I find more and more that I am supporting independent producers via Patreon. Whether it's YouTube content, or podcasting, I think I spend about $40 a month supporting the producers that I watch the most. I've found that I now have about 2 hours a day of solid, commercial free, quality programming that I am watching, and it's not coming from cable TV. I think YouTube is kind of shitting the bed right now, but only because they are realizing that the all-powerful marketing dollar isn't as never-ending as it once was. It's really interesting to see how some content producers started off 100% dependent on YouTube for monthly cash, but have slowly found other, diverse means of generating revenue. The Wood Whisperer said it best... "If your business depends on YouTube, then you don't have a business."
Yep... it didn't last long, and that sucked... it was really interesting. I wish public broadcasting would step in and do their job and produce stuff that WASN'T lowest common denominator... because that's where everything is heading. Netflix is doing a good job supporting some very interesting documentaries, but it seems that most content producers are in a death spiral. -- things are too expensive, so get cheaper content -- people aren't watching the shit, so we don't have much money -- get cheaper content -- oh no, that didn't work either... people still aren't watching -- aliens
It seems sooner or later everybody jumps the shark. 60 minutes is a pale shadow of what it used to be, Vice which once did great field work is now giving Young Turks a run for their money in the category of Most Detestable Regressive Smugness. And seriously WTF Discovery?!?! You’ve changed, man. We can’t be friends anymore.
We’ll call the show “Shooting Shit”. With a little success maybe we can get some spinoffs like “Jumping Off Shit” and “Blowing Shit Up”.
I blame RoTN.He's even more redneck then me, which I didn't think was possible. Maybe we could have a redneck idiot off. I'm afraid he'd win. I can do some colossally stupid shit, but I've never shot myself.
Can't say I blame him, but it's unfortunate how infrequently he updates on youtube these days and how much of his content is aimed at the Guild.
Yeah, can't really blame him at all. He gets shit revenue from YouTube, and 95% of his cash from the Guild. I really enjoy seeing his finished products, and don't need detailed plans to build the stuff he does, so don't see the value in the Guild. While I don't belong to the Guild, I do throw him a couple of bucks a month in Patreon and enjoy his podcast and Friday Offcuts Q&A sessions. I've even asked a couple of questions that he answered on the show, which was pretty helpful. He did do a ton of free stuff in the past to help build his following, and it's YouTube shitting the bed that really forced him to move away from being YouTube-centric.
Between the shitty offerings from these networks and the recent loss of channels thanks to DISH and broadcast companies fighting, we'e really looking at getting rid of it. We'e recently gotten access to unlimited Internet ( so far ) and end up watching Netflix or just listening to music.
So I spent Thanksgiving in the northernmost town in the world No turkey, cause that shit is expensive here.
Okay, folks, as promised here: https://www.theidiotboard.com/threads/halloween-2017.254603/page-2#post-598556 , Jungle Julia and I watched House (1977) on acid the night before Thanksgiving. First of all, for the people who recommended it: Y'all really could have warned me about all the naked, underage Japanese girls in the movie. I hope I'm not on ANOTHER government watch-list now. Anyway, we started watching it right as the hits were kicking in, and we found it to be funny/bizarre, not scary. It was like a fever dream, and representative of every stereotype of Japanese culture you could think of. We laughed our asses off, and rewound a bunch of scenes for maximum comedic benefit. (Next, we've got to show this to Li'l Bandit; he ought to get a kick out of it.) After House ('77), we decided to watch more cheesy horror movies, following up with House (1985), Troll II (One of the most inadvertently hilarious "horror" movies of all time), From Beyond, and The Witches (not a real horror movie, but it was a favorite of Julia's when she was a girl). We didn't do anything for Thanksgiving besides that, and it was great.
Oh golly gosh! Someone posted a falsehood on the internet?! I thought they weren't allowed to do that.
Man... I miss access to a good welder. I spent the day welding and grinding my desk frame that is 2" square, 1/4" thick tubing, with a very, very shitty 115v mig welder with no shielding gas. Pure flux-core wire. Needless to day there was a shit load of spatter and ugly looking welds. I really wish I had my old tig welder... it would melt 1/2" steel like it was butter, and not a fucking splatter bb to be seen. Basically the exact opposite of what I'm dealing with now. Yay. Despite all the time I'm putting in, it's not going to look as good as I'd like, but it'll work, and shouldn't be seen, so I'm somewhat OK with that. The frame turned out to be about 120 lbs, I'd say, and is taking forever to prep for paint... lots and lots of grinding and sanding with a flap-disc... but it's getting there. Should be ready for paint tomorrow, which means I can then start attaching the wood slab to the top of it... one step closer to being done. Yeah. Meanwhile I feel beat to shit. I'm probably soft because I drive a keyboard for a living, but after 4 hours of manhandling that frame and grinding, I was done... even now I'm stiff and sore. Just catching up on some YouTube videos and having a bottle or 2 of wine, not far off from bed. Hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving down there...
I'm a geologist now, and am living up in a town called Longyearbyen, Svalbard the northernmost town in the world. That makes me the northernmost idiot I guess. I hang out with rocks these days for the most part.