Indoob, 'tis the Workforce

movin' on up

2009-04-01T13:07:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm back. But I'm back just to tell you that I'm packing up the Indoob and moving to warmer climates.

Don't get me wrong, the Blogger isn't cold. They have been nice to me and I've enjoyed my stay. But I'm curious about what's going on over at WordPress, so this is me exploring and I'm inviting you along for the ride. I'm not going to delete this account, so it'll always be here for me to return whenever I feel like it. It's also been a year since the Indoob kicked off, so this is the blog-iversary present. New home, new look, and now I won't kill people's eyes with dark print on dark background. I apologize... it's a style I like.

Yet I'm sure there are some Indoobians still wondering why I've been so quiet (even though I said it before in previous posts that I've been busy). I've been busy. Some of my busy business was setting up my new digs at WordPress. I was working on getting a dot com, but I was only half way there. Feel free to click or type http://indoob.com and you'll see what I mean. At least I can say I own a domain (which I've been able to say for a couple years since I built and run my church's site). It's an ongoing project. You're welcome to watch.

I halted everything last month so I could focus on my actual job. However, I continued Twitter since it doesn't take as much time as blogging does. But things at work are looking good and mostly back to normal. So now I can't wait to get back in my writer's chair to continue blogging, poetry, scripts, and anything else I was doing before my little hiatus. I have indoob missed the writing community. I just hope I can better manage my time this time around. I'm sure I will since I have big things planned this year. Wanna know what they are? Then come with me to indoob.wordpress.com to find out more! Tell your friends.

To those that left me comments that I did not reply to on Blogger, I will reply at WordPress.

have i been missed?

2009-03-16T13:49:00.000-04:00

I'd honestly still like to say I'm remaining on M.I.A. status, which explain why I haven't yet returned any of my "calls" (comments). It also would explain why I still haven't commented on other blogs like I usually do. Well, maybe in spurts... but I'm still not getting around like I used to.

If the truth is told (and you know I'm the most honest liar around--excuse me, I don't lie, I tell stories), a good majority of my posts are written while I'm at work. Hence the subtitle of the Indoob name: The Workforce Blog. Now it's also a reference to writing about all work I'm working on. Just in case you didn't know.

Originally, the blog was about my actual 9-5 paycheck office job, but I expanded it to everything and anything that I could possibly relate to making a living. But, at this point, my paycheck job remains a priority if I want to finance my dreams, and keep eating everyday. And it's not like the job is difficult, it just requires me to meet my quota every week, and for the past couple of months I had been slacking. So my creator's/writer's life was unbalanced with my worker's life. Surely they can both be blended, but there was a specific balanced that I didn't keep maintained. So I needed to write a little less, and work a little more, and my blog has been hit with a writing recession.

Besides that, life was calling. On the line there was an ill friend, a depressed friend, a birthday friend, computer issues from friends and non-friends that I'll charge next time they call, family calls pretty much every day, planning for my road trip, my church duties and such other things that don't have categories. Surprisingly, I watched more movies (and TV shows on DVD) than I can shake a stick at. And I shook the stick at a lot of movies the past few weeks. So much so, I haven't even been reviewing them on my MySpace blog because I don't have time. But I have been able to keep up with people on Twitter (which is linked to my Facebook which is making people think I'm actually on Facebook* all the time).

But I don't want anyone to worry. I'm still very much devoted to my beloved blog and will return shortly. I'm hoping by April I will have everything back to normal, if not better. April should be a big time for the Indoob. I need to prepare by going to IHOP or creating some breakfast foods. I rather not say why, but to give you a hint: my Twitter avatar has unknowingly become the precursor to my plans.

Funny thing about planning. That's what I hear that makes God laugh. Sometimes, I'd rather make Him laugh. I forgot the point I was making.

Anyway, I'll post when I can, but like I said, hopefully I'll get it all together by April. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Twitter to see what I'm up to or thinking about.

*If that link doesn't work, just look me up. It's the only other social-networking site that doesn't have a direct link on this blog. Yet.

fripodding and watching: the watchmen experience-reviews and stuff

2009-03-06T14:05:00.004-05:00

I wouldn't dare miss the opportunity to job on the ol' Watchmen band wagon the day of it's premiere. And yes, I was there at the midnight showing after there was some brief doubt I'd make it there at all. (My local favorite theaters apparently weren't having midnight showings like they usually do.)

Regardless, I was there and made it in good time with pretty decent seats. Close to the back and next to the stairs (ya know, in case of emergency and/or if needed, I could be one of the first few to make it to the exit and out safely). I did smell a few illegal substances around me. And when I mean illegal, I mean that it's not allowed in the theater. Like alcohol. And weed-which isn't really legal outside of the theater either but that's another story.

But let's talk about the move. First the book, and you guys know I read it a few months ago and more or less became a fanboy in the span of the 3-4 nights it took me to read it. I still would recommend people who love storytelling in general, to check this one out. Let me make this clear: this is not a story for children. You can let them read it if you want to, but that's your parental discretion. I know when I was wee, I wouldn't have been interested or ready to see/read/understand such things. Granted, I was just born and in my ultra-wee stages when the comics were being published, but still. And there are only 12 comics, grouped together to make one graphic novel. It might take you less time to read it than me, or more... who knows. I was on vacation at the time, so that gave me an opportunity to take my time and really get into the characters and story being told.

But these days in this fast paced world, we need everything here and now. And everyone is looking for audio books and whatnot, but iTunes came out with Watchmen animated comics! This is today's friPod iPick that iSaac greatly enjoys having in his memory drive. I also couldn't wait to get each chapter downloaded every other week to re-enjoy this story. Sure, you gotta give up some money (I want to say $20 altogether) but I think it's worth it if you don't think you can find time to read it. And it's worth it if you're a fan. I still recommend reading it. But at least this way, you know when you'll be done because each chapter is about 30 minutes long.

You won't find Alan Moore's name anywhere except the actual graphic novel itself, and there's a whole story on that I won't get into right now. Nor will you find his name in the movie's credits (at least I don't think it's anywhere in there... I didn't stay until the very end like I normally do). But what I loved about the movie is how faithful, how accurate, how detailed it was compared to the comic. Sure some things were changed here and there and you might not notice (except for the climatic ending), but the messages still rang true. I honestly prefer the comic's ending and would've loved to see that on the screen. Read it... hint hint. Nevertheless, while I struggle to find words to describe how I enjoyed the movie... I'd recommend comic fans, movie fans, violence fans to go enjoy. Not everyone because it's definitely not a movie everyone would love. The hype was deserved, very much like The Dark Knight. Is it better? Hard to say. For me, anyway. It's more violent but somewhat less action. Don't go in expecting lots of explosions and chaos. Again, this is why I suggest reading it first so you know what you're getting into.

I know there are some out there that will appreciate it without reading anything. And that's fine. It's definitely a "guy movie." If you enjoy Znyder's 300, then you'd get a kick out of blood and violence here. There's also a sex scene... so... there's that. Hey, it's in the comic too and it was very well done. Oh, and the movie's time? I didn't notice it sometimes. Yeah it was long, but if you're engrossed in the story, you almost forget.

Lastly, I want to mention the soundtrack. I think I'll get this one. The songs featured in the movie (I don't know about all of them) are references to the comic. At the end of each chapter is a line or a phrase, sometimes from a song, sometimes from somebody famous. So if you watch this movie and wonder what's up with the soundtrack, that's part of your answer. The sex scene I mentioned before had an odd choice of music, I thought anyway. It made it a bit humorous. Which brings up why I love midnight premieres: that full audience gives you a real feel of how others are viewing this movie. You might hear someone else chuckle, and you start to laugh too realizing the humor of it. Or, you hear the whole crowd go "ew!" when someone breaks a leg (and that happened). It's an awesome experience and that's why I go.

***THIS JUST IN***
http://www.theworldofwatchmen.com/
You can get the animated graphic novel on DVD now. I forgot that was happening. More than likely, I'll be back to revisit more Watchmen related things. It might just be my movie of the year. I think.

m.i.a. continues

2009-03-02T11:04:00.004-05:00

Another Monday, another list of things to do. I'm still not exactly back on top of my game just yet, but rest assured, I'm working on it. I'm still officially on the M.I.A. side of life, but give me a few more days and I'll be back and maybe even better than ever.

Just a few updates:
I think I did better last week with my overall monthly quota.

I'm considering talking to someone at the office to write for their new newsletter... but what would I write about? Hmmm...

I've grown to be more in love with Tina Fey now that I have 30 Rock season 2 on DVD.

I also have Myrna Loy & William Powell movie collection on DVD with a bunch of movies I've never heard of, but are pretty good. (It took almost 2 full weeks for Amazon to deliver this and the above disc set to arrive... new longest wait record for me.)

I now know what I need to get a computer I'm rebuilding to a great condition, or at least something that can really benefit me, maybe the Indoob, or 3S:FX. We'll call this "Operation: Fixputer."

There's a freak snow storm keeping me from leaving the house today. We'll call this "Snowed in."

And I'm seriously hating these stupid viruses/malware in my dad's computer.

I started my second session of Spanish classes and I've already forgotten half of the first session.

Oh yeah, and I'm no longer behind in loan payments and stuck in debt which means I can go back to Middlesex this fall and maybe get approved for some credit cards I'll never use to help build a better credit score! Yay!

In the meantime, I have less than $50 to my name until Friday around 2am, which I plan to be in a movie theater watching Watchmen with my Midnight Premiere Crew. More on that later...

fripodding and succeeding: bobby womack - across 110th street

2009-02-27T11:16:00.003-05:00

As I stated earlier this week, I've been rather busy attempting to get back on top of my numbers at work. Ya know, my "A Game." Last week was my D game. This week might've been a B+ game. Even though I had several meetings I could write off to subtract from my numberly goal, I still wanted to surpass my own expectations. But hey, I did what I had to do.

But enough about that. Let's get on to today's iPick for the friPod.

Once again I thought I'd pick something relevant to Black History month... but again I lied. It's not that I couldn't pick such a song, but usually it's what iSaac and I are feeling at the moment when the pick is chosen. Today, we picked Bobby Womack's Across 110th Street.

Thanks to Quentin Tarantino, my ears have been opened to this gritty, real-life account to the hardships of the ghetto. Not that I haven't heard songs like that before (specifically from the 70's) because I can name a few artists that would tell you like it is: Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield to name a few. But it's just something about this song. Maybe it's how he chant "Across 110th street" as the instruments flare up. I think it's the instruments that have a lot to do with it, really. But I also just like the lyrics as well.

And movie buffs may have heard this song in other movies too. I was just informed this song is also featured on such a movie called Across 110th Street. Imagine that. Actually the song, and several others, was sung by Womack himself. That's how Black cinema was done back then. Again, check Curtis Mayfield and Super Fly. Another movie this song is featured in is American Gangster. But there's another song from that movie I liked a lot I'll save for another day. But let's take a look at the scene from QT's Jackie Brown that sent me to iTunes in the first place.

The scene itself isn't all that thrilling, but it's nicely done. Tarantino has a thing for long one shots. He also likes to pay homages to heroes, like blaxploitation movies, such as this one and using that era's sex symbol Pam Grier. The movie itself was pretty good. Classic Tarantino, even though it's not truly his since he didn't write it. But I'll forgive him. But extra kudos to him for picking this song to start the movie. It's also a great song to drive to... or wait in traffic... or walking down 109th Street.

m.i.a. = missing indoobian actions

2009-02-24T09:35:00.002-05:00

This particular M.I.A. does not stand for "missing in action" or refer to the lady singer famous for the song Paper Planes which I don't particularly care for, but was surprised to see performing at the Grammys a few weeks ago. That's another story entirely.

Some may have noticed decreased activity of my presence in the blogospshere. Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on who is stalking me I suppose. Or who I've been stalking. I haven't really been reading most of my favorite blogs recently. Much less comments. I haven't even responded to comments here, yet! But no worries. I'll be back, sooner or later. I've just been really busy. And this week is no exception.

Especially this week, actually. I have about 2-3 meetings this week, some of which are on the same day! Not only that, but my weekly 55 file quota I had to add an extra 20 to make up for lost files last week. That's my own fault. All that slacking had caught up with me. So consider this doing time for the crime. I progressed in my digression (from work). I slacked early and often a little too much, then crammed as much work as I could in the last 2, sometimes 3 days. Which meant I had to work on a Friday!

[Gasps are heard world-wide, shock and awe on their faces. Even dogs look up confused. Birds stop chirping. Planes are grounded. Construction halted. Even the Sun (which no one knew had a mouth) has mouth agape.]

Yes, indeed, the master slacker had to practically work an extra full day to try to catch up. I can use the word "try" because I gave it my best attempt, but didn't make my 55. I failed.

[Everyone has sighs of sadness.]

But never fear, I'm on a mission! I've changed my ways! Yesterday, a good start for a Monday, I was up 20, which makes up for last week (since in reality, they count the files for an entire month) and today I already spent an hour and a half letting my computer update/upgrade security measures (which counts towards off-production, and would've taken up my time some time this week whether I manually started it or not). Plus the meetings will also count and maybe save me a whole 5 files or more! Who knows? What I do know is that I will strive to achieve my 55, or even 65 and shine through with dazzling but humble colors that I expect myself to do. I have a reputation to keep. It's okay to slack as long as I have the work to back it up first. And now it's time to back that thing up. I'm sorry, bad joke. This isn't 1999 anymore. Forgive me.

Speaking of music, friDay may be the next time you'll hear from me on here. I want to give 1000 apologies for missing last weeks and not doing anything Black-History-Month-related like I might've said I would sometime this months... which is almost over. But as I always believed, Black history should be celebrated all the time. So maybe I'll purposefully do what I was going to do in March. Or April. Or August. Nothing ever happens in August. We'll see. But as for now, back to basics. It's time to attack! I've got iSaac here, fully charged and ready to go. I had my eggs (no bacon today, maybe tomorrow) and a pretty good cup of coffee. Not feeling the caffeine yet... Oh wait... HA HA! ....yeah, there it is! Okay now... attack! [Takes a short nap.]

about last night... at the oscars... and the bets...

2009-02-23T16:02:00.001-05:00

I practically lifted the very list from my an earlier post just to expand on it. Whatever is listed first after naming the category, is what was predicted by Entertainment Weekly. If I agreed, I left it alone. If I had other opinions, it's in bold parentheses... although on some I sort've agreed anyway to what the predictions were. Those that are underlined are the winners.

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Director, Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Actor: Sean Penn, Milk (the Comeback Kid Mickey Rourke or the Underdog Richard Jenkins)

Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader (too close for me to call, haven't seen any of these but if not Winslet, then Streep or Hathaway.)

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (I'd like to see a surprised Taraji Henson)

Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk (I <3 Wall-E, honorable mention for In Bruges)

Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Animated Film: Wall-E

Foreign-Language Film: The Class -LOST- Departures (Japan)

Documentary: Man On Wire

Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire (The Dark Knight just for kicks)

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume Design: The Duchess (Do period pieces from this era always seem to win... or am I wrong?)

Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Score: Slumdog Millionaire (I want to give this to Wall-E, but it's the only movie I've seen)

Song: "Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (I want to mention The Dark Knight for Two-Face, since most of the action on screen was barely CGI, according to the director. But I equally visually enjoy every special effect in Iron Man so this is a tough call for me)

Sound: The Dark Knight (Wall-E)

Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight (Wall-E... I mean c'mon... the sounds and the dude behind them?) -LOST- Slumdog Millionaire

Short: Spielzugland (Toyland)

Animated Short: Presto -LOST- La Maison en Petits Cubes

Documentary Short: The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 -LOST- Smile Pinki

Overall, if I were to actually bet money, I would've lost 4 categories. Regardless, it's fun. And if you watched the telecast, you were either entertained, confounded or bored. Award shows aren't for everyone, but I thought it was different and enjoyed most of it except the length. I haven't figured out how to get my live-Tweetings to post on here... but I wouldn't torture you like that. I think I might've posted close to 100. Maybe. Instead, it's much more fun, and funnier, to watch professionals do it. I recommend to look around EW's Oscar page for more fun and recaps, especially if you are into that kinda thing and you want to know more of what happened last night.

missing fripods and found links

2009-02-21T13:45:00.003-05:00

First of all, allow me to apologize for my absence this past friDay. I didn't have a song, or video or anything ready to talk about. It's been quite a week for me, but a good week over all. Well, except for at the office, but I'll make up for that on Monday. I will work on getting a double iPick for this coming friPod's edition.

Besides not doing my office work for the week, I was busy planning my road trip to Minnesota. It's still awkward for to say I'm going there, especially out loud to other people because their response is always "Minnesota? What the stank is in Minnesota?" Actually, quite a lot. But specifically, the Mall of America. But I'll post more on that when I actually get closer to going.

Tomorrow is the Oscars! Woot woot!

And besides the work I wasn't doing and the early road trip planning, I came across a few websites. One of which I hinted at last week: Christian Children's Fund. That's right, I'm sponsoring a little Bolivian boy! I don't want to get in trouble with them or for exploiting children or anything like that... so I'll hold off on his name until him and I start writing each other and I give him a proper nickname. I'm excited about this and can't wait to befriend him as well as help him and watch him grow. I've been blessed and I want to bless someone else. Anyway, I did my research, the CCF has been around for many years and they (and other sources) prove the money is going towards the children's benefit. Soon I will talk to my dad and see if he's interested in having our church sponsor another child. I'll let them pick, but I'll be more than happy to set it up and write letters as well.

Another interest I've taken on is back to my old school computering days. I have a knack for knowing how to get around computer software and some hardware. I'd like to get better at the hardware side. What better way other than to do what I did before: teach myself. It's mostly free and whenever I get around to some light schooling on it, I will come in with some background knowledge already which will make it easier to learn. So I'm going back to basics now that I have a junked computer to "play" with, and possibly some extra funds to invest in it. If not now, then maybe in a few months. I still need to do my writing ya know. But I enjoy taking apart and rebuilding computers. Like mechanics to cars or something.

Kitten and I discuss our dreams rather frequently. We also discuss less deep things like the contents of poop, but we already discovered a book to enlighten us on such facts. Anyway, since our dreams are another topic of discussion, we wanted to learn more about them and I stumbled across this website that talks about lucid dreaming. There's more than likely tons of books, articles and websites on this, but you have to start somewhere. This seemed like a good place to start. I haven't finished reading all of it yet, but it's something I think is highly interesting. Plus, dreaming is a storyteller's best inspiration and origin for great tales. And sometimes I really need to know how to escape out of a nightmare. I will continue my studies of dreams by looking into dream interpretations.

FML is (I think) a fairly new site. Almost like a blog, reminds me of Twitter, with everyone contributing to it. If I tell you that "ML" stands for "My Life," you can figure out what the "F" is. A friend sent it to me asking me if I thought it was funny. To be honest, it was like a painful laugh. You're able to separate the entries by groups like love, money, sex, work, etc... and then you can also see how others respond to someone's entry. Do you agree that they got it bad and you feel their pain? Or did they deserve what happened to them? It's really self explanatory when you check it out. In a way, it might make a depressed person feel a little bit better knowing that they aren't the only one having a hard time, or someone might be going through something a bit worse. Another site that maybe helpful in that weird way is WhichIsWorse.com.

Last, is my favorite one and I had to laugh when I caught it on CNN's website... or was it Time? Doesn't matter. Another friend sent this to me before I even read about it later. The URL is simple and tells you exactly what you are about to see. ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com. And then, it will show you exactly why you are fat. Not only that, but several ways to cause death. Death by heart attack probably, if you ever eat any of these things that's shown. This also has a blog format and I think a new picture adds everyday. The first time I went there, I couldn't go more than 5 pages in one sitting. I actually began to feel sick. And I'm mostly certain that all the pictured items are indeed real. Have they actually been eaten? I can't say. I hope not. But I know some people have a serious love for bacon and this site is proof of that. I love bacon too, but it has it's time, place and proper portions.

dreams of anti-fame

2009-02-18T19:59:00.002-05:00

I was reading about the dreams of aspiring screenwriters who want to make it big in Hollywood... as well as some money figures of what some screenplays sell for - even the ones that's don't get made. And to be completely honest, those figures I saw, even the so-called "modest" amounts, looked quite alright with me. But between that and reading an article about a soon-to-be-watched documentary called Dreams on Spec, I read some line about struggling to be "the next big thing." And I thought that line... and it got me thinking-I don't necessarily want to be the next big thing. I just want to be something. I indeed, want to be successful and content, but I don't want the glitz and glam. I'm still going to shop at The Mart and eat at IHOP. But, perhaps, I think it all depends on your definition of success. Anyway, I was stuck on the phrase "next best thing" and jotted some lines down as I thought about it.

I don't want to be the next big thing.
I just want to be something.
Not just anything, but a mix of everything.
They'll say "He's doin' his thing."

I'm completely aware that being a screenwriter isn't a profession that would make me an instant multi-millionaire (unless I'm directing, starring, etc.), but I just want to get by. Not only that, I just want to be really good at it too. So I continue my learning and studying. I haven't been aggressive in this passion the past few days due to some other concerns (like vacation planning), but rest assured, my dream won't be deterred. Oooh! Another hot line! [Scribbles in notebook.]

"push" film review

2009-02-16T20:35:00.001-05:00

My sister thought this movie was a spin-off of Jumper or some kind of remake or movie version of Heroes or another kind of X-Men. And who could blame her? I only heard about this movie a month before it was released. Even then I wasn't so sure about it.

While it may not have cracked the top 5 in the box office, it was still a decent movie to see. The special effects were definitely fun and it kept you entertained... mostly. I counted a few dry spots that could've been cut or shortened or something. Most of the time it was giving the audience information... but it felt like the scenes went on too long and we needed to see more action and special effects!

It's a eye-candy movie like Wanted or The Matrix. It's not ground-breaking special effects, it's just fun to watch when it happens. The fight scenes in particular.

The title comes from what a certain kind of psychic can do, called pushers, who push thoughts and ideas into someone's mind. There are movers, who obviously move things with their mind. Watchers who can see the future. Sniffers who sniff things to see the past (of that object and those who have touched it). Shifter who change things into whatever they want. And bleeders who scream so loud, they make anything in ear shot bleed to death probably because their brains explode. It's kinda violent. There are a few others too but it's worth watching to check out this world they live in.

Overall, besides the dry parts, I'd watch it again when it hits DVDs. I wouldn't rush to the theater, though. And Dakota Fanning needs more clothes. I understand she was probably going for a certain look in this film... but I didn't like it. That's just me. Anyway, not a bad film. It does make you wonder which power you'd like to have.

I gave it *** and a half *.

life update 2.16.08

2009-02-16T19:12:00.001-05:00

Hello fellow Indoobians. I wanted to turn some of my recent adventures into little short stories, but these events are piling up faster than I have time to sit down and write them. And I didn't want to neglect or forget to document them. Such things are a bit too much to let Twitter handle on it's own.

But let's journey briefly and chronologically, shall we?

February the 12th, I helped my friend, Unique, make cupcakes for the first time in her life. Actually, it was the second. Before I showed up, she burnt her first batch by breaking the first rule of baking that isn't listed on any recipes but apparently needs to be: don't leave the house. While they baked, we watched a movie about another kind of baking: Pineapple Express. Unfortunately, I had to given to my severe dislike of watching a bootleg (I don't care of the quality is top notch, it's still stealing and illegal). Fortunately, it's a movie I've already seen legally, so I'm not too bothered by it. By the time the movie ended, the cupcakes were done and were a success. I didn't help with the frosting, she handled that on her own without worry.

February the 13th, the so-called Unlucky Day, was actually a pretty decent and enjoyable day. Kitten and I went to see my best friend, or more appropriately, brother-from-another-mother whom I shall call Mr. Phoenix (for the time being, and with no relation to the actors) and his band Taken From Ashes (formerly known as The Final Approach) perform at a local pub. So local, I didn't even know it was there despite my driving past it several times in any given month. An hour long set was played with about 9 or 10 songs including an awesome metallic/rockish cover of Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise. This was an event I should've brought a camera for, so I could really show how things went down. It was undoubtedly fun, and TFA sounded great. Better than the Toad's performance.

February the 14th, Kitten and I reclaimed it as Friendship Celebration Day. Sure it's a corny title for those singles who don't have anything better to do, but to those who would've followed our exploits that day would think we were a couple anyway. We ventured to the mall and found a belated birthday gift for my brother-in-law, went to the movies to catch Push (which I still haven't written a review for), and later went out for pizza at a quiet pizzeria. Word to the wise for the future, local family-run places might not be as busy during such times compared to the commercial restaurants. Okay, that might not be a fact, but I was right in picking a not-so-busy place to hang out... even if that is our usual weekly not-so-busy hang out spot anyway.

Friendship Celebration Day continued as I ventured to Mr. Phoenix's new place. He and his girlfriend (who has a sense of humor painfully similar to my own, but I won't destroy her because of this since she's on my good side, Mr. Phoenix's better half and seriously enjoys cheese) treated me with nachos and chili dip as we caught up on life, talked about the performance from the night before, and watched Pan's Labyrinth. 'Twas a good time. For his birthday this weekend, he gets a free month of Netflix on me. Enjoy it. Now.

February the 15th, I was asked to fix a friend's computer. He got excited that I was coming and called his friend to come over so I could fix his too. So I stopped by his house and got one computer running, but not the other. I don't consider myself a computer expert, but I've been known to get by. This loss was discouraging, so I took it to the "Nerd Patrol," as I usually do when a problem is beyond my capabilities. I don't normally speak negative things about people, whether I know them or not... and I won't start now. Let's just say I don't like the character who "helped" me very much and I must now be alert of who's working at the desk the next time I return. Pompous pretentiousness isn't a very good customer service trait. Actually, it's not a good trait at all unless you are an evil villain. Hmm... looks like I met some inspiration.

It would seem like an incredibly random act for me to do this, but I signed up to sponsor a child with the Christian's Children Fund. It's something I actually thought about doing for a few years, but was never in a financially stable place to do so. But things are going good and I've since taken care or gotten rid of useless bills, so why not spend that money on something worth it? It's legit, I checked. My passion is still charity for the arts (in schools), and Lord knows America has it's own major problems. But the Indoob is global-people from around the world stop by. So this is me reaching back out to the world. And maybe someday I can go visit the little guy. More on this later.

I'm planning a road trip that I'm seriously (hopefully) going to take this summer. To where? The Mall of America! There was talk and plans of making plans to go last year with a few friends... but that fell through in a few different ways that's not necessary to discuss, and needless to say, I never left. But this year, I'm making plans with whom I'd call a "doer" and not just a "talker." I love my friends, but I need more doer friends than talkers, because I don't want to keeping talking about it. I need to do it. And I'll be sure to bring a camera or two to show it.

My dad (who is a doer) suggested I start writing letters to some famous doers asking for "not a hand out, but a hand up." People like Tyler Perry, who is definitely a success story if I ever heard one, from living in his car to owning several cars (I assume). Perhaps he'd like to lend a helping hand to someone like me. I know I definitely wouldn't mind working for him at his company. My dad also suggested contacting Will Smith's people. Both of which have their own successful production companies. My aunt suggested Oprah. Also worth a try, and we share a birthday... that's gotta get me some points, no? Whether I get in contact with any of them or not, this is my season for progression. And I refuse to lose my dream of doing and being something great.

So yeah... that was my weekend. I also ordered the second season of 30 Rock (shame on me for buying out of order, but it was cheaper and I still love you Tina Fey) and the Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection (more on that later). So please excuse me in a week or so whilst I laugh myself to creative, comedic and witty enlightenment with these awesome stories, actors and writers. But I'll be sure to pre-post some posts about stuff. Maybe. Somebody hasn't been sleeping much which affects his work during the day because he's too busy writing... so something's gotta give. And yes, I liked that movie.

fripodding and valentines: "happy valentine's day" andré 3000

2009-02-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

I think, if such an argument exists, it can be argued that there may not be definite "Valentine carols," if you will. I contend that there are, at least, a few. What would bring such a discussion? The countless love songs that one could dedicate to another on such a special day of love. Or... The countless anti-love songs one could dedicate to another on such a sappy day of love. Depends on your mood and "romancism" at the time.

Such a song, I believe, captures both moods. Honestly, I think it leans more towards the "happier" side of the Valentine theme, but the song I'm talking about is Happy Valentine's Day by one of my idols, the great Andre 3000 of OutKast. This song is found on The Love Below side of the multi-platinum, Grammy winning, double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. It is meant to be jammed to very loudly all day on the 14th of February, even though the song states everyday is the 14th.

In this song, Andre voices a character named Cupid Valentino, who is an updated version of the classic Cupid we all know and love (or hate). Instead of wielding a bow and arrow, this Cupid brandishes a gun. And based on the album picture, it's a shiny pink metallic looking pistol.

On a side note, this song and image inspired me to write an updated version of Cupid based on this representation. I also did some homework on the Cupid character, the stories, the family background, personality traits, so forth and so on... Then I thought of a few storylines to throw him in, coming up with a trilogy that has separate stories that work on their own, but together would be considered the Chronicles of Cupid. I've only completed the outline to the first story, the second would be a reincarnation of a favorite film Love, Actually, and the third would be a modernized retelling of the story of Psyche. This is one of my first independent screenwriting projects I started once I decided screenwriting would be something I'd pursue professionally. But I stopped working on these projects so I could focus on smaller projects, eventually working my way up to feature length. Unfortunately, I keep seeing other modern Cupids popping up on TV and I pray none of them have guns. (Strange prayer, I know.)

Anyway, this song has both Andre singing and rapping, which he does all over this album. The album is based on the concept of love, and this particular song deals with Cupid hunting down people running away from love, and Cupid's revenge since he doesn't get the respect he deserves. Well, that's my interpretation of it. At the end, the chorus chants "[expletive] that Valentine's Day!" as if to say "bump this stupid holiday." Again, my interpretation. And those that dislike this holiday would appreciate the sentiments.

Whenever I begin making music videos, this is one I'd love to tackle. I'll admit, my version might seem a bit violent since I'd take the lyrics literally and incorporate Cupid shooting that pink gun at people, but don't fret, there won't be blood. Just lots of love. Or reluctant love. But it'll be fun! And yes, this video would be a taste of what I have in mind for how this character acts in my stories. It'd be awesome if Andre could be involved and star as Cupid Valentino himself in both the video and movie(s). But after some careful YouTubing, I found these two gems, with the first being super close to what I had in mind. They get so much props from me, it hurts.

And lastly, another version brought to you buy somebody who knows how to play Sims 2 very well. Actually, I don't know, I stopped at the first one... but still, check this version out too.

Happy/[Expletive] Valentine's Day, Indoobians!

placing my bets: oscars '09

2009-02-12T16:35:00.003-05:00

Okay so I lied... this post has nothing to do with Valentine's Day whatsoever when I said every post this week would be Valentine-themed. But it's time-critical, so I felt the need to post this immediately instead of waiting until next week. Oscar business is big business.

I know I'm perfectly capable of making my own Oscar predictions, but being an Entertainment Weekly subscriber for the past five years has shown me that these guys really can pick 'em. At least the Academy Awards. I'm not saying they are right 100% of the time, and to be honest I don't remember if they were or not... but most of the time they are mostly right. At least for the major categories. So below are EW's Dave Karger's predictions. My own wishes and desires and hopefuls I put in parentheses. They might not win, but it'd be nice if they did. I know you can only pick one, but this is my blog, post your own predictions! (Or vote on the side bar, or leave me a comment.)

For the record, any category WALL-E is nominated in, I'm probably inclined to root for due to it's awesomeness and the sad fact it's one of the few Oscar nominated movies I've seen, and has been snubbed by some larger categories like Best Picture. Oh well. The big winners looks to be between Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button due to the nods they have, but the list below shows the final sweep by the underdog Slumdog. Based on their winning streak, I think I might be foolish to disagree even if I haven't seen that movie, or most of the movies nominated. Next year I'll get it together.

Check out this little Oscar Cheat Sheet I found! This was posted prior to the Globes, but you get the idea.

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Director, Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Actor: Sean Penn, Milk (the Comeback Kid Mickey Rourke or the Underdog Richard Jenkins)

Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader (too close for me to call, haven't seen any of these but if not Winslet, then Streep or Hathaway.)

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (I'd like to see a surprised Taraji Henson)

Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk (I <3 Wall-E, honorable mention for In Bruges)

Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Animated Film: Wall-E Foreign-Language Film: The Class

Documentary: Man On Wire

Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire (The Dark Knight just for kicks)

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume Design: The Duchess (Do period pieces from this era always seem to win... or am I wrong?)

Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Score: Slumdog Millionaire (I want to give this to Wall-E, but it's the only movie I've seen)

Song: "Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (I want to mention The Dark Knight for Two-Face, since most of the action on screen was barely CGI, according to the director. But I equally visually enjoy every special effect in Iron Man so this is a tough call for me)

Sound: The Dark Knight (Wall-E)

Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight (Wall-E... I mean c'mon... the sounds and the dude behind them?)

Short: Spielzugland (Toyland)

Animated Short: Presto

Documentary Short: The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306

So if you don't have plans Sunday, February 22nd, watch the Oscars with me. I'll (hopefully) be Twittering while I watch.

black history blogging here and there

2009-02-11T16:38:00.002-05:00

Being a Black American, I didn't forget that this is Black History Month. How can I? My own personal feelings might be a bit conflicting, since I believe Black history should be celebrated all year round because it's made all year round. November 4th, 2008 and January 20th, 2009 anyone? But at the same time, it's nice that we get an entire month to reflect and appreciate great achievements of our African American heroes, legends and events--past and present. And I'm talking about the legends that don't get mentioned as much as MLK, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglas and President Barack Obama. Legends like Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes, Frederick Gregory or... dare I say it... Sam Cooke. And events like the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Power Movement or the Greensboro Sit-In (which is typically grouped with the Civil Rights Movement, but still significantly important in Black history as well as being immensely interesting and not as widely discussed).

I wrote some commentaries about some great Black idols of my own. Specifically the screenwriter/director/actor idols. It wasn't an easy list to make, but talking about why I chose them and think they are great or deserve some attention was easy to do. Melvin Van Peebles was first on that list, even though I think most of this generation might be more familiar seeing his son, Mario.

Anyway, a friendly screenwriting teacher known as Jaden is the one that provoked my written opinions about the subject, and offered me to be a guest contributor this month on her blog! My first thoughts were... "Me? Just a mere blogger and novice movie guru? On your resourceful site with tons of readers?" It is indoob humbling. Despite my few years of writing and performing for an audience, it's a feeling I don't think I'll ever get used to. I accepted the offer and picked four African American auteurs in cinema. There are more, and it's a list I'm striving to be on someday. But for the time being, these are some people that I aspire to be like.

But enough of my babbling, head on over to Screenwriting For Hollywood and appreciate my aspirations with me. I didn't "advertise" my posting over there partly because I forgot, so I'm doing it now. But thanks again to Jaden for furthering me and the Indoob brand out into the blogosphere and Internet world. Make sure you stick around her blog past February, she has a lot of wisdom and knowledge to dispense whether you are screenwriting for Hollywood or not.

cnn is anti-valentine?

2009-02-11T13:11:00.001-05:00

I came across this article on CNN.com that was just too good not to share. I'm an admitted news junkie, and my news source of choice is the Cable News Network. I think they might lean towards the left a little, but it's usually pretty centered even if I tend to be liberal minded. Plus it's the most watched and trusted news source! And I know most of the anchors, reporters and contributors by name. Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John King, the lovely Soledad O'Brien or Betty Nguyen (I'd like to be their Valentines). I think I've shown too much of my news-junkiness. Nevertheless, the African-American male liberal political contributor Ronald Martin is a trusted source of knowledge and intellect. I had to be specific, because there's (who I consider) a female copy of him--Donna Brazile (I don't see her on CNN's payroll, although she's on CNN all the time).

Anyway, Ronald wrote a poignant piece about boycotting Valentine's Day that totally agreed with my opinions. That's right. Whether your single, married, engaged, embattled--boycott it! And he states his reasons, which I've heard before, but they weren't typed or linked to my blog... so I'm doing it now. Plus I spent all my research time for this post searching for Donna Brazile's name. I strongly agree with Ronald: love and relationships should be celebrated everyday, not just once a year. And he says retailers are to blame. I just mentioned card companies specifically--I totally forgot about the jewelers! And the fact that men don't get much attention other than they are expected to give. Except, maybe for some, they get theirs later that night. And platonic friends shouldn't expect more than a card or sweets. That's just the way of the world unless you live in a movie or some brand of fiction. Harsh reality we live in.

But let's be real and keep it sterling. In this tough economy with people losing their jobs and houses, who can really afford jewelry, fancy dinners, expensive flowers or even a $3 Valentine card when we are trying to scrimp and save to put some morsels of food on the table for the family, let alone one significant other?

Then again, why not make it a day she'll (or he'll) never forget? Bump the kids (if any apply). Despite the circumstances, you still came through and made it magical with a shoe string budget thanks to some DIY website you read on Yahoo's homepage titled "Inexpensive Date Ideas That Impress." I don't have a link for that (ran out of research time, remember?) but type those words into Yahoo or Google and I'm sure you'll get some desired results.

(But did you see what I did there? I like to think of it as being a two-faced devil's advocate. Either way, it's fence sitting, but this particular post is definitely leaning towards anti-Valentine.)

I'm still on the fence, like I stated at the beginning of the week. The past few days I've been waking up late and weary, so I'm considering sleeping in all day on Saturday. This means I won't be on the fence, nor will I be on anyone's side or anyone's yard. Honestly, I will probably treat that day like any other and enjoy some pizza with a friend or two. That alone would be making a point of non-romantic celebrations. But that's me. Let's check out what a rational cynic (if I can call him that) Mr. Martin has to say and you can come up with your own conclusions, if you haven't already.

bring on the bitter romance, baby!

2009-02-09T12:40:00.002-05:00

Valentine's Day is upon us. I remember way back in my youth reading in a Highlights magazine that St. Valentine had nothing to do with love or romance whatsoever. I don't feel like Wikipedia-ing right now to find out his story... but perhaps this was one of the first holidays that people say was created by greeting card companies. And, my oh my, do they make a killing. Not that anyone doubts this, but the proof is seen at stores like Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Hallmark... any store that houses these cards. What will you find? Crowds of last-minute-men scrambling to find the perfect card--or any card--for their special lady friend.

The florists and chocolatist get this treatment too. And it's not just V-Day, but Mother's Day I see this happen too. But we'll wait until May to talk about that.

This holiday's mascot is probably officially Cupid of Roman mythology. I've done my homework on this dude since he became the focus of a trilogy screenplay I had been working on, but I since took a break for other creative interests. But I've been thinking about creating a character to counter Cupid. A Grinch or Scrooge to Valentine's Santa, if you will. Naturally, at the end of his story, this cynical, malice-filled caricature would probably discover the true meaning of Valentine's Day by the night's end... or maybe the night before... and change his ways thanks to a caring woman who made his heart grow three sizes that day. Or maybe Cupid will stab him with a magical pitch fork.

I could totally take it to an adult themed story line and tie in Victoria's Secret marketing. Out anti-hero will discover a different ending that night. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

But on a personal level, I'm feeling rather apathetic this year. Most of my friends already have someone they'd call a Valentine. And the ones that don't... Well, wouldn't it be nice to get all these bitter singles together to just hate on love and say how overrated romance is? Some hooking up might happen in the process, but they'd be promptly kicked out.

This year, I could go either way. I can look at the lovey-dovey side, or the "this holiday sucks" side. I don't care. And yes that means that at the time being, I am Valentine-less. But no weepy tears for me. It's not that big of a deal. Besides, the day hasn't yet arrived so anything can happen.

I have my favorite past Valentine memories to reflect on though. The double Valentines at Purchase. The Casablanca viewing Valentine. Heh-heh... yeah... Sorry. Okay, so those are only two memories... but they were great and I will plead the fifth as to why and what happened. Good times, indoob.

Anyway, be sure to stay tuned this week as I do the best I can to keep my posts holiday themed. I have had a reputation of being a romantic, so I can't let those people down. Yet, at the same time, I find the thought of being the anti-romantic intriguing. Maybe we'll call this alter ego Syd the Cynic. So join in on the bittersweet holiday that so many people love to hate, or hate because they get no love. Or both.

fripodding and immigranting: wyclef jean - carnival, vol. ii

2009-02-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

I done forgot what I was supposed to be friPodding this friDay. Oh well, let's talk about the newest album I bought that iSaac and I can't stop pumping through every speaker I can plug him up to.

Wyclef Jean's Carnival, Volume II: Memoirs of an Immigrant.

I find it interesting, almost ironic, how I haven't bought a Wyclef album since The Carnival, which I loved so much that I "borrowed" it from my sister for the past... I don't know... 10 years? Well, I accidentally stepped on her original copy while I was making a mad dash through a messy room trying to shut off an alarm, so I had to buy another one. She does not know this because that happened maybe 5 years ago. I swore I bought that album a couple times due to similar accidents... but that's all beside the point.

What I like about this album is how similar it is to the first. Guest list galore, and each song seems to come from a different location, or has an influence from a different culture. The original album has that same flare too. However, there are no interludes, which made the first album seem like a movie or something. But that being the first solo album after The Fugees' The Score, I think it made sense. 'Twas the time of the interludes. Nowadays, we get our music online or even by the song. Interludes are a thing of the past. So sad. I wanted to be on some interludes.

But back to II. This album is actually 2 years old, it came out in 2007. But if I haven't heard it, it's new to me, right? And I liked coming into this album not being aware of the singles or what was a big hit. I already know, thanks to iTunes, that the song most popular was Sweetest Girl and it is indoob a good song. I also highly enjoy King & Queen with the Colombian goddess Shakira. I'm thinking about getting a few of her songs because I'm digging her voice these days. Next up is Fast Car with Paul Simon. I liked this song based on the preview alone without even knowing what the song is about. Kinda on the serious and sad side, but still, I love it. Next is What About the Baby with Mary J. Last I saw them together was with 911. I think this is like a continuation of that song, and maybe a hint of Gone Til November. Just me.

I won't talk about every song. There are a few others on here I really liked. And I like the messages in some of these songs... which are about immigrants and/or society. Not really shocking, is it? But honestly, I didn't love every song. But the most interesting is the last one called Touch Your Button Carnival Jam which has a long guest list. It has to. It's 13 minutes long! It's really 3 songs in 1, and feels like a party that's winding down, but still jamming. I have to imagine that this is what a carnival party is really like.

Either way, this album fits nicely with my other Wyclef tracks. I would've loved some cameos from the other Fugees members, Pras and Lauryn. Who wouldn't?

ready to read about writing right: "how to write a movie in 21 days"

2009-02-04T15:49:00.002-05:00

The truth about me is pretty sad: I'm practically an anti-reader. It's true for a lot of people I know, they have a hard time picking up a book. I don't have a hard time picking one up, I just have difficulties opening it. Then, the chances that I do open it, it's finishing it. That's why I think it was such a big deal that I finished reading Watchmen. But I can hear critics saying now that that isn't considered a real book. Well, I beg to differ. It made it on the top 100 novels and it's the only graphic novel on there. Sure, it's mostly pictures, but you really can't figure out what's going on without reading it.

Anyway, you know you are a sad reader when your friends have to mail you books to read. Peopel can suggest books to you all day, but when it's hand delivered to you by your local postman, then perhaps it's time to read the words cover to cover.

Granted, I still haven't finished Our Uncle Sam by Erik Greene... but I say that's a wee bit different. I started reading that because our cable went out before I decided to pop in a DVD. Again, I know... I'm a sad reader. I've been tryin' to told ya!

So my friend, whom I dub as my "cinematic soul mate" (and I could write an entire post about, but I'm not going to but will thank her for this book and a birthday card she stuck in it), sent me Viki King's How to Write a Movie in 21 Days. Hopefully I can read it in at least 7. If I'm not mistaken, I think she wants this book back, so I will get my reading on so I can ship it back to her ASAP whilst I look into buying my own copy. Or buy her a brand new one since I'm too lazy to ship anything myself that can't fit into a envelope. I have no shame.

By receiving this book, I think it means it's time for me to head back to the "studio" to start penning a script. February just began. In my dream world, perhaps I'll wriet a script every month. Hey, I'm a firm believer in making my dreams come true, so if I could write a script every month... Good googamooga! Of course I'd come back to them a month later to tweak and tweak until I see no more need for tweaking until others say so. I haven't forgotten my mentors Mrs. Rogers and Jaden, plus countless tips I pick up from various trusted sources.

But first, I must read. That's one piece of advice I haven't followed that even my idol, Sam Cooke, said to do: read as much as you can. I seriously doubt I can count Wikipedia.

a [pot] lucky day

2009-02-04T09:27:00.001-05:00

Today is crunch day, like most Wednesdays, once again. The difference between this Wednesday and the Wednesdays of the past few weeks is this: I'm in (mostly) full health [coughs], my day is just starting (I woke up at 8:45 instead of 5:45), I have a full water bottle (I don't mind tap and recycling is good for Earth), and iSaac is fully charged and ready to keep me entertained whilst I break down the system (and thanks to my past friPod countdowns, you have an idea of what I'm jamming out to).

Today in particular is a big meeting day at the office. The company would like everyone to be there, by everyone, they mean those who work at home, like me. Will I be there? No. I'm saving on gas and my personal loss of body heat. Which reminds me, I need to make some phone calls to see how much it'll cost Sam to get some heat in his system even though I'm pretending winter will be over next week.

Anyway, there's a meeting I won't be attending--not in person anyway. I'll listen over the phone and eventually get back to work attacking my files while everyone at the office enjoys what's called a pot luck. I'm fully aware of the joys a pot luck lunch brings, I just wish it had a different name. It makes me think of leprechauns with black pots of gold. Not that a name like that will keep me from eating. Hmm... now I want me Lucky Charms. But does it seem odd I'm passing up free food? Maybe to some. But the catch is we are supposed to bring food with us, so the others will be like "I'm sure lucky I came" or "They are lucky they got here to get some of my three-alarm rice!" My mother is grudgingly bringing meatballs. I'd like to go a little crazy on them if I made them, slathering them in BBQ sauce or something. Had I done that, none of my co-workers would get one. Tough luck, no pot luck.

The other great thing about today, I know exactly how many more files I need so I could "slack off" tomorrow. That is, I need to destroy as many files as I can today: at least 20 to make my 55 quota. And hey! If I do more I can count it as overtime! And Lord knows I need some OT pay. Sammy needs a new heating system... among other things.

a poem: "tour de force"

2009-02-02T12:57:00.002-05:00

I captured you against your own will.
You want to resist but can't sit still.
I'm shooting my shotgun at your feet.
Your head bobs trying to dodge the beat.
There's no lacking the cracking of whips.
There's no faking the shaking of hips.
Work you off the wall to the floor by force.
You're my slave and that's my tour de force.

fripodding and heavy rotating: the best of the best

2009-01-30T16:15:00.003-05:00

So I didn't think I'd make it in time to do the final countdown in the Heavy Rotation series. But here it is, the best of the best, and it wasn't easy because I feel down deep in my stick recuperating bones that I've slighted somebody. Once again, I'm judging these albums based on listenability--listening to an album from beginning to end without skipping songs.

Through this journey, I sadly had to leave out some albums. I have to set some limits for myself ya know. I actually let myself go last week and stretched a supposed top 10 list to a top 15 with special exceptions. In this case, it will be a straight top 15 and a few notes about the album. Before I begin, let me name a few artists who did not make the list, or any lists I've made so far but I do have complete albums and truly enjoy: Gavin DeGraw, The Fugees, Sara Barellis, Talib Kweli, Will Smith, matchbox 20 and Gnarles Barkley. Perhaps in friPod posts to come, I'll shine some light on what I like about these artists and/or particular albums.

I'd consider those to be honorable mentions, but I didn't name their respective albums. I think it's safe to say that those artists are also on my trust list, that if they came out with an album tomorrow, I would buy it knowing I'd enjoy. It's always tough making these lists because I really have to consider what I really love about each album. Some of it is lyrical. Some of it is composition. Some is beats and production. Performance. Length. And of course, all of these together, it makes it difficult. But without further procrastination, here's my final list, last edited about 37 minutes ago according to my feelings towards them.

15. John Mayer--Continuum - I was never really a fan of this guy, but some struck a chord between his voice and lyrics and I became a follower. Plus he's from Connecticut so I gotta support.

14. Deitrick Haddon--Crossroads - It'd be criminal of me not to include at least one gospel album, and I almost went with Kirk Franklin. But over the years, I've come to listen to this guy a bit more also because of his voice, storytelling lyrics which are sometimes straight out of the Bible.

13. Daft Punk--Discovery - A musical journey through remixes, guitar riffs and computerized beats... and if you've seen the movie version, then you can see the music and it's brilliance. Is it safe to say they have a style all their own? And that I love it? I'll say it. I love it.

12. Panic! at the Disco--A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - I'll be honest, when I first heard this album, all the songs sounded the same. But after really listening, I was entranced by the lyrics and their energy. I still couldn't tell you the titles of the songs, but I know the song when I hear it.

11. The Roots--Rising Down - I started following The Roots a few years ago, and I still haven't heard everything they have done. I know they don't seem very high on my list, but I couldn't leave them out, and I really love this album for their hard hitting, painfully honest piece of work. Again, much love to production by ?uestlove and the genius rhymes of Black Thought (and friends).

10. Fall Out Boy--Infinity On High - I've recently been a converted fan, but these guys do play some great music. I may not understand what all the songs mean, but if it means having a good time, doesn't it really matter? Truly enjoyable music to listen to at high volume and on repeat.

9. Prince--Purple Rain - I mention Prince before, suggesting I'd be better off with a "best of" album but I don't have one that includes all my favorites, and this is the only album that seems to have most of them at once. Perhaps one day I'll list all my favorite Prince hits, but so far, this is one of the top albums and top musical movies... even if it wasn't that good of a movie.

8. Mos Def--Black on Both Sides - I really wanted to get Mos Def on this list, especially this album which I love listening to. Another dude with great wordplay and bringing on social awareness. What this album is, I wish so many more albums were like: full.

7. Raphael Saadiq--The Way I See It - Yeah, you already know. I won't repost the link again, but just know that this guy is also musically genius and this album has such an awesome retro style that it hurts. I mean that in a good way. Like when your face starts frowning up because it feels so good. Yeah, that's how I felt.

6. Joss Stone--Introducing... - One of my favorite soul singers on the planet. And both beautiful physically and vocally. Saadiq helped make this album as awesome as it is, but Joss brought it with her voice and lyrics. This also has a retro feel that I love. And Joss beat Saadiq because she's a girl and I like girls.

5. John Legend--Get Lifted - I love all John's albums, but I guess sometimes it's best to start with the first. I remember when I first heard this album, it gave me comfort that there were some people who actually still sang from the heart and had some real soul in their voice. Everyone sounded the same to me, then the Legend hit the radio waves and I'd like to think that things haven't been the same since.

4. Kanye West--Graduation - Just like John Legend, I enjoyed his previous albums. As much as I enjoyed the first album, I'd have to go with this one (which I explained in the last list).

3. OutKast--Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - More geniuses here. I had yet another hard time picking which album to list, so I applied the "island" rule: if you could only listen to one album forever on an album, which would it be? Well here is a double album. Overall, the best of both worlds and something different the world wasn't ready for.

2. Lauryn Hill--The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - I knew without a doubt that she needed to be on this list. It just made sense that she be #2, but besides the number, she is just awesome. Both a singer and a rapper, with great messages in her songs and some really great wordplay, I just hope she takes the world by storm again soon. Only she can followup greatness with more greatness.

1. Sam Cooke--One Night Stand! - Who else did you think would get my #1 spot?

how i spent my 23rd

2009-01-29T12:32:00.001-05:00

Thanks to a heavy dose of my favorite alcoholic beverage, NyQuil, I arose bright and early and well rested at exactly 5:50 AM. Not by my own sheer will, of course. This is due to my cell phone's Monday thru Friday alarm set that remarkable sounds different each time I hit snooze. I think there's a conspiracy behind that.

Compared to the past 48 hours up to that point, I have no choice but to agree that I was feeling 90% better. Now the only health issues I had no choice but to deal with was the remnants of either a cold or what might have been the flu, or [shudders] a fever. I don't even know what the symptoms of a fever are, but all the while as I rested in bed, I began to ponder if I was supposed to sweat out the flu or feed a cold. Then I considered how some of those old time remedies have since been disproved. Example, candy and sweets won't necessarily make your children more overactive than they already are. I'd cite the source... but I assume we are all connected to the Internet one way or another.

I make my way down to my desk to start what hopefully turns out to be a full and productive day, despite it being a day most people take off from work to celebrate by doing who knows what. Technically, I'm behind a day and half. But I think all will be worked out. In my half the day the night before, I would equate my productivity to that of a Grand Slam... twice... with the Denny's meal afterwards. It certainly wasn't my intention to be ill. Who ever wants to be? Oh wait! I know! Test subjects who get paid at universities to take on bacterias and viruses for the sake of science and hopefully a decent check. I'd almost ask to sign me up. But I've never enjoyed feeling extremely frigid body chills, then feeling extreme heat all over sweating in places I never knew possible, a blazing flaming throat, a non-stop leaky nose, delusional and completely weirded out dreams (while sometimes still awake), no interest in food (with my stomach later agreed with the disinterested by violently repelling soon after), and of course... just all around miserableness. That was mostly Tuesday, and I didn't want to give in to too many graphic details, but it just wasn't pleasant.

My guess is I may have caught whatever yuckiness my parents (specifically my mother) had, or someone I gave a ride home from church. Or [gasp] both!

Whatever the case, I think my body is now immune to whatever it was that attacked me. It still hurts when I sneeze, but it's much better than before. During my lunch, I journey out of the house for the first time since Sunday to greet my best friend. All I desired was hot lemon tea. I took a trip to the Mart to pick up some much needed supplies. Tissues and toilet tissues. I guess there's a first time to be out of all of that stuff at once, right? I'm not a fan of public bathrooms either, so it was a dire need and couldn't wait to get home to clear out my system and all it's ailments.

Considering the quarantine had been lifted from the house, some family members stopped by to give gifts. I was allowed to miss choir rehearsal even though I would've went. There was talk of cancelling due to weather problems. The weather wreaked havoc yesterday and the city has remained a skating rink. Unfortunately, skating isn't one of my many talents, so this gives me another reason to stay indoors, especially at night. When it's disgustingly colder. At least it's not as bad as the week before, or whenever it hit "BONE CHILLING" on the thermometer.

Anyway, there are plans to probably go out to dinner at a nice eatery like IHOP or Red Lobster or Custy's or IHOP. Bowling has also been discussed. A past time I do indoob enjoy. I also enjoy mini golf, but it's winter and 95% of the places I know are currently closed. There is an indoor mini golf, but I don't feel like making the drive or remembering how to get there. Shame on me for denying myself a good time.

Overall, I can't complain. It's been fun. I'm horrendously behind on many other blog posts I love reading, but I'll catch up soon enough. It's not a landmark year, but I'm hoping one of these days, Oprah and I can party together.

a poem: "heartbreak hangover"

2009-01-26T14:40:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not fine,
I am not okay.
There's nothing you can do or say.
But thanks for asking anyway.

They don't make pills for this kind of pain.
My heart can't stay dry from this kind of rain.
Only time heals a heartbreak hangover.
And my heart won't truly get over
knowing it won't be the same.

Unless you were her
and came back to stay,
there's not much else you can do today.
But thank you for trying anyway.

fripodding and heavy rotating: top 15 of 2008

2009-01-23T23:44:00.005-05:00

This post is all about last year. When I tell you it took me forever to write this, I mean it took about three weeks... including right up until Saturday, which means I technically missed Friday. Hey, I've been busy not-working so cut me some slack. Heh...

I kept revising this list because I only wanted albums that were released in the past two years, and not so new that I wouldn't have enough time to legitimize it's Heavy Rotations status. Then I decide, bump my own rules! I'll do it how I wanna do. So I changed the list to be the top 10(+) albums I listened to during 2008. I did draw some lines: the album has to fairly recent, say January 2007 until about mid December 2008. This means I had to exclude OutKast (as a group), Lauryn Hill, Mos Def and probably a few others I can't think of right now because I had to make up and rewrite so many freakin' lists. I made a few rare occasions: let's call them "double albums" where I combine both their recent album, and one a bit older. I include it because a lot of the time, iSaac may be set on "Artist" and will play all the songs by that artist. Sometimes, said artist may only have two albums OR I only have/like two. Okay?

Again, what I look for in an album is LISTENABILITY--being able to listen to the majority of the album with little or no skipping. I think it's also fair to say, that any artist I list here is on the "trust" list. This means, if they released an album tomorrow, I could buy it and find at least half or a third of the album enjoyable. And if you're like me, albums tend to grow on you after time and you might end up liking more or all of it. With the exception of the #1 on this list, whom I have yet to sit down and listen from track 1 to the end, but we'll get to that later. On with the list!

15. Justice - Cross
I ran into this album for a couple reasons--a friend of mine posted a video, DVNO and it eventually led me to D.A.N.C.E. Before long, I just took a chance and ordered the album. With these guys being fans of both Michael Jackson and Daft Punk, could I really go wrong? The album has been a fixture for my office work life, not only for me, but my mom too. And it's interesting to pick out Justice's songs from TV commercials. It's a great album to get the energies moving, and a great album to drive too... which is probably why it's used for commercials. This is an album that's meant to be played beginning to end, it fades into the next track. It's bittersweet when sometimes all you really wanna hear is DVNO and you are used to the song playing before it. Meshes so nicely.

14. Alicia Keys - As I Am
I won never really a huge Keys fan, but I loved her talent and I was always a bit attracted to her. And then, she stopped the corn rows and started showing some skin! But this is about her music and this album in particular. What turned me on to it was reading an article (I forget where) about the making of this album, and how personal it was, and is, to her. Once I read about that and got to hear it for myself, I could truly feel the passion she felt in many of the songs. I'm sure everyone got tired of No One real quick, unless you didn't listen to the radio like me. But I'm sure after a year or so, you can remember why it was such a hit. This is one of those songs you felt the passion. But it was also the beat. Other passionate songs I really felt: Lesson Learned, Tell You Something, Superwoman and although not as passionate I Need You and Where Do We Go From Here which are just fun songs I really like.

13. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
This was going to be a "double album" including Songs About Jane, but I had to be honest with myself... After the newer album, I didn't listen to Jane as much. Oh, I still did listen to it and I think it's proven to be a Heavy Rotator. But let's just say starting this year, they have been getting equal time so far. What I liked about Before Long was that it felt different, but yet the same. If that makes any sense. Every so often, I just crave something new and unique-sounding, and fortunately, I stumbled upon this album just in time. Unfortunately, I get a bit upset when certain songs feel a bit too short. A Little Of Your Time for example. I mean, maybe that's the point, for it to be a short song, and only taking a little of your time to hear it. I did like the entire album and I don't want to go through picking each one. But Infatuation stuck with me the most. It might not be on all the albums, but it was on mine and I'm infatuated with it.

11. Panic(!) at the Disco - Pretty. Odd./A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
So this would be the first double album pick. As you can see, I skipped a number. This is an example of having both albums of the same artists and just letting them run into each other on the playlist, getting used to it and liking it. I know I listened to Fever a lot more that Pretty. Odd. but when it comes to last year? I think I wore them out pretty equally. I love their style. I like Urie's voice. And I love the lyrics. And yes, I'm even a fan of the titles on the first album. In case you didn't know, they came from movie/book quotes from Closer, Fight Club, and I think Choke... just to name a few. I don't know, use Wikipedia. Anyway, since I'm naming both albums, I don't think I can pick any particular track I really like. The singles, those are givens. It's probably why they are the singles. And I'll be honest with you, I don't know any of the songs on the first album by their titles, HOWEVER, I do have an understanding as to what each title means knowing where they got the title from. But since Pretty. Odd. is the newer album, I'll pick two non-singles: Folkin' Around and She Had The World. Both are great songs with beautiful lyrics that inspired poetry of my own. Both album are unique all their own too. I guess you either love it or just don't care.

10. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

I'm going to cheat here. I already wrote about this album a few months ago on another friPod post. But check it out again!

9. John Legend - Evolver

Yep, the same goes for this guy too. I'm not being lazy. I just don't want to be redundant. Is that a crime?

8. Common - Finding Forever
Wow, my man Common has been doing big things. I don't know how many movies he's done (I do, I'm just making a point) and his music has grown to new heights and even Grammy status levels! Now I'll say this now, I haven't heard his newest effort. Honestly, I haven't heard a lot about it other than it not being his best work, possibly due to his verses not being as socially conscious... but who knows? I'm all for artists trying out new styles, new music. This album, however, was a great follow up to Be. I would've made it a double album, but for me, that album didn't quite pass the listenability test. Don't get me wrong, it's a hot album. Both of them are. But I tend to find myself skipping to the songs I like better. Unlike Finding Forever, I'm just enjoying the current track, itching for the next one. Each song brought me somewhere different. But I think one of the tracks I liked the most was Southside with Kanye West. I love when rappers trade verses like they do in this song. And even in the chorus, it's good to have a friend to sing with because one person takes "south" and the other takes "side" until the next verse start. You have to hear it to understand. Anyway, besides the wordplay, one thing I love about Common and this album, is the storytelling. And honest storytelling at that. Too many titles to choose from, but how about Drivin' Me Wild? No really, drive me wild. I jest.

7. Joss Stone - Introducing...
To me, she needs no introduction. Excuse me a moment whilst I drool. I apologize, I just enjoy a great looking woman with a great voice. Truth be told, I fell in love with her voice first. But let's move on to the album. I sprung for the deluxe version and got a DVD with a music video and other nifty things. I do listen to the entire album, but I'm usually stuck on a couple songs like Baby, Baby, Baby because I think I'm in love with the drums on that track (along with her voice). Put Your Hands Me is also a treasure. And so is Arms Of My Baby. You know what? I think it's all because of the drums and just the funky-ness of the music. I admire the singer-songwriters, like Joss, and the producer Raphael Saadiq. She does make an appearance on his album, just like he's all over this one. Lauryn Hill is here too, sharing a love affair with Music. Common is on this too with probably my other favorite track called Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now.

5. Daft Punk - Alive 2007/Discovery

Another double album here. I think to fully appreciate Alive 2007, you need to hear all their albums. From Homework to Human After All. The live album mixes all their songs beautifully together. And I saw some YouTube videos about this. It looked fun. Very effing fun. I wanted to be there. Now I will say this about the live album, spring for the deluxe edition or whatever version has the encore. It's worth it. But again, to fully enjoy an album like that, you need to go back to the roots. My favorite Daft Punk album is probably Discovery. I say probably because I don't actually own the other two... yet. But what I liked on Discovery are tracks like Face to Face and Digital Love. And I have no problem admitting, the reason I got into Daft Punk is because of Kanye West's Stronger. And the original is just as good as well. Now if you dig Discovery, then I suggest you look into the movie version of the album. As I mentioned early, these guys influenced Justice, so this is why these two albums also can be played from beginning to end. They do have moments to breathe, that's always nice.

3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High/Folie à Deux

Yep, another double album. I kept hearing about this band Fall Out Boy for a while but never got around to taking a listen. Then I caught a remixed track from Mr. West for the song This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race and grew interested. I told my friend Dearest about it and she gave me a few songs to which I ended up buying Infinity on High and liking it so much more. This time yet again, there are too many songs for me to name that I really really like. And again, the titles I looked up on Wikipedia to get a better understanding. And some of the lyrics are still confusing to me... but they are still beautiful to my ear. And the sound of the music? Awesome. They've come a long way. I included their newest album which was the second to last album I bought last year. I love it just as much if not a wee bit more. Again, too many songs too name. This is a very good thing because it's exactly what I want when I but an album. I don't want to skip any songs if I can help it. If anything, I'll skip a song just to get to another on the playlist faster, then go back and listen to the ones I've skipped! I'm odd. But these two albums are great.

2. The Roots - Game Theory

This almost made it as a double album. But golly... which album would I choose? To narrow the list, it'd be a fight between The Tipping Point and Rising Down which was the last album I bought last year. It didn't make the list because I didn't start listening to it until a couple days before the year is out. But hey! It's a great contender for this year. Anyway, Game Theory isn't full of happy songs by no means. Then again, when I think of The Roots, "happy" isn't a word that comes up anyway. "Lyrical" and "genius" are more likely. This album, where do I start? They say it's one of the darker albums (with Rising Down being the darkest), and dark means that it's deep with social commentary and how bad the world is. I'm not really giving it justice, but then again, that's one of the points... the justice system not working correctly. But Black Thought's words are... wow. And ?uestlove's beats and production? Outstanding. A song that keeps popping up that I love is called Here I Come. Oh, let me also throw in that their albums are also built in such a way, that it's meant to be listened to beginning to end. I mean all their album track numbers continue from the previous album. I won't get into that right now though. But the first three songs are awesome, False Media, Game Theory, and Don't Feel Right. I'll also admit, listening to this album for too long might cause dread that something bad is going to happen, but it also wakes you up that not everything is as good as it looks. Again, great album with little to no skipping.

1. Kanye West - Graduation

Remember the big competition when this album was released the same day as 50 Cent? Oh, that was good stuff. I'm not a big fan of him, so why bother talking about it. This album was awesome. I almost want to call this a masterpiece. Almost, because I'm sure he's hard at work cooking up more fabulous music. I can already hear the questions now, what about Heartbreak and 808s? Remember earlier I said I liked artists trying new things? I'm not so fond of this new style. BUT, I will listen to the album at some point. But we aren't talking about that album right now anyway. What I liked about this album was that it felt like he had graduated. I know from what to where, but it just sounded advanced in a way than his previous works. I mean each of his albums did have it's own personality to it. I would've included a double album for him, but I really liked and listened to this album a lot. At work, in my car, at the gym, and just everywhere. It's not secret, especially not here, one of my favorite songs is Champion. With that same energy, I'd like to also recommend The Glory. I do have a bone to pick with Mr. West. The song Homecoming I've heard before on a mix tape, but with a different melody and guest singer--John Legend! I love that version so much more... but, I understand you like to work with others. And I'm still pissed I never made it to any of those crazy insane concerts. I heard they were awesome. Don't rub it in.

So that's my list. Next week, my top 10 albums of all time. I'm still changing my mind about it as we speak. For the sake of saving space and time, I will refer back to this list or a previous one should any album appear that has already appeared. Deal?

happy birthday mr. soul

2009-01-22T23:29:00.003-05:00

I couldn't let the clock hit midnight without giving it up to the one and only Sam Cooke. So I will post a tweet I wrote earlier tonight.

I almost forgot today is Sam Cooke's birthday. He'd be 78 today, and he
would've seen that change certainly came and took office 2 days ago.

I don't remember how I remembered or what made me think of it, but at least I remembered.

And it's been an interesting day that I might talk about on another day. I rather not go into great detail about it, but instead I can rewrite it as a little fictional piece inspired by a true story. It would consist of being distracted all day, an overflowing toilet with "products that weren't friends of mine" and dealing with something I won't go into detail with, but will hyperlink with two words: tonsil stones. If you know what those are, then you already know. If not, click at your own risk.

Now I must work on some other blog related things. Yay for me!

place your bets

2009-01-22T10:27:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again. No, not to exchange that last unwanted Christmas gift or to start looking for possible Valentine mates or to pick the color to repaint your house/room (although not bad ideas), it's Oscar season! For the past few years, I sit--sometimes crouch--patiently waiting for the biggest movie awards show. Sure, the Globes are nice, but it's not the Oscars. It's practically the only award show that I'll stay home for although I've been known to leave a couple times, or miss out on an hour due to birthday parties or visiting chums at The Mart that I worked with on third shift. Other times I attended Oscar parties (at Purchase) or had friends at my house who kept me busy.

I'm not aware of any such distractions--I mean occurrences this time around. All that's missing is my Entertainment Weekly which has an impressive track record of predicting who is going to win. I can't recall too many wrong answers, but I'm sure there were a couple. But I've been following along for the past few years as well as adding my own "I hope they win" picks. I'll probably do a more in depth post later about who my picks are, as well as who will probably win. Then after the show I'll post a recap as to who actually won. I didn't do it for the Globes since I usually don't watch the Globes (but I watched a little this year). Anyway, if you haven't seen the nominees for all the categories, here they are on IMDb.

Can we talk about snubs for a moment? Just in case you aren't hip to the award-show lingo, a snub is basically being passed over and completely left out. People have assumptions or high expectations that they'd get nominated for certain films or roles and then find out they don't... ouch. EW.com does ask the question, and I'm inclined to agree with some of the choices that should've at least been nominated, even if I haven't seen all of the movies. And trust me, I haven't... which makes my "I hope they win" picks a little difficult.

I don't gamble, but it is a fun game to play guessing who gets the gold. As my subject line suggests, place your bets.

so it begins...

2009-01-20T06:38:00.004-05:00

We've waited for this moment for a long time, and it's become something of a sweet anticipation. I know I've been waiting for close to a year for this to happen waiting for the day, down to the hour, and now its here. History in the making. I know people who were there since the beginning, and people who are on the way. And now, the time has come. Change will happen. Today... the new IHOP is open!

Oh yeah, and today, Barack Obama will stop using the "President-Elect" and will be officially sworn in as "President of the United States of America." Like many of my family members, specifically the older/elderly ones, I didn't think I'd see this day. Actually, I didn't think I'd see it so soon. And I think it's like summer vacation, where it doesn't really hit me until a few days later, "Hey, I'm on vacation!" So from election day to even later today, it'll just hit me again, "Hey, a black dude named Obama is my president!" I'd like to note, I'm going to miss the Bushisms.

I wasn't planning on being in DC whatsoever, regardless if I thought I could make it there or not. I'm a CNN junkie. Plus it's winter and there's a wave of disgustingly bitter coldness. So excuse me whilest I stay indoors. But it's amazing to see the footage of the millions people all over the Capitol city. It gives me flashbacks of the footage I saw when MLK marched in Washington about 50 years ago for this very reason. It's like history comes full circle. It's been an amazing weekend for America. And it can't be coincidence that yesterday was King Day.

So, I'm speaking for myself here, but it's great to be alive and American (and Black) today, because I'm witnessing history and going to IHOP sometime later.

fripodding and heavy roation: the top 5 five

2009-01-16T11:53:00.000-05:00

Last friDay, in the first of my Heavy Rotation series, I shared my top ten favorite albums that came out before I was born. Prince seemed to be a favorite, and it almost didn't make it on the list being so close to T-Day. Anyway, I will show you 5 top album in 5 selected categories. Since this will be a list of 25 albums, I won't comment as to why I think the albums are on top, and I will also hold back from sharing album cover art. If you want specifics as to why I listed what I listed, you know where the comment button is.

I rate these based on their listenability - listening to an entire, or most of the album without much skipping. These are albums I bought or acquired, whereas I may not listen to every track. My rule is I have to like at least 3 songs to buy the whole thing. Well, back before iTunes and file sharing existed. I still buy a disc every once in a while. Also bear with me, it's not easy rating these in my own liking. I keep switching who's at #1 depending on my mood at the time. And I sadly had to take some albums out because they didn't rate well with the listenability meter. Shucks. Nevertheless, if you don't have any of these albums, I highly recommend you invest!

TOP 5 GOSPEL ALBUMS
I must be honest, I leave out a lot of gospel music on my playlist and even here with the friPods. And it is indeed a music genre I enjoy, and sing practically every Sunday, or every other Friday, and occasionally on Thursday...

5. BBJay - Universal Concussion
4. Detrick Haddon - Chainbreaker
3. Helen Baylor - The Live Experience
2. Detrick Haddon - Crossroads
1. Kirk Franklin - The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin

TOP 5 LIVE ALBUMS
I was actually working on making a LIVE playlist taking all the live songs I had, and well... ya know... one playlist. But I realized I have a decent collection of live albums. There are certain elements you just don't get with studio albums. Crowd screaming for one thing. And then it makes you wish you were there when you hear them react to something as if the performer did something or maybe it's a surprise guest! Finally, this massive party is also a compilation of some of your favorite songs, sometimes extend or mixed into a medley with something else. Just pure awesomeness all around and your ticket is about $15 for the CD.

5. Curtis Mayfield - Live 1971
4. John Legend - Live From Philadelphia
3. Kirk Franklin - The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin
2. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
1. Sam Cooke - Live from the Harlem Club Square

TOP 5 SOULFUL LADY ALBUMS
I could just knock off the soulful part so I could include Sara Barellis. I also had to draw a line and take out Lauryn Hill who'd no doubt stick out at #1. And Alicia Keys I left out for the simple fact that I wanted some newcomers to get a little bit of shine. So here are some of my favorite leading ladies... and if any of these beautiful singers are reading, please give me a call so we can hang out some time.

5. Corrine Bailey Rae - Corrine Bailey Rae
4. Chrisette Michele - I Am
3. Solange Knowles - Sol-Angel & The Hadley St. Dreams
2. Leela James - A Change Is Gonna Come
1. Joss Stone - Introducing...

TOP 5 90's ALBUMS
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: this is a list of albums I owned then. And I'm also basing this list on how often I listened to them back then. I'm fudging #5 by including 2, only because I really didn't own the album but borrowed it several times.

5. P. Diddy & the Bad Boy Family - No Way Out/Will Smith - Big Willy Style
4. Santana - Supernatural
3. Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
2. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
1. K-Ci & JoJo - Love Always

TOP 5 SOUNDTRACKS
Let's face it, some movies wouldn't be what they are today if it wasn't for an awesome soundtrack backing it up. Or in some cases, it's what drives it. I also cheated on this list for the #1 slot putting 2 albums together... but it's not really cheating. The majority of both albums were composed by the same person. I would've included a 3rd album with the other 2, but I don't own it yet. I'd also like to note that Idlewild from Outkast would be on this list, except that technically, they consider the album as just that, an album, not a soundtrack to the movie. Yes, songs from the movie are included on it, but you'll also find a chunk of the songs from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Anyway, check out the movies that these soundtracks belong too as well as their awesome musical ventures.

5. Dreamgirls (Deluxe edition)
4. Superbad
3. Black Snake Moan
2. Purple Rain
1. Ocean's Eleven/Ocean's Thirteen

Yes, yes y'all!

secret office secrets to successful office success

2009-01-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

So my higher-ups told me I'm doing really well, and I'm in for a bit of a raise due to some impressive yearly reviews. I figured, why not share a few of my secrets of success. (That sorta goes out to Friar whom I've told I will only give out my secrets for a fee, or in a book... or something.) But these are my secrets at how to do an office job like mine and be successful. They don't work for everyone, and at the same time, some of these secrets contradict or conflict with others. So if any of these can apply to your job, go for it. But there's no money back guarantee, since it's free, so if you get fired, I can't help you whatsoever.

*When there is a quota per day/week, or some kind of tracking of work per time ratio involved.

- Eat a great but non-filling but delicious breakfast. (Doesn't have to be healthy, you just don't want to feel sleepy when you're done.)

- Work like you owe somebody money.

- Caffeine pills sometimes work better than coffee. But take it before noon unless you work really late.

- Slack off early until you get bored of slacking, this motivates someone to work harder later to make up for any lost time.*

- Work like there's a chance you might be fired tomorrow.

- Pee often or not at all.

- Do as much work as you can Monday thru Wednesday, so Thursday (or Friday if you work the 5 day week) you can window shop on the online shops.*

- Lollipops.

- Set slack off times (aka "break time") every hour or so... whenever really.

- Work at home.

- Make hotel reservations for a weekend getaway a month from now, make sure mini golf is involved, work hard towards this date.

- Make sure you have access to at least 1,000 songs that you like.

- Set a reward in place to help motivate you until quittin' time, i.e. order pizza @ 6.

- If you have no more drive in your stride, call it quits as long as it's not Thursday (or Friday if you are a loser).*

- Do your stretches and spin in your chair... it helps to get blood flowing and feeling like you are doing something physical.

- Recline whenever possible. It's like stretching.

- When the computer is on, you are getting paid. And just because you're at your desk, doesn't mean you have to be actually working.

- Time yourself and know how long the average time is for you to do your tasks, then plan a crunch time where you work double time non-stop, immediately followed with a break, or calling it quits.*

- Start a blog.

a wonder (and) full weekend

2009-01-14T01:24:00.001-05:00

Last week was pretty busy and a little on the rough side for not only me, but my family, church and a few friends. I don't normally get into the person aspects of my life, but I do see the Indoob as somewhat of a documentation. But in retrospect, I must say that some positive things came out of such a long week, and I felt the need to recognize them.

For most of the week, I've been doing some much needed work on my church's website. You can check it out if you want, but as you'll see, I haven't updated it in a long time. It hopefully will be fully updated by Thursday, or Friday. And I'm no pro at web design, I just know the basics and that's all that is. Besides, I'm the only one my dad knows that is capable and I currently work for free.

Thursday, my friend whom I shall codename as "Kitten" (although she probably wouldn't mind if I used her real name) dropped off a gift of appreciation for just being her friend. Internally, I felt like weeping, but really I just don't know how to handle unexpected niceness like that. I think it's a guy thing. Pineapple is my favorite fruit... so...

My first chocolate covered fruit!

And check out this sentimental special note that almost surely brought the tears.

In case you are struggling to make out the words, it says "Thank you for being there for me. You really are the best friend anyone could ever have." She's awesome.

Friday night, the Kitten and I met up with my other best friend whom I've affectionately dubbed "Dearest" and had dinner at a buffet that Kitten and I actually ate at for lunch. So yes, I went to the same buffet twice in the same day. No judging, thanks. Anyway, we met Dearest's boyfriend whom I heard so much about, and now I can officially approve. But the highlight for me was to have two awesome, beautiful women who happen to be the best friends I've had for some time, share a table with me. Another minor note, we seem to share a love for discussing poop. Buy that book, it'd be awesome to see that on a best seller's list. You know you're curious. Anyway, the Dearest mailed me a letter I recieved possibly a couple days late, also telling me how great of a friend I am. Look at the time she put into writing me! This is what I love about my friends... the time they take to show me that care is worth so much more than what money could buy.

Saturday I watched an awesome movie called The Notorious Bettie Page. I knew very little about the real life person, and Jaden at ScreenwritingforHollywood indirectly recommended I look into it. I fell in love with the way the movie was shot, that's the first thing. Secondly, between the actress playing her and Ms. Page herself? Absolutely beautiful. Before the movie was even over I was at my laptop writing up a draft of a treatment to a brand new story this movie inspired. The interesting this it has nothing to do with Betty, pin-up models, or anything that movie dealt with. It really doesn't have a title, but it's about a young man who moves from the city to an old southern country town and converts a run down barn into a makeshift movie theater. I was going to use this set up as a way to showcase several short films that I, or others have written and filmed. But the concept took on a life of it's own as I started fleshing out who this guy was and why he was there and things like that. Honestly, that's my favorite part about storytelling.

I finished with great timing... Kitten wanted to go out to dinner as well as test her car in the snow. I live on a hill so she had trouble getting to my house, but she made it just as I wrote the ending sentence. We ventured out to Friendly's which closed early. Too bad for them.

During service on Sunday, I was happy to see some people hadn't seen in a while. That's always nice. It also struck me, while someone was talking, not to hold grudges which apparently I think I may be doing. So later today, I will fix that error. Nobody's perfect, but if there is something wrong with ourselves that we are aware of, why not get it right?

Afterwards the entire family went out to the Olive Garden--where everyone is family. Good times. Dame (my brother-in-law) told me about an idea that he (and my sister, his wife) had been thinking of for sometime. Basically, he'd like to start a production company with me, mostly to help out around the church but to eventually branch out and help others. I'd take video and graphics duties, while he did mostly audio work like recording and sound production. He's the church's keyboardist and wrote a few songs. So we'd be a dangerous combination. So we chatted about that later that night while also discussing some recently favorited songs, or styles of songs. I'm currently getting into Go-Go music, similar to this:

The night got better with a phone call from not just a best friend, but one I consider a brother-from-another-mother. We chatted for a while, and for once, about me and my life. It was nice to get some of my own drama out even if I hate admitting I have it. But even while I was telling him my story, it came out as a comedy because it made him laugh. Imagine that.

Lastly, one of my newest friends who doesn't have a nickname yet, I chatted with online as we watched the last hour of the Golden Globes. Woot woot for 30 Rock and Tina Fey. I've been strongly recommended to see Slumdog Millionaire and have even been given a website to watch it for free. But I have morals. And if the movie business is something I want to get into, then it's like robbing from myself. It'd be different if it were a legit site, like, Netflix, Hulu or something. But 'twasn't. Yet I do want to see this movie really bad.

Oh, and now Sam is back and fully functional. There's a picture of him being towed away, but I'm too tired to do that right now. There's more than enough links and pictures to make this a fully interactive post, no?

So, my lesson to all is that although things may look bad, they could always be worse. Appreciate everything and reflect on the positive because who wants to sit around being sad and depressed?

fripodding and heavy rotation: vol. 1 - pre-me

2009-01-09T10:00:00.002-05:00

So this is the first of a few of what I call "Heavy Rotation" which in radio land means songs that are played frequently... since back in the day, radio stations used records which rotate! (There you go, you learned something today!) The term can still apply since a lot of us still use CDs, even though those are slowly becoming obsolete and now we rotate our fingers around our iPods' wheel.

Anyway, I compiled a list of top albums I truly love and can have the title of being in Heavy Rotation when it comes to being played on my late stereos (may they rest in piece, collecting dust), car and computer CD players alike, and of course iSaac and other MP3 playing devices.

This list feature albums that came out before my time. Since we live in an age of countless "best of" albums, a majority of this list features those compilation albums or collections. However, I will provide the title of the album I actually own, just so you know I'm not making it up. So here are my favorite albums of my past. And by past, I mean before I was around in the later 80's.

10. Earth Wind & Fire - Greatest Hits: Vol. 1 - This album only has 10 tracks on it, and this was the 3rd CD I ever owned I bought when I began my music listening career. Songs like Singasong, September and Getaway among countless others are always great songs to fall back on when I need to get out of a bad or gloomy mood.

9. The Jacksons - I don't really have a specific album to cite here, but their music played a vital role while I was growing up. Yeah, I grew up in the late 80's early 90's, but this was the only music I was exposed to (besides Christmas songs and Disney tunes). Needless to say, I grew up listening to Michael's entire catalogue and I have my reasons for not having the songs (not albums) Bad orThriller in iSaac's memory. (Long story short, overplayed.)

8. The Isley Brothers -It's Your Thing: The Story of the Isley Brothers - I found a 3 disc, "best of" collection. I love how half the songs can be upbeat and semi-partyish songs, especially a song like Shout, while others are for those making love songs like Don't Say Goodnight. And hey, we all need a little romance in our lives sometimes. Even if there isn't anyone around to romance with... as a writer, it puts me in the mood to pen something that needs that slow burn of seduction the Isleys easily churn out. Especially when such songs have their longer versions... and we can take a guess as to why they would make an extended version... Anyway, notable songs I love: Summer Breeze, This Old Heart of Mine, Love the One You're With, Footsteps in the Dark, Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, and my all time favorite For the Love of You.

7. Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On - I would choose again a "best of" collection for this guy, but I can't find one that has ALL my favorites. So instead I'll just pick the one that has the most, or at least one I actually own which features one of his most popular songs. This album is pretty much a baby-making album. Anytime you hear those beginning guitar wah-wahs, you know what time it is. But once I heard the EXTENDED version, I was like... I gotta own this. Little did I know that what I heard was someone who mixed Let's Get It On with another track on the album called Keep Gettin' it On. I don't really need to explain what the song is about, do I? Anyway, there are some other lovely tracks. But by no means is that all of the Marvin Gaye songs I like.

6. Prince - Purple Rain - Thanks to some proofreading, scrolling through iSaac's library, and some second and third glances, I realized I forgot to include Prince. There's still so much more music I need to hear from this genius, but if I had to choose an album, it would be this one. I was going to include one of his many "greatest hits" albums, but c'mon now... Purple Rain! Plus this one qualifies to be on this list being released before I was born. The movie might be lacking in some respect, but the music is awesome, and for that I say it's worth watching, especially when the title song is performed. When it comes to my iPod, this album is joined by many other Prince hits--past and present.

5. The Temptations - Emperors Of Soul - This is a 5 disc collector's set. I begged my mom to loan me $70 at the time (I was 15 and refused to get a paper route). It was also a year or so after their bio-movie was on TV. Let me say this... I haven't listened to the 4th disc of this collection at all. If I can, allow me to rate the discs: 2, 3, 1, 5, 4. Disc 2 contains what you would call "Classic Temptations" which has the legendary line-up including the one and only David Ruffin (My Girl, Losing You, Ain't Too Proud to Beg). There are also a few awesome bonus previously unreleased tracks on that one (I love Heaven on Earth). Disc 3 has their rougher/psychadelic side (Cloud Nine, Can't Get Next To You, Papa Was A Rollin' Stone) , disc 1 has their earliest "hits"... I say that because at that time, they were still struggling. Then disc 5 has their most recent material, and the only song I was familiar with was Treat her Like A Lady.

4. & 3. Definitive Collections - I can't choose between the next two greats. I mean, I had a hard time putting the Tempts in 5th place on this awesome list. And the next few all deserve #2 next to my #1. So without really saying there's a 3rd or 4th, find their defining best of's...

Al Green - I never owned an actual Al Green album, but he recently came out with one last year that he's been nominated for a Grammy. I shall definitely pick it up in the near future. But he's been making hits all his life and idolizes my idol, Sam Cooke. The songs on this best of album, truly hit after hit. Tired of Being Alone, Love and Happiness, L-O-V-E... Those three alone I could set on repeat for an hour. Between the lyrics, the instruments, and the voice only Al Green could sing with... However, thanks to this album I gained some new favorites like Perfect to Me which I swear I'd sing to some lucky girl some day. ;o) I just want to make an honorable mention of Simply Beautiful which isn't on this album, but worth checking out. I wrote it into a scene and I pray whenever I get to make the movie I wrote it into, I get the clearance for it.

Stevie Wonder - Another living legend that has a career that puts so many to shame. Well, I don't know who I'm referring to by that... but this double album speaks for itself. I got to be honest (as I usually am) but I seriously forget that this man is blind. And once I take that into account, I just marvel that much more about the wonderful music he has created. However, on this album, one of my favorite songs, As, is the short version. If you can find it, and you upload it to your iPod, make sure you switch it out with the extended version of that song. Other favorite songs of mine: I Wish, Yester-me Yester-You Yesterday, Signed Sealed Delivered and Living For the City. And I guess it's a song that wasn't that well known, but I've grown to love I'm Wondering. Needless to say (yet I'm saying it anyway) there are tons of other greats on here. Me being picky, I shortened this double album to just one... but that's just me.

2. Curtis Mayfield - Live 1971 - I don't really know if that's the name of the album, but it's one of my favorites at the moment. It was hard to choose just one because there's the Superfly soundtrack and yet another collection of his greatest hits when he was solo, and with The Impressions--which by the way are must owns--but I chose this live album because I felt it contained some real soul, groove and funk of his personality and music. It just felt raw and I loved that. And I love hear the audience react to what he was saying and singing. The other thing it did is made me feel like I was there, at that time, and I know a little bit of history so I know what was going on and how Blacks in America were going through. Mayfield knew it to and kept it real with his audience. Besides that album, I highly respect all the music he has made over his impressive career. Notable songs I really enjoy are The Makings of You (this version I think is better than the studio version), I Plan to Stay a Believer, We're a Winner and People Get Ready. A song very few people seem to know about but is supremely awesome and deserves an honorable mention: P.S. I Love You. The album it's on is hard to find, so I suggest picking up the Superbad movie soundtrack. There are a number of other awesome songs on that album, but it doesn't fit this list.

1. Sam Cooke - One Night Stand! Live at the Harlem Club Square, 1963 - According to history, this album didn't get it's first release date until about 20 years after it was recorded. Instead, Sam at the Copa was released but compared, this album was much more superior. Similar to the Curtis's live album I mentioned before... it's raw, it's real, it's what soul is all about. This is one album I refuse to listen to any old way--it must be played beginning to end. It's only under 40 minutes, but it's the best 40 minutes I can spend in my life. It's the subject of one of my recent screenplays. And it's the album I say time and time again that if I had to take one CD with me on a deserted album, this is the one I'd bring. There's so much I could say about this but I don't think even I could do it justice... but I'm willing to do my best if I ever get the chance to get that script produced. Now I'm still just talking about the music and emotion that the album sets you in, as a listener. This is the album that made me wish I was alive and able to be at this show. But let's talk about the legend. Mr.. Soul. I've said it countless times before, but he needs his own biopic. Sure, the movies we have so far of Ray Charles, The Temptations, Little Richard and the rumored biopic of Marvin Gaye are all well deserved... but this is the man who started it all! I even have the perfect teaser trailer for it. But more on that later. If you don't know Sam, I suggest you do some homework. Fortunately, the CD people have made it easy and released a 4 disc album with practically every song he's recorded. Almost. They gave his gospel recordings with the Soul Stirrers it's own collection of discs. Surprisingly, I don't own all of these, shame on me. However, any recording of him live? Awe. Some. You want some real singing? Bump American Idol! This is what it's all about. No, A Change is Gonna Come isn't sung live here. According to my research, he didn't record or release it yet. However, what I believe is the highlight is the intro to and the actual song Bring It On Home to Me. To get a taste of what this album is, I suggest checking out the first 10 minutes of the movie Ali starring Will Smith. In fact, this is the very movie that started my fascination with Sam Cooke's music and I was determined to find that song and specifically that version. David Elliot, who starred as Sam, was good and it is on the Ali soundtrack... but it still doesn't compare to the original. And you can believe I nearly exploded once I learned that there even was an original. Since it came in the mail, this has been the #1 album that has the heaviest rotation of all time. Well, with me anyway.

a drabble about a boy and his dog

2009-01-07T00:23:00.004-05:00

A drabble is a story that is exactly 100 words, not one more or one less. It's a challenge, and a fun one. Once again, this is Melissa's fault. I checked out the website that features such a contest and I'm choosing not to participate this time around. I'll possibly write a story for the picture for my own fun, but for now, let's just see what I came up with... and feel free to count the words. For the record, I wrote this in about 5-10 minutes. Let me know what you think.

One lazy, sunny afternoon, Woofkins the Dog barked eagerly at young Jake to be walked outside for his evening duty. Jake slipped on his sneakers and opened the door as Woofkins bolted out, barely knocking the door off the hinges.

Once outside, and away from all people, Woofkins turned to young Jake and spoke. “First, Jacob, I want to apologize for keeping this secret from you that I can, indeed, speak. I just have one thing to say to you that’s been driving me crazy since I was a pup.”

Jake, stunned, nods his head.

“Please stop calling me Woofkins.”

can't end a vacation without a good breakfast

2009-01-05T09:03:00.003-05:00

It took me about 3 hours to get back in the groove of work. Indoobians... it wasn't easy. First of all, this is New England where I reside. It's chilly outside. Bump chilly... It was frigid. I know when it's frigid because any fragment of moisture that finds it's way on my bedroom windows freeze which disables me from viewing the outside world clearly. Basically I have stained glass frosted windows. And it's horrible. I can make out blobs that appear to be trees or what may be a car or perhaps a moose... but moose aren't common in my area... are they? Well even if they were, I don't live close to any woodland areas unless I have a neighbor that has been housing a moose for a pet. Has anyone else ever wanted to say "mooses" even though it's incorrect?

I got cleansed and dressed and turned all the systems on (lights, computer, oven, stove, Foreman Grill, coffee maker, ACTION!) and forced myself to remember my password to login while I contemplated where I'd get my morning energy from. I chose the usual... scrambled eggs and bacon.

I bought new bacon though! Well, not really... but I was curious how the taste of hickory smoked differed from maple bacon. I also decided to bake a few, and Foreman the other. It could be my imagination... but I think it cancelled out some of the maple's flavor... so my taste comparison had been compromised. I will Foreman both later in the week. I never baked bacon before until I learned that this guy, Greg, did it at our church's New Year's Eve party. And 'twas good! Very crispy indeed. Mine came out crispy but extremely flat. Flatter than usually. Then again, I bought the store brand. What I bought Greg to use was thicker. Sigh, the adventures in breakfast.

While the bacon was doing it's thing, I made my eggs, which I do believe I'm getting to near-expert status (only for scrambled eggs though). How do I know this? Consistent yellow fluffiness of joy. Then I sprinkle more cheese on top (even when cheese has been mixed in) just for drooling points to anyone who catches a glimpse of my delicious meal. I made too much coffee. There's enough for three cups, I had one already and I'm done. And I wasted two pieces of bread for toast which I usually make into a breakfast sandwich, but I wanted a tradition breakfast today. I regret my choice.

The Foreman was the last thing I waited for until I dined, and I managed to seal up any traces of cooking (except for breakfasty aromas). My mother tells me I leave signs, traces and/or trails of where I've been or what I had done... so I'm always doing my best to clean up my tracks so no one would ever know [diabolical laugh].

So after stuffing my face and getting my caffeine kick (and catching up on some blogs, entertainment news, and whatever else that wasn't exactly related to work other than the near 100 emails (half of which are faxes (we are paperless!)) I had waiting for me) I think I'm ready to start the day. I threw on some Daft Punk and I'm using a different set of speakers (I'm missing the nice bass my other system had and I'm pondering the thought of switching again), but if it's one piece of motivation I learned... it's that caffeine and Daft Punk make for a good work drive. It actually makes for a good car drive too at night... but that's another story. So here's to banging out the bulk of my work in a day... or two (some of which has been backed up for the two weeks I've been away), but progression nonetheless! And 'tis a new year. So let's... ya know... work! WOOT!

Just for kicks and giggles, I baked cookies last night. I just felt the need to share. Not the cookies, of course, are you crazy? It takes some effort for me to share a cookie with anyone. Usually, being a female is a good way to start... I'm just saying....

fripodding and new yearing (yearning?): the roots - rising down

2009-01-02T16:21:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year and stuff! I almost let the first friPod of the year slip past me. Last friDay was intentional, I was on vacation. Technically I'm still on vacation, but whatever. 'Twas the Day After Christmas and much celebrating had to be done in the form of playing Wii and eating the still delicious leftover Christmas dinner.

Anyway, for the past few weeks I've been back to back friPodding TWO new albums of 2008, but I couldn't talk about them due to my trailer trash posts... which were so much more fun at the time. Perhaps what I'll due in vain of all the "Best of..." lists we see every year, I'll throw out a Best Trailers list. I know they have their own award show, but I never know when or where I can see such an event. Seriously, if I ever get the chance to work on movie trailers as a profession, I may put film making on pause. But I'll talk about new career plans in a future post, since I actually have post-worthy news.

Back to the new albums! Today, or actually the past two weeks, I've been dissecting the lyrics and music to what can be classified as my favorite hip hop band on the planet. And yes, it is real hip-hop and they are an actual band because they play live instruments. Who am I talking about? Who else? The Roots.

Their newest album is called Rising Down which I haven't completely figured out why... other than the song on the album. But I bought this album via iTunes and read the entire liner notes to understand the process in making this album. And it was indeed a process. Reading such materials makes me appreciate the album as a whole even more. And I'll be honest with you, with the first listen, I wasn't feeling a lot of the music. It had to grow on me. But like ?uestlove says, it's a darker album, perhaps the darkest... and most people know I'm generally a happy, bright person... even if I sometimes have a morbid or sadistic sense of humor. I jest, I don't hurt people intentionally anymore for a laugh. Well, not as much.

For the happier tunes on this album, I recommend getting the iTunes version and checking the last two songs Rising Up and Birthday Girl (which is only found on iTunes) even though Birthday Girl isn't exactly a "happy" song if you listen to the lyrics. Also on that song there's a guest spot by Patrick Stump from another new favorite band of mine, Fall Out Boy. But again, that's what I love about The Roots--the lyrics! Black Thought is like... genius. Even that is an understatement. The wordplay and rhyming... he's a master. And it's weird how there are so many "best rappers alive" battles and no one seems to mention him. Odd. Anyway, I recommend checking out this album. Maybe not everyone since he and the many guest stars do use choice words that many may not like, especially the infamous n-word. But you almost kinda wonder, what Black rapper doesn't?

Regardless, I've been a fan of the Legendary Roots Crew for a number of years now and it's safe to say, they are in a class of few artists on my list that I will buy their album without hearing a single single, and still know it's awesome. Others on my list included John Legend, Outkast and Joss Stone to name a few.

last picture post of 2008 - presents, popcorn, poop and cheese

2008-12-30T21:20:00.006-05:00

As many Indoobians know, I'm known to be pretty lazy when it comes to the taking and posting of pictures specifically for purposes of sharing with the Workforce. Nevertheless, I did a few snaps today (literally minutes ago) and will share them. Some include Christmas presents, others... well... you'll see.

Here we see the first of three T-shirts I requested. I sometimes still wonder if this shirt really applies to me, but why not? I like it because my year of birth is 1986... so... yeah.

Most people that know me personal and have seen me on the street, might say "Hey, that's one of the brightest shirts I've seen in his collection, other than white of course." Okay, maybe they wouldn't say that word for word, but this is a new bright color for me, and according to my sister, this was the only color available. No problem, I wanted this shirt bad enough, and yes, I love this movie!

I didn't think I was going to get this shirt, but fortunately my sister shares my sense of humor. And I told them all I'd wear it to church that Sunday, and I did! Well, no one noticed since I had a button up over it, but I stuck to my word and people who read it love it. Plus, who else can say they have poop on their shirt and be excited about it?

What an interesting next shirt to debut... but this is from my mother and one of the few long sleeve T-shirts I have. I've never been a fan, but I like this one. This is actually the back of the shirt and it's quoting Joshua 1:9 "Be Strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you." I want to say the symbols are Chinese, but I can't be sure. The left one means strength, the right means courage.

This was my last gift given to me, today actually, from my Dearest Insta-friend of... how long has it been? Over 5 years maybe? The "insta-friend" part I'll explain another day, but the reason for numbering the years is important to what this is a picture of. You see, my friend boasted about these delicious apple muffins she would make back in high school, but I never got to taste them. So after all these years, about 5, she finally made me a batch. She made 6, there are 2 left, and I was nice enough to share with my parents. This is one reason why I decided to take the pictures because there wouldn't be any left and I know the picture doesn't do the muffin justice, but trust me, it's delicious. And I enjoy sliding that box out like it's some luxury food item. Don't mind the other things you see in the picture, especially the cookie tower.

Here's a look at my TV I bought myself last year for Christmas (I think). Anyway, it's showing season 5 of Seinfeld, which my other dearest friend whom I call Kitten bought me. She also bought me the Scene It: Seinfeld edition, which I have yet to play. I don't have anyone around here to play with, but now that I think of it, I might be able to play with my siblings, or wait until I can group up with Seinfeld fans that I know. Either way, I can't wait.

This is from "The Lip Reader" episode. My TV is definitely not big, but it was affordable and suits my needs. Plus it's thin and widescreen. Very nice.

My gift to myself this year. Due to the movie coming out next year (and rave reviews I hear about it anyway) I decided to up my geek points and buy it. It arrived Christmas Eve and I read it in three days. But you knew that already. As for the movie... I recently heard some news that doesn't bode well.

I touched on this before regarding my love of cheese, one of my favorite kinds is white cheddar, and Smartfood Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. I eat so much that I've noticed a difference in cheese levels. People might think I'm crazy, but I say try it for yourself. Here in this picture we see the 1.5 oz, 3 oz, and the most popular 5 oz bags. They are all empty. I ate the two smaller bags a couple hours ago for this investigation. Anyway, my theory is that the smaller the bag, the more cheese is coated. Now I gave the sizes, but I usually refer to them by the price. The 5 oz bag WAS $2.49, but I'm thinking due to slumping sales or trying to keep up with the economy, the prices rose, and now as you might make out, it's $2.89. "BOOO!" I say. But it doesn't stop me from purchasing whenever I get my cravings. The next size up USED to be $2.99, I don't know what the oz size is. 7 oz maybe. And then there is the family size. Usually those are the most expensive. Now listen carefully, the bigger the bag, the lesser the cheese. There is one exception. There is a wee 25 cent bag... possibly .5 or .75 oz. It's really small and stupid. Sorry, I just don't like it. No cheese and the last couple times they tasted burnt. Anyway, between the 1.5 and 3 oz, it's hard to tell which has more cheese, but check it out for yourself. I'm content with my 5 oz still, and sometimes sprinkle this on for extra cheesy fun.

So for my last picture, it involved once again hanging out with my Dearest Insta-friend. We were out dining at what you can clearly see as Friendly's, and my usually ordering involves mozzarella sticks. Well, they have mini-mozzarella stick. I had chicken quesadillas too... but as you see, they didn't last long enough to make it to print. But my mother never told me not to play with my food, and this show it. Plus it kept my friend in tears as I voiced each mozzarella stick sitting in their saucy hot tub, discussing what happened to all their cheesy friends.

Well if you don't hear anything else from me by tomorrow, I'll be back next year.

six fals--ahem--true facts about t. sterling watson

2008-12-28T22:51:00.004-05:00

I saw this on someone's blog back when I first started my blogging life, and thought to myself, "How interesting," and then I went back to work before my boss caught me. I did start to think about all the many quirks and uniquenesses... or uniqueni? All the oddities that make up my original personality. Or at least things I don't come out and tell people about everyday.

So thanks to the lovely, multi-talented, most commenting Indoobian geek that is Melissa D, I must share some truth that makes me, me, just like she shared some truths that make her, her. So let's imagine Wonder Woman has thrown her magic lasso around me as I start spewing random bits about me. Can we pretend she's being played Kate Beckinsale? No wait! Rachel McAdams! Or...or... Paula Patton. Mmmmm... Sorry.

1. Trend Setting Quirks
At the time, I used to wear a watch on each wrist to stay "symmetrical."
I was also really into all different kinds of vests and loved pockets.
I wear my socks inside out.
95% of all my socks are black.
Every pair of pants has it's own belt.
I get my ears pierced every 10 years (I have 3 because there was a sale that day).

2. Hyper-observant
I get most of my observational skills from my dad, watching everything that's going on almost all the time, even when I'm not really paying attention, I still notice. Then (another) important lesson from an improv class I was taught, was to observe people and the quirky things they do, which only made me that much more aware of everyone and everything around me. Over the years the force has only grown stronger with me and I've used my powers (mostly) for good as I listen to people misspeak, catch typos, hidden jokes, all which comes in handy for trivia games or catching liars with their pants on fire. (A fictional idol of this would be Shawn Spencer from the TV show Psych.) Yet for some reason, I seem to always miss errors in my own work even with proofreading.

3. American Idols
In no specific order, except for maybe the first 3... Sam Cooke, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Groucho Marx, Yakko Warner, Bugs Bunny, Common, Dave Barry, John Legend, Stephen Colbert, Black Thought, Tyler Perry, Andre 3000, Kevin Smith, Mitchell Hurwitz and everyone behind Arrested Development oh yeah and the beautiful Tina Fey.

4. White Noise Night Lights
I have difficulties sleeping in complete silence (and sometimes staying asleep when it goes silent), unless I'm under the influence of NyQuil. There have been occasions I'm capable of silent sleeping, but if I can help it, I'd put a DVD on repeat (I love TV shows on DVD!). If not, there's always my iPod, iSaac. All hope is not lost, if I got to sleep under the stars listening to nature, I'm sure I'd have a peaceful sleep once I'm at ease knowing some beast won't eat me.

5. "The t. sterling Show!"
When I was wee, I'd imagine I had my own reality TV show with invisible cameras in the walls or following me around everywhere. This was way before the crap that's on TV now, and I've since fine tuned my imaginary show to be a mockumentary of my own life, with part of it being a late night talk show when I sit down at my desk to watch TV and manipulate my computer and the Internet... like I am now. People still say I need my own show, I tell them "in due time." This blog is the closest they'll get for now.

6. I'm a Little Cheesy
I enjoy food maybe a little too much. I've raised awareness regarding Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn's white cheddar issue: the "$2.49" (it currently cost 40 cents more, but go along with me) has the best cheese per popcorn ratio... the bigger the bag, the less the cheese. The 99 cent bags have decent amounts of cheese too, but those cruddy joke-of-a-snack 25 cent bags have almost no cheese whatsoever. I've been told that I'm the only one who has noticed this. That and Ritz Bits Cheese/Peanut Butter sandwich crackers are toasted a bit longer in the little individual bags versus the box size. I don't know why. I love my cheese and always keep a white cheddar shaker nearby to add to a variety of foods that I eat. I have four pizza restaurants on speed dial (two know me by name), and I've had mozzarella sticks at most diners/restaurants that serve them (or something cheesy related).

Now I'm supposed to tag 6 people to carry on with 6 truths of their own. I will attempt to pick 6 that I haven't seen yet, and by no means do they have to do this... but it'd be nice! I don't have a huge selection of bloggers I know either, but eh... here goes. Even if they don't do it, and some I don't expect them to, check out their blogs... so consider this a plug.

1. Karen
2. Shane
3. Friar
4. Melinda
5. Kim
6. Simon

Here are the rules:
1. LINK TO THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU
2. POST THE RULES ON YOUR BLOG
3. WRITE SIX RANDOM THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF
4. TAG SIX PEOPLE AT THE END OF YOUR POST AND LINK TO THEM
5. LET EACH PERSON KNOW THEY ARE TAGGED AND LEAVE A COMMENT ON THEIR BLOG
6. LET THE TAGGER KNOW WHEN YOUR ENTRY IS UP

Woot woot, y'all.

is it considered "insomnia" when you're on vacation?

2008-12-27T06:32:00.004-05:00

I'm wondering why I'm still awake at this un-ungodly hour (it's almost 7 in the AM)... But then I remembered, I didn't go to sleep the night, or morningish before until about 5 in the AM. Furthermore, I didn't awaken until about 3 in the afternoon. Okay, actually I woke up from about 10 to 10:30 to talk to a friend on one of her breaks... but other than that, I stayed unconscious for most of the daylight hours.

I'm considering this an "unofficial" post because I wanted to do a "Christmas present wrap-up" (wow, that was an unintended pun)... I was going to accompany it with pictures, but you guys know how lazy I am with the pictorials. It's so bad right now, the camera doesn't even have battrees in it. I hope I didn't promise pictures of the snow. It's almost gone. And could you believe the crazy New England weather we're having and about to have? SIXTY DEGREES ON SUNDAY. What the stank is that about?

Anyway, I thought I'd give an update as to how my script is going. It's not. I bought myself an early Christmas present that arrived Christmas Eve. "What could this be?", a curious nosy person might ask. Well, I'll tell you. Remember a couple weeks ago with the first trailer trash post with the last trailer being that of next year's Watchmen? Well sometime after that post until about 3 hours ago, I previewed the original graphic novel, Amazonned it, waited patiently (for once), unboxed it, and read it within 3 days. December 24th to 26th. Technically 4 days, but I slept most of the 26th.

Hey, I just gotta say... That is an awesome story right there. And now I'm ecstatic to see this movie. If there is a midnight showing, I think I may show up to that. I pretty sure I donned some geek points for this too... but whatever. Still not big on comic books, but this one's different. It has an end. AND now I understand why many felt that this comic was unfilmmable. Man... I can't wait to see this.

So due to my reading this, with a mix of holiday festivities, I haven't done much writing. That should hopefully resume tonight (Saturday) or the latest Sunday night. My other issue was getting my CD/DVD drive on ol' Silver to work. I think I broke it somehow when I was trying to burn a multi-disc collection for a friend of mine. This suck worse than spoiled milk already poured into the cereal. I had one disc burnt already, and had 4-5 left to do. I can't explain what happened (partly because I don't know) but I tried everything I can do that doesn't cost money. I already admitted to being a geek, but my skills couldn't crack this problem and that saddens me. I'm considering the Geek Squad. It's where I go when I can't fix something I broke. But it's weird... I can fix other computers... but mine? I'm at a loss.

So I've got one week to do some damage to a script. I'll extend it until January 4th. I kinda can't wait because it was torture listening to Fall Out Boy and not jotting down a few lines... and as we speak I'm finally really listening to The Roots' Rising Down and feeling the rap schemes fall over me. In my head, taking their versus apart in slow motion allowing me to see/hear/understand why their lines/raps/verses are so hot, and how I might possibly be able to write my own. Still a craft I'm honing in on. My goal: to make a reader/hearer's face wrinkle up/frown or make them say "wow" or "whoa" and even "that's [any positive slang]" ...but I also still dig getting my sense of humor in my poetry as well AND telling stories. Perhaps I'll devote March or April to coming up with some really good material.

In the meantime, I must continue to hit the scripts. It's not that I'm creatively stuck. If anything, I'm more inspired to write other things... but with scripts I feel I'm more productive with a plan. I need to have the characters written out first. At least the major ones. I can always add or change some later. I already know "The Writing Retreat" has some weak points in it, but you know what? I'm not worried about that right now. I just need it "complete" then I will do some tightening. I also have been assembling a team of readers. I have 2 and a possible 3rd who would probably be interested.

Anyone else interested in giving me critical critiquing of some scripts I've worked or working on, let me know and I be sure to send you what I have looking for some honest advice. I won't be sending anything until January... so there isn't a rush. Well, not for you.

I think I'm feeling sleep come on. I think I will "nap" since I think I'm going to get a phone call at 9 or 10 this morning to hang out. And I actually want to go places tomorrow like maybe dine at IHOP for the last time until the new one close to home opens and price shop a Mac at an Apple store. Yes yes y'all!

i'd like a new window for Christmas

2008-12-24T14:26:00.002-05:00

I was going to post something last night on Christmas Eve Eve, but I guess Christmas Eve isn't that bad either.

Anyway, I just want to wish all Indoobians, friends, family, strangers and strange-looking people alike a Merry Christmas. For those that don't celebrate Christmas... I can't help you. I jest! I jest! I'll just say the traditional Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings. The list of "other holidays" steadily gets longer every year, so I will refrain from saying any of them except for the one I celebrate. Deal?

And for those who are just begging to know what kept me from posting last night... it's a long story that I'll shorten by saying the ice/snow melting from my room is causing the window in my room to leak. Badly. I've already soaked up 10 man-sized beach towels--and that's only from the water I caught. It doesn't help that it won't stop raining until tonight... so... yeah...

I'd also like a new CD drive... I think I broke mine playing with iTunes... I can fix other people's computers, but mine? Totally clueless. I'm going to try again sometime in a few days.

I even managed to clean my room and do ALL my laundry. When I mean all, I mean I was down to the new underwear I hadn't broken into yet, and possibly #65 pair 'o socks. Hey, it's my goal to have 365 pairs of socks some day. So at least that will be it's own laundry day. Sock Day! Yes!

But all of this has kept me from staying on the good track I was on. I was up to 23 pages on "The Writing Retreat" and had stopped to sleep, but then if it wasn't one thing, it was another. The CD burner, the window, visiting with family, Christmas... So much to do, so little time.

I jest of course, I didn't plan to do much of anything on Christmas Day other than familizising (yeah, try pronouncing that one!) and that's always fun for us. Between the gift giving, the food and the general good times, it's what I love about the holidays. Then again, I just love my family and cherish anytime I get to spend with them. I guess that goes for my dearest friends too... but I don't like sounding sentimental here... so with that I say bah humbug.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays y'all!

how i can't wait to not leave the house

2008-12-19T16:56:00.002-05:00

iTunes and I aren't getting along this week. Fortunately it's not stopping iSaac from giving me my awesome tunes, but I can't burn any CDs and I'm a quest--no... a mission to fix this problem so I can share in my musical joy with others who'd like a copy of one of a kind mixes apparently only I know how to mix. But let that not stop me from continuing my trek of trailers I adore. Even though it's the holiday season, you'd think I'd do something festive for my friPod iPick. HA! I probably would, but no.

I'd also lament about my job's recent layoffs and I'd like to thank God for sparing my job when a few people I know were let go. Yeah, this bad economy is hitting close to home for everyone. It also gave me yet another boost, or a push, or an increase of motivation to complete a script or two ASAP. With that, I began the script for "The Writing Retreat" (working title until I find the symbols I'm looking for). So you can believe I do count, appreciate and cherish each and every blessing I have in my life. The holiday season has nothing to do with it, I've always been like that.

How about an honorable mention? Fall Out Boy's newest album is indeed pretty enjoyable. I also recently acquired The Roots latest effort but I haven't listened to it. It takes about 48 hours for me to move on from something new that I like. Sometimes longer. Speaking of newness, I now have Seinfeld season 5. Yes yes y'all! Oh, and to accompany it, Scene It: Seinfeld Edition. I don't want to play it yet because I only have 4 seasons of supreme knowledge. I also don't have many people to play with me. :o( Nevertheless, it'd be a game well enjoyed soon enough.

Lastly, New England is finally getting REAL snow. A good ole' fashioned snow storm. It just started as I type. I'll brush up on my photography skills and post a few "Christmassy" photos later. And by later I mean hopefully by or before Monday.

But so far, my vacation has been everything I dreamed. Falling asleep in the living room at 10pm and waking up to this a few hours later...

To help put you in the frame of mind I was in, I woke up around 2:30-2:45 and remained severely puzzled for the next minute as I recovered from groggy confusion and waked-upness. Really, it was a massive "what... the... stank!?" moment for me and I was a little too nervous about going back to sleep at that point. But I eventually came to my senses and changed the channel to something familiar, then went to bed... only I couldn't fall asleep so I watched a movie while I ate a bowl of Cocoa Pepples, ground beef and a bag popcorn (not all together... but yes, those were consumed in the span of 3 hours).

And today I ventured to the Mart and my local DVD rental chain and encountered disgustingly long lines everywhere. I do not like it. These lines were preparations for a deadly last minute Christmas gifts, Christmas dinner and looks-like-we'll-be-snowed-in food and movies. I think it's a New England thing, but I could be wrong.

Well, I'm off to work on other written works, and eventually take a long winter's nap until I'm called to shovel out the driveway like we're about to go somewhere (we aren't). We go in shifts just to keep up with the snow. It's better to shovel less snow by shovelling more frequently, no? I better charge up iSaac.

fripodding trailer trash 2

2008-12-19T13:43:00.003-05:00

So my list continues of awesome movies in 3 minutes or less. Well, this post isn't, but the trailers are. They are like mini movies to get you all hyped up and excited to spend money in seeing the real thing. And sadly, sometimes you're better off seeing the trailer only. Other times, you know right away if you want to see a movie based on the trailer alone. (And for a buff like me, there are some movies that squeak by without me knowing until I see the trailer.)

This was almost one of those movies I mentioned above about hearing next to nothing about the movie UNTIL seeing the trailer first. But once I saw the trailer, I knew I had to see this. And I love this movie by the way. What I like about the trailer is the use of music. If you got a hot song (or songs) you might have it made. Just do me a favor... please include the song in the movie or on the soundtrack for us music fans. See some of the other titles below... Also note the way the plot is given to us so we know what we're getting into.

I don't know if I saw the movie or trailer first... but the trailer gives you the basics of what this movie is, yet you still see so much going on that it may draw some curiosity to check more into it. And you should, this a fun movie. Almost kinda random, but I like movies like that. I also like ensemble pieces.

Speaking of ensemble pieces. As I once mentioned, I'm 100% convinced that an anticipated movie is released when I see a trailer. I almost wet my pants when I saw this. (If you didn't already know, this is like one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time, paired with Ocean's Eleven of course... and Twelve just for box set's sake.) But I love seeing the stars that are featured in the movie and I have my own dreams of having a quick shot with "t. sterling watson" stylized next to my face while I'm doing or saying something.

Here is another hot track set to a bunch of action. Technically this one is a teaser, but who's counting? And this song is on the soundtrack. And this is another fun movie just as long as you don't take it seriously.

Okay... this is probably the runner up trailer and I'll explain why... It has so many elements of a trailer that I like--music, of course, is first. Quick note, it's because of this movie (the first 10 minutes or so) that introduced me to my all-time favorite idol Sam Cooke and some of his music is featured here. Anyway, later Moby's "Body Rock" is played, and that's not on the soundtrack but I believe it's in the movie. Next thing I like about this trailer is the drama it builds by the spoken one liners from the various characters. The slow motion. And one of my favorite parts is the camera flashes that show the captions and eventually reveals the title. That is something I want to do myself with a movie trailer. But back to the build drama until the title is revealed. I've watched some trailers that would've been more effective (for me personally) had they built it up. But this trailer? I love it. The movie I also like too...

But my #1 favorite trailer to date...

I almost want to hold off until next week, but I won't. Just in case I let some people down and they say, "you picked that?" Again, this is based on the trailer alone, not the movie. Because most times, most people see the trailer first anyway, and that's what happened to me for this one. I also grew to appreciate this movie after seeing it... but it all started with this:

Can I say it? Orgasmic! A feast for the eyes. Dramatic blacks and whites mixed with color when appropriate. And the MUSIC! It's the instrumental version of The Servant's - Cells which isn't a bad song. At one time I had both versions. But for me, this song MADE this trailer. And there is a longer trailer which is slightly different but I'm glad still included the song. But I like this version so much better. I love it when it's almost like it's a music video. Kinda. It's timed so perfectly with the clips of the movie and introductions of the main characters, then the spoken lines from some of those characters, then the montage of actors in the film all building up to a final line and the reveal of the title. Then the inevitable... coming soon.

"the day the earth stood still (2008)" film review

2008-12-17T07:47:00.002-05:00

Normally I save the movie reviews for my MySpace blog, which practically the only thing I use MySpace for these days. But with the amount of movies I watch, I need some way of keeping track of the newer ones (not necessarily recently released, but movies I've seen for the first time). So the easiest way is to write reviews on them recording my first, or even second impressions. Most of these movies I watch at home via store rentals, TV and of course Netflix. I don't get to the theater as often as I'd like to, but when I'm there, the movie usually has a different feel to it than when I'm at home. BUT the theaters don't have special DVD features that I sometimes watch before rating... so there's that to keep in mind. I respect a lot of the professional film critics, but I don't write like them. I like to tell my thoughts "unadulterated" like you are a regular person and whether or not you should see it. Again, check my MySpace to see more. But on with the review!

First of all, if you didn't know, this is a remake of the 1951 original by the same name. I actually did see the original a few months ago to prepare for the new one, so the story was pretty fresh in my head, and I really liked the original. Starting out, I would recommend that whether you see this new one in theaters or not, watch the original.

And I am not knocking the remake. Apparently the professional critics didn't care very much for it (and neither did some people on the message board at IMDb.com). I actually rather liked it. Much like the original, there's a lot of tension and suspense. There is some action as well, but probably not enough to keep serial sleepers (like my dad) awake unless they just woke up or eating something. We're all guilty of that sometimes no matter how entertaining a movie is. I went in with a cup of coffee because I was feeling sleepy before I went in, so that's different. Having seen the original, I knew what to expect and was waiting for certain plot points to fall into place. Most of them did, but others were changed--like the relationship between the lead character Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) and the wee boy Jacob (Jaden Smith). I'd just like to make a note here that this boy is a spitting image of his father. It's also brought to my attention (from a friend) that he looks like a very younger version of me... hair included. I'm still not sure how I feel about this but at least I know who can play the child version of myself in my autobiography.

Anyway, what I think could draw people in with curiosity is the giant globe things seems in the trailers. Or maybe it's Gort, the giant robot Klaatu brings with him. Special effects can help tell the story, as long as there is some kind of story to tell. I must admit, I do like how they upgraded him from the original AND kept him looking pretty much the same. I like how they came up with calling him Gort... instead it was more like G.O.R.T. The military and their acronyms. What I did miss (and perhaps it was my own ears) was the key famous phrase everyone knows from the original. "Klaatu barada nikto!" I rather not discuss the significance of that phrase at this point, but if it said in the new one, please let me know. Really though, I can't stop geeking out about Gort. Maybe it's an "original vs. remake" thing. Naturally the remake has better effects and a better spaceship. Oh yeah, and the original never had so much product placement in it. This made me laugh. But it also makes me want a touch screen computer. And maybe some fries.

But let's talk about the message this movie brings. It's actually not that far off from the original as well, but both of them don't want to tell you right away (adding to the suspense). All you know is that Earth, or the people on Earth will be destroyed if this warning is not heard by those who can take action. That is what Klaatu (in both versions) requests, to speak with the leaders of Earth. And hey, it's probably for these movies that make all the other aliens in popular movies frequently request "Take me to your leader." The reason why he wishes to meet with the leaders is indeed a real life threat. I'd even argue that the message in the original is somewhat still a real life threat. It was more so at the time that movie was made, but nevertheless, it gave a serious reason for an alien to come for a "visit." And does the Earth actually stand still? I'll just say it was another slight difference between the original and remake. Regardless, a point was made and perhaps a real life alien won't come to our planet with similar messages to make.

Overall, I'd recommend this movie to people who enjoy a good sci-fi dramatic piece, as well as those who like a little disaster flick mixed in. I think Keanu Reeves plays a great Klaatu. Even though he doesn't seem that different from other characters he may have played, the role isn't meant to have a lot of emotion. I heard critics say this movie moved too slow or didn't hit the potential it could've reached... I'm not sure what they were expecting. Again, I suggest watching the original if you get the chance. I'll be watching the original very soon yet again, and I'd buy both of these movies. It'd be great if they were packaged together. And the question I know I'd be asked... what's better overall--original or remake? I like them both, and depending on who you are, I'd recommend either the old or new version. But if you can, see both and decide for yourself.

On a side note, watch out for a knock-off "mockbuster" by the name of The Day The Earth Stopped. If you frequent the Hollywood Video and Blockbuster rental movie chains, you might see movies that look/sound strikingly similar to something released in a theater. Honestly, it's a little annoying, but also quite hilarious to see them (on the shelf). I don't plan on seeing any of these titles for fear of time wasted. If you are a renter, it's worth the wait to see the real movie.

Score: *****

(Oh yeah, and just like on my MySpace blog, I give ratings... While I attempt at staying original but easy to understand, I use askerisks from 1 (sometimes 0) to 5, ***** being the best.)

in my mind, i'm already gone

2008-12-15T20:19:00.000-05:00

My vacation begins officially December 19th. I don't have plans on going anywhere except the deep recesses of my mind in Dreamland which involves sleeping past 9 AM without worry of missing phone calls from my office phone. Actually, the ringer on my phone is already off (sometimes, especially on Mondays, I leave the ringer off and wait for the red lights to tell me when my phone is ringing). And whenever I leave my desk for the day, I'm rarely concerned about missing calls.

But not only do I get an extend stay in Dreamland, but I can actually write when I feel like writing. This is why I chose December to focus on my screenplays, because I knew I'd have these 2 weeks to devote some "anytime" time to them. Whereas when I'm at work, I can't run upstairs to type out a scene or wake up in the middle of the night to type out a conversation when I know I need to remain asleep so I can work the next day. I always get those strong urges to write at the wrong times. It's a terrible cycle.

With that, I'll just say I didn't get much script work done this weekend. It's not like I didn't try. I just wasn't feeling it. So instead of forcing myself, I just watched movies, talked with friends, relaxed, listened to new music and had some delicious Jamaican food! And when I say I watched movies... I watched about 5 in a 24 hours span. Not that that's new for me, I just haven't done it in a while. I haven't written reviews for these movies (which included The Visitor, His Girl Friday, The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008), Horton Hears a Who and This Christmas) yet, but they will be on my MySpace shortly.

Also, I think what I will do from now on is post reviews for movies I've seen in theaters on this blog as well as on MySpace. So look for The Day The Earth Stood Still in the very near future. Wow, that almost sounds like an actual threat.

On a sad note, I lost a dear friend and semi-prized possession over the weekend. Friday I was having lunch with my friend, and I shared that the belt I was wearing was tearing and how I thought I'd have another month left with it. I was off by a month and an hour when is snapped while I was shopping at the Mart. Fortunately no one noticed, except for me and anyone looking at my face with my sudden look of fear and embarrassment. Fortunately my jeans are not that loose that they would immediately fall because then I would've been in a lot more trouble.

But besides stopping dead in my tracks and looking like I lost my wallet or my keys, I was in the clear. I checked out and moved to my car as quickly as possible making sure my pants kept up with me. When I got to the car I checked the damage, cried a little bit, then went home. Ah, good times. As for happier news, guess who's first in getting all their wrapped gifts under the tree? And yes, I'll admit, I cheated and had practically all my gifts shipped already wrapped. So call me lazy.

fripodding trailer trash part 1

2008-12-12T15:58:00.004-05:00

Since this will appear to be a pretty long post, I'm doing everyone a favor by chopping it in half... sorta...

Today's iPick is actually more "iPicks" since I'm going to list some of my favorite movie trailers. Once I got iSaac, I was happy to find that's one more awesome thing it can do--play movie trailers. However, they must be the iPod version if you are at http://apple.com/trailers where I found the basis for my list. Sadly, not all of them can go on to iSaac, but that won't get us down. Also, I can't stream what's on the Apple site. Maybe I could, but I'm not going to test those waters. And one more sad note, Apple/iTunes doesn't have all the trailers I was looking for. But what iTunes didn't have, YouTube did. And it worked both ways actually, some of the better versions of trailers iTunes had, and YouTube had no idea what I was talking about. So sad.

Before I start the list, I just want to note this isn't what I intended to discuss, but thanks to the antics at Melissa's Writing Forward comments area, I was inspired to post something that inspires me. And I'll try to be as brief about it as I can, but I'm a total geek for movie trailers. I show up early for them, I watch them on the DVDs, I download them online. Imagine how excited I felt when I found out people make trailers for a living. Trust me, I haven't cross that one off my list. What makes a trailer great to me is great use of music, great pieces of dialogue, cinematography, voice overs from the actual movie, or just getting a feel for what the movie is--especially if you've never seen or heard of the movie before. You will see one or some of these things in movies I've chosen and I'll do a wee bit of a caption. Let's get started!

As this trailer is awesome on it's own, the one on iTunes I like a lot better. Plus this is a good introduction to what a trailer is... in case you didn't know. Also, I love the teaser for this movie which is also on iTunes.

Speaking of teasers... What I love about this is the title's transformations. I'm a sucker for graphics like that. And seeing in the theater is squeal inducing.

This trailer would've made me want to see this movie had I not seen the movie way before I saw the trailer. That happens sometimes when you flip through the channels and tune into something that just started. But still, if you haven't seen this movie, maybe you are interested now?

Two words: eye candy.
I will say this, the movie isn't the greatest, but its fun to watch the colors. I can't help but get a little excited hearing the music though...

For some reason people either love it or hate it. But when the trailer came out, most people I talked to loved it... or at least the trailer. I'm a fan of both, and I think they have another version of the trailer... can't remember, but I probably like that one too.

One of my favoritest movies. What I like about a trailer like this is even though it shows you some funny stuff, the funniest stuff has still yet to be revealed. It's also the music.

To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about this graphic novel this movie is based on, but I have until March to find out. Furthermore, there is another version of this trailer I like better, but I can't find it on YouTube, it is on iTunes/Apple.com so check it out. The other trailer tells more of a story, still has the awesome music, and you can't help but love the visuals.

So, you've seen a few of what I chose for my favorite picks for trailers, and this isn't even the entire list. What are some of your favorites?

progress report - "the AP project"

2008-12-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

I'll give in a little to what I've been so distracted with lately. I can't give too many details because I keep hearing similar ideas on TV that have come and gone. Long story short, it's a sitcom about my experiences and adventures at SUNY Purchase. I'm pretty sure I can mine 2 seasons out of the 2 semesters I spent there if I had the chance. I wrote plot lines for 24 episodes, and I just finished mapping out the characters. Sunday I started outlining the pilot episode, but after all the blog reading I've been doing, I think I might freestyle it. It's not like I don't have an idea already of what I want to happen in the first episode. It's mostly an introductory. It's a pilot episode. So I'm not necessarily limited to 22 minutes. But that's my goal. Besides, I only need a rough draft to get me going. I can devote January to editing or something.

I won't reveal the title for my college sitcom. I'm not even going to discuss how I want it to be shot. But I will say that if you know a few of my favorite shows, you may have an idea. One of them is actually the first show that discouraged me from even continuing the project by the name of Undeclared. Awesome show and it's too bad it was cancelled. I could seriously relate to it and so could my sitcom, BUT I don't want mine to feel like a carbon copy. I don't think it will, except for one storyline involving locked doors and "Do Not Enter" signals between roommates, but that's fine. Arrested Development is another one that I have a serious love for. I enjoy writing while having that play in the background. I'm also going to cite Seinfeld for the mere fact that when Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld started the show, they didn't really know how to write a sitcom. I don't either, but that's not going to stop me from putting the story on paper in script form.

Also, I haven't had coffee for the past 2 weeks. My friend was sick and all she wanted was tea, and I hadn't had tea in a while so I felt like drinking tea too. I told her no coffee until she felt better. Guess what happened. Go on guess! Too late, I'll tell you, I got sick, so all I've been drinking is lemon tea or honey tea (when I'm home). What the stank is wrong with Dunkin Donuts that they can't make honey tea??? It's delicious and soothing for wounded throats. Sorry, but that upsets me. That should probably be my next poll question. Which tea do you better, honey or lemon? Or honey and lemon? (Don't knock it 'til you try it.) I'll pass on the green tea, thanks. (Tried it, didn't like it.) And Tree will pass on all kinds of tea, it just wants water from now on. I know that was my fault, but hey, it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Hang in there Tree.

fripodding and colbert caroling

2008-12-05T16:26:00.002-05:00

I've been ill these past few days. Today I'm suffering from having to speak in a low monotonic voice. Not really fun. I sound so... boring. Hey, people can get away with being monotone, Steven Wright anyone? Speaking of Stevens... or Stephen in this case... I've been iPodding this album for the past week to much hilarity. I wish I was able to catch the program for which the following album had spawned, but I think that's all part of marketing I suppose... "Go out and BUY IT" he tells me. Who? Stephen Colbert of course. I consider myself to be a citizen of the Colbert Nation. What a brilliantly funny fellow he is, indeed. And so I simply had to watch his Christmas special. (Buy the DVD at Amazon.com for a loved one (like me).)

Anyway, I recommend checking this out. It helps if you are already a fan of his comedy and catch on to his brand of humor. I'm sure a non-Colbert fan would get the jokes as well, but if one person begins to watch his show (comedy central Mon-Thurs @ 11:30 pm) then I have done him some justice so you can see for yourself. Check out the Daily Show too. My only conflict comes when I must decide between him and Leno. I probably shouldn't let Stephen here that, but it's the truth. But I NEED to see "Headlines" on Monday night... and the other nights? I try to be asleep by 11 if possible. It rarely happens. Or I'm knee-deep in a movie.

I digress. This hilarious special is filled with music from various guest stars including Elvis Costello, John Legend, Fiest, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. As far as I know this album is only found on iTunes, but it's worth checking out. Some of my favorite songs come from John Legend (no surprise) singing about his favorite spice on his eggnog, "Nutmeg." Now when I first saw and heard this song, I was under the impression he was singing about how much he loves this stuff. But after listening to the words... heh... wow... I liked Feist's song too. Not too familiar with all her music even though she's fairly new. But the song "Please Be Patient" is a hit in my book. I have an obscure book, but still, a hit nonetheless. And Toby Keith is probably the only country singer you'd find on iSaac. His song "Have I Got a Present For You" is one that sets the record straight about his stance on Christmas. Elvis Costello I don't know too well either, but he's a little crazy. He's featured on 3 of the 9 tracks. And Willie Nelson is a "Little Dealer Boy." What could I possibly mean by that? What do you think it could mean? Again, if you haven't seen the special, get on that. His special and album have made their way into my Christmas canon.

Oh and by the way, if you've been watching the The Colbert Report, you know about "Operation: Humble Kanye" and it was recently a success. As I am a fan of Mr. West, I was happy to see Colbert's operation a success. Basically, Kanye's new album was #1 and Colbert was about #15. Kanye also said he was the voice of this generation, which Colbert disagreed with and decided to put the humble operation into play. Friendly competition never heard anyone, right? Well, maybe their ego. It's only $8 so get your holiday laughs and cheers on and have a good weekend.

script skills, activate!

2008-12-01T15:45:00.002-05:00

Woot woot! It's December of 2008. Why am I so excited? Not sure. However, this month I plan to devote to strictly scriptwriting... or at least to the scriptwriting process--character developments, plot developments, mapping out the stories, and most important: actually writing the script itself. For me, for some reason, that's the most time-consuming. The nice thing about getting to the step is whenever I get into a good flow, I could probably complete a script in a matter of hours or less, depending on how long the story actually is. I know this because of my screenwriting class a few years ago, along with my own personal episodes when I'm struck with a short script to write. The only thing I'm limiting myself to is still to pre-existing material I've already started either on my laptop, scraps of paper, and especially ideas written in my notebook(s). Some ideas have begun festering due to inactivity and being further developed. The sooner they are finished, the sooner I can devote my notebook (and brain space) to new fresh ideas to fester... I mean develop.

(This is a picture of iSaac playing "Champion" and my notes on one of my latest works, "Champion.")

Basically, all this month I will refrain from working on poetry (unless, of course, a wave of inspiration sweeps me into jotting lyrics to something really wonderful) and I may even be blogging less (I'm not sure how true that will actually be) but since I'm fairly new on Twitter, I'll probably stay up to date on that via text messages from my phone. Regarding my poetic skills, I've been working on pieces all of November and only (secretly) published 1 of 5 written. Why? I don't know. I will publish 2 more, as I feel the other 2 may remain "unreleased" because I know I can do better. As one of my poetry teachers once told me, sometimes we write poems that are meant just to clear our throat. Once we get the phlegm out of the way, we can clearly say what we mean, with great flow and rhythm and all that good stuff. I think it's possible to still make those throat-clearers something worth reading. However, how they look right now, it's not up to par with the level I'm trying to achieve. Don't worry, you probably aren't missing anything special if you never read what I never release.

So as this month goes on, I ask for support in this challenge. I work better if I'm pressured. Odd as it may sound, I don't like pressure, but when I am, I'm more productive. It's like a turbo boost to the process and progress. I like those 2 things and those eventually lead to my personal favorite kind of euphoria: results and accomplishments. So every so often this month, feel free to ask me how I'm doing? What have I completed? Am I done yet? Ya know, annoying things like that. This can be done via blog comments this month, emails (including MySpace and Facebook), text messages (for those who know me like that), instant messages (I'm on AIM), in person (if I'm caught outside of my house), and especially my new social funess Twittering. I usually respond within 24 hours to any message depending where and what I'm doing. If I take any longer, then it means that I officially hate you. I JEST! I jest...

In the meantime, enjoy my fruits of November labor.

Champion - inspired by various songs, my life and my father.

Letter to My Beloved Somebody - inspired by John Legend's I Love, You Love

Fallen - inspired by this post by Melissa Dovovan ...amongst other things.

the november picture post (finally)

2008-11-29T22:51:00.004-05:00

So first of all, I'd like to say Merry Christmas, it's officially Christmastime. I've also been holding out on posting pictures I've taken every so often. I keep wishing to be one of those people that brings his camera everywhere taking pictures of everything and everyone, but sadly my "good" camera has yet to make it on the official "personal effects list" (such as my phone, iSaac the iPod, which coincidentally has a camera, a pen, my MoleSkine, my wallet, my keys, and occasionally the Bag o' Tricks, which is merely my backpack that goes almost everywhere with me). So my phone has a camera, why don't I use it? Too frustrating to send picture to the Internet. It can be done but I need a strong connection and a couple minutes while it sends. I get more failed attempts than I would like, so by the 8th time I ask myself what is it really worth?

Anyway, my first picture comes from my office and is actually last years Christmas present from my boss. I'm considering starting a snow globe collection... but I'm not sure yet. So here is my Christmas greeting to you all.

I couldn't tell you why the snowman looks sad. Maybe he fell of his skis? I can't say.

The best stuff on Earth. This I sprinkle on a lot of foods from my eggs to veggies and of course, popcorn! What could be better? Adding it to Smartfood Popcorn, as if it didn't have enough cheese already. It also comes in other interesting flavors. Go to the site for more.

I'm the tech guru/PC doctor in my immediate family, yet my brother-in-law has a lot more knowledge than I, unfortunately he lives in Maryland. In any event, I get called upon by friends and family to see if I can figure out what's wrong with a computer. Fortunately, this was a successful attempt after about 6 hours of working. My grandmother's laptop ran disgustingly slow due to some corrupted file. Just because I'm good at problem solving, doesn't mean you can call me or drop off your computer. I have other things in my life that needs to be tackled. But I could use a good puzzle like this every so often.

One problem is freezer burnt ice cream. I can't just throw it away, especially when its a full carton of forgotten ice cream. That spells a wet and eventually stinky sticky mess in the garbage. So I sent it to liquid form down the sink and tried to make some art because it took awhile to melt. I certainly didn't feel bad about this because I hate freezer burnt ice cream.

I'd just like to take a moment to discuss the flash feature in my camera. This is the only way I can "freeze" something like water. I've taken pictures like this using drips of water and it's quite fun. But as you can see, the old ice cream is going quickly.

See the difference? No flash, and it looks like regular flowing water. My goal is to take pictures without the flash but achieve the same "freezing" effect. I require a more expensive camera that's on my celebrity wish list for that to take place.

This looks gross, but it was the last remains of the last carton of forgotten ice cream. It was vanilla, caramel swirl with caramel pieces covered in chocolate. It was okay. Would've been better in a small carton.

I had to make cornbread for Thanksgiving dinner. While I don't have trouble making it, I did have trouble with this pan. Sadly, I had to pull off the muffin tops and cut out the bottom stumps, then I put them back together on another pan hoping no one would notice. And yes, people did, and yes we talked about the Seinfeld episode. And yes that's cinnamon (and sugar... and nutmeg) sprinkled on top. It's my signature baking ingredient.

This picture was from my phone and didn't do my Thanksgiving meal justice. Don't look for the turkey, I'm not crazy about it and only had a few pieces the day after. The pink juice is a strange but delicious fruit punch. This was an excellent meal and it was funny that the only thing left on people's plate was my cornbread muffin. Am I hurt? No. I, too, couldn't finish and we all wanted to take a nap.

This is a tiny tiny taste of what I do when I'm not doing my current job, and what will be my main focus next month. I will explain more later. Obviously it's a piece of script from a short film titled The Last Meeting, and I have my friend in New York who already asked to direct it moments after reading the first draft. Hopefully, it's the first of many collaborations with her.

Do I really need to explain this one? This is the first of hopefully more awesome t-shirts I order from the web.

So that's some pictorials from around the workforce. I'll do what I can to be more consistent with them, but no promises. I rely more on my words and gift of imagery more than pictures, but pictures can say so much too. And maybe I will write less. And my photography skills will improve once I take pictures of things worth remembering forever.

Lastly, I know there wasn't a friPod post. Consider that I was on a holiday break. Honestly, there was nothing I was really iPodding that much this week. It was an off week for me at the office. I was feeling rather blah, and my drive to do any work was seriously lacking. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. But nevertheless, I do indubitably have an iPick for this upcoming friPod iPick. I actually "discovered" it on my holiday break. And hey! It's holiday themed! So stay tuned and you'll figure out what it is. In the meantime, I shall reload my camera with more images that are worth talking about about.

we wish you a happy thankgiving (and a happy african american friday)

2008-11-25T09:41:00.002-05:00

It's Tuesday once again. What's different about this Tuesday is that to most people, it's like a Wednesday because of the holiday weekend. For me, this is my first 5 day weekend. Last year this time I was still at the Mart dreading African American Friday. I JEST! I jest... Black Friday it's called. Not everything "black" can be politically correct, I guess. So all people of all races celebrate in the same way by rushing out to their local outlets to solidify the commercialism of Christmas, putting those particular retailers in the black, versus the dangerous low sales of red, and in turn see green so they can afford a snow machine for a white Christmas, even though for some stores this will be their last go-round and it makes them very blue, indoob. Yes, 'tis very colorful, magical and bittersweet. I'm not feeling the same anti-commercialism as last year. Still cynical, not as critical. Does that mean I'm a sell out? No. (Not yet.) But nevertheless, just as long as I know what the holiday is all about to me and my loved ones, that's all I really care about this year. Besides, watching the stock market is more fascinating to me, even though the commercialism is directly related to economy. But I won't get into stuff I don't know too much about.

Let's not forget the reason why most people have Friday off. THANKSGIVING! Which is like a big pre-Christmas gathering and meal. It's an official Christmas Season Eve feast. Of course the stores have already started on November 1st, wanting you to get your plastic tree now! You don't want to be the last one and get stuck with a Charlie Brown tree. Actually, I don't think I'd mind it. I'd give it a good home. Then me and some people would gather around it and make it look awesome, then sing up to the sky "Hark! The Herald Angel Sing." (For more fun interesting trees like on the left, check out World's Most Unusual Trees.)

There's no sense in watching those Christmas specials on TV when you have them on DVD already. I'm just saying. I must comment on the brilliance of Stephen Colbert's Christmas Spectacular I watched this weekend. Totally a must if you are a fan of his show and his brand of humor.

It still makes me ask the question, which I still never get a response to, why aren't their Thanksgiving carols? I wrote an article about this for a school paper, and instead of getting answers I gained a following who echoed my question and agreed that Christmas and Halloween overshadow the holiday, as well as the general Autumn or harvest themes absorbing the feasting of turkeys and thanksgivinginess. Even these years later, I've succumbed to society's treatment of the Day to Give Thanks, and consider going to the Mart just to watch madness live and unadulterated. On second though, I'll stay home and sleep and stick to online or middle-of-the-day during the middle-of-the-week shopping when stores are less full. Not that I have much shopping to do, I did a lot of it during the year. I'm good like that, yes yes y'all!

There are pictures and links to new poems on the way, I'm just waiting for a package so I can group that post altogether so we can all see the newness together. Deal?

indoob goes twitter

2008-11-22T05:15:00.002-05:00

I've given in to another trend of the times. I keep hearing about this Twitter business, so I started one mere moments ago. I don't have many friends on it right now. In fact, the 1st guy I don't even know but sent me a friend's request on Facebook about a year ago. I still haven't accepted. Anyone else familiar with an Uncle Shag? He's not my uncle. I don't know who the stank he is. Maybe he created Twitter? I don't know.

What I do know is that it's way later than I'm normally awake and that's because I fell asleep from around 10pm to 1am. Oh yeah, it was a wild Friday night for me indubitably. I won't get into details of the unadulterated events. Actually, prior to my late night nap I had a fun day eating Stuffed Crust pizza with a belated birthday girl, venturing the mall with their pre-Christmas sales, coming home to do 2 hours of overtime work, then watching Tropic Thunder with commentary by the stars. Oh, and there was some mountain climbing and paintball gunning involved too. Lies. All of it were outright lies and I apologize. But hey, to get to my Twitter thingy just remember twitter.com/indoob so go check on it from time to time.

In any event, here I am blabbing away as usual about nothing in particular. Except about my new Twitter which I can now update via my phone. Actually, I'm able to update this blog with my phone, but I think with Twitter, it's built with text messages in mind, whereas regular blogs are not. Still, you can catch my latest up-to-date adventures on the side bar, and feel free to follow me and I may be inclined to follow you if you have one. I may actually be doing something worth Twittering about, which may find it's way in the next blog entry I write. Even if it doesn't, it's great for nosey people or those who just want a one sentence response to "what are you doing?" I'll refrain from bathroom adventures unless of course my pyromania returns and I feel the urge to light something on fire in the bath tub. I no longer have pictures of my last bout of excitement, but it was fun. It was also a good use to get rid of bad cologne.

Before I go, check out CommonCraft.com and their videos to break down things in simple terms for people like you and me to understand. They have a video about Twitter which encouraged me... So give it a look-see. Also, check out KarenJLloyd.com who is an expert storyboard artist, which I am beginning to feel is an under appreciated field once you realize how important this job is to the filmmaking process. I'm mentioning these two sites because they are further encouragement to me on how to tell better stories. More so Karen's blog than CommonCraft, but she explains that you can tell a really good story with stick figures, and CommonCraft gets the point across very effectively. Hey, I give props where props are due. (Plus she gave me a plug on her blog, it's about time I mention hers). And I think in December, I'll start work on a new writing project and seriously commit some time to completing my next script or scripts. I must remember to start small. Then, with my arsenal of scripts, I could rule the world! Muahahaha! Wow, I need to go to bed...

fripodding and dining

2008-11-21T13:05:00.004-05:00

I had my first staff meeting at an off-site location on Wednesday. Just to break it down a bit further, "off-site" means not in or around the office. With most of my team being work-at-home, it seems like a really good idea to do. And I will agree that it was a good idea! We had our luncheon at one of my semi-favorite place's to eat: Chili's. It's "semi" now due to the ever changing menu and me not going as often as I once did. It's still a great place. And there's a picture of some of my fun times on this blog back a few months ago. Anyway, the meeting wasn't really business related. With everyone being at their home all the time, we forget what each other look like or what they're doing. I personally don't mind turning invisible. The only times that's impossible for me is at church and when I was at Purchase in certain areas.

Later today, more like an hour from now, I'll be dining at one of my top favorite pizza joints. The one and only Pizza Hut. Oh Pizza Hut, how I love thee. Shall I count the ways? No, not right now. It is sad these places are disappearing. Sometimes you'll get the Pizza Hut Express which everyone tells me is crap and not worth it, but c'mon! It's the closest to Pizza Hut pizza until I make it to an official hut! At least we are getting an IHOP built closer to us. Oh IHOP, how I love thee...

Today's friPod iPick is an actual band. I've been iPodding this band all week since I heard a little diddy called This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race. Actually, what I was listening to was a Kanye West remix, then I finally dove into the band's catalogue, something I was supposed to do a year or so ago since they were on my list of artists to check out.

I'm talking about Fall Out Boy. A band that has been labelled "emo" to "alternative rock" and a whole bunch of other things I may or may not understand or agree with. Actually, I've heard many people complain that these boys aren't "rock" at all, but how can one define such a genre? At one point, Chuck Berry was considered rock. How would I define it? Well if you can rock out, then it's a rock band. I can rock out to The Temptations, John Legend, Panic at the Disco, Daft Punk, Justice... The list can go on.

But F.O.B. is our topic today. I've been particularly infatuated with their last album, Infinity on High. Their new album Folie a Deux. There's no doubt I'll pick up that album either via iTunes or Wal-Mart, whoever has more tracks. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Having heard parts of their first two albums and all of Infinity and having seen most of their music videos, this is a band I really enjoy all day long.

I will say that they have elements of screamo is some of their songs... basically just screaming lyrics and I needed to fins the lyrics to translate. I could do without all that screaming, but hey... I guess it works for them. As for their lyrics, Pete Wentz is responsible for most of them. And if you read them, they are rather cryptic. At least they are to me. Some I can figure out, but that might be due to having already been told what the theme of the song is about. I also wanted to know the lyrics because the music is so good, I wanted to sing along but couldn't figure out the words. The Carpal Tunnel of Love is a good example. I'd link it to the music video, but I'm not a fan of the video. Just my opinion, find it on your own. Just shield the eyes of your children. Most of their songs have interesting titles too, some with their own back stories. Another well liked song, Thnks Fr Th Mmrs. A bit hit of theirs actually. Funny video too. By the way, they are friends with the other bands on their record label including Panic at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes, so don't be surprised to see them in their videos.

I will link you to a cover of Michael Jackson's Beat It which I really like, and one of their newer singles I Don't Care with the band being a crazy band. I enjoy driving to this song, but I amazing don't have road rage. Imagine that. Ooo! Pizza Hut time!

summer cinema blockbusters = winter home entertainment

2008-11-18T12:36:00.001-05:00

It took me a few years to realize it, but that tends to be how summer movies work. I say this only because I just came home from Hollywood Video with my new Tuesday releases Wall-e and Tropic Thunder. I also picked up Kung Fu Panda, a movie that came out a week or so ago but I forgot about. I managed to miss all of these (and a few others) when they were in theaters. Shame on me, I know. But I got to see the mega hits like Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Wanted and The Dark Knight, so that's all that matters (not really).

As the weather starts to turn into it's typical New Englandy cool-down (and lately it's been struggling to get there with stubborn spring-like temps every other day), I once again reminisce about my Purchase days and the theory--or philosophy--my buddy Ryder shared with me about the opposite sex that lived on campus. This actually could translate to other places besides college, like maybe the mall, but basically once it gets cold, all the pretty girls tend to stay inside. (This doesn't mean they never come out, since we still need to get to class. And it doesn't mean we are excluding less attractive women either. We weren't that shallow. But we had our preferences.) The trick is to get friendly with these hibernating ladies before the snow falls so they are snuggling up with you somewhere warm in a dorm room or house or something. Even though I was at Purchase for a year, this theory seemed to be true. There really weren't as many girls roaming the courts when it was cold and snowy unless it was necessary. The dorms were all connected with underground tunnels that also went to the dining hall, so that was a popular option for everyone, even if the food was... blah? But 'twas another chance to find more cuddle buddies.

And what better way to pass the snuggle time than with a warm summer blockbuster now on DVD? Well, actually watching old classics or TV shows on DVD worked just fine, sometimes better. What else may go on during these cuddly snuggly times I don't think I need to discuss, this is a college atmosphere I'm describing. As eccentric as the Purchase is, it's still college. But the great thing about that place is how movies of all kinds, old and new, domestic and foreign, would bring people together. Well, until Christmas break.

Reviews of the movies above will be (or have been) posted on my MySpace, per usual once the film has been viewed and I feel like writing about it.

fripodding and changing

2008-11-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

So I guess I'm still on my charity kick. Not a bad thing, but I enjoy writing the more light heart hearted material. I'll save the heavy stuff for those moving scenes in my movies. Speaking oh which, I'm formulating a plan in which I'll write short scripts for myself when I do podcasts. (Actually, I'm not sure if they'll be officially "podcasts" but it'd be cool if I could... and just the thought of me being in YOUR iPod... gives me chills all over my body. OoooOOoooo! Yeah, it's like that... which is a bit creepy... sorry.) Anyway, I'll bring my movie reviews to the Workforce, but after I'll actually film myself talking about it. I'd do it now, but I lack the capability of transferring video to PC... and I'm not about to just buy some run of the mill webcam when I know I can do better. In the meantime, I'll hone in on other crafts until I can afford that (and a Mac). The podcasts (which will have a special name all its own) will contain other fun things besides reviews... but we'll talk about that bridge when it's in sight.

Back to charity... Today's friPod iPick hails from the King... of Pop. And I'm sure it's some what inspired by the King... the Reverend. It's none other than the #1 hit in the '88 (and no, I don't remember it at the time, but I'm quite fond of it now), Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" and I even provided a link which I wasn't going to do because EVERYONE should know this song.

The video is taken from the Moonwalker home video that was released back in his prime. I've watched it several times, I don't hide the fact that I'm a long time fan. I will say that at the time, I didn't know what or who were in most of those clips interlaced in the video. In fact, I didn't even really know what the song was about, but for some reason it made me wanna cry a little bit just because I could feel the emotion in the song. While it "randomly" iPodded the other day at work, it brought back a flood of memories like it normally does when I hear it. Then iSaac decided to keep repeating the song, what a weird iPod it is.

And it's a great song I love to lampoon because it's hard to translate some of his lyrics from what you actually hear, that is, if you don't know the song very well. At times I feel as though I'm singing with my teeth clenched. (Yes, I've sung this song many times in my room and in front of the mirror. Don't act like you haven't. Maybe not to this song, but there's something on Jackson's discography that makes you go into concert.) And of course there's the infamous "cha'mon!" Oh, these were the days. He practically ruled the world at this time. This is a time I was growing up listening to him and watching people go nuts. People don't pass out at concerts anymore. What a waste of money. Go see MMJ and you faint, then you're carried off to who knows where. And this dude has always been original with his wardrobe. I couldn't pull off have his outfits. But he did tend to pull them off. This is during the time he was... uh... fit? Young. We'll go with young. Can you believe this dude is 50? Have you seen my childhood?... (His? Yes.) I jest.

Again, I digress. With these times of change, I thought this song would be fitting. Even though we are looking for change from our new President, we must not forget that change starts with us. So go find a mirror right now (well, wait until you're done reading) and ask that man or woman or whatever to change their ways. (If the image talks back to you... I can't help you.) We all want, or should want to see this world change for the better and that can't happen if you don't do anything about it. Whether it's helping the environment, a wee child, your next door neighbor, their next door neighbor, a squirrel or the less fortunate: make that change.

why i don't miss driver's ed class (a true story)

2008-11-12T10:43:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I took my dreaded driver re-training class brought to you by CT DMV. Actually, A Better Connecticut Driver, but who's really keeping track of names? It's still a 4 hour class that's pretty much a refresh of something I learned 6 years ago. People who get caught speeding, running lights, stops signs, etc. have to take this class or get their license suspended. What I learned is that there are all kinds of people out there offending the traffic laws. Besides me, 25 multi-colored-personalities of fun! Fortunately for me, I got to sit at the same table with the chief offender. But we'll get to that in a bit.

This class took place at a local hotel (which actually was a nice blessing since some students had driven a considerable distance whereas I only took about 5-10 minutes). We were all packed into one of the smaller banquet rooms with tiny 3 people-per-table settings. I got there early due to the lady on the phone telling me the doors would be closed and locked had I gotten there a minute past the start time (she told me 5:45 sharp, in actuality it started at 6pm, and I just made it by 5:30... but at least I got a good seat).

OH!! Before we get to the hotel, let me tell you about before I got there. Per the lady on the phone, I had to pay with a money order of $60. (Which brings my total speeding offense to about $360.) So I went to the local money order place I knew of, a 24 hour store down the street from my house that I normally got money orders from. I rarely buy them, and I rarely use checks. So this is somewhat of a hassle for me, but I deal with it. It's about 5pm and the dude says the machine that does money orders is only on in the morning. I'm thinking... WHAT THE STANK?! I don't say it, but I want to. And I feel anger and frustration but I'm too much in a hurry to demand explanations.

I drive down to the grocery store thinking they might have my needs and call my mom on the way, looking for other options. She suggests a pawn shop the opposite way. I love my mom. She was correct. I get there and tell the dude I need a money order and begin to pull out the plastic. He stops me before I go any further to alert me its a cash only deal. It didn't dawn on me at the time. I mean c'mon, it's a pawn shop. He suggests the 24 hour store down the street has an ATM. The same one that turned off their money order machine. Big sigh.

I'm back at the 24 hour store and head straight to the ATM. I pay me stupid $2 to get $80, then grab a Pepsi to break one of the $20s so I have change to buy the money order. (Silly me, before leaving the house I could've grabbed $.60 to avoid this transaction, but the Pepsi comes in handy later.)

I'm back at the pawn shop, I get my money order, and I travel to the hotel. Had I not gone back and forth, I would've been there much earlier. But early birds get the better seats, once you find the room anyway. I helped an older gentleman find the same room too.

Walking in those rooms at evening hours gave me unsettling memories of when I was swindled out out $500 for a pyramid scheme. I don't wanna talk about it.

There's only 3 people in the room when I get there. Three older guys. In my head, being a young guy, I was hoping for some hot girls that happened to be bad drivers. Hey, I can dream. As the time got closer to 6, the room filled up with mostly older men. And what women that did come in, weren't really in my league. One such dude gave me hope when he came in, telling me the last time he had to come to such a class, it was full of girls. He knew me from high school, and he did look familiar, but still after he told me his name, I was drawing a blank. Alas, that night it was the opposite of hot girls.

I don't really like talking about people since I never know who might read this, but one such person who sat at my table... Let me put it like this, I'd never attack a woman. But this woman I think I wanted to duct tape her entire face. I'd leave holes to breathe through and maybe one eye hole, but deep inside, I didn't care much for her. (I wouldn't really do it. Just the sound of the duct tape would make me happy.) If the reason isn't clear, it's because she kept talking. Even before the class started, she was on her cell phone talking to whoever about who knows what. Wasn't really considerate to the others around her even though class didn't start. But while the teacher talked, she had comments. Not helpful or insightful. More along the lines of trying to be humorous. It came off as annoying. Perhaps it was thinking out loud. And when we did the tests? Between reading out loud and pointing out typos, I longed for escape. (I'll throw in the fact she felt like she wasn't supposed to be in this class due to her getting a ticket and it not being her fault. I lost so much interest that I don't remember the specific details of her offense.)

I'm missing a point here. I was at one end of the table, she was at the other. A kind lady sat between us. Like I said, it was cramped as it is. I don't think the lady at the end of the table would've lived very long if the class was 5 or 6 hours. And think, all I wanted to do was duct tape her. I could see the stress and frustration the lady next to me was feeling. She did the best she could to keep it inside, but she was also good with the sarcasm or gestures of "I really hate you right now, please don't speak to me" while smiling or brushing her off completely. At one point she turned to her and said she was giving a little too much class participation when the lady commented on why she doesn't like seat belts. (The lady was a rather large lady, especially in the chest area, and complained TO THE CLASS about having to get out of the seatbelt should there be an accident due to her, um, largeness.)

What made it worse was the dude who knew me (and sat in front of me) was part of the problem, kind of talking or commenting to her or her comments. He was actually making comments all all night to everyone and the teacher and even started a conversation with the teacher about being a teacher. This caused an unseen man in the back to blurt out "Get on with it!" Ironically enough, we just covered road rage.

The other pain we all endured was a man who didn't seem like he followed the whole program. That wasn't the problem I, or others, had with him. It was the coughing. Perhaps it was a smokers cough. I'm not sure. But it was a cough that sounded worse each time he did it. And by worse, I mean it was longer, louder and... uh... moister. I don't want to get too graphic. It just got unpleasant. I wouldn't have been surprised if he coughed up a shoe. In fact, I hoped he would so that way maybe we'd know and be aware "Okay, this guy had a shoe in his lung. Now he'll be quiet and okay the rest of the night."

The whole night could've been a lot worse. I don't want to imagine how. But at least now I'm done with the cops, the DMV and their fees for everything. I will do the best I can to avoid speeding, mostly so I can avoid sitting through another class, and spending hours with people I probably won't ever meet again. God forbid, but how ironic would it be if any of us got into an accident with each other?

'tis the season

2008-11-09T02:04:00.004-05:00

So I've been having the hardest time writing this particular post, because as most Indoobians know, I go into great detail, painting wordy pictures just to get to a point. And each time I begin writing this one, I go from talking about a lost article/essay I wrote for a high school newspaper, to childhood memories and epiphanies after watching a favorite Christmas-themed film from my youth, to how I've learned to cherish and appreciate my dearest loved ones and the material things I've been blessed with over the years. All and all, the post got seriously mushy and sentimental. Like a movie found on the Hallmark channel. And that is a stone's throw away from Lifetime! [Shudders.] Granted, having some sensitive material isn't harmful and shows that I do have a caring heart from time to time, but I want this blog to put smiles on the faces containing eyes that are reading. So all that stuff isn't bad... I just don't feel like writing that today. Plus I have a reputation to uphold being a lovable sarcastic smart mouthed jerk.

So I'll save my count-your-blessings and APPRECIATE speech for another day (because there are some people who really need to look at their life so far and realize they have nothing to complain about). Instead, I'm going to talk a little bit about charity.

With the festive holidays fast approaching, I don't want people to forget about the less fortunate. I went to the mall, as I usually do every few weeks, just to wander around and my friend noticed what she called "the baby tree." It's got wishes from children (actually children and adults) who are in hospitals, shelters, or being sponsored by foundations or something. These are hanging from the tree like ornaments, and the wishes are what that child wants.

My friend does this kind act every year, picking a boy and girl. I immediately decided to pick one too, so I looked for a wish that wouldn't make me broke... like a PS3 game, and wasn't too general... like "educational toy." I picked an 8-year old boy who wanted a book of all the maps of the world. Simple, specific and convenient. The tree was set up a few feet outside of Borders! So my crew and I went in search for a book, and found one in the kids' section with the help of a tall salesperson who looked like he goes surfing in the summer. Buying the book was a good feeling. Similar to warm and fuzzies. Fortunately it wasn't mold I had eaten this time. After the purchase, I dropped it off at the information desk like instructed on the little card I detached from the tree along with the original wish. The lady there seemed frustrated before I got there about something, but apparently by me giving this gift, it cheered her up tremendously, like I got the book for her or something. Silly lady. It's for the kiddies!

I keep saying this, but I really need to start bringing my camera with me and taking pictures to document these random adventures specifically for Indoobian purposes. Plus this would prove I leave the house and I do have friends.

So to conclude what I attempted to not be a long post: don't be afraid to do a random act of kindness, even when money is involved, and especially around this time of the year. Pay it forward, anyone? More on charity another day. In complete unrelated news, I'll debut a fresh new poem later this week. Maybe poems... maybe.

fripodding and celebrating like a champion

2008-11-07T11:37:00.002-05:00

Where to begin in the epic story of the week that was?

First of all, I must say that last Halloween was a blast for me, doing my annual DJ gig, playing good music for 3-4 hours straight for kids and adults to have fun to. The Jackson 5 was revisted. Pictures were taken, but I wasn't in any of them, so I won't share them. Don't get a hissy fit with me! I'm important too, ya know. Plus, I need a new MySpace picture, especially with me in action. I was Tito.

Monday I had computer issues. I had to upgrade a program I use for work. Sadly, it wasn't working, therefore I couldn't work. It was bittersweet. It gave me time to rewatch what may now be my favorite foreign film The Man Who Copied. If you've never heard of it, I suggest you Netflix it immediately. It hails from Brazil and stars Leandra Leal whom I've developed a hopeless crush over. I actually should dedicate a post for the movie alone. Anyway, I watched it a couple times picking up things I never noticed before as well as being re-inspired to fulfill my dream in wanting to tell the world stories through my writing and eventual filmmaking. My computer program finally worked correctly eventually, so that's great.

Tuesday. I said it before, I'm a news junkie. CNN.com is a friend on my work computer. I couldn't stop checking it all day long. I don't know why. I did my vote thing around 10ish. No lines. Awesome. A cute girl was working there, but no game was played. It's hard to do moves when you're with you mom, plus I think it would just annoy the worker. I really wanted to go back home anyway. After work, I ran out to rent some movies because I couldn't imagine watching the news from 7PM until who knew when. Even I need a break sometime. But my dad and I kept tabs on our laptops while we watched movies. Then my dad channel surfed until I decided to go to my room to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert tell me the Earth-shattering news. I wish I was at someone's party or out in the streets. I really did. This needs a post all it's own, which I sort've addressed Tuesday night. But this can lead into today's friPod's iPick.

I've actually been waiting to talk about this song for a while. But after Tuesday, the message behind this song is clear: Kanye West's "Champion." I'm just going to throw this out now, as of today, I don't care too much for his new toy he likes to use in his songs. But hey, the same thing happened when music video directors discovered the fish-eye lense. And bullet-time. I still like bullet-time though.

I don't care much for the video, however it is very creative with Kanye as a puppet training to be a champion. Once again, I'd post it, but embedding is disabled. Watch and listen to the video here.

I actually made a playlist with iSaac featuring Champion-esque song. But this song is very uplifting, inspiring and empowering for me. It keeps me ambitious and working hard to achieve greatness. Furthermore, as the chorus suggest: did you realize that you were a champion in their eyes? And yes, after much reminding, I did realize that. And the eyes are those of children, peers and my family whom support me. So this song is a reminder as to who I'm working for, so to speak. Would you like to see the Champion Playlist? It's not long, and by no means is it complete. I don't think an average playlist is complete until you can fit it into a CD. Unless its for a specific event... like a 3-5 hour Halloween party. iSaac actually has the playlist called "champion beats" since I built the list on strong bass and/or drumlines. Not all of them had champion messages though*. Regardless--

Champion Requiem - Mos Def
Champion - Kanye West
Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield
We Want Your Soul - Andre 3000*
I Need You - Alicia Keys*
Hostile Gospel Pt. 2 - Talib Kweli
Grammy Family - Consequence feat. DJ Khaled, Kanye West & John Legend

Like I said, it's a short playlist and I haven't added to it... yet. But that's what keeps me in a champion mind set, and Kanye is a good role model for that. Interestingly enough, he has a connection to every artist on that playlist. But we'll play that game another day.

Lastly, there's a poem I've been working on that also deal with the champion theme, but unfortunately I didn't finish it in time to go along with this post. Nevertheless, when it's complete, I shall make it known and also restate a revised playlist, hopefully.

Happy Friday all.

WOOT

2008-11-04T23:05:00.003-05:00

As I told my instant-friend Kathy moments ago, I'm so excited that I could pee.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.

I know my vote counted.

Yes. Yes. Y'all.

votember 4th

2008-11-04T09:57:00.001-05:00

Hey. Um... If you haven't already, go out and vote. If you don't, then you don't have the right to complain about anything. I don't know about you, but even though I don't complain much (except for here), I at least want my right to complain. At least I can say about our current president that I did not vote for him.

I'm really sleepy for some reason. I'm not sure who I can complain to about that problem.

And due to my sleepiness, I wish I was a full-time paid writer. That way, I can sleep whenever I want (almost), and then wake up to tap away at my computer creating lovely stories/poems/etc.

On a related note, I'm re-titling my "Writing Retreat" project to "Three 1/2 Stars". Unfortunately, I can't find any stars in a font. I've searched every webding and wingding I have... and nothing. Asterisks don't work for what I want either. Sigh. Oh well, I'll deal with it later. The story is more important than the title anyway.

But back to the topic at hand... 'Tis election day. Do your civil duty! Well, just as long as you are allowed to. Like... if you are 17 you are exempt, or if you've been in jail, or if you live in another country, or if you cease to exist. If you don't fit those categories... VOTE! Or I will beat you up. Friday. 3PM at the flagpole. That's not a threat.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say "Yes we can!"

disc jockeying

2008-11-02T01:22:00.002-04:00

Would you like to travel with me to another official Purchase College memory? Of course you would! I'll make it brief and not too un-relatable.

Basically I'm longing for my days of being on the radio. Even a college run radio station (which is nice to hone in on a craft). I think having this Indoob blog is the next best thing I have until I start podcasting (who knows when that will be). Or when I get the nerve to do my own Internet radio station broadcast (once I remember what website has that). But I remember my... hmmm... 4-5 shows I had in the beginning of '05... My, those were good college times. I even had the perfect schedule where I only schooled 3 days a week. But that had nothing to do with the radio.

It'd be no shocker I played the heaviest metal I could find, and being a liberal arts college station, they didn't care much about censorship. Okay... so I lied. Not about the censorship, but most Indoobians would know by now my brand of music. The only thing I seem to detest these days is country music UNLESS certain terms are met. Usually Shania Twain had to be involved. But that's another story.

I ran into New Eden Radio tonight by way of someone I once talked to online some time ago. I doubt if she remembers me, but if she does, plus points for her! Anyway, it turns out she's now a DJ for the station, so I checked out the live stream. Not bad. She goes by DJ Blue Eyes. (I'm going to guess the "Eyes" is spelt with a "z" cuz that's how all the kewl kidz do it 2day. (And yes it hurts to purposely misspell those words.)) So by checking out this site and giving her show some ratings, I would recommend this to a few people because of the music she plays. Not my favorite cup of tea, but it's tea I can drink and even suggest to others. I'm in it more for how the DJ communicates with the audience. I like banter. Good banter is hard to find. (This coming from the guy who rarely listens to the radio since he works at home and always listens to an iPod he named iSaac.)

But back to my memory story! I never liked being alone on my show. So my most favorite and popular guest co-host was DrugFree. He actually had his own show which he hosted with someone else (but had me as a special guest a couple of nights and we'd take turns plugging each other's shows). I must say that it's so much more fun having someone else on the air to talk to. I tried talking to the person on the other side of the glass, the "producer," but they were never listening. Anyway, my buddy (Rich was his real name) and I would talk about random but relevent things going on at the time, or campus life. At times it ended up becoming a comedy routine and I think I ended up playing the straight man, chock full of sarcasm. But it worked. My parents surprised me one night, calling me during my show to tell me they were listening to the Internet stream (they were about an hour away at home). They remarked on the conversation we had about eating potato chips on the air, and if we should've been eating them at all while being on the air or even in the booth. Needless to say, you had to be there. I wish I could've gotten recorded copies of our shows... but alas, that wasn't possible. Both our shows had a small fan base. DrugFree's show ended up going to TV while I moved back to Connecticut and discovered filmmaking (which was partially introduced thanks to my major in broadcast communications). Soul Sundays with Sterling Silver would've been a great show... if I stayed.

The moral of this story is that my dream of being a radio DJ/personality is not dead. Sterling Silver with rock the airwaves once more. I'm a fan of morning shows, since they have fun people up. I mean it's only like a 4 hour block, right? Then I can spend the rest of the day doing whatever I want. Like filmmaking. But my show would be awesome! It would be mighty! And of course I'd have fun people on the show with me, even if some of those people weren't "real" ...meaning, characters I've made up that would be great exclusively for radio... such as Jamal Jamal. Wouldn't you love to know about that guy? Sure... but not tonight.

fripodding, evolving and ituning

2008-10-31T11:30:00.000-04:00

It's friPoday's iPick time, and iSaac and I decided to review John Legned's latest, Evolver. I thought I was late, thinking the album dropped last week, but that was in the UK. But since I'm such a big Legend fan, I will skip what I was going to pick (Little Shop of Horrors Movie Soundtrack) in favor of my hero, Mr. Legend.

Anyway, we'll start with the lead hit single "Green Light". I'll admit that it wasn't an immediate hit for me, but how often does that ever happen? No doubt I love the song now. And I'll do everything I can to keep myself from overplaying it (this is why I rarely listen to the radio). What drives this song home for me is the featured artist, which is one of my favorite artists--Andre 3000 of Outkast, my favorite rap duo ever. The video is hot too. I wish I was there. And I wish I could just walk up to some girl and be like "Gimme the green light!" I'm sure I could in an alternate universe, or if I was John Legend or Andre 3000. One note I want to make known, I dislike when the first single is the first track. (Technically the first track is an intro... but still... stop it.)

"It's Over" - Features the great Kanye West and his new best friend the vocoder thing that makes your voice sound robotic. I personally dislike this device. It makes you sound like you can sing or carry a tune... while sounding like a robot. Hey, it works in some occasions. Like when Daft Punk uses it. Don't get me started on T-Pain and Lil Wayne... But we'll talk about the song, not bad... It's early, I haven't weeded out my favorites or the songs I'd uncheck on iTunes just yet.

"Everybody Knows" - This is a song I liked the first time I heard it. I love the beat, and then John let's his voice does its thing all over thing song. I'd commit this song to memory just to see if I have similar vocal ranges. Plus the song is just beautiful, yet a little sad. When I finally egt to see him in concert, he BETTER do this song or else I'll be a very angry fan. I'm not going to call it yet, but this could be my favorite song on the album.

"Quickly" - I really like the theme of this song. This should come on right after "Green Light." The message of this song is actually somewhat on a social level, which is another reason I like this song. It's essentially saying "Let's get together and be in love immediately since the world is falling apart and everything is going bad, even though I don't really know you." Yeah, this is another song I'd use on the ladies ;o) ...thanks John.

I just remembered this CD has 16 tracks (15 songs), woot! And this is the first album I bought via iTunes. I think this is enviromentally friendly. No trees were harmed in the purchasing of this album. I digress. I won't review each song because this post will be too disgustingly long. Even for my standards. This album is long enough for me though, unlike the last few CDs that barely make up an hour. Might I add that buying the album was $10? Surely a nice price for solely (souly) the music alone. I got a booklet too (which as of right now I haven't played with or figured out. I don't think it's viewable on iSaac's screen, and if so, I haven't figured that out yet).

I read professional and amateur reviews, since I consider myself in the middle, I will comment and say it's not the best he's done, but it's certainly not the worst. He's still sharpening his craft. I think his next album will be the masterpiece album. I remember when Once Again came out, I was already ready for more. I do like how each album has a sound all it's own. This one does sound like it's evolved and has a grown-up sound to it. Not traditional R&B sounding. Then again, I always felt Legend is in a class by himself.

Give me a week or so, and I will have a good chunk of this album memorized. And I can probably write a more thorough review... and maybe concise reviews of each song. Overall, as of now, this album is hot and I recommend buying it. But then again, I'm biased and would go see him in concert singing the telephone book. Has anyone actually done that yet? That'll be one my music videos. I can see it now...

I've started buying songs (and music videos) via iTunes lately now that I have a credit card I don't know what to do with. Don't worry, it's only a few songs a week. And I still use Amazon.com's services too as long as people keep giving me the codes from Pepsi products. Why music videos when you can see them for free at YouTube? Quality and iPodding. That's why. I know it's possible to save a video from YouTube, but the quality isn't up to par with what iTunes offers. As for buying the songs, credit is given where credit is due. And I dislike bootlegs or people stealing movies, I've since changed my ways about music as well. Sure they get paid, but if I'm a real fan, I should show it and BUY their stuff. If I don't care about them? Well... that's a different story. I don't condone stealing of any kind. Except witty phrases and insults. Especially those that are written on t-shirts.

i am not a halloweenie

2008-10-30T23:45:00.001-04:00

We had a nice long 3 hour meeting today. I didn't wanna go. I really didn't. But I did anyway, and I'm glad for it. I ate food. Some food I've never had before. A special kind of chicken. Well, the chicken wasn't special, it was how it was made. I don't care enough to go look up the spelling (sorry, I'm being lazy) but it was okay. It had mushrooms in it. I'm picky. I dislike mushrooms. It's fungus. No thanks. There was also what felt like pine needles, or some kind of skinny leafy thing you find on a bush and can poke people with. Not painfully, but you'd feel it nonetheless... but this was on the chicken. I don't know what it was, but it was poking the inside of my mouth and I was not having it one bit! So I took those off too. Other than that, it was tasty. There were roasted potatoes and ziti that tasted as though it was smothered in some kind of alcoholic beverage. Weird. But edible.

There were also Halloween celebrations going about. Some dressed in their costumes. Some passed out candy. There was also a farewell party, non-Halloween related (see ya later Todd, you taught me well).

I do not celebrate Halloween. You can call it religion if you want to. Knowing where the holiday came from kinda made me not want to give in to the idea of it. Sure it's not as demonic as it once was back in the day. Well, not in the mainstream. Perhaps in dark alleyways or in the woods... but in the office and on prime time TV, it's pretty safe and kid friendly. But knowing it started with occults and stuff makes me not so interested.

Don't get me wrong, I'll take any excuse/reason to party and have a good time. I like candy. I like the sweets. I, on occasion, enjoy terrifying small children. I'm just not going out of my way to do anything special on the 31st. I'll hang a sign on my door that says "tricks only". But then I'd get whores looking for money (*Arrested Development reference... calm down). Whether I give out tricks or illusions, the kiddies won't get candy from me. Maybe I'd tie candy on strings, drop them in their bags, and as they walk out, pull the candies back out of their bags again and laugh. Ah... good times.

Since I'm not promoting Halloween, I changed my mind on tomorrows friPod iPick... which was going to be the soundtrack to Little Shop of Horrors. Hilarious movie. Good music. Totally not my pick for tomorrow to coincide with Halloween.

However, I will be DJing tomorrow night at the soup kitchen in Middletown tomorrow night with my church. It's my only annual gig for our annual Harvest Festival. I sometimes forget being a DJ is on my list of "things to be when I grow up." Bring the kiddies! I wish I could be wearing either of these shirts:

Anyone wanna donate to my "Buy DJ Sterling Silver an Awesome T-Shirt Fund"? There are many items that need a home.*

Totally unrelated notes: this, and many other posts, totally make me a hypocrit--I like reading shorter blog entries so why do I write such long ones? And I totally found a catalogue for geeky guys like myself: TigerDirect.com. They send me a nice magazine every so often, and I drool in it, thus makes me a true geek. But I want it nonetheless. *Yes yes y'all!

i <3 monday!

2008-10-27T13:59:00.002-04:00

My brain is severely scattered today. I've managed to complete about 7 files... which isn't too bad, especially for how I've been feeling these past few Mondays. Plus my day isn't nearly over. I'd much rather remain asleep and start work on Tuesday. But that won't work because then Tuesday becomes the new Monday. It's a terrible cycle. Too many distractions. Right now, my grandmother is preparing something that looks like apple crisp. It looks delicious even without being cooked yet. But I feel not-so-good due to a hefty breakfast I made myself this morning. It was good, but maybe a little too good. AND I'm a little sleepy from reading too much into all five of the Saw movies. I've only seen the first two... And those movies I'm not really into. I don't care much for gore and torture. But with my overactive imagination, I read the plots to all 5 movies, and how the devices worked and what happened to all the victims. I did that for about 2-3 hours before I realized I should get some sleep... but I was a bit too terrified to do so because images like to playback in my dreams making it a little too real for me. SO after watching some Marx Brothers movies and a few Sudoku and solitaire games later, I was off to sleep with no torture-related nightmares. My waked-up time was between 6 and 7 am, and I didn't fall asleep until about 3 am. Yay!

Prior to my research into dreary doomland, I hopped back into my screenwriting chair and formatted a previously written script into a more professional-looking one. When I'm in a zone (or away from a computer that has Final Draft), I'll write a rough draft in MS Word, and just use a format I always see in high school or church plays:
BILLY: I ate a rock.
TIMMY: That's too bad.
BILLY: I know. (cries)
It's only 4 pages, but it tells quite a story. I strived for realism in the dialogue, and after having someone read through it, I think I achieved that much. Unlike what I usually write, this is on the dramatic/sad side. It's about the break up of an affair between a guy and a girl who have a secret to share with each other. Hey, it's only 4 pages, I can't give everything away.

I feel like working on one of the last projects I started back on my last writing retreat... which is coincidentally titled "The Writing Retreat." Guess what it's about! That's right... making apple crisp. Well, after sitting in bed trying to clear my mind of senseless violence, I came up with another character to add to the story. The hotel I stayed at seems like it encouraged people to live there... So I came up with a character who lived at the hotel that the main character can interact with at different occasions while he's there. I haven't really touched the story itself since a few months ago, but if I get a chance tonight, I'll rewrite it before working on the actual script itself. All of this after a quick Sudoku of course. I also want to put some time in on my Noah Madison project thanks to Jaden's latest post. I need to schedule time to work on certain projects just so no one feels ignored. (I hear your cries Fickette, I miss you too!)

I have a love/hate feeling towards the actual screenwriting process. I like writing dialogue... but it just takes so long for me sometimes--keeping track of the character's personalities, how they would speak, what they would say, and still making it sound believable... unless every character is just so outrageous, that they can get away with grunts.

I really want to see Wall-E after hearing so much good about it and it's non-use of speech. Better yet, I wonder if I could get my hands on the screenplay to see how that reads.

Okay, I must snap out of it and get back to "real work" and do some early knocking-out-of-the-park numbers so I can slack off on Thursday. We've got a meeting at the office and it's requested I be there so I can bring some food back for my mom. It's supposed to be catered with all sorts of yummies. But I'm in a Monday mood, so I can care less about going to a meeting right now. Even with free catered food. What do I really care about? I want to either be on my laptop or under the covers being unconscious. But we can't have everything, can we? Yes we can! Obama told me so.

the rocky horror sudoku show

2008-10-26T19:29:00.004-04:00

I was going to wait to post tomorrow... or later in the week... but my memory isn't being my friend lately. Besides, 'tis the season to chat about festive events such as the one I was at this past weekend.

And where did I go (someone from the crowd in front of the screen asks)? I went to see The Rocky Horror Show brought to us by the talented Phoenix Theater. Interesting way I found out it was happening, I was sitting outside the theater it would be shown and saw this sign hanging above the door. I thought of my friend who liked the movie, and thought maybe she might wanna go. Turns out she did (yay!) and it became an early birthday present for her, which we both enjoyed (double yay!). I bought general admission tickets ($22), but we ended up sitting in the VIP area ($26). And we were so VIP that we were in the front row (VIP was the first 5 rows, tough for those who paid for VIP seats). This was bittersweet for me because where I was, I couldn't see some action going on the far stage left area... Or is it the audience's right? I've been out of theatre for a year and I already forgot my directions. Anyway, where I was sitting, the band was set up, and they had these walls blocking my view of a bed that had some girl-girl action and singing. It wasn't severely important to the main action on stage... but still, I need to take it ALL in, ya know? The FULL effect! Regardless, I highly enjoyed myself and it was a fun experience. I loved the audience participation even though at times it was slightly annoying, mostly because I wasn't used to it. But fortunately I was aware of it and warned my friend that being in the front row might make us unintended targets of some things being thrown. We were safe though. It could've been a lot worse. We might've been attacked with water pistols, hot dogs and buttered toast. Seriously.

As I'm accustomed to doing, I'll write a full review on MySpace like I did for Bill Cosby and other events that entertained me. We went to the first showing on Friday, they did it two more times Saturday night, and they will do it again this coming weekend. So if you're going to be in Middletown this weekend, see if you can get a seat and a prop bag. I wasn't sure what was to be expected... production-wise. But hey, they did great with what they had and it was professional and fun. I say that because I thought I was going to an actual theatre-theatre... But like I said, it was cool the way it was. I wish I brought my camera to show pictures... but at least I included the poster (and it's a link to their site). I love to support the arts anytime I can and I'm aware of it. I had proper notification, so I was able to go. I was asked what part would I take if I got to be in this production... I'll take the narrator's job, thank you very much. I don't think I could rock a pair of pumps and fishnet stockings. I'll pass on all of that. I'd put a link to my review of the show... but I haven't written it yet.

In other news, I have a new obsession and it's not writing/words/art related. (GASP!!) As a matter a fact, it's a craze that hit sometime last year I think, and I never caught on to it because I didn't know what it was. Then when I did, I was like... uh... no thanks. What on earth am I talking about? Sudoku. (For those who still aren't sure how it's pronounced, I've heard it said "suh-DOUGH-coo" but it's Japanese I guess.) Anyway, I forget how I stumbled across it, but I haven't been able to stop playing it for the past few weeks. I addicted to it like college dudes are to porn. I downloaded it to my phone last night after getting tired of running up to my laptop (or creeping out of bed when I have trouble sleeping) just to play one more game. (C'mon, just one more game!) I'm still on easy, but I'm determined to get a faster and faster time. And I'll start out great, but then my brain will fry itself out thinking too hard, and next thing I know I'm crossing the 12 minute mark. My goal is 5 minutes. Not even close. And that's on easy! or "grasshopper" as my phone says. Sigh.

Anyway, back to Rocky Horror, I've since re-rented the movie to relive the... um... magic. I let my friend borrow it, even though she may buy it for herself and ruin what was going to be her birthday present since no one bought it for her yet. Oh well, that's why I have plans B thru E. It's on my list too. I'm not into transvestites or anything like that... but it's highly entertaining in a strange way. I can clearly see why that has a cult following. Hey, I follow Arrested Development on a cult level. That has nothing to do with Rocky Horror, I just wanted to get it in there.

What's that? I hear something... ...Sudoku is calling me. I must go crunch some numbers. Woot!

fripodding and musical televisions

2008-10-24T09:21:00.005-04:00

Since I've upgraded to iSaac's 6th generation Classic iPodness, I've been taking advantage of being able to WATCH things as well as listen to them. I also find myself playing solitaire a lot more, which really isn't that big of a deal because iPizzle had that too.

Anyway, since most iPods (except older models and especially screenless iPod Shuffles) can play movies/music videos, I thought for today's iPick, I'd pick a music video. Oddly enough, the video I'm going to pick isn't even in iSaac's library... yet. Before I reveal the pick, let's talk a little bit about the music video industry. (Aren't iPod commercials like really cool mini music videos? There's nothing like watching a commercial for an iPod on your iPod... and no I haven't done that... yet.)

Why doesn't the channel that popularized music videos play music videos anymore? MTV? VH1? Even BET? I'll let BET slide since it never exclusively focused on music videos like MTV and VH1 claimed to. VH1 is supposedly a product of MTV anyway, or it was... I don't know and I don't feel like researching right now.

Why did music videos start getting corny? This mainly relates to hip hop videos and sometimes, it's still the same "check out my car, my money, and my women." And it's usually all rented. Even the women. Sad. I can't really speak though... I haven't watched many music videos since I can't remember when... So maybe things have changed. But I like for videos to be as stimulating as the song is... if the song is stimulating at all. Sometimes the video will make me like the song if I don't care for it. It can make or break a song, really.

Now those 3 channels I mentioned... If they do show music videos, they never show the whole video. I'm sure all of these complaints you've heard or had yourself. I'm just vocalizing it again, that's all. Plus with the world we live in, they know that we know we can find the whole interupted video online.

But alas my fellow Indoobians, there's hope! For those of you who have that digital or enhanced or advanced cable or a dish network and get 2,000+ channels, it's a good chance you have the "sister" or "sequel" channels. You cna call it a "sequel" channel if it's something like MTV2... Which was an all music channel for a while, but it's become a product of it's older brother. Or sister. Don't fret, MTV has just as many channels as HBO. Well, maybe a few less. I have about 5 altogether I think. MTVU, MTV Hit List, MTV Jams, MTV Latino or something... It's in Spanish. They moved MTV2 with them instead of being in the basic line up. I don't know why. But there they are and it kept me busy trying to find new music (which will lead into today's pick shortly).

VH1 has similar channels. Honestly, I don't know how many. I can only think of VH1 Classic right now. They have Pop Up Video. How many of you guys remember that one? Oh yes, it was awesome, indeed! That channel also show videos from the 70's and 80's... well... whenever I stopped by. And there are a few other music only channels I never watch. But at least they're there. So if you have some extra bucks, you can find these music channels and dive into your music videos. The nice thing is there aren't so many commercials, and when there are, it's about the channel. So you don't feel forced to run out and buy a car, Viagra, or shop at Macy's.

While surfing these channels, I came across a guy I liked when he first came out... but no one cared about. Well, they did when he came out with his second album, and now people are paying attention for sure now that his third album "Something Else" has recently been released. I haven't heard it yet, but I'm stuck on the single and especially the video that's been out since this past summer.

Again, I apologize to the Workforce and it's Indoobians, I'd embed the video, but the embedded feature has been disabled on them all. Meaning even if I wrote the code myself on my page, it wouldn't work OR I'd probably get asked to take it down. People are weird. Anyway, the artist formally known as Thicke (when he first came out), the one and only Robin Thicke and his hit single "Magic". Again, the song is hot on it's own... But I want to talk about the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlIQsrr-czE

After you watch it, then we can talk about it being on the same page and all. Again, the song is awesome. It works so well with the video and I'm glad I got to hear it for the first time while watching it. (Sometimes I'm disappointed with a video after listening to a song before seeing it, and it not being anything I expected.)

Robin Thicke himself has stated he was inspired by Kubrick's 2001: A Space Oddessy which is his favorite movie, and to me is a disgustingly long and trippy movie. It was the 60's. It's a work of art, I respect it and would probably watch it again. (For kicks and giggles, watch the shortend version someone made.) But that's another story for another post. He's also inspired by Michael Jackson and Fred Astaire, which those scenes you can recognize. (When he's dancing with the hat and cane. He said he saw Puttin' on the Ritz and wanted to put those moves in. I've seen it before, but it wows me everytime and who can blame him? That performance is astounding.) More so Michael Jackson near the end in the elevator doorway thingy. I don't know... it just looks so cool. Don't Stop til You Get Enough is one of the inspirations he used. Ya know, back when he was still black and not so weird.

I also saw some James Bond in there. Starting at 2:47 when they just keep panning upwards, it gave me a Bond feeling. Awesome shot by the way. At the same time, I thought of Michael Jackson's Leave Me Alone video and it's use of animations similar to this video. Which is why I and others agree he was the majority of the inspiration for the looks of this video. Among other things like just having a classic disco feel to it all.

Furthermore, I'm a surrealist. And seeing these images of beautiful women stretched out atop of planets or being fragments on gasous lights... Just sexy. The video is the epitome of awesome surrealist sexiness. I'm not against putting sexy women in music videos... it's just how they are shown. This way, they are like models you see in magazines advertizing make up or shoes. This one? Planets! Or they are just dancing and having a good time. I wish I was there... Sigh...

Lastly, on the YouTube site posted above, it says uncut and explicit... It's only different in very subtle ways. Robin Thicke's name appears like the THX logo. And the Fred Astaire scenes take place in space instead of on stage. I don't know what else differs other than that. I used that link also because it's got the best quality. Now I think I'm going to go BUY the video on iTunes and watch it repeatedly.

Oh yeah, and the guy who directed this video did some other awesome videos: LoveStoned & Crazy just to name a few. Robert Hales... you're awesome for originality and I envy you.

wise words from a wise man

2008-10-23T14:19:00.001-04:00

Without getting too much into details about how this conversation came to be, this is a father-to-son chat my dad had with me the other night after returning from a court house out of state.

DAD: Don't go to jail in New Jersey.

(awkward pause)

ME: Ooo kaaay... Uh... Dad, I'm trying not to go to jail at all.

This statement was almost out of the blue, had I not known where he was earlier. But it was the timing.

(Just to put minds at easy, none of us have been arrested. However, we keep finding ourselves at court for numerous reasons... which is a whole other story I'll be sure to chat about later.)

"the night we ruled the world"

2008-10-20T09:02:00.002-04:00

'Tis a new week. I feel good. I feel pumped. Perhaps this is the week I'm back on my game destroying these files and ranking in the high numbers. Taking back my imaginary invisible crown I pretend I don't like to wear. I wouldn't wear it either, I'd just hang it somewhere so no one would even know I have it. I like to let my work stand out. But I desire some BK French toast sticks first.

In completely non-office related news, I had a long discussion with an old friend, er, brother from Purchase on Friday night... or Saturday morning. It inspired me, no, propelled me to publish a poem I had written but never typed. Due to where it's published, I'm not going to display it here on the blog and I'll make you use the link to read it. It's on Behance, since it's such an awesome site and all, I like to plug where credit is due.

Anyway, I actually wrote this poem while I was at work one day (still in the office at the time) and had Coldplay's Viva la Vida on repeat for who knows how long. But the song was motivation for the inspiration of this poem about my friend, who I reigned as an outlaw king with, on a starry night on campus. (If you've never heard the song, give it a listen, and if you can help it, listen to it while you read the poem.) There's lot of metaphors galore and surrealistic images about in the poem and tells an abstract true story. It's a poem that's really meant for him, but appeals or relates to those who went to Purchase too. I could imagine a lot of my friends having a similar experience to what I portray. One friend has already revealed they truly felt the message I delivered. But I can completely understand if you have no idea about this college, or the relationship my friend and I had, and this one kinda goes over your head. This is just my disclaimer in saying, this one might not be for you. But if you "get it" and enjoy it, then that's awesome! Welcome to a slice of Purchase life. And even if you don't really get it, at least enjoy the imagery I paint. Without further adieu, I present The Night We Ruled the World.

Special shout outs to the Dagger and Magz.