You don't know me

J. KEVIN TUMLINSON

You may not know me. Yet.

I first started writing for the web in 1998, when I took on the role of Producer for Tom King's CompuTalk. It was a computer-oriented talk radio show and one of my duties was to write product and web site reviews and the occasional editorial for the company web site. My work there inspired me to start my own consumer review magazine, ViewOnline (www.viewonline.com). And that's when things really got moving.

Because from ViewOnline I was able to reach an audience. For the first time, I was striking out on my own, giving my opinons to the populace at large, and even getting some feedback along the way. I started getting e-mail from people who really liked what I was writing, and who were actually using my reviews as a basis for buying products. Go figure.

But it wasn't enough. I had to have more! And, well, to be honest we were only getting enough reviews to update the site about once per month at the time and I just wanted a little more traffic than that. It was clear that we would have to come up with a weekly feature that would draw people in, get them excited, make them come back for more. We never did think of one. But I did start writing my weekly opinion column, ViewPoint (you can read it at ViewOnline and if you'd like to see back issues of the column you can go to the archives at www.viewonline.com/viewpoint).

ViewPoint gave me a chance to get on my soapbox every week and make general rude noises and hand gestures to the things that really bugged me. Sort of like a blog. Only I had to be nice about certain things because, hey, I had a magazine to run. So I decided I'd start a blog on my own personal web site (www.tumlinson.net). It's sort of a cathartic experience to be able to talk about my life and how...well, boring it is. I mean, I'm not a secret agent or a firefighter or anything cool like that. I'm just a humble writer with his own media outlet. I make films, I write product reviews, and I spout opinions about anything and everything. It's what I do. But It's not that interesting to read about.

Well, I guess the film making thing might be interesting. I'll have to start talking about that on my personal blog.

But now, enter BlogRave. I guess I figured I wasn't doing enough writing. Not enough writing, nope. I need more. Plus, well, Blogger.com seems to have great publicity, and you can never get enough of that. Right?

So here's how BlogRave will work. I'm going to periodically come here and spew my opinions about, well, everything. Why should you, dear reader, care if I do that? Ok, time for some credentials:

Opinions are like A**holes. Everybody's got one. Yeah, I'm no different. But I've been refining my opinions for years. And you know what they say -- "Practice makes perfect." ViewPoint, my opinion column, has been a great place for me to perfect my soapbox skills. I am constantly getting e-mail from people who appreciate my perspective. BlogRave is just a chance for me to spread that perspective even further... kind of like manure. Only it smells much, much sweeter.

I am the master of my domain. I'm about a hair off of finishing my Masters of Education at Houston Baptist University. By the end of November, I'll be done. The choice at that point will be, "What should I do with it?" I taught for two years in a public school district. I don't feel that you can be effective as a teacher in this day and age because you have to cater to standardized tests and revisionist historians. But the entire experience, and the Masters of Education program, have given me a unique perspective into the way our education system works (and doesn't work).

TV or not TV. I've been working in film and television for about six years now. I've seen stuff. Lots of stuff. Stuff that would make you run crying to mama in a futile attempt to avoid the reality of...well, stuff. Ok, mostly I've seen the corruption of media and witnessed first hand how someone's words can be taken out of context, twisted and used to support a perspective that is completely opposite of what the person stands for. In my own productions (and those I participate in), I refuse to allow this kind of distortion. And, also, I don't allow people to moon the camera. Because honestly, who needs to see that?

Don't PC me. The single most evil thing that anyone has ever done was to create the concept of "Political Correctness." These individuals are Evil Challenged. They are lacking in fundamental goodness qualities, and are clearly Common Sense Resistant. I, on the other hand, am Censorship Deprived. I am lacking in the fundamental self-monitoring gene and suffer from temporary losses of concern for public approval. Also, I don't give a crap.

Also, I like puppies. I'm not really a rowdy, rude guy. I'm no Howard Stern or Opie and Anthony. I'm actually a pretty good guy who's just sick of watching the world, and most especially the United States, bend over and take one for posterity. So I'm here, loud mouthed and open minded, and ready to do my part for the continuation of free speech for everyone. And, honestly, I hope you like what you read. You can tell me. I can take it.

E-mail me if you like what you read. E-mail if you don't like what you read. E-mail if you want the recipe to King Ranch Chicken. E-mail me at kevin@tumlinson.net.

Thanks for making it all the way through this first blog. I'll see you next time. You bring the chicken wings. Oh, and here's a tip: always read the closing tagline. I sometimes type the bank account number and PIN for Bill Gates in there.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Editor & Publisher of ViewOnline (www.viewonline.com), the author of the weekly syndicated column ViewPoint, and the owner of Hat Digital Media (www.hatdigitalmedia.com). He thinks the world wide web was made by big, scary spiders.