Aaaaaaallllright!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone (if a bit preemptive)!  I hope everyone can enjoy it surrounded by people they like and have a safe holiday.  Just remember, Thanksgiving is its own holiday, and we should treat it as such…just ignore the part about the small pox-infested blankets that our ancestors gave to the Native Americans…

Anyway, to celebrate Thanksgiving, the people at Ubisoft made a new ad for their game Rayman Raving Rabbids (I think the whole campaign is funny, especially the cow one I posted a while back):

Also, new clips from the next Harry Potter (Order of the Phoenix) are popping up online, very exciting stuff (neither the Harry Potter site nor Google Video will let me embed these) :

The official trailer/site

HBO behind the scenes featurette (about four minutes)

Again, have a great holiday everyone: enjoy the company and food, and be safe at the sales!

Well let's see, it has been a bit, hasn't it.  I was at Saint Vincent for Founder's Day for the Institutional Advancement reception.  They had sushi!  And these really good chicken stuffed mushroom caps.  It was kind of odd though, as I was by far the youngest person there.  I did sit with a really awesome couple from Delaware, and we had a good time (the wine helped).  I got to see the fireworks and the light up, even though it was pouring down rain, which should have been snow, but it was fun anyway.  Afterwards I grabbed a cup of tea, a biscotti (not a potato for everyone on K-4) and headed to Jan's room and visited for a couple hours.

Other than that, I've been keeping busy trying to catch up with my NaNoWriMo project.  My current goal is to write 5,000 words a day (except for Thanksgiving), that would have me finishing the project on Sunday, so I can do that.  I've written over 3.500 words today (so of course it's logical that I take a break to write this…).

In other news, I was able to try out the Wii at EB Games (excite truck) and I had a good time…and Cat still owes me five dollars.  And she knows this, but denies it.  Apparently, we're fighting.

Anyway, I finished two books recently: The Great Hunt and A Walk in the Woods.  The first is the second book in the Wheel of Time (I won't let myself start the third before I finish two other books, Wicked and Reaper Man, but I really want to start it).  A Walk in the Woods was entertaining, it's about a guy hiking the AT.

In other book news, there will be a new PostSecret book coming out, right now slated for New Year's-ish.  I'm excited, but I hope it's longer than My Secret, which was too short in my opinion, especially after how long the first book was.

Well, that's it for now, catch everyone later!

Ok, more things I've been forgetting to post over the last few entries:

Barnes and Noble sent me a catalog.  That made me really excited (especially since there are coupons!), and I've been having a great time reading through it.

A few people were asking about the completed HansoExposed video.  Basically, over the summer, ABC produced this website where you could track down different video fragments and put them together to get some of the back story about the Hanso Corporation, funders of the Dharma Initiative.  This video is all the fragments (embedded at my site, linked on LJ):

I also mentioned the installation of the 26th president Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and you can watch the entire service here.  It is long (over two and a half hours), but worth watching (for the massive amounts of fabric alone…oh yeah, and the ecumenical and spiritual importance as well).  Quick briefing: Presiding Bishop is like a Catholic Cardinal, but there is only one in a country, and Bishop Katherine Schori (Bishop Katherine is what she likes to be called) is the first woman ever to serve in the position.  The opening music is really good too, and I think it's fairly soon after she comes in the door that the dancers around the baptismal font start to do their thing.

I was at the Alumni road show yesterday, and it was a big success, made some new contacts and had some really good conversations (and they served sushi, only one type, and I roll my sushi much better, which was disappointing, but still good).

A few thoughts I meant to put in the last post but forgot, plus some thoughts on the weekend:

When I went to go vote, the lady said to me, "It's just like ordering at Sheetz."  She was right though, I really did like the new voting machines!

Also, I mentioned it somewhere in there, but people shouldn't get too hung up about stuff, it will change again in two years anyway with more elections for the house and the president.

The weekend was great, I went to help out the team for SVC K-4, The Real Thing.  I got to be a Wheatie, and generally had a good time (very worn out though, but I got to splash around in the sink for three days, so I was happy!).  I was really excited too that they read my wheat letter (and they read it last, which was cool, it felt all special and stuff), and Stacy's went over real well (with one exception, and I need to call her about that).  So overall, good weekend, normal 'problems' but nothing unexpected (note to self: absence and abundance).  It was really cool to see one of the participant/quasi team members who worked at Outdoor Odyssey interact with other staff members and go back to where he was all summer, kind of like looking in a mirror.  I told a few people I would send them links to videos, hopefully I remember them all (as always, they are embedded at my site, no need to follow links):

Goo Goo Dolls – Stay With You 

Goo Goo Dolls – Better Days

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting a few, remind me and I'll pull them up for you.  I'm still really tired, about really behind on my novel, so I'm off for a while, hopefully to get some sleep, I'll post again soon when I'm more coherent.

The above is a quote from the one, the only, Dave Koltash.  I felt that it needed to be preserved for all eternity on the internets.  And don't worry, it actually wasn't anything bad, just odd to walk past the room and hear that come from his mouth.

Well, the elections happened (and Brittney broke up…is it sad I didn't know she was married, and by extension didn't know to Justin Federline?  Although I do like that they are calling him Fed Ex), and I'm mostly happy.  I didn't follow them as much as I should have, but I researched all the things I voted for, just not the other races, I left that to the newscasters.  By the way, Comedy Central's coverage was very good, and a lot of fun (and the cheering for Pa was awesome!).

The best part is of course that the campaign ads are done.  While there may be a few thank you ads in the weeks to come, it's over!  Now, to all the republicans, democrats and third parties:

Republicans: If you voted, you can complain…when things happen.  Until then, calm down.  You were in power for how long, twelve years or something like that (congress, not even looking at all the Bush years), if you wanted some agenda pushed, that would have been a good time, and besides you still have a month or two.  Oh wait, congressmen (all) don't work that much, that's right.  Also, just because democrats think differently than you do, does not mean that they are stupid, illiterate or the reason for all the worlds problems, nor does wanting to end a violent conflict mean they do not support the troops.  There has been an alarming increase of facebook groups dedicated to hating the left side of politics, and it's very disheartening to see.  Welcome to the democratic process, people vote for what they want.  If you don't want to accept that fact, please find yourself a nice dictatorship to live in.

Democrats: If you voted, you can complain.  Also, just because republicans think differently than you do, does not mean that they are stupid, illiterate or the reason for all the worlds problems, nor does wanting to end a violent conflict mean they do not support the troops (yes, there are some republicans who think the war should end, both sides should take note of that).  Oh yeah, and don't screw it up, things are going to change again in two years anyway.

Third Parties/Independants: If you voted, you can complain.  And congratulations on having two seats in the Senate!  Hopefully that will be a trend that continues.  Sit back and enjoy the two big parties arguing about stuff, and just think what it would be like to be in a small European country with twenty-some major parties!

Other than that, I just got back from my first Commissioner's staff meeting, which was fun.  I'm still a bit apprehensive, but I'm excited at the same time.  We'll see how things go, I'll keep everyone posted.

In the meantime, I'm off to SVC to help with Koinonia 4 this weekend, have a good one everybody!

Quick updates:

I was given a fun hat yesterday!

I really have no interest in the PS3, but I love this ad.  I don't think it will be very effective, especially outside of the hardcore-gamers (and even with them, I don't think it will be too effective either), but I really like it, so I wanted to post it here.  Again, shameless plug, if you're reading this at my webpage, the video is embedded in the page, so go on over to www.michaelcrane.net and take a look around!

Let's see, update time.  Halloween was good, we had a bunch more kids than we typically got, so that was exciting.  It still annoys me when older "kids" go out to get candy and they don't dress in costume.  At least make some sort of effort to celebrate the holiday (although I do like halloween in general, I think it's a cool holiday, even as its evolved).  The worst is when people deliberately ask for more candy, just plain rude if you ask me, but then again, I'm just the guy holding the bowl (and here's a bonus hint: If you're a small child, you'll get more candy from me anyway, so older "kids," you're out of luck!).

I went out to University of Scouting, which was surprisingly a lot of fun!  I met up with a whole bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while (two of my old camp directors, Al H., Shirley D.) and a bunch of people I had just seen the weekend before at Camp Twin Echo (I also passed on my idea about the opening to the Athens Olympics being used for the 2009 Conclave, and it is a possibility!).  The training was good, although I didn't like one of the trainers, I didn't think he was very effective.  The information was a little daunting though, I'm still a bit nervous, but I think I can handle it.  I'm pretty sure most of my nervousness stems from having just come from such a bad situation in a unit, I'm projecting it to be like that all the time in all the units with me trying to sort through it all.  I know that that's not the case, just scared I suppose.

But it will be cool, I'll be able to help out units (I'm hoping to work with the Venture units, from what the other commissioners were talking about, it seems I have the best grasp on that particular program), and the rest of the District's commissioner staff is awesome, and such a wealth of information, it really will be great!

A bunch of us decided that we should participate in this years National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  The premise is that every day, people say they are going to write a novel, but people never finish them.  November is set aside for people to actually write that novel they've been thinking/talking about.  The goal is to write 50,000 words in the month, and if you do (and verify it on the site), you are declared a winner.  Being a winner then grants you the bragging rights to talk at fancy parties about your book.  I'm probably crazy for doing it, but it's been fun so far, although I did start two days late, and the group of us (12 of us from the Myst/URU forums) are having fun urging each other on.

I don't think it's great, there really isn't a plot as of yet.  It's a hodgepodge of seven characters, all of which will at some point meet up and interact with at least one other character.  But for right now, I'm letting the characters tell the story and seeing where it takes me.  I may send it off to one of the publish your own work sites on the net once it's all done, just to have a bound copy for posterity's sake, but other than that, don't look for it to be published anywhere, it's more for me (and the bragging rights!).

Other than that, still more applying and resumes and all that fun stuff.  Hopefully I'll post again before the weekend, but if I don't, I'm going up to SVC to help out with Koinonia (and very excited for that too), talk with everyone soon!

Wow, great weekend.  I was up at Camp Twin Echo for a service weekend with the OA.  The weather was horrible (at one point, I compared it to mudfest '97).  We had all four seasons on Saturday (the day we were all out working): we had about four seconds of sun, sleet, snow, tons of rain and of course the hail.  I distincly remember looking up at thinking, "Oh…that is hail.  I wonder why Alandra is pissed off?"

My "favorite" would of course have to be the powerful thunder during the snow and hail…We lost power (we were in cabins, which I wasn't expecting at all, but thankful for.  Of course, the Ordeal candidates were outside the first night, but in tents that they brought, and then scattered in open bunks in cabins the second night, which made for not a lot of sleep for regular members sharing facilities…), which made the ceremonies and dinner awesome (candlelit), but did provide problems, such as no hot water for showers and the inability to finish cooking what was already in the oven, on the stove.  Thankfully, there were enough back-up generators to finish the food (for over 200).

My crew and I went around the camp to designated fire pits (most of them, about 20 or 22 in all) and scattered the ashes and rebuilt the circles as needed.  It was a lot of fun, and I had a decent crew, even if they all seemed to have varying forms of ADHD (except one of them).  We got that finished and then went to work cleaning up the basketball courts.  We didn't have a chance to finish it all, but got a good chunk of it done, and it looks so much better (although still missing one hoop, but we did find it, so it just needs reattached again).  The renovations to the dining hall look great and Ranger Larry was very appreciative of us, and it was great to see him again.

The current plan is to rotate service weekends to Twin Echo and Guyasuta one year, followed by Anawana and Baker the next, with two weekends at Heritage each year as well.  I think it's really good the lodge is getting out to all the camps.  Not because Heritage is running out of 'meaningful' projects, as many leaders say (this is wrong, ask any staff member, any job done at camp is meaningful – for instance, at Fall Ceremonial the dam had to be weeded to keep it safe and intact), but because we should be at all the camps.

It really was good to see some old friends, and reconnect with some people I haven't had much chance to talk to lately.  Planning is starting up for Conclave 2009 being held at Heritage (note to self: Canoe idea needs mixed with the video from the 2002 Conclave and the opening to the Athens Olympics), and the lodge is working on reopening two of the three circles at Camp Twin Echo (the one behind the Adirondaks and the old Vigil circle).  To do so, they (at my suggestion) are going to try to contact old staff members such as Ray D., Bob S., and Jeff P.  In addition, Ranger Larry (who of course bopped me upside the head) found a copy of the minutes from the last national meeting (held at CTE)…the plan is to make a copy, frame them and take them to Conclave this year with the Enda-mobile (Bill's car with the giant lodge flap wedged in the sunroof) as a way to make an entrance.

So anyway, that was my weekend, and I'm happy to be back home.  Commodore got a bath (he needed it from before, and when pulling out the car next to him at CTE covered him in mud), and thankfully, the weather today was great to do it.

And today marks the end of a six year search for a piece of music.  When NBC played their miniseries "The Tenth Kingdom" they used a song for promo, but I haven't been to locate it, or even who sang it or what it was called.  I recently watched the miniseries again and it once again sparked my interest in the song (I would probably try at least once a month to find it for the last six years).  I stubmled upon a yahoo group dedicated to the miniseries and asked about the song.  I had my answer and after much searching, found and verified that it was the song I've been looking for at garageband.com.  (It's "Let Me Go Back" by Loni Rose, and was also used in the season finale of Real World 9 on MTV the same year as it was featured on NBC).  It's not something I would typically listen too (very earthy and kind of pop-ish), but I'm so happy to have found it, and it always makes me think of the promo spot, which was great (if I can ever find it on youtube I'll post it, but no luck).

Speaking of much and youtube, the new PostSecret book is out, but to see some of the postcards from the first book, check out All American Rejects, "Dirty Little Secret"  And as an added shameless plug, the readers on my website (as opposed to LJ or FaceBook) get the youtube video embedded in the entry, not as a link…mostly becasue I don't know how to do it on those two sites…but you get the point!

Ok, enough of me rambling, talk with everyone soon!

So I find it interesting that the Order of the Phoenix movie (next summer) opens first in France and not England.  A full two days before the UK (and the US and Canada, but I don't want to be too ethnocentric).  It just kind of strikes me as odd.  I wonder if there is a holiday weekend it coincides with, or avoids?  I'm just going to assume that the people at Warner Bros. know what they're doing!

I think I posted it once before, but there is a site that shows public art projects of super mario question mark blocks thath people have set up around the world.  I think it would be a really cool grassroots marketing effort by Nintendo for the launch of the Wii and Super Mario Galaxy to sponsor some sort of competition (granted, some people have gotten in trouble becasue the boxes were 'suspicious' so I can understand any reluctance.  But there is a cool video of people's reaction in Los Angeles: