Blog has moved Thursday, Jul 9 2009

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Good Bye Billy! Sunday, Jun 28 2009

My Youtube Tribute

Billy Mays, known world wide as the “Infomercial King” passed away this morning. This is bad news to me. Billy Mays has recently become one of my heroes. Over the past 6 months I have examined his career and am just amazed at the sheer genius of this man. He built an entire industry around himself. His endorsement was pure gold for any company that wanted to sell.

His punch line blue shirt and khaki slacks were a carefully planned wardrobe presentation designed to sell, and they worked!

Reprinted from Fox News

Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday.

Mays, 50, was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry to Mays’ residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.

“Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times,” Mays wife, Deborah, said in a statement on Sunday.

Mays was well known for his numerous television promotions of such products as Orange Glo and OxiClean. He was also featured on the reality TV show “Pitchmen” on the Discovery Channel, which followed Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.

Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other “as seen on TV” gadgets on Atlantic City’s boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.

Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it’s done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, “Long live your laundry!”

Recently he’s been seen on commercials for a wide variety of products and is featured on the reality TV show “Pitchmen” on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs. He’s also been seen in ESPN ads.

His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products.

“I enjoy what I do,” Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. “I think it shows.”

Mays was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampa.com reported.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to the station.

Authorities have not said whether Mays’ death was related to the incident.

Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.

“Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth,” Hillman’s statement said. “Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend.”.

Rest in Peace Billy. You will be missed.

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Michael Jackson Dies, Social Media Mourns Friday, Jun 26 2009

Michael Jackson’s death, along with the death of other well known celebrity Farrah Fawcett, Has caused an explosion in search on Facebook, Twitter, and sites akin to them.

Have you noticed that the last 36 hours Facebook and Twitter have been experiencing a lot of surprising errors? Do something as simple as clicking on one of the links and an unknown error page has been popping up quite frequently. While the solution is as simple as hitting the back browser and clicking it again. The cause is something a bit more interesting.

The surge of search terms on major social media networks has caused a small server overload. Nothing devastating in any way, but interesting still. Many notable people have passed away in the last few years but Michael Jackson’s death seems to have come at just the right time for a massive overload of media frenzy.

It has been reported that 30% of the “Tweets” on the Twitter site in the last 24 hours have been Jackson related. That is ASTRONOMICAL!

While the cause of death is presumed to be Cardiac Arrest an investigation is ongoing.

Whether you loved him or hated him. Everyone and their mother knew him. His passing has shaken the web like nothing in recent history.

I give you now a Youtube tribute to the legend himself.
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Dear Michael,
I’ve never really been a Smooth Criminal. When I get a speeding ticket it is a miracle indeed if I fight it and Beat It. I met you in Vegas and asked for one piece of advice to carry me through life and your response was, “Don’t stop til you get enough“. You Are Not Alone you’re in our thoughts and our prayers. Though you have gone, your music lives on. You’ll be in my heart., so that I am always able to Rock With You for the rest of my life. Some people misunderstood you, but not I. You are a musical genius and I miss you.

-Jordan Laubaugh

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About the Author (Part 1: K-12) Monday, Jun 8 2009

Hi, I’m Jordan Laubaugh.

I want to take a couple minutes to introduce myself. I’d like to allow you to get to know me through my blog. This category of posts will allow me to periodically talk about myself and my life. It should prove entertaining!

Here we go

I was born and raised in Michigan and that is where I currently reside. I do have plans in the near future of moving out of state. But for the time being I will remain here, plugging away.

I was born into a very conservative Christian home and attended educational institutions which mirrored those beliefs as a child. This background of “far right” thinking has shaped my belief systems today in a major way. That way of life is so closed and sheltered to the outside world that had something drastic not changed, I probably wouldn’t even know who Lil Wayne is today. But I was the lucky one.

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