Musings from the basement...

John Oliver, journalism, and why the Newspaper Association of America are morons

August 10, 2016 3 Comments

John Oliver, the Daily Show alum who has since moved to HBO and is winning fans across the ‘Net for his self-deprecating, funny, and sometimes insightful investigative pieces, recently did a segment on journalism in America today. Most of what he discusses is old hat to those who have been in the business for a while — I remember having these discussions with colleagues more than a decade ago and spending many years struggling (and failing) to convince a former employer to move into the 21th Century — but it remains a relevant and worthwhile discussion even today. Hell, even more today than ever. The stories I hear from friends still in the business are enough to make a grown man cry. Things are only made…
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Rants, Videos

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THIS is how you do a movie trailer – Arrival (2016)

August 9, 2016 5 Comments

How wonderful to not know something exists, stumble across a trailer for that thing you didn’t know existed, and be instantly blown away at a mere minute of mind-blowing speculative fiction goodness. (Yes, I used “blow” twice.) What I mean is, watch this damn trailer: Now THAT is how you do a movie trailer. Simple, sparse, moody, and frickin’ gripping as hell. That’s it. That’s all I need to see. I’m done. I’m in. I’m seeing it. Might even skip the full trailer that are teasing, because I don’t need to see anything else but this. Yes, it appears to be yet another alien invasion story. I don’t care. I love alien invasion stories. And it appears to be a different take on them, so that’s nice….
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Films, Geek Stuff, Videos

How I almost forgot why I write (and how I got back on track)

August 6, 2016 3 Comments

It’s easy to lose sight of why you write. For about two years now, I’ve worked full-time as a freelance writer and social media marketer, penning corporate blogs, articles for SEO specialists, the occasional news story, website copy, and whatever else people will pay me to write. I’ve done freelance work on the side for many years, but that switch in autumn 2014 was a big plunge into icy cold water. It hasn’t always been easy. The money mostly sucks, the workload is hot and cold, the guilt can be crushing, people often don’t want to pay you or they will try to scam you, you have to operate like a small business (which is antithetical to why you write in the first place), and…
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Random Musings, Writing

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Trans-frickin’-formers, more than meets the frickin’ eye. I said, TRANSFORMERS!

August 5, 2016 3 Comments

Most kids in the ’80s had a toy line that was their go-to, the one their parents kept buying for them because parents of the ’80s knew that real parenting involved buying toys. It may have been M.A.S.K. or Thundercats or Masters of the Universe, or if you were a girl Strawberry Shortcake or WWF Wrestling figures. In my case, it was Transformers (even though I liked GI Joe more). So when a friend brought a portion of his huge vintage Transformers collection over for a new episode of Hours in the Attic, I was in nostalgia heaven even as I wondered how he managed to land a wife and if he’d sell me that Soundwave and if my wife would leave me if I…
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Geek Stuff, Videos

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Interactive Content Services, a jackass company for jackasses staffed by jackasses

August 4, 2016 13 Comments

Recently saw a help wanted ad seeking an online reporter, a part-time telecommute position involving doing stuff I’ve done for, oh, the last 15 years or so. Perfect. More work is always (okay, usually) good. I could slot that work into my freelance schedule, add a little income, and stay sane in the process. I applied, providing many writing samples when I did, as requested. This is the response I got, in full, from jobs@contentservices.co: Dear Eric, Thank you for your interest in the company and for sending me your samples. You have been identified as a possible reporter candidate for our group of legal journalism websites and newspapers. As stated in the job posting, the average pay for these types of stories is $24 each. However,…
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Rants, Writing

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