Attention Spartanburg, Upstate area bloggers

I have discovered that a couple of different people in Upstate media have compiled many local and regional blogs onto two different sites. Journalist and blogger Steve Shanafelt, founder of Spartanburg Spark (http://www.spartanburgspark.com/, soon to be a newspaper), compiles many Spartanburg area bloggers on his site Sparkle City Blogs (http://www.sparklecityblogs.com/). Mr. Shanafelt holds monthly meetings at downtown locales such as Interlude coffee shop and Monsoon Noodle House. I have yet to go to one, but it seems to be a great way for us to get to know each other. Shanafelt has also been having an election this week for who the best blogger is in different categories (funniest, most insightful, best design). Steve has a weekly blog report where he compiles different blogs and turns them into news stories; he also has Spartanburg videos of the week, where he showcases many of our fine filmmakers and videographers. Video stories range from news stories (one of his stories comes from WSPA-NewsChannel 7's Jonathan Carlson) to professionally made films, and he even showcases some area YouTube clips (one of which has been mine).



The other new blog site (more of a regional site for Asheville, NC-Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC) is brought to us by WYFF-4 and is called Sound Off South (http://soundoffsouth.com/). The staff at WYFF4.com showcase blogs on the main page from Spartanburg, Greenville, Asheville, and Anderson. They also contribute their own blog posts to the site.

Top 5 List: Reasons to vote

5. A free hot, tasty chicken sandwich with purchase of a meal.


4. A free hot coffee or delicious Bojangle's iced tea.


3. A free hot, sinfully sweet dougnhut.


2. Another free hot coffee.

AND...

1. A good reason to get hot-tempered if things go wrong.

http://www.collegeotr.com/college_otr/from_starbucks_to_chick-fil-a_get_your_free_stuff_for_voting_today_14186

My first "serious" short film

This is my (and a friend's) first serious effort at a short "independent" film. We had to do quite a few takes for each scene (and graphic) that is on this video. Many of us had to do retakes due to cracking up at each other. My thumb and reflection accidentally appear in the second scene, but they are not that noticeable (and in fact, may add quirky charm to this film). At the end of our lake scene, I shot a toy cap gun. There was a little girl with a young woman near us when I shot the gun. I had to explain to them that the gun was a toy and that we were doing a dark comedy. It was hard to shoot that particular scene because the sunset had nearly passed. There were also other fishermen at the lake who served as our extras. At the picnic area, there was a church service happening as we were shooting. My friend executed his part perfectly in this film.

By the way, neither Gary nor I endorse suicide. This is meant to be a "dark comedy."

To see our not-so-serious efforts, go to my YouTube page at www.youtube.com/ectizzle.