Random Randy . com

What is Sprint Doing???

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:22:00 +0000

Sprint is more or less GIVING away service. A month or so ago, Sprint let me know that anybody with a Family Everything Data plan (a cheap plan if you get a few family members to buddy-up and join with you), can call over 250 MILLION mobile phone users without using a Single minute - EVER. This feature is known as the Any Mobile, Anytime Feature. If your contract is near end - I believe now is the time to Move to Sprint.

These bold moves just show that Sprint is doing anything to keep their current customers happy while, at the same time, encouraging people to sign up; Everybody wins. Other mobile carriers let you add 5 or 10, or whatever amount of friends that you can call anytime, without using any minutes. This feature is pretty much a crawling offer while Sprint is just SPRINTING the hell out of being an unpopular carrier and becoming the best in history. So would you like to call 5 people for free, or 250 million?

Another thing that Sprint has just announced is that they're going to offer Free Call Forwarding! WTF? Other carriers charge between 20 and 40 cents per FORWARD - Sick! This Call Forwarding feature will take place this mid-month.

Why am I kissing Sprint's Ass? Because they're kissing everybody else's and treating us well. I get no benefit from this. If you have another carrier, It won't cost me anything to call your mobile phone, it will cost you. I don't have a calling circle, I have the entire country to call for free. I want to see people save money and this is the best deal I've seen in modern technological history.

More Blackberry Messenger Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:12:00 +0000

I have been using the new Blackberry Messenger 5 for a little over a week now. I love it. It definitely uses more battery up than just doing some normal text messaging, but the features are useful and cool at the same time.

I was bored earlier today and I decided to create a few blackberry messenger groups. These are not "categories" (or similar to labels), but more like: Think of an online class where your teacher can organize things, like set up a calendar with a deadline, post group photos, and initiate chats. Creating a blackberry messenger group allows you to do all this - you're an administrator.

I created a group called Laugh A Lot. If you are a blackberry Messenger user, I would like you to join and you can do this by simply scanning my group bar code. It's a brand new group and I could use some members. Join me!

Black Berry Messenger Version 5 is Here.

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:22:00 +0000

If you're a blackberry user, point your BB Browser to http://www.blackberry.com/messenger

I prefer pointing my phone to OTA links rather than pulling out all the cables or having to Install App world. I have a DATA plan, so why wouldn't i just want to go wireless? Plus, App world just uses up more space that i could be installing other programs to.

But, I must say that BB Messenger 5 is better in many ways. Avatars are nice and pretty and so is the interface. Just go for it - it's free!

Conan O'brien's Concussion

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:51:00 +0000

Apparently, a couple of days ago, Conan O'Brien was running on stage, filming his show, slipped and hit his head on the hard stage. He tried to continue the show, but was soon recommended and then taken to the hospital.

Well, today, he was back on the air and funny as usual. The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien had a funny skit featuring Max Weinberg. Max was on his drum set risers as usual, but the drum set riser drove off the stage as an effect. However, the drum riser continued to drive out of the studio, and into a busy intersection where, in the classic Conan humor kind of way, a Dummy version of Max gets smashed into pieces by an oncoming semi truck. HILARIOUS. These funny skits just let me know that Conan is alive and well!

More on the Swine Flu Scare

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:22:00 +0000

Are you scared? Are you worried about all the bullshit being stirred up from the Media regarding the swine Flu? Please don't feel helpless, submissive, and backed into a corner where somebody else must make the decision for you. I'm getting to it. . . Please really think before you decide about whether or not to get the Swine Flu Vaccine.

I've been reading many websites that talk about things such as homeless people taking a swine-flu-like vaccine (trial) and then dying, or about how it could weaken your immunity - nah, that could never happen (sarcasm)..not staying full of nutrients and putting foreign/man-made chemicals in your body could be bad our health?

Here is the link to the Help Free Earth website that has a great article about this swine flu scare and how to prepare for it. . .Pretty much how to build the proper immunity. Better yet, all the info is cited (which kind of makes it frightening. Frightening because I (more and more each day) realize how much valuable information is hidden from the public eye. OK. I'm done. Here is the link.

Our President a Mainstream Coward?

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:36:00 +0000

I can't believe this, but It has happened:

A few days back, I wrote about how Charlie Sheen wrote a long letter to the President of questions that he would like to have answered. In summary, the Obama Administration will not respond to Charlie Sheen's letter, pretty much saying that Obama is too busy.

Unbelievable! Obama, however, just found the time to respond to the Kanye West B.S. that occurred a couple days ago on the MTV VMAs. Can't wait for your approval rating to drop yet some more, Obummer.

Please note that I don't fall into the now-corrupted two-party Paradigm. It's fake. There are barely any good "True" Democrats or Republicans anymore. They're bought and paid for - Research it.

This image is originally from Infowars.com, so credit goes to Alex Jones and Prison Planet.

Kevin Trudeau: Another Badass

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:39:00 +0000

When I first saw Kevin Trudeau on Television, I was very sceptical of his ideas and statements. To me, he seemed like a guy that pretended he was the one that was giving you all of this super valuable top secret information. Well, apparently he was on the Alex Jones show just a couple months ago and i missed it!

Well the great users on Youtube, have uploaded the entire radio/phone interview where Alex Jones and Kevin Trudeau say it how it is. This interview where Kevin Speaks his mind helped to completely change my opinion of this man.

Charlie Sheen - A Real American Badass.

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:00:00 +0000

First off, I love Charlie Sheen.

Recently, Charlie requested the opportunity to meet with President Barack Obama and ask some rather tough questions. I do not have rights to this article, so I am simply posting a link to the most official version of it.

CHECK IT OUT!

Drew Carey - This Guy is Alright.

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Because I watch pretty much zero television, I am always google-ing the Wikipedia pages of various stars on television. This is simply because I don't know anything about them from, of course, not watching much television. Watching The Price Is Right today, I ended up Google-ing Drew Carey.

I learned that Drew Carey was not only an actor, game show host, and successful Stand-up Comedian, but also a Marine. His US Marines photo on his Wikipedia page is pretty bad-ass after seeing his somewhat coy behaviour on television for years.

Have a nice day!

P.S. Drew Carey is a Libertarian - A relief from the Hard Left / Hard Right personalities that are forced down our throats from the T.V. Networks. Hopefully he's not a fake Libertarian like Glenn Beck.

T-Mobile Raises Overage Charges - on that Note...

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Ever since purchasing my first Blackberry a couple weeks ago, I have been a regular reader of Berry Review . COM. I love the site because they do multiple posts daily - multiple authors that work hard.

The Berry Review Team did a late-night post tonight stating that T-Mobile has now raised their overage charges. This means that T-Mobile is breaking an agreement that they made with their members on their contracts. So, guess what? If you're a T-Mobile member and you want out of your contract without paying a huge Early Termination Fee, now is the time and here is the link! On another note, I've got something to offer to people who would like a good deal on a plan:

As I wrote above, I am a new Blackberry member. I'm getting rid of my old plan and have not yet closed my previous Sprint account. Why, you ask? Because it's a grandfathered plan from Sprint that just happens to be the greatest plan that they ever offered.

The plan I'm selling is called the SERO 500 plan. I'll sum it up quick: 500 minutes per month, free roaming, Unlimited Texts, Unlimited Data, nights at 7pm, all for....$30 / month! How good of a deal is that? Well that same plan here in 2009 costs... $80 / month.

I'm putting a price on this plan and not just giving it to anybody. So if you need a great cell phone plan and want it all, write me and make an offer. Thanks.

Random Randy.

America's Got Talent. . . and A-holes

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:06:00 +0000

This will probably be my shortest post to date. I finally tuned into America's Got Talent for the first time. I watched a couple of contestants, listened to the judges remarks, and then immediately turned off the television - waste of anybody's time.

I turned the television off because I didn't understand why 3 of the world's most untalented people vote on who does or does not have talent. Also, not that this matters, ONE of the "America's Got Talent" judges is American. So America: Europe says you suck.

I'll focus on one judge because she was talking when I turned the show on: Sharon Osbourne (i'm not sure of the spelling and I'm not even going to google/check it). Sharon was saying the same thing that I've heard her say on the preview commercials: "I am at a loss for words". And we all know what else she is at a loss of: Vocabulary and. .. well. . .Talent.

Ah well, I'm at home and she's on Television. She knows more than us all. God Bless her :-D

Trying out the Blackberry 8330: My First Blackberry

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:48:00 +0000

I am a brand-spankin' new Blackberry user. I constantly bickered to my friends that I would never "sell out" and get one of these things. Well, I lied.

It's been about 2 full days now that I've had this blackberry. Due to the simplicity of the Blackberry OS, I must say that I like it. There are some immediate problems I've noticed though. I'm not the only one who has this problem either, it's been repeated and posted in forums.

The problem is that I seem to only get a normal, actually "talkable" signal when I'm in a city or somewhere with 3g-like towers. With my previous phone, I could talk clearly in Hillbilly land - of field and trees. With this Blackberry Curve 8330, it seems to be all or nothing.

When I'm in the city at work, perfect connection: It's clear in buildings, areas with trees, and cloudy weather - it's been rainy and dark the last couple days here in Southeast Michigan.

I'm not just signing on to post a complaint because I would really like to fix this and not have to force myself to return this phone before my 30-day trial is up. But really, I've been looking for solutions to this problem for hours now. I've scoured the Crackberry forums. I called Sprint and had them do a PRL Update. I also have done numerous full restarts on the Blackberry - you know, the one that takes like 5 minutes to boot to the hour glass. I still have this same problem.

One last thing that I've heard could be the problem with this Blackberry is that the antenna is internal, so it might not get as good of reception. A friend and coworker of mine has a high-end blackberry - Sprint also, and has no problem with reception on his phone. Maybe I bought into a bad batch of phones. Time will tell and I'll keep this blog updated with the status.

Bored on Saturday.

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:13:00 +0000

After meeting with my paw and having a great breakfast, I returned home and quickly became bored. I then turned on the television hoping to find some sort of national news. There was national news - ET HD (entertainment tonight).

My mind about crapped. It was great news because it was important - Kate Gosselin crying for the camera. Remember what I said in previous posts - it's all about showing guests cry for the camera and everybody watches. Entertainment Tonight HD wanted to talk about Kate's love live - separation - or something, I'm not even sure, but they did say something similar to "Kate now gets to hold a snake for the first time in her entire life." ET continued to loop a clip of her holding a huge python-esque snake.

First I thought, "big deal..she's held a snake at lest 8 times that we know of". OK, now ET is signing off - thank God. I can't stand this fake news. Am I alone in feeling that American minds are purposely being occupied while other, political agendas are under way? Ok, I'm signing off before my blood pressure rises. I now get to what I love - teach drum lessons.

Post Memphis Blues Festival Review: A Success.

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Though off to a very Rainy/Flash-flood start, the 2009 2nd-Annual Memphis Blues Festival was a huge success. Thank you to all of the volunteers, firework show charity, and blues fans that supported this year's program. This year brought in over twice as many fans as well as bands than the previous year. All of this action is starting to spread on the web as well.

A great band that performed at the Friday show posted a note on Live Blues World, which can be read here. Getting word out about the Memphis Blues Festival over the last year is really helping us grow. Thanks again, Michigan Blues Fans!

Memphis Blues Festival 2009: It's here!

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:26:00 +0000

Today is day one of the 2nd Annual Memphis Blues Festival. If you live in Southeast Michigan and feel the need for some blues, ribs, side-walk sales, duck (rubber) races, and more variety of live music, come out to Memphis, Michigan. Better yet, check out Memphis Blues Mi for more information.

Memphis Blues Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:37:00 +0000

This is not Memphis, Tennessee. Not Memphis,Missouri but Memphis, Michigan. It's a Blues Festival that I help make happen. I'll give you a quick explanation of how it started:

Last year, Steven Weaver, a fellow musician and friend of mine pitched the idea about putting on a small blues show. We got approx 4 or 5 bands to participate the first year. This blues show went on August 2nd, 2008 and had much success. The Rib guy sold out in under 4 hours!

Well this is only the 2nd year and the blues festival has grown significantly. This 2009 Memphis Blues Festival is now held on two days: August 7th and 8th. We now have 10 bands playing at this small festival during the Memphis Days. Memphis, MI is small, small. It's a city with just over 1,000 people - or something like that.

I recommend you check out the Memphis Blues MI website for more details. If you're interested in coming, there is more good news. IT'S FREE.

See you there . . .

Fun Not Just For Drummers

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:01:00 +0000

You sure don't have to be a drummer to twirl your sticks. I've been playing drums for over 15 years and finally decided that I wanted to learn how to twirl my sticks. I decided this after watching a Thomas Lang video on Youtube. Just search for Thomas Lang on You Tube and you'll get a bunch of his solos. I will still post a video link that I found useful though in the next paragraph or so.

I came across a video of a young fellow who decided to study the Thomas Lang drum stick spin technique and pick it apart, piece by piece. He now has a you tube video up that explains the steps to accomplish Thomas Lang's signature drum stick spin. Give it a try if you have a few minutes:

Is Cancer in Style?

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:09:00 +0000

After cancer took my grandfather's life 9 years ago, It seems that every day I'm hearing of a known person either being diagnosed or dying of this disease - I'm sick of it. I always mention to friends and family that people being diagnosed with cancer is continuously increasing and, somehow, they always come up with an excuse (perhaps to narrow the conversation).

Today's cancer discovery I heard by word of mouth from a friend. MCA (Adam Yauch - founding member of the Beastie Boys) has been diagnosed with throat cancer. It sucks when this crap happens, especially to nice people. After reading this article, the video clip is at the bottom. But i'd to get back to a point I was going to make regarding cancer denial.

People will say things like "Randy..There is just seemingly more cancer because the doctors are now able to better detect it" . . .hmmm...I disagree. More "treatments" are available for cancer simply because there is more of it. The World Health Organization stated in 2003 that Global Cancer Rates could increase by 50% by 15 million by 2020. Now yes, a heck of a lot of that number is due to the smoking of cigarettes.

I know that many people have a gut feeling that Cell phone usage can lead to brain tumors: example would be Senator Edward Kennedy having a brain tumor on the same side of his head where he heavily used his cell phone.

I know that many people have a gut feeling that the ingredients in our foods can create nutritional problems for our bodies, making it easier for cancer to develop. Have you checked the ingredients on your favorite foods lately? WHY is this crap allowed into our bodies. It almost makes me think that the business don't care about your health and more about mass producing items inexpensively to make more profits off of us...nah! (sarcasm)

On a positive note, people are speaking up and fighting the corruption - well some are. An example would be people bad-mouthing High Fructose Corn Syrup. Kind of scary when the government then comes out with propaganda commercials on TV telling you that High Fructose Corn Syrup comes from corn and it's Natural - TOTAL CRAP, in my opinion. It's half man-made people. Just google something like: "High fructose corn syrup man made".. You'll get a bunch of scary results about it causing insulin resistance, etc. Here's a good rule of thumb to know what not to put into your body: "If it doesn't rot, don't eat it!".

Balistreri Vineyards - Check This Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:28:00 +0000

While enjoying my week-long visit to Colorado, I had an opportunity that I couldn't pass up: I took a free tour of Balistreri Vineyards. Balistreri Vineyards was not just any business either. This is a business that goes every extra mile, on top of every possible effort to satisfy the customer.

My visit to Balistreri Vineyards started out with a greeting from a nice gentleman who immediately welcomed and guided us to the sampling area. The gentleman opened up DOZENS of freshly-sealed wine bottles, poured all 6 of us samples, and asked our opinion. If the wine was a dry, sweet, fruity, cherry wine, he would explain exactly how it was made, where the grapes were grown . . . everything!

I still couldn't believe this Wine company existed and that I never heard of it. This is where the greatness of the internet helps me to keep in touch with Balistreri and spread the word to you. Balistreri pretty much only sells their wines in Colorado - I'm from Michigan. I wanted to know what I could do to get some of this great Wine to my home in Michigan.

I asked the gentleman how I could order some wine and if they shipped. Yes they do, and they give a 20% discount for joining their "once a month" wine club. That's a great deal, considering this high-class Vineyard sells many of their wines for sub $20!

The next move is up to you. I figure I could spread some valuable word-of-mouth and if you're looking for some great wine at an unbeatable price, This is it.

Colorado Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:05:00 +0000

An Update for RandomRandy.com: I went on a road trip to Colorado. From Michigan, we drove through, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and then Colorado. I will be flying home in a day's time.

I must say that Colorado is beautiful and the people in the Boulder and Golden, CO areas are really cool. If you have to ask a question, the people are patient and will usually provide you with an answer. I love small-town mentalities in larger, urban areas.

I have not left this site - it's not forgotten. 5 days has been one of the longest time-off streaks I've had with this site in the last few months. Thanks again for reading!

Randy

PCLinuxOS and the Parents - update

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:21:00 +0000

Image by aid85 via Flickr

My mother and father are still using PCLinuxOS as I'm typing this post. Now I'm going to answer a few questions that I have been asked by friends and other family members. I have been asked more than once, "Why would you switch an amateur to a Linux distribution?".

I can come up with an easy answer to that question. The reason I would switch an amateur computer user to a Linux distribution is because if somebody doesn't have enough knowledge to make sure that their firewall is on, virus definitions are updated, or to run spyware scans, they have no business using Windows on the Internet - it's no good. You don't have to run virus scans in Linux...really, the only way to get a virus in Linux is if you ask for it and give it permissions.

So, I drove over my parent's house today to check up on how their computer and how it is working for them. They are totally pleased and have absolutely no problems to report. When I had MS Windows running on their previous system, I would receive phone calls often, reporting that the computer is "not working" .. or .. "it shut off, froze, or Blue-Screened".

After not having any computer problems and then becoming bored, I decided to take an old Cannon Printer they had laying around and plug it in. It was an All-In-One type printer (printer scanner and card reader). After I plugged this All-in-one in, it immediately worked. Sweet. I didn't need to find the "Printer Driver CD",like trying to find a diaper for a baby in a panic.

PCLinuxOS and the Parents

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

I'm not going to make this into a dramatic story, making you read through keywords to hear my point.

My parents have dial-up internet and I had to find a linux distro that is EASY as heck (for the windows reliant people) to use to get online and serve basic functions. Being that their slogan is "Radically Simple", I decided to try PCLinuxOS.

I ran through the very-simple installer and then Rebooted the computer ..It was only like 10 minutes or so. Ta-da. All my hardware was set up, and the system booted smoothly. I then thought that I was going to run into a huge problem - the dial-up modem. Fortunately, I have a Trendnet External Serial Modem. I plugged the modem in and used the PCLinuxOS Control Center analog modem setup. It was easier than Windows! Much easier, and connected on the first try.

I think you should go to the PCLinuxOS Website and check out this gem of an OS.

Babies Can't Use Keyboard

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Image by mommy peace via Flickr

This gave me today's laugh. As I was reading more information about the Palm Pre Sprint phone today, I had one heck of a laugh. I was on the Slick Deals website's forum and I was reading their Palm Pre Section and came across this: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=1423001

Michael Jackson Dies. And . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

How does that affect you?

I wonder why the media focuses on the Jackson death as obsessively as it does. Perhaps the big media could cover things that affect the people more than Michael Jackson did: The plunging economy, people STILL WITHOUT HOMES in New Orleans [Seriously!] I'll just google it and here is the first link I pull out of thin air: Prospect.org

And, for the record, I am a fan of Michael Jackson. You can't deny that he revolutionized Pop and nobody will ever compare. Michael even had Snoop Dog record with him - pretty darn cool. The lead singer in my previous band "Sammy's Glass Eye", would constantly have us cover Michael Jackson songs and I enjoyed it. But please, let us remember, pray if that's your thing, and move on. We have our own lives to worry about, families to feed, and trying to avoid the banks stealing all of our money.

Ever Hear of Watermelon Slim?

noreply@blogger.com (Randy James) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:27:00 +0000

Image by Andrea Barsanti via Flickr

If you're into the Blues genre of music, you probably have heard of Watermelon Slim. Well, my father mentioned this musician's name to me a few years ago, and I didn't really put much thought into him. Ya know, after my dad mentioned this artist to me, I just googled it, read a little about him, and called it a night. I guess he grew a little more popular in recent times than I had realized...

My dad was visiting today. After fixing my tractor, he stepped into the house for a few and said "Hey. Look this guy up on the Internet...Watermelon Slim". I remembered the name from back when he mentioned it previously. So, this time I pulled up YouTube and ran a search. Dozens and Dozens of videos came up. I played them for my dad and he was amazed at what we could find on the internet.

Being a musician myself and being part of the board that runs the Memphis Blues Festival in Memphis, MI, I was blown away by Watermelon Slim's Harp and Guitar skills. I've included a video clip as usual but if it's taken down by the time you read this, then just run a search for Watermelon Slim on YouTube.