Friday, February 29, 2008

February made me shiver

. . . with every ticket I delivered . . . no news of the home front, which I know you want. ;-) Instead I started a new blog about two of my favorite NBA teams, and updated several others: Graydog's Blog, the pro-Obama political blog In This Corner, the 9/11=.81 blog, the Hold the Sausage movie blog, the Colbwhat's'isname blog, and the pro-cannabis blog Hemp Sense. Meanwhile, local blogs requiring attention include the Bike 2 the Future blog, On The Square Online, Bark to the Future, and Heartland Artland.

Thinking of launching a new pop culture blog, to comment on American Idol and other TV shows, such as Craig Ferguson (what's with that guy? He's manically funny. Just discovered him, but can't stand watching very long. Jimmy Kimmel still rules that time slot on my TV, especially since his recent sexy video of him with Ben Affleck If you haven't seen it, first watch Sarah Silverman's video about her "fucking Matt Damon."). I could call the new pop culture blog The Idle American, if the name is not already in use. It is. Maybe Procrastination Nation is available. I'll look it up next month.

March time's on.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Plate techtonics

The circus metaphor of spinning plates on sticks provides an overview of my entrepreneurial activity. The plates represent different projects, and the sticks are blogs created to whip the projects into shape. Sometimes, a plate can wobble through inactivity, and fall to the ground, like homeofthedome.com, and cyberdale.us, two spur-of-the-moment domains obtained, inspired by my own rhetoric! ;-), like with walterwendler.com a few years ago.

If spun the right way, the plates become frisbees flying into receptive minds of readers and consumers, as in the case of Marry the Mayor dot com, which got too big for its breeches and eloped.

The simple plate provides another metaphor for action: turn it over, and it's heaped with food, a 'full plate' of things to do.

Spinning plates and having a full plate are metaphors for effort, even when the plate feels like a manhole cover:
  1. Updating Shawnee Net web site and revisiting long-dormant blogs, improving formats and adding Google ads. Makes sense!
  2. Carbondale After Blog b(l)ook --this plate is on the back burner, due to limited writing time. Last week, I used free software called Sprout to make a Flash-based promo, including an audio clip of City Councilman Joel Fritzler's take on blogs, and posted it on Shawnee Net. And speaking of sprouts:
  3. Vegetable House -- The seed for this project was planted in 1995: a film script about the comic comeuppance of meat-eaters and vegetarians on a college campus. Although the story is set in a fictional town, there will also be some recognizable C'dale figures making an appearance. Brad Cole as a sarcastic waiter? Walter Wendler as manager at Wendy's? And who will play the role of "Holiest Man Alive"? Treesong?
  4. Sands of Time -- Selling "sand prints" of sand paintings by (the late, great) Victor DeGraff, especially the painting of the now-demolished Stage Company building, colored with actual brick from the building. The prints are printed on special sandpaper, so the feel of the original is reproduced.
  5. Two new volumes of Between the Rivers local music compilations: of keyboard virtuoso's (piano and organ) and vocalists. The web site needs a spin or two.
  6. Move the local Greyhound bus station to a better location on Main St. in May, when the lease expires on the current space on N. Washington St.
  7. Open an Ebay sales service in the Washington St. space when the Greyhound ticket office moves out.
  8. This year's Bike 2 Work Day is rolling around. Last year's event led to the creation of a new domain spokesfolks.info, which has been dormant. It should be redirected to the Bike 2 The Future blog or vice versa.
  9. St. David's Day will be here in 9 days. On March 1, everyone should drink some amber colored ale or lager -- to commemorate a Celtic Saint! Why wait until March 17 to green beer? Amber is better. This year, I'll repost the "St. Dave's Day" stuff I wrote in the mid-90's, before the internet ruled. The Beer Philos'pher has created a cool social network web site called Aleluminati, that's really taken off in two short weeks, with about 66 members worldwide, counting The BP's wife. ;-)
  10. Least, but not last, the long dormant, cobweb-ridden Shawnee Shopping store got a spin from the Southern Illinois Specialties lady yesterday. Look for more changes on that site soon.
Spinning plates is also called 'multi-tasking', which isn't as vivid a phrase. But "task" is the operative term. Each item on the list has many details to get done . . . important details like finding a cameraman and actors for the Rugby tournament on April 5, and changing the orange color of the beer in St. Dave's mug to amber.

Hopefully, this post will keep this blog spinning, as I get on the stick for those other projects.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Well thawed-out script

The ice is slowly melting . . . side roads are still treacherous in spots; my bicycle went our from under me on a side street at 6 a.m., but the morning Amtrak crew for the morning Amtrak has been on time everyday despite the storm. The Greyhound bus schedules to Carbondale didn't run for 2 days, although the local office was open.

Obama's fired up, and so am I! Some people (exaggeraters like Jeff Rense) are negative about him, like with Cole, but for different reasons. They say he sez he'd invade Pakistan to get Osama, if there were actionable intelligence. Unfortunately, Bush has given the phrase "actionable intelligence" a bad name, although it's not a bad band name.

I'm fired up for different reasons than Barack. Now that the writers' strike is over, I can begin revising the script for Vegetable House. Since it was originally penned (literally) in 1999, it needs updating, with more t(r)opical and hip references.

Casting is currently underway. Looking for a Stephen What's-'is-name look-alike for starring role. Will begin shooting on April 5, at the All Fool's Rugby Tournament.

Think I'll add a blogger to the story. A female geek named "Meg O'Lomania" played as a cross-dressing Arab. Going for campus cult classic: Animal House meets Dogma.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Master of your domain

No, not that domain. ;-) The other day, I got an email from a guy who owned the dot.com domain names for two well-known people in town -- wanting to know if I'd be interested in acquiring them. I didn't ask how much, because I wasn't interested. I think because I own Walter Wendler dot com, he thought I'd want to speculate on others. No.

I never pay more than $10 for a domain name. Yesterday, I purchased the domain name "holdthesausage.com" for the film I'm working on. Two years ago, I bought my own name domain.

How about you, Bloggee? Are you "master of your domain"? If not, go to GoDaddy and see if it's available. Then you can have your own home page, or redirect it to another site, as I did with walterwendler.com.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Sand man passes

My friend Victor DeGraff, the sand painter, died suddenly on Tuesday, driving home from Art Lovers Trading Company, after dropping off a drawing by a fellow artist for an upcoming show. His car crashed into a ditch on Cobden Road. Victor was 87 years old, with a heart condition

His heart condition was he loved life -- especially art, music and good movies. . . and dining with friends.

Victor was a very active man. Not just "for his age" but for any age. As an artist, he was prolific, always working on a new sand painting or design idea. Like the man, his art is ageless.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours scanning & uploading his bird paintings. Today, I'll do the cave paintings; then the landscapes, seascapes, and abstract designs over the weekend.

Prints of most his paintings will be available through Art Lovers.

I'll miss Vic. He was a special friend.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Cole for Rudy

I see where Rudy Giuliani got one delegate. It could have been our own Mayor Brad Cole, who was listed on the Republican ballot as a delegate of Rudy. Must be a Mayor to Mayor thing. Brad probably would have supported John Lindsay back in the day. A Mayor has ever been elected President, though a few have run.

I consider Cole 'a friend of the show', so I overlook his card-carrying Republican politics (as he forgives my free-thinking ways). If he can engineer the revival of the Varsity Theater, he can drag me to a Giuliani rally, for all I care. Since Rudy has thrown his support to John McCain, he's positioning himself to be Vice-Presidential nominee. Wanna bet?

And if the 72 yr old McCain kicks the bucket, it's Ghoulie time, baby.

Split decision

Now that a certain project has been relegated to a better place, this blog can focus once again on me -- what I'm thinking and doing where, with whom, and sometimes why.

Yesterday's "Super Tuesday" electoral results were disappointing since I hoped Barack would win decisively, but apparently, it was a split decision: Top Democrats Trade Victories. CNN thinks the results may help Obama. We can hope.

Another split decision is with my girlfriend of four years, so I'll be solo at the WDBX Zodiac Ball. I'll be feeling kinda low, because my idea to rename our fair City went "down the old Carbondale - Paducah Corridor," as the saying goes.

The Heiress dumps on You-know-who!

As a rule, I don't publish comments that use one of George Carlin's 7 dirty words. Or negative statements without some glimmer of support. But "The Heiress" sez the phrase "Paducah-Carbondale Corridor" sounds like the lower portion of her intestinal track and "the idea to name anything after Colbert" is (hold your ears and nose, Bloggee) an 'equally shitty idea.' Ouch.

Of course, it is ridiculous to rename Carbondale You-know-what-dale. Yet the process is instructive, and leads to interesting byways. I'm guessing those who hate the idea do not watch the Colbert Report, or 'get it', if they do. Stephen's an acquired taste, but his speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006 won me over.

Now I see where he will be a special guest at a New Jersey theater gala, at $350-$500 a plate. How cool would it be for him to come to the 'Dale! Theater lovers hereabouts would gladly throw down $35 - $50 per plate to raise money for The Jackson County Stage Company, which will need thousands to refurbish the Varsity Theater.

In any event, "Please God Make It Stop" has upped the ante to $25 to stop writing about You-know-what-dale in this blog. He can donate it to The Stage Company.

So that's it, no more waiting for Colbert in this blog.

And the phrase "down the old Paducah-Carbondale Corridor" might take on a Munsonesque meaning as a silly idea that goes down the crapper.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Stop in the name of Colbert?

This morning, Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole was interviewed by Tom "Cap" Miller on the Morning News radio show on WJPF. Cole is thrilled with the great exposure on ESPN GameDay at the SIU Arena. "a great day for Carbondale," he said. . . . But would it be as great as a minute on the Colbert Report? I seriously doubt it (unless I'm joking).

Others have suggested other names, including "Carbonjail" and "Carbon'd Ale" (a beer inspired name), but neither have the media oomph that Colbert has.

In his interview with Cap, Mayor Cole also said the City is investigating renaming streets to honor local people -- and famous people like Martin Luther King, Jr. A few years ago Green Street was renamed "James and Thelma Walker Ave." Maybe instead of renaming the entire City "Colbertdale," Main St. could be renamed "Paducah-Carbondale Corridor Avenue." Or perhaps the local bus stop could be named in his honor.

Which reminds me, yesterday I put a "Donate" button on this page for the "Colbertdale (Non-)Action Fund," to make it easier for "No Dear God No, Make It Stop." ;-)

Super 2 Days

It doesn't get more Super than last Super Sunday, with the incredible 4th quarter pass play and Giant victory. Although no giant victory is expected for the players on Super Tuesday.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Be Flexible . . . Vote for non-candidate Kucinich?

When it comes time to cast your ballot tomorrow, don't forget to think about voting for Dennis Kucinich instead -- to send a message to Obama -- a message which states Chris Wissmann is staking his claim:
[T]he political left is the so-called center, however paradoxical that sounds. . . . Basically, even if they find the man himself unpresidential, Americans support Kucinich's viewpoints.
So vote for Kucinich! Or think about it. And think about how liberal Wissmann is -- urging us to telephone out-of-state friends to vote for Obama, while voting for Kucinich (who has dropped out of the race) in Obama's home state! Flexibly, Wissmann reasons
Obama's very inevitability may give Illinois voters flexibility of which they should take advantage. Voting for Kucinich is the most productive way to do so.

For Chris, the Ohio Congressman "remains a symbol of what the Democrat Party used to represent."

And Obama doesn't? Apparently unmindful of the recent moving endorsement of Obama by Caroline Kennedy in the New York Times, Chris considers several angles before taking a shot at a conclusion. Yet if everyone followed his suggestion, Obama would lose Southern Illinois! So in reality I think the real message Wissmann wants us to get is: he's very liberal -- even more liberal than Rocky Obama.

Anyway, here are some key quotes from Wissmann's "Go-Bama" editorial in Nightlife.

Key quotes:
  • Comparisons [of Obama] to Robert Kennedy are routine.
  • Unlike Bill Clinton, [Obama] does not just use the language of liberalism in a bait-and-switch scheme to gain support for a fundamentally conservative agenda.
  • Throughout the campaign Obama has tripped over this own tongue
  • Illinois Democrats should consider casting ballots for Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich.
  • a vote for Obama is just fine, and after the New Hampshire primary, which Obama lost despite surveys that gave him a double-digit lead, perhaps nobody should take the polls for granted.

I wonder if points #2 & #3 apply to the Councilman, himself -- on the principle that we often accuse others of things we are either guilty of, or aspire to. (Recall his frequent votes with conservative Republican Mayor Brad Cole, including one placing caps on malpractice claims a few years ago.)

Like Steve Miller calling Wissmann an "editor supreme" in this week's issue of Carbondale Times. Based on that statement, Steve is on his way to becoming an "editor supreme"of the Times, as well as becoming an outstanding stand-up comic.

I'd rather see Obama gain the greatest plurality in the history of Illinois primary elections; 90% or so. That would send a much stronger message.

I am Colbertdale & so can you

A commenter called "Carbondale=Ghetto" writes ALL CAPS about how dumb it is to rename Carbondale "Colbertdale" for a day (to honor "the Father of the Paducah-Carbondale Corridor"). C=G probably wouldn't complain if I suggested "Ghettodale" instead of "Colbertdale."

Along that line, Chris Wissmann's anti-Ron Paul editorial in this week's Nightlife reports: "When at a demonstration Al Sharpton called for the renaming of New York City after Martin Luther King, one of Paul's newsletters offered these alternatives: Welfaria, Zooville, Rapetown, Dirtburg, and Lazyopolis."

But Sharpton has a point: Instead of forcing "Colbertdale" on people who do not know Stephen Colbert (and think his name is pronounced COLE-bert, instead of Coal-BEAR), there could be a contest -- in the comments of this blog. What would be the best alternate name for Carbondale? (So we don't have to change the baseball caps, it should begin with "C".)

But until someone comes up with a better name, or the laughable offer by "Make it stop" is sextupled (paid for NOT writing, I love it!), I will continue planting seeds of honor to the man I like to call "The Barack Obama of fake news pundits."