Last Saturday, I was gallivanting in a plane, automobile and sail boat in LA. I know, it's a hard life, but I drew the short straw and had to go through with it.

(If it makes you feel any better, the red eye flight back to the East coast totally wiped me out and I was practically punch drunk by the time MyBlogLog Sunday came around! The only advantage about flying into Newark at 6 am is that the controllers are still half asleep and haven't had a chance to create air traffic issues yet, so you do arrive on time.)

This Saturday, there is nothing quite so glamorous and jet-setty to occupy me and Mrs Ed. I am dodging torrential rain running to and from the wood pile feeding the fire, and Mrs Ed is curled up on the couch with a runny nose watching TV and surfing the internet. Domestic bliss takes some beating.

MBL Sunday and videos

You may have heard about the MBL Sunday 29 video broadcast carried out by the Breaking News team. It is a videographic study of the 10 mini reviews I did last Sunday.

Ideally, if you are one of the featured bloggers, it would be cool if you could embed the video on your own blog, (there is a sample on Blogumps video and part 1 and 2 are on Revver as well ) or write a post and link like mad to anything relevant that moves. Digg it, Stumble it, pack it up and post it to grandma, do whatever it takes to let the outside world catch a glimpse of your moments of glory. Yay, network, people, it is the lifeblood of blogging!!!!!

MyBlogLog Sunday 30

It would take a small book to outline the humungus efforts expended first by the the Breaking News team ,and then by the video hosters at Blogdumps Video. I thought the heat was off for a while, but it seems there will be a video finale this week! A more modest and focussed MyBlogLog Sunday 30 video is on the way.

Circle the wagons, set the alarms and make sure you either try to take part by calling by Sunday between 10 and 11am, or call by for a look at the results later in the week.

After that, who knows, a cameraman may come knocking on your blog door. Such is the price of fame!

Enjoy the weekend. Only a few more more till Christmas, freezing weather and flu' grip the nation.

In the humor/entertainment section of Affiliate Scout, I couldn't help but notice Get Revenge On Your Ex.

Let's just say, if you have a grudge against an ex but lack imagination, you are in luck, and if your ex holds a grudge against you, you better sit down and study this site hard!

To get you in the swing of what may become an intrinsic part of your dysfunctional life, they offer 4 quickies.

Send An Anonymous SMS Text Message
Put Their Photograph On The Internet
Send Them A Recorded Message In The Post
Send Your Ex An Email "From" Someone Else


From there you can look through an array of tricks and stunts designed to inflict pain and psychological discomfort on that bastard who you used to love and adore. The site owner seems to have tried all the vengeful moves on his own ex, and he is still at liberty after advertising her services for sex. It must be legal!!

I admit I have had a lot of fun looking through the "menu", but to think people actually employ these services is all a bit disturbing. Of course I speak as someone who has only been married a year, so I am still in la-la land. Hopefully, the conditions that might motivate me to go down this route are still a long way in the future, but your mileage may vary!

Out of interest, would you consider these packages suitable for Christmas presents?!!

According to the Breaking News story, I took my first tentative step into the world of MyBlogLog Sunday, back in March, on the 19th to be precise. 290 mini-reviews later, movie man, OS9user, investigates the nitty gritty details behind the whole sorry show with a video broadcast / video essay of MBL Sunday 29.

Before you see it, here is a little background to the vid from the Breaking news perspective. And from my point of view, when the video review idea was first floated, I admit I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of being captured on film. Then I shat myself thinking I would have to appear live. (I have a voice fit for print, and a face that looks great from the back, peering into a trash can.) Needless to say, I am soooo thankful that it was the blog under the spotlight, not me.

Without further ado

After working through the night, liaising with a raft of advisors, the News room finally uploaded the finished movie review this afternoon, in two 50-something-MB chunks,

parts 1 and 2.

They are high resolution videos suitable for download to your desktop, but too big for me to embed on this blog in their full glory. Luckily, a real star in the video hosting world, BlogDumps Video, was prepared to go out on a limb and this is a sample of the whole embedded video coming this way veeeerrrrry shortly.

A marathon project

After following the production battles at the Breaking News film department, I am glad I gave video-making a wide berth at birth. Judging by the emails, the work required to produce this epic video dwarfs the totality of time and effort invested by me in MyBlogLog Sunday 1 through 29. Very intense.

Initially the hardest thing was to keep visitors with coughs out the recording studio. And then it was coping with door slammers. I believe that what you see here is take number 57.

Apparently they needed 50GB of Hard Drive space to produce the raw video, which came in at a mere 18GB! Having re-configured his computer to cope with the memory requirements, he then melted his processor in 2-hour bursts, trying to compress the 18 gigs into a file under 100MB. It has been a recurring technological nightmare for OS9user, but the end result is a testament to OS9User's patience and Intel's processors and the resolution is really sharp. Would it be as hard on a Mac, I wonder, tritely?

Hosting big vid files

If you find yourself in a hosting pickle, unable to easily share a high resolution video with the world, there are a few options to embed those videos in a slightly lower quality to the original.

Youtube (or Google's love child) have a 100MB or 10 minutes limit on video uploads. Unfortunately, the 36-minute 2-parter was not welcome there.

My personal favorite in terms of classy video presentation are Revver who also have a 100MB file limit, but no time restrictions. And they have a revenue sharing deal too, albeit a matter of pennies per year! Unfortunately their delivery is a bit staccato..

Without doubt, BlogDumps Video.are the pick of the bunch. In response to the hard work of the Breaking News team, the latest Youtube-Google killers, and friends of the Pisstakers, have kindly reconfigured their site and before too long they will host the whole 122MB file in one shot. Proof indeed that they can do all that Youtube can, and then some. Cheers to the Wolf.

Conclusion

If nothing else, the video proves definitively that at least one real person has taken the time to check out my site in infinite detail. Joking aside, I am chuffed to hear the MyBlogLog Sunday and Pisstakers phenomenon praised up so much. It sounds so much better coming from someone else. The featured blogs had a good rap too. Win, win.

I think the Breaking News team learnt the hard way that shooting a movie is no mean feat, but I thank them for breaking their teeth on MyBlogLog Sunday, and they did it, despite everything thrown at them. Cheers mate.

Hopefully they will build on this experience and carve a niche for their own brand of video review and take the blog world by storm. You heard it here first!

If you have any comments, ideas or tips related to this video, please let OS9user know.

I rolled out of bed to the sound of sqwauking geese flying South. As I stared into the sky, wide-eyed and enchanted, I thought, how refreshing and romantic to witness a piece of nature in action. Not quite the Serengeti wildebeest migration, or a herd of ancient buffalo storming across the plains, but it was something many people around the world only see on Discovery Channel.

TV however is far safer. I stepped backwards to get a better look and crowned myself on the side of the porch.

Geese, the ultimate consumer pathfinders?

Settling down to my coffee and toast, I recalled a snippet about how birds navigate - they use landmarks, even roads. My little brainbox kicked into entrepreneur mode and I got to thinking outside the box. Is there a market for GPS geese? Tie a goose off of the car ariel, whisper an address in their ear and let them lead you to your destination. Guaranteed for at least 3 years, and unlike a Garmin product, you can eat it when it breaks. The only downside is, you have to head south every time. But then again, UPS only make right turns and they are quite successful. I wonder.

Goose on the menu

I started to further ponder geese. I wondered what they taste like. I have never had the pleasure of gobbling down a juicy goose breast. Is it similar to a meaty swan, or condor, or...? I jest, I have never eaten any bird beyond a hormonal chicken, turkey or fatty duck, but I bet a Canada goose at the beginning of its journey would be up there with the best in the culinary world. Goose a l'orange, stuffed gander jerky, tender gosling over a bed of fries...

After an hour of goose convoys passing overhead, making an annoyong racket, this whole nature thing is getting a bit old. But I am still peckish and still debating goose food options. Will folks ever tire of Kentucky Fried Goose. Big MacGaggle? There has to be some money there somewhere!

Who here believes AGW (man-made global warming) is a fluffy mix of marketing spin, human stupidity and capitalist greed? I do.

I am no different to the greenies banging on about global warming. I see fires in California and go Ouch; I go Aaah at footage of polar bears sinking without trace; I gulp at scenes of Europe flooding like never before; and I roll up my sleeves during this Indian summer in the US.

However, unlike the spinners, what I see is evidence that Mother Nature is just as unpredictable as ever, and Man is as stupid and greedy and self-absorbed as ever. Only Man would revel in extrapolating his own local pollution capabilities onto a global scale.

Bottom line, the global environment is behaving normally, folks, get over it!

Forest fires

Fire is a fact of life in the forest. It clears out the deadwood and makes for healthy trees. But, after years of human meddling, allowing brushwood to accumulate, surprise, surprise, we see exaggerated forest fires launching from vast twiggy tinderboxes.

Mother Nature isn't biting back, she is just igniting brush that should't be there in such abundance, and is fanning flames as she has done since time immemorial.

And Man is making those fires appear worse than they really are. Standing in the smoke, Arnie does his best to skirt around the fact that forestry and building practice in California have been an utter joke for years. How many times do people have to bounce back before they learn not to encroach into badly managed forest land and stop plonking big homes right in the path of millennia-old natural fires. Sensational, doh!

Polar bears

It is sad to see a big bear drowning in the warming oceans of the Arctic. But man-made global warming is to blame? I think not.

People like to say slushy ice-floes are Man's fault, and "they" (ie manufacturers) tell us to dump CFC fridges for spanky new ones. But how many fridges came anywhere close to that part of the polar world?

If the polar bear death isn't fridge related, what is Man doing to create the sort of localised pollution that can stop heat escaping from the North Pole and melt bears' habitats? Planes may to be blame, but how many fly that way? Sadly for airline share prices, not enough to cause that sort of localised enviro heating, I am sure.

Heat is more likely coming from outside the earth. From Geography 101, only the sun can punch holes in the ozone layer and warm the Arctic earth significantly. Instead of buying green white goods, or hounding governments to ban non-CFC deodorant, go lobby the Solar Gods and tell them to stop those pesky sun spot activities.

Flooding

The greenies try to say that nature is dumping more rain than ever on Britain, creating flooding like never before. Ergo, the world is getting warmer. Beaux locks.

If the Brits tore up the 5 million homes on flood plains; if the farmers stopped compacting the soil with their tractors, and carparks and roads were ripped out, perhaps the rains would percolate into the soil and we could live happily ever after in the dry. As it is, rain will continue to careen in torrents down high streets that should never be there in the first place, and global warming bull will be alive and well for years to come.

Indian summers

They say 7 of the top 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last, I don't know, 50 years. Does that sound scary enough?

I say that for political effect, because I heard that 1934 (73 years ago) was way hotter than anything we have experienced in recent years. Just enjoy Indian Summers, I say.

Gaping holes in AGW

You can't have it both ways in these matters, and there are serious oversights in the global warming story. In terms of oil consumption, for instance, extended summers seem to be good for the environment.

Sunny Octobers mean less demand for heating oil, the terrible localised pollutant of our times. There is less need for Northern old folks to travel South for the winter in gas-guzzling cars and airplanes. There is no need to shop specially for warm clothes.

Warmer temperatures are good for the local environment too because there is less bitching and moaning (fewer sufferers of SAD and pneumonia and achey joints. ) Warmth is good for our peace of mind.

Conclusion

Relax. As usual, life and nature and weather are going on around us and entrepreneurs are looking for ways to leverage new info, develop new trends.

We shouldn't consume for the sake of it, and should make every effort not to shit on our own doorsteps, so to speak, polluting our air, and waterways and surroundings. But at the end of the day, the global weather that we have to deal with comes from the sun, and the last time I looked, none of us have much control over that.

The doomy gloomy brigade will say that the damage is already done because warming oceans, a huge heat sink covering 70% of the earth's surface, aren't cooling any time soon. They say warm sea-related weather will wreak havoc world-wide. Really??!! Not wishing to rock the boat, but where were all the hurricanes this season?

Anyway, I am not a meteorologist, (I look out the window to confirm the weather those guys get wrong), so I will stop blowing poorly informed holes in the global storm escalation theory.

Time to go save the environment and buy a trendy green house, car and clothing made from recycled materials that gave off more green house gases than is wise to mention.

The video version of MyBlogLog Sunday 29 is on its way. It is an epic movie, and its production has spawned a story of blood, sweat and success. All the good stuff will be revealed here exclusively, some time soon.

Today I pit Technorati against Swicki. Not a fair fight? Let the world decide.




Blog Rush got it in the neck from moneymaker bloggers, saying it was crap. The BR boys have responded to the BS with a version 2 in the works. It is promoted as the answer to all blog traffic generating problems.

To celebrate the technical wizardry that lies in the pipeline, I changed the livery of my squished up cut-off Blog Rush sidebar widget. Soon I will be able to resize the widget to fit too. Schweet.



The Breaking News video broadcast version of MyBlogLog Sunday is in the pipeline too. It seems a little blocked right now, but like Mr Invincible, it should suddenly pop through the tubes without a hitch, later this week.

I had an urgent shout from a housemate saying some people had called by and needed to speak to me urgently. I rushed down to deal with them, thinking it was important, only to be faced by two jovial Jehovah's Witnesses.

Luckily, Mrs Ed was going to work, so I told them I had plenty of hope for the future but had to ask them to leave. They looked a bit disappointed, but smiled and left when I said my wife would spoil everything and kill me if I didn't help her get ready.

I am probably spiritually dead, but needless to say, my housemate will be physically dead, if she pulls that stunt again!

Hey ho, I mentioned that an article I wrote on Chinese housewives coming to America was picked up by CNN. Well, the next thing I see is a bunch of links from the Wall Street Journal online.

I am as vain curious as the next person, but I don't want to blow $75 for a once in a life-time visit. If anyone with a WSJ subscription could maybe take a screenshot of the link or abstract to this site and send it to me, I would be most appreciative. Thanks.

Special soon-to-be-broadcast version!

2 Dolphins stick 2 fingers to SUVs and safety, two terms that don't mix. Logically, bigger is better, but not when bigger means taller and easier to flip. For off-roading, I prefer a mountain bike, but I'm weird.

53% bumblebee, 47% bookworm, 100% blogger, Nessa generates a lot of buzz on her site, mumbling about multifarious daily thots. (Maybe alter the stats a little to allow for 2% bad speller?)

Debbie continues to brighten up the world with info on New England lighthouses. Ironically, I missed the NJ challenge, because I went West this weekend looking at boats. If we move, we'll need her sister blog.

Save Our Forest packs a big punch blogging about global climate change. It isn't all doom 'n gloom, however. If Australia dries up, their cricket team will emigrate and sign up for England. Fair result.

Compliments are flying aplenty at Larry's site. Talking of flying, he recently returned from Europe and relates how his stomach turned to spaghetti with someone else behind the wheel of a sporty Italian number.

Steamy Marvalus One opines on a variety of random topics close to her big heart. Sounds like she has a writing addiction, but is on the mend, down to 3 blogs! She must have had a reinforced keyboard.

With a death on the cards for adventuring Lord Likely, it is time for a lighter look at life through the goggle eyes of Andy Fanton's blockbuster Carotty Kid. Eat your greens, folks, they're good for your humor.

If you can write, why not write something before midnight for the John C believes in Me contest. You may win yourself a gift in a plain brown wrapper. The mind boggles, but it will be worth it.

Primarily a successful blog directory, Blog Dumps is taking on Youtube with its pimped out BlogDumps Video service. The first MBL Sunday Video broadcast will therefore break all the rules & premier on 2 sites.

OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day.

It has been a while since I visited Californ-i-a and I had a few interesting fruit cake moments this weekend hanging out in south LA county.

Campbells condensed sloop

We went around a few marinas looking at sail boats, but of all the multi-million dollar poseur vessels belonging to the rich and fatuous, this little dinghy raised the most attention.



That smart name reminded me of another mariner's clever play on words, Cirrhosis of the River. I am sure there are thousand more similar witicisms, if you know one feel free to contribute.

Wot no soda?

For the second time in living memory we went to a MacDonalds and for the first time ever, we heard the words, "Sorry, ma'am, we've run out of soda." Blimey, what is the world coming to? It was almost as surreal as being told they had run out of Big Macs.

On the plus side, we had to drink that stuff called water. You may have heard of it. Apparently it is soda minus the sugar and radiation poisoning. It was quite delicious and I think I will try it again.

7-11 at Starbucks

Mrs Ed likes her Starbucks and as luck would have it, we found one in Los Angeles. It was in a unique neighborhood where they had wall-to-wall ritzy boutiques and family-owned businesses like Taco Bell, Burger King, Rite Aid and similar cutesy outlets. This Starbucks we found was brand new and had its own little patio seating area looking out onto the main smoggy drag. Very appealing.

We were sat down drinking coffee through a special filter that you put over the top of your cup to prevent lead particles from spoiling the taste. Out of nowhere, a skinny pale faced woman in third-hand clothes ghosted in and sat down across from us. Without a care in the world, she started sipping on her 99 cents coffee from 7-11. Too funny. She was looking around like she owned the place. Maybe she did and was seeing how long before the staff politely asked her to leave?

No drugs please, we're Californian

After watching a few episodes around the place, I reasoned that if I ever need to hustle folks for money to pay for my next hit of heroine, LA is the place to settle. What a hunting ground.

Also, as a tip, in case you wonder where your shower head disappeared to, it is nestling in the pocket or apartment of a crack addict. They are quite the trendy accessory for Cali junkies, by all accounts.

So, there you have it, a stranger's view of LA. I can't wait to relocate there, mainly because this blog will catch fire with all the stories waiting to be told.

MyBlogLog Sunday 29 comes to you from Hollywood! To be more accurate, it comes to you from Ed, who was near Hollywood before racing back home this morning from Southern California to prepare 10 mini blog reviews. Later today, the roving camera eye of Breaking News will then take a peek at the blogs and take this feature to a new level of fame on Youtube, later this week.

So, top 10 bloggers, you need to wash, brush up, dress well, smile all day, and refrain from normal depraved behavior in order to be seen in your best light. By all means ignore that advice and we look forward to some embarrassing revelations on Wednesday!

As usual you will get a juicy PR5 backlink, plus a link to your MyBlogLog community... and as it is Sunday, I will be stumbling posts from the bloggers who leave a link to their own favorite post of the week.

MyBlogLog Sunday info links

Be back later.