Fast Food Demons Taunting Me!

Apologies All Around

Sorry to all the few of you that read my blog. It's been ages since I've posted anything. Lot's of drama in my life lately, and it's taken its toll on my productivity. I think I'm getting a hang of what I need to do to turn things around in my favor without hurting anybody in the process.

To those I've neglected and to those I've smothered...I deeply apologize for being selfish.



I've walked a long and lonely road all my life, and there's still miles and miles of more of the same ahead of me. I thought I could take a short cut. But God has a way of humbling people and steering them back on the right path.

"You just haven't earned it son...You must suffer and cry for a longer time."
-The Smiths

Ninjabeats vs. erniesbudolab - Vegemite Challenge

Oh My God! Nina totally surprised me on her blogTV channel. I showed her my bottle of Vegemite, and then she challenged me to an eating contest. I think we both "lost" and "won." She won the volume category, and I won the least number of gags. We both lost because we had to eat something afterwards just to kill the aftertaste.


No Title- Broadcast your self LIVE

Nina's a kick-in-the-head fun friend. I'm so glad I've got a buddy to joke around with on the internet!

Ernie's Interview with Professor Stephen Hawking

No! Of course it's not a real interview. I wanted to challenge (with the hopes of improving) my editing skills.

This project required about six hours of sitting in front of my computer just to research, locate, and download stills and flash video. Then, I had to convert the flash into mpeg and avi files in order to edit them in Premiere.

At times, I had to separate the audio from the video. Such was the case when I created the Hawking dialog. Speach synthesis was generated using the speak function in the software Movie Magic Screenwriter.



In all there are about seven layers of complexity in this project and another six hours of meshing all the elements together. After watching the final cut, I know there's lots of room for improvement. Primarily, I need to step up from Premiere to Final Cut Pro which means I need a new and more powerful computer to run FCP. Great... Certainly, I haven't truly maximized the potential of the platform I currently have. A few more projects with what I've got will convince me one way or the other. Still, it's tough being a one man show!

But for now, I'm pleased with my progress. For my next project, I'd like to try audio punch-ins, over-dubbing, and green screen video. Just to keep things interesting.

Ernie's Randomania 1

Just some random goofiness:

Ernie Opens His Prize From GirlTalkMD!

A few weeks ago, I entered a YouTube Contest conducted by GirlTalkMD, a Mother/Daughter team from Canada. They wanted to know: What's in our purses? They revealed what they had in theirs and invited the YouTube community to video reply with the contents of their purses. Well...I don't carry a purse, but I revealed what I carry in my fannypack. Technically, it's a gun holster that looks like a fannypack. Don't worry. I don't carry a gun. I like it because it's got lots of cargo compartments.


[One more thing to carry...yeah, I know!

Chill Pills or Sloppy Joes?

Christine's original video here

Ernie Replies to GirlTalkMD

The Girls at GirlTalkMD (on YouTube) subscribe to my YouTube channel. They're a mother-daughter team, and they're both a kick in the head. Recently they posted a video called "What's in Our Purses?" Responders, mostly women, have to disclose the contents of their purses.

My buddy, RetardedMango and I, as far as I know are the only guys to participate. Mango described his "purse" as a MAN-BAG. And, I said guys don't carry purses, but I opened up my fannypack for public inspection...



[Double click the frame above to go to YouTube to find links to the original GirlTalkMD video as well as other responders.]

More Mango...

Hopefully this vid will gain me more subscribers which in turn direct them here to my main blog.



Plus, I had lots of fun making this video and replying to all the responders.

I Miss My Cat

A few years ago, a feral female cat had a litter in my backyard. Though she was too wild to approach, she ate the food I set out for her. She rejected three of her kittens. I've always wondered how she could tell which ones weren't going to make it. None of them died quickly. So, heart broken, I'd collect them and kept them warm and as comfortable as possible. In my hands, I could feel that their rib cages were either incomplete or they were missing shoulder blades. The malformations were probably due to in-breeding.

Among the survivors, there was a jet black male with golden eyes. I called him "Bubba." He was the only male survivor, and his four sisters (I never named the girls...just called all of them "Kitty.")

Bubba was a real lazy cat. He'd climb a nectarine tree next to my house and take naps high in the branches. As he got older and heavier, he settled on sleeping on top of the fence on the property line between my neighbor and I. When I watched TV, sometimes I could hear him through the ceiling run across the roof just before feeding time. The sound of his padded feet was a reminder to me that it was 4:45 PM.

Bubba had to fight his mother and sisters to get a share of food I set out. I also had an old Cocker Spaniel, named Spotty, that would share his food with him. But would bark whenever any of the girls tried to steal a bite. (Note: Spotty used to find the dying kittens, gently pick them up, and bring them to me! I think he was just tired of hearing them cry all the time, and wanted me to make them quiet. Cute, huh?)

Anyway, as the feral mother had more litters, the number of cats got out of hand. My neighbor trapped a few and I trapped a few and brought them to the SPCA. We were never able to catch the mother, and I think she eventually passed away. Two of her daughters that escaped capture gave rise to two rival factions for my backyard and civil war ensued.

During the following two years, Bubba layed low and would occassionally visit to see if there was anything to eat. All of his sisters never let me pick them up or get close enough to touch them, unless I had food. Bubba, on the other hand, was the most docile. The first time I picked him up, he was asleep...in one of my bonsai pots. He wrapped himself around the trunk of black pine tree. Instead of shrieking out, claws exposed when I removed him from my tree, he just slowly opened his eyes and yawned. I wiggled my finger in front of him and scolded him, "No sleepy sleepy on the bonsai...Okay?" From that day on, he never slept in any of my bonsai pots.

As the feline civil war grew to its highest ferver, Bubba looked very ill. His black coat started turning yellow at the hackles and he lost a lot of weight. I think the women were starving him out. Eventually he stopped coming around. I always hoped he found better digs, for he frequently would disappear for longer and longer periods of time only to show up hungry. Perhaps he was seeking new territory and finally found the promised land.

Either way, I miss him a lot. Not long after Bubba stopped coming around, Spotty died. I don't think his death was because of Bubba. Spotty was almost twenty years old (in human years)! The last of the cats are now gone and my back yard is very quiet and peaceful.

I saw this vid on YouTube and it reminded me of Bubba so much, I just had to share it here:

Pop Up Market

This wasn't staged for the camera. This is a real open market in Thailand.



Think: Modular transformation in Macross City aboard the SDF-1. (Google it, if you don't know.)

Things That Happened on October 5, 1973

• Bobby kisses Millicent and later thinks he might have caught the mumps on Episode 100, "Never Too Young" on The Brady Bunch


• The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee conducted the 12th Annual Midwest Medieval History Conference


• Jules Leger was chosen to succeed Roland Michener as Governor General of Canada


• Shuguang-1 (Project 714) was supposed to be China's first manned space craft


• Doctors Dove, Shah, and Schreiner submit the article "Effects of Nitroglycerin on Left Ventricular Wall Motion in Coronary Artery Disease" to the medical periodical Circulation

and then there's...

Doesn't that just make you want to go wreck the neighbor's patio furniture? Actually...don't.