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Posted on 01.13.08 by Widge @ 1:11 am
Yes, this is going to be the shortest list ever: ever time I turn around I see bloggers who blog about blogging blogging about ways to come up with things to blog about. They write these as though serious trying-to-go-pro articles really need them. And I'm sick to damn death of them. So. Here's my one tip for people who need these articles: you're either not cut out to be a serious ("serious" defined however you like) blogger or you're not blogging about stuff you're passionate about. You're trying to talk about the wrong stuff. If you're passionate about something, you'll never run out of things to say about it. Unless it's the most narrow subject matter ever. The mating habits of naked mole rats, for example. I could probably not write about that subject for more than a few days. But then again, I'm not passionate about naked mole rats. The naked mole rat expert from Fast, Cheap… could probably blog his ass off about them, though. I mean seriously: I have a huge backlog of posts I want to do for Needcoffee that aren't done for lack of time. Because I'm passionate about pop culture, which might be sad, but blogging brings out the sad damn-i-need-a-life in all of us. If you're blogging just for you–which is basically what I do on here–then yeah, blog whenever the mood strikes you. But if you're really trying to do Something ("Something" defined however you like) with your blog and you're getting writer's block, well…other folks might try and dress it up and make you feel good, but I'll give it to you straight. Either take a long, hard look at your tactics and change them up, or just face up to the fact that it's a hobby. Filed under: Free Ideas
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Posted on 11.07.07 by Widge @ 1:45 am
Okay, well, I had to work way too hard to try and help a guy on 43 Folders. Anyway, here's what he was complaining about: tucking away songs that you don't want because they are tied to a particular event. Xmas, for example. Real simple. It helps if you have everything tied with a genre like "Xmas" or "Holiday" or something. Select all the songs you wish to tuck away somewhere else. Then right click and "Get Info" on all of them. Change the album to "Xmas Tunes" or whatever you want to call it, and make sure you check that this IS a compilation. Now…go to your compilations folder, grab that Xmas Tunes folder and move it wherever you want it. Then just go back into iTunes and delete the songs from your library. When it becomes time to celebrate our favorite "reformed" pagan holiday, just throw the songs back into your library. Done. Now, if you don't have everything fixed with a genre, then just use my previous tip about using stars to mark things needing action, and if you come across "Jingle Bells" when you shouldn't, mark it with the right amount of stars and then deal with it when you get home. As to the comments on 43 Folders: I had to register, fill in my personal info, do a captcha, then wait for my password to show up. Then I put the password in and was told that I was denied access to the comment form after all that. No error messages. No whoops, you did something wrong. Just nada. If I ever put in place a scheme so user-unfriendly as that bullshit, please promise me one of you will call me on it, okay? Filed under: Free Ideas
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Posted on 10.23.07 by Widge @ 10:07 pm
So, Ken sent me this. And while I absolutely agree in the concept of equal time for all candidates, I think the solution to this is to give exactly what is called for: equal time. Comedy Central should be willing to provide a timeslot for a satirical talk show that any candidate is welcome to host, as long as he does so in character. Same thing with Fred Thompson. Any candidate should be given a show on NBC where they play a D.A. There's enough cop shows where this would be possible. Hell, you could almost do that with Law & Orders. See? Problem solved. Somebody pay me. Filed under: Free Ideas
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Posted on 09.23.07 by Widge @ 4:17 pm
I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of people clamoring for this show. It's an absolute no-brainer. Get Gaffigan to play the Alton Brown role. Why not? Filed under: Free Ideas
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Posted on 09.21.07 by Widge @ 1:03 am
I keep seeing this rubbish about cute little "atheist nightmares" that supposedly prove the existence of God, so fine: here's my latest TV pitch: Now that Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares has hit America, it's time to take that concept and mix it with the success of The God Delusion, Root of All Evil? and others. Thus, I submit to you: Richard Dawkins' Atheist Nightmares. Each week, Richard goes 'round to see if he can help budding atheists make that final leap and shed their unneeded belief systems. Think about it: Gordon convinces folks to use local produce; Richard convinces folks to find local groups that non-believe like they non-believe. Gordon gets cooks to clean up their kitchens, which half the time are filthy; Richard gets people to tidy up their belief systems, basically showing them that they don't actually believe half of what they think they believe. Gordon snaps people out of their culinary doldrums with tough love; Richard snaps people out of their spiritual doldrums with tough logic. He's not converting the unwilling, mind you. It's just really hard to shed a belief system–take it from somebody who knows. I think it would be a smash hit. Somebody pay me. Filed under: Free Ideas
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Posted on 07.14.07 by Widge @ 6:32 pm
No, seriously. I was linking back to this post on Needcoffee, when it struck me that Skynet should send a Terminator back to the 19th Century in order to try and wipe out Sarah Connor's ancestors, since it's obvious Connor herself is just too well guarded. I mean, you have to wonder (from the standpoint of the story), why they didn't do that to begin with (beyond just the budget didn't allow for it). Or, naturally, since that was then, it already happened and didn't work. Or something. Anyway, the Terminator gets hosed up in transit or something and has to rebuild itself from available tech, so you get this bizarre steampunk Terminator chasing people across the American West. For all I know, Dark Horse already published this same story five years back. If not: free idea, just because I want to read it and don't have time for it to be in my head. Filed under: Free Ideas
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John Robinson is a writer of prose, poetry and comics who also writes under
the pseudonym of Widgett Walls.
This is my latest book. Short stories written especially for you, or at least someone who reminded me a lot of you at the time.
