Wednesday, April 23, 2008

man. you peoples keep missing out on great times in the city -- ie. beat kitchen.

another good concert.
good food.
good company.

I could definitely go for more cafes, local shops, small concerts and the like in my life...

"why do you have a maxie pad in your shoe? ... is it for when you're out, and you start menstruating......from your feet" - weiss
(my new chinese shoes only appear to have a maxie pad in them. but for 7$, I don't really care as long as it's new/clean.)
posted by Erini CS @ 1:29 PM 1 comments

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

posted by meg @ 4:34 PM 1 comments

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Stories from the 60 bus
Father: Don't put that in your mouth. You don't know where that came from.

Four-year old daughter: Nuh-uh I do know. It came from the bus.
posted by weiss @ 1:32 AM 0 comments

yepskidoodle
Great story, Meg! Thanks again for the hot times in NYC. Did you hear that the Whitney party got broken up by the cops? Apparently some kids started a fight. Probably a glitter/jealousy thing.

What I have been up to: finishing classes and recovering from last night's male nursing poker. I got completely pwned, and the cognac didn't help. At least there was 3am poutine and cigars for everybody. Lesson learned: male nurses are great — until they take all your money.

Lancaster folk: I'll be in town with Amber & Misha next weekend. Party @ T-Mo's Sunday night. Hopefully Rob can make it, as we all remember what happened last time.

And lastly, here's a little something for the Tool in all of us.

Labels: lancaster, poker, tool

posted by sasha @ 10:27 AM 2 comments

The Right response to the Debate last night
The Guardian:

Worst. Debate. Ever.

Obama (turns out the best response is nonverbal):



P.S. I didn't actually watch the debate. Instead I enjoyed the first hour and 40 minutes of Pirate of the Carribean 2. Seems I made the right choice.
posted by Unknown @ 9:18 PM 0 comments

I wish I had a story like meg's.

I'm just procrastinating on my taxes 'cause that's what I've done since I finished my federal back in the first of march...
and now I find out not only cannot I not file online for illinois due to lack of proper IL identification crap... but I can't file online for indiana either 'cause the site isn't working properly for me.
and I need to figure out what the hell a "Schedule NR" is....

now, all pissy cause I was finally going to do it even though I'd much rather be doing the data entry billing that I've neglected at work than this stuff and I can't now.

and my eyes hurt from watching 14 1/2 movies this weekend while my housemates were gone.

piss and moan. PISS AND MOAN. bitch bitch angst angst bitch.

I'll bake a cake for whoever (whomever?) does my taxes next year.
posted by Erini CS @ 9:55 PM 2 comments

Everyday is an adventure...

and what an adventure this one was.

Let me start off by saying, this probably won't make sense, but I'll post it anyway.

Let me also state that I'm procrastinating on taxes, so this will also be lengthy.

My day began at about 5:20, well, actually, 5:30, because that's when I finally turned off my alarm. I got out of bed put on my shoes, grabbed my skateboard, and ran out the door to catch the train. I was off to the very first day of a feature I was about to gaff. For those of you who don't know, gaffing a feature is a big gold star on your credits, so I need'nt say I was very excited! Well, excited and apprehensive. Apprehensive? no, not because I was worried I wouldn't do well.

Excited: I was able to hire an all-star team! I got a great key grip hired and she, in turn, hired a great best boy grip. I too was able to bring on my first choice of best boy electric, another talented woman. Additionally, I had about 10 or so people who were excited to day-play on days when we needed additional hands! so I'm stoked, 3 solid weeks of hanging out with some cool kids while making some cash.

Apprehensive: I came about this job in rather slippery terms. it's a long story, but let's just say they had already gone through a few gaffers, myself included. (it's complicated). All of whom had been fired pretty much at whim or for being just a bit too pushy.

Anyway, back to this morning. I caught the Path out to jersey where I met my key grip and best boy* electric (*actually a girl). A PA picked us up in a CRV and we headed off in the wrong direction to set. I played DJ and we had a good time chatting it up and listening to some knarley tunes.

We were headed off to a tech scout and the equipment check-out so that we could begin shooting the following day. After way too ong, we showed up on set only to find out that what was supposed to be a camera-test, was actually the camera crew and art department shooting inserts of a dummy body falling off of a roof onto a glass atrium ceiling. not exactly safe. (note: the key grip's foremost job on set is head-of-safety). My key grip points out that due to lack of railings on the roof, no one will be insured if there is an accident, but since we're not actually working on set that day, she lets it go. Now, we know we're already on thin-ice because they've gone through so many crews, so she doesn't push the point.

Instead we left set and continued along with the tech scout in the abandoned hospital. We checked outlets, metered sub-boxes - the whole nine. That ended and we went back to "set" to hang out while waiting for a PA to come and drive us to the equipment check-out. During our brief moments on "set" someone on the roof, six stories above, kicked something off and shattered the first pane of a double-paned window in the ceiling of the atrium where there was a very expensive camera (the viper) and an operator seated directly below. So my key grip walked over to the DP and said very politely, "you know, this isn't safe anymore." At which point the DP stormed off set and had a hissy fit with the producer over walkie about not liking it that "that girl" is telling him what he can and cannot do. (Please note, "That girl" is our key grip and her position should be respected.) Regardless, she only told him it wasn't safe, not that he couldn't do it. Anyway, it wasn't too long before the producer came and asked me if he could have a word. So I followed him around the corner. At which point he told me that the DP didn't want to work with us anymore. So I was like "are we fired?" and he was like "yup." So we asked for a ride back to the train station and played some more bumpin' post-punk songs on the ipod.

We all came on the job expecting to be fired at whim, but none of us thought it would happen before the job even started.

So we got back into the city and met the best boy grip from that job for lunch in east williamsburg. decided to go to the beach. Went on a 3-5 mile trek to the east river to find another grip on a job that was shooting there and say "hi." walked back towards the "L" train while contemplating getting tatoos and piercings. got tasti-d-lite instead. Then headed out to the rockaways to play on the beach. after a long and confusing trip, we arrived.





first things first, buy frisbee, football, and candies.

second, head to the beach to climb out onto the slippery jetty, take pictures, and fall between the rocks.

third, play frisbee.

fourth, the wind is too strong, play with the football.

fifth, play on the swings and turn upside down, climb the poles, and eat candy.

Sixth, get beer and bathrooms at a super hicky irish bar with no irish beer.

15 hours after it all started, we hopped a train back to the city, bid each other farewell and reminisced about the good times we could have had if only we weren't all fired.

To top the day off. I got a summons on the way home for riding my skateboard on the sidewalk. now I guess I should do my taxes!

Here's the adventure in photos. facebook-style.
posted by meg @ 8:31 PM 0 comments

Excellent overview of presidential branding choices
Although it's two months old, Eric's overview of presidential branding over at Meyerbros is still a fun and insightful read. Also a reminder why Eric's both a professional designer and a writer.
posted by Unknown @ 1:22 PM 0 comments

Mecanum wheels
I'm not a huge fan of reposting from boingboing - it's a great blog and if I posted everything to shoup that I found interesting on boingboing, well, then you might as well just be reading boingboing.

Anyway, here's something that I just couldn't skip: mecanum wheels. I first saw these awesome things in action at an art gallery in the meat packaging district. At first, like any sane person, I was like, dude WTF is up with those wheels? Then I saw it in action and was like, OMG, that's like the coolest thing I've ever seen in my entire life!! because they totally are. the thing can go forward, backwards, crab sideways, go diagonal, spin around, it's awesome, and it's all because Bengt Ilon is a genius.




MAKE @ RobotBusiness 2008 Segway RMP - video powered by Metacafe

Labels: awesome, boingboing, mecanum, sidewinder

posted by meg @ 2:59 PM 0 comments

On being vegetarian
Several years ago a friend shamed me out of ever describing myself as vegetarian, even in a qualified way, because I do in fact eat poultry or fish a handful of times each month, and red meat a handful of times each year when someone serves me it. It does also make sense for me to not use the label because I don't object in principle to humans killing animals for meat, but I do think animal protein should be a small part of a mostly plant-based diet and that animals should always be raised without cruelty. However, I think part of me will always identify with vegetarians.

So I thought it was funny when earlier this week I was at a Mennonite camp for a meeting for work, and someone who had eaten meals with me several times in the dining hall asked me if I was vegetarian. He said he noticed I had sat down with plates full of veggies several times while others enjoyed steak and pork chops. I said I didn't describe myself that way, but I do usually prefer all-veggie meals. He smiled. I felt like I was being a good Mennonite by witnessing for the vegetarian cause through my lifestyle choices.
posted by celestial @ 12:04 PM 1 comments