my small self

Big...

2005-09-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Big..., originally uploaded by Brian Teutsch.

A bit much?

2005-08-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

I know this stuff is aimed at restaurant use, but seeing a 5-gallon bucket of Kikkoman really scares me. That said, I did have a successful Costco run, and I'm pretty sure I won't have to go back for another two years.

Dr. Watson

2005-05-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

Maybe this was why my O'Hare to San Francisco flight was 45 minutes late.

Pretty Parlour Fashion Show

2005-05-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Pretty Parlour Fashion Show, originally uploaded by Brian Teutsch.

I landed at two fashion shows this weekend, obviously an excellent chance to take pictures. Mostly cause my friends were staring and hosting in them, but you know, once you start taking pictures of a few, you'd better photograph all those models, 'cause there are definitely worse things than being last picked for kickball.

Mazam Ridge

2005-02-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

Tent View, originally uploaded by Brian Teutsch.

We pitched our tent in an open snow field on Friday night, after a hard slog up about 1,500 feet. I learned some things about snow camping over the course of the hike. I won't tell you which I learned the hard way.

Staking in a tent is actually easier in the snow, just by packing snow around the stakes. Getting them out is harder.
Top of the list of things I would overpay for were ski poles. Snowshoes would have been nice, and poles would stop some boots sinking in, but poles would have made for balance and leverage.
Two sleeping pads are better insulation.
Pick a sleeping bag rated 10° F below the forcasted low. The ratings are accurate for comfort. Also plan on fully cinching up the top.
Three pairs of dry socks and liners.
It's really dry. You'll want lotion and extra water.
Make very sure you know sundown and sunrise exactly. You'll lose 20 degrees in half an hour.

Imaginary Wedding

2005-02-21T00:13:00.000-08:00

Fun at the Croc!

Testing the new phone

2005-02-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

What makes it through?

Watson

2005-02-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Kris and Jay for getting a really great product out of research and into the real world. Watson was a project I saw many, many times at Northwestern. It lets you find distant, but related, connections while you're creating documents. Give it a spin at Intellext.

It's amusing that 5 years ago, when I first saw the product, I was most amazed that Watson could watch what you were typing in a Word document. That was the most amazing thing at the time to me. Who knew such things lived behind Microsoft Word?

Make sure you type out a document talking with Nixon. You'll find some great Elvis trivia. Yes, Kris, I almost asked you to do that during your Microsoft/NU dinner.

We are the people your mother warned you about.

2005-02-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

My workplace violates every single rule set out above. It's probably going to come back to haunt me someday, if/when I decide to pursue another job.

No set start time

No dress code

Constant questioning

And it goes on. Does the above make me a better or worse worker? Probably doesn't have all that much effect, really.

Stick Figures

2005-02-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

Stick Figures, originally uploaded by Brian Teutsch.

King and queen made from the sticky Gel Gem letters on my office door.

Crazy Holy Spam

2005-01-26T23:30:00.000-08:00

Some really crazy spam I got today:

Dirty Looking Products

2005-01-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

Vending machine of dirtiness.

Picture(1.jpg

2005-01-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

Tsunami Benefit - James Mercer

2005-01-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

The Showbox hosted two Ben Gibbard-headlined shows on Thursday and Friday nights. Completely sold out, with $15x1200 going to the Northwest Medical Teams program. The Friday night show featured Dave Bazan of Pedro the Lion playing a solo electric set, featuring "Revolution Blues" from Neil Young'sOn The Beach. Following him was James Mercer of The Shins accompanied by Dave Herdandez playing solos on the electric.

Those are the facts, but the reality is that I was as excited about this show as any in a long time. I've seen the Shins a coupe of times, and Ben Gibbard in his Death Cab, Postal Service and solo incarnations quite a few times. And I could have walked out after Mercer's set a very, very happy man. And that's not at all due to the music between sets, which included most of Born to Run!

"The Shins" played a set with many songs they don't normally get to do, by their own admission. Seeing how they even dipped into their Flake Music catalogue, that should be pretty evident. It was also clear that there would be problems with a true acoustic show. Too much of their songwriting relies on catchy and unusual guitar melodies over chords. And whistling those melodies in between humming James Mercer's falsettos is what gets you every time.

Their set was highlighted by songs that fall into their escape-but-not-forget category. Mercer said very little between songs, but did warn the crowd about three really unusual songs in their set. "Sphagnum Esplanade" was the B-Side to their first SubPop release, the "New Slang" single. Later on, they noted a new song for a new record, but didn't introduce it. It was very much in the vein of the poppier songs on Chutes Too Narrow. They also threw in Spanaway hits from their Flake Music days.

For just playing solo, Ben Gibbard took some sweet time arriving on stage. He was sporting a fully grown beard, giving him more than a passing resemblance to Rivers Cuomo. (When, oh when will his solo career begin?) Ben's got a pretty formulaic solo show - two Death Cab songs, two Postal Service and two covers, and probably a Death Cab encore. Don't doubt for a minute that his real love is Death Cab for Cutie, even though the bazillion high school girls in the audience would suggest he'd be even more famous if it was just his name on those albums.

This was much longer than the other shows I've seen, and featured two covers I hadn't heard before. Both were quite sad, though not really tsunami-related. "I Hate To See You Cry" is a love poem about keeping someone happy, and "Hold On" revolves around the lyrics "Hold on to the ones you hold dear". The opening song, "Sound of Setting" is not on most solo setlists, either, I believe.

Setlists
JAMES MERCER
1. "Girl Inform Me"
2. "Sphagnum Esplanade"
3. "Caring is Creepy"
4. "Strange Flowers"
5. "Pink Bullets"
6. "Young Pilgrims"
7. (Untitled New Song)
8. "Spanway Hits" (Flake Music)
9. "The Past And Pending"
10. "Gone For Good"

BEN GIBBARD
1. "Sound of Settling"
2. "Title And Registration"
3. "Why You'd Want To Live Here"
4. "A Brand New Colony" ("I'm in an imaginary band, and here are some of their songs")
5. "Recycled Air"
6. "You Remind Me Of Home"
7. "The Dream of Evan and Chan" ("This is a Jimmy Tamborello cover")
8. "405" ("Choked on his own spit")
9. "Broken Yoke In The Western Sky" ("New folk song that's come of the process of writing songs for the new album")
10. "Kaleidoscope" (pooched the begging and restarted)
11. "I Hate To See You Cry" by Alan Hull
12. "Photobooth"
13. "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
14. "Such Great Heights" ("This is a song that Iron & Wine stole, and we're stealing it back")

Encore:
15. "A Lack Of Color"
16. "Hold On" by Spiritualized

I'm just kinda T-O'ed!

2005-01-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?

This might be the most imitated character since South Park premiered. I can see why. The movie is a gross exaggeration of internal awkwardness and the search for skills or something to get over that lack of confidence. Imitating Napoleon pays the movie's premise due respect. Plus they talk real funny like.

Bonus!
Quotes on the Napolean Dynamite soundboard.

Airport Pickups

2005-01-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

This cell phone waiting lot will save me from driving down to the Taco Bell near the airport to wait for the various people I pick up from the airport. The fact this lot exists should probably be made more obvious, since there are now signs warning against parking on the drive into the airport.

Why anyone thinks my car makes a good airport pickup vehicle is another story...

Mannheim Steamroller

2004-12-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

Mannheim Steamroller at the Quest Center in Omaha.

One ferry seen from another

2004-12-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

One ferry seen from another, originally uploaded by Brian Teutsch.

Mike and I took a trip out to Vashon Island. Neither of us had ever been there, and it'd been quite a while since we'd done any ferry rides (despite Mike's recent job on an island). It was a bright and sunny day, just a little warmer than a usual December day. So we grabbed my car to have the chance of a little top down driving.

The ferry ride was short, just 20 minutes. Vashon Island would be a pretty reasonable place to live if you could get yourself to the ferry each morning, and didn't have to go further than downtown Seattle. And if you didn't mind paying Seattle housing prices for a place that has enough zoning restrictions to shame a Monopoly® board game.

I wish I wasn't limiting myself to just one header photo. Here's more, though. The Olympics were shining in the late-afternoon sun, Rainier was visible from top to bottom on the ride home, and the protesters were worried about rural zoning ordinances. Just remember, when you live on an island, you're not a local for at least 20 years.

Downtown Seattle

2004-12-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

Downtown Seattle, originally uploaded by Brian Teutsch.

Take a few weeks ago with the help of Mikey and his tripod.

The Motorcycle Diaries

2004-12-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

I completed a motorcycle endorsement class this weekend. I'd never ridden on a motorcycle before, excepting some really strong memories of riding with my grandpa when I was, oh, about 5. The class was excellent and well run by the Evergreen Safety Council. I can now ride a motorcycle at low speeds through a parking lot, confidently. I'm sure it'll be many months before I figure if and what I want for a real bike.

Did you know you have to take the class if you're riding anything but the low-end Vespa? Means there's always a few middle-aged women. There's also a few really experienced riders. Most riders don't get the real license, because the DOT test is quite hard and not the same as 15 years of riding experience. It's an expensive ticket, though.

The class meant getting up really early on both Saturday and Sunday. That was uncool. A girl who was riding well dropped her bike twice, meaning no more class. Uncool. Then an instructor bit it on a turn on the wet pavement. Otherwise fine, but uncool. All topped off by a single-fatality private plane crash a hundred yards away at Renton Airport.

Everyone passed the class, despite the pain of trying to do figure 8 tight u-turns. Never did figure those out.

P.S. - Che was not cool, either.

Home is always the same

2004-11-24T23:25:00.000-08:00

I am in Creston (and Omaha) for Thanksgiving. It's a short trip, without anyone but family around, so it's pretty uneventful. I ran into a few people, and got asked a question I couldn't make heads or tails of. "So, has Creston changed much?"

Well, firstly, it's only been four months since I was here last. Secondly, no, small towns don't change much. (Unless there are economic/natural disasters.) There's a new Super Wal-Mart going up. There's a huge new school to replace four older ones. Southside of town is getting a little more commerce.

So are these big changes in the scope of a small town?

The Cadillac of Minivans

2004-11-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

A search for "minivan" on flickr returns just 11 hits. No one would call a minivan exciting (except, perhaps, Frank the Tank), but there were 1,018,873 new ones sold last year. Are you that out of touch, web?

ufo cloud

2004-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

ufo cloud, originally uploaded by Orangegirl.

This cloud was floating away from Mt Rainier on Sunday afternoon. It was spooky.

The start of something beautiful

2004-10-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

It could be, if I managed to post everything I'd like to up here.

Cameraphone pics direct from the phone (Live!)
Undeniably good websites
Stories that I'd tell everyone anyway
Updates to other areas of my site

That's a lot of stuff of which I'll be lucky to do a little.

Best 6 hours ever!

2004-10-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

If this blog had been set up, I could have sent this through flickr as I was watching Andy Dick, Doug Benson, David Cross (who gave me a cookie!) and Brian Posehn. Here's Mr. Benson doing Best Hour Ever: