NEWS & THOUGHTS 12/14/09 As for the story behind it... My relationship with Ramsey's mom ended recently, but not before he and I had grown close, to the point where I considered him my son. With his first birthday, not to mention Christmas, happening right now, I can't help but miss the little man. So I did a tribute as only I knew how. Otherwise, life has been pretty OK. Work is busy, but not too bad for the holidays. I've moved into a newly finished room at our office today, which will be my office until another moves in some time down the road. So, I guess the boredom of January & February ought to produce some work on this website, updating a few things and whatnot. But I'll also be busy with a likely move, and preparing for a new season as captain of the Buckeyes, so I guess we'll see. In any case... Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and good health and happiness to you and your family in the new year! Home
09/24/09 The BERCLAD site has been put off again due to increased work at the office and a busier home life. I still really want to finish it, perhaps even make it a stand-alone site that gets me some attention (and free park admissions). But right now, there are too many other pressing issues. A long, very unsuccessful base ball season is mercifully coming to an end soon. I'm the first 20-loss captain in Buckeye history. I haven't even been able to keep that site up-to-date. Well, I guess with the weather getting cooler, I might have more opportunity to update the site better. We'll see. In the meantime, there are some small changes. And I know I desparately need a new Brian9. Stay tuned! Home
05/04/09 I've made a few small updates to the website today, including a new portrait in my Portrait gallery. That's Ramsey, before his cleft surgery. Also, work is in progress on the massive BERCLAD project. That's the sub-site that will linked from the photo of me and Mark at the bottom of the Home page (it currently says "Coming Soon...") The framework of the site is being finished, including my first Flash piece, then the long process of filling up a page for each of the 270+ coasters I've ridden will begin. I'll start filling out the Parks pages after opening the site. In case you're wondering, I'm off to a 2-1 start as captain of the Cincinnati Buckeyes. It's certainly interesting being the Captain, sometimes fun, but quite a bit more stressful. I'm sure it'll get easier as the season goes, though. Do try and make a game, if you have a chance. Alright, I guess that's a good update. I'll try to get the next one in before September. One last thing... how awesome is LOST? Home
01/19/09 On the professional front, things are picking up. I'm currently the lead designer a couple of our biggest problem clients. Though I don't agree with the decisions they're making, I'm at least being very "productive" at the moment. 2008 was a good year for HyperDrive, and we expect to do even better in '09 due to the sagging economy and our relatively affordable services. Perhaps one of these cold boring winter days, I'll update the galleries and get some fresh work on display. Well, that's all for now. Happy 2009! It's going to be a better year. Home
11/26/08 I'm thankful for Christina. It's hard not to fall for a beautiful girl who not only appreciates my humor, but will play consecutive games of Fireball Island... even when the power is on. The past three months have been the best time I've had in a long time, and I owe that mostly to her. Thanks, Pebbles! I'm thankful for another great HalloWeekends trip... for Erik and his excitement for finally being able to go, for Tim calling the wrong Katie, for Matt and our shared enthusiasm for watching Erik get scared, for Emily finding something neat and wanting to tell Katie about it, for Katie... well... being Katie, for the douche-bag working the Jitney arcade and the return of the Birthday Game and the dance party on the 7th hole and the 'pants' room and the crowded train ride. It was a FUN trip. Thanks, guys! I'm thankful for the Buckeyes, who have thought highly enough of me to elect me captain of the team for the next two years. I'll now be able to write and publish that book about coaching vintage base ball). Thanks, fellow ballist! I'm thankful to be part of a company that appreciates my opinion, as HyperDrive recently promoted me to Director of Art & Design, which gives me powers that my previous title (Art Director) failed to deliver to me. Thanks, HDI! I'm thankful for a presidential election that ended decisively, and I'm happy we chose the candidate who was least likely to embarrass us even further. I hope he does well for us, and I hope people can stop being so divided and concentrate on making this country great again. Thanks, America! I'm thankful for the Tampa Bay Rays and their improbable entry into the 2008 World Series. It would've been sweet-to-the-max if they had won, but I like the Phillies OK (not their fans, though). I'm also thankful Bud Selig was around to change the rules, to cover his mistake of allowing the final game to be started in the first place instead of postponing. He's done such a good job of making money for baseball by selling off its soul. Thanks, jerk! I'm thankful for another excellent James Bond movie. Quantum Of Solace was great, though maybe not quite as great as Casino Royale. There was a lot more action, but it was a little harder to follow, and I can't say I was a big fan of Bond's girl nor impressed with the main villain. Still, it was good, and I hope it's not the last. Thanks, Barbara Broccoli! The last thing I'm thankful for is the short week this week. I've been a busy person as of late, and I'm looking forward to a few days of good fun, good food and good rest. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Home
10/10/08 What's amazing is how similar the candidates are. Both promise that the other will raise taxes. Both promise failure in Iraq if the other guy is chosen. Both promise even more economic doom, breakdown of national security, continued dependence on oil, gray skies and no change in Washington if they lose to the other guy. So then let me vote for co-presidents, or give me third option that doesn't promise negative things if I don't vote for him. As for the debates... I've seen all four candidates "debate", and have been extremely disappointed. When they weren't choosing to spew the same marketing slogans from their campaigns rather than answering the question they were asked, they slung mud across the stage from a pre-made list of attacks that they were sure to fit into the alotted time. A poignant moment for me was when the presidential candidates were asked if the $700,000,000,000 bailout would affect their plans for the presidency which of their promises would have to be put on hold. Both of them said something we "wanted to hear" rather than answer the question. Fuckin' terrible, all four. Of course, I could choose to go independent, but even then you're listed as some kind of nut to vote for someone outside bi-partisan politics even if they are far more positive and much more likable. Or, they actually are nuts. I would love to see a third or fourth party rise to challenge the black & white Washington, perhaps one that actually works for the people and not for their careers. Then there are those people who might tell me that if I don't like the way we do things, to simply go to another country. Nothing could be more anti-American. I do know who I'm voting for. I made up my mind a while ago. But as the campaigning goes on I find myself less and less impressed with him. Fortunately, the other guy is getting less impressive, too, so it remains a lop-sided choice. On a lighter note... I'm looking forward to some base ball, roller coasters and spending time with my girl in the next week... that's a good week! It seems the Buckeye captain's job is mine if I want it, which saves me from having to run attack ads of my own... and from being a victim of the MANY they could run on me! Home
09/15/08 The power outage, though, spoiled some prime website working hours. I'm also way behind on the VBBA Conference site, so work here may be sporadic in the next few weeks. I also now have some worthy distractions (see above). Frankly, having too much of a life to keep me away from having an updated website is not a bad thing at all. I hope all of you managed to escape damage or harm from the most intense winds I've ever experienced. I consider myself rather lucky looking around the neighborhood and hearing about other parts of Cincinnati. I didn't expect THIS house or my trees to hold their own - everything came through unharmed. Home
09/10/08 And the celebration is not over yet, as I have an ice cream cake to look forward to at work, and then I'm meeting a lady at Dave & Buster's for a fun night out. So all-in-all, it's not a bad way to big farewell to my 20's. As for the website, I continue to work on the Kaiju site. I also hope to get a new Brian9 soon. I wanted a site that I could update regularly, but that doesn't appear to be happening! Home
08/27/08 I hope to do some site updating soon, perhaps this weekend. I have some fun ideas for the Kaiju website, which will be the target of most of my work in the next month, especially with the draft coming up and the fantasy season kicking off soon. I'll probably work on the Roller Coaster site over the winter. I have a new Fizzion photo to show soon, and I'm wondering which page to replace with my growing Fizzion portfolio. Oh, and I did get the HalloWeekends video working, which shows my initial attempt at producing a complete audio-visual piece with the software that came on my iMac. So I guess that's all for now. Sigh, it's almost September. I only had one thing to do, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Home
08/07/08 But it ain’t so bad, because this weekend, I’m going to the Ohio State Fair! I love the Ohio State Fair! I love the food, the animals, the midway, the food, the competitions, the flea market, and let’s not forget the food. It’s the one day of the year I don’t mind corporate advertising... Because they usually involve free samples. However, like Cedar Point, it’s made even greater with the family, and as usual, we have our own little traditions... Like saying we’ll skip the train car made out of a redwood trunk because they ask for money at the end, but still marveling at it’s insides anyway, or pretending to be my cousin's dad to win Guess Your Age. While we’re on the subject of midways, people usually ask my opinion on new rides at local parks. I heard today that Kings Island (KI)is building a new roller coaster called Diamondback (perhaps after the feared rival of the Reds - not too smart there). It looks to be a really big steel coaster that is essentially a lot of tall hills and a few turns – no loops. It’s the kind of ride you’d expect at a park the size of KI, and looks to be pretty good as a roller coaster. Nitro is a similar ride by the same company, and I liked that one. If you like speed and height, you'll probably really like this ride. I expect most people will, probably too much. The article I read initially read touted “10 vertical drops”, which sounds like the ride would have 10 drops at a 90 degree angle (or perpendicular to the ground). But it appears the coaster has nothing but regular hills that, while very steep, are not 90 degree drops. I suspect this is a ploy in the park’s press release to confuse the lay people by making the coaster sound more intense than it is; a vertical drop is just the down part of the hill, no matter how steep. I also noticed somewhere else that said it’d have 10 loops; this coaster appears to have nothing that takes you completely upside-down, though there appears to be one turn that takes you close. I think it’s safe to say this ride is pretty on-par with what Cedar Fair is all about – building big rides that thrill for a few minutes before you move to the next one. Unfortunately, I really don’t think that this is what KI needs. I really think KI would do better as a theme park, not another big ride park. I think it needs to steer in the direction of Disney or Universal, with in-depth and thoughtful rides that are fun and memorable and enhance the atmosphere of the area. Of course, with Paramount out of the picture, KI is left as a park full of themed rides that will eventually have their themes stripped. Paramount got it, making the Action Zone, helmed by Top Gun, and bringing in Nickelodeon (althought I hated to see Hanna-Barbara go away); then they lost their way a bit, putting nice themed rides (Tomb Raider and Italian Job) in odd places and letting the Nickelodeon Universe expand too much (I miss the log flume). They also got "gun shy" after the Son of Beast disaster. Anyway, KI is a theme park - Coney Mall, Action Zone, International Street, etc. - and I'm not convinced that calling a coaster Diamondback makes up for having bright red and yellow steel coaster track cutting through and around Rivertown, what used to be the old-timey frontier part of the park. I’m also a little bummed that they chose to develop a spot that seemed almost sacred because of it’s lack of development after all these years, especially considering all of the land they own surrounding the park; but then again, this is the same company that thought the Frontier Trail would feel better with a new-age, steel-blue hypercoaster whizzing around in the background. It pains me to see this company, that was born of the one park I love like family, run by people who think like this. At least the ride isn't another transplanted ride from another Cedar Fair park like Firehawk was. (I looked online to double-check that name and saw that they changed "Top Gun" to "Flight Deck" - what the fuck is that about? A flight deck just sits there and planes land on it - does that sound like something you want to ride?!? Are they serious? I know they had to change the name because of the copyright, but they could've called it "Afterburn" or "Maverick" or "Iron Eagle" or, hell, "Iron Dragon"; or they could even cut it back to just "Flight" and it would still be better. What were they thinking?) Is Diamondback going to make me buy a season pass? Absolutely not. I probably won’t ride the thing until 2010 when the “hype” dies down a little. What it will do is make me appreciate the love and escapism that other parks do better. Oh well. But to answer the question... Yeah, it should be a pretty sweet ride.
07/20/08 Of all baseball players, of all professional athletes, past or present, my favorite is Barry Larkin. He is the symbol of what professional players should be - team-oriented, an all-around player, a leader by example. He started when I was 8, battling with Kurt Stillwell to take over Dave Concepcion's position. Over the years, I started collecting Reds baseball cards, and then started setting his aside. Before long, I was collecting him exclusively. He's the perfect player to collect - local guy, with one team his whole career, through a time when cards went from primitive to holographic pieces of serious graphic design, very under-rated and therefor very affordable, yet he still has a good shot at the Hall of Fame. Enter today. The Cincinnati Buckeyes and Red Stockings had their annual match at Great American Ballpark, to coincide with the Reds Hall of Fame inductions. Barry Larkin was one of those inductions, so hopes ran high for me to finally meet the man. But it turns out that the inductions were Saturday, so he wasn't at the field. Incidentally (a very understated word here), we played three innings before the game. I went 0 for 2, but gave one ball a ride to deep right... Never a gust when you need it. My proud moment was a catch off Speedy, who uncharacteristically swung at the first pitch. Surprised, both that he swung and that it was coming to me at first, I made the catch sliding on my knees, putting a nice divet in the prestine grass (I might get a bill in the mail for the cost to repair it). The Buckeyes destroyed the Red Stox 7-0, out-hitting them 12-2 in 3 innings. But I digress. About a week before the game, an offer to work/be guests at the Reds HOF gala came across for the vintage club, to which I responded, "Hell yeah!" With tickets selling for $165 apiece (though ours were comped), I figured I'd have a darn good chance to meet Larkin. So after the Reds failed to break the tie in the ninth (they lost), I headed over to the gala, where we helped greet guests (I met the lovely daughter of Jim O'Toole, and her husband). Afterward, we got to our table, where a bunch of induction souvenirs sat. As it is the 50th Anniversary of the Reds HOF, the gala was much larger than usual, and the amount of names in the room was staggering - the entire Reds roster, including Junior (don't remember hearing Brandon Phillips announced), past Reds HOFers Eric Davis, Johnny Bench, George Foster, Concepcion, Tony Perez walked past us in the lobby, Soto, Browning, Griffey Sr., Marty Brennaman MC'd, Castellini & John Allen and a whole lot of very rich fans and attractive women hoping to snag one! Each table had a centerpiece that included a small Reds helmet with the three living inductees signature - Larkin, Cesar Geronimo & Joey Jay - for a minimum table bid of $100. A painting of the Big Red Machine went for $14,000 at a live auction! My wallet was very under-dressed. So a lot of people said a lot of things (except for Bernie Stowe). Larkin told stories about the Reds players he played with, which was neat. But it was a much bigger production, with a lot more people, than I was expecting - my hopes to meet Larkin dwindled. The event wrapped up, and many people had left, but HOFers were still mingling. So Joe, Speedy and I went to go get me a photo with Larkin. It was surreal, dodging accessible greats like Soto and Browning and Foster to get to Larkin. And by this time, the current Reds snuck out. So we're standing in the small crowd around him, waiting for an opening. Speedy sees Stowe, and inspired by Stowe's great speech, Speedy wants a photo with him. So I take one. Right after, a woman comes up and wants a photo of me and Speedy, which she took. We asked who she was with, and she says she's Barry's mom! So I immediately say I want a photo with her, which is the photo on the News window of the home page - me and Barry Larkin's mom. I told her I've always been a big fan of her son, and that I'd hope to be able to meet him. Meanwhile, some kind of line had formed behind me to get to Larkin, and Larkin's security started wanting him out. After signing a ball for Stowe, he left. I was hoping his mom would help us out, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Still, though, I think the photo with Larkin's mom is a very worthy silver medal, and I'll be sure to frame it and add it to the half-bath. Afterwards, Speedy and I had the good fortune to find a pair of deserted tables with their centerpieces still intact, and so we collected a mighty fine souvenir each. They also had the same helmets (unsigned) as planters, so I got a bowl to make my own helmet sundaes. All-in-all, it was a day that had the potential to be one of the best days ever, but instead, became just a really, really great day. I had a lot of fun. I needed that. Well, that's not all I need, of course...
07/16/08 People seem to like the new site. I got some good suggestions this week, which I may apply later this week. I'm also still trying to get the HalloWeekends video to work... rather, I'm still trying to get around to doing it. It's 1:35am. Justin Morneau just slid safely into home. AL wins again, 4-3 in 15 innings. Playing vintage ball, where we cheer great plays no matter what side made them, really makes me enjoy the modern game more. This was a fun game. Time for bed.
07/06/08 With the exception of some troubleshooting and finishing touches, the new website is ready to go. I'm happy with the way it turned out, but I'm also very nervous about how it'll be received. I'm essentially tossing away a site that was garnering compliments as recently as last week, so this is suddenly feeling very unnecessary and extreme. On the otherhand, I've come to a point in my life where course-correcting is paramount, and the old site, while nice, is not the site I wanted - it was the site I needed to help get a job. So behold, the new BrianEssen.com! Home
06/23/08 I need to get this site done first. One project at a time! Home
05/27/08 I would be a sick individual to think of something as unfair and heart-breaking for his family, especially Karen, Erik & Nick - some of the best family one could ask for - so it really makes one wonder about "the powers that be". Nevertheless, I believe he's already up there sharing Army stories with his dad right now. Home
05/23/08
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