Roamer's Zone http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/ en Copyright 2008 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:06:28 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Alan Colmes is leaving 'Hannity & Colmes' TV show... "We have a Democratic House, Senate and president," Colmes said in an interview. "My work is done." I liked the quote and what it means for the future. Read More]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028878.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028878.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:06:28 -0500 Another Blog Joke... Pearls Before Swine comic July 23, 2008. JBlog.gif ]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028812.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028812.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:19:17 -0500 Re: Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004... Dr. Jerz's blog, but it would not work. This is a response to one of his posts from November 3, 2008. In particular this I wanted to comment on this secton:
"so much energy has moved to feeds and commercial social networking sites-- the Wal-Marts of the blogosophere"
Blogging has indeed become highly commercialized! I can think back to 2004 when I first came to SHU and blogging was practically unheard of to the general public. Now everyone and their grandmother have blogs about something. Most corporate entities also have accompanying blogs as well. I feel like blogs that are managed by corporation tend to be started, updated periodically and then frequently forgotten about unless there is a designated person assigned with managing that blog as a full time job. And let us not forget that the corporate blogs that are maintained have an alternative agenda; 99% of the time they are trying to sell you something. In regard to the use of Flickr, BlogTv, Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook; I know a YouTube user named Venetian Princess that utilizes all of the social networking tools in order to market herself as an actress and online celebrity. She has a ton of followers that buy DVDs of her work. Similar YouTubers that cross market are Buck Hollywood from “What the Buck?” and Lisa Donovan (aka Lisa Nova), a comedian that was actually discovered through YouTube and added to the cast of Mad TV. Social networking sites facilitate entrepreneurship and "self marketing" for sure. Blogging for the sake of just bloggin is a rare thing now. ]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028666.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028666.html Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:34:22 -0500 Tomb Raider Geek Out... Virginia. But oh well I have made time to post a little blog tonight before the 3 hour long haul tomorrow. I wanted to share what I consider to be the best addition to my new apartment. But first a little exposition. ; ) Most people know that I am a huge fan of Angelina Jolie as well as the Tomb Raider video game series. But they might not know that I am also an avid collector. Collector of what you might ask? My true geek nature is about to be revealed. I started collecting stamps in the 5th grade and stuck with it through out high school. I haven't been able to keep up with it much since then. I started collecting Angelina memorabilia in the 7th grade and have never stopped. I have pretty much every major magazine that has ever featured an Angelina cover (all in plastic sleeves of course). I have a promotional garter from Original Sin. I also have all the Tomb Raider action figures (never opened of course). I am also a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer collector (I have the limited edition board game that I have only played a total of 5 times on special occasions in order to keep it in mint condition). This is only the tip of the Buffy iceberg. So you get the picture that I am a die hard collector? Below is a picture of what I consider to be the pride and joy of my Angelina collection. I look forward to displaying it prominently in my new apartment. downsized_1003082035.jpg How many people can say they have a larger then life cardboard cutout of Angelina Jolie in their living room? And did I mention that I have two of them? One is for general public display and I have the other one carefully preserved. Hi I am Leslie, and I am a geek.]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028265.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028265.html Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:01:54 -0500 Take A Gander: Geese Love A Good Photo Shoot... geese. These pictures do no fully capture the gaggle. It rained a lot here today and these geese were hanging out in and around the puddles that had formed on the side of the road. 0927081139.jpg I was pretty impressed with the quality of the pictures taken from this phone. I recently changed from an EnV to and EnV 2. The differences are small to some people, but I much prefer the former. I plan on blogging about my issues with the EnV 2 very soon. downsized_0927081139a.jpg]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028145.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028145.html Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:36:36 -0500 Real Life Toxic Avenger... toxicavengermovieposter.jpgStephan Puff told me that I looked like the Toxic Avenger two years ago when I dressed up as a zombie for Halloween. At the time I didn't think this was very flattering or comical. Ironically I am now taking on the title of real life toxic avenger as I enter into my first post collegiate job. For the past 4.5 months I have been searching for professional employment and honestly I was beginning to lose hope. Last Monday I was hired by e-Management Consultants Inc as a Jr. Program Support Specialist. The position title may not tell you much about what I am going to be doing so I will break it down. I am going to be working with two other contractors on site at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) located in Washington, DC. The contract that e-Management has with the DOE is focused on a project called Environmental Management, which deals with the proper disposal of toxic/nuclear waste as well as cold war era chemicals that are stored in basements across the country. These chemicals are stored in vats, but many of them are unfortunately not labeled and have to be individually identified, diluted and then dumped somewhere safe that will not interfere with the lives of humans or animals. department_of_energy_logo_ppex.jpgThere is also specific concern about waste dumping grounds located on Native American reservations and within low income communities. There are two advisory boards that e-Management deals with at the DOE. One is made up of scientists that are actively looking for ways to identify and dispose of the waste and the other is a citizen advisory board. My project manager tells me that there is at least 3 more years of longevity left in this contract. Don't worry I won't be doing any of the physical identifying or traveling to the dumping sites, but I will be helping to facilitate the advisory boards as well as plan meetings etc. Basically I will be be doing anything they need me to do at this point. It seems like it is good work and will benefit people. I am excited, but they want me to start October 6th so I have been a busy little bee this week. After finding out about the job Monday I spent all day Tuesday looking at apartments online and calling the apartments. Wednesday I traveled up to Baltimore and spent the night and Thursday morning I drove to Virginia to look at apartments. By noon on Thursday I signed a lease to my first apartment. downsized_0925081010.jpg And now the race against time really begins. I have to pack up my life and move to Fairfax, VA next Wednesday and then start work on the Monday after that. Ahhhh! Things are crazy. And to think two weeks ago I was actually anxiety ridden about riding the Metro train into the District for my interview for this job and now I will be riding it every day. moviens.jpg downsized_0926081544b.jpg]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028110.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/028110.html Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:46:54 -0500 Science and Vegetables... 0905081906.jpg After about a week the peppers began to turn an orange/red color and now they are pretty much completely red. It turns out that the color of vegetables has to do with their pH levels. The tomatoes are red because of their pH level. When I put the peppers in with the tomatoes they began to absorb some of the akaline base and this change in pH level caused the color transformation. Generally tomatoes have a pH of -3.1 and peppers have a pH of -1.4. 0905081907.jpg I guess those science classes paid off after all. ]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027844.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027844.html Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:16:59 -0500 Predator Scrap Metal Sculpture... eBay for a life sized Predator head to display in my room. I know that may sound weird to some people, but I am a fan of the iconic alien film, but that is beside the point. While searching for this head/bust I found this sweet metal creation. Lets just say that this artist gives a new meaning to the phrase twisted metal. pred22.jpg The artist has the appropriate username of 'MetalDude' and even has his own eBay store. I have to say his sculptures pay homage to Predator for sure. I believe there were also a few Alien sculptures as well (another one of my favorites). The cool thing is they are all made from scrap metal. This was a very sweet find indeed and the awesome thing is that the artist is only asking $24.99 for the head alone. predggg.jpg]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027840.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027840.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:04:55 -0500 Hamlet 2 (2008)... websites anyway. Hamlet 2 was one of the movies I had a chance to go see. I opted for the matinee because I am trying to remain financially conscientious these days (considering I am still un-employed). To my surprise the 5:30pm showing of the film drew a crowd of three people total and that included me. I had only recently seen a preview for the film, but something about it spoke to me. For those who have not heard of Hamlet 2 I will provide a brief synopsis:
"A failed actor-turned-worse-high-school-drama-teacher rallies his Tucson, AZ students as he conceives and stages politically incorrect musical sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet." - IMDB
Overall I thought the movie was impressive and will no doubt speak to anyone that has ever been involved in low budget community or high school theater groups. There are also a lot of great one liners filled with crudeness that actually works to make the movie funnier. Although I wish we would have gotten to see more of Amy Poehler she did have this memorable line:
"I would love it if you hit me because I am married to a Jew and I got nothing to lose." - Cricket Feldstein
Catherine Keener who is another one of my favorites had some pretty good lines as well. That may have been due to the fact that her character drunk in almost every scene. In total the movie reminded me of a sadistically twisted version of the teen sensation High School Musical. It is amazing that now we have movies about kids putting on a play (ie: High School Musical) which have yielded parodies of movies about kids putting on a play (Hamlet 2). In the same way that schools across the nation are doing there own productions of High School Musical I foresee the same thing happening to Hamlet 2. It will likely be picked up by independent non-school affiliated theater groups because of its adult content. But never the less it will no doubt be replicated. Two other things that I have to mention are the cameo of Elizabeth Shue and the hit musical number “Rock Me Sexy Jesus.” Now I think I have pretty much covered all the basics of the film. I would describe it as the lovechild that would come from the combination of High School Musical and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027724.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027724.html Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:42:25 -0500 Trust Me I'm A Zombie... zombie-green.gifI have to share all of the wonderful things I find on the internet. I would be a terrible blogger if I kept them all to myself. Check out these awesome zombie inspired t-shirts/items that I found on a few different websites! There is a little something for everyone. For the "Trust Me" shirt the item description reads "I just had liver and onions for dinner." I like that there is a hand bag available as well; most likely for body parts. zombie-tote-red.gif Trust Me I'm A Zombie Will Fix Computer For Brains The Zombie of OZ Zombies Are Carbon Neutral How To Kill A Zombie]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027615.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027615.html Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:51:26 -0500 Weirdest Pageants of the World... Zombie Pageant that took place at Phoenix ComiCon, the most ghoulish, and likely to eat brain is crowned queen. xomyfrds.JPG Click here for other weird pageants.]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027609.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027609.html Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:44:59 -0500 Eyeball Tattooing... "Eyeball tattooing has been around for a long time; in the 19th century it was commonly used to correct cosmetic defects in blind eyes. Shannon Larratt, owner of the body-modification website Bmezine.com, decided to give the idea a 21st century spin. He and two friends had their eyeballs injected with the same dye as is used in regular tattooing."- technovelgy.com bizarre_magazine_5329_5.jpg
“The eye is very resilient; you can put almost anything in it. Your eye actually is designed to be able to handle contaminants being there," said Larratt.
Click here for a closer look that includes more semi-graphic pictures of the eyeball tattooing process. If you thought this was wild check out the pierced glasses.]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027607.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027607.html Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:58:00 -0500 Political Action Figures & Dolls... sell a candidate. You may have read my recent entry about Webkinz; well check out the Obamakinz plush doll. There are also plans in for a Clinton and McCain doll in the near future. On the same website you can find Beach Blanket Obama Figure as well as a Condi / Condoleezza Action Figure. The action figues remind me a lot of those used on Robot Chicken. obamakinz_2.jpg You can buy the Obamakinz doll here for $16.95. ]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027606.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027606.html Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:37:27 -0500 The 100 Most Common English Words... lokjh.JPG Click here to take the quiz.]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027605.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027605.html Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:26:05 -0500 "Hasta la vista, baby. " - Terminator 2: Judgement Day favorite movies by making this picture. I came up with several different drafts with various filters. All I can say is that I am seriously elevating my skills as far as Photoshop is concerned. I am making use of my time being un-employed by reviewing both Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials daily. poster edge.jpgI decided to post the version using the poster edge filter because it made me look the most evil. Some of the other versions included these filters: paint drops, cutout, and film grain.]]> http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027595.html http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LeslieRodriguez/027595.html Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:06:37 -0500