LIVEdigitally

Last week I saw and reviewed Borat, and mused on which scenes were real or staged.  Turns out this is a fairly popular topic out there, and I’ve got a few quick updates:

• Pam Anderson scene: Probably staged (although not definitive).
• The prostitute: staged and is a known actress.
• Frat boys: real, and they are suing.  Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, boys.
• Rodeo scene: frighteningly real.  This article (from Salon) has a ton of in-depth commentary on the “is Borat staged?” topic, and was a great read.
• Dinner party. real, chock full o Southern hospitality, ‘Bama-style.
• Etiquette lesson. real, although apparently the teacher had her doubts.

Incidentally, for the least useful source of material on the topic, head on over to Yahoo! Answers.

Did all my research.  Walked less than three blocks.  Filled out the way-too-confusing ballot.  Done.Your turn.

PS - don’t forget the Polling Place project (two pix) and if you have a video-enabled phone, Veek your Vote!

Tomorrow, I’ll go to my local balloting place which is conveniently located 2 blocks from my apartment.  I’ll walk there with the “prep” ballot I’ve already put together, which I’ll carry mostly due to an increasingly poor short term memory (yes on 87).  And there I’ll likely meander through lines, fill out some form incorrectly, then eventually find a place to fill out my ballot.  I have a lot of confidence that I won’t accidentally follow the wrong dotted line, and I predict no hanging chads.

But that’s just our civic responsibility.  That’s what we’re supposed to do.  David Cohn over at NewAssignment (a new web site dedicated to citizen journalism) put together a list of how we can go above and beyond our basic responsibilities, and actually participate in the process.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

• Video The Vote is an organized effort, using camera phones and video, to cover any mishaps voters encounter this Tuesday.
• The The Polling Place Photo Project is a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism to capture, post and share photographs of democracy in action by documenting the local voting experience. NewAssignment.Net consulted on the project.
• Along with independent live blogging networks news organizations like the BBC, CNN and others are relying on citizen journalists to get full coverage of this years election. They can’t be everywhere, but we already are.

I’m bringing along my digital camera, and I look forward to doing my job as a citizen.  For newer readers, I only became a US citizen earlier this year, and I’m glad to have my chance to fulfill the commitment I made.  I hope you do as well.

Take a look at David’s list - it’s even in an easy-to-consume “Top 9″ format!

UPDATE: if you are one of the, say 95% of the mobile phone owners in this country whose phone is capable of storing or sharing video, take a look at the “Veek the Vote” service.  Read the comments below by Kemble and Rodger for more info, or skip that and just go check out the site.  Just be sure to vote tomorrow!

I was reading Brad Feld’s blog today and saw his post with a photo from La Guardia airport.  I am stunned at the amazingly poor state of things with regards to flight and TSA policies.  I am more stunned that it seems to be status quo, and not changing for the better.  On Saturday Night Live last month, there was a great skit wherein they portrayed a TSA training session.  When presented with rules such as “no liquids over 3oz” a trainee asked the (obvious) question, “what if two people get together with 3oz each?  Is 6oz dangerous?”

When the liquid ban came into effect a couple of months ago, I was on a trip to Europe.  I flew home via Stockholm airport, where they told me to put all my carry-ons in a clear plastic bag, otherwise they’d get confiscated in Frankfurt en route to the USA.  Sure enough, I was the only guy walking around Frankfurt with a huge baggie full of my personal effects.

However on virtually every trip I have taken since that flight, my carryon bag contained multiple containers with liquids or gels (yes, I admit to grabbing shampoos from hotels, but only one per stay).  My secret?  Well, I’ve mastered the security system.  Here’s what I do: when asked “got liquid?” I respond “no” and move along.  Try it out, it works pretty well.

Last week, as my wife and I entered security in SFO and we placed our bags on the security belt, to my extreme chagrin she separated her makeup bag.  Big no-no, but I couldn’t stop her in time.  Sure enough, the TSA employee picked up the bag, and went through it.  She found some makeup and lotion, and gave her three options: check it (nope), put it in a Ziploc bag (huh?), or chuck it out (gee, thanks).

I tried reason.  I tried logic.  To no avail.  I politely (then again, slightly less politely) asked how the TSA could operate such a policy without providing a reasonable solution.  Her oft-repeated answer: “all this information is available on our Web site” (not the official link).  I must say, I felt quite a bit like Arthur Dent (the only hint for such a reference is it involves a bulldozer, the rest, dear reader, is up to you).

Kudos to Wal-Mart, US Airways, and whatever supervisor at La Guardia who did not actively prevent such a common sense solution to a stupid, self-imposed problem.  Although I must say, knowing that mascara and facial cream can only be carried aboard a triple-7 inside a see-through Ziploc bag makes me feel safe, and I can only imagine it really drives fear into the hearts and minds of the terrorists.

I’m voting in the USA for the first time in my life this Tuesday, but it appears my ballot (yes on 87) doesn’t have any option to vote out such incompetence.  Ah well, maybe in ‘08.

Along with about 10 million college kids, I saw Borat tonight with some friends.  Despite trying to buy tickets on the Interwebs in the middle of the day, the best we could do was the 9:55 show in Daly City!  Here’s my spoiler-free review:

What is the movie?
It’s funny.  Laugh-out-loud funny.  Kinda almost nauseating funny.  Occasionally very squeamish funny.  A wee bit disturbing/disgusting funny. Often uncomfortably funny.  Completely politically incorrect funny.  Overall, it’s just plain funny. 

What isn’t the movie?
Clever, witty, deep, sensitive, brilliant, hysterical, thoughtful, or hygienic (according to IMDB, “The suit Sacha Baron Cohen wears when playing Borat has deliberately never been cleaned.”). 

But it might just have you fall out of your seat laughing.  If you just want to have a good time, and you can deal with 90-odd minutes of silly, then go see it.  It’s just that simple.

Mini-spoilers follow from this point (nothing to ruin a scene, but I will mention some scenes by name/location).

(more…)

Well, I’m no Thomas Hawk or anything, but I thought I did a decent job with a few pics…

Walking down the street, women standing on the corner handing out little pamphlets about free translation services, then giving a little fortune cookie.  Only thing is… it’s blue:

Now I don’t know whose marketing campaign this is from, but as a word of advice to others considering this route: “stop!”  In fact, if I were to create a Top 10 list of giveaway advice, I think number one on the list would sound a little something like “avoid making giveaways of food that looks rotten, moldy and/or gangrenous.”

That’s a freebie.

Back when I was old enough to start watching TV (watching, as in, non-animated stuff), there was this show Saturday Night Live.  And my parents used to watch it, and it was good.  But when I came of age, with the exception of a single episode, it was fairly, well, poor.  In fact, it wasn’t until the end of high school that the show finally became bearable again, and it may have even hit a second peak whilst I was in college (ooh, whilst!). That said, it doesn’t really seem to matter whether the show has a “good” year or a bad year - somewhere deep down inside we all want Saturday Night Live to excel.  We yearn for its funny (yup, I’m using funny as an adverb).  In fact, we seem to want it so bad that this year we’ve seen the arrival of two new shows (both of which have titles with numbers, and both numbers are multipliers of 30, by the way) on the topic.

So when a friend of mine told me during dinner that he was going to take myself and Steven Jones (from Techlore, SlingCommunity, and the International Owen Wilson Fan Club, or IOWFC for short) on a quick walkthrough of NBC studios, and we walked onto the illustrious set of SNL, I was thrilled. 

The set itself was much smaller in person than I expected, and I have a newfound respect for all the people behind the scenes who pull off the show each week.  I haven’t gotten to watch a shooting or anything, but it seems like it’s quite a logistical nightmare to rotate everything through such a small area.  But then again, I don’t really know the first thing about producing a TV show, so who am I to talk?

I also got a little peak at some of the other sets and newsrooms (got a great pic of the 21st century newsroom, but am not sure if I can put it online or not, so I’ll take the safe approach), and it was a pretty cool little romp through NBC!  Thanks, friend (you know who you are, and I’ll leave the name out just in case it matters)!

Well, ok, it’s still HERE, but it’s lying inert over there in the jumble of crud cluttering my desk. Sadly, it ran out of batteries this morning. Now, of course, under normal circumstances something so trivial would be no roadblock; plug it in, let it suck up some electric love for a bit, and all is well. Unfortunately my charger is in San Francisco where I forgot it over the weekend and I can’t seem to find anyone on campus with a compatible one for me to borrow.
You silly old Nokia phone, you. Why aren’t you a Razr or an LG? Then there would be plenty of hip and trendy chargers just waiting to zip you up!!

Now, now, don’t get me wrong. I love my phone and it has served me well. It’s just frustrating when people say, “Oh, my MOM has that kind, or at least she did. I bet she still has the charger…[in LA.]” NO MY PHONE DOESN’T TAKE PICTURES SORRY! I have a digicam for that. Ah well…

The thing that really gets me is how lonely and disconnected I feel. And how frustrating it is! I think to myself, “Oh I should really call the health center to cancel that appointment,” but OH–not happening. I think to myself, “Hmm, maybe I will call so ‘n so to see if they want to hit the dining hall with me,” but OH again–so not happening. I can’t call my mom, or my boyfriend, or anyone. It’s the only phone I’ve got.

Surprisingly, even though I can e-mail all of those people perfectly well, I still have this feeling that the world is not right. There’s just some function lacking in my life if my cell’s screen is dead. I’ll continue to ask around for a charger, but if all else fails I’ll have mine back by Saturday at the latest. Just feels like so far away…

I am traveling this week from San Francisco to Boston to New York, then back (more on the trip some other time), and had booked a simple itinerary to get around.  While in Boston, two colleagues of mine mentioned they much preferred the train to NYC over the flight, since it ends up being about the same amount of time.  As a frequent traveler, I’m all for anything that is an easier journey, and the described train ride sounded quite blissful.

It took less than 10 minutes from leaving the station (maybe less than 5) for me to realize how much of a bad decision this was for me.  I’m sure many folks find it more relaxing, less rushed, etc etc.  I am sitting here pulling hairs out of my beard, one at a time.

First, I can’t do email because the bumpiness is causing a ton of retyping and this is about all I can bear.

Tried watching TV using my Sprint PPC6700 tethered to my Vaio to watch my Slingbox.  Was painful, but killed an hour until I couldn’t deal with the dropouts anymore.

I’m sitting at an angle, because I’m too tall to have the laptop right in front of me, so I’m sure I’m putting a nice crick in my back.

I had a hot dog for dinner (Hebrew National at least).

It’s just one of those things where you realize how different people are.  Me?  I’m perfectly fine with a drive to the airport, dealing with security, boarding, flying, etc.  Maybe I’ve just done it so much (~175K miles on the year).  Maybe I like “the action” of it. 

I think, at the end of the day, when you have a short flight you may spend “as much” time as you might on the train, but you only have to kill an hour or so.  The ~4 hours on Amtrak is just too much for me.

Plus I think I feel a little safer in the air.

ps - to make matters worse, I forgot my DVD pack at home, so the only thing I have to watch is Monty Python and the Holy Grail - great flick, but you do have to be in the right mood for it.  I’m listening to the Director’s Commentary this time through.

So check this out.  Last month I was in LA attending the CTIA conference, and as I’m walking to my hotel, I see a trailer truck drive by carrying the Batmobile (the one from Batman Begins). I see it, and think to myself, “Self.  Is that the Batmobile?  It sure is!  And I’m here in LA.  And they are making a sequel to Batman Begins (Batman Begins Again). That must be a prop from the new movie. Suh-weet!” (sp?)

I happened to be carrying my good ol Canon SD700 (with its wonderfully amazing shutter speed), and grabbed a bunch of pictures.  I’m figuring I’ve got one of them there “movie scoops” and get closer and closer.  To my utter amazement, the truck stops about a half a block down from my hotel!

As it stops, I even grab some passerby to take a shot of my ugly mug.  Woo-hoo, I’m a movie star!

Now, on a bit of a personal high, I walk into the hotel to pick up my bags. 

And there, in the lobby, guess what I saw!!!

A whole bunch of Warner Brothers props for some party. No scoop for JT.

Yes…I typed my password wrong as I signed into my Japanese voiceblog. A “log-in error.” Luckily it knew right away what the problem was and informed me, “A password is inharmonious.”

Uh oh, the balance of the universe is off kilter now because my password was typo’d. The planets will never align again! Evil shall prevail! ARRRRGH!

Nah, probably not. Really I just don’t have much to talk about of late (especially with school and all), but since Jeremy’s gone I figured I should do SOMETHING. I would link you to my site, but it’s mostly embarrassing and silly. I speak and sing all in halting fumbling Japanese. Whoooooo…