A bunch of local bloggers were invited to the AMC 30 theater here in Kansas City.  Essentially, AMC’s social media representative coordinated with local bloggers to come to this preview of the theaters before they open later this week.  Obviously with the intentions that us bloggers would create content and spread it through the intranetz like some rabid virus.

Mission accomplished.

Confession; I hardly go to the movies anymore.  I really don’t.  Last movie I saw was Batman: The Dark Knight.  I know, pathetic eh?  I just don’t have the desire to go as much as I used to.  That being said, I was pretty impressed with what AMC is trying to do.  It’s definitely more of an argument to go to the theaters.

So these test theaters AMC created are essentially a “food and movie” experience.  The seats are big.  They serve beer. There’s tables to put your food and drink — and service comes right to your seat to deliver anything you’d like.  And it’s real food too (pizza, burgers, etc).  There’s two types of theaters they’ve got — the “big dog” is the Cinema Suites (this is the one you want to go to).  Here you get a huge recliner swivel tables and personal lighting.  Enough of me talking about it… check out the pics I posted to my flickr account and my YouTube video blog below!

This photo is in my friend’s room and I really think it’s telling of such an inspirational mindset. To me — this means the following;

Have the passion and patience to dream and dream big. Have the patience to piece together “the ladder” in what it takes to get you there. Have the passion to follow through with doing what it takes to accomplish that dream.

Have you ever thought about how much time is lost waiting for your computer to turn on each day?  This weekend, the NY Times published an article discussing major computer companies (Dell, HP) who are developing:

“…quick start computers that allow you to access to basic functions like e-mail and a Web browser in 30 seconds or less.”

…obviously a great technical feature I think everyone would appreciate.

However from a sociological perspective, it made me think of my own process and behavior each time I turn on my computer. Do you sit and stare at the screen and watch? I don’t. In fact, I get so impatient with the fact I have to wait — I do everything I can to do something productive while I wait for my machine to boot. At work, I’ll grab something to drink, skimming my project notes or arrange my desk. At home I’ll start my laundry, do quick house/room cleaning, fix a quick snack, fire a couple text messages off or make a quick phone call.

Now I might be the 1% of the population who even care to be cognitive of my time and it’s implications to my productivity — however, I’m still curious what other people do? I can’t stand it. What do you do?

I’ve seen this quote before (below) but I saw it recently on a blog that I was reading tonight and I couldn’t help but think how relevant it is to businesses AND to people living in the U.S. right now. It’s such a powerful quote.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. – Charles Darwin

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A friend of mine, Ferris, fellow co-worker, received his new “Google Phone” in the mail today. If you didn’t hear in the news, today was the launch of the new T-Mobile cell phone — named the G1. This phone runs the Google Android operating system. Complete with a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Wi-Fi, bluetooth, etc — you know, all that good stuff.

Anyways, I shot a quick video blog to show and compare the G1 “Google Phone” to the recently released 3G iPhone. Watch my complete video blog about the two phones below…

P.S. You may remember Ferris from a hilarious video blog that he was featured in previously — he had a “half” cell phone that miraculously was still working.

Recently, Apple recalled the USB power adapters for the 3G iPhone. They claim some hocus pocus about the adapter’s “metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock“. Anyways, I got mine in the mail today — and I was a bit surprised. Check out the box they sent the ultracompact power adapter (that’s what they call it on their website), watch my video blog below.

**UPDATE**
My friend Ryan sent my pictures of his faulty USB charger. He described to me how when he simply pulled it out of the wall, one prong came out. Here’s a picture of his charger:

I came across this great quote that provides a great analogy of how to think about the style of writing in regards to a corporate blog:

“…many B2B marketers are failing to realize that good blogging style should resemble a coffee shop conversation, not a whitepaper.”

You’ll lose readers before you even get a chance to win them if you use the same corporate tone that white papers carry on your blog. The context of a blog is much more casual. Readers expect it. Don’t call it a blog if it isn’t going to written like one.

This past weekend I attended HillOween, a local homegrown benefit here in Kansas City. I tell everyone that this is truly one of the two parties in KC you CAN’T miss. It benefits the Lee Ann Infant Development Center. I video blogged about it last year.

Check out the costume I wore this year… Insepctor Gadget! The entire thing is pieced together. I actually had a fun adventure at the hardware store trying to figure out how to make the “helicopter” hat (it’s just, PVC pipe, wood and electric tape). My date was Penny — you know Inspector Gadget’s niece?

I snapped some photos of my friends before we went to HillOween — check out this one of my roommate Adam. I thought the black and white effect, Adam’s cold facial expression and composition in this photo make gives it really eerie overall feeling.

Multitasking. Everyone talks about it. Some people even like to taut how good they are at it. But is it really beneficial and the most efficient way to get things done?

I don’t tell anyone I’m a multitasker. Nor do I think of myself as someone who likes to multitask.

Forget multitasking. It’s all about multi-project and single task. This means at any given time you can handle and organize multiple projects but you focus yourself to work on any one given task at a time. That’s it. No more than one. This leaves you ultra efficient and you’re able to work with a deeper focus at just the task at hand.

This is how I get things done at work AND outside of work. Once I grasped this “life hack”, I realized that I can dedicate quality focus into seeing one single task all the way through. Furthermore, there’s great satisfaction in completing a task than trying to swallow the entire project at once.

Once you’ve adopted this approach — you’re able to utilize what I call “flow”. This is where you know you’ve got a set of projects your trying to complete. Each of those projects have tasks. “Flow” is working at a pace in which you focus your attention on a single task that you feel like working on. Once you’ve completed that task, you move to the next one. However, the next task can apply to a different project.

If you can master “flow”, you’ll be able to crank through tasks related to multiple projects and choose to do what you feel like when you feel like it.

I know I might sound like a 10-step time productivity infomercial or that 4-hour workweek book everyone is talking about, but I wanted to share how I personally think and work. There isn’t a right way per se, you have to do what works for YOU. I’m curious though, do you do something different? Does it work? Are you able to stay ultra-productive?
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My friend Taylor thinks he can eat anything. Grinders downtown (here in Kansas City) has “insane hot wings”. I’ve sampled the sauce via tooth pick and almost vomited because it was too hot. I tried actually ordering the wings first, but the waitress would actually not serve me the “Death Wings.” She said the most that anyone has ever eaten is 2. The cooks wears latex gloves when preparing them and get blisters on their hands if the sauce gets in between the glove and the hand. She said that lips swell and people vomit. There is actually a “No Refund” disclaimer on the menu because they do not people ordering them, trying one, vomiting, and then wanting their cash back.

So this video blog is a look at a bet we setup for my friend Taylor. The bet was Taylor had to eat 3 “Death Wings” in less than 1 hour. He was allowed to use all the ranch, milk, cheese, etc that he wants. Taylor couldn’t cannot vomit, or let anything come out of his mouth once it’s down. After he has eaten the third wing, he had to keep the wings down for 1 hour.

Watch to see what happens:

Today is Blog Action Day! Dude, what’s that you ask? It’s simple: It’s one day of the year bloggers across the world agree to discuss and blog about one single issue – “poverty”. The goal is aim to raise awareness, initiate action. (p.s. last year’s topic was “the environment”).

This year’s topic couldn’t be anymore PERFECT because the benefit party I’m planning is actually dedicated to Operation Breakthrough. They are an organization here in Kansas City who assists children who are living in poverty. They provide them a safe environment to learn and have fun. I wanted to share a little bit about this great organization and all the great things that they do.

Here’s some fast facts about Operation Breakthrough:

• At any given time 25% of Operation Breakthrough’s children are homeless and 25% are in foster care. Many are in need of therapeutic services due to language development delays, sensory integration problems, and/or traumas associated with an unstable home environment.

• Operation Breakthrough began 35 years ago when a group of working-poor parents in the central city voiced their need for child care to Sister Corita and Sister Sailer.

• Operation Breakthrough only receives half its funding from government sources – city, state and federal. Grants from foundations and corporate and individual donations make up the rest. Without private support, Operation Breakthrough would be unable to offer its many service programs.

When I had a chance to visit Operation Breakthrough — seeing the faces and hearing the stories of what these children are experiencing was one of those moments in life when a hard, loud, sobering feeling hits your soul. It made me realize that so many things I’m fortunate to experience and be able to the things I do in my life. I’ve made a commitment really to helping O.B. after seeing how PASSIONATE the employees were and how they were really able to help make a huge difference in each of these kids lives (if you’ve read my motivational blog post before, you know I’m a big a big fan of passion).

I’m a huge proponent of Kansas City and what a great city it is, being a local organization — this is vital to several families and their well being. While poverty exists throughout the U.S. and the world, supporting a local organization that really is making a dent is little to ask for anyone who’s fortunate and able to give back anything they can — whether it be time, physical effort or money.

Check them out! They’ve got this great video on their website too. Annnnnd don’t forget to attend on December 12th — the 4th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Psssssst, our website will be launching soon!
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I read this quote… then re-read it. Then I re-read it again.

“YouTube now does more search queries than Yahoo.”

If you don’t think YouTube traffic is significant — think again.

So on my drive home — I was thinking, I really should put together a semi-formal explanation vblog as a “pass-along” piece for the benefit party I’m planning.

And waa-laa (see below). I whipped up together this quick vblog. A short and sweet history of the party. I’m planning on making more videos …hopefully funny and crazy ones.

Everyone is growing up! My good friend from college, Jeremy, got married this Saturday. I not only attending the wedding, but DJ’d the reception. As I mentioned on Twitter; I find it really gratifying to be a part of what is considered to most – the happiest day of their life. When a friend trusts me to DJ their wedding, I view it as a huge compliment — and I’m always glad to help.

While at the wedding, I took photos with my Canon 40D. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m still learning a lot about my camera — but these were my favorites that I snapped (you can see more on my flickr account):