We ruined George’s Thanksgiving, but probably made someone’s day for Black Friday. Mental note – I may never ever venture out for Black Friday ever again. At least I got to see it and get freaked out by it first hand, I guess.

 

 

Thanksgiving stories? Black Friday triumphs / losses? Hope none of you got maced in the face … or shot … what is wrong with people these days …

If you’re with T-Mobile and have been for some time, some of you might be like me and feel that their service has been pretty decent if not downright exemplary, and would never hesitate to dial 611 (that gives you free calls to customer service without deducting any minutes). I remember a time when dialing 611 sometimes got me through to a real human being in a couple rings (that surprised me); then they instituted one of those automated menus, which was still not too bad; then they stopped being full-service round-the-clock; and that brings me to today. I basically have gotten hung up on 5 times so far between the hours of 10a and 3p each and every time I tried to call for an issue that in the past was a non-issue.

Dear T-Mobile: I really want to stay with you. I have been with you for ~7 years now and have only started to have any complaints about your customer service in the last half year. What’s goin’ on?

Update later in the day: I have since gotten the tip that I should say "Cancel" at the prompt to get directly to the Retentions department, and perhaps receive better service.

What I tried:
- hitting zero several times got me "I'm sorry, T-Mobile is closed for today for the holiday"
- saying "Cancel" also got me "I'm sorry, T-Mobile is closed for today for the holiday"
- doing exactly what I did in my video got me a "we apologize, we are unable to answer your phone call, please try again later"

You know, T-Mobile, next time you're closed for the holiday, why don't you put the holiday closing message UP FRONT in ALL your menus so I'm not wasting >3 minutes enunciating to the voice menu and entering my phone # and last 4 digits of my social just to find out I'll be hung up on. Fail.

Happy new year, everyone!

So, I was like at this rad house party (hehe, fine so I’m a little biased cuz I was technically one of the hosts) and like yeah, it was like totally awesome.

Here was the countdown:

Always good to be with old friends and new! Thanks Karen, Alisa, Sharon, and Jen for hosting!

I was also privy to getting a total makeover prior to the party, courtesy of the multi-talented Jen Ma. It basically went like this:

+  + cute black dress + Jen’s awesome skill & endless patience + 1.5 hrs + big smiles all around =

 

May everyone have a safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous 2011!

<3, Caroline =)

Previously on ihatepink.com, we met Tony, one of the many awesome people helping out with Kollaboration Houston:

Several months later, Tony started training for his very first fitness competition. We hardly saw him; he was adhering to such a strict lifestyle that he wanted to make sure he wasn’t around too many things that would make him lose his resolve. And well, that’s just how you gotta roll if you want to achieve your goal. At the competition itself, I barely recognized him when he went on stage (also notice how my bicep has not changed at all hahaha):

And of course I had to ask him to do a goofy pose. “Pick me up!” I half-joked. “Really?” he asked sincerely. “Sure!” I said, going with it. And with that:

Tony asked me to put a little video presentation together. If you haven’t seen how a fitness competition goes, check it out – it’s so crazy that you only get a few minutes to show that you have what it takes! Also, here are his pro pics from the event.

Thanks Terence for taking these pics for me! Congratulations on getting 2nd place in your category, Tony! :)

Yup. Blinking light and all. Living proof that friend Jake is a bonafide stud, fo’ shizzle.

If I wasn’t karaoke-ing, then I was at a live concert. What a weekend!

Concert #1: Kina Grannis. It was a treat to watch Kina perform in a small intimate setting at the Bronze Peacock Room at the House of Blues. In this video I got, she unplugged herself, asked for the house lights to come on, and just had the crowd sing along for the whole song, Message From Your Heart!

The original song in full (complete with music video!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV1u5QrqUHM

Concert #2: Sara Bareilles. Heh, I didn’t realize she’s the one who sings that song, “I’m not gonna write you a love song …” :P Hearing her perform live was truly amazing. Her voice was just so rich and full and seemingly effortless when she busted out into those awesome super prolonged high notes. She was charismatic with her stage presence too - even though it was a large crowd (the Music Hall at the House of Blues was packed), she made it feel intimate, and her performance kept me smiling the whole time.

I love her song “Gravity”, and this video clip I got captures the high note that always just gets me. The video also shows how much it sucks to be a short person in a crowd:

Me ‘n Jen at the Sara Bareilles concert (and having super tall people in front of us, doh)

The song in full and official music video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEXhAMtbaec

I was first introduced to the song “Gravity” because of the lovely and talented Jomel Sumira, who performed it at Kollaboration Houston 1. Here’s a clip of her performing “Gravity” in front of a group while they were watching a slideshow; I’ll be updating this post when the official show footage is online, but I think you’ll see what I mean. If nothing else, start at 2:30 to watch this tiny girl belt it out like nobody’s business …

Oh, musical bliss. Now I really wish I could sing. Even if it’s just so people aren’t cringing while I’m obliviously karaoke-ing away. :)

I usually don’t like to give up creative control (read: I’m anal about my videos) but I was curious and hit the Flip equivalent of Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button today. Well, not too bad, if I do say so myself.

I got a very special voicemail today that will be fun to listen to again and again (for me, anyway).

That’s my cousin’s son, Connor. He calls me “ah-yi”. Oh, I love that boy. :)

Techie note: I couldn’t figure out how to make an easy to listen audio file, so I was lame and made one of those Youtube videos that just puts a photo there as a placeholder. Sorry!!

Apparently, in Japanese culture, it is actually POLITE to slurp your noodles loudly to show appreciation for the delicious food served to you. In stark contrast, we Westerners frown upon such loud noises while eating and are trained to do just the opposite – eat silently. It’s been funny watching Hiroko instinctively slurp all noodles placed in front of her. So we decided to try and copy her.

Who did the best job? You decide!! :)

I just couldn’t resist!

Happy birthday, Hiroko!! Thank you(?) for making my cheeks and stomach hurt from laughing too hard and too much!!

Snow in Houston?!?! Like, real snow?!?! OK, well, it's the most real snow that we've probably ever had.

 

Here's a little festive cheer for ya - watch the volume on those speakers:

I think my favorite Christmas Carol is "Let It Snow". I just love the idea of snuggling up in front of a fireplace while it's all stormy outside. :)

My evening opened up unexpectedly last night, and so I headed over to the willyouBhere Hepatitis B awareness event and concert at the University of Houston. I was hoping to meet David Choi so I could thank him personally for giving me permission to use his cover of "Over The Rainbow" in my skydiving video; however, I would have had to body surf over / push and shove through the throng of screaming girls that mobbed him after the event. Yeah, didn’t happen. I DID however get to briefly shake hands with Paul Dateh and snapped a quick pic with him before security kicked us out (props to Nancy for the quick trigger finger):

Um, I look way too happy in this photo, and all I can say is ... that boy's silky smooth voice made me melt in my seat and utter obscenities that hopefully were not recorded by digital camera video recorders surrounding us.

All in all, a great night of entertainment. Also enjoyed watching singers Jessica Sanchez (her voice sounds way older than a 14-yr-old!), Michelle Martinez, along with Youtube comedians / personalities KevJumba, HappySlip, and dance crew Kaba Modern.

Just wanted to end this post with my skydiving video, if you haven't seen it already. One of the greatest [short] experiences of my life. Thanks again David Choi!

I’ve always just eaten to fulfill my nutritional needs, but for some reason, seeing this video made me obsessed with making this sandwich (linked by foodie friend Steve Q!). It's a video of Chef Michael at Max's Wine Dive here in Houston showing how to make their fried egg sandwich with chili bacon. I’ve never been, but Steve says it’s his favorite sandwich these days.

I think I was drooling while watching this video. I must have watched it at least twice! So last night, while hungry and grocery shopping, I tried to buy the ingredients to the best of my memory. And then I attempted to make it. Forgot a few things, swapped beans for bacon (yeah, I know, totally different, but ... a protein's a protein, right?), but all in all ... I still managed to end up making a REALLY good sandwich! I know Chef Hugh would be so proud! :D

My parents had been wanting to visit some family friends who live near New Orleans for a while now, and the opportunity arose pretty recently. They asked me to join them (my mom claims that I make it more fun for them, haha), so off we went.

Me 'n Mom being silly in front of the Mississippi

Day 1 was just driving (~6 hrs / 370mi). That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Jang explained in detail the tours we could go on the next day. My parents entrusted me with planning our itinerary, and so they were basically forced to do what I wanted to do. :) It consisted of a walking tour of the French Quarter (my first choice was actually a bike tour, but ... I think I'll have to do that with other like-minded people, heh), and then a swamp tour. THAT was awesome. :)

Gator Vid 2 / Gator Vid 3 / Gator Vid 4

While headed to Jackson Square for the walking tour, a lady who saw we were blatant tourists told us she was headed that way and kindly walked with us in that direction. She told me a little about herself and how she'd moved from Arizona to New Orleans, and that if we had a chance we should go check out the Garden District. If we wanted to take a horse carriage out there, she highly recommended a man by the name of Marlin Malloy. "That's my ex-husband," she said. "Now I don't recommend him as a husband or a father, but he's a damn good tour guide, and you know he must be good if I'm recommending my ex-husband to you!" We shared a laugh, and parted ways. Never got to see if I could find Mr. Malloy amongst the horse carriage drivers and tell him that his ex-wife had recommended me. :)

I have never been interested / good at history, but I actually learned a lot about Louisiana history on all the tours we took. So excuse me if my captions are a little long-winded, I'm excited that I learned a thing or two on this trip. :) See the whole story in ze pictures!

Congratulations, Violeta and Karthik!

So, instead of the regular ol' rehearsal dinner, we were instead asked to come out for a dance rehearsal. For what? A surprise short dance routine that interrupted their first dance:

(link)

My date to the wedding was pretty cool. He accompanied me the whole day (I'm talkin' 15 hrs here) and he even slow danced with me in the middle of the room while there was a mass exodus going on behind us.

Wedding by Violeta + Karthik
Makeup by Jen Ma
Hair by Andrea Schutter
Dress by David's Bridal
Pleasant Companionship by Tree Frog
Attitude by me. :)

Tree Frog updated our California album with a couple of videos, and I just had to share the one of my nephew (or technically my 1st cousin once removed, but that sounds so ... distant and drawn out). Apologies for my shrill and explosive goat-like laughter, so please watch your volume dials. :)

[ Link to the video - I couldn't figure out how to turn off autoplay :( ]
(Translation: "Is this Connor? Is this Connor? Yes, this is Connor! This is Connor!")

Man, I love that goofy grin of his. :D

Finally got to see Iris perform live for the first time. I'd been wanting to, had only heard about her wonderful voice, but my schedule never permitted 'til now.

One of the songs off her new album:

Iris likes to jam with her shoes off:

Iris hamming it up with an interviewer afterwards:

[ more pics ] [ more sounds of Iris ]

Was glad to catch up with Iris briefly, and saw a buncha people I hadn't seen in a long while!

So through some gratuitous connections I got to watch Gladys Knight perform at the Rodeo Friday night, from the PRESS BOX!! Well, technically it was Gladys Knight and Beyonce's little sister. I didn't know her name until I got there, man have I been totally out of the loop with the popular music these days (old fogey alert!).

We did have to watch some of the pre-performance rodeo. I recall going a year or two ago and not liking the feeling of man asserting himself over animal using violent (and what I deem to be unfair) means as if to prove superiority, nor did I like the encouragement of little kids to do the same. I remember it feeling like a very testosterone-driven event that simply used animals for sport. I felt the same way this time.

Anyway! Solange and Gladys were really fun to watch! Here's Gladys in her heyday singing my two favorite songs of the night:

It's so fun to watch those Pips get their dance on. :D

And a more recent performance by Gladys. This is pretty much what she looked like at the Rodeo. What a darling woman, so self-assured and so in love with her craft. I totally understand why she is the "Empress of Soul". Her performance brought tears to my eyes (old fogey alert the second!!). I hope I can be as self-assured at her age when I get there!

Elaine and I survived the Dallas Muddy Buddy 6-mi run/bike! (Well, to be very clear, *I* merely survived it - Elaine's in really good shape so I'm sure this was not too bad for her.) To commemorate this accomplishment, I've put together a slideshow to cheesy music, as I am often prone to doing. Enjoy!

Muddy Buddy 2008 from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

My personal goals were to seriously 1) complete without dying, and 2) to not stop. I had to walk the bike a few times over rough / steep terrain, but otherwise, I did it! WE did it! :)

Thanks to those who came out to share our "last meal", to those who trained the last 3 months with my Royal Slowness, and for all the well-wishes!

============================

Training equipment / tools:
- Champion running shoes, 4+ years old, were thrown out after the race
- Hella-old Walmart special mountain bike (Elaine's nice bike was used for the race)
- MapMyRun.com, a great way to track your workouts and provide motivation for the days you just don't want to run
- fear of dying on the day of the race

The conclusion to my little four-part series.

And so, the storm hit us almost exactly one month ago today. And today, there are 4 men on my roof banging loudly away, making me fear that at any moment the ceiling might cave in and a construction worker complete with hammer, hardhat, and neon vest might fall into my bedroom. Hahaha and no, that would not be a turn on.

Apologies to those who can't get my abysmal singing voice out of their heads. Muahahahaha. Soon all will be ihatepink.com zombies! World domination is imminent!! :)

Ike Mockumentary, Day 4 (FINAL): Waiting from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

Didn't have power nor running water all day. Not knowing when things were going to return to normal was making me unsure. And so, I forced myself to take my mind off of possible impending doom by doing some "undercover" work on my apartment's hurricane "emergency" line, and then heading out on my trusty bike after the rain to see what was going on in my immediate surroundings.

Ike Mockumentary, Day 3: Ike Hits from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

I suppose I'm one of those that boring people who place less emphasis on form than function but ... using cloth to "protect" your windows just seemed pretty ... useless. Or maybe I should say, pretty, but useless?

Ike Mockumentary, Day 2: Suspense from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

Some of you may remember the "REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111!!!!!!" series that I did ( part 1 | part 2 ) three years ago when Rita blew through and got the media's panties all up in a bunch. Well, when I got news that Ike was coming through, I immediately thought: "I wonder if enough interesting things will happen to be able to do a series on Ike?"

Well, the answer was no, but you know me - when bored, I'll either make things interesting or make things happen. :) To make full-screen, mouseover the video and click on the little icon beside "vimeo" that looks vaguely like 4 arrows pointing outward.

Ike Mockumentary, Day 1: Prep from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

Semi-useful news tidbit: If you still don't have power since the hurricane but see that your neighbors have power, call 713-207-2222 [ source ].

And so, we have survived the hurricane. I've made a series of videos that my Facebook friends have already gotten a glimpse of, and will soon be posted here. But first! My cousin Min called me up earlier this week to tell me she'd sent me a present. I was baffled; I rudely blurted out (as I am wont to do), "Oh, what for?" She laughed and said, "Just 'cause! And this is totally going to get on ihatepink.com!" I was intrigued: "Oh really??" And today, after waiting ALL week, I got the package!

Min, Peter, and Connor, this one's for you. :)

Long-Awaited Gift from Min from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

I've been following Hurricane Ike updates online; haven't felt like turning on the TV. Maybe I'll do it just to test how long I can watch it before getting sick and tired of it.

Came across this video on weather.com. One sentence caught my ear:

"Church members say after their prayers, Edouard slowed and turned right, and Gustav went to Louisiana."

I think it's normal when people turn to faith in times of crisis, but ... can they truly celebrate that they "diverted" Hurricane Gustav so that it didn't hit us here in Houston but instead our neighbors in Louisiana? "Hooray! It didn't hit us! It hit them! Whahahaaahaaa! We rock!!!"

In the meantime ... I'll be filling up on drinking water and shopping for bananas. ;)

Presale tix at the Teahouse for $10! [ more info ]

Sweet. I think I discovered their "Dim Sum Girl" through Will. I can't find an original Dim Sum Girl video by the Notorious MSG; instead, here is a hilarious lip-synch done by some sisters in Hong Kong that had me roflmao for realz:

So I was going on a bike ride, and wanted to record video while doing so.

I was gonna buy the Flip Action Mount (marketed as an accessory with the Flip Ultra / Mino) and was also thinking about a Gorillapod ...

Then I chanced upon Camera Hacker's site with instructions and other links on how to make your own!

I read it excitedly, but realized that I had no access to power tools in the time frame that I had (2 hrs), plus I wouldn't know how to use them anyway, and almost dismissed the idea from my mind.

Well, on a lark, I still went to the dollar store as Camera Hacker suggests for the first piece in his bicycle camera mount. I realized with dismay that 1. they didn't carry anything like he said, and 2. I didn't remember any other details, and didn't have time to go back and look them up, ie. like what size screw fits into the camera tripod mount hole thingy!!

With sheer dumb luck I bought a few pieces, brought them home, and made my own within 45 mins, a little over a dollar's worth of materials, and with minimal tools.

Materials:

1. Ghetto-looking hose clamp that happened to have just the right size screw for mounting a camera (2-pack; $1.09)
2. Ghetto rubber chair foot covers (4-pack; $1.09)

The result:

  + =

You know I'm all about the g-h-e-t-t-o, but this doesn't look half bad, if I do say so myself. :) [ get the play-by-play with commentary on the DIY project here ] [ resulting footage that catches me biting it on my way home after the ride ]

Had a good day at work, created my own camera bike mount (pics to come), had dinner with the parents, rode 15 miles with a friend, cooled off afterwards with her and her pug (more pics to come).

I felt really good after the 15 miles, but apparently my legs turned to rubber. Peep the video of what happened when we were riding home after the ride. Please excuse my deafening laugh (careful with the audio), I think I must have been in shock. OR maybe I just sound the dorky in real life and don't realize it ...

The themes of the party were "Things Caroline Has Never Done Before", "What's Age Got to Do With It", and "Are You Comfortable Being Around Hordes of Hot Men For Extended Periods of Time?!". A very tame dinner and movie were thrown in there for good measure. :)

And for those who missed watching the movie Juno with me, you also missed this surprise birthday message that came on right after the movie ON THE BIG SCREEN:

This birthday weekend has been full of laughter, tears, and more laughter. There were tears of joy, tears of gratitude, and tears of WAIT A MINUTE WHAT THE HECK IS *THAT* DOING ON THE SCREEN OMGOMGOMG!!!! Hahahahah.

Thankyouthankyouthankyou for all the birthday wishes, my dear friends. It means a lot that so many of you guys came out for lil' ol' me. I got a great start into the supposedly dreaded three-ohs. I am such a lucky girl. I ♥ you guys! *snif!*

Congratulations to Bill & Cindy for tying the knot and plunging forward into their futures together.

Grand party, it was. Though I think near the end of it I was too busy testing the capabilities of my liver to remember much. 'Twas a good time. Thanks to Masa Sushi for serving up a special plate for the vegetarians, and for serving up the drinks, and for uh, tolerating me.

And of course, our live performance, raw and unedited. My fellow comrades in rap rocked da houz for sure.

Note to self for "next time": no drinking prior to live performances that require mad Chinese tongue-twisting skillzZz.

2 projects this time. One full-on slideshow, and one mini slideshow in karaoke "MV" style (in Taiwan, they call music videos "MVs"). (Well, they didn't ask for it, but I thought it would be SO cool to do it that way. Besides, both the bride and groom and karaoke fanatics.)

Here are a few excerpts from the wedding slideshow:

Splash screen for the karaoke MV:

Snippet of the karaoke MV:

The groom's mods to the lyrics were actually pretty sweet. The original song is called "Man Slave". If you watch the original MV, it looks as though Nokia perhaps played a big part in financing the video. Ah, blatant product placement. [ original MV @ YouTube ]

Some stats regarding the slideshow and beyond

Programs used: Adobe Premiere 6.5, Windows Movie Maker, Sonic MyDVD 4.5 (authoring)

Songs used:
1. Bride's section: 一起開始的旅程 (Our Journey Together) by S.H.E [ YouTube ]
2. Groom's section: custom mix of Good Times by Chic and Rapper's Delight by Sugarhill Gang [ mp3 download ] (they have the same bassline - never noticed / knew until I watched this)
3. Friends' section: Everything by Michael Bublé [ YouTube ]
4. Couple's section: When God Made You by Newsong [ sing along @ YouTube ]

Karaoke-making tutorial was provided here. I used Premiere 6.5 but only used Premiere's native titler, as mine did not seem to come with TitleDeko. It's simple enough but tedious. I wonder how the professional [English] karaoke bars get their karaoke songs ... ?

Challenges: working with Chinese input in Premiere and MyDVD; understanding the meaning of the Chinese song for the bride's section to better match photos with lyrics; audio editing / mixing right within Premiere to make songs shorter / longer.

All-nighters pulled: one

Warm Fuzzies:

The videographer complimented me, asked me for a copy to include in his final wedding video, and said that I'd saved the couple around $1000, since that's how much he charges for a slideshow like this one! Wow. Yay! 

It seemed to be a crowd-pleaser, and the parents of the bride thanked me profusely.

Thanks to the bride and groom for trusting my judgement. They never saw the final product until their big day! :)

Bridesmaids coordination: Thanks to a post at echeng.com, I decided to try Basecamp. It was probably a little too technodweeby at first, but everyone adapted quickly. I thought the to-do lists were really helpful, I liked the centralized messaging with e-mail notifications and personalized avatars beside comments, and the whiteboards were great brainstorming centers. After the wedding, I added the bride so she could see everything that went on behind the scenes for her wedding and for her bacheloretty party. :)

Number of pictures I took at the wedding: ZERO. Now THAT'S a new record!!!!!

It's good to see extended family (we didn't get to see all of them, but I am grateful for the ones we could see). Four generations present here:

Proud grandparents:

First ever in-car diaper change (and fastest too!):

Wii sillyness!

*yawn* Off to the bride's house to get my makeup and hair done:

Video of me giving the groom a hard time (a Chinese custom):

My fave catch of the day:

Wedding paparazzi. The ringbearer (above) and the flower girl were excessively cute:

The newlyweds and me (like the color of my dress? hehe):

Beware the fake eyelashes that almost touch my eyebrows:

Spontaneous detour to check out Manhattan Beach right off the plane:

Video of me being silly at the beach:

Online Videos by Veoh.com
(@ youtube, if you can't see the veoh player)

Seeing my former landlords, who are like a second set of parents to me:

Meeting my nephew (son of my cousin, what do you call them?), who is affixing himself to dad's arm here:

Exhausted, but in a good way. Lights out for me!

Update: I just checked out the finalists and ... we are not amongst them. Darn. Ah well, 'twas a good run. I gotta admit though, most of the ones that made it into the finals are really good. At least I wasn't beaten by crappy entries! Anyway, at the end of the day - I am hugely grateful for all da love, so thanks, guys!!

------------

Voting for the competition has closed, and according to the rules, the top 13 most voted videos get into the finals, and Vanilla Ice picks the top 3 from these 13 finalists. So far, I have gotten NO word at all as to whether or not I have made the finals. [ update: supposedly the finalists have been announced, but I can't access the site! ]

Who'da thunk I'd learn so much from submitting a silly little video? And would have so much fun. And would end up being totally overwhelmed by the amount of support from all of you. Words cannot express how I feel right now ... amazement really is the closest approximation to it.

Much gratitude to those who voted. I know it was a pain, especially for those who didn't have a YouTube account already. The following are some the obstacles people went through just to vote for me:

• After watching the video, then going to the signup screen, those less familiar with the internet often got stuck here, what with the confirmation e-mail and all.
• After signing up successfully, people had to figure out how to navigate back to the voting page, since YouTube did not take people directly back there.
• And if you *did* find your way back to the voting page, there was a banner on the right that contained the exact same icons as those used in voting, thus looking like you could actually click on it to vote! In actuality, it was just a toggle to go to another random video contest entry. (I wrote about this to the sponsors, and they actually removed click-ability on the banner in a couple days.)

My most unlikely fan? My dad. I thought he'd immediately banish me from our family tree for being a time-wasting, camera-whoring daughter. Instead, he liked the video and song (despite not understanding a single word), used sharp observation skills to distill out key improvements that could be made, and quickly offered to translate my instructions into Chinese and e-mail them off to friends and relatives on the other side of the world. My dad! Giving me tips on how to make my rap video better!!!

What was really touching was how my relatives in Taiwan were trying to vote for me as well. My 60-something-year-old uncle wrote me for clarification. I mean, a 60+ guy daring to surf the internet outside of his comfort zone is already a huge feat; for him to take all that time to figure out all the steps to sign up so he can vote on a video for his crazy niece in America? Priceless.

Getting feedback about the video was awesome. Friends as well as total strangers wrote e-mails / left kind comments. It sure was great hearing from some people I hadn't heard from in YEARS all of a sudden drop me a message saying, "Hey, I voted for ya! And I got all my co-workers to vote for you!!"

And then the promotion by others. That was super-duper-awesome too. Again, both friends and total strangers started to pimp me out in various ways. Mass e-mails to friends, blogs ...

Thanks for all the love, folks. My patients are gonna feel this overflowing of love for sure. :)

And now that I'm just playing the waiting game on this whole video thing, I need to hurry up and uh, "TurboTax It!" ... or something like that.

================

Miscellaneous Facts About The Making Of:

• the song took 7 [major] revisions to get to its final incarnation.
• the video took 3 [major] revisions.
• additional filming was squeezed in 2 days prior to the deadline.
• the deadline for uploads ended 24 hours early due to a technical problem that was finally fixed 12 hours later; I nearly had a heart attack when I couldn't upload! (Homie A now knows the sound of my voice when I am about to cry in the middle of the night)
• the pr0nstar tank top was a self-designed iron-on that was made for a friend's bachelorette party
• Adobe Premiere 6.5 was used for the video; Sonic Foundry Acid 2.0 was used for the audio.
• the chorus was done by me, repeating myself 6 times at different pitches, so it sounds like a bunch of people saying it at once.
• the red room was at A & C's home. Yes, they really do have a room that is all painted red.
• Seconds after running into the center of a certain stadium, honking from the upper levels began, accompanied by yelling: "GET OFF THE FIELD!!! GET OFF THE FIELD!!!" The individual who helped me film this segment (who shall remain unnamed for protection of their dignity) was understandably greatly embarrassed by my sudden unannounced maneuver.
• all video and audio editing was done on my dying 3-year-old, hp pavilion ze5375us laptop (Intel P4 2.4GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, 7.5 lbs)
• total time spent: 3+ weeks. No, I did not allow it to interfere with my day job. :)
• a student of mine in China asked me what the song meant. You know, it was pretty darned hard to translate it into semi-normal English!! :)

First off, thanks for all the encouraging feedback re: my YouTube contest video entry. Glad lots of you have been getting a chuckle out of it. :)

I've been sending out clarification e-mails today about the voting, saying that basically:

HOW TO VOTE (3/31/07 - 4/08/07): YOU MUST CREATE A YOUTUBE ACCOUNT TO VOTE. ONLY after you see the confirmation message "Thank You for Voting! (Please note we only count your first vote for each video)" does that mean you successfully voted!

After logging in with your username and password, make sure you go to http://www.youtube.com/contest/TheTaxRap?goto=287 to vote or search for entry #287.

I didn't realize how confusing it was until I met up with friends I consider Internet savvy this weekend. Then I went back and took a look and indeed, it was confusing even for me!

If you were not too embarrassed to tell your friends about the video / post to your blog / forums, could you pass this along to them / link back here? Thanks! :)

If you have any troubles with this, comment here, and I (or some other helpful iHaTePiNkian) can walk you through it.

Thanks again for taking the time to vote and telling your friends to vote!

Here's how:

1. Watch my 2-minute video where I make a total fool out of myself. Yes, it's a rap video. Where I had to make my own music, my own lyrics, and video. About TurboTax software. Who has hired Vanilla Ice as their spokesman for the contest. Not sure how much more bizarre it could be, but here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/contest/TheTaxRap?goto=287

2. Laugh. And vote for me! (Positively if you can.) You need to create an account (free!) to do so. Once you login, click on the above link, and you'll be able to vote!

3. I need to be in the top 13 most voted videos to get into the finals to even be considered for the [big] cash prize. I'm not that popular, but I know my friends (you guys!) are popular. So please tell your friends (if you're not too embarrassed, hehe) via e-mail, blogs, forums, whatever, to use the above link to vote for me by April 8th! Go entry #287!

4. If you have a few more minutes to spare, click through and leave a comment and rate my video. That way I look and feel popular. :)
Oh and don't worry, I won't be leaving my day job anytime soon. Acupuncture is much nicer than being a rapper!

Thanks, guys. Oh, and as a bonus, I made an outtakes reel too. :)

I got a spam e-mail from a spoof americangreetings.com address saying that I'd gotten an e-card. Spam sure has sunken to new depths. I mean sure, spam the hell out of me trying to make an extra buck selling various meds or "through-the-roof" stock, but don't toy with people's emotions, man! Here I was thinkin', "*I* have an admirer?!?!?!? COOL!!!! OHHHHhhhhh ... wait a minute ... it's just a spammer ... fine ... delete ... back to whatever I was doing ... "

Slightly related to V-day, here are pics from the NAAAP Date Auction. Some of those auctionees were really workin' it!

Donnie visited Houston and a bunch of us nerd-herd Dulles Vikings reconnected with him. (I don't think I'm offending anyone because we were pretty consumed with comparing notes and grades, hahah.) I'm pretty impressed with how the nerd-herd turned out - everyone's doin' their thang, and you probably could never guess they were once an uber-nerd. Some of us (ahem) are still nerds ... just can't shake my roots :) [ Donnie discovers drunken karaoke ] [ portraits just cuz ] I have fond memories of riding the school bus to school every day for three years with Donnie and Joe Lee (well, I hated the school bus cuz everyone made fun of me, but that's a story for another day). Those guys are a couple of the smartest dudes I know. It was fun recounting old times. Donnie was able to call out a few stories about me that I had absolutely no recollection of. Hahah, good times.

And I just discovered this guy on YouTube (though he already seems to be a YouTube icon, and for good reason) - David Choi and his original Valentine song. [ link to song on YouTube in case it doesn't show up correctly ] [ David Choi Music on MySpace - I don't usually link to MySpaces but I suppose I'll make an exception here ]

Speaking of YouTube, does anyone feel like after the Google acquisition, they've censored a lot more stuff? Or am I just not in the know? I was doing YouTube "research" on singer Jesse McCartney the other day (yes, my boy band fetish is showing) and a ton of interviews had been removed due to violation.

I decided I wanted to learn some Flash animation. So I hit up this great Flash tutorial online and started whacking away. Here's the example I was trying to emulate:

... which I thought was boring, so here's my version. (You need sound to fully "appreciate" my work of art here.)

Not sure why the screams are off. They're not supposed to start before you hit the button, and they're certainly not supposed to be continuing after her untimely demise.

*Update: I've figured out how to stop the annoying screaming-upon-pageload, but I can't figure out how to cut the screaming short after the squish. Hmm.

Day twelve. Mrs. Thumbhead gets some more stuff with which to torture Mr. Thumbhead.

(YouTube link :: WMV file, 49 secs, 2.4 MB)

Merry Xmas, all. :)

Day ten. Thumbhead fails at looking sexier than he already is.

(YouTube link :: WMV file, 1min 26 secs, 4.2 MB)

Day eleven. Mrs. Thumbhead finally gets something.

(YouTube link :: WMV file, 58 secs, 4.2 MB)

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Looking forward to spending Dec. 25th with the fam, actually. We're gonna have awesome hotpot at home. I'm already drooling just thinking about it ... Howard, you're missing out! Hmm, I actually miss my booger of a brother (whoa, he's on Wikipedia. Crazy, yo!).

The Eighth Day. Thumbhead rocks out, pre-iPod style.

(the WMV file, 52 secs, 2.5 MB)

The Ninth Day. Thumbhead gets a lesson in fashion sense.

(the WMV file, 60 secs, 2.9 MB)

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Yes, I passed out last night from a long day and then dinner with my girls.

It's tough having patients that don't understand that even an acupuncturist needs their personal space and time. No, I do not feel bad turning down someone outside my immediate family who asks me to treat them later than 10pm, and even tries to make me feel bad for doing so. ("For medical emergencies, please call 911. Thank you, and have a great day.")

(or download the WMV here, 51 secs, 2.1 MB)

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I don't like shopping, and shopping during the holidays is just absurd. Though I'm only buying gifts for the immediate fam this year, it's still pretty stressful. I was at the Galleria this weekend and it was insane. Don't EVEN get me started about Walmart.

I'm trying to hold off on getting me another camera until after Christmas, or even after New Year's. Place your bets now, folks - can I do it?!

(or download the WMV file here, 1min 2secs, 2.7MB) 

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This sharpie marker is a challenge to wash off completely.

There is a slight delay in the posting of tonight's segment due to er, technical difficulties, if you will.

 

 (or download the YouTube-logo-less version here, WMV, 39secs, 2.2MB)

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There are few things I will cry about, and I am determined that the loss of my Rebel XT shall not be one of them. It is, after all, replaceable. I could upgrade to a Rebel XTi, but I have had the chance to play with one, and the miniscule differences don't convince me to get the newer model. Btw, I love the Japanese names of these cameras. :P

 

(or download the WMV file here, 1min 32secs, 5.6 MB)

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I can never arrive and leave Walmart in less than 15 minutes. I'm always thwarted by trying to find parking or waiting in long-azz checkout lines. Well, today I had it all planned out. Get there, go get my soymilk, go get two photos printed, check out AT the photo center because SURELY no one would be as smart as me and do that, and leave. Could I execute this on at Walmart on a weekend? [dun dun dun dunnnnnn]

Got to the parking lot. Parked in the first spot I saw, start timing. Walked briskly into the store. Dammit, couldn't find closer parking, 3 mins already. Beeline for the soymilk (2 mins). What, where's the soymilk at? It was HERE last time ... oh THERE it is (1.5 mins)! I confidently headed for the photo center (1 min) ... this shouldn't take more than 3 mins and then I'm outta here!

There was a lady already at the instant photo printout station, selecting photos. I helped her complete the checkout process - oh noooo - FORTY-ONE PHOTOS!!!!

Exasperation! Fine. So I waited, cursing all the while to myself. At least I was able to place my order while her photos were printing ("PRINT FASTER DAMMIT!!!!" as if visualizing this would speed up the per-print time). Her order took like 7 mins.

OK. "Gimme my photos you stupid machine ... I already placed my order ... what's taking so long?!" I wanted to bang on the machine but restrained myself. Nope, there's a 1 minute waiting time so that people's orders don't get mixed up. Oh how thoughtful. But not on this day when I was in a rush to get outta there!

Checkout. Three items (I picked up some batteries while waiting for the lady and they were right there in front of my face), I got my cash out to speed things up. She scanned item one - beep, scanned item two - beep, scanned item three (the photos) - no worky, scanned item three again, nope, scanned it again, still no luck, keyed in the code, code invalid, keyed it in again more carefully, nope, scanned it again while waving the barcode scanner around at different distances and angles - beep. 4 mins. AUGGGHHH!

Walking (almost running) back out. Darned slow people on their carts walking so slowly, soaking in all the Xmas marketing. Almost got run over by an old lady and her shopping cart by darting out from between the displays too fast. Made it back out to my car in 4 mins probably. Driving to destination. OK slowpokes outta my wayyyyyyyyyy ... got there just in time. Whew. Too stressful though. Will never do Walmart-on-a-limited-time-schedule again. Ugh. Cuz this was Walmart, the Two Weekends before Xmas edition. Yuck.

PS - "ISO HI" mode on my Canon SD600 is gross. SO noisy.

OK. In order to avoid having tons of Mr. Thumbheads screeching at you all at once, I'm succumbing to YouTube for playback here. But you may download my lovely file here if you wish. (WMV, 4.3 MB, 1min 10secs)

And I KNOW you didn't miss Days One and Two. :)

Heading out to a "company" party, so I'm posting this a little earlier today. Seems like this weekend is an unofficial national company party weekend. :P

(download the WMV, 2.8MB, 44 secs)

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Hey, geek feedback question: are the videos starting automatically when you load up your page? Cuz I don't want them to. I tried to turn "Autostart" off so I can post multiple videos on here without having them all come up screeching, "ON THE NTH DAY OF XMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO MEEEEE!!!!" in nonharmonious rounds. Somehow I don't think that would go over well with co-workers of my working readers ... er, I don't think it could benefit anyone, really. Autostart was successfully suppressed in my FireFox 2 and IE 6, and I'm on WinXP Home. Please post your OS and browser version and let me know!

Just doing my part to prevent deafness and tinnitus (aka ringing in the ears) before you all come running to me for acupuncture treatment. :)

Update: succumbing to YouTube here.

(or download the WMV here, 50 secs, 3.3 MB)

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Now for some real holiday goodness:

Me: Your mom told me she was renewing her vows after 50 years of marriage, and that you kids were footing the bill for everything! How sweet and generous of you guys!
Daughter: Oh, it's really very little compared to how much they've given us.
Me: *Snif!*

Stuff like this truly warms me from the inside out.

Update: Succumbing to YouTube here.

For anyone who might be going to Houston Hobby Airport before the rain evaporates - enter and exit the airport via Broadway. Other routes are FLOODED!

Video I took tonight, with chatter by Chef Hugh and cackling by me, plus footage of my car posing as a boat:

Who knew that a flooded street would look so pretty? (Note: Do not attempt taking pics / vids under such conditions unless you have a friend present to steer you back on track, hehe)

Yup. It's happening. My friends are starting to have kids.

Annie's sister Stella and I have been plotting Annie's baby shower for the last month and a half, and basically what happened was I did the slideshow and emcee duties, and Stella did everything else. Considering the work load, I got off way easy. :)


If you look carefully, you'll find me in this lil' snippet. :) (WMV, 47secs, 3MB)

Some Factoids

Total DVD Running Time: about 4.25 minutes; the shortest yet
Total Hours Spent: 2-3 wks, in my spare time
Number of Major Revisions: One, while trying to re-organize the story layout. And then millions of minor tweaks to get it juuuuuuuust right.
Number of Pics I Personally Took that Made it In: 5 (woohoo!)
Programs Used:

• Adobe Premiere 6.5 (I finally forced myself to learn how to use the native title tool)
  
• Sonic MyDVD (for authoring to DVD and making a pretty animated menu screen)

Song Used (linked to Amazon, where they have the song clip):

• Love Of My Life - Jim Brickman feat. Michael W. Smith

Here is my assortment of pics from May. New friends, old friends, ebonics and perversion at the Chinese supermarket, Doggles, and all the randomness you've come to expect and love, um, right?

Random thought of the day / week / month: It has just occurred to me that I'm not really a photographer, but more a documenter of life. Does it really matter? Probably not. It's just that when I see some of the portfolios out there, I am deeply humbled. I gots no skills. Just lots of enthusiasm. :)

Photo-viewing hint: there's a slideshow button at the top. I actually really like viewing other peoples' pictures in slideshow format, with captions on.

Update - Bonus: if you go through the gallery carefully, you *might* find a funny video clip of me. :) (SmugMug doesn't have lots of support for videos yet, so I had to use YouTube.)

My cousin Min, ever the ihatepink.com ham (and do I ever love her so for it!), writes:

"Hi Caroline and Howard,

Your cousin Min is now a minor celebrity in the world of Fear Factor Live!  While at Universal Studios last Sunday, Peter and I were asked to participate in some crazy stunts.  This was to show the audience that the scenarios where the contestants would be participating were real.  Peter had an electric current run through his body while I had live emperor scorpions (5 of them) put on my head.

Watch and enjoy!

Love
Min (& Peter)

P.S. I so-o-o-o deserve a spot on your blog for this!  =)"

And so, minor celebrity cousin Min, here is your spot. (WMV, 57secs, 4.8MB) :)

I wanna know if Min kept her eyes squeezed shut the entire time, or if she dared open 'em for a peek. :)

OK, so I got pretty good at doing slideshows with Adobe Premiere, but my inner slideshow geek had its way and I wanted to try out different slideshow programs for different projects. I've tried Sony Vegas and Photodex Proshow Gold as well. For now, I've gone back to Premiere.

For the latest slideshow effort for a friend, I have been collaborating with her sister to get the pictures so we can surprise her with the slideshow at her upcoming party. The last words from my friend's sister were: "Oh man, look at her hair! She's SO gonna kill you for putting those pictures in. You GOTTA use these."

Hmm. Haven't done a slideshow yet where my life was at risk. How exciting! :)


Here's a snippet from the slideshow I did for a temple charity event earlier this month (WMV, 1min 30secs, 5.2Mb).

Total DVD Running Time: 5mins 8secs
Total Hours Spent: One month, in my spare time.
Number of Major Revisions: None. But billions of minor tweaks and adjustments.
Programs Used:

• Sony Vegas 5
  
• Sonic MyDVD (for authoring to DVD and making a pretty animated menu screen)

Song Used: a super cool melodical rendition of the Da4 Bei1 Zhou4 (I don't know the proper English translation - literally, "Lots 'n Lots of Compassion Chant").

Pics (and a video clip) here from the Vienna Teng show May 9th here in Houston at The Mucky Duck (again). This time we had the biggest table in the house, hee hee (yay for Evite!). There was some organizational ability needed just because 1) by the time I found out about the show there were only 4 days left, 2) I ended up with 20 people coming (WAY above my expectations!), 3) the ticket pre-purchase could only be done in person, and 4) I'd gotten mixed up about when the show was going to start. But in the end, thanks to Will going and grabbing tickets for me, everything went without a hitch. Otherwise, I would've gone mad. :)

Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did, and to those who didn't go, these pics will just have to tide you over until she next comes to town. Her new CD is available for pre-order. Her first two albums, Waking Hour and Warm Strangers, are both available on Amazon.com, complete with sound samples. Will has already picked up both albums; anyone else? :)

Small world this is. Turns out Dakao knows Vienna's best friend's brother. Ah yes, knowing everyone within 6 degrees ... And, turns out Vienna remembered me from meeting her a couple years ago through Eric (I really didn't expect her to, after a gazillion meals with tons of "warm strangers", I'm sure) and we ended up exchanging some friendly banter after the show.

While I'm plugging away - hey NY and L.A. peoples - she will be performing at a venue near you in June! Go see go see!

In this batch -

- Ivonne's bday with pigging out on spicy food at Thai Pepper
- Soon-to-be baby-mama Annie wreaking havoc at Babies 'R Us (with our help, of course)
- People spiking our food with various undesirables at Jeff's bday dinner at Canyon Cafe; surprising Jeff at the wine-tasting place (where was it again? heh)
- Sam and Eddie come to town to compete in a pong tourney
- FIVE pounds of crawfish ingested at Big Woodrow's
- the bro visits Houston and eats Chinese food nonstop all week
- Esther visits Houston, and I get a small piece of her
- your usual assortment of bums, orgasmic faces, engrish, and cutie-pie doggies!

As promised, a glimpse into the wedding slideshow that I did for a friend's wedding. Again, I couldn't have done it without a and c, mucho muuuucho gracias to them!

Clips from Wedding Slideshow (Windows Media Video, 2mins 11secs, 4MB, low quality)


Some Factoids

Total DVD Running Time: about 10.5 minutes (which in my opinion is OK; longer would tax my short attention span)
Total Hours Spent: err ... I tried to keep track, but eventually gave up
Number of Major Revisions: Two. One, the day before going live. Two, while splicing same-day footage into it for the reception.
Programs Used:

• Adobe Premiere 6.5
• Windows Movie Maker (for titles - haven't yet figured out how to make titles in Premiere; also for grabbing video footage from camcorder)
• Sonic MyDVD (for authoring to DVD and making a pretty animated menu screen)

Songs Used (linked to Amazon, where they have song clips):

• Best of My Love - The Emotions
• What I Like About You - The Romantics
• Linus and Lucy theme - as performed by George Winston (?) [ free download (jazzier version) ]
• Valentine - Martina McBride

Where I Purchased Music for the Slideshow: Sony Connect, 99 cents per track
How I Converted the Proprietary Format Over to Something Usable: HiMD Renderer
Chinese Consultant: my mom
Program Used to Create This Glimpse: Sonic Foundry Videofactory 1.0 (now known as Sony Vegas Movie Studio. I find it ironic that after all the bells and whistles of Premiere, I still come back to Videofactory's easy interface. It's hella old but I love this program.)
Did I Feel Rewarded After Completion of Project? HECK yeah!!!

Here's the latest (and last) "Really Important News"! (Windows Media Video, 1min 47secs, 6.5MB) Actually all the scary stuff happened last night, and I was too chicken to go outside and do any filming, so you'll have to settle for this lame footage.

The storm has passed, and there was no damage except for my neighborhood's power going out. Thank goodness for us, but too bad for the people who got hit and will get hit by Rita ...

And so ... I am over at Eddy's hanging out and leeching off of his electricity and air conditioning and internet connection. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had a hot dinner, nor a cool place to hang out, nor been able to refrigerate my food, nor been able to complete my Really Important News, which we all know is uh, really important.

Holy batman, look! Some REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS! (Windows Media Video, 1min 10secs, 4MB)

That's right, folks. I have decided to try my hand at journalism, banana-mic and all. I even sang the background music.

In the meantime, winds are really picking up, and it is EERILY DARK outside. [shudder]

I'm going to go make myself some gourmet [vegetarian] Ma Po Tofu for dinner while I still have electricity.

My legs hurt - I'm hobbling around like I'm 200 years old. My arms hurt when I try to massage my legs. When I pick my nose, there's dried mud up in there. When I swab my ears, there's dried mud up in there. When I wipe my ass ... actually, it's pretty clean up in there.

But who cares ... because I FINISHED THE MUD RUN!!! WHAZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!!

OK pplz, here are the pics (and a video too!) from the mud run! =) Much thanks to Dave for going and taking all the photos for us!

Just got back from Tahoe / San Jose. I'm so tired and sore. Anyhoo, we went to Northstar Resort. Weather was sunny! Conditions were kinda slushy, but that made falling a lot less painful. =) I kinda got some "skillz" this time around, so check out my pics page with action video. =) And here's my first panorama attempt, taken of the San Luis Reservoir on the way home: