I Should Write about My Adventures

So my week has been rather busy. Christmas was amazing, but Boxing Day was a tad boring. For those of you who don't know what a Boxing Day is, its a magical day where Canadians and English are supposed to give their servants gifts for working over the holiday, while the masters either play football or (regretfully) shop. Nowadays, there aren't many masters or servants, but there are shoppers.

To anyone following BBC or a national station, you saw a report of people using mace and other various weapons to get past other shoppers in order to get after-Christmas sales. In my opinion, that's quite un-awesome of those Canadians. But what do I know, I am just a Pittsburgh Blogger! All I did was fly a Canadian Flag!

Speaking of being a Pittsburgh Blogger, on the 29th, my awesome aunt (introduced me to John Green [now known here as Jay-Scribble]) took me to her workplace - KDKA Television in Pittsburgh. She took me out to DeLuca's in the Strip beforehand for a breakfast including my Belgian Waffle that was a tad larger than my head.

Following the large waffle, she took me into Gateway Center through the back offices of KDKA into the editing suites. There I met a man named Marty, who was the KDKA master of Final Cut. Apparently what KDKA does is they record tapes, and digitize them into a form for Final Cut and then re-burn them onto tapes for the tape people to run in their master machines.

After talking to the Final Cut Wizard, we ran into the morning anchor Rick Dayton. He talked back and forth with us for a good 10-15 minutes, and then he had to prep for the Noon News. After making our way through the newsroom (running consequently into the producers, Dave Crawley, Ross Guidotti, John Shumway, the Dispatcher, and Satellite man) we took a journey into the Satellite pointy room where a kind man (his name eludes me) showed us how the tape decks work and how using this mounted iPad-looking thing, he points the Satellite receivers so they can pick up the signals live in the studio.

After that, we went into Studio B where they film the Nightly Sports Call and the mini-kitchen for PTL. Finally, we made our way into the control room (Video, as we had just met the audio dude) to watch the opening of the Noon News.

If I thought running WCHS (Morning Announcements) video feed was tough, KDKA's is impossible! They are watching 17 or so different monitors ranging from video bugs (logos in the corner) to camera angles to satellite trucks to CG stuff to the tape room. Needless to say, I was awestruck.

Big Promotion from WCHS, huh? - DavidWov

During the break, we worked our way onto the studio remote-control/teleprompter deck. There, we watched the studio from inside the actual room. During the next break, I actually made my way onto the set, about 20 feet from the anchor and Floor Operator.

After the news was over, I sat in the anchor chair as Rick Dayton recorded the ID Tags (Whats Coming up at 4, 5, etc) And once that was all over, Rick and I posed for some pictures:

Overall, it was a great day. Special thanks once again to my aunt who not only took me there, but introduced me to everyone as well as took these three pictures. Also, thanks to Rick Dayton for putting up with us two


IN THE NEXT BLOG (Scheduled, at least): I will talk about my adventure to the University of Pittsburgh's Nationality Rooms. Oh, and just a heads up: In 2012, I will work on bringing you a blog at least once every week, usually on a Friday or Saturday.

Don't Unplug Me, and the P4A

I was inspired by the lyrics to ALL CAPS's song entitled "don't unplug me" in acoustic version on Grooveshark.com. If you have no clue what that is, you should open a new tab in Explorer or Safari or whatever and type in GROOVESHARK.COM. You can stream music from its website for free, and save it into a playlist. And yes, ALL CAPS is a DFTBA (#Nerdfighters)-written artist.

I haven't posted on this blog in about two weeks. Since then I have been busy on-stage as well as lighting stages. On stage, I have been performing with CHS's Guys Ensemble group. This is perhaps my favorite group to sing with. Honestly, we are there just to have fun.

So our director shows us the drifters version of "White Christmas" in Sheet music form. We all kind of look at her like she is absolutely crazy. She calls for some sort of weird falsetto thing (check out audio from the original here: http://dft.ba/-1gL6) and then two weeks before the concert she utters the words that bring bad mojo to any guy attempting to perform on stage: YOU WILL DANCE. I am going to eventually post a video, but it didn't end great.

Project For Awesome Press Kit Logo

This past Saturday was December 17th. It was the annual PROJECT 4 AWESOME on YouTube. For those who aren't aware, the Project for Awesome is a Youtube initiative where creators of content post (instead of their regular content) videos about Charities that they either support or have taken part in.

To those who say that Youtube doesn't care, boy it does. As of 12/22/2011 at 9:36PM EST, they had raised $71,348.30 USD. This doesn't put into account the fact that DFTBA artist Alex Day is releasing his single with the proceeds going to a P4A charity, and that John Green's new Zombie Novella is going to be released for the money going to the P4A Projects.

Another post coming soon... and sorry if this one didn't make too much sense. In other news, I got a twitter. Feel free to follow me @AlexPopichak. Thanks!

Eat'n Park Blog:Christmas Commercial

Eat'n Park BlogThe Story of the Eat'n Park Christmas Star Commercial:

Visiting with the Occupiers and Education Paradigms

So for those of you who are unaware, one of my recent projects has been working with a Teen Media project at Pittsburgh's WYEP radio station. This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Occupy Pittsburgh movement with this group.

So along with the 13 other mediamakers (I need to come up with something better...), I took a PAT bus ride to downtown from the South Side. We walked a block or so until we reached the Occupy movement across the street from the Creche and the USX tower and were given some field recorders and groups to talk to the occupiers about who they were and what they stood for.

After wandering around the encampment around this large bulletin-board style fence around a fountain, it was quite clear that this group was angry with what was happening with America, and were willing to stay indefinitely. It kind of reminded me of a boy scout tenting excursion. So we decided to walk up to a guy and identify ourselves as media people from WYEP. He had a lot to talk about. He was a man who had taken odd jobs: moving boxes, a registered massage therapist, before joining this movement.

When asked if he thought that this movement would help any job prospects when I (or in this case, the girl asking the questions) graduate college, he laughed. He said that he wished that he could say so, but he was being a realist. He thinks that change will come out of this, but nothing immediate.

We also asked what the reactions the encampment had gotten. He said it was mainly positive. He mentioned a time (as did two other protesters) where there had been a few people about four weeks ago that had screamed "GET A JOB" out the window by passing at a high rate of speed, to suggest that they might have been drunk. Others said that they'd join, but they had to work. To be honest, some of the protesters do have jobs (See Below).

Two other protesters talked to us about their thoughts. The one man described himself as "Underemployed." They mainly shared the same views as the first man, but had an interesting perspective coming back and forth from a job (I think the one said he was laid off, but I am not sure).

Afterward, we talked about what we had seen, and who we had talked to. One of the common misconceptions that media outlets had given us was that this was a band of angry homeless people. They were people who wanted the top 1%  of Americans (the rich) to take responsibility and help those below us. They wanted solidarity which, although they have separate political views, we all kind of want.

Later during that discussion we talked about how this ties into relation with education. Education impacts all of us as teenagers, and quite frankly everyone. Alexa (coordinator) pulled up a video that I put up on my share link site thingy (or at http://dft.ba/-1bbV) which talked about how education affects GDP, the future, the economy, politics, etc.

For more info on Occupy Pittsburgh, check out http://www.occupypittsburgh.org/
For more on my adventures at WYEP, I am going to start posting those into a tag labeled "WYEP Teen Center" find it on the sidebar.

WYEP and an Eagle Project

FORWARD:No, BSA National, please don't sue me. Two things A) I'm a scout and B) FAIR USE.

So recently I attended Sam's Eagle project and helped finish off the "TEEN ROOM" at the ACFL. It kind of seems that I am almost always doing some project somewhere indirectly (or directly in this case) involving the Library. I know the exec. director there, the old exec director, the library director, and the kind lady at the front desk that just happens to know everything.

So anyway, Sam's (not my cousin, friend from school, WYEP group person, friend's cat) project is to turn this useless room into something-well, less useless. I helped put in lighting, a couch (NEW COUCH), some chairs, a bookshelf, and a cart for a Wii. Now, of course the Wii needs a television to work properly. So the library lords decide to look in storage and find this monster 39ish inch projection television. So Sam and I attempt to take this monster off of the cart and get it up a flight of stairs into the 100ish year old building. We barely made it off of the cart (this thing weighed like 200 pounds or something). It took four guys (yay, Sam's dad and Scoutmaster Extraordinaire to the rescue) going up a narrow flight of different stairs to get this back on to the original cart. Luckily, it actually worked after all of this jostling.

After that I went to WYEP's Community broadcast center to be a part of their TEEN CENTER. I took a tour of the magical building and learned how to use a professional recording studio... well, kinda. I learned how to work the various microphones and record using Adobe Audition and replay over studio speakers. I proceeded to learn how to use a field recorder and interview people using a magical device called a ZOOM.

So this is going to be a good project. I am bound to blog more here about it; as well as possibly on the Teen Centre's eventual thingamajig.

Finally, I will sound off on the creeper thing on Facebook. They call it "Top Stories", but I find it just a tad creepy. I do indeed talk to some of my friends more often than others, but I don't need those particular people's posts in my face. I'd like to find them myself, thank you.

Wireless Telegraphy, and the DROWSY CHAPERONE

So I get one of those Google Calendar notifications each week to my email address reminding me to post something to my blog every Thursday or Friday. So I sat at my dinner table today thinking... what to blog about? With nothing else fresh in my mind but songs from The Drowsy Chaperone, Coldplay songs, and Vlogbrothers quotes, I was forced to google "random google search thing". Even though it was redundant, surely enough the first result produced a URL generator that took me to Wikipedia's page on "Wireless Telegraphy." Ironically, what had inspired this search was the "random article" button on Wikipedia. I think that Google should look into that.

Anyway, Wireless Telegraphy (according to Wikipedia) is the historical term used for attempts of wireless communication before radio started becoming radio. Now I need to explain how this is relevant.

So recently I decided to audition for Carlynton's production of The Drowsy Chaperone. The play is about a man (Man In Chair) who tells a story about his favorite record from the 1920's, a fictional soundtrack to a broadway show called the Drowsy Chaperone. I got called back for a part of the show-within-the-show's butler. Almost needless to say, I didn't get the part, but it got me to thinking just how far communication has come long before I was even a thought.

Stage shows date back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans as ways to to allow playwrights to convey certain messages or to entertain. Then came along type, then movable type. Over the past 200 years we have gone from telegraphs to now reading my blog on a computer, iPad, or whatever. However, we still act in a play on a stage to entertain. We still sing and dance to entertain others.

Finally to how this is relevant. I am about to embark on an experience at WYEP where I may end up (talking like 3 or 4 years from now) landing a spot on public radio.

It just goes to show you (oh no, I used "you" in a writing piece... where's my English teacher now?) that even though society may progress, we still stick behind the mediums that get us closest to real people.

On Minecraft, and Musicals, and Daytime Television

First off, I decided to write a blog about Pop Culture. I am not 100% sure as to why, but here goes nothing.

I am not a fan of television anymore. I drew the line at NCIS never-ending reruns on USA network. I got fed up and went straight for the internet. Honestly, the internet is a television that you choose your own content (Youtube) and Channels (Also Youtube) and can interact with them. However, sometimes my parents think I am too involved with internet, and force me back into reality. Rule of thumb is that if its dark outside, I'm either on my computer, sleeping, or otherwise doing something of that nature. This leaves me to only be watching occasional daytime television.

Daytime television is really the shows that could never make it primetime, or have too involved a plot for the night dwellers. These shows are what we call "soap operas." These are the most pointless bits of professional production that I have come across so far. And there are MAGAZINES for this stuff! Not only do they assert their pointlessness after the noon news, they also have to invade the stands around where people check out with their bread and milk.

This is a Creeper ^ He says hi
(Source:thinkgeek.com)

Moving right along, one of the most happening thing on the internet and gaming world is something called "Minecraft."  Its this magical little game where one's objective is, well, whatever he/she wishes. I have taken a liking to mooching off of my friend Clay's computer and building this insanely huge railroad thingy (yeah, creative mode, I am just that awesome) that defies gravity and runs into itself and stuff. Otherwise, I don't care too much for building houses with the little blocks and whatnot. I don't particularly understand the fascination of it, but I will keep plugging along at Clay's house with the magical railroad.

I have debated at great lengths as to whether or not to actually get this game for myself. I don't have the time really.

Speaking of not having much time, I am about to audition for a musical. This brings up two things: my lack of dancing skills, and the return to a stage. I haven't been on a stage in front of a crowd performing for about three years. The second isn't much of an issue because I enjoy the stage for no apparent reason. Take for example anchoring the TV announcements when they needed a fill in on Thursday. I enjoyed it being alongside co-anchor DavidWov and Host Clay Bodnar. But back to the first issue. I am concerned that not being able to dance might play a factor in auditions. However, as my chorus director told me - You're a guy, they won't expect too much. Find a girl and have her help you.

Well, that presents a whole other problem with "finding a girl", but not one involving a musical.

Post-Blog: I believe that I have developed a style of writing here. I title a three-topic blog and add a picture of something semi-related and then write some semi-depressing note before a closing that looks semi-optimistic. You like?

Can I Write a Blog Post in 10 Minutes? Sure!

So over the past few weeks, a topic for discussion in my house has been that of the microwave. No, we aren't battling over some 1980 microwave on its last leg or whether or not to upgrade from some magic pot-bellied stove. Our arguments have been over leaving time on the microwave.

My mother likes warming up things (Coffee, Leftovers, My Food, etc). She sometimes decides that the time she put into the microwave is too long. To remedy this, she takes whatever it is out of the microwave, and eats/drinks/serves/cooks whatever on her merry wave. However, the time she usually leaves left on the microwave is about 5 seconds. She just leaves it there until I growl at the bloody machine and clear the timing on it to bring it back to whatever time it is. My question to you would be, what difference does 5 seconds make on toast or soup or coffee??

Much like Tom Bodett, I fancy myself a writer of random essays. So I'd like to (Much Like Him) call upon the great office lords at Black and Decker or Sears or whoever makes microwaves to design the next new microwave oven with a function where if you take the food out (Yay Pressure Sensors) it automatically clears the time on the microwave.

Why did I rant about this? I want to know if anyone else has this issue. Is this a good idea? Probably not. Why would the office lords listen to a high school freshman? I am not sure.

Speaking of listening to a high school freshman, I have recently been accepted into WYEP's (Pittsburgh's vversion of NPR) Teen Center. What exactly is this? Its a course on Radio Production as well as Journalism that the eventual aim is to turn high school teens into local advocates for issues.

This is an interesting project for a few reasons. 1) It gives real teens some sort of training with an aim of getting people interested in journalism and radio production 2) I might end up working as a summer job there (This is a stretch...) and/or 3) Public Radio finally can make itself relevant to people like me by simply reaching out.

To WYEP Listeners, Hello. To Microwave office lords (I like that... I think I'll use that), fix your Microwaves. To everyone else, take a look at my site :)

A Eulogy for A Man I Never Met.

So recently I logged onto my magical Blogger account (Why must they always change designs and whatnot?) and the stat thingy told me that this website has 3000 pageviews. My question is... why? Then again, I shouldn't question the logic of the internet.

SO this past weekend I was in the woods. I spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning at camp Guyasuta in Pittsburgh. It was sort of a homecoming for me because this is the same camp where I discovered what camping actually was about 7 years ago as a Cub Scout. My experience this time was quite different though in the minor fact that I was an SPL (basically Ruler Of Scout Troop) for the troop that I had just joined 4 years earlier. It was also different in the fact that it was about 20 degrees (Farenheit) overnight as we slept in tents. Please remind me not to do that again.

I emerged from the woods a different person yet again. Its something about fresh air and being a small person in large wooded areas that gives perspective as to what matters to a certain degree. At least, it kind of clears your head.

I emerged from the woods and into my parent's car and after about three or four blocks they said "Im sorry...". I didn't know what they meant until they explained that while we were at camp, Andy Rooney had died.
{Source: Wikipedia}

Rooney was hospitalized on October 25, 2011, after developing postoperative complications from an undisclosed surgery,^[40] and died on November 4, 2011, at the age of 92, almost five weeks after his last appearance on 60 Minutes

So now why does this matter? Mr. Rooney was one of the unique journalists in a dying breed. Walter Cronkite pioneered cable news, and Mr. Rooney the video editorial. In a way, I guess people like John and Hank Green owe it to Mr. Rooney for being one of the first to speak his mind and have other people actually care.

I admired him because he spoke his mind and never cared what others thought. He told it how he saw it and wasn't warped otherwise. I only learned of his existence about a year ago... It seems that every time I discover some relatively old guy that does good journalist stuff (Andy Rooney, Walter Cronkite, etc.) they either retire or die. I don't like this track record. Luckily for me though, I think Scott Pelley is locked into a contract with CBS for the next few years or so.

So thank you to those who pioneered speaking their mind. Thank you Peter Zenger for paving freedom of press and thank you Andy Rooney for being the cranky old guy at the end of 60 Minutes that everyone hated to love.

Questioned Mentality

So a while back I was wondering where I was going to try and lead my friends into for the next video project. We started with a variety show (JSVH) which demanded 4 hours realtime to film and 15 minutes of a viewer's time. Then we stopped for a while and invented a series that required little effort (The Total Randomness Series) and that kind of worked for us, but it wasn't ideal. Then we invented BBC 2 1/2 which kind of worked again, but it is a relatively repetitive format. Then I met a few creative people, and we created the idea I'd like to call "Questioned Mentality".

Screenshot from Possible QMentality Filming

This idea is modeled after our bizarre lives (Write and Film What You Know) and its ups and downs. My friend Alex (xanderqwerty123 on youtube) and Dan (MrXigbar22 on youtube) as well as Clay Bodnar (JSVH, TR series, Lapsing Reality) and David Wovchko are helping bring to life a youtube channel bent on one mission: The most random and Creative short videos all posted to one channel. Thus, we are starting this project within the next two months.

Yes, I did that just to use "thus" in a sentence. For the record, I am optimistic about this. As Isabella  once said "Negative Attitudes Lead To Negative Outcomes." Granted, she was talking about a relationship with a girl, but it still applies here.

My Questioned Mentality

Sanity is defined by what? Some say its an average of everyone else. Others say its staying out of an asylum. Others say sanity is staying out of love, some in. The issue I personally have is that sanity is almost always defined by comparing to someone else.

Do I not like other people? No, I like people... why else would I be writing to people through the internet. I just don't like how the definition of mentality depends on what others think. If I let them be their own person, who are they to call me insane? 

I am questionably mental because of three main things: the way I interact with people, the way I think, and the way I express myself. What would the world be like without Self Expression?

The name Questioned Mentality is derived from the reactions that we (Project Contributors) get when we tell someone ideas. We want the channel to make people wonder if they are sane, if we are sane, and more importantly, we want to try and redefine entertainment.

And, just to throw this in... NO the Kardashians aren't my idea of entertainment. Try Wheezywaiter or Smosh or RayWilliamJohnson or even Meekakitty on for size.

And because this is running through my head right now, check out Paradise by Coldplay from their new album Mylo Xyloto

Local Blogger Reaches Milestone

Hello everyone and welcome to POST 100! I realize that this is only the beginning, so I don't feel like reflecting too much. Over the past two years, I have met so many people, and this blog has really been a great part of my career. We [Me, as well as my readers!] got nominated in 2011 for a CBS Pittsburgh MVB award, and consequently I have met a few new people. I recently was browsing through some of the comments on this site, and found another nominee, 2 Political Junkies. They are local Bloggers, and are quite good at what they do. Either way, I'd like to thank everyone that has helped along the way.

I was watching the CBS evening news with Scott Pelley earlier tonight, and they brought up yet another story about Steve Jobs. As any of my close friends can tell you, I have and probably will always be a PC. My world revolves around Windows 7, Google Chrome, and Youtube. I don't particularly idolize Bill Gates, but I do commend his Philanthropy. However, I will attempt to have my bias leave this post.

Anyway, the story was about how Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech (So did you Pelley) and how he talked not about his successes, but his failures. In life sometimes it is one step forward, and always two steps back. Steve Jobs quoted a magazine about "Stay Hungry, or Stay Foolish" and to a certain degree, I believe that is true. We must learn from our failures to succeed, or otherwise fail in the long run. I must leave this post to design something, but I promise more failure, so in the long run we can succeed.

The News We Kinda Knew, but Never Wanted to Admit

Okay, so a while back, I was in the Pittsburgh MVB contest as a nominee. They never gave me the final numbers, but bottom line, we didn't win. So that was that. The important part was that this blog was nominated, and for that, I'd like to thank everyone involved.

I must apologize for not posting in about a month. This blog has been extremely successful and has been great to work with, I just haven't found the time to rant about happenings around the area, and other randomness.

So in September, Carnegie had its arts/heritage fest on Main Street. I had the opportunity to go on a Saturday and possibly meet up with one of my friends. So I waited for her by listening to the Battle of bands, and then helping them clean up (I never stop being a stage techie). For once, the artist (Yours Truly from Pittsburgh) actually gave me a free download of their newest EP. Thank you Yours Truly.

After that exchange with the people from the Battle of the bands, it had been an hour since I was to meet my friend, and the skies started to open up and rain.

To the friend:

I was able to find cover in the booth for the 9th PA reserves (I did a project with them restoring a monument back in May) next to the library. There, I waited out the rain, and my friend that never showed up.

This brings me to the point in a story when normally people write the moral or "Theme" to the story. However, because I am not willing to get graded by my English teacher as to how correct the moral to my own story was, I will say this: The author wants you to think about perseverance, and to ask you to relate.

The friend never showed up because of other plans. Another friend cancelled on a different event because of other plans. Other plans are not bad, but in order to truly get a grasp on priority, we need other plans.

I want to reach out to whoever wants to reach out to me. If you like my work, or what I do, please let me know. 100% of people who don't talk never start relationships or friends.

And no, I won't comment about Steve Jobs...

The end of the MVB, 9/11, and why thats important.

Okay, so I need to kill all of the links on this site telling people to vote for the 2011 MVB contest because the CONTEST IS OVER!!!! :-) Unfortunately, they won't announce the winners until 16th September 2011. I will be the first (and probably last) to tell you what ends up happening.

9/11/01 - Why We Never Forget
I need not tell anyone what happened because you can read the story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks. I am not fully ready to prepare a statement on it, but I can share with you a link to vlogger John Green's commentary about the idea of terrorism [see the bottom]. It is horrible, however it cannot be stopped unless people, or society as a whole, can decide to kill it.

To the right is a picture I took at sunset with the American flag flying next to the spinning 9/11 flag. It is kind of like the one I shared last year, only not as symbolic, but as the fact that it is the sunset, but also the promise of a new day.

Regular posts return next week. This is post 98. Post 100 will probably be a vlog debut.

John Green's Vlog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1cUh3GUMkA&feature=player_profilepage

Off The Internet Stuffs

Okay, so lately I have been working on a lot off the internets, and I am considering starting vlogging (yay, I've tried that all last year!) and I have also been working on the Channel. When I talk about the Channel, I mean two things. The first being WCHS AM (Morning Announcements) and Verizon Channel Local 28. I have tried my hand at designing stuff for both of these. See examples to the sides of these words.

Also, I have attempted to do some philosophical thinking. In other words, thinking great thoughts. Where has that gotten me? Well, literally nowhere. But it does occupy my time.

In completely irrelevant news, I have been watching this vlogger WheezyWaiter. He is one of the John Green clan, and has this (almost)thing called EXPLOSION WEDNESDAY! He's a fun guy, if you want to check him out.

I promise to post about the MVB Contest via a blog or vlog on September 10th (the contest ends the 9th) until then, check out something I have done recently, SUPERMAN III Lapsed!

So You Remember Tally Hall? and notes from a Football Game

So right now, I am keeping my laptop on the network so I can simultaneously burn a DVD of a band performance for Carlynton's Band Director.

Getting past that, this past Friday, I was able to attend a Carlynton Football Game. Normally this means a three hour contest where our home team loses. However, it was quite contrary to that. We won, it took four hours, and I still have to edit all of that for a highlight reel. (I should start working on that)

So, Remember Tally Hall? Anyway, Recently someone posted a video (see it off to the side) of 750 pictures played kind of like in Lapsing Reality, only better. Check it out.

Most Valuable Blogger Contest

So, there are only a few more days left in the contest, and I am hoping that if you are reading this, you'll be nice enough to vote a few more times just for now. I promise to make a vlog if I win. It won't be too exciting, but it will be something.

That'sChurch is DoublePlusGood

Okay, so a while back in the news there was this hugely popular local blog called PittGirl. She got in the news and stuff after some scandal involving the mayor, and apparently started a new blog elsewhere.

Anyway, I was looking through the other nominees in CBS Pittsburgh's MVB Contest. Anyway, this "everything else" portion has some great bloggers. Under my blog (Yay for having a 2 in the name of the blog!) I see this "That's Church" blog. I click about, and it turns out this PittGirl person is the same person as That's Church. Upon further inspection, it turns out that she also watched MONK!

Bottom line, the fact that a high school freshman (yay first day of school!) can be in the same contest with PittGirl, who has a hugely ridiculous local following... just shows the power of the internet.

DoublePlusGood is an expression as used in George Orwell's 1984 to describe something that is better than good, or excellent. Its all a part of this philosophy involving the 'Party' and some other philosophical content I wish not to bore my readers about.

This poster (at left) is a digitized version of my friend Clay Bodnar's poster for 1984. The "Doublethink" wording is in the same font as street signs (Inspired by Cherry Street [details later]). And the three party slogans "war is peace..." is in one of my new favourite fonts called "Typewriter from Hell". I love the internet.

To Read about the MVB and some other stuff click here.

Explaining the MVB, and the Beginning of a School Year.

Hello Followers and people visiting from CBSPittsburgh.com!

So this morning I get an email from CBS (as in Scott Pelley CBS and former VIACOM CBS) telling me that I am finalist for Pittsburgh's MVB (Most Valuable Blogger) contest in the category of "Everything Else".  What does this mean? It means that I am a nominee for something that I did!

Okay, so it basically means that I get to put a magic sticker on the side of my blog where you can click [or at the conveniently located sticker (look at the right!)] and vote for this blog once a day everyday until September 9th, when we see who wins this contest!

So what is the blog about? Well, its basically a conglomerate of thoughts and rants from this game we all call life. I am going to put some links at the bottom of this post for some good examples... but you can browse using the nice tags on the side.

Who am I? In short, I am a teenage web designer, boy scout, and a freelance media artist/writer. 

The Beginning of a School Year.
So now is the lovely point of the year after we inevitably change a schedule based on what we like and actually take those classes. I have already pestered with my eventual English teacher about something trivial. A new thing this year is the fact that I will be attending a bunch of football and basketball and other games filming for Carlynton's public access channel (28 locally for Verizon). This means that I get to go to the press box and stay there for the whole time, and then get my stuff PUT ON TELEVISION!!!!

Finally, freshman year means that some of the people that I have been with in gym classes, and other stuff are no longer going to be the same. Take for example lunch period.... my friends are split 1/2 and 1/2 between periods, meaning this year will be interesting....

Links To Some Good Posts (Note: The older ones are random....)

• Tally Hall, and, well, TALLY HALL!
• About John Green and Some Stuff
• Whining about Gym Class in 2009
• About Taking Over the World in 2010

Tally Hall, and, well, TALLY HALL!

So back in May, my friend Greg tells me about this band called "Tally Hall". I liked a song of theirs, and decided to learn some more. Then he tells me that they are coming to Pittsburgh in August.

Fast-forward to August, and I finally decide that I am going to go with Greg and Clay to see this band. So, a week before we see them, I decide (learning from the John Green accident) to look them up ahead of time to see what they are all about. Their harmony and style is unique, and just, well, great.

Tally Hall as seen from my vantage point... via a phone

Fast-forward to Sunday the 20th. The day we finally go to Mr. Small's Funhouse (its a theatre, not a strip club) and see Tally Hall live and in person. This is a nice little church-turned-music-theatre in scenic Millvale. I decide to update my tumblr live from the place. Heck, we were in the front row!

What you must realize is that the 'front row' of Mr. Small's is right up against a wooden barrier about four feet from the stage, extending in between the megaspeakers. So, in other words, we were right up there near tally hall.

For a sample of some of their made-of-awesome music, click the grooveshark sampler at the bottom of this post. Afterward, they signed my tour shirt... all five of them! Plus BORA, their manager. all of them were REALLY nice, and Rob Cantor (Yellow Tie) asked if I was Canadian (I was wearing my Canadia Shirt)

Listen to some Tally Hall now:

& from the album Good & Evil (I just plain Like this one)



Welcome To Tally Hall (their kinda Theme Song)

I Can't Believe I Have Never Blogged About Canada!

So I decided to reblog some random blog post from here, just to generate traffic to this site, and to show what I do in my spare time. [For the record this is for my tumblr]

In order to decide what to reblog, I plugged the word "Canada" into my sidebar search thing-a-ma-jig. Amazingly, that word has never appeared in my blog before. I don't hate you Canadians, its just that you occasionally slip my mind! So, here goes nothing (really):

Canadian Please
So recently I discovered a Canadian vlogger through watching Elmify on Youtube religiously. Anyway, he posted a music video about how basically Canadians are awesome. You should really go check it out if you get a chance, as well as my other Favourites on Youtube.

We're Going to Canada (in 2016)!!!
This past year, I talked to my friends about going to Canada just as a trip when we were all 19. The plan was to go to Toronto, and have fun in Canada. The only two issues came up with transportation. The first is a small expense called a Passport and the other being a vessel to hold eight people. So basically, a school bus, or maybe just two cars. Another idea was a subway boring straight to Toronto. How we'll surface? Heck if I know.

TRANSITION!

Finally, I am working on some new projects... but those won't be out for a while. I am going to post next about maybe Elmify, Meekakitty, Vlogbrothers, or someone else. Wanna suggest something? Comment or email me at the link under "contact webmaster" or whatever I put at the bottom.

Two Thousand Bloody Views and LapsingReality(CC)

So apparently [as far as all time views go] this website is more popular than my built-from-scratch troop site. Unfortunately, I've been working on analytics with this longer than the troop site. ENOUGH NERD TALKING!

So recently I have been focusing on television and off-the-internet projects (such as Bulletin Board Events) instead of my regular YouTube videos. However, the past two weeks have been quite the opposite.

On Saturday, my friend Clay (BBC Project, JSVH, Total Randomness) decided we should go up to the park. As always, I brought my HD camcorder. That is when the idea for LapsingReality came to us. We decided to take everyday things and speed them up.  [See Bottom Of This Post]

Finally, I filmed a collab video on August 4th. Due to things near my control, I am not posting that yet. Also in the works is a Total Randomness 4. Wow, four already.
 

Lapsing Reality:Park

Mainstreamed.

I guess the point of people being in social media, blogs, YouTube, whatever is popularity. Book authors tour around promoting their newest book so they can gain fame, money, and the surplus money that will allow them to keep touring. Pleasing the public is the twenty-first century average American dream.

People flaunt that they have X amount of followers, or friends or whatever, but why do we do this? Is it purely human nature, but is there an actual psychological reason, a purpose to this madness? For that, I guess the answer is the same as if you wanted to know why people watch Daytime Television or worship celebrities. To this, I turn to fellow Interneteur, MrXibar22 on Youtube.

He tells me that we follow celebrities because in our eyes, they are at the pinnacle of perfection, and that is what we strive to be---perfect.

But in this mess of people attempting to be popular, to be discovered, to be "Mainstreamed" if you will, there are the group of rebels.

So basically there are three types of people:

• The people wanting purely mainstreamed (Close-minded individuals who are exposed to only what society 'likes')
• The anti-mainstreamers who tolerate the pop culture (who prefer the alternative styles) 
• The Rebels who wish nothing but the underground. 

As for me, I am in between the first and second. I like what I like, and not what I don't. It'd be nice to be discovered, but its not what I am looking for. Oh, and here's something new for the sidebar:

Thoughts for a Monorail

So today we decided to go to the local pool because of the looming haze and 90 degree temps in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, once we get there it starts thundering, so I am forced to be outside of the pool, and talk to one of my neighbors.

Together we (with my chief engineering) came up with an idea that would cut back on emissions, gas prices, and the multiple car crashes that are caused by so many cars.

Can guess what I am talking about (see title)

Okay, so the thought is to eliminate at least one lane in each direction of every major highway and replace it with a monorail line. Monorails were first used in the 1950's, and have been put on the backburner for being considered an actual mode of transportation for the same reason that Amtrak is not used so much anymore. Basically, it runs on tracks.

The question I have is that if you run a high-powered monorail system between larger cities (IE, Pittsburgh-Philly-NYC) and charge based on the length of the trip, then it should pay for itself within 10 years?

While I am thinking of this, the government wants to split spending thirty-seven different ways based on need. Well, if my thought works out the way I think it will, you'll save on DOT costs... and all you really need to maintain is track and cars. As is, some cities like Seattle have adopted monorails, and others like NYC already have subways. Standardize some stuff, and we could save the country money, and have a pretty cool way of getting around.

The pool had to close, and we never got to swim, but we did have a pretty good idea in our heads.

#TheBabyIsMakingOctopusSounds and A Little Bit Of OCD

Okay, first off, I would like to say this is post 94. For post 100 (If I can last that long) I will probably make a vlog. It will be unsuccessful, but it will be here nevertheless. It is kind of a long-running thing with me. First the journalism, then websites, then videos, and now into this mode of not really caring where things go anymore.

So, I attended my first "End Of The Year" Party. It basically was this: going to a friends house, swimming, listening to music, beating each other with plastic things, and then watching a terrible old movie. Honestly, what better do we have to do on a Thursday in June? This party was attended by all of my creative friends (DavidWov, Mistaecco, Clay!), (Minus Youtube's MrXigbar22) and we talked about a little bit of everything. That is where the "#TheBabyIsMakingOctopusSounds" tag came from. It was really a combination of two ideas: hashtagging, and naming folders.

On an almost unrelated note, I have been scrolling the YouTubes Lately with the obsessive VlogBrothering thing and I have also discovered "Elmify". She is a person from a place that is mildly entertaining. She rants about stuff in a way that is slightly boring yet entertaining at the same time. Well, I will be back eventually.
Yours,
Alex.
PS: I shouldn't sign blog posts.

Complete and Unadulterated Randomness

I have been listening more recently to a song called "Iridescent" by Linkin Park. Besides the minor fact that it is used for the Transformers Franchise, it is quite good. Hmm, to think about it, I don't know much about the Transformers Franchise to rant about it *googles, Clicks Wikipedia*.

So it turns out the Film Franchise is directed/produced/made awesome by Stephen Speilberg, and distributed by, you guessed it, Dreamworks and Paramount (VIACOM companies).

As my quick Wikipedia sums up, we can basically link everything to something else. We can all find some sort of origin, a common thread. Almost every Wikipedia article has at least one link. From my brief but extensive experience with wiki-ing (word?) that is quite easy to find a common thread, and to link from one place to another.

So recently I was able to take a ride on a bike trail literally five miles away from my house. I never knew it was there, but I soon learned that it existed, and learned the story of a railroad converted into a walk/bike trail. Every quarter mile or so, there was a bench. On a good percentage of those benches within the first four miles of trail had a plaque from an eagle project. Just going to show how everything is connected.

It seems that if we stop for thirty seconds and smell the flowers growing beside a highway, or the railroad that became a bike trail, we can learn so much more, and make our test of humanity almost studied for. I leave you with the commencement speech that new CBS anchor gave last year:

Pont Champlain, Light Boxes, and My New Life.

In my own new fashion, I will start with a quote from Adrianna Flack:

Life= live it fricking epicly

It is an interesting way of putting it, but it is true. I am now addicted to music. I have recently been listening to this song Your Ex-Lover Is Dead by Stars. Now, my ex-lover (do I even have one?) isn't dead, but its a great song. It mentions capturing a taxi and driving across Pont Champlain. I decided to look into this Pont Champlain, and was disappointed to realize that my limited French couldn't tell me that "Pont" really means "bridge". So, Pont Champlain is just the Champlain Bridge in Montreal Canada (yeah!)

I believe that life is kind of like an interstate (Oh, here he goes again), and our adventures are like bridges. I decided to take the one that goes to Canada, and meet some awesome people (See The List) and did some interesting things. In the past month I have:

  - Operated Sound for a talent show
  - Ran for SPL in a boy scouting troop
  - Went to a dance
  - Slow Danced with Two Girls
  - Listened to music
  - Got a combined total of about 20 service hours
  - Decided who I am
  - created The Carlynton Project (In Crystal Clear 1080p High Def!)
  - Ticked some people off (ha)
  - operated lights for a choral concert
  - went at least 10 miles on a track and on a bike
  - Rode a trolley
  - got commended by my superintendent
  - and turned 14.

Now, what have you done? Heck, I have done about 90 times that, but that is what I put in.

Someone once told me to join the band. I did. A year later I quit. That was probably what got me where I am. I love music, I just can't play an instrument worth my life. I got into journalism, web design, video production, people, and high school.

And this is just the beginning. Well, Good luck. I am crossing my bridge, find yours.

Why a Vlog Fails and the Carlynton Project.

I begin with a quote from myself....

It seems that the story of Carlynton's creation hasn't been told. With the proposed consolidation of the two elementary schools, may be a generation that does not see a Crafton Elementary and a Carnegie Elementary.

That is why I did the Carlynton Project, to look at the one unified district that the three towns had in mind. A simple 5-minute video project detailing the general history that everyone knows. Easy project right?

I should know by now that nothing is easy. Relationships, Politics, Baseball, and Carlynton Project all have at least one thing in common: It's Complicated. In order to pull off something as simple as a video project I fought off speed limit signs, woods, black-draped posters, and the web that is the streets of Crafton and Rosslyn Farms. It took months of research, planning, and scripting and at least three hours of editing to get to where it ended up. In the end, I have a 7-minute DVD in HD (So I can't watch it myself) and apparently a GATE project.

So, I submit three copies: One to my adviser, one to my supervisor, and the third to my uncle. My supervisor watched it a week after I submitted it with her daughter (who is a film major) and "loved it".  My adviser, well it took him about three weeks to figure out what it was.

Then, in front of the 7th grade teaching staff, he decides then to premier it. It received the best reviews for a video that I have ever made. He decided the next day to deliver it to the PR director for the district... who is also the secretary for the school district.

She decides to premier the project in front of the whole school board the next day. I have no knowledge there was even a board meeting. The following day, today, the superintendent walks over to me at lunch and asks for a copy for the district. He apparently liked it... a lot.

So this is how a project snowballs. Not through YouTube, but through word-of-mouth. Not through 99 cents per click, but through giving a DVD to your world cultures teacher (yes, the marine) and seeing what happens. Vlogging fails because the story gets told but never gets seen. This is the story, the story to be continued.

It's March, Doctors, and I should stop writing long titles to rant about

Yeah, the title sums it up. I am terrible at writing titles. I saw a doctor today that didn't want to creep me, stab me with needles, or write long prescriptions. He is nice, and I think I have finally found a happy end of the medical spectrum.

So you go to some doctor's office and see little yellow stickers everywhere on the scales and height thingys and other things used for measuring small people, right? Ok, I am going to need to vlog this story. To come soon!
Thanks!
Alex Popichak

Peoples, Klondike, and Awesome People!

Ok, I decided to make a page to acknowledge and thank some really awesome people. This is in light of the recent Klondike incident. Due to legal issues, I wish not discuss details or names. What I am allowed to say is pushing James around in a sled (That is permanently installed with wheels) is NOT FUN. Also, if you think it might be about me attacking someone with a sled, that isn't true... at least as far as here goes.

Oh, and a PSA from Dennis Land:

Facebook will be closed for maintenance from February 29 to 31!! Facebook wants YOU to Share this message with at least 15 of your friends for the best chance of alerting everyone. Many people will try to login from February 29 to 31, just to find the site closed down for those days with no warning. HELP YOUR FACEBOOK FAMILY -- REPOST THIS!!

For the record, if you don't get it, you deserve to be taken off the awesome list. And, if you want to see this, the list is here.

Otherwise, check out the list. I decided that anyone that screams at me, slanders, or otherwise destroys me or my projects are not in the list.

I have to start working on this list now, so bye!

Oh, and listen to "Waiting for the End" by Linkin Park... its good. THANKS MATT!

The Legend of Mr. Blue Sky

The idea of creating a video is simple: a one-take possibly scripted capture of time. The idea of a movie for the internet is complex: an organized collection of videos, graphics, and music. It is, as Remi Gailliard says, what we do that makes us who we are. Now, Remi does semi-illegal things, but get beat up for them.

Where am I going with this? I have a plea for Nerdfighers, Pittsburghers, and Youtubers. It is because of claims by Sony, EMI, Viacom(Columbia), and Epic Records that videos on Youtube get removed. Now, I got the following Message from Sony:

It basically says "Sony decided that 20+ countries including Sweden, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe can't view your hard work". How special.

I am asking for someone, anyone, to record a song, give me permission to basically promote you. I am really desperate here. I have great concepts, great actors, actresses, writers, but I need a score. If you want a break, consider this your golden ticket.

It is because of great songs like Mr. Blue Sky being written to large companies that the agents of these groups don't want to give permission for a mere youtube that maybe fourteen people will see. If you want to actually give me permission, or an MP3, or even want to be recorded by us in our studios, shoot Easysites an e-mail: easysitesmultimedia@gmail.com.

Post EIGHTY and Some Randomness

Well, first off, I would like to acknowledge that Marie Popichak (aunt that I rarely talk about) decided to write about my John Green obsession, and that this is post EIGHTY since I started. You can read her post: Just Click Here. I rarely acknowledge that other websites exist, except mine (of course, does a painter acknowledge other works?), but hers is truly something to check out. Never have I seen such a website that had just about as much randomness on it as I do here, so check it out.

Ok, I promised randomness. I want to add a few things to two posts ago (the post before last): it turns out that Canadians, Justin Bieber, and Italians have one thing in common: BAD arguments.

Justin Bieber, regretfully for me, hails from Canada. I wish I could pull up a transcript from my fight with Lindsey, but it basically went like this:

I tell her my master plan about Canada, sneaking in a part about finding a nice Canadian girl to hide in the woods from the US government... harmless, right? Well, I guess not. I say some stupid things, and next thing I know Cristy (LONG STORY) is telling me that apparently Justin Beiber is the middle of our fight. Well, news for you Cristy: IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH JUSTIN BEIBER.

Anyway, it appears that "Beiber" isn't a word (ha) according to FireFox, so I saw those red squiggles underneath the word "Beiber." Also, I decided that the part of Canada that Beiber is from is NO LONGER part of Canada, because Canada is too awesome to be a

Oh, the newest in Easysites Videos is here: office WORKER starring clay BODNAR. I am tired of embedding and re-doing Youtube Videos, so click here:
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Rb8mCdFOM& <<<

Well, the next one I think might have to do with Butterscotch the bird, mirrors, and Frank Sinatra. 

Questions and ideas in the Doobly-doo!

Moving Day

No, I didn't decide to move into that box underneath I-79. I finally, after about a year and a half, built myself a desk. It wasn't an easy task, heck it took me about three hours, and the help of my father to get the thing finally built.x

So you get these things from Wal-Mart or Target or Wherever in this nice compact, maybe 2x4x6 box thing that weighs about 100 pounds. The fun part is picking it up from the back of the store, and wheeling it around the labyrinth of aisles of clothing, and the people that drive around cluelessly with their carts as you are trying to wheel this awkward 100 pound box around tight corners in something meant for moving construction equipment.

So eventually you take this thing into your house, and try to build it. It's never simple. I was forcing these little things into holes just a tad too small for that specialty part when my dad says "that is the easiest part." NOT a good sign for a thirteen year old clearly in over his head with building something simple.

Well, after forcing screws, tacks, and other thingamajigs, it turns out that you spent about three hours of building a desk. This was about the time that both my father and I discovered that we put some things on backward. Oops. Anyway, it was built completely and (almost) right about 4 hours after opening it.

I will save the ranting about getting the thing upstairs for you. Anyway, you have this new desk, and about six boxes of things that you want in a desk. Needless to say, there is about two boxes still full upstairs. Either way, I am done for now. Questions? Please, by all means, COMMENT! I run out of material easily, so help me out!

All Roads Lead Home.

I don't know why I decided to make that the title, but anyway, its a good song. Listen to it, its by "Golden State" if you watched  [Deadliest Catch] recently, its going to be familiar.

One of the things I absolutely hate about doing a blog is the fact that I need to UPDATE it. I mean, I love ranting, but I hate typing. I will work on something for hours, and only write a few pages. Either way, I didn't know what to write, but I decided to write something.

In a nutshell this is the past week: Lindsey get mad, Lindsey consults maple syrup friend (HE WANTS ME TO build a house in Canada out of MAPLE SYRUP!!!!!), Alex befriends maple syrup friend, Lindsey makes Alex mad, Alex breaks up, Lindsey gets mad again, and Maple Syrup friend disappears. Couldn't see that coming? Well, you obviously don't know me.

One of the most interesting things that I have found over the past week is somewhat of a meaning. I attended a conference of basically, well, they call themselves "nerdfighters." Think of a room full of people ranging in age from 13-40 EXACTLY LIKE ME. It's scary, yet at the same time intriguing. This was all for a guy named John Green (who[m] I will talk about later). I found that I like these people, and they are nice.

Future plans include: starting a video blog (vlog) and starting, finally project 559 with Dave, Clay, John, and a bunch of other people I have up my sleeve.

Viacom Wigga Wigga and other Randomness

Ok, Viacom. Of all of those mega-companies, I think this is the one I like the most. However, there is one evil element to its happy and shinyness (is it a word?). It is known as simply "The Wigga-Wigga Logo."

SEE IT HERE:

Ok, I promised randomness. Apparently I have changed over the period of about a month. Quite frankly, I never noticed anything, but apparently Calee does (see last note in post before closing)...

Also, I am "in a relationship" as far as FaceBook is concerned. I don't know how long it will last that way, but I can tell you this: after about a year of chasing Lindsey, she is finally my (girl)friend. However, putting it into terms such as that means that I, in turn, have to act all "boyfriend-ly" (new term described as: "The act of one showing affection towards another 'one ' in a boyfriend like manner" [hey, I am not merriam-webster]).
What does this entail? This is exactly what I have found out: apparently all of those "awkward" things become acceptable. Interesting.

Ok, final bit of randomness: If you run into an adult when you are under 18, they will almost certainly (unless you're around teenagers or something) try to boss you around. The reason: They are the adult, you are the child (even if you are 15, you are the 'child'). So, my master plan here is to turn 18, walk over to some small child, repeat that line (I am the adult, you are the child, you listen to ME), and then run away. Yes, I now realize what Calee meant: I am insane.

Well, with much confusion, well-wishing, and some love,
Alex Popichak, Director, Easysites Multimedia Productions, Inc. Writer, the 2015 Blogger.

Project 559: A Casting Call

Well, that is a question I wish to answer. Really, I want ideas. I am not wishing to disclose information, but bottom line, WE NEED ACTORS/ACTRESSES.
My Master Plan: Get the funniest people I know to write scripts to my project. This means that I want people like Clay Bodnar, Dave Wovchko, and John Grabowski on this scripting team. However, it needs a face.
Generally, I tended to go with male actors, but really no female presence. I have one new actress on hand, a new music dept, and at least two script writers on hand. However, I need people. If you want to join, shoot me an e-mail. Don't wanna act, but still be a part of it? Tell me in one sentence what you watch on YouTube, Dailmotion, Vimeo, Myspace, or wherever you get videos at. Comment, e-mail, shoot us ideas.

Questions? Contact A. Popichak, Director, Easysites Multimedia Productions at: EasysitesMultimedia@gmail.com

2011, Communications, and Yelling

Ok, welcome to the 2011 year! Wow, I haven't posted here in a while.
What has changed? Well, not much. I am in the midst of the CarLynTon, BBC, and Project 559 projects. I am also in the midst of redoing ESMP. I am also in the midst of midterms, a confusing ideology, and a troop communications nightmare.
Communications is an interesting concept. It is the idea of communicating ideas, information, and thoughts to a broad group. In other words, broadcasting with text and pictures rather than words, sounds, and a camera. When I signed up to be e-mail guy for Troop 831, I had no idea what I was getting into. At least now they have a working calendar (which I need to update now) and website.
However, information needs to be kept up-to-date, and ideas are ever-changing. A schedule one minute can be changed in fractions of that. Oh well, there is the trade I am in.

One of my new favorite catch phrases is "If I do something, I will get yelled at for it!" Which really holds true for most things. Take today for example:
Troop calendar needs updated, and e-mailed NOW! I don't have my computer on, I get yelled at.
Girl named Cathryn starts a texting conversation (which I am not good at to start with) and apparently her boyfriend gets angry with me... Heck, I am getting Indianonians angry with me!
I am on the computer too long updating my blog... goodnight universe!