#dan taberski

[peturnagy]

Frame from Dan Taberski’s short documentary These C*cksucking Tears, about queer country legend Patrick Haggerty. Watch the film at the link below, and listen to Lavender Country and other queer folk and country artists. https://vimeo.com/186421525

[middleofrow]

Best Podcasts of 2019

Best Podcasts of 2019

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[undividedspace]

MISSING RICHARD SIMMONS from First Look Media/Pineapple Street Media/Stitcher - Dan Taberski tries to understand why Richard Simmons would “ditch the world.” Like most premises that depend on fame or notoriety, it follows a model of slowly doling out a few key details and a lot of speculation in each ~30 minute episode.

[campaignoutsider]

NYT Editing Slashback: 'Richard Simmons Is President' Edition

NYT Editing Slashback: ‘Richard Simmons Is President’ Edition

From our Get Me Rewrite! desk As New York Times public editor Liz Spayd noted last month, the paper’s “editing architecture”has traditionally employed multiple layers of editors, with most stories blue-penciled by three editors, “with up to six or more if the article is headed for home page prominence or A1.” But, Spayd wrote, “soon this conveyor will be replaced by a bespoke editing system built…

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[cwsanfrancisco]

Richard Simmons’ Rep Says Housekeeper Is Not Holding Him Hostage (KBCWtv) – A publicist for health and fitness guru, Richard Simmons has spoken out about claims by a popular podcast that he's being held against his will by his housekeeper, Teresa Reveles.

[thestandard]

The Awesome Foundation comes to LA

A few months ago, a good friend joined the board of a new non-profit organization in LA that sounded, well, awesome. Launched in the summer of 2009 in Boston, The Awesome Foundation was designed to distribute monthly $1,000 grants in support of people's pet projects - ideas that they've sunk their own money, time and most importantly heart into, but need a bit of a (monetary) push to help things really get off the ground. Since then chapters are springing up all around the globe, including very recently in our hometown, with the help of LA founder Dan Taberski. We'll let him tell you more about the organization he knows, loves and helped to locally launch.

The Standard: How did The Awesome Foundation get its start?

Dan Taberski: The Awesome Foundation was started by a group of people in Boston who are awesome. They wanted to help other awesome people with awesome ideas -- an invention, a strange art project, something really altruistic, anything awesome - that just needed a little bit of cash to get it going.

From there it has started growing like crazy and there are chapters popping up in a bunch of places, like DC, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Melbourne, etc. And of course, LA.

Tell us a bit about what it’s been like getting the LA branch off the ground.

Well, you really start to notice how often you use the word awesome in casual conversation. It's a lot. So far, it's been super fun - part of the original idea of Awesome Foundation was to keep it super simple - no bureaucracy, no paperwork, no endless meetings - just ten people who each kick in a little bit to help someone else do something awesome (and throw a party for them).

What do you look for in a winning entry?

1. Awesomeness. 

2. Some sort of connection to LA.

3. A real idea of what you would actually do with the money. The grant is no strings attached, and we mean it, but knowing that it's making a concrete difference in making something awesome happen is a big plus.

NOTE: if your idea is awesome enough, we don't even care about the other stuff.

How many entries did you get in this first round?

It was like 30-40, which is GREAT for the first time around. 

(Mysterious Dave Green and his Mystery Bus)

Tell me a little about the winner and why his project was most appealing.

The winner was Mysterious Dave Green. He does these things he calls Mystery Trips -- for a goof he will load a bunch of his friends into a bus and force them to surrender all control for a day as he drives them to mysterious hidden places in LA that he loves, but most people don't even know about. You know, like weird doll museums, or tiki bars, or a roller derby - stuff like that.

He loves doing it so much that now he wants to do it on a larger scale and start Mystery Trips LA so that anyone can do it. He applied for the grant because he needs money to get the company off and running - which includes buying a big ole sign for the side of his bus. They ain't cheap.

What was the most ridiculous entry you've received so far?  

The great thing about The Awesome Foundation is that the most ridiculous ideas are very often also the most awesome. We had a guy who wanted the grant to help finish the giant robot he is building in the woods - we saw video of it and yeah, he's really doing it. Unfortunately the woods are in Vermont, so while it definitely fit the Awesomeness criteria, it didn't really fit the LA part of it. But if someone wants to start a chapter in Vermont, this guy is awesome and deserves the first thousand bucks! What's more awesome than a giant robot?! Pew pew pew!

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The Awesome Foundation LA officially kicks off January 27 with a party for its first grant winner, Mysterious Dave Green. For more information on how to enter your own idea to win, visit www.awesomefoundation.org.