Rock Band Competition and Lecture

This is going to be a very unique opportunity to hear a lecture about the creative and practical aspects of putting together video game projects. I'm sure the information will be useful in many other fields. The best part is the competion which follows the lecture. Kick some Rock Band butt! More information here: http://www.rockbandvandy.com.

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Fall Colors

Last Fall, at the hight of the leaves color, I shot some video of some of my favorite places in Nashville. Some of the places in the video are Natchez Trace Parkway, Radnor Lake, Love Circle, and some spots in Franklin. I loved putting this all together, for I forgot how beautiful it was last Fall!

Getting Ready for Fall 2009 from Jake Stein on Vimeo.

Haunted Houses

The leaves on the trees are starting to change their colors again. Fall is in the air which means one of my favorite nights is upon us... Halloween! I didn't go to any Haunted Houses last year, because I have always been sadly disappointed in the scare quality. This year I am going to as many as I can, so I can rate them for you, my readers.

Last weekend, two of my friends and I went to Death Valley Haunted Woods and Monster Mountain. Both are located north of Nashville.

Death Valley Haunted Woods ranks the best between the two. In terms of fright factor, ease of navigation, and uniqueness, Death Valley kept all three of us happy throughout. There were actually a few spots where I was afraid the REAL pic-axe could have slipped out of the actor's hands and hit me. It didn't, but it could have and I hope that actor has good skills with the axe. Everything else seemed mostly safe if not totally freaky at times.

It took us a total of about 45 minutes to get through Death Valley, which includes two pitch dark mazes that are legitimately hard to navigate out of, tons of ghouls, and great sound effects. In terms of entertainment value, it is, hands down, the best haunted house I've seen.

None of that is to degrade Monster Mountain! It was a good haunted house. The special effects at this place were incredible. Much more time and money was spent to make this place look the part of a haunted mining town. The burning house we had to walk through was "off the hook" cool, the 40 foot suspended monster, the caverns, and old town were really well done. The frights were good, but the navigation left some to be desired. I enjoyed the openness, but the ghouls had to keep telling us where to go. Another thing I really liked about Monster Mountain, was that it was in the middle of nowhere. It made me feel like something bad could actually happen and no one would ever know. In total it took us about 25 minutes to get from start to end.

Overall, both houses were great fun and worth the $15 admission price. If we had gone to Monster Mountain without seeing Death Valley, it would have been the best in my life, but Death Valley was unanimously the better of the two.

This week we hope to hit a couple more, so look out for the reviews.

What to do on the 4th of July?

Music City Hot Chicken Festival: 11am to 3pm at East Park
(700 Woodland Street)
http://www.musiccityhotchickenfestival.com/
Proceeds to benefit Friends of Shelby Park & Bottoms

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Before you eat, do the

Details are at their website.
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Take a swim in one of Nashville's public pools.
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After all that don't forget about the fireworks and performances at Riverfront Park. You can find all the information here.

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If Riverfront Park and the mass of people is not what you are interested in, then Nashville's own AAA baseball team, the Sounds, play the Albuquerque Isotopes. The first pitch is at 6pm at Greer Stadium. Fireworks follow the game.

Living Roof

With the potential of a new Nashville convention center in the works, I think this concept is worth some major investigation. Vancouver has a great idea here and Nashville needs to be next!

Living Roof: Vancouver Convention Centre - BC, Canada from Vancouver Convention Centre on Vimeo.

Clouds on a sunny day in Nashville

I was at work and couldn't help but be amazed at what a beautiful Spring day it was through my window. So I used what tape was left in my camera to film some of the afternoon over Vanderbilt University. I turned it into a 2 min time-lapse where you can see the clouds morph and the traffic below. Hope you enjoy. The music is from the band Nite Club. They just came out with a video for a remake of a Kanye West song. I'll let you look it up and let the mystery be for you to figure out.

Clouds from Jake Stein on Vimeo.

Eric McMillen Band

This is a new artist who recently returned to Nashville from North Carolina. He recently performed a show at The Basement in preparation for his new album which should be out soon. Keep an eye out for this guy, for his work is ready for the radio and it will be mainstream one day soon. He has some of the best musicians in Nashville playing with him, so you know he has something really good to offer even before he melts your face off at the live show! Enjoy the video I recorded of him at his first live show. Find out more on his website: http://www.myspace.com/ericmcmillen

Eric McMillen Band from Jake Stein on Vimeo.