every word of it.

Did you know that ‘promo’ is synonymous with ‘music video’ in some parts of the world?

I did.

But one thing I wasn’t aware of - was the site PromoNews.

After my last post, I went looking for music videos that I would nominate for Music Video of the Year. It’s only fair - after putting down MTV’s list - I should come up with my own. As a result I spent the rest of the night at PromoNews.

My Video of the Year
MGMT - Time to Pretend
Youtube
Quicktime - Slow but worth it
It could use less shirtless hippie, but I’m still enthralled by it.

The Shortlist
Goldfrapp - Happiness
Quicktime
I’m easily impressed by hopping and the look like it was all done in one take.

CSS - Rat is Dead
Quicktime
Did I mention before how much I love stuff that have that one shot feel?

Brighton Port Authority - Toe Jam
Quicktime (NWS)
It’s the most original use of black bars this year

Mystery Jets - Young Love
Youtube
It’s the ‘cute’ video in the mix.

So there you go. 5 Videos - all better than the dregs MTV drug out to be nominated. And I spent maybe 2 hours all together going through my top rated tracks, PromoNews, and Antville.

You can do better MTV - I believe in you.

Check out the nominees for MTV Video of the Year

• Chris Brown “Forever” Joseph Kahn
• Jonas Brothers “Burnin’ Up” Brendan Malloy / Tim Wheeler
• Pussycat Dolls “When I Grow Up” Joseph Kahn
• Britney Spears “Piece of Me” Wayne Isham
• Ting Tings “Shup Up and Let Me Go” Alex & Liane

That’s right, “When I Grow Up” by the Pussycat Dolls. I’ve still got it.

My finger is firmly on the pulse of the sound of young america.

You can find links to all the videos at antville.

I watched them all (mostly). They’re all pretty much generic trash, except for the Ting Tings. I have a feeling The Ting Tings video is copying another recent music video, but I can’t place it. But at least it’s something fun to watch. The Jonas Brothers have Danny Trejo and David Carradine, but it’s nothing special.

Are the Ting Tings going to win? I doubt it. Justice’s D.A.N.C.E was apparently nominated last year, and that didn’t win.

From July 22nd - August 1st I was on vacation. I took a plane and landed in Trinidad.

Honestly, I was a little scared. It’d been 12 years since I was last in Trinidad. I can say this with certainty because the last time I was in Trinidad, Joe’s Apartment came out. I wanted to see it. But by the time I got back, it wasn’t in theatres anymore. A similar thing happened this time as well with The X-Files 2. But luckily I caught that before it disappeared. So yea, 12 years. It’s a long time.

But you know, it was a pretty good trip.

On Wednesday, I went with my uncle to sell gas (LPG). I used to like going with him when I was tiny (<5yrs). Everyone in Trinidad uses gas for cooking. I didn’t see one electrical stove while I was there.

The next day I went to the Caura River for a dip. The water was cold. But that’s what you get when you go up in the mountains. Then in the evening, some relatives had a BBQ.

On Friday, I saw Hancock at MovieTown. MovieTown is an outdoor mall with the center piece being a movie theatre. It was sort of like Southlake, but not so big, and instead of the Apple Store, you get Ruby Tuesday, Long John Silvers, T.G.I.F, Burger King, and some local stores.

Saturday was slow. On Saturday Evening, I went to a prayers.

Sunday afternoon, we headed to the beach at Manzanilla. I really enjoyed Manzanilla. It was raining when we arrived, and the water was perfect. Also, I had a shark and bake (pronounced shark and bake). Long wouldn’t shut up about it since he was that Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern that focused on Trinidad. So I had to try it. It was pretty good.

Monday was spent visiting family.

Tuesday and Wednesday, we were back at the beach. This time it was Mayaro. If I were comparing beach to beach, I would pick Manzanilla. The current was too strong at Mayaro, and the ocean floor wasn’t nice. We stayed at a beach house that had A/C, which was refreshing. Not a lot of houses in Trindad have A/C. This is because the climate is tropical and mild. And usually you have a breeze. So, fans are big. Also at the beach house, I found out I’m pretty decent at the Trinidad variant of rummy.

On Thursday we went to Trincity Mall. This was to stock up on fudge and sugar cake. Friday was the flight back, and I had many orders to fulfill.

Looking back at it, taking it all in, I really enjoyed myself. It was just the right length. Not so long where I got bored of Trinidad/missed Texas, and not so short where I didn’t feel like I got to do anything. The doing nothing/doing stuff ratio was prefect. Plus, I didn’t use a computer at all. I didn’t drive either. But that was more a survival thing. I couldn’t drive in Trindad. They’re too aggressive, and the streets are too narrow.

Keith Olbermann
Simon Pegg
Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson)
all appearing on The Soup

1. Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up
I saw this one when I was in Trinidad and watching TV with my cousin in their shop. When I saw the title, I was like “Oh cool, a Garbage cover“. But it’s not. Not at all. The Pussycat Dolls song is just garbage (lowercase g).

2. Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl
I saw this video a while back on mtvU. I was expecting a cover of Jill Sobule’s song from way back when. Now this is a tough one. This may come back to haunt me, but I don’t hate Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl. It’s not something I would put on my iPhone and listen to while at work, but I wouldn’t do that with Jill Sobule’s song either. So in conclusion, they’re both acceptable MOR tracks.

I was in Trinidad for the past 2 weeks. I’ll probably do a post sometime about the actual trip, but for now here’s the grocery bill from the time I was at the beach house.

The exchange rate is about 1 USD = 6 TTD (1 USD = 6.00200 TTD)

My cousin said she could get a job in the mall starting with the minimum pay being at least 9 TTD / hr.

A Large Pizza from Mario’s Pizza will run you 80 TTD.

So the exchange rate holds for most goods, but you aren’t being paid by the same amount. So if you’re working minimum wage, it’ll take you 9 hours to buy that pizza.

Bag Badges Buttons
Originally uploaded by rincewind1013

Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson, in better times, on my bag.

Spaced is finally getting a Region 1 release. And to celebrate, Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson) (Shaun of the Dead, Son of Rambow) and director Edgar Wright will travel to New York, Los Angeles, Comic-Con and Austin for special screenings, a marathon, panel sessions and signings for fanboys and fangirls.

It took ‘em long enough. I still have my Livejournal archive, and according to that - I purchased the Region 2 release sometime around December 2004. The series ended in 2001. So yea, no one was in a rush.

You can guess that since I’m writing about it here on raishad.com, I love Spaced. And you’d be right. It’s one of those shows that I get an urge to marathon. And you could probably guess that I’ll be at the Austin event. But unfortunately, I’ll be on vacation. I’ll be out of the country. I’ll be in Trinidad. I’ll be missing Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, and Edgar Wright. I’ll be missing Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright for the 2nd time.

It’s a bit disappointing.

Regarding the upcoming release, it looks like I might have to buy it, though the cover is a bit worse. There will be new commentary tracks and a few new interview bits.

Region 2 Release

Region 1 Release

We Are Keeping Netflix Profiles Dear Raishad, You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are. We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you. -Your friends at Netflix

Yep, my blog is powerful. So far it’s saved 30 Rock, Pushing Daisies, and now Netflix Profiles.

Sadly, I just couldn’t save Arrested Development, or Speed Racer. But I’m ahead though, and that’s what matters.

Speaking of Speed Racer - not one person asked for a ticket refund. This either means that no one reads this OR that everyone who felt compelled to see Speed Racer after my post, loved it. I think it’s the latter.

Sadly, it looks like Speed Racer is out of theatres. Until I’ve seen Hancock and The Dark Knight, Speed Racer remains the Summer Movie of the Summer.

iLiKETRAINS is a band that plays music that is somewhere between Tindersticks and Mogwai.

Just watch this video for TERRANOVA

If that doesn’t scream Tindersticks + Mogwai, I don’t know what does. But that’s not a bad thing at all. I love the Tindersticks. I love Mogwai.

A few days ago, I hit a nice streak of iLiKETRAINS on the iPod on the way to and from work. The song THEBiBLE came on - and it threw me for a loop. It was just so completely different from what I know as the “iLiKETRAINS” sound.

And it makes sense. Since THEBiBLE comes from a rarities compilation called THE iNDiCTMENT.

Enjoy.