A Thanksgiving List, Of Sorts
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope at some point you’re able to enjoy copious amounts of food and drink and are able to celebrate the season with your families. Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving has to be one of my most favorite of holidays. So, to celebrate I thought I’d give you a somewhat half-baked (get it?) top ten list about the things I’m thankful I can spend my money on.
10. Reeses Puffs - Back in the day, when I was about half my size and age, the cereal choices weren’t all that exciting. They were good, don’t get me wrong, but nothing was quite unhealthy enough to be awesome. And then one day Reeses decided to make a cereal. I’m so thankful I can go out and spend $5 on a box of Reeses balls.
9. Belt Buckles - Have you seen all the different kinds of belt buckles that exist? There’s one you can open beer bottles with. I am so thankful I can spend money on this.
8. Someone’s Grandpa’s Shirt - It brings a smile to my face and puts a skip in my step whenever I remember that I can go to the local Salvation Army or Brown Elephant and buy some western shirt that was worn by somebody’s Grandpa. They probably died in it too, which makes the $3 purchase even more awesome. I am so thankful for this.
7. $4 Coffee - I like mochas, cappucinos, and various “froofy” coffee drinks. I’m glad I can get them for roughly $4 at Starbucks or it’s step-brother, Caribou Coffee. I’m also glad I can feel cool walking to school holding a cup of said “froofiness.” Check it out folks, I’m a writer and I’m drinking COFFEE!! WOO! So yeah, I’m thankful.
6. HD TVs - I’m glad that I can go out and buy TV as big as my wall to compensate for my…lack of personality.
5. Grand Theft Auto - First of all, I’m thankful that video games exist and that there are so many choices. I’m also thankful that I can go out and get them whenever I want. But I’m most thankful for a game like GTA where it’s open ended and you can buy the services of a hooker, beat her over the head with a golf club, and then take your money back. It’s this kind of freedom to satisfy my “sexually frustrated high school” fantasies that has me ever so thankful. Here’s hoping the next one is even freer.
4. Bobby Flay Cookware - I’m thankful I can buy a bunch of cheap cookware with this guy’s mug plastered on the front of the box. I’m thankful that people can grow up to one day be the face of a pressure cooker…and Kitchen Stadium.
3. Hip Tees - There are a lot of places to buy “hip” t-shirts these days. Threadless, Snorg Tees, Jinx, Thinkgeek, every webcomic, etc. This overabundance of “witty” t-shirts makes my year! The other day I saw a shirt that had bacon coming out of a toaster. I’m so thankful I can buy that.
2. Alcohol - I’m thankful that I can have a beverage that lowers my inhibitions and my perception of the world. I also appreciate waking up the next morning in an unfamiliar place, wondering where my pants are. Isn’t booze fun? Oh yeah, it also helps with the writing process, for which I am most grateful.
1. Boobs - I could buy them for myself if I wanted, or had the money. So. Thankful.
A Thought On Method
As a writer for any medium, you often get asked (or are made to ask yourself), “What’s your method?” Some people respond with a very complex list of how they get into the mood to write and then how they go about building their magnum opus while others go at great lengths to explain how they just do things in bursts. I tend to fall into that latter category. My writing inspiration seems to come and go, usually without much warning. I could be sitting in the classroom arguing the semantics of storytelling when this “need” will rise to the surface and eat away at me until I scribble something down. Or, I could be sitting at the local Starbucks drinking a Grande White Mocha when this happens, oftentimes in mid-sip. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a pen nearby. If not, I resort to my laptop.
There was a period of time where I tried to maintain a more organized writing method, what some might call a regimen if you will. I put this into practice during the summer, since I chose not to take any classes, and went to a coffee shop to spend a few hours a day writing. I would ask for a real “froofy” drink and then sit down and write until the battery died. I was able to get a decent amount of work done in around two to three hours (I need a new battery for the ole macbook pro). After about a week or so of this, though, I stopped and went back to my more sporadic method of writing every couple of days or whenever I felt like it.
And then I had a conversation with the Chair of the Film and Video Department at Columbia College. I (alongside a producer from our Practicum class) had pitched a story I was working on and he gave some excellent advice on how to go about fixing the then incomplete story. Later on, we bumped into each other in the hall and talked about the process of writing. I explained my exasperation at the process and he chuckled. He told me that it was a day to day process, and that in this business you need to continually write. It’s a competitive business and if you aren’t writing, you won’t make it. That hit home with me, and I decided to work on my method some. Now, I try to write something every day, whether it be my scripts, Twitter, Friendfeed, this site, or for Generation Tech. But I don’t force myself, either. If I don’t have anything, I don’t write anything.
That’s pretty much my method, explained in a bunch of barely strung together paragraphs. Hopefully the insight was helpful, and gave you something to take away. So, I turn the question to you. “What’s your method?”
Thanks goes out to Kent Nichols for making me think. 
Jonathan is a VJ, Part 2
Here we are again, folks. It’s time for another edition of “Jonathan is a VJ.” This time around, I’m thinking that I’ll take you on a journey of old school MTV / VH1 delights, stuff that I watched over and over again as a kid. Without further delay, let’s get started with probably the first music video I ever watched. Incidentally, it’s the first music video I watched on MTV’s New Site.
All The Best Problems Are My Fault
If you follow me on twitter, or if you just live within the vicinity, I’ve no doubt told you that I was trying to attach my domain name to a specific folder within http://www.hilarioushenry.com . You probably also caught my copious frustration as attempt after attempt to get the darned thing to work failed. I called up GoDaddy support and they were very helpful, and were even very patient with me, but the problem persisted. So, then I get a call from @godaddyguy and we went over the problem again. As it turns out, it was something I had failed to change in my Wordpress settings. When I changed that, the domain latched onto the folder instantly.
Do you realize how exciting it is to know that the problem is on your end? When things go to shit, it’s a comfort to realize that you are to blame and that it’s not something on the other end, something that you can’t control. Take my past relationship with Comcast for example. All of my problems with them stemmed from something that only they could fix on their end or come over to my end and fix. Waiting on them was hell. Waiting to see where the problem existed was hell. Here, it was just a simple tweak on my end and everything was as right as rain.
That, my friends, is exciting.
And now I’ll stop rambling like a buffoon and go make some lunch.
Chickens in Chicago
Found this off of Boing Boing and couldn’t help but scratch my head. Lol wut?
Video:
Time To Update You
If you haven’t heard yet through the social network grape-vine(s), I’m co-hosting a new podcast with three friends I met on the internet called Generation Tech. The team is comprised of yours truly, Matsie, Matt, and Mike. We gather on skype each week to record our thoughts and feelings about the tech world today and it’s implications on our lives, all the while talking trash. It’s truly a remarkable endeavor and it’s been nothing but a blast these past few episodes. Granted, we’re only coming up on our fourth episode, but don’t let that deter you. Get in on the ground floor and check us out. We also write articles throughout the week and spend copious amounts of time on twitter, friendfeed and facebook. (Add us, please….or else)
I’m also working on various writing projects and generally keeping as busy as I possibly can. Don’t really want to spoil anything or give away too much too early, but I think there is some promising content coming your way. Anyway, that’s really all I have for you this evening. Before I go, here’s a song that’s been running through my head all night. Ciao.
Jonathan is a VJ, Part 1
With the new MTV music video site just recently launched, I thought I would start a small little series on my blog where I pick five music videos I have saved in my favorites and embed them here for you to enjoy. If you want, you can friend me on the new site and keep up to date with what music videos I’m favoriting. The list right now is mostly small, but I’ll be adding more as I find them. Anyway, onto the music fest!
Weighing In On Rev3 Changes
Big news today in the world of New Media. Revision3 decided today to cut back some of it’s shows as well as a few of it’s employees to persevere through this economic downturn. While I’m saddened that such talented people are out of work, I’m not too terribly disappointed that some of these shows are no longer a part of the Rev3 lineup. Of course, I’m referring to Internet Superstar, Pixel Perfect, and Pop Siren.
Internet Superstar. A lot of problems exist with this show, in my opinion, and they all seem to stem from Martin Sargeant’s very first show with Rev3, Infected. I gave that show a chance when it first aired, and just didn’t get it. I understood what was supposed to be funny about it, but I lost interest about ten minutes into the first episode. I also couldn’t get through episode two, or episode three, and stopped completely ten seconds into the fourth episode. It was the kind of humor that I don’t subscribe to, and the lack of focus for the show only served to piss me off.
When Web Drifter came into the fray, things changed for me. The show had Martin Sargeant in his element: out and about with all the “weird” internet people he could find. It was a promising concept, and as the series progressed, it started to take a form that I really enjoyed.
And then it was dropped for Internet Superstar (or Infected 2.0: Where’s Joey?). Despite being more focused in scope than infected, it just couldn’t make up it’s mind about where it wanted to go. This was quite evident when the full length version of the show got cut down to just it’s daily “bytes” only. Really, how much longer could this show have gone on anyway? Personally, I think cutting this show down was a wise choice, and should have happened even before this economy crunch occurred.
Pixel Perfect. I really liked this show, but as it continued, I noticed that it just didn’t really fit into the Rev3 lineup. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks that, but there was a definite vibe that this show was kind of outside the core content that Rev3 was producing.
Pop Siren. Now here’s a show with promise and a lack of vision at the same time. I remember watching it a few times between the older (longer) version and the updated version. It lost a lot in the translation, and it only showed me that like Internet Superstar, it just wasn’t finding it’s place in the core lineup. A shame, because I was definitely into it for awhile there.
All in all, it’s a shame to see these shows go. Wine Library TV and EPIC FU will of course find their footing again, considering they were established before Rev3. I can only hope that the talented people from these dropped shows will find their next big thing and give it their all. Best of luck to everyone!
An Old Video, But Good One
Found this older video by perusing a family member’s blog archives. Every time I’ve come across TED I’ve always been engaged on so many levels. Seriously. Good stuff. I agree with a lot of what Sir Ken Robinson says here. Our education needs to be rethought. Funny that I’m thinking about this more now that my education is winding down.
Paralyzed With Joy
Had my RSS feed reader on this afternoon in class (I know, shame on me..) when this article popped up on Gizmodo about these brain implants that help paralyzed monkeys regain movement. I clicked through to the New Scientist article and read further on the breakthrough implant. I must say that I’m quite fascinated by the implications of this, especially since I have a constant fear of waking up one morning and finding myself unable to move. Anyway, give the articles a look-see.