Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts

10.16.2008

if you haven't know-ticed...

See that? What I did there with the title? Word play. I love it!


I couldn't wait until Friday so I decided to just post about it now that I did a wee bit of redesigning to my blog. Notice the sidebar (if you are actually looking at the actual page and not reading from a RSS or emailed directly to you, you don't see any change whatsoever and you must immediately check it out... by the way, I love you people who are using the RSS or emailing system, I love you dearly from the basements of my heart.)


Now as I discuss what's on the sidebar, I'm going to go in the order of they are presented as of right now. First, there's the chance to be apart of the Workforce. Or be an Indoober, if you will. I don't really want to use that term, it reminds me of Goober and it makes me think of The Andy Griffith Show. Not a show I really want to be compared with. The pace of that show... How about Indoobians? I like that one. Be an Indoobian in the Workforce and click to be a follower.


Next is the subscribe buttons so you can read my posts and comments via a reader. I have subscribed to a bunch of other blogs this way, although I tend to go directly to their page. I actually forget I have a Google and Yahoo RSS readers.


My Blog List is sort've defines itself. They are my favorite blogs I like reading. And there's a nifty feature that displays the first few lines of said post. So I'm warned what I'm about to get into. I also know when there's a new post. Again, I tend to forget I have RSS programs to tell me that. I'm still a little new with the RSS thing.


I have two polls on my blog right now. Both are serious questions about non-serious things, but I'm curious to know what you, the reader, think, because I care. I want your vote! I apologize, I almost went into a political mode. With all these politicos going on, I can't help but to do the confused doggy head tilt when news networks unveil the latest poll saying who's up and by how many points. Why? For one thing, the numbers aren't always the same when you change the channels. Perhaps they're close... but really... who can you believe? The other reason I try to ignore polls is because I know the technique in how some sources get their answers. WORD PLAY. It's all in the wording of the questions pollsters might ask to get a desired response. Is this the truth all the time? No. Fortunately, lately, they've been asking different questions like "What VP has the best hair?" And the majority says Palin with the next answer being "undecided." Lastly, the other reason I'm so-so on the polls is I don't know who they are asking. Again, sometimes they'll tell you "This survey was conducted on our website" but sometimes, they just throw the numbers out there to watch you react. The main numbers I'm concerned about are the actual votes on Election Day.


I digress. That has nothing to do with my polls. I'm asking questions about Christmas shopping and Seinfeld.


The live traffic feed is something I kinda stole from my friend Jaden over at Screenwriting for Hollywood. First of all, that's a great place for movie information, especially from a screenwriting point of view. And as a young scribe, I can learn a lot from someone who has been in the business and has experience to guide both beginners and professionals alike. I forgot what I was talking about... oh yes, the live traffic feed. There's a nifty little map on the sidebar that shows all the hits from all over the world of visitors to this site. I wanted one too. I know I only get maybe two hits a week, but still, those two hits matter to me. So it wouldn't be exact copying, I decided to choose the option of showing me the flag and where my visitor came from. There are more little things to click on to show you a big map, how long ago they visited, where they clicked from, stuff like that.

The next one is "What's iSaac Doing?" It's all in caps, so I broke it down for you... iSaac is my iPod. 95% of the time, iSaac is wherever I am. Maybe 55% of the time, iSaac is playing something. How these little feature thing works, I have to have iTunes on and running in order for my little gadget to say what iSaac is currently playing, even though iSaac might not be playing anything at all. The POINT is that this shows what iSaac could be playing. Plus, I leave my laptop on all the time. So I decided to let iTunes run all the time so it'll look like there's always some music playing on my blog. Obviously you as a reader can't hear it... that costs money. Someday... The Indoob Workforce Radio with iSaac and DJ sterling silver. And yes, that show would be awesome.

Ya know what else would be awesome? If the official Black American Flag looked like this:

That has nothing to do with my sidebar. I just remember seeing it in a music video and recently in the latest VIBE magazine. I'm really pro-diversity and love for the mixing and mingling of all races and backgrounds... but we all have backgrounds and this flag looks pretty cool to say "Hey, I'm a Black American." Political correctness would have me say African American, but what does that say about Jamaicans and Haitians? Or even black folk in England? Huh? HUH? Just curious. Plus I can say yes if Eddie Izzard asks if I have a flag (watch Dressed to Kill).


The next three parts of my sidebar have been there since I started the blog. My Behance badge, which features my profile and a quick way to read my poetry or any other works. It's a great way for artistic and creative people to get together with one another. MySpace wishes they had it like this. Evidently, this is how I found Melissa's Writing Forward. The next is my "Bio" which I may actually add a bit more to later. But the sentence sums me and this blog up... in a sentence. Heh... Then its the acrive so you can trace me back to the beginning of the blog. Woot!


Unrelated--my last post was about poverty and a charity I like is ONE.org. Check them out, they are doing great things that doesn't get media attention... except their own commercials. Anyway, I forgot to mention another great cause-- FreeRice.com! It's fun, educational and helpful! "Fun and education? I don't believe it!" Believe it sir or ma'am or thing. It started out with a fun word game that everytime you picked the right synonym, they'd donate 20 grains of rice. Then you work your way up the levels. Obviously the higher you go, the harder the words. Words you never hear unless you have a pompous college professor who speaks over your head anyway. I actually cheated from level 30 to level 36 before I switched subjects. There's chemistry (I skipped that), Spanish and other languages, math, and grammar. Math is the easiest with the multiplication... and it's the fastest way to rack up rice points. The 20 grains add up. And I did my bit of charity today by playing the game for an hour. You know how much rice I raised? 10,000 grains. No, it wasn't easy. But I fed a couple wee children. I may have missed out on an hour of work... but one of our systems was down anyway. I say all that to say this: go there. Feel stupid for not knowing words nobody important knows anyway all for a good cause! Special shout out to Kathy who told me about it first.


I don't know how long I'll keep this part: The moon pic of the day. I have a thing for the moon. I'm a nocturnal creature. I don't howl at it (anymore) but I do love to stare up at it. Sometime write poetry in it's majestic bluish light. It's nice. I like it. The pics? They're okay. I just wanted to try something new. Furthermore, if you scroll down (or just hit "End" on your keyboard), you'll see "Woot! Watcher." It won't take you long to figure out why I have this on my blog. If you've read most of my posts, you would know why. If you don't, just read the previous paragraph and you'll find one of my catchphrases. The things featured in the section are sometimes woot-worthy by my standards. But really, I don't care. I check it once in a while. Right now there's a Dyson vacuum. I like their commercials but you have to be outside your mind if you think I'll pay over $300 for a vacuum. Actually it might be $600. I can't remember. It's been that long since I've worked for the Mart, and yes, they would sell them. Somehow.


These are my updates, so now you know. Follow, subscribe, read my friends, vote, vote again, stalk, read what I hear, read stuff I do, read about me, read what my past, and howl at the moon. Woot!

10.10.2008

fripodding and office space

So it's Friday again, and we all know what that means...


Pay day? (Not for me.) Pizza for lunch at school? (Perhaps for those schools that are still open on Friday.) TGIF on ABC? (Does that still come on anymore?) New movies in theaters? (Well... yeah, but how often do I go to the movies on a Friday for a new release? ...That soon may change though.)

Basically, it's time for my friPod iPick brought to you by my iPod iSaac. [This is where I'd have my in-house band play a little jingle as the previous words animate themselves on the screen.]

Today's pick really should've been last Friday's pick. And I'll tell you why--I bought the CD last Friday and didn't listen to it until AFTER I wrote about Al Green. Now don't get me wrong, I would've still iPicked Al Green's Stay With Me, but just not that day. I recently made a Genius playlist from it too. But these things happen for a reason. And it makes sense that I waited, and really got to get into this new album. What album do I speak of?

I highly recommend you run and pick up a copy of this masterpiece. Most of you know of my endless search for today's artist with yesterday's sound. That Motowny, classic R&B sounds from the 60's... like The Tempts, Marvin, Smokey, Diana, Four Tops, etc. Joss Stone made the list. Solange made the list. Leela James made the list. I'd even say John Legend made the list. Raphael Saadiq is the list. I couldn't stop listening to this album. I was watching TV and every commercial break I'd switch on iSaac featuring any of the 13 songs from this CD. I will quickly complain about 1 thing I disliked about this nigh-perfect album... It's too short. I don't seriously mind the songs being as short as they are. Again, that's how the songs were back then. But this CD clocks in UNDER an hour. HEY! Compact discs can have up to 74 minutes! And probably more with today's technology! Let's fill it up! I want more! You could have like 21 songs, Saadiq! C'MON! Growl...

So, this is a CD I can listen to all day long and barely skip a track. I've been iPoding it all week. So it's hard to pick just one. So I'll pick three. The first one that caught my attention is actually one of the last songs (and for good reason--save the best for last): Sometimes. This song channels my hero Sam Cooke to a wonderful degree. I was sensing A Change is Gonna Come. No doubt this is a song I'll memorize and sing to myself. Next... Big Easy which is an upbeat fast moving song and an obvious tribute to New Orleans and what happened with Katrina. I couldn't get past the instruments to get that message, but that's why I listen to songs over and over again. Between that jazzy feel this song has and feeling like you are at a jazzy night club, this could easily be one my favorite songs. My third choice would be Calling which has one of those 60's slow jam vibes to it. The earliest song I can think of is Jerry Butler's For Your Precious Love. I actually made a whole playlist of songs past and present that have that sound. Again, it's in the instruments. But this also has a slight latin twist with some Spanish speaking lady soothing the ears of the listen, probably telling the guy why she isn't answering his call. It's a wee bit sad, but I love this song.

I could sit here and tell you about each track, but I won't. It's rare that I find a CD I can listen to from beginning to end and just... love it. But this one has done it. Instant classic and throwback to that classic 60's 70's R&B sounds. Oh, and Stevie Wonder is on this too! I can't tell you enough how awesome this CD is! Eargasms all around! I even put the picture of the album up. But we'll move on.

So I decided to finally post a pciture of my new wall. I forget the official Japanese name for it, but here it is.

It's not the best picture, but I was rushing. I took it at night so I could utilize the lights on my desk to show the bamboo design. You see 5 panels, but there's actually 6. I recently moved it again so you can see it. I didn't take pictures yet. But I will.

I want to talk about the news, but I'll save it for later. What news-worthy topics do I feel like sharing? What else? Politics and the economy. Instead of getting deep into discussion, I'm just going to leave my opinion for both issues in one word that I will elaborate on later: inevitable.

9.04.2008

newnesses (maybe not a word, but fun to say)

I couldn't resist a quick little woot for myself and other. For one thing, I finished a random short little script/scene I started a couple nights ago that made my Tuesday feel like a really bad Monday. And no, I'm not about to admit I had a case of the "Mondays." I hear you can get hurt from saying things like that. Now I feel like watching Office Space all the more. But my Psych DVD is taking up the time.

Anyway, I finished a random quick script that can be used as a short film, or an important scene in a movie. I like the short film idea, and if it comes to me or someone says I should expand, then maybe I'll see where else I can take the characters. The story is about a young couple in love having a humorous but somewhat romantic conversation while staring at the ceiling above them. I wrote it in a rush because I was trying to record the words as I heard them in my head before the thought went away. I may have lost some of the "magic" when I picked it up the following night where I passed out at... But I let a friend read through it, so I'm awaiting her critique.

As for work... it's going pretty good. I had a rough first couple of days. Besides the whole bloody nose thing... Some of the programs we need to use weren't working like they were supposed to, making processing very frustrating to do. When I get super frustrated mixed with boredy, it makes me sleepy. As hard and wobbly as my new desk is, it doesn't make for a comfy pillow. I tried anyway. As for my chair? I think I will name it Jake. No reason. I just like giving inanimate objects names, especially names that sound like actual people. Remember Sam? Yeah, he's still at the hospital. I'll call about that tomorrow, or just stop by after my lunch at the office.

The other newness is my upgrading to Internet Explorer 8. Ever upgrade to a new program and it feels new, shiny and clean? I had that feeling too. It was also maybe because I cleared some of the dust off the screen. But now my Yahoo home page looks nice and cool due to the upgrade, and I finished off updating my own blog's design. Nothing significant... except for the blog roll, the ability to RSS, and my blog picture of my desk. The other newness blog related is a blog I love reading, sometimes more than once, Writing Forward by the lovely melissa who is an inspiration to practically anyone who goes there. Little known fact, she's the reason why blog so much now. I have the Indoob, my movie reviews on MySpace, and I contribute to Wolfgang Puck. I haven't lately, since it's not my blog and I don't want to hog it. But I learned that you need to love your blog. And by loving it, you gotta write in it. And doggone it I'm gone write!

I really need to go to bed. And I'm thirsty. And hot. And sexy. Sorry, couldn't resist, it's like a catchphrase with me. Except I can't type in a Barry White-esque "voice" ...but I do what I can. Anyway, for those working 4 day weeks, Happy Friday yall!

Special shout out to jaden @ http://www.screenwritingforhollywood.com --also a very useful blog and great resource for knitting sweaters, just like the website says.

8.12.2008

olympics, protests, thunder and mr. rockefeller

Soooooooo what's happening in the news these days? Well we have the Olympics, which I admit, I wasn't planning on watching. But I feel better watching than trying to ignore it in futile attempts to "boycott" due to the problems in Tibet. Why? Because everyone else is watching and talking about it, and I don't like feeling left out. When I mean everyone, I mean my family too. We talk about the events we watched and "compare notes" similar to how we watch movies. Furthermore, these events will go on for a few weeks, so no doubt I'll be watching it on and off throughout the month. GO USA!

In other news, Tropic Thunder is getting lots of heat. And as the saying goes, and publicity is good publicity. Originally, I thought it was because of Robert Downey, Jr portraying a black man. That maybe some of it, but according to CNN, it's the American Association of People with Disabilities... or the politically incorrect term would be the "handicapped" or even "the r-word" so it seems now. I gotta tell you, some of this stuff is getting ridiculous. I know we have feelings and need to respect each other. Some black people are comfortable with using the N word, some aren't. Some homosexuals don't mind being referred to as a F word, some hate it. And even some women detest being called a B word, others could care less or even refer to themselves as such. One way or another, someone is going to be offended. I got off track. Tropic Thunder is being protested because of it's liberal use of calling people "retard." I'm not going to act holier than thou super innocent, I've used the word. A point was made that at one point, it was actually the correct term for the handicapped... well... not all of them. I can't help it. I see a wheel chair, I think handicapped. I see the handicapped parking space, not a person with disabilities parking spot. Plus it's all just too much to say. We can all scream and rant not to be labeled, but at the end of the day, people will still think of you as being handicapped, people will still think of me as black, and McCain will still be old.

I totally went off on a tangent, partially, as to why I'm having an issue of the protest of the movie. I think I just want it to be known--it's just a movie! It's another form of freedom of speech. If it offends you, don't watch it! And if you don't want others to not watch it, protesting is the wrong way to go about it. Has there ever been a successful protest against a movie that impacted the sales of said movie? I'm honestly asking. I don't know of any. Even when the whole Columbine thing happened a few years ago, the news made connections to The Basketball Diaries and what happened? People went out to rent that movie. How do I know? My friends were talking about it.

Let me move on...

The dude who went by the name Rockefeller. I wasn't really following the story too much, but apparently he's getting some of his memory back about his mysterious past. Have you seen a picture of this guy?
The man who gave his name as Clark Rockefeller says he's starting to remember his past.
Heh... that's not exactly flattering picture... but doesn't this guy just scream "I've got issues!"? I'm just talking about this picture. Not the guy in general. But on the news... he tends to look like all the time. He also reminds me a bit of Robin Williams. Specifically from one of his dramatic movies like One Hour Photo which I did not like. I have my reasons. I don't really have opinions about this guy other than he may have been faking his amnesia, I just wanted to show his picture. That's not a dude I want to meet.

*Picture provided by CNN.com ...so, yeah. Don't come after me. Please.

7.06.2008

lol...

Clooney Confused By Burn After Reading Plot
6 July 2008 3:59 PM, PDT From wenn.com See recent WENN news
Hollywood star George
Clooney
has confessed he has no idea what his forthcoming film Burn After Reading is about.
The actor, 47, admits he is baffled by the plot of the "dark spy comedy" and
when he tries to get an explanation from directors Joel and Ethan Coen, they just laugh at
him.
He says, "I tell the Coens that I don't understand it and they go,
'Yeah... heh, heh, heh'. I seem to play another idiot, who is having an affair
with Tilda Swinton."
But
Clooney is keen to get to the bottom of the plot - the movie is due to open the
Venice Film Festival in Italy next month.