Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful day.

Tonight I was doing one of my favorite tasks when I am involved in a show and that is Memorizing.
Ok I am 100% kidding. Memorizing is the most teidius things I have ever done in my life. But getting all the practice I could need through college and the shows I've been through, I thought I would share a Technique or two on ways to memorize.

1. Recorded Playback
This is a really quick and simple way to memorize lines or really anything. What you do, is you record ( lets say your memorizing lines for a play) on a tape recorder. And I mean all the lines. The key is to get all the lines on there clear and to say your lines a little quieter so that when you play back the recording, the more you memorize the lower you turn down the volume so all you hear is everyone elses lines and you can say yours! So from then on you can learn your lines in your car, walking your dog, really anywhere you go! Also you get to learn other peoples lines and you get to learn the play a little better by listening to evereything so much.

2.Repeat-Two x Two
This is the method that works best for me. What you do is you take your lines and memorize them two at a time. Drill it into your head until you can say it without stopping. Then move on to the next two lines. Repeat. Once you get those two lines down go back to the beginning and repeat all the lines youve learned so far without messing up multiple times. Repeat-Two x Two until you don't have any more lines to left to memorize. The process takes forever but it is definately worth it. I cannot begin to tell you the amount of lines I have memorized because of this handy technique and it works for pretty much anything.

These are a few of the technniques that some people use. Do you have any techniques that work for you to memorize things? Let me know about it.

Have a great day tomorrow everyone!

The Cause of all suffering is craving.
Desire things that you do not have, and suffering will follow.
Realize this and peace will be yours.
Suffering will disappear and contentment will reign.

Hello everybody!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Monday. I know its Monday its hard to have a good one.

But tonight I went with my Co-Host of my podcast to go see a movie. The movie we saw was
The Haunting in Connecticut
Now usually I define 2 different types of movies. There are movies that are great movies like; The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, The Godfather. Then there are Entertaining movies like The Goonies, Iron Man, X Men and Death Race. Then there are movies like this.

This movie I am still confused about. I walked into the theater expecting something amazing and a really good tale based on a true story, but I walked out of there feeling indifferent and slightly disappointed. I was slightly expecting the movie to be something like The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which I thought was a great film. It ended up just being weak to me. The story was alright, and sure it was scary and kept my hunkered down in my seat, so if that is what your looking for than it might just work for you. But even in my eyes the scary things that happened were just put in and were kind of lame.

The Final Cut

I am going to give this 1 Damnit Meg.In my honest good opinion I cant recommend this film for anyone. It was almost entertaining and it was sort of a scary movie. But it wasnt high enough on either list to make up for it. I might give it another chance when it comes out on dvd but as of right now. Im happy seeing it once and letting it alone.

Happy Monday everyone Have a great week!

Tao is truth.
Follow it.
Meditate on it.
Become it.
Then forget it.
Only then can you live it.

What happens to you does not matter:
What you become through those experiences is all that is significant.
This is the true meaning of life.

Hello Everyone
I hope all has had a wonderful day and evening.

I thought tonight I would talk about one of my favorite things in the entire world...

Old Radio shows

I have been a been a fan of old radio shows for a very long time. Sadly enough I don't even really remember how I got into them. ( thinking... thinking... thinking) Oh Now I remember!

When I was a kid at Christmas time, after my family went to church we would drive around the neighborhoods and check out the Lights. My parents would turn on NPR ( national public radio) and they would always have on old recordings of A Christmas Carol. The Dramatic performances and then Comedy performances after that. I just remember being enthralled and captivated listening to them. Thinking they were fun and silly. They relaxed me and it just made the holiday so much better.
Years later we were at a Crackerbarrel in South Carolina, and you know how they have those general stores on the inside? Well I found an old tape of a collection of radio shows!! From that I was hooked. I listened to it all the time and I couldn't get enough. One of the things that got me hooked was the fact that I am such a Looney Tunes fan. Looney Tunes got most of their material from radio shows. Anytime you see Bugs Bunny hop on a phone ask for the Operator and then say the words, "Oh, is that you Mert? How's every little thing?" That comes from Fibber McGee and Molly.
As a matter of fact I am listening to one of my Favorite shows right now which I will mention here in a little bit.

But here I will go through my top five favorite Radio Shows to listen to.

#5

Suspense!
The title pretty much describes what this show was. It was a show that kept you in suspense and on the edge of your seat. Some of my favorite stories come from this show.

#4
Fibber McGee and Molly!
This is such a great show. Its one of the earliest sit com shows around. I can guarantee you that if you listen to this show you will smile, and laugh and have a great time.

3#
Abbot and Costello
This is a Vaudvillian act that is timeless. These are the creators of the legendary bit " Who's on First" The absolute funniest thing Ive ever heard. These gentlemen are legends and they gave so much to radio and laughter. Another on of the shows that is hilariousl without having to shock you or gross ou out to get a laugh. Being silly is just enough.


#2
Red Skelton
This is a great comedian and pantomime actor. He is so funny and so much fun. He makes himself giggle all the time. He once asked in an interview, "Why do you always Laugh at your own jokes?"
"Well, its not fair that everyone gets to laugh I want to laugh at the joke too"
This is a reminder of a time when comedy was innocent and pure. In all of his shows he never said anything cruel or rude at someone elses expense and not one curse word has come out. This was a man who lived to make people laugh. IF you ever get a chance check out some of his stuff. He showed me that it's alright to be silly sometimes.

#1War of The Worlds
Now this was the mother of them all. This is one of the greatest shows you will ever hear. This the show that everyone should know about. During this show people actually flung themselves out of windows into the streets thinking that this actually happend. As horrible as a thing that is, and hard to believe for this day and age, if you listen to it you will see exactly why this could happen. (This is what I am listening to right now) It's incredible.

Give these all a shot. I love these shows it brings you back to a time where everything was much simpler and fun and innocent.
If you'd like to possibly listen to a few episodes or are looking into purchacing some you can go to the following websites. All of which are great.
Also XM radio has its own Radio Classics channel which of course is always on at my house.

www.radioclassics.com

www.radiospirits.com

Goodnight, and have a beautiful day tomorrow.
Happy Friday!


Slainte

Unite all things. When all of your energies are going in the same direction,
great things will happen. When you unify others, success is assured.
Work in harmony with the Way, and all things will flourish.

Hello world.
I hope everyone has had a great day. Mine was actually pretty cool! Today was like any other day at the office. Well, it was like a really busy day at the office really. Now this is the month that the Boss peoples do their yearly salary reviews. I have been with this firm for just over a year and I got a review this time around.
It was actually pretty nerve racking. It wasn't just me and the office manager, like it has been fore everyone else. It was me and the big guy himself. So that was definitely a little intimidating. But they did things a little different than most companies. They asked how I liked it there, how I felt my year has been spent, and What I felt like my weaknesses are and where I would like to improve myself in the time to come.
I am an honest person, so I told the truth about myself. I said it was rough time getting started, being trained incorrectly and making mistakes because of it. then having to relearn everything when I have already been there for 3 months. Some procedural things I was having difficulties with and a few dress code violations here and there, but mostly anything that was done wrong was fixed and was never done twice. It was a year of learning and improvement is what I said.

When it was their turn to talk they stated the same things and a few of their concerns with me, ( which I will keep to myself thank you very much) but one thing they mentioned is my writing. I have had an issue with writing all my life. I think when I was younger I was diagnosed LD in Writing, so writing just isnt one of my forte's. I explained my troubles with it and how I have issues writing letters and getting all of my thoughts and instructions down onto paper. In response the that the big boss man offered his help with this. He said " I am sure its a touchy subject with you, and I dont want to make you feel inadequite or anything, but if you would let me, I would be happy to work with you and help you make it so you can write things out better, or at least get comfy with yourself that you know what your talking about but just help out wording everying." Not an exact quote but its was a nice gesture that he was willing to take time out of his day and help me with an issue. I gladly excepted the offer.
They gave me tons of compliments. They said they love having me at the office, I make people laugh and always have a great energy around the office and have always gotten my work done, and people have even called in to say praises of me directly to them. So that was definately good to hear.
At the end of the review I walked out of the little room with a RAISE!!! I cant belive it!! I was so happy! It was a pretty decent sized raise too! Not enough to say Im rich, but definately enough to help pay the bills and maybe a new movie here and there, and definately I will be able to save WAY more.

On a different note I would like to address all my readers about my writing.

I am not a perfect writer. I know this. I dont plan to be one either, I dont think I know all the rules of grammar and I am sure most of you read my blog a few times and then walk away feeling confused having not understood a thing I said, or angry at my lack of punctuation and grammar. Well I am sorry but I am not perfect and I am not going to be. Everyone has their flaws and this one is mine. But half the reason why I started this whole thing was to help myself feel more comfortable about my writing. I own the fact that my posts are not as elequint or as well written as most of ya'lls blogs and thats fine with me, and I hope its fine with all of you too. (BTW all of your blogs inspire me to be a better writter, I want you all to know that as well) Hopefully Im not THAT bad off where you read it once or twice, get frustrated and then stop reading completely.

Thank you all SO much for reading and listening to me.
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Day, a great evening and an even better tomorrow!

Slainte!

The scent of the flower is carried by the wind,
only going where the wind blows, but your virtue radiates in all directions,
touching everything

Hello everyone!
How was everyone's day? I hope it was better than mine. But I digress. I am sitting here with a cup of Snow Geisha tea and I would like to tell you all about the "wonderful" weekend I had with the Lady J for our 3 year anniversary.

J and I usually like to take a little getaway when we celebrate our anniversary. Our first anniversary was spent in a beautiful Suite I found at a resort. It was incredible, it was like our own luxury apartment for the night and we had fun just being with each other.

Our second anniversary was spent in Philadelphia. We stayed at a really nice B&B a block away from South St. which was basically where all the bars and restaurants and anything going on in Philly was going on there. The best part about that trip was that we spent saturday night getting obliterated tonight and not only could we BOTH get drunk ( we rarely get to do that) but we didnt have to Drive or get a cab because we could walk back to our B&B. But the last hours of our evening that night was spent drinking really great beer coctails and just talking about anything and everything. Our Philosphies our, thoughts of religion, our hopes, our dreams, our wants our desires, and we both connected ten times more that night. The downside of that night was that when we woke up the next morning we remembered having a huge conversation but we don't remember anything about the conversation! After the hangover wore off we had a really good laugh about it!

This time we went to a hotel and stayed in the little town of Easton Maryland.

TIP: Don't ever, ever go to Easton Maryland for anyreason unless you are forced to. J found this great little hotel in the middle of nowhere and the pictures of the hotel and the feel of everything sounded like it was going to be a little secluded town with shops, and activities and because it was right next to the bay, there would be great crabs and seafood. So it all sounded great. We arrived and its true, we walked into the hotel and here is what we saw....

Those two chairs above next to the fireplace is where J and I spent our first night drinking and talking. Great time.

Beautiful right? Thats what we said as soon as we walked in! We were like this is going to be a great experience and we are going to have a great time here in this classy hotel. We go up to our room and we walk into it and wow ....

Our room was TINY!! It was such a small room. Not that it was a really big issue, but from the pictures that we saw and the descriptions of all the rooms we were at least expecting someplace else to sit other than the bed like most, motel 6's! ( BTW isnt that a beautiful Model?)
It took a few minutes but we realized that it was a little funny and it really didnt matter cause all wed be doing in here was watch TV and sleep. ( not like we had much of an option at this point)

We went out for a few drinks friday night at a bar across the street. We got there, ordered our beer, and asked if we could set up a tab when one of the locals shouted, "Why do you wanna start a tab were closing soon"
It was 9:45. They were closing at 10!!! Oh holy crap, what did we get ourselves into. A bar that closed at 10. So we drank our beer, closed our "tab" and headed back to the hotel bar and lounge and proceeded to get a little drunk while the Lady and I sat next to the fire and talked. It was a great time, I cannot tell you how much I love just sitting here and talking with her. Its one of the reasons why I fell in love with her in the first place.

So after hours of talking we headed back up to the room where after an hour of sitting back and relaxing we realized that our room was incredibly hot. It was 90 degrees in there and for the life of me I could not shut off the heater. So we had to sleep and wake up in an incredibly hot room.

In the morning we woke up to grab our breakfast which was really nice. Fruit, Danish, and OJ and coffee. AFter breakfast we went back up where J finished sleeping and I got some great reading time in. ( I am really enjoying "The Terror" By Dan Simmons BTW)

At around noon we decided to get off our butts and we would go walk around the town and do some shopping, and grab some food as well. We started to walk around the town when we got really hungry and headed into this amazing pub called the Washington Street Pub. Their food was amazing. I would actually drive up the hour and a half just for the food over there.

After continuing to walk around the town we came back to the hotel to relax and after a few hours we decided that It was time to eat.
This was around 7 pm. Now here is a little tip, before you go on a trip, do a little research about resturants before you go, becuase then you will realize that anything good in the town you are visiting will be closed for the season and wont open for another month or so, OR because its such a small town is closing at 8pm. J and I went to 7 different resturants before we gave up and had an incredible meal at Applebees!

All in all I had it was the BEST worst trip I have ever taken and I know it was because I was with J. We had such a great time together and it just goes to show that no matter where we are and what were doing, as long as were together we will have a great time because thats exactly what happend.

Well its getting late and I am trying to head to the gym in the morning so I have got to get some sleep. Goodnight All

Slainte!

Treat everyone and everything with loving compassion.
When you see no difference between the sacred and the profane,
the saint or the sinner, that is the ultimate wisdom.

Hello everyone.
First of all I would like to thank everyone for posting comments and for joining my blog and for posting up on your own blogs. This has been really fun and I know you all have been waiting to find out who the winner is!
I used the Truly random number generator To figure out the winner and the winner is....

Arielle!!!
Congratulations Arielle!
You are the winner of your very own
Best Buy Gift Card!!
Arielle I will email you soon to get the details so I can get you your Gift Card!

Thank you all so much for participating and I hope it was fun for you because it was definitely fun for me! For those of you who decided to follow me please continue to read and I hope you all enjoy the posts to come and I can promise you that there will be more giveaways and fun to come!!

Goodnight All


Slainte!

Experience all things with the enthusiasm of a child, as if you were
seeing them for the first time. This is the Zen mind, always new,
always aware, always that of a beginner.

You can look, and you will find it. You can not look, and you will
find it. That which is yours will surely come to you.

Hello everyone.
I hope everyone has had a great day! I am actually feeling much much better. I plan on going into work tomorrow. So that should be fun.
And because I was feeling so much better I went to record my podcast tonight. My Partner in crime Herman was asking me what kind of bike he should get.
Now when I was looking for my bike the first thing I did was go to the first department store I could find, like Dicks, Wal Mart and check out the bikes there. Then I started looking at Specialty Bike shop like, Performance Bike or Spokes Etc are just a few that around the area. And I have Developed an opinion between the two.

If you are going to buy a bike then you should do it from a Specialty bike shop. Now if you are looking for a bike for your children then you don't have to get it from a shop, a department store bike is just fine, seeing how your child will grow up and get bigger and will eventually need a bigger bike. Department store bikes are disposable in my opinion. The last bike I had was a department store bike and I loved that thing. But I actually rode my bike for about a year before it wore out. I had more time so I rode my bike more than I usually would. And by the time that year was up the bike was destroyed. As much as I tried to take care of it, it was incredibly difficult to get parts and service for it and I ended up having to get a brand new bike and when I bought one I went to a specialty store.

It was incredible service and I got the bike and the advice that was right for me. Now granted you will spend a little more money which is to be expected at a place like that, but in the long run you get the best purchase and a sound investment. Not only do you get a great bike, The bike that you want, the bike that fits you, you get service! I have brought my bike into the same shop to get a tune up and my bike rides like new constantly. You cannot do that with department store bike. I have made a sound investment and my bike will be in great condition for years to come! With a department store bike, you have to get service by sending it back to the manufacturer and or order the parts directly from the manufacturer which is more expensive.

In the long run get your bike from a bike store not a department store. You will end up throwing the bike away after a year if you ride it on a semi regular basis. I have had my bike for over a year now and I have done things on that bike that I could never do with my old bike, and it runs great!
So if your looking for a new bike and plan to ride it on a semi regular basis, go to a bike shop that knows what they are doing. I promise you, you will walk away happy.

Have a great evening everyone. Dont forget to sign up for my giveaway! you have a little less than a day left to win!!

Slainte

In dance, no movement or direction is better or worse than another. This, Too, is a way to view all of life. See all the " good and bad" things that happen to you simply as movements in the dance of life.

Hello everyone
Day two of sitting at home sick. I actually don't feel much better but today I received an email from my boss stating that she was going to need something in writing from a doctor. Well aint that dandy? I wasn't planning on going to the doctor because I knew it was something they wouldn't be able to do anything for me. But I had to go to get a note and he said that I've got the Flu or something like that. But he also said he couldn't do anything for me. But he did suggest that I not go into work this week at all but he was going to leave it up to my discretion. Oh well. That was one piece of little news that was going on today.


More importantly Today is The Lady J's an I 3 year Anniversary. It's incredible how time flies when your having fun. Its really funny. Our first night out was actually on St. Patricks day 3 years ago. I remember waiting nervously at my old townhouse to go pick her up. I was seriously calling everyone I knew letting them know how nervous I was about meeting her. But boy let me tell you. It was a great night that has turned into a great 3 years.


J is one of the most purest people I have ever met. She's honest, she's kind, shes forgiving and she is full of joy. My favorite thing is when she gets the giggles. Her face lights up and her laugh is just infectious and its hard to not laugh with her.

Well at a risk of getting TOO sappy. ( sorry its already happend) I will leave it at that and just tell the whole blogging community that I love her very much. And I cannot wait to go on our anniversary getaway this weekend. Which I will most likely blog about while we are away.

Until morning...

Slainte

The way of the earth is to empty that which is full, and fill that which is empty. True humility brings great fortune.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.
I get to spend my St. Patrick's day sick as a dog. I feel awful. I feel like someone has taken all of my energy and just sucked it right out of me. Coughing and just an utter weakness. I missed work today and stayed home to relax. But I still ended up feeling like death warmed over. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. Chances are I will be heading into the office tomorrow but my body tells me I should do otherwise.

But still tonight I had a meeting with an old Director of mine, I worked with him on King Lear last year. He got in touch with me last week about meeting up with him to join his cast of Tartuffe up in Maryland. I told him that I would love to and I just got back from meeting with him. I am now officially in the cast of Tartuffe up in Maryland at Cedar Lane Stage. I will be playing Valere. It's not a huge role which is fine with me but it was a lot of fun getting back up with a script in my hand. I cannot wait to tell you guys about it. I have something else to write about hooray.
Well I need to get going. I feel horrible and Im going to go get some sleep. Dont forget to sign up for my giveaway!
I hope everyone enjoys a safe and wickedly drunk St. Patricks day. Drink a pint for me will ya?

Slainte!

Restore Harmony. Create peace in all situations. Rather than pushing
the river, flow with it.

*****This giveaway has ended. Stay Tuned for more great giveaway's in the future! This was lots of fun Thanks guys*****

Hi everyone!
I hope all has had a wonderful day! I am actually sick at the moment. I was at work and felt really weak and dizzy and my eyes could not focus. They are still having a little trouble so please forgive me if there are typos and such! But hopefully this will make me feel a little better!

Here is the exciting news I've been telling you about!

Well this is it its my 100th post! I never thought I'd actually be able to write about stuff for a full 100 posts! So to celebrate I am having a giveaway!

First off I would like to thank everyone for reading my drivel for so long and I hope I can keep you reading for posts to come.

Don't worry I'll feed you baby birds.
So to the giveaway!
For being such great readers I am giving away one of these 2 items! (The winner gets to choose which one they want!)

Because I love tea and have posted about it in the past, I thought I would share my love of tea with everyone who would want it. ($25)

And because of my love for movies I figured I would share that as well. ($25)

Alright Time for the rules!

1. No matter what, leave a comment to THIS POST to be entered 1 time.( Leave me an email address so I can get in touch with you If you win, and your preferred choice of prize!)
2. Become a follower of my blog and you will be entered 3 times! ( don't worry All current followers will already be entered as long as you leave a comment)
3. Post about this giveaway in your blog and leave a link going back to THIS POST and you will be entered 5 times! If you do this (and I hope you do!), please tell me that you will in a comment or by emailing me (laughingsoul83@gmail.com)
4. If you do ALL the above, you will be entered 9 times (Comment + Follower + Post = 9)!
5. If you do not have a blog, please comment and supply me with an email address (email it to me or leave it in your comment!)

6. This giveaway will end Friday March 20th, 2009 at 11:59pm. And the winner will be announced the following Monday on March 23rd.

These rules were copied from WearingMascara. A wonderful blog by a beautiful lady. Everyone should check her out.

So those are the rules. Have fun, good luck and thank you everyone for reading!

Slainte!

Each day, accept everything that comes to you as a gift. At night
mentally give it all back. In this way, you become free. No one can
ever take anything from you, for nothing is yours.

Hello everyone!
I hope everyone has had a great Friday and have wonderful plans for the weekend!

This weekend at JFK Stadium here in DC, is a spectacular event called Shamrock Fest! This is an awesome Irish festival that has been going on for a while. I got to go a couple of years ago and I got to see one of my Favorite bands Flogging Molly for the first time.

These guys are amazing! They are an Irish Punk band and I have been huge fans of these guys since I was back in Highschool! Going to the festival was the first time I got to see them in Concert! It was amazing. Unfortunately this time around money has been a little tight and I am not able to go. If you have the chance go to this festival. Its great time, full of great music, good food and definitely good booze. Tickets are still available and you can get them through this link right here.

Here is a list of some of the other Great Bands playing at the festival

• Carbon Leaf
• Scythian
• Flatfoot 56
• The Gobshites
• And Tons more!!
  

Well I wish Everyone a beautiful weekend!

Slainte!

P.S.Its getting close to something special!!! So please stay tuned to this blog for something great!!

Be clear in all things. As a calm pond reflects the moon perfectly,
let your actions reflect your speech, and your speech reflect your
actions.

Hello everyone!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful day! I was riding in my car on the way home trying to think of something to write about today and this Idea crossed my mind.

4 Things a Guy should always keep in his pockets.
(and the reasons why)

Knife!

Daily uses: Opening packages, cutting loose strings. ( the obvious)

Other uses: Pretty much the obvious things you would do with a knife but in more emergency situations.

Bandana/Hankerchief

Daily uses: Sweat, Blow your nose, wiping away tears

Other uses: Tourniquet, bandage, carrier. Rope( ripped up and tied together can make a rope.)

Pen and notebook

Daily uses: Notes, Phone numbers, Information.

Other Uses: Fire starting, cataloging desriptions.

Lighter
Daily uses: Lighing someone elses cigarette, Lighting your own.

Other uses: Lighting Campfires, fusing ends of rope.

The beauty of grace is that you receive blessings for no reason. As
above, so below. Practice random acts of grace. Give to others for no
reason, offer kindness to those who are undeserving, love those who no
one else loves. Practice grace

Hi
What is everyone up too? I hope everyone has had a wonderful day.
Today is a special day. Today is my brothers 30th birthday! Happy Birthday Brudder!
His wife decided that it would be a great idea to have a party at one of the greatest places on earth!

We had a party over at Chuck E. Cheese! We had an awesome time! There were tons of people there. My parents, Brudder, Hobbit (my sister in law) and some old friends. It was so much fun! My brothers band was there, The Dreamscapes Project.
A lot of people I haven't seen in a long time. Brudder's friends made him an incredible cake and luckily I brought my camera so I could share it with you!

How awesome is this cake?! It was delicious too! They did a fantastic job!
So I got to go around with tokens and play games and win tickets. It was such a good time. At the end of the night I think I had around 634 tickets and here is all that I got!

Oh yeah! I got me some crazy Straws and some lolipops and tons of stuff that will get lost within the next few days! It was such a great time. I got to hang out with my brother, my family, and play games. Definately a good night. I also get to hang out with Brudder a little earlier and trade comics and hang out.
Happy 30th bro I hope you had a great night!

Slainte

P.S. Apparently something special is coming up on my blog in the next few days! Stay tuned!

Happiness comes from within. If you choose to be happy, no one and no
thing can ever take that happiness from you.

Hi everyone!
Tonight is prolly going to be a pretty quick post. I am sending in
from my iPhone tonight because I am currently at the Ladys house. She
is up studying for a test she has and I came over and got a chance to
catch up on some reading.
Usually it's pretty busy and too many people around for me to actually
get home and read for extended periods of time. But since Lady J was
studying all night and she wanted me to come over, I'm taking advantage.

Right now I'm readig the last book of the King Raven trilogy called
Tuck, by Stephen R. Lawhead. It's an incredible read and the trilogy
itself is great put together. I am really getting a chance to sit back
and enjoy the story.
Not only that I'm catching up with some comics I've got. So all in all
it's a really great night! In all honesty if I had my druthers I'd
hibernate downstairs in my basement for a week and just read!
Are any of you reading anything special worth mentioning?

Sweet dreams and
Slainte!

All beings fear violence. All beings fear pain. When you see yourself
in all your brothers and sisters, then how can you bring harm to them?

Hi everyone!
Tonight I went home to visit my family for an hour or so. I got to see my puppy and hang out with my mom and dad for a few minutes which is always nice. I picked up some mail and just talked to them for a few minutes. The next thing I hear is my mom asking me to go upstairs to see if there was anything of mine she pulled out of the closets because she was giving most of it away to purple heart.

And guess what I found?

Its Rocky Racoon!! This is a spring puppet I used to work with all the time. Its such a great gag and fun to play with. I used to practice all the time and i was pretty decent at it to tell you the truth. Unfortunately I don't have any videos of me doing any tricks but I did find one and Id like to share it with all of you.
I hope you all enjoy!

Through kindness, the world softens. Be kind to all brings and things.
In this way, creation returns to it's natural state

Hello everyone

Last night, if you read my previous post, I went to go see the midnight showing of Watchmen. I went with a lot of my friends from the movie after recording an episode of the podcast. I apologize for now writing a review right away as soon as I got home but it was 3:30am when I got there and I had to be up and heading into work in 4 hours so I definitely needed to get some sleep. But I promised you I would do a review so here it is.

“ Who’s watching the Watchmen?” What can I say about this movie? This movie is based off of a graphic novel published by DC Comics and written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons back in 1986. (Three years after I was born by the way). I just recently discovered this in the summer of last year when I was talking with a friend at work about a few comics I was getting into and he asked if I had read the Watchmen yet. He explained that it was a graphic novel that changed everything. It wasn’t just about superheroes doing good around the city and bringing criminals to justice. It was packed full of philosophy and theories on the human condition and life in general. This was a pivotal piece and they were turning it into a movie. So what could a guy do but go out pick it up and give it a shot.

I fell in love with it. The story kept me interested and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it wasn’t full of quirky characters and witty superheroesqe remarks. So to say in the least I became really excited when I found out that this was coming out in the following year.

The movie is dead on with the graphic novel (at least in my remembrance of it, it has been a while since I read it again). Aside from cutting some things out that were not 100% pertinent to the story line, you could match shot for shot with frame for frame in the novel. I remember certain blocks in the novel that made an impression on me and it had even more of an effect when I saw it up on the big screen. Even down to the last detail of signs on fences and graffiti on the walls. I was really impressed.

The cast of Characters is as follows: (side by side photos Included)

Dr. Manhattan- Billy Crudup

Silk Spectre- Malin Akerman

The Comedian- Jeffery Dean Morgan

Rorschach- Jackie Earle Haley

Night Owl- Patrick Wilson

Ozymandias- Matthew Goode

They could not have done a better job of casting. If you compare the movie faces to the drawings of Dave Gibbons, you will think that Gibbons illustrations were based off of these faces. I know that a lot of makeup was used to help out with the similarities but damn they did a bang up job of staying true to the Novel. Not only did they find faces that matched the characters but they definitely got the job done with the actors to portray them. Every one of them did an amazing performance and brought the watchmen to life. You could relate to them, and you felt like these people were real at one point or another.

Now I know that I keep referring back to the Graphic Novel. But that’s because its what I have to go off of. Do you need to read the Novel to see the movie? No. You will not miss a thing if you just go and see the movie. You will have a different appreciation for the film because of it but it is in no way a bad thing! I walked into the film knowing the story and the ending and what was going to happen when, and I was still in awe and amazed. I came away with an appreciation of it compared to the novel and it even helped me understand the story more. So seeing the movie after reading the novel only made each other better. But for the non reader you will get a full experience and see the whole thing as a whole! I do highly suggest you getting the novel as well just so you can understand this movie, THAT much more.

The Final Cut

I give this movie 5 out of 5 Damn it Megs! Why do I do this? Because this movie is amazing that’s why. This movie shows what superheroes in the real world might have to go through. Instead of some fantastical stories, where everyone gets their justice you get something more real. You see real people trying to do good by fighting crime and the troubles and tribulations of that fact, externally and externally. Don't worry you will definitely get your kicks with violence and even a little nudity. Its the fact that its not what the movie is centered on is another reason why this movie is so great! You will definately enjoy this. Go out and see it.

Those who say they know, do not know. Those who say they do not know,
also don't know. Therefore be quiet and let your actions speak for
you. They speak much louder than your words anyway

...the Midnight showing of Watchmen. It is 3:46 in the morning so I will not be posting a review right now, but you can expect to have one very soon.
Gnight all. and have a great day


Slainte

Understand that you will be like those with whom you surround
yourself. Your environment is stronger than you are

Hello everyone.
I hope all has had a great day. Tonight, my roommate Petron asked me if I had any Tea that wasn't Fancy. Well all the tea that I have is pretty "fancy". Fancy tea translates loosely into Loose Leaf Tea.
I am a Tea Fanatic. It started when I was in college doing shows and I would have tea before every show to relax my throat and to soothe it when I started to lose my voice. In fact, I am usually drinking tea when I post. I started to really get into the whole tea scene a lot more than most people like coffee. Don't get me wrong, I have my 2-3 cups of joe in the morning and I can tell the difference between a good cup and a bad cup, but I am definitely more of a tea kind of guy.

I usually go to a place called Teavana, it's like a starbucks but not as snobby and filled with foamheaded yuppies. Everyone I have ever talked to has been really relaxed and just in love with tea. Not only can you buy tea there, they will brew you a cup to have right now. I have 7 Different kinds of tea that I keep stocked up in my house at all times. The only downside to this is that loose leaf tea is Effing Expensive!
For example, one of the many teas that I keep on hand is called Snow Geisha. Its one of the high end flavors that Teavana has and when I bought a pound of it, it costs 90 dollars. Snow Geisha itself, not on sale is 15 dollars for 2oz and 120 bucks plus tax a lb. Yeah, I was treating myself a little bit when I bought that.

This is Snow Geisha

But its not all that expensive! There are a lot of good teas out there that have exactly what you need and are fairly inexpensive compared to some of the more "high end" stuff. My all time favorite tea to have right before bed is called Night Night.


Night Night is a great bedtime drink because it will just slow you down and help you relax. Its great and it is only 6 bucks for 2oz! Those 2oz will last you a good long time too. These are just two of my favorite teas that I have in my collection.

Why do I have loose leaf tea instead of teabags?
Well here is the thing, I have nothing against teabags at all! One of my Favorite teas comes in a teabag, It is a great way to have a fast cup of tea when you want it, plus its more portable than loose leaf. The downside is that teabags often have more than just tea in them, they contain a lot of dust and stuff from storage, and the leaves dont actually get a lot of room to steap in teabags. They also don't stay as fresh. Yes! Tea can go bad! Kept in a cool dry place teabags will last between 6-8 months. While loose leaf teas are more natural with no dust, steap better and will last from 1-2 years if properly contained.

Not only are there different teas, there are different types of teas themselves.

• White, White tea often contains buds and young tea leaves, which have been found to contain lower levels of caffeine than older leaves, suggesting that the caffene content of some white teas may be slightly lower than that of green teas.
• Green, is full of EGCG which is a powerful Anti-oxidant.
• BlackDrinking black tea helps prevent deadly clogging of arteries and reverses poor arterial functioning that can trigger heart attacks and strokes, among many other things
• Oolong is more known as a weight loss tea
  
• Herbal,
  
  Achieve a more calm, relaxed state of mind
  Support heart health
  Aid with stomach and digestive problems
  Provide cleansing properties for the body
  Promote energy and wellness
• Rooibos can strongly be recommended for people suffering from Irritability, headaches, disturebed sleeping patterns, insomnia, nervous tension, mild depressioin or hypertension, as it ontains no caffeine and has a soothing effect on the central nervous system. mild depression or hypertension, as it contains no caffeine and has a soothing effect on the central nervous system.
• Mate, This tea serves as a great appetite suppressant rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and wonderful diet tea. Reports suggest Mate will keep you going longer than just caffeine, without the crash associated with drinking coffee or soft drinks.

See? Tea is incredible isnt it? Each tea can do something different for your body, your mind and your well being. You can find a tea for just about anything that ails you and I can promise you most of it will work. There is nothing better than to do when your sick than to get some Herbal tea to help, and sit back and watch cartoons.

Do you have any favorite teas? Any suggestions?

Just... Just watch this

Slo-mo Laughing Baby Montage - Watch more

Find the courage to hold on to your beliefs, even if the world around
you chooses to believe differently. Have them courage to change those
beliefs that no longer fit the person you have become. In doing so,
you truly become yourself

Alright everyone, I was working on this post for an hour or so and there is so much more that I would like to write and I feel like I would be depriving you of the whole thing If i just posted it now. So tonight! Rest my friends and sweet dreams!
I will have something really nice for you later on
Gnight!

To create peace in the world, you must be unruffled within. Become
tranquil, walk in stillness, act in harmony. The serenity that
radiates from you will create peace.

When I woke up this morning, I googled snow day and this is what came
up. Holy crap, now I want a squirrel.

This is

Good morning everyone!
How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is having a great start to the week
and for the people in the D.C. Metro Area, I hope that most of you are
getting to enjoy this snow day! Downside of working in a Law Firm is you
have to go by the county Government and ours never closes. I actually
remember back in the day when my dad had to go to work with 3 feet of snow
on the ground. Not even a two-hour delay. Now I am getting to know how that
feels. What's worse is that I am the only person in my department, and it is
the busiest out of all of the departments in the office. How am I writing
this if I'm so busy, you ask? I'm typing a sentence whenever I get the
chance, because no one is here to tell me that I can't! (HA I win) Being
an adult sucks. Why can't we all get snow days and go outside and build snow
forts and have neighborhood wide Snowball fights?!? How great would that be?
I can remember one time back in '96 when it was this massive blizzard here.
We were out of school for a week! A whole week! It was incredible. All of my
friends, whom I still see on a regular basis, gathered together in my
neighborhood and we walked around knocking on the neighborhood kids setting
up a Neighborhood war! We drew out maps of all the houses and paths and
wooded areas, got out walky talkies and played a huge game of Capture the
flag! Anyone who caught the flag got to capture the enemy base and use it
for himself or herself. It was Kiddie Risk is really what it was. But oh man
it was epic! For three days we got together and had strategies set up and,
we had urban warfare, jungle warfare and even no mans lands. Where you would
just get pelted with snowballs if you walked through! Ugh! Those were the
days! I wish we could all just have one great snow day! I tell you what, If
I didn't have to work today I would have stayed at home with a cup of hot
chocolate and read my new book. Then later I would have challenged my
roommates to a snowball fight! Either that or my roommate Shooter and I
would tool around on his ATV around the neighborhood. Oh well! Doesn't look
like it's going to happen today or anytime soon, seeing how the first day of
spring is technically the 20th of this month. This is prolly going to be the
last big snow of the season. But you never know.
Oh also, the boss walked around with her tally sheet to see who was here,
and when she came by my cube she saw me sitting there clapped her hands and
got really excited.
Boss: "You get extra points for coming in here today!"
Me: "I'd hope so."
Boss: " Yeah you definitely do! OOO and right around Salary review time,
Nice move!"

So I guess it is a good thing that I am here. She also said to make up for
everyone who showed up, It would be a pizza lunch today. I guess its not so
bad after all.
I hope everyone has a great day and if you have the day off, please enjoy
the snow a little for me!

Slainte

The Past is over. The future will never come. Now is the only moment that will ever exist. Therefore, Life each second to the fullest.

Hello everyone!
I hope all as had a great weekend!
For those of you who do not know me, I was recently in a independent film called Ninja's Vs. Zombies. I did this movie back at the beginning of april, and it went, pretty much, all the way through the middle of October.
I went over to the Directors house this afternoon because he was showing the new updated version of the film. We originally premiered a bootleg version of the film on Halloween weekend and it was long, dark and the editing was weird and partly not 100% finished. It was still great! But that's the reason why we called it the Bootleg release. But after doing a lot of editing and scene cutting, I have to say the film is way better than it used to be!

Here check out this Trailor

Cool huh?

Also here is a link and text of the first DVD review. I though you all Might enjoy this.
The text is below, bad pics taken out, work safe.
The link is NSFW, with mild nudity.
From http://www.oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=486

So.. um.. time to die?"
"Can I have breakfast first?"

What happens when an ambitious film-maker spends an afternoon in his local Blockbuster in search of "the film they haven't made yet?" That is exactly what writer/director Justin Timpane did one afternoon, and, apparently, the result is one of the more bizarre mash-ups in horror history: Ninjas vs. Zombies. That's right, folks, martial arts mayhem meets the decaying undead in one of the craziest independent horror romps you're ever likely to come across. According to Endlight Entertainment, the basic premise of the film is "it's ninjas vs. freaking zombies--why wouldn't you want to watch this movie?". With that kind of argument, how can I resist?

Randall, the owner and operator of a comic book store, has recently lost his brother, Eric, to an untimely death; fortunately, Randall just happens to dabble in the black arts and summons him from beyond the grave. Eric returns not as a decaying, mindless zombie, but instead returns quite cognizant and with the ability to steal the souls of the living (which consequentially renders his victims undead). Obviously, this becomes a bit of an inconvenience for Randall and his circle of friends; thus, he must again refer to his book of black arts, which inexplicably takes the form of a little girl and offers one outlandish solution: each of his friends (Kyle, Cole, and Fitz) must be granted with the ability to become ninjas to rid the world of Eric's undead horde.

As a kid, one of my favorite genre loves after horror was martial-arts films. In between repeated viewings of slashers, I'd always find time for Kickboxer, Bloodsport, or Best of the Best. To have a film represent a marriage of both the horror and martial arts genres is exceedingly rare so I was more than a little interested in Ninjas vs. Zombies. Of course, I had my doubts going in about this one because such an outlandish premise just lends itself to outright stupidity; however, the film does deliver on the level of pure entertainment, and it's geeky heart is in just the right place for me. In the promo material accompanying the film, Endlight details the influence of cult film-makers like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon, who also happen to be two of my favorite film-makers working today.

This influence is evident throughout the film, especially in the rapid-fire, reference-filled dialogue between the characters (heck, there's actually a line lifted directly from Chasing Amy itself), and it's a lot of fun to listen to. This also speaks to the fact that the film succeeds the most at creating good characters that are at the heart of the film. Without the characterization, I think a lot would be lost with this film because I ended up truly caring about this group of characters, most of which are stuck in the general malaise of twentysomething life. Besides the eminent threat of the undead, they've got your everyday work and romance problems as well. I found both Kyle and Cole to be especially effective characters, as the romance between the latter and Lily (who happened to be Eric's main squeeze before he died) is a strong subplot that really brings a bit of weight to the film. The film almost feels more like a character drama at times, and it mostly succeeds on this level, which is surprising given the film's outlandish premise.

Surprisingly, this premise is where the film falters the most, as the horror and action elements are lacking a bit. Of course, when it comes to a film entitled Ninjas vs. Zombies, you don't expect a hardcore horror film; however, I was expecting a bit more of a splatterfest. Instead, the actual sequences between the title characters are a bit mundane and rely on a copious amount of decapitations as far as gore goes. These sequences are fun for a while, but they ultimately grow a bit tiresome. The film's climax similarly grows a bit wearisome, particularly when a couple of the characters are reduced to simply fighting off an endless horde using machine guns. Surprisingly, there are also a couple of fight sequences that don't involve zombies, and these are well done. I mean, it's not exactly like watching Sonny Chiba or Van Damme, but they were a nice surprise.

Overall, Ninja vs. Zombies is a pretty well done film. The production values are quite nice for an independent feature, though some of the more elaborate CGI effects seem a bit cheesy. The good characters are brought to life with some pretty decent acting (though some of the cast are better than others, for sure). I was surprised to discover that this is Timpane's first venture as a feature-film director, as the film is put together well. It still feels amateurish at times, but that's to be expected given the low-budget roots. All in all, I found Ninjas vs. Zombies to be an enjoyable effort. As someone who has similarly searched the direct-to-video bowels of his local Blockbuster, I can safely say that this is better than a lot of those efforts. It would appear that Endlight is still searching for a distributor for the film so it might be a while before it actually graces the shelves at your local rental store. I'm not convinced that Endlight fully succeeded in creating a movie that's "elevated beyond that impulse rental to the 'you have to see this' status," as the novelty surrounding the premise does wear off rather quickly. Still, beneath it, you've got a pretty solid foundation that certainly warrants giving this one a look. Rent it!

Just thought I would share this with everyone! Enjoy and have a great rest of the evening!