With the use of hashtag based live chats one can create a powerful opportunity for your network to engage on a regular basis but most users are not familar with how to partipate.

Creating a regular Tweet Chat is only the first step- making sure people are comfortable and are able to easily take part should be on the top of your priority list.

Following a Tweet Chat can be done by doing a search of that hashtag within Twitter’s search or by creating a search column within Tweet Deck.

For an easy solution www.tweetchat.com is a great option for your less tech savy followers:

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

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By taking the time exploring the rich options available through RSS Feed Applications it is quite easy to post automatically seamlessly to a Fan Page or Individual Profile.

Take a some time to consider how the posts are to be processed how they will display to your network.

How will adding your Tumblr content to Facebook effect the timing of your regular posts? Do you need a fancy scheduler? Do you need to post differently?

Before considering changing anything take a look at the options Tumblr other 3rd Parties offer for posting to Facebook.

One of the backbones of information exchange on the internet are the file formats known as RSS or Web Feeds. Know it or not the music, web pages the majority of mobile content delivered from cloud based applications use the Really Simple Syndication format.

Facebook is on one level just a giant personalized RSS feed reader with advertisements with a really powerful recommendation engine.

RSS takes the basic content (HTML) of a webpage or Tumblr post and makes it available automatically online so it can be syndicated/used else where as needed.

Tumblr’s Facebook Application

The default options provided to import a stream use a Tumblr branded Facebook Application that posts a small thumbnail the notes (Title Description) from the original Tumblr content.  These posts receive low ranking on Facebook’s Edge Ranking system and are subject to frequent lags delays in displaying.

If several people in a network post simultaneously Facebook will either stagger the posts in large blocks and they appear nested in News Feeds.  When this occurs your followers fans may or not see your posts.

The posts from Tumblr’s Application can be commented upon but cannot be shared directly from within Facebook. To share the post on Facebook a visitor must leave Facebook visit the original post on Tumblr and then share from there.  Reposting these posts on Facebook is next to impossible on most mobile devices.

http://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/facebook_pages
http://apps.facebook.com/tumblr-feed/

RSS Graffitti

Of all the free options RSS Grafitti is by far the one that offers the easiest installation most comprehensive suite of options for posting Tumblr to Facebook.

It’s rich user interface provides clear instructions and helpful tips throughout the instal process. For a casual user it’s scheduling options are overkill but are essential for any Fan Page.

Content posted using RSS Grafitti on Facebook can be shared commented upon without any limitations or loss of content

Networked Blogs

Facebook based small blog networking application. They are great at what they do. It is a fine platform for the beginner those who dream of becoming a wealthy blogger superstar.  Sadly gainful remuneration traffic from Networked Blogs’ network of bloggers is a myth.

Content posted with Networked Blogs will appear on their site and can be shared quickly from within Facebook. Kinda. Sorta. Maybe.

The system of custom URL redirect and syndication used by Networked Blogs is controversial and questions their ethics of rebranding content under new addresses.  When content is shared, interacted with from Network Blog’s system it is not with the original article.

In exchange for using their RSS syndication system for Tumblr or any Feed Networked Blogs takes content passing through their network and create a new page on their site with the same content but with their URL.

Any page views to that page will be credited to Networked Blogs not your original Tumblr Stream.  Networked Blogs does provide some basic promotion tools but they are limited to other users of their system and are time intensive.

Sharing is quick but Thumbnails are lost any web visits will be to the Networked Blog’s version of your content.

IFTTT.com

A Hyper simple set of tools to connect various online platforms.  The wide range of options IFTTT  requires basic HTML familiarity with RSS to work with it’s system of Channels Tasks.

Still in Beta, it’s only drawback is it’s lack of scheduling options. IFTTT checks for new content every 15 minutes and posts all content from each time period at once.  In order to use one must be mindful of timing to avoid over posting on Facebook.

Content syndicated with ifttt.com is sharable and clean looking. Worth the extra knowledge and patience needed to work comfortably with it’s powerful tools.

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

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Social Media’s power comes in it’s amazing ability to amplify any project or endeavor, personal or professional.

The tools information technologies once only available to universities, large corporations the military are free and readily  available to anyone with internet access.

The new social platforms now allow anyone to create and grow a personal and/or professional brand for free and with little special skills.

Why create a Fan Page?

A basic Individual Profile can be used for professional promotion networking but by creating a Fan Page there are many more options and no limitation of the number of people you are connected with.  Individual Profiles are limited to 5000 Friends where as Fan Pages have no limit.

There is a common practice of creating an individual profile for one’s professional work, business, brand or company. This practice violates Facebook’s Terms of use and can result in loosing access to the account connections made if discovered.

From Facebook’s Terms:

Facebook profiles are meant to represent a single individual. Organizations of any type are not permitted to maintain an account under the name of their organization. We have created Facebook Pages to allow organizations to have a presence on Facebook.

These Pages are distinct presences, separate from user profiles, and optimized for an organization’s needs to communicate, distribute information/content, engage their fans, and capture new audiences virally through their fan’s recommendations to their friends.

If you create a profile for your business, your account may be disabled for violating our Terms of Use.

In addition to not limiting the number of followers/friends a Fan Page also allows for expanded communication options.

With a Fan Page one can not only post information into the News Feed/ Wall like with an Individual Profile highly customizable direct messages can be sent to promote your events listed on Facebook Events Platform.

A Fan Page can send an update to all it’s Followers not just those invited that have RSVP’d as is allowed with Individual Profiles.

Leveraging Facebook Events is quite easy and should not be limited to brands not prone to having event based business promotions.  Facebook Events is a great way to hold contests, special virtual events promote product releases.

SEO, Technical Pros of Fan Pages

The one of the biggest arguments for creating a Fan Page for your brand is that most content shared or posted gets indexed by major Search Engines.  Individual Profiles do not get crawled and ranked in the same ways a Fan Page does.

If you know what the abbreviation SEO means and it’s something your are attempting to improve then a Fan Page is the clear way to go.

Improving the ability for people to find your content outside of your existing network is sound soft marketing and should be the goal of anyone engaging in social media.

Fan Pages allow multiple Administrators can also provide an additional layer of privacy and protection.  Depending on your brand you can choose weather or not the Administrators of the Page are visible to the public or not.

Reported Content Account Protection

For heavier users of Facebook and those with a large network having a Fan page provides a layer of protection from having your posting ability or even worse having your account suspended.

Content can be flagged as inappropriate and reported to Facebook by anyone to who your content is visible.  The crowd sourced policing of Facebook can result in seemingly random warnings and account suspensions as more people discover the anonymous ability to report content.

When content is reported or flagged on a Fan Page that page gets the warning NOT the administrators directly.  If several reports are received the Fan Page will be put on suspension not the individuals who posted it.

This small loop hole in the reporting system can be useful if you have a large, highly engaged network who might have strong reactions to your content.  Most brands do not have to worry about this but photographers artists who use live models seem to benefit the most from this protection.

The best reason aside from the increased privacy communication options Fan Pages allow many options to make use of Facebook’s Open Graph API.  Adding a Like Button, Facebook Commenting and various promotion badges and widgets.

For those who are already using a Individual Profile for your brand and want to convert it to a Fan Page Facebook offers a option to migrate.

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

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• How a Good Facebook Fan Page Should Look Like (inspiredm.com)

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In this day and age it seems that almost every man is wearing a beard of some form.

In the sea of facial hair there seems to be a lack of beard education.

Most men shave to look good from the front angle and don’t really see the rest.

This is the biggest problem.

The thing is fellas you see yourself from the front. The rest of the world ses you from other angles.

Most of you tend to shave up your neck right to your chin, while from the front you look clean cut, with sharp lines, but from the side view you are featuring turkey jowl (Gobble Gobble)

See image 1.

A simple solution to this is while shaving open your mouth and create a new guideline to follow.

This simple procedure changes up your whole look.

Just see what it did for him in image 2

The second biggest problem is the transition from beard to clean shaven head.

This one fellas I blame on the barber who is shaving your head.

The guy in image 3 quite possibly has the perfect beard.

The right amount of grooming to keep it shapely and clean but not so much grooming wear it looks like an etch a sketch drew it on.

The length is perfect giving him a masculine roughness to him, but not so long to give you that “I just got off the farm and probably have food in my beard and smell” look.

The only flaw here is that the drop off line is so harsh.

The simple solution is to have your barber fade your beard to your head.

If you are shaving your own head, well then you are probably not reading hair and beard tips, but if you are cut your beard slightly shorter towards the top to soften the line.

Harsh lines tend to draw focus and attention. You can see the subtle difference between image 3 and image 4 but what a difference it can make.

If you need more in detail tips on how to care for your beard you may want to look at the website All About Beards

Platonic Fey Contribitor Marko Tomassetti

When it comes to hair, Marko Tomassetti’s passion is working with natural pigment. He believes that hair color should be within two shades of its natural color. His philosophy is, “it may not be your natural color, but it should look like it is.”

Marko’s professional career began in 1996 at the age of 19 when he apprenticed under Louis Licari at his eponymous NYC salon. He then moved to the Jose Eber Salon where his hard work earned him the honor of becoming youngest colorist in the company’s history.

Marko continued his career at the famous Privé Salon where he honed and perfected his color techniques.

He splits his time between Sally Hershberger Downtown in the Meatpacking District and Sally Hershberger Los Angeles.

Related articles

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Now the thing is that my pokey, tattoo’d digital pal I met back in the early days of MySpace has been dead since December 2009.

Out of curiosity I took a look at his page to see what was going on.

Facebook’s auto birthday reminders, one of the platform’s oldest features appeared not to be the only one’s confused about Steve’s corporeal state. Scrolling down the screen there appeared about 2 years worth of random greetings birthday posts.

There were several messages mixed in between the birthday greetings that seemed to acknowledge and comment on his passing but for the most part the page appeared just like any other.

Each year on my own dead mother’s birthday my sister awkwardly tags me in photos of her that I do not actually appear in.

Last year another friend of mine over dosed after several earnest attempts at sobriety and there had been activity from on his page after his death.
Seems some of his family choose to assume control over his individual account as apart of their grieving process.

Within a day or so of his death his account became a flurry of activity of friend additions and interactions from and to his profile.

From time to time I still see my dead friend add new people to his network and the occasional page “Like”.  All three ways I’ve seen people in my immediate network deal with death on social media have been creepy but understandable.

Where one profile immediately became a digital Weekend At Bernie’s Zombie animated by his deceased family member’s keystrokes the other sat silently for two years collecting posts from people thinking them alive.

I’m not sure which bothered me more the well meaning attentive tact one family took or the neglect the second seemed to suffer.

I get it people deal with death differently but as social media evolves and offers people weird new ways to express it I think a larger dialog needs to occur about what happens to your digital presence when you are gone both as it affects is as individuals and as a society as a whole.

The taboo surrounding talking about one’s own death is huge and bringing up what your wishes are once you are worm food isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.

Everyone has their own unique relationship with their online accounts and figuring out what you want to have happen with them is a highly personal matter.  If you do not have a clear set of wishes it will be left to chance who gets access to your accounts and what is to be done with them.

Discussing the matter directly as apart of your living will is ideal but it does not need to be so formal.  Bring up the subject the next time a big celebrity bites the bullet or while watching a black comedy or your favorite bad zombie film.

Ask your friends what they want to see happen once they have croaked.  Do they want a digital memorial staffed by loved ones or estranged family members for eternity or do they want it all gone.

Having had this conversation with several folks I’ve noticed the subject is often met with uneasy laughter, rants about reincarnation, nihilism, emptiness or beatific descriptions of angelic cosmology but is a subject everyone seems to want to talk about once you break the ice.

Facebook MySpace both offer options for individual profiles to be converted into Memorial pages if they are provided with information about a death.

Twitter’s policy is unclear. Internet rummors abound about the deletion of Timelines accounts of people once they are dead.

Facebook also allows immediate family members the option of closing down a profile and removing it from their system completely.

Yesterday after talking to a bunch of people who got the same annoying message from Facebook I took the initaive and submitted a report about Steve’s profile.

The process was a bit annoying at first- for some reason their Help articles on the how to submit the information seemed to be available in 20+ Langauge Options, English not being one of them- but easy to figure out once you get to the right form.

I’ll spare you my speculation on why someone’s family or their other friends (digital or IRL)  didn’t look into the matter right after he died.  I was as guilty as the rest and let the poor guy’s profile and network fester.

The report has been submitted and Facebook sent me their auto response suggesting they’ll get back to me, eventually.

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

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It’s a moment anyone who went to high school can empathize with, though it might mean something more to those who grew up gay— the adolescent experience when you discover, like the X-Men, something in your nature that makes you different from the majority of the people around you.

Parallels between the mutant experience and the gay experience pervade First Class, which opened on Friday to a weekend box-office haul of $56 million. The film, a prequel to the modern X-Men movie series, tells the franchise’s origin myth: Genetic mutations create a cadre of young superheros who use their powers for good—in this case, by attempting to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. The mutants are, unmistakably, a social minority. The film’s catchphrase is “mutant and proud,” a playful riff on post-Stonewall self-acceptance, and a “don’t ask, don’t tell” joke even finds its way into the dialogue.

In its own way, X-Men has become the most subversive modern comic-book franchise, translating for a country of summer moviegoers the entire theater of gay politics.

The agenda was set with the original X-Men in 2000, directed by the openly gay Bryan Singer. “It’s not just a fantasy story,” Singer reportedly told actor Ian McKellen, a fervent LGBT-rights activist, to lure him into a starring role as Magneto.

“It’s a parable.”

And indeed, it has been. In the first film, the superheroes are opposed by a U.S. senator who cries out, in a nod to Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign, “I think the American people deserve the right to decide whether they want their children … to be taught by mutants!”

The follow-up, 2003′s X2, made its point more boldly, in a scene that so closely resembles a “coming out” it borders on camp—the mother asks her son, “Have you ever tried not being a mutant?” before she gives up entirely and says, “This is all my fault.”

Singer moved on and was replaced by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), not exactly known for his queer sensibilities. But if anything, 2006′s X-Men: The Last Stand amped up the symbolism with a plot about a pharmaceutical company that develops a “cure” for the mutant gene. While drugs and biology play a role in other superhero movies, notably the Blade series, none has so convincingly pointed to the AIDS epidemic and the way the gay community came together in solidarity to fight it. “There’s nothing to cure,” an indignant Storm (Halle Berry) says at one point. “Nothing’s wrong with any of us.”

Image via Wikipedia

But what if X-Men was gay from the beginning? The idea may not surprise those who know the comic books well. Creator Stan Lee came of age as a writer in the 1960s, when anti-fascist superheroes like Captain America gave way to anti-heroes who challenged the status quo.

One of his earliest creations, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, featured a cast that was for the time unusually diverse (black, Italian, Jewish), including one character—a scarf-wearing Brit named Percival Pinkerton—that intentionally played on gay stereotypes. “We didn’t make a big issue of it,” Lee told CNN years later.

“He’s just a colorful character who follows his own different drummer. He follows a different beat.”

Lee has been coy about sexually identifying X-Men, calling it one of several stories directed “against bigotry of all sorts.”

At the time the comic book first came out in 1963, it made more sense to think of the characters’ plight in terms of the civil rights movement. Since then, however, it’s become a natural echo of the growing LGBT movement, which is likewise based on a minority that’s “hidden” from public view.

In his article “Making Gay Sense of the X-Men,” William Earnest notes how Mystique’s shape-shifting ability, allowing her to “look like everyone else,” closely mirrors the gay phenomenon of “passing.” In one of First Class’s more poignant subplots, Mystique starts embarrassed by her “natural blue form” before learning to embrace her true appearance. Magneto chides her, “You want society to accept you, but you can’t even accept yourself.”

Of course, X-Men is hardly the first to comment on a social movement in a medium known for its progressivism—it just happens to be the most popular.

A lesser-known Marvel character from 1966, Black Panther, was the first African-American superhero, though his transition to the silver screen has been bumpier, following a Wesley Snipes adaptation left in limbo. That might make X-Men’s resonance mostly a matter of timing—homosexuality, after all, still counts as a headline controversy, and one ripe for fictionalization.

A scene from The Last Stand, in which a teenage mutant shamefully tries to cut off his new angel wings, eerily foreshadows the suicides that have inspired the enormously popular “It Gets Better” campaign. Science fiction or not, that’s a hard parallel to ignore.

[CLICK HERE TO SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE]

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These are the same people that think radio is a dead media and probably don’t tip their waiters or baristas.

The publishing industry is currently being reshaped by the same forces that tore through broadcast radio & television over the past 20 years.

From a commercial, market perspective the world of all three look nothing like they did even 5 years ago with corporate consolidation and desktop publishing reshaping every facet  of each industry.

The average person’s only encounter with the form of short stories usually has occurred in the English class gone by or when a popular tale is adapted into a film or television version.

While the attention of the popular mind has been festering with this fantasy the form of short fiction the terse tight plot twisting of the short story have been flowering in the world of podcasts.

One of the finest examples of old forms finding new venues are the audio productions of Escape Artists Inc it’s flagship audio property Escape Pod.

Hosted by prolific writer and online personality Mur Lafferty, Escape Pod’s weekly free podcast produces some of the best short story readings available.  The show was begun in 2005 by Steve Eley and has spawned two sister podcasts: Pseudopod (Horror) Castle Pod (Fantasy).

Stories presented on Escape Pod generally stick to traditional Science Fiction but over the years it has offered many genre bending readings that focus on the art of engaging story telling no matter what the setting.

Union Dues, a series of super hero tales set in a single universe crafted by Jeffrey R. DeRego are Escape Pod modern short fiction at it’s best.

The four stories found on Escape Pod and the two Union Dues : Team Shikaragaki pieces written for the Young Adult podcast ClonePod like most of Escape Pod’s programs are well written, entertaining and worth listening to even if super heroes or scifi are not your cup of tea.

Escape Pod, like many successful short story podcasts uses a magazine format with an introduction of this week’s story by the editor, a well produced reading and concludes with past episode feedback that is familiar to most.

The intimate nature of listening to spoken word online lends it’s self the often errie and quirky twists short scifi fiction uses to keep reader’s attention till the last sentence.

Keeping the production’s focus on the story Escape Pod avoids cheap theatrics having a single reader with no sound effects or mood music.

Surf Rock band Daikaiju lend two tracks for Escape Pod’s opening closing themes giving the show it’s characteristic high energy setting an great audio back drop.

Promoting Creative Commons sharing distribution of their programs, Escape Artists Inc relies on PayPal donations to pay all it’s writers for the content.  Boasting on their site and during their programming as being the only Podcasting network which pays it’s creative talent. From the consistent high quality shows they’ve produced over the past seven years it’s obvious they are doing something right.

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

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“Howl” without a doubt is one of the more important bits of poetry produced in America in the 1950’s.  Don’t get me wrong he’s an amazing technician and one of the great poets but my adoration of him comes from him as a cultural force cool curator.

I’m a Beat Generation Junkie. A lot of who I am has to do with the inspiration I found in the writings lives of Jack Kerroac, Williams S. Burroughs most of all dear old ‘Uncle Allen’ Ginsberg all we’re secret mentors and role figures since I discovered them in high school.

My interest in Buddhism, writing, creative companions, drugs, travel and most of all my sexual identity was deeply informed by the lives of those we now know as the ‘The Beats.’

Personal pride, intellectual snobbery shame kept me from feeling I could turn to my parents for anything, let alone on being role models.  Jack, William Allen with their prolific chronicling of their lives, loves interpersonal dramas were ready stand ins.

Allen Ginsberg is one of most important poets in recent history but I would argue it’s more for what he edited curated in his friends and art of others and not for his writing.

It doesn’t take much time on the internet to discover that man’s influence.  The guy helped create the world’s first fully accredited Buddhist University in America and helped foster the careers of many people both directly and through his inspiration.

HOWL! Fest held annually in New York City is one of the more interesting parts of Ginsberg’s legacy and best captures his spirt life long effort to cultivate artists and artistic expression.

Nothing embodies the part of his personality that resonates most deeply with me than this festival it’s varied offerings.

The festival has been annually highlighting the art, music creative efforts of those in and of New York East Village, both geographically spiritually speaking since 2003.

The three day festival brings together a wide range of individuals from diverse backgrounds in and around Thompkins Square Park for music, dance, theatre and exhibitions of mural art by local artists.

‘Art Around the Park’,  the festival’s most visible and high impact happening, wraps the fences facing Avenue A East 6th Street with a 8 foot tall canvas and Individual sections are given to working artists to paint an onsite mural inspired by Howl! the poem, The Festival and New York City free of charge.

Todd Yeager  will be unhand to contribute to the 900 foot + street mural and is sure to create images Mr. Ginsberg would write about.

Todd Yeager, unusually known for his inmate photo realistic nude portraits of creatives will be creating a large scale neoclassical portrait which will be kid safe yet keeping with his usually erotically charged style.

The Ghost of Ginsberg understands but would probably prefer one of the artist’s full monty Pans.

Giving a public space for artists to create large scale paintings street side is just one of the ways in which the Festival works to promote local artists.  The blank canvas goes up Saturday morning and the artists will begin their work by noon.

My favorite part of Art Around the park is getting to meet new artists in person. The street as studio is a conducive setting for conversation with those creating and a great networking opportunity for the artists.

A festival would not be complete without something for the kids and each year the festival uses part of the park as a kid’s carnival with face painting, balloons animals, crafts and live entertainment provided by Rosie’s Theater Kids.

For those of you with mature tastes and preferences more along with Allen’s own.  rising star Go Go Harder, Muse, Model social curator will be performing with The Jackie Factory Nightclub Collective’s annual ‘Low Life’ in an evening of sexy performances.

The collective, which takes it’s name from cultural critic writer Luc Sante’s exploration of turn of the century urban life are also the folks behind ‘Night of a 1000 Stevies’ so expect a raucous good time of cross dressing burlesque fun.

This year’s festival coincides with what of been Allen’s 85th birthday of June 3rd and kicks off with a symphonic group reading of it’s name sake poem lead by Bowery Poetry Club’s Bob Holman on Friday afternoon.

All proceeds raised by the festival will go to support Howl Art’s yearly festival efforts  towards funding The Howl Emergency Life Project (H.E.L.P).

Administered through the Actors Fund, H.E.L.P. provides emergency finical  support to former Festival participants and those working living in New York City’s East Village LES:

Whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of dance, theatre, music, multimedia and the spoken word.

Patty Smith, Lenny Kaye Debbie Harry all lend their glitteratti shine to H.E.L.P.’s advisory board and it’s efforts to help artists in need. In addition to cash grants the project also connects applicants with community resources offers educational workshops on a variety of subjects unique to struggling artists.

Noticeably absent is a screening of Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s 2010 film “Howl!” which starred James Franco as Ginsberg.

While some may see this as a missed opportunity to expose the world to the sleepy little flick I take as clear evidence of the grassroots nature and focus of the festival.

Howl Arts Inc, the festival’s organizers’ mission statement highlight’s it’s tight focus:

“to perpetuate, coordinate and support the arts and creative industries with exhibitions and documentation. We aim to improve the daily lives of artists and members of the creative community and to enhance and create opportunities for artists in the production of their work.”

Even if you are not a huge fan of Ginsberg’s (of his work or life) the festival offers something for everyone and is a tradition deserving of such an important cultural figure and society changing poem.

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

Related articles

• Howl Writer-Directors Rob Epstein And Jeffrey Friedman (cinemablend.com)
• Allen Ginsberg Didn’t Say That (Feature) (popmatters.com)
• You: 55 years after the fact, culture still cries ‘Howl’ (washingtonpost.com)

By taking a look at your content’s styling it is easy to maximize the exposure of your posts via Twitter growing your network on both.

Tumbles Tweets. Likes or Retweets. Streams or Feeds. Tumbeasts and Fail Whales. Twitter and Tumblr are two very different platforms with their own unique cultures, demographics, semantics practice etiquette.
The common practice by Tumblr users is to connect a stream to Twitter and allow it’s content to post automatically.  These posts often are poorly styled, are posted to frequently can appear to many as spam.

Here are some suggestions things to consider before turning on the auto posting:

Pick a name Keep it.

The fact that Tumblr offers dynamic flexibility with the ability to customize your URL is a double edged sword.  While being able to change your Tumblr web address user name can be useful as one refines hones their posting practices it can make finding your blog difficult to the general public.

Using a consistent brand or user name is a tried true practice in any promotional setting professional or personal.  When using Tumblr or any social media site with Twitter if possible use the same name for the stream you use there.

Avoid Over Sharing

Finding the amount of content to post to Twitter is a entire science that each user should determine depending on their goals and network.  In general the smaller the network you have on Twitter the less you should share.

If you are a rapid reblogger post several times an hour to Tumblr you should curate your best picks only.  Original content is always the best choice, but if reblogging another Tumblr blog give preference to the one’s with the best styling use of the text area.

140 or Bust

Tumblr provides a Text area with most post styles and one should pay close attention to the styling type of content placed there especially when cross posting to Twitter.  Tumblr does not post custom web addresses uses it’s own URL shortener.

Keeping your titles to under 140 characters is a easy way to ensure clean translation from one service to another.

Using Text Posts on Tumblr allows for the most flexibility control of the styling of any content. Text Posts are the only ones that allow full access to Tumblr’s HTML editor.  In addition Tumblr will add the titles for any other style of posts when sending the content to Twitter. Photo, Quote, Link, Chat, Audio Video content all receive their appropriate Post Title type in addition to Tumblr’s short URL.

Posts of these types will only receive the title URL when posted to Twitter.

Create a List of Tumblrs on Twitter

Making use of Tumblr lists is always a solid strategy to promote content build your network.  Follow any current followers people you follow on your Tumblr account who have Twitter accounts. Do a search on Twitter using Tumblr or a hash tag that people who might like your content might follow or use.

Many Twitter users track who is being added to lists by whom with third party applications and will promote your account by adding you to their lists when you begin to use lists.

The marketers are making use of pyramid style marketing of their list making services by looking for promoting users who actively use lists to sort their users.  Once you begin using lists you will notice your account will be added to lists of list makers.

Check your Theme

Ensuring your posts are easy for followers on Tumblr those who may be visiting the platform for the first time to engage with, reblog and comment upon.

If you you use a theme which does not include easy to find Tweet or Like via Facebook options installing a comment system such as Intense Debate or Disqus is a quick solution. These comment services all offer rich social media integration and easy integration with Tumblr.

The addition of a comment system beyond the basic that Tumblr offers may not be an option for some users due to complexity or not fitting into the concept or look of a blog.

For these people there are many options available in custom themes cut and past theme additions available online or through Tumblr’s list of 3rd Party Applications.

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

Related articles

• [TIP] Tumblr, Live Uncut: Tumblrcasts Mobile Content (billyburgwick.org)
• A Complete Guide To Tumblr (smashingmagazine.com)
• Tumblr: The Easiest Way to Go Viral (case.typepad.com)

 
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5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides)

All the books I read, especially the one’s by Judy Blume centered on some young protagonist whom felt they were different than everyone around them. I picked several favorites and read and reread them over and over savoring the outsider tales identifying with them deeply.

If I had come across a book like Love Drugged during my early days of sexual awareness it would of been apart of the books I read again and again.

James Klise’s tale for young adults centers around the teenage archetypal awkward everyman of Jamie Bates and his high drama navigation of personal identity societal sexual stereotypes.

Like the young protagonist the book balances it’s self between Gay Lit and the traditional Young Adult faire of teen transition. To say the book is merely a coming out tale for boys would gloss over the actual discussion occurring in Klise’s book.

Love Drugged centers around an imaginary miracle drug which offers it’s users freedom from physical attraction to those of the same gender.

The characters in this fast paced tale not only exposes modern misconceptions about sexual gender identities it opens a dialog about compassion and the social pressures young adults face as they begin to given more responsibility of their own day to day lives.

The contrasts between Wesley, Celia and Jaimie and their discussions around the choices they make in regards to the practicalities of personal pharmaceutical use are where Klise’s writing is at it’s best.

One thing that was omitted quite noticeably was an equal treatment of the recreational drug alcohol use many teens encounter today. A bottle of wine makes it’s appearance but the characters quickly move onto the next subject allowing the reader to focus on the topic of Prescription Medication practices.

What seems to be just a tale of a gay boy figuring out being gay is ok is actually a subtle critique of the modern practice of life modification through self medication.

The few moments the author slips into cliche is in his treatment of Attention Deficit, Hyper Activity and Latino stereotypes. Young readers will not even notice the villain is a Gun toting Mexican wise guy but an author’s cultural biases will always come to the surface with enough examination.

I’ll forgive the white guy. He’s a gay librarian in Chicago- at least the evil drug figure was not African American, right?

Love Drugged by James Klise
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
View all my reviews

About Justin Stone-Diaz

When Justin is not correcting people, relatives or online services on what his name is, how to spell it or explaining how hyphens, like bacon can make anything better he spends his time reading, writing pondering media in all it’s forms.

An attendee of Ben Jerry’s Scoop U, Reed College The School of Hard Knocks, Justin Stone-Diaz has contributed to various print, trade technical journals under his or some version of his name.

That’s code for he’s a ghost writer. Wink Wink.

He is one half of the media duo working under the moniker ‘Toonmonk’ and the pixel pusher behind this and many other sites.

Related articles

• 2012 Battle of the Books list is here! (springvillelibrary.wordpress.com)
• Judy Blume “Tiger Eyes” Movie! (popcrunch.com)
• Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Shortlists Announced (cityoftongues.com)

Love Drugged