Special 7th Anniversary Edition

Well, it's the seventh anniversary since I started assaulting the web with this little blog project.  I began it at the urging of a dear friend based on the regular letters home back when I was still fresh and new here in Indonesia.

After a decade, the letters trailed off into background noise, since my daily discoveries in my new culture were tapering off, as well.  Don't get me wrong: Indonesia never ceases to shock and amaze.  After a while though, it becomes more internalized and harder to regale others with tales of adventure.  You can only see so many massive lizards stretched across jungle highways, or elephants working in the fields, before it becomes a normal part of daily life.

Ultimately, this blog became two-pronged: 1) a means to inform, entertain and express those things for which I believed I had a unique perspective on; and 2) a means to keep my mother tongue sharp and my vocabulary fresh.

With regard to the latter point, folks who haven't lived outside their home countries probably aren't aware of how much one's own native language can suffer when not used moment by moment.  Teaching English doesn't serve the purpose, since that involves a lot of time rehashing the basic rules and regulations of language.  It does noting to maintain style and vocabulary, and for a writer (such as I pretend to be), that is a death sentence.

Three years ago, I added Radio Far Side, since I had this burning desire to talk to thinkers and authors that I admired.  Naturally, it was easier to entice them into impromptu discussions if it helped promote their own work, so recording and publishing the conversations was a logical methodology.  It also allowed me to use my media background for something other than family vacation photos (folks get angry when I continually refuse to put people in my photos).

Over the years, the audience here has expanded and has fallen more or less into two camps: North America and Asia, being about equally balanced.  I lost many folks when I took a two-year hiatus to work on a major project here in Jakarta, but I have slowly recovered some and gained many others.

Last year, I launched the Reaser Survey (still up below every column) to gauge what people liked here, what their reading habits were, and what improvements I could make to keep this site fresh and relevant.  To date, I have received 310 responses with some interesting results - at least to me.

The vast majority of respondents, 87%, are daily or weekly readers, which is fantastic even though it puts a hell of a lot of pressure on me to produce.  The remainder were first-time readers who did not indicate whether they would be back for more.

In terms of how folks found this site, 50% got a link from another site (thanks y'all!), while the rest found it via friends, search engines or random clicks in the Dark Web.

The overwhelming majority, 93%, come here just for the articles, which I interpret as putting us in the same league as Playboy, since no one looks at the pictures in that second-rate mag, either.

When given multiple choices about what they like to read here, respondents said 82% politics, 68% witty anecdotes, 63% science, 45% religion, 31% travel/ex-pat, and a full 64% wanting weird stuff.  I've adjusted content accordingly, figuring most of what I write about is weird stuff anyway.

As for the question of what we can do better, the comments were overwhelmingly positive, with most saying "keep it up," a few expressing appreciation for our rather off-beat take on things, and a couple taking me to task for disappearing for a year-and-a-half.  OK, OK, I've set aside the weekends to write as many columns for the coming week as I can, so that my usuall 12-15 hour work days don't interfere with the regular content here.

As for rating the Far Side, 60% gave us a 4, 23% a 5, and the rest were 3s.  On a college-level grading basis, I interpret this as a solid B+ GPA, which is rather amazing, since almost every column is first-pass only (meaning no follow-up editing), and I am well-sotted when I write half of them.  If I were attending a party college, I would probably have a full A average after the curve, while not missing a moment of fun.

Fully 11 folks took time out of their lives to leave a note in the essay section.  All were very positive (which means I didn't piss anyone off enough to say so), with comments spanning the spectrum of simple encouragement to appreciation for my headline writing, to requests for additional columns on specific subjects (which I have tried to do without becoming too monotone or drole).

At the beginning of the year, we launched a Patreon page.  This is not so much a way to beg money as a means to fund some specific projects we have for the real world.

One of the projects is Cabaret Indonique, which will be an original entertainment venue blending the unique Indonesian culture with the style and irreverence of cabaret.  We hope that the project will become so popular as to allow us to franchise and tour our all-original productions, giving the highly talented local artists a global platform for their remarkable abilities.

Another major project is to launch a couple of new YouTube channels (in addition to Radio Far Side) for producing and distributing original content that spans the gamut of entertainment, infotainment and down-right grousing.

Both of the projects require significant up-front funding to pay artists and equipment during the set-up phase.  We are selling off our real estate holdings to invest in these projects, but we need additional input from the global community, as well.  Not only can you become a supporter of real, cultural enhancement, but you will receive special benefits like production credits, sneak previews, documentaries, etc.  We also plan to do special live-stream performances just for subscribers.  Could be fun!

If you have any doubts about what I am capable of, see here and here.

The bottom line today is that we are attempting to convert some of our online goodwill into real-world projects that we hope will have positive effects on not only the local arts community, but also the world (never dream small).  By becoming a Patron subscriber, you are not just supporting some YouTube video channel, or a slightly off-center writer, but an entire gang of artists, performers and musicians who are dedicated to creating something new and envigorating for a potential audience of millions.

And you, dear reader, can be a big part of this effort.  Not many websites out there that offer this kind of opportunity, but then we've never tried to be just another website.

If you like what you see here, not just today but regularly, then consider doing the following action items:

1. Send a link to at least three other people you know;
2. Subscribe to our Patreon page (as little as $12/year);
3. Follow our Twitter feed (links in right-hand column);
4. Follow our YouTube channel (links in right-hand column).

We are not using hyperbole when we say those four simple steps could actually change lives.

Most of all, thank you dear Reader, for being a regular part of the Far Side, supporting our efforts through the years, and for spreading the word  It's been a slow but gratifying process to create something fun, interesting and informative.  With your help and support, we intend to continue growing in new and surprising directions.

God willing and the creek don't rise, we'll continue to do what folks here apparently like, strange stuff.

A Word From The FSGHQ

The average human being is allotted 3,900 weeks for a lifetime.  As of this glorious Friday, I have exhausted 2,860 of mine, and I have no complaints.

Looking at the numbers, though, does put me in the mindset that I have a number of things I wish to accomplish in the remaining 1,040 weeks that I (hopefully) have remaining.  Thus, I would like to impose on a bit of the dear Reader's time to pitch some ideas and how you can be a part of them.

The Reader may have noticed that I've put up a Patreon banner at the top of the right-hand column.  I am launching an effort to raise some crowd-funding to get some of my real-world efforts off the ground.  If you will bear with me for a couple of minutes, I'd like to tell you what I have going and encourage you to join in.

First of all, I should make the point that I am not asking for financial support to maintain this blog.  This is my labor of love, so to speak, that allows me to exercise my mind a bit (in English) and to keep myself in the habit of writing and developing ideas, which are an essential part of any writer's toolbox.  As such, Life on the Far Side and Radio Far Side are "on the house," since they are as much for my own benefit and anyone else's.

Where I need help is with several large-scale arts and entertainment projects that I am developing to expand our shared cultures and, with a bit of luck and hard work, expand minds.  I must note that, to my way of thinking, any art that does not involve education is not art at all.

To begin with, I am trying to arrange a seminar called, "Secret Indonesia," in which several experts discuss the rather amazing, but relatively unknown (even to Indonesians) history of the archipelago.  Three speakers - Peter Levenda, Danny Hillman and Graham Hancock - have already expressed a desire to participate, and we plan to produce at least two documentaries while they are here to document their research and provide the information to a global audience.  The seminar would be webcast, as well as with a live audience, so we are looking for funds to provide transportation, accommodations, a venue, and the various technology to pull this off.  Patreon subscribers would be offered exclusive material, such as interviews and behind-the-scene looks at the event.

The next project is Cabaret Indonique.  We are seeking funding to produce and tour an all-original cabaret-style show that includes music, dance, comedy and magic all by Indonesian performers and artists.  Not only is there a profound lack of quality live entertainment combining all these elements in Indonesia, we also believe that international audiences will truly enjoy the talents and abilities of local performers that rarely get the chance to tour outside the country.  We have assembled some of the best up-and-coming stars in Indonesian entertainment, and combined them with high-quality logistical and technical support to create a show of unsurpassed and highly unique entertainment.  Again, Patreon subscribers would be provided with exclusive content and access, including a series of "making of" videos and interviews with the key talents involved.

Finally, we are in the process of launching Far Side TV (FSTV), which will be delivered through outlets like YouTube, as well as a dedicated server here.  This project is deeply involved with the previous two, as well, as the same people and tools will be utilized to create and deliver the video content for Secret Indonesia and Cabaret Indonique, as well as a wide variety of exclusive content just for Patreon subscribers.  For this project, we are looking to buy an HD camera drone and a basic wireless audio rig (microphones, field mixer) to help us capture the images and sound for all of these projects.

Obviously, we have some hefty expenses to get these projects (and much more) launched.  We are actively seeking investors and commercial sponsors, as well.  We need to pay for the various tools and infrastructure that go into producing these types of things, and we have to pay for rentals and services that we cannot otherwise get donated.

As a Patreon subscriber, you not only get access to exclusive content and the knowledge that your money is having a real-world effect on people, but we will also offer special gifts (autographed books and other items, etc.) from time to time only to folks who support our efforts as a kind of profit sharing.

Patreon allows for lump-sum donations, or monthly subscriptions that start at US$1/month, and is widely recognized as a means to support the arts for those who appreciate making the world a better place through culture.

For those who may be interested in outright investment, we have full proposals, including financial statements and other documentation.  You can contact us via the email link under the header on this page, or through any of our links on Google, LinkedIn, etc.

In the seven years we've been at this, we have avoided commercializing Life on the Far Side and Radio Far Side.  They are our labor of love.  However, to expand beyond these relatively minor efforts, we are asking for your support.  We invite you to join us in having a real and tangible effect on the world through the promotion of arts and culture.

And thank you, dear Reader, ever so kindly for allowing us a few minutes of your time on this wonderful Friday.  We look forward, as always, to bringing you some unique and enjoyable content.

Thank you for your continuing support, from all of us here at the Far Side Global Headquarters (FSGHQ).

First Far Side Survey Results

Well, we so enjoyed annoying everyone with the Reader Survey that we kind of hate to see the fun end, but we suppose it is inevitable - though we will leave the survey up for a while, just to continue getting feedback.

Anyway, the results are in with exactly 100 responses.  Actually, it was 101, but the first was us testing the setup, so we didn't count that one.

So, what did we learn?  Well...

The overwhelming response to frequency of visits was from daily readers, with 80% registering as needing this kind of abuse 5-6 times per week.  A full 10% are weekly readers, and the remaining were split between monthly and first-timers.  Interestingly, no one said "last time," so we take that as a good sign.

On the question of how folks found us, the majority (40%) said "pure dumb luck."  At least they consider it luck, so we think that's positive.  Those getting a link from another site were 30%, and those getting referred by a friend/enemy were 20%.  The remaining 10% said "other," and no one said they found us through a search engine, so frankly can't figure out what "other" they used.  Maybe that 10% is like CIA, KGB or something like that.

As for content, fully 90% come for the articles, while 10% like the videos.  Sadly, no one gave a hoot about all the great pictures or the Disclaimer, which we worked so hard on.

As for content, this was a little more exciting.  A full 86% like "politics," while 57% like both "science" and "weird stuff."  The latter kind of makes sense, since the way we approach the topics, they are more or less the same.  "Travel/Ex-pat" and "Witty Anecdotes" came in at 43% each, which again makes sense, since both usually come together on this site.  Finally, praise the Lord!  A full 29% like the "Religion" discussions.  You may have noticed this all adds up to roughly 1,000%, which makes sense in a Far Side sort of way.

On the suggestion section for future stuff, we got some interesting responses.  Some of the better ones:

Other than last year when you, when you went silent for quite a few months, I'd say nothing. Carry on good Sir!

Keep up the anti-political

?

More articles on Teflon Trump, Killary, and the Dehydrated Socialist, all running for the right to see how fast the world can be cooked for lunch.

just not take long hiatuses (sp) in the future... ya scared me boy


Stop posting

We gather two main points here: 1) You guys are political junkies, and 2) You don't care how busy we get, as long as you get your daily fix.  Messages received - even the one guy who apparently is having trouble keeping up (we like to look at the positive side of things).

When it came to rating the Far Side, every single response was "Incredible," or 4 of 5 stars.  This can be viewed either as a positive things, or if you consider the actual meaning of "incredible" being "unbelievable," it could be the polar opposite, as well.

As for the essay section, we got some great responses across the board, and we are deeply grateful for the kind words from so many diverse and interesting folks.  There was one that stood out, though, and I want to share it with everyone here:

Dear Mr. Grover: Good Sir, I'd like to be able to call you Bernard, or whatever you prefer as your chosen moniker, because over the last few years it seems as if I might almost know you personally and would consider you a friend. Your website is most interesting, entertaining and thought provoking. As an Ex-patriot you provide a vary keen and astute point of view that I don't readily receive from the MSM here in the Good 'Ole US of A. For that I am greatfull. Yours is a unique and genuine source as it is unfiltered and direct from the source. Of course I must now spew the required pablum/disclaimer of: "I don't always agree with you but I do a lot ,but if....blah, blah, blah.." You know the speech and it does apply but, well you already know. Since I know of you/about you I find it only reasonable that I give you my cursory info: M, 52, [a US State] born, raised and residing. [some personal info], Agnostic (Pascal's Wager after all!) , Libertarian leaning though still a registered Republican (an admirer of the Luvig Von Mises school of Austrian Economic thought as well as Anarcho-Capitalism) as well as a pawn of the PTB. Thank you good Sir for your fine work and most interesting communications from "The Far Side" Best regards, [a name]

Well, Sir, when you write that sweetly about our work here, you can call me anything you want!  Most folks just call me "B," if that makes you feel better, though.

It's responses like this, that we get in email quite a bit, that keep us going.  We are deeply humbled when folks find something worthwhile in all our ramblings, even if/when they don't agree.  Certainly, life would fairly well suck if we all agreed.  The best part is that folks get a little entertainment and possibly a change of perspective once in a while.

We heartily thank all those who took the time to click through our little survey.  It's very helpful to get your feedback.  Hopefully, we can stay relevant for you in the years to come (god willing and the creek don't rise).  And for all you political junkies out there, stand by, this year should bring some great entertainment.

As George Carlin once said, " I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it."  That's a Far Side motto if we've ever heard one.

Cheers!

Report From Big Mountain

It's been one helluva month around the Far Side Sub-Headquarters here on the flanks of Gunung Gede (Big Mountain - yes, it's a real place, you think we would lie to you?).

The big news is that we had our first month over 12,000 hits, thanks in part to rense.com and henrymakow.com, who both posted some of our articles.  We are also closing in on a quarter-million pages served since we started this bit of personal madness back in May of 2010.  Very exciting stuff for a one-man operation deep in the jungles of Borneo.

The aware reader may have noticed that we replaced the PayPal donate button with a BitCoin one.  Well...seems we were up to some suspicious activities.  One generous reader made a significant donation after our interview with Drs. Farrell and de Hart, so I passed some of it on to those two gents.  According to PayPal, that was enough to suspend our account and demand that we send several pieces of identity papers.

Being the ornery cusses that we are, we told them to get stuffed and took up with more liberty-minded folks over at BitCoin.  Sorry, but to our mind, cross-donating a few bux to a couple of Oxford dons does not constitute subversive activity.  Message to PayPal?  Go screw yourselves!  Our privacy is not a commodity to be traded around.

Next of all, we noticed on a couple of web stat sites that the value of our little operation was going up due to all the traffic we've been getting.  That raised a couple of alarm flags, since it was increasingly valuable to own our name (augenguy, a handle we invented in the early 1990s when the internet was still a novelty).  So we immediately locked up augenguy.com/net/org.  Those links are now hot and (for the moment) point back to this blogsite.  Eventually, they will become entities unto themselves, once we figure out what to do with them.

Our efforts have been greatly aided by our generous donors.  Their support has made a lot of things possible around here that may not be entirely obvious, but nonetheless are helping us grow to serve our audience.

Our goal is create a place that is both entertaining and informative, while being sufficiently unique in style and substance from all the other sites out there.  We don't want to be a news amalgamator, and there are plenty of folks offering op-ed material in the mainstream.  Instead, we want to offer stories that are a little larger in scope than just current headlines, while seasoning everything with a little IndoTex wisdom.  It would seem, from the traffic flow, that people are responding to this rather unique blend.

So, our point?  To give a Big Texas thanks to all the good folks who have been faithful readers and donors over the past three years.  Also, thanks and welcome to all the new readers who are discovering our little effort to change things

We also want to make sure everyone knows about our new domain: AUGENGUY.COM, maybe visit and join our various social media outlets, such as the Radio Far Side FB page, @RadioFarSide twit page, the Vimeo and YouTube channels, and the mirror blog at WordPress, if that's more to your liking.  All the links are in the sidebar.

Keep an eye out over the next couple of months as we start to launch the new Far Side look and feel.  We'll be adding features, redesigning the interface and generally overhauling the whole concept.  We're also nailing down some really BIG interviews with truly global movers and shakers.  We want to bring the very best information to our readers.

Just so y'all know, half of our audience is in Asia and South America.  The other half is from the US, Canada and Europe.  We have a truly global gathering happening here and we aim to keep it that way.

Thanks for your support, dear reader, and please let your friends know about us.  Together, we can make the Far Side a place for unique views and experiences.

So head on down to the kaki lima, order up a serving of nasi kuning with durien for dessert, and get ready for the next phase of your favorite Far Side diversion.

Sampai jumpa! (until we meet again!)
The Far Side staff

A Pause For The Cause

The new Far Side mascot

Once in a while, we like to slow down for a minute and take a reflexive look at what we're doing around here on the Far Side.  When we do, we try to find things we can do to improve the site to make it more interesting for our readers.

In the past three years, we've gone from flat zero readers to a steady 300/day.  That pencils out to roughly 9,000/month, with around 40% being return visits.  We figure that means about half of the folks who come here either like what they are getting, or are like race fans watching to see the next big wreck.  Interestingly, our audience seems to be evenly split between Eastern and Western hemispheres.  That's pretty cool, in our humble estimation.

At any rate, as the site grows in popularity, we try to gauge what readers want by looking at the things they click on.  Certain topics, for instance, seem to draw a healthy response, so we put a little extra focus on those things.

Also, Radio Far Side is starting to catch on.  We've posted 5 interviews, with number 6 coming up shortly, and the clicks are climbing slowly but surely.  We assume this is because our programs aren't just random.  We select the individuals with a specific purpose, kind of like multi-media footnotes and references for things we write about here.

Based on the numbers, we assume also that about 4,000 folks per month come here because we DON"T amalgamate headlines.  Lord knows there's plenty of that out there.  Instead, we try to context things with a long historical view, tracing ideas and events through the maelstrom of history to see how we got here, and what that implies for our future.  In other words, we prefer thinking, pondering and navel-staring to random samples of pop culture.

Through it all, we take feedback from readers very seriously.  We get lots of links and thoughts and criticism that go toward improving what we do here, and it is steadily attracting eyeballs.  We find that exciting and frightening at the same time.

In any event, our Alexa rating has climbed from 13,000,000 to 500,000, and that is entirely due to fine folks like you sitting there reading this.  To you, we say, "Many thanks!"

As our little corner of the net attracts more attention, we look for ways to expand and improve things.  To that end, we've added a couple of features that are visible in the side bar under "SHAMELESS PROMOTION".

First, we have the Vimeo and YouTube channels.  The Vimeo channel is where we host Radio Far Side, though we encouage folks to use the RFS link at the top of the page, since the program pages have background info, guest bios and links to additional information.  The YouTube channel is a work in progress.  We haven't really decided what to do with that, but we're considering creating regular 'blip-verts', as they used to say in Max Headroom.  These would be short 5-7 minute video chats on whatever topics won't get out of our collective head.

Next, we broke down and created a Twitter account called @RadioFarSide.  Here we are putting out links to interesting stories and videos, accompanied by our customary brief sarcastic remarks.  We promise not to abuse this outlet with useless crap like what we ate for breakfast or the latest in hobo fashion trends.  Hopefully, you will get information that spurs thought, which is what this internet stuff should be all about.

Finally, in the process of our complete break-down, we set up a Farcebook page called Radio Far Side.  If you are on Farcebook, look up the page and 'Like' it to keep up with developments there.  We really haven't decided what to do with it, but something will leap into our collective head at any moment now.

On top of all this, we are converting everything over to use our new mascot, the kerbow or ox.  We figure this has multiple layers of meaning, like being the Boss Man's (me) Chinese zodiac sign, as well as evoking a bit of Texas flavor in a Southeast Asian way.  At any rate, we figure this iconographic image will tie all our efforts together under a brand image.

And really, that's what all this about.  As we grow and expand, we are trying to create a marketable image that will hopefully allow us to earn a buck or two, even with failing eyesight and relentlessly advancing age.  Of course, the blog will always remain ad-free and without membership fees, because we think good information has no price.  But we also want to tie in our commercial efforts like a store and peddling our services with the overall Far Side brand.

As George Ure likes to say, "Everything's a business model."

For our long-time readers, this might make a good B-school case study in online business models.  On the other hand, it may be a train wreck in slow motion and a colossal waste of time.  Won't know till we try, and at least it's something we enjoy doing...and it may occasionally be entertaining.

In the end, we are happy that so many folks are enjoying our efforts.  It's truly gratifying to receive email from readers who enjoy the things we put up here.  We encourage folks to send along comments and suggestions, which we take very seriously.  We especially love it when you send a link to friends and family.

Thanks for your support, and remember, the Far Side is not just a place, it's a perspective.

Sampai jumpa!