ZERO-G: Best Video to Date

Both of us got to fly with ZERO-G again in February--Will flew on three flights and Diana on one, all in the same weekend. The final flight--the one both Diana and Will flew on--was particularly notable, as the plane was flying with a relatively small crew of passengers in order to support some internal video and photo shoots. As coaches, we don't usually show up in that many photos or videos; if anything, we're deliberately trying to stay out of the way so that our onboard cameraman and the fixed position video cameras get a better view of the customers.  But this video of Will's section from that particular flight probably captures both the ZERO-G experience in general and our specific role as coaches the best out of any such video we've seen to date:



As always, we both had a fantastic time, and we highly recommend that you all find your way on board a ZERO-G flight sometime soon!

ZERO-G: Our first weightless experience!

As many of you know, a few weeks ago, both of us had an opportunity to float in zero gravity courtesy of ZERO-G. Both of us are employed as coaches by the company, which is the only company in the US to offer customers that chance to experience weightlessness via parabolic flight, the same method used to train astronauts and to film zero gravity scenes for movies, et cetera.

As coaches, we'll fly with the paying passengers, helping them get the most of out their experience by showing them fun tricks and by making sure everyone is comfortable. To complete our training, we had to do a 'shadow flight'--where we flew as something between clients and employees, able to enjoy the experience but also trying to get a feel for what it's like being on board in a customer service capacity. Each flight gives passengers about six or seven minutes of reduced gravity--starting with Martian G (about 40% of what you are used to), then Lunar G (about 17%), then zero g.

We just got copies of the videos of our flights, which are posted below for your viewing pleasure! Will's flight and Diana's flight are in separate posts just below this. Because the video embedded system is not working very well for me at the moment, here are direct links to the two videos--you may want to click these to make sure you are watching the right video: Diana and Will

Both of us had an absolute blast on the flights, and would recommend that you check it out. Neither of us is an official spokesperson for the company, but if you have questions, let us know!

ZERO-G: Diana's First Flight

If this is the right video, it will begin with people doing push-ups in Martian G. If it starts instead with a camera flash at around the two second mark, you're watching Will's video. Blame the terrible Fliqz video embedding process, and click here to view Diana's video for real.

ZERO-G: Will's First Flight

(Yes, I did eventually catch that M&M I missed right as that video closes).

If this is the right video, it will begin with a camera flash at around the two second mark. If it starts instead with people doing push-ups in Martian G, you're watching Diana's video. Blame the terrible Fliqz video embedding process, then click here to see Will's video for real.

Catching Up: Another Concert, Las Vegas

We haven't had a chance to update this blog in quite some time, but we have been up to some pretty exciting things.

Two weeks ago, Diana and I went to another concert--but believe it or not, this one wasn't at Largo. Instead, we went out to the El Rey theatre on Wilshire, just a few blocks away from our gym, the La Brea Tar Pits, and LACMA.


The evening's entertainment? The Squirrel Nut Zippers. But actually, the opening band was just as cool. We'd never heard of them, but that didn't stop us from really enjoying the Fishtank Ensemble--a strange, "cross pollinated gypsy" band. Yeah, that's right.


A strange mix of flamenco, Romanian folk, jazz, and ... probably about ten other things I couldn't name. My best way to describe them would be Django Reinhart meets Gogol Bordello. Definitely a lot of fun--check them out.

The main act was the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Some videos--taken by someone else, but at that night's show:

Put a Lid On It


Good Enough for Grandad

The set list for the show was just about perfect. From beginning to end, they played essentially every song I could want--and pretty much none of the songs I don't particularly like. Hot jazz, calypso, blues, American roots music--it was a touch of everything. They played only one song from their final album, but that one confirmed my suspicion that that could have been a good album if produced differently--some of the material was pretty good. Diana and I are both enormous fans of Katherine Whalen's voice, and I, at least, was a bit disappointed by her performance--but that was quite possibly a symptom of my unrealistic expectations.

So, we kicked the week off with the Zippers, and ended it with ZERO-G. Diana and I both drove up to Las Vegas for a half-day training course for coaches on ZERO-G, the parabolic flight company. We're both really looking forward to becoming full-fledged coaches sometime soon! More on that as we hear it--but we're both in the corps now, and that's the key first step.

We didn't have time to do too much in Vegas--we were there for work, after all--but we certainly did have a little fun. The highlight? Dinner at Spago. Oh yeah, and this: