Well faithful readers of this fine web log, I finally have something to write about. While I have been busy with random adventures these past few weeks, I have encountered nothing so exciting that I must let the denizens of the internet hang on my every word.
I knew going into this weekend that my main adventure would be going to the University Street Fair. Based on the weather this past week, I also guessed that it would be very sunny and warm. My prediction paid off, as it reached a high of 77 degrees on Saturday. I was reminded that this once a year event was going to be coming up as few weeks back I saw a profile about the festival on a local public access show. Being a fan of street festivals and all that they offer, I figured that this would be a good reason to spend a day out in the sun. I asked my friend Jon if he wanted to come along, agreeing to meet at a nearby park and ride and skipping the headache that the task of finding a parking space in that area of Seattle would provide. The bus ride was about 20 minutes total and dropped us of right near Husky Stadium. Figuring that we could both use the walk, we traveled the 1.5 miles across the UW campus to the "AVE", the main road that travels through the University District. Really the whole is much like any other street fair or farmers market that you would come across on any weekend from the months of May - Sept. This includes the standard trinkets, produce, and homemade candles and crafts. Oddly enough, there were also cell phone and internet companies that had set up booths. Seriously, they actually had phones on display and were signing people up for contracts on the spot. This being the U District, there were of course many activists advocating many different causes, most dedicate to marijuana legalization. Food was your standard elephant ears, cheap noodle dishes, and super greasy hamburgers. I had a hamburger that was good for about 30 seconds before I got tired of eating it about half way through. I ended up buying some Blackberry honey before we got on the bus to the second part of the day.
Earlier in the day, Jon had invited me to a BBQ in North Bend. Knowing that rarely anything happens so close to where I currently live, I agreed to come. After stopping to get a change of clothes, I got my directions and left. The BBQ ended up being held at my friend Chelsey's house. The highlight of the evening was a game of Mafia, a murder mystery game my friend Stephen had made up. Each round, one person is the "mafia" member who chooses someone that they want to kick out of the game, during this time everyone has their eyes closed. After everyone opens their eyes, it is up to the players to choose who they think is the "mafia" member. If they choose the player that is not a mafia, than that play has to leave the game. This continues until the mafia member is guessed correctly. The BBQ lasted awhile before everyone got tired and went their separate ways.
Before I leave I have to tell everyone to visit my friend Danny's blog at http://dannysseoul.blogspot.com/, where you can learn about his amazing adventures on the far side of the world. He also occasionally writes for http://www.seouleats.com/, so you should probably go to that site as well.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Comic Book Convention
Getting up the cold blustery morning of this last Sunday, I honestly had no idea what to expect. Would my lungs be filled with the pungent smell of thousands? Would I get trampled in a stampede of humanity? Turns out none of these things happened, the end result being far more sedate than I imagined. Hearing about it the night before, I was told that the best attitude to have while going in there was to treat it somewhat like an art fair. The main attraction being to see artists demonstrate their craft and see how they do it, all while seeing the hawk their wares. Hearing that this was a pretty popular event, my brother and I left at around 9:30 in the morning, with the goal being to get their early and beat the crowds. We ended up arriving to a nearly empty convention center. For a comparison, the last two events of this caliber that I went to went was PAX and the international auto show. Both places featured nearly sold out, capacity room only crowds. Both were also much grander affairs. While PAX and the auto show featured millions of dollars in marketing on display at the booths, at comicon most were nothing more then setup card tables. Fitting, because as it turns out, most comics are small independent affairs that are published MAYBE by a small local publisher. Though I may not be that into the comic scene, I do greatly admire the fact that these people are willing to come interact with their fans for probably very little money.
However, there were bigger names advertised that attracted much bigger crowds. Walking through the various booths, I momentarily had a lapse in direction and almost ran into a group of people standing in the middle of the floor. Thinking it was simply a group of friends saying hi, I looked to my right and noticed that the booth next to me had pictures of one of the people I almost bumped into on display. That's right, I almost bumped into the Incredible Hulk himself, Lou Ferrigno. Maybe its because it was earlier in the day, but I have to say I was some what shocked to see that such an iconic figure sitting alone at a booth drinking a water bottle. I probably would have went to talk to him and take a picture if it wouldn't have cost $60. He was far from the biggest star that in attendance that day, as I saw none other then Mt. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy. Though I somewhat regret not getting in line to at least shake his hand, I figured in the end they probably wouldn't have even let me get in line, as they didn't need me taking up space in a line where there are people willing to pay $60 for a simple 5 second autograph. Instead, I was content to at least stand 15 feet away from him, so I could at least say that I saw him in person. I have to say that both for Ferrigno being 60 and Nimoy being 78, both look at least 15 years younger than they actually are. Going by "Pumping Iron" rules, Ferrigno has beaten Schwarzenagger, as Ferrigno is still extremely ripped and in good shape. Not gay, but I can at least admire someone who is still in really good shape at that age.
That's it for this time folks. Will I have a new job next time? Maybe.
However, there were bigger names advertised that attracted much bigger crowds. Walking through the various booths, I momentarily had a lapse in direction and almost ran into a group of people standing in the middle of the floor. Thinking it was simply a group of friends saying hi, I looked to my right and noticed that the booth next to me had pictures of one of the people I almost bumped into on display. That's right, I almost bumped into the Incredible Hulk himself, Lou Ferrigno. Maybe its because it was earlier in the day, but I have to say I was some what shocked to see that such an iconic figure sitting alone at a booth drinking a water bottle. I probably would have went to talk to him and take a picture if it wouldn't have cost $60. He was far from the biggest star that in attendance that day, as I saw none other then Mt. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy. Though I somewhat regret not getting in line to at least shake his hand, I figured in the end they probably wouldn't have even let me get in line, as they didn't need me taking up space in a line where there are people willing to pay $60 for a simple 5 second autograph. Instead, I was content to at least stand 15 feet away from him, so I could at least say that I saw him in person. I have to say that both for Ferrigno being 60 and Nimoy being 78, both look at least 15 years younger than they actually are. Going by "Pumping Iron" rules, Ferrigno has beaten Schwarzenagger, as Ferrigno is still extremely ripped and in good shape. Not gay, but I can at least admire someone who is still in really good shape at that age.
That's it for this time folks. Will I have a new job next time? Maybe.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Taco Time brings people together.
Sometimes I swear that the world's oil companies make most of there money from the citizens of North Bend Washington's travel needs. To literally get anywhere you have to drive at least 15 miles. Now there is a fair amount of grocery stores for ones needs (though these stores are often lacking in the type of food I enjoy), however to get just about anything else you are looking at at least a 15 mile drive into Issaquah. For those that work in Bellevue, you are looking at a 250 miles a week, which for my car is at least one tank of gas. Multiply that by how many number of people live in this town and you can see that is a lot of gas that is being used. Because of this, it often irks me that everything is so far away, as time is another consideration that is to be addressed if you want to go just about anywhere out of town. That said, for as familiar I am with having to travel a fair distance to get just about anywhere, I really enjoy it when things come to me.
Sunday was one such day, as Devon invited me over to his parents place to help him watch his dog while his folks were out of town. My first thought when I received this invitation was about how hungry I was, specifically for Taco Time. Now I know that eating at Taco Time after one has experienced the bliss of taco trucks is tantamount to blasphemy. However, until one actually opens up in the King County area, Taco Time shall serve as an suitable exception. After ordering a Beef Natural Soft Taco for the two of us, I drove over and arrived about 5 minutes later. After arriving, we proceeded to consume our much craved for meals. After this we let the dog out and decided what game we would co-op through.
Because I have never played it before, we decided to co-op all the Spec Ops missions of Modern Warfare 2. Now though I'm not really what you would consider a fan of the game, I will enjoy just about anything if someone else is there to suffer through it with me. Admittedly, I probably would have been pretty bored if I had been playing though the game by myself. Since I had another person playing through these missions, all of which are designed around playing with another human, I found that it wasn't really what was in the game that was fun, but the team work that was required. As an example, one of the missions involved one player being in the cockpit of a helicopter, while the other play was in the ground. The goal of the helicopter pilot was to clear a way for the other player. While this may seem like standard fare for this type of game, the teamwork and social aspect added an extra enjoyment layer that otherwise would have been missing.
After we beat a number of these maps, we decided that it was time to part ways for the day. Right about now you are probably wondering why I spent 4 paragraphs describing something as simple as a videogame session. To that I must explain. Devon demanded that I spend at least 4 pages on this blog. To that I say 4 paragraphs instead feels like a good compromise.
Sunday was one such day, as Devon invited me over to his parents place to help him watch his dog while his folks were out of town. My first thought when I received this invitation was about how hungry I was, specifically for Taco Time. Now I know that eating at Taco Time after one has experienced the bliss of taco trucks is tantamount to blasphemy. However, until one actually opens up in the King County area, Taco Time shall serve as an suitable exception. After ordering a Beef Natural Soft Taco for the two of us, I drove over and arrived about 5 minutes later. After arriving, we proceeded to consume our much craved for meals. After this we let the dog out and decided what game we would co-op through.
Because I have never played it before, we decided to co-op all the Spec Ops missions of Modern Warfare 2. Now though I'm not really what you would consider a fan of the game, I will enjoy just about anything if someone else is there to suffer through it with me. Admittedly, I probably would have been pretty bored if I had been playing though the game by myself. Since I had another person playing through these missions, all of which are designed around playing with another human, I found that it wasn't really what was in the game that was fun, but the team work that was required. As an example, one of the missions involved one player being in the cockpit of a helicopter, while the other play was in the ground. The goal of the helicopter pilot was to clear a way for the other player. While this may seem like standard fare for this type of game, the teamwork and social aspect added an extra enjoyment layer that otherwise would have been missing.
After we beat a number of these maps, we decided that it was time to part ways for the day. Right about now you are probably wondering why I spent 4 paragraphs describing something as simple as a videogame session. To that I must explain. Devon demanded that I spend at least 4 pages on this blog. To that I say 4 paragraphs instead feels like a good compromise.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Twenty Ten or Two Thousand Ten?
Hey there everyone. Welcome to the first blog of the new decade. While some may argue that the decade may start next year, I would argue that decades are based on base ten numbers, i.e 10, 20, etc. Since the new year is a time for resolutions, one of mine involves this blog. Personally I would like do more then write about my day. While will still do that, I would like to practice writing reviews or comments about news items. Basically, look for more experimentation in the future.
New Years was actually pretty cool and chill this year. Asking around, there didn't seem to be much going on and I was planning on having the first stay at home new years in a good long while. However, Wednesday night my friend Jason told me that he was having a cocktail party. Being as I love both cocktails and parties, I decided to drive into Renton and see his house for the first time. When I arrived, I was greeted by a wide range of chips, dip, cheese, and little smokies. Besides Jason and his wife Kristin, there were about 3 other people in attendance. Cocktails were also free flowing, culminating in a drunk game of UNO. After we watched the ball drop, we started watching the movie The House Bunny on Netflix instant streaming. By this time, it was around 3:30 in the morning and eventually we all fell asleep in the living room. The next day, we all got up groggy after getting very little sleep and proceeded to head down to Sherri's restaurant for good pancake breakfast.
New Years was actually pretty cool and chill this year. Asking around, there didn't seem to be much going on and I was planning on having the first stay at home new years in a good long while. However, Wednesday night my friend Jason told me that he was having a cocktail party. Being as I love both cocktails and parties, I decided to drive into Renton and see his house for the first time. When I arrived, I was greeted by a wide range of chips, dip, cheese, and little smokies. Besides Jason and his wife Kristin, there were about 3 other people in attendance. Cocktails were also free flowing, culminating in a drunk game of UNO. After we watched the ball drop, we started watching the movie The House Bunny on Netflix instant streaming. By this time, it was around 3:30 in the morning and eventually we all fell asleep in the living room. The next day, we all got up groggy after getting very little sleep and proceeded to head down to Sherri's restaurant for good pancake breakfast.
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