you tube, i tube, we all tube for...

...home videos? i don't know. i just signed up on youtube.com so that i could share videos (since i dont have a website any more). i think it's gonna be great. video is a medium that i dont normally think in. here's my profile:

http://www.youtube.com/user/joshman800000000

i uploaded a practice video. we'll see how it goes.


also, jess and i watched Everything is Illuminated last night. i highly recommend it. it was really funny, but also rather moving at times. go watch it. (man, who would've thought after seeing Forever Young that Elijah Wood would have been so creepy at times years down the road?) (huh. also didn't know that J.J. Abrams wrote that.)

the new Olympus c765

this is a sweet little camera that my friend John has had for several years now but i just couldn't bring myself to get. my c-3000 treated me so well over the years, i just hated to push it aside. but it was time for more zoom (approximately 3x more zoom). i just got this yesterday, but i'm already liking it. i got it virtually brand new on eBay for $167 (plus an extra battery and 512mb card (which i didnt even know about till i got it). it's got 10x zoom, 4 megapixel, an adjustable flash (intensity), a super macro mode (that allows me to take pictures at about 1.2" away), an LCD viewfinder, and a bunch of a other crap that's sweet too.




at 10x zoom...






and now, the super macro mode at work (i actually couldnt get the lens any closer without blocking the light)...

saturday

this is the chiabatta burger i had the other day. it looks pretty gross in this picture but it was actually really awesome. it's worth it you have a coupon for 2 for 1 (which i did)





i played frolf with HG and Scholes and Dobbs today. i beat them all. my score: 1 (one). ONE over par. it was a scramble, but my score was not due in anyway to my parter (God bless him). i played an incredible game. really. remarkable.

"I don't own emotion... I rent"

jess and i watched RENT this past weekend. i really wasn't that excited about seeing it, but in fact, it turned out to be rather enjoyable. i mean, there was the whole "AIDs AIDs AIDs" thing, but i suppose that is huge part of some people's lives. it's weird watching a musical. for me, i think i have to constantly remind myself that i'm not really watching a movie so much as a play. so i have to dispense all my normal movie/realism ideas. i do think it would be awesome if the real world was more like a musical; where everyone was wonderfully musical and could sing great and we all knew exactly what the words to chorus were and we communicated our thoughts and emotions through song. i think that would be fun. bizarre, but fun. although, you would probably be able to communicate emotions and feelings a lot faster through music.

anyway, i wasn't just shot in the rear by the music in the film... at least at first. but there was one theme that really caught my attention, so i decided to download the soundtrack. now, i'm not a huge fan of the cheesy 90s distortion guitar used a lot or the guy that looks like Bon Jovi (or his voice). in fact, i wasn't thrilled with a lot of the instruments used (they sounded synethized or something; i dont know). however, i am loving some of these themes (songs) in the play. seriously, they're awesome. i just keep listening to them over and over. i really enjoy Rosario Dawson's voice. it's just, very solid. actually, all of their voices are that way (i imagine you can't successfully sing dainty-like in a musical).

i suppose my favorite is the "no day but today" theme. if you haven't heard it and like people singing and music and stuff you really should check it out. (it's not all "525,600 minutes" in case you dont like that song.)


here's a fun picture i took the other day at my dad's birthday party.





on a different note... this is awesome. thanks to billy for calling this to my attention:

Arrested Development memorabilia

(i'm keeping my fingers crossed for the SOB's script!)

this was from last week's church

"If we choose the way of desire, our greatest enemy on the road ahead is not the Arrows, nor Satan, nor our false lovers. The most crippling thing that besets the pilgrim heart is simply forgetfulness, or more accurately, the failure to remember....I have had enough encounters with God to provide a lifetime of conviction--why don't I live more faithfully? Because I forget."

-John Eldredge

that couldn't be more accurate for me. it's unbelieveable.

just because He lives

Because He lives
I can face tomorrow;
Because He lives
All fear is gone;
Because I know
He holds the future,
And life is worth the living
just because He lives.

How sweet to hold
A new born baby,
And feel the pride,
And joy He gives;
But greater still
The calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days
Because He lives.

my cousin, Holly, and her baby were in a car wreck last night. her baby died. she's in critical condition. any prayers you could offer would go to good use.

stupid picasa

(i couldnt get all the pictures to work yet. maybe later i can)




so i'll gladly be the first to say that jesse couldn't have been more right about Glow Golf. i think everybody doubted it but it turned out to be a lot of fun. we had the perfect number of people, got a 20% discount, and gave the "Glow Pro" guy something to do for an hour of so. kudos to jesse and her birthday idea. also, pizza hut was delicious and fun. although, someone must've put one of those little explosive charges from MI:III in my chinese food from the night before and detonated it while i unknowingly ate my pizza. crazy stuff. crazy painful stuff. but i digress... we ended the evening with some advantageous alcohol specials. it was a lot of fun. same time next year? (you bet!)


this is what dudley looks like when he wants in...




a bit of glow golf...




our birds grew up and flew away. now only an empty nest (covered in bird crap) remains.




jesse's giant birthday cookie.




the group waits for the golfing extravaganza.




also, i made jesse the most bitchingly fast mix CD ever. it is as follows:

Tropicalia ou Panis Et Circensis - Miserere Nobis
Fatboy Slim - Apache
Gnarls Barkley - Go-Go Gadget Gospel
Gnarls Barkley - Transformer
Snow Patrol - Hands Open
Neko Case - John Saw That Number
Aphex Twin - Btoum-Roumada
Sun Kil Moon - Neverending Math Equation
Sufjan Stevens - A Sun Came
The Decemberists - Los Angeles, I'm Yours
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Hard to Concentrate
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Sun Kil Moon - Grey Ice Water
The Dresden Dolls - Shores of California
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Make You Feel Better
The Fiery Furnaces - My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found
The Decemberists - Billy Liar
Aphex Twin - Penty Harmonium
Islands - Rough Gem
Snow Patrol - You Could Be Happy
Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty
Sufjan Stevens - Joy! Joy! Joy!
About - Nogato
Neko Case - A Widow's Toast
Sufjan Stevens - Happy Birthday

incredible. i'm really proud of it and glad i had someone special to give it to.

how un-"breakfast of champions" of me

i wish i could even begin to endorse the breakfast i had this morning, but if i could be real with you second here, i can't. i'm unable to sit here and tell you that two(2) chocolate chip muffins, some baked cheetos and spinach dip, and Crystal Light (just because i like the taste) are a good combination or even a mediocre combination. in fact, it's a downright bad combination. so for as much as i love each one of those items on their own, i will no longer say yes to blending them together into one meal. (and i can't imagine that there are many heatlth benefits either.)

ugh. don't forget these precious words of breakfast wisdom. (cause i feel like need to puke.)

ALSO, this weekend was fun. we went out pub crawling on friday, bowling with my company on saturday (and MI:III, thanks to Billy!), and church and lunch with my family on sunday. and i think we caught up on sleep too (not counting last night). so, yeah, that was fun.

what a fantastic friday

(i like this picture. i messed with the exposure and stuff. looks like she's in a desert or something.)




but seriously, it's been a fun friday. first, i remembered this morning as i was leaving that i had a seminar on concrete from 8-12 over at the cumberland science museum. so i went over there, learned the importance of concrete (vs. plastic), ate my company paid for lunch (which included banana pudding!), and then spent 30 min running around the science museum playing with everything! it was awesome. saw a friend from UT engineering, talked a bit, and came back to work (where i have been rather inefficient, i must say.) and NOW i'm about to go Frolf it up with HG. and it's freakin awesome outside. i cant wait.

can you tell which black spot is Dudley rolling around in the dirt and which is just an oil stain? (that little turd would NOT stop rolling in the dirt and oil on the pavement.)





you might not could tell, but we're going about 80mph here. this is rather unsafe and a lot of fun.




back to our humble abode.

Junebug

we watched that movie, Junebug, last night. at first, i wasn't too sure i was even going to be glad i watched it (like some movies you don't necessarily like, but you're like, "well, at least i watched it"). we've watched quite a few "indie" movies over the past few months and some have left us... unhappy. Thumbsucker, none too pleased with. The Squid and the Whale, not really independent, but "indie-like"; it was a bit tough to watch, but now that i think about it, it was quite good. Me and You and Everyone We Know, good, but not great. sometimes the awkardness is just pushed too far. Shopgirl, not a big fan. i just did not like the way it flowed or the way people acted or spoke. i'm glad i stayed to watch the end because it made it better, but i almost didn't. also, i don't think it's a good idea to limit yourself to just "indie" movies and documentaries; you'll become quite a cynical or pessimistic person. but i digress... Junebug. i really liked it. it was very "multi-faceted" (jesse's words). it really was. there were a lot of characters and it did a really good job of showing all of them and their struggles equally. and i liked the subject matter. it was a little tought to get into, but about halfway through i was hooked. and Amy Adams did just an amazing job. really. i couldn't wait to see more scenes in the movie with her. really a wonderful character. so this movie get's my high star rating of... 8.9, i think.


here is a list of the Netflixed flicks thus far:

Junebug
Brazil
Shopgirl
Good Night, and Good Luck
See Spot Run
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Thin Blue Line
The Weather Man
Paradise Now
The Squid and the Whale
Howl's Moving Castle
Thumbsucker
Schultze Gets the Blues
A History of Violence
Blue Vinyl
Riding Giants
The Aristocrats
Reel Paradise
MirrorMask
Zathura
Kontroll
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Mission: Special Edition
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Murderball
The Agronomist
The Interpreter
Unleashed
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Born Into Brothels
Red Eye
Beyond the Gates of Splendor
Lord of War
The Baxter
Crash
Hustle & Flow
The Constant Gardener
Wedding Crashers

(from most recently watched to the earliest :: 01.11.06 - 05.03.06)

Netflix rules.

our little furry bird pods

these little feather covered pods with beaks have recently developed in our dead hanging plant over the last month or so. they seem to be looking less ugly each day, so that's good. we were worried that perhaps Dudley had maimed their mom, but as it turns out, no, he did not. which is also good because i didnt really feel like having to deal with a bunch of little dead birds in a week. so in conclusion, all is well with the fuzzy pods. with beaks.


aww. they think the camera is their mom.




and now, from what little knowledge i have of tiny bird pods, it appears he's demanding that the camera feed him. (i just couldnt bring myself to tell him the bad news.)





on a side note, it was quite ominous looking outside on my way in to work.