Just what it sounds like. My quest to conquer the global media and take over the world. Maybe I can get my library fines cancelled…what can I say? It’s a last-ditch effort.
Ha! Little does she know, my alien leaders have given me an EXCELLENT disguise for tonight’s Meet the Geek dinner from Social Media Club Vancouver. I may even get my tentacles did! We don’t have dessert on the menu for tonight (because nobody I know eats it anymore!) but I was thinking of bringing some of these:
In case you're wondering: yes, THEY ARE BAD FOR YOU
Or perhaps one of these:
Or this one?
octopus cake, what does it look like?
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere online, there is the very slight chance that this could go to my head:
raincoaster is a god. Hire her. Immediately.
In related news, I think I’ve sent out about 700 emails today from three different email addresses, plus Facebook invitations for another 500 or so, for two different events. Oh wait: THREE different events.
Event #1 is the Social Media Club of Vancouver’s Meet the Geek dinner this coming Tuesday which, if you’re in Vancouver, you really shouldn’t miss. It’s a custom menu in a private dining room underneath Blood Alley, to raise money to help finish the Downtown Eastside social media documentary With Glowing Hearts. The film-makers and some of the stars will be in attendance, as will some of Vancouver’s finest geeks, who will be happy to demystify the world of tech over a plate of good nosh. If you ask nicely, they might even give you a peek at their iPads.
Event #2 is The Shebeen Club’s Going Pro: Getting Real in the Writing World with Sylvia Taylor on Monday, the 27th (a week later than usual). This month, we’ll have a restaurant all to ourselves as we move to the Everything Cafe on Pender Street. Sylvia will talk about the issue of professionalism and approaching your literary career as a business, which is particularly necessary in an economic climate like ours.
Event #3 is raincoaster media’s full day Social Media for NonProfits workshop that I’m teaching with Wes Regan of Building Opportunities With Business. This is the one that helps me keep a roof over my head. Which one did I do last? That’s right.
In also-related news, today I was interviewed by Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun about the Meet the Geek dinner and her post should be up tomorrow online and hopefully in the paper this Saturday, and tomorrow it’s going to be on Breakfast Television as well. So, now I just have two more blog posts to do and then I can go to bed.
Oh, one more thing: Eight people on four continents all send me this with “Saw it and thought of you” comments. Let no-one say I don’t have a strong brand identity.
After seeing the success of the Old Spice commercials the mighty and terrible Cthulhu decided to sell his own scented products. Great Old Spice body wash; stop thinking in only four dimensions.
Long, long ago, on June 25, 2006 in fact, I uploaded my first video to YouTube. Then what happened? Then, I basically ignored it for four years.
That video has now had 824,393 views.
I’m impressed, to say the least: my other videos average less than 100 views, and that’s even if I put them in my blogs. And god knows, I can’t take credit for how well this has done Mind you, I got this one while it was very fresh (it’s not original, by any means, but it is public domain). I was cruising around Fark, as I have been wont to do whenever I wont for diversion and there it was. “P47 guncamera footage from WWII, recently declassified” and I clicked, saw that it was just what it claimed to be and amazing footage, saw additionally that only a few people had watched the video so far, downloaded that puppy without hesitation, and uploaded it to YouTube.
So, basically: it was fresh, it was fascinating, and it was named what it was about: WWII Dogfights in Colour. I put it in: Category: News & Politics. Tags: War, Planes, WWII, Dogfight.
Since then, I’ve had a Brazilian television show ask me if they could use it (I passed along the contact deets for the original uploading and if I still had them I’d add them to the Notes) and just got an offer from an LA music company of cash money to add their music as a soundtrack. Very cool, and actually quite smart of them. As long as the song they want to add isn’t all “Go Nazis” or whatever, I see no reason not to say yes.
You’re no doubt curious to see the video, so I shall not make you wait any longer. It’s silent, but it’s deadly.
And don’t neglect the comments; there’s an interesting and quite intelligent discussion of air strategy. I’m proud that my video has broken the trend for YouTube comments of unspeakable stupidity.
You think Chihuahuas are vicious? You think they’re yappy? You think they’re neurotic? You haven’t met their owners.
Our latest flamewar comes to us from Gawker, where it grew from a post about the nutbag hoarder who dropped off 43 of the little fanged mutants at the Victoria SPCA.
See, here’s where I think deportation is a great idea. I would round up every fucking rat dog in san diego and demand to see their papers. Those without valid visas would be put in a dump truck and poured off a bridge 1′ south of the midline of the rio grande. Any that swam north would be shot for trying to re-immigrate.
I love dogs, but hate rats. And I’ve never yet seen any evidence that Chiuahuas belong in the former category. Reply
@m4ximusprim3: You don’t love dogs. Reply
m4ximusprim3 promoted this comment
@m4ximusprim3: If you want to come off as tactless and juvenile there are 3 things to make fun of: a person’s name; their accent; their dog. I’m sure you’re a rugged, woodsy outdoor type with a pair of all-American retrievers you hunt with regularly. We’re not all so manly, or have something to compensate for, so please try to be more understanding. Also, the last I knew, they allow chihuahuas at Westminster, and I’d say the AKC is a better arbiter of what is and isn’t a dog than you. Replym4ximusprim3 promoted this comment@bunzah_steele: Taxonomy and practicality are separate issues. Tomatoes and squashes are technically fruits, but you won’t find them in any fruit salads. Chihuahuas are technically dogs, but they don’t perform any of the activities normally associated with dogs, besides possibly barking.
I’m not saying you can’t love them, I’m saying they’re closer to trembly mole creatures than any practical definition of a dog. And if I had my way, they’d get cleared the hell out of san diego, where they’re ubiquitous as purse dogs and generally quite annoying. Reply
@bunzah_steele: And I’m against hunting on principle. If you want to take down a deer, you should have to fight it with a knife so the deer has a chance. Reply@m4ximusprim3: The purpose of chihuahuas is to be companion animals – particularly in the city, a task at which they excel. In that respect I’d say they are eminently practical. It’s not like they’re some breed developed 400 years ago in Scotland to hunt something now extinct that people continue breeding so they can parade it around to enhance their self image. How many people own mastiffs or sheepdogs that live the same life as any pampered sissy chihuahua? Incidentally, I’ve only been mocked with the tired “rat” putdown twice while walking my dogs, but this is New York and there are plenty of small dogs here because it makes sense to have a small dog in a small apartment. If San Diego is so terribly overrun, maybe YOU should get the hell out. Something to consider. Reply@m4ximusprim3: You want to know something that will probably make you go batshit crazy and have a fit in which you writhe around, froth at the mouth and bite the furniture? Yes? Well, many many small dogs are actually bred in Mexico and smuggled over the border and sold either on the street or in so-called “pet shops”. Happy now? Reply@m4ximusprim3: I’m a dog handler, and work with a number of different breeds of dogs. And chihuahuas are definitely dogs. I’ve seen them swim, hunt (butterflies), wrestle, play fetch, and do tricks. Like many small dogs they crave human companionship and attention somewhat more than large dogs. They are not particularly like rats, which my tiny poodle enjoys killing. Reply@m4ximusprim3: hey if I had MY was San Diego would get cleared out of Cali. Good thing we don’t always get what we want! Reply@m4ximusprim3: Max, you know what, if you got a little dog to take care of, say someone you know and like asked you to take care of their tiny dog just for a week, a weird thing would happen, you’d start to like this dog and find out the endearing qualities, and you’d see small dogs in a whole new way, and the reason I can tell this is because you defended bambi so you have a soft heart after all. Hahaha. Reply@m4ximusprim3: I never used the term “fucking,” advocated killing or used right wing anti-immigrant language in anything I wrote right out of the gate. So I think you win the vehemence award (a sash of rotting sardines). Your post was nasty, offensive and not funny. Practically everything mean you wrote was before I posted a word. So don’t blame it on me. OK, troll fed. Good night! Reply@m4ximusprim3: They’re doing more or less the same thing with humans.
But Chihuahua people are “fragile,” so behold the hate you get for saying this.
Chihuahuas are horrible, virtually untrainable, dumb knicknacks with teeth and bad tempers. They are pets for people who don’t actually like, you know, PETS. Reply
@m4ximusprim3: “Trembly mole creature.” Exactly! Reply@raincoaster: I think you’ve gotten to the heart of the issue- it’s really the Chihuahua people I hate, not their hairless, yapping charges.
Also, how on earth have I not hearted you before? We agree on virtually everything.
Rectified! Reply
@m4ximusprim3: Sorry, but I have to comment.
I have a 2 year old long-haired chihuahua named Charlie. Not only does he barely ever bark, he is a loyal, fun, clean DOG. I go on 15km runs all the time and he always keeps up. He’s not some little purse dog who yaps at everyone.
So to generalize like that is very insulting. Reply
@raincoaster: Love at last! At least something good came of this. Replyraincoaster promoted this comment@bunzah_steele: It’s great that you’re not defensive and high-strung. Because that would only reinforce what I’d said. Reply@raincoaster: And it’s refreshing that you’re not brutal, nasty, contemptuous and thin-skinned. Anybody can see from your posts in this thread that your humor is a marvel of droll subtlety. Reply@m4ximusprim3: wow, I have no idea what kind of cats you see. Reply@bunzah_steele: What, you didn’t know all of that already? Don’t you have teh googlez where you live? Reply@raincoaster: Oh right. You’re FAMOUS. I have to read your book. Reply@raincoaster: Oh, and drowning in cash, by the looks of your site. Reply@raincoaster: I swear I hit the damn pencil 24 times in 2 browsers and everything I could think of to cancel that mean one. I’m really sorry. Reply@bunzah_steele: No worries. If I couldn’t take a hit now and again I’d get off the internet.
Besides, if I’m famous for anything, it’s my impecuniousness! Reply
@raincoaster: Seriously, that video was the perfect humorous kiss-off and I hail your wit and timing. Reply@bunzah_steele: Thanks. See? What did I say? GROUP HUG! Reply@bunzah_steele: I assume you know about this site:
The Tomb of the Chihuahua Pharaohs Reply
@raincoaster: Yes, a friend sent it to me long ago. It’s pretty normal compared The Chihuahua Kingdom, which no longer exists. That was a site run by a husband & wife who had like 20 dogs living in individual plush cuevas, arranged like a subdivision. While they came off as very knowledgeable and responsible dog owners, the site was set up around a medieval castle theme, with sections like the Court of Learning and a Bridge of Remembrance. They had pretty good dog-rearing info nonetheless and this was back when I had my first chi. Then one day there was a message to the effect of “My wife, having assumed the identity of Steve on the site, has assumed it in real life. We are seeking immediate counseling and will be back when she is normal.” Which apparently never happened. So you’re right, chihuahua owners can be a fragile bunch, something I demonstrated myself. I’m still thoroughly abashed at my own ankle-biting with you, I guess it’s true that dog owners eventually start behaving like their pets! Of course, I’m all yours if you let me lick the paté knife. Reply@bunzah_steele: Oh my. That’s a wonderful story: I live for that sort of thing.
I had a border collie. Not sure what that says about me, except that I couldn’t take her near the playground because she would bite at the ankles of the kids in an attempt to herd them up the slide.
No worries. Getting into these kinds of spats is more or less what the comments section here is FOR, and nobody as equal-opportunity offensive as me goes long without getting up somebody’s nostrils.
or look just like one…
Oh god, not ANOTHER one!
No, it’s true: this is a plan to enable you to put “movie producer” on your business card, which will come in handy on a Friday at the clubs, if no-where else. Actually, it will count for something with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who will allow any actual credited producer to purchase a ticket to the Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars.
Come to think of it, I’ve got a friend who’s always wanted to go. Hmmmm…
Allow me to introduce With Glowing Hearts, the motion picture:
So far, so awww, right? Yes, it’s an inspirational documentary, perhaps the least likely to be commercially successful genre of film in filmdom. How can you become a producer of this acclaimed-but-so-far-unreleased soon-to-be-classic? Easy; everybody knows there’s one way to become a producer.
You come up with the money.
In this case, you can come up with amounts as small as a Toonie:
Making a film costs money, and although we’ve done a great job at keeping our costs down there are certain expenses which are unavoidable. That’s why from now, until the middle of August, we’re running our Toonie and Tweet Torch Relay to help get us to the finish line and to get your name in the credits. Starting with a minimum contribution of $2, “producers” can have their name published in a word cloud that will appear in the film’s credit roll and on this site. Increasing your contribution will increase the size of your name in the cloud.
All money collected will go directly towards costs related to finishing and distributing the film like insurance, music rights, and salaries for the great people who have been working on the film with us. Just click on the Chip-In widget to the right and follow the instructions to use either your PayPal account or credit card, note that transactions are conducted in US dollars but will be converted to your local currency on your bill. The name that is associated with your PayPal account is the same that will be used for the credits, if you would like a different name to appear in the credits please indicate that under “special instructions for vendor” on the “Review your payment” page.
Sure, it says mid-August, but if you ask nicely you’ll probably find there’s always room for more money (though perhaps it will need more zeros after the 2). Go on, haven’t you always wanted to be a Hollywood big shot? I hear Clooney is breaking up with his latest bimbette, so if you’re a brunette and you can get him good and drunk at the Vanity Fair afterparty, you’ve probably got a shot.
raincoaster 