Flap Your Lips Friday
Posted by michellemoquin on January 7th, 2011
Good morning!
Well….somebody just got famous for flapping theirs. Have you heard of Ted Williams? I didn’t and I’m sure many of you hadn’t either until a day or so ago. Now his “golden”voice is all over the media. How I love an interesting story that not only has a good ending, but an amazing beginning, and one that gives me, and so many others, HOPE.
Williams was a 2-year clean and sober, homeless man on the streets with a very special voice talent. And because somebody took the time and gave him the time to voice his talent, his talent has just landed him a few new job offers, a promising career, and a chance at a wonderful new life. Watch him in action. You just can’t help wanting the very best for him. I certainly am routing for his success, and a lifetime of sobriety.
I heard the original video of Williams got over 3 million hits in 48 hours! It is now removed from Youtube (I think. I couldn’t find it), but here’s a little snippet from MSNBC, along with an article from the Huff Po.
MSNBC Hires Ted Williams, ‘Golden-Voiced’ Homeless Man, For Voiceovers
MSNBC announced Thursday that Ted Williams, the homeless man whose golden pipes have made him a national sensation, is recording voiceovers for the network’s “Lean Forward” campaign. The spots will begin airing on Thursday night.
In addition, Williams will appear on “The Last Word” at 10 on Thursday night to discuss the campaign. In a statement, MSNBC said that Williams’ story “embodies the very same American ideals that the Lean Forward campaign seeks to highlight.”
Williams showed off his voiceover chops when he introduced Thursday morning’s “Today” show.
The MSNBC job is just one of the many offers that has flooded in since a video of Williams went viral in the past week. Among others, ESPN, MTV and the Cleveland Cavaliers have all reached out to Williams with offers.
Readers: Did you hear Williams last night? I did and he was superb. Doesn’t this just make you feel awesome? I have a feeling we are going to be hearing the “golden-voiced” Williams for along time. This guy deserves to be heard.
Want to hear more? Click here. Williams gets personal in an interview with respect to looking forward to seeing his mother after many years of being separate from her.
Before I end, I have to say that I want to give kudos to the man who discovered Williams, Doral Chenoweth. Chenoweth, is a journalist and Web producer for The Columbus Dispatch. If it weren’t for him taking the time to meet Williams, be so taken by his voice to inspire him to come back and video him, we might not have the pleasure of hearing this golden-voiced man.
You know what to do. Blog me and start flapping your lips. Happy Friday!
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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January 7th, 2011 at 10:38 am
5 Simple Ways to Make Your Car Last 300,000 Miles
Eric Peters
When you drive your car regularly, some wear and tear is to be expected. But you can take important steps to reduce excessive wear — and in the process, save money on car maintenance and ensure that your car runs for as long as possible.
Bonus: The resale value of a well-maintained car always is greater than that of an identical car that did not receive proper care.
KEEP YOUR CAR BATTERY FULLY CHARGED
Most people don’t pay attention to a car battery unless it stops working, but keeping your battery at full charge extends its useful life. Repeated charging and discharging can weaken the battery’s ability to hold a charge over time.
Your car battery also becomes depleted when you don’t use the vehicle for more than a few weeks. Even though the car is not running and all accessories are shut off, if the battery is connected, there is a gradual draw of current.
What to do: To avoid depleting your battery, don’t use the radio, headlights, interior lights and any other accessory when the engine is off.
If your car is not used regularly, consider buying an automatic “trickle charger.” This device is connected by cables to the car battery in the car and plugged into a household electrical outlet to provide a charge.
I prefer the automatic models, which cannot overcharge your battery because they automatically turn off when the battery reaches full capacity. Trickle chargers are available at auto-parts stores for about $40.
FILL YOUR GAS TANK
A full or nearly full tank reduces the odds that you will need expensive fuel system service in the years ahead. Most gas tanks are made of metal, and a partially empty fuel tank is prone to rust. Rust particles flake off and can clog fuel filters, fuel lines and fuel injectors, leading to costly repairs.
In addition, rust can eat through the tank, creating holes. That might take 10 to 15 years, but modern cars often last that long and longer. Replacing a gas tank (and fuel lines) is an expensive job.
What to do: Keep your gas tank as full as possible at all times. Never let it get lower than half a tank.
Bonus: You won’t ever have to make an emergency almost-empty stop at a gas station that charges more than the average price for gas.
WATCH YOUR TIRES
Today’s tires are much more reliable than tires in the past — so much so that people tend to not think about their tires or check their air pressure.
Result: Underinflated tires are more common today. Tires that are underinflated create more friction than those that have the right amount of pressure. This hurts gas mileage and can cause tires to wear out faster.
With today’s high-quality tires, air leakage typically is very slow and might not be noticeable to the eye until the pressure has dropped to dangerously low levels.
What to do: Check your tire pressure. Almost all new cars now have built-in electronic tire-pressure monitors.
For older cars, it’s wise to check your pressure the old-fashioned way, with a handheld gauge, at least every two weeks.
It is best to do it when the tires are “cold” (not warm from driving). Add air whenever tire pressure falls below the carmaker’s recommended minimum level.
This is listed in the owner’s manual or on a sticker on the inside of the driver’s door jamb.
OIL CHANGES
Oil’s main job is to capture contaminants that would otherwise contribute to the wear and tear of the car’s engine.
What to do: Keep the engine well-serviced by always changing the oil at the prescribed time. Don’t go longer than one month or 200 to 300 miles past the mileage/date interval.
PROTECT YOUR CLUTCH
The clutch on a car with a manual transmission wears down duri
ng the course of normal use, mainly because of friction. Replacing a clutch can cost $1,000 or more, so the longer you can go between clutch jobs, the better.
What to do: Most wear and tear takes place when you start and stop the car and shift gears. To cut back on wear and tear on the clutch, try to minimize stop-and-go–type driving as well as gear changes.
Example: Try to maintain your vehicle’s momentum by anticipating changing lights and the ebb and flow of traffic.
It is much easier on the clutch to “roll out” in second or third gear than to start from a dead stop in first gear. When you change gears, do it smoothly, not abruptly.
Important: Avoid excessive use of the clutch or “riding” it (partially engaging the clutch, which increases friction and can wear it out).
Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Eric Peters, a Washington, DC–based automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities! The Cars We Love to Hate (MBI). http://www.ericpetersautos.com.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Hi Mischa, I heard this story a few days ago, didn’t hear his voice till just now though…golden pipes for sure : )It dawned on me that while some people who tune in here have heard your voice, most around the world have not had the pleasure, maybe you should podcast or video once a week or month, just a thought…bc I want to hear your pipes and mine on a phone call soon, especially with the mingled sound of laughing, this week is busy so Sun night or early next week?
I want to share this, bc I’ve said it before, I will do and test anything for all of you, and uh yeah, this one happened quite by accident whilst I was busy losing a pound a day over stalker stress.
Hmmm, I always say ‘never let any one person make you lose your mojo’ and yet I did and for over a week, that’s point #1, lose the fear and the voice loop in your head about whatever is going on as quickly as possible, your thoughts about any subject are everything!! This taught me a huge lesson about how much I do not share myself with my peeps, it took a pal of 23 years to say, wtf is going on you haven’t laughed all afternoon and don’t even bother saying ‘nothing’ bc I’m not buying it. So, if you’ve temporarily got side swiped, get a trusted confidante and spill it. When I finally finished the story, 45 minutes later, she said holy shit you’ve been holding onto THAT for 6 days now and I’ve seen you twice this week???!! Why’d you do that? – I could only come up with this: I didn’t want to be someone’s ‘story’ to tell at a party about a ‘woman I know who’s been stalked…blah blah blah…’ – ah well, might as well face the fact that you just might be story fodder and let your personal story rip to your pal, huh?
Point #2, I left touch with myself for that span of time, the experience left me appetite-less and I forced a minimal amount of cereal in my cake-hole in the am and salad in the eve only bc I knew I had to eat something…after the 8 days, I believed myself to be ok on just eating a bit more of the same foods and when I was still shaking from the inside out I chalked it up to a freak out hangover, but what it was was – nowhere near enough protein, how’d I miss that?! As soon as I started eating 4 ozs of protein every 4 hours again, it subsided, so if you are at all either starving yourself by accident (or on purpose) or near low end of anemic scale, never do this…just never do this anyway, ok?
…and that’s my story…
I ran into a ‘lose weight’ protege at the gym today, she has taken it too far, she looks very athletic just no more booty or softness anymore, hmmm, I thought of Glenn, the commenter here who missed his wife with some weight on and eating chocolates and sipping champagne…ladies, don’t get carried away, as I diplomatically told her, eat/drink/love/pray ; ) and get your damn round booty back ; )
OK, you’ve got the weekend to screw around, next week of the new year, we’ll be back to getting healthy and…kicking asses and taking names. : )
Luv, Zen Lill
January 7th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
It all happened quite fast. I first got wind of him about an hour after he was first posted online by the cameraman from the street corner video. As a producer and talent in the Voice Over world, I heard it through some of the online groups I am a part of and it went through them like wildfire and spread from there. When I heard him, I knew something was going to happen with him in a very short period of time. He deserves it! The group chatter is all behind him, excepting a few who are jealous of his instant success…
January 8th, 2011 at 3:39 am
I don’t know who H was but I would hope the real Howie would pipe in and say something about the two aliens that are royals of the alien world.
Howie where are you?
Jessie
January 8th, 2011 at 3:42 am
I will pray for you Zen Lill.
January 8th, 2011 at 7:53 am
Aww thank you Helena though I think some praying for my stalker would be better, there’s some serious things going on in that mind. I’ll never know why the good doc needed wanted to fuck with me and my life but it’s over and i was merely the object of the insanity, I’m fine, I’m not so sure the insanity has gone away for our other party in this drama. Just goes to show you – no matter how zen you try to live your life there’s always someone who has something else in store for you. It’s not what happens, it’s all in how you handle it. I couldve tried relaxing more and feeding my face more and just offloading the story more, now I know. Hopefully it will never happen again. I dud receive a heartfelt apology text but I did not respond. Thanks for thinking of me, Helena, really that was sweet if you.
Luv, Zen Lill