Awesome stats

Not sure if this has been on the blog, but it's cool, so watch it.

why shit matters to design

psfk sfo

The other event I recently attended.

i may start skateboarding again

functionality aside, its design is beautiful

created by Kendall College of Art and Design student Mitch Mulder who aimed to create a more natural, surf-like riding experience. often, the ideas that move an industry are not so "new" or "big"... just different enough that they move the needle.

SoulArc Boards

my best friend...

taking about how to give inspired presentations.



James is one of the smartest people I know... Arguably one of the smartest people in this space. A person you do not want to pitch against, for sure.

As slow as lightning

http://gizmodo.com/5034458/slow-motion-lightning-video-is-mindblowing-will-sell-a-thousand-slo+mo-cameras

i couldn't have said it better

A MUST READ

Call me Bananigans

Which character are you?

Rainbow Chaser - a brown horse with purple hooves
Bananigans - a monkey with a Rainbow Banana
Hollywood Bear - a bear in a tuxedo and a top hat
Panda Painter - a panda in overalls with a large paintbrush
Ballerina Bunnies - three rabbits who dance ballet
Max Splash - an orca whale
Markie - a unicorn with rainbow mane and tail
Roary - a polar bear
Hunter - a young leopard
Spotty and Dotty Paws - two dalmatians with rainbow-colored spots
Peekaboo - a turtle with hippie-style flowers on its shell
Skye - a Pegasus-like flying horse
Ruckus, Raider, and Risky - three St. Bernard puppies
Casey - a golden retriever puppy
Lisa, Cassie, Mara, Candy - four girls who are best friends
Angel - an angel with rainbow wings
Angel Kitty - a cat with rainbow wings and stripes
Echo - a dolphin

*

Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt

Most of you know that my dance company put on a big show Saturday night for a wedding at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. Our 9 dancers have been training intensively for 4 months to put together this program and it was a HUGE success, if I do say so myself. It's always been my dream to put together a production like this with professional dancers and Saturday night, that dream was fulfilled.

The wedding was beautiful, very swank, from the ice sculptures of the Taj Mahal to the manicured red and white roses on every table to the guests all dressed in tuxedos and brilliantly colored sparkling saris. Our show was one hour long starting at 9:30, the first part was 3 Indian Bollywood numbers, the second part 4 bellydance numbers and a finale. It was classy and beautiful and I was absolutely thrilled although I wanted to throttle the wedding planner who was a total jerk. And half-way through the show, we started a contest backstage to see if anyone could make the bride crack a smile. Sadly, it was the only failure of the show. But by the sound of the cheers, singing along, and clapping, the rest of the party loved it, so I was satisfied!

We got several invitations after the show to dance in various places like Vancouver, B.C. and Portland. The mother and father of the bride were so happy about the show, they were almost in tears when they thanked us for all our hard work.

Pictures coming soon!

*

flowers

*

*

Steez at the Movies.

Watching a couple make out at the coffee shop. Now that’s a way to spend a Saturday night. Oh, cute! They just took a sip out of the other’s coffee! Oh, wait… she doesn’t like his as much as her. Budding love.

It’s been quite some time since the last installment of Steez at the Movies and per usual, you can thank my lacking commitment to write anything. I haven’t had a drought of movie viewing experiences. In fact, this might be one of my more active movie watching stretches of the year. In the time since I last wrote a review, I’ve witnessed: My favorite movie of the year (In Bruges), Aliens (helping me further understand and admire the ascent of James Cameron, the quality action based blockbuster pioneer he was/is), The Dark Knight (I think I’m still processing my thoughts on this one. Just too damn much to the about), the most failed attempt to tell a story in an odd, compelling way (I’m Not There, which boasted a brilliant OST. Of course, duh.), a “think it’s going to be decent because of its cast but turns out being atrocious” movie (The United States of Leland,) and most recently Pineapple Express.

God, I love back-story, recaps and lead-in.

Pineapple Express is latest brutally funny, accurate presentation of a movie to a smart (yet, crude, yet, sophomoric as shit), easily disinterested and/or bored audience churned out by the Apatow Machine (is it just me, or is Apatow’s and his gang’s brand of humor is the closest marriage of Family Guy and South Park humor that’s present in the current landscape of comedy. THAT, is a blog post. But first, must finish this). It is also the first stoner movie to be certified and endorsed by yours truly, since Half Baked (Half Baked was in 1997. Think about it. Fuck you, Harold and Kumar).

I believe I would’ve enjoyed this movie even if I’d bought into the hype, the viral campaigns, the stoned James Franco interviews. It’s that of that quality, I assure you.

It’s not the better than anticipated box office receipts its going to register, the next progression of a red-hot team, the sure-to-be-great DVD extras or source of the latest craze of movie line spewing that sticks in my mind about this flick.

What makes me ultimately enjoy and respect this movie is that it’s the culmination (to this point) of a shitload of hard work, failed projects and growing prowess for a group of actors who have been in this game since their early childhood. A dream mixture of the cheesy action-plots from the 80’s, an accurate depiction of stoners and a budget (for some pretty cool fx, all things considered). Whereas I did not laugh as heartily as the masses at some points and think that there were some definite “trying too fucking hard to make someone, anyone laugh” moments… there were a few moments (none of which I can remember right now. Go figure.) where I chuckled to a quiet theater.

Also, I find it is important to inform you that perhaps the best element of this movie is the casting/acting/costumes of the secondary characters (the bad guys, namely the henchmen). Danny McBride, Craig Robinson (who, I guarantee you will either squander his upcoming fame-burst or ride it to embarrassment ala Ice Cube) and the ALWAYS amazing Kevin Corrigan.

I’ve yet to establish and don’t plan to stick to any sort of scoring system but I award this movie a B+. Oh and yeah, I’d like to meet that Seth Rogen. There, I said it.

The Cosmic Scream

Last night, several rum 'n cokes in, my sister and I could be found in the Admiral Pub reminiscing about this and I found it so amusing, I felt I had to blog about it. This morning, I'm not sure how amusing it still is, but I'm blogging anyway just because I'm procrastinating on the Member Site and I'm here in the office on my alleged "summer day" at 5:00 a.m.

Anyway, the Cosmic Scream:

Picture this: it's 6 a.m. in Reston, VA (by the way, what fucking genius thought it would be a good idea to get high school kids up at 6:00 in the morning??? No wonder teenagers are so pissed all the time), a quiet little planned community suburb of Washington, D.C. , a two-bedroom condo where my sister and I share the master bedroom. Me, a sweet-16-year-old goth kid, my sister, an annoyingly cute but sullen 13-year-old. We insomniacs are sleeping peacefully, after finally falling asleep at 3 a.m., when a very shrill hole is ripped in the universe:

ANDI!!! LINDY!!! IT'S TIME TO GET UP, YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE, C'MON, GET UP, ANDI, LINDY!!!!!

After this adrenaline shot to the heart, I'd roll out of bed (my sister would just moan a little, punch the air, and go back to sleep), and realize I'd forgotten to do my algebra homework. Yes, this was a very regular occurrence.

Lately my mom came and stayed with me and I asked her to wake me up for work in the morning since she was going to be up already (the woman still wakes up at 4 a.m. every morning without fail). And faithfully, right at 6:00 a.m., the Cosmic Scream ripped through my apartment, and after peeling myself off the ceiling, I thought "Oh shit! I didn't do my algebra homework!"

Obviously Pavlov was on to something there.

*

google creative sandbox sfo '08

pictures enable us to hold on to evidence that we were once young and beautiful.

it's a sad human condition, actually. our self image is usually the last to mature and the realization that time has caught up with you is both devastating and blissful.

PostSecret

i can't stop reading it...

PostSecret

Business Cards

Hi guys,

Ok, so I am by no means an expert, but I like to dabble in Photoshop. I've created a couple biz card options for my dance co. and would love some feedback from the creative peeps on the basics, font size, design, etc. They're not anything special, but I want them to at least look professional.

Please comment! I really do want feedback.

Thanks!
Andrea

where i first learned about vodka...

back in the mediaphex days, we did work for the HP Women's Challenge (the largest woman's cycling race). i spent my time covering the race shooting from the back of a motorcycle, in ditches and gutters and hanging from high brides and tree limbs.

every year, the racers and their coaches would throw huge hotel room parties after the event's closing ceremonies. the room to be invited to was the Lithuanian's... it was an exclusive party. Rosa and Youlanta were twins (!) and very, very euro-hot (above-left). Dave Yasuda and i were invited up to the room and were greeted by the twins' coach (above-right). he rushed up to me, embraced me and started pouring warm smirnoff down my throat. i forget exactly what happened later (and am still unsure how i ended up back at home). i know that he and i polished off that bottle and most (if not all) of another. neither of us understood the other, but his warmth and affection has (obviously) had a lasting impression on me.

hp cancelled its sponsorship of the women's challenge a few years later and the event was unable to find another sponsor... and was abolished in 2003. i was lucky enough to be a part of it for 3 years, and i miss it and the fabulous women who road in the race terribly.

start saving your miles!

Out in the Mojave desert, Virgin Galactic has unveiled the new transport ship they'll be using to carry their SpaceShipTwo into suborbital space. With a 140-foot wingspan, it's the largest all-carbon composite aircraft ever built.

Any Doctor Who fans out there?

Forget the Shit Box, get a P-Mate

Perhaps the ladies in the office would be interested in the P-mate?

http://p-mate.com/eng/intro.html

P-Mate asks, who wouldn't want to pee upright with dignity?

I think peeing in a cardboard box removes all dignity from the process.

www.glassdoor.com

*

file under E0121

Brown Corporation - Shit Box

i just bought one for my office

eos - evolution of smooth

even after 5 minutes of watching, i'm still not certain what they're selling... oh, wait! i get it!

webwithoutsense

"web without sense is a platform. Essentially a blog, it is a gallery of common place website design/layout/marketing/general annoyances on the Internet. Equally, it is satirical dialogue aimed to get a message across while being frank and outward."

*

Association - Other, More Subtle Ways to Off a Co-worker

The Clumsy StairMaster

---

The Aggressive Windsor

---

The High-cholesterol Lunch

---

The Beer-soaked Teambuilder

---

The Free Candy Surprise

Lick this

Association - No Need for Explanation (as it should be played)

Fearless - as in lack of cold feet

cold feet

Week 1 - Response

Since this week's association was of Nick's wife curled up comfortably (she looks so comfortable, I'm so jealous) on the couch in barefeet, and it made me long for just one day when I could veg out and do nothing (without being sick too), plus it also made me think of my particular aversion to wearing shoes. I've always felt that human beings shouldn't need to wear shoes, we didn't in prehistoric times, of course, and many tribes in the world still don't wear them. In India and China, many lower class members never wear shoes, particularly rickshaw drivers who run all day over cobblestone streets, paved and unpaved roads. Here's an article on a medical study done with this particular social group:

http://www.barefooters.org/medicine/j_natl_assoc_chir-49.html

In all cases, these people who run and walk great distances over hard terrain showed remarkably fewer medical foot problems, such as plantar fasciitis, bunions, bursitis, etc. In addition, people who have never worn shoes in their life have complete and full range of motion in the foot. So when you see me walking around barefoot in the office, don't freak out! Because, of course, I'm doing it for health reasons. ;-)

Here also is an article on how lack of rest relates to stress, which is of course, something we all know, but rarely heed (me in particular, and I think a few other people in this office should absolutely read this article). I've always had trouble with stress-related insomnia, and of course, not sleeping makes stress infinitely worse. I thought it was also interesting that it mentions to try to take a 2-week vacation instead of a 1-week vacation since you only start to relax after 1 week. I've never taken a 2-week vacation, but I'm strongly considering it now since I have a medical basis for it! :-)

http://www.mindtools.com/stress/Defenses/Rest.htm

Week 1:

i'm growing increasingly restless...

it's been months since i've made much of anything i'm particularly fond of (i'm speaking purely about my personal pursuits). time has a way of getting the better of most necessary endeavors, and the summer light is waning faster than it has has in past years. for me, my personal interests feed my professional obligations and serve as the counterbalance to every other aspect of my life (including my family, my relationships and my ability to cope with the more mundane aspects of life). i'm feeling deprived, like how i imagine an insomniac or hungry vampire feels.

*