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.