whoops ... gave myself food poisoning ...

So the other day, I decided to make pork and sauerkraut ... added applesauce and potatoes ... perfect combo. Cooked it in the crock pot for 4 hours, was tasty :). Went to work the next day ... nauseated ... varnicked a couple times enough to go home. Figured it was just the 24 hr stomach flu I'd heard was going around at work ... think nothing of it, just feelin crappy. Decide to "re-heat" dinner in the crock pot ... only fell asleep and it was left to cook at least another 6 hours at least by accident. Looking at the porkchops ... they looked pretty well-done, juicy and tasted amazing the sauerkraut and applesauce mix was less runny ... perfect! ... thinking back to the previous taste ... I'm not sure the porkchops were cooked all the way ... either that, or the raw juice had mixed in with the sauerkraut liquid ... either way, it was no stomach bug ... only a faulty crock pot that doesn't heat to a high enough temperature on high simmer ... serves me right for using a crock pot someone gave me for free ... because they chose never to use it ... whoops :)

Forgot about Jewel

So, I was waiting for an important phone call this afternoon and decided to do some online surfing ... seems a funny phrase since I've never stepped foot on a board ... but anywho ...
I was thinking about Nickle Creek's The Hand Song, and it got me thinking about Jewel's old song: Hands ... specifically the Christmas version.

In middle school and high school, the only way in which I was your typical teenage girl was in the fact that I watched watched TRL, on top of my jewel albums ... didn't have the Jewel poster, but I had the fold-out that came in one of those infamous teen-bop or whatever they were called magazines ... among many pop artists at the time I had on the wall above my bed. Yes... and I must leave room for gasps and cringes ... among Hanson, N'Sync, Bewitched, and Spice Girls. I listened to oldies, classic rock, boy bands, and strange girl groups. But Jewel ... I think every girl owned a Jewel album, so I feel far less shame in this. She ended up one of the decent pop stars ... but I wondered what happened to her. I'd heard she did quite a bit of charity work ... healthy water in Africa. Then, I remembered Dancing with the Stars that I watched a few episodes of a while back with my mum ... she married the rodeo dude. After a little bit of google-ing and finding her website, I've figured it out. She went country .. not big country, but nevertheless Country. Not half bad either ... the breathy-ness of her pop days has been replaced with a supported early Shania Twain voice ... keeping the unique quality that we loved intact. When I have money ... I think I just might have to buy an album. :)

ask an alien bee to flash you

So, lately I've been looking into getting my own light set. It's getting harder and harder to reserve the lights when I need them at school, and I'm not sure getting so used to extremely expensive equipment is all that healthy, as in the future, I'll never afford to work with such a luxury, let alone know if it's really the best thing out there to use: Profoto. I started investigating Paul Buff's, i believe that's his name, line of White Lighting and looking at some of their accessories brought me back to AlienBees. I don't even need the highest powered unit, and they're the most inexpensive i've seen outside using the actual flash setups. And get this, they do a student discount, but it includes part time as well as full time students. On top of that, you don't even have to be a photo or even an art major! They make a ring flash. The units are even cheaper than buying ttl flashes! So I think it's time to spread the word on alien bees ... and how they pretty much deserve to take over the planet :) Plus, they come in fun colors ... even the neon green I so dearly love in a color palate :)

A new drama ...

Okay, I have a new japanese drama to add to my list of find (aka: get my hands on) and watch: Ryokiteki na Kanojo ... Literal translation: "That Bizarre Girl"

It's a drama adaptation of my one of my favorite Korean films: Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (My Sassy Girl, 2001)

I guess Hollywood tried to adapt the story in 2008 ... it's no wonder I never heard about it ... it failed miserably when they lost the true essence of the story's characters which made the original Korean movie absolute cinematic perfection. It's not the first time Hollywood just hasn't understood the essence of a foreign film and failed attempting the re-make! They did it to a favorite German film "Mostly Martha".

Here's a couple Links:
Imdb Link for Korean Movie
Wikipedia Link for Original Korean Movie - much better description/ synopsis
DramaWiki Link for Japanese Drama

Family life

In an age where media seems to have taken over civilization, I've been thinking about the turn that society as a whole has taken. When I say it's taken over civilization, I mean society's spirit, inner core; ideas, ways of thinking; morals, values. The direction it's going is certainly not good.

In the way I mean media, ever since people could watch things move on a little box in their own home set to sound, humankind has been addicted to the stories they hear and see on television. When I look at the kind of shows on tv nowadays, most of it makes me want to gag! I can think of my favorite television show growing up that was contrary to today's common norm. About the time that it was cancelled would be described by many as the fall of decent family television ... a time where morals and values were expressed with drama, mystique, interesting characters that you couldn't wait to get to know better with the next week's episode. Shows that conveyed the strengths as well as weaknesses of the human condition, teaching morals without rating high on the hokey meter.

The show was Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman. It was a show that families sat down every Saturday night to watch together. It was a time set aside, to stop living in a thousand directions, to drop what you were doing and just spend an hour together without distraction watching an actual decent show and learn a little something ... whether it was a moral teaching or even the historical context that was incredibly accurate. During the commercials, you'd talk about what happened that day, things you were excited about that was going on in your life. When it was over, you'd be excited about what would happen next week, even amazed or surprised by something that happened that night.

I've been watching some old episodes, and it brought back fond memories. I remember it having the same effect as a nascar race in our house, something rare ... when it was on, the channel was not to be changed. It was how we spent our Saturday nights ... Dr Quinn, followed by Walker, Texas Ranger. Occasionally, mom would try to put me to bed after Dr Quinn, but I'd usually find some way to stay up and watch Walker with my parents :)

a little bit of humor :)

So this was my last project for advanced lighting ... was due last thursday.
Must say, these were a lot more work to set up and far more intricate than they look :)
Just lugged around a 3-head profoto 2400 watt kit, an extremely heavy battery pack, light boxes, a stand-kit, tripod, pocket wizard, and used gels over a 20 degree grid spot to match the color balance

1am

So, it was pointed out to me oh so obviously by a certain bobby character that I have yet to update this blog in the recent past, so here goes.

At 1amthis morning, I did something I really can't afford, but was completely worth it. bought the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Live deluxe edition ... It may sound lame and not exciting to the casual random observer, but if one understood the utter magnitude importance and sheer glee of this purchase for me, it would be less lame. I really hope that the Columbus, OH ... i believe 2006, or maybe it was 2005 performance of Gospel Song is included ... that would turn my glee into ... what's better than glee? hee hee ... rhyme, there.

Also, I must mentally note these: If I have any money in the forseeable future, these must be added to my library ... some to replace their paper counterparts.
book one
book two
book three