Follow me, I'm trained to survive this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8206280.stm

So the good news is my years of video game training have made me fully prepared for the inevitable future.

Beat Down

So I had my annual committee meeting yesterday. Didn't go quite as I had hoped for. The good news coming out of all of this is that I am meeting again in three months to finalize my graduation date... that is good. The bad part is i have to really crank it out to ensure that I have good enough data at that meeting that I can sell them on an end-of-the-year/early next year date. We will see. In the mean time I don't think I've ever felt so abused in my whole life as I sat there talking to my committee. I should feel honored that they think what they do about my work and what I can do while I'm still here. Really? Really? Gee I sure do feel honored that you want me to build a second presentation and give it to you in three months. I feel extra honored that you guys can't even decide how much time I need to finish. I have a 2-1-2 split as to whether I'll be done in the next 4 months. 2 say yes, 2 say no, 1 says he can't decide. WOW! Seriously? WOW!

Well no matter what I'm done in 6 months tops but I'm hoping more towards 4- time will tell.

~Chris

Lamentations

Yeah we were so busy on Saturday night that we didn't even take any pictures. The tournament was a success, the stage was rockstar-worthy, the crowd was singing along. It was AWESOME. Too bad about the pictures. My hope is to secure some from some of the "official" cameras, or at least someone else. I also plan to draw up the awesomeness that was the stage. Oh, well. Hopefully there will be other chances to do something similar.

It's time to Rockband Tourney!

So tomorrow night is tourney time. We're helping out with a huge YSA activity (think LA and south) y helping host a HUGE rockband tourney. We'll be sure to take lots of photos and try to get some posted up to the blog. In a worst case secenario we may just do another Picasa album. Anyway I have successfully found the best prizes EVER for our contenders.

How about these:

Amazon

Video in action at:

Gearlog

Yeah they're about the best thing in the whole world. Perfect for the 18-30 year old dedicated enough to win Rockband.

If you guys have any other ideas of things to include in the tourney I'd love to know.

Oh yeah before I forget I got one of THESE to help with the "effect"

Check out the video here.

Btw- for future reference Fog juice is able to be purchased Year Round at Party City (yeah I really had to find Fog Juice).

Cheers

~Chris

Wedding Pics

So if anyone is interested in scrolling through the 600+ pics that Chris took at Tim (Alicia's little bro)'s wedding. Feel free to drop us a message and we'll be happy to send you the link. Keep in mind there are no comments on the pics so you may not recognize most (all) the peeps in the shots, but it's good fun to look at some of the awesome moments frozen in time.

Must have this shirt

Need I say more than the title?

Time to Re-Rock

Yup so 2 bands that we'll be seeing later this fall have released packs of songs on Rockband this week, and it looks to be some must haves for the Larsons. blink-182 and Weezer have both released packs...which makes me wonder: Would these be good songs to have for the YSA conference we're helping with next weekend? Thoughts from the peanut gallery (BTW- YSA=Young Single Adult church group). The songs are:

Weezer- Pork and Beans

My Name is Jonas

Undone (The Sweater Song)

blink-182- Down

Feeling This

The Rock Show

My 2 cents:

My Name is Jonas is my favorite weezer song, but not exactly the rock-a-thon that I come to look for in a good RB song. Down is a kinda slow blink song too. The Rock Show is about as basic pop-punk as you can get which always lends itself to a great play... who knows!?!

Tonight We Music

So the tonight we ride post is kinda misleading as it is still 3 weeks away, that being said tonight for reals we're headed to another wonderful Summer Pops on the Bay concert. Looking forward to some VGL performances and who knows maybe some guest conductors... Anyway they don't allow cameras so no pics, but that being said they don't really check either. Well I'm off to work hard.

Tonight We Ride!

Yeah so it's that time again. What time you may ask? Well time, of course, for the annual Midnight Madness Bike Ride through San Diego. It's coming up on August 15th (that's a Saturday). We're getting stoked and of course not doing anything to be prepared (it's always better that way). So if you're interested in coming out to ride with us let one of the two of us know and we'll get the details squared away. Also if you're from out of town and want to ride with us I'm pretty sure we can put up a few people in the apt for the evening (yes I am epecially directing this to residents of North O-Town). In the mean time I'm gonna have to figure a way to mount the bike racks on to the Yakima Bars... hmm I'm sure I can make this work some how...

~Chris

MIA

For those of you who haven't heard nor seen me much in the last month (year, decade) (and yes this includes my wife some weeks)- I have to say that I wish I was aroud more. I feel like I've been working way too many hours this last year and I don't even have the progress to match. The good and the bad of all this is that I am making inroads toward an end. I am hoping that 6 months is the magic number. After that it's a quest to find a job. I will keep everyone posted but in the mean time if you're really bored and wondering what's new you can always email me as I have lots of meetings and lots of time to respond to email.

Later-

Chris

Buzz...

So while we were at Disneyland this last week I was reminiscing as we were riding the Astroblasters and realized that I never shared my skills on the blog... This is from a while ago when my score actually made the high scoreboard for the day...

New car!

So as some of you may know, about three weeks ago I got into a car accident which ended in a totaled Aveo. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt and it wasn't my fault. So here are some pictures of the new car we got last week. This won't be the final product..the dealership still has to put a spoiler on the back and tint the windows for us, but we finally found everything we wanted (4 doors, manual tranny, sunroof) and got a great deal.

Must Own- NOW!!!

How did I ever survive without one of these:

All I can say is I want that!

~Chris

What happens in Vegas...

Is gonna be shared by everyone as I am proud to announce that we did, in fact, get tix to the U2 show at Sam Boyd Stadium. Even better is that we got GA field tix, meaning I have plans to get some nice up close pix of Bono again. Yeah I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm bragging but I just can't hold it back. I'm going to Vegas to bowl and see my favorite band...WAHOOO!!!!!!!!!

Moving.

So rather than try to call every person separately to tell them I'll just spill the beans here:

We're moving back up to La Jolla, we're hoping that I can get to work faster when I need to, and that we won't have as bad of neighbors this time - thank you idiot that washed a pack of smokes in the washing machine and then dried them too. So yeah if you missed us in Mission Hills, now is the chance to see us in our bigger place up in La Jolla again. Oh yeah and it has a pool, hot tub, and I get a BBQ (Lish said so).

Chris

Down with the Dentist!

So I officially do not like my dentist. I hadn't been in 7 years, so I expected to need some work. But really? Today, while reading a story to my kids at work, my temporary crown fell off. I just don't think that that is supposed to happen. I'm supposed to get my permanent crown next Tuesday, but when I called today to see if they could just put the permanent one on, they said they didn't have it yet. when I originally got the temporary crown, they told me they usually get them in a couple weeks. That was 3 weeks ago and they still don't have it. So now I have to take time off today to get the temporary one back on, then again on Tuesday to get the permanent one. This is all on top of the filling that they did 2 months ago that still hurts when I eat and all of the problems Chris has had. My advice to all of you is to never go to this dentist. He is not good.

It's tour time!

So it's called the 360 degree tour and I'm getting ready to go. That's right U2 is touing again and I can't wait to get my tickets. Oh, yeah for the 5 of you who maybe didn't know - I'm kinda a U2 junkie. In the meantime (Cause the tour is gonna be awhile in the making) I'm just gonna keep on enjoying the new album.

Chris

One Tree Hill/BAD part 2?

So as everyone is well aware I am a huge U2 fan and have been listening to NLOTH for a few days now. I've decided that there is very much a past influence on this album. Example: Unknown Caller sounds like the child of BAD (TUF) with One Tree Hill (TJT). Wow, no wonder I like this so much. Stuff sounds old and new all at once. Man I love this album.

Chris

NLOTH

Yup another acronym to nothing. U2 strikes again with the new album, "No Line on the Horizon."

3 words: Get it, NOW!

I've spoken with several people who aren't totally sold on it. Get it. I've heard it more than half a dozen times now, it just keeps getting better. I wasn't into the whole album at first, it is a heck of a lot more subtle than HTDAAB but far more aggressive than ATYCLB (told you they were into random acronyms). I heard it described best as, a modern rendition of, "The Unforgettable Fire." Yeah kinda, only with a huge rock infusion into it. Think of it as TUF meets HTDAAB with hints of, "Achtung Baby," "Zooropa," and "Pop," tossed in for good measure. It's unique and I can hear Lanois and Eno's influence. Again I wasn't so sure at first but now I'm a total convert.

One last note for everyone: Do yourself a favor. Listen to this on a real stereo. One that has speakers bigger than 4". No computer speaker set, nor MP3 player and accompanying headset can do justice to the small intricacies that are present. It rocks when it wants and makes you want to cry at other times.

What more can I say? I've got a submarine, you got gasoline.

- As a side note it should be noted that Eno and/or Lanois was present in all of the albums I mentioned as being a mashup of.

I'm just not buying...

So Chris and I were at the local Disney outlet, where they sell leftover merchandise from Disneyland at a greatly reduced rate. These are a couple of the items that were for sale. I don't think I could ever buy either of them.