Fortress Of Freedom Board
Bringing The Mass Media To The Masses!
 
 FAQ  Search  Usergroups  Memberlist  Profile  Log in to check your private messages  Register  Log in
A Social Club Of One.....
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 250, 251, 252 ... 414, 415, 416  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Fortress Of Freedom Board Forum Index -> Social Club
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An early one tonight as the editor backs itself up......


Well. I was adding a montage of video to the starting sequence of our series and while I watched the end result of my handiwork it played and on came some dreamy back ground music as I described what the experiment was all about – and then it hit me – wow: this is soooo cool..... I actually felt that as a viewer. So we may have a chance with the broadcasters with the shows as they are right now. Right now as in almost finished and ready for broadcast. But it sort of hit me that this was one of those moments. The moment when you actually felt it in your bones that this show will make it to broadcast, warts and all.....


It’s just a cool experiment and idea behind it that is getting somewhere. How cool is that for a TV series! I would say it is rather unique.


So I just wanted to press home that fact that that moment of confidence had arrived. As it stands I have half done and the other half to go. I start experimenting with the largest files I can use for DVD authoring tonight. Thing keep moving ahead to that unknown future. But I am more confident now!!!!!




Goodnight.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is now what I call my instrument of torture.....



Balancing audio on AVID Media Composer!


That is what I was looking at all last week. Just evening out audio and keeping it from hitting the spike zone. The only criticism from CTV about Don’s show was that it was a little too low in the audio even though we copied the audio levels from the original Fortress TV Show. Like music the levels have gone up. Just listen to levels from 70s and 80s mastered music and now; the industry levels have gone up a bit. I now go an extra 2db over that original standard and that should be good enough to placate everyone in quality control. The video, a mix between SD and HD was the biggest problem and I spent years thinking about it. In the end the HD Platte was our answer. Even if we up-rez the SD I am kind of fond of keeping the aspect ratio and just bringing the image up to our so-so HD. We shall see, the safest is to just blow it up to HD size and crop in the Y zone, but the old footage is instantly known to be old footage in this series by the aspect ratio. Decisions and more decisions.....


The story – though – is fabulous and keeps the whole thing relevant and a contender with the best. All because the documentaries are about real people and ideas that actually went places! People will watch any resolution and quality as long as the story is compelling. Cell phone video is perfectly good for big name news broadcasters because of the news worthy event, or in other words – the story is compelling; the story is king! I kept working on the start of the show. When I nailed down the idea of the first moments of the series I knew it had to be that way. But now with added video and some judicious editing that intro now rocks! I kept watching the finished product over and over again making it perfect – and now the start captures your interest and imagination. It’s so frigging bad ass!!!!!


A bad ass intro to the series was what I needed to get anywhere with the broadcasters. You have to grab your audience and keep them from tuning off or changing the channel, and for the first time I think we actually not only met the bar but passed it!


We are half done with the audio and in between I test file sizes for DVD authoring. We should be ready to rock and roll by Friday. Being the cynic, we will make first contact on Friday but have till Monday to nail down the sales package cause there is no way I would get a meeting the very day I made contact – of course you can always be wrong. However, a betting man would go with my odds and keep working on the thing till Monday. We will keep working on it regardless but I needed that fall back set of DVDs just in case.


Anyway that is your update. I think I will also mow the lawn this morning.


Reality is starting to creep into my life.....


Goodnight.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got sick of doing audio work and had to take a break.


I am finally getting back into it but what I a grind! Ever notice how you don’t have to change the volume when you watch TVs and jump from show to show and channel to channel. Well that is what I am doing now and for 8 one hour documentaries.


Brutal.....


All the while we have no rain and beautiful warm summer weather now and I have to stay in doing this! Just brutal. I did get lucky with settings and found the sweet spot for quality setting on video output to get the biggest file to author DVDs so that was the only bright spot on the day. I should have the first completed DVD when I go to the office again after I post this.


I should have at least 6 shows done by today and working on the seventh. This is mind numbing but we are getting there. I am already thinking about how to set up the distribution rights if they don’t pay for broadcast. The shows are all about selling the idea of that Major Mandate for Humanity, so distribution and keeping rights matters. That is it for now.




Later.....




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zddUk6naR24&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 4:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My sleeping habits have changed and I am up at four in the morning.....


Tuesday I made my first DVD and it was a success. I also finished the Free Press DVD and that hopefully should be good to go today. That show was an all day grind and I was really getting pissed off at the lack of progress. Now that it is done I feel a bit better but we are falling behind as I sweat out the details. So right now I have six done and two to go and they will probably be all day buggers too. That said we will be done by next Monday for sure and I will have made first contact with our first broadcaster before fall.



I have started working around the house. I mowed the lawn and washed the car on Monday. Tuesday I tackled things like the dishes but that was mostly a video day. For Wednesday I start the taxes when I am not doing video, but mostly I will just have the machines rendering video on Thursday and Friday. I have to update the series bible but taxes have to be tackled by Monday. This is truly dreary stuff. Strangely I needed the new car and the always nice weather to keep me going even when the going gets tough like on Tuesday.



United Nations in New York!


These two weeks were earmarked for the big UN meeting when heads of state meet in New York. For us NGOs you can try to get access – and by that I mean special access for their “AGM” but it is hard as normal grounds passes are suspended due to security concerns when heads of state are there. You have to apply for special passes and they only allow one from each NGO and even if you get a pass it is only for half a day – just like the sustainable development goals was a while ago. Even if it was for half a day it would have been fun and a good vibe to be there when the action really happens but I needed the time to get the TV shows ready. So I have another year to lobby member states before and possibly during the next “AGM” at the UN in 2018.


Like I always prattle, I am running out of time so more and more you have this sense of impending urgency about everything. Your biological life and personal life are becoming more restrictive just as your biggest plays are about to be played out. Now that is pressure. No that is life.....


That is one reason I just love driving that new car around and prattling about unimportant things like doing a burn-out or peal out. Right now I listen to Roundabout (by YES) and Takin' it to the Streets (by the Doobie Brothers) and didn't even notice the street connection till now - too funny! And yes the music does date me - so there! I was taking a break and watching some crashes at the 2014 Mustang Week meet in Myrtle Beach. This is one big meet and as people leave you are supposed to burn out down the road. The spectators even help out by spraying water at the exit to get the tires spinning more easily. This lead to some spectacular crashes a few years ago. All caught on cell phones and contributing to the idea that Mustangs like to spin out of control and crash. There is a little bit of truth to this, and – full disclosure - I crashed my first 5.0 V8 Stang spinning it out spectacularly on the 401 highway here in Toronto, so I can’t be too critical (those in glass houses type of thing). That was like 28 years ago though. Now it would be much more embarrassing so I am more careful. There was this one guy, an old guy like me, who decided to do this long sideways burn out for the spectators and he lost control. Now to the dude’s credit he did everything you could do to get back control and got it in-line with the road and only hit the curb and damaged the wheels and alignment. But he got lambasted by the crowd with this one “Scat Man Crothers” look alike yelling: “He too old! He too old!” That is the most embarrassing part of doing something stupid at my age. No fool like an old fool you know. The worst part would be the current trend to take the video of you losing control, freeze frame it just as you lost control; and add in the narrative: ”It was at this moment Maurice knew – He fu**ed up!” and then they play out the crash (with the Scat Man play-by-play commentary). Just too embarrassing at my age!


But whatever, they now drive slower and more carefully leaving as the organizers are getting heavy handed or fisted about this nonsense the last few years. I always laugh at these videos as you see the girlfriends of the Mustang owners watching the ongoing fiascos but hiding behind trees and poles and stuff like that just in case.....Hehehehehehehe..... They know the score – err - the driving skills better than anyone else of their men.....


Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH6V-AX50A8&feature=share

(NSFW)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iKd53enRkI&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Almost there.....


The seventh show was done last night and I started on the last and got a quarter of the way through. Right now I am making another DVD and that will be three. The delays from now on will be DVD production as the render times for QuickTime files are now usually over 5 hours and then another three or so to burn the disc. For broadcast, AVID’s base code is broadcast DnxHD files so whatever you bring into the editor is encoded into the same output files and broadcast files for traditional HD TV broadcast. So you can work on a show and just export it quickly to a hard drive and – bingo – ready to air! But the other side is other file formats become laborious. But we are almost finished. I had a celebratory dinner Wednesday night and totally stuffed myself. That is probably the last binge and now I just trim down for my return to the real world on Monday.....


I get up at about four in the morning while editing and hop in the car and drive around while the files render for the DVD production. The weather is still warm and you don’t need a jacket even in September which is a god’s send. The Fates gave me the nice car (driving the old sputtering Roadmaster was a downer these days) and the good weather but no women folk hanging around. This is probably – in the end – a good thing. It is probably a good thing I am isolated from other people in general. People are a drag on your dynamic side, and they are a definite drag on your ambitions. Trust me when I say that if you get into a relationship and tell your girlfriend as you both stare at the ceiling that you want to change the world and she will just laugh. If you sort of have some chops in that direction but tell her you want to change the current marching orders for humanity and the knee jerk response is: “You can’t do that!” or “They won’t let you!” Who need a cheerleading squad like that in your corner? Now, that being said; there are some women or people if the relationship is more businesslike, who actually will prop you up and help you along and there are some famous examples of power couples that work out well – but these are few and far between. You are better off alone doing what I want to do. No woman wants a relationship where they are nothing more than a f**k buddy, they want more, they want possession, and you belong to the world – in your mind anyway. Of course the more sceptical will say an isolated person is just the solipsistic universe the mentally deranged need to perpetuate this idea they can change the world. Possibly, but those same conditions are necessary to make the “change the world” play. Face it, the people who currently run the world are not aliens, they don’t have divine right and were not anointed by God. They are just people no better than you or I. And if you were never mentally bettered by another even though you looked for that – then why not “you” to make some of the big plays? Really, when you think about it – why not you?

So I get the car and the weather but no woman at my side. There are women in my life, just not connected at the hip constantly as some men are. Anyway that is probably a good thing for me right now.


One final bitch I have to add is this: It really irks me to see professional journalists start to become lazy and participate in “fake news” especially since they never hesitated to point the finger at me - in conferences for example – as the figure head for fake news and out and out lies and sloppy journalism because I represent citizen journalists and bloggers. So imagine my surprise when I run across articles about Ford shutdowns due to low sales. I have told you guys for weeks about the planned shutdown at the Flat Rock plant that makes the Mustang. They are down this week and the next "presumably" (I just added that in for sarcasm) for retooling for the 2018 Mustang line that starts production on October 2 (2017). Everyone has known about this for months along with the last dates to fill orders for 2017 Mustangs mostly from fleet transcripts. So how on earth do these “automotive journalists” get away with saying the two week shut down at Flat Rock is because of slumping sales? I also see other “respected journalists” are taking the original "crap" news article and running with it too. Lovely!!!!

Normally I would just roll my eyes and move on. And I will leave the newspapers involved out of this post because they can still change or edit the story, and I now run into all sorts of news agencies, and stuff like this becomes an easy Google later on. But you guys can look into it if you wish. But for a guy who had to take so much crap from these people about this very thing – Well all I can say is: Karma is a bitch folks!




Goodnight.....




(NSFW)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_2LPPjHexM&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the work is finished.....


Finishing two weeks of work was mixed emotions. Just as I finished the last show Jessica chimed in with her thoughts on a couple of old DVDs I gave her and it was not exactly glowing. She hit me with this just as I was finishing the work and finally feeling relieved. Those comments just opened up a bunch of wounds again.....Hehehehehehehehe..... I’m not angry or anything like that as I wanted and encouraged the most brutal of critiques as I need to keep improving the shows. It was just the timing – man that stung!



My game face when I meet broadcasters!


But in this business you have to be tough and have skin like a crocodile. So even with the punch to my solar plexus, I still decided to go down to our next broadcaster and check things out. I will leave the identity for the time being but in the photo below you can get a hint if you are familiar with the Toronto broadcast scene. I could give you more hints but I will just leave it at that. Suffice to say I did start the broadcast distribution or air play before the fall so I did shop the shows with good weather and a nice car so that bit of fantasy was realized. Not quite way I thought, but more than reality would dictate.



Our next broadcaster!


In the end this is not about me, but about ideas and concepts. All my power and strength flow from being the avatar for those ideas and concepts I am pushing on the world’s stage. And it is those same ideas and concepts that are embedded in the TV series. And let’s face it – those ideas of change and development in the series run opposite of what traditional TV was all about. So there is going to be some push back as I shop the shows! Traditional television is about taking the best, the brightest, the funniest, the most talented and putting that out there as entertainment. I am coming out of left field showing them that anyone anywhere is just as good; and putting the ordinary man or woman in direct competition with those TV networks and the “talented” individuals that get air time.


That is why we will have problems with the shows.....


But the show is the show. Humanity is defined by its culture and human culture keeps changing and evolving. What I am proposing is no different. But it is a threat to the established broadcast industry. I will just have to knock on enough doors until I get a sympathetic ear. Someone in authority that can see the big picture and what is really going on at FOF and IAIJ. I am just a man and not too long for this world as I am getting older (in fact I have another birthday tomorrow – groan.....). I don’t matter at all, just the ideas and concepts I espouse. Our show is the show. We have all sorts of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, really hard things. Like Kevin coming back from being almost a quadriplegic, and singing his song “miracles” at FOFSTOCK. Stuff like that. But we are so trained to only accept entertainment as the networks dish it out we can’t see the real entertainment value all around ourselves. That is what I am facing as I shop the shows and the ideas and concepts behind them.





I wasn’t kidding when I said they may want us to wear Power Ranger outfits and fight crime on the side to punch the shows up. I am sort of like Batman in that I have an alter ego and all that; but that would be a sell out. There is more than one way to skin a cat. And the Fates picked me for a reason, so it is within me to do this. To get these ideas out there and let them germinate in the minds of humanity and flourish. It is all about ideas and concepts and not about the people who bring the message to the masses. But trust me, traditional TV will have a fix for the shows and it won’t be pretty. Donning Halloween costumes and jumping in to the nightmare version of my trusty fun little Mustang would work for them – all to keep that five second attention span we trained into our kids.




Yup – my work is cut out for me.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBe3QzVW5_8&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well Saturday is my birthday and I dread it!



There I said it, and though I’ll have a small birthday party with a cake and candles, man these birthdays now just get depressing. And please don’t tell me:“you are only as old as you fell” because I feel great. But you are getting dated and it shows. People are falling apart from your era even if you are not. Sometimes it’s shocking how some have aged. But whatever, this birthday is not one of the big ones but I am getting closer, uncomfortably closer. Retirement was always this far off thing and starting over was always an option. Not anymore. I have slowed down the time machine a bit with all this stuff I do on the side but the years keep going past.


I’d like to say no regrets but there are many. You live life as best as you could given the cards you were given. I got some crappy ones but others got them too. Fairness and justice are manmade things and the reality of the world is that your life is just is – warts and all. You just have to live with what you have.


Having finished the video work on the shows I took Friday off and just wandered about town. That gets you thinking. You start to look at yourself from outside and size things up. And at my age it is never a happy rosy thing. The advocacy is surprisingly not affected. I did it right and this runs practically on vapours. Funnily enough ruining the orgs never entered my mind really – it was the other stuff. Responsibilities of all kinds. Even though I am divorced with no kids, I am as tied down as anyone. You rush around to do the things you want to do because that window to do them is always shorter than it looks. I know this from experience. But the great thing is that the big plays are sure to be played out. The Fates picked the right person for the job. Or as the old saying goes: The job picks the man and not the other way around.


Right now I am burning the seventh DVD and encoding the last. All this should be finished by Saturday night. Then it’s all down to the broadcasters. I am giving them the extended play eight one hour series version. TVO said they got bored half way through for most characters so we may have to double up the shows to keep them interesting. It’s up to them and how desperate they need content. It is easier to resize down then resize up so expect run times to get shorter and episodes will maybe be pushed into each other. Certainly the music shows could be melded into one hour and Shane's show could have the 20 minutes of Jessica added from the Epilogue show. It goes like that. There are always things you can do – if – the broadcaster is remotely interested in using your stuff. We shall see.....


I am starting corporate taxes as we speak. Paying bills – man, am I glad I didn’t overspend on the car. You watched me whine about not having the V8 Mustang an all that. But the way I replaced the Roadmaster should be the way you buy whatever car you want to buy. I was supposed to buy the cheapest I could bear, but the Hyundai Elantra was not that car. The cheapest was a sports car and as luck would have it Ford was phasing out the V6 Mustang and just keeping it one more year because of fleet and police contracts, but you could still buy one if you wished. That car was the cheapest sports car out there so buying that does not have you second guessing the purchase as much, as you did get the cheapest possible sports car. So it was the stripper Mustang and the cheapest, but the one I wanted because I hate the four cylinder (it’s is an old Mustang guy thing). I hammered down the best deal I could and that was it. Then I spent three months thinking about it. But note that three months have literally passed – anyone can see how not giving in to the dealer up sell works out for the best. If I had given in to the up sell I could have literally paid almost twice the amount I paid just to add two cylinders and some emblems on the fender! Yes the cheapest V8 was like 18 grand more and the rest are about 23 grand more and the convertible is 30 grand more but I never considered the convertible – but yes – double the price! The insurance is probably a little bit more but not all that much, the gas is more, but like the insurance it starts adding up. So while there is a bit more "wow" factor buying the top of the line, three months later is the: "Holly crap what have I done!” factor..... And that will last five or six years – have fun with that! The original 5.0 V8 Mustang was the stripper version and this year it was the V6 – so – I bought the V6 and the car even has a bit better performance that the original 5.0 – but whatever. Learn from my experience. When the new models replace yours, when the car gets a few door dings and scratches, when it is just a car, you still have to live with the impact of the payments for years to come, so don't over spend!



Right now I can drive this car as is through the winter as the rental fleets demanded it. With the V8 I would have to buy these steel wheels and snows and the steel wheels would have to have room for the larger brakes so maybe you would have to get proper sports rims slightly smaller and then you are looking at 1000 to 1500 dollars or so and you just bought the car! Yes, I was thinking about that today. Maybe if you don’t have the expenses of the orgs and such it is tolerable. But folks, if you are going that high I would almost gamble and get a Corvette instead, like one that is one model year old but sitting in some lot somewhere. More up sell – Hehehehehehe.... You see how that works, they try to take all your disposable income and then you are on your own! So if nothing came from all that Mustang prattle I hope you saw that I did it right, didn’t get up sold and still look back at the car when I park it - even after three months, so I got the right car.


But yes this is my birthday. Man does that suck!




Goodnight.....






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go55QcUqGkc&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeufVDpyuTE&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one today because I am running around taking care of things before this vacation of sorts ends.


The shows are burned and done and I will make a set of copies today and apply the labels if I can find them. Otherwise look for the photoshop files and have the printer run off more. But we have the "mission critical" stuff done and can actually knock on doors again.



The finished DVDs are the ones by my keys - an un-messed with pic - just keeping it real!


I have the bank statements for all corporations and just need to pull last year's tax returns and we get started on those taxes.


I also have to cut my hair and really stretch out as I have been hunched over a computer for the last two weeks. Also, starting tomorrow I stop those daily trips to Starbucks. I only did it the last two weeks as a break but cutting Starbucks is the monthly extra that got me the Mustang. I could just live with it as is but Starbucks is an unnecessary extravagance. The money I save in gas pays for the extra in insurance so the monthly hit is not that great in the end. But Starbucks and its hipster iPhone crowd is now gone except for maybe one visit on the weekend.


As for the birthday - I am just glad it's over. I bought myself a small gift. 3.7 fender badges like the 5.0 badges. Now that the 3.7 motor is gone in the Stang these badges are on sale and probably not going back into production. So I bought a pair from American Muscle in the States just because. I'll just store them somewhere and forget about it but hand them off to whoever buys the car from me later on. I'll also keep an eye out for the sale on 3.7 super chargers and buy one if they go cheap. Otherwise a Nos kit complete during the fire sale and a tune (which gives me my 157mph top speed and the line lock) and those will just sit next to the badges if I ever get the urge. That should finish scratching any itches I will ever have and then I drive it just like a regular car. And thank God my car has no crappy spoilers or hood vents that serve no purpose. I saw an unsold Camaro SS getting a factory spoiler. Just looking at the masking tape holding the end pieces while the glue sets just makes me want to cringe and laugh. The main spoiler is held on by two sided 3M tape. Good for nothing and tacky (literally tacky as in tacked on). Thank God my car doesn't have any of that. In fact they delete the spoilers with every performance package at Ford because serious car guys know better.




Just look at the end cap of the spoiler - the thing is glued on crooked!



I'll do a more invoked recap but that is your update today.



Later.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to the usual.....


A late one today as I had to run some errands earlier then usual.


First was that I used whatever birthday money I got and paid some of my property tax with it. Another return to reality there. Then I bought some spray on rust proofing for the new car in addition to the brush on stuff. I do this now instead of paying someone every year as it looked like a good thing decades ago and now it looks like they just take your money and do very little. So I do it myself. I am sorting out banks statements for the taxes but what I really should do is vacuum the house. Normal stuff to augment the return to reality!


More and more I am back into that Positive Mandate for Humanity! The philosophy behind it simply rocks and is bullet proof. We live in a universe where there is more going on than we can perceive. Most just accept that and work within those known perceptions, but the more technology improves, the more we will stumble into things we never knew existed before. Minds and cultures that are open to the fullest extent possible will be able to adapt in the best possible way if we adhere to that idea of freest expression of body and mind. The Gene is out of the bottle and we aren’t going back to a 16th century lifestyle – willingly – and the best way to continue to improve human culture is to let the humans be all they can be. That is the underlying part of the TV series. You just watch broadcasters belittle and berate and bastardize that message. But I could be wrong and hope I am wrong; we will just have to knock on doors and find out.....


The TV series is good to go for sale or airplay with the broadcasters. I did spend half a day reworking the final part of the FOFSTOCK show with extra video overlaid on the old comments on the concert after the fact. I found the part where Shane spikes this expensive RF brand new microphone at Yonge-Dundas Square and put that in there when he talks about it. I also inputted some of the crowd protesting the square turning off the microphones – and then deciding to turn them back on again – hehehehehehe..... Then I rendered another very large QuickTime file, burned the DVD when I went to bed and made a duplicate for distribution in the morning.


During the summer I swore I could hear crickets chirping on the FOF Records website. But things are up and rocking again now that school is back in. Even Shane if making new music but more on that at a later date. For now there are new music videos out by Young Spot:



Shane Murphy wrote:
Check Out Yung Spot's Latest Video!



By Shane Murphy FOF Records Inc. / FOF Inc.




Yung Spot



Young Spot has new music videos on Youtube called HYD/Many Years! Check it out at the link below:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vicGI0XnQo&feature=share


While you’re at it check out his website at:


http://yungspot.com





FOF RECORDS: CUTTING EDGE MUSIC!






And that is where it stands right now.



Back to reality.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reality has truly settled in now.....


I am still getting all the tax stuff together and just need the old FOF return so that is coming along. I am doing it all together and then just forget about it afterward. Yes, there is much office work even in the little operation we have. It’s a constant drain on your money and time and other resources. It was such a neat thing to have a real office and address on Allstate Parkway, but now that it is the official address for all the companies, any mail and courier stuff goes there and so the last two weeks when I was stuck at home editing I had to drive over there and check the mail which means it is not even a question anymore, I just go up to one of the secretaries we share and she just hands me a stack of mail and stuff and off I go. There are a couple of car dealerships around so I would go to Starbucks and look at some cars and then pop in at the office and skive off with the mail into my car and back home. So all that costs money and there is now a percentage of my time which is just maintaining the companies. The phones – the phones – we still have land lines and you can call our number in Tokyo or Hong Kong or London or New York or Estonia. We keep them as they work if there are power failures or if there is internet disruption, our members can still get their stuff out. You could still use dialup in an emergency if the system was still up but we haven’t even thought about this in years. It just occurred to me now about that utility – but whatever, it was just a thought. Dialup still exists here in Canada but like only in the GTA so maybe dialup is essentially a dead thing.....


Anyway I am doing taxes and maintenance. I looked for stick-on DVD labels and only found two left. I may find more if I look as I am sure I made more when I printed some two years ago but we shall see. I did find like four bibles for the TV series so I may just use those with a separate bound version of our positive mandate work to go along with it. So the biggest delay now in the TV stuff is getting the presentation package ready. The shows are basically locked down now. With the tweaking of the FOFSTOCK show on Sunday I convinced myself that the shows were as good as we could possibly get them in basic editing in extended play. We did our best so whatever comes from this lot of material will have no regrets. I just have to finish the presentation package and then start to physically go to the broadcasters and find out exactly what I have to do. That is nerve wracking but necessary. You have to go there and meet people and just see what they think.


That takes balls to have something you have worked on for thirteen years summarily evaluated and possibly thrown back in your face. That is why I go this part of the process alone. You really have to be tough and thick skinned. If all else fails I can just give it to a real established producer but then he or she is in bed with you for the rest of you TV existence – so I really want to do this on my own.




Goodnight.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok we have stuff to update.....


Well the TV stuff finally got out of the office and into the printers where they are going to print off some DVD labels for the DVDs I hand out to the folks in the industry. I had them run off some old files where I would write in the show episode, but later on I may make some with the episode name and number on the label but I really just want to get the thing done and start knocking on doors! This may take a few days as I didn’t push them for a finish date but probably ready for Friday; then I start pestering them. I also took a trip literally up the road to make sure Derrick, our entertainment lawyer was still at his old address, and he was. This guy will handle call Canadian distribution and New York distribution as he is a member of the bar in both areas. I also made sure Doron is still my agent and lawyer – but he is actually an entertainment layer – for any dealings in California. Now the hard part is finding an entertainment lawyer who is not compromised by having a broadcaster as a client – because – then he can’t represent you. This is more a problem in Canada as the broadcasters are solid continuous monetary streams so I can’t blame these lawyers for hitching their wagon to that star. Derrick used to have this old black car in the parking lot in amongst the brand new large black BMWs the others used. Maybe the car was just for show because his clientele is always on the poor side – but a guy like that that did not sell out is my kind of guy! He also sits on the board of some prestigious arts councils so the guy has talent, but also has a moral code. Doran use to be president of a lawyers association in Beverly Hills but took pity on me – and that is word for work the situation – and will front for me if I have to deal in California. When Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor (of California) he make the TV and movie industry more protectionist in California so if you want to do business in California you have to have and agent who is Californian; otherwise nobody will talk to you. That is just the way it is over there. Want to pitch a show to NBC? Well you submit it like I did at 30 Rock in New York and – lo and behold – it ends up in California where their production offices are and you meet the same problems there.



So we are off and running with the TV stuff.



I finally found my tax stuff for all corporations so that is happening after I punch out this update. I also have to deal with GST – why on earth I set up a GST account at FOF is beyond me, but GST accounts are nothing but a pain in the ass to deal with.



What else?



Well the car I guess. The only thing of immediate mention is that I finally got my first noticeable scratch on the car. I only mention this because for most people who buy a new car there this tiny period where the car is in pristine condition and they continue to feel like they have a new car. Then it gets scratched or dinged or even hit and it can’t be locked at as a new car anymore. When I picked up my car from the dealer there was one decent scratch on the passenger door handle, what looked like a manufacturing thing that happened and not while on the car, I let that one pass cause what can you do about it? The other one was a small gouge in the back seat plastic interior, again, no big deal for me and I drove out the dealer’s lot and the car was mine and new as far as I was concerned.


So here is the funny part. It is just over three months since I got the car. For me it’s always like three months and then something happens. I actually did own a car that never got a single scratch or ding or dent or rim abrasion. Pristine until I got rid of it. How is this possible you ask? Well that was the 5.0 Mustang I totalled at three months back in the 80s. The funniest part was that thirty minutes before the thing crashed I was checking out the body panels to make sure they were still pristine –and they were – and half an hour later the car was bent like a banana and totalled. I spun that car out at highway speeds on Toronto’s 401 in the rain going over an expansion joint; and by spun I mean literally like at least two but probably three full spins hitting the guard rail with one end and hitting it again with the other as it spun. I had to climb out the window as the doors did not work. But I did accomplish the feat of having a car that was completely unblemished until I gave it up. I don’t count the crash as a “blemish” as the car could not drive from the moment I hit that guard rail. If it could even putter to the side of the shoulder then it counts but this thing was no longer a car! From that moment on, I looked at that first ding or scratch as a lucky talisman and it seems pocking around the net I am not alone. Getting that first ding or scratch means long term ownership for some guys like me. A car that keeps going without a blemish starts to worry guys like me who have been to the edge and back. You start to feel like something should have happened by now, and maybe what will happen will be BIG! But a scratch deflates the whole thing. I can see this thing every time I walk up to the car. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things but that scratch makes it just another car now. Instead of carefully wiping off all the water and drying it and just admiring its perfection on a sunny day – now – you just rinse it off with a plastic brush that may collect grit and scratch up that black paint even more, but you don’t care, the spell is gone. You don’t even bother to dry it off, just get the obvious stuff washed off the car and let the water marks dry – it’s just a car like any other now.....





Goodnight.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I’m back from the printers with the DVD labels.....



The TV series DVD labels!


There they are in all their glory. So I really can finish the series sale/distribution package this weekend and be ready to go for Monday! The weird part is that I am actually salty to go and do this. It may not last long but I am actually up for this one. And note the very workman like progress we have made in getting to this point. I have been here before and no stopping now!



What’s next?




Fender badges for the 3.7 V6 Mustang!



Well those fender badges came from American Muscle. This won’t go on the car but is just a nudge, nudge, wink, wink, to those 5.0 guys who need that badge on the fender to show their place in the wolf pack hierarchy that is Mustangs. I picked black so that if they were on your first reaction was this was a 5.0 with the blacked-out option (stealthy); but when you look closer the truth is revealed - too funny and does not break traditional rules against putting "better" badging on a lesser car! I will just keep these as a conversation piece. I stared at my own chrome 5.0 badges for 18 years straight so all this stuff has sort of lost its importance on me. Just some nostalgic familiarity. The stripper car I got in the 80s works out to be the same price as my current car – adjusted for inflation - which has similar engine performance. Actual performance is better with better transmission and platform, so for the same money you get a much faster car and – power windows, locks, ABS, A/C, Bluetooth (first car didn’t even have a radio) and all the rest. Even the wheels look the same but are 2” bigger. But with the V6 gone from the line-up I keep an eye out for fire sale high performance stock and buy it cheap. Then I am good to go with the car. I still have to rust proof the thing but that will happen over the next few weeks before the snow comes. Anyway, since I drove a 5.0 V8 for 18 years I was one of those guys who put down the V6 and in the early days that motor was crap - to be honest. The last one was the best and a truly great motor for the new sports car Mustang with the independent rear suspension. This car is the best Mustang for autocross and that says something. So Karma has visited me and I will drive off into the Mustang sunset with the V6 model I once derided - but - this time I will wear the "stigma" with pride cause I know better.....


Anything else?




The taxes. The taxes – but I have all the documentation now.



Later.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJOvlLREDJ4&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A totally wasted morning.....



My game face when I meet broadcasters!


Nothing got done this morning. Like the change in weather finally to rain, my spirits dropped along with the temperature and the rain pellets. I just thought about things. My miserable life, the upcoming agony of shopping the shows around. I have to craft the cover letter and make sure it grips the reader and makes them want to look at the DVDs. I will keep the series bible as is but maybe change out the first cover sheet in the book. The study I talked about at the UN will be bound and included. I may keep the music out of the package as well as the newspaper as that seemed to be over kill for TVO. However that can change over the weekend. The only onerous thing is reviewing all 8 hours of episodes on DVD to make sure there are no technical issues. Get all of that above done by Monday and I am good to go. I always say “I” as nobody else will want to go with me to those early meetings as they will no doubt be brutal. But I guess I am as ready as I ever will be.



Another game face when I meet broadcasters!


But no sense brooding about that. The taxes are still on a table to be done. The house still needs to be cleaned. All the usual. But man I am depressed. We did have a long stretch of good weather I needed to improve the shows and get ready for the shopping of the series. So I really can’t complain. I also guess my constant car prattling drove away most of the fair weather lurkers which is good as the next few months may not be pleasant. Blogging my life is all right if you know the result will be good or not too embarrassing; but if the odds are against you and maybe embarrassingly so – well then – the less witnesses, the better.


Anyway the next few months will be awful, so I am steeling myself to much aggravation and heart ache and pain. That is the TV industry. Even if you are successful you are just one step away from failure and obscurity. It really is a dog-eat-dog world in that industry. But I see I am just depressing myself typing about it so I will take a break and have a coffee.....



Later.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzPKb4YJTp4&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It has begun.....



Performance Improvements in Toronto!


A really late one today but I had to go early to this speed shop called Performance Improvements and pick up this device the gives me access and ability to change the car's engine performance parameters.



Racing seats - and - I still fit them!


It looked like there was only two of these in Toronto; otherwise I would have to drive down to Milton and get them from Steeda Autosports and even pay more for the thing. But they had one – it said two – and they guy behind the counter was relieved as he just found the last before I showed up driving down there. So the trip was not a waste and I took that photo of my car beside the place as I left. I also started to check out other stuff like sport seats – you know like Recaro seats – as this stuff can become addictive. However the base Mustang seats are the best I have ever seen in a sports car – and I am not alone in this opinion – so the Mustang seats stay! Anyway, the device was expensive enough so I just paid the guy and left.


The only regret was that I was so happy that I binged on some lunch and had to sleep it off and only just got up. That is what happened so far today. That little purchase did perk me up and now, more than ever, I can get back to work on the TV shows. For those of you not into cars, this device allows me to circumvent the speed governor and get my 157mph top speed; but I would not be surprised if we are now knocking on at or just under 160mph (around 260km) with the other mods which was super car speed when I originally lusted after sports cars back in the 1980s. Basically it allows you to get rid of the “nannies” and do as you wish with the car you purchased as well as speeding up the car as I am not interested in fuel economy which is how all cars are programmed by the manufacturers to meet CAFE requirements. Aside from top speeds 0-60 goes down to the very low 5 second range and the quarter is solidly in the thirteens. But doing that voids the warrantee on the engine unless you can prove the changes did not lead to the defect – so a hassle but that is just the way it is. For now I will just leave it alone as the car only has like 3850 miles (over 6000km) on it.


But it has begun even though I get the car ready for winter. This does make things interesting. If I owned a GT would I void the engine warrantee on a car that made 420 horsepower anyway? Probably not as I have more than enough. But that means that my car with the alterations I made will actually go faster than the GT in stock form including the 155mph speed governor! We have also closed the horsepower gap to 80 which means that the V8 will still win but it won’t be a blow out. So is this enough? I would say bare minimum but I could live with this set up. Remember the V6 and transmission no longer are manufactured in the Mustang (2018s start production October 2) so I can buy the device now and the never worry about the engine modifications changing. It is as good as it will ever get. To go faster is now thousands of dollars and a supercharger hanging off the front of the engine. But this is enough for now.


So I got myself out of my funk but wasted a day doing so. It’s a nice bright day still outside of my window so I will wash the car and chill. Then back to work on the TV stuff.....Groan.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PzpztFJZP8&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Still snapping out of the old funk.....


I did get all melodramatic late Saturday night with the TV stuff ahead of me. I also missed not being able to hang out with Raymond, my best friend and best man at my wedding – 40 years, etc.). It would have been fun to take him out for a night of “auto-sport and hanging out at that drive in call Johnny’s’ he loved so much. But he is gone now along with my mom. You do notice this stuff when you get weak at times like this. I am sure this is everyone’s life and this weekend it hit me a bit hard. The car stuff is the only weapon I have to fight back. Get in that car and it wants to go somewhere – yes it has that attitude – in reverse in my garage it just wants to get out there! So I took off for a spin last night and then started messing around with the tuner even though I had put it away for future use. It was either that or go to the bar before it closed and stare at a wall by myself as the guys watched ultimate fighting. Anyway, I updated stuff that probably wanted updating and started to get into it.




SCT tuner device!



Ford deliberately made the V6 Mustang bad when it decided to push the turbo 4 down Mustang aficionado‘s throats by giving out V6 performance numbers on 87 octane instead of 93 for the turbo 4 like the others – like all the other sports cars in the world; and adding an "*" that said “at least” (the jerks). This made the turbo 4 look more powerful. Ford set up traction control to the max – mostly I believe for fleet sales where the rental agencies did not want the customers flogging the cars to death. So, in a nut shell, the car was really de-tuned prior to its end of life (though the engine and tranny live on in the truck and van division). Now here is where the tuner makes all the difference. Ford kept production until 2017 to satisfy fleet sales and you could still buy this car, but with literally no options. That is how I got the car so cheap as I had to stretch from the Hyundai Elantra. The thing is that the car was deliberately detuned and you also get the most from a tune when you have an automatic transmission; so basically the best bang for buck tuning you will ever get is tuning a 2015-2017 Mustang V6! You get to undo all the shit Ford did to the engine’s performance. You get to delete restrictions like increasing the top speed to about 160 from 125-130 where it was before. The car is now simply as fast as it can be with the right tune. You still have all the original programs from Ford if you want to just cruise, but the device comes with a mediocre tune with extra performance and this morning I paid for a custom tune that is about as ragged as you can get on 93 octane. That should do it for now. I may even put the supercharger on hold for awhile because there is so much you can do here – and then share as I feel for this group of Mustang owners. These guys are so berated by the usual Mustang suspects that it is nice to give them a tune that wakens the car. Going from a car that could hardly chirp the tires to the same car leaving a 15 foot “mean patch” of rubber from a dig and breaking loose on the 1-2 shift is just a happy moment to see for these guys.




Pro tuner software!


Now that I pocked around a bit more I may even go further and get a racer’s license and really program the car myself, program and – let’s be honest – steal programs Ford denies the “lesser” models – Power to the (Mustang) people! Power to all! Hehehehehehe..... If you are tech savvy this is all very easy to mess about with. You may fry your catalytic converters in the process, but you can buy some more. This part is real fun for a gear head like me. More and more car performance will be less shade tree mechanic and more just sitting at a computer or laptop programming in the performance. The programmers at Ford are always compromising performance because of fuel economy targets the automakers have to reach, tuners have no such restrictions so the cars drink gas voraciously, but give back "neck snapping" performance.....



Pro tuner software!



Pro tuner software!





At any rate this has pushed me out of the funk and I will be back at the TV stuff tonight!




(NSFW)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usLZJhlD9f4&feature=share
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Fortress Of Freedom Board Forum Index -> Social Club All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 250, 251, 252 ... 414, 415, 416  Next
Page 251 of 416

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

affiance theme by sparsely