Behind the scenes: 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival

It’s that time of year again. AFI Dallas International Film Festival is gearing up for 2009. The first 15 movies have already been announced. Another 10 are supposed to be released shortly.

I’m going to do my best to blog about the behind the scenes adventures as there will be plenty of blogs about what everyone else sees. Why? The work that goes on behind the scenes at a film festival is intensive. It starts with long hours, a day usually starting at  8 am ending at whenever. Last year I put in 160 hours. This year I’ll easily put in 300 and I’ll have fun every step of the way.

I’ll post more up later as I’m getting ready for a trip to San Antonio, TX. I’ll have more to write about soon.

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF lens

Earlier this week, I won an eBay auction for a Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF lens. I decided to go this route to force me to end my dependence on telephoto lens and in turn improve my photographic skills.

I spent a good 3 hours playing with it today, taking notes and trying it out on my Nikon D40, D50, and D300 bodies. I found out that the autofocus will not work on the D40. Other than that, I was impressed.

I’m considering what lens should be next. My current lens inventory consists of the following:

• Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF
• Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

I think I have the 18mm to 200mm range covered. Perhaps its time to pick up something to cover up to 300mm and possibly 400mm. Either of those ranges would be great during the summer at the lake!

Till next time,
Mr E

Craigslist Scammers

I like scanning dallas.craigslist.org every now and then for something I’m in the market for or just looking for something that might be a great deal. Being a techie and keeping up with the used and new market on equipment, it’s easy for me to spot the “too good to be true” CL ad.

I’m also tired of seeing ads for items well outside the reasonable range to be for sale in the DFW CL area. If I want to search for a boat around the coast in Texas, I’ll select the area in CL and search. I don’t want to see a Boston Whaler for sale in Maine listed in the DFW listings. The majority of the ads I’ve seen posted from outside the area are scams anyway, usually having an email address posted in the ad. I’ll copy the email addy and check it against Google and viola! I’ll usually see the same exact post in SF, LA, NY, etc.

I’m not sure how to cut out the scammers completely, but I do have a few ideas on how to cut it back somewhat.

1. Create a database that stores every poster’s IP, email address, and posting area (DFW, SF, etc) (if one doesn’t already exist)
2. Cross reference the posters’ IP address, email address, and posting area at the time of listing.
3. If during the cross reference, the IP or email address comes up with multiple area postings, flag it as “cross posting” to help local users identify the cross poster. Also create a flag in the above database that the email and IP address used has “cross posted” and track the # of times as well.
4. If during the cross reference the IP or email address comes up with being a “cross poster” > # times, ban the email address for a specific time (1 week). If its a second offense, ban the email address for 30 days. I realize scammers use multiple addresses, but this would at least make it more difficult.
5. On a monthly basis, the database could be queried to report all email addresses and IP addresses that have the “cross posting” flag along with the # of cross postings. As a double check, the IP addresses flagged could be queried against all posts to determine the ratio of “non-cross posters” to “cross posters”. This would help create a blacklist of IP addresses based on the ratio.

I have no idea what’s in the works at CraigsList, but I think the above could be implemented fairly easy and reduce some of the posts by scammers and spammers.

Paris Hilton responds: Best tanning in Maui

This. Is. Damn. Funny!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

I will say, the girl has a good energy policy. Better than I’ve heard from Obama or McCain.

Cigars…

Thursday I went to the Cigar Shop and More in Addison, TX. The event was the Diamond Crown Lounge grand opening. I brought the camera to get some shots but Kent’s friend Jay showed up with his D3 and kick ass diffuser. I just decided I’d enjoy the event then.

I started out with purchasing a Tatuaje Gran Cojonu. It’s a 6 1/2 inch ring gauge and is 60mm long. Its a good 1 to 1.5 hour smoke. Once I finished that, I decided I’d get the event special, which was “Buy 3, get 1 free” on the Diamond Crown cigar line.

I started out with a Diamond Crown Maximus Maduro Churchill No. 2. The draw was hard and it really didn’t have as much flavor as I thought it should have. Cigar Afficiando rates it a 90. For a super premium cigar, I was disappointed especially at almost $12 / stick.

When I finished this smoke, I tried the medium bodied Diamond Crown which turned out to be a great smoke! The draw on it was great and it really had great flavor to it. I really enjoy a good medium bodied smoke every now and then and it certainly did not disappoint. I’ll have to find a link to it to post for reference.

I finished out the night enjoying some Shiner Bock beer provided by Kent and his wonderful staff along with great conversation with several of the shop’s patrons.

Here’s a pic of me taken by Jay Bitzer enjoying my Gran Cojonu.

How time flies

Time seems to be flying by. Its already the last day of July. Tomorrow is the first day of August and only a few weeks before my son Hunter starts kindergarten. I’ve been staying really busy this summer and have neglected blogging.

What I haven’t neglected is photography. Check out my Flickr to see some of the pix I’ve taken while out on Lake Texoma or Party Cove on Lake Lewisville.

In the meantime, I’m offering $100 USD to anyone that creates me a logo for MrEvil.net that I use. So if you’re creative, get to being creative and all!

- Mr E

Its been a while

Wow! Its been awhile since I last posted. Goes to show you how just a few distractions can eat up your free time!

#1: We got a boat. Its a 2002 Sea Ray Sundancer 300. With that big of a boat and towing it not being an option, we bought a slip out at Lake Texoma. So far, we’ve been out the past 2 weekends on it.

We wanted to get the slip updated and cleaned up for Memorial Day weekend, along with setting up our stuff on the dock. Its been consuming a lot of time and money along with patience.

Every day, we seem to be shopping for the right fridge, the right grill, the right building materials, etc. I’m so tired of looking at Lowes.com or going to Wal-Mart. I just want it to be completed so we can totally enjoy the weekend instead of it involving work. But I do find fun in some of the work.

#2: I just got more stuff for my truck. By stuff I mean, Stainless Works long tube headers, ADM Performance Cold Air Intake, and HP Tuners ECM management software. I’m sure by end of next week, I’ll have the ADM elec fan, 160* thermostat, and underdrive pulley. What does that mean? Almost 400 rwhp in a mid-sized SUV.

I’ll take some time here soon, and likely blog from the lake. I plan on changing the carpet on our dock this weekend as well as installing a fridge and grill, maybe even the front wall. I’ve been holding off while an estimate is being prepared to add a second deck to our slip to have more room for friends and family this summer.

Until then, peace!

-Mr E

The Gecko @ Austin Ranch

Saturday, I upgraded my Nikon D50 to the Nikon D300. I met the boys out at the Gecko in Austin Ranch and decided to get some test shots while drinking some beer.

Here’s the pix. Enjoy!

Hunter test fitting his tuxedo

I took Hunter to test fit his tux for his mom’s wedding this Saturday. I got a few shots in of him since I won’t be there to see him this weekend. Such a little ham!

AFI Dallas Volunteer Wrap Party @ Ozona Bar & Grill

Last night, AFI Dallas threw a wrap up party for the volunteers, complete with door prizes, gift bags, food, and drinks. The party was a blast. It was great getting to see the people I’ve spent a lot of time with over the 12 days of the Film Festival. At least this time, we were able to relax, drink, and talk a whole lot of sh!t!

I’ll have pictures up today and tonight as I find time. Scotty Mankoff has already uploaded his pictures from last night @ www.crazypictureguy.com. Check em out!

BTW – to the douche bag who stole my cell phone off my table… Fuck you. Seriously. Its a Sprint MotoQ. Its a piece of shit as it is. And its Sprint. Seriously. Are you so fucking retarded that you didn’t realize you can’t “reuse” it since it doesn’t have a sim card in it? Anyway, I’ll be going to Sprint today to get a new phone. Fortunately, my contacts were backed up to my exchange account, so I really didn’t lose much, aside from some videos and pictures that were still on it.

- Shane

Click on the picture for more. I’ll be uploading them over the weekend.