Phil Plait is the only thing stopping the universe from killing you

"When you're dealing with the Universe, ignorance can be deadly."

One of the baddest quotes from the Bad Astronomer himself, my Dr. Phil Plait. He's been playing all super seekrit with everyone for the last few months, as he jets all over the place filming and shooting his new project. And today, we found out what that super seekrit project is. I give you a sneak peek of a new Discovery Channel series, Phil Plait's Bad Universe!



I've watched it at least a half dozen times already. Partly because it looks so stinkin' cool. And partly because I can say, yes, that man is a friend of mine. He has the hots for my wife, and I have his cell phone number. How the hell do I deserve such cool friends? I don't know. But I'll take it.

Congrats on the pending release, Phil. Know you've got a dedicated household hoping you'll show us how to save us from a universe that obviously wants us DEAD!

And if you haven't picked up a copy of Death from the Skies!: The Science Behind the End of the World by Phil, I highly recommend you do. I wouldn't call it an uplifting read, but it's fascinating none the less. And you can hear Phil read from the book on on the track by the same name on George Hrab's latest album, Trebuchet. (Another person who I'm just giddy to know calls me a friend!)

Talent is more about technique and less about tools

I'm fortunate to have lots of friends with talent. Talents come in many shapes and forms, but it seems a large number of mine are talented in artistic ways. I'm not without skills in this area. I'm just without the drive necessary to hone many of those.

Take video editing. I did some very VERY basic editing back in the late 80s. When it was hard. Well, maybe not hard. Manual might be a better word. But it's all digital now, and things are less-manual. But it still takes talent to go above and beyond. And if you've seen any of the videos I've ever put up, I don't have that talent. Or at least I haven't taken the time to hone it.

But my young friend Brent Weichsel has. For barely existing on the planet two decades, the boy knows what he's doing. And will only get better. Among the projects he's done is a a video for Scott Sigler's Ancestor contest. It's dark. Disturbing. Minimalistic. And really well done.



Did I mention disturbing? Yet I love it. It shows that you don't need a lot of bells and whistles to make something fantastic. You just need... talent.

George Hrab's Owner of A Lonely Heart cover video

In about 18 hours, I'm going to do my level best to piss off a good chunk of those who consider themselves part of the creative class. I'd apologize in advance, but what I have to say needs to be said. For you are not as fantastic as you think. And those who keep telling you that you are share in the blame, so I'll be lambasting them, too.

But in advance of that, and to prove that I'm not a complete and utter curmudgeonly bastard, I present to you the antithesis of the above:



You can claim George Hrab has innate talent. He'll likely mention his education and hours of dedication and practice. Those of us fortunate to know him will attest to his unwavering dedication to quality and quest for perfection.

And he's creative. Scarily creative. Can you be this good at your chosen craft? Yes. Anyone can. But most won't. Which will you throw your lot in with?

More video silliness: Twitter Uncovered: History and Monetization Revealed!

It's been one of those months. Sorry. But though I've been neglecting the blog, I've not been neglecting fun.

Here's a bit of stupidity that Jeff and I came up with some time ago that has finally been green-lit. Green-lighted? Green-lanterened? Anyhow, it's all about the little-known monitization angle and history of Twitter.



Or maybe we just made it all up. My money is on the latter.

And if you missed what kicked this off, here's the two of us pontificating on social media. Yes, we're serious about being not serious some times. And all the props go to Joe Holt for shooting and editing. He truly is the man.

Social media defined

Ask a dozen social media experts to define social media and you'll get a score of different answers. I don't understand this. The concept just isn't that hard.

I sat down with local-legend Jeff Moriarty to prove that very fact. Luckily for us -- hell, for you -- Joe Holt was there to capture the definition of social media on video.



It's simple. It's elegant. It's completey accessible. It's the type of advice anyone can quickly and easily implement immediately. Social media doesn't need to be hard.<sup>*

* - But who says it can't be funny?</sup>