I can't believe it has been four years since I first blogged about Northern Voice. Sadly, I wasn't able to save those posts from the big database meltdown of 2006 but I do remember them fondly. Northern Voice is a conference about blogging, how to write, and how people may use the power of blogging software to improve their web sites. At the moment, I am sitting in a session where five authors are talking about how they started blogging. This is one of the more fascinating talks because the discussions are about content. Why is this exciting? More on this later...

Hanging around Northern Voice for the last four years I have been to a few different sessions on how to put advertising on your blog in order to make some money. One of my pet peeves about advertising on the web is most people I talk to obsess about the advertising an appear to forget the content they are attempting to create. If you have read this web site before, you will know that I love good content and things like advertising are secondary. When you find a voice for your blog the advertising revenue will come. (Sure, there are many things that you can do to improve how advertising works on your blog but those are the final touches and not our primary focus.) James Sherrett of Adhack fame is doing what I would do - he is facilitating rather than professing any expertise (of which he has a whole lot!) in the session topic. There is no true final answer for how to make money with advertising as it is different for each individual blog and he acknowledges this at the very beginning by asking the audience what the answers are. I will write more about this later but, right now, I am going to follow a bit more about what is being discussed.

I have had a few calls from family in the last day or so wanting to get a hold of me or various things and I have been cramming to get as much done as I could this week because Saturday is a conference day. I am going to Northern Voice 2008 and I won't be near my phone or near a computer 100% of the time. Drop me a text message if you need me for anything important, otherwise, I will be back later in the evening.

The Blogging For Dummies Book Launch Party was awesome!  There were so many incredibly cool people (a lot of them bloggers!) there and fun was had by all.  We did a little live blogging, shared some blogging stories, and held a contest for a free blog!

Thanks to the Railway Club who had the best and friendliest staff and for the very cool back room where parties can be held.  Reasonable and amazing!  Also, thanks to everyone who dropped in and we plan to do it again soon!

I feel like I am ten years old again.  The Indiana Jones teaser trailer has been released and I can’t help but experience a certain level of excitement about having another Indiana Jones adventure coming to theatres.  I have two memories that feature Indiana Jones.  The first was my 9^th (or it may have been my 10^th) birthday party.  This party stands out in my memory because it was possibly the best birthday party I have ever had.

My parents hosted a huge sleep over party.  We made personal pizzas, goofed off, played games, and rented Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The reason this made a point in my life was that a couple of my friends had to go home because their parents felt that Raiders was too violent for their children.  At the time, I didn’t really notice.  I am sure I thanked them for coming but I was more excited about watching the film.  When you are nine years old, social grace tends to develop later.  At some point, we watched the movie with popcorn my father made using his sophisticated “smash the oil and salt into the popcorn kernels while bashing the pot on the stove elements” method.  I always thought this was hilarious to watch because I waited for years to see what would happen to a stove top element that broke.  I think it eventually did but I missed it. 

Of course, we stayed up well into the night.  Nine o’clock, maybe.  Who knows.  All I remember is being scared of the back door (one of those sliding glass deals).  It was pitch black outside.   I don’t remember much of the following day (sugar rush, I am sure, caused that) but I always think back to that day and night because it meant a lot.  Thus, Indiana Jones has been burned into my memory as the movie series that represents a good part of my childhood.

The other memory I have is my first time seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  It was the one and only time I ever went to a movie with my grandmother.  She was the nicest person and I tried to explain to her what the movie was about as she felt it was “violent”.  I treasure that day as we lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's disease not long after 1989.  I think of her each time I watch that film.

Who is going with me…

As a quick side note, it occurred to me that Indiana Jones may have been one of the first films we rented but I know for a fact the first movie we ever rented was Darby O’Gill and the Little People with Sean Connery.  I remember liking it.  But, come on, anything with Sean Connery tends to be good.

Hey, gang!  Sorry for my absence the last week or so – I have been incredibly busy with my day job.  But, at the moment, I felt it was important to let you know about something that has been cooking on the back burner of my brain for a few days.

The film is called The French Guy and it was made by a friend of mine, Ann Marie Fleming.  I won’t spoil it for you (there aren’t any screenings in the next while) but I just heard it was being released on to DVD in Canada on Mother’s Day.  Now, this film really isn’t for your mother (unless your mom’s are into a bit of gore) so, save it for another day. 

I will let you guys know where you can buy it but, for now, check out her fancy site at Sleepy Dog Films.

That’s all for now, go buy the film.

Once in a while, I check out the comment spam folder on my site and it is always packed.  I just wanted to send out a quick message to those who send me comment spam – don’t bother.  I do check this site every week and never have I let one piece of your comment crap get through.

Comment spam makers – eat my shorts.

Comment spam spreaders – lick my boots.

Comment spam people – drop dead.

If you post any further, I will let my Pug eat you.