According to Snowball...

So in reference to my last post, I mentioned that I always had this picture in my mind of when I came up with the nickname Snowball. 

Well, my good friend Sean Carruthers, of The Lab with Leo Laporte, and the great podcast Labrats.tv; has made something that is the closest I'll ever get to that actual cartoon image.

Killer Snowball - by Sean Carruthers

Thanks Sean.  Definitely made my day.

As always, I remain, obediently yours....

Toodles!

Steve "Snowball" Saylor  

What does your name mean and why did your parents choose it for you? 
Submitted by mommy2two.

Clerks

Okay, well I'm going to answer this a different way.  I'm going to explain my actual nickname instead of how I got my real name.

Obviously with a name like Snowball it seems like a harmless name.  At first I thought it was.  I was in the 6th Grade, roughly around 1992, I was sick and tired of all the "albino" jokes I was receiving when I was a kid.  Trust me, I've heard them all.  So I was fed up.  I wanted a name that I could be happy with and have people call me. 

I came up with several names.  Snowman, Q-Tip, Snowflake, and others.  I kind of liked the whole, White is pure as snow idea.  But when I came up with the nickname Snowball, I had this kind of cartoon picture in my head of this bad ass snowball who had arms and legs and was kicking butt in a snowball fight.  To this day I have yet to see an actual image like that, but I hope someone out there has made something like that, as I imagined when I was a kid.  If anyone knows of such a picture, please let me know.

Anyway, it wasn't until a few years ago, when I had gotten obviously much older that I really used it fully as a nickname.  In high school I was known mainly as Snowball.  Some people can only remember me as Snowball, and yet they don't even remember my actual name.  That's how often people referred me as Snowball.

Then I graduated high school and when I would talk to people and say my nickname was Snowball, they automatically ask, "Oh from Clerks?"

No.

No.

And No.

Yes, I have seen Clerks.  And yes I know that Snowball is used in a very bad way.  But that is not the reason why I have the name.  I like Clerks, don't get me wrong.  Kevin Smith did make a hilarious movie, and I like everything he does.

But please if you're out there and you snicker each time you hear my precious nickname being mentioned.  Please remind them, I had that name before Clerks ever came out, and I don't care if the "very bad" term it's used for was around longer.  To a 6th Grader it was mine, and it was good.

Anyway, that's it.  I'm done.

As always, I remain, obediently yours...

Toodles!

Steve "SNOWBALL" Saylor

P.S.  Oh, and yes I also know about Snowball II from the Simpsons.  So you can stop referencing that too.

I wanted to actually comment on the news that Whoopi has replaced Rosie O'Donnell on The View, and I have to say it's about time!  I'm sorry, I can say I only watch the clips on YouTube about the View, just because I'm never home to watch it live.  Now I thought with Rosie on the show it would've been better.  I liked her in her days of a Daytime Talk Show host and she had a decent acting career.  But with all that was going on with her on the View, I'm glad she's gone.

And Whoopi is the best replacement that could finally bring back some good legitimacy to the show, that has been lacking for quite some time.  Why do you think Barbara Walters hasn't been on a lot since Rosie took over? 

Anyway, I saw the clip of her announcing on The View that she was taking over today, and as I was doing that, I found a really funny clip from the show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" where she was a guest. 

This is really funny, and shows off her comedic talent quite well. 

I was going to put the title, "It's good to be the King."  But I'm definitely no king.

At least not yet.  mwhahahahaa!

So, I've been wanting to post something for a while now just keeping my Vox readers up to date on what is happening in the life according to snowball.  So I'll start off in sections.

This Week in Geek - http://thisweekingeek.net

1) This Week in Geek - Yes, that's right TWiG is going extremely well.  I can't believe how big it is getting and we have only been podcasting since February of this year.  Weird isn't it?  Now, we aren't anywhere near TWiT or Hak.5 numbers, but hey the success that Mike and I have had since we started is just simply amazing.  We have finally reached the 200,000 hit to our website mark, and over 8,500 downloads since we have started.  That may be small like I said compared to other great podcasts, but for me that is the highest numbers for podcasting that I have ever achieved.

Not only have our stats gone up, but our show has expanded as well.  We brought on two full time producers, Pierce "The Punk" Derks, and Brandon "MacGyver" Chambers.  Yes, that's right the Punk the Dial folks we keep having on to fill in as co-hosts are now part of the TWiG crew.  We also expanded our shows by doing Video Game and Movie reviews, Interviews, and TWiG Blogs.  Plus we've upgraded the equipment for our studio and we should be receiving it within the next week.  Which means, we are going to sound as good as we look.  Well, maybe me, Mike still needs work.  LOL  I kid, I kid! 

Speaking of Interviews though, we have some big interviews lined up.  We have famed Vampire author Laurel K. Hamilton coming on our show at the end of August, we have Canadian Television Legend Rick Green, and possibly, quite possibly Summer Glau from Firefly and Serenity and the new Sarah Conner Chronicles series were she is going to play a female Terminator.  This is going to be awesome! 

Now granted I am still on vacation from TWiG until the end of August, but to say that all this has happened in a short period of time for us is more than we ever dreamed of.  This vacation has given me some focus and figuring out a plan creatively and professionally for me over the next few years that would make my life that much better.

Anyway, that's all the TWiG stuff I have today.

Next up....

Steve and Carol

2) The Girlfriend  - Yes, that's right I actually do have a girlfriend now.  Her name is Carol and she is in the same program I am in for school.  Which is awesome.  We have been dating for two months now (or at least it will be this Friday.  See ladies, not every guy forgets anniversary dates).  Carol is awesome.  She loves the same kind of stuff I do and then some.  She likes Harry Potter more than I do, but I'm learning and starting to like the Glasses wearing, black haired dude.  I hope that this relationship will last for a while.  Right now I'm taking it slow and seeing where this is going.  I'm not afraid of the future by any means, just want to take the time to see the scenery first.

my ibook at starbucks

3) The Super Secret Writing Project - Ah, you've been waiting to hear about this one huh?  Well, the project is going so well that soon I'll be able to actually release more information about the project.  Maybe within the next few weeks.  You never know.  Anyway, at last count I am at over 28,000 words and 195 pages total for the story.  Now I know that the word count isn't a full blown novel as of yet, but because it's my first I figure start slow and work my way up to that 90,000 + mark. 

I'm definitely on my way to being able to podcast this sucker sometime in the fall, and it's going to be so fun to do.  I am going to be releasing it exclusively on Podshow Media, which is a great way for me to reach listeners that I haven't reached before and hopefully bring my creative writing to a larger audience.  I hope I can count on you when I launch this thing that I can count on you to spread the word about the podiobook. 

Can't say any more about it at this point, but I am on course to finish the book and have it edited by the end of August so be prepared!

So that's it.  That's what has been keeping me content in my life.  I have a good family, good friends(online and offline), and a great life.  Feels good.

So take care have a good one, and just give someone a smile today.  Just for me.

As always, I remain, obediently yours....

Toodles!

Steve "Snowball" Saylor

One year older...

.....and no one bothered to get me any gifts.  That's just rude people!  Come on!

Nah, just kidding, I'm not mad. 

So yeah, today is the day one year ago that I started using Vox and I can remember it quite clearly.

I was working at Call For Help at the time and it was during July 2006 Taping Week.  I had just gotten back from lunch with Leo, Amber, Mike Laz, Sean, and Mike Hogue, and Leo was uploading a video he made during that lunch to Vox.  As I was watching him do this, Leo was showing me all the cool features that Vox had at the time.  Because it was in beta every feature that Vox had definitely didn't even look like it was in beta.  It honestly looked like a finished product.

So as Leo was showing me this I was getting really excited about Vox and what it had to offer.  Then Leo asked if I wanted an invite, and when you get asked by Leo for an invite to something, you definitely don't turn it down.  So I said, "Yeah, sure!"

And within minutes I was blogging away and setting up my very first Vox Blog. 

So that's the story, sorry that it is pretty short, but hey I can honestly say that I got started here on Vox because of Leo and his great generosity.

So I would like to thank him most of all, and also I would like to thank Six Apart for giving us this great service and I can't wait to see what the future holds!

Before I go, here is the very first post I made on Vox that day while on set at Call For Help.

So this is vox eh? 

...

Cool

Thanks Leo

Toodles

Steve Saylor "Snowball"

Yep, so I even started the Toodles way back then too.  LOL

So without further ado, I raise a glass of really expensive wine(because on the Internet, I'm a billionaire you see) and I toast to my Vox blog for being one year old, and with the hope of more years to come.

As always I remain obediently yours....

Toodles!

Steve "Snowball" Saylor

Came across this video a few months ago and it keeps popping up everywhere.  So when I saw it again today from Jake, I had to post it. 

Speedtest.net

So I got a new ISP today and let me tell you it's slooooooowwwwwww.

Okay maybe I'm being a bit harsh, it's not that bad, but noticeable.  It's basically half of what I had before today.  Only reason is because it's cheaper and the other ISP were dicks.  Won't say who, but rhymes with Hell Emphatico.

Canadians would understand.

Anyway, just a quick update about the Lifecasting thing, I'm definitely going to give it a try.  Unfortunately not with justin.tv.  Wish I could but no answers to emails so, I guess that may be a no go.  Unless someone knows Justin and can convince him that I would be the next best thing since sliced Wi-Fi.  But as far as the live stuff, I am going to experiment within the next few weeks when I launch my new site at http://stevesaylor.net

Don't worry I am still going to keep this as a new blog, but I needed a more professional look and feel to my Internet presence more so than a forward to my Vox Blog.  I'm still going to blog through Vox, it's my home, there is no way I'm going to leave.  I'll just link to it from stevesaylor.net

So what else is new?

Hmmm, well Super Secret Writing Project is going so freakin' well the project has now become a trilogy!  Yes, a whole freakin' trilogy!  I haven't written it yet, but the story I have in mind is definitely enough for three books so that is sooo cool and daunting at the same time.  I mean I'm going to be writing a lot.  At any rate I'm already up to 26,000 words and I'm only half way through the story.  I went freakin nuts last week and wrote for like three days straight and wrote 10,000 words.  That's freaking hawesome!

Anywho that's it for now, I'm done.  I'm hungry.

As always I remain obediently yours......

Toodles!

Steve "Snowball" Saylor  

Hey guys and gals.

I've been thinking while surfing online tonight.  (I know, I know dangerous combination) 

And I was just randomly watching the justin.tv live channels, and I see that they opened up a little to other fans to stream their own lives online, and I was thinking whether I wanted to do the same thing.

Now, being in a city that doesn't have city wide wi-fi is a problem.  And EVDO service in Canada is like 60 bucks a month for a crappy connection anyway.  So streaming 24/7 is out, however usually when I'm not at work, I'm usually at home, or at starbucks(with it's freely available wi-fi) and at mike's house when we record This Week in Geek. 

So I am in areas that have wi-fi capability, but my question is, do I want to jump into that route of live streaming my life, as well as whether anyone would really care.  I mean, I want to do something worth while to watch, however why go justin.tv when I could do the same thing with either ustream.tv or stickam(which I believe either starbucks blocks ustream or stickam or both.  Not sure)

Anyway, what do you my reader's think?  Would you be interested in seeing a bit more of what I do in life, or would you suggest against it. 

Let me know in the comments!

As always, I remain obediently yours...

Toodles!

Steve "Snowball" Saylor

Snowballepic

Thanks to Jake I've been pownced.

I think I may use Pownce as my feed for when I'm at Starbucks.  Just because they have blocked Jaiku, which is dumb.

Join me!

http://pownce.com/stevesaylor/