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March 1, 2008

My Jury Duty Blog Photos - Possible Contempt of Court Citation

Ok. Uhm - wow. So apparently, I was in violation of local laws when I took photos during my Jury Duty service, a few weeks back. I knew that I wasn't allowed to photograph inside the courtroom, during an actual trial (which I didn't do). But I didn't realize [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 1, 2008 8:18 PM | | Comments (1)

March 2, 2008

Housekeeping, the French, and Dave Barry

With all the recent traffic/activity lately, I decided to do a little housekeeping. Up until now, my older Flash projects were sitting on some pretty bare bones HTML pages. Today, I tweaked the stylesheet for this site and created a page layout that could better house all of my Flash [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 2, 2008 3:41 PM | | Comments (1)

March 3, 2008

Upcoming Poetry Reading: Aimee Nezhukumatathil

My friend (and OSU MFA alum) Aimee Nezhukumatathil is going to be in town tomorrow for a reading over at Columbia College. She is the author of two books of poetry (Miracle Fruit and, most recently, At the Drive-In Volcano). Last year, she got some nice press from none [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 3, 2008 7:02 AM | | Comments (1)

Small Murders

by Aimee Nezhukumatathil When Cleopatra received Antony on her cedarwood ship, she made sure he would smell her in advance across the sea: perfumed sails, nets sagging with rosehips and crocus draped over her bed, her feet and hands rubbed in almond oil, cinnamon, and henna. I knew I had [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 3, 2008 7:14 AM | | Comments (1)

March 4, 2008

Nick's Photo Featured on Gapers Block

Nick got one of his photos featured on Gapers Block today! You should definitely check out Nick's photos on Flickr - lots of cool images there to peruse. All told, I believe that makes three of us in total who've had photos highlighted, from this office. Any more, and [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 4, 2008 7:05 AM | | Comments (0)

March 5, 2008

Star Firsts: "How I Lost My Virginity" Stories from Celebrities

Quite possibly NSFW due to language, but compelling reading nonetheless: Nerve has compiled a series of "my first time" stories, as told by celebrities. It's quite the range, too - Joe Namath, Bertrand Russell, David Bowie, Sylvia Plath, Iggy Pop, Here's a snippet from Marilyn Manson's account: We ambled downhill [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 5, 2008 7:24 AM | | Comments (0)

Random Images, California Blue Line Stop

I raced up the steps at the California Blue Line stop, only to miss the doors by a second or two. After walking over to the railing, I noticed how incredibly bright and crisp the day looked. I felt compelled to take a few photos, mostly just because I haven't [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 5, 2008 8:38 AM | | Comments (0)

Battleship Torpedo Attack

Allison recently got a version of Battleship that I've never seen before - one where each side comes complete with a periscope that shoots torpedoes (tiny black marbles) under water, at the ships. Here, Bryan is taking aim through the periscope (there's a small window/mirror that lets you peer [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 5, 2008 5:03 PM | | Comments (1)

March 6, 2008

Photoshop Disasters: Or, Attack of the Clone Tool

Photoshop Disasters is a small but growing collection of some pretty bad Photoshop work, found out in the wild. The design of the site isn't anything to write home about (and in fact, it looks like someone just slapped these images up on a generic blogger template). But the [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 6, 2008 7:25 AM | | Comments (0)

March 7, 2008

Cecropia - Delightful and Intuitive Video Game Approach

Cecropia is a company that specializes in what they call "Personality Video Games." It's a fantastically entertaining approach, and I'm awed at both how simple and intuitive it is. There's a small little game on their home page, and a larger project entitled "The Act." I'm reminded a lot [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 7, 2008 1:33 PM | | Comments (1)

Happy Birthday, Rey!

As is the ritual at my workplace, everyone tries to throw a little birthday surprise for Rey/Deb when their day rolls around. Today was Rey's birthday and we all gathered in the kitchen to help celebrate. While I wonder if we'll ever top the surprise sushi cake, this design [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 7, 2008 1:20 PM | | Comments (0)

Birthday Dinner - Smurfs, Crepes, and a Surprise

My birthday is this Sunday, but Liz had plans for us to go out and celebrate tonight. For the past few days I knew we were heading out... but didn't know where. I only knew we were going out. I got home, was told to put on some nice clothes, [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 7, 2008 10:51 PM | | Comments (1)

March 8, 2008

Birthday Dinner in Frankfort

Tonight Liz and I travelled down to Frankfort, to hang out with her family. And actually, it was also for my birthday too (I'm having quite the weekend). For dinner, Liz's mom cooked up some fantastic food - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus and brussel sprouts (which I'm discovering that [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 8, 2008 8:10 PM | | Comments (0)

March 9, 2008

My Amazing (and Slightly Terrifying) Birthday Surprise

Let me begin by saying that for the past few days, I've been barred from entering the kitchen pantry. No explanation, no reasons, just "don't go in there." The latch had been thrown. On the door, a note was posted, expressly prohibiting me from going inside. Now, fast forward [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 9, 2008 6:55 AM | | Comments (2)

March 10, 2008

Contempt of Court Citation, Averted

At the start of the month, I received a rather ominous letter letting me know that the photos I took documenting my Jury Duty experience were in violation of local court rules. More than that, the letter stated that my "willful actions could result in a Contempt of Court Citation." [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 10, 2008 6:45 AM | | Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

Lunch Field Trip: Merchandise Mart + Indian Food

For lunch today per Ben's suggestion, a bunch of us (Jane, Chris, Ben, Bryan, TJ, Nick, Masha) went out for some Indian food, over at Klay Oven. This restaurant used to be an occassional treat for us, back when we used to work in the Merchandise Mart. I, for one, [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 11, 2008 2:18 PM | | Comments (1)

March 12, 2008

HBO Starship Intro: Behind the Scenes

Chris sent along this great link to a 1983 "behind the scenes" look a the classic HBO intro sequence (aka "The Starship"). Not only are the details of the model city pretty fascinating... but it was fantastic to see how some of the special effects were created. In particular, I [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 12, 2008 11:49 AM | | Comments (3)

Frozen Blueberry Dessert Recipe

In a recent unflattering photograph of me where I was taking a nap performing complex calculations while meditating, there was a little cup and spoon visible off to the side. Ben noticed this, and inquired about it... and I meant to post up this recipe. Things got a little [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 12, 2008 7:06 PM | | Comments (1)

March 13, 2008

Batman Street Promotion: "I Believe in Harvey Dent"

On the way in to work today, Liz and I were walking down Jackson and spotted these guys standing right outside the side door to my building. At first, I wasn't sure what the fuss was about, but the moment I heard the name Harvey Dent, I knew what was [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 13, 2008 10:52 PM | | Comments (1)

March 14, 2008

An Irrational Celebration: Happy Pi Day (3/14)

Today is the 20th anniversary of Pi Day, which was first celebrated/created by Larry Shaw in San Francisco in 1988. Based on the American date format (3/14), today is a day lots of folks the world over celebrate arguably one of the most popular irrational numbers we have - [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 14, 2008 6:52 AM | | Comments (0)

March 15, 2008

Downtown Dinner at Brazzaz, Brazilian Steakhouse

Tonight, Liz and I met up with her family over at Brazzaz (warning, music and cheesy Flash) for a fancy meal downtown. Known as a "Brazilian Steakhouse," it's a all-you-can-eat sort of place, with a wide assortment of meats. While the salad bar was pretty great, this is by far [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 15, 2008 6:04 PM | | Comments (0)

March 16, 2008

Back from India: Justin Returns to Chicago

I got an email from Justin earlier in the day, letting me know he was safe and sound back in the States. More than that, he was safe and sound over at Dave's apartment. A few phone calls and a few hours later, a bunch of us were meeting up [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 16, 2008 6:08 PM | | Comments (0)

March 17, 2008

flickrvision: Real Time Images from Around the World

flickrvision, by David Troy, is absolutely mesmerizing. He's taking in data from the Flickr API, and overlaying it against what appears to be Google Earth. Pretty brilliant stuff, and it's just really compelling to watch. In watching this, I'm also reminded of We Feel Fine, and 6 Billion Others. [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 17, 2008 6:43 AM | | Comments (0)

March 18, 2008

Peabe Featured in Mini Documentary: Hello My Name is Chicago

Bryan passed around a link today, of a guy who shot a neat (and really well-produced) mini-doc on the Hello My Name is Chicago show. Check out the video below (and at 2:20, Bryan gets a nice mention/interview as well). Direct link to the video on Vimby here. Photos and [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 18, 2008 1:04 PM | | Comments (3)

March 19, 2008

Rock, Paper, Scissors: Four Years Later

A long, long time ago (way back in 2004), we used to have this particularly boring task at the workplace. It was a menial task, an update that had no admins and required "manual" labor, as it were. In order to determine who got the crap job... we settled on [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 19, 2008 4:24 PM | | Comments (3)

*pop* *pop* *pop* *pop*

After having a balloon-filled apartment for over a week now, Liz and I decided it was time for one last hurrah, and to officially say goodbye to the balloons. All of the helium-filled balloons have gone, but the ones remaining were the green ones... the ones we've been kicking around [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 19, 2008 10:09 PM | | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

Snow Day in Yorkville: Mike's Time-lapse Video

Several weeks back, in early February, we got hit with some substantial snowfall. During that time, we had a half-day at work due to the strong weather. Many of the folks on our Affiliate team (living farther out in the suburbs) were told to work from home the day prior. [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 20, 2008 3:33 PM | | Comments (0)

Tus the Dog: What's Yours is Ours

Early this morning (circa 6:30AM), Jake stopped off at our apartment and dropped of his dog, Tus. He's heading to Nicaragua for a week, and during that time Liz and I will be serving as official dogsitters. I see now that word of our babysitting skills has gotten around. Walking [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 20, 2008 6:46 PM | | Comments (0)

March 21, 2008

Jason and Layla Visit Chicago

My friends Jason and Layla were in town the past few days, visiting Chicago and exploring downtown with their two kids (Roman and Miranda). Liz and I met up with them today, towards the later part of the afternoon. Jason and I go way back, as we were both colleagues [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 21, 2008 4:48 PM | | Comments (0)

March 22, 2008

Decorating Easter Eggs with Liz

After a long, lazy day... Liz and I started a bit late on the whole decorating Easter eggs bit. But around 10PM, we got our dyes out and settled down to do a bit of painting and drawing. While we had a lot of colors to choose from, the combination [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 22, 2008 10:05 PM | | Comments (0)

March 23, 2008

Easter in Frankfort

Liz and I went down to Frankfort today, to hang out with her family for Easter. This was the fantastic spread on the table that greeted us, on walking in. On each plate, everyone got a little marshmallow treat. There was a mini-easter-egg hunt in the house, and one [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 23, 2008 1:43 PM | | Comments (1)

March 25, 2008

Who Would Win in a Fight - a Minotaur Armed with a Trident or a Centaur Armed with a Crossbow?

Who among us hasn't asked ourselves the age-old question: Who Would Win in a Fight - a Minotaur Armed with a Trident or a Centaur Armed with a Crossbow? We all have our own answers and reasons, but what do the celebrities think? I saw this site over the [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 25, 2008 1:55 PM | | Comments (1)

Old Table, New Table

Liz has undertaken a new project this week: refinishing the dining room table. She's technically on Spring Break, and has had her eye on re-doing the table for some time now. For those who may remember, we found this table during an Estate Sale on the same day that [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 25, 2008 6:04 PM | | Comments (1)

On the Train, Heading to Sleepytown

I was pretty tired after my day. But apparently, so was Tus. Sheesh. A man can't fall asleep on his own couch, without getting mocked? What's up here? :P I really need to stop leaving my camera out, where Liz can get to it. [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 25, 2008 10:25 PM | | Comments (0)

March 26, 2008

Blue Line Window View - Dancing Wires

I've been meaning to capture this moment for a while now - on the Blue Line, heading in to the city... if you look out the windows to the right, you'll see a series of wires setup alongside the tracks. I've noticed that, if you pull your focus back and [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 26, 2008 8:43 AM | | Comments (1)

Comic Book Store Field Trip

Today, right before lunch, James mentioned to me that he and Ben were heading to a comic store... and did I want to come along? I hesitated a bit, and he followed up with "You don't have to buy anything. You can just go look." And after that comment, I [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 26, 2008 12:47 PM | | Comments (0)

Old Table, New Table (Part 2)

Walking in the apartment after work, I was hit with some incredibly strong fumes. So much so, that I started coughing after a minute or two. Liz had been working on the table for most of the day (again), and though the windows were cracked some... the place was [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 26, 2008 7:24 PM | | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a... Mechanical Dragonfly?

In the afternoon, I picked up the sound of a slight whirring in the air. Looking over, I saw Darren (our new QA Manager) with a remote control in his hands and something shooting through the air. Seeing as we're a web company, it's a moral imperative that we have [read more...]

Posted by avoision on March 27, 2008 2:13 PM | | Comments (3)