Discussing "The Stolen Cloned Mammoth"

Two days ago I read a short story by writer and hobbyist farmer, Shane Castle. The story was titled, “The Stolen Cloned Mammoth” and it’s the first story in the latest volume in the literary magazine, Indiana Review (vol. 33, No. 2).

In the story, Castle speaks like he’s talking to a friend at a bar. Initially, I felt it was a little too casual and abbreviated for the topic he was addressing, but then it grew on me. It started off:

“Anyway, these two biotech companies were racing to make some super-complicated genetic formula…”

In the first paragraph some scientist talks smack about a rival company on her Facebook page and is killed and to prevent all out war, a peace offering is made in the form of a cloned woolly mammoth. The things people think of right? Whether by accident or design it’s not clear if the gifted mammoth was indeed stolen or simply escaped.

Castle doesn’t just make this local news, it’s a global event as folks, as they do these days, hop on the internet and become amateur detectives. And then there were the commentators – who type random drivel or negative comments about a story until they turn and attack each other without a smear of logic.

If anyone has ever read six or seven of the anonymous comments posted under an online news article, they’d be able to plug into the realistic sounding minutia – the virtual chatter that Castle is able to conjure. I thought it was awesome because not only did the captured quibbling dig at the randomness and hostility anonymity allows, he also included TYPOS!

I was awestruck by Castle’s bravery to dare submit a short story to a lit mag with so many typos! It was genius – reminding me of the lack of proofing due to impatience, excitement, urgency and laziness. I’ve been guilty of this more than a few times.

Castle’s lead amateur basement detective calls the blogosphere to action as an angry and quickly aging mammoth runs wild across the US. He also happens to be the one who writes the most typos. In his attempt to illustrate his keen investigative skill, he claims to have found the wild woolly beast, when in reality his sites were on a sculpture near the La Brea Tar Pits outside a natural history museum that is torched a few days later.

It’s like the country has totally and completely lost its collective mind while the shot up mammoth seeks warm beach sands that relieve his aged joints and the sound of the waves lures him into a place without guns and screaming threads of nonsense.

If you’ve read “The Stolen Cloned Mammoth” (which I suspect most have not), please feel free to ramble below.

Is Craigslist Useful Anymore?

For the last three weeks I’ve been hustling, like my name was Iceberg Slim, trying to sell a couple of paintings I’ve treasured since 2008.

“Night Buildings” and “Rintmaki.” Have you heard of them?

After I placed them both on Craigslist, I began to wonder if it’s even a useful site anymore. Of course back in 2008 I bought a sleeper sofa and loveseat from a seller on the site, but nothing I’ve put up in the past has ever sold.

Recently though, with the placement of the two paintings, what I’ve gotten are responses by at least 20 different (or same) scammers claiming to be interested; agreeing with the price; asking for my info so they can send their “shipper” with a certified check. So then I got hip.

“Still available?”

“Yes. I accept cash and Paypal payments.”

No response. . . except for one.

Most of the responders had gmail accounts (not sure why that’s the preferred email for these people) but one of them had a yahoo address and their response went something like this:

Thank you for the response, but I can’t purchase the art anymore anyway. My son got into an accident and crashed our car, so I have to pay for this instead. I’m also in a work from home business where I make $800 per week. It’s really easy, anyone could do it. If you’re interested, click on this link….

Sigh.



So how can you tell who is real and who is not? I can’t. Not until the second email exchange when they all offer a certified check and ask for my info and talk about their “shipper.”

My original paintings are usually not for sell, so this barrage of scamming has thrown me off. It’s been a disappointing but enlightening experience.

The paintings are still for sell, but today I’ll most likely delete my posts so the fake inquires can stop. So I can get some peace and get back to the art of running my business.

Just thought I’d give you a heads up.

Stop Piracy, Not Liberty - Says Google

Today I had planned to write about passive aggressive behavior, but as I was trying to do a little online research, I kept smacking into roadblocks.

Oh sure, I heard that Wikipedia, BoingBoing and Reddit were going black today in protest of SOPA and PIPA – the two bills in front of Congress to address online piracy. What I didn’t know was how many other sites were joining the protest.

Googles catch phrase today is: Stop piracy, not liberty. Googles explanation of the bills:

1. SOPA and PIPA would censor the Web

The U.S. government could order the blocking of sites using methods similar to those employed by China. Among other things, search engines could be forced to delete entire websites from their search results. That’s why 41 human rights organizations and 110 prominent law professors have expressed grave concerns about the bills.

2. SOPA and PIPA would be job-killers because they would create a new era of uncertainty for American business

Law-abiding U.S. internet companies would have to monitor everything users link to or upload or face the risk of time-consuming litigation. That’s why AOL, EBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga wrote a letter to Congress saying these bills “pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation.” It’s also why 55 of America’s most successful venture capitalists expressed concern that PIPA “would stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness”. More than 204 entrepreneurs told Congress that PIPA and SOPA would “hurt economic growth and chill innovation”.

3. SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy

To make matters worse, SOPA and PIPA won’t even work. The censorship regulations written into these bills won’t shut down pirate sites. These sites will just change their addresses and continue their criminal activities, while law-abiding companies will suffer high penalties for breaches they can’t possibly control.
There are effective ways to combat foreign “rogue” websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that have made the Internet such an important driver of American economic growth and job creation. Congress should consider alternatives like the OPEN Act, which takes targeted and focused steps to cut off the money supply from foreign pirate sites without making US companies censor the Web.

To join in the protest and sign a petition to prevent these two bills click here.
And good luck surfing the web today (although, I don’t believe in luck).

It's Your Year

Happy New year to you! I haven’t heard an excessive amount of talk on resolutions coming into 2012, but maybe it’s because we’re focused on keeping things in perspective… employment… spending… the economy… the best move to protect our assets…

I don’t know, but I did see a man jogging one late afternoon in 80 degree January weather and I thought to myself, “he’s only out here to honor his resolution – there’s no way he should be out here running in this heat.”

Despite the heat, good for him for jogging down a path of self improvement. We should all sweat so profusely to snag our goals (well, not if we don’t have to).

I equate starting a new year to graduating from high school. The world seems fresh and new again and the possibilities are boundless. For those of you who share that glint of optimism, I want to give you one lead to help nudge you to jog across the finish line in this 80 degree economic weather.

If you are creating a name for yourself, starting a new company or revamping a book idea or an existing website, my friend Elle Beah is offering 50% off book and web content development to her next two clients in the month of January. I first handedly have seen her exceptional talent and innovative marketing ideas and have worked with her on several projects myself. She is professional, dedicated and highly inspirational. Email Elle for her regular rates sheet at: Luvliwords at aol dot com.

This is your year.