Photo Revamp

Hey everybody, I just reprogrammed the photos section of my website.

Using RSS XML feed technology, I have created an interface that makes it much easier to browse all of my photos by category on my site. The pictures are still hosted on Buzznet.com, but I am using the the RSS feed to pull the img location.

Sorry for the tech-speak. Anyways, it's superCool and superRad now to go see my pictures. Also, the links look much cleaner in Firefox. I'll figure out the stupid IE workaround soon.

http://www.hurldesigns.com/photos

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Old Russians

I live in the middle of a neighborhood filled with senior citizen Russians. After 8:00 at night it's really quiet and it's a fairly peaceful neighborhood. I do have a complaint though. Old Russians do make a lot of old people noise throughout the day that I can hear clearly from inside my apartment. It's not pleasant. Coughing, wheezing, and some sounds whose name perhaps only exists in the Russian language. One sound in particular sounds something like a cow throwing up and giving birth at the same time. I think in Russian it's called, "одышка." My duplex sits apart on it's own, but I live next to a much larger apartment complex where every bathroom window faces my apartment. So I also hear bathroom noises.

Here's a diagram I've drawn to help explain.



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Everything is going to be all right.

Boston Legal

I'm a big fan of the TV. One of the shows I enjoy watching is Boston Legal. It's one of the shows by David E Kelly whose others have included Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, The Practice and Boston Public. He always pushes the envelope on his shows. But it also causes you to think sometimes, which I enjoy. The thinking thing is perty cool. Anywho, the reason for this post is that last week's episode contained a quote that I really enjoyed. It was said by the character of Alan (James Spader) while speaking to Denny (William Shatner) at the end of the day over cigars.

"That's what troubles me, this notion that we have to take sides in this country now. You're either with us or against us, Republican or Democrat, red state or blue state.

No one looks at an issue and struggles over the right position to take anymore. And yet our ability to reason is what makes us human. Lately we seem so willing to forfeit that gift of reason in exchange for the good feeling of belonging to a group. We all just take the position of our team. I've certainly done it and hated myself for it."

I felt it was a profound statement that I agree with whole-heartedly.

On a lighter note, another big plus to last week's episode was the introduction of a new character played by Parker Posey. mmmmm.... Parker. I am smitten.

Oh, and to see William Shatner from a hilarious commerical from the 80's, check out this nugget!



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Happy Mother's Day!

I love you Mom!



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Dave and Karli

Friday, my friends Dave and Karli (they're married) came out to visit. Karli had to go visit an old friend of hers in the area and David and I were stuck together. I introduced Dave to my favorite local Thai food from Toi on Sunset. He had the Chicken Panang Curry at my recommendation and loved it. Then we did a walking tour of my neighborhood and ended up walking quite far. We probably walked 5 miles or so. That night Karli returned and the three of us went out to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. For those that don't know, it's a section of town that the street is closed off and there is plenty of shopping, people watching, restaurants, and homeless people doing tricks for money. They left early this morning to fly back out to DC. This was the last leg of their week long trek across the West Coast. I'm not sure how they'll adjust to life back East after being out here. I will pray for them.

KT Tunstall at the Fonda

I saw KT Tunstall perform at the Henry Fonda Theatre here in Hollywood on Tuesday night. It was a great performance. KT is from Scotland and is just starting to become big over here. She sings with a very strong voice and soul. She has a distinctive style. Think jazz meets rock with an acoustic guitar. That's the best way I can think to describe it. She did a good job of interacting with the audience and was very entertaining overall. If you get a chance to see her perform live, do it. ("Do it!")

This was my first time at the Fonda theatre and I was very impressed with the venue. It has an open area for standing in front of the old theatre style stage on the first floor. The second floor has balcony seating, should you choose to sit and relax through the performance. The theater also has a very nice setup on the roof. The roof has a bar, a grill for quick hamburgers or hot dogs and couches spread around. You have a great view of Hollywood from the roof as well. So, if you feel crowded inside, you can come out to the roof for a breather. I really liked this venue.

A newcomer by the name of Micah P Hinson opened up for KT. He was an alt-country singer and I'm not sure the Hollywood crowd knew how to respond to a surprise country act before KT. I really liked him though. It was true country, not country pop.

I'm going to the Fonda theatre again at the end of May to see the group, "Live". I've never seen Live live, so I'm looking forward to that.

You can see very crude video from my cell phone of the performances by clicking here.

Links:

KT Tunstall
Micah P Hinson
Henry Fonda Theatre

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Xtreme Tourism

This past weekend my friend Amanda from back East came out to visit me. She got a free airline voucher at the last minute and wanted to come check out LA. She got in Friday night and we tried go out and celebrate Cinco de Mayo at 'El Guapo' on Melrose, but they wanted a $20 cover. $20?! No live music, no free drinks, just $20 for the privilege of being there. They've never charged cover before, it's just a typical Mexican-themed sports bar type place. Oh well, guess they knew everyone would be wanting in. We went to 'The Formosa' instead. It's a fun, historical bar near Santa Monica and La Brea. The next day on Saturday was filled with the standard touristy stuff. We got a lot done. I dropped her off on Rodeo Dr in Beverly Hills while I went to my Improv class in the morning and the afterwards we went to the LA Farmer's Market, Santa Monica, and Malibu. We also drove a lot around the city to give Amanda a good view of the area.

While we at the Santa Monica Pier, Amanda had a minor injury. Amanda has a history of falling down stairs and hurting herself. She's a bit challenged when it comes to walking up and down stairs. So, when we were getting on to the Ferris Wheel, she slipped and stubbed her bare toe. It got all bloody and her toenail almost came off. It was pretty gross. We went to the First Aid station on the pier, but they were closed. What good is that? So, we had to go back to my Xterra and use my first aid kit. Now I know I should've felt bad for her injury, but I was more excited about getting to use the cool first aid kit that came with my Xterra for the first time. For that moment while she was sitting on the tailgate and I was wrapping gauze around her toe, I felt like we were the true X-treme Gen-X'rs that my Xterra was built for. We were hard core. :)

This coming weekend my friends David and Karli, also from back East, are coming to visit for a day. If we're lucky, I may get to use the first aid kit again.

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Daily Show Clip

Watch this clip from last night's Daily Show. It's hilarious.

Watch the one titled, "Dr. Spin, Medicine Woman"

Click here.

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Beer, It's What's For Dinner

Did you know that the world's oldest written recipe, inscribed on a clay tablet in about 1,800 B.C., is for beer? Well it is!

There is a recent article in Forbes.com that talks about the history of that 'oh very special' drink.


See the article here.



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New Mac Ads

These new ad's are hilarious...


Restart



Viruses



Wall Street Journal



Networking