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24 Feb, 2011

Revelation

By |2011-02-24T10:04:56-05:00February 24th, 2011|My Life|0 Comments

I’m going to give credit to CK4 for thinking of something that usually skips over me. When you have an 8% abv beer in a pint glass, you are generally drinking it at the same pace as a normal Coors light draft. Meaning that you are consuming the same amount of alcohol but getting drunk at twice the speed. Obviously I know I”m drinking an 8 percenter but realizing that you are getting drunker that much quicker is the point to understand. So I’m just saying I got pretty wasted last night, went to sleep at 10 and woke up feeling like pooh. When considering the enjoyment of today with the enjoyment experienced drinking, I’d prefer to have just stayed in and done nothing but feel good today. As is, and something that isn’t a rarity, I spend my day tired and not 100%. However you make the best of it and move on. Kristen and the Noise is playing at Mad River tonight so that’s probably something that I’m going to see. Another week of the same old same old.

23 Feb, 2011

SEO Thoughts

By |2011-02-23T01:39:23-05:00February 23rd, 2011|My Brain|1 Comment

So I’ve given my blog a new title in hopes of promoting new traffic with something that is more specific to what I’m doing. Evan said he found my blog come up in a search for Manayunk Sport and Social so I obviously write things about where I’m living. Do I really think I’m Manayunk’s Main Man? Of course not but it has a nice ring to it and no one was finding my blog with a title of “always drunk in Philadelphia” which I thought was clever. I’ve been delving further in SEO (search engine optimization) and I think I might be starting to get the hang of creating better posts more accustomed to search engines. My frostbite 5 miler post got me 20 new visits just based on an appropriate title. Notice I also made my Kildare’s Manayunk post a title that when people search for something general, they’ll find what they are looking for. Hopefully if I move this to a Manayunk Themed site I can cash in on some better traffic.

To update everyone on the current traffic level of the site, my site traffic is up 183% compared to last month and I’ve had 4,501 visits with 3,264 being unique. This has far surpassed any levels prior and I’ll breakdown what is actually occurring. In a one month time span 814 of those visits are from people seaching for Suri Cruise (roughly 20%). This is mostly irrelevant traffic because most people are bouncing directly off after seeing the content. 1185 visits come from people going directly to the site. Meaning people typing in rnningfool.com in their URL. Now 1 person could make up 100 of these visits so these 1185 clicks come from loyal readers which I’m more than happy to have. Facebook sends me 446 and Bansheemann sends me 185. 1816 visits are relevant with the rest just finding myself on some off basis. For one month I think this is a pretty good level which I’m fairly proud of. With a further degree of seriousness taking to posting more often and creating good content, hopefully I can expand on this new found traffic.

To give you an idea of how much money I’m able to generate using Adsense, I had a revenue stream of $3.36 for the first 4 days I had it up. This was mostly due to me experimenting and a click or two from Jkash. As I had it the Ad’s were not being clicked on and still weren’t set up right so I ended up taking them down. If you have any experience in AdSense, maybe you could give me a hand. So the site is not a moneymaker at it’s current level but maybe in the future. It’s good to know that at least some people do read my ramblings, rants, and raves. Thanks for reading.

23 Feb, 2011

Kildare’s Manayunk

By |2016-10-28T15:57:21-04:00February 23rd, 2011|My Brain|0 Comments

Being a person who generally likes bars I wanted to take the time to go over a few things about a bar that is growing on me. If you read my earlier reviews of Manayunk Bars found here you’d see I made some suggestions to spruce up Kildare’s mainly being better specials and finer interior. They offer an everyday 5-7 half off appetizer’s which is finally a good special. I’m not wild about the food but it’s not overly expensive and I feel like it’s more sanitary than the Bayou or Manayunk Tavern. Ck4 said he got sick from the mussels which they serve with a beer sauce that I find pretty good and they are on special Wednesday’s too. Although the ever looming question “where’s the ocean?” is still in tact.

I still don’t think they offer cheap enough standard light beer during early hours but on Wednesday’s they have a 3 dollar rotating tap that I’ve come to enjoy thoroughly. Basically if you like different kinds of beer from all over, they will pour you a pint for 3 dollars and you can’t beat a Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale for 3 bucks. It’s 8% abv which means you are getting 2.5 coors lights cans for 3 bucks which is actually a special. They also have about 10 other beers on tap from brewers like Magic Hat, Boulder, Flying Dog, and Great Lakes (another personal fave). If you get there early the crowd isn’t huge but gets better as the night progresses. I find the bartenders to be good people with Jake and Julie being my go-to’s. I still have a problem with 9 dollar double rum and cokes because it’s just pure greed on management’s part which is fine for someone who orders one and that’s enough for the night but for the real alcoholic I can run up quite a bill which just undermines any tip I would generously leave.

I’ve never understood the way they have the bar set up with some weird dividers. I feel isolated from the crowd depending on where I’m sitting. Plus the wide serving areas that bartenders have to cover is unusual if there are a lot of people and not enough bartenders. I’ve always felt a bar that moves in a square is the best way to serve everyone effectively. Like a U shape with bartenders in the middle. The sit down area is also not for me but I guess when people want to take a date there it’s ok. I just wanted to chime in with a few thoughts on this particular bar because I’m “in the biz.”

23 Feb, 2011

Unstoppable Review

By |2013-03-15T03:32:02-04:00February 23rd, 2011|Movies|0 Comments

This movie was for $4.95 on demand so CK4 and I watched it. Mainly because I’ve seen most of the free movies I want to see and watching something new has it’s allure. If you aren’t familiar with this movie it stars Denzel Washington and Rosario Dawson a few other B listers who accidentally put a train in full throttle. If you couldn’t guess, it becomes Unstoppable. The unattended train foils some potential solutions until you guessed it, Denzel saves the day with his renegade behavior. Sort of reminded me of Taking of Pelham 123 just because a train and Denzel were involved. Ck4 came out of it saying it was a really great movie but that’s because he’s wowed by special effects and life threatening situations that he could never dream of being in. I was entertained but to say it was a truly good movie is giving it way too much credit. The side plot were dumb and the main plot was obvious to make the movie anything special.

I think people have a tendency to be way to heavily favored to one side or the other. Meaning that people either love it or hate it and these type of people skew ratings because they are not real with what they are watching. I would like to outline a rating system that has a much more practical use. Nothing gets a 10 because it’s nearly impossible to be perfect. On the opposite end, things rarely deserve 1’s. When you are handing out numbers for how attractive females are you can’t be throwing out perfect 10’s because the number begins to lose meaning. Also, instead of calling girls 1’s you just bump them up to 4.5’s so everyone wins. You can get a good idea of how people judge things just by hearing their review of one movie and then watching for yourself. When JC, who generally falls asleep halfway through movies, tells me the 4th Kind (A thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up) is a really good movie and I should watch it, I know I’m probably not dealing with someone who has the same tastes as myself in what a good movie is.

That’s why it amazes me that Denzel takes on some of these roles because you can just tell it’s all about the money and not how good the role is. I read in Wikipedia that he wanted to walk away from the movie because they wanted him to reduce his pay from 20 million to 16. Seriously, you greedy SOB. The movie isn’t going to win you any awards and you just take the role because. When I saw a preview of Liam Neeson’s new movie I thought to myself, “didn’t he just do this movie in Taken?” Taken was such a terrible role for such a good actor that he only takes it for the money. Literally, there is no plot but him hunting down his daughter and acting like a bad ass. Now he picks another one of the same exact role. This is no Star Wars or Schindler’s list, just an F U pay me. Generally when actors choose these roles, there’s no way they are putting together an Academy Award performance. Just some food for thought when reviewing movies.

22 Feb, 2011

S(no)w

By |2016-11-02T00:03:06-04:00February 22nd, 2011|My Life|2 Comments

This is just getting silly at this point. It’s late February and the snow just doesn’t quit. It’s unbelievably annoying waking up in the morning and stepping out into the freezing car, warming up the car and then clearing snow off for 5 minutes. Especially today when it’s so cold out and you get the ice that freezes to the car and you have to use the scraping device which can scrape the paint. The other side is some stupid brush which is completely ineffective. Plus I find it so much easier to just shove the snow off with my arm and then the snow just sticks to my hoodie because I’m too lazy to put on my winter jacket. And when I open the door the snow just drops straight into my car. The whole situation is just a nightmare.

In other news, I read that they are checking peoples facebooks to determine if they would have any issues being a juror. Meaning if people do too much tweeting, or go on rants, or have blogs that make them out to be a lunatic… I guess in one sense that is good because I probably never have to worry about being a juror but it’s sort of annoying just because I can’t feel a part of the judicial system (yeah right). I wonder if I’d still be able to maintain this blog if I had a corporate job and someone looking over my shoulder. I guess that could be one of the main reasons most people don’t have a personal blog. I think it probably does reduce my credibility a little bit from a professional sense but if I could make money doing this instead of a “real job”, I would choose this. Honestly let me sit there for 8 straight hours and let me type about whatever I want and I guarantee I could produce some entertaining material. Although without the right inspiration sometimes it’s difficult to write. Considering I’m burning out playing poker I may have a lot of time on hands to come up with material. Probably incorporating news events isn’t a bad idea to comment on.

21 Feb, 2011

It’s T-Shirt Time!

By |2011-02-21T15:12:59-05:00February 21st, 2011|My Brain|0 Comments

I believe the way people dress can say a lot about their personality. People who go to work in a suit everyday might be more conservative, neat, and organized compared to the free spirit who would dress in sandals, worn out jeans, and a t-shirt. I’m going to back this up with a look at a few of my t-shirts and see what we can find out.

Guinness Shirt

The Rolling Stones

Borgata

Blue Polo

Jagermeister

Led Zeppelin Shirt

A couple of things to notice. One, they are all dark except for the blue one when I want to get wild and crazy. We have classic rock, alcohol, gambling, and the standard no-nonsense brand going. I most likely wouldn’t be wearing the t-shirt if there wasn’t anything about it I liked. You won’t find a random NFL team in my wardrobe just because. T-shirts are a very effective advertising method because they get a ton of exposure. If I’m spending the day with you chances are my t-shirt isn’t going to leave my back thus having anyone I come into contact with seeing me with this brand or logo. It’s the subliminal advertising of the t-shirt which works so effectively.

I actually don’t even like Jagermeister but I think the shirt makes me look way tougher than I am. Plus the Sheee got it after macking it with shot girl so it was free. I also don’t so much like the Stones but old people can identify with them and it’s hard to really diss a band that has been popular for decades. I wear Polo for the same reason. Basically they have been a strong brand and even if it makes you look preppy it’s hard to make fun of you for wearing it. I bought the Borgata shirt one time after I lost some money just so I didn’t feel like I was walking away empty handed (although a much lighter wallet). I am fond of both Led Zeppelin and Guinness.

Now I’m sure some people probably don’t give any thought to what design is on their shirt because a t-shirt is only a t-shirt. Look at CK4, he has a 2003 Penn State basketball shirt. We know a few things, he probably used to play ball and he doesn’t buy t-shirts very often. I have so many 5k running t-shirts that I could have made that my entire wardrobe but I would feel like such a dork. I also like to buy some new shirts every so often just to keep it fresh because they tend to shrink after a lot of washes. There’s my thought on the t-shirt.

19 Feb, 2011

Frostbite 5 miler 2011 – Results

By |2013-03-15T03:42:02-04:00February 19th, 2011|Running, Sports|0 Comments

With temperatures in the 40’s and gusts of wind hitting 25+ miles per hour, this wouldn’t seem like ideal running conditions. However, the times proved otherwise. Technically I only know of 3 peoples times but Me, Jeff, and Brian Lockard all put up worthy times. I was the slowest of the 3 finishing at 29:40 or so but exceeded my expectations of a sub 30 times. Jeff went into the race sandbagging and saying how he was having trouble running 5 miles but you wouldn’t know it when he clocked a 28:45. Lockard beat Jeff by a little bit but it’s hard for me to say being 400 yards behind them. Jeff and I started together and went out in a 5:20 or so mile. The wind made the beginning cold in my opinion but after you get moving it wasn’t so bad. Jeff left me around mile 2 and I was running at a pretty steady pace with no one really passing me and me passing the occasional rabbit who doesn’t know what a pace it. Mile 2 and 3 seemed to contain a lot of gradual hills and the wind made these all the more fun. Once I hit mile 4 I was a bit unsure of how far was left (a mile duh) but it’s sometimes hard to judge when to turn it on a bit to finish strong. Once I saw the school I knew we were close and finished with a good kick and some juice left. Don’t get me wrong though, I couldn’t go much faster as I felt great throughout the entire race. My legs didn’t get tired and my breathing was good. If I knew the course I maybe could have shaved off a few seconds but all in all I was pretty pleased. For a first time experience, I had a good run. Time to get wasted.

18 Feb, 2011

Bieber Fever – NBA All Star Weekend

By |2016-10-28T15:57:13-04:00February 18th, 2011|Sports|0 Comments

Notice how I’m learning a thing or two about titles and SEO. If that title doesn’t bring in the mass traffic I don’t know what does. I was actually pretty impressed with Justin Bieber and his bball skills. For being such a major draw I’m not sure where he learned how to play basketball. Not that he’s amazing or anything but he can play the game. You’d also think as a 27 year old male I’d have major discontent for Bieber but he really doesn’t bother me that much, actually not at all. He’s just really talented and gets a ton of attention but he seems to handle it well.

In bizarre fashion I’m sitting in, not drunk, on a Friday night I have the time to blog and dissect a pathetic attempt at entertainment which was the celebrity basketball game. Watching overweight, aging players like Mitch Richmond and Jalen Rose isn’t that exciting. Let’s not forget the slew of B list celebs like Trey Songz, Michael Rappaport and Rob Kardashian. This was just a complete nightmare of a game and why on Earth is AC Green taking mid range jumpers and trying to pad the stat sheet. The Rookie-Sophomore game was moderately exciting but it’s not a serious game so who really cares.

In between the game Jeff and I were watching this show on ABC which was a hidden camera show where they were trying to set people up. One scene had underage kids asking random passerbyers to purchase them alcohol. Maybe 10 out of 100 agreed and it was pretty stupid. Then they had a guy who had aids at a diner serving food and they set up actors to act like they were appalled that a person with aids was serving food. This was staged to try to see what type of reactions they could get from the people in the diner. Essentially it was like Punked except it was supposed to be serious since it was on ABC. The show was a complete joke but I still watched it. Now that’s an entertaining Friday night if I’ve ever seen one.

18 Feb, 2011

Frostbite 5 Miler

By |2011-02-18T17:51:31-05:00February 18th, 2011|Sports|0 Comments

Tomorrow at 9am the Frostbite 5 miler will start. I probably drank a bit too much on Wednesday but I don’t think that should effect me for Saturday. I’m feeling pretty good and did a short run today to confirm that. I’m looking to go sub 30 minutes and anything better would just be a bonus. The weather looks like its going to be beautiful which is awesome for me and my aversion to run in the cold. Based on last years results that should get me about 20 of 1500. I had a pretty lackluster year last year and hopefully this run will start me off on a good note for the season. I have maybe 6 runs on the agenda this year with the Broad Street and Distance Run being the main ones with some 5k’s tossed in there. I’m in good shape from a speed perspective but I think I could use some longer runs in my repertoire to increase the endurance. I am healthy and expect to turn some heads with a nice time at my old age. I’ll bring a camera to get a picture or two.

I still apologize for the ads on the side now but I don’t think they are too distracting and if anyone finds them annoying, please let me know. The benefit of the ads is that if I am able to make some money for doing something so easy and stupid, I’ll probably post more and try to build the most traffic possible. I still flounder when it comes to specializing in something. When serious sites try to build traffic they focus in on creating content. My content is so random that it really doesn’t fit in anything. Hence my problem. I’m just hoping to be entertaining and hope that works.

18 Feb, 2011

AdSense

By |2011-02-18T12:51:45-05:00February 18th, 2011|My Brain|0 Comments

I’m going to take this weekend as a test run and sell out for a bit. I created an AdSense account and want to see if this site is able to generate any revenue or if it’s just a waste of space. I’ve always prided myself on the fact that I’ve never had any ads on my site so this comes as a blow to my self esteem. I just spent the last half hour or so getting that ad on the right sidebar which seems relatively out of the way. That doesn’t really bother me but I also don’t see many people clicking it. Nevertheless, I will see if that does anything and would give me further incentive for creating a better site. Let’s take this baby for a spin.

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