Follow Me, I’m A Social Media Expert. No Really, I Have A Biz Card That Says So.

February 19, 2013

Yeah for me! It’s Tuesdays Untacked!!!

There’s been much chatter at ye old water cooler as of late. Well, actually, at HorseGirlTV we don’t have a water cooler so, uh, ahem… As of late, there’s been much chatter around the HorseGirlTV Nespresso Espresso Machine. Cappuccinos abound and our espresso laden team is buzzing with the biz of social media experts.

I have been involved in IT over a decade as part of the dotcom revolution in the early 2000s. You know back when companies were buying others solely on member base regardless of their massive burn rates? Anyway, I digress. Back to the task at hand – social media experts!

It was brought to my attention the plethora of business card carrying social media “experts” that have cropped up from the, one can dare say, American entrepreneurial spirit OR perhaps the highest unemployment rate in ages. Several of us at HorseGirlTV have even received the calling cards of social media experts touting the virtues of their services.

I guess the long and the short of this, what has become a rant for Tuesdays Untacked, is the hilarity of The Onion’s fall parody for social media experts. I do actually know several honest to goodness experts in the biz who have been part of the social community evolution from the days of WebRing’s Ringmasters to Classmates then Friendster to the designers nightmare of Myspace (no, no, no, not everyone should be allowed to design their own webpage) then onward and upward (upward of the IPO that is) to Facebook and finally saturating the mainstream, the microblogging of Twitter. But wait there’s more… the next big thing beyond Twitter’s 140 characters is 180 characters (stick around, it’ll happen and you’ll be Pinning about it). So back to my previous run on sentence. I do actually know several honest to goodness experts so they ARE out there and having followed trends (not just Twitter accounts) for nearly TWO decades many are in the know and an asset to our online experience. If you’re unsure how to make social media work for you, seek those people out, ask for credentials (real credentials not just a pretty biz card from VistaPrints) and if you can’t find one, read the history books about that crazy thing many said wouldn’t catch on, that pesky “Information Super Highway” AKA the. Internet and WWW with dotcoms plastered on every single movie trailer, bus graphic, and even coffee shop.

Ergo, what used to be exclusive to hip torn-jean, t-shirt wearing computer geeks, well, the ink on the societal tattoos of those early adopting hipsters has clearly saturated the suburbs thanks to those fabulous humans formerly known as Walmart greeter turned social media expert. No there’s NOT an App for that. Alas, that harkens me back to 1995 and trying to sell webpages to local companies who couldn’t fathom why they needed a mere “online brochure” but woe as me, they did! 😉 Sorry, more digression…

If you’re actually looking for an honest to goodness quality read without massive fluff, check out The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise?. Chris makes some good points for small business and offers interesting stats or if you’re simply wondering why some people are insanely successful while other are mediocre, check out Malcom Gladwell’s The Outliers: The Story of Success as it’s a fantastic read and thanks to Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel for recommending it to me!

Zoinks! I’ve gone all over the map and back again. What can I say? I like to travel! So if you’re still with me go grab your morning cup of whatever you drink and click play below to enjoy the merriment of this, oh to cute, offering from the cheeky band at The Onion.

Are You Eating Horse Meat? How Can You Tell?

February 14, 2013

In many parts of our world horse meat is regularly sold and consumed, yet for Americans, Irish, the Brits and a few other pockets the very thought of it ellicits a gag reflex and, in quite a few cases – anger, but how can you tell if you’re eating horse meat or not?

To my knowledge, I’ve never eaten horse meat but with that said, I have been to France many times. Having ordered “beef” and eaten kebobs the likelihood that I have unknowingly tried it is high. However, unlike many Americans, the thought of horse meat consumption does not make me shudder to my very core. I quite obviously LOVE horses. I’ve dedicated the last 7 years of my life to helping promote the positive aspects of the horse industry. So, am I not really human, not really American or simply inhumane? No to all three. This is likely because my father was, and please don’t stereotype me here cause I’m not at all what you’re about to think… My father was a gun toting, NRA card carrying large game hunter slash taxidermist by trade. He had me hand loading my own ammo at age 8 and I single-shot my first deer, to please daddy of course, at 10. Therefore carcasses and guts of cute furry animals, large game, birds, aquatic life and unusual reptiles alike are common place with me. But I digress. Coming back to the anthropomorphization of it, I wouldn’t eat Bambi either. So how do I know what horse meat tastes like?..

The Taste
I have spoke with people who have or do eat it. They say it is leaner than beef and relatively tender and it has a pronounced sweet taste to it. It is said people often mistake it for a blend of beef and venison. Meat from younger horses is said to be lighter in color and flavor while the meat from older horses extremely sweet, incredibly tender, and deep in color (oddly the opposite with beef and the procurement of veal). The nitty gritty of it’s nutritional value – it’s low fat, low cholesterol and high in iron. Yet I don’t have a hard and fast answer for how to tell. If you’re completely freaked at the thought of an accidental hap then it might be best to go vegetarian, at least for a while.

The Scandal
Yes, it’s a scandal on a massive scale. If you’ve listened to the news anytime in the last week, you’ve heard the ever expanding fallout from horse meat, and we’re talking 100% in some cases, being pawned off as beef in burgers, ready meals, and kebobs. At first site the proverbial finger was pointed at France. Ah, oui oui, da Fraaann-CH. Well it’s not just Pepé Le Pew and his lot. It’s reached into Ireland and even back into the discoverers own back yard of West Wales in Aberystwyth. I can only fathom the outlandish remarks Granny would have over tea in the Drawing Room at Downton! “Oh good, let’s talk about horse slaughter.” The powers that be have repeatedly assured the public there’s no need to worry but I’d personally prefer NOT to sit down to a warm meal of Phenylbutazone which is an additional disconcerting side to the matter.

The Resolution
Those of us horse lovers like to think of their hearts pounding to win the Kentucky Derby or carrying Jim Craig down the side of an impossible mountain. That love, that bond, that connection only true horse lovers who’ve genuinely connected with at least one horse in their life can feel just won’t most go to that other place. I certainly wouldn’t intentionally sidle up to a plate of Black Beauty. But the answers are unclear. Over-regulation increases prices and trying to come out of a double dipper that’s not ideal still functional regulation is needed. Comparing to our regulators stateside, the USDA is deemed to provide high standards of beef plants yet many fast food restaurant burgers can be tested with an alarmingly high percentage of feces (SEE Food, Inc. for more info). It makes this fleeting lass wonder how they can legally label it 100% beef if that be the case and there’s one thing western societies tend to get a wad in their panties about – being lied to. So stateside its feces and across the pond it’s horse, the “beef” manufacturing plants have obviously been lying. Regulation yes but heads need to roll and not horse heads but the heads of the people making decisions about selling a lie to consumers. Okey and because I have been a bit more out there than usual, I’ll qualify that last sentence by saying the decision makers of those found guilty simply need to be sacked.

How do you feel about this whole fiasco? Do you think it’s acceptable to eat horse? If so, why?

The Green Children Rock On Tuesdays Untacked

February 12, 2013

It’s Tuesdays Untacked again and I’m so excited about sharing this fabulous duo who weave a wicked rhyme. It’s The Green Children. Milla Sunde and Marlow Bevan comprise this self-written and self-produced European duo. Mila hails from Norway while Marlow from England. They met at the music school established by Sir Paul McCartney, LIPA. The pair relocated to LA and rapidly secured a contract with Universal Music Group. Shackled by the chains major labels regale, they decided to leave and in 2010 released their debut album with Spinside Records led by renowned musician Jackson Browne.

Listening to their albums one might envision themselves walking through a dimly lit forest of weaping willows, limbs trailing along their fingertips while looking around every turn for sprites or elves yet simultaneous wanting to break out with a dance club fist pump. Their electro beats are not heavy but ever present and its just easy, enjoyable listening for any point of the day.

My favorite of their albums is by far Encounter with my horsey girl top track “Dragons” but I also love “We’re the Future” and how it speaks so clearly to our modern day challenges. Of course buy the album, listen to the lyrics and you’ll see these two are about more than just making music. They are about making change.