fripodding and celebrating like a champion

Posted on November 7, 2008 by t. sterling — 2 Comments

Where to begin in the epic story of the week that was?

First of all, I must say that last Halloween was a blast for me, doing my annual DJ gig, playing good music for 3-4 hours straight for kids and adults to have fun to. The Jackson 5 was revisted. Pictures were taken, but I wasn’t in any of them, so I won’t share them. Don’t get a hissy fit with me! I’m important too, ya know. Plus, I need a new MySpace picture, especially with me in action. I was Tito.

Monday I had computer issues. I had to upgrade a program I use for work. Sadly, it wasn’t working, therefore I couldn’t work. It was bittersweet. It gave me time to rewatch what may now be my favorite foreign film The Man Who Copied. If you’ve never heard of it, I suggest you Netflix it immediately. It hails from Brazil and stars Leandra Leal whom I’ve developed a hopeless crush over. I actually should dedicate a post for the movie alone. Anyway, I watched it a couple times picking up things I never noticed before as well as being re-inspired to fulfill my dream in wanting to tell the world stories through my writing and eventual filmmaking. My computer program finally worked correctly eventually, so that’s great.

Tuesday. I said it before, I’m a news junkie. CNN.com is a friend on my work computer. I couldn’t stop checking it all day long. I don’t know why. I did my vote thing around 10ish. No lines. Awesome. A cute girl was working there, but no game was played. It’s hard to do moves when you’re with you mom, plus I think it would just annoy the worker. I really wanted to go back home anyway. After work, I ran out to rent some movies because I couldn’t imagine watching the news from 7PM until who knew when. Even I need a break sometime. But my dad and I kept tabs on our laptops while we watched movies. Then my dad channel surfed until I decided to go to my room to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert tell me the Earth-shattering news. I wish I was at someone’s party or out in the streets. I really did. This needs a post all it’s own, which I sort’ve addressed Tuesday night. But this can lead into today’s friPod’s iPick.

I’ve actually been waiting to talk about this song for a while. But after Tuesday, the message behind this song is clear: Kanye West’s “Champion.” I’m just going to throw this out now, as of today, I don’t care too much for his new toy he likes to use in his songs. But hey, the same thing happened when music video directors discovered the fish-eye lense. And bullet-time. I still like bullet-time though.

I don’t care much for the video, however it is very creative with Kanye as a puppet training to be a champion. Once again, I’d post it, but embedding is disabled. Watch and listen to the video here.

I actually made a playlist with iSaac featuring Champion-esque song. But this song is very uplifting, inspiring and empowering for me. It keeps me ambitious and working hard to achieve greatness. Furthermore, as the chorus suggest: did you realize that you were a champion in their eyes? And yes, after much reminding, I did realize that. And the eyes are those of children, peers and my family whom support me. So this song is a reminder as to who I’m working for, so to speak. Would you like to see the Champion Playlist? It’s not long, and by no means is it complete. I don’t think an average playlist is complete until you can fit it into a CD. Unless its for a specific event… like a 3-5 hour Halloween party. iSaac actually has the playlist called “champion beats” since I built the list on strong bass and/or drumlines. Not all of them had champion messages though*. Regardless–

Champion Requiem – Mos Def
Champion – Kanye West
Move On Up – Curtis Mayfield
We Want Your Soul – Andre 3000*
I Need You – Alicia Keys*
Hostile Gospel Pt. 2 – Talib Kweli
Grammy Family – Consequence feat. DJ Khaled, Kanye West & John Legend

Like I said, it’s a short playlist and I haven’t added to it… yet. But that’s what keeps me in a champion mind set, and Kanye is a good role model for that. Interestingly enough, he has a connection to every artist on that playlist. But we’ll play that game another day.

Lastly, there’s a poem I’ve been working on that also deal with the champion theme, but unfortunately I didn’t finish it in time to go along with this post. Nevertheless, when it’s complete, I shall make it known and also restate a revised playlist, hopefully.

Happy Friday all.

Posted in black, DJ, friday, girls, halloween, ipod, kanye west, movie, music, music video, obama, politics, president

WOOT

Posted on November 5, 2008 by t. sterling — 2 Comments

As I told my instant-friend Kathy moments ago, I’m so excited that I could pee.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.

I know my vote counted.

Yes. Yes. Y’all.

Posted in black, obama, politics, president

votember 4th

Posted on November 4, 2008 by t. sterling — Leave a comment

Hey. Um… If you haven’t already, go out and vote. If you don’t, then you don’t have the right to complain about anything. I don’t know about you, but even though I don’t complain much (except for here), I at least want my right to complain. At least I can say about our current president that I did not vote for him.

I‘m really sleepy for some reason. I’m not sure who I can complain to about that problem.

And due to my sleepiness, I wish I was a full-time paid writer. That way, I can sleep whenever I want (almost), and then wake up to tap away at my computer creating lovely stories/poems/etc.

On a related note, I’m re-titling my “Writing Retreat” project to “Three 1/2 Stars”. Unfortunately, I can’t find any stars in a font. I’ve searched every webding and wingding I have… and nothing. Asterisks don’t work for what I want either. Sigh. Oh well, I’ll deal with it later. The story is more important than the title anyway.

But back to the topic at hand… ‘Tis election day. Do your civil duty! Well, just as long as you are allowed to. Like… if you are 17 you are exempt, or if you’ve been in jail, or if you live in another country, or if you cease to exist. If you don’t fit those categories… VOTE! Or I will beat you up. Friday. 3PM at the flagpole. That’s not a threat.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say “Yes we can!”

Posted in politics, sleep, writing

disc jockeying

Posted on November 2, 2008 by t. sterling — Leave a comment

Would you like to travel with me to another official Purchase College memory? Of course you would! I’ll make it brief and not too un-relatable.

Basically I’m longing for my days of being on the radio. Even a college run radio station (which is nice to hone in on a craft). I think having this Indoob blog is the next best thing I have until I start podcasting (who knows when that will be). Or when I get the nerve to do my own Internet radio station broadcast (once I remember what website has that). But I remember my… hmmm… 4-5 shows I had in the beginning of ’05… My, those were good college times. I even had the perfect schedule where I only schooled 3 days a week. But that had nothing to do with the radio.

It’d be no shocker I played the heaviest metal I could find, and being a liberal arts college station, they didn’t care much about censorship. Okay… so I lied. Not about the censorship, but most Indoobians would know by now my brand of music. The only thing I seem to detest these days is country music UNLESS certain terms are met. Usually Shania Twain had to be involved. But that’s another story.

I ran into New Eden Radio tonight by way of someone I once talked to online some time ago. I doubt if she remembers me, but if she does, plus points for her! Anyway, it turns out she’s now a DJ for the station, so I checked out the live stream. Not bad. She goes by DJ Blue Eyes. (I’m going to guess the “Eyes” is spelt with a “z” cuz that’s how all the kewl kidz do it 2day. (And yes it hurts to purposely misspell those words.)) So by checking out this site and giving her show some ratings, I would recommend this to a few people because of the music she plays. Not my favorite cup of tea, but it’s tea I can drink and even suggest to others. I’m in it more for how the DJ communicates with the audience. I like banter. Good banter is hard to find. (This coming from the guy who rarely listens to the radio since he works at home and always listens to an iPod he named iSaac.)

But back to my memory story! I never liked being alone on my show. So my most favorite and popular guest co-host was DrugFree. He actually had his own show which he hosted with someone else (but had me as a special guest a couple of nights and we’d take turns plugging each other’s shows). I must say that it’s so much more fun having someone else on the air to talk to. I tried talking to the person on the other side of the glass, the “producer,” but they were never listening. Anyway, my buddy (Rich was his real name) and I would talk about random but relevent things going on at the time, or campus life. At times it ended up becoming a comedy routine and I think I ended up playing the straight man, chock full of sarcasm. But it worked. My parents surprised me one night, calling me during my show to tell me they were listening to the Internet stream (they were about an hour away at home). They remarked on the conversation we had about eating potato chips on the air, and if we should’ve been eating them at all while being on the air or even in the booth. Needless to say, you had to be there. I wish I could’ve gotten recorded copies of our shows… but alas, that wasn’t possible. Both our shows had a small fan base. DrugFree’s show ended up going to TV while I moved back to Connecticut and discovered filmmaking (which was partially introduced thanks to my major in broadcast communications). Soul Sundays with Sterling Silver would’ve been a great show… if I stayed.

The moral of this story is that my dream of being a radio DJ/personality is not dead. Sterling Silver with rock the airwaves once more. I’m a fan of morning shows, since they have fun people up. I mean it’s only like a 4 hour block, right? Then I can spend the rest of the day doing whatever I want. Like filmmaking. But my show would be awesome! It would be mighty! And of course I’d have fun people on the show with me, even if some of those people weren’t “real” …meaning, characters I’ve made up that would be great exclusively for radio… such as Jamal Jamal. Wouldn’t you love to know about that guy? Sure… but not tonight.

Posted in college, DJ, Friends, memories, music, Purchase, radio, song

fripodding, evolving and ituning

Posted on October 31, 2008 by t. sterling — 1 Comment

It’s friPoday’s iPick time, and iSaac and I decided to review John Legned’s latest, Evolver. I thought I was late, thinking the album dropped last week, but that was in the UK. But since I’m such a big Legend fan, I will skip what I was going to pick (Little Shop of Horrors Movie Soundtrack) in favor of my hero, Mr. Legend.

Anyway, we’ll start with the lead hit single “Green Light”. I’ll admit that it wasn’t an immediate hit for me, but how often does that ever happen? No doubt I love the song now. And I’ll do everything I can to keep myself from overplaying it (this is why I rarely listen to the radio). What drives this song home for me is the featured artist, which is one of my favorite artists–Andre 3000 of Outkast, my favorite rap duo ever. The video is hot too. I wish I was there. And I wish I could just walk up to some girl and be like “Gimme the green light!” I’m sure I could in an alternate universe, or if I was John Legend or Andre 3000. One note I want to make known, I dislike when the first single is the first track. (Technically the first track is an intro… but still… stop it.)

“It’s Over” – Features the great Kanye West and his new best friend the vocoder thing that makes your voice sound robotic. I personally dislike this device. It makes you sound like you can sing or carry a tune… while sounding like a robot. Hey, it works in some occasions. Like when Daft Punk uses it. Don’t get me started on T-Pain and Lil Wayne… But we’ll talk about the song, not bad… It’s early, I haven’t weeded out my favorites or the songs I’d uncheck on iTunes just yet.

“Everybody Knows” – This is a song I liked the first time I heard it. I love the beat, and then John let’s his voice does its thing all over thing song. I’d commit this song to memory just to see if I have similar vocal ranges. Plus the song is just beautiful, yet a little sad. When I finally egt to see him in concert, he BETTER do this song or else I’ll be a very angry fan. I’m not going to call it yet, but this could be my favorite song on the album.

“Quickly” – I really like the theme of this song. This should come on right after “Green Light.” The message of this song is actually somewhat on a social level, which is another reason I like this song. It’s essentially saying “Let’s get together and be in love immediately since the world is falling apart and everything is going bad, even though I don’t really know you.” Yeah, this is another song I’d use on the ladies ;o) …thanks John.

I just remembered this CD has 16 tracks (15 songs), woot! And this is the first album I bought via iTunes. I think this is enviromentally friendly. No trees were harmed in the purchasing of this album. I digress. I won’t review each song because this post will be too disgustingly long. Even for my standards. This album is long enough for me though, unlike the last few CDs that barely make up an hour. Might I add that buying the album was $10? Surely a nice price for solely (souly) the music alone. I got a booklet too (which as of right now I haven’t played with or figured out. I don’t think it’s viewable on iSaac’s screen, and if so, I haven’t figured that out yet).

I read professional and amateur reviews, since I consider myself in the middle, I will comment and say it’s not the best he’s done, but it’s certainly not the worst. He’s still sharpening his craft. I think his next album will be the masterpiece album. I remember when Once Again came out, I was already ready for more. I do like how each album has a sound all it’s own. This one does sound like it’s evolved and has a grown-up sound to it. Not traditional R&B sounding. Then again, I always felt Legend is in a class by himself.

Give me a week or so, and I will have a good chunk of this album memorized. And I can probably write a more thorough review… and maybe concise reviews of each song. Overall, as of now, this album is hot and I recommend buying it. But then again, I’m biased and would go see him in concert singing the telephone book. Has anyone actually done that yet? That’ll be one my music videos. I can see it now…

I’ve started buying songs (and music videos) via iTunes lately now that I have a credit card I don’t know what to do with. Don’t worry, it’s only a few songs a week. And I still use Amazon.com‘s services too as long as people keep giving me the codes from Pepsi products. Why music videos when you can see them for free at YouTube? Quality and iPodding. That’s why. I know it’s possible to save a video from YouTube, but the quality isn’t up to par with what iTunes offers. As for buying the songs, credit is given where credit is due. And I dislike bootlegs or people stealing movies, I’ve since changed my ways about music as well. Sure they get paid, but if I’m a real fan, I should show it and BUY their stuff. If I don’t care about them? Well… that’s a different story. I don’t condone stealing of any kind. Except witty phrases and insults. Especially those that are written on t-shirts.

Posted in friday, ipod, john legend, music

i am not a halloweenie

Posted on October 31, 2008 by t. sterling — Leave a comment

We had a nice long 3 hour meeting today. I didn’t wanna go. I really didn’t. But I did anyway, and I’m glad for it. I ate food. Some food I’ve never had before. A special kind of chicken. Well, the chicken wasn’t special, it was how it was made. I don’t care enough to go look up the spelling (sorry, I’m being lazy) but it was okay. It had mushrooms in it. I’m picky. I dislike mushrooms. It’s fungus. No thanks. There was also what felt like pine needles, or some kind of skinny leafy thing you find on a bush and can poke people with. Not painfully, but you’d feel it nonetheless… but this was on the chicken. I don’t know what it was, but it was poking the inside of my mouth and I was not having it one bit! So I took those off too. Other than that, it was tasty. There were roasted potatoes and ziti that tasted as though it was smothered in some kind of alcoholic beverage. Weird. But edible.

There were also Halloween celebrations going about. Some dressed in their costumes. Some passed out candy. There was also a farewell party, non-Halloween related (see ya later Todd, you taught me well).

I do not celebrate Halloween. You can call it religion if you want to. Knowing where the holiday came from kinda made me not want to give in to the idea of it. Sure it’s not as demonic as it once was back in the day. Well, not in the mainstream. Perhaps in dark alleyways or in the woods… but in the office and on prime time TV, it’s pretty safe and kid friendly. But knowing it started with occults and stuff makes me not so interested.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take any excuse/reason to party and have a good time. I like candy. I like the sweets. I, on occasion, enjoy terrifying small children. I’m just not going out of my way to do anything special on the 31st. I’ll hang a sign on my door that says “tricks only”. But then I’d get whores looking for money (*Arrested Development reference… calm down). Whether I give out tricks or illusions, the kiddies won’t get candy from me. Maybe I’d tie candy on strings, drop them in their bags, and as they walk out, pull the candies back out of their bags again and laugh. Ah… good times.

Since I’m not promoting Halloween, I changed my mind on tomorrows friPod iPick… which was going to be the soundtrack to Little Shop of Horrors. Hilarious movie. Good music. Totally not my pick for tomorrow to coincide with Halloween.

However, I will be DJing tomorrow night at the soup kitchen in Middletown tomorrow night with my church. It’s my only annual gig for our annual Harvest Festival. I sometimes forget being a DJ is on my list of “things to be when I grow up.” Bring the kiddies! I wish I could be wearing either of these shirts:

Anyone wanna donate to my “Buy DJ Sterling Silver an Awesome T-Shirt Fund”? There are many items that need a home.*

Totally unrelated notes: this, and many other posts, totally make me a hypocrit–I like reading shorter blog entries so why do I write such long ones? And I totally found a catalogue for geeky guys like myself: TigerDirect.com. They send me a nice magazine every so often, and I drool in it, thus makes me a true geek. But I want it nonetheless. *Yes yes y’all!

Posted in arrested development, church, food, halloween, office, t-shirts, WAH

i <3 monday!

Posted on October 27, 2008 by t. sterling — 2 Comments

My brain is severely scattered today. I’ve managed to complete about 7 files… which isn’t too bad, especially for how I’ve been feeling these past few Mondays. Plus my day isn’t nearly over. I’d much rather remain asleep and start work on Tuesday. But that won’t work because then Tuesday becomes the new Monday. It’s a terrible cycle. Too many distractions. Right now, my grandmother is preparing something that looks like apple crisp. It looks delicious even without being cooked yet. But I feel not-so-good due to a hefty breakfast I made myself this morning. It was good, but maybe a little too good. AND I’m a little sleepy from reading too much into all five of the Saw movies. I’ve only seen the first two… And those movies I’m not really into. I don’t care much for gore and torture. But with my overactive imagination, I read the plots to all 5 movies, and how the devices worked and what happened to all the victims. I did that for about 2-3 hours before I realized I should get some sleep… but I was a bit too terrified to do so because images like to playback in my dreams making it a little too real for me. SO after watching some Marx Brothers movies and a few Sudoku and solitaire games later, I was off to sleep with no torture-related nightmares. My waked-up time was between 6 and 7 am, and I didn’t fall asleep until about 3 am. Yay!

Prior to my research into dreary doomland, I hopped back into my screenwriting chair and formatted a previously written script into a more professional-looking one. When I’m in a zone (or away from a computer that has Final Draft), I’ll write a rough draft in MS Word, and just use a format I always see in high school or church plays:
BILLY: I ate a rock.
TIMMY: That’s too bad.
BILLY: I know. (cries)
It’s only 4 pages, but it tells quite a story. I strived for realism in the dialogue, and after having someone read through it, I think I achieved that much. Unlike what I usually write, this is on the dramatic/sad side. It’s about the break up of an affair between a guy and a girl who have a secret to share with each other. Hey, it’s only 4 pages, I can’t give everything away.

I feel like working on one of the last projects I started back on my last writing retreat… which is coincidentally titled “The Writing Retreat.” Guess what it’s about! That’s right… making apple crisp. Well, after sitting in bed trying to clear my mind of senseless violence, I came up with another character to add to the story. The hotel I stayed at seems like it encouraged people to live there… So I came up with a character who lived at the hotel that the main character can interact with at different occasions while he’s there. I haven’t really touched the story itself since a few months ago, but if I get a chance tonight, I’ll rewrite it before working on the actual script itself. All of this after a quick Sudoku of course. I also want to put some time in on my Noah Madison project thanks to Jaden’s latest post. I need to schedule time to work on certain projects just so no one feels ignored. (I hear your cries Fickette, I miss you too!)

I have a love/hate feeling towards the actual screenwriting process. I like writing dialogue… but it just takes so long for me sometimes–keeping track of the character’s personalities, how they would speak, what they would say, and still making it sound believable… unless every character is just so outrageous, that they can get away with grunts.

I really want to see Wall-E after hearing so much good about it and it’s non-use of speech. Better yet, I wonder if I could get my hands on the screenplay to see how that reads.

Okay, I must snap out of it and get back to “real work” and do some early knocking-out-of-the-park numbers so I can slack off on Thursday. We’ve got a meeting at the office and it’s requested I be there so I can bring some food back for my mom. It’s supposed to be catered with all sorts of yummies. But I’m in a Monday mood, so I can care less about going to a meeting right now. Even with free catered food. What do I really care about? I want to either be on my laptop or under the covers being unconscious. But we can’t have everything, can we? Yes we can! Obama told me so.

Posted in bacon, breakfast, dreams, eggs, fickette mcsavvy, marx bros, movie, noah madison, office, retreat, scripts, sleep, WAH, writing

the rocky horror sudoku show

Posted on October 26, 2008 by t. sterling — Leave a comment

I was going to wait to post tomorrow… or later in the week… but my memory isn’t being my friend lately. Besides, ’tis the season to chat about festive events such as the one I was at this past weekend.

And where did I go (someone from the crowd in front of the screen asks)? I went to see The Rocky Horror Show brought to us by the talented Phoenix Theater. Interesting way I found out it was happening, I was sitting outside the theater it would be shown and saw this sign hanging above the door. I thought of my friend who liked the movie, and thought maybe she might wanna go. Turns out she did (yay!) and it became an early birthday present for her, which we both enjoyed (double yay!). I bought general admission tickets ($22), but we ended up sitting in the VIP area ($26). And we were so VIP that we were in the front row (VIP was the first 5 rows, tough for those who paid for VIP seats). This was bittersweet for me because where I was, I couldn’t see some action going on the far stage left area… Or is it the audience’s right? I’ve been out of theatre for a year and I already forgot my directions. Anyway, where I was sitting, the band was set up, and they had these walls blocking my view of a bed that had some girl-girl action and singing. It wasn’t severely important to the main action on stage… but still, I need to take it ALL in, ya know? The FULL effect! Regardless, I highly enjoyed myself and it was a fun experience. I loved the audience participation even though at times it was slightly annoying, mostly because I wasn’t used to it. But fortunately I was aware of it and warned my friend that being in the front row might make us unintended targets of some things being thrown. We were safe though. It could’ve been a lot worse. We might’ve been attacked with water pistols, hot dogs and buttered toast. Seriously.

As I’m accustomed to doing, I’ll write a full review on MySpace like I did for Bill Cosby and other events that entertained me. We went to the first showing on Friday, they did it two more times Saturday night, and they will do it again this coming weekend. So if you’re going to be in Middletown this weekend, see if you can get a seat and a prop bag. I wasn’t sure what was to be expected… production-wise. But hey, they did great with what they had and it was professional and fun. I say that because I thought I was going to an actual theatre-theatre… But like I said, it was cool the way it was. I wish I brought my camera to show pictures… but at least I included the poster (and it’s a link to their site). I love to support the arts anytime I can and I’m aware of it. I had proper notification, so I was able to go. I was asked what part would I take if I got to be in this production… I’ll take the narrator’s job, thank you very much. I don’t think I could rock a pair of pumps and fishnet stockings. I’ll pass on all of that. I’d put a link to my review of the show… but I haven’t written it yet.

In other news, I have a new obsession and it’s not writing/words/art related. (GASP!!) As a matter a fact, it’s a craze that hit sometime last year I think, and I never caught on to it because I didn’t know what it was. Then when I did, I was like… uh… no thanks. What on earth am I talking about? Sudoku. (For those who still aren’t sure how it’s pronounced, I’ve heard it said “suh-DOUGH-coo” but it’s Japanese I guess.) Anyway, I forget how I stumbled across it, but I haven’t been able to stop playing it for the past few weeks. I addicted to it like college dudes are to porn. I downloaded it to my phone last night after getting tired of running up to my laptop (or creeping out of bed when I have trouble sleeping) just to play one more game. (C’mon, just one more game!) I’m still on easy, but I’m determined to get a faster and faster time. And I’ll start out great, but then my brain will fry itself out thinking too hard, and next thing I know I’m crossing the 12 minute mark. My goal is 5 minutes. Not even close. And that’s on easy! or “grasshopper” as my phone says. Sigh.

Anyway, back to Rocky Horror, I’ve since re-rented the movie to relive the… um… magic. I let my friend borrow it, even though she may buy it for herself and ruin what was going to be her birthday present since no one bought it for her yet. Oh well, that’s why I have plans B thru E. It’s on my list too. I’m not into transvestites or anything like that… but it’s highly entertaining in a strange way. I can clearly see why that has a cult following. Hey, I follow Arrested Development on a cult level. That has nothing to do with Rocky Horror, I just wanted to get it in there.

What’s that? I hear something… …Sudoku is calling me. I must go crunch some numbers. Woot!

Posted in arrested development, arts, movie, theatre

fripodding and musical televisions

Posted on October 24, 2008 by t. sterling — 1 Comment

Since I’ve upgraded to iSaac’s 6th generation Classic iPodness, I’ve been taking advantage of being able to WATCH things as well as listen to them. I also find myself playing solitaire a lot more, which really isn’t that big of a deal because iPizzle had that too.

Anyway, since most iPods (except older models and especially screenless iPod Shuffles) can play movies/music videos, I thought for today’s iPick, I’d pick a music video. Oddly enough, the video I’m going to pick isn’t even in iSaac’s library… yet. Before I reveal the pick, let’s talk a little bit about the music video industry. (Aren’t iPod commercials like really cool mini music videos? There’s nothing like watching a commercial for an iPod on your iPod… and no I haven’t done that… yet.)

Why doesn’t the channel that popularized music videos play music videos anymore? MTV? VH1? Even BET? I’ll let BET slide since it never exclusively focused on music videos like MTV and VH1 claimed to. VH1 is supposedly a product of MTV anyway, or it was… I don’t know and I don’t feel like researching right now.

Why did music videos start getting corny? This mainly relates to hip hop videos and sometimes, it’s still the same “check out my car, my money, and my women.” And it’s usually all rented. Even the women. Sad. I can’t really speak though… I haven’t watched many music videos since I can’t remember when… So maybe things have changed. But I like for videos to be as stimulating as the song is… if the song is stimulating at all. Sometimes the video will make me like the song if I don’t care for it. It can make or break a song, really.

Now those 3 channels I mentioned… If they do show music videos, they never show the whole video. I’m sure all of these complaints you’ve heard or had yourself. I’m just vocalizing it again, that’s all. Plus with the world we live in, they know that we know we can find the whole interupted video online.

But alas my fellow Indoobians, there’s hope! For those of you who have that digital or enhanced or advanced cable or a dish network and get 2,000+ channels, it’s a good chance you have the “sister” or “sequel” channels. You cna call it a “sequel” channel if it’s something like MTV2… Which was an all music channel for a while, but it’s become a product of it’s older brother. Or sister. Don’t fret, MTV has just as many channels as HBO. Well, maybe a few less. I have about 5 altogether I think. MTVU, MTV Hit List, MTV Jams, MTV Latino or something… It’s in Spanish. They moved MTV2 with them instead of being in the basic line up. I don’t know why. But there they are and it kept me busy trying to find new music (which will lead into today’s pick shortly).

VH1 has similar channels. Honestly, I don’t know how many. I can only think of VH1 Classic right now. They have Pop Up Video. How many of you guys remember that one? Oh yes, it was awesome, indeed! That channel also show videos from the 70’s and 80’s… well… whenever I stopped by. And there are a few other music only channels I never watch. But at least they’re there. So if you have some extra bucks, you can find these music channels and dive into your music videos. The nice thing is there aren’t so many commercials, and when there are, it’s about the channel. So you don’t feel forced to run out and buy a car, Viagra, or shop at Macy’s.

While surfing these channels, I came across a guy I liked when he first came out… but no one cared about. Well, they did when he came out with his second album, and now people are paying attention for sure now that his third album “Something Else” has recently been released. I haven’t heard it yet, but I’m stuck on the single and especially the video that’s been out since this past summer.

Again, I apologize to the Workforce and it’s Indoobians, I’d embed the video, but the embedded feature has been disabled on them all. Meaning even if I wrote the code myself on my page, it wouldn’t work OR I’d probably get asked to take it down. People are weird. Anyway, the artist formally known as Thicke (when he first came out), the one and only Robin Thicke and his hit single “Magic”. Again, the song is hot on it’s own… But I want to talk about the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlIQsrr-czE

After you watch it, then we can talk about it being on the same page and all. Again, the song is awesome. It works so well with the video and I’m glad I got to hear it for the first time while watching it. (Sometimes I’m disappointed with a video after listening to a song before seeing it, and it not being anything I expected.)

Robin Thicke himself has stated he was inspired by Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Oddessy which is his favorite movie, and to me is a disgustingly long and trippy movie. It was the 60’s. It’s a work of art, I respect it and would probably watch it again. (For kicks and giggles, watch the shortend version someone made.) But that’s another story for another post. He’s also inspired by Michael Jackson and Fred Astaire, which those scenes you can recognize. (When he’s dancing with the hat and cane. He said he saw Puttin’ on the Ritz and wanted to put those moves in. I’ve seen it before, but it wows me everytime and who can blame him? That performance is astounding.) More so Michael Jackson near the end in the elevator doorway thingy. I don’t know… it just looks so cool. Don’t Stop til You Get Enough is one of the inspirations he used. Ya know, back when he was still black and not so weird.

I also saw some James Bond in there. Starting at 2:47 when they just keep panning upwards, it gave me a Bond feeling. Awesome shot by the way. At the same time, I thought of Michael Jackson’s Leave Me Alone video and it’s use of animations similar to this video. Which is why I and others agree he was the majority of the inspiration for the looks of this video. Among other things like just having a classic disco feel to it all.

Furthermore, I’m a surrealist. And seeing these images of beautiful women stretched out atop of planets or being fragments on gasous lights… Just sexy. The video is the epitome of awesome surrealist sexiness. I’m not against putting sexy women in music videos… it’s just how they are shown. This way, they are like models you see in magazines advertizing make up or shoes. This one? Planets! Or they are just dancing and having a good time. I wish I was there… Sigh…

Lastly, on the YouTube site posted above, it says uncut and explicit… It’s only different in very subtle ways. Robin Thicke’s name appears like the THX logo. And the Fred Astaire scenes take place in space instead of on stage. I don’t know what else differs other than that. I used that link also because it’s got the best quality. Now I think I’m going to go BUY the video on iTunes and watch it repeatedly.

Oh yeah, and the guy who directed this video did some other awesome videos: LoveStoned & Crazy just to name a few. Robert Hales… you’re awesome for originality and I envy you.

Posted in commercial, ipod, michael jackson, movie, music, music video, youtube

wise words from a wise man

Posted on October 23, 2008 by t. sterling — Leave a comment

Without getting too much into details about how this conversation came to be, this is a father-to-son chat my dad had with me the other night after returning from a court house out of state.

DAD: Don’t go to jail in New Jersey.

(awkward pause)

ME: Ooo kaaay… Uh… Dad, I’m trying not to go to jail at all.

This statement was almost out of the blue, had I not known where he was earlier. But it was the timing.

(Just to put minds at easy, none of us have been arrested. However, we keep finding ourselves at court for numerous reasons… which is a whole other story I’ll be sure to chat about later.)

Posted in cops, family, wisdom, words