"Queen St NF Ontario" written by Vincent on estrip.org

Category: vlog

04/12/11 07:54 - ID#54040

Queen St NF Ontario

Video of driving down Queen St in Niagara Falls Ont during the fog a couple of weeks ago.

Permalink: Queen_St_NF_Ontario.html
Words: 21
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 04/12/11 07:54

Category: travel

04/03/11 01:16 - ID#53969

Airfare! Seriously

Who the F in their right mind would pay this much money to fly from Buffalo to Florida [through Cleveland & Toronto & deal with Customs] for the price of $2,248 when you can fly other alternative airlines for around $300-$400 for the same destination one way ticket?

Totally WTF!?!

Permalink: Airfare_Seriously.html
Words: 49
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 04/03/11 01:16

Category: gambling

03/28/11 07:37 - ID#53935

Fort Erie Rant

This is me in the moment where I vent about how customer service in Canada Sucks, especially when it comes to casinos.

leetee writes at 01:27:28 03/30/11 - Comment #61522: (e:Paul), he said Harvey's, not Arby's. And the poutine at Lick's is better than the poutine at Harvey's (who have the WORST burgers in the world).

metalpeter writes at 05:22:17 03/29/11 - Comment #61514: In Terms of the Drink that is true at the movies and Sports events for 2 reasons that I know of quickly.....
1. The Food and drinks are where they make a lot of the money
2. The Re selling of it or giving it away.... Why not bring in a burger with that drink and sell it to someone else at a cheaper rate then they sell it.......

What I'm really guessing is that Venues have deals with vendors and I'm guessing that they don't want to compete with someone else but not sure how that is.... So say Pepsi or Budweiser or some company is willing to do x, y, z well if some can buy coors or coke and bring it in why do this.....

For Some reason I get the feeling that (e:MrMike) would know a lot more about this then me and I would like to hear his take on it. That being said Here is my most extreme example of not being able to bring stuff into a venue of any kind...... Buffalo had an Arena Football Team called "The Destroyers" ... One thing about them is they really tried to make it Family Event not like Bills Games... So they had a lot of stuff out side... Some of that was Vendors... I don't mean the hot dog cart at the corner .... It was set up by the team or the league or the Arena and was so endorsed... It was meant as like an out side thing ........ Again it was Team Sponsored and set up by them.... Eat your food and then me and my father went into the arena .... You couldn't bring that food in Hot dog and coke had to be eaten out side.........

paul writes at 10:21:01 03/28/11 - Comment #61508: Good story - the downside of being all video is that it won't come up in search. You should add a quick overview in text to the blog so that it comes up more readily.

They have poutine at arby's?

Permalink: Fort_Erie_Rant.html
Words: 25
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 03/28/11 07:37

Category: social media

03/26/11 07:41 - ID#53917

facebook fading?

My thoughts on what I have seen through my facebook account.

metalpeter writes at 09:49:08 03/27/11 - Comment #61478: To be honest the Old Myspace was better then Facebook ever was... The Reason for this is blogs you clicked one button and everyone's blog pops right up you close that page and you see the next blog... The thing with facebook and this is a real example is say MrMike has a post (he has a lot of great ones) but say run into it at 14 hours back if I click on it that link sends me to a new page then I would have to scroll back through 14 hours........ That is why they have the common thread... But all they should do is make that click open a new page and leave the old one behind .... I think though that the way that page works makes it better for say Moe's or Target (yes I follow both) then for a friend that has a blog.....

I also think that Tweeter is going to be an important part of facebook.... Well so is the cell phone you can post a picture from a show or tweet something and if you set it up right it goes right to facebook....

Love the line about have people gone to real life....... There are things you can't really post to facebook...... Wish I could think of a real life example of my case..... Oh wait just thought of.... I wrote a blog about how it is a little bit gay (not a bad thing) if you watch Hardcore porn..... Now on facebook you might not want to post about I know I wouldn't I don't know who looks at my stuff But I know I have 6 cousins I think on there and an aunt but who knows who else since it is a public page..... Again the picture thing

metalpeter writes at 09:34:05 03/27/11 - Comment #61477: Before I read everyone's comments I will say this You should if you haven't seen it The South Park Facebook episode it is pretty funny... Bill Maher bashes Facebook sometimes and he is on it.... The thing that really drives it is "The Tech" what I mean by that is that... Websites know lots of people are on facebook they make it so you can log in with facebook or share what you are doing on that site.... For example Fubar, MySpace, Yahoo (might include Flckr as well) you can log into with facebook so then it can share what you are doing with facebook..... Windows Live has a great way to share pictures on facebook. Now I don't know how the tech works for phones I have heard Warner Bros. Have singed some deal where you can rent movies on facebook not sure when that will happen.... Somehow through Netflix you can watch a movie and post about it might even be with a review or am I thinking of BDlive some kind of blu-ray on line thing......

It is hard to say where facebook is going to go but what it seems like to me is what you often see in Porn is that facebook will become an internet portal.... Say you want to know about The Bills or the sabres or the cowboys or about when movies open... You won't have to go some sight about that team or that thing you go to Facebook and everything you care about you can find there....... What happened with myspace to a band I followed is that they dumped their website for a site on myspace... Myspace was free and In stead of paying for a site every month and they made it sound as if a myspace page could be run by them you don't know how to code and all that stuff.........

jbeatty writes at 11:15:36 03/26/11 - Comment #61476: I have to agree to an extent. I had a facebook account when you needed a .edu address in order to sign up. It was a much smaller thing back then. It was just friends from school and friends that I knew from far away that had access as well. I never worried about any sort of comments I made. I wasn't friends with my mom or aunts or anything like that. Now that I am its more like real life. I have to watch what I say when it comes to certain subjects and it has lost its novelty and exclusiveness. I find myself questioning whether or not to make a snarky retort on someones post. I used to just let loose and say what was on my mind. I have stopped saying much of anything there and just check in to see what is up with other people. But really the people that I want to hear from never seem to say anything there and I just end up calling or emailing them.

Maybe (e:paul) is right there are plenty of people who will feed the facebook frenzy for a long time to come. Myspace died a fairly quick death once Facebook opened the up membership to anyone. I would guess that Facebook is ripe for being the next Myspace but it needs some sort of catalyst to really put the nail in the coffin.

paul writes at 10:44:04 03/26/11 - Comment #61474: I think a lot of people have become terrified of scrutiny for by both employers and family. Look at (e:lilho), as an example. When less people were online, there was less to worry about. Now everyone from your first grade teacher to your grandma is online reading about you, as your actual identity. It makes people self censor more. Remember how estrip used to be before people were afraid to say anything. Remember the internet in general back then?

On one hand I understand this push for everyone to be themselves and their real identity online to promote honesty. The Buffalo News comments would be a perfect example of a place where anonymity makes for an unruly environment. Facebook was the biggest impetus for this coming out of a school setting. I was/am totally into that but I think for a lot of people it stiffles creativity and what they are willing to talk about publicly. One of the benefits of the internet where people had separate online identities from their real identities was the ability to be more open and perhaps different from their real life. Imagine being from a small town.

Ironically, when I created estrip I was rebelling against the anonymity. That's why I am (e:paul) and almost all of the original people were their names. Now I find the anonymous internet more interesting.

theecarey writes at 09:31:17 03/26/11 - Comment #61473: "Is everyone going back to real life?" Interesting question to ponder. Like you, I see less personal updates from friends and more business related updates. I very much enjoy utilizing Facebook as a means to keep on top of various news and information sources, but I would still like to see friends post a few lines about their own lives on a regular basis. I cherish those bits and pieces of their shared lives, especially because I likely wouldn't otherwise have or find the opportunity to maintain contact by other means.
I don't write much there, or anywhere myself, and when I do it tends to be vague despite having my profile set to private.

paul writes at 09:12:42 03/26/11 - Comment #61472: (e:matthew) did something interesting on facebook - he told me he deleted most of his friends, turned his stuff to totally public and now he posts only items anyone can see and does worry about permissions anymore.

vincent writes at 08:24:10 03/26/11 - Comment #61471: Maybe it's the (e:strip) ers moving on to the next big thing as they comprise a good number of my friends. From my perspective it's become the place for Business/Ads/Interactive Deals.

For example, If it wasn't for Death Cab for Cutie posting stuff on their page I wouldn't have know about a small intimate club show that I bought tickets for today. Or the stuff I get from Vegas hotels like the Hard Rock like their "Twitter Tuesdays" where if you book through a link through their tweet you get slashed room rates.

For me I still long for the interconnection with other people. Right now I feel like I stayed too late at the party and everyone else paired off and went home with each other.

paul writes at 07:59:01 03/26/11 - Comment #61470: I wonder if they will make laws about vlogging and driving, lol. I don't think facebook is dying, however, I do think the status update lifestyle of twitter and facebook definitely contributed to the decline in blogging. Its so much easier to come up with tiny, whitty updates or to like or poke something then it is to create full blog entries and responses.

If you are seeing facebook die, it might be the natural online lifecycle of the people you are on there with. There are a bunch of studies about this phenomena. Its not that people are going somewhere else, they just get over the excitement of posting their whole life online. That or they have some bad experience that makes it less positive. Looking back at my blog stats I went through something very similar. Just compare the number of blogs I published in 2004-2005 to 2006-2007.

The thing is there will always be new people who have just discovered being online and they will feed the facebook frenzy for a long time to come.

Permalink: facebook_fading_.html
Words: 12
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 03/26/11 07:41

Category: death

03/08/11 06:50 - ID#53786

Everything Ends

I always watch this video when someone I know passes on.

Permalink: Everything_Ends.html
Words: 13
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 03/08/11 06:50

Category: tv

02/17/11 07:14 - ID#53634

TV land vlog

Permalink: TV_land_vlog.html
Words: 2
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 02/17/11 07:14

Category: music

02/15/11 09:41 - ID#53615

Who is Arcade Fire?

It's just sad how American Idol and Dancing with the Stars this country has become. The Grammy's are not a popularity contest, it's a group consensus of the 12,000 CREATIVE people who WORK IN THE INDUSTRY! That's the beauty of it to be honest. I remember back in the 90's when Bonnie Raitt cleaned house and people were like "Who is Bonnie Raitt?"

I am just happy that a Canadian group got to sit on top of the musical world Sunday night with Album of the Year. It's funny reading these comments on this tumblr

The Suburbs is the name of the band??? Look Tiffany, just because you never heard of them doesn't mean that they're not Phenomenal, the world does not revolve around you or started when you were born. It's funny and yet sad to sort through that thing.

But I have to say their sit eating grin at the beginning of Ready is just priceless and EPIC.

Permalink: Who_is_Arcade_Fire_.html
Words: 166
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 02/15/11 09:42

Category: music

02/07/11 11:22 - ID#53566

Emo Starbucks Run

For some reason last night as I was driving home I searched Niagara Falls Ontario for a Starbucks I stumbled upon WBNY 91.3 as it was the station that I had my iPod Belkin set to. They were playing some emo tunes, I have to admit I did find them appealing and actually got into them as the totally matched my mood. A part of me wishes that I was able to pull the Buff St station during my "Prime" when I was sniffing around Lundy's Lane. After searching the Lane, Fallsview Casino & Embassy Suites I was able to find a Starbucks open at the Sheraton next door to Casino Niagara. Apparently they are open to Midnight Sun-Thurs and close at 1am Sat & Sun. Finally I was able to grab my Calm tea for a nightcap before I started the week.

The beauty is that I was driving down the Lane, Ferry St and then Clifton Hill. It was pretty quiet as the Super Bowl ended 1.5 hrs ago. But driving down Clifton Hill with the Get Up Kids "Long Goodnight" just was a perfect song for the moment.

Now I also realized just by looking at their website how lame WBNY is most of the time. This is compared to what I am exposed to when I listen to WBER out of Rochester. It is not even close, WBER has much more of a dynamic range and also gives you in detail what they play. I just so wish I was able to play WBER in my car.