The problem with reinventing Offline Adventures is...

I don't know how to reinvent myself.

My orginal idea was to focus a new and improved Offline Adventures on crap going on around LA, or crap that I'm doing. Alas, I find myself wanting to write all about "PlameGate" instead.

As a result, I've written close to nothing. Part of me thinks I shouldn't care about an audience and write whatever I feel, while perhaps the overlyambitious yet procrastinator side of me wants to actually generate some solid traffic here. No offense to me five loyal readers.

Tony Pierce, I'm sure, would just say write and not give a shit about anything else. He's also encourage me to post more pictures. That is, if I merely wanted more hits. (and thanks to Mr. Pierce for featuring my pics on his daily specials a few days back).

Nickerblog, on the other hand, has dropped me from his blogroll, and I can only imagine that its from my lack of posting. Being included on his tight roll was an honor, so the drop was definitely a wakeup call.

Alas, the ironic part is that work looks like its about to get insane over the next few weeks, so this could mean more posts... meaning, I'll likely procrastinate work paperwork and post instead.

Should make for some good pics though - I'm double booked next week, working for the sports network on their annual extreme sports championships, and for the shoe company launching a new rock and roll inspired promotion.

In the meantime, thanks to Simpleton for the accolades, and Reverse_Vampyre for the debate

If you're a "Lost" fan like me...

...do NOT watch this BBC promo for the show.

The end of Halloween as we know it?

Ever since I was a kid I remember Halloween having a creep factor that was perhaps subconciously brought on by the fact that it got so much darker suddenly before the holiday. And, indeed, besides shorter days and longer shadows that always creep upon us between the summer and winter solstices, there was the manmade Daylight Savings Time to thank for that, where the clocks would make it darker one hour earlier beginning the last Sunday of October.

Now some pansies in our government want to extend Daylight Savings Time and wait a full week, after Halloween, before we get the extra hour of darkness in our evenings.

I'm sure today's soccer moms will be happy that their kids can safely trick or treat even longer in broad daylight so as not to be scared on the only day invented where you're supposed to be scared... but what they don't know is that this means the boogeyman gets to sleep in an extra hour before terrorizing the kiddies...

CNN.com - Lawmakers move to extend daylight-saving time - Jul 22, 2005

Offline Adventures run amok!

The irony of this blog's title hasn't escaped me - that most of what I post on here is about stuff happening ONLINE, other bloggers, and news commentary.

So, I've meaning to change this, and to post more. Much more. And to post more about actual offline adventures.

To start, I've posted some pics I took Wednesday on the red carpet of the 2005 ESPN Espy Awards. My brother will kick my ass for not knowing the names of most of the people in the pics there.

Who most people won't know, but should, are two of the guys prominent in a lot of photos: Steve Levy, host of ESPN's Sports Center, and Michael Kennedy, currently floor announcer for the Sacramento Kings. Both of these guys were hosting the red carpet for the fans in the bleachers.

My gig here was "red carpet production manager", a cake walk since both Steve and Mike are pros way beyond needing my supervision, and the rest of my small crew had worked on this with me for the past few years, so everyone was dialed in. I kicked back, took some photos, and wonder sometimes why I'm paid for my job.

Oh - and you'll see the pics begin on the homepage of the new www.offlineadventures.com. More changes in days to come.

Karl Rove = Traitor?

Per the Drudge Report, its being reported that the "anonymous source" who told Robert Novak the name of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame was none other than Bush's Brain, Karl Rove. Not even going into the reasons why Rove would reveal to a journalist top secret info, Rove's actions spell treason. Add to that perjury if he had been questioned by a grand jury investigating who leaked her name. And it gets bigger, especially if more people in the Bush Admin knew and orchestrated a cover up. Bigger than Watergate, really. For those who've followed Rove at all, nobody has a light opinion of him. Either he's a political genius or a diabolical madman using Bush as his puppet. Maybe both.

As for the motivation for leaking such a name, it goes straight to the top of the stack of "Bush lied" bullet points:

At issue is the story of a CIA-sponsored trip taken by former ambassador (and White House critic) Joseph Wilson to investigate reports that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from the African country of Niger. "Some government officials have noted to Time in interviews... that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," said Cooper's July 2003 Time online article... The leak to Novak, apparently intended to discredit Wilson's mission, caused a furor when it turned out that Plame was an undercover agent. It is a crime to knowingly reveal the identity of an undercover CIA official.

-from Newsweek, July 11th issue

In short, Rove leaked Wilson's name because he knew that Wilson would return from the trip discounting claims that Iraq was trying to get uranium from Niger, one of the many fabrications the Bush Admin was relying on to gain support for the war with Iraq.

I don't think many journalists or commentators will show much shock that Rove was the leak - they will express surprise that he was actually caught.

On the Bush Admin's side right now is, conveniently, the fact that this story broke on the cusp of a three day weekend while everyone is away from the news.

On the liberal's side right now is, this broke just as Bush needs to pick a new Supreme Court Justice... and this might be the time to appease those calling for a more left leaning moderate on the bench.

take a gander at the I Love Karl Rove blog.

Distorted

My buddy Jeff Bacon just finished up on his newest short film called "Distorted". The trailer is now available online by clicking on the poster below. Watch it.



It should also be noted (for absolutely no reason) that Jeff Bacon owns the AOL screenname "StanleyKubrick".

Coming soon: Burn a flag day.

If this passes, first thing I'm doing is burning a flag and joining a jihad, as it negates everything else this country is about:

House Approves Flag-Burning Amendment

Wow... the courts have decided that iPods are a piece of crap

Well, sort of.

Sure, its a cool little gadget, but the battery life alone has been one of my biggest complaints about this 8 track tape deck of the 21st Century...

And now, it looks like the courts agree, and anyone with a first, second, or third generation iPod could benefit from a class action suit - anywhere from $25 cash, $50 store credit, or even a brand new iPod.

Here's the skinny:

Apple to offer $50 in iPod battery suit
Class notice says company will offer store credit or cash as part of proposed settlement.

Buyers of early generation iPods may receive $50 in store credit or cash compensation as part of a proposed class action settlement against Apple Computer, according to one of the law firms representing plaintiffs in the case.

Post Star Wars Depression...

I don't know if I'm more depressed more over the quality of the latest Star Wars film, or the mere fact, at least for now, there are no more Star Wars films to look forward to...

However, the Summer is far from over, and there's still a handful of films I'll try and see opening night... with or without my lightsaber.

Friday, June 3rd
Lords of Dogtown
I loved the documentary this was based on, Dogtown and Z Boys, more for the retro look at Venice Beach and Santa Monica only a dozen or so years before I arrived in SoCal. I have high hopes that this film further recreates the mood of what must have been an even more eclectic enviornment than it is today.

Friday, June 10th
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
I always enter a Doug Liman film with low expectations, and emerge overwhelmingly impressed. His "The Bourne Identity" earned its place alongside "Marathon Man" and "Three Days of the Condor" as the best spy action films of all time, and add that to a reel including the underrated "Go" and, of course, "Swingers", Doug Liman has had zero misses... again, the trailer for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" leaves a lot to be desired, but its been that way with all his films.

Wednesday, June 15
Batman Begins
Finally... a serious look at the Batman genre, with the director of "Memento" to boot.

Friday, June 24
George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
The only film that continues to give me nightmares is Romero's first brain chew fest "Night of the Living Dead". Now that the zombie genre he created is back in vogue (with the help of such films as "28 Days Later", the remake of his own "Dawn of the Dead", and my fave, "Shaun of the Dead), Romero is back behind the camera with the latest chapter in his tale of worldwide undead takeovers.

Friday, July 15
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton together again. What else needs to be added?

Friday, September 23
Roll Bounce
I know I'll get some shit for admitting this... but I'm looking forward to this movie most of all. Based on the trailer alone. While I pretty much missed the whole rollerskating craze, I remember tales of all the happenings at Ohio Skate in my youth... and this film looks like what my childhood mind was picturing. Watch the trailer by clicking the title above.

Star Wars Episode III: Two Line Review

When it was good, it was very, very good.
But when it was bad, it was horrid.


I was one of the nerds who saw it twice in the first 24 hours. At my first screening, at AMC Downtown Disney, I hated it. I had to keep from falling asleep. I caught myself groaning at bad dialogue, bad directing, bad practical stunts, and bad coincidences. Someone please explain to me how it is possible R2D2 could be a better actor than Hayden Christensen? It didn't help the AMC Downtown Disney has a crap soundsystem, so that during the opening space battle it sounded like a tranquil scene from Finding Nemo. (on the bright side, AMC Downtown Disney was having a 99 cent special on hot dogs, bottled drinks, and small popcorns... better yet, they also serve Twizzlers alongside Red Vines).

On my second viewing though, at the Arclight in Hollywood, when I knew all the dredge I was going to have to put up with, and with superior sound, I LOVED it. I allowed my film sensibilites to turn to the dark side. Ewan McGregor and Yoda both rocked, and should go on tour. And it jazzed me enough to go home and play Star Wars Battlefront again...

More on this later... maybe.

Now, back to the shoe mobile...