Suicide Hill

We went sledding down suicide hill last year and it was fun, but I think this year we actually got to experience it in its fullest. By that I mean a full understanding as to why its called suicide hill. It is dangerous. Fun yes! But very dangerous. The bottom of the hill is full of obstacles: trees, telephone polls, picnic tables, people, and lets not forget about... the street.

Here are just a couple of shots of some sleds that didn't quite cut the mustard. I decided not to photograph some of the blood-colored snow stains that we saw.

There has been snow on the ground since Christmas Eve. We went Christmas Day but we only stayed about 20 minutes because we were not prepared for how cold it actually was. So we bundled up and went 2 days later. It was overly crowded so we didn't get to go down as much as we would have liked, but we still had fun.

We went again today, 8 days after the first snow, allowing the hill to get fully packed down and slick enough to reach the fastest speeds yet.

Here is Collin and I's first run of the day.

Here is one of Collin going down by himself and nearly, NEARLY sliding right into the street. You'll notice at the end, he was unfazed by this. Please, no comments about me being a bad father and letting this happen.

This last video does nothing but prove that Collin and I had the fastest sled there. If you pay close attention (I know, it's hard because of all the shaking) you can see us passing several people AND see the looks on their faces.

Fun dangerous times!

Just a Couple of Projects

These are a couple of my past design color projects that I plan on including in my portfolio review this week.

color transparency

color vibration

Thug Life Follow Up

Collin got off the bus on time. If I remember correctly it was raining outside and he did not have an umbrella, so I ran outside, grabbed him, put him over my shoulder and ran him inside. Then the normal after-school routine began.

He took off his shoes off at the door and placed his jacket and backpack in his room. He then ate a snack at the dinner table while he did his homework. Once his sentences were done, we started talking about his day. I decided to give him the opportunity to tell me what happened.

He didn't.

According to him gym was great! They played dodgeball. Yay!

Well, after a bit him doing a little dodging himself I flat out told him that I knew. I didn't tell him what I knew. I just let him know that I knew that something happened at school and that I was ready for him to tell me about it. I assured him that he wasn't in trouble, that he had already been disciplined at school. I just wanted to hear it from him.

Still nothing. Nothing bad happened at school, and gym was still great.

Then I informed him that the behavior specialist had called mommy at work and told her everything.

His response was, "Oh? What did she say?"

Priceless.

After a couple more times of me stressing that he was not in trouble, that whatever happened happened and its over with and all I wanted was for him to tell me the truth, he broke.

His story was that he was dancing in the line while waiting to get back into the dodgeball game. His arm had "grazed" against the kid next to him, and that caused the kid to push Collin down. Collin never admitted to punching the kid in the eye. He says that he just got back up, started dancing again, and that his hand "grazed" the kid right in the face.

Sounded unlikely, but I didn't press it anymore. I was just happy that Collin finally fessed up about the whole thing. And I could tell that Collin did not want to talk about it anymore.

Thug Life

The time is currently 1:38 on Thursday, October 29th.

Collin will be home in from school in 2 hours and 12 minutes.

I am going to have a little talk with him. Apparently he has gotten himself into a little trouble today, well, thats what the behavior special said when she called Lisa this afternoon.

While standing in line for an activity during gym class, our little first grader decided to pass the time and do a little dancing. His arm then hit the kid standing next to him in the chest. That kid, not waiting for an "excuse me" or an "I'm sorry", which I am pretty positive Collin would have done, took offense and pushed Collin to the floor. Collin then reacted to the offense with defense, and punched the kid in the eye.

I should not find this funny.

But I do.

According to the behavior specialist, who we have dealt with only once before, both boys have talked it out and everything is okay. Neither of them had to leave school for the day, but instead have to spend the rest of the day in the "buddy" room. She thinks the boys are handling the situation very well. Which is fantastic.

I really don't know why I find this funny. I think its just trying to picture my boy actually taking a swing at another kid. Again, not funny, but I can't stop laughing about it. A part of me is kinda happy that he defended himself. Makes me think that any kid that watched it will think twice about pushing Collin to the floor. Way to stand up for yourself, Collin.

I'm real curious as to what he has to say about the whole thing.

Heeeeeeeey Yoooooou Guuuuuuuuuys!

For our family movie night last night we watched The Goonies. I bought it on dvd at the mall for like $3. Both Lisa and I thought Collin would enjoy it. As it was starting, we both realized that we were only one year older than Collin when that movie came out. He loved it.

The dvd came with only a few cool special features, including deleted scenes. One of the deleted scenes answered an almost lifelong question of mine. At the end of the movie when the Goonies are answering a reporter's questions, they mention escaping an octopus. Even as a kid this confused me because, well, they DIDN'T escape an octopus.

Here is the deleted scene.

Now it all makes sense. Except that if they cut this from the movie, shouldn't they have cut the line about them escaping it?

What if they would have kept this scene in? I mean, the movie is all fantasy anyway. But a breakdancing octopus? Come on Spielberg.

School Flies When You Are Having Fun

The Fall semester started in August. It is mid-October and we are already registering to pre-enroll for the Spring semester at the end of this month. Crazy. This week has played tricks on my mind. All of this preparation for the Spring (speaking with teachers, planning out a schedule, and registering) makes one think that this semester is close to being over, when in all actuality, it is only the midway point. Like I said, Crazy.

Another reason why I believe registering for pre-enrollment has played with my mind, is that I feel like I have only been pumping out projects two out of my four classes. Design Color and Typography (Type has become my favorite class so far) has been giving me the most work that lead to results. Results being finished projects accompanied by grades. Drawing and Photography have taken slower approaches. We just turned in our first project in Drawing last week, and the Photography teacher simply wants us to get comfortable with the whole photo development process before anything is due. Which is all good, I guess. I just hope these two classes aren't calms before the storms leading up to portfolio review.

And now for another one of my current Typography projects.

We had to write a research paper recently on a graphic designer. I picked Saul Bass even though I didn't know who he was. To be honest, the name stood out because of a Seinfeld episode. Kramer thought he saw Salman Rushdie at the gym and he was going by the name Saul Bass. Anywho, among a lot of design work, Saul Bass is most known for designing title sequences and posters in the 50's and 60's. Our next project, after the research paper, was to create a poster for the Nelson, as if it were holding an exhibit on your subject. The poster itself it to be strongly influenced on the subject, so in my case, Saul Bass.

Here are a few of his most famous posters.

Here are a couple of rough drafts that I have put together.

I like the second one a whole lot better than the first. Only because the second feels less like I just copied one of his old posters. After showing the teacher my thumbnail sketches for these, I was very surprised when she said that, after all of the years that they have assigned this Nelson project, that nobody had used the shuttlecock images in their posters. I found that extremely hard to believe.

School stuff

One of the classes I am taking this semester is Typography, or the history of type. It is a very interesting class and I can very much see how the knowledge of this subject will enhance some of my future projects. Here is my most recent project for this class. The object was to look through magazines and whatnot and focus on the type in advertisements. I was to then find a couple of ads that I liked and then think about how I could apply that idea to three separate panels with this specific quote:

"Great is the person who sees the need, recognizes that responsibility, and actively becomes the answer." - Author Unknown

Here is the advertisement that stuck out to me.

Here is what I was able to do with it.

Speaking of Thunderdome

This season of Thunderdome will mark the first time that I get on stage and participate in the improv madness. And I am looking forward to it. In the beginning I had told myself that I would be perfectly happy organizing everything and then sitting back and watching, or perhaps teching, or perhaps even hosting every now and then. But performing, I never thought I would do it. Mainly because I knew there would be people out there that would think it was unfair. Durning season three, there were people that quietly made it known that they were unhappy that the Trip Fives (minus me) even performed. They ended up not winning only because a handful of people that came to see them ended up not voting. To be honest, I'm happy they didn't win.

Anyway, this season we did the draft, which was what I wanted to do from the beginning. Too many experienced improvisers, that I knew would be needed to help make this a success, weren't interested in the draft. But now after three seasons of nearly sold out crowds, the draft looked like a good idea to try. My goal was to get a mix of 36 experienced and not-so experienced improvisers, and then randomly draft 9 teams of 4. I was one short the day of the draft. I had been holding out on a couple of people and hoping that I would not have to throw my own name it. I was getting so comfortable sitting back and organizing. Plus the thought of the same people who criticized the Trip Fives for their involvement. What would they say about the organizer joining in the fun. In the end, I thought "Screw it" and put my name in.

My team, Temporary Sanity, has had two rehearsals to date. We have one more scheduled before the September 19th show. My team consists of me, Jessica Robins (Roving Imp/Anomaly Orange), Wade Meredith (CounterClockwise Comedy), and Rob Grabowski (Loaded Dice/Tantrum). I have to admit, I LOVE the process that we experienced as a new group to decide on what format we wanted to do. We spent the first 20 minutes of the first rehearsal discussing formats, in which we came up with three that we would like to try. Then we spent the rest of rehearsal practicing those formats. By the end of rehearsal we all knew that one of the three formats would be too much trouble to continue. So that left us with two formats to play with for the next rehearsal.

So, of course, one rehearsal with my Thunderdome team made me very excited to be apart of this. My team is extremely fun and that's all I can really ask for. I am really looking forward to performing with all of them. It also made me really anticipate our second rehearsal, in which we ran the remaining two formats and decided which one would work best for Thunderdome. We ended up picking the format originally suggested by Jessica. It's kind of a combination of a few shortform games I have played. We'll do some scenes and the audience will vote on which scenes should be continued. Lather, rinse, repeat until there is one final scene declared the best. It's sort of a "mini-dome" within Thunderdome.

I am also excited to see the other two groups performing that night. Team Number Nine, which is Trish Berrong, Erik Johnson, Steve Jones and Nick Rigoli, was oddly the only team completely not in attendance during the draft party. They were the ninth team out of nine, and no one was there. Funny. That aside they will be very good. Trish and Steve are veterans to the Kansas City improv scene, and just the energy of the two of them being on stage together again should alone be reason to watch them. Throw in Erik Johnson (A funny man with CCC who I have only seen once but was extremely impressed with) and Nick Rigoli (One of my favorites to watch and someone who I consider to be a "secret weapon" on stage) and what you've got is a very strong team. If what I hear is correct, they should be doing a "Twilight Zone" format created and coached by Ed Doris. If Rigoli is allowed to anything Sterling-esque, the watch out.

The other team is, what I consider to be, the sole reason I wanted to do a draft in the first place. Four improvisers (in this case, 4 dudes) who have never performed together at all, and really don't even know each other. Bob Dusin, Jeremy Danner, Sean Hogge and Jim Sturgill. All four extremely talented individuals. All four laid back personalities. All four of them like beer. Their first meeting together took place at the Boulevard Brewing Company, where they did nothing but drink beer and talk improv for a couple of hours. Jealous? I know I am. The possibilities are endless on what a team like this can do. No matter what, it should be funny.

This post ended up a lot longer than I had originally planned. I guess all I really wanted to say was, in the beginning Thunderdome was something that I only wanted to organize and not actually perform in. Now that I'm about to perform in it for the first time, there is an improv excitement inside me that I rarely feel anymore.

Ha Ha Ha Ha

The title is merely me laughing at the fact that I have blogged twice in the past two months.  I find that funny.  This blog is very unimportant to me, yet I feel as if I should be blogging more.  Oh well.  I guess I'll just bulk a bunch of things together like I did in May, which happened to be one of my busiest blogging months.

So, here is more stuff.

School starts up again this month and officially begins my journey into the world of graphic design.  I will be taking four classes: Design Color, Drawing and Media Methods, Fundamentals of Photography, and Typography.  All four of these class will be crammed into a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday evening schedule, which both is cool and sucks at the same time.  I am very excited to be taking all of these classes, but due to the limited amount of class times that I had to chose from, there will be a lot of difficult planning around both Lisa and Collin's schedules.  These are the heartaches of a "one car" family.  

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Last weekend we were invited down to the lake by Lisa's Uncle Tom and Aunt Judy.  Lisa's cousin Kelly and her daughter Macy were down there too, all the way from San Diego.  Macy is two years older than Collin, so they were keen on hanging around each other.  Also Collin, the big boy that he is, was as comfortable as he has even been jumping and swimming in the lake.  

Coming in from jumping off the boat.

Being wet.  Very wet.

About ready to take a jetski ride.

Enjoying the speed of the boat.

Cousin Macy, Collin and Lisa on a huge tube.

Collin and Macy.

A funny thing about that last photo, Collin lost his second tooth durning that dinner while eating corn on the cob.  He actually swallowed the tooth.  This was a big change compared to how he lost his first tooth.  We still need to right the Tooth Fairy a letter explaining what happened.

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I have an idea for a graphic novel.  After a couple of conversations during frisbee golf, I have put together a small outline.  The outline consists of a brief description of the premise, brief descriptions of all of the main characters and some side characters, and all of the chapters mapped out with brief descriptions  of what should happen in each chapter.  I guess the next step would be to look at each individual chapter and outline those in more detail.  The outline has been shared with a couple of friends.  

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Lots of stuff going on improv-wise:  Two shows at the Westport Coffeehouse (BareTV and Improv Thunderdome), another show at the recordBar, and at the end of the month the Trip Fives are finally heading up to the Roving Imp Theater to do a show.  I'm not sure which one I am more excited about.  

The last two run-throughs of BareTV have been a lot of fun.  The concept is very different from the show we did in 2000.  And the addition of a live band really give it a talk show feel that we didn't have before.  

The first round of Thunderdome with the drafted teams was a hugh success in my opinion, even though it was not a sold out crowd.  The teams were very impressive and put together formats that were very entertaining. My team doesn't perform until September.  I have had one rehearsal with my team, Temporary Sanity, so far and it was a blast.  We spent the first 20 minutes or so talking about formats, and then came up with three we'd like to try.  Then we spent the rest of rehearsal trying each format.  The process was fun and I am excited to perform with those on my team.

On a side note, I am toying with the idea of putting Thunderdome on hiatus until I am done with school, which should be a couple of years.  Thunderdome takes up a lot of time and the whole process wears on me mentally.  However, there is something in the works that might change my idea of shelving it.

The Trip Fives will have their second show at the recordBar this month, sharing the stage with Improv-Abilities.  Our first show with Loaded Dice was big for a Tuesday night.  We had over 85 people in attendance. The bulk of the people ate and drank as well, which is a plus.  I am very curious of how the next show will go. I think it will be better than the first.

The show at the Roving Imp will be a lot of fun.  John Robison and I have talked about me and/or the Fives performing up there for a while now.  The stars have finally aligned.  We will either be performing as the Trip Fives, possibly honing the piece that we would like to present at the upcoming improv festival, or we will join a couple of the other shows that were originally slated to perform.  Either way, it will be an exciting night.

 

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And lastly, my dad bought Lisa and I a new mattress and box springs as an early birthday present for both of us. The old one was so uncomfortable.  It's very nice to experience comfortable sleep again.  Thanks Dad!

Royal Moves

As a fan of the Kansas City Royals, this year has been the worst I have ever seen.  There is no way possible that this franchise will be significant in the next few years.  Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune recently said that the Royals were "in the 11th year of their three year rebuilding program."  Sooooooo true. Since this season has been nothing but huge steps backwards, I expect nothing out of next years team. That being said, as the trade deadline approaches, here is a list of Royals' current 40 man roster that i wish would stay and go.

Pitchers that stay:

Brian Bannister

Henry Barrera

Bruce Chen

Roman Colon

Juan Cruz

Kyle Davies

Zach Greinke

Luke Hochevar

Julio Cesar Pimentel

Carlos Rosa

Joakim Soria

Robinson Tejeda

Pitchers that go:

John Bale

Kyle Farnsworth

Devon Lowery

Ron Mahay

Gil Meche

Sidney Ponson

Doug Waechter

Jamey Wright

Batters that stay:

Mike Aviles

Willie Bloomquist

Billy Butler

David DeJesus

Alex Gordon

Tug Hulett

Mike Jacobs

Kila Ka'aihue

Mitch Maier

Brayan Pena

Batters that go:

John Buck

Alberto Callaspo

Coco Crisp

Jose Guillen

Luis Hernandez

Mario Lisson

Travis Metcalf

Miguel Olivo

Tony Peny Jr.

Mark Teahen

Yeah I know, because of stupid contracts and whatnot, all of my roster dreams will not come true.  However, whoever they move this year, I hope it is not for the unrealistic hopes of winning next year.

Side note - I'd like to see either Cory Aldridge or Scott Thorman in the outfield soon.

A Letter to the Kansas City Royals

Warning:  This post contains lots and lots of expletives

Dear Royals,

What the fuck is wrong with you?  I mean seriously, you all fucking suck. What the fuck?  Why do you continue to be so fucking awful? Yeah, whatever, you had a winning April for the first time since 2003, big fucking deal.  That shouldn't be an accomplishment to be proud of.  The only reason you looked so good in the first 30 games this year was because no teams had taken you seriously.  Now we all have seen what happens when teams start paying you a little attention.  

Seriously, you've fucking managed to play worse this past month than the past 5 years combined.  What the fuck happened? Every pitcher you face becomes a Cy Young candidate, and every offense you face becomes the Yankees.  What are you planning on doing to change this?  How about this:

• Quit giving up first inning runs, you pieces of shit!!  Even you Greinke.  I don't care what your record is or how many complete games you have. You all are getting paid well enough to get 3 outs without allowing a run in the first.  This is fucking ridiculous.  If I were Hillman, I'd have someone warming up in the bullpen the moment the game started.  Once the first run crosses the plate, yank whoever is out there.  Fuck them!  Don't give up a run in the first next time.

• Get rid of Jose Guillen.  Fuck him and his legs. The offensive is so awful right now that who cares if he is gone, it wouldn't change anything.  I don't know how many fly balls have dropped in front of him this year, but I do know that nearly all of them have led to opposing runs.  Screw him.  Get him out of here and put someone, anyone with fresh legs in right field.

• When it comes to second base and shortstop, I am clueless.  Everybody in the organization sucks at those two positions.  Like the balls dropping in front of Guillen, I don't know how many slow rollers up the middle I have seen this year.  If people are in the lineup because if their bat, good luck with all that. 

• Have a catcher fire sale.  Get rid of both of them. They fucking suck in all categories.  Neither of them can call a game worth of shit.  Bring up the switching hitting Pena.  If he sucks, well, he's a rookie and it's what is expected.  Olivo and Buck have no more excuses for sucking so bad.
  

Make those changes (as well as trading Teahan to the Cardinals for Khalil Greene as soon as Alex Gordon is healthy) and I will be a happy fan.  Or as happy as a Royals fan could be. 

Until then, fuck you all for sucking so bad.  The stadium looks great.

Stuff

Has it been five weeks?  Five weeks since I stopped drinking soda pop?  It has!  How do I feel?  Normal I guess.  I haven't noticed any big change yet, and I don't really expect to for quite a while.  In this five weeks I have been substituting iced tea for soda.  It's been okay.  Recently, however, I have learned about a drink called the Arnold Palmer.  It's iced tea mixed with lemonade.  I like it a lot.  

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I received my grades from school.  All A's.  I think this is the first time that has ever happened.  Unless you were to go all the way back to elementary school, in which one year I got all S's.  I may have even gotten a new toy out of it. 

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Collin has been having an interesting last couple of weeks of Kindergarten.  The usually angel-like school boy had done something so out of character that they school actually had to call me and ask me to come get him, 45 minutes before school was going to be let out anyway.  I would say they overacted a tad, especially since we're talking about a 6 year old here.  I won't go into detail about what happened.  Instead, I will direct you to the blog of my lovely and talented wife, Lisa. She has described this event better than I ever could.

Lawnmower Man

I should have mowed the lawn last night, but I put it off until this morning while the rest of the neighborhood was at work.  It's because our lawnmower is dying.  Or at least it sounds like it is.  It's awful.  It felt like I'd be doing everyone's ears a favor by mowing it early.

I caught a break this morning when a CAT showed up across the street and started destroying the driveway across the street.  So I got out there and started in on the law.  I think the noise of the CAT drowned out the mower, but it was hard to tell, over the GOD-AWFUL coughs and belches of our mechanical death cutter.  I swear I saw the driver of the CAT give me a few "Dude. WTF?" looks.

I think its time to get a new mower.

I Know The Economy Is Bad, But Sheesh!

Last night the family went out to eat at a local Chinese buffet in Waldo.  We visit this place every now and then 1.) because it's close, 2.) because we love Chinese buffets, and 3.) because there is a claw game there that Collin likes to play.

This place is not one of the friendliest of places in town. However, this does not keep us from enjoying the food.  

At one point last night, Collin accidentally spilled his drink on the table.  Being the natural reflexing parents that we are, Lisa and I grabbed the closest absorbent objects we could find (which happened to be a basket of napkins on the table) and proceeded to mop up the table and floor with them.

When the lady at the front register caught wind of the situation, she rushed over and gasped at the sight of all the wet napkins.  

"All those napkins" she muttered with a look of disbelief.

She snatched napkins from our hands and then started sifting through them, as if to be looking for ones that weren't that wet, right there at our table.  Once she felt that it was a lost cause, she walked away shaking her head.

A few moments later, Lisa and Collin walked up to the register, with Collin holding the last of the wet napkins, to ask if we did anything wrong.  The woman grabbed the napkins out of Collin's hands and threw then in the trash, shook her head some more and said that her english wasn't so good.  

Whatever.  She can be upset  But it made me want to walk around to ALL the tables and pour soy sauce into every basket of napkins.

It's too bad the food is so good, otherwise we'd probably stop going.  It might take them getting rid of the claw game to do so. 

So THAT'S What Big Brothers Are For.

I'm old enough to admit it now, I wanna be just like my brother, Derek.  Although I am smarter, funnier and better looking, he leads in age, height and weight. We're about even on facial hair.

All kidding aside, he has done something recently that I am extremely impressed with and am going to attempt to copy - giving up soda pop for good.  Derek is going on 14 months now and talks about the effects it has had on him at his blog These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty. 

I've talked about my teeth before.  I get worried about them from time to time.  The best thing I can do is (Yes, Yes, go to the dentist.  I know!) quit with the soda, which I drink a ton of.  A ton is kind of an exaggeration.  I don't even drink much at home. It's those restaurants!!!  They get me with those "free refills" every time.  I suck'em down one after another like its a natural reflex or something.  Gotta stop.

Anyway, I haven't had a soda since Thursday.  Not quite a week.  Not quite 14 months. Baby steps.

Music I Am Digging At This Very Moment

I so very much like music.  Lately one of my most favorite joys, when being alone in the house, is blasting a cd on our Bose system while doing the dishes.  The cd that has been occupying the player for the past month has been In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.  The album was recorded in '98 and the group disbanded in '99.

Having only found out about this in the past year, a part of me feels cheated for liking the album so much.  Like I wasn't "In on it" back when it was released, so it isn't really fair for me to like it now.  I feel that way with most buzz worthy music that somehow reaches my ears years later.  

Anyway.  This album is probably now one of my all-time favorites.  Here are two of the songs that have solidified my love for it.  The first one is Ghost (track 9) and the second comes directly after it and is untitled.  

Enjoy.

Not Much To Blog About

It's Thursday night and I'm waiting for the Royals highlights to come on before I hit the hay.  

I didn't want my next blog to be another art project, so I thought I'd throw a little something in here just to change things up.  I've been busy with school.  Today I had to have a meeting with one of the graphic design instructors to prepare for early enrollment for the fall semester.  Kinda makes a person feel special, knowing that you get to sign up for classes before the rest of the school.  Yes indeed. Today also painted a nice little picture of what the next two years will look like.  I will have serious school on the brain.  Which will be a nice little change from having improv on the brain.  

Tomorrow looks to be a day of sweatpants.  A full day of sweatpants. That is not to say that I won't leave the house.  I might.  In sweatpants.

Design 2D Project #3

So far this has been my favorite project to work on.  To start things off, we were given a stack of pictures of different types of tools and whatnot:  hammers, wrenches, staplers, just to name a few.  I chose a bicycle pump.  Then we were to trace the picture, then single out an area using a specific shape stencil.  I used a basic square, like so...

The area inside the square is now the focus of a pattern that we are to create. I scanned it into the computer, then traced it again using Adobe Illustrator.  

Now that we have our neat little box, we are play around with it. Rotate it.  Inverse the color.  All that jazz.  In the end we were to create a wall pattern that didn't necessarily look like it came from a grid.  The students that chose a triangular pattern didn't have this problem.  The teacher wanted us to come up with at least five different patterns, then picking one to present as the finished product.  Here are the five I did, in order from my first attempt to the one I presented to the class.

What I liked about this project was that I could actually see my progression with each image.  The first one I attempted ending up looking too blocky.  Too dull.  The more I did, the more I starting seeing the possibilities of different styles.  I feel that it really took me four attempts to get to where the instructor wanted us to be.  

Design 2D Project #2

Okay, so project two was similar to project one.  But this time we had to focus on symmetry.  The goal was to create four separate pieces (symmetry, rhythm, focal point and a combo of all three) that, when placed together, would show unity between the four. This wasn't my favorite project only because I didn't like my outcome.  

To me, the finished product looks like a 1970's album cover.  I ended up getting a B on this because not only was I suppose to include something symmetrical, but something "A"symmetrical as well.  I guess I need to pay a little bit more attention durning class. 

Project #3 turned out better.  I'll post it next.

I haven't been blogging that much lately.  Not because there has been nothing to blog about, quite the contrary.  It's just that I haven't felt in the mood to make the effort.  But sitting here at home on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, messing around on the web, going from page to page and finally ending up on my own, I decided to post something. 

Last night KU won their 5th straight Big 12 title.

This comes as a huge surprise to me.  Still not having gotten over the fact that they won it all last year, my expectation of this years squad were extremely low. I wouldn't have been surprised if they didn't even make the tournament.  Then they started playing well and beating some respectable teams.  My hopes were high again.  So high that when they would lose, it would crush my spirit.  Make me forget about how bad they were "suppose" to be this year.  The humiliating lose to Texas Tech actually wasn't that bad.  That's they way this team should have been playing all year.  

This team is unlike any I have seen in the past.  They have won games they should have.  They have turned the ball over 30 times and still found ways to either win or lose by a couple of points.  They are sloppy.  They are poised.  They are young and inexperienced.  They are unpredictable.  I like where they stand at the moment, being a #1 seed in the Big 12 tournament.  Who cares if they win it?  Who cares where they will be seeded in the national tournament?  I don't expect them to win it all.  And I hope nobody else does.  Especially those they're up against.

 

Design 2D

Today I received my first official grade on my first project in Design class.  The funny thing about this class is that Adobe Illustrator was suppose to be a prerequisite.  Just so happens that I was taking said Illustrator class, the same time the first Design project was assigned. Isn't school great?

The project focused on 5 artistic points of view:  Closure, Continuance, Proximity, Similarity, and a grouping of all.  Here are 2 of my 5 that the class actually liked.

Continuance

The basic meaning of continuance is when your eyes naturally follow a path of the displayed image.  So I guess I got that with this one.

Grouping

I was actually trying to go for continuance with this image, but the teacher thought it actually presented all four points of view. Allrighty.

My favorite out of the ones that I did was for Closure.  It also happened to be the first one I worked on.

The basic meaning of closure is when your eyes make out object that isn't really there, but appears because of the objects surrounding it. Or something like that.  See.  Triangles!!!

Anyway, I ended up getting an A- on all five images.  So I was happy with that. 

I-435

I am writing this from school.  I left 15 minutes ago to get here.  Now I am 30 minutes early to class.  If I would have left home now, I would have gotten here 15 minutes late.  

There is a stretch of I-435 between Metcalf and Quivera where driver's IQs drop below that a pickle.  Once they reach that area they join forces to destroy time and humanity and create confusion and cause accidents.  

Sometimes I am surprised people ever make it out alive.

What's Awesome?

This is.

The Boy's 6th Birthday

Collin turned 6 on Thursday. We celebrated by going out to dinner to the T-Rex restaurant out by Legends.



We had been here several times before and its actually not that annoying.  It's dinosaur themed, of course, and different sections of the restaurant are set up as different stages.  The upstairs is the ice age, the back area is the lava room, and the bar area, where we sat, is under the sea.  The very first time we went here they sat us in the back, behind a boulder and next to the server station.  Not very fun for a child, and even more upsetting to an adult.  But we've had fun ever since.

Collin got to do something different this time.  They have a station set up in the gift shop where you can break a rock in half.  Special rocks with crystals in the middle.  It was pretty cool.

Saturday afternoon was his bowling party with a few friends from school.  We did this last year as well with twice as many friends, but decided to tone it down a little just to keep things less hectic.   

As you can see, he's a big fan of the orange fireball.

The Ups and Downs of Comedy

This Saturday was the first of the Second Saturday series of improv comedy shows at the Westport Coffeehouse.  Ed Doris and I have been planning these shows since last July.  We both thought that this could be something that could catch on, mainly because of the variety of shows that we'd be producing, and that if just one of the shows got a little press it would be hard not to mention the others in the same blurb.

The months leading up to the first show were filled with nothing but excitement and anticipation.  The week leading up to however, was a different story.  There's no business like show business.  Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.  What goes up must come down.  

UP - A week before the show we learn that there will be improv articles in both the Pitch and the KC Star.

DOWN - Monday rehearsal goes only so-so.  Plus we learn that one of the members of the Makeshift Militia, the troupe that the Trip Fives are splitting the night with, might not be able to play. 

UP - Wednesday arrives with the Pitch article and a mention in the Ink's calendar section.

DOWN - Wednesday evening our booth person remorsefully tells me that he forgot to mark the show date on the calendar and now has scheduling conflicts.  

UP - Thursday arrives with a mention in the KC Star's Preview section. And I find a tech replacement.

DOWN - Thursday night I get a call from Jen Roser, of the Trip Fives, who informs me that, due to reasons that were out of her control, she would be unable to do the show saturday night.

DOWN - Friday mid-afternoon to late evening.  Turns out my cell phone, one which I have been substituting for the improv reservation line, decided to stop playing the message when people called.  It would ring, like normal, but instead of going directly to voicemail it would just be dead air.  All. Day. Friday. 

DOWN - After two hours of speaking to Verizon customer service and tech support, they come to the conclusion that they don't know what's wrong with my phone.  They do know that it has to do with the messaging system and not the actual phone.  But they don't own the messaging system, they have a contract with them.

UP - Saturday morning.  I let my phone charge over night thinking that it's quite possible that the phone only acts crazy when it is not fully charged.  That oddly seemed to do the trick.  So I called back every number that wasn't able to leave a message and everything is fine.  Oh, and the KC Star article came out.  As I walked up the street and got closer to the newspaper machine, I could see the photo above in the top left corner of the front page.  Very cool.

UP, UP - Collin had his first basketball game at the Cleaver YMCA.  It was not at all as bad as I thought it was going to be.  There were plenty of coaches, assistant coaches and referees on the court to point all the kids in the right direction.  Collin played a lot but didn't take one shot, which is totally fine.  His defense however, was tenacious.  

UP, UP, UP - Now, I don't know this for sure, but I would guess that 50% of both Saturday night's audiences came because of the Star article.  Something felt different, in a good way. There was just this overall feeling of newness all over the place.  The Trip Fives/Makeshift crowd was way more than expected, and because we split box after rent, the two members of makeshift walked away with a pretty penny.  Thunderdome was close to a sellout, maybe by 10 seats or so.  But what please me was knowing that half of them were new and neutral.  And even though all three teams put on entertaining sets, the crowd picked the one that deserved it.

DOWN - The night ended.

Happy New Year!!!

It's 2009!  Hooray!!!  

Resolutions are so cliche that I don't even feel like doing any.  Its like the only reason people have them is to let other people know about them.  It is the one time to impress others with your own personal objectives.  So you better make them good ones.  How can I make my resolutions interesting enough to make people go, "Wow, I actually believe that person when they say this.  I hope they go through with it.  I'm rooting for them."  Of course, resolutions are things that people should be doing for themselves on a daily basis.  "I will NOT eat any more skittles today."  

In a sense, resolutions are a lot like blogs.  People only create them so other people can read them.  In the end, it's for your own personal pleasure.  

So, with that said, here are a few reasons Why I Am Excited About 2009:

• FAMILY

I love them dearly.  Last year was wonderful.  Our first full year in our new house.  Collin going through kindergarten.  Lisa loving her job.  Me not being a slob.

• SCHOOL

This spring semester will be the last of all my prerequisites.  The following semester I will begin the Graphic Design two-year program. One small step closer to a Associates Degree, which will then be another step closer to me obtaining a real job for the first time.

• SECOND SATURDAYS

Ed Doris and I have put together, what we feel is, a enormous variety of improv comedy shows on the second Saturday of every month. (Here's a link to the schedule)  What started out as just a way to figure out how the Trip Fives can do more shows on a regular basis, has grown into a full production of improv comedy.  And just about every troupe in town is involved in some way, whether they are splitting a show with the Fives or competing in Improv Thunderdome or writing for BareTV.  Even the name "Second Saturdays" feels like it could catch on here in KC.  It rolls right off the tongue.  

• IMPROV THUNDERDOME SEASONS 3 & 4

I hate to say it.  I can't wait for season 4 to happen, and season 3 hasn't even begun yet.  Don't get me wrong, I am extremely excited for season 3.  We've got a lot of Thunderdome vets back for more, and we've got a lot of new blood looking to prove why they belong. The talent is there.  Season 3 will be fun, but I am hoping it will be the end.  The end of an era.

In the beginning, my goal for Thunderdome was to establish teams by way of a draft.  With the format being so new to the community and certain performers egos getting in the way, there was no way of this happening.  So we allowed people to create their own teams.  Now, three seasons later, it is time.  We WILL hold a draft, create 9 random teams of 4, and they will compete.  I hope, that from season 4 on, this will be the way.

• BARETV

Back in 1999, I worked at the Westport Coffeehouse as the morning barista, on top of performing in the theatre on weekends.  It was my second home.  The owner, Tom, had the equipment and the ability to broadcast anything he wanted over the internet.  After a brief discussion behind the counter while Tom made himself a latte, BareTV (scroll down on the right.  Please do not watch) was born - A weekly 30 minute somewhat scripted/somewhat improvised mock talkshow that should have never been created.  

Nearly 10 years later we will give it another try.  We're all grown up, a little more professional, and a lot soberer than we were back then. The name will be the same, but the show will have some major tweaks.  The newer version will be a completely improvised late-night talkshow, complete with host, monologues, guests, commercials and live music courtesy of the very talented Billy Brimblecom Jr.  Aside from the main people on stage, a group of improvisers will work as a team backstage to supply the show with whatever it is called for.  Writers on the fly, if you will.  

Also, this show will be every other month starting in April.  Much, much better than weekly.

• SPORTS

King Carl is gone.  This can only lead to positive things for next year's Chiefs.  I honestly don't care what happens next season.  In my mind it will be a success because Carl is gone.  Should Herm be gone? Probably.  But personally I'd just like to see what he does with Carl involved.  If he still stinks, GET'EM OUTTA HERE!

The Royals won 75 games last year and didn't finish in last place. That's good.  They should win at least 10 more games in 2009.  So far I've liked what the front office has done with the exception of finding a new shortstop.  Other than that, I'm very exciting.  Which isn't saying much because I am very optimistic at the beginning of every new baseball season.

Here is the lineup I would like to see:

1. Coco Crisp - CF
2. Mike Aviles - 2B
3. Davis DeJesus - LF
4. Jose Guillen - RF
5. Mike Jacobs - 1B
6. Billy Butler - DH
7. Miguel Olivo - C
8. Alex Gordon - 3B
9. Alberto Callaspo - SS

As for the rotation:

1. Gil Meche
2. Zack Greinke
3. Brian Bannister
4. Luke Hochevar
5. Kyle Davies

But Jared, where is the necessary lefty starter?  My answer:  What good has lefty starters done for us in the past?  Chris Haney anyone?

The KU football program beat Minnesota in the Insight Bowl last night.  I do not expect the basketball program to have similar success.  Why should I?  They're national champions.  They lost their whole team.  Conference play is almost upon us.  These games will determine how good this team really is.

There.  I'm done.

GO GO GADGET 2009!!!