I spent last night listening to Fred’s Radio and tonight reading his State of the Union post.
I won’t mince words: it is the best post I have ever read and it sums up the way a lot of us feel about the people and political parties who wage a war of weapons against an unseen enemy, a war of words against each other, and a war of bullshit against the American people.
You’re not alone Fred. Not by a long shot.
I’ve never done one of these deals, but someone sent me this in an email, so I’ll do it here.
Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
1) Bag Boy
2) Lifeguard
3) Heat Set Machine Operator
4) Lawyer
Four movies I can watch over and over:
1) Spaceballs
2) The Holy Grail
3) Raising Arizona
4) Up in Smoke
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1) Battlestar Galactica
2) The Amazing Race
3) Survivor
4) Lost
Four places I’ve been on vacation:
1) Bahamas
2) Cozumel
3) Santa Fe
4) Kamloops
Four of my favorite dishes:
1) Sushi
2) Poblano Chicken
3) Gumbo
4) Garlic mashed potatoes
Four websites I visit daily:
1) Flickr
2) My Yahoo
3) Bloglines
4) Tech Memeorandum
Four places I would rather be right now:
1) Camping
2) Fishing
3) Ocean Drive
4) Sleeping
Four bloggers I am tagging:
1) Improbulus
2) Richard Querin
3) Dwight Silverman
4) Amy Gahran
Director Kirby Dick’s This Film Is Not Yet Rated looks at the motion picture ratings system created and run by the MPAA. He submitted the film for rating in November and specifically requested that the MPAA not make copies of the movie.
After receiving the movie, it seems the MPAA subsequently made copies without Dick’s permission.
I wonder if the MPAA is planning on filing suit against itself.
Every time I turn around, somebody else is trying to stuff the cat back into the bag, make the world stop turning, hold back the tide, stop the evolution of media distribution. That sort of thing.
Now it’s the National Association of Theater Owners (a new kind of NATO), who show the movies made by the constituents of the other famous cat stuffer, the MPAA. This NATO is all a tither because Steven Soderbergh’s new movie, Bubble, is being released in the theaters, to cable and satellite and on DVD at the same time. The horror!
I suppose this NATO is compelled by its charter to join the fray since the MPAA, the RIAA and all sorts of other AA’s are engaged in a full fledged war against all sorts of enemies of their long-standing monopoly on how we receive our media.
Mark Cuban posts a great rebuttal to the gyrations of John Fithian, Commander in Chief of this NATO, who basically said western civilization would crumble if someone got to watch a new movie at home without paying $7.99 for popcorn and $5.99 for a coke.
Mark’s nail on the head comment was:
How sad is it when the President of the National Assoc of Theater Owners doesn’t think his members can create a better movie going experience than what we can see in our houses and apartments ?
That’s just it. When you control the distribution channels, you don’t have to worry about the experience. If you want to see a movie, you have to go to the theater. That’s why so many theaters, at least around my neck of the woods, have fallen into a mild state of disrepair. And of course it’s also the reason why popcorn is priced like caviar.
Mark also pointed out most pro sports games are on TV (live, not 6 months later); that even good cooks like to eat out; and that people still buy stuff from bricks and mortar stores. Great points all.
Mark sums up the difference in his approach and the one this NATO is trying so hard to hold onto:
It didn’t take me long to realize that the business of the Mavericks was not selling basketball, it was selling a fun night out and creating a favorable brand identification with our team and our players, with the hope that people would be excited to buy merchandise, products and services from us.
Mark then tells this NATO, in fine detail, exactly how to fix their problems before home theaters and Netflix put them out of business (basically by picking movies that appeal to your demographics and creating a better experience, but read his post because it is very well reasoned and enlightening).
Will this NATO do it? Not likely as long as they keep obsessing on the catless bag.
Just a little bit ago, while I was watching Tom and Jerry with the girls, I got this exciting email:
From: Richard D. Forrester, Esq. (For Trustees)
Managing Partner (Aaron & Partners LLP, Cheshire, England CH1 1HG)
Notification of Bequest.
On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Engr. Mark Halligan, I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered. I hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address on the WILL. I wish to notify you that late Engr. Mark Halligan made you a beneficiary to his will. He left the sum of Nine Million, One Hundred Thousand US Dollars(US$9,100,000.00) to you in the codicil and last testament to his will.
This may sound strange and unbelievable to you, but it is real and true. Being a widely travelled man, he must have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were nominated to him by one of his numerous friends abroad who wished you good. Engr. Mark Halligan until his death was a former managing director and pioneer staff of a giant construction company (JULIUS BERGER). He was a very dedicated Christian who loved to give out. His great philanthropy earned him numerous awards during his life time. Late Engr. Mark Halligan died on the 9th day of February 2004 at the age of 82 years, and his WILL is now ready for execution.
According to him this money is to support your humanitarian activities and to help the poor and the needy.
Please If I reach you as I am hopeful, endeavor to get back to me as soon as possible by email: richardd.forrester@personal.ro to enable me conclude my job. You should forward along your current telephone number, including your current mailing address.
I hope to hear from you in no distant time.
Yours in His service,
Richard D. Forrester, Esq.
***
How exciting it feels to be rich. I’m not bothered by the fact that nowhere is my name mentioned. Or that some big time British lawyer uses an msn address to send mail and an email address in Romania for replies. I just wonder if the “Esq.” means he is a lawyer or the son of a British nobleman. Probably both.
You always hear about people falling for these things, but I honestly can’t believe that these dumbasses really believe anyone will fall for this or that anyone will.
I bet the real Richard Forrester would be stoked to find out someone is impersonating him in such a fine manner.
This lame attempt at a scam reminds me of one of the funniest lines from one of the funniest movies ever: “The Ring! I can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book! What a fool, what’s with you man, c’mon!?”
I read the best blonde joke ever on Greg Hughes’ blog just now.
I’ve talked about what a phenomenal show this is before. Many times. I’m about to make a bold statement, but one that I now feel certain about.
This is not only the most well written show on TV now- it’s the most well written show on TV ever.
Tonight’s show set a new high for good writing and edge of your seat tension. When Adama and Cain were deciding whether or not to kill each other, I thought I was going to pass out. If you haven’t seen this show, consider yourself lucky because you have a treat in store.
I couldn’t post this before Christmas, because it was one of Raina’s presents, but I ordered one of the photo books Flickr sells in partnership with Qoop, and it looks great. Here’s how easy it is to do.
First I made a new set of my Flickr photos and included all the photos I uploaded in 2005. Then I reordered them from oldest to newest so they’d be in chronological order. Then I clicked on the set to get to my Flickr page for that set and selected “Make Stuff” in the menu bar. That took me to the Qoop page where I selected an 8×10, 2 photos to a page, two sided, glossy photo album. I refreshed the cover page selection until I got a mix I liked and titled the book “Newsome Family Photos 2005.” I bought 2 115 page, professionally bound photo books for a hair over $100 each. I gave one to Raina and one to my sister. These books are reasonably priced and look great. I can’t recommend them highly enough. I can’t believe you can actually buy something like this- and for only $100!
Yesterday I decided to print some photos of Luke to send to people back home. I selected the photos I wanted to print via the “Order Prints” link on the menu bar of the photo page, and went to checkout, where I was again amazed by Flickr. I paid 20 cents a piece for the prints, and was given the option of having the prints mailed or picking them up at my neighborhood Target store in one hour- that’s right, in one hour. I decided to pick them up, which was easy and fast. And the prints look great. Plus, you must get a number of prints free, since I ordered 10 and my total price was $0.
Flickr continues to amaze me. What a great site and what great service.
I guess Buzz Bruggeman was mighty happy on Sunday when his boy J.J. Reddick got to experience winning a game at Wake Forest for the first time ever. This loss won’t do much to increase the WFU hat quotient.
I’m going to explain that loss in three words. It’s about recruiting.
I’m not trashing Wake’s players. Wake has some great players that compare well to most other teams in the country. Teams that actually have to recruit players, that is.
If you follow college basketball recruiting you know that Duke can generally select the recruits it signs. Take a look at the recruting databases on Scout.Com or any major college sports network and you’ll see blue chip prospects with offers from tons of schools with a notation that the kid has “medium interest” in those schools. Then there’s Duke with a “no offer” notation and an indication that the player has “high interest” in the Blue Devils. Usually this means these kids are waiting to see if Duke will “select” them. Duke doesn’t recruit, it selects.
So think about it this way. Let’s say we decide to play basketball or soccer or croquet or red rover or whatever. And let’s say that rather than take turns picking our team, I get to pick my entire team first. In that case, I should win almost every game, right? In fact, if I don’t it’s the result of either a failure on my part to pick the right people or a tremendous effort on the part of you or your team.
When you think about it that way, it says a lot about Skip Prosser and the WFU team that J.J. Reddick took 4 years to win at Wake.
Google issued a press release today about its forthcoming Video Marketplace.
I’m going to resist examining the question of why anyone would want to watch a TV show on their computer, as opposed to on their HDTV via TIVO or some other recording device and just assume for a second that there are actually people who are dying to pay a lot of money to watch on their computers in standard definition what they could be watching in HDTV for free.
What I find interesting in that press release is that NBA games will be part of the available videos. That’s what I want to talk about.
Does anyone over 20 care about the NBA anymore? I honestly do not know one single person who is a rabid NBA fan. Not one, and because I have wondered about this for a while, I have walked the halls at my office asking this question. People I know go to games- I went to the opening game this year. But everyone I know uses corporate tickets for client development and treats the game as some sort of live, big screen sports bar. Maybe the NBA is the new polo and I’m just not rich and sophisticated enough to get it, but I don’t get it.
When I was a kid, I was a huge NBA fan- first of the Bucks with Jabbar, Dandridge, the Big O, Lucius Allen and Jon McGlocklin. Later it was Portland and my then favorite player Bill Walton. Even later, after I moved to Texas, I went to a ton of games and saw Jabbar, Bird, Magic, Jordan and others play.
Now? I’d honestly rather stare at a blank TV than watch an NBA game. I watch a ton of college basketball. But I find the NBA to be boring and mercenary.
I guess what I’m saying about the big announcement that we’ll soon be able to buy downloads of otherwise free TV shows and boring NBA games is: is there anyone who is genuinely excited about this?
Newsome.Org 