Something That Happened.

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Stories by Harold, in a variety of formats - including text, audio, video, and podcasts.

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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!

--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka

When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:

For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

I just stumbled upon this videorecording of a web conference I participated in with some fellow videobloggers/podcasters last year. Watching it again presents mixed emotions for me; it is somewhat pleasureable, yet somewhat painful. Pleasureable, because I felt I had expressed my views well, and because I'm glad I took the opportunity to get to know some of my fellow 'casters a bit. Painful, because I can recall the emotional misgivings I had over whether or not to voice my opinions at all, and how they would be received.

To make up for giving you something old, here is something new.

Tags: Ryanne Hodson, criticism, video, vlogging, podcasting, flash video, discussion, video podcast, vodcast, podcasters, new vlog, Ryan is Hungry

posted by Harold 7/27/2006 03:47:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Adam Carolla rules. I haven't listened to his morning radio show yet, but I agree with Avatar; Carolla has the best comedic timing and punchline delivery.

I was first exposed to Adam Carolla through his co-hosting of the long-running nightly radio broadcast, Loveline, a love/sex/relationships phone-in show transmitted from L.A.'s FM radio station KROQ. The show has had a variety of hosts over the years, including the infamous Poorman, but none have been nearly as funny as Carolla. His comedy is simply brilliant, and the perfect complement to the sobering medical advice typically delivered by his co-host, Dr. Drew.

I don't believe Adam Carolla is as well known as the more trendy foulmouths who come and go in the comedic landscape -- and don't get me wrong, I enjoy the foulmouths just as much as the next person -- but he certainly has been getting his name out there, slowly but surely. Though he's certainly capable of going for the quick below-the-belt laugh, his comedy seems much more witty (and perhaps more sophisticated, though I'm nearly certain Adam wouldn't agree). Perhaps the very nature of his wit has enabled Carolla to outlast many of the comedic talents that have come and gone over the past decade or so.

Tags: Adam Carolla, comedy, radio, wit, Loveline, podcast, comedians, talk show, comedy broadcast, humor

posted by Harold 7/18/2006 04:34:00 PM | 2 Comments | Links to this post

Friday, July 14, 2006

Clown school is going very well. Professor Dush E. Bagg (he makes us call him that) gave me a Golden Apple for my efforts. I was so excited I lost my nose, and then stepped on it by mistake. I'll have to head to the Commedia dell'Arte Boutique to pick up a new one. I've been meaning to get a new one, anyway. One that's less imposing. I think the one I'd been using was a bit too large. And red. Nobody wears red noses anymore, only amateurs.

Shirley Seal has been really getting on my nerves, though. I don't know why that broad's got to keep barking all the time. Do seals really bark like that every aching moment? I thought seals were supposed to be cute. I don't believe her concept of a seal clown is going to work, anyway; she's just trying to copy that penguin dude. (Who seems to think he's Chaplin. Can't anyone be original? They probably all grew up reading too many books or something.)

Those clowns aside, it's been a great experience, overall. I can already sense that I'm going to make the best clown. I just wish those stinkin' kids would leave me alone when I'm walking to class. If one more little brat grabs my pants and asks me to squeeze my nose, I swear I'm going to clobber him with my Floppy Bat. Their littly grubby hands always get my nicely-pressed knickers dirty. I can't stand them little bitches.

Tags: continuing education, clown university, clowning, commentary, rant, college, silly, humour

posted by Harold 7/14/2006 04:46:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

I just recently finished building my first PC. Well, okay -- truth be told, it's not the first time I've built a PC. This time it really works, though, and has all-new parts. None of those old they-might-work-if-you're-lucky parts acquired from the Goodwill Store.

Anyway, I first installed Windows XP on the system's main drive. Then I installed Windows Vista (beta 2) on another drive, from that fancy DVD I purchased from Microsoft a couple of months ago. Now, I'm ready to install Tiger. Though I will be using this PC to run Windows applications, for the most part, I've been secretly hoping I would be able to use Apple's iMovie and GarageBand applications on the system, and for that I need Mac OS X.

This fellow says that there are relatively few problems running Tiger on a generic PC, but is that truly the case with running Apple's iLife suite of applications (GarageBand, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, etc.)? How is performance typically on one of these setups?

I suppose some of the answer depends on my particular hardware. I'm currently running a Pentium 4, 533MHz FSB on an ECS P4M800PRO-M motherboard. The RAM is PNY Technologies' 1GB DDR2-533 Optima Memory; I'm certainly going to need to add another one of these to my system if I'm to do any audio or video editing work. The graphics card is an EVGA e-GeForce FX 5200, basically a low-end 128MB NVIDIA AGP deal. With this setup, can I anticipate any problems running iMovie and/or GarageBand?

Tags: OSX86, Macintel, hacking, OS X x86, building a Mac, Tiger for Intel, Apple, Intel, OS X, Mactel

posted by Harold 7/12/2006 12:36:00 PM | 1 Comments | Links to this post

Monday, July 10, 2006

Chris and Ponzi are seriously considering taking the next Gnomedex to Hollywood to engage traditional media with "new" media; wouldn't it be great if the event were to take place way up on Mt. Hollywood, in the newly-renovated Griffith Observatory? Talk about seeing stars!

Tags: Gnomedex, Gnomedex 7, Griffith Observatory, new media, Chris Pirillo, Ponzi, Hollywood, tech conference, events, entertainment, old media, traditional media, futurism

posted by Harold 7/10/2006 04:37:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Don't forget to share your OPML, you stingy bastages!

If it's not clear what I'm talking about, don't worry, you're just a few years behind the curve. OPML provides a way to share stuff...and don't you just love sharing? Sure you do! As do I, which is why I'm sharing this information with you!

So ask me about OPML, and I'll give you a layman's explanation. In other words, I'll explain what I can, as clearly as I can. Sometimes it's easier for someone like me, the people person that I am (ha ha), to explain a technology which may seem confusing as hell when you encounter information about it on Wikipedia or elsewhere. (Don't know Wikipedia? Well, ask me about that, too!) Just don't mistake me for an expert; I'm no expert on OPML. I've been tinkering with the technology a bit, though, and perhaps more than you. I have alot more to learn about it myself. But still, I can help get you going.

Again, why do you want to learn about OPML? Because it's all about sharing. And that's a general good. So don't be a Grinch; ask me about OPML, or share your OPML, if you already have it. If you don't trust me, or if you're ready to bypass my wisdom and dive right in to learn about this new and interesting sharing technology, visit OPML.org.

Tags: opml, rss, aggregation, sharing, data, information, fun geeky stuff, Internet technology

posted by Harold 7/10/2006 12:05:00 AM | 2 Comments | Links to this post

Thursday, July 06, 2006

In the interest of promoting open formats, Creative Commons and the Fedora project are sponsoring an open video contest...

Tags: open formats, open source, video, Creative Commons, ogg theora, Fedora, Internet video

posted by Harold 7/06/2006 11:10:00 AM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Have Money Will Vlog

If he has some money (from you), he will vlog (what you choose for him to vlog). Click the link above to get him started.

Tags: art, experiment, video, video project, flash video, podcast, video podcast, vodcast, podcasters, vlog, Daniel Liss

posted by Harold 7/05/2006 07:25:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Businesses in Huntsville, Alabama

I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? ~~Ads? Oh, hell no!~~ It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.