The Little Big Post

Little Big Planet is the latest gaming craze, this time on the Playstation 3. The game has a really modest approach to gaming and focuses on creating and sharing your own levels with other gamers online. You can customize everything by adding your own photos, objects, background elements and the like. What’s really refreshing is that the online community with game is all about creating, sharing and having fun, rather than the goal of most games (which are maim, shoot and/or relentlessly ridicule). If you have a PS3 I strongly recommend picking it up. And if you don’t have one, and where on the fence then maybe this is one of the games that will make the purchase worthwhile. Sarah loves it, which pretty much is the green gaming light (so far Tetris and the Lego games are the only ones to gain the coveted seal of approval.

The Doner Time Post

Last night I went to hang out with Ali and Bob out in Leesburg for the evening. A local German restaurant called Hamburg Döner was having an Oktoberfest celebration so Bob and I wandered over to check it out. The place was teeming with people chowing down on German grub and drinking from their extensive collection of import brews. There where people wandering around in full lederhosen getups and a couple of St. Paulie Girl looking ladies, which I had a hard time determining if they worked for the place, or where just German enthusiasts. There was a polka band playing in the back and tents setup outside. Bob grabbed us some gigantor beer steins loaded with tasty goodness…a full liter to be exact. We got to keep the steins too which is cool, as neither of us could manage a refill on the monster. The things are so big it’s actually hard to drink out of them. Bob kept splashing himself in the face every time he set his down, and I swear my wrist popped out of its socket trying to tip that thing for a sip. Good times, lots of fun and a wonderful atmosphere on a Sunday evening.

The Save the Whales Post

On Sunday I headed down to the Mall with Eric, just to wander and enjoy the nice weather. It’s nice being back in DC and having an appreciation for how much ‘stuff’ goes on here. We walked the length of the mall and saw some pretty interesting things. The Marine Corps Marathon was finishing up right when we got there so we got to see people jaunting across the finish line while the onlookers cheered and applauded them. 26 miles…yikes. Well done guys. A little bit further down we ran into Mr. Can Head, posing by some landmarks in his trademark bin-on-head outfit. Don’t ask me why, here’s his myspace. I went over and asked him why he had a bucket on his head and he gave me his card and disappeared. Strange. Very strange.

The best part on our walk of seeming randomness was the Save the Whales rally going on in front of the Capitol Building*. Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere was there giving a press conference about the importance of whale conservation and whaling regulation. After she finished guys from the Whaleman Foundation staked out an area of the lawn and positioned people in the shape of a giant whale. They needed extra people and where giving out free t-shirts, so Eric and I joined in and became part of the whale's tail. A large cherry picker across the street with photographers took pictures…which I am yet to find on the net yet (here’s one they did elsewhere). Afterward we where going to stop for a picture with Hayden, but a reporter grabbed her for an interview that my bladder just couldn’t wait for (I had downed a large bottle of water on the metro and had spent the last hour laying on the grass as part of a whale butt), so we bailed and I sprinted for the Smithsonian bathrooms. If you’d like more info on the foundation you can find it here. While I personally agree that whaling and polluted ecosystems are destructive and need attention, I find it hard to focus in the issue at the expense of other travesties that are happening across the globe. That said I support the movement and think it’s great that people want to do something about it, I mean who wants to actually harm whales??

* I say seeming because we where actually looking for it.

The Maryland Theater Post

Saturday the family, Sarah and I headed into Maryland to American University’s Greenburg Theatre. Stefan’s girlfriend Courtney is headlining the current production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. The show centers around naive Millie Dillmount (Courtney) moving to the hustle and bustle of 1920’s New York city with nothing but a dream in her pocket. She quickly finds that life in the big city is not all its cracked up to be and an aspiring actress has her work cut out for her. Along the way there are evil fake-Asians, white slavery hostels, stints in speakeasies and hanging off of rooftops. I am not big into going to theater, but I really enjoyed it. It was funny, catchy and all around a lot of fun. Courtney did a phenomenal job, as did the rest of the cast. It’s a shame Stefan isn’t back to see the show while it runs, but the family wanted to be there on his behalf for her, and we where all proud and very impressed.

The Obama Rally Post

Yesterday Sarah took off work early to pick me up and take me out to Leesburg for an Obama rally. We piled into the van with Patti and Jacob and headed off down the Greenway along with 10,000 other vehicles who all has the same hopes of seeing Obama speak. Traffic was INSANE and considering how much time we left in advance I was amazed to see how off the mark we where. It took us about 2 hours to travel a distance that should have taken 25 minutes. Had I know the rally was on I would have spent the day down with Ali and Bob who live within walking distance of the park where the rally was being held. Oh well. We made it there and marched down the street at a quick clip to the park and managed to shuffle through the crowd to the top of a hill overlooking the rally. There where so many people there it was ridiculous, elbows and arms where in people’s faces, children where getting trodden on, and moving was all but impossible. It’s amazing how pushy and rude people can be at these sorts of events when they think they might catch a glimpse of celebrity. Everyone was vying for a view, and some seemed to want to get onto the stage with the amount of elbows they where throwing. Negativity aside I am really glad I got to go and see him speak before the election in two weeks. I hope to say I was there at something historical when he becomes the next president but I don’t want to jinx anything yet. I was there. (albeit at a good distance). I can’t imagine what DC will be like the day the new chief is sworn in…

I think the best part about the whole rally though was the aftermath. There where McCain supporters who posted up on the opposite side of the street shouting things like “Don’t’ Vote for A Terrorist!” and various ramblings about how they don’t want to be taxed more (I really wish they would read the plan and see that's just crap…but whatever they seemed happy). The worst of it though where a group of children that had duct tape over their mouths and hand-painted signs that said “Aren’t you glad your mother chose life?” which I thought was ridiculous. I felt bad for the kids if anything, standing their in the cold while Mom and Dad tossed jibes back and forth with the exiting mob from the rally. Said mob was rather entertaining walking down the Leesburg streets. Everyone was chanting OBAMA! OBAMA! And booing at any McCain signs people has on their lawns. Crowd control was rough when the motorcade came and went with people lingering the streets and in many cases wandering aimlessly in the middle of intersections. All said and done it was quite the experience to say the least, and well worth getting to be a part of even if I can’t vote for the guy.

The Chicken Tika Post

Over the past two years I have mainly been eating two types of food. Those that are microwavable and those that begin with 'Mc'. Sufficed to say I am a pretty shitty cook, or at least a very out of practice one. Since being back Mum has taken it upon herself to include me in the preparation of a few meals that she things would be things I could take away and cook myself in the future. Last week we made Tuna Cakes or as I like to call them Poor Man’s Crab Cakes, which where tasty and really easy. And this past weekend I cooked one of my favorite dishes; Chicken Tika Marsala with thick Naan Bread. It was a lot of work, particularly the bread, but after a good few hours in the kitchen, when it was time to eat, everyone seemed to agree that it worked out well. I took a snappy to prove my culinary prowess, though I promise it tasted better than it looked. Next week’s menu: 13-fish Bouillabaisse and Beef Wellington!Also pictured: Lankshark Lager. Now available in Virginia. Woo hoo!

The President Palin Post

If anything you shouldn’t vote for McCain solely on the off chance that he cops it and THIS happens. Hilarious little flash site that gets updated every day up to the election. Poke around the office and see for yourself.

The Parking Lot Poser Post

When you leave the dentist you expect to have a sore mouth and new appreciation for the your newly reacquainted gaps between your teeth. You don’t generally expect to walk into a bizarre photo shoot featuring a BMW and a model in a Halloween costume. On Tuesday I had a cleaning over at my new dentists office (that reminds me, I need to call them today), and was experiencing the usual oral unpleasantness that one would expect when I was walking to my car afterwards, when I noticed a small crowd of people right by the Celica. I look over and there are 3 or four photographers taking snappys of a heavily chromed out BMW in the parking lot by the Bank. In said car was a chick modeling the thing, so I assumed it was for a local car dealership or something along those lines. Then she got out of the car and started posing on the hood, wearing what can best be described as a skanky, racer-chick outfit (or better described as: awesome) She posed some more then got back in the car for some more shots, at which point I figured I should probably stop rubbernecking and get home. Random yes. But better than getting a lollypop*.

*I know that's dentists not doctors, but....shaddup.

The Religulous Post

Religulous is a biting, no holds barred stab at organized religion from Bill Maher. It’s Borat without the moustache and silly accent, mixed in with a Moore-style documentary. Most people won’t care for it, and it will do particularly poorly in the box office when there is a talking Chihuahua movie out- that said, I wish it all the best. Now I must admit I get the same guilty pleasure watching religion getting torn a new one, but I just don’t really like Bill Maher. He has a huge unfair advantage in these debates with people simply because he can edit and cut things to make him look like the victor. That….and the fact that he is right and a lot of these people are really rather disturbingly out of touch with reality. He knows his stuff. He makes good points and his stabs are cynical and snidey enough to make anyone laugh, but somehow I just can shake the notion that this guy is a real ass. If you can put up with his pretentiousness though, the movie is hilarious, insightful and dishes up a lot of quotable debate fodder the next time the topic comes up. Hell, even if you are devout, you should see it so you have some good comebacks and something to dole out on ‘the infidels’ in your lives.

The film says nothing that people don’t say about other religions when they attempt to undermine or belittle the absurdity of what ‘they’ believe, but the real joy in this movie is that it gives everyone a fair share under the spotlight of shame. Some of the character’s Maher meets and interviews are priceless and need to be seen to believed. My main regret is that I never went to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando when I was there. I lived just under half a mile way from the Christian Theme park and never went. After seeing the sheer hilarity that its fiberglass walls contain I really wish I had made the pilgrimage.

My only real beef with the movie besides it’s host is the ending. Considering his movie is about the absurdity of organized religion I find the level of preachyness that the film ends on to be a tad unnecessary. Yeah it’s a problem, and yeah people who are not of faith are not getting a fair shake. But “Grow up or die!” is not the way I’d choose to phrase that particular point.

The Old Gang Post

When I moved away I knew I was leaving behind a lot of friends and that things wouldn’t ever really be the same when I came back to visit. When it became evident that I was coming home I was excited for everything to be the way it was before I left. Unfortunately that is not the case, what with graduations, jobs and moving taking place in everyone’s lives, not just my own. While I understand this it is sad to think that there probably wont be another chill session in Kevin’s basement, or meeting for brews up at the Auld Shebeen. That said however I was really pleased to hang out with a few of my friends this past weekend out in Arlington (where all the cool kids live these days). Kevin and Alex are rooming together in Ballston, so Sarah and Jevan and I headed out to hang with them for a night, along with Nico and a group their friends who had a birthday amongst them. It was great just to sit around with a DVD on, a case of crappy beers and just shoot the shit with my old friends. Everyone seems so grown up now, (and by that I mean everyone has a collar). It’s great to see everyone making headway in their own life-directions too, but getting to chill with the good-old-boys definitely wins out As my favorite.

On Saturday I headed back out to Arlington to hang with Eric and Coy at THE CITADEL (Eric’s Arlington Condo- always in caps*). We chilled for a bit and did some my of my favorite; reminiscing with the TV on, before heading downtown to Lucky Bar- a pretty cool Welsh Bar in DuPont. We met up with a friend of Coy’s (Chelsea) who was particularly cool, and spent most of the night standing about making fun of ourselves. I ended up crashing at Eric’s and making the drive back in the morning. * Please note that Eric does not necessarily endorse the naming of his condo THE CITADEL…which is why it shalt be named thusly.

The Gym Member Post

One thing that this move has really messed with is my gym routine. Now I am far from a gym-rat, but Tony and Amanda and I have had a pretty good routine going for the last few months, and I was definitely noticing it’s absence. Sarah was kind enough to spot me for the first month at Sport and Health, which is the gym she goes too, and the one I was a member of before leaving. Sam is also a member so when I don’t go with Sarah (which is often because she goes ridiculously early most days) then I have some sisterly workouts with Sam. How anyone can make themselves get up at 5:00 to drive 20 min to a boxing class I don’t know. But maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can barely get 3 good pull ups before falling dead on the floor? Maybe. I am enjoying getting back into the swing of causal workouts though. Hopefully I’ll start seeing some results and maybe even get to that 4th pull-up on of these days.

The Footballicious Post

Football is on and this season I am enjoying it a lot more than I have in the past. Last week I stopped by Madison with the family to watch Jake’s Freshman game. The score didn’t exactly go the way we would have like (at all) but it was nice to spend time with everyone cheering on the little brother. Odd to be back at Madison though after…what is it now… six odd years. The place is much nicer now and seems more established and well maintained. Gone are the days of hallways to nothingness and exposed ceiling insulation. Sniffle.

Sunday is always Redskins-Day at the house now. We all gather to watch the game, have a few beers and cheer on the skins. It’s really nice, and a great way to get into the game again. I ran out and bought a Portis jersey and have taken it upon myself to dance around like an idiot pimping my shirt and taking all the credit for anything he accomplishes in a game. It’s cool, cus he does the same thing whenever I do something awesome. Which is ALL THE TIME.

The Fiesta Post

Sarah and I headed out to Fairfax a the weekend before last for Heather’s Mexican Fiesta party. The theme was as expected, of Hispanic origins, and required festive attire to attend. Fortunately for me Stefan brought back a ridiculously large sombrero from his trip to Mexico with Courtney last summer so I was spoken for. Sarah fashioned a fantastic piñata handbag that was perfect. There where an awful lot of fake mustaches (who new Mexico was so hairy?) and an assortment of over sized hats going around Heather’s townhouse. Her roommates who I’d never met seemed like fun people, and overall the crowd was a lot of fun. Jamie (girl) was there with Kayvan too which was cool, as I hadn’t seen them since my going away party two years back. They where relaxing and enjoying the week before they headed down to Key West to get married (congratulations insistently Mr. and Mrs. Romarzis!) It was nice to see Heather again, and everyone seemed to have a great time. A real piñata made an appearance, but was quickly swatted down on the 2nd batter’s attempt. The scary thing was though that after it fell down, it didn’t break open, so out of nowhere a girl yelled “I got it!” and pounced on it with a knife. She hacked it up and the candy started flowing. Now I am all for a little battery and piñata abuse but where the hell did the knife-ninja come from!? Needless to say we let her get first crack at the goodies.Pictured: Sarah stole my hat. Not pictured: awesome pinata purse

The Portfolio Post

A big part of getting a job for us graphic designer types is to have a solid online portfolio. In my current job search I am no exception and have been working this past week on getting an assemblage of samples up for prospective clients to take a look at. Colorvision has been instrumental in getting some big names and fun projects under my belt, and Bruce has been helping me out with getting some examples of my work on a site. Unfortunately there is a fair bit that I can’t put up due to the nature of some of the projects we where working on, but I am pleased with what’s on offer and think as a whole, the portfolio does a good job of showcasing what I am capable of in graphical capacity.

You can check it out over at guyfolio.com using the password JG0567U. Remember that it’s case sensitive.

The Opening Statement Post

What is this? And who am I? Not that either of those questions where on your mind, but here are the answers anyway: This is a blog, and I am Jamie. Two years back I moved to Orlando (proof) and now I am back here in northern Virginia slash DC metropolitan area. During my absence I got up to a fair bit and found blogging to be a great way to keep people who missed me in the know. Now that I’m back I plan on continuing the tradition for those I left behind in Florida, as well as the fact that I seem to really enjoy the habit of posting about my daily goings-on. There is no real rhyme nor reason as to what merits a post, but I’m pretty consistent at keeping my life on display in small (poorly spelled) entries. You’ll probably see I like to review a lot of things, particularly movies and pass judgment when I really have no authority to do so. Don’t let it bother you, and if it does, chime in and comment on my ramblings. I’m always open to suggestions and love to hear from people either they like the blog or not. So that’s that really. I’ve been back almost two weeks now and have a fair bit to catch up on so best get to it. Thanks for stopping to see what’s here. I hope you’ll do so again in the future.
Sincerely,
-Jamie