Seattle Trip: June 29-30, 2004.

A quick biz trip with a little fun sprinkled in along the way. Flew out Tuesday a.m., took the red eye back on Wednesday evening (a first). I LOVED Seattle -- the residents swore up and down that it really does rain there all the time, that the clear cloudless days are rare, and that yes, the seafood rocks.


The Needle. Taken on my back in a lush patch of shaded cool green grass... and not a cloud in the sky. 

I called Shannon immediately after getting off the plane - "We have to go on vacation here!". After having some decent tour guides along the way those 2 days, i'm happy to say that it wouldn't be too difficult to have a good time on our own.

This never hurts either (it's the original, in the market): .

Public Market, Seattle. The market awakes and the 'fish guys' start setting up for a busy day. Remember the Levi's 501 commercial they filmed here? 

Early morning on a Seattle Summer. Brisk and Crisp. The Public Market starts to wake up. Seattle Trip June 30, 2004 

The Pig... The True Story of a big bronze pig.

After I got home, i was reading a copy of a Seattle Visitors Guide I picked up in the Hotel. I found out that the pig i sat on in the Public Market is named 'Rachel'. She was created by local artist Georgia Gerber and modeled after her neighbor's late pig -- this 'piggy bank' has collected over $100K since being set up by the Pike Place Market Foundation. Groovy.


The Pig 

SCI FI FUN

Had a good time at the Sci Fi Museum while out in Seattle. Overall impression -- loved the video visuals and the full sized models -- but didn't love how short the overall tour was and the amount of 'books' hanging as memorabilia. Of course, the Museum only opened 12 days ago, so it has lots of promise moving forward.


Having Fun at the Sci Fi Museum, June 30, 04 


It's official. July 30, 2004, 12 days after opening. 

Ugly Mug Shot?

Maybe, maybe not, but it's neat to be added HERE

Atlanta House -- from Space! Now that's a bird's eye view! 

The House, Fall 2003 

It took me five hours, but I finally reeled him in! (then I ate him for dinner later on!). June 2004. Wrightsville Beach, NC 

One Happy Family. June 2004. 

Now all we need is some lemonade. June 2004. Sam and Cousin Colby. 

Hangin out. June 2004. Wrightsville Beach, NC 

Sam and Cousin Colby, Wrightsville Beach, NC, June 2004 

On the High Seas! My first boat ride! June 2004. 

This is the life! June 2004 

Diggin under the dock. June 2004 

Wanna go swimmin at the Y? May 2004 

Feet on the Beach. June 2004 

Troy



OK, I saw Troy the other night. Not bad, not great though. My biggest issues with the film were:

• That awful music -- someone somewhere made a bad choice on the music. It really ruined it for me... especially the pseudo-Gladiator female hum-drums. Felt inferior, say, to LOTR.
  
• Who do I root for? I didn't realize it until after stepping out of the movie, but our BIG, SUMMER POPCORN movies have heroes, winners, victors. I was in the mood to root for a hero, but it felt like a tragic ending. We all know it's the ump-teenth version of this story telling, but still, if you aren't going to have redemption in the movie, maybe you should think about a Fall release instead.
  
• Comparisons to Gladiator. One movie sticks with me still, the other doesn't. Any guesses which is which?
  

More to come on The Day After Tomorrow, but for now, check out Seth Shostak's great review.

U Linked In?

An old colleague connected me with Linked In, a business networking site. Good stuff -- and a good way to both remember old networks and build new ones.

Seems more like a job-seeker network at first glance, but I do enjoy being able to connect to older co-worker contacts via my closer contacts.

Here's my profile/connection (not much info, on purpose)

LOTR: ROTK

It's finally here... but I'm waiting. I've bought the theatrical versions and then ponied up again for the extended versions of both Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, but this time, I think I'm waiting for extended version of Return of the King. It pains me to think of how long I have to wait (isn't it November when the EE's come out?), but I think ROTK: EE will ultimately be more satisfying.

I've sort of closed the book on the series for a while - probably better to crack it back open with extras later on this year.

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Email Scams

It still boggles the mind when I receive those chain emails claiming that 'if you forward this email to 10 people, Gates, Ballmer and Microsoft will guarantee you $10,000'.



OK, that might not match the language claimed in the email i received the other day, but I WAS able to see hundreds and hundreds of email addresses AND witness a whole lotta spammin going on.

Among the more outrageous (and funny) claims on the email I received was that someone had 'checked out snopes.com' and since it wasn't listed there, the claim is probably true. Hello?

What do I think it is? My conspiracy theory mind says it's an email spam harvestor letting everyone do the work for him. My practical side says it's just plain dumb spam in an era where we should already know better. Check your inbox lately people?

Sam's Trip Home 

Sam, 1 yr old poses

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