From the Vox archives: more
Vox Hunt: Dancing Machine
Mar 1, 2007
Video: Show us some great dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YamDoDK71Ds
and
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1145067873
You'll need the sound for both, but even if you don't it's still great technique.
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Tags:
vox hunt,
dancing machine
Newbie!
Feb 26, 2007
Scrubs has fast grown to be one of my favorite shows. The best quote EVER was heard on an episode yesterday.
Dr. Cox: "...and that guy's bad haircut."
Intern (with 'stylishly messy' hair): (smirking) "Hey, this cost me sixty bucks!"
Dr. Cox: "Let's hope your stylist put the money toward rehab."
I did not realize until Jason pointed out yesterday that Perry aka Dr. Cox aka (John C. McGinley) was also (dun dun DUNNNN)... one of the Bobs from Office Space. That makes me feel funny about having a mini-celeb-crush on him. He's been in a ton o' films, including Point Break and The Rock, something else I was unaware of. HOORAY IMDB.
See also: Then vs Now. Hitler Mustache, how I giggle at you.
Other fun-factoids:
Turk (Donald Faison) was in "Clueless", and also "Clone High" - along with Elliot (Sarah Chalke)... who also played Marion Fitzwater in "Robin of Locksley" *AND* was in "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie". Not to mention episodes of Roseanne.
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Tags:
tv,
scrubs,
celebs
Vox Hunt: Not There Anymore
Feb 26, 2007
Show us a picture of where you used to be.
--------
I am a nostalgic person, so ...here you go. This one's already been posted, but hey, that's alright.
A little more recent, my 2004 trip to visit PA. 26 degrees was just *way* too cold for me. Ryven in the background, my old car... oh how I miss you.
Finally, one of my favorite rides at Kennywood, "The Whip". It's right up there with the Musik Express as far as classic favorites go, but Musik Express makes me laugh until I cry every single time. I've also been to Conneaut, Idlewild (including Story Book Forest), Busch Gardens (VA) and Cedar Point... but there's nothing like a Kennywood trip to make my day perfect. Even in the rain.
Cedar Point, how I miss you (almost as much as my car). It was about a two hour drive from my place but fully worth it. If you want a good walk with a ton of rides, that's your park. For years my phobia of roller coasters made going to amusement parks somewhat boring. One year my church went to Cedar Point, and a friend of mine refused to let me chicken out - the very first coaster I ever rode was the Raptor. Not a normal, tame wooden coaster, but a giant of steel and loops and fear, feet hanging in the wind, flipping around and screaming my lungs out - that's how I broke my fear of coasters. It has seats similar to a ski lift, so when gravity kicks in it's much more comfortable than the coasters you stand up in (see the last few posts in that thread). With its' wait time of generally 2-3 hours I never made it on the Millennium, but I did make it to the Magnum XL-200; one scary-ass coaster. The thing about the Magnum is that you're seated in a VERY small 2-seater box, with a lap bar and a seat-belt across your lap. That's it. Some of you might say "Oh, there aren't even any loops...", but when you're 205 feet above the ground in a box about the size of two computer chair seats, overlooking a huge lake, who needs loops? Then you roar down the hill into this little tunnel, and a camera takes your photo. How's that for an action shot?
Cedar Point was always fun, no doubt about that, but I'm going to have to give my vote to Kennywood as my favorite park of all time. The Le Cachot "ride" was my first scary ride ever, and when you were little it definitely scared the crap out of you, what with the darkness and random things jumping out. The room with strobe lights appealed while hurting your eyes, and it all fed my now-near-obsession with Really Good Haunted Houses. California has yet to beat PA in that department as far as I'm aware. There was also a Noah's Ark walk-through (kind of a haunted house) which had a twisted ending - you (and 30 or 40 others) would get "trapped" at the end, and the walls would start closing in. All of you would stand there in a mostly dark shiproom, and steam would come from hidden vents, like blown gaskets; water would start to spray everywhere. Then after two or three minutes of fearing your impending death, a door would crack open somehow and everyone would scurry out into the sunlight and the end of the trip.
Kennywood also was the first to come out with Dippin' Dots, way before the McDonald's craze hit, not to mention their funnel cakes and fudge selections are top-notch. So are the fries from the Potato Patch, right next to the Turtles (a mini thrill ride). On really hot days you'd ride the Raging Rapids (six or seven waterfalls), then the Log Jammer, and if it was really humid out you'd hang out on the deck by the Pittsburg Plunge and wait for the mega-splash without waiting in line.
When you first entered the park you were accosted by the Picture People; they'd snap the mandatory photo of you and your current bf/gf/nine million best friends, and at the end of the day you could pick up your photo. It was a no-pressure situation, it was just tradition to get your photo taken. They'd give you a little ticket to turn in, but if you didn't want to pick up your photo there was no hassle. Photos would come in a little plastic square telescope viewer that you could put on your keychain. I have a million of those but only know where two (duplicates) are, sadly. Both of those reside in my living room right now, not the little ones but the large bubbled square versions. Both are of J and I during his infamous 2001 summer visit. One photo is faded almost to invisibility but the other is still clear and only slightly blurry.
I'm originally from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and graduated from Aliquippa Senior High. Directly after that I picked up an Associates Degree over at Pittsburgh Technical Institute. Jason is from Beaver Falls, graduated from Blackhawk Senior High, and also got an Associates Degree from PTI (except his is in CAD and mine is in Multimedia/Web & Graphic Design). Hopefully that bit of info will make some of you understand better why SD is such a culture shock to me. There were maybe 80 people in my graduating class, and I was around White Kids or Black Kids. There was nothing else. Many families were not what you'd call racist, just mildly on that borderline left over from old times, with everyone thinking they're better than everyone else (aka "Colored Folk vs White Folk") and playing nice to their faces. We had row houses, projects, "the bricks", that sort of stuff. Downtown is a mere shadow of what a lot of people would consider a city's downtown area, but this is the nicer section.
I grew up in a house much like this - as a matter of fact my bedroom window faced the street, and I could see this house down and across the street to my right. Most of us had decent-sized yards (yes yards plural), an attic, basement, 3Bd/2Bth - plus living room, dining room and kitchen, large front porch and enclosed back porch, and a detached 3-car garage. This house was half a block from where one of my playmates lived, and we used to say a witch lived there. Seriously. In actuality there was an invalid and a middle-aged man, but it was on the edge of the woods and creeped us out because it was so different from the other houses. This house is across the street from a boy I had a tremendous crush on... tremendous is a mild version. Infatuated is a better word, or perhaps enthralled. I haven't talked to him since 1999, though recently I found out his sister is stationed slightly north of me in the Air Force. Check out the pricing on those homes ...oh, and they'll throw in a 2 bedroom apartment with a rental income of $350/mth. GAH! Out here you can barely even buy a studio apartment for less than $150,000.
The cool thing about my house was that it was 10-15 minutes walking distance from everything I'd need at that time (including school). The west side was bordered by a big grassy lot, followed by a baseball field, two community pools, and woods. Check out the aerial, courtesy of Zillow - feel free to pan to the left. I may have had a restricted childhood, but the location of the house allowed for more than just playing in the yard. Speaking of going out, I just found my ex-best-friend's old house for sale. Conveniently it was located directly behind me, which is how we met when I was about 5. The trees on the left side of the photo are the ones my house faced... and boy did we get into trouble for venturing down there at a too-early age. There used to be a family in front and she lived in the back half, but it looks like it's all single family now. Even funnier is the aerial of my ex's house, the white one smack dab in the middle. He's got about an acre for a backyard, and is pretty close to Brush Creek - which was a decent and large park. For a little more nostalgia, this rink was where all my crazy boy adventures started, courtesy of Brady's Run.
When people ask where I'm from I'll say Pittsburgh, but there are several reasons why. It's much easier than saying "Aliquippa" - first off is the lack of having to repeat the name slower. (Al-ih-kwip-ah, known to many of us as Quip or QuipTown. Drums please.) Next off it's a very small town, with a less than positive atmosphere. It's got extreme weather and is only nice a few months out of the year. Most of the people only care about sports and focus more on their football & basketball teams and create a false sense of community. It gets passed down to the children, who barely focus on academics or helping to improve the town, and there are a lot of gang-related disputes that have only grown worse in the past years. Most of the under-age crowd really doesn't care about anything except talking about how much they go to church and pretending like they've got rockstar status. In a town of less than 20k, nobody gets rockstar status, I don't care how many Buicks/Cadillacs/Escalades you've got in your mom's driveway.
I keep in touch with friends and acquaintances who are now scattered around the country, the majority of whom still live in the same town we grew up in. A few are doing quite well, a few others are blatantly impressive. Some of them have no internet connection, the idea of "blogging" is completely foreign to them, and computers are only for checking email or printing Word documents, which they require assistance to do. Some still live with (and are wholly supported by) their parents, have children and are divorced. They are under 30. They exist in a loop which doesn't even exist to them since their only experience with the outside world is through television and magazines. They sell drugs to survive, they've gone through rehab numerous times, they have no drivers license. A license isn't necessary when you don't own a car. Some can tell you the full bus schedule for any destination up to an hour away, but they can never manage to pay their phone bill. A large group have discovered text messaging, and some (despite my admonishments NEVER to do so) send things like "its natl bestfrienz day!!!!!! sned this 2 all ur frienz and c who senz it bak, r u a tru b3st friend? :) :) :) :)".
The next visit will be in a few months. First, my unemployment needs to come to an end so that a stable return to San Diego is guaranteed. When I go to visit I'm going to see as many friends and family members as you can fit into a four-day stay. This way the awkward, Twilight-Zone-esque feeling will be overtaken by the sheer number of things to do. Also I'll be staying with my mom and two grandparents (none of whom are spring chickens), and Jason isn't planning his not-quite-annual return anytime soon, meaning I'll have to be a rockstar on my own. Some of the people I haven't seen for over a decade (which is a frightening thought), but a lot of them have been coming out of the cyber-woodwork and expressing a desire to meet up. The photo opportunities and catching up will be fun, but it will be a relief to return to San Diego - somewhere I now call "home", despite not having felt "at home" since we lived in Mission Valley.
Speaking of buying places, we've found three candidates. The first is a pimp new version of a loft over in Mission Valley - cathedral ceilings, private deck, loft, and includes a second room on the first floor. Then there's a two-story townhouse in our old complex that is my personal preference of the three, despite it being on the high end of our price range. Lastly there's a 2-bed newer model in a cute gated community that's very close to the beach... but very close to the border. So keep your fingers crossed that I score a job this week and we can make real progress on getting out of this place.
As far as Aliquippa goes... in that town, everything has changed while managing to remain the same, a small-town mentality that only those transplanted from small towns will understand. It's a great place to grow up in and a nice place to visit, but nobody should live there forever.
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Mar 1, 2007
Video: Show us some great dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YamDoDK71Ds
and
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1145067873
You'll need the sound for both, but even if you don't it's still great technique.
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Tags:
vox hunt,
dancing machine
Newbie!
Feb 26, 2007
Scrubs has fast grown to be one of my favorite shows. The best quote EVER was heard on an episode yesterday.
Dr. Cox: "...and that guy's bad haircut."
Intern (with 'stylishly messy' hair): (smirking) "Hey, this cost me sixty bucks!"
Dr. Cox: "Let's hope your stylist put the money toward rehab."
I did not realize until Jason pointed out yesterday that Perry aka Dr. Cox aka (John C. McGinley) was also (dun dun DUNNNN)... one of the Bobs from Office Space. That makes me feel funny about having a mini-celeb-crush on him. He's been in a ton o' films, including Point Break and The Rock, something else I was unaware of. HOORAY IMDB.
See also: Then vs Now. Hitler Mustache, how I giggle at you.
Other fun-factoids:
Turk (Donald Faison) was in "Clueless", and also "Clone High" - along with Elliot (Sarah Chalke)... who also played Marion Fitzwater in "Robin of Locksley" *AND* was in "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie". Not to mention episodes of Roseanne.
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Tags:
tv,
scrubs,
celebs
Vox Hunt: Not There Anymore
Feb 26, 2007
Show us a picture of where you used to be.
--------
I am a nostalgic person, so ...here you go. This one's already been posted, but hey, that's alright.
A little more recent, my 2004 trip to visit PA. 26 degrees was just *way* too cold for me. Ryven in the background, my old car... oh how I miss you.
Finally, one of my favorite rides at Kennywood, "The Whip". It's right up there with the Musik Express as far as classic favorites go, but Musik Express makes me laugh until I cry every single time. I've also been to Conneaut, Idlewild (including Story Book Forest), Busch Gardens (VA) and Cedar Point... but there's nothing like a Kennywood trip to make my day perfect. Even in the rain.
Cedar Point, how I miss you (almost as much as my car). It was about a two hour drive from my place but fully worth it. If you want a good walk with a ton of rides, that's your park. For years my phobia of roller coasters made going to amusement parks somewhat boring. One year my church went to Cedar Point, and a friend of mine refused to let me chicken out - the very first coaster I ever rode was the Raptor. Not a normal, tame wooden coaster, but a giant of steel and loops and fear, feet hanging in the wind, flipping around and screaming my lungs out - that's how I broke my fear of coasters. It has seats similar to a ski lift, so when gravity kicks in it's much more comfortable than the coasters you stand up in (see the last few posts in that thread). With its' wait time of generally 2-3 hours I never made it on the Millennium, but I did make it to the Magnum XL-200; one scary-ass coaster. The thing about the Magnum is that you're seated in a VERY small 2-seater box, with a lap bar and a seat-belt across your lap. That's it. Some of you might say "Oh, there aren't even any loops...", but when you're 205 feet above the ground in a box about the size of two computer chair seats, overlooking a huge lake, who needs loops? Then you roar down the hill into this little tunnel, and a camera takes your photo. How's that for an action shot?
Cedar Point was always fun, no doubt about that, but I'm going to have to give my vote to Kennywood as my favorite park of all time. The Le Cachot "ride" was my first scary ride ever, and when you were little it definitely scared the crap out of you, what with the darkness and random things jumping out. The room with strobe lights appealed while hurting your eyes, and it all fed my now-near-obsession with Really Good Haunted Houses. California has yet to beat PA in that department as far as I'm aware. There was also a Noah's Ark walk-through (kind of a haunted house) which had a twisted ending - you (and 30 or 40 others) would get "trapped" at the end, and the walls would start closing in. All of you would stand there in a mostly dark shiproom, and steam would come from hidden vents, like blown gaskets; water would start to spray everywhere. Then after two or three minutes of fearing your impending death, a door would crack open somehow and everyone would scurry out into the sunlight and the end of the trip.
Kennywood also was the first to come out with Dippin' Dots, way before the McDonald's craze hit, not to mention their funnel cakes and fudge selections are top-notch. So are the fries from the Potato Patch, right next to the Turtles (a mini thrill ride). On really hot days you'd ride the Raging Rapids (six or seven waterfalls), then the Log Jammer, and if it was really humid out you'd hang out on the deck by the Pittsburg Plunge and wait for the mega-splash without waiting in line.
When you first entered the park you were accosted by the Picture People; they'd snap the mandatory photo of you and your current bf/gf/nine million best friends, and at the end of the day you could pick up your photo. It was a no-pressure situation, it was just tradition to get your photo taken. They'd give you a little ticket to turn in, but if you didn't want to pick up your photo there was no hassle. Photos would come in a little plastic square telescope viewer that you could put on your keychain. I have a million of those but only know where two (duplicates) are, sadly. Both of those reside in my living room right now, not the little ones but the large bubbled square versions. Both are of J and I during his infamous 2001 summer visit. One photo is faded almost to invisibility but the other is still clear and only slightly blurry.
I'm originally from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and graduated from Aliquippa Senior High. Directly after that I picked up an Associates Degree over at Pittsburgh Technical Institute. Jason is from Beaver Falls, graduated from Blackhawk Senior High, and also got an Associates Degree from PTI (except his is in CAD and mine is in Multimedia/Web & Graphic Design). Hopefully that bit of info will make some of you understand better why SD is such a culture shock to me. There were maybe 80 people in my graduating class, and I was around White Kids or Black Kids. There was nothing else. Many families were not what you'd call racist, just mildly on that borderline left over from old times, with everyone thinking they're better than everyone else (aka "Colored Folk vs White Folk") and playing nice to their faces. We had row houses, projects, "the bricks", that sort of stuff. Downtown is a mere shadow of what a lot of people would consider a city's downtown area, but this is the nicer section.
I grew up in a house much like this - as a matter of fact my bedroom window faced the street, and I could see this house down and across the street to my right. Most of us had decent-sized yards (yes yards plural), an attic, basement, 3Bd/2Bth - plus living room, dining room and kitchen, large front porch and enclosed back porch, and a detached 3-car garage. This house was half a block from where one of my playmates lived, and we used to say a witch lived there. Seriously. In actuality there was an invalid and a middle-aged man, but it was on the edge of the woods and creeped us out because it was so different from the other houses. This house is across the street from a boy I had a tremendous crush on... tremendous is a mild version. Infatuated is a better word, or perhaps enthralled. I haven't talked to him since 1999, though recently I found out his sister is stationed slightly north of me in the Air Force. Check out the pricing on those homes ...oh, and they'll throw in a 2 bedroom apartment with a rental income of $350/mth. GAH! Out here you can barely even buy a studio apartment for less than $150,000.
The cool thing about my house was that it was 10-15 minutes walking distance from everything I'd need at that time (including school). The west side was bordered by a big grassy lot, followed by a baseball field, two community pools, and woods. Check out the aerial, courtesy of Zillow - feel free to pan to the left. I may have had a restricted childhood, but the location of the house allowed for more than just playing in the yard. Speaking of going out, I just found my ex-best-friend's old house for sale. Conveniently it was located directly behind me, which is how we met when I was about 5. The trees on the left side of the photo are the ones my house faced... and boy did we get into trouble for venturing down there at a too-early age. There used to be a family in front and she lived in the back half, but it looks like it's all single family now. Even funnier is the aerial of my ex's house, the white one smack dab in the middle. He's got about an acre for a backyard, and is pretty close to Brush Creek - which was a decent and large park. For a little more nostalgia, this rink was where all my crazy boy adventures started, courtesy of Brady's Run.
When people ask where I'm from I'll say Pittsburgh, but there are several reasons why. It's much easier than saying "Aliquippa" - first off is the lack of having to repeat the name slower. (Al-ih-kwip-ah, known to many of us as Quip or QuipTown. Drums please.) Next off it's a very small town, with a less than positive atmosphere. It's got extreme weather and is only nice a few months out of the year. Most of the people only care about sports and focus more on their football & basketball teams and create a false sense of community. It gets passed down to the children, who barely focus on academics or helping to improve the town, and there are a lot of gang-related disputes that have only grown worse in the past years. Most of the under-age crowd really doesn't care about anything except talking about how much they go to church and pretending like they've got rockstar status. In a town of less than 20k, nobody gets rockstar status, I don't care how many Buicks/Cadillacs/Escalades you've got in your mom's driveway.
I keep in touch with friends and acquaintances who are now scattered around the country, the majority of whom still live in the same town we grew up in. A few are doing quite well, a few others are blatantly impressive. Some of them have no internet connection, the idea of "blogging" is completely foreign to them, and computers are only for checking email or printing Word documents, which they require assistance to do. Some still live with (and are wholly supported by) their parents, have children and are divorced. They are under 30. They exist in a loop which doesn't even exist to them since their only experience with the outside world is through television and magazines. They sell drugs to survive, they've gone through rehab numerous times, they have no drivers license. A license isn't necessary when you don't own a car. Some can tell you the full bus schedule for any destination up to an hour away, but they can never manage to pay their phone bill. A large group have discovered text messaging, and some (despite my admonishments NEVER to do so) send things like "its natl bestfrienz day!!!!!! sned this 2 all ur frienz and c who senz it bak, r u a tru b3st friend? :) :) :) :)".
The next visit will be in a few months. First, my unemployment needs to come to an end so that a stable return to San Diego is guaranteed. When I go to visit I'm going to see as many friends and family members as you can fit into a four-day stay. This way the awkward, Twilight-Zone-esque feeling will be overtaken by the sheer number of things to do. Also I'll be staying with my mom and two grandparents (none of whom are spring chickens), and Jason isn't planning his not-quite-annual return anytime soon, meaning I'll have to be a rockstar on my own. Some of the people I haven't seen for over a decade (which is a frightening thought), but a lot of them have been coming out of the cyber-woodwork and expressing a desire to meet up. The photo opportunities and catching up will be fun, but it will be a relief to return to San Diego - somewhere I now call "home", despite not having felt "at home" since we lived in Mission Valley.
Speaking of buying places, we've found three candidates. The first is a pimp new version of a loft over in Mission Valley - cathedral ceilings, private deck, loft, and includes a second room on the first floor. Then there's a two-story townhouse in our old complex that is my personal preference of the three, despite it being on the high end of our price range. Lastly there's a 2-bed newer model in a cute gated community that's very close to the beach... but very close to the border. So keep your fingers crossed that I score a job this week and we can make real progress on getting out of this place.
As far as Aliquippa goes... in that town, everything has changed while managing to remain the same, a small-town mentality that only those transplanted from small towns will understand. It's a great place to grow up in and a nice place to visit, but nobody should live there forever.
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