Give me money, please.

Ok, I've said it, but let me explain.

I'm not really asking the select few people I know who may read this blog over the next couple of days to give me any handouts. Nope. I want total strangers to give them to me.

Ok, you say, How? Why? Because, do you know what gets me? I know that if I package it right, promote it, say it shamlessly, and get the message out there, then there are people whom I have never met who will give me money.

Maybe not millions or even thousands... but who really knows until you (by that I mean, I) try?

Take the case of the guy who made a site dedicated to purchasing an iPod and smashing it, and posting video of the aforementioned smashing on the internet. There were people, I think most being total strangers, who gave this guy money to do this.

How about the cases of other people (like this guy, or this woman, or even this guy) who's apparent honesty and humor are commendable and enjoyable.

So this is my goal. Create a blog expressly for the purpose of requesting money from total strangers. I'll offer something, although I'm really not sure what... yet.

I paint a little... maybe I'll offer an original piece of art.

I write a little... maybe an original poem, or short story. Hmmm... word count could be based on the size of the donation... may be on to something.

Either of the above ideas would of course be prefaced with the caveat that I am not exactly talented at either of the activities, but in exchange for their donation, I'd give it some serious effort.

People like to receive attention, so maybe I'll just give them a thanks, and post their picture, uh, as soon as I can manage to post them... yeah, still haven't fixed that yet. Don't ask.

Well, you get the point. Once I've started, my goal will be to see how much is raised in one year.

I hope to begin in the next week or so. Of course, I'll post the results. Wish me luck.

Shave the Yeti!

Yep, try it, you'll be glad you did.

A Little Perspective

Yep, I've been enjoying posting stuff occassionally with the thought that somewhere, sometime, some people are going to read it.

I was bored I decided to check out what other people who are also named Rob, who live in Burlington are posting.

I'm no longer bored, but my head is spinning. I'm going to go lie down.

A Zeitgeist for our time

Check out the Google Zeitgeist for a quick read on what most people are querying, and to find out what a "puggle" is.

Dear me, I hope you survived that pandemic...

Send yourself an email in the future ; just remember not to change your email address... uh, better get a gmail account if you don't have one already.

Funny... this comes to me from an American:

George Bush has started an ill-timed and disastrous
war under false pretenses by lying to the American
people and to the Congress; he has run a budget
surplus into a severe deficit; he has consistently
and unconscionably favored the wealthy and corporations over the rights and needs of the populations; he has destroyed trust and confidence in, and good will toward, the United States around the globe.

He has ignored global warming, to the world's
detriment; he has wantonly broken our treaty
obligations; he has condoned torture of prisoners;
he has attempted to create a theocracy in the United
States; he has appointed cronies to positions of
vital national importance.

Would someone please give this man a blow job so we can impeach him?

Stay away from my iPod buddy...

I read about this guy's site over the weekend: smashmyipod.com. Sort of a Dadaist/Nihilist/Luddite approach to consumerism as represented by the iPod, or it could simply be as he says, that he was bored.

Personally, I love my iPod, and have decided that I never want to be without one. I've added the audio version of Annie Proulx's "The Shipping News" over the weekend... I have to find more audio books. If my iPod had some serious defects right from the get go, then I would have a problem, but with Apple, not the device. Fortunately, mine is working fine so far (knock on formica).

Having said that, I think there's a place for this kind of expression. The artist in me loves this kind of stuff. I'll be checking in to see what he destroys next; I just won't be sending him any money (or flaming him for that matter).

A Conversation that may have occurred sometime in 1981 or 1982...

Two men run accross each other in a pub somewhere in London, or maybe New York...

"Hey Phil, long time... how are you doing?"

"Good enough Andy, yourself?"

"Hanging in there, just trying to wrap up this latest album... you know how it is."

"Yeah, how are you guys getting on?"

"Oh, Stuarts good to work with, but the other egotistical prick is getting on my nerves. Some days I'm not sure how much longer we'll all be able to work together. I think this album might be it."

"Seriously?"

"No shit. How about you guys?"

"Not bad. Hey, I have a challenge for you."

"Shoot"

"Write a bizarre song about your mother and put it on the album."

"Easy enough, what's the challenge?"

"I'll do it too, and the one who's song is weirdest wins... uh, I don't know... a pack of fags and a pint. You have to make it really creepy though."

"Your on." They clink pint glasses

"Waitress, another round please."

"Fucking ego... who in their right mind calls themself Sting?"

Digitizing...

Today, The Police's Synchronicity along with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco.

Canadian Survivor

CBC Television is developing a Canadian version of "Survivor" the popular TV show.

The rules are simple:

Each contestant must travel to Saskatchewan and go from Estevan to La Ronge through Weyburn, Stoughton, Carlyle, Moosimin, Grenfell, Indian Head, Regina, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Maple Creek, Leader, Kindersley, North Battleford, Saskatoon, Hunboldt, Yorkton, Porcupine Plain, Melfort, Nipawin, Prince Albert, Shellbrook, and back to Estevan again, driving a Volvo with a bumper sticker that reads; "I voted for Chretien, I'm from Ontario, I'm Gay, and I'm here to take your Guns".

The first to complete the round-trip alive is the winner

Oh well.

Still can't seem to upload any pictures, but I'm going to post anyway. Thought I'd clear out some drafts that I had forgotten about, so some posts have appeared below that weren't there before.