From ‘Argo’ to ‘Zodiac’ and everything in Between #atozchallenge

Today, 13 men and women (including myself) released an opportunity for those of you who are bloggers, to build your readership and find new blogs to follow. Signups for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge – April 2013 are now open at a blog near you!

Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out created this challenge in 2010, to celebrate a milestone for his blog.

Now in its fourth year, the list of A to Z Challenge participants continues to grow – over 1,700 bloggers participated last year. The rules are simple: On April 1^st, post about something that starts with the letter A. On April 2^nd, post about something that begins with Letter B, and so on. You get Sundays off.

The A to Z Challenge is rated G for General Audiences including bloggers, so you can participate no matter what blogging style you have; Everyone is welcome.* Some participants freestyle their posts, going with a random topic for each letter. Other folks go with a theme to tie all their blog posts together. Do whatever (spontaneous or thematic) fits your style.

Your ticket to this alphabetical blogging extravaganza is just a linky list away. Sign up on the list below, grab a badge from my A to Z page in the navigation menu above, check out my fellow co-hosts and get ready to flex your blogging muscles. April will be here faster than you can yell “Action!”

Don’t freak out about having to visit everyone during the challenge. All we ask is that you visit five (5) new blogs a day, starting with the one after yours on the list. At that rate, you’ll have met at least 150 new bloggers by the end of the month. Check the Blogging from A to Z Challenge – April 2013 website for more information, answers to your questions, tips and tricks on participating, introductions to your co-hosts and related goodies to get you ready for the blogathon in April!

This year, we added a new feature for the signup process: Categories! You can pick ONE of our 22 categories for your blog when signing up. It is a completely Optional feature, so it is not required for you to do so. Choose one or choose none. It's all up to you. If you do decide to pick a category, adding the category code after your name/blog name while signing up on the linky list:

e.g. Damyanti Biswas - Amlokiblogs (WR)

HERE ARE THE CATEGORIES:

1. WRITING :                          (WR)

2. BOOKS:                              (BO)

3. FILM :                                  (FM)

4. PHOTOGRAPHY:               (PH)

5. GARDENING:                     (GR)

6. CRAFT:                               (CR)

7. ART:                                    (AR)

8. MUSIC:                               (MU)

9. CULINARY:                         (CU)

10. LIFESTYLE:                      (LI )  

11. FASHION:                          (FA)

12. PERSONAL:                      (PR)

13. SOCIAL MEDIA:                (SO)

14. GAMING:                           (GA)

15. EDUCATION :                    (ED)

16. POLITICS:                          (PO)

17. HISTORY:                           (HI)

18. SCIENCE:                          (SC)

19. HUMOR:                             (HU)

20. TRAVEL:                             (TR)

21. MISCELLANEOUS:            (MI)

22. ADULT CONTENT:             (AC)

Now, let’s cut to the scene where you Sign Up Here…

Please sign up carefully using your correct blog address that leads to your home page and not to a specific post.

*If your blog contains adult content, you need to post a warning that indicates it as such. Thanks for your understanding.

**PLEASE READ Sign-Up Intstructions carefully first, before signing up for the challenge! -- especially where categories are concerned. Categories cannot be added once you signup and Categories cannot be changed either. 

Swedish Bill Murray Fan Calls Madlab Post ‘One Lovely Blog’

Tuesdays seem to be a lucky day for this blog -- at least since May 2012. Earlier this month, I became the recipient of a One Lovely Blog Award from Tina Downey at Life is Good. Many of you are already familiar with her as a Monday Movie Meme guest on two occasions so far. So, I’m taking this moment to thank Tina, whose favorite film is “Lost in Translation,” for the award and also for enjoying my comments. There are strings attached to the One Lovely Blog Award that recipients are to honor -- rules for accepting the award.

They are as follows:
1. Name and thank the blogger who gave you the award.
2. List 7 facts about yourself
3. Award 15 other bloggers with this award.*
(*I am modifying this one and awarding 7 other bloggers, to match the number of facts that I list)
4. Enjoy.

Here are 7 facts about me that were not mentioned when I received my Stylish Blogger Award, Versatile Blogger Award nor discussed in my Getting to Know Me Q&A session.

1. I once had a paid freelance gig writing about some of my favorite TV shows including “Friday Night Lights.” What initially started as a fun job -- kinda getting paid to watch TV, became less of an entertaining pastime and more of a repetitive chore that caused me to lose interest in watching television.

2. The photos featured in the header of this blog are still images from four different short movies that I made a few years ago. They include a parody, a comedy/drama, an urban drama and a documentary, although, not necessarily in that order.

3. I am a “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef” fiend and will likely watch anything with Chef Gordon Ramsay in it -- including that “Hotel Hell” show premiering on the Fox network’s Fall 2012 season.

4. I never owned a couch.

5. I accidentally broke just about every dinner plate and cereal bowl that I’ve ever owned, so now, I refuse to buy any ceramic kitchenware.

6. I still don’t get why so many people make a big deal over Moscato. I’ve tasted the regular one and the red one and still think that it’s nothing to be excited about.

7. Sometimes I hate being female -- for more reasons than I care to name here but particularly when shopping for shoes.

Here are 7 Lovely Blogs that I am passing this award to (in no particular order):

1. Blue Velvet Vincent - This blog made a great comeback in 2012, complete with a spiffy redesign and updates on new projects that actor Vincent D’Onofrio is working on.

2. Terrible Analogies - This blog speaks for itself. Lovely in many ways, Terrible Analogies presents readers with attention-grabbing content that makes you want to share the daily goodness with your friends, so they don’t miss it.

3. Random Thoughts - Of all the blogs I read during 2011, this one continues to be the most memorable. It is constantly flooding with activity from the host’s life and that of the blogging community. Sharon K. often shares the love via author profiles, prize drawings and random acts of kindness.

4. The Non-Review - I dare you to leave this satirical blog without laughing. The stuff that the crew behind “The Non-Review” puts together is hilarious.

5. Hollywood Spy - Dezzy is on point with reporting the happenings in and around tinsel town; He keeps a nice balance between his coverage of all genres of film and television. The hypnotically refreshing green color scheme doesn’t hurt either.

6. Sydney Aaliyah - This blog has a versatile routine going on that includes coverage of monthly writing challenges, reflections on living in China for 5 years and blog posts centered on those who read the author’s content. It’s lovely!

7. In a Pursuit of Publishness - A blog that sure knows how to rally readers to get behind what’s cooking up in the literary world, it nurtures interaction through feedback and helps readers consider various possibilities for the direction of their stories.

There you have it. See you guys and gals this weekend!

What are Your Thoughts on Idris Elba, being ‘a fool at 40’ and Disqus? #acting

I shouldn't have to log out to comment on my own blog!

If this blog was human, it would be a toddler with an entire life ahead of it by now. Although it isn’t human, it still has endured some growing pains -- one of which it has yet to overcome where commenting is concerned. Over the last few months since I moved The Madlab Post to Squarespace, I’ve received email from readers who experienced difficulty commenting on my posts.

Some comments did not show up after they were left while others were not posted at all and the rest sat in this blog’s “moderation” queue (oftentimes, without my knowledge) until I approved it to be displayed. This week, I had a similar experience to some of you who have encountered trouble posting comments on this blog. When I tried to post a comment -- even when logged in to Squarespace, a red message stating “unable to post” kept showing up above my comment.

I found that to be strange, inconvenient and also unacceptable -- I mean, how can one not be able to post a comment on his or her own website/blog?! That is just plain silly. So, I’d like to consider a possible solution -- implementing Disqus on this blog. 

Could Disqus be the answer to our commenting problems with Squarespace?

As many of you may already know, Disqus is a universal commenting system for blogs and websites. It’s kinda like Gravatar, but for comments.

Although lots of people have their own Disqus profiles, you don’t have sign-up for one to leave a comment on a blog -- you can just comment as usual using a Name/URL field or any one of your other online profiles (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) that are available.

So, what do YOU think? -- As a reader of this blog, would you welcome Disqus for leaving comments? If not, what are your thoughts on how I can best handle the current commenting hiccups that some of us are encountering with Squarespace?

Also, actor Idris Elba (who stars in the sci-fi movie “Prometheus,” which is now playing in theaters) is featured on the cover of this week’s Jet Magazine. His cover and feature story comes at a fitting time, since he is the June 2012 King Dong for The Madlab Post.

Chellebee, who founded the King Dong series back when this blog was in it's infancy, nominated Idris Elba last month during Jude Law’s reign. According to Chellebee, Elba is FOINE!!! and a multifaceted player in the entertainment industry.

Since I agree that Elba is one hot guy, I picked up a copy of the current Jet Magazine issue to learn more about this “multifaceted” aspect of him that she’s talking about. In the coming weeks, I’ll highlight some of the takeaways from his feature story but for now, I’d like for you all to shed some light on the following Idris Elba quote. This Golden Globe winning actor explains to Jet magazine that although he is not a religious person, he wants to work on his spirituality as he moves forward.

“My Father always told me that a fool at 40 is a fool for life.” - Idris Elba

What does this “a fool at 40 is a fool for life” mean? Does it mean people are set in their ways once they reach 40? Does it mean that 40 year-olds are lost if they don’t know where they stand or if they don’t have spiritual grounding? What exactly defines “a fool at 40?”