Overjoyed with the Overlord Award

As rapper Ice Cube once said, "today is a good day"! I will be jamming to his song right before watching Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" video and then possibly checking out the extended edition (didn't even know an extended edition existed until a few minutes ago) of "Gladiator" (the Russell Crowe one, not the Cuba Gooding Jr. one) online somewhere......all in celebration of receiving the Overlord Award from Herman Turnip at Terrible Analogies!

I'd like to give a big thanks to Herman for this award and also congratulate the other bloggers who share in this honor as Overlord Award recipients. To be inducted into the club of Overlords, one must make a list of three things that he or she would change in the world and then pass this award on to 10 other bloggers and finally...let the recipients know that they have achieved such an honor.

First things first, obey your thirst! Just kidding....I just had to add that in here because I had Sprite on my mind for some reason. Here are the three things that I would change in this world:

*Two of these are changes that I would be serious about making while one is a fantasy....I bet you can't figure out which changes fall in these two categories!

1. Enforce statewide ordinances in metropolitan areas around the country that would require rude movie theater goers to pay fines....double the fine on weekends.

2. Reform the family court system including the placement of increased child support restrictions for unwed mothers (and fathers, if necessary) with the exception of circumstances where rape, abuse and/or incest has occurred.

3. Shutdown Facebook as it is in it's current state and require the owners to auction it off to corporations and universities that could buy it outright and use it in-house as an exclusive perk for their employees and/or students to communicate with each other and increase school spirit or morale in and out of the workplace.

And now, I present all the blogs that I am passing the Overlord Award on to:

Tossing It Out
For creating a space where bloggers can become more productive, meet new people and learn new things.

Writercize
For giving bloggers and writers a fun way to play with words in a manner that is suitable for all ages.

The Bumbles
For helping men and women reminisce about favorite movies past and present while also discovering new films to watch and discussing what makes all of them memorable.

Far Away in the Sunshine
For making every day brighter for readers, through happy imagery, powerful quotes and other sweet musings.

Two Hands and a Roadmap
For being a multiple marathon champion with a humorous and realistic depiction of motherhood, writing, marriage, life and everything in between.

Daily (w)rite
For posting some of the most catchy short stories made from just one single word prompt.

Word Nerd Speaks
For reviving a blogging community that can help to cure writer’s block and save the Internet from empty blogs.

DIY Filmmaker
For championing indie film in a way that got others such as IndieWire to start paying more attention to certain philosophies on DIY and the state of the independent film community.

Random Thoughts
For convincing readers to identify the traits of a good and quality friend while also helping them realize what many of these traits are, in the process.

It’s All Me
For having the dedication, passion and drive to manage two different blogs while many of us other bloggers find it a struggle to keep up with one.

I completed the WordCount Blogathon, finished a video footage log for a music artist that I've been collaborating on a project with and now get to display the Overlord Award on my blog.....this is shaping up to be a good week!

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Successfully Cinematic and the Bigger Picture

At times, I have wished that success had a clear and concise definition that could be used as the ultimate guide on what goals to have or how to go about achieving them.

Still, I also often appreciate the fact that success is defined in different ways from person to person. To me, success means being able to make films and discuss them without needing to have day jobs, night jobs and side jobs to support my regular living expenses. This is especially important if at the end of the day, I realize that there is not much funds leftover to support any filmmaking efforts while paying bills and such at the same time.

Success would require me to be able to earn income through filmmaking or related activities so that I won't have to constantly be in a state of trying to make time for my own interests....I would be doing it!

These days, I try to keep the fact that life is short and nothing lasts forever in mind. Since I know that I'm going to die (eventually), I try to measure success by other important factors in life such as achieving a constant state of peace, being of some service to others even if it's only one person and trying to always do more good than harm.

I guess right now, success means being able to cover all of one's basic needs while having some room for additional tasks or activities that offer personal growth....whatever it is.....learning how to cook a steak properly, change a car tire, teaching someone else a new skill or solution to a problem or being more pleasant when interacting with other human beings.

There is a "Successful" song that pretty much sums up a lot about how some people who want to achieve success tend to feel a quite often:

"I want things to go my way,
but as of late, a lot of S--- has been going sideways" - Drake featuring Trey Songz

What does Success mean to YOU?

This post was written for the topic of "Success" in the Group Blogging Experience (GBE 2).

Technorati Tags: 2011+wordcount+blogathon, wordcount+blogathon, group+blogging+experience, gbe, gbe+2, group+blogging+experience+2, may+blogathon, filmmaking, successful+living, success, blogathon

Missing Comment from Cannes 'Unlawful Killing' Movie on Princess Diana Post

Blogger is starting to annoy me. Last week, Blogger had technical problems and removed blog posts that were published on May 12, 2011. While the posts have since been restored, they did not restore all of the comments that were left on these posts. This blog was among those that were affected and Herman Turnip's comment on my post titled "Unlawful Killing at Cannes Film Festival Sparks Controversy" still has not been restored, so here is his comment, since Blogger is wacky these days:

I think it's good that people are talking about this. There's a huge difference between a movie death and the death of a real person. This controversy proves that not everyone out there is jaded and desensitized. It shows that there's something inside us that has compassion and empathy towards the misfortunes of another human being, even one we've never met in person but are all too familiar with.

Sure, I could sit in a theater and watch 100 vampires get staked, a plane full of convicts go down in flames, and a giant lizard destroy Tokyo because I know what I'm seeing isn't real. But man, show me the death photo of someone like Princess Di and I instantly cringe and wish I hadn't seen it. It doesn't mean I want to boycott such a film. It just isn't my mug of ale...

Before adding this post today, I tried to re-Publish this comment by Herman Turnip but when I did, Blogger displays a message that says "The comment doesn't exist or no longer exists." Are they kidding? That message is pure bullshit!

Luckily, I saved this comment when I was first notified about it through comment moderation.

Still, Herman if you're reading, please accept my apology for this occurrence.

Technorati Tags: blogger, blogger+blog, blogger+comments, cannes+film+festival, unlawful+killing+movie, princess+diana+movie, cannes+film+festival+screenings, madlab+post+comments, the+madlab+post, wordcount+blogathon