It’s been far too long since the camera has been out of its case, so below are today’s results from putting a mediocre photographer in a pretty neighborhood with a giant lens:
Author: ryan
Holliday vs. the President vs. the King
Posted from Culver City, California at 10:49 pm, March 18th, 2010Here are the bracket prediction standings after the first day of the NCAA Tournament:
- Barack Obama (President of the United States of America): 120 points – overall rank: 96.9%.
- Lebron James (NBA Superstar): 90 points – overall rank: 38.3%.
- Ryan Holliday (34 year-old bald man): 110 points – overall rank: 87.4%.
Barry and I were tied until Wake Forest hit a last-second shot over Texas, meanwhile Lebron can start making up lost ground on both of us if fourth-ranked Purdue beats 13th-ranked Siena tomorrow.
I convinced Audrey, who watches no sports whatsoever, to fill out a bracket, and she currently has 80 points, tying her with legendary basketball analyst Dick Vitale (overall rank: 13.2%) despite the fact her rationale for making picks included “I have a cousin named Siena” and “Wofford is a really funny name for a college”. If she beats me the shame will not be bearable.
Falling Slowly
Posted from Park City, Utah at 5:30 pm, February 26th, 2010Since putting a bird feeder outside several months ago the house has become a bit of a Disney movie – finches gather by the dozen, ducks hang out looking for spilled seeds, and increasingly-round squirrels discover surprising ways of invading the feeder. After our third feeder became a victim of the squirrels – they somehow managed to chew off a metal perch – the sad decision was made to move to a more squirrel-proof feeder. The Squirrel Buster 9000 arrived a few days ago, and this picture (by Audrey) does a decent job of capturing the frustration of our furry little friends.
Thankfully They Didn’t Serve Soup
Posted from Culver City, California at 10:05 pm, February 17th, 2010Many moons ago Audrey and I were watching one of those odd shows on Discovery Channel – the ones that follow documentaries like “Impaled!” – and they had a bit about a restaurant where you eat in complete pitch darkness with a waiter who is legally blind. While, in the past, I have disparaged LA, one of the very good things about this city is that when you see something odd on TV there’s a high probability that it was either filmed here or has since been copied by someone in this vast metropolis. As it turns out, Opaque operates in Santa Monica, and thus it was that for Valentine’s Day 2010 Audrey ate in complete darkness while I secretly stole her silverware and wine glass.
For those willing to spend a lot of money on a meal that you’ll probably end up eating with your hands, there are locations elsewhere including San Francisco. Note that if your date wants you to “dress nice” since it’s a fancy place, bear in mind that you’ll more than likely discover that you’re wearing some of your meal by the time you leave, unless of course you’re a pro like me. Also, relax your eyes as soon as you sit down; it’s too dark to see anything, and after a half hour I was getting a headache from inadvertently trying to focus. Finally, careful when reaching for the bread bowl – there’s a cup of butter in the middle of it. Here’s a YouTube video that somewhat captures the experience.
Pretty
Posted from Park City, Utah at 8:03 pm, January 26th, 2010Things That Probably Won’t Happen in 2010
Posted from Culver City, California at 11:13 am, January 24th, 2010After a truly dreadful job of making predictions for 2009, here’s the 2010 version. A psychic I’m clearly not, but they say even a monkey at a typewriter would eventually bang out a beautiful sonnet if he stuck with it long enough, so here goes:
- SpaceX will launch their Falcon 9 rocket successfully in March or April. This prediction comes from the fact that a) I want them to succeed, and 2) they’ve already put two smaller rockets in orbit so hopefully they’ve got the hang of it. They’ve got five Falcon 9 launches on their manifest for 2010, but I’m gonna guess that two will be all that make it up this year.
- Despite Democrats losing their 60th Senate seat in the Massachusetts special election there will still be some sort of health care bill passed this year. With control of Congress and the White House it seems supremely foolish that the Democrats would campaign without having passed any major legislation. “Re-elect me, even though I didn’t do much” just isn’t that catchy of a slogan.
- Tiger Woods will be golfing again in time for the Masters, will win at least one major championship, and at least five tournaments.
- The iPhone is going to be available from carriers besides AT&T by mid-year. Apple is able to charge higher prices because they offer a great product with great service, and based on my own experience AT&T’s network isn’t up to their standards.
- The stock market will end the year around 11,500. It’s at 10,200 today, and while I wouldn’t be surprised to see it drop, the economy can’t stay bad forever.
- NASA’s ARES rocket program will be canceled or scaled back to the point where it will no longer be a shuttle replacement. I’m a big space dork, but with budget issues and private companies now offering space transport I think NASA is going to be redefined as a research and robotic exploration organization, and not an agency that puts people and cargo in space.
- The Beatles and Garth Brooks will start selling their music on iTunes. I’m gonna make this prediction every year until it eventually happens. And if Kid Rock and AC/DC are reading this, call Steve Jobs and tell him to make the magic happen ’cause I’m not buying CDs anymore.
- The Browns will finish at .500 or better. I may be the only person on Earth who likes Eric Mangini, but I think the guy just needs some time to get the team he wants. I suspect Brady Quinn will remain the quarterback, but that one isn’t going on record as a prediction.
- I’m going to run a marathon. There is absolutely no reason to believe that I’ll actually sack-up and do this other than the fact that I’d like to get it crossed off of the to-do list.
- The 2010 elections won’t change Congress significantly. After the recent special election in Massachusetts this prediction may be a spectacular failure, but ten months is a long time in politics and I’m betting things may have bottomed out. I’ll say the Democrats will have 57 Senate seats (plus-or-minus one) and 240 House members (plus-or-minus five) when it’s all over.
- Tesla will IPO and announce the opening of a plant in Downey. The plant will break ground, but full Model-S production will slip from 2011 to 2012.
- Despite recent protests, the political situation in Iran won’t change in 2010.
- Google will partner with someone to ship a low-cost, Google branded PC running Google apps and the Google operating system. This prediction might be premature, but I suspect that’s something they’re eventually trying to do.
- Apple will be on the verge of announcing an Apple television product. They sell movies through iTunes and games for the iPod, so it seems like only a matter of time before they launch an all-in-one device that is a TV / video game / media center. I am going to want one when it does get announced.
- China will announce plans to sell cars abroad. They seem to be following the exact same roadmap as Japan, first developing manufacturing infrastructure, then improving quality, then become industry leaders. Given the fact that fire extinguishers are supposedly included in most domestic cars sold in China, this is another prediction that might be a few years early.
- It will be another bad hurricane year. There were five category five hurricanes in 2005, but there have only been two since. With El Nino supposedly back, this looks like another year for big storms.
- Finally, I will make at least two journal entries a month. It’s gonna happen in 2010, really.
Check back this time next year to mock me for being completely wrong about all things 2010. For those who can’t wait a year to begin the mocking, the comments link below is there for your immediate gratification.
2009 Predictions Redux
Posted from Culver City, California at 9:56 pm, January 19th, 2010About one year ago I made some predictions for 2009, first because it seemed like it might be fun if I got any right, and second because it seemed like it might be amusing how wrong I would inevitably be. Here’s the scorecard:
- The stock market will be close to 10,000 at the end of the year.
The year closed at about 10,400 after opening around 9,000 and hitting a low of around 6,600, so this scores as one of my few correct predictions.
- By the end of 2009 everyone will know what the smart grid is.
Failed that one. No one ever accused me of being a smart man.
- There will be at least two new national parks or monuments created.
Failed again. Too bad, national parks are good things.
- I will schedule another big expedition-style trip.
The whale trip was a pretty big deal, but not on the scale of something like South Georgia. Half points for this one.
- Chrysler is going to go out of business or be purchased; GM and Ford will keep chugging along. Another major bank will fail or be purchased.
Chrysler was split up and is now sort of part of Fiat, so let’s say that’s three out of four. Not bad.
- Obama’s approval rating will drop from its current 80% levels but still remain over 60%.
Oops. I still like him.
- I will run a marathon or some similar endurance race.
Nope.
- The “buzz” in energy will be all about bio fuels and concentrated solar.
Didn’t get the dorky prediction either.
- The Beatles and Garth Brooks will finally get released on iTunes. Kid Rock will not.
Along with AC/DC these guys are all iTunes no-shows. The prediction batting average continues to drop…
- The Boeing 787 will not face any further delays – two years is late enough. The 747-8 will move into production on schedule.
There were six additional months of delay for the 787. The prediction game is clearly not one of my talents…
- The Indians will not make the World Series. The Browns will not make the Super Bowl but will win at least seven games. The Cavs… will not be jinxed by me.
Five wins for the Browns. That is a terribly small number.
- Tesla Motors will still be in business, although the Model S will be delayed until the end of 2011.
Tesla is going strong, which is great. There’s been no recent updates on the Model S, but 2011 seems likely. I finally get another prediction right.
- I will still be working at DIRECTV.
I made it through the full year before moving on to greener pastures, and since I’m doing the scoring that one counts as a correct prediction.
- Yahoo will be purchased or merge with someone like AOL.
They made a deal with Microsoft, but it wasn’t a merger. Didn’t get that one.
- Lance Armstrong will finish in the top ten in the Tour de France but won’t be on the podium.
He got third; I was half right.
- I will manage to make at least two journal entries a month, doubling my pitiful performance of 2008.
Clearly I’m bad at more than just making predictions.
It was fun making the (wrong) guesses. Predictions for 2010 will follow soon.
New Hotness
Posted from Culver City, California at 8:27 pm, January 11th, 2010New year, new format for the journal. I think everything got converted over properly, although work still needs to be done to group together old trip journals and update links – if anyone notices any issues please leave a comment pointing out whatever obvious blunder has been made. With luck it should now be easier to make at least two posts a month, but that remains to be seen…
The Stairs of Doom
Posted from Culver City, California at 9:10 am, December 31st, 2009December was an extremely eventful month, although sadly I failed completely in capturing everything in a timely manner…
Vegas, Dave, Tim, and Audrey
The first weekend of the month saw Audrey and I off to Vegas to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, something that I would do on a weekly basis if possible. Tim Reynolds did some utterly ridiculous things with a guitar – I don’t know what an echoplex is, but it is clearly awesome. Dave started the concert by revealing that any bubbling noises were not a stylistic choice but were instead the result of mucous, and followed that up with a discussion of how Las Vegas is a weird place and proof that something has gone off kilter in the human evolutionary chain. They played for three hours, and afterwards Audrey and I returned home happy despite making the acquaintance of a drunk woman who decided that pressing every button in the elevator would be terrific comedy.
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
December 23 saw an end to my tenure at DIRECTV after three years and nineteen days. My co-workers there were a lot of fun and the work was interesting, but it was time to move on to new things. I had expected a lengthy retirement, but a new offer came along that may be too good to pass up, and, being a fan of things like eating and paying rent, it looks like I’ll be working from home starting January 11.
Holliday Family Christmas
Christmas came up fast this year, and while I managed the gold in getting Audrey a membership to Zingerman’s bacon-of-the-month club, I failed utterly with everyone else’s gifts and headed to San Francisco with only gift certificates. Sally came through with “Holliday Family Recipe” books for Aaron and I, and a two hour game of Quiddler ended with disastrous results. Aaron, Ryan Sutherland and I also started coming up with bizarre “what if” scenarios at some point during the trip, and people’s answers made for revealing insights into what was most important to each individual:
- There are eight planes, and all of them are going to fly across the country. One will crash. You can either choose a plane and take the flight, and if you don’t crash you get to choose any three houses in the world when you land, or, if you choose not to fly, your thumbs will be surgically removed. What do you do?
- You get to be the richest person in the world, but you have to live in a hot-air balloon that must stay at least 100 feet off the ground at all times, otherwise you explode. You can modify the balloon in any way, but it can’t be tethered to the ground for more than two hours a day. Do you take the offer?
- You get $40 million today, but at some point between age 65 and 80 you will be killed by a sword to the stomach. Death may take as long as two hours. Deal or no deal?
There were many more, but not all of them were appropriate for a public web site. Needless to say, Ma & Pa weren’t huge fans, but everyone else involved seemed to enjoy the thought-exercise.
After four days at home Aaron and I were getting a bit stir-crazy so we headed out to a fancy hotel in Avila Beach, ten miles outside of San Luis Obispo. Apparently the place caters almost exclusively to couples, so the lady at the desk gave us a funny look when we checked in, but at this point we’re pretty used to embarassment and it was well worth it to have a jacuzzi in the room and a wine reception in the lobby.
Turkeys
Posted from Culver City, California at 7:40 pm, November 30th, 2009My two-entries-a-month goal has failed miserably. Here’s the summary for November:
Thanksgiving in the Bay Area was filled with the usual uncontrollable laughter, including the revelation that the Skipper and Aaron once had a pickle-eating contest that ended disastrously. Audrey joined us for the first time this year and confessed to a sore stomach after the multi-hour laughfest. Even Ryan Sutherland got in on the act, filling us all in on the Infomercial marketing wonder that is Booty Pops. In less interesting news the latest major version of JAMWiki was released on November 3, and surprisingly there haven’t been any reports that it caused some poor user’s computer to burst into flaming wreckage. And in news that is in no way related to me, SpaceX may be able to launch their new Falcon 9 rocket as early as next February, although March is probably a safer bet.
Magnus deserves #1
Posted from Culver City, California at 7:40 pm, October 31st, 2009Posted partly because it’s awesome, and partly because I’m trying to do at least two entries a month, here is the list of the nine manliest names in the world. Magnus Ver Magnusson only got third, which I think is a travesty, although in fairness I wouldn’t want to face off against “Staff Sergeant Max Fightmaster”.
Home Again
Posted from Culver City, California at 7:20 pm, October 25th, 2009Audrey’s photos from the roadtrip are online at Flickr; she did good and actually managed to press the shutter when the moose jumped the fence. Below are a couple of additional photos that I took from Bryce and Canyonlands.
It can be hard to come up with a good title
Posted from Culver City, California at 9:30 pm, September 25th, 2009Normally driving 700 miles in one day would be an arduous, exhausting task, and today was no exception. Despite a stop in the Kolob Canyon of Zion and a break for lunch at the Bellagio buffet the vast majority of the day was spent cruising over I-15 at between 70 and 80 miles an hour, watching desert go by. It’s sad to see the trip come to an end, but it was a great one. Two days of rest at home, then back to the grind…
Take Me Home Country Roads
Posted from Fillmore, Utah at 10:30 pm, September 24th, 2009We managed to get out of bed by 6:30 this morning, then set off in search of moose. We were initially rewarded with a large bull and a smaller bull trotting along a road near the airport, but the big payoff came when we headed back to the Gros Ventre campground and spotted an army of photographers arrayed in a field. When we hiked over to check it out a single antler of a giant bull was visible. We waited a bit for him to wake up, and when he did the fun began:
- Moose wakes up, gets shakily to his feet, and looks around for his girlfriend.
- With the girlfriend not in view, he initiates a detailed search pattern consisting of trotting around in circles. Photographers are giddy.
- The search pattern leads him to jump a fence, passing twenty feet from Audrey and I. Note that this is far from safe, but, as Audrey noted, “this is awe-some!”. Also note that I failed completely in getting a picture of a moose jumping a fence.
- After two loops around the assembled masses the scent of the lady moose is detected, and he follows her off into the woods; photographers rush after the moose, although Audrey and I chose not to join them.
After the morning excitement we grabbed a massive breakfast at Jedediah’s House of Sourdough, checked out of our hotel, then spent a couple of hours wandering around the town of Jackson. After that it was time to start the drive of doom home, and with pronghorns everywhere we covered about 300 miles through Wyoming and into Utah.
Amangani
Posted from Teton Village, Grand Teton National Park at 9:35 pm, September 23rd, 2009After a number of early days there was very little chance of us getting up early again today, and to no one’s surprise it was nearly 9:00 when we headed out to see the Grand Teton range in the morning light. I failed miserably with the photos, but the mountain range is very, very impressive – a fault in the earth is shifting, pushing the mountains up and the valley down. Currently Grand Teton rises about 7,000 feet above the valley floor, and supposedly if all of the sediment on the floor was gone the difference would be closer to 30,000 feet; God did his work well with this one.
Our other big adventure today was lunch at the Amangani Resort, which is the nicest hotel I’ve ever been in. It was a bit odd walking into a place and having the manager and customer service guy both shake my hand, so clearly having Audrey with me fooled them into thinking I was actually a classy guy worthy of a personal greeting. Tomorrow we’re up early (really) to look for moose, then it’s southwards towards home.