slimster.net

It’s been awhile since I have posted here, mainly because I have been focusing on my other blog for the last month or so. But after my posting about the crows, I had to include this. As a side note, a pair of red shoulder hawks have moved in across the street, high in a pine tree. They’re cleaning up. But on to the present ridiculous story…

I started a new job and have a fancy new office in the Vinings area of Atlanta. I took a couple of weeks to settle in before my wife came to meet me for lunch. We met, went and picked up some food and came back to eat in the conference area of the office. But on our way back into the parking lot, I noticed 2 men standing behind a pickup truck. One was making some tugging and gyrating movements. He looked to be sawing……something….

I had to pass by them to get to my parking area. One man was dressed in business attire, the other, an Elmer Fudd costume. Between them lay a dead turkey, with missing legs. The man in the country attire waved to us with his free hand. His other hand held two turkey legs.

“So, are there always people in your parking lot sawing the legs off turkeys?”, asked my wife. No, just today. But it just goes to show - even in the hip, trendy and upscale parts of Atlanta, you’re still in Georgia.

Gobble gobble.

Forget Wrigley Field, this landmark of Jackson, TN had it’s 50th season in 2007 and it’s hard to imagine its closing. My brother forwarded me a clip from the Jackson Sun.

For scores of Little Leaguers who grew up on Lions Field, there is a touch of sadness in the news of the sale. The field was considered one of the nation’s premier Little League parks when it opened in 1957. In its heyday, Jackson had close to 20 Little League teams. It sent an all-star team to the Little League World Series in 1974.

I was on the “Kelly Foods” team for 3 years. I think I learned all of my first hard lessons about winning and losing there. My first at-bat against Carlos Sampson scared the crap out of me and all I wanted to do was avoid getting hit. My first championship game was lost there. My first home run was there. And my first championship game was won there as well. I couldn’t imagine a better coach and life teacher than Don Jordan.

They say you can’t ever go back home and it’s true. My dad’s restaurant, the Coffman’s barn and much of the area where I grew up were flattened by tornadoes in recent years. And the next time I go back to Jackson, Lion’s field will be just another softball field at Lambuth College.

This is from this past weekend. I’ll be deleting this video and sending it to you on CD (Mom).

Vista came with my new computer, otherwise I would not have stepped in it. When my friend Rusty called me back in the fall to say he un-installed Vista and reinstalled XP-SP2, I knew there was a problem. The Mac commercials accurately poked fun of this phenomenon.

Remember Longhorn? That’s the product Microsoft didn’t release. Looking back at the huge step in technology that was Windows 95, Vista is a joke. It’s amazing that the same company produced both. Apparently many MS executives didn’t like the new OS either. (Use bugmenot.com if password is needed to see article.)

Microsoft made things fancy because they assumed that’s what people wanted. “Pop and sizzle” - I’ve heard that line before. They replaced simple, recessed lighting with a Disco ball. They put spinner wheels and a giant spoiler where it just didn’t belong.

After attending SMX in Santa Clara, I realized that I went to the wrong event. Not that I didn’t learn a few things, but it should have been called “SMX Basic” as there is an “SMX Advanced” later in the year and I very seriously doubt I can make it to both events. Most of the sessions I attended were a bit on the basic side.

The most thought provoking and insightful of all sessions, as always, were the ones with Todd Freisen and Greg Boser. Both have mastered the black art of SEO spam, but they also know very well how to use their powers for good and they know where to draw the line. They are somewhat like kingpens of the SEO underworld. And they’re not messy.

Friesen has a tendency to lay out some sarcasm and I had a giggle when he gave kudos to MSN for finally coming up with something cutting edge with their new video search. But his funniest remark came when Stephan Spencer responded to an attendee’s comment and said, “but don’t take our word for it, test it yourself.” Todd Freisen leaned into the mike and said, “Dude, they paid to take our word for it - that’s why they’re here!” Thanks Todd. He probably was only half-way kidding.

I have nothing against Spencer and really dig his SEO title tag plugin for Wordpress, but that was a goofy comment. Most people don’t have the time, patience or resources to test all SEO strategies before implementing best practices. Plus, I had seen him “running” through the convention hall earlier in the day. Who runs at a Search Engine Strategies conference? Goofy. And his 16 year old daughter was also on a panel about the Google Generation. Enough already.

Yes, there was a panel about “Generation Google” that didn’t tempt me in the least. Why? I was already in a panel with Neil Patel, a 21 year old Social Media spammer. I believe his quintessential comment was, “Yeah, just keep on spamming.” Thanks Neil. But I have a legit business to run. I know Social Media is here to stay but even Rand Fishkin used the term “value spam” a few years ago so I have a hard time breaking that association with him and many of the Social Media elite.

At any rate, I understand the Google Generation session was like listening to teenagers talk about search marketing. Except these teenagers were the children or siblings of established Search Marketers/panelists. Like, totally cool, and, like, wow.

Yesterday I went to my father in law’s birthday party and he brought up the fact that the web is now corrupted by “you people” - the SEOs. And he’s right. I have always practiced the ‘white hat’ variety of SEO even though some toads have accused me otherwise. But there is a mess out there right now and as long as Google allows stupid, “value spam” to pass as relevant, the problem will only get worse.