Date:	2009-07-01 23:16
Subject:	Please do not lick the blog
Security:	Public
Mood:	blank
Music:	Moby, via Adam's computer

Summer brings out exciting colors in food. Too bad I didn't get to taste anything at either of these advertising shoots.

On the left, a key lime torte at Pier 45.
On the right, an asian shrimp & noodle entrée from Label 7.

Date:	2009-06-25 11:05
Subject:	Your Thursday Moment of Zen
Security:	Public
Mood:	busy

Date:	2009-06-21 03:40
Subject:	Cabbage Caption Contest!
Security:	Public
Mood:	goofy
Music:	Harry Gregson-Williams - The Stowaway

I've taken a LOT of weird photos at our apartment, but this one might just take the cake. It cracks me up every time I look at it. So, I've decided to run a caption contest with it! Simply leave a comment with your entry by FRIDAY, June 26 @ 3:00am (EST) either on this LiveJournal entry or on the Flickr photo itself.

Write any kind of caption you want: what Anna, Adam, and Rachel are thinking, what someone else would say looking at them, write a short story, etc. -- anything goes! And you can enter more than once, if you want -- just be sure to make it obvious where one caption ends and another begins. Humor usually goes over well, but is not required. Creativity in entries encouraged!

Judging: Entries will be judged anonymously by a crackpot team of judges (probably several of my co-workers) and the winner will be announced Friday evening!

Prizes: TBD, but the person with the top-voted caption will definitely receive something in the mail.

Date:	2009-06-15 07:58
Subject:	May Madness, part 2
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative
Music:	"Were the World Mine" - To Speak True

Continuing right along with the second half of the month.

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Date:	2009-06-14 19:02
Subject:	May Madness, part 1
Security:	Public
Mood:	chipper
Music:	A.R. Rahman - Dreams On Fire (Feat. Suzanne)

SO. MUCH. went on this past May. Probably bolstered by the fact that there were 5 weekends, one of them a long holiday. Jumping into the first half:

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Date:	2009-06-14 01:22
Subject:	Cupcake Coma
Security:	Public
Mood:	sleepy
Music:	Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil - the international end title

Now and then, Adam and I catch glimpses of some of Brian and Alana's fantastic wedding plans (this November!). They've decided to go with a variety of flavors of cupcakes for their cake, from the Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe, and last week received their second batch of samples to choose from. Knowing our passion for desserts, and how large the cakes were, they asked Adam and I to join them for the cupcake taste-testing.

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Date:	2009-06-11 03:57
Subject:	"Two species separated by 65 million years of evolution"
Security:	Public
Mood:	busy
Music:	James Newton Howard - Nothing is Impossible

Anna, Kara, Matt A., Adam & I all went to see the live Walking with Dinosaurs stage show at the Blue Cross Arena. It was dino-tastic, with a really cool mix of robotics and puppetry (and I'm always in the mood for puppets), but I think my absolute favorite part was the enormous mix of inflating plant-life. From the single blades of grassy-fern-things to the boob flowers to the palm trees, I freakin' loved 'em. The smaller ones ringed the stage, providing something for the dinosaurs to much on, and a bit of color to contrast the flat planes of grass or dirt. So simple in idea, but what a great touch.

I used my CITY press credentials, so I got to shoot the first half of the 96-minute-long show.

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Date:	2009-06-02 00:38
Subject:	Technicolor
Security:	Public
Mood:	exhausted
Music:	Prospekt's March

I've been wanting to see Coldplay live since I missed their stop at Darien Lake years ago
During the Rush of Blood to the Head tour. Several albums ago.
When I heard they were coming back to Rochester, I jumped at the notion of buying tickets,
and only didn't because I found out that I would be able to go with my press pass (Thanks Dale!!!).

I went, I saw, I listened, and I photographed. And then they made us leave.
None of the press photographers were allowed to stay longer than the third song,
a fact we weren't told beforehand and that differed from our treatment during all the opening acts.

"Yellow" (with balloons that broke and spilled confetti over the crowd) played on my way out of the VIP pit.
"Glass of Water" echoed on my way out to the parking lot.
It was damn near heartbreaking having to leave, as I was having an amazing time.
But I'm so so SO happy I got to go, even just for that little bit.
And I don't know if I'll ever be able to go again, as being that close was amazing.

( Read more... )

Date:	2009-05-31 23:03
Subject:	Wild Things: Cyberspace to Meetspace
Security:	Public
Mood:	content
Music:	Vampire Weekend VS Miike Snow - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance REMIX

( + )

I feel like it's extremely rare for me to read about a place on a blog and then accidentally stumble upon it in real life (I don't do a lot of reading about Rochester while online). But I finally had one such collission.

InContention, my favorite movie blog, recently posted that the makers of Spike Jonze's upcoming "Where the Wild Things Are" movie had started their own blog, posting images of things that had inspired them. One of InContention's favorite photos was of "a desolate New York ice-cream parlor" which had a "Wild Things" mural painted on the side of it which "illustrates the extent to which Maurice Sendak’s book has permeated everyday life." Silly me, I assumed it was in New York City ... not Ithaca. And I never thought that we'd be passing it on our way out of town along NY RT-89 after camping at Buttermilk Falls State Park for the weekend.

Naturally, we had to stop for a picture.

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Date:	2009-05-28 00:54
Subject:	Your Moment of Zen
Security:	Public
Mood:	exhausted
Music:	rain falling outside

Three views of Hemlock Lake, one of the Finger Lakes, south of Rochester.

Date:	2009-05-26 00:45
Subject:	CheepCheepCheep
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

With so much to post about from two fantastic weekends in a row, I'm overwhelmed. There is too much.
I have to start somewhere though.... so how about how the Ludwigs have new baby chickens!!
Daawwww!! Little fuzz balls runnin' all around the bathroom!

( See more cuteness... )

Date:	2009-05-24 19:39
Subject:	5 Years
Security:	Public
Mood:	loved
Music:	John Powell - 20 Years Ago

- photo by Rachel

I was so tired on Thursday, I fell asleep on the sofa watching "True Blood" before I could post this.
Five years seems like a heck of a long time, and also like no time at all.
Heck, we've survived moving in together, so now there's no stopping us!
Love ya cricket!

Date:	2009-05-15 01:26
Subject:	*Blink*
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

So much happens in a month.
Updates have dropped off, but I'm still around.
Until I get to a full-fledged post, there's always my Flickr stream
and I also post updates on Twitter, as well.
Just in case, y'know, you needed a little somethin'-somethin'.

Date:	2009-04-13 00:55
Subject:	Weekend Roundup
Security:	Public
Mood:	relaxed
Music:	A plus D - She's My Man x 2

Thursday night was Adam's family's Passover seder. Last year I missed the first half, so to make up for that this year ... I missed the second half. Someday I'll be able to stay for all four glasses of wine and not have to run out to a dusk photo shoot.

Friday night I left work early, got the car inspected (finally), and Adam and I walked around the mall: we bought new shorts together, and I picked up a button about cheese and an amazing Super Mario Bros. sound effects keychain that is totally going to work with me. We busted up s'more Ugly Betty on the DVR and nibbled on Cheerios.

Saturday I had a photo shoot at the Eastman School of Music's Kilbourn Hall. Afterward, we went to trendy Pittsford store "Nook" with Matt & Kara. It had some lovely merchandise, but was a bit out of our price range for the most part. Still we walked away with some cards, candy, and a notebook. When we got home I began to satisfy my recent need to eat eggs for every meal by topping my snowman-and-snowflake pasta with a fried egg and meat sauce with lots of vegetables (it was good, but more eggs must be consumed!!).

Anna has been recording Robot Chicken and, as if we needed convincing, the premiere was absolutely hilarious -- Joss Whedon's cameo scene as himself was amazing. Deciding to make a lazy couch potato day of it (it's been so long!) we watched more Ugly Betty, then The River Wild (Meryl Streep: Action Star!), City of Angels with Anna when she got home (and which I'd been wanting to see again for awhile), and finally both new episodes of The Office. Bedtime: 3:30am.

Easter Sunday, Adam and I went to my Aunt Sue & Uncle Norm's house for dinner where we had delicious food and chatted everyone up. Then we went to the Ludwig's house for second dinner, after which all us kids went for a walk in the woods and Kevin antagonized a rooster. Dessert -- a pecan pie, a cheesecake, and an eclair pie (pictured above) -- was fantastic, and then everyone watched half of Hamlet 2 while I set up lights and took some photos, and then I joined everyone for the conclusion of the film.

Date:	2009-04-12 12:44
Subject:	Happy Easter!
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake

(I didn't have any good zombie pictures)

Date:	2009-04-09 01:53
Subject:	Ella Ella Eh Eh
Security:	Public
Mood:	very tired

For the next few weeks, I'm borrowing some photography lights and umbrellas from a co-worker (thanks Lee!). We did a brief run-down on how to use them at the end of the day on Tuesday, but today was my first real test to see how they'd do. After work, yogre, and Mexican food, I forced Adam, Rachel, and Anna to pose for photo-action. There are so many fun "nice" ones and fun "goofy" ones that I'll probably still be pulling out new ones next year. For now, here are a few "nice" samples:

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Date:	2009-04-08 01:25
Subject:	Now that you're watching every move that I make, You gotta believe that I got-a what it takes.
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

Anna and I apparently grew up on the same movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hook, The Fifth Element, and Jurassic Park are all fairly common conversation topics quotes around our apartment. But recently we discovered another unearthed gem from our tied childhood obsessions: A Goofy Movie.

Based on the cartoon series "Goof Troop" that more people remember, the bizarre buddy-roadtrip flick has several musical numbers and those are where my memories lie. Anna, fantastically, still has her CD of the soundtrack (my cassette tape is long worn-out) and so, after our discovery, we subjected Adam and Rachel to all the songs one night while making dinner. It's not too surprising that Anna and I remembered a ridiculous amount of the lyrics, and danced around the kitchen to all the cheesy early 90s pop. Not as good as the choreographed dance routines my next door neighbor Allison and her friend Jenna and I used to make up to go along with the nineties-ist of the tracks "I 2 I" and "Stand Out", but cooking was happening.

Several days later, Anna broke out her DVD of the film (have I mentioned how much I love our inner-apartment video store?) and we subjected Adam, Rachel AND Ken to it in all it's quickly-drawn cartoon glory. Surprisingly, it held up really well; funny and a bit overly nineties, with a lot of themes of parents dealing with teenage kids really ringing true to me. Plus, "Lester's Possom Park" was Disney's way of poking fun at itself years before Shrek and Enchanted did. Besides, what could be wrong about any movie that features a song with the lyrics "Lulu's lizard gizzard pie's a work of art / Then do a doe-see-doe and dance like there's a possum in your pants"?

MP3: I 2 I :: Tevin Campbell feat. Rosie Gaines
MP3: Lester's Possom Park :: Kevin Quinn

Date:	2009-04-07 00:31
Subject:	Cake Wreck
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake
Music:	Danny Elfman - Main Titles Sax Solo (Milk)

For a recent un-birthday party held in Katie's honor, I broke out a cake recipe I'd been wanting to try -- Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cake, with Chocolate-Ginger Mousse. It sounded cool, looked cool (see left) and even though it was translated from French, I didn't own the correct molds, and I'd never worked with gelatin before (which should've been a dead giveaway as the only reason we HAVE gelatin in our house is because of a previously failed gelatin-in-cake endeavor), it couldn't be too difficult right?

First I read the instructions completely wrong and Christi saved the base/crust layer by coercing us into redoing it (she's smart like that), then the pan was too big, then I didn't whip the cream enough (apparently), and finally I put in the amount of gelatin it called for but it obviously wasn't enough as what was supposed to be mousse came out watery-chocolatey-cool whip (see right).

It didn't taste bad, but mousse it was not. At least the raspberries were ripe and delicious.

Date:	2009-04-04 18:08
Subject:	RAWR!
Security:	Public
Mood:	blank

Last weekend, without knowing what to expect, Anna, Rachel, Adam and I armed ourselves in glowstick bracelets, Anna brought along feather and furry boas, and the four of us headed out to Tilt for RAWR! Dinosaur Rave. I took photos for work, Adam drank a lot of rum and cokes, and Rachel and I danced in between throngs of crazy people when we weren't bopping with Anna. Apparently rave culture is still mainly loud trance music and twirling glowsticks, but at some point it became infused with Anime-culture as there were tons of Pikachus, weird furry hoods and leggings, and apparently covering yourself in as many beads as possible is now the appropriate dress code. It was actually a really good time, the people were fun-loving and polite (Rachel described the huge crowd as "young and innocent") and we stayed until around 2 in the morning. A couple photos after the jump.

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Date:	2009-03-26 01:47
Subject:	One
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished
Music:	A.R. Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)

I'm not always drawn to certain photo assignments
and some days it's very challenging to be creatively stimulated.
And then there are the days when I get to shoot advertising photos
for businesses like "One | Restaurant & Lounge".

The first of 3 new ads I designed for them ran on page 19 of today's CITY.
They flowed right out of me, but I have lots more ideas to try out. Can't wait.