Scoring the Sounds of Pirates

Through the immense searching that be through the internet, I found ( I think it's German..) on Amazon.com the score for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. With the awesome talent of Hans Zimmer, AND the features of Rodrigo y Gabriela, this score is going to be fantastic. The latin duo is already one of my favorites, mixed with my favorite composer?! Yea, I'm stoked.

The Franchise's 4th installment of Caribbean orchestration isn't set to sell (heh, set...to...sell. Get it?) until May 17th, but thanks be to international websites, you can at least sample them via the german site.
So listen up me hearties.


Link: Pirates Sample Music

Constructing the Caribbean

You know, after being invited to go along to the Pirates Premiere, I was kind of in a dream about it. I knew I was going, but the reality hasn't sunk in until yesterday when the first photos of the screen and "theatre" seats started to be constructed in the park.

Now I'm really excited because eleven days from now, I'll be on the black carpet with other fans, celebrities, and the cast of the fourth Pirates installment. It's a very surreal feeling, I have to admit.

For those lurking with Twitter accounts, follow me if you want a live coverage of the events that night. I'll be tweeting as much as possible. (link to my page is on the right side of the page.)

I really can't wait for this experience, and I'm very lucky that a follower on twitter gave me an extra ticket. It's going to be a fun night with them, and with the overall event! 

Here Kitty Kitty

My family and I have a fun tradition every Earth Day. We go and see the new Disney Nature film that Disney releases every year. We saw Oceans last year, and this year we saw African Cats. A lot of my friends don't care to watch these documentaries, and I really don't get why. They're really fantastic films.

The thing is, they're not the typical documentary. They're stories. Especially African Cats. It's documenting the lives of Sita (an African cheetah) and her 5 babies, and two rivaling prides of Lions. The films don't drone on with facts about the cheetahs or lions, but instead explains what the cats are doing as they're doing it. Much like back in the day with Steve Irwin.

The film is very well shot, and it's impressive to just watch the raw speed and power those cats have. There was a shot that caught my eye and really displayed how amazing these cats really are. Sita was on the prowl for some food for her cubs, and as she spots a gazelle, she slowly walks her way through the brush, and the camera focuses on her shoulder blades. Some might not think anything of it, but as you watch her slender body's shoulders rise and fall, right before taking off full speed, it was a great display of showing the quiet, but powerful nature of the cheetah.

I really suggest this film. It's not your typical (boring) documentary, but actually an entertaining film that showcases two of the most powerful cats on earth. Plus hearing a lion roar on surround sound is pretty darn cool. 

Half the load, but all the character

Because I'm running out of slanted red bricks, and window pieces, I'm going to stop after three cars for the train. I may redesign the last one to work as the tail end, giving a nod to the original 3-car monorails.



I plan to get the two stations (monorail and nemo) done tonight, but that's if I decide not to watch my shows tonight, ontop of last nights modern family.

Stay tuned from the man cave's brick construction site!


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Constructing the block highway in the sky.

I started working on a new project tonight. Decided to create Disney Lego models, and I started simple. The tomorrowland monorail station, and memo bay. Here's a few pics of what I have done so far.






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Sneaky girl

Hannah loves trying to sneak her Leapster Explorer in her bed. Especially when she knows she's supposed to be sleeping. I finally caught her in the act, and got it on video! Enjoy. :)

> Jake

Referral Day: Three Years Later

Three years ago today, we got the first photos of my sister. We were in town, and got the call that we had our (what agencies call) 'match'. We rushed over to my dad's office, and crowded around his computer to get the first look of our newest family member. This is one of the first glimpses we had.

SUCH A CUTIE.

And now, three years later, I've got one of the coolest sisters any brother can have. Sure, she gets on my nerves at times, but what 3, almost 4 year old doesn't do that? She's always saying something that gets me to laugh, and she's crazy smart for her age. Just the other day I was driving to town, and she was in the backseat. I had my iPhone playing music on shuffle, and Michael Buble's song 'Haven't Met You Yet' comes on. Before he started singing, she had already said the song title, and followed up with "JAKE! This is Michael Buble! I love Michael Buble!". What three year old does this?!

Watching one of her favorite movies (Karate Kid)

It's crazy to think she's only been with us three years. I can remember life without her, but I don't really want to. The past three years have been SO awesome, and I can't wait for the rest of time to pass as she grows up. Mom doesn't like talking about it, but I really can't wait for her to get to high school age and hearing stories of what petty drama she has to deal with (like any teenage girl does), and I can have fun scaring her boyfriends off too!

Time is on our side, and I can't wait to see my little Nan grow up. Happy Referral Day Sis!

No Comment.

Just asking anyone else..have you had a interesting time trying to view your comments on statuses, or other statuses on either the Facebook website, or mobile? I woke up this morning and checked my page like I normally do, and I saw the comments from last night.

I get to work, and then get a notification that someone commented on my status about how I needed my morning coffee. I try to see what they say and...



nothing.


My status was there. But no comments. As a techie, and just a normal user of the site, it can get frustrating not seeing what people are saying back! I guess the addiction in the movie is just as evident in reality.

Has anything similar happened to you on Facebook lately? Leave a comment and let me know!

> Jake

Buying From The Hangout

Started something new on here. As a young guy trying to just make a bit of side cash to save up for college books, tuition and the sorts, I started to team up with Amazon to do the Amazon Associates Program. If you buy something from my site that I link, I get 15% because of the 'referral' so to speak. So consider this a middleman between Amazon and you. If you see something I talk about on here, and want to buy it, please go through here, and help me out a little. I'd really appreciate it. :)


First up, TRON: Legacy. If you haven't gotten this yet, get it NOW. Great film, and totally worth it to add to that Blu-Ray Collection.

The Crayola Way of Asking Someone to Prom

Some might wonder what I'm getting at with a post title of 'The Crayola Way of Asking Her to Prom', so I'll explain. by Crayola Prom, I mean GET CREATIVE! There's already a lot of really cool ideas that I've seen, but I've thought of a couple that people can use if they want. I know it's that time of year where kids spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to get the dress no other girl is going to wear, and the shoes no other guy is going to dance in. Limos, after-prom parties. Exquisite dinners at the local italian eatery. All as a way of celebrating one last time together by coming on the dance floor with all your friends and dancing the warm spring nights away before heading off to summer.

A lot of the older crowd doesn't get why we do this, but kids that read this understand it. As of lately, it's become almost an underlying competition between kids, and even the kids who are already dating someone to see who can come up with the most creative ways of asking the girls (or those brave enough, the girls asking the guys) to the spring dance. It's just a fun way of finding a creative way of asking. And I can't disagree with that, since it's a way kids can actually get creative and get their minds thinking (seeing that the lame government likes to cut music and art programs, and leave science and math. but that's saved for later..).

A few ideas I've had about asking a girl to prom are as followed. Feel free to use these ideas if you want, but all I ask is you let me know which one you're using, AND then after you ask, send me a letter on how it went, and I'll blog all the stories!

Starbucks: Call up the girl you want to ask, ask her to meet you at a Starbucks. Ask her for her drink order before she arrives, and order her drink. Upon ordering, you ask the Barista to write in each of the boxes on the side of the cup "PROM?"As she shows up, hand her the cup, ask her if you got it right (by asking her to check the side to see if it's exact), she'll notice, and then go from there.

For those who have a video announcement system at their school: Talk to the teacher, and the class (girls in the class would more than likely love to help out, unless one has a grudge against the girl), and try to set it up in the announcements. Something like "And in breaking, in studio news, *insert guy/girls' name here* has just been asked to Prom by *insert your name here*! Then get the camera to pan over, or cut to you off stage, with a sign and flowers (flowers optional) asking her to prom. To make it better, find a friend in his/her class period the announcements are in, and get them to film their reaction. Then make a youtube video about it later.

Get cultural! - Go out to Panda Express, and find a way to slip in a small piece of paper that asks her to prom in her fortune cookie. Simple, and really cute. Heck, I'd like to be asked by a girl like this. But with my luck, I'd just eat the paper along with the cookie.

Break out the legos: build a sign out of the plastic colored bricks and set it on her door step before she leaves for school. You'll obviously be there when you set it. But hide at first to make him/her wonder who left it there.


Those are some of the ideas I've got for now, but if you do use one of the ideas, PLEASE write me an e-mail back, and I'll post your story here on the blog! 

Mouse Trap!

Just had this thought. I was in my kitchen and saw a mousetrap that had been set off. Peanut butter still on the snap contraption. And it made me wonder: Do mice have a sense of knowing whether or not it's a trap? For all I know, it could have been the cat that had set it off by accident. But my question stands. It's an interesting thought, because there are other animals that have some sort of a 'sixth sense' about dangers.

One way of putting this question to the test is setting up a maze with various traps with different foods, and then random pieces of food without a trap. Then release say, five mice to see which decide to go where. PETA would have an all out rage fit, and I am not going to be conducting these tests. I just thought it was an interesting question to post. What do you think about it?

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Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Premiere For Me.

Walking the red carpet with the likes of them.

Well dreams DO come true. After 1/2 joking about someone sending me a ticket to the premiere, someone tweeted at me and told me I'm going to the premiere! So come May 7th, this inland surfer and blogger is going to be walking the black carpet to the premiere of the Fourth Pirates installment. I'll be tweeting as much as possible, and (if I get the app in time) blogging the occasional photo as well. 

Some people I've heard complain that the ticket prices ($1,000 a piece) are a bit steep. I can agree that they are pricey, but if I had the cash, you can bet that I would have paid my way. The money going to charity, and getting to go to my favorite film series' premiere THREE WEEKS before the official world debut? Yea I'd pay for it. 

Thank you very much to the follower that is allowing me to tag along with your group! I promise I won't slurp my soda too loud during the premiere. ;-) 

Setting Sail Soon.

Snappy McWeaslebeans: The Stage Gnome of San Diego

Kevin and myself at a Chick-Fil-A "first 100" Camp Out my Sophomore year.
Can't believe I had such a baby face!

Recently my brother Kevin ( @kevinrusso on twitter) moved down to San Diego. The dude loves that town like I love Disney. And who can blame him? Exotic foods, fresh and local coffee bars on every corner, and Jason Mraz walking in and having mid-afternoon jam sessions just for the heck of doing it.

But now he's starting to push his music more and more than when he was in Bakersfield (let's face it, good worship sets are hard to come by in a town ladened with rednecks who party on Saturday night, and oblige to going to Church just because their gossip filled wives drag them to the pews). He's already got a holiday duo album out with his buddy Landon, and it may be only 4 songs long, but it's pretty legit. He's got a youtube page filled with more regular stuff than holiday tunes, so if you want to give him a look, check it out HERE. And if you want to sample or buy his holiday EP, here's the link to his iTunes page. I highly suggest it!

He's got a really laid back feel to all of his stuff, and if you see flyers or facebook posts in the SD area of a small show he does, definitely go. It's totally worth it. 

Can Airplanes Propel Dreams into Reality?

As a lot of you know, my family and I have adopted from China before, and we are really close to other families who have done the same thing. I read this on a message board from our agency, and as they said, I'm sharing it on the blogs and facebooks. Stories like these really make my heart cry out to these kids because it's not their fault. They're thrown into situations like this, and have to sit and wish for a better life, now knowing that dad and mom (or step dad/mom) don't love them enough to live with them.

This story is copied and pasted verbatim, from the Holt Website, and here's a direct link for those more interested in other adoption stories: Holt

Zhi Needs a Family

By Ashli Keyser, Managing Editor

From China. Date of Birth: August 15th, 1997

The beginning……

In 2005, *Zhi and his father went for a drive. They drove for miles and miles and finally stopped at a bus station. Zhi’s father scribbled his son’s name and birthday on a piece of paper, handed the paper to Zhi, said goodbye and walked away. That would be the last time Zhi would ever see his father. He was six years old.

After failed attempts to locate Zhi’s father, the police officers took Zhi to an orphanage. He was said to be in “good spirits” and quickly adapted to his new surroundings.

Today, at eleven years old, Zhi needs a permanent family. He sees many of his friends go home to families and gets discouraged that no one ever comes for him.

Thankfully, though, Zhi has a little help.

In February of this year, Chris Zhen, Holt’s Guangzhou program assistant for the Journey of Hope program, arrived from China to the Holt headquarters in Eugene, Oregon. Here for a 6-month internship, Chris came to work with the China staff in Eugene. He came to experience the United States….and he arrived with a mission.

“I promised myself that I would try to find Zhi a family,” said Chris, who befriended the shy but precocious 11-year-old boy through his work with the Journey of Hope program.

In an interview last year, Zhi told Chris and his social workers why his father abandoned him on that fateful day five years ago.

After his parents divorced and his mother left, Zhi’s father remarried. “My stepmother decided she didn’t want me anymore,” said Zhi. And so, Zhi’s father made the decision to let him go.

Zhi now lives at a private school. His teachers adore him. “He is able to take care of his daily needs,” they say. “He has set up good living habits for himself and is able to keep things in order. He sticks to his goals and shows respect to others.” Zhi’s favorite subjects are English and Chinese. He enjoys playing basketball and flying remote control airplanes. He wants to be a pilot someday.

“I want to go to the USA when I see my friends going there with their families,” said Zhi in an interview with Chris a couple weeks ago. “I miss them and I want to keep in touch with them.”

When asked what kind of family he might like to have, Zhi’s shy side comes out a little.

“A family who will love you forever will be OK?” asks Chris. Zhi simply responds, “Yes.” When Chris asks Zhi if he would like to share anything else, Zhi just says, “jin kuai,” which means “as soon as possible (to find a family).”

Zhi has experienced his fair share of loss. I think about how wonderful it will be to see him go home to a family someday. A family who will never walk away from him. Zhi understands that a family might be out there for him, and he is eager to meet them.

In the future, I hope to share Zhi’s family story on the blog or in the magazine. Who knows? Maybe one day, 15 or so years from now, Zhi will even write his own adoption story for the magazine…….

The story of a boy abandoned at a bus station, but whose story didn’t end there.

The story of a boy who grows up to be a pilot, remembering the days he flew remote control planes at the orphanage in China.

The story of a boy who goes from playing basketball on the boarding school playground, to high-fiving his friends after making the game winning basket in the championship game.

The story of a boy who went from abandoned and alone, to loved and embraced. From China to America….. and into the arms of a loving family.

Help turn Zhi’s dream into a reality. Share his story on Facebook and on your blogs.

Learn more about Zhi, here

Or contact Erin Mower at erinm@holtinternational.org for more information.

*named changed

Upgrade and Transfer

Well, since emily's phone broke, and she has cash to pay for her iPhone, parents are going to upgrade my flip phone to an iPhone (as a graduation present), but I still don't have a phone until at least friday. Thankfully, the Parole officers were nice enough to let me check my messages before the phone transfer. 122 text messages, and 3 voicemails later, my phone is completely empty now, and I'm ready for the iPhone upgrade!

Dreams be Dreams

Got bored, thought of the beach, and girls. And this came from my thoughts.

I miss the beach.

I want to feel the cold pacific ocean surround me as I roll over the top of the breaking wave on my surfboard.

I want that sticky feeling of dried ocean water, and my hair all a mess 'cause I left my hat at home.

I want the smell of a great seafood place swirl its tempting salty, buttery aromas in front of me, luring my stomach into endless groans of hunger.

Then,

There's the girl.

The one that is right next to me on the wave.

The one running her fingers playfully through my messy head of hair.

The one who walks with me hand in hand, playing with my fingers, walking up to that restaurant right off the beach.

The girl that wants me, and only me to kiss her goodnight.

Then, to go home, call her, tell her goodnight, just to hear her voice one last time for the night.

...and then to wake up, and do it all over again the next day.

Internal Combustion

Have you ever had those days you just break down, and completely lose it? Not just "oh crap this day really sucks", but "I've been holding up everything that's gone wrong, and my own personal World War III is about to begin" days. Yesterday was that day.

I've been holding up a lot of things, and yesterday was that final breaking point. The straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. To sum it up: I got in trouble for having a friend out at the Man Cave when my parents weren't home, I've been mad about some friends not being reliable, or simply courteous, and the big thing I've been dealing with is this so-called new 'stardom' I've achieved online. It's all been on my mind, and I've internalized it all, and never got to really figure things out until I self-imploded.

Friday night the parents weren't home, and I was bored. So what do I do when I'm bored? Call up a friend and see if they want to hang out. Since I didn't have a ride, I called someone who could come out to my place. Well my friend came out, we hung out in the kitchen (seriously, how do the kitchens always end up as the hangout spot for people?), then watched Phantom of the Opera, since I've never seen it. We didn't do anything stupid, or reckless. Simple, laid back fun. Usually the house rule is no one out at the house when the parents aren't home, but I decided to break it, and hang out with my friend at the house. I figured "Hey, I'm 18, my friend's 19, we're able to handle things if something goes wrong. Not that big of a deal." Since I was breaking a house rule, I asked my sister to keep it on the down low from the parents. Kind of that sibling "next time you do something you shouldn't, I'll have your back" kind of thing.

But Monday morning, I get into an argument with my sister. She threatens to tell mom and dad. Well, after time in the argument, she did. I got busted, and I'm now without a phone or iPod for Lord knows how long. Thanks a lot sis. Next time you stay up past curfew talking to your best friend, I'll be sure to let the authorities know.

I guess that got me to break down with everything else. Considering I've had a lot on my mind already, my emotions took hold and I shut down. I didn't talk to anyone, I sat in my room and stared out the window. Just thinking about what I did, where I went wrong, and everything else that's gone on. It was a low for me. I usually don't break rules, because I'd rather just be in good graces and get to do whatever I want. Well, this time I thought I could do whatever I wanted, and it came back to bite me in the butt.

Because of this breakdown, I talked things out with my mom after I calmed down, and figured out some stuff.

With my friends, and even people in general, I have a hard time with people saying they'll help out, or show up, and then totally bailing. I know it's an inevitable fact of life, and I'm learning to just remember that people will be flakes, and that's on their conscience if they want to bail. But before this, I could not stand it when people would say they'd come to an event, or help out, then bail. I'm a very "if you sign up for something, you better do it, even if you don't want to anymore" kind of guy. It's just the respectable thing to do because you've already committed to showing up. Unless your mom died, or you're going to the hospital because your kidneys are failing, you better show up. Not showing up because your girlfriend's kitty died, or because Aunt Ida needs your help knitting a blanket, is really lame.

And this is a big thing right now for me. This will sound self-centered to some, but I do not mean it in any way like that. I'm just calling it like it is. But over a period of about a year, I've gotten more popular. Because I've posted a lot on Micechat, and started blogging more, I've been gaining more twitter followers, the blog has seen record numbers (last month the blog reached it's all time high of 3,060 hits). There was even a dude that found me in Disneyland back in November, and asked to take a photo with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the popularity, and I guess 'fanbase', but I'm still trying to figure out how to handle random people coming up asking "hey, aren't you MainStreetJake?" At times, I've gotten arrogant, and I really need to keep that in check, because I'm just another person like anyone else. It's really cool that people like what I have to say on topics, and I'm definitely going to continue to keep blogging and tweeting because it's something I really love doing. But I just need to learn how to always keep a level head, and stay 100% humble about everything. And as always, I need to keep God the center of my life, and make sure I stay true to what I stand for, and what I represent.

With all this said, I'm going to finish my Grande IC with a shot of V, with added 2SPL, and B creme, and go back home to watch TRON: Legacy. The Grid on Blu-Ray's going to look so awesome.

(I'll mail out a small Disney Prize to whoever gets my drink order right.)

Shaka.

> Jake

Writer's Blocked By Choice

I have stuff to blog...but don't want to due to being lazy on a friday.


I'll post later.


whenever that is.