Hey all, quick update.  As usual, my blog takes a hit during the month of November due to my participation in NaNoWriMo.  Add to that the freelance work I’m finishing up and the two jobs, and it’s a bit crazy, but not to worry, I’m still here (at least for now).

I think I’m figuring out a bus schedule, or at least I’ve made some progress on that front, so that’s a plus, hopefully that will help me free up some time and a good chunk of money I otherwise would have been putting into gas (save for those days when I need to drive to work due to special events and whatnot).

Tailgating was good, look for pictures…sometime (probably not until I at least do the captions for the other galleries that are up).  And I still haven’t forgotten about my "Mike gets some culture" series, they will be coming, I promise! Until then, I’ll be doing more updates around the site, including finishing my transcript of Archbishop Tutu’s address (see the first part here). 

I’m going to try to put in a fun countdown widget under this, but who knows if it will work, seems like it’s always hit and miss with these things.  Oh well, enjoy, and I’ll catch everyone later!

 

 

Get this widget!

Hey all, quick update: sorry for the delay, things have been extra crazy lately.  First off, I went from having no jobs and just doing freelance, to having two jobs and doing freelance!

I work part time at the mall one day a week helping a friend out through the holidays (and really, it’s always a fun time working at the mall for the holidays).  But the  bigger news is that I’m now working full time for the Boy Scouts.  I’m working in a new position that we’re still working out, I’ll be doing a lot of special communication projects and as I find out about them, I’ll keep everyone updated!

Other than that, the big thing is of course, NaNoWriMo.  It seems that whenever I start working with Kevin I’m also staring a major writing project (see Script Frenzy and the month of June).  So that’s it for now, tailgating on Saturday for the last game of the season and then possibly seeing my cousin as well!

Catch everyone soon I hope!

His Grace, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu spoke at Calvary this morning (my church) at an interfaith service for justice and peace. In addition, he was awarded the historic first joint doctorate by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Read past the break for impressions, as well as the exclusive recording of his sermon (exclusive at least until someone else posts or distributes it, probably at the five o’clock news).

Update: I apologize dear readers (to quote a parody I recently saw). For whatever reason, I can’t get it to embed correctly, using a multitude of components, mambots and even third party sites. The first part of the transcript is up (past the break), as well as links and the  youtube video for easy viewing. (more…)

Four new photo galleries have been uploaded to my site: SVC Homecoming, Pittsburgh Zoo, Chihuly Nights and Practice Thanksgiving.  I’ve also added some images to the URU Live gallery.  I have pictures to add to Geocaching, and some more photos from the summer, hopefully I’ll be adding them soon.

I only have captions to the Pittsburgh Zoo pictures, I’ll be getting to the others in the next few days.

Also, a few other "housekeeping" items: From the last tailgating (at Homecoming), I have a blue blanket that isn’t mine.  I have no idea who it belongs to.  If it’s yours, please let me know, I want to return it (or we’ll keep using it at games until we find its owner!)

Also, I have a copy of "You Suck" which isn’t mine: although I think I know who it belongs to, but if it’s yours, let me know!

I’ll have a links update coming soon, I forgot how much I love GearLive and they have some cool stuff I want to post, in addition to some other things from around the net.

Catch everyone soon!

I know, I’ve been promising this for a while, but I’m finally making myself sit down and write it.  The pictures will be up soon, as well as a couple other galleries.  I’ve been fighting with the site a lot lately, the comment system that is in place, shouldn’t be working, as it was uninstalled.  And the system I want to use is installed, but not operational (although I do know why), but I can’t turn it on until the other one is really gone….really, I just need Joomla 1.5 to come out so I can start fighting with that, but it looks like it will be at least a few more weeks, so until then, I’m just holding on!

So anyway, Homecoming was great!  I got to see all kinds of people that I wasn’t expecting to, which was wonderful!  There were a ton more tailgaters there than the last time, which I expected, and even some of the W&J fans were there with us, albeit in different areas and wearing all red.

The "March of the Bearcats" was pathetic, they couldn’t get convertibles so the homecoming court were hanging out of car windows, and the parade broke into three parts: the cars, the alumni and the band, each going their own separate way.  We missed joining in, so we had our own parade from Rooney, all the while proclaiming that we were important and that people should look at us.

We (the classes of ’06 and ’07) had two groups going, which was cool, but mostly we just hung out and had a great time catching up.  We headed over for the game, and on the way I saw Dean Kaylor, Celiene Haas and a few other administrators that were always very nice to me, which was great to see.  The side of the hill that we sat on at the home opener had become the "Away" section, either officially or unofficially, so we headed further down and took a spot on the much steeper hillside.

George Kacenga showed up and we chatted, and at the end of the first quarter I got up to stretch and ended up hanging with Zach for the entire second quarter.  Zach and I think a lot alike, and it was wonderful to just make jokes and enjoy the fact that we’re not at SVC anymore, dealing with everything associated with that fact.

At halftime, Tessa was named Homecoming Queen (which is awesome, I got a picture with her before the game) and we left to go back to the tailgating.  At that point we hadn’t even scored so we ended up spending the rest of the game in the parking lot.

Afterwards, I headed to the social in the gym, and promptly passed on it, as the "bar" was being mobbed by hordes of people that I didn’t want to deal with.  I did head towards the back of the gym where there was a CESS school gathering, and saw Dr. Cook and Prof. Dinning!  We caught up, which was honestly a highlight of the day and then Alandra and I headed down with Mary Beth to play some games.  As that got old, Alandra and I made a Sheetz run…

Except Sheetz moved.  They up and moved to a different corner of the intersection, which was very confusing!  But, we got our MTOs and then rushed back to campus to make it in time for the Fr. Tom tribute, where I got to see Bobbie Anne!

The tribute was a lot of fun, aside from some patronizing remarks from President Towey.  The two emcees were a couple that met at SVC because of Fr. Tom, and one of the best quotes was the gentleman attempting to pronounce "diocese," and after stumbling over it a few times proclaiming, "What do I know, I’m a Jew!"

The night ended with fireworks, which were spectacular as always, and I then headed to lot A to get my uneaten MTO.  Lot A looks great by the way, there are all kinds of little islands with trees and plants, and it’s paved well, so kudos to SVC for that!

After that, Mary Beth and I walked back up the hill to the tailgating area to get our cars and head home.  We met up with Pat and Lindsay, and lamented the fact that the class of ’04 (I think) left a huge mess where they were (you’ll see when I put pictures up), it was very sad and disappointing to see.

All in all, it was a great time.  There really were so many people I got to see, and I know that if I tried to name them all I’d leave a bunch out, so hopefully you’ll understand I didn’t forget you, and I’m not trying to be rude, I just know my limitations.

And, amazingly enough, I have a plan for the next couple of blog entires: Mike’s cultural experiences (or some other witty title).  I’ve had a lot of cool adventures lately, and I can’t wait to write about them.  Catch you all later, have a great one!
 

Welcome to Blog Action Day! Today, over 7,500 blogs are participating, and this year’s theme is the environment. Some of the big supporters are Lifehacker, Reddit and Wired Magazine, among others. And basically the goal is to have bloggers all over the world talking about one topic on one day. Earlier this year, the "Bum Rush the Charts" movement was the same principle, just focused on independent music and power of podcasting as well as blogs.

But anyway, I digress (or if you happened to see the Family Guy Star Wars special…but I digest…), the goal of the day is to raise awareness, but not by changing blog formats, but including topics and discussions into blogs instead. And in a typical fashion for my blog, I have a random story/observation from the other day that fits in nicely. Click "Read More" to continue reading past the break… (more…)

Alright, all kinds of updates and links for everyone today. Homecoming recap is coming soon, I promise.

I went to the zoo yesterday which was an absolute blast, I’ll have pictures (and probably a recap) up soon, so be on the lookout for that. I’ll also put up the pictures from my trip to the zoo on the mountain from over the summer.

Also, since in my head I am a world-renowned media darling, I feel that I should jump on the bandwagon and add that I too am glad that Rosie did not mention me in her book! Also, Stephen Colbert’s book came out and I want to pick it up eventually.

I’ve mentioned PostSecret here before, and there are two new developments, the first is a news story, detailing what happened when a PostSecret reader had his phone number placed (with permission) on the site, a good read, I hope you enjoy. Second, the new PostSecret fan community has opened (coinciding with the fourth book), so check it out if you are so inclined. This week’s post includes a new video, so check it out if you are so inclined.

A great t-shirt for all the XBOX 360 gamers out there has popped up:

Ah, the red ring of death, how appropriate. I think that it’s appropriate that it’s become such a common feature that it’s now something we can laugh at. Good times.

The Consumerist has a great article that is a combination of previous articles they have put together, all detailing how to fight back when you receive unacceptable customer service or treatment from a company. Check it out here.

Pittsburgh is making an impression in cyberspace, and in a big way:

Google maps has been working on adding the feature to see the view from streets and has recently added Pittsburgh! When you use Google maps, any street outlined in blue can be viewed, and although it seems a bit slow and finicky at times, it’s pretty cool, check it out!

Although not new, it is gathering some attention, the Pittsburgh section of Gridskipper seems to be growing, which is nice to see, although they do tend to have a biased opinion (in a bad way) of the city, especially the airport, which was voted best in the nation, so I don’t see what their problem is. Either way though, it’s cool to see (Gridskipper is part of the Gawker network)

And to top all of that, metroblogging has added a Pittsburgh section as well. I saw metroblogging before, but didn’t give it much thought at there was no Pittsburgh section, but now it’s there! The articles (from what I’ve read so far) are well penned and it looks like it is updated more frequently than Gridskipper, so it’s also worth your time. I have both set up to feed me their headlines, so as interesting stories come about, I’ll let you know.

Getting away from Pittsburgh for a bit, someone posted pictures from a resort in California, and it looks relaxing and everything a resort should offer, I was especially enthralled by the treehouse accommodations and the sign for the Library. The insides look awesome too, simple like the microhouses that I think are so cool, yet comfortable enough to move around and maybe even have guests (or a family) over.

And finally, here’s a link to a youtube video about the second game in a bowling tournament being put on by a national chain of senior citizen communities. The teams at four locations around the country compete and the results are pulled together. The first video is a little better, but also longer, so I decided to link to this one instead. This follows on the heels of the Wiimbeldon competitions (one official and one unofficial held at a bar in Manhattan).

Quick update with some links, I’m on my laptop right now, I have a couple other things to add, but my list is elsewhere, so they will have to wait.

A scientist is claiming he has created life, or at least part of life: 1/5 an entire DNA strand. Check out the article here, it’s an interesting read, and could have cool implications, but like it says, nothing has been verified yet.

The AARP is following a story about suing a K-mart here in Pa (the woman is actually from Murrysville). While, I understand that retail outlets should be held accountable for what they are charging, it’s really a bit ridiculous, especially since she’s tried this multiple times at various stores, at some point, you need to buck up and pay seven cents. Here’s the link from consumerist and here’s the link from the PG.

And another link for you, discussing writer’s rights. The article itself is funny, in a sarcastic sort of way, so it’s worth a read.

I think that’s it for now, more coming later!

I’m heading to the zoo tomorrow, so I’ll have pictures of the trip soon, hopefully I’ll get some great pictures of the polar bears and penguins!

Edit: Quick change to a few things, nothing major!

Quick update and a couple videos to share with everyone today:

I just saw the trailer a few days ago, and I’m very excited for The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s new movie.  I loved The Royal Tennenbaums and The Life Aquatic, hopefully this will be just as good!  I’m also really excited for Across the Universe, so hopefully I’ll get to see that as well.

As I was searching for the trailer for The Darjeeling Limited, I found this video, I really liked how it was done.  I don’t have a camera or anything, but it could make for a cool blog post nonetheless on the fifth of November.

Google apparently is working on a new Virtual World, and is going to be testing it with the students at Arizona Statue University.  "My World" is expected to rely on google applications such as Earth, maps, and most likely in some way, ads.  Their stated goal is not to recreate Second Life, but to make a digital version of our first life.  Interesting, I’ll be curious to see how it turns out.

GameVideos has a video which used the Halo 3 Forge (level editor and movie creation feature) to make Mario 1-1.  While it doesn’t always match up right, the sound effects and use of the level elements make it funny.

On a humorous note, there seems to be a trend concerning moose: they like to think they are cows.  As awkward as they are (have you ever seen one run?) maybe they just want some company?  Check out the Yahoo! news story about it here.

Yesterday, I ordered pizza online from Papa John’s for the first time.  They had some really good deals which were online only, and I’d definitely do it again, although it was a bit later than the e-mail said it was going to be, but otherwise, it was a good experience.

I think that’s it for now, look for my Homecoming recap in the next few days and I’ll catch everyone later, have a great one!

Quick update for everyone below. I’ll have a recap of SVC Homecoming shortly, so look for that as well as the pictures from the day.

Coca-Cola announced that it has come up with a bottle that keeps the drink inside it cool, even after it has been opened and is sitting out, negating the need to add ice. Rumor has it though that they need to be stored at a special temperature so new vending machines would have to be produced. It sounds interesting, and I’d like to try it out, we’ll see what happens.

Filed under the inane, but still so dorky you want to laugh: black bar sunglasses. For the celebrity in all of us, or the part that wishes we were a celebrity, now we don’t have to fear having our picture being taken. With these "stylish" shades, we already have black bars over our eyes, giving us the gift of anonymity. Wonderful.

I downloaded a song from the iTunes store for the first time! I had a gift card for a free song, so I selected "Before it’s Too Late" by the Goo Goo Dolls, from the Transformers soundtrack. I’ll post the video below.

I think that’s it for now, but a huge Happy Birthday to one of my readers today, you know who you are!