Duck Duck Grey Duck or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Peppermint Bon Bon Ice Cream

for my ad friend as a simple reminder of how great advertising can be

2010-02-09T09:07:00.001-08:00

getPdf.pdf (740 KB)

Posted via email from Duck Duck Grey Duck or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Peppermint Bon Bon Ice Cream

maddie's birthday playlist*

2009-04-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

*CD available upon request

Beyond the Sea (Bobby Darin)
Upside Down (Jack Johnson)
At the Codfish Ball (Fred Penner)
Yellow Submarine (Beatles)
La Vie en Rose (Louis Amstrong)
Under the Sea (Samuel Wright)
Put On Your Sunday Clothes (Hello Dolly Musical)
1234 (Feist)
Octopus's Garden (Beatles)
Bubbly (Colbie Cailat)
Down to Earth (Peter Gabriel)
We're Going to Be Friends (The White Stripes)
Submarine (Gregg Bissonette)

you know you are a kid when...

2009-03-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

"the touch"

2009-03-16T21:01:00.001-07:00

Monday, March 16th, 2009 12:33PM CDT

I received the following message from our friend Stan Bush, famous for his song "The Touch" which was originally released with the animated Transformers: The Movie soundtrack back in 1986.

Hey Ryan,

Hope things are good with you. I wanted to send you the link for a new music video we did using "The Touch" as a tribute to the troops. It would be great if you guys would post the link on your site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV9khwxen14

Also, I've been holding off announcing this, but "The Touch" is going to be in Guitar Hero! Activision will be releasing it as a free download. I'll contact Activision this week to find out the release date and let you know.

Hasbro is releasing two new TF2 toys in May containing "The Touch"! It looks like I'll be performing at BOTCON 09 here in L.A. on May 30th with my band. (I should get confirmation this week.) Also, I'll be appearing/ performing at JACON (Japanese Anime Convention) in Orlando Memorial Day weekend (May 22-23).

Lastly, we're just finishing up a totally new, killer version of "The Touch" which we'll be submitting for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. I'll send you an MP3 as soon as it's done.

Take care and we'll talk soon!

Stan

stare monster

2009-03-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

first love

2009-02-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Valentine's Day I wanted to document Maddie's "very best friend" (a.k.a. her first crush) Donald.

She is just smitten with the mime who warms up the crowd before the Clyde and Seamore Show at Seaworld. His name is never mentioned, but we suspect she calls him Donald because he dresses a little like this Donald.

To see this dashing young lad, please click here.

2008-12-05T09:22:00.001-08:00

my best david la chapelle photo

2008-10-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Radiohead playing the Rip by Portishead

2008-06-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

oh my...he has a huge head

2008-02-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Source: Stan Sung

Ooops...

2008-01-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

View Blog

Sesame Street - A loaf of bread...

2008-01-21T08:29:00.001-08:00

mad talk

2007-10-17T08:53:00.001-07:00

purple jesus

2007-10-15T16:51:00.001-07:00

bob baker puppet show

2007-10-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

a venture...

2007-08-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

into photography. inspired by Cindy Sherman, i present the first in a new series featuring the mad one as my muse.

fair blog

2007-08-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

keep up to date on the minnesota state fair!

2007-08-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

jb's promo!

2007-08-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yo! Gabba Gabba Party In My Tummy

2007-08-20T08:56:00.001-07:00

new vikes mascot: viktor?

2007-08-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

if bring in the horns was not bad enough...now this?

waves are too much fun

2007-08-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

WSJ Blog Post 8.15.07

2007-08-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Can a Video Game Revive the Desire to Rock Hard?

Videogames that allow users to pretend to play the electric guitar might represent the instrument’s best hope to reverse a decline in popularity, Farhad Manjoo writes on Salon’s Machinist, a technology blog. Music teachers tell Mr. Manjoo that the popular videogame “Guitar Hero” has been sending business their way, even if the game seems to have little in common with learning to play an actual instrument. The game’s fake guitar might have no strings, but as players mimic strumming along to the game’s hard-rock classics, they learn rhythm and how to use their hands independently, says one teacher. More importantly, “Guitar Hero” makes guitar-based music seem exciting to a generation that hears less and less of it on the radio, teachers say. In another sign of the game’s influence, when new versions of “Guitar Hero” are released, the songs on it can see a spike in iTunes, notes Ted Lange, an associate producer at Red Octane, the company that makes “Guitar Hero.”

fotc...

2007-08-14T14:53:00.001-07:00

a sneak peak into an alternative future for us in las vegas

2007-07-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

a day in the life...

2007-07-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

rockin the prosecco all night long...

2007-07-17T07:57:00.001-07:00

the munchlic's...

2007-07-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

bass guitar: judy nails
lead guitar: betsy lee

backups: lars and mad harris

coming soon...

2007-07-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

many thanks...

2007-06-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

to Joe, my "YouTuber" in residence for suggesting I take a look at these videos.

nba finals lebron etch a sketch...

2007-06-14T08:30:00.001-07:00

west coast by coconut records

2007-06-14T07:27:00.001-07:00

mad walk

2007-04-19T20:53:00.001-07:00

tom and lori

2007-04-19T20:35:00.002-07:00

venice crew

2007-04-19T20:35:00.001-07:00

super baby

2007-04-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

buddha baby

2007-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

no coffee extract

2007-01-20T03:04:00.000-08:00

b: bad news, they're no longer selling them.
l: why are you lying to me?

2007-01-20T02:56:00.000-08:00

who you texting?

2007-01-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

on my bus ride home i was surprised that a guy with a huge roller suitcase, who dressed like a bum, had a razor cell phone.

the future of the paper?

2007-01-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

here is an interesting article about how the paper can stat relevant in the age of new media:

UPDATED JOURNAL WRITES ITS FUTURE

TIM RUTTEN

January 6, 2007

IF you don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal but care about the future of news and newspapers, it's worth picking up a copy of that freshly redesigned paper and taking a look.

It will be time well spent, even if you can't tell a futures contract from a hedge fund and keep your savings under the mattress. At 118 years of age and with more than 2 million demanding readers to consider, the Journal, with its designers and editors, has done a lot more than spiff up with color and graphics and all the usual bells and whistles that people will call "updated" for the next five minutes.

What Publisher L. Gordon Crovitz, Managing Editor Paul E. Steiger and their colleagues have done is give us a good first look at what a rational division of labor will look like as newspapers move toward a future in which they simultaneously connect with their readers online and in print. (Full disclosure: Steiger and I were friendly colleagues when we worked together here at The Times some years ago.)

New media triumphalists and old media traditionalists have for too long insisted that newspaper journalism's future has to belong almost entirely to one or the other. What the redesigned Journal strongly suggests is that newspapers will be of greatest service to their readers by taking a simultaneous and complementary stance in both venues. That means delivering on a daily basis an online newspaper that is mostly — but not entirely — given over to breaking news and up-to-date factual content freshened on a continuing basis, and a print newspaper that is essentially — but not totally — devoted to analysis, context and an exploration of the important back story.

This balanced, and rather convincing, notion of how to proceed through this era of wrenching journalistic transition is like a breath of adult sobriety in an ongoing discussion of the journalistic future that usually seems to demand that we all choose between amnesia and panic.

There was a bit of a demonstration over the last week on how this two-track future may work itself out. The story of Saddam Hussein's execution was, to a large extent, a perfect new media event. Some of the most gripping images were surreptitiously recorded with camera phones. (One man's citizen journalist is another's spy, it seems.) In any event, those images ricocheted across the Web and onto cable television news in the middle of the night, North American time, hours after the next morning's print newspapers had gone to bed. By the next day, those grim photos and video were everywhere, somber testament to the fact that a condemned man, even an unquestionably evil one, always looks better than his executioners.

Meanwhile, the story of President Ford's death and state funeral was a quintessential print story, since assessing the former chief executive's place in our history, which is what the situation required, demanded nuanced blends of recollection, analysis and appraisal. In other words, the kind of thoughtful and reflective presentation in which print still excels.

In a way, when you put these two stories up against the blueprint the redesigned Journal proposes, the way forward for American newspapers seems rather familiar to those who have lived through its recent past. Essentially, what may be unfolding is a back-to-the-future story. Traditionally, American newspapers were divided into AM (morning) and PM (afternoon). The AMs put an intense emphasis on breaking news, presented as economically and freshly as possible; the PMs emphasized analysis, good writing, thoughtful projections about what might come next in the world around us. The Journal's concept suggests that every newspaper will have to go back into the AM (now online) and PM (now print) business.

THAT'S not an entirely unimportant distinction, because it suggests that the future will involve journalistic conventions already proved to act in the public's interest, spread across new venues. Given the profound crisis of confidence the current era of technological change has triggered in many newspaper executives and among media company investors, the notion that a workable future relies on skills of proven integrity and utility ought to sober everybody up.

In fact, a few of the principles the Journal's designer, Mario R. Garcia, said he kept in mind as he overhauled the paper are points that ought to reassure newspaper readers about their medium's future and give some of the giddier executives and editors some cause for thought:

• "Create a hierarchy of stories, so readers know the relative importance of news. The size of headlines and the placement of stories within the architecture of a page should make it clear to readers what stories matter most, to help them prioritize their reading.

• "Remember that … readers come to read, not to look.

• "Don't skimp on good journalism. In an era when information is often truncated for fast digestion, the Journal's Page One stories are refreshing for their authority, depth and completeness."

These are principles that take into account the reality that what we've casually come to label the Information Age is really a "data age." We're literally bathed in data, especially on the Web, but painfully short of information, which is data verified and set in a comprehensible and useful context. We all live, as the neurologist Oliver Sacks has pointed out, in a historic moment characterized by a general increase in knowledge and a decrease in understanding.

The future we can glimpse in the Wall Street Journal's valuable and rather audacious experiment suggests just how strong a role there is still to be played by newspapers willing to accept the challenge of recalibrating the balance between data and information, between knowledge and understanding. Accepting that challenge and the demands it will make for increased investment in change is likely to define our notions of journalistic service to the common good in the years ahead.

timothy.rutten@latimes.com

look familar?

2007-01-05T20:46:00.001-08:00

Photo Girl

2007-01-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

I highly suggest everyone check out Photo Girl's new blog!

2006-09-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Blog is Back Baby Style

2006-09-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

2006-02-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

dumb, da, da, da, dumb

all about mormons

2006-02-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

first south park lampoons the mormon, now the los angeles times prints this...someone in utah has some explaining to do.

2005-10-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

happy mustache day!

2005-09-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

looking good

feeling good...

2005-09-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

my post op is going well: no swelling, little pain, and 48 hours of college and pro football coming up. the biggest struggle occurred when removing the lower left wisdom tooth. equipment i did not even know existed was brought in for the job. after a half hour of cutting, jabbing, and yanking it was removed in great glory.

35 minutes to go

2005-09-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

i am leaving for the dentist office in a few minutes...wish me luck from cyberspace.

blog spam (or one more thing...)

2005-09-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

who would have thought of such a nasty thing as blog spam?

- are you ok buddy, you look like you are going to explode...no worries, just have a bad blog spam.

- something is coming out of your nose...sorry, how embarrassing, blog spam!

- the us military just announced that they will be shifting operations in iraq...code name: blog spam.

to combat these offers, i have changed my settings for word verification upon commentary post. not that this matters, seeing that no one writes comments. stay tuned this weekend for running commentary regarding the extraction of three wisdom teeth.

2005-09-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

boondocks

2005-09-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

gone fishing!

some stuff...

2005-09-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

...this photo and cartoon will end my commentary on the hurricane. enjoy.

2005-09-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

reggae

after the vikings terrible loss...

2005-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

...i got a good laugh thanks to these video's reworked from old "knowing is half the battle" gi joe cartoons. check them all out, they were moved from the original website.

2005-09-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

it is time...

Commentary...

2005-09-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

Article published Sep 5, 2005
Assigning blame? Don't.
People must take responsibility for themselves

If my e-mail is any indicator, there will be a divisive windstorm of recriminations in the Monday-morning quarterbacking of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. A depressing amount will focus on two hot spots: America's so-called latent racism and the unrelenting loathing of President Bush by some.Not many people want to put the blame on an endangered concept in our "progressive" country: personal responsibility.So here is a suggested order of accountability.Let's stipulate that an alluvial delta that naturally floods is maybe the worst place on Earth to build a major city. However, as that was a result of centuries of development, no one can be blamed.The first people responsible, and this may seem hard-hearted, but bear with me, are the people who did not obey the mandatory evacuation order.With Katrina barreling straight at New Orleans with 175-mph winds, Mayor Ray Nagin rightly issued a mandatory evacuation. They sent out public service announcements on radio and television. Trucks with bull horns traveled through particularly poor neighborhoods with the evacuation order.The city provided free transportation to free shelters, so there was absolutely no financial excuse for staying in homes. Four hurricanes devastated Florida last year. It was in the news. And none of those was the size of Katrina.But in the face of all that, people chose to stay anyway.No level of government can be blamed for their personal decisions. We respond in mercy, but not ignorance. The outpouring of help has been truly heartening.Second, the head of New Orleans is Mayor Nagin, who has not covered himself in glory.In fact, for calm leadership in the face of tragedy, he has been the antithesis of New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani after 9/11.Third, the governor of Louisiana is in charge of the National Guard and state emergency response -- which also failed.Finally comes Bush, who is president of the entire country, not exactly responsible for planning disaster responses in New Orleans or any other city, or making people leave their homes.The New York Times reported that some of the people who stayed did so because they were short on cash and only three days from getting their monthly government welfare checks.Have we made an entire subculture so government-dependent, and have we so broken down the familial and community structure, that people may have risked a killer hurricane to get their handout? Very sobering.As to the crime, there is no one to blame but the criminals. Penalties should be tripled for those wicked people who took the opportunity of tragedy to steal, burn, kill and rape the vulnerable. Beastly. But the ACLU would object.Have there been mistakes made? Absolutely. Big ones and at all levels, including the frustratingly slow federal response.There is plenty of blame. An honest, painfully in-depth appraisal will educate us all for the next time. Katrina will not be the last.On Friday, I listed the positives that have come from this disaster. Permit me to add two more: Texas. The state that sometimes irritates us with its big-everything attitude, came through big time when the chips were down for its neighbors in Louisiana, taking in tens of thousands of refugees in major cities such as Houston, Dallas and San Antonio in a state of preparedness Louisiana could only dream of.Texas represented the best of so many states pulling together.Second, the U.S. military came through -- again -- creating a magnificent evacuation air bridge out for refugees.For everyone that feels the urge to complain, they might first want to thank God they are alive and have a generous giant for a neighbor, and then, just maybe, glance toward the mirror -- perhaps a lesson we can all learn from.Rod Thomson can be reached by e-mail at rod@rodthomson.com, or by writing to the Herald-Tribune.

2005-09-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

scary stuff

is it just me?

2005-09-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

or is the reaction to the flooding in new orleans starting to look like the next George A. Romero movie. terrible stuff, i guess humanity is really pretty awful.

what could have been

2005-08-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

now this is a website .

sudoku

2005-08-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

i am totally obsessed with sudoku. this might not be good news for my playstation gaming partners, especially the ones who just got super speedy dsl, who might find their partner curled up on the couch with a pen and paper instead of online in the SOCOM killing fields.

recent scare

2005-08-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

we were at mani's bakery getting coffee yesterday and the guy behind the counter said: "do you blog?" i rush of panic swept over me as i realized i had my "i [heart] barooni" sweatshirt on. did he somehow stumble upon my blog? does he know about my cat? then, as i tried to play it cool and pretend i didn't hear him, he said, "blog, you know on the computer?" i told him yeah, "i've been know to dabble." at this point, our conversation began to take the tone of either a drug buy or a gay pickup. in any case, the end result was innocent enough. mani's bakery started a bakery blog, which he wanted our email address for. it was a close one...stay posted for more weird encounters.

blog test...

2005-08-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

...this thing on?

it was a gift!

2005-06-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

Russian president gets Super gift from Patriots owner
June 30, 2005
BOSTON (AP) -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says he likes the way Vladimir Putin is quarterbacking Russia -- and that's why he gave him his diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring.
Kraft was among a group of U.S. business executives who met with the Russian president Saturday at Konstantinovsky Palace near St. Petersburg. Near the end of the meeting, Kraft took off the ring and handed it to Putin. Putin tried it on, put it in his pocket and left, according to Russian news reports.
``I showed the president my most recent Super Bowl ring,'' Kraft said in a statement Wednesday. The Russian president ``was clearly taken with its uniqueness,'' Kraft said.
``At that point, I decided to give him the ring as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and the leadership of President Putin,'' Kraft said.
According to Patriots spokesman Stacey James, the ring -- which is encrusted with 124 diamonds -- has a value of ``substantially more'' than $15,000.
Before Kraft issued his statement, reports in the U.S. media -- first by The New York Sun and then by The Boston Globe and The Associated Press -- had questioned whether the Patriots owner had intended to give the ring to Putin as a present.
A senior Kremlin official, Dmitry Peskov, told The Associated Press that Putin had given the ring to the Kremlin library where other foreign gifts are kept.
Kraft's business interests include paper and packaging companies and venture capital investments. He handed out Super Bowl rings to players and coaches at his home two weeks ago.

thanks to warner...

2005-06-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

...i have a great story to post:

It is unclear whether ring was a gift
Associated Press
BOSTON -- Russian President Vladimir Putin walked off with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring, but was it a generous gift or a very expensive international misunderstanding?

Following a meeting of American business executives and Putin at Konstantinovsky Palace near St. Petersburg on Saturday, Kraft showed the ring to Putin -- who tried it on, put it in his pocket and left, said Russian news reports.
It isn't clear yet if Kraft, whose business interests also include paper and packaging companies and venture capital investments, intended that Putin keep the ring.
Patriots spokesman Stacey James said Wednesday that Kraft was traveling and he hadn't talked to him in four or five days, despite e-mails and calls. "He's still overseas, I can't even tell you where. ... He's not due back until next week."
"It's an incredible story. I just haven't been able to talk to Robert Kraft to confirm the story," James told The Associated Press.
However, a Kremlin official who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of compromising his position said the ring was a present. "Such a present was made," the official said.
He said Putin had given the ring to the Kremlin library where other foreign gifts are kept.
James said the ring's worth was "substantially more" than $15,000, as the value had been reported. He refused to be specific, but noted that the ring has 124 diamonds.
Kraft handed out Super Bowl rings to players and coaches at his home two weeks ago.
The Patriots have won three of the last four Super Bowls.

2005-06-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

me and bill, out of the closet.

i am out of control

2005-06-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

here is my latest act of cat craziness. prompted by the store employee at the LA neighborhoodies store and the chance of winning a free sweatshirt, i submitted this email with the photo posted above to the company website:

Barooni and me were sick of hiding our affection toward each other any longer so we marched over to Hollywood & Highland and picked up matching Neighborhoodies. We think that man/cat love is totally cool and we plan to usher in the new "it" trend. Thanks guys, you make dreams come true!

Sincerely, Lance & Barooni

they responded:

hey lance, thanks for the hot man/cat shots. we think you're really on to something there, and we're glad we could help you come out in such glorious style. keep spreading the love and stay connected to neighborhoodies.com, home of the indie fashion revolution!-- -- big, big love from the kids in the 'hood! neighborhoodies
45 main street, suite 516brooklyn, ny 11201
"know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly."--epictetusps - if you're on myspace, we'd love to be your friend!check us out here: http://myspace.com/neighborhoodies

i will keep all posted if i get on the website for neighborhoodie of the day.

2005-05-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

in case those outside los angeles did not hear, AD will be back next season!

bloggers block

2005-05-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

not much to say, and for that i apologize. Don't worry...DDGDOHILTSWAEPBBIC will be back going full throttle soon!

something terrible has happened to me...

2005-05-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

i didn't think it was possible. i made it through 1987 without caring. didn't blink in 1991 either. but now, for some unknown reason, the worst thing imaginable has happened: i am following baseball. was it because the wolves were so bad this season? is it because i read about lew ford ironing his shirt while he had it on? is it because the twins are a good team, from a small market with a low payroll? who, knows. all i know is that something terrible has happened to me...

slander

2005-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

it is time to settle this dispute once and for all...JBZ's remarks...daring to question billy's status as a PURE bred turkish van were way off base. there are only two ways to settle this dispute: (1) we drop billy in a lake and see if he swims like a fish or sinks like a stone or (2) i hunt down a turkish van expert and validate that he is, in fact, a pure van. Since these are not the days of witch hunts, sorry JBZ, I will opt for the latter solution. in the meantime, stay tuned for updates.

2005-05-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

is that a grey duck?

quick 3!

2005-05-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

1. top website of the day
2. top song of the day
3. top program of the day

enjoy!

2005-05-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

purrrrrrfection

i'm no cat expert, but...

2005-05-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

...i think billy scores a 98 out of 100. check that, i just verified that his dew claw counts as a toe on his front legs, 100 out of 100 . i need to get him in a cat competition, stat!

call me scoop...

2005-05-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

TELEVISION
'Idol' worship gets turned upside down
By Maria Elena Fernandez
Times Staff Writer
May 2, 2005

For at least three weeks now, fans of "American Idol" have been pondering a deep philosophical mystery: How in the world has charisma-challenged R&B balladeer Scott Savol managed to survive this competition, jumping ahead of the magnetic Nadia Turner, the soulful Anwar Robinson and total-package Constantine Maroulis?A group of wireless rogues thinks the answer lies with a little social experiment they began last year, one that, were it not for judge Paula Abdul's personal woes, would have qualified as this season's wildest controversy: a call for viewers to vote for the least talented contestants, in the hopes that "American Idol" producers will get stuck with marketing a lemon at the end of the season.After noticing that his favorites kept getting voted off last year, Dave Della Terza, 22, and a group of college buddies, took matters into their own hands. They created their online campaign, votefortheworst.com, to throw the competition off course. ("American Idol" votes are supposed to be cast in favor of contestants whom fans want to keep each Tuesday. Fans can call or text message as many times as they want in a two-hour period.)"The show is less of a contest for who America picks and more of who the show's producers will influence to win," said Della Terza of Santa Clarita. "The producers and the judges tend to say, 'We like this person' ... 'This person is going to win' — and then America just tends to vote along with them. This season it's been Carrie and Bo. So we know it's going to be between Carrie and Bo. Whatever. So, we were like, 'Wouldn't it be funny if ... we pick somebody else and vote for the one [who has been told by the judges], 'You're going home, you're terrible."To date, that person has been Savol, 28, who has drawn the ire of Simon Cowell week after week, and who last Tuesday inspired the cranky judge to tell him to pack his suitcase because of his rendition of "Dance With My Father." But on Wednesday, Savol had earned so many votes that he landed in the

2005-04-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

vote for me...i rock!

american idol...that's right...american idol

2005-04-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

i have been avoiding this subject for a while. but it is time to get it off my chest, because i can't hide from myself any longer: i watch american idol (confession 1). i haven't been a fan for long...but the terrible show grabbed me by the ears and will not let go. i sit with my mouth wide open in disbelief that (a) these contestants are performing these songs in front of millions and that (b) i am one of the millions watching these contestants perform these songs. in my defense, since the show began to weed out the contestants i have grown less interested in their weekly performances and more interested in the politics and behavior of fan voting. last week, in a somewhat unexpected turn of events, one contestant that i assumed was a fan favorite was booted from the show. in contrast, scott savol (pictured above) was spared and unbelievably received the third highest vote total. while american idol will not disclose the results (numbers), i am convinced that there is some serious voting irregularly going on. some suggest, like http://www.votefortheworst.com/ , that people are rebelling against the shows structure (e.g. vote for who you want to keep on the show) and voting for the worst idol. there may be some merit to this analysis, however, after going on the website and looking at the page's hit count i doubt the movement has that much pull. i have my own conspiracy theory...but i can't find the right evidence to break my story just yet. i will say that method man's inexplicable seating next to (or with) scott savol's friends and family is a key component of it. sing on white velvet...until i cast another vote (confession 2: yes, i vote) for carrie underwood next week.

2005-04-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

only on ebay

i am a big fan of ron mexico

2005-04-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

what a name. i might become an atlanta fan next season, how does one come with such a good alias ?

2005-04-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

boondock's cartoon

2005-04-12T18:36:00.001-07:00

espn ad 1/3

2005-04-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

espn ad 2/3

2005-04-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

espn ad 3/3

this is great

2005-04-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

today's boondocks killed me. after conducting some due diligence, i found the original mcdonald's ads that it is mocking. although i am probably the last to hear about this, i thought i would pass it on to my faithful readers. good stuff y'all.

2005-04-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Booya!

2005-04-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Booya!

BOOYA!

2005-04-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

my paper is done. it was turned in at precisely 9:05 monday morning and all i can say is booya! (i think it is stuck in my head thanks to the future dr. sung) in any case, i also used "booya" as the subject of one of my new pastimes: searching google images. i find it amazing what images are associated with different words. if you have a few minutes, try it out. you can also vote as to which of the above two images best represents the word.

almost done

2005-04-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

...i will take a short break from my paper to express the joy of beeing almost done. i sit here, one beer in the hand and three in the belly, bose earphones blaring, editing my work cited page and i have never felt better. writing sucks, but that feeling of almost done is so sweet. is this the high that keeps writers going? i don't know how they do it, really. it is too hard, too tedious, and requires way to much thought for the average blogger. every comma, word, sentence, paragraph, and page reflects what you know and who you are. it is too much. thank god the cat's don't judge.

2005-04-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

the troops are 50 strong

2 days to go

2005-04-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

my progress is slow. pages are piling up, with the end in site. it is not my finest work, but all i need to do is pass. my mind is still occupied with lighters. yesterday evening my babies arrived. i now have the critical mass i need to start my enterprise. back to work i go...that is back to my paper.

by the way, for anyone who missed last wednesday's south park it was a classic. psp...terri schiavo...lord of the rings...pure brilliance.

comp exam - day 2

2005-03-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

status = one page complete (29 to go).

note = all blogging will be conducted on a need to blog basis.

2005-03-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

i sleep, therefore i am

master at work

2005-03-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

the feeling i get when i watch billy barooni sleep must be akin to a person who watches chuck close paint, stephen hawking work out the mysteries of the universe or hiroyuki sakai cook. simply put: i am in utter and total awe of his abilities. this cat takes sleeping to a new level. If there was a michael jordan of sleeping, billy would be wearing a tiny (or not so tiny) 23 jersey.

remote control

2005-03-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

i can now post messages via email.

50 lighters...at $29.51

2005-03-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

it is done. got them. check it out. i can readjust my business model knowing that each lighter will cost 60 cents. i cannot wait until they arrive. until then, i'm watching the ncaa b-ball tournament.

2005-03-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

samples of greatness

my campaign to stop john scott is on hold

2005-03-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

last night i rediscovered my love for lighter making. i had a free hour at work and decided that i am going to get a booth at the melrose trading post (the flee market held every sunday to raise money for fairfax high school) and see if these babies are as hot as i think they are. with betsy as my unwilling partner, i plan to create and attempt to sell 50 lighters. i need friends of Duck or HILSWEPBIC to let me know how much you would pay for such an original creation. my problem is as follows: the booth will cost $35...and each lighter runs about $1.20 (five pack from target). However, if i buy a 50 pack on e-bay, i can reduce the cost to about $.50 a lighter. i figure i can try to sell them for $4 each or 3 for $10. any thoughts?