Tuesday, July 13, 2010

These Are the People in My Neighborhood

Today on the way to a dentist appointment, I stopped at the apartment to drop a few things off. I parked behind a red Tracker and didn't pull up as close behind it as I usually would since I knew I'd be zipping away again in a few moments. As I got out of my car, a large, older lady came waddling up to the Tracker and proceeded to make mean faces and complain about how I had boxed her in because I parked so close.

So I went inside, grabbed my camera, and took a photo of how much I (and the car in front of her) had her blocked.



Seriously, lady, if you can't get out of that parking space without working up a sweat, then you deserve to drive a Tracker.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Bad Ad

How do you know when All Access, a radio-industry website, should be more careful about the placement of their ads? When an ad showing a man dead in the road pops up next to a news article reporting on someone's memorial service.

That's when All Access should be more careful about the placement of their ads.



Seriously. This has not been altered, Photoshopped, tweaked, or otherwise manipulated in any way. This is an actual screen shot. I mean come on, I'm not that sick.

Bad form, All Access. Bad, bad, bad, bad form.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Those Colorful Musicians

I'm writing this blog from my hotel room after Day 3 of Creation 2010. The Creation Festival is a yearly music festival nestled in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. The easiest way to describe it is to call it the "Christian Woodstock." The radio station I work for goes up each year, we set up inside a trailer, and we try to get as many of the performing artists to pop in for an interview as possible. I'm always in charge of filming the interviews and then I spend the next few weeks at work editing them down and posting them on the station's YouTube page.

This year we did something a little different. For those of you who don't know, I enjoy drawing doodles. This year I doodled all of the artists appearing at the 4-day festival (43 of them in all). We compiled the black-and-white drawings into a collection we called the Creation Coloring book. Then, we brought the book with us and when the artists came through for their interview, we had them color and autograph their page in the coloring book. We'll be posting the book on eBay and donating all the money received from the auction to Compassion International. You can see all of the doodles in the coloring book (before the artists colored them) by clicking here.

I gotta tell you, it's been a blast so far. Not only has it been fun seeing the artists react to their doodle, but it's also been fun hanging out with them for a few minutes. I've captured some really cool moments on video so far, and we still have one more day to go.

Here's a brief rundown of some highlights the first few days:

  • We got to meet Carlos Whittaker, who's just as much fun to be around in person as he is to read his blog.

  • We got a chance to hang out with our pal Bob Lenz, an amazing speaker who has one of the biggest hearts around (maybe because he's also one of the biggest guys around)

  • As far as pure hilarious moments go, I never thought we'd be able to top David Crowder yelling out the trailer at a kid with "Jimmy" printed on his shirt. Chris and Conrad proved me wrong.

  • Mark Gungor, one of the most excited and excitable guys I've been around, gave some great insights into marriage that were so simple I was a little embarrassed I hadn't thought of them already

  • We have a Wii with MarioKart in our trailer. It's a nice break for the artists from the usual standard radio interviews they probably go through and it's fun to see their faces light up when they see the Wii waiting to be played. Of all the bands at Creation, you probably wouldn't have expected that the band who had the hardest time tearing themselves away from the Wii was Casting Crowns. True story.

  • DecembeRadio really seemed to enjoy their doodle and they were a lot of fun to joke and hang with

  • B Reith sat down and really took time to color his doodle while Kristi Leigh interviewed him. He said he would soon be switching his Facebook profile picture to his doodle. Nice!

  • Chris Tomlin was very kind and friendly and seemed to genuinely enjoy his time in the trailer.

  • Thi'sl and J'Son were simultaneously hilarious and moving. Watching them film each other with their iPhones as they colored their doodles was entertaining to say the least.

  • It was my first time meeting the guys from House of Heroes and it was worth the wait.

  • It was good to see Matt MacDonald from The Classic Crime once again and when he realized we were the guys from last year who had the Wii, his face lit up and he was ready to race once again.

  • Both We As Human and Abandon went all out coloring in their doodles and we were quite impressed with their style.

  • Best of all, though, had to be the opportunity to once again see and hang out with a couple of friends from my time in Nashville, John and Gabe. Man, it was good to see those guys again.


There was more, but...well...I'll let you see for yourselves. Starting next week I'll begin posting the videos of our time at Creation so you can see some of it for yourself. Unfortunately we weren't able to catch up with the Newsboys or TobyMac or our old pal Trevor from Thousand Foot Krutch, but we're having a good time.

When you see some of the videos, you'll get what I'm talking about. Until then...well...here's the David Crowder video from 2007 I mentioned earlier. The one where he yells at the kid with JIMMY on his shirt. Still cracks me up.





Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Carnivale!

Sarah and I went to a carnival this weekend. Most of the rides there were "spinny" rides so I politely declined. We did, however, ride the boat that swings back and forth and back and forth. We were the only ones on the ride and we sat in the very back to get the most out of it. At first it was a lot of fun.



But then...well...I think the guy running the ride was trying to be nice by making it an extra-long ride since we were the only ones on, but after about 20 minutes we got bored. And he was just laughing and smiling and after the initial "woohoo" wore off, I was then able to take a good look around and see all of the ways I could possibly die.

The ride was obviously constructed by someone from Europe who thinks all Americans are 400 pounds, as the safety bar didn't come remotely close enough to holding us in properly. Poor Sarah. She's so tiny and was holding on to me so tightly. I don't blame her. Every time we swung down, she would lift completely off and almost out of her seat.

Sarah said if we fell out, at least we'd get a good settlement. I told her I'd rather not have to live the rest of my life with a slice of rebar sticking out of my neck.

We decided for our next ride, we would try out the dreaded TOMB OF DOOM.



Look how scary it is! This is going to be awesome!

Once inside, though...



I think it was right at this point I turned to Sarah and said, "We could have made this in our basement."

The cart we were in wove in and out of a series of black plastic trash bags. Once in a while we would pass a mummy. Because the ride was so well-choreographed, 30 seconds after we passed the mummy, we would hear it scream. We looked behind us to see what we were missing only to see it was just then being illuminated.

We stood outside the TOMB OF DOOM talking for a few minutes and after a short bit, a 5-year-old was finishing up his turn on the ride. His mom was waiting outside for him and with every bit of enthusiastic motherly joy she could muster said, "Were you scared?"

The kid just looked at her and said, "No."

I wanted to tell the mother to write down the date and time in her memory book when she got home, because this was the exact moment in time her son became jaded.

We ran into some friends of Sarah's and they told us about the chocolate-covered frozen bananas. As huge fans of Arrested Development, naturally Sarah and I were excited to have our very own Bluth banana. And I proved my Bluth-iness by making a stupid blunder.

The bananas came plain, with peanuts, or with sprinkles. I wanted the little chopped nuts on mine...



...so naturally I ordered sprinkles.

I mean, that only makes sense, right?

Little sprinkles of chopped up nuts?

I guess if I would have given it some real thought I would have figured it out. But I didn't. 



After we walked around for a bit, we went over to our friends to hang out for the rest of the evening, play some games, and then watch the fireworks. The time we spent at their kitchen table laughing and talking and sharing stories more than made up for our somewhat-enjoyable time at the carnival.

We watched the fireworks go off from their yard and then we watched the fallout and ashes from the fireworks fall all over us and their house. We were all sprinkled with little charred pieces of cardboard and ash and after it was over firemen climbed on top of their roof to make sure their place wouldn't burn down.



All in all, though, it was a good day. I got to spend a nice evening with Sarah, we laughed and talked and watched really fat people try to climb down stairs. We got to hang out with good friends Ethan and Aubrey and Chris and Cathy we hadn't seen in far too long and as I left their house and looked back at the carnival grounds, it was a nice image.



Even if the TOMB OF DOOM was totally lame.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Insanity: Day 16

I can't.

I want to, I really really do, but I physically can't.

After today's workout, the shin splint in my left leg was pretty much unbearable. Which was distracting me from the fact that I was beginning to develop a shin splint in my right leg as well.

Poop.

It may have been too much too soon. I'm going to shift gears and go back to P90x and see what happens. I'll do one complete "term" of P90X (90 days) and then see if I haven't ramped my way up to where I can do Insanity. As much as I really like the Insanity workout, at this point in my exercisorial career, I'm not physically ready for it.

So today I re-start P90X with Chest & Back.

Whatever.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Insanity: Day 15

Fit Test 2

Yesterday was a day off and today, the first day of the third week in the Insanity program, I re-took the fit test I took on day 1 so I could groan at how far I haven't come.

Actually, I surprised myself in some of them. Not so much in others. All in all, though, I ended up a sweaty mess on the floor in the fetal position. So yea, I guess it was a good workout.

  • SWITCH KICKS - Day 1: 50/Day 15: 62

  • POWER JACKS - Day 1: 30/ Day 15: 49

  • POWER KNEES - Day 1: 81/Day 15: 109

  • POWER JUMPS - Day 1: 23/ Day 15: 27

  • GLOBE JUMPS - Day 1: 6/Day 15: 7

  • SUICIDE JUMPS - Day 1: 10/Day 15: 12

  • PUSH-UP JACKS - Day 1: 20/Day 15: 25

  • LOW PLANK OBLIQUE - Day 1: 35/Day 15: 52

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

How Do You Say "Ohhhhhhhhh" In Italian?

You see, people, this is why Craigslist is so amazing. This is an actual post from today:

OK, this is an odd request, but our production company has been given the assignment to replace audio from many foreign adult releases with an English soundtrack. Because of the content, there's very little lipsync required with the emphasis on sounds associated with lovemaking. We limit sessions to 3 hours and payment is made at time of service. If you're a woman 21 years to 60 years old, have a sexy voice, and can feign an orgasm, you're perfect for this part.

I just love the fact  they aren't concerned with you translating the dialogue...it's more about recreating "sounds associated with lovemaking."

Great. And me without my Italian-Grunts-To-English-Moans dictionary.

Pilkington Meets Glengarry

Talk about motivating your salesmen...

Ricky Gervais, Steve Merchant, and Karl Pilkington are introducing the first season of their HBO animated series on DVD. They made a promotional video to be shown to retailers at a sales conference. What started off as a gentle trip into Hey Thanks For Getting Behind Our Project-land took a vicious sharp turn into Come On Salespeople And Do Your Jobs-ville.





Monday, June 21, 2010

Insanity: Day 13

Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs

Wow, Ed, you just about made it all the way through Pure Cardio! That's great! Oh but hey, today we're also adding Cardio Abs on top of that, so don't get so cocky just because you went further than ever before.  Yep. Now I have a new way to kill you, and I can do it without any situps or crunches.

You sissy.

Love,

Shaun T.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Insanity: Day 12

Cardio Power & Resistance

I think I pushed it a little too hard today but I don't care. When I was finished I drank about a gallon of water to replenish my fluids and then just laid on the floor and listened to my How To Speak Italian CD, panting and gasping in between repeating vowels and consonants and other common sounds.

Edward Cullen's HiPro Glow

When  I saw Twilight for the first time, I jokingly referred to Edward the vampire's amazing ability to sparkle in the sun as his HiPro Glow.

No one got it.

I understand that if you have to explain your joke, maybe it's not a very good joke, but bear with me. I think once you get the reference you'll be pretty impressed.

Back in the 80s there was a commercial for a Purina-brand dog food called HiPro. It featured a dog running in the woods and the announcer promised if you fed your dog HiPro, its coat would shine with a "HiPro Glow." The dog then began to glow as it ran through the woods.



Thirty years later Edward Cullen reveals himself to Bella not only to be a vampire, but also discloses the little-known fact that when vampires stand in the bright sunlight, especially after running in the woods, they too have a glow that looks oddly familiar.



But that's not all. Vampires don't just glow. As you can see from this close-up still shot from the film of Edward's frail pale chest, they sparkle in the sunlight.



But hey, what's the big deal. In another shot from the 1985 dog food commercial, Purina reveals to us this is not because Edward is a vampire. It's because he has apparently been eating HiPro dog food.



Poor Purina doesn't get any credit for being the first one to come up with the idea of a wild animal running through the woods and sparkling in the sun. And to add insult to injury, their 1985 sparkling special effects actually look better than the multi-million dollar movie from the next millennium.

So there you have it. And now when Edward and his sparkly head next appears in a theater near you, you can also appreciate the beauty of what is actually the HiPro glow.







Saturday, June 19, 2010

Billboards of the Future...In the Present

I guess if you want to advertise for your new 3d television, Samsung picked a pretty cool way to do it.





Pixels

I don't know how to properly introduce the awesomeness that is this video.

So I won't.





Insanity: Day 11

Cardio Recovery

Don't let the word "recovery" fool you. I still ended this 30-minute yoga/stretch routine sweating like a fat guy on a date with Jillian Michaels.

Date Night

Thursday night we didn't have anything going on. Sarah wasn't teaching any classes and I didn't have any plans to play Green Day Rock Band, so we declared it to be a date night. I made reservations at The Olde Greenfield Inn here in Lancaster. When I told our friend Ashlea where we went, she looked at me incredulously and said, "Really?? I don't know anyone who's ever gone there."


And I guess I could understand her momentary surprise. When we got there, there were some people eating outside and some inside in the main dining room and they were all...well...I don't know how else to put it. They were all really old.


But I had an ace up my sleeve in the fact that I had reserved a private table downstairs in the wine cellar.



We sat down, Sarah opened the menu and said, "Ooh, this is a nice place."


And because it was a nice place, Sarah and I spent the next ten minutes running around taking pictures.




[caption id="attachment_1945" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I love it when a plan comes together"][/caption]


Yes, it was a nice place. They even had glasses that could sing if you ran your finger quickly around the rim.


Sarah ordered the filet mignon and I had the seafood platter. Steak, yummy mashed potatoes, lobster, shrimp, Sarah and I ate like Kirstie Alley with a day pass.


Our plates were cleaned and there was no room left for dessert.


We came home and immediately regretted our gluttony. But we didn't regret our date night.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Insanity: Day 10

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Shin splints be darned, I was determined to work out today. When I woke up this morning, my leg was already sore and I was hoping it wouldn't get worse as the day went on. It didn't, but kinda sustained at a dull throb. I went to the drug store and bought some generic BenGay.

I was able to go 28 minutes, which was 3 minutes longer than the last time I did this same workout (and 8 minutes longer than yesterday); I burned 430 calories until I finally had to admit my leg was threatening to snap in two if I didn't stop.

The house currently smells like mint - really strong mint - as the magical ointment does its thing. My shin is also wrapped and ready to go for tomorrow, which is cardio recovery, so I'm sure my leg will appreciate the break.

But I loved it. More, more, more.

Baby Bears Have All The Fun

This looks awesome. Now I wish I lived closer to my niece so I could put her in a tree and do the same thing. I bet she'd have a blast.


Two-Headed Monsters

I've seen them. You've seen them. Every once in a while these two-headed beasts pop up on Facebook and I always shake my head in disgust. BobAndSallyJones. TomAndTinaSmith. ControllingWifeAndGuyWhoIsntTrustedToSurfTheInternetAlone. I'm referring, of course, to Couples Who Share A Facebook Account.

Seriously?

Ok, just stop it.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Insanity: Day 9

Pure Cardio

I was only able to go 20 minutes today before my stupid shin splint started to really hurt again. Stupid leg.

Warwick Davis is a Little Man. Your Baby Isn’t.

What's the deal with people calling their babies and small children "Little Man"? I'm seeing this ridiculous trend all over the place, mostly in Facebook and Twitter status updates. You've seen it, too:

"I'm out with Little Man."

"Four years old! Little Man is getting so big!"

"Little Man is taking a nap."

Hey, guess what? Your child is not a little man. Your child is an average-sized baby. A man can shave and drive a car and shuffle a deck of cards and walk without having to put up his hands for balance and deposit a check at a bank and lift heavy things and weighs more than 100 pounds and can talk. Your baby is not a Little Man.

The next time you refer to your baby as "Little Man," take a good look at his eyes. You're annoying him and I bet deep inside he's getting back at you by thinking of you as "Massive Infant".