3 Stations East

Various & Sundry

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:23:07 -0500

Last night I made the trek to Petaluma's Mystic Theatre to witness Various & Sundry, a west coast tour featuring a number of my favorite artists, and one I didn't know.

The lineup:

Glen Phillips, once of Toad the Wet Sprocket and master of solid solo records;
Luke Bulla, a fiddler I did not know;
Sean and Sara Watkins of the soon-to-be-on-hiatus Nickel Creek;
Grant-Lee Phillips, once of Grant Lee Buffalo and likewise master of solid solo records.

Jeani and I went to see Glen many years back in Chicago, and saw him with Nickel Creek a couple years later.

I can't possibly remember every single detail nor the entire song list. The show was a good 2 1/2 hours, though, and I got a front row seat - can't beat that.

Here are highlights and things I remember, in bulleted form:

Glen, the Watkins, and Luke played "Exit Music (for a Film)" - and it was absolutely fantastic. Sara and Luke did a whole verse on fiddle and violin... just lovely.
Glen did "All I Want" - awesome!
The Watkins performed "Somebody More Like You" from the last Nickel Creek release, and Sean captured the song's vitriol really well.
Grant is damned funny. (Well, all of 'em are, but Grant was especially.)
Luke took a picture of the crowd for his MySpace page (not there yet though!)
Grant did a moody version of "Mockingbirds"... great to hear some old stuff.
It was revealed that Grant wears a flannel thong whilst driving the minivan the musicians are touring around in.
Probably the funnest part (for me, anyway) was when Glen got on stage and started talking about a big bowl of peanut butter M&Ms they had backstage. He launched into this long pseudo-scientific explanation about why they were so good... they were frozen, and he said you could split the chocolate and peanut butter on either cheek of the inside of your mouth... "so sweet!" The others agreed. Then, before their final encore, Glen made reference to them again. "Man, they're good. Wait... I'm going to bring out the bowl." So sure enough, after removing his guitar and a round of applause, Glen Phillips emerged from backstage and handed me a bowl of cold peanut butter M&Ms. "Thanks, Glen!"
Somehow the Beatles came up, and Grant expressed his surprise at Paul McCartney's Starbucks-wide promotion. "That guy had his album played in every Starbucks everywhere... what was the name of it?" He took on a British accent and said, "Memory Almost Full?" Grant laughed and then said, "If it's almost full, delete some crap!"
Glen shared how he thought one of the closing numbers - "Hop High" - was called "Hop Eye", "Like someone who had all that green stuff in their eye."
Sara Watkins is generally kickass. Her vocals have gotten way stronger, even in the short time I've become familiar with Nickel Creek. She showed it last night on a great, great version of "Different Drum" with Grant and Sean.
Sean Watkins is a very, very good guitarist.

...And I think that's it for now. All in all, I really enjoyed it! These are five excellent musicians, doing what they love, and it was really inspirational. Live music is just great. As Grant put it, "Isn't it nice to be out here, watching some music instead of just being at home watching TV?" Sure enough.

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Book It's Revenge

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:28:03 -0500

I promise, I'm not reading books in order to get a free personal pan pizza.

Yesterday I started Self-Made Man. Today, I finished it. I know! It really was a quick read (of course, giving it 2.5 hours of a 4.5 hour flight didn't hurt any.)

Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood and Back

Overall it was an interesting diversion but I'm sorry to say I didn't find any amazing revelations in it. Vincent makes a totally passable man though - save for the lips, which are pretty red for a guy. I was interested more in what happened to the relationships she developed once she revealed that she was a woman.

Unfortunately, the book followed this format for each of its main chapters: Vincent infiltrates group x, writes about group x and members y and z, reveals she is a woman to group and/or members. That was it. It felt a little simplistic in that regard.

I would have liked to have read more details about her relationships and what it felt like for her. These topics are covered but not in any great length. I'm also really curious about what her wife thought about all this, and how this impacted her mental and psychological states during the experiment (we do get a wrap-up of sorts on this.)

There's nothing too deep here, I'm afraid. There are some nice insights relating to men's emotions. Still, I recommend it.

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Follow-Ups: My Teeth and Our Car

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:48:08 -0500

It's not lost on me that my "regularly scheduled" posts on our car and my teeth aren't here. Consider this, then, a two-fer.

Our 2003 Honda Element at the Nearly 10 Month Mark

We love this car.

Two problems cropped up fairly recently. Back in September, we had the driver's seat bushings replaced - an infamous Element design flaw which caused the seat to rock ever so slightly now and then. I've noticed this is starting to come back a bit; we'll probably take it in for this within a few weeks.

The other issue was a nasty noise when turning in reverse at slow (parking lot) speeds. A sometimes loud clunking seemed to emanate from the rear of the car. It seemed worse after a rain, too. Two dealers checked this out and found nothing, suggesting that the sound was from normal movement of the brake pads. Given we've had two places look at it I'm mostly satisfied with this explanation and, as a bonus, the sound's been AWOL for a while now. We also chose to have the rear differential fluid replaced at this time given it apparently wasn't done yet.

Our HondaCare warranty expires in two months! Time to get everything fixed.

Other than these issues we think the Element is swell. It's comfortable, very roomy, and has a lot of personality.

My White Teeth

I whitened my teeth using Crest WhiteStrips back in February. The package claimed the results would last up to 6 months. I am here to tell you that this is not true for me.

My teeth are still a bit whiter, but drinking coffee daily has taken its toll and they're nowhere near as white as they were when I finished the 2 weeks of applications. They were never a gleaming white but were definitely, noticeably whiter and looked better.

I'm going to pin this one moreso on the coffee, for now, but it's a little disappointing. If I were to do this again (and I might) I'd seek out something that specifically addressed coffee drinkers like me.

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Lumix TZ1: First Impressions

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:38:52 -0600

The Man in Black

As part of my two-camera strategy (one general purpose, one DSLR), I decided on the Panasonic Lumix DSC-TZ1, or "TZ1" or "Tizzy" for short. It was a tough decision, honestly, but after the E18 error on the S2 IS I didn't want to even consider a Canon. The error may have been a fluke, but it was an expensive fluke, and why bother?

By far the biggest concern I had about the Tizzy was noise. This is an issue with all of the Lumix cameras, per the reviews; however there were plenty of clean images up on the flickr taken with the Tizzy and cameras such as the FZ7, which was the other contender.

In the end I was willing to give up full manual controls (remember, I'll get a DSLR in time!) in order to get the 10X optical zoom (!) in a package that is roughly the width and length of my iPod. (Sure, it's deeper.) That's impressive. Here are my first impressions from shooting with it.

The size is great. I missed having a pretty small camera.
The detail and design is stellar. Truly, it feels like an honest-to-gosh camera. My friend Marcus has long talked about the "old world feel" of his FZ20 (30? forgot) and I can understand that here. The whole thing looks expensive outside of the lame "10x optical zoom" label. The camera has a great weight about it: not too light, not too heavy. Pocketable for my big jacket pockets.
Quick startup time. Flip to on, pretty much ready to go.
The big LCD is nice. It's easy to read, the menus are pretty clear (outside of a few questionable abbreviations), and it's nice.
Everything was dark. The big problem with the first batch of photos is that almost all of them are too dark; I need to figure out why. Adjusting levels in iPhoto worked wonders, but even photos with the EV up +2 (!) were still dark. Detail wasn't lost, though.
I miss the easy play/record switch that Canon has. ~~Putting playback in the middle of a rotary dial is strange, just strange. I don't get it. Put it at the end of the dial or the front. Please.~~ Update: Yep, the little "review" button lets me do what I need to do. Never mind!
Noise is present, but not yet to a fault. Can't be denied: there's noise, yes. But it's not to a point where it kills the image (yet), and given I take so many photos in good light this was something I felt I could deal with. I might invest in some noise-reduction software just for kicks.

Above all that, I really like the camera. It's a great little tool. It feels elegant and well-crafted and has been a joy to use. Unlike the D50 post, I'll be sure to check in with everyone on the Tizzy in the future.

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D50 Test Drive: Day One

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:54:15 -0600

Thanks to fellow local flickrite Paul, I was able to take a test drive of his Nikon D50 setup starting today. So I did what I usually do on Sundays: I went into the city to snap photos. (There are some now up on the flickr device.) Here are my first-day thoughts:

It's conspicuous. Something I'd grown accustomed to with the A80 and the S2 IS (even though it's relatively bulky) was being able to take shots without really being noticed. That's simply not possible with the D50, because like any DSLR it's big.
High speed ISO is no problem. Hallelujah! 400, 800, 1600 no sweat. I even inadvertently took a few shots out in daylight at 1600... came out fine (grainy, of course.)
DSLR photography is way different than regular ol' digital photography. I know that the end results can be similar if not identical, but it's a very different and more formal feeling I had out and about today. I thought more about composition, and of course shutter and aperture, before shooting.
I miss the long zoom. I had a rough time getting accustomed to the D50's lens, which is the kit lens: 18-55mm. It's a fine lens don't get me wrong, but when you're used to 12x zoom... my oh my. I guess I'll feel the same about the A80's lens. Definitely would need to get a long zoom lens, or something that can handle something in the ballpark of the S2's 36-432mm (equivalent - good golly!)
The photos were beautiful. Out of the 200+ I shot today, lots were just blown out and crappy. But the depth of field, oh my. I've really missed taking shots like this.
Controls are a little awkward, but not bad. I found adjusting the aperture to be a little more difficult than it ought to be, but then it's no match for cameras where it's buried in menus - that just blows.
My eye hurt. After a while I had a hard time keeping one eye closed whilst using the viewfinder. I sometimes shoot with both eyes open, but not normally.

All in all, I'm feeling spoiled right now. Going back to a non-DSLR for what might be a little while (lenses cost money) is going to be a trade off, but, not the worst thing ever.

One fun thing happened today while I was shooting near the Wrigley Building. I was composing a shot when two girls, probably 15 or so, walked by.

"Hey, are you a photographer?!"
"Yes," I said, still looking through the viewfinder.
"Do you do that for a living?"
"Not yet!"
"Keep at it, you'll get there!"

I thought that was sweet.

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Paul on the Street: Cereality Evanston

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:02:55 -0600

No video review for this edition.

Cereality almost seems like a ridiculous concept: sell cereal for $4 a pop, with ancillary items like smoothies, parfaits, milk, and coffee. But I tell you, it works.

The price is the big deal here, so let's get that out of the way. Yes, $4 is expensive; yes, you can buy a box of cereal for $4; yes, I think it's too much; yes, I would absolutely go back and try it again.

Cereality's menu is simple but the choices are extensive and perhaps confusing. You can get hot or cold cereal your way or their way. Hot cereal gets you a scoop of grits (!) or oatmeal along with another hot scoop; cold gets you two scoops. "Your way" means that you get to choose the ingredients; "our way" is pre-chosen goodness. For "your way" you have a choice of over 30 cereals and 20 toppings (ranging from sweet stuff to fruits) as well as a choice of milk (soy is 50 cents extra, sadly.) If you're unable to pick, "our way" is the way to go. I was tempted to get a hot cereal on this chilly day but elected instead to get a cold "my way" cereal: Reese's Puffs and Cinnamon Life with mini-marshmallows and chocolate syrup.

If you get it to go, it's served in a stubby container that's a hybrid of a Chinese take-out box and a Big Gulp. You can get your milk on the side or help yourself from the milk vending machine.

In addition to cereal, Cereality offers cereal bars and the aforementioned parfaits and smoothies. The smoothies are prefabbed (and compete with Jamba Juice in price), but the parfaits can be made to order. Worth noting is that Cereality also sells coffee, and it's the cheapest coffee in the area: $0.99 for a small, quite reasonable.

With that all out of the way, it's hard to throw a general "it's good!" or "it's bad!" on the food because, well, the food is cereal and we all pretty much know what it tastes like. It's worth noting that it's possible to get a healthy snack here, as granolas, fresh fruits, and the like are available. You can also just go crazy and get a pure sugary treat like I did. Above all though, Cereality is really fun: experimenting and mixing cereals is a blast.

The shop itself is reminiscent of a kitchen, with big tables and comfy chairs. It still has that New Store Smell, so get in while you can. A display near the front of the store sells various crap such as t-shirts, books, hats, etc.

Overall I think Cereality is a great idea and it's definitely in a place where it'll succeed with Northwestern nearby. I can't say I'll be back regularly due to the price (it needs to be $2.50), but I'll be back for the fun factor.

The Place
Cereality
1622 Sherman Ave., Evanston
847.864.4400

The Meal
Cold cereal "my way": Reese's Puffs and Cinnamon Life with mini-marshmallows and chocolate syrup: $4.34 with tax, no tip.

The Verdict
A.

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Paul on the Street: Five Faces

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:08:41 -0500

Introducing Paul on the Street, a semi-regular video food review.

For the inaugural edition I review the hot dogs at Five Faces in Chicago. Do watch my marginal editing skills, won't you?

Paul on the Street 20061010

The Place
Five Faces Ice Cream/Gyros/Hot Dogs
10 W. Division, Chicago
312.642.7837

The Meal
Hot dog special ("everything on it") with fries and a Pepsi: $4.85 with tax, no tip

The Verdict
Marginal C+.

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Today's Tip

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:27:56 -0500

If after reading this Engadget article on a new Casio camera you decide to Google that camera, be sure to include "casio" in your search and don't search on just the camera's model number.

Trust me.

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Diet Pepsi Jazz (Verdict: Meh!)

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 19:46:59 -0500

At Target on Friday night, we spotted an endcap filled with two new, odd beverages: Diet Pepsi Jazz Strawberries and Creme, and Diet Pepsi Jazz Black Cherry French Vanilla. In the interest of solid web content, I tried the latter. Plus it was 79 cents.

The flavor is, well, very artificial: Diet Pepsi with cherry, really, with just a smidge of that faux canned vanilla flavor dialed in. It's definitely not something I would go out of my way for, and even then I'd probably just choose water.

It also reminded me a lot of Diet Dr Pepper, honestly - so why reinvent the wheel? And why "Jazz"? I wonder if they're going after the same oxymoronic demographic (!) that the Utah Jazz go after.

So, in summary, you can skip it.

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Our Date With My Date With Drew

nobody@vox.com(Paul) — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:03:54 -0500

My Date with Drew

Last night we were in the mood for something lightweight to entertain us, and we had My Date with Drew on TiVo. We didn't have high expectations when we asked TiVo to record it a month or so ago but, you know, it was really good.

The whole plot revolves around this fellow Brian and his unhealthy obsession with Drew Barrymore. He wants to get a date with her - has all his life - and when $1100 falls into his lap from winning a game show, he is determined to make it happen. He gives himself 30 days to do it.

We get to see all of the phone calls, the facials, the critiques, the trial date with a faux Drew... all of it. And we get to see what happens in the end, too. I can't spoil it either way, but I can safely say that the ending is somewhat unexpected.

It's a great little movie, though, and we both found it much more engaging than we thought we would.

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