We couldn’t help but notice that the Google scribble on Tuesday, September 27th was a “Happy 13th Birthday”. We weren’t exactly sure if every September 27th Google posts a different birthday scribble (although it was less a scribble and more a photo), or if there was some specific significance to this birthday (we’ll have to check back next year to be sure). Then is dawned on us… “What if Google is Jewish?” Now that would make sense, as a Bar Mitzvah is observed on the thirteenth birthday.

But then we thought, “Well, maybe Google isn’t Jewish”, in which case it would be awfully silly to be wishing you a happy Bar Mitzvah, so we called a meeting of all of our top management in order to discuss the matter. After several hours of deliberation, it was decided that it was better to wish you a happy Bar Mitzvah and have you tell us you were not Jewish, than say nothing, in which case if it did turn out that you are Jewish, you might have been upset that we didn’t say anything.

Of course, the question was also raised “What if Google is a girl?”, in which case we should be we should be wishing you a happy Bat Mitzvah. Again we assembled our brightest executives, debating if Google were male, female, or perhaps no gender whatsoever (being that you’re essentially a search engine, and we don’t know too many search engines personally). Once again, after long hours of heated discussion, it was decided that you were likely genderless, and the more generic ‘Bar Mitzvah’ might be more appropriate.

At any rate, if you are Jewish, then Mazel Tov to you!  And if you’re not, well,
Happy Birthday Google!

With Love,

The Staff of Cutting Edge Entertainment

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did
~Elton John

On the ninth day of October, 1940, John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool England to Julia and Alfred Lennon. Only a month earlier – almost to the day – Nazi Germany had begun sustained bombing raids on Britain, which would continue until May of the following year. His parents split, he had an absentee father and a preoccupied mother, so he was raised by his mothers sister and her husband for most of his childhood and adolescence. Sadly, his mother was struck by a car and killed when John was only seventeen, but not before buying him his first guitar. He formed a band, added some new members, met Paul McCartney and George Harrison, changed the name of the band to The Beatles and went off to play Rock & Roll in the clubs of post-war Hamburg Germany. In 1962 they signed a record deal with Parlophine (EMI) records, and the rest is history.

On December 8, 1980 John Lennon was gunned down and killed outside of his New York City apartment building.

Some say there was a bombing raid going on in Liverpool the night John was born. It would seem John Lennon came in and out of this world surrounded by violence. Perhaps this lends to the duality that is John Lennon.

John Lennon left behind a legacy of music and mythos that still fascinate and intrigue us. Sure there’s The Beatles, but there’s also the notorious Yoko Ono, the battles with the Nixon administration, and no shortage of outspokenness and political incorrectness. From claims of being “bigger than Jesus” to naked album covers, it seems Lennon was surrounded by controversy at every turn. Much, if not all of which was self imposed.

For better or for worse, John Lennon was the darkness of The Beatles. It was that darkness combined with the light (literally and figuratively) of Paul McCartney that balance the collaborative genius that was Lennon/McCartney, or McCartney/Lennon. For every All You Need is Love there is a Run For Your Life, and for every “Strawberry Field” there is a plea for “Help”.  Yes John Lennon spoke out against war, and urged us all to “Imagine” a better world, but he also struggled with anger management issues (like assaulting female news reporters) and Heroin addiction,while being guilty of mocking handicapped and disfigured children, and being – at best – an intermittent and absentee parent to his first son Julian.  It is also my strong opinion it was Lennon’s actions (and particularly his inactions) that sealed the breakup of The Beatles indefinitely.

Yet every person has a duality, it’s just that John Lennon seemed to be Ying and Yang personified and on steroids, where polar and contrary forces interconnect and in John’s case to great extremities which were clearly apparent.  Good and Evil, light and darkness on an amplified scale and ever under the scrutiny of the the media microscope.

Google decided to recognize John Lennon’s 70th birthday with one of its custom Google doodles, and it is likely Lennon will continue to be iconisized in movies, books, art, theater and the news media. Certainly the sadness and circumstances of his untimely death – as it often seems to go – played a major role in jettisoning him into the hallowed halls of music’s fallen heroes, his spirit dwelling in a fictitious utopia with the likes of James Dean, Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison and Marilyn Monroe.

Thirty years ago we lost a man. A man who gave us the gift of song.  Not a God, not an immortal, but a man who through sharing and wearing his darkest and innermost emotions on his sleeve left us with beautiful music. 

A man I wish was still with us.

Happy Birthday John.

-Craig

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

On Saturday, April 24 of 2010 Google marked the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Telescope.  Mankind’s fascination with space goes hand in hand with our looking to the future, and Hubble has helped to blend imagination with reality by bringing us amazing images of the solar system, universe and galaxy.  Although some might argue that outer space is without sound, here on Earth we have no shortage of songs about space, and what we interpret and imagine it to be.  Popular music has already made it into space figuratively and literally (The Astronauts have a tradition of waking each day to The Beatles “Good Day, Sunshine”).   Here are a few tunes that “Boldly go where no song has gone before”.

“Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Eumir Deodato

Originally composed in 1896 by Richard Strauss, inspired by Neitzsche’s writings and best known as the fanfare from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey”.  The song itself is likely one of the most widely recognized “space anthems”, while the Eumir Deodato’s Jazz interpretation of the song charted at number two on the pop charts in 1973, while bringing home a Grammy for “Best Pop Instrumental” that same year.

“Space Oddity” by David Bowie

Space Oddity was the first big hit for David Bowie, charting in the top ten in 1969.  Bowie’s tragic song of an ill-fated space mission where the fictional astronaut  “Major Tom” is first given accolades on his brave travels into orbit until things take a turn for the worse.  The song was rush released to coincide with the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing.

“Major Tom” by Peter Schilling

Peter Schilling’s 1983 contribution to the ongoing rock saga of Bowie’s space faring Major was one of many, but was easily the second most successful (Bowie’s being the first).  Many rockers make mention of Major Tom, but none so specific.  Schilling’s interpretation of the story leaves us a happier ending with the Astronaut safely retuning to Mother Earth.

“Walking On The Moon” by The Police

Other than the fact that The Police are awesome, this is an awesome tune and clearly one of The Police’s more Reggae inspired songs using the repeating lyric “Walking On The Moon” it otherwise has very little to do with space (besides maybe the music video).  It’s reputed origins lie in Sting writing it while he was intoxicated… Which perhaps qualifies as “spaced out”.

“Star Wars/Cantina Band” by Meco

By the third day after it’s release in May of 1977, Meco Monardo had seen the movie Star Wars at least a dozen times.  Later that year his disco version of the song topped the charts.  Kind of hard to believe looking back that Star Wars was first released at the height of the Disco era, but listening to Meco’s version certainly combines the two fads of the time well, and always gives me a smile. 

“Flash’s Theme” by Queen

Long before Major Tom got stranded in the coldness of space, the 1950′s were dominated by other space faring  heroes like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.  Sadly, the 1980 movie remake “Flash” was somehow even cheesier in retrospect to the spaceships on fishing line that Flash piloted in the 50′s.  Still a worthwhile watch as Flash continues his battles with Ming the Merciless.  Queen scores the soundtrack well, particularly with this title track.

“Rocket Man” by Elton John

Although the song resonates the theme of Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, there is no mention of Major Tom in Rocket Man. In this song’s case the Astronaut heads off to Mars, somewhat reluctant to leave his family.  Although it only reached number six on the U.S. Billboard charts, it remains one of Rock’s great anthems, leaving us with the insightful advice that “Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise the kids, in fact it’s cold as hell”.

“Across The Universe” by The Beatles

More of a mantra than a space song, “Across The Universe” came at the end of the end for The Beatles, and although originally recorded and released on a charity for wildlife compilation, it was re-released on The Beatles “Let It Be” album.  To quote the author Sean Egan, ” Across The Universe retains it’s charm and is conducive to making one at peace with the cosmos”.   Like many of The Beatles lyrics, this ones is shrouded in mystery and wonder.

Although there are many more pop, as well as movie and television space-themed songs I likely omitted from this list, like space travel, this list serves merely as a beginning, with no end in sight. 

In closing, I quote  the immortal words of the great Astronaut and space traveler Buzz Lightyear… “To Infinity and beyond!”

-Craig

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4, 1678, and was taught by his father to play the violin at an early age. Intending to become a priest, Vivaldi first took holy orders in 1773, but left the priesthood after two years due to a respiratory illness. At twenty seven years of age he was employed as teacher and Maestro di violino (master of violin) at the Conservatory of The Pietà, a Venetian hospice for orphaned girls, where he first began composing music.

Although in a period of economic and military decline, Venice remained a prestigious cultural center, renowned especially for both music and painting. This was a period of enlightenment for Europe, and the time when Venice began to develop its romantic reputation and mystique, in part to the memoirs of Casanova. The city was also experiencing a theatrical renaissance, and is believed to be the prelude for vaudeville, improvisation and even the modern circus. It is believed that Vivaldi frequented the theater often, and it may have been part of his musical influence and inspiration.

It was during these years that Vivaldi wrote much of his music, including many operas and concertos. In 1705, the first collection of his works was published, and his work began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad. At that time in Venice, opera was the most profitable popular musical entertainment, and where Vivaldi first gained his reputation and success as a composer.

He later moved to Mantua, and then Rome, and it was during this period that he composed what is likely his most well known classical work, The Four Seasons, four violin concertos depicting natural scenes in music. During the height of his career, Vivaldi received commissions from European nobles and royalty. The wedding cantata Gloria e Imeneo was written for the marriage of Louis XV, while Opus 9, La Cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI (Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Sovereign of the Habsburg Empire, Archduke of Austria etc, etc) in 1728, who Knighted him for doing so.

Vivaldi’s life, like those of many composers of the time, ended in financial difficulties. His compositions no longer held the high esteem they once did, and Vivaldi, in response, chose to sell off sizable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance a migration home to Vienna. Vivaldi died a pauper on July 28, 1741.

Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons is amongst the most popular wedding ceremony compositions played today, not only by instrumentalists, but perhaps – aside from a few others (Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Bach’s Minuet in G to name a few) – is likely one of the few classical pieces played by the wedding DJ as well.

On March 4, 2010, Google honored Antonio Vivaldi’s 332nd birthday with a custom graphic, depicting four violins each representing the four seasons, in homage to his most acclaimed concertos of the same name.  It was internet reflecting art that inspired me to write this blog in tribute to this great composer and musician, whose legacy lives on in his beautiful music.

-Craig

SEO is an acronym the means “Search Engine Optimization”. It is the process of increasing organic (un-paid) traffic to a website. SEO can also refer to an ever growing industry of ‘consultants’ or self-proclaimed “experts” (search engine optimizers).

I haven’t paid a dollar for an SEO service of any kind since first learning of the process in 2008, and since that time I’ve successfully increased the traffic to my blog and website exponentially.

A few weeks ago I was shown an article in Entrepreneur magazine titled “What You Don’t Know About SEO”, in which they quote Peter Kent, author of “Search Engine Optimization For Dummies” as saying “The SEO business is 80% scam”. This, unfortunately, is a statement I must sadly agree with.

Now I’m certainly not going to sit here and spout out a diatribe on why you shouldn’t hire an SEO to help you with your online searchability, but I will repeat the age-old adage of “Let the buyer beware.” At least three or four times a month I am solicited by self-proclaimed SEO companies that offer to charge me for services that are readily available for free. The internet is filled with the tools and information you need not only to understand how to drive traffic to your website, but to make it happen.

Am I saying that all SEOs are a scam? Absolutely not. If Mr. Kent’s statement is true, that means that at least 20% of them are the real deal, but finding them takes quite a bit of research, and often times they are well published and easy to find online. In most cases I’ve found them to be individuals and not companies. Beware of the SEO companies listed in Google’s “sponsored links” (the ones highlighted in yellow) as they didn’t earn their top Google ranking organically, they paid for it. Now ask yourself, if they couldn’t get themselves organically ranked, how the heck are they going to be able to do it for you?

On the other hand, only ten SEO experts are going to make the top 10, and there are plenty more legitimate ones out there than that. Many don’t even bother trying to compete for that term because it’s so ridiculously competitive. Should they spend their time trying to outdo all the other SEO experts? Or serving their clients?

What does make sense is that if they want to work with somebody local or with experience in a specific industry, look for that, e.g., “Philadelphia SEO” or “music SEO”.

Why blog about SEO on a DJ website? Well, simply because it’s important. For my company, it was the make or break for the 2008-2009 recession. Many of my industry colleagues have asked me how I can afford to invest the time, to which I simply respond “How could I afford not to?”

In the Philadelphia event industry, my website and blog are ranked amongst the most highly trafficked, if not THE most. I quote Scott Allen of ScottSocialMediaAllen.com, who within his quote quotes the late Will Rogers in saying…

That’s a bold claim, and I’m sure there are some who will doubt me on that. I’m perhaps not the most famous social media expert, but as Will Rogers said, “It ain’t braggin’ if you done it.”

-Craig Sumsky

I used to be on YouTube.  That statement in itself probably makes very little sense to most folks that would typically be reading this – my professional blog – so perhaps it needs a better explanation.

Most people know YouTube as a place where you can see funny videos of anything from pet tricks to practical jokes, or you can search a recent news story or music video.  Just under that outer epidermis lie other videos… Runaway viral videos like Chocolate Rain and Numa Numa, Sneezing pandas and laughing babies while others even more bizarre like Chris Crocker would even find their way on to The Jimmy Kimmel Show.

But if you go even farther into the depths of YouTube – and you know where to look – you may just find the strangest thing of all… a community.  All over YouTube there are people who call themselves ‘vloggers.’  The term vlogger is the viral term for the video equivalent of a blogger, except instead of (or in some cases in addition to) writing a blog, they just turn on their webcams or video cameras and talk.  If a blog is a written web-log then a vlog is its viral video equivalent, and there are hundreds if not thousands of these video bloggers on YouTube, getting in front of the camera and talking about everything from religion, to politics, to what kind of toothpaste they use.  The sky is the limit in the YouTube community, and some would say that without the vloggers and the vlogging community, YouTube wouldn’t be where it is today.  I spent a great deal of time interacting in this peculiar yet unique community, and have made friendships that I expect will last for years to come.

Enter Big Joe Smith.

Big Joe was hired at YouTube in March of 2006, prior to the Google buyout   I had the chance to catch up with him on twitter a few weeks ago and asked him if he would be willing to do a phone interview, to which he emphatically agreed.  I knew Joe through my work with the katiesopinion project on YouTube but hadn’t actually ever had the chance to sit down and ‘break bread’ with him (a BigJoe-ism) so I was grateful for the opportunity.  Joe’s role with YouTube – and the last official title he held before leaving to work for Google – was ‘People and Blogs Manager/Community Specialist,’ and what that essentially meant was that Joe was YouTube’s liaison to the community.

Craig: So Joe, tell me when you first got hired at YouTube, did you actually interview with Chad Hurley or Steve Chen?

Joe: No I initially interviewed with a woman who liked my resume, but she did bring Chad in and told him she wanted to hire me.

Craig: So obviously he said yes?

Joe: Pretty much, he said “He seems like a good guy” and the rest is pretty much history.

Craig: So how big was YouTube at the time you were hired?

Joe: I was number 27, or 28… somewhere around there.  It was pretty intimate back then.

Craig: So what would you say was the most significant difference from the time you were hired to the time you left?

Joe: Well I would say the size, but more so the amount of videos being uploaded, the opportunity to catch new content as it was uploaded was far greater.  It was much easier for the staff to hand-pick videos for front page features back in the day.  It was also a lot easier for the staff to pick out who was who in the YouTube community.  Everything was pretty much ‘real,’ or so we thought until lonelygirl15.

Craig: So I always imagined that the staff all had their own favorites, and that played a hand in who got featured, was that the way it was?

Joe: Nah not really.  The company was pretty small then so when someone found a video that was really good we could all take a look at it.  I remember one time in particular when a vlogger named ‘renetto’ put up a vlog about another user named geriatric1927, who was an older man from the U.K.  We all gathered around a monitor to watch it and when it was done I looked over at one of my co-workers who was in tears. I think that’s when I first realized how powerful and impactful these vlogs could be.  I mean a guy doesn’t just break into tears in front of his co-workers unless he’s truly moved.

Craig: So it sounds like it was really a cool job and you really loved what you did yeah?

Joe: Hell yeah.  YouTube allowed me  the opportunity to travel quite a bit, and meet some really interesting people.  I really felt connected to the people in the community especially after meeting so many of them in person.  I went to a lot of the YouTube gatherings and was really able to get to know the people behind their videos, and for the most part they were some really great people.

Suddenly in the middle of our phone conversation Joe breaks out into laughter

Joe: Sorry man, some lady just walked by wearing a YouTube t-shirt.  I always find that shit to be so funny.

Craig: I bet.

Joe: So yeah, I really felt in touch with some of these folks man, I really liked them and my job started becoming less like a job and more like an obligation.  I really cared, maybe a little too much.  Some of the videos were so real… so honest.  Hell, some even brought me to tears and I’m a damn grown man!  I mean I really cared about the community there and that was part of my frustration.

Craig: What was the frustration Joe?

Joe: Well, it had alot to do with the way I was brought up.  I was always taught to help people any way I could, it’s how I was raised and it’s really instilled in who I am.

Craig: Help people how?

Joe: Well my job as the community specialist had a lot to do with helping to get people featured, and I think I was able to do that pretty well.  I had about an 85 to 90 percent rate of success, but it was always that 10 to 15 percent that I just felt like I couldn’t help that got me so frustrated.

Craig: So when did you actually leave YouTube?

Joe: July of 2008. On my last day my co-workers joked “The King of Content has left the building.”  You know I never really told anyone when I left, you’re getting some pretty exclusive shit here Craig.

Craig: Hey man, I appreciate it.  So why was it all so hush hush?

Joe: Well to be honest I just didn’t want to answer all the questions.  It was really hard for me because I was really attached to the job… I really cared.  I just needed that break.

Craig: I know how you feel.  When Katie moved to Los Angeles it was a much needed breather  for us as well… sometimes YouTube could be all consuming.

Joe: (laughing) Yeah, I think someday some people are gonna need some YouTube anonymous support group.

Craig: So I understand you’re working for Google directly now… what exactly is your job title there?

Joe: I work in the Google checkout risk analysis department, essentially I deal with investigating fraud… It’s a much different kind of job.  The product is called ‘Google Checkout’ (checkout.google.com). Check it out man, safest way you can shop online.

Craig: So on a lighter note, what would you say were some of your most significant and memorable moments looking back at your time with YouTube?

Joe: Oh man there are so many… hmmm…  well, one was definitely when I got a video called ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas‘ featured.  It wasn’t that video so much as the follow-up video by the guy who made it, a user by the name of zipster08.  He made a video just thanking us for featuring his video, and that really touched me.

Craig: I remember that video.

Joe: Another would have to be the 7.7.7. YouTube Gathering in New York City.  There was so much that was awesome  about that meet up, but I’m still amazed that it worked out to be so hugely successful in spite of all the drama it was shrouded in.  Do you remember all that craziness?

Craig: Oh I sure do, it was pretty lulzy*.

Joe: (chuckling at my use of the word lulzy) Yeah it was definitely lulzy, but it was really a big turning point for me, it was an opportunity to really get to know the people behind the videos they produced.

Craig:  So these were your most memorable?

Joe:  Well actually, the most memorable of all would really have to be the RickRoll on April 1, 2008.  I was behind that whole thing (laughing really hard).  We set it so no matter what video you clicked on the YouTube home page it took you to the YouTube RickRoll channel. In one day I RickRolled seven million people in nineteen countries… who else can say they did that?  We even cleared it with Rick Astley’s people. Good times man, that was alot of fun.  Check out the RickRoll channel on YouTube, www.youtube.com/user/YTRickRollsYou

Craig: (laughing) That’s awesome man.   So what does the future hold for BigJoeSmith?

Joe: Well, it’s my time now.  I wanna leave my mark on the internet.  I’ve been the behind the scenes guy for way too long, it’s my turn to throw my hat in the ring.  Who knows, maybe I’ll even try for YourTubeAdvocate. I’ve got alot to say man, and I haven’t even gotten started.

Craig: Ok so here’s a more personal question, so please don’t fault me for asking it… in our two plus years of doing katiesopinion we were among the 15% that didn’t get featured… so in all fairness instead of asking you why, let me ask you which Katie video you would have gotten featured if you could have?

Joe: That’s a no-brainer… ‘The Monologue‘ was by far my favorite katiesopinion video, and the one I really went to bat for.  Unfortunately it never made it past the gate, but I really tried man.

Craig: No worries Joe, we were well taken care of.  So what was it about that video you liked?

Joe: It was just so different.  It was a real shift in the stuff Katie usually put out, and it showed another dimension to her.  It really impressed me and I really thought it was something that deserved a feature on the front page.

Craig: So, being ‘the man’ at YouTube, and a champion for the ‘community,’ what would be your advice to people just coming on now and trying to gain e-fame?

Joe:  I would just tell them to keep it real.  I’m all about keeping it real.  I know all the ins and outs and I truly believe in just being positive and getting on camera and expressing yourself.  It’s going to be a lot harder than it was in the old days, but anything is possible.  I’d also advise them to have a thick skin.  If you can’t take the negative withthe positive you really should find some other less public outlet.  YouTube isn’t a place for the – for lack of a better word – butt-hurt**.

Again Joe and I share a laugh at the term butt-hurt, knowing it’s such a YouTube-ism

Craig:  So what do you think the future holds for the YouTube community Joe?

Joe: Craig man, the community is not about YouTube, YouTube is just the platform that aids the community’s interaction, but it doesn’t determine your community.  There are communities all over the Internet, and I see lots of YouTube peeps popping up on twitter and facebook.  It also isn’t just one community, but lots of small communities interacting within a bigger platform.  Think of it like this… If you hang out with a bunch of your friends at a bar, and the bar were to close, would that mean the friendships were over as well?  Of course not.  A community – a ‘real’ community – is about people, and has nothing to do with YouTube.

*Lulzy – An Internet term often used to describe the humor found in the misfortune of others, very much like the laughs derived from slapstick-like situations.  “When the waiter dropped the plate of pasta all over my mother-in-law’s lap, I found it very ‘lulzy.’”

**Butt-hurt – An Internet term used to describe someone who is perceived as overly sensitive, or who complains about their perceived unfair treatment.  “The little boy acted very ‘butt-hurt’ when his mother told him he wasn’t allowed to have dessert until he finished his dinner.”

So there ya have it folks, some inside information about one of YouTube’s finest, and a man who had a hand in the development and growth of one of the biggest, best known and certainly most visited websites in the history of the Internet.   Keep your eyes out for Big Joe Smith, if I know people (and I do), I expect great things from him.  Be sure to check out the links below to his blog, his twitter, and his YouTube channel.

And a big thanks to Joe for taking the time out of his vacation to speak with me.

-Craig Sumsky

 Where to find Big Joe Smith on the internet…

Big Joe’s blog/website – http://www.bigjoesmith.com/

Big Joe on twitter – http://twitter.com/bigjoesmith

Big Joe’s YouTube channel – http://www.youtube.com/bigjoesmith

www.cuttingedgedjs.com