My 168 Project

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If you’re following me here, you should also be keeping up with me there….

They Keep Changing….

The Rules, that is. Anyone who’s played any game knows that for the most part, you read the rules, and follow them, and play by them, and eventually get better at said game, and maybe even win on occasion.

If only life were that simple.

I’m reminded of Animal Farm, actually. The animals made what was it, seven rules that they posted on the barn, and about mid way through the book, they started changing. Subtly at first, and then towards the end, more blatant, to where they were worse off before they rebelled and decided they needed their own rules.

Corporate entities are much like this. And working for one for so long, after awhile, you think you know all the rules that allow you to function successfully within that corporation. However, miss a memo, get shifted into another department, and before you know it, the rules have changed.

And you might not find out before it’s too late.

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

e You next time.

And They Stop on Tuesday….

Image by BryanPerson via Flickr

This is a response to the last @ChrisBrogan post that I read, and commented on. There’s an outside chance you may read this first, therefore, you should read that, and then come back here, and read my response.

Or not, up to you. I’ll wait in either case.

Back yet? My first reaction can be found in the title. Most people won’t stick with something for more than 24 hours. Those people must learn determination. Set a goal. Don’t stop ’til you achieve your goal. That’s the simplest definition, at least, mine.

My second reaction, was simply, “Why do they HAVE TO start on Monday?” Chris’ analogy does play, that most people start work on Monday, therefore they start other things, too. But the seven day work week may not start the same day for everyone.

There was a game show in the 70′s, not sure of the exact timing, however, that can be looked up at this point…Celebrity Sweepstakes. If you remember seeing this show on more than one occasion, we are contemporaries. Good to meet you.

For the rest of you, here’s how the game worked; 6 Celebrities, 3 contestants,  Standard live studio audience (probably around 300 if I remember my walking around Television City days), and one Game Show Host, Jim McKrell. He’s on IMDb. Growing up, I wanted to BE him. I faked sick, just so I could stay home and watch Celebrity Sweepstakes with my dad, that’s how important it was to me, and ultimately, to my father. More on that part another time, or else this post will go in an entirely different direction.

The point, and I’ll get to it, is that there was a question that goes to what Chris was saying. First you must understand, the rules of the show:

• Host asks celebrities questions.
• They have 30 seconds to answer, meanwhile
• audience votes (places a bet) on which celebrity will get it right
• odds appear in front of celebrities (1 to 99:1)
• contestants wager
• Jim asks celebrity the question again
• celebrity answers
• Here’s where it branches…
• If wrong, Jim asks another celebrity
• Else, award money to contestant
• Wash, rinse, repeat

Three rounds of the game, plus the final all or nothing round. More on that one another time too.

Now, as I’m approaching some arbitrary word count set forth by “Those Who Think They Know More Than I Do (TWTTKMTID)” I’ll get to the point. For purposes of illustration, the celebrities at the time were George Hamilton, Don Adams, and Carol Wayne, she of tea time movie fame, if you don’t know who that is. (aside: she fits the model of the actress that plays the dumb blonde, needs to actually be the smartest person on the set.)

The question: What is the first day of the week?

The celebrities lock in their answers.

The three in question all return even money, and as I believe this was indeed the all or nothing round, you could double your money, or go home empty handed if you get it wrong.

The contestants bet on the three celebrities in question, each betting all there money. If you’re a fan of poker, they went all in.

They did the reveal in reverse order, as anyone whose seen a round of Final Jeopardy can tell you.

The first contestant picks Don Adams. Jim asks the question to which Don replies, “It’s so obvious. It’s Monday!”

Wrong.

Next contestant bet all her money on George Hamilton, and achieves the same result.

Two contestants, no winners. Shall we try for three?

The final contestant placed all her money on Carol Wayne, and in her sleekest sultry voice simply says, “Sunday.”

We have a winner!!!

Now, what’s all this got to do with you? I’ll tell you.

You don’t have to use either of these as the first day of the week. The Comic Book Business uses Wednesday, or new comic book day, for those that know. As we know from a previous post, or The Bible if you don’t want to read anymore, God worked for six days, and rested on the seventh. That means that the day of rest for those in the comic book field is Tuesday.

My pastor takes Monday off, so, he starts his work week on Tuesday.

With these few examples, I think I’ve made the point that Chris was making in the original post. Even though you have the opportunity to be connected all the time, and working on being connected all the time, you don’t have to. You’ll feel better.

Especially the next time you play Frontierville

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

What’s your first day of the week? Let me know in the comments. And let me know how I can break my Frontierville™ addiction, too

In The What’s Wrong with This Picture Department…

What's wrong with this poster?

If you haven’t made plans yet today, and you live in the Glendale, CA area, please stop by and see my film, Blue Blazes, today at the Alex Theatre. As part of The 168 Film Festival, it enjoys its World Premiere on the big screen today. It shows in the early afternoon block, which starts at 120pm. Hope to see you there!!!

Oh, I’m sure y0u’ve figured it out by now….

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

That’s my story. Hope you enjoyed it™

You too, Can Be Batman!!!

All you need, is a billion dollars.

Now go get it.

Let me know when you reach your goal.

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

Sometimes, A Well Timed Heckle is all You’ve Got

Those that know me, truly know me, in all but The Biblical sense will attest to the following: I’ve made my living by heckling. In fact, if I were a supervillain, I’d probably be, The Heckler!!! As we know, I’m Batman. Sshhh!!! Don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret. I read this and had to respond.

Why, you ask? Or maybe you didn’t. I don’t know. Maybe you haven’t even read this far. If you have, three reasons come to mind for a well timed heckle:

1. To get a laugh
2. To speed up the proceedings, and finally
3. editorial commentary

Maybe that last one covers the other two, I don’t know. Having performed stand up comedy for most of my life, I can tell you, it’s not good when you allow a heckler on a roll. You have to shut them down immediately. Fortunately, as most of you know, I’m able to do that, too. Picking your spots, and using a heckle on an occasional basis, is okay sometimes. You may heckle me by replying, or leaving a comment below. Or a tweet. Unless you see this on Facebook, in which case, you should Like this, really. Like this, like this!!!

 

Be It Resolved….

I have yet to make  a New Year’s Resolution.

Why, you ask? Or, maybe you didn’t. But I’ll tell you anyway. I don’t make them ever. My 9th grade Stage Crew teacher Mr. Martin when asked what his were once joked, “I don’t make them, I’m perfect.” which was funny at the time, and it even made it in print in the school newspaper. I haven’t really made any since, either. You may find this fascinating, however, the reason is simple, and I’ll share it with you here.

The thing that you’re resolving to do now, should’ve been taken care of at the time you discovered it needed to be done.  There’s even a Bible verse that goes along with this philosophy. Nowhere does it say, “And wait unto a predescribed time before you take action.”

I know I need to lose weight. I’m working on it. I have been for awhile. Do I now need to resolve to lose weight, simply because someone dropped a ball in Time Square? No! I’ve already taken action to do this.

Do I need to resolve to blog more in 2011? No, I do not. Several reasons, but three come to mind:

1. I’ve already done it
2. I need time for other things that are writing, and finally
3. I may not need to blog everyday

There’s a list for you, with links where appropriate. Tell them I sent you. This doesn’t get me anything, however, letting them know I exist might be a good idea.

The choice here would be to expand on the thoughts above, and make them look pretty, so that this looks like a blog post, however, my three readers know there’s no good way I’m going to do this, simply to pad my word count.

Okay, I admit I wrote the words, “simply to pad my word count,” to simply pad my word count. Now I’d resolve not to do this, however, I’ve already done that as well.

In conclusion, a small town just outside Redondo Beach, I submit the following: Around a week or two from now, when you realize that you’ve broken all of your New Year’s resolutions, feel free to make them again. You can always pick up where you left off, as it’s easy to do. Or, you can wait until next January 1st, with the sense of having accomplished nothing you set out to do this year.

Some have suggested that it’s a good idea to set goals for the year. That may be a good idea, if your year starts on January 1st.

Adjust your expectations accordingly. And let me know how you did that in the comment section….

Happy New Year.

I’m going to have to give up the computer shortly, and I may not get it back before it turns midnight.

Most would write an #YearInReview post, however, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, I’m not most.

Adjust your expectations accordingly, and as always, please, retweet.

First!!!

…and foremost, I remember Mama.

Ok, a line from a play I stage managed a lifetime ago, however, it may or may not relevant. I’ll let you decide.

There seems to be a need, out there, to be first. First in line, first in space, first to ship, but mostly, first to comment on a blog post.  I don’t know why that is, however, we can explore the phenomenon.

Now it makes sense that the first to comment may form the conversation that arises and follows from the post itself. This is a good thing, in as much as it’s different from say writing a letter to an editor, wherein they may or may not reply in their newspaper, if they read it at all.

A comment in a blog post, and a reply, is very much instantaneous and ubiquitous, in that it happens immediately, and in front of a lot of readers, hopefully. They can join in on the fun, too.

Now, I find that the various blogs that I comment at, I’m almost never first. I can’t be everywhere at once, there’s no good way to do that. So, I have a few choices:

• Comment on the post itself
• Comment on the comments
• reply to an individual comment
• post a reply to the blog in my own
• do nothing

There may be one that I’ve missed. You may figure that out and let me know below.

I’ve gotten better, I subscribe to the blogs that truly interest me, therefore I receive new posts as an email, and most of the time, reading and moving on (do nothing) is a valid choice that lets me get on with my day.

It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.  There will always be another blog post, there will always be something to comment on. As a content creator myself, I may or may not have time to comment. Furthermore, most of the blogs I read post during the time I’m asleep. No chance to be first. The writers have been fortunate enough to be born further East than me.

Not a problem, as I experience this for a live show I watch as well. They have a Twitter wall, and to comment, you have to be online during the live broadcast. Of course, they shoot to go live at a certain time in the Eastern Time Zone, so, I’m almost never online then, AND I don’t know what’s going on with the show, simply because I won’t get to see it for another three hours.

I don’t know that I’ll ever win a prize for posting on their Twitter wall.  I’m ok with that. Sometimes, you don’t need to be first. You simply need to be, the best. I do this by creating consistent content, on an occasional basis, and maybe that doesn’t leave me time to win the race to be, FIRST!!!

Adjust your expectations accordingly.

In Lieu of Actual Writing….

I present to you, today’s edition of, It’s, The Law!!!

I’ve been receiving some random tweets lately, as @replies, or @mentions for those that know. Actually, they really aren’t that random.  The latest one looks like this….

Now normally a Block and Report Spam action makes these go away pretty quickly. Tried that, didn’t work.

Sent a friendly tweet recently to the offending party. It may be a ‘bot. Ok, I can handle that. Found out who controls the ‘bot.

Got into a heated conversation pretty quickly. The next step is to report all accounts to the fine folks at Twitter, and get them to take action.

Now, to be fair, he says it’s a but that they’re attempting to fix, however, as I’ve written previously elsewhere, this may have taken place intentionally.

I will give them 24 hours to fix.

Stay tuned.

Oh, and as always, adjust your expectations accordingly.