Tour of Missouri 2008

The Tour of Missouri came back through the Show Me State for its second year. This year's lineup had a pretty impressive showing by Pro Tour teams, featuring (among others) Team Columbia, Liquigas, and Garmin-Chipotle. Thought I would share a few pics from the festivities down at the Branson time trial. We had a killer opportunity to meet Jonathan Vaughters, director of Garmin Chipotle and hang a bit with Mike Tamayo, director of HealthNet/Maxxis. We were at the start for the team warm-ups and then made our way to the finish where we caught George Hincapie and Mark Cavendish. The bike photo is Cavendish's TT bike. Cuh-razy.

So, a good time was had by all. That is, except for the guys riding the Branson "hills". It was stupid steep.  See pics at my Flickr page.

Hitting the big time

Since it probably isn't in his character to trumpet achievements in the blog-o-sphere, it is my pleasure to introduce one of the most-recent examples of Tim's awesome work in the graphics world. The crew at his office have worked for quite a while pulling things together and the result is pretty darn cool. I'm just chuffed (Aussie for 'pleased/proud/excited') that my brother works on music videos - watch out MTV!

Ha Ha Tonka "Caney Mountain" from Barkley MDFX on Vimeo.

Life Zero

I'm a big fan of listening to podcasts while I work. For the most part, a lot of the work that I do is technical animation and video stuff that doesn't require my full attention. That may sound a bit odd and counter-productive, but it's a lot like listening to music while working around the house. I have a task and it's just a matter of executing.

So, while listening last week I came across a podcast called "Life Zero". Started by a guy named John Flowers, it is a "lifestyle design concept" based on simplifying your life. He has 10 "rules" that apply to living "Life Zero", and for the most part, I think they're great rules of thumb.

1. Only what you need (living free from excess)
2. Eliminate Baggage (don't hang onto negative emotional stuff)
3. 6 months, lose it (if you haven't used something in 6 months, donate it)
4. New in = old out (get something new, something old goes away)
5. Share things (experience, property, point of view)
6. No debt (bad stuff like credit card debt)(he even says no to home loans)
7. Travel more (always prepared to travel)
8. Make friends (reach out and be social)
9. Choose your environment (be conscious of how you design your surroundings)
10. Find your joy (find what you love to do and do it)

He tends to get extreme in some cases and it's not for everyone, but it's a great place to start. Rachel and I have recently been discussing the stuff that we collect and with Josh talking about it too, this podcast has made for interesting listening.

Life Zero site

Balance

One of my favorite topics over the past years has always been balance - my instant messenger icon is usually a yin-yang, I've done ballet, and pulled a double-major through undergrad....balance is a key. This was highlighted during one of my recent photography classes where we discussed White Balancing. The new digital cameras all get create their own reality of what color 'white' actually is, which then sets off a whole chain of events on the rest of the color spectrum. The balance part though still comes through because as you change the definition of 'white' you also compromise on other colors. Set your white balance to 'flourescent' to minimize the tint of interior lights and you'll end up emphasizing the greens of the same picture. This can be useful in some situations, harmful in others and just 'interesting' for some portion of the time. Using the balance to your favor is the skill I'm supposed to be working on - so check out these shots of the coastline and see where your balance finds you.
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Baggage

We have just completed moving yet again, and each time I end up surprised at the amount of baggage that we collect. This time we were in the place only 6 months and yet somehow we accumulated all sorts of stuff we didn't have the last time - a grill, shoes, jackets, movies, computer gear, a printer....individually it never seems like much but all together it is multiple loads in the little Holden Astra hatch! Each time we move we swear that we're not going to collect as much stuff, that we'll 'graduate' items more frequently rather than being packrats. This however is too much to promise, as already by day 3 in the new place we've already got new scuba gear to fit in somewhere along with shelving units and a planned coat rack. Perhaps someday we'll get it under control, it just won't be this time apparently.

On a sidenote, if you haven't listened to the new Sneaky Sound System single I would recommend it - mainly for the chorus. The reason should be painfully obvious.

The List

C'mon, everyone has one. Whether its written down or just in your mind, you know its out there. The list of "Things I want to experience before ________". For some folks it is before they retire, before they die, before they get married, before they have kids, before they turn 20-30-40-50......hundreds of variations but the same basic concept. There are a number of goals/targets and they are a way to measure your accomplishments in life.

Since I'm nearing one of these landmark events (Hooray for July 27!) it is time to consider my list. I think my list mainly includes travel and skills improvements. Travel list includes France, Norway, Italy, China, India, Belize….you get the picture. Skills improvements: I would like to learn more about photography, improve my Spanish, try to learn another language like Chinese or French, and maybe throw in some broader cooking knowledge. I know my PB&J skills are top-notch, but beyond that I probably could do with some instruction.

The thing I’m more interested at this point is my other list, the one of “Things that I’ve already experienced”. This list is longer than I thought it would be – but I think that most people would have the same realization when they go through their own list. Most of us have accomplished more than we think we have – we just don’t look back that often. My list includes graduating college, actually getting a job and holding it for 7yrs, getting married, buying a house, selling a house, buying another house, traveling with family (including hiking 14,000 ft mountains, exploring Chile, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Luxumbourg, New Zealand and Australia), living outside of the US (including driving on the left side of the road), completing 4 marathons with my wife, completing an Ironman triathlon, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and even riding an elephant. Heck, that list is ridiculous and I’ve left things off the list like all the states visited in the US, the number of car accidents, all the shorter running events completed, the various injuries and surgeries, number of friends I’ve lost touch with, and the family funerals attended.

In the day and age of digital everything and having the world at your fingertips, understanding your own life story is an important. It keeps you grounded but also highlights why you are special. Unless you and your twin have done EVERYTHING together (doubt it) your experience list is completely unique. Sure its intertwined with others as Tim mentioned, but you can’t just see yourself as an insignificant piece of a massive puzzle. So go out and make your future list to keep building your individual experiences and links with the rest of the world – as your history list gets longer, the world gets smaller but the future list continues to expand!

Dinosaurs. Big Ones.

On Friday we had the opportunity to head down to the Sprint Center to see "Walking With Dinosaurs" a "live" experience brought to us courtesy of The Creature Production Company and the BBC. It has to have been one of the wildest things I have ever seen. Incredibly animated, life-sized dinosaurs roaming around the arena. Roaring, running, hunting and eating. If you have a chance to check it out, I highly recommend it. Even if you're not necessarily into dinos, go to see the mechanics of these giant lizards and how the artists who created them managed to capture life that existed hundreds of millions of years ago. I could have sworn the T-Rex was breathing. There's a moment where you have to remind your instincts that you are looking at sculptures of foam rubber and not a giant Allosaurus who will rip you limb from limb. Our other favorite part was the inflatable plants. They would pop up during specific moments in the show and made for the coolest effect. Unfortunately the photos were shot with my phone because we were told that "flash photography makes the dinos angry", but you can still get the idea.

Pink is the new...pink

Over the weekend, one of my favorite Spanish cyclists Alberto "Conquista" Contador (my own unofficial nickname for him) won the Giro di Italia (Tour of Italy) cycling race. Originally his Astana team was not invited to participate so he took a lovely vacation with his girlfriend to the beaches of Spain. Next thing you know he receives a phone call from his Team Director and hops on a plane to Italy. I don't know about you, but to go from, "Gosh these beaches are lovely and this Pina Colada is splendid", to "I'm riding 3,424 km over the next 23 days over some of the most insane mountain climbs in all of Italy while wearing a pink spandex suit"... yikes. That's a little bit of "crazy". The man has some ridiculous skills. And some serious making up to do with his girlfriend for ditching her during their vacation. The 90,000 euros he won could help.

A bit of perspective

Brother Josh here again with a dose from Oz:
Tonight in WSET Level 3 Class, we were starting to tie up the loose ends, pick up the parts of the world we hadn't gotten to and be ready for our final test coming up in 3 weeks. Tonight focused on the minor wine "high quality" regions such as Greece, Israel, Jordan, and the US. Yup, we summarized the entire wine production of the US in half of a two-hour class. Grouped with such heavy hitters as kosher wine from Israel, it really made for some strange tasting notes.

In this class we've seen detailed maps of Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Greece all showing multiple wine regions, areas, climates, and cities. For the US, we got a broad view of the country, and then a detail of California - mainly focused on the bulk wine area of the Central Valley (think Paul Mason, old Earnest and Julio Gallo). Luckily the wines really proved themselves when up against the big wines of Greece. A great Chardonnay from Russian River, an absolutely MASSIVE Pinot Noir from Oregon, a Merlot and a fairly understated Zin (surprised me actually). Most of the class was impressed and surprised but I think it'll be a long time before they'd put some of the wines on the same par as first growth chateau from Bordeaux.

Somehow though, my formative wine years (aka - first years in a "real" job) were spent mainly in California and US wine and its my basis of comparison. I appreciate the structure of the "old world" wines, but there is something nice about the fruit and approachability of the US wines. Tonight it was a reminder of home and how there are so many wines available and many are quite good. It was also a reminder that to the rest of the world (ok, maybe just the UK), the US still has a ways to go before we get our own 2hr section of the WSET course.

KC Representin', YO!

So, thanks to American Idol, we have a fellow Kansas Citian in the news. Mr. David Cook, from good old Blue Springs, MO (a suburb of Kansas City) won American Idol last night. I have to say that even though I have a tough time watching American Idol even when there's nothing else on, the guy can sing and isn't your standard pop diva. So, congrats to hometown guy David Cook. I'm really hoping that he fares better than past winners. With the success of Daughtry, I think he has a chance with his style and voice. He has a mean version of "Billie Jean" that is definitely worth hearing.

Thoughts from Oz

Tim graciously provided me with 'contributor' status to his blog and thus I feel it necessary to actually contribute something to the space. I'll likely not be as prolific, but every once in a while when things get interesting I'll pipe in - and I just couldn't resist the title this go-around. So for part one, the discussion is tattoo's.

I've thought about getting a tattoo for quite a while - probably ever since seeing the celtic knot skin-art that Flea had on his chest. I've thought a couple designs would be cool, like a compass rose on the pointy vertebrae of your neck (the one that sticks out if you look down) but mainly just a bass clef of some sort. So thinking about this I ventured into the realm of "what do other people do" and boy oh boy was I surprised. Knowing that tattoo-ing involves lots of needles and permanence, what these folks go through is downright scary. I've found some great stories and illustrations on Dynamic Tattoo (just check out their 'Profiles' - 6 straight days of tattooing? Are you kidding me?) which happens to be on the Lonely Planet Blue List.

Overall, no ink for me (you can stop worrying Mom and Dad.....for now!) but the idea of a permanent and immediate reminder of an action, event, accomplishment or sorrow is one I'll likely not forget. I've already got the scars from bike wrecks, a knee surgery, an appendectomy, lawn shears incidents, and one on my thumb that I've had for so long I don't remember what happened. I do remember when and where Dad got the cross on his arm from and the frightening energy of the fire that day - and I can't forget Tim's scar from when I hit him in the head with a wooden stool...sorry bro. All of these reminders serve nearly the same result, they maybe just don't look as intricate, clean and colorful as some of Sara's work like this one. Have to say it looks pretty 'bass'-ic (Full credit to Sara Bowyer for the artwork - nice job!)

Wicked Cool

On Thursday night, Rachel and I decided to get out for a bit of culture and went to see the touring production of "Wicked". I had no clue what I was getting into other than it was about the witches from the Wizard of Oz and that there was some song in it about "defying gravity". Beyond that, I was blank. Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for my jaw to be on the floor the entire evening. First off, the show is led by two insanely powerful female leads, which, in the realm of your standard musical is pretty different (and AWESOME). And second, I love the idea of the "story behind the story". Just like in the "True Story of the 3 Little Pigs", we learn that there is a very different explanation for a very traditional story we're used to hearing. In the Kansas City production, Katie Rose Clarke was hilarious as Glinda and Carmen Cusack was stunning as Elphaba (the green gal). If you have an opportunity to see this show, run quickly. Do not hesitate. Even if the thought of singing witches doesn't trip your trigger, you'll want to see the mechanics of the Wizard in action. And between the emerald lines there is a pretty solid message about peace, tolerance and the power of fear that we could all do well to hear.

2009: The Year of the Spielberg

I was just reading a couple articles in my weekly email animation newsletter and saw a small feature on Steven Spielberg's upcoming projects. Plain and simple, 2009 is going to be ridiculous. He finishes off his summer 2008 with the 4th Indiana Jones. In and of itself - amazing. In the fall, he jumps into the first in a trilogy of films featuring the character Tintin (an absolute favorite series of mine growing up). Not to mention that series will be directed in part by Peter Jackson and star Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. Crazy. Follow that with a biopic of Lincoln starring Liam Neeson as the title character. I uncovered an exclusive pre-production photo and I think he looks pretty convincing. So, expect some mind-blowing coverage of the Civil War from gritty hand-held cameras. Then Steven takes a turn at executive producing with "Jurassic Park IV" which may or may not be alternately titled "Steven Gets a Fat Paycheck or National Lampoon's Exotic Dino People-Eating Vacation!" Either way, there will be cool dinos. And after that, another executive producer role for Mr. Spielberg with "Transformers 2: The Kingdom of the Chrome Hood Ornament" where, I've heard, Michael Bay might blow something up.

No matter what, it's going to be an "awesome" year for Spielberg. And I am certain, a need for an increase in Tim's entertainment budget for 2009.

My Mom's Got Style

In honor of my mom on Mother's Day I decided that I needed to revisit some of the old photo albums. What I found in each photo, over and over was a very happy kid who had the best mom there is. Not only is she the greatest, she had impressive foresight. So, as a tribute I made a small video. Happy Mother's Day Mom! Video

Pedal Power - Kail Style

Next week, May 12th-16th is National Bike Week. Many cities, including Kansas City are putting out a Car-Free Challenge to see how many trips by car you can save by riding your bike. I'm committing to riding as often as I can. While I think it is a fantastic initiative, daily commuters of Kansas City have one major challenge facing them and that is a safe way to get across the Missouri river. I've taken a number of harrowing trips across our existing bridges and none have been pleasant, especially at rush hour. Good news is on the way. I found out today from the Missouri Bicycle Federation that plans are underway to build a new Paseo Bridge. The construction company has found that they can add a separated bike/pedestrian path to the bridge for virtually no additional cost. I think it's still going to take some pushing and convincing in city hall, but it's a good sign. I also read that KC has now adopted "Car-Free Weekends" on Cliff Drive on the city's NE side. Streets are closed and only open to pedestrian, bicycle and skate traffic. They are baby steps, but still very encouraging in a country obsessed with the automobile. Other countries have integrated a car-free lifestyle into weekly activities and are setting the bar for the rest of us. So come on Kansas City! Lets get out and get moving gasoline free!

Practicing Letting Go

I got a phone call a couple weeks back from my brother-in-law Gabe. He invited me to participate in a street art event called the KC Chalk Walk. I arrived to find that we had a 16'x16' section that had been reserved for us to create something in. Gabe and his friend Long had already gotten started on a freehand drawing of a geisha, so I jumped right in and it was off to the races. With no real plan in mind and making it up as we went along we spent the beautiful afternoon pressing chalk to pavement. We would take breaks every now and then to toss the frisbee and then get back down to business. 5 hours and 4 large boxes of sidewalk chalk later, we deemed it "finished" and stepped back to admire our collaborative piece. After stretching and momentarily admiring our work, we all departed, leaving behind our geisha. I love the process involved in creating something, but I love even more the act of letting go of what you created. Nothing is permanent and chalk art is the perfect medium to train you that it's all about the moment and the creation, not the glory of the finish. That night, rain was in the forecast and I smiled, knowing that for an afternoon, a simple patch of concrete had been our canvas for a truly beautiful experience. See photos on Flickr.

Seeing Green

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. While working on a video project for the agency, we needed to capture some game play from the original Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo. Finding this project almost too good to be true, I had to go back and dig up my old Game Boy for the nostalgia factor. I wish that I had video footage from 1989 because you would see a kid sitting in the back of a big blue Dodge Ram van with vinyl seats, his focus locked on a light grey hand-held brick. Four simple buttons and a control pad were all that was needed to transport me to that magical land. When I describe the game now, I think about how much fun it must have been in the brainstorming stages of designing these games. "No, no, no... see he gets bigger when he eats the mushrooms, and when he grabs the flowers he can shoot an unlimited number of super bouncy balls! Who cares where the balls from! What? No he doesn't have a giant backpack! And yes, the giant seahorses will be breathing fire..." What a trip. Anyone else out there high on Mario?

You Take the Low Road, I'll Take the High Road

Last year, the Show Me State got its collective resources together and put on the Tour of Missouri, a premier cycling stage race. Big names came from around the world to compete and it was an amazing opportunity to see the last race of the Discovery Channel cycling team. From a fan perspective, it was ridiculously cool. I've posted some photos from last year on my Flickr page. This year it has been announced that the race will be one day longer and the yellow jersey winner from last year, George Hincapie will be returning to defend his title. George has always been one of my favorite racers in the pro peloton. He has a ton of class, a heap of talent and an honest approach to everything that he does. He's the only guy to have been on all 7 of Lance's Tour de France winning teams. There are a lot of reasons Lance needed George in the Alps of France, and September will be your chance to find out why he's considered one of the best. His new group of guys, Team High Road will be one to watch for sure as they have been winning stages in every major event this season.

Our Collective Memory

Linkory is a very interesting site with a pretty cool premise. The hope is that people will jump on to Linkory and use it as a social hub for connecting through memories of events. You can join existing conversations such as, "Where were you on September 11th, 2001?" or "What are your memories of last year's family reunion?" Friends and family can join your threads and upload their own versions of events through writing, photos and video. I think that it's a fantastic idea that is just in its infancy. So, jump on, jot down some memories that you're ready to share and see who else has had the same experience. Hey Josh, remember paper routes at 5am in the Iowa snow? I wish I had video. :) Thanks to Joseph Jaffe for the link.

Stefan and Buddha

Came across this beautiful piece about amazing designer/artist/cool guy Stefan Sagmeister, produced by Hillman Curtis Films. Featuring Milton Glaser, another favorite designer and showing off Stefan's work, it is an inspiring short film. I especially appreciate his list of mantras towards the end. My personal favorites, "Keeping a diary supports personal development", "Trying to look good limits my life" and "Worrying solves nothing". And watch for the wall of bananas at the end.

Fedora Style

It's a matter of 16 days, 13 hours and 16 minutes (according to the official Indiana Jones widget) until the release of the next installment of the Indiana Jones saga. I have always loved these films and grew up wishing that I had a bullwhip of my very own. Not only does this mark the day that Dr. Jones returns, it also means another fat paycheck for illustrator Drew Struzan. He's THE master of the movie poster. Everything else is just a knock-off. My Struzan favorites? Check out his 'Drawings' section.

First!

Our first iris of the season popped out yesterday! A bright and enthusiastic greeting for spring.

And the redbuds are in full bloom. That specific color has to be one of my favorite sights come April/May each year. The sun was shining and there were an awful lot of flower beds to inspect for our cats. Diego is always on code red high alert and Winslow is usually getting himself into trouble trying to eat something he shouldn't. All in all it was a great outdoor day for the Kail family.

Vader Loves Babies Too

This morning I participated in the March of Dimes "March For Babies" in Kansas City. It's a great fundraiser for one of our ad agency's clients. It was amazing to see so many people gathered in downtown Kansas City. The Power & Light District was hopping. With so many people there helping to raise money I shouldn't have been surprised that there would be celebrity appearances. But I was amazed to find that Lord Vader had sent a few Imperial representatives to walk a mile in full uniform. Apparently he has a soft spot after all.

And word must have gotten out about supernatural activity in the area because the Ghostbusters were also in attendance.

Word to your Mother Nature

Last night was a rough one here in Kansas City. Mama Nature showed us some of what she's all about come springtime in the midwest. They can't say it was a tornado, but sustained winds of over 80mph and what sounded like an impromptu monster truck rally in my backyard made for a pretty startling 2AM wake-up call. Along one of my favorite bike routes just north of our house, subdivisions were torn up pretty bad. I'll have more photos coming as folks here in KC wake up and survey the damage. Thankfully, no major damage to report at the Kail house.

George Lucas = Licensing Jedi

Mr. Lucas has to have a giant vault that he takes a daily swim in Scrooge McDuck-style. The man has gotten more cash from one film idea than I can wrap my little Jawa-sized brain around. And the hits keep coming...

Now, coming to a galaxy of possibility near you, no home-theater system is complete without this piece of galactic video awesomeness. What's next? Rocket boosters sold separately.

Rock and Republicity

Like the Oakland Raiders in football, the "bad boys" in the cycling game have emerged. The new Rock Racing Team is sponsored by the high-end fashion brand Rock and Republic and is quickly developing a rockstar image. After hiring a number of riders returning from doping suspensions many in the cycling community are distancing themselves from the controversy. In a strange way, I actually think Rock Racing is great for the sport. The coolness factor cannot be denied and I think that their whole approach has been new and different in a sport whose primary operation has remained virtually unchanged for decades. That, and team director Michael Ball has promised custom jerseys for almost every race, giving the team a hip and fresh look in the peloton. This ain't your average lycra. And I'm hoping, in 18 days, 10 hours and 31 minutes (according to Rock Racing's website) I'll be able to get my hands on some of my very own Rock Gear.

Seen here sporting custom jerseys for the recent Tour de Georgia.

Mika My Day

My brother and his wife currently live in Melbourne, AUS. It's fun to talk with them because you gain some perspective from the other side of the globe. In one such conversation this week, he and I were talking about pop sensation Mika. Just today I came across some amazing visuals created for one of Mika's live shows by Paris-based animation house Naked Cie. Beautiful work. Apparently Mika is huge everywhere but here in the States so I hadn't had very many opportunities to hear his vocal stylings or see his kick-ass white pants. But all that has changed now. Warning: This song will stick in your head instantly and cause you to inadvertently go skipping down the street.

Credit to motionographer for the original post.

Mika Relax (Live NRJ Music Awards 2008)
by Ambroise_biz

?uestlove

Ahmir Khalib Thompson is a guy I've been a fan of for a while. You may or may not know him by his professional name ?uestlove (Questlove) but if you follow the hip hop music scene you are most likely familiar with his image. He has one of the sickest internal metronomes I've ever known. The man lays down the beats in the band The Roots and is rock-steady. So, in honor of The Roots' new album release "Rising Down" I pay tribute to a master of the sticks and cans, ?uestlove. Who are your favorite bombastic beat-makers?

Re-Kicking It Off

It's time to get back to the blogging. I've been away for FAR too long, and for that I apologize. :)

I have come to realize that I am cutting edge at almost nothing. I don't have inside scoops or exclusives on pop culture, music or film. But what I DO have is a viewpoint. So, the best that I can hope for is to take stock of the world around me and begin to share my own Kail perspective. It will be odd. It could be mildly interesting, but mostly it's just a chance to put some good karma out there - doing it with style.