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Video Friday: A Tribute to Leonard Nimoy

LeonardNimoy-Memorium

This morning Leonard Nimoy passed away. Although I did not know him personally, he has always been a favorite of mine. Like so many other people, I was a Spock fan, I watched his show about movies on Nickelodeon when I was a kid, I learned about Bigfoot from his show In Search of…, and one of my favorite movies is Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. In interviews he was genuine and thoughtful and always seemed to have something interesting to say. To me, he appeared to be the gentleman actor who was always willing to give something a try – even a song about Bilbo Baggins. The world is a bit darker today because of his loss.

Instead of a fun video today I’d like to share the funeral scene from Star Trek 2 where Captain Kirk honors a fallen Spock. Although Mr. Nimoy was not the character that he played, this scene is the first that I remember when the death of a character had actual impact on me. It’s a moving send off.

Live long and prosper.

See you next time.

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February 27, 2015 · 11:40 am

Net Neutrality: The FCC Votes Tomorrow

Photo: Act.Watchdog.Net

Photo: Act.Watchdog.Net

Tomorrow is a big day for the Internet, the FCC will vote on the proposed rules to govern broadband. Even if these open Internet friendly rules pass it looks like the Internet Service Providers are going to take the whole thing to court. What does that mean? The fight is far from over. It’s up to each of us to let our representatives know that an open Internet is what we want.

Still confused about why you should care? Mashable put together a short video about the history of the internet and why Net Neutrality is important. And if you’d like more than you can check out some of my PREVIOUS POSTS.

Keep up the fight!

Ready to reach out to your representatives? Go here: SAVE THE INTERNET

EDIT: Update from today’s successful FCC Open Internet vote.

See you next time.

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February 25, 2015 · 6:17 am

Fun Video Friday The First Andelon Discussion: Creativity on the Daily

Fun Video Friday Update

We conducted our first Andelon Discussion last night LIVE via Google Hangout on YouTube where we discussed Creativity on the Daily, how people use their creative muscles in everyday life. It was a lively discussion that covered creativity for problem solving, trying to make a living creatively and what it takes to get your creativity going.

This being the first one we had a few technical issues with the sound at the beginning (my bad), but those stop about 10 minutes in.

The participants are some of my oldest friends who work in varied industries and had a lot to say on the matter. Check it out and let me know what you think!

This was a very male heavy discussion, so we’re doing an all female panel of this topic at the end of March hosted by my wife and partner at Andelon Productions, Rene Bordelon. If you’d like to check out more from the panel check out the links below:

Scott Sanford
IT specialist for the financial industry.

Dean Ethington
Graphic Designer and web developer for Oakley.

Dan Zarzana
Manager at an entertainment payroll company.

Jeff Garvin
Author and musician.

See you next time!

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February 20, 2015 · 8:00 am

Video Update 1 – Seminars, Classes, & Websites

Startup Post Art

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February 3, 2015 · 10:46 pm

Fun Video Friday! The Chili

Fun Video Friday Update

Another fun one from the Wiggy Webs archives. This was supposed to be the first in a series of sketches, but the challenge of scheduling between writers, actors, crew and Rene  &  I was too difficult to maintain any kind of a real production schedule. However I do like this first one. I think it turned out very well.

Word of warning: There is adult language in this video so maybe not so much for the kids probably NSFW if you work at a very uptight place.

Let me know what you think. Should we do more of these?

See you next time.

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January 30, 2015 · 8:00 am

Fun Video Friday: “Show Me That” Pokemon Battle

Fun-Video-Friday

The one thing I can say about re-branding yourself and becoming a “startup” is that you find all kinds of things as you troll through your social media and online accounts. Let’s say you are going through your YouTube page so you can re-brand the channel. You may find that there were some videos you had forgotten about, like this one from an Improv Shmimprov show many years ago. Heads up – maybe a little NSFW and if the kids are under 13 you might want to watch it first.

Let’s see what else we can find this weekend!

See you next time!

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January 23, 2015 · 9:11 am

Revisiting Wiggy Webs and Dog Rescue

Wiggy Logo NO Sub Heading

Rene and I are doing a lot of re-branding and building of our web presence since our commitment to take control of our careers this year. This happens to coincide with the end of any contracts that existed with my old production company, Wiggy VonSchtick Productions. The only thing that came out of that dissolution in any way intact was the YouTube channel Wiggy Webs where we auditioned some web content.

The most popular videos were a series called Make-up with the Wolf where award winning make-up and F/X artist Myke “The Wolf” Michaels demonstrated how to do Hollywood level make-up effects on a budget. I’m proud to say that the most popular video is of Rene getting transformed into a Buffy style vampire.

But as I was looking back at the video manager I found a video that I had almost forgotten about and thought was worth featuring today. It was for a group that was trying to rehome over 80 dogs because the rescue that had been their home was being shut down. A group of photographers, including Lori Fusaro, and dog clothing manufacturers got together to take good, happy adoption photos that helped get all of these animals new homes, most at a rescue in a different state.

Watching this again, I remember being at the rescue site and how all the dogs could tell that something was going on, even before all the photoshoot started. Some were nervous, but many were so happy to have as much human interaction as they got that day. With the number of unwanted animals in the United States, rescues and shelters serve as savior to many animals that would otherwise die. If you would like more information about how to help or adopt animals check HERE.

Even though Wiggy VonSchtick is shut down, Wiggy Webs is going to stay up as long as people keep watching it. And if we make the odd nickel every few months from Google AdSense that’s ok too.

Now back to the new stuff!

See you next time.

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January 21, 2015 · 8:41 am

Bloody Mary – Fun Size Horror Revisited

IMG_4251

They are finally able to be released publicly! The shorts we made for Fun Size Horror are now available for public view.

“Bloody Mary” was a fun bit of filmmaking made under surprise conditions. Originally we had a different crew, location and equipment – but then there was some bad luck behind the scenes. Thanks to some help from Fun Size founder Zeke Pinheiro we were able to shoot and get this in on time.

Give it a look and then watch it a bunch more and tell a friend. More next week!

See you next time!

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January 7, 2015 · 9:00 am

8 Pit Bull Lies You Might Believe…and just a little bit of commentary.

As you are probably aware, Rene and I are big fans of pit bulls. Rene’s family have had pits for decades and our beloved Frankie is a pit mix (although probably mostly red nose). The dogs have a bad rap, as you are probably aware. The fact of the matter is that they are great dogs who are villainized and have some of their best traits turned to the dark side. The folks at Buzz Feed have produced a great short video about some common misconceptions about pit bulls and I wanted to post it here! Also, because it isn’t directly addressed in the video, pit bull jaws do not lock. They are no different than any other dog jaw. The more you know.

See you next time.

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January 5, 2015 · 9:00 am

Fun Video Friday – Carl Poppa

Fun-Video-Friday

 

This past year has been a focus on creativity for Rene and I. With the successful roll out of Fun Size Horror and the various personal, friend and professional projects we’ve been working on we’ve been able to get back to doing the kinds of things that we not only enjoy but the kinds of things that energize us and that ends up spilling over into other aspects of our lives.

Today’s fun video is not new, it’s a couple months old and comes from the folks that do Bad Lip Reading on YouTube. It’s a song that was part of their Walking (and Talking) Dead series. I stumbled onto it again recently through a flurry of Facebook posts. The song is funny and if you’re a Walking Dead fan then it is even better, but what I find remarkable is that I really like the song, like, a lot. Sure most of the lyrics are silly, but it took a lot of talent and skill to get this together.  And it’s a hit! The song is available on iTunes and is shockingly catchy and easy to dance to.

The running thread between our year of creativity and this video is that it just took a little creativity to make something really cool and there are very few barriers to that as long as you’re willing to put in the work. So enjoy the video and then go out and work on that thing you’ve been meaning to do. It’s time.

See you next time.

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November 7, 2014 · 11:01 am