hal tweets ·11:28 AM
Ghostbuster zines from the Canzine Hollywood Piracy Zine Challenge are now online! http://t.co/RoAMEQTU
2008,
14:46 GMT
WebCam in the Car
Posted by: Hal
Great piece in the Washington Post today about a pilot project that looks at how installing webcams in the cars of teenage drivers might reduce accidents and unsafe behaviour. Of course, what's fascinating is what else it might do -- condition young people to accept that they should be watched all the time every time lest they hurt themselves or someone else.
2008,
23:43 GMT
Canzine and the One Two Punch Pitch!
Posted by: Hal
Wow, it’s been a while since I updated the blog. So lots to tell you about. The main thing right now is that Canzine is coming up fast. It’s this Sunday. Canzine is the annual festival of zines and alternative culture my magazine Broken Pencil puts on every year. This is one of the best lineups we’ve ever had: 200 zines registered, 6 readers, 6 comedians…if you’re in Toronto or nearby this weekend, I heartily recommend you check it out. It is awesome. Complete times, place, and schedule for the day is here.
Also we still have some spots open for the One Two Punch Pitch event happening at Canzine. For this spectacle, contestants get two minutes to pitch a book idea in any genre or format. Then the three judges – myself, Michael Holmes of ECW Press, and literary agent Samantha Haywood – each have 1 minute to respond. The best pitch wins a Broken Pencil prize pack worth $150 and, who knows?, maybe even a request to see that manuscript in somebody’s in-box pronto. To sign up for this, email your pitch to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
So that’s it for now. After Canzine I promise to get back to regular blogging and update everybody on the Peep book, new articles, and the general ups and downs of my existence. See ya Sunday I hope!
2008,
14:13 GMT
Gawker Blogger Asks: Who Hired This PI to Investigate Me?
Posted by: Hal
Someone hired a Private Detective to investigate the Gawker blogger Hamilton Nolan. In a hilarious reverse Peep move, he’s uploaded pictures and contact info for the two PIs who have been blundering around his hometown in Florida looking for dirt on him for unknown reasons. This is a great story that shows the potential we have to peep those who are peeping us. Blogs can be equalizers, but before we get all excited about the new age of people power, we also have to realize that unlike most of us, Nolan is a professional writer with a huge platform. He’s able to get even in ways most of us wouldn’t have available to us. Still it’s nice to know the potential is there. Some days, you just have to shout it out to the stars: Long live Peep!
This is one of the Private Dicks hired to investigate Hamilton Nolan.
2008,
13:10 GMT
Back Alley PeepCam: "Tuesday Morning Rain" comes with Great Peep Story
Posted by: Hal
A great comment by reader Mark McCawley of Edmonton. I’m reposting here so that more people can enjoy this fabulous Peep story. Perfect thing to accompany today’s pic of my back alley in the rain, courtesy Hal’s back alley PeepCam.
Mark Writes: “Funny thing happened a few nights back while I was reading an anthology I am to review. It was a little after 2AM and while taking a break sipping my coffee and gazing out my fourth floor flat’s 10 foot by 5 foot window which overlooks a deserted downtown Edmonton parking lot, what do I witness? A sports car enters the parking lot, and parks in the middle of the lot under one of the streetlamps. Out of the sports car emerge a man and a woman: the man in a black tuxedo, the woman in what I could make out was a purple satin dress; they had obviously just come from some high brow affair. In the man’s right hand: a camera attached to a very large lens. Next thing I know, the woman crawls up onto the hood of the sports car, yanks up her purple satin dress, her legs spread eagled for her male companion to photograph. This all took place in the span of about 40 to 45 seconds. Voyeurism? Exhibitionism? The point? Even in an empty downtown parking lot at 2AM, somebody is watching.”
Back Alley September 30th: Tuesday Morning Rain
2008,
20:29 GMT
Three Reasons Why I Am A Bad Blogger
Posted by: Hal
I am a bad personal blogger. It’s time to admit it. It’s not that I’m not trying. It’s just that I don’t know if I have it in me to reveal reveal reveal the way the personal blogger needs to.
I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve settled on three areas where I am particularly deficient:
1. Sex. Despite the vaunted need for honesty in the personal blog and the obvious titillating appeal of the subject, I cannot bring myself to blog about anything having to do with my sex life whatsoever. The closest I’ve come (ahem) was my commentary on attending a RedClouds online exhibitionist dinner party.
2. Professional life. I also seem to be extremely reluctant to blog about my professional life. Every time I consider a post on that subject, I pull back. Some examples: My book for teenagers about making your own pop culture won a few awards and I considered putting up a post but didn’t. The hardcover of my novel The Program was remaindered and for a few days I went around feeling frustrated and angry by the news, though it was hardly any great surprise or even anything to be particularly embarrassed about in the age of multinational conglomerate publishing. I considered blogging about it, but didn’t. Then another letter came: the University of Toronto was giving me an award for “outstanding volunteer service”, as a result of work I did as a member of an advisory board for a magazine the department of Arts and Sciences had started. Again, I considered a blog post about it, but never wrote it up. Other things happened, short stories and articles rejected and, less frequently, accepted. Again, nothing particularly shameful or scandalous, but I just can’t bring myself to put it out there in a public forum read by everyone and anyone. It’s part of the whole stiff upper lip thing. I want people to see me as a success – who doesn’t? But of course, one’s life isn’t just a string of impressive victories and I don’t want to come across as a braggart. I am too proud to write about the failures and, without including the failures, I don’t feel right about including the successes. (Perhaps having now broken the ice on this subject I might be able to include more about my professional life…probably not, though. It was relatively painless here, but I can’t see myself posting blog entries like “Hal wins award” and “Hal’s short story is rejected again”.)
3. Feelings. I am most severely deficient in this area. I blog about things that have happened to me, but not about how I feel about them. I should be doing the opposite: blogging about my feelings, and relating them to events in my life. This post is an example. The real question isn’t whether or not I am a bad personal blogger, but how I feel about feeling like I am a bad personal blogger. So how do I feel? Well, to tell you the truth, I’m okay with it. I mean, I’m trying to put myself out there, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m doing my best. And does anybody really want to read about my sex life?
The Bloggist
Hey, I’m Hal Niedzviecki. I’m a writer/thinker who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with my wife and daughter. Up till now I’ve always considered myself a private person. But at the same time I’m fascinated by people who effortlessly open themselves up to the whole world. So I’ve… more...
Ghostbuster zines from the Canzine Hollywood Piracy Zine Challenge are now online! http://t.co/RoAMEQTU
EXPOZINE 2011, Montreal’s 10th Annual Small Press, Comic and Zine Fair—http://t.co/3ISW3Ovx http://t.co/FlLfB6hk
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