This is brilliant. Thanks JB!
Sent from Tom's iPhone
I was in Chapel Hill yesterday to cover UNC vs Colgate for Lax.com, my first assignment in 2009! Hit the link below for story and photos, full shoot to be posted tonight on Flickr.
I stumbled across this site earlier today thanks to a post on Twitter (thanks @embablog). They're up for an award at SXSW, which means I'm probably one of the last people to actually find the site, but that's ok, it's still funny. Go straight to the 'Best Of' section for a quick laugh, then you can work your way through the rest of the site to find other hidden jems.
In order for Chrysler to get money from the Treasury department, they had to submit a viability plan which included cuts to it's current line of vehicles. One of these victims, is the PT Cruiser, and I couldn't be happier. Now 1000's of computer nerds still living in their parents basement will need to buy a new model of car to put those bitchin' flame decals on, and small businesses everywhere will be forced to find another obnoxious vehicle to wrap their companies logo (or if you're here in Raleigh you only have to look as far as the Rudino's delivery vehicles) around.
I know it's probably wrong to cheer small victories in the current economic climate that we're all facing, but I think all of us need to find a small glimmer of a silver lining somewhere, so yippeee to mine...
Weezy pushes back the release of Rebirth to May 19th (originally scheduled for April 7th). Who wants to throw down $20 that this thing doesn't come until July...
Tracks are out there, so go find them. I don't need a Pirate's Bay situation on my hands right now...
There's a lot of talk out there about what kind of camera people should be getting, how many megapixels, brand, etc, and Gizmodo came out with a great article to help you streamline that approach. Of course, if you're just looking to shoot for recreation, then a point and shoot will do fine, but if you want to get a little more involved, DSLR is the way to go. Hit the link below to help you narrow your search, and remember the most important thing: DSLR is great, but it's all about attachments. So, the camera body is a start, packages are nice, but the fancier you want to get, the more you'll have to shell out.
For all my fellow Tweet nerds, hit the link below to get the newest version of TweetDeck. It combines everyone you follow onto one program, as well as allows you to format columns by groups, Direct Message, Replies, etc...
Oh yeah, and if you aren't already, start following me!
Still not sure it's worth the price of admission to have to sit through Coldplay, BUT, on August 6th, Elbow will be opening up for Coldplay here in Raleigh. Not sure if it includes other stops along the way, but for those of you that got tickets, make sure you get there EARLY!
As I carve out my own little space in the blogosphere, I'm looking to find ways to pass along information people might actually use, and by people I mean the three people that are probably reading this now.
Drum roll please, introduce my Blog Of The Week segment.
I'm not going to say that I give the best reviews, or that I'm really all that active yet, but thanks to Yelp, I feel like I'm giving back a little. Not on Yelp? You should be, especially if you're in a big city with too many options, or if you're a transplant like me who has absolutely no idea where to start. Getting honest reviews is far more interesting and honest to me than going on to Zagat and trying to decifer their codes, not too mention the personal reviews are typically pretty bland...
This shouldn't really be filed under the "new" section, but for those of you who don't know Thomas Pridgen, consider the video clip below your education...
The guy needs to be checked for machine parts.
I was told that one of the biggest problems I'd have when I relocated was that my access to great music would disappear. I fought this theory, pointing out that this is a young and growing city surround by universities, and am happy to say that a series of shows that have hit the radar this week have helped debunk that theory.
Here's who has been announced this week:
The Decemberists - June 4th (Memorial Auditorium)
Modest Mouse - March 11th (Disco Rodeo)
Kings of Leon w/The Walkmen opening up - April 28th (Koka Booth)
The National - May 28th (Meymandi Hall)
I'm not gainfully employed, so these all fall under the "can't spend that kind of money quite yet" category, but it's great to see bands like this popping up here, and makes me optomistic of who else they're going to land!
Oh yeah, and James Taylor apparently played a free concert here once a few years back, that might have been cool to see...
Not only did this band have what I thought was the album of the year last year (whatever Grammy's), but they're coming to Raleigh on April 28th. If you don't have the album yet, go get it now, and if they're coming to a town near you and you don't have a ticket yet, better get that as well.
I got a chance today to go out and do something I love: shoot lacrosse games. This was for me, not for any publication, which made it a little less stressful and I got to experiment with some different settings and lenses. These guys are really talented, especially for being in a conference that breeds champion teams (Duke, UNC, UVA). They may only be a club team on paper, but they've got great talent and their teamwork on the field is second to none, varsity or not. Looking forward to the next game.
One of the things I have to get used to now is being in my car all the time. Not that it's a bad thing, I actually enjoy being in my car and having some time to myself, and once I have a job, I can talk about enjoying the commute... but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
One thing I've come to find: commercial radio is awful. I know, this seems a lot like jumping on the "radio sucks" bandwagon, but coming from the NYC area, and using mass transportation, I haven't relied on radio for years. Colbie portable CD players, first generation iPods all the way up to the iPhone, this was how I got my music during the long commute to work. Even when I was taking NJ Transit from central NJ, I was never in a car longer than 10 minutes, and usually with a couple guys I commuted with, so we didn't turn on the radio. Same songs over and over again, rock stations with boring DJs telling you how cool Dokken still is and all their most recent misadventure at the local bar and the subsequent hangover they were suffering through because of that night. Then, you have the morning guys. I had to drive out to Durham (25 minutes from my apartment) on Tuesday morning, at around 6:30am, so it was a little early for me to listen to music. I threw on one of the local Top 40 stations, and spent the remainder of my ride being bored to death by the DJ and his two sidekicks, talking about why they aren't really comedians and they're favorite things to get at Golden Corral (I'm not making this up). Holy shit guys, who cares??? Apparently, they're in a good position to do this, because half comatose pre coffee zombies like me are actually willing to leave this on as background fodder. This afternoon, I got to listen to the DJ call the front desk over, and over, and over again to quiz the new assistant (slug, or fuzz bucket, whatever his name was) about why he's suddenly decided to send daily inspirational emails. This conversation lasted about 10 minutes, and ended with the Fuzz Nuts apologizing for not answering her first three calls, and promising not only to continue to send these messages, but to Google more to find even deeper messages. Awesome.
Don't get me wrong, part of being in this area means I have access to some great college stations, but that's always hit or miss. Coming from a college radio station background, I know first hand that there are countless hours during the week devoted to bad music, and DJs who are even worse than Fuzz Bucket.
What have I learned here? I've got a 6 disc CD changer in the car that I need to work on reloading, and to use my iPhone more as a music device in the car.
Disclaimer: the names in this blog were fictitious, but I'm pretty sure I was close on Fuzz Bucket...
Apparently I now live in a city that encourages its citizens to come out and see what's new by getting businesses to open up their doors, offer discounts on food and beverages, showcase new galleries, and sample some of the local fare. The jury is still out on this one for me, but everyone says it's a good time, so we shall see. I'll let you know tomorrow!
If you're interested in seeing what I may or may not be able to checkout, here you go.
I've only been here for a couple weeks, but I finally got a chance to go out and take a few pictures. Check the link below to my Flickr account, I'll be adding more soon.
Raleigh
come in future post) as long as you spend $5 on beer. For me, this is
amazing. I get to try a new beer out, and get free brunch as well. I
can get used to this...
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