Mishmash Musings

I came here to post this YouTube video of a woman going absolutely flippin’ crazy after missing her Cathay Pacific flight at a Hong Kong airport. If you can stand high shrieks and screams in a foreign language, then have a look at this:

After getting ready to post this, I realized that I would now have three YouTube video clips on the front page of my blog. I used to hate it when people just posted videos because it seemed like such a cop-out, and now here I am doing the exact same thing!

Ugh, I need to break out of this funk and get back to some real blogging soon. In the meantime, I’m putting a self-imposed ban on posting YouTube clips for the next month!

When BlogExplosion was down for a few days earlier in the month, I looked around for a surfing alternative and came across a site called BlogClicker. It’s the same general idea as BlogExplosion, where you “earn” traffic to your own sites by surfing through others, but there are a few differences. After trying BlogClicker for a while, I’m ready to list the Pros and Cons of the site.

Pros:

• The surf timer is just 20 seconds as opposed to the 30 seconds required by BE. I think 20 seconds is enough time to skim the page and see if it’s something you want to read or not. I love that I can surf 33% faster with BC.
• Your sites are accepted automatically, without having to wait months and months for approval like on BE. Of course, this has a downside as well, which I’ll address in the next section.
• Instead of getting the “No More Active Sites” error that BE uses, you can recycle through the same sites with BC. Yes, it’s a bit boring to see the same pages several times in one surfing session, but at least I can earn the number of credits I want without having to wait for everything to reload.

Cons:

• Because site approval is automatic, there are tons of spammy “make money now” pages in the BC rotation. I would much rather see true blogs while I’m surfing than sit through an endless parade of splogs.
• Since BC is relatively new (I think), there’s not a lot of activity over there. It can take a few days for other people to reciprocate all the visits you’ve earned, which sucks. At least with BE, there are still some loyal surfers, so credits are always redeemed within 24 hours.
• There’s no forum and therefore no means of interacting with other community members to get site news or information. Yes, I know the BE forums aren’t exactly hopping, but at least they’re there, kwim?

Overall, I think BlogClicker has a lot of potential. There needs to be some quality control, however, to crack down on the number of splogs in the system, and the owners should do a lot more in the way of promoting the site in order to attract new users. If those two things happen, I’ll be happy. As it is, I’ll continue to visit BC, but only a couple times a week, as opposed to every day with BE.

Please tell me that Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance on the Letterman Show last night was some kind of joke. Phoenix, who has obviously done the talk show circuit before, acted like a totally clueless asshole, answering all of Dave’s questions with “Yes”, “No”, and “I don’t know.” He seemed offended that Letterman was even asking questions to begin with, and then pretended not to know a damn thing about the movie he was there to promote.

Phoenix’s behavior was so bizarre that people are already saying the whole thing was staged and was supposed to be some Andy Kaufman-like act or whatever. But I don’t get it. Why would Joaquin Phoenix deliberately want to look like a jerk here???

So what do you think about the massive stimulus package that Barack Obama is trying to push through Congress? According to an article I read in the WSJ yesterday, last month only 22% of people surveyed opposed the deal. This month, 34% oppose the plan, and sites like nostimulus.com have been seeing a huge surge in traffic.

Part of the problem is all of the extras, the “pork”, rolled into the stimulus bill. Obama keeps saying that there aren’t any pet projects or earmarked funds associated with the proposed bill, but that’s simply not true. An AP article yesterday (I would link to it, but I found it on Yahoo and they ALWAYS remove articles after a certain amount of time) pointed out several inconsistencies with what Obama is saying in his various pitches and what is actually in the bill.

Personally, I don’t think government spending on this scale is the way to bring this country out of the economic crisis. A massive influx of cash right now would be a band-aid at best, and could cause lots of problems in the future, such as inflation and higher taxes (after all, who do you think is really paying for this??).

If I had a vote, I’d go with no.

I don’t care about the Grammys at all, but I do like Jennifer Hudson, so I was thrilled to hear that she won her first Grammy for Best R&B album. She then followed that up with a live performance of her song You Pulled Me Through, something that obviously has a deeper meaning after the recent tragedy involving her mother, sister, and nephew in Chicago. It was an emotional performance by Hudson, who visibly wipes away tears at the end.

You know, usually I’m annoyed by former reality show “stars” who hang around far longer than they should. But I think Jennifer Hudson is so different. She actually has a lot of talent, both as a singer and as an actress, plus she seems truly down-to-earth and humble. I consider myself a fan and wish her continued success.

Anyway, here’s a YouTube video of Hudson winning the Grammy (presented by Whitney Houston), as well as her performance of “You Pulled Me Through” all in the same clip. Hopefully YouTube doesn’t pull this down soon!

I’m not planning on doing anything at all today. For once, I don’t have any errands to run, don’t have to go to the gym (I went last night), and don’t have lunch or dinner plans with friends. The grocery shopping was done on Friday, went to the bank on Saturday, and am all set for the week.

That means today I get to spend the whole day cozied up in my favorite leather recliner with my Kindle loaded with a bunch of new books. Add in a cranberry spritzer (cranberry juice with sparkling water), a bowl of popcorn, and a comfy Sferra blanket, and I’ll be all set.

Don’t expect me to get anything done today. I really need this time to decompress and relax! Peace out until Monday!

Have you read the recent news stories about how Disney theme parks are changing the “It’s a Small World” attraction? If you’ve been to one of the parks before, then I’m sure you know this is the boat ride that takes you through a bunch of different countries, featuring children’s dolls dressed in traditional clothes from that particular country. All throughout the ride, the song “It’s a Small World” plays. The whole thing is very relaxing and family-oriented, as you’d expect from Disney.

But now the company has changed the ride. They’ve gotten rid of the ethnic dolls and instead have installed dolls and images of Disney characters through the whole thing! So visitors will now see the likes of Lilo & Stitch, Aladdin, Buzz Lightyear, and a whole host of other Disney creations instead of the regular dolls.

This has caused quite a stir, as you might expect, with some people being absolutely outraged at the “commercial” aspect of the change and others looking forward to something different.

I happen to think the change is a bad idea. The whole point of It’s a Small World is to get a brief glimpse of other cultures, so why take that away? I mean, they already have the rest of the park to promote these Disney characters, so why dedicate an entire attraction to them? This is not a good move, IMO.

My skin has been getting progressively worse, so I finally broke down and made an appointment with my dermatologist. I only go there as a last resort since this type of thing is not covered on my insurance. I think the last time I was there was three or four years ago, but if I recall correctly, whatever medicine was prescribed actually worked pretty well — as long as I was taking it. Then my skin reverted to the same condition a couple weeks after I finished.

Going to the dermatologist is actually embarrassing for me. I know that it shouldn’t be, since it’s not like I’m going to the gyno to talk about vaginal dryness or a yeast infection. It’s just zits, right? But still, I can’t stand the way she shines a bright light right in my face, gets up all close and personal, and probes around my pores and stuff.

Oh, well, I’m going to have to suffer through this kind of embarrassment if I want to get better. None of the over-the-counter stuff has been working very well, so I don’t have much choice in the matter. I hate my skin!