as a bird, and guilty as hell."  If McVeigh had been acquitted due to illegal wiretaps, or improper evidence handling, would it be OK to be his political friend too?  Serve on a board with him?  Launch your political career in his home?

If Obama wants us to take him at his judgement, then it should be known that his political career was vetted by the likes of Ayers, Wright, etc.  That is a relevant association, not as he would say just one of his "thousands of friends."  These are his close friends.  These associations should not be ignored just because they are not politically advantageous.

Lets Name Some Names

Barney Frank is the worst kind of Politician.

Time Lapse

As some of you know, I had a busy beginning of the summer preparing and executing a big meeting at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The meeting had over 3,000 attendees and included more than 50 large meeting rooms and 225 breakout suites. This was by far the biggest and most successful meeting the 180 Group has executed to date.

That being said, here is a time lapse video of our main general session space used over a 3 day period: NCH Time Lapse

Enjoy!

SNL

One thing this election has done is resuscitate Saturday Night Live.  Too funny!

Politics of Hollywood

Winning on the issues is long gone, and we are now neck deep in the sludge that is spin and win politics.  The McCain campaign is up to last resort politics, but you cannot really blame them.  They have been trying to push the truth on issues for the last couple of months and barely get any attention on the media radar.  No one can deny that the mainstream media is pushing this Obama ticket HARD.  

The Obama campaign is scared.  McCains people came out and said, "We will press harder," on issues and associations that Obama would like not to speak of.  The truth is some people do care about his associations with Ayers, Wright, and the like.  If these associations are honest and non-threatening to the welfare of the American populous then it should not be a problem for him.  The liberal media has gave him a pass on these associations to this point and I am sure they will give him a prime time spot to clear himself of these associations.

Now, I would like to make clear, I am not a hard core GOP, gun-toting republican... far from it.  But I do hold some basic conservative ideals that conflict with this Obama ticket pretty hard.  I am not a major McCain fan.  He is weak on domestic policy and has offered me and the American people no real solutions for the economy or health care.  That being said, I cannot support the big government, big brother politics of this generations left wing.  My top 3:

1) I do not support socialized anything... health care (Obama), mortgages (Bush administration & Congress), etc.  I do not need big brother to tell me what doctor to see and when and how he can treat me.  I do not need the government to tell me what I can afford and how to pay for it.  I need the government to regulate these out of control industry's and reign them in.  Freddie and Fanny lined their pockets with liberal cash, and government should have the guts to name names on this one, no matter which side of the aisle.  

2) A strong foreign policy is essential.  Artificial timetables will not work.  Shifting one war to another is not a solution.  Finish what we started in Iraq.  Press for further sanctions against Iran through the UN (the useless UN), not direct negotiations without preconditions (by the way Biden lied about this in the debate without flinching).

3) The Robin Hood tax policy is fundamentally flawed.  How about the fair tax?  Any takers? No?  Overtaxing the rich is neither fair or "patriotic," as Biden would call it.  "Paying higher taxes is patriotic."  That is a bunch of garbage.  Tax cuts for business helps the economy grow.  Taxing those in an income bracket that are providing jobs to people via small and medium size business is going to trickle down.  Cutting taxes for the middle class and below at such a small rate is useless.  An extra $20 a paycheck is not going to afford anyone that extra peace of mind.  

My new beer looks sick. Its a lager...

Mark Fitzgerald Article on Ayers... Steve Chapman Comments

"... Chicago's pundit class is not exactly unanimous on shrugging off the Obama/Ayers connection. Steve Chapman, a Chicago Tribune columnist of libertarian bent who also serves on the paper's editorial board, argued Sunday that the relationship, which he said Obama was disingenuously trying to downplay, does matter.

"It's hard to imagine he would be so indulgent if we learned that John McCain had a long association with a former Klansman who used to terrorize African-Americans," Chapman wrote. "Obama's conduct exposes a moral blind spot about these onetime terrorists, who get a pass because they a) fall on the left end of the spectrum and b) haven't planted any bombs lately.

"You can tell a lot about someone from his choice of friends. What this friendship reveals is that when it comes to practicing sound moral hygiene, Obama has work to do and no interest in doing it... " - Fitzgerald (http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003870402)

Clearly Steve is outnumbered in Chicagos community, who so easily give Ayers a free pass since he hasn't been a terrorist lately.

Back to School

Well, I am headed back to school.  After much thought and procrastination about pursuing my bachelor's degree I am finally going to do it.  I enrolled in an online university to be able to work around my work schedule that includes a fair amount of travel.  Classes start Monday, and I am really looking forward to doing something positive with my free time.  I have not been in school, or even taken a class, in a long time so it will be interesting getting back in the swing of things. 

I will be getting a BFA in Visual Communication with an emphasis on Digital Design.  I decided to go this route because I do a lot of this type of work at my current job and felt it could be applied immediately.  The degree program takes you through an understanding of modern digital design while teaching you to use tools such as Photoshop, Flash, AfterEffects, etc. in order to incorporate it.  There is also a class on Corporate Identity Development that I think will be very valuable given we do a lot of work with corporate pharma.  Anyway, classes start Monday and I am pumped.

Things around here have been pretty busy lately.  Erin has been back teaching for a month now and that first month is always a killer.  Also, we were off to Vegas a couple of weeks ago for my sisters wedding.  It was fun, but short.  We landed at noon on Friday and left early Sunday morning.  I had some good luck the first day when I won a thousand bucks at the Caribbean Stud table.  I never have great luck gambling, so it was a welcome surprise.  We saw LOVE, at The Mirage.  Great show.

After Vegas, my dad and I were off to Orange County for a work program.  We opted to drive the four and half hours instead of flying, because I figured the timing was a wash.  Cool drive through death Valley and up through the mountains into California.  It would have been that much more enjoyable if I was on more than 4 hours of sleep.  We rented a convertible, and cruised with the top down the whole way.  Neglecting to give the sun at high altitudes its proper respect, we both had severe facial sunburns and raccoon eyes from our sunglasses for the next couple of days.  Lovely.  Not to mention the peeling.  

No pictures, because my camera is broken.  Time to invest in a new one I suppose... they are just so darn expensive.

Elvis Costello: Spectacle

I had the opportunity the last couple of weeks to work with a television show taping at the Apollo theater in Harlem. Elvis Costello is doing a show for the Sundance channel that will air in late November called Spectacle. It is sort of like an Inside the Actors Studio vibe, but with musicians. Depending on who is on the show Elvis will collaborate on a couple of songs, as well as if there is multiple guests they will get together and make music as a group.

It is all very informal, sitting on stools and chatting while mixing in some music here and there. Believe it or not, my duties for this event was doorman/bouncer type. I know! Me, outside of the Apollo theater giving directions and keeping the riff raff out. It was a sight to behold. I brought my sunglasses and wore all black to make it look very official.

It was a lot of fun. We would get to sit in during the tapings, as well as hang out during rehearsals. Rehearsals were actually much more interesting than the actual taping because they just worked on the music together. It is interesting seing musicians get together on a song for the first time and work out what key, speed, harmonies, etc. that they will do.

Acts I got to see: Herbie Hancock, Elton john, She & Him, Roseanne Cash, Kris Kristoferson, John Mellancamp, Jakob Dillan, amongst others. Neat to see such a wide variety of music represented. Costello is like a music encyclopedia. He seems to know just about everthing there is to know music.

Sorry for the picture quality... no cameras allowed. i took these with my phone, which apparently takes real crappy pictures.

RNC

Grade: C+

Good strategic moves. Palin will get votes. Ignored concerns of many Americans: Health Care & economy. Good attacks on other parties policy, but lack of own ideas. Pushing own "change" without definition. I would say running the same campaign as the opposition will not get you many votes. Too much McCain war hero BS. Success: solidiied the base votes.

DNC

Overall: C-

Trying to make contact with common man in front of 90,000. Common rhetoric. Socialist ideals. "I am my brothers keeper. I am my sisters keeper." This is the language of a man who feels that you need taking care of, not a man that trusts you to take care of yourself. CNN trying to sell you history. Election seems more about making history than voting based on your own agenda.

Bored.

Vacation Pictures

Just put up the vacation pictures for your viewing pleasure. Tried out the new mapping feature on Flickr so you can see where we were. Enjoy.

Summer Vacation

Marathon vacation is over. Erin and I road trippin' all the way to the midwest was a blast. On the way out we traveled up through Niagara falls, around a couple of great lakes in ontario, into UP Michigan, and finally hitting Wisconsin on day 2. We camped one night in Ontario at a sight called 6 mile lake. Not the best camp site but we were there for about 10 hours total, two of which was setting up and taking down camp.

On our way past Toronto we ended up on this elite toll road that didnt have any booths, but instead just he overhead sensors to read the tag you are supposed to have in your car. Needless to say, we did not have said tag and I am anticipating a disciplinary letter and bill from the lovely province of Ontario shortly. But, we got through Toronto in about 20 minute during rush hour, so might be worth it.

Arrived in Wisconsin on day 2 of road trip... arrived to see the grandparents at about 11 pm. Might have been a little too late, as they looked a little tired when we arrived, but they were still excited. We hung with family for a few days. Fishing, chatting, campfires, s'mores, and other stuff you do "up north." It was a blast. Makes me miss midwest summers. Next off to northern Minnesota to the other cabin to hang with grandparents. Campfires, chatting, guns, food and laughter. The weather was georgeous. Warm days, cool nights. Perrrfect.

Then we were back to Wisconsin to camp with Erin's family. They go every year to Boot Lake campsite, which is in the Nicolet National Forest, about 1.5 hours north of Green Bay. Beatiful and quiet up there. We got a great site, and settled in for a week of relaxation. Not used to extended periods of time without washing, but you get used to it after a few days. You get used to your own stench... it was actually kind of a letdown to wash it off. A weeks worth of work literally down the drain. Anway, camping was fun. Hung out with the parents, brothers, neices, etc. Spent days on the "beach" and nights by campfire. No phones, TV, internet, etc. Refreshing.

Back home now, blogging instead of working. Easing back in I guess. Back to work now.

Coming Back

I have decided to try to make a comeback at the blogging... again. The past has been unsuccessful, but the future looks slightler brighter. Maybe I'll do some video blogging. That seems like fun. Considering there probably isn't anybody that still looks up this blog, it will mostly be a personal journal. If you do still check this blog, your dedication is appreciated and also makes me feel worried and disturbed. For the rest of you who stopped checking my blog, what the fuck? I mean my last post was only about 10 months ago. You are on notice.