JakeWheat.com

Lifted – The Movie = Cinematic Brilliance

Jake Wheat — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:59:23 +0000

Rarely does a movie achieve cinematic brillance, and go almost unrecognized flying under the radar. I met a gentleman at work who served in the Military, and we were speaking of movies and he asked me if I had watched “Lifted” on Netflix. I hadn’t, and so I added it to my list of movies to watch, and went home and chilled on the couch. I streamed the movie, and the entire time I forgot that I was in my house, sitting on my couch, and there was another world around me. That is cinematic brilliance.

The movie centers around Henry Matthews who lives in a small town in Alabama with his parents, William and Lisa Matthews. His father is a garage mechanic, but is also in the Reserves, while his mother is unemployed, but goes to group-therapy sessions for a drug addiction that she had dropped one year and four months ago. Henry is a middle-schooler, and deals with bullies after school, forcing him to eventually take refuge in the Baptist Church where Henry meets Pastor John. Pastor John takes a liking to Henry when they begin to play worship music on a the church’s piano, and discovers Henry is a very talented singer. Pastor John gives Henry a flyer for the Alabama Teen Star Quest, a singing competition in Birmingham. William’s Reserve Unit is activated and deployed to Afghanistan. While William is gone, Henry sends him songs to listen to, and to show off to his Marine buddies. While William is gone, Henry’s mom cannot afford the mortgage on the house, and they move into Lisa’s dad’s trailer, without telling William. Lisa’s dad hates the music Henry listens to, and hits Henry one day for playing the wrong music. Henry skips school, but Lisa thinks he is gone. She begins to bike to her therapy session, but turns around. She walked to the neighbor and gets high, breaking her promise to William that she’d stay sober. Henry watches his mom get high out of the window, and begins to pack his things. He tells his mom “bye,” but she is too high to understand. Henry runs to Birmingham to enter the singing competition. His dad comes home while he’s gone, and finds the house empty, and his wife high, then runs to Birmingham where he finds Henry. Henry gets far in the competition, and is covered on the news, where Lisa’s dad sees him. Lisa and her dad go to Birmingham and find Henry.

THE REST I AM NOT GOING TO WRITE ABOUT. THE REST IS SOMETHING YOU MUST WITNESS FOR YOURSELF. DO NOT – PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE – DO NOT, PLEASE, DO NOT GOOGLE ANY SPOILERS – JUST WATCH THE MOVIE. YOU WILL THANK ME FOR THIS!

The cast is excellent, and Uriah Shelton partnered with Dash Mihok (who plays his Father) is a duo which creates a timeless classic that will melt your heart. I have always loved Dash Mihok, from the moment that I saw him in the movie “Connie & Carla,” and while his role in this movie is much more sophisticated and unique – I had no idea that he could freestyle so well. Yes, this music centers around Henry (Uriah Shelton) who can out sing anyone on the charts and Dash Mihok (his Father) who freestyles along side of him along the way.

This movie tore out my heart, and if you haven’t seen it please DO NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING – just stream it on Netflix, and then join the group of people who have been lucky enough to have been told – or who have discovered this film.

Thank you David for sharing this film with me, because it was truly touching. This is one of my favorite movies now, and I am thankful that you asked me to watch it.

ARE YOU A FAN OF THIS MOVIE? DISCUSS IT WITH ME ON THE FORUM – CLICK HERE!

In Honor of Those Who Have Served Our Country,
Jake A. Wheat

My Lightsaber Is HOT For You, Noah “Puck” Puckerman!

Jake Wheat — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:18:04 +0000

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Mark Salling, who plays “Puck” on Fox’s hit TV show “Glee,” recently got down and dirty in a game of anti-prom strip poker with Becky and it was hot! ”Puck” has been one of my favorite characters since the inception of the show, due to his gritty punk attitude and persuasive yet independently minded personality constructs. When I was in high school I was the multi-colored mohawk wearing guy who had my own sense of style and personality, and Puck reminds me of that “non-conformity.”

Ok, enough. Mark Salling is not only hot, but laying there in that bed with his black Star Wars briefs on, OMFG! Am I dreaming? This is the droid I am looking for! Also, and I must say this, Puck is not “a little short” to be a Stormtrooper – in fact, the force is quite strong with this one!

That is no moon, it’s a space station. Change my name to Red 5, I am going in! I would really like him to fall into my garbage chute! Yep, “I’m all clear, so lets blow this thing and go home!’

…. yes, sorry, Star Wars quotes. I couldn’t restrain myself. I wonder if I sent Mark Salling a love letter he would write me back and let me know that I was his “only hope?” After all, I can’t help but wait to see what happens to my favorite Glee characters in the next weeks to come and I will be sad to see the show go! Maybe I should develop a relationship with Puck, and fly to California to be his assistant pool boy? Maybe I should force his Geography teacher to change that “F” into an “A,” so that Puck can graduate with the rest of his class? Maybe I should just ask Puck to marry me, and end the season of Glee with as surprise gay wedding?

You think I am full of shit right? ”I find your lack of faith disturbing….”

Noah “Puck” Puckerman Underwear Pic:

Wanna see more? If the gallery isn’t visible below, click here to open the post in full!

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

May The Force Be In Me,
Jake A. Wheat

Should You Insure Your Wedding?

Jake Wheat — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:22:33 +0000

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It’s a nightmare scenario, but one that has the potential for disaster. You have been planning your wedding for months, and finally the big day has arrived. Unexpectedly, Uncle Jordan has had too much to drink (already) and faceplants into the wedding cake. The photographer forgets to take the lens cap off of his camera, and so none of the beautiful wedding photos were captured, and everything has been ruined.

It happens in real life, in fact one example is in the video below of a wedding in Arizona that was interrupted by a rather ominous sand storm that ripped through the Bride and Groom’s big day like a paper shredder – check it out:

Should you insure your wedding? Should I insure my wedding? Is wedding insurance even offered? Yes, and if the video above wasn’t reason enough, here are some other things to consider:

Unexpected Death or Illness
Wedding Attire damage
Wedding ring loss
Limo or transportation service contract obligation failure
Death or permanent dismemberment of the Bride or Groom

Weddings come in all shapes, sizes, and packages – and so does wedding insurance. Since businesses, automobiles, and homes are insured – why not make sure that “the most memorable day of your life” is also insured as well? Who will replace those timeless wedding photos, or replace the Bride’s ring that was stolen on the plane before the honeymoon?

One of the best websites we found for wedding insurance is www.weddinginsurance.net, where you can get various comparative packages depending on your wedding budget. If you have sunk a lot of money into your big day, and you want to make sure that everything goes smoothly, then this website can provide you and your wedding party a lot of comfort.

Still not convinced?

What if the venue double books?
What if the flowers never arrive?
What if there is a death of a close family member, which forces the wedding to be postponed?

Indeed, being reimbursed for negligence on the part of anyone who fails to meet a contractual obligation for your wedding indeed (in most all cases) is why you should get wedding insurance, because it’s that one special day that can never truly be repeated. What is the only thing you really cannot insure? If you get cold feet, chicken out, or decide to run out of the church and not look back – that is not covered. Other than that, www.weddinginsurance.net has everything you need to make sure your special day goes off without any worry!

When I Get Married, I Will Be Insured…
Jake A. Wheat

It Could Happen To You Video on YouTube & My Video Response

Jake Wheat — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:37:43 +0000

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The videos speak for themselves:

My Response:

DO SOMETHING …. EQUAL LOVE RIGHTS ON FACEBOOK

Love,
Jake A. Wheat

Spoilers For The Glee Season Finale (Abridged)

Jake Wheat — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:59:29 +0000

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My friends and I are hardcore Glee fans, and we hate when people provide spoilers for our favorite show. It’s the ultimate in disrespect when you anticipate waiting for each Tuesday night to roll around and watch for ourselves. Glee, in it’s full effect, is a show that causes most of my friends to giggle at me because they don’t understand why I love the show so much. I must admit, I love the show because it takes chances, eliminates boundries, and addresses issues that other shows dare not touch.

In truth, it’s a show I wish I had been able to watch growing up, and one which would not have made me feel like such an outcast an so alone as a kid. None the less, providing spoilers is a bunch of hoo-ha, and so I decided to develop my own list of spoilers for those of you who are looking – because I am going to tell you EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS.

Are you ready? Here you go:

Kurt has a tragic draino swallowing accident, and dies in Blaine’s arms.
Puck decides to clean up his act and go to law school.
Finn and Rachel both go rock climbing and fall to their deaths.
Santana eats a can of peanut butter, gets food poisoning and dies.
Artie drinks miracle water from the school’s water fountain and walks again.
Blaine sues the Draino company and makes millions,in which he invests in his new Harry Potter Musical on Broadway.
Sue becomes a NUN.

In other words, don’t go looking for spoilers and watch the show. Otherwise you may be getting a ton of misinformation, and frankly – the show deserves your complete and utter attention, no matter what curve balls the show throws.

ALSO, I LOVE PUCK! xoxoxoxoxo

GLEEK FOR LIFE,
Jake A. Wheat

JakeWheat.com Goes To The Doctor….DrLinkCheck.com, That Is.

Jake Wheat — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:30:45 +0000

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JakeWheat.com has been around for a while, and we have always wondered about our external links and of course, our back and we have had our share of fun with hackers, filling up our posts with invisible links to Viagra ads and other such fun. The cleaning process was maddening, but we did it and then implemented security to do our best to prevent it from happening in the future.

We don’t always know if our links (in previous articles) are broken, or if new ads from various spammers exist. This is why we were happy to stumble upon the new website DrLinkCheck.com, which is still in the beta testing phase. Don’t let the beta test fool you into thinking that this is not ready for use, because we found the information on our site very useful, and frankly well worth the “free exam.”

Never mind the clever graphic of the Doctor with the exam glove on the website’s introductory page, with the slogan “Trust me, It won’t Hurt” and enter in your website’s URL. For us, we entered in our domain first, but then realized we wanted to use the actual server path to our blog to get more accurate results, so we used “http://www.streetblastmedia.com/JakeWheat” just to get the full effect, and the Doctor did the rest on it’s own.

After gently probing our website, the Doctor found 328 broken links, which we investigated to find legitimate broken links inside the article content, and received a list of them so that we could inspect and fix each of the issues that we wanted! This is an ultimate plus, and because the website does this for free (for now) it’s well worth the health inspection for your website or blog, just to keep on top of your websites reputation.

Who wants to visit one of your past articles and find that you have reviewed a fascinating product, provided a link, and when your reader clicks on it it takes them to a 404 error page? It makes your website look old and obsolete, and frankly is one of the reasons why DrLinkCheck.com is such a wonderful tool for webmasters!

What else does DrLinkCheck.com do? What if you accidentally linked to a malicious website? Yes, what if one of your links pointed to a site that would harm one of your readers computers? Google wouldn’t like that, and neither would your readers – so DrLinkCheck.com would alert you…. in fact, their website reads:

Non-working links are considered highly unprofessional. They reflect poorly on your business and deter visitors from returning to your site. Even worse are outgoing links to websites that may cause harm to visitors through phishing or malware. That’s why Dr. Link Check not only checks the validity of links, but also matches them against lists of known malicious websites. (Source)

The link check utility starts at the URL you provided, and then crawls the rest of the site (up to 1,000 links) and then stops automatically providing you with the information you need to fix any errors that surface! Did we mention it’s free? Thankfully, we don’t have any blacklisted (malicious) links that showed up in our exam, but we do have broken links that we have to mend. This makes me (Jake Wheat) very happy, but my web team are not too thrilled. They have 328 pages to investigate and edit, and we can’t thank DrLinkCheck.com enough for giving us the tool to give us that information quickly!

We highly recommend this website, and we will be using it to check out site regularly in the future! Remember, a healthy website is a productive website – and the exam didn’t hurt at all.

The Doctor Is In The House,
Jake A. Wheat

I Did It. I Requested To Interview Manu Bennett.

Jake Wheat — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:31:26 +0000

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I have been thinking about this for a while, and finally decided to be pro-active and move forward. It’s an act of bravery for me really, and frankly if I am rejected I will be heartbroken. Manu Bennett is one of my – no – he IS my favorite Actor and Spartacus on Starz has been something that I have supported since it’s first episode. I am not a new fan, I was there the night it first aired on the edge of my seat and just awestruck by the show! From there, I got the DVD’s, the Manu Bennett autographed card, and even won a sweepstakes on Starz where they sent me some free Starz stuff.

I order, and wear faithfully my “I love Crixus” T-Shirt, and I even have myself immortalized (as a cartoon bean) wearing the shirt which causes my friends to giggle. I’m not lying, here is the pic of me as a bean wearing my Crixus shirt to prove it!

Yes, I am a DIE HARD Crixus fan, sue me. So, without hesitation, I emailed Starz today and asked them if there would be a way that I could do an email interview with Manu Bennett. I am certain a phone interview would be out of the question, but I have a lot of real questions for the actor that I would like answered. He is a fascinating man, and I want to be able to “virtually” sit down with him and get to know him better.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Do you think Starz should allow Jake Wheat to interview Manu Bennett?

Hopefully Starz will hear my plea, and make this happen! Please everyone cross your fingers!

Make My Wish Come True,
Jake A. Wheat

Debt Free – Pay Off your Debt With Debt Snowball Method…It’s An App!

Jake Wheat — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:37:14 +0000

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Medical bills, student loans, and a strange bill to the IRS that cropped up here recently has haunted my banking account. I have been on a mad search for an app that will allow me to keep track of my bills, and give me some hope that I can crawl out of this hole. In other words, I want to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and so I went on a quest to find “a hero” which was in the form of an iPhone app called “Debt Free – Pay Off your Debt With Debt Snowball Method.” (iTunes App Site)

If you are shaking your head at what the “snowball method” is, don’t fret. The snowball effect occurs both ways, both with debt accumulation and debt reduction, so essentially you are fighting fire with fire. This app is the utility to help you win that war, and to give you a way to take all of those endless bills that come in the mail, organize them, and keep track of how much you pay.

“The debt-snowball method is a debt reduction strategy, whereby one who owes on more than one account pays off the accounts starting with the smallest balances first while paying the minimum on larger debts. Once the smallest debt is paid off, one proceeds to the next slightly larger small debt above that, so on and so forth, gradually proceeding to the larger ones later.” (Source)

Instead using an app that just gives you a balance, how much you owe, and how much you paid – it actually calculates the debt pay off date and the date when all of your debts will be eliminated. Think of it as the road to freedom! After entering in all of my debts (sigh) and using the lowest balance method (there are three methods, more on that later) I found out that I will be debt free in 2018. I guess that isn’t too bad, right? It’s like a weight loss plan, only for your finances, and actually I feel like I have a better handle on my bills now!

You can also pay off your debt using the other methods, which are highest interest rate and a custom order, which you can define in the application itself. If you want to make extra payments, the app takes that into consideration with interest savings and payoff dates as well as giving you calculators to play with the numbers. Yes, you can actually calculate using the app to see variances in your loan, mortgage rates, and the payoff date) which again is light that giant light at the end of the tunnel.

If you are like me you may forget about paying a bill, especially one that is coming from a collector or is one that you are dreading paying down. Indeed, reminders are the key and this app has them! You can set the number of days before the “debt payment” is due to be reminded to pay it down. Once your ready, and have all of your debts entered and your reminders set – it’s a breeze to record your progress! Simply get the reminder, make the debt payment, go to the app and record the payment, and check out your progress! It’s that easy!

You an even e-mail the debt report in .PDF form, and carry the printout with you if you decide you want to crunch the numbers even further! I personally LOVE this application, and I am going to keep using it because it has come at a time in my life when I really need to be more financially organized. Indeed, in this day and age we are all overwhelmed with debt – and this iPhone app will help you climb out of it with ease! It will also paint that lovely picture of when you will be OUT of debt, and fully paid off – and that in itself is a big stress reliever.

Here is a video of how to use the application:

I give this application all of the stars, kudos, and thanks that I can! It’s a lifesaver, and if you are drowning in bills – I suggest you get it too! Thanks Mobile Innovations, this is one TRULY amazing application and I am glad that I found you!

Get the app from ITunes | Application FAQ | Mobile Innovations LLC Website

Getting Out Of Debt & No Longer Unorganized,
Jake A. Wheat

Rescued Teddy Bears Get Fierce Makeover!

Jake Wheat — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:00:05 +0000

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Like out a sad montage scene from Toy Story, the damaged and no longer played with teddy bear gets tossed in the trash to meet with the other discarded bears. They have little hope, no hero, until Tara Logsdon comes along and rescues them. Sure they may be missing an eye, an arm, or have unbelievable damage however where everyone else sees little hope, Tara sees art.

EKLbearmy.com plays host to these newly recovered bears, and offers them out to the World again for a second chance, with a fabulous new makeover and ready to receive new found love from a World that once rejected them. It’s not a movie, it’s for real, and you can own one yourself. The bears all have outfits and accessories that would win any beauty/drag pageant – and are sure to go well right along side of your couch, coffee table, and especially something to snug up to at night when you need a fabulous friend who is non-judgemental.

The website reads:

Tara Logsdon rescues discarded teddy bears that are in grave need of physical and psychological repair from thrift stores. From there, long hours in the OR are spent repairing their dismembered appendages using hand-stitching techniques. Each bear goes through a full sensory make over in which they are given a new heart to deal with abandonment issues and eyes for a better outlook on life. Once the patient makes a full recovery and they are ready to be adopted and come with a unique prescription that must be followed until they have adapted to their new environment.

These adoptees have all been trained to be soldiers in the EKL bearmy. Once they re-enter the world it is their mission to combat mass production and consumption and bring awareness to the desertion of living and inanimate things. It is the bearmy’s belief that we as people must slow down and become more deliberate with our creation and consumption to decrease the amount of abandonment in the world.

I want one myself, and it’s going to be a hard decision on which one I bring home. What makes it easier is that for the next few days these one of a kind bears will be on sale at FAB.com, which I have grown to love!

I Don’t Know What You Been Told, But Them There Bears Are Good As Gold,
Jake A. Wheat

“My Virtual Boyfriend” Strikes Back?

Jake Wheat — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:57:49 +0000

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Yesterday, we compiled our review information about the application “My Virtual Boyfriend,” and the threw out our thoughts on our experience across our round table. Most of us had the same experience, which was that the application seemed to be very juvenile, and the behavior of the “boyfriend” was sometimes so bi-polar that it was hard to “fall in love” with the character enough to want to have him “love you” by the end.

After my review, I received an email from the marketing team over at the “My Virtual Boyfriend” camp, and it wasn’t rude or mean – but I felt that they were defending a couple of key issues I want to address.

1. I stated that they offered to pay for the app for us to review, and indeed that is what they did. It’s because that the app is for 17+ and they cannot offer a free promo code for it to be downloaded per iTunes policy. I get it, thanks for sharing that, but either way we always pay for our review products (apps, suckers, stuffed toys, vibrators, zombie jerky…) because that is OUR policy.

2. The song. The marketing team writes on their email to me….

The team [sic] song was a song made famous by the late – Poly Styrene. A famous UK singer that helped the punk rock movement of the 80′s. She did the song recently, but passed away earlier this year, shortly after she did the song. (not to be a Debbie downer), but, I had contacted the music label producer, who was a good friend of hers, and we both thought it suited the game well and would be a nice tribute to her. Thank you again .”

I (Jake Wheat) stated that the song was annoying, and it was because you had to listen to the same segments of it OVER AND OVER when the screens were loading various stages of the “game,” in between dealing with the lingo of “My Virtual Boyfriends” outrageous comments.

Ok listen, here is the video to the song, you be the judge and then take the poll… is it annoying or am I wrong?

[poll id="13"]

My apologies if the review came across as simply negative, but none of what was said was not heavily debated by a GROUP of people who played the game up to level 20. The constant “pick up lines” were obnoxious, and when the character got angry he dealt some pretty low blows. His body language suggested he was mimicking taking a swing or slapping someone, and frankly there is not enough emotional connectivity to make the game feel like that you are indeed “achieving love.”

The overall question is, would I recommend purchase? This application caters to women and does not have a choice or a selection to do gay dating. So, when the screen changes to one of our dates or activities and I see a woman cuddling with my man – I think to myself – how hard would it be to ask in the beginning, “gay or straight?”

Secondly, the developers have to admit that the way the virtual men speak is not commonplace language, and while some lines are comical, they continue for the entire game and do not progress into more “meaningful” or “realistic relationship” dialogue.

Thirdly, there are not enough levels. Even with mini-games, and upcoming updates (which may ultimately improve the game dramatically) will it really matter if all the virtual boyfriend is saying is “Are you tired? Cause you been runnin through my mind all night!” Seriously? Is this the sixth grade?

Do I think the application has potential in a market for the younger generation of people? Sure. Why not. People love watching Jerry Springer, so why wouldn’t they love getting talked to by a cyber bi-polar delinquent as well?

Official Website: http://www.myvirtualboyfriendgame.com/

Sincerely,
(The) Jake A. Wheat

PS. As you recall, we didn’t really get into the “Mini Boyfriends” application game either, because they were too freaking needy. Maybe we just have relationship issues? Maybe we are just out of touch?