I'm not there

I saw I'm not there yesterday. If you have not heard of it, it is a movie about Bob Dylan where 6 different actors play 6 different aspects of Dylan's personality. Each actor sort of plays him in different time periods of his life. But not exactly. There is a lot of overlap in time periods. And time periods are not defined. It would be more accurate to say each actor plays a different version of Dylan.

Normally when you go see a movie or read a book, you are given a character whose actions you can get to know and rely on. Maybe even feel that you know. The author defines this person for you. Just like when you get to know someone, you are trying to understand them, define them, find out what they believe and what their story is. But no one has just one part that they play.

That is what I loved about the movie. The director didn't try to define time periods for each Dylan. Their scenes were intermixed but still not chronological. It was confusing for a bit, but when you stopped trying to figure out where you were in the plot or in his life, it started to make sense. It was beautiful. Each actor/character/dylan was solid and definable (mostly) in their own scenes and for the people relating to them. But with the stories intermixing (I should also note, each actors Dylan had a different name in honor of people that influenced him. No one was actually Bob Dylan) you had to wrestle with all of these being the same person.

I think that if we all did that more often with the people in our lives we would understand them better. Too often people think, "They did ___. Well maybe they are not who I thought they were."

I know I travel in lots of different circles. And often I think "If these people saw me when I am with those other people they wouldn't know what to think. They would doubt what they 'know' about me." I have been better at trusting people with different sides of myself and usually with great results. But there are still some things you save for certain company. And I'll always be more than one person.

Thats what the movie meant to me. But ask me again tomorrow. I might say something different.

Listening to: De La Soul with Youth - Keepin' The Faith (Just A Touch Edit) So groovy, I couldn't finish the post w/o dancing.

My Friend

I'm at home.
Working.
On a Saturday night.

At times like these I listen to this song which reminds me of good times and keep going.

Elvis + Neil Diamond =

I have been putting off installing something to let me save YouTube vids, but it is time.

Family Business

One whole entire side of my family is in construction. I have done some, but it doesn't really speak to me. I love the Net.

But there was one day a couple months ago where I was home in Winnemucca for the weekend and my dad and brother were working on a Saturday. It was my day off and I drove 6 hours the day before and then partied all night to enjoy Winnemucca, not to work! But something about working with dad and Clay sounded so fun! And I had been behind a desk for a year so physical labor sounded pretty fun too. So I hopped out of bed, unloaded building materials, and operated a forklift with my dad and brother.

Well my friend Brian has days like that all the time. He works with his dad and brother. Because of that day with my dad and brother, and because of what I have seen of them working together, I realize why there are so many business names that end in "... & Sons"

Brian's dad was just interviewed for Nevada Business Journal so I just thought I'd take the opportunity to say, Awesome. :)

We are going to lose our ass and we deserve it

The Seven Gummie Sins: Greed
Originally uploaded by Wiedmaier

I was going to make a note about the american dollar and some of the recent bad signs. But I just got caught in the tractor beam that is the E! channel, and I have something to add to that.

So I just basically watched an hour of television about spoiled rich people. The Kiamora show and the show about the Kardasian girls. (yes i'm misspelling that but a. I don't want to search for how to spell it and b. I like Star Trek references) The shit that these people care about. Kiamora takes 20 pieces of luggage on her trip to Cannes, says that she will probably change 4 times a day. She tells us that she loves yacht. They are one of her "Passions."

Honey, if you can have yachts because your husband is a huge record producer and you happen to have the ability to realistically enjoy spending time on them and getting a different one, that is not a passion. That is just thinking "Holy shit I'm on a yacht! And its mine!" That is what anyone that could afford to have a yacht would think. Its a fucking yacht.

Through the rest of the show she is generaly bossy and has a i know that the hell Im doing attitude while running the new fashion business she is starting.

Next the Kardasians are even worse. They are not ultra rich like Kiamora Simmons but just as snotty and disconnected from the reality that 95% of the world lives in, and the Kardasians are loving it! They get a call from the Girls Gone Wild guy (from jail) asking them to do a swimsuit photoshoot. They take his plane to his house in Puerta Viarta where they are served hand and foot. Meanwhile back at home the little girls that are back home (about 11?) do their GGW impression on the stripper pole that is of course installed in their family home while the brothers manager holds a camera (all in jest) talking about how he will manage them (in jest again). Oh my how hilarious that these girls are playing girls gone wild. Just girls playing harmless games. I'll play along with my stupid guy jokes since I dont see anything wrong with GGW. Im am so funny. I is harmless right!? Right?

On a related note, the dollar is going to drop, soon, and we deserve it.

In the last couple months there have been some signs about the dollar, the Chinese hinted that if they really wanted to they could dump some of their dollar reserves and hints that Saudi Arabia might get out of the dollar currency for their accts and might go to euros (Venezuela and Iran have already done this). Last week the dollar hit an all time low against the Euro and more and more people are saying get out of the dollar.

Dollar, please drop and take these useless fucking people off of the screen.

Postscript: When viewing the IMF chief story, there was an add for a 60 Minutes special "Mansions Gone Wild." Kill me now.

Many customers are buying one for each side of the bed

You heard the man, get up now, and call the number on your screen!

An interesting use of Geotags

Firenze
Originally uploaded by fgirardin

Here's an interesting use of Flickr data. Thanks to ASC for pointing it out.

"We retrieved from Flickr, large amounts of photo taken by thousands of users in the world’s most photographed cities. Based on the time, explicit location and people’s description of their photos, we design geovisualizations. They reveal patterns of tourists and citizens consuming a city, such as the flow of people between city attractions (see figures below), the monuments areas of influence or what is happening with day/night and working/weekend periodicity."

http://www.girardin.org/fabien/tracing/

That is not what I saw tonight.

[No image available]

Tonight I looked up at the night sky from a place with almost no ambient ground light. I cannot show you what it looked like.
My camera will not capture the milky way, much less the stars.
No camera will show you how deep and dark the sky is.
No moving camera will show you the twinkle of the stars, especially on a chilly night like tonight where everything seems a little more crisp.
Neither the black image my camera captured or anything I can write will let you see what I have seen tonight, miles from any planetary light.
I can only hope that you have looked up at the sky, miles from any light placed there to make you safe or show you your way so you have a memory of what I saw tonight.

Tomorrow I will drive out of the desert to go to my job the day after. I am excited. But I will miss the desert and the night. You can always be yourself here because there is no stimuli and nothing there except what you bring and what you have left behind.

Nothing's gonna stop us now

How to explain part of what it is really like here in Argentina and especially here at the customer care center with these amazing people?

I think I am in a moment right now that will help. Right now we are all sitting in the customer care center. It isn't the most exciting room. Frosted windows so you cant see out and get distracted. Mini cubes to work at, old computers, homemade Yahoo! decorations on the walls. The room itself is just a room. But everyone has fun working so it makes it really, fun!

Every shift change is a flurry of hugs and cheek kisses.

And smiles!

When they lean in and greet each other they are happy to see the other. It is really wonderful.

During the day there is music on small stereo computer speakers. It is all kinds of music and goes of temporarily if someone breaks a rule (like talking on their cell phone). Right now Nothing is going to stop us now by Starship (that's right, from the 80's classic Mannequin with Kim Cattrall post "Big Trouble in Little China and pre "Sex in the City") is playing and I hear a low hum of singing along from the room. After a minute i hear Michelle (my counterpart from Yahoo! US) singing under her breath as well.

They are infectious.

Sounds like This Beat is, This Beat is, This Beat is Technotronic is next.

Economics, not politics

I was trying to explain to a friend tonight that economics is fascinating, That there is a lot of humanity in economics. This is one of those things that is hard to understand or even fathom before the light goes off in your head. Most people when they think economics think of money and numbers. But there is so much more.

So, i came home and started watching Commanding Heights. While Im watching it Im trying to think of how to explain to my friend what I mean. I think a good place to start is that what you think of as politics is not politics, it is economics. Economics is jobs, manufacturing, the balance of one country/state/regions assets against another, prosperity, poverty. All these things create communities or break them up. Government policy based on economic ideas controls these things.

Politics is the political game of getting what you want accomplished. But seperating the game from the economic consequences and influences of jobs, trade, and production is an important distinction.

Look the 2 words up in a dictionary, I think you will see the distinction.

One night we'll go

Whiskey

Grover Drunk
Originally uploaded by (Alex)

Sunday - Zack gets frustrated with text editor and downloads a program that can transfer files between PC and Mac w/o problems.

Monday - Zack enjoys hours of work in new text editor

Monday afternoon - Zack looks for an AutoSave feaature on his new text editor. Doesn't find but leaves work to catch his bus.

Monday Night - Zack opens his laptop and finds that his supposedly easier and foolproof Mac has mysteriously shut down, losing all work from Sunday night and Monday.

Immediately following that - Zack buys a bottle of whiskey

Comptroller General worried that the US will get PWNed by history

David Walker, the US Comptroller General has recently made a statement warning the US of “chilling long-term simulations” and comparing the US to Rome.

Link to Financial Times article.

As if the article wasn't sobering enough. As I write this, there is a commercial on TV where five 40 something men of varying racial backgrounds who are obviously reclaiming their youth and virility are playing and singing a version of Viva Las Vegas that they call Viva Viagra.

It looks like a life of pills, Harleys, and bandannas that is defiantly worth putting on a credit card.

We are so fucked.

2 quick updates

Floating into the blue
Originally uploaded by magic fly paula

I saw a GAP billboard a couple days ago with John Mayer. On is upper arm there was a tattoo that said "SRV". I looked it up online and sure enough it stands for Stevie Ray Vaughn. I liked John Mayer before but that gives me even more respect for him.

In the course or researching this I also found out about Music color synesthesia (which John might have). It sounds like a disease I would love to have. I wonder how it would change your perception of the world. I think if I had it, music would be like a drug.

Into the WIld

I hope I see this and never come back.

Thriller re-make, better than the original

I still think that Michael Jackson's Thriller is the best music video that was ever made. I'm sure this remake is eeeeverywhere on the net right now. But I don't care. My mouth was hanging open in awe the whole time...



The ladyboy is no Ola Rey but sHe's good enough for what they want to do to her. DANCE!

The Lego one is good to, but it doesn't compare.

Furry Karma Sutra

Go here. You can go through the photos using the navigation at the bottom right of the photo. Hilarious stuff.

And for a little background on WTF is going on here. Check out the Wiki.

The term furvert (a portmanteau of "furry" and "pervert") specifically refers to the subgroup of the fandom that sexualizes anthropomorphic animal characters.[28] Similar to the word queer in homosexual culture, the term furvert may be used pejoratively, as a self-referential joke, or merely as a descriptor.

Tattoos + Maps = Awesome

A quick post before I go plow through some email. Here is an awesome idea for a tattoo from the excellent map blog Strange Maps.

I have always thought that I would never get a tattoo relating to Winnemucca because it just seemed to obvious. But I did just recently find this map from 1912. Unfortunately, that WInnemucca map doesnt look as interesting. Damn you urban planning!

Another example of the Net making things a little more awesome.

I love "Bicycle Race" by Queen. It's one of those for me that I don't really think about much but when I hear it I remember, "Hey, I LOVE this song!" Well I heard it today, so I came home and downloaded it and in doing that I also stumbled on the video on YouTube and a Wiki page just for Bicycle Race!

From the Wiki,

To release this song, Queen staged a bicycle race with 65 naked girls. A clip from this race was used as the single cover. The video was originally banned, and the video had to be re-edited with colour added to censor out any offensive imagery.



I love that in searching I actually found out about the video's edited contents before I found it.

Nandoman did also say I should check out I Want to Break Free. He was right.

Insighting street races, for over 16 years.

For some reason my particular driving style has often caused other drivers to want to also speed and try to beat me. This morning I was driving to work pretty fast because I wanted to get here as soon as possible. Apparently some guy in a Nissan Z decided that there was no way he was going to let some guy in full size construction truck beat him so he kept trying to get in frint of me after I dared to pass him. It was one of those races where you aren't really racing, you just happen to be driving at 95 mph. So he would pass me and slow down. Then I would pass him just because my average rate of speed was faster. Then he would do 110 for a while to pass me.

Then some guy in a BMW decided he wanted to get involved. And then I decided, well, what else am I going to do for the next hour on the road. So I wasted that beemer and continued to make better lane change decisions than the Z. But he knew his exit (which was before mine). And gave it one last push right before it and beat me by 2 lengths.

I waved, but he didn't wave back.

Nevada To Phase Out Laws Altogether

The Onion has finally posted to the web one of my all time favorite stories of theirs:
Nevada To Phase Out Laws Altogether

(Also, check out my all time favorite story of theirs.)

I don't mind crying at stupid movies.

Sidewalk Stencil: Crying is OK here, originally uploaded by Franco Folini.

When my friend Aaron died a few months ago I didn't cry much. Ever since then I cry really easily at movies. I think it gets me because I so dont expect it. I almost cried at the preview for The Queen. When I actually went to see it, most of it really didnt get to me. But the scene with the deer. Something about that almost got me. Today I had Hary Potter and the Goblet of Fire on in the background and at the end when Cedric dies I felt my face getting red and a lump in my throat. Last night i shed a few tears when I was watching Click, CLICK!!!! Any moments when Adam Sandler was realizing how important the father son connections are in his life I got a lump in my throat. And at the end when we was yelling out for his son I cried.

The worst though was on my way back from Miami. I went to Miami with some friends of Aaron's. We went just to be together. We didnt really talk about him, and we are friends anyway, but we got together because we love him. He was there in the room the whole time if you know what I mean. On the way back they played "The Bridge to Terabithia." Right in the middle of the movie someone dies unexpectedly. Completely out of nowhere. And it was extra sad because it was someone with a lot of future ahead of them who's time was cut too short.

Well I sat there in seat 24F crying and crying for the last 40 minutes of the movie (ok, I dont actually know if it was 40 minutes but it sure felt like it). I didn't make any noise. I just cried silently and turned my head to look out the window and not watch all the dropped shoulders and frowns.

I'm glad it comes out sometimes. I know it's in there.

Oh yea, and I saw Shrek 3 tonight. Nobody died.

Flickr San Francisco training

Flickr San Francisco training, originally uploaded by Zack Sheppard.

Hi!

Comic Life

Zack is back, it's a bit weirder now

Zacks is back, it's a bit weirder now, originally uploaded by meshelle_my_belle.

I started at Flickr this week. They are owned by Yahoo! (who I used to work for). Although technically Yahoo! owns Flickr, they are pretty insulated from headquarters and it is easy to forget that Yahoo! owns them. But, I am back in California, and as you can see, Flickr is a good place to work.

Late Easter Round-up

For the last 9 years in Unionville on Easter a woman named Mohea has put on an Easter Egg Hunt with a raffle, cake walk, prizes and food. All completely free for anyone that wants to come it is supported by Mohea, her family, and local businesses.

A few years ago Pershing county (where Lovelock and Unionville are located) made a rule that put an age limit on the county Easter Egg Hunt. Well that made Mohea mad because she thought that anyone should be able to participate if they want to so she got donations from local businesses and put on an Easter Egg Hunt at Mark Twain Park in Unionville.

Sadly, Mohea took her 4-wheeler up a hill during the egg hunt, rolled her 4-wheeler and didn't survive. The event went on anyway with almost no sign that something happened except for an ambulance that silently passed the park.

For real insight on the day check out Pink Pepper Photo's pics and prose.

She says it better than I could but here also are my pics of Unionville and the hunt. (Check out the anatomically correct open range sign, classic Nevada)

President Johnson's Bung Hole

American Radio Networks has a great podcast on secret Presidential tapes. The whole show is interesting but if you just want to FF to the good stuff or if you ever wanted to hear a president burp right before saying "bung hole" than Fast forward to 20:10 and listen to that master of Elequence, LBJ.

Direct audio link.


Episode web page.

Saturated

Movies and TV:

I rarely rent movies anymore but I rented The Good Shepherd tonight. After I put it in the DVD player it took me to the intro screen. Fancy, moving background showing quick emotional scenes and reactions from the movie on the disc. Menu choices with themed typefaces. Lots of work just to say, Play, Scene Selection, Special Features...

I bet this is a good movie. But as soon as I saw that intro and thought about everything that goes into the 100s of movies each year and the thousands of hours of tv and movies that I have watched,

Do I want to give 2 hours to let people I have never met tell me a story or do I want to go out and see and smell a night that will never come again?

I think I have saturated myself on movies and TV. I used to order Premier magazine, when I was young I knew what was on every one of our cable channels at almost anytime of day. I was one of those people that its hard to rent a movie I havent seen. I have books and documentaries on how movies are made and it is something that I have given a lot of time to in my life.

But anymore I can barely finish a movie unless it is as background to something else I am doing. In fact watching a movie is just about the last thing I want to do in most cases. If its nice out I'd rather be outside. If its cold Id rather be out feeling it. If its Friday or Saturday night I'd rather be out. And if I have some free time I'd rather take in some information or do something productive.

So now I've sat through 49 minutes of The Good Shepherd and basically know what is going on. I did notice that one of the supporting characters was also the bad guy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (you know, the one that choose poorly).

So I think I'll go for a walk armed with 2o years of pop culture which will be handy to relate to and laugh with all those people out there who have seen those same movies and television shows.

Im not sure exactly what Im trying to say but sometimes I miss enjoying movies, but I love my life.

Fresh Whole Rabbit!

Did you know that Amazon sells food too!? Humans and hobbits everywhere can now order fresh rabbits for stewin up at their convenience. No more chasing after them with an F-150 and KC lights. Excellent if you are anything like Yosemite Sam and just can't stop thinking about Hasenpfeffer!

Make sure you check out the customer images and reviews for this delicious and sometimes dangerous product.

And for other great deals check out Amazon oddities for other wonderful products like a Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank, a toilet monster, and of course, your own swarm of 9000 ladybugs because ladybugs PWN!

The West

All in all, my years on the trail were the happiest I ever lived. There were many hardships and dangers, of course, that called on all a man had of endurance and bravery. But when all went well, there was no other life so pleasant. Most of the time we were solitary adventurers in a great land as fresh and new as a spring morning. And we were free, and full of the zest of darers.

-Charles Goodnight

The Picard Song

This is definatly the coolest thing I've ever seen on YouTube and possibly the most awesome thing I've ever fucking seen ever



(Here is a link to the comic they show at time index 1:13. Its hilarious too. "The Captain's Blog")

A great example of why I love the Internet

While going through John Hodgman's blog today I came across a post titled

I REFUSE TO EXPLAIN THIS IMAGE

If you click on that you will see it has a link to a picture that you should click on. The picture is so weird and hilarious AND one of the other random people in the image is Zach Galifianakis (on YouTube) who is a hilarious comic and somehow a perfect fit in this weird photo.

The pic itself is on some other blog so I go to the home page of the blog and there is an entry where the guy is wondering why people are reading his blog and he then figures out:

A little digging turned up the answer. John Hodgeman ended up checking out my blog after all, and even linked to that crazy picture we had taken of all us.

So now we have a hint of more to the story.

Next I looked at the comments on Hodgman's blog and find a link to a post by someone named AlexisT who wrote her story of that night (looking back at Snarka's blog again it appears that this is his friend). Her story is pretty damn funny and satisfies my curiosity on what the F is going on in that crazy photo.

Also: If you want more John Hodgeman goodness checkout his interview on Booksoup. It is hilarious, iTunes says I have listened to it 11 times. I think that is a lie and it is more like 22. I also have a little crush on Leila the interviewer on the basis of her voice and humor alone. I curse Google Images for not having any pictures of her so I can actually find out what she looks like.

Someday Never Comes

A quick post of one of my fave CCR songs that no one has heard of. I just added Evolution of the Me blog in my Blogroll (look to the right) and it's a good time to post it because he knows that someday never comes.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Someday Never Comes

Driving on the left or right...

The Strange Maps blog has a map of which countries drive on the left and which drive on the right.

They also go through a great explanation on why some countries drive on the left and some on the right. And, as they say in the entry,

the story of left or right hand side driving is more than just a derivative of British Imperialism.

Response to Mr. Jerz on getting people involved in blogging

Mr. Jerz made this post awile ago. I really wanted to comment on this but because of some madness in my life I havent made the time. I am hopping back into the blogoshere and one of the first things I want to do is comment on this because I'm glad that he is doing this. Specifically I want to respond to his question of

How can we – the bloggers and readers in Northern Nevada – get more people to enter this conversation and become a part of our world?

What I imagine is a segment that is a standard news segment, with stories taken from posts that you see as important and that havent been covered in other parts of their news cast. Have you ever listened to the Slashdot Review Podcast? Basically it is just a guy reading Slashdot posts. It feels very professional and like a normal radio tech show.

This would start getting people to see how much information there is out there that is useful and easily consumed. To help get them to feel like they could be involved (turning some of those lurkers into participators) you can also call out in your stories insightful comments. This would let people see that they dont have to have their own site to easily participate.

Slashdot review is actually how I got involved in blogs. I am interested in tech stuff and didnt have a desk job then so Slashdot Review let me keep abreast of what was going on. There were a couple stories I felt I had a worthy comment to make so I created a Slashdot account and commented. Then I just because more interested in what other sources of info there were like that and now I have my own blog.

So, thats my 2 cents.

Frank Zappa on CNN Crossfire 1986

The blog by Anthony Volodkin who runs the Hype Machine has a post of 2 videos he found on Google Video and iFilm of Frank Zappa on CNNs Crossfire in 1986!!

Link to Anthony's original post.

Videos:

Sunset. Winnemucca, February 3, 2007

Sunset. Winnemucca, February 3, 2007, originally uploaded by Zack Sheppard.

Best viewed Large and on Black

The sky didnt look like it was going to put on a show despite the great clouds in the sky. It was just grey grey grey. Then the sky went from almost all grey to this within about 1 minute. Luckily I happened to be traveling over the mighty Humboldt River right then.

Lost and Overwhelmed

I gotta go back, originally uploaded by Zack Sheppard.

2/1/07
I've been doing good, but today I feel like I'm going to puke.

I had a hard week last week. One of my best friends died. That is why I have been MIA on the Inkernets. Just like your body pulls blood into your core when you are cold to keep your vital organs warm, I have pulled close to my close friends to keep warm.

My mind is a jumble. I am sad he is gone. Happy to see how much he affected people and how highly people thought of him. Worried about those he left behind.

This is just the kind of thing that I would normally go to Aaron with. He and I were alike enough that when we talked, even when we didn't say it right, we trusted that the other knew what we meant. A rare gift in a friend or family member.

An example (that meant a lot to me):

I have always been able to get along with lots of different people very well and my ultimate dream is to get whatever that is that I think is special/different/whatever out to the world in a book. I rarely tell people this because it sounds so damn silly, even to those who know me. I remember everything about when I told Aaron because, the look on his face, and the way he said, "You gotta DO that!"

I knew he really believed in me and saw what I see in myself more than my family, more than girls that had loved me, more than anyone I had ever told that too. I decided right there that I would dedicate the book to him.

And Im not going to tell you "that is even more true now that he is gone" or some shit. My book will be dedicated to Aaron Guilbert because of the person he was, pure and simple. He does not need death to deserve memorium.

I love you and miss you Aaron, and I will probably talk about you again here.

(Aaron took the shot above)

Colbert on O'Reilly / O'Reilly on Colbert

Last night Stephen Colbert went on Bill O'Reilly's show and then O'Reilly went on Colbert.

In the O'Reilly on Colbert, O'Reilly says that he's not a tough guy, that he's sensative and that "This is all an act."

Colbert responds with, "If you're an act, than what am I?"

Colbert on O'Reilly



O'Reilly on Colbert


To me Colbert is so obviously the winner in these encounters it's kind of uncomfortable to watch. It makes me wonder why O'Reilly would do these. And why after the Colbert on O'Reilly one went so bad he would go on Colbert's show? Maybe at that point he said he would and couldn't back out.

Is there more to this though? Is there a way in which O'Reilly fans would see him as the more stand up guy? Would believers get Colbert's sly jokes?

Welcome Grand Sierra Cinema

The movie theatre in the bottom of the Grand Sierra Resort has opened as the Grand Sierra Cinema showing second run movies (usually movies that have recently left the cineplex) for $3 a ticket!

From the RGJ story:

"The dollar houses or discount houses of the past didn't have the best seating, not the best sound, employees, maintenance, the whole works," he said. "Our goal was to create a top-of-the-line facility. You know, top-of-line sound, picture and experience for an affordable price."

To meet that goal, Bloomhuff said, he invested about $150,000 in digital sound equipment and renovations.

"We've increased the screen sizes and then we've done a partial remodel through the theater," he said. "But, of course, we've left the love seats, which people enjoy most."

A budget theatre where my shoes don't stick to the floor! I'm in.

They do not have a website yet so I have made a quick and dirty blog where I will post their showtimes:
http://grandsierrafilms.blogspot.com/

There is an RSS feed too ;)

The phone number is 775-789-2093

I spoke to the owner and he said that they expect their full website will be up in a few weeks. When that happens I will make a final post directing people to their real website and shut down the temporary blog.

Update:

Wow things move fast on the web these days! I posted this yesterday afternoon on renodiscontents.com and later that same day the rgj put up a story linking to the temp blog!

Paris Tattoo Art Fest

OMG the Paris Tattoo Art Fest looks awesome. Both of the artists I want a tattoo from will be there.

Jason Tyler Grace From Idle Hands Tattoo in San Francisco.

and

Lionel Out of Step

It would be especially awesome to see Lionel. (and when I say 'see' I mean 'get a tattoo from' because there is no fucking way I would leave without one) He lives and works in the South of France and, as far as I have seen, doesn't travel to the US to do work.

If you are at all interested in Tattooing or interesting visual work/styles check out his gallery and Media pages. His style is the most unique and original I have seen in the Tattooing medium.

Does this mean that I will one day fly to France just to get a tattoo?

C'est possible.

Missed Connections

I had 3 missed connections last weekend. I'll start at the begining,

1 Have you ever sat next to someone in a movie theatre, that you dont know, where you and them are laughing, jumping, "Nooo!!"-ing, screaming etc. at about the same time? Well the cute hispanic girl sitting next to me in Children of Men and I were doing this. It was like how you actually want a movie date to go where the act of watching the movie together makes you wonder if you might have something in common with that person. Except that in this case your date leaves with some other dude because that's who she's actually on a date with.

2 The next day I was at a punk rock show at Davidsons Distillary. I was talking to a guy I work with about different TV shows, movies and music. It was interesting to me because of the near misses our converstion kept having. We seemed to be two like minded individuals but because we get our media and news from different sources the conversation kept faltering.

I have been increasingly getting my music and audio entertainment from places on the Internet like the Hype Machine, the Contrast Podcast, posts on blogs I read, and from word of mouth. My video entertainment these days is from my del.icio.us and Google Reader "towatch" tag list, video podcasts, random crazy shit found on youtube, and jewels on Google Video. So conversations about bands that are on the radio or some of the TV shows on now are difficut because I have heard of them, watched a few episodes, or heard a song or 2 and have a general feeling but nothing concrete so the conversation had lots of false starts like:

ME:"Oh yea, they seem like a good band."

OTHER DUDE:"Oh do you listen to them!?"

ME:"No not really I've just heard a little and they seem interesting."

5 years ago I was Mr TV watcher (and when I was a teenager even more so) so the contrast of being out of step with the mainstream media when talking to someone who gets a lot of their entertainment that way, was very noticable. However, the conversation did get me interested in watching Heros. I watched most of the episodes from the first season the next night (on the Internet of course) and I am now addicted.

3 The last near miss of the weekend was the shortest but sticks in my mind the most because the girl had such amazing eyes and smile. And, well,

Oh what the hell, I am calling this post "Missed Connections". Let's do it right...

I had a great New Years Weekend

I went to my grandparents house in Unionville


with a few friends.


Did some night photography,


got some sun,


fell (ok, not really),


lots of dancin',


saw my godson,


realized I need to clean my cameras sensor,


and took the road home.


Bye Unionvillle.