Win a trip to TechCrunch 50

but you've only got a few more hours...

Win a TC50 Pass!

As some of you know I work for Seesmic.com during daytime hours. We're going to be covering TechCrunch 50 all next week and we're offering a free ticket to a Seesmic user who sends us a good reason to give it to them. If you're into it, sign up and send a video.

DIY Days

Abby and I just got back from the DIY Days event at Minna. We had to go because, you know DIY was in the name, which has me thinking a lot about the nature of that term, but I'll save that for another post.

The event was put on by the Workbook Project and From Here to Awesome, and was sponsored by Current. It was hosted by Arin Crumley from Four Eyed Monster. The purpose was to bring independent filmmakers together for a one day event and get them talking about how to use the web for funding, marketing, and distribution.

Since we were once employed by one of the sponsors (Current), and now I work in social media (Seesmic), and Abby is involved in web marketing for Harper Collins; it follows that we might have some knowledge about the stated topic of the conference. It also follows that we might be able to apply that knowledge to our own film projects (Make It Happen and Mulch).

...But as anyone who reads this blog knows, or biggest hurdle has been funding. So learning about where the money comes from is what sparked my interest in DIY Days.

An interesting point to note is that we only found about the conference through a random web search about something else... which leads me to wonder why a conference that seems so perfect for us, would miss us. Then again, I guess it didn't miss us because we found it eventually.

So did we get from there to awesome? What did we learn? Where does the money come from? Interestingly enough, we found out that we are way ahead of the game in the marketing department that is.

The main points:

Use social media, like our myspace and twitter accounts.

Blog about your project, your problems, and your victories to build an audience who is personally invested... And while you're doing that, post additional content related to your film, like side videos (our vlogs) and stills... welcome to teamjaded.com

Put your media everywhere: like our Youtube, our Blip, and our Current TV tagged page...

Make your films and let the film industry, your audience, and the monetization catch up to you... Well we're still waiting.

But one thing we haven't done and that we need to do is update regularly. So we are going to try our hardest.

Like many of the filmmakers at the event today, one of our problems is that we can't work on our projects full-time because we need to have day jobs to pay our rent. When we're not at work, we barely have time to log tapes, much less engage in hours of social media outreach... but we're trying so hang in there. The conference did not really address this problem beyond "knowing rich people" who want to invest in film... which is what we already suspected and were afraid of... (Anybody know any rich people?)

In the meantime check out Four Eyed Monster because they succeeded in this crazy web/film marketing experiment and from the videos I've seen on youtube it looks like they made a solid film. So good for them.

Now we're off to Cafe Du Nord to see Judgement Day who the San Francisco Bay Guardian claims is totally diy...

Jeremey

Witness the Hub

This is another taste of Seesmic. I had the opportunity to cut Loic Lemeur's show yesterday. Loic is the company's founder and he also hosts a daily vlog called Seesmic Du Jour that details his experience launching Seesmic. The show is usually cut by Mr. Whit Scott, but he was busy playing Ultimate Frisbee in Italy.

The Reason that I'm sharing the show on TeamJaded is because Loic has an interesting guest. He talks to a guy named Sameer Padania who works for an organization called Witness. I'll let them explain what Witness is all about...


Oh, and notice the color in that video? So vibrant. That's our Canon A1, I love that camera.

Cheers! Tiki Bar TV & Pimm's Cup

My favorite drink is the Pimm's Cup. The Pimm's Cup is a delicious cocktail consisting of:

1-2 shots Pimm's No. 1 Liqueur
Ginger Ale
Lemonade (or Champagne)
Cucumbers
(with additional and variations on these ingredients)

So if you enjoy reading teamjaded with a refreshing cocktail, I can guarantee you’ll love watching Tiki Bar TV. After only a couple episodes, you’ll realize every problem can be solved with a great cocktail! The production, acting, and writing is superb. And to that, I say “Cheers!” Or if I were in another country I might say:

Belgium: Op Uw Gezonheid!
China: Wen Lie!
Denmark: Skal!
Ethiopia: Letenatchie!
Germany: Prosit!
Indonesia: Selamat!
Israel: L'Chayim!
Italy: Alla Salute!
Japan: Kanpai!
Morocco: Saha Wa Afiab
Poland: Na Zdrowie!
Russia: Jobnyem!
South Africa: Gesonoheid!
Spain & Mexico: Salud!
Sweden: Skal!
Ukraine: Bud'mo! (how has Budweiser not jumped on that one?)

Below find two fabulous videos. The first is Tiki Bar TV: episode 25, “Blue Hawaiian (guest staring Diggnation’s own Kevin Rose). The second is an intricate recipe on how to make your own Pimm's Cup. Teamjaded asks you to please watch responsibly.

"Who says gentrification isn't funny?"

Apparently I’m out of touch. I just found “The Burg.” I know what you’re probably thinking… and the Staged Play version of our conversation would go a little something like this:

ACT ONE
Scene 1

You: [confused / concerned] Uh, Abby… I thought you were really into the whole ‘Internet TV’ thing.
Me: [fiddling with hands, pretends not to be ashamed] Uh, yes. Yes I am.
You: But how could you have NOT known about “The Burg.”
Me: [searching for answers] Maybe it’s because I moved away from New York? You know I live in SF now. And, uh, you know it’s all about Williamsburg. Get it? The Burg?! Woo.
You: Well, um, everyone knows about it. It’s been on Internet for over a year. Plus, they’ve been featured everywhere- from the New York Times to Wired.
Me: [looks longingly towards the computer screen, world freezes, proceed with soliloquy] You’ve let me down, Internets. YOU’VE let me down!! How could this have happened!!! [drops to knees] NOOOOO!

END SCENE

Well, technically the Internet didn’t let me down. It was just over a year late updating me on said IPTV program. I’m not even going to write on how good (or bad) the actual show is. Mainly, I want to point out 5 things.

1. High quality TV on the Internet. Bang. It’s happening. Thank you.
2. “Who says Gentrification isn’t funny?” No one. And that’s why this works.
3. Ad Sponsors. Nice work, my friends.
4. It’s Williamsburg in all its beauty: “Trust fund kids pretend to be starving artists, starving artists pretend to be able to live completely off of credit cards, and everybody pretends not to notice."
5. Which perfectly leads into the last point. They should do an episode in the Mission in SF. It could be exactly the same show except fixed-gears could make an appearance. Although maybe The Burg has field-tripped to the Barmuda Triangle*, I haven’t watched them all. Actually, I’ve watched about approximately .08% of the episodes. Don’t tell.

So there you have it. Another IPTV show, doin' it. For you. Enjoy.



*attributed to Lector Mangrave.

Swivel-icious

We're smack in the middle of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. Let it be known that I have no inkling of excitement for Shark Week. Sharks do not interest me. At all. But for those of you who do enjoy the man-eating-slayer-toothed-water-beast, here's a nice graph from Swivel:



I was pretty psyched when I stumbled across Swivel. Now, I’m hooked. As a journalism graduate, I was dismayed at the lack of statistical data used to back up news stories. It was as if I learned that emotion is more powerful than fact. And sadly, this may be true. But, if our emotions aren’t based in fact, then we are naively accepting the passions of the day (slightly 1984ish don’t you think?).

However, we’re told that facts, data, graphs, and charts… all these things are boring. In college it’s required to take physics, statistics, science, etc, and if these topics aren’t your bag, then out the door with ‘em!

Not true.

I know it’s in our human nature to want to understand. It’s the monotony of the typical data that weighs us down. When presented in a meaningful, and easy to understand way, it’s then we can grasp a true sense of the world around us. When facts aren’t accessible (be it visually or physically) we lose an important part of being a rational, critically thinking human being.

We can now be engaged with true statistics (sources are sited on Swivel) without having to comb through layers of opinionated blogs, emotion riddled news stories, and imaginary corporate lexicon.

Now, you will find that Chinese food isn’t the only thing with MSG.
You can legitimately freak out about Bird Flu… if you live in Azerbaijan.
AND, place bets on where your local church will take their next mission trip.

Best [Pic] Week Ever.

I spent a good portion of last week being sick. Therefore, I spent a good portion of last week on the internet. Let me tell you, it was a week rich with visual stimuli.

I now present the top pics of the week:

1. Scared of Tobacco or Terrorists? (technically a graph, but go with it)
2. Phonetically Correct-ish.
3. 120 Calories. The British way. (Can anyone tell me what mini scotch eggs are? They look like chicken nugget balls.)
4. Really? Does your mom know you did that?
5. Funny, cause it's true. (and technically a comic, but go with it)
6. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. (That is not a typo)
7. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu. (That is not a typo)
8. Best Anti-War Graffiti Ever.

Stuff On My Cat, My Cat On Stuff

Stuff On My Cat

Updated 7/20/2007: Thank you so much to Mario at Stuff On My Cat for posting our video and linking to our blog! Thank you to everyone who commented and enjoyed Maggie's 'stackage'. You're all amazing.

Although we at TeamJaded are dedicated to interesting news, people, and the occasional politics, we do enjoy our fare share of fun websites. I for one, am a huge fan of Stuff on My Cat. Everyday it makes me smile. So when we purchased a new camera (Canon XH-A1), I decided to shoot my cat while figuring out the settings. What happened was something I never expected. A video where I put stuff… on my cat. Yes, you read that right. It’s slightly amusing, as Maggie (my cat), acts as if nothing is happening.

A while back I wrote about Maggie. I thought I’d share it with you now that you know how deceivingly cute she can be.

This was written August 12, 2006, 9 days after I moved from NYC to SF.

I have a foster cat. Her name is Maggie.

Last week Maggie went on the most exciting adventure up to this point in her 2-year-old life. However, I presume the trip from east coast to west coast may have been more exciting for the passengers on Jet Blue Flight 97.

Upon boarding the plane, it was realized that the cage she was traveling in was approximately 'yay' centimeter too big to fit under the seat in front of me. Maggie, cage, and I proceeded to the rear of the plane hoping for a smooth transfer into the airline-supplied cage.

All goes smoothly, and Maggie pops her little head out of the top of the gated cage. Then she pops her front paws out. Then she wiggles a bit. I'm trying desperately to push her resisting body back into the cage, only to realize her harness (yes, she's wearing a harness) is caught on the wires. She looks frantic. She's wriggling with all her might. The passengers are now crowding around the scene like lookie-loos in an accident. Maggie is caught halfway in and halfway out of the plastic-bottom, wire-top box. Finally the man in front of me picks her and the cage up, takes her to the back and finesses her out. We lock the hole with a twisty tie. Maggie, all tuckered out from her exhausting and embarrassing endeavor, sleeps the entire 6-hour flight.

Please allow me to delve in all that is Maggie the Cat.

When I decided to house this cat for "a six week trial period", I must admit, I wasn't what one would call "smart" about this decision. In fact, I fully take responsibility for my somewhat ill-advised act of altruistic feline charity.

My hopes of having a companion of independent temperament, who required little to no attention was to be found in a small little ball of fur with unclipped claws.

Cute? She was. Friendly? She was not.

Twiggy was her shelter moniker. Sadly, the stick-like underfed cat that she was fit the ridiculous name. A fierce growl, squinted eyes, and turned down ears was how she welcomed my hand as I tried to pet her calico fur. No such luck. She retreated to the corner of her newspaper-lined cell, foot stepping into her water bowl.

"I'll take her," I say. It was as though all my intelligent senses had taken a coffee break; and while my brain cells were dipping biscotti in espresso, I accepted this miniature life into my studio apartment. For better or for worse, in sickness & in health, 'till "six weeks later" do we part.

Eight months and 2582 miles later, Maggie Francois Scratcher, is still my foster cat. No official adoption has been made, as the shelter never called to check on their precious little demon.

Maggie has successfully wrecked a linen closet, demolished 2 large cardboard boxes, ruined the armrests of a corporate housing suede couch, and, among other things, peed on a suitcase.

She runs laps around the apartment at 5 in the morning. She will attack ankles if not fed at a proper time. She growls with a haunting, low snarl in the middle of the night, hair on end, eyes fixated on emptiness. She tries to escape every time the front door is opened... or the window on a 26-floor apartment.

Now, these things aside, Maggie has learned to be quite the friendly cat. She enjoys a nice bout of catnip therapy, a good tummy rub and a playful jaunt with a menacing ball of trash.

For those who are wondering why her name was changed, please refer to the following songs.

There's actually a song called 'Maggie the Cat' by The Bangs. I have yet to hear it.

Rod Stewart: Maggie May
Oh Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
You made a first-class fool out of me
But I'm as blind as a fool can be
You stole my heart but I love you anyway
Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
I'll get on back home one of these days

Beatles: Maggie Mae
Oh dirty Maggie Mae they have taken her away
And she never walk down Lime Street any more
Oh the judge he guilty found her
For robbing a homeward bounder
That dirty no good robbin' Maggie Mae