Saturday I went to to see the Orioles lose to the Angels in Baltimore. On our way out of Oriole Park at Camden Yards we saw the van pictured above and I must say that it is awesome and I must own one. Obviously vans are pretty cool to begin with, but adding an Orioles paint job adds to the grandeur.

About 10 minutes after I took this photo, we walked through the Inner Har and happened upon people fleeing one of the buildings. Apparently, there was a shooting moments before we arrived after a few rival gang members happened upon each other in the most tourist filled area of Baltimore. Fortunately, no one was killed though it was still a pretty nasty scene – we saw police attending to a shot gang member through a doorway and we almost stepped in some blood outside…ugh.

Thankfully I spotted this van and stopped to snap a few photos, otherwise we might have arrived at the Inner Harbor a minute earlier…

I’ve been to a few open mic night events over the years. Last night at Tritone was easily the weirdest combination of performers I’ve seen with acts like a solo guitarists (one playing the Beatles “Let It Be” sung all in Spanish), stand up comedians, a solo death/scream metal performer, and finally the highlight of the night for me was the sword swallower! So much entertainment they ran out of time for the tenor saxophonist which could have been cool.

I was about the closest person to the stage which is tough when you’re staring at a comedian who isn’t funny. When the solo screaming guy performed (he had a CD for his backing music) I had to actually get up and go to the bar to keep myself from chuckling in front of him. He might have come out and bit me or something.

Tritone is definitely a rockin’ dive bar. I didn’t see “the special” on the menu until we were about to leave: $3 for a PBR and a shot of whiskey! Without further ado, the sword swallower:

…and yes, that’s a tattoo of a sword on her throat!

I’m sick. I’ve been sick for a week and it only got worse today when I realized I had a fever. The doctor gave me some heavy duty cough syrup to knock me out tonight since the NyQuil didn’t have much effect so that should be fun. Apparently I have some sort of flu-like thing, but not the typical flu that’s going around…whatever that means.

But, before I realized I had a fever, Katie and I attended the Flyers / Capitals game yesterday to watch the Caps win 2-1! We’ve had the tickets since Christmas as a present from my brother and I’d been looking forward to it for a while. I didn’t realize how easy it would be for us to get to the stadium area (Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, and Flyers all play in buildings within walking distance of each other) and it was a short subway ride to get there. Going to definitely attend a Phillies game or two once the season kicks off.

Flyers fans (and I guess Philly fans in general) were pretty brutal. They booed the refs before the game even started and cheered when one got knocked down mid-game. Then after each of the Capitals starters names were announced the entire sold out crowd yelled together, “SUCKS!”. Not to mention the boos every time the league’s best player (and Washington Capital) Alex Ovechkin touched the puck.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I only snapped one quick photo of warmups with my phone. Katie and I quietly cheered for our team and respectfully clapped when we scored. A louder Caps fan near us was being heavily berated by those around him and I wasn’t much in the mood for that being sick and all … plus it’s not like it’s a baseball game or something, it’s hockey.

On a related note, I just realized the Phillies play the Orioles in June! Though I’m not sure we’ll still be in Philly then…

We’ve got a mouse. A little furry brown mouse. Katie saw it scurry away two nights ago when she turned the bedroom light on and we both saw it last night when he decided to come make a cameo appearance in the living room for about 5 seconds.

Our landlord shows no reaction to anything – I don’t think he actual feels feelings. Usually our conversations involve a lot of me talking and him blankly staring back making for some awkward silences. In addition to being our landlord, he also owns and runs the pharmacy on the first floor of our building which looks like it hasn’t changed in 50 years (including some of the products for sale!). He’s a pretty weird dude, usually wears a light blue pharmacy guy jacket, and still uses a manual typewriter to put up little notes for the tenants.

Today I walked in to the pharmacy, greeted him, and told him we have a mouse. He said nothing but did immediately walk past me and behind one of the display counters in the store. Out of a cabinet he gave me two boxes, one with mouse traps, and one with mouse poison, still saying nothing. “Thanks, hopefully this does the trick”, I said to which he replied, “I think you have a package here” and pointed towards a box containing a mail-order cake which I had been waiting for. How long it had been there I’m not sure since I received no notice of a package arriving.

Anyways, I set up the poison and traps so now we’ll just wait and see. I learned a new word from the back of the poison box: rodenticide.

Last night some friend’s had us over to their apartment in West Philadelphia for dinner/drinks along with some of Katie’s classmates. After hanging out for a bit I noticed some light coming in through the blinds of the front window… we could also hear a helicopter. About ten minutes (ish) later someone noticed police cars outside so we decided to see what was a-flutter!

We went outside and saw this car on the sidewalk. As soon as we got outside a police officer approached us – would he tell us to get back inside because a bad guy was on the loose? Would he ask for details of what we saw? Would he reassure us that the situation was under control? NO! He just asked if he could use the bathroom. I guess he didn’t get a chance to take a piss during the chase.

Apparently, the driver was running from the police and turned up South Farragut Street (where we were) but there was a FedEx truck parked on his narrow escape route! Instead, it appears the driver decided to use the sidewalk driving past five or six row houses before avoiding a tree, hitting a few cement steps, flattening a tire, and rendering the car immobile.  A neighbor said she saw two people escape on foot, apparently successfully.

I haven’t found any news articles about the incident, but I’ll post anything I find. Maybe this isn’t really news for Philly?

I found a few articles (which are almost identical):

• ABC Coverage
  
• MSNBC Coverage
  
• Fox Coverage
  
• CBS Coverage
  

Oh, and happy Valentines Day. Katie and I had our traditional date at Five Guys.

What the blog!? The btjones.com staff are a lazy bunch…

A couple weeks ago I found what I thought was a bug in my bag of Utz potato chips. I took some photos and promptly sent an email to Utz:

Subject: I found a bug in my chips

To whom it may concern,
I am writing to make a complaint about something I found today in a family size bag of Utz Ripples (purchased at a Super Fresh grocery store in Philadelphia, PA). At first I thought it was a burnt potato chip, but then I realized it had legs. I believe it is a deep fried bug of some sort. This is no joke, please follow the link below to view the photos I took of it.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/57543543@N00/Fy63Cb

Is this a normal occurrence? If so, can you tell me what type of bug this is? I think it is quite disgusting, whether or not it is actually harmful. Is there anything you might suggest to rectify this potato chip tragedy?

The very next day I heard back:

Subject: Utz Ripple Potato Chips

Thank you for your email w/pictures of the foreign matter you found in the bag of Utz Ripple Potato Chips. We share your concern about this problem because it is very disconcerting to find something in an Utz package besides fresh chips.

The material you found is an accumulation of solidified potato chip starch, cooking oil and salt. A film of cooking oil sometimes mixed with bits of potato, builds up on the surfaces of the conveyors and frying equipment during the day. This deposit of oil normally doesn’t become thick enough to solidify. We inspect and wipe down all product contact surfaces at the end of each day. Some parts are even disassembled for a thorough cleaning and inspection on a weekly basis. In your case, a deposit of oil evidently built up, hardened and eventually broke away and was mixed with the chips to be packaged. This material is not harmful if ingested. However, we realize it looks very unappetizing and can understand your concern.

When we receive a complaint, we take it very seriously. We appreciate the time you took to alert us because we want to eliminate any possible source of problem.

We apologize for this inconvenience. We are happy to have you as a loyal Utz customer. If you still have the bag, can you please tell us the price/letter-number/expiration date from the front of the package? Also, if you will give us your mailing address we will send you some coupons you may use toward future purchases of Utz products.

The more I looked at my photos, the more I could see that it probably wasn’t a bug. Those legs are too big…and they were probably made when this gooey thing got pulled off of a conveyor belt (or whatever). I replied with the information they requested from the bag and my address and in a couple days I received my coupons… four separate $1 off coupons (limit one per purchase). Not exactly what I was expecting… but it’s not like there was actually a bug in my chips.

Did anyone else watch President Obama on the teletube? I thought he sounded good for the most part…but man was he long winded.

This morning at 5:30am, Katie woke me up because she heard something outside. I assume she is dreaming or something and try to go back to sleep…until I hear a definite noise coming from our window. Then I realize our air conditioner is moving, and someone is on the other end (we are on the first floor). I yelled a couple times to let whoever it was, know there were people inside awake and aware of them. A female voice replied, “umm… oh… umm… crap. I think I have the wrong window”. I said, “you definitely have the wrong window”. Then she vanished.

Needless to say we were a little freaked out. The blinds were shut and until the person spoke we thought it was someone breaking into our apartment. Being the manly-man that I am, I got dressed and went outside with a big Maglite to look around. I didn’t see anyone around the apartment building but did notice our window had been opened as far as it could, and the air conditioner was clearly out of place.

I chalk it up to a drunk who lost her keys and was looking for Toine’s bedroom. The thing is, there are two windows in our bedroom, one of which was wide open and had no air conditioner a mere two feet from the one she was trying to go through. She must have been a bit disoriented or something – though I can only base my judgments on the 10 words she said.

Today’s task: secure the window.

Over a month ago a mystery prankster put a red Swingline stapler on my desk at a client site(also an ex-employer) where I’ve been spending a lot of time. I had been getting moved around a lot since I was a lowly contractor without a permanent work station and multiple people had joked with me being Milton from Office Space.

I questioned everyone I saw that day and everyone denied it. I was sure someone was lying but they were not!There was one person who I never saw because they were in meetings the entire day. The mystery gift giver was the one and only Danny Wang. With his ninja training from the Wang-Fu Dojo he was able to go undetected for over a month before he himself ended my suspense.

Late Friday night it was raining and I got the urge to go take a photo. I’m a night person as it is, so heading out at 11pm to go take photo isn’t completely out of the ordinary. I remembered seeing a photo on flickr a while ago of an intersection with a stop light – it was a long exposure and all three lights (red, yellow, green) were visibly lit in the photo. I can’t find a link to the photo, but I decided with the wet roads, I wanted to try something similar and headed out.

I was hunched over the camera with an umbrella for a while trying to protect it from the drizzle (which I did for the most part). Then the cops showed up!

Now, I don’t fault the guy for doing his job. I was hunched over my tripod at midnight taking photos in the rain. There is nothing remotely illegal about what I was doing, but I know it’s not something that most people do He asked what I was doing (taking photos) and if I had any ID – which I gladly gave him. He went back to his car with my drivers license while giving my license number to whoever was on the other end of the radio.

The officer came back and then started with the 20 questions – I was entirely respectful but declined to answer many of his questions. He kept asking and saying he was required to ask and I was required to answer (not true). It’s none of his business where I work or if I go to school for photography… He even made multiple references to terrorism! Give me a break man, you said hi and checked me out, move along. Finally, he went back to his car but sat there for about 10 minutes until I left. My only regret of the night of the night was not taking a photo of him or his car…oh well, that will have to wait until the next time I am harassed.

–

Tomorrow starts my 366 Day Challenge. I’ve already been thinking of revising my guidelines. Specifically, on certain days there may be something I want to use as my daily photo that does not belong to the current theme. There could be a concert I go to, or I may be traveling, or attending some other event. These would then be called “event days” or something similar. I have not completely decided yet…and I bet by the end of the year, if I have kept up with the challenge, that the guidelines will have changed a bit…we’ll see. For anyone who hangs out with me, be prepared for me to be toting around my camera much more often starting tomorrow. (To vote for or suggest a theme go to the btjones FeVote page – I’m also thinking of making a mini-app for btjones.com instead of using FeVote but don’t hold your breath)

One last thing – I posted two more photos for consideration in issue 15 of JPG magazine. To vote for me, go to my user page and click on each of the photos that say “Vote Now”.

I’m sitting here at the Toyota dealership in Leesburg getting my 15k mile maintenance done… the guy at the counter told me it could take up to two hours! What better time for some in the field blogging action?

Katie and I have been together for over 5 years, and to celebrate we decided to take a trip to San Francisco. We were told they get a decent amount of rain, lots of fog, and ever changing temperatures. We lucked out and the weather couldn’t have been nicer, clear skies and no fog…the temperature did fluctuate quite a bit though. We visited Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Alcatraz Island (and escaped!), watched the Chinese New Year’s parade, and of course walked haf way across The Golden Gate Bridge. We stayed in the Stratford Hotel on Powell Street where the trolleys run and is around the corner from Union Square.

I managed to snap a decent number of photos, but I have only processed and posted images from our third and final day in California. Check out my San Francisco photo set in Flickr, more photos are on the way.

PS: About 3/4 through this blog my car was done – it only took an hour after all.