Letters to Santa

I didn't even know that there was a designated place in Alaska that you could actually send letters to Santa. I was in the fitness center this morning when I heard about Santa reading letters in Alaska.

I would have loved to send my letters to an actual address, but I guess the letter business needs some saving. "The group is looking to counter a decision by the U.S. Postal Service to end a program begun in 1954 in the small town of North Pole, where volunteers respond to thousands of letters addressed to "Santa Claus, North Pole" each year," statement from Associated Press (AK volunteers strive to save Santa letter service).
Why would the postal service want to end the program when that helps the sales for a US government operated service. I heard that the US Postal Service is being hit hard by the economy!

State of the Game

A friend of mine recently purchsed the new Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 2. If you're not familiar with the series, it's pretty much top of the line in simulating the most intense war voence imaginable. I doubt he's stopped playing it since I last saw him. The impressive visual qualities and amazing details that have made their way into this gam really got me thinking. The progress of video games in my lifetime, specifically in recent years, has startled me to say the least. I used to be a pretty avid gamer back when I was in middle school. It's fair to say they were a pretty big part of my life back then. Not long after, I fell out of them completely though, and I haven't really looked back. Until recentl,y when I've gotten a glimpse of just how far they've come, since I've stopped playing. It's remarkable if you think abot it. We've come from Pong in 1972, to games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in only 37 years. The graphics and features of games today would of hardly been imaginable just a few decades ago. it really makes me wonder just how far they will go. The market certainly isn't going anywhere, so I don't thinkthe progress is either. What will games be like near the end of my lifetime? I can only imagine.

Oprah Calls it Quits

It is apparently the hottest news right now. Oprah Winfrey announced that she will be ending her show in 2011 after 25 years on air. Her show has become a multibillion dollar powerhouse since it first aired in 1986. Oprah plans to be done after finishing 25 seasons. And she always said that she would end the show when people wanted more, not when people were getting sick of it.

In Oprah's 24th season, it was opened with a HUGE performance. There were more than 20,000 people collected Chicago's Magnificent Mile for a block party. The Black Eyed Peas sang their song, I Gotta Feeling, changing the lyrics to correspond with the Oprah and the the crowd choreographed a dance to surprise Oprah. If you didn't see it, it was absolutely incredible. Actually when I watched it I got goosebumps. I think this performance in itself proves that her audience wants more.

She said her 25th and final season will "knock your socks off". She plans to make her last season a season everyone will remember.

Oprah's media power is unreal. Forbes recently scored her net worth at 2.7 billion dollars. She has Harpo studios, the Oprah magazine and her most well known talk show. She is perfect example of big media, and for her to end her show will be a big loss in terms of media and audience.

Oprah to end talk show

The massively successful Oprah Winfrey Show will come to an end on September 9th, 2011, according to a Winfrey spokesperson.

Winfrey is expected to give the announcement during today's live show.

2011 will mark the 25th year of Oprah's show, and she just feels it is her time to stop.

Oprah's show has been the number 1 ranked talk show for 23 consecutive seasons, an incredible number. Her show has set off the careers of Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and Suze Orman, and has been an important hub for the support of many big causes.

It will be interesting to see what show takes over Oprah's reigns as the top rated talk show. Middle-aged women everywhere will be scrambling to find a new show to watch. Perhaps Ellen DeGeneres' show will take over daytime talk.

One wonders if her big book club will continue, as she uses her show to highlight certain books that she reads for her club. One should also wonder what guests to her final show will receive as gifts. If you remember, she gave a car to every member in the audience several years back, and has made guest gift-giving an important part of the show.

Mr. Rogers

Ever since we watched Blue's Clues in class, I kept thinking about all the TV shows I wacthed when I was younger. Of course there were shows like Rugrats, Angry Beavers, and Out of the Box. Disney and Nickelodeon were always on in my house. There was one show though that I watched almost everyday that was on PBS. That show was Mr. Rogers.

I recently was flipping through the channels during the afternoon and Mr. Rogers was on. I haven't seen this show since I was younger so I watched a bit of it to remind myself what it was all about.

Watching the show now was obviously a completely different experience than when I was 4 or 5. First of all, I was bored out of my mind. The show was so slow moving and Mr. Rogers said the same thing over and over and over again verrry slooowly. Secondly, Mr. Rogers can NOT sing; he is a terrible off-tune singer. I really don't know why he sings in every show. And thirdly, the puppet characters are really creepy looking. In fact, they're pretty scary. I'm surprised I wasn't afraid of them as a child.

Overall, the show is really different than children's shows that get produced now. It's a mystery to me what could have been appealing about the show to me as a child.

Oh, Etsy!

One of my new favorite obsessions is browsing the seemingly endless creative and handcrafted objects on etsy.com. This website offers mostly handmade objects from soaps, clothing, and art to $500 goat head puppets (what else could one possibly need in life?), as well as anything else a person could conceivably dream up.

The site is meticulously organized and ever-changing, as anyone with an account can sell their handmade (and sometimes vintage) items on etsy -- kind of like a DIY EBay, but more adorable. This site is proof of the proliferation of the DIY movement and is an important contribution to today's marketplace. At a time of increasing consciousness of the ethics of fair trade, this innovative website can find itself right at home. Many of the items offered are fair-trade made, vegan, and/or organic, etc. The site is also a great opportunity for even the smallest entrepreneurs and artists to make their products available to a world-wide audience.

Browsing and buying from the site also offers a great alternative to the run-of-the-mill holiday shopping to which everyone has grown so accustomed. Etsy offers items for men, women, children, and pets of any age and truly has something for everyone. I will be ordering many a gift there myself this holiday season (including handmade Guinness soap from Appleton, WI!). Whether you want to buy from local artist, acquire one-of-a-kind items, or just have a curiosity for the unusual, I highly encourage a trip to the etsy website. Be careful -- it might be difficult to steer away!

Know your autotune

In one of my other JMC classes, we're doing a study on viral media and what makes them so insanely popular. One of the presentations was on a series of YouTube posts entitled "Autotune the News."

For those of you who don't know what Autotuning is, it's basically what makes T-Pain sound like T-Pain. Apparently it was created by an oil miner in attempts to find underwater reserves for Exxon Mobile. Eventually it fell into the hands of the internet and exploded from there.

No, I didn't do a ton of research on this topic to find this all out. I just watched the Know Your Meme episode about autotuning.

For those who don't know what Know Your Meme is, it's a group of people who study, analyze and breakdown internet memes, crazy fads that become viral for bizarre reasons.

If you're wondering what the hell is up with that girl who just stares into the camera, the numa numa guy, or balloon boy, they tackle all these topics in an attempt to better understand how and why the stories came about and why we, as a culture, took time out of our lives to pay attention.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Opiate For The Masses

So it is finally here, what gamers have been waiting for, since the release of the previous Call of Duty 4: Moder Warfare. Since the announcement of the making of the new Modern Warfare 2, gamers all over the world have been shaking with anticipation, and the opening day launch of Modern Warfare 2 shows it.

In the first five days of Modern Warfare 2 being released the, most anticipated game of the decade, grossed $550 million. In the first 24 hours of being released, it had the most successful launch of all time. The game sold 4.7 million copies in the first 24 hours grossing $3.7 million. This is the most successful opening day for any piece of entertaining equipment. No other video game, record, or movie comes even close to this blockbuster sales.

Before Modern Warfare 2, the most successful release date was "The Dark Knight" which raked in $155 million at the box office during its opening weekend world wide. This does not even hold a candle to this behemoth of a video game. The most amazing thing is however, that numbers that have been relased for Modern Warfare so far, only accounts for the U.S. and U.K. The numbers from the rest of the globe have not even been accounted for yet.

With the numbers still trickling in from the rest of the world, it is hard to imagine the further success of this video game we will see in the next few weeks. What does this say about the world? As a whole we have blown over half a billion dollars for a game that promotes war, bloodshed, killing, every terrible and unjust thing one can think of, and the whole world cannot get enough of it. Let's hope the world keeps their grip on reality. In the world's delicate state that it is in, I don't think it could handle a gamer uprising.

New Moon

In Los Angeles this past week, the movie New Moon premiered. People were camping outside for days just to get a glimpse of their favorite Twilight and New Moon stars. My roommate who I lived with in LA this summer called me to inform me people were lining the streets and were all the way up to our apartment and around the block which is just 2 blocks from the theater where the premier was and I couldn't believe it, I didn't even know what it was for, and neither did she and she lives right there! When she found out it was for New Moon, I was not surprised and neither was she, because Twilight was and is such a hot commodity these days. I have never seen Twilight nor do I really plan to, but I am curious as to what all the hype is about. Is it just simply that Robert Pattinson is very good looking or is the movie actually good?

Tonight at midnight is when the movie actually comes out and I have never seen such craze over it. Theaters are also showing Twilight before the midnight showing of New Moon and many people are attending one after the other to get the full effect. I have seen a billion Facebook statuses that legitimately say "I can't focus too excited" "New Moon New Moon." I mean to me it's just crazy. As I watched the trailer I really had no clue what was going on, and have no interest in it, but it seems like it's going to be a big hit for the box offices this weekend. Here is the trailer if you have not yet seen it !

Thank you Brandon Jennings!

The picture above is 20 year old, Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings.  He sure indeed is young and money when it comes to making plays on the basketball court. If you haven't heard this rookie stud is making quite the name for himself this year in the NBA. He was selected 10th overall in this years NBA draft by our home team the Milwaukee Bucks. Brandon is what you would call a trailblazer because when he graduated from high school in 2008 he took a less then traveled path by skipping college to play professionally in Europe. Brandon is a unique draft pick that spent the previous year playing professional basketball in Spain. The reason why is because he was not able to pass the entrance exam to Arizona University and he didn't meet the 19 year old age requirement to enter the NBA draft. 

So far the rookie sensation is averaging a team and rookie leading 25.5 points per game. Not only is he scoring the basketball efficiently, he also is averaging 5.5 assists per game. Another benefit to his great play is that he is shooting a blistering 53% from 3 point range which is ironic because scouts said he couldn't shoot. The highlight of the season so far is the 55 points he scored on November 14th against the Golden State Warriors. He didn't even score in the first quarter and he scored 29 points in the third quarter alone. The incredible performance set the Bucks rookie record for most points in a game by surpassing the legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

I guess you could say he is a savior to the our lackluster Milwaukee Bucks franchise and we must thank the basketball Gods for such a talented point guard and I want to thank Brandon Jennings himself for making me a Bucks fan again!

Become a "Stumbler!"

Have you stumbled lately? That is a question I am starting to hear more often with my friends. Sharing their stories about all the random facts they learn through the website: www.stumbleupon.com. This website will have you occupied for hours, trust me! This is a site where you are asked some of your basic interests and then…you start stumbling! It allows its users to discover and then rate the web pages, photos, and videos they stumble across. It takes you to the most random of places on the Internet; from youtube, to MSNBC, to personalized websites, etc. It truly does enhance your interest in the Internet and all the crazy things put on. I can honestly say that I have read some funny things through stumble and seen some hilarious youtube videos. But rather than being all comedy, it can also have you stumble across rather interesting news pieces, different projects, and handy things to know on a day to day basis. It really is a good past time.

What People say.

As a story in the news breaks it seems that some people want to be on camera to tell people their thoughts. On Sunday November 15, 2009 a young boy’s body was found in a van in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Germantown. The next day the story broke and news vans were swarming around the Wal-Mart. One lady was quoted saying, "I was totally surprised that it was Germantown," said Linda Wentworth, a customer at the Walmart. "Then, when I saw it was our Walmart, I was amazed it happened here." (link) I feel that this lady had a good intent by saying she was surprised it happened by I feel her choice of words was not thoughtful. First referring to the Wal-Mart as “our Wal-Mart” was in a way calling it hers. Also, how can you be amazed it happened there? In my opinion amazed means something wonderful and beautiful not used in telling about someone’s death. When people are quoted saying things like this it makes me wonder if people who are quoted on the news are sometimes just after a chance to be on television. A video of the most up to date story as of 2:00pm November 17,2009 here.

Noah's Christmas Wish

I will admit it, I love Facebook. I know there are many arguments against it, I know I spend more hours than I shouldn't on it, and I know it can be really creepy. However, I love it, and I love getting invited to events. Earlier this week I logged on and had an two event invites. One was for some Christian event/cause that I wouldn't attend, so I immediately disregarded it and the second was 'Noah's Christmas Wish' something that I assumed asked for money so I disregarded that one as well. However, I look at my feed and 36 of my friends are attending this event. I re-look over the event, and felt horribly guilty for even not reading the content of this event. Noah is a 5 year old boy who has had Neuroblastoma Cancer for 2 and a half years. Make a Wish seems to have gathered this event to make his one wish come true: to receive many Christmas cards. I never cry, I hate crying, I am a notorious hard ass. I was ready to ball after I read this. At five years old, his wish is Christmas cards. As if I didn't get chills when I read his cancer story, I was seriously touched by his humbleness. I know at 5 years old I would have asked my mom to buy Disney World. He asks for Christmas cards. His family is celebrating Christmas early, as they are unsure if he will be able to make it to Christmas Day. I want to cry now. His mom set up a care page for him, so read about him there. The family has received many cards, and has actually requested no more. Understandably, it is time to focus on Noah's health, after receiving an abundance of Christmas wishes. It's amazing that an event on Facebook turned out to grant a little boys wish and turn into something so powerful and touching.

Droid vs iphone

Over the years we have gone from large ridiculous looking cell phones that you could only make calls with(how lame was that) to small compact cell phones that let you pretty much do whatever you want. To me this is quite scary and to wonder what the future has in store for the cell phones almost seems unbelievable. What made me start thinking about this was the new Droid phone from Verizon and their campaign strategies targeted against the iphone. The new Droid phone has a lot of characteristics that the iphone has but in their commercial they point out the differences that make it “better.” My friend recently got the new Droid and although it might not be as sleek as an iphone the capabilities of this phone are insane. Although I do not have either of these phones I felt like I could relate to the Droid commercial since I have had the “privilege” to own an ipod (first gen.) I know the first ever ipod is a lot different than the new iphone but the people selling it are all the same. My experience with Macintosh was a bad one and with a brand snapping back in a very casual way puts a smile on my face. However, since I can’t really afford either all I can say to you guys are to research the Droid before coming committed to the iphone, it is rather fancy.

The iphone did however make a commercial reflecting their feelings on the Droid phone.

The League of Extraordinary Fantasy Gentleman

First off, let me just say that I have been a big fan of the television network FX over the past few years. With a recent track record of great shows like Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, Sons of Anarchy, and it’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I’m willing to give any new program that they feature a chance. That being said, I had mixed feelings when I started seeing previews for their newest show The League. I quickly gathered that it was a show that featured four guys and their obsession with Fantasy Football. I had a few reactions to this. First I wondered how they could take a premise that seems so thin and stretch it into a half-hour comedy series. I mean seriously, how many jokes can you make that follow the same basic archetype of “these are four typical modern males, who love football, beer, and themselves more than anything else in their lives?” Oh and “their wives can NEVER understand.” Second, it struck me that we’ve reached a point in television where you can make a show that revolves around pretty much anything. I watched the show and though it was actually pretty funny. I also came to one more conclusion. I always thought that caring about celebrities, tabloids, and all the drama that certain parts of the media force down your throat if you let them was a completely pathetic and pointless venture. I found myself comparing it to playing fantasy football and wondering is there anything different with that?

Doomsday

Last night the movie 2012 hit the theaters. This movie is supposed to be one of the biggest hits of the year. I am quite anxious to see this movie. For those of you who don't know what it is, although I am sure you do, it is the movie about how the world is going to end in the year 2012 based on the Mayan calendar, the calendar simply stops in the year 2012. Apparently the Mayans have been correct with all of their predictions so 2012 is something some are taking seriously while others think it’s bogus. Do you think this movie will scare people into believing that 2012 really is going to be the time when the world ends? Watch the trailer here…

I have seen the trailer for the movie and it looks pretty intense, I'm not really sure what to make of it. The movie cost was over 200 million dollars to make, which is obviously a lot of money, but based on the trailer there are a ton of special effects and what not that play a large role in the movie. I wonder what other people think of this film or what people really believe will happen in 2012.

UFC Fighter Chad Ochocinco?

I talked about NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and his reality show life earlier in the semester. Evidently he wasn't getting enough attention and was bored with just playing football, so now there's talks of him fighting in a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fight. Ochocinco spent his Wednesday tweeting to current UFC president, Dana White, stating he wants to fight UFC's current middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. Here is the conversation between the two on Twitter:

Chad OchoCinco's tweets:

Dana this Ocho Cinco, I want to fight your #1 and #2 best fighters asap,exhibition to raise money for a charity of choice!!!!!!

matter of fact I want Anderson Spider Silva---please don't ignore me or you'll have to fight me yourself!!! Sincerely Esteban :)

Mr. White this a serious matter, we can help alot organazations with this fight, I have a good chance at winning against Silva

Awesome! I'm fighting Anderson Silva-I can't wait to throw my child please combo with a kiss da baby leg kick, Silva can shut the front door!

Dana White's tweets:

Perfect @OGOchoCinco. I need a Jan 2nd fight. Ocho Cinco vs Anderson Spider Silva. PS - I'm too old to fight anyone.

If you are really serious @OGOchoCinco, contact me. We'll put a fight together for charity.

@OGOchoCinco Follow me so I can send you my email

So it's not enough for Chad Ochocinco that he's having one of his best seasons in the NFL, he needs to prove himself in the ring as well. If the fight does happen, it's unlikely that Ochocinco will fight Anderson Silva because they would be in different weight classes. However, the media loves Ochocinco and really anything is possible with him.

Miss Teen USA contestant to commercial star

If you have not seen the video clip of Miss Teen USA: South Carolina's answer to the question: why can't most American's locate the US on a map. I did not see it live, but my boyfriend did show me the video on youtube on Tuesday after he spotted her on a commercial selling pistachios.



This commercial shows us that she is laughing with America. She pokes fun at herself by doing this commercial. Before she eats the pistachio she says that eating them will help Americans obtain maps and build a better future. These words were used during her Miss Teen USA answer that did not land! I appreciate her sense of humor and still think it's crazy that we have access to watch people's mistakes over and over again using venues like YouTube. It becomes hard to escape your mistakes, but Miss South Carolina finds a way to make it better.


Jimmy Kimbel did a skit to try to understand what she was trying to say. I didn't watch any of this until this Tuesday, so I think it is funny still.



Here is the Miss SC answering the question that made her famous!

Facebook: powerful alibi machine?

I got a nice kick out of this story about a teenager who used his Facebook status as an alibi in a mugging accusation against him.

Rodney Bradford updated his status around noon last month, just before a mugging occurred a few miles away. Bradford, who had already been accused of robbery in 2008, turned himself in to police, confident that his status update would be the perfect alibi.

A man actually picked Bradford out of a lineup and he was convicted of the robbery. But, Bradford's dad saw his son's Facebook status message and quickly realized it could be used as an alibi.

This is pretty sensational, in my opinion, that Facebook could be used as a an alibi in such a situation. I found it pretty funny that Facebook officials said they were "pleased they were "able to serve as a constructive part of the judicial process."

Bradford is also going to sue the city for damages from being arrested wrongfully and put in Rikes for nearly 2 weeks.

It's interesting to think that just a few years ago this kid may have been convicted of the mugging because there was no Facebook, no Internet, nothing to trace where he was. Oh, how times have changed.

Inside the NBA

While it has become common for studio sports analysis teams to have a revolving door of changing faces practically every season, the TNT NBA studio team of former players Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, and studio host Ernie Johnson has remained together for the past 9 years. The acclaimed FOX NFL pregame lost its studio host, James Brown to CBS last year. But even as Johnson recovered from cancer two years ago Inside the NBA kept its team intact.

Ernie is often the straight man to Chuck’s comedy and Kenny “the Jet” Smith plays both sides. The show balances serious game analysis with humor seamlessly. Chuck, Kenny and Ernie sometimes disagree with each other, but the disagreements don’t escalate into the contentiousness (sometimes staged) that you see on other sports shows.
It would be interesting to see what the post-game ratings are for TNT’s NBA games are; my guess is there are quite a few viewers who stay tuned to hear Chuck, Ernie and Kenny’s post game remarks.