UPDATE FROM THE BRAIN OF BIFFO

Hello gang.

Thought I'd give you an update/braindump on where we're at. 

Digitiser Live tickets will, hopefully, go on sale this week. We're going to make them available to you Patrons first via a secret link. I'll give you notice as soon as it's up so keep your eyes out for the email.

We've started shipping rewards for Digitiser The Show, if any of you are eligible for those. I have to say, it's an enormous relief to finally start getting them off my plate. They've been hanging over me and Sanja forever, and as I think I've stated on more than one occasion, I regret offering so many actual physical rewards. What can I say? We were working on the advice of the company we signed up with to advise on the campaign, who assured us that retro gaming fans loved physical product. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Sanja, who's handling all the shipping singlehandedly, is still recovering from her broken collarbone - and was in quite a lot of pain last night after spending all day packing stuff - so please bear with us. It's gonna be a few weeks before they all ship. And I'll be very glad to have put the whole thing to bed.

One day, years from now, I'll write a tell-all, behind-the-scenes, exposé of all the drama that went on behind-the-scenes on Digitiser the Show...! Such as the embolism-inducing situation with the arcade machine, which rumbled on long into 2019... 

AAAaaAaaanyway...

I'm well aware that we've not had any updates on Digitiser2000.com barring some silly ads and the like. Not making excuses, but part of it is I've had flu the past week, which I think I'm finally starting to come out the other side of. Not man-flu, or a cold, but proper flu. No doubt picked up from visiting my mother in hospital recently, where she was recovering from pneumonia. So, that has been fun. 

Also... I've just felt kind of lacking in all inspiration when it comes to the gaming stuff. 

Obviously, this was building for a long time - I wrote about it at length, and Digi on YouTube has moved away from games, obviously - but I think the tipping point I was heading towards for a while has finally been reached. I'm pretty sure I'll still be reviewing games on there, as and when the early-2020 games drought breaks, but beyond that I kind of feel - for now - like I've said everything I ever want to say about games. 

Plus, retro gaming is covered by so many different outlets, and sites, and channels, and I just don't feel equipped to talk about them at the same sort of depth. Every morning for the past couple of weeks I've gone to write something on the site, and... nothing has happened. The cupboard is bare. 

So, I think I'm going to give myself permission to just play it by ear, not try to force it, and see if it comes back. I've enjoyed writing the more personal posts for the $5 tier backers, and there's no shortage of inspiration there, so I'm going to continue in that vein for the foreseeable, focus on those, the YouTube channel, and Digi Live preparations. And occasional Digi fake ads/Photoshop nonsense.

Speaking of the YouTube Channel, Sunday's video has been our most popular for a while. The combination of cheese and Sanja seems like a winning combination. Also, the simpler thumbnails seem to be doing their job, and we've seen some renewed interest in older videos. Which is nice.

I'm pleased for her - I knew she'd be great on camera, I know how naturally likeable she is, but I kind of kept her away from that side of it because I didn't want to expose her to any potential unpleasantness.

Thankfully, people have been unanimously kind, though inevitably there are have been a lot of comments focusing on the fact she isn't - GASP! - a man. I'm not sure how people expect me to react to being told that they fancy my wife. I mean, isn't that a weird thing to say to someone? What do they want in response? 

Aside from it being reductive in a rather misogynistic way, it does make me feel a bit uncomfortable and over-protective. Fortunately, Sanja is doing it for fun and because we like messing about together, and she isn't somebody who wants to be famous, not even remotely. She's not about to try to cultivate more of an online persona than she already has, or try to attract more attention. As a result, she'll hopefully be spared the worst of the unwarranted attention many female YouTubers get. Certainly, if any of that did happen, I think we'd both rather not have her on-screen. 

Right, Anyway. Think that's it for today. Keep 'em peeled for the Live Show tickets. Should be any day now...  Heck, maybe even later today...

Paul