Wow, I’m pretty bad at this.

I’ll admit it.  I’m really bad at blogging.  But I’m going to keep pushing forward because one of the main goals was to monitor my progress in 2010.  The key areas were and still are: Health, 3Kings, Hobbies, Stop Hatin, Reading, Blogging.  Here we go…

• Health – I’m proud to say that in March I was 219 lbs.  I am now 205 lbs.  The past month or so I haven’t been working out like I want to, but the awareness is there.  I know when I’m slacking, I know when I’m eating bad (usually weekends).  Picked up biking a few months back and it’s much better than running.  Running has to be near the top of my list of most boring things.  So far, so good, but I do think I could be doing better.
• 3Kings – Definitely a push and pull feel with 3K in the sense that we could be doing more, but things are getting busy and the summer collection is about to be released.  Cut and sew is the new goal for us and I really REALLY hope we can make it happen for Fall/Winter.  Needless to say, it’s been pretty busy this past month for 3K and will continue to be busy to close the year.
• Hobbies – Waayyyyyyy too much going on here.  I don’t practice magic much any more because my free time has been engulfed by gaming.  Board games, card games, miniature games…it’s a bad habit.  Photography I always have at my side, but haven’t really made a conscious effort to improve.  I did get back into stocks/forex only to witness the flash crash which scared me but I have been following the market much more.  Chess, I won the last game I played about a month ago.  If I could focus all my free time into one or two things, it would be much to my benefit.
• Stop Hatin – I try not to but it still is there from time to time.  Maybe I’m just getting old…
• Reading – I’ve picked up a lot of books and still reading non-fiction a lot.  Also want to get into fiction but again, there never seems to be enough hours in a day.  Currently reading: The Girl Who Played with Fire, A Game of Thrones, Sewing/Shirtmaking books, investing books.  There’s that theme of way too much going on again.
• Blogging – Grade: F.  It’s been months since my last post and that’s not an excuse.  Yes, I am bad at this.  Occasionally I do write on the 3Kings Blog.  Occasionally.  The conclusion is that I’m just not good at this.  I’m too busy reading about this, that, and mindless but fun hobbies.

Conclusion:  The thing that strikes me most is how fast this year is going by.  That and the constant theme of not having enough time.  It’s definitely a good thing that I’m keeping busy or “time flies when you’re having fun” but who doesn’t enjoy a couple days to just kick back and do whatever.  More than anything, I do want to keep improving in everyone one of these categories and that’s what I intend to do.  Too much talk and not enough action.

To whoever reads this, thank you for your TIME and I hope that 2010 is going your way.  Have a good weekend.

Movies, Movies and More Movies

This is pretty off topic, but since my last post ran off and got all serious, I figured I would write about movies.  Everyone enjoys movies, but I’ve never been a real big movie buff.  I’m still not, but I did see three movies this weekend, probably more than any weekend I can remember.  I also saw a couple others in the past weeks.  I’m not a great writer, I not super big on movies, but I’m going to write about them anyways.  That’s what the internet is for.  Here are my thoughts.

Sunshine Cleaning (2008) – IMDB Rating: 7.1, Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 71%,

So Sarah and I stop at the groceries and randomly stop to check out Redbox.  I think we’re addicted because we got two movies this past weekend and we already want more.  But anyways, browsing the movies available, I saw Sunshine Cleaning.  Seeing nothing more than Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, this was my choice (since there were no new movies).  The movie one of those “real feeling + almost peculiar/eccentric” type dramas.  It’s not terribly funny, but it does address some pretty real issues.  Without going to deep into the details, Amy Adams (and her sister Emily Blunt) start a cleaning company to send her son to private school.  He got kicked out for licking the walls at school.  If you’re not a fan of these types of movies, I’d say pass.  However, these types of movies I enjoy, not to mention the two leading ladies.  Paolo Jackson’s Rating: 7.01

Wolfman – IMDB Rating: 6.3, Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 32%

Pretty big discrepancy between IMDB and RT, but I’m with RT on this one.  A movie with Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro, and the agent guy from the Matrix had to be a good movie.  Too bad it wasn’t.  The only thing going for this movie was Emily Blunt.  I really didn’t find her attractive until after this movie.  The picture below proves it.  Paolo Jackson’s Rating: 4.44

500 Days of Summer (2009) – IMDB Rating: 8.0, Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

I actually watched this movie before Sunshine Cleaning and Wolfman, but I just decided I was including movies from before this weekend.  It was mentioned above that I like those almost independent type movies, which is probably the reason I really wanted to see this movie.  So much, in fact, that I paid for it, on demand cable.  I even bought it on blu-ray shortly after.  It’s a romantic comedy (not laugh out loud funny) about the relationship of the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the poor man’s Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel.  Anyways, if you couldn’t tell already, I really enjoyed it, and thought the way the story was told, though not completely original, was very clever.  Though not of the same genre, it still fits my mold of “real feeling + almost peculiar/eccentric” type movies that I like so much.  If there is a name for those, please let me know.  Paolo Jackson’s Rating: 9.0001

Up in the Air (2009) – IMDB Rating: 7.9, Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 90%

Another gap here between my two movie sites…Up in the Air is about a guy (George Clooney) who’s job is firing people.  He is constantly flying from city to city, hence the title UP IN THE AIR.  Of course I could try and sound like I know how to analyze movies and give multiple parallels to the title, but that’s not my job.  Yet another movie that isn’t all dressed up and fancy, but more about the characters and issues at hand,  I thought this movie was pretty darn good as well.  With Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga along side Mr. Clooney, I think they picked a great cast.  While not terribly funny, even though I was tired, I couldn’t stop watching this movie.  You know it’s a good movie when you actually think about what happened in the movie after you’re done watching it.  I give the slight edge to 500 Days, only because there is a pseudo-Katy Perry.  Paolo Jackson’s Rating: 8.84.

She’s Out of My League (2010) – IMDB Rating: 6.7, Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 50%

Relative no names Jay Baruchel & Alice Eve star in a romantic comedy about exactly what you think.  A guy dating a girl who’s out of his league.  He is THAT dude.  We all know one.  And really, this Alice Eve girl is out of his league.  There are some pretty laugh out loud, AWKWARD moments, and while it was more or less what I expected, I still really enjoyed this movie.  If anyone watched Carpoolers before it got canned from ABC, She’s Out of my League co-stars Gracen’s son TJ Miller.  If you don’t know him, he looks like a fat Napoleon Dynamite and he’s hilarious.  In the movie you’ll hear the guys talk about themselves as a base 1-10, with additions due to jobs, cars etc.  Normally, this movie would be a 6.5 in my book, since this Alice Eve girl is smokin, the movie gets +1.  Hopefully we’ll see a lot more of her as she is going to be in the new Sex in the City movie which should help her cause.  Did I mention she attended Oxford?  Man…  Paolo Jackson’s Rating: 7.50

Also See:  Alice Eve in Maxim

If you’ve got this far, thanks for reading.  Probably going to watch Hachi pretty soon too.  Redbox is the shiz.

Is it already March? – A reflection…

Time for a Paolo J update.  I’ve been grindin…I’ve also been slacking.

Most importantly I’m making a super effort to get my health in check.  I’ve been doing pretty well.  When I was to report my weight last month, I actually did get on the scale the next morning and I was at 219.  I stepped on the scale this morning, 213.4.  Most of that may be water weight, but it’s better than nothing and definitely a start!  So that’s a big plus in my book.

Things have also been picking up with 3Kings, social TONIGHT at Sucker Punch, plus the spring drop coming VERY soon.

Hobbies – I spend way too much time practicing and watching magic tricks.  I feel like a huge nerd admitting this, but it’s true.  Music, I’ve been listening more to, but I need to really get back into the equities market.  (What a random three sentences).  Still taking photos, but at a slow rate.

Blogging – a huge disappointment.

It’s probably going to get pretty boring just posting updates on how my 2010 is coming along.  Instead, I’m going to take the time to reflect on everything as a whole and maybe it will all make sense.

• Taking care of your body takes a lot of time.
• Running a business (even a small start up) takes a lot of time.
• Blogging takes a lot of time.
• Hobbies take up too much of your time.

Thinking more about it, I shouldn’t look at these things as a list.  For example, you can also kill two birds with one stone.  I love playing basketball and football.  That fits into a hobby but also helps take care of my body.  Blogging also helps run a 3Kings.  Everything all works together.  Hobbies are fun, and when I’m in a good mood, I’ll want to do everything.

The key issue is BALANCE.

I independently came up with the idea (though I doubt it’s new) of this triangle of letters.  C-R-H.  Career-Relationships-Health.  While the idea may have its holes, the basic idea is that you need to balance these three areas of life to achieve happiness and success.  No one should overpower the other, yet none of them can stand alone.  In my next few blogs, I plan on re-investigating this idea  in which I still believe is a strong model for how to live your life.

Wow this post all of a sudden got real serious.  But I will try to throw in other things here and there.  For all things cool, be sure to visit blog.3KingsClothing.com where I will be blogging often as well.

How are YOU doing?

It’s the first of February, roughly 8.5% of our year already behind us.  The big question I suppose is how I’m doing with my bold #in2010 statements.  By now I’d venture to say that at least 50% of people have just about forgot about their new year’s resolutions. Here’s my rundown…

• Health & Fitness – I wish I could say I’m doing awesome, but I’m not. I’m not moving backwards, but I haven’t even inched forward.  Two solid days of discipline followed by a weekend of beasting, and in the bad way.  Tomorrow I will update this post with my weight which I will take when I wake up.
• 3Kings – The team has been doing well, we’re all pretty focused, and for the most part I’m happy to say I’ve been very focused for 3Kings.  However, it’s crunch time and I need to be on top of everything 3Kings related.
• Hobbies -  Music, photography, stocks, magic, chess.  Listening more, shooting more (because I’m an uncle!), been watching the market but no trades, I practice random magic tricks TOO much, and I’m playing some chess here and there.  Check.
• Stop hatin – You tell me.
• Reading – About all I read are forums and feeds.  That isn’t a bad thing, but my feed reader has over 1000 unread items and there are so many good books that I need to get into.
• Blogging – Could be better, though even when I don’t post, the blog still gets a random 300+ hits.  That can be attributed to the always sexy Katy Perry.  Thanks.

There you have it.  An honest evaluation of the first month of 2010.  Anyone who happens to read this and be like, “Um…why do I care?”  To that I say, “Probably not, but how are YOU doing in 2010?”

Drastik in San Antonio

And yall were thinkin I was one of those people who make these resolutions and fall flat on their face…nope!

Anyways, if you ain’t checked out the 3Kings Blog you’re missing out on some really good stuff.  I’ve yet to post on their, but believe me, it’s coming.  Every now and then, though I may be able to sneak some exclusive material on my blog, and that’s what I’m doing now.

Last night, Drastik performed for the J.Cole show in San Antonio.  If you haven’t heard of Drastik, dude is pretty sick.  Check him out HERE.   Even better, he’ll be at the remaining J.Cole stops in Texas so get out to a show.  They will be in HOUSTON, tomorrow.  Below are a couple of pictures from last night, Drastik rockin the OG3K.

Shout out to Mike and all the guys at Home Team Records.

#in2010 Paolo J will…

Wow…it’s 2010.  I’m 25.  And I haven’t wrote a damn thing since last year… But that’s okay.  With every new year we all get that feeling of a fresh start, and I’m going to do the same.

We’re almost in mid-January which means almost 4% of the year has already gone by (if you know me you know I’m a numbers guy).  I thought I’d let holiday smoke clear before I start writing down what I expect from myself this year, you know, a NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION.  Yes, it’s one of those posts.  Why you may ask?  A couple reasons come to mind:

Reason #1: FOCUS.   If you haven’t noticed, when you write things down, you’re more likely to do them.  If you aren’t doing this, your really need to get on the ball.

Reason #2: ACCOUNTABILITY.  A year from now (not on Jan. 1 2011 because I will be recovering) I can look back and say, “Damn, I did it!”.  OR my girl @sarahPQ can say, “You’re not supposed to eat that!”   ORRR a good friend like @cabbyjames can say, “@paolojackson you’re slacking you slacker.”  Yall follow?

So enough of this random @ twitter nonsense.  Here is what is GOING to happen in the next 352 days of 2010.

• #in2010 Paolo J will… lose weight and be healthy.  Statistics say that 90% of resolutions are this, and if you know anything about me personally, you’ll know that this is of utmost importance.  So that things aren’t too personal, let’s just say one (of three) of my best friends @admiralperez made me promise him I’d lose 15 pounds.  Being the tough guy that I am, I told him I’d lose 30.  Quite a goal, but now more than ever is the time to make it happen.
• #in2010 Paolo J will… stay focused on @3KingsOnline and push it to new levels.  That includes a huge inphasis on the fashion industry.  For those that don’t know, I am co-owner and creative director of a little brand me a friend and @moneymody_of_3K started called 3Kings.  We finally released some shirts and I’m pretty happy where we are at, but I know I can do better for my team (including @_asif and @notahickie.   And that is 4000% what I intend to do.
• #in2010 Paolo J will… get back to his old hobbies.  There are a few hobbies that have cycled in and out of my life at one point or time in my 25 years of existence: MUSIC. PHOTOGRAPHY.  STOCKS/OPTIONS/FOREX.  MAGIC.  CHESS.  When I look at this list of hobbies, I can vividly remember the time in my life when I was obssesed with it.  Also, thinking about this list of hobbies, they all bring so much to the table in improving my life in general.  After all, isn’t it all about doing things that make you happy?  Let’s take a look.

Music – I played Piano for at least 10 years when I was in grade school.  Throughout college DJing was something I look forward to on the weekends (not to mention the money).  AAAAAAND I was super producer for the rap group Illyrikz.

Photography – Before it became the cool hobby for 2010, I was shooting years back on several cameras.  I had two LOMOs, and shot with a family digital camera when they first coming out.  Am I a pro?  I’m not even very good, but it is something I enjoy and helps with inspiration and creativity.

Stocks/Options/Forex – Right out of college, I immersed myself in anything trading related.  Trading can make you money.  Trading can lose you money.  I’m hoping for the former, not the latter.

Magic – Okay, I love magic tricks.  I recently found my old magic box at home and I’ve been going crazy practicing and trying to become a decent performer.  Ask me to do a trick, maybe I can surprise you and make you feel like a kid again.

Chess – Chess and life have so many paralells.  It’s also creative inspiration behind 3Kings, more than just a silhouette of three chess pieces.  You can learn so much from a game that has lasted centuries.

• #in2010 Paolo J will… stop hatin.  For whatever reason, sometimes Paolo J is just a hater.  Do I have reason to hate?  I’d like to think so, but that hate is gone as of today.
• #in2010 Paolo J will… read more.  Mama used to always say, “reading is the foundation of learning.”  She’s right.  And last but not least…
• #in20010 Paolo J will… blog more.  I don’t have many readers, but by next year I will.  You will want to know me.  Belieee daat!

P.S.  Sorry for all the random twitterness.  Oh yea…one more for us all.  #in2010 we will all….GRIND HARD & PROSPER.

3Kings Update!!! (This one’s good)

So it’s been quite a while since I last posted…and if you’ve been following me, you see random posts about (beautiful) morning news anchors, GPS systems and the like.   If you can’t tell by the title of this post, today I am writing about 3Kings.  And this is something you definitely want to read.  Let me just put it in it’s only little paragraph because it really is that important.

THIS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING YOU WILL WANT TO READ.

One of the big reasons I’ve been gone from this little blog of mine for a few weeks is that the 3Kings team has been hard at work.  I am happy to announce that in addition to the “Original 3K” and “L’etat, C’est Moi”, we will be releasing three additional shirts to complete our first run of 3Kings Clothing for the Fall/Winter season.  It took a little longer than we wanted, but we’re really excited that we’ve taken the time to bring you some quality, original gear.

A couple other things…our website will be launching within the next few weeks, but we are really looking forward to the H-Town Sneaker Summit where will will be posted up.  PLEASE check out whats goin on over at www.htownsneakersummit.com.  There’s a couple of other things I wish I could tell you, but what fun would that be?  Might as well open Christmas gifts tomorrow.  So that’s that.  3Kings is back.

P.S.  Be on the look out next LLLEE…I mean week.  Happy Friday!

Every morning starts with CNN

Myth: A cup of coffee gets the morning started.

Fact: There is no better way to start a weekday morning than by tuning into CNN American Morning and(CNN’s) HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade.

Easily a candidate for the Overlooked & Underrated, Kiran Chetry is the beautiful Nepalese born co-anchor who brings us important news from 5am to 8am CST, every weekday morning.  I was at the gym early one morning and CNN was on.  I made sure to never forget the channel and the name of the anchor I was watching.  Rarely mentioned in the “hottest female reporter” debate versus the likes of Melissa Theuriau, Jackie Guerrido, and even KPRC’s Jennifer Reyna, Kiran often flies under the radar–possibly due to the extra early time slot, and lack of publicity.  Or maybe I was never that up early to catch the lovely Kiran.   From Wikipedia:

“Kiran made Maxim Magazine’s top ten list of TV’s Sexiest News Anchors, placing third on the list: Kiran was ranked as America’s sexiest female anchor and the world’s second sexiest female anchor. On September 24, 2007, on American Morning, CNN’s medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, used Kiran’s photo to illustrate a study on the biological reasons that people gaze longer at attractive individuals: the segment on an American Morning was entitled, “Who’s Hot to You? Why You Can’t Look Away.”

Kiran is HOT to me.  And no, I can’t look away.  Thank goodness she’s off by 8am or I’d be late to work.  Pictures online really don’t do her any sort of justice, so you’ll have to check out this Youtube clip…compiled by an even bigger fan.

So 8pm comes and I have a couple minutes left before work  to catch some more news so I then move to HLN where Robin Meade graces the screen…

As I post the mandatory picture, I realize that pictures don’t do Robin any justice either.  But anyways, Robin airs from 5am to 9am on her semi-self-titled show “Morning Express with Robin Meade.”  I remember driving north on 59 and seeing her billboard and again, I noted the channel and her name.  From then on I’ve been a fan. With Robin, the producers at CNN/HLN knew what they had on their hands.  A beautiful, cheery, likable anchor.  So they made sure to put her in the lime light, gave her a some decent advertising and let her do the rest.  Apparently she’s been doing a good job.  Morning Express has been on since 2005 and continues to go strong.

Pictures really do no justice...

It’s safe to say everyone else agrees that Robin Meade was/is/will be quite the looker.  She was a top ten finalist in the 1992 Miss America Pageant. That puts her at cougar status, however, she, like Kiran, is married.  Robin has also written a self-help book titled “Good Morning Sunshine”.  Amazon says 4.5/5 stars.  Not bad.  Forreal, even girls like Robin Meade.  While at lunch one day with el Cabitan and his co-workers, one of his female co-workers expressed how much she enjoyed watching Robin in the morning.  So females, please, quit hatin.

Kiran Chetry & Robin Meade.  It’s a win-win situation.  News and pretty women.  Better than Folgers in your cup.

THE LITTLE BUDDY Child Tracking GPS System

Going through my feeds this morning, I came across this little system where you stick it on your child and you can basically track them wherever they are.  You’ve seen it in the movies, but now it’s available for use…and they’re marketing it to parents to use for their children.  It’s called “The Little Buddy” by the value brand Insignia (you see them at Best Buy).  You can call it a tracking device, beacon, whatever.  They’ve been out for a while but they seem to be getting more mainstream.  Price: $100

Anyways, It got me to thinking.  I got no kids, but I remember when I was little Paolo J, things were much different.  I’m not even that OLD and things were way different.  Man, I hardly even remember that much from the past, but I do remember there was no tracking device to be put on me and have my parents follow my every movement.  Obviously you can see my stance on such a device, but I’m going off on a tangent…

Here’s how it works.  Yout take this gadget, and, without your child seeing, you sneak it on them somehow.  Maybe their backpack, maybe their lunch box, I dunno.  But you get your stealth on and SNEAK it onto your child.  SNEAK.  Then of course you can follow them via the internet hoping they don’t find this cute little blue wannabe flash drive.  In the event that they do find it and stash it on someone else realizing they’ve been bugged, tech-savvy parents are out a hundo.

Here are a couple better ideas…

• The obvious one is if you suspect your significant other of cheating.  Or you could just call Cheaters the Show.
• This one is for el Cabitan… plant it some girl’s bag at the gym so you can “randomly” run into her one night.
• Sneak (common theme) it onto a friend so you can hide around the corner and scare the crap out of them.
• What would you do with the Little Buddy?

The moral of this story is that GPS is pretty handy, but thinking about what you can do with it can be a bit disturbing.  I got a mass email the other day saying a GPS was stolen from a car, they found the person’s address in the GPS and went and robbed their house because that person was out.  Though the Little Buddy may be useful to some parents (we are all entitled to our opinions), I would only buy this if I was rich and wanted to play some mean jokes on  friends.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Wiltshire – Autisic Savant

It’s amazing what the human mind is capable of achieving.  If you haven’t seen this guy or others like him, you GOTTA check this out.  It’s truly an inspiration.  With out taking away too much from the video, Stephen has the ability to simply observe a city for 30 minutes to an hour and recreate the cityscape from memory, with amazing detail and accuracy.

On the subject of Autism, it’s still one of medicine’s great mysteries, again highlighting the strength, or more appropriately the complexity of the human brain.

Seriously though, watch the video.  He also has a website: http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/