June 26, 2008
We babysat our niece Bree on Saturday. She’s about one and a half. Fed her too. When her mom Julie dropped her off she said (I think?) something about how Bree sometimes likes to use the utensils herself. We took that literally and just let her go for it. See below…
June 24, 2008
Hopefully you’ve been exposed to Dancing Matt before - I’m not sure how you could have missed his quirky viral videos showing his treks across the world over the past few years. This is his most recent video, and thanks to Stride Gum, he gets to keep on trekking. I’m jealous.
June 21, 2008
As the Beijing Summer Olympics get closer, the media coverage of life in the country is in full effect. It provides us great recollection of how foreign the culture is in every sense of the word. We experienced some very memorable and strange things as we traveled through, which we chronicled right here (just click on the China category).
One of the main sources for adventure was eating in China. From hot pot to hello banana to tea houses to what-the-heck-is-that-and-is-it-cooked. Well, this article from Trend Hunter illustrates the (sad) trend and often overlooked elements of an Olympics effect on the host country: the watering down and smoothing over of culture shock. In this case the food.
In the interest of feeding the incoming hordes, the organizing committee for the Beijing Olympics have had to deal with the translation of restaurant menus into English. The process was contentious, requiring many rounds of discussions in order to come up with an official translation list for restaurants in book form. Nationalistic ire has already erupted over the bland linguistic makeovers. One internet commenter said “I don’t like this new naming method, it’s abandoning Chinese tradition. There are many stories in the names of these dishes.” Indeed.
If they were going to spend some effort here, I’d rather see them dial up the quality of things like, you know, running water - which even the citizens of the country can’t drink without boiling. Yeah tea!
June 7, 2008
Ran across this video called Sounds of Chinatown on Rocketboom while surfing my Feed Reader. Reminded me how great it is to simply listen to the sounds of life around you, especially when you’re traveling.
May 31, 2008
I need for you to vote for me so I can seal the deal. I know how many silent, noncommenting blog visitors we have, and I’m really really hoping you guys pull through for me.
Visit this site to cast your vote (super easy, no registration required):
May 24, 2008
We hit 100 degrees this week, and it’s not even June. We’re in for a long, hot summer. To prepare, Erin installed a new fan (seen in the background), and I had to amend the volume of hair on my head and face with a summer cut and a shave. Not a complete shave, mind you. My friends at TPN and I started a tradition last year around this time of “Creepy Mustache Day” - so I pay tribute with my 2008 version. No offense to any fans of the upper lip hair; all mustaches look creepy on me. That’s all I’m saying. Don’t you agree?
Happy Memorial Day weekend.
May 21, 2008
Went to see Radiohead at the legendary Starplex in Fair Park. It’s not called that anymore, thanks to corporate branding (for which this marketer can’t really complain too much). But it did bring back some memories of that outdoor amphitheater at which I saw some good shows growing up.
I used to sit back there (left), in the grass with the rest of general admission. Cheaper.
I guess I’ve matured with age, because we found ourselves in the seats this time (right)… my first time. (Thanks Mike)
Radiohead is one of my all-time favorite bands, and they hadn’t been to Dallas in 10 years. That’s a long time. So there was quite the frenzy around the whole Sunday night gig. And they didn’t disappoint. The stage set was incredible, with countless tubes surrounding the band and reflecting light. Even the digital projection of the band was cooler than usual, a duotone of interesting camera angles and cropped-in drama. And the music… fantastic! As expected, the band played every song from their new album, In Rainbows. To my surprise, they played some golden cuts from earlier albums, OK Computer and The Bends. Check out one of my favorite songs ever, “Fake Plastic Trees”
This gives you a better impression of the stage set-up. I swear this segment may have been filmed from our row as I recognize the angle and some arm dancing sillouettes.
May 13, 2008
Wigs and Wine - Erin and Michael, originally uploaded by espeedy123.
We were recently invited to a themed dinner party hosted by Nathan and Misty at their home in south Dallas. “Wigs and Wine” were shared by 12 of us over a tasty meal.
We have several other photos on Flickr from the occasion. We got our inspiration from John Adams, as we have been trying to finish the recent HBO mini series. Erin rented them from a local costume and stage prop shop, and little she know, the renter is also a history buff. My white revolutionary era hair piece would be more indicative of a wig later in John Adams’ life. Who knew? My question: Could John Adams ever pull off that stunning bearded gaze and Kohl’s shirt?
Erin rocked the party with her seriously cool Marie Antionette look, including make-up and fashion mole.
I like me a good wig party, or as was mentioned several times in reference to me, the “Whig” party. The Dungo’s, our friends in Chicago, threw some serious wig parties at bars to celebrate birthdays. Good times. It’s low-commitment, but with the creative fun of a costume party.
What’s your wig of choice?
April 29, 2008
Perhaps you remember last year at this time we posted this video entitled on YouTube as “The Largest Weed Ever?”
Since then, it has racked up 3,300 views on YouTube as a publicly displayed video, second only to the Hot Pot video from our trip. Why a favorite? The ever popular search term weed among the YouTubers out there. Positions my video right next to the Largest Bong Ever!
(the marketer in me might point out the importance of picking search terms, qualified traffic and blah blah blah… but that’s a topic for a different blog I’ve been working on)
It’s interesting opening up your life for mass public display on blogs and social networks like Flickr, Facebook and even YouTube. People read, subscribe and comment, good and bad. These strangers are empowered to interact in your life. Amazing really.
Erin and I thought this comment chain of realization was pretty good… scroll down below the video for a chuckle.
April 13, 2008
I just love this time of year. Other than football season, April is a convergence of great competition and special events for many sports I love.
Like the Texas Ranger’s home opener - is there a better reason to ditch work for the afternoon? I’m not the biggest baseball fan, but opening day is an American institution. Mike invited me to his annual tailgate with a couple hundred friends. Beer, dogs, laughs and oh yeah, baseball.
Like the beginning of the hockey playoffs - there is no more intense sport or atmosphere during the playoffs. And my Stars actually look good this year. Lots of promise!
Like NBA basketball playoffs and the Dallas Mavericks. They made it by the skin of their teeth. May not be much happening with this team in May, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Let’s see, there’s also The Masters, which finishes up today. The live coverage catches some choice comments from the golfers (close your ears kids) and the gallery (like a Tiger fan yelling “Butt” at a bad shot… strange).
Want more? Well, NASCAR also came through Texas Motor Speedway and The Byron Nelson Golf Tourney is in a couple of weeks. Good times.
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