Hi, Barrett.  What do I email him about, exactly?  And what kind of stuff does he want me to post.

I thought we were in this together, man.  How can I be your island unless you surround me with an ocean of Barrett?

On Aug 15, 2008, at 8:24 AM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Howdy-

Finally heard back from Matt. Go ahead and e-mail him at mzaller@nationallampoon.com if you'd like to get set up over there. I'm probably not going to be posting much at first because I'm conspiring against my many enemies via GAMPAC, but will definitely post at least two little thingies a week no matter how busy I get.

Word,

Barrett

On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 3:03 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Still haven't heard back from him yet. If I don't hear back from him by Friday, I'm going to go ahead and send an e-mail to Ruben and talk to him directly about us doing a political blog for them. I seem to have just accidentally become a strategist for GAMPAC, so might not be able to pursue this until Monday. Long story. But I'm definitely on it. Also, check out this wacky e-birthday card my ex-girlfriend just sent me:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/bBiv0nkbZStBYrKE#/view/QtmeK1x6XO5ZJuQm

What an age we live in! Incidentally, tomorrow's my birthday, so wish me happy birthday. I'm sure I'll spend a portion of the day arguing about semantics on Protein Wisdom, which is now what I spend about a fourth of my time thinking about.

On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 2:54 PM, Jeff Goldstein <jeff.proteinwisdom@gmail.com> wrote:

Hiya --

Any word?

Jeff

On Aug 12, 2008, at 1:21 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

With regards to both McSweeney's and National Lampoon, here's a piece that McSweeney's loved and which our new friend Matt at NL says he enjoyed, which it to say that it might be a useful sort of benchmark with regards to how gonzo we can go, and also might be useful for you to get a sense of what McSweeney's likes as well:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2007/9/19brown.html

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 10:02 AM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Here's the link to the blog we'd be doing. As I said, power vacuum.

http://www.nationallampoon.com/thezaz/

Also just put in a word for you to Matt Zaller, to whom I sent a link to your Wikipedia page. I expect to hear back from him soon; will no doubt be interested.

Turns out that Scott Rubin is still in charge over there, which is good, because he's known me since I was 19 or so and, I think, is probably as dismayed at the decline of National Lampoon as I am and could be more easily convinced to let us run some stuff.

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 8:41 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Also, and we'll discuss this further when we talk next, I have very little personal pull with the guy who's running this particular operation, but suffice to say that I'm pretty sure that you can get the gig on your own merits.

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 6:51 PM, Jeff Goldstein <jeff.proteinwisdom@gmail.com> wrote:

That does sound interesting -- but this time, I think I would post under a pseudonym, not because I'm embarrassed, but rather because it's fucking cool.

How close are you with these guys?  Would you put in a word, or would I have to impress them with what they would almost certainly find unfunny shots at Democratic politicians.

Although I guess I do have the Martha Stewart and Anna Nicole stuff I could send off.

Fuck it. I'll give you a call.  Can't talk too long -- have macho class tonight -- but maybe we can go over this in a bit more detail.

Best,

Jeff

On Aug 11, 2008, at 4:45 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Okay, the first question you need to ask yourself is, "How badly do I want to be a humor writer?"

Here's the deal. I used to write for National Lampoon back in the days, then they went internal and offered me a gig in LA but it would have only involved a few days a month and not much money so I didn't take it. Now, I guess they're willing to work with "outsiders" again, which is probably wise, because National Lampoon is a piece of shit and has been so for several years and frankly wasn't all that great even ten years ago.

So, here's the idea. They're asking me to do a non-paying blog on celebrities, of all things, because they've got, like, huge balls. But I'm going to take it because (1) more exposure, link back to my book, etc. and (2) I plan to impress them enough so that they will consider me doing a blog on politics.

Now, here's the idea - you should apply for this gig, too. It won't take much time out of your week to do a very impressive job of it, and it will give you a chance to make yourself indispensable to them, which is the most important thing that anyone can do evah. Then, we are both at the front of the line to get some paying gigs, as well as to nudge them on the subject of a political humor blog.

Let me know if this sounds interesting to you, and if so, I'll give you the contact info of the guy in charge of this particular train wreck, plus the details I know so far.

Also, you could probably post under a pseudonym for the celebrity thing if you find it embarrassing. I won't, because I've actually managed to sink lower than writing about celebrities in the past and just don't give a shit anymore.

Give me a call if you'd like; 512-560-2302.

Word, 

Barrett

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 5:18 PM, Jeff Goldstein <jeff.proteinwisdom@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm always up for such things. Whatcha got?

Best,
Jeff