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.
- Auto












- Cloudy












- Tungsten

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.