Tom's Corn Maze!

 

The gang heads to Tom's Corn Maze in Germantown, Ohio. My team won! Afterward there was a glow in the dark pumpkin launch! So much fun it looks like we're going to another corn maze next week. This time the largest in Indiana.

The Big Ugly

Not long ago Man vs Food came to Indianapolis to face the Big Ugly Burger at local establishment Bubs Burgers. I had to give it a shot. I went with some friends, most notably Ryan who had defeated a single burger before and was return to face down the two burger challenge.

I only went for a single burger and here's why: it's a full pound of beef after cooking! I did manage to finish, it but next to Ryan's accomplishment, it looked like I did nothing.

All told I got a little picture of myself put on the wall somewhere featuring the worst hair I've ever had. Meanwhile Ryan got a full 8 by 10 looking like a champion

Jay Oh Anna

As you can see my good friend Joanna is now contributing to the blog. She’s 100 proof grain awesome. You won’t be able to tell from her 2nd grade postings but she’s one of the smartest people I know.

That said, her old Journal is full of the brilliantly weird musings of an increasingly deranged mind. You’re going to love this.

Joanna has influenced this blog several times before. Check it: I’ve been making awesome wallpapers for her LG Dare. She also took almost all the pictures for Without Troy which resultedwith her Arsty Pics. She took the classic logs for Random Action. (you’ll note the similarity between these and the new journals) Finally she showed up in my holga sets.

Missed A Monday

It’s happened a few times before so it shouldn’t surprise you, but I missed a post yesterday. You’ll get it in little bit along with a third post today to catch up. As a bonus you get to hear why I didn’t post.

I was asked by my good friend Mia Claxton to design a logo for her. I considered it a privilege. Her beautiful middle name is Rose and I allowed that to be my primary inspiration. Be sure to check out her design blog.

I also had some ups and downs in my job search. Bad news: Best Buy rejected me because I failed their psych evaluation. These are the people who ask you if "It is maddening when the court lets guilty criminals go free." So I'm not terribly surprised I lost out. How does being a normal rational mind pass an irrational psych analysis? Luck? Lying? I don't know. The good news: My ever-amazing friend Nic Belmonte has found me a smattering of freelance work. Few people have come through for me like Nic has.

Mia's Macaroni

My good friend Mia shared a delicious Macaroni and Broccoli Dish with me. In addition to being an excellent cook is she is burgeoning interior designer. You can see her growing portfolio of student work here on her blog.

Daring Joanna

As the best best friend a person can have, I’ve been making wallpapers for Joanna’s LG Dare phone. I’ve been doing this for a long time now. Some are just resizes of pictures, and some I colored. The art is stolen from Kate Beaton, Natalie Dee, Nedroid, Dinosaur Comics, Daisy Owl, Homestar Runner, Penny Arcade, 8-Bit, Threadless, and FFFound.

Why yes, I am the best friend anyone can have. It’s true.

Santa Monica Pier part 3

I went with Froggy, his sister, and her friend to the Santa Monica Pier yesterday. Yes that makes it the third time I've been there. It's a favorite spot for me. This time we rode the Ferris Wheel! It was surprisingly cold at the top. Enjoy the pics. Video available soon.



[edit: now with video]

More July 4th Fun

For the record this was the view of the peak before we climbed. Imposing, no?

I produced a video of the fireworks as seen from the peak. The music makes the shaky cam palpable.

Looking at explosions in the distance via a handheld camera looks just like Cloverfield.

4th of July!

We climbed Cahuenga Peak and then, at an altitude of 1,821 feet, watched dozens of fireworks shows from around the city. It was so beautiful up there. Truly the most fantastic view I've seen since the Grand Canyon. What a great way to spend Independence Day.

The climb up was long and arduous, with many stops as my legs couldn't go on. That said, we made it up and I didn't throw up any of the chili I made for dinner. Thank god for the full moon because we would never have been able to see on the way down. Too bad it was still really freakin' dark. I tripped and fell a few times resulting in a wicked cut. Yes I bled for America.

If you are brave enough to look, here is the picture of the wound. SCARY.

Random Action Logs

I promised these would be on the dvd for Random Action but I never delivered. The only person who really wanted to see them was Joanna. At the time this was considered okay. If only one person cares about it then we don't need to care. The problem is that it's Joanna. I'm here to rectify the problem now.

The first part of those were written on based on my reactions to takes. They were drawn on by her own inspiration. The last part is our notes for the first fight. It's so hard to write down fight choreography.

Graduation Day

That's it. I graduated from Butler University today. Here's some pictures from the night. I'm calling it a night. Thanks for everyone for helping me get this far.

Ephemera pt 6 - May All Of Your Dreams Come True

Part six of the ephemera tour takes us to the dark part of my history.... Middle School.

I mentioned before that Middle School is the weirdest time any person can have. Every move you make is a mistake. For instance, I started wearing Hawaiian shirts on a regular basis. It is also a time for first kisses and other confusing moments. The above picture is the zenith of those moments for me.
I'm the one in the big white jacket in the center. I am flanked by mutually dateless friends Alex and Josh. Did we know how to rock the 8th grade dance or what? In regards to my suit, I had just played Big Jule in Guy's and Dolls and thought wearing a zoot suit would be killer. Note that I am not wearing a zoot suit. The suit shop ordered the wrong thing and I ended up looking like a Beatle/bellhop for the night. Note that the little connector button at the neck is a Yin Yang. Oh yes.
PS. I did get my first kiss wearing that outfit. Thankfully not with Alex or Josh. (no offense guys)

Pendleton Correctional Facility

I was recently asked by a friend of mine who is doing a story for NUVO to go with her to take pictures during an interview with an inmate at Pendleton Correctional Facility. I don't want to reveal a lot of details here, but I will post some of the pictures I took.

I'll link to the article once it has been published.

Without Troy - The Premiere

We did it. Last night was the premiere of the movie. I'm not lying (I'm not even exaggerating) when I say it was the greatest night of my life. Thanks to everyone who made it happen. Here just check out the slide show:

Random Action - Fight Choreography

Man, I've been sitting on this for over a year now. It was one of the proposed special features for the Random Action DVD. I never got it done, but now here it is. Pictures of us choreographing the first fight in episode five and a little of the last fight.

I've got video of this, but it's not as fun to watch.

Without Troy - Audio Mix

Nic Belmonte has been mixing the movie for us and has really been doing a bang up job. The whole thing will be done soon. I can't believe it.

Goliathon!

For this one time I'm gonna break my personal rule of never linking to myspace. Go check out GOLIATHON now. The guys played an amazing all-rock-non-stop set at the annual Wish Upon a Rockstar benefit concert. My buddy Colby Holmes is in the band (he's the blonde bassist) but even without the ties I was seriously impressed. If you're in the Indianapolis area you have got to see one of their shows. Be careful though, one of my friend's told me they totally kicked in her groupy genes. If genetics leads you to wanting to sleep with rock stars too then you could do a lot worse than Goliathon.

Without Troy Week 8

That's a wrap! We got the group back together for one last night of shooting and brought a community with us. About fifty friends, family, and helpful acquaintances joined us to be extras in a huge scene. Check out the pictures to see what I'm talking about.

My uncle played the priest and my mom and aunt joined the crowd too. Afterward a few friends gathered at Tom, Austin, and myself's apartment for champaign and carrot cake. All and all a fantastic way to end shooting.

Ultimate Wii Championship

I mentioned a while back that I guest starred in a new sketch from Random Acts. It was a big relief to act instead of direct. Well they finished the sketch and here it is.

I tried to channel Kurt Angle as best I could. Stealing his Intensity Integrity and Intelligence line was a joke on set. I guess I should know by now that when I do something stupid in front of a camera it's gonna be on the internet.

There's some pictures from the shoot.

Without Troy - Seven Weeks

"Thats a wrap on primary photography for Without Troy." It was with little fanfare that I uttered those words in the freezing cold Safeway parking lot. I think after spending most of the weekend moving at double speed to get everything done and get everyone back inside for hot cocoa, those words didn't hold much weight.

Didn't Joanna do a great job with those pictures? She's gotten so much better since we started this project. It's kind of disappointing that there won't be more days on set for her to take pictures on. Did you take a look at her artsy post? Joanna has become my unofficial co-blogger at this point.

So we've officially entered post production. Damn. I'm going to be spending way more time in the edit bays. I'll be trying to knock out rough edits soon. We'll also be knocking out some music tracks with our musicians. I've already been in talks with David Keim who is doing all our incidentals. You'll remember him as having done the music for Random Action ep5. Not only is he a great musician and composer but he also puts up with my complete lack of musical knowledge.