I was quite surprised to learn that my name shows in the Google search for “podsafe music network.” I had commented this evening that I was always amused by my listings on sites that I had either forgotten or that I didn’t even know existed. My daughter said, “Go to Google and search for “podsafe music network.” Your name is there.
I didn’t believe that this would be the case, but it is. I confirmed with others through a Twitter thread and found that my name does, indeed, show there!
This morning I could not find my PDA when I was ready to go to work. I find that I’m chained to this device; it helps me keep my world of activity in check. Perhaps I should combined devices: PDA and cell phone. At least that way I know it’s always on my person. I’m not quite ready to invest in the monthly fees of web-connectivity with a Blackberry or similar device, though.
I realize I should spend more time reading physical books. Less time spent with electronic media (Google Reader?) may mean more creative stimulus for me.
This weekend I decided to take my family to a movie. Not a tremendously original idea, I know. But, for us, this is a rare activity. We are always on the go — so much so that I have canceled my Netflix account because I simply couldn’t watch the movies delivered to my house in time to justify paying another month’s service fees. Some of the movies that came to my home sat on TOP of the DVD player for months on end without making it into the tray.
I digress… we went to the movie theater to watch "The Game Plan" featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (I didn’t know this guy had a real name until the opening credits of this movie — and had to look up his last name again before posting this). As we approached the ticket counter my wife exclaimed, "Wow, they’ve raised the prices again!" I was shocked to see that the "bargain" matinee that I was about to purchase tickets for four persons to see would now cost me $7.00 per person. The rate for "regular price" is now $10.00 per ticket! (and perhaps that is cheap compared to other markets?)
Okay, for those of you that are regular movie goers this may not seem so tumultuous. You’ve probably graduated through the price hikes with little notice of the changes — or at least you swallowed each step with a bit of toleration and tenacity. However, as a former cinema employee, I found these new prices to be a considerable sticker shock.
During my tenure behind the ticket stand at General Cinemas I observed a few gasps and exclamations, as well. "For crying out loud!" they would say, "a matinee is $1.50 now?! What’s next, $2.00 buckets of popcorn?!" And, "Wow, I’m glad I came to the matinee… I can’t believe that tickets are $3.25 for a regular show!"
Now that I’ve apparently entered the mind set I observed from my father, as I explore the "good ol’ days" of my youth, I’m realizing that those movie-goers had it made back then. And, in my opinion, I believe that the cost of movies today would be too much even at THOSE prices.
Don’t get me wrong, my entire family enjoyed "The Game Plan." It was a creative (though somewhat predictable) movie about the eventual deflation of a sport star’s ego when he realizes the value of a child in his life. However, this movie and the delivery of the plot would have been as easily enjoyed in the comfort of my home via DVD or pay-per-view. The $28 I paid for my family to view this film might have been used to pay for pizza or a fun dessert night out. Perhaps we could have played a round of miniature golf or taken in a game or two of laser tag.
My point — as I work toward it — is that the delivery mechanism for this entertainment is too highly over-rated at the price it is being offered. Yes, there are certain movies that provide a phenomenal experience when viewed on the "big screen." Yet, it still costs TOO much.
It is no surprise to me that the cinema industry is struggling (can we sidebar to the recorded music industry or shall we save that for yet another belabored discussion?). With the options available now, I can receive movies on-demand; I can pay for delivery to my PC desktop; I can subscribe to feeds and bit-torrents (and yes, I’m willing to pay for the service) at much lower fees than the cost of a movie ticket — and have unlimited use on some plans.
I can purchase a movie for my family to watch on our 54" television with surround sound in my family room (ah, the comfort of couches and recliners) for only $3.99. That’s $4 for the ENTIRE family to view the movie… and we can pause to go relieve ourselves and/or top off our refreshments (which were purchased at a much greater savings over the additional $32-40 it would have cost in the cinemaplex).
I can re-subscribe to the DVD delivery service (had I the time to view them) for less than the cost of TWO movie tickets per month and get unlimited delivery of movies at that price.
To top off the insult to my wallet, I sat down in the somewhat comfortable stadium seating in the auditorium and prepared myself for the enjoyment of catching a few movie trailers. Yet, what did I get? Commercials! I was force fed a commercial for Sun Chips. I was force fed a commercial for something else that I refuse to remember. I was accosted with advertising that I had no choice but to watch unless I wanted to step out of the theater (which would have been another insult to my time, yet alone my wallet). I have to ask, "why did I have to watch commercials when I had already provided the theater with $28 of my hard-earned USD? I paid them and the advertisers paid them? Seems to me that if commercials are delivered it should be to offset "free delivery" of content.
I’ve no qualms with viewing commercials for services that I receive without subscription payment from me. I have no problems listening to the public radio and television providers telling me who supports their programming — or even that they ask me a few times a year to "help out."
I have absolutely no complaints that podcasters (net show producers?) offset the cost of production of their programming to which I can subscribe (for free).
Yet, I DO have conflict with the movie theater taking $28 of my money for a $4 movie and then force feeding me commercials.
It seems to me that the movie industry would make a huge amount of income — and would see increased ticket sales — if they returned to the ticket prices of a decade ago (or more). Perhaps more people would visit their local cinema-plex if the cost of a ticket didn’t outweigh the cost of the meal they just ate. I would certainly go to the theater more often with my family. They’ve simply out-priced themselves. Product+Value=Purchase. Product+Perceived Lack of Value=Avoidance.
Creative Commons licensed photo courtesy of JanneM.
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Sounds familiar. I was treated for asthma for over 40 years. Turns out I don’t have asthma, I have food allergies. I can see where popcorn steam and the particles in it could cause a person problems if they followed the same regime that Watson has.
I’m with Eric Rice on this one. UStream has a definite advantage over BlogTV as far as the artifact and video quality is concerned. I was testing my camera for audio latency issues that I’ve been having. I noticed a truly degraded video quality at BlogTV. Hmmm…
Update: For those of you catching this in your readers, there is video above this line.
Technorati Links: Eric Rice, Ustream, BlogTV, latency, video, audio
Okay, I know I’m behind the times. I certainly could have been using video in my social media long before now. But, whatever. Here’s my first attempt at using the new webcam. This is immediately after installing the software. For some reason, the audio moves out of sync with the video. I’ll need to research that to find out what has caused it.
Now that I have this in place I’ll likely start doing some stuff on my UStream.tv account. See the player in the right sidebar.
There is just so much out there that entertains me beyond what I can find on television. And the great thing… I can share it! Here’s a show from the gang at Robot Chicken (Seth Green & cast). This also includes the voices of Conan O’Brien, Seth MacFarlane and Hulk Hogan. George Lucas even had a hand in this one!
Technorati Tags: George Lucas, Star Wars, Seth Green, Robot Chicken, Super Deluxe
Way back in the month of May Chris Brogan wrote a blog post that helps one come up with a quick “autobiography.” This meme has enabled a few people to get to know each other better, so I thought, “why not write one, as well?”
My post is not meant to be self-serving or pretentious at all. It is basically answering a call-to-action by Chris. It also helps me keep perspective on where I am at this point in my life. So, thank you Chris Brogan for your comments and your direction. Here’s my quick autobiography.
The thing most people know me for is…
Well, this one is a bit of a challenge. People know me for certain things depending on which circle of connection you may visit.
In my day-to-day employment I’m known as a safety educator, communicator, and media relations guy that serves as an oft-catch-all person for those things that they don’t know where else to send. I’m a audio-video guy that produces training and marketing videos, works on web-sites, writes media releases, creates puppet shows, sings songs for kids and spends a huge amount of time in the local school system.
In my new media role, people know me as an audio producer that often seeks out independent musicians for my podcast (on demand audio) show “Audio Gumshoe.” I’m often found networking with other music show producers, but have a huge interest in finding out more about social connectivity and tools to help me be more productive.
As a musician, I’m known to some as a writer/singer of children’s songs. To others I’m the guy known as Rich Desoto that performs regularly in Second Life — singing songs about avatars, relationships, and living. To still others, I’m the bass player or guitarist for a variety of local bands [The Fries, Knight Blaze], sometimes serving as a front man, but often filling the role of backup vocalist. Yet others remember as an avid lover of classical music, attempting to refine my skills as a ‘cellist and performing in as many orchestra settings as possible.
In the musician role I’m continuing to find ways to market my craft through social media circles, using the tools mentioned above.
And yet there’s more. I’m also a former broadcaster, with experience as on-air talent, copywriter, news writer and reporter and even sales/promotions. This former skill set has enabled me to continue to work as a voice-over talent and producer, specializing in internet radio imaging and podcasts. I am also a jingle writer — with both commercial and show theme credits under my belt.
The people I associate the most with are…
I associate with as many people as possible in as many circles of influence as possible. My family is most important, followed by great long-term friends. I often find that my associations are growing at a rapid rate through the digital age and online connectivity. So many social media tools exist. I attempt to find out what they are — and if they are worth spending time learning.
I want to maximize my reach with my music, so I will tend to migrate toward the tools and web sites that help me do this effectively, while maintaining social interactivity.
People who have influenced my life are…
My mother, my maternal grandfather, my former HS music director, my wife, my brother, other social media pundits, and a variety of co-workers, mentors and leaders. There are so many that I could not begin to list them.
One challenge I took on and overcame was…
See the next section…
My early years, before you probably got to know me were…
These years were spent learning more and more about music, technology, and society. I had some hurdles to overcome as an adolescent looking for opportunity. My parents were divorced when I was a young teen, so that lead to some rebellion, but nothing of catastrophic value, obviously. I yearned for education and more knowledge in music — so I pursued higher education. When I graduated high school I worked for a full-year in a paint distribution warehouse before raising enough funds to start college. Through my own efforts I was able to attend school, while continuing to work in various industries.
I was taught many values by my maternal grandfather. As a blacksmith and self-employed businessman he knew the value of “people”. He taught me how to show compassion, empathy, respect, and “how to do the right thing.” He was rarely paid [in cash] what his work was worth, but he showed how the connection with others ensured that needs were always met and abundance could be had.
You might not know this, but …
I have a very short temper. As passionate and warm as I am often known to be, I am also known to easily blow a fuse. This most often happens around the people to which I am most comfortable. So, they don’t reap the benefit of that relationship much, do they? This is a shortcoming that I always try to learn how to overcome.
Thankfully my family knows how much I love them — and I hope they understand my “red-headed temper.”
I’m passionate about…
I am most certainly passionate about my wife, my children, and values in life. I believe people should treat others with respect, regardless of the way they have been treated. I believe that people are ultimately capable of reaching high levels of success, but they can’t do it alone. Zig Ziglar said that you can get anything you want out of life if you help enough people get what they want. I agree and always strive to follow this philosophy.
In the next year or two, I hope to…
I truly hope to have the finances and resources needed to support my family while doing what I truly love doing. I would like to know that my music, my creativity, and my desire to produce content of all kinds can become a vehicle for personal success and self-reliance.
Tags: Chris Brogan, musician, safety, educator, voiceovers, jingles, Zig Ziglar, family, values, children’s songs
Ed Roberts [Looking Out the Window, KC Weather, Miscellaneous Uses for a Blog] recently tagged me in his blog. He was writing the oft-used “things about me” post after having been tagged by another person.
This is somewhat equivalent, I suppose, to a chain-blog (chain letter, chain email, etc.), but I thought that I would repost a very similar blog entry that I had put on my Rich Desoto blog some months back. What the heck, it helps me update my current list of tagged persons.
Here’s the post I entered back then. Did you read it?
Five Things About the Real Me
This idea was introduced to me by Dedric Mauriac, who was given the idea by DrFran, a companion Podcaster News network member.
1. I spent most of my childhood running around my grandfather’s farm. He was a blacksmith — last of many generations originating in Germany. My fourteen other cousins and I spent many hours at his shop — often helping when requested to do so, but often just being underfoot. I learned about work ethic, compassion, morals, ethics, and how to have a big heart from this strong, but sensitive man.
2. Some of my earliest memories of popular music involve riding in the back seat of my mother’s cousin’s convertible as we went to the “Jack and Jill” drive-in restaurant, top down, AM radio blaring. We used to sit in the car and eat hamburgers and drink cherry Cokes. One of the first songs I can truly remember vividly on the radio was the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”
3. I worked at Hickory Farms Restaurant as young as 14 years old. I used to be able to tell you more than 200 varieties of cheeses, their textures, their common uses in a meal or cooking, and what “family” of cheese they may belong to. I spent hours on end standing at the front of the store in the mall handing out samples of the store brand summer sausage and asking if people wanted to “try a sample of my beefstick!” LOL
4. I composed an arrangement of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels band for my high school orchestra. It included parts for all of the string instruments, guitars, bass, drums, vocalists, and of course, the fiddle. With permission from the publisher, this song was performed in many places, including the United States Pentagon courtyard. I’ve heard that the school orchestra still plays this arrangement from time to time.
5. I have worked for movie theatres, ice cream restaurants, insurance companies, police departments, paper factories, delivery services, pizza parlors, record stores, record manufacturers, music stores and security firms. With all of that, I held a seven year career in radio broadcasting and have worked in public safety for the past [now 19] years. (Oh don’t try to do the math, it won’t add up.)
And here are three more, since everybody seems to be doing “8 things about me” entries of late.
6. I am the oldest of three boys. My mom guaranteed that my first child would be a girl because all of my grandfather’s grandsons have girls first. I was skeptical, but she was born December 1992. My brother’s firstborn is a girl, also.
7. I never wanted to be a firefighter when I was a kid — even through college. Most of my cousins became firefighters, my Uncle Jim was a fire chief, and many of the spouses of my cousins served as emergency medical personnel. Turns out, I became the public information officer and fire & life safety educator for a fire department (where I have also served as firefighter and paramedic in the past). I have served the PIO/educator role into my 18th year.
8. My first kiss was in third grade. The girl that I kissed proclaimed that we were “now married.” I don’t remember that we ever divorced. Isn’t that big o’ me?
Now I tag:
Mark Forman,
Michelle Wolverton,
Jean-Ann Mills,
Chris Penn,
Chris Brogan
To me, the following video is not only creative, but it is extremely well done considering the number of people involved. I’m not sure where this was recorded — and if all of these people work in the same office together (if they do, how can I get a job like this?), but they are definitely highly effective as a team.
I’m just amazed, truly. There are so many things that make this video work for me: The connectivity of the people, the energy of the Harvey Danger tune, the non-traditional environment for rock and roll, and of course, the fact that it is user generated content. Social media IS good media.
