Tossing It Out

Showing posts with label Cheersfest. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Ask Arlee: Are You Going to Roast Yourself?

We had some fun with the roast and the winners were revealed on my previous post. But it's not quite over. Winner Sydney Aaliyah posed a good question for Ask Arlee day:

sydneyaaliyah.com said...

Hi Lee, I was wondering if you were going to roast yourself or at least give us the correct answers to the questions.

If I were roasting me, I might do a multiple choice quiz. This is how I would do it:

· Why did Lee come up with the A-Z Challenge?

a) I lead a very boring life.
b) To celebrate reaching 200 followers.
c) To annoy Gary at the Klahanie Blog

·         If someone dreams about being a juggler, what does it mean?
a) Life is a coin toss.
b) They're tossing and turning in bed.
c) They're about to toss their cookies.

·         Is a post by Mr. Bird worth two in the bush?
a) What kind of bush?
b) How big is the bush?
c) How'd my post get in that bush anyway?
d) Does this question seem to invite risque responses?

·         Who could play Lee in a documentary? (Living or dead.)
a) Michelle Obama --she has a juggler's arms.
b) George W. Bush--he may have eaten two of my blog posts.
c) Kanye West -- If he's brave enough to be a rapper he could also be me.
d) Alex J Cavanaugh -- We can use his clones to keep the budget low.

In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:
·         Bird
·         Juggler
·         Challenge
·         Brown Jacket
·         Tossing

Mark Koopmans said...
looking forward to Wednesday - and the true story behind the tuxedo coat formerly known as the "Brown Jacket." :)

Here it is Mark:

The True Story of the Brown Jacket

In the mid-seventies the Juggling Jacksons decided to revamp the wardrobe for their act. Smart bird that my father was, he went to some discount suit place in West Knoxville to pick out tuxedos that would be stylishly appropriate for the disco era juggler. It was no challenge finding the right costume as the selection was limited. There were plain black or white jackets or brocade jackets in an assortment of tacky colors--the least tacky being the style that came in burgundy. So my friends, you see there was no brown jacket at all. It was burgundy. As in Ron Burgundy. I'm just tossing out this information to set the record straight. Does anyone need to calibrate the color levels on their monitors?

For Bonus Points:
· In +/- 40 words, can you come up with a caption for Lee’s Facebook picture?

"I'll just keep smiling and hope no one notices the scotch tape that's making the pin look like it's balanced."

Thanks again for the roast. I'm still looking for that darn jacket. It seems like it should be here in my house somewhere. When--or if I find it I'll let you know. It's becoming the stuff of legend and it would be terrible if it were lost and gone forever.

Monday, December 16, 2013

CheersFest Winners and WHAT WORKS...Online Marketing Symposium

And the CheersFest Winners Are:

EVERYBODY!

Oh--I guess that's not how it's supposed to work. But everybody did have a winning entry and I'm a winner for having so many wonderful blog friends. There were so many entertaining entries that it was tough to come up with just two. So many approaches. So much variety. So much fun. I had a great time with the CheersFest and I hope you all did as well.

I'd like to start right off by thanking the co-hosts who not only submitted their own fantastic entries, but also went to great lengths in promoting the Fest. Thank you Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp and The Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. Especially Mark who thought up this event which looks destined to become an annual blogger roast.

I won't name any honorable mentions. There are many, but I need to keep this post short. If you didn't see all the roast posts I encourage you to go to the list and check them out. I agonized long over which ones to pick and kept narrowing it down to the final choices. So without any more chatter from me, here are the winners:

The winner of the Arlee Bird Showbiz History package is Carrie Anne Brownian at Welcome to My Magick Theatre. Her free verse about me was creative and thought-provoking. I appreciated the answers to the questions and the dry but accurate description of the photo. And she picked an actual juggler to play me in a documentary--albeit an ugly one, but a truly great and funny one.

The winner of the graphic design by Jeremy Hawkins is Sydney Aaliyah Michelle. She had interesting answers and story. Her photo caption encapsulated a jugglers dream--at least at a photo shoot.
And I assure you that my A to Z aversion treatment will be continuing in April of 2014. Be watching for announcements.

Winners please contact me at jacksonlee51 (at) aol (dot) com and I will make arrangements for your prizes to get to you.

And please don't anyone have me be the sole judge to pick a contest winner again. That was tough and I hated to leave anyone off. Seriously I love you all and think you are all winners.

Now a Very Special Event Announcement!

Do you ever wonder why some books become bestsellers while others can barely be given away? Why some businesses succeed and others fail?

How does a blog post or a YouTube video manage to go viral? What does it take to reach celebrity status? Why does a person who is less intelligent than you are become the teacher's favorite and make better grades with less work?

Is it a matter of luck or is there some magic formula for success?

Would you like to know what works and what doesn't?

Well, now maybe we can latch on to some of the secrets and tricks that make success happen or what we might want to avoid. We want you to tell us your stories of success (or not so successful) as we present the blogging event that will help us learn.

What Works...

The first ever "Online Marketing Symposium!"

A blogfest with information you can use.

The event happens on Monday January 20, 2014.

On event day you tell us about a marketing idea that you've used and what worked or didn't work. Your post could describe a campaign that succeeded in a big or small way or one that failed drastically. Tell us about a business campaign, an organizational event, a fundraiser – anything where a bit of promotion was necessary!

The What Works.. Marketing Symposium is not limited to authors but also to anyone in a business that has a promotional aspect – online or otherwise!

Posts can be informational, statistical, a personal experience account, or a funny marketing story. Experience gained from a promotional effort in one area can have applications in other efforts in which we are involved so anything goes as long as promotion or marketing methodology has been involved.

The ultimate goal is to learn.

Remember – no book – no problem. Marketing and promotion principles apply to your blog, your business, any dream, or project, because we all want to win people over.

This information exchange is more than just a "blogfest"!

It's an online forum where ideas are shared and success for all is the goal.

Does the thought of marketing and promotion scare you or turn you cold? Fear no more—let's learn together.

It's possible the blogging community can help you make that next project a viral success orthat next book a best seller!

Join our first ever Online Marketing Symposium

*****

My co-hosts are Jeremy Hawkins, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Yolanda Renee.

Sign up for What Works...Online Marketing Symposium below:

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

We've Had a Roast and Now a Toast!

Thank You for the CheerFest Fun!

Monday's Cheersfest was a great time and I want to thank all of you who turned up with posts and to those who left equally fun comments. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. The whole event made me feel all warm and roasty.

A special thank you to the Cheersfest hosts Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

This year I had about a quarter of the roasters that Alex had last year which actually was kind of a blessing to me. It's going to be tough enough to judge the best roast entry out of those who put me on the spit. I don't know how Alex managed last year, but I never know how Alex manages to do what he does. I still say clones.

There were plenty of commenters to make up for the lack of official entries. It's a good thing I don't have to include them in the contest. I'd be sweating over the decision for days to come. I'll be announcing the winner next Monday--a day with more than one special announcement.

I'll also have a special Ask Arlee follow-up post next Wednesday in response to Sydney Aaliyah's request that I roast myself and answer the questions. That's when the truths will be revealed!

A Toast to Jeremy Hawkins

Many comments were made about my new cute logo BlogMan guy. When I first laid eyes on him I had a nice laugh and I still beam every time I see him. My very special thanks to Jeremy Hawkins at Being Retro for designing the little fellow. Additional thanks to Mark Koopmans for turning my thoughts into contacting Jeremy about this. I think Jeremy did an amazing job.

Who is Jeremy?

Many of you are already familiar with Jeremy Hawkins as one of the A to Z Challenge co-hosts for the past few years. He designed the official Challenge badges for 2012 and 2013 plus many other banners and badges associated with the Challenge. He also did much of the work on the A to Z Blog page. He is a quiet behind the scenes guy who has played an important role in adding to the success of the annual A to Z Challenge.

But Jeremy's influence in the blogging community extends far beyond this. The header to Tossing It Out was a custom design by Jeremy. And that very cool animated header as well as other artwork on Alex J Cavanaugh's blog was also created by Jeremy.

Some of you have Jeremy's artwork on your own blogs and rather than me just listing through them I'll let you tell about what he's done for your blog or other artwork he's done for you.

A talented artist, graphic designer, ideator and renaissance man, Jeremy is a multifaceted dynamo who also designs book cover art, t-shirts, and promotional specialities. He even has his own art related books that you should check out. After all Christmas is coming and there may be that unique gift for someone on your Christmas list.

For the full rundown on what Jeremy has to offer go to his main blog Being Retro and click around to see Jeremy's talent for yourself and find out some of the cool things he has on display. Of course you'll be clicking on the link that says "Don't Look Here", but if you are one who is obedient this is one case where you shouldn't be. Literally you could spend hours at Jeremy's site

If you have a Cheersfest entry you definitely want to visit Jeremy's site in case you are the winner of the prize he is offering to one of my chosen favorite roast posts. Jeremy is going to be designing a personal graphic for one of you lucky folks. Visit his blog and other sites so you can start dreaming about what you'd like to see him design for you. Maybe you can have your own character logo like my BlogMan. Or a new blog header? The winner will be announced on Monday December 16th.

So I hereby propose a toast to my friend and talented artist/blogger, Jeremy Hawkins!

Thanks for everything my friend and may we have an ongoing friendship for many years to come!

Be watching for a special announcement next Monday from Jeremy Hawkins, Yolanda Renèe, Alex J. Cavanaugh and me. We've got something planned that you may find very helpful and fun.

Has Jeremy designed anything for you or for your blog? Tell us about it in the comments and provide links if you have them.

Monday, December 9, 2013

BlogMan Is Here!

Logo designed by Jeremy Hawkins
at Being Retro
and other places

As if you haven't heard enough about me already. You've seen my photo so there's nothing to hide there. I've even made some public appearances and have met some of you in person. And I've certainly rambled on about myself plenty on my blogs.

Yes, that's blogs plural. My name shows up on eight blogs, but I don't post regularly on all of them. In fact I only have regularly scheduled posts on three of them besides Tossing It Out. My other active blogs are Wrote By Rote, A Faraway View, and A Few Words. If you don't know about these blogs and are curious about them you can click on the links. Those are my neglected children and they love having visitors.

Why so many blogs? It came as a result of my wanting to cut back on the seven day posting I was doing here on Tossing It Out. But I had so many things I wanted to write about that I instead started more blogs. A totally self-defeating move by some estimations I suppose. Others may consider it a good marketing move or SEO strategy. Personally, I think it's kind of wacko, but here I am.

And that's how I became BlogMan. The nickname came from the post My Brain Is A Blog. You can go back and read it if you're interested. Just more silliness from me.

And to think I could have named myself anything at that time. I could have proclaimed myself "King of the Blogs". A bit pretentious I guess. BlogMan is more generic. More of an "Everyman" title. After all, you too can be a BlogMan, BlogWoman, BlogBoy, BlogGirl, BlogDog, or BlogWhatever. I am Blogman! We are all BlogPeople!

So I'll keep it simple and end there. After all we need to see what you have to say on this special Cheersfest Day.

Enough about me already--from me at least. I'm ready for a roastin'. Now excuse me while I go hide under my desk.

Visit CheersFest Sites:

For the Linky List of participants and a few words from our sponsors, be sure to visit the blogs of Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp and The Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. The fun has already started!

Oh, and not to forget the next Battle of the Bands post coming Sunday December 15th, there are some clues in today's post as to which Christmas song I'll be using in the next match-up. Can you guess the song?

Monday, December 2, 2013

Whew! Now That We've Got That Behind Us...

Hope everyone started the holiday season off with a great Thanksgiving. Now's the time when things really ramp up for many of us. December is shaping up to be busy on the blogs as well as in our daily lives.

Battle of the Bands

If you missed my Battle of the Bands match-up scroll down to my post from yesterday December 1 to vote on your favorite version of "The Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. Winning version will be announced this coming Friday.

50 States of Pray

Aloha! Mark Koopmans... is hosting the 50 State of Pray sign up open today at Mark's blog.

If interested, please join the Linky List and then on Christmas Eve, take a moment, (and in about 100 words), share a prayer, a thought, a memory, a hope, a regret about the past and/or a wish for the future.

Roast Me!

By all means don't forget to join in the roasting of the Bird next Monday. Now you can get revenge, poke fun, or show how much you care about yours truly. Find out more here. If you haven't done so yet, sign up on the Linky List below:

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More To Come!

Got something exciting to be announced on December 16th. This will be something that many of you will find very helpful and hopefully fun. Stay tuned!

How's the weather where you are? Are you ready for upcoming holidays? What do you have in store for 2014?

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

English: Oven roasted turkey, common fare for Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you ready for the big feast tomorrow? As I write this a week ahead of time I don't know what my Thanksgiving Day plans will be. I know what city I'll be in, but I don't know what I'll be doing for dinner. I guess I'm at the mercy of my hosts and whatever plans we all come up with for the day.

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite time for me. I love that dinner. I am King of the Oyster Stuffing and the Lord of the Pies. And then after a bit of a rest or maybe even a nap I'm back for another helping. It's the best meal of the year--usually. I wonder what I'll have this year?

Don't Forget the Clues!

This coming Sunday December 1st will be a Battle of the Bands Christmas special. Be here to vote for your favorite version of a Christmas song that you undoubtedly know. What is the song? You'll find out for sure on Sunday, but if you want to try to guess I've sprinkled clues throughout today's post and in Monday's post. If you think you know the song then tell us in the comments.

Cheersfest Sign-up

Tomorrow's turkey is not the only the only bird being roasted. On December 9th yours truly will be roasted in this year's Cheersfest. For details visit the explanatory post at Mark Koopmans' blog. To sign up add your name to the Linky List below:

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Where are you celebrating your Thanksgiving this year? Do you have the traditional dinner planned? Did you guess my Battle of the Bands song pick from the clues I've left so far?

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

You've Been Given The Bird!

Hey! Wake up dodo bird!

C'mon Arlee wake up and face the music! And I'm not referring to any Battle of the Bands.

While I was sleeping I was chosen as the honoree of a special event. Maybe you've heard about it. If not, I'm going to tell you about it. Cheersfest was started by Mark Koopmans last year when we roasted Alex J. Cavanaugh. Yeah, we all had a fine time with that.

Now I'm in a fix and you all are in the driver's seat. Time to dish it out to the Bird and I ain't talkin' turkey. It's time for the second annual Cheersfest blogger roast and I am this years roastee. Come on and give me the business. Have fun while you make me squirm.

"They like me! They really like me! Or wait maybe they don't like me. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe I'll cry. Everything's a blur."

What's a Cheersfest?

Here's the way originator Mark Koopmans puts it:

“Ever attended a Christmas party where you bump into the one person who was always there for you during the past year. You’d thank them for being such a RockStar, right?”

So began the inaugural CheersFest (aka AlexFest) when our Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh, was roasted and toasted in December 2012.

Everyone, including A-Cav had such a great time that we’ve decided to do it again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the 2013 recipient of CheersFest is none other than Arlee “Lee” Bird.”

On his main blog, “Tossing It Out,” Lee describes himself, in part, “as a writer, speaker, entertainer, music lover, collector, husband, father, grandfather, friend, traveler, seeker of truth and wisdom.” He majored in English while at the University of Tennessee, has blogged since 2008, and currently has six blogs that delve into his diverse mind.

The original brains behind the annual A to Z Challenge, Lee can be counted on to pay it forward and is a well-respected member of the blogging community.

Hosted again by Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp and The Ninja Captain himself, CheersFest 2.0 will go LIVE! Dec. 9, 2013.

What Do You Do?

In order to proper cheer (or roast) the Bird, here are four questions for you to answer on CheersFest Day, but please keep the retorts short – (no longer than 20 words each):

· Why did Lee come up with the A-Z Challenge?

· If someone dreams about being a juggler, what does it mean?

· Is a post by Mr. Bird worth two in the bush?

· Who could play Lee in a documentary? (Living or dead.)

In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:

· Bird

· Juggler

· Challenge

· Brown Jacket

· Tossing

For Bonus Points:

· In +/- 40 words, can you come up with a caption for Lee’s Facebook picture?

As usual, the Very Demanding Rules of CheersFest include:

· Join the Linky List *below*

· Have fun

· Post your 200 (total) word contribution ON Monday, Dec. 9, 2013.

· No, seriously. Have Fun!

There Will Be Big Prizes!

After all entries have been carefully scrutinized for entertainment value (or if it makes me cry because it's so beautiful), I'll be picking two winners who will be winning extraordinary prizes:

· An autographed color photo of Arlee Bird appearing as the Court Wizard in the World of Fantasy Players production of The Magic of Cinderella. Also included in the first prize pack is an assortment of promotional materials from Lee’s show biz days with a personal letter and a brief history of his entertainment career.

· A personalized graphics design from Jeremy at Being Retro for the winner’s blog. (Jeremy will design a header, badge, button, banner, or whatever might appeal to the winner.)

Okay so I don't have a book to autograph and I'm not going to be baking cookies. But the prizes will still be fun!

So are you ready to face the Blogman?

If so, the Linky is now open. Sign up below and we’ll see you on Dec. 9th

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C'mon now--no excuses. It'll be fun! Not going to be around? You can always preschedule your post. And it doesn't have to be some literary masterpiece. Just hack it out if you need to. The more entries we get, the more work I have to do. You want me to work don't you?

Pages

This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Ask Arlee: Are You Going to Roast Yourself?

Monday, December 16, 2013

CheersFest Winners and WHAT WORKS...Online Marketing Symposium