Hi-Fi Bri Hits Post Number 1,000 -- The Evil Selfie

After nearly 5 years, I hit my thousandth post here on Hi-Fi Bri today. This started as a daily writing practice in 2009 and though it's not always "daily," it has become something else with more than 6,000 unique hits a month!

So...to celebrate today's 1,000th post, I've got this awesomely evil selfie from none other than Darth Vader. His rare moment of vanity is actually the first post from the new STAR WARS Instragram that Disney has started to promote the sequels to the classic film which are due out in 2015.

As it turns out, Lord Vader was onto something this week as evil (or at least somewhat questionable) selfies were trending strangely enough. There was a flurry of media coverage, social and otherwise, over two incidents in which people took selfies in un-selfie like situations. The first involved a celebrity; Josh Romney, Mitt's son. While driving home, he watched a car wreck and helped saved the passengers. But then he took a smiling shot in front of the wreck. In the same way his father didn't understand the hubbub over his dinner party comments, the younger Romney also didn't get all the fuss.

The other selfie-shocker happened here in NYC. A man was on the Brooklyn Bridge threatening to jump when a woman in Brooklyn Bridge Park took a selfie with the man in the background. Fortunately the man was talked down from the bridge, but the woman was never fully identified as once she realized her faux pas quickly disappeared. This didn't stop the post from putting her on the front page and shame her selfie-ish behavior. LOL.

Hi-Fi Bri Turns 3 Today--Celebrate & Donate

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of Hi-Fi Bri.  Yay!!!  I found this delicious looking donut cake on The Internets to faux celebrate.  But I will probably stop by The Donut Pub for the real thing later. :)

Some stats: 725 posts total since March 15, 2009 and, in recent months, the blog is getting 4,000 hits per month.  There has been a huge upswing in viewers/readers since the end of last year, which I attribute to daily links via Facebook and Twitter (and some pretty fun stories too!).  The most popular story of all time remains "Anderson Cooper's Mom Is Kind Of A Perv" (June 19, 2009), about Gloria Vanderbilt's erotic novel and her now more-famous-than-her son.  It has 3,247 hits; apparently there are a lot of people out there googling "Anderson Cooper." The second most popular story after that is "Porky's: Where Are They Now" (June 21, 2009).  Random, right?  But oddly it's one of my favorite films for sentimental reasons; it was the first R-rated film I ever saw.

Anyway, as part of the big celebration, I'm encouraging my readers to click on the DONATE tab here on the right and make today a mini-fundraiser for the site.  As I like the say, the Internet only looks free.  So if you can toss a little coin in the online bucket and help to support your local writer, I would greatly appreciate it. As would Verizon, T-Mobile, Con Edison, Visa, Mastercard, etc.  And please continue to read Hi-Fi Bri...as well as repost, subscribe, forward, tweet (all of which you can do quite easily with all the little buttons just below here on the left). Thanks so much for your support!

We Interrupt This Blog....

Hi all--so the last month or so has been a bit of a whirlwind with the play WTC VIEW wrapping up and the movie AUGUST opening at film festivals.  Anyway, after a month of travel and film festivals and general excitement, I plan to be back on track with the daily postings here this week.  Sorry about the bloggus interruptus but sometimes life and work just get in the way.  :)

Finally, in movie news, AUGUST has its NYC premieres this Friday and Saturday at NewFest....tix are still available so come check it out this weekend!

Pledge & Win At Hi-Fi Bri This Week

My first annual "Pledge Week" ends tomorrow.  As I like to say, the internet (and my blog) only look free!  :)

Anyway, there are still some fabulous prizes left if you feel like dropping a little donation to keep this going.  You can donate here using the DONATE button on the right, which links directly to PayPal.  Any amount is greatly appreciated but for larger donations there still are some incentives left:  15$ gets you a signed book, $25, a signed DVD, and $35 a big-ass signed blowup poster of one of my book covers (people particularly like the two guys on TALE OF TWO SUMMERS). Also, TALE is now available as an eBook downloadable to the iPhone, iPad, Kindle and other mobile reading platforms.  And it's only $12 bucks!

Anyway, thanks for all your support.....I really appreciate it during these tough times.  It's hard out there for a pimp....uh, um, I mean writer.  :)  And keep on reading/enjoying Hi-Fi Bri!

It's Pledge Week @ Hi-Fi Bri

Yes folks, just like PBS, writer's need your support.  And though my blog is a bit cheaper to produce than a Ken Burns epic, it ain't free.  ;)  So if you are a regular or irregular reader of Hi-Fi Bri and enjoy what you see, please drop a little coin in the online bucket this week as part of my first informal fundraising drive. You'll notice to the right there is little donate button....that will take you directly to PayPal where you can instantly give $1, $5, $10 or any amount you'd like, bigger or smaller.  Every little bit counts, especially for a freelancer like myself and extra-especially in this crappy economy. That is for sure.

Also, just like on PBS, there are fabulous gifts too!  I have some added incentives for those feeling extra-generous.  For $15, I'll send you an autographed copy of one of my books.  For $25, you get a copy of one of my films on DVD which I can sign as well. And for $35, I have poster board blowups of my book covers which I can also sign (dimensions are roughly 20x30in).  When you donate, PayPal will  give me your email and then I'll get shipping details from you directly.

So thanks again for all your support of my blog and my writing in general.  This Friday, I'll have a special holiday video to show my gratitude. And looking ahead, 2011 is gonna be an exciting year with a new film hitting festivals and a new book as well.  More details will be revealed on the blog about that so stay tuned....you can now add the blog to your Google reader (also on the right) or get it via an RSS feed.  Have a great holidaze season and take care!

Hi-Fi Bri On Hiatus

This week I'm going to be on location working on a TV pilot and Internet access will be spotty at best.  So I'm going to have to take a short hiatus on my postings here.  However, the blog will resume it's regularly scheduled programming when I'm back online in NYC October 5th.  See you then!

Happy Anniversary Hi-Fi Bri!!!

Yes folks.....it's Happy Anniversary to me today! March 15th marks one year of posts here on Hi-Fi Bri.  This is officially post number 260 and, as of today, there have been nearly 10,000 page views.  Amazing!  


I've gotten such great feedback about HFB that I've decided expand this blog to six days a week.  Also my goal for the next year it to double the number of readers.  However, to do this, I need your help.  There are three ways I'm asking for a little internet interaction today: 1) you can email or text 5 friends to read/follow/subscribe to HFB, 2) you can post a link to HFB on your Twitter or Facebook feed saying how awesome it is or 3) you can make a donation to the blog which would be super awesome! 


Some people have wondered what is up with the donation button here on the right.  Well, it's simple...if you click on it, it takes you to a PayPal link where you can donate any amount from $1 on up which goes directly to me to support my work.  I don't need to tell you times are tough, especially for a writer/indie filmmaker.  So if you like what you've read here over the last year, please drop a little coin in the online bucket.  Your generosity will be greatly appreciated.  


Anyway, thanks again for all the words of encouragement and support of my latest adventure in writing.  And, as always, thanks for reading!   :)

OMG--It's The Half-Birthday of Brian's Blog!

That's right...today marks the 6-month anniversary of my blog, started way back on March 15th of this year. Yay! Also, I'm reaching a big milestone and one that I didn't think I'd see so quickly. Sometime this week I'll receive my 5,000th page view. I mean, that's pretty cool, right? The Internet likes me....it really likes me! :)

So in celebration of my burgeoning "viewership" and my half-birthday today, I'm just going to post something I like that has no intrinsic news value or current cultural relevance or historical significance whatsoever. It's just one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time and I think you'll see why. So celebrate this mini-milestone with me and dance!