This might be a long read, it feels like it could be long, I've been drinking all night!...drinking!..ummm...energy drinks....yeah.... You should have an energy drink.
You see that last sentence, the one before the video. This was written as an excuse. An excuse to post that video. You see, I watched it earlier, had a chuckle and now wish to pass it on. I vomit out a sentence, I have a blog post. It's a media mashup, words, links, video, a natural web 2.0 winner. It's the formula to video blogging.
I wasn't really drinking energy drinks, I've been slugging back beers, sharing that will excuse my grammar. My horrible grammer, it throws many off, and is often the subject of ridicule on this blog. Those ..."pauses"... thats just me typing out how I'm thinking....slowly. You see, I was raised French Canadian, as a result I can't write French or English correctly. You may have guessed I'm not a writer, and I'm definitely not a "reporter." Nor do I strive to be either, I do want to be a humble everyday blogger, that has been difficult to achieve here on NB.
I became interesting in online freelancing back in 2005. I started the "Throw away your TV" project, first as a social network and later as a blog. My philosophy has centered around catering to the users that had started replacing TV time with Internet time. You want video. I started TayTV as a duty, I dug deep into the internet and pulled out video gems much to the delight of those who subscribed. At the same time I began to appreciate how the internet gives us the opportunity to find news and information. Information that you'd never had the opportunity to access before. Researching clips was encouraged.
This place, the Internet, is unlike anything ever encountered before. This "Internet," by all means, has been fascinating to watch grow and to pioneer, it's just going to get more interesting now, and luckily I get to spend my full time participating.
I would be lying if I said I didn't long for the old TayTV days. Many TayTVers knew I would never recover from my early troubles with NB co-bloggers. Even so, the new "Jeff Hoard blog," marched on for months, past Powerlines retirement. Under a constant microscope of tiring criticism. I felt my blog eroded over time and surely had lost any chance at earning credibility, I became frustrated and desperate to fix the problem. I sped up the decline by stooping to the low level of answering to the lowest common denominator, and for what? The result, the "Jeff Hoard blog" imploded.
All I can do now is learn from my mistakes. I appreciated the experience, and it was very nice that I got to hear from all the TayTVers who responded positively to my blog, after receiving a long string of hatemail. Let it be known that your emails have cured a lot of my stress and frustration. I am also happy to report, Kiva notified me! They say my blog produced some new microloans for them. Huzzah, everyones a winner.
After receiving all the positive feedback, I admit, I am flip flopping again, I am having second thoughts about leaving. More thinking needs to be done, for now, you can still find me sharing clips at Propeller.com, it's another AOL News project. The site might be slow today, but we are excited about some huge upcoming updates to be unveiled soon. If the blogging bug continues to bite me, I will be at posting on my new Internet Research blog. Feel free to visit and Subscribe.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 2)
16. @15. Bill G. I'll write off the "Broken Lizard" thing as just bad timing...lol. Yes, the best brews are home-brewed. My buddy started out with a one gallon kit he got as a Christmas present. His basement now looks like a micro-brewery; vats, gauges, crates of empty bottles, etc. Makes a wheat brew with honey instead of sugar, which is fantastic! Best commercial beers are: San Miguel (Philippines) Dos Equis Dark (Mexico) Beck's (Germany) Kirin (Japan), and if you only want to drink one to get a buzz....Molson XXX (Canada) 7.3% alcohol. Best domestic: Yuengling (sp?) lite.
lizard at 2:11PM on Mar 1st 2008
17. Hey lizard(not broken,lol), Back in the day-some 28-29 years ago,I was attending tech school in Pittsburgh,Pa.returning home to the Niagara Falls, NY area on weekends to see my family and friends.
These were the days of the second "energy crisis" and gas was running $1.40 a gallon around the Buffalo area.At the same tome gas was running .85 cents a gallon across the river in Canada.
Mind you, this was .85 cents in Canadian dollars(.75 cents US),and we're talking an Imperial gallon which was 5 quarts (Canada has since gone metric).
Needless to say that gas cost about a third of what it did on the US side, and my '72 Impala held 22 gallons. A trip to Fort Erie was about 10 miles out of the way, or about a half gallon of gas.
Add all this up,and you come to the conclusion that Canada sounded pretty damn good to a guy making $2.15 an hour during the week to help pay for everything.(another figure I'll never forget- $42.52 / month / 5 years for loans)
Well hell, since I'm allready in Canada and well, I'm only 19 and Pennsylvanias drinking age was 21 (New York and Ontario were only 18 back then) it was a no-brainer to roll into the nearest Brewers Retail(todays The Beer Store) and stock up on a couple of cases,EH?
I'd usually pick up a case of Molson Brador and a case of Labatts Extra Stock ales, and for the holidays, a couple of Cohibas Cuban cigars(2 bucks each) Smoked them there,of course(lol)and headed back to Pittsburgh.
Do all the math and you get,after tolls and $1.35 duty per case (often waived by customs, THANKS!) and you get 2 FREE cases of Canadian hi-test ales(6.2 andd 6.5) for less than 30 minutes of time invested. SWEET!
Back in Pitt I got to introduce my friends to REAL BREW,not the watered down stuff imported here or worse,the local stuff.
Why the hell anyone would drink a brew that has FORMALDEHIDE as an ingredient is beyond me.(OK,I'll admit guilt here also. Lets see- Schmidts,Gennie Cream.Stoneys,Iron City,Meister Brau,Utica Club,Busch, and once, and never again- BEER (white can,black lettering)Yep,GENERIC.
Hey, It's what THEY brought to various parties, and it's rude to decline their "gift" to the festivities,eh. But after a steady diet of the stuff I was providing,they began upping the quality of their chosen brews.
One of those friends has since gotten heavy into homebrewing,winning many awards at homebrewer meets in the local Pittsburgh area.
He's done Belgian Wheat ales,British porters, stouts, and pale ales,numerous German styles including a a dopplebock that comes in at 10.5%- very smooth,tasty and POTENT!
I havent had San Miguel or the Molson XXX yet, but the others you listed are all very worthy. My favorites these days include Grolsch,Warsteiner,Harp,Kronenbourg(FR),Sam Adams,Sol and Carta Blanca(MX),and various microbrews too lengthy to list. And when I'm in the Steel City,that homebrew dopplebock, when available.
BILL G at 3:44PM on Mar 2nd 2008
18. #17. Bill G HAA HAA!! Yeah I know that "Fort Erie"
routine well. In fact I was by there this weekend at Niagara Falls Seneca-Niagara Casino. I live in northwestern PA, near Erie. You took me back to memory lane by mentioning all of those local brews. My dad was in to the Genesee cream ale, and Schmidt's. Erie,PA has a micro-brewery that has several excellent brews: "Railbender" and a wheat brew (can't remember name). There is also "Straub's" (St. Mary, PA) which is pretty popular around here. I got turned on to the Molson XXX during our many ice fishing trips to Lake Simcoe, in Orillia, Canada. Didn't go this year...buddies were too lazy to get passports. The Cubans are quite a treat, eh? Cohiba Siglo III
are just right for me. Gordon's cigars in Niagara Falls is my source. He's a certified Cohiba dealer.
'Course, like you, we only smoke them in CA...lol.
True Story: We were returning over the border from a fishing trip, back when we were kids. A buddy had bought some Cubans, and when we got up to the customs inspection, he pulls them out of his jacket and puts them in my console cup holder. I was like "WTF are you doing?" He said if you don't try to hide them, you can just act stupid. Sure enough, the inspector sees them and asks "what are those?" Buddy says "just a few Cuban cigars I'm going to give my dad." I'm
sh!tting twinkies at this point, and the inspector says "you know you're not supposed to be bringing those in?" Idiot buddy says, "yeah I know." The inspector just sighed and said "well don't bring them through again...have a nice day." Oh, those crazy youth days!
Sorry to go off-topic on this blog. Beer, cars, and good cigars are weaknesses of mine.
SSSSSSTTKK [ *click* ] gulp...gulp...gulp...Ahhhh
Now what political subject was I bitchin' about again?
lizard at 1:11AM on Mar 3rd 2008
19. http://evolutionfacts.blogspot.com
FORMER ATHEIST at 7:49AM on Mar 10th 2008
20. time to move on. that's a good thing. besides dinesh already has a replacement for you: an atheist he can butcher with his OCD (Obssessive God Disorder).ciao, losta luck 2 u 2.
boredwell at 5:10PM on Mar 21st 2008
21. Jeff,
Wow ! It's been over two months now since you put this blog into "suspended animation".
I check back once or twice a week to see if you've left us any snippets of wisdom, sort of a protracted Easter-egg hunt.
I hope Malhalo is doing you good. Probably less stressful than sorting through the rantings that dominate the wonderful world of AOL-USA.
I often check out AOL-CA for the Hockey coverage since it gets only slightly more coverage than curling down here.
The first thing I noticed was that there were far fewer comments- Often fewer than ten per subject. Second- Even the few loonies that post are more courteous than here.
Well, if you ever decide to reactivate this site,maybe kill off the comments section and pull all these older blogs off the web as to prevent anyone from posting a damn thing.
Yes, it would suck but I could live with it. I believe others would have real problems not being able to enlighten us with their "wisdom" and "charm".
Have a nice day,eh !
BILL G at 9:22AM on May 2nd 2008