Every few months, some big wig in the media world knocks on my online door, asking for assistance in their quest to Market Survivalism To The World.

In nearly all cases, these “assistants” to the decision makers are looking for options, but almost always, when it comes to “Survivalism” and “Survivalists”…they are looking for that Main Stream Media version of Survivalists…you know the kind…camoflauge, guns, missing teeth, scorn of the government, etc, etc, etc.

I truly believe that FOX is looking for that flavor of individual..er, uhm…family…for TRADING SPOUSES…as the email below will show…

Give it a shot if you want. $50k is on the line for the LUCKY family selected for this “Wonderful Opportunity”.

As for me and my family…uhhh…we’re going to pass this time…yes, the money would be wonderful…but at what expense to our family and friends? Personally, I don’t think it balances out.

Ya’ll have fun!

Hello,

I am a casting associate for FOX’s hit show “Trading Spouses.” I was checking out your website and was hoping you could help me out in my search. I am looking for hardcore survivalists and their families to participate in the show which highlights the wealth of cultures and personalities from households across the country. The show requires that each family consist of at least one child between 6-18 years of age and have two parents within the home. At the end of the 7 day shoot, each family receives $50,000! If you are what we are looking for, or know another family that is, please contact me. If you have any questions regarding the show, check out the website at www.fox.com and click on the “Trading Spouses” icon.

Our deadline is approaching FAST and I would love for families to have this amazing opportunity. Thanks so much and I can’t wait to hear from you!

Thanks a lot and take care,

Jason

Jason Eskin
Casting Assistant
Trading Spouses
Rocket Science Laboratories
323.802.0485
JasonE@rocketsciencelabs.com

In case you missed it, here is the video of President Bush, with a President Bush Impersonator….

Some very funny stuff!

As seen on Break.com

As some of you might know, I won the New Century Scholar award for Wyoming several weeks ago. With that comes a free trip to Long Beach, where I’m staying in the Westin Hotel…a very nice, 4 star, and extremely expensive place to spend a couple of nights.

I’m here for the awards ceremony, as well as the opening night of the American Associaton of Community Colleges, being held at the Long Beach Convention Center. Tomorrow night I get to pick up my scholarship winnings at the official New Century Scholar reception. Hint…look at the very BOTTOM of this page for my picture.

From http://www.ptk.org/knb/apr06/h0421064.html

“Fifty outstanding community college students will be honored as 2006 New Century Scholars during this week’s American Association of Community Colleges Annual Convention in Long Beach, California. New Century Scholars are the highest-scoring nominees for the All-USA Academic Team in each state. They each receive $2,000 scholarships from the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. Learn more about the 2006 New Century Scholars online.”

Just finished the rehearsal phase of the presentation for tonight. Very interesting. The Grand Ballroom here in the convention center is HUGE. Two giant screens on either side of the stage. Looks like a couple thousands chairs as well.

The New Century Scholar part is the middle part of the presentation, after the opening remarks by the PTK CEO and so forth. We march on (of course I’m the very last one on stage), and then they present us, and then people cheer (think Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the minstrels rejoice)…and then Coke is given the Truman award (they’re the money for the New Century Scholar), and then Coke goes away, the lights go down, and we all march off stage back to our front row seats.

Sometime after this event, PTK will be shipping all participants a DVD of the event, so all will be able to see the whole thing.

Fun.

After the presentation tonight, the ballroom at the Westin has live video feeds, where us PTKers, er, um…Scholars…will get to watch the Hallmark awards, which I think is the international convention for PTK…going on this very same weekend in Seattle (you’d think they plan better!).

That’s the place for free pizza and soda…yum.

Around lunchtime, I did walk uptown on Long Beach Blvd. to “Acres of Books“, and found three VERY good used books for $20.03…all pertain to production stuff for our business, and future plans…film making, screenwriting, and online community planning.

You would love AOB. Think Half Price Books, when they were in that old store off Northwest Highway in Dallas…the one that had the Ship looking thing in the middle of the ground floor…but with stacks stacked HIGHER, and rows much narrower. I could stand in the aisle and both shoulders touched bookshelves across from each other. There must have been MILLIONS of books!

Weather is still cool here…and very breezy. Got some video last night before sunset of the bay, the Queen Mary, and ALMOST got video of a seal swimming around the giant boats…kept going underwater before I could grab him on video.

I can’t believe the prices here….haven’t found a 7/11…or even seen a gas station in this neck of the woods. Spent $14 at Borders…got the one PODCASTING book , and 4 alkaline batteries for the digital camera. Breakfast via room service was over $30. 2 eggs, sausage, coffee, OJ, a small basket with 3 danishes, and hash browns….jiminy christmas!

My lunch here at the events center, a piece of roasted chicken, mashed taters, brocolli, bottle of coke, and bottle of water, and a tiny bowl of salad … $17! On Jo Anne’s (the college president, who is also here for this convention) credit card of course…

Tomorrow evening is the “official reception” for the NCSers…I think that’s when I get the check (which I hope isn’t a gift certificate for $2,000 worth of Coke products!

Anyway…that’s about it for now. Gonna go snoop around this floor and find any freebie stuff that have…and fill my pockets!!!!

More later…!

Rich

Yesterday was my birthday…number 46.

Busy day…to the bank, the grocery store, the college bookstore..

Got to work a bit after noon, and got the news and weather done..

Basic stuff…normal day.

Then, starting at 4pm, the excitement built a bit.

Had a special visitor coming to town…not for me, mind you.

Wyoming first lady Nancy Freudenthal was coming to town for her state wide teen anti-drinking initiative….

Just so happens we’ve been doing some video work in this area for the last YEAR. www.yaaaonline.com

Doors opened at 6. We got there at 5. I was part of committee that put together this visit for the Fremont County Coalition of WFLI.

I was in charge of the video presentation hardware, and audio system.

Did I mention that the best steak restaurant in town was catering?

Took just a little time to get the laptop setup with a borrowed computer projector, and ran thru the video’s making sure everything would work as we wanted, when we wanted.

About 5:45, everything was done…so we (me, daughter Laurie, friend Charlie [backup geek], and Bart [Riverton cop and fellow YAAA sponsor] relaxed, and had a seat at our reserved table waiting for our YAAA teens to finish showing up.

Blessings were said at 6, and dinner serving started. REALLY good food..and free for anyone who showed up (about 300 or so folks from around the county).

Then, Wyoming Family Services Coordinator Roger xxxx got up and gave a short introduction speech talking about how prevention was the key to helping teens avoid becoming teen drinking statistics, and later adult drinking statistics.

When he was done, it was our turn…Young Adults Against Addiction. 6 teens, I cop, and one non-traditional college student (me). We were officially announced, and headed up to the stage/podium to do our little presentation.

Bart started first, and gave a very short history of how YAAA came about. (Read the website above). Then tow of the teens, Megan (star of THINK ABOUT IT) and Austin (star of PARTY BOY and TWILIGHT ZONE) each said a few SHORT words…less then 1 minute each. Then it was my turn…

I have spoken in front of a few groups the past couple of years here at college…at most a few dozen folks at a time…and almost always fellow students.

This time it was HUNDREDS.

I spent over an hour today writing several versions a speech, including trimming it and timing it to as close to two minutes as possible. See it below. However, I didn’t even pull the speech out of my pocket…I winged the whole thing..and left out a lot of details.

I think I did OK. Finished my little verbiage, then introduced the videos, and scooted over to start the show. We showed the last five of our 8 finished projects. The audiences laughter at the right places, silence at the right places and applause at the end let us know we did good.

Besides the first lady, attending were the sheriff, chief of police, mayor, most of the city councilman and county commissioners, the native American liaisons to the Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Nations, the states chief prosecutor, and lots more important folks and regular people just like myself.

The great turnout for something like this means that we ARE making a difference. Locals and state wonks are paying attention. Kids are joining our group more and more, and more people are asking about our projects.

Daughter Laurie shot video of our presentation this evening, and I’ll try to get it digitized and online this weekend for you all to see what we do.

It may not be much…we’re just a little town WAY off the beaten path, a few hours from the nearest interstate. We don’t have any money to put into this project, so the kids, Bart, and I..we do it for free.

But, when someone at the highest office in the state (yes, Governor Dave DOES listen to his wife) takes the time to come to town, and makes a special point to see our work, and then asks to share it with the rest of the state….and THANKS us for doing it…well, I think we’re doing just fine.

If you haven’t yet, take the time to visit the YAAA site above, and watch each of the videos. Share them with YOUR local school district, police department, and any youth groups in your area.

If you have any questions about the videos, future work, or learning how to do this yourself, just ask.

Have a great weekend…(I’m going to enjoy my last full weekend before school OFFICIALLY starts next Tuesday)

Take care,
Rich

ps… here’s that speech I worked so hard on, and didn’t completely cover while winging it. It should make it a little bit more clear about why I spend so much of my time on THIS very unique project.

Source from the Times-Standard Online

Lights in the sky around the globe
John Driscoll

OK. Let’s put this to rest.

Apparently Sunday night’s fireball in the skies over Northern California — of which we’ve had abundant reports — wasn’t the only one. In fact, several people have now reported seeing other fireballs on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Now, NASA is saying brilliant meteors are being seen around the globe. So what’s going on?

Apparently Earth is passing through a “river of space dust” associated with the comet Encke, as it does each year at this time, NASA says. But unlike in most years, the Taurid meteor shower is more intense this time around.

A computer model in 1993 predicted this year might be a special year for Taurid meteors. The meteors are larger than usual this time around, as large as pebbles or small stones, NASA said, though some may be larger. They travel thousands of miles per hour and when they strike the atmosphere can produce a fireball as bright as the moon, NASA says.

The best place to look for the meteors is in the constellation Taurus, which rises in the east at sunset. The show could last up to two weeks, but rain forecast for the next several days might derail your chances of seeing it.

As a VERY amatuer astronomer (only two telescopes, one pair of binoculars, some cheap software, and a fair knowledge of the night sky, I love staying abreast of the lastest interstellar news. Mars is getting the big attention lately, and now is a great time to take the scopes out and get some quiet time with one of our closest neighbors in the sky.

Rich

AS MARS’ ORBIT NEARS EARTH, USE OUR TUTORIAL TO BECOME A MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE-FORM
By KARALEE MILLER
Fort Worth Star Telegram
10/26/2005

Space lovers everywhere are seeing red this week — and they couldn’t be happier.

Mars is the talk of the galaxy right now as its orbit inches closer and closer to our humble abode, Earth. The big moment comes into full view Saturday. And you know what that means — break out the telescopes; set up the lawn chairs; call a friend.

Mars will come closest to Earth at about 10:20 p.m. Oct. 29, when it will be a stone’s throw from Earth at 43.1 million miles. Mars will reach opposition to the sun — it will be opposite the sun from our view here on Earth — on Nov. 7.

Although it won’t be as close as it was two years ago — when it drew closer to Earth than it has been in nearly 60,000 years — it still will be a sight to see.

Armed with a telescope, sky gazers should be able to make out many of the planet’s surface details, like bright clouds, large dust storms and polar caps, says Karen Massey, an assistant at the Noble Planetarium at the Fort Worth (Texas) Museum of Science and History.

“What’s interesting about this event that’s different from August 2003 is that Mars is farther north and higher in the sky this time, so we’re looking through less atmosphere,” she says. “It will have a better, clearer view.”

Oh, and if you think you’ll just catch this the next time it happens, patience had better be one of your virtues. The next time Mars will be closer than this: summer 2018.

Did you know Mars . . .

– is the fourth planet from the sun and the seventh largest?

– is the only planet with a surface that can be plainly seen and charted from Earth?

– has polar ice caps, clouds, dust storms and four seasons?

– shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the sun, moon and Venus?

– is about half the size of the Earth and twice the size of the moon?

– takes almost twice as long as the Earth to go around the sun?

– is named after the Roman god of war?

– would be a dieter’s dream? That’s because we’d all weigh less on Mars than we do here on Earth. Mars is less dense than Earth and has much less gravity.

Touchdown:

Three methods have been used to explore Mars: flybys, orbiters, and landers and rovers. NASA says future Mars exploration may use airplanes and balloons, subsurface explorers and sample returns.

Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to have a successful flyby of Mars, on July 14, 1965, snapping the first pictures of Mars’ surface. The spacecraft was not expected to survive past its eight-month voyage, but it ended up lasting about three years in solar orbit.

Two Mars rovers — Spirit, above, and Opportunity — have been exploring sites on opposite ends of Mars since January 2004. They are now in the third extension of their missions.

Mars in pop culture

Our collective fascination with the red planet has yielded everything from great (and mediocre) literature to tasty small consumables and expensive Hollywood films. Arm yourself for your next Trivial Pursuit game with these facts:

“– War of the Worlds:” The sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells was published in 1898 and describes the invasion of Earth by Martians. In 1938, Orson Welles presented it as a radio play, creating panic among some listeners. Movie director Steven Spielberg revisited the extraterrestrial storyline with this year’s film, starring Tom Cruise and the ubiquitous Dakota Fanning.

– Marvin the Martian: Looney Tunes got on the Mars bandwagon in 1948 by introducing Marvin the Martian in the short cartoon film “Haredevil Hare”.

– Mars Bars: Can’t seem to get your hands on a yummy Mars Bar these days? Just reach for a Snickers Almond Bar. Confused? Don’t be. The folks at Mars Inc. stopped marketing the candy bar in the United States as the Mars Bar and now sell it as the Snickers Almond Bar. However, elsewhere in the world, the same candy bar is sold as the Mars Almond bar.

“– Veronica Mars”: This junior detective lives in a town called Neptune and sports the last name Mars. No wonder fans think the show and its star, Kristen Bell, are out of this world.

“– Mars Attacks!” Wacky film director Tim Burton gave audiences this 1996 sci-fi spoof about Martians invading Earth that has become a cult favorite.

“– Red Planet”: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss and Benjamin Bratt jumped aboard this 2000 flick about astronauts searching Mars to find ways to save Earth. The movie’s original title was “Mars”, but was changed to avoid confusion with the Brian D Palma-directed “Mission to Mars”, released the same year.

“– Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”: In 1993, counselor and author John Gray gave readers something to think about with his book about how the sexes can learn to better understand, relate to and appreciate each other. Many found his advice down-to-earth, while others thought he should buy a one-way ticket to Pluto.

– Blondie: This new wave group, led by rock diva Debbie Harry, gave music listeners this little lyrical gem in 1981’s “Rapture” — “‘Cause the man from Mars stopped eatin’ cars and eatin’ bars/And now he only eats guitars” The song was the first chart-topping rap single.

Face time

Some people believe a mysterious “face” on Mars is evidence that there is life on the Red Planet. The face was discovered in 1976 by NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft while it was scoping potential landing sites for its sister ship. Mission controllers noticed a likeness of a human face jutting from the ground in the planet’s Cydonia region.

After much talk and further investigation, most planetary scientists agree the face was created when unusual lighting conditions fell upon a Martian hill. But that hasn’t killed speculation — or Hollywood’s interest.

The face has been used as a plot device in the TV shows “The X-Files” and “Futurama” and the film “Mission to Mars.”

SOURCES: Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov; www.planetary.org; www.mars.com; http://science.nasa.gov; “Entertainment Weekly”; www.imdb.com

and this one AIN’T it…rent a DVD for the evenings this stinker comes on TV…

Ensemble Convenes for CBS’ “End of the World
Posted by Scott Weinberg on Tuesday, Aug. 09, 2005, 12:35 AM

Scott Weinberg writes: “ComingSoon.net shares a press release from CBS, and it seems that the “End of the World” is somewhat near. November 6th is when you can tune in and chuckle over “Category 7: The End of the World.”

From the producers of “Category 6: Day of Destruction,” the follow-up will star Randy Quaid, Tom Skerritt, Shannen Doherty, Gina Gershon, James Brolin, and Swoosie Kurtz.

“”Category 7: The End of the World” begins where “Category 6: Day of Destruction” ended, as the ultimate superstorm continues to build in size. As the disastrous storm gathers even more strength and begins to ravage the rest of the world, FEMA’s newly appointed director, Judith Carr (Gershon), has her hands full preparing for a cataclysmic storm in the U.S. Aiding weather forecasters is storm chaser Tommy Tornado (Quaid), convalesced from his near-death experience in the Category 6 storms and ready for more, and Faith Clavell (Doherty), a beautiful, discredited scientist who teams up with Tommy on the ground to figure out what is making the storms so severe. Up in the sky, pilot Col. Mike Davis (Skerritt) flies high above the storm to try to find what in the atmosphere is causing the storms. Meanwhile, a television evangelist and his wife, Donny and Penny Hall (Brolin and Kurtz) preying on the fears of a storm battered nation, begin to broadcast alarming warnings of biblical plagues. As the predictions begin to come true, the deadly storm continues to wreak havoc worldwide, culminating in a record-setting Category 7 superstorm over Washington, D.C.”

Part 1 of “Category 7″ will air on Sunday, November 6th; part 2 a week later on November 13th.”
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