My first ever video I produced exclusively for my blog with the limited software that I have. Still working out some kinks and bugs… like volume. I’d rather have you go deaf than struggle to hear what I’m saying, ya know?
Anyway, hopefully more of these are to come. Happy holidays and leave me comments about this!
As promised, today’s friPod post is Christmas-themed. And once again, we’re taking a classic from my past. I grew up with this old California Raisin Christmas tape (that is as good as lost now) and sadly hasn’t been converted to CD (not one that I can find anyway). But their versions of some well known holiday songs are my favorite. And my one of my favorite of those favorites is John Lennon’s classic “Happy Christmas (War is Over).”
The cover version I have is difficult to find and I had my doubts YouTube would have it, but alas, here it is…
Like cover songs usually do, it preserves the same theme and meaning behind the song, promoting peace over war. And anyone that knows Lennon knows that a synonym of his name is “peace.” This song was written as a protest the Vietnam War going on at the time and has since become a holiday standard, being covered by various people and bands for the last few decades. I certainly haven’t heard them all, but so far, the Raisins are still my favorite. The reason why is due to that old school sound they have, that’s my guess anyway. But it’s also a classic for me. You always go back to what you know and love the best, and this was my first taste of this song.
So let’s remember to treat everyone with love and peace, not just during the holiday season, but everyday. It’s easier said than done, but with every one person you show respect to, that one difference you’ve made to make this world a better place. We’ve all got red blood and that makes us all equal, so a) let’s keep it in our body and b) let’s only hate those with green blood… they can’t be trusted. In short, no matter what you celebrate, let’s all agree: Peace on earth, and goodwill towards men.
For the record, the other song the Raisins did that I love is “Silent Night.”
With that, I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. I’m working on a special holiday post for tomorrow, so be sure to come back to check that out as well as a few other things I’ll be posting throughout the week including my Top Albums or Heavy Rotations of 2010.
Looks like I forgot some things you need to do. I wasn’t finished telling you how to survive African American Friday.
Yeah, it looks a lot like this.
Depending on where you plan on waiting, if you plan on waiting, you want to dress appropriately–for inside the store. Usually it’s a warm 72, or whatever the standard is. But if you’re going to be in a 24 hour store and plan to wait and shop for a while, you may want to dress comfortably. I don’t mean come in a shorts and tank top. Most of the veteran black Friday shoppers I see are wearing sweat suits, track suits, and of course the standard jeans and a hoodie.
Brrr.
But most places I will assume is an outdoor waiting affair, so dress with a big heavy coat so when you get inside, you can take off one article of clothing verses dressing in layers. But this is only assuming if it’s cold where you are. It might be raining in my area this year, but like I said, I’ll be inside. And it’s been a very mild autumn so far this year, so I’ll probably have a light jacket just to keep me warm from any slight chill or dry from any rain as I walk from the car to the store… then eventually from the store back to the car.
But waiting outside, people have been known to bring lawn chairs. I don’t know what they do with them once they enter the store, but I’m always paranoid someone will think I stole something I originally walked in the store with… so that’s your call. I’d rather sit on the pavement or lean on the wall.
Traffic is inevitable.
Regarding parking… I consider myself a lazy parker. I will take the first space I see, which might not be the closest. When negotiating traffic on your way out, you’d probably want a spot that has an easy exit… and the parking space closest to the store probably isn’t it. You have to deal with other cars driving by and pedestrians either leaving, entering or lost. Let’s not forget that the people leaving probably have a crew with two carts each full of loot. Honestly, if we all have patience, we’ll get to where we need to go. So make up your mind, do you want to spend time walking to your car? Or do you want to spend time in your car still stuck in the parking lot? I figure both are equally dangerous. But at least as a pedestrian, you have the advantage if a car accidentally runs you and your loot over.
Sadly, even a space close to the exit doesn’t guarantee you will make it out in record time either. Just hope someone will be nice enough to let you get into the line of cars that are possibly at a stop sign or red light to the main road. And yes, I’m trying to think of everything to make sure you have a safe travel.
On a serious note, there have been episodes of being stampeded to death. Is it really that serious, guys? We are not blood thirsty tigers looking for fresh meat. Well… I hope not. Or is this your chance to prove the Darwin Theory is correct? The strongest and fastest win the prize? The scavenging of black Friday makes me think it’s called “bleak Friday” due to the overall generosity and kindness shown to our fellow man once the sale begins.
So I don’t blame people who don’t want to be out for that. In fact, I recommend people just hop on their computers and get similar if not the same deals online. One year, I did most of my Christmas shopping via Amazon.com. I even had them wrap my gifts for me! I woke up around 6am that Friday morning and spent about $200 on everyone’s gifts, then went back to sleep. I did go out to a store much later after the big crowds died down and picked up a few other items. I think it was the fastest I’ve ever done my holiday shopping. Or at least the laziest. But nobody’s complaining. Especially not these guys…
It’s that time again–where we gather with our loved ones to share in something a good chunk of America participates in every year, sorta around the same time, same day, possibly the same place.
No, not Thanksgiving dinner. Black African American Friday!
I’ve had experience on both sides of the counter and I’m not sure which I enjoy more. Being an employee, I pretty much just sat back and watched as people went crazy. There was little I could do, to be honest. Other than marvel at the clawing and the gimme gimme gimme of the moment as the clock struck 4:58am. Yeah, we were supposed to wait until 5 on the dot, but you tell that to a bunch of very tired or high strung ladies who had been waiting since 11pm to get whatever it is they’ve been waiting for since the beginning of the week.
Oh, by the way, this took place in a 24 hr store, my beloved The Mart.
This is not The Mart, nor was I waiting outside.
Last year was the first time I hung out as a customer, waiting for a prized laptop gift for my mother. I had to wait in a very long line, which was whittled down to 50 people, since there was only 50 laptops. I was #48. There was tension, to say the least. It didn’t really start until closer to 4am, and definitely by 5am. If the 50 people in line were guaranteed the 50 laptops, why so much stress? As the line started advancing, we kept seeing people ahead of us that we hadn’t seen before. We were afraid people were snuck into the line. That’s right, we were suspicious of snuckers. But in actuality, people were dropping off items to the people in the line so they could make the purchase all at once… which was why I didn’t leave The Mart until close to 6am, which is why we were panicking at the end of the line thinking people were buying more than one laptop.
"Get her!" I'm kidding, this isn't a picture of a fight. Hilarious if it was though.
But let me rephrase myself: I wasn’t panicking. In fact, my fellow shoppers were asking me how I remained so calm. My friends can tell you I’m a very passive and patient person. I mean, c’mon… I stayed on hold for about 10 minutes once.
And getting bent out of shape wasn’t in my plans, and it wasn’t necessary to do so anyway. Sure I was getting annoyed by the end, but that’s because I was getting sleepy. I can’t remember what time I arrived, my guess is about 2am. But I didn’t get home until 7am and I had very little sleep between Thanksgiving foods and getting up around midnight. So my crankiness was due to sleepiness, not waiting in a line for a few hours.
How did I pass my time? Just observing others, joining in with the chatter of what’s going on in the store… and also tweeting.
This year I plan on doing the same. I’ll have company with me so I won’t be completely bored. But I’ll still be tweeting how much fun I’m having waiting in line.
What’s the appeal of the craziness of being out at the butt dimples of dawn? the sales of course! Yes, it’s totally worth it. Most laptops average about $400, $500… but $200? Yes please. I can give up a few hours.
You can actually buy this shirt.
But this is not for everyone. If you’re going to go in for the long haul, be sure to do the following:
If I think of more fun, I’ll be sure to post a part 2 (which I did). If not, follow me on Twitter.
I found myself home alone tonight finishing up my Christmas present wrapping, also trying to decide who to post tonight. I figured I’d connect with my last post with my Top Ten Christmassy movies. It’s pretty obvious from the music video what movie this is from, but in no way does that make the song any less great.
I will note, one year I really broke down the lyrics and thought about how many people actually are alone on Christmas. It really made me sad. At the time, I was quite young and there wasn’t much I could do about it. But I did start appreciating family and friends around me on that special day. For the past couple years I’ve bought toys for little kids. Not exactly Toys for Tots, but still a good charity. And no it’s not making someone less lonely, but it is nice to show someone that they are cared about.
Anyway, despite the message in the song, it’s still great to sing along to with Darlene’s awesome voice. I had a hard time choosing between this song and “I Listen to the Bells” by Luther Vandross and Darlene Love. As you can see, I provided a link, but this friDay’s pick is below.
I was deep within a search for a certain song/video/cartoon/memory that was straight out of the depths my childhood when I happened to find this fantastic rendition of the beloved poetic tale of the nightly visit from Santa. Rather than spoil the fun, I’ll let you enjoy on your own. Due to the “cheeriness” of the video’s tone, be mindful of who you are watching it around so as not to startle wee children.
It only seems appropriate that if Poe were to encounter Santa, it’d be something like this. But what I love is the illustrations and voice characterization. Brilliant, brilliant work.
And just in case you were curious as to what exactly I was looking for, it was this. Probably my favorite Rankin/Bass production that I watch every year.
As many Indoobians know, I’m known to be pretty lazy when it comes to the taking and posting of pictures specifically for purposes of sharing with the Workforce. Nevertheless, I did a few snaps today (literally minutes ago) and will share them. Some include Christmas presents, others… well… you’ll see.
Here we see the first of three T-shirts I requested. I sometimes still wonder if this shirt really applies to me, but why not? I like it because my year of birth is 1986… so… yeah.
Most people that know me personal and have seen me on the street, might say “Hey, that’s one of the brightest shirts I’ve seen in his collection, other than white of course.” Okay, maybe they wouldn’t say that word for word, but this is a new bright color for me, and according to my sister, this was the only color available. No problem, I wanted this shirt bad enough, and yes, I love this movie!
I didn’t think I was going to get this shirt, but fortunately my sister shares my sense of humor. And I told them all I’d wear it to church that Sunday, and I did! Well, no one noticed since I had a button up over it, but I stuck to my word and people who read it love it. Plus, who else can say they have poop on their shirt and be excited about it?
What an interesting next shirt to debut… but this is from my mother and one of the few long sleeve T-shirts I have. I’ve never been a fan, but I like this one. This is actually the back of the shirt and it’s quoting Joshua 1:9 “Be Strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you.” I want to say the symbols are Chinese, but I can’t be sure. The left one means strength, the right means courage.
This was my last gift given to me, today actually, from my Dearest Insta-friend of… how long has it been? Over 5 years maybe? The “insta-friend” part I’ll explain another day, but the reason for numbering the years is important to what this is a picture of. You see, my friend boasted about these delicious apple muffins she would make back in high school, but I never got to taste them. So after all these years, about 5, she finally made me a batch. She made 6, there are 2 left, and I was nice enough to share with my parents. This is one reason why I decided to take the pictures because there wouldn’t be any left and I know the picture doesn’t do the muffin justice, but trust me, it’s delicious. And I enjoy sliding that box out like it’s some luxury food item. Don’t mind the other things you see in the picture, especially the cookie tower.
Here’s a look at my TV I bought myself last year for Christmas (I think). Anyway, it’s showing season 5 of Seinfeld, which my other dearest friend whom I call Kitten bought me. She also bought me the Scene It: Seinfeld edition, which I have yet to play. I don’t have anyone around here to play with, but now that I think of it, I might be able to play with my siblings, or wait until I can group up with Seinfeld fans that I know. Either way, I can’t wait.
This is from “The Lip Reader” episode. My TV is definitely not big, but it was affordable and suits my needs. Plus it’s thin and widescreen. Very nice.
My gift to myself this year. Due to the movie coming out next year (and rave reviews I hear about it anyway) I decided to up my geek points and buy it. It arrived Christmas Eve and I read it in three days. But you knew that already. As for the movie… I recently heard some news that doesn’t bode well.
I touched on this before regarding my love of cheese, one of my favorite kinds is white cheddar, and Smartfood Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. I eat so much that I’ve noticed a difference in cheese levels. People might think I’m crazy, but I say try it for yourself. Here in this picture we see the 1.5 oz, 3 oz, and the most popular 5 oz bags. They are all empty. I ate the two smaller bags a couple hours ago for this investigation. Anyway, my theory is that the smaller the bag, the more cheese is coated. Now I gave the sizes, but I usually refer to them by the price. The 5 oz bag WAS $2.49, but I’m thinking due to slumping sales or trying to keep up with the economy, the prices rose, and now as you might make out, it’s $2.89. “BOOO!” I say. But it doesn’t stop me from purchasing whenever I get my cravings. The next size up USED to be $2.99, I don’t know what the oz size is. 7 oz maybe. And then there is the family size. Usually those are the most expensive. Now listen carefully, the bigger the bag, the lesser the cheese. There is one exception. There is a wee 25 cent bag… possibly .5 or .75 oz. It’s really small and stupid. Sorry, I just don’t like it. No cheese and the last couple times they tasted burnt. Anyway, between the 1.5 and 3 oz, it’s hard to tell which has more cheese, but check it out for yourself. I’m content with my 5 oz still, and sometimes sprinkle this on for extra cheesy fun.
So for my last picture, it involved once again hanging out with my Dearest Insta-friend. We were out dining at what you can clearly see as Friendly’s, and my usually ordering involves mozzarella sticks. Well, they have mini-mozzarella stick. I had chicken quesadillas too… but as you see, they didn’t last long enough to make it to print. But my mother never told me not to play with my food, and this show it. Plus it kept my friend in tears as I voiced each mozzarella stick sitting in their saucy hot tub, discussing what happened to all their cheesy friends.
Well if you don’t hear anything else from me by tomorrow, I’ll be back next year.
I’m wondering why I’m still awake at this un-ungodly hour (it’s almost 7 in the AM)… But then I remembered, I didn’t go to sleep the night, or morningish before until about 5 in the AM. Furthermore, I didn’t awaken until about 3 in the afternoon. Okay, actually I woke up from about 10 to 10:30 to talk to a friend on one of her breaks… but other than that, I stayed unconscious for most of the daylight hours.
I’m considering this an “unofficial” post because I wanted to do a “Christmas present wrap-up” (wow, that was an unintended pun)… I was going to accompany it with pictures, but you guys know how lazy I am with the pictorials. It’s so bad right now, the camera doesn’t even have battrees in it. I hope I didn’t promise pictures of the snow. It’s almost gone. And could you believe the crazy New England weather we’re having and about to have? SIXTY DEGREES ON SUNDAY. What the stank is that about?
Anyway, I thought I’d give an update as to how my script is going. It’s not. I bought myself an early Christmas present that arrived Christmas Eve. “What could this be?”, a curious nosy person might ask. Well, I’ll tell you. Remember a couple weeks ago with the first trailer trash post with the last trailer being that of next year’s Watchmen? Well sometime after that post until about 3 hours ago, I previewed the original graphic novel, Amazonned it, waited patiently (for once), unboxed it, and read it within 3 days. December 24th to 26th. Technically 4 days, but I slept most of the 26th.
Hey, I just gotta say… That is an awesome story right there. And now I’m ecstatic to see this movie. If there is a midnight showing, I think I may show up to that. I pretty sure I donned some geek points for this too… but whatever. Still not big on comic books, but this one’s different. It has an end. AND now I understand why many felt that this comic was unfilmmable. Man… I can’t wait to see this.
So due to my reading this, with a mix of holiday festivities, I haven’t done much writing. That should hopefully resume tonight (Saturday) or the latest Sunday night. My other issue was getting my CD/DVD drive on ol’ Silver to work. I think I broke it somehow when I was trying to burn a multi-disc collection for a friend of mine. This suck worse than spoiled milk already poured into the cereal. I had one disc burnt already, and had 4-5 left to do. I can’t explain what happened (partly because I don’t know) but I tried everything I can do that doesn’t cost money. I already admitted to being a geek, but my skills couldn’t crack this problem and that saddens me. I’m considering the Geek Squad. It’s where I go when I can’t fix something I broke. But it’s weird… I can fix other computers… but mine? I’m at a loss.
So I’ve got one week to do some damage to a script. I’ll extend it until January 4th. I kinda can’t wait because it was torture listening to Fall Out Boy and not jotting down a few lines… and as we speak I’m finally really listening to The Roots’ Rising Down and feeling the rap schemes fall over me. In my head, taking their versus apart in slow motion allowing me to see/hear/understand why their lines/raps/verses are so hot, and how I might possibly be able to write my own. Still a craft I’m honing in on. My goal: to make a reader/hearer’s face wrinkle up/frown or make them say “wow” or “whoa” and even “that’s [any positive slang]” …but I also still dig getting my sense of humor in my poetry as well AND telling stories. Perhaps I’ll devote March or April to coming up with some really good material.
In the meantime, I must continue to hit the scripts. It’s not that I’m creatively stuck. If anything, I’m more inspired to write other things… but with scripts I feel I’m more productive with a plan. I need to have the characters written out first. At least the major ones. I can always add or change some later. I already know “The Writing Retreat” has some weak points in it, but you know what? I’m not worried about that right now. I just need it “complete” then I will do some tightening. I also have been assembling a team of readers. I have 2 and a possible 3rd who would probably be interested.
Anyone else interested in giving me critical critiquing of some scripts I’ve worked or working on, let me know and I be sure to send you what I have looking for some honest advice. I won’t be sending anything until January… so there isn’t a rush. Well, not for you.
I think I’m feeling sleep come on. I think I will “nap” since I think I’m going to get a phone call at 9 or 10 this morning to hang out. And I actually want to go places tomorrow like maybe dine at IHOP for the last time until the new one close to home opens and price shop a Mac at an Apple store. Yes yes y’all!
I was going to post something last night on Christmas Eve Eve, but I guess Christmas Eve isn’t that bad either.
Anyway, I just want to wish all Indoobians, friends, family, strangers and strange-looking people alike a Merry Christmas. For those that don’t celebrate Christmas… I can’t help you. I jest! I jest! I’ll just say the traditional Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings. The list of “other holidays” steadily gets longer every year, so I will refrain from saying any of them except for the one I celebrate. Deal?
And for those who are just begging to know what kept me from posting last night… it’s a long story that I’ll shorten by saying the ice/snow melting from my room is causing the window in my room to leak. Badly. I’ve already soaked up 10 man-sized beach towels–and that’s only from the water I caught. It doesn’t help that it won’t stop raining until tonight… so… yeah…
I’d also like a new CD drive… I think I broke mine playing with iTunes… I can fix other people’s computers, but mine? Totally clueless. I’m going to try again sometime in a few days.
I even managed to clean my room and do ALL my laundry. When I mean all, I mean I was down to the new underwear I hadn’t broken into yet, and possibly #65 pair ‘o socks. Hey, it’s my goal to have 365 pairs of socks some day. So at least that will be it’s own laundry day. Sock Day! Yes!
But all of this has kept me from staying on the good track I was on. I was up to 23 pages on “The Writing Retreat” and had stopped to sleep, but then if it wasn’t one thing, it was another. The CD burner, the window, visiting with family, Christmas… So much to do, so little time.
I jest of course, I didn’t plan to do much of anything on Christmas Day other than familizising (yeah, try pronouncing that one!) and that’s always fun for us. Between the gift giving, the food and the general good times, it’s what I love about the holidays. Then again, I just love my family and cherish anytime I get to spend with them. I guess that goes for my dearest friends too… but I don’t like sounding sentimental here… so with that I say bah humbug.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays y’all!
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