Saturday, July 26, 2008

Found Things: Out of My Mind video by George Hrab

But you know what I really like? Twisted motherfuckers like George Hrab who find themselves with a free afternoon and a burning desire to really dick around with their own media, creating something larger than before.

And I meant no pun on the "larger" comment, though the censor block does seem a bit disproportionate. Not that I'd know.

Out of My Mind -- another original video production by George Hrab. And if you missed it, this all started with his video of The Assumption.

Suicide Girls on Comic Con

I so badly wanted to tweet this sentence from a Suicide Girls report on the first impressions of Comic Con , but it was well over the 140 character limit.

On the train to SD, I saw a gentleman reading a novel with a dragon on the front and immediately understood that he was probably never going to feel the inside of a woman.


The rest of the article is less-lethal. But DAMN!

Friday, July 25, 2008

The struggle of hope over experience

There's a new movie in the theaters this week: THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE.

Interesting title. I WANT TO BELIEVE that this movie won't suck, but prior experience leads me to believe otherwise. The final three seasons were a huge let down over the brilliance that was the first few seasons, and the prior movie released left me -- and many other fans of the show -- feeling rather unfulfilled.

So what leads X-Philes (not sure I'm one of those, but I did enjoy the heck out of the series -- for a while) to believe that this won't be another wasted effort? Sure, Dave and Gillian are in it, but it's not like either has done anything of significance in the last six years, so star-power won't help. Yes, Chris Carter wrote it... but he wrote the last stink-bomb, too. The main difference I can see this time is that Chris is directing, too. Good. But he only directed a handful of shows from the series, and many of them were post-golden years.

Sure, I'll take the cynic label. I'll also grant that I'm being unfair to something I've not seen. But that's the point. I'm rarely a good model consumer, but in this case, I know that my viewpoint isn't that far off from many others. Yes, we want to believe this movie won't blow, but sorta like the desire to have aliens walking among us that can be killed with a sharp spike to the base of the net, it's probably fiction, too. I just don't think it will, and the studio didn't do jack-squat to convince me otherwise.

Of course, I could be proven wrong. And after several days or maybe a week, enough positive news could come from those I trust to get me to go try the movie out. But by then, the "blockbuster" time will have passed and the masses will have moved on to the next movie-of-the-week. Too bad. I think a non-traditional outreach program would have benefited this movie. Yes, I'm thinking Snakes on a Plane. But before you poo-poo my thought, think of how poorly that movie would have done WITHOUT the groundswell. And I still like it, so there.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Resume/CV final

Yeah, I know there's a difference between a resume and a CV. At least, I think I know. I've had a half dozen or so folks tell me "oh yeah, do it different" and an equal number say "nah, same thing". So... whatever.

Mad props to MsInformation for her layout skills on this. And much thanks to all of you who provided input on the initial work I posted. I'll probably do a slimmed-down version of this one, but here's where I'm starting.

Read My Resume!

Oh, and we covered the Evo/Travis thing, right? If you missed that, relax. I'm like Madonna, but without the cowboy hat.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Joe Day

Today is July 10th, the birthday of Joe Murphy, my friend who I think of daily and still miss terribly all too often.

He would have been 36 today.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Crowd-sourcing my CV

Wow. First a huge thanks to everyone who has responded to my last post. I've been bombarded with emails, LinkedIn requests, comments, tweets and just about every other form of communication we're involved with -- and everyone wants to help!

Since that's the atmosphere, who am I to say no? Let's start it off this way. I spent some time on the first draft of my CV today. I say "first draft" because I'm an author and know the process. Plus, it's been a long time since I've crafted one of these and I don't know the latest tricks.I've put said CV up as a Google Document and opened it up to review and revisions. (Google makes you request access. Sorry. But I'll grant it quick!)

Update: Final resume has been posted, so I'm taking the Google Doc down.

You'll note that there isn't any formatting, save the bold treatment on headers. I've been told by enough designers that I'm no designer to have finally learned. Plus, I like getting the content right first, then figuring the presentation our next.

Have at it, and happy blow-the-sky-apart day to my fellow Stateside people!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Will perform digital business strategies for food





I can haz job?

Originally uploaded by evo_terra


In just over a week, I'll be without a full-time job. A few of you may operate under the assumption that Podiobooks.com and other projects account for the majority of my income. In fact, the exact opposite as true. Or at least it's currently true. Like the majority of you, a "day job" funds my explorations into the world of new media. 'Tis a love of labor, not a mercenary quest for lucrative sources of income.

What happened? One of the dangers of being really smart is that your clients can learn your smarts and decide to go it alone. And that happened. Such is business. I can point to a half dozen things we might have done differently over the last several years which might have impacted the outcome, but such is the clarity of vision that comes with hindsight. But I look back with no regrets. I never intended to get into the online advertising business, but I'm glad for the experience. Like all of my prior engagements, I'm left a more rounded, experienced and valuable person for it.

But I do find myself in unfamiliar territory. I haven't had cause to create a resume in nearly 20 years. Oh, sorry... "resume" is so gauche. I meant to say curriculum vitae or CV as it's come to be called. Fine. Whatever. See how long it's been? I need that purdy piece of paper with the fancy writin' that says what I'm all good for 'n stuff.

Oh, and then I need to get a job. Or a half dozen clients that need my services.

So now you know. I've polished up (to a slight degree) my LinkedIn profiles (one for the Evo personality, the other for the much-more-hireable Travis I was born) and need to get those distilled into a one-pager, then to get someone with mad layout skillz to make it into a masterpiece worthy of getting my foot in the door at places around Phoenix. Or somewhere that will allow me to continue the remote-working thing I've been doing the last 5 years.

Wish me luck!