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 ... 310, 311, 312 ... 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: Sat Feb 01, 2020 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually I can take the weekend off.....


I keep forgetting that we did stuff this week as I am always worrying about catching up. Anyway The Fortress came out, we got Shaun Kelly back into making music. I’m starting to spruce up my New York wardrobe with a new Eddie Bauer with navy three piece jacket that replaces the old and warm Timberland three piece which got the job done but was oversized and hot. This one has down and half price of their ridiculous regular price - so - I bought it. I should also waterproof that leather laptop bag that replaces the vinyl bag I have used this far. I tried to get another vinyl but they weren’t on sale - only this leather - so I figured I should live a little before it all fizzles out! So a new stylish me is coming to the airport - if they let me travel.....



I regularly get my depressing moments when I think of my age and what I missed out on. I get it - if I had a family there would not be any advocacy. I guess the grass is perpetually greener on the other side. I’m guessing it’s a rush to have a new born, but that it gets old fast and with the knowledge you are in this for at least 30 years. But it would have been nice to have just experienced what every single human experiences in their lives.


I guess I have run out of things to say when I drone on like this - so.....


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: Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Saturday was the first day of doing nothing.


I actually feel guilty doing nothing but most people live this way it seems. I’m going to keep the three in one coat that replaces the old Timberland three in one I used at the UN since 2015. Like I said - go out in style, but it all has a price. That leather laptop bag I got last February for 130.00 is now on sale for 49.99. I tried to find a way to return it and get it cheaper in the fine print of their return policy, but no joy. So I’ll just waterproof the thing today and be done with it. That goes with me to New York.



The new coat!



So I may walk around with the new coat today to make sure there is nothing wrong that I didn’t see in the store and be done with that also. Pick out the luggage and such and start to prepare. Disseminating the voting app idea officially there at the United Nations is one of the last vital things I personally have do at the UN so the cheapskate side of you says to leave as you came with the falling apart vinyl case with the rips and tears and zippers with pull taps missing. I did look for the same model to buy but they only had the leather but I could have done it one more time. Similarly with the old coat, I could have made it one more time, though the last time I had to get out the needle and thread to fix a small inside pocket that was unravelling. If I knew this was it I would go there all tattered except for the new suits I have.


But nobody knows the future and - to be honest - I’ll probably be back in there again and again for other reasons - so, time to update things. Besides, when I go to Geneva I’ll need new threads anyway. There just aren’t any guarantees in life and if I was cheap from the “get go” none of this would have happened. Like if I hadn’t have started the record label and pouring money into that there would be no music or TV shows - so no positive mandate idea - you get the drift. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.....



By the way: I’m getting into the old Shaun Kelly stuff and today it’s a song called “Bugs Inside” - what a twisted trip! With this guy the album has a reason for being. Anyway, I’m now looping “Bugs Inside” out of all the songs out there in the universe.....




Shaun Kelly






Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/M4lTRyg--CU
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 Feb 02, 2020 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some things got done on the weekend to do noting…..



Its super bowl Sunday but I don’t care, so I will probably take one last look at the DCP currently in the actual DCP hard drive in Linux. I believe I have done this already but I will do it one more time and then forget about it just in case we play it one more time on the big screen. That actually sounds a lot like FOFSTOCK 2.....



But other things are happening. I should upload the first episode of the series to my dropbox account and then send the link along with the information for that show and try to get certification for that one. The rest are already done but I changed the name of the first one so that has to be done again. That should take care of the movies and the TV shows. I will really need to update all the old music to proper listening formats maybe this year. And after the current projects get completed do things as the material presents itself. So I think the corporations stay the same for the foreseeable future and we just work with those. Maybe we will get involved in shorts and help distribute and help with venues for new music. The book publishing continues whenever anyone does not want to self-publish - we will be there. And maybe one or two last novelty printing runs of The Fortress, but we shall see.




The horrifying spelling mistake in the title nobody else seemed to notice!



But yes, it is kind of a downer this weekend. Things are shrinking for most of the media. But just a few months ago it was this desperate reach to get the movies and TV stuff out there. Even if we get on more platforms, that yearning and rush of getting the stuff out there is gone. Even the problem for me of the title spelling mistake is “so yesterday” and looking back – “so” irrelevant! But it was all such a big deal back then. Back then as in two months ago. The book was the end of the year. The Fortress was about a week ago and Shaun Kelly a few days ago. So why do I feel like nothing is going on? You know what – I must be daft! In two weeks - if not sooner – I am flying down to the United Nations on official business and possibly a speech. This is crazy that I should feel this way! So what gives?



It’s just a feeling, and feelings pass with time. You have to know when to jump from one thing to another and keep going forward. Same here, I was worried about taking the advocacy to the ground game as I figured that was impossible; but currently my recent moves paint a different picture. You just keep swinging back at the world as you get older and as time runs down. Maybe that is it, the fact you are getting older and realize that time becomes more precious. I should have at least thirty more years above ground, but how many of those years will be active and relevant to the world. Maybe ten more or 15 at the latest. You see, things like time run out before you think it has. I figured on last item at the UN but you just don’t know, it could already have run out. I did get the positive mandate disseminated which was the big score. The voting idea is there as a side event but an official footnote at the Commission for Social Development would be nice. But the rule usually is that it is over before you think it is over. Maybe that is the cloud that hovers above my head. The feeling that you are getting older and time is running out and that what you think you have left with time is – secretly, in reality – much shorter than you think it is. I’ve been at this for 17 years and it has become a lifestyle for me, but it was always supposed to be a temporary thing like originally two years to get the documentary done. Now I’ve been at it so long that going back to the normal life is scary. Scary as in there is no life as you know it outside of this lifestyle you created. I guess that is the angst, going back to being this unknown second class citizen with no wife or kids. Just existing till he dies. That may be what is on my mind.....




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/HIAOG9nhrt8
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 Feb 03, 2020 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’ll add a bit more this morning.....



So the weekend was not a total waste. I did get three annual returns for three corporations done. Then I started to make sure projects were archived properly before I forget about them.



The DCP


First on the list was the movie DCPs. So what I do is watch the file I copied to the DCP hard drive and if all is well I then forget about them. But the file I thought was the final file could not load in my DCP player - so what gives? It turns out that wasn’t the final file I made and the final file does actually play but where I did I get that messed up DCP. It may be the DCP copied back from the DCP in the hard dive for the theatre and messed up when transferred or messed up when transferred back. So I have to find out and I am copying back that file from the actual DCP into another hard drive and see if it is intact and playable. If none of that makes sense all you need to know is that in the end that DCP hard drive will play at a theater in the future.



I’ll spare you my diatribe on the coronavirus except to say there does seem to be containment within China. I’m a man of the world and I don’t see this situation in geopolitical ways. Never growing up with a specific culture or cultural identity is the reason why and why I zeroed in on the United Nations from the start. Anyway, we shall see if the containment shrinks in China and then to the provinces and cities and finally full eradication. Some say another two weeks before we know. But if you take the countries out of the equation the containment problem seems to be working.




Later.....





https://youtu.be/VuddiKKzlV8
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 Feb 04, 2020 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Digital Cinema Packages for The Fortress Experiment and Real life: Real Lives have been copied to an external hard drive and are now being reviewed. I foresee no issues so the movie and accompanying short are good to go for any theatre worthy of that name. That is ideal as making changes means booting up Linux via a thumb drive and working with Linux and it’s different file systems. While you are fresh ass into it, it is is all easy and familiar, but add a few years and changes to Linux and all that and making sure the movies are good to go becomes complicated and a pain. But theater projectors are always backward compatible so after I review The Fortress Experiment it is done!



Our show at night on the marquee of The Royal Cinema!


Whether they screen again is a mystery. But with the DCPs tested and done it is just money and I can easily see an encore performance at a more friendly date in the years to come. But it was a rush to see the movie I all it’s SD and HD glory up there on one of the biggest non-imax screens in a 400 seat theatre from the 1930s that is bigger than any cineplex theatre! That part was close to what I had envisioned in my mind. But we shall see what theatre 2 is like as these big old-fashioned movie houses are almost extinct nowadays. But to see your movie in a big traditional theatre like when you were a kid watching “The Three Stooges” was a rush! And buying popcorn and a huge Coke to your own movie - hehehehehe.....




Night time crowd!


Movie 2 is easy but FOFSTOCK 2 will be hard. At least if you go large again like the first time. Caution here as the first time date we got and the venue we had was a fluke . A holiday in the summertime at the most densely traveled intersection in all of Canada is a rare thing. We got like 65,000 people wandering through the FOFSTOCK perimeters over the 11 hours we had it rented. Of course most people were just walking past shopping or off to the subway or whatever. But the reality is that they all walked through the perimeter and that blast of music and visuals had everyone looking over even if just for a few seconds. So I probably won’t get another 65,000 person draw ever again - but it was a rush to get it at all and I did - just like any sold out event at a stadium!





Even getting on TV back in the day of 13 channels was such a big deal. There I was on channel 3 prattling away after Saturday Night Live and not just on cable, but over the air via “rabbit ears”! For an old guy like me that is a moment where you became what you before only saw - a big rush!



I could go on and on - but I want you to see the mood you get in when you realize all those days may be behind you. Deep inside you want more and more - but I’m no longer young and you have to get practical. The experiment is over and the companies now have to operate as profit based corporations and companies. I see younger guys really taking some chances. One YouTuber hooked up with a producer and made a TV series from the success of his YouTube shows. It went nowhere but they got lucky and one obscure cable station picked it up for one season and so they got their money back. Another guy who presents himself as some backwater yahoo but lives under a different name and was a law student when he started his YouTube shows - he just made a big gamble. They were successful on YouTube, but now he took all that money and bought this big abandoned raceway hoping to revive it. Good luck there - but me thinks he may lose all his money unless he gets very lucky several times over. There is a reason why it was abandoned any you are starting from scratch, so what could possibly go wrong - heheheheheh..... But I understand why he did it.



Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/Nr0fLkMP260
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 Feb 05, 2020 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m taking a break from reviewing the movie.....



So before I go to the mall and Starbucks, the movies and TV shows should be put to bed. For TV I just want to make sure I have at least DNxHD (1080p) files for all but I’ll probably “up” that to also having JPEG2000 files for archive. Watching the movies in the uncompressed resolution of JPEG2000 always has me saying how beautiful the video is. And I only seem to get full resolution of the SD material when it is all uncompressed, this seems strange at first but I am happy with our SD material when it is uncompressed.



The new cafeteria still has a view - but not as good as the old one!


So let’s say the print is locked up and can be forgotten a bit now. The movies and videos should quickly follow. And the rest continues as “business as usual”. The coronavirus situation in Toronto is still stable so I will continue preparing for the UN trip as usual. Just remember that nothing is guaranteed so it could all just end up with me walking around Central Park and eating at the UN cafeteria. By the way, I miss the original cafeteria at the UN which was huge with that spectacular view of the river!



Oh: A small point but long term reports on the Apple AirPods Pro are coming in. Many have gone back to AirPods 2 or whatever. It seems the AirPod Pro still want to loosen and fall out. As they loosen the audio degrades and you have to regularly punch them in, also it gets uncomfortable to use for extended periods of time. Some flat out tell you about the problem. Others sneak it in that while they love AirPods Pro they still have and use the original one for running and exercising. That’s not good considering the cost. No regrets in dodging this product as no rubber tipped ear piece has ever stayed in my ears - Nuff said!



Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/8heLwhCD5RM
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 Feb 06, 2020 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I took a break from the UN stuff but now I have to start thinking about it again.


Physically I’m at 100 percent and even whatever age related stuff I figured finally was starting to surface - well they disappeared? Only grey hair and that started 25 years ago. The Fates are keen to keep me active and free of distraction. My worries are now all petty, some people are battling health problems but mine are like losing another 2 pounds. Whether I should create another master file for the TV shows in broadcast format as I changed the credits for Amazon. The Mustang has a well known issue that supposedly is normal - noisy cam head clatter on a cold start when temps are the coldest of the year. After that nothing again till the next cold long standing start (as in we’ll below the freeezing point). This gives me something to think about as aside from that nothing ever happens to this car. Another month and it will be another 10 months before I hear it again. I mention this because if anything that may be a real problem happens, I forget about the noise issue, and then like this time (and you even turn out better then before) when resolved, you start listening to the engine again. It may in fact be normal as they say, but I never noticed it as I tune in loud music all the time. Only now do I just drive and listen to anything with the car as the first 3 year warantee is coming up. But the car is fine, so chalk this up to budding OCD or something like that. The next worry is crooked eye glass frames. I now think about this a lot but the fix is new glasses (long over due) or lasers. What else? I constantly think about whether I should keep that 3 piece jacket I just bought or send it back. Lots of energy spent on that thinking. Then there is the leather laptop case I bought last February for 120.00 but is now on sale for 49.99 or so. This occupies much of my thoughts now. But just two weeks ago I thought I had a health problem and could not care less about any of that other stuff. The car runs well - good - something like that. But the health issue resolved itself and I’m actually better off now than before. So I can be even more superficial than before - so now I worry about this other trivial stuff.




The Stationwagon lasted 23 years but how long will the Mustang last?



The biggest problems for me is immediate family and friends and their very real problems. But you need to be in this space to stay properly focused on the advocacy. A health problem and the advocacy would get stalled. So that is the sit-rep, but I have decided I will keep the jacket and take it to New York. Half price with down insulation - and I had been looking for a while. Also there is no way to return the laptop bag - so cut all the tags and waterproof the thing and move on. Your 2.5 years in on the car and it has 6 months bumper to bumper and another 2.5 years on the engine. Chill out! Think about the squirrels coming back to the attic in the spring.....



Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/PRcpiaoCqFU
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 Feb 07, 2020 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It’s back to the New York stuff.







Plane fare booked as well as hotel room. Travel insurance just made. This is for the most probable dates because nothing is guaranteed. If it happens before then I go - and then still go there as a real vacation. That is the plan.



What else: Starting to lock down the TV series. I have the JEPG2000 files which are the best for archiving but probably need DNxHD files of the same shows and these will be done next week. Then organize and make sure copies are made and the walk away from the projects. We will have more shorts or docos in the future, but The Fortress Experiment is over. BTW - people are watching the movies and shows on Amazon Prime which was surprising. So we may look for more platforms for people to watch.




R.I.P. BlackBerry Mobile!



Coronavirus: For two days new cases have slowed down. This is one week ahead of expectations. But if it is for real we may have turned the corner on the spread. But it could all be wrong so all you can do is wait.




Blackberry had mobile payments before Apple or Android. People freaked out as I paid with my phone so many years ago!



BlackBerry: The last BlackBerry handsets will be distributed and sold through approved vendors in August. Then that is it for BlackBerry in the mobile space. BBM is gone for consumers. The only original BBM that still works is in legacy BlackBerry 10 devices like my Passport. For everyone else it is BBM Enterprise. These last BBM users probably are just on enterprise and not being charged. But BBM is dead and now all handsets with the BlackBerry logo. I may buy one last BlackBerry Key 2 LE (used for next to nothing) in a while, just as a curio, but the prices are going up and still around 800.00 here in Toronto. BlackBerry was one of the first with pay options via the phone and like in ear headphones I was one of the first to use this! Such a cool company back in the day.They still have their fans!





And that is it for now.



Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/GxtSXOyPYVc
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 Feb 08, 2020 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeh, I technically am on vacation - but actually I’m never on vacation.....



So first of all the 58th Session of the Commission for Social Development starts on Monday and even though I basically know when the oral statements will happen, you still never know, so I will have my “bug out” bag ready to leave at a moment’s notice just in case. That means all phones as the Note and Passport are the only ones with the voting app installed as an iPhone app has to be approved by Apple to make it into the App Store. So clean social media out of those and clean out the laptop I will take there which will be the Dell with the i7 processor and SSD hard drive - a basically indestructible laptop that also has a metal body as opposed to plastic - a real “rock crusher” - but durable. I also yanked 200 USD for the trip but most purchases are on the phone or card.



My current Dell laptop!


I’ll pick out the suit or suits and I will still carry the long wool coat just in case. You get the idea - just be litterally ready to rock and roll if the need arises. Last year with the positive mandate I was there for the whole thing as it was that critical, but this one is more mission centric....



I will also render an episode for the CRTC and get that last certification in and be done with all that and the CRTC. Trust me, they will muscle their way into all the major steaming platforms and in the end it will just be like regular TV. So having all the certs in order is a must!



I am also watching director commentary on VHS 2 which is hilarious as you get different directors for each short in the film. I just absolutely love this.....



Infections have spiked again in China so no decrease yet. I figure one more week but who knows. It will drop down in the spring if all else fails but re-emerge in the fall.



Oh: It was minus thirteen this night so I waited till it was coldest just to see the Mustang start cold and dry (I am truly a masochist). It did not disappoint but soon was its perky normal self. It’s just a car now to me but I love the way it looks and mess around with it like all my other cars. The lube I have on the Mustang hinges survives the cold, but my previous cars would creak and moan when I opened them at times like these. It is now in the garage so when I start it again it will purr at me like new. But just an ordinary car now that can go 157mph. The Roadmaster could do 147 with its Corvette LT1 motor but the Mustang still has 10mph on that beast which makes it the fastest car I have ever owned so far as even my two previous Mustang 5.0 V8s could only go 142mph back in the day. I should have my Corvette before I retire and keep driving the Mustang daily. That’s is the plan going forward.



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: Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Chilling at the mall..... But on Saturday I got confirmation that my book is in the national archives and at the Library of Canada:





Sam wrote:
Positive Mandate Book in Library of Canada Catalogue



By Samantha Blackwell, Fortress of Freedom Inc.







The Fortress of Freedom corporation is excited to announce that the book Positive Mandate for Humanity has been entered in the the Library of Canada catalogue. It’s not in the stacks yet but it is listed and can be found here:

https://bac-lac.on.worldcat.org/search?queryString=no:1137606294#/oclc/1137606294


Production runs over 100 copies qualify for inclusion into the stacks and available to the public. In a few weeks we expect the book to be fully cataloged and available to the public.




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





So I’ve been wearing that Eddie Bauer jacket to make sure it can keep me warm and that I don’t overheat at the airport or on the plane and so far so good, as it is lined with down instead of polyester like the old one. And it barely covers a suit jacket in case I need that utility so off go the tags as this one’s a keeper!


The laptop gets cleaned out today and plopped into that leather laptop bag I paid too much for along with the Note 3 and the mouse and power cords. Pick the suit which will be the navy as usual. Plain navy if you are videotaped as a pattern can display moire. So you will always see me in navy with a plain tie if I am on video and now you know why. Just the one suit as it’s just there for the speech if I get it. If anything formal comes up that suit with a shiny black tie will suffice. The ties and the shoes and belt go in there now. The suits and shirts hang until the last minute. My casual shirts and jeans and such can go in there now so if I have to bug out in a hurry we are there. Remember I usually fly there, but if they need me there next day and no flights - well then I drive.....



Some things never change so even though I registered for the event on January 2, it still says pending as usual. Only in 2017 did I actually arrive registered for the event online and at the reception desk. So this is business as usual. I just keep at it.



Later on Sunday I will submit the first episode to the CRTC and then wait. Then for the rest of the week is rendering DNxHD files of the TV series. So that is the plan as of right 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 Feb 10, 2020 12:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one today but I did submit the CRTC Certitication information.....


So another wait for this one but I have letters for the others.


Chilling again at the mall as it’s nothing but snow outside. When I return it is back to packing and practicing the speech which may or may not happen. It’s actually a depressing time but there is lots of sunshine now so that may change things.


Turning my age is not just getting past the birthday - but the age carries on in your head. Time is running out - you are getting old and everyone else your age is getting old and retired and or falling apart. I’m still charging and trying to do things with the spectre of old age and death nipping at your heals. Just make the play - just make the play.....



So this is how your life plays out. Not like how I thought it would be as I rationalized as a high school student. But accurately on point as the fantasies of a young boy of all things. Marriage and kids were not on my mind back then. Just climbing those stairs (that didn’t exist back then) to the UN as a man of the world trying to save the world.


I’m still at 100% and still ahead like when we had school races (in elementary school) and I’d turn back to see the others huffing and pufffing all out behind me. But those days of slowing down to let them win because I wanted their acceptance are over. I went to those places of power, looked around, and nothing has changed. I’m making my own moves because they are the best moves and based on a moral imperative - not a social want. Everything I have done was proper, so no regrets. And now I’m even playing the ground game which I thought was futile. Push push and push!!!!!



Also, after criticizing the Oscars, they went and finally made a foreign film as best picture. The director is also the director of Snowpiercer which I have in my collection. Congratulations to Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) of South Korea!



Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/EH1EtiOhr6o
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 Feb 11, 2020 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The week got off to a good start for me with submitting the CRTC Certification - hopefully - for the last time.



Proof the CRTC cert for the first show was made.


I had to reapply for an account as my GCKey as they call it was revoked - Again! So maybe the fifth time as most others only have one. Who keeps revoking my account and why? I know why but won’t say it here - use your imagination..... But this is par for the course. There are many famous examples of people actively working against my ambitions in school, work and in my social life. Everything is impossible or difficult and you wonder how the human race could still continue to exist under these conditions. Of course it is not the human race - only me.....




Proof I registered for the 58th Session before the deadline.



So am I paranoid to take screen shots as I apply for the certification letter? Am I paranoid for doing the same at the United Nations? I have screen shots of the regular application to attend the 58th commission and the acknowledgment for the oral statement. But as of the time I write this, there still is no acknowledgment on either. Something should show up with the speech but I am used to going up to the desk and showing the application and emails for stuff I have to do and then the acknowledgment is emailed after the fact. But this time I may have to get my grounds pass and then fight for the commission pass to get in there to make the speech. So things could get exciting!



Proof I applied to speak at the 58th Session.


On to the TV stuff: I bought another 4 TB drive for the TV shows and movie. Right now the shows in the series are being exported as DNxHD 1080p 220bit files which is total overkill for DV25 and HDV material! But that is what the broadcasters always want - so..... so the files will be huge but the silver lining is that the render times are like 2 hours and not one day. This is promising as the short render time indicates lack of compression in the final file which is what I want.



The rest of the day will be packing and preparing and practicing the speech.





Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/ElvLZMsYXlo
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 Feb 12, 2020 9:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven’t gotten any response from the Commission on the oral statement so it’s not looking good now.....



United Nations in New York


Last year the statement was approved just before the session started, so yes, this does not look good though anything is possible. I’m still going to New York anyway for next week so this will be more of a vacation, but I still want to pop in on the session and be able to claim participation for the four year review we have to submit this year. But even then, I don’t have an approved registration for the event – so? So - I have to ingratiate myself just to attend. But like I said before, there are no guarantees and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The big deal was last year and that went perfectly, that was critical and this was gravy, but still it would have been nice to get this last bit of dissemination in there. Anyway, as I said it before, it’s over before you think it is over, still anything can happen so you continue as planned.


I have to tweak the series shows as I render them for TV land. When this is all completed I close up production on the series and it is all about distribution. The movies already have closed production as they are good to go anywhere. So by hook or by crook the video parts of the organization move forward post experiment. This gives you a little insight into that depressing feeling I’ve had lately. You have been doing things and climbing that ladder of influence, and then, inevitably, it starts to come to an end and you take stock of your life and evaluate it. Anthropologically I had no chance at a “normal” life so I did this other thing instead. Was it worth it? The worth could be measured by the alternative or the opportunity cost. Since I had no alternative I guess it was all good as I didn’t give up anything for it as the normal life was denied. That’s one way to look at it I guess; a life just doing a menial job with no wife or family and then death – as opposed – to this other stuff I did. Given that bit of clarity I guess it was worth it given the alternative. Still it is not much of a personal life. Anyway, I hope this clarifies the “why” of the mood I have been in.


I’ll add some more to what was written last night. Realize that this blog of sorts is done in real time and if things don’t go my way you get egg on your face. It’s sort of like taking a shower with everyone watching. For the experiment mostly in the end things went my way, but we are reaching the limits of what I can do and so you are starting to see rejection. So after I disseminated the positive mandate, you saw all that rejection at the film festivals. Then all the rejection at the World Bank and IMF. So like I said before, if you keep reaching you will reach a point where you can’t reach anymore. Now this year the Commission tackles homelessness and that is a popular topic so I’m sure they have more than enough oral statements for the time allowed. Or maybe they figured I spoke last year so give someone else an opportunity. Or whatever, nothing is guaranteed in life. Like in sports you take your shot but someone will win and someone will lose and it will be out there for all to see. And my deal with The Fates was the Positive Mandate at all costs and I got it, so this may be more payback for that. You can run it through your mind backwards and forwards and it doesn’t change the final outcome.




The Fates!


Anything can still happen so you still remain practiced, but so far the pressure is off. Of more than curiosity is whether they even let me into the session if I get there. I’ll find out about that on Monday. First it is renewing the grounds pass which is that card that lets me in the rest of the year. Then we see what the Commission says about my registration. I have seen people turned away at the desk before so this would be something new. We shall just see as there are no Cinderella storybook endings in real life - just real life.....


As for today, I just continue on with the shows and movie for television. I have to make changes as the series on Amazon is with FOF Entertainment Inc. and TV broadcast is still with Fortress of Freedom Inc. so the credits have to be changed. When it is all done I can take a breather from Movies and TV and print for the time being. After the New York trip, at least one trip to Geneva just to check it out. Then we see if they kick us out of the UN and carry on from there. As before, no regrets being provocative - that’s why I’m doing what I am doing! Music and music videos are still active and ongoing.


I did watch an interesting movie called “Aardvark” (2010), a revenge movie centered around a blind guy who’s actor is actually blind. Let’s just say the blind guy blind sides his audience at the end - and I’ll leave it at that.....




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/FesgjI-zQrY
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 Feb 13, 2020 9:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well all eight shows are formatted into TV friendly files ready to go. They are now being transferred to the 4tb hard drive I bought earlier in the week. Then I format the TV friendly movie as it now has a CRTC certificate.



Those TV shows will then be shipped around to small and multicultural broadcasters in Canada. We keep all rights but offer broadcast for next to nothing. The idea is not to sell and turn a buck but distribution of the positive mandate philosophy. So no, I’m not closing shop but forcing myself into the industry again and getting broadcast at home.



In other news: I will cut my hair and make sure all is well with regard to the trip. One thing I will probably do is take the Statton Island Ferry and see The Statute of Liberty up and close. And maybe also go to the top of the Freedom Tower. I arrive early on Sunday and don’t check in till 3:00pm so this takes care of that. I may also pop down to B&H and get an AVID keyboard or cover before I close the deal on editing. Things like that. Monday and maybe Tuesday are at the United Nations even though I’m not scheduled to do anything there but possibly observe. Turns out I have a bit of bureaucratic business there best done in-person. Visit the Museum of Modern Art and walk around Central Park. Scope out our office on Park Avenue just in case we actually have to use it. Stuff like that. Then back to Toronto.



World Trade Organization in Geneva!


The main goal is the WTO in October and also the UN beside the place if that happens. A big trip there. Overall you just keep at it successes and failures and all. Doors were opened up to me, mostly by middle aged women (my contemporaries) in the international sphere. More and more they are retiring but hopefully still following this. They took a chance on me and I’m not giving up the fight to make the world a better place. People interested in that are like me. They usually don’t have kids and families or else they would be concentrated on that. They are like me in other words. We have a kinship in that way. Anyway, I have an idea, concept and philosophy to disseminate and I ain’t stopping now! That makes their actions as enablers that much more important and draws them into the fabric of what is going on here. They chose right as we have the idea and are disseminating it across all platforms. I have the time, health, and money to take this to its conclusion.



Anyway that’s what is going through my mind right now. We held our usual IAIJ AGM last night and will have the synopsis ready for all members in a few days. What else? I’m watching the movie “Borat” which is funnier than I thought.....





Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/DhqXla91vaE
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 Feb 14, 2020 6:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Still in that is depressed funk.....



The TV shows are done are ready for broadcast. The movie threw an error code in the editor but this file has rendered before so I just started the render again. I have all kinds of files of the movie and I even have a DNxHD broadcast file so no biggie here. So - knock on wood - all the video should be basically done by today and then I forget about it for a while.



Now I really get ready for the trip. Anything that goes into the suitcase, stays in the suitcase. Only the suit and overcoat go in last. I do what I normally do and put on the suit as I would going to the UN and the jacket, maybe gloves and scarf to cover all bases. Then pack it all in there. Always carry an umbrella (collapsible) as it rains a lot there. I’ll carry on as if I was making a statement as you never know. The idea here is that even though you weren’t selected to speak, even though your registration was not approved, you still go and try to attended because nobody knows the future. Still this trip has the feel of the hard goodbye. You plan your grand finale one step before your last event, because it’s always over before you think it’s over. I still get one more grounds pass just in case it all goes bad. Hopefully this one won’t look like it skidded down the road and got run over (yes it looked like that). But there is no choice but to go as planned.



Back of the grounds pass.


I still have a few minor things to do there (at the United Nations) so there is a point to it all. But it sure feels like a farewell tour of sorts. I said goodbye to movie production and now to television production. That is “production” and not distribution which is ongoing. Dissemination of the experiment at the UN seems over - actually felt over last February when I disseminated the positive mandate. The voting app idea has a one hour long video of my side event describing the whole thing on the UN website. Bottom line is that I can live with what I have done - but you still keep trying.....





Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/s_ukmBy8Olo
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 ... 310, 311, 312 ... 414, 415, 416  Next
Page 311 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