- Show:
- Comments
- Liked Comments
On Wanna Be Kickstartin' Something
I admit to being biased, having run a Kickstarter myself. But I do agree that you should never use words like "invest" when talking about one. That's the exact opposite of what a Kickstarter contribution is. I think the best way to pitch it is "This is a creative endevour that probably won't happen without this money -- are you willing to pay market rates, or maybe somewhat more, for access to the final product?" As long as that core proposition is true, I don't see any moral quandry to their existence, even for something like a movie with actual bankable movie stars who are rich. I also think it's gross to lean really heavily on your social network. You need to go into it understanding that some people will support you and some won't and sometimes that has to do with their financial situation and sometimes it will have to do with what you're actually selling, which they may not be interested in even if they like you fine. And yes, you are selling something. Nobody has to buy it, not even your mom. (My mom bought my book though.) I do think you owe some financial transparency to your backers, though. I plan to do a detailed writeup, with charts and graphs and stuff, once I actually finish my book and ship it to backers. I would actually be fascinated to hear Zach Braff or the Veronica Mars people discuss how their money will be spent, if only because it would shed some light on the byzantine world of film finding. I honestly have no doubt that these movies couldn't get made without the contributions, though I'm also sure that this money is not the only money that will go into the movie, and some people are going to be profiting from the final production.
1
On A Call for Higher Wages for Adjuncts
Wow, I was a TA for a 3-credit class at the UC Berkeley Extension and got paid $5500. This was in 1997. $2700 a class is nuts.
0
On WWYD: A Job on the Side
One of my wife's (former) co-workers at a health education nonprofit worked in a satellite office where she was the only one in her department in that office; her boss was in the central office. This was a job that required being in the office some of the time and going into schools some of the time to do presentations. Anyway, one year they were setting up their schedule for the school year and her co-worker said she couldn't do anything between 12 and 2 because she had taken a lunch shift as a serving wench at Medieval Times! This was obviously problematic, but it didn't get her fired (just a stern warning not to schedule anything from her second job between 9 and 5).
1
On The Chelsea of New Orleans? (French Quarter) The Queens of LA? (Venice)
@jfruh (Baltimore is the Brooklyn to DC's Manhattan, except much further away)
0
On The Chelsea of New Orleans? (French Quarter) The Queens of LA? (Venice)
@stuffisthings BOOOOO
0
On The Chelsea of New Orleans? (French Quarter) The Queens of LA? (Venice)
@bgprincipessa ANGRILY AGREE
0
On Initially Nice But Later Incompetent And/Or Crooked Landlords
Oh, man, I had Initially Amicable But Then Eventually Revealed To Be Insane Old Hippie Landlord when I lived in Oakland, CA! Among his other crimes he "fixed" a leak in a skylight by painting over it, put up an crazy all-caps typed note around the property warning us of a "rogue tenant impersonating a landlord whom you should not talk to", and responded to questions about getting a dog with outrage that we would even THINK about abusing a dog by cooping it up in such a small apartment, despite the fact that our apartment was quite spacious and other tenants in smaller apartments in the same property had dogs. The best part though was that after I moved out I joined the same YMCA he belonged to and started seeing him naked on a regular basis. Thank goodness he didn't remember me.
3
On Have You Been Delayed At the Airport Thanks to the Sequester?
@deepomega a friend of mine flying from Chicago to DC yesterday had his fight delayed an hour and the reason given on the United web site was "air traffic control", which I'm going to assume is sequester-related? (The FAA has started furloughing air traffic controllers this week, so they're understaffed.)
0
On The New $100 Bill Won't Be Circulated in My Wallet
This video forever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JwEBIC0a4RY
2
On Wanna Be Kickstartin' Something
@Mike Dang Aw, thanks Mike! Also I will send you a book. (Which I hope will make you happy!)