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I took a trip this past weekend to visit my 20-year friends Josh and Dave (previous meeting chronicled here). Josh is moving to Colorado in a couple of weeks, so this was the last time we'll easily be able to get together for a while. We met at Dave's in Ohio and then I went to the Detroit area, spent the night at Josh's, and came home Sunday afternoon.

There's nothing quite like having friends you've had for twenty years or more - half our time was spent reminiscing about "that time we..." The three of us have been friends through some of our darkest days, and if ever we don't communicate for a while, we're able to pick back up like no time has passed. I love these guys and I'm better for knowing them.

Here are a few picture highlights from the weekend:

Sure, I went out there to meet my friends, but when a kitten's this adorable, pictures must be taken!

Dave normally has a bunch of snakes in his basement, but for now he's just got the one slightly-chewed salamander. Clarification: the salamander was chewed by Murphy, the older family cat, not by Dave or any of his kids.

I don't remember what sort of knowledge Ella was trying to impart to Josh, but it looks like it was very important.

Seriously, how could dudes that look this young have been friends for more than twenty years?


Josh and Aundrea share a spare moment of relaxation after having gotten their five kids off to bed. It should be noted that this moment of relaxation didn't happen until northwards of 11:00 p.m. Apparently, managing five kids is a lot of work. Who knew?


This has nothing to do with Josh and Dave, but this has amused me for years. I used to pass this sign occasionally for work, but hadn't seen it in a couple of years. This weekend on my way home, I had to stop and take a picture. It's one building, half of it is a furniture store and the other half is a funeral chapel. I'm guessing they had to put the sign up because one too many people looked at a coffin and said, "This'd look nice in the front room, wouldn't it, honey?"

I also have three very short videos from the weekend up over at YouTube:

• Reliving the glory days - Post Pattern
• Not so much with the glory - The Running Back
• The camera was set to "video" instead of "picture." Oops. That's Dave's wife Angela that you'll hear in the background, and that laughing you see us doing is pretty much what we do the whole time we're together - 20-Year Friends

I still hate driving, but I'm glad I went.

Labels: friends, video

6 comments

Anyone from the Career Class who happened to miss Steven's party last night might want to click here.

My only regret is that I don't have video of Titus getting knocked tail over teakettle by a Dave-thrown football.

Good times.

Labels: career class, video

4 comments

This past Sunday night my church had "Ministry Options Night," which is a fancy way of saying "no church." It's specifically meant to be a time when you can get together with family or friends and "fellowship," which is church-speak for "hang out."

The Career Class opted to have a get-together, hosted by Abby W. I took my new digital camera (a Canon PowerShot SD600, which I am loving) and told people to just go ahead and take random pictures throughout the evening. At the end of the night, there were a few more than 100 pictures taken.

Sure, it might be easier for you if I'd set up a gallery so you could see just the pictures you wanted to, but it was more fun for me to set it up as a video with music. Since this is my blog, I won out. Sorry. Maybe you'll have better luck next time (but I doubt it).

The video comes in at a sorta-lengthy 7 minutes and 26 seconds, but it includes music from The White Stripes, Brian Wilson & Paul McCartney, and Randy Newman. So even if you don't care to see the pictures, you could put it on in the background and listen to some nice music for a few minutes.

Labels: career class, friends, video

21 comments

Do not watch the following clip if you don't want to see me rocking out.

I have two things to say in my defense:

1. I did not know we were being taped.
2. It is difficult to sing and play at the same time.

Thank you.

Labels: friends, music, video

6 comments

Being involved with the improv group has given me opportunities I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. I’ve met people I would never have known, I’ve performed places I never would have been, and I’ve made (a little) money I never would have.

One of the members of the group works at the local TV station. He “produces,” which I’m still not entirely clear on what that means. What I do know, though, is that he also creates commercials for local businesses. He’s used other members of the improv group in some commercials and I always thought it would be neat to be in one.

About a month ago I got an email from him: “Hey, I have an idea for a commercial with a place for you – interested?” I tried to respond in a calm, cool, and collected manner and failed horribly. I think my response was along the lines of, “YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” with maybe a few more exclamation points.

He explained that his idea was a sequel to a commercial he’d made that was already running. In it, a college student has bought a CD player that turns out to be defective – it shoots CDs out of it like rounder, less-pointy throwing stars. The end of the commercial has him getting hit in the face with an ejected CD. The point of it is that… uh, the store sells used books. Or something. I’m not entirely sure. It’s a commercial for University Bookstore, so it had something to do with textbooks. In the sequel, I’d be playing the part of a sleazy shop owner that the student was trying to return the CD player to.

We filmed the commercial at the local TV studio, and it was neat to see behind the scenes. He gave me a quick tour and I saw the set where the newscasters… uh, cast the news. I also saw the control room and the editing rooms and even the extra sportcoats and ties they have available for the anchors.

Our “set” was the storage room upstairs. There wasn’t much room – the camera was set up on the stairs, there was a guy under the table the CD player sat on, and the two of us “actors” in a little area, crouched down so we could fit in the frame. After a few takes, someone came and told us that they could hear us in the studio where they were prepping for the 5:00 newscast. Whoops. We went outside and ran through it a few times and killed some time until they were done, then went back up to the “set” and got it on tape… after 15-or-so takes.

A couple weeks later at improv rehearsal I asked the producer how it went. “Uh…,” he started. “The good news is I brought you a copy!”

The bad news, as it happened, is that the business opted not to use the commercial. He didn’t know why, as they hadn’t given any reason. Since it was a direct sequel to a commercial they had opted to use and it used many of the same elements and addressed the year-end issue of returning textbooks, there was really only one reason they could possibly have had for rejecting it. It had to be because I was in it – I was the only changed variable, so it must have been the reason.

Ah, well. It was a fun experience, and I’m glad I had the opportunity. He’s said he’ll try to get me in something in the future, but I’d guess if he wants to stay in “the biz” he’ll realize his folly and steer clear of me.

I have two options for you to view the commercial if you’d like. First I have a downloadable file (4Mb, requires Quicktime to view). That’s a little higher quality, but the following YouTube video might be more accessible for the average user.

And there you go: an exclusive, never-aired and never-to-be-aired commercial starring yours truly.

Labels: new things, video

10 comments

Hey, kids, want to make your cell phone look and sound like mine? Of course you do! Well, now you can! Download the following files and transfer them to your phone for the full experience!

Background:

Don't tell Apple, but it's a shrunken version of their "Aqua Blue" background for OSX. Shhhhh!

Next up, ringtone! It's a MIDI version of "Mahna Mahna" from The Muppet Show, specifically the sketch entitled "Mahna Mahna and the Two Snowths." If you've never seen the sketch, well, shame on you. If you click here you can watch it. The pink cow-like creatures are the "Snowths." I'll let you figure out who "Mahna Mahna" is.

Last but not least, the message tone. Any time I get a voice mail or a text message this is what I hear: the attack cry of a Murloc from World of Warcraft. It scares the cats and I get weird looks when it goes off in bookstores.

So there you go! Everything you need to make your cell phone look and sound like mine!

Labels: video

9 comments