I Crush Your Head

I was browsing Flickr this morning and stumbled across a really funny photo pool. It's a place where anyone and everyone can upload pictures of you pinching someone's head. You know what I mean, if you squint one eye you can place the head of your friend (visually) who is sitting across the room between you forefinger and thumb and squeeze away. Well anyway, the photo pool is really funny to browse through. So if you want a laugh, go check it out. I've posted some of my favorites here:

See the WHOLE collection here

*P.s. For those of you interested, I've posted two new reviews on my Fiction Fixation Blog: Iron Man and Hairspray.

I'm a 5

Okay so here's a fun one. First let me start off by saying that I am not an actual believer in numerology or astrology, but that doesn't mean I find sin in reading my horoscope.

I found this website that can tell you about yourself (whew! Cause I wouldn't have known about myself unless this website told me) by adding up the numbers of your birthday (numerology).

It's fun!

My birthday = 3/30/1979
Add together: 3 + 3 + 0 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 9 = 32
Add together: 3 + 2 = 5

So I'm a 5, and that tells me:

FIVES seek freedom, fun, adventure. If they do not live the adventure, their lives become way too dramatic. They are the natural detectives and celebrators of life (holidays are usually their specialty). 5s have a hard time settling down and have a fear of being trapped or smothered in a relationship.

Hmm, I actually felt that a 4 or an 8 described me better. Guess this stuff doesn't work after all. :P

Try it out. What number are you??? http://www.numberslady.com/num.cfm

My New Slave: Money

Most people would agree that we are slaves to money. It seems that it tells us how much needs to be spent. Creditors are telling us what our monthly minimum payments are and there always seems to be more month than money.

I just finished reading a life-changing book: The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey.

In it, I learned that, while I am the best budgeter I have ever met, I have been doing it all wrong. Now I've got the keys to success. I will have all my car payments and student loans paid off within the next 8 moths. I will have saved $10,000 in CASH within 2 years, AND, I will completely pay off my home mortgage in 10 years! WOW! Oh yeah, and did I mention that on top of that I'm going to retire at age 50 with MILLIONS in cash. This is NO get rich quick scheme. As a matter of fact, it's a get rich SLOW scheme. But really it's a get-out-of-debt thing. It's worth your time to get the book and check it out.

I am no longer slave to my money. On the contrary, money will now be MY slave because I will tell IT where to go.

I'm serious, it's all possible. No debt. It's really quite an amazing thing. If you're interested in any of this, I suggest you go read the review I posted on this book, over at my FictionFixation blog.

My Japan Videos

I just can't tell you how amazing Japan was. I literally think about it every day and even several times a day. I so badly want to go back. The country was beautiful, the people are wonderful, the food was great, and the culture is just fantastic.

I've taken some time to post videos from my trip onto YouTube so you can get an idea of what it was like to be there (in addition to all my photos).

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy Japan (10 videos):

1. Driving through Takko and Surrounding Areas
2. Miroku Falls
3. Riding on the Shinkansen (bullet train)
   
4. Running through the human kid tunnel
5. Takko Elementary Kids Singing
6. Traditional Japanese Dance by Takko High School
7. Pam Dancing with Mayor's Mother
8. The Alumni Choir singing O Magnum Mysterium
9. Phil and Pam feeding each other cake
10. Archery Demonstration at Takko High School

Also, I've posted a new review on my new Reviews blog.

My New Fiction Review Blog

Hey peeps,
I started a new blog today and I'm pretty proud of it. Every time I finish reading a book or see a movie, I'm going to do a review and post it up on my new blog: Fiction Fixation.

To start out, I've posted reviews of a great movie (Ratatouille) and a terrible book (The Darkest Evening of the Year).

Be sure to subscribe to the blog as I won't be sending out notices when it's updated as I do for this one.

Fiction Fixation Blog: http://fictionfixation.blogspot.com/

How to Subscribe to a Blog

So it has come to my attention that not everyone knows how to subscribe to a blog. There are LOTS of ways to do this but I wanted to share with you the one I think is the easiest.

First, if you haven't made Google your homepage yet, there is still time to repent.

1. Make Google your homepage (be sure you have a google or gmail account)
2. Make sure you have iGoogle selected (top right of page) rather than classic view
3. Click on "add stuff" on the right side of the screen, toward the top. (this allows you to add lots of cool stuff to your new Google homepage)
   
4. There, you'll see a search field that says "search for gadgets." Enter "Google Reader"
5. Your first result will be the Google Reader. Click "Add it Now"
6. Return to your google homepage and you'll now see your Reader in place.
7. Click the title of your new gadget "Google Reader"
8. This is where you manage all your blog subscriptions
9. On the left side of the screen you'll see: add subscription. Click that and a little text window will appear.
10. In that field, enter what ever URL (or web address) you think might have a blog (or RSS) feed on it. For example, you might enter: http://jmdougherty.blogspot.com and then hit enter.
11. Repeat this step with URL's from all your friends and family that have blogs.
12. Now, whenever you open a browser window, you'll see that Google Reader on your homepage. When someone updates thier blog your Reader will automatically know it and you can read the blog from right there on your homepage window, you don't even have to go TO the blog to read it.

GOOD LUCK!

Notes:

• The Google reader will also work with YouTube channels. Put in the URL of your favorite YouTube channel and when they add a new video, your reader will let you know and you can watch the video right there on your homepage without actually going to YouTube.
• There are many other ways to subscribe to blogs as well. I just like this one.
  

I Have a Job!

Hey everyone, so I got home from my wonderful long vacation in California and Japan and the very next day I get a phone call from a local high school saying they're in need of an English teacher for second term Summer School. Some of you know that in addition to music, I have a degree and am certified in English. So today I went. It was great, but it's crazy that I'm working all of a sudden! it's only for 3 weeks and I'll make some pretty good money for the amount of work entailed, so I'm pretty excited about that. Wish me luck!

Old Drawings

When I was young(er), my best friend Rich Myers and I would spend a lot of class time drawing pictures. Mostly in Jr. High School, we would draw pictures of the war of the future, fought primarily by robots of course. :P

The other day I was cleaning out a box in my garage and I came across about 50 old drawings. I have uploaded them to my flickr account so I never lose them. They're actually quite funny and entertaining to browse. In many of the pictures there are a LOT of things going on. If you'd like to see them, click here!

Also, I found an old comic book that I drew around the 7th grade. It was a gift for my brother's birthday that year. He and I were avid comic collectors and I thought it would be a fun gift to make him an original! I also scanned those pages in and thought I'd post them to see if you're interested (remember, I was like 12 when I drew it so cut me a break). Click here to see the comic book!

Sad to be Home

I spent a week in BEAUTIFUL Northern Japan, and another week in a quiet pleasant countryside in Northern California. All in all I was out of Las Vegas for almost 2 and a half weeks and tonight I got home. I'm sorry to say that I'm not happy to be home. Entering Las Vegas was VERY depressing. It's not a city to be desired, especially in comparison to where I've been the last two weeks. I have a GREAT job here and, to put it bluntly, the housing market has got us locked into our home... but I can't seem to think of any other reason why I'm staying.

Ah well, back to the daily routine, even if it is in the large ugly city of Las Vegas.

American Idol's 2008 Tour

Some of you may remember that last year Megan and I went to the American Idol's Live tour. Well, being the die-hard Idol lovers that we are, we bought tickets for this year the moment they went on sale. Last night was the concert (we went to see the show in Fresno, only the 3rd stop on thier Summer-long tour). Here is the breakdown, in three catagories:

Worse that expected:

• Ramiel Mulabay - If it is at all possible, this girl was WORSE on stage than she was on the show. I'm sorry to say she has little to no talent and it is beyond me how she made it to the top 10.
• Syesha Mercado - Now don't get me wrong, this isn't the "you suck" catagory. On the contrary, Syesha was very good in the show last night. But she was not as good as she was on the show. Toward the end of the season this year, Syesha came out of her shell and really started to perform. Last night she still carried that Broadway-like charisma but her vocals weren't as impressive as they were at the tail end of the season.
  

No Worse/No better than the show:

• Chikezie: I love this guy. He is so fun to watch, so energetic, a great vocalist and I'm very surprised that he was number 10 this season. He was far better than many others in positions ahead of him. While he was very good and I think he could cut a pretty successful album, I don't think he was any better last night than he ever was on the show.
• Carly Smithson: She performed very well. I never really liked her on the show but she did well. Not outstanding, not terrible.
• Brooke White: I ALMOST put her in the better than expected catagory. She was VERY good at the concert. She has talent for sure. She sang her infamous Let it Be song and sang an awesome rendition of "Yellow." Props to her for being awesome... I just can't say it was all that much better than what we saw on TV.
• Jason Castro: He was like the Sanjaya of season 7. The guy sucks, but people kept voting for him. It blows my mind how anyone could like him. The only thing I can think of is that people liked him because he was cute, because it certainly wasn't due to any vocal talent. Still, he wasn't TERRIBLE, just "not-good". He was just as boring last night as he was on the show.
  

Better than expected:

• Michael Johns: I LOVED him on the show this season and litterally screamed at the TV when he was voted off. Still, he was BETTER at the live concert than he ever was on the show. The guy knows how to rock the house. He was phenominal and I felt that he as grossly underused in last night's show.
• Kristy Lee Cook: I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but she actually did VERY well last night. I absolutely HATED her on the show, but last night she came through and performed like a real star. Her voice and song choice were perfect for her.
• David Archuleta: I know what you're thinking... how could this guy get better? Believe me, it was one of the most amazing things ever to listen to this guy sing. WOW! That's all I can say: WOW!
• David Cook: A true rock star. He has the look, the voice and the charisma of a rocker. He brought the house down with his guitar and smashing vocals. I truely felt that I was at a concert when he was performing. He will go far.

I took about 40 pictures while I was there and I have uploaded them to flickr. We were in the front row of the balcony level, which is basically like saying we were far away, so I had to zoom up completely with the camera, and while I got some good shots, they're not so great in quality (due to how far I had to zoom in). If you would like to see the photos of the concert, click here!

My Return Trip to Japan

Many of you know that in 1995 I went to Japan. My high school choir teacher took choirs to Japan every 3 years for 20 years. Now, he is getting close to retiring and formed an alumni group to make the final trip.

Takko-Machi Japan is a small farming community in northern Japan. It is the Garlic Capitol of Japan and the sister-city of the town I grew up (and went to high school) in, Gilroy California.

Just a few days ago, I returned from the alumni trip. It was amazing. The people there are amazing. They are the nicest, kindest people you'll ever meet. And the country side of Takko is BEAUTIFUL. I already want to go back and I am sure that someday I will be able to.

I've uploaded over 600 pictures of my trip to my flickr account. Feel free to browse my pics. I've also started uploading a few videos I took while I was there. All can be seen here below:

All Jay's Japan Pics

This link will take you to my youtube account. The first (top) six videos there are of Japan. I'll be uploading more next week.