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I’m still (and always will be) a huge fan of Florida Death Metal. However, Against Me is still a great band, and really proved to me their ability to stay grounded.

Watching the crowed at the show was probably as much fun as the show itself. It was all the die-hard fans jumping all over each other. I can’t explain the stink of body odor in that garage, but trust me, it was rough.

More importantly, I can’t describe how surreal it was to see a bunch of white kids, probably living with their parents in a suburb somewhere, all hanging out at a place that provides no security, in the middle of one of the supposedly more violent places in the state of Florida.

Great times

We’ve shared space with Push for 18 months now. We love those folks. They’re an amazing bunch of people, who I’m pretty stoked to call friends now. Friendship aside however, it was time we had our own space, to *push* our own identity. Hopefully we’ll all still see each other at Lizzy’s. Our new office _is_ right there anyways …

All of the team spent a hell of a lot of time preparing the new office into something we could call home. When we got the space, it was setup for a construction company. I guess that’s a bit ironic for me, but it plain sucks for everyone else. So, we all worked our asses off to remove carpet, paint, clean, and do a million other things to make the office into something that begins to represent Hydra, the raddest digital agency in the world.

The whole process was a little cliche of the things you’d expect from working your balls off after a full day’s worth of regular work with co-workers. I have a bit more respect for everyone, and I definitely care a smidgeon more about everyone there. I know it sounds like a load of crap, but everyone really gave it their all, and I couldn’t be more proud of what all of us have been able to pull off. 

The move definitely had it’s perils though. I had to dodge insane traffic to pick up equipment I dropped in the middle of 50 during rush hour. We destroyed some walls we had to put back. More than a few nerves were a little frayed from the tremendous amount of work we had to do. 

I know I’m gonna get some shit for this: Regardless, of everyone who stands out in this whole process, Bobby Jones is definitely the man. Bobby is undoubtedly the best employer I’ve ever known. During the entire transition between offices, Bobby probably worked 80 to 100 hours on the new office. He poured himself into making the transition relatively smooth, and keeping the rest of us motivated while we helped realize his vision. The sort of stress he must have been under is impressive. What’s more impressive, is how calm and collected he remained throughout the affair. Ask Rob and Parker how many times Bobby took the late workers out to IHOP at 5:00am to feed the most dedicated of folks. I’ll probably follow up my ‘Folks that mean shit to me’ lineup with Bobby next (even if it does give me a brown nose).

Anyways, a mega-huge thanks to everyone at Hydra for working your asses off doing shit you didn’t know how to do, but did it anyways. I’m honored to call all of you my coworkers, and more honored to call all of you, my friends. I’ve worked with some of the toughest people in the world. I’d trade every one of them for you guys, you’re all the best.

I was warned ahead of time that a costume was an absolute must for the day. I was also warned that the festivities started early and it was unlikely that any work would get done for the day. One of the major take-home points I got from talking to folks who had been part of celebrations in years past, was ‘Go big or go home’. 

I’m an over-the-top kind of guy. The thought of being challenged gets my blood flowing. When I heard there was a bit of competition behind the costume contest, I was pretty excited to be a part of it.

I’m also a really busy guy. Work has been very busy lately and I’ve little time for my side project, Florida Death Metal. Any spare time I’ve got lately I have to use wisely.

So the night before Halloween I got motivated. I left work on time and went looking for pieces to make my costume decision: Leatherface. 

After hours of going from one store to another looking for one item or another, I was exhausted. To make matters worse, when I went to my neighbors house to borrow a chainsaw, I found out he didn’t have one. I was going to have to leave the house early that morning and go to Home Depot to rent one. That decision ultimately cost me $130 bucks, that I’m still pissed about.

I spent awhile taking clothes of mine and tearing them up to make the costume authentic (or at least, as authentic as I could). The end pictures don’t give enough justice to how much I worked on the costume. I should have started earlier. Then again, I always wait until the last minute. 

So, the next day I got my chainsaw and got to the office early. I deployed a sprint’s worth of code to a live server before other folks showed up. I had to get it done before I wasn’t able to do anything.

The custom at Push / Hydra, is to stand in front of the door, and cheer / jeer costumes as people walk in. Since I got there early, I avoided this. However, most everyone else got the full entrance treatment.

There were a myriad of costume ideas. From Domo, Jack Sparrow, and Operation (the game); everyone did a great job of bringing their costume game on. There was even a faux WWDC-type conference by a would-be Steve Jobs. Few things are as funny as a serious conversation about the iSuck.

After that, the partying started. I wound up a little tied down dealing with bugs on the server deployment. My time chasing bugs was limited though; I wound up spending most of my time with a full mug, and a lot to talk about.

We partied _all_ day.

After a full day of partying at the office, it was time to move the party elsewhere. So, we all went to our favorite bar downtown, Lizzy McCormacks. I had a few more Guinness while I was there, but I had already gotten pretty much to my limit before I even got there.

Melissa showed up a few hours later, in full Sarah Palin attire. I was really impressed by how well she pulled it off. Sometimes she still surprises me.

Melissa wasn’t the only Sarah Palin: Kristen came out as Sarah Palin as well. That made for a whole lot of photo-op moments throughout the night. I’ve never seen so many people stop someone to ask for a picture with them in my life.

Our buddies Sarah and Dave showed up pretty late, and by then all I wanted was Motrin and my bed. I wasn’t much fun to be around, and for that, I’m sorry. Melissa and I left a short time after they got there.

So, Halloween of 2008 was a real endurance event of fun. I had a great time with everyone. I’m really lucky to have such a good group of friends here. Thanks to everyone who hung out.

A huge thanks to Push and Hydra for promoting an environment that’s so awesome to work in. I’ve said it before, but I’m really glad to work with these guys.

All of us at NFi work very hard to produce product that is above and beyond client expectation. Just the other day I worked from 8 in the morning until midnight. While that’s not an everyday occurence, it happens quite a bit. Sometimes in this business, there’s just far too much to do. So when I hear some appreciation from the boss, I guess I get a little choked up.

I shoud count my blessings. I work in an environment where I can wear just about whatever I want, I can say pretty much whatever is on my mind, and I can listen to Death Metal all day (with headphones, of course).

Sterling is a dedicated entreprenuer who has the insight to know that while teamwork and dedication are critical to success, an uptight or stifling atmosphere is not. There’s a weird balance between fostering creativity, and discouraging a lack of productivity that Sterling does a pretty stand up job at acheiving here.

The guys (and gals) I work with are a really cool bunch of folks. I’ve mentioned Sterling, but Derek, Bender, Elizabeth, Rick, CJ, and now Chris are all friends to me. I routinely heckle Bender and Derek is always teaching me something.

Our office is awesome. It’s in the heart of Downtown Orlando. We have wood floors, and a great view (though the shades are frequently closed to keep the glare to a minimum). We get to meet a lot of really awesome folks because of our location alone.

So, I really like working with these guys at NFi. I can’t think of a better place to be.

It’s funny how I started going to networking events a while back in order to meet people to further my career. I suppose that’s still a possibility, but these days I go because I geniuinely enjoy the company of the characters I get to talk to. I can’t say enough good things about all the guys I get to see every couple weeks.

I can try however:

So, I’d like to buy a beer for Chis , Erik , Gregg , Al , Ryan , John , Greg , and yes, even Bender. I should buy a beer for a few more of y’all, but those are the first few honkies I can think of.

I also had the oppotunity to meet a few guys from a really young startup, Dyverse . It’s neat to see the ambition of people who are willing to lay a lot on the line, to get where they want to be. John looks a lot like a younger version of Sterling, which might be a good thing for him.

Speaking of startups, I had the great opportunity to meet Gabriel Chapman, CEO for the locally started Talent Database . Talent Database is a great idea with tons of potential. I was thoroughly impressed with the humble nature of a man behind something with such promise. I guess it reinforces my egalitarian view of what the world should be.

So, this being the ‘Thanksgiving’ edition of Florida Creatives, I suppose I should mention what I’m grateful for: Having a Florida Creatives to go to. Thanks to all of you who keep it going.

We left the house around 3:30pm and made the drive on I-4 down there. I had been working all day on my new side project, so I hadn’t eaten anything before I got there. That probably explains why I pounded empinadas and margaritas for the first half hour when we got there.

After we settled in, we took our time to enjoy the cheap booze and food from ‘Around The World’. Our first more leisurely stop, was appropriate for me: Ireland, and Guinness. Then we headd over to China, so Melissa could pick up a Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler.

After that we skipped over most stuff and headed over to Germany. That seems fitting, given that some coworkers at NFi and I are heading to Germany this Thursday. We took our time there, and I asked a guy (supposedly from Munich), where to go while I was there. He was predictably vague, but he did mention some general areas I had an inkling to go to before.

From there we continued on, sampling food and drink from America (ha ha ha), Morocco, France, England, and Peru. When we had gotten ‘Around the World’, we went around again. I guess we just couldn’t resist the opportunity

To wrap up the night, we stayed for the Illuminations show Epcot shows every night. I should be able to recognize the corporate motivations for the show. However, it was so well done (especially after a better than $150 bar tab), that I couldn’t help but be moved by it. We hauled ass to get out of there afterwards, which is tricky with thousands of clueless tourists.

Overall, I’m glad we went to the Food & Wine Festival. It’s easier to be less picky, given we didn’t pay to get in (which is up to $65 for entry). However, we had a really good time, and I recommend it to anyone, who might spend the money elsewhere.

Figures.

The story is that the new owner of the property the Improv leases, Cameron Kuhn, had agreed to provide a liquor license to the Improv as incentive to stay in the largely vacant historic Church Street district. The day before their existing liquor license was due to expire, Cameron reneged on his side of the bargain. Corporate management for the Improv decided to vacate the location, and sue for breach of contract.

Here’s where it gets interesting…

When the story hit the news today (dammit), Cameron decided to change the locks on the building to effectively lock the Improv out of their leased space. The only reasons I can come up with as to why he would do such an obviously dumb move, is

1.) Bullying – perhaps he thought he could scare Improv management out of a lawsuit.

2.) Collateral – Maybe Cameron thought if he removed Improv imployees immediately, he might be able to steal some valuable property of theirs, and use it as leverage against any possible lawsuite.

3.) Spite – The most auspicious of all possible reasons. Cameron might just be mad at the thought of being sued over something he thinks he has the right to do.

My good friend, was recently promoted to at the Improv after a debacle with the former GM (**details removed upon request**). That’s another story entirely. WFTV talked to her about it for their 11pm broadcast It’s always cool to be interviewed, I guess.

I called her after the broadcast to let her know they spelt her name wrong. She was typical about it, but she did mention how she won. The original locks are back in place, and they might just turn the space into a haunted house until they’re required by law to leave.

So, you might just have a downtown haunted house to go to this year! I guess there’s always some silver lining to be had.

Here’s what still frustrates me about this: Why would a developer who’s known to be broke right now, evict a stable tenant from a property that isn’t producing stable tenants!!?!!??!? Furthermore, Orlando needs steady downtown entertainment to keep people coming, and push business downtown .I can’t imagine why someone with such a vested interest in downtown Orlando (something over $50 million) would do anything to sabatoge that.

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. All of the local news stations have it out for Cameron, so he may wind up in a similiar situation to what Lou Perlman faced before him. It’s unbelievable how people with so much to lose self-destruct in the most obsurd ways.

UPDATE October 17, 2007:

Upper Improv Orlando management has made a decision on where to move to. I’m under oath to not say where. However, I will say it’s in a more ‘touristy’ area of town

I feel like I’m part of something. There’s a growing movement in Orlando, to get the outside world to notice that we’re more than Mickey Mouse . I spoke previously that Orlando has a growing artistic community as well. Donna has done much to help realize that.

Listening to Donna Dowless’s life story is like hearing a tall tale. The only difference is, it’s real. Donna took 90 minutes to tell us her life story, and every minute is filled with one unbelievable tale after another.

Donna grew up in a military family, and was taught to have humble aspirations. Her father had hoped she would join the military when she graduated high school. Her mother wanted her to become a secretary instead. Donna took her chances with a secretarial career.

Long story short: Donna wound up doing secretary work in the entertainment industry, where she climbed the ladder until she was a venue director. Not one to rest on her laurels, Donna jumped on board with Tickemaster during the beginning of that empire. Donna left Ticketmaster when she was senior Vice President of the company.

All I can say about it all is: wow.

Many thanks to Donna, for all the inspiration. My continued sense of opportunity has been heightened by her.

The topics were varied. Subjects like iMIS integration, LISP for AJAX, new time-sensitive transport protocols, and general business stuff. It’s always a good time. Plus, I’m a big believer in the local tech crowd here. There’s some amazing stuff going on around here, so it’s great to get everyone together to talk about it.

Chris and I also met up at the B&S Local Market for the linkmind event there at 8:00am this morning. It was much of the usual suspects. Alex , Ryan , John , Chris , another Chris , and I were there. Greg even made it out there, which was really cool. A local newspaper columnist, Etan , made it to the event as well. Anything that happens at 8 in the morning on a Friday has better be good, and the likemind events always are.

It was really interesting to hear the things some of the guys had to talk about. Alex discussed his recent success exposing poor customer service at Spirit Airlines (google “Spirit Air”, you’ll be impressed). Etan, being a tech reviewer, had some interesting things to say about the new iPhone. John is always fascinating to listen talk about the local business scene.

Overall, both events were a great time. The exposure to people like us is a great thing. There are far too many socially-inept geeks out there. That’s the sort of thing that’s slowing down tech culture in the world.

So, kudos to those who are running these events that bring us all together. It really helps everyone.

25 years in a field that doesn’t appreciate what you do is the definition of endurance. These guys are amazing.

The Black Dahlia Murder is the opener. They’re not Cannibal Corpse, but I haven’t seen them before, and they’re album is pretty cool.

Wow. That show is really cool. It’s different than other
artsy shows, in that there isn’t such a raw display of talent (though
those guys are good on drums). It is overall entertainment. It’s hard
not to feel warm and fuzzy watching the antics at certain points of the
show, and feel real human awe at others.

The premise of the
show is about people being people. It’s humans being human, by watching
people who appear so not-human. I’m eager to mention everything that
happens in the show, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t
been.

Tickets at the show by us start at around $50. I know we
didn’t pay, but I’d gladly pay to have seen it. It’s definitely worth
the hit to the wallet.