Let Me Entertain You

Day 19: Those Crazy Canucks

2010-03-01T01:07:00.002-05:00

So I've been slacking on the updates for days 14 - 19. But that's because nothing really exciting has happened between then and now. We worked. A LOT. I hardly left the apartment except to eat. And I've been eating a lot. I think the antibiotics I'm on have made me uber hungry. Its annoying. Gotta Zumba it up when I get home :)

Anyway. Last night - of which I have ZERO photos - was a lot of fun. I went out with this woman, Barb, who is a friend of a friend of my mother, and her crazy crew of French camera men. She's been volunteering/working here for five weeks acting as one of the transporters for all the camera crews and she works with the French camera crew. And some Canadians. I wish I had some pix because it turned out to be a really fun night. I got to meet a lot of people from around the world including a lot of guys from Paris so I got to speak in French a lot! And they all thought I spoke really good french and since some of them spoke terrible English we had to talk in French a lot :)

Good times. But I stayed out too late and had to get up too early today.

Today was the official last day of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and boy what a fun day!!! :)

I was pretty tired for most of it, but it didn't matter because we had so much fun.

We went shopping at the olympic store this morning and walked around taking some pictures.

The memorial for the Georgian who died :(

Rob and Angela at the Olympic Rings.

We stood in line with some nice people to take a pic here and I wanted to do a jumping photo. So I showed the woman how to do it. But when I got up there I realized that its much higher up than my normal jumps. AND there was a line of like 20 people who were all WATCHING me jump. The first time I did it, I was really scared and didnt jump. So they all made me REDO it. "JUMP UP!" they all said. So I did and it was scary.

Then my mother and I took a photo together :)

The best part of the day was going over to the Gerards' house. They are some friends of my dad who had us over for dinner a week or so ago. And they were having a BIG party for the America vs. Canada game. I knew it would be fun but it was a LOT of fun.

All the kids were REALLY into it!

This kid was the loudest and most vocal of the bunch. "GO CANADA GO! YOU ARE GOING DOWN USA!!!"

I had to represent. This is the best I could do lol

We had 1 American flag for the FOUR Americans present.

My dad and Dave Gerard.

Rob, gettin ready for the game.

The Gerards have this great dog, Cedar, who just wanted Rob to give her some food! She was so sweet :)

This kid - Emmerson - is five. And kept telling me that my team was gonna LOOOOOOOOOSE. "Canada is gonna win! And you are gonna lose!"

Emmerson's dad, drinking in the proper Canadian way.

The left side of the room with all the Americans (by this point one more had shown up so we had five!)

The other side of the room with all those crazy canucks

When the US got that goal in before the end, the Canadians WERE QUIET. The five of us were SHOUTING so loudly. But then overtime happened. And then Canada won. And Then it was pure chaos. I'm pretty sure this group was even louder than the hockey stadium

Spilling wine everywhere!

People paying out their bets

My dad paying one of his bets to an Aussi.

Aaron, the Kiwi, who just got his Canadian citizenship. Look at his shirt.

The house where the party was:

The view from their street. How would you like waking up to that every day?

This video is the group after Canada's second goal.

This video is after Canada WON. It was SO LOUD. NO MORE COWBELL!

The Canadian national anthem as sung by the people we hung out with

So after the game, we went back to the village to watch the closing ceremonies. This was the CHAOS and the crowds in the village square.

People hanging out of balconies

People on roofs

Spot the kid wearing the Shark suit.

Spot the guy wearing a beer case on his head.

GO USA!!!

Day 13: Fire Alarms and Jet

2010-02-25T12:53:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a busy work day. I watched VALENTINE'S DAY over the course of 4 hours while working. It was not as terrible as I expected based on the shitty reviews I read. But it was no Love Actually.

The plan for the evening was that I would take a break from work and go see Jet play outside in the medal ceremony. I didn't care about getting in to the area as the HD screens are high enough up that you can see them from right outside our building. And then go back up and work some more.

Well. As I was getting ready to run down and get myself some quiznos, and as my parents were getting ready to go to dinner with Rob and Angela, the fire alarm in our building goes off! None of us really move cause it can't be real. But then there's the thought - what if it IS real? So we all started grabbing electronics. I dumped my orange shopping bag of stuff and started quitting apps on my computer, interrupting some rendering, gathering my 3 external drives (2 TB of data! lol), my flip camera and my still camera and yes, I grabbed my blanket :) In the case of a real fire, I'd be okay as long as these are the things I had with me. ALL my music. ALL my photos (dating back to the 8th grade). ALL my written documents including the books I've written, the ones I'm writing, the ones I've barely started. ALL the work I've done for the last year. And ALL the videos I've ever ever made. If I were at home, I'd probably also grab the photo frame Justin made me, the Hogwarts letter Cari made me, the scrapbook Katie made me and the lamp Meli made me. And those are all easily grabbable sot he hardest thing at home to get would be the cats :)

ANYWAY. The entire building is evacuating. I have 2 TB with me. My mom has a TB with her. Angela has a TB with her. My dad has his laptop and I think Rob had his.

I had just thrown on some jeans, a tshirt and my uggs since I was only planning on going down to grab food. But as everyone was really hungry, and since we were kicked out of the building for a while, everyone was like "let's just go to dinner." But it was already 7. Jet was gonna start at 7:30. I was STARVING so I needed to eat, like, RIGHT THEN. And my hair was a mess.

"Where are we going for dinner?" I ask. My dad says "Just up here." He says this like 5 more times before we finally are in front of a steak house. A fancy steak house. A steak house that should probably have a dress code.

We step inside and I feel SO out of place. Low lighting. 18 pieces of silverware. Fancy napkins. They take us to our table and as my stomach is growling I think that since the fire alarm was probably a false alarm, it was probably okay for us to go back. We sit down, and I look at the menu. Everything on the appetizer list cost at least $5 more than the t shirt I had on. I don't like food like a lot of other people do; I'd be satisfied with cereal for every meal. So I have a real problem paying (or having other people pay)) for a really expensive meal for me. This is a place where you'd probably have to pay for bread. So I really didnt want to eat. I really wanted to eat RIGHT THEN. I really wanted to see Jet. And I really wanted to not be in public looking like I did. lol.

So I left. I grabbed quiznos and sat in the drizzling rain outside my building enjoying the concert :) Once I had crammed food in my mouth, I went and stood on the children's playground and watched some more of the concert. I thought they were good and I really need to get their latest album. I love their old rock n roll sound. It was kinda funny when the lead guy would talk because NO ONE could understand him. I don't know if it was cause he was speaking too fast, mumbling or because he's Australian but I couldnt understand one word out of his mouth.

Two videos: (if you are wacthing on facebook, just click "view original post")

I went back in to the building and called Justin on skype while I reset up all my hard drives and reopened everything I had been working on. The whole gang comes back before we are done talking, so they all say hi to him, Rob jokes about being my chaperone and then Justin and I say good night.

We were all working a bit more, I watched LEAP YEAR while working last night. Cute, and woulda been a totally acceptable romantic comedy but the last 5 minutes ruined it all for me.

And later, while watching olympic highlites on NBC:

Day 12: No photos :(

2010-02-24T15:39:00.002-05:00

I woke up feeling kinda sick yesterday morning. So after doing some work and having a lot of trouble getting some deep breaths, I went to the clinic. And even though the doctor couldn't hear anything in my lungs, he still gave me antibiotics and an inhaler. I took my prescriptions and a pizza home and got back to work. But because I had been up all night the night before from not being able to breathe, I ended up needing to take a nap. It was wonderful. :)

Last night, Rob went with me and Darryl to see SHUTTER ISLAND. I really enjoyed it even if it creeped me out a lot. Visually, it was beautiful. I thought the cinematography echoed the story really well and thought that Leo did a fantastic job. Everyone in it was great. Unfortunately, someone has spoiled the twist for Rob but the way the movie ended he didn't know and I think he really liked that. I thought the very ending was like 'wow'. I would recommend seeing it but don't drink a lot during it - its a very long movie.

Last night, afterwards, I futzed around online, tried talking to Justin on Skype in spite of my voice and watched JULIE AND JULIA in bed, which I really enjoyed.

Day 11: Ski Jumps and Snow Tubes

2010-02-23T12:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning we got to go to our second olympic event - the Ski Jump finals. Seeing this in person was really neat. Is it worth the crazy high ticket prices? ($120 for standing tickets)? I don't think any of the events are worth their crazy high price tags but I'm really glad we go to to go!

We had to take a cab to the base of Calahan (sp?) and wait for the bus.

We rode the bus, excited about the event.

Once you go 9 km, you have to get off the bus, go through some crazy long security lines and then you still have 900 meters to walk to get to the venue.

Almost to the ski jump hill!

There it is!

Do you see the skier?

The crowds. The stands. The amazing view.

More.

Two of the Olympic mascots agreed to pose with me :)

I got tired of having the sun glaring in my eyes, so I walked to the other side of the venue and found that it was less crowded, that my back was to the sun and my view of the hill was actually better :)

So I sat down on the ice

I texted my mom and told her to come join me. We could sit, rest our feet and backs, and still enjoy the event!

My dad had a good time

It was like we were at the beach.

See an athlete?

Look at this kid. LOL.

After the event, on our way home:

One of the only jumping pix I have from Whistler

Do you see all those wires? That's like a 1/10th of the wires running underneath the spectator viewing building thing. Can you imagine the logistics of setting up all of the events? All of the wires that have to be run? Think of all the electricity and cable signals they need: for all the temporary buildings, for the spectator stands, for all of the HD TVs, for all the cameras, for all the sound equipment and PA equipment, for all the lights, for all the security metal detectors and those screening devices with screens (my english is failing me today). I would NOT want to be involved in planning this kind of event. YIKES.

The security blimp, coming down for some reason

So, to handle all of the extra public transit the olympics needed, they hired bus drivers from all over the US and Canada. The one that took us up the mountain was from Texas. The one taking us back to the village, from Pennsylvania.

After we got back, Rob and I went to the Tube Park. For $15, we got to ride up the gondola to the first stop on the mountain, trek up a hill that left us both out of breath, and then spend an hour dragging a tube up to the conveyor belt, riding the belt and then screaming our asses down the lane :-D IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Definitely worth the $15.

I held the Flip while I went down the lane. 25 seconds of screaming fun :)

That night, my parents and I went to one of their friends' houses for a dinner party with 2 other couples they knew and one random neighbor guy. It was actually a lot of fun!! Lots of wine and good conversation. And this very sweet dog, Cedar. Awww. Kinda makes me miss my baby kitties even more.

Days 9 & 10

2010-02-21T22:43:00.002-05:00

The weird comedy team that was going around pretending to be athletes. Very slapsticky and amusing. Its like we're at an amusement park!

The girls outside Lush dancing to JUMP - apparently it was part of a 1980s promotion they were doing (where I got a lot of free stuff!)

Go Australia! Lots of Aussis are carrying around inflatable kangarooos.

Its just like Disney world with all these people in costumes!

For the first time ever, I witnessed people preaching about Jesus in Canada. It was very out of place.

A really good singer - Julie Black.

This was for Justin: Vokda Sprite

Today! after going out last night Darryl and not getting in till 2:30, I slept until 12:45! It was amazing. And I got to talk to Justin for 2 and a half hours on skype today!!! That was so much fun. After wards, I went with my mom to meet my dad and Rob and Angela at Kypriaki's for some noms, beer and HOCKEY! I'm not a huge hockey fan but it was USA vs CANADA so it was very exciting!! :)

I left after the first period though so I could come back and talk to Justin a little more (this time without parental supervision lol), and now I'm pretty much ready to go to sleeeeep. We have to get up early in the morning to go to the Ski Jump finals! Should be fun!

More amusement park fun

Mounties!

Beer!

Go America! WE BEAT CANADA!

Days 7 and 8

2010-02-19T23:35:00.004-05:00

Day 7:
A work day. I played with my new camera. Ran some errands. We pretty much stayed in most of the day working on stuff. Then Rob and Angela, two of my dad's friends/business people, arrived from Germany and we went out to dinner. On the way to dinner we passed the medal ceremony field and saw Shaun White get his gold (on the big screens). After some hanging and relaxing, my mom and I watched ITS COMPLICATED (verrry funny) and went to bed.

Day 8:
MUCH more exciting :)

This is one of Angela's photos. I am so jealous. Katie will be jealous. Why wasn't she with us when we were trying to get a ring picture??? :-D

Rob and my dad had a conference call this morning. We did some work this morning, up until about 1.

At 1:30, the five us piled into a cab and drove Rob and Angela around, showing them some of the residential areas before heading over to this guy's house - Dan something. A new friend/business contact of my dad. He and his wife had 2 extra tickets to today's skeleton race, so all 7 of us got to go. TALK ABOUT COOL. It was definitely an awesome experience. I froze my ass off - I will need to be more prepared for the next event - but it was fun!

Rob and I, in the cab

The view from the cab driving around one of the neighborhoods. Terrible place to live, eh? ;-)

Dan and his wife, Michelle's, sweet dog Barney. He loved me. :) It made me miss my baby kitties even more.

Trekking up the mountain to the sliding center

The view.

The Security line at the Sliding Center

The Skeleton lolol

The crowd/line.

Moothor

Proud to be an American?

The sliding center!

Dan's wife, Michelle, looked so much like Kristin Chenoweth with her big sunglasses on. I dont think it comes through in this photo though. I know its true though because when I asked my mom who she thought michelle looked like, my dad was like "that broadway singer you like. Chenoweth."

Security!

This woman has the easiest/coldest job: sitting in a lifeguard chair and telling people which line to go in:

So many people wearing flags as capes.

Walking under part of the luge/skeleton track into the spectator area

Dan and I

My mom

Instead of playing where's waldo, I want you to find the Skeleton racer. First one to find her wins a prize.

Round Two: Where's the Skeleton Racer?

Another of Angela's great photos: Part of the Luge/skeleton track

ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM!

Video: How fast the skeleton is IRL

Video: The entire experience of one of the Canadian girl's runs (this was Heat 3. Not the final. Just listen to the crowd! And the cowbell...)

MORE COWBELL!!!

I was sooooo cold. Definitely not adequately prepared. I had on: long underwear, jeans, Uggs, underwear, a tank top, a 3/4 length sweater, a long sleeved warm fuzy sweater, my long arm hobo gloves, a pair of angela's fingerless gloves, my big winter coat, katie's earmuffs and my scarf that everyone says makes me look muslim. BUT I WAS STILL COLD. Next time, I will be more prepared!

I really like these two pix Angela took of me

Our view of the Skeleton!

the in-between-races entertainment

After the girls' race, they had to clean/smooth out the track for the men

When you get in the gondola to go back down to the village, its called DOWNLOADING. (Take a wild guess what its called when you go UP the mountain).

Moothor, Angela and Rob in the gondola going back down to the village

Day 6: Waiting for those Barenaked Ladies!

2010-02-18T12:31:00.004-05:00

All day yesterday, I was looking forward to seeing the Barenaked Ladies perform. I've never seen them live and after they lost one of their lead singers last year I never thought I would get to. I've been a fan of theirs since 1998 and in the last few years have really fallen in love with all of their music sooooo when I found out they were gonna be performing FOR FREE in the market square, I was PSYCHED.

I did a bunch of work yesterday and ran some errands and at 3:30 my parents and I headed down to the market square. We staked out a place at the bar at La Bocca that gave us a perfect view of the big stage and video screen. We watched a couple other bands play, the second of which, Mes Aeiux, from Quebec, were AWESOME.

And then the BARENAKED LADIES performed and they were great :) It was sooooo much fun. THOUSANDS of people crowded into the market square. The restaurants' outdoor patios were getting so over crowded that the cops had to come by. It was nuts. I'm glad we got there as early as we did. We had an awesome time.

While we were hanging out there, we drank a lot. And ate a lot of food. And I got to meet a lot of my dad's friends cause people would just show up and they would know him. lol. WEIRD. But cool.

Mes parents

The crowd at La Bocca

the Quebec band Mes Aieux

Our portable electronics: 3 cell phones, 2 mini video cameras, 1 ipod touch. Plus the camera I use to take the photo.

My dad and his Greek friend who runs the local greek restaurant

Some weird people on stilts.

I totally enjoyed the BNL concert :)

My dad and our Swedish waitress

Barenaked Ladies!

One of my dad's friends, Darryl, said he'd take me out one night. That should be fun. He was really funny.

What's So Maybe About Katie?

A new song of their new album

One Week

Too Little Too Late

If I Had A million dollars

Day 5

2010-02-17T00:51:00.002-05:00

Without KP here, I am certainly not taking as many photos :( Very sad.

Today, I did a bunch of work and finished writing postcards and watched a lot of curling and a lot of women snowboarders fall down today (I feel so bad for them!) and did some reading. My mom and I went to see PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS (which I really liked but there were so many things I didnt remember from the book. Like NASHVILLE? And the PARTHENON being in it?? That had to be added. It was fun but I think the book was better.) and then we met my dad at Ric's Grill for some great wine and dinner. We watched the men's short figure skating program (and think that the American Johnny Weir was ROBBED AND that little Japanese guy who looked 14). Now we are back at the condo visiting with a friend of my dad's but I really just wanna go to bed. I'm sooooo sleepy and have lots more work to do tomorrow PLUS I gotta start learning how to use my new video camera :)

Pix!

The view outside our window this morning

A bruise on my arm. I whacked my arm on the bathroom cabinet the other day.

The village from our building

A really silly ad for some store right by our condo

My mom and I, at the Olympic Rings

A giant Muppet

THIS GUY KISSED MY MOM

While he's kissing her, these two girls walk by and one of them is like "WHY ARE YOU KISSING THAT MAN'S WIFE??" and the guy goes, "BECAUSE HE TOLD ME TO!"

His friends were laughing really hard.

GO CANADA GO

The village at night

Mes parents

I like this photo of my mom

Day 4: A Night out with Winn

2010-02-16T12:31:00.002-05:00

Last night, my dad took me to a locals bar called Tapoli's that he frequents whenever he stays up here. The bouncer knows him. A couple of the bartenders know him. Its kinda weird. :) But we had fun! A very nice Aussi bartender learned our names and I got to watch the ice skating pairs finals and some of the speed skating while drinking Kokanee, Canada's #1 Beer. lol. At one point, there was this guy behind me trying to get a drink and the bartender kept ignoring him so I got his attention and the guy got to buy his drinks. He gave me a 5 dollar bill and said "here. buy yourself a drink." I gave it back to him saying that was unnecessary. He wouldn't take it so I shoved it in his hood and he was like "ohhh okay if you're gonna do that, put it in my pocket." I could have made an easy $5 but I couldnt take his money!

After Tapoli's, my dad took me over to Buffalo Bills to hear his favorite local band play - the Hairfarmers. The place was empty so we sat the bar drinking and talking and eating wings. I think we left around 11 and came home kinda tipsy :)

On the way, I saw some guys wearing Russian gear and I wanted a picture of the back of their outfits but they turned around and caught me taking the picture so one of the guys was like "hey! let me take a picture of you and this guy here. Much more fun." So that's what this is. I dont know if they are athletes or just people accompanying the athletes. But they are from Russia.

My dad and the Inukshuk at night

Canada celebrating their first gold medal on their turf in history

Swiss people celebrating something!

Day 4: Pre-KP's departure

2010-02-15T15:39:00.002-05:00

My dad was very showy this morning about getting ready to go skiing :)

Our midmorning snack at Zog's :)

KP's chili fries

The business cards at Zog's

Pretty!

Fun in the snow

Beware falling snow slush!

Some really neat graffiti

The water in Fitzsimmons Creek is cooooooold

So we tried walking to Lost Lake to take some awesome pix but found out that the trails are closed so that the cross country skiers can go on the trails :(

Some random chairs

a nice view from the village

This is not a picture of me drinking coffee but rather the strange ladies behind me.

Luckily, we havent see any bears yet!

Oh wait, there's a bear!

mmmmmm an inukshuk made of chocolate

Look at the giant poster these people are reading like a menu

Finally, a decent shot of the olympic rings

Day 3: Part 2!

2010-02-15T01:34:00.003-05:00

A good day in Whistler :)

After going up the mountain and coming back for some grocery shopping, some noms and drying off our boots, KP and I walked around taking photos, looking for interesting people and sights. We found a high school marching band that performed for at least 30 minutes (they were great!), a dude with a crazy mustache and hat, a gondola crash, and several cute boys ;-) We had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory (best deal in town: salad, a big helping of pasta, garlic bread and ice cream for as low as $9.25 and $4.95 for a fun fruity girly cocktail!) and then had drinks at the Amsterdam Bar (music was a bit too loud but they had olympic stuff playing on all the TVs and we met a nice guy named Phil from Toronto who was chatty). Now, we are back for an earlyish night exchanging photos, watching You've Got Mail, and KP is (re)making her awesome trail mix.

We got rained on a bit today and saw some cool music and saw some amazing scenery and met some nice people. Tomorrow, before KP has to catch a bus back to Ellensburg, we are gonna go for a walk (hopefully to see some nature!) and go back to the book store. Maybe get some coffee and maybe another beaver tail???? :-D

Pictures!!

KP in front of her bed on the loveseat

ITS NEW!

Whistler Village from one of the streets

The inukshuk

Whistler Live! at the Market Square. Some big concert.

This really fun high school marching band

This weird dude. CRAZY hat, crazy mustache, and then when we asked to take a picture with him he seemed all irritated. UM if you're gonna dress like a freak, then let people take pictures with you.

The base of the mountain

We saw the aftermath of this crash. No one seemed hurt but we just found out that several people in the other gondolas were stranded up in the air for HOURS in the dark! And some people had to go to the hospital afterwards. I Just can't believe what I would do if I were stranded in the air in the dark and had to pee. I think I'd have a panic attack.

Katie is a gold medal winner!

The Olympic Circles

My favorite photo of KP so far

The woman taking our picture told us to look ATHLETIC.

Another attempt at getting our pix in front of the olympic circles

beware the falling snow!

mush!

Whistler Plog: Day 3

2010-02-14T18:01:00.002-05:00

Getting ready to go out.

Giant Canadian hocky players

The Swiss building

ONe of the The Whistler Live locations in the village where there is gonna be free music every day and every night. And guess who is playing on the 17th! THE BARENAKED LADIES!!! I am so excited.

Katie being the inukshuk

The base of Whistler mountain

Might this be a Ukraine olympic team of some sort?

At the top of Whistler

A sniffle station!

The Peak to Peak gondola

I'm a little scared of heights . . .

From inside the gondola

At Blackcomb mountain

BEAVERTAILS!!!!!!

Canadia, eh?

Maybe he is the official Canadian mascot?

Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time!
(Actually, the Jamaican bobsled team is not competing but they are here to party)

The village

BOBSLEDDING!

The official Olympic mascots

The croc store was giving away free stuff. We dont like crocs but ya know - when a picture opportunity presents itself . . .

MORE TO COME!

Days 1 and 2: My First Plog

2010-02-14T02:54:00.006-05:00

Days 1 and 2!

Lots of travel! But I am officially in Whistler!

Yesterday, my mom and I flew from Nashville to Phoenix to Seattle and stayed with our cousins Scott and Troy and their four amazing, fun, funny kids. (I know, coming from me! lol) I had a really great time meeting their kids. The travel wasn't so bad.

Nashville Airport: Cheerleaders Practicing

The adorably smiley Preston.

Ryan and the over excited Achilles

Lexi, me, Katelynn

Me and Ryan

Me and Preston

Moothor and lexi

And Day 2, we hung out with the kids some and then Scott and two of the kids drove us into Seattle to the bus station where we met Katie!

A unicycler in Seattle!

Meeting Katie at the (sketchy) bus station

A lovely message for me at my bus seat:

Katie spilled her DELICIOUS trail mix. We were both very upset by this.

One of the four guys on the bus - singing . . . listen carefully to what he was listening to! Before this it was THE LITTLE MERMAID lolol.

Waiting in the Vancouver bus station - which was FAR nicer and less sketchy than the Seattle one.

This crrraaaazy Norwegian guy . . . he came with a group of Norwegians who were all slightly intoxicated. They almost got kicked off the bus because they dont let people on the bus if they are drunk. But they were okay. He was very friendly and maybe just a bit annoying with this repetitive question asking ("Where are you from?" and to my mother "Can I talk to your daughter?" and to me "is she really your mother?"). He didn't believe I wasn't 18 (no, I am in fact 25) and kept telling me how cute I was. he wanted me to be his personal guide around Whistler. YEAH RIGHT. He was a hoot on the bus at least. Funny.

The Norwegians.

The Village. Its a bit rainy so far.

We are having a good time so far. EXHAUSTED. Tomorrow is gonna be a long, fun, busy day! Katie is only here until 1:30 on Monday! So we gotta get a lot to do! We got trails to walk and Beaver Tails to eat and Foreigners to meet and Beers to drink and Pictures to take! :-D Should be awesome. Time for instant replays on NBC, peppermint tea and bed!

T-1: leaving tomorrow!

2010-02-11T16:06:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow, my mom and I will be heading up to Seattle to spend the night with our cousins and their four kids (yikes! I don't think I've ever been around 4 kids for a whole night . . . except when I was one).

Then on Saturday, my mom and I will catch a bus from Seattle with KP and ride up to Whistler Village, BC!!!

My dad has been in Whistler for a week now and says its empty. People are being laid off all the time. Weird. I kind of expected it to be mad and chaotic and crazy busy. Wonder if that will change by this weekend??

The Opening Ceremonies are tomorrow night; we will be missing them as we arrive in Seattle around 8:45 pm.

But its all good because we just found out that two of our friends from Germany are gonna be in Whistler from the 18th of Feb - March 4 and want to take us to a couple events!! HOW COOL IS THAT?! :)

I'm excited! I still need to pack . . .

So nearly a year later . . .

2010-01-13T17:47:00.002-05:00

I remember that I have a blog.

Which is useful because I'm gonna blog/vlog about an upcoming trip in February. And now I don't have to create a new blog. :)

On February 12, my mom and I leave to meet my dad in Whistler, British Columbia for the 2010 Winter Olympics! And I am psyched. We won't be back until March 3. Its gonna be a long trip, I'll miss my friends and the pets and that guy I've kinda sorta maybe been seeing for so long :) BUT Its the OLYMPICS and its going to be AWESOME. Cold . . . but AWESOME. :) I can't wait!

Stay tuned for updates come February! :)

Long Time, No Post

2009-03-03T15:01:00.002-05:00

Its been over 2 1/2 months. But I'm Back!

And to commemorate this joyous occasion, some videos:

New Years Eve 2009 @dasSCHWARTAUhaus

The Cheetoudini

Cheeto Speak

Farger Sings

Non-Computer Hacking (from about a month ago)

One of my most favorite recent Vlogbrothers entries:
HOW TO MAKE GUYS LIKE YOU

The Boat That Rocked

2008-12-10T12:13:00.002-05:00

I can't wait for this movie:
http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=42154

For multiple reasons.

1. Its by the guys who did Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually.
2. Bill Nighy + Philip Seymore Hoffman
3. British Rock and Roll
4. Based on TRUTH.

A family friend who lived the true version of this sent me this email this morning:
About the actual movie, not much. However the story behind it was something no one of my Brit Generation will forget.

See back in the so called swinging 60s, radio, specifically music radio, was crap in the UK. We had only 3 channels, believe it or not, all run by the BBC, called the Light programme, the Home programme. and the (sic), Third programme. They were all state owned, no ads, (yes we had no commercial radio at that time!), and played stodgy middle of the road pop, classical and jazz. We could sometimes pick up good music from the AFN, (American Forces Network), or a station based in the little country of Luxembourg, called not surprisingly, Radio Luxembourg! And to listen to the BBC, you had to buy a license!

No real rock and roll, no Chuck Berry, no Stones etc on the radio, or very rarely. We did have a couple of programmes on both the BBC and the commercial channel, ITV, that played them, but it was few and far between. And this was all AM! (ask your dad!)

So some bright spark came up with the idea of basing radio stations on boats outside the, I think 12 mile limit. ( outside UK control). There they were beyond the arm of the Post Office, the equivalent of the FCC, and they played what the hell they wanted, without any license fees etc. There were a whole bunch of them, based on ships and old forts in the British Channel. They became known as Pirate Radio Stations, for obvious reasons, and they pissed off the authorities big time. Of course, we loved them, it was just about all I listened to in my late high school years. Two of my favourites were Radio London, and Radio Caroline. A lot of music I grew to love I first heard on them.

Anyway, the UK government finally after a couple of years, figured out how to shut them down. I still remember listening to DJ Kid Jensen sign off the Radio London frequency for the last time, very sad.

The wonderful result of this was that the BBC was forced to come up with something to replace them, and they completely reorganized their radio system as Radio1, 2, 3, & 4! And ironically, the same DJs that were on pirate radio, and who were sometimes arrested, ended up as the Radio 1 mainstays. Some are still there! And we heard real rock and roll & R&B etc on the radio finally.

And of course, not long after that came commercial radio, with ads and stuff, but to this day there are no ads on the BBC, TV or radio, nationally, or locally. Their funding comes solely from licensing fees!

Hope this isn't too much info. I am real happy some one has made a movie about that this, it was a pretty wild time, and any movie with Bill Nighy in is going to be good!

A Casual Encounter From Craigslist

2008-12-03T20:35:00.001-05:00

Don't Let the Muggles Know! - w4mm - 30 (East Village)

Reply to: pers-941491075@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-12-02, 12:27AM EST

I am a lonely, beautiful woman living alone with my cat, Mrs. Norris. I work as a janitor. You will refer to me as Filch.

I need at least 5 men. You will arrive at my apartment. There will be a picture of a fat lady on the door, and you will tell her the pre-arranged password. You will be dressed based on your character. The characters I need are listed below.

Harry Potter: You must be barely legal, and arrive with your firebolt ready for the best game of quidditch you'll ever play.

Ron Weasley: You absolutely must have red hair and freckles. You must show up with firewhiskey.

Draco Malfoy: Blonde. Be able to cry on demand.

Remus Lupin: You will alternate between wolf and man. Howl, baby, howl!

Albus Dumbledore: You must be a proud gay man ready to penetrate every other man present You must have a beard and wear a wizard's hat and half-moon spectacles.

As you arrive, I shall chain you to the walls of my apartment, which I will have converted into a dungeon. Mrs. Norris shall excite you all into the most aroused state you've ever experienced (I've trained her well, so don't worry--if she fails to tickle your pickle, though, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve--engorgio, anyone?).

After I punish you all for being out after curfew, and take a few house points, Harry will escape, grab me around the waist, and begin sodomizing me. With each stroke, he will yell out one of the wrongs I have committed against him (example: "and THIS is for helping Umbridge"). After we've both come harder than Hagrid in heat, Ron and Draco will escape.

Ron will beat Draco with a broomstick I'll provide. Then, he will penetrate the Slytherin with the Cleansweep, who will, at this point, be crying about how his dad's in Azkaban.

Lupin will escape as he "transforms" into a wolf. He forgot his wolfsbane potion tonight! He will have his way with whatever his wolfy instincts demand!

I will then pleasure Ron. With my dirty squib mouth.

Finally, Dumbledore will escape and exact his right as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Then, firewhiskey all around!

Who knows what else the night will bring...
---

Please send pictures, preferably in costume. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, and I've been haunted by this fantasy since PoA came out (the book, of course). Please please please help me to realize it!

Also, if you know any submissive small men, we might add a Dobby to the fun.

Weird and Random. Very sudden as well.

2008-11-25T18:02:00.001-05:00

This happened 30 minutes ago:

I am sitting in my room, on my bed, working.

My dad yells up the stairs, "Hey! Do you have one of those car charger cigarette lighter things?"
I shout back, "Yes. In my car."
He shouts back, "Ok. I need it. RIGHT NOW."
I get up and start walking down the stairs, shouting, "WHY?"
He shouts back, "Because I am going to Cincinatti."

...........

I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

Apparently, my brother is supposed to be home tonigh at 8:30 but because of shitty weather in the northeast, his flight from Boston to Cincinatti got delayed big time and he wont make his connecting flight. So, my dad left 5 minutes later with my GPS and my car charger to drive to Cincinatti to pick him up.

Uncle Mike Turns 60

2008-11-10T14:49:00.001-05:00

aunt kathy, rachel, and uncle ray (who came sans aunt pat)

uncle bam bam and uncle mike
(i used to call Pam Uncle Bam Bam. haha)

uncle mike and aunt martha (uncle jerry's wife)

cousins

cousin jon

uncle mike's reactions to the surprise

uncle mike hugging some of the surprise people

robie's son walked up to my uncle mike and handed him this card, but uncle mike had never met the kid before and was like ummmm who the heck is this kid handing me a handmade card?

cousin rachel

uncle jerry and i kept getting into a photo war since he HATES being in photos. he kept trying to catch me off guard. i need to get those pix from him actually.

justin's goofy smile. ;-)

justin ruining a perfectly decent photo

cousins

people socializing

my mom trying to get everyone's attention

my cousin scott

robie (my boss) and his family, and my dad

watching the slideshow

justin giving me a dirty look. typical.

giving a little speech after the slideshow

after the slideshow, he was really excited

the end for now.

Amy Borris and the Perilous Solvers (© 1994)

2008-11-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

When I was in the 4th grade, I started writing a book. It was called AMY BORRIS AND THE PERILOUS SOLVERS. I have been looking for this data file for years, thinking it was lost forever in one of the many computer crashes I've had. But ALAS! I Found it!!!!

And now, for your intense enjoyment, here are the 34 pages of my first novel unabridged, NOT spell checked and in its original glory.

Introduction

Amy Borris ( a heroic adventurer who is always looking for perils) takes her mystery/adventure team The Perilous Solvers onto perilous adventures that have mysteries tied in with them. This team has 6 members.

Amy : Age: 12
Description: Hair: Dirty Blond, above hip-lenght Eyes: one green, one brown
Height: about 5 ft 2'
Background Info: Amy, the tomboy and leader of the group is probably the bravest. Amy has a 16 year old sister named Becky and a dog named Buster. Buster is the sixth member of the club. Buster, the watch dog comes to all the meetings the club has. Since Amy comes from a very wealthy family she has good insurance so she takes her club on awesome trips. They've been to Disney World about six or seven times and now that they are older, they plan to go to Australia. Her dad and her favorite, Uncle Fred arranges the cool trips. The club earns money to buy the things they need by having a system called WORK, WORK, WORK. By doing this, they can set up jobs. Some jobs might be walking dogs, gardening, painting and other things like that. ( Right now the club has earned over $600.00 and has put it all in their safe up in the tree house Amy's Uncle Fred built!!!) Like most any other club, The Perilous Solvers have a motto. It is "Danger? We laugh at the face of danger, Ha, Ha, Ha,Ha!" Why? You'll find out why this group loves taking risks in the following story.

Missy: Age: 11 3/4
Description: Hair: Dark, dark brown, shoulder length Eye: blue height: 5 ft 5 inches
Background Info: Missy's real name is Michelle, but everyone calls her Missy, because she is a bit missy n' prissy. She hates being in danger and hates the site of mud. Everything with her has to be spic and span (she's the one who insisted on putting up curtains for the clubhouse and she keeps it so neat and tidy, it's horrendous). Though she hates being dirty and going on dangerous trips, Missy has stuck with the team and is willing to go on. Missy also loves music. Any kind. Jazz, oldies, rock, pop, classical, rap, ballet. You name, she likes it. Since the rest of the club likes music too, she buys the music for the team.

CJ. a.k.a. Sherlock: Age: 12
Background Info: Sherlock. C.J. was given that name when he was 9 years old when he solved a great mystery in three days. C.J. also has beat his friends at the board game CLUE about 45 out of 59 times! And most of the time he can solve the mystery in the book he's reading before he finds out what the answer is. As you can see, Sherlock loves mysteries. Sherlock is in to baseball and 70's music and can get along with most anybody except his nine year old brother Jeff. Desription: Hair: dark brown hair, short hair
Eye color: one is blue and the other green! Height: 5 ft 3 inches

Tom a.k.a. Whiz:
Age: 12
Desription: hair: dark blond, very short.
Eyes: blue, glasses
Height: 5 ft
Background Info: Why do they call him Whiz? Because he knows everything. He's so smart he has even built his own computer and radio. He knows everything on technology! Wherever he goes he takes his awesome laptop. (a laptop is a portable computer with no CD ROM or floppy, but some do). But his is no ordinary laptop. His has a CD ROM, a floppy and he has a portable printer too that he can hook up to the laptop! COOL!!! Since he's the club's smartest member, he comes up with all their plans and stuff like that. He's a big help to their club.

Samantha a.k.a. Sam:
Age: 12 Birthdate: 8/7/83
Background Info: Sam, just like Amy is adventurous, heroic, and is always looking for something, terrifying, mysterious and of course, adventurous. Sam's 18 year old brother, Jeff is Amy's sister's boyfriend. And Sam is Amy's best friend. Since Sam is such good friends with Amy, Samantha is Amy's backup, like a vice president. Buster, (Amy's dog) always acts real sophisticated around Sam's French poodle, CC, because CC is one heck of a beauty. CC now comes to most of the meetings also, now, because when Buster met CC he didn't want to leave, and when they ( the dogs) were separated, Buster acted like a brat and CC whined. What a handful!!

Now that you have met the team you may read the following story.

This shall be the club's first adventure, or I should say REAL adventure. The team has been locked in the school for a night and went to school the next day, when they went camping in the woods behind Sherlock's house they all freaked out and ended up sleeping on the porch and one night when they were celebrating Sam's 9th birthday someone broke into the house. No one got hurt.

But this is not a small adventure like the ones they have experienced before.

This... is the adventure.. that tests young adventurers like these five to see how they handle being in a dangerous....mysterious and of coarse adventures situations.

Buckle your seat belts.........You're in for a wild ride

_______________________________________________________

Part 1
Plannin' a trip

" Guys I doubt that we'll be able to go to Australia for our 2 and a half week trip,"said the club leader Amy Borris, during the club's forty third meeting! "But I have another surprise! My dad knows some people that live in a villiage in Africa called The Sacred One, but who knows how you say it in their language. Anyways, the family includes two 12 year olds,a nice mother and a grandma. They will take us on tours of the villiage and let us stay with them. And my dad mentioned that the father said there was some real cool secret, what is it? I don't know! This is your surprise."

" Yes. I already knew we were going to go there, so I have set tickets up. It was more than we expected. But. For the 5 of us it will cost is $5,100. It's the best deal I could get! We'll be leaviong in 6 days." Replied Whiz.

" But Whiz," said Sherlock, "How will we get all that money? I mean, we have only $600!"

"Whiz and I have worked all that out," replyed Amy. "Sherlock and Sam will have 12 extra jobs each, I will have 12, Whiz 11 and Missy 10. They will all be done in the next 6 days. Each job earns no lower than 10 bucks. Now, Missy , you better get to that job of yours. You start working in 5 minuts! Now Whiz, would you mind telling the rest of the team how much money that will be?"

" Not at all. The total will be between $500 and $600."

Sherlock was so shocked that this is all they could make, so he shouted,
" Whiz, that only brings us to $1,000 Whaqt happened to the other 4 grand?!?!"

" Whiz let me explain this part. Sam and Sherlock open your ears. You all know my dad is an auther, right?. My dad has been told by his publisher, that one of his books is gonna be turned into a movie and they have already started writing the screen play. So, my dad wants to loan to us!"

Sam then said," How are we gonna get the money to pay him back 4 grand?"

" Don't worry Sam, he said all we have to do is do all the yard work he needs or wants for 2 1/2 whole years! Now look at the schedule book and go to your jobs."

Part 2
Supplies

" Now, for our 44th meeting, we shall make a list of supplies. Whiz, out comes your computer." started Amy. "I went out yesterday after my last job to a camping place and then goodwill, and with the clubs money...."
She was then interrupted by Missy," What money?"

" Earlier in the year, I stored over $100 in a safe down stairs in my house. Well, anyway, I bought 5 canteens, 5 notebooks, and two flashlights. Now, I also went through my stuff and found some things. I found three sleeping bags, 3 big water proof bags, 3 cans of bug repellent, 2 more flashlights, and some batteries. Now, your job now is to go home and get, 5 sets of clothes, 2 swimsuits, pens, pencils, shoes, and more bug repelent. Bring, yogurts, fruit cups, 2 boxes of cerel. and one box or bag of somethin' to munch on. Oh! and one more thing, remember that water purifier we all made, bring that too. We'll meet here in an hour. Oh, and someone tell Missy all the nessesities." Since Amy had already packed she stayed in the club house and played a math game on the computer waiting for the time to pass.

Part 3
Headin' to Congo
RRRing..........RRRing.......RRRing. " Hello. Amy!!! It's 5 in the morning! What are you calling for? Are you nuts?"

" Sam! Do you want to be left here while we all go to Congo? Now get your parents up and meet me and the rest of the team at the clubhouse in 35 minutes." CLICK.
" She's nuts!"

When everyone arrived at the foot of the clubhouse, Amy's father said,"This is when we know our child is old enough to take responsibility. Our children will be gone for 2 1/2 weeks, if they come back in one piece, it'll be a miricle, Ha, Ha, Ha!!! Now, for the ones of you that will be escorting these 6 ...."

" 6?" said Sherlock's parents. " There are only 5 in the club."

" Excuse me, the 5 children and their faithful copanion, Buster, the dog!!! Now, everyone who is going, GET IN THE CARS!!!!"

" Hey Amy.' whispered Missy. " Are we taking Buster?"

" NO. It cost too much extra and he would be too much of a hassle. So NO."

At the airport the menagerie of parents escorted their children to the right gate. At the gate there were a lot of tears and goodbyes from the adults and "See Ya' laters" from the kids.

Part 4
Africa is NO luxury resort

The team arrived at the airpoort near Congo, and had a 3 hour bus ride and only got 3 miles closer to the village.

" What a rip off, now we have to walk 3 stinkin' miles in this scorching sun with these pesty packs!" complained Missy. " Am I glad I brought my umbrella."

" Typical Missy!" laughed Sam.

" Hey guys, look ahead, it's a guy with a mule we can buy and use till we get to the village and then sell it again!!' mentioned the hot and sticky Amy.

" Good thinking Amy."
Amy ran up to the man and said," Excuse me mister, would you like to sell that mule for 12 dollars?"

" Man, would I ever!!! Here ya' go. Her name is Rosebud. Here, have fun!"

And with that, the man ran off in happieness.

After the kids loaded all their stuff onto Rosebud, the team moved along smoothly, untill Missy's shoe got a speck of mud on it. "AAAAAAAAAAA!EEWWW!!!! Mud!!! Let me on the mule!"

" Missy, look at my shoes, there all muddy and even holes are waering into them. Please stop complaining"

" Yeah! You are slowing us down, we have only 1/2 a mile to go. Now keep walking!"

When the club arrived at the villige, they stared at it surprised. The houses were made of mud,sticks, sraw and big leaves. They were small, only about the size of two king size beds put next to each other. " Man," Sherlock exclaimed. " Ya' know gang, I was expecting houses with 3 or 4 bedrooms, the size of my house, a floor and a bathroom, I've been holding since the 1st mile!"

" Bathroom? Does someone need a bathroom?" the club heard someone laugh. " Right out there, in the grass, ladies behind bushes. I am the head of the village, and you?"

" I am Amy Borr....." she didn't get to finish because the man interuppted her.

" Oh, Miss Amy Borris! Yes, your father told me all about you and your team. I am Chief Mowhahwig. My name in English would be Darryl, just call me Cheif. This is my wonderful wife Domonique, and these are my two lovlely children, Minka and Carlos. Carlos, why don't you introduce Amy and her friends to Granni."

" Yes sir."
As Carlos escorted the girls to Granni's home, Missy noticed two strange men talking to another strange man. but had no time to say anything, for they had reached Granni's house.

Part 5
Granni's Humble Home
" Welcome to my humble home. I love it when guests come. You girls may sleep in my hut as the boys sleep in my son's hut. Boys, you better get ready for bed, you must be tired."

" Goodnight everybody have a good night." comforted Granni.

" Guys are you gonna write in your journals, I couldn't sleep without doing so." whispered Amy, she didn't want to yell, cause Minka was already asleeep.
Everyone, event eh boys started writing; this is what a few of them said:

Missy's Journal: Dear Diary, day one
Today I arrived in the uckiest place in Africa. The people we are visiting didn't put any floors in their houses, only rugs and mats. Can you beleive it, I have to stay here for 2 1/2 weeks, I might die!!! Though Minka is nice, I can't stand this place. Minka and Carlos said I would get used to it, yeah right!!!
Today, I saw 3 strange men walking around, one I think belonged tyo the village, but the others, looked like Americans. They walked around quietly like they were hiding something. I want to know who they were and fast too!

Sherlock's Journal: day one
Today we all came to the strangest place. All the huts have only mats and rugs for floors. Well, guess what, I saw some odd men, 3 of them. One looked like an African, but the others, they had on buisness suits and were Americans. Now, listen, the African guy went into his hut, but the buisness men went behind another hut. This is what I heard one of them say," Where is it? We've been looking for it ever since we got here. I'm tired of waiting."
Then the other one said," You must be patient, you must wait." That's all I heard. I wish I knew what they were talking about.

Part 6
Rise and Shine
" Rise and shine sleepy heads..... It's already 7:35 A.M. Your story time is at 8 A.M." Carlos beckened. " We have to haqve to wake up the girls."

" Rise and....Yawwwwwn.....shine at 7:35. At home I never wake up before 8:30. This is nuts." Sherlock said sleepily.

" Sherlock, that's the thing. Story time?......For us?.....We're 12 years old practicly. Gimmie a break!!" and Whiz lay down to go back to sleep.

Carlos was shocked," You guys don't listen to stories do you?" Not waqiting for their answer, he said," My father's stories are different."

" How could one story be different from another story? A story is a story."

" Oh, Whiz! No! My father's stories are different. His stories are myths."

" Carlos what's so special about a legend?" Sherlock wanted to know.

As Carlos was stepping to leave he said," What's so special about these legends? They're true." And with that, he went to wake the girls.s

Part 7
Storytime
Once everyone was up and at 'em, and in Carlos's father's
( Chief) hut, he began his story:

" In the ancient times of this village, some mysterious rumer spread about that the many gods were angry at the chief... Mohatu. Why? I'll tell you why. Mohatu was a very greedy, selfconsided, lazy and selfish person. He would never share any of his treasures with anyone, not even with his own kids!!! When any explorer would come they would make peace by giving Mohatu gifts. Mohatu always thought himself as a god and would never give away any of his treasures. You can sort of see why the gods would be angry, can't you?"

" Well, one day, the gods had it up to here!" he pointed to the top of his forehead. "They came down to the land, which they only do when they are beet red furious and said, not quietly, to Mohatu," For your greedieness we shall turn you to vaper. For your selfisness, no one shall see or hear you. And for your thinking of yourself as a god, we shall vanish you and your treasures to the Cove of Treasures." With those words, he did just that!!"

Sam then blurted out laughingly," Thankyou for telling us that, Missy realy needed that story! HaHaHaHeeHeeHee!!!"

" What is that supposed to mean?" Missy hissed.

" Nothing, but the fact that you are greedy, selfish, lazy and selfconsisded!!!" Sam exploded.

" Oh shut-up, I have a question to ask!!!"

` "Go on Missy."

" You're telling me that this Mohatu guy and his treasures are in this cave place?"
Chief nodded.

" Guys!! This is the best thing that could happen! I'll be rich! I't's better than the mall!!"

" Missy, I hate to burst your bubble," Amy said. " I've read just a little bit about it but I know you just can't walk in and take whatever.'

" That's right Miss Amy, I was just going to tell you about it. You must pass 3 tests, 1.) You must pass the Pathway of Gods. 2.) You must pass the Legend of Boobies and 3.) You must pass the Temple of the Gods. Now, let me finish my story. About 10 years after Mohatu was vanished, one of our people took the risk of passing those tests. He made it to the wonderous cove and while he was journying he was making a map. You see, he beleived everyone should get their share in Chief Mohatu's treasures. He was walking out of the cove with his map and the most beautiful ruby necklace. It had 14 beautifully bright red rubies. But then, a big horrible something took the paper and the necklace away, ripped both into many pieces, we beleive 14, one ruby for each peice of the map. It then scattered the pieces around the jungle."

" Okay, let me get this straight. Some horrible something put each ruby with a piece of map and put each one, somewhere in the jungle, Right?

" That's right Sherlock."

" Could he see it?"

" After running for his life and reaching the village, he said he saw nothing."

" So, maybe it was Mohatu!!"

" Sherlock, are you okay?"

" Whiz. Why wouldn't it be him?"

" Ummmmm."

" My point exactly. It was probably him because he wouldn't want anyone stealing his treasures. So he ripped up the map making it a challenge to anyone who dared look for the map. I have one more question. Were there any clues about how to pass the tests?"

" Yes. There......"

While they were talking, Amy and Sam were scooting towards the window. They heard some voices. " Shut up! They all might here you. Hurry up and get out your lighter." Amy and Sam decided to jump out the window and catch those two cooks off gaurd. " HIIIIIIII YYYYYAAAAAA!" The action began.

Part 8
Trouble's abrewin'

The two cookis threw the two girls off of them and into a pit of mud.
" Hey. Those are the same two men!" yelled Missy and Sherlock in unison. The men ran into another hut and brpought out their African friend. By then the rest of the village had joined in. There was rock throeing, name calling, dirt flying and lots of noise. They all hated those men, but who cares. Each man( bad guys) took out a lighter and lit each house. Everyone started panicing. Over 5 people fainted and nearly everyone but the gang was gathering there valubles. Amy then said paniced," Get your bags and journals, thats all we need and run that way." She pointed towards the woods thinking there was a path to take them to safty.

Part 9
We're not in Kansas anymore

Walking on for about 2 1/2 miles now, the team decides to stop and have an emergency team meeting. " Gang, I don't think we're in Kansas any more." Amy teased. " Now listen up. I only have 3 things on my mind now. 1.) Where the heck are we? 2.) How do we get back to the village to get help and 3.) I'm HUNGARY! Where's the food?"

" Right here. I only brought 25 Milky Way bars, 7 squeeze its and 12 4 packs of pineapple. You're welcome to pigout, just I also only brought 2 canteens of water! Sorry." said Whiz.

" It's alright. While were munching, we should atleast write in our journals."

" Nice thinking Missy."

Amy's Journal 2nd day
Today was a most exiting day. We heard a real interesting story and then bad guys were lighting all the huts on fire. The gang and I got lost in the jungle and we are now eating. I don't feel like writing now but I'll fill you in later.

Whiz's Journal 2nd day
Carlos got us all up at 7:35 A.M. just to hear a story. The story was real good. There is supposidly a hidden treasure. While were lost here in the jungle we should go on and look for the map that leads to it. Well, I'm still hungry, I can't write anymore.

Part 10
Remembering a story

" I'm hot!" MIssy complained.
" We're all hot!" Sam shouted.
"Hmmph." As Missy turned around, she became face to face with a poisonous tree frog.

" Missy! Get away! It's a tree frog! They're poison!" Whiz warned.
But typical Missy just gave it her best scream: " AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Then ran and hid behind Sam. " C'mon Missy, it's only a frog."

" Well, it ain't a treasure either!'
I suppose those very words struck both Amy and Sam like a bolt of lightning, cause they said at the same time," The Treasure!"

Part 11
Finding a clue

Around dinner time the group started worrying about two things 1. Where are they going to sleep?
2. Where can they get help?

"Hey, guys, start thinking about how we can make a shelter that will survive that storm. If my calculations are correct, that storm should be here in about 47 minutes." Whiz warned.
So the gang got all the sleeping bags, 3 king size blankets and found some long branches & elephant ear plants. They walked carefully making sure not to trip over to this huge tree and found a long, strong branch sticking out of it. They took a blanket and hung it evenly over the branch. They stretched the blanket out on each side and held it down with big stones. It was getting darker now and all the tall trees over head didn't make it any brighter. The shelter the group just made was only big enough for 3 sleeping bags and their owners. So Sherlock offered to share the next shelter with Sam, now that Whiz had his computer set up in the other tent. As nighttime neared the team got sleepier from all the excitment that day.

*************

Later that night Sam woke up unexpectedly. She sat up in astonishment. She looked around franticly for a flashlight. When she found it, she slipped on her black indoor/outdoor slippers and tiptoed toward the opening in the tent. She had obviosly woken up Sherlock because in his croaky morning voice, he said," Sam, where are you going?' HE looked at his glow in the dark watch. " It's 6:30 in the morning."
" SHerlock, just go back to sleep.' But as usaull, he didn't listen. HE slipped on his sandels and followed Sam. When Sherloch caught up to Sam he asked again,' Where are you going?" And this time she answered. " Well, I just had this dream......And in this dream some black guy told me where the first piece of thr map is and it's supposed to be over here." Sherlock looked puzzled. " What map?" " THe map to the treasure you dimwit. Help me find it."
At 7:07, they found it. " Hey, Sam! I think I found it! And a red rock too!" " Oh Sherlock! YOu did! And you found the first ruby. That looks exactly like the one in my dream! Lets go tell the others!"
When the two returened to the camp site, everyone was up searching for the missing pair. "Where have you two been?" Amy cried.
" You won"t beleave what Sherlock helped me find. Sherlock, show them what you found!!” He held out the piece of map and the ruby. Whiz and Amy's mouths were hanging open. Missy.....Well, all she said was," IT's so dirty! Don't get it near me."
" Missy, don't you understand? This is the first piece to the puzzle. The puzzle that will take us to the Cove of Treasures."
As you can see, Missy had forgottem about the Cove of Treasures. When she was reminded, her face lit up and her brain started thinking.......Thinking of how to get all the pieces first

.Sam's journal 3rd
IT's 7:11 AM. Sherlock and I were in the same tent and when I woke up he did too. He followed me out to the big tree. I told him about the weired dream I had and he started looking for the first piece of the map. when he found it we ran back to the camp and told them all about it. I hope we can find the pieces before the animals find us.

Part 12
Take a hike

"Since we're all up," said Amy. " Lets get ready to pack up and take a hike down the road, or I should say dirty, filthy, buggy path. On our map, we are in the Zaire rainforest and Whiz says if...."
" If my calculations are correct, we are 2.34 miles from the Zaire River."
" SO we have to start packing up." Amy annouced. " Where did our donkey go? I know we didn't sell it!" RIght after she said that everyone started laughing. " WHat's so funny?" she demanded. " HE's right here!" giggled MIssy. " He must've run for his life at the fire and followed our sent."
" MISSY!!!" Sam shouted and startled everyone. " That's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say!" Missy's face was red with anger...Friendly anger that is.
" You little....You little..."
" Missy, you wouldn't dare call me that!"
" You little princess!"
" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! How dare you call me a princess, when I'm a tomboy!" All Missy said was," Hmph." and turned away.

" You two are such a pair." Sherlock exclaimed. " Now everyone, to make this hike easier, lets pile as much stuff on the donkey as possible. Then we'll carry the rest." THey all got to work putting all the folded up blankets on the donkey, then put sleeping bags on Rosebud's back and the food basket the Granni made for them around her neck and tied them on with one of the two pieces of rope Whiz found laying around. The only thing they all had to carry were their backpacks. Then, Whiz and Sherlock put their heads together to make a fishing pole....For 2 reasons. 1. To fish and catch lunch. 2. To hook a carrot at the end and hold out infront of Rosebud. Missy rode on the back of Rosebud and held the fishing pole out infront with the carrot dangling 1 foot ahead.

About half a mile away from their desertered campsite Missy was already complaining that Rosebud was too slow and she was a @#%!X!!##%! " Missy, stop talkin' about yourself!" warned Amy. " Everyone will think you're bragging!" She laughed but Missy was sulking. She didn't have a smart alek remark to say back.

A long, tough, slowgoing trip it was, but they ventured through it. WIth blood-sucking mosquitoes covering your arms and legs, bushes with their branches out to attack, and poisonous plants all around, it would be very diffacult to cross a jujngle.

On their way Sam met up with a hercules beetle. It was sitting on a low tree branch with it's atteni sticking out forward and when Sam was walking towards that branch she happened to look and see that ugly thing and," AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! A big ugly bug! It's here to attack us from outer space!" Well lucky enough Missy wasn't looking, but with her snotty attitude she said, " Oh Sam, don't be such a wimp," she then looked over at what Sam was scared of,"that's n-n-n-n-n-n-noth-noth-nothing to-to-to b-be sc-sc-scared of, GULP!" She ran like she'd seen a ghost and hid behind Whiz.

" Sam, don't move, I-I-I mean run!" Sherlock yelled.

"Let's let Sam ride on Rosebud for a while. She's had a scare.Let's go, we're almost there." AMy finally said. Sam hopped on Rosebud and laid down on her stomach with her arms around Rosebud's neck. Within 10 minutes, she was fast asleep. 30 minutes later, she woke up with a shout," STOP!"

Part 13
S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s

Everyone was so startled, they all ducked down to the ground and Missy shrieked. " What the heck was that? I would like to know."
Sam didn't answer. Instead she jumped off Rosebud and headed straight for a _____________ tree. She kept looking up.
" What are you looking for?" asked Sherlock. " While I was asleep on Rosebud, I had another weird dream. The same black guy told me that the second piece of the map was up in this very tree. HElp me climb up." Sherlock looked up at the 100 foot tall tree and looked back at Sam, who was gathering the rope to tie around herself and climb up with. " You gotta be kidding" Sherlock mumbleed. " Guys, can you get that piece of rope over there. Man, look how long it is! IT must be 50 feet long. " " Why do we need it?" asked Whiz. " Whiz, I thought you knew everything." She chuckled. " I need to tie it to the others so I can climb up and hang it over that branch up there." she pointed to a really high up branch.
"Sam," Sherlock whispereed." I should be the one doing this!"

" WHy?"

" WEll, I'm a.... and you're a....."

"Oh give me a break. Just help me up to that first branch, um, I can get to the rest of them."

Watching Sam climb a tree was very amazing. She climbs trees like she lives in them. SHe was half way up to the top when she stopped, and climbed onto a branch next to her. She reached out and tied one end of the rope to the branch and the other end to her waist. She started downward to a skimpy little branch with a little wrinckeled piece of paper on it. " Sam, be careful!!!" yelled Amy.

" Yeah." mumbled Sherlock looking down at his feet." DOn't get injured before I have the guts to tell you that....." HE was interuppted by Missy's "EWWWWWW". " What is it now?" Everyone, including Sam said annoyed at Miissyy. " Look! A-a-a-a-a-a SNAKE!" Well, that almost made Sam fall out of the tree. But since Sam is such a skilled tree climber and even took classes on how to keep from fallin out of a tree, when she did fall, she grabed the skimpy little branch, wrapping her fingerrs around it as tightly as possible and with the rope holding her up, managed to get back up in the tree, and put the piece of map back into her pocket. Sam climbed back to the trunk of the tree and looked above her. A big, slimy, green tree python was getting closer, and closer to Sam. " Sam! Run...I mean, climb down as fast as possible. Ya' know, like in Jurassic Park, when the car was in the tree! Hurry!" screamed Missy at the top of her lungs. Sam did hurry.....But not down. She went up to untie the rope. SHe did just in time too! When she did she held her breath and swung from branch to branch racing down as fast as her athletic legs could carry her! Everyone below was praying. In hope Sam would make it safely down to the ground. Sam was almost to the last branch when something slick slithered aross her shoes. " DOn't panic Sam." Sam was saying to herself. " I'll make it. Just don't panic!" And with that she closed her eyes and JUMPED.........

Part 14
Almost there

Everyone screamed and closed their eyes. Whatifs were floating through theri minds. 'What if she breaks her leg or neck.' 'What if she get paralized from waist down?' What if she…dies?" They were all to busy worrieing about what might happen instead of what did happen. Sam didn't break anything, or get paralized, and no, she did not die. She landed like a cat.....On two feet.! "Everyone look! I'm not dead! Do you think I'd die on you? Ya' gotta be joking. Sherlock ! You're crying!!! What's the matter.?" " I'm happy your aren't dead! I wanted to tell you......" He was again cut short by Missy's sassy remark." Did you get the map? Good. Let's get out of this place. It gives me the creeps." Before they left, Sam bent down to pick up the 2nd red ruby.

*****************

" We need to start looking for a place to campout." whinned Missy. " I'm tired.....It's nearly 8:00 and we still aren't to the river yet."

"Missy," Whiz spoke up. " If we keep walking we might make it by Midnight."
Missy pouted but kept walking with the rest of the group.

At 8:00 everyone was yawning. They had had a very long and tiring day and everyone was about to conk out any minute. Sherlock pulled Whiz to the side and told him his great idea. "Tell the rest of the group Sherlock." So Sherlock told the group what to get. Amy got her 50foot rope out of her backpack. Missy found an elephant ear plant with 10 foot leaves. " Come help me Whiz. We can use 3." Whiz got out his pocket knife to help cut the leaf, but it didn't help much. The stem of the leaf was an inch thick. Well, they did get 3 finally by cuttung and cutting and cutting and... They cut the rope into 3 pieces. Tied one end of each rope piece to Rosebud's pack that was on her back. And tied the other end to one of the leaves. "There, we now have three beds," Sherlock said. "One of us can guide Rosebud part way and the other one the rest of the way. Let's draw straws." " With what I would like to know?" Amy queried. " With..... Paper Scissors, Rock. Whiz against Amy and Me against Missy. The losers from each group against each other. At the "finals" It was Missy against Whiz. And Whiz was the watch. Sam had been riding on Rosebud and was already asleep when it was done. Missy, Amy and Sherlock slept on the beds, Sam slept on Rosebud and Whiz lead them all part way to the river.

" Missy, get up! IT's your turn, it's 10:00. My watch is over." hissed Whiz into Missy's ear.

" Cna't you let beauty have her beauty sleep," said Missy in her sweet innocent sound. Missy finally rolled out of bed and took Whiz's place. Whiz fell asleep amidetly

Missy felt a chill go up her back. A cold chill. "Where's my jakcet?" she wondered. She found it, wrapped around her shoulders and kept going. Another chill sweapt across her face. It felt as if swirls of wind were twirling around her face and hair...But then it was gone. The cold feeling was gone. She reached up to brush a fly off her face when she felt the grease and sweat in her brown hair. "I've gone 4 days without washing my hair! No wonder it's all greasy and slimy." she complained to herself. " I can hardly wait till we get to the river. I'll wash my hair after we purify it."

Sam yawned, stretched and almost fell off Rosebud's back. SHe glanced around to get a glimpse of where she was, and fell back asleep. Missy stopped to stretch when she heard a sound like a moan. It grew louder and louder as she approached it. She stepped through some brush, looked ahead and...And there it was...The river

Part 16
The RIver

Missy nearly jumped for joy, but not wanting to wake the others quietly guided Rosebud through the brush, making a path as she went. Then it dawned on her. The moaning sound was the flowing water! Missy found a tree practicly in the water with plenty of branches to climb. She glacned at her watch. " Whiz was right!" she whispered. " It's only 12:08! We made it just in time!"

She went over to Samantha's bag, grabbeda flashlight then tried to wake her. Missy shook her slighty and whispered something in Sam's ear that finally woke her up. She couldn't beleive her eyes either. It was the river! she relized. Sam wanted to shout and scream so loud, that the monkeys on the other side of Africa could hear her. But she also didn't want to awake her companians so abruptly. SO instead, Sam headed over to Whiz's backpack looking for the water puifyer. She soon found it and followed Missy to the river. They gathered 3 ounces of water, ran it through the tubes and jars and found 2 ounces of water left. They masured the water in half and gulped down in one gulp. Sam had to have more! So instead of just 3 ounces she slowly put in 5 ounces of water. "Missy, if you want to wash your hair, you'll have to wait for about 5 more minutes." Sam said casually. Missy couldn't stand it anymore.

She went over to the bank, looking at it in a way that looked as if she were asking herself, DO I dare? Well, she did dare. She took off her headband, flipped her head over and dunked her head. To her surprise, she found things in the water moving arund her head. Missy stumbled backward and balanced herself out. " There's... there's...SOmething in there!" she finally managed to stammer.

" Missy," replied Sam," it's only fish. When everyone's awake, we can try to catch some!" " With what? " Missy demanded squeezing her sopping wet hair.

Sam stood up and said, "Keep an eye on the water in the purifyer. Fill it up more if you want." and she walked away to get a flashlight.

Sam didn't return for 2 hours it seemed to Missy. But to tell you the truth, she had only been gone about 20 minutes. When she did return, she had her hands full of sticks, rocks, boken twigs and dry leaves, and some thin rope she had gotten from her bag. She layed them all down infront of Missy. " I'll be right back. I left some more rocks over there." Missy gulped down another 2.5 ounces of water and left the rest for Sam. She started fixing more because she knew that there was no more water left in the containers in the bags, and if there was, it wasn't enough to last an hour with her friends. Sam returned in no time at all. She put 18 rocks in a oblong circle and piled some of the dead bark, twigs and leaves in the middle. She found two rocks, and started to rub them.

Missy watched with admireration. You would have to admire Sam. SHe never quit giving up. She tons of patience.

Both Missy and Sam found it was a long way to before you could get to fire. When Sam had been working on making fire for almost 30 minutes, Missy couldn't put up with it. She grabbed two more rocks and robbed untill her hand got blisters on them. " Ow, you shocked me!' cried Missy. " I didn't touch you!" They both looked at each other and knew.

They hit sparks.

Missy was the first to get some. She aimed at the dead bark. They hit and went out. She tried again. More sparks, but they died out. This time both aimed their sparks at the same place and saw it burning. Sam started faning and blowing at it. They sparks were growing.

Part 17
Fire!

Fire! They hit the jackpot! They had been working for almost 2 hours before they relized whta time it was. IT was nearly 3 in the morning. Rosebud had fallen fast asleep and they wind was blowing slightly. " Missy," Sma said in a low tone. " We need more dead bark. There's a tree about 10 feet behind theat brush. Take my windbreaker and fill it with bark. We need all we can get. I won't let this fire go out!

When Missy didn't return, Sam was getting worried. The fire was low, and she'd been gone for more than 20 minutes. As Sam approched the brush, she heard humming. IT was Missy! " Where the heck have you been?" hissed Sam. Missy didn't have to answer. Sam looked down at her windbreaker, saw it zipped up and Missy was holding it like a basket from the sleeves. Inside she did not only find bark but also berries. " How do you know they aren't posinous? " Missy only answered, " I remember from Science class."

Missy and Sam hurried over to the fire. They threw in some of the bark and ate a couple of berries. " These berries are good," complimented Sam. " But we had better save some for the gang. We never know how long we'll be stranded here."

Sam scooped up some more water with a measuring cup, and poured it in the machine that they had invented and had used to win 2nd place at the school science fair: The Water Purifyer. Missy handed Sam a handfull of berries. Sam took the berries and squeezed them into another measuring cup. Sam mixed the juice from the berries with a couple of teaspoons of water and Presto! Sam had just made punch. IT tasted pretty good too! Sam told Missy to keep getting more and more water, because she was going to go get another couple of pounds of berries. Sam walked over to the bush where MIssy had found the berries. There must have been a million berries. Sam picked berries for almost forty-five minutes before she relized she had over 5 pounds of berries. SHe stumbled back to the fire with bright red juice dripping from her mouth. She grabbed her back off the donkey once she had dropped the windbreaker full of berries. She took out her bugspray, sprayed some on her legsand handed it to Missy. She took out her journal and wrote:

Journal, Day 3
Tonight, or I should say this morning Missy started to purify the water and we both made a fire. We have more than 5 pounds of berries, beleive me they are not poisonus! I invented a new kind of punch by mixing berry juice and water. IT tastes real good. But I don't think we all can live on punch, candy bars and berries. We need more than that. Since we are by the river, maybe we could eat fish, but who knows? There could always be crocidiles. It's now 5 A.M. and they gang hasn't woken up yet. Well, I wouldn't blame them for wanting to sleep, but we need to get a move on.

Sam then shoved her journal into her bag and got out all her candy bars. SHe had brought: five Milky Way bars, ten 3 Musketeer bars and five Hershy bars. " Yeah right," she thought, " Like I'm gonna survive on candy and berries this whole time we're lost." Missy looked at her and said," What are you going to do with those?"

"DO you want some? I can't lug around all these while we're trying to survive out in the jungle in africa! That would be stupid." She handed Missy a Milky Way. Missy ripped off the paper and bit into the melted candy bar. " You're right. You can't take all this melted candy around!" She reached for another, and then another, and another, untill she felt as if she was about to barf! She gulped down a couple of ounces of water then looked at her watch. It was dawn. The two galnced over to where the sun was popping out of the ground. Sam heard a moan. She jumped. Missy just laughed. They turned toward the donkey. Whiz was waking up. They both looked at wach other and grinned. They tiptoed over to where Whiz was lying. They got down to his face. " On three." whispered Missy. " 1...2...3! WAKE UP!" They screamed. Whiz nearly jumped out of his skin. " Why the heck did you do that?" yelled Whiz. Whiz and the girls must have woken up both Amy and Posebud who almost kicked SHerlock in the head. Sherlock and Amy sat up, stretched and looked around them.

" What have you guys been up to ?" Amy inquired. Missy jumped in before Sam had time to think about the question." Me and Sam made a fire, purifyed 1 gallon of water and made half a gallon of punch by mixing berry juice and water. We also have more than 5 pounds of berries." Missy blurted that out all so quickly that everyone was still trying to make out the first word. Once Missy repeated what she had said, everyone jad caught on. They all stumbled up and walked over to the fire and berries. They all noticed the candy and everyone pitched in to eat it all, except Missy and SAm. Even Posebud enjoyed the rare treat of choclate. When only a few candy bars remained, everyone thought it was a pretty good idea to let the rest go to waste.

"But what are we going to put all the garbage?" inquired Whiz. " I mean, we can't just let it sit here. IT'll ruin Mother Nature."

" Whiz is right." Amy said. " We can't just leave it to rot. We need somewhere to put it." " Well, I don't see a garbage can anywhere around. What do you suggest?" Sherlock replied.

There was a long silence while everyone thought and watched the incredible sunrise.

" Why don't we just stuff it all in our backpacks so that way we don't pollute the earth." Sam finally said.

Everyone did the easy task and finished watching the beautiful sun take its place in the sky.

Part 18
Another clue

The Perolios Solvers decided to wash off in the Congo River. " I'd like to know how we are going to do this." Missy said. Amy thought. Then she replied," We change into our bathing suits and swim in the water. We have to. We all smell like garbage."

Everyone found a bush to get behind and soon everyone was in the water splashing and laughing. After a while, they all got out and dried off after washing their clothes.

As Sherlock was washing out his shirt, he noticed something buried in the sand. He pulled it out and soon found it was part of the map.

Sherlock stood up and held te piece in both hands. "What is it?" Missy asked.
" I think it's part of the map. How many pieces is this now?' Sherlock wanted to know.

" Its exactly 3. Did you find the ruby yet?'

" Not yet. Let me look around for it."

as the others dried off Sherlock found the ruby and rinsed it off.
Missy then said," Now that we have 3 pieces, let's put them together and see if we can make out anything."

When they put them together the pieces formed the top right hand corner. When they looked at the pieces they figured something out . On the back of the map there were words written, almost in a forein language. "What the heck does this say?" Sam cried out. "How are we ever going to get out of this place if we can't even read the stupid clues?!"

" Don't freak out Samantha. I have it all figuered out." Whiz expalined. "All it is, is cryptograms. My mom and dad taught me how to figure them out. Watch." Everyone watch as Whiz scribbled down what they had of the message. "What's it say? what's it say?" Missy shrieked. I could make out the completed words. They say "kneal", "you" "step". Those are the only words I could deshifer."

Part 19
Moving along

Around 10:00 AM, the group was all packed up, loaded everythng onto the donkey and was soon again mooving along the river's edge. They found they could not always stay along the river bank and had to cut through some brush and head back on over to the river. The walked...And they walked... And they walked, untill they thought they could not take another step foward. They all colapsed onto the ground and sat sweating, staring at one another with dull, blank looks on their faces. Sam was tired of Missy complaing, Missy was complaining about mud and sweat messing up her profile. Sherlock was way too tired, Whiz had turned his head one too many times and Amy's head was spinning from trying to think of how to get them out of this mess.

Sam sat up, and looked aaround. She stood up and found her hiking boots practicly stuck in the ground. She forced them out of the ground and stood on a low branch of a close by tree. She saw the others' backpacks sinking. A horrifying thought flashed through her mind. She must help them...Quick!

Part20
Quick Sand

She untied the rope from her waist and called out,"Amy, Catch!!" Sam threw one end of the rope to Amy and of course, Amy caught it. " Sam, why are you..." She looked down and screamed. Everyone looked down and screamed. "Everyone, I'll pull you out one at a time." Yelled Sam. First she pulled Amy and Amy's bag, Whiz and his computer, then, Missy and her bag, and finally Sherlock with his bag. The only thing lost was Whiz's bag. Not a big loss.

Once everyone was safe in the tree and had caught their breath, they started to worry about Rosebud. “Hey guys, where’s Rosebud? We really need her!” Sam cried out. “Oh, I hope she wasn’t pulled under....all of my makeup and food is on her back!” “Missy, is that all you care about?” Amy asked Missy. Missy hung her head down. “no.” Then she looked up.”I know where she is!” Sam helped Missy down from the tree using a rope and her strength. Believe it or not, Sam is pretty strong. She use to be in Kararte and she also lifts weights . Weird, huh? Before Sam could get down off the branch they were all standing on, Missy was practicly out of sight . She ran behind some bushes and in a minute, she was leading the frightened Rosebud out into the clearing. “Stay away from the Quicksand, Missy.” Sherlock cried. “Missy, that’s the 1st unselfish thing you have done all day.” Sam smiled and Whiz said,” That’s true. Maybe she’ll learn after all.” Missy just glared at Whiz. “ Well, let’s just get going. Missy, how did you know Rosebud would be there?” Amy asked. “ Well, earlier, I introduced her to those berries we all loved. Evedentally, she loves them too. And she lags behind us sometimes, so.......”Missy explained. “ Missy, that was very smart of you. I wouldn’t of thought of that.” Sherlock said. Sam then said,” Lets stay away from quicksand for a while. Deal?” They all laughed.

As they started off again, Missy noticed something glistening in the sun. Something shiny. Something small. Something red..............

More Press! Hackers Are People Too!

2008-10-28T18:32:00.001-04:00

Who speaks Dutch?

Voor de meeste mensen heeft het woord 'hacker' een negatieve bijklank. Figuren die chaos op het internet veroorzaken, virussen verspreiden, computers beschadigen. Ze hacken CNN, stelen gegevens en bedreigen internetgebruikers. Genoeg vooroordelen of zijn hackers als subcultuur gewoon verkeerd begrepen? Onafhankelijk filmmaker Ashley Schwartau zocht in haar nieuwe documentaire "Hackers Are People Too" een antwoord.

http://www.security.nl/artikel/23329/1/Film_%22Hackers_zijn_ook_mensen%22_breekt_met_stereotypen.html

Does Sarah Palin Think Hackers Are People Too?

2008-10-28T18:27:00.000-04:00

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/hackers/movie/prweb1472294.htm

Another write up on Hackers Are People Too

2008-10-28T18:26:00.001-04:00

http://newsteam.scmagazineblogs.com/2008/10/15/forget-what-you-think-about-hackers/

"H4ck3rs Are People Too is a recently released documentary that gives an enlightening and comical glimpse into the hacker community. Not just the cybercriminal launching attacks from the dark shadows of their basement, the film proves that hackers are fun, passionate, beer-drinking, normal people.

The film dispels the notion that all hackers are out to steal your credit card info and replaces it with the reality that many hackers are IT security professionals, computer analysts and researchers. The message that comes through, for me, is that a lot of hackers are just normal people trying to break things to make them better.

The film was edited and directed by Ashley Schwartau, a 23 year-old University of Central Florida digital media student. Daughter of Winn Schwartau, CEO of The Security Awareness Company, Schwartau has been going to hacker conventions since the age of 16. The documentary was shot at a recent Defcon conference where Schwartau interviewed some prominent names in the IT security community."

Nick and Norah's Mixtape of Awesome

2008-10-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

i can't stop smiling. i just saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and my face hurts because I smiled the whole drive home.

i want to be 16 again and get that butterfly feeling when i wondered if he like-liked me like i liked him.

i am on the verge of tears - i feel like i've just fallen in love.

the movie was wonderful. an instant classic. it was funny and charming and sweet and romantic and realistic and offbeat. everything i needed.

i read a great book today that gave me goosebumps (the good kind) and this movie just warmed me from the inside out. i want to go dance in circles till i fall down dizzy. i want a night that lasts forever. i want to feel that nervous excitement right before kissing someone for the first time.

there are very few times when i wish i could go back and maybe redo parts of my teenage years. i loved them for the most part. i just wish that sometimes i had been more spontaneous or that i had lived in the moment. i still wish i did those things. sometimes i wish i lived in a cooler place for my teen years where movies become your real life or vice versa. i wish i could have fallen in love at 16.

go see nick and norah and fall in love.

McCain Gets Barack Rolled

2008-10-06T12:08:00.001-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiQCJXpbKg

HACKERS ARE PEOPLE TOO - FLINT FILM FESTIVAL!!!!

2008-10-03T16:53:00.002-04:00

HACKERS ARE PEOPLE TOO has been accepted to the FLINT FILM FESTIVAL and will be shown on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 at 8 pm!!!!!!!!!!

:-D

If you know anyone who lives in Michigan, TELL THEM TO GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Video: See You Again

2008-09-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

See You Again from Ashley Schwartau on Vimeo.

My friends and I spent 4th of July in Jacksonville. Here we are, getting ready to go out for the night. :-D i.e. we had not started drinking yet. :)

Life in Tennessee Part 2: Why I Like Nashville (So Far)

2008-09-18T17:55:00.003-04:00

Everyone is nice. Seriously. Everyone. [Everyone except our next door neighbors, but that's a story best shared when I have time to type up THE DOGS NEXT DOOR SAGA.]

People at the gas station (though maybe they share too many details of their private lives), people at the drivers license bureau, people at the Firestone, people at grocery store, at any store, anywhere.

I don't know if its just the things are little more laid back here, or if its because people get to experience seasons that don't include the word "hurricane", or if its because we're in the south, but sometimes I marvel at how helpful 95% of the people I've encountered have been.

I like that.I like that people seem to be happy and enjoying their lives. And so far, Nashville is turning out to be an a-ok place to live.

Life in Tennessee: Character Sketches

2008-09-18T17:50:00.001-04:00

Character Number 1: County Clerk's Office Clerk Lady

Yesterday, I officially became a TN resident by changing my Drivers license and then to the county clerk's office to register my car. The lady, like everyone I've encountered in Nashville thus far, was very friendly and nice and cheerful. Everyone loves their jobs. Its crazy. So, we're chatting, as people are prone to do, and she asks what brought me to TN which lead to what my major was which then led to an explanation of Digital Media. And then following conversation happened:

Her: "Would that mean you are Paramount's friend?"
Me: "Well if Paramount wants to be my friend then I will be their friend."
Her: "If you're into movies and stuff, Paramount should be your friend. Like I told my nephew - ugly thing that he is - just follow your dreams."
Me: *blank stare*
Her: "Have you ever seen that movie ROADTRIP?"
Me: "like five years ago or so"
Her: "Well, he's the real thin ugly one. My nephew."
Me: *unsure what to say, smiling and nodding*
Her: *pulling out a photo from her drawer and showing to me* "That's him there with me and my sister. Yeah, ugly thing, UGLY, but he followed his dreams."

This is her nephew:

Me: "He was on SCRUBS!"
Her: "Yeah and CSI and Numbers and a whole bunch of stuff. Real ugly though. He followed his dreams."

As I was leaving she said, "Remember, honey, just follow your dreams."

Character Number 2: Mapco Lady

The closest gas station/convenience store to us is a Mapco. 2 minutes down the road and we can get milk or beer or gas and be home in time not to miss the season premiere of HOUSE. :) Ever since my parents moved here, my dad has spent quite a bit of time at the Mapco (Which is next door to a bait shop) getting to know the people who work there. Imagine: Mayberry. Trucker hats. Old men with no teeth. Very friendly people very comfortable with being from the south. My dad finds them funny and gets along with them mostly.

The other morning, I am driving downtown, and I stop at the Mapco to get a bottle of water. I've been awake for all over 45 minutes and all I want is a cold, refreshing bottle of water. In the line in front of me is a big lug of a guy buying water and a pack of Immodium.

The older, long-gray-haired woman with retro cat-eye glasses, says, "hey hon, how are ya this mornin?"
Big lug says back, "Oh, I could be better." and taps the immodium packet.

Then the following conversation occurred:

Her: Oh dont I know it, I've had that problem for 20 years. Feel better!
*Big lug thanks her and leaves while I step up handing her the water and $2**
Her: Yep, had that problem a good 20 years now, and its mighty terrible. Cant go out to dinner or nowhere without worrying that it might just hit! Sometimes it just hits out of the blue and then you have run to a bathroom. But you can never just pass gas without worrying 'oh no, what if its more' so you run to the bathroom, pass the gas, thats all it is, and then think 'oh i coulda done that anyway'.

*by this point I am inching towards the door as she proceeds to tell me about how she can't eat fastfood and has gone to so many doctors and tried so many types of meds but nothing works she just lives with the problem*

*she is still talking as I walk out the door, waving at her*

25 Days to Save Women's Rights

2008-08-27T00:33:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

George W. Bush has launched a new assault on birth control and
reproductive freedom.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently proposed
regulations that could seriously undermine access to basic
reproductive health services -- including birth control and abortion.

Instead of striking a careful balance between individual religious
liberty and patients’ access to reproductive health care, the Bush
administration has taken patients’ rights and their health care needs
out of the equation.

This far-reaching proposal doesn’t need congressional approval. But,
it can’t go forward without allowing for public comment. That’s where
you come in.

The deadline for public comments is fast approaching -- September 20
-- and we have to generate intense opposition to these dangerous
regulations.

I just sent HHS my comment urging them to stop efforts to block
women's access to basic reproductive health services. You can do the
same here:

http://action.aclu.org/hhs_comment

Fight the good fight, we can solve this!

Ashley

WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON IMDB!

2008-08-22T23:47:00.002-04:00

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1279942/

Hackers Are People Too - UPDATE!

2008-08-22T23:27:00.005-04:00

A few things to update on HAPT:

The Dvds of Hackers Are People Too will continue to be available for $10 until September 8, at which time they will be sold for their retail price of $13.37 (very 1337, i know)
i just did a radio interview (live! ahhhh!) for andrew's show Usual Suspects Radio in las vegas. very cool. :) it was scary but fun. (http://usualsuspectsradio.com/) they said the archive would be available in a couple days and i will post the direct link then :)
Everyone should go to the amazon product page and leave a review! here
We are still working on getting this thing seen and shown. Right now I am working on Netflix and ThinkGeek. If you have any contacts or any ideas, send em our way!

In other news:
Cheeto and Oreo continue to make me sneeze but I revel in the allergies. Lol. I love kitties and am so glad to be living with kitties. It makes the whole long distance relationship thing more tolerable.

Adam is going skydiving on sunday. CRAZY. I can't wait to see that video.

Next weekend, we move Adam up to Boston. Its going to be a weeklong trip essentially, which I'm not thrilled about but I am psyched to see Boston and all that time in the car means rockin' tunes and hopefully some sleep. Maybe I should take a camera to document the whole "My brother is going to college" thing. Though he probably wouldn't like it so much......

We've Made it to Amazon

2008-08-17T12:58:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone!! If you have seen the film HACKERS ARE PEOPLE TOO go to http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0962870080/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img and leave us some feedback! :) Help us get good product reviews! :)

Amazon: Hackers Are People Too

2008-08-17T11:08:00.001-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Are-People-Jeff-Moss/dp/0962870080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1218985032&sr=8-1

I need someone to order a copy from Amazon so that they will see that I'm real and ask for more copies of the DVD for their stock!!

I've been blogged!

2008-08-17T10:34:00.001-04:00

Hackers Are People Too - Ashley Schwartau
And how could I forget to add something about my acting debut in the documentary Hackers Are People Too which was premiered at Defcon XVI. Well ok, maybe I was on the screen for less than 2 seconds and I wasn't quoted as saying anything but hey, to be in a hacker documentary was really cool. Ashley even recognized me when I came up to her vendor booth. But enough of my vanity, the documentary was so cool and people really should pick it up to show to their friends and family and get the scarey idea of what hackers are out of their heads.

Check out Mark Mannin's Blog about DefCon16: http://www.markmmanning.com/blog/labels/GMail.html

psphackerowned wants to pirate my film

2008-08-15T09:34:00.002-04:00

This morning, a new comment was waiting for me on my youtube page for my HAPT trailer:

from psphackerowned:
this looks good id like to see this.
can someone who has bought this upload it on thepiratebay(dot)org or at least rip it and send it to me then pm me plz i want to see this and im a cheap ass.

I wrote back:
I can't believe you would publicly post on the filmmaker's youtube page that you are actively trying to get someone to pirate it! I understand that people torrent films but blatantly putting it out there like that? SMOOTH. You just pwned yourself, buckaroo.

Seriously. Wtf?!

I figure people will torrent things but just coming out and saying that without buying just ONE copy. They are not that expensive. lol.

Grifter Twittered Me (wow that might sound dirty...)

2008-08-14T15:19:00.001-04:00

Grifter twittered Hackers Are People Too!

Search Security: Security Wire Weekly - Hackers Are People Too

2008-08-13T15:39:00.002-04:00

HAHA Look at that! We made it into iTunes in one of the podcasts! How awesome is that?

So I totally hate my voice -- have I always sounded like a valley girl? Do I sound like that in real life? Ya know...I'd rather not know....

Here's the direct link to the podcast:
Security Wire Weekly: Hackers Are People Too

http://media.techtarget.com/audioCast/SECURITY/SecurityWireWeekly08132008.mp3
Ashley Schwartau, director of a new documentary Hackers Are People Too, explains the challenges of making a movie about hackers. The documentary looks at the human side of the hacking community.The film debuted at DEFCON 16.

Jeez louise. Exciting! :)

Digg Me!

2008-08-13T12:21:00.002-04:00

Come on People!

Use those DIGG accounts for something good!

http://digg.com/movies/Hackers_Are_People_Too

Digg us!

DefCon Update

2008-08-12T14:39:00.014-04:00

Every year, I look forward to going to DefCon because its a 3 day period of chaos, nerds and general debauchery. Of course, the last couple years with DefCon being at the Riviera, the level of debauchery has slowly declined, but the con is nevertheless a whole helluva lot of fun.

Last year, I dragged Amanda with me so we could shoot footage for the documentary - which was in its baby form last year - and we exhausted ourselves, barely sleeping. I was determined not to do that this year....which means, I did it anyway. We worked hard at the booth, selling our DVDs - of which I think we sold around 600 - and meeting people, talking to people, running around con and just having a good time. We didn't party as hard as we probably would like to - I went to bed by 2 the first night, 12:30 the 2nd night and 10:30 the 3rd night haha. But then, there's always next year.

I missed out getting to spend a lot of time with my friends so I guess that means I'll have to figure out how to see them more during the year....maybe a con or two?

One thing I did do differently from any previous year, was take a lot of photos! Probably not as many as I should have, but still a lot.

Pix0rs

I like going up to people and just taking pix with them, like this guy with horns. Why did he have horns? I didn't think to ask....

The Premiere:
I got to wear a fancy dress which was fun! And the people wearing the funny hats in this photo are Geoff Bennett's wife, Jennifer (I can't believe we didn't take a photo together!) who is really sweet and awesome. I think is great she came out to see what con was all about and I hope she comes back next year!

No one I know took any photos of me when I was shakin' in my boots on stage. Does anyone have any? If you do could you email me? I hope I didn't look too ridiculous up there.......

Other Pix0rs

My good friend, Matt, whose film you should all check out: September 12!

Bobcat and Billy Goto all dressed up for Hacker Jeopardy. They won again this year, didn't they?

Dan Kaminsky pwning my dad at chugging beer. LOOK AT THAT. How fast did that man drink that beer?!

Kristen, helping the boys out at the scav hunt.

Ratman came to hang out with me at the booth. This guy is awesome. He also took our extra boxes to the PO and shipped 'em to us. :) Thanks!

Ian and Laz wearing Geoff's hats. Nice face, Ian.

Salem....and some guy who LOOKS like Salem......

Martin, one of the guys I met at my second con (DC11).

I love that Deviant, who is in our film, wore hawaiian shirts to DEFCON. Lol.
So the IO Active Party was hilarious. Was that Saturday night? The whole weekend was a blur, but they took over a ginormous room at the top of the riv and had a carnival style party called the Freak Show (or was it Phreak Show?) with free beer and face painting and contortionists. People were in costumes and crazy outfits!

They even had a huge, homemade twister board and a man baby to spin the spinner...

A blow up monkey crowd surfing........

Adam Meyers (who finally got a haircut) and Eric Green (a good friend of the family).

Dude.....its Dracula!

I wanted a pic with Elvis but then Brett jumped in totally ruining it! :) Jk! Great seeing Brett since I hadn't seen him since Toorcon9.

Yeah. A roman guard was guarding the IO Active Party. Very chic.

I'm not entirely sure HOW Salem charmed the porn store lady into giving them a mannequin, but she did. We thought she was indecent, so we gave her a Flat Nine Studios tshirt.

Siviak came by showing off his offensively awesome tshirt.
Lance got so hungry, he nearly ate Dan!

The girls....lookin' sexy. ;-)
Thad came by with this ridiculous story about why he missed the screening, saying he had purposefully scheduled his plane so that he would miss the screening........that bastard. ;-) Its ok though - he MISSED his flight on Sunday night. Silly boy!

After the vendor area, we set up shop outside the Closing Ceremonies where we sold another couple dozen DVDs.

Last year, after Toxic, Amanda and I hitched a ride back on what we affectionately nicknamed The Sweaty Man Bus. It was THIS bus, which we fit like 30 people into, and it was NOT air conditioned! Salem and his crew drove from Sacremento (?) with like 15 people (or more?) in this bus WITH NO AIR CONDITIONING. They did however have a wireless network and lots of fans....

And now for some vids.....

Kristen, repenting for the Scav hunt.

Quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen in a long time ---- HACKER JEOPARDY GOT RICK ROLLED!!!!!!

Hackers Are People Too - DefCon Premiere

2008-08-12T10:00:00.011-04:00

Hey Everyone! I've been out of touch for the last 5 days because I've been at DefCon in Las Vegas where we premiered the brand new documentary HACKERS ARE PEOPLE TOO. I had been very nervous, hoping that showing it at DefCon wasn't a huge mistake - I mean, that is a tough crowd! But, when I was editing the movie, I knew that the hacker community was going to be the first crowd to see it, so it better be good enough for their standards! And apparently it was, because everyone seemed to really like it :)

The screening was set for 9 pm during Movie Night with Dark Tangent (the creator of DefCon) and when I got down there, all dressed up in my LBD (little black dress), I found out that we were just going to be using the PA system for audio. The hotel's PA system was terrible and I started to panic because if the audio sucks, no one will stay to watch it and then everyone would assume the audio was bad on the dvd, which it isn't, because after all the hard work that Amanda Shapiro did, we had a professional audio engineer - my amazing uncle, Mike Poston - go through and make it sound even better! So needless to say, my stress levels were raising.

I found my friend Vyrus, who was running one of the contests, and he wrangled his people and for the next 20 or more minutes, they worked their butts off to get new speakers in there so that the hundreds of people that were filing into the room could hear the movie. I was still stressing, and my friends Matt and Jason and my parents were trying to calm me down but when they tested the sound and it was still unhearable on one side, my dad got involved, trying to get them to raise the speakers that way the sound could bounce off the walls and be heard in the back, my panic and stress were too high and I had to step out of the room.

You know that point where you have no control over whether or not tears fill your eyes? That had happened. I could see that they were fixing it, that everything was going to be ok, that my friends were awesome, but when my mom told me I had to get up on stage to make an announcement since we were running late, those tears just started streaming down my face, ruining my makeup lol. So she, thankfully, got up and made a quick announcement and 10 minutes later everything was fine. I was laughing through my tears, which finally stopped but I was still shaking.

As much as I had psyched myself into showing this movie to a huge crowd at DefCon, actually seeing the crowd made me go weak in the knees. I've never had that many people see any of my work at once, and for a first time filmmaker, that crowd was terrifyingly huge.

DT got up on stage and made his little intro and then he brought me up and as soon as I saw the blinding lights, I forgot everything I wanted to say. It was only a minute or so I had planned, but POOF! GONE! Gone from my brain. So I stuttered through a quick thank you, a quick intro, a quick "I love this community so much" and then I mentioned that we had lost a beloved member of this community earlier in the year - Geoff Bennett - and that his wife, Jennifer, was here with us tonight. She stood up, wearing one of his famous goofy hats, and everyone applauded, welcoming her into the community that I know Geoff loved. I told everyone that the movie was dedicated to him and that I hope everyone enjoyed it. And I stumbled my way off stage.

We had decided to put the subtitles on for the movie since a few people had requested I do, plus the audio was going to not be the best anyway, and the subtitles really helped.

I sat in the front with my mom and DT and I think Billy Goto (all fancified in his tux) sat behind us. For the next 43 minutes, I was shaking. Everyone clapped when the Title screen came up (HACKERS ARE PEOPLE TOO) and everyone laughed when they were supposed to laugh and at the end, everyone clapped, and then after the credits, everyone clapped again. DT made me get back on stage and say something else, and when I got up on stage, I saw that everyone was standing. Standing and clapping. How cool is that? I was so nervous but so SO very happy that everyone liked it. I hope I thanked everyone I was supposed to - I think I might've pronounced Lance's last name wrong. Dan and Lance did most of the music in the film so I made them and Amanda stand up even though they wouldn't get up there with me.

But the whole thing was weird and surreal and exciting and very very cool.

Jason Scott offered to stand to the side of the room at a table and sell DVDs for me since I wouldn't be able to, and I thank him for that. He has been very nice and supportive through this whole process and it was his idea that I subtitle the movie (and I am sure glad I paid to have it transcribed). He also let me ride his segway, so that was fun. :)

My friend Aaron came up to me when there was maybe 10 minutes of the movie left and whispered that he was really impressed. "I expected it to be good, but not this good." I actually heard that from a lot of people over the course of the next 2 days. That they figured I'd do a good job but that it would be as good as it was. THAT made me feel like I had done justice to the community.

___

Amanda, Dan, Lance and I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday running the Flat Nine Studios booth, selling DVDs and shirts, and people who had seen the film kept coming up and saying how much they liked it. A lot of people thanked us for making it. A few people said it was one of the best documentaries they had ever seen. A few other people commented on the editing, saying it was ver professional and impressively put together. I heard one guy say that it was nice to have original music under the whole thing (thanks to Lawrence Ethan, Darren Ohl and Silver Tongue Devils) and most every single person who came by who had seen it, liked it!

The Capture the Flag room, which plays weird/random videos all day up on the big wall, offered to play the movie on Saturday for us, after which a bunch more people came by to buy it. And DefCon TV also ran it Saturday night. So thanks to them for helping promote our film!

___

The whole weekend just went so well, better than I could have anticipated. In spite of the panic I experienced Friday night, I had a great time and am just so so so happy that the film was so well received. When I set out to do this originally, I had no idea it was going to become such a huge project, but the goal was always the same: to introduce the hacker community, a community I LOVE, to the world, giving hackers a chance to say "hey! we aren't what you think we are! THIS is what we are!" and I think everyone got a chance to see that we just wanted to spread the good word of 'hacker'. :)

___

A good friend of mine, Ratman, got us up on Slashdot but now we just need votes to get us on the front page! We also need to be digged - so if you digg, DIGG US! :) I'm actively trying to get the film up on IMDB, but this requires acceptance to a legit film festival - we've submitted to 13 so far, and will continue to do more as the year progresses. Netflix is another outlet we want to conquer, so if you have any ideas or contacts at Netflix, let me know! And I've already spoken to a few people about screening the movie at their hacker space meetings or at other cons. The awesome people who run Phreaknic offered us a booth to sell DVDs and a space in their multimedia night. And the supportive folks at UAT want us to come out to their forum in November.

The DVDs are for sale on the website and I can't believe we've already had 8 orders (3 international!) so I better get to the store and buy some envelopes! :)

Everything is really going well right now and we will be working very hard over the next few months to get this movie seen by the public, the people who really need to see it!

____

Funny little story:
When we were selling DVDs at the booth, people obviously made torrenting jokes, saying that they should just wait for the torrent, so I made a sign and put it on the table that said, "Don't pwn your own people. Please don't torrent until Monday." This made so many people laugh throughout the day, that people took pix of it and it even encouraged some folks to purchase the DVD. While I do think it would be funny to be torrented, and hey, it must mean I've made it some how if the movie is pirated, but please help us pay back the producer (ahem, my father), help us make enough to have a second run of the DVDs (with different language tracks!), and help us raise enough money so that we will be able to donate some to the Hacker Foundation and the EFF!

____

THE DVDS HAVE ARRIVED!

2008-07-29T18:27:00.003-04:00

500 copies came to my apartment today (the other 1500 will be arriving at the Riv in Vegas on Friday).

AND they work! The only thing is the dvd cover looks different because the blue I had on my screen is actually PURPLE on paper apparently. BUT WHATEVER. THEY WORK! And that's what is important!!!!! I can finally sleep tonight.

Pix to come soon.

:-D

Wow - more great feedback on HAPT!

2008-07-21T10:49:00.001-04:00

I've been blogged! How awesome is that? Check it out here:

http://cobbonae.blogspot.com/2008/07/hackers-are-people-too-cool-new-doc.html

"Sometimes, just when your faith in "kids today" has been drained so bad your mind feels like a purple slurpee being rudely slurped by an obnoxious kid who is kicking the bottom of your airline seat as you ride the plane to nowhere in ever-widening circles, something comes along to renew your hopes for the future. A case in point? The debut documentary from a talented young director Ashley Schwartau: Hackers are People Too.

...

The "hope renewed" impact of this documentary hit me on two levels. First and most importantly, HAPT delivers a fresh take on what it means to be a hacker. Schwartau eschews traditional media fear-mongering in favor of the classic definition of hacker: people who like to mess with technology, not to mess it up, but to tune it up, to deconstruct, understand, and re-animate everything from phones to computers to radios and doorlocks and robots. Sure, there are people who break computers and the law, but as one of the many articulate interviewees in HAPT asserts, it makes more sense to call those people computer criminals than to appropriate a word which champions of industry like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were once proud to own."

Read what Stephen has to say!

I can't wait to live with this guy!

2008-07-17T20:06:00.001-04:00

The Musical Revolution Hits Politics

2008-07-16T09:23:00.001-04:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

What is Wrong with People? The Sequel

2008-07-14T08:37:00.001-04:00

http://filmonic.com/wall-e-angers-fat-people

" WALL-E has garnered rave reviews for its satire on consumer culture, in which future humans are depicted as a group of obese gluttons who never leave their padded floating arm chairs.

But one group is not amused - the swelling ranks of fat pride groups, who believe the film propagates anti-obesity hysteria comparable with the quest for the perfect body by the eugenics movement in Nazi Germany.

The anti WALL-E crusade began on the internet. Rachel Richardson of the Coalition of Fat Rights Activists (Cofra), used her blog, “The F-Word”, to object that the film “singles out and targets obese people as the primary cause of mankind’s demise.”
"

Another Review of The Doc

2008-07-10T23:51:00.000-04:00

Ashley

Finally got to watch your doc. Bravo! Well done!

If this was a class project I trust you got an A++ for it. In fact, here is how I would rate it:

1. As a student movie: Very impressive, i.e. does not seem like a student movie at all, more like a professional piece for TV.

2. Considered as if it were a documentary on Discovery or History Channel

Above average! A great introduction to the hacking subculture for a general audience. Some inside jokes but still very accessible. If you saw it on TV you would NOT think home movie! And the lack of flashy graphics Discovery-style graphics actually adds to the credibility and that refreshing 'in the flesh' and 'warts and all' feel of the piece. Certainly a better overall quality of work than some stuff these networks have aired.

3. As if it were a BBC2 or Channel 4 documentary [higher standard]

Holds its own. Could see it being aired by either channel. Like the up close feel of some of the interviews. Captured a lot of frank and honest responses. Liked the 2 person technique (with some Silent Bob and Clerks overtones in places, nice). The sub-titles explaining some of the terminology were useful but not intrusive. Assumed viewer was intelligent which was refreshing.

4. As a documentary about hacking

Good crossover piece. Hackers are notoriously picky and hard to please, but this just might charm them--especially as it presents a generally positive perspective. Some will see it as long overdue correction to popular culture bias and misconceptions. This is the only doc I can think of that would have non-techie people saying "Now I get why kids are drawn to hacking."

BTW, some of the quotes were genuinely perceptive -- e.g. the media's decision to use hacker instead of computer criminal really was a disservice (Jeff Moss was impressively articulate).

So, hats off to newly minted indie film maker Ashley!

This is a great calling card as you look to future projects and it may rack up some solid sales numbers to boot.

Stephen

p.s. Chey watched it with me and enjoyed it also. She was similarly impressed by quality of the piece.

I Love Kitties!

2008-07-10T19:19:00.000-04:00

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

I have had 2 kitty themed dreams in the last 2 days.

Do you think its a sign?

Maybe I am ready for a kitty!

[So, inversely, that would mean that when I start dreaming of babies I'm ready to have kids?]

Hackers Are People Too - First Review!

2008-07-02T12:52:00.000-04:00

Hacking vindicated! Within the computing, hobbyist, creative design, and invention communities, as elsewhere, hacking has always been a positive thing, but the media and the less than knowledgeable computer security community co-opted the term and the concept, and the media embraced it because it was easier to tell than the truth. But now the misnomer has been torn away by the honesty of a new filmmaker, Ashley Schwartau, who has taken the direct approach to getting at the truth. Observe and ask the people involved. And the truth looks more like students in engineering school and their adult counterparts who never gave up the vision of rugged individualism combined with a sense of community that brought the world out of ignorance and into the information age. Enlighten yourself, and watch this movie. Then send your kids to join the industrious, interested, amazed, joyous, freeing crowd of investigative inventors in the Internet and elsewhere - the hackers!

- Fred Cohen

Interesting Tidbits

2008-07-01T15:07:00.002-04:00

hahaha

you will not believe this guy

http://theshermanfoundation.blogspot.com/2008/06/some-loser-douchbags-phone-messages-to.html

just listen. ITS AMAZING.

---------

a nice interview with the director of Wall-E that explains why he chose Hello Dolly among things.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/27/interview-andrew-stanton/

----------

some cool sites i happened upon today and that you should check out:

PARO - a robotic animal used in nursing homes and rehab centers
http://paro.jp/english/function.html

A bridge over troubled waters: For Muslim girls, state faith schools are the surest route from the kitchen sink to college
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4237418.ece

‘Dump your children here’ box to stop mothers killing their babies
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1572569.ece

Dropping Knowledge Ads
I went through and looked at EVERY SINGLE ONE for each month. They are amazing and cool and thought provoking.
http://www.droppingknowledge.org/bin/media/showQuestionAds/1.page

_------------

I cant wait for this movie

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Praise Joss Whedon's undeniable talent and weird sense of humor.

Double Feature: Wanted and WallE

2008-06-27T17:23:00.002-04:00

Today, Dan and I had a Double Feature. We saw Wanted and then snuck into Wall E thinking that the cartoon would be a nice way to end the day but I think it would have been better in the other order because at least Wanted ended with intensity and energy and jazzes you up whereas Wall E thoroughly depresses you about the state of humanity.

WANTED

I knew nothing about this movie and was prepared to dislike it. The only reason I agreed to see it was because of a scene I saw online with amazing graphics and neat effects. I am really glad I saw it because it had a good story, an unexpected twist and KICK ASS ACTION SEQUENCES.

The cast - James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman + many side characters - was formidable, with James McAvoy being the PERFECT lead for this movie (he impresses me more and more as he proves how adept he is at different genres from kids movies to comedy to romance to action to drama) and his facial expressions in the slow mo were enough to see this movie. The car chase in the earlier part of the movie is one of the coolest things I've ever seen on the big screen and I don't care if its the 'matrix' effect, its used much differently and just as effectively AND with better end results as it was not overused and it looked more realistic than when it first appeared in the Matrix. My question to Dan and Nick after was "This movie was fucking kick ass. Is this what it felt like the first time you saw the Matrix?" People often talk about 'the first time they saw the matrix', referring to the mind bending story and the mind blowing effects. The story in this movie wasnt so much mind bending as it was in your face and with a PERFECT ending (PERFECT) but the effects were INCREDIBLE. the stunts that used the effects were realistic and jaw droppingly good. and while the violence was too graphic for my tastes (so that i ended up closing my eyes through large portions of the fight scenes), the use of SOUND effects, weird distortions to the film and the well-played usage of 'bullet-time' made up for the high body count and many times we had to see a bullet go THROUGH someone's head and then come back OUT. (really? i see that its a cool trick and all but do we have to see it 12 times???????) A few of the scenes really stood out making people cry out things like "fuck yeaH!" and "oh man! that was AWESOME!" including the end fight scene where James McAvoy's character comes back for revenge was so well choreographed and filled with action on the entire screen, I am not entirely sure how they filmed it with real people. And while it was one of the most violent in the whole movie, it was beautiful. a symphony, if you will.

Overall, the entire tone of the film - with just the right about of humor - and the effects made up for any of the imperfections and the ridiculous violence and blood. I thought it was fun and energetic with some of the best effects in any movie.

WALL E
[spoilers]
What do we know about this film before going in? Its a Pixar animated film. It takes place in the future after humans have left earth to be cleaned by the robots, the only one of which is left is Wall E. And he's developed an interesting quirk called A PERSONALITY. In some of the trailers we see a budding romance between he and another, sleeker, newer, female robot. Butttttttt that's about all we get from the trailers.

Now - just as a warning, there are minor spoilers, though not about plot - while it could probably be discerned based on what we already know from the trailers, there is little dialog in this film which plays mostly like a silent movie for the first half. This didn't bother me in the slightest, though the chatter of confused 5 years olds did. The animation in this Pixar gem outshines any animation that has been done - ever - and that will probably be done in the next few years. Until the humans make an appearance, its hard to tell you're watching a cartoon. It is beautiful. No other word. The score plays a large role, as there's no dialog, and WallE's beeps (made by the guy who did R2D2 30 years ago) add to his character. You love him from the moment you see his big, robotic eyes and see his 'house'. There is a definite "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?" moment a la The Little Mermaid (there's also a "Whole New World" moment later on from Aladdin, but that's in the 2nd half).

I'm not going to give anything away about the plot except for this: HOLY SHIT WHEN DID PIXAR GO DARK AND POLITICAL? You know all those movies like The Matrix and Terminator and I, Robot that talk about the end times when humans let robots/computers have too much power and end up running our lives "for the better"? Add this one to the list. You know those movies like Bladerunner and Serenity that show the bleaker, darker aspects of our potential human future? Add this one to the list. While WallE is cute and cuddly and touchingly funny, it is also heart breakingly sad - it makes you sad for WallE when he loses the only being he's ever met (other than his pet cockroach) and makes you sadder for what has become of Humans. Pixar has a message to get out and I can tell oyu that 8 year olds (and the vast majority of America) won't catch on.

I wonder if Disney knew what this movie was going to be about before greenlighting it. Did Pixar go, "Um yeah we have this cute idea for a movie about a robot who falls in love...it'll be really....cute. Yeah. Um...kids will love it...", saying they would make an insanely marketable film that would appeal to children, all the while making a deeply political and pro-environmental movie about how fat and dumb humans are/become and how it takes a robot who loves musicals (NO JOKE) to bring our humanity back and save the world? Seriously. Because, um, go Pixar.

I loved this movie. It made me sad and depressed and really think about the future towards which we're headed. But it did it in a way that was cute and funny and a way to reach parents. And all those confused little 5 year olds who kept asking "Is WallE a bad guy, mommy?" will look back in 5 or 10 years and have a 'holy shit, so that's what this movie was about' moment.

Go see WallE. Now. Its wonderful and while I know some critics are writing it off as another beautiful fable by Pixar touting a message that gets thrown about all too much by those Hollywood liberals, I do think there's a REASON for it, and really - who else has done it as creatively and cute as Pixar?

ON a totally side note about WallE: I pose 2 questions for those who have seen it (and when you go see it, you will then understand my questions and will be able to think about them as you watch):
1. So musicals save the world, right? I've been right all along, haven't I? ;-)
2. WHY "Hello, Dolly!"?? [And if we're gonna do Hello Dolly, then why no Barbara?]

HAIL!

2008-06-24T19:16:00.004-04:00

On the way home from the DM building (which I spent the majority of my day at AND Its not a work day), it started HAILING.

HAIL.

What would Bridget Do?

2008-06-24T11:55:00.001-04:00

last night, i watched Bridget Jones' Diary - i realized it IS a new classic. it is a FANTASTIC movie, has a great story, characters you like and care about and that are portrayed realistically even if they are somewhat ridiculous. all in all, its a great movie. which brings me to this mini-rant.

Where have all the Bridget Jones' gone???? Where are the strong, quirky, realistic and likable female characters? Women who LIKE SEX and women who say "fuck"? Women who choose the wrong men but for obvious reasons only to run down the street in their leopard print undies in the snow to win back the man who loves her? WHERE are these women? I read an article today that actually kinda pissed me off: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/warners-robinoff-gets-in-catfight-with-girls/

Warner Brothers is going to stop making movies with female lead characters because a few of their (horrible) movies starring women including the (blashphemous) remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the (sure to be depressing no wonder no one saw it) Jodi Foster flick The Brave One, did poorly at the theatres, they are blocking out women. BUT if a WB movie with a MALE lead does poorly at the movies does that mean they are going to stop making movies with MEN?

This kind of struck me as REALLY weird. I'd kind of always assumed that men and women loved movies equally. We just love different kind of movies. So by saying you wont make movies STARRING WOMEN is not only SEXIST and ridiculously old fashioned but its just plain ridiculous and confusing! So as I sat thinking about it today, I remembered an editorial i just read in EW:http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20205970,00.html

The article made me laugh but now I realize - maybe this is true. MAYBE People BELIEVE that women are this 'niche' audience when really we are more than half of the population. HOW did we become a niche audience??? WHY IN THE NAME OF GOD was Sex and the City such a surprise hit? Why is any more that appeals to women a SURPRISE hit? Is it a surprise that we LEAVE THE HOUSE TO GO TO THE MOVIES? THAT WE DONT STAY IN THE KITCHEN ALL DAY WITH OUR BABIES? If these cliches about women are *generally* not true, if it is *generally* accepted that women work and have careers and are EQUAL to men then why the FUCK Is it so surprising that we LIKE TO GO TO THE MOVIES????

I am baffled. and I am slightly tired and irritated so this has turned into a little bit of a rant. BUT HONESTLY. What is wrong with the world????????????

Help Raise Money to Beat Leukemia and Lymphoma

2008-06-23T09:05:00.002-04:00

Did you know if you make a donation, its tax deductible?

My friend Katie is trying to raise $4200 by August so that she can go run the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Franciso.
Just donate $10 to a good cause and help her get one step closer!

Check it out: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sun/nikesf08/kpierson
[You can donate at the page! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!]

Help her reach her goal! We will also be having a massive community Yard/Bake Sale on July 19 so either stop by to give money to the cause or donate some of your stuff to be sold! :)

So help our yourself by helping us out!

"When you help others, you can't help helping yourself" - Avenue Q

defcon.org front page!

2008-06-15T16:39:00.001-04:00

This is on the defcon.org FRONT PAGE.

www.hackersarepeopletoo.com UPDATED

2008-06-08T20:58:00.001-04:00

wwww.hackersarepeopletoo.com

check it out :)

we updated it.

Hackers Are People Too - TEASER TRAILER

2008-06-08T19:18:00.001-04:00

http://www.vimeo.com/1139509

Hackers Are People Too - Trailer 2 from Ashley Schwartau on Vimeo.

and if that one doesnt work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-iX1q5IDQ

Tuesday and Wednesday

2008-06-06T20:29:00.001-04:00

Why I Don't Like Cooking

I offered to make dinner Tuesday night. I looked through the cabinets for what we had and decided i would make some kind of garlic chicken thing and rice and veggies. So I bought chicken and rice a roni and some green beans and came home ASSUMING we had garlic and butter. I was wrong. We had about a table spoon of butter and zero garlic. bah. not even any mashed garlic or NOTHIN.

so i improvised. i put the chicken in a ziplock bag and poured in some red wine and various spices and let it marinate in the kitchen for about an hour.

then i needed to start getting the ricearoni ready. first i poured the butter and water into the pan and then opened the box COMPLETELY forgetting that you are supposed to simmer just the butter and the vermicelli alone. so as i realize this i yank open the box and it falls, spilling rice and noodles EVERY WHERE. i am now stepping on the rice and getting irritated. i pour the water and butter into a measuring cup and scoop the butter out, pouring what is left of the box into the pan. i go and get his horrible old vacuum cleaner - one of those with the cannister you drag around and the long hose thing. I HATE THEM!!!!!!! i couldnt get it to work! every time i would vacuum over the rice they would go shooting every where!

by this point the butter and vermicelli are kinda burning so i stir it and drop the vacuum cleaner in the middle of dan's small kitchen. i get the water in the pan and pour the seasonings in. good. now it will simmer. time to put in the chicken! so i coat the chicken in breadcrumbs and toss it in the oven. then i get the green beans and i'm just going to put them in a pan to heat up with a little oil since i had no butter. well. just as i was going to pour in a little bit of oil my phone rang which startled me which lead me to pouring a TON of oil on the green beans in the pan.

i tried wiping the oil off, rolling the green beans on a papertowel but that doesnt really get a lot off. i washed out the skillet and put the slightly soaked green beans back in.

i was frustrated and tired and was still mad i didnt have any garlic and that i was stepping on rice so i tried the vacuum cleaner again - i took off the attachment that was on and tried a couple others. HIS VACUUM SUCKS. haha no pun intended. in fact, it has very little sucking power.

dan called to say he was on his way home and should he get anything. "YEAH! BUTTER AND GARLIC!" he could hear i was frustrated so when he showed up he had a bottle of wine and a bag of those sweet 16 chocolate donuts that are best when they are slightly stale. "you sounded sad on the phone," he said.

at least it ended well and the chicken tasted fine. :)

My Wednesday

Dan and I work in the DM building. I work Mondays, Wednesdays and some Friday mornings. So on M/W we carpool. Its eco-happy and logical. Wednesdays he has a class from 6 - 8 so i bring a book or my computer and read or write. Last week I made French flash cards.

The plan for this week was:
- we would drive my car to work because i have a parking pass and i wanted to go to the 5:30 yoga class on campus.
- he had a 3 pm dentist's appointment but would be back by 5 so i could have my car and get over to the gym and park and change and what not.
- i would head back to the DM building when I was done at 6:30 and hang out in the break room, reading, until he got out of class.

What actually happened was:
- I closed up final cut and put away the hard drives in the news station at 5:05. I walked back into the administrative part of the DM dept to find Dan's office LOCKED. I stood in the middle of the area and said WHERE THE HELL IS DAN. i did not have a text or a missed call from him - very unlike him.
- Joe, one of hte guys who works with Dan, said, "He left for the day. What do you need?" I said, "I need my car. He said he'd be back by 5 so I Could go to the gym. He has a class at 6!"
- Joe offered to drive me to the gym. "Are you ready now?" I asked. "yes" he said. And by "now" he meant 7 minutes later.
- He drives me to the gym. I text Dan so he doesnt worry when he DOES get back. he texted back he was on his way back now.
- I go to Yoga. I kinda pull my hip, which already cracks. and i did something weird to my elbow.
- it is now 6:30. class is over and i realize: I have no way back to DM. I realize, i have to walk.
- but my stomach is growling, verging on nausea, so i figure, "I'll get food on campus and then walk back to DM. i do have 1h30 until he's done with class."
- Did you know everything closes on campus at 5 pm during the summer?
- Even the Health Center?
- I call my mom as I start walking back to the DM building to distract me from my upset stomach. She's laughing at me. Thinks its hilarious. I tell her about my cooking fiasco from the night before. Again, the laughing is directed at me. By now I'm laughing and remember the shortcut from the trailer to DM. I am back at DM by 6:55.
- I look in the break room for some food - generally there is some 'communal' food like a coffee cake from last week, and some donuts another week. There is NOTHING. NO COMMUNAL FOOD. I look for water bottles - they are all marked with people's names on them. My mom is still laughing.
- Finally, I find a bunch of water bottles under the cabinet. they are not cold but i need some. My stomach is growling.
- "What about your protein bars?" my mom asks, referring to the snacks i usually keep with me for moments like this. "I ate them during the day..."
- Then I realize there is a vending machine! Hooray! But alas - I used my last change during the day to buy caffeeine.......MORE LAUGHTER.
- "Go in your car! I'm sure you have change in there!" But Dan has my keys and he's in class.
- Finally! I hear Jon's voice. I follow it. He's on his phone in his office. I whisper "Can I borrow a dollar?" He looks at me a little odd but hands me a dollar from his wallet.
- I get to eat some PRETZELS! :)

Some Funny Stories

2008-06-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

Dan picked up applebees for dinner tonight. when he was waiting in the ToGo parking spot he witness the FOLLOWING:
A black woman wearing a mini skirt, a tshirt and high heels, straight blonde hair, came storming out of the applebees door in a huff. She ripped open her phone, made a call, hung up and started pacing. After a few moments of pacing, she stomped her way over to the patio where a skinny black guy hollah'd at her, "What are you gonna do? Sleep in the park on a bench?!"

To which she responded: "I may just do that!!!"
In response, the man yelled: "Well then why dontcha then?!"
To which she repsonded: "FUCK YOU!" with the finger, promptly storming off to the firehouse parking lot.

A redneck couple walked up to the black man following his "lover's" departure. The redneck man said, "What up mah niggah?"

As it turns out, they knew one another. The black man spoke incoherantly and the white man asked if he needed a lift home as the black man was obviously intoxicated. The white man, walked over to his truck, his wife rolled her eyes as the black man, his drunk friend, got in the truck them.

And when they drove off, the applebees girls exited the building bringing dan his food.

AND SCENE.

____________________

Dan and I are sitting at the dining table each working on our laptops.

randomly, and because its been in my head all day, i started singing the opening song from the horrid musical LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL. "omigod omigod you guys/looks like elle's gonna win the prize/if there ever was a perfect couple/ this one qualifies/omigod you guys".

Dan looks up at me and says, "Its really bad when you start singing Legally Blonde the musical.... and when your boyfriend KNOWS its legally blond."

I said its on a cd thats been in my car for days.

dan says without missing a beat: "take it now or you're going to get toxic shock syndrome."

___________________

I have another one to type up about My Wednesday, but gotta run! Yoga time!

SEX AND THE CITY

2008-06-02T16:35:00.003-04:00

Sitting through this wonderful piece of cinematic chocolate cake, I could only wish that my closest friends, MY sex and the city girls, watched SATC so that they could feel what *I* feel when I watch the show and laughed and cried my way through the movie. [I did not realize that one of them actually DOES watch SATC, so she is excused from this lol]

It was a really true-to-spirit film version of a fantastic tv show. I disagree with the critics when they say that it does not translate well to film or that it was "too long". it was the lenght of 5 episodes and any SATC fan has sat through more than 5 episodes at a time. I'm pretty sure I watched an entire season in one day.

when suzie and i got in our seats (to a full FULL theatre at 4:30 on a saturday), I whipped out the thermos of cosmos dan had made us, 2 solo cups and a bag of sugar cookies and a can of chocolate frosting. :-D

the movie was DELICIOUS. yes, it felt weird that they werent all in NYC at the same time. and it felt weird when they were in Mexico. and YES there was lot of DRAMA with the MEN. and Yes, the male characters were KIND of 2 dimensional which was odd b/c on the show they are all given full personalities. BUT with those things aside, it was just like getting together with old friends.

and i LOVED seeing the women AGE and get OLDER. they look like they are in their 40s. they look their age and ACT their age and its WONDERFUL! it just makes me think about when me and katie and cari and kiara will be in our 40s, when one of us or all of us will be married with or without kids. whenever i watch SATC i always ALWAYS ALWAYS think about me and my friends and it always makes me very sentimental.

i also thought about me and dan whenever carrie and big were acting silly together. and when they were all "i dunno do you wanna get married?" i cried a few times and laughed a lot and just thought about how these people feel so real to me because they feel like my friends. me and my sex and the city girls.

NOTE TO ANYONE GOING TO SEE IT: DO NOT GO IF YOU DO NOT WATCH THE SERIES. I can not imagine sitting through this movie NOT being a huge fan of carrie, samantha, miranda and charlotte. I dont know what it would be like through the eyes of someone not a fan, but I think it would be kind of like.......chocolate cake that used splenda instead. like "why am i eating this? what's the point?" (ahem mothra)

Workin For the Weekend

2008-06-02T15:28:00.005-04:00

I really like my 'job' - my internship - at the UCF News Station. Its fun and educational and even when I spend an entire day printing to tape, exporting and fighting with computers over technical difficulties (ahem, today), I feel lucky to work here. Laid back, casual, no dress code, and not rushed. I am getting to do 'real world' editing (i.e. not just fun music vids for my friends and documentaries that I direct) and am learning the basics of how tv stations work. Pretty neat.

But its only 3:30 and I am antsy and want to go home! I am exporting on this computer and exporting on another computer. I feel weird if I am not being productive at all times but the other people who work here spend half of their day chatting so I guess I can't feel too guilty.

I have some new ideas for stories and have been jotting them down all day. I really need to finish writing the book I started a few months ago. Maybe tomorrow I will get some writing in. I've been feeling kind of antsy for a few days, particularly yesterday. After I finished reading the 2nd book of the Twilight series (5 hours, 500 pages, start to finish. it was FANTASTIC), I had nothing pressing to do. I am not going to start editing again till Thursday and I had no other books really to start reading. It was already 5:30 pm, and I had to go to bed early since I had to get up early this morning so I couldnt start anything. I felt weird.

I have a routine with Dan. For the most part, when he comes home from work or when we get home together (We do work in the same building after all), he makes dinner, we chat, watch a movie or tv, then get ready for bed, watch Jon Stewart at 11 and then hopefully sleep. Weekends I sleep in, relax, read, chill, generally waste a lot of time. While the routine is nice, sometimes I miss staying up to midnight just working on something. I think I'm going to spend Thursday just WORKING. Not worry about getting home at a particular time. And just edit. Create. Tell my stories.

I'm also trying to get back into yoga. Last week I went 3 times. This week I can go 4 times if I time it right. Tomorrow morning. Wednesday after work and before Dan's class gets out. Thursday and Friday mornings. I really enjoy it. A full hour of exercise and relaxation. I hate working out. Its so boring that I usually end up reading or studying or something while I go to the gym. Even when I go with friends. But Yoga is different. I have to focus so hard on what I'm doing I cant really think about other things, worry about what I *should* be doing. So its a real workout - physical and mental - and even though I look like an idiot falling all the time and not as strong as everyone else, I feel like I get something out of every class. So now that I've told the world I'm going 4 times this week, I will be forced to go FOUR TIMES THIS WEEK! lol

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, trying to calm my brain in the evenings and keep me busy when I'm waiting for a computer to do something ( I really should have brought a book to work today ). I'm thankful Suzie loaned me the Twilight books. I have also been reading a lot of teen/chick lit lately. Sometimes I get on these huge kicks of teen/chick lit. I love it so much. Some people see it as brainless or they feel guilty for reading it, but its just so much fun! Frivolous and light. Like a fun romcom, or a piece of chocolate cake. Except it lasts more than 2 hours and doesnt have any calories! Plus, I consider it research. :) A win win. I ordered some cheap ass books off Amazon yesterday for when I finish Eclipse. I love being able to buy a book for $.50 haha. I also found like 25 more books about editing audio and mixing and film making that I want, but none of them were under $10 so I didnt order any of them. Maybe I will get some for graduation? ;-)

Actually I told my parents what I want for graduation:

An editing keyboard for FCP.
http://www.logickeyboard.com/

How cool is that? I know a lot of the keyboard shortcuts but sometimes I can't remember exactly, or I dont use one all that often, so its hard to remember. Having a special keyboard I can use when editing would be awwwwwwwwesome!

I talked to Jason Scott, a friend from DefCon and a documentary film maker, and after a nice chat with him, I've decided I want to look into putting subtitles on the DVD for Hackers Are People Too. He suggested some software and I've looked into it a little. Transcription will cost less than $70 and then plugging that into the subtitle software seems easy enough, if tedious. But it would open my dvd up to a new audience! :) And make it more professional. We have the ISBN, the dvd cover is nearly done, and Amanda is diligently working on the audio - though we have fun into a few snags this week, I am sure they will be sorted out by this weekend.

I really just want to sit and write. But this keyboard hurts my fingers. I need my laptop. But its at home :( Maybe tomorrow I will feel inspired and get something out onto the page!

Summer Entertainment Run Down

2008-05-31T13:26:00.002-04:00

IT IS SUMMER TIME!!!!!!!! Which means, aside from sunburns and slutty swimsuits, we can also expect big blockbuster popcorn movies and cultish tv shows hitting airwaves. [There's also concerts and the like, but as I'm not big up in the music world, i will just ignore them for now lol]

This entry got long. Beware!

MOVIES I CANT WAIT TO SEE

BURN AFTER READING

I can't say I've ever actually seen a Coen brothers' film but you gotta admit they dont stick to one genre and always have something weird and quirky up their sleeves. THIS MOVIE i have to see. Brad Pitt is GOOFY! Frances McDormand has BLONDE hair. John Malkovich PUNCHES brad pitt! George Clooney is unshaven and SLEAZY. AND JK Simmons is in the movie - enough said.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/burnafterreading/

CITY OF EMBER

Ummmmmm how did I not read these books? I'm going to hold out on reading these YA books until the movie to decide if I want to read the rest of the series but the movie looks BADASS. I can't wait. I love this kind of shit. A kid movie for the whole family sorta deal. Way more interesting than Narnia at least.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/cityofember/

THE MUMMY 3

I dont care if Brendan Fraser is getting too old for action films, or if the last Mummy kinda sucked, or if they had to replace the actress for his love interest. I LOVED the first mummy and i LOVE Brendan Fraser's snarky humor. I will be there to see this on the big screen. PLUS it has Jet li in it, who is sure to do some kick ass karate moves. oh, and hopefully, as its been like a full 10 years since the first Mummy, the special effects have got to be WAY better and less hokey. A girl can hope.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/themummytombofthedragonemperor/

TROPIC THUNDER

Jack Black. Ben Stiller. Robert Downey Jr as a black guy? I'm already in for this. The trailer just sold me even more. Funny. Action. Controversy. Tom Cruise in a funny role? This just looks ridiculous and amazing.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/tropicthunder/

THE DARK KNIGHT

I date a Marvel Comic Book Geek who doesnt like the fact that they keep remaking the DC Batman franchise. I also have been engrossing myself in Marvel super hero canon (sort of as a replacement drug for my lack of HP excitement) and personally prefer Marvel to DC super heros. But of all the DC super heros, Batman is probably my favorite (like a less egotistical and a bit more emo version of Tony Stark), a fact that is only encouraged by the fact that Christian Bale is the 21st century incarnation of the dark knight. I think Christopher Nolan worked movie magic with the first of the new Dark Knight series, giving Batman a totally awesome makeover. He's a good director so I think the 2nd movie will be even better. A lot of people are giving him slack for redoing the Joker story but I think Heath Ledger's performance will more than make up for a little repetition. Besides, Nolan is only following the Dark Knight graphic novel series. I seriously cant wait for this. I love the trailers - each one gets better; I love the little hint of Harvey Dent becoming Two Face at the end; and its been interesting to watch how they have changed the ad campaign after Heath's death.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thedarkknight/

HANCOCK

An original super hero story starring Jason Bateman and Will Smith? A giant beached whale thrown back in to the ocean knocking over a sail boat? Will Smith as an insolent, alcoholic, bum? COUNT ME IN. Will Smith has proved himself over and over again as a solid, varied actor capable of much more than being the fresh prince, and here he will (hopefully) get to unleash some of that comic gold that made him so popular in the first place. I'm still a big fan of the Will Smith from ID4 and MIB, so maybe this will be a return to those days?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/hancock/

IGOR

I'm a sucker for animated kid movies. I'm also a sucker for anything involving John Cusack. Pair the two in a totally original and adorable, creative new story about "Igors", I just can't wait. While it doesnt hold the same appeal as anything by Pixar, I will still make sure we take dan's daughter to see this one just so I can see it ;-)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/igor/

ICE AGE 3

Oh no - this opens the same weekend as Hancock.....ok, so we'll go to this and sneak into Hancock. A huge fan of the first two Ice Age movies, I have been counting down to see this. The animation style of these movies is really refreshing - realistic yet cartoony with a stylistic edge. The voice talent - Ray Ramano, Dennis Leary and John Leguizamo - is unusually cast but works. The story of the third Ice Age might not work chronologically (I"m really hoping they explain this properly though because the inaccuracy in time line might really bug me) but I am up for anything with Sid the Sloth, Manny the Mammoth and Diego the Tiger. :) And we can't leave out Skrat, the unfortunate yet hilariously animated squirrel-rat who JUST WANTS HIS NUTS!!!!!!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/iceagedawnofthedinosaurs/

MAMMA MIA!

VIVE LA REVOLUTION MUSICALE!!!!! This is the primary reason for my excitement towards an Abba Jukebox Musical. I am also fueled by the awesome cast: Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and that girl from Big Love. Happy music + awesome casting + actors doing their own singing + big screen musical = happy times :) Who cares if its Abba? I'll be in line opening night.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/mammamia/

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D

This movie is pretty much guaranteed to suck. A modern retelling of the Jules Verne's classic Journey starring hokey action star Brendan Fraser (mmm) and adorable teen actor who will grow up nicely Josh Hutcherson made in 3D. The trailer showcases the cheesy dialogue and questionable CG. BUT I DONT CARE. All of the reasons this movie could suck are exactly WHY I want to see it. Hand over the 3D glasses and count me in!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/journeytothecenteroftheearth/

WALL E

Only one word is needed to explain why anyone should see this movie: PIXAR.
But I'll give you a few more: Breath-takingly realistic animation (did you see those rocks? That metal?! THE SKY!?!) Animated robot eyes so sweet and sad you will cry the minute Wall E looks at you. And a NEW, ORIGINAL story without much dialogue about a robot who just wants a friend. Plus, it showcases how horrible humans are. Awesome. Go Pixar.

http://www.pixar.com/theater/trailers/walle/index.html

SUMMER MOVIES ALREADY SEEN

Let's, for a moment discuss some of the summer far that we have already had the joy(?) to witness. We'll be brief.

IRONMAN

1. Robert Downey Jr as funny, emotional, action star. Mmmm.
2. CG that was flawless.
3. A story that kept you invested and interested the entire time.
4. Jeff Bridges as a bad guy. Great.
5. DID YOU SEE THAT SUIT? THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!
6. Humor nicely laced throughout the entire movie, which, for the most part, was kind of dark for a superhero flick.
7. Robert Downey Jr's facial hair - except for the times when it was CLEARLY drawn on his face
8. The promise of a future ensemble Avengers movie

INDIANA JONES 4 *SPOILER ALERT*

About 30 minutes into this movie, when I realized what the major plotline was going to focus on (I kept hoping it would take a different turn but it just plower straight on through from highly unlikely to downright ridiculous), I wanted to sit down with George Lucas and Steven Spielburg and say, "Really? REALLY? Guys, you had 20 years and 200 million dollars and you thought THIS was a great idea to put on screen?! REALLY?!!" I was just so disappointed by what COULD have been that I did not enjoy what it WAS.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

ALIENS?! REALLY?! FUCKING ALIENS?! I know it was the 1950s, and I know that making the Russian Commies the bad guys was pretty much a given, but FUCKING ALIENS?!?!?! You couldnt have picked SOMETHING ELSE to focus on?! ANYTHING!!!!!!!! Mixing sci-fi with Indiana's classic anthropologic-adventure was a huge mistake. Take the storyline - the aliens being the "gods" that ancient civilizations refer to - and put it in ANY OTHER MOVIE and i'd be ok with it. I even partially believe that all the old civilizaitons of the world really DID see aliens and that the aliens are the reason some cultures mysteriously disapppeared. So you're preaching to the choir with this story. BUT IN INDIANA JONES?! NO! NO! BAD! It was misplaced and sorely executed. It was a cheap out for you guys to make money. GEORGE - step out of your comfort zone! We know you like the 1950s (American Graffiti) and aliens (Um....star wars?). STEVEN - stop being bullied by George! AND YOU! STEP OUT OF *YOUR* COMFORT ZONE!!! Aliens?!?!?! (Close Encounters)

I am being perhaps harsh. There were things I liked. I loved the chase scenes, particularly the one with sword fighting. I liked Shia - he's a solid actor. I like Cate Blanchett's hair. I liked the arguments between Karen Allen and Indy in the quick sand. I liked the snakes reference. um. I liked the hat?

Aside from the story being weak and LAME, I also take issue with the fact that Indiana Jones swung his whip ONCE, that there were scenes in the film that has NO place being there (what was up with the nuclear explosion? WHAT was the point of that 8 minute scene? We know Indy is indestructible, we had 3 movies to explain that to us! We know it was the 1950s, the opening scene gave us that. Also, what was with the weird FBI agents? They appeared once and the poof! gone! never mentioned again! POOR EDITING!!!!!!!!!!!), and my biggest gripe (aside from a SHITTY story) might not be valid, but: In many articles and interviews, both Steven and George talked about how they wanted to make this movie 'the old fashioned way', barely using CG and saving it only when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY........... LIES. LIES!!!!! This movie was FULL of CG. While the stunts were real and Harrison did many of his own (he gets brownie points) and while Shia obviously learned how to wield a sword, WHY did we have to have so much CG? Oh wait, i remember: ITS THE ALIENS. You can't do aliens (well you can, but thats another argument) without CG. So WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO ALIENS? It all goes back to the FUCKING ALIENS!!! UGGGGGGGGGGGG.

I am so annoyed. /rant.

SEX AND THE CITY

I am psyched. I get to see it this afternoon. I'll edit this post to reflect that later. I actually have quite a lot to say on the subject of SATC, so I'll save it for its own post later.

BOOKS!

LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH
Emily Giffin just came out with a new book I want to read so badly.
http://www.amazon.com/Love-One-Youre-Emily-Giffin/dp/0312348673/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212251610&sr=8-1
I love her writing. Smart, sassy, emotional, funny. And her characters are always so flawed. Very relatable chick lit. My favorite.

TWILIGHT
Suzie just turned me on to a series that is knocking HP off the charts. By Stephanie Myers, a mormon stay at home mom, the Twilight Saga has captivated me and I can't precisely explain why. I was wary at first as I am not a huge fan of vampires and werewolves and that kind of crap. The few vampire books I've read I didn't really like - even the two by Christopher Moore are not my favorite. So when I read that they were Young Adult romantic fiction about vampires.....um. No? But I had nothing else to read so I borrow the first 500 page tome on Thursday......and had finished by 6 pm on Friday, even with a full 9 - 5 workday lol. Um - FANTASTIC. The story is simple and the plot is straightforward but once she gets you interested - easily by page 25, you just cant put the book down. Just like with HP and very few other books, when you put the book down you feel like you're missing something. its worse than hitting pause on your favorite movie. You feel like the characters are going to go right on living without you. So far, I really enjoy the story and the characters. I do think the main character, Bella, can be whiney and little needy and clingy but she's a 17 year old experiencing her first love, so her extreme emotions can be forgiven. And Edward - the vampire she falls for - I just want to know EVERYTHING about him and his life. I want to know about his family. EVERYTHING. And the author dishes out the information so sparingly that when she deos give you information you're like a cat lapping up the spilled milk before someone cleans it up. The last 100 pages of the book move so quickly that you feel like you're running and I was nearly exhausted when I reached the epilogue. Basically, I need to read the next 2 so I can figure out what it is about these books that have gripped me so fantastically. And the vampire thing? Way more interesting in this book. Not the typical crap.
[There is a movie version of this coming out soon and after seeing the trailer, I'm not very excited. I don't think the guy who played Cedric Diggory is attractive enough for one. And so many books have been fucked up when turned into movies lately that I have no hope for it. But we shall see]

The covers of these books are really nicely designed as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-One-Youre-Emily-Giffin/dp/0312348673/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212251610&sr=8-1

TV SHOWS!

Most of the TV I watch (now) is either on the Food Network or the Travel Channel (thank you Anthony Bourdain) but this past season I never missed House, we watched all 4 seasons of THE OFFICE, watch John Stewart every night before passing out and randomly enjoyed Dancing with the Stars and How I Met Your Mother. I just dont have time and very rarely remember to watch the shows I like. And this summer so many new shows are coming out or coming back that I am going to have to make a list so I either dont forget to watch or remember to download them.

MAD MEN - what is it about?! I dont know but it has all this hype around it plus it has cool clothes. I might download the first season to learn more

WEEDS - omg. season 4 is starting soon. Season 3 ended so DRAMATICALLY with such a cliff hanger (as this show is prone to do) that I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!! I Will wait till its all over so I can download it all and watch it in one day as I Did with the first 3 seasons.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS - I 've only seen a few episodes, but the ones I did watch struck me with its insane originality. I wish I watched it all the time. Plus, its just one more piece of evidence for my theory: AMERICA LOVES MUSICALS AND DOESN"T KNOW IT. Must download.

SWINGTOWN - a show about swingers in the 1970s. i'm sold. starts JUNE 5.

BURN NOTICE - Bruce Campbell is on this?! WHY ARE WE NOT WATCHING THIS?!

But then there is SO MUCH CRAP on TV that I am annoyed with the state of TV and almost dont want to watch ANYTHING:
Army Wives, Nashville Star, The Hills, Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods, Hurl!......

The best upcoming summer series I plan on watching: THE 2008 SUMMER OLYMPICS! FUCK YEAH!

MUSIC!

While I'm not up on "popular" music, I am looking forward to quite a few music releases this summer.

THE TONYS!!!!!!!
JUNE 15th! I am excited. There's only one slight snag: June 14th is Dan's and my 1 year anniversary, and thats the day that my friends and I are going to Busch Gardens. So we were going to celebrate on the 15th. So now we are going to rearrange our plans. Which is ok - he knows that me + musicals = musical high which means I'll be really excited ;-) So that should work out for us. :)

ALSO: http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=566236
Cast members from RENT and LION KING (eh) are going to perform at the TONYS! WOOT!

Anyway, back to the music:

I love summer! NEW MUSICALS AND CAST RECORDINGS ARE ALWAYS RELEASED IN THE SUMMER!

The new cast recording of South Pacific is being released on June 2. One of the R&H musicals I enjoy a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/Rodgers-Hammersteins-South-Pacific-Broadway/dp/B0017I1G0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1212253605&sr=1-1

The new original musical A Catered Affair is also being released June 2!

http://www.amazon.com/Catered-Affair-Original-Broadway-Recording/dp/B00170LCOA/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_b

In the Heights is released on June 3!

http://www.amazon.com/Heights-Original-Broadway-Cast/dp/B0016CGNZM/ref=pd_sim_m_img_1

I have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THIS MUSICAL but you can bet I'll be getting this on June 3 too!
Adding Machine
http://www.amazon.com/Adding-Machine-Musical-Joshua-Schmidt/dp/B0017T269G/ref=pd_sim_m_img_4

WHEN IS CRYBABY GOING TO RELEASE THE CAST RECORDING?!

Kerri Butler is releasing a Disney Themed Solo Album. I love this girl's voice.
http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=566099

Kelli O'Hara, who has the voice of an angel, is also coming out with a solo album:
http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=563655

SUTTON FOSTER IS RELEASING A SOLO ALBUM!!!!! Can we break out the champagne now? Its all old fashioned music!
http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=565367

So that was much longer than I had anticipated. But I am excited about the summer.

And can we forget the MOST IMPORTANT NEW RELEASE OF ALL?!?!?!?

HACKERS ARE PEOPLE TOO.
08.08.08!!!!!!! :)

Facebook Gangster

2008-05-30T08:06:00.002-04:00

This cracks me up.

Plus, it has awesome production value lol.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=he1rYR_8T4s

08.08.08

2008-05-26T22:59:00.001-04:00

Jax Day

2008-05-26T21:02:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, my friends and I drove up to Jax to hit the beach, go to Angie's subs, and see old friends :) It was a FANTASTIC day. we took over 200 photos so here is a sampling:

Family Day Today

2008-05-26T20:38:00.002-04:00

Celebrating Adam graduating high school and memorial day, nearly the entire fam was over today! :)

Fighting Cancer and Running for a Good Cause

2008-05-26T20:34:00.001-04:00

My best friend Katie is doing something awesome that I am so proud of her for doing and I am trying to help out by getting people I know to help out.

From her website:
"I'm joining the fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma by raising $4200 and training for the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Franciso. I'm doing this as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing the half-marathon in honor of those who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!"

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sun/nikesf08/kpierson

Just donate a few dollars! Help her reach her goal!

Also - OSS 117

2008-05-18T20:34:00.000-04:00

I saw this movie when it came out in France when I lived over there in 2006.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/oss117caironestofspies/

Its going to be great. I can't wait for Dan to see it since he loves James Bond.

A Couple Things Worth Mentioning

2008-05-18T20:24:00.002-04:00

A really cool NPR story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90453448

I really want to see this movie so bad:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/igor/

The idea just really made me happy :)

AHAHA Eddie Izzard

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rZVjKlBCvhg&feature=related

I am totally obsessing over the French cast recording of CABARET

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EpDLxjVy3XQ

Also, Dan and I went to TOTAL WINE the other day and bought some cheap wine as part of our adventure and discovered 2 we really enjoyed: CANYON OAKS, shiraz (from California) and LULU B, pinot noir (from France).

Eddie Izzard rocks. this is hilarious

2008-05-13T16:01:00.001-04:00

Dan's Surprise Party!

2008-05-11T13:59:00.003-04:00

It was a total success! I have been planning this for WEEKS. WEEEEEEEKS. And I was convinced Dan knew about it before hand, I was SURE I had blown it or that he somehow had figured it out but we really surprised him!

The whole time, he thought it was for Amanda, since her birthday is next week, and since the party was at her friends' house (Thanks again Kady and Alisha!!!!!). For weeks I've been pretending to plan this party for Amanda with Kady and Alisha, when really Amanda was helping me set up and figure out stuff. I also recruited the help of many of Dan's friends. They gave me pictures and brought food and alcohol. His sister Dan gave me tons of old photos and even VHS tapes of old 8mm from their childhood so I could make a DVD of "dan in the past"! it was fantastic!

Everyone arrived at the party at 7, and we got there around 7:40. And you should have seen his face when they opened the door and yelled surprise! He was very confused, thinking that it was for Amanda, but she was the one who opened the door! HAHA. It was wonderful. At first I thought maybe he was upset because he looked so confused. But then I realized that he was just shocked. :)

I got people from all different areas of his life to come together and celebrate his turning 40. It was a real success! :) THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED OUT AND WHO WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT!!!!! :-D

Pix!

The DM Crew

Its a LOLCAKE

Dan's mom, bro John, step dad Jack

Suzie P!

Ex-brother in-law Kevin, a goofball

The DM Boys and Carol (who looks like Keri Russel!)

Joey Made it!

Dan and Little bro John

Tina, Joey, Dan

Dan, Alex and Nicolene

Herb, Dan and Bobbe

Dan and his mama

Dan, Kevin, Leticia

Amanda and her Dan

Dan and Dana, brother and sister

Dan and Suzie

Me and Suzie

Dan's mom and Aunt Betty

Dan's little sister Jennifer and her friend

Joe wants to get Dan drunk

SHOTS

Katie broke my decorations!

Jack, Dan and Teri

hahaha

Me and Katie

I dont remember what was happening here but it makes me laugh

Dan and Mark were fighting over Kerri

Billy and Dana

awww. how romantic.

Rudy, Dan and Carol

Carol and Heidi

Drunk boys

sexy

i am so taking this

Gary and Dan - old friends and do i mean old. ;-)

feel the sibling love

joe, heidi and dan

me and nickeroo

pookie et moi

cari puckers up

aw how sweet

goofballs

what happened to your pants, amanda?

nick did the ice run.

i like this one even though its goofy

kiel showed up uber late so he had to be punished

jon was just punished for no reason

LOOK! A SMILE! ON JON'S FACE!!!!!!!
i mean he looks kinda crazy but still

get a room!

aw

ANOTHER SMILE!!!! its the end of the world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think it all turned out pretty well! :)

"Let's be honest. This isnt't the strangest thing you've caught me doing." - Tony Starke

2008-05-04T19:30:00.002-04:00

Been in Nashville all week, suffering from the worst allergies EVER. I thought it was a horrible cold but no. ALLERGIES. joy.

Mostly been relaxing all week, accomplishing NOTHING but this whole 'relaxation' thing is new and exciting. Must try again in the near future.

The most exciting thing about this trip is that my uncle helped me line up a job for August. HOW FUCKING AWESOME IS THAT?!

No pix from this trip though the animals have provided much amusement. I LOVE THEM.

Also: saw IRON MAN (loved it) and HAROLD AND KUMAR (very funny). I can't wait for the Iron Man sequel as well as the new HULK, in which Tony Starke will make an appearance. Woot.

Editing Masterpiece

2008-04-23T14:13:00.000-04:00

I need to do something cool like this

http://zappinternet.com/flash/zappplayer.swf?embed=true&idvideo=fodCyoDmiV

Sole Envy: A Modern Retelling of the Wizard of Oz

2008-04-19T14:15:00.000-04:00

Sole Envy from Ashley Schwartau on Vimeo.

If that doesnt work:

http://www.vimeo.com/916482

a LOL a day....

2008-04-18T10:48:00.001-04:00

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

see more crazy cat pics

Shakespeare in the Park (Pirates of Penzance)

2008-04-13T12:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Dan and I went down to 727 to join Katie, Cari and Kiara for an afternoon of fun with beach walking and Pirates of Penzance. I thought the show was pretty good even if it was uber short and the guy who played the Modern Major General was lame. And I ended up getting really sick - and I dont know why - but after like an hour of horrible nausea I was ok and enjoyed the show and time with my friends. :) It was a good day. :)

PICTURES!!!!!!!!

in katie's house

katie tryin out the color dodad on her camera

dan took this picture JUSt to showcase the speedo-wearin old man.

ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?!

hahahaha

monkeys

moose

Americas Next Top Models

Dan's emo myspace pic

Shadow war

cute couple

Old friends

seriously, why does my head look so large in this photo?

waitin in line

blockin the sun

Towel Tent.

Shiva

mmmmmmmm. probably the sandwich that made me sick lol

kiara!

duck lips

SPHS girl friends

ARGH! PIRATES!!!!

Digg My Trailer!!!!!!

2008-04-13T12:35:00.000-04:00

If you use Digg,

go here!!!!!

http://digg.com/tech_news/Documentary_Hackers_Are_People_Too

New Haircut

2008-04-03T16:26:00.000-04:00

The Before:

The After:

I am so glad I was born when I was and live when I do

2008-04-03T10:55:00.002-04:00

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/161/abrm0.jpg

(Belated) Pix from the LA Trip

2008-03-25T19:59:00.001-04:00

I dont think I ever updated about LA?

a few highlites from those couple days:
- got to be a standin
- learned what an Abbey and a Martini shot/take are
- got to ride in a hummer
- carried a LOT of heavy things
- got to wear a fancy headset and walkie talkie
- rode in a 3 ton truck
- drove in LA traffic on a friday!
- went to a desert
- went more than 24 hours without being near a computer!
- totally pissed off the AD
- made up with the AD
- got to yell "QUIET PLEASE" and "ROLLING" 4200 times a day
- made copies, stapled things and learned what "script sides" are
- learned what a half apple and pancake are
- sat around a LOT waiting.
- did some more waiting.
- waited a bit.
- did i mention WAITING?!
- hung out on a REAL sound stage, exploring all the different sets
and i got to watch a REAL movie being filmed!

fucking awesome.

bob finally got the pix to me! yay! THANKS BOB!!!!

here are some!

The first set (of four)

The 2nd set

The fourth set

Lunch by catering services

Bob, Lindsey and I killed time by wandering around the sound stages and found fun sets to play on!

Out on the Desert

with paul, the transpo guy

it was cold! and SO WINDY. my face got burnt.

This is Tim, the sound guy

and Tim, Matt's editor (for his hacker doc). He was shooting behind the scenes stuff on this film

This is Bob and Matt (the director; also, a friend from DefCon)

Of Cake and Portals: A New Class Project

2008-03-19T09:44:00.001-04:00

So, for this production class, we were in groups and had to 'make a movie'. This is ours: http://youtube.com/watch?v=AKR7w0US8Nc&fmt=18%22

a little background: its based on a game called PORTAL which is actually really amazing in concept. i played about 10 minutes of it so i could write the script. basically, its a FPS and the main character is recruited by this science center to do experiments with their 'portal' gun which allows you to shoot portals onto walls and when you go through them, instead of going through that particular wall, you could actually be going through a ceiling in a different room or some other wall in another room. you can even shoot portals in a way so that you can see yourself through the portals like an infinite mirror. the game is very trippy and messes with your mind. anyway there is the OS of the game, GladOS, which is this monotone woman's voice which talks to you throughout the game and she kinda leads you through the game and is always promising you cake when you finish the game. she ends up turning evil (e.g. computers get smarter than humans and try to kill us) and you have to beat her.

so thats a basic run down of PORTAL so that you kinda get the middle part of our movie.

We spent about 3 weeks doing this, even with people out of town during spring break. its only 6.5 minutes long and funny even without a full understanding of the game.

the teacher seemed to like it as did our classmates. i know the audio is a little loud on the middle section but we just didn't have a chance to go in and make sure the audio in the middle matched the last two scenes.

ANYWAY here ya go if you have 6.5 minutes to spare:

I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!

2008-03-17T10:16:00.001-04:00

I AM GRADUATING AT THE END OF THE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i went in for advising this morning and as i was explaining about the permission i was getting from film teachers to take film classes to fulfill my upper level classes, matt looked at my degree audit and was like "Why do you have 177 hours?" [you only need 120 to graduate lol] and i explained why and he was like "thats ridiculous!" so he started looking at my audit, and was like "what if i told you you could graduate in summer?" and i thought i was going to start crying right there. i was like ummmmm how? trying not to be too excited and then he said "we dont normally do this but you have so many hours. i can give you upper level credit for these art classes you took at unf".

i went and told dan and tears started coming out of my eyes and then when i left the dm building, i couldnt stop laughing and crying and i called my mom asap. i was so excited. like i wanted to go out and celebrate and drink but it was 9:20 in the morning! lol.

I JUST CANT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!

I AM GRADUATING IN AUGUST! AND WILL BE MOVING TO NASHVILLE!!!!!!

NO MORE HOMEWORK!
NO MORE BOOKS!
NO MORE TEACHERS' DIRTY LOOKS!

i am so over school. i cant wait to be done!!!!!!

NYC!!!!

2008-03-12T21:45:00.002-04:00

new york was great. a much different trip than usual since we only saw 2 musicals and got to visit with a LOT of people. on friday, we saw Suzanne. saturday morning we had brunch with Eric and his family. Saturday evening we saw Elaine and her friends, and my friend Mack. And Monday we saw Suzie. It was fantastic.

Thought on Shows
Young Frankenstein was actually better than I had anticipated but NOT better than the producers as some are saying. It started out kinda slow without many laughs but then it picked up right after megan mullaly's song "please dont touch me" and then it never stopped. the sets - breathtakingly fantastic. i was just blown away by the number and size and cool factor of the sets. very very awesome. and apparently i dont remember this movie very well at all as only certain parts of the script were familiar. overall it was good, not deserving of 'best new musical' or anything but definitely a great time in the theatre. and we had pretty kick ass seats - front row center of the balcony, so even though we were high up, could see everything great.

after, we stood outside with people and i got andrea martin's autograph and the guy who played the blind guy. but then we're like where the hell is everyone else? and the doorman said they went out the OTHER stage door. WHAT?! finally, the guy who played the monster came out and he was really nice and told us that he usually brings up the rear. i was really disapointed but then my mom suggested i ask him if they do a matinee tomorrow so that i could stand outside then and we talked to him for like 15 minutes and he told us that there wasnt a matinee till sunday at 3. but that if i dont get a chance to come back and get sutton and roger bart's autographs, that i could leave him a note and my playbill and he would make sure they got signed and send them to me! i told him he was amazing and that i have stamps so it wouldnt cost him anything and that he was awesomely nice. so i'll probably do that with the extra playbill we have. what a nice guy! he asked my name so he would recognize if something came in for him. and then he told us it was his birthday so we wished him a happy birthday (41st) and that he needed to go celebrate. then we found out he was the frankenstein monster in Van Helsing and that when i had heard about how hugh jackman and 'the monster' had practiced tap dancing on set it was HIM. lol. he was great. Shuler Hensley. HE WAS ALSO Judd in the national tour of Oklahoma so thats why he looked so familiar to me - since i have that dvd with hugh jackman.

IS HE DEAD?
Hilarious. Its a shame this show is closing. One of the funniest things ever. Norbert was great, the whole cast was great. Fifth row seats were great. More below, with Norbert's pic. :)

CURTAINS
Beautiful. Wonderful. Great music. Great dancing. Great performances. Not one of my favorites but a wonderful show worth seeing. Our seats werent fantastic. In fact they kinda sucked and the audience blew - very rude, moving a lot, late, etc. But David Hyde Peirce is great on stage, with wonderful comedic timing (duh) and the rest of the cast had amazing voices. mmmm.

PERFECT CRIME.
there are no words to describe how terrible this off broadway play was. its been running for 21 years. i dont know why or how. the main actress, who has been doing the show since its first show. but she's terrible. she closes her eyes every time she delivers her lines which she does very aggressively and quickly and without thought. she never reacted to anything anyone said (a main part of acting), and was just trying to get through the play without really acting. the play was NOT a thriller as promised, not much of a mystery, as promised. the plot was thin, the 'thrills' nonexistent. it was so terrible. at the intermission everyone in the audience was like "ummmm wtf?" and afterwards my mom and i raced out and the first thing my mom said was "i need a drink." the show DROVE my mother to drink.

i wish we could have seen more musicals but to be quite honest, most of what is currently on broadway either we've seen or have no desire to see OR hasnt opened. so the selection was kinda lame but we did see three great shows and saw some of my FAVORITE people plus some big tv names in very good roles. soooooooooooo it was a great trip. :) and i LOVE broadway so much. its giving me great inspiration for the book i am (plan on) writing. what a high. musicals always give me such a high. i love them!!!!!!

now.

some pictures.

My mother.

Our view of the Young Frankenstein stage

Me and Andrea Martin, who played Frau Blucher. Hilarious lady.

Shuler Hensley - he played The Monster. He was BRILLIANT. How he danced around in those big clunky shoes i'll never know. He also played The Monster in Van Helsing and Judd in the national tour of Oklahoma (with hugh jackman!). We talked a bit after the show and he turned out to be really nice and since I didnt have a chance to meet Sutton Foster, Rogert Bart or Megan Mullaly, he told me I could drop off my playbill and leave a note to him before I left NYC and he would make sure it got signed! :)

Mmmmm

Obviously, the most important picture. ;-)
But seriously, seeing him perform was amazing. Where he gets his energy...I dont know. It was amazing. One of the funniest things I have ever seen. IS HE DEAD? google it. amazing. and he gave an amazing performance. plus, he was very nice and friendly after the show even though everyone was in a really bad mood since the show was closing 2 nights later. [ran out of money]

Elaine! I hadnt seen this girl since May 2006. it was splendiferous.

Mack, Me, Elaine, her bf Jim, and friend Kara. We had a wonderful nearly spontaneous evening Saturday night. What fun!

Debra Monk, from Curtains. You might recognize her from Center Stage, as the over bearing stage mother; from the Music Man, as Kristen Chenoweth's mom; from various episodes of Grey's Anatomy; from various episodes of NYPD blue; or from the Savages. She is amazing on stage. Great stage presence. Very commanding. And hilarious.

this guy, also in curtains, was cute and funny and friendly and flirty and a FANTASTIC dancer.

i saw this guy in the drowsy chaperone as well, and he was wonderful.

Suzie and my mom and i went to MoMA on monday

we saw some art

tried our hand at being rockettes

and then met the naked cowboy in times square

all in all it was awesome :)

3 Words

2008-03-07T22:59:00.001-05:00

NORBERT.

LEO.

BUTZ.

Student Ingenuity

2008-02-16T10:59:00.006-05:00

Sometimes I am really amazed by the fact I live in the 21st century and have access to all kinds of technology and cool shit that I dont think would have been as easy to get my hands on 25 years ago.

For our production class, our prof made us give our footage from our last project to another group for them to recut into something else. the footage we got was literally 3.5 minutes of boys running and shooting at one another, basically an action movie. no retakes. just 3.5 minutes. we had like 45 minutes of footage, other groups had like 25 or 30 minutes. and this group hands us 3.5 minutes. OF ACTION.

so what do we do? we make it a film noir and add footage. the link to what we have so far is at the bottom. just remember its CHEEZTACULARbut thats the point. its supposed to be like an old 1940s movie. if you think *we're* cheesing it up, go to youtube andw watch the trailer for Double Indemnity or Notorious. lol.

ANYWAY back to my tech rant. we shot it on a pretty nice consumer level 3CCD camera. we captured all the video onto my macbook pro. we edited it in Final Cut. we were going to do the Sin City effect but it was turning out to be too tedious for a 2 week video project. we have access to all kinds of cool software and can basically download any fonts we need. and we recorded all the dialogue and voiceovers in a ghettorigged studio set up at mark's house. it was pretty cool. his roommate, and a fellow DM student, Chewy (thats not how you really spell her name but I dont know how to spell it), played Audio Engineer to our Voice Talent. Check it out:

LINK TO OUR TRAILER:
http://sulley.dm.ucf.edu/~aschwartau/BLOODY%20MARY%20V5.mov

A Totally Awesome Sunday

2008-01-20T23:57:00.000-05:00

Today was great!

Dan and I left at 10ish, drove to 727, killed some time until we all met for lunch at this place in Old Northeast where they were not happy that it took so much time for everyone in our party to arrive. But it turned out ok. Kiara (who i havent seen since August, not for lack of trying) and her new beau came, as did Matt Wharton, Cari, Katie, Adam and his friend Erich. It was great! After lunch, we went to Starbucks where we sat around talking for a very long time. Then I gave Dan the grand tour of Seminole, showed him 11511 and then drove over to tampa where drove around, got lost through ybor, and eventually ate a light dinner in 25 minutes at ihop. THEN Back to downtown tampa to park and see THE DROWSY CHAPERONE which was awesome (my 2nd time seeing it, his first and he loved it!).

It was, all in all, a FANTASTIC day!

Movies

2008-01-18T13:14:00.001-05:00

i saw I AM LEGEND yesterday and really enjoyed it. based on what i know about the book, it wasnt a literal adaptation or entirely true to the original reason it was called I AM LEGEND, but i think it was still pretty good and paid homage to the original in spirit while still being fairly faithful to the general premise. it was also a tad scarier than i had wanted, BUT it wasnt a scary movie, and the scariness stemmed from the tension created with the camera movements and the SILENCE. oh man was the silence great!

tonight we are going to see CLOVERFIELD. i hope it doesnt suck. nick saw it last night at the midnight screening and said that the way it was filmed was enough of a reason to go see it (entirely on steadycam, like a handheld camera, and is only 80 minutes long because an SDcard in a consumer camera only holds 80 minutes of video and its supposed to be like from the characters' pov on their own camera). i have a feeling its going to be a depressing ending but hopefully the magic of the movie making will be enough to make up for whatever disappointing story unfolds.

i watched a rip of Sydney White yesterday which i've already seen but i love it and i needed to have something on while i was working. AND here are a couple things i noticed:

I also watched a rip of Across the Universe and kinda liked it. I cant say i'd sit through the whole thing again because the narrative was kinda weak. It was visually stunning and some of the musical scenes were really awesome and i actually liked hearing the beatles reworked like that (i wonder how they feel). But, i felt like they were really having to work hard to make a cohesive story work and i stopped caring what happened about half way through and just wanted to see the next dance number. it was pretty though. very very pretty. and yay for actors doing their own singing.

Technology Amazes Me

2008-01-10T16:54:00.001-05:00

if you cant see the vid, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRS9cpOMYv0

Winter in Florida

2008-01-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

I don't know whether I should complain to Mother Nature about her menopausal global-warming-inspired heatwave (which will surely yield another unrelenting summer) or revel in the fact that its 80 degrees and sunny outside?

I thought it should be noted that today I sat out by the pool (which was too cold to dive into), sat in the jacuzzi, and got some sun while I read a book.

Its January 9th.

Cool Thing From Yesterday!

2008-01-09T13:06:00.001-05:00

actually a couple things:

My first class on Tuesdays, Production II, is going to be fun I think. Nick's in that class and its going to be production oriented, like video and stuff. cool :)

In my second class, which will be a useful class (for once!), I have a lot of friends: Amanda, Tom, Sam, Brandon, Kyle, and Kevin! Its gonna be easy and fun. Basically its just for building a good resume, a good portfolio and learning how to do interviews and presentations. Easy peasy lemon squeezie.

AND FINALLY the coolest thing from yesterday:

I GOT TO RIDE A SEGWAY!!!!! :) Kyle works over at the IST building in research park so they just let him ride it to class! of course he looks like a total nerd and the entire class made fun of him for being so ridiculous but BUT he let me ride it after class!! it was really disorienting at first but its easy to adjust to and man! i just want to ride it all the time. no wonder people like em. i mean, you look like a total nerd riding it, but it doesnt matter because its THAT COOL! kevin fell off the thing because he didnt let it balance him and this other guy, charles who is really cool, he liked riding it. you should have seen us. a bunch of nerds out back of the building riding on this segway. it was SO MUCH FUN!!! amanda refused to join us. i dont care. i wanna ride it again. kyle is gonna let me ride it again next week and i'm gonna bring a camera so you guys can see becuase it was just so much fun. lol.

/nerdiness.

Resignation as an Adult

2008-01-07T15:18:00.001-05:00

hahaha found this here

Subject: Resignation

To whom it may concern:

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.

* I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a 5 year old again.
* I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.
* I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples in a pond with rocks.
* I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
* I want to lie under a big oak tree and watch the ants march up its trunk.
* I want to run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.
* I want to think a quarter is worth more than a dollar bill cause it's prettier and weighs more.
* I want to go fishing and care more about catching the minnows along the shore than the big bass in the lake.
* I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes. When I didn't know what I know now. When all I knew was to be happy because I was blissfully unaware of all the things that should make me worried.
* I want to think the world is fair.
* I want to think that everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible.
* I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
* I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and the loss of loved ones.
* I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, dreams, the imagination, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, a kiss that makes a boo-boo go away, making angels in the snow and that my dad and Superman are the strongest people in the world.

So......here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit cards and the bills too, my 401K statements, my stocks & bonds, my collections, my insurance premiums, my job, my house and the payments too, my e-mail address pager,cell phone, computer, and watch. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this with me further, you'll have to catch me first, cause,

"Tag!"...
"You're it!"

Its been a while, so here's a bunch to catch up with!

2008-01-06T18:41:00.000-05:00

Last night, I had a regifting potluck. We did it White Elephant/Dirty Santa style. Lots of fun was had by all. It was definitely a great idea for a party (thanks to my mom) and we have the pix to prove it (thanks to amanda!).

Other recent fun! Dan had a themed NYE party that was a real success! What a super fun way to ring in 2008!