Contributor
A Friendly Chat, with Logan Sachon: Chris Andino, Our Man in Libya 2009-10-21
I met Chris Andino my first semester at the University of Virginia. He was the managing editor of the weekly humor and news magazine, and I was a first-year staffer. Dino, as they called him, was one of a group of guys on staff who were super smart and incredibly funny and quick in a way that I had never encountered before. They made jokes about the characters on C-SPAN. I was scared of them. My first year was Dino's last, and after UVA he moved on to DC and the Foreign Service. After a two-year stint in Bogota, Columbia, he is currently serving in Tripoli, Libya. We spoke in the late summer; it was late morning in Libya and 2 a.m. in Portland. Attempts to follow-up, get a little background info, some pictures maybe, to try to get him to say something funny about Qadhafi, whatever, were thwarted, because: the Lockerbie bomber was released, there was an African Union summit, it was the 40th anniversary of Qadhafi in power, he had a human rights report deadline, and then there was that whole G20 thing.
THE AWL: One of the articles you wrote in college, you said you could kill a cow and you could drive a bus, so at the very least, you'd always be fed and working. I remember that sometimes and think: I have no skills.
ANDINO: I was a bus driver in college, and I was also sorting trash for recycling. So those were my career experiences. (READ MORE) 8
A Friendly Chat: Molly McAleer on Blogging, Auditioning, Videoing, Making It and Networking In Los Angeles 2009-08-25
Molly McAleer has about sixty million projects going right now, and one of them is going to lead to something that is going to make her rich and famous-famous, as opposed to Internet famous. Her current renown stems in some part from the irreverent and often bonkers videos she made for Defamer, as their employee in 2008. Her current projects include: her blog (Molls She Wrote), her Twitter (Molls), her web series (The Molls Show, produced by Justine Bateman's FM78.tv), a reality show she is pitching with friend Chuck McCarthy (Boy Meets Blogger), guest blogging stints (including gossip blog Evil Beet), PR work for one friend's makeup company (Marakele Minerals) and another friend's movie (Stuntmen)—and most recently, auditioning for TV commercials (spots she is particularly interested in: personal lubricants, tampons). She spoke to me on a Wednesday afternoon from her new, smaller apartment (across the hall from her old, larger apartment), in Koreatown, Los Angeles. (READ MORE) 20
A Friendly Chat: Greg Karais, Yukon Enthusiast and Publisher of Four Profitable Magazines with Wily Business Models–and a 20-Hour Workweek 2009-07-28
We had to google "Yukon." The GMC truck was the first hit, of course, and second, but the Canadian territory was third and it was in this illustrious page (Wikipedia) that I learned these very important facts: The Yukon was officially called the Yukon Territory until 2003 when it was changed to just the Yukon, by law. It is the most northern and western territory in Canada and borders the following things: British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, the Beaufort Sea. It has a flag, a seal, but no motto, and though it is very, very large, it is also very, very cold, and is home to just 34,000 people; the largest city, Whitehorse, has 20,000 of them, and the second largest, Dawson City, has 1500. Dawson City is where Greg Karais started his first publication at age 23. Today he is 38, and publisher of four profitable magazines about the Yukon. (READ MORE) 7
A Friendly Chat: Michael K, Web Entrepreneur, Blogger, Pottymouth 2009-07-17
Michael K runs and writes the website Dlisted, which gives a rundown on the day's celebrity comings and goings with crude humor that often verges on the vulgar (though he disputes this point). Our 3 p.m. conversation took place between a post that featured some pap photos of A-ha! singer Morten Hackett ("For being almost a half-a-century old, dude is….still doing things to me. Take on my no-no, Morten!") and one that questioned the authenticity of Soulja Boy's Twittered pic of his groin ("Is that a bottle of Strawberry Suave in your boxers?"). Michael K lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side with a roommate and a chihuahua named Elvie (he admitted the breed with sigh: "it's such a gay man's dog," he said). (READ MORE) 31
Michael Anthony Steele: Kids Screenwriter, Novelizationist, Ad Man 2009-07-07
Michael Anthony Steele goes by Ant and is a freelance writer for kiddos. He started his writing career as a staff writer for Wishbone, the PBS series about a talking terrier, and as a freelancer has written 25 episodes of Barney and Friends, five videos for BOZ: The Green Bear Next Door (a preschool show about a green bear, next door), and some 60 licensed books based on popular kids' properties. Sometimes he is hired to write an original story starring an existing character, which he did for Shrek, and sometimes he is hired to turn an upcoming movie into a book, which he's done most recently for The Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He also does some more random stuff, like a recent book he wrote for the Department of Public Works. Also, he had George Carlin propose to his wife via this answering machine message. He works out of his home office in Dallas. (READ MORE) 1
A Friendly Chat: Stephen J. Cannell, Novelist, Co-Creator of '21 Jump Street' And 'The A-Team' 2009-06-24
Stephen J. Cannell is the creator of 40 television shows, including 21 Jump Street, The Rockford Files, The A-Team, and The Commish. He has written 450 TV episodes and produced some 1500. His production company is heading up work on feature films of 21 Jump Street and The Rockford Files. Also: he is also a popular mystery writer and has written 14 novels. We spoke at about noon on a Tuesday while he was in the car headed to lunch with a writer in Santa Monica. He had already spent five hours at his desk working on a novel. (READ MORE) 18
A Friendly Chat: Damian Mason, Farmer, Corporate Comedian, Bill Clinton Impersonator 2009-06-15
Damian Mason is a Bill Clinton impersonator, a corporate comedian, and a farmer. He attended Purdue University and was selling lighting fixtures in San Diego when he won a costume contest dressed as Bill Clinton and decided to make a go of it. Today he still does his Bill Clinton show but he also does two shows as himself: one for corporate events, and one for agriculture conferences. Mason is the kind of man that uses your name when he talks to you, and he asked me just as many questions about myself as I did about him. When we spoke, it was lunch time in Indiana. He had just come inside after working on his ranch.
DAMIAN MASON: I'm glancing around at The Awl while we're talking. How do these guys make their money? I see a little bit of advertising for a movie.
THE AWL: I'm not sure! I don't think they do yet! (READ MORE) 7
