Overdue

I've been putting off editing this footage for a while - just waiting for the right song to come along I guess. Who would have thought that I would hear it in a Gears of War 2 commercial...



Eastward Bound from Oliver Garrison on Vimeo.

Temporary Blogging Hiatus...

Wahoo!

What an amazing night. Despite the fact that I am sick, huddled up with four layers on the couch, watching TV, having driven to two different polling stations today, having spent 3.5 hours in line waiting to vote, and still unemployed in Santa Monica- I watched tonight's events unfold like a Hollywood plot.

I have NEVER been moved to tears before, watching CNN - maybe bored to tears - but never touched (let's say 'misty-eyed', for the sake of preserving some semblance of manhood). Sure, it could have been the cold, the crazy South African jumping and cheering next to me, or maybe the vodka tonics, but I was moved by three things tonight.

1) McCain's speech. It was honest, respectable, and a complete 180 from the way he has been running his campaign. It was the most maverick thing he has done in a long time, and I commend him for his class.

2) Obama's acceptance speech. Man, that guy can give a speech. I would paraphrase it, but I would be doing it an injustice.

and mostly, above all things,

3) The rise from the political sleaze-smog that had seemingly engulfed our country. Suddenly, because of what has happened in the past decade, and perhaps even long before then, politics seems to be real again. The issues aren't tainted through the Rove-like politicking and demographic hunting that was the growing trend, but suddenly things are much clearer.
Tonight everyone from the news anchors, from Brit Hume, to Roland Martin, and both McCain and Obama actually said REAL things. They spoke like real human beings, not marketing androids. It was quite refreshing.

And for me, and I assume most other Americans, it's what I've been waiting for - for a long time.

Vitamin D And The BBB

There are a lot of reasons that I am out here in LA right now. Specifically, the main reason is to pursue writing, through taking classes at UCLA. But also, living here lets me see what it would be like to live in LA if I were somehow successful in breaking into the TV ranks. The biggest plus so far: sunshine.

I mean, unmitigated, all-day, pure UV goodness, warming your face every time you walk outside. It's great. Score 1 for LA.

But I did have an experience on Friday that left a very sour taste in my mouth. I've been trying to get a job for about a month now, so I jumped at the opportunity to answer phone calls at a job recruiting firm right down the street from me. It was perfect - get up early, answer some phone calls, and head out by 3PM - done for the day.

The pay was pure commission, comprised of two possible sales: $5-6 if you get them to register for $33.95, and another $10 if you get them to accept a promotional sales booklet that they could return for a refund if they didn't like it. It was easy. In my first three hours I made about $50, so I was pretty psyched that I found a job that was pretty easy and paid enough for me to pay the bills and have some breathing room (something I have not had for a long time).

On Friday, I was talking to a nurse from North Carolina on the phone who was very wary of paying to register for our service. She kept asking for things like placement percentages and placement guarantees - things that I was told by coworkers to skirt around and avoid. So I did. My boss wasn't in the office at the time, and I told her I would call her back Monday after I spoke to him so that I could give her a better idea of our placement numbers. After I took down her information, I turned around in my chair and asked another sales guy what our placement number actually are, ballpark.

He looked at me like I was from Mars. "What do you mean?"

I was kind of frustrated, I thought I made my question quite clear.
"I mean - how many people that we register actually get jobs?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, 0%, 1%? Nobody. We don't do that." I kind of stared at him for a second to try to understand what he was saying. "Do you see anybody here making phone calls to companies right now?"

I didn't. And I guess I never really thought that the four people in the office answering phone calls WAS the whole company. There was no back end. It was all register-register-register. And then once we got these people signed up, there was no follow-through.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize what was going on. I guess something inside me never really even considered that the company was illegitimate. My phone starts ringing again. More callers. I answered the phone three more times that day, and each time I pushed for them to use our free service site, and didn't try to upsell anyone. All I could think about were the people I had spoken to before that were telling me their story about just being laid off after 30 years at a Ford Company, or the people who had to check their bank account before they gave me their card info, just to make sure they had enough money.

What this company is doing, is preying on the most helpless, last-resort type of people that they can find. It's unforgivable. So I left that afternoon. Unemployed again. Looking for work again. But at least I can go to sleep at night.

I did some research on the company when I got home, and it appears that it very hard to cancel the service, or to return the 'sales course' packet and get a refund.

www.americansalesnetwork.com

Blech. -1 for LA. I need to go outside and get some sun and maybe I'll feel better.

Boston Challenges The Phillies To A 'Pick-up' Game

BOSTON (AP) - Unofficial clubhouse spokesman of the Boston Red Sox - Jason Varitek, reportedly contacted at least ten separate members of the Word Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies last night. Varitek left multiple voice mails and text messages challenging them to a pick-up game. Any time, any place.

"It wasn't so much of a challenge," Varitek said "as much as, just kind of a fun game - you know - just to see who wins." The team captain already had his catchers chest-protector and signature eye-black on, and was really hoping "to get in some [ball] before spring training."

Teammate Dustin Pedroia shared his captain's sentiments. "OK, I know we lost to the Rays in the ALCS, but, I just kind of want to know if we could have won."

The second baseman made it clear that he was happy for both Tampa Bay and Philadelphia for making it to the World Series, but thought "[It] would be cool to at least see if we could have won, you know, if we beat the Rays." To which Pedroia pounded his fist into his glove and shouted "Common Phils! Best of seven!"

While no other teammates have stepped up verbally and joined in the challenge, team rookie and shortstop Jed Lowrie reported that he could play if they "needed someone at short," and if he could "[Get] a ride with Dustin."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona, the skipper than lead the team to two championships in the past four years, brushed off the comments made by Varitek with a frustrated laugh. "Tek does this every year" Francona said. "You should have seen him when Chicago knocked us out in 2005. Ozzie Guillen had to change his phone number."

Some say that Veritek, and now Pedroia, just have a problem with losing, but they see it another way.

"No, you don't understand, we just want to see if we could have won." Pedroia remarked "We know we lost, we get it, whatever, season's over. But common, I just know we can beat the Phillies. Just one game. Common man!"

Say Hi To Your Motha

2.0

There's a very bizarre twist coming to light that intertwines two seemingly opposite social forces: the internet and reality.

That sentence took me five minutes to write - Jesus. If you understood it, hats off to you, because I'm not sure I do.

What I am trying to say, is that isolation is the new congregation. Going into your room is like going out.

Because of Web 2.0 and all that the buzz word might entail, internet social networking provides seemingly more contact than real life ever could. More and more people are spending time talking these days, chatting on IM, seeing photo albums on facebook - allowing one person to contact friends from all parts of the globe - simultaneously.

Suddenly leaving home these days isn't really leaving home as long as you have a computer. You have your virtual home right on your lap. People, finances, information, entertainment all one mouse-click away.

I find myself spending more and more time on the computer - and for the strangest reason ever: I want to stay connected with other people. If I'm lonely I can see who is on gChat, or read a friend's blog. Maybe peruse facebook and see what people are up to, who is in what relationship and what events people are attending. You can even play fantasy sports. It makes me feel - in a limited way - involved.

The issue that I am now starting to understand, is that Web 2.0 is creating Society 2.0.

Society 2.0 is a society where face-to-face encounters are more rare, where personal connection comes second to texting, IM-ing and emails. Where - like it or not - you're online avatar is the new face of your real self. And I don't mean a literal avatar from Second Life or Sims, I mean the compilation of traits built through facebook, blogs, myspace, texting, iLike, your iTunes library, and any other information you share online.

The great thing about this system is that it provides for greater connection and communication throughout the globe - throughout friends, families, businesses and everyone else who can turn on a computer.

What scares me, though, is what Society 2.0 leaves out. How much can really be communicated through the complex relays of ones and zeros? How much is lost in translation? I honestly don't know. What I do know is that there is an inherent gush of resignation when I sit down at my computer sometimes - only to be sated with this dreaded Web 2.0. At times it feels like I am just sucking on a fake Nicorette inhaler that doesn't quite do it.