As you may know, I was struck twice by cars this summer in Chicago. Then, several weeks later, in New York’s Williamsburg neighborhood, 2 chunks of rock (or plaster) fell from a worn-out building to the sidewalk, two paces ahead of me. It was quite a shock. It took a moment for me to realize what happened and what was avoided. Since that late August day, I have not been hit by anything else. I have healed from the car accident injuries (no thanks to ATT) and am grateful to be healthy.
This post is part of a collection “Interesting Things I Have Done.”
When I moved to Los Angeles I often would hang with my high school chum Grant, who lived in West Hollywood and was familiar with the attractions on Sunset. One night I went with him to several spots around about House of Blues. I’m attracted to red-lighted interiors, so I insisted on staying at this unnamed place despite it being un-lively. While sipping our second beer Grant informed me that sitting behind us was rapper and hit record producer Dr. Dre. I looked. I didn’t believe it was him because he looked smaller—and approachable. He was with a lovely date, so I didn’t interrupt him. Also, there were a few bodyguards: one behind him, and one against each wall.
An hour later, Dre started to leave, and I realized I would have to seize the chance as he walked past Grant and I. The bodyguards preceded him out the door, so I had a direct line of communication to the strutting mogul. “Mr. Dre! Mr. Dre! One quick question!” He poked his head back inside. “I just have a question about making records.” A bodyguard suggested to him that he resume exiting, but he said “it’s okay.” Suddenly, he was standing right next to me. “Okay. Shoot.”
(A note on how I addressed him: I did not mean to disrespect him by addressing him as “Mister” – and ignoring his doctorate. No, on the contrary, I was trying to be respectful. In my mind, his last name was ‘Dre’ and my rule at that time for acknowledging seniority was to precede a surname with ‘Mister.’ It’s a good example of a faulty rule.)
I haven’t posted until today because I have been occupied on a few fronts:
1) I travelled in Europe. (Poland, Germany, Spain, UK, Belgium).
2) I was twice hit by a vehicle while riding my bike. This has left me sore and dizzy, but I am recuperating.
3) I was coding feverishly to launch LetSister.com, a web service for performers to schedule gigs and track bits / songs.
Here’s my destroyed bicycle. I had bought it as a guest bike last year, but began riding it when my friend left town. It is nimble and swift.. and easily defeated. Had I been riding it for the most recent Monday collision, I’d have flown above the handlebars.
On more pleasing news, here’s a picture of Brugge, Belgium. I like the town tres much.
Here’s a screen shot of LetSister.com. My friend Jim and I have been using it.
I have moved web hosts and did not take one of my domains with me: phamper.com. Phamper was the name of my imaginary friend as a kid. He could supposedly do anything, so I thought it a good moniker for a Web 2.0 site that might do any number of things. I believe that anything is possible. But, there needs to be a focus and a theme, which I have found with Open Hydrant. Having had another birthday and realizing my main interests and gifts, I am glad to resign Phamper to the netherworld from which he came.
I’m all growns-up!
Since Hulu, and Neflix have become popular, people have discussed ‘on-demand’ consumption, wherein the consumer can choose when to consume a movie or TV show, just as she chooses when to listen to a song.
Can there be a similar ‘on-demand’ production paradigm?
I’m thinking of this because I’ve starting publishing a weekly magazine. Magazine’s are usually weekly, and I wanted the challenge of meeting a deadline. But it causes much stress, and there is not a demand to warrant it. I do have to create demand. But do I still have to create an issue each week at the same time?
Welp, of course I do not HAVE to do anything. And of course, often times a brand new thing does not have fans, or demand. But as I try to interest people in the content, I am wary of promising a weekly output.
Output should be constantly POSSIBLE, but collected into something PERIODICALLY. I think that is the new model. So I will switch over to a Blog, and then inform ‘followers’ when a new ‘magazine’ is available.