kickin' it wit ac

Want to know ***What Your Facebook Profile REALLY Says About...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:38:44 -0700

Want to know ***What Your Facebook Profile REALLY Says About You??*** I’d appreciate it MUCHO if you would VOTE & COMMENT on my SXSW proposal. Whether or not you can come to Austin in March, you can always watch all the panels online so you won’t miss out! SXSW is hugely IMPORTANTE to me so your support is very much appreciated. Deadline for voting & commenting is Aug 27. Here’s the skinny on my proposal: I’m teaming up with Facebook Scientist and professor of psychology at UT-Austin, Sam Gosling PH.D., to discuss the ins and outs of FB profiles. In a world where “snooping” on people’s digital identities is becoming easier and easier, should we hold back or let it all hang out? What do our casual comments, updates and quotes relay to our friends, family, co-workers and potential employers? Also, do our Facebook pages represent the “real” us… or just the “us” we’d like to portray to society? If you voted for my proposal last year (thank you so much by the way! I had a great time speaking in Austin last March!) you just need to sign in. Otherwise making an account takes literally 1 min & the SXSW organizers are NOT spammers, I promise! Click here to read more about my proposal and hopefully submit your vote!

PHOTO: My cat Bora in our old house in Venice. I’m in the...

Thu, 13 May 2010 14:13:00 -0700

PHOTO: My cat Bora in our old house in Venice.

I’m in the middle of one of the strangest email exchanges of my life. Because of my job as a Mobile TV personality who ASKS people to collab with her on story ideas, I get a lot of weird emails. I mean A LOT. I also get a lot of awesome emails from viewers with terrific ideas for videos. Usually, I do not write back to the “weird” ones. Yesterday, I got tempted… and did! Now I’m talking with an alien who’s had a sex change! LOL! Why does this amuse me so much? Do you think there’s any harm in keeping this dialogue up… except wasted time??? I know this guy is messing with me but he’s also cracking me up!

Here’s the exchange:

The initial email:

Hi Dear

Did you for get about me?

So whats new? Looks like your caught in my strips of time. I’m still alive. the alien.

My response:

How do we know each other?

His response:

Well long story. I’m the camera man that use to work with you. they say I’m dead but thats a lie. Like that guy that says the homes made out of old shipping container is his designs. They are mine. And He is just a thief that got a hold of my work and some of my money. There is investigators going around catching those criminals that stole my work thing I was dead. So do you know Carson Daily? I was on his show along time ago. I was a girl then. I had a sex change. Anita James. This is an upside down world.

My red carpet moment at the Streamys is up on Getty...

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:42:00 -0700

My red carpet moment at the Streamys is up on Getty Images. I’m going to make the “Amanda, if you will” music video remix just you wait. ;) This was taken moments before I was hit in the head by the enormous ear of a man dressed as a giant, yellow, sort of anime-looking bunny. I could not make this stuff up. Srsly. Despite the technical snafus, it was great to spend an evening celebrating Web Video (or in my case Mobile TV!). I was proud to be there promoting FLO TV and Sometimesdaily.com.

Had a nice time at The Streamy Awards last night. My girl Zadi...

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:33:00 -0700

Had a nice time at The Streamy Awards last night. My girl Zadi Diaz took home “Best Web Series Host”… that made me happy. Great to see a true pioneer and renaissance woman (producer, editor, writer, host) win. Walking the red carpet was fun… aside for the highly peculiar experience of having a guy in a giant yellow bunny costume continuously hit me in the head with his ears as I made my way along. NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT WALK RED CARPET DIRECTLY BEFORE MAN IN FURRY ANIMAL COSTUME. Before the show I was privileged to meet Bernie Su, winner of Best Writer of a Drama Web Series. He explained that his series, Compulsions, is a little like a web version of The Sopranos.. so I’m definitely going to check it out. I also spoke with Ashley Scranton and Doug Bresler, two of the peeps behind Eli’s Dirty Jokes (Eli was there too!). At the Cicada Club Afterparty I caught up with dear friends… Steve Garfield, Ze Frank, Annie Tsai, Kent Nichols, Brigitte Dale, and finally met iJustine who was super nice. Here’s a pic Steve took of the two of us. She had about 42 different electronic devices hanging from her wrist to which I remarked, “You weren’t joking… you really *are* the internet”. So it’s true! She is! I can vouch! Congrats to all the nominees and winners… and see you all again next year! :)

Sometimesdaily is in the most recent issue of GQ Japan for our...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:30:22 -0800

Sometimesdaily is in the most recent issue of GQ Japan for our part in the Evan Ratliff hunt. Yipee!!

Awww. Thanks to @thinkshrink for this cute fan vid! Love that he...

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:04:11 -0800

Awww. Thanks to @thinkshrink for this cute fan vid! Love that he gives props to Andrew and Mario!

Dream come true! Thanks to everyone who voted for my panel ideas...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:54:00 -0800

Dream come true! Thanks to everyone who voted for my panel ideas for SXSW Interactive. One of them was chosen, but in a new format… as a solo session which will be part of a new series at the conference called “Future15”. I’ll be speaking about web video of course. I’m hugely psyched because SXSW is my all time favorite conference/festival! Applying to speak was a long 6 month process, so I’m beyond stoked it had a happy ending. I spoke and covered SXSWi 2005, 2006 and 2007 but was unable to attend in 2008 because of scheduling conflicts. I had plans to go in 2009 and announce my partnership with FLO TV in Austin… but my husband had to have emergency heart surgery that week. So this will be my triumphant return! Again, thanks to my Twitter & Facebook friends for helping to make this happen.

The judge of the Phoenix Feline Fanciers Cat Show walked right...

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:06:00 -0800

The judge of the Phoenix Feline Fanciers Cat Show walked right up to me, so I got a close look at the “Best Kitten in Show”. So adorable. I wonder if her owner picked out that mane beforehand… the cat has a serious afro.

I’d love it if you’d be a part of our “best of...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:16:00 -0800

I’d love it if you’d be a part of our “best of SD” year end round up! Are you looking for a cool way to plug your brand or blog? Submit a video that’s 20 seconds or less introducing yourself, your favorite SD video and then plug away! Please give your name or handle and up to two urls where people can find out more about you on the net. You can browse the archive here to pick your favorite. Upload your video to flickr or youtube or even 12seconds.tv if you talk super fast! Those are just suggestions, too, any video service will do.

Sample script:

YOU:

“Hey, I’m Mark Weenerberger!

I’d like to nominate Caffeine Confessionals for the best of Sometimesdaily because I drink a LOT of coffee and can completely relate to Amanda’s obsession! You can follow me on twitter @weenerberger and read my blog at markweenerberger.com!

Happy holidays!”

We’re taking submissions up until Christmas Day. You can email them to Amanda AT Sometimesdaily DOT com. The best submissions will be featured Dec 28-Jan 1 on Sometimesdaily.com and FLO TV - Live Mobile TV. Ping me with any questions! Happy December. Hope this stressful time of year is not stressing you out too much!

Sometimesdaily in WIRED!

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:48:05 -0800

“A camera crew, fronted by an Internet news correspondent named Amanda Congdon, was corralling passersby for man-on-the-street interviews about their views on swine flu. I volunteered myself as an interview subject. A few days later, I found my interview on the Sometimesdaily.com site, Venice Beach in the background. It was time to get out of LA.”

You can check out the full article here.

Thanks to Evan Ratliff for the shout out! We loved playing a part in your awesome experiment!

I announced a contest on twitter & facebook today to win a...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:21:00 -0800

I announced a contest on twitter & facebook today to win a #freeptv. 140 characters doesn’t really suffice when explaining the contest, so I thought I’d move over to tumblr.

What’s a PTV? It’s a handy little personal television that you can use on the go. Along with Sometimesdaily episodes you’ll get tons of familiar TV channels and lots of great live entertainment too. You can find out all the details about the product here. The device comes with a free 6 month contract, so that’s taken care of.

Anyone in the USA can win. All you have to do is tweet me or leave a tweet-sized comment on my facebook wall saying why you think you should win a PTV, tag it with #freeptv and the person with the most creative answer wins the device! Pretty simple, right? You can tweet as many answers as you want to maximize your chance of winning. I will mail you the PTV if you cannot pick it up in person at the Streaming Media West Mixer on Tuesday, November 17 at 7pm in San Jose. Of course, I’d prefer to see you there so we can finally hang out IRL! ;) The mixer is free and there’s an open bar! I hope you will join me. Thanks to FLO TV and Streaming Media West for making this contest possible.

"Lately I feel like somebody made a big mess and I’ve got my mop and I’m mopping the..."

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:56:00 -0700

““Lately I feel like somebody made a big mess and I’ve got my mop and I’m mopping the floor and the folks who made the mess are there (saying) ‘you’re not mopping fast enough. You’re not mopping the right way. It’s a socialist mop.’””

- President Obama via Reuters

Sometimesdaily is now on TiVO. We are super stoked about this....

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:30:28 -0700

Sometimesdaily is now on TiVO. We are super stoked about this. AWESOME Sometimesdaily fan, Stephen Ramsey, created a video explaining how to subscribe to our show. We’re going to be adding this video to our subscription options on Sometimesdaily.com but until then I thought I’d post it up here. Thanks Stephen!

I’m very proud to be this week’s “Girl to...

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:03:00 -0700

I’m very proud to be this week’s “Girl to Watch”. If you aren’t familiar with Girl2Watch you can learn about their mission here or follow them on Twitter @Girl2Watch.

If you want to read some interviews with me and/or see some snazzy high def pics check out these links:

Editor’s Note on this week’s Girl2Watch (aka me)

Lots of great pics - many of them *brand new* and never seen before on the interwebs

“Best of” Sometimesdaily - pretty self explanatory!

Some fun and random facts about me - it’s true I adore 90s hip-hop and have a hula-hoop fetish

Too funny how tag me with the word “blonde”. LOL!

In August I decided I really wanted to go on tour again a la...

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:28:00 -0700

In August I decided I really wanted to go on tour again a la Amanda Across America. I got to meet *so* many cool people when I traveled across the country last time.. and the project was a success. BUT! one thing was wrong. I WENT TOO FAST! There were days where I’d wake up not knowing what city I was in because I had driven 12 hours the day before and needed to wake up, interview a politician/environmental activist/web celeb and then drive 12 more hours. So this time we’re taking our time visiting many different climates and cultures across Hawaii, Northern California, Colorado and the American Southwest. Why did we pick these locations? Well, our car is currently in CA making them the most accessible, most of the cities are not too rainy which is preferable when shooting video outside, AND we want to visit with Grammy in Hawaii. :) We’ll be stopping in cities, towns and rural places, but will be largely ignoring the suburbs.

Today and tomorrow we are selling, packing and storing… and then we’re off to the SF Bay area— our first stop on the “We’re New Here” Tour!

“WE’RE NEW HERE” SCHEDULE*

Oct 5-Nov 30: SF Bay Area, rural

Dec 1-5: Drive to Phoenix stopping along the way

Dec 5-Jan 4: Phoenix

Jan 5-16: Hawaii (the big island, maui, oahu), city and rural

Jan 17-Feb 17: Denver

Feb 17-Feb 28: Drive to Austin stopping along the way

Mar 1-30: Austin, SXSW, city

April 1-4: Drive back to LA

*Times and places are tentative, aside from the SF Bay area and Austin dates which are certain.

Types of videos you’ll see:

AMANDA-ON-THE-STREETS

SKETCHES

PERFORMANCE ART

INTERVIEWS

AMANDA’S 10, a list of 10 things I present directly to the camera via my iSight

And our new documentary style segment, SOMETIMESDAILY EXPLORERS!!!

Like I said in the video, all of your thoughts about places to go, things to do, people to interview are most desired! I’m partial to road side attractions, natural wonders, super friendly people, things techy but not too technical, and the bizarre. I’ll be querying you for ideas in the coming months… and hope you’ll jump in to add your advice as we go! If we feature your submission in a video we will be giving credit and a link… the video will be distributed online at sometimesdaily.com and on FLO TV - Mobile TV. At the conclusion of the trip, the person whose suggestions were implemented the most will win a cool prize— and don’t worry it won’t be something lame like a t-shirt or something!

Learn: Identify constellations, stars, planets and how to navigate at night

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:00:05 -0700

Learn: Identify constellations, stars, planets and how to navigate at night:

very important skill

"In 100 yrs, when ppl chronicle how America got past race, the uptick in white ppl calling blacks..."

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:37:00 -0700

““In 100 yrs, when ppl chronicle how America got past race, the uptick in white ppl calling blacks racist is going to be seen as a symptom of the end.””

- John McWhorter, who studies race and language at the conservative Manhattan Institute via this AP article by Jesse Washington.

TV 3.0 - It’s Still TV to Me...

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:03:00 -0700

That’s the title of Bill Stone’s panel at SXSW Interactive. I’m biased because Sometimesdaily is on Flo TV’s line up… but I know this will be interesting as the last time I saw Bill talk he kept me engaged for 90+ minutes. Learn about Bill’s panel here.

Bill Stone, CEO Flo TV

Watching Heidi Pratt Montag’s performance during Miss...

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:03:00 -0700

Watching Heidi ~~Pratt~~ Montag’s performance during Miss University 2009 takes me nine years back in time. Now, watch the professional. I’d take Britney’s infectious craziness over Heidi’s blaise, bored attitude any day of the week.

"Director Quentin Tarantino, after premiering Inglorious Basterds to wildly mixed reviews at this..."

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:15:56 -0700

“Director Quentin Tarantino, after premiering Inglorious Basterds to wildly mixed reviews at this May’s Cannes Film Festival, went back into the cutting room with it and opened the movie to the American public on Friday. While reviews still ran the gamut from four stars to fewer, most critics still singled out Pitt’s no-nonsense anti-Nazi Tennessean.”

- Never estimate the power of a good re-edit. Good thing Tarantino was open enough to criticism to rework the film and make it, well, a smash hit!