Halloween

Halloween Night Pizza and a movie. Saw was picked. Still shaking due to disturbance. Good night.

Tubby Aces the 18th Hole

VIDEO I can't just help but laugh at this video every time I see it. Ennnnnnnjoy

A kite string, a stick, a rubber band, a pack of matches, and a AK47.

In an attempt to relive a part of my childhood I decided to have a mini MacGyver marathon over the weekend. While it was an enjoyable show to watch as a child, in my older years it really brings up a lot of questions about the man that created a pipe bomb with his trusty Swiss Army knife and a bike. Something that you never really find out about MacGyver is who he really is. You could label him a government consultant, a contractor, or just a avid reader of tech books with the brain capacity of a dozen men but no matter what you say he gets the job done. One could just imagine how the skills portion of his Resumé read. "Used pen flares to blow up a jeep, Used chocolate bars to stop an acid leak in a top secret laboratory, or my favorite Rode a plain paper map down a sand hill while five men shot guns at me." Later that same map was used teamed up with gaffer tape to fix a hole in his hot air balloon. Team this show up with Night Rider, CHiPS, and a Party Pizza, and it describes every summer day of my childhood. Oh the memories. "The bag is not for what I take, it is for what I find along the way" - MacGyver

Driving South

Right now I'm heading down 52 on my way to the rents house for the weekend. On the radio is some German pop band singing about "Die Lollypop" (or those not fluent in German like me, "The Lollypop"). I suppose I should catch people up with the end of the week and the events that happened. Yesterday Wade joined us for a round of disc golf which he claims to be his "virgin" experience but based on his throws and his final scare in the round I would like raise the BS flag on that one. I think he beat us both by a good 4 or 5 strokes......ah....throws...ah....whatever they call it. This is to take nothing away from Wade, he played a great round and has strong wrists. I guess he must do some kind of exercises to help strengthen his wrists up. Yeah, that must be it. Today marked another feat (while small it still is a feat). Today a new song took over first place in my iTunes library most played playlist. After only being on the computer for just over two months, today Death Cab for Cutie stole the award from Dashboard Confessional who held on to the record for over 2 years. It was quite a stint that I thought no one would catch but today proves I'm always wrong. Just so you know. Death Cab for Cutie's Plans album gets my vote for 2005 Album of the Year. Since I'm at the rents house this weekend, I don't know when this will get posted, I guess when I find a Wi-Fi network or when I get back on Sunday. Everyone have (or hope you had) a great weekend, Beener

Rant

Nothing irks me more than not being able to find something. Since I moved into this apartment a few months ago I seem to be missing stuff here and there. During the move I really just kind of threw it all in the closet and hoped I wouldn't need it anytime soon. Well the time has come and now I need the stuff. I have spent the last hour and a half looking for ONE image that would be perfect for an instance that happened tonight when we were out getting some grub. I know the image number and exactly what it looks like yet still I can't find it to save my life, hence my irking. So that means I will have to skip that story and move to a less important but still equally unentertaining one. With the perfect weather that we have had the last couple of days, Bisher and I have got out to the disc course to shoot a couple rounds directly from work. When arrive around 4:30 and usually play through the nine hole course twice before messing around on hole one for a bit before heading home. Well today we had just finished our second round with neither of us shooting that well (we were trying a new technique for throwing and it was pretty hard to get used to) and we were heading to the first hole for our usual routine when three boys came up and asked if they could join our round. Well we had nothing better to do so we joined them in a round of 9 which proved to be very interesting. I like to think of them as Larry, Darrell, and Darrell from the Bob Newhart show (I hope that is the names and the proper show...if not, I'm sure someone will correct me) with one being the ring leader and the other two just there for the ride. Now Larry was a pretty good player but he also told you he was at every hole that we went to. The other two could throw the disc but nothing that was outstanding, heck I think I beat them, but it wasn't until the end when Larry asked for our phone number so we could play again where Bisher's quick thinking happened and we told him that we play there a lot and maybe we would see him some time. Oh one last rant before I wrap it up and go to bed. Why if you are pregnant, would you still smoke? I understand that is how social life cycles continue but come on. So no picture with this one, you can thank my unorganized photo collection for that.

Midweek playlist

Started the day with a little podcast action 43 Folders and ESPN Radio Then started the music The Alkaline Trio - Crimson Fiona Apple - When the Pawn... (Amazing) Guster - Keep it Together Hole - Live Through This The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving (Becoming one of my favorites) That gets you through an 8 hour day. Later, oh and don't worry I have plenty of things to post about just from TODAY.

Title that doesn't belong with post. Dunno

Some great events have happened around me in the past few days that I would love to write about but it seems that all the good stories have restrictions on them so it really limits what I should be saying about anything. Last night...peephole...cops...arrest. That is all I can really say about the situation. Sucks but that is how is it. Now for the official Wife Hunt 2005 update. Well nothing new in the official update but today was a giant step in the process. Today I got a very lovely email from Miss Eileen and she was a sweetheart like she always is. She said she is the queen of setups and I trust her enough so maybe there will someday be an update to this area of my life and actually make this blog fun to read. I feel that the subjects are starting to just kind of boring so I need to create some excitement in my life. Just think about how great a post would be about my first ever date? That is just going to be a circus event if there ever was one. Eek. Alright folks, image today is just a random image...only because I thought it needed an image.

It's alive....it's ALIVE!

Good New from Camp Beener tonight. A few weeks ago my Xbox died with a HD seize-up leaving me bummed that I have all these new games but nowhere to play them. So today I was digging around my room and plugged the old xbox in and BAM....the beast started right back up acting as though it never broke down in the first place. Now I can update my hockey rosters and start my season fresh again. Man is it good to have the weight-box back.

Vikings win???

After an upsetting win by the Minnesota Vikings today, my day started going downhill. First off that means that Mike Tice will be keeping his job for another week which is what exactly the Minnesota team needs to continue down the path of failure. Do you think that if we had a completely losing season some other city would gladly take the team from Minnesota? I'm going to keep my fingers crossed on that one. Today was also a sad day because in my round of disc golf as I lost my second disc to a water hole. The winds were pretty strong out of the north and I think that it just slipped in my numb hand (you know it was only like 40 degree out today) and went sailing straight for the pond. I'm just glad we are at the end of the season rather than the beginning or I would be spending a small fortune to replace the lost discs. I'm sure that everyone knows what kind of Apple freak I am by now and the last two weeks have paid off in terms of new products that are going to change everything for the company. First off the Video iPod was released. Sure video on a portable is cool and all but that isn't the part that driving me to buy one (and yes I will be getting one sooner or later, anyone want to start a fund up for me?) but the option to get a black iPod with 60 gigs of storage is amazing. On my visit to the Apple store in Rosedale Center on Friday I held and played with one of the new iPods and they are cool on the website but even cooler in person. The size is just amazing as well as the 20 hour battery life and bright new screen. This week Apple released one of the greatest programs that a photographer could ask for, Aperture. This is a pure RAW conversion program and it looks amazing without there being a flaw it in (hell Apple did make it so I doubt there is one). Everything in realtime and such at whenever a program is created by the same company as the hardware, you know you will have a great piece of software. They did also release new Powermacs (Quad processors in the top of the line) and new Powerbooks that were very disappointing to me. I feel I am among a large portion of the Apple family and is waiting to see what they can do when they throw the Intel chips in them. Wow, this is a lot for one post so I think I will cut it off here. This week could bring our first real heavy freeze which means we could be getting our Indian Summer by next weekend, just in time for me to go back home for the weekend. So Rochester Crew sign in and we can see each other next weekend. Later all, Beener

Updaters

It has been a few days since I have last posted so I thought I should catch things up. The prints and the frames have both been ordered and I believe they should both be here by the end of next week. Searching for photos on CDs labeled "Photos" proved to be much more of a challenge then I originally planned (hence the photo). You stick a disk in and it brings up certain month of photographs but when you don't know when you shot the photo that you are looking for it makes for a lot of putting in and pulling out of CD/DVDs. Yesterday after work Bisher and I went and visited the old stomping grounds of Roseville. For those who don't know me very well, I'm totally obsessed with Target. I feel that Target is the greatest store ever created and it would take a whole lot to make me change my mind. Well in January right before I moved home the Target in Roseville (store #1) was going to close and be torn down to make for a new Super Target. Well it has just finished and I made (he really didn't want to go into it) Bisher stop by so I could say I was there. It still smelled new and that really took away from the normal buttery popcorn and cheap clothes smells from all other Target stores. We also hit up Harmar and checked out the Disc Course up off of County C. Which brings me to today. The weather this morning was perfect, sunny and cool. We decided to try out the course up in Roseville and played 14 of the 18 holes. I in the process lost a disc to a nice green pond (I had just bought the disc on Friday) but I did find someone else's disc in the woods. At that point, we called it even and left. Still to come: Video iPods alongside Quad processor G5 Powermacs (¿Does life get any better?), Aperture, and Wife Hunt 2005

Feedback......good.....

First of all I would like to thank everyone for all the feedback I have received on the photos. Everyone is so kind and all of your votes and kind words have lead me to do three photos. The pink, the yellow, and the purple will all be entered into the benefit show coming up on November 19th. I was going to order the prints tonight but just as I was doing that, Bisher decided that he wanted to use the computer and logged me out. I never got a chance to get back to them tonight (I finally finished Season Four of Six Feet Under) so I will order them tomorrow after work. I'm very exciting to see the printed images (at least the purple one, I already have the a print of the yellow and pink one above my bed), and get this off for the show. It makes me very nervous though as I really don't know how others will respond to them. If it is anything like what I have heard through here, everything will be fine. Sitting here in bed at ten minutes to eleven and I just realized that I don't have a title or an image to throw with this thread. Sure have images shot, but they are for different rants and hub-bub. Something to look forward to in further posts: cubical life, the morning crew, and two disc golf matches set up for next week. Good night all, Beener Okay, I'm going to post this now without an image. Sorry all. In 5-----4-----3---2----1-----::poof::

Life is...good.

When I start a new post the first thing that I do is try to find a photograph that will help get the message across. Tonight I had a few to choose from and I thought that this photo showed the true feeling of how my Sunday really went. Yes, Bisher and I went to KFC for dinner tonight after getting some groceries. We have both discovered that we have evolved enough from our Neanderthal heritage and have found that it is much easier to eat chicken that is pulled off the bone for you rather than feeling like a staving dog digging through the trash for the bone. This was a discovery we made after we finished trying to eat chicken that was still 160 degrees hot (I swear this chicken was straight from the fryer). Next time we stick with the strips. The sad part about sitting in a dirty KFC (besides feeling the toe of your shoes start to curl due to the grease impacted into the floor) was a man in his early thirties with an employment pages in his hand and asking the cashier if they had any applications to fill out. At this moment I knew that things weren't that bad for me and it made me content to what I have.

Alright another double post day

Okay people, today is a very important day that each and everyone of you will be needed. No we aren't getting drafted for the war, and we aren't protesting the rights of animals. Today we are voted for what picture(s) are going to be used in the upcoming auction to help out Greg. So please if you do read this and take a look at the photo...please please leave a comment and tell me what one you like the best. Each photo is 18x12 and will be framed at 22x18 (except for the image of three which I don't know the size off hand (something like 33x13 or something around there)). I thank you all for looking at them and helping to pick the one that will be sent off to the printer this week.

Disc Golf Pro

Only one week into the sport, you are now reading text written by someone who is a pro, because only a pro would own 4 discs...right, Right, RIGHT? Today we played two different courses, one in Plymouth and the other in Burnsville. Both courses are very very challenging and I didn't shoot very well either due to my arm injury (as stated in an earlier post). At least now I have enough discs that someone can join me if they want. Any takers?

Fulfilling a request and catching up with some back logging

Per request from a reader of this blog I decided to post this picture so that all who were at the party can remember the crazy night of the "boys that wore the same exact shirt". By the time that this photo was taken, everyone was pretty relaxed and everything was funny.
By the time this picture was taken we were looking for crazy shit to do. Why not long exposure flashlight and sparkler photo fun? Because really, what is more fun that a bunch of drunk people with pyrotechnics?
For those who do not know about this night, it was Wade and Emily's house warming party and it was a blast. Where else can you find nice people to throw your brat burger on the floor, put it back on the grill and wait until you are a third done before telling you?

Start of Golden Gopher Hockey

The weather is cooling off, leaves are changing and falling off trees, and you see the stupid squirrels searching for the last acorns on the ground. This is also the start of the college hockey season. Friday I had planned to go to Wade's house to watch the game and get a pizza, but at 3:26 I get a phone call from my mom that they had gotten four tickets to the game. After making a few phone calls we had it all set up that it would be me, Wade, and the rents. The game was pretty good with us falling behind late in the third only to pull the goalie and score within the last minute of the game (while on the penalty kill). We lost in overtime 4-3 to Alaska Fairbanks. Before I left for the game, Bisher and I had planned to go play a round a disc golf. In a dumb move, on my part, I tried to send a huge tee shot off on the very first hole. I pulled some muscle in my right upper arm and I feel that I must place myself on the IR (injured reserve for you non-sportsminded people). This could take me off the tour and plague me for the rest of my disc golf career. Oh why, oh why did I try and launch my midrange disc over 150 feet for an easy birdie. DAMN ME!

Disc Golf

In another attempt to deceive boredom and get out of the apartment for a while, Chris and I have took up another new sport, Disc Golf. This sport is fairly cheap ($10 for the disc) which makes it a good thing to try out. So on Monday on our day off we went to the MOA and bought a disc a piece. We went looking for the course but not finding it late in the afternoon we decided to wait until another time.

Today was that other time. We went to the course in Eagan which after coming home and reading a tad about it seems to be a fairly short course with no holes going over 300 ft. You would think that would add an advantage to novice players like ourselves but we still couldn't shoot worth a crap. On my first round I shot a 40 (on a par 27) and the second time through I threw a 37 (hey at least I'm getting a little better). With those scores I got my butt kicked by Chris (who can't even throw it straight) but it killed two hours of our day and gave us a chance to enjoy the wonderful fall weather again. Will tomorrow bring the winding hills of Burnsville?

Last Day of the Weekend

First off I would like to thank Mr. Christopher Columbus for sailing the ocean blue and giving me a three day weekend. Without him I couldn't have finished my photo project that was started on Friday. As for the project itself I think it is coming to a close even though I don't know if the third image fits alongside the others and so once again I'm stuck thinking of what I'm going to do. The premise of this project was not so much the structures but more or less the structures and the environments that they interacted with. So in the smoke stack one (located out in some soybean fields) you can see a hint of a soybean on the right side of the left tower. In the bridge there is a flower in the sky. I first set the project to be on the small size (18x8) but after talking to the person that these photos are for I found out the space was 4' long. So the whole thing grew 250% overnight now sitting at 33 x 13. I must say it felt really good to work on photography again (most of you know that I haven't been doing much in terms of new stuff in the last few months). Maybe this will get the ball rolling towards some new projects. Once again a larger image of the above picture <----The website won't allow me to upload a 33x13 image. Go figure. Enjoy your workday this lovely Monday, I'm going to find me a lunch buffet to enjoy, Beener

Photo Shoot Day 2

After looking at the photos again this morning I realized that the central image was out of place so I went back out today and shot another 59 picture in two different locations. The thing about location photo shoots is that I hate them. I don't like spending hours in the car getting somewhere that you don't even know how to get to. I don't care for walking through fields of bugs to get a shot that you don't even know will work or not. But today I did just that. There was an area that was scouted for a little bit and I really thought it would make an interesting shot if I could find it. After arriving on site I see that their is no parking on the particular road so I found a field drive and park my car there. After walking to the site I hear a car stop and then speed up again and wonder who it was, all I could see was the back of the car and from what I could see it was a cop. Now I'm not looking to get into trouble and I really don't know what I would do if the cop confronted me during a shot (hell I don't even know if it is against the law besides trespassing (I have heard horror stories of some photographer getting a gun pulled on him at the U by a cop while photographing (HI PHIL))). I get my shots and find a different road at the same location and find that there is a second gate that I park my car at and start walking back a bit. I get my shots and just then I hear an air horn from a truck and it comes down the side road. I get to my car and see the truck drive by incredibly slow and both guys in it are decked out in full camo and stare me down. I knew at that moment that I needed to get out there. The second location was simple in terms of getting there and dealing with the objects around me. I wish every location was as easy at the bridge shot. Which brings me to why I posted this. the post yesterday with the three images is getting a face lift that should be posted tomorrow sometime. I hope it looks better and would love insight on what other think. Thanks my friends, Beener

New Project

Back in May or something a friend of mine was looking for some artwork to for his and his wife's new house. I have put it off and put it off (not on purpose) but today in the 49 degree heat I got the motivation to work on it. Last night I did one of the photos finishing it off today over a cup a coffee and a bagel at Panera, and today I shot the other two. These other two (the outdoor ones) were shot today and are in pretty raw form right now (they need a lot more work to them yet). I was hoping to get people's opinions and suggestions on this. I have heard that the middle picture doesn't belong but that is my favorite of the three. :Dunno: Here is a link to the full sized image Thanks, Beener

Books

In the last few years and even through college I have become an avid reader. Anything I can get my hands on I read, partly because you can never learn to much and the other reason is because it is enjoyable. My issue is that I can't just start one book and finish it before I start my next, I need to start two or three books and work my way through them all at once. Right now I'm smitten with three books that I'm half way through with another waiting in the wings. The first one is David Sedaris, a comic writer, who tells of his life growing up in North Carolina in the most entertaining way. The next (Devil in the White City) has been on the best seller list for weeks and has really two parts to it. The first is about the forming and the running of the World's Fair in Chicago in the late 1890's. The other part is about a serial killer who was living in Chicago at the time and took advantage of all the people in the city to be his victims. The final book is a biography of Steve Jobs (my hero, and CEO of Apple Computers and Pixar). The other one in the picture is Porno by Irvine Welsh (writer of Trainspotting), I haven't started it yet so I can't tell you about it. Anyone else have the problem with starting mulitple books at once?

First Day of BBQing

After owning a small portable grill for over a month today I put the beast together and tonight we are going to be grilling for the first time. The flavorful taste of animal muscle is going to be tempting my pallet as I grill out some wonderful hamburgers with selections of tasty cheesy toppings. There will be NO veggies joining the meat on the grill anytime. (PERIOD)

Foosball update for those fools who still are interested. Today I won my first game in 4 days. Not only did I win my first game but I won the three game series in two games to pull the championship for the first time ever on this table. Oh yeah, today I was going through iTunes Music Store looking for something new to jam to at work and I came across a picture of Fiona Apple posted. Now for being a man hating woman in the early '00s, she has developed into quite a looker. See for yourself. Or check out her website and click on the photos in the lower right. ::naughty::

Summer again?

Today is October 1st and anyone who's lived in Minnesota for longer than 2 years will know that with October you have two opinions. The first is there could be 3 inches of snow of the ground and people dressed in parkas and stocking hats. The other is perfect beautiful weather that allows you to get out and bask in the sun because in Minnesota you only get 3 perfect days of fall. Today was in the later of the categories so we got out of the apartment to take care of some errands that needed to be done. Tonight we have a birthday party for a fellow coworker so we went out and bought her a gift. We decided on getting her 10 boxes of candy like you would get at the movies (I guess she said if anyone wants suggestions on what to get her, "CANDY is great"). I took a little nap to prepare myself for the night ahead and was awakened by my brother asking me if I had any scotch tape to wrap the present. After searching my bedroom for some all I could come up with was some black electrical tape. I asked him if he wanted to use it and instead he already was cutting apart some packing tape to use to wrap it. I don't think that black electrical would have looked that bad but oh well. On a side note, my obsession with foosball has gotten worse. We went to a pool and game room store today (off of Lyndale and 62) and I got my first look at the Tornado tables. They are amazing and the game play on them is so quick. We were sooooooo close to buying one today but it looks like we are going to have to wait until tax refund time. I'm walking out the door now for the party, I hope the candy is a hit. Later all, Beener