RovingMonkeys

Our New Family addition!

2008-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

Ruby is a 8 week old cockapoo (or for those in Aus, spoodle) puppy. Which means she's a cocker spaniel/ poodle mix. She's tiny right now and we've only had her for two days so far. The first day was really wet and rainy out, the second day was a postcard perfect day!

Below, find a video of her little (extremely cute) hop!

Waka Waka Waka

2007-12-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

So, this year has been one heck of a year. With the new house purchase, looking for jobs, etc, Jess and I decided that we were not going to put up lights outside (plus, on a 2 story house... man, I'd kill myself on that ladder!).

Well, we both are still feeling the Christmas cheer and this week, when Jess was out of town (back in S.F. for a few days). I decided to use some scrap plywood that the previous owners had left behind and turn it into a "Chris & Jess Xmas Display."

1 night of cutting the wood (with a dremel... yeah, don't have a lot of tools yet...) + painting. Then tonight was assembling and putting out the flood light. I think it turned out pretty sweet!

So, as Pacman would say. "Waka Waka Waka" which I'm sure means, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here's another shot, Check out the shadow and the bush... it looks like pacman is going after a power pellet!

Chris & Jess

Darth Lego: Maker Faire Day 1....Wow!!!!

2007-10-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

Darth Lego: Maker Faire Day 1....Wow!!!!

Wow, Jess and I went to Maker Faire today here in Austin, TX. We had a crazy time! We presented the Darth Vader Lego Mosaic I did last year to a non-stop stream of people. Anyway, click the link above to read more about it :)

Welcome Home To Us!

2007-09-21T07:42:00.001-07:00

Friends and family,

We wanted to let you know that today we start a new chapter in our lives! At 3pm today we will have our first home!

We will say goodbye to vacations for a while and gladly concentrate on making our house a home we love. We can paint where we want, put things on the wall, wash off our gear in the backyard, store our car and play with tools in a garage, plant trees and have 1/4 acre to do whatever we want. Our first challenge is stripping off wallpaper tonight (cringe), re-painting on the weekend, getting the flooring ripped up on Monday and getting beautiful hardwoods installed on Tuesday. By next week we will be living in the new Hotel Huybregts.

San Francisco to Austin, the REALLY LONG WAY!

2007-08-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

We arrived safe, sound and happy in Austin last weekend.

The road trip out here via Wyoming and South Dakota got off to a rapid start. We made it to Salt Lake City, Utah, on the first night even though we departed SF at 11.30am!! It makes such a difference when you can use cruise control, the roads are straight and there are no other cars on the road so you can easily travel at 80 mph without any concern. We spent the night in Utah and left as soon as we could. We are not religious folk and don’t care for industrial looking cities. I’ve heard southern Utah has some pretty places. That’s enough said about Utah!

We then made our way through eastern Idaho across to Wyoming and Grand Tetons National Park. It’s at the southern side of Yellowstone, very beautiful and not as well known. The Teton Mountains in the backdrop are majestic. Bison (buffalo) herds roamed freely (and get very close to the cars!). We also saw plenty of elk and came across a magnificent fully grown male moose on a hike around Jenny Lake. It was not more than 5 meters/15 feet from us. I was a little (a lot) uptight at that moment as we had just heard from a passing group of hikers that a grizzly bear had passed the trail just ahead of us. Alas, in my annoying phase of bear phobia I didn’t allow us to stick around too long and watch the moose or take any pictures. He was watching us though, and he in fact looked a little puzzled at my crazy-woman expression. If it’s at all possible for moose to look puzzled. Anyway, Chris quickly made me a bear rattle out of my water bottle and we continued on through the thick forest.

We camped overnight as Grand Tetons and the next morning drove around a little more to spot wildlife before continuing north to Yellowstone. After spending much of the day in Yellowstone I think our nose hairs were completely burned off from the toxic gases in the air. We knew that smelling hydrogen sulfide gas all day was not going to be pleasant, but I did not know that it can cause me to gag continuously! Fun stuff. Actually, it was a very different place, with lots of volcanic processes occurring in front of us. I think we enjoyed the scenery of Grand Tetons more than Yellowstone but Yellowstone was interesting geologically and being different to “normal” national parks or forests was refreshing.

After getting the third last campsite in the entire National Park that night, we completed the figure-eight around the park the next morning and headed east towards Devil’s Tower National Monument. Some of you Aussies might not have heard of the name but believe me you would have seen it in pictures. Think Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Yep, it was the mash potato tower. It is something special, difficult to describe. The columnar formations look like they could fall to the side easily but are in fact so well defined and thick; perhaps 20ft in diameter. The most spectacular thing about it was the height and how it juts out in the middle of a pretty flat and boring landscape.

After Devil’s Tower we drove across the border to South Dakota and stayed in a motel to clean off the few days of sweat and stank in one of those fandangled shower things we hadn’t seen for a while. We left the next morning for Mount Rushmore National Monument in the Black Hills expecting to only spend an hour or so. We actually spent all morning there. It was fascinating and Jess learned LOTS about American history and came to understand why Americans are the way they are. I didn’t mean that in a negative sense. I achieved an understanding of the philosophies they hold and why.

For those of you who are interested in hearing my point of view and who won’t be offended for how I interpreted things, this is how Australians see Americans: Americans are seen as cocky, have to be the best at everything or think they are, think they know everything, are not happy until they are victorious and get too uptight about things to easily. After our time at Mt Rushmore, I realized that (in most cases) it’s not actually cockiness, it’s a confidence they have in themselves and their country. They feel like they can do anything and will pursue their goals until they succeed. Their country has fought the British and themselves (American civil war, for the freedom of slaves) for the greater good of their people. These are indeed admirable beliefs and endeavors. They are not happy with settling for a divided country, for second best, for “that’s good enough”; they strive to always do better. And they are proud of this. I would be too. Sure, I think that a lot of that is lost in today’s society, maybe over the last 20 years as the consumerism/selfish phase takes over, but I believe that part of these historic philosophies still rests within Americans and that’s why Aussies misinterpret them as cocky. I hope that when some Aussies read this they maybe try to think of Americans as confident individuals and not just “bloody yanks.” On the other hand, Aussies also see Americans as cocky because of who THEY are and from where their spirit and roots originated. The Australian spirit was born with the ANZACs (the fact that we landed at the wrong place in World War 1 and were going to get obliterated anyway, yet they kept going and just did the best they could) and from having such a desolate land to try to make the best of. We barrack for the underdogs because we are the underdogs. We probably won’t ever be the best at something (ok, except sport!) but we’ll give it a fair go. We’ll do our best and shake hands at the end because we’re good sports and are not uptight so will let things go easily. Again, very admirable things and I could not be more proud of my country (1980s corruption and the 1996-2007 government leader excluded ofcourse). I think the combination of the two things (the history behind why Aussies are who they are and why Americans are who they are) is very interesting and different. I now know that one is not a better way of thinking than the other. But for 2 English-speaking first world countries that are so similar in how they are on a day to day basis, it is wonderful how they are so different at their roots. That’s my interpretation, feel free to disregard. I’m an Aussie remember, I won’t take it to heart!! Hehe :)

Anyway, back to the trip. So after spending quite a while at Mount Rushmore we drove down to Wind Cave National Park and took the tour. Following that we fit in a visit and tour at the Mammoth Archaeological Site where they have been unearthing prehistoric mammoth bones that were found when a bulldozer was about to level the land off for a new housing development. At the risk of sounding 10 again, it was pretty cool!

Our last touristy stop was the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. It reminded me of Purnululu National Park in OZ (the Bungle Bungles). We fit a lot in this trip but still took things at a reasonable pace so that we didn’t feel rushed. By this point I think we were ready to get to our new home in Austin so we drove through the Badlands without stopping too much and called it a day…. until Chris found out about the Minuteman Missile Silos in the area. The next few hours were spent in the underground control room and inspecting one of the missile launch areas that could have been the reason why we’re all around today and why the earth is not completely destroyed. The Minuteman Missiles that the US had were a large part of the Cold War (Russia vs USA). Knowing that the US had these incredible weapons meant that Russia did not fire upon the US because they knew they’d just get walloped back!! Chris enjoyed this immensely and I was glad that we took the time for it. Jess again learned a lot about the countries history.

After seeing some beautiful landmarks and landscapes over the week we then found out that there is A WHOLE LOT OF EMPTINESS IN THIS COUNTRY!!! So flat and unpopulated. The drive from South Dakota to Austin took us through Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and north Texas. It was pretty much 1.5 days of driving, driving, and a caffeinated drink or 2 to keep us from not falling asleep watching the flat horizon ahead!! I’m glad we saw it. We don’t have to drive through it again though!! Austin is like the Rocky Mountains compared to that!! Hehe :)

We’ll post some pictures of our trip up soon. As soon as we set up the main computer and download the million bison pictures.

We hope you’re all well.

Austin Move Plans

2007-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

For those who are interested, here’s an update on our Austin move…. :)

Chris is interviewing with companies in Austin for part of this week. Chris’ dad Gerry will fly in Friday night. We’ll pick up and pack the truck on Saturday and Chris and Gerry will drive to Austin to drop off our belongings Sunday through Tuesday next week. Chris will have another 2 interviews in Austin after that then fly back to San Francisco to meet Jess on Friday. Saturday Chris, Jess and Nemo (our car) will drive to Austin, via National Parks in Wyoming (Grand Teton and Yellowstone) and South Dakota (Badlands and Mt Rushmore). Yes, yes, it’s the VERY long route! But it’ll be a great adventure. As long as the bison/bears don’t stalk us it should be quite a trip! We'll get to go through lots of States (let's see, California, obviously, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, again obviously) and it'll be the first really long road trip together.

So we’ll be in Austin on August 5^th. Jess starts back at work (home office until K/Js Austin office moves to larger quarters) on Monday August 6^th and Chris will be choosing which company he wants to be with around then or soon thereafter. We’re staying with good friends for the first few weeks until we find something we’d like to buy or fall back to renting for the short-term. Thanks Krissy and John (you’re so amazing/generous to us!).

We’re super busy right now but it’s exciting. Only good things will come of this, I have no doubt :)

Darth Lego: An Update

2007-06-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Darth Lego: An Update

Well, I finally finished a general overview of how I made my Lego mosaic last year. Why did I wait so long? Well, yesterday I was in my office waiting for one of my co-workers to come on by and pick up a laptop case that I didn't want. Upon entering the office he immediately commented on all the Lego that is scattered around. Eventually his eyes made it to my back wall where the Mosaic is hanging and he asked if that was a custom job. I stated it was and he proceeded to explain that he helps run StarWars.com and said that it would be a perfect piece to write up about on the blog.

So, sometime soon, my little creation will be on StarWars.com! I'm sure it's just going to be a little post about it, but still, that made me quite excited. So, that is what prompted me to write about it on darthlego.blogspot.com, here's hoping it inspires some more people to explore the joys of Lego :)

Hawaii and Moving!

2007-06-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Friends and family,

What a lovely time we had on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands. Within a day of being there, with no computer around, only one cell phone turned on for emergencies, and sandals on our feet, we fully immersed ourselves into that thing called relaxation. Without realizing it, we soon fell into an unplanned schedule of snorkeling in the morning (okay, mostly Chris snorkeling while Jess stood in the shallows or watched peacefully from the beach), then resting or reading a book/newspaper on our ocean front balcony at the hotel for the peak sun-hours, then venturing out to the pool/beach/hot-tub/hammock/deckchairs area in the afternoon for a few hours. After that we'd sip a mai tai while watching the sun set and lovely hula dancers perform on the hotel lawn.

We ventured out a few days to various parts of the island. Ke'e Beach was amazing. It reminded me of Cape Tribulation in Queensland, as it is where the rainforest meets the reef. Waimea Canyon is considered the Grand Canyon of the Pacific; it was a beautiful mix of green and brown/red, Grand indeed (…..if you don't get car sick! We saw many a car pull off to the side and the passenger door fling out like nobody's business). I liked seeing the red clay on this part of the island; it reminded me of WA/NT.

We went out for a 2-tank dive trip. The first site was 80 feet deep. I was a little nervous when I heard that but considering we could see the bottom of the ocean floor looking down from the boat I was soon put at ease. It's soooo much different to diving in Northern California where you rejoice at 15 feet visibility!!! The dive was a breeze – no effort involved whatsoever. I was doing flips and playing around like I've never been comfortable doing before. It was the first time I've enjoyed a dive. We saw numerous sea turtles – one about the size of me!! A moray eel, fish with so many types of colors and patterns you wouldn't believe and plenty of coral. Most of the dive I didn't even think about encountering a shark until the end when I actually WANTED to get a glimpse of one!! The second dive was about 60 feet and very similar. Needless to say we had a great time underwater and we both enjoyed seeing each other smile from ear to ear.

One thing most people don't expect about the island are the roosters! They are everywhere!! Kind of how seagulls are to Rottnest, Roosters are to Kauai. No snakes, creepies or beasties, just roosters! It's hilarious.

We were so relaxed and care-free that we put all our San Francisco issues at bay and enjoyed being 'us' again. It seems so long since we have been 'us' and enjoying life since moving to SF. It was a great and much-needed vacation that made us remember we don't have to compromise ourselves or live in a place that doesn't make us happy. As a result, we have decided to move away from San Francisco and California, and enjoy hopefully a less stressful life in Austin, Texas. There we can afford to buy a house, have a dog, a shed and a garage, which will accommodate all the things we have come to realize we want out of our living situation. We plan to move at the end of July/beginning of August.

This is a positive move for us and there are many reasons for our decision. When I am asked why we're leaving SF by our friends and colleagues here, my response is "the bay area is not for everyone" and as soon as I say that there is an immediate understanding that only residents of this area can fully comprehend. Chris' response is "I love my wife too much". Just know that this move will be healthier for each of us individually and better for us as a couple. We are glad we took this opportunity to live in San Francisco; there have been some great times and explorations, and what a great learning experience it has been. The experience has reaffirmed that there is nothing more important in life than being happy, healthy and with the ones you care about.

Jess

Trouble With Travelocity: Jamaica was a bust

2007-05-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Trouble With Travelocity: Jamaica was a bust

Today I recieved an email from Travelocity, in it they had said that they were glad the issue was resolved satisfactory. Well, in my opinion, they did not, and as such, I sent a reply. Now, I'm not unhappy anymore that we didn't go to Jamaica, as Kauai was FANTASTIC!!!!! but still, when there are so many options out there for the service they offer, a little customer service would be nice.

As I hope more people will share their travelocity stories, I went ahead and created a whole new blog for it. But if you want to read my email, head on over to "Trouble With Travelocity" and take a read.

In the end, we're 100% happy with American Airlines, but 0% happy with travelocity :(

Off to Hawaii

2007-05-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we found some flights, and will be going to Kauai! We could have gone back to Jamaica, but you know, kinda not feeling the love at the moment! Anyway, we'll be leaving tomorrow morning, and be gone for 7 nights :)

YAY!

Chris

No Jamaica for us

2007-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

It was a long, melancholy ride home from the airport Monday at 1am. It was a vacation 4 months in the making, we were going to be sitting on a beach with 4 other friends in an All Inclusive resort in Jamaica. This has been our one driving force for the last few months, no matter what the stresses of life were, we would always say "only x weeks until Jamaica."

Turns out that Jamaica enacted a very special temporary visa that expires on May 15th for those countries that played in the Cricket World cup. As Jess is an Aussie, she needed to have one of these visas. As of 4 months ago when we checked the visa requirements, there was no mention of this, and in fact they said no visas were required, we failed to double check leading up until our trip. Let this be a lesson to you, always double check the visa requirements 1 month prior to your departure, don't use Travelocity as if they is ever anything wrong, the Indian Call centers are not allowed to deviate from their scripts so you cannot expect help from them, and, we recommend using American Airlines, they've been awesome to us through this ordeal, definitely an A for customer service.

Well, back to square one, anyone have any ideas where to go as a beach destination that's not swamped with american tourists?

YOSEMITE!!

2007-05-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, Chris, Jess and Mike (of the Wifall clan, one of Chris’ great friends from Tucson, Arizona) braved the frosty weather of the Sierra Nevada for a weekend of camping at Yosemite National Park (pronounced “yo-semmity”). What a great time to go! Much of the winter snow pack melted in the sunny weather experienced a month ago which left waterfalls gushy and hikers understandably in awe. Additionally, the depressing weather forecast scared many northern Californians away and left Yosemite to us adventurous campers, a.k.a. crazy soles.

Friday was spent hiking through Mariposa Grove, one of the oldest and largest stands of Giant Sequoia Trees (Redwoods). Jess was on the look out for bears and mountain lions but alas all we got to experience was the beauty of the snow on the trees, making the most perfect snowballs you could imagine (wet backsides were aplenty), and enjoying the peace and quiet of the wilderness as we moved passed the touristy Lower Grove into the less trafficked Upper Grove. The fact that some of us couldn’t feel our hands and feet meant it was a great opportunity for a campfire Friday night. The guys prepared a fire that would enlighten a pyromaniac! (This would only be surpassed by their efforts on Saturday night!) Since our sleeping bags were only rated to 35 F (1.6 C), we had an excuse to snuggle in the tent when temperatures fell well below freezing on Friday night. Restless sleep ensued as Chris and Jess synchronized their turns from side to side so that heat wouldn’t escape through movement. Unlike Chris and Jess, Mike didn’t skimp on his sleeping bag and enjoyed a peaceful sleep.

Saturday morning arrived and with the rise of the sun came the rise of another warm campfire (thanks Mike!!) and a hot hearty breakfast. There are the two reasons why you camp right there! After packing away anything that smelled like food or toiletries in the bear cages we headed out for Yosemite Valley where our day of hiking would begin. The view from Inspiration Point into the valley would have to be one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed in a National Park. Since Chris and I weren’t quite prepared for the 12 hour hike to Half Dome we chose to hike to the top of Nevada Falls. So it was only 3.5 miles one way, but believe me this was a strenuous hike since we rose 1900 feet in that time. Many parts of the hike were just staircases, with each stair being a quarter of Jess’ height! Other parts were zigzagged because the straight line angle was just too steep. Pretty much, we needed to stop and rest for 10 seconds following each zigzag or 10 steps or so. A good workout for the legs and buttocks though, and a shock to the system for those who thought we were fit! Well after 3 and a half hours we made it up. It was a long 3.5 miles but well worth it. We earned that plate of spaghetti and toasted cheese sandwiches that night! We later enjoyed exploring all the possible toasting methods that a marshmallow can take before turning in to a much warmer tent that sheltered us from the night of constant rain (in other words, it was above freezing that night, but still chilly). You know, it's funny how much the pitter-patter of rain on the tent sounds like the footsteps of bears. Ok, Chris, I'll finally admit I may be paranoid!! :)

Sunday morning came with the anticipated show showers that kept many travelers away. On that note, we packed up our camp with considerable efficiency and basked in the warmth of The Wawona Hotel for Sunday brunch….just like everyone else did. With our stomachs full and our fingers thawed we departed Yosemite and headed back down the ridge to the coastal plain.

T’was a fantastic weekend getting back to nature, dirty and overly stinky (no showers involved). There is a reason why Yosemite gets the crowds and in summer you line up like penguins along the trails – this is truly a stunning place.

Thanks Mike for suggesting this trip and making the long drive up there from Tucson. We keep hearing your enthusiastic “YO-SAY-MY-TAY!” call ringing in our ears!

The Family

2007-04-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Mom came back from her year in Aus. So, Will, Jess, Dad and I all drove to L.A. to be there when she got in :) It was great to see the whole family together! Good to have you home mom :)

Chris

Wilzwyrld

2007-03-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well, for those that check out my bro's site, we're currently experiencing technical difficulties with wilzwyrld.com, but for now, you can get to it via http://wilzwyrld.blogspot.com

I've spent the last two weeks, working on an XML to Blogspot converter using Google's C# api. It wasn't "hard" just frustrating as this was my first "real" C# app as well as first time interfacing with a web app.

Anyway, right now, we've put up all of his old posts from Iraq, and we'll be working on it's appearance next.

Chris

Cardmaker Jess!!!

2007-03-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

Recently, Jess has really got into making Cards. I'm not talking run of the mill, take a sheet of paper and fold it in half, nope, each one of these cards has personality and love. Above is an example of one of her cards.

I'm so proud of my love! Every new card she makes is amazing and they just keep getting better. Soon she'll give up on this working thing and instead make cards for a living :)

Chris

Cheers to a Friends Success!

2007-03-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

One thing I really love is when friends do something the like for fun, share it, and then it takes off. In this case, I have no idea how "big" this is getting, but a mate of mine back in Oz, just wrote this Apple Dashboard Widget that checks out shows on TV.com and lets you know when they'll be on next. Now I don't have a Mac, but the presentation he's given the app is fantastic. And what's even better is that he was featured on Apple's "Featured widget."

I hope Matt runs with this and continues to release quality apps like this, as only good things can come of it :)

So, go check it out! At Tv Forecast Widget or read his blog at BigBucketBlog.com.

Chris

ILM's Oscar

2007-03-05T00:37:00.000-08:00

Well, after 12 years since their last Oscar, ILM won one for the visual effects for Pirates 2. Part of the celebrations included brining in all their previous Oscars/VES awards and letting anyone who wanted to, to take a picture with them. Hey, even though I didn't work on Pirates, I'm sure going to take them up on their offer :)

Anyway, Congrats ILM on your work! And man, those little guys are sure heavy.

Life at the convergence of tectonic plates

2007-03-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

Part of the world's "Ring of Fire" welcomed us last night at 8.40pm with a 10 second rumble then a quick jolt.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in Lafeyette, a part of the SF Bay area, about 20 miles east of us. It was a magnitude 4.2. We have daily earthquakes here that are less than a magnitude of 2, so this one, at 4.2 caught the Bay Area's attention.

The interesting thing about this earthquake, apart from the feeling that a rugby-player tried to dismember my craft desk from underneath me, was that it was pretty deep - 10 miles below the ground surface, compared to the norm of about 5 or 6 miles. The deeper a quake the wider the area people will feel it.

I wish I didn't think this but there's a sense of excitement about a quake. We had one on the Hayward Fault last week while we're at work, about a 3.0. You feel the jolt, wait a little longer for it to phase out so you know it's not the "big one" everyone worries about, then talk amongst yourselves for a minute or two. I think to myself "that was pretty cool" and get back to work. Last night's quake then sparked more excitement since I had last week's quake to compare it to. "Oh yeah, that was a good one! Bigger than the last one for sure! " If Steve Irwin was still around I'm sure he'd proclaim the "she was a beaut, mate."

Ah, life on the ring of fire. In terms of safety, I think I'd prefer cyclones to be honest, since you have some time to batton-down the hatches or find a random shipping container to huddle in. But then again, I do get a little adrenalin pumping when I feel the jolt from the ground shaking beneath me. Who needs a gym workout when you have nature, right?!

Don't worry mum, the good news is that we will probably never need to use our emergency earthquake kit since the quakes are so small; they're just relieving some pressure!! :) The other good piece of news is that we are one of the only pockets in San Francisco that is built on bedrock, and our 1955 army-built townhouse withstood the 1989 ripper. The bad news, only something like 20% of home-owners in the Bay Area have earthquake insurance...oh no, those poor multi-million dollar mansions in the Marina District! We'll wait for the "big one" before we buy a home here, thank you very much! Maybe some cleared land in the Marina will come up for grabs!!

Valentines day Pizza

2007-02-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

This past Feb 14th, aka Valentines Day, I wanted to do something "different" for Jess. So at Lunchtime, I went down to our favorite pizza joint and arranged for a special pizza that evening. The Host was really excited about it and told me that there was not going to be a problem. That night as I went to pick up the pizza, the host recognized me right off the bat so he goes over and picks up the 2 pizzas checks then, and promptly walks over to the kitchen. It seems like the kitchen didn't get the memo. No worries though as they already had a cheese pizza in the oven so they hijacked that, slapped on some pepperonies in the shape of a heart and tada! I had a heart shape on our pizza! (plus a free pizza to boot since we had to "wait" all of 5 minutes). Anyway, the above photo is of the "heart" shape, I think they were going for the abstract :)

Chris

A OK!

2007-02-23T19:51:00.001-08:00

A OK!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Went down to monterey this past weekend and had some great dives!

The first day was sunny and warm, a nice water temp of about 45 degrees F. The air temp was mid to high 70s, so a nice day indeed. We just went out to the breakwater to do a "familiarization dive" with Jess. She wanted to make sure she was comfortable with her gear before we did a boat dive the following day. She did amazing :) and by the end of the dive, really had her buoyancy spot on.

Sunday we did a boat dive, it was suppose to be 2 dives, but both jess and I were feeling fine having done just the one. Oh, Jess got to swim with her first Sealion! It didn't play with us though :( but still, she got to experience a "large creature" underwater.

So, I didn't realize, but Kelp is seasonal. Which means right now, diving monterey is pretty sweet! There's no kelp to get tangled in!

Chris

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

2007-02-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

LucasArts just announced a new game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. If you haven't checked it out, I suggest you do :)

They're pretty restricted to what we can and cannot say, so I'll leave it at, "It looks good!"

Chris

Golden Gate Bridge

2007-02-12T18:32:00.001-08:00

Golden Gate Bridge
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Just playing around while waiting for the Queen Mary 2 to show up :)

One of my Mates is in Oz

2007-02-08T11:15:00.001-08:00

brochure1
Originally uploaded by Niledeltadisco.

No matter where we move to, we always seem to find amazing friends. Jaybro is no different. Jason is one of those guys who always has a smile and a joke for you. He's very personable and you just can't like the guy. Anyway, enough with making his head any bigger then it is, onto the real point of this post.

I've known jaybro for about 10 years now. We were both Resident Assistants in University and enjoyed Corrupting the youth :) During that time we had some crazy adventures and even help setup a "warm Fuzzy" comity to bring some warmth to our RA family. After University, he eventually found his way to Tucson to work at IBM with me and a few others friends of ours. Unfortunately, I jumped ship right before he started work and decided to chase a dream making video games. And until a few weeks ago, he had been there ever since.

Well, recently he decided to go on an adventure. Now, I'm all about adventure. I mean, that's how Jess and I met! So when Jaybro said he was applying for a job in another country, I was quite happy for him. Little did I know he would end up transferring to IBM Perth!!! How cool is that?!? he's gone to a city 7,500 miles away from home and it just so happens to be in Jess' home town/our last place of residence!

I'm writing this both as a congrats to Jaybro, but also as a warning to Perth. If you see a bald headed American, you could either run screaming for the hills, or brave the waters and have a chat. I'm warning you though, once you do, you won't be able to get enough of him!

By the way, I stole the photo from Matt C. flicker account :)

Welcome to Oz Jaybro!

Chris

Junk the Junk!!!!

2007-02-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

I just stumbled upon the best website in existence. No I'm not talking about monkeys dancing or anything (although that would be crazy sweet!) let me setup the situation.

In the USA, we have 3 credit agencies. What they claim to do is come up with a magic number that determines what sort of loans you qualify for, or if you're even allowed to rent a house. EVERYTHING in the USA is based off these credit agencies. These guys magically get your personal data and keep track of where you lived, for how long, how many credit cards you have, how many inquiries into your credit history you've made, etc. Essentially they have a monopoly on your life. You have no choice but to accept their "service." Anyway, one of the things that they don't tell you about is they also sell your information for "pre-screened" offers. Ie if your credit history is such that you fit the profile of their target audience, well you'll get tons and tons of junk mail. Seriously, Jess receives easily 2 to 5 letters a week about new credit cards, all because these agencies have sold her data to the credit card companies. As you can imagine, no only is this annoying as anything, but it creates a ton of waste (in a given week, we only get 2 or 3 useful bits of mail, and about 40 to 50 articles of junk). So, today, one of my coworkers pointed out this website: stopjunkmail.org on the page, it lists the steps needed to get off all the nationwide mailing lists, including the credit score companies' lists.

We will be filling out this info as seriously, it is amazing how much crap we get.

Oh, and as a side note, I love how in order to get off the DMA's list, it'll cost you $1. Yeah, pay to have you stop annoying me.... sounds like a scam to me.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass this on to anyone else out there that is tired of getting junk mail.

Chris

Jamaica Mon!

2007-02-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

On May 7th through 14th, Jess and I will be going to Jamaica!

We'll be heading to the rasta-island with a few other couples/friends of ours. It should be a great relaxing experience!

Here's the place where we are planning on going. Sunset at the Palms

Now, we just need to contain our excitement until May!

Queen Mary 2

2007-02-06T09:37:00.001-08:00

Queen Mary 2
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Last night, Jess and I went down to Krissy Field to see the Queen Mary 2 off. She's a huge ship, and man, she moves fast! In the end I had to crank my iso up to 1600 just to get a "stable" shot of her.

Anyway, she left an hour late, which meant we were outside in the freezing cold for 2.5 hours. Yep, Jess definitely loves me if she's willing to put up with the cold to entertain my photographic desires.

Chris

Wii arrived!

2007-01-28T20:40:00.001-08:00

Wii arrived!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

and wii would like to play :)

After a few failed attempts lining up at Targets and Best Buys around San Francisco, Chris finally got his hands on his new Nintendo Wii. Chris marketed it to Jess in terms of exercise, and that Jess can't get her backside out of the house to workout in this cold winter.... Anyway, it worked, as usual, so wii has come to the rescue :) We've already worked up a sweat playing Wii sports, especially knocking each other out (just virtually mum!) in boxing. Next they need to bring out the wii scuba game and then we won't have to venture into the freezing water for real anymore!!!

Now...back to wii sports and our new virtual world... :)

Perks

2007-01-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well, one of the nice things about working for one of the Lucas Companies, is that we're treated to some "special events" sometimes.

Let's talk about Friday.

If you haven't heard of "Robot Chicken" I suggest you search YouTube for some of the clips as they can be quite funny. Anyway, "Robot Chicken" is a series of clips done in Stop Motion animation using old action figures. The creators (Seth Green, of Austin Powers fame and Mark Senreich) were on campus Friday and treated the company to an episode of Robot Chicken. It was excellent! It was quite obvious most of the employees hadn't seen an episode before so listening to their comments was great!

After the episode was shown, the opened up the floor to questions to the two Creators. The cool thing about having ILM onsite is that whenever there's a question time, they're able to ask tons of technical questions which I find terribly interesting. Anyway, to sum up, the Episode was funny as anything and the creators were thoroughly excited to be in front of people they admired (the creators are huge star wars buffs). Plus, Seth Green is just funny :)

Anywho, just wanted to share. :)

Chris

Scuba, canceled :(

2007-01-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

because Jess and I are sick. Oh well, it'll just have to be postponed.

On a happier note, I think I just secured a nintendo Wii finally. Costco.com had them in stock and since we're a member, I snapped one up :) Hopefully early next week I'll be experiencing the Wii in all it's glory!

Chris

Scuba!

2007-01-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

Since we've been living in San Francisco, all of our scuba diving trips have been shore dives. Granted, they're fun, but sometimes you want a little R&R by going on a boat dive. This weekend, Jess and I will be going out on a boat diving Carmel by the Sea (yes, that's it's full name, oh and if you want to have a good laugh, look up realestate in Carmel...).

Let us recap for a second. Water Temp in Northern California, 51 degrees F or 10.5 C for those in Aus. Ambient Air Temp right now is about 53 degrees F or 12 C.

Can someone please tell me why we're going diving :) Man it's cold!!!!

Anyway, hopefully it'll be a "nice" day and we won't be excessively cold. But I am looking forward to the boat dive!

I'll hope to have pictures :)

Chris

Still alive and doing well :)

2007-01-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Yes yes, I know, we're a bunch of slackers here in the USA. :P

The truth of the matter is well, I am indeed a slacker when it comes to working with the computer in the evening, I always have great intentions but then once dinner is done, I just want to surf away.

Hopefully I can try to turn that around :)

Here's a quick tidbit of news since October:

Jess got her dive license and we picked up a ton of dive gear for her, I've created a machine as she is now constantly wanting to go diving :) YAY!
I picked up a laptop (yeah, so why haven't I been updating....)
EA blood money came through, nice little chunk of change as a result of a class action lawsuit filed against EA for overworking their programmers.
A couple friends got married in Las Vegas for Christmas so we spent the week inbetween christmas and new years in Vegas. Was a good time but man, people in Vegas can Smoke!!!
We've been in the USA for over a year now. How do we like it? Meh, it's the USA, you know, what you see on TV :) Actually San Francisco is nice, a little cold but nice.
Jess is being very successful at her Job.
I'm still programming for LucasArts, this year will be scary busy.
No, we did not get a Wii! We tried to, but they're still hard to find here in the USA.
I'm slowly turning Jess into a gamer, she now owns a Pink Nintendo DS Lite :)

Well, i'm sure I'm missing a ton of stuff but in general, life is good :)

Happy New Year and best of luck in 2007!

Chris & Jess

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

2006-11-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Jess will be experiencing the joys of eating way too much Turkey on Thursday as the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving. We'll then take the Friday to try to burn off some of those mashed potatoes by doing a dive with my brother down in Santa Barbara. Should be a good weekend!

Happy Holidays!
Chris & Jess

How Muddy is your Buddy?

2006-11-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we were both pretty muddy! After washing our clothes and shoes 3 times the dirt finally disappeared!

Picture this. A 6-7 mile course of non-stop steep uphill and downhill battles on soft sand. You’re a team of two, team Roving-Monkey. One of you mountain bikes, one of you runs. About 4 times along the course you start to hear some yelling and commotion in the distance. When you get closer you realize it is a 14 year old kid in camouflage attire yelling like his 50 year old sergeant. “Bikes to the left, runners to the right. Jump the fence, jump the fence!!!!!! Get over, get over!!!!!......Bikes to the left, runners to the......”
Between each of those 4 obstacles, when you’re walking your bike up one of the tormenting hills, you hear someone ask you “so they actually think people will be able to ride up this hill? And the last one? And the next one?” It is you who is talking to yourself. But you should not worry too much, everyone else is thinking the same thing. You have to give it to the website designer for this thing – he somehow made us think this would be fun!

Then the downhill side approaches and you get back on your bike and roll down, clenching the brakes all the way down, in hope not to hit the softer sand patch and get bogged with 10 others closely following your rend end and ready to plant tire tracks all over you!!!

You made it! Alright, next....

A mud pit the size of a tennis court awaits you. Those army cadets sure know how to mix some good mud; ‘twas perfectly opaque. You grab your buddies hand, or push them in, and crawl through, trying to remember to keep your mouth closed! What a refreshing end to a tough race! We all commented on the softness of our skin afterwards too. The mud pit made the up and downhill battles all worth it. And the Muddy Buddy down in San Dimas, California, certainly lived up to its name.

www.muddybuddy.com

Pics posted soon :)

Happy Birthday Mum!

2006-10-30T11:13:00.000-08:00

I want to wish my mum a very Happy Birthday for Tuesday.

You're lucky you're in Australia - our birthday's are taken over with Halloween hype in the US at this time of year! Almost as crazy as being born on Xmas I reckon!

Thinking of you.

Love Jess (and Chris)

CHRIS HAS A NEW DIVE BUDDY!!

2006-09-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

A.k.a. Jess finally got SCUBA certified!

Some of you may be aware that my biggest fear in life has been the ocean. Okay, make that being eaten by creepies and beasties in the ocean; mainly coming face to face with a shark big enough to eat me. Well for the past 3 weeks I have been working to get through that and become SCUBA Open Water certified. This past weekend I made myself proud by completing my course with 5 open water dives in Monterey, CA. Pretty good for a girl who couldn’t even clear her mask or breathe without the mask underwater just a few weeks back!! Thanks for all your support and water wisdom Chris :)

They say if you can learn to dive well in this area of the world, then you can dive well anywhere! Now that I have my ticket, Chris and I plan on making day trips every few weekends. It’ll be great practice for my buoyancy control and general comfort in the open water. And ofcourse, as a reward for our efforts in diving this icy area, we’ll definitely me making trips down to the Caribbean...at least once a year Chris...pleeeeeease?!!!

So I will always be a land munkette, but I think I can handle frolicking in the water every now and again too. Plus, now there are more reasons to open up own Dive Company B&B in a tropical setting!

We have put some pics up of my course dives as well as Chris and my first dive together in Monterey as the Invincible Sea Munkee troop!

Sunny Vancouver Attracts Munkees

2006-09-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

Monkey Jess
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Last weekend Chris and I ventured to the city we were deeply considering moving to before our US process began…Vancouver! In a nice little vacation exchange program we have going on with Chris’ friend Szymon and his lovely girlfriend Marta, they showed us around their beautiful city and nearby mountains. Thanks guys!

For the first time in a long time we were true tourists! Although the trip began slightly off-note (our plane delayed for over 3 hours, and finally not using our plane because it was considered ‘broken’) we had an enjoyable long-long-weekend.

On the first day, we all walked around the City, taking in Stanley Park, downtown, GasTown, West End, YaleTown and it seemed like every suburb in the core Vancouver area!! In the days to follow we ventured up to Grouse Mountain on the skyrail, saw grizzly bears up there too, risked ourselves at a suspension bridge (I was more worried about bears sighted in the area than the bridge!), explored the markets at Granville Island, and found out what whistler looks like in summer!! It’s an extreme-mountain-bikers masterpiece!! Ofcourse there were many beautiful drives through mountainous areas and around majestic islands. Not to mention too much good food (all you can eat sushi, and a store with 218 flavors of gelato……I don’t recommend the vegemite flavor! Very authentic let me tell you, but vegemite was NOT made for icecream!).

We found Vancouver to be a lovely city, and 85 degrees in summer! That’s about 25-30 degrees warmer than our home way down in N. California!! Not right man! It’s the first time we’ve applied sunscreen for quite a while!

Thanks to Szymon and Marta for being so accommodating, and we look forward to repaying the favor in Sept and Oct.

So check out our set of pics,
Having fun, from Jess and Chris!

A Magical Kiss

2006-09-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

A Magical Kiss
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Last Night Jess and I had some fun with Long Exposures, no, not that type of exposure!@! Anyway, this shot here was pretty cool so I figured I'd post it on my Blog!

This shot Jess and I stood in frame and fired the flash. Then while the shutter was still open, I pulled out a blinky thingy that I got from a microsoft party. Anyway, I quickly made the shape of a heart and it just so happened to be sitting on my hand!

Anyway, pretty cool in my opinion :)

Munkees in Whitewater

2006-08-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend Chris and I took on Cache Creek rapids. Okay, so it was only a mix of class 1 to 3 rapids but I think it was a good mix for us for our first time in a 2 person raft with no guide. We were our own guides! So we made a big weekend out of it by camping Friday night, then rafting Saturday and Sunday and driving back to good old SF Sunday afternoon. Our group included 3 scout troops who were actually well-behaved and good citizens, so it was a good group. Translation, they didn’t squirt water in our faces at close range, just at a distance :)

You may be wondering how well we went. I must admit, I seemed tired after the first few strokes with the oar!! The first day was spent figuring out our techniques. Captain Chris did a tremendous job at steering us through the rapids without any spills. “Without any spills” does not equal no water in the boat though, let me assure you of that!! We stopped on the side of the river and emptied out the boat more times than I could ever remember! By Sunday we were River Gods! We handled “Eye Opener” and “Mother...” with class! We did help out a few people along the way and returned a few hats and boats to their owners who had flipped it. Unfortunately with only a few rapids to go before the take out point on Sunday we approached and sailed through a rapid well, but too well, because we sailed right into the wall at the base of the turn...yep, I was flung out into the creek. Not as much of a washing machine as Scarborough Beach but I lost my hat (and pride) and bodysurfed, still holding onto the boat (naughty naughty), to calmer water. My courageous hero gracefully pulled me in, then in a blink of an eye used his oar to rescue in my Disneyland hat that I did not want to lose to the whitewater. My hero!

What a fabulous fun-filled weekend away!! The only negative....the poison oak rash that I am experiencing as I type....argh!

Check out the pics :)

Jess and I

2006-08-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

Jess and I
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Jess and I went to Cache Canyon this weekend and had a wonderful time!

Essentially, this place has rapids of up to magnitude 3 (so, fun, but not too life threatening) and as such, they let you raft down the creek in your own boat. That's right, no guide with you at all, just you, and your loved one, fending for your life as you go streaming down a creek with water that is white!

By the end of the second day, Jess and I were pros! We could navigate the river with our eyes closed if need be :)

More pictures are on the flickr site, so head on over there for more of the goods :)

Chris

Jess runs a half-marathon!!

2006-07-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about it for some time, talking about it for about 5 months, but today I bit the bullet and ran the longest distance of this (very) amateur runners life so far. I successfully completed the San Francisco Half-Marathon!! What is even more extraordinary is that I am still alive to tell the tale! Oh yes, 13.1 miles (21km) can't keep this munkette down.

The course route was amazing; truly one of the worlds most remarkable I'm sure. The scenery of the SF bay, alcatraz and GG Bridge meant the first 6miles up to the bridge went by pretty quickly and easily. I started to feel some pain on the uphill sides of the Bridge but as I descended again I knew that my sweet would be only a mile away from there with his camera and smile to keep me going with continued ease. I was at the 11mile marker when I saw this handsome man in an orange t-shirt.....I knew it was Chris. And I must say I was already so proud of myself at that point, then seeing Chris, well I jumped around like a hooligan and started to cry a little.

After that, the pain kicked in as the rest of the race to the Golden Gate Park was a continual uphill battle. I gritted my teeth and pushed on. A good personal challenge for me. As I rounded the last turn and saw the Finish line, kep good pace, clapped at some of the spectators who had so nicely come down and cheered there for hours and beamed with a combination of relief, renewed energy, pride and accomplishment. And my support crew was right there at the end to help me stay standing (thanks Chris :) ).

Overall, I impressed myself with my determination and strength today, and how fun the event was! It was great seeing so many people there of all races, sizes and fitness levels but all with the same positive spirit and determination.

So when is the next one.....!

Our New Car!!!

2006-07-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Our New Car!!!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Here's the little beauty now :)

We Bought a CAR!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-07-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

Pictures and whatnot to follow, but Jess and I have entered into a life of debt with our first major purchase!

We are the new owners of a brand new, Indigo Blue Toyota Matrix XR :) YAY!!!!!

Oh yes, pictures will indeed follow, stay tuned (it's night time now so we can't take the pictures).

All in all, it was about 3 hours at the dealership and 1 hour with me getting lost on the way home :)

Chris

New Pictures :)

2006-07-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

4th of July has resulted in a slew of new photos, check out these flickr sets for more info :)

Diving

Point Lobos

Big Sur

Skywalker Ranch

4th of July Picnic

2006-07-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

My little pony
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Every year, George Lucas invites all his employees out to Skywalker Ranch to have a nice family picnic. This means, only immidiate families are invited (although some friends showed up, but eh, they were good natured friends :) ) The only "requirement" to attend is that you have to bring a salad, well, not "have to" but they would like you to and it can't be store bought.

This was our first trip out to the Ranch. It's not because we're not allowed to come out, it's more so because they would like you to visit during the week, and since it's a 30 minute drive from LDAC, that would make for a really long lunch :)

Anyway, back to the Picnic. So, they have this thing down to a T. I mean, there's plenty of staff at hand to help you with whatever you need! Lost, ask someone, want a lift to the picnic area in a horse drawn wagon, no worries, they have that covered. Want to hike up into the mountains? Sure, there's a path marked out so you don't get lost. Swim in a lake, why, what's that, lake ewok? :) Concerned your kids will get eaten in the lake? there's a nice pool for them :)

Pretty much, food and drinks were provided for everyone. And if one area was too crowded for you, well you could just head over to Lake Ewok to enjoy another BBQ/Drink area. They took care of EVERYTHING :) they had a tent setup for infants and really young kids. They had activities for Adults, teenagers, and younger kids. The prizes, nothing but ribbons, but man, were they cool ribbons! (jess and I took home 6 different ribbons because we kick butt!)

The highlight of the day though was the Egg toss competition. Everyone got involved. I mean everyone! George was even in it (and ended up getting egg all over the place :) ) Anyway, seeing as I suck something fierce in terms of throwing and catching, I figured we would be eliminated pretty quickly. Well, sure enough, after about 150 others had been elimintated, Jess and I were still in it (and about 12 others). It came down to a 40 yard toss. I chucked it, Jess caught it, the egg... well... didn't survive the catch. What's Jess' first instinct? But to throw the egg back at me :) Knowing the egg wouldn't reach me, she let it fly. Unfortunately for her, the wind picked up at that moment and blew that egg into the crowed. Fortunately the bulk of it flew right towards one of my coworkers and his family. Being good spirited, they just laughed it off. Oh, yeah, not just them but EVERYONE at the picnic laughed at it! Jess sure knows how to make an impression :) She will go down in history!

Anyway, The day was Fantastic and the ranch is amazing! No other company I have ever worked at has done something on this scale. We are so thankful to have this oppertunity and we're definitely making the most of it :)

Chris

A special time for us.....

2006-06-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night was a momentous occasion. Momentous indeed. No anniversary, no birthday that day, no new pets or anything like that. But this event was almost as important. On Friday - oh the happy tears - we bought our first BBQ!! After putting it together, I could see in Chris’ eyes that he began contemplating how many meals we can cook on the BBQ per week!! Tonight will put us at 3 BBQ dinners over the past four nights since its inauguration. It will become a bit sad if we name our BBQ so we must refrain from that. Although I don’t think we’ll have a problem there….we still haven’t named our second turtle…..woopsy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUNKEE!!

2006-06-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

I would like to let the world know that today is the second most important day on the calendar to me (next to our anniversary)!!!

This day in history, we celebrate the existence of my sweet husband.

Last year we celebrated with a cocktail in a pineapple cup and a cheeseburger in paradise. What a year since then!

Chris, I hope you have a most enjoyable year. I promise it will be fun! Diving, hiking, kayaking, lots of great stuff to do and see together, forever! (Corny, yes, but that's love right?!!)

Happy Birthday bebe! You are worth celebrating every day of the year. And I do :)

Your Jess xoxo

The Brothers Brick: Dark Lord Mosaic by Chuybregts

2006-06-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

The Brothers Brick: Dark Lord Mosaic by Chuybregts

Wow, my Lego mosiac is becoming more popular :)

And another :)
Brick Brick: A Collection of LEGO� Creations: Darth Vader LEGO Mosaic

And another... although he calls it an unhealthy fixation :) which I'm not disputing :)

Lego Mosaic

2006-06-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Lego Mosaic
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

About a month and a half ago, I got this crazy idea in my head that I wanted to "play" with lego again. Well, as I was stumped as what to build, work started putting up a whole series of concept art for the games we're working on. And although I don't claim that my mosaic is anywhere close to amazing as the concept work, I think the mosaic still turned out pretty cool :)

Feel free to check out a step by step instructions of the whole process at How I made it or hit my flicker page and see some of the images of it :)

Anyway, the mosaic started off as a random image taken from some random news website, like IGN or something. I then cleaned it up, made it symetrical, ordered thousands of lego and BAMN, I had a cool "poster" to hang in my office :) Which even though our studio isn't working on the Lego Star Wars games, we still have plenty of people who enjoy bringing out the bricks every once in a while :)

I tell you, I enjoyed making this thing so much. Not only did I get to play with lego, but I got to learn some photoshop techniques, and I got to live out one of my dreams... what, you don't dream of playing with 2000 black lego?

Oh, and just as a side note, I did drop the complete mosaic, and yes, there was a tear in my eye, oh well, at least Jess had a good laugh :) Actually, only about 200 pieces went flying so all was not lost :)

Enjoy!

Chris
Update: Whoa, my mosaic made it onto Digg.com! Lego Mosaic

Happy Anniversary

2006-06-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Yay! Today is our 1 year anniversary! Wow, has it really been a year? One year ago, I don't think Jess and I even dreamed of being in San Francisco. Talk about an amazing year! Lets see, getting married in Hawaii, living in Perth, Jess quitting her first job, US Immigration, Singapore, a month with my Parents while we looked for a job, selling all of our possessions, buying all new possessions, getting new jobs in the USA, wow, talk about crazy! And we couldn't have done it without my Jess :) She truly is a work of art. And to think, that Jess and I met as a random happen-chance in a Youth Hostel in Cairns. One thing is for sure, life is so much more enjoyable having someone who you can share every experience with!

So, My Jess, Happy Anniversary! I look forward to many more June 7ths :)

Chris
ps. Mom and Dad gave us a carton of Toilet paper as our annivesary present. Thanks guys :) We shall not run out for quite a while :) (the 1 year anniversary is the Paper anniversary, just FYI :) )

Wow a cool new feature has been discovered

2006-06-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Flash Slideshow

So, I found this Blogger tool that will allow me to do a slideshow of my sets on flicker. Anyway, this is here mainly as a test, but it also contains all my redwood forest pictures.

Enjoy!

You don't see that everyday

2006-05-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

You don't see that everyday
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

So, here we are, in the middle of the pristine Redwood Forest. Not a sole to be found. All we can hear is the murmur of a stream somewhere. Off we go trying to find the source of the sound. Along the way we pass a millipede. I stopped to count his legs... No where close to a million!

After amusing myself for a moment, we continue on our search. "What's that over the next rise?" It was the source of the murmur. A Georgous little stream! Isn't that majestic! Wait a minute... what's that?!? Yep, man's influence on the environment is found here as well. Somehow this tire managed to find it's way into the forest. So very disappointing.

Then again, it could be a relative to the Banana Slug... Maybe the Rubber Slug?

Chris

Slugs!

2006-05-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Slugs!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

This memorial day weekend, Jess and I went up to "Benbow State Park" or something along those lines. Anyway, it's located in the Redwood forest which means we saw tons of HUGE trees!!! Oh, we also saw a few of these banana slugs. Don't they look so yummy? No... hmmm then why are they called banana slugs???

This weekend was Jess and my first camping trip together in the USA. Our campgrand was cool, with one exception. The 101 went right through the middle of the campground!!! What is going on with that??? The map online of the campground didn't show that. Nope, we had to find out first hand. Anyway, it turned out it wasn't too bad as the 101 isn't that busy in the late hours of the evening. (It seems the truckers stay on the 5).

We spent 2 nights there in our swanky new tent. Man, I never thought I would own a $200 dollar tent, but now that we have one, sheesh, talk about quality! Anyway, we're into some Luxury camping these days, I mean, we brought our Air Mattress as well. It was quite nice! Oh and it's also the first time we've owned a Coleman camp stove. That thing is amazing! But man, does it get hot fast! Camp stove 1, chris' finger 0.

I mentioned luxury, well, we did still have toasted sandwiches and Spaghetti O's. That was my suggestion for meals :) I "Loves me the spaghetti o's!" (Catch the slang there... yep, thought so).

Anyway, we're looking forward to the next time we can go camping. Hopefully this time there won't be a highway going through our campsite!

Chris and Jess.

Yarr there be Pirates!

2006-05-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

Yarr there be Pirates!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Well well well, what can I say, my evening job is being a pirate! Okay not really, but I did have a chance to dress up like one this past Saturday night. Jess and I were invited to attend a "Pirates Vs Cowboys" party held at one of the local game developers here in S.F.

The developer was "Three Rings" and they're known for thier title "Puzzle Pirates" which is a good game, addictive as anything though :)

The story is that Three Rings is moving offices and their current office is going to be gutted and turned into lofts. As such, they wanted to throw a wild party and not care what happened to thier old office. The only requirement to attend the party was you either had to dress up as a Pirate or a Cowboy (they also make a cowboy game).

Anyway, this has to be the first "Geek" party I've ever been to where the girl to guy ratio was favorable for the guys, I guess if there's anywhere in the world that would appreciate geeks, it would be in the Bay area :)

So, the party started at 10pm, Jess decided not to go but Adam and myself took up the challange of finding a costume in less then a day and managed to make it to the party. The party started off slow, they had a sweet DJ that was mixing all kinds of wierd stuff together... things like the "Pirates of the Carribean" theme song with some Drum and Bass. Or Mario brothers with some Gwen Stephanie (sp?). The
alcohol was flowing, the tunes were a pump'n and the crowd was full of Pirates and Cowboys :)

Around midnight a Bluegrass group came on and did a live perfromance. THat was actually pretty sweet as, well, you just don't see that everyday :)

Anyway, Adam and I left the party around 2pm and called it a night. Now here's the interesting thing. Before we showed up to the party, we swung by Mel's Diner for some Dinner dressed up in our costumes (I of course, was the pirate, Adam was the Cowboy) anyway, the reactions of the patrons were pretty standard, half ignored us, and the other half kind of stared for a while but then went back to eating. No worries,
but who should walk in as we're sitting there? Some 60+ lady wearing a Viking hat!!! I can only image the patrons in the cafe had to have been thinking that there was some fashion conspiricy going on :)

Anyway, although I'm not really big on parties, I did enjoy this one as, well, when else can a person dress up as a pirate and not get his ass kicked :)

Chris

Universal Studios

2006-05-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

Universal Studios
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

So, the other day Jess and I went to Universal Studios. We decided that since this will be our "1" visit until we have kids, we'd go ahead and get the "Front of the Line Pass." What is that I hear you asking?

Well, it's where you give Universal Studios 2x the price of a normal ticket and you get to jump to the front of the line for all shows and rides! They also throw in some "special features" to boot! As in, after T2, Waterworld and Animal Actors, we were able to stay behind and meet the actors, listen to them talk about the shows, and pretty much just feel like Celebs :)

It was pretty damn cool I'd have to say. Would we ever do it again, probably not, but we enjoyed it this time.

Oh and Jess and I were able to participate in the Backlot Special Effects show! How cool is that?!?! :)

Chris

First Pics with the Rebel XT :)

2006-05-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

First Pics with the Rebel XT :)
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Well, I finally caved in. Jess and I are now the new owners of the Canon Rebel XT (350D for you playing at home... in Australia).

What prompted us (well, I did ask Jess for permission before I bought it :) ) to make this purchase, other then the fact I've been wanting one for ages? I've signed up for a Photography Course being run through ILM. It's 6 weeks of pure Joy!

So, today I took the new camera out and shot a few picts, most of the pictures were not too interesting as they were of a stone wall with different exposures. But I did spend a few shooting some other photos.

Bolt!

2006-04-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Bolt!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Well, today was in interesting day. Jess and I figured out a car swap routine that we'll be trying out. Jess works out at the YMCA at like, 5:30am or something crazy like that, as such, she has to drive the car. Instead of her driving back to the apartment, she'll leave the car at the Y and I'll catch the PresidiGo shuttle to the Y, drive the additional 500meters to my office so we don't get a ticket for having the car out all day (I think it's a 2 hour limit or something)

What this means though, is instead of catching the shuttle home, I will instead drive home. This may work great as then on the way home I can stop off and take some photos of the area :)

Today I stopped off at one of the many bunkers left over from World War II. We've been getting non-stop rain for the last 30-40 days now so things are pretty wet. Anyway, I figured I'd try my hand at a reflection shot. What do you guys think? Should I keep my day job :)

The Family on the Beach

2006-04-11T09:10:00.001-07:00

The Family on the Beach
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

So, as I'm playing with flickr, I'm going through some of my old photos. This one is amazing! After cropping out some deadspace I think the end result is simply amazing! The photo was taken shortley after Jess and I made it over to the USA. We spent a week with my mother and father at San Louis Obisbo. This was one of the few days it wasn't raining so we went for a walk down to the beach.

The photo itself has Jess, mom and dad in it. I love the gradient from essentially white on the left to black on the right. Sure some things could be improved but hey, I'm not a professional :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

The Thinker

2006-04-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Thinker
Originally uploaded by chuybregts.

Today Jess and I went exploring. Where did it lead us? Well, we picked up some culture :)

First Post

2006-04-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Just a little evaluation as to see whether or not I should move Rovingmonkey.com here or not. Will be testing a few things, like the flickr interface and stuff.

Chris