As much fun I've had here on Randall@NYC, I am indeed no longer in NYC, so it's time to move to the next stage of my life. To make this blog transition easier for everyone (I'm looking at you, Shauna! :) ) I created a new domain name. Write this down!
http://www.randallcbennett.com/
Easy, right? I've switched to Dreamhost with Wordpress, which seems to be as extensible as I want it to be.
Again, thanks for reading. I'll have my first post within minutes!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Nobody's watching Taran on the Price is Right
I've talked about Nobody's Watching a bunch of times on this blog, mainly cause I think it's so genious, but today as I was working for the CBS O&O KUTV, I saw him as a contestant! The other guy was also in the audience, which is friggin awesome. Too bad, however, Katie Couric cut in on the price is right. I'm sure it'll end up on youtube within a few hours.
Sidechannel: I switched hosting providers to Dreamhost, and as such, I'll be moving my blog within a few days to a new address, RandallcBennett.com (randallbennett.com is taken, of course...) right now that address redirects here, but it's going to completely change (new design, new publishing platform, etc etc.) expect to see more soon.
Sidechannel: I switched hosting providers to Dreamhost, and as such, I'll be moving my blog within a few days to a new address, RandallcBennett.com (randallbennett.com is taken, of course...) right now that address redirects here, but it's going to completely change (new design, new publishing platform, etc etc.) expect to see more soon.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
James Kim & Ryan Bennett
Similarities?
Check Wikipedia for Ryan and James, but off the grief factor / sadness tip, both were 35 when they died (Ryan was born August 20th 70, James August 9th 71) both leaving behind a wife and kids, both were well respected members of the media, both popular in their own niches, both gone too soon. It's been almost exactly six months. (Ryan was May 31, Kim was reported missing on November 30)
Yeah, talk about old wounds.
Check Wikipedia for Ryan and James, but off the grief factor / sadness tip, both were 35 when they died (Ryan was born August 20th 70, James August 9th 71) both leaving behind a wife and kids, both were well respected members of the media, both popular in their own niches, both gone too soon. It's been almost exactly six months. (Ryan was May 31, Kim was reported missing on November 30)
Yeah, talk about old wounds.
James Kim, RIP
I was just sure of it. Absolutely sure of it. I thought after searchers found the family that James would be found alive. Unfortunately for the tech community, and more specifically his family, the body of James Kim was found in the oregon wilderness earlier today.
http://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
CNet, Kim's employer, has the full details.
I thought it would end differently for his family. I really truly did. It's hard for me to know if it was for a reason, or why things like this happen, but one thing is for certain... I hope my brother and James get to meet up for the heavenly equivalent of a cup of coffee and talk about their awesome lives as fathers, husbands and men who are deeply respected in their communities.
As I write this blog post, the tears come welling up. It's an unfortunate reminder of our mortality, and an unfortunate flashback to June.
James, I never knew you, but if you can read blog posts in heaven, I know a ton of people who cared for you deeply. Have a good time up there, and continue to watch over your family always. Your kids can always watch videos of you, which I know is of little consolation, but for me and my brother's situation, it seemed to calm me down a little. However, now that you've got the ultimate perspective, say what's up to my brother and sister. Let them know I miss them a lot.
Ryan and Veronica, I know it doesn't help right now, but I know exactly how you feel. Ryan, you were there for me at a crazy freaking time. I was in complete shock, and you somehow helped me through it. You've got my number/email, call me. Anytime.
http://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
CNet, Kim's employer, has the full details.
I thought it would end differently for his family. I really truly did. It's hard for me to know if it was for a reason, or why things like this happen, but one thing is for certain... I hope my brother and James get to meet up for the heavenly equivalent of a cup of coffee and talk about their awesome lives as fathers, husbands and men who are deeply respected in their communities.
As I write this blog post, the tears come welling up. It's an unfortunate reminder of our mortality, and an unfortunate flashback to June.
James, I never knew you, but if you can read blog posts in heaven, I know a ton of people who cared for you deeply. Have a good time up there, and continue to watch over your family always. Your kids can always watch videos of you, which I know is of little consolation, but for me and my brother's situation, it seemed to calm me down a little. However, now that you've got the ultimate perspective, say what's up to my brother and sister. Let them know I miss them a lot.
Ryan and Veronica, I know it doesn't help right now, but I know exactly how you feel. Ryan, you were there for me at a crazy freaking time. I was in complete shock, and you somehow helped me through it. You've got my number/email, call me. Anytime.
Chase, you're horrible.
Chase Bank... in case you were wondering why I hadn't used my checking account in three months... this is a pretty good indication.
I logged into my account, which had about five bucks in it, and I see my checking account balance is $0.00
12/05/2006 SERVICE FEE $5.82
Yeah... The service fee? They took all my money cause I hadn't used the account in a few months.
This, Chase, is why I'll never use you again. You served a convienient purpose with your numerous New York ATMs, but going forward I'll only deposit a few hundred dollars at a time to use your convenient ATMs.
I hate you Chase. I hate you, and I never loved you. I won't take it back, we're THROUGH.
I logged into my account, which had about five bucks in it, and I see my checking account balance is $0.00
12/05/2006 SERVICE FEE $5.82
Yeah... The service fee? They took all my money cause I hadn't used the account in a few months.
This, Chase, is why I'll never use you again. You served a convienient purpose with your numerous New York ATMs, but going forward I'll only deposit a few hundred dollars at a time to use your convenient ATMs.
I hate you Chase. I hate you, and I never loved you. I won't take it back, we're THROUGH.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Slipping...
So I'm not depressed again, but I've been having a kind of rough three days. A few things kind of kicked off the crap. First, I started clenching my teeth real bad, and now my front tooth hurts kind of bad.
More importantly, second, James Kim & family are missing. I don't know James Kim, I just know some friends of friends, but the whole story makes me sick to my stomach. For the uninitiated, James went to thanksgiving dinner in Seattle. He never returned to his San Francisco home or office. There's a full scale search in progress, but no one knows where he or his family are. Remember last Saturday? There was all that snow in the northwest, making the roads kind of bad. Police have also confirmed that neither James, nor his wife, have used their cellphones or credit cards in a week. While I don't want to think for the worst, I do. The whole scenario is horrid, and kicks me right back to June... but it also makes me realize that part of my family is still here, and just my brother is gone. Tragic? Of course. Both scenarios are horrid. I'm praying for his family, I'd encourage you to do the same.
More importantly, second, James Kim & family are missing. I don't know James Kim, I just know some friends of friends, but the whole story makes me sick to my stomach. For the uninitiated, James went to thanksgiving dinner in Seattle. He never returned to his San Francisco home or office. There's a full scale search in progress, but no one knows where he or his family are. Remember last Saturday? There was all that snow in the northwest, making the roads kind of bad. Police have also confirmed that neither James, nor his wife, have used their cellphones or credit cards in a week. While I don't want to think for the worst, I do. The whole scenario is horrid, and kicks me right back to June... but it also makes me realize that part of my family is still here, and just my brother is gone. Tragic? Of course. Both scenarios are horrid. I'm praying for his family, I'd encourage you to do the same.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Confidence part deux
So two things...
Thanks to the commenters for rocking out. No one has my back refers to my immediate life, as opposed to my life at large. My immediate little circle of goodness that I see frequently and talk to frequently, no one has expressed true support in my eyes. REGARDLESS, I heard an awesome quote today... some astronomers from the early days of astronomy that discovered all the different kinds of stars and the sort (Galileo, etc) said they had to stand on the shoulders of people that came before them to see new ideas. I feel kind of like that. I think I'm standing on the shoulders of people around me to see some new ideas. I'm sure people do have my back (Especially J, Josh, Kerry, Christoph, Alex, the list goes on...) but some folks in my immediate circle were pissing me off, which resulted in the anger filled (and excessive) blog post. Sorry if I pissed you off, I was probably not talking about you if you're reading this blog. It's people that don't read my blog, and I was venting.
As for the other thing... J is one of the funniest kids EVAR, and I just realized that in my google reader refresh (I switched RSS readers from Newzcrawler to Google's wonderful reader) I forgot to bring along his site to the goog. Now I did, and I'm so glad I did.
Example of his brilliance?
He want's backup dancers.
Yeah, he's awesome, right?
Thanks to the commenters for rocking out. No one has my back refers to my immediate life, as opposed to my life at large. My immediate little circle of goodness that I see frequently and talk to frequently, no one has expressed true support in my eyes. REGARDLESS, I heard an awesome quote today... some astronomers from the early days of astronomy that discovered all the different kinds of stars and the sort (Galileo, etc) said they had to stand on the shoulders of people that came before them to see new ideas. I feel kind of like that. I think I'm standing on the shoulders of people around me to see some new ideas. I'm sure people do have my back (Especially J, Josh, Kerry, Christoph, Alex, the list goes on...) but some folks in my immediate circle were pissing me off, which resulted in the anger filled (and excessive) blog post. Sorry if I pissed you off, I was probably not talking about you if you're reading this blog. It's people that don't read my blog, and I was venting.
As for the other thing... J is one of the funniest kids EVAR, and I just realized that in my google reader refresh (I switched RSS readers from Newzcrawler to Google's wonderful reader) I forgot to bring along his site to the goog. Now I did, and I'm so glad I did.
Example of his brilliance?
He want's backup dancers.
Yeah, he's awesome, right?
Monday, November 27, 2006
Smil gave me a frwn
Smil is an xml markup language. Basically, it tells video files what to do, kind of like a playlist. The only prob being, it doesn't transition smoothly between video files as I'd like. So I've either got to figure out how to command flash to do my bidding via XML, OR, figure out a better way to make Smil transition properly between video elements. I guess I could always white flash for a few frames and do it cheezy, but then there's no gaurentee that the video won't be jittery. I'm going to do some research into flash playlisty stuff with XML. Wish me luck!
Things I'm thankful for
So on this post-thanksgiving black friday, let me breakdown exactly what I'm thankful for, and provide perspective on why I'm thankful for such things.
a) Trials
Weird choice to be first, eh? I've had my share of life trials, and I'm sure they'll continue. For now, they've seemed to subside, but I expect they'll be back.
b) Spirit
the spirit, and as a subset my spiritual life in general. The spirit of God is how I try to live my life. When I ask questions, He answers through the fruits of the spirit [Gal. 5:22]
b) Family
Kind of a subset of trials sometimes =) but family is the first material thing I'm thankful for. Over the last year, I've come to understand more how I need my family. I need them, and I can't live without them.
c) the Internet
Greatness! Creating opportunities that didn't exist before. With the Internet, I've had a bunch of opporunities I wouldn't have had, had I lived even five years prior. Big ups the internet, and all my internet dawgs (Jason C, Peter R, Ryan B (All Three of em) C.K. S)
d) Nathan Nelson
Enabling my dreams, just like the internet. He's seemingly come out of no where, and now as a big advisor for me, he's helping me achieve my dreams.
By the way, my eyes are this crazy shade of red, because I was coughing so hard my blood vessels burst. Sorry for the imagery.
This blog post took a long time, so I'm also breaking down other thoughts: Cinemax has all six star wars episodes!!! IN HD!!! Yeah, I want it now.
a) Trials
Weird choice to be first, eh? I've had my share of life trials, and I'm sure they'll continue. For now, they've seemed to subside, but I expect they'll be back.
b) Spirit
the spirit, and as a subset my spiritual life in general. The spirit of God is how I try to live my life. When I ask questions, He answers through the fruits of the spirit [Gal. 5:22]
b) Family
Kind of a subset of trials sometimes =) but family is the first material thing I'm thankful for. Over the last year, I've come to understand more how I need my family. I need them, and I can't live without them.
c) the Internet
Greatness! Creating opportunities that didn't exist before. With the Internet, I've had a bunch of opporunities I wouldn't have had, had I lived even five years prior. Big ups the internet, and all my internet dawgs (Jason C, Peter R, Ryan B (All Three of em) C.K. S)
d) Nathan Nelson
Enabling my dreams, just like the internet. He's seemingly come out of no where, and now as a big advisor for me, he's helping me achieve my dreams.
By the way, my eyes are this crazy shade of red, because I was coughing so hard my blood vessels burst. Sorry for the imagery.
This blog post took a long time, so I'm also breaking down other thoughts: Cinemax has all six star wars episodes!!! IN HD!!! Yeah, I want it now.
Confidence
I've got a post in the queue about thankfulness, so I'll get to that momentarily (sometime today or tomorrow.)
In the meantime, let me unleash a little rage that's been building up inside of me.
No one has my back in this life.
I'm starting a business. When I hear things like "You don't have to quit your dayjob," or "That's great and everything, but it's always good to be secure," it's a backhanded compliment at best, and a strike at who I am at worst.
The only person who believed in me is gone now. My brother ryan once wrote me a letter that said something to the effect of "No one said I could do radio. I did it. No one said I could do sports TV. I did it. Everyone said there wasn't any money in MMA. I found it. You can do it if you want to. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He also gave me a keepsake watch that says that to me every time I look at the time.
I'm doing it, and if it takes me closing my ears/eyes from all of my family and friends, I'll do it. I'm going to live my dreams. You can't stop me, so please try to be supportive and see the same vision I do. If I fail, what happens? I get another regular job. Stop pulling me down with your negativity. This isn't a little pet hobby project, it's my life. If you disrespect what I'm doing, it's disrespecting me directly. I'll still love you and everything, but you know, when you get torn down on things that are so close to your heart, you only stay open and take the punishment so much.
In the meantime, let me unleash a little rage that's been building up inside of me.
No one has my back in this life.
I'm starting a business. When I hear things like "You don't have to quit your dayjob," or "That's great and everything, but it's always good to be secure," it's a backhanded compliment at best, and a strike at who I am at worst.
The only person who believed in me is gone now. My brother ryan once wrote me a letter that said something to the effect of "No one said I could do radio. I did it. No one said I could do sports TV. I did it. Everyone said there wasn't any money in MMA. I found it. You can do it if you want to. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He also gave me a keepsake watch that says that to me every time I look at the time.
I'm doing it, and if it takes me closing my ears/eyes from all of my family and friends, I'll do it. I'm going to live my dreams. You can't stop me, so please try to be supportive and see the same vision I do. If I fail, what happens? I get another regular job. Stop pulling me down with your negativity. This isn't a little pet hobby project, it's my life. If you disrespect what I'm doing, it's disrespecting me directly. I'll still love you and everything, but you know, when you get torn down on things that are so close to your heart, you only stay open and take the punishment so much.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Paying for hosting!
Wow everyone! Huge milestone today... as my site paid for it's own hosting.
Lemme give you a minute for that to sink in. I've made a whopping $8 off of my site.
Yeah, that's right. $8. That's three different ad networks combined.
$8 per week, $40 per month! Not too shabby of a start! Now I've just got to make sure my site continues to rock.
If you haven't checked it out yet, what are you waiting for?!
http://www.techcheckdaily.com
Lemme give you a minute for that to sink in. I've made a whopping $8 off of my site.
Yeah, that's right. $8. That's three different ad networks combined.
$8 per week, $40 per month! Not too shabby of a start! Now I've just got to make sure my site continues to rock.
If you haven't checked it out yet, what are you waiting for?!
http://www.techcheckdaily.com
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