"Giant Wave" by Mark Mallman

Posted via email from Will Conley's Random Things

A Murder of Crows (Or, Hello, My Name Is Jimmy Stewart and This is My Alfred Hitchcock Life)

Is it crow season, or what? The phrase "a murder of crows", which means a group of crows, seems to be popping up all over the Internet this early March 2011. Enjoy the photographic and verbal evidence:

1. Look at my Facebook friend the spoken word artist Bao Phi's photo of one of said murders of crows.
2. Read this article by my Twitter friend and ad man Jim Mitchem, and be sure to see the photo at the bottom of the post.
3. Check out the Twitter search for a murder of crows.

I took the following short video clip of a group of birds of some kind--I'm not sure if it's a murder of crows, but they're definitely birds, which I know from paying attention in biology class as well as by dint of having a pulse and at least one functioning eyeball in conjunction with an adequately reliable visual cortex--a few days ago out my front window (not my Rear Window) before noticing the crow meme that seems to be taking the Internet by stealth:

VID01192.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Happy spring to you all. May the crows signal the coming snowmelt. Look out for homicidal ravens.

Posted via email from Will Conley's Random Things

The Wit and Wisdom of John Kilduff of "Let's Paint" Fame

You're watching "Let's Paint, Exercise and Blend Drinks" here, on Time Warner Cable here. I'm your host John Kilduff, let's take another caller." - John Kilduff

John Kilduff runs on a treadmill non-stop while blending drinks, painting, taking abusive phone calls and, perhaps most important, doling out words of wisdom which he makes up on-the-fly. This is California public access television at its finest. The following are some of the deepest, Jack Handy-est utterances of John Kilduff from the video below.

You know, when you're running, and doing a lot of exercise, it's good to eat healthy, and concern yourself with healthy kinda things.

What we like to do is just get some paint on the canvas, alright?

We stretch, too, you know. Before you do this, you wanna stretch. Stretch your body before you get into this kinda position.

Don't kill yourself.

Shoot it out, man, shoot it out.

We're trying to make this a little happier place, ah? Okay.

When the day is done, you know when you're waking up in the morning, it's nice and peaceful? Let's try to get that in our real lives.

We'll just cut you off if there's any sense that there's something going on. Hello callertwentyfivewhereyoucallingfromwhatsyourname.

We're figuring it out. Sometimes I like to enter the process without knowing what the hell I'm doing.

You know, we're human. We always, we're all bound to, like, make some mistakes in our...in our lives. So uh...okay, let's not get into that.

You know, you don't need ice cream when you make a blended drink. You don't need milk. You could just, you know, try...try things with ice. Maybe a little milk might not hurt, but you know what? What the hell. Let's try that.

You just hold on, man, hold on.

So let's put a banana in there. And I don't know if this is gonna taste good or nothin'. But I'm gonna do it anyway, you know what I'm saying?

Okay, let's not forget about painting, alright?

Okay, I think what we're going to do is let this ferment for a few minutes.

Definition of Life, Not Gonna Take Up Too Much of Your Time, and Testing-One-Two

The following three videos come from my first two weeks in my new apartment in Fall Branch.

 
 

Posted via email from Will Conley's Random Things

Will Tries to Pour Heart out to Tony Beneath Major Low-Flying Airplane Corridor

This is just a very rough rough-in of a sketch comedy idea Tony and I came up with. All improvised using some sound effects on Tony's phone. Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/willconley777

Posted via web from Will Conley's Random Things

Birds: An Experiment in Motion and Perspective on Film

Physicists and naturalists might like this. Birds flying in circles, feeding. Downtown Tucson, Arizona.

Posted via web from Will Conley's Random Things

Gary Vaynerchuck Finally Gets the Recognition He Deserves!

My new friend Jennifer over at http://www.jenniferreviews.com/ has reposted my Gary Vaynerchuck parody video, "Man of Many Wines - Episode 1" on her blog.

In honor of the momentous occasion of my newfound fame, I would like to present me with this garland of roses (de-thorned for my comfort, spritzed for due effect) and a kiss on the cheek. Thank me, me. Thank me very much. I am honored. Muah.

Do check out Jennifer's blog. She reviews wines, knows her marketing stuff, and demonstrates Christian pity on dime-store web-cam hacks ;)

My Video Review of the Red Hot Referrals Chapter of Business Network International (BNI)

I attended Visitor Day today at the Red Hot Referrals chapter of Business Network International (BNI). This is my review of the experience.

What is "Red Hot Referrals"? It is the White Bear Lake, MN chapter of an international real-world network of business professionals, called BNI. Similar to a chamber of commerce, members give each other business referrals.

Pretty straightforward.

What sets BNI apart from a chamber of commerce is that each chapter allows a maximum of one member from each type of business. For example, there is only one lawn care specialist in the Red Hot Referrals chapter, based in White Bear Lake. This creates an atmosphere of "preferred referrals" within the chapter and "locks out" the competition. If you join BNI, you will never see a "rival" company in your chapter. This lets you breathe easy and just be yourself. And trade lucrative business referrals with other members.

Pretty smart, right?

It costs about $400 a year to be a member of BNI. You have to attend meetings about once a week. "It's not netsitting, it's not neteating, it's networking," as they say.

The benefits of the organization became obvious to me when I attended Visitor Day today. Many long-time members attested to the effectiveness of the organization. Some members said they get as much as 70% of their business from Red Hot Referrals alone.

Everyone seemed to me very real, very genuine. I detected little to no bullshit whatsoever.

Those at RHR who I spoke with, please feel free to get in touch with me via http://willconley.extendr.com. Also: Comment right here freely.

Those who are not in BNI: Consider joining. It's awesome. And comment here freely.

I hope you enjoy the review.

My Parody of Gary Vaynerchuck's Wine Library TV (Man of Many Wines - Episode 1)

This video is a tribute to/parody of Gary Vaynerchuck's Wine Library TV show. Watch an episode or two of Gary's lively wine tasting video series at http://tv.winelibrary.com/ to get in on the joke, or just dive into Man of Many Wines - Episode 1, right here. Guaranteed to amuse, annoy, or bore you to smithereens.

Then make absolutely sure to check out and subscribe to my blog, Man of Many Words, at http://manofmanywords.blogspot.com, else you shall surely die (of boredom).

I hope you enjoy this loving dig at "the Internet's most passionate wine show", and remember: You, with a little bit of wine? Much more interesting.

- Will Conley, Man of Many Words

Credits:Will Conley, Host and Co-producerBrittany Wheeler, Director and Co-producer
Nicole Christine, Quality Assurance
Gary Vaynerchuck and The Wine Library TV Team, Inspiration
Wine, Truth



P.S. Be sure to get your free issue of Il Mio Vino, the Italian wine magazine, at http://tinyurl.com/ilmiovino

P.P.S. Follow me on Twitter for shits and giggles.

P.P.P.S. Please share the hell out of this loving parody of Gary Vaynerchuck.

My First Video Log EVER

Hi. My name is Will Conley, a.k.a. Man of Many Words. I have been blogging since Spring of 2006 and this is my very first video log. I will be talking about everything from social media to Italian wine to just why and how come it rains and snows when all we really want is nothing but bright, bright, sunshiny days.

Stick Dude in Albuquerque

I don't know what this art is called, but this dude is pretty graceful at it. This public park is off Central Ave. SW and 10th St. near downtown, a block away from Java Joe's.