And that's really what it is, isn't it?
We're all sitting here, staring at our iPhones in disbelief. Finding comfort in one of the tens of thousands of songs on our iPod. Searching the internet to share in the mourning en masse on our MacBooks.
After we're done here, we'll edit some videos using Final Cut Pro. While we listen to a playlist we made on iTunes. When we get hungry later, we'll use an app on our iPhone to figure out a good place nearby to eat. When we get home, we'll iChat with our parents across the country and tell them what we've been up to. Hell, even one of our most popular videos took place in an Apple Store.
For so many of us who never even met the man, we can't imagine what our lives would have been like without him.
The real brilliance of Steve Jobs's vision is that he believed we all deserved to live the lives of our dreams, and he gave us as many tangible tools as possible to try and do just that. How many of us began vlogging because we were experimenting with our iSights? How many of us became interested in telling stories because of iMovie? How many of us now see the world refracted through Steve Jobs's lens?
We're not the first to post this video, but its message bears repeating, even on days when it isn't almost painfully poignant:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Thanks for believing in all of us, Steve. You have to have known that you made a difference.
(Image via Jonathan Mak)
(Stuff You're Looking For On This Blog)
You guys search for a lot of info about
Daily Grace and
Mememolly. And that's cool.
But I'm not Grace or Molly. Sorry. My name is
Maria.
(Sorry. Not blonde.)
I am My Damn Channel's "Social Media Voice," which means I write My Damn Channel's
Twitter,
Tumblr,
Facebook and
House Blog, among
other things. Yes, it's my fault that the
photoshop is bad and
the jokes aren't funny and
no one comments. So, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm pretty good at my job.
What other kinds of things would you like to see here? What other things would you like to know?
Tell me. Let's TweetTumblFaceBlogSquare together. Leave some comments. Talk to me on Tumblr and Twitter and Facebook and stuff. I posted a picture of myself with a
light switch, for God's sake. If that doesn't scream "you can
talk to me" I don't know what does.
Posted in
Daily Grace,
Maria,
Slacktory,
Vlogging with tags
How To Be A Vlogger,
How To Vlog,
Being a Vlogger,
How To Be Successful on YouTube,
vlogging,
My First Vlog,
How To Make Your First Vlog,
Daily Grace YouTube,
Daily Grace vlogger,
grace helbig on youtube on 9/9/2011 7:00:00 AM by
Maria
So you want to know how to be a vlogger.
Daily Grace is pretty good at vlogging so you think we might know a thing or two about it, right?
Fine. We're going to tell you all of our secrets. But only one at a time.
Lesson One: Let everyone know this is your very first vlog and you're not sure what to say.
Like so:
As you can see in this
"My First Vlog Supercut" (courtesy our sister blog,
Slacktory), telling everyone it's your first time (what?) will make you seem humble and adorable. No one likes the rookie who hits a grand slam in his first at-bat! Well, everyone
pretends they like him, but inside everyone is actually seething with jealousy. So, self-deprecation is totally the way to go! Also, you now have a built-in excuse for doing a terrible job. Also, I made a baseball analogy! Whoa.
Make sure you come back next Friday for Lesson Two...
(Intern Josh, wondering forlornly how he ended up here)
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's Josh's last day as an intern for My Damn Channel! I asked him to write up a post telling you what it was like for him this summer!
Coming into My Damn Channel as an intern I thought all I was gonna learn was how to file papers and fill out reports. Boy was I wrong! Friday will be my last day and I still haven't correctly filled out a single report. My boss is always saying that it drives him crazy how long it's taking me to get the hang of the office duties, but I can tell he's just joking. How I treasure that agonized look he gets trying so hard to hold back laughter.
What I learned though was way more valuable than any college education. I would say it was worth about $230,000, a couple hundred more than four years' tuition at Wesleyan. What I learned was the value of making the effort to gain the respect of your peers.
Before I ever set foot into that office, I had my work cut out for me. My future co-workers had already started gossiping that I only got the internship because of my family connections. After failing for three years to strike any gold, my great-great-grandfather started My Damn Channel during the California Gold Rush as a burlesque show designed to entertain entrepreneurs who had given up on trying to find gold and started companies catered to the needs of the gold miners. Grandpa Schmulie Meisel. I can't believe that was such a popular name back then — Grandpa.
My first day at work the guy sharing my cubicle got mad at me for unplugging his computer. "What do you need a blender for?!" he irrationally snarled. "How else are you gonna make computer smoothies silly? By hand?!" I chucked his computer into my oversized blender. He must've thought I was awfully spoiled, not making my computer smoothies by hand. I really had an uphill battle ahead of me if I wanted to gain anyone's respect.
A couple of days in I got the courage to pitch a show idea to the head of development. It was a parody of "Friends" called "Friends." He looked at me like I was an idiot. "You just handed me a bunch of "Friends" scripts. I think I know now why the printer's out of ink. Look, why don't you hold off for a bit before you make any more pitches." Apparently my scripts had gone right over his head. And "Friends" was a pretty accessible show. The guy I shared my cubicle was a rube, our head of development was dense as a neutron star, and my boss was an incorrigible prankster. My situation was less than ideal to say the least.
Halfway through the summer things had only gotten worse. I was miserable. My only friend was the janitor, and he was a Roomba! I'd cry myself to sleep every night, and when I wasn't feeling that sad I would get my butler to cry me to sleep. My job was a major disappointment. It wasn't at all like that show "The Office." We had TWO guys named Dwight, and the prettiest girl wasn't dating the most handsome guy (me), but instead this guy Jim who's so inexperienced with women that when I asked him to share some girlie stories he just laughed.
All I could do was trudge along until my five weeks were up, filing away papers wherever I could cram them (I may not get the job done pretty, but I'm damn fast). And just when I had given up on ever gaining a single ounce of respect from any My Damn Channel employee, a stroke of luck bolted me right in the face.
I'll always remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was only yesterday today. Jim's girlfriend (I think her name was Xamela) told him he needed to go somewhere to sign some forms. She couldn't give him a ride because she was busy. He asked if anyone else could take him, and I shot out of my chair like I was sitting on a lit match (which for the one of the first times I wasn't). Jim didn't see me at first; his eyes scanned the room for someone to drive him but everyone pretended to be hard at work because they were too lazy to take him. Finally he saw me and said "Fine let's go Josh." And fine it was. Everyone looked up at Jim and smiled at him. Their smiles seemed to say, "I'm really happy for you that you get to go on a fun/crazy/cool ride with Josh." But the smiles had a little menace behind them that signified jealousy.
When I got back my boss laughed with mirth, patted me on the back, and said, "Good job sonny." All I ever wanted was for my boss to think of me as a son, but life isn't easy. I had to put in my time to get what I wanted — let's just say I don't think I could've earned the luxury of being treated by my boss like his own flesh and blood if I hadn't given Jim that ride. And now, in these last couple of months before my summer ends and I have to go back to hitting the books trying to eventually earn my GED, I can look back at my time at My Damn Channel atop my pool float, computer smoothie in hand, and know that that one lesson I learned was well worth all my trifles. Plus it helped that I was making more than the rest of the office combined.
Thanks, Josh, er, Sonny! We will miss you! We know it will be tough going back to Stanford to get a world-class education, but it's better you than us!
We fully intend to continue stalking following you and your writing as @artsypriest and as a writer for The Stanford Chaparral.
PS: If any of you, dear readers, for some strange, maddening reason, would like to be an intern for My Damn Channel, please send an email to info@MyDamnChannel.com, and be sure to include links to your blog, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, or any other writing samples you might have! In the immortal words of the Jersey Shore kids in Italy, "Arrivederci, summer!"
Posted in
Subway with tags
subway,
fresh artists,
jeff and ravi,
do whatever,
usc,
press on 3/2/2011 8:09:10 AM by Dubs
Hey! We're hosting the winners of the Subway Fresh Artists contest in conjuntion with USC. Check out 3 episodes from each winning team. Odds are you'll see/hear these names again since not a year has passed since 1973 without a USC alumnus or alumna being nominated for an Academy Award. Pretty ballin', right?
Do Whatever – A scripted comedy series from Andy Landan, Giles Andrew, and Alice Mathias featuring an overworked junior lawyer who convinces his computer genius friend to quit his job and start a business with him doing jobs that nobody else wants to do.
Jeff and Ravi Fail History – A scripted buddy comedy sci-fi series from R.J. Daniel Hanna, F. Brian Scolfield and Ian Ward following a jovial slacker and his astrophysicist roommate as they stumble their way from the dawn of man to a post-apocalyptic future in a sputtering time machine.
As we already pointed out a couple days ago, this year’s Oscar nominations were announced this week, sending pop culture dorks the world over into a frenzy as everyone scrambled to figure out who was superior to who -- the douchebag computer programmer, the stammering king, James Franco’s gross-ass arm, etc. But c’mon. We all know the Oscars are a sham created by Free Masons to launder money from their cockfighting ring (thanks, Wikipedia!). Who cares who did the best job ugly-ing themselves up for a role, or which hairpiece was the least ridiculous? The really impressive filmmaking achievements are all right here, on My Damn Channel…
Best Tapestry of Lies and Deceit, Horrible People Murder, alcoholism, infidelity. General rudeness. It’s all par for the course for A.D. Miles’ soap opera. Who needs subtle and naturalistic performances when arched eyebrows, leering, and melodramatic pauses will get the job done just as well? Just watch your back. Somebody’s probably waiting to stab you back there.
Best Tilapia, Cookin’ with Coolio Coolio is a man of many talents. Rapping, acting, gravity-defying braids. But did you know he’s also an accomplished chef? Well, you do now. And while he may not headed on Top Chef any time soon, but hey, he’s the “Fantastic Voyage” guy! Teaching you how to cook! ‘Weird’ Al never did a parody of anything Emeril Lagasse ever did. Just sayin’.
Yes, that's right: we're coming to Miami and we need you to be in one of our web series!!!
We're looking for SUPER FANS of these TV shows:
Nurse Jackie:
Are you a Nurse? A hospital employee working the nightshift? Do you think you could teach Nurse Jackie a thing or two? Are you a Nurse Jackie Super Fan?
Jersey Shore:
Do you “GTL”? Do people mistake YOU for Ed Hardy? Are you a Jersey Shore Guido and proud of it? Do you Jersey Shore?
Kendra:
Do you know where Kendra met Hank? Do you have what it takes to keep up with a Pro Football Player? Are you more of a lady than she? Are you a fan of the Kendra Show?
19 Kids and Counting:
Are you the exhausted mother of three or more? Is your family car a school bus? Do people often ask, “Do they all belong to you?” Do you believe 19 Kids and Counting is the best show EVER?
Dexter:
Are you the prodigal son of Harry and Doris? Are you smart enough to understand “The Code”? Can you tell us where Miami “buries the bodies?” Are you a Dexter SUPER FAN?
We are looking for REAL PEOPLE who are SUPER FANS of one of these reality shows to be featured in an interview series being shot in Miami Beach on January 7, 2011. DIE HARD FANS ONLY, casual viewers need not apply! We want to hear you tell us WHY you love the show. Those interested may be male or female, of any ethnic background and any age between 22 & 70. Casting will be held in the North Miami, Florida area on Tuesday, December 28. If you are available for the above dates - the 28th for a casting interview and the 7th for the shoot day - and interested in trying out for this fun job that pays $200.00 for the shoot day, please e-mail a RECENT snapshot of yourself, along with all pertinent contact information to jpinardo@mac.com.
Mark Your Calendars: November 17th, 2010 is National UnFriend Day.
From now until National UnFriend Day on November 17th, we'll be posting a
Public Service Announcement from Jimmy Kimmel and some celebrity
friends. You'll be able to see all of the videos at MyDamnChannel.com/JimmyKimmel
Facebook friends: we've all got 'em. But do we need them? Do we even KNOW them?!
There's your Aunt Karen, who plays FarmVille so much, you wonder how she ever gets any work done at her job at the DMV.
There's that guy who still writes his status updates in the third person
and he writes them CONSTANTLY: "Mike Smith is trying to decide what to
watch." "Mike Smith is really looking forward to seeing everyone at the
high school reunion!" So not only is Mike Smith ridiculously boring,
his third-person status updates are stuck in 2006.
There's that girl whose friend request you accepted because she looked hot in her profile picture, but whom you can't remember ever meeting in real life.
Well, okay. She's pretty hot. Maybe you won't UnFriend her.
But everyone else that you don't know and/or don't really like: UNFRIEND THEM ON NOVEMBER 17TH. Let's give fake friends the boot.
Look, even William Shatner's on board:
Make sure you follow Jimmy Kimmel and My Damn Channel on Twitter. We're going to be keeping track of people who pledge to join the National UnFriend Day movement with the hashtag #NUD.
Take the pledge and join us, won't you?
http://MyDamnChannel.com/JimmyKimmel
Meet Lee Abrams:
He was the Chief Innovation Officer at the Tribune Co. until very recently.
There were a lot of stories going around about how his quick departure was punishment for a company-wide memo he sent containing links to some, erm, videos of questionable taste.
The good people in our RAMP (Radio and Music Pros) division thought that since linking to a video seems to have cost Abrams his job, it's only fitting that he use online video to tell his side of the story.
Watch the entire interview now at MyDamnChannel.com/RAMP.
Here's something to whet your appetite: Lee Abrams inspired one of those Hitler memes we were all so fond of for a while. You know the ones: we laughed and laughed when we watched them even though they starred HITLER.
Don't pretend like you don't know what we're talking about.
Meet Denton Sparks:
He likes social networking:
Like, A LOT:
And, like a lot of us, he plays around online during work and gets distracted from his job. The problem is, his job is to be a PROFESSIONAL ASSASSIN:
He's on the job right now, and some weird dudes totally want to kill him:
And they're totally bad guys who call Denton names:
And this guy's all, "Really, dude? Forest mouse?"
But how can Denton focus on his job when there are so many important things happening on tweetfacester?
And so many hot girls:
Can Denton survive distraction long enough to, well, SURVIVE?
Watch the first three episodes of STATUS KILL and find out.
Status Kill was created, written and directed by Jesse Cowell, of Drawn By Pain fame. We decided he was so talented and smart that we couldn't let him run around the internets unattached any longer, so we hired him to be our new Director of Content.
Congrats, Jesse! And welcome! And good job! And get off of Facebook and Twitter now that you're sitting at a desk at My Damn Channel HQ!
PS: You should all totally get inspired by STATUS KILL and choose to "like" our Facebook page! Here let's make it simple for you:
