Category Archive

atomic pop! is done.

due to a new policy where i work against blog’s - i’ve decided to close down ap!.  while i never specifically talked about who i worked for, it certainly wouldn’t be too difficult from reading some of my posts, or knowing what i do for a living - to figure out the company behind the man.  and there are a few people at work who know of the existence of this blog…

and i can’t take that risk.

i’ve started a new blog - and if your interested you can email me to get the address, or leave a comment here and i’ll forward you the new site.

for those that don’t come along to the new site, thank you for reading - it’s been a blast.

ok, time for round two. this time the theme is berlin. these are my favorite pics:

#1. the vacant lot next to the theater in east berlin. in the background you will see friedrichstraße station. i fell in love with the station (and the german train stations in general… something about the use of glass and iron) - just ask cb, he saw like 20 pics of this station.

#2. another shot of the station. there’s some interesting history on the station from during the cold war… check it out: friedrichstraße station

#3. the fernsehturm (tv antenna/tower) in alexanderplatz from a distance. i particularly like the puffy clouds in this pic. it turned cold and rained shortly after this pic

#4. shot of the sony center in potsdamer platz. the glass and metal structure is supposed to resemble mt. fuji.

#5. nondescript gold building somewhere near potsdamer platz. i have no idea what this is, but i dug it. i love the scale of the building and the clouds in the background.

#6. the jewish museum in berlin. i didn’t get a chance to visit it, but it’s on my list if i ever return to berlin.

#7. soviet styled plaque and part of the “wall” located next to checkpoint charlie

#8. look ma, the europeans have tacky shit too, not just americans! this is snackpoint charlie next to the checkpoint. let’s see, we have doner’s from the middle-east, pasta from italy, sushi from asia and good ‘ol subway from america. aint’ we proud?!

#9. the brandenburg tor (aka gate). love the scale in this shot, with the clouds in the background. very interesting history involving napoleon. maybe it was common knowledge, but i didn’t know it.

#10. the quadriga detail

#11. the memorial to the murdered jews of europe.

this is the single most impressive thing i saw in berlin & wished i had had more time to explore it.

some facts:

• there are 2,711 stelae in the monument
• the stelae are all different heights and stand on wavy/uneven ground
• the underground bunker of hitler is not as is commonly speculated underneath the memorial (tho’ it is 300 meters away). however, the underground service villa of propaganda minister goebbels is underneath the northeastern corner of the memorial
• there is an interesting quote at the information center: “it happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say.” - primo levi, author of ‘the drowned and the saved’. levi was born in 1919 in turin and was a member of the italian resistance. he was arrested and deported to auschwitz in 1944. after his release in 1945 he begin to write. in 1987, he committed suicide
• the memorial was designed by american architect peter eisenman
• the stelae are treated with a special chemical which resists spray paint and graffiti. the company that created the chemical also manufactured the gas that was used in the death camps

#12. with the tiergarten in the distance

#13. detail

#14. inside the reichstag dome. the mirrors reflect light into the reichstag building. the dome itself offers a 365 degree view of berlin. unfortunately, it was a weird weather day and when i was doing my 365 shot, the rain was just too much.

#15. the top of the dome is open so that the voices of the german people can flow into the reichstag. or so said my tour book. it’s still pretty cool.

#16. it’s amazing i’m not in some german police cell right now - this beautiful graphic/art representation of the german flag is in the lobby of the reichstag, right next to lots of signs that say “no pictures”. i had to sneak one. and i’m glad i did. love this shot.

#17. a drive by shot of a sex store called love - sex - dreams. how can you not love?

#18. tacheles. i was so psyched to see this building, but the only time i could visit it was when it wasn’t open. i’m still glad i saw it. tho’ wish i could have bought some cool art. the building has an amazing history - including a prison for french war prisoners in 1943, a movie theater and the german version of general electric. now it’s an artists enclave.

#19. bike in the lobby of tacheles. note the chumbawamba poster. get your tickets now, they’re playing berlin. i hear they’re all the rage.

#20. the graffiti was simply amazing. side note, our hotel is in what was west berlin. i was kinda shocked to see how clean it was and how there was virtually no graffiti. tacheles (and the theater we did the show in) were in east berlin. you would not the believe the amount of graffiti. reminded me of milan.

anyway, i loved this girl. so angry. but fun!

#21. a poster glued to the walls inside tacheles main stairway. again, the graffiti was everywhere - literally, but i thought this was a cool graphic image. if any of my german readers can translate, i’d be much obliged.

#22. the main stairway. ya, the smell of piss was pretty strong - but the overall building was impressive as hell. i must go back someday.

#23. the main trainstation in berlin. note the glass and iron. i love this stuff. if we’re at the trainstation, we must be on our way to prague.

to be continued….

….one last post before i start packing.

did the world really need to see john mayer like this:

up above…. current & ink… they are updated.

greetings all;

just a quick note to wish you all a happy thanksgiving; hopefully you didn’t gorge yourselves on turkey and giblets too much…

i’m thankful for so much this year; but mainly for good friends (both those i know in the “real” world, and those that just touch me in that special “cyber” way). 

special props for the folks that sent the emails and calls after tuesdays’ post… a shitty night can be made so much better by good friends who care.  (an update, i’m doing better with the whole situation).

in honor of the holiday, here’s a special movie trailer - warning if blood, boobs and or simulated oral sex are not your deal, you may want to just go here.  for all others, welcome to thanksgiving:

i stupidly agreed to go to a benefit tonight for open arms of mn.   

let me clarify, it’s not that i think open arms is stupid, i don’t - i heart that organization.

it’s just that i’m very self-conscious at those things, and it’s a fairly dressy event and all my “issues” tend to be wrapped up in how i look and my shyness comes out…

what.the.fuck.was.i.thinking?

ugg - i need a drink and it’s still morning.

day one - over.  i’m backstage waiting for the show to start - in a lull.  i like lull’s.

day one - a smashing success… word is it’s the best show we’ve ever done (including the small fact during the show we had a false fire alarm).

problem is we’ve set the bar very high for future events.  the technical aspect of this show is massive - we had over 190 technical queues yesterday, and about a hundred today.  average show is an 100, give or take.

this theater is stunning - tho’ so not set up for a hair show… here’s a shot of part of the built in lighting rig.  i love this shot: 

here’s a rare shot of me posing with one of our models.  for those of you top model fanatics, it’s janet - kicked off in last weeks episode:

 more when i’m home in minneapolis tomorrow.

yo’ ’sup?

sorry for the lack of posts - i’m in miami for the final show of my exceedingly busy show season - it’s been a helluva couple months.  i’m staying in a craptacular radisson with shitty access to internet.

for.fuck.sake.

it’s 2007.  internet access is not hard to manage.

i’m just sayin’.

it’s now 8:18pm - been in this theater since 7am this morning.  i’ll be in here for at least the next 3 hours finalizing the script…

the show starts tomorrow mornin @ 9am - ends monday at 1pm. 

long - but great day…

more later

p.s., the above pic - that’s the raw theater space we’re in… the knight concert hall -

beautiful space.  really stunning.

well it’s official; the 5 city sales meeting tour i’ve been producing is finally over.  thank god!  it went off more or less without a hitch - a couple of the hotels had an issue here or there, but for the most part it was a success.  now, just 3 more hair show’s this season (cincinatti next weekend, washington d.c. the following and then miami at the end of the month) and i can finally spend some quality time at home. 

took a friend around a bit of san francisco tonight - she’d never toured it.  jumped in a cab to get to the haight for my amoeba fix.  that store never fails to provide me with a treasure (or three):

first up, the uk version of siouxsie sioux’s new (and first ever proper) solo album ‘mantaray’.  now, yes, i could have waited a week for the u.s. version - but i prefer things the way there were meant to be and this import, limited edition copy is gorgeous.  have only listened to the music on the crappy in room dvd/cd player - must import into the iphone for my day tomorrow to give it a proper listen.  (fyi, it appears as if siouxsie and budgie have split after some 26 years together and that siouxsie may have come out of the closet… no shock there i suppose).

next up, my mental hard-on lloyd cole with ‘live at the bbc’ - i didn’t even know this existed.  lloyd in so many ways is the perfect man for me… soulful, british, talented with dead sexy eyes.  ‘course he’s also straight so fuck ‘him.  this is a collection of tunes recorded live in 1990 and 1995.  very excited with this one.

and then there’s my new robbie williams treasure.  a semi-are cd single for a tune called eternity that doesn’t appear anywhere else, as well as a non-lp track toxic.  as much as lloyd is the perfect british guy for me, robbie just get’s my rock-star- rock’s off.  + you know how i like the boys with ink.  again, sigh - he’s straight.  so fuck him too.  lol.

also picked up a couple of multi-disk set’s put out by the fine folk’s at bar de lune - can always find a treasure or two for use in future shows.

whilst in the haight, we passed a cool asian artifacts store where they had a number of fine balinese puppets - i’ve always wanted a one of these; i couldn’t resist.  here she is:

here’s a close up of her face:

(kinda siouxsie-esqu in’she?)

tomorrow is just a day off in san francisco - how perfect?  first up, sleeping until whenever the hell i feel like wakeing up, i wonder what i’ll do after that….

let’s say your a pasty white guy, maybe with a few extra pounds (note, i’m just sayin’). now let’s say your wearing a black polo shirt with tan shorts. for the love of god, don’t wear black leather “dress” sandals!

trust me, nobody looks good in those sandals.

least of which pasty white guys. (picture forthcoming)

—

p.s., welcome to my first “blog post via biff”

i forgot to add, i need your help naming my new iphone.

of course you know that all ipods need names right?  of course you do.

i already have a small family of i’s but can’t think of a good name for the phone.

i have catch; my 30 gig ipod, whaley-boy, my 8 gig ipod mini and kermit, my ipod shuffle.

but what to call my brand new family member?

thoughts?  put it in the comments

… also known as the city that stole my beloved north stars.  f’ing bastards.

so, i sat on the tarmac for an hour last night in detroit en-route to dallas for sales meeting no. 3 of 5.  being sealed in a flying disease tube and forced to sit on the tarmac next to some middle aged woman who wanted to bond with me over our mutual love of tattoos (it’s important to note she had 1.  just one, the size of a pea, on her big toe).  said woman was oblivious to the headphones stuck in my ear and proceeded to grab my arm whenever she wanted me to hear something.

it was the perfect end to a weird weekend in detroit.  the show went off well (part of the stage fell down at one part - that was fun!  sometimes i miss the action of being the stage manager (i was directing the show from out front and was really quite helpless to fix the falling drape) - but at the end of the day the audience really seemed to love the show… the evaluations were off the hook!  yay me!!

as i mentioned in my previous post, the radisson detroit-livonia is ghetto.  i’m not in the sumptuous ritz carlton dallas.

i.

f’ing.

love.

the.

ritz carlton.

more later….

on sunday night my buddy scott and i had the chance to see an advance screening of the new russell crowe/christian bale movie 3:10 to yuma.  now, i’m not a western fan (tho’ i’m not, not a western fan) so i really went into this movie just out of my love of film (never mind my love of all things russell and christian), and i’ve got to say it was a pretty great flick.i’d never seen the original so i really just knew the basic’s of the plot - band of thieves, leader gets caught, down on his luck rancher hired to get the leader to the prison train.  that was about it.what i didn’t know was that i was in for a quiet, meditative piece about the nature of character and intention.  Never mind that i got to watch russell and christian chew up the scenery with their excellent performances, the real star of the film is the frame that puts everything together.  did it re-invent the genre?  naw.  will it be the biggest flick of the season - doubt that too… it’s just a beautiful film with great performances - check it out when it comes to your local mega-plex.unrelated - if you wanna see a slice of really hot man-candy <grin>, head over to atomic pop ink! 

mmmm….hot canadian mounties

cb eating some sausage thing.  funny thing about this - he’ll put this in his mouth, but he won’t eat a corndog.

mmmm…hot canadian mounty out of uniform… (p.s., there is a hot tattoo just peaking out of his sleeve - i couldn’t discreetly get a shot of that, but i will remember it forever)

mmmm….hot softcore cowboy porn.  note to self, must find that ‘farm boy’ shirt

hot guy at the marine booth doing their pull up contest… on the white board it shows the prices:  0-9 pull up’s = a high five! 

mmmmm deep-fried spaghetti and meatballs on a stick.

view from a gondola

wind turbine blade.

coming soon; the making of a deep fried candy bar on a stick!

i got the following email on my blackberry from my office earlier… one can only imagine the horror!

Employees,

Please be advised that an employee was bitten multiple times by a squirrel last evening near the south entrance to the manufacturing facility as she was walking on the sidewalk.  The employee received a number of bites which required medical care at a hospital.  Animal control was unable to capture the squirrel last night and the Facility and Security Teams are currently attempting to locate the squirrel so that it may be captured.

The squirrel was observed as behaving abnormally by a number of employees last night after the incident and showed no fear of people.  Please be aware of any squirrels that you may come into contact with at the facility that approach you as the squirrel gave no warning.  The Child’s Garden has been advised of the incident and children will not be playing on the playground today.

Additional information on the status of the squirrel will be issued to employees when it becomes available.

Thank you,

Mark

a question comes to mind…  how would one know if a squirrel was behaving abnormally or not?  another question.  who are these employees who observed the offending squirrel?  how much time do they have on their hands?

maybe the rocket launcher gave it away?  watch out folk’s there’s a squirrel army on the rise!

if today had a color, it’d be muck-brown. 

i’ve been seriously quirked up the last couple of days.  anxious.  on edge.  etc.  this is ridiculous as i just finished one of the best shows of my life.  that said, i have dropped the ball (granted, just mini-balls) twice yesterday and today on things at work so i’m doubting myself.  i hate that.  in reality neither of these issues should be causing me to doubt myself.

certainly the bridge incident may have something to do with it - but this feels deeper. 

i’ve gotta figure out how to break this mood. 

ugg.

updated - death toll reduced to 4 but expected to rise as bodies are recovered 

 —-

By Paul Levy, Star Tribune

Last update: August 02, 2007 – 5:14 AM

Melissa Hughes clutches a child near the scene of the I-35W bridge collapse; Melissa was driving the red car in the background.

Jerry Holt , Star Tribune

Rescue workers prepared to search a submerged vehicle in the Mississippi River that had been on the Interstate 35W bridge when it collapsed just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Jeff Wheeler , Star Tribune

The wreckage on the west end of the bridge.

Jeff Wheeler , Star Tribune

Emergency crews are waiting for daylight to resume their recovery and clean up efforts at the scene of the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed during rush hour Wednesday evening.

The 1,907-foot bridge fell into the Mississippi River and onto roadways below. The span was packed with rush hour traffic, and dozens of vehicles fell with the bridge leaving scores of dazed commuters scrambling for their lives.

Nine people were confirmed dead as of 4 a.m. today. Sixty were taken to hospitals and 20 people were still missing this morning. Authorities said they expected the death toll to rise.

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek told the Associated Press at about 1 a.m. today that all search efforts had been called off for the night and that searchers did not expect to find any survivors.

“It’s dark, it’s not safe with the currents in the water and the concrete and rebar,” he said. “At this point it is a recovery effort.”

Officials will hold at least three news conferences this morning.

*Mayor R.T. Rybak was to meet with reporters at a news conference at 6 a.m.

*Police, fire and emergency officials will give updates at 7:15 a.m.

*A general media update will be held at 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday night, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the bridge collapse “is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota.”

Between 50 and 60 vehicles were on the bridge when it went down shortly after 6 p.m., authorities said. Legions of rescue workers and volunteers swarmed to the scene and spent hours sifting through the wreckage in a frantic search for survivors.

By late in the evening, officials said efforts at the Mississippi had switched from rescue to recovery.

Jay Danz, 45, of St. Paul, was on his way to the Metrodome to watch the Twins play Kansas City and had driven under W. River Parkway, beneath the interstate bridge, seconds before it fell.

“I heard it creaking and making all sorts of noises it shouldn’t make,” Danz said. “And then the bridge just started to fall apart.”

In addition to the cars that went into the water, a school bus carrying about 60 Minneapolis children fell from the bridge, landing on all four of its tires and missing the water as it came to rest near the parkway.

Several of the children and at least two adults were treated for injuries after the group escaped through the back door of the bus.

“Some kids had blood on their faces, but thank God everybody could move,” Danz said.

The cause of the collapse wasn’t known in the hours afterward. It’s too soon to know what happened, said Catherine E. Wolfgram French, a civil engineering professor at the University of Minnesota.

“Things can happen with temperature, and with construction, or a lot of other confounding factors,” French said.

This was a 40-year-old truss bridge, and French did say that some early truss bridges don’t have as many structural redundancies — backups to carry the loads — as is now considered desirable.

Another engineer, Michael Ramerth, a principal at MBJ Consulting Structural Engineers in Minneapolis, said in the search for answers “I would start at the foundations.”

On a typical weekday, more than 100,000 cars use the bridge.

Berndt Toivonen, 51, of Minneapolis, was on his way home from a painting job when the bridge collapsed beneath his car.

“The bridge started to buckle,” Toivonen said. “It went up and came down. I thought I was going to die.”

Bumper-to-bumper traffic

What people in the area of the collapse experienced or saw at about 6:05 p.m. unfolded as motorists crawled bumper to bumper across I-35W toward the end of rush hour.

Those on the bridge felt buckling and swaying and heard a crunching.

Then came the unthinkable: The 40-year-old bridge collapsed, dumping vehicles into the water and onto land below. That was followed by scenes of frantic, bloodied motorists and rescuers who converged on the scene.

Many vehicles, including at least one semitrailer, were on fire. People were reported to be floundering in the river. Rescuers rushed to help people escape cars trapped in the V-shaped hollow where the bridge had caved in.

from mayor r.t. rybeck’s press conference:

at least 6 dead from the bridge collapse

i drive this bridge at least twice a day every day.  word’s don’t really work right now….

from wcco: 

I-35W Bridge Collapse Into Mississippi River(WCCO) Minneapolis The Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge near University Avenue has collapsed into the river.

Both the northbound and southbound lanes of 35W are lying in the Mississippi River.

There are multiple cars in the river and a couple cars on fire. According to one witness, there was a school bus full of children on the bridge.

Cars are still on the bridge.

Tons of concrete have collapsed and people are injured. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.

Some people are stranded on parts of the bridge that aren’t completely in the water.

A tractor-trailer is on fire at the collapse scene.

Some cars are still precariously perched on the bridge. Sections of the bridge are mangled, some are pointing up in the air and some are in the river.

“It is just horrific,” said witness Marilyn Franzen, who saw the bridge collapse. Franzen said she saw a school bus that managed to stop before the going over the edge of the bridge that she said was carrying 20-30 children.

According to witnesses, cars are crushed and mangled under the bridge where it collapsed onto the shore of the river. Street signs also crushed cars.

The road has been under construction since the beginning of the summer.

just a note to the passenger seated in seat 5e on last nights flight from san francisco to minneapolis.

sushi is not an acceptable carry on dinner for a flight. 

now, i love sushi as much as the next guy - but really? 

sushi is not a good a good smell when trapped on a plane next to the freak with the sashimi and bowl of seaweed! 

seriously dude, i’m almost threw up in my mouth a lil’.  next time save your sushi for someplace that’s not sealed tighter than a coffin.

ugg.

as i referenced a post or two back, i’ve been way ass-deep in the largest meeting we put on at my company for the past week -

rehearsals started last wednesday… load in on friday… awards celebration saturday night… mainstage and breakout sessions sunday and monday followed by ancillary meetings on tuesday.

i started to work on a post about what my day looks like on an event and will finish that up soon (i hope), but in the meantime, tomorrow morning i will be producing opening ceremonies for the red ribbon ride.  the ride will take me away for another 4 days.  not sure where i’ll be with internet access, but if i can, i’ll post.

oh, and if your a cb reader, keep reading his blog for some good news (it’s coming next monday - don’t pester him about it tho’!)

oh, and since i’m insanely f’ing busy - please note this is a harry potter free zone for the next week… no spilling the beans about book 7.

here’s a couple pics from this weekends sales meeting:

dancers from one of the interstitial moments during the awards

sheets of grass for table centerpieces

cool bell and bamboo centerpieces (being assembled)

our vp of sales suspended 50′ in the air during rehearsal (we were rehearsing his entrance for the meeting)

the theater with two video walls installed

that my friends would my my ride for the next week.  yup, that’s the world renowned kia sedona.  the car that edmonds called “somewhat lazy handling and mediocre steering feel and response.”  

don’t be jealous.

so when we have large scale events in minneapolis, my boss comes in from toronto & rent’s whatever is available in the minivan/suv market as invariably we will have a shit load of things to haul during the course of the event.

rather than pay the $20-40/night parking most hotel’s charge, she usually gives me the thing to drive for the week and i just pick her up at the hotel every morning.  it’s a nice lil’ arrangement.

the only drawback is that i get to be seen driving the above monstrosity.  as much as i despise suv’s, i look a lot cooler in one of those.

2 things i’m very excited about:

1)

this is a holding image/backdrop on the brand new siouxsie mantaray site advertising her brand new album which will be released september 18.  very f’ing cool (great graphics too)

2)

the eagerly anticipated mark ronson disk ‘version’ comes out today.  can’t f’ing wait to get to a store and by it the old fashioned way.  go here to read a great review from entertainment weekly (or just read the below snippet):

Regardless of who’s on the mic, Version succeeds thanks to Ronson’s singular vision of smooth ’60s-and ’70s-era soul merged with contemporary pop. All in all, it’s a bouncy, people- friendly party starter that was on serious repeat at a barbecue held just last week in this critic’s modest backyard. The turnout was pretty good, but, as it should be, the set list far outshone the guest list. A

sam has a pretty funny post about leaving oneself random notes.  i do this all the time on my cell phone memo pad feature.  the bulk of these notes (just like sam’s) consist of cd’s i want to buy or movies i want to go see or books, etc…. reading sam’s post made me go back thru some of mine - here are some of the more interesting notes (i have no idea and really can’t explain why i thought it was so important to note these….):

• quote over drinks in victoria b.c.: “he had an ass that could stop hunger”
• justin, someone just came on your cat.  (i think this one is from a movie, but i can’t remember - anyone?)
• quote: “research rule #1: never go to an undeveloped island without duct tape and a big knife.” - christopher moore’s author’s note from island of the sequined love nun.

well it’s back and another hour of my life will be sucked away weekly by watching the tasty top chef.

the first episode is over and it looks like it’s gonna be a fun season of cooking (tho’ not much drama… yet).  without a doubt, this show makes me wanna be a chef. there’s such an art to great cooking - tho’ i certainly don’t have the palette for it, afterall i’m happy with pizza rolls most days.

couple of the chef’s are awful cute too - but non can hold a candle to head judge tom colicchio’s  - he’s just about the sexiest thing on tv… sure he’s not chris evan’s hot, but he makes up for it with intellect, wit and that fuckin’ smart-ass grin.

unrelated, i’m super excited - friday night i’m having dinner with my good friend stacey at lurcat - a pretty great joint here in minneapolis.  i’m psyched for the good food + stacey and i haven’t hung out in like forever.  should be a great night.

these are things bouncing around in my consciousness today:

less than excited:  the new version of the classic transformer’s theme song (updated by mute math) is up on the band’s myspacepage.  it’s interesting.  not quite as exciting as i’d have hoped (kinda generally how i feel about the trailers for the film i’ve seen thus far - nothing to get to excited about).

yes, the movie is flawed (like citizan kane is perfect - bah!), but it’s so bloody campy it’s near perfect in my view. 

in the word’s of the stunning stephanie zinone (pfeiffer) who hasn’t wanted to break into song and sing “i want a whole lot more than the boy next door. i want hell on wheels” at the top of their lungs?  i know i have! 

super duper excited: this photo:

is still fucking amazing.

marginally excited:  knocked up, the new film from the makers of the 40 year old virgin is a good flick, but could have certainly waited for the dvd… just sayin’.

that’s all folks

hi all.  long time no talk (well, in any substative way)…

been a little nuts at work as of late, but luckily the event i was planning for this coming wednesday was just pushed out until the fall so a bit of relief.

‘course, that doesn’t negate all the other stuff i’m working on/producing:

• sales meeting for our global sales force in early july
• ceremonies producer for the red ribbon ride
• hair show in san francisco at the end of july
• 5 regional sales meetings for our retail store division beginning in mid august and running through the end of september
• our annual flagship hair show in minneapolis at the end of august
• 5 more hair shows between september and october

i’m a busy little beaver arn’t i!?  i’m tired just looking at my to-do list.

other than that, things have been pretty good - james and i had a great weekend of hanging out, renting movies as well as seeing ‘knocked up‘ (good flick, more of a rental) and generally bumming around. 

more later…