Or semi-live. Twitter tracks your updates as they happen, keeping a running count of updates which appear to refresh every minute or so. Hovering over the box changes the color, and clicking anywhere on the box refreshes the page. A darker gray line divides the newly loaded tweets with the older ones.

The unread tweet count also appears in the page’s title tag, which means that tabs and windows will display unread tweet numbers.

It’s not a huge change, not earth shattering, and the constant updating numbers can even be kind of distracting. But, the new feature shows that Twitter is still, slowly, making changes to the base service.

Click here for a full desktop view.

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Now, Cristinia lives a good half-an-hour drive away from my house, so on the way home from last night’s Fireside Wine Chat, I found myself flipping through the radio stations at nearly one in the morning. On the two local classic rock channels I was able to hear the Kinks’ “Lola” not once, but twice, but in flipping through through the “we play anything station” I managed upon this little ditty.

If you were alive in the eighties (as I was) and rode a bicycle (as I did), chances are you stumbled upon the campy film “Rad.” And not only did you stumble upon it, but you dreamed of riding your bike through a Kix sponsored cereal bowl on the way to winning the love of Laurie Laughlin. Yes, that is what we daydreamed about as babies of the eighties.

So, here, for your nostalgic pleasure, is Real Life’s video for “Send Me An Angel” which I caught in it’s entirety on the radio in 2009.

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No matter, the internet triumphs again. Here’s my presentation complete with non sequitor question and answer session.

Niche Communities and Social Networks – A Presentation from Bradley Robb on Vimeo.

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It was during a spoken word lecture by Nick Cave to the Poetry Academy in Vienna (full lecture in text – opening in audio) when I was exposed to the concept of duende and within the back of my drunken mind, my quest suddenly had a name. For years I had scoured art in myriad mediums, looking for scraps of what I suddenly knew as duende. That universal longing that seems to tie humanity together.

Even before placing a name to the concept, I knew my motivation – a working theory that if I surrounded myself with works imbued with what I wanted to portray, I could one day convey that type of experience.

Over the years, my album collection swelled. As did my library. And my film collection. Not to mention the sheer volumes of words I’d written. The bottles I’d emptied. The loves I’d lost. The cigarettes I’d reduced to butts and stubbed out. And from that mottled collection, I started to notice a trend.

A trend I’ve come to know as Maria.

Behind every piece of great art, behind everything that exemplified duende, there was typically a broken heart. Not the realistic end of a relationship, in which the good gave way to the gray, and the gray gave way to the pain. Not the kind of relationship which petered out. No, the holes created by Maria are different. These are the relationships which ambush the soul, which are not foreshadowed and which never grow to true fruition. They are comfort and connection and need which is too frequently snuffed out.

They are short, with passion that can only be described as explosive, if one is to dwell in metaphor.

You see, it isn’t possessing Maria which creates duende, it’s the brushing, the perception, the glimpse of what could be, of potential that marks Maria. Maria is the driving force from Linklater’s “Before Sunrise.” Maria is the focal point of numerous songs from the greater parts of Bob Dylan’s early catalog and the haunting he recalls for his later works.

Maria is the ghost which haunts the artist’s soul.

Josh Ritter altered Maria’s name, choosing the American “Marie” for his criminally overlooked “The Temptation of Adam.” (video)  To attain Marie, to be with his Maria, Ritter was willing to risk nuclear war and the destruction of all of humanity if it meant a continued relationship. Melodramatic, to be certain. But understandable? I think so.

A careful look at Ritter’s lyrics shows the truth of Maria. Though the happy ending is occasionally fostered in works inspired by Maria, reality is never so kind. The truest concept of Maria isn’t the having. It is the potential. Maria is a relationship marked by loss. Ritter’s Adam didn’t cause the war, and was forced to live with the memories of nights spent making love and days spent “ransacking the rations.” He lost Maria, and it was the loss which, on second thought, would have had him launching the missiles.

Dylan never got his Maria, either.

No one ever does. That’s what makes Maria unique, she is able to exist wholly in the mind – free of flaws, of reality, of humanity. In that way, Maria becomes a God, a concept which can’t be touched, which can only be embraced by logic-defying faith. Maria becomes a vision.
And through that holiness, Maria becomes a ghost. Exalted, yet haunting in the same breath.

Yes, hearts broken for Maria do not stand a chance. How can they? The piercing of a fictional blade knows no remedies. Time might dull the pain, but it never removes it. That longing, that duende, is always there. Days can pile up and obscure it, but one awkward glance, one glimmer in a crowded place, one wayward phrase or familiar scent is enough to rip that wound back open.

The mind is a terrible lover.

So, artists who’ve encountered Maria do what we do – we create.

Sometimes the art is a direct attempt at healing, founded in the belief that working out the relationship with Maria, with exposing the fiction to reality, of “showing the warts” might somehow lessen the pain. Others, the truer attempts to capture the vision of Maria, are appeals lodged in the misguided belief that “If my art is true and honest and powerful, she will come back.” Neither work, but both offer some important truths.

The first truth in either motive for creation is that Maria will not return. And the artist will not feel better. Yes, the chances are the art will be recognized for what it is – a love letter to Maria (whomever he or she may be) – but in the end the artist will only have spent a considerable amount of time focused on what ideally should be forgotten.

The second truth is that others will find that art, because they too have visions of Maria. Those of us who spend our days and nights in constant searches, in quests to remember our own visions running in parallel to quests to forget them, we all form a sense of global community. A loosely organized federation of hearts addicted to seraphim, of soporic romances. Of that glimpse that could never survive reality.

But in the end, in both the first and second truths, the reality is that Maria will never be again. The joy is in having been exposed to the fiction, the purity, and having that come through the ether. The experience might have meant a constant longing, but in the end, it was something real. It was something. And today, who can argue with that?

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And like a proud instigator, I’ve talked Dieter in allowing me to give his album away. It’s light. It’s haunted. And it’s about one banjo short from being Lancaster’s official take on the burgeoning and exciting neo-Depressionist genre (Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Langhorne Slim, etc).

So, if you’re interested in getting your folk on, head over here and download Dietrich Strause’s self-titled, independently produced debut.And if you like it, feel free (hell, feel obligated) to pass it on.

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I was watching Bourdain over lunch today, largely because I like to punish myself. When Anthony’s cavorting around Sao Paulo and I’m on my couch eating leftover lasagna, life seems a whole lot less fair. I mean, he’s always in exotic locals – Brazil, Italy, Montana – and eating fantastic food that most of us don’t realistically have access to. It’s less a lack of want and more frequently a lack of ability.

But why should “meat and glory” be restricted to Bourdain? After all, I’m better than fair with a grill as are most of my friends. So…why not start a Grill League?

What’s a Grill League?

Well, it’s an excuse for a whole bunch of people to come together and grill, try new foods, drink some beers, and have a good time.

Ideas are still up in the air, but I’m thinking of meeting a couple times a month, typically on Saturdays, and likely at parks around the city. Food should be served in small portions, that way people can sample and share without filling up. Side dishes are optional, beer likely not.

And like Fight Club, if it’s your first Grill League, you have to grill.

Anyone interested?

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Yes, that does mean I am starting my own company. And I already have some really cool clients. Instead of operating a strict SEO company, I’m leveraging what I call “conversational marketing” – that is combining smart SEO practices with helping companies take advantage of social media to find current and new customers and turn them into friends.

And speaking of social media, I presented on that very topic – of honing in your passion and finding others who share it – at this month’s Social Media Club here in Richmond. I had a blast and will post the videos of said presentation when they become available. I use the plural because not only was my presentation recorded, but I was also interviewed by Jolie O’Dell who came up what I believe she called “Robb’s Theorem on Furries in Niche Marketing.”

The basic premise of that theory is that furries, people dressed up like animals pretending to be people, is perhaps as far removed from normal life as any particular niche or vertical can be. And yet, when you take that passion and expand it onto a global scale, furries measure in the millions. If such a finite passion can measure in that quantity, other niches can reasonably duplicate that kind of community.

The video interview wasn’t the only bit of press that night. Grid Magazine was in attendance and snagged not only the photo of my above, but also a fairly good recap of the night in general. I do believe that this article officially marks the first time I’ve been on the other side of a printed byline. Yes, I’ve been on the local NBC affiliate a few times, but there is a special place in my heart for printed journalism.

And finally, in fiction writing news, I am now a full chapter into the second act of Project Kingdom. In the traditional Three Act Structure, this one is always my favorite. Why? Because the first act is really a setup, establishing the characters, pushing the hero on their call to action, setting the characters on their chosen paths and providing small victories which seem huge at the time. The first act, in other words, is driving by the characters. In the second act, everything is taken away from them.

Mark my words, the second act of Project Kingdom is where things get real. Across the board, characters find their best laid plans going to waste, and even those pulling the strings find themselves losing control. People die. Things go wrong. Powers shift and roles are revered on a regular basis. And I’m exceptionally excited about writing it.

But I’m going to pound out a short story first. Why? Well, I watched the documentary “Postcards from the Future” on Friday night, and Chuck Palahniuk got me all inspired. I started thinking about technology, darkness, and the digital artifacts we leave behind. Throw in a castoff line from a Washington Social Scene Song…(“If any rock’s going to save my soul then what the fuck is it waiting for?”) and a story started to brew.

I banged out an outline in a few minutes, and I liked what I saw. I still don’t know the characters, but I’ve got 4,000 words left on my goal for WriteClubRVA, and I figure it’s about time I knock out something I can show.

I guess that means people are going to get a free story from me. If you’re wondering what my short stories typically look like, I’ve got a couple online in my portfolio.

*Bonus points if you got that movie reference. Hint – it’s my all time favorite film.

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Because they apparently really love me too. A few months ago I went through the process of getting Fiction Matters included in the database of feeds which Google crawls for their news section. Since then, Google News has become one of my leading sources of traffic. Honestly, I have no idea what Murdoch and Co. get so angry about.I would be more angry if Google didn’t include me than if they did.

Also, look at the company they’ve put me in – Google used my image and slotted me below the Huffington Post and the LA Times, but above the CSM and 79 other periodicals. And they did so for the broadest possible search term.

If that ain’t love, I don’t know what is.

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The "new" Mixx

If you’re a Mixx user, you might have noticed that the interface seems to have gotten a bit less crowded today. The social news site, in which users act as a mixture of editor and judge by submitting and voting content to the site’s front page, seems to have removed the ability to vote items down.

As someone with not one, but two curmudgeon awards – given to Mixx users for leading the day in down votes, I have to say I’m a bit sorry to see this feature go. Not because I’m an inherently negative person, but rather because I’m a spam buster. Every once in a while, I’ll go through the Book section of Mixx.com and vote down any content that isn’t book related. Doing so helps to keep the section free of spammy submissions without having to bother the powers-that-be.

The new defunct downvote button button was frequently used in political discussions – creating a tug-of-war between Mixxers of opposing political views to remove or promote a story from reaching the front page.

The ultimate result of this buttons removal is yet to be seen. On one hand, the Mixx front page could see an increase in the variety of stories, with more controversial submissions no longer able to be buried. On the other, the front page can more easily be dominated by a single voting bloc which organizes its powers to promote a defined agenda. I guess, in the end, only time will tell.

Little red down vote button, you shall be missed.

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I am a sucker for story. I can overlook poor acting, even rough writing, if the overall plot and characters are worthwhile entities. Do it right, build both plot and character out in a serial fashion, and television can be just as fulfilling medium as literature and easily trumps film. Do it wrong, and you’re simply couching commercials and wasting everyone’s time. Do it really wrong, and you’re most of Bravo’s reality television programming.

I’ve been writing a great deal about television lately, not so much here, but rather in Richmond’s “alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion.” So far I’ve provided a preview of the new fall shows and a review of the first three episodes of Fox’s “The Cleveland Show.”

But I really want to talk about one term which only true TV and movie nerds know: Ensign Ricky. It’s a fun little term used to denote a character who is quickly thrust amongst the major players in any story only to setup an emotional shock when said character is killed off. The term references the original “Star Trek” though I first encountered it in Fox’s “Family Guy.”

Tonight, I used the term in reference to AMC’s “Mad Men.” After weeks of half-assed episodes where the characters became their flaws rather simply being guided by them, AMC finally gave us a plot episode. And the Ensign Ricky moment (if you’ve seen the episode, you know what I’m talking about) actually got me to swear out loud and on Skype simultaneously.

Truthfully, the use of Ensign Ricky as a plot device can a bad thing. Over do it, and the audience will become immune. Like any other device, once it becomes a clutch, it becomes cliché. Used sparingly, and in a wholly unexpected way, and the audience is suddenly much more aware. Other characters become more important. A sense of mortality is bestowed. More so, the writers look like they know what the hell they are doing.

So, congratulations go out to the writers’ room at “Mad Men” for pulling themselves out of their funk and finally delivering an episode where the plot shapes the characters and for tossing an Ensign Ricky in to put the cherry on the top.

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