When we got along, Michael and I used to have a stereo that we would record “shows” on. There may be records of these still, hidden in the attic of my fathers home, who knows. Aside from this, Michael and I used to love Christmas. We would wake before our parents to unleash the stockings. These moments echoed and thus inspired me December of 2006.

I got together with some close and adorable friends to stir old memories and create new ones to share with everyone for years to come! The album features the amazing and gifted vocalists Jason Sharp, Josh Hartvigson, Spencer Thorson, Carey Ruhl, D’Arcy Harrison, Scott Riedy, Katie Coffman, Nathan Vance, Jennifer Yaman, Dan Garlington, Dan Dembiczak, Drew Stone, Adé and myself Jayson Potter.

» Download Have a Darn Good Chrismiss with Jayson and Friends «

I liken social icons to chickenpox. They are merely the symptom of the affliction of social integration. Common affected areas include the header, the footer, side panels, before a story, after a story, on billboards, in restaurants, commercials, magazines and your perception. First, I can’t emphasize enough that any of these icons are the last thing a designer wants to add to something of beauty. I do admit their purpose and usefulness, but I will play Devil’s Advocate. Starting now.

While you go on with your day and when you’re not checking your facebook or your other popular social sites, companies are gathering your information. When you “like” or “plus” a page or company or musician they then have access to that information through an API offered to registered developers. Do you think these sites make money just from you clicking on an ad? HA! User data is not only harnessed to offer you a better experience but also to make the experiences in making you offers better. In other words, they want to keep selling you more *@#?!

When you “like” a comment or a photo, take a moment and think of how useful that is for you. Can you easily go back and see all those comments and photos you clicked that thumbs up for? No. You as the user are the one made to work for that information, loading every old post on your wall and revealing every related post. So while you play farmville, databases are gobbling up user information to be digested through queries and displayed as graphs and charts to analysts, eventually to become an ad. The backlash is all around: Eyesores others call social icons and your data being flung around like your mother when you were conceived.

However, I also revel in the fact that social interactions online have helped us become more connected as people like never possible before with BBS‘s, the plain Internet, livejournal, friendster, myspace, the list goes on as long as this sentence. I’ve read stories of people recovering photos from floods and sharing them to be able to send them back to their owner. People have found family because of having that chance to connect online. It’s amazing to think that we can be connected through a few keystrokes and clicks. That’s the experience we share and can’t see, unlike the natty-ass blobs of uncomplimentary colors.

So while you go on being social online, keep in mind that what you share is never truly private. If you entered the data or participated in sharing your data, it’s stored in a database and someone has the user rights to get to that information and use it for whatever purpose; Be it a drunk photo from last night or where you used to work.

Be aware of what you share.

Photo courtesy of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Jaysonpotter.com hasn’t been fresh for at least two years. It’s been a real shame hasn’t it? All of the stories we missed out on sharing! The shock, the awe. Ugh. Where did the time go? Well I am happy to report that I have been off growing. Got more into electronic music (Switchblade Etiquette) and theatre. I’ve been working it to get serious about JavaScript and understanding how to come up with a machine with all the parts I make in my brain pocket. Been rebranding ID10Tz and that’s going deliciously. OooOooh! Got hitched to the amazing, talented, and extremely hirable Jason Sharp. Also, been working on improving home life with some organization, de-hoarding and home cookin’. Finally, exercising when I’m not dorking out, so basically not often. That’s the update!

You may be wondering now if I’m going to finally explain that image of the handsome mustache on that man. Well, that is Charles Law of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. I found that he and I share something in common. We can overreact at some pretty harmless things at times. However I don’t share that impulse to knife my brother or actually kick a 13 year old for making fun of an obviously obscure wide-set-curl-tipped-waxed-up-super-crackafied handlebar mustache. As a result to scaring the Judas out of teens he was told that he had to shave his ‘stache because he clearly can’t brush off the taunting comments people give him.

It goes to show you that maybe all it takes to get over your hang up is to ditch the source of your frustration. For example, I can be funny, goofy and nonsensical a lot of the time. This has proven to diminish how serious people take what I have to say or do and, that’s frustrating at times. So what would I ditch? The need that I should be taken seriously. Proof is in the pudding y’all and I like that I love to have fun when I’m working hard. If you don’t, that’s your problem then, huh?

I leave you with this:

“I don’t care what you think. I care that you’re thinking.” – Jayson Potter, 2011

People say “It’s a waste of time”, “It creates undesirable effects”, or “gasp” and to those people I say … phooey! Noscript has been around and partying since it was 1999 via HTML 4.01 and still carries  through in HTML5. It’s very useful and can be a great tool if used properly, like anything else.

When you are learning how to add JavaScript to enhance interactivity to your HTML, noscript can be a great way to keep your content looking snappy when your script can’t. Or here, no wait, yes, Say you have a form that makes calculations to the data entered, have your client side script for those on the fly calculations and the oh la la, use noscript to give you that server side alternative. No one likes to be left out, specially your visitors and especially <noscript>.

These shocking billboards were first posted for fashion week in Milan, Italy. At first people were tossing their pasta because they were forced to see a woman in such an ill state, but quickly saw what kind of an impact eating disorders have on our youth. Like his other work at first glance, Mr Toscani has a deeper message than exploiting a woman with the serious illness of anorexia. He is sending a message about a big problem in our world that neither he nor Isabelle want to cover up anymore: What it’s like for young women who fall victim to the stereotypes that are sold to them.

About half the women in America right now are on a diet and about half the amount of women that are dieting are men. Models usually average in at an Olive Oyl 5’11”, 117 lbs, whereas women who aren’t cartoons average at 5’4” and 140 lbs. The cherry on this empty sunday is that kids in the first through third grades feel they could be thinner. WTF ever happened to paint sets and telescopes?

So people, remember that you’re beautiful, even with the mole or however you were born. Although, if you do find yourself making bad choices because of someone you saw in a magazine, watch this. Now eat and be merry.

UPDATE: Please, a moment of silence for Isabelle Caro. This article originally published in 2007, she passed away late 2010.

The manual says that US interrogation methods consist of isolation, sleep deprivation, blindfolding and nudity. Check, check, check and check! So on the behalf of the US and Israel, David Wilkins cuts in and finds it offensive to be on the same list as China and Iran. Sure China and Iran have some pretty screwed up modern methods of torture, but Mr. Bernier had spelled out how we differ and our country had tortured prisoners, no matter if it is prohibited.

In the end Maxime Bernier removed the US and Israel saying that the manual be reviewed and rewritten because it included some of Canada’s closest alies. He also added that the manual was not a policy, but to bring awareness.

Going back to Cecil Sinclair. He served in the first Gulf War and died age 46 from an infection that occurred after prep work done for a heart transplant. His brother Lee Sinclair is an employee of High Point Church, but how Cecil got into the mix was that Lee requested the church pray for his brother Cecil when he first fell ill. From what I read on High Point’s site is when a minister of the church showed up to the hospital to find that Cecil Sinclair had just past away he “reached out to the family” and offered free use of the facilities. It wasn’t until the day before the service that the church was going to put together a video tribute and found photos of Cecil -gasp- “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”

The church quickly calls off the memorial service, without “hate or discrimination”, because they cannot condone the memory of a United States veteran who lived in sin his whole life. Soon after cracker Gary Simmons kindly shit on the family he then offered “acts of kindness” like a stranger with candy, such as food and another location for the family to remember their sinful Cecil. The family declines and the proud church seems upset because they worked so hard to stay on every ones good side. Wipe your nose High Point, ya have some brown on it.

On August 11, 2007, the U.S. Lutheran body announced that not only are gays allowed as members to serve and burn since ’91, but will now be able to serve as pastors who violate the celibacy rule that are in “faithful committed same-gender relationships”. If you’re into this kind of lifestyle this is a great thing to be celebrated. It’s nice to hear in a world of so many things that are so tit-for-tat that an organized religion can spread a wake of tolerance.

The board will come with Wii Fit, a game that includes activities to stretch your muscles with aerobics and yoga, apparently in a fun way. A lot of what I saw were movements that were slow which makes me wonder if that’s because of the hardware’s responsiveness. We’ll see.

What I see as being a really cool potential for the Wii board is to play a game while really walking to move around and using the remote to interact with environments.

So keep your eyes open for this one, that is if you can get a hold of a Wii in the first place.

9 out of 31 fabrics are shown in the fabrics faq are shown as being imported, but without origin as to where that imports came from. The most common people poisoning textile manufactures and exporters are China and India. I couldn’t find where American Apparel got their imports so I asked an employee. They said “I think it’s China. That’s what I heard somewhere.”

I appreciate a company that is 100% up front with its employees and customers. Made in America doesn’t always mean that the supplies and tools didn’t come from another country. 5 of the 9 imported materials aren’t organic which would lead me to believe that China made the bulk of those. Must not be sexy to work in a nylon with polyurethane coating textile factory. Not that China isn’t beautiful, but with all those chemicals around, they sure won’t be in a little while.

The models. They’re as young as their target demographic with desires seemingly bigger than the 2XL and 3XL sections of the site, displaying themselves scandalously clad in a generous showcase of American Apparels inventory. Here is one of the mens collared shirts and the same collared shirt on a woman. This particular item is unisex which to me equates into guys-clothes-girls-like. I begun to understand American Apparels “mothers, don’t let your sons grow up to be cowboys” message once I bought a pair of underwear. The models are really trying to show how the clothing resists cramming itself in your unmentionables.

Oh yeah, they have baby clothes too. For the next generation of cowboys and cowgirls.

Riply comes from Los Angeles with a classic voice and a side of jazcidic tones to tickle your ears. The vocalist reminds me of a love child bore from Tracy Bonahm and Eartha Kitt. The diversity of the musicians in Ripley is a wonderful parade of electronic effects with classic instruments like the violin to some whiney girl garage band.

My top pick and what got me to buy a song off of iTunes, despite the DRM, was their original track Wicked Torch. I’d been listening to Pandora.com and found this diamond in the rough.

I later found that Wicked Torch was available for free from their myspace site, amongst some others. Take a listen for yourself, they just might have something you enjoy and they like to share.

What they do is extract the carbon from the hair and burn it to crisp. This turns into graphite that they stick in a pressure machine that replicates the forces of earth. Badda bing, diamond.

It’s a little bit of evidence revealing science fact stemming from our science fiction, or fantasy novels. If you’ve ever played Final Fantasy, or any role playing game (tmi) there is more than likely someone’s soul or animal spirit captured in a gem, crystal or diamond.

Don’t get any wild ideas like a sweater bedazzled with your relatives. It takes a lot of time and money to get one of these mementoes.

I had been thinking about quitting smoking for a while when I stumbled upon this oddity of oddities. It may have been the compression of the audio, but I thought that I could hear the lining of their lungs coming to a flaky danish like crisp.

After satisfying my voyoutubism I couldn’t consciously remain smoking when my habit had been reduced to a cheap fetish displayed for everyone to see. I really mean everyone. You’ll notice videos with at least 70 thousand views with some of the most colorful comments. I couldn’t believe my sight and I don’t think that you will either.

Maybe it’s your thing, or maybe you need inspiration to quit smoking. I’ve quit for over a month now thanks to these movies and good company.

My favorite track featured on PotatoFingers mySpace page is Melancholy Syntax. It’s the kind of music that makes you feel like you’re imagining something complicated come to fruition in 4 minutes and 22 seconds. Like a flower growing or a bridge being built.

Send Eli your feedback and check out the PotatoFinger mySpace page. Have a listen for yourself.

What struck me as strange is that a spokesperson by the name of Roy Glover said

“It is standard legal practice in both the United States and China that unclaimed or unidentified remains are made available for medical education, which is one of the key goals of our exhibition,”

If that really is the case then why aren’t any of them American? Either way Glover does bring up a point, it does reach out to us common folk and scientists with some invaluable medical education. However, it would be a pleasure to be educated in the construction and it be as unveiled as the bodies in the exhibit.

Tisk tisk…I won’t see this. But if you’re interested you should go!!

Take a look at http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com for ticket and information.

The Seattle exhibit has been extended till April.

The hostess of this monthly release is Sylvia (now) Stayformore. I say “now” because long ago when there was a place called the Coffee Messiah she hosted a very late night show at 4 in the morning and her past name was Sylvia Starlight. Don’t forget your roots, or snakes.

Besides nostalgia, Sylvia brings a gamut of talent and I mean gamut. Dancers, singers, players and haters you name it, are on the stage to keep your bacon hot.

For more information see Sylvia’s site with tips on how to get to the Re-Bar and stay fresh.

Now together as CASY&BRIAN the energy in the music hasn’t dulled in the slightest. I would explain the sound as a blast for encouragement to bring something different to our ears. A message that it’s alright to listen to something that’s cracking the can open to a new beginning.

The gay populous that work at Microsoft probably own more stock than he’ll ever rally up anyhow. That’s why I think he’s a sham. If his plan doesn’t work out is he going to give the stock back to every donor? I think that he’s getting worried that he may not have the cushiest retirement and doesn’t want to let down the wife. I mean come on, ex football player from the 70′s. Doesn’t being a football player also mean that he’s seen more naked men than most people. Anyway, why not take advantage of some of your devoted congregation who consist of, I would only guess, the older and same of his generation in a time of worry in future economics. I also imagine before he goes to sleep he prays, I’m gonna be rich beeatch. Amen.

I think his message is if God is going to take care of you buy a few shares of Microsoft stock, give Hutch one for giving you the idea then screw everyone else. Oh and It’s alright for police officers and the law to protect gay individuals, but health insurance and the right to see your dying love is wrong and sending a bad message.

Him and Gary Simmons should have lunch and talk about their whoas. Besides he’s another powerful white guy.

Reverend Ken Hutcherson is a mockery to freedom and to those who have paved his way for claiming a worthy cause to drive for the suppression of a choice for another human being because they are different.