Aaron Stroot | astroot.info

So it’s been a while since I’ve written, but to you, my loyal readers, I say, “Fear not!” since this update is chock full of sweet information and maybe even a video if you stick it out to the end! Here is what I’ve been up to this past month:

iPhone Upgrade

I upgraded from my original (read: badass) iPhone to the iPhone 3GS (formerly known as the 3G S). I’ve been using it less than a week, and my first impressions are:

• it is noticeably faster (duh)
• the compass fails frequently
• the voice control is decent
• the auto-focus on the camera is nice
• the video recording feature is better than I expected

I’m still unsure if it was worth the $200 upgrade cost, not to mention the $10.00 in extra data charges since my previous phone did not require a 3G plan, but time will tell. I ended up choosing the black finish. Now I just need to figure out what to do with my other iPhone.

Roger Federer wins career Grand Slam

No further commentary necessary. The guy is a tennis god. I’m not going to lie, I almost cried when he won at Roland Garros.

Cristiano Ronaldo says adios to Manchester United

Great news if you’re a Liverpool supporter, like me, since this guy has been terrorizing the Premier League the last few years. Maybe without Ronaldo and Tevez running riot, Liverpool can finally win the league.

Pennsylvania

I traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my good friend Matt who lives in State College, PA. We attended our final(?) nine inch nails show on June 10 in Burgettstown, PA (just outside of Pittsburgh). Matt gave me a decent tour of Pittsburgh, but I’d say we were both more interested in the concert than the sights of the Steel City. I was really excited that I got to attend my final show with him, since he and I both saw NIN for the first time in 2000 in Kansas City, then again in 2008 in Philadelphia. All three shows were great.

This Burgettstown show was only two weeks after my previous Kansas City show, but the two shows couldn’t have been more different. First, the venue in Kansas City was relatively small (~8,000 people) whereas this place held ~20,000 with the open lawn. Second, there was no pit in KC so it seemed very subdued. We had pit tickets for Burgettstown so it felt like your typical NIN concert. Lastly, the crowd in PA looked like they were there for a Willie Nelson show. No offense to the PA folk, but I saw some odd stuff when we were driving to the venue.

Since NIN encourages cameras for this tour, we decided we’d bring in some equipment to get some high quality video. You can check out my flickr photostream for an idea. I must say that the Flip minoHD is a great little camera. Good thing Matt brought two. As promised, here is one of our videos, and you can view the rest of our videos on YouTube. For your enjoyment, here is “Burn” in HD glory.