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Yesterday Heidi and I did an all day geocaching adventure. While we are still new to the game we found 16 different caches, two travel bugs and had a great time. The total number of caches found now equals 51 which includes multi-caches, traditional, virtual and event cahces. To top off the great day I was just informed that we made the front page of the geocaching website for one of our photos!
If you want to look up our profile the name is: AhhYea777
Here goes a few of my favorite photos that I took in 2007.
Heidi In Her Sunday Best
Geocaching In Conway
Be Careful When You Pick Your Nose
Train To Paradise
Pelican
Heidi House Sitting
Ode To Pappy
Longboard Cache
A New Father
Never Look Back
Trails
Cheesy Oats
Gonna Drink That
At Dusk
A Fairytale
Tafta
I am amazed when ever someone sets out on their own and just puts something out there. It is a real accomplishment to lay it all out there for the general populous to consume regardless of its medium. I admire anyone who says "fuck it I think I have something that is worth broadcasting so here it is." Many people talk about doing this all the time but most are too lazy to really do anything about it. So when someone goes the extra mile and actually puts it out there I have to give them props. It doesn't matter if its your cd, a self published book, or a piece of art for sale, its all the same to go out there on the limb all by your self. To all of you out there who continue to do this I appalled you.
However most of the stuff that I come across that is self published, or is an artistic endeavor is crap. Not much thought or effort was put into the final product. It lacks originality and usually bites someone's else style. Most seems rushed, to the point that says "I did it because I could." While it is still admirable to take it to the next level and put it out there I think most people should take a little more time and polish up the finish piece before releasing it to the world.
Every now and then you come across some DIY stuff that is the full blown real deal. Blood, sweat and tears were poured into the work. The artist themselves are still wondering if it is done. If not for the pushing of friends and family the work of art, cords of a song or prose of the pen would still be on the shelves of the artist. But thanks to the constant pushing some works do see the light of day to be consumed by the masses. Some works end up the walls of strangers. Some end up bumping out the speakers of passing by cars. Some end up getting blog post written about them...
A little while ago a new found friend gave me his cd to listen to. That gentleman's name was Chris Yale, the cd "Well Enough Alone." I listen to it constantly. It is well put together, thought out and polished. The first track, "Something I Remember" is the perfect introduction to the album and the closing track "Just No Way" closes out the album seamlessly. By far these are my favorite tracks. It just goes to show, how you polish your craft can really set your hobbies and passions apart. I know it was a struggle to put it out there but I am so glad he did. It has given me a new found respect to something I have forgotten about: "Art is about what you enjoy." I can tell through his album that Chris enjoys his music. Its not just a hobby but a passion. I admire that. I personally have lots of hobbies but very few passions. I encourage anyone out there who is the mood for some good ol american music (think Tom Petty mixed with Mellencamp) to give it a listen.
For Christmas one of my good friends got me this book: The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World by Alexander Roy (He finished first in the 2006 Gumball 3000). I have gotten three chapters into the book and its most excellent, but what has really gotten my attention is a few things that it has already turned me on to.
The first a cult film called C'était un Rendez-Vous (1976) - by Claude Lelouch you can check it out on YouTube here and read about the mystique behind it here.
The second is a movie getting ready for release called 32 Hours 7 Minutes about the real Cannonball Run. Defiantly check out the trailer for it.
http://www.32hours7minutes.com/
While I struggle to get my little project off the ground I still keep at it with my constant eating habits. Here in South Carolina you can find many different types of BBQ: pepper-vinger, mustard, light and heavy tomato based. However one type I haven't been able to find is Mongolia style BBQ.
I was first introduce to this style while doing a short stint in NYC. There was this little hole in the wall restaurant just down the block from where I worked at the magazine. It was pretty cool to see men with long staffs slowly turning food over on these huge stone grills. Mixing meat and vegetables and special sauces it was a new method to the traditional BBQ that I grew up on.
There is a big mystery behind the origins of Mongolian BBQ. While this is the same case with every type of BBQ, I tend to believe this version of its history a little more than the others:
Mongolian BBQ originated centuries ago in the Far East during feast for Genghis's Kahn's Mongolian army. Soldiers would gather together and prepare cuts of meat and vegetables using their swards. Each warrior would then cook his own food on his shields, heated over a hot fire.
Since my NY days I have come across a few different restaurants that have served this type of cooking, but none that really stand out. I would love to find one that could rank up there in non-southern style BBQ restaurants.
Ohh well I guess we will see. Now I am off to the China Buffet to sample on some of there supposed Mongolia style cooking.
Over the weekend Paul and I got down to business. We pretty much stuck to my initial plan. Here goes a turn by turn analysis:
The Truck Before:
Sanding It To Bare Metal (we also used Aircraft Remover On The Hood)
Metal Fully Exposed:
Taped & Primed
We did all of this in one day! On Sunday we got back at it and layed down a few coats of high build primer as well some minor body work. You sure can see bad body work once you lay down a coat of primer. Paul went back a fixed a few trouble spots as well one more final coat of epoxy primer.
Its all set up for stage two. Hopefully we can get to that this Sunday or the following Saturday. I have to lay out the plan for that. I will keep you posted.
Tomorrow I will be starting to paint my fathers S10 Pick-up. I have to admit I am pretty excited and nervous. I have learned a lot in school, but this will be the first time applying that knowledge outside of class. This will also be the first time doing it without the tools that we had to work with at school. I have mentally made of a plan of how it is to be done and have broke it up into two stages.
The first part will be done tomorrow with the help of Paul. I will take the hood off the truck as well as the tail gate. Starting off by sanding off all of the old paint on the hood and the roof of the truck, I think that will be all the easy but time consuming work. From there I need to tape off the truck. Windows, doors, lights etc. all need to be done. After a quick wash down its time to lay new primer on the newly exposed metal. I am only going to do this for the hood and the roof. I plan on laying down a layer of epoxy primer, followed by a coat of high-build primer. I plan on doing it this way due the fact I am not going to do any body work. There are some indentions on these parts and the high build primer will help elevate parts of that. My father doesn't want a top notch paint job, but I am going to strive to do my best with the time and money at hand.
Step two will take place in a week. With the newly primered hood and roof the rest of the truck will need to be wet sanded. This will help the new paint stick to the old as well take out some of the "dead" paint. This will take a little time to do. The next step will be to re-mask the truck. Windows, doors, lights etc. will all need to be redone. From there its time to take off the pin stripping. After a quick wash down it is time to paint. At this point I am sure if I am going to do it a base clear or single stage job. More than likely a single stage due to budget but we will see.
It should be a fun project and even if I mess up it can't look worse than what it does now. If I have leaned one thing in class it is confidence. I feel sure of myself to tackle a job like this even though I haven't done one before. I will keep you posted with pictures. :)
This is an invite for all of you out there to join us all at the Roundtable Art Show tomorrow night. With about 25 artist on display, light hors devours, and a full bar there is sure to be something for everyone. I do believe that this is there fifth year doing the holiday show and it has gotten better year after year. Some come out and see some great art at the Sheraton Hotel on 21st and Oak Street (convention center) tomorrow between 7 and 9.
So I am brainstorming a few names for the Tech conference in April. This is what I have come up with this far. I will have to narrow them down but its a start.
SHOUT South
Digital Feed
FEED South
Tech South
South East Tech Conference
VOICE
Digital Voice
D.I.Y. Tech South East
Digital Dixie
Digital Break
Media Construct South East
Tech Support South
Dish Out
The Southern Media Dish Out
Digital Graze South
The Southern Tech Graze
Digital Nurture South
DigitalNET South East
Digital Crossroads
Acronyms
SHOUT
FEED
VOICE
I will keep you posted.
The tech community in and around the low country are getting together to have a conference. The nature of the conference is to introduce and converse with new media technology. This includes but is not limited to bloggers, pod casters, video blogs, etc. We are in the initial stages of planning out the conference for the first part of April. The first goal is to figure out a name for the thing. We want everybody to be a part of the process so I am asking all of you your thoughts. So think hard, go over to the Grand Strand Bloggers site, read up a little more about it and leave your thoughts and or suggestions in the comment section.