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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well things are humming along…..



This is me last year just before I went up to the offices at TVO. The grey hair, bags under the eyes and all the rest is like that in the picture!


The only thing really of note is that I was at this drug store (Shopper’s Drug Mart) and when I got to the cashier she immediately sputtered “Senior Discount?” Wow! That was the first time ever! This was one of those life changing moments! Yes, it really did happen on August 3 (2017) in the afternoon at age 57. I am getting up there and I had deliberately let my hair get as grey as possible and cut the black parts mostly off. In fact I was buying hair coloring at the time as I figured no business meetings were going to happen for the rest of the week, and I might have a video clip or two recorded. As I said many times here before, Nobody takes a black guy seriously in business unless he is older with grey hair. So I was rocking grey hair but really? But you can’t argue with what happened – and it happened. Then – when I calmed down – I asked her if I really did look “senior discount aged” and she said that she sometimes got the question herself (she looks 45-50 with no grey), but if you could sneak in for the discount – why not? So this got me thinking and I asked her what the age limit was as it could have been (though unlikely) 55 or maybe 60. Sixty five was her response and sent another twinge through my body. So you get the jarring insult and don’t get the benefit of being an old foggy it seems. I’m back to black now. I will let that description sink in for those who only know me on the internet. Just think of me as this old Methuselah with a walker and hospital gown open at the back going to concerts and business meetings like that. Then if you meet me in real life you can tell me what you think.


But that moment did happen and you can’t take it back. Now it will just start to happen over and over again with increasing regularity.....


To add to that pain another family friend dies of natural causes in his mid-eighties. So the inevitability of death is a major thing this week. I can say that if you have ability, you are probably better going for your dreams than sitting back and playing it safe. You can’t get those years back and it takes time to get those dreams you had as a young person. It takes years and slowly – even if you do the right thing and go for it – slowly, you see that as you start to achieve those goals, the time machine is still running and you start running out of time. So still going forward while the other side is aging more rapidly and time running out. I should have enough time to do what I wanted to do – but – it is a tighter fit than you ever thought! We all live in denial about our lives and how much time we have. Then reality jolts you into reality in so many ways and then you just have to deal with your decisions that you made in life.


Nobody beats the devil…..


I hate to end it there so:


The DVD shows are basically ready. The last file to be prepared before I actually start burning discs should be done any time now. I will probably tweak Don’s show with that radio play from oldies 740AM at Christmas with the bio and one of Don’s Christmas songs. Then more surgery on my press show. I need to cut back on the talk so I will take the book segment in the Epilogue show and add it to the Free Press show and then have at it cutting dialogue from me personally. That should liven the things up more but the Free Press show is bizarre in that it is probably the most boring for most people, but is also the only show where we actually go places and get things done. You can actually look back at the place where that show started to where it ended and say: Wow..... It is so bizarre that way. But now the only thing to do is make it more entertaining. Which means less of me and more of our gang…..




Goodnight…..





http://www.donaldbrasseur.com/DonBrasseurAM740.wma
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A long weekend…..


So I put in the “story timeline” narration in the Free Press show and chopped my long boring updates and hopefully I can keep the audience entranced. So I will work on that today and then get that radio spot of Don’s in there and that should lock down all of the DVDs; then I burn DVDs like crazy and fix any obvious problems and we are good to go! I still haven’t started the taxes but the show stuff was the big goal and it looks like I will squeak it through.


The car: Well at 3,000km I finally decided to open the thing up and so I put that ZF transmission (the same one found in BMW and Audi cars BTW) in “sport” mode and loosened her up at 4,500rpm a couple of times on an on-ramp. Then I drove the car down to this commercial lane that by luck is not a city street and got it up to 5,200 and then nailed it from a rolling start to just under redline. So it made it without struggling and that is all I needed to know. If it didn’t, then I know I completely messed up the engine break in…..


That little trip actually made me feel like I was 28 again and getting my first Mustang and testing the thing. Back then before I smashed it up I had a 5.0V8 Mustang and that was all. Roll up windows, no power locks, no AC, no radio and no speakers (no radio antenna)! I had to add an Alpine cassette deck (Alpine was the big name in car stereos back then) and JBL speakers after a month or so. Cheap vinyl seats – so the car was light with no options and very fast. And that lasted all of three months before it got totaled. The replacement had every option I could think of. Anyway that little jaunt made me feel young again. The car is fast as in it feels like being Vette fast, fast where you hear the engine but the acceleration is so linear that you always are shocked at the speed you are going at when you gaze at the speedo. When I drove Dan to the studio to tape his segments, he commented how he likes the secure feeling (as opposed to his Honda) because the Mustang, while sporty, is a massive and heavy car, and you can feel that the motor is powerful as in no noise, vibrations, shifting but just this power to do whatever you want type of feeling. And that is the funny part. To phase out the V6 Ford undersold the car to would be buyers who were lead to believe it was this dog of a car that deserved to be canceled, while that turbo four Ecoboost was oversold because that was the powertrain they were going with world-wide. But one month in and I am – and I am sure others are – pleasantly surprised at the V6 Mustang while I would bet that four banger owners are more underwhelmed. After the “oh wow I have a new car” moments you stop putting in 93/94 octane to save money and the car slows down. And it’s just like ”Blah” while the V6 numbers were always at 87 octane so it just gets better - it has nowhere to go but up. Sooner or later I will put in premium gas and get another pleasant surprise. And yes, the real life experience shows the V6 is faster than the stock Ecoboost. And the V6 engine will last much, much, longer. Don’t’ believe me? There are all sorts of videos on the web showing guys racing their Ecoboost cars and having the motors blow up on them after about three passes. Some tune the boost up to 20psi and the end result is predictable – engine parts and oil slick on the ground (just like the guys who dabble in NOS, but I see they are using meth nowadays). At best the car is almost two years into a five or six year warrantee that is now defunct because you modified it. What a bummer for those guys.


But anyway I had fun with the car today. Another tidbit from the guy who drove the Mustang V8s for 18 years. The V6 cars are slightly faster than most cars you will meet out there. That is all you need. If you race anything other than a V8 Mustang or Camaro SS or Hemi Charger, you will always be out ahead and that is enough. With the V8s you may be 15 feet ahead where most street races end. But when your ahead your ahead and nobody breaks out the measuring tape. 15 feet for 18-23,000 dollars more? 18-23,000 dollars more for 7 extra miles of top end (and that is if both you and the V8 have the limiters disabled so you can actually have the situation where the V6 guy actually goes faster than the V8 guy which is limited to 155mph)? Man, the crate motor for the V8 coyote Ford engine is like 6,700 dollars or maybe 3,000 more than the V6, so where did all your money go to get the V8. Even just bought as a straight base V8 is like 14 thousand more in the end (and I have only seen one on a used car lot). Where did the money go? Me thinks you are just buying a fantasy…..




Goodnight…..




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPYYYWQ1Imc&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaeOuZNiIh8&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isj325HWtbg&feature=share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-hufxBU6kE&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 1:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Remember when these updates came to you the same time every day. What happened there? Remember when some of you would see my lovable mug of questionable aesthetics? What happened there? Remember when you used to read about feelings and life problems and all those small victories we could all relate too….. What happened there?


Well I’m still alive and kicking. The TV stuff has me in an update rut as all I can say is – another show updated – with no clips and thus no interest. And if he isn’t talking about those shows he’s talking about that infernal car (and it isn’t even a V8 ).Or maybe I lost you even before the 5.0 part. That will also come to an end soon as the newness wears off. Good stuff will happen soon enough. Perhaps my lull into this nirvana of health will be short-lived and it will turn out I have stage four cancer of some type and – this is all a rant mostly for women – I will finally meet many of you as I waste away in some hospital. Or maybe someday some of you out there in the internet far away will make it to Toronto and visit the grave and it will all finally have some closure, some reality to tie it to your own reality. Who knows?


I actually lived that with this one woman who helped me out with a computer problem and then she just went quiet. This was a rather famous PC help forum from back in the day; and everyone started getting concerned, so some member of the site took this long drive to find out the status of the women and he did and it turned out she died of cancer and that was that. So like my interaction with her was just her tidying up things before she died. I always found that odd how someone in that position would take such a keen interest in making sure she fixed my problem, but that was the way it was. We all are going to die and it’s just the matter of when and how that keeps it interesting. But it’s going to happen – don’t kid yourself otherwise. Depending on how long I keep this blog of sorts up you will see me punching this out in some hospital and saying that I finally feel great and hopefully will get out soon and then – silence. Then some of you will get someone to find out what happened and – he dead! How, why? Maybe some will push for an autopsy and if there is interest autopsy photos of my disemboweled body and organs will be scrutinized ad nausea all the while with my genitals always on display as they never seem to go looking for clues there or just chop them off with the other organs. Your brain will be removed from your scull and sliced in thin slices like some old Romco or K-Tel slicer and examined minutely, but my cavernous carcass with genitals proudly on display will be in the blurred background. Yes, that will be my ignominious fate. And: The autopsy will be inconclusive. And of course at the funeral everyone will remark how my face looks nothing like the photos – but that is what happens when they pull back your face from your scull to get to the brain. Anyway, enough of that morbid talk.


But some pretty famous writers have talked about mortality just like I have. And they are all dead now and some you can visit their grave just like I said earlier. Jackie O had cancer in her family and took great care of herself and always looked fabulous, it didn’t make any difference and she died of cancer. There was this meek like White girl who wrote some hit songs for the Fifth Dimension back in the day, anyway her mom died of cancer at 47 and she died of cancer at age 47. Even my own mother always going to the doctors and checking everything out, and in the end nothing could have prevented the heart failure she died of. And that is how it is. You think you are just humming along in life and the next minute - dead meat…..



What else…..



Well after some high revving passes with the car (as I mentioned the day before) I figured the break-in of the engine was complete. The” tell all tale” for me was the free revving way the motor could get to almost red-line. I hate driving cars up there in revs but I needed to know if the engine parts were mating together properly and a free revving engine tells me all I need to know. So it was time to change the oil. Now why the Mustang and many other cars have covers under the engine escapes me – but maybe it is to protect some electronic connections that are there right in harm’s way. But whatever the reason I needed to remove this plastic cover because I didn’t want the guys at the oil change places forgetting to put it back or stripping the threads on the fasteners. So I got under there and took the cover off myself. ‘That was a royal pain, and 20 minutes to do it without a jack. Then off to change the oil which in the end cost 110 bucks and that was after the discount. I put full synthetic oil and used a name brand filter just in case as it is still only 3,000km and piston rings could seat anywhere up to 5,000km or even 5,000 miles. But I figure the safest bet was to get all that crap out of the engine and fresh oil back in and change things from now on at the stated oil intervals. I got it done and went home and another 20 minutes putting the cover back on – what a pain! But that whole experience is over and done with and just regular oil changes now. Now that the excitement of a new car is over you appreciate the saner side of all year tires and I even love the unique wheels with the V6 as it reminds me of my earlier Mustangs. People complain of the “summer tires” wearing out in less than 20,000 miles so that was a worthwhile dodge. Nothing seems to go wrong with these cars (V6) so – knock on wood – I may now have an uneventful period of car ownership. And like buying my iPhone 6S Plus, you see the advantage of buying the model after it has some time to get the bugs worked out. The only rub is that that model is soon changed to the new model. But having stuff break and going to the dealer for recall work is a horrible experience and always occurs the first year and maybe one or two times in the second. It’s just the way it is. Speaking of cars the Roadmaster has finally left that Canadian Tire store where it had been worked on for a month. It does not show up in the autotrader as the only two Roadmasters were Hearses. Yes one girl ribbed me about my car looking like a hearse and there they are as the last of them are sold! Anyway that is the past and this is the present. Am I glad I got the Mustang instead of the Hyundai Elantra? That isn't even a question worthy of an answer anymore.....




Goodnight…..




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnCDTvOtEXA&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 5:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A couple of things this holiday Monday in Toronto…..



Setting up the Banner for FOFSTOCK!


The first is that it is almost six years since FOFSTOCK when it was held on this civic holiday on August 1 (2011). What is interesting is that as of today we have not gone more into hock than after the concert. In fact we paid things down a bit. What that means is that the orgs can all just keep humming along and we did not go belly up like so many other firms especially in the entertainment field. So that is the one big thing I wanted to get out there.



The tapes from the two static mounted cameras at the stage area. For once tapes made sense here, memory cards are too much hassle to use in this application.


Second is that The Free Press Show is virtually done as I am just finished reviewing it as I type this. That was the show that was hurting after the first show was reworked – and – it was the first show that was hurting before the press show was hurting. Basically you fix a show and then move onto the next show that is now at the bottom of the heap. Right now the Epilogue show is that last one hurting. I wanted to put some radio play in Don’s show but it can wait. Anyway I have two weeks in September of which I allocated just in case something major happened at the UN but it looks like it will be all TV land so those two weeks I can travel and shop the shows. The DVDs and bible and the rest of the material will be done by then. Just meet and greet and get thrown out or get the “Dear John” letter…..


Third is that the ridiculous car business has screwed up so much momentum in the past month and a half. It has delayed production of the shows and screwed over any chance of further progress with the UN stuff for a while though that was admittedly a long shot. But the Roadmaster dying on me did definitely mess things up. And that was after I got lucky finding a new car and getting rid of the old car on the same day. It went as seamlessly as possible and in the end I made the right decision getting that car. In the end it was the best thing I could have done given the circumstances – but – it still really messed things up.


What else?


It’s back to the usual today. Having the TV shows done and ready to be burned and passed out to people again is real progress. The harder shows to make are much, much better so we shall see what the reception will be like. Sometimes I get depressed about the effort that may not be rewarded, but then you have the up moments – you just have to get the best product you can make and try to put it out there. Nobody has a crystal ball but we have been successful for at least trying and walking up to that start/finish line in the race called life and making a go of it. In a general way it all sucks as this is exciting stuff but would be perfect if I was a younger man. But – I believe I tried that at the time and failed miserably. You have to appreciate the people that made it to that level of influence. It takes time and everyone would love to be doing that stuff as younger people with more time to really enjoy it and get things done. But it is what it is and the clock just keeps ticking down. Nobody lives forever…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am burning DVDs of the shows as we speak…..


I may make a small change in the Free Press show but the rest are burning now. First burn is a QuickTime file and then authored as this DVD. Then I hand them out to my gang and get input. We make changes if it helps the show and if it only requires editing – no reshoots!


Apart from that it is just going through the motions. Given recent events I won’t get into, there is an event at the United Nations in September I found rather interesting but I really have to stay on track with the TV stuff. I have more time with the UN stuff as everyone there seems to be my age or older as participants but the entertainment stuff is a young man’s or woman’s game. Sam is really helping me out here with the revisions so I am deferring to a younger crowd for changes with the exception being Don’s show about vaudeville and D-Day – that stuff stays no matter what as it is important from a historical sense. The other shows are fair game entertainment though.





In my personal life the only thing of note is that I get back my repaired progressive glasses again. Going back to single vision is doable but the progressives make it a lot easier. This reminded me of that hesitation before getting them. Like everyone you hold off getting reading glasses or the reading glass version of glasses for myopia in my case, you just don’t want to admit that you are getting older. For me we nearsighted people can still use single vision and use our ordinary sight for the reading by looking at things around the lenses. I have some frameless glasses that were almost perfect for this, really thin vertically so when you look down you just use your naked eyes to read. This would have been the perfect solution till I got the glasses back but some moron at the factory put the lenses in a frame for a wider face and nothing they could do with the earpieces made the things secure on my head. They liked to fall off and got relegated to sunglass duty in the car as I had snap on shades for this one. And basically that is it for now…..


Oh yes: There is one more thing. I foolishly visited a dollar store and saw a toilet brush and stand for like 99 cents. Wow, I could replace the old one downstairs and so I bought it. That was a few months ago and I threw out the old one and decided to clean the toilet with the new one as I promised to clean the house that week. First thing I noticed was that the base of the stand had four holes on the bottom which meant it was unusable because the toilet water would just leak to the floor – and who the hell wants that! But I already had toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet so I figured I would just swab the toilet and throw it all away. I start cleaning the bowl and the handle snaps in two! Now we have cheap shit materials on top of the holes that would leak toilet bowl fluid! And the way it snapped made the brush flip in the bowl so I could not take the thing out except by handling the brush end which I did with some toilet paper. I only mention this as you probably only get what you paid for and I got less in this case. And I am always amused at bad design coupled with questionable materials which make for an almost comical display when first unboxed and used. That is until you get to things like houses and cars. There is always that…..




Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CJ9EDtZ2p8&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one today…..


A late one today but I now have burned DVDs to hand out to my gang starting today. I still do not have enough time but we are getting there. I am on a roll with the Free Press show and it light years better than it was before. So I just keep at it. But the other shows are being converted to DVDs as we speak and baring major problems we should lock down the DVDs and update the series bible and we are good to go!





JL with one of our TV series Posters!





More later – If I get the time that is…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 9:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another backup on my computer and another update for you guys…..



Dan Strudwick of AAVRY KNAPP!


I handed Dan some DVDs and told him to watch the show with his girl friend and maybe some others before commenting on the shows. I specifically tell all of them that this is not a vanity project. It is a documentary so we just tell it as it is. But I still am curious what their initial reaction to my little creations will be. Next was handing some to Sam. I got to her place and stayed in the car and this thin wispy redhead with long hair comes over – so different from that “emo” girl I first met twelve years ago – and looks like I just got her up from sleep as it was about midnight at the time. I handed her this courier package with the DVDs in it and I guess she likes me in the car with some hip hop tune from two years ago as she did a little dance to it and laughed. Yes, women in the prime of their beauty, where looking like they just got up is sexy; a couple more decades on the odometer and they won’t look that sexy anymore – but I digress. Anyway, her reviews rock! So I intend to get her all of the rest of the DVDs and have at it again and hopefully lock down the shows and just do the series sale thing as planned.



Samantha


These kids have no idea what a plumb opportunity they have. We got interest from some very high end media companies – even in L.A. where I still have my own personal lawyer in Beverly Hills. That all was quite the joke as I drove around Toronto in this sputtering old Buick Roadmaster station wagon; less so with the new Mustang, but events like shopping a real TV series are few and far between and I hope they appreciate what we have here and that life is not always like this…..



So yes, things are starting to get interesting.






Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It’s now down to working on some simple animations for the Free Press Show…..


It is taking a little longer than I thought but it is coming along. When I hear the complaints about some parts of the shows looking like a university project, what they really mean is the lack of bells and whistles that usually come with post work. I spent so much time of the Free Press show trying to make it interesting that now that we have something watchable, you feel obligated to try a little more and really make the thing play.


After this show, the Epilogue show gets a going over and then we are done – minus any needed tweaks from the review of my peers.


The car is running just fine. Absolutely no problems and nothing is wrong – or – everything works as it should. I have Shell 91 in it just as a temporary measure. With the V8s of old you always had this feeling that there was always more than enough. The test is driving around with always having whatever power you needed without hearing the engine at all. That is my test. On 87 octane and on the cruising “drive” mode there is only one spot which is either low in second or low in third (I can’t remember which), but you noticed that even though it didn’t downshift – which would be a failure under this test – that was the least feeling of torque and power in the entire range of operations. So it passes on 87, but with 91 or “non-ethanol” even that is gone. And what that means is that I would not notice any difference in driving this V6 car or the V8 coyote engine puttering around town. You simply don’t hear the engine but always have the sense that - as Rolls Royce says – you have enough – or that anymore would not be needed or perceived. That is my test and this one makes it. All the other V6 and inline 6 engines since 1964 would have failed. But this last one makes the grade and then they killed it off…..hehehehehe….. BTW: When Motor Trend tested the new V6 back in 2011 or as early as 2010 they got 0-60 in 5.1 seconds which is about 1.5 seconds faster than my legendary Mustang 5.0 from the 80s. And that is 4 tenths of a second faster than the Plymouth Superbird and almost a second faster than the legendary 454 Corvettes (to be fair the LS7s were1 tenth faster to 60 and one tenth slower in the quarter). That was when Ford was actually pushing the V6 (and giving automotive journalists cars that they went over with a fine tooth comb and tweaked to the best performance possible) like they are pushing the ecoboost now. The only time you will know the difference is on start-up when you hear that V8 rumble and when you drive the car hard. Even on the freeway on-ramps you will get up to speed and in the fast lane without ever needing to hear the engine at all – and that is punching a bit. You have to force yourself to push the engine harder than it needs so you can hear that V6 growl. Same thing with the V8; some guys bitch about not hearing much if anything with the V8s, but trust me, that gets old after a while so stay with the stock exhaust! The ecoboost is a complete fail in this regard. You always hear it and it does not sound like a symphony of combustion. Plus I keep seeing catastrophic engine failure with the kids just modding things up a bit. Engines failing less than 5000km? Even at 15000km - that is inexcusable. Don’t believe me, Google ecoboost and you will see huge engine problems along the entire ecoboost line and nothing from the V6 – don’t believe me just check it out for yourself. Ford will replace the Mustang ecoboost engines as the design is still just 2 years old, so those kids are the human guinea pigs and it looks like they should strengthen the connecting rods on the engines. That will wait unit the 2018s because if Ford contracts out the specifications and such to another company they have to complete the contract or eat the difference which is prohibitively expensive. That is why they electronically slowed the car down (as Motortrend famously reported) rather than just get stronger rods. But who needs to deal with that shit on a new car. The V6 has been around for 10 years with all bugs worked out and under stressed to boot! Sure they are phasing it out but the benefit is a engine with no problems and a track record to prove it. 2018 will also see the end of the six in Honda passenger cars and more definitely in the Accord. And like the Mustang, they now praise the turbo 4s and rag on the six – yada, yada, yada…..


If car makers like Ford and Honda were honest, the 2018 brochure would read like this: "With the elimination of the V6, torque and horsepower are down this year especially on 87 octane. The cars are more stressed and complicated which means frequent breakdowns, but we at Honda will dilligently work hard to keep these problems to a minimum; until the warrantee passes. Then we will fight you tooth and nail to not pay anything afterward. In other news, prices have increased by 3,000 dollars across the line....."


Anyway, enough of that…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a quickie…..



I had a long conversation with one of the directors and we will continue to promote and advocate the concerns of the general public at the United Nations as planned. Certainly the Artificial Intelligence threat, and privacy in a totally wired world, is foremost in the minds of most people I have talked to. This is in addition to our idea of a global popular vote at the UN through smart phones and the Major Positive Mandate for Humanity idea we floated at UN headquarters last February. I have about a decade and maybe a little bit more to groom and hand over the reins to our youth who will have to live in the world we are creating for them now, so this organization is their entryway to the global stage; or the safety valve of the common person to have some form of influence at the UN and other international venues.



UN headquarters in Geneva!


Anyway that is what happened this morning. IAIJ is quiet now as it is before the kids go back to school. That alone tells you something about who the base of the organization is. I could not do the structural work to create an organization like this when I was in my twenties. But it can and have done that now in my 40s and 50s and so those kids that were my age when I tried now have a readymade organization – so that block to free expression has been open to them. We also talked about visiting the other UN headquarters like Geneva and Vienna and Nairobi. I should be going there as events and needs dictate but this will be part and parcel of my travels around the world to consolidate IAIJ and its unique abilities of advocacy in many parts of the world working for all in the world!



UN headquarters in Vienna!




In other news, we are down to titles and photos for the Free Press show. If I can get good quality photos I will pan and zoom them in the timeline and that will be about it for that show…..




Later…..
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Maurice Ali



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Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Free Press show is done…..




The SP case with the CC designation!




Closeup of the label!


All I am doing now is rendering some effects that have to be rendered to work properly and then I will make a high quality QuickTime file and make the DVD. I am going to start trying to get the best of the DVDs and if that means spending some money on a better program, then so be it! I am actually getting ready to sell the shows or get broadcast. From the UN stuff I have the clothing and laptops and all the rest to look the part. I have to say that even driving the Mustang gives you more confidence then tooling around in the old sputtering Roadmaster. The shows are finally getting to be watchable for the average consumer’s eyes; this is fine now as it looks more and more that the shows will go on without much editing and such. Maybe, maybe – the final touches on post and that would be about it from the broadcasters. Certainly closed captioning and described video should come from them with the airplay agreement. Without it you are looking at about 13 thousand for all the shows. The original Fortress TV Show was closed captioned (first in Beta SP and then Digital Betacam) but we didn’t get it displayed on our set, but that could just have been our fault. The actual tape does say CC and I did have it done twice during production.


BTW: I actually got Closed Caption Christmas cards from those guys – you are defiantly in the industry when that happens…..




Closed Captioning Christmas Card!!





Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So I cheated…..


I said the Free Press Show was done and I went back and tweaked a few things. But it is done now and we should have a DVD by the end of the day. Next up is the Epilogue show as it should be. That show will be locked down and good to go but that is the only show where we may add video as things just keep going on. But the other shows are locked "time capsules" and so after review it is what it is for those shows.


I am getting reviews but it is amazing how on your own you are with this. Similar to the UN stuff. You do this for all but you are on your own. I hate to say this but that human nature of cowardice and selfishness is to blame. Actually it is to blame for most of the ills of our world. People – and usually good people – are just too afraid to stick their necks out and stand for something they feel passionate about; and if it does not affect them, then they can't be bothered. True, there are some and those were the ones I met while covering protests. But go from there up the ladder to where you can actually speak to those that matter and it gets frightfully lonely. But I don’t frighten easily, but it had to be said. Anyway, enough of that – I have to get out and rest my brain…..





Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A really late one today as I wanted to start editing the Epilogue show and I have.


Our DVD machine should spit out the DVD for The Free Press Show and then we forget about it and just concentrate on the remaining DVD production and the final show. My mind is already moving toward meeting broadcasters so this thing is happening – no doubt about it.


One of the staff will post an update about the series and airplay on FOF and IAIJ websites to officially kick off the 2017 campaign to get our series on the air. This will be a long and hard process and fraught with rejection – but nothing good ever came without a battle, without testing you limits and abilities. This is no different than any other project we as an organization have faced…..




Back to work…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sam wrote:
The Fortress Experiment is Ready for Broadcast!



By Samantha Blackwell, FOF Inc. / IAIJ Inc.



The Fortress of Freedom Corporation and the International Association of Independent Journalists Inc. are pleased to announce that the eight part documentary TV series called “The Fortress Experiment” is now ready to be shopped for broadcast! This is not the first time we as an organization have accessed network TV. Our fist broadcast was on Global TV (one of the top three networks by viewership in Canada) on the evening of September 18 (2005) with the original Fortress TV Show. Our second broadcast was with CTV (again another top three network in Canada by viewership) on July 26 (2009) with another show called “The Life and Times of Donald “Boots” Brasseur". This latest series of documentaries is just a further progression and development of our organization's ability to reach that mass audience.





The series of documentaries chronicles a typical group of people who are given the ability to express themselves to the limit of their ability physically and mentally. The experiment followed them for up to 13 years to see what impact this had on them personally, their families and their communities and ultimately their nations. IAIJ participated in the making of these documentaries in the usual research and editorial processes. This idea looked at in the experiment became IAIJ’s foundation for their “Positive Major Mandate for Humanity” advocacy recently floated by IAIJ President Maurice Ali at a side event at the 55th Session of the Commission for Social Development at the United Nations this past February (2017).





Vetting for potential broadcasters has already begun and formal contact should be made before the end of this summer.


More updates will be given as events dictate.





http://thefortressexperiment.com





FORTRESS OF FREEDOM: BRINGING THE MASS MEDIA TO THE MASSES!






I hate to sound like a broken record (but at least I’m not talking about the car) but I am really into finishing off the Epilogue show. The Free Press show was, in the end, the hardest but with a few Pan and Zoom shots I ended up thinking of what else I could possible throw in then and I could not think of anything. And then you notice that the show actually looks like someone could watch it end to end. That is pretty significant in itself. The shows are actually getting there. I had to seriously rethink the series and then change it for problems with the audience but in the end you have a show that sets up the whole experiment and introduces the main characters. All the episodes have a reason to be there and the ending now has some direction.

Currently I am taking snippets over the years for each main character and having at least one montage that shows how they developed over the years. I get back into that when I post this update. So the series is much more upbeat than it ever was. I just have to stay with it and follow things through and make sure the sales package is the best it can be without bogging down in perfectionism – We have to get out there and get it on the air!


What else before I go back to work?


Well – time and time again – my decision to do the advocacy has been reinforced. The motivation to do what I am dong to improve humanity comes from a moral imperative. That moral imperative is that if you don’t step up and help your fellow human beings, someone of lesser ability will take your place and they may not be as driven by positive idealism as you are. Like I have said ad nausea before, I never met my match or better in university when I was majoring in philosophy, and for those who have had that experience it is or can be your entryway into real influence. If I knew there were better people out there than me trying to influence things on the world stage I would happily leave it up to them a live life selfishly as you only go around once. But not having your arrogant ass planted firmly in the dirt by someone better makes you worry about things when you get a bit older and your generation starts to run the world. The fact is someone has to run the world and now it is your turn. There are all sorts of vacancies for positions in every area of society from your community to the world stage and someone has to occupy those positions. If the best don’t step and up and take them – then – the less than the best move in and sometimes their motivations are not as altruistic or “good”, but maybe more selfish and nefarious. The best of that bad situation is they are nice people but not as good or competent as that position could have been if the best people did the right thing.

So yes, as you get older people who have that extra gear or extra ability over the others start to wonder about who really is in charge of steering this ship of fools called humanity. And if you dip your toe into that realm you will find that really it is populated by ordinary people like yourself. That is how our world is run! Those people don’t descend from the heavens or get anointed with some magic wand. They are just ordinary people. And if the best and brightest motivated by altruism don’t step up – you are going to have all hell break loose! That is how I got snagged - or suckered – into all this I am doing now. My motivations are altruistic and my moral imperative is solid from a philosophical standpoint. My methods and the ideas behind it create an environment where all can be all they can be and we do it this way because it exposes all ideas which can only help make our lives better and secure the survival of the human race. Others with more nefarious intentions can bring about divisiveness and hate and civil wars and world wars and destroy human life and all life and the ecosystem that sustains it. Then there is the cultural destruction that goes with all of that. None of that helps humanity in any constructive way and so I go in the other direction. It actually is simple and clear cut – if you work from an non-selfish altruistic standpoint based upon a moral imperative. My mandates embrace our better natures because that is what defines us. But you have heard all this before. And don’t for a second think that I am some pure "goody two-shoes" because I am not. The fact is you have to be conniving and in every way as mean and nasty as your opponents - you have to be if you want change, but in this case your intentions are good even if you have to get your hands a little bit dirty to do it! But every now and then I have to mention it to answer the question of why do I spend my money and time on this – rather than buying a better Mustang with a V8 or a bigger house even though I really live alone.




You get the idea…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am having talks with young people on where something like The Fortress Experiment should air and it is not where you think it would if you are an old guy like me……



You keep an open mind to this stuff as the point of it all is to reach that audience. We shall see but none of this changes what I am doing now which is making more DVDs! I had five of the eight yesterday and should have six and an outside chance of seven for Friday. I will burn the last version of the Epilogue show if I am still working on the present one or maybe just burn it in progress if it looks presentable enough and get input as you edit…..


I’m just about to step out probably to Starbucks and look at a few cars then back home to check the progress of things and later maybe more work on the Epilogue show. I have FOFSTOCK having its DVD burned and Free with Purchase made into a QuickTime movie as a prelude to DVD authoring. That occupies two editing computers – one for HD and one for SD. One with the current AVID Media Composer and the other with an old version of AVID Xpress. We never throw anything away around her it seems…..





My editing workstation running both AVID programs at the same time!


Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The big push this weekend is to finish the Epilogue show and the handing out of DVDs. The last show and then I am done! This will literally be 14 years this October and 13 years of video that is all of our lives at this organization…..


It‘s a bitch to be saddled with getting everyone out there after we all gave years of our lives for this. So I want to do the best I can and get it out there. We had major scores and from a purely documentary content, deserves to be out there. But then there is the industry and all that goes with it where stupid shows of people walking into polls gets more consideration that ours because in the end it is entertainment. Nobody is forcing your eyes open to watch our stuff. If we can’t snag them in the first few seconds they are back to people walking into poles or getting hit with a base ball in the nuts while a laugh track plays in the background – This is what I am up against and how we are evaluated! I wish I was making that up but I am not. This is the world where a cat falling off a TV set can be the best video of the year. It is what it is…..


Thirteen years! I have to get this right. I have to make proper presentations and I have to play the person on the other side of the table better and get them to give us a chance. That is what I have to do!




Later…..



(NSFW) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWn9INKTiq8&feature=share
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