So, uh... yeah

Books and Bars Video

volkjosh — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:02:07 +0000

So this video has to do with something called Books and Bars that runs here in Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is typically held at the Aster Cafe in Northeast Minneapolis once a month and is a lively discussion about books in a relaxed bar atmosphere. I enjoy the outing, as it is a way to get out and do something and share opinions about a book that others either have the same opinion about or they may counter your argument and totally hate your guts. I am in this video at some point and I ramble on incoherently about the book. Truthfully, I didn’t watch the whole thing as I couldn’t take my incoherence and I hate watching myself on video. Check it out anyway, and if you are in the MSP area, try to get on board with this great book club.

Wait. WHAT?

volkjosh — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:09:43 +0000

Take a look at this truck and tell me what’s wrong with it. If you answered nothing, you are so wrong I can’t even fathom how you have the brain functions to breathe. If you said EVERYTHING! MY GOD, WHY THE FUCK WOULD SOMEONE WASTE ACTUAL MONEY ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!? then you are correct. This, good people, is how to waste said gobs of money. (Also, this truck is about an inch off the ground and it’s winter in Minnesota. I know it has air suspension, but come on, this is just grotesque.)

Truck Monstrosity

Nintendo 3DS Legend of Zelda Limited Edition

volkjosh — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:13:17 +0000

Best Buy got me. I thought they would be all out of them. But they weren’t. I stopped into my local Best Buy a day after Black Friday just to not be in that giant throng of humanity to see what sort of scraps had been left over. I did not think that either the Mario or the Zelda box set 3DS systems would still be in stock, but they had two Zeldas and one Mario left! This meant that I would be spending money. The problem was which one to pick up, but in the end, the choice was easy. Although I do want both games eventually, I do not want to be walking around with a red 3DS… EVER! Therefore, since I wanted to play the Ocarina of Time and get a 3DS, my choice was made for me. Plus, it’s a cool limited edition version of the 3DS and has the Zelda markings and is black and gold. Check it out below! (and yes, it actually comes with a 300 page manual on using the thing!)

First impressions are good. The design is a bit bigger than my DS Lite, but not so big as to be unwieldy or non-portable. It is a bit thicker, which I attribute to it having three cameras (one being a dual-lens 3D camera), a gyroscope and stereoscopic 3D. I have yet to fully test the battery life, but I’m guessing it’s nothing spectacular. As far as functionality goes, I love it. Connecting to the Internet is a breeze and downloading games and apps is really intuitive and easy. Plus, my Mii rocks.

Nintendo 3DS Box Front

Nintendo 3DS Box Back

Nintendo 3DS Detail

Nintendo 3DS Detail Back

Nintendo 3DS with Book

Red Wing and Barn Bluff

volkjosh — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:54:56 +0000

My mom used to live in Red Wing for many years. In all that time, I never once visited Barn Bluff. Most likely it was due to the fact that she lived on a houseboat with an emotionally abusive, alcoholic who I had to refer to as my step-father (but did so only in the most fleeting sense) and we never really left the boat unless it was to run to Wal-Mart to get groceries. But a few weeks ago, before the frostiness completely descended on Minnesota and before the days became so short as to never see actual sunlight, I ventured south to finally make the ascent up the bluff. Granted, it’s not all that hard of a climb (unless you are actually scaling the rock face of the thing) but it was a beautiful day and it was a great way to spend an introspective day to myself. Behold, if you will, the digital pictures. I say digital, because I have yet to get my 35mm photos developed, although one day I will and I’m sure I’ll post some of those up here as well.

Red Wing - Barn Bluff

Red Wing

Loading Disderi Robot Camera

volkjosh — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:46:48 +0000

“You can’t beat that people. You just can’t.” Damn right you are! Many a times, the best things do come in the smallest of packages..;)

I bought the exact adorable Disderi camera in pink(Barbie complex) a year ago but lo and behold…*Shame on me* I have yet to figure out how to load the 35mm film into it..I tried and ruined 6 rolls of films last year and I just gave up, chucked it into the deep recesses of my drawer…

But as fate decreed…I picked it up as I was packing my stuff and I’m all determined to have some fun with this little cutie.. Thus the late night desperate googling “loading film into disderi camera” Which brought me to your pics(which are mighty lovely btw, and a huge source of inspiration)…

If I might impose on you, may I trouble you to perhaps, take pity on this absolute stranger and camera-idiot like myself and help me out right here with a step-by-step how-to… your help will be much much appreciated!

This was a comment that I received the other day and wanted to address it. I feel your pain. I used to have this problem simply loading a regular 35mm SLR and would never wind the film far enough, go through an entire day of shooting, only to have taken a total of zero photos. Those days sucked. Thankfully, the Disderi is super simple to load. Just follow these steps and you will be on your way to taking fun pictures whenever and wherever (as long as there is bright light) that you want!

Step 1: Open the camera.

Step 2: Pull up on the tab and load film.

Step 3: Push tab back down.

Step 4: Hook the film on the small, protruding tab.

Step 5: Wind the film until it is securely wound around the shaft.

Step 6: Advance the film until the winder stops.

Step 7: Enjoy taking pictures!

Remember Greenery and Stuff?

volkjosh — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:44:25 +0000

Just had a roll of film processed today and lo and behold, it had stuff from the summer on it. GREENERY! Here’s some of what was on there.

Butterfly

Spoonbridge and Cherry

Turtles spitting water

Minnehaha Falls

Mississippi River and Bridge

Rocks in the River

Ambling River

Butterfly

A Madison Type of Weekend

volkjosh — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:04:53 +0000

Recently, I undertook a weekend getaway to Madison, Wisconsin, a town I had only ever been to once before, and even then, only in passing. Now, I was going there to visit my friend and see my Fighting Sioux play hockey. Thank god for my friend being there and showing me around the town, because my team really stunk up the joint. But it’s early in the season, so I’m not overly concerned yet. Now, onto the pictures!

Crossing the St. Croix into Hudson

Madison Capital

I would be remiss if I failed to mention this place. The Old Fashioned in Madison is a great place to grab a brew, or a mixed drink and some grub. Not only is it super cheap (THE MOST EXPENSIVE TAP BEER IS ONLY $4 A PINT ALL THE FREAKIN’ TIME PEOPLE!!!!) but it is extremely tasty. I mean, just look at that burger!!! If you are going to, or in, Madison, stop what you are doing and go here. No joke, it’s awesome. Also, because their place is called the Old Fashioned, I had to have one. And it was also very tasty and very reasonably priced once again. If I lived here, this would be my go-to for most meals I think. It certainly would be for the drinks they have.

The House Burger at The Old Fashioned

Fishing on Lake Mendota at Dusk

The Kohl Center is a really impressive building from the outside, and there’s a good vibe inside as well (it’s certainly less staid than The Ralph), but because the football team was playing at the same time, it happened to trump the number of students and people at the game and so the atmosphere wasn’t as great as it could have been, but it’s still a fun place to go (The Ralph is still the best arena in the nation though).

Kohl Center Madison Wisconsin

Sioux vs Badgers Starting Lineups

2011 Sioux Hockey Team

And the night before leaving, I saw someone had put this heart balloon on a statue in front of the capital building and it looked kinda cool at night, so I took this picture. By the way, did you guys out there know that they call water fountains “bubblers?” God that’s weird.

Madison Capital at Night

Work Phone Background

volkjosh — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:07:01 +0000

What is this? The background on my phone at my new job is pretty much the same picture that I took at the Stone Arch Bridge?! That’s pretty sweet!

Work Phone Background

Stone Arch Bridge at Night

Work just got a little better. Also, tons of pictures coming up, but, as they are 35 mm film, they need to be developed still. Hoping for a nice picture onslaught soon of my weekend trip down to the Mississippi via Minnehaha Falls.

Oh The Places I’ve Been

volkjosh — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:02:51 +0000

I’m not really sure what I mean with that title, but I did go golfing in Wisconsin, saw the Weisman Art Museum and the University of Minnesota campus and went around by my place to take pictures with a very fun, new little toy camera. So I guess I went places, but nowhere that I hadn’t really ever been before. Oh well, whatever. Enjoy the pictures.

The Weisman Art Museum is located on the U of M campus and was designed by Frank Gehry. He is famous for designing really outlandish and distinctive buildings and the Weisman is no exception. It is completely covered in stainless steel so it is hard to miss and when the sun comes out, as it did on the day I went there, the building really gives off a great shine and pops after being photographed. I went with black and white film for the 35 mm camera, but took a picture with my digital so you could get a sense of what it looks like in color.

Weisman Art Museum

I really like how the contrast in the black and white photos turned out because the building is so full of different nooks and crannies that, again, it really pops off the page. I also just walked around the U of M campus and took some pictures of other things that are out there. It’s a huge campus and there are many places to explore and these are just a few of the shots I took that day.

University of Minnesota Campus

It being the last week of September, and before I start my new job, I went golfing with my dad for the final time this season at St. Croix National in Wisconsin. The course is really great and challenging. It also provides for some great scenery during the fall. Although it was rainy and a little too early for the full on fall effect yet, there were still some good shots out there and some nice looking foliage on the course. If it weren’t raining, it would have been quite the perfect day, but as it was, it was just an annoyance to play through.

St. Croix National Golf Course

Fall Foliage

After golfing, I got back to my place and, to my great surprise, I had a package in the mail. It was from South Korea and contained the awesome little camera that I ordered. It is a disderi robot camera and is so named because it looks like a little robot face. It’s so fun to play around with and looks like it too! It takes three images on one film image. Currently, I’m still playing around with it to figure out the best way to shoot with it, but it is so easy to tote around that I’m going to take it everywhere from now on. And yes, just as the instructions say, it is epoch-making!!!!

What could it be?!

disderi robot camera

Robot Camera

Robot Camera Lakewood Cemetery

Robot Camera Lake Harriet

Robot Camera Lake Harriet Rose Garden Fountain

Robot Camera Sewer Smoking

The best part about that little camera, besides not using batteries to operate and being super light and small? IT WAS ONLY $15 SHIPPED!! So much fun for so little. You can’t beat that people. You just can’t.

Oh Yeah… Stuff I Did Last Week

volkjosh — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:42:21 +0000

So, I keep forgetting to update this, but every so often I get around to it. Anywho, I attended two very different, yet very awesome events last week. The first saw me in a sea of backward hat wearing, high-fiving, super bro dudes who love 93X and their tatted up girlfriends when I went to see the Foo Fighters. I love the band, and I have a man crush on Dave Grohl, so it was great to see them do their thing. And do they did! Not only did they play an extra extended set because one of the openers couldn’t attend the show, they played more songs because we are awesome. (And by “we” I of course mean myself because I know Mr. Grohl was talking directly to me). Anyway, they went on to rock the Xcel Energy Center for over two and a half hours. It was the best Foo Fighters concert I’ve seen to date and they need to come back again sooner rather than later. And with better openers this time. Here’s some photos and the setlist.

Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl Rocking! (This is my favorite photo I took that night!)

Dave Grohl on Rising Platform

Dave Grohl and Jessy Greene

Dave Grohl Acoustic

Setlist:

Bridge Burning

Rope

Pretender

My Hero

Learn To Fly

White Limo

Arlandria

Breakout

Cold Day In The Sun

Long Road To Ruin

Stacked Actors

Walk

Generator

Monkey Wrench

These Days

I Should Have Known

Skin And Bones

This Is A Call

All My Life

See You (Acoustic w/Jessy Greene)(Encore)

Best Of You (Acoustic)(Encore)

Times Like These (Encore)

Dear Rosemary (Encore)

Breakdown (Tom Petty)(Encore)

Tie Your Mother Down (Queen)(Encore)

Everlong (Encore)

Then on Friday, I was transported to the world of Geektopia, as I was in attendance for the Cinematic Titans at the Parkway Theater in South Minneapolis. Cinematic Titanic is the basically MST3K live, with many of the original cast from the show. The movie was called “War of the Insects” although the original, Japanese title is “Genocide.” I don’t think I need to tell you all (all three of you) that this movie was HORRIBLE. But that is the fun of the whole thing. The Cinematic Titans stand on stage to the side of the movie and riff on it while it plays. It was one of the best comedy experiences of my life and again, they need to come back sooner rather than later. This was the second time I have seen them, and, regrettably, the first time I didn’t know they did a meet and greet for the audience to sign things. Well, fast forward four years and this time I was not going to let the opportunity pass me by. So I got out my MST3K Amazing Colossal Episode Guide and had all of them sign it. The book is no longer in print, so copies are rare and hard to come by. And with me needing to get only two more autographs to round out the entire collection of collaborators, I may actually have the chance to some day do that. I will say that Bill Corbett, who played Crow after Trace left the show, was there, but he was an audience member and I didn’t want to disturb him to sign my book when he just wanted to enjoy the night.

MST3K Episode Guide

TV's Frank Coniff

Joel Hodgson

Cinematic Titanic Autographs