roblimo | Humor, Tech | Wednesday, July 26th, 2006
I got a piece of PR spam today that claimed to be the world’s first video press release. You might want to look at it (click the link) before clicking on the big ‘ol picture below and watching my response to it — which is almost certainly the world’s first video response to a press release. (Click “Read the Rest” to see the full text of the PR email that started this silliness.
Note: This was not the world’s first video PR pitch. Here’s one from February, 2006.
As a homeowner trying to update an old house in Bradenton’s Village of the Arts, I know all too well (from personal experience) that the Bradenton Department of Planning and Community Development is a mess. But now it looks like the department’s grant-making agency is even worse off than the parts of it that harass people like me. And it seems that if the people who work there complain, they get fired. Or maybe their jobs are just being outsourced to save money. Or something.
A narrated look at the place where I live, complete with background music. Nothing special or touristy; I wanted you to see the ordinary, everyday aspect of this small (but growing w-a-y too fast) Florida city on the banks of the Manatee River that is consistently overshadowed by neighboring Sarasota. For another look at Bradenton from a different point ofview, check my Rawk Shop video from a few weeks ago…
PARIS, 1789 — Imagine a country where anyone who opposes the ruling regime is called a traitor. Imagine a country with huge debts, dominated economically and politically by barely-taxed wealthy people — about 2% of the population — who get their money through inheritance or investments instead of work. Now imagine members of the country’s clergy allying themselves with the wealthy aristocrats, with the most powerful preachers living as high on the hog as the nobility. And while the people on top live well and make laws that ensure they and their descendants will continue to live well without working, 80% of the population is only a paycheck or two away from homelessness. This is a recipe for revolution. In France, that revolution started on July 14, 1789. We probably won’t have anything similar in the United States in the next 10 or 20 years, but if we hold to our present political course I’m afraid we may end up having a similar upheaval 30, 40 or 50 years from now.
