The dog days of August

      August is just around the corner and that is the only time the world thinks about Oak Ridge, Tennessee and even at that, it is to condemn the town for the sin of Hiroshima.
       So this year, I am getting all my op/ed material ready early, so I can send it out early and hope against hope, that a mainstream editor somewhere will have the courage to the run a piece supporting the Manhattan Project workers. A guy can dream can't he?

James Cameron and me

      Sometimes the world turns in unexpected ways. Got sent a link where James Cameron, evidently, issued a press release saying that his only projects going forward will be Avatar sequels. Now, I could write at length about why a creative person would paint themselves into a creative corner like that, but will focus on the real issue.
      When Cameron bought the movie rights to the non-fiction book Last Train From Hiroshima he was pushing a massive pile of his poker chips onto the table. Now he has thrown his cards on the table and walked away. Those chips are still on the table. Does Hollywood know those chips are still on the table? Are they looking at their own cards and thinking it's a pretty weak hand I have, but Cameron walked away, so maybe those chips can be all mine!
      Here is the link.

Cameron makes a vow.

You Served Radio Interview

     Was interviewed last night on You Served Radio live! Troy, CJ and Wendy were all great hosts. If you want to listen in, I have provided a link. My interview begins about 65 minutes into the two hour show, but you should really listen to the first interview with military cartoonist John Holmes. And yes, if you had ever told me I would follow John Holmes on a radio interview I would have laughed in your face. Life is strange that way.
      I have no idea if I connected with the audience or not. Such is radio. My YouTube video got a very respectable bump overnight, so I am very happy about that!
      Listen in if you want. Pass it around with your friends. This is how this story will get out there!

You Served Radio

Lady Gaga and me.

      Monday, my YouTube video broke through 40,000 hits. Lady Gaga gets over 400 million hits, but we really aren't much alike. First off, she gets more hits than I do.
      Secondly, she peddles sex and I peddle history and science. This goes back to her hits versus my hits.
      Over all, I am stunned at the number of hits the video has gotten. As always, this ain't about me. The Oak Ridge story resonates with people. They like to discover stories and they like the idea that they can help fix an injustice of history.
      But to get Hollywood to pay attention, the hits need to grow to the 500,000 range. My work is cut out for me, for sure. Need to get the story OUT THERE.

Keep Throwing Mud Against the Wall

      Got a link about an exhibit of photographs at The Tennessee State Museum in Nashville. Joe O'Donnell spent seven months in Japan in 1945 and 1946 taking photographs for the Marines. He took a bunch of personal photos "off the clock." The exhibit is 24 images from his collection. Images from Hiroshima are in the exhibit.
      I took three deep breaths. E-mailed the gal at the museum who was the contact for the O'Donnell exhibit and asked, "Ever thought about Ed Westcott?"
      One of the curators e-mailed Monday. He said, paraphrasing, no we haven't and we should.
      On other fronts, a military blogger that I sent my YouTube link to, e-mailed and said there are three of them who do a podcast and wanted to know if I was interested in doing a live interview. Sure. Why not?
      So things are looking up a bit.

Getting On With It

      Got up, dusted off my pants and got back to work. This has been going on, in one way or another, for almost seven years. I will fall down again and I will just get back up.
      Working on Twitter each day. Simply posting the message many times a day. Won't change a thing. Will sit down and look at the YouTube numbers after May 5th. Perhaps the tea leaves will show a pattern after four weeks of tweets.
      Also, will video tape my TED talk and get that posted. The presentation will be the easy part. The logistics of getting equipment and camera operators together will be the main hurdle. Again, want to have that posted on YouTube by May 5th. at the latest.
       The Oak Ridge story is a great story, my screenplay is a solid story of a little boy losing his father. Everything else is simply execution: leveraging social media to raise awareness of this great American epic and also raise awareness of my screenplay in Hollywood. One or two lucky breaks and this story will get out there!

Just Get On With It

      There are many reasons for my current funk, but the main reason is the failure of my IndieGoGo campaign. I've got $80 online and another $60 in person. Have eleven weeks to go. My goal was $100,000 by June 14th. Safe to assume I will probably not reach my goal, but at IndieGoGo you keep whatever you raise.
      Need to promote it on the social media sites with a ton of personal appeals to folks. Will also send links to hundreds of military bloggers. Will also need to press the flesh in east Tennessee. The concept of ideas going "viral" on the Internet is smoldering somewhere between a cliche and mythology. Stories abound, but contrary to the myth, the more I pass out my business cards, the more hits I get on YouTube.
      People will donate to this "cause" because they have a deep personal connection to it. In short, they had a family member who worked on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge.
      Here are the links for both IndieGoGo and YouTube.


http://www.indiegogo.com/forgivenessonline-1?a=433232


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQO7pOfBdxY