I started this blog 20 years ago tomorrow without any clue about what I was doing. (Yes, you can still say this today.) My first post didn't include a title. My second post misquoted the start of Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's It Takes Two. Over the next few weeks and months, I wrote mostly short posts which would today be considered tweets or Facebook updates about a wide variety of topics though mostly about Pittsburgh sports. I was recently married and several years away from any kids. We didn't even have a cat yet!
20 years later, I have now spent over 40% of my life writing a blog. This is my 3,383rd post. From what I can find, Sean's Ramblings is the oldest, continuously-operating personal blog. There are other blogs that are subject specific (such as about individual sports teams) that are older, but many of them have had various writers during their existence. So why do I still write a blog? I'm not sure that I have a good answer. I really have no idea how many people still read this. I don't know much about SEO (search engine optimization), and I've never figured out how to build an audience. The best answer is that this is a journal for me. Yes, it's a public journal visible in theory to the entire world, but I write for me. And a little bit for my kids in case they ever want to read through this one day (even if they have no idea who Kevin Pittsnogle is though they may have heard of Flavor Flav).
I wrote fewer posts in 2024 than I have in any other year of this blog's existence. Part of the reason is that my posts are longer. You can read my random/quick thoughts and pictures on Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter, and Instagram. I consider many of my posts here to be "articles" or at least longer or more substantial than your typical tweet. So will I write more in 2025? Maybe. An average of a post a week seems reasonable, though I'd like to increase this some.
My main goal for this blog in 2025 is for me to branch out by attending events as a blogger/media member. I submitted an application to cover the Grammys virtually, and I plan on trying to participate in a few other things. (If anyone knows of events in the DC area, please let me know!) I think I bring a different perspective than many influencers that would be fun to read.
Thanks to all of you for reading this post and any of my other posts over the years. While I wrote that I write this for me, I do enjoy having an audience! Thank you!
There is a website called Cameo where you can pay for personalized messages by celebrities. This is an absolutely brilliant idea. The phrase "absolutely brilliant" should only be said in a British accent. Anyway, I've explored the website a little lately, and I can probably spend many more hours there. Here's what I found so far.
The first item I searched for was Pittsburgh Steelers. Naturally, Hall of Famers like Jerome Bettis ($300), Rod Woodson ($175), Dermontti Dawson ($100) were the most expensive. I feel like Arthur Moats ($25) and my new favorite player Zach Banner ($35) are bargains. I also believe that either Merril Hoge ($60) isn't charging enough or Xavier Grimble ($60) is charging too much. As a bit of a tangent, a few weeks ago, Steelers Depot posted this quote from Terry Bradshaw on Twitter, "The most money I ever made was $300,000. And back then you were paying fifty cents of that to the government, so add it up. Everything I had, I had to borrow money. I even mortgaged my NFL contract to buy a ranch and a tractor and a cutter to cut hay. Why did I mention this? Bradshaw is charging $500 for a Cameo!
You may remember the song "Say Hey I Love You" by Michael Franti and Spearhead from about a decade ago.
I'll admit that I only know Franti from this song, so I was surprised that a Cameo from him is $175 while one from Mya, who may be best known from batting lead-off in Lady Marmalade, but who also appeared in movies and Dancing With The Stars is $150.
Flavor Flav was a member of Public Enemy and starred in the reality television dating show Flavor of Love. When I first drafted this post, a Cameo from Flavor Flav was $350. Apparently, there is now a sale on getting a message from Flav as the price is $250.
Let's say that you want to get a message from a former world leader. Well, you're in luck! Just get a Cameo from former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox for $255. Want to get a message from a former state leader who served time in jail? You're in luck again! Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is on here for $80 (or slightly less than a Merril Hoge / Arthur Moats combo). By the way, if Donald Trump loses in November, I can easily see him charging $1000 per video, and if that happens, I hope someone has him say "person, woman, man, camera, TV" over and over again. (This statement makes more sense when you watch the amazing rambling that starts around the 2:30 mark of this video.)
Pittsburgh Pirates fans! I know there are still some of us out there. 2018 first round draft pick Travis Swaggerty could be a bargain at $15. Former Pirate Aramis Ramirez is definitely a bargain at $15. 2020 opening day starter Joe Musgrove is $50. Trevor Williams was $25 and Cole Tucker was $50, but they're now both temporarily unavailable. Maybe they're too busy with the start of the season. Actually, if Musgrove has a bad start on Friday, I'm blaming it on the fact that he's too busy being on Cameo and not spending enough time watching videos to prepare for the game!
Andrew McCutchen is on there for $150. I mention this for all of the Penguins fans out there. Cutch was an MVP for the Pirates. Alex Galchenyuk played a whopping 45 games for the Pens this season before getting traded in February to the Minnesota Wild for Jason Zucker. In his 8 NHL seasons, Galchenyuk has 108 goals and 147 assists. That's not bad, but Galchenyuk has never been an all star. I mention this because, although his Cameo is temporarily unavailable, it costs $180 to get one from him. There's no world where anything associated with Galchenyuk should be worth more than anything associated with McCutchen. He's just so cool.
Otherwise, the Penguins are vastly underrepresented on Cameo. George Laraque is available for $70, Frank Corrado who played 7 games for the Pens is there for $10, while penguins at the Philadelphia zoo is listed at $40. Sadly, it doesn't appear that the penguins actually talk much in the videos.
Finally, I noticed that there is a category for bloggers. And there are 768 bloggers listed! 768! This can't be correct since there are only about 100 active bloggers still writing. Maybe this is the way that I can finally make big money from my blog. How much would you pay for me to make a video wishing you a happy birthday or anniversary? I mean, I know that priceless is the likely answer, but how about $2000? Maybe $1000? I mean, the most money I ever made was $300,000 before taxes. I borrow money and even mortgaged my blogging contract to buy a ranch and a tractor and a cutter to cut hay, so I think I'll start asking for $500!
One more finally, finally. I can't have a post about Cameo without including this song.
Although this post was not sponsored by Cameo, I really wish that it was. Maybe the company will see this and let me send a message for free. I mean, it wouldn't be at the Terry Bradshaw or Flavor Flav level, but someone from Below Deck Mediterranean would be fine.
Every four years, I post a video where we all see what happens when Flavor Flav has a microphone. For some reason, Flav recently did the weather for a Salt Lake City television station. This is the result:
I think I know what he's sayin'. In case you don't remember the video from 2012, here is Flavor Flav narrating fireworks at Celebrate Fairfax. Yes, you read that correctly. Oh, there's some NSFW language around the 10:00 or 11:00 minute mark. The man likes his fireworks!
Welcome to your brief recap of the 31st annual Celebrate Fairfax even though Flavor Flav constantly referred to this being the 19th annual Celebrate Fairfax. Flavor Flav also decided to narrate Friday night's fireworks.
The 41 seconds of Flav describing the fireworks was entertaining. Of course, there's another video on YouTube appropriately titled (even if the name is incorrect) "Flava Flav narrates fireworks, and then it gets weird." It's a 17 minute video with a few swear words in the 11-12 minute mark or so, meaning that you probably don't want to play this at work. Regardless, I doubt that you'll make it that long.
Meanwhile, I was extremely excited to share an exclusive picture of Young MC wearing a Bryce Harper jersey until Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog scooped me. Oh well. This is a better picture of Young MC than anything on The Post’s website, though the comments there are much better.
Otherwise, Pat Benatar and The Legwarmers were both great; I think that carnival workers keep the cigarette companies in business; I did not have funnel cake, but the gyros were terrific; and I think a passionate (and/or slightly crazy) woman hit on me. Just your typical weekend!
The following text is from one of my first posts when I started this blog:
I recently watched the first episode of Strange Love featuring Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav on VH1. Flavor Flav is just fun to watch. He traveled to Milan to visit Brigitte, and the reactions of the people of Italy to Flavor Flav with his Viking hat and giant watch around his neck is priceless.
I hope that you didn’t click on the link above since my writing during the early days of this blog was terrible. Anyway, 7+ years after I wrote that post, I will see Flavor Flav live in person as he serves as the host of Legends of Hip Hop tonight. While I’m excited to see Digital Underground, Rob Base, DJ Kool and Young MC, I’m equally excited to see Flavor Flav. As VH1’s Jim Shearer wrote during my interview with him a few years back, “I remember him as an all-time great hypeman in hip-hop, but his series of reality shows has opened him up to a whole other audience.”
Now that I’m done linking to old blog posts, let’s get to Celebrate Fairfax. Everything you need to know is on the festival website. The website has the ticket information, entertainment line-up, directions and more for the 31st annual event running today through Sunday.
Finally, check out my thoughts about this year's headliners (including Pat Benatar & The Legwarmers) and my pitch on why you should attend Celebrate Fairfax if you live in the DC area. And yes, now I really am done with linking to old blog posts.
Celebrate Fairfax, Northern Virginia’s largest festival, announced its headliners for the 30th annual event taking place on June 8-10 at the Fairfax County Government Center. I am quite excited by the line-up.
Friday, June 8
The Legends of Hip Hop including Digital Underground, DJ Kool, Rob Base and Young MC and hosted by Flavor Flav. These four groups/individuals are responsible for some of my favorite songs of all time. I’ll share the videos below, but let’s see the other performers first.
Saturday, June 9
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo. Benatar previously appeared at Celebrate Fairfax in 2002 which was also my first year at the festival. Quick story: As I was leaving the restroom during the festival, Giraldo, Benatar’s husband and guitarist, entered. I said hey, and he replied hey. I wonder if he still remembers our meeting.
Sunday, June 10
The Legwarmers. The best 80s cover band ever. Most of their performance was cancelled last year after it rained (that’s quite the understatement). Anyway, it’s definitely worth seeing The Legwarmers live.
To learn more about Celebrate Fairfax, including ticket information, go to their website. Now enjoy some great songs/videos.
Maybe you know Jim Shearer as a former MTV2 VJ and current host of VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown. Maybe you know Jim Shearer as the genius behind Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers and Yinz Luv 'Da Guins, the incredibly entertaining videos about the Steelers and Penguins respectively. Maybe you don't know Jim Shearer at all, so I'm here to introduce him to you. Actually, I just sent Jim a few questions and he was kind enough to reply, so I'll let him "speak" for himself.
How did the Yinz Luv videos get started?
My MTV contract ended at the beginning of 2008 and I was looking for work. Trying to branch off into sports (which I thought could eventually bring me back home to the 'burgh) I went to an audition at the NHL. They were starting up a daily web-show. The audition lasted about two minutes, and I didn't get the job (sigh). As the playoff season started that year, I thought to myself, "Well, if the NHL doesn't want me, I'll just start up my own web-show." While throwing around ideas in my head, I quickly realized that "yinz" rhymed with "guins," and the rest is history.
Do you draw all of the figures in the intros?
Yep. I draw them all. If you notice in the early episodes of Yinz Luv 'Da Guins, the cardboard cutouts aren't as detailed as they are now. That's because I was rushing around to put the intro together, right as the playoffs began, and right as I was about to launch the show. Once I had more time, I could get more creative with the figures (i.e., Ulf Samuelsson viciously checking Cam Neely or Brooks Orpik's crazy-eyes stare).
I think I already know the answer based on the fact that you stated that you draw all of the figures, but is there anyone else that helps you with the Yinz Luv videos? They are so well done that it seems like multiple people must work on them.
I do most of the work on the episodes--hosting (obviously), editing, and producing the segments. However, if you ever see me with another person on an episode, it usually means that someone else is helping me tape. My good buddy Fuzz tapes some of the tailgate interviews and drives me to away games (since I don't own a car).
If the Pirates ever make the playoffs, could we see a Yinz Luv the Buccos?
I might consider doing some episodes if 'Da Buccos make the playoffs, but because I'm holding down a full-time job, while simultaneously doing web-shows for 'Da Guins and 'Da Stillers, the baseball season is my off-season; my decompression period if you will.
Switching over to your day job, has there ever been someone you interviewed on MTV/VH1 that you weren't really looking forward to meeting, but turned out to be extremely (perhaps surprisingly) cool?
All the time, and it happens a lot more often now, because I'm working in the world of pop music. When I was working at MTV2, I hosted 120 Minutes and Subterranean, which dealt with indie-minded music (which is more my preference). Not that I wasn't looking forward to meeting him, but I just met 50 Cent last week, and I was surprised how friendly he was. He shook everyone's hand on the set, and hung around following his interview to small talk with the crew.
Have you ever hung out with VH1 regulars Bret Michaels or Flavor Flav?
I have not. I have interviewed Flavor Flav backstage at a Public Enemy show though, and let me just say, he's hounded constantly for picture, autograph, and hug requests. I remember him as an all-time great hypeman in hip-hop, but his series of reality shows has opened him up to a whole other audience.
I may be one of the few people that watch you on both Yinz Luv and VH1's Top 20 Countdown. To prove it, I enjoyed watching you grow a playoff beard during the Pens' Stanley Cup run on VH1. Did anyone (either at work or at home) give you a hard time about growing the beard or sharing your Pens fandom on national TV?
Before the playoffs even started, I approached our executive producer and asked if I could grow the beard. He, being a big sports fan too, agreed to it. I did give a warning, "Just to let you know, the Pens could go all the way, so I may have this thing on my face for a while." I think the charity tie-in also helped. Who's gonna give you crap if you're raising money for cancer research?
One of the reasons why I asked you about the playoff beard is because I may grow a mustache for charity in November. Do you have any advice for me?
Grow that mustache. It's easy money for charity and makes the ordinary, everyday routine of looking in the mirror a little more exciting.
Finally, now that we're 1/4 of the way through the season (Sean’s note: Jim answered this question prior to the Steelers-Lions game), do you have any general thoughts about the Steelers?
Um, we really need Troy in the lineup, Limas Sweed needs to learn how to hold onto a football in the big leagues, and as a team, the Steelers have to close out games with authority (which will make our lives as fans less stressful).
Jim is passionate about Pittsburgh sports and puts together amazing videos from his unique perspective. If you haven't seen his work before (where have you been?), here's the latest Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers. (Sean's update: It seems like many of the YLDS videos are gone, so this is one from after the Steelers-Packers Super Bowl.
Jim is also passionate about music and recently put together his video playlist on VH1. I figure that I might as well show what he does during the day, so here is Jim talking about Coffee and TV by Blur:
This video has nothing to do with the interview or Jim, but since he talked for almost an entire minute about it, here is Blur in one of the greatest videos ever.
Photos courtesy of Jim Shearer via the Pittsburgh City Paper (you can probably tell that their interview is much more professional than mine) and PSAMP.
Welcome to Sean's Ramblings! If you're looking for thoughts on pop culture, music, fun and informative links, random DC and Pittsburgh info, sports (particularly Pittsburgh sports), and just what's going on in my life, then you're come to the right place.
Any questions, comments or links? Contact me at seanramblings[at]yahoo[dot]com.
)
Posts
