Rubik’s Touch Cube
March 21st, 2009 by The Grey GhostWow… Now we have a $50+ version of a $5 toy.
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The Adam Carolla Podcast – The Ace Man Fights On!
March 9th, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
When I’d first heard that Adam Carolla was going to launch his own daily radio show at the dawn of 2006, I was furious.
Not because I despise the man; quite the opposite. I’d grown to love Adam’s sharp wit, forthright attitude, and appreciation for dick jokes for over a decade when he co-hosted Loveline. It saddened me when he left that show because I knew it wouldn’t be the same without him. My heart sank in fear that I may never hear his nasally drone again, or at least a very long time.
Adam started work on his own morning talk radio show on a Los Angeles-based station with no immediate promise of picking up any affiliates on the East Coast (where I currently call home). Luckily, through the power of the internet, I was able to acquire recordings of his show from other Carolla fans. Once again, I could enjoy daily helpings of Adam, with an additional hour of material per episode than Loveline.
Unfortunately, it was only a few months later that the spell began to lift as I was less and less enthusiastic about upcoming episodes of the show. The temporary addition of Danny Bonaduce only revived my interest for a short while before I eventually just stopped listening.
When I think back to where my attention dropped, I think it was because the show felt repetitious. Even though it gleamed with the Ace Man’s trademark style, it started to resemble every other morning zoo crew radio show. I wondered, is this it? Did Adam run out of material? Can he not make it on his own, or is he only at his best as someone else’s sidekick? I’d almost lost the faith.
I’d heard that Adam’s show had been canceled; his last broadcast appearance hitting the air this past February 20. Almost a week later, he’d set up his own podcast. I lamented that it was an act of desperation and the harbinger of dark times for Adam’s career. It took me nearly another week to finally give him another listen.
Once more, my faith is renewed.
In his first podcast, Adam Carolla spoke candidly about his show’s cancellation and his feelings regarding the overall experience. It was Adam in his most raw form; something that I’d never fully heard, but deeply missed. He assured his listeners that financially, he was perfectly fine (he’s being paid through the end of this year for his radio contract) and that he started the podcast in order to satisfy his own passion for talk radio. He’s hoping to build up a presence in independent broadcasting through internet media and he has plenty of side projects as well.
I owe a lot to Adam Carolla. By giving us a peek behind the curtain, he taught me the reality of business beyond the smoke and mirrors. From him, I learned that in order to succeed, you have to work hard, be smart, and always remain true to myself. If not for Adam, I may have gotten stuck in the dead-end clutches of corporate retail, rather than pursuing my dreams of establishing an independent business, sharpening my skills into marketable trades.
I’ve linked his podcast in my sidebar. I fully endorse giving him a listen yourself.
WordPress 2.7
January 21st, 2009 by The Grey GhostI hate upgrading WordPress. It’s such a pain in the ass. Why can’t they make it so that you can upgrade it with one button in the dashboard? There used to be a great plugin that let you do it, but it doesn’t work so well anymore.
Figure it out, WordPress.
The new dashboard is pretty snazzy though.
Bye Bye, Jerk-It City
November 14th, 2008 by The Grey Ghost
It kinda caught my eye earlier this week when it was announced that Circuit City had filed for bankruptcy. I remember about 10-15 years ago, that chain being fairly awesome because they were basically a super-powered Radio Shack. I guess they weren’t satisfied with being a big fish in a small pond, so they tried to become the next Best Buy. In fact, I remember seeing a funny video online once (though I can’t find it again for the life of me) that made the joke that if you want to find a Circuit City, simply look across the street from any Best Buy.
What Circuit City (or Jerk-It City, as I affectionately refer them) became most known for are their employees. In order to increase revenue, Circuit City adopted the adamant policy of emaciating their human resources; the very people that interact with their customers. The few knowledgeable people that they do have on the floor never last long because their skills quickly send them to better pastures. After the turnover, all that’s left are the incompetent new-hires that don’t know a damn thing about what they’re selling. I should know; I was one of those idiots for a Christmas season.
I guess what gets me thinking about this whole thing was something I remembered when I interviewed for that seasonal job. The manager who interviewed me noticed that I’d previously worked for Montgomery Ward, shortly before it too shut down. He made a point to tell me that after Montgomery Ward went tits-up, their CEO became the new CEO for Circuit City. Well, good job, fellas… That’s your sign! Next time, hire on someone who’s carried a business upward, not run it into the ground.
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
October 19th, 2008 by The Grey GhostI’ve been on a kick for watching British comedy shows lately. Shows like Spaced, Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, but so far my favorite has been Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The premise of the show is that a self-proclaimed best-selling horror novelist named Garth Marenghi once wrote, produced, directed, and starred in a hospital horror drama television show back in the 1980s called “Darkplace”. This show within the show is so over the top in creating something that looks like it was made in the 1980s by a self-serving hack with a shoe-string budget. It brilliantly succeeds in making a show that looks terrible. It’s not just a spoof of bad acting, but the sets, editing, and audio/video effects are filled with subtle amateur mistakes that will get you chuckling.
Here’s the first half of my favorite episode; I encourage you to at least watch through the opening credits.
ISBN 0-19-516033-9
July 7th, 2008 by The Grey GhostSince I’m taking my writing and this website more seriously as of late, I hit the local used book store to check up on some books that might help me improve on my composition skills. While there, I saw one book that at first glace I found just silly. I almost tossed it back up onto the shelf, but then I realized that while the idea behind the book was ridiculous, the form which this idea had taken was so much more so that it circled back around to awesome.
What I’d found is a 300-page hardcover vernacular guide that lists, breaks down, and examines the slang used in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The thought that not only did someone get paid to meticulously research and compose this lengthy guide, but then the publisher felt it worth to pull all the stops on its presentation. Decent sized, hardback, and a snazzy dust jacket… I’m happy to give it a home on my bookshelf.
I want her to do the Mario!
July 3rd, 2008 by The Grey GhostHaving a girlfriend whose career involves theater costuming is not without its side-effects.Almost every anime convention, we’ve dressed up as some character or another. And in true couple fashion, it’s only a matter of time before we begin wearing matching outfits. Nothing lame like Raggedy Ann and Andy… (Does anyone even know who they are anymore?) In fact, next con, we’re planning on going as Jesse and James from Team Rocket.
Of course, there’s more than just conventions. Halloween is in a couple months and no doubt we’ll find some other excuse to dress up for fun. I found this sweet Princess Peach costume on Yandy.com that I’m trying to talk my girlfriend into wearing for me. Of course I’d have to compliment her by adorning the Mario costume. But it would be a small price to pay for that hotness.
Now I’d just have to figure out what hoops I may have to jump through to get her into some of these other sexy numbers…
Are Fighting Games Making A Comeback?
June 26th, 2008 by The Grey GhostWhat seems to be an industry-wide response to Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, we’re seeing an increase in fighting games currently being ported and developed, at least outside of Asia.
Within this past year, we’ve seen evidence of development of new fighting games using classic franchises, including Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat, and just recently Castlevania. Not only that, but we surprisingly also got to see a North American release of doujinshi fighter, Arcana Hearts. (Now if only they’d port Melty Blood!)
I believe that as they perfect the net code to support the precision accuracy required to play fighting games online, the genre is more likely to make a comeback. This greatly excites me since the video arcades are practically dead. Online play will never replace the glory of the arcade scene, but if this opens the door to reviving a genre that’s been limping along for the past 10 years, I’d support it!
What’s another word for “useless”…?
June 25th, 2008 by The Grey GhostWhat’s up with online thesaurus sites lately? Ones like thesaurus.com used to be great; for each word I’d enter, I’d be given over a dozen synonyms, as well as slang terms, antonyms, and figures of speech. Now I’m lucky to receive five results from a search.
What’s worse is that when I click on a synonym that is closer to the idea that I’m trying to find a word for, half the time there’s no listing at all for it! I’ll either be redirected to the word I’d originally entered or I’ll get a “Did you mean…?” page. That’s just useless.
I know that I shouldn’t depend on sites like that as a crutch, but they still provided a healthy exercise for my own vocabulary. It just disheartens me when I can think of several synonyms to a word myself that the database at thesaurus.com failed to consider.
Oh, and for the curious, typing in “synonym” into the search will not cause an explosive feedback loop, as I would expect.
George Carlin didn’t die…he “passed away”.
June 23rd, 2008 by The Grey Ghost
Comedian George Carlin died this past weekend from heart failure. This is sad news indeed, coming from a fan of his work. I’ve followed his line of comedy for about 12 years now and he was my first major introduction into counter-culture. George Carlin also inspired my belief that stand-up comedians are the modern day philosopher. Alas, the current generation is desperately lacking in comedians of Carlin’s wit and wisdom.
The world is less funny without you, George. You’ll be missed.
