It's just a pill to help you forget

This really has nothing to do with anything but I really did enjoy Torchwood. I mean, I'm watching it late as it was on a few years ago, but having Doctor Who on at the same time fascinates me. Few shows mix together like that and play at the same time. Actually, I can't really think of any that do. The pairs of manga from Clamp "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle" and "XxxHolic" went on at the same time and crossed over often, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
I loved Jack. He's the best. I always hated seeing him so sad and how every episode just made him sacrifice more and more yet always had his compassion and leadership shine through. Though, from the very first episode, I loved Ianto too. I dunno, maybe cause he is the office person and wears a suit. I can relate to office people and well, who doesn't like a guy in a suit? Especially in such a darker setting compared to Doctor Who.
I like how it got into the nitty-gritty of Aliens on Earth and how they dealt with them. Although a friend told be about how the writing wasn't as good by the end of Season 2 and when I saw it, I had to agree. It closed out well however, and that was fine. The entire show closed out fine as well. At least until I watch Torchwood: Miracle Day.
I'm not going to spoil anything but I will say this, Jack was doing it wrong. I honestly hope he learned from all this. I know I did. The 1,000 year old Kaim in Lost Odyssey had it right. If you can't die you should travel. Staying in one place for too long hurts those around you, while if you keep moving you only hurt yourself, in most cases. So if you find yourself living forever, remember this advice.

It's like stepping into Midgar

I went to DragonCon and found this gem amongst the many fine prints for sale in the Art Show area. I love it. I couldn't stop staring at it while at the con so I knew I had to pick it up, frame it, and put it on my wall so I could stare at it some more. It's by Dim Horizon Studios. It's an altered digital photo of the Sloss Furnace. It's a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama. It looks like a cool place to visit so I might have to check it out sometime before I move out of the South. DHS has many other prints like this for sale that are just as beautiful and unique. Also, Big Daddies and Aliens.

Blog Blog Blah Blog Blah Blah

Blogging is a pain in the butt. There, I said it. I enjoy that others enjoy blogging but it seems like so much trouble. It's a hard habit for me to start and I'm suppose to be enjoying this too? Blogs are suppose to give focus to your thoughts, else it's just another Live Journal entry. I'm going to do my best to care as much as I need to but no more than I need to either, cause nothing else is working. I'm constantly blogging in my head anyway, it's just getting it out. Which leads me to Twitter.

I tweet as much as I feel is relevant, but it's also a place I get my news on the world, my communities, and my friends. Mostly I like having conversations. It's simple and quick. It's also nice now that more of my friends have joined, well, chat more. Many of them joined long ago but it's only been in the last 6 months or so that they've actually gotten into active tweeting. I blame Dale North.

Dale is one of the busiest ppl I know. Seriously, busy. Getting in contact with him is nearly impossible. Texting, sending pictures, Facebooking him are all pretty long shots, and emailing him is completely, utterly, totally, frustratingly useless. The only way to know what's going on with him, and others as busy as him who I never get to really see or chat with, is thru Twitter. So, when Japan went thru the giant earthquake and tsunamis, he was there, and the only contact we had with him was his tweets. It was so reassuring and comforting to know, instantly, that he was okay. After that, after the earthquakes in Japan, a major crisis in the world, did many of our friends hop on and get involved. Sometimes it's the saddest things that happen to make something beautiful happen. Tho chatting more on Twitter shouldn't be compared to I dunno, a rainbow. Or a double rainbow at that.

So, how many Santas are really out there?

My buddy, Joe Peacock, made a blog post about receiving an email from Thumbtack propositioning him to be a Santa. I was tickled and had to poke around. Thumbtack is a San Francisco start up company that offers a platform to independent contractors and small companies alike to promote themselves and find local clients. I've seen this idea done before with some sites that I don't remember anymore. I can picture their sites in my mind but can't find them on the net. Looking at their Jobs section's photo, it looks like a lot of dudes and one chick. Reminds me of my early years working MAGFest.
I just really like how one thing leads to learning another. Whether I'll actually use it or not is another story.

More Than Meets A Marketing Strategy

I'm going to put this out there: I've loved Transformers my whole life. It's been a strange relationship as being the little kid who loved the show to the big kid who has to accept why the show exists. For anyone who doesn't know, Transformers was created by Hasbro to sell toys. They created a product then used the cartoon show as their marketing plan. Of course, this was hurtful information when I first found out, but through business education I've come to accept this reality and even find it fascinating.

During the Transformers: The Movie, Hasbro was just "killing off" the old toy line to make way for their new one. They had no idea what they were messing with because tons of kids were traumatized when Optimus Prime died. This, to me, is a great example of why market research is so important before launching any major changes into the market. The point was to sell toys not scar the children you're trying to entertain. Although, it still worked. My brother had over 100 of those metal toys which were later sold in one of my family's grandiose garage sales. I know people who still have theirs today, and play with them!

We now have these new Michael Bay Transformers movies. It turns my head when people mention about all the product placing. It's very notable and an in your face marketing strategy. The contrast of the original reason Transformers was created and what these movies have come to represent is intriguing. They've put the story and characters aside to focus on how the franchise itself can make money. Its focus has been altered to become nothing more than a medium to accomplish whatever goal any willing soul who takes it on wants.

I suppose the major difference is obvious. That in order to sell toy robots you create an emotional connection with the characters and the children. To sell theater seats you have to make robots blow things up. Though sometimes, there's a right way to do things and a not so right way to do things. So to me, the real difference between the cartoon and the live action is the emotional connection. Where children and adults alike can continue to care about Transformers cartoons, including Beast Wars, they won't have a lasting relationship with explosions and whether Bumblebee was a Chrysler or that they were using Cisco Telepresence. Although, noticing a large bottle of alcohol on a conference table during the destruction of a giant office building does seem somewhat questionable.

Milk, it's what's for dessert

So I'm restarting this blogging regularly thing after two years of silence. I'm having an issue with concentration. It could be all the Rock Band and swearing from the other room, or the fact that I already had cake today and I'm determined NOT to stuff my face with more but really, I want cake. Going halfway is a glass of milk.
Horizon Organic milk has been my dairy of choice for about two years now. It was when I made the organic jump in my health-o-meter to eat better. I'm not some crazy hippy promoting organic milk, I'm just your average consumer promoting organic milk. Consumers have all the power in the market. If enough people buy organic then the change will happen. It's not a remarkable thought, it's just how it works. The sooner it happens the better too, cause organic is expensive, and I don't like an America where healthy equals broke.
What is organic anyway? It's what everybody was eating before farmers were given chemicals less than 100 years ago. So really, we could stop calling it organic and just call it food. Everything made with chemicals or pesticides would put what additives are included on the packaging. Imagine an MSDS for your milk, vegetables, meat, etc. Amazing right?
Maybe I am a bit of a hippy...

Wii Update

Yikes! A week later and this is all that they've been reduced to! Hope people are having more fun with them now that more games around coming out.