GENERAL ADMISSION

Ten for '10 - My Favorite Albums of 2010

2011-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Figured I'd dust of Ye Olde General Admission to do a rundown of my Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2010. I've effectively deluded myself into thinking people might actually care about my opinion, because nothing says Musical Authority™ quite like a person sitting at their computer in a basement who can neither sing nor play an instrument.

Anyhow, I've traditionally thought of myself as an Indie Rock Kid. But, ignoring the fact that I'm 35, the main thing that's surprising about this list is the near complete absence of indie rock. One or two albums made it on the list, but for the most part this was apparently a year of hip hop and dance music for me. Maybe this just wasn't a good year for rock music, but just as likely, this list reflects the fact that 2010 was sort of a downer of a year, and I was trying to shake off the aura of doom and gloom by listening to music that made me want to shake my proverbial money-maker. Regardless, not many fuzzed out guitars to be found here.

So, onward to the list...

(In alphabetical order)

Aloe Blacc Good Things - "Hey honey, I was just listening to NPR on the drive to the store and heard this really good sounding album..." I'm not sure what it means that I'm getting my music recommendations from Public Radio, but -regardless- this album is a revelation. Somehow he's managed to capture the sound of spirit of early 70's soul music while not sounding cliched or derivative. And, even when he's singing about being scorned by a lover or needing a dollar for some cheap wine, his album makes you feel like you are enjoy a lazy Sunday morning.

Arcade Fire The Suburbs - Unlike Funeral, this album didn't didn't have the "thrill of the new" to it. And, unlike Neon Bible, it didn't have the opportunity to be stuck in a car with Sarah and I as we drove around South Africa for a couple weeks. Still, even an unremarkable Arcade Fire album is better than 90% of what's out there in my book. And, like both previous albums, The Suburbs continues to grow on me even after months of listening.

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Dark Night of the Soul - While most of the albums on this list could be described a "feel good" this album is the antithesis of that. A fact that was only driven to home by Mark Linkous' suicide before the albums completion. But, that's not to say that the album is chore to get through, far from it. Instead, its an album for dark nights, rain and wine; an album for recognizing beauty in sorrow and tragedy. It doesn't hurt that, like several other entires on this list, this album features a veritable cornucopia of guest artists, with everyone from the Flaming Lips and James Mercer to Iggy Pop and even David Lynch making appearances.

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim Here Lies Love - Despite my love of all things David Byrne, I have to admit that even I didn't know quite what to make of this album when I first gave it a listen. A two-disk collection of disco and dance songs roughly chronicling the life of Emelda Marcos, that Byrne has been researching and organizing for years. To make matters more surreal, it features a laundry list of famous female singers (including Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper and Natalie Merchant) plus Byrne and Steve Earl singing the various rolls. But, despite my initial reservations, repeat listening paid off and the album revealed itself to be not just unusual but also a lot of fun. "Solano Avenue" is easily my favorite track of the albums, but "Please Don't" (featuring Santigold) is the main single, and features a video of sorts...

Dessa Badly Broken Code - Oddly, another NPR recommendation. And, almost as surreal, a white, female rapper. Dessa's album inhabits a world where everyone is constantly racing into and trying to escape from self-destructive relationships, but thanks to her nimble rap skills and surprising singing voice, it was a world I found myself revisiting. This song isn't as good as others on the album like, say, "Matches to Paper Dolls" but its got a video, so here ya go...

Gorillaz Plastic Beach - A cartoon bands third album, featuring a not so subtle environmental theme.... yeah, that sounds like it should be a disaster. But, despite that conceit, and despite the fact that it lacks the big singles found on the Gorillaz first two albums, Plastic Beach is possibly the Gorillaz strongest album to date. Without a big name producer to help steer the ship, this Gorillaz outing is definitely Damon Albarn's baby. That said, like the previous two outings, the disk is overflowing with an eccentric array of guest artists: Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed amongst others). And, of course, there are the trademarked weird and amazing videos by Jamie Hewlett...

Janelle Monae The Archandroid - When I first heard this album, I was convinced it would be huge in the same way the first Gnarls Barkley CD was. But, while it does seem to have gotten its fair share of love on various critics Top 10 lists this year, it never reached that over-saturated and overplayed level other album did. Probably for the best, I suppose. While other albums on my list lean heavily on guest artists, Janelle takes another route, instead drawing from a huge spectrum of musical influences from the last 30 or so year (ranging from Bowie to Outkast), and somehow jams them together into one cohesive album that lives in a world somewhere halfway between Phillip K. Dick and Metropolis.

Sadly, you can't embed the video for "Tightrope" the featured single, so you'll just have to go here to see Janelle do her thing, in all its pompadoured glory.

Junip Fields - Have you ever been at a party late at night, when everyone's pretty much left, and heard the sound of rock music playing through the walls from some other distant location? Or, have you ever wondered what it would sound like if the Beta Band made 70's folk rock? If you can imagine either of those sounds, you get close to approximating the sound of this Swedish duo. As the parent of a 2-year-old, you grow to appreciate music that is quiet enough that it won't wake your child up from a nap, but upbeat enough to keep you awake yourself. And, while the end of the album flirts with being too jam band-y, one can't deny its hooks and appeal.

Kenye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - I thought I had this list all figured out in early December, but then Kanye had to go and release this album. Nominally a concept album in which the artist himself is the concept, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is an overstuffed, Baroque epic that should collapse under its own self-importance. It's self-indulgent, occasionally offensive, and abrasive ...and also pretty incredible and essential listening. In the main single, "Runaway," Kanye urges the listener to raise a toast to the douche bags, assholes and jerk-offs of the world while simultaneously acknowledges himself as one. Well, Kanye, I raise my glass to you.

Mark Ronson & the Business Intl. Record Collection - This is probably my guilty pleasure of the year. This is popcorn fluff of the highest caliber, but it's (I'd argue) also high quality fluff. Apparently Mark Ronson is a wealthy, privileged East Coast producer or something. I'm not too sure, but I do know the album brings a smile to my face and its mix of pop, dance and hip-hop makes me want to dance. Both timeless and soon-to-be-dated. In the album Mark confides that he just wants to be part of our record collection. Well, if I collected records, I would definitely consider it.

So, that's it. My list. I'm sure I'll regret it when I look back on it in a year. It's probably worth mentioning some of my other favorites that almost made the list:

Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record
Broken Bells Broken Bells
Cee Lo Green The Lady Killer
Charlotte Gainsbourg IRM
The Roots How I Got By
Vampire Weekend Contra

Also, the band (or individual) How To Dress Well was someone who I considered for this list. It sounds like late-80's R&B bounced off the moon and played over a crappy radio. It's an interesting one, and one that I can't help but think will gain some traction in the coming year but, ultimately, the album in its entirety was a little too esoteric. When it works though, it works...

Finally, I'll mention that while the above lists reflect my picks from the 2010 releases, there are a ton of older albums that have been getting a lot of play at the Hill-Stach Manor, including...

The XX The XX
Mos Def The Ecstatic
Basia Bulat Oh, My Darling (Stella's favorite of the year)
The National Boxer
Blue Scholars Hello From Oof

See you next year!

Landon Airlines

2010-05-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.

As those of you living the Pacific Northwest no doubt know, the tail-fin of Alaska Airlines' planes are adorned with a two tone image of a "smiling Eskimo". Well, when I was little, I was convinced that it was a picture of Little House on the Prairie star Michael Landon.

I mean, even looking at it today, its a pretty honest mistake. Especially when you compare Landon's admirable mane to the fur-lining of a traditional Inuit hood. Plus, at the time, Landon was starring as an angel in Highway to Heaven, so it only made sense in my young mind that his image should be flying through the clouds.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share. Keep flying high, Charles Ingalls.

Om Box

2010-04-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for basically ditching this blog, but between personal life being busy, and the fact that I now tend to just post links to things that interest me on Facebook, I've been neglectful here.

That's not to say this blog will go away anytime soon. For one thing, Sarah and I use the blog roll on the right to keep up to date with our favorite blogs. And, for another, from time to time, it allows me to post things like this...

...I'm currently reading Monkey. And, I love Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn's work on Gorillaz, so I was fascinated to hear about the stage production version of Monkey they created. I like track 6.

Cheers.

Link-O-Rama: 1/22/10

2010-01-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

This pretty much blows my mind into little tiny pieces. I enjoy CGI work, when its done well. But, usually, I think it tends to lack the... er... poetry of actual good cinematography. Not the case here. This piece is pretty much just atmospheric locations, but the subtle focus details and the richness of detail is incredible. All-CGI, and created by just one person...

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

The 5 year old in me really wishes I had $28.8 million. That way, I could buy my own space shuttle. These are apparently bargin basement prices, since NASA just lowered them from the original $42 million they were asking.

I'm really loving this map of Seattle with all the neighborhoods broken out into seperate typocgraphical treatments. Where do I live? Pretty much at the "H" on Beacon Hill.

From Orkposters.com.

Link-O-Rama: 1/7

2010-01-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

I've seen this sort of thing several times before, but this is probably the most sublime and elaborate video of this type I've come across yet. Basically, the artist (in this case DeePee Studios) takes an extended exposure image of themselves moving a glow stick. This allows the glowstick to essentially draw in the air. Then, they repeat this process something like 18 million times, to create glowing 3D animations. If you haven't scene this sort of thing before, you are in for a treat...

As the guy says on the Drawn blog entry I spotted this on: "I swear animators are the most obsessive people around…. they really make every one else look like they have no attention span whatsoever."

Also snagged from Drawn...

Since I don't have cable these days, I haven't watched MTV in literally years. That said, I love this little bumper clips featuring wonderfully designed little technicolored monsters:

MTV Summer 06-07 from Anthony Burns on Vimeo.

And, and finally, a quick reminder of your place in the universe...

I Aught to Know: Music

2009-12-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

OK, Albums!

Not based on what was technically the best, but instead what I probably listened to the most. Also, some favoritism was given to the second half of the decade because even though Weezer's Green Album got a ton of playtime on my CD player in 2002, I can't bring myself to add it to the list.

In alphabetical order...

Arcade Fire
"Funeral"

I actually might like Neon Bible better and (thanks to mine and Sarah's road trip across South Africa) might have listened to it more). But, this was the album where I "discovered" Arcade Fire, so it will always leave the bigger impression. Plus, if I was doing a list of favorite singles from the aughts, "Backseat" would probably be on that list.

Beirut
"Gulag Orkestar"

Who knew that a 23-year-old kid from New Mexico playing what sounds like Eastern European gypsy folk music in the streets of Paris would be one of my favorites. But, from the time it was release in, like 2006 till now, it's been a favorite. Funky and ecclectic, while also accessible and poppy. His follow up Flying Club Cup is also excellent.

Broken Social Scene
"You Forgot It In People"

Along with their later self-titled album, this was basically the soundtrack to Sarah and I planning our big trip. Like Arcade Fire, this band somehow manages to capture something that reminds me of growing up in the suburbs... I'm not sure why, or why that would appeal to me, but it does. The sing-songy "Athems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" will be stuck in your head for days.

David Byrne & Brian Eno
"Everything That Happens Will Happen Today"

As much as I love Byrne, most of his solo work hasn't connected the way his Talking Heads stuff did. That said, this is probably the best thing he's done ever, in my opinion. Period. Eno's music elevates Byrne's songs to the rank of "secular gospel" that they aspire to. The album of 2008 for me.

Gorillaz
"Gorillaz"

I remember stumbling across the video for their first single, "Clint Eastwood" months before the CD was released in the US, and watching it probably 18-hundred-dozen times. Then, I went to a Canadian CD website, bought the album there, and had it shipped to me here in the US for way too much money. Then, I spent the next year or two listening to it non-stop. Their follow up, Demon Days was excellent too.

Postal Service
"Give Up"

I'm pretty sure I put this album in my CD player sometime in 2003, and didn't take it out until Sarah and I left on our Round the World trip in 2007. Probably, if backed into a corner, this would be the album I'd admit most defined this decade for me.

(On a side note, I remember, when this album came out, I wished there were more albums like it. But, recently, when I discovered the band, Owl City, it actually mad me a little angry to here someone so obviously aping Postal Service's shtick.)

Ryan Adams
"Demolition"

Ryan came out with something like 84 albums this decade. And most of them got a lot of play time at the Hill-Stach residence. But, Demolition is probably my long-term favorite. Entertainingly, his never-released "Destroyer" session was probably our second most listened to Ryan Adams CD, and also contains mine and Sarah's wedding song.

The Shins
"Oh, Inverted World"

The song "New Slang" might be a indie-music-hipster cliche, but I still remember hearing it for the first time. In the movie Garden State, Natalie Portman's character shares that song with Zach Braft saying "You gotta hear this one song, it'll change your life I swear." And while that sounds a little hyperbolic, it was one of those songs that stuck me the very second I heard it.

White Stripes
"White Blood Cells"

I might have listened to Elephant just as much (and "Seven Nation Army" might be the song that springs most imediately to mind), but White Blood Cells started it off. In fact, this album sort of kicked off several years of listening to a lot of retro-garage rock bands, but the Stripes are one of the few that still holds up today.

Wilco
"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"

One of those rare albums that was a critical darling, that I loved and that I listened to a ton. In fact, the song "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" was easily on the Top 10 for my most listened to individual songs. And, has some of my favorite, borderline nonsense lyrics.

Oh, and here are some runners up: The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free, New Pornographers Mass Romantic, Vampire Weekend's self-titled release, Decemberists Crane Wife, Neko Case Blacklisted, PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Death Cab For Cuties' Transatlantism, Andrew Byrd Andrew Byrd & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, Blue Scholars Bayani, Outkast Skankonia and, of course, Weezer the Green Album.

Like my previous Best of the 2000s entry, if there are any of these albums you are considering buying, why not buy them through my General Store. Thanks!

(EDIT: D'oh! I can't beleive that I forgot Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! ...Bad, Tyler! Bad!)

Link-O-Rama: 12/16

2009-12-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

You know how to make boring photos entertaining? Replace all the beer, wine and liqour bottles with cats using Photoshop. World, meet Boozecats.

This little animated video is a thing of a hilarious thing of beauty. As Drawn describes it:

The TV Show, animated by Sugimoto Kousuke and featuring the music of Takayuki Manabe, features a creative use of colour as a variety of narratives, nested within each other, soon begin to meld together. And what a fun video it is.

If anyone wants to buy me a Christmas present two months after Christmas actually happens, feel free to by me this: "Here Lies Love." It's David Byrne and Fat Boy Slims long anticipated 2 CD, 1 book & 1 DVD set exploring the life of Imelda Marcos. A soundtrack of club music, featuring singing by a host of (primarily) female vocalists ranging from Sia and Santigold to Nelly McKay and Natalie Merchant. In Byrne's own words:

“The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!”

Apparently, BBCs Channel 4 is airing a pilot for a new TV show featuring Will Arnett and David Cross. As a huge fan of Arrested Development I hope that we'll get to watch it over on this side of the pond someday. Until then, we can bask in the glory of the first scene of "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" in this clip:

(Not Suitable for Work, by the way. Unless, of course, they like swearing in the workplace as much as Will's character apparently does.)

I Aught to Know: Movies

2009-12-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

The 10 Best Movies of the 2000s

...Well, according to me, at least.

Anyhow, these are my relatively random picks for the 10 Best Movies of the 2000s. There's a good chance that I'll look at these next week and be embarrassed by what I picked. But, until then, here's what I thought was excellent, in alphabetical order.

City of God - This one actually just barely made it on the list. But, when going down my long list of options, I keep coming back to it. The historical angle, exotic locale, visual flair and unrelenting nature of this film makes it pretty exhilarating to watch. Tracking the life of a young man, Rocket, in the eponymous slum city; it's an often brutal film but also a dazzling one.

...Plus, including it on this list might provide me and my brother with another chance to argue about it, since he thinks its over-rated.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - I obsessed over this movie when it came out. And, rewatching it earlier this year, I was surprised to find that it holds up. I would have thought that with the wave of wire-working martial arts films that came after it, it would have seemed watered down. But, like Pulp Fiction, it set off a wave of imitators that could never quite match it.

Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind - Visually creative and emotionally resonating. It's rare that those two get effectively paired in a movie. And, it surprising how -despite its fanciful premise- this is one of the most emotionally accurate relationship films I've ever seen.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Bundled with Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Inglourious Basterds) - The Kill Bills should really be one movie, but if I was forced to pick, I'd go with the more audacious Vol. 1. Tarantino's love letter to Grindhouse cinema features a great soundtrack, an animated interlude, Uma Thurman in a yellow leather suit and copious amounts of blood. It also proves that Tarantino can even make exploitation films meaningful.

Lost in Translation - Another movie I obsessed over when it came out. I have a soft spot for films that are basically tone poems... where the director sets out to create an emotional or visual tone or feeling, and just tries to maintain it. This was probably the most successful movie of that kind for this decade. Plus, like Eternal Sunshine, its got one of the most emotionally resonate relationships I've seen on film.

Memento - Dark Knight might be more popular now, but I think I still prefer Nolan's first film. I may be 75% timeline gimmick, but its probably the most effective timeline gimmick in a movie ever. Plus, there is a great style and mystery that help keep things interesting.

Spirited Away - My animated pick. I'm still looking forward to Stella being old enough to watch and enjoy this. A visual treat that's overflowing with great ideas and characters.

Return of the King - Really, this is a vote for the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Epic in ever sense of the word. Flawed and overlong at times, but also larger than life, visually overwhelming and constantly entertaining. If only most big-budget movies had this level of depth and complexity.

Royal Tennenbaums - Darjeeling Limited might be my current fav, and Rushmore (from '98) might be my all-time favorite Wes Anderson film, but Tennenbaums will probably end up having the most staying power for me. Regardless, Wes Anderson produced a string of excellent films over the last decade, so I had to include at least one of them.

X-Men 2: X-Men United - Really, does this surprise you? The best X-Men movie, which makes it by default my favorite comic book adaptation.

So, there ya go, those are my picks. At least until I change my mind. If reading this list helped remind you of a movie you enjoyed or encourages you to check out any of these films, feel free to buy a copy of it in my shop, the General Store.

Link-o-rama: 11/30

2009-11-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

Have a tattoo you regret getting? Well, this should make you feel better: Ugliest Tattoos - A Gallery of Regret. (Oh, and some of that site probably falls into the catagory of "Not Safe For Work.")

I've recently noticed some old photos of my parents when they were younger kicking around their house. After seeing this site, I'm tempted to upload a few: MyParentsWereAwesome.com

A new video by the same guys who did this video. But, this time, they are interviewing Sarah Palin supporters standing in line at a book signing:

Wow.

Changing gears a little, here's possibly the coolest thing I've seen all week. I know that the 3-grader in my is geeking out big time...

Here's how they built it.

I'm not very good at singing songs...

2009-10-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Another video is making the round in YouTube-land that has caught my attention, and compelled me to watch it a half-dozen times in a row. It's one of those things that's just bizarre, campy, strange... yet affecting in a way that appeals to the little kid in me who used to leaf through books on space, and who still enjoys a star-filled night sky today. Enjoy!

..and something tells me that Carl Sagan might have enjoyed it himself.

A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way...

But, what about tater tots?

2009-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my friend, Jody, posted a link that I thought was worth putting up on General Admission: It's "simply" a list of The 50 Best Foods in the World and Where to Eat Them. No small claim there! Like a multi-course meal, I've been slowly reading my way through it, and each time come away hungry.

It seems like the sort of thing that, in certain circles, would be endlessly debatable. I mean, you might not agree with what they claim are the 50 "best foods" (I for one, am not a fan of items one or two on the list). Or, even if you like everything on the list, you probably know a place you think has the best Pho or the juiciest Hamburger. Still, there are plent of entries that make me want to grab my suitcase and do a culinary tour.

Yum! ...Can you tell its lunchtime?

Oh, and with regards to the title of this entry, actually item #41 on the list is "Best Place for Fried Potatoes." I guess that's close enough.

Bi-Czar

2009-09-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

Generally speaking (sic), I don't get into politics much here at General Admission. Partially, that out of respect for friends and family members that might disagree with my opinions, but who follow this blog. But, its also because, if you really want to read someone's political opinions, there are definitely more informed (or at least more passionate) sites out there than this one.

That said, some things just beg to be posted here. For example...

Seriously?! I mean, wow. Where to start? Oh, how about here...

I'd think that, if you were going to go through the effort of making signs and T-shirts demonizing "Czars," you might at least want to have a vague functioning understanding of what the roll of a Czar is, in US politics. I mean, its one thing to oppose Obama's somewhat hyperactive tendency to appoint Czars for everything on the basis that maybe it's not the best usage of government money (at least that's a debatable argument). But, it's a whole different ball-o-crazy to be against Czars because you think they are the masterminds behind some sort of Neo-Communist-Illuminati-style takeover of the United States based on the historical lineage of the name "Czar" alone. It's not like the roll of Czars in US politics is Top Secret or something.

Wedding Season

2009-07-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here in the Sunny™ Pacific Northwest, August is by far the most dependably sunny month of the year. Therefor, it's not surprising that each year there is a flurry of weddings in August. Heck, Sarah and I got married in August! And, this year is no different, with no less than three couples we know tying the knot.

So, since July is winding down, and Wedding Season is about to officially begin, and in honor of Zeke & Anushka, Emily & Roger and Alison & Rhett, I present what might be the happiest wedding procession entry I've seen...

Apparently, Wolverine really is the "best he is, at what he does."

2009-07-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

So, when I mention to my friends that I have collected X-Men comic books since I was in 5th grade, they generally respond with some variation of "that's nice." Or, rather, "that's not very interesting."

But, when I then go on to suggest that they should start reading X-Men comic books themselves, they usually point out that the X-Universe is an impenetrable web of interchangeable characters whose names and relationships with each other are impossible for a new reader to follow ...much less care about.

Fair enough.

That's why, while I'm off vacationing in Hawaii, I suggest that you all get up to speed on your Who's Who in the X-Universe by reviewing this X-Men Universe Relationship Map which layout all the dirty details as who's done what with who in the greater X-Men Universe...

...there, that should clean things up for you quickly. Any questions? Sadly, I can't claim to have created that mini-masterpiece, and it was instead created by the helpful people over at UncannyXMen.net, who not only created it but have a zoom-able and explorable version of it here (Check it out! But, also be warned it takes a minute to load).

If that all seems like too much for you, maybe you can just start out with their Summer's Family Tree which charts all of Cyclop's family. See, much easier.

OK, I'm off to Hawaii! Study up while I'm gone. There will be a quiz when I get back. Aloha!

(Special thanks to Jon Quixote for pointing out the X-Men Relationship Chart.)

Big Words

2009-06-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted anything here, so I figured it was time to spam those of you who actually stop by with some random knowledge... or, at the very least, some random thoughts and ideas by Milton Glaser (of the "I ♥ New York" logo fame).

Fig 1: Milton Glaser.

Over on the Other Internet, Thaddeus Gunn pointed out this excerpt from a talk Milton Glaser gave at an AIGA function in London back in 2001. In it he discusses "Ten Things I Have Learned," and while I'm sure a lot of people can probably find something on his list to disagree with, it's still a pretty interesting read. I was originally going to cut and paste the whole thing here, but that might be too intimidating, so I figured that I could just do a bullet list of the things he's learned instead...

10 Things Milton Glaser has Learned

• YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE.
• IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB.
• SOME PEOPLE ARE TOXIC AVOID THEM.
• PROFESSIONALISM IS NOT ENOUGH or THE GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF THE GREAT.
• LESS IS NOT NECESSARILY MORE.
• STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
• HOW YOU LIVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN.
• DOUBT IS BETTER THAN CERTAINTY.
• ON AGING.
• TELL THE TRUTH.

There, now that you've read the Online Marketing Bullet Point-style list, go read the whole thing here! As Glaser points out himself, "less is not necessarily more" so do you really want to only read the condensed version?

Look! Up in the sky! ...or, er, wait...

2009-06-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I come across a news story that leaves me struggling to figure out which response to embrace. Do I A) mock the easily mockable (oh, so very, very tempting), B) let my inner fanboy geek out a little, or C) try to turn it into some sort of poorly conceived commentary on the modern world. In these cases, I think it's better to just D) post it here...

(As I find myself saying here way to often: You can't make this stuff up.... oh, well, unless your a comic book writer, I guess.)

From CNN.com

Amid hard times, an influx in real superheroes

By Craig Johnson
Special to CNN

(CNN) -- Mr. Ravenblade, Mr. Xtreme, Dark Guardian and hundreds of others. Some with elaborate costumes, others with haphazardly stitched outfits, they are appearing on city streets worldwide watching over the populace like Superman watched over Metropolis and Batman over Gotham City.

Geist patrols the Rochester, Minnesota, area, with a group of like-minded and similarly dressed colleagues.

As people become disillusioned from financial woes and a downtrodden economy and look to put new purpose in their lives, everyday folks are taking on new personas to perform community service, help the homeless and even fight crime.

"The movement is growing," said Ben Goldman, a real-life superhero historian. Goldman, along with Chaim "Life" Lazaros and David "Civitron" Civitarese, runs the New York-based Web site Superheroes Anonymous as part of an initiative dedicated to organizing and making alliances with superhero groups.

According to Goldman, who goes by the moniker Cameraman because of his prowess in documenting the movement, economic troubles are spawning real life superheroes.

"A lot of them have gone through a sort of existential crisis and have had to discover who they are," Goldman said. People are starting to put value in what they can do rather than what they have, he said. "They realize that money is fleeting, it's in fact imaginary."

Estimates from the few groups that keep tabs put the worldwide total of real-life superheroes between 250 and 300. Goldman said the numbers were around 200 just last summer.

Mr. Ravenblade, laid off after a stint with a huge computer technology corporation, found inspiration for his new avocation a few years ago from an early morning incident in Walla Walla, Washington.

"I literally stepped into a woman's attempted rape/mugging," Mr. Ravenblade said. While details were lost in the fog of the fight, he remembers this much: "I did what I could," he said, adding that he stopped the crime and broke no laws. "And I realized after doing what I did, that people don't really look after people."

Public response to real-life superheroes has been mixed, according to Mr. Xtreme, who founded the Xtreme Justice League in San Diego, California.

"Sometimes it's been really positive with people saying, 'Woohoo, the superheroes are here,' and then the usual barrage, saying 'Oh, these guys are losers.' Other times people will look kind of freaked out, and then sometimes people just don't know what to think about us."

Like Peter Parker kept his Spider-Man identity from his editor boss, Mr. Extreme and Mr. Ravenblade have asked CNN editors to keep their identities secret.

The current superhero movement started a few years ago on MySpace, as people interested in comics and cool caped crusaders joined forces, Goldman said. It goes beyond the Guardian Angel citizen patrols of the early 1980s, as the real-life superheroes of today apply themselves to a broadly defined ethos of simply doing good works.

Chris Pollak, 24, of Brooklyn, New York, can attest to the appeal. "A lot more people are either following it or wanting to go out and do it," Pollack, who goes by the name Dark Guardian, said. By "do it," he means patrol the harrowing streets late at night.

"A lot of kids say they're real-life superheroes [on MySpace]," Mr. Ravenblade said. "But what are you doing? Being in front of a computer is not helping anybody."

Comic book legend Stan Lee, the brain behind heroes such as Spider-Man and the X-Men, said in his comic books doing good -- and availing one's self -- was indeed the calling card for superheroes.

"If somebody is committing a crime, if somebody is hurting some innocent person, that's when the superhero has to take over."

"I think it's a good thing that people are eager enough to want to help their community. They think to do it is to emulate the superheroes," Lee said. "Now if they had said they had super powers [that would be another thing]."

Without super powers, real life superheroes confess to a mere-mortal workload, including helping the homeless, handing out fliers in high-crime areas and patrolling areas known for drug-dealing.

Mr. Ravenblade said he and some of his superfriends would soon be trying to organize a Walk for Babies fundraiser in Portland, Oregon.

"We work with charities that help children," he said. "We think a lot of crimes happen because of people who didn't get a lot of love when they were younger. We do what we can to help that there."

"Homeless outreach is the main thing I like to do," said Chaim "Life" Lazaros, of Superheroes Anonymous. "We give out food, water, vitamins, toothbrushes. A lot of homeless people in my area know me, and they tell us about what they need. One homeless guy said 'I need a couple pair of clean underwear.'"

For Christmas, Lazaros said his group raised $700 in gifts and brought them to kids at St. Mary's Children's Hospital in New York. "They were so excited to see real-life superheroes," Lazaros said. iReport.com: Searching for Cincinnati's caped crusader

Many of the real-life superheroes even initiate citizen's arrests, but what's legal varies by state. And in North Carolina citizen's arrests are illegal. Real-life superheroes who grab a suspected villain may find themselves under a specter of trouble.

"Not a good idea," said Katy Parker, legal director for the ACLU of North Carolina. "Seeing as how there's no citizen's arrest statute [in the state], people who do this are running a serious risk of getting arrested for kidnapping, and being liable for false imprisonment."

"Vigilantism is never a good thing," said Bernard Gonzales, public information officer for the Chula Vista, California, Police Department. He's had some interactions with real-life superheroes. "The very best thing a private citizen can do is be a good witness."

Mr. Ravenblade said he's just that.

"If you're a real-life superhero you follow the law. If you catch somebody you can't just tie them up and leave them for the cops, that's for the comics. You have to wait for the cops and give them a statement," Mr. Ravenblade said.

While citizens helping out in the community is encouraged, Gonzales said the costumes can go.

"Where these people are out in public, and there's children around and everything, and these people are not revealing their identities, it's not a safe thing."

But the costumes go with the gig, right down to the do-it-yourself approach to good deeds, including, apparently, recycling.

"The costume I have is simple," said Mr. Xtreme. "I made it myself. I had a graphic designer design it for me and just took it down to the swap meet and had somebody imprint it on for me."

"The mask," an old bullfighter's piece, "I got from Tijuana."

Want to see photos? Check out giggle-worthy World Superhero Registry.

Wolverine likes free comic books.

2009-04-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Do you?

In anticipation for Free Comic Book Day, this May 2nd, someone has put together this little one-two punch. It starts with Wolverine... er, I mean, Hugh Jackman... talking about how comic books promote literacy ("Its true! They're what kept me reading!" - The General), and then moves onto a trailer for the new Wolverine movie...

...which I still think looks Rad™.

So, remember kids, hurry down to the comic stores on May 2nd, and grab some free comics, before fanboys get them all. Because, if you dont, they will. And, who's that helping? Well, beyond the fanboys.

¡Ole!

2009-04-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Having a bit of a bummer day today.

My dream job of working as a freelance designer and illustrator has been, shall we say, less than dreamy. But, it's always nice to stumble upon the right sort inspiration at the right time. And, today, that inspiration takes the form of a TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert that I came across and decided to watch because it dealt with the idea of "creative genius" ...something I'm lacking today.

I initially encountered Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Pray, Love, when a friend loaned it to Sarah and I while travelling in Vietnam. With its combination of food, travel and loosey-goosey Eastern spirituality, it was another thing that I think I encountered at the right place and time. In this talk, she discusses the idea of creative inspiration and how current views on where creativity comes from can often lead to doubt, depression and worse for people who work in creative fields. And then she goes on to present an alternate view of where creative inspiration might come from that maybe be a little more healthy to the artist's psyche.

Anyhow, its worth the 19 minutes it takes to watch it...

Now, I know I'm not in a position where I'm grappling with already having created my best creative work (in fact, I feel like I'm still working toward something great). But, still, on a day like today, when doing creative works seems daunting and, well, less than fun; it was still the type of message I needed to hear.

¡Ole!

A need to know basis.

2009-03-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Someone pointed out this video today detailing statistics and facts surrounding the exponential growth of technology and populations. Its one of those things that manages to be simultaneously impressive, crazy and more than a little scary. Especially, when you watch if with a four-month-old daughter sleeping next to you and try to ponder what it means for her...

What's a "Pucat"?

2009-03-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

...oh, wait.

Anyhow, the other day, my friend, Jimmy, mentioned a website called EatPoopUCat.com. Eat Poop U Cat is a game that is a mix of Pictionary and Exquisite Corpse. The basic idea is that one person writes a sentence. Then, the next person draws a picture of that sentence. Then, without seeing the original sentence, the third person writes a sentence discribing the picture. And on and on...

The basic effect is rather like the game Telephone, where the final sentence usually bears little resemblance to the original sentence... usually with humorous results.

And, anyhow EatPoopUCat.com is the online version of that game... and really massively addicting. Y'know because I need another way to waste my time!

If you are looking for a way to waste your time, I recommend checking it out. If you do, maybe we shall cross paths.

Oh, and for the record, I have no idea why it's called "Eat Poop You Cat." All attempts to research the history of this name led to pages of concerned parents wondering if it is OK that their toddler just ate cat poop.

My Comic Collection

2009-03-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Wanna see my comic collection?

Today, on one of the comic book message boards I frequent, it was suggested that we all take pictures of our comic book collections to share how we store them, where we store them, and compare their... er... size. And, while the undertones of such activity might seem a little too much like the Fanboy equivalent of similar competitions and comparisons that jocks might participate in while changing in the locker room, I still figured it was worth posting the pictures here for the world to see.

As they say, I'll show you mine, if you show me yours.

...um, let's get started shall we!

The bookshelf in the living room. It's only about one third to one half trade paper backs and graphic novels, but it's sort of our "statement" saying: "Comics are literature, just like regular books." Bold, aren't we. These are primarily the comics that I might suggest to people when they are visiting. I have all sorts of fantasies where Sarah and I have dinner guests over, and suddenly I get to say something like: "Oh, you haven't read Osamu Tezuka's Buddha graphic novel? I you reallly should, it's enlightening (get it!)"

Or, something witty and comic related like that. One can dream.

Next to the bed you'll find just a small stack of comics (between the diaper holder and angry looking kitty cat). Actually, these are just the comics from the last month or so. In a weeks time they'll be read be read and moved into the basement. Speaking of which...

The basement, and the main portion of my collection and where most of my comics end up gathering dust. There's actually an additional small stack of comics lying nearby, which need to be filed away, but their existence is a source of torment for me, so I didn't take a photo of them. On the shelf beneath the boxes you can see trades that weren't deemed worthy enough to go on the "literary bookshelf" upstairs... in addition to books that also didn't make the cut. You'll notice on the boxes are little labels that say what comics are in them. But, what might be less obvious is that probably a fourth of those labels read "unsorted."

Anyhow, as I mentioned at the awkward lead-in to this entry, feel free to treat this like a meme and post your own collections. Maybe, if I hear about other people doing this, I can create a list of links of comic collection photos.

That Album Meme

2009-02-27T09:39:00.001-08:00

This album cover meme has been kicking around on Facebook for the last week or so where you follow a series of links (see below) to "randomly" generate an album cover. And, since I needed a little Design warm up this moring, I thought I'd give it a try. My result:

I think this meme is sort of interesting because A) It's a little more creative and visual than some of them. And, B) I think it's entertaining that, as we all move to digital music files with no attached album covers, something like this appears. Maybe we are missing album jackets and record art more than we care to admit.

But, enough of me trying to pretend I'm high-minded, give it a try yourself (if you haven't already).

Original Meme...

CREATE YOUR BAND NAME & ALBUM COVER:

To Do This

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

You can't make this stuff up...

2009-02-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I can't even come up with a witty headline to go with this little news blurb that was just pointed out to my in Variety. In fact, I'm not even going to try to add anything witty myself, just read on:

Rocket launches 'Predator'
Clark to direct aliens vs. Jane Austen pic
By MICHAEL FLEMING

Elton John's Rocket Pictures hopes to make the first Jane Austen adaptation to which men will drag their girlfriends.

Will Clark is set to direct "Pride and Predator," which veers from the traditional period costume drama when an alien crash lands and begins to butcher the mannered protags, who suddenly have more than marriage and inheritance to worry about.

Shooting will begin in London later this year. John exec produces, and his Rocket partners Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish are producing.

Clark, who directed award-winning short "The Amazing Trousers," wrote the script with Andrew Kemble and John Pape.

"It felt like a fresh and funny way to blow apart the done-to-death Jane Austen genre by literally dropping this alien into the middle of a costume drama, where he stalks and slashes to horrific effect," Furnish said.

John will supervise the music, as he does in each Rocket-produced film.

The company is in production on the CG-animated "Gnomeo and Juliet" for Miramax/Disney; James McAvoy and Emily Blunt voice the title characters. Rocket is also behind the Sundance series "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ..."

So, Elton John's production company is backing a picture where the Predator attacks the characters from a Jane Austin novel. I notice that the article sidesteps saying whether or not it will truly be the Predator or the characters from Pride and Prejudice. But, one can only hope, if for no other reason than to hear Mr. Darcy say:

"I dare say, you are one ugly mother..." ROAR!

(Edit: Thanks to Skybar for pointing out that I was getting "the Amazing Trousers" and "the Wrong Trousers" confused. Oops. Too many trousers.)

Like clockwork

2009-01-13T14:00:00.001-08:00

In case you guys missed it, while the world was collapsing into a financial black hole of biblical proportions last year, the Swiss in turn said: "Y'know, screw this whole banking thing... let's live the dream and become jet pack powered superheroes!"

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy, the world's first man to fly with a jet-powered fixed-wing apparatus strapped to his back, flies during his first official demonstration, on May 14, 2008 above Bex, Switzerland.(Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

Oh, and while the Swiss were embracing their inner Rocketeer, the world spontaneously ended in a giant, lightning-wrapped ball of Hellfire. See!

I kid, of course! The world didn't end, silly! Or, if it did, I failed to notice. And, while I tend to get wrapped up in myself sometimes, I'd like to think I'd notice something like that. Hopefully. Instead, that picture shows:

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (Carlos Gutierrez)

Craziness. Both the photos above where from this "The Year 2008 in Photos" series that my friend Hallie posted a link to on Deep Thought... er... Facebook. I've only looked through the first set of 40 photos (there are three sets total), but there are some truly amazing photos mixed in there. Check them out if you have time.

I just got a Cat Scan.

2008-12-17T15:15:00.001-08:00

Anyhow, I was working on my computer just now, and looked over to notice that Buttercup (one of the two cats we are cat-sitting) was standing on the open scanner.

So, I scanned her. See.

If this already isn't a Meme, it should totally be one. So, everyone scan your cats, and send me the pictures, and I'll either post them here or link to them.

(Obligatory statement about how you shouldn't hurt or blind your cat while trying to scan them. Humane scans only.)

The best at what he does...

2008-12-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

Wwwooolllvvveeerrriiinnneee!!!

Sorry! I didn't mean to squeal like that.

As regular readers know, my love for all things X-men knows no bounds. And, I'm pretty sure I was one of about four people on the planet who even loved the third X-Men movie. So, it should be of little surprise that I'm all-sorts-of-excited about the new Wolverine movie. And, look! Trailer!

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE SD

Like the previous X-Men films, there's are loads of additional mutants in this including Gambit, Emma Frost, and the Blob apparently. Plus, Leiv Schreiber taking up the roll of Sabretooth. That's something, right? I'm curious to see how they'll have that mesh with the Sabretooth we saw in the first movie.

Still... exciting.

Happy Beard-day!

2008-12-12T13:05:00.001-08:00

Sorry I haven't been posting here much, but since the arrival of Stella Rose I've been a bit busy. But, today is my birthday, so I thought I'd pop on to Ye Olde General Admission and post a quick entry to celebrate one of the finest aspects of being an old man...

Happy Beard-day, y'all!

Sadly, my beard still falls into the catagory of "Grizzled" ...though maybe someday, I'll sport the "Queen's Brigade." Gotta dream!

(Thanks Joe, for sending me this!)

Drat! My bidding limit was $14,825!

2008-11-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

With Quantum of Solace being released this weekend, I wanted to do an entry talking about my obsession with James Bond. But, maybe, I'll wait until after I've seen it (hopefully this weekend) before I ramble about Bond. James Bond.

So, instead, I think I'm just going to post a link to a story talking about a real, true-life vampire hunting kit that apparently fetched nearly $15,000 at in auction in Mississippi recently.

1800s Vampire Killing Kit Nabs $14,850 At Stevens Auction
Nov 11th, 2008

A complete and authentic vampire killing kit, circa 1800 and housed in a walnut case, achieved $14,850. Natchez, Miss.:A complete and authentic vampire killing kit — made around 1800 and complete with stakes, mirrors, a gun with silver bullets, crosses, a Bible, holy water, candles and even garlic, all housed in a American walnut case with a carved cross on top — attained $14,850 in the Jimmy Pippen estate sale by Stevens October 3–4 in the new Natchez Convention Center.

The sale comprised the contents of Pippen's stores (Pippen Antiques and Pippen Interiors), items from his personal residence (which he considered a perfect creation and called "Paradise"), the contents of another home (a three-story, 1850s townhouse called "The Orchard" that he restored with fine appointments and rented out) and treasures from several warehouses.

Rest of the article

Now, far be it from me to fawn over something that would generally appeal to a 13 year old, suburban, Goth kid... but that's pretty cool. I didn't think that something like this actually existed outside of Joss Whedon's mind. I just find it interesting and intriguing that some person back in the 1800's was concerned enough about vampire attacks that they to assembled this kit, complete with silver bullets. I mean, I can't even get my act together enough to throw together an earthquake survival kit even though I live in Seattle.

Maybe I should put together a Sasquatch Hunting Kit.

"Cool Beans"

2008-10-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

You know what saying I hate? Cool Beans.

You know what saying I can't seem to stop saying? Cool Beans.

Fig. 01: Cool beans.

I'm not even sure where "cool beans" comes from or what it means. But, according to the Urban Dictionary is originated in the 70's, and was made popular by Candance Cameron's character in Full House. A show I never watched. Interesting.

Regardless, I seem to find myself using it more and more often. And, as a result, I seem to find myself loathing myself more and more for using it. Therefor, I've taken to augmenting the phrase in hopes of keeping the aloof, intellectual part of my brain from killing the slightly-less intellectual part that wants to keep chirping: Cool beans. Cool beans. Cool beans.

My new exclamation goes like this:
"As they say at the Arctic Chili Cook-Off: Cool Beans."

Awarsome. Anyhow, you heard it here first.

Apparently, according to my wife, I've also been saying "see you on the other side" a lot. This, my friends, is a completely separate problem.

So, what out there is actually cool beans, you ask?

Well, Stumptown Comics Fest looks like it will very likely be cool beans. This Portland based comic festival prides itself on focusing not just on creators. But, indie comic creators. With creators ranging form Craig Thompson to Tara McPerson, Brain Micheal Bendis and Scott McCLoud being featured, I can only presume that it'll be pretty rad. Or, as they say at the Arctic Chili Cook-Off: Cool Beans.

Also, this morning, I stumbled across the animated short, Flutter. It's one of those quick clips that doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense, but who's visual style and audacity makes it easy to bear its obscure narrative. In some regards, it reminds me of the work of Farel Dalrymple, who is a talented illustrator, but who's most famous work, Pop Gun War, refuses to follow any sort of coherent narrative. But, I also see shades of Aeon Flux there... well, if you remove the violence and leather.

Fig 02: Wonderful, but impenetrable.

BEYOND LAST MINUTE EDIT: Also, since I have your very divided attention, I thought I'd point you in the direction of the 700 Hoboes Project, inspired by John Hodgeman's very funny The Areas of My Expertise.

Anyhow, are there any other cool beans out there I'm missing?

"And who do you always see him hanging around with? Criminals!"

2008-10-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

In case any of you weren't able to watch the debates last night, I recorded them, and you can now watch them here on General Admission. I consider this a public service. So, without further ado, the 3rd Round of the Debates:

Uncanny.

(PS: Thanks, Mr. Minority!)

Well, no more need for this site...

2008-10-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I might as well go ahead, throw in the towel and close up shop on this blog. "Why?" You ask. Because, I found another site that does want I always secretly intended this site to do... but better.

Way back in the day, when I first fired up Ye Ole General Admission, I had planned on making it a place where I could post information and links on everything that I think is awesome in the world. Well, fast forward several years, and what do I stumble upon? A site dedicated to awesome things.

Or, specifically... 1000 Awesome Things.

Each day, the author of 1000 Awesome Things offers up his thoughts on a different awesome thing. So far, he's only done about 80 entries, but those entries range from Real Beard Santas to Opening and Sniffing a Pack of Tennis Ball and from Your Pillow to Old, Dangerous Playground Equipment. If you can't find at least one thing on the list that you think is awesome. Then, you might have to reevaluate your definition of the word.

And, to the writers credit, he doesn't just list things he thinks are awesome, but instead each entry is a miniature study of that thing, and why it is awesome. It's some clever writing, and it makes the site worth revisiting.

Awesome. (Or, as I say here, Awarsome.)

Punching sharks

2008-09-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Just think of how badass you'd feel being able to tell someone you'd punched a shark. Now, think of how much more badass you'd feel telling someone you'd punched a shark... while saving your rat terrier!

It's been a long while since I last relayed a story depicting the wonder and horror that is the modern ocean. And, it's been a near-literal dog's age since this blog featured a dog that could be confused with a rodent. So, it's with great pride and relief that I am about to cut and paste this story from MSNBC:

Man dives in to save dog from Fla. shark attack

The Fla. man punches 5-foot shark until it lets go of his rat terrier Jake

ISLAMORADA, Fla. - A dog is recovering after a Florida Keys carpenter dove in to save his pet from a shark.

Greg LeNoir said he took his 14-pound rat terrier Jake for a daily swim at a marina last Friday.

The five-foot shark suddenly surfaced and grabbed nearly the entire dog in its mouth.

LeNoir said he yelled, then balled up his fists and dove headfirst into the water off a pier. He hit the shark in the back and the creature finally let go of the dog.

"I couldn't see the shark when I dived in ... so I just put my fist together ... but my hands landed solidly against the back of the shark," LeNoir told NBC-affiliate WTVJ.

Man and dog made it safely back to shore. The dog suffered bite wounds but was not critically injured.

"I thought Jake deserved whatever I could do," LeNoir said of his heroism.

LeNoir told NBC 6 that Jake "can't stand swimming pools," but that he might have to change Jake’s swimming hole.

I think it bears reiterating: Mr. LeNoir's response to seeing his dog snagged by a shark is to ball his fists, and dive off the dock head-first, thereby punching the shark in the head. As much as I'd like to believe that I would do the same thing, I think my response would be something more along the lines of "cry because I'd just watched my dog get eaten by a shark."

Oh, and "LeNoir" would be a great name for a literary detective... except people probably wouldn't believe that people have a last name that cool.

Finally, here's a picture of Jake, to reward those of you who've made it to the bottom of this entry. Congrats!

The heavy and the light

2008-09-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

I generally don't dwell on politics here too much, but I stumbled across this TED video that seems entirely too timely, and which honestly shifted the way I think about Conservatives and Liberals. In it, the speaker, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, looks at how Five Moral Values (harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, purity/sanctity) influence both sides and affect their political choices. In addition, he goes on further to explain that these underlying motivators have both healthy and negative side-effects on society. Before concluding that, like many Eastern Relgions suggest, its ultimately balance that is the goal.

Whether or not we currently have balance right now is another matter (and one that both "sides" contest)... but still, really interesting stuff.

And, just to keep things from getting too heavy around here, I thought I'd also post this preview for No Heroics, a British superhero comedy TV series that we will probably never see on this side of the pond. It's got an interesting Office meets Justice League vibe to it.

...OK, so maybe it looks a little dumb. But, you rarely see superheroes in costume on the small screen. And, I still bet that twice as many people watch that preview over the number that watch the "Morality of Politics" one I started this entry off with.

(Oh, and sorry that this blog has just been video clips lately. I swear there is other interesting stuff out there. And I swear I'll post about it someday.)

Things I missed in 1999.

2008-09-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

While checking out Warren Ellis' blog, I stumbled across this little video gem that is loaded with all sorts of things that apparently occurred in 1999, while I was distracted by beer and College finals. Let's take a look shall we!

Actually, a quick search on Deep Thought indicates that Space 1999 was a TV series that originally aired in 1975. And, it also indicates that it's premise was awesome:

The underlying storyline of Space: 1999 centered on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha following a calamity on September 13, 1999. A huge nuclear waste dump on the far side of the Moon detonates in a massive thermonuclear explosion, initiated by the buildup of magnetic radiation which was released, causing a nuclear chain reaction. The force of the explosion causes the Moon to be sent hurtling out of Earth's orbit and into deep space at colossal speed, stranding the 311 crew members, in effect becoming the "spaceship" on which the protagonists travel, looking for a new home. During their interstellar journey, the Alphans encounter a vast array of alien civilizations, dystopian societies, and strange phenomena previously unseen by man.

Sadly, for the last 32 years of my life, I've been unaware of this potentially awe inspiring series. My ignorance probably has to do with the fact that it originally aired on the same year I was born... in Britain. But, part of me now feels compelled to see if they have made it available on DVD.

If nothing else, the very 2001: A Space Odyssey-esque fashions seem to be the perfect antidote to the dark and gloomy, dystopian vision of Sci-Fi that has dominated popular entertainment since Blade Runner hit the scene back in 1982.

And, if nothing else: Martin Landau!

Can I have this dance?

2008-09-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

I remember, back when Sarah and I were planning out big Round the World Trip, seeing a video which featured a guy doing a simple, yet affecting dance in various places around the globe. It was a pretty simple concept, but one that completely captivated me when I saw it, and helped fuel my already overactive imagination about the adventures Sarah and I would soon be having ourselves.

Well, today, for whatever reason, I decided to look it up again. I'd found myself suddenly curious to see how many of the places featured on the video I'd now been in my own life and travels. So, I track it down...

(I'm sure most of you have seen it, since I know if became quite the Internet sensation.)

Happily, I can announce that I've actually been to probably 2/3rds of the places on that video including Hanoi, Delhi, Bangkok, Agra, Prague, Angkor Wat, Kenya, Seattle and New York's Times Square. It's interesting watching it again now, after having been on my own trip. While before most of the places seemed distant and exotic, now there is a level of familiarity. It's still an amazingly diverse selections of locations, but rather than inspiring me to want to go there, it almost brings forth bittersweet feeling of nostalgia.

It's hard to describe the sensation.

But, not one to rest of his laurels, the guy who did the original video, Matt, this year released a new video which is, frankly, epic:

According to his website, Where the Hell is Matt?, this time out he had a little more sponsorship. But, it still is a pretty amazing little video.

Now I've got a whole new list of places I want to see.

I have no idea what's going on here....

2008-09-04T21:25:00.001-07:00

I really have no idea what's going on with this blog. Since helping found The Bad Genious several months ago. I've basically let this blog just go fallow. I've been posting pretty regularly over at Strange and Benevolent (Did you hear? I'm going to be a dad and stuff!), but I've been treating poor old General Admissions like its a fine wine: Leaving it alone to see if it gets better with age.

Anyhow, after watching several friends blogs get facelifts, I thought that it was time to give this blog one too. Granted, that means I'll actually have to start posting on it again, but let's deal with this all in "baby step" terms, shall we?

Speaking of Baby Steps™, I'll probably be making more changes to the format over the next couple of days (...more likely weeks), but tonight I made a few tweaks worth mentioning.

First off, as you might have noticed I've changed the overall look and feel of the blog. I think it means I'm goth or something. But, y'know, one of those goths who's big on the color white, because its ironic. Actually, I just needed a change of pace to get myself excited about this blog again. So, we'll see how long it lasts.

In addition, I've changed the format of my "General Friends" ...it's the new blogger system that shows their latest posts. So, now you can actually see which of my friends actually post on their blogs. And which make me look productive (I'm looking at you Ozten!).

Anyhow, that's it for today, but hopefully this will actually make me start posting again semi-regularly on this thing. Or at the very least clean up my tag list.

Ninja!

Get Byrned!

2008-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

"Wait! What's this?!" You ask yourself, "Tyler's actually posting on General Admission?! I thought he'd completely forgotten about this relic of a blog. What could have brought him out of quasi-retirement-slash-limbo?"

Well, to answer your question: My favorite 80's music-icon turned mid-life man-crush David Byrne has released a new album. Reuniting with Brain Eno (who worked with Byrne on both a number of Talking Heads albums, and the critically acclaimed My Life in the Bush with Ghosts...which I've never listen to because I'm the Worst Fan Ever™), Byrne's new album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is being released in the same manner as Radiohead's In Rainbows, with the online, downloadable release available now (for a fixed price, though), and a more conventional release available later this year.

...sheesh that sentence was a tangled mess but, y'know, I'm excited.

But, what's even more exiting is that they've made the entire album available for online streaming, so that you can listen to it before deciding whether or not to drop the dough. Let's take a listen now, shall we?

(If that embedded player doesn't work, just go to the official site.)

I've already listened to it a couple times today that think it's excellent! With each listen only compounding me infatuation with it. It's got a lot more sonic depth than some of Byrne's more recent offerings, thanks to Mr. Eno's contribution. And, it's got a lot more electronic influence, but with the usual warm organic tones that mark some of Byrnes best post-Heads work. If you just have time to check out one song, I'd recommend skipping straight to Strange Overtones, which is a good litmus test to determine whether or not you have a soul. If that song doesn't make you at least bob your head or tap your toe; then you are soul-free.

The album itself is available both as a digital download, or physical CD (with the downloads to keep you company until it arrives). In addition, there is a special limited edition version which includes a ton of extras... in case anyone wants to buy me an early Birthday present!

*Hint, hint. Wink, wink.*

Not Here, But Far Away (TMV4)

2008-05-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

The track list for Tater Mix Vol. 4: Not Her, But Far Away:

01) "History Song" - The Good, the Bad & the Queen
02) "The Girl from Ipanema" - Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz
03) "I Feel It All" - Feist
04) "If You Want Me" - Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova
05) "Breath Me" - Sia
06) "Drive On, driver" - Magnetic Fields
07) "Ocean of Noise" - Arcade Fire
08) "Sealegs" - The Shins
09) "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc." - Ryan Adams
10) "The Melee" - Beastie Boys
11) "North by Northwest" - Blue Scholars
12) "Arboretum" - Vetiver
13) "Bongo Bong" - Manu Chao
14) "Oxford Comma" - Vampire Weekend
15) "Nantes" - Beirut
16) "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be home Then)" - The Decemberists
17) "(Antichrist Television Blues)" - Arcade Fire
18) "Tera Mera Rista" - Awarapan Soundtrack
19) "Dead Ends" - Chad VanGaalen
20) "Lifetime Piling Up" - Talking Heads

I am a Bad Genious. Or am I?

2008-04-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

First off, sorry it's been quite around here. Life's been busy. But, beyond that usual blogger excuse, I've also been working on a new online project for the last couple weeks: The Bad Genious blog.

The Bad Genious started out as a small online message board community of comic book collectors and friends. For the last couple years, we've been meeting online on a daily basis (usually as a quick escape from our respective jobs) to chat about comics and pretty much anything else we've seen, watched, read or listened to. Over the years, most of us have had the opportunity to meet at least one other person in life, and some of become very close real-life friends. Heck, two people even got married.

Well, last week, rather suddenly, we decided to try creating a comic collector's blog with the members of the message board serving as the contributing writers. All of us were writing review already on our little message board, and several of us had even attempted to incorporate comic news and reviews into our own personal blogs (including my many awkward attempts here).

So, now that we are a week into developing it and creating content for it, I feel confident mentioning it here. We've still got some kinks to work out, but I'm genuinely excited about what we are doing. And, if you have any interest in comic books, and it's surrounding culture, I hope you'll stop by at some point and check out the Bad Genious.

I promise I'll still be posting things here, but at least for now, expect my entries to be a little sparse. Also, keep your eye on Strange and Benevolent. It's been quiet the last couple months, but I think that Sarah and I will be making some posts there soon too.

Cheers!

(And, yes, we know that "genius" is spelt wrong.)

Lando or Lobot?

2008-04-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, at my new job we get headset phones. I'm pretty sure that you know what I'm talking about. They're the little devices that hook over your ears, and make you look like a cyborg. Like Lobot.

And, while I have to admit that they are nice on those rare occasions where I'm talking on the phone while working, I'm still a little uncomfortable using them because I don't want to become one of those people you see wandering down the street talking enthusiastically to themselves. I don't want to look like a bad sci-fi character. I don't want to look like Lobot.

This is the point where those of you who's lives didn't rotate around Star Wars growing up ask: Who's Lobot?

Well, I shall tell you!

LEFT: Lando. Not Lobot. RIGHT: Lobot.

Lobot was Lando's side kick and assistant in the Empire Strikes Back. Lando ran Cloud City. Lobot stood around looking creepy. And, while Cloud City supposedly existed to harvest gas from the gas giant of Vespin... we all really know that in reality it was probably the swankiest place in a galaxy far, far away to throw a party. I mean, the place basically looks like 2001: The Casino.

And, who was throwing those parties? Lando. Not Lobot.

Lando is the person people should be emulating, not Lobot. Lando wears a cape, and looks good in blue. Lobot wears Earth tones, and color matches his pants with his vest. Lando in a high stakes gambler who wins and looses starships and floating cities with a wink and a grin. Lobot doesn't wink or grin.

How does Lando greet old friends? "Why, you slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler....." (followed by a big hug.)

How does Lobot greet old friends? Lobot has no friends.

How does Lando hit on the ladies? "You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds."

How does Lobot hit on the ladies? Silence.

And you know that Lando is more fun at a party. In fact, I have proof. I just happen to have a picture taken at a party where both Lando and Lobot were invited. Take a look...

Now, I ask you: Who looks like they are having more fun?

So, in summation, people really need to stop putting so much effort into emulating Lobot. If you need to wear a headset phone while at work, fine. But, when you step out of the office you better take off the communicator unit and tie on the cape.

Uncanny Valleys, Unlimited Budgets and The Mystery Box

2008-03-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

"The Uncanny Valley"

Earlier this week, a friend posted a link on the Tater Board showing "Big Boy," a new robot with deer-like legs, which the amazing ability to walk over difficult terrain, recover from slips on ice, and stay standing when someone tries to kick it over. Really, it's quite impressive. Look!

After watching the video, I made a comment to the effect of "Wow, that's creepy! What is it about robots that creeps people out? Is it naturally born into us, or is it just a byproduct to of having seen too many robots-take-over-the-world movies?"

And, in response, my friend introduced me to the concept of the "Uncanny Valley."

From Wikipedia.org:

Mori's hypothesis states that as a robot is made more human like in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion. However, as the appearance and motion continue to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.[2]

This area of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely-human" and "fully human" entity is called the uncanny valley. The name captures the idea that a robot which is "almost human" will seem overly "strange" to a human being and thus will fail to evoke the empathetic response required for productive human-robot interaction

What I think is interesting about this (beyond the fact that they include "zombie" on the chart above), is the fact that it dovetails nicely with a theory that Scott McCloud proposes in his Understanding Comics.

In Understanding Comics, Scott discusses how more abstract illustration styles (like Peanuts) will often be more successful than the realistic illustration styles (like what you might find in your typical Marvel or DC comicbook) at gaining the readers empathy. He maintains that the more simplistic or abstract the illustrations style is, the more the used has to activate their imaginations. And that by engaging the viewers imagination, it actually allows the reader to put themselves "in the characters shoes." Thus creating a great sense of empathy with the character.

On the flip side, the more photo-realistic an illustration is, the more the person evaluates it on a technical level. This, in turn, actually creates a greater degree of emotional distance from the illustrated character; as the viewer spends their time thinking "y'know, that one detail doesn't quite look right!"

I don't know, maybe McCloud's theory and the Uncanny Valley aren't related. But, at the same time, there just seems to be too much of a parallel. Abstraction and impression seem to lead to more empathy and connection than duplication and realism, anyhow.

Unlimited Budgets

Meanwhile, over on the Bad Genious, I found myself in an interesting discussion with a couple other members of the board. Basically, it ended up being a fairly candid conversation in which a bunch of comic fans were more of less admitting: Even though we all love comics, in many regards they aren't the best option for telling most stories.

Because that board is a private board, and because I'm fond of patting myself on the back. I thought I'd copy and paste one of my posts from that blog, so that maybe more people out in the Interweb might read it and weigh in:

Yeah, I think that every media form has its fair share of crap out there. For every good show on TV, I'm positive there are dozens of awful ones, and the same with movies, novels and... well... comics.

I think my complaint lies with the fact that each form of media has its strengths and weaknesses. But I feel like a lot of comics these days don't play toward their formats strengths. And, here's the two strengths that seem immediately apparent to me.

1) Unlimited budget - Unlike, say, TV or movies, you can do anything in comics without massively effecting the budget to produce it. You want a giant guy in a purple suit who eats planets? Fine. It's no more expensive than having two people standing around talking in their apartment. There aren't many forms of media that allow you that flexibility's.

2) Singular Creative Vision - While most comics we (on the Bad Genious) collect are produced by Marvel, DC, Image, etc. The reality is that it's one of the few media that can be completely produced from start to finish by one person. If a comic like Cerebrus proved anything its that one person can effectively make a comic that is his or her personal vision without creative interference from others. That one person can control everything, and with some time and money, get that personal vision and one-of a-kind story produced and into the hands of an audience.

What I think is unfortunate is that those two strengths are rarely combined. Rarely to you get a "singular creative vision" that also happens to involve the "unlimited budget" capabilities of a comic book. The "big budget" stuff seems to be mass produced, corporate comics. While the singularly created stuff ends up all being autobiographical stories about neurotic 20-somethings.

(Edit ted for clarity, but not content.)

So, yeah. I'm sure that other people out there have made the point better, but I figured it was worth repeating because it's something I've been thinking about recently. And, it's the type of discussion I'd like to continue at some point.

Also, it allows me to harp on another point that I seem to keep coming back to these days: That I feel like a lot of comic creators these days don't seem as interested in that sense of "out-there" wonder that previous generations of comic creators have been. Actually, creators started moving away from the overtly fantastical back in the early 80's. But still, where are the the planet-eating giants in purple headgears, teleporting bulldogs with tuning forks coming out of their heads and over-sized, world-conquering starfish of today?

Where have all the Lockjaws gone?

The Mystery Box

Feeling a little grouchy about the down-to-Earth nature of today's comicbooks, it was nice stumbling across this lecture by JJ Abrams for TED. TED stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design," and the TED website is dedicated to "Ideas worth spreading."

Most of those ideas come in the form of what appears to be an ongoing lecture series. And, since all three of those topics interest me, I've been finding myself checking out their videos more an more.

JJ Abrams, as I'm sure you all know, is the creator and director of TV shows such as Lost and Alias. And, in his discussion, he talks about where he gets him inspiration for the mysteries and intrigue that run through his work.

Most of that discussion hinges on a "Mystery Box" of magic tricks that his grandfather bought him. To this day the box, which is a blank box with a big question mark on it, has remained unopened. The mystery of what it may contain being more fascinating than whatever cheap tricks it might actually contain if opened.

Who says you can't box wonder and mystery.

A wonderful and intriguing image. And one that you can't help but be inspired by.

A penny for my thoughts.

2008-03-08T16:25:00.000-08:00

Pennies from heaven, or pennies from... hell?
I've found myself picking up pennies off the street on the way to work recently. I'm not sure why, but I think at some point something in my head clicked, and I reverted back to that fourth grade level of thinking that just sort of goes "hey, free penny!" I mean, it can't hurt, right?

Or, then again, maybe it can. I mean, it's a fairly well known fact that it costs the US government more to make pennies than they are worth. Add to that the fact that you can't really buy anything for one penny. If you think about it, it just might be possible that every time I stop to pick up a penny, I'm actually accumulating debt.

Or, maybe my math is just wrong.

Either that, or picking up pennies is the ultimate Zen activity. A ritual act that has no imediate benefit. But, after many, many year just might pay off. Either way... oh look! A penny!

Stop making cents

As I mentioned several entries ago, I got the Talking Heads' Once in a Lifetime box set for Christmas. The other day I finally got around to throwing the video DVD in and checking out the library of Talking Heads videos on it. In addition to all the old favorites, like Burning Down the House, I saw the video for Blind for the first time.

And, oh what a lost treasure it is! In addition to featuring the creepiest facial distortion special effects this side of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy", it also features some inspired sequences involving a slobbering crescent wrench holding a political rally. And, in these seemingly endless days leading up to the election, it just feels oddly timely. So, let's watch it together, shall we?

Citizen Freak

I've also been watching a number of old movies recently. Movies that I really should have seen long ago, and have no real excuse for missing until my 32 year on this planet. I mean, one of them was Citizen Kane, for pete sake!

The funny thing about seeing Citizen Kane is that you go into the movie with so much background. I mean, for one, a large portion of the population considers it the Greatest Movie Ever™. As a result, another almost equally large portion of the Earth's population has deemed it Over-Rated™.

I, being a wishy-washy Washingtonian, have dubbed it Pretty Darned Good™. I mean, it's no Big Trouble In Little China, but I still wish that more movies these days were made like Citizen Kane. I manages to have energy, creativity and visual style without drowning in quick cuts and quirky characters the way most movies with "energy, creativity, and visual style" do today. I think that, in today's world of MTV Editing, more directors could stand to learn from Welles example and dial things back a bit.

For example, look at how much energy this scene has, with comparatively few cuts by todays standards...

Or, maybe, more films just need chorus lines, hollering newsmen and a dancing Orson Welles in them. That's probably it.

Another movie that I really should have seen ages ago was Tod Browning's cult classic Freaks. (And, actually, I've seen several parts of it, but mostly in college and after a half dozen beers.) Freaks is famous (or rather infamous) for starring a cast made up largely of circus freaks. Midgets. Pinheads. Legless men. Armless women.

All of this makes Freaks the type of movie that is difficult to review because its a bit morally complex. And its not complex not because of the movies plot, but instead because it's hard to work out the morals behind it being made, and your own morals for watching it. Is it championing and humanizing the people in it? Or exploiting them for voyeuristic purposes? Am I watching it because its place in cinematic history? Or am I watching it for voyeuristic purposes? Probably a little of both in both cases.

And, I'm almost possible that, if you haven't seen it, you are at least a little curious. Because, face it, you are one of us... one of us.... one of us...

Commuter Cam 2: Foggy skies and secret signs

2008-02-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed doing the commuter cam thing... enough so that this morning, rather spur of the moment, I grabbed my camera and decided to do it again. There really does seem to be something to bringing my camera to work that forces me to break free of my zombie march, and look at the things that surround me a bit. So, here goes...

This time, instead of doing things in chronological order, I think I'll sort of group things thematically.

As you can see, it was pretty foggy on today's walk into work. I just love images like this, with high-rises disappearing into grey skies. They aren't necessarily unique, but there's still something mysterious about them. I wonder what people are doing up there? And can they see the ground?

Here's another building disappearing into the sky... but for a whole different reason. Construction continues, presumably on schedule, for the building across the street from where I catch the street car.

And, while one building goes up, another comes down. This isn't really the best picture of this building that is being torn down. But, I like how the reflections of the Streetcars lights look on the window. It sort of makes the image more dramatic, and gives it a sense of motion. Whoooosh!

Also, notice the cranes in the background. My friend wasn't lying when he told me that he counted 13 cranes one day while standing in one place; the other day I counted 15!

And here's the inside of the Streetcar. I think it sort of has that 2001 vibe. It's fun how 2001 started out as a futuristic version of the future, then became a retro-version on the future, and is now a retro-version of the past. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I'll let you try to parse it out.

62 is my lucky number... I hadn't noticed my lucky utility box until today, though.

With all the construction in this area, the street are lined with spraypainted marks like this. But, because I'm the type of guy who collects comic books and used to play rollplaying games, I always like to pretend that these are secret runic marks left by urban wizards locked in some sort of midnight turf war. Awesome or dorky, you make the call.

Someone's living their dream.

Sometimes, while walking across the dock on Lake Union, I see this strange bird. It's some sort of loon or something. Anyhow, I was hoping that it'd be there today for me, and it was! Not only that, it picked a picture perfect place to pose for the camera.

I think I'll pretend its good luck whenever I see this bird on the way to work. He looks lucky. Like the number 62.

Actually, the timbers of the old dock that the bird was perched on are actually pretty cool. Some of them are really rotten, somehow defying gravity and refusing to fall into the lake.

Others, though, are long gone.

Feeling City

2008-02-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

So, Sarah and I are going to Austin next week. Since Sarah went to college there, it will be a bit of a homecoming for her; but it will be my first time there. Thinking about that has got me reflecting on all the cities I've visited in my lifetime, and that -in turn- has led to lists.

So, instead of rambling about Lost and X-men like I had originally intended, I've decided to present my Top 10 Cities List! So, without further ado...

10. Hobart, Tasmania - While I enjoyed both Tasmania and New Zealand immensely, I have to admit that their main appeal lies with their spectacular scenery, wonderous terrain and great wines. That said, Hobart managed to win me over with its quaint old-world charm. Even if the hotel we stayed at was.... well... a complete dump, the rest of the city was filled with cute cafes, shops, inviting bars, weekly markets and great walkable streets. It amazing that, while Hobart was possibly the farthest I'd been away from home geographically speaking, it could feel so much like home.

Sarah at the market in Hobart

9. Portland, Oregon - The secret to Portland's charm lies with the fact that it is basically Seattle, without all the development, but with a better public transportation system. Even though Portland is only several hours south of Seattle, I've actually only been there a handful of times. But, each time I've been there it's impressed me in some new way. In fact, on our last visit, Sarah and I agreed that if we ever needed to move to another city, Portland would be on the top of our list.

8. Bangkok, Thailand - Most people seem to hate Bangkok. It's crowded, dirty, noise and imfamous for its horrific traffic. But, I think that might actually be part of the appeal to me. It also probably holds a special place in my heart since it was the first foreign city I ever visited. But, beyond that there is still some appeal to a sprawling chaotic megaopolis like Bangkok. It might be overwelming, but it's unmatched energy and great food also make it entrancing.

7. Cape Town, South Africa - Possibly the most stunning city view I've ever experienced is when Sarah and I took the gondola to the top of Table Mountain and stood looking down at Cape Town spreading out around the bay below us. I always find myself wanting to compare it to San Fransisco, but honestly the similarities are superficial and tangental. But, while South Africa and Cape Town are still struggling with their fair share of problems (racism, violence), there is no denying that Cape Town is one of the most scenic cities in the world.

A panoramo Sarah's brother stitched together of several photos we took on Table Mountain.

6. McLeod Ganj, India - McLeod Ganj was a place that I had to warm to a bit. When we first arrived there, its cramped streets filled with tourists and hippies was a bit of a turn off. But, in the end the city has a way of sneaking up on you. With its quiet moments and misty vistas of guesthouse perched atop of steep green hills, and its forgiving Buddhist backbone, McLeod Ganj ended up being the perfect place for Sarah and I to rest and reorient ourselves in the otherwise overwelming country of India.

...and there's Sarah in McLeod Ganj!

5. Prague, Czech Republic - Prague was the first city in Europe I ever visited, and it still represents Europe to me more than any other city I've visited. With its countless church spires and narrow cobblestoned steets, Prague hits all the perfect notes for just wandering around and enjoying the afternoon. With both cafes and Communist history, and a network of both streetcars and subways, Prague always seemed to have something interesting to do, and a good way to get there.

4. Buenos Aires, Argentina - It's like Paris... but in South America. Yeah, that's sort of a trite observation, and one that also misses some of Buenos Aires unique charm, but I still can't help but make it. Thick with cafe culture and late night parties, Buenos Aires has a charm that manages to be distinctly its own, while also drawing comparisons to a number of cities in Europe. Good wine, great neighborhoods and tons of meat for dinner... just thinking about it makes me want to go back!

3. Leh, India - Leh barely counts as a "city." It's more of a "village," a Buddhist encampment nestled in the Himalayas. A small swath of green surrounded by miles of magnificant brown mountains, and decorated with prayer flags. I don't think a single place we visited on our 7 month journey brings on such quick and fierce reverse-home-sickness as Leh. Its the type of place that just challenges you to wander around, do nothing all day, and be content just contemplating life.

...and Sarah, AGAIN, in Leh!

2. Istanbul, Turkey - At the point that Sarah and I reached Istanbul, we were both feeling burnt out by travelling. We had sort of reached the point were we were tired with the challenges present by changing locations on a day-to-day basis and relearning the basics of life each time. But, Istanbul still managed to win us over. There's something stirring and symbolic about the cities location straddling the Bosphorus, literally with one foot in the west and one in the east, that compels the visitors mind to take romantic flights of fancy (and type sentences like this). Aya Sofya, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar and the ancient Cisterns, cute cafes, great restaurants and countless otherthings add up to make Istanbul one of the best cities I've ever been fortunate enough to visit.

Istanbul... but no Sarah!

1. Seattle, Washington - I know, it's probably a little cliched to pick my hometown as my favorite city... but it's true. If travelling has taunt me anything, its that while I enjoy seeing wonderous, far-flung locations, I also enjoy coming home at the end to Seattle. Great bars, great restaurants, great coffee shops, stunning views of the Sound, the Cascades, the Olympics and Mt. Rainier, good shops and music scene. Heck, I'd say Seattle was made for me, except its probably more of a matter that I was made for Seattle.

Well, that's my list. Actually, having just finished it, I'm already regretting making it. I mean, just think of all the great places I've visited, but left off of it: Hoi An, Pushkar, Queenstown, Cairo, Veliko Tarnovo, Budapest, Barcelona, Port Antonio, Miami, San Fransisco.

Heck, thinking about it more, I'm sure that Valparaiso definitely should have been on that list.

Drat.

Week in Review: Life ain't just Commuter Cam

2008-02-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

The last couple weeks on this blog, I've pretty much been obsessing over the whole Commuter Cam thing, so you might be inclined to believe that I haven't been up to much else.

And, you'd be wrong, punk!

For example, just yesterday Sarah and I flexed our respective democratic muscles, and attended our very first caucus! And, it was hot. Literally. With all the people jammed into the Seattle Labor Temple, things got a bit stuffy. But, beyond that, it was a pretty interesting and impressive experience. Here's sort of a blow-by-blow summery of how things went:

Once there, we went into a large room where there were a number of tables with numbers for each district posted above them. We checked in at our districts table, and they have you declare whether you are for Obama, Hillary or uncommitted. We declared Obama, which we'd both been leaning to recently. After milling around for a bit, a woman got up on the stage, introduced herself to the crowd, had everyone do the Pledge of Allegiance, and explained how things would work.

Then each district got into a small group, with our district having somewhere around 40 people there. The district head (who, like Sarah, had apparently been fighting a cold all week) then had every one who was for Obama stand on one side of him, everyone for Hillary on the other, and uncommitteds stand in the middle.

There were about 30 Obama people, about 10 Hillary supporters, and a couple uncommitted. Then, each side got to pick one person to get up and give a one minute speech about why people should pick their candidate. After that, we had another 10 minutes to mingle... which basically turned into about half the people swarming the uncommitteds and trying to convince them to join their side. This was possibly the most interesting part, since from where I was standing on the Labor Temple stage, I could watch people jockey for position in front of the one or two undeclared people, the whole time declaring that the people representing the other side were full of crap.

After the 10 minutes were up, the district head asked if the uncommitted had decided, and if anyone wanted to switch sides. One went to Obama, one to Hillary, and one Hillary switched to Obama (I think, it was actually really chaotic).

Our district sends 9 delegates on to the next stage, the Legislative District Caucuses, which is in April. Based on the number of votes, our district is sending 7 pro-Obama delegates, and 2 pro-Hillary delegates.

I'm actually an Alternate Delegate... which is sort of like being Assistant (to the) District Manager.

Here I am, mentally preparing for my duties as Alternate Delegate of the 2795 District.

Anyhow, the whole was really cool actually. It was a lot more hands on than your typical voters booth or mail-in ballot. It was great to see "democracy in action" in sort of an old-fashioned way, and to see the motley crew that makes up Democratic votes in my district... for example the seven foot tall guy in a cowboy hat and duster that literally looked like the love-child of Blade and the Saint of Killers from Preacher.

I mean, imagine him...

...mixed with him.

But, it hasn't all be politics for me over the last couple weeks. I've also recently been diving back into music quite a bit recently too. As I mentioned in my last Week in Review, two weekends ago, Sarah and I went to Easy Street Records on lower Queen Anne to try to sell back some old CDs and get some new ones. In the end, we could only sell back one CD... but ended up picking up about a half dozen.

I've been listening to KEXP off an on at work, and kept noticing when they played music by the Seattle-based hip hop duo, Blue Scholars. I've always been a fan off good hip hop, but having neither grown up in the ghetto nor had an abnormal amount of bling, I often have difficulty finding stuff that I relate to. But, the Blue Scholars music instantly grabbed me with the regular name dropping of Seattle landmarks and locales. Their latest CD, Biyani, features a ton of smart and interesting rap songs, including a surprisingly effective song about the WTO riots.

(For a sample of their music, check out the remix of their song "Inkwell" where they rap over Modest Mouse's "Float On" on their website.)

In addition to picking up Biyani, we also got Vetiver's self-titled album. We actually initially bought a copy of this for my brother for Christmas, but after giving it a listen realized we wanted a copy for ourselves too. Vetiver falls into the rough catagory of "freak folk" that I generally have problems with. But, as a band they seem to have dialed back the weirdness and created something understanded and wonderful.

Also, we picked up Magnetic Fields latest, Distortion, and Chad VanGaalen's two CDs. We've been fixated on Magnetic Field's 69 Love Songs for some time now, so it's of little surprise that we've rapidly warmed to the feedback fuzz of the new album, and both of Chad's albums were ones I enjoyed when I had my Rhapsody subscription and which I'm happy to have finally gotten copies of four our CD rack.

Also, last week, we caught the Decemberists live at the Moore Theater. The Decemberist are a band that I've been slow in warming to. I think that there earlier music was just a little too, um, pirate sea chanty (if that's possible!) for my tastes. But, with their most recent album, Crane Wife, I've rally taken a shining to them (even putting Crane Wife on my http://generaladmission.blogspot.com/2006/12/top-20-of-2006.html>Top 20 of 2006 list). There live show was actually really entertaining and surprisingly funny, with the lead singer making wisecracks between each song (something few musicians can actually do well). Toward the end, the show got a little to jammy for my tastes, but still a great show and the best I've seen in over a year... though, then again, it was the only show I think I've seen in the last year or so.

The Decemberists: Making songs about double suicides fun for everyone!

Then, again, today we found ourselves at the West Seattle Easy Street, and buying a couple more CDs. The first of those, Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut, is the type of album that has so much internet buzz and such a cheap price ($7!) that I found myself buying it without ever really having listened to. And, I'm glad I did. Sonicly, it seems to live somewhere between New Pornographers and the Strokes. About halfway through the first listen, I found myself musing, that it's almost the musical equivalant of a Wes Anderson film: Whimsical and effortless seeming, with a quirky Eastcoast private school vibe, and a fair share of both effective and affected moments. Good stuff that proves how easy it should be for the music industry to produce pop music that isn't, well, stupid.

We also picked up Mano Chau's Clandestino. We mainly icked this up because of our experiences in Vietnam. While there, Sarah and I took a motorcycle tour of the central highlands. During our tour, my driver, Dao, was constantly playing Manu Chau's "Bongo Bong" on his cellphone. And, as a result, that song will be forever linked with our journeys there, so when Sarah noticed the CD in the store, we had to have it. It's probably a little affected to come back from travelling and suddenly start listening to something like Manu Chau, but it's a great song with wonderful memories attached, so we don't care.

Thanks Dao!

(OK, this entry has already run out of control, so I'm going to end it here. Hopefully, later this week, I can do another entry detailing everything from my recent comic purchases to our surrent obessesion with the 3rd Season of Lost... no one tell us what happens in the 4th Season!)

A commute from across the pond

2008-02-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

When Sarah White posted her Commute Cam entry she became the first person to take the Commuter Cam Challenge international! Sarah's actually a Full Time Mum, so she doesn't have a traditional commute, but since her husband and son, Callum, and her recently moved to a new neighborhood, she had a novel idea: Use the Commuter Cam Challenge as an opportunity to explore her neighborhood.

So, after Callum was finally ready to head out, the two of them made a trip down to the neighborhood sweet shop, photographing anything noteworthy they came across.

Probably my favorite picture. "Danger of Death." Awesome. I actually really like seeing signs from other countries and sort of miss it being back home.

And look! A red double decker bus! So very, very British!

Anyhow, well done, Sarah! If there is anyone else out there doing the Commuter Cam project... be sure to let me know!

Other Commutes

2008-02-03T14:51:00.000-08:00

A week ago, I proposed the Commuter Cam Challenge, and two days later I posted photos from my commute. But, even more excitingly, several friends and fellow bloggers took me up on the challenge also. So, let's take a look at their entries!

First up is this entry by fellow Bad Genious (sic) Liana. Liana actually doesn't have a commute, so what did she do? She grabbed her camera and rode along with her always dependable husband, Dan! This also seemed to work nicely because it solved the problem of how to drive and take pictures at the same time.

Also, you have to admire Liana's dedication since apparently she almost starved to death during the drive.

Probably my favorite picture from Liana's entry. The "I 'Heart' to Fart" bumpersticker is classy.

The next person to post a Commuter Cam entry was my friend and ex-coworker Austin. Impressively, Austin actually went so far as to set up a webpage specifically for his entry. Also, because I used to work at RealNetworks, and because I used to live in Greenwood his entry was a bit of a walk down memory lane for me. Entertainingly, the coffee shop that he stops at is, like, two blocks from my apartment and I go passed it every day on the way to work, we almost literally walk right passed each other.

I really like this image from Austin's photos. Austin photographed his commute on the same day as me, but it looks like Greenwood got more snow than downtown.

Next up is another Bad Genious: Betsy! I thought that Betsy's entry was pretty cool. Betsy runs in marathons and other less long races, so it's not surprising that a lot of things (ranging from the bridge's she drives across to tattoo parlors) remind her of running.

You'll just have to check out her entry to find out why this tattoo parlor reminds her of running.

Also, Betsy pulled double duty on the commuter challenge and took her camera with her on two commutes to show both the standard commute, and the "take Jackson to school" commute. Bravo!

And last up is my friend and ex-roommate, Ambika. Ambika's in the early stages of her 365 Project where she plans to take at least one picture a day for the entire year. So, she nicely dovetailed the two projects and had her daily picture be a photo from her commute.

If you have a moment, its definitely worth checking out the other photos in the series. I'm jealous that she's doing such a cool and ambitious project!

Well, that's it so far with other people's commutes. If anyone else is interest, and photographs their commute to work, be sure to let me know!

Commuter Cam: An Icy Walk to Work

2008-01-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

The other day, I outlined my Commuter Cam (AKA Take Your Camera To Work) Project idea. Well, today I post the results!

When I left for work on Monday morning, it was to make an icy waddle to work. It had snowed lightly the night before, and the wet sidewalks were sheets of black ice. But, undaunted, I grabbed my camera, and begun my walk to work. Joining me for the first portion was my beautiful assistant (and wife) Sarah.

Here's our apartment, as viewed from across the street. It's a cute building, if you ignore our arguing neighbors. If you look closely, you'll notice the orange road-cones on the front steps. Those are there because they are retiling the front steps. They've been retiling the front steps since Thanksgiving. I'm fairly positive that they'll be retiling the steps when we move out.

Just a half dozen blocks away, making our way down Fourth, it is time to wave goodbye to Sarah. We make this walk together a couple times a week, even though it is brief. She's actually halfway to work now, I on the other hand, still have most of my commute ahead of me. Please ignore the psychadelic phallus behind here.

Making a right off Fourth, I begin my hike down to the SLUT (South Lake Union Streetcar). Just one block along, I hit this intersection. This is probably one of my favorite corners, just because its so "Seattle"... walking under the monorail, with the Space Needle in the background. With my old commute, I used to go out of my way to cut through Pike Place Market. A lot of locals avoid the market becuase its overrun with tourists. But, tourists remind me that I live somewhere cool. I like the idea that people come to my city on vacation.

This whole area is under construction. It's sort of incredible really. Between where I hop on the SLUT (snicker!) and Lake Union literally seems like one big construction site. It's weird to think that I'm watching a neighborhood basically get constructed from the ground up. And all because Paul Allen got bored. The main sign of all the construction is the cranes perched everywhere like... um... cranes. Y'know, the bird. I guess an analogy doesn't work that well when the two objects being compared have the same name.

Still, one friend recently said he counted 13 cranes while standing in one spot.

As I've mentioned, it snowed lightly on Sunday night, so the roads were icy and there were still signs of snow scattered here and there. This is a car lot I walk past each day. I was actually a little nervous taking this picture because the ground was so slick through here.

Hey look! Here comes the SLUT!

Honestly, I really like the SLUT. In fact, I like it so much I've started usually calling it the Streetcar. I mean, you don't call something you love a "slut" right? From where I hop on, its only about a 10 minute ride to the final stop where I get off (snicker!). A lot of people complain that the SLUTs route is sort of useless, and honestly they have a good point. But, I'm like the one person in Seattle who's commute matches it's short route. Plus, it gives me a change to grab some quick reading every morning and evening.

You can see the SLUT parked on the right hand side of this photo. It sits there for a few minutes before making its way back into downtown. After getting off the streetcar, I make my way down Fairview, with Lake Union on my left. This is a long straight walk.

At the end of the long straight stretch, the path drops down onto a dock that actually spans a section of the lake. The view from here always catchs my attention. That day the sun was hitting a snow covered Queen Anne and shining on the Aurora Bridge dramatically. Quite nice.

This is the dock-slash-sidewalk that spans the lake. Usually, its really nice to walk along. This morning, because of the icy, it was downright sketchy. I kept having fantasies of toppling over into the half-frozen waters of Lake Union. If you notice, up ahead, there is another guy taking pictures. He not only had a better vantage point, but as I watched, he caught a sea plane taking off of Lake Union. Oooh, that would have been a good photo. Jealous! Punk!

After taking this picture, I made my way up the staircase on the far side, where I heard a screech and crash. A pick up truck, slipping on the ice, had crashed into the back of another pick up truck... which in turn crashed into an SUV. I didn't take a picture because that seemed a little too voyeuristic. But, it made me glad that I was walking on this cold morning.

One last photo. This one is taken from the parking lot across the street from my office. I didn't take a picture of my actual office building because it sort of just look likes a warehouse, and the security guard would have given me the evil eye. So, instead, I figured I'd take another picture across Lake Union. The area around my office is a bunch of industrial shipyards and European car repair shops. Not the most scenic stuff... but photographic in its own right.

Well, that's my first attempt at the Commuter Cam Project. Hope you all found it vaguely interesting. Also, I look forward to seeing if anyone else took up my challenge. If you do, and if you post an entry about your commute, let me know and I'll post a link here on my Week In review or something. And, again, feel free to pass this one to others. I've got a morbid curiosity about peoples commutes.

Once in a lifetime, twice in a week

2008-01-27T18:35:00.001-08:00

When Sarah and I went to Texas for Christmas, the presents that her dad and step mom had ordered for me hadn't arrived yet. So, rather humorously, I ended up opening a bunch of boxes filled with printed out pictures of the presents I was supposed to be receiving. One of the upswings of this ended up manifesting itself earlier this week when my presents finally arrived at our place in Seattle.

Christmas 2.0!

So, a lot of this week ended up being dedicated to watching some of the many movies I they got me. First up, and as part of our Bond-A-Thon (still kinky!), we watched Casino Royale. Now, months and months ago, I rambled about Casino Royale, so I wont spend too much time on it now. But, I will mention that it's been interesting revisiting this movie, after having watched the better portion of the Bond library over the last year. The movie stands out almost more for its differences than its similarities to previous Bond films.

It really makes me interested in what the next film will be like. Especially since it been rumored to be a direct sequel spinning out of the events at the end of Casino Royale. Oh, and as a side note, they've announced the title of the new Bond film: Quantum of Solace. (Source)

The title apparently has people grousing because it's "too wordy" or something. But, I'm all for it, since it's apparently the title of a James Bond short written by Ian Flemming.

Oh, and this appears to be a poster for it.

Next up on our little film-fest was the Irish romantic-musical Once. Once was one of the first films we saw after getting back from our trip, and it was the film that convinced me that I'm becoming a big blubbering goof in my old age. Even though it’s technically a musical, it's the type of film where the music actually makes sense in the context of the story, as it follows two young musician/songwriters as they meet, record an album together and flirt with the idea of falling in love.

And, I almost burst into tears in the movie theater when I first saw it.

Truth be told, if I heard the music out of the context of the film, I'd probably consider it to earnest for my tastes. I tend to recoil at singer-songwriter types. But, early in the film, there is a scene in a piano shop where the two lead characters sit down and try playing a song together. This scene, in my opinion, is one of the most pitch-perfect scenes I've seen in a while. It's deceptively simple, but is such a great layered scene that hits all the right notes (pun partially intended). Plus, the ending is pretty perfect too. It could have been botched in so many ways, but it’s simple and effective.

"Hmmmm," the lead characters of Once ponder with Irish accents, "How can we make Tyler cry in public?"

After that, I needed a testosterone-fix. And, for that we put in 300 for two solid hours of Spartans chopping Persians up.

...actually, thinking about it more, watching a bunch of well-oiled, nearly naked men might not be the BEST way to reassert my manliness.

Sarah and I both saw this originally in Hobart, Tasmania during our trip. And, while it didn’t surprise me that I liked it because of its comic book roots, stylized action scenes and painterly scenery; I was surprised how much Sarah liked it. Usually she has a limit to the number of arms and legs she can stand seeing chopped off in slow motion before she throws in the towel on a movie. But, somehow this movie managed to wallow in its violence, macho-posturing, almost deliberately anti-PC morality AND still get Sarah's seal of approval.

In addition to those movies (and another I'll save to talk about after we get around to watching it), I also got Talking Head's Once in a Lifetime box set. Now, I've been obsessed with David Byrne and Talking Heads for a number of years now, and as a result, I already have most of their CDs, as well as a good share of Byrnes's solo releases. But, this package (which also contains a DVD of a number of their videos) is just a little too nice to pass up.

Aw! A baby with puppies. Actually, this cover to the box set is deceptively innocent.

Plus, it's another excuse for me to revisit their songs for the umpteenth time.

It is actually really interesting to hear the better part of their catalogue in just a sitting or two. The three CDs are arranged in a rough chronological order, so it's also allowed me to start an internal debate with myself about whether I like their early stuff, middle of their career stuff or later songs better. Hmmmmm.

Oh, and it was fun to throw the CDs in and dance around our apartment when I came home in a hyperactive mood on Friday night.

"Dance, Tyler! I command it!"

The night before my Talking Heads dance party, Sarah and I went to Zeitoon. Now, I have to confess a sympathy for underdog restaurants. Y'know, those restaurants that you can just tell are going to go out of business. And, Zeitoon definitely appears to be an underdog of the highest caliber.

For weeks now, Sarah and I have walked passed it on our way home from work. And every time it has been nearly entirely empty. Occasionally, it might have a one of two patrons, but never enough to it could possibly be paying the bills on its downtown Belltown location. But, finally, on Thursday night, Sarah and I decided to take pity on it, and give it a try.

And, honestly, it’s quite good. If I were to complain, it would be that the prices might be a tad high. And by a "tad" I mean that if they knock a dollar off their entrees, I would probably consider their prices to be "reasonable." Also, their menu doesn't do their dishes any favors. What are casually described as "wraps" are actually expertly stuff, light and crispy pitas filled perfectly with delicious ingredients. Good stuff, and the owner was almost friendly to a fault.

If you're in our neighborhood, and want some Middle Eastern cuisine, I'd recommend them without hesitation. Do a good thing! Support the underdog*!

Oh, and I discovered a magazine this weeks that seems to live up to its title: Good. Actually, the full title of Good magazine is "Good: Media for people who give a damn." I initially discovered Good through a design site where it received an award from AIGA for its design and layout, but it's fascinating forward thinking angle on politics, the environment and culture has proven to be interesting reading for my daily streetcar rides to work.

Finally, my weekly comic rundown:

X-men #207 - This issue brings the massive Messah CompleX crossover event to a heady and dramatic close. And, now that the storyline is over, I will say that I think it was possibly the strongest X-title related crossover event in years, if not ever. Sure, at points it was uneven. And honestly, the entire storyline basically boiled down to mutants beating the tar out of each other for 13 issues... but really, that's pretty much all it takes to keep me entertained apparently.

Good stuff, with long term ramifications for the series involved. And, while Sarah will no longer have to listen to me babble about "Messiah CompleX Messiah CompleX Messiah CompleX," she's now stuck listening to me speculate about what will happen in the various X-titles going forward.

Astonising X-men #24 - And, while X-men #207 proves how little it takes to keep me excited about the X-men, Astonishing proves how little it takes to loose my interest. At one point, Buffy creator Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-men seemed like the most exciting title in the line up. But, fast forward over three years, and less than two dozen issues, and this title has basically sidelined itself. I'm not one to generally complain about delays in a title's shipping schedule, but this is seriously struggling to seem relevant when it's so obviously lost all relationship to the rest of the titles. Taken on its own, the issue isn't bad, but I still find myself unable to truly care, and just looking forward to Ellis taking over the title.

The Umbrella Aademy #5 - If someone told me, before I left on my trip, that one of the best title's I would be reading when I came back would be written by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, I wouldn't have believed it. But, honestly, he's Dark Horse miniseries about a dysfunctional family of superheroes is one of the most interesting and unique things I've read in a monthly format in some time now. It doesn't hurt that he's ably backed up by artist Gabriel Ba (of Casanova fame), and cover artist/mastermind James Jean. Consistently interesting and entertaining stuff.

A private academy of disfunctional superhero children! A man with a gorilla body and human head! The Eiffel Tower! Sing me up!

Finally, today Sarah and I made a run to the CD shop and ended up picking up a bunch of CDs. But, since I've barely given them more than one listen, and because this entry has turned into a rambling mammoth, I'll call it a night.

Talk to you in a couple of days, when I hopefully put up the results of my Commuter Cam Project.

*Side Note: Speaking of underdogs, Sarah and I went to Olympia on Saturday to visit a couple of friends. While we were down there, we caught the Evergreen College women’s Basketball team play. And while they sadly lost to Southern Oregon, and while I didn’t attend Evergreen, I still feel like I should say “Go Geoducks!”

And the winner of the phallic mascot award goes too....

Commuter Cam

2008-01-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

AKA: The Take Your Camera To Work Day Project

The other day, I was walking to work and noticed the morning sun hitting the Aurora bridge from across Lake Union and though, "oh, that's pretty nice looking."

The day before that, I had been walking to catch the SLUT, when I looked around and noticed how many cranes seemed to rise around me. The day before that, I couldn't help but notice steam rising from the top of a highrise and wish there was someone around to point out how neat it looked.

It's moments like this that have led me to propose the Commuter Cam Project. Here's how it works:

Step the First: Pick a day, and bring your camera with you on our commute to work.

Step the Second: During your commute, take pictures of anything that catches your attention. It can be something special that you see that particular day. Or, maybe its something that you see every day, and which you always sort of wish you could point out to your friends... but never get a chance to.

Step the Third and Final: Post the pictures you take on your blog along with any commentary you watch to add.

There are a couple reasons that I think that this will be a worthwhile and interesting project.

Reason the First: I suspect that everyone has little things that they see every day on their commute to work that have sort of meaning to them, but never get to share. Or, maybe there is something humorous about their commute. Or, maybe there is some little ritual they perform (ex: Maybe there is a sign you always touch for good luck, or maybe... um... you slaugter a goat on First and Bell, I don't know).

Reason the Second: Everyone hates commuting. It's probably, on average, the most mindnumbing or frustrating portion of the average persons day. Maybe by doing this, it will force us to look at our commute a little different, or maybe just shake us out of our usual zoned out drift to work.

Reason the Third and Final: I think it might be interesting. Maybe.

Anyhow, I plan on taking my camera work next week, and snapping off some photos during my commute. Hopefully, by this time next week, I'll have the entry up. If any of you out there in Interweb Land are intersted in participating too, that would be great. If you get an entry posted, let me know, and I'll link to it here at General Admissons. The more the merrier! And -as anyone who's sat in traffic knows- there are plenty of you out there making the daily commute to work.

FINAL DISCLAIMER: If you decide to join the Commuter Cam Project, and if you drive to work. Please don't drive and shoot at the same time. Wait for a red light, stop and go traffic or, like, pull over to take your photos or something. I don't want to see photos of car wrecks posted online as a result of this!

Another week at the Office, Dance into the FIRE!, and Marvelous comics.

2008-01-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

Over roughly a week and a half, Sarah and I managed to blaze our way through the first three seasons of the Office. This probably set some sort of new land speed record for us when it comes to watching TV on DVD. Actually, the majority of episodes we watched through the Netflix View-On-Demand, but toward the end of the third season, we finally got fed up with it buffering and crashing on us, and I made the two block hike to rent the final couple disks from the neighborhood video store. So, by accident, we ended up supporting a local small business, I suppose.

At least that's how I'm validating spending close to $8 on DVD rentals when we already have a Netflix subscription.

As far as the actual show goes, I feel it actually probably peaked somewhere toward the end of the second season, or beginning of the third. But, even at its weakest, it managed to be more entertaining that most TV fair. Oh, and it actually worth renting the DVDs because there is an amazing number of deleted scenes for each episode. Like, five to 15 minutes of deleted scenes. And most of them are as entertaining as what made the final cut, so its like getting several bonus episodes per disk.

In addition to our Office-athon, we also continued our long running Bond-athon (a name which sounds a lot kinkier that it actually is). This weeks Bond film was probably the flabbiest of the franchises history, in more ways than one: View to Kill.

NOTE: The woman on the right it the better actress.

In it, an aging Roger Moore snowboards, demolishes a tiny French car, gets it on with Grace Jones and tries to stop an ex-Soviet super-soldier from flooding Silicon Valley to corner the market on microchips. If you want to see old men engage in slow-motion fisticuffs this is your Bond film. And, probably the two only truly redeeming aspects of this film are Christopher Walken's scene stealing performance as Max "Raht ahn shed-jehw-ahl" Zorin, and Duran Duran's kick-ass theme song:

Dance into the FIRE!!
The fatal sounds of broken dreams!
Dance into the Fire!
It's a view... to a kill!!

I'll probably be singing that song to myself for the next few weeks.

Significantly less flabby was the film we saw at Belltown's Big Picture. First it has to be noted that the Big Picture is one of Seattle's fine smaller cinemas, which is notable for both its atmospheric lobby, and the fact that you can bring a beer, glass of wine or mixed drink into the theater with you.

Juno: In which George Micheal get's Kitty Pryde pregnant.

The film we saw, Juno, was a movie that -going in- I knew that I would enjoy it, since it fell into the category of "quirky indie picture" and that's generally a fairly safe bet for me. That said, I was actually still pleasantly surprised by it. I think, as much as I like quirky and whimsical pictures of the Wes Anderson variety, I do have to admit that part of me is starting to get frustrated with their reluctance to embrace what seems like a true emotion... instead relying on cute gimmicks and coy gestures. Luckily, I think this is a case where the director and actors weren't afraid to see beyond the wittier-than-thou script, and allow the characters to breath and feel a bit. All in all, it ended up being an excellent picture.

The following morning it was off to my parents to work on making our batch of 2007 wine. Last year, before departing on our trip, Sarah and I started making wine with a family friend. And, this year, my dad got in on the scene too, setting up a small wine making room in the crawlspace below my parent’s house. This weekend’s task involved constructing a stand for our new oak wine barrel, and transferring the wine into it.

...And having four people packed into a tiny room trying to give each other directions.

...And cleaning out carboys with a hose in the backyard in near freezing weather.

...And sipping a lot of young wine from small mason jars.

Ah, the romance of winemaking.

Speaking of romance, I read the comic book Marvels last night, which allowed me to romantize my roll as a comic book collector. Marvels, produced not surprisingly by Marvel Comics, is the ultimate love letter to their superhero universe. Written by Kurt Busiek and painted by the much-lauded (and almost equally derided) Alex Ross, tells the story of the early Marvel universe from the standpoint of an everyday man on the street, photographer Phil Sheldon.

Though Sheldon's eyes we see the arrival of the first "Marvels": Namor the Submariner and the original Human Torch, the proliferation of heroes through WWII and beyond, the rise of the "mutant menace" (as depicted in the various X-titles), the threat of the world coming to an end with the arrival of Galactus and finally the life and death Spiderman's first love, Gwen Stacy.

Possibly the most realistic depiction of a giant, purple-helmeted man attempting to eat New York.

And, while its entertaining just to see this famous comic book events depicted from the viewpoint of a normal person living in New York, in their photorealistic glory; the main appeal of this book was something that I wasn't expecting: The entire tale works as a analogy for a comic fans relationship with superhero comics. Sheldon's opinion on the Marvels mirrors the average comic fans progression from youthful optimism and wonder, to broadening exploration of social themes and ideas, to frustration with the entire "establishment" and never-ending nature of superhero stories... to finally a personal sort of resignation and finale.

It might sound geeky to the lay person, but to someone who has been reading comics for more years than I can count, it's pretty cool.

And, speaking of comics, I might as well quickly mention what I picked up this week from Zanadu.

New X-men #46 - This was the second to last issue of the Messiah CompleX storyline, and the last issue of New X-men (although, supposedly, the title will be reborn as "Young X-men"). This issue definitely didn't drop the ball in either department, offering up some pretty whole sale carnage and chaos. In addition, there was a plot twist about halfway through this issue that tied one of the subplots into the main storyline and managed to entertain me. If I had one complaint it was that there are 40 or more characters involved in the final battle, and while artist Humberto Ramos tries to keep up... he can't quite manage it.

New Exiles - While I only really had one complaint about this weeks New X-men, I have to say that New Exiles gave me plenty to complain about. In fact, I'm not even really sure why I even gave it a try. The writer, Chris Claremont, helped define the X-Universe back in the day, but these days seems to be fixated on exploring his pet themes of strong women, mild bondage, mind control and "focusing the sum totality of our power" in the most incoherent and uninteresting manners possible. To this end, he's gutted the old Exiles title (which was basically the X-version of Quantum Leap) and turning it into a book about (you guessed it) strong women, mild bondage, mind control and "focusing the sum totality of our power." Ugh.

The Order #6 and The Immortal Iron Fist #12 - Neither of these are titles I usually pick up, but decided to check out because their writer, Matt Fraction, is going to be the writer of the new Young X-men series I mentioned above. In addition, he also writes the Image series Casanova which -if I haven't already mentioned on this blog- I'll definitely have to ramble about next time a new issue is released. Fraction seems to have a mind chock-full of entertainingly out-there concepts, and I was interested in seeing how he handled the Marvel Universe. Of the two titles, the kung-fu series Iron Fist is probably the more entertaining. I wasn't always able to follow up what was going on (the story was in part 5 of 6), but it had the right level of energy and quirky details. The Order, while also a strong title involving the formation of a new California based superhero team, was entertaining but probably drug down a bit by the solid by not particularly dynamic art of Barry Kitson.

Finally, in addition to all that, I also finished reading MW by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's Buddha series is one of my all time favorite mangas. So, when Vertical started releasing other comics by Tezuka, I figured it was worth picking them up. MW, the first of the titles I read, was... how should I say it... interesting. The story is about two young boys who are the only survivors when a biological weapon called MW is leaked on an island killing the entire population. When they grow up, one becomes a Catholic priest, and the other becomes an amoral killer obsessed with tracking down the people responsible for the cover up. And the priest and killer are secretly lovers. And the priest wants to stop the killer from trying to wipe out mankind. And the killer is from a family of kabuki dancers and tends to dress up like the women he's recently killed.

So, yeah, definitely different and at times fairly surreal. Probably the thing that makes it the most unnerving is the Tezuka's cartoony art. Tezuka is the creator of the cult series Astro Boy, and his characters look like 1940's cartoon characters, which puts the style at odds with the themes and storyline. But, not in a bad way. I'll be interested to read his other two book (which I also got as Christmas presents) and see how they compare to this and Buddha.

Pop Quiz! Is this a picture of A) The cross-dressing, sociopathic lead character of MW who is attempting to aquire a biological weapon to wipe out mankind or B) Astro Boy?

Week in Review: Office life, secret agents, football players, sushi and the Hulk

2008-01-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

And now for something completely different...

Admittedly, General Admission has always been a bit of mixed bag. But, now that I've returned to the 9 to 5 life, it’s become increasingly apparent that I won't be able to make regular entries during the week. So, instead what I think I'm going to try it to post a sort of Week in Review every Sunday, where I will go into detail about things I've seen, done and watched over the last week.

Plus, maybe subject you all to some comic reviews.

Anyhow, most of our evenings this week have been spent either watching the Office or James Bond movies. Sarah and I were both huge fans of the British version of the Office, so I have to admit that we've been dragging our feet when it comes to watching the American version, but after Sarah watched a couple episodes during business trips, she became convinced it was worth watching through Netflix's On Demand service.

And, you know what? It's awarsome.

The humor is a little more broad than in the British version, but with more episodes behind it, the characters have been given an increased chance to breath and be fully realized. And, frankly, there are some sequences that are true genius: Jim doing his "Jets vs Sharks" finger snaps behind Michael's back, in "The Fight." Dwight barfing on his car windshield in "The Injury" (trust me, its funny). Or the subtly heartbreaking ending of the Halloween episode, with Michael giving out candy to Trick or Treaters.

In fact, its bits like the last one that really are the hook of the series. For every hilarious sequence, or awkward conversation, there's a scene that makes you feel for the characters. Michael may be a jerk, and Dwight a creep... but you still feel for them.

But, you all probably know this already, since everyone else in America has been watching the Office for over two years now. But, if we keep watching episodes at the rate we are, we should be caught up with everyone else by this time next week. Or, maybe by the end of tonight.

But, in addition to our Office-athon, we've also been indulging in our movie equivalent of comfort food: James Bond. Last year, Sarah's mom bought me two of the James Bond box sets, and this year, I got the other two box sets... completing our collection.

This weeks Bond films included From Russia With Love and Die Another Day. Watching these two, more or less back to back, was an interesting experience because we basically went from the second Bond film ever made, to the second most recent film. And the differences between the two were as interesting as the similarities.

In From Russia With Love you could see them still developing all those things that would become clichés and standard tropes of the later films: Q's gadgets. Bond's sexism. The trademark villains. Plus, the series hadn't quite developed the kitsch factor that would define the later Connery films and most of Moore's Bond films. Oh, plus it takes place in Istanbul and it gave me another opportunity to wax wistfully about how much I love Istanbul.

But, probably the most noticeable difference is with Bond himself. In the earlier film, despite his training, he's still almost a believable character. Sure, he's a trained secret agent, but he hasn't yet taken on the superhuman qualities that defined later day Bond, as witness in Brosnan using a parachute and cockpit lid to wind surf a wave created by an iceberg cleaved free of the mainland by a laser shooting satellite in Die Another Day. It's a world of difference... and watching the two you can see how much Casino Royale has gone back to Bond's roots.

Personally, though, I have difficulty picking a favorite Bond era. Most people skew towards the older or newer Bonds. Usually the older Bonds. But, honestly, I think they all have strengths and weaknesses. And I enjoy them all. Even the frumpy Dalton films.

And, from "frumpy" we shift gears to "grumpy."

Sadly, as you probably all know, the Seahawks are out of the playoffs. After what was an amazing first four minutes, the rest of the game became increasingly difficult to watch... partially because it was difficult to watch the Seahawks game slowly unravel, and partially because the ever increasing snowfall just made it hard to even see the players.

Still, while I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately with the ‘Hawks this year, I've enjoyed the last couple of weeks shouting and cheering with friends, taking ski-shots, eating my friend JJ's amazing five-meat chili, and taking the edge off yesterdays loss by appreciating Todd's excellently grilled steaks... which continue to reinforce my belief in the value of buying your food at local butchers and farmers markets, as opposed to chain grocery stores. I mean, these steaks were just so far above and beyond anything you could get at Safeway.

On the subject of food, after attending an ex-corkers Last Day of Work Party, me, Sarah and a couple of friends made our way over to Umi Sake House. Now, Umi might not be the most traditional or authentic sushi restaurant, but it’s definitely become a favorite of ours. I'm pretty new to the world of sushi (and seafood in general), but I have to admit I'm pretty surprised by how much I've enjoyed everything I've had there. For example, I've never had sushi that was fried tempura style, and I don't think it's "true" sushi... but its good!

Finally, I'm going to quickly mention the comics I picked up this week. In my last entry, I mentioned the big X-crossover, the Messiah CompleX. Well, it's dutifully soldiering toward its climax. This week’s X-Factor #27 is the third from last in the crossover event, and it's far from my favorite. The art by Scot Eaton is fairly blah, and Peter David's writing is oddly stiff. But, what the issue did do well is get me excited for the final two chapters! I think, from here on out, we are moving into the storylines final battle... or battles. And, we are beginning to get the feeling that we are moving into the Grand Finale, and that some of the storylines are getting wrapped up.

In addition to X-Factor, I decided to check out the new Hulk series by Jeff Leob and Ed McGuiness. While Sarah and I were traveling, the Hulk had it's own major crossover called World War Hulk in which -I believe- the Hulk and a group of aliens tried to take over the Earth, which sadly I missed. I mean, the Hulk and aliens trying to take on the World!! It had to have been entertaining! But, with that story behind us, this new series marks a new direction for the Hulk as a character. And, while the concept of the newer, redder (and gun totting?!) Hulk is interesting, and the art was stunning... the issue seemed, well, slight.

I mean, a series about the incredible Hulk doesn't need to be cerebral. And I'm not one to usually complain about "decompression" (comics that tell stories more through the art than the writing, leading to less dense stories), but I was still left feeling like this first issue might have needed a little more meat to it. I might check out the second issue, just to see if it picks up, but I can't say I was particularly awed. Hulk Smash!

Anyhow, on to next week!

The Holy Land and the Messiah

2007-12-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Spurred on by a 25% off gift certifcate that was burning a hole in my pocket, I recently picked up the hardbound 15th Anniversary Edition of Joe Sacco's Palestine. Now, Fantagraphics has been putting out some sexy hardcover books recently, including Beasts, and this new edition of Palestine is no exception.

But, while the book might look pretty in your hands, it's the contents of it that really make it worth buying. Back in 1991, Joe Sacco travelled to Isreal to meet with and record the experiences of Palestinians living under Isreali occupation. And, instead of producing a traditional travelogue, he decided to tell his story in comic book form. The results are both unique and powerful.

While Sacco has a distinct agenda with this novel and the subject matter is painful to read at times, his ability to portray not just the shortcomings of both the Palestinians and Isrealis, but also his own shortcomings helps keep the narrative from becoming too heavy handed. Instead we get a compelling and harrowing depiction of -as Edward Said says in the introduction- "histories losers, banished to the fringes where they seem so despondently to loiter..."

15 years have past since Palestine was initially published, and the conflict there has continued to both evolve and refuse to resolve itself. But the book still seems timely not just in its depiction of the the Palestinian conflict, but also as a statement of what happens when people allow militancy and idealogy to drive them to commit cruelty on their fellow man.

And speaking of "militancy" and "ideology", over on the other side of the comic book universe...

Back before we left on our trip, I posted an entry about the Marvel Comic's event called Civil War. Now, Civil War has come and gone. And, while I initially found it exciting, it ended up overstaying its welcome and bit, and I was glad to finally read its somewhat anti-climatic resolution upon my return from the trip.

But, that hasn't kept me from getting all sorts of excited about the current X-title crossover event: The Messiah Complex!

Unlike Civil War, which was a Marvel-wide event, Messiah Complex is limited to four titles in the X-universe. The storyline is simple enough:

In the after math of M-Day, over 90% of the world mutant population has been depowered, and there have been no new mutant births. But, when the first birth since M-Day occurs, it becomes a race between the X-men, the evil Marauders and the mutant-hating human group the Purifiers to see who can get the baby first.

Right now the storyline is about half over, and I've been enjoying every chapter of it. Several factors have made it especially successful, including how tightly the four titles have been working together, and the fact that a different title comes out each week - effectively making this a weekly event.

But, what makes the event really fun it that its a complete X-geek-athon. They are throwing in pretty much everything and the kitchen sink: The X-men. The new X-men. X-Factor. The Marauders. The Purifers. The Acolytes. Lady Deathstrike. The Reavers. Sentinels. Cable. We've had throw-downs galore. New characters introduced. Several large plot twists. A new team formed. And the promise of more to come.

So, yeah, I'm geeking out. But, after several underwelming crossover events in the Marvel Universe, its nice to have something that reminds me how good a comic event can be. Here's hoping the second half is as good as the first.

Featured Creatured: Dullahan

2007-12-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

Dire is the face of the ghostly, malevolent knights known as Dullahan. With their severed head clutched under one arm like a hunk of festering cheese, they urge their nightmare steeds forward with a whip fashioned from their own spine.

No one knows how these cursed creatures came to be, but their powers are well chronicled. It is said that they wander the wilderness without aim; but if they come to a rest at a location the head will be heard speaking the name of someone from that region. That unfortunate individual is doomed to perish if ever they stand in that same location. In addition, do not attempt to stop the progress of a Dullahan. Those who have tried have found themselves trampled, flailed and mysteriously splattered with gore and blood.

The Dullahan's were originally found only in Ireland. But increasingly their numbers seem to be spreading, as evidenced by the highly publicized appearance of one outside of Tarry Town, New York, in 1790.

Man or superman?

2007-11-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

Rather unexpectedly, I've found myself interested in Howard Hughes. A little less than a week ago, Sarah and I watch the Aviator and I've been sort of fascinated in him since. What I thought the movie did well (beyond some really good acting by most of the people involved) was that it played with the myth of Howard Hughes without explaining it away. And, its sort of the myth that I find compelling.

Figure 1: Not Tony Stark

By this I mean, I think its really fascinating that at one time a person could be a wealthy industrialist from Texas, a famed movie director with movie starlet girlfriends and also be a flying ace who set the record for fastest plane ever flown and fastest flight around the world.

To me, that's crazy. That's the stuff superhero comics are made of. In fact, Tony Stark (aka Ironman) is actually based on Howard Hughes. But, I'd argue Hughes is more interesting... because he was real.

Figure 2: Not a comic book about Howard Hughes

And what's even crazier (to me at least) is that the movie didn't even touch on half of the Myth of Howard Hughes™. In fact, let's use that source of all knowledge in the universe, Deep Thought...er.. I mean... Wikipedia, to make a bullet list, shall we? (If my years working in an online marketing department, it’s that bullet lists = power.)

The Myth of Howard Hughes™

• Historians are not sure what day he was born on, but he claimed to be born on Christmas Eve.

• He erected Houston's first wireless system. When he was 11 years old.

• There are pictures of him riding Houston's first "motorized bicycle. Which he also built himself. At age 12.

• After his parent’s death, at the age of 19, he moved to Hollywood and decided to use their money to direct films. Several of which went on to be nominated and win Oscars.

• His film, Hell's Angels was the most expensive film ever made, up to that date. It cost $3.8 million and took three years to produce.

• Two of his films ran into trouble with industry censors. Scarface because of its violent content. The Outlaw because of Jane Russell's revealing outfits. Hughes designed her bra for that movie.

• Though he was married, he was frequently romantically links with almost every major starlet of the time, ranging from Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Ava Gardner to Jane Russell and Jean Harlow.

• He hit and killed a pedestrian, and was charge with negligent homicide. Charges were later dropped when a witness suddenly changed his story.

• He cast John Wayne as Genghis Khan.

• In 1935, in the H-1, he set the airspeed record at 352 mph.

• A year and a half later, flying a redesigned H-1, he set the transcontinental airspeed record. He flew from LA to NYC in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

• The H-1 featured a number of new advancements in airplane design, including retractable landing gear and rivets flush with the body of the plane.

• In 1938, he set another record by completing a flight around the world in just 91 hours (3 days, 19 hours).

• The received the Congressional Gold Medal from Truman, but never picked it up.

• He crashed his experimental XF-11 plane into a Beverly Hills neighborhood, destroying it, three house and giving himself a crushed collar bone, 24 broken ribs and a number of 3rd degree burns.

• While in the hospital for his injuries, he had a custom bed designed for himself.

• He designed and built the infamous H-4 Hercules (aka the "Spruce Goose"), the "largest airplane ever built." It's frame was constructed of wood, and it only flew one time. For roughly a mile.

• Starting with his parents drill bit company, he expanded not only into movie making (and eventually gaining control of RKO), but also started Hughes Aircaft, Hughes Aerospace, Hughes Space and Communications Company, the Hughes Research Laboratories and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

• He bought up the majority stock in TWA and expanded it to include transatlantic flights.

• He was brought before a Senate War Investigation Committee on charges of not delivering on a number of projects he promised to the US Government during the war (including the Spruce Goose). This is largely believed to be an attack by Pan Am Airlines in response for his attempting to break their monopoly on flights to Europe.

• A bribe from Hughes to Nixon's brother may have been the catalyst for the Watergate Scandal.

• He worked with the CIA to provide a cover while they attempted to salvage a Russian sub from off the coast of Hawaii.

• He suffered from Social Avoidance Behavior and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The primary manifestation was his obsession with germs and cleanliness.

• He enjoyed eating peas. But was also obsessed with their size and would line them up from smallest to largest.

• Although at one point he was one of the most publicly visible men in America, he became a recluse in his later years. Going so far as to lock himself in his private room for days on end. And would only get his hair and nails clipped once or twice a year.

• Although not a Mormon himself, toward the end of his life, he surrounded himself almost exclusively with them because he felt they were trustworthy.

• Also, in addition to being addicted to a number of painkillers, he started using tissues when picking things up and touching them.

• He watch Ice Station Zebra over 150 times.

• He became obsessed with buying up every chain restaurant and 4 Star Hotel in his home state of Texas.

• He became obsessed with avoiding taxes. Going so far as to living in hotels full-time to avoid them.

• When the law changed requiring anyone to pay income taxes if they live in one state for 180 days, he took to moving to a new state every 180 days.

• After running into problems with the owners of the Desert Inn Hotel in Vegas, he simply bought the Desert Inn and made it his headquarters.

• After that, he began buying up other hotels from the mafia, convinced he would turn the city from a place of mobsters and sin to a place of old time glamour.

• An insomniac, he bought several local TV stations, so that he would have something to watch in the middle of the night.

• He became obsessed with Baskin-Robbins Banana Nut ice cream, which had been discontinued. So, he had a special order of 350 gallons made. Only to decide he liked French Vanilla. The Desert Inn gave away from banana nut ice cream for a year.

• He repeatedly attempted to bribe Nixon and Johnson to stop the testing of nuclear weapons in the Nevada desert. When he fails, he exiled himself from the United States.

• He then lived in a hotel in Nicaragua, where he kept the windows blacked out to avoid assassins or prying photographers.

• Author Clifford Irving claimed to have co written an autobiography of Hughes. Because Hughes was such a recluse he didn't step forward immediately to refute the claim. When he eventually did, Irving was fined and jailed, and the entire episode was turned into a movie starring Richard Gere.

• Hughes eventually died in 1976, on a flight from Mexico back to Houston. He was practically unrecognizable because of his long hair, beard, nails and the fact that he barely weighed 90lbs. They had to fingerprint him to get positive ID.

• His cause of death was a heart attack. But, he suffered from malnutrition and there were numerous needles broken off in his arm.

• Three weeks after his death, the infamous "Mormon Will" came forward. This will, supposedly found on the desk of a Church of Later Day Saints official gave (amongst other things) $156 million dollars to a gas station attendant named Melvin Dummar. After Melvin's fingerprints were found on the will, he claimed the following story:

Dummar claimed to reporters that late one evening in December 1967, he found a disheveled and dirty man lying along U.S. Highway 95, 150 miles (250 km) south of Las Vegas. The man asked for a ride to Las Vegas. Dropping him off at the Sands Hotel, Dummar said the man told him he was Hughes. Dummar then claimed that days after Hughes' death, a "mysterious man" appeared at his gas station, leaving an envelope containing the will on his desk. Unsure if the will was genuine, and unsure of what to do, Dummar left the will at the LDS Church office.

Eventually, the courts would declare this will a fraud and Hughes estate would be divided up amongst 22 relatives. Jonathan Demme would eventually make a movie about Dummar and Hughes relationship.

• An undisclosed amount would later be given to Terry Moore, who claimed she had married Hughes onboard a yacht off Mexico in 1949, and never officially divorced.

Ok, so not everything about Howard Hughes is glamorous. In fact, the whole second half of that bullet list lives somewhere between "horrific" and "tragi-comedic." But, heck, no bodies perfect. I mean, even Tony Stark is a recovering alcoholic. The fact remains that Hughes lived a truly larger-than-life life. And, his life captures that period in history where a person could be both a Hollywood socialite and an ace test pilot.

That's gotta count for something.

The Road Less Taken

2007-11-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

The other day, while visiting a friend, he loaned me a DVD called Monster Road and suggested I watch it. It's a documentary about local artist, Bruce Bickford, who was famous in the 60's for his claymation work he did with Frank Zappa. To be honest, I took it from him and promised to watch it, but wasn't particularly interested. But, last night, with nothing else to watch, my wife and I decided to throw it on.

It turns out that it's actually quite good. In fact, its one of those films that sticks in your head long after the film is over.

Wisely, the filmmakers gloss over the Zappa connection and instead focuses more on Bickford as an artist, his childhood and (most importantly) his relationship with his aging father who is suffering from alzheimers. This interaction with his father -who is an interesting and tragic character himself- ended up being the emotional core of the film and makes it resonate in a way that most documentaries about artists fail to. It certainly impressed me more than its closest cinematic relation: Crumb.

Both men come off as these fragile creatures with almost otherworldly views of life, and who both in very key ways fail to connect with those around them. This disconnect, reflected against the amazing and obsessively created art work of the younger Bickford helps give a peek at a family that ultimately has spun off the rails and really has no way of reassembling itself.

But, that's not to say that the film is bleak. In fact, its far from it. More wonderous and bitter-sweet than depressing and defeatist, the art and the two individuals musings keep things unique and watchable. Bruce maintains that Bill Gates should use his money to create 50 claymation studios, while his father calls Elvis a thug while trying to remember if they ever shook hands. In addition, it becomes a bit of a portrait of Seattle, and the unique mildewed personalities that the area produces.

I've been brainwashed by travel...

2007-11-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

I've been brainwashed by travel. I mean, that's only explanation as why I'd sit and listen to Rick Steve's give an hour long speech on NPR, and find myself saying: "Yeah! Tell it like it is, Rick!"

I mean, this is Rick Steves we’re talking about! I used to make fun of this guy! You watch him on his PBS show and presume he's the type of guy who travels around Europe in a manner suitable for a soccer mom who didn't get a chance to do a foreign exchange program in High School. He wears sensible travel clothes like you'd find at REI - with elastic waists and quick-drying fabric!

Yet, there I was eating dinner last night, slowly realizing that he's become someone I respect. I'm not sure if it’s because I'm getting old myself, or because the recent political climate has forced Rick to embrace his inner radical. Maybe a combination of the two. But, whatever the reason, I have to agree with a lot of what he has to say.

Or, at least, I really respect a lot of what he had to say on KUOW's "Speakers Forum" last night.

The speech I was listening to was actually a talk he gave at Seattle's Townhall on September 13th entitled: Travel as a Political Act. In it, he goes into detail about the positive political side effects of travel and -specifically- how his personal and political views have been shaped by travel. And, honestly, I agreed with pretty much everything he had to say. If nothing else, he’d probably make a better foreign representative than most of the people holding similar positions in our current administration.

Plus, he was pissed. Now, granted, a pissed off Rick Steve's is probably about as threatening as an irate hamster. But still, it was a refreshing and interesting change the "this is rreeeeaaaallllyyy special" type comments you usually hear him make on his show.

Rather than go into detail myself about the speech, I'd just suggest you give it a listen yourself. You can listen to it over RealPlayer or Windows Media Player through the link here. Even if you don't agree with all his politics, it’s an interesting talk. And, you can probably all agree that travel does change a person.

As evidenced by the fact that I'm now recommending things from Rick Steves.

Featured Creatured: Catoblepas

2007-11-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

Feel for the shaggy and melancholy Catoblepas.

One part buffalo and one part swine, its back is covered with a protective armor. But that armor -combined with its long weak neck and heavy-browed skull- mean that it is doomed to never raise its head and always stare at the ground around it.

But, what maybe be curse for the Catoblepas is a blessing for anyone who encounters the beast in the wild. For its sad, bloodshot eyes will cause instant death. And its breath will transform a man to stone, because of its diet of poisonous plants and fungi.

General Theory of Creativity

2007-11-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, with fairly little fanfair, I set up a blog showcasing my illustration and design work, GeneralCreativity.blogspot.com. Now, I'm excited to announce that I've got the first version of my new portfolio website up and running: GeneralTheoryOfCreativity.com. I'm hoping to continue to expand and improve it, but I'm still happy with how it loos so far. So please, if you have a moment, check it out.

Especially if you have any illustration or design work you need done.

Reviewing the Reviewers

2007-10-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

The other day, I stumbled across Pulp Secret, a website that boasts two online comic book review shows. While neither show is great, I'm all for anything the increases the profile of comic books in general. And, personally, finding any sort of show which talks about comic books holds the same thrill for me that my lovely wife must have felt when she discovered Readng Rainbow as a child. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd review both of the shows. First up...

A Comicbook Orange

A Comicbook Orange is a roughly 5 minute long review show, which features three reviews each episode, and is hosted by Casey McKinnen (sp). Casey is probably the shows greats asset and biggest weakness. She's obviously going for cute, crazy, and irreverent; but just as often ends up in the realm, well, obnoxious. Still, I guess credit is due for having a program which features a female comic collector (even if for no other reason than to give dozens of males collectors something to fantasize over from their basements). Also, when the reviews for each title actually kick in, they are generally clear, well thought out and insightful. Something the next show might be lacking in...

The Stack

Clocking in at around 15 minutes, The Stack features three average Joes named Alex, Justin and Steve. Their format is straight forward enough: The sit around a table together, review comic books and joke around. Usually, they'll give three in depth reviews, and then follow that up with some "speed reviews" and viewer questions. Unfortunately, while they seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves and are occasionally funny, I think that their banter gets in the way of the clarity of their reviews. They'll have talked about a given title for several minutes, but then you'll realized they've segued into discussions about how Victorian Era pimps may have talked... but not actually told you much about the comic in question.

Still, like A Comicbook Orange, it great to see a show (even a YouTube show) that discusses comic books, and -as such- deserves some support. With any luck, they’ll both continue to grow and improve, while opening the door for similar shows in the future.

Influence - Go to Fat Office

2007-10-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

As those of you who know me know, I've becoming increasingly interested in board games and card games. Both in playing them, but also in the rule systems that drive them and the aesthetics that make them appealing. I'm sure the whole thing is linked back to my Junior High School days of playing elaborate Roll-Playing Games, but regardless, I've been enjoying pretending I'm an amateur game designer and spending countless hours drawing ninjas and evil clowns for the board games I'm working on.

With that in mind, my lovely wife pointed out an article in a recent New Yorker (actually, it could have been an old New Yorker, since she's catching up on the ones she missed while we traveled) talking about the History of The Game of Life. Or, as it was originally known, The Checkered Game of Life.

The original Checkered Game of Life was invented in 1860, by Milton Bradley. Milton had previously tried to sell lithographs of Abe Lincoln, that were quite popular... untill the then-President grew a beard.

Luckily for Milton, the Checkered Game of Life proved to be quite popular and sold 45,000 copies in the first year alone. Like many other games of its time, it contained a stong moral message and used a top-like device called a Teetotum instead of dice. Because dice were for sinful gamblers, obviously.

Honestly, while I've been hankering play the modern day version of Life, I'm even more curious in the original version. It's old-world moralizing and lithrographic images actually has a lot more appeal to me than driving around a happy family of pink and blue pegs. And, it links into my general interest in all things dating from that time period.

Plus, while the rules seem easy, the board seem set up for elaborate and interesting game play. And what are the rules? Simple!

(Use the board above for reference, though you can find a modern, clip-art one here.)

The Rules to the Checkered Game of Life
1. All players start on Infancy.
2. If one player lands on another, the other is sent to Jail.
3. If you land on a "hand" you must follow the directions.
4. If you land on Suicide, you are out of the game.
5. When you land on a numbered space, you gain those points.
6. The goal is achieve 100 points.

Moving (Use a dice, since Teetotums are a little harder to find.)
1: One square up or down
2: One square right or left
3. One square diagonally
4. One or two squares up or down
5. One or two squares right or left
6. One or two squares diagonally

Now, with those rules in hand, you can help me in my new quest to bring The Checkered Game of Life back! I'm hoping to either print out an existing board, or make my own, and then force my friends to play with me. Lucky them!

Featured Creatured: Barbegazi

2007-10-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

If you are a shepherd in the Swiss Alps, and find yourself approached by a white bearded gnome with large feet, do not be alarmed. It is merely the shy, yet helpful Barbegazi. In fact, if you have any lost sheep or goats, he may even try to help you locate them.

The Barbegazi are often also referred to as "Frozen Beard" because of their long beard which drags behind them in the snow. In addition, the Barbegazi never come down from their icy mountain-top homes and will even go into hibernation if the weather becomes too warm for their liking; only to awaken again at the first snowfall.

The most notable feature of the Barbegazi is its oversized feet. These feet are specially adapted for their frozen habitat and allow them to walk upon the snow as if snowshoeing. Also, given a steep enough hillside, it is not uncommon for them to actually use their feet as skis. Truly, a remarkable species!

Wikipedia: Barbegazi

Up in the air.

2007-10-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

As regular readers (aka: my lovely wife) may remember, I deemed Gulag Orkestar by Beirut the "best album of 2007." So, it probably comes as little surprise that I also really love his new album: The Flying Club Cup

Honestly, I do have to admit that I was a little concerned that I wouldn't like it as much. As amazing as Gulag Orkestar was, I was concerned that what had seemed so novel on the first album would just seem strained and redundant on the second. Luckily, Zach Condon (who it, what, 12?) has changed his focus a bit (from Eastern Europe to Paris), brought in an eight-piece band and was apparently fortunate enough to record in the same church studio used by Arcade Fire's most recent album.

All in all, a great album. And, if you don't like it, well...

Just don't poop on my balloon!

See this balloon?

Happy looking, isn't it? Now, imagine if it had poop on it. Maybe seagull poop, though you can use your imagination and pick another sort of poop.

Doesn't the idea of a balloon with poop on it seem so sad. But, y'know, funny-sad. That's why I'm coining the phase: "Don't poo on my balloon." Or, alternately, "I don't mean to poop on your balloon, but..."

And, its going to be the Greatest Phrase ever!™ So, feel free to use it and spread the word!

Update: I just discovered this page which allows you to stream a new Beirut song, My Night With the Prostitute From Marseille, which will be appearing on some benefit compliation that Natalie Portman is releasing on iTunes. The track is an interesting one, because in some ways its more Postal Service sounding that Beirut.

Featured Creatured: Amphisbaena

2007-10-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

[As a (hopefully) ongoing new feature at General Admission, I will be posting illustrations and profiles of famous mythological and imaginary creatures. With any luck, I will post a new one each week, so be sure to check in.]

Amphisbaena

Debate rages on the origin of the venomous Amphisbaena, but most experts agree that it was most likely created from the blood of Medusa's severed head. Legend tells it that, as Perseus returned from slaying Medusa, he flew over the Libyan Desert on his steed Pegasus. Having not packaged her head properly, its blood rained down upon the earth, and the Amphisbaena sprung forth where ever it fell.

Another area of contention is the Amphisbaena's mode of locomotion. Some claim that it has chicken legs it runs upon, while others tell of wings that enable it to fly. These two statements are most likely fiction; but the reality is that is that it either slithers in a traditional manner, or more dramatically, its two heads clasp together and it rolls like a wagon wheel.

With its two deadly mouths, one is encouraged to stay away from any Amphisbaenae, but that doesn't keep the adventurous and desperate from using it in many traditional folk remedies: Pregnant woman often wear Amphisbaenae around their necks to insure a safe childbirth. Its skin offers relief from arthritis, or to provide warmth for lumberjacks on a cold day. Finally, if your goal is romantic success, its flesh can be eaten.

The Amphisbaenae primarily feed upon ants, which is why it is sometimes called The Mother of Ants. But, they have also been seen feasting upon corpses at night. It is best to avoid the Amphisbaena at night since its eyes, which glow in the dark, also cause death during full moons.

Wikipedia: Amphisbaena

Branded!

2007-10-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Last night, my lovely wife and I went to the Cinerama and waited in line with the oft-obnoxious Seattle Filmophiles to watch Guy Madden's Brand Upon the Brain! And, it turned out to be a movie experience that delivered on its title promise. I was certain, while walking home, that my dreams would be filled with the dream-like (nightmare?) images which filled it. Rather than try to summarize the plot (a la Awarapan), I'll just copy and paste the press kit description:

Brand Upon the Brain! In which the shocking truth is finally revealed about young Guy Maddin and his hellish childhood on a remote island, under the hyper-watchful eye of a crazed mother hellbent on restoring her youth and a diabolically distant scientist-father, proprietors of a mom-and-pop orphanage they surreptitiously operate within the dank confines of the family lighthouse. Watch! as the sex instinct grabs hold of young Maddin and his sister! Thrill! as the Mysteries of the Light House are divined by teen detectives! Reel! at the headstrong invention and heart-stopping rhythms of the elder Maddin¹s heroic silent moviemaking!!

Mad scientists! Teen detectives! Lesbians! And an evil mother who sits in a mechanical rotating booth high atop a lighthouse shouting orders to her children through a quasi-magical device called an Aerophone. It was a compeletely unique and engaging combinations of themes and elements that created a world and mood unlike anything I've seen. Parts of it seemed Lynchian, but more accessible and often more effective.

But, part of what made the film amazing was not only the film itself, but the live in-cinema experience that accompanied it. The movie itself is a grainy silent film by Guy Madden, but for this showing it was also accompanied by a live band, a castrato singing, live foley artists and Guy Madden himself providing narration. I've been to several other shows that combine both live elements with film (namely, Crispin Glover's performance of "What Is It?" and Portastic's live music score for "The Unknown"), and they always impress me. There is something about having a live element accompanying the film that help make the experience not only more engaging, but also special.

Sadly, the movie was so engaging that I hardly took time to look down at the foley artists and watch them do their things. But, almost every time I did, I was surprised at what I saw. The sound of a bonfire? Ruffled tin wrapping paper and crushed packing material. The surf on the shore? Sand rolled around inside a tamborien. The sound of life fluid (nectarite) being sucked out of someones neck? Two rubber gloves being twisted together.

Also, the castrato bears mentioning. (Don't they always?) Even after doing some research on the web, I couldn't verify who the castrati is, or how he became one; but his voice was unlike anything else I've heard... at least coming from a man. Possibly one of the more beautiful voices I've heard in a long time, the experience would just become surreal when I'd look over and realize that it was coming from a large man who looked like he should be standing next to the Three Tenors. Unreal. And, like the entire movie, unsettling.

The entire experience left Sarah and I with stuff to ponder over. Branded.

Why Awarapan is Awarsome

2007-10-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

...er... I mean, "awesome."

When my wife and I were in Delhi, we had a chance to go see the movie Awarapan. Since it was a Bollywood flick showing in India, it was in Hindi without English subtitles. As a result, we had to basically try to figure out what was going on based on the action on screen. Luckily, it was an action film, so the action was easy to follow.

And, it was awarsome.

To understand why Awarapan is awarsome, I have to give you a summary of the plotline. It goes without saying that this summary will have spoilers... so if you don't want the "twists" in Awarapan "ruined" then don't read on. If you wish to understand awarsomeness, then do:

Awarapan: the summary
...or, at least what I think happens since I couldn't understand the dialogue.

(Oh yeah, and I'm just telling it in chronological order, since the movie is, like, 99.9% flashback.)

The movie starts, and introduces us to the main character. The main character, although Indian, lives in Hong Kong and works for a mob boss. In addition, as near as I could tell, the main character is also Colin Farrell from Miami Vice, see:

Through flashbacks (wait! What happened to chronological order?), we see a young Colin Farrell in Rajasthan who -along with his best friend- are just starting on their life of crime. On the run from cops, Colin ducks into a market where he runs into a beautiful young lady who he falls for and begins dating in secret.

The young woman introduces Colin to her hobby of buying caged birds and setting them free (not the most subtle of symbolism, but -hey- it films well), and to her Muslim faith. Colin, seems to be able to appreciate bird thing, but just mocks her spiritualism.

Later, the woman's father discovers the romance, gathers a mob and goes to pick a fight with Colin. Confronted by her father, Colin dares the man to shoot him. But, when her father pulls the trigger, Colin has second thoughts and steps aside. Unfortunately ...are you ready for this?... the woman was standing behind Colin, and gets shot and killed!

Fast forward to present day.

Colin's mob boss in Hong Kong is headed out of town. In his absence, the mob boss asks Colin to watch after his wife (an arrangement that generally works out well for everyone). Colin takes his boss's job seriously and proceeds to follow her around town like a stalker while her and her friends engage in the films one true song and dance number. Let's watch:

Not surprisingly, he falls for her. Both because she reminds him of the girl from Rajasthan (so much so, I presumed they were the same character, until Sarah set me straight) and because she's a Muslim (cue more flashbacks). Unfortunately, as he gets to know her more, he discovers that she doesn't love the mob boss. In fact, she's more his slave than wife. In addition, it turns out that her and her preppy friend (see clip above) are planning on escaping. The mob boss, learning this, tells Colin to kill her. This leads to Colin's big moral crisis: Does he gun down her and her country club frequenting pal? Or, does he help her escape?

He decides to do the former. But, tell's his boss he's done the later.

Unfortunately, Colin's best friend turns on him ...which you pretty much knew was going to happen since he smoked and looked a little shifty. The mob boss finds out what's going on, and has Colin captured and beaten extensively. After getting a Hulk-like second wind, Colin escapes; but is found nearly dead, lying next to a Buddhist monestary. One of the monks just happens to be a chubby man that Colin had let live earlier in the film, and -thankful for not being killed by Colin early- takes him in to be healed. It's never exactly explained how the chubby monk-man gets from the deserts of Rajasthan, where Colin had ditched him, to Hong Kong though. Or, perhaps it was; but it was explained with... y'know... dialogue. So I missed it.

Anyhow, that leads to this sequence, which is probably my favorite part of the whole movie:

Yep. Brought back to health at the monestary, Colin discovers Buddhism. Buddhism then gives him the power to go kick some serious ass! The rest of the movie is one prolonged gun battle. Made even more prolonged by the fact that most of it is in slow-motion. Colin kills the mob bosses coke-addled son. There's a huge shoot out in a nightclub. Colin's best friend becomes a good guy again. Then dies. Colin kills the mob boss. Then gets killed himself.

But, he helps the main girl and her sweater-wearing man-child get away in a speedboat.

Awarsome!

OK, so maybe I forgot a scene or two. And maybe I've got the entire plot wrong. Still, any movie who's leason is "Buddhism allows you to kick ass with a cool soundtrack" is awarsome in my book. I really hope they release it on DVD in the States. Though, if they do, I might leave the subtitles off. Something tells me it would be better that way.

There and back again

2007-09-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

We're back!

My lovely wife and I returned to the States a little over a week ago. Our Round the World Trip was a massive success, and was definitely one of those Once In A Lifetime Opportunities™ that all the kids are talking about today. But, I won't ramble too much about that here, since Sarah and I have rambled enough about it over at Strange and Benevolent.

But, needless to say, we've returned safe and sound to home in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, over the last week I've been messing around with General Admissions; updating its Look and Feel™ and trying to update it to more than just the standard Blogger template. (I'm still not entirely sure I'll be keeping the new "150% More General" photo header. I mean, you can pretty much count my pores.)

In the coming weeks, I'm hoping to start posting here again. my plan is to have this be the blog that I'll ramble about comics, movies, books, strange things I've found online, art, maybe a little politics and pretty much anything that comes to mind. In addition, Sarah and I will continue to update Strange and Benevolent. It will be the blog in which we continue to talk about our lives, post personal photos and generally keep people up to date with what we are doing (which should make it a smash hit with our parents... and that's pretty much it).

Finally, I've made a small update to the Tater Board. Instead of its URL being a long string of unmemorable numbers, its now simple tater.activeboard.com, which should make it easier for the three people who use it to remember and access it.

Anyhow, hopefully in the coming days, I'll have some additional things to ramble about. But, until then, Ninja!

What we are packing for our trip:

2007-02-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tyler’s Pack: Osprey Waypoint 80 (mens)

In pack and daypack:
Digital Camera with two 1 Gb memory cards
Flexi-tripod for camera
CD File folder to place copies of photos
Money Belt
Deck of Playing Cards
Packet of Tissue Paper
Sunglasses with case
Pack Towel
Spork
Collapsible bowl
Filter canteen
Metal pencil case
Pencil bag with more pencils and pens
One lined journal
One blank sketchbook
1 CoolMax travesheet
Pacsafe lock
Bottle of B-Complex Vitamins
Bottle of Anti-Oxidant Vitamins
Soap case with soap
Drain plug
Ziplock full of Q-Tips
Shampoo

One bathroom bag:
Toothbrush
Finger nail clippers
Mach 3 razor
Extra razors
Small scissors
Deodorant
Anti-zit cream
Comb
Hair product
Shaving lotion
Conditioner

Medicine bag:
Cipro
Allergy medicine
Ibuprofen
Gas-X
Sleep Aid
Several Emergen-C packets
Chlorine Dioxide
Immodium
Pepto-Bismol
Dramamine
Huang Lian Su (herbal remedy)

Small bag with:
Vinyl repair tape
Anti-bacterial moist wipes
Insect repellant
Extra batteries
Roll of duct tape
Camp soap
Clothing dry line
Rubber Doorstop
Headlamp
Knife

Eagle Creek Clothing Envelope:
1 Khaki Slacks
2 Green Shorts
1 Swim Trunks
1 Jeans
1 long sleeve blue dress shirt
1 tan short sleeve shirt

Other Clothes:
Orange rain jacket
Casio watch
1 pair Tevas
1 “Tyler Hill Camp” baseball cap
5 pairs of boxer shorts (quick dry)
5 pairs hiking/walking socks
4 T-shirts (green, brown, gray, black)
1 long underwear shirt
1 gray fleece

Books:
Worst Hard Way
Life of Pi
Love in the Time of Cholera
New Zealand Travel Book

Paperwork:
Passport
Drivers License
International Drivers License
Bank card
Credit card
Travelers checks
Emergency cash
Plane tickets
Copies of Sarah’s documents

Sarah’s Pack: Osprey Waypoint 80 (womens)

Main pack and daypack:
Pack of mini-dominos
Pack of tissue paper
3 lip balms
Eye mask
Travel journal
Travel watercolor set
Book of watercolor paper
CD book (for photo disks)
Money belt
Calculator
Camera manual
Collapsible bowl
Spork
Sunglasses and case
Pack towel
Print out labels with friends and families addresses
Ultravoilet filter and bottle
Contact lens solution
CoolMax Travel Sheet

1 Bathroom bag:
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
1 contact lens holder
Neutrogena Daily Moisturizer
Face soap (with case)
Razor
Conditioner
Lush shampoo bar
Deodorant
Wide toothed comb
Tweezers
Pencil Sharpener
Lorac make-up kit
Make-up brushes
Eyebrow pencil
Loose powder
SPF 30 sun block
Hair spritz
Eye Glasses (and case)
Anti-oxidant Vitamins
Birth control
Swimming goggles
A few Emergen-C Packets

Small bag with:
Extra razors
Extra contact lens
Feminine products

Eagle Creek Travel Bag with:
Small first aid kit (band aids and few other odds and ins)
Insect repellant for clothing
SPF 30 Sunblock
Lower back herbal medicine
Multi-vitamins for her
Hand Sanitizer
Bentonite clay
3 extra Citre Shine texture cream (for Tyler)
Extra contact lens solution
Extra bug repellant
Extra deodorant
Extra contact lens case
Cough drops
Extra razor blades (for Ty)
Epi-pens
Aloe

Clothing Envelope:
6 shirts (purple, light purple, green, light blue, pink and gray with birds)
2 pants (green, black)
1 black capri pant
2 black skirts (one convertible)

Other clothes:
Green zip up jacket
1 pair Chacos
5 pairs of socks
Pajama pants and top
5 pairs of underpants
2 bras
Swimsuit
Sarong
Green flip-flops
Black Ballet Flats

Books:
Off the Map
Collapse
Istanbul
The Gastronomical Me
Istanbul Guidebook
Super Crosswords
Mensa Quiz-A-Day
Fast Talk: Spanish
Hindu Phrasebook
Southeast Asian Phrasebook

Paperwork:
File-folder with travel book cut outs and notes
Passport
Drivers License
International Drivers License
Bank card
Credit card
Travelers checks
Emergency cash
Plane tickets
Copies of Tyler’s documents

Strange and Benevolent

2007-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

General Travels is closing shop.

After much consideration, my wife and I have started a new and improved blog to chronicle our trip. You can check it out, and stay up to date on our journey here: Strange and Benevolent.

Strange and (Hopefully) Coherent

2007-01-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

So, as most you know, my wife and I are a couple weeks out from departing on a seven month Round the World Trip. To this end, I've set up Strange and Benevolent: Chronicling Sarah and Tyler's 2007 Round the World Adventure.

The unfortunate side effect of the trip is that General Admission will probably be quiet until my return in September. But, please, check out Strange And Benevolent. I promise to try to not make it too self-indulgent. And, as an added bonus, you'll get to read entries by my often-mentioned, lovely wife, Sarah.

Enjoy!

Larger than life

2007-01-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

Recently, I've been keeping a list next to my computer, and waiting until I get a couple things I want to mention, before I create a new blog entry. That way, hopefully, it feels like there is a little more substance to the entries.

That said, sometimes I stumble across something so creepy-cool that I want to share it immediately! Case in point, check out these larger-than-life, super-realistic statues by Ron Mueck. The combination of their scale and the eerie level of realism are so surreal it almost makes me giddy.

Wish I was in Paris, so I could check them out in person.

So many wonderful, bizarre creatures!

2007-01-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend, my brother-in-law was in town, so my wife and I took him to Georgetown to do some site seeing (or, at least, the Georgetown equivalent). While we were there, it was necessary (I might even argue that it was required by law) that we visit the Fantagraphic Bookstore; where my wife pointed out this book to me:

Beasts! is "a pictorial schedule of traditional hidden creatures from the interest of 90 modern artisans." Or, more succinctly, its a guide to 90 mythical creatures, with accompanying illustrations by 90 different illustrators. Imagine if McSweeney's created the Dungeon & Dragon's Monster Manual, and you begin to have an idea about what Beasts! is like.

(Commence coveting!)

Luckily, my wife is wonderful and announced that I should own it. So, I now have it next to my bed where, each night, I can fall to sleep with visions of Albastors and Sianachs dancing in my head.

Equally creature-filled and fascinating, if slightly less fanciful (and a little more disheartening), is this website, pointed out to me today by a coworker: Edge Of Existence. Edge of Existence is a website dedicated to:

The EDGE of Existence programme aims to conserve the world's most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species by implementing the research and conservation actions needed to secure their future.

But, their lists of endangered creatures is evey bit as amazing as those found in the pages of Beasts. Take, for example, the Long-Eared Jerboa, who's ears are 1/3rd the size of its body:

Also on the list are fresh water dolphins, the Saiga (a thick-nose antelope type creature that can run up to 80 km/h) and bats that are no bigger than a large bumblebee. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

Looking at these endangered species lists, reminded me of Douglas Adams' A Last Chance To See. This is probably the least read of the Adams' books, and his only non-fiction book (to my knowledge). It details his travels around the world to track down and see for himself some of the world's most endangered species. The subject matter sounds massively depressing, but Adams' (the author of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) manages to balance it with the right amount of his trademark humor. It's a great read and one of my all time favorites.

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about X-men...

2007-01-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

But, I am going to talk about comics.

Some of the more astute readers of this blog will have noticed that I've stopped doing my weekly comic reviews. That's because, the latest research has shown that this blog has three regular readers. And that, of those readers, exactly 0.34% of them (the heel of Sarah's left foot, I believe) have interest in reading a blog entry in which I wax poetic about Wolverine ...again.

So, instead, I've moved back to posting my comic reviews at JoeQuesada.com where the people reading them have at least a foggy notion of what I'm rambling about. And where I can verbally abuse any fanboy that dares disagree with me.

Because, I'm just hardcore like that.

But, I still think its worth mentioning some of the interesting graphic novels (y'know, comics for those who are afraid to read comics) I received for my birthday and/or Christmas. So, let's take a look at those. And -don't worry- while some do contain monkeys and deformed teenagers, there is a complete absence of spandex.

The 9/11 Report (Graphic Novel Edition)

God Bless America! Probably the only nation in the world that would publish a comic book adaptation of a government report detailing the nation's worst terrorist attack ever. But, if you can get past the surreal nature of the entire undertaking, its amazingly interesting. I'm sure that the whole thing reads like a Cliff's-Notes version of the actual report; but still, I feel like I've got a much better understanding of 9/11 itself, the reports findings, and the administrations failure to follow through on the reports suggestions. Both the layout and the subject matter can be frustrating at times, but still its audacious and essential reading.

Chicken With Plums

Marjane Satrapi's fourth book to be translated to English is heartbreaking in the best way. Significantly less dense than the 9/11 Report, Chicken With Plums packs a stronger emotional wallop with her distinctive minimalist art style and prose. It's the true life story of one of her distant relatives (a great uncle, I believe) who is a musician that resolves to let himself die after his tar (a musical instrument) is broken and he cannot find a suitable replacement. The ending for this one snuck up on me a bit, and left me reeling.

Black Hole

If Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight was my favorite novel of the year, I would argue that Charles Burns' Black Hole was probably my favorite graphic novel (thought -technically- I might have read it after the New Year). It's the story of teenagers growing up in Seattle during the 1970's, in a world where there is a strange STD that gives those who get it strange and deforming mutations (less X-men, more Sloth from the Goonies). What could have been a sort of soft Sci-Fi style novel instead becomes more of an allegory about the isolation, self-exploration and strange sexual energy that comes with being an adolescent. A great story filled with beautiful ugliness... or ugly beauty, maybe.

Monkey Vs. Robot

With a title and cover like this, you'd expect a light, fun-filled, all-ages tale about monkeys and robots engaging in all sorts of hi-jinks, right? Well, you'd be half wrong. Writer/artist James Kochalka never ditches the sense of whimsy and fun, but also isn't affraid to up the body count, as legions of awkward, stoic robots and playful, charming monkeys engage in a full on war for control of the jungle. By the end of the story, as the jungle burns to the ground and the robot factory crumbles, you begin to wonder if there is a message. Maybe James is saying something about the inherent conflict between nature and science. Or maybe he is illustrating the futility of war. Or maybe, just maybe, he's pointing out that when monkeys and robots go do battle... they both loose. But, we win.

And finally, I'd like to leave you with this little video gem, which I'm sure will make a believer... or something... out of anyone who watches it. Enjoy!

Esquivalience

2007-01-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Esquivalience—n. the willful avoidance of one’s official responsibilities . . . late 19th cent.: perhaps from French esquiver, “dodge, slink away.”

The fun thing about the word "esquivalience" is that it isn't an actual word. Instead, it is a fake entry (or Mountweazel)that the New Oxford American Dictionary placed in their 2005 edition as a sort of copyright protection tool. The New Yorker ran an article on this some time ago, but I just now heard about the concept for the first time from one of my coworkers.

From the sounds of it, it’s been a practice of dictionaries and encyclopedias to include a single fake entry in order to help keep other references from just plagiarizing their work. The idea being that, if another source copies them word for word, they'll also copy the fake information... thereby proving where the source stole their information from.

I just think the whole idea is really cool, and would love to find out some more of these fake words and entries. Alternately, you can go over to Digg and read a bunch of people getting bent out of shape about it. I like this one in particular:

"Kind've lame in my opinion. This type of information should be FREE, anyways. You should just be paying for the paper it's printed on."

Or, "The Dictionary, instead of the stupid Goddamn Bible, is the one book that should be free on request. I find this analog drm crap appalling. The one book you should be able to trust is a dictionary."

Apparently, in my US Citzenship class, I missed the part where every American was guaranteed the Freedom of Dictionary Access. And, I love the whole idea of comparing these fake entries to DRM (Digital Right Management) for digital music and videos. C'mon people, let's find a little perspective here!

Perhaps, their indignation is just another example of their esquivalience.

Regardless, I think it would be great if these words slowly do become part of the English language.

Where's the General?

2007-01-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Apparently, he's at the McLeod Residence.

(Along with his beautiful wife, of course!)

The McLeod Residence is a new gallery/art space/soon-to-be lounge in Belltown. And my wife and I went to check it out during the miserable 32-degree rainstorm that hit Seattle last Friday evening.

The idea behind the McLeod Residence is to make a gallery space that is more than a gallery space; sort of "club house" (or maybe "social club") for artists and artistic thinkers. It's the sort of idea that the optimist in me loves, and the pessimist in my thinks is doomed for fail. But, regardless of how it eventually turns out, it was a neat space, and I enjoyed both it and the art in it. Especially noteworthy was an interactive piece, involving a looped video of a cello player and a device that allows you to interact with it. ...and, yes, I understand that last sentence sounded like gibberish, but just trust me on this one.

Regardless, while I probably would have enjoyed the space for no other reason than to get out of the rain, I have to say that the entrance was entrancing. You enter through some unassuming doors and make your way up a narrow, dark wood staircase, until it opens up into a large room with ornately framed, old paintings and elaborate white and brown wallpaper that gives the entire thing a sort of wonderful Edwardian flare. And, you probably all know how I love all things Edwardian.

Speaking of which, I stumbled across this site recently: Steam Wars. Steam Wars is the brain child of Larry Blamire, who is notable mainly for directing the faux-B-movie, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (which, actually, I still need to check out). But, while the idea of paying homage to B-movies always works, I'm much more interested in the concept behind Steam Wars; which involves an alternate history in which soldiers in Victorian Era Europe engage in ongoing battle atop giant steam powered robots. Sort of a Steampunk version of Robotech.

What's not to love!

Anyhow, the website itself contains a variety of paintings, sketches and notes about the world of Steam Wars. But the whole thing is decidedly rough around the edges. Still, it’s just enough to get my gears turning.

Top 20 Albums of 2006

2006-12-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

All the other Top 10 lists are wrong! Mine is the only correct list! In fact, I'm so sure about my list, that I've made it a Top 20 List! Some of you might think I made it a Top 20 List because I couldn't bring myself to cut most of the albums from the list but you are wrong too!

Ok, maybe there's a little truth to that.

Anyhow, I submit for your consideration, my list. Here's a few obligatory disclaimers:

Disclaimer 1: Because I do almost all my music listening at work, on my Rhapsody player, this list is made up pretty much entirely of albums available through Rhapsody. Therefore, since some labels aren't on Rhapsody (like Drag City Records), some critical favorites are missing from this list (sorry, Joanna Newsom).

Disclaimer 2: I spent a good portion of this year listening to Broken Social Scene's self-titled album. This album would easily be on my Top 20 list, except it came out last year.

Disclaimer 3: I spent a good portion of this year listening to Magnetic Field's "69 Love Songs". This album would easily be on my Top 20 list, except it came out like 10 years ago.

Now, on to the list!!

20. Girl Talk "Night Ripper"

My love affair with all things techno largely ran its course several years ago. But, still, this album deserves a nod. The entire album is effectively one long mash-up of over 160 different songs. From Notorious BIG to the Pixies, no one is safe. Imagine listening to all your favorite songs back-to-back and you begin to get an idea of what listening to "Night Ripper" sounds like.

19. The Streets "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living"

Mike Skinner's third release is easily his weakest album so far, but it's still better than the majority of stuff I heard this year. With this release we find Mike addressing the the price of fame. In the hands of lesser acts this usually leads to disaster; but Mike's tales of trying to date famous pop-stars and avoiding people taking pictures of him doing coke with their cell phones almost makes it sound fresh.

18. Chad Vangaalen "Skelliconnection"

This album benefits from the fact that I discovered it at the same time as Chad's first release, "Infinitheart." Alone, both albums are a tad uneven. But, together they are great. I don't like all of his songs, but tracks like "Dead Ends" are damned near perfect.

(Ignore the "Dig This" blob.)
17. Mew "And The Glass Handed Kites"

Mew is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I generally try to describe their sounds by saying they are somewhere between Sigur Ros and Queensryche, which is also a good way of pointing out who the effectively straddle the line between very cool and really dorky. I'm not a huge fan of their slower songs, but when they rock out in songs like "Apocalypso" its bliss.

16. Neko Case "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood"

Like the Street's album, this probably isn't my favorite Neko Case album. But still, come on! It's Neko Case, and she's still got one of my favorite voices in the business.

15. Viva Voce "Get Yr Blood Sucked Out"

You want some driving guitar? I got your driving guitar right here! This is another band that I sort of stumbled across this year and don't really know much about. What I do know is that this albums got some great music on it.

14. CSS "Cansei De Ser Sexy"

I was initially resistant to this album. I think I'm a little burnt out on the electropop sound. Plus, there is just something a little to "look at how clever and hip I am" about this band. But, at the end of the day, it is a kick-ass little party album with plenty of music to keep you dancing and singing along with.

13. Swan Lake "Beast Moans"

What do you get when you mix New Pornographers and Wolf Parade? You get a great album, that's what. What is it with Canadian musicians these days though? Not only are they all apparently super talented and prolific, but they all seem ready, willing and able to switch bands more frequently than I switch my socks.

Side Note: I probably could have and should included Destroyers' new album "Rubies." But, since Destroyers' Dan Bejar is also in Swan Lake, I decided to omit it, to keep the list to an even 20. Can't have Dan hogging all the spots.

(Again, ignore the "Dig This" blob.)
12. Cold War Kids "Robbers & Cowards"

Apparently, like the Strokes, Cold War Kids had a certain amount of pre-release buzz surrounding them, so that -by the time their album actually came out- they were hit with some backlash from the hipster community. Luckily, I managed to miss all that, so I just got to enjoy a great album, with a sound that fits somewhere between the White Stripes and (more accurately) the Walkmen.

(Again with the "Dig this" blob!)
11. Ratatat "Classics"

Ratatat's second album features the same winning formula as their self-titled debut, but with a filled out sound. This album deserves to be on the list for no other reason than the sampled panther roar on the track "Wildcat." Luckily, there is even more to it than that.

10. Band of Horses "Everything All The Time"

When I first listened to this album, I was expecting some alt-country along the lines of Uncle Tupelo. So, when it didn't deliver on that, I sort of dismissed it. Luckily I soon corrected my oversight and realized what an excellent, atmospheric album this was.

9. Dirty on Purpose "Hallelujah Sirens"

This album sort of sneaks up on you. Occasionally, I'll be listening to my MP3 player on random, and a song will come on that makes me think "this is good, but I forget who it is." And when I check, its inevitably Dirty on Purpose. In addition, when I listen to the album all the way through, I always start out thinking "why do I like these guys again?" But somewhere about halfway through the album (usually on the track "Always Looking"), I find myself going "this is such a great album!"

8. Ali Farka Toure "Savane"

This year's best Blues album was recorded by a 67 year old Malian man, who died of shortly after of bone cancer. Wonderful, high-spirited, soulful stuff.

7. Califone "Roots and Crowns"

Another band who I don't know much about, but who's album I love. I like picturing them wearing leather jackets, cowboy hats and not giving a damn what anyone thinks about it. Great stuff.

6. The Decemberists "The Crane Wife"

The Decemberists have always been one of those bands that I thought I should like... but never really did. That all changed with this album though. By the sounds of it, they must have kicked out a couple of the theater geeks and replaced them with some 70's rockers. And that change is just enough to win me over. If this album consisted only of the second track, it would make the Top 10 list. That track appears to be four separate songs fused together into one magnum opus that manages to be what many songs aspire to but few reach: Epic.

5. Asobi Seksu "Citrus"

I didn't discover My Bloody Valentine until their music was featured in Lost in Translation. But, since discovering them, I've officially overplayed their classic "Loveless" while at work. Since then, I've been searching for other bands with that same sound; and finally found what I was looking for with Asobi Seksu. Asobi Seksu's music is half English, half Japanese and all wall-of-sound, fuzzy-guitar joy for my little ears.

4. Gnarls Barkley "St. Elsewhere"

This was the one album that I listened to, and before I even got halfway through it, I thought to myself "oooh, this is good, it's going to be on my Top 10 list for 2006!" Few albums this year managed to have this much energy and fun, while still being smart and innovative. Retro-soul music for the future.

3. TV on the Radio "Return to Cookie Mountain"

I have to be honest, it took me a couple listens to really come to grips with this album. It's dense, occasionally challenging and sounds unlike anything else being produced this year. A little progressive rock and a little bit do-wop. Once it gets its hooks in you though, you don't want it to let go.

2. Tom Waits "Orphans: Bawlers, Brawlers and Bastards"

You know a artist is in top form when he releases a three album box set, and any single album in the set can stand up against any other album on this list. Amazing. As Waits says himself: "Shake your fist and your poo-poo part!"

1. Beirut "Gulag Orkestar"

If you'd told me when I was 19 that in 12 years my favorite album would be by a 19-year old kid who sings like David Byrne leading a gypsy orchestra through the streets of Paris, I would have said that you were crazy. But, you'd be right! Beirut is, hands down, my favorite album of the year. You could shuffle around any of the other albums on this list, and I'd probably be fine with it, but not this one. Amazing, wonderful, hopelessly romantic (in the best sense of the word) stuff that can't help but snatch you away to some distant Eastern European country.

Well, that's it. My Top 20 List. I'll probably feel different tomorrow, but until then...

Don't Let's Talk About Art Tonight

2006-12-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Right before Christmas, I managed to finish Alexandra Fuller's first novel Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.

The story recalls her childhood growing up in Africa, the daughter of two tough living, alcoholic, down on their luck white farmers in war-torn Rhodesia. It's an amazing, visceral tale which is at turns both horrific and humorous. Alexandra writing captures her childhood experience amazingly, while never becoming precious or affected. She writes the way I wished I could have during NaNoWriMo several years ago.

I'm pretty sure this will be my favorite book of the year, in a year where I've read several exceptional books.

But, at the same time, I'm glad that I was able to finish it before I began opening my Christmas presents, because I got quite a few books this year, including (un)Fashion (which I was pining about a few entries back) and David Byrne's newest book Arboretum.

Arboretum is Byrne's attempt to create organic graphs, forms and charts to show the connection of various words and concepts. The resulting forms and charts are interesting enough, but the real meat-and-potatoes can be found in the four foot long fold out section at the back of the book. In it, he discusses a number of the charts, their meaning and his process in creating them. It reads like the Director Commentary on the Musings of David Byrne's Brain.

It's the sort of high-minded silliness that he's known for. Which is fine by me, because Byrne could write about planting potatoes and I'd still find it interesting. In fact, his latest blog entry pretty much proves it.

In it, he begins by talking about his theories (and those of an author who's book he’d just read) on the role of art in society. Particularly its role in attracting members of the opposite sex, and how that was all inverted and had to be redefined after the industrial revolution and the invention of the camera. This then segues into him recounting his recent trip to Miami for a gallery show, and the work he saw there. Which, in turn, segues into his discussing Miami, its evolving culture and architecture*. And I find the whole thing captivating.

In fact, after being under whelmed and frustrated at Seattle's last First Thursday (the monthly gallery walk), I actually found that reading his thoughts on art got me interested and excited about fine art again. Just in time to stumble across this today...

With few wolves scattered in the front gallery, all ninety-nine 99 life-sized replicas of wolves run, gallop, and jump toward the far end of the exhibition hall, where a wall stands. The bravery of the wolves is met head on by the unyielding wall. As the leading wolves go down, many more follow with force and determination. As those in the front fall and pile up, those behind take up their positions.

Now, regardless of meaning, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't find that impressive to see.OK, and a little grisly too. But, I know I'd love to see it in person. I don't really know anything about the artist, Cao Guoqiang but that piece (as well as some others in his collection, like these arrow-filled tigers) are amazing.

Or at least more interesting that anything I saw a couple weeks ago.

* The architecture was particularly interesting to me since he talked about some of the hotels seen in the James Bond movie, Goldfinger. I just watched the movie last night, as part of my recent obsession with James Bond… something I’ll most likely bore you all with later.

Merry Octophrost!

2006-12-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

Here's the card that I made for my wife and I to send out to friends and family this year. My guess is that -if you are reading this,- you quite possibly received one, but just in case, Happy Holidays!

Or, Merry Octophrost, as the case may be!

If the whole "War on Christmas/Happy Holidays" debate is getting you down, I recommend you do what I think I'm going to do: Ignore the whole thing, and instead focus on how cool Octophrost - Santa of the Sea is! These little guys are the creation of Futuregirl.com and are, well, awesome.

Now, if we can just get him placed on the State Capital lawn next to a Christmas tree and Menorah, everything will be right in the world.

And, speaking of everything being right in the world, I'm not entirely sure that I'm right in the head this Christmas season. Instead of my usual desire to hear Bing sing White Christmas, I've found myself obsessed with this song. And, thanks to the wonders of YouTube, we can all bask in the video’s 80's acid-and-eggnog glory ("God bless YouTube... everyone"). But, then again, I am simply having a wonderful Christmas time.

Hope you are all too.

Something dramatic about the future.

2006-12-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

I've got a weird fascination with Futurists. I think it started when I first got to hear Alvin Toffler speak at work a few months ago. And then purchased and read his latest book Revolutionary Wealth. There's something about the idea of being a "futurist" that interests me. It’s like the modern day version of an oracle, without the blind, hide-in-a-cave lifestyle. Or, maybe it’s because its like reading Science Fiction... with less fiction to it.

Then, again, maybe it’s just because a lot of superheroes, like Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic claim to be Futurists. In which case, maybe it still is the fiction part that appeals to me.

Regardless, I find myself reading anything written be a self-proclaimed Futurist whenever I stumble across it. Like, My Final Prediction by Bruce Sterling, which is worth reading is for no other reason than a few melodramatic quotes like this:

Technophobic refuseniks are likely to carry out violent resistance, and they may have good reason: Out-of-control technology is a distinct risk. The Lexus has collided with the olive tree, and its crumpled hulk spins in a ditch as the orchard smolders.

The other thing of note in that article is that Bruce is predicting the end of Futurism. So, I guess I should enjoy it while I can.

Speaking of things I'm enjoying currently, the illustrator in me is completely infatuated with Patchbox, an art portfolio site that gives each artist an 80x80 pixel space to provide and image and link it to his or her portfolio site. It’s a great way to spend several hours drooling over some amazing illustrations.

For example Joy Ang's art just levels me. She's got a great sense of color and shape, similar to James Jean's work. But, the kicker is that she was born in '85, which makes her, like, 10 years younger than me.

And here I was just coming to grips with Colin Farrell being younger than me. Sheesh.

World's Tallest Man Saves Dolphins

2006-12-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the new year: Another bizarre sea creature related story!!

World's Tallest Man Saves Dolphins

It's lucky they had the world's tallest man on call to lend a hand. Or rather, an extremely long arm.

In a late but very strong contender for the title of most curious animal story of 2006, two dolphins in a Chinese aquarium have been saved thanks to the personal attentions of Bao Xishun, all 7 ft 8.95 inches of him.

As the China Daily and others reported excitedly today, the drama began when the dolphins swallowed pieces of plastic from the edge of their aquarium pool in the north-eastern city of Fushun.

Attempts to remove the plastic using surgical instruments failed because the dolphins' stomachs contracted in response.

Now, thought the vets, if only our arms were long enough to reach down and pull the plastic out... Hang on!

Several telephone calls later and Mr Bao, certified last year as the world's tallest man, taking the title from previous holder, Radhouane Charbib of Tunisia, by a mere 2mm, was on his way, from his home in the province of Inner Mongolia.

The 55-year-old herdsmen was able to use an arm nearly three and a half foot long to reach into the dolphins' mouths and pull out the plastic with his hands, as handlers held their jaws open with towels.

"The two dolphins are in very good condition now," said a satisfied Chen Lujun, manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World.

Mr Bao is somewhat of a celebrity in China, especially now he is officially the world's tallest man.

Last month, the Xinhua news agency reported, he was "causing a stir" in Brazil when he went there for a book signing of the 2007 Guinness Book of Records.

Does this tale open more career options for Mr Bao, other than being a professional giant? Surely, zoos worldwide could use his talents - what do they do now when an elephant needs his back scratched and there are no stepladders around?

As someone else mentioned when they saw the story: "Awesome, his life must really have a sense of porpoise now."

Listening to the Pope

2006-12-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

...no, not that Pope, silly! I'm referring to the popular indie comic book illustrator, Paul Pope.

There’s a sort of beautiful ugliness (or, perhaps, ugly beautifulness) to Pope's work that I've always appreciated. And the level of success he's achieved by doing things his own way is pretty admirable. But, I was still presently surprised by how interesting his blog, PulpHope, is. Whether he's giving interviews to Polish magazines, copying articles about the effects of coffee, or just posting current art projects he's working on, Pope seems to be consistently adding something new to his blog on a daily basis. In fact, while it appears he's only been keeping the blog since the beginning of the month, I'm surprised by how much he's already posted. Often adding two or three entries a day.

Which is a lot better than I've been doing maintaining this blog. But, I'm blaming the holiday season. In fact, while out running around in the rain the other day, I stumbled across a book (at Urban Outfitters of all places) that I really need to add to my Christmas list: (un)Fashion.

To quote the book description itself:

From cardboard shoes in Africa to body paint in New Guinea, from chimney sweeps in France to an Indian Elvis, (un)Fashion scans the globe to show how real people dress: at work, on the street, or for ceremonial occasions. With virtually no text, (un)Fashion pokes gentle fun at the elitism of the fashion world, presenting its provocative observations through dynamic images by some of the world's foremost photojournalists.

I was only able to flip through it for a minute or two, but it seems like it would not only be a wonderful coffee-table book, but would also be something that would be endlessly useful when coming up with sci-fi, superhero and other costume ideas in my sketchbook.

Speaking of interesting artistic references, I received Blackstock's Collection: The Drawings of an Autistic Savant for my Birthday over the weekend.

Gregory Blackstock, as the books title points out, is both autistic and an artistic savant. His art manifests itself in the form of detailed illustrated lists of everything from "the garden pest control beetles" (above) to "our states king sized jails." His dedication and skill is staggering in its ambition. And the book does a good job of displaying the breadth of his work.

Finally, I thought I'd point out the Ninja Words online dictionary. As it is subtitled: "A really fast dictionary... fast like a ninja." No longer am I bound to the slow-loading and clunky Dictionary.com. Yay!

Plus, I like to support all things ninja related.

World Maps

2006-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here's where I've traveled to in the world so far:
MAP

Here's where I'll have been after the Round the World TRip:
MAP

Wheeee!

World map generator - Europe map generator - State map generator.

300 Carnies

2006-12-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

Even though I really enjoyed last years Sin city movie, I thought I'd sort of burnt out on the work of Frank Miller. The last couple of comics of his I'd read -while visually stunning- had failed to resonate with me. So, while I was interested in reading 300, I was also a little hesitant.

I was happy to discover that once Miller's usual terse, hyper-masculine dialogue was removed from its usual pulp novel and film noir trappings, and placed into another time period, it suddenly became interesting again.

The plot of the graphic novel is pretty straight forward: A group of 300 Spartan's versus the "1000 Nations of the Persian Empire." Guess who wins! It's based on historical fact, but with Miller taking some pretty sizable, yet stunning visual liberties.

The thing I'm probably more excited about though is the movie adaptation that is in the works. From what I've seen in the trailer, its going to be an impressive near panel-by-panel recreation of the book, on par with what Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez did with Sin City

Check out some more comic-to-movie comparisons here.

"Our arrows will blot out the sun."
"Then we'll fight in the shade."
Indeed.

My wife and I finished the second (and last) season of Carnivale the other night too. And I'm happy to say that it was one of those series that actually improved with each additional episode and season. Sadly, there won't be any more seasons beyond this one though.

After watching the first season, I had been entranced by the idea of a show following a circus traveling across the dust bowl of 1930's America. It fits in with my whole growing fascination with the first part of the 20th Century. And, anything with Carnies in it will generally keep me amused longer than it probably should.

But, I was a little less impressed with the actual story. Too often, I thought it was attempting to go for the subtle creepiness of, say, Twin Peaks. But, instead it often ended up with the clumsy, faux-creepiness that populates your average Stephen King mini-series. Still, the interesting characters, great concept and often striking cinematography made me check out the second season.

I'm glad we did. The second season quickly picks up the leisurely pace of the first season. And continues to pile on the ideas until the whole thing reaches an edge of your seat climax and "final battle."

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (depending on your mood), the series finishes with one of the greatest and more frustrating anti-endings since Twin Peaks itself. I really wish there would be a season three.

Finally, we continued our Wong Kar Wai movie series with Chungking Express.

I have to admit that its somewhat fragmented storyline (or, rather, storylines) didn't win me over as quickly as 2046 or In the Mood For Love, but as more time passes, I find myself thinking more fondly about it. In addition, while the cinematography is rougher than his later films, there are still plenty of moments that sneak up on you and will linger in your head long after you've sent the DVD back to Netflix.

Waits for Words

2006-11-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

After reading my last blog entry, my Beautiful Wife pointed out that we saw even another movie last week while in Dallas: Wordplay. Wordplay is a documentary about crosswords and the people who do them. The movie hinged on a tournament for crossworders which is held annually to determine the world crossword champion. But, the "characters" in Wordplay weren't quite as colorful as those depicted in the slightly superior Scrabble movie, Word Wars, so the whole documentary came off as not quite as entertaining. Still, it was quite good at times and contained entertaining sequences with celebrity crossworders ranging from Jon Stewart to Bill Clinton. And, a very interesting sequence where they detail how crosswords get made.

Since being home, I've been catching up on new music that has been released on Rhapsody, and have found a couple a great new CDs. The first is Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards.

I've been a fan of Tom Waits for some time, but have never been as fanatical as some of my friends. Still, listening to this three disk collections of rarities and B-sides makes me feel like a pig wallowing in Tom Waits’ slop... in all the best ways. Tom is still the only singer who can deliver a line like "shake your fist and your poo-poo part" and make it sounds completely bad-ass.

I've also been listening to Swan Lake's Beast Moans. Swan Lake is the new Canadian "super-group" made up of Dan Bejar (New Pornographers, Destroyer), Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes... which, ok, I've never heard of before). Canada just seems to be loaded with talents musicians and bands these days (the previously mentioned bands, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, etc). And, in addition, they seem to be fond of playing musical chairs, and forming new groups at the drop of a hat. I'm not complaining, though.

A couple of other quick notes: After my last Blog entry, my brother (the infamous Gypsy Rockstar) pointed out Max Berry's blog. Max Berry is the writer of the novel Jennifer Government, and while he tends to paint in broad brush strokes, his rants are pretty entertaining. For example, his comments on someone getting a corporate logo tattoo:

I offer into evidence the choice of Peter McBride, who is the proud new owner of a Polo pony logo just above his left nipple.

Now, I don’t want to come right out and say that Pete is the low point of human civilization—I mean, there was Hitler. But looking at that photo… gee, it’s a tough call.

Also fellow Tater Boarder, Because, pointed out this awe-some design blog: Coolhunter.net. Every entry is filled with something conceptually cool or visually compelling. Like this:

(Don't worry, that woman is actually a decal on the ground. It's an ad promoting CPR. Scary. But cool.)

The Mystery of Who Shot JR Finally Solved!

2006-11-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

(Not really)

I spent last week in Dallas, celebrating Thanksgiving with my wonderful wife's wonderful family, and at the same time managed to probably watch more movies and do more reading that I typically do in a couple months. So, I thought I'd do a quick run-down of what I saw and read... and what I thought of it.

A couple weeks a go, at a function with my coworkers, Copywriter Dan™ introduced me to a magazine called Stop Smiling: The Magazine for High-Minded Lowlifes.

After leafing through a few of his issues, I was intrigued enough that I picked up one for the flight to Dallas. And, while I might need to pick a few more issues before I pass my final verdict, I have to say it might be my New Favorite Magazine of All-Time™. The issue I brought with me was dedicated entirely to interviews (each issue has a theme),including Tom Waits, RZA, Cat Power, Questlove, Joan Didion, Feist, Sparklehorse, and a dozen others. The whole issue was fascinating, and I literally ended up reading it cover to cover.

Burning a few hours at my wife's mom's house, we threw in her copy of Under the Tuscan Sun. The movie was in one word: charming. Though at times obnoxiously so. I'm pretty sure that the version of Italy depicted in the movie only exists in the minds of Rick Steve's fans who have never actually traveled themselves. But still, it was harmless and (as I said) charming. It was a light and easy way to pass a couple hours.

We also made a trip to the Modern Art Museum in Forth Worth. The museum itself is an elegant and impressive structure, with a visually amazing pool surrounding the back side of it. And, in addition, we got to take in the lush and creative photography of Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Sugimoto's oversized black and white photos depict ethereal seascapes, glowing cinemas and wax recreations of historic royalty. His work is both intellectually compelling and visually hypnotic. I highly recommend checking it out, if it ever shows in your area.

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the new Denzel Washington movie, Deja Vu. I'm not a fan of Tony Scott as a director, and I didn't know anything about the movie going in. The first 30 minutes or so had me rolling my eyes at the storyline: Denzel investigating the terrorist bombing of a ferry loaded with children and off-duty soldiers in the city of (are you ready for this) New Orleans. But, after that initial clunky first third, the movie switches gears and becomes a surprisingly creative time-travel movie. I'd recommend the movie for no other reason than the unique car chase sequence that occurs about halfway through it. It's a set up so unique that I can literally say I haven't ever seen anything like it.

I also got to see the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale too. Or at least I got to see most of it, since we missed the first 15 minutes or so (which apparently features the movies best action sequence). Still, even having missed the intro, I have to say that I thought it was one of the strongest Bond flicks ever. And, Daniel Craig is now probably my second favorite Bond, second only to Sean Connery. It's not just an excellent Bond film, it’s also a solid spy film on its own. And, thanks to it, I'm currently obsessing over all things James Bond.

In addition to Stop Smiling, I finished reading Jennifer Government by Max Barry. A friend of mine had recommended it to me after reading my NaNoWriMo novel from a couple years ago. When I saw that one of the main characters names was "Hack" I was prepared for a bunch of eye-rolling, cyber-punk clichés but I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised. Barry weaves an intricate tale about a half dozen different individuals living a near future run by all-powerful, mega-corporations. And he manages it to do it with enough color, humor and action that the story never takes itself overly seriously or gets bogged down in any high minded self-righteousness. Instead, it’s a literal page turner and a very fun read.

Finally, I also saw Helen Mirrem in the Queen. After all the gun fights and explosions from Deja Vu and Casino Royale, the understated nature of the Queen was a breath of fresh air. And, it also helped that the true life story was compelling, and that pretty much every actor and actress delivered an excellent performance.

So, yeah, I read a lot and watched a lot. Luckily, pretty much all of it was great. Unfortunately, I have to return to work and reality tomorrow.

NEW COMICS: 11.15.06

2006-11-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing exciting to mention today, so I'll just skip the niceties and jump straight into the comic reviews:

Astonish X-men #18 - In theory, this is supposed to be the final issue of the third storyline in this series. But, in reality, it read more like the middle of a twelve issue storyline. I mean, some stuff is explained and a few storylines reach some sort of conclusion. But a lot is left hanging and instead of a climax, we get all of the X-men and their various bad guys (Ord, Danger and Cassandra) beamed into outer space by SWORD. Which, along with Brubaker's X-men, means that two-thirds of the X-men are now in space.

All that said, this is a fun issue overall. Whedon seems to be having fun twisting various storylines and pieces of continuity together. And the storyline plays on Cassaday's strengths as an artist. In addition, there is some genuine drama and a few clever and funny moments in this issue. So, in all, it’s a good read. If I had one complaint, it’s that the dialogue is a little weird at times. There are a few moments were I found myself staring at a line and thinking "did Whedon forget a word in there?"

But, overall, a solid comic.

Civil War #5 - I have to admit that, while I am enjoying it, this title reads a little bizarre at times on its own. Basically, we have Millar painting in broad brush strokes, and leaving the little moments up to other writers to fill in with titles like Civil War: Frontline and the fifteen dozen other tie-in titles. As a result we get weird scenes like the one this issue, which deals with the fall-out of Spiderman splitting with the Pro-Registration side... without ever really showing him announce he's splitting with them. Still, the scene and title work overall, its just sort of like reading a summary or Cliff Notes version of a story, as opposed to reading the story itself.

But, I will say that one thing this issue made me "geek out": The introduction of the Punisher to Civil War.

I have known for a while that he was going to be part of this series; and actually I'd had a bit of hesitation about having him involved, since he seems to be stronger when he's on his own. That said, I was surprised how effective he is in the title. Basically, since Garth Ennis has sort of had him in the sidelines, over in his own series, it ends up showing how over exposed characters like Wolverine have become. In this issue Punisher manages to be everything Wolverine can no longer be because of his over-exposure: A wildcard. An enigma. Something dangerous. And its fun to see the other characters respond to that.

So, for Punisher's appearance alone, this title deserves:

1000 Cards and 1000 Journals

2006-11-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

I mentioned several months ago, that I was designing a card game. Well, one of the games that inspired me to create my game was the game 1000 Blank White Cards. Basically, 1000 Blank White Cards is an infinitely expandable card game where there are no set rules, and the players design the cards (and rules) as they go by drawing on, as you might expect, blank white cards.

Well, in reading up on 1000 Blank White Cards again (something I find myself compulsively doing every 6 months or so), and discovered the existence of another similar game: Nomic. Nomic is a dice game, where the goal is to reach 100 points first, but taking turns rolling a dice. But, in addition to rolling the dice, each player, on their turn, also creates a rule which the other players then vote on. The rules can pretty much do anything, including changing conditions of victory, so the game is actually perpetually evolving as game play continues. It's not surprising that the creator of Nomic also wrote a paper entitled The Paradox of Self Amendment.

I'm not sure why games like these appeal to me, but I have to admit that I find myself perpetually fascinated with open-ended games like 1000 Blank White Cards and Nomic which actually evolve as they are played. Something about the potential complexity hidden under simple rules just click for me. I've never actually been able to trick my friends into playing either, but still hope to someday.

Changing gears a little, I also thought I'd mention that I finished reading Drawing From Life: The Journal As Art, a book detailing a number of journals created and maintained by artists and creators ranging from David Byrne to Mike Figgis.

Not my hands.

It was a quick read (even by my slow-reading standards), but one that was very inspiring to me. In fact, after completing it, I've decided to keep my own "art journal." Something which, I'm guessing, can only end in tears. But... heck, why not do it anyway.

It was endlessly fascinating though to get a look inside of the creative process of 30 odd individuals. Often I find that journals and sketchbooks can be more interesting and insightful then the artist’s final works. This is probably a clichéd observation, but I'm sticking to it.

One thing I read about which you all might want to check out is the 1000 Journals Project, where a man created 1000 blank journals and sent them out into the world to be passed around and slowly filled up by anyone who came across them. The only condition was that he asked people to check in with the site to keep him updated as to where they were at, and that they (hopefully) return them to him when they were done. And interesting site to browse, and a great little art project.

Our Final Itinerary... hopefully.

2006-11-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well, last week we sent ouf our money and paperwork for our tickets. So, now we are just waiting for them to arrive. Anyhow, unless there is some last minute problem, this will be our itinerary for our trip:

(Key departure dates, and locations have been bolded. If its not bolded, it is just a layover.)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
From Seattle / Seattle/Tacoma Int'l (SEA), Seattle, Washington USA 8:00 AM
To Atlanta / William B Hartsfield (ATL), Atlanta, Georgia USA 3:48 PM

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
From Atlanta / William B Hartsfield (ATL), Atlanta, Georgia USA 5:10 PM
To Lima / J Chavez Int'l (LIM), Lima Peru 11:45 PM

Sunday, March 18, 2007
From Santiago / Arturo Merino Benitez (SCL), Santiago Chile 5:05 PM
To Easter Island / Mataveri Int'l (IPC), Easter Island Chile 8:25 PM

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
From Easter Island / Mataveri Int'l (IPC), Easter Island Chile 9:25 PM
To Papeete / Faaa (PPT), Papeete French Polynesia 11:20 PM

Saturday, March 24, 2007
From Papeete / Faaa (PPT), Papeete French Polynesia 7:15 AM
To Auckland / Auckland (AKL), Auckland New Zealand 11:15 AM
(Sunday)

Thursday, April 19, 2007
From Christchurch / Christchurch (CHC), Christchurch New Zealand 3:25 PM
To Melbourne / Tullamarine (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria Australia 5:10 PM

Thursday, April 19, 2007
From Melbourne / Tullamarine (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria Australia 7:40 PM
To Hobart / Hobart (HBA), Hobart, Tasmania Australia 8:50 PM

Sunday, April 29, 2007
From Hobart / Hobart (HBA), Hobart, Tasmania Australia 5:35 PM
To Melbourne / Tullamarine (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria Australia 6:45 PM

Monday, April 30, 2007
From Melbourne / Tullamarine (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria Australia 12:45 AM
To Bangkok / Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok Thailand 5:55 AM

Monday, April 30, 2007
From Bangkok / Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok Thailand 2:05 PM
To Ho Chi Minh City / Ho Chi Minh (SGN), Ho Chi Minh City Viet Nam 3:35 PM

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
From Hanoi / Noibai (HAN), Hanoi Viet Nam 9:30 AM
To Bangkok / Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok Thailand 11:20 AM

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
From Bangkok / Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok Thailand 2:00 PM
To Delhi / Indira Gandhi Int'l (DEL), Delhi India 4:40 PM

Monday, July 2, 2007
From Delhi / Indira Gandhi Int'l (DEL), Delhi India 6:30 PM
To Muscat / Seeb (MCT), Muscat Oman 8:10 PM

Monday, July 2, 2007
From Muscat / Seeb (MCT), Muscat Oman 9:00 PM
To Bahrain / Bahrain Int'l (BAH), Bahrain Bahrain 9:30 PM

Monday, July 2, 2007
From Bahrain / Bahrain Int'l (BAH), Bahrain Bahrain 10:15 PM
To Johannesburg / Johannesburg Int'l (JNB), Johannesburg South Africa 5:50 AM (Tuesday)

Saturday, July 21, 2007
From Johannesburg / Johannesburg Int'l (JNB), Johannesburg South Africa 9:35 AM
To Nairobi / Jomo Kenyatta Int'l (NBO), Nairobi Kenya 2:40 PM

Monday, July 30, 2007
From Nairobi / Jomo Kenyatta Int'l (NBO), Nairobi Kenya 5:15 AM
To Cairo / Cairo Int'l (CAI), Cairo Egypt 9:00 AM
Terminal: 1

Sunday, August 12, 2007
From Cairo / Cairo Int'l (CAI), Cairo Egypt 3:30 AM
To Istanbul / Ataturk (IST), Istanbul Turkey 5:45 AM

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
From Munich / Franz Josef Strauss (MUC), Munich Germany 8:00 AM
To Madrid / Barajas (MAD), Madrid Spain 10:35 AM

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
From Madrid / Barajas (MAD), Madrid Spain 12:00 PM
To Chicago / O'Hare Int'l (ORD), Chicago, Illinois USA 2:15 PM

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
From Chicago / O'Hare Int'l (ORD), Chicago, Illinois USA 5:35 PM
To Seattle / Seattle/Tacoma Int'l (SEA), Seattle, Washington USA 8:00 PM

So, we probably won't have the final tickets in hand until early next month, but we're 90% the way there. Celebrating to commence shortly.

NEW COMICS: 11.8.06

2006-11-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

Yay! I'm a happy-camper! Not because comics were great this week, but because they've added Broken Social Scene to Rhapsody. Which means I can rock out with them all day long while I work. Or, at least while I create the convincing illusion of working, while I rock out.

Also, as a quick note, Kirk Cameron and Company have proven that God exists. Their primary (well, only) piece of evidence is a banana. So, I guess that settles that.

Anyhow, on to comics!

New X-men #32 - After its year long Nimrod story, this book takes a little bit of a breather. Which, while I enjoyed the last arc, it probably needed. Unfortunately, they also take this opportunity to use a fill-in penciler, and the title suffers a bit for the generic visuals he provides. In addition, since so many characters were killed off over the last year, they provide the obligatory funeral sequence which I'm sure was supposed to be touching, but just seemed clunky and sort of dorky.

Luckily, this issue isn't a complete misstep, since there are some good character moments. In addition, they are introducing a storyline and conflict involving Wither, which I'm certain will be the next big conflict. Frotunately, it includes another baddie from my early days collecting X-men, and seems like it could be entertaining too.

Ultimate X-men #76 - Part two of the Cable storyline, and I actually find myself really enjoying what Kirkman is doing here. To be fair, the number of time travelers from dystopian futures who have joined the ranks of the main Marvel Universe's X-men is silly to say the least. So, I think it’s nice that Kirkman is introducing the time travel theme to the title, but also seems to be streamlining it. Cable is not longer Cyclops and a clone of Jean Grey's son from the future, now he just appears to be Wolverine... from the future. And Bishop's storyline is being folded smoothly into Cable's, which makes the entire time traveling pill easier to swallow.

So, yeah, I'm enjoying this overall. The art is a little confused in some of the fight scenes, but that's a comparatively minor complaint.