RobotBlogger

Maybe the heat makes you dumb...

If you think about it, most prominent discoveries and inventions have come from non-equatorial climates. Now why is that? Are all sun drenched folks too busy stirring their drinks with little umbrellas tied up being an appliqué of lotion to a local back? Surely hot people need inventions too. Was the folding lawn chair inventied by someone who couldn't appreciate it at the time? Gasp!

Just because it's sexier with a crystal ocean as your backdrop, doesn't mean that a lightbulb or direct fuel injecton wouldn't come in handy too. Us hotties need the juice too you know.

It begged being looked into.

Clearly, google can help with this.

So, i started searching, hoping to find some study or graph that has inventions plotted against latitude or something equivelent. No dice.

"Inventions discoveries latitude" - nothing
"Discoveries equitorial" - not really anything
"Advancement northern climate" - not so much

Frustration quickly set in. Google has spoiled us. After three i-tried-as-best-i-could 'I thought that would work' searches (no idea why i went from dashes to quotes), one quickly digresses into stupidity:

"You get dumb when it's hot"
"Why are Mexicans so stupid?"
"When it's hot, you don't do shit"
"Hot nations and potholes, discuss"
"Bikinis"

After looking at all the suggested links for the above, with a little bias to the last one, i ended up at an impasse: It seems like you're dumb when it's hot and what inventions ever came out of the jungle?

I mean honestly.
The Russians have literature
The north Europeans have design
The British have cuisine - JUST KIDDING!!
The Americans have lightbulbs, assembly lines and creative governmental accounting
The Italians have art and design and fronting
The Japanese take everyone elses ideas and perfect them to a degree which was previously thought impossible

Wait. I think this is really becoming terrible. I take back everything except the British food part.

See, i'm British. Well kinda, i'm Canadian but everyone else in my family is British and they don't believe me when i say "Man British food is bad hey?" They say "What?" Like i'm being UnAmerican - i mean - UnBritish, but the truth is that British food IS really bad and they just don't know it.

I'm not sure what this has to do with northern inventions.

Perhaps it cancells out, because the northern climates have crap food, and the equatorial climates have amazing food, and at any particular moment, if you were asked if you wanted a great dinner, or a lightbulb and some literature, i know i would ask for the dinner.

So i guess it cancels out.

You know those little icons next to the URL in your browser? They're called favicons. I always wondered how they were made, so tonight i had a quick look into it and whipped one for Robotbreeder. Turns out, they can animate, so if you watch the one above for a bit you'll see that in action.

Nights still have a suspicious feeling about them. It's warm, perfect actually, but it gets dark so early. Equatorial places have such fast transtions between night and day. In the very early morning the windows in my room show a hint of light. From there it's only a short while before full-on daybreak arrives.

Twilight is so brief it's hardly mentioned. Hardly mentioned in my driving test i failed today because i misunderstood the definition of the term 'carrigeway', in a secton of the test where you can get only one wrong.

Anyways, this foreign driving test asked when you had to turn your headlights on. 'Night time or during bad weather' - no mention of twilight - because, well, they don't really have that here. I succinctly remember twilight's mention in the Canadian test.

Regardless, evenings swift approach is welcome. Warm and clear with big deep gradients in the sky.

A collegue was walking in New Farm park (just down the street from home) when he ran into this cute little guy. He's a Carpet Python. They're not dangerous unless you're a mouse or rat, but they can get quite big.


I think it's kind of neat, say, you're in a park and run to fetch an errant frisbee, that it could land right beside a carpet python. That would keep things exciting.

Brisbane has this large nature park called the Lone Pine Sanctuary, filled with kangaroos, koalas, wallabees, cassowaries!! parrots of all kinds and... my favorite... foxbats! AKA Flying Foxes, AKA omg those are so creepy!

Picture a flying cat sized thing with a wingspan the size of an ironing board. A bat that big. That's big. That's big, and that's creepy. Here's PROOF

Lone Pine is basically Australian nature all condensed into one park where you can roll around with kangaroos and have lorikeets swarm over you. Fantastic. The roos and wallabees are so tame and overfed they practically fall asleep while you're feeding them. Amazing photo oppertunities everywhere.

Weirdly, koalas are kind of grumpy, and they snort and bellow in this it-can't-be-them deep frequency that's very odd indeed. Don't let that cute face fool you. Inside each one of those things is half curmudgeony old man, half elephant seal. Koalas only eat eucalyptus, which is low in nutrition and they therefore have a really slow metabolism. This makes them appear pretty drunk and wobbly most of the time - not because they're stoned on whatever is in eucalyptus (which is what i previously thought)

Unfortunately i could not manage a good shot of the Cassowary they have there. This photo comes from another site about this crazy bird. I have a strange fascination with these things! (what is it with Australia having the craziest versions of animals?)

Here's a quote:

A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws; the dagger-like middle claw is 120 mm (5 inches) long. This claw is particularly dangerous since the Cassowary can use it to kill an enemy, disemboweling it with a single kick. They can run up to 50 km/h (32 mph) through the dense forest, pushing aside small trees and brush with their bony casques. They can jump up to 1.5 m (5 feet) and they are good swimmers.

Oh, and here's another:

Another verified attack came when a careless zookeeper named Luke James, was brutally attacked and killed after not so subtly mocking the ferocity of the Cassowary at what was previously thought to be a safe distance.

Not injured, not maimed... This guy makes fun of one and it kills him. That's a badass birdy.

In another beautifully strange twist by Mother Nature: these peculiar monsters are vital to Rainforest survival. Over 21 tree species REQUIRE the digestion of their seeds by the cassowary before they can germinate.

There's only 1500 left in Australia.

Sooo things are pretty grand. I've had a week at work and am into week #2. The company is great. Wow, such contrast. The team is a bunch of superstars from all over. Not that many Australians actually! (not that they're not superastars, they most definitely are) Canadians, Americans, Brits, French, all over. A very cosmopolitan team.

A funny thing happened. I went downstairs to get a coffee (they have this automated espresso machine that's AMAZING) and opened the cupboard to grab a mug. I lifted the mug out and put it on the coffee machine. It said 'BC Tel'. I thought: WTF? i come half way around the world to find a freaking BC Tel coffee mug in the cupboard? I presume some other Canadian left it there. The world is a small place.

The weather is great. It just started to get warm, then all this weather came in and it rained like i've never seen before. Massive torrential rain making rivers in the streets. Rather unbelievable actually, it was the heaviest rain i've ever seen in my life. Fantastically loud! That cooled things off a bit and added some green back to the vegetation, which was getting a little brown from the drought. It's still warm, and very nice in the evenings. About perfect actually - you guys would do just fine - not too hot, not muggy, perfect really. For now..... :):)

Kirk, Kathryn Kai and i took a trip up to Bribie Island and Noosa. Pics of it here

I'm living in the London Woolstore - a converted warehouse made into loft apartments. Nice. The neighbourhood is very trendy, much like Yaletown, only bigger.

Things grow, from what i can tell, like crazy. Plants don't know to stop growing and some get mind-bendingly huge. There are Aloe Vera plants and Jade plants all over, growing wildly it seems. The main drag in Fortitude valley has jade plants down the sides. Palms everywhere of course. It's the Aloe Vera's that are pure madness (i think that's what they are). They grow HUGE. No, that's not right.... They grow to such an unbelievable size that you won't believe me when i say it, so i'm going to have to take pictures. There's this one i pass on the way to work that's as big as a smart car. You know those small smart cars? It's as big as one of those. I'm absolutely not kidding when i say it's 10 feet across and maybe 6 or 7 feet tall. SCARY huge.

Most trees are either eucalyptus or a something-gum-tree (can't quite figure out what people are saying... i get embarrassed to ask for the fifth time..) They have bark with nice little spots a bit bigger than Dalmatian spots and instead of black and white, they're green/tan tone-on-tone. Very pretty. Similar proportions/design to an arbutus, a little bigger perhaps. They're apparently near the top of the 'heaviest wood' category - not far under lignum vitae. Density of 1100 something-or-others, which is very very high, apparently. So, it's mostly those, eucalyptus, and palms. Eucalyptus EVERYWHERE.

There's signs on the roads outside of town saying watchout for Kangaros and Koalas. They must be around once you get out of the city a bit. Wallabies too, and they're dead cute those guys.

You could grow tomatoes all year round. If this is as bad as 'winter' gets, you could garden 24-7-365 with a bit of shade and watering. I'm sure people do.

The tropical plants are insane. EVERYWHERE, and i keep seeing new ones. No idea what any of them are, there seems to be a limitless variety and some really weird ones. They're all over like weeds. They probably ARE weeds. Very pretty flowering weeds growing anywhere possible. I'll take some shots on my walk to work tomorrow (walking now, the 4 min bike ride is too short!!)

I signed up for 'alternate' powersources - electricity that comes from wind and solar (mostly, apparently). It's cool you have the option here for that. It's a good chunk more, and we might regret that a bit when summer rolls around and the AC is on. The other side of that thought is if people like me don't do this stuff - good jobs and environmentally aware - then who will?

I keep falling into peculiar traps of misunderstanding with the locals. You'd think that since the queen is on the money mostly everything transfers over, but that's a gross misconception. Some guys from work took me to a burger joint for lunch yesterday. They didn't have any veggie burgers, so i bent and ordered a normal one. I thought: what the hell, get a burger with the works. So, i ask for a 'Cheeseburger'. let me type this properly for the effect

"Can i have a cheeseburger?"
"What?"

"A Cheeseburger"
"A what burger?"

"CHEESE burger - you know, a hamburger with cheese on it - it says that you have cheese as an option on the menu, and i'd like that option, so a hamburger with cheese on it please"

"OH a hamburger with cheese. ok, yes, right away"

I then looked at my friends like 'what just happened?'. They were laughing. They were locals. Apparently there's no such thing as a cheeseburger. You order a 'hamburger with cheese' Truncating that to 'cheeseburger' is clearly not interpretable in any way.

I asked them why 'cheeseburger' wasn't, you know, kind of absolutely self-explanatory in every obvious way possible. They responded that no, it wasn't, because the correct term is 'a hamburger with cheese'. And that is when i decided to let it go - like the washer and refrigerator! - because you need something stronger than logic to compete with situations like this.

Some drink names are perplexing and are seemingly designed to prevent them from being purchased. Take the beverage called 'SARS'. All in capitals. I had to order one.

"I'll have a SARS please, i hear the flavor is infectious" i said, maybe a little too confidently, waiting for laughter. Nobody laughed. "You know, SARS, the sickness thing..? on the news a while back? Cough Cough?" i reasoned. All blank stares.

"Yeah, we know, some people got sick and died" One guy responded.
"Sooooo isn't it kind of funny that there's a drink called SARS, with a big SARS written on the front
of the can???"

"SARS is like root beer. I don't really like it" That same guy said, leaving the question unanswered. Clearly understanding the logic, but failing to see the humor. A brief uncomfortable silence befell the table while - and i'm sure of it - we each thought the other a tad weirder.

For an entire day i thought i came down here with no pants. 'It's hot, i don't need pants, that must be why i don't have any pants. Stupid - i need pants - it's not THAT hot at night and i'd like pants now since everyone wears pants and what if i have to go out for a nice dinner or something??' Then i realized i brought 4 pairs of pants down, i just folded them and put them away. Where was the memory of THAT before i had an argument with myself about pants? Jetlag. I think i even wore pants the day before, which was really embarrassing for myself once i figured that one out as well.

Another foxbat sighting. They are the craziest things. Picture a flying cat with wings, about the size of an ironing board but with significant creepy added. They're that big. You'll say 'Oh, what a cute exaggeration, bats aren't as big as cats'. Yes they are. Foxbats are freaking extremely freakishly huge and they're everywhere at night. They chatter in the trees, squeaking noises, fighting sounds. The nighttime trees are alive with these screechy monsters. Nobody notices them.

There's giant lizards too. Adam Mackay has some at his place. Apparently they're not dangerous, but they're big. If you go after one they're rumored to thrash their tail at you which can cause cuts, but no poison or anything like that, just a scrambly defense. Fair enough. It's weird to walk around a corner and BOOM! there's this giant lizard right in front of you. Hi lizard! you say, and walk around it. I can't think of a Canadian equivalent.

Can you believe i've seen only one spider, and it was just in it's web by a building...? No red on it's back. Just an average sized spider like you'd find anywhere. This is a good thing.

Some Aussies have asked me about bears - "have you seen one?" "are they really in the forests like near cities?". I proudly responded that i've seen quite a few bears, a number up close, even ran into one prompting growls. That some are very near town, just up on the north shore mountains, i explained Encouraging ooh's and ahh's followed.

Right there it's clear that wonder-factor and exposure basically have an inverse relationship.

Australia isn't easy to figure out, which is weird since it's so much like Canada or England. The differences are in the details. Any details.

It's all rather unlike what i was expecting.

To answer a number of inquiries, i've yet to determine if water swirls 'the other way around' from up north. The toilets at our place aren't of the swirl variety, and the sinks don't really swirl either. I tried for about 10 minutes today. Jetlag does this to you. I also watched the front loader washer - for about 5 minutes straight - before i realized i was sitting on the floor watching a front-load washer.

Rather Above Expected Is how i'd describe it so far. The people are embarrassingly friendly. Ridiculously kind, even. Everyone including gruff looking people do whatever they can to help you. It's nice, yet weird. I'll get used to it.

Stylish Everybody here (or in this neighborhood at least) dresses very sharply. Yesterday i thought that the whole city was off to a casual wedding or going out to a nice restaurant. They can't all be. Not just nice clothes, but interesting ideas. Bold outfits, not in an attention getting way, just because, it seems. Outfits that the typical Vancouverite might have a few of, for those special occasions, people here seem to only have. I've yet to see any polar fleece. As i'm typing this at one of the patio restaurants in my building, there's a couple across from me that look like they just tumbled from an expensive photo-shoot within pages of Stylish Urban Couple magazine. (I don't know if there's really a magazine called Stylish Urban Couple)

Architecture / design A great very many places are of really interesting design. The typical bar or pub is better designed than all but a few places back home. It's crazy. The style seems to be north European minimal, but rarely sterile. This is probably one of the most surprising aspects. Walk down the street until you hit a restaurant, look at it, and it will probably work just fine as a cover for Wallpaper* or Fancy Interiors magazine (i don't know if there's really a magazine called Fancy interiors)

Being the Land Down Under, apparently has had it's effect on things. Light switches are backwards. They're UP for OFF, which i guess means they go the same way as ours factoring the upside-downness. Australians also make more than necessary work for themselves during moves. I thought the English were retarded for taking the light bulbs with them when they move (they actually do), but the Aussies have one up'd them in bizarro culture. They take their refrigerators and washing machines with them. Not the dryers, no, they can stay, but take the fridge and washing machine. Nothing says 'slipped disc' like a move with the additional generosity of a washing machine and refrigerator. Why? I'll bet there's not a single person alive that knows. But its true.

I've asked 3 locals about the logic of moving such items, and not one person had a proper answer. Each person replied something like 'We just do' with a veneer of confidence, slightly showing a brief inner thought of "Yeah... why DO we do this?". I could smell the internal doubt and perplexion but pride held tight. Luckily for me, there was a washer here already - i was told this was very rare - but had to buy a fridge. So, now Brianna and i own a fridge and will celebrate moving it with us in support of Australian weirdo-tradition.

The apartment is very nice, on the river, lofty 2 floor thing in an old converted warehouse. In a popular area. The building has a restaurant, a night club, breakfast spot, hairdresser, real estate shop, furniture store and i think some kind of yoga or pilates something on the ground level. Nice.

Work is cool. Pandemic is located about a 15 or 20 minute walk from home in a fairly buzzing part of town. Think Robson street meets a European outdoor walking mall. Similar to Santa Monica blvd i guess with a bit of London and Berlin mixed in. Pandemic is very small. 3 small open floors. Maybe 70 people total. The tools section for EA was larger than that! Everyone is of course ridiculously friendly. It's weird to see two old friends there together from completely separate sections of my life (Adam Mackay and Kirk).

I'm tired. Woke up at 4:30 last night and couldn't get back to sleep. I feel i'm in a bit of a haze, in some strange universe where England suddenly got fantastic weather, tropical plants and animals, and of course, proper food at reasonable prices. The edibles here, so far, have been fantastic. No tax or tipping, so what you see is what you pay. It feels weird not to tip.

I'm a little scared of summer when it comes. People are wearing jackets and stuff and it's 24 degrees. Not a good sign. I'm wearing shorts and haven't seen practically anyone else doing the same. It's a beautiful warm summer day today, except it's not, it's the dead of winter. I guess i get to acclimatize slowly to it, which is good. The sun is definitely a different kind here. Whiter, hotter, purer. Meaner.

It hasn't rained in ages, apparently, and my mailbox was filled with flyers touting government subsidization of water saver shower heads and mini-flush toilets and some other things i had no idea about because the names for them were something utterly foreign. It has been the hottest winter on record, which i guess fits the global warming thing. Just when are people going to wake up about this?

Someone told me that in the summer here, you don't really go outside between 11 and 3 because it's too hot. Initially that filled me with a mild horror. They don't go OUTSIDE during the day?? What did i get myself into!? However, you have to look at it a different way. In Vancouver, you don' t go outside much between November and February! - at any time really - unless you're sliding down a snowy mountain. So really, it's just an inverse Vancouver winter with the upgrade of useable warm evenings. Besides, work and home are air conditioned. It should be fine. That's what i keep telling myself.

Oh yeah, everyone does say 'No worries' and they 'reckon' everything.

Tropical plants and flowers are everywhere abloom with unbelievable colours and big showy designs. People don't seem to notice them.

Oh yeah, doves. There's a lot of doves. Doves are basically pigeons with better PR firms. They make weird noises. I was walking down the street and some doves started hoowing and i stopped abruptly and looked to see what it was. The people behind me must have thought i was schizo. On that same walk a little later, a large monster flew in front of me and landed on a fence. It again made me jump a little. One might guess that it was a grasshopper but.. it wasn't to me. It was about the size of hot dog. The legs on it were HUGE.. i've seen smaller things at pubs in baskets called 'chicken wings'. Overall though, and this will be a relief to Brianna, i've seen basically zero insects. Minus the 'grasshopper' of course, which wasn't really one of those, it was a mutant flying green set of chicken drummettes with eyes.

Outside of pigeons, budgies and doves, i haven't recognized a single bird. The trees are full of crazy winged things, all of them really pretty. I can't wait to see some cockatoos and lorikeets. I bet they're a little further out into the countryside.

Another guy just walked by in a puffy ski jacket. WHAT'S WITH THESE PEOPLE!? IT'S HOT OUTSIDE!

I bought a yellow rubber ducky for the bathtub. It looks cute in the corner.

So, i think i'm digressing into loosely lucid ramblings and should end it right here.

Take care, all's well here
g'day
/A

And end to an era, temporarily...

I'm moving to Australia. Brisbane to be exact, in the neighbourhood of Teneriffe. Actually, i'm already here but Blogger doesn't let you modify the date of entries so i had to write a few catchup things after the fact.

I've quit EA, after 10 years. It's been an interesting ride. Impossible to sum up as 'good' or 'bad' or either. It's been everything. I'll miss the people - some great people - good friends and fun times. I learned so much, and am respectful for that oppertunity.

If EA were to get organized, respect its staff and truly foster creativity, it would be absolutely unstoppable. Instead, it's coming to terms with its mediocrity and loosing good people on a daily basis. The staff fight a daily battle against the machine, instead of making a great game. Each day was war, a war of justification, not creation. The paralytic risk aversion running amok is strangling the life out from within. A terrible shame. It could be soooo much more, as many of the hardest to find ingredients are there in abundance.

I've been out for almost 2 months and have recieved a number of comments like "dude, you look healthy" or similar. My girlfriend says "I'm back".

So, onto Brisbane - Pandemic Studios. A superb, small (just right) sized company, working on a -massive- secret title.

My Vancouver friends! I'll miss you! Come down, stay at my place, go surfing and pet bats and kangaroos and snorkle!

Extra special thanks to Barrett and Matt for holding the best going away party imaginable. Concept? Printouts of my head/face from pictures over the years (typically unflattering ones) - LIFESIZE. I arrived at the party blindfolded (in a sperm superhero costume... (thanks Jon)) to be unveiled staring at 20-30 'me's' - friends holding up faces of me over theirs. Embarrizarre!

Friends! Vancouver! I miss you!

In Kingstown Indiana, about an hour from Indianapolis, Hamburgers cost $1.50, haircuts at the local barber cost $8 (we each got one (yikes)) and the Hoosiers court is the main attraction.

For those who don’t know, Hoosiers was a movie about a small-town basketball team which makes it to the nationals. The filmmakers wanted to find a court which epitomizes hometown courts from Anywhere USA. Hoosiers court, built in 1911, is a prime example of exactly this and that’s why we’re here.

We spent a day in the sleepy town, shooting this famous court. It's the quintessential all-American small-town location. A timless little slice of history.

The part i'll always remember about being there is how it felt like a teleport to a simpler more innocent time. Where highschool basketball games were the main event, maybe next to the Apollo moon trip or Vietnam or a '57 Chevy.

As much a monument to times past as anything else.

Cab straight to Franklin park. It’s deep west side, which means it’s going to be a tough neighborhood. As we get closer, things continue to deteriorate, prompting a few nervous glances between Mike and I. Looking back on it, this was the first clue that we were maybe somewhere we shouldn’t be. Later, we would be told by 4 separate people - or asking us - what are you guys doing HERE? Boarded up houses, smashed out cars, and empty lots everywhere you look.

After our trip, Frankin park was often talked about. Because of what happened, other people stories, its history. A friend at Nike shot a video here, and the police escorts they hired for the shoot stopped just outside and said 'We're not going in there'. There's other stories. Here's ours:

Approaching Franklin, you see a small rec center with a single indoor court, on a lot one city block wide on each side, a few playgrounds and a row of four courts outside.

An unassuming playground in the middle of a ghetto, the contrast between the two impossible to ignore.

Nothing in New York was this bad.

Entering Franklin further accented this contrast. Operations chief Mr. Bigsby was a towering man, polite, helpful and selfless, clearly there because of his compassion for the community.

Inside Franklin park it’s clear they take basketball very seriously, and are seriously good at it. They won last years city-wide Nike league, and have a massive trophy to prove it. In fact, they’ve won what looks like every possible city youth league since 2000. The shelves on which these trophies sit literally buckle from the weight. It would be safe to say, if you’re looking for the home of the cities finest basketball youth, it’s found right here.

As a bonus, the indoor court rocks! Incredible character, built in the early 70’s with lots of detail (like radiused corners) Personality, it’s perfect.

We spend a few hours shooting the inside and capturing the ambient audio. When we first arrived, it was pretty early on a monday so nobody was there but throughout the shoot more and more people arrive.

On our way out to shoot the outdoor courts, one of the players stops us and advises us to not leave the playground. “On the playground you’ll be fine, but i wouldn’t leave it far much. Things can get pretty dicey” The word ‘dicey’ sticks in my mind for a while.

Outside it’s cold and windy, and the courts are pretty interesting but not fantastically captivating. We begin to shoot them in the proper (but time consuming) process.

Not long after we start, we notice odd things around us which cause us to, uh, accelerate our shooting process. A black van appears to follow us on each block. People look out windows at us in suspicious ways. A continual stream of pimped out cars briefly pause near a particular building, suggesting some kind of suspicious activity. Our large cameras in hand are not attracting warm receptions with the locals. A car parks near us, then waits, then drives away. Someone painted R.I.P on the playground pavement with an image of crying eyes above it, later we find out about its potential cause.

A couple of times, we’d begin to walk down a street to shoot the buildings, only to turn around completely because of the reaction we get by people further on.

At one point we decide to end it right there, and head back inside the Rec center for safety. That’s where we meet Miss Jones, a real character - again in stark contrast. She asks us “YOU guys were takin pictures out THERE? that’s BOLD... that’s bold...”

We thank the staff for their incredibly kind and helpful support and give them some gift swag. Miss Jones helps us call a cab. ‘15 minutes’ A mostly uneventful conversation, what sticks out is that she mentions that we’re white guys.

15 minutes goes by, and no cab. Mike calls back to ask what’s up. They act like we never called. Miss Jones, overhearing grabs the phone and yells at the guy “What do you mean we didn’t call?!? This is MISS JONES! We called and get a cab over here right now!” The cab never shows up.

We call three places with little luck. Stranded there for an hour and a half, it’s clear that cabs don’t come here. You can’t get a cab to Frankin Park.

Miss Jones calls some more places and secures a ‘cab’ which apparently is a ‘blue 4 door car’ we should look out for. We wait for the cab outside with Miss Jones. The sun breaks through just as school lets out, filling the park with beautiful kids in warm afternoon sunshine. Again, that contrast.

I ask Miss Jones about the neighborhood, if it’s violent, what all those chromed out cars are doing at that apartment. She responds “See that boy over there” Pointing to a kid an an oversized black jacket, he’s maybe 12 years old “Well that kid, his brother got shot. Shot in the head right there” gesturing to an area of ground maybe 30 feet in front of us “I had to clean his brains up, shot in the head over a bag of dope, and they used to be FRIENDS! I had to clean that shit up. I tell you, people got no respect for life around here”

I look at Mike and he looks as shocked as i feel. Seconds later, 3 kids walk up past us into the rec center. Two girls under 7 probably and a boy maybe 9, cute as anything. I’m struggling with the context switch of the previous thought and the image of these little kids walking around so peacefully. The two just don’t fit together. Miss Jones acknowledges them each by name, and when the boy gives a muffled response, she says “HELLO DAMARCUS!” which prompts an equally loud and warm return. It’s clear why she’s here, and it really makes an impact on us.


A beat up blue 4-door car pulls up, looking anything like a cab, but under the circumstances it looks just grand. We say goodbye to Miss Jones and drive away. Inside the cab, the driver says “I wouldn’t pick up any of my people here, heck i wouldn’t pick up any of YOUR people here if it wasn’t for Miss Jones, cabbies get jacked”

Leaving, all i can think about is what Miss Jones, Mr Bigsby and all the people there at Franklin are doing: taking the worst of a situation and trying to make it better. Giving the kids something to believe in, some kind of hope, some pride, a chance. Such an incredible contribution in a way and place so desperately needed. You have to ask yourself - am i doing anything similar?

(MikeyY and i go to Chicago to take some reference photos for NBA STREET V4 (videogame) )

Chicago isn’t welcoming MikeY back home.

Chicago’s best pizza place, and one of Mikes favorites, has shut down for renovations. We took a cab straight there from the airport since we were starving after a ‘pay-only-snacks’ flight on United (i know, we have to pay for pizza too, but at least you actually WANT that pizza vs plane ‘food’)

Switching gears, Mikey suggests his #2, which after searching a little for we give up on and go for the #3 best pizza place in town because it’s really close to where we happen to be. Chicago deep dish at it’s best (heart-stopper coronary action supreme)

hotel checkin

taxi to first hoops court. sold, now a health club, no NBA guys go there anymore. can’t take pictures. told owner has another place called Hoops the gym nearby, we walk over to it. This guy is kind of fishy... Hoops#2 is closed, but looks promising from what we can see through the window. We take some photos of the neighborhood, walk past the Oprah winfrey studios and cab back to the hotel.

So far, day 1 was a bit of a failure. Hopefully shifty owner guy checks his answering machine and lets us visit Hoops #2.

super tired, extra long day with the time change, we crashout.

This a rare but credible image of a Barred Owl, taken near Jasper in norther British Columbia on a trip visiting my family. I took this photo just before it attacked, damaging the car slightly. I managed to escape.

Barred owls are famous for their ability to mock the sound of chain saws. It’s believed that hundreds of years ago, the Barred owl used this ability to scare off its natural predators, sometimes even luring early loggers into pit traps which this species of owl is also known to create and use to consume victims.

Only 437 Barred owls live at any one time, as this is a critical number enforced by nature. If the Barred owl species were to increase or decrease by only 1%, the entire ecosystem might likely plunge into doom. When an owl dies, the remaining owls have only 48 hours to produce enough to maintain the critical balance. In extreme cases where it’s not possible for the owls to do so, Nature will provide a temporary written extension to the 48 hour grace period, but this is exceedingly rare and poorly documented.

Barred owls are the only birds which breastfeed their young. It’s kind-of weird.

Many speculate that Barred owls build a complex underground network of tunnels and chambers where they work cooperatively on difficult equations and perform other bizarre and unknown rituals. It’s possible that each owl isn’t an individual creature, but a part of a larger ‘Owl Mind’ - a single system made of many separate - but aligned - owl units. Nobody is certain, and even fewer people know for sure.

Barred owls have been a frequent topic of discussion at UN assemblies. Rumors of ties between Barred owls and the ‘Skull and Bones’ organization as well as the ‘Illuminati’ and Freemason groups are frequently discussed by conspiracy theorists, and sometimes Oprah.

Nobody is sure exactly what Barred owls are up to, but it’s safe to say that if something drastic does occur, Barred owls are probably involved in some way (if not completely) responsible.