From The Back Row

Trip Back 2009

bigjohn — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:16:35 +0000

After last year’s epic road trip (14 days, over 4000 miles, 2 countries), I decided to play it cool this year and take it easy. I’ll escape soon after my exam on Friday, spend 2 nights in Atlanta (one of which seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd with Kid Rock), move along to Memphis and Graceland (and Corky’s). After that it’s Oklahoma City and Albuquerque. The final day is really more of a test than anything else, a 774-mile run from ABQ to Arcadia – just to see if I can do it.
Should be an interesting trip as it is probably the last of it’s kind for awhile.

Trip There 2009

bigjohn — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:38:01 +0000

Day 1 – Tucson
Late start leaving the Arc, didn’t actually pull out until just before 2pm. My punishment was one last dose of LA traffic (210 east, 71 south, 91 east). An hour later I was on 15 and headed for the border. Took the 15/8 route this time since the last time I went through PHX to Tucson I spent an extra hour and a half in traffic. Drive was good, scenic – plenty of rocks. Made a stop at the Golden Acorn Casino for gas. Didn’t really make a lunch stop per se, got into the Marriott here around 11pm and got a salad from rm svc. No pictures as my iPhoto just finished getting updated. Playlist for Day 1 is a little tragic – podcasts included MacBreak Weekly and GDGT, music ran the gamut – Buffett, Marley, Winger, Journey, NWA, Smash Mouth, Eli Young Band, Don Henley. I know, ouch.

Day 2 – Fort Stockton
Day 3 – Austin
Day 4 – New Orleans
Day 5 – Jacksonville
Day 6 – Fort Lauderdale

Road Trip!

bigjohn — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:46:21 +0000

Ok, so it’s been awhile since I’ve posted to my personal blog. There are many reasons, but the basic one is that I’ve been “participating” more on “The Facebook” lately. Also, I do use Twitter fairly regularly (and have been for 2+ years now), but since that is shown in this blog’s sidebar, I guess it counts as updating this site. Also, I haven’t been using Flickr much – that could change as well. Basically I’m becoming more of a mobile blogger which is basically Twitter (which updates my FB status). After it updates FB, my non-Twitter crowd can comment on that status and discussions form, etc.

Since I’m wrapping up school in the next few fortnights, I’ll come back to this, my personal blog more. I have plans to start at least one more blog which I’ll update regularly (at least daily to start). The plans are for a “lifestyle blog” covering topics that interest me and that I think will interest a lot of people. I’ll probably develop it while I’m in Miami and the best I can hope for is maybe a September 1st launch. More details to come on that down the road…

The roadie is in-place, leaving Friday and hitting up Tucson, Fort Stockton, Austin, New Orleans, Jacksonville & Fort Lauderdale. Graduation is next Friday, May 15th – you’re all invited – see you at the BUC!

Matt & I get the road trip thing

Gotta Get One – Paintball Turret

bigjohn — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:35:56 +0000

The last edition of “Gotta Get One” was in November 2007. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve gotten lots of things since then. The point of GGO is that when you have a seemingly unending source of cash, lottery-money if you will, this is a good place to start when you’re saying to yourself, “What do you get for someone that has everything?”

The answer… Paintball Turret! That’s right, this thing puts out paintballs at an astounding 34 balls per second. Per second! It can be remote-controlled and there’s a camera on it for remote viewing as well. Assuming the statute of limitations has been reached, I could say there was a time when mounting one of these to the roof of your SinBin would’ve meant utter destruction for all that lay in your path. Alas, that was a time when only Bosley on ‘Charlie’s Angels’ had a cel phone. Times have changed and you can be sure that the next iteration of the UAV will have one of these firmly mounted on top.

Something That Will Never Happen in LA

bigjohn — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:06:36 +0000

Calendar Review, Oct-Nov-Dec

bigjohn — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:54:09 +0000

Ok, so I’ve been remiss as of late to update the blog which I know everyone checks on a daily basis. I will be posting more now that my schedule has loosened up and I have some interesting tidbits to share as we head into ’09. Reviewing my personal and work calendar, here are some highlights from the last couple months:

In October, hockey got underway and I started another season of Ducks. High school football was also in full swing, so October was a busy month. In a rare turn, I had a chance to travel for a game to Oakland, one of California’s many garden spots.

November was also very busy, thankfully, with much more football and hockey, mixing in some NBA and volleyball. In the early part of the month, I went to DV Expo and got myself a video camera, the first I’ve ever owned (I know, shocking).

December brought more football and hockey, culminating with the State Bowl Games last week (presented by Farmers). I was able to finally shoot the main segment of my senior video project (due May 1st) which was nice, 6 cameras in a tv truck during a Ducks game – more than we had for the telecast itself. Things are winding down now and the sparseness of work in January and February will hopefully lead to more hanging out and other interesting things. I always have a few irons in the fire, so maybe I’ll finally get a chance to work on some different projects. March is looking extremely busy and before you know it baseball will be back and I’ll be traveling back to Miami for my final appearance in organized education. Stay tuned for those updates as well as my year-end reviews, keeping the folks updated on where I was physically and mentally in 2008.

Austin City Limits Festival ’08

bigjohn — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:23:16 +0000

Almost a week since I got back from the ACL Festival. Some really good bands, some crappy bands, some bands I didn’t even see. Lots of walking. Sunday night however, Kramer almost stole the show with two epic performances of “Stranglehold” in back-to-back 6th Street bars. The first was at The Thirsty Nickel:

The second perf was at Maggie Mae’s, which is incidentally right next door. If last call hadn’t been approaching, I’m confident a third performance could have been arranged.

Trip Back 2008: Inside the Numbers

bigjohn — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:22:46 +0000

Total days: 16
US states visited: 18 (8 I’d never been to before)
Countries: 2
Miles Traveled: 4,811
Miles Driven: 4,000 (811 miles on Amtrak Auto Train)
Fuel Costs: $1123.08

Popularity

bigjohn — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:27:47 +0000

Sweet Home Arcadia

bigjohn — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:24:40 +0000

Alright, so back home after some doing. The last few days after Chicago are a blur, basically nothing to report about Branson, Amarillo or Flagstaff. Also, no pictures since I’ve always posted many of the American southwest. Barring unforeseen windfall, next year’s trips won’t be as extensive or aggressive, simply a casual there and back across the lower half. I’ll hit some states I’ve missed (Arkansas) and revisit New Orleans and Austin along the way. Should be interesting, but only to dedicated road trippers like myself.