Click here to view the embedded video.

Meanwhile…rawr!

The link below will take you to the results of my 12 days of Christmas photo meme. I took the challenge from Ladybug Heather, although I think sh meant we were supposed to take all 12 pictures and post them at once. Since I like anticipation more than the event itself (typically), I decided to spread it out on the 12 days leading up to Christmas.

The order changes, due to each post being promoted to the top of my stream each time it is liked or commented on, but they are all there.

I got lazy on most of them. And I didn’t even try to make any of them Christmasy…just making sure they made the right number. Not sure if I will be able to compete with the folks doing the 100 day photo challenge next year. :p

Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my Christian friends, and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Josh

Meme Link: http://friendfeed.com/search?q=Twelve+Days+of+Christmas+meme&who=joshhaley

What did you do yesterday? Yeah? Cool. Oh, me? Nothing. Except I maybe launched a podcast with 2 friends from opposite corners of the earth: John Worthington of Brisbane, Australia and Mark Wilson of London, Ontario, Canada. Yeah.

I have neglected this blog sorely, yes. But now I’m here, so zip it!

I have been over at FriendFeed for the past 6 months or so. It’s more fun. It’s way easier to post stuff and you get to actually have people read what you write for a change, and they write you back. It’s amazing stuff.

So we created a podcast to get into the various aspects of FriendFeed and what makes it tick and why we love it and how to get the most out of it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Josh

Here’s how I found out about the earthquake in less than 30 mins, and that’s only because I wasn’t really paying attention to twitter at the time. So far reports are that no damage/injuries are known. I hope it stays that way. Just about everyone knows somebody in LA so make sure you call your loved ones to find out if they are OK.

Click for full size. Warning: cuss words used, but then, can you blame them, really?

Have you ever seen the intro to that cable tv show “Weeds”? It’s not exactly the best content, to be sure, but the intro to the show with the theme song is pathetically hilarious in its parody of suburbia. Here are the lyrics (written by Malvina Reynolds, copyright, etc, don’t sue me):

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

2. And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers
And business executives,
And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

There are 2 more verses, but that’s all they use in the intro for the show.

So, tonight, waiting in line at the drive-thru of my local Taco Bell for my evening’s meal, I looked around and saw many other cars doing the same thing. There were 5 cars ahead of me in line. Then I looked to my right and saw a bunch of cars in line at KFC. Then I looked to my left and saw all the people waiting in line at Wendy’s drive thru. “Six-thirty-seven, drive forward please”

Then making my way home I notice the full parking lots at Chilis, Panera Bread, Panda Express, and on and on. Does anyone freaken’ cook in this town? I mean, I cook, but tonight I was eating alone and it was late, so I had an excuse.

And it all seemed so production line, too. Yeah, I understand that these establishments need to be as efficient as possible, but it’s getting a little too robotic. I say get out of the car every now and then, at least, to go INTO the restaurant, even if you’re going to be taking out. I mean, you should have seen all of the futless people when the hurricane hit. No power = no fast food = pandemonium! Man connot live on bread alone. He must also have his double-decker taco and double-cheese fries as well.

OK, convenience is leading to apathy, which will then lead to us being taken over by machines. I mean, come on people! Don’t you read the Dune books or watch the Matrix? And the more you look around, the more you see everyone doing the same thing.

Every other SUV has the “soccer mom” vinyl sticker on the back, touting the mediocre “accomplishments” of the drivers’ kids. OK, maybe that’s not globally deserved, but still…I bet in most cases, it’s just a miracle they got their kid out of the house and onto a soccer field.

Why not have “honesty” stickers for the back of our cars?  For example, “My kid does whatever the heck he wants, because I don’t have the stones to discipline him” or “My kid pretty much finishes his homework most of the time after his TV shows are done” Let’s celebrate mediocrity!

Then there’s the escapist types: “My son put down his Gamecube controller for 30 minutes today!” or “My kid can 0Wn your kid in World of Warcraft!”, or “My kid eats N00bs!”

God help us all. But as soon as I get that vinyl cutter and relevant supplies…Come on soccer moms and ticky-tacky people! Get your custom stickers right here! 2 for $10!

Alrighty then.

Josh
(Reposted from earlier last year on my old myspace blog. It was time.)

I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. You MUST watch this!

My suspicions were correct. There are those of you online that type “LOL” or “lol” withOUT actually Laughing Out Loud.

Sumbitches.

You have no soul. You make me ill, lol. Aw crap, I just did it too! ROFL!

DANGIT! I am most certainly NOT Rolling On the Floor Laughing right now. That would be ridiculous. And it would be tough to get back up and get back into my chair so I can deceive more people online, LOL.

WTF?

No really, I meant that. WTF?

Here’s what he looked like at his audition. Come a long way, eh?

Congrats to you David Cook. Way to go on sharing your moment at the end of the show with all of the contestants.

Best wishes.

David Cook is going to sell a ton of albums no matter what happens tomorrow night. I think Cook is more talented and more experienced, and is more my style. I’d be happy if Archuleta wins too. He’s LDS, which is a plus. It will be interesting to see how a mormon kid is able to let his light so shine as he goes on tour and does a million press conferences, performances and appearances. We shall see.

Enjoy the finale tomorrow night. Remember they love to pull all kinds of surprises. Remember Prince? Yeah, that was HUGE.

1. David Archuleta
2. Jason Castro
3. David C.
4. Michael
5. Chikezie
6. Luke Menard
7. David H.
8. Danny Noriega

So that makes my predictions for being voted out David H. and Danny, but votefortheworst.com is rooting for Danny, so Luke will probably be one of the two to go. You heard it here.

Josh

Kristy Lee Cook Kristy Lee Cook Kristy Lee Cook Kristy Lee Cook…oh sorry, daydreaming again….at night…uh, so… tonight the top 10 girls sang and it was not a good night for most of them. Below are my picks for this round, after the jump:

Here are the results (in my opinion) of the top 10 Guys in week 2 of the live performances, after the jump:

By “Hoss” I mean me, and by “Election” I mean opinion. Taken from the top 12 Gals in week 1 of the live performances, after the jump:

Votefortheworst says to keep Danny Noriega and Amy Davis. I agree with their picks for the worst, but of course do not want them to stay. What do you think?

By “Hoss” I mean me, and by “Election” I mean opinion. Taken from the top 12 Guys in week 1 of the live performances, after the jump:

I stumbled on this open letter from an actual member (ex-member) of the Academy, who receives screener copies of DVDs to watch and prepare for the voting process. In his own unique words, he manages to express what many people think about the MPAA and DRM and how even the legit viewers/consumers seem to have to live under the constant threat of being sued or seized upon. Don’t know what I’m talking about yet? Just read..

http://www.veritas-anydaynow.com/reconsideringscr.html

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

I just saw I Am Legend, after being pulled in by the trailers and the hype and mystique surrounding the Will Smith self-proclaimed blockbuster. I have to say I Am Dissappointed. I Am Hosed. I Am Ripped-Off Again.

Yes, Will Smith is indeed a ‘Legend’ in his own right. Entertainment industry chatter has always been “Will Smith can sell July movies like no one’s business.” He is actually really good in the movie and there are some good aspects to the movie which I will lay out here, but overall, it was found wanting. (Warning – Medium sized spoilers follow here)

Will’s character is supposedly the last man alive on Earth. But as we find out, it is simply an Earth that has had most of its population wiped out by a virus, and Smith’s character is immune. What are the odds? Not only that, but he was involved in the creation and research of the virus. This virus, as is spoon-fed to the viewer at the beginning of the film, was engineered to cure cancer, which it did. But the side effects and/or mutations of the virus (this part was not clear) are highly contagious and most of the Earth is wiped out. Those who did not die from the virus became zombies, for lack of a better term.

They become sensitive to UV rays (light) and live in the dark and come out at night, prefer blood and to hunt/kill for survival and completely lose their hair, skin pigment and magically develop the ability to open their jaws/mouths far wider than a normal human. This adds greatly to cinematic effect, but also makes the story much less believable since, these “things” couldn’t possibly be human. I mean how can a virus make your yawn bigger? Oh wait, it worked on me during the film (insert rim shot here)!

The film does manage to convey extreme isolationism in very good detail. I found myself wanting the mannequins that Smith spoke to in the film to talk back to him. Smith’s character sleeps in his tub in a fetal position in his barricaded home while the “dark sleepers” come out at night to go absolutely ape-poop on anything that moves.

Smith’s character has a looping broadcast for any other “survivors” to meet him at the (used to be) Brooklyn Bridge. This is odd, since laterin the movie he repeats how he is certain that everyone else in the world is either dead or an infected zombie…so why bother? Just noticing…

The end kinda pissed me off, really. There was so much more they could have done to flesh out the events between 10 minutes before the end and the end, but they decided to skip ahead instead. The movie plays out to about 1:36, so it’s not like they didn’t have enough wiggle room with time. I imagine all of the movie’s budget went into effects, which are pretty outstanding. This includes the look of the zombies..they could have looked a bit more real if it weren’t for the unrealistic “hollywood” screaming sounds and the over-extending jaws. They were using horror techniques almost just for the sake of having them rather than moving the storyline along. And don’t get me started on the whole Bob Marley connection. I love the artist and the collection album Legend, but the way it gets connected to the films is a bit odd at best.

I give the movie a “you pretty much have to see it because it’s Will Smith and everyone else will think you’re stupid for not seeing it” as well as a 4 out of 5 for the reletively realistic isolationism scenes.

-Josh

Those who say “irregardless” should be sent to the grammatical equivalent of Guantanamo Bay until they get it all out of their system and unlearn all of the bad habits they picked up throughout the years.

“Ir-” is a negative prefix. If you are irreverent, you are the opposite of reverent. If you are irregular, you are the opposite of regular, or your pooper’s stuck.

The suffix “-less” is also a negative, depending on how it is used. If you are brainless, you do NOT have a brain. If you are penniless, you don’t have any money. If you are futless, you have no idea what’s going on (Hawaii humor, I’m helpless to resist).

You can irritate or irrigate or even feel irregular, but you can’t say “irregardless”.

I will also take this time to repost my Ode to Diet Coke, for those who have not yet read it.

Grant us the strength
to make it through each day
with the help of Diet Coke

Grant us the temperature of product
that is as cold as possible
without little slushies

Grant us ample access
to fountain, bottle and can
in that order

and ice
oh yes, grant us ice

Grant the linings of our throats
the tenacity and power
to guzzle your cold, fresh nectar
in one held breath

Grant us pretty stars and spinning rooms
when we catch our breath
from such gulps

May we always have enough change
for a diet coke for ourselves and a friend

May we always have the means
to keep our diet coke cold

May it last
longer in styrofoam

May it maintain
full carbonation

May it remain
cold cold cold

May it provide
minutes of refreshment

May it quicken
both mind and body

May it never
get mixed with the root beer feed line by careless workers at some random buffet

May it ever
be sugar and guilt free

May it always
be near me

Oh diet coke
we do love thee

–by Josh Haley, Houston, TX