Status check, Friday the 13th

Boo! (yeah, I know, it's not Halloween yet, but it is Friday the 13th . . .)

Uploading a bunch of videos to YouTube. Will have posts for them very soon. The videos are fantastic -- make sure to check back soon (hopefully, everything will be set within the next day or two)!

Thanks again for your patience, and for continuing to check back. I'm sorry that we're all having to go through this delay. Until then, take care!

Note: The image is from the October 9, 2006 episode of The Colbert Report. In case you couldn't tell, it's a back view of Colbert's desk, looking past Colbert, out toward the audience. It was from a sweeping camera shot that was used as a transition.

(Temporary?) change

Since I haven't heard anything yet from Metacafe, I've gone ahead and set up an account with YouTube. As I've said before, I'd really like to return to Metacafe, but in the meantime, hopefully YouTube will suffice. If anyone has problems with any of the videos (especially in the future, and as I move to YouTube), let me know -- either by posting a comment, or by e-mailing me.

Video delays

Figured I'd fill you in on what's taking so long to post some new material -- I am currently waiting for the video I uploaded to Metacafe to be readied for consumption. During my hiatus, they seem to have changed their options a bit -- before, I had been able to submit a video as "private", and had done so, as I felt that as I was uploading the video for linking to from this site, and to provide context for the discussion contained herein (and therefore keeping it much more along the lines of Fair Use). Now, that option seems to have disappeared, and instead of the video being ready for linking to off of this site within an hour of uploading, I've gotten a message saying that my video "is now being distributed to members of the MetaCafe community for review". It's been like that for a day and a half now, with no update coming from Metacafe.

I'm not sure exactly what this means, but hopefully, it will straighten itself out very soon -- otherwise, I may have to switch to another video host. I've really liked hosting my videos at Metacafe, though, and so I'd like to give them a fair chance. I wrote them the following e-mail yesterday:

Hi,

In the past, I had submitted videos and marked them as "private". This was because I didn't want to overstep the bounds of Fair Use law, as I was using the clips to illustrate points made in my blog. By keeping the videos private, I felt I would minimize any question as to whether or not this was their purpose.

When I uploaded a new video last night, there was no option for making the video private. Now, my video is apparently undergoing some sort of review process -- which is something I did not have to do in the past -- which is not only slowing down my being able to link to it from the blog, but also shows that it is indeed not a private video anymore. My other uploaded videos have remained private -- is it possible to put this option back (or tell me how to do it, if I missed it)? It seemed to work the best for the way I wanted to use my clips.

Thanks so much, and take care,
Iman
http://sojournofthereal.blogspot.com

I guess we'll see what happens! If another day or so goes by with no response, I'll start uploading the videos elsewhere, if even just as a temporary alternative. I really want to get back to posting in my full capacity, and this is stopping me from doing so. There's some great stuff to post about -- hopefully, it will be with you within a day or two.

Video Directory

This post is going to be like the one for Abbreviations, in that I am posting it now, but will be continuously updating it. It is also posted as one of the links on the right side of the home page, for easy reference.

This is a list of all videos that I have uploaded for use on this site -- instead of having to wade through all of my past posts to try and find a particular video clip, you can now instead refer to this list, and find the video directly. The list will be organized in decreasing chonological order, by date of the original post that included each respective video.

• Tuesday, August 1, 2006: The Colbert Report. "Better Know A District" interview with Rep. Lynn Westmoreland. Originally aired on June 14, 2006. Video.
• Monday, July 31, 2006: The Colbert Report. "Better Know A District" interview with Rep. Robert Wexler. Originally aired on July 20, 2006. Video.
  
• Saturday, July 29, 2006: The Colbert Report. All states turn red, "Good Morning America" and "The Today Show" cover him, and "The Word" discusses Bush's stem cell veto. Originally aired on July 25, 2006. Video.
  
• Thursday, July 27, 2006: The Daily Show. Covered Putin's kissing a young boy on the tummy. Originally aired on July 10, 2006. Video.
  

Other Video Links (not uploaded by me):

• Thursday, December 18, 2008: Victor Borge routines: Phonetic Punctuation, and Phonetic Punctuation for music with Dean Martin.
  
• Saturday, December 13, 2008: Animated version of the climactic "Duel of the Fates" lightsaber battle from the end of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
  
• Saturday, December 6, 2008: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix trailer #2. Apple trailer page. Still frames included in post.
  
• Monday, November 17, 2008: Star Trek trailer #2. Apple trailer page. Still frames included in post.
• Monday, November 17, 2008: Watchmen trailer #2. Link includes all different viewable resolutions.
  
• Wednesday, November 5, 2008: Clip from the second presidential debate, in which Obama and McCain discuss their potential picks for Secretary of the Treasury.
  
• Tuesday, November 4, 2008: Indecision 2008 teaser (also embedded).
  
• Monday, November 3, 2008: Starbucks voting video (also embedded).
  
• Thursday, October 30, 2008: Voter outreach videos. First, and second (also embedded in post). Also, the bosses video.
  
• Tuesday, July 11, 2006: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Trailer for the film. Video.
  
• Friday, July 7, 2006: Charlie Rose. Interview with Jon Stewart about what he would like to see in the media, as well as many other things, including The Daily Show. Video.
  

An (albeit brief) update

Sorry for the very long delay in getting back to the keyboard. Semi-good news, though -- while I am still experiencing many hard drive-related problems, I have succeeded in recovering some (though not all, hence the news being only "semi-good") of the content off of the old drive, which can therefore be used in future posts. Which will be coming soon.

Thanks for checking back. 'Tis very much appreciated.