Category: Uncategorized

19 Dec

Giant Oversight

Mila, I’m sorry to report you have some competition.

Last year I wrote about how 2011 was all about marrying an Oscar-winning actress (which I immediately expanded to include nominees as well) after Kate Middleton totally stole my idea about snagging royalty. I was a little mad at the time, but Kate really did me a favor and sent me in the right direction.

Fortunately, the 2011 plan didn’t pan out either. I say fortunately because what I really should have been focused on was actresses appearing in movies that were nominated, and while Mila would qualify there for her work in “Black Swan” she suddenly pales in comparison to another young woman from that category.

Her name is Rooney Mara, who had a small role in “The Social Network” and now stars in “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.” Why her? In addition to the obvious appeal, her name adds a lot.

That’s Rooney as in the Rooney family that founded the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Mara as in the Mara family that founded the New York Giants. She isn’t the product of some crazy father who somehow got to pick her name, but rather the daughter of a mom from the Rooney family and a dad from the Mara family.

You may wonder, as David Letterman did in an interview last week, if she likes football and if so, which team she roots for. As a Giants fan, her answer only makes me more of a Rooney Mara fan:

In addition to all of those good traits, she also went to NYU and heads up a charity helping kids in Kenya.

That’s not to say I won’t answer Mila’s calls, but someone else just may be a higher priority.

By cjhannas life plans Uncategorized
18 Dec

Eleven for 2011

The year is coming to a close, and with that comes the inevitable plethora of stories about the best/top/most memorable X of 2011.

So what better time for me to break out what I think are my best offerings of the year? I’ve done this for 2010, 2009 and a single list that covers all the years before that. I’m not saying these are the greatest things you’ll ever read, but if you’re here and want to know which of the 450+ posts I think may be worth your time, I think these top-10-ish lists are useful.

I’ve really tried to do some new things this year, including more pictures, adding a lot of video posts and even attempting a couple of audio stories. I also added two new features — the Twitter box to the right that shows you my 10 latest posts (you can click to see more), and the labels at the bottom of each post that allow you to click and find related content from the archives.

Without further ado, the 11 best posts of 2011 (in chronological order, not necessarily by merit):

An Offer You Can’t Refuse
A friend exposes a major hole in my pop culture experiences, and I find that watching “The Godfather” reminds me of “Almost Famous” in ways that have nothing to do with the storylines.

Voices From the Past
I go “This American Life” style with a story about how my mom’s family communicated by tape with my grandfather while he was deployed in Vietnam and Korea, with actual audio from the era as well as some perspective from today.

I Do Declare
I won’t even pretend like this isn’t my favorite post topic ever. I fulfill a dream by attempting to enter a professional sports draft, and get an official response letter from the NBA that makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Glory Days
A TV news story I did about the University of Maryland women’s basketball team and their national championship run. Unfortunately it does not include the subsequent riot and people being doused with a pepper spray hose.

Chicken Nugget Dreams
An example of me bringing in a Twitter conversation (ones I know people don’t mind me sharing, of course), as I melodramatically complain about Wendy’s not offering delivery service and my friend Jason letting me know that in other countries, they do.

We’re Jambin’
A post from the “not smart” category. I manage to run myself into a doorway, think I broke my hand, and fail so badly in explaining the situation to a friend that I have to create a graphic in Photoshop to fully illustrate what happened.

A Kool-Aid Miracle
I dust off a video from the archives — a faux infomercial for a miracle weight loss drink that helped me lose 20 pounds in 48 hours. It truly is a miracle!

Great PB & J Debate
I never thought it would end up being such a contentious issue, but if there’s one question this year that got people chiming in, it was this: When you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, do you spread the PB & J on the same piece of bread?

Watch and Learn
Another parody video, this time a series of do-it-yourself tips for self-explanatory things like how to drive a nail, use a faucet and read a digital clock (with bonus blooper video!). If you don’t find this funny, we probably shouldn’t be friends.

Lifehouse in the Nats’ House
Easily one of the most fun days I had all year, with an amazing baseball game followed by a free concert from one of my favorite bands (video included).

Nats a Wrap
A wrap-up of the awesome year we had attending Nationals games, including some really interesting moments like seeing a rookie pitcher hit a home run on the first pitch of his first Major League at-bat.

Pizza Hut and the (Re)Quest for the Pepperoni Smiley
Other than the NBA draft post, probably my favorite one of the year. I ask Pizza Hut to put my pepperonis in the shape of a smiley face…and they sort of comply.

By cjhannas best of Uncategorized
16 Dec

Changing Faces

Facebook has rolled out a new change, and the world did not end.

Actually, I love this change. It’s the addition of the Timeline feature, which totally changes the look of your profile page. Visually, it’s a vast improvement that better integrates the posts on your wall and really makes any kind of graphic or video really stand out.

The new look also provides a fascinating kind of rabbit hole for you to go down with the ability to look back through the years to pretty much all of your Facebook activity since you signed up. You could kind of do this before by continually scrolling to the bottom of your wall and stepping back little by little, but now it’s really easy to browse through.

Being a total nerd, of course I looked back at most of it already. There was a lot that made me smile, remembering some great times and people that have made my life great since I joined Facebook on March 3, 2005. Back then it was only college students and you had to wait until your school was added. Susquehanna University wasn’t exactly at the top of the priority list, but we were certainly happy to be included eventually.

But seeing all of those posts also brought up a lot of names that once were a big part of my life, or at least good for some laughs, and now are gone. Seeing them definitely made me wish some of those relationships hadn’t melted away, but I guess that’s life, and a reminder to do a better job of keeping up with people.

My only real complaint about the new look is that the shape of the profile picture changed, making the one I’ve had pretty much since mid-2009 look really awkward now.

Maybe it was time to change anyway.

By cjhannas nerdness technology Uncategorized
16 Dec

Tree(t) Yourself

Everyone can relax now, our house is officially ready for Christmas.

Tonight my second roommate inquired about whether I was going to put up my tree, so I made the massive effort to make that happen. Actually, it took about 10 minutes, but let’s pretend I put a lot into it.

Part of me really hates this tree because it’s fake and doesn’t have that Christmas tree smell. The other part of me enjoys how easy it is to set up and later put away. I also kind of like its humbleness.

I got it when I was living down in Florida making less money at a TV news job than I did selling shoes at the mall. To put things in perspective, the snack I would bring to work most days was rice with a few pieces of frozen vegetables mixed in, and my diet relied heavily on hot dogs that came 10 for a dollar. So when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to go home for the holidays and decided I needed at least something Christmasy to cheer me up, I went to Target and got the cheapest tree they had. I think it cost me roughly $14.

Of course things are better now, and while I could go in a new direction, there’s something to be said for the memories of this one and its single strand of lights:

Yes, I could have framed this picture better, but that would have required getting up out of the chair

The real question will be how long we leave it up this year. Last time it stayed around until at least February.

Enjoy the season.

By cjhannas Christmas Uncategorized
11 Dec

Cup of Gold

It’s a perfect example of a cliche, but history really does repeat itself.

I write something here about every book I read, partly for my own archival purposes but also to share with others what I’m reading and the thoughts those texts conjure. For some people, I know these posts are unbelievably boring, and that’s OK. Hopefully I write enough other stuff to keep everyone somewhat entertained.

Last December I posted about John Steinbeck’s “The Pastures of Heaven,” saying weeks had passed since I finished it, and that I didn’t have a ton to say about the story itself. Well it’s December again, and several weeks ago I finished the John Steinbeck book “Cup of Gold” about which I really don’t have anything to say.

Like last year, that’s not a knock on the text, but something that tends to be a pattern with Steinbeck books. I guess the only thing to note is that this is the first in a new approach to Steinbeck. He’s one of my favorite authors and has written so many books that I had a hard time choosing which one to read next. So I decided to take subjectivity and guessing out of the process by reading all of the rest in chronological order.

“Cup of Gold” is his first, and it seems like it wasn’t exactly well-received. I can definitely understand why that may be the case. It’s kind of a crazy story that involves British indentured servants, pirates and of course, Merlin. Not exactly what people expect from the “Grapes of Wrath” Steinbeck, and I’m certainly not alone in liking the latter much better.

I have two more of his books to read before I get to the ones that really started to make him famous. That quest will have to wait until next year though, since I have turned over a lot of my former reading time to my own writing project. I feel like I’m making some progress (about to pass 50,000 words) with a goal of finishing by the end of January. We’ll see how that goes.

By cjhannas books Uncategorized writing
02 Dec

Did I Studdard?

It all started with this tweet from one of my college roommates, Jason:

I told Jason that I remember Ruben because he was a guest on my news show when I was producing in Jacksonville, Fla. He was in town for a sickle cell disease event, and came by beforehand for an interview.

It was early — I think in the 7 a.m. hour — so I recall being surprised that Ruben showed up with four or five other people. I want to call them an entourage, but since I was trying to monitor a live news broadcast I was unable to find out exactly who everyone was and thus unable to properly classify the group.

I can say that they were all extremely nice, including Ruben, who for some reason left me a signed photo:

(Click for larger version)

There are several things I love about this picture. First, the general vibe with the red and the big glasses. Second, that it’s personalized, which I think I can be traced to one of our video editors who was getting autographs of his own (and is probably why this exists in the first place). Finally, that after his name he put “American Idol” like you would put “Systems Analyst” or “Account Manager” in the signature of your work email.

Other than a box of chocolates one of our regular chefs gave me after his visit to the White House, this is probably the only guest-related item I still have from that time. There were other random things that PR people would send me to plug their event or bring attention to their client, but they were usually boring things like Starbucks coffee (swing and a miss) or M&M’s (you have my attention).

Friends who knew we had guests on the morning shows often asked who I had met, though I think they often overestimated our pull on big celebs. Jay-Z and Freida Pinto never stopped by, but I did meet people like Mark Curry (Hanging with Mr. Cooper), Jenna Morasca (Survivor), Tony Little (fitness informercials), and talked via satellite to Melissa Joan Hart (Clarissa Explains it All).

Oh and Carrie Underwood…I mean, Carrie Underwood’s competitors on American Idol, Anthony Fedorov and Vonzell Solomon (probably the two nicest guests I had).

Fortunately I never had any truly nightmarish guests, though some of the ones I was unsure of did make think “please don’t get me fired, please don’t get me fired.”

By cjhannas Uncategorized
01 Dec

I’ve Been There

It’s not often I watch something on TV or check out a clip online and see some place I’ve been.

Of course, that doesn’t count big things like the U.S. Capitol or New York, but rather more unique experiences.

This morning I got an email updating the latest news from the Ice House Cafe, a restaurant and bar my family has been going to forever. Well maybe not literally forever, but often when I’m there the bartender, Dan, will tell other patrons stories about me and my siblings as little kids climbing up on the stools and demanding he change the television to a sports game.

One piece of news was that the Oyster Bar area was recently used in a music video by R&B artist Akshan. It’s that part of the restaurant where my family has spent most of our time, including many years of eating at the exact same table by the front window.

A really great part about the Ice House is the decor, which you could easily spend hours examining. That also makes it easy to see that in the video, around the 3:25 mark, Akshan is sitting exactly where I have sat dozens of times. From there you can look outside at the cars passing by and across the street at what was for many years a sports card shop.

The real perk — in addition to the sweet old-time football picture — is that right next to his left knee, there’s a heat vent, which is an excellent addition to any wintertime dining experience.

By cjhannas family food Uncategorized
28 Nov

And The Shirts Came Back

It took a series of text messages, a home watch company, a multi-part chain of custody and more than five months, but I have now been reunited with three shirts that for a short time threatened my sanity.

In June, I went on vacation in Naples, Fla., where I stayed at my aunt’s house. Two weeks later, I did some laundry and afterward noticed an empty hanger on the left side of my closet. A maroon polo shirt was supposed to go there, right next to the orange one of the same style.

I double-checked the dryer, the washing machine, the space in between them and behind, but didn’t find the shirt. Back in the closet I searched every nook where it could have fallen — nothing. I dragged out the suitcase I had taken to Florida, opened every pocket, and still found nothing. Checks of my roommate’s closet, the guest bedroom, under my bed and at least three repeats of all of the above still resulted in no shirt.

If you know me at all, you’re probably aware that I’m ridiculously organized. I don’t lose anything. Ever.

I asked my then-former, now-current roommate (don’t ask, long story) if he had maybe borrowed it one night when he was staying with us. No dice. I searched the closet one more time, this round focusing on the right side (yes, there’s a system involved) and noticed two more empty hangers.

WAIT. WHAT SHIRTS ARE THOSE?!……..FLORIDA!!!!!

It all came back to me. When I arrived down there and unpacked, I hung up those three shirts in the closet — none of which I wore while I was there.

After my revelation, I texted my aunt, explaining how I was driving myself crazy looking and asked if she could check the closet the next time she was at the house.

“Don’t go nuts,” she said. “Don’t need more nuts in the family!!”

So true. Concerned for my sanity, she sent someone over to look, and sure enough the shirts were hanging right where I left them.

Flash forward to last weekend in New Jersey, where we were visiting for Thanksgiving. I walked into my grandparents’ house and was immediately handed my shirts.

Sanity fully intact.

By cjhannas family not smart Uncategorized
21 Nov

Belle of the Ball

To those who doubted whether future wife Mila Kunis (Natalie who?) would show up to the Marine Corps ball last weekend, well, she went.

You may remember that back in July a sergeant invited her to be his date via YouTube, and after the prodding of “Friends With Benefits” co-star Justin Timberlake, Mila accepted. I forgive those who thought that given the light-hearted tone of her conversation with Timberlake that maybe she wasn’t serious.

While I think it’s cool that she went, Mila definitely needs to consult Timberlake for some PR tips. The stories about her ball are basically that she went, looked great and was really nice. No comments from her perspective at all.

Contrast that with Timberlake, who attended a ball of his own the weekend before. Those stories are overflowing with him saying what an amazing time had and how honored he was to be there. Great for both of the stars to go, but he definitely could not have handled the entire thing any better.

The best part about Mila’s ball is the reporting from a local television station in Greenville, N.C., where the event was held. They went totally TMZ for this story, getting paparazzi-style video of her speeding away from the airport wearing sunglasses in the back seat of an SUV.

The flood of Marines asking celebs to accompany them to balls this year reminded me of the movie “My Date With Drew.” It’s sliiiightly possible you’ve never heard of it, but given that it’s a documentary I only happened across on Netflix one day, that’s excusable.

The basic premise is that the filmmaker has had a crush on actress Drew Barrymore since they were kids. As an adult, he decides he has nothing to lose in trying to get a date with her and documents his efforts with a camera. I won’t give away the ending, but it’s actually a pretty interesting movie showing how some celebrities are more open than others to acting like normal people.

By cjhannas Uncategorized
19 Nov

No Braniacs Channel

Sometimes this country really frustrates me.

I’m not talking about Occupy Wall Street protests, the Tea Party, the super committee or President Obama, but rather television viewers.

Last week, NBC announced they were suspending the show “Community,” which seems like the entertainment industry way of saying your dog isn’t dead, it just went upstate to live at a nice farm. It’s also the latest Show With a Small, Passionate Fan Base and Critical Acclaim That Nobody Watches. And that’s really a shame.

I love that show. It’s a comedy, but doesn’t have the normal trappings of the genre. They change formats and do crazy things, like turning entire episodes into a paintball war or a claymation Christmas story. One episode this season went in more of a quantum mechanics/choose your own adventure style, showing how a roll of a dice could unleash seven different possible ways for the same setup to play out.

It’s a show that takes chances and tells stories in a different way, eschewing the more simplified, safe episodes that kept “Friends” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” on the air for so long. The result is that some people don’t get it or won’t take their own chance to give it a shot. Sure, sometimes the show’s style leaves even me wondering what’s going on, but I love that even more. Where so many “Friends” episodes are indistinguishable from one another, most of the “Community” offerings are distinct.

We’ve seen this scenario play out too many times before. Gone are shows like “Arrested Development” and “Freaks & Geeks,” while networks stick with shows I find inconceivable anyone would enjoy watching. We’ll lose “Community” but NBC will continue airing “Whitney” and “Chuck.” Don’t get me started on the Kardashians or Real Housewives. (Yes, I remember that I watch “Jersey Shore,” but I’d gladly trade it for “Community.”)

I understand that television is a business and you need ratings to make money. So why not try something like switching time slots before axing the show? NBC recognized “Whitney” sucks on Thursdays after “The Office” and moved it to Wednesday. Why not push “Community” from 8 p.m. to 9:30 and see how it goes? Right now it’s up against “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS, a show that likely grabs some of the same demographics (including me). I guess the easier answer for them is trying something “new” and adding a Chelsea Handler show to their schedule instead.

In September, Wired magazine ran a feature on Dan Harmon, the show’s creator. It’s a fascinating look into his process and his path to coming up with the show. It’s definitely worth your time if you find delving into the creative process of others as interesting as I do.

Here’s to hoping NBC changes its mind.

[Note: According to additional research, it appears “Chuck” is ending in January.]

By cjhannas television Uncategorized