Happy Halloween ScaryOn

Second Life Anyone?

Trendspotting: Second Life
http://secondlife.com/

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,153,947 people from around the globe.

Second Life is an online completely virtual community that represents its millions of users through “avatars.” These online representations walk around, watch TV, go to work and even use Second Life currency that is convertible to US Dollars. The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions, and “land” is available for sale. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.

Companies like Nissan, Starwood Hotels, Adidas and other large brands have purchased “land” in Second Life to promote their products – Adidas makes shoes for the avatars, Nissan cars – conduct business as usual and engrain themselves in the online space. Moreover, Reuters and CNET have established full time news bureaus there with reports whose sole job it is to report on and for Second Life.

Communities of residents form as they find people (through their avatar representations) with similar interests, ranging from neighborhood associations to fans of science fiction movies. Avatars can meet one another, communicate, stay in touch and even party with each other at nightclubs, fashion shows or art openings. There are also casinos, dance clubs, shopping malls, space stations, vampire castles and movie theatres.

Membership Packages:
Monthly: $9.95/mo.
Quarterly: $22.50 ($7.50/mo.)
Annual: $72.00 ($6.00/mo.)

Joining and creating an avatar is free, but premium membership packages include access to land ownership.

CarryOn, what are you waiting for? Get a Second Life.

The Trendspotting Trio
Adrian
David
James

Guess That Employee!

In the spirit of Halloween we've decided to play a little game. It's called "guess that employee." One of the trick or treaters below works for this company. But which one? Post guesses in the comments section. As usual, the winner gets a spot in the Kudos Korner. Good luck!

Happy Halloween!

Consumer Retreat 2006

You'll see what we're laughing at when you scroll down...

Future Caption Contest

These hands should have been in Vegas

Consumer Retreat 2006

A night to remember....

Here are some pictures from the 76th annual CarryOn Softball Awards Banquet. More details to follow... Thanks and congrats to all...

You are who you eat...

Happy Birthday, JP!!!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Office Guest - 13 Rock-tober 2006

Its Ralph!

Back from the Edge!!!!!

I am thrilled to report I have survived my trip to Patagonia. Many great photos to share! thought I'd throw in a few in the meantime.

Highlights: Learning to yell at Argentinian airline workers over lost luggage (in Spanish), getting lost in a 200 year-old wine cellar, and avoiding 1/2-mile deep cravasses on the glacier!

Office Guest: 06-Rocktober-2006

Carlos' Crazy CarryOn Caption Contest (C5)

A (slightly) manipulated IM conversation:

carlosmanz505: When you get a chance, caption contest. Send out an email and also remind people to vote for the awards. Tell them they should ask around if they aren't sure who to vote for.

davidmcarryonpr: i'll do it now

carlosmanz505: also, have you been reading about that congressman sending inappropriate ims and emails?

davidmcarryonpr: ummmmm.....

carlosmanz505: they say you have to be careful when you use ims. they're never really erased from your computer

davidmcarryonpr: yikes

carlosmanz505: seriously

davidmcarryonpr: it would probably be smart not to use your computer for anything that might be considered offensive

davidmcarryonpr: we don't do anything like that though, right?

carlosmanz505: no. not at all.

davidmcarryonpr: caption contest is up and running now, fyi...

Adrian Scandle Reviews: Friday Night Lights (FNL)

God Wears a Helmet

Dear Readers - This week's show presented an interesting conundrum for Yours Truly: having to review a show based almost entirely on subject matter that I don't really care for - football. But what I realized through this ordeal is that its not that I don't like football - per se - I just don't like the NFL. Let me explain, for those of you intimate with my past, you may know that I was a "Yell Leader" in high school. Call us cheerleaders and with all the Catholic-Boy prep school suburban angst that we could muster we would deny it to the death. The gig entailed wearing a white and blue striped polo-shirt and khaki shorts/pants while chanting a variety of mostly unorganized and mean-spirited cheers while trying to humiliate the other team by humiliating ourselves more (that sort of Manichean logic seemed correct in the good ol' days- like making fun of the one you wished to date the most until they cried). Anyway, that experience taught me a lot about what football is and what it can mean to a community, particularly if you have a good team. Our team went all state or champions or CCS or something and there are few things better than having the clock down to the final minutes while that guy in your english class passes it to that other guy from your History of the Modern World class for a game winning touchdown in the last game of the season. In NFL, so much of that home-townie camaraderie seems eaten by the souless corporate machine that stamps helmets with logos and throws annoying John Madden quotes at you on giant rotating chyrons sponsored by Nike and Kellogs cereal. It seems the closer to the ground (societally) that football gets, the more compelling it becomes...in my mind anyway. If football is an analogue for the Roman arena, I guess I'd rather see people I know pummelled by lions.

Anthropologically speaking, I find football interesting because like art, theatre and video games, it seems to fulfill some cultural niche that seems so removed from the vital machinations of real life while being absolutely necessary at the same time. It's both extraneous and compulsory. Watching FNL reinstilled that sort of cultural importance of football, of team organization and homosociality that only alpha-male competitive ass-pats can induce. At first I was skeptical, as the opening had me wondering if this was going to be yet another Varsity Blues with such unforgettable lines as "I don't want YOUR life!" And though that movie had its good points (whipped cream anyone?), it ultimately reminded me why I don't live in Texas. But like NFL to good old Bellarmine Bells high school championships, this show differs in that it really gets at the beating heart of how such a "game" can unite or rend a community.

The engaging documentary-style camera work follows an NBC crew following the team (meta, eh!?) before their opening game with a new coach. The acting seems unpretentious and the dialogue almost entirely palatable. Those two distinctions alone should garner a few Emmys in my opinion, but hey, maybe there's no room with Everybody Loves Ramond receiving posthumously? After establishing the ethos of the Texas town that lives football, breathes football and pours football all over their chili burgers, the story finally starts advancing. We find the coach to be an untested newbie (and an actor with some gravitas to boot) and the quarterback to be a handsome all-American God Fearing Saint who carries the team's skills and boosts their morale. There are some blonde girls in crop-tops and like any drama set in the South, inklings of racial tension to be explored further in coming episodes. Sound boring? I thought it would be. The arc of the show really picks up when during the final game (SPOILER ALERT) the quarterback heroically vaults in front of an opposing player (close game at this point) and injures/martyrs himself, ultimately effing up his spine. A scene of hospital workers unceremoniously cutting his helmet off with a saw and incising his back to fix his spine is juxtaposed with the backup quarter back (another toothsome yet inexperienced hulk) trying to rally the team in the final minutes to recover the game and bring honor back to their small fighting town. I actually found myself standing to cheer a team I should really have no allegiance to, were it not for the earlier exposition that fleshed out these characters into actual believable human bodies. The other team was just "the other team," with no story, no narrative, no soul.

The outcome is largely predictable, so I don't even need to spell it out for you, but the execution of the final moments, the careful surgical selection of the scenes, even with a voiceover, seem to cut to the quick of what football is - and should be - all about: pleasing God by winning and bringing honor to families and a community who otherwise would be useless and unimportant....Just kidding- mostly. Like the SlumpBuster's up-and-down championship rollercoaster ride last night, the game comes to represent life; that sometimes the best players get their spines broken, but someone always steps up to carry the ball; sometimes for a win. In our case, thank God, you can replace "spine" with "hammy." Overall the show is less about football and more about a town completely obsessed with something they have created that is now much larger than all of them combined. This game where boys throw pig skin at each other and try to get it in the end zone before the other boys push them down has somehow encapsulated their hopes and dreams and all their possibilities for the future. It's politics with helmets.

All this philosophizing on football has made me a little more straight, so I will continue to watch this show in hopes that there's a good shower scene (which I'm promised there is). But I would recommend this show, given that it made lil' ol me stand up and cheer. It's not perfect and I hope it explores divergent possibilities to expand on the usual sports narrative where the hero always wins or backup quarterback-who-no-one-thought-could-step-up-does-and-proves-himself-to-win-the-big-game-and-woo-the-coach's-daughter scenario, but we'll have to wait in the bleachers through the season to find out. Clear eyes, full hearts and - in the future less predictable storylines - and this show can't lose.

Awards Season

As October chill settles into the Los Angeles air, the CarryOn Slumpbusters wind down their season. This can only mean one thing. End of season awards. The Categories and nominees are below. Email your votes to the good people at Price Waterhouse Coopers HERE. Just cut and paste then highlight your answers.

The nominees are:

Blooper of the Year
o David’s Bermuda Triangle Performance in Leftfield
o James hitting the ball back into his own face
o JP’s outfield of Horrors
o JP’s Slide into First

Team Spirit Award
o JP
o Kat
o Adrian
o Laura

Injury of the Year
o Jessica’s ankle falling off
o Carlos’ double hamstring pull
o Yoffe’s hamstring explosion
o Mike’s shoulder coming out of socket
o James hitting a ball into his own face

Gold Glove Winner
o Ian
o Yoffe
o Kat
o Shelley
o Amanda Hughes

Least Valuable Player
o JP
o JP
o JP
o JP

Surprise Player of the Year
o Tracy G.
o Sophie
o Cecilia
o Katie

Most Likely to Have Used Steroids
o Carlos
o David
o Ian
o James

Best “Switch Hitter”
o JP
o Amanda Hughes
o Nicholas
o Adrian

Bonehead of the Year
o Carlos forgetting uniform before first game of season
o Andrew de Lara never knowing when he’s up or how many outs there are
o JP forgetting his contacts and playing in the outfield
o All the girls for still not realizing the lineup goes guy, girl, guy, girl

Comeback Player of the Year
o Mike S.
o Paul Y.
o Jessica
o Carlos

Fan of the Year
o Eric
o Alma
o The playoff unit of Raiderette Judith, Foul-Mouthed Carol, Never-Give-Up Chevon, Terrible-Towel Jessica, and "Nice Hustle" Amanda G.
o Kevin
o Jennifer


Groupie of the Year
o Kat
o Shelley
o Laura
o JP

Most Valuable Player
o Ian
o David
o Paul
o Shelley
o Kat

Best Cameo
o Cecilia
o Kevin
o Alma
o Amanda G
o Tracy K.
o Grace

Trash Talker of the Year
o Kat
o James
o JP
o Jessica

Flaky Player of the Year
o Sophie Vu
o Andrew Vu
o Kris Ellenberg
o Mike Shekoyan

Most Likely To Start a Brawl
o James
o Kat
o JP
o Carlos

Most Likely to Flirt with Opposing Players
o Tracy Garcia
o Tracy Garcia
o Tracy Garcia
o Tracy Garcia

Best Fashion Statement
o David in sweatband
o Kevin in cut off sleeves
o Adrian playing in cargo plants

Tryout of the Year
o Carlos pitching
o Carlos at shortstop
o David in left
o Adrian in left

Best Looking Female In a Uniform
o Kat
o Shelley
o Laura
o Sophie
o Tracy G.
o Jessica
o Katie
o Cecilia
o Amanda
o Grace
o Traci K

Best Looking Male in a Uniform
o David
o Ian
o Carlos
o Paul
o James
o JP
o Kevin
o Mike
o Adrian

So what you're saying is....

..we've got a chance.

Hold your heads up high Slumpbusters. We're still in it.

This is a picture of what the other team will look like next week...

This is your last chance....

Dear CarryOn Staff, Friends of CarryOn and Randoms who read this blog even though you don't understand our inside jokes,

Please do your very best to attend this evening's game at 6:30 pm at La Cienega Park to watch your very own CarryOn Slumpbusters attempt to take the "W" during the semi-finals. If we win we go on to the finals against some pretty gnarly teams.

That's right, people, today is not just any game day- today is PlayOff Day. So finish your timeslips, grab your pom-poms and put your game face on because tonight the CarryOn Slumpbusters will be busting our humps and going for the gold.

In good health,

Katalonius

Speeches Paul Never Gave...