ZAZZLE Launches First Ever Custom Shoes!

On Tuesday, ZAZZLE partnered with Keds to launch the first ever print-on-demand (POD) custom shoes. ZAZZLE's patent-pending technology, not only allows you to choose from an array of colors for each piece of the shoe (down to the stitch/thread color) and add your own text (like RbkCustom and NIKEiD), but you can also add your own images. ZAZZLE is the first to allow a user to upload their own content onto a shoe.

ZAZZLE launches first ever custom shoes

The shoes come in 3 women styles (slip-ons, mini slip-ons, and lace-ups) and 2 kids styles (slip-ons and lace-ups). The release of shoes gives designers a new canvas on which to design and ZAZZLE's community of designers have accepted the challenge, making some amazingly cool designs:

Intrigued yet? Check out the rest of ZAZZLE's Keds Shoes. I also created a gallery called Cool Kicks. There isn't much there yet, but hopefully it'll expand soon enough.

Women Would Like to Know: Dang, can I get more than a text message?

So it was 3 weeks ago that I brought up the topic of ambiguous dates. I'm not really sure if anything was resolved though. Early dating is so far into the gray area because it all depends on the feelings, intentions, and expectations of both parties, which could differ drastically.

The dude could think it's definitely a date because he likes her, wants to pursue things with her, and paid for the outing, while she just sees him as a friend, only wants to be friends, and thought him paying was just him being a "gentleman." In the end, I don't think there are any broad generalizations that can be made to signify "dateness." It really is just a case-by-case basis type of thing.

Now on to the 4th episode of the "Women Would Like to Know" series...

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So I've had a number of females complain about the dudes they were talking to using text messaging as their primary means of communication. These include text messages like "hey, how are you doing?" or "what are you up to tonight?" or "you wanna go out Friday night?" or even more open-ended questions. Dude would rather send 50 text messages back and forth, than have a 5-minute phone convo.

Now I personally really don't like to text message (although that may be changing with my new iPhone) because I only get 200/month and I have like 2,000 rollover minutes. But I think I can offer up some suggestions as to why dudes prefer tapping on the phone versus talking on it. Keep in mind that I'm just talking about when people are just "talking" or in the early dating stage. I'm not talking about couples filling bakeries daily.

The dude's fault

The Sidekick: the arch nemesis of a woman

Most guys just don't like to talk on the phone. In the beginning, talking on the phone is simply a means to being able to meet up in person where the playing field is a bit more even. So if we feel like we can accomplish that without calling and via text message, then we'll definitely do that. The problem for those ladies who really want the phone conversation is that there are plenty of females who let us get away with texting, so it teaches us "bad habits."

And even if we did like to talk on the phone, we're clearly outmatched. Girls are like phone experts because you get all kinds of practice gossiping with your girlfriends. We get little to no practice cuz we hardly talk to each other on the phone. We might call each other up to ask a question ("Oh shot, did you see that game?!"), but we're definitely not choppin' it up on the "hey man, how are you feeling?" tip. In fact, if it weren't for gchat and facebook, I wouldn't even know what half of my homies were up to at all. It's just how it is.

So then the ladies expect us to sustain an engaging conversation for tens of minutes with no practice before really knowing anything about you? That's about as comfortable as sitting on a cushioned seat right after someone else had just gotten up from it and it's still warm. We just feel a bit uneasy. But on text message, we can be more bold and less fearful of rejection because being turned down doesn't result in an awkward conversation. If we get the "naw, I'm busy this weekend" response, then we just don't text back and keep it moving.


The girl's fault

A guy & girl talking early on is like me battling Kimbo Slice

I don't know if I can really call this the "girl's fault," but it's not really our fault, so you're the only ones left to "blame." Basically, if we are only texting you, then that means that we're not really feeling you (or at least you're not a starter on our team). Sounds kinda harsh, but it's the truth. If I'm feelin a girl, I'm definitely gonna make the extra effort to talk to her on the phone because I actually do want to get to know her. Plus I know that it's kinda expected of me if I'm seriously trying to holla.

But if it's someone we're iffy about or just not really feeling (but would like to keep around on the bench in case some of the starters underperform), then we really don't want to talk on the phone. We'd rather text to accomplish our goal. If you don't respond, oh well, no big deal. But if you do hit us back, then we got what we wanted with very little effort on our part.

Like I said, girls are pros, so if you match a pro up with an disinterested amateur, the results are worse than me stepping in the ring with Kimbo Slice. It could certainly end in disaster. If we tried to have a phone convo when we aren't even that hype, we'll probably just come off as boring or uninteresting. We don't want that.

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There are other situations in which text messaging occurs. If we're trying to ask a quick question that essentially warrants a yes or no response, there's no point in calling. In fact calling and hanging up 30 seconds later could be even more awkward. Also, if we're occupied (in a meeting, around other people, with another girl, etc.) or feel that she might be, then texting is really the only option.

But I'm curious as to the prevalence of this issue. I've only heard it from a couple of ladies so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's something that has frustrated most. I just hope that I didn't ruffle too many feathers. And there are probably other reasons why dudes resort primarily to text messaging. If so, women would like to know...

Update: Check out the facebook note version of this blog entry for many more comments on this topic.

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This is somewhat related, but Mylan Beauford from Fanscape, Inc. hit me up about two weeks ago asking me to help publicize this new widget called The Ultimate Flirting Championship. From what I've gathered, you enter into a competition in which you have to "outflirt" a member of the opposite sex given a set of questions from "The Judge." I'm by no means advocating that this widget is even good, let alone tight, but since Mylan actually took the time to read my blog and contact me, I'll give his widget a shoutout:

We are the Champions!

Last week, the ZAZZLE basketball team played in the PSC Spring/Summer league championship game. This was our 3rd season (out of 4) to make it to the finals. The season we didn't make it to the finals, we didn't play at all. The first two attempts ended in losses as our teams were greatly outmatched. But this season proved to be different.

We finished the season 9-1. Our only loss came as a forfeit because we didn't have enough players (I was in Chicago). I won MVP of the league, averaging 25 PPG & 10.9 RPG, connecting on 52% of my field goal attempts and shooting 42% from 3. Supposedly I only averaged a single assist per game, but I don't know how accurately the assists were tracked. My fellow teammate, Jesus, and I were also picked for the all-star team. But first we had to take care of business in the playoffs. With the top seed in the league, we got a 1st round bye and played Informatica in the second round. Informatica was actually the team we lost to in our first time in the championship game.

Their team was a bit different this time around and had a lot less size, but it didn't make the game any easier. We only had 5 players for the first 30 minutes of the game and the fatigue began to show late in the 2nd half. But once our long-range bomber, Brian, got out of his meeting, we had some extra pep and were able to recover from a 10-point deficit late in the game to send it into overtime. Jesus and Brian were big in our comeback. In overtime, we handled our business and pulled away with the victory.

Half the company showed up for the final game and disappointing everyone for a third straight time was not an option. We faced BTC who had Jimmy Balderson, the ex-captain of the BYU Cougars along with a few other tall trees. We put Brian on Jimmy and he was did an amazing job staying in front. But whenever Jimmy was able to beat him, he had a ton of help defense. We either forced Jimmy into a tough shot or a pass to teammates. It was a close game throughout, but we pulled out a 62-48 victory. I don't know exactly how many points I had, but it was probably somewhere in the 30s. After the game we received our trophy and took a ceremonial picture:

ZAZZLE Basketball Champions. Front Row (left-to-right): Jesus, Robert (ZAZZLE's C.E.O.), Maury & Eddie. Second Row: Chris, Jon, BenMVP, Brian & Ladonrick.

If you ever come and visit ZAZZLE Headquarters, you'll see the trophy sitting pretty on top of our receptionist's desk next to our Crunchie award.

GO TEAM Z! The beginnings of a dynasty!

That Ain't Right

Today, Saturday, July 26, 2008 Nike Basketball is releasing their new shoe the Hyperdunks. They are the official team kicks of USA Basketball and are the same shoes that Kobe used to jump over the Ashton Martin. Unfortunately Kenny Smith wasn't using the Hyperdunks during his attempt.

Anyway, Nike launched a billboard advertising campaign last week in the urban areas of New York City depicting a baller (wearing Hyperdunks) not just dunking on another dude, but with his nutz in de face. Here's an example:

An example of the Nike Hyperdunks ad
(from Gawker.com)

When I first saw the ad, I thought it was tight. It portrays one of the most embarrassing situations in basketball and does a very good job of it in terms of the quality of the shot. In my opinion, I see Nike Basketball saying that if you wear the Hyperdunks, you'll be dunkin' on cats left and right (i.e. "hyperdunking").

The only thing I wonder is how exactly they took the shots. Did they really have someone continuously standing there getting dunked on with nutz in his face until they got the right shot? "Oh I'm sorry, we need to try again, his crotch just wasn't in your face quite enough!" I sincerely hope they just superimposed two images together.

But apparently, not everybody responded to the ad positively. Some felt that nutz-in-the-face as a form of humiliation is fundamentally a homophobic sentiment, particularly with the headline "That Ain't Right."

Another Nike Hyperdunks ad
(from Wieden+Kennedy)

Now I'm not a member of the offended community, but I have to disagree that the ad implies homophobia. One commenter said it best: "I'm gay and an athlete I don't get how this plays to homophobia. It's not balls in face that ain't right. It's balls in face without consent." My sentiments exactly! Getting "posterized" has long been an aspect of basketball and nutz-in-the-face is the worst kind of posterization. It means that the opponent jumped so much higher than you, that his torso is at face-level. That's humiliating!

I mean I highly doubt that a homosexual man would enjoy getting dunked on in nutz-in-the-face fashion either. Just because you like men does mean you always want manhood in your face. It's just embarrassing to get dunked on like that. I mean, I really don't wanna have to take it here, but if a woman could jump high enough to have her torso 6 feet off the ground (no, these dunks do not count), I wouldn't want her crotch in my face either. In fact, I would renounce my rights to playing basketball if that ever happened.

So what do you think? Is it homophobic or are people just being overly sensitive? Make your voice heard (somewhat) by filling out the poll on the right-hand side. And for your entertainment, here's a commercial for the Hyperdunk Recovery Center. High-larious:

So what happened to Day 26?

It was exactly 3 months ago when Day 26, Danity Kane, Diddy and Donnie Klang reunited for the Making the Band 4 Season 2 finale. Danity Kane had just dropped their sophomore album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, that week and Day 26's self-titled debut album was due out the following week. Donnie's album... well that was supposed to be coming out some time in the summer (we're still waiting).

The entire cast of Making the Band 4, Season 2: Danity Kane, Day 26 & Donnie Klang

Danity Kane actually became the first female group in Billboard history to debut #1 on the charts for both their first and second albums. They sold 236,000 copies of Welcome to the Dollhouse in their first week. The following week, Day 26's album topped the Billboard charts with 190,000 units sold. Since then, they have also released their 2nd single entitled "Since You've Been Gone". The song is definitely tight. I don't know why it doesn't get much love.

There were talks in the works of a 3rd season of Making the Band 4 that was going to follow the "Making the Band 4" Tour (that also included Cherri Dennis), but I've been struggling to find any confirmation as to whether or not that is still happening. Six of the 13 tour dates were canceled due to "scheduling conflicts" so I don't know if they'll have enough video to even do a 3rd season.

But if the 3rd season doesn't happen (I really hope it does though), we do have a somewhat decent replacement. If you didn't know already, Affion Crockett and John Nelson did a series of high-larious spoofs of season 1 of Making the Band 4 (see part 1, part 2, part 3 & part 4). Well they've finally returned with spoofs of season 2 and apparently there's going to be many more episodes this time around. I would suggest watching the first season of spoofs before the newly released part 1 of season 2:



The actresses they have playing Shannon, D. Woods & Aubrey look just like them! Although it looks like they didn't even try with Dawn or Aundrea. But if you feel like you really can't live too long without Diddy on your TV, he has a new reality show called I Want to Work For Diddy and it airs August 4th at 9PM EST/PST on VH1. The extended trailer seems really intense too. I think I may have to blog about that show instead of From G's to Gents. I guess we'll see...

The WNBA... where brawling happens?

With the WNBA still in relative infancy, any significant accomplishment is either an all-time record or a "first." Well last night in Detroit, dozens witnessed the first-ever WNBA brawl. In the same building where in 2004 Ron Artest hopped into the stands that set off the Palace Brawl, a.k.a. "Malice at the Palace", rookie sensation Candace Parker and Plenette Pierson got in a squabble towards the end of the Los Angeles Sparks victory over the Detroit Shock.

Check out the video:

I have three thoughts about the brawl:

• Cheryl Ford - All Cheryl was tryna do was play peacemaker and she ends up injuring her knee. Of course it's not nearly as bad as when Rudy Tomjanovich got puched by Kermit Washington and almost died, but it still definitely sucks for her. She had to be rolled off in a wheelchair! That's major! I don't believe there was a Paul Pierce-esque return either.



Rick Mahorn shoves Lisa Leslie in the midst of the Brawl


• Rick Mahorn vs. Lisa Leslie - Rick shouldn't have put his hands on Lisa Leslie. Plain and simple. He's a now overweight ex-NBA player. Even though she's 6'5", she's mad thin, so any contact with her is gonna send her flying. At first I thought maybe he slightly pushed her, and she maybe lost her balance and fell. But Rick straight shoved her. I mean, a picture says a thousand words, right? You can see that the push lifted her off the ground.


• Black People - I hate to say it, but pretty much everyone involved in the melee was Black. You know some part of the population is gonna be like "Those Black people are at it again!" Sure no one actually watches WNBA games, but the brawl was plastered all over SportsCenter. It was the leading story on ESPN News!

But hey, at least the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit have a "rivalry" going on. Maybe hundreds will show up for their next meeting.

Would You Like Some BBQ Sauce with That?

So an interesting thing happened to me this past weekend when I went out to eat. It was so interesting that I'm still thinking about it and wondering how I should've handled it then & how I should take it now. So I decided to open it up for public opinion...

I went to this restaurant for dinner and I got a particularly energetic & friendly waiter named Doug. I typically like these types of waiters because it makes the meal more enjoyable than with someone who clearly doesn't wanna be there. Yeah, I know they are just being friendly in hopes of a better tip, but it still creates a better atmosphere.

Anyway, I was in the process of ordering my meal, but I didn't know what I wanted to get. As I was looking around the room at other people's meals, I ended up overhearing this guy ordering the chcken fried steak w/ fries. Chicken fried steak is probably my second-most favorite meal after chicken parmesan, so I decided to go ahead and get it. But that's when things got interesting...

"It's BBQ Sauce... you know you want it!!!"

After taking my order, Doug asked me, "Would you like to replace the gravy with BBQ sauce?" My response was, "What?! I can do that? Sure! Let's go, let's go!" I mean BBQ sauce on chicken fried steak instead of white gravy would be the bomb.com right? But after he left, I started to feel a little uneasy. I wasn't positive, but I don't think the other waiter asked his patron whether or not he wanted to substitute gravy for BBQ sauce. Did my waiter racially stereotype me? Did he only offer me BBQ sauce because I'm Black and we use it more than ketchup?

So then, I was a lil' offended. But as I thought about it a some more, I became a bit conflicted. Let's say Doug did offer me BBQ sauce solely because I was Black. Is that bad? I mean, I was definitely excited about the opportunity to swap BBQ sauce for gravy. Probably as excited as this dude a couple of hours before the picture was taken. So his offer actually made my meal more enjoyable. And in the end, isn't that the waiter's main job? To make my meal more enjoyable? That's how they get the big tips, right?

Some time later, Doug came back with my chicken fried steak with the BBQ sauce on top. But he also had with him an extra little container of BBQ sauce in case I wanted to dip some cut up steak pieces in BBQ sauce as well. Hmmmm... Yet another great suggestion from Doug, but dipping a non-nuggeted piece of meat into BBQ sauce is pretty coontastic, so what was he tryna say about me? Again, I was conflicted on how I should react.

So was my service great or horrible? How much should I tip?

So when the time came to pay and tip, I was unsure of how much I should give. Should I hook Doug up with like 20%+ because of his great service (the BBQ chicken fried steak was amazing by the way) or should I gyp him on the tip because he racially stereotyped me and my inordinate desire for BBQ sauce?

In the end I just decided to go with the standard 15% tip. A friend of mine who recently started waiting tables told me that not tipping a waiter actually means they lose money because the bartenders, cooks, hostesses, etc. get a set percentage of the total sales at the end of the day, which comes out of the waiters' tips. I didn't wanna get Doug like that. But before I left, I socked him in the face just in case I later got pissed about the situation and wish I woulda done something...

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So what do you guys think? Would you be offended? Was Doug being racist by assuming all Black people like BBQ sauce? Or does Doug just really know his customers and know what to recommend? I mean, Doug could have offered BBQ sauce to all of his customers and I just didn't know it. I'm still not sure if I should be angry and report the restaurant to the Better Business Bureau or go on yelp.com and give the place a glowing review...


This blog post is purely fictional. Any similarity or connection to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental. For educational purposes only.


Update: Check out the facebook note version of this blog entry for many more comments on this topic.

Romans 8:31 Remix

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

~Romans 8:31

On July 5th & 6th, Pastor Paul Sheppard preached (at his church Abundant Life Christian Fellowship) part 1 of a series entitled How to Get to the Next Level. The series uses Joshua 1 as a case study to see how God prepared the Israelites to go to the next level by taking them from the wilderness into the Promise Land. And From Joshua, we learned some important lessons for laying claim to some things that God has in store for our future.

During a portion of How to Get to the Next Level, Part 1, Pastor Paul went back to Numbers 13:27-30, describing the scene in which Caleb and Joshua (along with 10 other Israelite spies) come back from scoping out the Promise Land. Although all 12 spies saw the same enemies (Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, and Canaanites), only Caleb and Jacob felt that they could take the Promise Land because they knew that God would give it to them.



Their thinking was that God can do exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or even imagine. And in true Pastor Paul fashion, he went off on sort of a tangent to illustrate his point via a story. He described a childhood friend named Timmy who was a beast at basketball and was being scouted by all the top schools.

When Pastor Paul would play pick-up ball on the Philly courts and had the opportunity to be team captain, he would pick his team wisely because it could be the difference between winning and losing. But when Timmy came to the court, picking wisely no longer mattered because Timmy would always be on his team. It didn't matter who else was on the squad or who their opponents were. With Timmy on his team, the game was all but over.

The point of the story was that we each have our own "Spiritual Timmy." If God is on our side, then nothing else really matters. So Pastor Paul took the Romans 8:31 verse and remixed it, putting his own spin on it. He said "If God be for us, GAME OVER!" Plain and simple. With God on our side, we're playing with a stacked deck.

Some of my friends were so inspired by that one line, that they wanted it immortalized on a t-shirt so that they could wear it wherever whenever. Being that I'm all about ZAZZLE, I definitely hooked it up. I also took this as an opportunity to start my new ZAZZLE gallery, Christ-Centered Products. Here's the shirt:

Romans 8:31 (Remix)
by Christ_Centered
design your own t-shirt at www.ZAZZLE.com
More Religion T-Shirts

The shirt is also available in white, navy, red, green, brown, gray, orange, pink, purple, and yellow lettering. The Christ-Centered gallery also has a bumper sticker design that says "No Jesus, No Peace / Know Jesus, Know Peace" that's available in a number of colors as well.

But this in no means is the end of the gallery. I have a number of other ideas that I want to put up there. I'm not even sure if there's even a market for Christ-Centered products. If there is, great, hopefully I'll sell a number of products that can inspire others. If not, that's also cool. At worst, all it'll be is a forum for me to express my love for God. But if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know!

Interested in the remaining parts of How to Get to the Next Level? Check out the remaining lessons:

• Parts 2 & 3
• Parts 4 & 5

From G's to Gents

So now that the Real World XX: Hollywood season is over, I'm trying to find another show to do wrap-ups on. In the middle of the Real World season, it was suggested that I try out this new series From G's to Gents. The series premiered this past Tuesday, July 15th at 10PM EST/PST.

The 14 From G's to Gents cast members when they just arrived

Based on episode #1, I'm not sure if I actually wanna devote my time to this show. The show wasn't bad by any means, but I didn't finish the episode thinking, "Oh I definitely wanna see what happens!" I'm worried about the reality of the show. I mean everyone who goes on reality TV is going for an ulterior motive, but I'm wondering if they really got some true "G's" or if they are just a bunch of phonies. Not that I want the show to be hood, but it'd be good to really see some of the dudes improve themselves.

The premise of the show is basically the same as VH1's Charm School. Fourteen "G's" start out in the show and through a series of competitions in being a true gentleman, 13 will be kicked off, leaving one to claim the $100,000 prize. The show is hosted by Fonzworth Bentley, and he's the one who'll be ushering the G's into the new world of gentlemanliness. Some of you may remember him from Making the Band 2 or a couple of Outkast videos.

The dudes after they received their Gentleman's Club blazers

So in this episode there were 14 contestants, but only 12 beds, so by the end of the first night, 2 G's had to go. It ended up being this one dude who got completely trashed on alcohol, Pretty Ricky, and this other dude, The Truth, who kept poppin' off at the mouth and made lots of enemies. I'll probably watch episode #2, but if I'm still sort of ambivalent about the show, I probably won't continue watching it. I've got other things I can be doing with my time.

Missed the series premier of From G's to Gents? Well, you can watch the full episode over on MTV.com.

The Dark Knight was Amazing!

Finally! A movie that lives up to the hype! Ever since I saw the preview for The Dark Knight last year, I've been excited about the movie. And as the months passed along, Heath Ledger passed away and I heard reports that he might've put on an Oscar-worthy performance. Then opening night finaly arrives, and tickets for the 12:01AM showing were all sold out! We actually had to get tickets for the 12:35AM showing. I didn't even know they did that. Then when we got to the theater around midnight, the line was wrapped around the building. At midnight! I think it goes with out saying that my anticipation was high.

Heath Ledger as "The Joker" was Oscar-worthy

And the movie did not disappoint. Not one bit. It's easily the best movie I've seen this year. Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker was simply amazing. Actually, it didn't even feel like he was playing the part of The Joker. It felt like he was The Joker. If I hadn't known that Heath was casted as The Joker, I don't think I would've realized that it was him from watching the movie. He was that convincing.

I've decided that there's pretty much no way that he's not winning an Oscar posthumously. There would be more chaos and pandemonium in Hollywood than there was in the streets of Gotham City. But as well as he was The Joker, I can clearly see how his role might have driven him to his death. To be that good meant he had to be that sick & twisted, which had to have had adverse consequences. Can't be something you just bounce out of. He definitely received a round of applause when his name scrolled through in the credits.

Christian Bale did a great job as Batman too

Christian Bale was a beast as Batman too. He wasn't the "super hero" Batman, but truly was the "Dark Knight"; the masked crusader who has to make the tough decisions and is not always going to be liked by the people he protects. The only part I didn't like was the voice they give Batman to distinguish him from Bruce Wayne. It was this scruffy voice that makes me wanna give him some Sucrets. It made my throat itchy too. Imagine a grown up Scrappy Doo. That's what the voice sounds like. I think they should've given him the James Earl Jones Darth Vadar deep voice. Now that woulda been tight. Apparently it's the same voice they used in the first movie, but some reason I don't remember it. I feel like I'd remember being annoyed by that.

The only knock I would give the movie is that it was kinda long - something like 2.5 hours (I didn't get out of the theater until 3AM). But it wasn't the kinda long that drags on (ala The Lord of the Rings 3) because critical stuff kept happening. There was action upon action, and continuous unfolding of a great plot. I almost feel like they could have turned it into 2 movies... or at least 1.5. But then again the movie wouldn't have been as good if they tried to stretch it to two. Plus, the main antagonist is no longer with us.

Now I don't want to get into any details of the movie, because I wouldn't want to ruin it for anybody, but I will tell you this: there is no need to stay for the end of the credits. It's not like Iron Man with a hidden gem at the end. We stayed for the credits and at the end, the screen just went black and we (and a good number of other people who stayed) felt like some dummies. Save yourself the sheepish look and bounce right when the credits roll (but after they show Heath Ledger's name).

The critics gave it an A-, but I of course give it a solid A. Go see this movie. Like right now.

Subway stripper arrested

The world is getting crazier and crazier by the minute. Monserrat Morilles, was arrested last Thursday by Santiago police for a week's worth of quick strip shows in the city's subway system. Morilles, 26 and a profession pole dancer, took her craft to the Santiago transit system as a form of protest of the prudish ways of Chilean society. She claimed that this was only the beginning.

Monserrat Morilles was arrested for spending a week stripping in the subways of Santiago, Chile

Morilles would get onto the subway at one station, search for a car without any children, do her thang (she declined tips), and immediately get off at the next station, leaving a car full of open-mouthed passengers. She had made it a whole week before the local police finally caught on and were waiting for her on the subway on Thursday. They actually arrested her before she performed one of her "happy minutes." The Chilean media had nicknamed her La Diosa del Metro or "Subway Goddess."

You know, I never would've guessed that Chile was a conservative country. I had this notion that basically all of South America is wilin' out 24/7. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but I never would've guessed that they were puritanical. I guess the debauchery that is Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has skewed my view of the entire continent. The two countries are on opposite sides of the continent and are separated by the Andes Mountains, so I can see how Chile could have missed out on the liberalness of Brazilian culture.

But now on to Ms. Morilles. I don't really know what to say. I'm speechless. I can't even imagine being a passenger in the subway car while she's putting on one of her shows. I mean, take a look at the video (a camera's always watching). It's really up close and personal. I bet the women on the subway were thoroughly disgusted.

If that happened here (like on the BART), I would be so shocked that I don't think I would have done anything. Woulda just sat there thinking, "what in the world...?" And after I finally got off the subway and got above ground, I'd definitely call up one of my homies like "Yo, you're never gonna believe what just happened on the subway..."

I do think it's funny that she actually had to decline tips. That means that dudes were actually digging in their wallets for singles in the middle of a subway ride. How sad is that? That's crazy. It would have been funny if someone in the back woulda just started booing her in middle of her performance, but it's doubtful that happened.


Yup, that's the world we live in...


Source: Reuters

Real World XX: Hollywood Wrap-Up, Episode #13, It's a Wrap

Yep, it's official. The Real World XX: Hollywood season was weak. It definitely had its peaks, but there were mostly dull valleys. Shoot, I may be the only one who even watched the season finale. If you missed it, you really didn't miss much. Aside for the first 10 minutes or so when Dave gets socked (not once but) twice, nothing major really happened.

Dave lies on the ground while a brawl ensues after he was body slammed on the concrete

To tell you the truth, I was kinda disappointed in how short the whole incident was (in terms of TV time). I felt like more time coulda been spent on it. But basically Dave talks to some chick on the dance floor who's apparently wifed up. Her man doesn't appreciate it, and sucker punches him. The aftermath wasn't pretty.

Outside Club Area, in an odd attempt to cheer Dave up, Brianna says, "I know how you feel...you feel like a lil' b**** right now." A couple of seconds later, all you see is this dude lifting Dave completely off the ground and dropping him on his head. I replayed the body slam in slow-mo a couple of times and I actually noticed that Brianna was standing there only a few feet away watching as it happened. She wasn't doing anything. It wasn't until Will came running over swinging like a girl that she jumped in the brawl punching like a dude.

After the dust settled Brianna was the main one tryna bounce quickly before the po-pos came through. At first I thought it was cuz she already has an assault on her record and didn't wanna get caught up again. But then I realized it's cuz she was a 20 year old drinking in a bar. Hmmmm...

But seriously tho, that was all that happened in the show. Nothing else was really that interesting. Okay well they finally showed Brittini pursuing her modeling dream with a runway try-out with LA Models. I could def see her being a runway model. Nick, Sarah and Kimberly got yet another opportunity, this time with Entertainment Tonight and Kevin Frazier. Kim completely bombed by the way. And Joey returned for the cast's last performance at iO West. Could Brianna have been any happier when she saw Joey?

After that, there were all the sappy good-byes and the season ended. Brianna never slapped Kim or Sarah. In fact they hugged as if they were best friends. I think the problem with the show was that too many times people took the high road or were the bigger (wo)man. That's definitely a good character trait, but doesn't make for engaging reality TV. Maybe next season will be better?

Brianna, the last to go, reflects on her time in Studio 20

---

The Real World XX: Hollywood Reunion mysteriously aired live on Saturday afternoon. I had assumed it would air this Wednesday during the show's usual timeslot. But I guess they were really trying to move on quickly so they could focus on From G's to Gents (I think I'll be doing wrap-ups on this series). I just happened to turn on the TV (which is rare for a Saturday afternoon) and the reunion was just beginning.

Unlike my hopes and expectations, the reunion was less than spectacular. Actually it was less than interesting. Maybe it's because Greg didn't come to it. If he had been there, then there would've been all kinds of beef and drama. The season really did die when Greg left. I wish he had stayed, no matter how weird he was.

The host (Lindsay Rodriguez) was arguably the worst host ever. She kept screwing up the cast's names among other things. I do have to say that Brianna stepped her game up major. I was very pleasantly surprised by her new style. She kicked the nasty braids for regular hair and traded in her hoochie fit for something that she could actually wear in public. I also liked Brittini's upgrade from the poofy USC Trojan mowhawk to the the flowing weave. Sarah seemed to take a step down from average and Kim was looking even weaker than usual.

The only exciting part of the show was the last 10 minutes when they brought Janelle out (surprise surprise). She was the only one who actually created some drama. The host Lindsey tried to stir things up, but I guess the cast wasn't having it. But Janelle definitely tried to expose Will. It turns out that they broke up shortly after the show and he never told her about the foursome.

So she found out right along with the rest of us. I can only imagine her sitting with her girls watching the show and them being like "Girrrrrrrrrrrrrlll! You got plaaaaaaaaaaayed!!!" She was saying that he shoulda told her about it (even though they had broken up), but I'm with him. If they were no longer together, he doesn't really owe her that.

She was also thoroughly disgusted by the fake tears. Can't say I blame her. But given her reaction to how it all went down, I think she did like him. Maybe not as much as he made it seem like he liked her. But she definitely wasn't just doing it for the TV time.

And just to close things up, Sarah and her boyfriend Justin are now engaged. I think he should rock this t-shirt. Brittini and her dude Jeremy are still together too although it's been rocky cuz of the whole Will Cancun make-out thing. But she appears to be really into him now.

Update: So as I suspected, Lindsay Rodriguez had never even seen an episode of the show. That would explain how sucky she was because she didn't know the cast's names or know what good questions to ask. Will, Kimberly, and Brianna talk more about it among other things in a video from their hotel room after the show.

---

So as I mentioned before, it looks like I'll be turning my attention to From G's to Gents, which will be airing on Tuesdays at 10PM and is hosted by Fonzworth Bentley. The trailer looks promising.

If you missed either of the episodes, you can watch episode #13 (season finale) and the reunion in full over at MTV.com.

Previous Wrap-Ups:

• Episode #12: Mexi-Loco
• Episode #11: Making It
• Episode #10: In with the New
• Episode #9: Joey Checks Out
• Episode #8: Arrival and Departure
• Episode #7: Get It On
• Episode #6: Greg vs. The House
• Episode #5: I Need Lovin'
• Episode #4: Joey's Intervention
• Episodes 1-3

Oh Jesse...

Jesse Jackson on Wednesday made some comments about the Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama that are beyond vulgar for a so-called "reverend." Jackson was having what he thought was a private conversation on the Fox News set about Obama's Father's Day speech in which he criticized absentee fathers. It turns out that his microphone was still on and everything he was saying was being recorded.

After saying that Obama was "talking down to Black people" he also said, "I want to cut his nuts off." Whoa. See the video for yourself:

See I think the dude he was talking to knew that Jackson's mic was still hot because he barely even had a reaction. It's like he didn't wanna say anything because he knew it was being recorded. Fox News is definitely grimey for both recording and then airing it, but I can't really blame them. It's definitely newsworthy.

And as always, contributors on ZAZZLE were quick to memorialize the incident with the following products:

Jesse Jackson is a Hater
by isahater
Design Custom Tee Shirts On ZAZZLE
Browse more Barack Obama T-Shirts

Jesse Jackson Aww NUTS Shirt
by mikek92349
Design a Custom T-Shirt At zazzle
More Current Events T-Shirts

Not only is Barack Obama being constantly attacked by John McCain and the rest of the Republican party, but now it's also people within his own party who have actually pledged their support for him? I give him mad props for holding it all together and having a fantastic campaign. Only 6 more months until his first day (January 20, 2009)...

Growing Season: Bearing Fruit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

~Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Beginning in the middle of April and finishing at the end of May, my Bible study group participated in Abundant Life Christian Fellowship's Growing Season: Bearing Fruit. Growing Season was a 7-week endeavor to experience Spirit-led transformations through hearing a sermon series by Pastor Paul Sheppard on the fruit of the Spirit and meeting together in small Growing Season groups to apply the Word in our lives.

Without going into too much detail, the fruit of the Spirit are (with links to the actual lessons we discussed in our Growing Season groups):

The 9 fruit of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control

1. Love - When the Bible uses the term "love," it most often uses the Greek word agape. Agape love is expressed by the actions of God. The lesson details what it means to walk in love. We're called to love God, we're called to impact our world for Christ by loving others, and we're empowered to love in God's way by the Holy Spirit. You should also listen to Love by God's Property.


2. Joy - Many of us confuse "joy" with "happiness." Happiness is dependent upon what happens while joy persists in every single circumstance. Joy first begins with the reality of God's love and is actually multiplied when it is experienced in community. You should also listen to Joy by Mary Mary.


3. Peace - Peace is such a key idea in the Bible, that every New Testament book except 1 John mentions it at least one. Biblical peace is associated with the abundant life that God desires for all of us. The lesson details that God is the source of peace, God desires peace in all areas of our lives, and God calls us to actively seek peace.


4. Patience - Patience is the attitude and action that covers the waiting period between our hopes & expectations and our present reality. It's suffering through our present circumstances while pressing on towards a desired end. In the lesson we learned that patience has no place for pride, leads to God's promises and blessings in our lives, and is a godly virtue that is cultivated through time and experiencing challenge & adversity.


5. Kindness & Goodness - Kindness is an expression of agape love and its value is seen when you consider a world without it - a world marked by deciet, cursing, bitterness, bloodshed, ruin, misery, and no peace or fear of God. Goodness is pretty similar to kindness, but generally describes the actions of God as opposed to those of people. We should practice kindness and goodness to everyone (even those we deem "unworthy" of such loving actions) because we are called to live as Jesus lived. You should also listen to So Good by God's Property.


6. Faithfulness - Faith is a strong iternal belief that is unwavering - something we know to be true in our heart. Faithfulness is faith in action. It's demonstrated by God through his love, grace & mercy, and practiced in partnership with Him though the Holy Spirit. You should also listen to Faithful is Our God by Hezekiah Walker


7. Gentleness & Self-control - Gentleness is generally thought of as passive and weak, but it's actually strength under control. Jesus Christ was gentle so how could it be weak? Self-control is the ability to stay in obedience to God even in the face of undeniable temptation or distraction. The more we live in self-control, the less we live with painful consequences.

I found the 7-week series to be both enriching and motivating. I've found that the fruits I struggle with most are peace and patience. As a matter of fact, I was standing in line at Wal-Mart yesterday with only 7 items and it most have taken 30 minutes to get through the line. Patience was most definitely needed. But that's not to say that I have the others on lock either. Whenever I'm unhappy with circumstances, I have to remind myself that despite the suckiness of the current situation, I can still have joy in the fact that God will never leave me nor forsake me.

So if you are part of Bible study or just simply want to improve your relationship with God, I highly suggest you spend time reading through the 7 lessons. But don't try to read them all at once. Take one a week, so that you can spend time meditating on the message and make a concerted effort to put the lesson's teachings into practice for the week. You'll slowly begin to see your life transform for the better.

Men and Women Would Like to Know: Ummm... is this a date?

So last week I asked the ladies if there were any places or situations in which they felt that a dude hollerin' would be inappropriate or otherwise not well received. After a lot of high-larious stories about the rude, crude, and downright crazy ways that guys have tried to get at them, I believe the consensus was that it's more about the how than the where. That makes sense. The approach is like 90% of the battle.

Some ladies mentioned that they don't like to be hollered at all, and instead prefer the guy to approach them on the friend tip. Then if she's interested, she'll turn it into something more than friends. I agree that when time permits, that's definitely the best strategy. Shoot, I don't even know if I wanna holla at a girl until I've at least talked to her. But I do want to point out that even if the dude comes with the "platonic" approach, he's still tryna holla. He's just not coming on full throttle like these guys. CHOCOLATE TWANKIE!!

Anyway, let's get on with today's topic. Since this one actually applies to both men and women, I guess this would be the 10th episode of the "Men Would Like to Know" series and only the 3rd of the "Women Would Like to Know" series.

---

So what makes a date a date? Is it simply when a guy and a girl go out together? Or does one specifically have to ask the other to go out? Is it a date only when one person pays (for the dinner, the movie, etc.)? Can it be a date if only one person has romantic feelings for the other? Or do both people have to like each other for it be classified as a date?

Is it date if flowers are involved?

Me and my girl were reminiscing about when we first started dating. She started talking about our first date, and I quickly realized that what she considered to be our first date, I considered to be our third, if not our fourth. The discrepancy came about because we had two different criteria for what constituted a date.

You see before we started dating, me and Ari were acquaintances and had mutual friends at church. We would usually say hello and make small talk whenever we ran into each other, but not much more than that. But one time after service, we were talking to a mutual friend and then she had to take off, leaving us together to continue a conversation. After about 15-20 minutes, she asked if I wanted to grab some coffee down the street. I don't drink coffee at all, but I'm down for a hot chocolate or apple cider (with a cute female).

I offer to pay for both our drinks, we sit down, and end up talking for about another hour before she has to dip out. Before she leaves, I mention that there's this free outdoor jazz concert going on the next weekend (I just found out she loves jazz) and asked if she'd like to roll. She says "OMG, I'd love to go!" and we exchange numbers so I can hit her up during the week with more info (at least that's the reason I gave for getting her number).

The next day at work, I quickly cop this jazz t-shirt so that I can wear it when we go out Saturday afternoon. Lame? Yep, I know. But she loves the shirt and we have a blast listening to jazz while eating cotton candy and laffy taffy. It's around dinnertime when the concert is winding down, so I suggest we go out to eat. The convo is great and this time she volunteers to pay since I paid the last time. Plus two points for her.

Apparently roller skating is a date

So at this point, I'm definitely feeling her and believe that I'm definitely in there (like swimwear). I hit her up on Wednesday to see if she'd like to do dinner and a movie that Saturday. From what I've learned, Wednesday is the day to set something up cuz it's not too early in the week (like Monday/Tuesday) that you seem too sprung and wanna lock up her weekend before the week even begins, but not too late (like Thursday or even Friday) that she feels like she was a last-minute thought. Having female friends has it's benefits.

The dinner was good and the movie was only aiight, but we still had a good time. Now during the next week, we start choppin it up on g-chat (cuz AIM is sooo last year) basically every day and at some point we make the decision to go roller skating on Friday. At the roller rink, we skate during the couple's song, holding hands and all that cute mushy stuff that girls like to do. I may have enjoyed it as well. But that night, when I dropped her off, was our first kiss and that's when she claims to have realized we were dating.

So what then were the jazz concert and dinner/movie outings? Were they just two "friends" hanging out? I, on the other hand, considered our first date to be when we went to the jazz concert. In fact, when we went out for coffee after church service, that was what I call a "pre date." It's kinda like a stripped down version of date. The purpose is to get to know the person as best as possible without a big commitment of time and/or money. It's like a risk-free trial. You can always dip out right when you've finished the $5 coffee if things get bad.

---

The question of whether or not an outing is in fact a date only really comes about when you already know the person. If I holla at a random girl I meet somewhere and we go out, that's a date. I don't think there's any confusion there. But if it's someone I already kinda sorta know, then there could be some ambiguity because we could just be "hanging out" as opposed to "going out."

I've had a number of people (both guys and girls) tell me about these ambiguous situations and ask me what I think is going on. Usually from an outsider's perspective it's easy to tell what's going on, but sometimes it's not so clear. And there are two main reasons for this.

The first is that the person who initiated the outing (usually the dude) wasn't direct enough for fear of rejection. Nobody wants to be rejected, so instead of saying something like "would you like to go out with me?" it's something more like "do you wanna hang out?" or "let's kick it."

I believe the second reason is because girls are actually interested in making new friends with guys they don't know. For me, it's extremely rare to want to actively make friends with a girl who I barely know or don't know at all. If I'm spending my time trying to get to know a girl, then I'm definitely trying to get at her. But for the ladies, that doesn't seem to always be the case. I've definitely come across girls who've basically said "I just thought he was cool and I wanted to see if we could be friends." And I'm not talking about Brittini from The Real World XX: Hollywood. Again for me, I don't have time for all of that.

But back to the main question. What makes a date a date? If she orders the finest wine, is it definitely a date then? Is it only a date when it's sealed with a kiss? Both men and women would like to know...

This blog post is purely fictional. Any similarity or connection to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental. For educational purposes only.

Update: Check out the facebook note version of this blog entry for many more comments on this topic.

Man Dissapointed by Worth of Life

Almost four months ago, I wrote a blog post about Ian Usher who was auctioning off his life. Usher's wife left him and he wanted to start his life anew, so he was selling his house, car, motorcycle, jet ski, spa, job, and "great friends" on eBay. He had hoped to sell his life for about $475,000 (I had mentioned $385K in my blog post).

Well, according to Reuters, Ian's life only sold for about $380,000. Apparently the bids reached as high as about $2.1 million, but it turned out that there was a glitch in eBay's system that allowed for unregistered bidders to put in bogus bids.

That's gotta be kinda sad right? For him to think that his life was "worth" so much and be all excited about how much money he'd have to start afresh, only to realize that cruel people were just messing with him and his life is only "worth" about a fifth of that. Well $380K isn't nothing to sneeze at and I wish him all the best in his new life.

BTW, Ian created his own website documenting the who/what/why/etc of his auction of his life. It's a pretty interesting read, but also a bit sad too.


Yup, that's the world we live in...

ZAZZLE Today's Best!

So I'm continuing to create my "themed galleries." Instead having behemoth galleries like BenMVP and BeneSol, which are just amalgamations of lots of different types of products, I'm trying to create narrower galleries that focus on a theme or set of themes. I mentioned in my July 4th post that I created the Holiday Gear ZAZZLE gallery, which (obviously) focuses on products concerning holidays.

Well today I created my first set of products in my new Humor Gear ZAZZLE gallery and I received a today's best award (TBA)! They are entitled Bee-otch. I think it's the first today's best I've ever received from ZAZZLE. Hopefully there will be more to come. Here's the specific Bee-otch shirt that won the award:

Bee-otch
by Humor_Gear
Design your own t shirts using ZAZZLE
See more Humor Sayings T-Shirts

It also comes in yellow, black, red, blue, and green lettering that you can put on any style, color and size of apparel from the value t-shirt to a hooded sweatshirt. You can find my Bee-otch t-shirt and all the other ZAZZLE TBA winners on the ZAZZLE awards page.

Real World XX: Hollywood Wrap-Up, Episode #12, Mexi-Loco

If every episode of Real World XX: Hollywood was like episode #12, this season could've been the best ever. I never ended up watching The Real World Las Vegas, but I imagine that's what the season was like. I distinctly remember watching this episode on my Tivo and pausing it when they were about to leave Mexico and being shocked that I was only halfway through the show. In previous episodes, I've been groaning when I've only been halfway through.

Dave & Nick celebrate after finding out they're headed to Cancun, Mexico for vacation

So the house goes to Cancun, Mexico for their vacation. But before leaving for Mexico (and after antiquing a passed-out Dave), Brittini and Will have a lil' chit-chat. Brittini tells Will that she's excited about getting away so that she and Will can be "friends" without Janelle being around. Uh-oh. And then Will in his confessional says, "Well maybe I should give her a chance." Game over.

In beautiful Cancun, William and Dave continue their questionable behavior by jumping in the hot tub together and filling it with bubbles. At least they had on clothes this time. The next day, they all head out on a party cruise and Dave christens the evening by pulling off a stripper pole move (that Brianna most have taught him) and completely taking out the host who was standing on a trash can. I must've replayed that in slow motion at least 5 times on my TiVo. It was high-larious.

And then things got really interesting. After lots of alcohol had been consumed, Brittini whispered to Will: "Give me an orgasm with your voice cuz that's all we have right now." Ummm, wow. I don't even know how you're supposed to respond to something like that. But Will's response was to take body shots off of her, which only increased the sexual tension. Sarah, who was supposed to be keeping Will out of trouble, saw all this going on and didn't even say anything. I was kinda surprised, seeing that she's a nagging all-star.

But what happened next, even a blind man could see coming. Will and Brittini steal away and end up finally making out. You know what? This needed to happen. There was way too much pent up sexual tension for it not to. And at least it was "just a kiss" and not anything more. It seems like they got it out of their systems, and both regretted it after the fact. I don't think they could've gotten to that point any other way unfortunately.

Still got 30 minutes of show remaining...

The gang had lots of fun down in Cancun, Mexico

Will, after calling Janelle (while Dave & Nick were "hanging out" with some girls) and not telling her about the kiss, finally does tell her a couple of days later via email (botch move IMO). He ends up calling her as she's reading the email and even though he tries to downplay the kiss like it wasn't that serious, she isn't having it. I thought that was gonna be the end of them, but apparently not...

Meanwhile, back at Studio 20 in Hollywood, Brittini's boyfriend of one month Jeremy comes to visit. Brittini told Will prior to Jeremy's arrival that she was gonna tell Jeremy what happened, but of course she chickened out. I don't really blame her though. I wouldn't want to get into a fight with my girlfriend during the few days she came to visit me. I thought it was pretty funny though how Jeremy ended up liking Will. Let's see how much he likes him after he watches the show.

I was debating on whether or not I was going to even bringing up Dave & William's foursome with the two random females. I understand that William was hurting, but c'mon man... a foursome with another man?? I don't think a foursome that included another guy is something that I would want on my "dude resume." But it seems that William and Dave legitimately enjoyed it.

Will & Dave assess things in the kitchen after their foursome

But still recovering from the previous night, Janelle calls Will in the morning saying she wants to meet up. You could see the regret instantly appear on Will's face. They meet up and Janelle's still trying to understand why Will kissed Brittini. The thing that confuses me about Janelle (and makes me question if she actually has feelings for Will) is that she talks so calmly. It's almost as if she's reading lines either from cue cards or from memory. Even when Will is faking emotions, at least it seems from the heart. Hers just never appear to be heartfelt. It could just be how she is, but it's still pretty weird.

The highlight of the show was when Will went into the bathroom to make his eyes water so that when he came back out, he would seem all teary-eyed with Janelle. And apparently it worked! She didn't fully take him back, but she was willing to try to work it out day by day. Now this makes me feel like she really does care about him. Cuz she's looking really dumb right now for taking him back, so there has to be emotions involved right? Emotions typically are illogical.

But both Brittini and Will are dumb for admitting on camera that they were lying to their partners. Will gave away his secret for faking his eyes to water and Brittini said that she'll just tell Jeremy that she kissed Will because she was really drunk and it didn't mean anything. Do they not realize that Jeremy and Janelle will watch the show?

And since they'll make a reality show about anything, they should make a reality show out of watching a reality show. I would love to see Janelle's reactions as she watched the episode. It'd be high-larious to see the anger slowly creeping into to her face as she sees Will prepare his fake tears in the bathroom. It'd kinda be like The X Effect. MTV should def get on that. But in lue of that, the reunion is about to be real drama-packed. There's tons of stuff that's been said and done that not everyone knows about yet.

---

Up next is the season finale, and it seems like it will be equally entertaining to say the least. The preview looks crazy. Dave gets socked in the club for tryna holla at some dude's girl on the dance floor. Outside he's recapping with Brianna and then next thing you see is him being body slammed on the concrete. I hope this doesn't end up like the Danny situation in Austin. But at least Brianna, Nick and Will have his back. I guess they're going out with a bang. I can't wait!

Missed episode #12? You can watch the full episode over on MTV.com.

Previous Wrap-Ups:

• Episode #11: Making It
• Episode #10: In with the New
• Episode #9: Joey Checks Out
• Episode #8: Arrival and Departure
• Episode #7: Get It On
• Episode #6: Greg vs. The House
• Episode #5: I Need Lovin'
• Episode #4: Joey's Intervention
• Episodes 1-3

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. I spent the day kickin' it with some friends eating BBQ chicken, curly & waffle fries, potato salad, and of course scrumptious home-made American apple pie (thanks Sarah!). And no I didn't actually eat the potato salad, but the apple pie was good. Plus it was all American:

After eating and chillin', we went out to the movies and watched WALL-E. That'd be my 5th movie in 8 days. It was pretty good. I guess it's not what I was expecting. It got an A- from critics and a quite a few people have told me that it was great. So I expected it to be like Shrek where the plot has two levels. One that's the kiddie level and then the other that's the fun adult humor. WALL-E did have two levels too, but the adult level was more deep than humorous. Plus the lack of dialog in the beginning kind of threw me off. I can see how people liked it, but it wasn't for me.

As with every conceivable holiday, ZAZZLE has gear to celebrate July 4th. I actually started a new ZAZZLE gallery called Holiday Gear which will feature t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, buttons, etc. for all of the holidays. I started out with 4th of July and I'll continue with the other holidays as they approach. Once I get a few more holidays under my belt, then I'll actually make the gallery look nice like BenMVP and BeneSol.

I can't think of anything in August so maybe the next holiday will be Labor Day. I actually didn't even finish the 4th of July gallery either. I just didn't have the time and started a bit too late. At least they will be there for next year. But the 4th of July products are also patriotic products, so hopefully they'll work year round.

Here's my favorite thus far:

Chiseled Starry USA
by Holiday Gear
Design Custom Shirts at ZAZZLE.com
See other Patriotic T-Shirts

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon yet another custom t-shirt printing website called T-Shirtmonster.ca. Now there are a lot of them out there, the biggest players being ZAZZLE and CafePress, but T-Shirtmonster's imitation of ZAZZLE is egregious. Keep in mind that ZAZZLE launched its public website in 2005, while T-Shirtmonster just launched in February 2008.

T-Shirtmonster's home page is innocuous enough. It doesn't look anything like ZAZZLE's. But try to create a custom t-shirt and if you are a ZAZZLE user, the user interface (UI) is all too familiar.

First, let's take a look at ZAZZLE's "Design Tool":

ZAZZLE's Design Tool UI that lets you manipulate text and images on a shirt

And here is the tab that lets you change the style, color, size, model and view of the ZAZZLE shirt:

ZAZZLE's Design Tool UI that lets you change the style, color, size, model and view of the shirt

Now, with ZAZZLE's design tool as a frame of reference, let's take a look at T-Shirtmonster's design thingy:

T-Shirtmonster's design thingy UI that lets you manipulate text and images on a shirt

And similarly, their UI for choosing shirt styles, colors and sizes:

T-Shirtmonster's design thingy UI that lets you change the style, color, size of the shirt

As you can see, the interfaces are not identical, but look strikingly similar. And they would look even more alike if this were a year ago before ZAZZLE introduced Model Realviews and the interface had to change a bit to accommodate the new technology. My guess is that T-Shirtmonster had been working on this UI for a long time, and based their design off of ZAZZLE's Design Tool from late 2006 or early 2007.

I'm not saying T-Shirtmonster shouldn't exist. Healthy competition is always good, and it's more than likely that T-Shirtmonster can deliver to Candadian-based customers sooner than ZAZZLE can since they are based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. ZAZZLE is located in Redwood City, CA. But copying the look and feel of one of the main pieces of a competitor's site in my opinion is a bit too much.

So what do you think? They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but aren't the t-shirt designers a little too similar?