Matt Stempeck

Blog

  • Moving Day

    My own personalized version of hell will involve shoe shopping and furniture moving. And it will be really cold out. I got a little preview this weekend.

    My parents invited me to come down to Boca Raton, Florida with them a few months ago, but at the time I didn’t realize how badly I’d need some sun and thought it might be weird tagging along with just my parents. They had an hour layover at Reagan yesterday, so I met up with them for lunch and tried to buy a ticket on their connecting flight, to no avail. I had a swimsuit, sunglasses, and a toothbrush in my backpack just in case. It’s a lot easier to do in romantic comedies I guess.

    So now I’m still here and have to move all my stuff 4 feet next door to the other room (we’re taking turns with the small room). Meaning the few piles I’ve managed to eliminate in the last 6 months will be back, and those I hadn’t tackled yet will be emboldened by the veritable jailbreak of clutter.

  • You thought the iTunes visualizer was sweet before?

    via MBA Baracus

  • Crack Commando Marketing Student

    Brian officially became the second brother to start a blog (the others will fall someday).

    As usual he was a bit wiser, by a) starting it when not working full time and b) choosing a discernible topic to cover.  M.B.A. Baracus is off to a great start, including a Bank of America cover of U2’s “One”. Another song ruined by a lame corporation while authentically creative works are deleted or sued.

    P.S. the title refers to Mr. T’s character on the A-Team, Seargant Bosco “B.A.” Baracus

    P.P.S. I should note that Sister Lauren also has a blog, but I can’t find it and I’m willing to bet she’s left it for dead. Lauren, if you’re reading this, prove me wrong.

  • Topiary, vision is scary

    I’ve clearly neglected mStem this week, primarily because I’ve been ridiculously busy at work. But there’s nothing worse than reading about why someone was too busy to post to their blog, so here:

    edscissors.jpgMy coworker JP tossed me two sweet tickets to Edward Scissorhands at the Kennedy Center. Besides being the only person there in apple juice-soaked blue jeans and smuggled Smartfood, I had a great time. I’m not sure how into theatre or dance anyone reading this is, but if you come across tickets or find yourself on the short bus labeled Kennedy Center, it’s worth it. The set was great, including a dinosaur topiary that came to life and danced.

    One minor gripe:  When a performance ends, you don’t grab your jacket and leave right as curtain call starts.  You’re not at a movie theater with credits rolling.  I think this is the first play I’ve seen in DC, but a significant number of people in attendance were too busy to put in another 4 minutes at the end.

    There are loads of decorative details that make Matthew Bourne’s “Edward Scissorhands” at the Kennedy Center such a fun, loopily inspired spectacle — among them the twin bouquets of giant shears that Edward wields (in the place of hands) with so much expressive power, and the periodic snowfall that underscores his joy.

    But the topiary trumps all.

    –WashPost

  • Wake Up Barry

    The trailer for season two of Matthew T. Richissin’s tv show, Wake Up Barry, featuring Mike “I’ll drive 3 hours to be an extra at a party” Chandler, pictured below in the backwards neon green hat.

    chandlerwakeupbarry.jpg

  • Free Contact Backup w/ Verizon

    Now when you lose your phone, you don’t have to lose all your contacts.  Verizon was originally charging $2 a month for this service, but now as long as you have an online account with them they’ll waive the fee (make sure to check your next bill).

    freecontactbackup.jpg

    I don’t know if this is old news or not, because I haven’t paid my cellphone bill in three months.  Ouch…too many texts…

  • turtle power

    It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for the TMNT movie…March 2007 once sounded so far away. I passed the time by being a TMNT for Halloween…for the third time in my life. My bo did not make it home.

    I guess in this one the turtles are going to be a bit more Matrix-y/frog-like (yes, Matrix-y is a word).

    I had another great video of a crazy obsessed TMNT woman, but Viacom made Youtube take it down.

  • I must be getting old…

    …because Facebook’s confusing the heck outta me.

    Gifts?
    facebookiconsnewsfeed.gif
    So you can now buy an icon to show up in everyone’s News Feed?

    facebookicons1.gif

    And you get to choose from these?

    facebookicons2.gif

    Kinda like you can do on MySpace for free?

    Oh Facebook…

  • The Case for Hibernation

    Everyone I talked to today is exhausted, sick, or both. The temperature’s very low and Fox News has reported to me 7 different ways the cold can kill me, including being wet, homeless, or losing my corneas to the wind.

    One to two inches of snow are expected. Maybe somehow that will translate to the federal government getting shut down which will snowball into no work tomorrow. Yeah, I think I’m going to bed at 9.

    UPDATE: It’s somehow 11:30 and I’m still awake, but Madeleine did post a great poem that’s echoing my feelings right now:

    “Winter’s Onset from an Alienated Point of View”

    The first cold front came in
    whining like a carpenter’s plane
    and curled the warm air
    up the sky: winter is
    for busy work, summer
    for construction. As for
    spring and fall, ah, you
    know what we do then:
    sow and reap. I want
    never to be idle or by plumb
    or level to fear death,
    so I do none of this
    in offices away from weather.
    – Alan Dugan

  • Oceania Doesn’t Lend Itself Nearly as Well to Chants

    1984worldmap.png

    USA! USA!

    And the UK is “Landing Strip One”

    The world in George Orwell’s 1984.

    Via Strange Maps

  • Attempts at Coining a Name for My Generation:

    There’s the Greatest Generation, then the Baby Boomers, Generation X… And there’s my generation, which has been conveniently encapsulated into a cute little phrase by everyone trying to be the next Douglas Coupland.

    –Generation Y
    –Generation M (multi-task, media, or mobile)
    –Echo Boomers
    -Millenials
    –Generation Next
    -Net Generation
    -Reagan Babies
    -MTV Generation
    -Millennials
    -Echo Boomers
    -iGeneration
    -Nintendo Generation
    -Generation 9/11 (Applebee’s America)

    I like Generation M. Media, multi-tasking, mash-ups and mobile are pretty important identifying features of my generation. And Matt begins with ‘M’.

  • “Have they been advised to act like they’re not taking this seriously?”

    I didn’t really have much to add to the news that Boston pretty much shut itself down over some magnetic lite-brights promoting Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but the “press conference” they gave to some self-important reporters is equally hilarious.