Win an iPhone 3G from TSheets.com!

Jun 30, 2008 by Dan Taylor    26 Comments    Posted under: Technology

Oh snap!  Ok, if the new iPhone wasn’t enough to get you juiced, how about a free one?  Right.  Let me say that again…how about a free iPhone 3G?  Un huh…and no, it’s not a scam.  This is the real deal folks, a good ol’ fashioned down home competition that isn’t all about some skeevy marketing company trying to get your email address and then repackage it.  It’s about change.  The iPhone 3G makes change in one’s life possible.

So here’s how it shakes out:  What’s the craziest/coolest/awesomest(?) thing that you do at 10 after 5?  Ok, before you start whining, yes…some of us do leave the office at (or pretty darn close to) 5pm everyday.  Which reminds me, ed. note: Remember, life is short.  Work hard, but also remember to leave the office at a decent hour.  Too much time at the office and/or working is not a good thing.

Ok, with my public service announcement out of the way, as Eminem said it best, “Let’s get down to business”.

The rules to bring home the bread are simple.  Photograph it, Film it, Blog it, hmmm…is there another media I forgot?  Anywho, you get the point.  The guys at TSheets what to know what you do at 5:10.  5:10 or Five Ten or 5ive 10, etc. must appear in your image (still or moving) or your blog.  They also need you to give ‘em a shout out here, and link yo’ junk up to TSheets.com (think SEO love).

Here’s the official skivvy from TSheets directly:

“5pm is possibly one of the most celebrated times all around the world. You’re free. Great God almighty, I’m free at last! Granted, at 10 after 5 you may or may not be calling it a day, but by most standards you’re free to go if you so choose. And this is exactly what we want to hear about. How do you rock it at 5:10? What’s the coolest, craziest, most creative thing you do at 5:10? Tell us all about it…maybe you load up the iPod and have your favorite DJ slam your subway ride home? Is 5:10 the time that you slip the wingtips under the desk, strap your Specialized shoes on and blaze through commuter traffic all the while chasing Lance Armstrong along the Champs-Élysées? Send us as many entries as you’d like. Talk to us!

All Entries must Include:

Something indicating that it is 5:10pm (examples = Picture with clock in the background, Video with clock, or blog posted at 5:10pm). Rockin’ a Flava Flav style clock is HIGHLY encouraged.

A link labeled “time tracking” linked to http://www.tsheets.com and a comment on this page so that we can find your entry.

You’ll score mad props from the judges by getting the most views or comments on your entry or if you give a shout out to TSheets. Props where props are due, but ultimately the most creative/crazy/cool post will land the ice.”

That’s it!  So now there are NO excuses NOT to have the year’s hottest bit of techno love riding in YOUR pocket.  And let’s be honest here folks…anyone that reads this blog on a regular basis MUST be slightly creative/crazy/cool…..Let ‘em hear about it!

Disclaimer: I am currently employed by TSheets.com as a copywriter (that copy was HOT wasn’t it?) and find an ethical conflict of interests, so I will not be entering this contest.  However…all of YOU are permitted to enter…so get movin’!

Photos with Knef

Jun 25, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Photography

Knef aka MasterKnef is really an interesting guy.  I’ve known Knef for about 6-7 months now through Ludwig.  While I’ve drank many beers with Knef, DJed his 30th birthday party, and had some good conversations with him, I still feel as though there is much more about Knef to be learned.  He’s still a bit of an enigma to me.

I know for example that he has (had?) a band.  Apparently the band was pretty darn good, as he vividly described a festival that the band played at in Slovenia (i think?) a few years ago.  From the sound and imagagry of his description, it didn’t sound like some 10 person festival in a field somewhere, but rather, a 10-15k person festival organized in a field just outside Ljubljana or Maribor.  I also know that Knef is the kind of guy that will (and is planning on) starting out in Upper Austria, and walking/hiking cross country and arriving somewhere in Salzburg.  All the while, never desending below 1000 meters.  In other words, 2 weeks alone up in the mountains, never coming down into the valley.  Likewise, I know that Knef is an avid mountain and rock climber.

I’m not exactly certain what Knef does to pay the bills.  I know he’s a radio DJ, but I’m not certain if that’s an everyday gig, weekends only, or what?  Somewhere in a former lifetime, I’ve heard stories that he was also a cameraman for ORF, the major television network in Austria. And so…it didn’t surprise me when he sent an email my way the other day and asked for my help both as a friend and as a photographer.

It appears that RedBull is now starting up an ‘arte’ format television program.  Knef is applying to be one of the hosts of this network.  These photos should serve as his ‘headshots’ and overall appearance.  Of course I wanted to make him look his very best, but I also wanted to try to get a bit of that enigma that I see in him in these photos as well.  I think I did a pretty ok job….what do you think?  Leave me some comment love below.

To view the entire series, visit the Photo page.

Oh, and if some super stunning pictures weren’t enough for you, Knef’s music video:

George Carlin dead at 71

Jun 23, 2008 by Dan Taylor    3 Comments    Posted under: News

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits

God damn it.  George Carlin is dead.  FEK!  Sadly friends, it’s true, George Carlin.  Dead.  I think we all knew this one was coming for a while now, but still…I’m sad even to see him go.  I had just watched Carlin on YouTube a few weeks back, and caught some of his more recent material, and I have to admit, he looked old.

Carlin was probably one of my most favorite comedians; right up there with Sam Kinison, Eddie Murphy, and Andrew Dice Clay.  I think the first time I saw Carlin was at a very young age, somewhere around age 6 or 7, in his classic Carnegie Hall performance.  Little did I know at the time that this funny guy was jacked up on all sorts of Cocaine, but hey…whatever it takes…the guy was hysterical.

Carlin died of heart failure yesterday at his home in Santa Monica, CA.  Being a comic in the 70′s and 80′s could not have been easy (or maybe too easy…as there seemed to be quite a lot of comic fodder to poke at), and Carlin did it, and did it well.  A little known fact, George Carlin was actually THE very first host of Saturday Night Live in 1975.  He’s also appeared in a number of infamous HBO specials, along with a score of films.  From what I’ve read, what I know, and what I’ve seen…while he certainly became the spokesperson for curmudgeons around the world, it seems to me that he had a rather eventful, interesting, and introspective life.

Those of us that knew you, those of us that listened to you, those of us that believed in you George….we will miss you. Rest well friend, you brought hope, joy, and an occasional pants pissing laughter to a number of generations.  We thank you!

Wine Library with Gary Vaynerchuk

Jun 20, 2008 by Dan Taylor    4 Comments    Posted under: News

Wine. Whine? WINE!

Ok, if you’ve been reading my humble blog for a while now, you’re most probably aware that my liquid pleasure comes in two forms: Beer and Whiskey (preferably not together though). While I’d consider myself an average connoisseur of the brew, meaning I can tell and taste the differences between a lager, ale, pilsner, hefe-weissen, and if it has a sweet, bitter, or sharp taste to it, I’m still a beginner when it comes to whiskeys.

I feel at some point I’ve almost been spoiled. My whiskey intake thus far has been rather limited. I’ve sampled all of the Jack Daniels brands, and had a glass of Caol Ila, courtesy of Trude at the now defunct ‘Greenfield Lounge’ (may she RIP). And now for the spoils…my good friend Ludwig treated me to a glass of Johnny Walker Blue about a week ago. For the record, the bottle was approximately 10 years old, and we didn’t finish the minor bit that was left. I know JW Blue ain’t exactly what one would call cheap, but drinking one bottle over the coarse of 10 years….yeah, I think that’s acceptable.

Right. Now to the point regarding the posting title. Bigbluebottle has been my go to guy for a long time regarding wine. Admittedly, wine is not my deal, and I really don’t know too much about it. I know what tastes good, and what doesn’t, but at the end of the day, I don’t really know what I’m tasting. I couldn’t tell you about the hint of pomegranate juice melting into the oak barrel flavor.

Bottle’s pretty darn good….but Gary Vee is better. If you enjoy wine (or even if you don’t) I can guarantee that you’re going to like Gary Vee. He’s quickly coming up on his 500th video at tv.winelibrary.com, and what a fun ride it’s been thus far. Gary’s parents owned a liquor store, and working as a bored teenager he began reading Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. Now I don’t know about you…but as a teenager, I certainly wasn’t picking up copies of Wine Spectator as light reading. In other words, Gary Vee knows his stuff.

So a healthy tip from your non wine drinking author, give Gary Vee a view. In the words of Bottle, “I think this guy might be slightly crazy”, and I agree. Gary Vee is slightly crazy. Everything from his Gonzo style journalism to his impressive collection of Jets memorabilia (to be fair, I’m also a Jets fan), this guy is a bit off. But it is exactly this wackiness that sucks you in a makes you want to watch even more.

Audio section added

Jun 19, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Music

Prompted by a new friend from New York, I decided to split out my DJ recordings and make them a seperate page, accessible via the top nav bar. Right now, the two classics, Mostly Naked and Fabrik are sitting in there waiting for your listening pleasure, with some one ones to arrive shortly…

As always, if you’re interested in speaking with my about music, Djing, or just about anything else….hit me up on the contact page!

Fresh Start

Jun 17, 2008 by Dan Taylor    10 Comments    Posted under: Uncategorized

Sometimes in life you get a fresh start. Sometimes this is a welcome change, in fact, a relief. Other times, this is due to some massive mistake that would take a really…really…long time to fix. Other times, it’s just ‘unfixable’.

I’m hoping it’s more of an option 1 for me, rather than an option 2. As you know, I recently moved hosts, and had to take the site with me, and then set it up on a new server. I followed a bunch of advice forums, tutorials, and comments, and felt as though I had done everything to the letter. Crossed all my t’s, dotted all my i’s. And so it seemed that way. Everything looked fine once I had FTP access, did the Fantastico WP installation, uploaded plugins, etc. Great. And then….

Well, the and then part is where things start to get sticky. Upon trying to import my mysql database, everything got funky. I started getting a bunch o’ weird 404 errors. So, my first thought had to do with the subdomain. As you may have already read in the previous post, I’ve set up a redirect on turnthescrew.com to actually take you to blog.turnthescrew.com. So…perhaps I just need to change all the instances of turnthescrew.com to blog.turnthescrew.com in the mysql database. Did that via a handy free tool, textwrangler. All looked good. Let’s cross our fingers and upload.

Well, WP sees the mysql db as being valid, but now has a bunch of widget errors, incorrect arguments, etc….

Oye vey. Bottle is giving me a hand with this one, and we’re testing over at a super secret URL right now, but as it looks right now…ummm…I kinda f@#)ed up the database. I’m not overly stressed, as there must be a simple solution to this…something that I’m just over looking. Either way, I still have 99% of the original content, it just might be a mind bogglingly big project to copy/paste a massive amount of content, and then restructure the permalinks to match up. Right…all you non-super-nerds out there catch all of this?

In human terms: Umm…I think I made a booboo, but I think I can fix it. Either the easy way, or the annoyingly hard way…it’ll all be back soon.

Rebuilding – Slowly

Jun 15, 2008 by Dan Taylor    12 Comments    Posted under: Uncategorized

Hmmm…ok. Bear with me here folks. As you can see, TTS is back, but in a Humpty Dumpty kinda way.

If you’ve made it thus far, you’ll notice that you’ve been redirected from turnthescrew.com to blog.turnthescrew.com. Yay…I managed that much.

Pretty much everything works just the way it should…except we’re missing over a year’s worth of content. This should, technically, be no problem, as I exported the database that was sitting on the former host’s server. This is where things start to go crazy. Upon uploading the backed up database, the front page appears, along with the associated content, BUT any linked articles, pages, sections of the site show up as 404 errors.

Hmmmm…well…the data is there, I’m just somehow not making the connection. As I said…this should be a learning process for us all.