The wind is fierce and creepy today, and brown leaves are blowing down the street.  I love the weather in Autumn, and while I've not seen this movie in 20 years or so, I always think of it when October weather hits.   I almost don't want to watch it for fear that it will change my memories of it.  You know like that one time when you come across 'Top Gun' in college and thought: "Hey! Top Gun! I wanna watch this.. think of how rad this will be!"  Then you started singing "Danger Zone" and getting all pumped, but later realized that the movie is just a cool memory on the outside, with lame and soggy-filled center? -yeah, like that.  So, maybe I'll keep avoiding it.  In the meantime however, how cool is this movie poster artwork? All watercolor and dreamy- I love it.  Maybe I'll join the ranks of you movie-poster-hanging-people and get it for my house.

Old record stores are so money. Don't worry, found me some Fleetwood
Mac.

Tonight the weather is perfect, and its making me appreciate the season (plus Radiohead just shuffled, and thats helping). The
sun is setting and bouncing light off of some big clouds, making pink and orange light everywhere. Still, temperate and gorgeous. Late
Summer/Autumn in Utah is the finest.
I just now grabbed this pic, but i will add some more from my other
camera later.

Edit: 
As promised.

POST Labor

This last weekend was Labor Day, and officially the final blast of summer fun. I spent the weekend driving International Scouts around the mountains, and riding my bike with the other Space Invaders. I think I should start to rest more during the work week, as it certainly has not been my habit to do so on the weekends!

Mine, my two bros-in-law and my Dads. My rig is second in from the left. My brother is still on the hunt. So this is officially 4 of what-will-soon-be-5. Deep inside my heart, there is a inner redneck who has tied up his mullet and is clawing to get out.

Climbing the Alpine Loop. I voted this the coolest looking area for a bike ride. Life feels simpler in places like this.
I've been back to work this week and been totally slammed. But the work is cool, and we've got some cool projects for Xango going on, and some progress on films this Fall. To top it all off, I'm starting to wear my hoodie to work in the mornings.. Autumn is coming

Hey faithful, I'm back to orbit the bloggosphere for the forseable future. Since I left you, I got engaged and married to the girl pictured below. So, things have been pretty crazy this spring. If you are cranky that I've not been here for you, you are just going to have to go get a popsicle and cool off. Her name is Randi and I am pretty crazy about her. We live in SLC in a nice little apt with a pool. Life is good.

Okay, so new to this week we had DAYLIGHT SAVINGS. Which means, yes sports-fans, we get to turn our cold wintery clocks forward an hour. (remember? 'Spring FORWARD, Fall BACK').

This is a joyous week and I've be hotly anticipating it for.... about.... lemme see- Yep, SINCE WE SCREWED WITH THE CLOCKS BACK IN AUTUMN.

In the Fall, when you turn your clocks back an hour.. the clock-deciding-people say:
''Here's an extra hour of sleep. In return, I'm taking summer and fun away for a long time. Oh yeah, and its going to be really cold and DARK. Enjoy your hour."
So, basically.. Daylight Savings and the thought of putting things on Summer schedule is key to our happy state of complacence. Its devine summer warmth and light making itself known after a long hiatus. Its Winter being cast away, and I think its just the berries.

So, imagine my alarm. All week I've been hearing people complain about 'losing an hour of sleep'. Here are some of the uber lame ones I've heard:

"Oh MAN.. I'm still just TOTALLY reeling from losing that hour of sleep last weekend"

"I am SOOOOOO tired.. turning the clocks forward has done a number on me"

"Daylight savings is SO HARD! Man I miss that extra hour!"

"I'm REEALLY LAME and I can't seem to cope with the thought of losing a WHOLE HOUR"

I made that last one up, but that is how you sound, you whiner. Are you people serious? You're whining to me about losing one hour of sleep time? Is this you? If so, I am going to kick you if you say this to me. Think of all of the stupid things you give your hours of sleep to. AND this is even on a weekend when you're lying around anyway. If you are telling me you don't know how to nap-up a SINGLE HOUR of sleep, you should be sentenced to an hour in a meat locker. Look at the facts here. You will find that WE WIN on this round. For a one time donation of a certain hour of sleep, you get cheery bright sunshine when you leave the office, and hope of t-shirt days just around the corner. Just take a look at this chart:

You'll see that Daylight Savings is even better than new shoes and only a tad below free money.

Just yesterday, I celebrated DS by having a pre-dinner snack on the hood of my scout. The hood was warm and it was nice out... AT 6:15PM.


So, there. Keep your whining. Take your hour of sleep back, and move back to January for all I care.


In other news, I found this youtube yesterday of a goat that yells like a man. It's really great.

So, I've been sick for the past 3 days and let me tell you, its the pits. I probably do better than most on getting away with 'burning the candle at both ends' but when my lifestyle catches up to me, it pins me good. Last weekend I could feel the scratchies in my throat creeping in.. and Sunday morning I was done for. I sound like a team of geese in heat.

I happen to own an AppleTV, which is a neat little box that connects to my TV, that brings my iTunes content to my living room. (I know, right? -another cool way to be lazy) While before I've only been able to mess around with it a bit, this week, my couched state has provided ample testing. I'm HOOKED. It's awesome. I had a friend at work (Thanks Mr Micah) install BOXEE onto my AppleTV, which is a little program that lets you go online and view content from CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, etc. SO, I've been thoroughly enjoying some TV in my sick-time. I've rented movies in HD, caught up on my car shows (Top Gear.. my fav), even busted out a reeeeealy old episode of 90210 and Melrose Place. Yeah. I know. "Melrose" I watched the entire 2-hour season premier. Maybe I took too much advil. Maybe MP was just an awesome show. Either way, It was nice to have stuff to watch besides Oprah while my chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it.

No real crazy news lately.. I've been hiding from posting on this blog hoping that summer would come sooner. That hasn't really happened, but I'm happy to report that a new car has come into my life in place of the blue truck. Its a 1977 International Scout and its very orange. I think I blog about once every time I get a new car. At any rate, it should bring some fun summer mud-bogging and drop-top fun.

WOOO!

Today is my Birthday. Wherever you are, you better be celebrating.

If you happen to be in SLC, you better come down to my joint birthday party with dear friend and work-industry co-hort, Mrs Jennifer Shorter. We were both born this day and are throwing ourselves a party FOR YOU at Club Orange!!! Deets HERE if you missed the event on effbook. (I have to give snaps to CCOy for helping me with that awesome page. Well done ol chap.)


*****NOte. I totally wrote this on my birfthday and never published it. har! So I pub'd it after the fact. In retro-specs, I'll also mention that the joint party was OFFF IT. Seriously you missed a rad time.

Maybe you knew this already, but I'm a little white trash. This thought was profound yesterday morning as I looked out the window.

Why yes, that IS in fact an old Kenmore dryer.


-I'm sure I could try to excuse myself and explain exactly why my truck looks like that ... but that doesn't matter.

Fact is- I live here, and that baby is parked out front.

Healing. Slowly. So, I've been the busiest bee lately working on a project at work. about 2 weeks ago, Greg wanted to pull the trigger on a short film idea we'd been kicking around for a while. The problem is that we wanted to make the Sundance Film submission deadline.. 7 days later. Yeah. So, it was a wild ride of a week with last-second-impromptu-locations, crazy-long days for my crew, and off-the-cuff planning. I as well as the editors saw a fair share of 4am's, and I have to hold up my hat for a great team of gents that killed it all week.


Last Thursday I made a speedy run to the Airport and gave them the overnight-DVD to FEDEX for a final late-day submission to the festival. The short film is 17 minutes long, and is called "The Death of David Jones". I think the film looks great, and it was an absolute blast to work on. We'll find out in December if we've been accepted. Here's to hoping!

In the meantime, I'm buried with the paperwork aftermath. Here I am at my desk, doing a little 'robot' to keep me fresh between Purchase Orders.

Hey hey, its BLOG-gust! Glad to see I made it here before the end of the month! I'll see if I can't finish out this month strong.


Just returned from Lake Powell with my family. Its my favorite place on the planet. Here are some of my favorite shots of the trip- Enjoy them or we're no longer friends.









In other news, I've really been embracing Facebook. So, go there and add me. It keeps me in touch with peeps I normally wouldn't talk to as much, and I like that. Myspace is so 2006.

Let's put this behind us.


So, its no secret that I've neglected you. I've been living all sorts of adventures and not keeping you in the loop. I'll do better. Let me prove it to you.

First things first. I moved to Salt Lake and its been super bitchin. I'm still the same guy that loves you and loves Provo and ice cream and frisbee. But now I'm that same guy who also happens to live closer to where I work. If you've not noticed my absence, then buy me a frosty and we'll hug it out.

I'll return shortly with a quick synopsis of my latest achievements

I finally hung it.  My sis Julia bought me this awesome print like 1.5 years ago, and its been sitting sadly in a tube behind my door.  I love this picture, so my wonderful sis brings the bacon, and I don't even hang it.  Shame!  Honestly I have been facing obstacles in my life differently since I got off my cracker-arse and bought this frame.  12 bucks and I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner.  Thanks Target.  Thanks Jewels.  Thanks Harry.  

Fixies.

I am fascinated by Fixed Gear bicycles. My favorites are the bikes that have been converted from older-style cycles, and are a little worn and used. They are like art, and I love their simplicity. I'm determined to make one of my own, but quickly assure myself it wouldn't look quite like the perfection I see in my head. I might just have to steal one that looks right.





I had to include this shot.. because I've been to this exact spot in Portland.

Hello?

Can you read this? Is my braille keyboard working?



Oh kay OH KAY!! I shouldn't joke. My sister Andrea was in town this last weekend, and gave me much grief about my sans-bloggering lifestyle. She mentioned the horrific truth that I last told you all about my upcoming Lasik procedure, and THEN I left you all without a recap! Left you worry! Left you to gossip! Alas -Sorry to my loyal 11 readers- allow me to return.

So.. I CAN SEE!!!! Lasik is by far the coolest thing in the whole wide world. SO cool in fact, that I'm going to attempt to tell you the sugery experience in as short a time as it took to complete. Its very science fiction- so grab some popcorn.

They lay me down in the dentists chair, and basically strap your eyes open. I'm sure they use Duct tape or something of equal adhesion and put some contraption on your eye ball... (don't worry, because you have nurses dropping drops in them all the while..)

My thoughts:
"This is weird. Say, is that my valium kicking in?"

Alright if your squeamish, skip this paragraph. This machine comes over to your eye (which is wearing the contraption) and slices the top of you clear corneal tissue about 90% off. Then here comes the doctors tweasers, as they grab your eye flap, and fold it back.

My thoughts:
"Bah!"

I can still see, but its blurry. I look into some machine and its making all these clickies. I smell burning-eye. Couple drops, and they put the flap back. Pull of contraption. Elapsed time.. 3 minutes? Maybe less? Then again on lefty.

SO, that was my adventure! I have perfect vision, and my eyes are red all the time anymore! Yippee skippy.

So, I shall leave you with photos to show you how I look after Lasik.

Plus SHEP just gave me a swanky new haircut..

Wh.. well hello! You seem to have caught me reading. Hi, my name is Rich.. and you might recognize me from such magazines as GQ, Hot Guyz, or TV Guide. But hey, don't blame my dapper appearance on my chisled abs or defined cheek bones; I owe my whole new look to my glasses. Get your peeps now kids, cuz countdown to Lasik starts today. Feb 11 is when it all goes down.

Mark your calendars. Send cards.


In other news, I saw this familiar Utah site earlier: Yes yes, its the return of the "here's my family represented on the back of my SUV/Van in little white vinyl stickers and lookie their names are under them too" car. Yawn. Anyway, I was quite excited to see that someone had ACTUALLY named their kids 'Imagine' and 'Kapone'.. yes look close. (sorry for the blurry)
Oh, wait.. silly me. Those aren't kids! Those are the DOGS!!!

Whoops. YEah, nevermind.. thats not weird either. (crickets) The names I mean.. that you would name your dog that... (crickets) Or, that you'd put them on the car too.

The lap pool was chilly this morning. My 10 laps commenced at 5:30 this morning, and I have to admit that swimming is no fun. When does it become fun? Does it ever? However I press on, determined. I WILL become a fish.. sans the swim cap and speedo. Er, maybe just swimcap.




Recently I received my first piece of art I've purchased for my 'someday' home. Its an Evan Hecox screenprint of LA and I'm totally stoked. His other work is worth your peeping.

Happy Monday!!

Sent from my iPhone.

Alright, so I don't have an iphone(yet). But, my pal Zach does. So, on his couch and on his iphone, I blog. (plus i just sar Mark at the store, and he gave me heat about never blogging)

So, tell me.. Isn't it awesome when you get an email from iphone-guy, and it says "sent from my iphone"? I hate that. I hate iphone guy and his iphone. -mostly because i want said iphone and don't have one.

Im sitting on Zach's couch, watching "man vs wild". Best part? When dude is climbing down a waterfall in the jungle on a vine and says "I'm running out of time, and I'm running out of VINE" His accent is awesome.

Just like that. Thanks Zach. Thanks Mark. Thanks iphone.

ThanksTurkey. Kicking it at Mom & Dad's all day.. without having to think at all about work. Today is usually a day that begins with either a 5k, or a Turkey Bowl. -I can't help but wonder if the exercise is to help explain the following gluttony.
The planned 5k turned out to be a 4-mile instead. And I ran with my two sisters. Such family togetherness made me feel good. As hard as it is for me to get up early, I LOVE being up in the morning. So, all was well..

Then I get home to find my brother-in-law getting ready to go play some turkey bowl with my brother. I couldn't really say no to that either.. so I grabbed my cleats (I know , I own cleats.. its wierd) and off we went.

Super great day. I have much to be full-of-thanks about. I won't make a list here. I really did enjoy stopping my routine and having a day to relax. I celebrated my freedom with mountains of food and a healthy dose of guitar hero. God Bless America.

GAME TRAFFIC!!! Last night BYU vs TCU game traffic was aligned perfectly with rush hour. I drove home from work with Marty, and was on the freeway for 1.5 hours. Ugh. Now, for me, that equals sleepy. Friends will remember that one of the last times Marty and drove home from SLC after work in heavy traffic.. I got sleepy and nearly killed lots of people.

1/20/2006. oops.



S0, here is a little moment I can share with you of me keeping myself entertained.

I love cars, Vol. 1:

Alright, so its fair to say that I love cars. Love them. While some daydream sports stats, or a great day of Halo, I'm thinking about cars. I notice every dumb little detail, and although it sounds silly.. I have a checklist of cars I'd like to own. Yes, an actual list.

On this list are cars I've loved since I was wee up until now. Although the list gets a little more interesting and expensive, I feel good about my progress. I've been able to check some good ones off in the last few years, but lately.. one car on my list has become so much more than a number.

Yes, enter the G-class.


Ahem* Dearest Mercedes-Benz G-55 AMG... how I adore you, Let me count the ways..

This ones been on the list for a while... Why? -Well.. just think of the words that are coming to mind as you look apon it.. Boxy, Brad-has-one, Butch, Badass- to name but few. So sure they're rad, but how do you reeally know?

This last summer, we had a job at work that required one on set. As Producer, I deemed it 'Totally necessary' that I be the one to babysit the beast. I picked up the 2005 AMG G-55.. and drove it all over for a day.

Words cannot express.

When I arrived on set, I had to drive it off-road a bit to get it in position. Yes, this $85,000 car needed to be piloted up steep dirt hills. I was nervous. So, I put her in 4-low to see what she could do.

Words cannot express.

After the shoot was done, and all was wrapped up, it was just the two of us. Alone. In the woods. Up on a mountain. I managed to capture what raw and untamed video I could with my phone.. (pardon the poor quality... )

So there's one of the current objects of my affection. Here's the white one that Mercedes of Downtown has on their lot.

Sigh, one day.

A week or two ago, I was with some friends just coming back late from a great concert in Salt Lake. The snow had started to fall on the drive home.. and kept getting worse and worse. Ridiculous weather gets me all excited, so when we get to Utah County, and I see snow covering all the road signs? Whoa, I was giddy. My carpool arrived home and we separated. (Me and 3 ladies.. I know, it was awesome) I drove home.. through the blizzard, and made my mind up.

Me: "Self, what to make of all this snow?.. 'Twill be gone come tomorrow, no?"
Self: "That's right, Cool Rich.. you must seize the oppurtunity"
Me: "But, its so late!"
Self: "Find strength in the snowy, old pal"

-I suited up and grabbed my trusty snowboard.


Off I went. Like the first man on the moon.. snowpants swishing all the way.
I walked to this hill, about a block from my house. Its a great sled place. The air was all quiet and the snow was still a-coming down. SO FUN
I rode my snowboard down the hill for a good hour or so. I made a line, and even a little jump over the rocks. It was maybe the best thing ever.

Somewhere about 2:25am, I was soggy and tired. But as I walked back- don't forget this neighbor.. 6 year drought in Utah? Sure.. think I'll water my lawn AFTER IT SNOWS FIVE FREAKING INCHES. -you saw it here first, folks.
Two days later, it was 70 degress again, and the luscious grassy knoll bore no record of our grand fun just nights before. Maybe it... was.. all... a dream.. (bom bom BOMM!)

So, I have deemed today the start of BLOG-VEMBER. You may notice that I have added to this blog ZERO times in October, and now I return with new-found gumtion. October held much excitement for me, including my birthday (15th, write that down FFR..) and yet, I left you all in the dark.

So, here is my pact. Ahem* I'm blogging everyday for the next 30. You heard me- EVERY SINGLE DAY. I mean, I have a lot to share. So much to give..

Like this little gem here: One of the reasons I love Utah and my commute. Two weeks ago was the deer hunt, and Monday morning the roads were full of weekenders making their way home. This guy, was my favorite one in the bunch-


-Muddy Ford
-Muddy 4-Wheeler (backed in..)
-Wh? whats that? Look closely, Yes DEER HOOVES!!

"Just toss 'em in the back!! Whewwee!! Got me a BUCK!!"

-and while my city hands have never hunted, nor plan to, I'm glad that our local hunters share the action with us.

Yep. So as of like.. 2 weeks ago.. I'm on the hunt. The hunt for a place to live, a place to call home.. a place to rest my tired feets, a TV for Guitar Hero, a countertop for my george foreman grill. The hunt for abode has existed, plagued and tormented man ever since... well, a long time. Although I have Craigslist and KSL's online classifieds, the only things I've FOUND are 'cat mandatory' roomshares in Kearns and over priced ski condos. (OH, and if you don't live in Utah, don't you worry about a future shortage in the 'ski condo' category. I'm now happy to inform you that EVERY HOME in Salt Lake is actually a ski condo. So, vacation away.) My search is in Salt Lake, with hopes of securing something close to work. After you omit the meth neighborhoods the pickings are slimmer, but I've still got hope. I know its out there... I sit at my computer ready to pounce with my 'refresh' button.. like a tiger I'll strike.

Where are you secret flat? Lonely apartment in the city; Are you there? Do you look for ME on Craigslist? Are you reading this post???

They say that your surroundings influence your mood. I figured that my wakeboarding abilities needed some 'inspiration' as of late; So with my wakeboard as my canvas, I pulled out the stickers and paint. Since I've created this bang-up job you see here, I'm pretty sure I've been riding better. This illustrates that 'they' are totally right, and I'm totally rad at painting-slash-design.

When I peeped my closet last night, I noticed a good trend. A recent delivery of my old shirts to the local thrift store/trash justifed some spending on 'tight new threads'.



Cut to the current state of my closet: You'll notice first how tidy I am.. ahem. THEN almost straightaway you see fresh tees WITH TAGS STILL ROCKIN! This connotes a few things:

-The closets owner is clearly a "Baller"
-I'm "rolling" so "deep" in "that green", I don't even know what I've "dropped coin" on.
-A spectator:"I wonder if this guy even knows how FRESH his wardrobe is"
-This 'Cat' has more TIGHT than TIME
-etc

I strongly recommend this kind of lifestyle. No one needs to know that I plan on strategically placing tags in my closet when my buying is down.. and even one new shirt a year can help you too, to achieve high social status. Even as I type this very blog, a swanky American Apparel hoodie was delivered to my cubicle. Peace!

A wild day of work calls for an equally wild break from said work. Chris' bike is stored permanently beside my desk, which means I have pseudo-ownership. What would I do with a bike? -Ride it around the office of course. This adventure was captured from my phone. Make sure you're sitting down, son!

DATE IDEA: This takes preperation.

1. You and Girl take note of current driving habits. When carefully mapped, deliberately take it down a notch or two in an effort to drive more reckless.

2. Separately you must each obtain a Moving Violation from an actual Police Officer in the same City.

3. Schedule and attend Traffic School at the same time.

4. Mix the evening of Traffic School with dinner. She's yours.

(Note: Violations must be obtained in reasonable amount of time of each other. Usually 60 days. See local court guidelines. )

Audrey and Rich's mugshot from last week with appropriate expression. Nearly Bonnie and Clyde status.