we're morons

went to MMP on friday with john and peeps. it was on the Moshulu so we decided we were going to do it up and dress like pirates. Ended up being such stupid fun.

best use for plastic bottles

if this is for real, this is amazing! could change the quality of many people's lives in developing nations.

The branding of Polaroid

This is a great site about how Polaroid focused to compete against Big Yellow Brother Kodak. It's all in the name of shameless promotion of a book about it, but I think I'm going to get it. Seems very interesting as a packaging design and branding study. Albeit, back when there was less clutter.

finally a fun time weekend

it feels like it's been a while since we've had a nice chill weekend to just enjoy friends and kick back with no pressure to build something or think about work. our friends matt and lindsay came up from florida to see philly and spend some time. i really miss the people we all had so many great experiences with in FL. everything felt so easy the last couple years we were down there. This weekend felt like that again. just strolling and chatting with no real set direction to take. matt and i hit the italian festival and south street flea market on saturday. fortunatly we had great weather. ironically, we ended up eating a couple tacos and getting some horchata to drink, but we enjoyed a nice lemoncello in honor of the italian americans that have created the italian market and all it has to offer to the city. i did end up getting some great italian espresso at Fante's though. that night we went to our favorite BYO too, Modo Mio. They made the best sweetbreads i've ever had. i know what you're thinking, gross. what's the point of being adventurous if you don't try everything you can? the duck ravioli totally bowled me over too. we hit johnny brenda's for a couple brews and some pool after that. Los Campasinos was playing, but we were there to hang, not see the show, though i heard it was good. all in all it was a pretty great weekend and we can't wait till they come back up or we go to visit them again. who needs an excuse to go to FL though, especially when spring is keeping warm weather away for as long as it has been.

punk as fuck

i just finished watchin' End of the Century, the Ramones documentary on Shotime. It totally flipped me out. I forgot how much the Ramones changed my life. Getting my first tape back in 5th or 6th grade and hearing the fury of Blitzcreig Bop and Judy is a Punk. I mean, i was into Iron maiden, but the Ramones totally blew me away. When I heard that they were playing the Univ of Maryland I had to see them. It was the spring of 93 and I had just gotten my licence. I'd never been out of the state, but i was hell bent on going to see them. I didn't have a ticket. I had 20 bucks that i figured would get me a scalped ticket and maybe a soda. when i got there, i just walked around too shy to talk to anyone to get a ticket. then as i walked around the corner of the gym, which is where they were playing with Frank Black from the pixies, a guy popped out of the bushes. i asked him if he had a ticket and he just looked me up and down with my dads busted combat boots and dyed green hair and said, cummon kid, i got a plus one. i had no idea what he meant, but it got me in for free and i could buy a shirt with my 20 bucks. frank black came on first. i'd never heard him before. i'd heard of the pixies, but i was more into metal and punk than alternative. by the end of his set i was hooked though. i went out and got Trompe le Monde the next week and pretty much burned a hole in my stereo with it.
after frank finished playing there was that obligitory lull when the ramones were setting up on stage. the show felt more like a battle of the bands than a life altering experience. i got a shirt and a poster and stashed them behind a trashcan under the bleachers. then i made my way to the front of the stage. it ended up being a half hour before they came on, but it was totally worth it staking my place out for this. finally they shut of the intermission music and the lights dropped. the intro to rock n' roll radio came crackling over the intercom (it was no music speaker system in the gym) and johnny, dee dee and marky came ambling on stage. they picked up their instruments and stood there (for impact no doubt) for about a minute kinda looking at the crowd, at eachother and at the stage. in a blink marky screamed ONETWOTHREEFOUR...and they exploded into blitzcrieg bob. johnny came out of no where grabbed the mic, looked down at the stage and the rest is history.

in the name of catching up

this past week was nuts because we were shooting TV for Cooper Hospital. It was so much fun. This'll be my first official full TV campaign. We filmed Kelly Ripa today in NYC. She was actually really cool and funny and down to earth. You'd think that most celebs would assume you knew their name and not bother introducing themselves, but she was all nice and friendly. we've been shooting all over south jersey this whole last week. with 4am and 5am set calls it's left me a lil wonkey. it's an amazing experience though. to see so many people in such a fuss over your idea. my partner rebecca and i were constantly shaking our heads.

patio progress

I'm mr. masonry these days. spent the last few weekends carrying thousands of pounds of rocks, sand, brick, and stones through our house to build a patio in our backyard. it's nearly done now. we're gonna have a big party to commemorate it and smash a bottle of champagne on it. prolly get the dale earnhart party pack bubbly. we tried it out this weekend with some folks and it was a smashing success. time for it to get nice so we can use it.