And Now, Thoughts Just Come Rushing In... RE: I-Blog 4

.:And Now, The Thoughts Come Rushing In...:.

Here's the thing. I've been blogging for about six or so years already, but for the life of me, pro-blogging, or Hades, even just photo-blogging or vlogging, has never really crossed my mind.

Last Saturday though, something about Aileen's and Cokski's presentation at I-Blog 4 struck a chord with me.

Now, being a DJ/former DJ (Let's discuss that bit tomorrow, mmkay? I'm tired blogging almost non-stop today.), I'd like to think I can speak at least just as well as the average podcaster, and I was just asking myself, outside of startup costs and time spent editing, what exactly was stopping me from doing at the very least, an actual, honest-to-goodness vlog, every now and then, never mind the lack of video quality?

Seriously, it made me ponder things quite a bit. While I do like writing, speaking and visual implements are something up my alley due to my hosting and mentalism. Given a decent video camera and a decent concept, I could come up with a program that would prove to be worth at least a weekly watch, and it wouldn't take me too much effort aside from organizing the shoots and doing decent editing once the startup is realized.

Hades, assuming I don't go all-out and just plain pro-blog (Google AdSense would like a word on me about preventing me from ever making much profit, plus I'm nowhere near as prolific a writer as I think the high-end pros are.), and assuming people are fine watching a video shot by a 1.3 Megapixel Nokia Phone, I think I already *have* the capability to do a weekly vlog (Or maybe a bi-weekly one.), although a part of me still wishes to purchase my own domain already.

But having said that, I'm just rambling. I know I know so many bloggers here who have monetized already (Jonas being the first that comes to mind.), I still am honestly daunted by starting up at a time where I'm doing my thesis and still banking on getting back into Campus FM.

So for now, let's just say that unless I suddenly find myself pushed in the right direction by certain wonderful, selfless, helpful people, I guess an actual problogging career for yours truly isn't in the cards, really.

However, I do have an idea for at least a blog/vlog segment I'd like to do that I'm sure is original, since I haven't heard this done even abroad...

.:The Ambassador: Realizing The Dream:.

If there was one thing I wanted to achieve as a performer of mentalism and magic, I always wanted to be an ambassador of sorts, being capable of showing to the world at large what Philippine magic is all about, while at the same time being a very active netizen who stays abreast of the goings-on in the Philippine industry. While my level of fame as such would honestly be suspect when compared to, say, a Rannie Raymundo, I would like to think that my ability to stay connected to other netizens outside of the magic industry helps me get some unexpected leverage in order for me to be able to realize this dream someday.

But then, I can't just keep on dreaming without planning my action towards this eventual goal, and just this weekend, a brilliant idea hit me, when I was asked by the I-Blog 4 attendees to perform for them after I pitched my blog...

You see, aside from cosplayers, I discovered that bloggers are the most appreciative audience I've ever encountered. They're extremely thrilled by mentalism and magic, and even one person whom I expected to heckle me all the way was kind enough to keep the inadvertently mistaken "exposure" off-camera, ergo, treating the art with more expect than I personally expected of him. There's something to be said about being able to entertain everyone from Shari to Ms. Noemi, and I figured, why not share the fun to everyone at large?

So my idea is this, and hear me out, people... how about a weekly vlog where I feature a particular blogger, including the requisite bio-data and perhaps even interview, and cap it off with a small performance for them?

I don't know if it'd work out, but the idea sounds cool to me, and it'd give me a chance to meet up with bloggers on a regular basis. If only for that, I like this plan already, and it's better than anything else anyone has come up with me, because I don't have the cajones JawKneeYeah has to actually sing or dance. That's what I learned mentalism for, after all. Hehehehe.

What do you guys think? Yay, or nay?

I-Blog 4 Roundup... After-Party Post Coming Tomorrow...

First of all, pardon my linklove here, as it will be from memory, as far as trying to remember all the people whom I met, etc., etc.

Having said that, I know I was delinquent as I showed up at I-Blog 4 only for the afternoon session. I was going through a lot of stuff, so I felt it best to go there only after lunch. It was weird, to say the least, and even now, I still feel that the post-I-Blog activity is relatively hushed compared to last year's, but maybe I'm just not googling well enough.

This meant that with all due apologies to my good friends Jonas and Charo, I missed out on your talks...

In any case, I walked into some excellent discussions, including stuff about vlogging courtesy of Aileen and Cokski, who had an entertaining video that gave me ideas in the future, since unemployed little me ain't cutting it if I want to survive my thesis year financially healthy.

Blogging for advocacy was also touched on by Ms. Noemi, and this was where I remembered how I took part in the initial launch of the "Yan ang Pinay/Filipina" movement, where I even had the nasty run-in of having to argue with someone who felt the campaign was taking away from more "worthwhile" causes, while in the same breath not doing anything to aid the same "worthwhile" causes she speaks of.

I paid a bit of attention to Ma'am Janette on blogging about the elections, and was slightly lost in the legal jargon provided by JJ Disini. In spite of that, it was still fun, because I went there to have fun, and the only talk I could've really made good use of was Karl's, since I've been recently contemplating problogging come thesis year.

It was loads of fun, and as Sarah pointed out, my mentalism was becoming a stable at blogger gatherings, hence the whole "Blogger Boggler" business, as Rico likes to call it. Just to really try something interesting, I went for one of the most powerful effects I could do on short notice, and it was the Berglas effect: any card at any number. I made my prediction, and what do you know,it matched up quite nicely! I was originally going to ask Arbet to do the honors since he mentioned he missed out on my performances before, but lo and behold, *he* disappeared. Instead, I asked for Sir Martin, and the effect was a success.

After the event, we were preparing to head out for the 88DB after-party, and I was mildly amused to discover that they were using a magician and a mentalist as the silhouettes for their designs, which felt like such a shot in the arm for me, coming from them. But yeah, I'll blog about that perhaps tomorrow, and now, for some more link love, and if your name is mentioned but there's no link, do comment and I'll gladly add it in!

Shari and her brother, Robby.

Mike Abundo, who amazingly, didn't heckle me when some guy asked me to perform for him. Looks like the so-called flame wars are strictly kept online. Which is all fine, I guess. To be honest, he seems to be a completely different person online when contrasted to how he is offline...

Funny+Sexy, whom I met in the after-party. More on that later.

The people from The Man Blog.

Ria Jose, someone who was on my LJ friends list for years, and yet this is the first time I've met her. Yes, Miss Choi, you're not the only LJ friend I have whom I've never ever met... until now.

My table buddies, The Chicken Mafia, Jester, and Norbert, as well as other blogging heavyweights such as Manuel Quezon III, and Juned.

Friends from 88db.

And anyone else I forgot, stand up and be recognized!

Oh, and here's your moment of Zen for the day... a picture of me, choking the chicken

Get your minds outta the gutter! Yeesh.