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June 30, 2005
Better(?) Picture
Shaun didn't like the picture that MK Online used to illustrate his Developer Diary, so he had them replace it with another one. The new one is cropped down from a picture we like to call "Shaun over-indulges". Drink, check. Smoking and pizza, check, check. T-shirt for violent video game, check. Vapid expression while watching someone do bar karaoke, check check check.
Posted by Fuzzy at 4:59 PM | Comments (2)
LPZ
originally posted on Metroblogging Chicago
"Hey Kate," I said on the phone to my friend Kate O'Leary, "you're all over Michigan Avenue!" Then I made a crude joke about the animal on the banner that made Kate sigh with sadness that I was her friend.
The banners are for a new exhibit at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Kate did all the illustrations (11 large paintings and 20+ smaller pieces) for the exhibit -- the Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo. There are all sorts of woodland creatures in the exhibit -- bears and otters and wolves and yes, beavers, and Kate did story-book style paintings of each of them. The exhibit officially opens today, and Kate says it's really cool for her to see her art up in such a public place and in such a permanent fashion. It's really cool for me to have my friend back again after a year of "I can't go out tonight, I have to work on the turtle for the zoo."
And Kate's art is not only available to world-class institutions like the LPZ. She runs Kate's Pet Portraits where she'll do you up your precious Mr. Snuggles in her expressive style.
Posted by Fuzzy at 4:16 PM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2005
Me and You and Everyone We Know
A couple of months ago I was turned onto the notion of the movie Me and You and Everyone We Know by tinyluckygenius, but I missed that showing at Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival so I had no idea when I might see this indie movie. Over those last few months I've been following along on writer/director/actor Miranda July's blog as she traveled with the film and and shared emails from the frightfully clever young actor Brandon Ratcliff and won the Camera d'Orr at Cannes. And then a few weeks ago the great news, Chicago is a "select city"*. And then last night, Erica and I went on a real date and went to La Creperie and then across the street to see Me and You and Everyone We Know. It might have been the bottle of L'Ecole No 41 Semillon we split, but we both thought it was wonderful. I teared up at the end, I'm not too proud to say. And I'm not sure why I can even say it was so great -- it was funny in parts, certainly, and so much of it didn't make sense, but it was so right. And since I've made this such a link-heavy post already, I'll point out Jessica's update about the movie, and Roger Ebert's review, and the Learning to Love You More website (a co-project of Miranda's) that gives you art assignments.
Posted by Fuzzy at 2:39 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
CMB posts
A couple of recent Chicago Metroblog posts (by me!) soduko puzzles, Wired NextFest (with pictures), a group post about our favorite places to take kids, and musings on a report of odd parking tickets with an odd little illustration.
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:41 PM | Comments (1)
Swears
Shaun has a blog. Sorta. He's doing a Developer Diary about Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. The first entry catches the reader up on 2 years of development. You can tell it's really Shaun and not some marketing droid by all the misspellings and swearing.
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2005
Still life with Parker
Sometimes it's just as simple as a sleeping cat.
Posted by Fuzzy at 5:56 PM | Comments (2)
Darn
I wish I could say this was our victory photo. But it's not. Once again, we came in second.
The day started out well. We got to skip straight to the semi-finals because our first-round team forfeited ahead of time. In the semi-finals we took Feets of Fury 4-3 in a rather tight game. Pete had the play of the game with a slide home that sent up such a cloud of dust that you couldn't see him for a minute. In the championship game, Rusty's Wranglers (aka "the costume team") bested us 2-0 with their firey pitcher and "white-trash prom"-themed costumes.
Posted by Fuzzy at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2005
Doc South
I was going to be all "let's talk about reviews" but that should just tip you off right there that I (we) got a bad review because nobody talks about the general concept of reviews when they got a good one -- they just say "The Cincinnati Herald says we roxx0r!" So let's pull the band-aid off fast and note that Jack Helbig says we suxx0r in the Reader today.
Which is very confusing, because it was a good show, both in terms of what we trying to accomplish with our use of [doc/mock]umentary techniques and from a pure-entertainment-value perspective. Of course I'm biased, but I think I'm telling it straight. Between you and me and the other guy who reads this site (hi Don!) I'll tell you that the cast thinks that Nina Metz' review of the show last week in the Tribune was fair -- it was a lack-luster show. This week was, in our collective opinion, not lack-luster. In fact it was rather lustrous. Shiny, even.
So you've got one more chance to see us at the reasonable hour of 10:30 pm, before we start our odd little run of every-other-week-at-midnight as part of DSI's Afterparty slots at the Playground. Please do come.
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:22 AM | Comments (2)
Survey says
If you have a weblog, you might go take the MIT Weblog Survey. All the cool kids are.
(via Megnut)
Posted by Fuzzy at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2005
Confidential to Liu Kang
We grilled the chicken breasts on the grill outside. Amazingly, cooking them "as long as it takes the water for the linguine to boil" proved to be the exact time needed to cook them perfectly. We chopped up the chicken and gently heated it up in a pan with the sauce (Spicy Tomato & Pesto) while the linguine cooked. Combine, sprinkle with parmesan. Done and done and delicious.
Posted by Fuzzy at 9:15 AM | Comments (6)
June 17, 2005
Doc South
If you've been waiting to see Documentary South, tomorrow night is the night to go, my pretties, you little flying-monkeys, you. Tomorrow night will be the first time we have the full cast doing the show, and with this cast that means you're in for 9 (nine) buckets-o'-fun.
Nina Metz reviewed the show for the Chicago Tribune and it came out in today's paper. I wasn't there, so I can't comment on anything in the show, but I do want to have a quick round of Fuzzy-Bites-the-Hand-and-Quibbles-With-Reviews. Nina says the show is performed by "the improv team known as Dirty South Improv, an offshoot of a team from Chapel Hill, NC". Dirty South Improv is a production company, based in both Chicago and Chapel Hill. DSI is producing a show called Documentary Show, which is performed by an ensemble that was cast specifically for the show. I just wanted to clear up those relationships.
And this is definitely an aside (because I know DSI uses the word "team," so I'm not blaming Nina for using it), and I know ImprovOlympic uses the word, but I'm beginning to feel about "team" the same way I do about "skit" -- it's an oddly demeaning little word and I think improv needs to outgrow it. Ensemble or company or group or, yes even troupe*, all are preferable to me.
Anyway, here's that review.
Update: After hearing Dan use the word "team" 600 times in rehearsal to describe the cast, I realized that really I should keep quiet about these things. Usually when I do one of my "quibbles" it's for a show I produced, so I know exactly what information the press has been given. This time, I've never even seen the press release.
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2005
Enthusiasm
Two weeks ago after kickball at our official league sponsor bar, everyone (myself included) ignored the perfectly good baseball games going on on all the TVs and got really caught up in the women's college softball championship game between Michigan and UCLA.
Last night, it was Dancing With the Stars. People roared with disgust when John O'Hurley was given a 7 -- scoring lower than the horrible Rachel Hunter (what were the judges thinking!).
At one point, after a different table cheered as the White Sox began their rally to pull ahead of the Diamondbacks, Scott stood up and said, "could you keep it down -- we're trying to watch some dancing here." He was joking. Except not really.
Posted by Fuzzy at 5:18 PM | Comments (0)
CMB posts
Some recent posts I've posted at the Chicago Metroblog: Kickball, our One Year Anniversary, a picture of a toilet, and a round-up of our Favorite Things Made in Chicago.
Posted by Fuzzy at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)
Muddy Victory
Tonight was our rain-makeup game against Yes We Can, so it was ironic that it was drizzling as we started. It rained pretty steady through the first three innings, but none of us wanted to give up. In end we won 5-1, which means that James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub Party finishes the regular season undefeated (7-0-1 if you're keeping track at home). Next week the playoffs begin.
Posted by Fuzzy at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2005
And more wedding
Two weekends ago was my uncle's wedding in Northwest Indiana, this last weekend was Erica's aunt's wedding in Southeast Indiana. Weird, huh?
Anyway, Indiana doesn't do Daylight Saving Time. Except in some of the corners where it does. And Vevay is in a corner. So when we got to Madison, where our hotel was, we asked at the check-in what time it was in Vevay. "They're an hour ahead, so it's 6:30."
Eeek! The wedding was at 7:00! So we threw on our wedding clothes and jumped in the car for the 20 mile drive to Vevay. We got there just at 7:05 and ran into Mo's Steakhouse. We pushed our way past the long line of people waiting for seats and asked a server at the front counter, "we're here for the wedding?"
"The wedding?"
"This is Mo's Steakhouse, right?"
"Yup."
"Do you have a banquet room or something?"
"Janice, do we have a banquet room?"
Mo's, it must be noted, is a good-sized place, but not that big. Fortunately, Janice did know that they had a banquet room, and even how to get there.
And it was 6:15. Vevay, despite the assurances of our hotel clerk, is on "slow time". The groom found us as we were headed into the banquet room. "I'm just hanging out here to catch fast-time people who are showing up early." Fast-time and slow-time, it turns out, are appended to times like the TV always says "10 PM Eastern (9 Central)". As in, "I'd better get home soon, because I have to be at work tomorrow morning at 6 AM Fast-time."
The rest of the wedding is in the picture set.
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Ahlrichs-Axtell
I've posted some of the snaps I took at my uncle Jim's wedding as a set on my Flickr account.
Posted by Fuzzy at 4:31 PM | Comments (0)
25 things to do at Purdue before you graduate
Josette and Justin turned the Exponent's 25 Things to Do at Purdue Before You Graduate into a meme. Ones I've done in bold, the Exponent's text in italics, my comments in [brackets].
25 Things to Do at Purdue Before You Graduate
- Run through the fountain - Purdue almost ended this tradition, but not before outraged alumni and a giant metal cylinder saved it. Playing in Purdue's fountains is a tradition that's here to stay. [Whee! What? You can't run through the Engineering fountain anymore? That's... unAmerican!]
- Go sledding on Slayter Hill - Don't have a sled? Don't worry, popular substitutes include lunch trays, laundry baskets and garbage bags. [... and car hoods. Which is very dangerous, if you run into anyone else. So don't do it.]
- Spend the day at Harry's Chocolate Shop - Going to Purdue and not going to Harry's is like going to the ocean and not getting wet. Whether you drink or not, Harry's is a Purdue institution. [Josette isn't counting this one because she's just "been there a few times" but I am counting it because I've spent at least 24 hours there, if not all in a row.]
- Dress up for Breakfast Club - Take advantage of that leisure suit in your parent's closet and join the party. What else is there to do at 6 on a Saturday morning? [I know it's hard to believe, given the lush I am these days, but I didn't really start drinking until I was 25. And by the time you're 25, dressing up in a costume to go drinking madrugada seems a little silly. Also, I'm not sure if in my day people dressed up quite as much as they do now.]
- Shake President Jischke's hand - A tireless promoter of all things Boilermaker, seek him out, shake his hand and thank him for his guidance. [And here we hit the first thing on the list that simply post-dates my time at Purdue (extended as it was) -- it was President Beering the whole time I was there. And I never shook his hand, either.]
- Eat Thanksgiving dinner at the residence hall - Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes. Usually held on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, it's the kind of meal you write home about. [I lived in the dorms for two years and worked food service both years (I was a waiter captain the second year -- yay me!) so I'm sure I worked these meals.]
- Attend a women's basketball game - Even though the football and men's basketball teams get most of the attention, the women's basketball team is the real deal. [And I kept meaning to, but... didn't.]
- Write a letter to the editor - Want to be heard on campus? Write a letter to the editor of the Exponent. No topic's taboo - squirrels, homosexuality and politics are always popular. [Never did -- but that reminds me that National Velveeta founder Phil Granchi (later an Annoyance Theater collaborator) and Crazy Monkeys co-founder Shaun Himmerick were both Exponent columnists. Phil's columns were really good...]
- Attend Grand Prix - Go-karts. Parties. End of semester. Need we say more? [While I love go-kart races...]
- Get a milkshake at Pappy's - A Purdue tradition since the Union opened, a Pappy's milkshake is the perfect way to celebrate. [Milkshakes are always a perfect way to celebrate.]
- Tailgate before a football game - A picnic with wheels, Purdue tailgaiting is as much of a tradition as the football game itself. When else can a cold beverage, a pack of hot dogs and a charcoal grill make a meal taste so good? [Nope.]
- Take a road trip for Spring Break - Sometimes, West Lafayette seems a million miles from nowhere. Spring Break is the time to prove it. Grab some friends, pile in the car and hit the road. Four days later, turn around and come back. [My sophomore year I went north with Joey Adams to Ann Arbor, then he dropped me off in Chicago to visit with my old roommate Enio Rigolin. It was snowing on the way in and his windshield wiper stopped working. Junior year - Grandma Ahlrichs died just before spring break and so I drove to Iowa for her funeral and stayed to help my mom and uncles with things. Senior year - off to Florida with the Deadbeets. On the way back, we hit a flying goose.]
- Have Breakfast Special at XXX - Eggs, toast, potatoes, meat - served almost anyway you want them. At 3 a.m., it's the best meal in West Lafayettte and a testament to the staying power of Indiana's oldest drive-in restaurant. [I've eaten so many meals at the the Triple-X. Breakfast-special-over-hard-wheat-toast-no-meat* still rolls off the tongue. This last weekend on our way down to Southern Indiana, I made Erica stop in with me for a grilled-cheese with an egg on it and a root beer frost.]
- Attend a callout for the free pizza - There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but attending a student organization's callout strictly for the free pizza and soft drinks is the next best thing. [I joined a few student organizations, but if we're talking just for the free pizza, that'd be a SS Voyager callout. Geeks.]
- Skip class - Somewhere on this campus is a person who has never missed a day of class. We applaud your efforts, but knock it off. Skipping class should never be a priority, but how often is there a sunny Friday afternoon? Get out there and enjoy it. [Mom don't read this -- I skipped so many classes. And if I did go to a big lecture class, I was usually reading a book in the back.]
- Visit Bruce Barker, the Piano Man - West Lafayette's one man show, Bruce Barker has been entertaining at the Neon Cactus for years. Lift your cup, sing along and don't get called on stage. [Nope.]
- Rub Lincoln's nose - Reportedly a purveyor of good luck, rubbing the nose on the bust of Abraham Lincoln in the north wing of the Union has been a tradition of many worried students. [It's good luck? Dammit -- why didn't I know that when I was there?]
- Go to an IU-PU basketball game - One of the biggest rivalries in college basketball, the Indiana-Purdue basketball game is your chance to really show how you really feel about the Hoosiers. [Nope.]
- Pull an all-nighter - A college tradition, the all-nighter is usually fueled by gallons of coffee, a fear of failing and a penchant for procrastination. Leaving Purdue without staying up all night studying at least once isn't getting your money's worth. Save your sleeping for class. [Can I double-bold this one? Many was the time I went into the labs in the basement of MATH as the sun was setting and came out when it was coming up.]
- Spit a cricket at Bug Bowl - Spitting not your thing? Don't worry, with cockroach races, chocolate-covered grasshopers and fried mealworms, Bug Bowl is sure to have something to satisfy your hunger for adventure. [I've been to Bug Bowl, but never spit a cricket. Be my guest.]
- Attend the PMO Christmas show - Whether you're Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Christian, the Christmas Show should be celebrated for what it is - a great show put on by the kids who sit next to you in class. Support them. [My aunt Kris took me one year.]
- Go ice skating at Tappawingo Park - The ice rink is the perfect way to enjoy the winter climate. [Sigh. Another activity that was simply unavailable when I was at Purdue.]
- Watch the Glee Club - The Varsity Glee Club might be the most entertaining student organization at Purdue. With their perfect harmonies and crazy antics, you'll forget every glee club joke you've ever heard. [I've seen the West Side High glee club -- does that count?]
- Stand during the football game - Standing in the student section at Ross-Ade stadium should be a prerequisite for getting a Purdue degree. Get to the game, dance to the band, cheer on the team, and show some school spirit - you'll never be able to buy tickets so cheaply again. [Cheaply? And here's where my aged-grandfather routine pays off -- when I was a freshman, football tickets were free! Even I'll go to a football game if it's free.]
- Walk at graduation - For four or five years you've hoofed it all over Purdue's campus. Dust off the shoes and take a couple extra steps - graduation is your day, enjoy it with your classmates by walking across the Elliott Hall of Music stage and getting your degree. [Nope. I've been to someone else's graduation* and I did complete my degree, but it just didn't seem worth it to sit through 2000 other people walking across the stage.]
Posted by Fuzzy at 1:36 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2005
Cats and Tattoos
I have three and five. So, yes.
Posted by Fuzzy at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2005
Documentary South
This is the official Documentary South cast photo. Too bad I look like a goon. Our opening night went well... a sold-out house and people said nice things. And those parts of the show (the, you know, beginning and end) that we had tossed in at the last rehearsal, actually went pretty well.
So tomorrow night you have a choice (if you were thinking of seeing this show at all, of course). Erica and I will be out-of-town (a wedding in Southern Indiana) so you probably would want to wait until next week or the week after (I making a rash assumption that because you're reading my site, you have some interest in me) but there is a coupon that gets you a half-price ticket, but it's only good for tomorrow night. So which is more important to you -- seeing me, or being a cheapskate?
Posted by Fuzzy at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
If you were wondering what to get me for half-Christmas
(via BoingBoing)
Posted by Fuzzy at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2005
Back on it
7-3 over the Bike Rack Bullies. Yeah, we're winners. And sometimes, winners have to wear balls on their heads. You just gotta...
Posted by Fuzzy at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
June 7, 2005
I am not happy with the cats this morning
Worse than the pain is the half-hour of sleep they robbed me of this morning. Erica had food poisoning last night (and so she is the one who deserves any sympathy) and so we were both up late. To be woken up by a cat clawing his way across your face at 6 am can be summarized as, "Boo."
Posted by Fuzzy at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)
June 6, 2005
Inspiration
Posted by Fuzzy at 4:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 5, 2005
I (heart) Books!
Nobody actually "passed me the baton," as the phrase seems to be, but I love books so I'm going to answer these questions anyway. (Saw the questions at Yoz and John Scalzi.)
Total number of books I've owned: Funny that past tense in the question, "owned" -- if we go back through all the books I've ever owned, the number is probably an even bazillion. But I did a reasonable purge when I moved from Lafayette to Chicago, and another when I finally took all my adolescent books from the parents when they moved to Texas, and then... OK, lean close because this is a terrible secret, for a book person. When we did the horrible 2-days-notice move out of my old place, we were on such a tight schedule and were up until 6 am every night, and we were moving all of our stuff into storage and I... threw away books. In a dumpster. It was heartbreaking. Look away, I am hideous.
But enough survived the purge that I have about 40 of what U-Haul calls their "Small Box" full of books waiting for the bookshelves to be delivered, plus a full bookcase (the only one that survived the move) in my bedroom. Hopefully my books will fit on 77 square feet of bookshelves. I supposed they'll have to. So that's my answer -- 77 square feet. Plus another bookcase. Plus the six grocery bags of comics that Mark and Megan just gave me.
Maybe I should have just said "lots" and left it at that.
Last book I bought: Jumper by Steven Gould just arrived in the mail yesterday from a Half.com purchase, so I'll count that. I think it was a recommendation from John Scalzi, in fact. I tried to order it before, but the Half.com shipper (Half is basically a online consignment shop, if you aren't familiar) sent me the completely wrong book. So I ordered it again a couple weeks ago and forgot about it and then a couple days ago I was thinking I'd really like to read a pretty straight-forward science fiction story and then, ta-da, Jumper showed up in the mail. Done and done.
Last book I read: I leapt right into Jumper (sorry) and I'm a little ways into Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis -- about competitive Scrabble players. I'm on a little gaming-sub-culture kick, I think, because not too long ago I read both Positively Fifth Street (James McManus) and The Biggest Game in Town (A. Alvarez) -- both about poker players -- and Bringing Down the House (Ben Mezrich) about MIT students turned Blackjack sharks. I'm also, sadly and ironically, stuck halfway through Getting Things Done (David Allen). Sigh.
Last book I finished: So Yesterday by Scott Westerfield. It's a young adult novel about "cool hunting" and it was odd because I had just read Pattern Recognition (William Gibson) that deals with the same subject, but in a rather more complicated way. Nothing against So Yesterday, it was just an odd contrast.
Five books that mean a lot to me: Grrr... and here's the meat of the matter -- meaning and not just facts. I'm always kinda stuck on what "mean a lot" means -- mean a lot to me lately, or influenced me early, or what? Also, I have a terrible memory.
- Father Brown Omnibus, G.K. Chesterton -- I remember spending my own money to get the Penguin Omnibus edition of all the Father Brown mystery stories.
- The World of Pooh, A. A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard -- My aunt gave me these books and read them to me.
- Sailing Alone Around the Room, Billy Collins -- Poetry can be fun!
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll -- The start of my life's love of absurdism.
- The Stainless Steel Rat, Harry Harrison -- Stories can be fun, but actually serious!
Update: I forgot to Pass the Baton. Geh. I'm not going to try and force my friends to fill out forms -- I'm sure they do enough of that at work. If you do one of these after reading this, please leave a comment.
Posted by Fuzzy at 1:23 AM | Comments (2)
June 3, 2005
Documentary South - go!
Here's the cast of Documentary South, documenting the heck out of Ryan Gilmour.
As I've mentioned, the opening of Doc South got moved up a few weeks because of a sudden space availability at the Playground. So we had an extra rehearsal last night to make sure we're all ready for our opening night this weekend. I think that, in fact, we are. If this cast improvises half as well as they dance, we're set.
Posted by Fuzzy at 3:53 PM | Comments (0)
Shucks
The ball isn't visible because George has just kicked it out of frame, but it might as well be a picture of George kicking the ground in a traditional "shucks, mister." We weren't defeated, but neither are still all-victorious -- we went up against Rusty's Wranglers (aka "the costume team") and we tied 2-2. Shoot.
Posted by Fuzzy at 3:41 PM | Comments (0)
June 2, 2005
CMB post: Favorite Fries
Over on the Chicago Metroblog I just posted a round-up of our favorite french fries (yay - alliteration).
Posted by Fuzzy at 10:58 AM | Comments (2)