I understand that my pals The Cardboard Troopers had a wild time this past weekend. They arrived in Atlanta for the 2009 edition of Dragon*Con, but they couldn’t actually seem to find a trace of the convention and the hotel people kept looking at them funny. I sure hope that they come back for the 10:00am parade on Saturday, they always seem to enjoy that.

Which reminds me that last month the Fall issue of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine hit the stands and I was simultaneously delighted (97%) and mortified (3%) to read the article about me that staff writer Van Jensen composed after we met prior to my surgery this summer. Entitled “How Did That NERD on the Left Become That PIRATE on the Right?“, the article does a really nice job of catching people up with the kid who won the Batman contest back in the 80s… and the second page features a certain cardboard trooper standing in front of a line of “real” troopers at Dragon*Con.

I’m a huge Tongo Hiti nerd and can’t wait to stop typing this entry and drive down to the Atlanta Trader Vic’s to see them perform live and in person…. the video posted here is from last Thursday night and it’s *amazing*….. I’ve personally watched this thing 40 times and I’m sure I’ll watch it 40 more…. totally mesmerizing…. your journey begins with the powerful beauty of Celine Dion and ends in dark majesty. Sit back and enjoy Tongo Hiti at the Atlanta Trader Vic’s as they weave the most magical performance ever seen on YouTube at this particular time of the day (or night)….

Last Thursday I met up with some people at Trader Vic’s for Mai Tai Thursday and a dosh of the ultra-hawaiian courtesy of Tongo Hiti. This time around I shot a bunch of great videos, including this mellow island version of Joe Jackson’s hit “Steppin’ Out”. Enjoy!

Here’s a wonderful short film shot and edited by our pal and sci-fi fan/collector “SexyBeast“, documenting the misadventures of the cardboard troopers at Dragon*Con in downtown Atlanta, from sexy girls to maddening fights over our cardboard Dawn costume. The whole time he was shooting this video SexyBeast kept telling everyone “Hey, have fun!!”. Looking back at it, maybe we did. I especially like his choice of Human Highway’s song “All Day” playing in the background… and after reading the review of it Continue Reading

Hollis, I am so sorry…. I didn’t buy a copy of your book “Trailer Trashed” this past Tuesday at your big premiere at Paris on Ponce. When I texted you earlier in the day to ask if you needed help at the event I never believed that you’d actually need it, but I was only too glad to help out. Now you need to know that by the time I got there, Shane and Grant and Lary and your other friends had already dressed the outside of the building and organized the inside… I mean, it seemed like everything was practically done already. But, at some point I realized that I wasn’t dressed thematically enough for the occasion… I mean!! I was wearing a PiratePalooza™ T-shirt and jeans; arguably an appropriate trailer park outfit, but not as instantly recognizable as the mechanic shirts and wifebeat Continue Reading

Thanks to my friends Chele and Kevin “Captain Danger” Snow, I was witness to Chipper Jones’ 400th career homerun this past Thursday night at Turner Field, near downtown Atlanta. The sad part is, I didn’t realize that Chipper was up for his 400th HR, so I didn’t get my camera out until he was around 3rd base, headed for home.

And while it has nothing to do with this post, I’d like to remind you that today marks the anniversary of D-Day.

On our way to the hockey game on Tuesday evening we passed by the Georgia World Congress Center, which was hammered by the tornado that plowed through downtown back in March. Looking like the sort of modern architecture rarely executed in Atlanta, this video shows how the west wall of the building is virtually sheathed in a layer of plywood. Counting the filled-in panes it looks like there could easily be more than 500 pieces of glass to be replaced on just the west side of this, Atlanta’s largest convention center. Near the end of the video you can see some of the damage to the towers downtown. Amazing!

Update: For those who might be worried, I was a backseat passenger when I shot this video.

This past Tuesday, April 1st, I returned to Philips Arena with the Sharps to thrill again to the fantastic game of hockey. As I detailed in my post of May 25th, the hockey girls use big scoops to collect shaved ice from the rink. While I haven’t figured out exactly where it goes yet, I have managed to capture video of the game itself!