Blogocide.com

2008-06-28T14:35:00.004-04:00

Where'd I go?

Well, if you can't tell...I haven't updated in a good month and a half...why you may ask? I've been busy to say the least.

What with work, an online accounting class, and recently taking over as president of our local theatre group...I've had little time to think.

Course that doesn't mean I haven't been wasting what spare time I've had by playing video games and watching movies...cause, you know, I have.

Went to the movie theater for the first time in a long time to see Iron Man and the new Indiana Jones movies...both definitely worth the ticket price...although sadly to say they would probably look better in my own living room than the movie theater in Goldsboro (we need a digital theater). I've gotta try and go see Wall-E at some point in the near future as well...as EVERY Pixar movie is a requirement since even their worst movie shows up just about anything in theaters today (their worst in my opinion being Cars).

Instead of going to the theater often. I buy movies on blu-ray and get people to come over and watch them (which has tempted quite a few people to get high definition projectors now). Then of course there are the games...mostly I play Rock Band (either alone or with Lauren and a couple other people). Rock Band is a lot of fun to say the least and is even the type of game my parents would be proud I was playing (not really...that's a lie). Anyway...it's fun to sing and play fake guitar...or play drums (which has given me a little more coordination with my feet and hands).

I am officially making a trip out to San Francisco in September to visit my sister and her husband and, of course, explore. It will be nice to have a break, I'll be leaving September 12th thru the 20th...woo!

Center Stage Theatre probably takes up more time than it should, but I really do believe the the group can grow this year and I'm doing everything in my power to make that happen...and considering I'm President, most of that is up to me and my board. One problem the group has is simply advertising, we don't have much money to spend...so most is word of mouth. Hey, if anyone has a good idea for getting the word out there for auditions and production dates let me know. I just started writing a bi-weekly newsletter for the group via email. I hope that my mailing list will grow over the year. We're opening the season in October with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Lauren is officially moved in...has been since the beginning of the month. Things are going great, adjusting is of course strange for both of us, but it's definitely a big relief after her being in Raleigh. She just accepting a 3rd grade teaching position at Spring Creek elementary here and is working at Applebee's for the summer (woo! Applebee's).

And now by popular demand: The Cats

Fei is just cute when she sleeps...wait, I mean she's cute all the time, but especially when she sleeps. The strange picture of George is what happens after he gets shot with a squirt gun (he's been scratching things). And the one of all of them together is an example of how George relaxes...he lies, on his back, and falls asleep...

2008-05-12T20:33:00.004-04:00

Last of Washington

Here are the last of the pictures from our trip to Washington.

Enjoy, and let me know if something doesn't work...

National Mall

Freer Gallery

Smithsonian Castle

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

Air and Space Museum

Other Buildings

And I'm not sure why, but I find the name of this bank funny...

2008-05-06T22:17:00.001-04:00

Wee!

Last of the Zoo stuff. I took this video because of the kid in the background going "Wee!"

2008-05-06T22:00:00.002-04:00

More Zoo Pictures

Ok, here are the rest of the Washington Zoo pictures. There are some good ones in there. So enjoy...

Oh, and I still have to go through the pictures from the Lincoln Memorial and a few other places...so...there will be even more. Bear with me since this is probably making my blog load a little slow...but trust me, if you're interested, it's worth it.

2008-05-06T09:00:00.006-04:00

Washington, D.C.

Lauren and I made a trip to Washington over the weekend; went to the zoo, memorials, monuments, Historic Georgetown, etc...

Things I learned while in DC:

If I was standing on a street corner yelling for over two hours, I would run out of things to say and start screaming "I AM ON THE CORNER! I DEMAND A DONUT!" (Although I have to say it was refreshing hearing someone screaming "You don't HAVE to believe in God, this is America"

There IS something worse than Nascar, and that's a "Nascar Heroes" comic book.

Watch out for traffic cones.

I need better walking shoes.

Pizza delivered AT midnight is awesome.

The majority of tourists in Washington consists of three groups: Asian people, fat people, and cute families on their way to the zoo...in that order.

The METRO in Washington is pretty damn clean.

And now...for pictures:

I'm most proud of my tiger pictures...so we'll do those first. They weren't doing much to begin with, but then got quite playful, so I ended up taking quite a few. Here they are in order:

Ok, that's it for the tiger pictures. I am going to add more pictures of the zoo and monuments this evening. So be sure to check back.

2008-05-01T18:42:00.005-04:00

Butterflies

Ok...another show done. I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change was great great fun. I'm sad it's over...probably the best show I've been in, and I got to perform in the new theater building here, the reconstructed Paramount.

Couple weekends ago, Lauren and I went to see the Butterfly Pavilion in Durham. I took it as a test of my camera, and it has passed with flying colors (literally). Here are some of the pictures that I took with full zoom on my camera and no flash. Oh, and the large version of these pictures you see here by clicking on the thumbnail...are less than half the size of the originals.

*Be sure to look for the ladybug in durham13.jpg

Oh...and here are some more pictures of the cats (of course).

2008-04-02T10:07:00.000-04:00

Beta-Max

Ah...dead formats.

2008-03-14T15:13:00.003-04:00

Mmmm...Pi

Happy Pi day everyone.

Can't believe some grown people don't know what Pi is...

2008-03-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

Sickly

Cold medicine is a mixed blessing...it makes the uncomfortable sore throat go away a bit...makes you feel a little better...but clouds your mind quite badly.

At least...that's my reaction to it. Nearly like I have a hangover (without the headache). Course it may be because I took it on a near-empty stomach.

Not a good week to be somewhat sick...Corporate tax returns due out Monday...it's going to be a long weekend.

However the weekend will include Lauren coming here and this. So...definitely great besides the whole working probably the whole weekend thing...

2008-03-12T14:18:00.002-04:00

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

Well, I'm officially in the above named musical...strange name eh? It's a hilarious show, mostly music.

I got in it basically by default since it's a 4 part cast...and 4 people showed up for auditions...so that's both a blessing and a curse.

I haven't sight read music in a year and a half, so that's always fun...but hopefully this show will be a chance for me to have some fun and really get into some differently styled singing.

Here are two songs that I am going to sing:

Tear Jerk
Marriage Tango

2008-03-03T18:36:00.003-05:00

Kitties!

Okay...here we go, the kitties (Fei & George...click for bigger picture):

2008-02-19T10:57:00.002-05:00

Woo Hoo!

Well, if you were waiting for the High Definition DVD format war to be over before you made a decision on what type of player to get, here's the end:

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

Congrats to Sony on finally getting a winning format, hehe...

2008-02-13T16:31:00.001-05:00

Surprise!

Ok then...busy busy busy me. Tax season, theatre, ugh...

Anyways, Friday night Lauren threw a surprise birthday party for me (thanks to an tip by Steffan), which was awesome. Had a bunch of family and theatre people there and it definitely was a surprise (course...that's the point right?)

I've been trying to find time to post, email, update...all the good stuff. I updated the theatre website during lunch (www.cstheatre.org).

I got a new camera finally...so expect pictures of cats in the near future. Here it is in the meantime. The Sony DSC-H3/B.

I really want to get an SLR, but considering they start at about $700, I don't think that's happening for a while.

Um...more updates to come with pictures, although it may be after next weekend (We're performing You Can't Take it With You next weekend).

2008-02-06T11:16:00.000-05:00

23

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear...me...Happy Birthday to me.

Maybe I should watch The Number 23...still haven't seen it...

2008-01-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

Heath Ledger
April 4, 1979 � January 22, 2008

2008-01-18T13:39:00.000-05:00

Another Day, Another Role

Well, I got roped into another show. I wanted to take a break after directing the one-act show (and being in the other two) for our "Evening of One-Acts"...but with the membership base of our group being fairly thin that the moment, I was asked to come audition.

I have been cast as Tony Kirby in You Can't Take it with You, a show written by Kaufman and Hart (same writers as The Man Who Came to Dinner). It is also another show that was adapted to film by Frank Capra with Jimmy Stewart as the Tony Kirby (I mention that since one of the last shows I was in was It's a Wonderful Life, Capra's most well known film). Of course, after watching some of the movie and reading over the script...there was A LOT added to the movie, including a proposal scene that is a bit better than the one in the script.

However, after reading through my part, it's nice to see how much potential this show has to be great. The comedy is well written and silly, the dialog isn't drawn out or boring (like in the one-acts) and it's overall a very good show (I think it was also Kaufman and Hart's most successful show).

2008-01-15T10:41:00.000-05:00

Blu-ray

I think since I have basically stopped going to the movie theater (if you can't tell by the Shrek 3 poster on the sidebar), I am going to start posting ratings of Blu-ray discs (since I view them more than movies in the theater).

So...expect some different looking pictures on the sidebar.

p.s. If you didn't know Warner Brothers is switching to blu-ray exclusive in May, which means HD-DVD will only have the support of Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks.

(I'm sure that all of you are SOOOOO interested...)

2008-01-12T10:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Lauren!

2008-01-02T08:44:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 everyone. Another year past.

(p.s. my birthday's in just over a month...ha!)

I spent New Years with Lauren, and yes, we are back together.

Apparently I did regret my decision a little more than I realized (hindsight is 20/20 eh?) and we talked about it and decided to try again. I think the time apart was actually best for us because it gave us a chance to look at our relationship from a different angle and see what was wrong, and I think they are things that can fixed. One of which is me being distant (for God knows why...), I would go on to her problems and more of mine...but hey, that's not why this blog is here, right? So anyway, it's one day at a time for us, and we want to make every day worth it.

I got only one drunk call after the ball dropped. Apparently they were calling everyone in their phone and I was last (cause I'm a "V"). A few texts...and more in the morning. Course last year I got texts and a call or two at 10PM since my friends here in NC were calling me when I was living in Colorado, 2 hours behind them.

This marks my 601st post on here and, as of tomorrow, my blog's 5th year on the net.

2007-12-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

Clarity

For those of you that haven't seen it, here is the Honda FCX Clarity.

This is the first zero emissions, hydrogen fuel cell car available to the public.

Well...the limited public. That is of course if you live in southern California and have a hydrogen refueling station handy.

It's being leased for $600/month for three years and includes all maintenance.

The other thing about this car is that it produces enough power for your entire house (probably more than your entire house) and Honda is working on something that could possibly take advantage of that.

2007-12-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

w00t

w00t has been crowned as Merriam-Webster's word of the year, what's the only response you can have to this? well?

w00t!!

2007-12-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

Oy...

[Guess you may want to read the January 2, 2008 post after this one eh? :)]

Well if you haven't already seen/heard/guessed, Lauren and I broke up. I won't go into details on my blog, I guess I'll post some basic points:

We dated for a little over a year.
I broke it off.
Yes I feel like a jerk.
No, I don't regret being with her, and do not regret breaking up.

Most people are being fairly supportive for both of us, my grandparents still have completely open arms to her and aren't angry at me (which was a surprise...although my grandfather did mention that he thought I had found my wife). There are one or two people that I expected to be a little more understanding that weren't supportive at all unfortunately.

Of course, this screws with what had become my normal life. Go to work, go to class, go back to work, get off work, call Lauren, go to rehearsal, leave rehearsal, call Lauren, sit around the apartment for a while, call Lauren, go to bed...

If you can't tell, there was quite a bit of calling Lauren in there...so now it's go to work, go to class, go to rehearsal...with very little interaction with anyone else, which makes things quite lonely.

Anyway...that's enough about that, if you really need to know more, get in contact with me.

It's a Wonderful Life is long over and the next theatre production is An Evening of One-Acts...one of which I'm directing. It's a dinner theatre happening in January and this is my first directing experience. I wanted to jump into something else...but not something huge right off the bat, so a one-act was a good start.

Of course, I'm also IN the other two one-acts during the evening...so the next month should prove to be quite stressful.

2007-11-16T15:03:00.000-05:00

Ghostbusters The Game

This is probably the first time in 5 months that I've really talked about Ghostbusters but...damn!

If anyone was fortunate enough to see some of the videos showing what this game might be like, you know to be excited.

I believe it's also coming out for PS3, so I'll be able to get it without having to worry what system it's not going to be on.

It's apparently going to be a sequel type situation and will pick up after the second Ghostbusters movie. The game will even be written by...Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis thankfully, and in addition to Bill Murray, will be doing voice acting for the game as well.

2007-10-25T17:23:00.000-04:00

Life

Well, since the comment on my last post by Mrs. Winder (still feel weird saying that), I have realized that some old friends may actually still read this damn thing. So, I thought I'd give an update of things going on.

I'm in North Carolina (in case you didn't know). My job at an accounting firm is going well...my boss is helping pay for my Associates Degree in...Accounting (imagine that).

School is going well, I'm only in one class at Wayne Community College right now: Individual Income Tax Preparation. The teacher (these people don't count as professors, it's a community college, nearly high school all over again) makes it nearly impossible to get a bad grade in this class. I've gotten OVER 100% on the first two tests...the third (which I took today) was a little harder, but mostly because I missed a day of class and didn't, well you know, study.

Theater is interesting. I'm part of Center Stage Theatre here in Goldsboro. I still design and update our website www.cstheatre.org. I have a tiny part in It's a Wonderful Life, which is kind of sad (especially after not landing Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, but it's enjoyable all the same, plus the smaller part means that I don't have to be at every single rehearsal (that's great for my schedule at the moment).

Personal Life:

I have a two bedroom townhouse/apartment which is about perfect size for me (thankfully the rent is pretty cheap here, so it's not that big of a deal affording the space). I have my home theater system set up downstairs with a 9 foot screen, lol...

I have two cats: Fei and George. Fei is a beautiful white calico who has recently become obsessed with a certain toy. George is still a kitten and is a terror sometimes, but he pulls it off by being cute and also being extremely affectionate at 3AM.

I am still dating Lauren, the girl I met in Fort Collins (one of the backyard ladies, if you've ever heard the story...if not, let me know and I can fill you in), she lives in Raleigh. We are coming up on our year anniversary, November 16th. Various members of my family have dropped hints (or at least been very...I guess supportive would be the word) of us getting married. Our relationship is going very well, but at the moment that seems a long way off as we are simply trying to survive this year what with her first year teaching (she teaches 2nd grade at a little rich school in Raleigh, little over an hour away) and me re-entering school/work/theatre. We usually only get to see each other on weekends because of the distance between us and our separate jobs, which stresses us out sometimes but has caused no major problems.

My free time? What little I have of it I spend with Lauren if I can. Or...watching movies (I've gotten into this whole hi-def media format war and buying a bunch of blu-rays). Occassionally I play a video game, I'm looking forward to Guitar Hero III this weekend, which hopefully proves entertaining. I eat, I sleep, I play with my cats, I sit in front of the computer...etc...

That's an update...if you want more info, get in touch with me.

p.s. Adam needs to call me :P

2007-10-15T22:03:00.000-04:00

Star Trek

Ah...the new Star Trek movie, so glad that Matt Damon isn't going to be Captain Kirk (at least...I don't think he is). Here's another pleasant surprise:

=

P.S. If you couldn't tell...that's Simon Pegg from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz