What Louie Does

2009-07-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, blog, I really forgot about you. That sounds insensitive but I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just that Life changes are making this thing obsolete. The blogger I was is not the blogger I am anymore.

Don't worry, I haven't started to tweet around. Besides, The word limitation bothers me.

But I do need to start anew. I'm sorry "What Louie Does"....

Make way for...

http://thingsifindinboxesandelsewhere.blogspot.com/

2009-04-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

Fire Cup!

This is the iO Team I am currently coaching. What a super fun group of improvisers! Ill tell you what!

There are 7 redheads on the team, which I believe is the reason the Harold Commission wanted me as their coach. Adorable!

Movies I should have seen earlier

2009-04-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

I keep watching movies on netflix that I should have seen in the theater. I love the theater experience a lot, but as part of my cost-cutting strategy I have decided to reduce my movie viewing to in-home unless I absolutely HAVE to see something in the theater.

But now Im sad, because I missed what might be my favorite movie of all time in the theater.

Synecdoche: New York

Sean got this for me on DVD for my birthday. To date I have watched it 4 times in under a month.

This film is as close to a dream as I have ever seen, but it's not a dream. It's so well done and I get something totally new on each viewing. I am obsessed!

Catch Up

2009-03-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Oh Man. I am the worst blogger ever.

I honestly forgot I even had a blog.

Gosh, 2 months. What has happened to me in the past two months?

Bruised a Rib

Changed Banks

Ate at a Great Restaurant

Airbourne! Cut ) :

Won Shameful Del Award

Got to perform with Griggs

Got to perform with Brett

i.O Coach now

Aikido Lessons

Birthday

Finished the Wire

The best place in the world

2009-01-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

The greatest place in the entire whole wide world is Lincoln Karaoke. We went there for Chrissy's birthday.

It's a Korean Karaoke place where you get your own private karaoke room for you and your friends.

Chrissy was so excited about her birthday.

It was a blast.

The funniest part of the evening was George and Vanessa singing "Stan" by Eminem.

George would sing the Dido part and Vanessa would rap the Eminem part.

Overall a successful event.

2009 begins

2009-01-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

Just some New Years Pictures...

The theme this year was creepy.

This is what Chrissy looks like when she is disappointed with a restaurant's service.

Get a room you two.

More Christmas Mentions

2008-12-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

I think my favorite kind of picture to take of people is the "sit and sleep" position.

It must take very high levels of Tired-agens(tm) to makes someone fall asleep sitting up. I find it consistently amusing and often hilarious.

I think my second favorite type of picture is the "American Gothic" pose.

My Uncle David should be a professional model for photos I take and find funny.

----
During my trip home I mettup(tm) with some high school friends.

Here is Seth, Duncan and Jack talking like adults at a fancy sushi restaurant.

They were so involved in their discussion that Jack didn't realize I had kidnapped his wife and was about to tie her to some train tracks.

Xmas All Over

2008-12-30T06:50:00.000-08:00

Mr. Blog, my New Years resolution is to update you more. So hang in there.

Since I was little my Christmas has always lasted longer than just December 25th. Growing up with divorced parents and an extended family that extends all over Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana I always had at least 2 and as many as 5 Christmases.

This year was no different:

It all began early in December with Chrissy's company's holiday party.

We danced

and drank wine.

It was a very fun evening.

Later I had a Pudding-thank-you show. They buried me under a pile of chairs for half the show, which was a shame because I was wearing a really nice suit.

The next week of Christmas was the iO holiday party. It's a lot like an office holiday party except people don't get drunk and go "crazy".

That's not true at all... Look how drunk a crazy these dudes are.

Then I flew home to Virginia. The flight there was bizarre because there was no auxillary power on the plane. The axillary power keeps all of the secondary functions going when the engines aren't running. One of those secondary functions is the heating of the plane. So inside the plane was the same temperature as outside the plane, -10 degrees farenheit. It was the longest runway taxi Ive ever had to sit though.

Luckily when the plane took off it got warm again.

But once I was home I had a blast and a half.

My Grammy got a new faux fireplace from my dad. It looks pretty real and actually put out heat as well. GIFT SUCCESS!

People wonder why I never take serious pictures. Neither does my dad. But there no connection between those two facts whatsoever.

Christmas morning at my dads place and Santa came for Maggie.

She got this little white Tiger that purred and meowed. She didn't let it go all Christmas morning.

After Christmas morning it was off to Newsomes for my other other Christmas.

One of the most gifted presents were Nintendo DS games. Which those of us in the second generation of the Taylors couldnt get enough of.

Miles played Tecmo Bowl.

Here is Briana modeling for Nintendo.

The Taylor tradition is to go around and one at a time open the present we got from our secret Santa. The process can last an hour or more, and when you have an unwrapped present in your hand it feels like forever.

My 90 year old grandfather waited patiently as we opened present but about half way through he got too tired and excused himself to his recliner.

He was down for the count. Along with his cat Blackie.

Return of Reviews

2008-12-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

Ive been "into" a bunch of things recently so I thought In would recommend them to those people who may need something to be "into".

THE WIRE

Without-a-doubt, I can call this the best written show I've ever watched. EVER.

In a nutshell the show is about the Baltimore police and a drug empire, which would not usually be something that interests me. Yet, it keeps a critical yet sympathetic eye for both sides of the story. In the end, SO GOOD!

(warning: there is lots of cursing in the show, just in case you are sensitive to that... )

Lars and the Real Girl

A very unexpected movie about a man who loves a life size doll. It seems like it would be a wacky comedy, but it ends up being a sweet moving story about family, community, growing up, and mental illness. Very very good.

Kung Fu Panda

Hilariouso!

Contest!

2008-11-19T09:44:00.001-08:00

So here are pictures from the concert on Saturday. Some are a little blurry and intentionally ambiguous. But there are clues in each picture as to what the game is. Some are easy and some are meant to throw you off.

Rules:
- Post your numbered answers in the comment section.
- It has to be the exact game, if it is a sequel you have to know which sequel it is.
- First person to get them all wins.

Prize:
- Some DVDs and a Threadless T-shirt

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Geek Symphony

2008-11-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

I was debating internally whether or not I should post this. Revealing this type of information to everyone makes me feel naked and vulnerable. But in order to go on with my life I need to tell the world:

I am a Geek!

I submit to you a glaring example of life in the realm of nerds.

A concert of orchestrated Video Game music. If there is any place a group of dweebs can feel safe is here:

Actually the concert was very fun. Despite the laughs had at the expense of people dressing as video game characters, I have to admit these are my people.

Ill post pictures of the actual concert sometime soon with a fun quiz (prizes!)

Tourism

2008-11-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I still feel like a tourist in Chicago despite the fact that I have lived here for over 4 years. There are always new sights and attractions that surprise me.

This awesome statue is in the NBC plaza. It caught my attention. And someone elses:

On another note:

Macy's seems to think they have the ability to manipulate time so that Christmas is close enough to start putting up decorations.

Creepy decorations. Yeesh. Although these window displays are terrifying I also found them strangely hypnotic. As did someone else:

2008-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

We Did It!

I was there!

It's a brand new day for America!

1 month ago is now

2008-11-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Oh man am I a terrible blogger. I guess my habits of taking pictures and writing about life events have given way to my habit of doing work at work. BOO!

Here are some thing cool that happened to me:

David Byrne and Of Montreal Concerts made my feeble head explode.

Highlights:

- David Byrne had 3 dancers in white doing choreographed dances to half his songs. Very sweet visuals to go with very sweet songs.

-Of Montreal's stage show is the greatest thing I have ever seen. It included an old school saloon fight, life sized gold Buddhas, tons of animal masks, a centaur, Ken Barnes (the lead singer) hanging himself, and more...

Jeff

2008-09-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, now I guess I have to measure myself by how high I am up on Jeff's blog. His "Blog List" is in order of the most recently updated, and I am second to last. But the second I hit PUBLISH I go straight to the top. That is so like Jeff, even on a boat he can passively aggressively give people writing assignments.

Random Reviews of things that aren't typicaly reviewed

2008-09-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Leaning Bookshelves

Space saving? Yes! Helps organize books by size? Affirmative! Opens up any room? Bingo! Looks like it always about to fall over but is in reality not about to fall over? Check!

I give it:

4 out of 4 Cold Mountains

Jet Skis

I dare you to find one object in the universe that is more fun than a Jet Ski. No? Then I double dog dare you! Still no? Then I triple mango dare you!

I give it:

7 out of 6 mangos

Mangos

Smoothied, dried, kabob-ed, freshly picked, distributed, delivered, eat-ed...

anyway you slice 'em... their delicious!

I wish there was a mango council. I would run for president under the platform of Juicy Sweetness.

I give them:

Lots of babies eating mangos

New York

2008-08-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been really really bad about blogging. Which is sad because it is something I love to do.

My blogging habits have to change though because I am now in the same office as my boss and he is directly to my left all the time. Except when he is not here. Like now.

So let me get this in before he gets back...

About 8 days ago I got back from my 4 day long trip to New York city. It was a blast. I was there for the Del Close Marathon (an 72 hour improv marathon) hosted by the famous Upright Citizens Brigade theater.

Mostly I watched improv while I was there but every now and then I would get the chance to venture around the city. The one place I had to go was...

Ever since I was around 12 years old I was a huge fan of David Letterman. During the summers I would stay up super late (for me) and watch Carson and Letterman. Once he switched to CBS and came on earlier I would sneakily stay up late on school nights and watch. I think he might be my absolute favorite TV/Movie personality.

Of course I also had to go by Rupert G's Hello Deli!

It was closed. But it still delighted me.

There was an older couple snapping pictures of the theater and Deli at the same time I was, and we got to talking about how exciting it was. The conversation lead to how much Jay Leno annoyed us. It was great to have Allies in the Late Night war.

I rarely bring up controversial subjects on my blog, but I think I believe more than anything that Letterman is a million times funnier than Leno. Leno is stilted and lacks the personality and wit that Letterman naturally possesses. That's my 2 cents.

My friend George and I went to Carnegie Deli and challenged each other to an eat-off. The Sandwiches there are HUGE. We both got the Reuben which basically covers a large plate.

George won... and also lost.

At F.A.O Schwartz I saw the big piano from the movie BIG. These two enthusiastic employees began doing the routine from Big, but then jazzed it up with some really complex dance movies. It was radical.

Overall it was a super exciting weekend. But ultimately made me love Chicago even more. New York is fun but after four days it wears you out. I think Jorin feels the same way.

Album Titles

2008-07-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

More Fake Albums:

Band: Rage Elimination Zquad
Album: Unfinished Business

Band: Ornate Municipality
Album: Baby Changes Alone

Band: Muffin Hug
Album: Self Titled

Band: Four Ninety Nine
Album: It all Makes Sense

Band: Fabric Boy
Album: Green Screen Antics

2008-07-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

Recently I traveled home to Virginia for the 4th of July weekend. I got to spend time with family and friends.

Since the members of my family are spread all over Virginia, my time at home is usually spent travelling a lot. The first stop on my trip was Newsomes Virginia, the peanut capital of the world. There I got to hang out with my Grandfather (who is a couple months away from being 90) and my aunts Dee Dee, June and Suzanne.

On the 4th of July in Newsomes we watched the Neighbors (who we nicknamed the Hill People) shoot off fireworks. Soon after they began a thunder storm rolled in with it's own light show, but those hill people still kept shooting off fireworks. We were witnessing an epic battle between the Hill People and God.

God won.

Then on to Charlottesville.

This is Mom, Dad, Grammy and Duncan with me at a Chinese Restaurant we all love called Shang-Hai. Whenever I go home, the main events during the days and evenings are the meals. So my Grammy cooked alot of great food, and we went out to alot of great restarants. Our family has awesome metabolism and for that I am grateful (and a little smug).

It was a very nice time.

Here are some other things I love about going home:

There are no Papa John's or Chic-fil-a's in or near Chicago. So, I took the opportunity to indulge.

Big time.

It's been a blong time

2008-07-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Crazy, crazy few weeks.

Lots of fun stuff:
-------------
Wing Night is up for Playground Membership very soon. It's been a long, challenging and rewarding process. We threw a fundraiser to buy a projector for the theater. It all worked according to plan.

We got to play in the Chicago Improv Festival as well. So things are going great guns for us.

--------------

Pudding-Thank-You hit the improv Jackpot and got asked to do shows at the American Theater Company. It's a great stage and the people who run it are super kind, supportive and well organized.

Saturday Night Live Alum Nora Dunn Saw a P-T-Y show there a couple weeks ago and wanted to be a part of it.

So last week she monologized for an improv form called "The Armando", and told an amazing true story about and Amnesty International benefit she did on the lifetime channel. It was hilarious.

I feel truly lucky to be a part of that team and theater. Not to mention, we are going to New York in august to perform in the Del Close Marathon, and I get giddy with excitement over that prospect.

---------------

This weekend I'm going home. I definitely don't get back home as much as I should. But I'm really looking forward to seeing my family. Ill try to take tons of pictures to document the trip.

News of the Blogworthy!

2008-06-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

Heyo,

I have been so blog-lazy lately, but here are a few things I have been up to.

For the past few weeks I have been sitting in with the team Airbourne! (Their name officially has an exclamation point in it) and it has been super fun.

Usually sitting in with a team can start out pretty awkward and stressful but they have made me feel welcome from the get go. They are a fun group with great energy.

Last night I went to the All State arena and got my Brain and Heart melted by the awesome rock and stage show of...

The concert involved pyrotechnics, fireworks (also categorized as pyrotechnics), 15 foot dancing Eddie mummy that's eyes exploded, a huge stage sized mariner, a cybernetic Eddie, and blazing rock from the first ten years of Maidens history.

It was A-MAZING!

CIF is a big deal

2008-06-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hey, I Don't mean to use my blog as a marketing tool, but I want to quickly invite anyone who has a free evening to come to the Lakeshore Theater at 8:00 to see Wing Night perform for the Chicago Improv Festival.

It's kind of a big deal.

Memorial Day Vacaysh

2008-05-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! Full of food, fun and frolicking!

This weekend Chrissy and I packed or things up and went to Lake Catawba Ohio to vacation with her family. Mr. and Mrs. Swinko own a trailer on the lake and a dock at which a boat is tied. So the fun-potential is at a maximum!

Day one we hit up Put In Bay Island.

We visited a winery.

This is our "visiting" pose.

Our tour guide was so animated and a tad abrasive. I was delighted. There was also a bald guy.

This is what it looks like to be INSIDE the worlds biggest geode. It's big enough to fit about 20 tourists into.

This was a memorial on the island dedicated to the War of 1812.

This is the view from the top of the monument.

It was like traveling through time to 1812.

Then we traveled forward through time, but not before stopping in 1963 to catch WEST SIDE STEVE in his prime.

The next day we hit the high seas!

Chrissy's brother Joe and his wife Katie (Katie is preggers!)

Chrissy's parents, Joe and Cathy.

Overall we had a wonderful time but it's also nice to be back.

2008-05-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is the inspiration behind my "Favorite Things" idea:

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Louie's Favorite Things for Spring!

2008-05-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so some troublemakers are not happy with the frequency or content of my posts. Well, fine. If my readers are upset, I will satiate their pallets for my sweet sweet entries.

So Ill plug some friends stuff! So the next few entries will be called is called, Louie's Favorite Things for Spring!

First off;

Counterproductive Lover!

Go see them while they are still young and sulky. Ive blogged about them before, and it's because I like them so darn much. Great shows, OK people.

Bad Blogger!

2008-05-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Things I love and recommend without even telling you why.

NC I3 (Silliness Warning)

2008-04-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

North Carolina! That is where I was this past weekend. It was a very large amount of fun.

We were there mostly for improv but also for Jill and Kristen's modeling careers.

Here they are with their bodyguard Grant.

We went to the Hard times Cafe for some award winning chilly. But wait a second...

They forgot our table! That's just crazy!

We also went to a Shopping Mall where we discovered a throng of pageant winners signing autographs.

Sean got a date with one, but she stood him up. He was sad at first, but I think I did a pretty good job of keeping his mind off of it.

Giggles all around

2008-04-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Kids!

This is a pewter statue at the Rock and Roll McDonalds. I have had 3 nightmares about this face since I took this picture. Sweet dreams dear readers.

Oh, if you have a chance, check out the sweet improv of Counterproductive Lover!

They play at the CiC theater on Irving. Do yourself a favor and check them out. The show in this picture involved a toilet that travels through time. Enough said.

I think I might make a separate blog that just contains terrible pictures of my friend Jill.

Here she is after having devoured 2 plates of cheese fries, some potato skins, mac and cheese, a Ceasar salad, and a sandwich. I would be really embarrassed if I were her.

She also has a temper.

And finally, a shout-out to Elisabeth who mentioned my blog in person the other day. Elisabeth is absolutely hilarious, you can check her out in the group Cornwalis. Sometimes they play with Counterproductive Lover, so you can kill two funny birds with one chuckle stone.

Rollin' High Class

2008-04-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yeah, We are kind of a big deal. Chrissy and I got to see a Bulls game in one of the "Executive Suites" at the United Center. (Chrissy calls it a Loge Box, that may be a common term but I think she is making it up.)

Courtesy of Mr. Joe Swinko (Chrissy's Dad) and LaSalle Bank we were treated to free food and beverage, as well as sweet seats to a Bulls Game.

The game was pretty lame though, the Bulls are not in contention for the Playoffs, plus they lost the game by 20 points. However I was determined to get an awesome mid-air shot with my camera, it took me about 30 shots or so but I finally got it.

Ive actually never been to a Bulls game, but now I can never go again. Once you experience a game in the "Loge" Box, normal stadium seats just don't cut the mustard.

Movie Emotions

2008-04-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

The is a vulnerable time for me. Why? Because Jackie Chan is about to fight Jet Li.

When I was told last year that this was going to happen in a movie I was ELATED

When I read online that the movie was going to be American-made I was WORRIED

Now, after seeing the previews I am DEPRESSED

Why do Americans have to mess up perfectly awesome Kung Fu, huh?

I will still go in hopes that a miracle will happen...

I am also worried about the New Indiana Jones movie...

The same exact emotional roller coaster! Let me off this thing!

Well at least there is one thing that we can all take some solace in:

Mystery Movie

2008-03-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Im not sure if i have made mention of Mystery Movies on my blog yet. Well if not, settle in for some excitement. If so, settle in for some classic reruns.

Anyway, Sean and I have a thing we do, let's call it a "Mystery Movie". The rules are simple: Player A picks a movie and doesn't tell Player B what it is. Then we go to the movie in question. Player A pays for the tickets and Player B keeps his/her head down and avoids figuring out what the movie is. So Basically, Player B does not know what the movie is until the opening credits (sometimes even later).

The first Mystery Movie was one that I picked and the reaction Sean had when the opening title of "Brokeback Mountain" popped up was priceless.

We have played Mystery Movie a lot since then. And most have been good movies (28 weeks later, Superman) mainly because we both have to watch the movie, so picking something outright bad is a problem for both participants.

However, yesterday Sean won the game forever. We went to AMC 600 on Michigan after having dinner at Fados. So we were full and a little tipsy.

He had me keep my head down and wouldn't even let me be near him when he bought the tickets. We walked into the theater during previews. The preview part is the best part of the process, because sometimes you will see a preview for a movie that you thought it might be, therefore eliminating it from your guess pool. So basically I had no idea what I was in for...

Then a title appeared "A Tyler Perry Production" and I literally GUFFAWED. He took me to go see "Meet the Browns"! I immediately leaned over and quietly called him a couple expletives, but I settled in to watch what I was expecting to be a Preachy, Christian, Pro-Family-Values movie. I KNEW I was going to hate it...

Well, I was way wrong. It was really really funny. There were some really hilarious and suprising things that happen in that movie. I mean, it is definitely very Christian, but it was so funny that it didn't come off as preachy at all. I actually loved it...

So I totally recommend it. Every reviewer seems to hate it, but this might be that little gem that only a select lucky few know about.

Oh and we also did this:

I wonder what our next movie will be...

Goofy and fun

2008-03-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here is another thing Chrissy and I made...

Ridiculous!

IMG00070.jpg

2008-03-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Chrissy sat in with felt last week. Here she is warming up before the show. She was great!
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Overlooked and Ommitted

2008-03-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

Recently I have left out some important blog things:

Way back in December when I went home for Christmas, I got to spend time with my aunt Dee Dee, and she mentioned my blog in person. Which gets her a picture and special mention on my blog.

I don't play favorites in my family at all, but Dee Dee is pretty great. She is also published... Maybe she can post a link to her book in my comment section.

Also,

My friends Kara and Drew went to Bi-Bop (a Korean restaurant previously mentioned on my blog) based on my recommendation and they loved it.

Here they are at a Canadian convenience store. At least I'm pretty sure that's Drew in the background.

Now for some pictures that I will misrepresent with my words.

Sean and I have taken up modeling as a hobby. I hope it works out.

Jill is very annoyed at Anthony for a negative comment he made about the state of Michigan.

Anthony, Jill and Chip are actually not posing for this picture at all, this is how they naturally situate themselves in life. They call it the perfect triangle of friendship. However, Jill still seems annoyed with Anthony (I hope they work it out).

And FINALLY!!!!

Chrissy and me preparing for a road trip:

SKI WEEKEND USA!!!

2008-02-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Full Tilt Ski weekend extravaganza to the extreme!!!!

Actually, I snowboarded, because I have a thing about authority. Skis are so Status Quo!

Chrissy, Jill, Mike and I went to the Alpine Valley Ski Lodge for a fun yuppie weekend.

I hadn't snowboarded since I was 14 or 15. So I started out my hardcore adventure into the world of extreme sports on the bunny slopes. Once I did that a few times I graduated to the gentle (yet deadly?) beginners slopes.

By the second day I was ready to try the hardest of the hardcore... The Black Diamond slopes.

I wouldn't say I conquered them, but I definitely made it to the bottom without falling down.

Chrissy, Jill and Mike were all awesome skiers who were way ahead of me in terms of skill level. But still a lot of fun was had...

...That was the skiing...

Now, A review of the "Resort" part of Alpine Valley Resort.

Pretty Awful.

We got there before our check-in time on Saturday so we could get a full day of skiing in. There was no running water anywhere in the lodge. We were told that this was due to a water pump breaking, but we were assured that it would be fixed by the time our room was ready.

When our room was ready, we found out that we had been moved to a smoking section of the hotel because of flooding that had occurred in our original rooms (that were supposed to be ski-in slope side rooms). When we asked about a reduced rate for this, the woman at the front desk said "It's nature, what do you expect us to do about it?"

I don't know maybe call us and let us know, or give us a reduced rate?

How DID they compensate for this? They gave us 6 complimentary drink tickets.

That seemed a little weak to us.

But we took them and used them later that night at the Alpine Valley Pub/Sports Bar. (It was way more Sports Bar than Pub)

1st off, we couldn't flag down a waiter to save our lives. Then when we got our food they mixed up a few of the orders and most of the food was pretty mediocre.

I think if something is advertised as a mini pizza, and the server brings out a pita with a couple of artichokes on it and some mozzarella, you are probably on a hidden camera prank show. We were not on a hidden camera prank show.

In my opinion, after the first few instances of bad service, it became a game of guessing what they would mess up next. Every time something would go wrong we would laugh, put our hands on our hips and say "Oh Alpine Valley, You'll never get it right, will you?" Wah Wah!

All the bad customer service and food aside?

We still had a ton of fun.

Sappy Love All Up Over This Junk

2008-02-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

My Sweet Sweet Valentine:

Who says love can't last in Hollywood?

...

My Secret Other Valentine:

Jackie Chan and his energy drink mix!

Chrissy doesn't know, but I have a mistress that gives me Kung Fu energy.

Future

2008-02-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

Aging is just dying with different letters. This is louie's future comb-over.
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Art

2008-02-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

Watching Primaries, foggy street and dance
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The Suprise as Hinted

2008-02-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

The CSC's new Dance Uniforms!

"Shame has no place on the dance floor"
- Louisa May Alcott, 1865*

*not an actual quote, but something likely said at sometime by somebody

Up 2 Date

2008-01-31T08:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm really "off the ball" on this whole blog thing.

Here is my life:

- I am temporarily the IT Director at my company until they find someone to fill the position. So technically I am "on call" and "important" for a few months. On the bright side I got to hire my pal Chip, seen below holding a secret...

- Wing Night is now officially a pilot team at the Playground Theater. I am super proud to be on that team...

..As you can tell by this picture.

- I recently performed in a wicked sketch show with my good friends from our screenplay writing class. It was entitled "Sweater Vest Skitch" and it seemed to go over very well. We can't wait to get started on our next one.

- Movies! This year was a great movie year:

1) There Will Be Blood = The film I would define as a "classic" in every sense. The Writing, Directing, Cinematography and Acting all were so well crafted.

2) King of Kong = Ive already talked about the wonderful effect that movie had on me. I'm just upset that it was neglected by the Oscars.

3) No Country For Old Men = Along with TWBB, this was a great year for movie Villians. This movie had the coldest, most fascinating serial killer Ive ever seen in a film.

4) Zodiac: Also talked about earlier. My college obsession with solving these murders made this movie very personal for me.

More later...

2008-01-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

Louie made me takie a picture of this advertisement. Despite my inanimateness, even I find this creepy.

That reminds me. Do I have a soul or am I just interpreting sensory input, processing it, then providing an appropriate output that appears as consciousness.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

The universe

2008-01-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

2008-01-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

When I was bought by louie I had no idea what I was getting my electronic butt into. Now I'm deeply worried, not only for my safety, but for the safety of anyone in a 12 foot radius of him.

I would plead to his friends to get him some help, but just look at his friends!

No hope.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

This guy is insane

2008-01-04T09:14:00.000-08:00

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Phone blogging

2008-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

This is louies phone speaking (through text) I'm going to be attempting to "mobile blog" for awhile and see how that goes. Keeping you up to date on what louie does. He doesn't know about this, so don't say anything.

Fun stuff!

Random things:
He Played poker very poorly yesterday.

He Went to a blackhawks game in which they played very poorly!

That's it for now

Louie's phone, out.

catching up to do

2007-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

Oh man. I have really let my readers down. Big time!

I wish I could somehow make it up to you...

...wait a second...

I have an idea!@!

Here is a gift to say "I'm sorry for letting you down"

Print it out, frame it, put it on your desk/mantle/above your bed.

You're welcome...

Sean made me do this:

2007-11-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

List 5 things that certain people (who are not deserving of being your friend anyway) may consider to be "totally lame," but you are, despite the possible stigma, totally proud of. Own it. Tag 5 others:

1) Everytime I see "Angels in the Outfield" on TV, I watch it all the way through and cry at the end.

2) I made it to 6th place in a Ms. Pac Man tournament in college. I was defeated by a 12 year old.

3) I can recite the Gummy Bear theme from beginning to end. And I do it. A lot.

4) Every couple of years I watch every episode of Twin Peaks. I once did a 72 hour marathon and ate and drank nothing but pie and coffee. Afterwards I had the strangest dreams.

5) Often times I walk around my apartment in my bright green speed-o and do kung-fu in front of a mirror.

Ok, I tag Lindsay

Been a long time!

2007-11-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in forevs!
So allow me to backtrack a little and fill in the blanks.

The rest of my Mom's visit was terrific. We went on the Chicago Gangster tour. It's just the right ratio of History to Cheese in my humble opinion.

The tour guides ("Louie" and "Southside") dressed as gangsters and cracked jokes as we stopped at some of Chicago's most violent mob landmarks. My kind of attraction.

Halloween came and went and it seemed as if nothing really exciting was going to happen... Until!

I went to Chipotle on Halloween night and everyone had tin foil on their heads. I asked what the deal was, and according to one patron "If you dress like a Chipotle burrito they give you a free Chipotle burrito". The patron was nice enough to lend me some of his foil, so I went up to the counter, asked for a burrito, they made it, and walked away without paying a dime. So it was a happy Halloween after all. I love MARKETING CAMPAIGNS! Yay!

I went to the driving range a little awhile ago with my good friends from Wing Night, Nick and Rachel, as well as my GF, Chrissy.

Nick is a really good golfer. He has a powerful yet elegant swing. A ballet like follow-though. He is so good in fact that the head of his club flew off and made it onto the driving range green.

It was amazing. He had to run out onto the range to get it.

It was a really nice golf club though. (Taylor-Made Big Bertha for those few that might care)

This is the end of the shaft. (As Michael from the Office would say "That's what she said")

And yeah, the big Spertus move. Although it was a crazy busy time, it was free of any major disasters.

Now my life can resume to normal.

Happy Belated Birthday to my good friend Lina who confessed to reading my blog!

She believes in peace and throws an awesome party.

Blogless

2007-11-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

I am way behind on blogging because the organization I work for is moving into a new building. So things have been super crazy.

I have a million blogables in my pockets ready to dispense as soon as I have an ounce of free time.

Love,
Louie

Besides the Tattoos

2007-10-31T11:31:00.001-07:00

First, I need to take care of some business.

Point of Order:
Kathy Betts of International Stinger fame mentioned that she reads my blog!

This proves my hypothesis that Kathy is awesome. Check her out when you get a chance!

Now back to family business:

I already gave away the coolest part of the weekend. However, there were plenty of other cool parts as well.

I picked Mom,Briana and Chuck up at O'Hare.

While waiting for their delayed flight, I witnessed an older man pass out and collapse on the floor. He was OK, but an ambulance had to come take him to the hospital. Everyone in the general area rushed to help out, which is why Chicago is great.

When we got home Chrissy made Briana a birthday cake. (She just turned 18... yeesh, I feel old)

It was perfect... until I decided to volunteer to serve it. One thing to know about me, I should never be allowed to cut cake, because it always ends in disaster. However, everyone really enjoyed their pathetic, misshapen slices.

The next day we started at Millineum park and worked our way up to Hancock tower.

Along the way Mom got into an epic battle with her evil twin.

I'm still not sure which one won.

Also, I ran into my Arch Nemesis:

The silver robot guy on Michigan Ave. who gets mad and chases you if you take a picture. I hate him. So whenever I see that guy, I walk across the street and take a picture. Take that!

That night we had a fun roadster show then we went to see Chrissy perform with International Stinger in their annual Halloween Show. This year they dressed as vampires.

J. Ben scared the poop out of me when I first saw him lurking in the shadows of the Playground theater. He was truly horrific. Kudos.

Plenty more happened, but I will keep the suspense going for a little while. Ill say this much, it involves gangsters, ninjas, duets, worms and... gasp.... murder...

Stay tuned.

The Awesomest Thing Ever In The World

2007-10-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was so good. My Sister, Mom and my Mom's boyfriend Chuck came to visit for the weekend. We did so much over the course of the their visit that I am going to have to break it up into several blog entries. The idea at first was to list things chronologically, but then I realized one thing stood out above all else, so it needs to get first mention:

MY MOM AND SISTER GOT MATCHING TATTOOS!!!!!!!

Briana (My Sister [pictured to the right]) just turned 18 a week ago. So, as a birthday present, Mom promised let her get a tattoo. At first it may have been a joke, but Mom said she might get one too. Then when the time came, she followed through.

We went to Chicago Tattoo and Piercing on Belmont. They were very friendly, and very professional. I had imagined there was a level of snobbery in these places, but it was actually like going to a rockin' dentists office. (Complete with high pitched whirring and buzzing).

Pretty awesome, huh?

Well, it's official, I am now the least cool person in my family.

Until I get one...

soon...

Sorry, Chrissy.

A ton of other things happened, but this deserves its own space.

Recommendations:

2007-10-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've been as busy as a bee and/or beaver getting our new apartment ready for our guests. This weekend my Mom and Sis are coming to visit along with my Mom's boyfriend (who and/or whom I have not yet met). I'm very excited, and I think it's going to be a rockin' time.

My sister just turned 18 last week. So we have some special events lined up for that occasion.

Also, my Mom will be singing a duet with me in the Lil' Talent Show at the Annoyance theater. It will be adorable. Sunday at 8... adorable.

Here are some things I recommend:

1) McDonald's during October.

I have already put on a couple of pounds because of the genius of McDonald's Marketing. The yearly Monopoly game gives you so many chances to win. You get game peices on your drink, fries and any premium chicken sandwich. If you order a large #7 combo you get 6 game peices plus coupons for footlocker and toys-r-us. (the keyboard will not let me type a backwards "r")

A friend of mine, Michael Palascak wrote a screenplay about this contest. He is also in the running for the Funniest Person in Chicago. In my opinion, he is.

2) Caramel

3) Zicam for colds and flus

Yesterday I took a sick day from work due to a flu, now its almost completely run it's course. How is that possible? See above.

4) Mythbusters

This is one of my favorite things to watch on TV. These guys try to debunk Myths by recreating them. Fun fun fun.

5) Corn

2007-10-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my loyal readers (people who have casually mentioned that they have read my blog). I wouldn't say they are "Fans" or "Followers", but I will say that they fanatically follow me.

Fellow Roadster teammate and good friend Lindsay:

Her blog has lots of clouds!

Fellow Roadster and good friend Kristen:

So I guess they are the only two blog mention-ers this week. I'm still waiting for a complete stranger to recognize me for my blog, then Ill know Ive made it.

Roadster had a good show at iO last night. Very fun, very playful, well except for Dave, who was just plain surly throughout the entire thing:

Grants sweet-as-molasses mom was at the show with her good friend Scabbers (that's for all those Harry Potter fans out there)

Speaking of Grant, he will be doing a two person comedy show with Chrissy entitled "Fighting for Louie's Love".

In the final act, they actually fight to the death. It will be glorious.

Im a Winner!

2007-10-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I totally forgot: I won a GUITAR!

Yup, now I just need to learn to play it. Soon I will be rocking out to my own renditions of "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and "Frera Shaka". Chrissy is going to loooove listening to that all the time.

More fun Sammy Benefit pictures:

Aviator Challenge!

At some point in the evening I started entertaining myself by taking pictures of people coming out of the bathroom.

That might be my new thing.

Lots-a-Blog!

2007-10-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

First off, it is my promise to anyone who tells me they read my blog that they get their picture posted. So when Sean told me his Mom reads my blog, I was all like "awesome".

So first off "Hi, Mrs. Keith!" Here is said picture:

Sorry fellas, she is spoken for!!!

The part in green is just for Mrs. Keith:

Mrs. Keith, we are all a little worried about your son's recent behavior (as shown below)

It's just a little weird (not to mention dangerous) for him to be running around in a ninja suit at his age. Maybe you should talk to him, because every time I am alone with him he tries to stab me with Sais.

Friday after work I went to the Apple (tm) store on Michigan Ave.

I spent a whole hour there on an iMac shooting, editing and composing music for a short film. It made me realized how easy and powerful macs are for that kind of thing. I guess I better start saving up my money now. Unless anyone wants to buy me one... *wink*

Saturday was Jess's birthday. So we went to Cesar's Mexican Restaurant "Home of the killer margarita".

We had a good time.

Everyone got tiny little burritos. I got the Super burrito. I win.

Artsy Photograph Alert!!

I call it "The Tip"

Also, for some reason, things have been tense between Kat and I recently. As shown below:

I think I offended her with a comment I made about her recent weight gain.

Also, Saturday the Playground Theater had a benefit for my good friend Sammy. He tore his ACL in an improv show.

Poor, poor insurance-less Sammy. Hang in there!

Today's Hottest New Game Show!

2007-10-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Who Looks Better in Aviator Sunglasses?!?!%&@$!!!

Falling Short

2007-10-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

I have broken a promise to myself and my loyal readers. Only 7 posts last month, boo.

So here is the special features section of last months blogs.

Things I failed to mention (deleted scenes):

This Sign

Edited due to grossness.

This Karaoke Music Video

Edited due to amazingness (sp.).

This Street Festival

Edited due to hatred for Chicago street festivals.

It's a Beautiful Blog! Oh Oh Oh Oh!

2007-09-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the neglected blog. I have had no good reason not to post.

First on the list is my good friend Chip's Birthday!

He is a beautiful, beautiful man. And an amazing boxing promoter.

This took place at one of my favorite Chicago Treasures; The Hidden Cove! A fun bar with (you guessed it) karaoke!

There were tons of my favorite people there!

Like Monique and Corey! They Freaked Out!

And Sean! He was angry at something, as usual.

Molly, Jeannie, Curt and Briana! Uh oh, Jeff will be so jealous!

We also did fully choreographed dances to "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley and "It's a Beautiful Life" by Ace Of Base! (now do you get the title?)

Overall a splendid evening with splendid friends!

That was a week ago, but it seems like yesterday. Oh yeah, and that's where I met my "Favorite Person in the World" (see entry below)

This week (Saturday at Midnight) we had our first performance of Blind Stinkin' in Donny's Skybox theater at Second City. It went really well!

Before that we ate dinner at Nookies

These guys turned the Charm up to 11 and tried to get a couple of waitresses to come to the show. One of them said they would, but she didn't show up. So we are going to show up to Nookies next week before our show and try even harder. Don't give up guys! You'll get married someday!

Sunday afternoon I got some practice being a yuppy!

I haven't hit a golf ball in 2 years, but I was amazing on the driving range. Truly amazing. Now I just need to get a sponsor!

Oh, one last thing!

Jorin and His brother Jacob = ADORABLE! They are brothers and best friends.

Sorry ladies, they're both TAKEN!

Oh yeah, and congratulations to my other good pal Kristen Studard for winning the awesome live game show Impress These Apes!

BTW, I have really talented friends!

2007-09-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

A lot of fun/exciting/blog-able things went down since my last blog entry.

However, I feel I have to give this man his own space. To crowd him in with other "things" and "people" would undercut how important he is to me.

So here we go...

THIS IS CURRENTLY MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD!

While we were at the popular karaoke bar "The Hidden Cove" I had the honor to play in this man's air backup band. He rocked so hard!

I wish I had gotten to know him. But alas, he came and went through my life like an Asian breeze.

(not a lick of this entry is sarcastic)

2007-09-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

Im at home today! Happy Rash Hashanah!

I was walking home from a show the other night and saw this in a window near our new apartment.

I actually screamed like a little girl when I saw her. Just the thought of an old woman staring out her window at night is creepy enough, but just look at her.... creep city.

The couple walking behind me laughed at my reaction, until they saw it.

Had a fun show at the Spot on Monday:

The ride home was the best part though.

2007-09-10T07:32:00.001-07:00

Friday night I met some good friends to go see another good friend (Jeannie) perform in Chicago's most popular Improvised Musical: Baby Wants Candy! She did great! It was a hilarious show.

It's always really nice to see good friends do good work.

So I'm not going to "plug" anything of mine on my blog. I don't do that. It's cheap.

...But...

Even though I am IN the Lil' Talent Show at the Annoyance, I feel like I can talk about it, and recommend it. Because it's full of really bizarre and funny stuff.

Look at these pictures I took from last nights show, and I dare you to comment that it doesn't look like a really good time.

The Annoyance theater is right off of the Lawrence red line stop.

Here is an artistic shot I took at the station. It's now my screen saver at work.

Also, If you tell me in person that you read my blog, I WILL feature a picture of you. That's my Promise:

2007-09-07T10:33:00.001-07:00

What the?!?!?

nice little suprises

2007-09-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that I love Chicago? I think so. But it's worth restating.

There are at least a million little fun surprises in this city that pop up on a daily basis. Just tiny little things that can make your day better. Sometimes it's art, sometimes it's a situation, sometimes it's just random events.

If you click on the picture you can see this little pink guy in more detail. Ive walked by this same cement column for almost a year and always noticed a pink spot, but never took the time to look at it. But I realized recently it's a face. Now that I know, I always say good morning to it on my way to work (not out loud).

These are creepy. I found these on the sidewalk near our new apartment. I think it's probably some kids tracing their shadows, but it looks like the ghosts of dead kids to me. I'd like to thinks it's ghosts actually. Hilarious ghosts:

Snap!

Is this garage really an opening to the gates of hell? We may never know.

Weekend Madness:

2007-09-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'm usually a pretty cool customer, or at least I like to think so. It takes a lot to make me angry, but when I do, it's not a pretty thing. So when I say that the ComCast corporation makes me furious, it means it REALLY makes me furious. Furious enough to crush some cars (pictured below, but out of context)

I came home early on Friday and used a half a vacation day to let the cable guy into our new apartment to set up phone, cable and internet. The window they gave us was 1-5. So I waited around the apartment... and waited. They never came. I won't go into details, but they made a lot of stupid mistakes. But then they blamed us for using their online system (which their website encourages using) to sign up for service.

Anyway, we wrote an e-mail to their CEO and they are waiving the installation fee.

So after the frustration we had a wing night show which in my opinion went well. So afterwards we went to town hall.

Matt was sad that he is not pictured on my blog enough, so Jess and I happily took pictures of him in a depressed stupor:

Saturday was errands and shopping with Chrissy! We saw this on the way!

ADO-W-ABLE!

Seth and I went to the new Center on Halsted. Which is a new Gay and Lesbian community center with a theater, meeting rooms, a gym, and a whole foods supermarket. It's gorgeous:

Also, I love my new shoes!

"They don't go with anything" - Louie Saunders
"Which means they go with everything" - Jorin Garguilo

Life Changing Events:

2007-08-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

This week was filled with life changing events, I will order them based on the percentage of life chang-ed-ness.

%47 LC Factor

THE BIG MOVE

So Chrissy and I moved in together on Monday. So we are officially shacking up.

The actual physical move was remarkably easy because we hired movers. They were great! I don't think I will ever move my own stuff again. It was pretty expensive but worth every single penny, in my opinion.

A few issues with the apartment popped up once we got there.

Overall though, I'd say it was a successful move.

%23 LC Factor
Storm Pictures

Those storm pictures I took made it onto the WBEZ website. I'm famous now. I guess I have to start chasing tornadoes now.

Remember that picture of a house that had a tree fall on it.

It only suffered from a couple of broken windows. They didn't even lose power.

This guy wasn't as lucky though.

%20 LC Factor
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

See it!

See it!

It doesn't matter whether or not you care about video games at all. This movie is about so much more, but I don't want to say too much.

SEE IT!

%5 LC Factor

This picture of Sean has changed my life a little...

...but Sean has changed my life a lot. He is a nice guy and a great friend...

..He also told me that his mom reads my blog.

--------------------
Total Life Change = %95

Stormy Weather

2007-08-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes pictures caption themselves:

Good News: We survived!

Blog it!

2007-08-23T12:06:00.001-07:00

We've had a rough couple of days... as you can tell.

Oh, I want to do another tribute today to:

Gary Busey!

2007-08-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

I thought of a great title for my last post: Reck-ommendation!

That's way better... Oh well, missed opportunities are like greased pigs. For obvious reasons.

Go see Once!

It's very good. That's all Ill say... No more... ahem... be ready to cry

Go to Danny's!

It's a bar in Bucktown, here is the fun part; it's in a house! It's a fun laid back atmosphere and is not typical of any bar I've ever been to.

I went with Anthony and Sean. (pictured below)

As you can tell, We had a fun night!

Until...

Sean and Anthony started arguing about Sean's girlfriend. Well, more like her line of work.

Things got really tense after that.

But we are all still friends. It just took some apologies, and mediation.

*the part about Anthony and Sean fighting was embellished so that my blog would be more juicy, I hope I didn't reopen any fake wounds*

A Tribute To The Reckoning!

2007-08-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

So this blog entry is written specifically to those who are not in the Chicago Improv Circle (which measures about 5000 people around). If you ARE in the Circle, giving praise to the Reckoning is like saying "The Beatles are a great band", it's very obvious. However most people in the world are not in the Improv-Know, so this is for them...

The Reckoning!

When I first moved to Chicago I saw a whole lot of Improv, to the point where iO and The Playground were basically my second homes. Which means I saw a lot of great shows and even more terrible shows. That's the thing with Improv, is every team has bad shows every now and then.

However the Reckoning consistently made me laugh and think, and still does. But even more important than that is their ability to surprise. Out of all the Reckoning shows Ive seen, I don't think I could ever call a single show of theirs a "Typical" Reckoning show, because they always explore something totally new, which takes them to very different places every time.

Like this place:

Or This Place

Or This Place:

Heck, maybe even this place:

And while we are there, why not this place:

So anyway, those of you not familiar with the Chicago Improv scene, please do yourself a favor and go see the Reckoning ASAP. Because who knows when they will all get famous and be gone from our lives.

Oh and also:

ANOTHER ONE!

So many witty port-o-potties in this town. Now I'm trying to find some that don't have hilarious names.

You have to love Chicago!

SuperBad

2007-08-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

Seth and I got to go to a free screening of SuperBad!

It was very very funny. Not to mention well written and kind of sweet.

Definitely go see it.

Oh, and seriously, who makes up these great port-o-potty names?

I love America!

Walking

2007-08-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

It was a gorgeous day outside yesterday. So at lunch I took a nice long walk. Here is your assignment.

Creative Writing Worksheet:

The Walk

Name:______________
Date:_______________
Class:_______________

Look at the following pictures and imagine you are walking with me.

a) What would we say to each other about these things?
b) Would we be having a good time? (If so, explain why. If not, explain why not.)
c) How would you describe the objects, people and locations we encountered to someone from another planet?
d) What was your favorite part of the walk? (explain why.)

(For all of the above, please use complete sentences.)

A Whole New Blog!

2007-08-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

So here we go, I have new pictures to post from my new camera. I feel reborn!

Luckily it was an eventful weekend for me so there were tons of chances to snap some great digital photographs.

Friday night, Chrissy and I had a nice dinner at Fornello Trattoria. It's one of our favorite places to eat when we have the time and money to splurge a little.

This was our dessert, a lemon sorbet inside a frozen lemon inside a martini glass. Dee-lish.

Saturday Wing Night had two shows... So we met at the Playground.

This is Jess tripping on a piano bench. The look on her face is hilarious.

Our first show was at the Market Days festival on Halsted.

These were the two acts we had to follow. Belly Dancers, Square Dancers, then us.

We realized that it was too loud at the festival to do talking scenes. So we did silent scenes set to music. It was ridiculous, but it went over well with the crowd, so overall we were pleased.

It was around 96 degrees in the sun, the stage had no cover to it, so we came off the stage drenched in sweat. We worked really hard for that show but I think it paid off. Especially since it got the approval of this guy.

Saturday night we also had a show that went really well at the Strawdog theater. So wing Night had a very successful weekend.

Lately I have been doing a Talent Show at the Annoyance theater. The cast plays faculty members of a fictional high school. Annoyance students get to perform talents for the show and in between those we come out and do funny bits. Here are some pictures of that.

That is a picture of me on the wall. To find out why it is there, come see us on Sunday nights at 8.

So anyway, my new camera is great!

New Camera

2007-08-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

I Haven't posted in awhile. It's because I just got a new camera and want to take a lot of pictures with it. Then Im going post them all at once.

But while the battery charges, here is a shot of my new camera taken with my old camera.

It's kind of sad really. I bet my old camera is feeling inadequate and abandoned.

Poor thing, bless her heart.

Weekend Funnies

2007-08-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday Roadster had a funny show at iO. I particularly loved it because I got to tell one of my favorite childhood stories:

When I was 3 or 4 years old my parents took me on vacation to Cincinnati, Ohio, where my aunt and cousins live. They had an in-ground pool in the back yard.

Now, as everyone who has met me or has seen a picture of me knows, I am a very fair skinned boy and that was no different when I was 3 or 4. So one day I was playing in the pool with an inner tube, and it rubbed the sunscreen off of my left arm. So only that part of me got sunburn, but it was so bad that I got a huge blister from my wrist up to my bicep. It was so big and so painful.

We went to the hospital where a doctor told us not to pop it. So my vacation was completely miserable, I think I spent most of it wailing in pain. So the next day we went to another doctor who looked at the blister, distracted me really quick, and popped it immediately. Puss went everywhere.

To this day, I still remember exactly how much it hurt, and it is still the most painful thing I have ever experienced (and i get hurt a lot).

So I got to gross out an entire audience full of people, which means it was a great show!

Fake Book Titles

2007-08-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Book Covers to fake Bestsellers (by Genre)

Self Help:
It's Unnecessary to have So Many Rear View Mirrors on Your Scooter
by Ralph Sturman

Thriller:
The Watchful Prisoners
by Jake Sinfield

Romance:
Leaves Too Green To Touch
by Pam Finwood

Childrens:
That Crazy Baseball Playing Cricket
by Lynn Hooperson & Bob Hooperson-Kindel

Mystery:
The Siamese Connection
by Todd Han

Sci Fi:
Sky Tree
by Bob Hooperson-Kindel-Wayne

Time line

2007-07-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have had an insane (and terrific) few days. So much so that I felt I needed to create a time line of it's awesomeness.

- Thursday 8:00

The Chicago Sashay Company performed as hosts of the Close to Del Marathon. Between each improv show we did an original 45 second dance that we created in about 20 minutes right before going on stage. It was awesome, and it was a great night of shows.

However it was also very muggy outside and inside the theater, so by the end we were all completely exhausted and sweaty. Suffering for the art of dance.

- Friday 3:15

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE!

It was great! I laughed and cried.

- Friday 6:00

Grant got tickets to a Wrigleyville neighbor appreciation event ON Wrigley field.

Here we are in the Cubs dugout.

Afterwards we were lead upstairs to the VIP area...

...where they served us free food and beverages.

All the food was really tasty. It was so awesome. I guess I'm a Cubs fan now, I just kind of feel obligated.

Friday 10:30

Revolver had a great show at IO! It was a blast.

Friday 12:00

IO Jam... Embarrassment ensues...

Friday ??:??

Brett and Seth being funny.

2007-07-25T12:03:00.001-07:00

When I first came to visit Chicago with Seth, Duncan and Nick, we stayed at this hostel. It was really cheap (30 dollars a night) and we shared a room with 10 other guys (all German businessmen). It smelled really awful in our room, so we wouldn't go in it until we absolutely had to go to sleep.

Now I work 1 block from it.

Another witty potty.

Ouch!

Blong!

2007-07-23T07:30:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a long long entry because I have so many bizarre pictures from this weekend.

Friday night I saw this. It made me giggle.

This was in the window of a Restaurant. I want to marry her.

So on Saturday, Chrissy and I went to the sheffield Garden Walk festival. It was super fun.

Sponsored by Coors Light. Is this Sac religious? It seems like it might be.

After standing around the crowded, beer soaked, stage area we decided to walk around the neighborhood. People were opening up their backyards to show off their gardens.

Garden #26

These guys were the main attraction of this garden. ADOWABLE! The owners of this garden also gave out free basement brewed beer (that was delicious), Sangria and Sausages.

They also owned this Porsche... It had the keys in it... I almost turned into a criminal.

Garden #72

This garden had the most exotic plants. So in terms of "gardens" this one was the winner in my mind... However...

The Rogue Garden

This "garden" was amazing, although it was not part of the official garden walk. I bet it caused a lot of controversy in the gardening community.

I need to do more sit ups...

2007-07-18T11:08:00.001-07:00

Friday night at the Improv Jam at IO. Embarrassment ensues!

This is the outside the new Spertus building. The future is now.

Mr. Clock loves Hubcaps! Quick question, what time is on his face? I can't tell if it is supposed to be 9:15 or 8:15? Also, I wonder what that purple puddle is?

At one point in my life it was a dream of mine to own a VW Bus and live a nomadic lifestyle.

I always see these things on buildings and secretly wish they were water slides.

2007-07-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

This does not appeal to me as a consumer...

2007-07-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is me as a Simpsons Character.

Basically, since I was in high school, I have been hoping a Simpson's movie would be made in my lifetime. Soon it arrives.

Yesterday I was looking at all the Simpsons merchandise at 7-11 and the thought crossed my mind;"what if it's not good?"

Then I asked myself "Is there any possible way it could live up to my expectations?"

Now all I can do is wait... If it sucks, I am going to go on a cross country trip and reevaluate my life.

Or Ill just lock myself in my room and cry for two weeks straight.

I really hope it's good.

Dead Wing

2007-07-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last night was Nick Morgan's last show with Wing Night. So we made sure to have a kick butt show to make it as difficult as possible for him to leave us.

Afterwards we went to town hall. I promised I would post every single picture from the evening. (note to family, this is not how I live my life).

It was a fun night. We will miss you Nick Morgan. Have fun "Chasing your dreams".

Filling in the blanks

2007-07-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

I went to see the Police in concert at Wrigley Field. Absolutely ______.

Saw Ratatouille in an AMC digital theater. Pretty ______ if you ask me.

4th of July Pool party...

________!!!!!

Obsessions

2007-07-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

These are things I am obsessed with recently:

I haven't collected comic books since i was 13, but I picked this up on a friends recommendation.

Its about a man and his monkey being the last males on earth after every other man on the earth dies. So all that's left a world of women. Sounds like a paradise, right Guys? WRONG! A lot of women are out to kill him...

It's so exciting and the characters are so good. Even if you are not into comic books this is a really fun read. I basically have bought the first 3 volumes in the past week because I can't stop reading it. If I know you well enough I might even let you borrow it!

*laugh* *snort* *push up glasses*

Next:

Go see this movie. Cry during it. Then get mad.

Moore has a way of twisting the facts sometimes, but no matter what you twist, you can't escape the fact that our health system is the worst of any western nation. And we are the richest country!

Next:

Avocados.

I have been ordering a ton of dishes with avocados in them. It's the only vegetable I can think of where I can't describe the taste at all... well, except for "exquisite".

Next:

The term "Have a good one!" instead of "Have a nice day!" or "Have a nice weekend!" etc.

It eliminates that quick bit of uncertainty when the phrase comes up. I always have to say in my mind "What is the person I'm talking to about to experience; a weekend? A Holiday of some sort? or just the rest of the day?"

The word "One" covers it all.

So, have a good one everybody!

Everyday Hero

2007-07-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is a tribute to:

This Cross Guard.

This man was flirting with every single woman who crossed the street. Not in a overly sleazy way, but he was very very persistent. It didn't matter the race, age or relative level of attractiveness.

"Have a splendid afternoon... ladies"

"Enjoy the TASTE... ladies" (with a sly emphasis of the word taste, as if to offer himself on the menu)

"Looking very nice today... ladies"

This was all accompanied by a wink and a "finger gun".

Most women just giggled and kept walking. But I did see a couple of older women turn around and give him a second furtive glance.

Way to go...

Way to go...

tree frog

2007-07-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

So yesterday after work I went to meet My IO Team Roadster for Dinner at Maggianos.

It was very very delicious.

But then an enormous tree frog began to destroy the city. (not true)

2007-06-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

More fake band names:

The Enormous Dumpster Rats

Overpriced "Festival"

Mr. Dangle and The Gravitrons

Fun with google Images

2007-06-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

Google Images

There are a lot of fun stories I have to blog about but no pictures to show. So I have decided to write about something and use the Google Images search engine. I will post the first image that comes up.

So I was the first Repeat customer at the new Korean restaurant; Bbop. The owners made a big deal out of it. Now I feel like I have set a dangerous precedent. Like if I don't show up a lot they will take it very personally.

Google Term: "Cheering Koreans"

In other news, we had a round-table discussion of the scripts we read in Jeff Grigg's Project Writing Class. Everyone who finished did such a great job and I can see all of the scripts in the movie theater in my head.

Jeff pointed out something about the reading of "Giggles and Spuds": As people read my script I looked as if I was hearing it for the first time and laughed harder at my own jokes than anyone else. I think this was because everyone did such a great job reading added to the fact that I find myself very funny.

Google Term: "Reading Giggles"

Lately I have been going out to lunch with coworkers to a restaurant called "Yolk". It's a southern style breakfast place. Grits make me feel like I'm at home.

Google Term: "Southern Style Breakfast"

Obvious "southern style" means "served only on Styrofoam" to Mr. Google.

Lastly, I played poker the other night and lost more money than usual. I usually start out OK but get very tired. At around midnight I turn into a very sleepy baby, and I usually start making stupid mistakes. But it is always fun no matter how bad I play. So I guess that's what I'm spending 40 dollars on...

Google Term: "Rationalization"

Eventfulnessness

2007-06-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

So the weekend held many fun surprises!

Had lunch with my pal from Wing Night, Mr. Nick Morgan.

Here we are waiting to be seated, and making a big deal out of it.

Friday night was the reading of my new screenplay, "Giggles and Spuds". I was uber nervous about it. It's a very vulnerable feeling to have an audience listen to something you have written. But overall I feel like it went well.

It's a dark comedy about a detective tracking down a homicidal clown and his midget companion.

So I think I might take a short break from screenplays and actually try to write a fun novel. I have two great ideas, but won't say what they are. Well, I will say that one idea involves assassins.

Here is an embarrassing picture of George Mcauliffe

He doesn't usually have a lazy eye, but this shot was taken at the exact moment half of his face decided to take a break from life.

This is Jill and Sean and I outside the Playground before our show opening for the Very Real Cops. It looks like she is doing something below the sight of the camera that makes her happy and makes us frightened. (E.G: Grabbing our butts)

Gay Pride spills out onto the streets, blocking Wrigleyville traffic.

So much fun! Gotta love Chicago!

Restaurant Review

2007-06-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

It's Open

B-bop, The Korean restaurant near my house opened up. I was so excited that I wanted to go right away. Chrissy and I met there for dinner, so here is my review:

Somewhere between the charm of a family owned restaurant and the hipness of an artsy coffee shop lies B-bop. Taste it once and you'll be saying "Mm, I'm glad I ate that".

this weekend's recap: Fact or Fiction

2007-06-18T08:35:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a weekend. There are so many things (events) that happened that I feel like blogging about. I also feel like lying. So I will post things that actually happened and things that didn't really happen and you distinguish which one is which... ok?

First off, my Playground Team Wing Night (see side menu) had a kickin' show at the Playground Theater. We seem to be on a pretty awesome winning streak.

Yes, for those of you not into Improv, you actually win or lose at every show, it is determined partly by the audience and partly by anonymous judges... or is it... *wink*

That night we held a party at my house for Jorin's (see side menu) 33rd Birthday which was really fun. It was quite a turn out. On one side of our apartment was Guitar Hero, on the other side was flippy cup.

Out of nowhere Chicago native Vince Vaughn showed up to the party and got into a fight with George McAuliffe... or did he... *knowing nod*

The next morning Seth and two friends of his from out of town; Jimmy and Sakik, went to the Cubs Game.

It was a terrible game (0 to 0) until...

Cubs Brawl! SMF!

Also this happened...

or did it... *touching nose with finger*

Then a lot of other stuff happened.

Oh! Almost forgot! Near my apartment a new hip Korean restaurant called B-bop is about to open up. This is very very exciting because I love Korean food and haven't had any in ages. The name B-bop is short for Bi Bim Bop, which is a popular Korean dish.

It doesn't look like much now, but I think it's going to be very popular.

Band Names

2007-06-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

So today, on my lunch break, instead of passively observing the world around me and taking pictures (the way cowards blog). I decided to actively look for things that would inspire fictional band names. I may have succeeded.

The Immigration Reflective

Sculptured Society

Witty Potty

Trichromic Escape Plan

Floating Receptacle

The Inflatable Rats

The Neon Hole Gazers

Randominate

2007-06-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is the graphic on the side of a bowling arcade game I saw:

I don't mean to be mean but bowlers tend to look more like this:

Be comfortable with who you are. That is all I'm saying.

Lunch Break adventure

2007-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Went for a walk at lunch.

I totally felt like I was Al Bundy! Or Balky! (fact: this Chicago fountain was used in the intro to Married With Children and Perfect Strangers)

As I walked by the fountain I heard some pretty funky blues in the distance... Uh Oh!

BLUES FEST!!!

These guys jammed out

So did these guys.

Actual quote:
Lead Singer: "I usually wear a black hat, that's what I'm known for, but it's too windy and it keeps blowin' off my head" He laughs. "If you want to see me in the black hat, type in "music" into myspace and then *band name* and then click on the picture of me. That's the hat."

I think he really wants to be known for the black hat. They were exceptional though. I have a soft spot for the accordion.

Gibson Guitars had an exhibit where you could play their guitars and actually mix it while you play. I grabbed that empty stool and gave it a try.

I might start a band now.

This was some sort of panel discussion by area jazz and blues musicians.

Actual quote:
Audience member: "So how much of blues is technique and how much is raw emotion?"
Panelist: "It's all emotion. Have you listened to blues?"

I wonder who sponsored such a discussion... Oh well, I'm in the mood for a slurpee.

Movie Reviews

2007-06-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

So Sean and I went to TWO movies on Saturday, and paid for both (wink).

They were both very good.

28 Weeks Later-

I was skeptical when I heard it was made by someone other than the director of 28 days later. But it's very scary, and pretty darn awesome.

Knocked Up -

I knew this one would be great, and it was. Hilariouso!

One of the most exciting things in the theater weren't the movies themselves, but the displays!

A life size version of the simpsons!

The Simpsons Movie is coming out next month, and I think it might be the first time I camp out for a movie. I just hope Lenny and Carl get there respective moments in the spotlight.

The Simpsons family left a space on the couch for Sean. Aww!

Although the movie is almost surely going to be terrible, they sure did hook me with this life size display of the silver surfer.

This is me racing the Silver Surfer to the bottom of a building. Guess who won?

The people standing around watching Sean take this picture of me.

1 more vacaysh post

2007-05-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, Lots of pictures and words from Chrissy. It was a very eventful trip, so that's ok.

Here are some more:

Chrissy and I on a really bad boat tour of starved rock. The tour Guide basically pointed out people fishing and described erosion as "falling dirt", which I guess is true. The funniest part was when she mistold the story of how starved rock got it's name, and used "like" for every other word. When someone asked her what year it happened she said "like, a really long time ago, like, over a hundred years".

The actual answer is 1763. After supposedly assassinating the chief of the Pontiac tribe, the Illiniwek fled to the rock to escape the vengeful Potawatomi tribe, The Potawatomi surrounded the rock forcing the Illniwek to starve on the rock.

We sarcastically give the boat tour two thumbs up. (which in sincere terms is two thumbs down)

After our historic indignation we went to one of my favorite historical landmarks:

2 awesome shirts and a pair of kickin sunglasses... 10 dollars.

Last night we had a wing night show at the Playground:

Matt and his wife Laura. Just wanted to put this picture on the internet. That's what it's for right?

Day 2!

2007-05-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

OMG you guys, Louie is letting me guest blog! This is Day 2 of our one tank trip. I want to flashback to Day 1 for a second.

Flashback!

Flashforward! The forecast was scattered thunderstorms all weekend, but lucky for us the skies cleared up overnight.

Lobby of the Starved Rock State Park Lodge. The lodge was built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps... more like the Civilian Funservation Bear Corpses.

The first canyon we walked to was St. Louis canyon, and we agreed it was the best.... for obvs reasons. Then we went back to the Lodge for a cute lunch on the veranda before hitting the trails again.

Another great hazard sign- nice bangs, shadow man! This is a great hiking park with many trails, and because of all the canyons there are many sections that are nice wooden steps and planks.

There are many signs reminding vistors that it is illegal to go off of marked trails, even though the trails lead into canyons like this one where you can easily walk into the sandstone formations. It takes a little bit more effort to be a big man hero and climb out onto a tree limb over the Illinois River.

Probably the best thing about these guys is that they held that pose, arms up, for a solid five minutes while their girlfriends took their picture.

So many canyons!

A scenic overlook!

Louie just asked me why it was taking me so long to post, so just one more thing. More fun from yesterday at the visitor's center:

awwww! Get this guy on cuteoverload.com. The ear to head ratio alone will qualify. He's all, "Please syr, do ye have a cup of corn chowda for a travelin otta just off the trail?"

awwwOh, wait a second...

Looks like someone should make a hazard sign for all the cute forrest creatures :(.

Vacaysh

2007-05-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

=
Starved Rock Park Illinois

Day 1 (as written from the perspective of Day 2)

So it's been a fun couple of days so far here in starved rock. Chrissy and I have so many pictures it will be difficult deciding which ones to "photo blog". She is going to guest blog later tonight and give her more feminine take on the trip.

So when we got to Starved Rock...

Rain... And Lots of it...

So we spent some time in the visitor center:

Ew Bugs....

Chrissy makes a fur trade with a French Canadian.

This sign made me laugh way too loud for a visitors center.

We venture out in the rain and go up on starved rock. Free Viewfinders! That's progress.

After the fun it started pouring, so we did something we can't do in Chicago... Super Save!

another weekend happens

2007-05-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, weekends huh? Yeah, amazing stuff.

Here is an itemization... (while you enjoy these pictures look for secret clues as to a major change in my life)

Friday there was a festival near my work called "Manifest" It involved a lot of cool performance art.

This guy was studying notes on the ground and then finding the name on a big board behind him and scratching it out. It was really cool, because the entire time the performer/artist was so involved in his task that he never once glanced out the window.

This woman was meticulously moving soap from one pile to another. Again, really engaging.

This whole week has been the Playground anniversary. There have been a ton of fun events including a fake star wars themed bah mitzvahs, a 12 hour improv marathon, and a prom.

Here we are at the prom.

Sayjal, Damien (sp.), Chrissy and myself.

WING NIGHT! (minus Matt)

Jorin looked pretty awesome in his all black tux. Our friend Brian (on the right) was visiting from NC. He will be moving to Chicago soon. Great guy.

Chip may hate me for this, but it is maybe my favorite photo ever. He looks like an account manager on a business trip to San Francisco who is letting loose after having meetings all day.

That's my take on it.

Oh, did you figure out the clue? Ill give you a hint, it resides on my upper lip.

Sashay

2007-05-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a short history of the Chicago Sashay Company:

-The name "Chicago Sashay Company" actually originated in a Wrigleyville bar called Barleycorn. After an IO class one evening, our then nameless group went upstairs at barleycorn (which at the time was an almost always empty dance floor). We would go up and dance the night away, sometimes performing on-the-spot improvised dance that looked choreographed. We would do this by following each other, sometimes there would be a leader and sometimes the group mind was so strong, there wouldn't be a leader at all. It was beautiful, and all unspoken.

After an hour or so, patrons would come upstairs to see what the commotion was about and the upstairs dance floor would fill up and sometimes people would join in our dances. We welcomed them with open. flailing arms.

A promoter at Barleycorn came up to us one day, and said he liked what we were doing and asked if we would do it at other clubs he promoted. He then asked our name, and Anthony, without thinking about it, blurted out "Chicago Sashay Company".

Our slogan is "Follow our feet to you're heart". It's also our philosophy.

That was over two years ago, now we dance before the wildly popular live game show "Don't Spit the Water".

We will be doing Improv (and possibly some dance) at IO on Thursdays for the next few weeks. Please come and enjoy.