Kick Ass Program: Got Noise

So I am a fan of filmmaking. I am also a fan of teenagers making films. (Well, most of them anyway.) So a few, or several, months ago, I posted an entry about Samsung Mobile Fresh Films. I also got to have the amazing experience of participating in their program last summer. Well they have a new sibling in the form of the Got Noise? program. (It's sponsored by milk.... get it yet?) If accepted into the Got Noise program they'll fly you out to L.A. for a week to make Usher's new music video with other teens from across the country. The coolest thing about the program? They give you the equipment, guidance and everything you need to make the music video, but you get to make a lot of the decisions. (AKA you might be able to work it in that Usher is shirtless in your general vicinity at some point. Possibly.) Now I leave you with a really cool promo video and a link.  Oh, and did I mention you could win a MacBook?

Wicked Sites: Finding the Perfect Presents

It's December. You can tell by all the chesnuts, Snowmen, Santas, Jesuses, and jewlery commercials that are blasted at you anytime you have contact with the outside world. The holidays are upon us, meaning we have to find presents for people. Here are a few sites I find really helpful for getting out of this conundrum.

Gifts.com has a personality profiler to help you find gifts for people. I've found it pretty handy, they give you a ton of options for each personality so there's bound to be something perfect in there. It's also very helpful for finding gifts to give yourself, and there's no harm in steering your friends and family to the site so they can be sure to find gifts to fit your personality. (Ok, sometimes I find myself pretend shopping for myself with my imaginary million dollars on here, it's just like they know me.)

Changing the Present is like a database for gifts that give back. I was surprised at how many small ones there were (six pages of gifts under $5!) Have a friend that's all for saving the environment? $11 reduces 2,000 pounds of carbon (or 6,000 miles of air travel) or $125 can adopt a Polar Bear from Defenders of Wildlife. There are also micro credit loans, (around $40 to $500 give loans to help small businesses in developing countries) education gifts, (everything from school supplies, tuition, and uniforms for students in need) and research (things like $67 for 1/2 and hour of Breast Cancer research or $100 for 300 DNA samples for the Strang Cancer Prevention Center.) There's something for everyone.

Uncommon Goods could be the solution for the person who has everything. Products range from funny, useful and even recycled. There's stuff like picture frames and bowls made from vinyl records and bags made from reclaimed billboards. Oh and if you need to furnish your home you could always get the rocking chair made of skies. Or if you have $3700 laying around you could get the Road Tested Chair made from "Walk/Don't Walk" signs from New York City. I could go on for a while, this site is packed with unusual stuff, and it can be addicting.

P.S. Sarah Haskins sums up the ridiculous-ness of all those annoying jewelry commercials.

"For once I'd love to drive down a road and actually get lost" Show I'd Love to Save

So I seem to have a thing for cancelled TV shows. Or TV shows that get axed before they're even aired. We live in a world where there are more votes in most reality shows than elections and the People Choice awards have a category for youtube videos (actually more than one.) Quality TV, smart TV, and non-cheesy TV are rarely aired anymore. 

So a few days ago I found a hidden gem in this world of mutilated quality TV. "What Goes On" is a drama about a bunch of kids living in the suburbs. There are a million ways this plot line could go wrong, but "What Goes On" has a surprisingly fresh air to it while still remaining realistic. The show was scheduled to air on The-N in 2007, until something happened and something else happened causing "What Goes On" to be axed into oblivion. (I have no idea what exactly went on behind the scenes, but given what that channel has turned into, it's not that surprising they discarded quality to restock tweeny-bopper rubbish.)

Head on over to the Sri & Company Website for a trailer (I can't link to it directly, click on "Our Work" at the bottom, the the "What Goes On" tape, make sure you let it load all the way)

Oh, and that amazing song in the trailer is called "Fireworks" by Threes and Nines.

Then I have youtube links (yay!)

Each episode is only a half hour long (Though the first two kind of go together) and they've got a bit of a "Skins" vibe to them, they alternate which character they follow in different episodes. 

Here's the user page that has all the videos.

And the first part of the pilot.

Wicked Site: Post Secret

Ever have a secret you wanted to get off your chest, but didn't want to tell anyone? Meet Post Secret, a blog/book/event/organization where people anonymously send in their secrets. There's an emotion for every secret, and every Sunday I find myself relating to a secret sent in by a stranger.

Read People's Secrets every Sunday

Watch Videos of Secrets

Send in a few of your own

Thingy: Cheesetastic TV

You know what's fun? Cheesy TV. Seriously. Those after school special-esque melodramatic shows you'd never admit to watching because you love to complain about all the crap on TV these days. My recent cheesy obsession? Degrassi: The Next Generation

They may have dramatic moments like this, that can either be seen as dramatic or cheesy

but then they also have moments like this

I post this because it it Degrassi Spirit Week at the-n.com and I have been feeling very spirit-y. Plus I feel guilty that I spend more time there, than I do blogging here. I think I'll blame Canada.

Pictures from Chi-town

So since I'm returning, again, and it's late, I'm at a loss of what to post, so how about some pictures?

Bad Ass Bloggers

I saw this on Current. Blogging is Bad Ass. 

P.S. I'm working on new blogs, but I'm having difficulty getting some stable internet connections, 

I'll be back home July 10th so I should be fully back then, or around then.

Also, what's with airports charging for wifi?

I thought technology was supposed to make things more accessible.

Proof That America Is Crazy

Legally Blonde.... the Musical. Yeah. Oh and they have a reality show too. I think Joel McHale's comments sum it up best. 

The Great Computer Crash of June 2008

So I've come to the conclusion that I have put off posting again for long enough. I hate how I can't seem to get some kind of regularity here. This time it wasn't entirely my fault though, my computer died. I had to back up my stuff, and then get the hard drive replaced. Unfortunately I have yet to figure out if I can retrieve my bookmarks for my back-up drive (or if they're even on there.) So I have to work on building that back up, and I'm afraid my blog may suffer a bit as I don't have all my links committed to memory. Among them I also lost the links to some of the blogs I read, which bums me out a bit. Thankfully I can still get to the cool ones since those people have left me comments ;) 

Storm Pictures

Some pictures from the storm that knocked out the power. It's finally back on.

Rain Drops.
Probably as close as I got to actually capturing a bolt of lightning, the camera was too slow, my brother got some pictures that turned out ok, but he has a super nice camera and wasn't willing to share.
Sometimes the lightning was so bright and constant it also seemed like daylight.
This was actually taken around 11pm (I'm guessing) It was surreal.

Thingy: Blue for Roseline Bracelet

An accessory that helps save the world! Well maybe not, but it makes a difference, plus they're uber-cool.

If you don't know about Invisible Children, 1) Where have you been? 2) Prepare to be amazed, inspired, shocked, uplifted, and empowered. 3) Here's a video to explain it

And here's the Roseline Video

"Hiatus"

My power has been out since Friday, and it might not be back on until next Friday. Until then...

A Clip From My Favorite "That 70's Show" Episode

Let's go to Canada!

Link to second blog

Well, I have no patience when it comes to creating these things apparently. I fell I should forewarn you, it's a bit orangey, as I also ran out of patience searching for  template. Perhaps I shouldn't be getting on the internet late at night. I finally decided to call it "Three Flights Down" though the url has to have "-"s in-between the words cause some loser already took the normal url and then never even posted anything. Oh, well. Now I can get back to making this blog somewhat cool. Oh, right, here's the link. Though I'm sure it's on my profile by now.

Experiencing a Shortage of Title Names Currently

So I've decided to make another blog where I can post all the icky personal drama in my life. That way I can still you this one to write about cool stuff, and I won't feel like I'm coming off as an angsty person, cause I'll have this blog to redeem myself. I think this means I won't be able to post everyday, I'm aiming more towards the 5-4 days every week range.  I just have to come up with a name for my second blog... this is where I get stuck. Doodles from A Dream was the name of a mix CD a made back in middle school and lost before I could listen to it. So I've had the awesome cover art (awesome by my middle school standards) sitting around (somewhere) with no CD to go with it for years. I think I google the phrase and nothing else really seemed to have the name, so thats how I came up with it. I'm thinking the next name should come from music, and I've got some ideas, but I have to think it over for a little while. Or at least until I get spontaneous.

Band I Dig: Acid Eyeliner

I found out about Acid Eyeliner from the flyer for the Come Together Festival. This flyer has essentially be my guide to some of Australia's awesome rock/indie rock/whatever rock bands. I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier to look to Australia for new music, needless to say 

my music taste has grown and my ears are happy. So anyways I was going through the list and I got to Acid Eyeliner and I was thinking they were probably going to be this really hard rock metal band with a whole lot of screaming going on. I go to their myspace page and the first song

I hear is called "Kissing You In The Driveway". Not what I expected. They may have a badass name that'll make your mom nervous, but they're actually a little teddy bear-like. They've still had their share of heartbreak and life though, which makes their album Future Lies quite appealing. I finally go a hold of their album a couple of days ago, which was quite satisfying since I had really only been able to listen to their new stuff via their myspace page. I was doing some searching on them, (though I can't remember why, given that I was searching at two in the morning) and found this interview with the lead singer/Guitarist Lukey Lukess. It kinda makes me like them even more. Here's a link to their site.

Thingy: Alice in Wonderland Accessories

I've been on an Alice in Wonderland kick lately so I thought it would be interesting to find so accessories to go with my addiction. I found a cool Charm Bracelet. It costs $60. 

If that's too busy and too expensive I found a necklace made out of a scrabble tile for $9.

Plus, I don't know about you, but I'm always finding curiosities and not being able to write them down. Viola! Problem solved for $10.

And I am regrettably not British, so I couldn't tell you when tea time is, so I will sport this in the meantime ($14).

And for the truly devoted, shoes ($55).

Success!

I finally figured out the template thing, though it was quite confusing for a while there. Although my link lists are gone, But luckily I saved my counter. I'm thinking I'll be going back to posting cool stuff I find and random doodles. I'm thinking of getting another blog and making it more of a personal thing, of course that would mean then having to up date two blogs (technically three, though the last one is super easy) This one could be the cool one...  Maybe that'll happen this weekend... or during the week if I can't sleep. On the upside, (though I don't think I was on the downside) I found a bunch of new sites this long weekend so I have a fresh list of cool things to write about. I feel like saying kowabunga but that would make no sense at all, plus I don't even think that's spelled correctly. Oh well, why start making sense now? Kowabunga.

Construction-ness

Hopefully I'll be getting a new template soon... despite following directions that the site had instead of a template I got gibberish. I posted in the help group forum so hopefully I'll get it sorted out. Until then if something looks funny thats why.

I figure since my blog is called "Doodles from a Dream" I should probably post some doodles. I went the safe route with this one though, cause I couldn't remember if I would need to censor anything on the other ones I've scanned in. I'm thinking I should become more visual. Sometimes I think I'd communicate better if I drew pictures of what I was trying to say. Oh, and lets make the text purple, just for fun.  In other good news I got a siggy for the message boards (signature that you put at the bottom of you posts) of one of the websites I'm on. It's a Jimmy Eat World quote. See it below. Perhaps I should try to fade my postings... Just to jazz it up a bit.

Lie, lie better next time, 

stay on my side tonight 

..................*********** 

My Favorite News Channel

Current TV is a cable/satellite news station that is somewhat run by it's viewers. You can vote on what gets put on the channel. Plus there's always tons of different stories playing 24/7. Every time I turn the channel on I learn something new. For those of you that don't get current you can watch pretty much everything they have on their channel and more on their website.  You can also create content and submit it for review (if they like it they put it on tv) through pods and viewer created ad messages.

My favorite features include infoMania: (sorry about the butt picture! It really is good I promise)

and the movie reviews complete with viewer commentary

A Picture is Worth A 1000 Words

Here's a link to a story I saw on AOL where a wedding photographer captured some pictures of the earthquake that happened in China.

Random Stuff

Hmm..  I'm a neglectful blogger. I'm thinking of going with a different angle. I don't think that made sense. It's really annoying how I keep getting busy. Hmm I post an old collage. I made this one on an environmental kick over a year ago.

Cool Movie: Dear Jack

If your know of the bands Jack's Mannequin or Something Corporate you might be familiar with this story. (And if you have know idea who I'm talking about you might want to try listening to a thing called music. Seriously though, check them out I really doubt you won't like them if you give them a chance.) The release date has yet to be announced, but it's said to be coming out sometime this year. Here's the synopsis from the website.

With his debut solo album on the horizon, 22-year old Something Corporate singer Andrew McMahon expected big things in 2005. 

Leukemia wasn't one of them. 

"Dear Jack" chronicles McMahon on a rollercoaster year, through the highs of recording and releasing a solo album (under the name Jack's Mannequin) and the lows of being diagnosed with leukemia and breaking up with the love of his life.

Using a DV camera Maverick Records bought him to capture the making of his album, Andrew shot everything before and after the crucial day in May of 2005 when he both finished the project and was diagnosed with cancer. The documentary is a raw look  at the battle that is leukemia, from spinal taps to radiation, from using a lint brush to remove your hair to infusing your body with someone else's stem cells ( in the case, Andrew's sister Kate, coincidently on the exact date his album was released).

The film opens on the day Andrew is diagnosed and follows him through every scary, life-changing and intensely personal event that follows. It also flashes back to this childhood, the making of the Jack's Mannequin album and his collaboration with Tommy Lee, one of the last concerts he played before becoming ill, and his relationships with the two most crucial woman in his life, his sister and her best friends. 

"Dear Jack" is a breathtakingly emotional film, as well as a testament to family, friends and, perhaps more than anyone will ever know, a love of making music.

Wicked Site: Cafe Press

Cafe Press Get awesome tv shirts that look like they could have come from your favorite tv show here also looks like a pretty good way to start designing stuff if you've ever wanted to get into that.

Thingy: Random Object Necklaces

Anyone else want a necklace that says something? I've fond some pretty intersting ones. From top to bottom:

Lightning Bolt Necklace - Perhaps for the Harry Potter fan who doesn't want to wear their lightning bolt on their forehead? from Girl Props get it for about $8.

Scissors Necklace - I'm always losing my scissors! from Mod Cloth get it for about $10

Unlock Heart Necklace - Comes with a key attached to the clasp, but you can remove it and give it to the person of your choosing, or if you want to kick it fairy-tale style, hide it in a castle guarded by a dragon. from fredflare get it for $35

Jesus' Face Necklace - If the classic cross doesn't do it for you, or to go with your "Jesus is my homeboy" tee. From Girl Props get it for about $7

Protect the Planet Necklace - Speak without uttering a word from alltherageonline get it for about $8

Pegasus Necklace - Can't promise it will make you fly, from alltherageonline get it for about $29

Red 1970's Rollerskate Necklace - Just add disco ball and big hair from Girl Props get it for about $5

KABOOM Necklace - When BOOM just isn't enough from Girl Props get it for about $6

Santa Maria Necklace - Some times I wish I could sail away... Especially if Johnny Depp is on the ship from fredflare for about $10

Event: Pangea Day

Here's how to watch If you're interested in seeing some famous people talk about it click here. 

There are also going to be musical performances, including some by the band Iranian Hypernova, 

it's illegal in Iran to listen to Western music, or play it, needless to say that didn't stop them.

Can you get anymore rock n roll than that?

Thingy: Hamburger Phone

Seriously, Who doesn't want one? And They're only $16. Get them here.

(OK, with schoolwork and well, I'll just say "other drama" I've fallen a bit behind. I'm hoping I''l be able to spend one day a week and type up all of my posts, then use the spiffy new timing post feature thing to post them on a daily basis)

Cool Movie: One Nine Nine Four

One Nine Nine Four is an upcoming documentary exploring the birth growth and eventual tipping point of punk rock during the 90s. They talk to tons of musicians from the nineties from bands like Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, Bad Religion, and more. The whole thing seems pretty awesome, I'm only bummed that I wasn't paying more attention to this stuff when it was going on.

Here's a teaser for it.

Wicked Site: Soundgirl

Everyone loves free indie music right? After creating an account on Soundgirl (which is completely pain free) you can download all of their mixes of indie music for free. If you want to check out some of the music they offer you can stream their "mp3" player without creating an account. They've also interviewed just about every artist they feature on their site. Though technically they design clothes inspired by music, Soundgirl has become one of my favorite music resources. Happy listening!