the indoob! network

January 28, 2011

fripodding and glam rock: “teenage dream” – t-rex

This song is on this album

This might seem like an odd or obscure pick for me, only because of the video I’m posting along with it… which is why I’m posting two videos to explain why I chose this song. But then again, do I really need to explain my eclecticism? I listen to “odd” things all the time.

And how I found this song isn’t very odd at all. Like a good chunk of the music I like, I first heard it in a movie. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is where I heard “Teenage Dream.” And it was only the first few seconds! The rest of the song I got into and now it’s on my iPod. I came across the supposed music video of a “live” event by the artist known as T-Rex. Watch the video and you’ll understand why I put live in quotes.

He’s lip syncing. And that’s okay… I guess. What I found most amusing was his outfit, the gyrations, and the audience members. Who’s the dad sitting in the front? And what’s with the military officers in the back? I don’t know, but it amused me and was a gentle reminder that this was the weird times before my time known as glam rock. I’m not sure why but it’s now part of music history. The only glam rockers I was aware of was Queen, but now there’s this guy T-Rex. I’m not really trying to add more to my collection, I’m just stating a fact according to me. To be honest, this is borderline disco which already has it’s let’s-not-go-back-there vibes. I think it’s the fashion. But I’m sure my future kids will say the same thing to me about the 90′s and 00′s. I’m ready to defend some of it. But they will know I did not partake in skinny jeans nor will I ever.

Anyway, I’m avoiding going into a review of a new favorite movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World and what this song has to do with this movie.  Hopefully I’m not spoiling too much by posting this if you haven’t seen the movie, but these scene is maybe about 1/3 of the way in. Not only is it a transition in scenes, but it’s also a transition in the story.

For those that haven’t seen it, trust me, I’m not really ruining a lot for you. There is still more awesomeness to be seen and story to tell. And those who have seen it, go see it again. I am. (Wish I saw it in theaters.) I’m stopping now before I go into review mode.

P.S.
Tomorrow at 5:55 PM I will have made my 25th trip around the sun. I’ll be watching Inception on a big screen with my friends and family to celebrate.

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January 25, 2011

the inevitable oscar nod snub(s)

Christopher Nolan at event of InceptionThe Oscar nominations are in. (How cliché is that phrase today?) And closely followed is the “snubbed” list.

Surely you can find the nomination list anywhere, and they probably have their own list of snubs and in a day or so will be followed by predictions. I will post my own prediction list in the next few days. But right now, I just want to air my disgust on some of the mistakes everyone will complain about and soon forget about as that eagerly anticipate the big night… and soon after that, we’ll forget about the snubbed altogether and maybe even a few of the nods.

But maybe we won’t forget about the brilliant Christopher Nolan who is one of my favorite directors out there today. He was left off the Best Director’s list, and apparently has yet to be nominated for such. INSANITY! Sure, at least Inception has Best Picture and Best Screenplay (which he would get awards for) along with 6 others, but the film wouldn’t be as great without it’s helmer, right? Not all the time, but often if a film gets the Best Picture, the same film will get Best Director. Not all the time, though. This is a case where it should have been. I also read that this film should have gotten a Best Editing too, which I also agree.

Another snub that a few on the internets pointed out is Scott Pilgrim vs the World. On a personal note, this has become one of my newest favorite films. But what was this snubbed out of? Best Visual Effects. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it and you’ll understand why. In the same category: TRON: Legacy.

Speaking of TRON: Legacy, it would’ve been nice to see Daft Punk get a nomination for Best Score.

By the way, there are still a number of nominated films I haven’t seen yet, so I can’t say too much about The Fighter, Blue Valentine or The Kids Are Alright, and probably a few others.

Lastly, I thought Andrew Garfield was a shoo-in to not only get nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but possibly win. Sure, he’s got to go against Christian Bale which might be a lock, but I’ll get into analysis later. But while we’re on The Social Network, I would’ve liked to see Justin Timberlake as a nominee too for that role.

Another surprise to me was a documentary I plan on seeing: Waiting for “Superman” …also snubbed! I hear documentaries are weird at the Oscars anyway.

One of my crushes Mila Kunis was not nominated for Black Swan, and I’m not too shocked by this. She was great and all, but I wouldn’t have minded either way.

That’s it for the snubs, be sure to come back soon for my predictions.

January 21, 2011

fripodding can be exhausting

Filed under: blogging,fripodding,life update,office,writing — t. sterling @ 2:40 pm
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My makeshift workshop

My fellow Indoobians! I wholeheartedly apologize for the lack of friPods last week and now this week. As I often say, and seemingly saying more often than just regular often, “life happens.” And life has been happening more than I can live. Okay, I’m not sure that even makes sense…

Just to update as to what in life is going on, I currently have about 3-4 jobs. I mention these on Twitter on occasion and refer to them as Job #1, #2 and #3.

  1. Job #1 is the office job I’ve had for the past few years and as of about 2 years ago, I got the opportunity to work at home. It’s mostly pretty awesome, but it has it’s setbacks. For example, I don’t get snow days. Also, if the power goes out, I can’t escape from the darkness to my home because I’m already there. The pros outweigh the cons so I won’t bother finding other nuisances. Again, I like working at home. And only 2% of the time do I work in my pajamas. I get dressed because I’m anxious to get out of the house whenever I can.
  2. Job #2 is my tech job at my church. It mostly started with being the A/V guy, which I’m really just the A because we haven’t gotten into V yet. But I take care of the audio equipment and make sure everything sounds nice. Due to our church growing and expanding into some other areas of business, I needed to take care of the computer situations. Not only have a been the techie for my family, but now I’m the go-to guy at my church. In a few weeks or so I’ll be starting a computer class for those who want to learn how to use these machines a little better. I’ve also recently acquired a projector, so that’ll make things easier for teaching purposes. Oh yeah, and I’m the webmaster too.
  3. Job #3, which I’ve spoken very little about here, is my first freelance job for a local online newspaper called Patch. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I’ve written a few articles for them so far and have a few other plans lined up in the coming weeks. Being a freelancer, I’m not really on call that often, so it’s more of a part-time job. But when I am working, I put my all into it.

I’d like to add a job #4, but it’s kinda hard to call being a go-for a job? My family is very hard working and we are the central core to the church (my dad is the pastor). So whatever needs to be done, sometimes I’m the one that’s called. I spoke about this earlier this week. But between picking up items or people or working on routers or laptops, some of my off-time is filled with these odd jobs. And I’m not complaining about it, but it can be tiresome. Shoveling snow is at the bottom of the list of things I enjoy doing. Cooking dinner, pretty sweet. But hey, we gotta live!

So I said all that to say this: some weeks I just might not be able to get to do a friPod post as badly as I’d like to. Mostly because I don’t have the time. I really would like to start getting into making a few more videos, but recording them is one task, editing them is something else. I enjoy both, but I need a good hour. And unlike blogging, I’m not always in the mood to record and/or edit. But I did promise a video regarding my last friPod and I will deliver eventually. I will also continue my subject on neoretro-soul.

With that, I want you all to know I’m still dedicated to the Indoob, I just need to work on my time management skills. But now I’m off to work on a wireless router and maybe catch a local comedy show.

January 17, 2011

12° of jumper cables and snow faces

Filed under: church,snow,storytelling,winter,writing — t. sterling @ 11:32 pm
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The things I do for love…

Love of my God, love of my family, love of my church, love of my friends, and the love of my food. I’d say I’m joking about that last part, but I once took an hour ride for a Cinnabon.

First, let me start out by saying that today is the first day of the fast my church is on. A twelve hour fast for twelve days. We did something like this last year too. And interesting things happen during these fasts.

With today being King Day (which has it’s own special history for me now), not only was I home, but due to it being a federal holiday, I didn’t have any work to do. And I was okay with that. I stayed in my room, watching movies and wasting time on the Internets. I had plans to watch HIMYM. But then I got a call…

My mother hadn’t been feeling well the past few days and she’s normally my dad’s right hand man. A regular his girl Friday, if you get that reference. But I would be second in command, and my role in the family is the go-for. One thing I hate doing: driving the church van. But if they need me to do it, I’ll do it. And I’ve done it a few times already. But due to my mother feeling ill, she called me in to take the van to the church in place of my dad’s car. They had more people at church than they expected and needed a larger vehicle to get them all home.

I gave a sigh and put on my coat. I checked my phone to see how cold it was outside: 12°. Yikes. Actually, I didn’t say that until I got outside. But then I went to start up the van. Not even the click click click of the ignition. Dead. Great.

My first thoughts were, maybe I can get out of this? But then I said, no… that wouldn’t be right. So I first informed my mother, and she informed my father, and I went to work doing what my father taught me: the jumper cables.

I have a healthy fear of jumper cables. It’s more of a respect than actual fear. My dad has some rusty cables that once hooked up to the live battery, he’ll bang the other side together which would make sparks fly. I was never sure why he did it then, but it always made me cautious… hey, these are live wires here! That and the fear of accidentally making a battery explode let alone getting myself electrocuted.

But I swallowed that nervousness and went to work. Fortunately, my dad parked the van with the engine facing in. I always park my car so I can easily drive out. I was also parked in the garage where there used to be a cat… but that’s another story. I pulled up a few feet to meet the van and began the hook ups… ever so carefully… not to let any… of… the… clamps… touch.

After a good 5 minutes of worrying, which I later learned wasn’t needed, I hooked up the van. The total time was about 15 – 20 minutes until the van got a steady enough charge to run on it’s own. I brought it to the church and came back home with apple juice (again, another story).

I told you that long story just to tell you what these pictures are all about.

This is the first face I made...

I was feeling a bit more creative here...

I was going for something else but kinda screwed up. Now it looks like commas and a parenthesis

This guy said something that resulted in him getting slapped.

By the time I finished “Slappy” (the last one) the van was ready to go. I told my mom how cold I was and she asked me why I didn’t just sit in my own car since it was running.

Sometimes I miss the obvious. Anyway, mission accomplished.

January 10, 2011

“the cape” tv review

Filed under: review,tv — t. sterling @ 10:36 pm
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NBC tries again with the superhero drama. Will it work? Only time will tell. To be honest, I didn’t think it was that bad. I enjoyed the origin story of the mystery The Cape and meeting a few of the villains we’re going to be seeing starting with arch-villain Chess. What’s the deal with his eyes? I haven’t figured that out quite yet, but I think he’s a pretty good foe with some brains. I mean c’mon, his whole deal is the game of chess and being several moves ahead of your opponent.  (more…)

January 7, 2011

fripodding and killing: the lady killer – cee lo green

Filed under: albums,fripodding,music,review — t. sterling @ 11:34 pm
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What’s up Indoobians? I thought I would have a video ready for you before the day ended, but that doesn’t look like the case. Perhaps I may get to post it tomorrow as a special late edition… or update and just add it to this. To make a long story short, I’ve have a busy day ending a very busy week.

Today, we’re talking about the great and finally appreciated Cee Lo Green. Just like in the video I was making, I made it a point not to talk about the summer smash viral hit that I’ll admit sounds less as awesome in its censored version. I like to keep my blog PG-13 at least (haha). Putting it another way, the album is greater than the one lone single. So if you like that song, I strongly suggest you listen to the rest of the song, and I’ll tell you why. (more…)

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