After hearing about Epix for weeks now from Curt Marvis at Lionsgate at both #DH09 and #DMWC, I was psyched to hear this morning that they were giving away 72 hour passes to the EpixHD site this weekend.  Click here to get yours.  Great news for those of us who don’t have FiOS and want another Hulu on the scene.  Epix is a free streaming movie site stocked with the libraries of Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM – from blockbusters to classics to original programming.  Not sure what type of access any of us will have after the weekend, but hopefully we’re looking at another distribution partner for features and webisodes.  Launching with a beautifully clean interface, available to watch right now for free is Cloverfield, GI Joe, Iron Man, Spiderwick Chronicles, Flash Gordon, Love Guru, Madonna, Eat Drink Man Woman, Everybody Wants To Be Italian, Romance & Cigarettes, Dead Again, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall, Stepford Wives, Godfather, Box of Moonlight and more.  Better selection than Fancast (Chaplin, Google Me, Hair, MacHeads, Meet the Mobsters, RIP Remix Manifesto, Supersize Me, Slacker…), Sling (Fiddler On The Roof, Heidi, Thief of Bagdad, Birth of a Nation…), Joost (Road to Bali, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Primal Fear, His Girl Friday…), and Crackle (Johnny Mnemonic, People v Larry Flynt, Shampoo, SLC Punk, Wolf..) combined.  Actually, now that I’ve taken a second look, I’m pretty impressed with their interfaces and selections too. Enjoy!

I will have to give it to Ms. Teyana Taylor for not allows the music industry to get to her in that way. I have always liked her. It could of been her style or the way she carried herself.

She is also keeping busy with a ton of deals going on. For one she has endorsments for Married to the Mob and ZShock. And I heard that she has her own lip gloss coming out soon as well called DopeLips. (Cant wait for that to hit the stores.)

Click the link below for more info.

DopeLips.com.

She recently did an interview with Egypt to read more click here.

So I have a dirty little secret, I love to google people, places, things, and spend hours looking at the results.

I googled Artful Dodgings. Here are some hand picked links I found. I didn’t even realize people knew we existed.

http://radiotime.com/program/p_196695/Artful_Dodgings.aspx

http://grandnationalchamps.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

http://www.errachidia.org/clip/1-WMNF.html

http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/24421429

Topul Adriana Cosma:

1. Locuia în Medgidia, condamnată la 20 de ani de închisoare pentru că și-a ucis fiul

2. Miss Turism din Arad

3. Scriitoare din Baia Mare

4. Mama unei fetițe de la grădinița ”Mihai Eminescu” din Zalău

5. Grefier la Tribunalul Maramureș

6. O pictoriță de păpuși din Rio Grande do Sul (Brazilia)

7. O femeie din Piatra Neamț în vârstă de 35 de ani

Dacă încă nu v-ați prins, cu toate aceste femei am în comun numele.

Am facut acest ”studiu” după ce am intrat pe saitul Google Me – The Movie și abia aștept să văd tot documentarul.

UPDATE: 8. Studenta la Medicina Veterinara, Bucuresti

If you haven’t seen the Pre-Fall cover of i-D Magazine then you are behind.
This fabulous cover showcases fashion’s brightest black young stars.

Chanel Iman

Sessilee Lopez

Arlenis Sosa

Jourdan Dunn

If you’re not familiar GOOGLE THEM.

Here’s a cute video of The Making of i-D Magazine’s Pretty Young Things Cover

OH TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK…

Out of utter boredom last night I watched The TO Show on VH1.
I was glad I did when I caught the most random conversation between Monique Jackson, Kita Williams and Jessica White. Mo’ and Kita are Terrell Owen’s best friends, publicists, and business partners. In this episode, it’s Kita’s birthday dinner and TO decides to invite Jessica out to the party. The conversation was hilariously funny! Check out how it all went down:

[Commentary: Mo: Out of nowhere this chick walks up..

Kita: And I'm thinking who is this RAC. R-A-C. Random Ass Chick walking up to our table.] <<—Loves it.

TO: Everybody this is Jessica.

Kita: So what do you do?

Jessica: I’m a model.

Kita: What kind of modeling do you do?

Jessica: You can Google me. Jessica White.

[Commentary: Mo: Bitch told me to Google her. No she didn't.

Kita: Those are fighting words. Especially when you're dealing with black girls.]

Are “Google Me” fighting words??!

Check out the actual video on VH1, by clicking here.

Don’t know Jessica White, here’s some photos:

IMAGES: Sports Illustrated/Giant Mag

I’m officially Bay Area now, all five one oh and shit.

It’s kinda weird, but now I don’t have to do the whole awkward “area code 619″ thing all the time.

Liberating if you ask me.

Downside? I think secretly think Google is the Devil, and I’ve just handed over another slice of my soul.

womp.womp.

I still haven’t figured out what Teyana Taylor’s purpose is, but as long as she stays off the records we good. More pics + Diana Ross weave on flare mode after the jump.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver at Genea-musings.

It’s Saturday Night, and time for some Genealogy Fun. Here are the directions (I know, not everyone follows directions to these little escapades, but what matters are the results, not being a stickler for details) for tonight’s little game:

1) Google yourself at www.google.com. Put your first name, middle initial and last name, plus the name of your city or town in the Search box to see what other persons may have mentioned you online, or to see which blog aggregators are “collecting” you.

2) Then go to the “Images,” “Videos” and “News” links and see what they show.

3) Tell us about any surprises you found, either in your blog or in Comments to this post.

Earline Bradt, Leamington, Ontario
web – 388 hits, 84 hits more relevant, 10 with all words
images – 46 from blogs

Earline Hines Bradt, Leamington, Ontario
web – 309 hits, 10 all words
Images – 155 hits, 150 images

Earline Bradt, SW Ontario
web – 1380 hits,
images – 288 hits,

Surprises – there is a site which is mapping my Twitter relationships here: http://twitter.mailana.com/profile.php?person=ejbradt

U CAN GOOGLE ME BITCH!

T-SHIRT – $20.00

LIKE the shirt?  become a FAN of U CAN GOOGLE ME BITCH! on FACEBOOK NOW!!!

While I’m totally and utterly convinced the Mountain View company will one day take over the world (and I’m talking like on some Mark of the Beast type shit) for now, while laying in wait for the perfect time to unleash their TOTAL DOMINATION, they’re alright. I mean drag and drop labels – and motherfucking Mail Goggles for chrissakes? However, this morning I discovered my Google Reader is trying to hop on the “it” social networking bandwagon introducing not one, but two new features: The like feature and allowing your friends (and stalkers!) to follow you. While I’m not totally convinced these will catch on, you have to give it to Google for trying.

The new blog I talked about last week is live as of last night. This is for the Red River Family website, if you remember, and all the “what shall I name it?” anxiety was handled rather efficiently by the editors. The entire blog group/section/what-have-you is The Grapevine, and I am The Preschool Mom. Nice, clean, generic. I can dig it. Since I don’t have a contractual agreement, I can only assume that I’ll be around until they tire of reading about my epic level of parental suckiness. In the event that Mo is no longer a Preschooler and I still have a job, I guess we’ll just change the name. Until then, read The Preschool Mom every week–if that’s your bag, baby.

This is me being a mom.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…. I know she’s a bit of a youngin’, but she’s kinda sexy. Maybe it’s the lips. Now that I think about it, I used to have a thing for shorties with long hair. I’m not sure what it is… I could be buggin’ all together.  What do you think? (Pictures acquired via Honeymag)

To steal a phrase from John Scalzi, I’m serving up a white-hot cup of fury. I’d like to begin with a list:

Ten Things to which 5% of the Population are Allergic

Perhaps we should ban the use or possession of these things, then go blog-burn their evil corporate perpetuators for unleashing such harmful, loathsome menaces on the world:

(as searched using the term “5% of the population are allergic” on Yahoo, Google and MSN)

1. Nickel (contact with the skin, or nickel dermatitis)

2. Seafood (my mom is allergic, so is my aunt)

3. Something (in general)

4. Mold (“indoor allergies”)

5. Fluoride (in your toothpaste, probably)

6. Olive trees

7. Peanuts

8. Milk

9. Soy

10. Work

BONUS ROUND:

Up to 15% of the population are allergic to dogs.

Roughly 3% are allergic to bees.

Between 0.7% and 10% are allergic to penicillin (to which I, incidentally, am quite allergic)

Between 8% and 17% of medical professionals are allergic to latex.

I consider myself a likeable person, a person tolerant of any multi-level weirdness you can muster (without involving children–there is my line, I have drawn it for you.), a woman who can empathize and at least try to understand the other side of the argument. I’m non-confrontational and peace-seeking. I value conversation and understanding above weapons and deaf ears, and if that makes me some kind of weird, idealistic, socially unacceptable freak then so be it. I’ll own your silly label.

The game changes, though, when a person challenges my aptitude or credibility, then snarkily spouts misinformation while snapping her fingers and condescendingly calling me Ms. Crezo in a public forum, on my own blog post.

Firstly, I’m married; it’s Mrs. Crezo. Secondly, one should be excessively well informed when discussing any topic with a person generally regarded as an expert in said topic. Thirdly, I am generally considered an expert in the topic of cosmetic ingredients–otherwise I would not have a job, our company would not have products to sell, and several very large companies (from the US and any number of the 120 countries we manufacture products for) would be working with someone else. I’m not usually so cocky about this, but I know my business. My sole responsibility is to research, understand, and implement the hundreds thousands of raw materials we use in our products to make sure they are stable, safe, and effective.

NOW. Some time ago, oh about a year I guess, I wrote a little article titled “9 Weird Ingredients Hiding in Your Makeup Bag.” It was for a little blog called mentalfloss.com, then reprinted by a little, slightly obscure news network called CNN. In that article I discussed ingredients that are commonly used in personal care and cosmetic products that might seem a little odd. Hard-shell algae fossils, for instance. I’ll be honest with you: it’s kind of hard for me to read this article now, and I’m glad to know I’ve grown as a writer and dropped my unfunny, slightly pretentious tone (except for on this blog, of course, which will forever be unfunny and slightly pretentious). I’m not talking about that right now, though. As for the information it contains, I stand by it. I wrote that article after six years of industry experience, following detailed research specifically for the piece. It was thoroughly double-checked by researchers from mentalfloss.com before publication, and I could and would testify to a court that it was truthful and would speculate that it is truthful according to any non-deranged industry professional. So there.

Don’t ask me how or why people are are still commenting on that article. It’s a year old, not hanging out anywhere on someone’s front page, and has never been clicked through from this blog. But without fail, I get comments on it every month or so, just little “oh, wow!” things that kind of crack me up in their odd timing. Today, it got a comment. Not a little “Oh, wow!” thing. Which is fine; you can’t please everyone all the time, right? Here is the comment, copied and pasted below:

Umm…Floss you are wrong for once. Under #8, you claim Propylene Glycol is not toxic or harmful. PG is labeled as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the FDA; however, it was did not go thru rigorous testing because it is so old. However, approximately 5% of the population (including myself) has a serious allergy to this substance and has even caused death in a few instances. And it is hidden in so many products that it is difficult to avoid. So no it is not harmless by a long shot. Ms. Crezo you need to do your homework better.

OK, so here’s the thing. I know I’m overreacting; I know I should ignore this and move along. The thing is, though, that I can’t. I am not mad that she disagrees with the article’s (very recently supported) information. I’m not mad that she used my post as the singular example of mentalfloss.com’s fallibility (“Floss[,] you are wrong for once“). I’m not mad that she has a problem with an ingredient that is so commonly used that it is in your chewing gum, body lotion, toothpaste, shampoo, the flavoring in any snack, beverage or seasoning you’ve eaten today, and your personal lubricant. I’m not even all that mad that she called me Ms. Crezo like she was chastising an unruly puppy in front of polite company.You know what else? I’m not even going to critique her use of a semicolon before a conjunction, the oddly-worded sentence that follows it, or the improper use of “myself” in place of “me.” I’m not mad about that! It takes all kinds to make the world–we can’t all be writers.

I am mad that she wrongly justifies a GRAS rating as obsolete because an ingredient is “old,” implying that further research was not done because it simply predated some sort of imaginary statute of limitations on a manufacturer’s responsibility for consumer safety. The fact of this particular matter is that, barring allergic reaction, in the past 100 years or so of production and use there has not been evidence that the ingredient is harmful in any way, and quality control data (MSDS) regularly tests the flammability, reactivity, and human and environmental hazard for all commercially manufactured products. This information is readily available to the FDA and the public, so a new clinical analysis was not ever requested by the FDA. I could argue, though, that under the right circumstances, any substance is potentially lethal. Prolonged exposure to excessive amounts of water will also cause death. Maybe we should research and try to outlaw this drowning thing. It seems like it would be dangerous to roughly 5% of the population. Someone should have done their homework better when they discovered water.

I’m mad that she cites examples that are both alarmist and misleading, using her personal experience as a standard case of reaction, then got all b-b-b-bitchy about it. I understand that allergies are serious business, and I feel the pain when it comes to having a hard time with certain things because of that. I’m terrified of going to a doctor for any kind of cold because I’m allergic to all cillin-type antibiotics. However, these drugs save the lives of millions of other people every day. Should I begrudge the 90 – 99.3% majority population their health for mine? Should my mom go sue the eastern seaboard for their rampant distribution of a product that is, to her, potentially deadly? And should we crack down on a government for minting coins whose very presence in hand could cause a mild allergic rash (interesting debate alert) that is, at worst, extremely unpleasant?

People modify their lives to account for the dangers specific to them. I avoid antibiotics, driving at night and using products that increase the likelihood of blood clots because these are the dangers I know to be specifically risky to my personal safety. As a rational person, I understand that an increased risk to me does not equate to a century’s worth of false claims of general safety. Because I am rationally accepting that my remote incident is not a model for the world at large, I will not go haughtily cite my near death experience from being treated for a common illness as a call for the retroactive prosecution of Alexander Fleming for negligently saving everyone’s life but mine. (Related: thank you, makers of epinephrine.)

I do, however, hope this particular research is more to your liking, Quasi-Anonymous Commenter. I’ll leave you with this advice: there is nothing “hidden” in your products; it’s all on the box. Perhaps you should do your homework better and read it.

I know, I know–what gives with the blogathon, Adrienne? Two posts today? Geez.

Well, this one is important and is somewhat related to the last post. The June issue of Red River Family is up on the website (and available in a Starbuck’s, doctor’s office, beauty supply store and/or daycare near you, provided you’re in Southwest Oklahoma or Northwest Texas). Anyway, this month my column (“On Being Optimistic”) is about my decision to work less at the office and more from my laptop, and I think it bears reading if you’re a person who stops here occasionally. So. Go read it.

kthnxbai