Justin on October 30th, 2009

When Something to Be Desired was in regular production, we created a pair of Halloween specials.  For a show that revolved mostly around people talking, these exercises in stunts, squibs and decomposing makeup were a nice change of pace.  If you’ve never seen them before, indulge yourself — zombies, vampires and sarcasm, oh my!

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Justin on October 29th, 2009

Sure, I’ve lamented the depressing-down of pop culture over the past 30 years.  And yes, we in the social media field often debate whether or not what we’re doing has “become mainstream.” But what (or where?) is the mainstream?  And when does a creation of the culture become popular enough to qualify as “pop culture” [...]

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Justin on October 28th, 2009

Yesterday, someone started a Twitter game called #uncertainmovies, in which people alter the titles of films to make them sound more vague or less definitive.  (Examples: “Some Like It Lukewarm” or “Split Decision at Nuremberg“.)  Since I’m both a film buff and a compulsive personality, this is the kind of meme that can simultaneously eat [...]

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Justin on October 27th, 2009

Remember the ’80s?  Those were my formative years, so their influence is hard to shake, but I can’t help but recall the ’80s as the last time in Western culture when fun was generally acceptable. I grew up reading comic books like Batman and Spider-Man, and watching cartoons like G. I. Joe and Transformers.  And [...]

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Justin on October 26th, 2009

A few days ago, a friend asked me if I’d ever heard of Person X.  I hadn’t.  Neither had he, until Person X contacted him regarding an upcoming social media workshop that Person X is organizing for Pittsburgh’s newspaper industry.  Considering my friend and I are two of the 30+ organizers of PodCamp Pittsburgh — [...]

Continue reading about Do We Need a System for Validating Social Media Experts?