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| Tokyo Photos are Up
Finally got my Tokyo photos up. There are a few from the show, but I was usually too busy working to take photos. Most are from our adventures around the city in the evenings and afterwards. See them all here. Enjoy!
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| Off to Tokyo
So in a few hours, I will be getting on a flight to attend this year's Tokyo Game Show. For the uninitiated, the event is one of the biggest video-game conventions of the year, not a television program involving ninjas. There will be lots of big announcements and new games for us to cover, and I'll be helping with the standard barrage of conducting interviews with developers, getting new gameplay footage, and posting media to GameTrailers.com as quickly as possible.
This is my first trip to Japan so I'm actually a bit nervous right now. As much as I've always wanted to go, it's my first time in a country where English isn't the primary language. We'll have "fixers" to help us out, but still, my personal skills with the language aren't exactly at their peak right now. I'm sure I'll adjust after a couple days, though.
As for the image above, it's not a reflection of my nervousness, but a fun little bit of trivia about our trip as we'll be staying in the same hotel featured in the movie. I don't really think I'll have time to be lonely, plus there's close to ten of us going so it should be a lot of fun. Perhaps, I'll do some extra blogging while I'm there if I get a spare chance, but no guarantees. I'll be back on the 14th. See you then!
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| Park City Photos are up
Check out the new album to see photos from my trip to Park City, UT a few weeks back. I went up to see Shaun White's new snowboarding games, capture footage, and help out with interviews for our TV show. It was far too hot for snow, but they did take us up the mountain to get some history on the area and see a few locations that inspired scenery in the game. If you want to check out the game itself, the footage I captured is up over at GameTrailers.com and the show will air on Spike TV some time in October. Fridays at 1:00 AM (actually Sat, but whatever).
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| Grandpa's 80th Birthday
Last weekend was my Grandfather's 80th birthday, and they had a great big bash up at his farm in Illinois. My mom went up a few days early, then my brother and I flew into St. Louis and rented a car to drive up and surprise him. We got to Payson the night before, helped pack some chairs and tables into the pick up trucks, and then headed back to the farm and walked around in the dark, looking at the stars.
In the morning, we spent a couple hours walking around the fields. There's soybeans, corn, cows, a couple of horses, and some miniature donkeys there, but most of the land is actually rented out to another farmer at this point. While we were walking, saw one deer as well as plenty of signs of more deer and raccoons, and we sat out by one of the ponds for a bit too. The farm is huge though - hundreds of acres - so once we got done with our walk, we went with our Uncle Bruce on the Mule (which is like a golf cart with 4WD) to see the back fields and woods.
In the afternoon, family and friends started driving in. Altogether, there must have been almost 200 people there. For the main course, they were frying up catfish, onion rings, and french fries, plus nearly everyone brought plenty of good food. We had tables, chairs, and a band set up in my Uncle Bruce's new barn, but there were tons of people all over the place. The festivities went on into the evening, and I got a nice bruise on my leg from kids throwing apples at each other.
Since I grew up in Florida, I've only been to the farm about four or
five times before, so it was great getting to see Grandpa and the rest
of the family and play with my cousin's son Hayden. Even my Aunt's
family from Albuquerque made the trek, and I've only seen them once or
twice before.
In the morning, Grandpa took us out-of-towners out to breakfast, and James and I packed up to head back to the airport. Mom took us out to see my cousin Linda's place on the way, which was pretty cool since they pretty much built their house on their own. Then after hanging out for an hour there, it was time for us to head back to the airport and fly home.
I took a lot of pictures and posted them online, so if you want, check out the full album.
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| Goodbye NovaApril 15, 2008
I
write this letter out of a deep sense of heartache. It had been a while
since I'd dropped by Nova Express, so I checked out the website only to
discover what I somehow feared – this place I treasured was now lost.
Like
many, I had been exposed to the café by musicians I knew. We dropped by
there after a friend's show one night, and Dominic Massaro, who I know
from church, played there weekly at the time. For several months, I
made a weekly habit of coming out late at night to relax, have some
great food, and zone out to the music, often bringing a book or a
sketch pad with me.
I always tried to have friends come with
me, and it became a favorite place to bring anyone who was new to town.
It was the curiosity that brought them in and the pizza that kept many
coming back, even without me. It was always a joy to watch people
experience the environment for the first time. While I always told
friends about the pizza, personally, I had a soft spot for the
fantastic salads, and the Black Dot smoothie was an essential order
anytime I entered the building.
It's hard for me to come to
terms with the fact that Nova Express has closed up shop, and even
harder, seeing that they were open for fifteen years. It was a true
refuge for artistic souls. It can't be replaced, and it will be greatly
missed.
Sincerely,
Daniel Bloodworth
http://www.novaexpresscafe.com/main.html | | |
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