Digital Media & Me!

This is it my friends!

My last unofficial post in to the world of the 'blogosphere' (I'm sure I'll continue to blog here and there after this date)!!

- Wikipedia.org
(Random, but I like the way this device looks!)

Over this Spring/Summer semester with this Independent Study class (while attending Delta College), I've really come to learn the intriguing realm of blogging. Where, Why, What, When and How to blog!
It's been pretty darn sweet, to be honest!!

Through this 'blog'ging' experience, I've had the topic of: "Music Editing & Exploration: In, Out and Around Film"!

I really hope that I've been entertaining to everyone out there that has had the glorious and most wonderful chance to bestow themselves upon my blog!
I also really hope that I've fulfilled the requirements for this Independent Study class and that I did a nice job of sticking to the general topic of the 'main topic' that I started with. I hope that I was able to fulfill myself in keeping true to my original topic and branching off of that.
That I was able to use my topic to branch out and broaden the horizon of that 'broad' topic that I choose (with interesting topics and intriguing information).
In turn, through my posts, show everyone that had the chance to read my words - what music, editing, photography and film meant to me - & what I think those things mean to the world. What I think those things mean to the future - & the future of 'Digital Media'!!

Media as in music, film, film editing, photography, etc. - & since it's the 21st century - everything is going digital: 'Digital Media' (this is more of my own opinion)!

I've truly had fun with this class, and I really think it has not only helped me to learn some things about myself as a writer & a blogger, but this class has also taught me many things about myself in general. Who I am, Who I was, and more importantly, Who I am going to be!
The future is important to me, just like (I'm sure) it is for most people!!
Through the blogs that I have written, I've learned where I am at with my future, and specifically, where I need to go - to achieve my goals and dreams!!

Before I go, I would like to leave you all with a great quote that I believe in, entirely: "All the great things are simple." - Winston Churchhill

Good times and great oldies as I always say. :)
Keep it real, keep it classy and keep it goin'!

Take er' easy and have a good one!
Later & Peace out!!

The movie: "August Rush"

As I say to anyone that has not seen this wonderful movie:

"If you even have the slightest passion for music, I think you'll love this movie!"

Now granted, this movie does get a little slow at parts and does seem a little dry (especially with the humor). Alas, this flik delivers a message that is one of the most powerful that I have ever seen coming from any other movie.

A message of hope, love, and most importantly, the power of music.

I do also believe, just as the little boy believes (whom of which is one of the main characters), Evan Taylor (or 'August Rush') , that music unites us, brings everyone together, and allows us to free ourselves of worry and doubt. In turn, filling our souls with love, joy, peace and happiness.

It's a powerful message with some powerful music along with it (in the movie), and this is why I simply fell in love with this film.



August Rush, directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis. - Wikipedia.org

Released in November of 2007, I ventured to the theaters the next month to see a movie that I was not expecting, to be so good. I'm not going to lie to you, I actually cried at the end. Now, I am quite the masculine man and believes in poker, beer and cigars on a Friday night. Alas, the message and the emotion gathered up in to a ball and released right at the end of the movie - was too much to handle. So I broke down in wonder and love for this movie that I had bestowed myself upon.

Therefore, I am promoting and inviting everyone who is out there to go out and rent, heck, even buy this movie. Again, if you have even the slightest passion for music, you will find love in this movie and I hope that you understand and capture the true meaning and essence of this film.

One thing that I found especially amazing, was a quote by the incredible actor, Robin Williams. In this movie, he played a man named, Maxwell Wallace with the alias, "Wizard". In the movie, he says, "You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, every where, even the stars." - imdb.com

This quote my friends, is awesome - because simply, it's very true. Harmonious connection between all living things on this Earth. Even between the stars in the sky to the people down below. Every one, every where!!

Beautiful, just beautiful.

(If you would like to get general information or specific information about this movie, go to the links provided. Also, if you would like to visit the official, "August Rush" website, click the link provided!)

:)
Till' next time!
Peace!

It's bugged. "The new iPhone3G"

Twice as slow. "Half the price."

A little false advertising, I think.

Recently, the newest edition of the highly anticipated iPhone series has been released - with many bugs attached!

This has irked, frustrated and aggravated many buyers.
An article from The Huffington Post (on-line) from New York states one man's frustration from these bugs, "It's such grief and aggravation". This was said by, "an insurance broker in Whitman, Mass., after spending two hours on the phone with Apple and AT&T Inc., trying to get his new iPhone to work."

Looks like this new iPhone is not worth all the hype!
Friday, July 11th, 2008. The iPhone was released to everyone in the world - problem was, on this day - the release of the phone - most customers could not get their phones to work. The issue was with the servers and the actual, "activation" of the phones - so that people could do normal things, like: browse the Internet, check 'YouTube' and other programs that involve AT&T usage.

Peter Svensson from The Huffington Post stated that, "A spokesman for AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., said there was a global problem with Apple's iTunes servers that prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store, as had been planned."

Since the release date, many of the bugs have been worked out. The kinks have been undone and most of the holes have been filled. There still are other issues. For example, the SMS Typing on the new iPhone3G is 'laggy' (for texting)!

Word! This was an interesting and slightly disappointing fact that I came to find out about! Never the less, I will most likely buy the next iPhone to come out (assuming the next will not have any bugs or major issues (especially on the day it is released!))!!



Alas, if you are interested in the current version of the iPhone, you can buy two types. The first is the 8GB (giga-byte) black in color, for only $199. The second is the 16GB black or white in color, for $299.
If you would like to check out the store, feel free!
If you would like to check this device out through AT&T and also find out the nearest place near you where you can purchase one, feel free!
(here's the article that I got the info. & quotes from!)

Best Buy is always a great place for Apple merch as well (in your town or on-line)!

Awesome! :)

Till' next time, peace!!

Brett Trafford Photography

Hey now, lookie' here!
Right as I'm on the topic of photography - I find a forty-one year young photographer!

This is cool because this is the first time that I've blogged about someone else or even made a reference towards someone else's blog - plus, this man is in to the same stuff that I am in to right now (aka: photography!)!

His name is Brett Trafford, and I find his work to be very creative, intriguing and just really good!

I like photography, he likes photography - we seem to have the same personality traits (patience, seeing the beauty in simple or small things (elements in life that others wouldn't usually notice), both have an interest in the media/photography - we also both enjoy taking photos of similar things (nature, animals, simple stuff!)!

For example:
- Brett Trafford Photography

A flippin' sweet looking bird - well done on the lighting and amazing focus on the detail of the face!! Love it!

Something that caught my eye in a recent post (by Brett) made me really think - & the interesting thing is, it reminded me of myself (my personality) and the kinds of things I enjoy capturing on camera!!
First, here's the photo:
- Brett Trafford Photography

The title of this photo is, "This Way". The amazing this really is, the message he had, before presenting the picture. He says, "Today’s photo, just an old sign post, most people would rush past looking for the path, but if you stop and look around for a moment there’s beauty everywhere."

Wow. Okay, wow! This is not only a great photo, but the message, the message is so deep and makes so much sense. I really think this is America today. I could go on longer and deeper about this, but. So many people in today's society are just rushing, all the time to get from point A to point B - non-stop, all day! They never take the time to just stop, take a moment and, "look around for a moment - there's beauty everywhere". Exactly!
I believe in this whole-heartedly - there IS beauty everywhere you look, in everything - with a bit of optimism and positive vibes, I think everyone can acheive this outlook. It's truely a blessing to just stop, and not only smell the roses, but to notice the beauty in everything.

After all, this is God's green earth, he created everything we see (basically)! The not-so-natural things that he didn't create, well technically he did - because he created every human being on this Earth (technically speaking) and these humans have created these, 'not-so-natural' things. Like buildings or plastic or garbage cans - God didn't make those - but he made the humans that made them - sooo it's like a desendant of God's creation, a second party if you will!!

;) I hope you guys enjoy that theory/perspective - mind you, this is only what I think - I'd like to believe it sounds somewhat coherent, but ya know, it's all good - makes sense to me!

Anyway, back to the photo, it is truely beautiful. It represents beauty in simple things within our life! Also, his perspective (the quote I used) reminds me of myself and my personality - *chuckles* that quote is like something that I would say - I guess because I beleive in that statment and perspective 110%!!

Well, through looking around his blog, I've learned a lot about who he is, about photography and actually, a bit about who I am! I can vouch to say, that this was definitely an enjoyable experience!! :D

If you are interested in finding out more about Brett Trafford Photography - click on this link!!!

Till' next time,
Peace!

Photography & Me!

It's good to know that there's more to life than TV, a nice 'lazy-boy' and some sour cream with potato chips..!

PHOTOGRAPHY!!
Yes! Life has photography and photography has life (with many images of, well, endless possibilities)!

This type of media is one that I have slowly, but surely grown fond of over the past twenty-one years. This type of medium continues to grow, in:

• Popularity (& no, I'm not in to this because it's the "COOL" thing to do!!)
• Style
• Equipment
• Etc.

It's an ever-changing, ever-growing, always evolving type of media. And this type my friends, intrigues me.

I've always enjoyed taking photos of things, anything really. When I was younger though, it was more family photos more than anything. Although, I would always enjoy taking the picture and sometimes capturing people at weird, but unique and crafty angles.

Then, stealing from my Mom, I would grab her film-camera and just take photos of things up, inside and out, plus around the house. Then all the way to about three years ago, I got my first digital camera!
-usa.canon.com
This camera is still the one that I use today!

It is a Canon - PowerShot A540!
-This link will allow you to check out the 'specs' of the camera and a general overview with other specific specifications!

This is a very easy to use, versatile, quality camera that delivers - more BANG for your buck as I would say (and I do say!)! 6.0 mega pixels of ULTIMATE power!

Capturing moments, capturing life!
Love it!

Nature, landscapes, just natural things -- These are my favorite things to capture and photograph!

I believe those three things are the most beautiful to photograph in this world!!

Traveling around the world or just in my own town - being outside and capturing things out in the bright, beautiful sun - is So much fun!
Thus, my love for photography is growing and growing!!

Now, I believe it's time to save up for a better camera, better lens, just better equipment - once I have acquired these things, the skies the limit!!!

That's all for now!

Later & Peace!

KNOLS

I ran into an interesting little piece about knols. I think we will be hearing a lot about this in the coming weeks and months.

A newer form of researching, the knol will help people who are looking for specific information find an authoritative article about a specific topic. We can attribute the knol to none other than


who launched the knol very recently.

By the way, Knol, short for "knowledge," is essentially a cross between Wikipedia and About.com.

Knol's distinctions from Wikipedia are that authors are identified by their real names (and verified), and that they can share in ad revenue if they choose to. The service initially features a lot of medical articles, which is interesting considering that Medipedia also launched today. This medical wiki is backed by Harvard's and Stanford's medical schools.

Here's how it works as explained on the website of

"An enormous amount of information resides in people's heads," wrote the company in its official blog. "Knol will encourage these people to contribute their knowledge online and make it accessible to everyone."

Each entry will have an identified author (or group of authors). The site also introduces a collaborative feature that will allow readers to make suggested edits, which the original author may then choose to accept, reject or modify.

People also can submit comments, rate or write a review of a knol. Authors also can choose to run ads through Google's AdSense program, sharing the proceeds with the company.

Sounds like a cool new addition to the Internet.

Check out a sample:


Knowledge is power!

Go Google.

Bye for now.

WALL-E

Last week I went to see the new Pixar movie, Wall-E, and I must say, it is one of the best animated films I have ever seen. It is so full of heart it hurts.

Easily one of Pixar's best (It's up in the air between this and Finding Nemo for me), WALL-E stars a lovable little trash compacting robot called by his model type: WALL-E. This little robot has been tasked with cleaning up the trashed remains of an Earth forgotten. By himself. Somehow, all the other little WALL-Es are not functional, but I don't ask why because this one that still works is just so darn cute! Through his thousands of years, functioning on solar power and the drive to follow his programming, the little guy developed a personality. He gained a sort of child-like wonder about the world around him, stocking up on just about anything he finds interesting, from Rubix Cubes to jewelry cases.

Just this part of the movie alone is wonderous. It has that little touch of something unique, something special. You know from the start that this is not going to be some run-of-the-mill Disney flick. It's almost impossible to describe, and it has to be seen to be understood. Just the fact that there is no dialogue in the first 30 minutes of the film has to mean something.

The film also makes a statement. But it doesn't do it pretentiously, and is never preachy. Some republicans will say this movie is evil liberal fascist propaganda, but those people are also dumb and have no imagination.

This story takes you somewhere else. It takes you to a future Earth without humans, just trash. And one lonely robot to clean it all up. It takes you into outer space, to a spaceship filled with the rest of the human race, then back to Earth again. Seriously, see WALL-E. It is an amazing movie. Not for a very long time has a film brought out that sort of childlike wonder that transports you into a different world. You'll be smiling the entire time.