HALLOWEEN 2007

I don't have any pictures from the actual trick-or-treating, but this photo pretty much sums it up for me, this year. This is Thomas, almost 2 years old, at the pumpkin patch this past weekend.

OCTOBER MUSIC BONUS!

I know I haven't posted many new music picks... mostly 'cuz the stuff that's been coming out as of late blows. (Kanye West? Really? Is that the best we can do?) But I've also been researching and tracking down some older (or old-ish) tracks and remixes. So here, in no particular order, are the bonus tracks rockin' my decks:

Wham! Bar [12" Remix] Mint Royale - This is essentially a whacked-out remix of Wham!'s Wham! Rap that rocks even harder than the original. I first heard it on the DJ Cruze podcast, and it took me about 6 months to track down a promo CDR to call my own.

Walk A Mile In My Shoes [Original / Tiga Remix] Coldcut - This song is both haunting, while remaining a true electronica gem. The original vocal is more mellow, and Tiga's remix really drops it on the 4's.

Another Bites The Dust [Miami Project Remix] Queen - Not like the original didn't rock, but this new souped-up version totally kills it.

Miss You [Jacques Lu Cont Thin White Duke Mix] Mirwais - I found this (a shorter, sped-up DJ version) on a mix disc, and when I tracked down the original, it was super slow... a real snooze. But I dropped it in DJ Tracktor (software) and brought it to a more palatable speed.

4 In the Morning [Jacques Lu Cont Thin White Duke Mix] Gwen Stefani - This one was easy to find, but took a while to grow on me. I think it might be on iTurds soon.

The following remixes by Bimbo Jones also came my way, thanks to some more promo CDRs. Bimbo Jones is an adequate remixer and producer - he's a little to obvious for my tastes, like Thunderpuss used to be, but he picks some killer pop tracks and turns them into dance floor fillahs. They are:

U+Ur Hand [Club Mix] P!nk - she's still got it
Come Back To Me [Club Mix] Vanessa Hudgens - no comment
Like A Boy [Club Mix] Ciara - another great Bimbo-Ciara stormer
Grace Kelly [Club Mix] Mika - OK, so this isn't a new one on my list, but it still rocks

CITY ON FIRE: The Aftermath

I know there is no sure-fire way to keep Malibu from catching on fire every year, so I just deal with the fall-out: ash on my car, smoke in the sky and a blood-red sun. But the thing that drives me crazy is the smell. No, not the actual smell of a fire raging across the mountains. And no, not the smell of the fire, as the hot, dry winds blowing the fire across the mountains and into the valleys around here. What drives me nuts is, now that the smoke is blowing in a different direction, everything smells like an ashtray: my car, the house, my clothes, my hair... it's like I'm dating someone who smokes. Echk!

(This photo was taken from a Flickr user's account. To see the whole set, click here.)

CITY ON FIRE (The Sequel)

Well, it's fall in the Southland again, which means it is fire season, again. Here are some actual, un-doctored photos taken from my backyard on Sunday, October 21, 2007. The local Malibu fire has blocked out most of the sunlight (as shown in the two lower photos), and turned the sun blood-red (as seen in the first picture).

CZECH YER SPELLINK

A little hobby I have is GUI, or Graphic User Interface. From design to application, I love tricking out my work/play environment. I love customizing my desktops, folder backgrounds and even make my own icons.

But one of the best parts about being a GUI dork is cruising the many user sites a forums to check out other people's icons and desktops. I don't usually talk, or blog, about this, as it is a topic both foreign and boring to most people.

On a more random note, last night, I saw a great film. It's called Idiocracy. It starred one of the Wilson brothers, Mya Rudpolph (from SNL) and a host of great, character actors. The plot is simple: two people of average intelligence are cryogenically frozen, only to wake up over 500 years in the future when the rest of the world is stupid. And I mean, stupid. No one reads, the water their plants with a Gatorade-like substance and they all talk like guests on Jerry Springer.

And then, this morning, I saw this image preview posted in an icon design forum... for badges.

BIONIC WHAT?

I gave NBC's re-imagined Bionic Woman yet another chance... yes, against my better judgment, I watched another episode. And again, all I came away with was how wasted Katee Sackhoff (a.k.a. Battlestar Galactica's Starbuck) is in this lame show. She brings an air of cool, with a splash of camp and black humor to an other wise dull show.

But with BSG new episodes, and BSG: Razor, a movie both just around the corner, I think I'll wait to watch her really nail it.

PUSH THOSE DAISIES

These are three screenshots from ABC's new hit, Pushing Daisies. If you haven't checked this show out yet, there's still time! I watched the last two episodes on ABC's web site. It is a romantic, funny show that deals with dark and deep subject matter in a unique, fresh and unusual way. I highly recommend this show.

HOW GAY IS THIS?

This photo (doctored by the guys over at OhLaLa Blog) was taken during a Hollywood Walk of Fame Presentation Ceremony. Yes, Icky Martin (typo intended) got a star on the Walk of Fame. (Note: You have to pay for these stars now, so it isn't all that much of an honor.)

But what caught my attention was who was presenting Ricky with his star: Rita Moreno. You have to be a gay man (or just a really huge musical theater fan) to know who Rita Moreno is, and why she'd be giving him a star. Either way, it ends up as a funnier moment than intended.

WHAT A WASTE...

I have to be honest: I gave NBC's re-imagined Bionic Woman a chance. Heck, I gave it several tries. But I just couldn't get over the horrible dialogue and mediocre acting. And I definitely couldn't get past the fact that homophobe Isaiah Washington was hired on the show because NBC Chief thought what Washington did wasn't a, "big deal."

But, I gave it a shot anyway. Multiple shots, as it were. Mostly because it featured Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff, a.k.a. Starbuck (IMDB here).

Now, don't get me wrong... she rocks. She nails the action sequences, and delivers her lines like she knows she's in a crappy show. You know, with that sort of camp-edge to it. But her considerable talents are wasted on this half-@ss show. Even those crappy Battlestar Galactica: Razor previews on the Sci-Fi channel's website (here) are better than this disastrous remake.

What a waste.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH: Good vs Evil

I've been wondering about this one: my boss (from way back), Gabriel Goldberg and Sylar, from Heroes. Separated at birth? I haven't seen Gabriel in a few years. Actually, I haven't seen him since Heroes started airing.

Don't get me wrong: I liked Gabriel. I'm just saying...

WELCOME TO HOTEL BABYLON

Hotel Babylon, one of my favorite BBC America programs (right up there with Torchwood and Little Britain) has added a new character - a bellhop to be precise. A quick search of the interwebs turned up some interesting information (and photos) of this new bellhop. His name is Paul Telfer (IMDB here), and he's hot. No, make that super-hot. But don't just take my word for it. Check him out for yourself. (And for a more pictures, including a grown-up shot of Paul, click here.)

UPDATED JUNK... & STUFF

Hey y'all... I've been getting some feedback about old You Tube clips I've blogged that are no longer available. And I'm happy to announce I've update the following clips/links for your interwebs enjoyment:

The Sanah-Sahs (The Simple Life, Season 3)
This clip was brung to my attention by my older sister, Laura. It is way addictive, and everyone I've shown it to ends up singing the song... over, and over, and over again.

To watch this clip, click here.




Family Guy TV Tribute (The Emmys, 2007)
I found this clip online, and it was featured on a couple of clip-shows. I uploaded it as part of pair for Family Guy clips I found online. One clip went up for my cousin's hubby, Doug, and the other went up for my cousin, Julie.

So here's that clip (again). Click here to watch.




And remember, you can browse all the You Tube clips I've blogged by clicking on the post label, "You Tube." You can also click on the post's screen itself, and it should take you to that video's You Tube page.

WHOSE HOUSE?

I'm so very super, sit up and slap yo' mama excited for the return of MTV's Run's House. They recently set the premiere date for the new season of this super show, and even though I feel like I'm watching too much television to begin with, I'm going to watch. (I'll probably cut down on some other shows, which I'll blog about next week.)

If you're not familiar with Run's House, it follows the life and times of Rev. Run (of Run DMC fame, and an actual reverend) and his amazing family. They're incredible to watch because even though they're ultra-rich and uber-famous, they come across as a super down-to-earth and real... which is an oddity in the world of reality television.

I won't get up on some pseudo-platform about the importance of family values in our current social climate... but I will go so far as to say that watching this family is refreshing, entertaining and worthwhile.

DOLLARS & SENSE

As the next presidential election cycle nears, a great deal of attention is falling on the amount of money each candidate raises for their campaign. California residents have netted candidates from both parties approximately $37 million. Not too shabby, considering the fact that the election is over a year away.

But what's even more amazing is another figure released by MSNBC this morning. Based on current financial trends, projections for this year and spending records... Americans will spend more on Halloween costumes than on the next presidential election.

Yes, we will spend over $3 billion on Halloween costumes this year, which is more than we'll donate (and spend, as a country) on the election to decide our next leader... the leader of the free world. Yes, we'll spend more more on princess costumes than our next executive officer. We'll shell out more moolah for Scream masks than we spend on the election of next commander in chief. Ah, democracy.

EXTRA SPECIAL DAISIES

I have to say, I only sorta liked the first episode of ABC's Pushing Daisies. I loved the look, the writing (mostly) and thought the casting was extraordinary. I'm not a big fan of dramatic TV voice-overs, and this was no exception. The narration, while creative and spirited, started to annoy me after a while. But I still enjoyed the show, as it had a few surprises in store.

The biggest surprise, and perhaps one of the best parts of the show was the plot with Swoozie Kurtz (IMDB here) and Ellen Greene (IMDB here). If you don't know these names, they're stars of such gems as Cruel Intentions and Little Shop of Horrors, respectively. They played a pair of house-bound, former aquatic starlets. Hilarious. I'm tuning in to the next episode, mostly for them.

(Special thanks to The Pile of Purge blog for the photo. See more Purge here.)

I'M NEVER WATCHING "TOP CHEF" AGAIN

I can't believe they gave the title of Top Chef to that @sshole, Hung. Yes, yes, I know... he is a technically proficient, classically trained chef, or whatever.

But time after time, the judges talked about how his work lacked emotion; how his work lacked soul, and seemed restrained and always, "missing something." Why would you give the title to someone who cooked food without a soul.

And to make matters worse, he was a jerk, in and out of the kitchen. He constantly made a mess, and refused to clean it up. He was careless with knives, and unrepentant when it was pointed out to him. When given criticism, he either blew it off, insulted the judge (to their face sometimes)... or worse, both. And that's their idea of the best in show? No thanks.

OCTOBER MUSIC...

Well, once again, the music industry leaves me underwhelmed... I mean, c'mon. Hanna Montana? 50 Cent vs. Kanye West? Puhleeeze.

One track that does stand out for me, though, is Jill Scott's Hate On Me. Jill Scott is an artist often mislabeled as, "Neo Soul." I say mislabeled because the label implies she doesn't have as much soul as Chaka Khan, or Aretha Franklin, simply because she's young - it says she couldn't express herself with the same amount of soul, simply because she's of a younger generation. Well, this track, and all of her tracks prove this notion to not only be wrong, but to be wrong to the point of offense.

While not my favorite tracks of Ms. Scott's, Hate On Me provides a thunpin' track, hot horns and steamin' vocals on a sensitive subject: haters. Haters are those who would rather dish negativity than celebrate the positivity. It is most specifically used in the hip hop community to refer to people who stand on the sideline and simply dog those who put themselves out there, artistically. Jill Scott is an artist who operates in a unique, soulful place, yet has yet to find the mainstream success as more, "marketable" artists. (She's a full-size woman, unlike some of the skinny girls we see in the mainstream.) I say, props to her.

Getting back to Kanye West, I was very disappointed to see the temper tantrums he's been throwing recently. But I was sickened to my stomach to hear his described as a musical genius, and even less impressed when he compared himself to Coca Cola - a product that's everywhere. Mr. West, your latest song, Stronger is a hit due to the quality of the song it samples. (Don't believe me? The hit of last summer, Bustah Rhymes' Touch It also drew from the same song.) Kanye West says when he, "wrote" Stronger, he imagined it opening the MTV Music Awards. Mr. West, you did not write this song. You rapped over the original work of another artist. GROW UP!

Speaking of which, you should really check out the original version of this song, by Daft Punk. It's called Better, Faster, Harder, Stronger and it is a great track.

Other tracks rockin' my iPod are: Don't Stop The Music and Shut Up & Drive by Rihanna, Gimme More by Britney Spears, Various Remixes of Coldplay songs and the soundtrack from the Broadway musical Wicked!.

PUSH THE LITTLE DAISIES

Well, tonight's the night... ABC rolls out the much-anticipated, much-hyped drama-comedy Pushing Daisies. The good news? The show creator, Bryan Fuller (IMDB here), has a long track record of great shows. He worked on the NBC breakout hit, Heroes. And he created the fabulous, but short-lived, Wonderfalls. But the show he created deserving the most fanfare has to be the wonderful, witty, heartfelt drama-comedy Dead Like Me (IMDB here).

The bad news? Fuller has a well-documented reputation of diva-like behavior. Despite being one of the most creative, unique artists in the TV medium... he has a history of fighting with TV executives - so much so, that many of his shows come to an early death because of it. (If the rumors are to be believed.) Wonderfalls only lasted about 14 episodes with Fuller at the helm. And Dead Like Me, while surviving all the way to a second season, only had Fuller's full creative touch for (wait for it) 14 episodes. If the stats are to be believed, then we better enjoy these first few episodes of Pushing Daisies. Even though its on at the same time as Kid Nation (read my comments on KN here), I plan on investing in Fuller and his crop of Daisies.

IS IT JUST ME...

...or is Blackwater CEO Erik Prince kinda cute? I mean, the only blackwater I can imagine is the blackwater flowing through his evil veins, where normal humans have blood... and he's an uber-conservative, Christian, right-wing evil CEO.

But he's also an ex-Navy Seal, which means that he's in good shape. And although I'm not a fan of his $8 Supercuts hairdo (or the behavior of his company), there's something naught/cute about him.

I still think he, and his employees should rot in hell. And I think it is an act of unspeakable unpatriotic injustice that we're spending thousands of dollars on Blackwater employees (who operate without sufficient oversight), while numerous military families here in the US have to live on food stamps just to make ends meet.

So I guess he's not that cute, after all.

WE WANT THE FUNK

I don't really think the MasterCard ads are that funny anymore... but this one rocks.

ASK vs GOOGLE

If you're a frequent visitor to this blog, you know I pretty much always have a unique image to go with the all my posts. What you might not know is where I get these images from. The two main sources I draw from are Flickr and Google Images. Regardless of how much Photoshop work happens, I find all the images I need from these two sources.

But recently, Ask.com (previously known as Ask Jeeves) dumped a ton of money into advertising its make-over and "improved" services. Their commercials dog the other search engines, and tout the effectiveness and superiority of their search engine. So, like a curious monkey would, I checked them out.

I'm currently working on my next post, about parking, and parking tickets. (It'll be more interesting than it sound, I swear.) So, I plotzed over to Ask.com, clicked on, "Images," and entered the key term, "parking." Ask.com's results? Page upon page of images of parks. Yes, tons of images of leafy green trees and slides and swings made of that weird plastic.

And to top that off, their so-called improvements made searching for the right image even harder... and maybe even a little more annoying. (Those pop-up style search-in-search windows are so lame.) So after a few tries at narrowing the parameters, I gave up... and went over to Google.

And yes, maybe a post about parking tickets isn't that interesting.

OCTOBER HELPING OF SPAM

Here are, in no particular order, 10 actual email I found in my Yahoo! spam folder:


Do You Use MySpace?
Well, I have a MySpace account, but I don't use it... to much spam.

]-+-.(([)![]-.[: :.![* :.
I don't know what this one means, I just liked the way it looked.

A Secret Lover is Trying to Get in Touch With You
Well, this lover truly is secret... even I didn't know I had one!

Chic paper napkin
Liar! There's no such thing!

Especially poor sperm count and quality
I don't think that means what you think it means

He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed, Proverbs 11:25, from Christian Cash Advance Cash Service
Refreshed, redeemed... it doesn't matter what part of the Bible you quote, I'm not dealing with any cash advance service

Relax, sex can be enjoyable
I wouldn't know... it's been way to long for me to recall.

Final ATTEMPT: Confirm Your E-mail address for WalMart Shipment
Uh, I wouldn't set foot in a WalMart, so there's no way I'd ever fall for this one.

Bartender fucks one of his male clients
Talk about a bar-back...

Straight guy trying gay sex
Well, then he's not straight any more, now is he?