My thread that has nothing to do with ADFEST but this is where my friends are!!!

[Ted Arabian]

Hello Everyone,

Well.... what a long strange trip it's been!

First of all, congratulations to all of the people that contributed to ADFEST. (I am so bummed that I missed it.) And a special congrats to the winners! (yeah, yeah... you're all winners but to the people that actual were voted #1, #2 and #3... Congrats!)

A lot has happened since I last wrote here....

My wife and I drove across the country and back (8,000 miles!)

I finally got to meet fellow dvxers: Norm Sanders, Ryan Walters and Rebecca Dunn. (As a bonus, I met shawneous and downtownbrown!) What a great group of people they are. I had a great time visiting them and even visited two of Norm's spec shoots. (both of these shoots featured Ryan as DP and Rebecca as a hottie... so I basically got to hang out with them for about 3 days!) And if you ever go up there to visit, make sure that you get a visit to Cactus Ya Ya's and try one of Norm's famous drinks... the Catagory 5!

My wife and I had many other wonderful elements to our vacation, like hiking, biking, swimming and sitting in the hot springs at Mount Olympus National Park. Great RV adventures through the Black Hills and Bad Lands of South Dakota. An all around great trip!

EXCEPT FOR ONE INCIDENT THAT WAS A TOTAL BUMMER... someone broke into our motorhome and stole our Powerbooks. And though I back-up my powerbook, they stole my harddrive! It totally sucked (as you can imagine!) Not just losing these very expensive computers but all of the info. Many, many photos (about 5,000). Photos of Norm, Rebecca and Ryan (though I do have some that were on my camera at the time of the theft... will post at some time). Photos of the trip, including some spectacular sunsets, views of the Cascades, Buffalo, Antelope, Elk and even a Bald Eagle that was less than 20' away from me! I even lost a photo that I took for Brandon Rice in Sioux Falls, SD. It was a street sign for Rice Street and a place called Brandon.

Oh, well. It has taken several weeks and nights and beers and shot to get over this. I wanted to drop in on dvxuser as soon as I got back but the unbearable feeling of violation kept me hidden. (That and the fact that I have to write on a PC!!!)

I did try to watch ADFEST but this crappy computer that I am on won't even play the videos correctly! Everything is choppy and stutters! I have been very bummed!

On the brighter side, I have been doing several Hillary and Obama gigs and making some money. And tomorrow, I drive to Providence, RI to look at a Macbook Pro that I found on craigslist. Hopefully, by tomorrow, I'll be viewing and typing away!

It was been a difficult but a wonderful month. My wife and I had a great time traveling. I only wish that the butthole who threw a rock into my window and stole our computers had dropped dead that morning before screwing up my wonderful get-away. Oh well... can't dwell on that.

I am just glad to be finally over this, with a new mac on the horizon, and dvxuser on my screen.

I've missed you guys! So sorry I missed out on ADFEST. I can't wait to watch them!

-Ted

[cinealma]

Welcome back, Ted! Sounds like quite the adventure.

[bosindy]

Welcome back Ted, you have been missed.

sorry to hear about the computers man. some people don't belong in the human race.
Anyway, lets get together soon and shoot something.

[Norm Sanders]

Welcome back (to the boards, since you've now left us :sad:)! It was great being able to meet you & your wonderful bride, and hope the trip back was as good as on the way out! :)

Forget the Cat 5's, Ted finally got to try the ribs! :grin:

[Jaime V]

Man sorry to hear about the theft Ted.

Sounds like a great trip otherwise...welcome back to the boards and hope you're ready for the imminent (I hope) announcement of the next fest!

-Jaime

[Ted Arabian]

Hey guys, thanks for the "welcome home!" I sure have missed this place.

John, your adfest entry was the first I downloaded. I can't wait to watch it as it is supposed to be! (Unless you purposefully presented something that was full of stuck frames and such!)

Jim, that totally sucks about your car! Man... there are som a-holes out there! As for shooting together... I am ready!

Norm, you're ribs are worth a trip back to the Pacific Northwest! I look forward to returning. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching you shoot. How did your work turn out? I have to go check it out.

Jaime, I am anxiously awaiting the announcement!

Thanks again for the "welcome!"

-Ted

[Ted Arabian]

haha! Jim, I just checked out your Heinz 57 commercial! Good for you! I got anxious to do one myself after watching Norm work on his... but my heart hasn't been into anything creative lately. I hope to turn that around.

Speaking of Heinz 57... Norm, send me a link to yours!

[cinealma]

Hey guys, thanks for the "welcome home!" I sure have missed this place.

John, your adfest entry was the first I downloaded. I can't wait to watch it as it is supposed to be! (Unless you purposefully presented something that was full of stuck frames and such!)


Thanks, Ted! Although, mine's the first one on the list, so my head won't get TOO big. :)

[bosindy]

haha! Jim, I just checked out your Heinz 57 commercial! Good for you! I got anxious to do one myself after watching Norm work on his... but my heart hasn't been into anything creative lately. I hope to turn that around.

Speaking of Heinz 57... Norm, send me a link to yours!

Thanks Ted, you can also see a band Aram and I shot on my youtube channel. It was a blast and we could have used ya.

[Ted Arabian]

Thanks, Ted! Although, mine's the first one on the list, so my head won't get TOO big. :)
I didn't even notice that (to be honest)... I am a fan of your work and wanted to give you first honors.

[Ted Arabian]

Thanks Ted, you can also see a band Aram and I shot on my youtube channel. It was a blast and we could have used ya.
I saw a bit of that when I followed the link. I will go back and finish watching it... I was anxious to see your heinz comm.

How is Aram? I would loved to have been working with you two again.

btw... I don't know how to use this new multi-quote thing!

[Weston]

welcome back Ted!

that really sucks about the laptops though...

[bosindy]

Aram is doing well and under a new name here called Beat Tekashi.. It's funny, I took Aram and my girlfriend to dinner at the bar we shot at later in the evening and they have this killer fried chicken. After we shoot the owner asked us if we wanted a drink, I grabbed a Guinness, Aram said no, but I love your fried chicken. She goes to the kitchen and gets a bunch of chicken in a to go bag. Now whenever I go in there, they ask for him and want to know when he is coming up for more chicken. LOL

stick with the song, it's 9 plus minutes but it really rocks at the end and Abomb nailed the guitar solo.

[Ted Arabian]

welcome back Ted!

that really sucks about the laptops though...
Thanks Weston! I appreciate it. And yeah... totally sucks.


Aram is doing well and under a new name here called Beat Tekashi. It's funny, I took Aram and my girlfriend to dinner at the bar we shot at later in the evening and they have this killer fried chicken. After we shoot the owner asked us if we wanted a drink, I grabbed a Guinness, Aram said no, but I love your fried chicken. She goes to the kitchen and gets a bunch of chicken in a to go bag. Now whenever I go in there, they ask for him and want to know when he is coming up for more chicken. LOL

stick with the song, it's 9 plus minutes but it really rocks at the end and Abomb nailed the guitar solo.
Very funny! Good ol' Aram, er... I mean Beat Tekashi! (Is that for real?) Funny story about the chicken.... Mmmmm... Chicken. Now I am hungry!

I'll get to that video!

(did I figure this new quote feature out???)

[Ted Arabian]

YES! Cool new feature with this quote button!

[Tom Marshall]

Ted! Welcome back, buddy. :beer:

Sorry to hear about your theft incident, but you've got to focus on the positive. You had a chance to travel and meet some cool people (Norm, Rebecca, Shanweous and the others), so focus on that. A laptop is replaceable. Memories and friendships aren't. :)

[Jason Ramsey]

Welcome back, man. :beer:

[Brandon Rice]

TED! DVXuser has missed you, and so have I... Read about your trip, and that totally stinks that you got jacked... thanks for the thought of the pics though, I appreciate it... Sad I cannot see them! Hope things are going well now...

When are you going to be shooting some more? :)

[Michael_Petro]

Alright who stole Ted Stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://phoenixbutterflyfilms.com/blowmfho.jpg
I will blow thier M0th3rF*&%ing h3@ds OFF!!!

- Carli

[Michael_Petro]

man thats way worse then when my wallet was ganked i didn't get over that for a few days.. cant imagine my pc's

Welcome Back Ted!:beer:

[Noel Evans]

Yes great to see you back. A total shame about your computers being stolen.

[Ted Arabian]

Ted! Welcome back, buddy. :beer:

Sorry to hear about your theft incident, but you've got to focus on the positive. You had a chance to travel and meet some cool people (Norm, Rebecca, Shanweous and the others), so focus on that. A laptop is replaceable. Memories and friendships aren't. :)
Thanks buddy! I appreciate you keeping things in total prespective! I couldn't agree more! btw, looks like I saw you in an adfest entry! It was very difficult for me to watch... something about this PC running XP on a PIII. I dunno, hopefully I'll have a macbook Pro in my hands tomorrow and I can watch these entries!


Welcome back, man. :beer:
Thanks man! I appreciate you writing me the other day. Meant a lot.


TED! DVXuser has missed you, and so have I... Read about your trip, and that totally stinks that you got jacked... thanks for the thought of the pics though, I appreciate it... Sad I cannot see them! Hope things are going well now...

When are you going to be shooting some more? :)
Thanks B-man. Yeah, really tough losing those photos. (And I know that you can relate being an avid photographer yourself!) I had this series of photos of this Bald Eagle that were amazing! I was so close. You could even see the pupil of his eye. I shot about 25-30 pix of him. And when he flew off, I got this photo of his wings in full spread! Truly amazing!

And the photo I took for you was total fluff. I just happened to see this 5'x7' (or so) sign with Rice St. and Brandon written on it. Made my wife grab the camera and shot it while I drove. (She doesn't like me driving and shooting my camera at the same time! Go figure!)

Thanks for the message. I hope to be shooting very soon!


man thats way worse then when my wallet was ganked i didn't get over that for a few days.. cant imagine my pc's

Welcome Back Ted!:beer:
Michael, you crack me up! That was a perfect picture to post!!! And yeah... I'd take a stolen wallet any day over a computer! I tell you, Lojack (Or something like it) is going on my next machine!


Yes great to see you back. A total shame about your computers being stolen.
Thanks ncje! Glad to be back!

Thanks again, all. So glad to be back here a dvxuser!

-Ted

[Norm Sanders]

Speaking of Heinz 57... Norm, send me a link to yours!

Hey Ted, you can see all three at www.YouTube.com/NormSanders (http://www.YouTube.com/NormSanders) .... I've got the three up in my top Videos section, though we entered one under Ryan, and one under Rebecca.

Unfortunately, the engagement ring spot is the only one of the three that made it officially into the Heinz Contest, which has a bunch of skuttlebutt going on about it right now.

[bosindy]

Norm, why didn't Rebecca's make it in?

[Norm Sanders]

I think they got backlogged ... as there'e ZERO reason why they would reject that one (OR the other one, for that matter) ... I think they simply got slammed, and ended up grabbing what they could and that's it.

[bosindy]

Too bad, that was one of my favorites.

[Ted Arabian]

Oh man, Norm, that sucks to hear that all of your entries didn't get accepted. The concepts were great and things were looking good (real good!) during the shoot!

I'll be sure to check them out. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. (I cannot stand the format for viewing at the "official" website.

[Beat Takeshi]

Hey Ted, I think I PMed you a while ago to see how you were doing. Glad to see you are alive, laptopless but alive. Hey Jimbo, I'm heading out to Boston on the 6th for a shoot. Will let you know the details if it goes through. Maybe I can get another camera on the gig.

[Norm Sanders]

Oh man, Norm, that sucks to hear that all of your entries didn't get accepted. The concepts were great and things were looking good (real good!) during the shoot!

I'll be sure to check them out. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. (I cannot stand the format for viewing at the "official" website.

Eh, life goes on. You can see the HD stuff here: www.eefilm.com/heinz (http://www.eefilm.com/heinz)

[bosindy]

Hey Ted, I think I PMed you a while ago to see how you were doing. Glad to see you are alive, laptopless but alive. Hey Jimbo, I'm heading out to Boston on the 6th for a shoot. Will let you know the details if it goes through. Maybe I can get another camera on the gig.

cool how long are you in town for? if you know that time frame.

[Ted Arabian]

Hey Ted, I think I PMed you a while ago to see how you were doing. Glad to see you are alive, laptopless but alive. Hey Jimbo, I'm heading out to Boston on the 6th for a shoot. Will let you know the details if it goes through. Maybe I can get another camera on the gig.
Hey there, Aram! I believe that I got that PM while I was away or just before I left... either way, too crazy to reply at that time. Sorry about that. But yeah, I am alive and well.

What is with the name? Gotta be a story behind that!

As for the 6th, I would love to come down even just to see you and be some support. Let me know the details as they unfold.

I am actually going to be heading down your way soon. I am working a tradeshow for a friend of mine. Basically, traveling a week at a time from town to town in a certain region. Sunday I leave for Boston on a Monday gig, then leave Monday for a Tuesday gig on Long Island, then New Jersey on Wed, Philly on Thur, Baltimore on Friday then drive home. I am looking forward to it. Should be fun. I always love driving and traveling. (Funny though... I JUSTdrove to Baltimore and back for the Red Sox series. Thankfully I went to the game that they actually won!)

Other tradeshow weeks cover the Southeast and the midwest.

Keep me posted about the 6th!

JIM, I just got your phone message! I'll give you a buzz tomorrow as I travel to Rhode Island. (I have no idea why I can't get your call when you actually call!)

Norm, thanks for the link! I am going to have to check them out later as this PC I am on is out of harddrive space! I keep getting the low disk space message. All of my external harddrives are formatted for Mac. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the capability to download and watch!

[Beat Takeshi]

Look at the avatar and you will see. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=58329&page=5

Definitely stop on by in your travels. If not, hopefully we will see you on the 6th.

[Norm Sanders]

Ted, sorry to hear about your PC troubles. I'm a PC guy myself, but all the crap you're dealing with makes ME want to switch to a Mac, lol.

[bosindy]

I am actually going to be heading down your way soon. I am working a tradeshow for a friend of mine. Basically, traveling a week at a time from town to town in a certain region. Sunday I leave for Boston on a Monday gig, then leave Monday for a Tuesday gig on Long Island, then New Jersey on Wed, Philly on Thur, Baltimore on Friday then drive home. I am looking forward to it. Should be fun. I always love driving and traveling. (Funny though... I JUSTdrove to Baltimore and back for the Red Sox series. Thankfully I went to the game that they actually won!)

Other tradeshow weeks cover the Southeast and the midwest.



No flies on you, Sunday or Monday night maybe we can grab dinner.

[bosindy]

Wow, I got over 1000 posts. I guess I need to make a video.

[Geoff_R]

Glad you're back Ted! You've had quite a summer so far. It's a massive bummer to lose your computer and all those photos. I had a similar thing happen recently with just a camera and therefore lost a few hundred photos... it still leaves a pit in my stomach so I can only imagine how you're feeling.

All we can do is try to stay positive and keep moving forward. I hope you get a sweet deal on that macbook pro!

[Ted Arabian]

Look at the avatar and you will see. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=58329&page=5

Definitely stop on by in your travels. If not, hopefully we will see you on the 6th.
When most people are trying to switch to their real names, you go out and make a political message! Is this going to be a permenant name for you?

As for stopping on by... If I can swing it! This is the first time that I will be doing this type of thing. The guy hiring me says that when the job is done for the day, the day is mine. We'll see how that works out!

I am thinking that with all of the cities that I will be in over the next year, I could meet many, many of the dvxusers here on the boards! That would be pretty cool.

Hey, Aram, send me your cell phone number to my email address... if I can swing on by, I'll give you a buzz.

ted@tedarabian.com



Ted, sorry to hear about your PC troubles. I'm a PC guy myself, but all the crap you're dealing with makes ME want to switch to a Mac, lol.

Thanks Norm! My PC has just been collecting dust ever since I got my Mac... you know how it is. Nothing is up to date on it.

But if you like your PC, don't ever get the hang of Mac... You'll never go back! (as they say! :) )


No flies on you, Sunday or Monday night maybe we can grab dinner.

My wife is joining me on Sunday in Boston and Monday we drive to Long Island. I don't think you want to meet down there!

When I get back from this week-long trip, we'll get together. Promise.


Wow, I got over 1000 posts. I guess I need to make a video.

Cool! If you can wait until I get back, I'll come down and assist you. (Kinda make up for the fact that I never made a video for any of my post counts!)



Glad you're back Ted! You've had quite a summer so far. It's a massive bummer to lose your computer and all those photos. I had a similar thing happen recently with just a camera and therefore lost a few hundred photos... it still leaves a pit in my stomach so I can only imagine how you're feeling.

All we can do is try to stay positive and keep moving forward. I hope you get a sweet deal on that macbook pro!

Thanks Geoff! I appreciate it. And yes, it totally sounds like you can relate. Just reading your post put that pit back in my stomach all over again. The good news is that the pit "washes" away a lot quicker now than it did before.

How is LA? Things going well for you there? I thought of you as my wife and I drove past the Windy City! (Wow! What a traffic nightmare that place is!!!)

As for the MCP, I am very excited to go check this out. (Actually, I have to get off this computer and get out the door to meet him!) This guy seling it is a Mac consultant and repair-tech and seems to have really taken care of his laptop. It's only 6 months old, but he had several things done to it by Apple. He says he has to sell it because he needs the cash to assist in a move from RI to MA.

Always makes me curious when someone sells something that they love but that is why I am going to check it out! Plus the thing is LOADED with programs (for my evaluation! ;) ) When I bought my powerbook, it came from an Apple Tech and it too was loaded with programs. One of the biggest bummers (besides the personal info) was losing all of those handy dandy programs!

Okay.... in the shower and off to Rhode Island.

Aram, send me an email with your phone number!

-Ted