Monday, July 31, 2006
Trees + Sue + Alcohol = LaughRiot
On Saturday, Xtina and I had a full plate. In the morning we helped an old friend move. His wife had passed on, and he moved to a smaller apartment in the Assisted Care Community. Not such a cheerful morning.
I hammered on the bassline for Monsters for a couple hours, until I thought I would get blisters on my blisters. Then I put down the bass and railed on Oblivion for a bit. Finished a couple quests, and sold a bunch of crap I was carrying. How many swords does the discriminating adventurer need, anyways? I had more swords than Xtina has shoes. Joined two more guilds, one which hunts Vampires and one which is just a frat-rich-boy-adventurers-club. I think I am in seven secret societies now, and I wonder if there is a contest to see how many secret societies you can join at one time.
Then it was off to an old friend of Xtina's who was having a party. Xtina and I sat and talked together, and ate, and watched some people perform Karaoke and then we sat some more. Together. We moved to another place and sat together some more. And then we moved inside to get away from the mosquitoes the size of golf balls, and we sat some more. Together. Not that anyone was outright rude, or blatantly ignoring us, but it reminded me of lunchtime at high school. Everyone has their group to sit with, and if you aren't part of the group... then you aren't part of the group.
Afterward, we went to Tree's place for a fire-pit party which was inside thankfully. (Without the fire and without the pit, in case you were wondering, but also without the heat and mosquitoes...)
What a culture shock, to go from a party where the clique is Not interested in newcomers to one that is accepting and inclusive. (Trees even jumped up an down in excitement when we arrived! Talk about making you feel welcome!) We had a blast at Trees place, playing 'Apples to Apples' and Jenga whilst drinking/schmoozing/socializing. Of course, the fact that Sue was there made the party all the more enjoyable, and the interaction of Sue+Trees+Alcohol=LaughRiot.
I just wanted to throw a Great Big Thank You to Trees and Sue and Friends, for a great time, which was all the more appreciated coming from a party where you don't click with the clique.
The more interesting thing about Saturday is what I did Not do: Attend my High School Reunion. But that's another post...
Blog on,
-CZ
3 Comments
Permalink
I hammered on the bassline for Monsters for a couple hours, until I thought I would get blisters on my blisters. Then I put down the bass and railed on Oblivion for a bit. Finished a couple quests, and sold a bunch of crap I was carrying. How many swords does the discriminating adventurer need, anyways? I had more swords than Xtina has shoes. Joined two more guilds, one which hunts Vampires and one which is just a frat-rich-boy-adventurers-club. I think I am in seven secret societies now, and I wonder if there is a contest to see how many secret societies you can join at one time.
Then it was off to an old friend of Xtina's who was having a party. Xtina and I sat and talked together, and ate, and watched some people perform Karaoke and then we sat some more. Together. We moved to another place and sat together some more. And then we moved inside to get away from the mosquitoes the size of golf balls, and we sat some more. Together. Not that anyone was outright rude, or blatantly ignoring us, but it reminded me of lunchtime at high school. Everyone has their group to sit with, and if you aren't part of the group... then you aren't part of the group.
Afterward, we went to Tree's place for a fire-pit party which was inside thankfully. (Without the fire and without the pit, in case you were wondering, but also without the heat and mosquitoes...)
What a culture shock, to go from a party where the clique is Not interested in newcomers to one that is accepting and inclusive. (Trees even jumped up an down in excitement when we arrived! Talk about making you feel welcome!) We had a blast at Trees place, playing 'Apples to Apples' and Jenga whilst drinking/schmoozing/socializing. Of course, the fact that Sue was there made the party all the more enjoyable, and the interaction of Sue+Trees+Alcohol=LaughRiot.
I just wanted to throw a Great Big Thank You to Trees and Sue and Friends, for a great time, which was all the more appreciated coming from a party where you don't click with the clique.
The more interesting thing about Saturday is what I did Not do: Attend my High School Reunion. But that's another post...
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: A Day In The Life
Oreo Jingle Contest
...So I was wandering through my locally owned and operated, Non-Cub, Non-Rainbow Grocery Store, when I saw an endcap filled floor-to-ceiling with Oreo cookies and some kind of contest emblazoned on the side of each package. Turns out Oreo held a contest for their "Ice Cold Milk and an Oreo Cookie" jingle. Anyone can enter a jingle, and everyone can vote for the winner.
At first, I was pretty salty about the whole thing, my initial reaction was disappointment. Can't they afford to pay someone to write a jingle for them? Doesn't their marketing department know what a good jingle sounds like? Have they lost touch with their target market, and now they have to ask their target market which jingle they prefer best?
Of course the answer is much simpler, (and if I watched TV at all, I would have figured this out sooner) Nabisco is simply cashing in on the popularity of the 'Star Search' shows. Makes sense to me, to connect your product in some way to something that is popular.
So the Oreo Jingle goes through some kind of social filtering process, where multiple versions are constructed and then filtered by those who participate, supposedly resulting in the 'best possible Oreo jingle ever'.
Hmm. I have an idea. Let's take this a step further. First off, let's apply this to not just the Oreo jingle, but to some generic piece of music. Instead of the public contributing seperate songs, lets have them be more involved, and actually work on the song together, voting on the proper key and tempo of the song, the instruments involved, the structure of verse-chorus-verse and even the individual notes that are played, their intonations and durations and such.
Sound crazy? It sure does.
Sound familiar? It sure should.
How long before Open Source Music becomes a genre?
Just remember where you heard it first...
Blog on,
-CZ
3 Comments
Permalink
At first, I was pretty salty about the whole thing, my initial reaction was disappointment. Can't they afford to pay someone to write a jingle for them? Doesn't their marketing department know what a good jingle sounds like? Have they lost touch with their target market, and now they have to ask their target market which jingle they prefer best?
Of course the answer is much simpler, (and if I watched TV at all, I would have figured this out sooner) Nabisco is simply cashing in on the popularity of the 'Star Search' shows. Makes sense to me, to connect your product in some way to something that is popular.
So the Oreo Jingle goes through some kind of social filtering process, where multiple versions are constructed and then filtered by those who participate, supposedly resulting in the 'best possible Oreo jingle ever'.
Hmm. I have an idea. Let's take this a step further. First off, let's apply this to not just the Oreo jingle, but to some generic piece of music. Instead of the public contributing seperate songs, lets have them be more involved, and actually work on the song together, voting on the proper key and tempo of the song, the instruments involved, the structure of verse-chorus-verse and even the individual notes that are played, their intonations and durations and such.
Sound crazy? It sure does.
Sound familiar? It sure should.
How long before Open Source Music becomes a genre?
Just remember where you heard it first...
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Million Dollar Idea
Movie Review: King Kong
I hate being right.
The heat of the weekend found me cowering on the couch next to the air conditioner with a bowl of Peppermint Ice Cream, and a handful of movies picked out by someone else, of which, King Kong seemed a reasonable time waster. I had refused to see King Kong in the theatres for two reasons: First it is a story about a giant ape. Second, I was concerned that it would be long, CG-laden, and primarily about a giant ape.
Like I said, I hate being right.
Not to say that King Kong wasn't exciting. No no, there was adventure-a-plenty, I assure you, but...
...have you Ever gotten Bored during a Monster Fight Scene? Well watch King Kong, and then you will. Over and over.
Here is a tip (and after watching LOTR, I Never thought I would have to give Tips to Peter Jackson) - just because you have access to a top notch CG department good does Not mean that every CG scene rendered needs to be in the movie.
It seems Peter Jackson's philosophy is 'screw the pacing, the fight scene / chase scene / bug scene / Naomi Watts closeup scene takes as long as it takes!' That's a great philosophy for your first sexual encounter, but not for movies. Well, not for Good movies anyways.
I lost count of how many people died trying to save Naomi Watts, but I gotta say, she ain't worth it. I also lost count of how many times she fell down in the movie, but that was far, far, far, far, far, far, far outnumered by the number of times she stared blankly towards the camera, trying to convey some kind of emotion through telekenesis and not through facial expressions. It never did work, but they tried. Oh, how they tried. Over and over and over they tried, and then they tried some more.
Well, to be fair, sometimes she looked to the *right* of the camera and sometimes she looked to the *left* of the camera, which was a nice attempt to break up the monotony. It didn't work, but it was a nice try.
I give King Kong a 3.5 out of 10. All in all, the movie that is too big for its britches. Cut the budget in half, cut the script in half, cut the running time in half, cut Naomi Watts in half, and replace her with an actress with the ability to convey emotion, and trade King Kong for Godzilla, and then you will have a far better movie.
Oh yes, the last line of the movie? I won't spoil it for you, and I'm guessing it's from the book, but it would have been a wise choice to remove that line from the movie. That line is so dumb, that removing it could have raised my review score one whole point.
Blog on,
-CZ
11 Comments
Permalink
The heat of the weekend found me cowering on the couch next to the air conditioner with a bowl of Peppermint Ice Cream, and a handful of movies picked out by someone else, of which, King Kong seemed a reasonable time waster. I had refused to see King Kong in the theatres for two reasons: First it is a story about a giant ape. Second, I was concerned that it would be long, CG-laden, and primarily about a giant ape.
Like I said, I hate being right.
Not to say that King Kong wasn't exciting. No no, there was adventure-a-plenty, I assure you, but...
...have you Ever gotten Bored during a Monster Fight Scene? Well watch King Kong, and then you will. Over and over.
Here is a tip (and after watching LOTR, I Never thought I would have to give Tips to Peter Jackson) - just because you have access to a top notch CG department good does Not mean that every CG scene rendered needs to be in the movie.
It seems Peter Jackson's philosophy is 'screw the pacing, the fight scene / chase scene / bug scene / Naomi Watts closeup scene takes as long as it takes!' That's a great philosophy for your first sexual encounter, but not for movies. Well, not for Good movies anyways.
I lost count of how many people died trying to save Naomi Watts, but I gotta say, she ain't worth it. I also lost count of how many times she fell down in the movie, but that was far, far, far, far, far, far, far outnumered by the number of times she stared blankly towards the camera, trying to convey some kind of emotion through telekenesis and not through facial expressions. It never did work, but they tried. Oh, how they tried. Over and over and over they tried, and then they tried some more.
Well, to be fair, sometimes she looked to the *right* of the camera and sometimes she looked to the *left* of the camera, which was a nice attempt to break up the monotony. It didn't work, but it was a nice try.
I give King Kong a 3.5 out of 10. All in all, the movie that is too big for its britches. Cut the budget in half, cut the script in half, cut the running time in half, cut Naomi Watts in half, and replace her with an actress with the ability to convey emotion, and trade King Kong for Godzilla, and then you will have a far better movie.
Oh yes, the last line of the movie? I won't spoil it for you, and I'm guessing it's from the book, but it would have been a wise choice to remove that line from the movie. That line is so dumb, that removing it could have raised my review score one whole point.
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: movie reviews
Friday, July 28, 2006
Sony BMG tries DRM Free
Hmm,
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17212&ch=infotech
Guess they read my blog..
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17212&ch=infotech
Guess they read my blog..
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: DRM Sucks, Music Industry
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Centipede Vs Tarantula
I have a simple rule - Anything living in my house with more than 4 legs must die. Spiders? Ants? Mosquitoes? Woodticks? While this rule should put paramecium at the top of my list (*They* might call them cilia, but they are appendages that help you traverse, so who do you think you're fooling? They're Legs.) I would have to see it first.
For instance, if I saw one of these running around...(Watch the video.)
...well, I don't own a shotgun, but I would have to borrow one.
Snakes? Snakes don't bother me. Matter of fact, I will probably go see Snakes on a Plane, simply because it has Snakes on a Plane. But shit what's got more'n four legs? That just ain't natural.
And I'm moving to the freaking moon after watching this.
Blog on,
-CZ
1 Comments
Permalink
For instance, if I saw one of these running around...(Watch the video.)
...well, I don't own a shotgun, but I would have to borrow one.
Snakes? Snakes don't bother me. Matter of fact, I will probably go see Snakes on a Plane, simply because it has Snakes on a Plane. But shit what's got more'n four legs? That just ain't natural.
And I'm moving to the freaking moon after watching this.
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Videos
The cure for the common Hit
A decent article from Wired called "The Rise and Fall of the Hit" (although you can just read pages 1 and 3, and skip the history lesson on page 2)
The article points out that the last Mega Hit Album was NSync's No Strings Attached, which was also noted as the fastest-selling album of all time. That was back in 2000.
With the explosive growth of the internet and the accessability of music that comes with it, one would expect the previous milestones to be shattered at an exponential rate, but instead we have the opposite. Since 2000, music sales have declined, radio listenership is down, and music stores sales are floundering. Even the popularity of iTunes and Amazon are not enough to propel any singles or bands to Mega-Status.
Why not? Why hasn't there been any kind of SuperMegaBand or SuperMegaAlbum in the music industry since 2000? Where are the bands to replace U2 and Aerosmith? Where are the albums to replace 'Jagged Little Pill' and 'Appetite for Destruction'? The White Stripes had a good run, and became the poster children for the 'indie' genre invasion, but the closest thing we have to U2 now is Green Day.
Green Day is the new U2. Wow.
And the best we can do for the cover of Rolling Stone are the Red Hot Chili Peppers? It doesn't simply make my soul cry, it makes my soul swallow rusty razor blades until it dies of internal hemmoraging.
What could have caused this? Perhaps aging baby boomers and Gen-X-ers now have better things to waste their money on. Perhaps the RIAA scared people away with their paranoid cries of piracy, and thier the poisonous, evil hackjob at copyright management known as DRM. Perhaps there simply haven't been any albums or bands of Super-Mega-Calibre in the past six years?
That is a saddening thought. I have a happier idea.
What if instead of people spending their money on what the Industry tells them to, people actually are spending it on what They want? What if right now, more money than ever is being spent on music, but that money is going to the artists instead of the Record Company? Because if everyone paid money directly to the artist for the art they liked, Soundscan wouldn't track it, and Billboard and Spin wouldn't know it. This would explain the current situation.
Perhaps what I have been hoping for all this time is finally beginning to happen: the Industry is beginning to fail, and people are bypassing the middleman and going right to the artist. That is the way it should be, and to hell with 'The Hit', and Good Riddance. Spread the money out among all the artists instead of giving it all to the U2's of the world.
Or, maybe it's just my little fantasy, and everyone is really downloading their music on BitTorrent.
Whatever the real reason for the lack of Mega Hits and Artists, the Movie Industry needs to pay close attention, because the trends in video tend to follow the trends in audio by about five years....
Blog on,
-CZ
3 Comments
Permalink
The article points out that the last Mega Hit Album was NSync's No Strings Attached, which was also noted as the fastest-selling album of all time. That was back in 2000.
With the explosive growth of the internet and the accessability of music that comes with it, one would expect the previous milestones to be shattered at an exponential rate, but instead we have the opposite. Since 2000, music sales have declined, radio listenership is down, and music stores sales are floundering. Even the popularity of iTunes and Amazon are not enough to propel any singles or bands to Mega-Status.
Why not? Why hasn't there been any kind of SuperMegaBand or SuperMegaAlbum in the music industry since 2000? Where are the bands to replace U2 and Aerosmith? Where are the albums to replace 'Jagged Little Pill' and 'Appetite for Destruction'? The White Stripes had a good run, and became the poster children for the 'indie' genre invasion, but the closest thing we have to U2 now is Green Day.
Green Day is the new U2. Wow.
And the best we can do for the cover of Rolling Stone are the Red Hot Chili Peppers? It doesn't simply make my soul cry, it makes my soul swallow rusty razor blades until it dies of internal hemmoraging.
What could have caused this? Perhaps aging baby boomers and Gen-X-ers now have better things to waste their money on. Perhaps the RIAA scared people away with their paranoid cries of piracy, and thier the poisonous, evil hackjob at copyright management known as DRM. Perhaps there simply haven't been any albums or bands of Super-Mega-Calibre in the past six years?
That is a saddening thought. I have a happier idea.
What if instead of people spending their money on what the Industry tells them to, people actually are spending it on what They want? What if right now, more money than ever is being spent on music, but that money is going to the artists instead of the Record Company? Because if everyone paid money directly to the artist for the art they liked, Soundscan wouldn't track it, and Billboard and Spin wouldn't know it. This would explain the current situation.
Perhaps what I have been hoping for all this time is finally beginning to happen: the Industry is beginning to fail, and people are bypassing the middleman and going right to the artist. That is the way it should be, and to hell with 'The Hit', and Good Riddance. Spread the money out among all the artists instead of giving it all to the U2's of the world.
Or, maybe it's just my little fantasy, and everyone is really downloading their music on BitTorrent.
Whatever the real reason for the lack of Mega Hits and Artists, the Movie Industry needs to pay close attention, because the trends in video tend to follow the trends in audio by about five years....
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: music, Music Industry
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
DRM = (Customers) Dont Really Matter
Ah yes, another un-satisfied customer of DRM. Sorry you learned the hard way.
Hey RIAA, can you hear me now?
Blog on,
-CZ
1 Comments
Permalink
Hey RIAA, can you hear me now?
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: DRM Sucks, Music Industry
Uwe Boll Vs Quentin Tarantino
God, I wish I was making this up. Uwe Boll, the man responsible for such atrocisities against humanity as "Alone In The Dark" and "Bloodrayne" is somehow still employed making movies based on video games, and currently is wrapping up shooting a movie based on the game Dungeon Siege. Once finished, the worst filmmaker in the world will hack out a movie based on the worst video game in the world: Postal.
For those who don't know, Postal is based loosly around a postal worker who goes bonkers and starts killing people (I seem to remember this was an ongoing occurance, Workers of the US Post Office going on killing sprees, which actually spawned this strange use of the phrase "Going Postal" meaning go into a beserker killing rage - Strange days indeed.) The game was simply a top-down shooter strategy game you can check it out and even download the demo from gamespot. I believe this was the first game to have a flamethrower as a weapon. The goal of the game was just to kill people, and it got all kinds of bad press, and all kinds of kids like me to rush to download the demo.
Imagine the world's surprise when a second version of the game was released, even more over the top, and to give you an idea, one of the weapons at your disposal was your, um..., your well, your penis. Yes that's right, you could piss on anything in the game, including yourself if you pissed straight up in the air, (which was actually how you put yourself out if you caught on fire) And the sound effects were disturbingly good.
No I'm not making this up.
The Postal game series was intended to push the limits of what is acceptable in gaming, just like Uwe Boll's movies push the limits of what is acceptable for entertainment, so the two should be a perfect match.
Now the good part.
Uwe Boll is sick of the criticism he recieves on his dreadful films, and has challenged his detractors to a boxing match. Those who wrote anything negative about Boll before 2006 can send a copy to info@boll-kg.de and some will be selected to go toe-to-toe with Boll in the boxing ring. The boxing matches between Boll and 'those who dont understand his work' will be recorded and parts used in the upcoming Postal movie.
No, really, I am NOT making this up.
Among the challenged is yet another horseshit movie maker: Quentin Tarantino.
Remember when the two geekiest kids in your school fought eachother to see who was at the very bottom of the pecking order? Who will win? Who cares! I personally think they should fight eachother in the ring with flamethrowers, then everyone wins!
Blog on,
-CZ
13 Comments
Permalink
For those who don't know, Postal is based loosly around a postal worker who goes bonkers and starts killing people (I seem to remember this was an ongoing occurance, Workers of the US Post Office going on killing sprees, which actually spawned this strange use of the phrase "Going Postal" meaning go into a beserker killing rage - Strange days indeed.) The game was simply a top-down shooter strategy game you can check it out and even download the demo from gamespot. I believe this was the first game to have a flamethrower as a weapon. The goal of the game was just to kill people, and it got all kinds of bad press, and all kinds of kids like me to rush to download the demo.
Imagine the world's surprise when a second version of the game was released, even more over the top, and to give you an idea, one of the weapons at your disposal was your, um..., your well, your penis. Yes that's right, you could piss on anything in the game, including yourself if you pissed straight up in the air, (which was actually how you put yourself out if you caught on fire) And the sound effects were disturbingly good.
No I'm not making this up.
The Postal game series was intended to push the limits of what is acceptable in gaming, just like Uwe Boll's movies push the limits of what is acceptable for entertainment, so the two should be a perfect match.
Now the good part.
Uwe Boll is sick of the criticism he recieves on his dreadful films, and has challenged his detractors to a boxing match. Those who wrote anything negative about Boll before 2006 can send a copy to info@boll-kg.de and some will be selected to go toe-to-toe with Boll in the boxing ring. The boxing matches between Boll and 'those who dont understand his work' will be recorded and parts used in the upcoming Postal movie.
No, really, I am NOT making this up.
Among the challenged is yet another horseshit movie maker: Quentin Tarantino.
Remember when the two geekiest kids in your school fought eachother to see who was at the very bottom of the pecking order? Who will win? Who cares! I personally think they should fight eachother in the ring with flamethrowers, then everyone wins!
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Funny, Movie News
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
E = 1/2 (m*V^2)
You may notice that I have activated comments on the Blog, and you are probably wondering what it has to do with the formula for Kinetic energy I used as the title of this post. I have been loathe to turn comments on for the same reason that I would loathe leaving my 11-year old niece Danielle alone with a can of gasoline and some matches...
...because somebody is going to get hurt.
But after some reflection, the truth of the matter is that I really don't care what anyone else thinks about my blog posts, or I would never post them. Not to mention that the lack of comment availability doesn't stop people from sending me e-mail after e-mail, telling me what they think anyways. I have found some of them to be insightful, witty, entertaining, and thoughtful...
...and then there are the rest that are simply entertaining.
So in order to share this entertainment with all of you, I have left the gas can unattended, alongside a whole mittload of M-80's and I'm standing aside to see what becomes of it.
Someone will probably get hurt, but it should be fun to watch. Now, you all behave yourselves...
Comment on,
-CZ
5 Comments
Permalink
...because somebody is going to get hurt.
But after some reflection, the truth of the matter is that I really don't care what anyone else thinks about my blog posts, or I would never post them. Not to mention that the lack of comment availability doesn't stop people from sending me e-mail after e-mail, telling me what they think anyways. I have found some of them to be insightful, witty, entertaining, and thoughtful...
...and then there are the rest that are simply entertaining.
So in order to share this entertainment with all of you, I have left the gas can unattended, alongside a whole mittload of M-80's and I'm standing aside to see what becomes of it.
Someone will probably get hurt, but it should be fun to watch. Now, you all behave yourselves...
Comment on,
-CZ
Labels: Blogging
Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest
I wanted to write a good review for the latest Disney Blockbuster With The Longest Movie Name Ever, but I found one that is better than I could ever write.
Who am I to argue with a ninja?
Blog on,
-CZ
4 Comments
Permalink
Who am I to argue with a ninja?
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Funny, movie reviews, Videos
Monday, July 24, 2006
New Digs
The transfer is complete, and Dreamhostis the F%$king BOMB!
I will be weeding through old blog posts and deleting ones that don't fly anymore, so you might want to go back and sift through them all one last time...
...well, maybe not.
Instead, go over to zefrank.com and check out TheShow Because it is Way funnier then this crap...
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
I will be weeding through old blog posts and deleting ones that don't fly anymore, so you might want to go back and sift through them all one last time...
...well, maybe not.
Instead, go over to zefrank.com and check out TheShow Because it is Way funnier then this crap...
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Blogging
Friday, July 21, 2006
Change Cometh
My website, blog and all is pulling up stakes and moving to Dreamhost. Somehow, all the fiber-optic cable in the world won't make this change go any faster. The process will take a couple days while the Spell of Imminent Domain Relocation +2 percolates through the heartless, syrupy-black tentacles of the internet.
I know, I know, 'change is Bad!' right? Qwitcher whining! Once complete, I will have 20GB of space to play with, instead of my current 10MB, so basically I could repost my same website over and over two thousand times. Hmm, that's a thought...
Anyway, expect a bit of downtime, and a bit of reorganization, and, dare I say it?
...additional content. (Great Ones Help Us!)
Stay tuned. Change cometh...
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
I know, I know, 'change is Bad!' right? Qwitcher whining! Once complete, I will have 20GB of space to play with, instead of my current 10MB, so basically I could repost my same website over and over two thousand times. Hmm, that's a thought...
Anyway, expect a bit of downtime, and a bit of reorganization, and, dare I say it?
...additional content. (Great Ones Help Us!)
Stay tuned. Change cometh...
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Blogging
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Conspiracy Hour
0 Comments PermalinkFriday, July 14, 2006
The Trunk Monkey
Check out the revolutionary new feature, Trunkmonkey. At least the commercials are better than that gorram 'OnStar' crap...
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Cool Website, Funny, Videos
Splog
I went looking for some new virtual real estate, as I am thinking of starting a business venture, and one of the names I looked into was Zerovision. So of course, I checked out zerovision.com you can check the site yourself, but I don't recommend you do, because it is a splog Someone bought up the domain name just to turn round and sell it at a profit.
Of course now there are rules against this, you can't simply buy up a made up domain name and not use it, waiting for some company with that name to buy it from you. Not to mention that there is a cost to register the domain, and a yearly fee to keep the name registered to you. Of course this will not keep any determined vulture from wanting to cash in, and thus was born the splog.
I think zerovision.com is a particular kind of splog called a scraper site. There is NO CONTENT on the site at all. The entire site is made of buzzwords scraped together (hence the name) from high-ranking websites, to place it as high as possible on search engines, and generate any traffic at all to their site. Where the content is supposed to be (in the body center of the page) is...you guessed it, advertisements. Tons and Tons of ads, which probably generate a small bit of revenue.
Now the vulture can say they are actually using the domain name, and the site might actually make a couple bucks from ads, although if they made enough to offset the yearly registration fee, I would be surprised. The real money is made by reselling the name.
I e-mailed the owner of the website/splog zerovision.com, and asked them how much they would sell the name for. I have copied the e-mail below. I have reversed the order of this e-mail trail so you can read it from the top down, but I have not changed any content. Keep in mind that a website name costs about ten bucks to register.
I know it looks like something I would make up, but I assure you this is the real thing.
***********************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: DomainSpa.com e-mailer [mailto:mailbot@domainspa.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:36 AM
To: exoticdomains@domainspa.com
Subject: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
Domain: 'zerovision.com'
Date: '7/13/2006'
From: 'conradzero@gmail.com'
Subject: 'Inquiry'
Message follows:
how much to buy this domain name, zerovision.com?
-C
-----Original Message-----
From: ExoticDomains [mailto:exoticdomains@domainspa.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:38 AM
To: conradzero@gmail.com
Subject: RE: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
$5000
-----Original Message-----
From: Conrad Zero [mailto:conradzero@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 1:37 PM
To: exoticdomains@domainspa.com
Subject: RE: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
That's funny.
But seriously, how about two hundred, and I will still call you a thief
afterwards?
Sincerely,
-C
-----Original Message-----
From: ExoticDomains [mailto:exoticdomains@domainspa.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 12:49 PM
To: 'Conrad Zero'
Subject: RE: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
How about I will call you an asshole now?
*******************************************************
How about? Heh.
Of course, I reported the site as a scraper site to google, which should jerk their search results out from under them...
...and Now, I'm an asshole.
Splog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
Of course now there are rules against this, you can't simply buy up a made up domain name and not use it, waiting for some company with that name to buy it from you. Not to mention that there is a cost to register the domain, and a yearly fee to keep the name registered to you. Of course this will not keep any determined vulture from wanting to cash in, and thus was born the splog.
I think zerovision.com is a particular kind of splog called a scraper site. There is NO CONTENT on the site at all. The entire site is made of buzzwords scraped together (hence the name) from high-ranking websites, to place it as high as possible on search engines, and generate any traffic at all to their site. Where the content is supposed to be (in the body center of the page) is...you guessed it, advertisements. Tons and Tons of ads, which probably generate a small bit of revenue.
Now the vulture can say they are actually using the domain name, and the site might actually make a couple bucks from ads, although if they made enough to offset the yearly registration fee, I would be surprised. The real money is made by reselling the name.
I e-mailed the owner of the website/splog zerovision.com, and asked them how much they would sell the name for. I have copied the e-mail below. I have reversed the order of this e-mail trail so you can read it from the top down, but I have not changed any content. Keep in mind that a website name costs about ten bucks to register.
I know it looks like something I would make up, but I assure you this is the real thing.
***********************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: DomainSpa.com e-mailer [mailto:mailbot@domainspa.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:36 AM
To: exoticdomains@domainspa.com
Subject: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
Domain: 'zerovision.com'
Date: '7/13/2006'
From: 'conradzero@gmail.com'
Subject: 'Inquiry'
Message follows:
how much to buy this domain name, zerovision.com?
-C
-----Original Message-----
From: ExoticDomains [mailto:exoticdomains@domainspa.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:38 AM
To: conradzero@gmail.com
Subject: RE: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
$5000
-----Original Message-----
From: Conrad Zero [mailto:conradzero@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 1:37 PM
To: exoticdomains@domainspa.com
Subject: RE: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
That's funny.
But seriously, how about two hundred, and I will still call you a thief
afterwards?
Sincerely,
-C
-----Original Message-----
From: ExoticDomains [mailto:exoticdomains@domainspa.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 12:49 PM
To: 'Conrad Zero'
Subject: RE: [zerovision.com] Inquiry
How about I will call you an asshole now?
*******************************************************
How about? Heh.
Of course, I reported the site as a scraper site to google, which should jerk their search results out from under them...
...and Now, I'm an asshole.
Splog on,
-CZ
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Chris Carrabba, Please Die Now, You Putz. Love, Conrad
Had you cut out just the quotes from this interview with the front "man" from the "band" Dashboard Confessional, I probably couldn't have guessed who it was; just another self-important putz with nothing of interest to say. (Then again, who wouldn't feel important, being interviewed by Rolling Stone?)
But with the knowledge that it was THE Chris Carrabba, every word he says just puts my glaven in a twist.
Just to make sure I wasn't just being subjective about the whole thing and just blogging my bloody opinions (I mean, like, who would read that?) I wrote a quick music analyzer program and ran Dashboard Confessional's latest work through it.
***********************************
****OBJECTIVE MUSIC ANALYZER*******
********** Ver 0.01 ***************
*
*SCAN TYPE
* [Full]
*
*BAND NAME
* [Dashboard Confessional]
*
*TALENT / ABILITY
* [None]
*
*TALENT / ABILITY RECHECK
* [None Whatsoever]
*
*ORIGINALITY
* [Borderline Genius] Who knew that
* whiny, talentless music was a genre?
* Who would have thought that you could
* continually rhyme the words "I", "Me",
* and "My" over and over and over again?
* While we all knew that every word rhymes
* with itself, no one before had dreamed
* of using that feature to write songs.
* You have definitely pushed the envelope.
*
*ATTITUDE
* [Strong / Narcissistic] It is clear you
* believe yourself to be important, as you are the subject of
* every one of your own songs. Good use of first
* person personal pronouns. Good ability to
* take your boring everday occurances and hurt
* your listeners with them, almost on the same
* level as Bruce Springsteen.
*
*PERFORMANCE
* [Unable to Compute] You have trancended the
* barriers of what people percieve as "good" or "bad"
* You know that things like pitch,
* tempo, rhythm, meter, harmony, key, and melody
* are only limitations imposed by others who
* don't know better, and impediments to your songcraft.
*
*OVERALL
* [Your "Rock" Sucks Rocks] Your music is a fetid
* dogturd stuck to the heel of the music industry.
* It could be used to sanitize bathrooms, or cure cancer,
* since every living thing exposed to it dies a slow
* painful death from the inside out. Probably violates
* the Geneva Convention.
*
***********END OF REPORT************
************************************
There you have it. Objective proof.
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
But with the knowledge that it was THE Chris Carrabba, every word he says just puts my glaven in a twist.
Just to make sure I wasn't just being subjective about the whole thing and just blogging my bloody opinions (I mean, like, who would read that?) I wrote a quick music analyzer program and ran Dashboard Confessional's latest work through it.
***********************************
****OBJECTIVE MUSIC ANALYZER*******
********** Ver 0.01 ***************
*
*SCAN TYPE
* [Full]
*
*BAND NAME
* [Dashboard Confessional]
*
*TALENT / ABILITY
* [None]
*
*TALENT / ABILITY RECHECK
* [None Whatsoever]
*
*ORIGINALITY
* [Borderline Genius] Who knew that
* whiny, talentless music was a genre?
* Who would have thought that you could
* continually rhyme the words "I", "Me",
* and "My" over and over and over again?
* While we all knew that every word rhymes
* with itself, no one before had dreamed
* of using that feature to write songs.
* You have definitely pushed the envelope.
*
*ATTITUDE
* [Strong / Narcissistic] It is clear you
* believe yourself to be important, as you are the subject of
* every one of your own songs. Good use of first
* person personal pronouns. Good ability to
* take your boring everday occurances and hurt
* your listeners with them, almost on the same
* level as Bruce Springsteen.
*
*PERFORMANCE
* [Unable to Compute] You have trancended the
* barriers of what people percieve as "good" or "bad"
* You know that things like pitch,
* tempo, rhythm, meter, harmony, key, and melody
* are only limitations imposed by others who
* don't know better, and impediments to your songcraft.
*
*OVERALL
* [Your "Rock" Sucks Rocks] Your music is a fetid
* dogturd stuck to the heel of the music industry.
* It could be used to sanitize bathrooms, or cure cancer,
* since every living thing exposed to it dies a slow
* painful death from the inside out. Probably violates
* the Geneva Convention.
*
***********END OF REPORT************
************************************
There you have it. Objective proof.
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: anti, Dashboard Confessional Sucks, Emo Sucks, music reviews
Conspiracy Hour
As forewarned, here is our entry in the 48-Hour Film Festival. Click on the picture to watch.
I blogged previously about the "Making Of Conspiracy Hour" Experience. It was quite a learning experience; making a video in 48 hours is no small feat.
The video weighs in at 7min 16sec, please give it a 'charitable interpretation', and make sure to rate it on a scale from one to five (using the five stars in the upper right corner) Also, let me know what you think: conradzero@gmail.com
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
I blogged previously about the "Making Of Conspiracy Hour" Experience. It was quite a learning experience; making a video in 48 hours is no small feat.
The video weighs in at 7min 16sec, please give it a 'charitable interpretation', and make sure to rate it on a scale from one to five (using the five stars in the upper right corner) Also, let me know what you think: conradzero@gmail.com
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Conspiracy Hour, indie movies, Videos
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Goodbye Phyllis
I'm not much one to go on about the dead, for it does little good (neither does my incessant whining about the living, but I digress...). That said, I have to say "goodbye" to our former neighbor, Phyllis Skiff. Phyllis and her husband, "The Skipper" were absolutely the nicest neighbors anyone could ask for, and basically adopted Xtina and I the day we moved in next door to them. While I am not a fan of the desert 'Divinty' Xtina tells me that Phyllis made the best.
My sympathies to The Skipper in his time of loss.
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
My sympathies to The Skipper in his time of loss.
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: A Day In The Life
Monday, July 10, 2006
Christian Black Metal
J-man celebrated his 25th birthday last weekend, and I met him and Sarah to bang heads to some serious, hardcore, Christian Black Metal at the Star Central. I shit you not. Ordinarily, I prefer my Black Metal with a little cream and sugar, and this stuff was the full-on-espresso, but I enjoy it in moderation.
Not sure why the genre is 'Christian Black Metal' it makes sense that they would not want to call it Death Metal, but why not Life Metal, or White Metal (mmm...on second thought, maybe not)
For those who are interested, I saw Jesus Christ at the show, he was the front man for one of the Christian Black Metal Bands. Although Jesus Christ is not his stage name, it was not difficult to figure out who he was, and it wasn't the long hair and goatee that tipped me off. It was the fact that he was there on a Sunday, preaching to those who need it in a way they would understand. Did you really think he would come back wearing khaki shorts, sandals and a hemp necklace, cruising around Lake Nokomis, in a Ford Hybrid? Please.
The real tipoff was when he said that if anyone left the show before the headlining band (Crimson Moonlight) took the stage, that he would hunt them down, kill them, and drag their corpse back to the bar, and let the Christian Black Metal Music bring them back to life...
For those who are wondering, No, I did not ask Jesus for his autograph, and Yes, this does count as Church-Going, so I am covered for this year.
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
Not sure why the genre is 'Christian Black Metal' it makes sense that they would not want to call it Death Metal, but why not Life Metal, or White Metal (mmm...on second thought, maybe not)
For those who are interested, I saw Jesus Christ at the show, he was the front man for one of the Christian Black Metal Bands. Although Jesus Christ is not his stage name, it was not difficult to figure out who he was, and it wasn't the long hair and goatee that tipped me off. It was the fact that he was there on a Sunday, preaching to those who need it in a way they would understand. Did you really think he would come back wearing khaki shorts, sandals and a hemp necklace, cruising around Lake Nokomis, in a Ford Hybrid? Please.
The real tipoff was when he said that if anyone left the show before the headlining band (Crimson Moonlight) took the stage, that he would hunt them down, kill them, and drag their corpse back to the bar, and let the Christian Black Metal Music bring them back to life...
For those who are wondering, No, I did not ask Jesus for his autograph, and Yes, this does count as Church-Going, so I am covered for this year.
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Minneapolis Event, music reviews
Friday, July 07, 2006
The $10,000 miracle (maybe)
So my step-grandmother is not doing so well. Cancer, among other things, as if Cancer by itself weren't bad enough. Couple years ago, she moved to New Mexico, where the dry air is better for her aching joints, and I hear the meds are cheaper there. Unfortunately, she lives 80 miles from the nearest hospital. Not sure why.
She is on Medicare, (no health insurance) Her copay is $980 which seems a bit high, compared to my $20, especially since she doesn't have that kind of money. She's been to the hospital four times this year, and now has pretty much given up on things like walking around or even standing. The current guess is that she has about a month left or so...
[Editors Note: I know what you are thinking, "Where is the rant? Where does Conrad HIT THE CEILING AND START TYPING IN ALL CAPS? Be patient, it's coming...]
...she is on a test drug which costs $10,000 per month, but 'may' cure her, or at least, delay the inevitable. Since I am not in that situation, I can't make that decision for her, as to whether $10,000 is worth a shot at a cure.
But, $10,000 would buy one hell of a party.
I could fly to Amsterdam and sit backstage at a Rush concert.
I could fly to L.A. and pretend I was important like everyone else there.
I could meet Chris Carrabba and tell him how much I hate his fucking music.
I could meet Adam Sandler and kick him in the balls for making the same stupid movie over and over.
I could buy 10,000 lottery tickets, 7751 bottles of Diet Coke, over 600 bottles of Captain Morgan Rum, or enough Pop Rocks to fill up a swimming pool.
I could buy every season of Benny Hill on DVD, and rent a dozen female bodyguards to protect me while I watched them in the middle of the Women's Expo Convention.
Ten grand might buy enough explosive to drop on the San Andreas Fault line and sink California into the ocean, and have enough left over to party on the Arizona Coastline.
Yessirree, ten large would definitely get me on the Evening News before I kicked the bucket.
...but that isn't the rant. It's here:
WHY THE FUCK IS THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY CHARGING TERMINALLY ILL PEOPLE FOR TEST DRUGS? [Editors Note: I warned you.]
Why are the test drugs not free? Once the fucking thing works, you can charge ten grand for it, and I would line up like everyone else to get it. Ten grand for something that even works 80 percent of the time, or extends your life for a year is worth it (maybe) but to take advantage of people who are so near to death that they will desperately jump at any chance for a little more time, or a miracle cure?
That is downright evil, even to me, and I'm an authority.
Give the damn drugs away for cryin' out loud! These people are HELPING YOU OUT by being your beta testers, and YOU ARE CHARGING THEM MONEY! It boggles my mind.
And anyone who tells me that 'the engineering and equipment to make those drugs is expensive' will be thrashed so badly, they will be taking those test drugs themselves. You want to work on a cure for cancer? Go right ahead, but charging people on their deathbeds to do your research for you is really, really low.
Blog on,
-CZ
0 Comments
Permalink
She is on Medicare, (no health insurance) Her copay is $980 which seems a bit high, compared to my $20, especially since she doesn't have that kind of money. She's been to the hospital four times this year, and now has pretty much given up on things like walking around or even standing. The current guess is that she has about a month left or so...
[Editors Note: I know what you are thinking, "Where is the rant? Where does Conrad HIT THE CEILING AND START TYPING IN ALL CAPS? Be patient, it's coming...]
...she is on a test drug which costs $10,000 per month, but 'may' cure her, or at least, delay the inevitable. Since I am not in that situation, I can't make that decision for her, as to whether $10,000 is worth a shot at a cure.
But, $10,000 would buy one hell of a party.
I could fly to Amsterdam and sit backstage at a Rush concert.
I could fly to L.A. and pretend I was important like everyone else there.
I could meet Chris Carrabba and tell him how much I hate his fucking music.
I could meet Adam Sandler and kick him in the balls for making the same stupid movie over and over.
I could buy 10,000 lottery tickets, 7751 bottles of Diet Coke, over 600 bottles of Captain Morgan Rum, or enough Pop Rocks to fill up a swimming pool.
I could buy every season of Benny Hill on DVD, and rent a dozen female bodyguards to protect me while I watched them in the middle of the Women's Expo Convention.
Ten grand might buy enough explosive to drop on the San Andreas Fault line and sink California into the ocean, and have enough left over to party on the Arizona Coastline.
Yessirree, ten large would definitely get me on the Evening News before I kicked the bucket.
...but that isn't the rant. It's here:
WHY THE FUCK IS THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY CHARGING TERMINALLY ILL PEOPLE FOR TEST DRUGS? [Editors Note: I warned you.]
Why are the test drugs not free? Once the fucking thing works, you can charge ten grand for it, and I would line up like everyone else to get it. Ten grand for something that even works 80 percent of the time, or extends your life for a year is worth it (maybe) but to take advantage of people who are so near to death that they will desperately jump at any chance for a little more time, or a miracle cure?
That is downright evil, even to me, and I'm an authority.
Give the damn drugs away for cryin' out loud! These people are HELPING YOU OUT by being your beta testers, and YOU ARE CHARGING THEM MONEY! It boggles my mind.
And anyone who tells me that 'the engineering and equipment to make those drugs is expensive' will be thrashed so badly, they will be taking those test drugs themselves. You want to work on a cure for cancer? Go right ahead, but charging people on their deathbeds to do your research for you is really, really low.
Blog on,
-CZ
Labels: Business Phenomena, consumerism, rant
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