March 29, 2006

Those That Came Before...
I was playing around with some crazy family tree software put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last night (Go Mormons!). Unfortunately, it's software for Windows, which blows because I still haven't figured out how to get my printer working with Virtual PC. I did discover a cool feature however that allowed me to poop the puppy out as web pages. This morning I uploaded it, so go take a look at the Ancestors of John Steele Skelton - I know you're all as fascinated by my own heritage as much as I am!

The freakiest thing about it, is that it goes back to my thirty-second generation! I did not know I was related to Lambert I born in 950, nor did I know that I was related to King Henry I and Heinrich V Emperor of Germany.

It's also interesting that all the Skelton's come from Yorkshire, England. If it wasn't for John Skelton, who moved his family from England to Canada in the early 1800's, then I'd still have fucked up teeth and talk kinda funny.

So far, of all my relatives, my two favorite names are 'Penelope Burlingame' and 'Eleanor DeChastellerault'.

I was kinda surprised that no one has put together an Ancestral Wiki. Family history seems like the perfect kind of application for a Wiki. Am I missing something?

March 28, 2006

Freestyle Broadcasts
Who needs March Madness and broken brackets when we got You Tube's Wide World of Sports? Witness: Urban Ninja, Body Artist, Ronaldinho: Touch of Gold (check out the kicks (shoes) and then check out the KICKS!). And my personal favorite, Tafeltennis.

March 24, 2006

Hornblower & Jelly
I didn't have any real good reason to buy an 'Energy Drink' especially one that tries to sell itself as an Energy 'Jelly'. My energy-o-meter never drops low enough to warrant these kinds of products. My morning coffee intake usually gives me a good baseline energy level throughout the day. But I admit I was curious. The packaging similarity to a hospital IV bag sealed the deal and I bought it. I was fully intent to sample the jelly too, until I inspected the packaging more closely and noticed at the bottom that little bit of Japanese(?) followed by the 3%. There's just too many mysteries in that three percent for me to risk ingesting a foreign jelly.

This and other mysterious products always seem to find their way into my shopping cart whenever I venture out to the kick-ass Asian market. But my eyes are way more curious than my stomach and most, if not all, of the products never get sampled. However, if the product doesn't bring my stomach into the equation, I have much better results. Over the past week, I have become absolutely hooked on Sudoku which is odd because I usually hate (and suck at) puzzles

Last night, we went and saw the Beastie Boys concert movie, Awesome, I Fucking Shot That! True to its title, it was in fact, pretty awesome. I kinda felt like I went to a Beastie Boys concert and didn't have to deal with the concert crowds or the high ticket prices. It was also the funniest concert movie I have ever seen. The cameo shot of Ben Stiller bugging out in the crowd and screaming along to the lyrics was priceless. And, not that I needed any more proof of what a bad-ass Mix Master Mike is behind the 1's and 2's but this movie really highlights what a craftsman he is. At one point later in the show, the Beasties all come on stage rocking t-shirts with the names of their favorite games on them (boggle, scrabble, mah-jong, etc). Mix Master Mike's t-shirt? Electric Battleship!! Damn. It made me want to go make a Cribbage t-shirt immediately.

Before the actual concert movie there was a hilarious and baffling short about a day in the life of Nathaniel Hornblower. David Cross completely owns the roll of Hornblower, cross country skiing in lederhosen through the streets of New York?!?

Bonus: What's Up Your Kilt?

March 21, 2006

Defining the Otsu-Gaki Style
We bid farewell to the parental units as they boarded jets to Minnesota yesterday. As luck would have it, the sun finally came out here in Portland for the last day of their visit. Proving that there are indeed a few days every year that it doesn't rain here in wetTown USA. I guess it snowed something like 19 inches in the Twin Cities over the last week. So, they got that to look forward to.

Went out for some Thai food the last night they were in town. I ordered a papaya salad that could very well be the single spiciest dish that I have ever eaten. Even today, I'm still suffering some horrible kind of post-traumaitic stress that's causing my lips to flare up even as I write and think about this.

Also Sunday we dropped by the Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery to catch the exhibit Defining the Bamboo Aesthetic. Beautiful pieces from international and local bamboo artists. This weekend the museum will be hosting an artists panel and demonstration. Charissa Brock the artist responsible for the sunflower sculpture (pictured above) will be on the panel.

And while I'm at it, the cheapest place I've found for bulk bamboo lumber (poles) is at Bamboo Gardens of Washington. A good source for live bamboo (besides stealing it from your neighbors yard) is the Bamboo Garden Nursery. Once you got all the supplies, then you'll need the bamboo construction bible: Building Bamboo Fences by Isao Yoshikawa. Then you have to decide whether you will build your bamboo fence in the Otsu-gaki or the Misu-gaki style. More? A Bamboo blog and Bambu.

March 15, 2006

David Maisel's Black Maps
"The Black Maps project is comprised of aerial photographs of environmentally impacted landscapes. These images have as their subject matter the undoing of the natural world by the wide-scaled intervention of man's actions. Looking down on these damaged wastelands, where man's efforts have eradicated the natural order, the views through my camera are both spectacular and horrifying."
Via Spy Spice.

The Smoking Gun
Check out that mug shot. Apparently, or should I say allegedly, someone in our family was cruising down the Beaverton/Hillsdale Highway going a touch over the speed limit on March 3rd at 5:18pm. Here in Portland they have these photo radar vehicle monitors. The slick high speed camera records the 'violator' on film and then sends them a ticket through the post. Efficient and sneaky. For me, the photo they sent along with the ticket is almost worth the price of the violation.

It's been a busy time here with the parents visiting. Activities have included: lots of clay art and pottery gallery shows (as part of NCECA), bamboo shopping and backyard bamboo fence planning, a visit to my Alma Mater (college kids are looking younger and younger!), cribbage playing, eating, and an unfortunate trip to the Emergency Room. No fun.

Bonus: A small Flickr set of cribbage board graphics. Peter and I visited a fellow member of the Cribbage Board Collectors Society. This women's specialty is the collection of Bakelite boards from the 30's and 40's. Cool boards with some great type on the vintage packaging. The women is a real life CSI DNA specialist. Her license plate reads '4N6 DNA'. She also collects and makes Egg Art. Fascinating.

March 10, 2006

The Return of The Great Bandini
One of my all-time favorite works of fiction, John Fante's "Ask The Dust" has been made into a movie (watch trailer). The movie comes out this weekend to mixed reviews. Apparently, Robert Towne bought the rights to "Ask The Dust" while he was making "Chinatown". I suppose he waited thirty years to make it just so Selma Hayek could grow up and be in it.

March 09, 2006

Snow Dayz: 6:14 AM
Great. The parents are arriving from Minnesota this morning. They thought they might get a little spring vacation from the end of a Minnesota winter. My mom had big plans to do some gardening/landscaping in our backyard. I guess they were under the assumption that it would actually be spring here in Portland and that there WOULDN'T BE ANY SNOW ON THE GROUND. Ha! Double Ha!

I blame George Bush for the snow that's covering The Ranch this morning. A real National Leader would never allow this kind of thing to take place.

Now I've got to figure out how I'm going to get down the hill and safely out to the airport. I think Portland has something like three snowplows for the entire city.

March 08, 2006

Tuff Week
It's time to celebrate the body of work that these three heavies left behind. Gordon Parks, Ali Farka Toure, and Kirby Puckett.

March 06, 2006

Vet Blogging
Big day out for the cats yesterday. It was time for their annual trip to the Vet. There was much angry dissent from both cats. Listen here (mp3) to the chorus of protests that came from the back seat (CAUTION: audio clip contains several kitty expletives). Oh the humanity!

Both cats have mild ear infections (possibly an allergic reaction to something). For the next two weeks we have to administer ear drops twice daily. This, as you can probably guess, does not go over so well with them. The drops must be refrigerated. Imagine someone yanking your ears back twice a day and filling them with ice cold liquid. Brutal.

Enjoyed watching the Oscars last night. It was odd watching it on West Coast time. We didn't need to stay up till 11 o'clock to see who won Best Picture. I don't know what happened this year, but of all the movies that were up for big awards, we had only seen Crash and Hustle and Flow. I can't believe we haven't seen the Johnny Cash movie yet. At some point we've got a lot of DVD catching up to do.

March 03, 2006

The Problem's Plain to See: Too Much Technology
What things annoy you when dining out at your favorite chow house? Bad service? Bad food, or worse the wrong food? A dirty bathroom? That screaming baby three tables away that's up way past her bedtime? Perhaps you hate getting seated near the kitchen. All of these, at one time or another, have irked me. But all of them combined don't come close to my greatest dining pet peeve. My biggest irritant is getting seated next to that odd couple that doesn't talk during their entire dinner. They just sit there, facing each other, each one gazing just over the shoulder of the other one, trying painfully to avoid eye-contact. With each passing minute of silence their awkwardness expands like an invisible balloon until you feel it physically pushing against you in your own seat. Oh man, it kills me. I just want to pick up my fork, pop that silence balloon and demand, "Say something, goddammit!". Honestly, I think I'd rather sit next to a party of loud talkers and cell phone squawkers than endure the pain of another couples lifeless social grace. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about lovebirds here, these aren't newlyweds gazing longingly into each others eyes. This isn't a warm soft rock candlelight ballad. No, this is pure, unflinching, raw sadness; the kind that can turn your food cold in the short time it takes the waiter to bring it from the kitchen to your table.

I got another pet peeve that I have to get off my chest. This one's a bit more irrational but it bugs me all the same. And I ran into it several times last night. It bugs me when business storefronts, that have light-up signs displaying their name, have the bulbs burnt out in one or more of their letters. You know what I'm talking about. Like when a 'Baskin Robbins' reduces itself to 'ask Rob', or 'Shoe Repairs' breaks down to 'ho ears'. I'm not exactly sure why this bugs me so much but it does. I mean, if I were the manager of such an establishment and an employee or a customer pointed out that my sign was deficient. I wouldn't be able to sleep until I got that sucker fixed. Shit, I would probably keep a whole back-stock of extra letters incase one got maimed. Oh, and you know what bugs me even more(!), when the letters do get replaced but with a different shade of plastic, or *shudder* a different typeface!

The horror.

Ok. On the positive tip, on our way home from the restaurant last night, the song Mr. Roboto by Styx came over the radio. The misses called it after about two bars of the opening synth washes. We were like school girls bouncing in our seats, each taking turns turning up the volume when the song reached another one of its epic changes. Hot damn is that a fucking huge song. Huge song.

I'm currently investigating how I can get that song as my ringtone. Domo on your Friday.

March 01, 2006

The Illustrated Mustache
Any designer worth their salt and Sharpie has used a Dover Clip Art Book at one time or another. Over the years I've amassed a nice healthy collection of the Dover type books. Yesterday, the Good Doctor brought his collection over. He uses the clip art illustration books in his classroom. Of all the titles, 'Illustrations of Men's Heads' is probably my favorite. Published in the early 80's, most of the men in the collection look like they walked right off the stage of a Village People's concert. The proliferation of mustache power is totally unsettling. The bearded guy in the top right corner, whom I have named "Gary", has an equally disturbing Hannibal Lecter vibe to him. Gary loves his Pinot Gris but he'll eat your fucking liver if you don't play up to his ego by compliment either his beard or his bow tie.