Poor Joelogon's Steadycam (or is it Joelogon's Poor Steadycam?)

As I Twittered yesterday, I completed my Poor Man's Steadycam (I'd bought the parts on Monday, for slightly over the advertised $14), without too much trouble. (Well, after I twigged to the fact that the cheap drillbit I was using was never going to be able to drill a hole through galvanized steel. It only took me 45 minutes and one battery to figure out I needed to switch bits.)

Here it is:

I may not be using the $14 Steadycam in the prescribed fashion.

Actually, here it is when held as intended:

My Macbook's iSight camera is really noisy.

Now, I haven't had the chance to really test it yet, so I haven't posted any video using it. Also, I don't own a dedicated video camera right now, and the rig looks pretty ridiculous with my Fujifilm Finepix F30 digital camera (which doesn't even weight half a pound) mounted on it.

It feels a little heavy to try to skate around with -- maybe I'll try building a version using PVC pipe, or try a PVC Fig Rig.

Tags: poor man's steadycam

You Can't Spell "Mullet" Without "Me"

So here's a followup to my mullet photo and associated blog entry -- a Flickr user found the photo I posted from 1992, and used it to better illustrate the multifaceted nature of the mullet in its wikipedia entry:

Let's see the Encyclopedia Britannica try to match this kind of credibility.

The edit was made with no prompting from me, but of course it has my full support, for however long it lasts.

While we're on the subject of goofy pictures of me (and really, when aren't we?), here's a photo of me at the 2008 Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race -- a reporter for the Baltimore Metromix took it and asked me, "If you had a kinetic sculpture, what would it be?"

I'm fortunate that this photo made it online, as I didn't manage to take any pictures of myself or my costume (such as it is).

The photo was taken in Patterson Park, just outside of the sand obstacle. I'm wearing a Nomex flightsuit that I picked up from a military surplus sale (I wore it one other time, on Halloween) -- it's a 34 short, and a little snug. I was worried that it was going to give me the dreaded front wedgie, but it was apparently okay.

It came with Air Force Academy insignia, which I left on. The cardboard grin is official race Spectator equipment; on the other backpack strap is an orange safety whistle. The dog tags are really geeky and I'll talk about them some other time. The red Running Man cap is AIM swag from April's Tech Cocktail DC 2 (I wore it because it was red -- no other endorsement is implied), and of course I have my skating wristguards on.

Tags: mullet, wikipedia, ksr2008, baltimore kinetic sculpture race

The Scalzi is a long, strange trip indeed

Okay, granted -- a lot of white guys with glasses and, um, thinning hair share a similar, almost generic, look.

Still, might not there be something to the assertion that sci-fi author John Scalzi bears more than a passing resemblance to the late Albert Hofmann, creator of LSD?

Left: Albert Hofmann. Right: John Scalzi (photo stolen from here)

The effect is more pronounced when you take the off-angle gaze and the rimless glasses into account.

Tags: john scalzi

I have 3 nipples...

...they're black, 1/2" in diameter, 10" long and made out of steel:

Three 1/2"x10" steel nipples from Home Depot.

Saturday was the 2008 Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race. I'm still exhausted from skating all over town trying to keep up.

I managed to fill most of a one-gigabyte memory card, though I haven't even begun to process them yet. Previewing the video, though, I see that I'm an even worse videographer than I am a photographer -- especially when I'm on skates.

It was because of seeing the crappy video that I finally decided to make a Poor Man's Steadycam. I stopped by Lowe's and Home Depot this afternoon to pick up the parts (oh, and Sports Authority for the 2.5lb weight).

It came out to about $18 -- I could have made it for the namesake "$14 Steadycam," except I was lazy and bought three 1/2" diameter, 10-inch black steel nipples, instead of buying a 30-inch pipe and getting it cut and threaded.

Anyway, I'd be making it now... except I just discovered that my cordless drill's battery is dead. So assembly will have to wait.

Thoughts From Under the Hair Dryer

Much more unflattering than my previous highlights photo.

Yesterday, I got my hair cut, which these days, more often than not, involves getting my highlights done. It's a concession to both vanity and aging -- grey hair shows up really clearly against a lustrous mane of black hair, such as my own. *hairflip*

Of course, for the past few days, my scalp has been really dry, flaky, and irritated. It's been like being at the center of my own personal snowstorm. So naturally, it was the perfect time to have harsh chemicals applied to my scalp.

(Does that mean I'll chestnut-highlighted dandruff?)

Anyway, I tried moblogging this from my phone, but it crashed midway through, so I gave up.

Some other time, I'll share my half-baked idea for a hair-based community, with tie-ins to point of sale terminals at hair salons. But right now I have a kickball game to go to.

Tags: hair

I bought 2 boxes of cereal. Then I bought a Wii.

After work today, I went and did a little shopping. Nothing special, just two boxes of cereal at Target (which was something of a face-saving device -- I went in with a vague idea that I needed something, but couldn't come up with anything).

Then, I went down the road to Best Buy, to pick up the DVD box set of Space: Above and Beyond. No problems there. Though I did spend way too much time ultimately deciding not to buy Dark Angel Season 1 for 20 bucks -- it was my way of being thrifty.

Congratulating myself on my self-control, I moved to the videogame console section, with the vague notion of buying a Wiimote so I could be ready to try some of the neat-o Wiimote hacks that Johnny Chung Lee keeps coming up with.

There were two Wii consoles. Just sitting there on the shelf. I was somewhat dumbfounded, but not so much that I didn't have the presence of mind to pick one up as I was making up my mind. (The other one went moments later.)

And there was a mind to be made up. I'm not that big of a gamer -- I can't let myself be, I know it would suck me in. But I ultimately talked myself into it -- if nothing else, I can always give it to my mom. (Hey, it could happen. And she's making headway -- we got her on Skype, so we videochat now.)

So I just stumbled into a Wii.

******************************
There's not too much else left to tell. With the perverse feeling that I was getting away with something, I went next door to the Harris-Teeter, where I saw someone speaking truth to power, in the form of a strategically-placed sign on a display of Miller Lite:

If Miller Lite is spring water, I'd hate to see the spring.

The spring water was actually at the bottom of the display, so I like to think it was someone editorializing about American light beers. (I drink my share of Miller Lite, so I'm allowed to say this.)

It also put me in a beer mood -- I picked up a variety 12-pack of Leinenkugels (Sunset Wheat, Berry Weiss, Honey Weiss, and Summer Shandy.)

************************************
I tried the Wii for a little bit, too -- it wasn't a shrinkwrapped phone book (in fact, it wasn't even shrinkwrapped), and everything was there (it's the Wii Sports bundle).

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the UI, the ease of setup (the Internet config was a breeze), and how effective the Wiimote is for navigating around the screen.

I know all the gamer-types are preoccupied today with the new GTA release. But I'm happy to be on my side of the curve.

Tags: nintendo wii

Tech Cocktail DC 2

Thursday night was Tech Cocktail DC 2 -- you can see Frank and Eric's writeup on the Tech Cocktail blog.

There are some good photos of the event on Flickr. Unfortunately, they're not mine. Mine are here: Tech Cocktail DC 2, 4/24/08.

The event was pretty packed. The bar was slammed -- for a while, it was tough to get a drink. (And those Revolution Health guys have sharp elbows.)

It was a little less crowded upstairs:

Looking down from the balcony.

There were lots of familiar faces -- AOL had an anchor sponsor position by the sign-in. Plus, there were a bunch of folks I'd seen at other recent DC tech events, like Social Matchbox DC and PodCampDC.

Tech Cocktail founders Frank Gruber and Eric Olson.

Left: JC and PJ.

Right: Lisa, Paul, JC.


Kerry Parkins and Will Kern from Mixx.

The Mixx crew was pretty prolific with the stickers -- Kerry stuck one on my back; she used me for branding, I used it as a conversation starter ("Hey, you've got a sticker on your back." "Why, yes, I know.").

Tom Osborne gives the evil eye. Or something.

Jen Consalvo, me, Charles Eklund.

Ross Karchner, Mark Drapeau, Jessie Newburn.

So it was another good event.

As with last time, a bunch of folks decamped for the Daily Grill, but me, I just took my swag (including another AIM running man baseball cap -- just what I needed) and limped home.

Tags: dc tech cocktail 2

Upcoming DC-ish Tech Event Things

I finally made it to Stacy's Coffee Parlor in Falls Church -- I'm currently sitting in a comfy chair and enjoying an iced coffee as I wait for my car at the place down the road:

Notice the three-finger reboot key combo.

From here, there are two DC-ish tech things going on tonight (of which I am aware):

* Web Content Mavens is looking at Web analytics this month. That happens at Cap City Brewery downtown at 7pm.

* Refresh DC has startup-focused session, also at 7pm, at Strategic Analysis, Inc. in Ballston.

I might have to flip a coin. This, of course, assumes I get my car back today. Though I'll most likely end up at Web Content Mavens.

Looking out a bit:

* At the post-PodCampDC happy hour, there were rumblings of a morning-ish coffee meetup on Friday at Panera in Tysons Corner (the one in the old Tower Records shopping center) -- Paul, any updates?

* Thursday night is the second TechCocktail DC at MC...MCX... 1223 in DC. I will have to remember to wear shoes.

* Wednesday, April 30 is the DC New Media Technology Meetup at Lotus Lounge. I've been one time before. There were three recruiters there -- you could tell, because they were the only ones wearing suits.

* Saturday, May 3 is the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race. I have a weekend left to repack my skate bearings and shake the cobwebs loose. (At this point, forget about conditioning -- it's all about survival and getting that first layer of blisters out of the way.)

If you're not going to Gold Cup and are interested in going, ping me.

... So Here's a Traffic Cone Wearing a Dust Mask

Following up on my April DC Blogger Meetup followup, here are a few more photos from the Metro ride back.

First, the titular photo -- a traffic cone, covering some broken tiles on the Gallery Place Metro platform. For unknown reasons, the traffic cone is wearing a dust mask:

The oddness of it reminded me of Oolong, the rabbit with a pancake on its head, so I made up an image macro version, which I'll probably never use:

"I have no idea what you're talking about... so here's a traffic cone wearing a dust mask."

Another shot from Gallery Place:

Lit pillars and red platform lights.

The larger version has nice curving lines above the platform, too.

There was some work being done at Metro Center:

Maintenance supplies stored on a Smarte Carte (borrowed from Reagan National?)

Through the fence.

On the Metro itself, there was a key sitting on the floor, and an orange on the ceiling:

At Clarendon Metro, one of the elevators was out of order, its innards revealed to the world:

Lastly, here's a colorful valve assembly in the window of the tanning place on Clarendon Boulevard -- I've passed it lots of times but never snapped it:

April Washington Blogger Meetup Report

I'm falling deeper and deeper behind on blog stuff -- here's a futile attempt to stem the bleeding, with a brief followup from the April Washington Blogger Meetup at RFD in DC.

Apparently, RFD has wifi, which was news to me (I'd just never bothered bringing my laptop). This changes everything. (Well, perhaps not everything.)

People in attendance included: Organizer Nikolas (Thought Torrent), Leon of Listen to Leon (in suit), Peter the Home Improvement Ninja, Jamy of Grateful Dating, Matthew of Suburban Destiny, Lola of Whatever Lola Wants, Mr. Throwing Hammers, Andrew of BlogPharm, Dave from There Goes Dave, Rachel (Newscat), John Croston, and blogger-to-be Summer. I didn't see the signup sheet, so I think that was it.

A few pictures (full photoset here):

Background: Leon (in suit), Peter, Jamy. Foreground: Matthew and Lola.

Organizer Nick and blogger-to-be Summer.

Hammer and Leon.

John and Lola.

Of course, there was beer.

Beer. Lots of beer.

I got a couple of moderately interesting photos from the Metro trip back, but I'll get to that another time. Or not.

Tags: dc blogger meetup

Social Roundup: Getting Lucky at a Fark Party and More

Looking back, I had a pretty active latter half of the week.

Saturday was a DC-ish Fark party, at Carpool in Ballston. I am happy to say that I got lucky and scored in a big way, snagging a prime, um, parking space in the Carpool parking lot.

In all my years down here, I think that's the first time that's happened.

It was a good meet; we had a spot at the bar, and it was busy but not too crowded. It was a smaller meet, but there were some new folks.

It was not a sausagefest.

Also:

I'm not sure what Chris and Jess are trying to do here, but whatever it is, you're doing it wrong.

It started out pretty warm, but then it got cold. I don't remember when I left, but I'm pretty sure no one got stuck with a huge bill this time.

Friday, I met up with the Gel-Man, who was in town for some training:

Obligatory Metro shot. I didn't bring my camera, so had to settle for the cameraphone.

We met at Mackey's, then moved to Lucky Bar for a bit. I guess I just can't hang with the youngsters any more, since we took off as it was starting to pick up. (Then again, I had been drinking -- moderately -- since 5pm.)

On previous trips, I hadn't noticed the strong odor of empanadas permeating the bar from Julia's next door. It was slightly irritating, since I'd just eaten at Mackey's and wasn't at all hungry.

There was also an interesting-looking building demolition nearby -- K or L street, around 17th. It made me wish again that I'd brought my camera:

Waterfall effect.

Pile of scrap metal debris.

Passing it again at night, there was an interesting scene with the work site lights going through mist from the rain and spray from a hose, but that picture didn't come out.

Thursday was all over the place. I got out of work about 3:30pm and needed to grab a bite and kill some time before a Social Media Club DC event in Falls Church, so I stopped by Clare and Don's Beach Shack.

I'd planned on eating, then moving to Stacy's Coffee Parlor to mess around online (I haven't been yet, but it's next to the CD Cellar), but then David told me that the Beach Shack has wi-fi. And the signal is perfectly fine from the patio seating. And it was about 70 degrees out. Score.

I anticipate I'll be there more often. Unlike some others I could mention.

The Social Media Club DC event was just down the road at Viget. Here's Aaron streaming video of audience comments with his Mac's iSight:

After the discussion, I hung out for a bit, then went back to the Beach Shack, since I'd convinced the Captain to come out. Here, he shares a big Guinness with Rebecca:

Guinness, now served in handy book form.

After that, it was off to the tail-end of a pre-season kickball happy hour at Carpool back in Herndon:

This season, we're trying out the Fairfax Athletics league instead of WAKA, so we'll see how that goes.

Wednesday was the Washington Psychotronic Film Society's showing of Kentucky Fried Movie at its new location at the (new) Old Arlington Grill restaurant at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse. It's a little space just off (and before) the ticket booth.

I got there about quarter to 9, which means I missed a few of the opening sketches, but arrived just in time for Catholic High School Girls in Trouble. Here's a cameraphone photo I snuck:

If you must, Metacafe has the Catholic High School Girls in Trouble clip [NSFW]

The movie ended about 10pm, so I decided to head over to Galaxy Hut. Driving down Clarendon Boulevard, I saw a striking young woman wearing a very trendy black and white trench coat-ish jacket, and I said, "Hey, this looks like someone I'd like to know." But it was just Jenny. I yelled at her through the car window to meet me at the Hut for a drink. (I'm persuasive that way, and the fact that it's on the way home doesn't hurt.)

The patio is also open for the season, and the Patio Clown is waiting for you:

I also hadn't realized that the Hut acquired the silo from Dr. Dremos -- it's at the end of the patio. That makes me happy -- I like the silo.

Anyway, that was last week. I still have to talk about Hirshhorn After Hours, the Mike Doughty show and a few other things. But that will have to wait.

Tags: clare and don's, beach shack, galaxy hut, old arlington grill, washington psychotronic film society

The Raveonettes at the Black Cat, and a Look at Things That Are Upcoming

Saturday night, I went to see the Raveonettes at the Black Cat. I'd originally tried to make a bigger group outing out of it, but that didn't work out. Especially since the show sold out, and I'd selfishly and short-sightedly only gotten two tickets (and I'd only bought them Saturday afternoon, succumbing to nervousness and something resembling "experience.")

Actually, having that second ticket caused me some measure of consternation; it was simultaneously too much and not enough. Fortunately, Ryan ended up accompanying me, so I didn't end up having to scalp it (which had been a possibility at one point).

After some really bad luck parking, we finally made it inside while the opener was still playing. (Black Acid -- don't know much about them; not bad, though they seemed to be channeling a progression of styles.)

We settled in next to the sound board, where Ryan attempted to put the whammy on the sound guy, by gazing intently on a random section of the board until the sound guy adjusted it:

"My mind to your mind... your thoughts to my thoughts."

Then, the Raveonettes came on -- they split between playing previous hits and stuff off the new album (which I bought at the show). They were pretty tight and sounded fine.

I broke away at one point to try to get some photos -- unlike prior attempts, I only came away with one moderately usable pic:

Sharin Foo

After the show, we headed back to meet up with some folks in Arlington, but by the time we got back, things had pretty much broken up for the night.

Oh, and after some discussion and a little research, I've come to realize that I'd had a mistaken notion of what constituted shoegaze music. I apologize for the (notional) inconvenience.

---

In other news, I had planned on replacing the bathtub faucet handles and spout this weekend -- bought the hardware, the tools and the plumbers grease and all -- but chickened out/got lazy/procrastinated my out of it. I'll get around to it eventually -- originally, I was just going to replace the leaky valve stems, but the hardware is really grody, so I figured it'd be worth it to just change everything. (Sure, I want to convert the master bath to a corner shower unit eventually, but one thing at a time.)

Things That Are Upcoming: Let's see -- Monday is Social Matchbox DC, which is right down the street from where I'm contracting in McLean, so I'll be there.

I haven't seen the cherry blossoms in a few years -- to be honest, it's looking like I'll skip it again this year -- we'll see what the weather and my schedule looks like mid-week.

Friday is Hirshhorn After Hours -- I haven't been to one yet, but it's on my list of stuff to do, especially since the Hirshhorn is my favorite museum.

Saturday, Mike Doughty plays at the 9:30 Club.

Looking out a little further -- PodCampDC is the weekend of April 18th.

The Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race is May 3rd, and the following weekend is SkateDC. Which means I should probably dust off the skates now. (The "getting back in shape" bit of it is optional, though recommended.)

I also registered for June 13th's BlogPotomac. It's only $75 and it's at the State Theatre -- if nothing else, it gives me an excuse to visit the Beach Shack.

The days, they may drag, but the weeks and months just fly on by, don't they?

Tags: raveonettes

Mullet Gone Mild on Spring Break, 1992

You think I am kidding about the mullet. Think again:

I wore contacts back then. The better to wear Wayfarers and show off the buzzed sides.

I was going through a box of old stuff when I found a bunch of my photos from the 90s.

A lot of the prints were stuck together. (Time and pressure, people.)

I'm in a more nostalgic mood than normal -- my birthday is coming up, as well as my 15-year college reunion next month. (I don't know if I'm going to go.)

It's strange to think about, since I feel pretty much like I did when I was 25. 15, even. Yet, I'm going to be 36.

If my high school classmates are any indication, I'm way behind the curve -- I should be popping out kids like a Pez dispenser by now.

Anyway, since it's approximately spring break now, I thought I'd scan and post some of my pics from Spring Break, 1992.

It was a fairly low-key affair -- more of a retreat, actually. That's what happens when two of your good friends in college are evangelical Christians. We ended up driving down to share a house with some other good, clean-cut moral types in Fripp Island, South Carolina.

After I got a fresh mullet touch-up at the campus barber shop, we got off to an even more inauspicious start, going the wrong direction from campus and making an unplanned stop at the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant:

Me, Mike, Geoff and Jeff, in the time before GPS and Mapquest.

Here is probably my favorite picture of all time (even though I'm not in it). To show just how undebauched things were, I think this is the only beer we encountered that entire trip:

"Beer for City Council."

There was wackiness, though, in the form of a plastic Slinky:

This is about as wild as things got.

There were also assorted side trips to the waterfront:

As well as a trip to a wetlands nature preserve-y type thing with a boardwalk:

Leaping was the fashion of the time.

This is my other favorite picture -- this trip was the first fling in my self-timer love affair:

I still have the windbreaker and boots.

Anyway, I don't remember much else about the trip. I have no idea what else we did, other than it was disgustingly wholesome and disappointingly chaste. (Which is a polite way of saying I didn't get laid, though I wouldn't be surprised if that applied to the entire island. Including the deer.)

So I probably wouldn't consider it "fun" in the jaded now. But it was something to do.

Tags: spring break 1992, fripp island

The White Van Speaker Scam Blows Into Reston

I was driving back from lunch and stopped at a red light on Reston Parkway, when I heard a loud conversation coming from behind me.

A guy in a white van in the left lane was talking to the driver of the car behind me. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but when the van rolled up to me and the passenger motioned to me, I figured they were asking for directions.

I rolled down my window and heard:

"Hey, you want a set of speakers? For your house?"

This, of course, is straight from the script of the White Van Speaker Scam. (If you haven't heard about it, it's pretty interesting to see how it works. The mechanism relies on people's greed for a bargain, as well as the desire to help someone stick it to The Man. See also.)

I just shook my head no and rolled up the window. I should have taken a picture of the guys, but I only got a crappy and useless cellphone photo of the back of the van:

They moved turned in to the North Point Shopping Plaza, presumably in search of another sucker.

Tags: white van speakers, scams

Om Nom Nom Nom. Waka Waka Waka.

My curiosity was piqued by this Popurls item: "Google Naps [photo]" -- it points to a Reuters photo gallery with this picture of a nap pod at Google HQ:

The Google logo is just a stuck-on color printout.

Naturally, it deserved an om nom nom nom treatment:

I would be surprised if the "EnergyPod" hadn't gotten the om nom nom nom treatment somewhere before.

Though after talking to Corey, I determined that a Pac-Man treatment was also in order:

One thing that was surprisingly troubling for me:

How do you spell the Pac-Man eating noise?

"Wocka Wocka Wocka" is clearly the realm of Fozzie the Bear. So then it's a tossup between "Wakka Wakka Wakka" and "Waka Waka Waka."

Judging by Google search results, "Waka Waka Waka" seems to predominate, so I went with that (even though I associate "Waka" with WAKA).

Tags: pac-man, om nom nom nom

Shamrockfest: Striped Socks, Sanitizer, and Questionable Outfits

I went to Shamrockfest on Saturday, thanks to some comped VIP passes arranged by their PR person for blogger outreach purposes. (That's a full disclosure, but it's also a bit of crowing.)

You can see my full set of pics here: Shamrockfest 2008.

Despite earlier threats of rain, it turned out to be a really nice day. Almost perfect, in fact, for a festival: cool, still, and clear, with just enough clouds to keep the sun at bay.

We got to the stadium around 1:30pm -- got really good street parking, too. Getting inside was no hassle (well, I had to turn out my pockets and scarf down my Golean Roll bar -- no outside food).

There were two VIP areas -- one by the entrance, and another all the way over by the DJ stage, at the far end. The near one was packed pretty solid:

Momentary jam-up to get into VIP. The beer lines were more substantial.

So we went to get some beers (much-needed, to loosen up my shutter-finger) amongst the riffraff:

Lon pulls Michelle and Dennis's strings.

Last year, I think I stayed in the VIP section the whole time and missed all the bands I'd said I'd wanted to see. I didn't want to do that again, so we wandered around, doing the occasional good deed:

As you might recall, last year was all about the hats. This year, was all about t-shirts and other questionable outfits:

Left: Not sure what KISS Army boots have to do with St. Paddy's Day. Center: Pants! Right: Lets go back to the pants.

Other Things:

* The far VIP area was kind of a haul -- you had to walk under the road bridge, but the beer lines were practically non-existent. (I stayed with Bass.) Recommended for you double-fisters.

* Two different groups of helicopters made a few passes -- in preparation for the air strike, I guess. (The photos are basically specks with rotors if you really want to see.)

* Some of the stages were pretty close together. I was wondering why a band wearing traditional dress and instruments was covering 'Sweet Child o' Mine', until I realized it was from the other stage.

* I forgot to look for a TV to watch the ACC tournament. Probably for the best, from my perspective.

* After making a pit stop in one of the fancy bathroom trailers with the running water, I grabbed a squirt of what I thought was hand sanitizer as I headed out the door.

It wasn't hand sanitizer -- it was soap. By the time I figured it out, there was a bit of a line, so I had to hunt around for a paper towel or some unwary person's t-shirt.

Intermission -- Workers at work: