Hilary and I are trying to relax this week in anticipation of the upcoming month....lots of travelling and partying.

Kicking off this weekend with the Jingle Jog on Saturday morning on the other side of Atlanta....it's a 5k run/jog/walk that is pet friendly, so we're bringing along super-dog Jingles to have a little fun for a cause. You should check it out and join us if you're up for it. Later that day, we're driving to Nashville, TN to check out my brother's new hizzy and spend the night. I'm already exhausted thinking about all those hours in a car.

Okay, before I forget to say it, I must mention what a freakin' BLAST I had at the SEC Championship game this past weekend in Atlanta. Holy smokes, awesome blowout. My Dad and I had good seats next to the band on the lower level this year, very nice, compliments of my grandfather (paternal). Awesome.

Jingles just had her birthday yesterday, and we let her celebrate by having a nice meaty meal of ....um, meat. Covered in some kind of gravy. She ate the things in less than a minute and then proceeded to barf a good bit of it up. Glad we have hardwood floors, quick clean-up for these kinds of things (she's been trained to avoid carpeted areas on the main floor....we are such wonderful puppy parents). Gave her some new toys to tear into tiny pieces and then let her have the rest of the night to sleep like a dog. Ha!

Sorry about the last blog post, just something that came to mind. Just wait til my next socially-aware post about Christmas in a few days/weeks.

Christmas is coming, make it last.

Hollywood sucks.

Seriously, everything they make lately seems to just turn up crap.

The big winners in my book? Lord of the Rings (all of 'em). Did Hollywood have anything to do with those films? Hardly. Not even produced in the United States (also some political implications - unions - to blame that on).

Harry Potter movies blow up the box office...and it's the Brits raking it in. Good storytelling is the theme so far, and it's selling.

Chronicles of Narnia looks like it will sell, too. Time will tell on that one, but there's my money.

The real exception is Star Wars, because honestly, George Lucas at least does things his way, right/wrong/indifferent. The story is good and effects are done very well.

Okay, so then the other 99% of crap we see on the screen is bad storytelling, NO storytelling, no plot, unbelieveable special effects (I mean that in the bad way), bad special effects trying to make up for no story....the list goes on. It's funny sometimes how the entertaining aspect of some movies is how terribly the producers missed the mark.

Seriously, PLEASE please please Hollywood....stop being PC, get rid of the unions, make fewer movies and make them worth watching, or you can just sit back and watch 3 other continents owning your old business. Gah, idiots.

FREAKIN' GO DAWGS!!! Trade School all in tears this weekend after their loss to the boss. They beat #3 Miami last week, just to lose to UGA....now UGA gets a shot at the new #3 LSU in the championship game. Here's hoping.....

So UGA loses to Florida and Auburn and only has to beat Kentucky to become SEC East champs....how sad that is. Sure, it really is a good feeling for your team to be champion of something, but we're talking about being the champions of the East division, a division with a 3 (or 4?) loss Florida team, a 6!! loss Tennessee team and it now seems like the only threats we had were perennial losers South Carolina and Vanderbilt.....yeah, you read that right. Something's wrong when Vandy slaps a W up there in Tennessee's house (the last time they won anywhere against Tennessee, well, I wasn't even old enough to know what a football was....last time they beat em in their own house was even longer before that).

So yay! We're #1! The best of the worst! Ah.....I shouldn't be so mean, but when you lose 2 of 8 in your division, that has always meant (until this year) that you were out of the running, or waiting for everyone else to lose. Nope, Georgia, through it all, still controlled their own destiny somehow, though having Florida lose to South Carolina did help.

Okay, that's enough football for now....wait, this just in: Georgia Tech beat Miami IN MIAMI....the #3 team in the nation falling to the Trade School. Suddenly I don't really know how to feel about this week's upcoming game. I do know that all of the Gnats superiority complex just took a dive after last week's NCAA revelation of "academically ineligible" athletes (11 from the football squad). They have really enjoyed lording their high standards over us, but add to this news the increasing number of criminals on their team....well, time to pick up another instrument Bees...that other one's all out of tune. How about a sad, sad violin? I know just the tune....

My birfday came and went last weekend, the big 2-5, quarter of a century. We spent it at the Auburn game in Athens with nice all-afternoon tailgate before a late game. Even though we lost, we still had fun and I had a good birfday. Hilary got me a nice Palm Z22 organizer, since I can never remember anything. It's working wonders. Not the most advanced handheld on the planet, but it does everything I need it to, calendar and contacts and memos and such.

Here comes Christmas...already decorating the house for the holiday, and it's looking good. Gonna have to figure out how to get on the outside windows with some lights, and we're gonna stick a gigantic wreath on the big foyer window at the front of the house....still, no clue, because I don't have a ladder. I guess that's what neighbors are for....

TradeWind is wrapping up a few projects here for the end of the year, and I guess the last half of December is going to be reserved strictly for finalizing the books on the tax year.

I'd like to fix this bag of tricks
and hand 'em out with a fleeting greeting

Just got back from the Georgia/Florida game (hahaha......"game".......). Either way, got a couple of good pics from the trip, mostly just shots of tailgating. We had a good time at Sea Island again this year, and even losing, still had fun with all the folks down in Jacksonville, FL.

I've got pictures of Oktoberfest and Furman Homecoming that I'll put up here soon. I'm thinking of different ways of doing the pics section, too....so if you have any ideas let me know. I may sort them into year (just to keep the scrolling to a minimum) but not sure where else to head with it.

Also been thinking about remodeling the site here entirely, but I'm in the middle of so many other things, not to mention building out a couple of other websites now anyways.....well, may be a while before I do anything here.

Cold weather ramping up....we've got a bit of warm temps this week, but it's still feeling too cold for me. Love Christmas and all that, snow is nice, but I'd rather be warm.

I'd thought about turning our gas fireplace into a wood fireplace (wood's a good bit warmer, and cheaper, than gas). Glad I decided not to go ahead with that....apparently, if you just toss wodd in there, it can burn your house up. Something about wood vs. gas being built differently. Screw that, I'm not going to burn my house to stay warm.

Staying busy with all my other work, not too busy though. Doing some "continuing ed" too on my own (another certification track).

I'll be back soon, but for now, trabajo.

Got this from The Onion a while back, pretty funny (well, maybe not funny for EVERYONE, but maybe you'll agree):



Kudos to Boston Legal (TV show) for playing a little ska music on the show last night. They spotted Five Iron Frenzy's "Oh Canada," which is somewhat ironic....the song was obvious, because the scenes were in Canada, but the irony was that William Shatner is specifically named in the song, and also stars in the show. I'm such a dork. An odd occurrence also because I don't believe I've ever watched the show before...just one of those things....didn't finish the episode either, but it did seem like a good show I guess.

Did you hear that the United Nations is blowing up the Smurfs? You read that right....it's part of a message about how bombs kill everyone, children included. And Smurfs! Oh the humanity! (and Smurf-anity!).......actually, it's kind of funny because the UN has probably been more reckless with their bombing over the years than just about anyone else out there. Ha.

TradeWind Productions is still a work-in-progress. Picking up more business here and there. Finally got around to getting some actual business cards and they turned out nice.....I just kept having people asking for cards or information, and not having business cards seems to be a nice way of saying "no thanks" to potential business. Not anymore....

I came up with a really good concept for the TradeWind website, too....not up yet, gonna have to just wait to see it, it's cool. Hoo!!

Camping this weekend up in Helen, GA for Oktoberfest. Going to be joined by some friends (SOME of which seemed to forget we were going up this weekend, but that has been remedied....you know who you are......hrm). Got the gear together, not sure about going up Friday or maybe just Saturday, guess I'll find out soon.

Georgia Tech just opened a new area of study: Bachelor of Science in Soda Bottle Bombing.

And did you FREAKIN' SEE UGA WALK ALL OVER TENNESSEE THIS WEEKEND??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sure they came to our house last year and gave us a little trouble, but we went to their house this year and owned them....you can probably start calling their house our house though, since we've taken it over for a while now. Wow, 5-0 Bulldogs, looking to secure a few more on the way to the SEC game...and more? Well, maybe that's too big a talk for now.

Awesome. Fall showed up, and I think I'm finally ready to cope with the end of summer.

Happy October, right?

Nothing to say right now.....I just loaded some new pics from the "housewarming" party to the pics section. Check it out if you wanna.

Summer's over, man.

I know this is very mean/cruel/etc, but too funny, too funny indeed....

Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Arrgh, 'tis a shame I be workin' chance I be givin' a paarrrghtee to celebrate. Me hearties and I love a good swashbucklin' and there be no finer day than this.

Ye need be saavy, these guys know a thing or two 'bout pirattitude.

Aye, ye be callin' me Cap'n Longplank fer this occasion. Cap'n o' what, ye dare ask?? Cap'n o' the blog ye be treadin' on!

Ahoy!

So I'm really enjoying the new house. There are still a couple of rooms that are pretty much empty.....one downstairs, one upstairs. The downstairs will be my office as soon as we grab some french doors (or you may call them "freedom doors") to put on there....it's designed to be a living room or sitting area, but we don't have any use for that. The upstairs will be just another guest bedroom. The old office (I'm totally there right now!) will just be a fun room, probably keep the futon in there for guests.

Never running out of things to do to the home, but always running out of appropriate funds. Aside from cutting the grass, pulling weeds in the landscaping and keeping everything looking decent, I haven't done much to the outside......pretty soon I won't even have to cut the grass, suuuhhweeeeet.

So now we've got less than a week of Summer left and I'm facing the fact that I never got to go to the beach during the summer. We did stop in Biloxi and stay near the beach back in early June, but only for the night, didn't really hit up the beach except for a walk......and it wasn't Summer, it was Spring. I know, life is real hard....look at me complaining about not getting to go to the beach. Well, you have a point.........it's just the first time I haven't been to the beach EVER, and it only serves to remind me that I done gone and growed up. Bah.

The Dawgs are playing a lot better than I thought they would this season. Got seats for all the games, but I already know 1 game I'm not going to catch (homecoming game....usually pretty boring anyways, but this year's game is against Arkansas).

Still pluggin' away on TradeWind projects....currently handling a 35mm slide digitize. Got 240 slides to scan (got a new scanner for that, suuuuuuuhhhhhweeeeeeet) and then make a slideshow DVD with music. Also going to include the full res scans on the disc as data content in case the family wants to print any of the images. Got a end-of-the-month deadline on that, should be no problem.

Buying furniture is the most ridiculous set up ever invented. It's like a car, for those not aware, in that you see a price on a bed or table or whatever, and right away you know that only a sucker pays that price. They mark everything way up KNOWING that you will haggle....so, if you don't haggle, ::::poof::::: you're a sucker. Case in point....we just bought a china cabinet, floor model, and there was vitually nothing wrong with it. Very nice furniture, built solidly, made to last, very reputable store. Great, so the floor model was selling for about 20% off the regular price (keep in mind that the regular price is intended to be haggled). So, we're thinking that now that they've marked down the floor model, it reflects the true price for a new model, which means yep, we still have to haggle. Long story short, this weekend they didn't mark it down as much as we wanted, so we left. Twice. They called back yesterday and said okay. Sold. While I do feel a sense of victory, I have to remember that IT IS JUST FURNITURE AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE THAT I SHOULD HAVE TO BUY IT LIKE IT WAS A CAR. Insane. And what's the deal with financing furniture for 2 years? Seriously, it's JUST LIKE A CAR. Except that it's furniture....I guess it will probably last a lot longer than most cars though....

Nice sales lady overall, highly recommend her. Might even get some TradWind work out of her as she has some 8mm family film reels that she wants converted to DVD. Time will tell.

I have got to get out more.

My friend Eric sent me this absolutely HILARIOUS video a day ago and I've lost the link, but it is so funny......maybe Eric will post it here for us all to enjoy.

Meeting up with Andy and Abby for dinner tonight at their NEW HOME! They're also joining us for the game tomorrow, club seats in the end zone. HUGE congrats go out to Abby's brother who got a scholarship to play football with UGA starting next fall. Hunker down, Fred.

Big props also to Mike (his blog is currently MIA......for a while). He was "given the opportunity to fly F-16s as the primary Undergraduate Pilot Training candidate for the 125th Fighter Squadron at Tulsa, OK." This is big stuff, real proud of him. Apparently he's got about 3 more years of various training and such to get to that, but being given the opportunity at all is big time, so buy the man a beer and wish him luck.

Speaking of beer, I've got to head on in to work................so that I can afford beer.

Been a pretty busy month of work for TradeWind Productions (yeah, I know, not a whole lot on the website yet......still waiting on a logo, 'cause the one there right now...well, it ain't it). I feel like I learn something new every time I take on a new project, which is great.....although, learning curves can be dangerous when it's crunch time and something is due for delivery in a handful of hours.

So I'm having fun with that, and the new editing machine is pulling its weight. What a great investment...I'm saving so much time now, and so I can take on twice as much work. My day job is still fun, getting to do streaming video has it's own interesting twists and turns.

Oh, before I forget......HAPPY GAY FREAKIN' BIRFDAY TO ERIC! I think he turns 48 today....or 33. I forget.

We had a "housewarming" party a few weekends ago (if you can call it that after living there for over 6 months). What a freakin' blast! Got to chill with the buds and folks from Your Favorite Town and Athens......good times. We had WAY more food than we needed, so we all hogged out and drank way too much. Chilled around the fire outside and chatted about whatever. Cool.

In the middle of all the work and fun, Hil and I are planning out the weekends for the fall. Gonna be about 6 weekends where we'll be going to UGA football games, and that leaves a few others where we'd like to take some little trips. We want to get some folks together to go camping up in N. Georgia and do Oktoberfest in.....October (you should e-mail me if this sounds fun to you.....), and we were thinking about pulling a weekend getaway to Savannah, GA. I know what you're thinking..."Savannah? Why? What are you gonna do?" Well, they have a fun nightlife, and there's some neat historical tours we've always wanted to do down there but never had the time to do. One is a tour of haunted houses and such around the town, which is always a neat Fall thing to do. We're also thinking about putting together another camp weekend (well, probably just one night) out at Stone Mountain and catching one of the last laser shows for the year. Then there's always Furman Homecoming in Greenville, SC. Not even really sure if we're gonna do that this year because I don't know if any of the regulars are planning the trip. Not that I mind taking a trip just w/ my sweetie, but there's other things we could do if we're gonna be the only ones there (out of the group, anyways).

Now the hard part is actually figuring out 1) if we really wanna do all this stuff, 2) if we can really do all this stuff and 3) where our friends are at on all this stuff, because it ain't fun to be alone.

Now back to work......still plenty on today's plate.

Totally rad.

So over the sales tax holiday, Hilary and I invested in my company in the form of a new editing machine. We shopped our good friends at Monarch Computer while they were knocking out the tax and also had rebates for just about everything we wanted. If the sales tax and rebates weren't there, I don't think I would have been able to buy such a boss machine.

I do feel like I had to scrap a couple of the things that I wanted to get on this machine just to bring the price down, but nothing integral...the machine will still run faster than any machine I've ever layed hands on. However, I did want 2GB of RAM (settled for 1GB) and I also wanted more storage (wanted 2 more of the 250GB SATAII drives to set up a RAID 5). Both of those things are easy upgrades though, and not very pricey either, so they will come in the near future. I really needed to get a fast, reliable motherboard, though, so I got the best one (and apparently one of the more pricey) I could find. It'll allow for processor upgrading in the long run, to keep this thing making money for a long time. For now, I got a nice fast processor from Intel that will maintain its value for a few years.

And of course I had to get the awesome case with the window and glowing lights (see links below for pics). Nice and roomy, making sure my new machine doesn't burn itself up from the massive heat it's gonna generate. Here's the general specs (most females and all non-techie males need not apply):

• Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
  
• Power Supply: OCZ 520 watt ModStream
  
• Motherboard: Asus P5WD2 Premium
  
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 640 (Hyper-Threaded) 3.2Ghz 2MB L2 Cache
  
• Memory: OCZ DDR2 PC2-4200 (533Mhz) 1GB (2x512)
  
• System Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB SATAII (8MB Cache)
  
• Storage Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATAII (16MB Cache)
  
• Video: eVGA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB DDR3
  
• Optical: Pioneer DVR-109BK (OEM)
  
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional w/SP2
  

I should probably also tell you not to bother trying to figure out how much I spent, because we got a TON of money knocked off of that thing. I think it could have been cheaper if we stole it.

I still have the "old" machine (little over 3 years old) to help with more multi-tasking as well as any and all office-related tasks (spreadsheets, e-mail, web, etc)...however, now I gotta find a KVM switch.

Now that I've bored everyone to tears (except, of course, me....and all the techie gearheads)......I should say that I'm getting buried under all sorts of projects right now....slide shows, weddings, even a beauty pageant....all needing edits. Hopefully business won't slow down....ever....but at the same time, between that and my day job and just getting stuff done around the house, I am wishing for more free time. I think a wise man once said something to the extent of "you can sleep when you're dead."

Industry Guru and Journalist Bob Turner Dies

How very sad for his family, of course, but also for the many of us out there that got a lot of valuable help and information from his years of experience and dedication to his craft. I have been reading his publications since right after I got out of school and have always found at least one new thing each time that I didn't know beforehand. Better yet, there was always some new knowledge that I could apply right away.

To have been taken away by something as difficult to cope with as cancer rather than simply old age is sad in itself. I never knew much about the man himself outside of his comprehensive knowledge of the industry, but from what I've read, he was quite the human being. I personally feel indebted for all that I was able to learn from him. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and daughter.

As of today, we've got a new URL for this site, www.ChristianJolly.com. The .com has been available for a while now, and I decided to finally pick it up, just to make sure some other fool doesn't start spoutin' off stuff pretending to be me....or something like that. It's not active yet, but that's coming within a few days. (Thanks Mike!)

Also, coming soon, my new production company TradeWind Productions will launch at www.TradeWindProductions.com. I have been DBA (Doing Business As) Christian Jolly Productions since I started working on solo work, but since only about half of my jobs constitute true solo work, I decided I needed something more representative of all the folks that I usually work with. Plus, I liked the pleasant sound of it and just felt like it would feel professional and artistic, two things people (usually) look for. So it should be fun...not sure if it will be a sustaining income any time soon, but that's cool. I have fun. I don't have a site design or even a logo yet (it's being handled as we speak). I'll have e-mail up soon and a placeholder page, so in a month or so hopefully the site will be up there with pricing and contracts and all that junk. Wish me luck!

For that matter, let me know (in the comments, of course) what you think about TradeWind Productions. Obviously I've already committed to it, and I like it so much, but it'd be nice to hear some thoughts on it (besides the friends/coworkers/family that have already talked about it). And hey, if you've got a video production need, want some old movies cut to DVD or just want to make a slide show CD/DVD out of your old photo albums, talk to me and we'll hook it up.

In other news, went to the Reel Big Fish concert Saturday night....all the same folks were there, lots of fun. Might be RBF's last tour, so I definitely wasn't going to miss it. Went and hung out at Chris and Mike's new place up in BUCKHEAD before the show for some burgers and beers. I say Chris and Mike's place, but Adam lives there, too, and unlike Chris, Adam actually went to the RBF show. Chris, oh Chris....what measure of distraction must it have taken to forego such a rockin' show? We may never know.

In OTHER other news, Eric and I trekked up to Gwam and Mo's place near Carrollton (Hilary joined up for moral support and to also see how truly awful we sounded) to practice some SCizzAP a couple weekends ago, and I have some great news...we got us up a new song, and it is hardcore like none other. Well, maybe it's just awesome, and not so much "hardcore." We actually sound a lot better than we should given our practice schedule (or lack thereof...) for the last couple of years. Still, got to have some fun playing with an electronic drum set. Seems like we'd played one before, but I guess it was just my memories of Eric rockin' out in the drum room on one of our many trips to the now-defunct MARS music stores. The good days...

I gotta get back to regular posting....this once-in-a-while, post-1000-words-or-more blogging extravaganza is almost too much for even me to handle. Sheesh, hope you enjoyed my typing. I did it just for you.

On Wednesday I took my certification exam for Adobe Premiere Pro and PASSED. Woo! So what does this mean now? Well, it means that I know how to use the program backwards and forwards. It means that I can advertise myself to others as a certified professional. If nothing else, I feel good about the work and studying that I put into this. It's only one step though, and I intend to become certified in Photoshop as well as After Effects within the next year. After that, I'll have to recertify only when there is a full number upgrade (1.0 to 2.0, not just 1.0 to 1.3). Having the 3 certifications will also set me up as a certified expert in video, which definitely has a nice ring to it. I'll keep you all posted....

"Saturday in the park...I think it was the 4th of July." Yup, it's here again, ye olde Independence Day. SCAP used to play in the parade down in Your Favorite Town, but we haven't done that since 2002...wow, doesn't seem like it's been 3 years. It'd be nice to try that out again sometime. Of course, I'll be heading down there to hang with family and friends on the 4th as usual, and check out some fireworks that night.

I need a vacation....yeah, I know I just took off for Texas almost a month ago, but I'm talking about a trip to the beach. I have a feeling that this summer is gonna fly out before I can get to a beach...that'd be a first. Because of limited vacation days, I couldn't join my family on the annual St. Simon's trip. I wouldn't have minded just taking it out of my paycheck and counting it up as part of the cost of going on a trip (and an otherwise free vacation at that), but I think that taking the extra time even with penalties could get me fired.....or at least heavily frowned upon. Ahhh, maybe next year.

Happy Independence Day to everyone. Wave a flag, yo.

Just got back from Texas, lots of fun. I think that if I had it to do over again, I would rethink going to UGA for college, because University of Texas in Austin looked freakin' awesome. Austin is probably my new favorite city. The rest of Texas was neat too, but Austin...man, good times.

Okay, maybe I'll go to work now. Yup.

I've got a question....why is it so important to avoid titles in the workplace these days? This isn't a completely recent trend, but it sure is ridiculous. There is the fear that titles can be divisive.....duh. What exactly is so wrong with that? How about some synonyms: organizing, arranging, systemizing, sorting. Those kinds of things are what makes the big companies so productive and successful. I guess, though, that small businesses like to see themselves "thinking outside the box," creating ridiculous euphamisms or eliminating titles all together. This is the kind of stuff that confuses customers and workers alike (although I don't think people are called "workers" anymore either....that may well be appropriate).

Titles are a big part of what defines who we are in society. Boy or girl....people always like to know which one they're talking to, because it helps structure appropriate conversation. Miss or Mrs. works in the same way. Doctor, lawyer, EMT....these people actually take pride in their titles, as they should. Master and Apprentice (Star Wars Episde III is awesome.....go see it).

Seriously, people ask me all the time what I do at my job, and I almost never explain it without a sort of blank stare in return, as if to say, "okay....whatever you just said makes no sense, so let's just change the subject." And that's usually what happens. You see, I don't have a job title myself, though I've tried to just fit everything I do under "Editor." Some of the folks I work with think that sounds too official. I guess I could just change my title to "Guy Who Does Everything," but they may take offense to that (just kidding fellas...). Plus, we have editors who work under me, or I guess you could say I supervise them and review their work. Mainly, they just help me do my job effectively by spreading out the tasks. However, no one liked calling them "Assistant Editors" because that sounded like they didn't do anything important, or that they were less important than other people here. Ah, in come the euphamisms......

As a side.....I do a little bit of everything, and all of a couple of things, so it is hard to pinpoint it. Do I care? No, not at all...I'd rather take on a title that most defines what I do here, and just deal with the fact that some people may not be aware of the small things.

If you have no heirarchy, then who is in charge? Who sets standards? Who puts new ideas into motion and sees a project through? Who is responsible for what decisions? Who is liable for errors? Who answers to whom? How about the film/video industry as an example....where would it be without the 700 some-odd titles we see rolling in the credits? Executive Producer, Producer, Director, Assitant Director, Production Assistant....those titles have specific purposes and duties are assigned according to the definition of the job. If your employment has no definition, how would you go about sorting through all the things that need to be done, while minimizing lost time due to the inevitable confusion of everyone involved? How would anyone know who to talk to when a certain kind of problem needs to be solved, or when a new idea needs to be developed? I guess you could just start asking people in the hallway until you find the right answer.

I'm a fan of focus....if you want something done, divide the tasks according to who is most appropriate for the job. If you already have your workforce organized, you are about to save a lot of time. Congratulations. If not, well...hey, let's look again at the production industry. Would you give the audio work to the animator for completion? If you did, you'd be sorry, even if you were able to save some bucks. Your best bet is to find someone whose expertise is audio (probably someone with the title "Audio Engineer" or similar).

Obviously, smaller operations have fewer options available, so the animator sometimes really is the sound guy. Or your salespeople might also be your accountants. However, if you're trying to eventually grow into a major operation, regardless of your industry, don't try to reinvent the wheel. There's almost always a big company that you can mimic, and there's nothing illegal or immoral about that.

I can't believe it's already June.

I know, literally just finished a post seconds ago, but I felt it only fair to compose a separate message for this subject (it's cool, not very long).

I've been listening to the new Reel Big Fish album "We're Not Happy Til You're Not Happy" for the last 2 weeks (or 3 weeks?) almost solid...serious. It's not the best album they've ever done, but it is a good sound. It's a little more roots than their previous stuff. It's still rock/ska, heavy guitars and all. The lyrics are hilarious...no, wait, I mean HILARIOUS. One of the good lines from "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" goes like this:

We hate it when our friends become successful
and if it's No Doubt
then it's even worse

Now THAT is bold...and funny.

Even funnier still though is "Don't Start a Band," which more or less outlines a handful of reasons why it's usually best to stay at home and play guitar alone instead of trying to get your friends together, write songs, get on stage, get booed off stage, and then cry for hours until you get dehydrated and pass out. Something like that. I think that's basically what they're saying.

Also a good cover of "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" on the album. Might be my favorite song...although the first track, "The Fire," is right up there tying it.

I'd tell you to buy it, right now...especially if you liked anything else RBF has done. I'm probably gonna have to buy it again after the CD player burns it out. Awesome.

Don't you know, talkin' bout a revolution sounds like a whisper

I just want to say a quick "goodbye" to Tyrone, Georgia.

You see, I've passed through Tyrone on my way to and from Your Favorite Town for years. I never had any thought for the place, good or bad, until I turned 16. At that point, I quickly became aware firsthand of the truths that I'd been told for years: Tyrone Police need your money, and they are willing to work for it night and day. I think the first time I was pulled over was on the way home from a Toasters concert in Atlanta. I was told that it was way past my bedtime, and that my parents would probably be very upset if they knew I had been in Atlanta. Since I didn't feel like making 10 minutes out of 5 on the side of the road, I decided NOT to say:

"Actually, my parents know exactly where I am. Serious....call them. They trust me. I'm a good boy. Call them and find out....I'll wait here."

I didn't get a ticket, just a wagging finger. So, then I got pulled over a second time on the way home from Alabama with Mike and Eric in the car late at night after a failed SCAP show. This time it was my fault, but it literally wasn't anything dangerous, like speeding or DUI (I'm not gonna say what it was....it was too dumb. And very funny....all I'll say is this: "Doh, sorry occifer" (Eric, Mike, you know what I mean).

So, a good and a bad on my record. Nonetheless, I knew where I was - Tyrone. I knew that they'd be looking for me (and anyone else in a car) whenever I went there. Lo and behold, I'm going home for a funeral, Hilary and Jingles in the car with me. I see a cop go by in the other direction, decide to check my speed (too late of course, but anyways)...okay, cool, I'm going a few miles over, but nothing more. 5 miles down the road, the cop comes flashing up on me. Seems I was going 15 mph over. Funny, if only he knew my wife. If I ever go that much over, she lets me know in so many words. I guess me disagreeing with him (yeah, I told him) didn't matter, what he says sticks. He checked his radar and said it was correct (as if there really is a way for me to know if he's telling the truth there either). Long story short(er), I'm gonna go fight it. He probably won't show to court (can't afford to stay off the streets too long, money just keeps driving on by), so maybe I stand a chance contesting it. If not, oh well, it's been over 5 years since I was cited for anything, so it shouldn't affect my record....still, I'll just consider that as my contribution to law enforcement for the year (I usually contribute to FOP or other local causes). Blah.

Well, that was weeks ago, but I've been wanting to get it out.

Yesterday I cut the grass. It didn't "need" it, but it looks a lot nicer now. Today we bought a trimmer and edger to clean up the look a little more. I don't particularly like spending money on lawn maintenance....I'd much rather have trip to the beach or something. But it is nice, and doing the actual labor is enjoyable mostly....get to be outside, making the place look nice and all. We're trying to figure out when to throw a party or something, since we haven't done so since we moved in. Hopefully we'll put it all together soon and get the buds out here for some sloshin' good times. Maybe SCAP will play my party!

I'm gonna take my Adobe Premiere Pro ACE certification next month, so that'll be good. I feel comfortable enough really to go do it now, but I'll just study more to be certain I nail the sucker.

Had an AWESOME time and my friends Jules' and David's wedding. Met some cool folks, got some (hopefully) good footage of the events (I say hopefully because I haven't reviewed it yet....waiting for the newlyweds to sit down and go over it when they get back and settle in). Eric helped me with footage, and he shared a hotel with Hilary and I. We met a friend of the bride that Eric ended up hitting it off with, so that's also quite rockin'. Stopped at Mercer on the way back to say hey to my bro-in-law Blake (Hil's bro). He's finishing up with exams now, so good luck to him (man, I hated exams).

Stay back 100 feet...not responsible for objects thrown from vehicle.

And now today is my brother Ryan's birfday, so shout it out in comments if you wanna pass along some love...


Okay, seriously...I could spend hours on this site and not get bored: http://www.retrojunk.com

Commercials, toys, theme songs, etc....all from the late 70's, 80's, and early 90's. I've never seen such a comprehensive retro site. Awesome.

Okay, so I've been told that I'm giving Jingles a bad reputation as a Sheltie/Rottweiler mix of sorts, which she is not. She's a purebred, and she's very friendly. See? Very innocent...



Now then, you should all understand that the only reason that she went after the little pup in the other picture was because the other puppy made the mistake of appearing weak. Therefore, Jingles was merely establishing dominance.....by means of execution.

Ha ha...only kidding!

Or am I?

I am. Seriously. She's a sweet girl, you should come visit her sometime, or else....

In other news, today is my sister Maureen's birfday.....HAPPY BIRFDAY MO!! I'd put her e-mail addy up here for you to all say hi, but it'd probably get picked up by some 40,000 spammers every 10 minutes, so just post a howdy-do in the comments below and I WILL MAKE CERTAIN SHE SEES IT. We have our ways.

JINGLES.......ATTACK!!



I've done my homework, and I think I can trace her lineage back to a family of pirahnas in the Amazon.

So yeah, nice weekend here at the old D(r)acula home. Kind of windy...no, wait, VERY windy...so didn't get tons of stuff done out in the yard or anything. On Friday, Eric and some folks from Athens came over and we went to the Mall of GA to see a movie. Sin City. Wow, I'm still not exactly sure what to think about this movie. All I know is that it was a bloody, gory mess start to finish. With that said, it was really well done. The casting was really good, but not without its hiccups. For instance, Brittney Murphy should never be cast in a role that doesn't have giggling throughout 90% of her scripted dialogue. She just can't be taken seriously, and she can't act seriously. Jessica Alba also should have kept her mouth shut, not because of her acting abilities, but mainly because her squeaky little voice didn't fit the lines coming out of her mouth.

Bruce Willis was the obvious choice for his role...well, actually, it's not even a matter of obvious, it's just an impossible role for anyone else except him. Really good job there. Clive Owen was, however, maybe a little tougher to single out for his role, seing as how there are a handful of folks out there who can handle the role of revenging boyfriend. Nonetheless, he made it look good. And then there was Frodo Baggins...er, Elijah Wood. What a creepy character. No speaking lines, just....well, that'll change his niceguy typecasting.

I could go on and on about this stuff, but the real kicker was the overall set design, editing, costumes and writing that made you feel like pictures jumped off of a comic book (oh, sorry, "graphic novel") page and into your brain. Good job on that. My whole "I don't know what to think of the movie" statement has a lot more to do with the aforementioned start-to-finish death and destruction. Their redemption there was that most of the blood was glowing "whited-out," partially to complete the black-and-white effect, but I'm sure also just to get the movie through the MPAA.

This movie is by no means intended for anyone under the age of 21 or over the age of 40 (heart conditions, you know...). Really, there is about 2% of the global population that will truly enjoy this movie, and then there are film critics and aficianados that will appreciate the technical aspects. Everyone else will either boycott it, walk in the theater by accident and leave after the opening scene or just flat out never even hear of this film. If you go see it, lemme know what you think.

On Saturday, Eric and I jammed in the garage on some SCAP tunes and other stuff. Had a good time, but man did we suck. Well, I'll just speak for myself, cause Eric sounded pretty good, all things considered. I remembered most of the songs, but I just didn't play them nearly as fluidly as I used to. It's weird, because I spend a few hours a week in the mornings just playing some of the stuff on my own, but I guess playing with someone else changes the flow a little. So I tripped on some chords and solos, and forgot a verse here and there. All told, we did great. A couple of beers later, we forgot how bad we were.

And in other news, Pope John Paul II died this weekend. I'm not Catholic, but I appreciate anyone who does good works in the name of the Lord, and this guy definitely did. Say whatever you will about the Catholic church, Christianity in general, or this Pope specifically. It's plain as day that his intentions were good, his efforts thoroughly planned and genuine, and his devotion to God greater than many. I've heard people complain to no end about this Pope and some of the things he did and said. I could say my part, too. However, when you spend decades in the service of God (or anything else for that matter), you are bound to have a few missteps, if you're worth your salt. These are the exceptions, not the rules. May he rest in peace for an eternity to come.

It's been interesting meeting the folks who live in our neighborhood. For the most part, everyone has been really nice. There are some trends, though, that Hilary and I have noticed....

-When most people meet us, you get an initial facial expression from them that seems to say "Are your parents home?" Obviously, we're the youngest homeowners in the area. As of yet, no one has actually asked us that question, but we know they're all thinking it when they meet us.

-Once it is established that we are "grown ups," the first inevitable question is "Do you have any kids?" Apparently, it blows people's minds that we own a big house and live in it all alone. We do have a puppy, though.

-Most people don't park in their garage. If you see a garage door opened, you can bet that it is full...just not with automobiles. Most people's stuff is very well organized, but nonetheless....it fills the space. So, if you're looking for our house, just go to the one with no cars in the driveway.

It's fun...the people really are all pretty cool around here. We seem to be acceptable to them as well. The neighbors haven't yet experienced the awesomeness that is SCAP, but I'm sure it is just a matter of time. Our garage needs a christening, and nothing but the finest SCAP will do.

Terry Schiavo...

Seems to be the thing to talk about these days. I don't really wanna say a whole lot, because everyone is so totally thrown around on this issue. The thing that has sort of occured to me this whole time is that an unusual amount of attention is being paid to this one person's cause, even though it bears very close resemblance to hundreds of thousands of other similar cases. Why is that? People have accidents all the time that leave them in a coma or some other vegetative state. Family members are always having to decide what they are going to do...that is, sustain life through machines, or end a life through a lack thereof. This is no new occurence.

What makes this person's case so different that it has grabbed the nation's attention? This isn't a celebrity or some other constantly-in-the-media figure. This is a girl that has been in her current state for 15 years or so. While I'll admit that is quite a long time in relation to the average life span of others who have lived a similar scenario, I don't think that's what has prompted all of this frenzy.

I just figured I'd ask the question and see what other people thought...

Stranger things have happened...

Guitarist drops Korn to follow Jesus

This news is about 4 days old, but I'm still rolling it around in my head. I was a pretty big fan of Korn when their first album came out, and I really respected this guy's ability to really rock the guitar in a way that sounded unique among everything else in the genre. I stopped listening to them because, well, they weren't really that good, in my opinion, after the first album. More importantly, I didn't care for the way they expressed themselves in the lyrics. It wasn't a major decision in my life, just one of those little things you think about when your read news like this.

Here's what I wanted to get out in this post...this guy's story just goes to prove what Jesus commanded when He came upon a crowd punishing a prostitute...that only those with no sin should pass judgement on others. I'm sure there must have been more than one occasion where Brian ‘Head’ Welch, the guitarist for Korn, heard someone tell him he was going to Hell for some reason or another, but anyone making that claim against him is now officially wrong. How wrong was it to judge the people that Jesus would eventually take on as diciples? All of them had a number of sins, and need salvation the same as any.

Think about it....a lot of high-and-mighty folks are quick to tell people that they are on a path to Hell. As this guitarist's story in particular has shown us, whatever path Brian ‘Head’ Welch was on has now obviously led him to Christ.

God works in mysterious ways, yep. There are millions of people out there hearing nothing but negativity from Christians (and I must admit that I've thrown more than my share of stones, unfortunately). This guy's story makes me think real long and hard about the way I approach people that God may have put me with. What would make me (or anyone) think that God wants us to verbally punish people for their sins? Wouldn't it make more sense just to show them that the life I lead is more enjoyable and my burdens are easier to bear because of the love of my savior, Jesus Christ? The relationship I have with Him is not yet what I want it to be, only because of myself, but every step I make towards Him gives me a feeling I couldn't begin to describe.

Wouldn't it make sense to explain the love of a savior in these terms than to simply tell people that they are evil in the eyes of God and will be burning in Hell for eternity? I just hope that I personally can remember lives like this and the countless others told and untold before I pretend to be the judge of all creation again.

Whew! What a life...

Okay, so we got the house, finally moved in, and have everything more or less organized. We also got our little puppy, Jingles, and brought her to our new home (and her new home). All in all, it's been a hectic past few weeks.

We had planned to move into the house on Saturday January 29th, but there was a huge ice storm we had been watching throughout the week, and it hit hard early evening on that Friday. So we just pushed it off til Sunday the 30th. However, we already had the moving truck (I was able to convince them to give me extra time for the move at no cost because of the weather). Spent most of the day Saturday just checking and rechecking the contents of boxes, looking around for something to do, and watching some TV. I went out every now and then just to see how bad it all really was outside. It was bad.

Worst part of it all was that we had moved a lot of our food and food prep (pots and pans, plates) over to the new place Friday afternoon. We couldn't get out to go buy food and no one was delivering, so we had some weird meals and snacks on Saturday. In retrospect, we probably should have planned the food situation better. We did survive though...

Sunday was a long day. The actual packing of the truck took hardly any time at all, because my brother-in-law Thom brought a couple of his friends, and between the three of them and all the other friends and family, it was a constant train of our belongings going from the apartment to the truck, and from the truck to the house when we got there. To all you folks that helped out with the move, Hilary and I really really appreciate it. Hey, I'll even put your name in the credits (in order of appearance):

Mike
Dad
Ryan
Thom
Dave
Phil
Joe
Holly
Eric
Alison

After the truck was emptied out, we still had a good bit of time left to get the truck back to the rental place. Afterwards, my Dad and Ryan and I went to my boss' house to pick up a bed that she gave us as a sort of housewarming gift. Pretty nice bed, too...looks pretty much brand new.

I'll write more later about the move, and give some more details about Jingles.

IT IS DONE.

Hilary and I closed on our house, and now.....we wait.

The sellers will be moving out today. We were originally, going to move in today, but decided to postpone until Saturday so that our friends/family could give us a hand. Well, now it's supposed to be a wintery weathery mess on Saturday, so we're giving good thought to moving it to Sunday. Don't get me wrong, the thought of pulling some snow donuts on the interstate with the moving truck is totally thrilling, but the insurance company just doesn't share my same sense of excitement.

The sellers were very nice folks. We were able to meet them the night before closing on the house when we went to do our final walkthrough. Closing wasn't a very difficult ordeal, as we just had to go and sign the paperwork. It didn't take very long...however, our closing time was delayed a bit due to a head-on accident that our closing attorney was involved in earlier that morning. Apparently, the girl that hit her wanted to argue about who's fault it was, so much so that this girl called her parents to the scene. About that point, everyone agreed that since she was pretty much on the opposite side of the road, using the neighborhood as a shortcut to some other road, and going something like 50 mph...well, let's just say that the girl's parents took the side of the REAL victim. Wise decision I would say...I personally don't make a habit of telling lawyers how the law works.

Moving along....yeah, probably moving on Sunday. Carpet/Duct cleaning is tonight, and we'll move a couple of odds 'n ends over there ourselves. Tomorrow, we'll probably move some clothes, but mainly just gonna stay off of the roads.

Woo!

Haha....man, I JUST found this photo from over a year ago. We went to check out a few "bar/night club" places in Your Favorite Town. Ended up seeing a bunch of old single people, some of our teachers from high school (or middle school...) just hanging out trying to hit up on each other, all the while being totally sloshed (that is to say, all these other people were totally sloshed, not us. No, unfortunately, we were all fully aware of the ridiculousness that we were witnessing). This picture is how we felt at the end of the night as we decided to just go home:

Really been listening to a lot of music lately, coming up with new ideas for songs, and I just wish I had time to get everything down on paper. Maybe in a month or so...

Closing is a week away now, and I've gotta say I think we're handling it pretty well. No big deal, just gonna spend more money than I've ever spent before.

I don't think I've really mentioned this before, but one of Hilary's Christmas gifts from me was a PUPPY! Little shetland sheepdog (sheltie) puppy, born on December 5th. As it turns out, the breeder will be ready to let her go at the end of this month. We'll probably end up waiting 'til we've been in the house a week and gotten settled before we actually go pick her up. Here's a picture:



This house stuff is a whole different kind of fun...very stressful, trying to get everything done, but thinking of the new home, the investment potential, and everything that comes with a house........it'll be a blast :)

**UPDATE**...I know, bit late here, but I JUST got new pictures from the breeder. Also, I should note that we decided to name her Jingles (got her for Christmas, and besides, it's fun to say "Jingles Jolly"). Click here to view some more pictures of her from birth until today.

Hope everyone had a fun/safe Christmas and New Year's....now we all have to cope with the fact that it's 2005 but still feels like 10 years ago. Or is that just me?

Well my friends, we have now reached another rung on the ladder of life. Hilary and I are under contract for our new home, and it's a real beauty. Check it out: (click on the pic to see a bunch more pictures)


We're pretty psyched about it...got the home inspection done last week, and it came out pretty clean. What little repair there was to do was sent along to the sellers for negotiation, and it appears that they have accepted the repairs. What does this mean? It means we close on the property January 26th and move in on the 28th. Awesome.

Now that I've said that, I would like to revisit Christmas. It was an insane/fun time with my family and Hilary's family. Got to see everyone, and scheduling all the stuff was easier this year (both our families are in the same town, which can make this events a little difficult sometimes). I was apparently a good boy this year, as I got some cool stuff.....tons of DVDs that I had been wanting, and some books and CDs as well. Hilary got a new camera (which means I also got a new camera). Her other digital camera had been kinda going haywire the last few months, but it still works. We're holding on to it for pictures at the beach and other times where lugging a larger and nicer camera could be difficult or dangerous (sensitve electronics).

Back to work for everyone who was either on vacation or out of school, so that means traffic is back to hellacious levels. Lots of time to listen to new CDs.