Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Big Man in a Big Small City

I was going to post this on my photo blog Yashmat United, but I found it better suited towards my personal blog. Maybe, I'll reblog it over there too.

This weeks adventures bring me to the blog hop setup by Kathryn over at her blog, Project Kathryn. What better way than to get out there and meet other people, be it in person or over the internet, then to participate in a wonderful activity made to bring people together? So I bring to you, finally, My city.

I'm not sure if I'm following the rules with this post, but I have a strong aversion to following rules in general. I took a 5 minute drive to the downtown section of my city, a place I've never traveled while carrying a camera. It was an area I traveled to and from frequently as a young kid, since my mom worked at the city hall before kicking the proverbial bucket. It was a place I had mixed emotions about. o.0 I should see if they have the farmers market down there still.






























I really  didn't have too much to work with on this one, so I gave it my best. I think I used almost all of the shots I took too. So, I give you this one last shot that brings it all together. How? No clue, I just wanted to post it. Its of one of our strays that lives outside.



If you have a sec, take a stop by my portfolio site The Other Side of Time. See ya!


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Creating a Podcast: Character Planning


One of the most difficult parts when you start a new project is yourself. I tend to be a big thinker so the ideas rush right in like a fast moving stream. They also tend to flow right out equally as fast. Other times I tend to scrap an entire idea after weeks of thinking back and forth. Since my last post the other day, I've talked myself in and out of this idea several times, and now its here to stay.

To start off a show, like mine, that will be character driven, is a main character. With that, there are two ways you can take it, a good guy or a real bastard. Now when I mention either of these two options, I don't mean coming up with "Goody Two Shoes" or the person who is completely void of any bad intentions, or the exact opposite with the bad guy. You have to have a character who tends to lean around the gray area and fall slightly in one direction. At least, from all of my pro wrestling viewing over the years, that's how it seems to me.

Now whenever I listen to the radio, the talk show hosts seem to be relatively good guys who just happen to have little streaks of jackass in them. For some good examples, Check out Bill Handel and John and Ken. These are the type of guys that I would love to use as inspiration. Well, actually more like Adam Carolla. The Aceman Is the king at being cool and a dick at the same time.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be revealing too much more info on the main character just yet. All I can say is that I've been thinking and planning this guy for a few years now. 

On my next post, I'll go into a bit more of guest and recurring characters. Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Creating a Podcast

Once upon a time, I was the host of a weekly podcast series called Metal Tonite. It came about from my strong love for talk shows, and my wanting to get into the business. It was the typical on again off again type of story. I had no conviction and I kept dragging other people into something I was passionate about. I technically haven't shelved the show, and I'm really no longer producing it. Unfortunately, I think This concept will have to stay on the shelf until I can establish myself with a different concept.

This series will be about a new struggle creating a brand new podcast. The one thing I have going for me is that I still have all of my recording equipment, so I won't need to shell out for any of that. I impressed an old co-worker when I brought all my gear in to work one day so I could interview him. Hmmm.... Lets see if I can give a good list of what gear I have.

In no certain order:
1x Mackie Onyx 2 port pre amp
1x Yamaha Sound Mixer with 8 sound ports
3x Sennheiser Microphones Non phantom
1x AKG Microphone Phantom powered
1x AKG Recording Headphones
1x 20 inch G5 Imac
2x Boom Microphone Stands
1x M-Audio KeyRig 49 USB Midi + Keyboard for mac with pedal

I have a couple other pieces, but those are more for playing in a band more than using for a podcast.

I've already come up with a great idea for my new concept, but I'll get more into the complete concept on a later date. I'm going to try my hand at a staged setting that will be fairly comparable to a radio host I've listened to since I was a kid, Phil Hendrie. He is a character actor that has been on the radio as long as I've known. I'm planning on doing an interview style talk show where I play all the characters, unless I can find a friend or two that is willing to do one for me. I don't plan on doing the show live so the whole timing issue shouldn't be a problem.

Well, that seems to be enough for this post. Next time, I'll give some more info on the planning process. Maybe some character design, but at least more on coming up with the concept of the show.

Monday, November 19, 2012

WWE Survivor Series

Oh the agony!! I've been waiting since yesterday afternoon at around 4 PM to check out my usual wrestling news sites. I am close to dying, thats how hard it is for me right now. At this very second, in spite of the fact of me typing, I am laying on my office floor in the fetal position. But soon, it shall be resolved. Maybe in the next hour or so.

WWE Survivor Series is one of the big four pay per views that WWE has put on  annually since the mid to late 80s. The others being the Royal Rumble, in January, Summerslam in August or July, and Wrestlemania, the grand daddy of them all, in late March or early April.

This years lineup is actually quite interesting since this is usually one of the more crappy pay per views. Well, last years wasn't too bad either. This year, "The Best in the World" CM Punk is being unfairly forced into facing John Cena and the ever always hungry monster, Ryback. Feed Me More, one of the most disrespectful sayings against our reigning champion, will ultimately be the downfall to this beast of a man. And John Cena? That man hasn't been relevant since he adopted his despicable and incredibly lazy 5 Moves of Doom.

I have not doubt the our WWE Champion will come out of this match VICTORIOUS!! I mean, watch RAW from last week and see how CM Punk single handedly resuscitated Paul Heyman in an incredibly tense and scary moment when he narrowly missed having a life threatening heart attack on live tv. It was incredibly difficult to watch, and I'm glad CM Punk knew CPR and was able to save the day.

The other big match on the lineup is a classic Survivor Series Five Man Elimination Tag Match. Whew.... That was a lot of capitols. The two teams are: Team Foley(Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Kane, The Miz, and Randy Orton) and Team Ziggler("The Show Off/Mr Money in the Bank" Dolph Ziggler, "Our Intellectual Savior and Martyr of the Masses" Damian Sandow, Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett). This match started out because Mick Foley stuck his nose in the business of CM Punk. When Punk was pulled from this match, the captainship went to the best candidate imaginable, Dolph Ziggler. Next the Miz quit the team because lets face it, he is a quitter. It can't be disproven, because he did in fact quit. With Ryback gone from the match, there was still one extra slot available and for some reason (I think the votes were rigged) he got on to team Foley. So Vince McMahon did the only reasonable thing, that I think he has done in the past few years, and Made Dolph Ziggler the new captain of the team.

I digress and I jump off the bad guy box. I love rooting for the bad guys. But CM Punk really is the best in the world. And don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Kyushu Sumo Tournament

Depending on which continent you live on, This Saturday/Sunday is the start to the final sumo tournament of the year. Those of you that know me know what a fan of sumo I am. Unlike the WWE, sumo is all about skill and technicality, and I find it more exciting and nerve wracking sometimes.

Lets jump right in. There are several different issues with this tournament then the rest of the other ones this year.

Issue # 1

Haramafuji was just promoted to Yokozuna. While not done very impressively, since three of the ozeki (second highest level) dropped out due to injury, I was really rooting for him to win. Out of all six ozeki in the last tournament, he is the only one who had the look and determination. Hopefully He will give Hakuho a run for his money, since I don't wish to see him win any more tournaments. The three that dropped out last time have all healed and are back, presumably at least at 80 - 100%. They will give this new yokozuna a run for his money.

Issue #2

The three ozeki that dropped out of this tournament (Baruto, Kotooshu, and Kotoshogiku), are all on probation this time around. If any of them drop out or fail to make their 8 wins, their ass is grass and will be sent back down to the sekiwake rank for the January tournament.

We'll see how this goes. I'm shooting for Kotooshu, Kakuryu, and Takamisakari (even though he is on the juryo rankings). I'll post an update next week on how the tournament is shaping up.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Story From North America

I came across this video a couple of months ago on The Daily of the Day. Its precticly been stuck in my head ever since. I hope it gets stuck in your head too!


Monday, October 22, 2012

How Does One Become Hardkore?

Y'all might be thinking, "So, what does it take for one to become hardkore?" No? Well, you should be. For me it all started with one man, Tom Green.

I come from the age right before the internet. When I was around 10 or so, we got our first internet connection. About five to six years after that, AOL was a big deal. Instant Messenger was the key to maintaining relationships with friends and classmates, and I was starting to come into my own. To tell the truth, I was a tad jealous of other people, because it seemed that they were given cool nicknames and I had to basically rip mine off of popular franchises. I was a big superman fan and I was going to graduate in 2001, so I became superman2001. Might be able to find my old site over at Tripod.

So, when I started conversing with one of my classmates in 10th grade, I wanted something better than to be associated with the man of steel. So I adopted the name of my other obsessionat the time, Tom Green. I eventually stuck with Hardkoretom. Being a hardcore Tom Green fan, it seemed natural to adopt the word hardkore and drop the green. I changed the c in hardcore to a k because it seemed like it would be too common in the future if there were going to be any ego maniac named tom that actually thought they were indeed hardcore.

So, there you have it. I made myself hardkore, because I can. If you're wondering what my real name is, just do a simple google search. I made it no challenge to find out who I am and what city I live in.

Thanks to everybody checking out my newest set of pictures over on my picture blog, Yashmat United.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Not a New Beginning, Just Another One

Why, Hello there. My name is Tom. I am a photographer and a podcaster. This is my third active blog and it is probably my next biggest step in my progression towards being a freelancer and entrepreneur.

My main blog is called Yashmat United. It is primarily a photo blog based around my adventures as a photographer. More and more, I've been doing write ups, tutorials and giving tips on the other facets of the photography industry. Some of these have been: Developing film, How to light up your subjects/models in a controlled space, and how to take better pictures. My picture taking slowed down for a bit because I neglected my duties while I was in a short lived relationship, but I can't use that excuse. Look forward to more write ups in the near future.

The other blog, that I have only been working on part time, is a blog for my podcast Metal Tonite. The podcast itself is on hiatus, but I have been keeping up a semi extensive concert calendar for the southwestern region of the US. I mostly post the more well known groups, and/or the ones that I've seen in the past that I can vouch for. Occasionally, I also drop an opinion on a current event. In the next few weeks, I'm going to be starting up a top 10 list of current music news, events, interviews, and other weird news.

Lastly, I have started this site for my own entertainment and stress release. I've seen other sites like Bad Boy in JapanWhy'd we come... all this way?, and Relentless writing. Relentless wanking. and have been bit on the jealous side since my first two blogs were niche specific and I didn't have a spot to talk about general topics and current events. Well, thats what I shall be doing here.

Thanks for dropping by

Tom