All I Skype For Christmas...

It's gonna happen....

That's what people, my friends, would tell me. Whenever I was down about the two things that used to make me down the most.

#1. No girlfriend. Well as of three or so months ago, that's become true. I was plain sure that I just wasn't the kinda guy anyone but my Mom could love, and that was a fickle as a kid in a candy store. But it has. It has happened. "They" were right. The second I stopped looking, and in a place I never would have thought of, it happened. I have never been "more up".

#2 No career/job?famousness. I don't have a "job". That causes a ton of stress and struggle, but, I was able to become a Production and Imaging Intern for the Spring Semester back at MOViN 997. I'm working under a man who's been successful at radio for more years than I have been alive. He's an awesome mentor, and maybe even a really good friend.

as far as famousness, I guess I've realized in doing a random little podcast with some friends out of a dorm room and having the time of my life, I don't so much care about famous. I thought I did before, but I don't. I just like being funny and making people laugh. Even if it's only 9, or 19 people at a time.

Check us out Live, on Sundays at 8:30 at www. midnightpancakes.com

This week will be out first "It's a Skype Special Christmas-a-sode"

Midnight Pancakes

A friend and I have started a Talk Show. One of late night epic proportions. It's going to be a podcast at first, with video added in real soon, and we'll be taking calls, interacting with guests, the whole 9 yards! It's beeen a lot of fun working on it and I think you'll have a ton of fun listening and watching it!!

So remember, French Toast is good for breakfast, cause Pancakes are for late night !!

GDGT is back in SF tonight!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE gadgets. I said it. And I don't really care who heard me. I am a Geek. Maybe even a GEEK with all capitals.

Pretty much I am awesome, and if you don't come to this, I will have way cooler toys than you! ;)

RSVP on Facebook

Enhanced Podcast Assignment

For Media Formats and Trends class we had to take some previous content and create an enhanced podcast. This is what I came up with...

Germany Bathroom Story Edited

What can you do?

How to help...

...some ideas on ways to make an impact or help change the statistics...

Marijuana - The perfect medication for Autism?

Marijuana might be legalized in California. Is it just a way for Oaksterdam University to increase enrollment or could pot be used in treating Autism? Listen to Sam's Story, tell me what you think...?

LGBT Center

In the wake of the recent media coverage on the LGBT bullying and suicides, I decided to do a piece for my midterm to help spread the word about the LGBT Center and the work they do...

This is the link to the YouTube of my story...

USA Today Talks to God...?

http://tiny.cc/GodView

In the link above is an article that raises some interesting questions and observations. Does your paradigm and understanding of God directly effect your worldview? Is this obvious? What do you think?

Are issues like equality in marriage or the right for an individual to "marry" whomever they want connected to God?

According to the article 65% of people who consider themselves distant from God consider homosexuality an inborn trait. It's almost the reverse in people who consider God "authoritative". (Meaning 56% of those consider homosexuality a choice.)

Don't we learn to identify "what's what" from what we are taught as we develop? If the way society thinks of homosexuality is created by what we are taught in our personal development, what does that say about culture and the bible?

ABC Tech Writer says Zuckerberg's Billionaire Status is short lived...

"Michael S. Malone is one of the nation's best-known technology writers." That's according to his tagline bio thing at the end of a recent rambling posted on ABC News/Money website regarding Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. It's a long drawn out article that shows that time may be a friend of cigars and wine, being an aged tech writer maybe not so much.

You can check out the ageist Zucker-bashing here: http://tiny.cc/bashofzucker

Or just tell me what you think? Should a Harvard kid surrounded by controversy be less deserving of his billionaire status than the Silicon giants before him? Does it matter that Facebook started from a few other failed ideas? Is it important that the ownership and creation of Facebook has been under legal scrutiny?

Jealousy is a part of culture and society, but I would say to Mr. Michael S. Malone, that it has no place in journalism.

Sea of Pink - What do you think?

There's a ton of stories about this right now, my friends at Go Inspire Go highlight a start to positive change, what do you think? Pink Shirts? Solidarity? Is internet bullying and suicide an epidemic?

http://goinspirego.blogspot.com/2010/10/bullied-to-death-and-how-power-of-pink.html

What is love?

Howard Jones. Maybe he was a poet of sorts. If 80's pop music is poetry. That could be a discussion for a different blog. For this one I thought I would explore the lyrics of Howard Jones' song and see if he got it right or not...

In the first verse he sings:

"I love you whether or not you love me
I love you even if you think I don’t
Sometimes I find you doubt my love for you
But I don’t mind
Why should I mind, Why should I mind"

Can love exist if it's unrequited? Whether or not Juliet loved Romeo, seemed insignificant to his desire and affection for her. Ross seemed to love Rachel without her loving him back throughout the better chunk of that series. I am just not sure if it's true to say that the person loving doesn't mind that they aren't loved back. I think Romeo desires Juliet's love in return. Ross was certainly pining and wishing and hoping for Rachel's love. Does Howard Jones sing about a love that is different than the one these others felt? Was his love stronger since he didn't mind that the person he's singing to doesn't share his feeling?

The chorus follows:

"What is love anyway, does anybody Love anybody anyway
What is love anyway, does anybody Love anybody anyway"


This is an interesting question. Does anybody really love anyway? If it's a feeling and an emotion, that poets and writers and greeting cards have struggled to describe then how can anyone really "know" that they are in love? With divorce rates and domestic violence and the darker side of love, it seems people often think what they feel is love only to find out later it is something else entirely.

The verses continue:

"Can anybody love anyone so much that they will never fear
Never worry never be sad
The answer is they cannot love this much nobody can
This is why I don’t mind you doubting"

The Bible talks about a Love that casts out all fear. A Love that knows no worry. I believe this Love exists and that it's possible that the God the Bible talks about Loves in this manner. Does that make it tangible or possible for a human to feel this love for another? It seems that Howard Jones would say no. And does. I think that people say "Love is Blind". Maybe that sentiment and idea is born from this type of love that has no fear.

The last verse sings:

"And maybe love is letting people be just what they want to be
The door always must be left unlocked
To love when circumstance may lead someone away from you
And not to spend the time just doubting"

The first line of this last verse rings true to me. I have recently felt this type of love in my life. Having someone who cares about be and allows me to be what I want. It's something hard to describe. I feel like doors are unlocked, that there's a freedom that I haven't felt in a relationship before.

The last lines of the song raise some questions for me. To love when circumstance may lead someone away from me. I am not sure exactly what this means next to allowing someone to be who they want? Maybe it's the idea that if you love someone you should set them free and see if they come back to you. I guess I never really believed in that idea. I think love is something that deserves to be perused and fought for. Something that should matter enough to not let it go.

I think overall Ho Jo has some interesting things to say in these lyrics, but I think I'd rather chase after love, to fight for it, and it does matter to me that the love I'm giving and chasing and pursuing is returned. But maybe I've seen too many John Hughes movies...

sometimes you gotta say "uncle"...

Today, being September 30th 2010, my younger brother had his first child. A baby girl, 8 pounds and 14 ounces. Riley Lauren McNall. (I may not be right about the spelling, but ... yeah.) We were at the hospital waiting for what seemed like forever. I think we arrived in the waiting room around 10:30 or 11 am and the baby didn't join us until just about 7:30 pm.

It was really sort of surreal. I think I've watched a ton of baby's born on reality TV and sit coms and whatever, so the whole thing felt like a bad TV show. Complete with complex family drama, mixed emotions, and a bit of a scare. Riley entered the world and my sister in law developed a fever during the labor. They took the baby to the Intensive Care area right away.

This was especially emotional because back when my older brother, Ryan, was born, it was with a congenital heart condition and my parents experienced having their baby rushed away right after birth. My sister in law was emotional and for the next few days little Riley will remain in intensive care for observation.

My younger brother, the proud father, was amazing. I'm so proud of him and I am really excited for the future and for his little girl to grow up and experience the love that was beaming out of a smile I don't think I've ever seen him wear before.

This is a photo of the proud Pop and his new baby girl. Pretty Awesome.

This is me and Riley. I didn't really know what to do. I was so scared of hurting the baby or something. I didn't wanna get too close! Ross insisted I get a photo. It was cute and awkward and a moment I will probably never forget.

I know this probably isn't exactly what the posts in my blog are supposed to be about, but hey. I'm an uncle for the first time. What's a guy to do?

hiding in my room

i am not sure how long this poetry idea will last. i have been writing for most of my life, but there's been a long dry spell. i am not sure if it's stress induced, or inspired by the Ginsberg film, or what the cause is, but i am writing again. i woke up today with a bit of sickness that has lingered a week or so now, and a long with that, the sense i wanted to write...

sometimes i write things that are the exact opposite of how i actually feel. sometimes i write things that are dramatic exaggerations of my emotional state. like i'm tired and just waking up, is somehow turned into...
whatever this emotion is...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

hiding in my room

behind my smile is hollow empty sadness

but no one will ever know

there’s pain inside my joking words

that my hazel eyes will never show

i cry alone in secret

with no tears across my cheek

i fear alone in darkness

with no words that I can speak

loneliness piles around me like a sandy beach

happiness is on a shelf that’s just out of

my reach

no step stool

no ladder

no helping hand

nothing

when outside i feel warm as the sun

holding hands with freedom

in a downhill reckless run

all the while inside me

my emotions like an open drain

all these people all around me

and i am empty lonely pain

the night air cools the silence

safe darkness is my groom

at least its familiar

this hiding in my room

last forever

(a friend found this in an old journal that has a ton of different scribbles in it, she said she liked it and i realized i hadn't posted any poetry anywhere in a while and i am supposed to be blogging for class, so...)

last forever

if one night could last forever
than i choose this one with you
nothing different i would say
nothing differnet i would do
the nervous stutter of my lips
the skip and flutter of my heart
i feel something beginning
but i don't know how to start

your eyes
could move 1000 men to dance
your smile
inspiries me to take a chance
we talk until the night becomes the day
it doesn't really matter what we say

no pumkins turn to carriages
no mice turn into men
i slip back into feeling
when you smile at me again

the light of morning's shinning
and i can't help my stare
as my eyes adore the beauty
of you simply sitting there

and time sneaks up so slowly
the day becons us to go
your my night to last forever
though you may never know.

-----------------------------------------------------

i recently watched HOWL at the Kabuki Sundace. it's a movie about Ginsberg's poem of the same name. the film is centered on a trial where the publisher was accused of publishing obscenity and then some interviews that were recorded with Ginsberg talking about the poem, the trial, and art. Among many of the issues in the film, and just the over all uniqueness in the way it was put together, i had a few thoughts. one that is still rattling in my head, i'd like to mention here as a footnote to this poem:

is "art" only such when the creator creates it with intention. does each word in the poem have to have a specific and finite meaning? what about each brush stroke of a painting? if something is written of the top of the head, without intention, meaning, or editing; is it less "art"? if paint is splattered on a canvas haphazardly or accidentally, can it be "art"?

if i see a work of writing or painting, and find meaning in it, as the viewer or consumer of art, without knowledge of the creator or the creator's intention, can something become "art" through my interpretation or consumption?

feel free to comment on the poem itself of these foot note thoughts. i feel like this is a really interesting topic and idea that i would like to explore more...

The Buggles of the Social Media Revolution

The Buggles aired the first music video on MTV with a prophetic track that was titles and that sang, "Video Killed the Radio Star". As the new medium of combining video and images with music grew and changed the way listeners consumed music, it was clear that video would, at least for a time, kill the radio star. MTV's request shows would have requests for bands and premiers of songs that didn't and some that would never be heard on mainstream radio.


As we look now at the internet, and the revolution of social media and the digital age, we find new Buggles, constantly toppling and changing the way media and information is consumed, shared, created, and viewed.


Twitter tweets and Facebook status updates killed Myspace, Foursquare and Smart Phone apps threaten the life of Twitter and Facebook, until they embraced the unity of one another.


The newest smallest fastest phone or tweak or app or ... it moves faster. It grows faster. The revolts and conquests seem to rise exponentially. The parchment and ink is replaced by the pixel or even the MPEG.


Get the end user the information in faster, more concise, more controllable medium.


How can we foresee a future that changes so rapidly that we can't master the weapons of the new regime before it's walls are torn down and it's over thrown by the iPhone 6.2 army of world changing digital ideas.


The fast food culture of our generation and the generations to come will continue to push media and content into a smaller, faster, what I want when I want it variety that may or may not be the sparks that ignite the degradation of the pen, the book, and even the language itself. And, some say it's no laughing matter...LOL.


What will it take to compete in this fight. How can one expect to win or survive or even know what the next arena will be where the battle will take place?


I think these questions can lead us to a discussion that is necessary in the emerging world of media.


It seems to me the choice to join the Revolution is made easily for us as it's numbers increase at a rate that dwarfs the culture revolutions of the past...

Germany Bathroom Story

I decided to start my blog with an old favorite from my life, my you tube, and my under construction web site. (And by under construction, I mean lame and clunky cause I have no idea how to use iWeb well, and even less idea how to actually use HTML for something other than a Myspace Overlay.)

I fancy myself a good story teller and a few years back I was unable to come home for christmas so I decided to make a DVD of some of the stories my family usually encourages me to tell whenever we get together.

This first one is about my father and my trip to Germany in 2006, where I had an unfortunate bathroom experience.