Saturday, August 30, 2008

Cat soap operas

I was playing this original of the "cat talking" video which I posted some time ago (remember? It was dubbed with funny) and the cat became very interested. He sat staring at the screen as I looped it over and over again, and at one point, hopped on the computer desk and looked behind the screen to see where the cats were. I'm sure it was quite baffling for him.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Emails I should have sent or I am going to get in so much trouble

[Post removed for health reasons.]

What the hell is the matter with nowadays?

Wow, I'd nearly forgotten that I made this:



At the time I made it, I was amused by the frustration that people exhibit over simple things. I guess I saw the wailing woman as a quaint expression of an inability to reconcile the complexity of the world with her own existence.

That pretty much summarizes how I feel now about certain aspects of my work life, that I refrain (on purpose) from connecting to here.

Still, the fun an games are sometimes forced to the economic reality of one's working life. I've purposefully refused to reconcile those myself, despite the fact that most of my readers are fellow workmates.

Can one have a work life and a life life? Tell me Internet's tube. Tell me.

Anyway, this piece pretty much sums up how I'm feeling about things these days, in an ironic way. It is not about general bitchiness, but how arbitrary decisions come about.

Flood.

Change.

Shift.

What the hell is the matter with people nowadays?

Get ready for a shitstorm, my collegial readers.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Broken Social Scene


Broken Social Scene
Originally uploaded by Theorris

I neglected to note that Broken Social Scene last week at the Gallivan Center in downtown SLC was by far the best concert of the year. I am still very impressed with the Canadian music scene.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Back to school, baby!


My Year Book Photo Contest--Is it Austin Powers Theorris?
Originally uploaded by Theorris

Hip, irreverent and so damn edgy!

By the way--I have that jacket. I'll be happy to don it any time you want.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Just wanting to hear myself bitch

It looks like the Wilco show tonight at Red Butte Gardens here in Slick City is the official end of summer show for me. School starts Wednesday and tomorrow is full of meetings.

Not to be a sourpuss, but this has not been much of a summer.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Heavy handed


People looking at art: Albert Bensard
Originally uploaded by Theorris

I was accosted later by a guard taking another picture of a man looking at the giant casting of the Rodin's Burgher's of Calais head and told I had to delete the picture. Funny that: the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is public property and Rodin is not under copyright. They also had nothing posted that stated no photography was allowed. I've been to many museums around the US and none seem to have a problem with cell phone pictures including puny institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The only issue that usually comes up (and it is clearly posted in most museums) is when a work's rights are still held by the artist, the artist's family, or some right's holding organization. The UMFA and/or the Cleveland Museum of Art (who owns this collection) is being pretty presumptuous about their rights to control images of works they do not own the rights to particularly in a government funded institution.

Congestion

It all makes perfect sense when you see it this way: 26080732636761.jpg (JPEG Image, 1000x423 pixels)

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Live flickring: FrontRunner expedition--coincidence is a bitch


Live flickring: FrontRunner expedition--coincidence is a bitch
Originally uploaded by Theorris

Given that I experienced the full aural experience on my ride up to Ogden, I decided to crank up the old iPod. Strangely enough, the song that came up on shuffler was Eels' "Railroad Man." I listed to it 3 times over. You can't let such coincidence go uncelebrated or unnoticed.

Adios, Ogden!


Adios, Ogden!
Originally uploaded by Theorris

The conductor actually said "all aboard!" this time.

Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Patio Night Pilsner


Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Patio Night Pilsner
Originally uploaded by Theorris

Well I am back on the FrontRunner after a jaunt around 25th street and the Union Pacific Station taking pictures. The Station is still as cool as I remember it. I've never gone in the museums they have there. They are a tribute to all that made the west, really: railroad, cars, and guns. The railroad museum is a natural, but the car only seem to fit because of my previously mentioned theme.

I headed to Roosters (as USU Jason psychically commented in my flickr stream) and had lunch along with two pints of their Patio Night Pilsener (sic). It is a good summer beer, so I got a growler to bring back to the City. I suppose I could have got a cup and made it a fun train back to SLC, but I don't think UTA would approve.

Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Rooster's


Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Rooster's
Originally uploaded by Theorris

The hotter it has become out in the bright Ogden sun, the more this has become an expedition instead of an excursion.

Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Horsesaurus Rex


Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Horsesaurus Rex
Originally uploaded by Theorris

They have these things all around 25th Street in Ogden. This one is quite good, but the one with the Duke painted on the horse's ass is the best.

Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Ogden Station


Live flickring: FrontRunner Expedition--Ogden Station
Originally uploaded by Theorris

Live flickring: FrontRunner Excursion--next stop Ogden Station


Live flickring: FrontRunner Excursion--next stop Ogden Station
Originally uploaded by Theorris

We've passed more southbound trains than I expected, given the 30 minute schedule of FrontRunner. So far it has been three.

In any case, the ride has been smooth an uneventful. If anything it is a little too comfortable in the car--and a little too cold. I suppose when these things are packed to the gills, however, the A/C comes in handy.

More later, as I have to pack up to unboard.

Live flickring: FrontRunner Excursion--Fellow travelers


Live flickring: FrontRunner Excursion--Fellow travelers
Originally uploaded by Theorris

As you can see the train car is quite empty. There was only one other guy on the upper level of the car when I got on--he gets regular calls on his cell phone and is prone to say "anywho." He won't force me to put on my headphones, however, as I want the whole experience to be not mediated by a soundtrack. (Well, on my way back to Slick City, I will probably listen to music.) Boarding at the Wood's Cross station was a mother and her teenager, and two LDS missionaries. A Union Pacific train kept up with us for a while outside of Farmington station. A flat bed featured a rather lurid depiction of a naked woman. The missionaries kept glancing at it and looking the other way.

As you can see, local newscaster Nadine Wimmer joined us. Her massive head seems perfect for TV. She will not, however, quit smiling.

Actually I used to work with Ms. Wimmer. She is actually a rather tiny woman.

Live flickring: FrontRunner Excursion--Nice Feature


Live flickring: FrontRunner Excursion--Nice Feature
Originally uploaded by Theorris

I didn't notice this right off, but the FrontRunner cars provide outlets along with free wifi access. Ah! What luxury! I no longer have to type with my brighness turned all the way down so as to preserve my wonky battery's life.

We're moving at quite a clip right now, just having left the Wood's Cross station. Traffic on I-15 northbound is at a standstill. I'm sorry for all you car-bound folks.

Just kidding. I'm really not.

Live blogging: UTA FrontRunner Excursion


Live flickring: UTA FrontRunner Excursion
Originally uploaded by Theorris

I have a few days off from work, so I decided to use one of my days on a photography excursion to Salt Lake's step sister to the north, Ogden via UTA's FrontRunner train. I took my normal bus/TRAX route downtown (via the University TRAX line) and arrived at the Salt Lake Intermodal Hub at 10 am sharp. Having been to the hub once before to take shots of the train, I knew approximately where the ticket stations were. The one I approached, however, seems to have become discombobulated, because it didn't react to my touch. I then ventured to another ticket station down the way where I proceeded to purchase my ticket. As I have a pass, I was pleased to find out that a round trip ticket was only 7 bucks. I suppose that is a discount as I thought the ticket to Ogden was 5 something each way. I was interrupted in the process of buying a ticket by a grandmother with grandkids in tow who asked me how to operate the ticket machine. "I have no idea," I said, and she quickly figured out that I too was a tourist. After retrieving my ticket, I chose the train car on nearest the train, and climbed the stairs to the upper deck. I chose an eastside seat so as to have a better photography perch of the cities and towns we shall pass. On the way back, I'll sit on the other side to get pictures of the Great Salt Lake.

We've just now pulled out. I was a bit disappointed that the conductor didn't shout "all aboard" as they still do on AMTRAK trains. Ah well.

So far we're going slow, and the FrontRunner rides like a 70's Cadillac: smooth and boat-like.

Monday, August 04, 2008

"Mom said I'd never get anywhere with these games"

I was reading the always-entertaining Salt Blog (put together by Salt Lake City Weekly staff) and came upon this gem that the blogger (Brandon Burt) was using to tie up a joke on a post about an old Outer Limits episode:



This is almost as good as the creepy video that runs regularly during Utah Jazz games with the bizzare computer graphics guy menacingly approaching the screen, and hopped-up personalities (such as in the Westwood commercial) touting the great career opportunities of sitting on your ass for hours on end designing video games that will allow other people to sit on their asses for even more hours on end. That commercial actually failed in its prime duty, however, since I cannot, for the life of me, remember the school's name. Thank the video gods for that.