Last year, I was invited by friends to participate in a “Day in the Life” photo blog. It was a fun experiment that spurned my interest in photography. The results are available here.
The offer was extended again this year, and initially I said no. I have taken on a larger photo project in 2010 – a photo a day for the year. A day where I just shoot everything I do just seemed like overkill. Still, I found myself snapping a ton of pictures one day, and decided to give it a go.
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Winter is over and spring has arrived. I admit I’m behind where I would like to be in regards to my New Years resolution to read 2 books per month, but not worried.
Then again, if I were where I wanted to be, I would have already read 24 books this year.
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The smell of bratwursts and beer drifted through downtown Milwaukee today as the Milwaukee Brewers opened the season at Miller Park. While I was not able to find a ticket for this traditional Milwaukee (and state) holiday, I watched and/or listed to the entire game. The Brewers lost to the Colorado Rockies 5-3 , but nearly managed to tie it in the 9th. Here are some random thoughts about the 2010 Brewers that popped into my head while enjoying the game.
Someone needs to step up and fill the 5-hole. I’ve always been a Jim Edmonds fan (except when he was beating the Brewers), but his best years are behind him. Someone needs to step up early in the season to give Prince Fielder some protection in the lineup. If no one does by the All-Star Break, fielder will never see a pitch to hit when the game is close. Corey Hart and Casey McGehee, I’m looking at you.
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Early in March I received an email from the people that run National Novel Writing Month, introducing me to a new challenge – Script Frenzy. The idea is similar to NaNoWriMo – write a 100-page script during the month of April. As a movie fanatic, I decided to give it some thought.
With April being an insane month (most weekends booked and the possibility of a move), I initially decided it might be better to wait for next year to attempt this challenge. However, when it was announced that I could get a copy of the uber-awesome writing program Scrivener for half off if I completed, my unemployed / frugal side decided to give it a try.
Only one problem…I have never written a script before and have no idea what I’m doing.
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Selection Sunday has come and gone. The brackets are here and we know when our local teams – Marquette (Thursday, 6:20 p.m.) and Wisconsin (Friday, 1:55 p.m.) play their first game.
It’s now time for the fun stuff – filling out your brackets.
Like other years, I have created mine on ESPN.com. Consider this your official invite to join me and likely beat me in their tournament challenge. Once you create a bracket, add it to group “Badger Badger Badger” – the password for the group is “GoDuke”
So come, create a bracket or two and laugh mercilessly at me when you beat me. I know I will do the same if I beat you.
Earlier this week, I devised a plan for a film festival that you can participate in from the comfort of your own couch. I asked for recommendations and received a number via Twitter. Over the past day I put together a schedule for those who would like to participate.
It’s easy if you want to join the fun. If you have a way to stream Netflix, simply add these movies to your cue. At the selected time, start them up and watch them with the rest of us. I’ll be on Twitter (@The_Dean) adding commentary and seeing what you have to say (use #DUFF to join the conversation). Join for some or all of the films.
Here is the list of films and their start times:
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It’s February. It’s cold and snowy. You really don’t want to be outside, and have no plans for this weekend. If only there was something fun to do.
Those were my thoughts last night when I noticed a film I wanted to see – Beer Wars – was available on Netflix streaming service. While chatting with a friend who is attending the True/False film festival this weekend, I decided that since I was unemployed I would have my own film festival from the comfort of my couch. I could get a two-week free membership from Netflix and stream some films I wanted to see. Thus the Dean Underground Film Festival was born.
It wasn’t until today I recognized I didn’t need to be the only participant.
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One of my goals for 2010 is to read more. Since receiving my masters, I can count the number of books I have read for pleasure on two hands. This year I want to get back in the reading habit…partially as a way to break some of the other bad habits I’ve developed.
I am off to a good start so far. It’s the midway point of January, and I have already completed three books. My goal is to read 24 – or two per month. I plan to post every book I read on the list below.
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As I began writing my first REAL New Years goals in about a decade, I came across a number of cool creative ideas for 2010. Smashing Magazine was promoting their “Design Something Every Day!” challenge. A couple friends decided to attempt Project365 photo-a-day on Flickr. Plus there were my own personal goals to do more writing and web design in the new year.
Rather than focus on one of these challenges, I figured why not combine a bit of them all? Therein lies my challenge for the new year.
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Yesterday morning I saw a graph showing the sharp employment decline in the newspaper industry.
By late afternoon I was part of the statistic.
Working in new media I assumed my job was safer than most. With the changing nomenclature of the industry, journalists with a technological background are in high demand. When the company decided to eliminate the entire multimedia team yesterday, I was a bit stunned. Still, I worked for one of the few remaining newspapers that treats technology and the web as a nuisance rather than embracing the potential.
That is why today I begin my life as an unemployed journalist. Read more…
When I was a child, I begged and pleaded with my parents for a puppy – like most children do. Eventually my parents gave in, with the condition that the dog was my responsibility. Like any child, I quickly agreed. How hard could taking care of a dog be?
Within the first two weeks, the puppy had stumbled upon some lose within reach. I came in to see him swallow the shiny objects from off the end table. When I informed my parents, they informed me I would need to make sure the change came back out from my dog.
To say this would be a shitty chore would be both an understatement and a really bad pun.
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GeekKon. For three years it has delighted Madisonites and Midwesterners who enjoy gaming, anime, sci-fi, art and video games. This year the event reached maturity – moving away from the Humanities building on the UW campus to the Sheraton.
While the event was growing up, those attending were getting younger.
I last attended GeekKon its first year. Maybe it was because it was held on campus, but a large section of the crowd was at least college age. This year the demographic skewed younger. When I entered the hotel, most of the faces that greeted me looked barely old enough to drive a car. Parents hung out and occasionally joined their children in costume.
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My lust for interactive pixel-crafted stories began at an early age. Sunday mornings – before church of course – were spent preventing alien ships from touching down, no matter how fast they moved as their fleet was destroyed. My Commodore 128 taught me about text-based games and to always carry some form of light when entering a dark area. While other children saved their money for a Nintendo, my cash went towards the superior 16-bit graphics of the Sega Genesis. Beating Sonic the Hedgehog made the investment worthwhile. My first year of college I spent more time sacking the quarterback in Super Tecmo Bowl than attending class.
While in college I quickly realized the cost of games when they are first released, as my parents no longer subsidized my obsession. Sure, I enjoyed being the first person to beat Streets of Rage, but I learned that if I waited six months, the price would drop in half. Being a poor college kid, that was like an extra two months of ramen noodles and a case of Schlitz.
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Taste of Home. Unless you are a cooking fanatic, you might not be familiar with the brand. Still, this popular magazine has an audience of over 3 million readers and produces a slew of cookbooks each year.
The Taste of Home cooking school arrived in Beloit on Tuesday for a show, and I had the opportunity to play photographer for a day. It didn’t take me long to realize it has been years since I handled a digital (or even regular) SLR camera. I decided to use the strategy ‘if you can’t shoot good photos, shoot lots of photos.’ I was actually quite pleased with how most of the images turned out, and received my first print photo credit in BDN yesterday.
Here is a Soundslide gallery of the better shots. Read more…
I love live music. Whether it be heading into a dark bar or catching it outside on a beautiful summer day, a good concert can’t be beat. What’s better than a free concert featuring national acts? Not much that I can think of, unless they provide free drinks as well. While the second part might only be a dream, here are two opportunities locally to enjoy free music.
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