Funny Faces Tracing Fun

So, a friend of mine showed me this sweet website the other day, which was featured on an M&M's commercial I haven't yet seen. If you are looking for a moment of distraction, please take a moment to visit the site, design your own M&M character, and do tons of other useless but entertaining things.

The M&M character creator immediately brought back memories of one of my favorite childhood activities -- the Funny Faces Tracing Fun book. Anyone out there remember? I either got this book from one of the many book fairs at school or ordered it from the Scholastic book order (Can we discuss how this was always the highlight of the month?? Damn, I miss elementary school!)

The good news is, a quick Google of the book turned up an Amazon link. The bad news is, the book -- which in 1987 retailed for $2.99 or so -- is now selling at $24.95. Seriously? And some of them are used copies? Does that mean they wouldn't even include the tracing paper? I'm a little upset by the profiteering going on here, as I would love to have a copy of this. I'm also hoping for the slim chance that I never threw this away and could possibly dig it up from an old storage box in my parents' basement... Either way, I made some pretty classic Funny Faces back in the day and I think everyone should have a chance to do the same.

Pepper and Amex

My good friend Pepper recently scored a sweet gig writing the background music for an Amex commercial airing locally in Aspen, Colorado. The commercial itself was shot and directed by Pepper's friend Henry. Clearly, both are a couple of talented gents!

Anyway, this news is noteworthy for at least two reasons:

1. I love the My Life. My Card. campaign (which you may have gathered from a previous post);

and

2. Pepper is an awesome musician and I'm very happy and excited for him. In fact, to find out more about what he does and to hear more of his originals, hop on over to his website. Huge props, Pep!

Ticketbastard

Since I've been on a concert hiatus for quite some time now, it had been a while since I had to use the dreadful Ticketmaster to make a purchase.

Today, however, in my quest to snag some tickets for the upcoming Decemberists show at the Strathmore, I was reminded of all the reasons why I can't stand it.

Let's first discuss the "word verification" page. This is the section you must pass through to basically prove that you're a human being and not using an automated program to buy tickets. All you have to do is prove that you can read and type crooked letters through a dirty window being blocked by a chain-link fence. Easy enough, right? On more than one occasion today, I needed repeated attempts to successfully pass through, during which time I'm sure the coveted tickets I was after were being given to someone else!

Once you pass the cryptic eye exam and are able to find tickets you actually want to keep, you are presented with the frightening time limits of Ticketmaster. First, you have 2 minutes to decide whether you want them. As I was consulting with someone as I was purchasing tickets, I definitely let a good set of tickets slip through the cracks as I was too slow to commit. Finally, once I managed to find another good set and got to the order page, I faced the daunting task of submitting all of my sensitive information in 3 minutes, tops. Okay, I understand it's perfectly reasonable for any competent person to do this, but when you don't have a stopwatch handy and you're double checking your credit card information and billing address (for fear of being rejected again if for any reason it's incorrect), it's a little nerve-wracking!

Lastly, and this is truly where the 'bastard' in Ticketmaster comes from, we all know about the horrendous surcharges Ticketmaster slaps on you on top of already rising base prices. In today's case, Decemberists tickets base price = $39.50 each. Convenience charge = $8.85. Processing Charge for total order = $4.00. Somehow I don't know what conveniences are being offered to me that could possibly be worth $8.85, unless someone is bringing me a pizza while I'm sitting here on my computer.

Anyway, enough complaining. I got myself some great tickets and I'm excited about seeing The Decemberists at a venue that is unlike the 9:30 club or any other typical bar/club spot for indie bands. Though admittedly, now that The Decemberists are major-label and selling their CDs in Starbucks, I shouldn't be too surprised that they're checking out such a sophisticated venue like the Strathmore.

On the other hand, I still long for the concert days when I could see my favorite little bands for the price of an average lunch. I still have fond memories of an Interpol show I went to in Richmond over 5 years ago. I strolled down some quiet alley, pulled out $7 in cash and walked right in. Oh, how I miss the good ol' days.

Smithsonian Exhibit Opening

This is just a quick post to let you all know that as of Friday, the Smithsonian's new Vietnamese American exhibit, "Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon," is now officially open for public viewing at the Ripley Center. Since I spent one of my recent summers interning for the Smithsonian and helping out with the origins of this project, I'm really happy and proud to see it finally come to fruition. On Thursday night I attended the "exclusive" reception to officially unveil the exhibit, and in addition to finally being able to see the final project -- an idea that first came to be over two years ago -- I was able to enjoy the company of CNN's Betty Nguyen who emceed the event, as well as recently-elected Senator Jim Webb of Virginia (his wife is a Vietnamese American), among many other family, friends, and local Vietnamese Americans.

But by far my favorite run-in was with none other than Project Runway winner Chloe Dao, who was just as cute and friendly as I imagined her to be. It was truly my reality-TV dream come true (yes I know I'm a huge dork for saying that).

The exhibit will be on display until March 31, at which point it will travel to different parts of the country. I encourage all of you in the area to check it out if you get a chance -- the Ripley Center is the small copper-domed building just to the right of the Castle building. For some background or additional info, check out the website.

Fun photos from the evening are to come. Check my Flickr for an update soon.

Sesame Street Videos

I was out to dinner with Becca and Pepper last night, and after a couple glasses of wine we ended up on the topic of childhood television, which naturally led to a discussion of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, 3-2-1 Contact, and of course Sesame Street.

The rest of the night included lots of reminiscing over our favorite live Sesame Street film reels that showed us the wonder of how things were made.

If any of you watched Sesame Street in the late '70s through the mid '80s, you're sure to remember some of these. It's amazing how vivid all of these were in my mind. Watching them again today made me feel like it was only yesterday I saw them for the first time.

1) How Crayons are Made:

How delicious does the liquid orange color look? I want to make some fresh mac & cheese with it!


2) Saxophones!

The best part is the honking and squeaking saxophone background sound effects.

3) "3-2-1 Contact!" theme song!

Pepper and I seemed to be the only ones to really remember this theme song well, which led me to believe that 3-2-1 Contact may have been a bit more underground and on the fringe than its counterparts back in the day. Or maybe it was only intended for the geeks who liked science and such. Either way, it was a great theme song and a fantastic show.

There are tons of other great Sesame Street clips to enjoy and find on YouTube. Let's just say I've already spent at least an hour this afternoon watching them... Yet another reason why I worship the Internet. Enjoy!

Flippin' Amazing

Steve Jobs' unveiling of the iPhone this week at the Macworld conference in San Francisco probably did not come as a big surprise to a lot of people.

Most of us knew Apple's next big thing was likely going to be a mobile phone device combined with iPod technology, but I don't think any of us could have imagined what the iPhone actually is -- an easy-to-use, intuitive, and attractive megadevice (mobile phone + iPod + handheld computer) with a revolutionary multi-touch interface that runs Mac OSX. Seriously? Yes.

I've been patiently waiting for my 3rd generation iPod to kick the bucket so I can justify a a new toy, and while a memory upgrade has always been a priority for me (20 gigs is not enough!), after watching the demonstration at Macworld, I want an iPhone immediately. It also helps that my current cell phone is on its last legs, so I can justify that upgrade, too! Unfortunately, eager consumers like me will have to wait a while, as the iPhone will not begin shipping until June of this year. It will be priced at $499 for the 4 gig model and $599 for the 8 gig, which sounds like a lot but is actually bang for your buck if you consider the combination of products. My guess is that Apple's exclusive partner, Cingular, will see a surge in subscribers, and the iPhone may even persuade me to make the switch from trusty Verizon.

I don't think I've ever seen a gadget that I find so appealing and just downright badass. The "cover flow" feature is particularly amazing, as it basically allows users to browse their iPod library by album art, essentially turning it into a pocket jukebox. The phone itself boasts visual voicemail and easy conference calling. And as an 'Internet communications device,' iPhone introduces rich-text HTML e-mail, the first HTML browser (Safari) on a mobile phone, Google maps, and automatic WiFi detection.

The iPhone is a sleek 1.6 millimeters thin with a gorgeous 3.5" display, and I could babble on about the rest of its incredible features, but I'll spare you any more of my cultish Apple worship. I challenge everyone with an interest to watch Steve Jobs' iPhone introduction during the keynote address and tell me you're not sold. Even haters have to be impressed with this.

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm back in the good ol' US of A after our exciting two-week vacation to Thailand and Cambodia. We arrived yesterday morning and so far I've been fighting the jet lag pretty well (I say this as my eyelids begin to get heavy before 8 pm). I even managed to go back to work today, which was slightly depressing but inevitable, I suppose.

From a tourist standpoint, the end of our trip was less eventful than our previous stop in Cambodia. Since this was not our first trip to Bangkok, we pretty much skipped over all the tourist sightseeing stops and spent most of our time shopping and eating. Bangkok and its enormous malls and department stores really do boast some of the best food courts I've ever eaten in, with choices of any kind of Asian food you could imagine, as well as other ethnic cuisines, Western options and tons of delicious desserts, too. My only regret is that I would have liked to try out the McRice burger at the Thai McDonald's but I never got around to it!

For the first time ever, I not only rang in the new year on an airplane, but I also got to celebrate twice -- once in local time as we boarded our first flight leaving Bangkok, and again in DC time as we were airborne from Tokyo to home. Auddie and I were slightly disappointed about the lack of enthusiasm (or even acknowledgment) from our fellow passengers, and I personally would have enjoyed a free champagne toast, but I guess our personal family countdown had to do. On the other hand, after finally arriving home and learning about the Bangkok bombings that had happened just around midnight at the Central World Plaza -- an area where we'd been just hours earlier -- I was slightly jarred, sad for those who were killed and injured on what should have been an evening of fun and celebration, but also relieved and happy that we left when we did.

The Bangkok photos are up and the whole vacation set is ready for complete viewing. Here's to what should be an eventful and exciting 2007! Cheers to all.