Scott Cramer wrote this.

Davey Jones
Dec. 30, 1945 to Feb. 29, 2012 🙁

Monkees singer Davy Jones dies in Florida at 66
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-02-29/obit-monkees-singer-davy-jones/53304196/1

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When I watch this, I want to learn guitar. I think people can learn to play, but to really PLAY like this and make it appear effortless, that's a gift.

Thanks +Preston Reed for the tune! Enjoyed it. Shout out to +Catherine Maguire who turned me on to this.

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Gigs in Cardiff at Chapter Arts Centre tonight and The Spring Arts Centre in Havant on Saturday!

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If I miss anyone or anything, just keep coming at me until I get to you! This whole earning a living thing is really getting in the way of my G+ time. 😉

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The Post Death of a Thousand Condiments Bathing Trauma: How I Learn to Live with the Fear of Condiment Counteraction

For context, please see the links at the bottom of this post. This is dedicated to all the new people that I met as a result of the "Shared Circle Challenge".

This is probably the last I will post about the challenge and punishment for losing. It was all great fun, but I do not want to become a one-trick-pony talking about one moment forever. That's what we have ex-football players for. 😉 However, for anyone attempting to take on The Death of a Thousand Condiments in a bet of your own, consider the following words.

Soon after starting the bet, I was way ahead of my brother +Keith Cramer and totally expected to win, hands down. In the immortal words of Han Solo, "Don't get cocky, kid!" Keith's team rallied at the end and I went down not just a little bit, but in flames! This perhaps can be translated into a life lesson overall, me thinks. So, fully expecting my impending victory, I went out and purchased all the "condiments" to be dumped on the loser. We used the "condiment" term loosely to mean most anything you could dump that was icky, sticky, gross, or smelly. For the purists, we did not take the word "death" literally either, so I think it's all good. I suggest shopping at discount food-stores like Aldi's and then hitting the international aisle at your local super-mart. All in all, I raided my pantry and spent about $50 – for my own punishment. Oh, Karma, thou art a fickle mistress.

In a nutshell, our competition had to do with counting the new followers of groups of 50 users each that we handpicked on Google+ over a period of time. These teams became known as Team Keith and Team Scott. Nobody on the teams, or the captains themselves, had over 5000 followers. We shared our individual team circles and promoted healthy interaction. Team Keith had a secret weapon. +Kari Tedrick got the ear of G+ giant +Mike Elgan (742,000+ followers and a penchant, it appeared for mischievousness). Mike shared the Team Keith circle in the last moments before the midnight buzzer with the simple words, "Add this circle in the next fifteen minutes and Team Keith wins." And so it was. I was smoked by the casual thumbs down of a modern social media Emperor.

Leading up to the punishment my attitude was, "Oh, it will be messy but fun. No problem." The morning of the punishment, though, I was actually a little anxious. We had decided beforehand to broadcast it on a couple G+ hangouts and video it. I am comfortable behind a keyboard, but get butterflies in front of a camera. It did not help either that I wanted to wear throw-away clothes and all I could find was an old pair of swim-trunks (styled early 90's) and so tight that I could barely breath. However, as the punishment commenced, barely breathing was, in retrospect, quite helpful. On the white t-shirt, I had written, "Thanks +Kari Tedrick and +Mike Elgan" whose names are forever associated with this in my mind. Honestly, it is funny the way the human psyche works. Either of them could win the Nobel Prize for curing cancer, and I would still have flashbacks to syrup and mustard (and more) if I saw them.

2pm was the designated zero-hour for my punishment. A few minutes beforehand, in nothing more than my too-tight out-of-style swim trunks, my custom tee, and a pair of goggles for eye protection, I stepped onto the plastic tarp laid out in +Kristi Fahlsing's basement. Kneeling in the large blue storage tote, I was reminded of an episode of Breaking Bad where they needed to get rid of a body by melting it with chemicals and one of the characters was sent out to get a storage container similar to what I was now in.

Then it started.

I heard Keith say, "Alright, we're going now!" Then he up-ended a bottle of maple syrup over my head. It was a strange oozy feeling like either a giant bird had targeted me or I had a bad, but painless, head wound. I ran a few fingers through the syrup dripping from my face and tasted it, just to be a butt. This wasn't going to be so bad, I thought. Messy, but whatever.

From that point it rapidly became a blur. Literally, since the goggles I was wearing were soon covered. It was like looking through a windshield smeared in mud with no working wipers. All in all, a few minutes in, still not so bad, aside from the odor. The smells were building on themselves with each food stuff dumped, poured, cracked, or smeared onto me. I remember saying something comparing it to the smell when you walk through an alley in New York, except not so good. I always thought the alley smell was reminiscent of food even though it wasn't. Here, it was the reverse; it really was food but wasn't smelling too appetizing.

I was purposely tasting things occassionally and enjoying the disgusted noises from those in the room and those in the hangouts. It was fun playing to the crowd. When the hot sauce hit, it was game over. Suddenly, this really was worse than I imagined. First off, the way hot sauce comes out of the bottle, in little blasts, felt like someone was spitting on me. Then, after a few seconds the fumes were up my nose and burning my eyes even behind the goggles. Tears were flowing!

I also remember the strong odor of wasabi cleaning out and burning my sinus passages. I had lost track of time and I know that my recollections as of this writing may not exactly match the video footage; the memory appears to be ordered more by impact than linear time. In any case, soon into it, my eyes were crammed shut and so long as they stayed that way it was okay. If I opened them even a little bit, it burned a lot! So, to recap, I'd lost my sight, smell was out the window, and even the sense of touch was not serving me well sitting in a pool of goo that was running down every part of me and that was accumulating surprisingly deep up the sides of my legs that were tucked under me.

Some more memories, randomly presented:

• I mentioned earlier that I was tasting things, just to be gross. Basically, if I could catch an individual pickle or fruit loop as it fell, sure. Otherwise, no way! When I watched the video, I saw that at one point I was eating something fairly clean out of my hand and, since my eyes were shut, I did not see that someone squirted mustard all over my hand before I took another bite! Nicely played.

• Things that broke through the smell before becoming part of the ever rancorous mixture of odors were vinegar and sauerkraut. I absolutely hate sauerkraut. I have never liked it and I like it less now that it's been dumped over my head and down my shirt!

• Another unexpected oddity was getting sugar dumped over me. I already could not see and smell, and suddenly I couldn't breath either! The way it was poured, it was like a sand storm around my head!

• Oh yes, I have to mention that some of the items were really cold – especially when the dumpers got creative and put things down the back of my shirt!

• The eggs didn't crack easily on my head. It was like getting whacked with something!

• With every sense severely compromised, I had a strange vision as things were being dumped on me of what it must be like to be on the wrong side of an elephant at the wrong time!

Toward the end I took off the goggles because they were not doing anything for me anymore and I hoped to wipe my eyes with a towel. I did wipe my eyes but still could not keep them open for more than a fraction of a second at first. After the hangouts were done I was able to wipe them better and could keep them open even though they burned. It took running them under the shower for a few minutes (several times) before they were fine. Upon viewing the video I could see that the goggles were actually full of hot sauce! I should have listened to +Lori Cramer when she told me to tighten them more!

After everything was finished, I got up out of the tub very carefully because it was extremely slippery. I had to have everyone leave the basement area so I could strip down. There was no way I could even walk through the house to the shower until I got somewhat cleaned up. When I took off the shirt, it was clinging to me tightly and made a "shluck" sound kind of like the suction release you hear when you pull your booted foot out of deep wet mud. The shorts were tight to begin with but now that they were all covered in guck, I had a hard time getting a grip on them. I finally shimmied out of them and dropped them on the plastic floor covering. Standing in my briefs, I had a slight panic attack that perhaps the G+ hangouts were still turned on, but luckily either Keith was not that mean or he did not think to punk me like that!

I proceeded to take a spatula and started squeegeeing off my body. Remarkably, it wasn't coming off as easy as I thought. It was really stuck on my skin and ground into my body hair. I had some help from Kristi, who never thought this was a task she signed up for when we started dating! 😉

Showering overall was also worse than expected. I figured I'd just hop into the shower and rinse all the gook off me. Nope. Have you ever gotten butter or grease on you (which I did since a bottle of squeezy butter was also part of the mix) and you just can not get it to come off your skin? It was like this over my entire body from the mixture of everything. I finally used kitchen soap everywhere to cut through it. Several areas of my skin were stained, I think from the steak sauce or worcestershire sauce and it took some scrubbing to remove the orange-brown tint. I also found several strands of sauerkraut in places I'd rather not talk about!!!

Would I do it all over again? Hmm… For a bet without a good pay-out, probably not. To find a bunch of good people like Keith and I did as a result of this contest, yes. Yes I would. I would also totally cheat to make sure Keith got to experience The Death of a Thousand Condiments for himself! I'm not proud, but I'm honest. 😉

Lastly, a funny thing happened throughout the weekend. After losing, my daughter heard me cursing good-naturedly mentioning +Mike Elgan so whenever anything bad would happen, she would say in a cute teasing voice to me, stretching out the syllable of the last name, "Oh, like Mike ELLL-gan?" A legacy he does not even realize!

+Kari Tedrick and +Mike Elgan, watch what packages you open in the mail over the next week. 😉

Related links:

• The gruesome video: http://goo.gl/K49Pj
• Details of the contest: http://goo.gl/0JNhR
• Details of the punishment: http://goo.gl/7pHRy
• More pictures: http://goo.gl/CBZPb

Special thanks +Emilio Boronali for the title of this post. 😉

Embedded Link

Keith Cramer – Google+ – Death of a Thousand Condiments – The Video!

Here's the…
Death of a Thousand Condiments – The Video!

Here's the video that many of you have been waiting for. It's worth it! 🙂

This was the culmination of a 10…

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I have the bias of a father. I have the bias of a father of a young girl. This photo is magical to me and touches my heart.

Thank you so much +Thomas Hawk. My stream has gotten so busy that I miss many of your photos; whereas in the early days of G+ I saw so many more. I am glad that I experienced this one.

For this alone, you are on my top ten list of people to hire or bribe if I win the lottery! 😉

Reshared post from +Thomas Hawk

Slide — San Francisco, CA

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My time has increased as people having me in their circles has increased and I have found so many more people with whom to interact. I am working to find a balance of interaction on G+ to sate my appetite for involvement, to feel like I am not ignoring anyone interacting with me, and to still do my real life justice. Interesting graph… curious to the accuracy and nuances.

[EDIT] I think the linked article contains a lot of anti-G+ bias. My main reason to share was as a starting off point for discussion. I don't want anyone to think I am supporting the conclusion of their "reporting".

Thanks +Arvid Bux for the post. He also credits +Theo Tol and +Roos van Vugt.

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Time Flies
So people are spending less and less time on Google+ according to ComScore. What is your usage? Spending more on G+ or Facebook or Twitter? For me, Twitter usage is going down. Facebook for some strange reason is going up but I am using Google+ the most.

And you?

More : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204653604577249341403742390.html

Credits also to +Theo Tol & +Roos van Vugt

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Want want want!

Thanks +Kyla Myers for the post! If you have not already done so, check out the fabulous creations she makes; at her profile and at crazycakes.com!

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+Faisal 'Fes' Naqvi, I have just upped the bacon s'more.

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Bacon S’mores {how-to}
We only have two words today. Bacon. S’mores. We know there is nothing innovative about combining crispy, salty, fatty bacon with the contrasting sweetness of chocolate, and we’ve been seeing a l’more…

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This is cool. I so want to do something like this. Of course, we'd have to give it a G+ theme… {wheels are turning}

Thanks +Allen Simpson for the share and +Mike Shaw for the post!

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The Johnny Cash Project

If you have never seen this then its a good a time as ever to watch, over 250,000 people each took a frame of the video of "Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down" by the legendary Johnny Cash and worked on it, then the video was put back together using the reworked frames, I have always loved this and I think it goes to show what can be done when artists get together, wonderful stuff.

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Pick JUST ONE food to taste for the rest of your life! You have contracted a rare disease and only one experimental surgery can save you. A side effect is every bite of food will taste the same for the rest of your life but the doctors can program your taste buds for just one specific taste! GO!

Because the doctors in this world are kind and caring, they also mess with your brain so you will never tire of the one taste. Very kind. However your particular doctor is a bit sadistic, so he is forcing you to choose in 30 seconds or he programs you for rotten eggs. GO!

The ONE MOVIE EXPERIMENT can be found here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/105986763264590753118/posts/ZGRGQuojUTT

The ONE SONG EXPERIMENT can be found here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/105986763264590753118/posts/6Xehe3ebJej

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Forgot to go to the store. Limited options this morning. Nothing, or daughter's "Fabulously Floral" scented Secret.

I smell pretty.

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I'll go see it. 😉

Thanks +Jason Hurtado Daniels for the share and +Robert N. Lee for the post!

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I was kinda dubious when I started watching the trailer, but…I dunno, by the end Guy Pearce as Snake Plissken-in-space seemed like a pretty good idea.

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It appears I am writing a book… 😉

My combination of OCD and people-pleasing is kicking in. I have to go write now.

Thanks +Emilio Boronali! I am anxious to see the final work on Bosco. Love the way you draw his face.

Reshared post from +Emilio Boronali

A little talk with my All Time Hero +Scott Cramer ( who is about to tell everything about his whole outstanding experience in a future best-seller named " The Post Death-of-1000-condiments-Bathing Trauma: How I learn to live with the fear of a pickles' counteraction ") about showing some drawing and getting the audience involved with a "ongoing project" step-by-step process, reminds me of that work from this summer I left unfinished (and I'll finish it I swear!):

the story of Bosco

to be continued… (when I find the time!)

Bear making of :
Introduction : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/HD871Ca4JX2
Part1 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/DH7AfGUnTp9?hl=fr
Part2 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/aDtEKzesxP7?hl=fr
Part3 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/BN8yQeUfEVj?hl=fr

Teaser : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/ffDyfVbrC7L?hl=fr
Introduction : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/DeCGcZkX9xW?hl=fr
Part 2 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/dHhbfyT3n87?hl=fr
Part 3 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/JGaAYmsrYJC?hl=fr
Part 4 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/3AhxcZDizub?hl=fr
Part 5 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/WKXQaX3WvoM
Part 6 +recap : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/EsWTssa9KmS
Part 7 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/29vUwAMfsuG?hl=fr
Part 8 : https://plus.google.com/102067386009677780436/posts/RWc8r2j4a49

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Emilio Boronali – Google+ – The Story of Bosco

{Little explanations and side stories…
The Story of Bosco

{Little explanations and side stories on this ongoing project}

– I received this night a nice mail upon that drawing from a real nice…

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+Peter G McDermott voiced thoughts I have had for a while on suggested users, and more recently on Search Plus Your World. This is a must read.

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Google Must Remove the Suggested Users List and Here's Why

There has been a lot of conversation going on about Search Plus Your Work, +Google+, the Suggested Users List and the Hot List. In all reality, you can bark all you want about the "What's Hot" list, but it isn't important. That is a transient pulse of what is being share and doesn't result in anything but momentary exposure for people with engaging content–I use the term engaging loosely.

What really matters is the Suggested Users List (SUL) and Search Plus Your World (SPYW) and I think that there are a lot of people afraid to talk about it.

Now that people connected into Google+ have SPYW by default, they are exposed to content that has been suggested by users of this network, chiefly, content suggested by people that they have circled. So if you are looking for "website design" you might find several results that come from +1's on the web at large or shares on Google+ from people you follow.

Whoever +1's or suggests the most content on here will have better luck having their "vetted" content pop up in their followers searches. So, when you +1 a website for any particular reason, remember that your followers will see that when they search for relevant topics.

Traditional SEO is Dead

Because of SPYW, whoever has the largest following, has the largest impact in search results, because they are impacting everyone that follows them. If +Britney Spears +1's a makeup website, then all of the teenage girls that follow her will see that at the top of their search results. Therefore, she is basically offering free PR to that business simply by the virtue of +1ing it on a whim. That can translate to huge money, especially for someone that has 2,000,000 followers.

You can work on the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of your website all you want, but social interaction–yes that little +1 button counts–is starting to impact search results more than other traditional methods. Therefore, what you should be focusing on is sharing and engaging people with the content that you want to appear in search results. What sucks about that, is that your G+ content might rise above your regular content which means bad news if you depend on advertising revenue from the content you post on your website.

Why the SUL Needs To Go, Now

Google has made a tremendous unfair advantage for certain people that they have chosen to show off to new users. These inorganic follows turn into an augmented search-result reality where the people on the SUL have the largest influence on the way Google+ users search the Internet, and their influence will only continue to grow as this network grows.

As an independent content creator trying to find my place in this space and trying to make a living from it, I am at a critical disadvantage from the people that Google has chosen. I have had in-depth conversations with +Eric Rice, +Chris Pirillo, +Robert Anderson, +Hermine Ngnomire, +matthew rappaport, +Bruce Garber, +Paul Roustan and countless others surrounding this topic.

The general consensus is that Google is taking what should be a fair playing field and picking favorites. I think Google was naive in doing this, because they may have not taken into consideration the amount of impact, influence and–potentially–money that they were throwing in the lap of people that they have chosen to recommend.

In order to keep this space fair, level and objective and to make sure that they're not handing the Internet to 300 people on a silver platter, Google needs to understand that their mere "suggestion" translates into the potential to make a lot of money and deprive other content creators of the opportunity to succeed.

I have heard several people that work with, around and for Google admit that when Google steps away from the algorithm, things typically don't end well. So, Google, my advice to you is to put an algorithm in place which is democratic and organic. Because, after all, we all like it when things are organic. Isn't that what you're tyring to do with search now?

This isn't happy get-together anymore. This is business.

CC: +Vic Gundotra +Bradley Horowitz +The New York Times +Larry Page +Louis Gray +Robert Scoble +Mike Elgan +Mike Stenger +Aaron Wood +Bobbi Jo Woods +Brett Bjornsen +Carter Gibson +Ryan Crowe +Denis Labelle +John Fanavans +Margie Hearron +Kimberly Hayworth +Lynette Young +Dan McDermott +Jaana Nyström +Anthony Quintano +Maria Quiban +George Rodenbaugh +Johnny Roquemore +Tiffany Henry +Gabriel Vasile +Ryan Van Sickle +Becky Worley +stephanie wanamaker +Dolidh Young +Alireza Yavari +Leo Laporte +Sarah Hill +Natalie Villalobos

</rant>

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Very entertaining and informative read. Takes about 2 minutes. If you've chuckled at a few of these in your stream, you might enjoy reading the origins.

Thanks +Emilio Boronali for the post!

Reshared post from +Emilio Boronali

reddi Caesari, quae sunt Caesaris, you ignorants!

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The Artist Who Started the What People Think I Do/What I Really Do Meme
Artist Garnet Hertz is credited with starting the recent “What People Think I Do/What I Really Do” meme and we spoke to him about the nature of memes.

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Yup. Don't lose a bet like this. Trust me.

Please comment on the original over at brother +Keith Cramer's stream here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102026767069561610206/posts/YBfXH1Zf1BH

Reshared post from +Keith Cramer

Death of a Thousand Condiments – The Video!

Here's the video that many of you have been waiting for. It's worth it! 🙂

This was the culmination of a 10 day contest between my brother Scott and I. Scott was the lucky one who got to face The Death of a Thousand Condiments. It wasn't pleasant.

Thank you to everyone who participated! Enjoy the video.

For details of the contest visit: http://goo.gl/0JNhR
For details of "The Death of a Thousand Condiments" visit: http://goo.gl/7pHRy
For more pictures: http://goo.gl/CBZPb

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I can not listen to this song without getting misty eyed. I can maybe hold out to the chorus… but then it's over.

Dedicated – of course! – to my daughter. 🙂

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I smiled the entire way through and had to wipe some moisture from my left eye. +annie bodnar said it made her cry (in a good way). It's wonderful to see an artist interact with a fan like this! It actually strips away some of the jaded-ness that builds up in me when it comes to celebrities.

Dare you watch? {evil, yet mirthful, laughter here}

Thanks +Bill Abrams for the post!

Reshared post from +Bill Abrams

Hard not to share Rayna's excitement when it shows in this video. http://youtu.be/AXBlY5CImUU

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Decided today is a Dave and Busters day.

Downside: 2.5 hour drive to Indianapolis. Will spend way too much.
Upside: I generally don't care about downsides. 😉

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Worth a read. I'm not dancing around any boiling pots with a bone in my nose, though. Unless I lose a bet. 😉

Thanks +stephanie wanamaker for the share and +Rod Dunne for the post.

Reshared post from +Rod Dunne

Discovering the Lost Tribes of the Google Plus Ecosystem
(or why curating & sharing your own circles is mission-critical social strategy)

After a week curating posts on Google Plus I came to a revelation. Namely that curating circles is a MUCH more critical social strategy for strengthening your bonds & engagement levels online… i.e. uncovering YOUR tribe.

This revelation came to me thanks to a community of G+ Bellydancers. In particular, a shared circle curated by +Sabrina Rakkasah of 160 Professional & Semi-Pro Bellydancers communicating on G+ thanks to their shared interest.

You'll need to read the full article [linked below on my blog] to understand why curated circles hold the key to Google Plus's & Your social success.

[FYI: Sabrina’s circle is actively looking to include more bellydancers, especially for connecting dancers internationally. Heres the circle details where you can connect. https://plus.google.com/u/0/106634103094186665612/posts/VkDheipcdQF]

[PROPS: To Sabrina's friend +Jason Wells for resharing the circle originally.]

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Discovering the Lost Tribes of the Google Plus Ecosystem
Understand why curating G+ circles is a mission-critical social strategy for strengthening your bonds & engagement levels online.

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