My new bike!!

Actually, it's an old bike.

 

But with a little WD-40, steel wool, foam, and duct tape, I made it look great! Well,... grungy great. 

I also bought a helmet and I'm going to spray paint it to make it look all cool and what not. My favorite part about the bike is that I can put my bags or books or groceries on the back! 

My dad is super duper awesome and helped me clean this bike up and make it ride-able. It was in our back yard shed and it was NASTAY! The seat had been mostly chewed off by rodents and the entire bike was covered in little rust speckles, but now it is beautiful! I have to come up with a name for it because I name everything. For example, my phone is named Rozencrantz and my computer is named Guildenstern and my car is named Captain Morgan (originally, no association with the booze, but now it's kinda funny). Any suggestions for what to name my bike?

How To: Promote a Band/Musician (also a shameless plug for friends)

There are so many ways to self-promote these days. There are ways to get music, art, ideas, etc. out there. It is a mix between media and networking. Here is how a couple of extremely talented musicians do it.

So, my fiance is in an amazing band led by Katie Carlene and Alex Post. Katie's lyrics are authentic and her voice is oh, so yummy. Alex raps like he owns the place, and he mixes outrageous beats. Together they are Customary & Katie Carlene. SHAMELESS PLUG: GO SEE THEM ON MARCH 12 @ SATYRICON IN PORTLAND-6:00PM.

Here are a few effective ways to promote starting with the basics:

1. Myspace Music page!!

• Myspace music pages are structured for musicians. They have a music play, a space for band info, a space for show info, and even a space to describe a band's sound. 
• Myspace is free to use! 
• The page can be made to look unique with cool background designs.
• It is a great tool in networking with other bands and musicians. 
• Click on the picture above to go to Alex's and Katie's page.

2. Facebook page!!

•  Facebook pages can be structured for non-profits, businesses, and musicians/bands.
• So many people of all ages have Facebook (even more than Myspace), making a Facebook page a great place for fans to stay connected with a group. 
• It also space for band info and a music player. Unlike Myspace, however, it does not have a space designated for show times. Show announcements can be made in Status Updates.

• Links and pictures can be shared easily between fans.
• Facebook can't be customized like Myspace can, but if there are enough photos of the group, people will be attracted. Cuz' who doesn't love looking through a ton of Facebook pics? 

3. CD BABY/iTunes. 

•  CD Baby is an excellent resource for artists who have produced albums and need a place to sell them. 
• CD Baby sells mp3's and full albums and get a certain percentage of profits. 
• Artists who go through CD Baby also are added onto iTunes. 

4. Play shows!

• Katie and Alex are playing the Satyricon in Portland on March 12 but Katie has also appeared at the Hawthorne Theater multiple times. She's also played at the Radio Shack Tent Sale over lat summer. (Gotta start somewhere, eh)
• The more shows played the better.

5. Make friends with talented people! 

• Collaboration with artists in different fields is the BEST idea. 
• Photographers can take pictures of bands and musicians. 
• A graphic designer can turn those pictures into an awesome poster. (or you can use my fiance, Eric. He does everything!)
• And voila! Everyone has something to put in a portfolio. 

Demotivationals and LOLcats

Oh man, who doesn't love a good demotivational?

 

 Who doesn't love a good LOLcats?

 

But who knows why? 

Romance on ice

I enjoyed watching the biographical segment on married figure skaters, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongo. Their story is adorable and fitting for Valentines Day.

I cheered madly from the couch as they performed their near perfect routine and felt as if two of my best friends won Olympic gold. TV does that to people.

 

Anyways, their success makes me happy and I've fully embraced the shmarminess of it all. 

Now, on to other things. 

Edward Muscare: Entertainer or Sex Offender

I feel ashamed and dirty and let me tell you why.

I came across this video and thought it was hilarious.



I enjoy creepy things and this was right up my alley. I shared the video with as many people as possible and praised the old man for being so funny.

And then I found out that this man was a registered sex offender. His name is Edward Muscare and he used to be the host of a late night horror TV show in Kansas City. He was accused of molesting a 14 year old boy. He said, ""I would never sexually offend again, but we can't help but sin. We're all human beings." (link)

I was shocked and that is when the dirty ashamed feelings came into play. Sex offenders, child molestation, sexual assault, and all other related obscenities make me sick. Nothing infuriates more than sexual crimes.

Edward Muscare served his time and has not committed any other crimes besides posting videos to YouTube (registered sex offenders are not allowed to have computers or use internet,) but I cannot compartmentalize Muscare's entertainer side and his sexual offender side. A few of my friends tried to convince me not to like the sex offender but to appreciate the entertainer. Ha, sure, I'll try.

Facebook Fads

Today I want to discuss Doppelganger Week. If you do not know what I'm talking about, then you must not have Facebook.

 

I logged on yesterday to find the majority of my friends had become celebrities. The purpose of Doppelganger Week is to find a celebrity that looks like you. I was surprised how accurate some were but more amazed at how fast the fad caught on. Myheritage.com became the official celebrity-look-alike-generator for the week (which has actually lasted close to a month) and because so many people were determined to find their doppelganger, the site posted a disclaimer apologizing for how slow it was working due to too many users at one time.

This reminds me of the Color Of Your Bra post that was going around a few months back.

Jackie Chan stands the test of time

I have a 9 yr. old brother who loves Jackie Chan. My brother is adopted from Kazakhstan and when he first arrived in the states the only words he knew in English were, "Jackie Chan is the best." Adorable, right?

Anyways, it's a custom now that whenever Jackie makes a new movie my family goes to see it. Jackie's latest movie is called, "The Spy Next Door" and it stars Billy Ray Cyrus alongside Chan. This gives you a taste for the caliber of movie.



It wasn't the best cinematic experience I've ever had but I realized that there are some gimmicks that withstand the test of time; one being potty humor.

In the first ten or so minutes of the movie we learn that Jackie Chan is an international spy on loan to the US. He wants to get out of the spy business to settle down. His US superior jokes with him (while Billy Ray chuckles in the back ground) that being a spy is the best because nothing tastes better than eating take-out Chinese food in the back of a van and learning how to pee in a bottle when the van is moving.

My little brother cracked up and I though he was going to pee himself.

The movie went on after the meet up with the bad guys (Russians, of course) and yada yada, end of the movie!

We asked my brother what his favorite part was and he said, "When da guy was talkin' about da van, and he said 'pee!" He then proceeded to laugh even harder than he did in the theater.

Stumble Leads The Way!

I usually spend a considerable amount of my time stumbling. Not in the sense that I am uncoordinated, (although, that is arguable) rather in the sense of using the StumbleUpon web browser extension.

There is a button in upper left hand corner of my browser that says, "Stumble!" and all I have to do is push and I'm whisked away on a virtual adventure to a part of the internet that I've never seen before.

For a communication class that I am taking, we are required to keep a journal (or blog) of media related findings that catch our attention.

My happy "stumble!" button is the perfect tool for this.

I hit a gold mine my first "stumble." 80 Extreme Advertisements That Will Challenge Your Mind.

This page gives links to 80 advertisements, and yes, I took the time to watch them all, but here are the few that I found most interesting, extreme, awesome, disturbing etc.

The winner for Most Macabre goes to Superette High Fashion! The slogan is, "Be Caught Dead In It." So, if you die wearing Superette clothing, your after life will be less stressful because you looked great when you bit the big one. Oh, and the dog is really cute, thanks.

The winner for Most Skeezy (a Skeeze is a Sleeze in disguise) goes to Ariel: Now With Jasmine! So, the detergent brand Ariel now uses Jasmine, which is fine, but are women who wear sexy panties the only ones who use it? And if so, they need to watch out for the pervies who want to smell them. It reminds me of the guy who got nearly six years for stealing underwear from George Fox Univeristy and Linfield College female students' dorm rooms.

Guys, stay away from the ladies who use Ariel with Jasmine, it could turn you into a pervie underwear stealing fanatic, and nobody appreciates that.