Yes, folks, you read that right. I have a little sumthin sumthin going on for Mr. Toriano Adaryll Jackson, aka Tito Jackson. I think I mentioned it in my review of The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty.

Well, I also did a video blog reviewing the show, but decided to only upload the part where I talked about Tito. This video has been up on YouTube for a few weeks now (as have a few other videos), but I’m just getting around to posting it on this blog. Check it out:

Update: I ended up going to a different Super Bowl party than the one below. My friend ended up not feeling well and called me at the last minute to cancel. So, I called another friend and went to another party. I had a good time, and all was well. At the end of the day, I feel I was where I was supposed to be, so I have no complaints.

I will be going to my first real Super Bowl party in a few hours. Last week a friend sent me an email about the party and asked me if I wanted to go. With advance tickets only being $5 I said sure. So, after I finish this post I’ll begin getting ready to attend the 2nd Annual “Stewperbowl” hosted by 2 Live Stews, two brothers (biological, that is) by the last name of Stewart who host a sports talk radio show here in Atlanta.

I’ll do a post about how the party goes sometime after I get back.

Sometimes you have to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. I was recently faced with a situation like this with my computer. I came up on a decent price for a quad core processor and even though my dual core processor worked just fine, sometimes when an opportunity presents itself you have to take it. And with video encoding and post-processing 10.2 megapixel size photos from my DSLR  being processor intensive activities, I figured it might be time to look into upgrading, with Intel just releasing a new line of processors, causing some of the older processors prices to drop. So, with all my monthly obligations paid, and not knowing when I’d again have an extra few bucks, I took it. And, threw in a RAM upgrade while I was at it.

So now, I’m rocking a quad core computer with 4 GB of premium memory from Crucial (Crucial Ballistix). I upgraded to an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 CPU. That’s four processors each running at 2.5GHz. Actually, as of a few minutes before I started writing this post, each core began running at 2.7GHz. Yep, I overclocked this bad boy as far as I could get it on the stock heatsink/fan without the CPU temperature getting too high. When I get an “aftermarket” heatsink/fan, I will be able to get over 3GHz per core without running into temperature issues. Overclocking for the first time was kind of nerve-wracking, but it wasn’t hard, especially since I didn’t try to do anything fancy.

When I went into my motherboard’s BIOS, I noticed that both my CPU and RAM were running at lower speeds than their supposedly “stock” settings. That’s called being underclocked, and what’s a trip is that at a whole half a GHz slower than what it was supposed to have been running, my computer was still FAST as lightening, compared to my dual core. At the higher 2.7GHz it’s virtually flying, so I definitely can’t wait to get a new heatsink/fan and max the speed out. That’s going to be freaking insane!

For this tutorial, I’m going to assume that you readers have no money to spend on video editing software, and will be using the software that came free with your computers.

Video Formats
The two most popular video formats are .MOV and .WMV. The .MOV format is native to Mac computers, and iMovie will allow you to encode your video to HD. The .WMV format is native to Windows computers, and Windows Live Movie Maker (Windows 7) or Windows Movie Maker (for XP/Vista) will allow you to encode your video to HD.

YouTube prefers the .MOV format because it’s smaller, but accepts .WMV and some others. The quality of HD in both formats is great. The only time it wouldn’t be is if your camcorder or webcam takes crappy video. You have to put good quality in to get good quality out.

Method
Because I have a PC and not a Mac (sobs loudly ), I used Windows Live Movie Maker to encode/render an example video I made just for this tutorial. The final product is below. But, to show you how I did it, I used a screen recording program to record my steps and my vocal instructions. Because the tutorial video is pretty large, and just under 10 minutes long, I opted for encoding it in the .MOV format over the .WMV format since the former would result in a smaller file size.

Example Video

Tutorial

That’s it! It’s really not a complicated process. If you have any questions, leave a comment or use my contact form to reach me (see the menu bar).

Download the Custom Video File
If you want to get the 960×720p HD custom video profile (.prx file) to use with Windows Live Movie Maker and Windows Movie Maker (for XP/Vista) click this link to download.

How to Install the Custom Video Profile
Unzip the custom file. If you’re asked where to unzip the file, navigate to: C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\Video Profiles and unzip it there. Start WLMM or WMM and it should be listed in the Save Move settings with the other profiles OR in another section called Custom Profiles (or something like that, I forget). Viola! That’s it. Happy videomaking!

Deuces!

I haven’t gone anywhere, you guys. I created some videos, and a screencast, but the crazy weather has had me at best, very uncomfortable. So, the last few weeks I’ve slowed down considerably, especially since I’m trying not to take a Tramadol every time my arthritis or fibro pain flares up. I don’t like the way it makes me feel, but, you know, sometimes Aleve can’t bring the kind of relief I need. I hate all this cold, wet weather!

Just bear with me, guys. Thanks.

Just having a little fun!

Today is Friday and I’d love to go out and do something… maybe take in a movie at Atlantic Station, or something. But, I’ll be here at home near the bathroom. Yeah, it’s looking like it’s going to be one of those days. As for the remainder of the weekend, who knows. I’ll probably spend it doing YouTube videos and shopping online. I wonder if I can find a shoe sale…

Check out my new hair! But, excuse the swelling under my eyes. I was really tired and my allergies were really bothering me. I have no excuse for my eyebrows, though – just know they’ll be taken care of ASAP; especially before I wear this wig out somewhere trying to look cute, LOL.

I’m wearing the FREETRESS Equal synthetic lace front wig, in the style named Beyonce. Futura is the name of the synthetic fiber, and it’s heat safe up to 400 degrees. Yes, ladies, you can use your flat irons, steam rollers, and curling irons on this wig! One of the best things about this wig is that the hairline is made to mimic a natural hairline – no more straight-edge hairlines that make you look a HAM.

It’s 3:50 AM. I am awake. Damn.

The culprits? My shoulders. I tossed and turned for awhile trying to ignore their soreness, but I’m a side sleeper so it was a losing battle. So, I finally got up and massaged Icy Hot into both of them and put a heating pad on one. When I laid back down it was 3 AM on the dot. At 3:45 I gave up trying to get back to sleep and got up.

I went to the grocery store today and had to lift a few bags, some of which were kind of heavy. I think the up/down and side/side movement I had to do to load and unload the bags is the reason they were hurting. As usual, my right shoulder hurt the worst. My primary care doctor back home (before I moved here) said I needed physical therapy. I never followed up on that, but I think I need to.

Well, I’ve been up for 1.5 hours and I’m still not sleepy. I think I’m going to try to find some tutorials on how to create an introduction for my videos. I have Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. The easiest method and program wins.

This video clearly states my position, and clears up a few misconceptions and assumptions that have made regarding the first video. Lots of white people were assuming that because I’m black, I must be a Democrat, and therefore I was defending Senator Reid because of party politics. They also didn’t think I’d feel the same if a Republican politician had make the comment. Actually, I would.

I want to make clear that none of this means that I don’t think Harry Reid is a racist. I don’t know anything about the man, so he very well could be, and if so I wouldn’t be surprised in the least. However, I still feel that the COMMENT he made, in and of itself, is not racist and bears truth. Ugly truth, but truth, nonetheless.

I just really wish black people, as a group, would engage in more critical thinking. Every time someone makes an unflattering comment about black American society and culture, they’re either automatically branded a racist or a house nigger. What makes this Reid situation so bad is that the comment wasn’t so much about Mr. Obama, as it was an acknowledgment and indictment of white racism! But, of course, nobody wants to see it from that point of view, because then we couldn’t play the victim.

Whites aren’t allowed to validly criticize us and blacks had better stay in line and shut up, lest they want to lose their “black card”. But, blacks are allowed to criticize any and everybody we want? What kind of bullshit is this? This kind of thinking has to stop or the black community will never improve!