Local
Rifftrax Live Nationwide: August 20
by Kerensky97 on Aug.19, 2009, under Comedy, Local
Just a reminder, since I forgot and just now barely remembered; the day after tomorrow is the live broadcast of Rifftrax doing “Plan 9 from Outerspace”
Get your tickets for your local theater now.
If you don’t know what Rifftrax is: It’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 except they’re doing it now with current big budget movies, not old episodes from the 90’s with B movies that are out of copyright. And it’s the same cast of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett (Mike, Tom, and Crow). Head over to the Rifftrax link above to get a feel for it. The Empire Strikes Back riff was one of the best!
If you’ve never heard of Rifftrax or MST3K I pity you. The good thing is that you have tons of hilarious entertainment to catch up on now.
Also if you’ve never heard of either and you’re about to skip to another webpage take this opportunity to go out and see Plan 9 from Outerspace, widely regarded as the worst movie ever. Not only is this a chance to see it on the big screen, it a chance to see it made fun of by people who have been doing this for nearly two decades.
What better way to spend a Thursday night? (I mean for those of us who are single)
Toots and the Maytals in Salt Lake City
by Kerensky97 on Aug.17, 2009, under Local, Music
Another Twilight concert. I need to start putting my attendance for these in last.fm but I never know I’m going till just minutes before. It’s great those few times that SLC starts to show some semblance of a nightlife.
After the show chilling out with the night crew downtown reminds you that any where YOU are is where "the party’s at".
Pizza at Eva’s
by Kerensky97 on Jul.31, 2009, under Local
Everytime I read that title it think of "WALL-E"
Anyway I know all the downtowners already know this, but for a computer geek like me that doesn’t get out to socialize with flesh and blood people as often it’s a revelation.
You can goto a free twilight concert, then to Cheers for $5.50 pitchers, then next door to Eva’s for $4.50 pizza! I spend more money at home when I cook dinner and watch some stand-up comedy on the Computer. Talk about a cheap night out!
Anyway the Pizza I got was the "Pig the three way" and Matt got the "White Pizza" with artichoke hearts (names might be a bit off). Those pizzas would cost $10 anywhere else, they were delicious!
If you’re feeling like you need to get out, take in a free show at the Galivan on Thursday, hop between Murphy’s and Cheers for drinks afterwards, and sober up over a killer pizza at Eva’s to end the night. You won’t regret it!
…unless you add in a fourth step, go home with that scary chick that was
clinging to you all night. I can’t be responsible for that.
Sonic Youth at the Twilight Concert
by Kerensky97 on Jul.31, 2009, under Local, Music
I haven’t been to a Twilight Concert this year but they’re always packed. Today especially with Awesome Color and Sonic Youth playing.
That’s right! Sonic Youth for free at a “chilled out”, outdoor venue suckers!
Although i’m not paying $5 for 6oz of beer. Thats highway robbery, especially when Murphy’s is across the street and there is no more club charges.
Business Tech
by Kerensky97 on Jul.23, 2009, under Local
Being in the IT industry it always amazes me how often we kludge together ancient office technologies for meetings and trainings. Like putting a phone on speaker in the middle of the room for remote training; buy at least we got the projector working with desktop sharing.
After working at Cisco and seeing Telepresence in action it seems that we still have a long way to go towards getting better business communications to the workers "On the Ground".
Those of us in the backroom IT deprtments need to teach the management how to make better use of modern technology to create a more conductive work environment. Most of the tools are even free, so why not? WebEx and related programs should become required business knowledge like using Powerpoint, Excel, and Word.
Sunset on Bear Lake
by Kerensky97 on Jul.21, 2009, under Local
Blogging while on a beach on vacation; how much of a geek am I?
I’m on the south beach of Bear Lake looking towards Garden City.
One of my favorite things about the annual vacation here is its one of the few times I get to sit and watch the sun go down to the horizon. Growing up in a mountainous area in the middle of a valley seeing all the way to the horizon is kind of a rarity. Its easy to just sit and let the mind wander deeper and deeper.
It makes me wonder about a theory I have as to how much your physical natural surroundings affect your thinking and personality. Like how Americans with our vast untouched landscapes tends to make us think that the worlds resources are unlimited. Compared to Japan where a densely packed island civilization has been practicing conservation programs since the Edo Period.
So how does being able to watch the sun sink into the water affect a persons mentality?
Is this why West Coast Californians are seen as being very laid back, while East Coast New Yorkers are rough and aggressive?
I personally feel like kicking back and relaxing while the sun slowly dips into the west. And I’m definitely much more aggressive and gung-ho when I watch the sun start the day from the east (so long as I don’t do both back to back).
But could it be so simple as how a community collectively watches the sun move?
Enough to ponder for now… Goodnight.
Live music with lunch.
by Kerensky97 on Jul.13, 2009, under Local
My father said that you could goto the SLC farmers market every weekend and have a different cuisine each time. Might as well try that theory out. Besides its a good place to meet people even if the crowd is heavy with the yuppie, granola, hippie crowd like the hula hoop girl dancing to the live local bands.
Anyway I think its good for those shut-in computer junkies of us to occasionally get out and be part of regular society from time to time.
Lunch at the Salt Lake Farmers Market
by Kerensky97 on Jul.05, 2009, under Local
Lunch at the Salt Lake Farmers Market
Originally uploaded by Kerensky97
The "food section" of the SLC farmers market. There are a few other places that have food for eating and not just produce but most are right here. I went with fresh made Pad Thai although there were some good looking Empenadas and the Chicken Sheia at the Sudanese place looked interesting.
Cold soba noodles for lunch
by Kerensky97 on Jul.04, 2009, under Local
I love days off. For lunch its cold soba from Kyoto (restaurant).
Perfect for a hot summer afternoon.
Hiking Little Cottonwood Canyon
by Kerensky97 on Jun.22, 2009, under Local
Hiking Little Cottonwood Canyon
I was hoping to spend the day hiking but because of the weather forecast decided to just go for a drive instead. Turns out the weather cleared beautifully and if I had been smart I would have been prepared for a full hike up the canyon instead of a quick jaunt.
I wish I had my good camera with me instead of just my phone because Little Cottonwood is impressive. Having been carved out by glaciers instead of water it has a distinct "U" shape with imposing stone cliffs up each side.
I’ll definitely have to plan a real hike to White Pine lake next week. Rain or Snow I’m going to the top next time!
BTW: I’ve heard rumors that there is a current or former Polygamist compound in the community just south of where this pic was taken. Not sure if it’s true or just one of those local urban legends.]]>
Back to the grind.
by Kerensky97 on Jun.08, 2009, under Local
Tomorrow I start training for my new job. It’s a small pay raise, same benefits, but a 45 minute commute!!
Plus for training I have to work the 8am-5pm shift and I’m not a morning person. It will be good for the experience in networking, but the next 3 weeks will be shit and something needs to be done about that commute.
That reminds me, I should get a good music mix on the phone so I have something to listen on the ride down.
Germaphobe
by Kerensky97 on Jun.07, 2009, under Local
Yeah the fountain at The Gateway shops is kind of cool; but let’s admit what it really is, the Ghetto Waterpark. Each one of those kids in a swimsuit is child to a parent who was too cheap to pay the $7 to take their kids to a real waterpark. Parents, if you’re going to be cheap do yourselves a favor and just buy a Slip’n’slide for the home, it will last you for the next 3 years. Its probably the same price as the gas that you spend in one month bringing your kids to the Ghetto Waterpark every weekend. Plus Slip’n'Slide teaches your kids severely painful life lessons. Think of it as “straying from the correct path of life”.
Ok I’m being a bit harsh but the germaphobe in me sees those kids in the soggy diapers running around in the constantly recycled water (I’m sure it’s not chlorinated) of the fountain and knows that the PPM of feces on this plaza probably outweigh that of the door handle of the bathroom at the movie theater. But here we don’t have any paper towels or “disposable cowboy hats” to separate ourselves from the diaper powered bacteria soup created by the fountain.
Think of that next time you touch the benches, chairs, rails, or anywhere else touched by those soggy diaper kids at the Ghetto Waterpark.
Go there now.
Flash Back to the Past With Me.
by Kerensky97 on Jun.06, 2009, under Local
At the coffee shop I was checking the local mags when I realized I recognized someone on the cover of In utah This Week.
Brutal Strudel of the “Leave It to Cleavers” one of the Salt Lake Derby Girls. They never use her real name but I recognized that face in a heartbeat; that was my original “High School Crush”!
Remember that girl in school that you always wanted to ask out but you knew she was out of your league but she was still kindhearted enough to acknowledge your presence?
That girl.
A quick google search brought up a full interview: Model Citizens: Salt Lake Derby Girl
Summa cum Laude, not doing too bad for herself but frankly I’m not too surprised. I have extremely good taste in women. 
Anyway, congrats Toshiko.
Memory Park
by Kerensky97 on Jun.04, 2009, under Local
Continuing the walkabout.
Up to memory park now, following City Creek. Built "to honor the sons who gave their lives in the world war" it was obviously built after WWI before WWII, but is now a monument to both with plaques to other wars.
Whenever Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo people got upset because it housed the remains of some soldiers who were tried as war criminals.
But how is something like this any different? Every war has more than a few despicable acts and atrocities committed by both sides. We don’t goto shrines or memorials to honor those acts; we go to honor the heroes and innocents lost, and remember the negative aspects of war so we can avoid it in the future.
It seems fighting over the fact that there is a memorial or visiting a shrine is a method to try to bring fighting and bad faith into the present. The point is to remember that we need to avoid that sort of thing if we want peace.
But I believe many people are only happy when they have something to complain about or something to hate. Maybe someday small mindedness like that won’t hold us back anymore. Think about that next time you pass memorial or plaque to a past war.
Go there now
Touring the lDS conference building
by Kerensky97 on Jun.04, 2009, under Local
I should rename this the Salt Lake City travel blog at the rate I’m going today. I just took a tour of the LDS Conference building’s rooftop garden. Very interesting, the east half is populated by mountain plants the west half by desert plants. Although it was odd to me not at all odd to me that you need to be accompanied at all times by a tour guide personal guard.
The LDS church has developed a slight complex of distrust with outsiders. Given they’ve literally been run out of their homes in the past this isn’t unexpected. However in these modern days the distrust of non-Mormons is a bit out of place and I find it keeps them distanced from the general acceptance as a true organized religion they seem to desire (not the cult some people see them as).
Go there now
