Monday, February 11, 2008

Perspective - What Do You See?

Here are two beautiful examples of how perspective can change everything.

Two epic movies edited to tell a different story. The first one, Shining, was done flawlessly. The second, Must Love Jaws, has slightly chopped editing and a forced soundtrack but is still very well done.

Enjoy and happy Monday.

Shining




Must Love Jaws

WARNING! Blood, gore, and general shark-yness will ensue



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Monday, February 4, 2008

Experiences and Life Challenges

We define who we are. Our lives change in a split second, constantly rotating around the choices we make daily. These stories and life experiences should be shared with one another. In that effort, here is a simple little story of one of my personal acheivements.

Let's call it "Going Against The Grain"

I was up for a job. It wasn't awesome and I had a perfectly good job, but I desparately wanted a change. The trouble was that I was transitioning from a computer/tech job to a more 'personable' job. Anyway, I was everything they were looking for EXCEPT they had doubts I wouldn't be 'enthusiastic' enough coming from a technical background. Hmmm...okay. I was scheduled for a second interview anyway - they wanted to talk to me again and see if they felt a bit different.

Being me, I took it as a personal insult. Me? Not personable? Well, of course I knew that I wasn't bubbly or 'flaky' but I didn't think I was terribly unapproachable. I turned that insult into a challenge. They'll end up stuffing that comment before the end of my second interview. Maybe I was insane. Regardless, I crossed a personal boundary and it was terrifying, but a very healthy thing to do.

What did I do? Well, I rented a full dog costume and performed a choreographed dance number. They didn't know it was me until I took off the head. I landed the job that moment. Insane, but really effective. Which is saying a lot because I can't dance to save my life.

Moral: Break your boundaries. Challenge yourself. Convert obstacles into opportunities.

Epilogue: That job sucked. Like really sucked. Integrity? Non-existent, which meant I didn't stay long. Do I regret the costume dancing? Nope, I have an awesome story. And pictures.

KATIE THE "DANCING DOG"

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Grokking Scientology

So, I'm jumping on the bandwagon of spreading this insanity around. Maybe you saw or heard about these videos, maybe you haven't. Regardless, watch them now.

The first is the real Tom Cruise viral ad for Scientology. The second is Jerry O'Connell beautifully mocking it. Please keep in mind that if the first video doesn't work, Scientologists took it down. They have been prowling the internet removing everything. Just Google it if the video stops working.

I'll start off by saying I was never a Tom Cruise fan. I think he can only play a very specific type of character...himself. But ignoring his acting completely, this blog is about Scientology. Now, I'm not trying to push my religion on anyone nor am I trying to cure Scientologists of their delusions. What I want us all to focus on his during the entire video is that all Tom Cruise discusses is the 'state of mind' of a Scientologist. I would think any organization would be a bit more thorough before allowing their "poster boy" to openly recruit.

Yeah, people taking responsibility of their actions and helping one another is of course a preferred way of life. I would have to say that most religions are getting that right. That doesn't mean I'm going to grab my copy of Stranger In A Strange Land and start grokking.

Mmmm...human soup.

Tom Cruise on Scientology


Jerry O'Connell on Tom Cruise

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3f716ffebe

EDIT: Sorry - I had to make Jerry O'Connell's video a link. Funny or Die.com's embedding tools are really sucking right now. My favorite part is that it's throwing extra code on it when I upload. That makes it fun.

Stupid computers.

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