PromoGuy dot Net

PromoGuy on MySpace

I figured it was time I promoted my MySpace page. I have let it linger since 2005, so maybe you might want to help me get it going.

http://www.myspace.com/promoguy

Right now I am "pimping my Profile" so that is a work in progress.

I have a whopping 2, count 'em, 2 comments!

Oh, and I have like 10 friends, so that's not too bad I guess. (And since one is Jerry Lee Lewis, that should count for, like, 100)

Anyhow, come on by, and show me a thing or two about MySpace!

Book Look: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Any Harry Potter Fans out there?

Wanted to remind you that you still have time to pre-order your copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in either the standard, or deluxe version.

I just hope the rumors are not true....

Music Heard in JC Penney Commercial: Here Comes Santa Claus Its A Wonderful Night

The new JC Penney Christmas commercial (2006) is probably the first time I've ever heard a mash-up (mashup ?) used for Christmas music. JC Penny just got lot cooler to me.

Did you like it as much as I did? It is a misture of 2 songs...

Here comes Santa Claus
Here comes Santa Claus
Right down Santa Claus Lane
It's a wonderful night
Ya gotta take it from me
It's a wonderful night
Ya gotta shake it for me

Now, as for who sings it? That is a bit complicated...read on....

The first song is "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Claus Lane)" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters. You can find it on the "Polar Express" soundtrack album. It is also on iTunes

The second portion, is "Its a wonderful night" by Fatboy Slim, and can be found on his album "Why Try Harder." Get it at iTunes too

As far as I can tell, this mashup is not available for sale, and probably does not even exist in a full length version.

Just FYI, there are a total of 4 spots. 2 are :30 and 2 are :15, and the :15 spots have a cool echo effect that is not in the :30 version. See them all on the JC Penney website, for a limited time I'm sure.

*UPDATE*
The music in this spot was produced (?) mixed (?) mashed (?) by iDigMusic in Chicago. You can even visit the "Video" section of their site to download a nice, crisp Quicktime version of the J C Penny X-Mas commercial (or is it X-mash?). It is only :30 long, but it beats watching it on YouTube. I do not think you need to go about bugging iDigMusic for a full version, they are aware of how popular this has become. I bet they are doing their best to make it available - music rights and all that legal red tape, you know.
*END UPDATE*

Watch it right here, via YouTube.

You used to Blog ... and you still want to

I know you are out there. You had a blog. Even had your own site. You blogged, and then, stopped. You have tried to blog again, but never could keep it going.

Maybe it was because you were busy. Or you were never sure you were writing to anyone but yourself. Maybe it got boring. Maybe you just never got any comments. Or you wanted to write things you wanted fellow bloggers to see, but not family. Or vice versa. Probably both.

Or maybe, really, what it was, is that you just felt all alone.

It doesn't have to be that way anymore.

Now there is VOX. And I want you to join up (you know I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it was going to be perfect for you). Yes, it is free silly, you know I am all about the "free." There is a waiting list, but I can get you in right now.

With Vox, you can keep posts private, share with friends, or family or both, or neither. You can upload photos and decide who can see them. You control who sees what.

The best part though, you don't have to feel alone anymore. VOX is all about Community. And fun. Finding people with similar interests, sharing with them, and feeling part of something. You aren't just a reader. You are not just a blogger. You. Belong.

I will send you an invitation, just send me your e-mail address. Or, you can just leave a comment with an email - comment are not auto-published, so no one will see it. And of course, I won't publish your comment or info.

I don't mind if other folks reading this ask to join Vox too. Go ahead. But I only have a few invitations, and I am going to have to be selective. But your Vox invitation will be reserved.

Let me know.

Misc Quoted

Just some random stuff....

Did anyone notice that the ads for "Accepted" lovingly announce "...from the studio that brought you 'American Pie'..." From the "studio." Seriously, the studio? Not the producers, directors or writers. Not even the usual "from the 'people' that brought you...." All the have to fall back on is "the studio." Wow, could they be more desperate for a connection to a hit movie? Could this be a sign towards the quality of the movie? How long you wanna bet it takes before they run ads with positive review quotes? That is a sure sign of desperation!

Kevin Smith has a blog that is a lot of fun to read. Love those rants, man that cat can tear someone up!

When I read blogs where people talk about World of Warcraft, guilds and alliances - my brain goes numb and my eyes gloss over. I have no idea what they are talking about. When it comes to the world of online games, I am 100% ignorant.

If you aren't checking BoingBoing.net each day then you are missing out on some really cool things on the web. Like this Star Wars prop-building forum. Or a building covered with a rainbow of exploding paint cans (and it's sister video of 250,000 bouncing balls down a San Fransisco street).

Gone: MGM Grand Wizard of Oz Attraction

When I visited Vegas back in 1994, the MGM Grand was the highlight of my trip.

That was when the entire hotel was engulfed in a "Wizard of Oz" theme. It was amazing! They also had the EFX show starring David Crawford (or Rick Springfield, since closed) which I didn't see. But the Oz things were just amazing.

Since then, 2000 or so, the Oz concept was removed from the hotel/casino. I think even the entrance through the giant Lion's mouth was removed. Pity. I saw that some of the statues and displays found their way to the Oz Museum in Kansas. Maybe there was an auction or motion to save them at the time. Glad some of it survived.

You can see what the MGM Grand was like by visiting Jim's Ozzy Adventure pages. He has a great collection of photos and if you are an Oz fan, be sure to take your time looking over his pages.

In fact, I can't find hardly ANY photos or web pages dedicated to this lost era of the MGM grand.

In my next essay - Gone: The Great Pie Restaurants!

Moving On Up

I am attempting this weekend to move this blog from Movabletype to WordPress.

It of course, means a lot of glitches will happen. Google hits might not work.

But it will also mean a lot less SPAM for me to delete on a daily basis.

And since this isn't an active of a blog anymore, most of ya won't notice a little downtime.

Wish me luck - I never have liked these conversions.

UPDATE:

OK, I changed my mind.

I decided that it would be much easier (though still taking some effort) to upgrade my MovableType from 2.somethin' to 3.lastestversionx. While I love WordPress, and use it elsewhere, it was just too much to bother with the import/export process, not to mention re-formatting all my templates and fixing old links for Google and such. I'd love to, but I don't have the time for the geeky stuff anymore. Anyway, the blog is working.

Pierce, my man, your last comment was lost in the transition. Nothing personal, just something went glitchy.

Otherwise, everything is cool. I am sure there are some issues that will pop up. Let me know if you see something odd (other than my face).

But the main thing is that all comments will be held for moderation. Meaning, comment spam is a thing of the past!

Woo-Hooo!

Seriously, some days I would have 100+ comments on OLD posts that were nothing but SP@M. Deleting them one by one is just so not fun.

Anyway, it was a breeze and I am glad it is over.

Have a nice weekend y'all!

Wooden Spooning

I don't like wooden spoons. Precisely, when you have to taste something off a wooden spoon (batter and such), I just hate the "wooden" taste. Doesn't matter if it is Kool-aid, lemonaide, brownie mix, whatever, there is always that lingering wooden taste.

Now, this may seem odd, but to me, even the wooden stir sticks at Starbucks have this effect. And I am not sure, but I think I can even taste it in my coffee.

OK, now this is the part of the post where you tell me I am not weird.

Grey is the new Gray

Is the color between black and white spelled "Gray" or "Grey"?

As it turns out, both are correct. Sort of.

Much like "color" and "colour" it depends on where you live. In most of the rest of the world, "Grey" is used (my favorite - if it is good enough for a crayon, it is good enough for me). In the good ol' US of A, well, we have to be difficult. We toss out the "e" and stuff in an "a."

Still, in most cases, it won't matter which you use.

For more on this topic, visit Bernie's site. Be sure to read the comments, where a very "colourful" discussion takes place.

By the way, I am always pronouncing "color" as "collar." I sound like a hick when I do that.

Now if I could only remember to spell "lose" as "lose" and not "loose."

Plagiarisim? Nah, It's a Mash-Up!

After all the bashing that poor Kaavya is getting for having passages so many different books show up in hers ("How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got A Life"), the media should wake-up.

This is 2006! Plagiarisim is so 1990's. It's called a "Mash-up" media people. It is happening in music, in software, in art, yes, even in books. Get used to it, it isn't going away.

Inspired by Wane&Wax's post.

Further Reading\Listening:
Bootie - downloads
MashIt - DJ mixes
New Yorker The new math of mashups - article
Mashup ecosystem poised to explode -software
It's all in the mix - software
Wikipedia - Mashup (web application hybrid)

An Expert At What?

According to Squidoo, "Everyone's An Expert."

I have been pondering this on and off for months.

Just what am I an expert at? (pardon the poor english, we can both agree that isn't my expert area)

I might be an expert at:

Starting books and never finishing any of them
Procrastination
Creating clutter
Starting an argument
Never letting things go
Short-term obsessive behavior
Great ideas with zero follow-through
Collecting DVDs
Making a To-Do list then forgetting where I put it
Stacking/cramming more things in a garage in such a creative way that no mere mortal could compare
Registering amazingly creative domain names, never doing a thing with them, wasting money renewing them, then letting them expire
Creating blogs then never giving them any attention (oops)
Telling other people how to do things better
Ignoring wise advice
Losing track of time
Daydreaming
Expecting more from others than I do myself

How about you? At what are you an expert?

I have never ...

Played Half-Life 1 or 2
Played a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, like World of Warcraft)
Played an X-Box (regular or 360)
Played a Game Cube
Played a Nintendo DS (lite or regular)
Had a student loan
Attended a blogger convention
Made a podcast
Installed a motherboard (but I will soon)
Owned a Mac (but I might since you can boot Windows on 'em)
Gone Cow Tipping
Been satisfied for long
Felt I needed a camera-phone
Purchased auto insurance online
Sold a domain name for huge profits
Participated in a "my operating system is better that yours" debate
Had anything pierced
Needed a personal injury lawyer
Hitched a ride with a stanger
Liked Charlie Sheen
Shaved my head
Had a tatoo
Created a Flickr account
Traveled to another country
Had braces
Broken any bones
Finsihed a video game without a cheat code (I blame AADD)

KB had a great idea - he joined in! I encourage you to blog on this too, and post a link back here so we can read it. Then you can tell two friends, and they can tell two friends, and so on ... and so on ...

The Do-Not-Call-List Loophole

Just when you think you've put end end to the phone solicitors, they discover a way around the so-called "Do-not-call" list.

Now they say they are calling to "take a survey." Or, calling to inform me about "a new service we are providing in your neighborhood."

Riiiiiight.

Big Fat Liars!

If you are calling me during dinner to take a survey, you are a solicitor in my book.

A Birthday For Me

Hey folks, did you know that today just happens to be my Birthday?

Yep, time for one of those again! I don't feel any older, but the calendar is telling me otherwise. It just doesn't seem possible that I am 39. Me! How in the world did that happen?

In my mind I am still 22, running wild without a care in the world. But sometimes the mirror decides I need a reality check. Yeah, the hair ain't as low on the forehead as it used to be, I don't fit in those 32 waist 501's anymore, and I now have white hair in places I never thought was possible!

Still, as the old (cheesy) joke goes, it beats the alternative.

Life is pretty dang good these days. Long-time followers of this blog know I've had a good share of struggles over the years, but the Lord has been faithful and opened my eyes to so many things.

I have a dinner out tonight with the family and some co-workers are taking me out to lunch today. Too bad you can't do lunch in the blog world, I'd love to hang out with everyone who reads here.

All-in-all, I am glad to be alive. (hey DJ, queue up "Born to be Alive")

This looks to be a mighty-fine day!

Bloody hell, why am I in Oklahoma?

After watching this amazing (and by amazing, I mean in makes you smile as well as making you wish you were there) commercial for Australia, I find myself thinking Sea World for summer vacation just aint gonna cut it!

Watch the spot here!