Quote For Monday - Volunteerism

"We don't work for free for nothing!"
This is the sign that I've set up in the kitchen. I'm tempted to call it my kitchen, because I have very little time outside of it, but we are a community here. But it isn't just a kitchen sign. It applies all around. To the performers, the [amazing] band, the logistics people—everyone is doing this on a volunteer basis. What we get out of it is an amazing experience and great satisfaction when we see the excitement and joy we bring to our audiences*

What am I talking about? Why the circus, of course. I've run away with the circus again, this time on a tour of northern California. The New Old Time Chautauqua is the same group that I toured some islands with last summer. This year, I'm the goto guy in the kitchen (as opposed to last year where I just did breakfasts (which later evolved into co-managing the kitchen)). But more on that later.

For now, I had better get back to the kitchen. Those beans aren't going to soak themselves, you know.

Monday June 21 2010

File under: quote

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Familiar Giant

Familiar giant (remember?) with a familiar goober in front.

Friday June 18 2010

File under: travel, USA

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Trivia Town

For the past couple years, I've rarely passed through Portland without stopping in for one or more nights of pub trivia. The options are vast and convenient, the trivia is high caliber (mostly), and it is a great excuse to see friends that I might not other be able to see. When taking stock of where all I've played trivia here in Portland, I was amazed to find that I could name 9 places off the top of my head. Here's a quick review.

39th St Sports Pub: This was one of my fist Portland trivia endeavors and, if I remember correctly, one of my least favorites. Pretty much all I can remember about it was it non-syndicated and pretty unanimously agreed to be low caliber*

Basement Pub: Owner run (i.e. non-syndicated), quick and to the point (30-ish questions rapid fire with no breaks), decent food, kind of a late start time, but it is made up for by its quickness. I've done trivia here a number of times.

Eastburn: A ShanRock trivia venue. A good personal game of trivia. The person reading the trivia is the person that writes it (a big plus), encouraged interaction between teams, and a non-trivia interaction round (the time I went, it was competition Barrel of Monkeys).

Belmont Inn: One of the harder, yet better attended Pub Quiz USA venues. Pub Quiz USA has a format that I love with lots of questions and lots of variety in types of rounds and questions (anagrams, music, etc.). There is a theme each week which is announced via e-mail newsletter. The Belmont costs $3 to play, but the winning team gets the whole pot. I've played here a number of times and enjoy it quite a bit.

Morrison Hotel: A one off trivia (i.e. non-syndicated) that is very topic oriented, which is good and bad. The people are totally fun with lots of interaction. This isn't a trivia I see myself going to a bunch, but was a lot of fun when we did go.

NePo 42: A Last Call trivia syndicated venue. Last Call trivia has a rather common format of one question with the time span of one song to answer it (rather than many questions per round). That means fewer questions, but more chat time. Another added feature of the format is being able to wager based on your confidence of your answer. This makes it a strategy intensive game (which can be good and bad). I had an enjoyable time at this and hope to try it again.

Rose and Thistle: Another Pub Quiz USA venue and my current favorite. The questions aren't too hard, the quiz master is super awesome, it's free to play, but has good prizes. Oh, and we totally got first place there this week.

Sante Fe Taqueria: Last Call Trivia here. The night we went, it was underattended with only 3 teams. We won the $30 gift certificate for first place, but couldn't feel too good about ourselves because of the lack of competition. It is really nice having trivia in a non-bar, though!

Biddy's: Pub Quiz USA again and about in the middle on difficulty and attendance. This it the place I've done trivia the most, but mostly just because of location. But it is a place I would gladly go back to.

Yep, Portland is pretty rich in trivia options. I look forward to exploring more of those options in my [hopefully many] future Portland visits.

Wednesday June 16 2010

File under: misc

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Vancouver and Its Mad Skillz

VANCOUVER MAD SKILLZ
JUGGLING/ETC. FESTIVAL

I went to Vacouver this weekend to check out the first annual Mad Skillz juggling/etc.* festival. Let me tell you, it was good times. Copious juggling, a mad hunt for ice cream, a nude beach, a new knot trick, and ever so wonderful company made for a day that's already got me looking forward to next year. Good times!!

Sunday June 13 2010

File under: juggling

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FC 108 - Cinematic Remake...With a Twist

Disclaimer: This comic contains a bad word.

If you can't tell what is going on on the movie screen there, it's because drawing a close-up of lips turns out to be really really hard. I tried. I failed. So I overlaid the actual screenshot from Citizen Kane and fiddled with the opacity. I probably should have just used the straight screenshot, but I guess I've become too proud. Back in the day, tracing, cutting, and pasting were the name of the game. Today I just can't bring myself to do it. (Although it is pretty obvious that this hybrid is probably the worst of both worlds.)

Anyhoo, I'm guessing this is going to be my last Friday comic for a couple weeks. Tomorrow I hit the road so will hopefully have some interesting stories to tell and pictures to share. But, as always, Friday Comics will be back as soon as things are back to normal and I have lots of blog space to fill.

Friday June 11 2010

File under: comic

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Herding Cats

I now know where the term "herding cats" comes from and all too well what it means.

I'm at a new housesitting job this week where 2 cats are my charge. In the housesitting realm, I consider cats to be the easier of the household pets–no walking, no scooping poop (unless they are indoor only cats), etc. The instructions read "At night, bring Gus into the house and put Baily into the garage. They might need some coaxing with a can of tuna."

The first thing I realized when I went to bring the cats in for the night is that I didn't know which one was which. Hmmm... But worse, there were 3 skittish cats running around the yard to choose from. So not only did I have to pick which one went where, but I also had to deduce which ones to herd in the first place.

In both instances, I let fate decide. I got the opened a can of tuna, placed it just inside either door, and lied in wait. The first cat* to fall for the tuna-in-the-house trap got to spend the night in the house. Same with the garage. I mean, each should know where they belong, right?

Wrong. Since that first night, I ran into the neighbor at frisbee* and he let me know which was which. It turns out that I got the right cats but the wrong places. Alas. But since I've known, garage kitty has wised up to the tuna baiting, so I'm going to need to develop a new strategy anyway.

Yep, house/petsitting is a good job. But it ain't always easy.

Wednesday June 9 2010

File under: work

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Quote For Monday - Stay Puffed

seen at Johnny Picasso's

Sunday June 6 2010

File under: quote

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FC 107 - I Aint Lying

Undoubtedly spurred to action by the noticeable absence* of the Friday Comic last week, loyal reader (and previous comic contributer) Horge put together (conceived, wrote, and drew (totally awesomely, BTW)) this one so as to make sure we all don't go another week without a comic. Thanks for the break, Horge.

In my defense, my trip to Montreal, while work related, was still technically travel which is one of the acceptable exemptions under Friday Comic code (142.14 A sec. 23). And there's another comic-hiatus-due-to-travel in the near future, so be warned. But remember, there's always the comic archives* if you want to remember an old favorite.

But we are here and now and enjoying this comic by Horge. There's even a story to it involving poorly translated Bosnian newspapers and Tiger Woods. But I'll let him tell it in the comments. Take it away, Horge.

Friday June 4 2010

File under: comic

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Anasaurus (a.k.a. Dinocortes)

A group of merry pranksters livened up the new(-ish) roundabout coming into Anacortes for the Memorial Day weekend with dozens of plastic dinosaurs. While a casual observer might pass by without noticing them, plenty of people gawked and even took an extra pass 'round to see the in all their glory.

Without compromising any of my informants, I think I can safely say that the group of merrymakers responsible for what the media is calling Anasaurus is the same group that perpetrated the flamingoing of the weird psuedo-park at 18th and Commercial a couple months back.

I, for one, love their antics and can't wait to see more. Three cheers for random acts of public art*!!!!!

Wednesday June 2 2010

File under: Anacortes

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Childish Quote for Monday

"One of the most responsible things you can do as an adult is become more of a child."

--Wayne Dyer

I came across this spectacular quote today while catching up on Word Daze: A Word Lover's Almanac, a blog written by my old high school English teacher. It fits rather well with the t-shirt I happened to be wearing at the time (my favorite. t-shirt. evar.).

Speaking of the t-shirt, it came from Kim and Jason, creators of Escape Adulthood and other very related ideas. It's totally worth checking out if this idea of incorporating more childishness (the good kind) into your daily life intrests you.

Monday May 31 2010

File under: quote

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Quote For Monday - Volunteerism

Familiar Giant

Trivia Town

Vancouver and Its Mad Skillz

VANCOUVER MAD SKILLZ JUGGLING/ETC. FESTIVAL

VANCOUVER MAD SKILLZ JUGGLING/ETC. FESTIVAL

FC 108 - Cinematic Remake...With a Twist

Herding Cats

Quote For Monday - Stay Puffed

FC 107 - I Aint Lying

Anasaurus (a.k.a. Dinocortes)

Childish Quote for Monday

VANCOUVER MAD SKILLZ
JUGGLING/ETC. FESTIVAL

VANCOUVER MAD SKILLZ
JUGGLING/ETC. FESTIVAL