Better Safe Than Sorry

So my husband and I are looking for an apartment. We haven't found a place yet but I thought to be proactive about it by placing an ad on Craigslist to obtain quotes. Nothing wrong with that, right?

I surf the Craigslist site every single day. I have gotten lots of cool gigs from it - from film background work to catering server - and am grateful that I am still alive today (there are a lot of psychos out there; in case you don't know, a few people have been murdered by responding to some of the ads from the site). As much as I love finding gigs from the site, I am ALWAYS careful. ESPECIALLY being a female.

Anyway, since I've placed the ad on the site, I have gotten an overwhelming number of responses. In my ad I had specifically listed the furniture I have, and asked for a quote and the company info, if it applied.

Apparently not too many read carefully, because many of them replied still asking me what I had to move. Many didn't give me a quote. Even more did not give me their company information.

I came across one that offered the most affordable price for me and he claimed that his business is licensed and bonded. But, of course, he too did not give me his company information.

I thought to inquire further. I want to know who I'm potentially hiring. Is there anything wrong with that? I don't think so. So, I responded to his e-mail and asked him if he had a company website. He said no, and that he hasn't been advertising to save money. That didn't give me any information so I probed further by asking him what is the name of his business and/or his business location. This was the response I got from him:

"THIS IS WHAT TOTALY ERKS ME! YES I DO HAVE A LEGIT ADDRESS AND LOCATION BEEN IN BUSINESS IN PASADENA FOR OVER 16 YRS AND A MEMBER OF THE BBB...I QUOTE YOU A PRICE THAT NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD QUOTE CAUSE I CAN AFFORD IT AND I DO IT SO MY GRAND KIDS CAN GET A FEEL FOR THE BUSINESS AND YOU ACT LIKE IM MOVING THE PRESIDENT !!! DONT NEED YOUR BUSINESS LADY"

OMG!!! Is he kidding me? He can't give me the VERY BASIC information about his company and is getting defensive about it? Talking about something to hide!!! I was livid by his uncalled for response and did not know whether I should be mad or laugh at this situation!

Just wanted to share my story with as many people as I can. I don't believe in "asking too many questions", when your safety is or can be on the line. 

Please be careful and beware! Make sure to ask as many questions as you can and use your best judgement! Nobody, especially for private gigs or anything for that matter, should get that defensive and fault or snap at you for asking questions! 

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!

I Heart Mark Thompson of L.A.'s Fox 11 News

I have been unemployed for some time now so I am either on the computer a lot looking for jobs or just plain bored out of my mind. Since my unemployment I've become quite addicted to the computer and the Internet and have since jumped on the bandwagon of YouTube, blogging and Twitter. Because of it, my computer is almost always on.

As mentioned in my previous blog posting, I have been hooked on Mark Thompson, weather guy/anchor of Fox 11 News, and have started following him on Twitter since he announced it on the news almost a month ago. It was only yesterday, days after he mentioned my Twitter name, kato808, on the news, I heard from him again. 

So what does the computer being on all the time have anything to do with this? 

Well, I was watching the Fox 11 News at 10 and on the computer at the same time (I was multi-tasking) when I noticed that Mark Thompson was following ME on Twitter! I was so psyched I tweeted him right back almost out of disbelief. It was then he tweeted me back and told me - just MINUTES PRIOR - that they were going to show my YouTube video on the air. I was like WWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!?!

When the story came on during the 10 o'clock news hour I was surprised and seriously beyond ecstatic! They showed a good amount of time of my video on the air! To my surprise they even said my name! Many times! I was shocked! Jaw-dropping, arms-in-the-air and jumping-up-and-down shocked!

I was already so surprised when they did the shout-out Monday night. But last night was definitely icing on the cake! Thanks for putting kato808 on the Twitter map!

I am so glad that I didn't give up on this project! Final Cut Pro was hard for me to learn and even though I was getting frustrated but was putting 12 hours into this project worth it?

DAMN STRAIGHT!

Here is the video I made that created media attention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txn-Pm0Dp8o&feature=channel_page

Here is the shout-out video that aired on Monday, May 18: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OELKYB4Rkx0&feature=channel_page

Here is the video that not only mentioned me but also showed clip of my video on Thursday, May 21:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Lh2DNH3a0

Hope you enjoy my 5 minutes of fame as much as I did!

I HEART FOX 11 NEWS TEAM! Thanks again for showing my video on the air!

Watch Fox 11 News weeknights at 10 on Channel 11 and at 11 on Channel 13! If you want to watch the "real deal" dance, stay tuned!

Follow us on Twitter!
Rita @kato808
Mark Thompson @markthompsontv
Carlos Amezcua @CarlosFoxTV
Christine Devine @DevineNews

Kris Allen Wins American Idol Season 8!

Kris Allen definitely has come a long way.

I admit that even though I've been blogging all season but I haven't been voting. I watch American Idol religiously but just am no longer eager to vote. Only after last night's finale began, I decided that I wanted Kris Allen to take the title. I suppose it made sense, since I called Kris on all 3 rounds on my blog.

It was definitely a surprise though. All season long Adam has proved to be unique, belongs on stage and seemed to be a clear winner, but Kris definitely has been upping his game and has been giving Adam a run for his money. It was definitely a surprise for me of Kris' win, since prior to Kris making the Top 13 I didn't think much of his performances.

There were so many memorable performances on the finale. I especially liked the performances by Cyndi Lauper with Allison Iraheta, Queen with Kris Allen & Adam Lambert, and Keith Urban with Kris Allen. What I didn't like was the song sung by Megan Joy and Michael Sarver.

I loved the special guest appearance by Norman Gentle. He was funny and so entertaining. What I didn't enjoy was the show inviting back Bikini Girl on stage, especially her sharing a kiss with Ryan Seacrest. I loved it though, when Kara surprised Bikini Girl on stage with a showdown. I knew Kara had a voice back during audition days and Kara definitely proved that she can out sing Bikini Girl any day. Bikini Girl's reaction was so un-classy - she looked so pissed off and even stared Kara down after she unbuttoned her shirt dress. (BTW, Kara, you look SO MUCH BETTER than Bikini Girl.) Bikini Girl demonstrated absolutely no class. As for Tatiana Del Toro...Was that all part of the script? Or...?!?!?!

When they did announce Kris being the winner and he would have to sing "No Boundaries" again, I was a bit worried. I thought in my head if they would change the key and I was so glad that they did! 

Anyway, congrats to Kris Allen!

American Idol Season Finale LIVE Report

Updated: 9:06 p.m. PST

Round 1:
Both sang songs they've performed previously. Not surprisingly, Adam delivered yet another solid performance. On the other hand, Kris might have had some pitchy problems here and there but his performance was AWESOME!

I say Round 1 goes to Kris. Simon agrees!

Round 2:
Both were so good in this round! Both Adam and Kris possess originality. I really liked Kris' performance though!

Simon calls Adam in this round but I'm calling it Kris.

Round 3:
I thought Adam's performance was okay. Didn't do much for me. I have a feeling this round will go to Kris. We'll find out after the break...

We're back.

Or maybe not. I thought Kris' pitch was all over the place! Maybe it wasn't the right key for him. Randy agrees. HOWEVER, I do think that the song is more fitting to Kris' style. And Kris' interpretation/arrangement is more believeable.

I'm calling Kris in the final round.

This is going to be a tough one! BUT! Regardless who takes the title, they'll both be making records. Probably some of the Top 13 will too!

Surprise performance by Carrie Underwood?! She's wonderful as always. Bitch! :P

Just joking folks!

My Very First Final Cut Pro Project PREMIERED on YouTube!

For months now I've been watching Fox 11 News @ 10 with Carlos Amezcua and Christine Devine. They're now my favorite news team. I think it was only a short 2 or 3 months ago when I found out that their weather guy Mark Thompson dances while reporting weather on Fox News @ 11 on their sister station KCOP 13. Since then, I've been hooked on watching Mark dance - he is just too funny! Not only does he dance while giving the weather report, sometimes he says the funniest things that cannot be said/heard on the "regular" news. Perhaps it's "late-night"?!

Anyway, so a few weeks ago I came up with the idea of compiling clips of him dancing and posting on my YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/iliketosingalot). I thought it would be funny. Then days later I came up with another idea: dance WITH him in the clip!

So I filmed using my digital camera for about 2 weeks so I'd have more footage to work with. Coincidentally my husband needed to get a green screen for his film project, so I used the green screen as my backdrop while "dancing with Mark".

I've never used Final Cut Pro (FCP) before - only iMovie - and my husband told me it would be easier to put together the project with this app. I had to learn EVERYTHING the day I pieced everything together and was getting SERIOUSLY frustrated. It took me, no joke, about 12 hours to complete. As soon as I got it done, which was at almost 2 a.m., I tweeted the link to Mark Thompson (I follow him on Twitter & have exchanged a few words with him during the past few weeks, including asking him if he can start dancing @ 10 instead of @ 11!).

I made the video 'cuz I thought it would be funny and just wanted to show it to him, and perhaps also to his fellow Fox News Team. I was hoping he would share it with his family and friends so I'd get more hits on this video I made. Little did I know that he and Christine and Carlos would TALK ABOUT IT during their news segments! They even gave me a special shout-out! Mark also tweeted my video on his Twitter! I thought it was so cool and thought that having worked on it for 12 hours paid off!

Just to share with you the tweets I got from the Fox 11 News Team:
markthompsontv: "@kato808 luv on u girl!! We were all blown out by your riffin' on the Ch 13 11p newscast".
CarlosFoxTV: "@kato808 We ARE going to show your moves on our show!".
DevineNews: "@kato808 that is awesome."

As it was my first time using FCP and green screen, I know there are plenty of room for improvement, and that the video looks quite amateurish. Nevertheless, it is my first FCP project and it got special shout-out, so all's good! So, without further ado, check out my video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txn-Pm0Dp8o&feature=channel_page
Here is the special shout-out video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OELKYB4Rkx0&feature=channel_page

BTW, this morning when I checked on YouTube, when you type in "Rita dancing" under search, my video can be seen under the Featured Videos section on the right-hand side. How cool is that?!

Anniversary Dinner @ Houston's Restaurant Pasadena

So my hubby & I just celebrated our 7-year anniversary. 7 years! How crazy is that?! To celebrate, we decided to go to Houston's Restaurant in our neighborhood. We don't go to Houston's often because it's more than what I'd like to spend on a meal (I'm a cheap date). But since this was a special occasion, I thought to make an exception. I thought it was very strange and interesting when I called to make the reservation 2 weeks prior. I was informed that, even with a reservation, I should expect to wait 10-15 minutes past my reservation time when I arrive. Seriously?! What's the frickin' point, then, to make the reservation?!? Maybe I should just show up 10-15 minutes past my reservation.
Anyway, the economy didn't seem to affect Houston's business as when we got there, it was already packed and there were people waiting. Perhaps they all had to wait, like us, an extra 10-15 minutes.

The thing with Houston's is that their food menu selection is extremely limited. I thought it was very funny that they have a longer wine list than their food menu. To start, my husband and I ordered the spinach & artichoke dip. It was pretty good. The chips were warm and salted - although all differently and oddly shaped - and accompanied quite well with the dip. To my surprise it also came with salsa and sour cream. The salsa was tasty but doesn't seem fresh or "homemade". For entree, I ended up ordering their sushi combo platter (I know they're more known for their meats but none looked interesting) while my husband ordered their prime rib.

Since I don't eat raw foods (I know and I ordered sushi right?) I asked for all-cooked sushi combo. Good thing they were accommodating and did not charge me extra. The sushi combo platter had very nice presentation and was of good size but I thought the accompanying sauces weren't proportionate to the number of rolls given. In addition to the sauces, no shoyu was given, just the ponzu sauce, which I didn't really care for with the sushi rolls. The interesting roll they had in the combo platter was shrimp & macadamia.

My husband enjoyed his prime rib and while I got a little taste of it (since I like mine well done but he likes it medium), I thought the meat was very tender and very flavorful.

For dessert we tried something that was off their menu (to our surprise): strawberry shortcake. It was not as good as I hoped but it wasn't bad either. The best strawberry shortcake I had that I can remember is from Wynn buffet in Las Vegas.
Anyway, it was still a night to remember.

5-12-2009 American Idol LIVE Report

Last updated: 9:02 p.m. PST

Round One: Judges' Picks
1. Danny Gokey (Paula Abdul's choice): Dance Little Sister
I gotta be honest: I have no clue what this song is. BUT, I will say that Danny sounded great singing this song and thought he did a great job!

2. Kris Allen (Kara DioGuardi's & Randy Jackson's choice): Apologize
First of all, I had NO IDEA Kris plays the piano too! Wait, did I?! Anyway, I thought it was going to be hard for Kris to pull off this very popular song, but I think he pulled it off! It definitely wasn't as good as the original, but it was a great attempt.

3. Adam Lambert (Simon Cowell's choice): One
I love it so much better when Adam is singing softly and gently. No gimmick, not over the top. Oh, wait, I spoke too soon. I liked the performance up until he started singing over the top. But what can I say? It was still a very solid performance.

Round Two: Own Picks
1. Danny Gokey: You Are So Beautiful
Before he started singing I already know he's gonna do well. His voice fits beautifully with the song. For some reason I'm tearing up now...It was a nice arrangement and I think Danny sang it really well. Great job.

2. Kris Allen: Heartless
I must say that I am extremely surprised that he picked this song. This song does not showcase any vocal abilities. I know 'cuz Kanye can't sing. I've seen him perform live on SNL and was not impressed. Wow, I am impressed with Kris! Very original. Very unique. That's a musician! Awesome job! Man, this is going to be tough (Randy saying the same thing as I type)! All 3 so strong!

3. Adam Lambert: Crying
Rocker picks a rocker song. Smart move. Great choice. His voice matches Steven Tyler's very well. Good job! Although I am very curious how he would do with "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"...

Gosh. I have no idea who's going home tomorrow! They were all so good! I think it'll be a toss up between Danny and Kris.

Updated: 7:52 p.m. PST

I've been on Twitter for a couple of weeks now. Although it is fun and very addicting, it also has a major drawback: SPOILER ALERT!

I've found out in advance (at least to my liking) of last week's AI results on Twitter by a fellow tweeter when I was waiting for the NBA semi finals game to be over. Just earlier I got another spoiler alert by another fellow tweeter of the songs the AI contestants are singing this week. What a bummer?!

Anyway, I'll update in a few minutes when the show starts on the West Coast.

Cinco de Mayo American Idol LIVE Report

Last updated: 9:04 p.m. PST

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!!

I know I haven't blogged about last week's result show since the AIs' last performances; but I was surprised to see Adam in the bottom 3 last week! And I was sad to see Matt go home. But I saw him on Ellen yesterday and I am glad that he got invited to the show to perform. I have no doubt in my mind that he will have great things ahead of him.

Given this week's theme, rock-n-roll, I predict that Allison, Adam, and Danny will do really well. Let's see if Kris will surprise us!

1. Adam Lambert: Whole Lotta Love
Definitely a rocker. Definitely his genre. Definitely a great performance. But I'm not really into heavy rock, so...Well, Kara, I don't think he's "Rock God"! C'mon now...

2. Allison Iraheta: Cry Baby
What a powerful voice she's got. Awesome. I was good at 16 but I admit was not Allison good! :P

Kris' & Danny's duet performance: NOT feeling it. Can't wait 'til it's over.

3. Kris Allen: Come Together
Guitar definitely is Kris' thing. He comes to life when he's with his guitar. I have to say that it was surprisingly good - better than I thought! It made me believe that he can be a rocker! I thought he did good.

4. Danny Gokey: Dream On
From the clip I just saw, I am a bit nervous of that scream in the song! Let's see if Danny can pull it off...Uh, okay, I don't like it. I DO NOT LIKE the screaming at the end. It was horrible! Everything else was fine until that part. Besides, I don't think he had enough "swagger" for this kind of music.

I sure am looking forward to Allison's and Adam's duet! I have a feeling it's gonna be good! Stay tuned...

Okay, we're back.

Wow! Hot performance! Their performance is so much better than Danny's and Kris'! SO much better by 1,000 miles! You can tell Adam and Allison have great chemistry, and they sure look the part - so much better than the other 2! Great job on the duet!

Who do I think is in danger, based on the performances TONIGHT?! I think Danny and Kris.