Chicago Auto Show 2009
- February 22, 2009 -
I’ve been born and raised in the greater Chicagoland area, meaning I’ve been here for almost 25 years now. Surprisingly, one thing that I had never done before was go to the Chicago Auto Show, held annually at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. Now I’ve never been a huge ‘car guy’ per se, but I do believe it’s an experience to have. This past Saturday, I went with a couple a friends to this year’s show and it was an interesting event as a whole. It wasn’t as crowded as I expected possibly due to the fact it was the second to last day of the show, plus there was the 4-8 inches of snow that had just fallen the night before (gotta love Chicago weather!), but still quite a few people were there to see what’s new conceptually and just to sit in some really nice cars.
Well, without further ado, here’s a glimpse of some of the cars shown at this year’s show:
I saw this sign in the BMW section which grabbed my attention to sit and ponder for a bit…
For those of you looking to get me a wedding gift later this year and nothing on the registry catches your attention (or it’s all gone by the time you check it out) feel free to get us the next car which I believe stole a little bit of my heart yesterday: the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren. I believe the price tag on this one was $495k, but I’m sure you can bargain that down a bit in this economy :) Oh, I’d like to have an orange interior, though…thanks!
And the big finish: BUMBLEBEE! Not sure how many of you grew up on Transformers, but it’s a classic! And with Transformers 2 coming out in the summer, GM brought out Bumblebee along with a couple friends (in car form) to the auto show, which was nice to see.
Here’s a question for you all: What’s your dream car (if money was no option)? Either put the car name, or describe it (if it hasn’t been made yet) in the comments below! Looking forward to hear from you all!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | 
filed under: Modern Events, Personal show comments | add a comment
Who Would Shoot Me… (Ed Pingol)
- February 17, 2009 -
Continuing in my series of photographers I’d love to photograph my wedding, it’d be an honor to have Ed Pingol.
He’s one (of the many) photographers whose work just makes me sit and stare sometimes. His ability to use off camera flash in such a dramatic and powerful way is so captivating…its that pure HDR (high dynamic range) feel to it. Couple that with his creative group formals/portraits and you have yourself a winner. When you look through his work, it is so clear that his couples have a blast, and he has a blast as well! What more could you ask for than your vendors having a great time with you at your wedding?
check out his work: blog
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: PersonalFAILBLOG: Verizon
- February 10, 2009 -
Not sure if any of you guys follow FailBlog.org, but they got some pretty fun stuff on there (mainly online pics and video). You can check out their videos on their youtube channel here.
This one, by far, was mind blowing for me, though, and I felt I should share…any of you guys Verizon users? (Now, I was a math major, but seriously…)
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Personal No Comments | add a comment
The Blender – Embarrassing Moment
- February 6, 2009 -
It’s happened! I finally came up with a name and posted a new video! Woo hoo!
The vide blog entries are going to be called “The Blender – a delicate mix of business, life and all things baller.” This name came out of nowhere a few weeks ago and not by reader suggestion, but I still feel like I should give away the $10 iTunes gift card. It only seems fitting to give it to a duo that seemed to have tried the hardest- Raina and Rincey from up my Wisconsin e-mailed me a list of 20 names! (Of course, a few were just duplicates that ended with ‘in under 5 minutes’, but still!) Here are a couple of their suggestions:
-”Rarely Updated Report”
-”Nate in a Nutshell”
-”Nate to the Point”
So congratulations guys…I’ll get you your ‘winnings’ shortly.
Now on to the video! It’s a little ‘getting to know you’ one, and would love to get some feedback! Let me know what you think, other things you’d like to hear me talk about, and also share along with me. That’s the only way to make this blog more of a discussion and it helps me know I’m not talking to myself :)
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: The BlenderFounder’s Week – Moody Bible Church (Alistair Begg)
- February 4, 2009 -
Last night a bunch of my guys headed over to Moody Bible because they are hosting Founders Week this week (a week long event in celebration of the founder D.L. Moody). Although I’ve lived here my whole life, this was my first time attending this conference, and it was an amazing experience. Alistair Begg simply spoke truth in his message, and it was great to hear!
One concept that really stuck out: ‘There is a significant number within the Christian framework that don’t understand/believe/can explain the truth of the gospel. So many people don’t tell or haven’t really heard the gospel; we tell the benefits of believing or the dangers of not believing, but not the gospel itself. In this we simply rely on human wisdom and empty the cross of its power.’
I was able to grab a few pics from my seat so enjoy the view!
This was a crazy sight: 2 people playing the same piano…at the same time!
It was also an awesome time to hear Christy Nockels of Watermark there!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, PersonalSuperbowl Sunday Recap
- February 2, 2009 -
Did you all have a blast yesterday? The anticipation into Superbowl Sunday was not the same this year as in years past, but still I had some fun times. Here’s a bit of a recap for all of you.
The Game
I wasn’t too excited about the competition…interested, but not really excited. I believed the Steelers would win, but hope the Cards had it in them for that feel-good story. We hosted a little party at my church to watch the game projected which was fun. For most of it though…we weren’t watching. Much of the time was spent either talking or playing games. But we did catch the important parts. In all seriousness, all you needed to watch was like that last two minutes of the first half, and the final 5 minutes of the game. But if you watch that, it was seriously one of the top Superbowls in recent history. Big props to Rothlisburger and Holmes for putting together an amazing finish to the game. And much respect to Larry Fitz as well…he played an MVP worthy game.
Commercials
Because of all the conversations and rounds of CatchPhrase going on, I didn’t really watch any of the commercials. I did catch up this morning on Hulu, so be sure to swing over there if you missed any. Here’s a recap of my faves:
1- Millers One Second Ad: The ad itself wasn’t anything amazing, but it was a great marketing concept. They hyped it up perfectly. And by only paying for a one second spot, they saved money, while drawing everyone (many people?) to watch a lot more of their commercials online. In that sense, brilliant. We’ll see how it plays out for their sales.
2- ETrade: The babies are always great…even more so, the bloopers here.
3- Cash4Gold: I laughed at the old commercials because it was funny even when it was not supposed to be. This one actually had the intent of being humorous…well done MC Hammer and Ed McMahon!
4- Monster: The one with the moose…genius!
5- Gatorade: Very well done…I wish there was something more…not sure what. It didn’t have a huge punch, but I still enjoyed it.
What were your faves? Which ones were hits, and which ones were misses?
The Office
After the game, there was a special 1 hour episode of The Office and it was truly HILARIOUS! The opening set was the best one ever. This episode probably had the funniest one-liners (and the most) than any other show. I know there are many people who haven’t jumped on board with The Office…you are seriously missing out. It’s in my top4 TV Series of all-time (alongside Law&Order, Seinfeld, and Friends). The writing is extremely witty and smart. I’m telling you, go online and check out this past episode, you’ll seriously be rolling. Here are a few of my favorite lines:
“Barack is president! You are black, Stanley!” – Michael Scott
[on the size of Michael's...stuff] “If it were an iPod, it’d be a shuffle” – Pam Beasley
“Boom. Roasted” – Michael Scott
That’s just a small tasting of the awesomeness in the show. Seriously, go check it out now.
Photobooth
For some added fun times, I decided to bring some of my gear with me and set up a faux-photobooth (err…maybe…”the fauxtobooth”??) during the big game as well. We had pretty limited space so I couldn’t find a clean wall to shoot against, so I instead used one light just to blow out the back wall as much as I could. It was pretty much a hack job, but quite a fun time! I’m looking forward to doing things like this more often…but the rule is I’m only taking your picture if your fun and creative. Enjoy these, and check out the full set on facebook!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Personal
