MiloCast

Putting up good content regularly requires a lot of time. I did it for a few months, then I asked for some feedback from you (see most recent post before this). Nearly two weeks have passed since then, and not a single person said so much as “hello.” I intentionally did not post since then so it would remain the top post, and get more exposure.

So, I’ll be posting irregularly when I have something I really want to write about, but I will no longer add content multiple times weekly. I was hoping to have a community of readers who were interested in discussing some of these topics, but maybe most of my readers are hitting the site through Google searches.

Also, I have already posted the most important topics I really wanted to get out there, and I don’t want to be repetitive. I will maintain the site for the foreseeable future in the hope that people will stumble across my favorite essays, and hope that I do some good in the world.

Shawn

In the months that this site has existed and I’ve been posting content, I’ve seen my stats rise steadily. There are now a lot of people who visit MiloCast.com regularly. However, I have received no e-mail from strangers, and almost no comments from people I didn’t already know personally.

In the interest of making this site better, (but mostly out of curiosity), who are you? Send me e-mail (address in the CONTACT/ABOUT tab above), or contact me on IM or Skype. My name is ShawnMilo on both. I’d really like to hear from as many people as possible and see how my writing is being perceived by real people. I don’t care if you have positive or negative things to say, but I’d like this to be more of a two-way conversation. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Shawn

Is it just me, or is “Family Guy” one of the greatest shows of our time? And is it just me, or is it going downhill in a sad, stumbling way? Some of the most original, funniest, and wittiest writing I have seen from a network show (animated or otherwise) has come from “Family Guy” writers.

But lately it seems that Seth McFarland is falling out of love with the show that made him what he is, and is instead pouring his creative genius into a second-rate cartoon, namely “American Dad.” Granted I heard it has gotten a lot better since I stopped watching it (around episode one), but that can’t be difficult, considering how much it sucked.

I really don’t have much of a point here other than to gripe in public about the loss of vitality in “Family Guy” — so here’s more. By having Stewie bludgeon and in many other ways mutilate Brian last season, Seth showed that he really doesn’t care about the characters that he created anymore. The latest halfhearted attempt at a plot is even worse — a “simulation” which spanned two full episodes, while being self-aware about how much they were pissing off their fans.

The problem, in my never-humble opinion, is that Seth McFarland made it huge with “Family Guy” because he went with what he thought was amusing, and made the mistake of believing that just because he thought something was fun to do, others would agree. What made “Family Guy” great was that it broke boundaries, violated norms, and shocked people awake. It made us think. It challenged authority in a very serious way, but wrapped in a (sometimes paper-thin) humorous package.

The retarded “American Dad” concept took old, used up, and completely over-done ideas and tried to replicate the success of “Family Guy.” An alien with an accent that shouldn’t be on television from this millennium, a caricature of a caricature fish with a German accent, and brain-dead main characters should have prevented this show from getting any further than McFarland’s garbage can. But he was able to ride his “Family Guy” success (while betraying that creation) to fuel his childish passion for this partial-birth brain dump.

In closing, I’d like to thank Seth for the great time we all shared, and ask him to please stop now, before he embarrasses himself any further, and does any more damage to the remaining legacy of “Family Guy.”

Everybody thinks they’re a good driver. Consider your daily driving experiences and you’ll know that this is not true. Given that, I’d like to offer two tips which will help you and the driver behind you keep your blood pressure down a little.

1. If the guy behind you wants to go faster than you do, and you are in the left lane, move over. You are probably backing up traffic for miles, and should have your license revoked.

2. Watch cars and upcoming lights. If there’s any indication you may have to slow down in the near future, lay off the gas. You shouldn’t have to use your brakes very much unless you’re stopping. Also, this will save you money on gas and brake pad replacements.

I have driven for a living and I currently drive 100 miles a day on my commute. I drive to two neighboring states on a regular basis. It constantly boggles my mind to see people driving, the only reason for which must be that they have a destination, yet they don’t seem to really care when they get there. And the other guy is the over-aggressive driver, who accelerates until he has to hit his brakes, then repeats that process until he gets to work. Both are functioning on cognitive levels I can’t fathom.

Drive safely, wear your seatbelt, use your turn signals, and remember that merging requires acceleration, not coming to a dead stop and then trying to figure out how to get into the 60 mph traffic zooming by.

Digging around on my computer this evening resulted in me posting my first video on YouTube. Enjoy.

Hello to all my readers out there. I am writing a rare weekend post to find out more about you. How many of you are out there? Do you read my articles because you agree or disagree? What do you think of this site?

Several people have posted comments to the articles, but it looks like there are hundreds more who have not. It has now been about six weeks since I started the site, and I’m curious to see what I have accomplished thus far.

So feel free to send me e-mail, to Shawn@Milochik.com, or leave a comment on a post.

Thanks,
Shawn

Another week is drawing to a close, and it has been fun for me. I hope all of you have enjoyed it as well. I wanted to be sort of lazy tonight and not write a well-thought-out piece, so here is some info and news about the future of this site.

1. Podcasts will be coming soon. A couple of years ago, I did a podcast which I also called the MiloCast. I will be re-releasing those files, as well as new ones. The new ones will be audio versions of some of the articles on this site, and maybe little extras as well.

2. Comments no longer require registration. I have had to add a “captcha” tool, but that’s pretty standard and helps avoid spam.

3. If you have enjoyed any of my posts, please tell a couple of your friends. I’d like to see more lively debate in the comments to the posts. Especially now that it’s easier to leave a comment.

4. Where’s the feedback? I haven’t heard any comments from anyone except a few of the people I personally invited to the site. Maybe the blog is too new, but I figure I must have said something that some of you really loved or really hated by now. You can leave comments, or see the “About” page at the top to get my e-mail address.

5. How is everyone liking the frequency of the posts? On the one hand I want to update often so the site doesn’t get boring, and you keep coming back. On the other hand, I like to write original, well-thought-out articles which will remain relevant for longer than the latest Paris Hilton gossip. I’d like to see the discussion threads for some of the posts go on for days or longer; just because I’ve put up newer posts does not mean that I have abandoned the older ones.

Thanks for coming back to view my articles. I can’t wait to see where this blog and community end up in the coming months.

Thanks to all of you who have been reading my blog. It has been a great first week. Since I sort of dove into this head-first, without much of an introduction, I thought I’d write a quick post to lay out my vision for this site.

My plan is to keep this blog updated daily, at least during weekdays. Podcasts (audio versions of these articles) will be released in the future, probably weekly.

Special thanks to the guys at the Cafe (you know who you are) for your encouragement. Last, but most importantly, my deep gratitude to all the great magicians who have educated and inspired me through their books and lectures. Without them, this blog wouldn’t be worth your time to read, nor mine to write.