Top 3 Reasons Why YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR CAMERA PHONE!

Yesterday was the perfect day to carry a camera phone. Not because it was Halloween, but because of the hilarious things I saw on the streets of Mississauga today.

1. Man eats Blackberry: Not only does the oblivious bus rider put it in his mouth, but he also sticks the business end of the Blackberry up on nostril, and then grooms his face with it like an electric razor o_O
2. Barista in Red: There isn't a particular costume he is wearing, but he makes regular appearance from the back room of the Mississauga Starbucks Coffee watering hole with cell phone in hand as if there is nothing weird about wearing a red woolen jumpsuit (watering feels like a word I am misspelling whenever I type it).
3. Grown Man Fights Scarf: This one is me. I had to go out and drop my Mom off at her Zumba class just south of where I live, and I was wearing a brown and black checkered scarf with a black overcoat. To keep out the wind from getting inside, as I was wearing a Mario Bros. T-shirt underneath the coat, I tied my scarf into a 'modified' waterfall. Unfortunately, one of the folds didn't cooperate, so I was fighting the scarf all night and in public!

If you are confused as to what I mean about 'waterfall' and scarves, then observe this viral video, by "wendyslookbook" of YouTube, fame about the twenty five ways to wear a scarf. It is fashionable and informative, and guys can wear scarves like this as well (save for a couple ways, give or take o_O)

I ABORTED MY POST (Now Updated)

Watching Tim Tebow make awkward passes and lead the Broncos to a thrilling overtime victory against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday reminded me of a blog entry I wrote, what seems like, many years ago. However, I discovered I wrote this right after 2010 began. I centers around a very tense and divisive debate about life, the choice one has to start or end it, and if that choice is ours to make. Families and friendship continue to be tested around this issue, but because of one young woman's choice Tim Tebow is with us today - throwing awkward passes, winning football games, and inspiring young and old with his character and leadership in one of the world's most demanding professions, on and off the field. Aside from video and pictures I included, the entry is the same from when I scooped it from my old FRANCHISE blog.

Understand this is the most difficult piece I ever wrote, and I don't like talking or thinking about it because it involves an issue much larger than I can deal with, given I am a dude and I was always single, no matter how hard I tried to change the latter. Nevertheless, I hope if another Tim Tebow emerges thanks, in a small way, to what I wrote here then it will be worth the stress and suffering to write it.

My original plan was to skip Super Bowl XLIV, which would be the first Super Bowl I didn't watch since my Dad dragged all of us to church before Super Bowl XVIII (interesting story about that one), but some friends challenged me to write a blog, not about the game, but about a commercial to air during the game.

The American focus group "Focus on the Family" paid almost four million dollars for two minutes of air time; in the commercial, outspoken Christian and Heisman trophy winning college quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother will speak during the pro-life message. Unlike blog posts in the past, I would add a convenient link, but I did not include one because everyone is bound to see it eventually (Yes, I wrote that many moons ago, but I am going to embed a video about the Tim Tebow short in question).



I responded, up and down, this was not part of the mandate of "The Franchise". As a "sports blog of the masses", the debate of abortion stood on the sidelines of what I wanted to talk about. However, as I thought about it, there is an iron-clad link between sports, entertainment, and existence. Last night I wrote more than five hundred words about the definition of sport, and why there is a the disparity between it and what we partake in or view on television. From there, I explained if we could not define and fulfill sport, then who are we to define existence. I was writing my THESIS STATEMENT: There is no such thing as sport. I was so excited, flying from word to word, explaining and cross-referencing everything. That's when it happened...I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, everything I wrote was gone. The greatest blog post I ever wrote disappeared without a trace. I could try to rewrite it, but I would be chasing ghosts. In a sense, I aborted my post. It was an accident, and I don't know what exactly I wrote or how I ended up asleep in my room. I suppose I will never know, but I did find out something about this experience...

I physically can't write about this.

What can a single man say about something only a woman can do? Who do I think I am, when I never married, never been in a relationship, never been on a date with a woman, never been kissed, and never been thought of by any woman, for taking up the flag of pro-life. Pro-Life? With my twenty-eighth anniversary upcoming, no woman was ever pro-spending life with me. Pro-Choice? I never had one, and no woman ever chose me! In baseball terms, I am batting zero-for-zero with a batting average of "mathematical improbability".

I know from experience if any woman said YES to me, then she is Pro-Choice because, as wrong as everyone else thinks she is, she chose me. I also know from experience if any woman said YES to me, then she is Pro-Life because there will be that expectation there will be children. Like throwing a touchdown pass, we have physics, arm strength, the speed of the receiver to get open, awareness, and even the hands to throw and catch; however, we don't control the outcome. We will accept whatever that outcome in faith and we will move forward. There will be people who look out for our safety, suggesting one way or another. In the end, we will place our trust in the hands of the person who knows the ultimate outcome.

Wow...for someone with a lot to say, I said very little.

THE CHALLENGE

A friend of mine from Richmond, Virginia, challenged me to write a song! O_O

I wasn't O_O at the prospect, but I did o_O for awhile. I am video logging throughout the month of October in response to the Major League Baseball Postseason tournament. I am a lower case novice at this, unlike the Novice I was about six months ago.

The plan, originally, was to become a competent piano player. My music background, which I acquired in high school, helps because I understand the difference between major 7th chords and minor 6th chords, bass line progressions, cat crawls, and crescendos. I did have a follower on Twitter who provided a lot of inspiration for me, and convinced me it wasn't too late to return to playing the piano after twenty years away from the keyboard:

I discovered Diane Birch on the online show "Live From Daryl Hall's House", in which the Hall & Oates frontman rocks out with various, and talented musicians singing old favourites, songs written by visiting artists, Daryl Hall standards, and other music. ^_^ I enjoyed her music so much, I bought all her albums and downloaded them onto my iPod.


I enjoy music very much, and played trombone in high school. Unfortunately, being lazy and not very good meant I didn't really have a future in music, so I dropped it when I graduated and entered university. My problem was I always had excuses, and I didn't want to push the limits to see how far I would go. Not because I might fail, but because I might succeed, and not have time for the things I liked doing (at that time, I like watching television, eating, and playing video games o_O).

It bothered me I didn't push the limits and see how good I could really be, so I picked up the piano again. As I began, Momzo quickly reminded me, "I BOUGHT YOU A GUITAR FOR CHRISTMAS TWO YEARS AGO! HOW COME I DON'T HEAR THAT PLAYING?!" So, now I'm practicing how to play two instruments: Piano and Guitar. The latter is taking off, and I am quick to remember my fingerings with every passing week. The former, however, is slowly moving along; I started practicing by chords first, and then working in individual fingers and would throw in riffs. I went from terrible to not so terrible in six months o_O A good start...?


Which brings us to THE CHALLENGE? I wasn't thinking at the time, so when Jessica challenged me to not only play, but WRITE AN ORIGINAL SONG the macho EXTREME persona inside me said "I would do it". The small rational voice in my head also said, "Are you crazy?" o_O The task is more daunting than it looks; I don't even have music sheets!


The goal is to write something original, practice the song, play the song in front of a working camera, post it on YouTube, and tag it so my friend can see it. I don't think there is a timeframe, but the sooner the better because after this blog entry EVERYONE, who reads this, will hold me accountable...including Momzo. I don't know if I will play piano, guitar, or both (one instrument accompanying on audio feed in a Movie file). This should be fun, and if I can parley this into another online gimmick then everyone will win! What do you think? Do you think I can do it?

Oh yeah, who is Jessica, you ask? She is a "Youtube peasant" who I met via Twitter a few months back ^_^ She is really sweet, and I find her videos enjoyable to watch. Here is one of them...

Who Do You Trust?

This feels like a short entry, and I'm no expert in calling to arms and such. Anyway, here it goes: Earlier this week, a friend posted the image on the left on his Facebook profile page. I suppose the coincidences of time, famous surnames of the dearly departed, and the current economic and social climate can be put together in a humourous factoid. However, it begs the question of where humanity's trust lies when Steve Jobs (innovation), Bob Hope (entertainment), Johnny Cash (rage against the machine), jobs, and cash are not in overwhelming abundance as they were a decade ago. After all, the Iron Curtain fell, capitalism and spending were in abundance throughout the world (well, most of the world. Hi CHINA!), and peace and prosperity were the latest rage. There was an omission in this list, but if one's hope or heart lies with those that are no longer in abundance than all hope for humanity in the future is lost.

There is a movement in New York to "Occupy Wall Street", and to take a stand against the backroom dealing and big business attitude which are widening the divide between rich and poor, and plunging the post-modern world back into recession. Upon returning to the social network on October 1st, one can't help but notice the flood of Facebook wall photos uploaded and shared throughout the online community concerning the occupation of New York's financial district. Every person should return to those basic human principles of honesty and character, but not without painstaking effort to sift through and eliminate the pork barreling, toxic money lending and credit practices of decades' past which brought society to this place in 2011. This would require a complete overhaul of how people do business; like the previous sentence exemplifies, people must come before business.

I have no way of knowing how to accomplish that, but there are MANY people who do. It takes a unified team of people to make changes happen, so there will be benefits in the long term.

A journey of a thousand steps begins with a single step, so why not begin with what the artist of the image is confuzzled over? There is no hope because the trust was the first from the scene. If this is true, then where does the artist place his trust? More specifically, where do the people looking at the photo place their trust? Where does society place their trust? Where do you place your trust? Who do you trust?

There was an occupation of another kind at the start of 20th century. Upon occupation of the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, the Austro-Hungarian Empire believed it would bring stability to the culturally fractured region of the Balkans. The age of open warfare in Europe among the major countries was over, so it seemed, and peace and prosperity were in great abundance. Of course, when the whole of European, nay, world society placed their TRUST in the world order, the web of alliances, military might and outdated strategies, imperial gain, and subservience of the less fortunate for the sake of a few, the occupation set into motion a dangerous chain of events that linger to this day. However, that couldn't happen again, can it? 

I saw black & white footage of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary in high school and college: He gets around...very quickly, but everyone back then was quick on their feet then. What? o_O

If the hope of nations, people, and families remains set on the things of this world, then those poor souls occupying Wall Street are no better than those of the Hapsburg court in Vienna at the turn of the century, who are no better than those looking at the "No Jobs, No Hope, and No Cash" picture above and agreed without thinking about its ramifications. In effect, everyone needs to learn why trust is important, and whom to place trust. There may be no jobs or cash, right now, but trust and hope in what and who is right will see us through.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to take the time to wish all my readers a Happy Thanksgiving. Now, I know some of you don't celebrate Thanksgiving on this day in your country, so I would like to wish you a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! ^_^

Currently, I'm checking out my user information on the Major League Baseball website, MLB.com. I can't find the last entries I submitted on the website, and while they say I received likes and comments I can't locate the pages which I wrote about o_O Confusing, yes?

I write under the name "PhilHollywood82"; things are pretty busy here since I increased my workload. In some instances, I write on MLB.com and copy whatever I write to my baseball website, but I can't locate what I originally wrote on MLB.com so I can follow-up or post additional comments.

Wish me luck in my search! ;) In the meantime, enjoy this YouTube video!

Logging Off: In Memoriam of Steve Jobs

Pardon the lack of prose and proper grammar, but I received some news that upset me. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, technology giant and trend-setting computer wizard passed away today at the age of 56. I do not have a personal story of meeting him, going to an Apple event, or standing in line to await the arrival of and purchase the latest Apple product as introduced by the turtleneck wearing inventive genius. I didn't know his birthdate until today, which shows how much of a tech geek I am (February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011). you pause for a moment and look around from where you are, however, you can see or hear the influence of Steve Jobs everywhere. I was in my car driving back to my house from the coffee shop: Here I can list some of the technology Steve Jobs and Apple influenced during his brief time on Earth.

1. iPod music player
2. Computer laptop
3. Interac
4. Electronic cash register
5. Automated traffic signals
6. Remote car starters
7. Auxiliary cable to connect iPod to automobile speakers
8. Cell phone
9. Twitter
10. Facebook

I could go on, and I'm sure I missed a ton of examples, nevertheless in one car ride these are just some of the examples of how this man shaped our life in the last twenty years. I could go on, and explain how these inventions shaped my life, but more learned men and women could spin together better sentences about the man without the letter 'e' than I could with all the letters of the alphabet, and all the time in the world. I wouldn't do that...

There is one person, who knew Steve Jobs better than I ever could, and when I heard of the late Steve Jobs' passing I immediately thought of her, because she loved him so much and he meant the world to her. If you know her by sight, then you probably know her iconic name as well:




iJustine made me cry only twice in my life; this is the second. I hate seeing her cry because her crying makes me cry, and when all I can do is watch her cry it makes me feel worse because there is nothing I can do. Don't you see the irony about this unfortunate circumstance? Steve Jobs and Apple, and Bill Gates and Microsoft made the world a smaller place with the technology they invented, but in circumstances such as this we remember how truly distant we are from each other. We are so close, but really so far away, and it was Steve Jobs' mission in life to bring us a little bit closer together. I'm so confident that I am willing to believe Steve Jobs was working on an application to give someone a hug who really needed it, even if he/she was half a world away, but he's not here to see that through.


In the end, and all alone they are gadgets, trinkets, and toys, but in the hands of people who really care about each other, love each other, and unify the world they help in making us a powerful people. That should be Steve Jobs' legacy: To unite the peoples of the world, or at least make the world just a little bit smaller. To think it all started with a simple computer in 1977.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Steve Jobs, his co-workers and employees at Apple, the geniuses at his store, and his many fans and supporters around the world.

In case you are reading this, iJustine: (((((HUG)))))

The Canadaian Broadcasting Corporation released a statement upon the death of Steve Jobs earlier today: Here is the link to the web page.