"hey pancakes, I wanted to let you know that I think I'm going to go to the ER again sometime in the night.  The tonsils have sunk so far down in my throat now that the area in front of it has become so enflamed I can barely see the tonsils now.  It hurts even more to swallow and I think that since i have to sleep with my mouth open, it's going to dry out even moreso and their already cleaved together again, smooshing the dangly thingy.  wtf!  You would've thought the asshole doctors would have given me something better than cough syrup.  I'm not going to any of my classes tomorrow, but in case I don't go to the ER, I'm going to check up with the doctors at the school anyway cause I'm supposed to. "

Let me digress to yesterday's events. Ashley walked into my room around 1 PM looking to see if I was up so I could meet her aunt who is visiting her and performing shows at local tea rooms and restaraunts. I do not know if her aunt is playing in the area as reason to visit Ashley, or if she is just visting because she is playing. Anyway, I did not get out of bed because I did not have a shirt on, was groggy and was not thinking right, and assumed I would see the aunt later. I think Ashley spent the day seeing local sights with her aunt, as she said they were going to. I eventually got up and at lunch in the Dining Hall, actually, the food selection for Sunday's at that time is referred to as Lite Lunch. I had a bagel with peanut butter and jelly, as is a custom of mine. The bagel's come fresh from a local bakery every morning. I went back to my room, then, and filled my bookbag with various materials I would need to complete some of my homework. I madfe the short journey to the library, the weather was in fact quite perfect. I completed taking notes for a few chapters in Astronomy, and did one assignment that was due on Friday for PreCalculus. I finsihed rather quickly, in about an hour, and headed back to my room. After doing various multitudes of nothing, I went over to the Dining Hall to eat supper. I had Stir-Fried Tofu with Garlic Sauce, and it was so fucking good, it was unbelievable. I did not over eat, I made a point not to at least, as I have been doing on many days in the past week. I finished, and put my tray on the conveyor belt which leads into the dishroom. This conveyor belt smells horribly of fungus, I think.

Back at the room, I went to reading Lolita, a trangressive classic by Nabokov. I find the book mostly disgusting, but after investing so much time into reading its contents, I will not put it down until I finish. Well, I did not finish yet, because I fell asleep while reading it. I then woke up and logged onto the Internet, and found the above mentioned note waiting for me on AIM. I then become somewhat distraught, and sat around for a while, did not do anything, and tried to go to sleep, but could not. I think I went to her room, but no one was there, I am not sure.

I fell asleep around 3 AM, I imagine, and woke up around 9:30 AM. I contemplated visting Ashley before breakfast (she would not have been there) but decided against this action, as I would probably wake her up. At breakfast, I had two packets of oatmeal, and a bagel covered with the usual toppings. I then shuffled to thr Computer Lab to right an email to Ashley, detailing my stratgey to visit her in her choked up third floor room, the bulk of the letter here:

"I was going to come visit you this morning to see how you were doing, and to see if you had gone to the ER again last night or not. Around 9 or 9.5 last night, I came to see you, knocked softly, and no one ansered. I assumed you were asleep. I thought the same for this morning, that you were asleep and nary did I wish to bother you. I am hoping you get better sooner. I have Astronomy in a few minutes. But, I will be done with classes for the morning around 12:30PM, whence, I eat lunch for a time, and do homework for the best of ten minutes until 2 PM when I have some afternoon classes until 4:20. SO if you need anything around 1 PM I will be in my room. Also, I will make sure to come in see you after all of my classes are over, of course."

I then sat in on the latest Astronomy lecture, which detailed slingshot gravity assists, the most boring lecture yet, but it does not have competition, since the lectures are usually not boring. But this one was. so be it. Dr. Erickson then talked about the next problem set, which would be about designing one's own planet, using the different planetary equations. Mine is going to be made out of heavy metal, and be an utterly bleak, a cliche hellhole. Class dissolved soon enough, and off to Chemistry lecture I went.  In Chemistry, the topic was Oxidation-Reduction reactions again, but with a slightly different twist. At the end of the class, we got back our Exam 1 with the grade. I faired well, having studied for three days straight. The grade and test, in its entirety, will be uploaded at a later date, so one can see exactly what I got wrong, and I can not skew the results, making my grade out as better than I actualy got. Oh, by the way, I also got my Astronomy problem set back, and will upload that as well.

After Chemistry, I made it back to my room why thinking about my grade on Exam 1, chemistry, and wished to visit Ashley. I put my bookbag in my room and went up staits. The door to the room was open, but I just noticed her roomate in there, and not wishing to talk to her, left without her noticing. I went over to eat lunch. I came back and did PreCalculus homework, which was my next class of the day. The homework was somewhat frustrating, because I forgot the week past's lecture. It does not matter if one does the homework, though, as it is not collected, but I want a good grade in the class, so I at least glaze over all the problems, and do most of them. The class was boring, Reed a hardly eccentric teacher, and I went to philosophy, and heard the drab arguments of Griffith, trying to shine in his final hour, the religious apolegetic of the century if you ask me. He commented on the movie of last week, which starred many of Intelligent Designs finest, including Michal Behe, and Jonathan Wells. I left class, frustrated, and wanting a nap. Instead, I went to Ashley's room, where I knocked on the door to no response. I then sat in my room for a while, surfing the internet, and went over to the Dining Hall for supper at around 5:30 PM. Supper was good, albeit spicy, Tofu pad Thai style. I went back to my room, grabbed The Blind Watchmaker, and went to the library to read for a while. When I got back, I opened up an article I had been meaning to read, about the Betty and Barney Hill incident, and which I had borrowed from Ashley, and delved into that until a knock came upon the door. Two persons, one of which I did not know, the other who I barely recognized, was Amy, Ashley's roomate. They were there to inform me of Ashley's recent deliverance to the local hospital due to her ongoing condition. She said Ashley had called her, Amy, in order for Amy to deliver me Ashley's hospital phone number. She also gave me such details as follow: Ashlety is currently breathing through an oxygen mask (I do not know if this is a bad thing, or a really bad thing, but I think it does not necessarily mean horrible things), also Ashley is slated to be in the hospital for at least one more day, namely tomorrow, and more likely a bunch more. This actually made me somewhat sad, as I miss seeing her. I swear the last time I saw her, Sunday morning, she actually looked in very good health. I guess the things she did with her aunt wore he down after making her feel better. I plan on visiting Ashley tomorrow, after my math lab, or whenever visiting hours start. I was informed that other third floor girls were going to the hospital to see her, but I do not wish to go with them since I do not know them, would find it ackward visiting with them, and would rather see Ashley by myself. I will also get some sort of a card.

Msnbc.com Offers Self-Service Via AdReady -- Msnbc.com is jumping on the self-service online display ad bandwagon via a partnership with AdReady. The news Web site is in good company, joining a slew of others that are now offering the DIY option including Yahoo, The New York Times, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, NaturalPath Media, Zillow and Trulia. AdReady, the Seattle-based technology company which powers the ad platform, also works with Yahoo and the Times.

Signs Of Life For Sling’s Video Portal, Other Services; Sling.com Starts Limited Beta -- Nearly two years after Sling Media announced it had a video portal and the Clip+Sling video sharing in development, the services are finally nearing release. First up, a private beta of the Sling.com video portal started today, although not private enough since TechCrunch has the invite. At the core, it’s SlingPlayer for Slingbox customers built into the site along with content from over 60 partners. It’s not part of the beta yet, as SlingPlayer 2.0 doesn’t currently incorporate it, but Clip+Sling is coming too, according to Sling’s Brian Jaquet. Clip+Sling allows users to record and share video via the portal. Next up: SlingCatcher, announced last year, ships later this month; it allows TV to be shown room-to-room and brings online content—including the premium content from Sling.com—to TV.

Reed’s RBI Sell-Off In The Balance? A Victim Of Credit Crunch? -- When Reed Elsevier last spoke on the subject, it told the market it hoped to sell off its Reed Business Information (RBI) B2B publishing unit as early as October. But that was August - in the intervening period, a little thing has happened called “the credit crunch”. Could the crunch munch the planned divestment, which Reed announced a whole seven months ago? paidContent:UK has been told Reed is finding it much harder to sell the Variety and New Scientist publisher than it was even three weeks ago. Not even a $1.6 billion “sweetener” loan offered to potential bidders is helping much. There’s now some question over whether the sell-off will go ahead at all, we understand.

On Second Take, Take-Two Decides To Remain Independent -- Not that this wasn’t expected after last month, but Take-Two, after fighting off an unsolicited bid by EA and talking to other potential suitors, has decided to stay independent, or at least it has completed a formal strategic review for now. The publisher of Grand Theft Auto said its sees itself as “strongly positioned creatively, financially and competitively to benefit from the opportunities we see in the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry”. According to Ben Feder, the CEO, consider the cash position of the company strong: “Our strong cash position - with no debt and an undrawn USD140 million credit facility - gives us the financial flexibility to continue to do what we do best: innovate and create the great games that our customers have come to expect.”

En esta sesión nos referiremos a los recursos entregados por la cámara, tales como planos y movimientos de cámara.

Partimos con un estracto de Ivan el terrible, una de las primeras películas donde se utilizó el efecto de la profundidad de campo, sólo el uso de este efecto hizo de esta una escena memorable en la historia del cine.

En el 3º hombre, gran parte de los planos se muestran torcidos, lo cual hace que todo el tiempo los planos nos llamen la atención.

El bueno, el malo y el feo, lo mostramos como un ejemplo del desarrollo que tuvo el uso de variados planos en los spaguetti western, principalmente por parte de Sergio Leone. La escena siguiente, correspondiente al duelo final tiene un gran número de planos que combinados generan gran parte de la tensión del momento.

 

Mostramos Amelie, para introducir a lo que son los movimientos de cámara, de forma análoga a la escena anterior donde existian diversos tipos de planos, en la escena donde se presentan a todos los personajes de esta película se utiliza una gran variedad de movimientos de cámara.

La escena que mostramos a continuación de Oldboy es un gran ejemplo de una escena que podría haberse hecho con muchos otros movimientos de cámara, pero es precisamente el movimiento utilizado el que hace que la escena se nos quede para siempre en la cabeza.

A continuación mostramos dos grandes ejemplos de planos de secuencia, el siguiente corresponde a la introducción de Tiempo de gitanos, en la cual, sin ningún corte de cámara se presenta toda la situación de la película.

El sólo intentar pensar como se planeó el siguiente plano de secuencia que da inicio a la película Sed de mal, nos hace inmediatamente admirar a Orson Welles por la precisión del movimiento de cámara.

Muchas veces podemos pensar que el movimiento de cámara se idea en el escenario, al ver los espacios e imaginarse por donde puede moverse el cuadro, pero el siguiente ejemplo nos deja claro que la creatividad del director al elegir un movimiento viene de un proceso anterior, que nace en la mente del director. Mononoke hime es una película animada, es decir en estricto rigor no hay un movimento de cámara, sin embargo la persecución presentada en la siguiente escena nos permite ver como incluso en este caso la elección de un correcto "movimiento de cámara" nos permite potenciar la tensión de la escena.

La cámara además, con sus combinaciones de movimientos y planos, puede pararse en un punto subjetivo, dándonos a entender lo que siente un personaje, los siguientes son ejemplos de esto. En primer lugar mostramos un estracto de I am Sam, donde la cámara en mano nos trata de mostrar la mente y el mundo confuso del protagonista.

 
Otro ejemplo corresponde a la película La escafandra y la mariposa, donde opuestamente al caso anterior, la inmobilidad de la cámara nos permite ver de la misma forma que lo hace el protagonista.

 
Habiendo ya mencionado ejemplos de usos de planos y movimientos, nos queda mostrar ejemplos donde el uso de la tecnología es lo que permite crear la escena perfecta, en la siguiente famosa escena de The shining, Kubrick utiliza una steadycam y un lente gran angular dan una atmosfera de suspenso y mareadora a la escena.

 
En el siguiente estracto de Mar adentro, la elección de la tecnología adecuada para hacer el efecto de vuelo permite que la escena sea todo lo emocionante que debe ser.

Estos son algunos ejemplos, si tienen ideas de otros grandes ejemplos no duden en comentarlo. En la próxima sesión, siguiendo con los recursos revisaremos ejemplos para la fotografía y la estética.

As one of the many options at the quarterback disposal, it's easy for wide receiver Michael Reed to get lost in the crowd. And that's just the way he likes it.

"I don't need to be the main guy," said the senior from Baytown, Texas. "We have a bunch of stars on this offense. It's a good feeling to have all these weapons because teams can't scheme their defense for just one person. They have to try to scheme it for all of us, and it makes it very difficult for them."

This is the kind of attitude that has earned Reed the trust and respect of his teammates and put him in a position to make a huge impact on the field in his final year with the Cougars.

"Mike should get more attention," quarterback Max Hall said. "He's a senior and a leader on our team and makes lots of big plays for us. It's nice to have Mike because people focus on Dennis and on Austin, but they forget about him. I think there will be some games this year where he really lights it up."

Reed has become one of Hall's favorite go-to-guys on third down and near the goal line because of his hands and fearlessness. He isn't afraid to run a quick-slant into the middle or fight for the ball in the air, no matter the potential of taking a big hit from a linebacker or safety.

"Mike works extremely hard," offensive coordinator Robert Anae said. "There's nothing finesse about him - he's just big and tough and physical. You don't want finesse receivers running around and avoiding things, so it's good to have him out there for us."

Reed has been a steady contributor for the Cougars the past three seasons, increasing his receptions and yardage total each year. Last season, he had 41 receptions for 449 yards and four touchdowns.

In three games in 2008, he is on pace for a much better year, having hauled in 16 catches for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers are even more impressive considering Dennis Pitta, Austin Collie and Harvey Unga all see the ball more often than Reed does.

Besides focusing on his on-field performance, Reed has taken time to serve as a mentor to younger receivers such as Luke Ashworth, Spencer Hafoka and true freshman O'Neill Chambers.

"That's my job, without a doubt," Reed said, "I've been here for a while, so I can help the younger guys understand the offense and how to make themselves better at practice. The way you practice is the way you play."

As if his responsibilities both on and off the field weren't enough to keep him sufficiently busy, Reed has had other things weighing him down the past few weeks, most notably his family's safety from the devastation of Hurricane Ike.

"It wasn't as bad as it could have been, so my family has been fortunate," he said. "They've been without lights for a while, but they should hopefully get them back on here in a few days. There are a few grocery stores that just opened back up, but they only allow about five people in at a time, so it takes a while to get food and everything. The important thing is that everyone is OK."

Playing through these emotions has not been easy for Reed, but he doesn't show his emotions on the field. He caught five passes Saturday for 90 yards and a touchdown during the Cougars' 59-0 win over UCLA.

"It has been difficult at times," he said. "This past game I was thinking about it, but I knew that I had a football game to play. I know that they would want me to go out and perform at my best, so that's what I tried to do."

With a record of 3-0, the Cougars are right where they want to be, and Reed is confident that the best is still to come.

"We still have all our goals in front of us," he said. "We're just trying to win the conference title again and see where that takes us. As for me, I want to finish off and make this my best year. It comes and goes so fast, and you want to leave on top."

[The] sale of Reed ... appears to be struggling, with no bids close to the mooted £1.25 billion price. One bidder to have made it through to the second round has indicated its bid was nowhere near £1 billion and there is talk the unit may be worth as little as £800 million.

If the process drags on much further my original bid of half a crown and a nuttals minto may be the most generous - and I'm starting to have second thoughts about the minto.

Content Partnerships Set, Linkedin Now Readies Ad Network -- Over the past few months, LinkedIn has sought to make itself more than just an online directory for professionals by striking various content-related deals with the likes of BusinessWeek, NYT and CNBC. With those in place, it’s time for the next step: forming an ad network. Dubbed the LinkedIn Audience Network, the social net is promising to make it easier to reach its 27 million members. The company’s announcement was fairly reticent on the details, such as what other sites it is including in the network. The new program is primarily about expanding existing ad targeting through LinkedIn’s inCrowds—which lists members according to pre-defined and scalable audience segments such as corporate execs, small business professionals and IT workers. Advertisers can also can work with LinkedIn to create their own custom audience segments. The company says the non-personally identifiable data it will make available to advertisers includes industry, job function, seniority, company size, gender and geography.

Reed Business’ Auction Running Into Trouble? -- Reed Business Information’s second round auction may be running into trouble, as bidders are lowering their prices, reports Times UK. There are no bids close to its £1.25 billion ($2.5 billion) asking price and there is talk the unit may be worth as little as £800 million ($1.6 billion), the report says. Yet, there is still hope that Reed may be able to sell as a whole, with Bain Capital believed to be particularly interested, the story says. Is the piecemeal sale still possible? As for who’s in and who’s out in second round.

EA Terminates Acquisition Discussion With Take-Two -- After seven months of back and forth, Electronic Arts has terminated its takeover talks with game publisher Take-Two. It announced in a statement today that “while EA continues to have a high regard for Take-Two’s creative teams and products, after careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software, EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two.” This after FTC cleared EA’s bid in August, and it seemed the two were in confidential negotiations to come to some agreement. EA first offered $26 per share in February, and then lowered to $25.74.

NBCU’s Strategy On Women’s Sites Appears To Work; Collective Traffic Up 28 Percent -- NBC Universal’s strategy to link its women’s sites together in a content and ad network seems to be paying off, traffic- wise at least. The company’s cluster of women-oriented sites operating under the Women@NBCU banner-- iVillage.com, BlogHer, Oxygen.com and BravoTV.com—attracted a collective 19.8 million uniques last month, ClickZ reported, citing stats from Media Metrix. That number represents a 28 percent increase over the 15.4 million uniques it had in August 2007, signifiying the 25th straight month of year-over-year growth.

More MySpace Music: Raising PE Money?; Not 15th; CEO Shortlist; Advertisers -- MySpace Music, which was originally expected to launch Monday, is now pushed to later in the week, and other drib drabs about it are leaking out. We had some details earlier on Friday. New PE Funding?: Very much like Hulu. the other digital video JV, MySpace Music, which has investments from the three studios, is looking to raise PE money, reports TC. The post says it is looking to raise “well over $100 million, at a valuation of $2 billion or more.” Providence Equity Partners, which invested $100 million in Hulu at $1 billion valuation, is reported to be looking at investing. Staci adds: Well, yes, News Corp would love a $2 billion-plus valuation—think Facebook—but that doesn’t make it so; that’s their number, not something anyone has agreed to but again, think Facebook and Microsoft. Call it a case of headline valuation versus real valuation. Providence would be a natural investor given that the two already have a good relationship aided by the way Hulu is so far delivering on its promise. MySpace Music is different, though. As one person familiar with the thinking explained it, Hulu is its own company for the most part while MySpace Music is really like a company with MySpace—and with more parties involved. On the other hand, unlike Hulu, which has had to build an audience, even though the music itself is fairly ubiquitous, MySpace Music could launch as the number 1 music site or pretty close to it.

WSJ.com Relaunches During Financial News Meltdown; Glossy New Look, Business Song Remains The Same -- It’s either the best of times or the worst of times for the long-awaited relaunch of WSJ.com. With all the tectonic shifts on Wall Street—Lehman Bros. on the verge of bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch in buyout talks with Bank of America, AIG starting a massive reorg, just to name a few—if all goes as planned, WSJ.com readers will see a completely new site Tuesday `morning. Ditto for The Wall Street Journal Digital Network as Dow Jones implements a massive online makeover in the works even before News Corp took over. The familiar blue and white no longer dominates, making way for a glossier look with charcoal backgrounds and beige accents, presaged by the microsite for the new WSJ. magazine. Even the masthead is charcoal. Even though this redesign moves the site further away from the newspaper, the overall look has the kind of elegance of the print Journal at its best. From a usability standpoint, the most dramatic changes are the elimination of the left-hand navigation and the shift from mirroring newspaper sections to an online-centric organization.

De tota manera alguns dels temes ja han estat interpretats vàries vegades en directe, al menys hem pogut sentir vàries versions del que dona nom al disc, Chinese Democracy, i també aquest Madagascar, que apunta bones maneres si tot el disc està en aquesta línea, que és el que tots esperem, després de tant temps esperant-lo.

================================================================

Otros que podrían sacar en breve también nuevo disco, si hacemos caso de los rumores, en noviembre, son los nuevos Guns'n Roses, nuevos, por que de la formación original sólo queda el cantante, Axl Rose, y decimos podrían, por que algunos temas del disco ya hace más de 5 años que está grabado, y remezclado mil veces, y, pese a que parece que ahora sí va a ver la luz, conociendo el imprevisible carácter de Axl, hasta que no lo veamos en las tiendas, no nos lo creeremos.

De todas formas algunos de sus temas ya se han interpretado en directo varias veces, al menos hemos podido oir varias versiones del que da nombre al disco, Chinese Democracy, y también este Madagascar, que apunta buenas maneras si todo el disco está en esta linea, que es lo que todos esperamos, después de tanto tiempo esperándolo.

I won't be told anymore
That I've been brought down in this storm
And left so far out from the shore
That I can't find my way back, my way anymore

No I won't be told anymore
That I've been brought back in this storm
And left so far out from the shore
That I can't find my way back, my way anymore

No, I..
No, I...

Forgive them that tear down my soul
Bless them that they might grow old
And free them so that they may know
That it's never too late

For the many times would seem like a memory
I searched and found the way to choose to the end
I found the ways, why it had to be
Mired in denial and so afraid

If we ever find it soon
That we have the strength to choose
Free the ball, the chain
We built together

I won't be told anymore
That I've been brought down in this storm
And left so far out from the shore
And I can't find my way back, my way anymore

No I won't be told anymore
That I've been brought back in this storm
And left so far out from the shore
That I can't find my way back, my way anymore

Michael Reed no-call pass interference

Because the part of my brain that deals with memory is essentially useless, I tend to write things down over the course of the day on a post-it note, so that I remember to blog about them the next day. I make really small notes, just to remind myself of something, because (a) my job puts me in a near-comatose state, and (b) there’s only so much you can put up your nose before your brain starts to fizzle.

I actually have a full piece of paper with notes for today’s blog, but I want to start with something I haven’t written down, which has got me going even more than that spitty little man from Reed who you may have read about a couple of entries back – he of the horrendous and despicable employment presentation thing that Dom liked so much.

And that is about history.

Your history. My history. Whatever.

I am 28 (nearly 29) years old. I have a chequered past, and I most certainly have a history. Guess what – if you asked me how many women I have slept with, I genuinely don’t know the answer; not because I am some sort of man-slut, but because in the years 1998-2001, I spent the vast majority of my life in a chemically-induced haze. My memories of this time go something like this: directing a film, buying a Ribena, and singing on a street corner near Piccadilly Circus. And that’s it. Does it make me a bad person? Fuck no. Does it make me unfortunate? Possibly. But if you judge me on this, then more fool you, and I honestly don’t give a flying fuck.

These days I practice self love, and, as corny as it sounds, I have forgiven myself for the indiscretions of my past, and will continue to do so should any new ones arise.

So, Sunday night, I go out with someone, and we have a lovely time. She knows the address of my blog, being that she is a fellow Hoffmonian (a new word I just invented) and has read what I have written on a number of occasions, even praising me for my honesty. (I should point out that she was NOT a member of my particular group)

It just so happens that she read yesterday’s entry after going out with me on Sunday – the entry where, in my usual state of ‘pre-process liar, post-process truth to a fault’, I admitted that I had gone out on Friday night, got caught in a pattern, and slept with someone. I wrote that I really beat myself up for it – to the point where I wrote a blog entry of such extreme self-criticism that the next morning, upon reading it, I had to take it down for fear it made it sound as if I was about to throw myself off a bridge.

And so, last night, we’re talking, and having read that, she’s done. She’s decided that because I made a mistake, and was honest enough to admit it – knowing she’d probably see – before we’d even met, that she was no longer interested in seeing me in any sort of social context, romantic or otherwise.

And this has pissed me off like you can’t believe. Or maybe you can. Maybe you can see it in the tone of my… erm… typing voice.

I can understand why it might be off-putting, unsettling, or even threatening, but people have histories, and there is very little you can do about it; and that includes recent histories. I realise I am somewhat biased, being that mine is more chequered than most, but as far as I am concerned, the time you spend with someone begins on the day you meet, agree to date, whatever. You don’t ask them where they were the 2 days before, and then, if you find out something you don’t like, go ‘oh… actually, no thanks.’

As I have learnt, that’s not about me, that’s about you. Or maybe it is about me. Either way, it pissed me off something severe, but now I’m over it.

But I really expected a little more from a fellow Hoffman graduate. Or maybe I’m wrong. Feel free to tell me.

*goes back to note paper*

And breathe.

Hello group! I realised last night that I didn’t say hello to the people from my group that read this blog even nearly enough, so wherever you are – be it Jersey, Cheshire, or down the road, I sincerely hope you’re all ok.

I am pleased to announce that I am now a student! Yesterday, I finally paid for my two courses, and on the 1^st October, I start a mini-course at Birkbeck University entitled ‘Biological Basis of Behaviour’, and on the 2^nd, one called ‘Foundations of Modern Psychology’. These days, our wonderful British education system is built around a points tally, so I am having to do two courses (and another two before the year is out) in the place in order to leapfrog the first year of the degree course next year. It’s all very confusing.

I hate television. It is one of the worst inventions ever to cast its stain upon our collective psyches. Not only is the vast majority of programming an affront to anyone with even half an intelligent brain, but you have to suffer the indignity of being bombarded with adverts subliminally selling you crap every ten minutes or so.

As far as I am concerned, television should have absolutely no adverts, and be comprised entirely of ‘Masterchef’, so I can learn how to cook more, ‘South Park’, because it is the most consistently funny show of all time, ‘Entourage’, just because it is a completely accidental pastiche of modern celebrity and in Jeremy Piven’s Ari Gold, one of the great comedic creations EVER, and, a show I finally caught up with again yesterday, David Duchovny’s (the ex-X Files guy) ‘Californication’, a funnier show you will not see unless you’re watching the aforementioned South Park. Throw in some ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ for the kiddies, some ‘Sex and the City’ for ‘er indoors – despite it being a most risible show of the highest order – and outlaw adverts, and then you have something I might actually want to watch.

And not ‘Dragon’s Den’, a show I watched for the first time in my life yesterday, and will never watch again. Essentially, it’s a show about fat, balding twenty-somethings, who have business ideas. They present them, and then 4 relatively successful people act like they’re judges on Pop Idol or X Factor or some shit, and then agree to either invest in the idea or not. It’s sort of like prostitution in business suits. Anyway, it’s a horrible show.

Before all this, and I am adding this entry for two reasons – to add in some pictures, and to tell you all I that I have decided to serialise this blog in order to produce an account of my first 35 days after the process – I met, once again, with my daring, wonderful friend Rachel for some tea after work. And I’m not just saying that because I told her to read today’s entry. A kinder, sweeter soul you will not meet. As long as she has a hairdryer near her at all times, apparently.

Anyway, here’s Rachel reading the first draft of the introduction to my book:

Tonight, I am to tackle the only area of my life, friend-wise that his really pissed me off since I left the process. Tonight, I see my supposed best-friend Daniel.

Now Dan and I go way back – about 18 years at last count. When I first moved to North West London, I went to a Church of England School called Christ Church, and Daniel (he was the year above me) and I were the only Jewish kids in the school. We became fast friends, and have been ever since. We’ve had our ups and downs – as two single 18/19/20 year olds (see above, I told you my memory is patchy) on a raucous holiday in Spain, or the time I nearly broke up his 7 year relationship with my drunken behaviour, and he didn’t speak to me for 6 months.

Dan is, I am pleased to say, married to a lovely girl called Melissa, and has a baby called Ariella, who is nearly one year old. Suffice to say, I love them both with every inch of me, but having a family has (understandably) held back much of Daniel’s social life. That said, when he does go out, he tends to socialise with other couples, which, again, is totally understandable.

So this means I don’t see my friend as much as I used to, which, as I said, I can totally understand, to a degree. What has pissed me off, however, is how much he is ‘ok’ with this – like the occasional talking to me on the phone for 2 minutes will cover all the bases. But you know, I accept it for what it is, and get on with the rest of my life. These days, I know its not about me.

But the other day, Dan pissed me off even more than the girl last night, and certainly more than the stupid pencil-dicked Reed man from the Manchester conference. Talking to him on the phone, I (for the millionth time) suggested that I hadn’t seen him in an age, and we should organise something, figuring that if I smacked my head against a wall enough, at some point, I’d make a dent.

So, in reply, Dan referred me to his wife. And that, friends, is out of fucking order. You do not tell someone you have known for 18 years to call his wife and see if you can squeeze someone into your calendar. I love Melissa to bits, but it is not Melissa who is my friend, and, even though I am out with Dan tonight, and am deliberately going early just to say hello to her, it is not Mel I am going to see.

So anyway, yeah, that pissed me off something chronic. So I will be letting him know this evening. Stay tuned for the fallout – or, conversely, again, let me know if you think I’m wrong.

Right, that’s enough for today. Yesterday, in meeting my friend Rachel in Trafalgar Square, I noticed how beautiful the sky was – it looked as if someone has painted this dreamy concoction of greys and whites, and, the more I looked at the picture, the more it looked as though the buildings and the sky were totally different and separate entities – as though someone had taken a picture and laid it on a painted canvas. The more I looked at it, the more I began to think that even when skies are cloudy, there is real beauty in the world, and I think that’s a lovely thought to bear in mind on a shitty English autumn day.

Love to you all,

Closed Box

Gotta hand it to Sen. McCain in choosing Gov. Palin as his running mate. Make no mistake, she is the future of the Republican Party. Finally, we got a conservative who is articulate, sharp and a woman! She is good on social issues, she's for drilling everywhere, including ANWR, wants to win the war on terrorism, fights corruption on her party and a life member of the NRA, definatelly a great pick! Other than not electing Obama, Gov. Palin is the reason to be exited for the Repubilcan ticket.

Sen. MacCain' speech on Thursday night was alright, for a boring speech. He started out by giving credit to President Bush for keeping us safe for almost seven years, I was glad to hear that, it was gutsy. The bipartisanship part was a little hard to swallow. Most of us do not want to "Reach across the isle to get things done". Harry Reed, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the crew represent a great threat to this nation and to our way of life. The GOP shouldn't try to work with them, rather defeat them. The Republican Party is the party of decency and freedom, we believe in free markets, a strong military and tax cuts. Unfortunatelly today's Democratic party counters all of this.

Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.    

Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.    

Revelation 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.    

Revelation 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.    

Revelation 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.    

Revelation 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.    

Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was staked.    

Revelation 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.    

Revelation 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.    

Revelation 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.    

Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.    

Revelation 11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.    

Revelation 11:14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.    

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.    

Revelation 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,    

Revelation 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.    

Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.    

Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.    

Liberman pokes his finger in the eye of Democrats and will likely lose his committee seat.  So what.  The fact he showed up at the RNC speaks volumes to his character.  It is about the person, not the party.

Bush does not come to the convention - the first time that has happened since LBJ in 1964.  Hmmmm, methinks Bush has been told to stay low and shut up.  Good.  His time is over.

Oil dropping to near $100/barrel despite a direct hurricane assault from Gustav.  It is all about the market. 

A columnist in Philadelphia claims that if the US elects McCain that there will be a "full-fleged race and class war".  Nice.  Yet another example of the LSM trying to stir shit up for no reason.

A Grady Hospital worker gets arrested AGAIN for stealing personal effects of patients.  I hope when he is sentenced that the judge takes into account that fact that the victims were incapacitated and had no way to stop him.  What a loser.

37 million viewers watch Palin's speech - nearly as much as His Highness.  Yet, it has been pointed out by numerous sources that no one is talking about Obama's speech anymore.  Palin's on the other hand....

Now the LSM media is hyping the fact that Palin attended six colleges in six years.  Again, I ask WHO GIVES A SHIT?  90% of the people in government have not attended school to be in government service.  I could care less what her educational background is.  If she is smart and can reach consensus without raising taxes, go for it.

The Detroit mayor gets busted and sent to jail.  Can anyone say Marion Berry?  $100 says this guy will be back in office after he serves his jail term.

Heart "condemns" the use of their "Barracuda" song at the RNC.  Cry me a river.  Great music, yes.  But c'mon.  Get the royalties where you can Ann and Nancy.  I mean, Ann needs the money to keep up with her Weight Watchers program, right?

In the past three months, there have been more deaths in Chicago than in Iraq.  Um, Palosi and Reed?  Obama?  What happened to the surge is not working?

Gustav evacuees from New Orleans try to rob jeans from a boutique in Buckhead and get busted.  If you are from New Orleans and are reading this - go home.  You have all outlived your visit.  I am really tired of seeing the Lousiana cars on the road around here.  Is that insensitive?  Yeah, it is.

You know, I was thinking - if Republicans are so pro-business, then why does the US have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world?  Just asking.

Here is another thought - is Obama so popular because people believe he can actually bring change as he defines it or because he is not Bush?  In other words, if another Democrat was up there, would he (or she) be as popular?  (Shrillary, maybe?)

Actions = consequences.  A school in Illinois is considering banning students who fail core classes (like math) from attending the prom or football games.  AMEN!  Finally.  Bring it to Georgia.

Whew!  Take a breath!  Have a great weekend and keep an eye on Ike.  He looks scary.

Yahoo Press Day: Yahoo Music Opens Up, Third-Party Content, Home Page Tweaks -- Yahoo to open music site to other services: Scott Moore: “We are going to completely open up Yahoo Music in the next few weeks.” The site will feature info about songs and artists from other services. Liveblogging From Yahoo’s “Open House”: Sexy Email and Barbara Mandrell!: “Moore showed off a new look for Yahoo’s news properties, including substantially more third-party content integration and interchangeable modules. It’s not a new idea, by any stretch, but it looks like a good change. ‘Our users are in control,’ said Moore. ‘We’re not doing this open thing because it is the flavor of the month.’ David Filo: No browser for Yahoo: No Jerry or Sue but co-founder David Filo was on hand and talked to CNET (NSDQ: CNET). Filo: “"I don’t think you’re going to see a browser from us....We’re getting to the point where everything we do is a completely open platform.” As for Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Chrome, too soon to tell: “They’ve been trying a lot of things, most of which won’t go anywhere. This is another thing they’re throwing against the wall.”

Burst Media Launches Entertainment Network -- Online ad services company Burst Media has launched a network consisting of some 150 Web sites that reach 21 million unique visitors and deliver nearly 70 million ad impressions each month. The Burst Entertainment Network is designed to appeal to marketers looking to reach film and TV fans, as well as gamers and music aficionados. Sites in the Burst Entertainment Network offer a range of entertainment content and are categorized by genre to allow advertisers to reach distinct audience segments. These genres are Action and Sci-Fi (men 18-34 years), Kids and Family (women with children in household), Comedy and Romance (men and women 18-34 years), and Independent (adults ages 35-54).

Reed Business’ Auction Running Into Trouble? -- Reed Business Information’s second round auction may be running into trouble, as bidders are lowering their prices, reports Times UK. There are no bids close to its £1.25 billion ($2.5 billion) asking price and there is talk the unit may be worth as little as £800 million ($1.6 billion), the report says. Yet, there is still hope that Reed may be able to sell as a whole, with Bain Capital believed to be particularly interested, the story says. Is the piecemeal sale still possible?

NBCU’s Strategy On Women’s Sites Appears To Work; Collective Traffic Up 28 Percent -- NBC Universal’s strategy to link its women’s sites together in a content and ad network seems to be paying off, traffic- wise at least. The company’s cluster of women-oriented sites operating under the Women@NBCU banner-- iVillage.com, BlogHer, Oxygen.com and BravoTV.com—attracted a collective 19.8 million uniques last month, ClickZ reported, citing stats from Media Metrix. That number represents a 28 percent increase over the 15.4 million uniques it had in August 2007, signifiying the 25th straight month of year-over-year growth. Full story --

Dailymotion Selects Poke For Brand Assignment -- Video entertainment site Dailymotion has appointed digital specialist agency Poke to assist with positioning its brand for international growth, including branding, digital strategy, Web and interactive marketing initiatives. The activity will be managed internationally, and led by Poke New York. The agency was appointed in a three-way pitch.