Court

The Joke

2008-07-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

So what can we learn from Batman? Don't spend your life being obsessed with revenge. What can we learn from the Joker? A lot more...

Do we blow their ferry boat or do they blow ours? Their boat is full of convicts.
Do we let them attack our country or do we invade theirs? Their country is full of terrorists.

When someone tries to force you to believe that there are only two evil options sometimes the best option is to step back and think about who you want to be. Having already spent One-Hundred-Sixty-Six Billion dollars and counting in Iraq, what else could we have done with that money, and our reputation in the world, and our lives?

One solar panel costs roughly $1,000 and produces up to 200Kw. It is estimated that for under One-Hundred-Billion dollars the US could run completely on solar power (which would also lower the cost of this technology for the world). This would not only help us become independent in terms of energy, it would save thousands of US (and foreign) lives, prevent countless mental trauma cases and further domestic abuse to and by soldiers, and significantly improve the environment we live in - saving animals if nothing less (global warming true or false, it doesn't matter, nobody wants to live in polluted cities).

What the fuck when wrong people? Can we prevent this sort of thing in the future? Maybe the joke was on us?

Mean California Dream

2008-05-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

Life can be tough out here in California... Work all day, come home in traffic, work some more at night (on your startup, in my case ABSTRACTmall and Sustainable Online Solutions), head over to gymnastics for a couple of hours (I do gymnastics and coach little kids), then watch an episode of The Office with the roomies and maybe get in a blog post or two before bed.

I get a lot of people asking me "do you sleep" because I do so many things... ps. tomorrow night Stumbleupon is having a party in San Francisco, pps. the San Jose Ballet is this weekend, ppps. I haven't practiced my Spanish or guitar playing much lately, pppps. the surf is good lets get out there... you get the idea. Wow, California has such beautiful weather! But there's just so much to do, just to survive here with gas prices, food, rent.

So I just spit this quote out the other day when I was on the phone with my friend. I've been sort of up and down lately, depressed and at the same time super excited. I can hardly sleep at night because my mind is spinning but I'm yawning all day at work. My friend was challenging me about doing so many things and I was explaining that sometimes one's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. Then I said "If I'm not going to keep living, then why am I alive?"

That's the quote, and here's a nice picture of graffiti that I took while exploring Europe in 2006. I think it illustrates a similar point.

New Quotes

2008-03-14T16:49:00.001-07:00

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I like quotes. Ever since I was a young boy my father would share his favorite quotes with me and my grandfather actually integrates his favorite quotes into everyday conversation - his memory for rhetoric is amazing!

I just wanted to list a few quotes that I've collected or created over the years so I could throw the sticky notes on which they are written into the wastebasket. Without further ado:

"SMART - Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time Specific"
-Accenture corporate training in Saint Charles.

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted"
-Martin Luther King Jr.

"Do what is right, not just what you have the right to do"
-me

"Life without a friend is death without a witness"
-Eugene Benge

The Artistic Evolution of Chat

2008-03-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

Somewhere in between the fantasy escapism of World of Warcraft, the uber realistic Second Life, and the stale emotionless instant messenger text based AIM, Live, and Gchat there is IMVU. This platform takes the roll playing and crafting elements that Online Role Playing Games are known for and gives them an artistic twist with a touch of chatlike realism.

IMVU is special because, as with Second Life, it allows users to create in game content such as clothing and environments. This is similar to crafting in WOW only it isn't so templatized - literally anything can be created and sold. What's more, the chat environment of IMVU has a rating system that helps separate kids from adults and even allows for R rated content for verified users! Who hasn't chatted about sex online? IMVU lets you act and look sexy too, provided that your age has been verified ;)

Video of an IMVU hottie in a leopard print thong giving a lap dance to Sexy Back by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake... Imagine the possibilities.

If all of this sounds more like a game than a chat service it might be because the creator of IMVU, Will Harvey, created an MMORPG similar to Second Life called "There" that ended up failing several years back. He and his team decided that virtual worlds, while being fun to customize and explore, didn't provide the same level of accessibility and realism that chat does... On the flip side, chat has traditionally been limited in the way messages are conveyed (smiley face anyone?) It's pretty easy to misinterpret squiggly black lines and dots. Also, historically chat has been used by people who already know each other in real life or have a more likely potential for meeting, so the IMVU approach keeps that realism but adds a layer of artistic fun and expression like a game.

An "individualized" avatar that a user has customized to match their own style and interests can really change the dynamics of a chat session. Even before a single word is spoken, the avatar can be given a mood to act out or the hair style and clothing can be made to for something. Even the environment where the avatar is having the conversation can have an impact on how it is interpreted and what the mood and tone of the conversation is.

The artistic evolution that IMVU has sparked in online chat is akin to what Cafepress has done for clothing or blogger for personal websites. It has empowered those who might have only been low level consumers to take on the roll of a creator. It has also allowed for digital consumption (which is a lot easier on the environment than tangible consumerism). In the bling-happy world that we all seem to live in, where expression is such a big deal, IMVU is an affordable way to have one's ride "pimped" so-to-speak. It invites preps, goths, geeks, and anyone else to fit themselves in and express... It realy reminds me of the Bratz dolls that tapped into a huge base of Black, Hispanic, and other diverse minority girls by reshaping the look of their product to match their audience. In IMVU, the audience shapes the product for themselves which is even better. But... it's not for everyone, for those of you who prefer clothing and customizations in the non-digital world, swing on by ABSTRACTmall and check out our threadzzzz otherwise, I'll see you in IMVU.

Bratz diversity dolls are "gangsta yo" in a sweet, cute sort of way... Reminds me of the Spice Girls!

That's right, even an exotic alpaca farmer in southern Paraguay can create a lifelike avatar in IMVU... Just make sure you're running Windows on that solar powered laptop of yours.

This screen was taken from the IMVU tutorial sequence

Cell Phones for Soldiers

2008-03-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

What the heck are people supposed to do with their old crappy cell phones once they buy the shiny new iphone? or worse... upgrade from the old crappy iphone to the new one that has gps and better reception? or maybe you're holding out for the gphone?

When it came time for me to upgrade phones, Verizon provided a little satchel for recycling my old phone - great idea right! Nobody wants cell phone battery acid leaking out into dumps across the US... or any of the foreign countries we ship our crap off to. So the recycling thing is a great idea, and I've also seen bins at Best Buy for recycling phones so it's a strong option.

So the problem has been solved right? Not quite, there are still a few dedicated minds out there toiling away on creative ways to repurpose old cell phones. Those minds recently came up with a brilliant idea: donate used cell phones to soldiers. My room mate made an order off of Amazon.com and when it arrived, along with the other junky fliers, there was a little baggy as shown below.

The Verizon bag says "HopeLine from Verizon Wireless, Verizon is proud to provide this wireless phone and battery recycling program, go to www.verizonwireless.com/recycling

The Cell Phones For Soldiers bag says "Help Our Troops Call Home, It's free and convenient to turn in your used cell phone. Phones can be any condition or brand and do not need to have batteries, go to www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

Energy Saving as Art?

2007-11-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

Greenpeace joined forces with local artists in London this September to draw attention to the energy savings that fluorescent bulbs can have. These bulbs in particular are very special because they can be dimmed! Dimmable fluorescent bulbs are a brand new technology that Green Peace is hoping will catch the eye of people who have rejected this new technology for it's lack of aesthetic appeal.

The project was called Light Garden and is just one of the many ways in which green technology is catching on in the media. This week Google officially announced that they will be exploring solar power as a possible new business. Earlier this year the company decided to top Microsoft's solar panels at their Silicon Valley campus (which had panels first in April 2006) by putting up their own installation that is nearly three times as large.

New Artistic Batman Trailer - Dark Knight

2007-09-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

Batman is one of my all time favorite movies and the new trailer is very well done. No action, no guns, no girls, just voice overs and a sick fading logo. I really like the way it relies on hearing rather than seeing, it's very engaging. I'm sure the visuals in the new Batman Movie - The Dark Knight - will be sick, but it's a nice to mix it up, at least in the trailer. Very Hitchcock, leaving the drama to the imagination instead of on screen.

Christian Bale has been doing a wonderful job, his voice is very distinct and it's been a real treat to see a classic movie like Batman redone in an entirely new way. It's a completely new take on the Batman Series, and arguably just as well done (for their time) as the originals.

Who doesn't want to save the world, put an end to senseless violence, and be near untouchable with kung fu bat skills? For other great ass kicking/artistic/philosophical movies starring Christian Bale doing "gun kata" check out Equilibrium and its For Sale Here with a 4.5 rating from Amazon.

Check out this sick screenshot of the Joker piece
from the new Batman Dark Night trailer.

Custom Lian Lia Computer Case Modding

2007-06-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

When I was still in undergrad at the University of Colorado at Boulder I used to do a lot of computer hardware modding. Modding is short for modifying, and that's basically what it entails. The idea is to outclass other computer enthusiasts by having the fastest running, coolest looking, most unique - one of a kind machine. It generally costs a bit extra to create a custom PC, but it makes a statement about the skill level of the user. For people like me the cost is well worth the end product because it can actually be used while it's being displayed unlike many other forms of pure art. Who really wants another gray box Dell PC? With the rising popularity of the sleek Apple designs and more advanced customization options, PC is seemingly on the rise. However, I am willing to bet that as more "sleek" Apple designs hit the market, fewer and fewer users will feel compelled to create their own design, especially with the continuing fast hardware turnover rates.

The inspiration for this design was the surfing company Quiksilver. I've always been a surfing fan and having been raised in Colorado, Quiksilver was the most prominent "surfing" brand I had access to. Now that I'm out in Northern California brands like Channel Islands have taken the spotlight, but I'm still a fan of Quik.

So I started out with a generic Lian Li four bay aluminum case and then added brushed aluminum faceplates to keep everything consistent. I then ordered two spring loaded chrome luggage handles (like those used on some musical instrument/amp cases) and mounted them on the top of the case. The idea was to make the case as aesthetically pleasing while also keeping it functional for easy transport. The final "first step" was to remove the two internal drive bays and paint them. At the time I had a red Asus motherboard so I painted each bay red to match it and create a solid background of color which users would see through the window.

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. So it was a good fit for the "guts" of my computer even though it was meant to have a sort of surfing/water theme.

This is a wide angle view of my dorm room at CU; you can see all of the computer stuff scattered about and the case is in the beginning stages of construction with the handles mounted and the drive bay holder painted red.

In this shot you can see the chimney fan with mounted cold cathode light. If you look closely you can see some of the Gorilla Glue drying up at the top of the case. I had cut the handle holes a bit too large and wanted to reinforce them to keep from breaking.

Above, you will see the freshly painted drive bays. I used some sort of special auto paint that allowed the reflective qualities of the aluminum to shine through while still giving a bold look.

I had a few different ideas for what the case was going to look like and many of the idea actually came from a previous case I had made using cheaper parts. I got the idea for integrating printed circuit board (PCB) as an external design element because most people haven't ever seen it up close and I was aware that it came in many different colors. So I started calling all over the country to different producers that might have red PCB. I called HP, ATI, NVIDIA, and even IBM (which has a plant just outside of Boulder). After two weeks of trying I was starting to think nobody would send me a sample. Thankfully, Boulder has an excellent recycling program put on by Eco-Cycle and they do a lot of work with computers! I called them up and was able to convince them to sell me some of the gold plated, fluorescent green boards that they had just received from a local producer. Normally they don't give this stuff away, and the gold is actually worth a lot when it's melted down, so that's why I had to pay. PCB can also have carcinogenic (cancer causing) chemicals on it, so be careful if you ever open your computer or try to do a mod like this. I used to work at Celestica doing PCB construction and inspection when I was in high school and we would use alcohol to purify the boards.

It seemed like everything was falling into place. I had the PCB, the Plexiglas window had been installed and I had a vision for how I wanted to tie it all together. I decided to exercise my soldering skills and do some custom electronics work on the case. One thing about computer case modding is that it usually involves placing neon or cold cathode lights inside of the case itself to make the computer look even more radical and alive. This is cool... to a point, and then it just becomes annoying when trying to watch a movie in the dark without distraction. In order to keep the best of both worlds I decided to wire each of the lights on my case to an external switch. In total I produced four of these switches and mounted two on the back and two on the front. Three of them were used to control large ambiance lights inside, including the chimney fan up top, but the fourth had a special purpose.

My vision was to carve the Quiksilver company logo out of PCB and then mount LED's behind the design. In order to get the propper effect I had to cut the same shape out of Plexiglass and then glue the two together with a piece of aluminum in between. In this way, the final design appears to glow out from the edges but does not have uneven dots where each of the LEDs are placed. I also coated the electronics work for the LED's with fish tank caulk to keep them from shorting out on the internal wiring.

Here you can see the 13 LED's I mounted behind the PCB Quiksilver logo as well as the window and brackets. I did the wiring in such a way as to allow the case door to be easily detachable by using a simple molex plug at the end of the LED wire.

The final few steps were to wire in all of the drives and then coat the wires with red plastic sleeving to bring it all together. I was really happy with how it all turned out and enjoyed the case for about a year before switching over to the small form factor (SFF) Shuttle design... which I also modded. The tall case design of the Lian Li Quiksilver case just took up too much room and when I started planning for my move to Califonia I knew I would need to get rid of it or let it waste away in some hidden closet for years, forgotten, eventually becoming worthless as computer hardware standards changed.

Instead of keeping the case or selling it outright, I decided to auction it off though Ebay's Giving Works program and donate the money to breast cancer research. I've always thought that for all of the enjoyment breasts provide, it's important not to forget the seriousness of their cancer. What better cause to donate to... In the end I shipped the case off to some guy in Australia, who was really nice and offered to donate even more to the fund itself after completing the purchase.

Here is the semi-final design, broken down for software install and driver testing. You can see the tiny green display on the front of the machine which was used to display frames per second (FPS) on games, connection speed, and processor speed.

This is a good shot of the backside of the computer. I went all out and included a generic Quiksilver sticker to tie the whole theme together. The power supply was upgraded to 450 Watts in order to support the advanced processor and graphics chip as well as all of the lights I had installed.

Here is the final design in a lit room with all of the internal red lights set to on. You may notice the green LED's behind the Quiksilver logo don't disburse quite as evenly as I would have liked, but it came out pretty well. Maybe next time I will use Plexiglas that is more opaque?

This is an interesting shot because it mixes the blue background lights and the red heat sink fan light to create a sort of "heart" appearance. Unfortunately, the top drive was swapped out and didn't have the brushed aluminum cover during this shot. Also, the neon green control drive you see in this picture was later replaced with a fully brushed aluminum drive component.

After all of this hard work had been completed and the case was at it's top visual level I actually got to show it to Quiksilver's CEO and Chairman, Rob McKnight! He was visiting CU to do a business talk in one of the undergrad classes being held called Profiles in American Business. He was really impressed with the artistic elements and appreciated the Quiksilver reference. It was such an honor to speak with Rob and share my passion for the brand, and I even got to share it with his daughter, Roxy. Some of you Quik fans out there might now be realizing that the brand "Roxy" is actually named after Robert's daughter.

Great case, good times, awesome project, and a fun adventure that ultimately helped to solve and cure breast cancer. Rock!

Custom Star Wars Imperial AT-AT Walker Model

2007-06-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Since Star Wars has been back in fashion lately I decided to break out my old Kenner Star Wars Imperial AT-AT model. This toy is one of the coolest (and largest) Star Wars figures ever made! In fact, it was so cool that it was released once in the 80's when episode V first came out and again in 1995 as a remake. The model shown below is the 95 updated version and I got my hands on it when a kid in my neighborhood was selling it at a garage sale. I think I paid ~$20.00 for it (which is a lot for a garage sale toy) but I had special plans in store for it and the 20 was well worth it!

Shown below, the once abandoned garage sale junk toy that was probably once considered "to big to keep around any longer" by someone's mom, has been transformed into a custom Star Wars figure / LCD monitor complete with composite connectors, stereo speakers, and hidden wiring in the left rear leg.

The only sad part about this awesome project is that I just sold it on ebay today... It turns out that it really is just too big to keep around, even for me. I plan on moving to Australia and this is just one of many cool items I will have to sell in order to lighten my load. Luckily, I brought in a hefty $200.00 for it which covered all of the parts and time put in but it couldn't buy the love I had for the time I spent building it. I guess in the end it was really just a large plastic reminder of all the fun I had!

The model was built by cutting a square hole in the side of the AT-AT and sanding it down with a bastard file, removing one leg and cutting tiny nitches in the structural supoports where the wires were to be run, running wires up the leg for the stereo video & power and then installing connectors at the base of the leg and finally the screen and all of the switches in the body. I lucked out and found the five inch LCD at Best Buy a few years back for ~$100.00 when five inches still seemed big for a color LCD. The LCD package had almost all of the parts I needed because it was designed to be very versatile for gaming. The LCD was originally designed as a portable monitor for a PlayStation 2 and I just gutted it. Thanks for sharing in my Star Wars memories! Feel free to contact me for more pix or infomation on the project and where to get the parts if you decide to build one yourself!

Zero Hour - Mojave Desert - 11/20,21,22

2007-06-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Zero Hour, the culmination of multiple viral marketing (guerilla marketing) campaigns put on by Zed, AKA the Xbox team within Microsoft. Why was it done in the middle of the Mojave desert? To attract only the hardest core, most serious gamer enthusiasts... early adopters... trend leaders. Only 3,000 members of the general public were admitted into Zero Hour with over 64,000 applicants worldwide. While I was there I met people from California, Missippi, Chicago... all the way to Poland and Japan including MS execs all the way from Australia and the UK.

Video of XBOX 360 Zero Hour in the Mojave Desert, Xbox launch event

J Allard, Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect was there, I met him. Clinton Fowler, J's mountain biking friend who also works on the Xbox team was there as well :) and I got the chance to ask him EVERY Xbox/MS question I could think of. Not to mention Peter Moore, Cliff Blezinsky and many others. All of these guys work hard, you can just tell by talking with them. Clinton was planning to stay up for the entire 29hr stretch of Zero Hour (which doesn't include the 2.5hr trip it takes to get to or from LAX to Palmdale. It was amazing to speak with such dedicated and influential people. Almost every person at the event was important to Microsoft, hardly any of them were "hired hands".

My interactions with Clinton, and others, began when they helped me with an Xbox 360 service featured at the event. Clinton helped me register and convert my Xbox Live account inside of this crazy white bubble tent (you can see the tent in the picture on the left). I spoke with another exec named Richard Irving out at the parking lot where he was handing out wristbands. I talked with all of these guys so much during the event that I ended up playing the Xbox 360 for less than an hour over the course of the entire 29hr event!

Artist rendition of the Xbox 360 Zero Hour event November 20th 21st and 22nd 2005

I have to give these guys props, they pulled this event off with world class. It was surreal to see a rendering of how the event "would look" online when I found out I was going, and then to actually see it in real life and have it match exactly. It was also envigorating to see a giant green light in the desert on the night of the 20th when we were first arriving, it was like "that's it, that's amazing!" The fact that I was able to hook up with a friend who lives in Chicago at the LAX and then trust eachother enough to drive down to Palmdale together and split a hotel is a testimate to the community Microsoft has fostered. I have beta tested over ten top PC, PS2, and Xbox titles so I know what's out there in terms of community, and what kinds of promotions are being done in this industry. Hats off to all of the hardworking individuals who made this a possibility, this post is about your comittment and passion for the community. Special thanks to Marilyn Ishak, Ceasar, Ryan from Gamespot, Arne Meyer from Edelman, and Simon Jones from digitaloutlook.

For more on Zero Hour check out stories from GameSpot, IGN, G4 here & here, and a fan weblog called lowdown411

White bird paint on my head

2007-06-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

There I was, Linda Mar beach, 2pm, beautiful day, and all was right in the world. Hunger drove me to the beach front Taco Bell where I ordered "the regular" a bean burrito, a taco, and a water. Everything seemed normal until SPLAT. I felt a warm gooey substance on my head like someone had spit on me or something. I looked down to my leg where part of the substance had gone and found it to be bird droppings...

For all you science nuts out there:

"Birds excrete nitrogenous waste products in the form of uric acid in a white semi solid state. This is because birds drink little water and cannot afford to excrete voluminous amounts of urine. Not carrying a big bladder full of urine also cuts down weight which is essential for the evolutionary success of birds which fly. Humans, however excrete nitrogenous waste as urea* which dissolves in urine. Freshwater fishes which absorb lots of water effortlessly through osmosis excrete nitroge-nous waste in the form of ammonia dissolved in plenty of dilute urine."

Well, at first I was a bit bummed but then I remembered one of my favorite products from aM done by Shibby & Colus called Anatomy of a Sparrow shirt and it made me feel a bit better. I really need to get a camera phone or start taking my minicam around with me because this picture would have been priceless... I actually considered leaving it on my head until I got home so I could take a pic!

Oh well... Next time.

Photo Collage - some of my all time favorites

2007-04-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

Xbox 360 Adidas Commercial

2006-12-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

The Adidas commercial that comes preloaded on the Xbox 360 premium edition keeps crashing my system? It gets all the way to the end and then bam, my system shuts off and the lights on the front do a flashing red signal? Is anyone else getting this...

On a more positive note, the commercial is pretty cool, it features pro soccer players running on a field made of metal beams where anyone could fall off into space! They do a lot of acrobatic tricks and guys keep getting knocked off the sides, it's pretty extreme.

When I was a Zero Hour in the Mojave Desert at Hangar 71 Adidas stuff was sort of interlaced with the Xbox 360 signage. We all received Adidas hoodies with Zero Hour printed on them and they still had the price tags attached stating $49.99 which made us feel pretty special. Adidas also erected "the worlds largest foosball table" outside of the hangars and it featured a lifesized soccer ball as the foosball! Inside of the hangars there were small Adidas advertisements and a few plastic stands with Adidas shoes inside of them.

A Dream about Growing up

2006-11-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing and wonderful dream last night and into this morning. As some of you know I am originally from a sleepy little town called Loveland in Colorado. It was here that I learned how to swim and went to the beach to play in our freezing cold muddy brown Lake Loveland, which serves as a reservoir for irrigation waters. I also explored the Big Thompson River as I grew up and would regularly skate or bike along the trails that our city has constructed along it's banks. In the summers I would climb the tall trees along the river and "cliff jump" into it's freezing cold waters, runoff from melting snow in the nearby Rocky Mountains. Colorado has seasons with changing leaves that fall and create a thick vegitation on muddy grounds, almost like a new kind of soil that hasn't quite broken down into the earth yet. I golfed in Loveland, on all of our five local courses, two of which were situated across the streat from eachoter. I explored our graveyards, one of which has a highway disecting it... the only one in the world with such a strange characteristic. Loveland, untill recently, had no malls and nothing modern for kids to do. I would have to travel all the way to Fort Collins to visit neat stores or see what the rest of the world was doing. Our staple was farming, but since many of the farmers were growing old and our property values had increased; we were becoming more of a retirement community than anything else. I would have to say the hilight of my youth was finally being allowed by my parents to ride my bicycle wherever I wanted. This freedom had started with the priviledge of riding around our block, which was situated next to another irrigation ditch and a heap of apartments. It was amazing, my parents gave me that freedom and I found so many adventures around one tiny block! I found out that both of the apartment complexes nearby had a couple of kids my age to hang out with, I also discovered that they both had pools, which had unfortunately gone into dissrepair. These weren't fun pools with slides or diving boards, but in Loveland any pool at all would suffice. The apartment nearest to my house had made a wooden cover for their old pool and was trying to pass it off as some sort of giant patio. My friends and I would tryt o lift the edges and peek through the cracks to see what was actually down there but it was far too heavy for all of us. As technology and age increased in my life I played my first video game, Super Metroid Prime! Some of my friends in the farther apartments had invited me to visit for a sort of parent sponsored play-date and as we began playing the game I instantly fell in love. The music, the graphics, it was incredible. The realy treat came four weeks later which seemed like an eternity, when we had finally beaten the game and discovered with amazement that the main character, Samus Aran, was actually a girl! Until then my parents had never allowed me to play video games, I wasn't allowed to watch cartoons or have toy guns. I was also forbidden to own a trampoline. All of these limits on my own interests forced me to find other outlets and I spent a lot of time with Legos and crafts, exploring our back yard, which had a magnifiscent swing set build by my father and uncle, and kicking around my soccer ball. At some point my Mom and Dad had negotiated with the neighboring apartment to borrow some of their land. You see, Loveland has laws about how much land a building needs to have associated with it's property based on how many people live there, and how many cars will be parked there. So this apartment had tons of fields surrounding it, all of the fenced off and full of thistle and other troublesom weeds. My dad had actually taken out two of the fense planks on our side of the property so that I could explore back there and it had always been a thrill! Once, when the neighbors had me babysit their pet turtle it had escaped and I found it's dead shell years later in those same trashy apartment-overflow fields. So, at some point my family began tending to part of those fields with the deal being we would plant grass and keep it nice looking and also take down the fenses if they would let us use it as part of our yard! It afforded the apartment complex with a nicer view since the fense on their side was removed, and it gave us tons of space since we took down our fense and put up a smaller one with horizontal criss crossing strips that you could see right through! So now I basically had my very own soccer field in my own back yard, which also doubled as a volleyball court and eventually a great place for a trampoline. We had it all and it was my responsibility to mow it and help my dad put in sprinklers. We were always doing family projects, drywall, skylights, painting, new shingles and cleaning out the gutters. I became quite the craftsman (and also found new uses for our house). There were times when I would move the trampoline that I had begged my parents to allow me to buy with my allowence ($2 a week) and place it under one of the eves on the house. I would huck myself off the roof and bounce all day long. It was truly amazing. There are tons of stories from my childhood on Greeland Drive in Loveland but now I will share my dream.

"Loveland is located along the Big Thompson River, east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Longs Peak and other mountains of the Front Range are visible from much of the city.

There is a large population of artists in Loveland, which has drawn three foundries, an art museum, and the annual sculpture show in August.

An interesting fact about Loveland is that the city is best known nationwide as the home of the Valentine Re-Mailing Program. Every year hundreds of thousands of Valentines are packaged inside larger envelopes and sent to Loveland, where volunteers hand-stamp them with a Valentine's verse and send them on to the intended recipients." This description is quoted from Virtual Cities

This wooden Indian sculpture was carved with a chain saw years ago and used to reside on the bike trail surrounding Lake Loveland. One year it was struck by lightening and started having problems with rotting. The decision was made to move it to a roadside (the road that is taken to visite Estes Park in the Rocky Mountains) so it could still be enjoyed but would stay safe and could be more easily cared for.

I dreamed last night, that I was visiting a large plantation style house, like so many in Loveland, near Thompson Valley High School where a football game was being played between my school LHS and their alltime rivals TVHS. All of my friends and I were having such a great time and it really felt like high school, although many of the people there were actually my friends from college who I have grown very close to in recent years. TVHS is right near the Big Thompson River (which has a terrible history of one giant flood) and after the game we all started walking back to the cars parked down by the bike trail. I fell behind because I was trying to clean up some dishes and see a few of the cute girls still hanging out at the party and wave goodbye to the parents there who had helped facilitate it all. When all was said and done I began sprinting to catch up with my friends, I couldn't do it for very long, just as in real life I have never been the best at long distance but I have tons of fun with fast short bursts and jumping off of rocks and doing grabs like some sort of freestyle runner. So I pressed on and felt the tall grass slapping on my jeans and eventually hopped from boulder to boulder on the lining of the river. The river was higher than usual and parking was also at an all time high with the football game going, so many of the cars had parked on the banks (which doesn't make sense at all). So as I got closer to my friends I had to hop from rock to rock and then to the tops of cars that were nearly submerged in water now! At one point the cars and wood in the river were floating and I inevitably fell in. Soaking wet I scrambled back onto a car and finished crossing with a smile on my face. All the while I had seen the backs of a couple of my friends off in the distance. They were heading into the forested area near the car park and I kept calling out. Now that I was nearly with them I scrambled up the sandy crisp beach, out of the cold fresh water. I looked up as I stumbled and saw all of my friends facing me and waving "heads up" as they swung their golf clubs! My friends were playing golf and randomly shooting balls into the river and across the field. It was such a beautiful sight with the sun setting on the Rocky Mountains and the tall, sparsely placed, trees that lined the river with the boalders and the sand and leaves falling down. I needed a picture of this to remember my friends, specifically Nick Struck who stood right out in front with his club. I started to run past them to get my camera in the car when I finally woke up from the dream.

This dream sort of reminds me that I may not get back to those childhood moments. I may never see my friend Nick Struck again and I probably won't be doing many more ditch explorations, let alone falling in! I haven't golfed in years and the last time I tried to get a friend to walk with me on the frozen waters of my favorite ditch in Loveland, he said no... he had outgrown it and didn't want to act foolishly. It was such a sad moment. I love those ditches; I have found crawdads, snakes, raccoons, and many other creatures there. I have had friends drive me way out into the country, when I was younger, to the top of the ditch and then let us out with our inner tubes, made from real car tubes, to float down. We would go through spider filled tunnels and see the farms and yards of people we had never, and would never, meet. We could see tall grass and grasshoppers and all sorts of wonderful nature along the way. One time I hopped into the ditch riding my Huffy bicycle and rode down half submerged. I aslo joined a group of friends in damming the ditch one year! We collected all of the engine bricks, rocks, and scrap wood we could find in the ditch when it was dried up and then built a dam and a bridge that we could cross when the water started flowing again! We built tree forts, some of them nearly 50 feet high! On the shores of that ditch and I met all sorts of crazy characters there... Some guy from LHS who I had never met (this is when I was younger) shocked me with some sort of cattle prod thing he had made in science class. In the winters I would sled into the ditch and on the slops that peeled away from the tall banks, keeping the water in. I learned the basics of snowboarding here and also learned how to ditch school to play in the snow, following my own path in life, standing up for what I wanted to do, my parents let me do as I wished but always reminded me that I would be paying for their retirement some day and that I would have to support myself, so get a good education they would say. A few times I ice skated all up and down the ditch, it was like rollerblading but more in nature and I went so far, always on my own, just exploring all that Loveland had to offer. While other kids complained of boredom I was knee deep in water during the summers collecting golf balls to sell back to golfers and make money with. I was out on Loveland lake with a hand-me-down boogie board trying to learn how to skim board. Some of the coolest and most memorable times were the rope swings and the explorations we did out onto the frozen Lake Loveland, hearing loud popping and echoing sounds, like some sort of giant slinkey, as the ice expanded and shifted under our weight.

I have included some pictures here and may update this someday when I visit Loveland and find my favorite spots. This time it won't be a dream and I will have my camera! I miss all of my friends growing up and I hope to continue exploring the world and getting immursed, I think that is why I like surfing so much, just getting in and charging in some new and changing environment with friends who are willing to get dirty. I would like to dedicate this post to all of my RA friends over the years who seemed almost like family, we had to share such challenging situations and alway be there for eachother, people like Nick Struck who would adventure with me and always kept such a positive attitude, people like Rande Skeen and Charlie Nichols. Also, my favorite friends from Loveland Colorado including Shean Perry and the boys from the apartment complex who's names I can't even remember fully, just Chris and his Metroid game. Scott, the boy who was the youngest and always got picked on, his life's dream from such a young age was to open a plumbing company called Scotty-Potty's Plumbing! Craig Depershmidth, Parker and Bryant Richards, Josh Dudley, and so many more. I will miss those days but always remember the fun times we had and what our age and innocence allowed us to do with our never-ending spare time.

Sing + Guitar Covers

2006-10-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I get an urge to bust out the guitar and learn to play and sing something new. Below you will find recordings for my version of Hawthorne Heights' Screenwriting an Apology and Jack Johnson's Flake. Not the best recording or performance here but that's just because I'm busy and move from one thing to the next... I like it that way.

Screenwriting an Apology Cover

Flake Cover

If you sample these songs (that I'm covering and don't own) or use my music to make money that's fine, but if you make hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it please share the cash! Donate to the aM Network

Jamba Juice + BART Co-Branding Strategy

2006-10-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

The other day when I rode the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to work I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a Jamba Juice employee as I exited the station. The JJ rep handed me a gift card and a brochure for Jamba Juice and told me that the cards that were being handed out all had random dollar ammounts added to them from $1 - $300...

Now I love Jamba Juice just as much as the next guy so this was quite a treat. What's even cooler is that the brochure thing actually employed a co-branding strategy. They had printed the BART logo on their fliers as well as their JJ propaganda! So now people like me have an even greater identification between car pooling, riding the BART, basically saving the environment in general, and drinking that fresh, clean, all natural Jamba Juice. Isn't marketing great? Now the real question... Why the heck do they still use styrofoam cups if they want an environmental image?

Jamba Juice, this needs to be fixed! I'm sure there is a sugar cane or corn based styrofoam alternative that is biodegradable that could be used here that would only increase your costs ~$.05 per drink. You can start by visiting World Centric and checking out their Styrofoam Alternatives

See the BART logo?

Yum... I still don't know how much is on that card.

Guitar Expressions - Acoustic Journey & Fleet

2006-10-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

For many years I've been recording song ideas on this old tape recorder... It started out as mostly humming and singing (I used to be in chior) but eventually as I picked up the guitar and figured out more about computers, it has evolved into high quality sound bites. Check out two of my latest pieces below; Acoustic Journey and Fleet.

I used Garage Band on Fleet to add some bongos and a violin but Acoustic Journey is all original! I also cleaned up these tracks and enhanced the sound using a PC only application called Adobe Audition.

Acoustic Journey

Fleet

If you sample these songs or use my music to make money that's fine, but if you make hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it please share the cash! Donate to the aM Network

Sony's Aibo Going Extinct

2006-10-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well, these days it seems like everything is going extinct... even computorized robot dogs, Sony will no longer be selling it effective early 2006 but I'm sure eBay will! Meet Aibo (if you haven't already), I really wanted to buy this guy earlier in the year but with a $2000 price tag that's a bit steep for a college student.

Aibo can stream your email (reading it out loud to you), keep you up to date with calendar activities (once again... barking out commands like "pick the kids up from school damn it!!!"), and it can even be set for motion sensing + camera mode to protect the house and alert you at work via email if your house is being burglerized! If you're lucky, the thief might even take your $2000 robot companion (which will aleart you of it's exact position via GPS!) well, I made this last part up... but wouldn't it be neat? The robot dog is actually self sufficient and can find its way back to the charger and "take a nap" when the batteries run low. Yum Yum, so artificial... yet so intellingent :P

Yeah, I know all you "real life" doggy lovers out there are probably thinking "how stupid" and "I can't pet that thing" and "it can't lick my..." well, we'll just stop there, but studies show that robot pets actually have similar healing effects on their owners as real pets do! But... with Aibo going extinct I'm not sure how long those healing effects will last! I guess until the batteries run out?

here he/she "it" is, the Sony Aibo extinct robot dog! I've never seen a dog play dead quite like it?

You don't have to microwave this pooch to see what's inside! A friendly science lab made this nice x-ray for all of us to see...

The horrible screams that you hear at the end of this film were made by the experimenters, who were startled to see the dog attack the AIBO.

This was the first time that the AIBO was attacked, but it was not the last. During the course of the experiment, the AIBO was sometimes knocked over, bitten and chewed. It is still in perfect working order, and shows no visible signs of damage.

Nevertheless, we strongly advise you not to try anything similar with your AIBO. AIBO is strongly built, but it contains many delicate components that could be easily damaged. Your warranty will not cover you if AIBO is damaged in this way.

No animals were hurt or mistreated in any way during the course of this experiment.

Junk Apparel - eat your heart out!

2006-10-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

So I've been working downtown in San Francisco near the Civic Center BART station (not the cleanest friendliest area of town). On my way to my 28 story office building I have to walk through three gritty blocks dressed in my nicest business wear toting a laptop in a fancy briefcase and all the bums love to give me a hard time.

Just the other day some guy asked me for money and then spit on me WHEN I GAVE HIM SOME... I don't make a habbit of handing out change but the guy looked sort of upbeat and asked in a friendly way so I gave him some loose change. Wow, then the other day coming home from work some guys across the street chucked a lime at me. It's just a weird place to be and I stand out like a sore, young, rich thumb.

Okay, the real purpose of this post... I went exploring over lunch the other day and toured the City Hall. It was really cool, I learned all about San Francisco and even some about California (did you know the state is named after a female Indian warrior named "Kalifa" who used to live here?) If you ever get the chance, take the tour! So on my way of exploring I found these cool buildings, one of which was some sort of school many years back. Now it's all boarded up but I think there's probably something going on inside. The outside is what really matters in this case however, it's all covered with Jack's logo! Check the pictures below > >

there's the Junk Apparel logo!

this awesome mural covers the entire West side of the building... it's pretty intense.

side view: street, meeters, lights, beautiful architecture in a crappy part of town... It reminds me of most of Rome

Quotes and Personality Stuff

2006-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

I've been saving up these quotes for a while and wanted to share them before they get lost or something...

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.”
- Pablo Picasso

“Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.”
- Pablo Picasso

“You can't run a business without taking risks.”
- Picasso*

"Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, consist of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing, through one's head. "
- Mark Twain

"Those who abandone their own dreams, will discourage yours"
- Unknown

"One man says: I see the light of god shining in you, the other says: all you see is my reflection, you're facing the wrong way"
- my grandpa

"I just want to live until I die"
- my grandpa

"Everything important I do, I do twice; once in my dreams and once in real life."
- me

"Success is a gateway drug, achievement is addictive."
- me

I've come up with a few quotes of my own, let me know what you think... Maybe one day "pocket" will be known as an ancient and wise philosopher.

“You only have the power to change what you are willing to lose”
- me

“The walls we erect to keep others out also keep us in”
- me

"Eventually we all lose our lives, we try not to lose the meaning in life"
- me

"Veterans Day: I am thankful for the gifts I have been given, by those I never knew, and some who live around me still, that helped me as I grew"
- me

"I'm in a struggle with life, and life is winning"
- me

"I'm realizing that a part of my paycheck actually goes towards a long term lease on my soul!"
- me

"Faith is not a way of dealing with death, it is a way of dealing with life."
- me

...I want to learn from history and I'm trying not to settle for "good enough" in life. I like people in general, it brings me great joy to encourage success and compliment attempts at life... That's why I started aM with Blake and Dillon. My favorite part of life is when I am working on something I enjoy, which probably includes helping a friend. On an athletic note, I love running and jumping and being active like a cheetah (which is my fav animal) I'm an ENFP Myers Briggs - http://www.personalitypage.com/ENFP.html

Portrait of an ENFP - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
(Extraverted Intuition with Introverted Feeling)
The Inspirer

As an ENFP, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you take things in primarily via your intuition. Your secondary mode is internal, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit in with your personal value system.

ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate and excited about things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than we see in other types. They can talk their way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

ENFPs have an unusually broad range of skills and talents. They are good at most things which interest them. Project-oriented, they may go through several different careers during their lifetime. To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent, in that they have a strong sense of values which they live with throughout their lives. Everything that they do must be in line with their values. An ENFP needs to feel that they are living their lives as their true Self, walking in step with what they believe is right. They see meaning in everything, and are on a continuous quest to adapt their lives and values to achieve inner peace. They're constantly aware and somewhat fearful of losing touch with themselves. Since emotional excitement is usually an important part of the ENFP's life, and because they are focused on keeping "centered", the ENFP is usually an intense individual, with highly evolved values.

An ENFP needs to focus on following through with their projects. This can be a problem area for some of these individuals. Unlike other Extraverted types, ENFPs need time alone to center themselves, and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. ENFPs who remain centered will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility, and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving.

Most ENFPs have great people skills. They are genuinely warm and interested in people, and place great importance on their inter-personal relationships. ENFPs almost always have a strong need to be liked. Sometimes, especially at a younger age, an ENFP will tend to be "gushy" and insincere, and generally "overdo" in an effort to win acceptance. However, once an ENFP has learned to balance their need to be true to themselves with their need for acceptance, they excel at bringing out the best in others, and are typically well-liked. They have an exceptional ability to intuitively understand a person after a very short period of time, and use their intuition and flexibility to relate to others on their own level.

Because ENFPs live in the world of exciting possibilities, the details of everyday life are seen as trivial drudgery. They place no importance on detailed, maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivous to these types of concerns. When they do have to perform these tasks, they do not enjoy themselves. This is a challenging area of life for most ENFPs, and can be frustrating for ENFP's family members.

An ENFP who has "gone wrong" may be quite manipulative - and very good it. The gift of gab which they are blessed with makes it naturally easy for them to get what they want. Most ENFPs will not abuse their abilities, because that would not jive with their value systems.

ENFPs sometimes make serious errors in judgment. They have an amazing ability to intuitively perceive the truth about a person or situation, but when they apply judgment to their perception, they may jump to the wrong conclusions.

ENFPs who have not learned to follow through may have a difficult time remaining happy in marital relationships. Always seeing the possibilities of what could be, they may become bored with what actually is. The strong sense of values will keep many ENFPs dedicated to their relationships. However, ENFPs like a little excitement in their lives, and are best matched with individuals who are comfortable with change and new experiences.

Having an ENFP parent can be a fun-filled experience, but may be stressful at times for children with strong Sensing or Judging tendancies. Such children may see the ENFP parent as inconsistent and difficult to understand, as the children are pulled along in the whirlwind life of the ENFP. Sometimes the ENFP will want to be their child's best friend, and at other times they will play the parental authoritarian. But ENFPs are always consistent in their value systems, which they will impress on their children above all else, along with a basic joy of living.

ENFPs are basically happy people. They may become unhappy when they are confined to strict schedules or mundane tasks. Consequently, ENFPs work best in situations where they have a lot of flexibility, and where they can work with people and ideas. Many go into business for themselves. They have the ability to be quite productive with little supervision, as long as they are excited about what they're doing.

Because they are so alert and sensitive, constantly scanning their environments, ENFPs often suffer from muscle tension. They have a strong need to be independent, and resist being controlled or labelled. They need to maintain control over themselves, but they do not believe in controlling others. Their dislike of dependence and suppression extends to others as well as to themselves.

ENFPs are charming, ingenuous, risk-taking, sensitive, people-oriented individuals with capabilities ranging across a broad spectrum. They have many gifts which they will use to fulfill themselves and those near them, if they are able to remain centered and master the ability of following through.

Jungian functional preference ordering for ENFP:

Dominant: Extraverted Intuition
Auxiliary: Introverted Feeling
Tertiary: Extraverted Thinking
Inferior: Introverted Sensing

Stanford Art Museum

2006-10-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

I've been adventuring around Palo Alto a bit lately and came across the Stanford Art School/Museum. It's pretty cool, having just visited the art museums in Paris and Italy... I can honestly say that Stanford has done pretty well for a U.S. based institution, they even had egyptian stuff and a mummy!

I really enjoyed the architecture of the school and the art gardens surrounding the museum. Students whizzing to and from class, many of them setting up canvases to do practice sketches or paintings of the bronze sculptures outside.

entrance to the Stanford Art Museum

outside - murals with a frieze and pediment on the left

more murals

palm tree outside of the museum

This is a crazy black squirrel I found in a bush just outside the museum... I didn't realize that squirrels could be black like this so I had to take a picture. You will also notice the blurring and refracting going on with my wide angle lense. The camera I am using here is the Canon PowerShot SD600 Digital Elph with a clip on wide angle lense from Digital Concepts that I got off Amazon.

inside the Stanford Art Museum, Greek pottery, the yellow room

wooden horse sculpture...

Hoover Tower - Herbert Hoover attended Stanford and built this tower (which is now sort of a library). It's got a great view... but I'm not sure how earthquake resistant it is? You may notice the squirrel on the grass just in front of the tower... There are lots of squirrels at Stanford, just like there are lots of raccoons at the University of Colorado.

Adventure Status

2006-09-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Lots of crazy new tails from my end of the pond. Work has been super busy and I'm fighting a battle to be "allowed" to persue a project in Seattle. The funny thing is, the Seattle project really wants me to join! I bring these specialized skills in marketing and web knowledge that is valuable and they recognize that, along with my interest. Unfortunately for me, I was randomly placed in a group at my company that does not share resources with this other group. Yeah, kinda sucks... I've offered unique solutions and even tried to move and switch groups permanently but to no avail. I'm getting the shaft from corporate America...

So, to take my mind off of these challenges I've tried to refocus my energy on other career paths, new companies, and reptiles. Yesterday I drove over to Berkeley to pick up an old pair of Northwave snowboard boots at a shop called Destination 1440 (they were sopposed to be fixing the laces with Northwave - factory defect). So I get this call that after two months that nothing has been done and my boots are basically just rotting away on some dirty shelf. So I get the boots and decide to explore the area a bit since it's been a while since I lived in Berkeley and it's the middle of the day on a weekday, all the shops are open.

I spot this jungle-like storefront and decide to enter the shop. "Berkeley's Secret Garden" is the name of this joint (pun definitely intended). They sell all sorts of grow lamps mounted to fans that spin with cooling devices... Lots of neat fauna there but really... This is California? Who would need to grow plants inside? And why would they want to cool the bulbs delivering the nutrients? Anyone familliar with police work and infra-red technology should be able to answer that...

Okay, so I actually like plants, legal ones, and so I ask the clerk if they have any terrariums instead of these big light spinning fan contraptions. He tells me that his other job is working at the East Bay Vivarium (one of the largest reptile stores in the nation). I'm stoked like a schoolgirl at this remark and I blast on over to the Vivarium, yum. Fancy my luck, it just so happens to be feeding time and all the animals are going nuts! I got to see these tiny 3" turtle babies snarfing down lettuce and of course the ever-exciting cricket hunt that some of the lizards were enacting.

It was a good day, I got a lot done and I've been sick so it was nice to sleep in a bit and try to rest up. I'm stoked to do a few aM updates with video and teh site should be coming alive again soon. One of my old CU journalist friends wants to do another story about us and our recent interview with the Campus Press should be online soon.