Author Archives: Kier

About Kier

I've been on the web since about 1994. I have a background in a lot of things, including a five year stint as a journalist and over a decade of helping people get their message out to the world. I write on a number of subjects--everything from relationships to personal development to politics and every day life. I hope you get something worthwhile out of it.

Throwback! Comic Bento December 2015

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Yes, the first vlog of the new year was shot at the end of the last year.

I needed some time to do other stuff. Like figure out at least a little what I’m doing differently this time around. (I’ll talk a lot more about that in the next vlog.)

But the December Comic Bento is definitely worth talking a little about. It was, without a doubt, the best deal so far from my time with the service.

Here’s what was in the box:

That last one has a $50 cover price. (And it’s gorgeous.)

So, after a few months of being part of the service (even though I have yet to actually read everything that comes in one box before the next one shows up), I can’t recommend Comic Bento enough if you’ve got a love of comics. Or even just some curiosity.

Watch the full unboxing and commentary on today’s vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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100 (and Beyond)

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We made it. 100 days, 100 videos.

Maybe more. I messed up numbering somewhere along the way. This may be 101. And I already have one more (a Comic Bento unboxing) that will be going up.

The vague plan for the new year is to do at least 52 videos. Far from the daily grind I did with this last 100 days. One or so a week should actually give me a chance to do things–things other than crank out videos and things like learning more about the software I’m using to crank out videos.

There will be a more coherent plan for the first 100 days of the new year. Then there’ll be one for the middle 100 days. And one for the final 100 days of 2016. That should space out some breaks nicely in the mix.

So how did things go with this challenge I posed myself?

Well, since the main goal was 100 videos in 100 days and I didn’t miss a single day, I’d say that was a success.

Other metrics… well… that didn’t stack up so well. It looks like I got a few (8) new subscribers, but some of them were likely spam, as were a few of the handful of comments that I got (including one that was so utterly off-topic and incoherent that I had to go and check out the videos on the page of the person who posted it… yep, complete nut job like whoa).

The most popular of the new videos is the review of Valley of the Sasquatch, with 103 views. That’s kind of surprising. The second most popular, with 83 views, is the one about the Rankin-Bass animated specials I grew up with (that’s also one of the two videos that seems to have garnered a “thumbs down”… yet no comments). The video with the most minutes watched (182) was the one about types of ghosts.

Overall, in the past 100 days, 3,992 minutes of my videos have been watched in 1,239 individual viewings. There were 84 likes and 47 comments with 15 shares.

Not horrible, especially for something that wasn’t really focused or promoted in any way, shape, or form… but far from groundbreaking.

So, here’s the last official vlog of these last 100 days of 2015. Hope you’ve enjoyed this experiment.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

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It’s been a week since I’ve seen the biggest film in the world. So, I figured it was finally time to review it.

Have no fear, it’s spoiler free.

In the past week, I’ve seen a bunch of reactions and criticisms of the film. Some of the worst seem to be from people who were somehow expecting it to have the same impact on them that seeing the original Star Wars for the first time had. Inevitably, that didn’t happen and they’re apparently upset and taking it out on this movie.

Bad news, people: You can’t recapture that feeling. Mainly because you’re not a kid any more. Partly because, well, there is nothing like that first time. That’s kind of what makes it so special.

Remember this: For a ton of people–especially a ton of kids, many of whom are the children of people who’s lives were changed by the original–this is their first time. And The Force Awakens is an infinitely better “first time” film than The Phantom Menace (or any of the other prequels) was.

Is it perfect? Nope. But neither was the original.

Is it full of surprises? Nope, not for people who’ve been soaking in movies and scifi for their entire lives. But neither was the original. In fact, the most surprising thing about the original was that it was a success at all. (And the big surprises in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? Those were surprises to George Lucas, too… at least the George Lucas who created the first film.)

This movie has broken all sorts of records and it deserves all the accolades it gets. Most of the criticism I’ve heard so far, though, seems based on ridiculous expectations and the nostalgia-inflated “betterness” of the original trilogy.

So… that’s all the negative stuff right there. Go watch today’s vlog to listen to me talk about why this movie is different from the original and good in its own right.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

Holiday Haul

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The requisite post-Christmas Holiday Haul gift rundown.

That’s kind of self-explanatory.

Some of the stuff is just fun or neat. Some of it will be very useful for a long time. Ultimately, it’s just stuff and it’s not more important than the people who gave it.

So that’s Christmas, all over and done with. The end of the year is fast approaching, as is the end of this daily vlog project.

Going back over things, it looks like I mis-numbered somewhere along the way. Maybe after all is said and done, I’ll go back and clean that up.

Anyway, take a gander at today’s vlog and behold the thankfully small amount of stuff I was given.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

Home Again, Home Again

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Last one of these super quick vlogs, since I was on the road for about six hours today.

Most of the last few days have been spent setting up computers for the family. Everything was working when I left…

I even managed to remember to bring almost everything home with me. (There’ll be a “Holiday Haul” vlog tomorrow, I guess…. and then that long-awaited Star Wars: The Force Awakens review.)

Just a few of these left, then we look back on the last 100 days and look ahead a little to what the future may hold.

Anyway, check out today’s super quick vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]