Where all the cool kids should be

Posted on April 8, 2010 by

Back in December Angel asked me if I would be interested in taking photos for The Rep on opening nights. At the time I had no clue opening night was even that big of a deal. I never plan anything on Friday nights just because of Brandie’s work schedule, so I figured I would give it a spin.

On April 23rd I will be doing my 3rd opening night with Frost/Nixon. What I have learned over the past 2 shows is that opening night at The Rep is easily the best kept secret in Little Rock. Unfortunately for them I am going to try (without their permission naturally) to bust that open a little.

What makes opening night so cool?

1. You get to see it first. Now grant it, there are usually a couple of shows that happen before opening night (confusing I know), but the actual production is not set in stone until opening night. The director has freedom to change anything leading up to opening night.

2. You get to meet the cast. This right is actually one of the best parts of opening nights. It is your only opportunity to actually meet the cast, talk to them, and tell them what you think. It is awesome really.

3. Free food and Booze. Yes you heard me right, free food and booze. After the show they invite everyone into the lobby (when you meet the cast) and they have a catering table setup with food. If that is not good enough they have a free champagne bar set up. This is not a drink voucher thing either, just keep coming through the line and have as much as you want (don’t tell them I said that). If my photos start getting a little blurry at the end then you will know why. Which leads me to…

4. You get your photo taken by an awesome photog (that last part is still up for debate). Like I said, I am going into the 3rd show at opening night, and Angel likes pictures. Check out the shots from Glorious and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Opening nights really are a good time. You get the best shows in the city (Frost/Nixon, Hair Spray, Hamlet…), you get to meet the cast, you get food and booze, and you get your photo taken. It is the perfect date night, and it happens just often enough to make it special. Seriously, ditch the kids and come out April 23rd for Frost/Nixon, you wont regret it. If you do then just drink a bunch of their free champagne after and it will make up for it. If that is not enough for Frost/Nixon if I get a photo of you hit me up after the show sometime and I’ll even give you a free print of it.

ee
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It is 2010… Why can’t I fill out the census online?

Posted on March 27, 2010 by

I can buy toilet paper, movie tickets, pay Pulaski county taxes, renew my car tags, and order a delivery from Damngoode Pies online. Why the hell can I not fill in a 10 question survey that is supposedly the most important thing in determining how government operates regionally?

The department of Commerce is reportedly spending $340 million on census advertising, yet with one week left before the census we are less than 40% return rate for the census form.

I’ve been doing advertising for a while, and I can promise you that if I had $340 million that I would be able to pull in more than a 40% return rate for the most important survey in America.

How you ask? I would start with online returns. I understand the concerns of census fraud, but it is really not that hard. Your census form already includes a barcode tied to a unique number that identifies certain regional information to quickly detect and sort where the return form originated. Online entry is as simple as having individuals enter their unique code that can only be entered once. Yes of course the mail-in option must be offered, but the return rates would increase dramatically with multiple easy to use options.

If we would have used some of the $340 million to create a $20 form I would have been able to fill out this year’s census instead of having the envelope thrown away by my wife.

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My Prototype Life

Posted on March 25, 2010 by

I never would have expected my life to be full of things that are a little rough around the edges. With my job sitting oddly between two of the state’s innovation initiatives I find myself being handed things all the time that are pending a few more things than a patent.

For example, the other day I was handed some new prototype juice drink that supposedly has various health values. I gladly took it and placed it in my fridge to sit for a few days until I got the courage to drink it. This morning I realized I was out of my typical cran-ergy drink so I decided to grab this instead and head out the door. I got to work and twisted off the cap and was greeted with a smell that was not entirely pleasant. Now most people would have stopped there. This is a not exactly finished drink that is not exactly smelling so great. So what did I do? Naturally I drank the bottle.

This of course caused a larger reflection on my life, I tend to want to try the unconventional path. I am not the type to be satisfied with getting up every morning and being a cog in the giant machine. I want to make a difference and sometimes it fails but sometimes it propels me forward which always out weighs failures.

As for the drink? It actually was not too bad, pineapple flavor. I’d be happy to drink it again, maybe with my nose pinched though.

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We are not so bad after all

Posted on March 17, 2010 by

So last night I was (un)fortunate enough to sit in on an inventor club meeting to talk about a service that we are offering for inventors. I’d love to get into specifics, but I am pretty sure that while this group is not creating the next great 3a.m. QVC special they are working on their conspiracy theories, which likely involve me now.

Somewhere in between an old guy telling the details of his floating wind farm/solar panel/hydroelectric station and the guy who has been collecting cans on the highway to come up with a crazy invention he called a “board game” (can’t make it up), I started reflecting back to some of our groups like Refresh or LRTweetup. Mostly I was concerned that this is the 65+ version of our groups.

However it was just a fleeting thought. We have some great people in our communities and there is no way on earth we could end up that strange. Besides, I don’t see @AmyBHole walking along the side of the road to pick up cans to fund a re-invention of the capital hotel pen that is un-steal-able.

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Welcome to Little Rock. Enjoy your stay, but watch out for our sophisticated criminal underground.

Posted on March 9, 2010 by

At lunch today I heard about a guy in from Atlanta who was live tweeting while a Regions bank was being robbed here in Little Rock. What transpired was a fairly entertaining account of a guy entering the bank with only a piece of notebook paper trying to rob it.

Here in Little Rock apparently we believe that if you just go into a place and ask for money you stand a shot at getting it. Certainly no need for guns. Heck for that matter if you just tell someone you have a gun that might work. On top of that if you wear sunglasses no one will be able to tell who you are despite the cameras.

Stay classy Little Rock criminals, we are counting on you to make us one of those cool mobster towns like Chicago.

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Top Resturants

Posted on March 5, 2010 by

A little late on this, for what it is worth I have had a crazy week and a half. As I was cleaning off my desk I found this week’s issue of Arkansas Business featuring the top restaurants in the city.

Now when I think of the great dining we have in Little Rock I think of places like Sonny Williams, Brave New, Capital Hotel (BG & Ashely’s), and similar restaurants. None of them however were on the list. Heck I would even stretch things out to say places that I feel reflect the culture of LR should be on there. Places like Flying Fish (#17), Sticky’s (not listed), Whole Hog (#30), Loca Luna(not listed), Does (not listed), or Juanita’s (not listed).

So what wins? Golden Corral and Red Lobster.

Now don’t get me wrong, we stop in at Red Lobster from time to time, it is near the house and serves as our stop when we can not think of anything else. It is not however the top restaurant, which for AB’s credit they went from gross revenue.

Red Lobster is sort of the “fancy” redneck restaurant. Meaning that they tuck their NASCAR shirts into their blue jeans (without a belt of course) and go for the extra spray of Old Spice. I’ll refrain from making fun of Golden Corral, seeing as I refuse to eat there.

So thanks Little Rock for making these “fine” dining establishments our top. Stay Classy

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Something Old… Something New

Posted on March 5, 2010 by

So as many of you know by now, my last little blogging adventure got put on (hopefully a temporary) hold. I’ve been kicking around the idea to do a LR area blog since last fall. I decided on this title and was glad to see the domain was still around now that I have decided to come back to it.

In that time period there are some other great LR and Arkansas based blogs that have come along. Certainly be sure to check all of those out, and I am sure I’ll steal plenty from them. To get started I suggest all the InArkansas blogs, Rex Nelson’s blog, Blake Rutherford’s, The Arkansas Project, and I am sure plenty of others that I forgot to mention

However I still think there is room for a bit of mockery about Little Rock, and expect to see plenty of that here as well.

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