Ravenchase!

So, now that we're happily married (it's true! we're really happy that we got married!) I've had some time to dedicate to other things, like my job. "What's your job?", you ask. "Have you been living under a mushroom?", I respond.

It's working for Ravenchase Adventures, of course! According to my business card, I am "Regional Director, France". Translated, that means that I do everything, from creating their games, to finding actors, to finding clients, to putting on the games, to... well, you get the point. I do it all, but, thankfully, with a lot of help and support from the US.

"So, wait, back it up a little bit. What is Ravenchase?", you ask in wonderfully colloquial American English. Well, according to the website (now also linked in the sidebar on the left), "Ravenchase is the best thing that has happened to guide your adventure since the compass." I'm pretty sure that maps came before compasses, so if the list goes:

1. Map
2. Compass
3. Ravenchase

I think that I would have to agree with it. More directly, Ravenchase creates experiences, adventures really. Most of the adventures are something like treasure hunts, but not your average, everyday treasure hunts. These events have stories, actors, magic potions, and gadgets. There are public games, corporate games, and custom private games. In brief, if you can imagine it, it's safe to say that Ravenchase can create it and a lot more that you could never have imagined.

My job, then, is to produce all Ravenchase operations in France, based out of Paris. So far, things are off to a good start. We had our first event this past Saturday. It was called, The Quest for the Docteur's Dark Secret and it revolves around a World War II figure named Dr. Marcel Petiot who used his profession to kill dozens of Parisians. Mix in the Freemasons, a secret society in the Freemasons, executions, prison, and plenty of other ugly things. (Here's the promotional flier I created for it.)

All in all, it went really well. Everyone that played said that they had a great time and it would seem that it was sufficiently immersive that they were willing to run around with treasure maps without the slightest hint of self-consciousness. Here are pictures from that event:

Ravenchase - Event 2007-10-27

I'm already working on the next game, it should be a lot of fun.

That's about it for now, I'll be trying to post more soon, but chasing ravens is hard work... And if you know anyone in Paris looking for a good time, tell them to give me a ring.

For all the motorheads out there...

Now I know that I haven't been taking the time to post a lot here, but this only takes a second and is really amazing. It's a camera inside an operating combustion chamber. Unfortunately it's missing the full exhaust stroke but you can see everything else, the valves, the plug, the fuel/air mixture, the piston, it's all there! It's not something that I would have expected to see, suffice it to say, it's ridiculously awesome. Apparently it was taken with a high-temp resistant camera at 1000 frames per second (normal TV speed is 30 frames/second):

Our (Second) Wedding

September 30th, 2007

Before the wedding, we went with Yona to take pictures in the Parc de Belleville, near our house:

Pictures in le Parc de Belleville

Then came the wedding. An absolutely unforgettable experience (again, thanks to Yona for all of his great work behind the camera):

Our (Second) Wedding

(I've not yet had time to put in captions for these, you'll have to provide the witty commentary yourself by posting comments to the pictures.)

A Meal Together

Once everyone had arrived in town, we got together at the Rozenkier's house to share a meal together. Here are the photographic results of that evening (thanks to Yona Rozenkier, Esther's cousin, for taking all of the pictures):

Un repas tous ensemble

Fun with the Rozenkiers

The Rozenkiers were able to come for about two weeks altogether so we made sure to have fun both before and after the wedding. Here's a bit of what we did:

First we went up to Burt Lake:

Rozenkiers at Burt Lake

While at Burt Lake we went tubing:

Tubing!

Then we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes and Ludington:

Rozenkiers at Sleeping Bear Dunes and Ludington

After the wedding we went to Chicago:

Rozenkiers in Chicago

When we came back, we went to Detroit:

Rozenkiers in Detroit

Followed by Harsens Island (specifically, the Turkey Shoot):

Rozenkiers at Harsens Island

And, to finish off their travels in the United States, a trip to the indoor gun range at Bass Pro Shops!

Rozenkiers Shooting

Great times all around!

Our (First) Wedding

August 25th, 2007
Rochester Community House

Our (First) Wedding

Sorry for the delay....

So, you might be saying that it's been about a month since I last posted anything and, in that previous post, I promised to have pictures and other exciting things up "soon". Yeah, sorry about that. Turns out that being married (rather, getting married) can keep you really busy. Especially if you do it twice. In two different countries. With one side of the family traveling in each case.

The upcoming posts will links to pictures and brief summaries of what all happened. I don't have a lot of time to post in great detail (I'll explain more in a later post) though I imagine that the pictures (and their captions) will pretty much speak for themselves.