Friday 5 for June 20: What color is your parachute?

Will photographers and models be essential in the future when anyone can just tell AI to create a photo shoot with a virtual model such as this simplified one above?

Friday 5 for June 20: What color is your parachute?

Questions from Scrivner's Friday 5 page.

1. Which job on a film crew would you most like to do, and which would you be best suited for?

I was a producer for our student TV show many moons ago in college. That involved trying to round up a ton of chickens (talent and crew) to be in same place at the same time doing the tasks they signed up for. We had about a dozen people working on this for a short time and it was always a pain to get everyone there at the right time, rent the studio and finish the shoot within a prescribed time. And then there was post production which back in the day was all on 3/4 inch Sony U-Matic tape.. going from master to slave, etc. and cutting it in electronically on this big analog mixing board thing.

Today most of the stuff can be done on computer(s) depending on the size and scope of the production. Surely professional level movies and TV shows take a lot of people to put together... just watch the credits at the end of these... all kinds of specialists employed to get a show produced. Hence the huge budgets to get anything made.

Lisa and I wrote this for Assistance League of Hawaii and I storyboarded it out. We had it produced at Olelo TV in November. Somebody else coordinated the other parts like scheduling time, and bringing in the talent. It took a while to put together and it is only 40 seconds in length.

2. Which job on a hotel staff would you most like to do, and which would you be best suited for?

Probably working in their marketing department producing newsletters, taking photos, maybe updating their website, doing social media photography... who knows. I don't stay in hotels very much but I am sure they do a lot of marketing and media.

3. Which job in a hospital would you most like to do, and which would you be best suited for?

I am probably best suited for dying in the hospital. Got close to that once. That will probably happen again. 

4. Which job on a cruise ship would you most like to do, and which would you be best suited for?

Um... probably similar to hotel. I would rather work onshore for their marketing department. Can't stand the thought of being cooped up on a ship, in crew quarters for most of the year. If I had to work on board ship, probably ship photographer, but I would prefer not to.

5. Which job on a fashion magazine would you most like to do, and which would you be best suited for?

I don't have any fashion industry experience, but then again being a fashion photographer may be nice but very demanding. Models can be difficult to work with. I'd probably be better suited for working as a production artist on a computer doing the graphics, page make-up. etc... though I have been out of mainstream print media for quite some time now. A lot of the Mac programs have changed over the last 20 years, much of it not good... especially Adobe products with their horribly expensive subscription model. I used to work in advertising many years ago. A lot of jobs above may be replaced by AI.

Friday 5 for May 30: Agitation

 

Friday 5 for May 30: Agitation

1. Whose performance of your nation’s anthem did you find especially stirring?

It always feels great and patriotic when any of the military or even college bands play "The Star Spangled Banner" without any vocal accompaniment. Just a huge instrumental piece of music, the larger the band, the better.

2. When did you last fold something?

Two weeks ago after I took my laundry out of the dryer. Gotta do that again this weekend. Fold towels, pants, shirts, sheets, etc. I also occasionally fold paper.

3. When did you last toss something to someone?

Probably last week when I tossed something to Lisa.

4. How do you feel about beets?

I HATE BEETS!!!!!!!

5. What do you have mixed feelings about?

The political and economic direction the state of Hawaii is going in. I mostly have negative feelings about that. Our stupid governor just raised taxes on tourists. All tax increase have far reaching tentacles beyond the core group the tax is attacking. 

Questions come from the Friday 5 blog.

Friday 5 for May 23: Zihuatanejo

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

OK what a strange word for the topic title. "Zihuatanejo" not found in the usual dictionary and Wikipedia points to a place in Mexico. Nope not going near Mexico anytime in my life. It's a dangerous country.

1. What could use a good shining?

Simple: My car!

2. When have you recently had to stand in a slow-moving line?

It's a good thing I rarely ever go to rock concerts or any kind of live show. Way, way back I remember standing in a long line just to buy tickets at the Blaisdell Center to go see The Rolling Stones at the now condemned Aloha Stadium back in 1998. I also remember standing in long lines to go see most of the Star Wars movies.

Today I won't go to any concerts because in addition to the regular state of Hawaii taxes, I certainly don't want to pay for the Ticketmaster taxes either. What do people get out of Ticketmaster? The whole damn thing is a scam.

A few years ago I had to wait in a line at Satellite City Hall to register the car. Missed the mail in deadline.

3. What was your favorite childhood counting-out game to determine who was it?

I vaguely recall a game called "Duck Duck Goose"... while it was not a counting game I think after you got called "goose" you had to chase the kid who did the "duck duck goose" countdown thing. I'm kind of blurred on this, since it has been decades since I was a kid.

4. Is anything feeling thinner these days?

• My wallet
• Not me

5. What do you know about Maine?

My friend Lisa is from Maine and she tells me it is one of those states that have an extremely high percentage of white people and not much ethnic diversity. 

An interesting thing I know about Maine is that the former Hawaii Superferry now known as The Cat sails between Maine and Nova Scotia, Canada during the summer season.

The Superferry looks the same as it did when I rode it in 2007 from Oahu to Maui and back.

Friday 5 for May 16: This was the week that was, in 1969

 

Haven't done one of these in awhile... so here goes... May 21. Ha! 1969 was a good year. Man landed on the moon. The Beatles were still a band, but only hangining on. They came out with at least two #1 hits that year. The Rolling Stones had a huge #1 hit. - "Honky Tonk Woman".... and Zager and Evans had their only #1 hit ever... "In the Year 2525".

1. How do you feel about bowling? (May 9: Billy Hardwick wins the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America all-star bowling tournament)

I don't bowl, and generally don't do sports because I suck at them all.

2. How do you feel about the comedy of Monty Python, and do you have a favorite bit? (May 11: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin form Monty Python)

Not a fan of Monty Python, though I think I saw one of two movies... they were mostly terrible. Not a big fan of comedy movies in general.

3. How many Cate Blanchett films have you seen, and do you have a favorite? (May 14: Cate Blanchett is born)

I saw four of them, of which three were The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Never got around to seeing The Hobbit trilogy. The other movie of hers that I saw was Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. As a group, the Rings trilogy was great.

4. What would you like to get back? (May 14: “Get Back” by the Beatles is the number one song in America).

One of the lines in the song is "Get Back to where you once belonged..."

Someday I need to move back to the Big Island... before I die.

5. Who’s your favorite Joni, and who’s your favorite Mitchell? Alternate spellings and forms of the name are allowed! (May 17: Joni Mitchell is on the cover of Rolling Stone #33) 

I can't think of any Joni's except for Joni Mitchell... and she is NOT my favorite singer by miles. So that said, in terms of Joni's....NONE.

Mitchell? Hmmm. Don't know any except for you here on the blog and elsewhere online.

So pretty much a strike out on this question.

Friday 5 for January 17: This week in the news

Friday 5 for January 17: This week in the news

The following questions come from the Friday 5 blog.

1. Has the death of a famous person (not connected to you personally) ever made you cry?

Anyone famous is far removed from me, so the answer to this is "NO".

2. Have you ever sent money as relief aid after a disaster?

I sent $40 many years ago as disaster aid after Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

3. How will the recent declaration affirming alcoholic beverages as cancer-causing affect your consumption?

It won't. I don't drink alcoholic beverages at all. Never did. Never will.

4. What is the most bizarre (or difficult to understand) movie you’ve seen?

For the longest time it was 2001: A Space Odyssey until I read the book.

5. How willing and able are you to separate art from artist when a musican, actor, writer, or other creator is discovered to have behaved very badly?

Yep. I am able to separate the recordings the artist made from the bad behavior that they display in the public record. This would include The Rolling Stones, The Who, Rod Stewart and many other music artists who have trashed people, hotel rooms or worst, taken drugs. Many such as Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, Janis Joplin and others have died from drug abuse. All bad behaviors, but none of it has prevented me from enjoying the musical recordings they produced.

Friday 5 for January 10: On (a different) deck

Friday 5 for January 10: On (a different) deck

Let's see if I can do a better job answering these in 2025. 

1. If everyone carried personal cards (instead of business cards), what would you put on the line just beneath your name, where job titles usually go?

Don't Spam Me.

2. What’s your favorite card game?

I'm not a card player. The one card game I play the most is Classic Solitaire, the kind that you find on almost every computer based platform. See graphic above.

3. How confidently and competently do you shuffle a deck of cards?

I don't drop them, unless it is 52 card pick-up.

4. To whom did you last send a non-holiday, non-birthday greeting card?

Sympathy card to the family of a friend that died a few years back.

5. When did you last jot something down on an index card?

It was less than a year ago, but I can't find the card and I don't remember what I wrote. I do have a small pack of blank 3 x 5 cards.

Questions from the usual source.

_______________________

Friday 5 for January 3: On deck

1. What book are you going to read next?

For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind by Tulsi Gabbard. Bet you this one ruffles some feathers. 😀

2. What movie will you most likely see next?

I have a ton of movies saved to my to view lists at TUBI TV and Amazon Prime Video. Can't decide which one next, though Oppenheimer is on my most wanted to watch list for now.

3. What are you doing the day after tomorrow?

Since I am answering this on a Saturday, the day after tomorrow is Monday, so the thing I will be doing is going to work. 😀

4. This is going to be a great year, but what are you looking forward to next year?

Getting older and another step closer to my grave, if it doesn't happen this year.

5. What are you looking forward to opening once you’ve used up the current product?

Another SD memory card. Yippee.

Friday 5 for November 22: And the world laughs with you

Friday 5 for November 22: And the world laughs with you

The following questions come from the weekly Friday 5 blog.

1. Among people who are professionally funny, who most reliably makes you laugh?

For my entire life since I was a kid, The Three Stooges have provided me years of laughs with their slapstick comedy shorts. I still laugh at them today.

2. Which films have made you laugh most?

One of them is Splash with Tom Hanks, Darryl Hannah, John Candy and Eugene Levy. To me Levy stole the show with his Dr. Walter Kornbluth character... "Behold the Mermaid!"

I get more laughs out of funny TV shows, especially older ones.

Various episodes of the TV series Seinfeld. "The Parking Space" episode is one of my favorites of all time, followed by the one with The Soup Nazi.

Other comedy TV shows that I like include:

- The Addams Family

- Gilligan's Island

- Green Acres

- The Beverly Hillbillies

- Beavis & Butthead

- The Simpsons

- South Park

3. Whose comedy leaves you flat?

Most modern comics who I can't recall their names, I find lame or offensive.

4. When did you most recently laugh aloud at something you read?

The breakdown of electoral college votes for the recently completed presidential election the day after... 270+ votes ending up with 312 for Trump. MAGA! 

It was funny to read about all the goofy crybaby reactions from the liberal left losers. The videos were even more funny.

5. What are some of your favorite novelty songs?

Not in any order:

- The Three Stooges - Swingin' the Alphabet

- Jump in the Saddle Band - The Curly Shuffle

- Ogden & Edsel - Dead Puppies

- Barnes & Barnes - Fishheads

- Chuck Berry - My Ding A Ling

- Ray Stevens - The Streak; Ahab The Arab

- Napoleon the XIV - They're Coming To Take Me Away

- Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

- Fred Schneider & the Superions - Fruitcake

- J. Geils Band - No Anchovies Please

- Maestro Ziikos - APT Donald Trump (new)

There are plenty others.