How to Get Autographs through the Mail TTM

There are 4 simple steps to getting an autograph through the mail. These steps work for movie stars, TV personalities, sports athletes, etc. If you aren't able to go to TV Show Live Tapings, Fan Days, conventions, etc, to meet your favorite entertainer. Then getting an autograph through the mail is a nice alternative, and its fairly easy. Lets use my most recent success as an example.

Step 1) Decide who you want an autograph from and find their fan mail address

• There are several online databases that have celebrity fan mail addresses. Some require a monthly fee but I prefer not to pay. The best FREE celebrity address database is Fanmail.biz, and is the one I use. No sign up is required.

• If you don't mind receiving a pre-printed autograph, there is a great little fan mail organization called Studio Fan Mail. Celebrities supply them with pre-printed autographs to be sent out to fans. Unfortunetly they don't supply a list of available photos, so you may have to search around the web for a list from other people who have used the service. To receive a pre-printed autographed photo of your favorite celebrity, just send a short email message with your request and mailing address to celebrityname@studiofanmail.com. (example-- kaleycuoco@studiofanmail.com) 

• If writing to a sports team you aren't sending a trading card or specific photo to be autographed, you may find it easier to send your autograph request via email. Most sports teams have a well maintained fan mail and email accounts. To write to a sports team, find their home page online, got to their Fan page or Contact Page. You'll often find a couple addresses to choose from, an email for general fan letters and a snail mail for special autograph requests.

I wrote to the Milwaukee bucks in this example. I used there email address which is found in the contact section of their home page

Step 2) What to write:

• How you write a request is far more important than what you write. A short request letter or email written with sincerity is far more likely to get a reply than a long drawn out letter about how much you "love" them.

• The best request letter or email will include these: Let them know your a fan, tell them your favorite movie, TVshow or game AND why its your favorite. Make your request for an autograph, photo, or if writing a sports team you can request a Fan Pack (Fan Packs are usually team logo'd items like buttons, fridge magnets, schedules, posters and in some rare instances t-shirts.

• If you are writing a snail mail letter and sending photos to be autographed, I strongly suggest two things. First, only send photos you are willing to never see again. Mail gets lost, and when you're a celebrity and receiving hundreds of letters a day, somethings bound to get lost or ignored. Secondly, of all those hundreds of letters they receive daily, most are asking for autographs. That's a lot of signing! So don't send more than 2 photos, more than that would appear greedy and will most likely NOT get signed. 

My email to the Milwaukee Bucks was simple and to the point. I wrote that I had enjoyed a game while passing through town, and mentioned that I especially enjoyed the performance of the 'dance team', and requested an autograph

Step 3) What to mail:

• If sending them a photo to be autographed, also include a stamped self addressed envelope to return the photos to you. Why should the celebrity pay to return it to you? Be sure to put enough postage on the return envelope, and put your address in the return address section too. That way if the envelope doesn't have enough postage on it, it'll still get back to you... and you'll be able to give your postage carrier any postage due.

• NEVER send something you cherish, what ever you send, expect to never see again. Its not the celebrities responsibility to care for your cherished photos, memorabilia, etc. Though celebrities and there authorized agents will obviously show your items care, accidents do happen... coffee spills, fan mail gets lost, crushed.. etc. Save those cherished items for conventions when you can personally hand the item to them for an autograph. 

Step 4) The Waiting Game:

• Now the hard part.. you've sent  your request and now you just have to wait. Be patient, it can take months to get a reply. Depending on the celebrity or team you've written to, it can take up to a year to get a response... after a year has passed, I would just consider it a failure and try again. With some celebrities you have to try several times before getting your autograph, remember most do this in their off time and signing autographs isn't a job requirement. Its just something nice they do for some of there fans. So if they want to send you an autograph they will, if they don't they won't. It shouldn't change your view of them, they have lives too, and we should all respect that. 

I waited only a few weeks, and received this from the Milwaukee Bucks Dance Team.. Cool! Thank you!

McDonalds Shakes Up Fries with New Seasoned Fries - Review

Just when you think you've seen all that McDonalds can do with fast food, they prove that they still have a few ideas up their sleeves.  Unfortunetly 'Seasoned Fries' isn't a new idea, as Burger King attempted a similar promotion a few years ago and it never 'took off'.

You get a choice of Buffalo, Ranch or Garlic Parmesan, and as cool as it might sound to have a new seasoned fry on the table, there are a couple things to consider:

1) Convenience: Where are you going to be eating these fries? Oddly enough that's a valid question. You can't just pop these in your mouth when driving home from McDonalds.  Why not you ask? Because they're not ready made.... YOU MAKE THEM.

When I ordered mine, I was looking forward to trying them, when the cashier handed me my tray with a regular fries on it, I also noticed a small seasoning packet and a little paper bag. I of course inquired about the packet and was given a demonstration in how to SEASON MY OWN fries. The employee had obviously been showing a lot of customers how to do this cause he opened up the little paper bag, dumped in the fries and emptied the seasoning packet in... then SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE... and PRESTO! My normally tasty fries are now seasoned fries. Well it looked all fine when the cashier did it, but I'd like to see you do this at work or in the car. When I sat down to enjoy my fries, the woman at the next table was shaking her bag and cussing cause seasoning was coming out of the bag. She spent the next few minutes brushing herself off

2) Price: These new fries aren't cheap, and my guess is that extra money you have to dish out is to pay for the little shaker bags and seasoning packets.  Here's some free marketing advise for the executives at McDonalds - In a down economy like ours is currently, you don't 'jack up' prices on your signature menu item just cause you added a seasoning other than salt. If you want to show you're customers you don't care about them, then you've totally succeeded.

I feel like I've been bitch-slapped by McDonalds. Is it just me or does it feel like they're saying, "Hey here's your fries, we don't have time to sprinkle any seasoning on them.. DO IT YOURSELF!". I worked in a hamburger joint when I was in high school. I know how they fry the fries then toss them under a warmer, shake on some salt, all to be scooped up as needed. In many fast food restaurants there's even a section under the warmer for salt less fries. Well if you're going to have a promotion for seasoned fries, at least show your customers enough respect, to season the fries for them. How hard would it be to place a small baking sheet by the warmer, someone orders seasoned fries, you toss some fries on that baking sheet, you shake on some seasoning and scoop them up. Hmm maybe that's too easy a concept for the executives at McDonalds.

The simple truth about these fries is they are just fries with some seasoning sprinkled on. If you want seasoned fries, don't pay the extra for these. Just go home and pour your fries into a plate and sprinkle on some seasoning of your own. It'll cost less AND be less messy

Oh and to be perfectly fair to McDonalds, according to the signage on the menu board, if you order a value meal, you get the season packet and shaker bag free. So you're only paying the inflated price if you buy the fries separately. BUT you STILL have to SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE em up yourself....

Why Does a Killer Whales (Orcas) Dorsal Fin Collapse?

Let me first say that I find the Orca to be one of the most beautiful and misrepresented creatures on the planet. We call them 'Killer Whales' which is far from the truth, the Orca is extremely social and has a strong sense of family. Like humans, they are Apex Predators, which means they are prey to none in their natural environment. Their intricate methods of hunting and species vocalizations are passed from generation to generation, often times being specific to a particular group. They are magnificent

Its always bothered me that we as a species feel the need to spend millions of dollars on research to answer a question that can be pieced together with common sense. Its true that a definitive answer can further the health and well being of Orcas, but what about when even with all the research we still just don't know the answer for sure. The reason for the collapse of the Orcas dorsal fin is one of those questions, researched, studied, and hypothesized, and the only real answer 'The Experts' can give is 'its not caused by being unhealthy', and then give a few most likely reasons.... in other words guesses. I wonder how much those 'educated' guesses cost. Since the experts can't answer this question without beakers and test tubes, lets see if common sense can succeed where science has failed.

In the wild, as seen in the photo above, the Orcas dorsal fin is straight up and sturdy. Though some wild Orca do have a very small or slight bend in the tip of there dorsal fin, it is extremely rare if not impossible to encounter a wild Orca with a completely collapsed dorsal fin, unless that particular Orca was once in captivity.

I should point out that the dorsal fin is not bone or cartridge, its a hard collagen not unlike whats in your lips, just much harder or perhaps packed in tighter. Imagine 2 stuffed teddy bears, both stuffed with cotton balls. One bear you stuff til its just full enough to take form, the other bear you pack and pack and pack full of cotton balls til you can't easily add any more. Both bears look roughly the same, yet on closer examination, the 1st teddy bear is loose and floppy, and the 2nd teddy bear is stiff and rigid. Now replace teddy bears with an Orca dorsal fin and cotton balls with collagen.

Now lets look at the dorsal fin of an Orca in captivity. AS seen in the photo below, the dorsal fin is completely collapsed.

Now science has been unable to answer this question, only citing maybes and possible reasons. Well I can do that to, using common sense rather than millions of dollars in research grants. Here are 2 common sense reasons why the dorsal fin collapses on Orcas in captivity

1) Have you ever seen a surf board, you know that 'fin' on the bottom. What is that for? Well I don't surf and a surfer could answer the question as to what it does better than I can, but the basic use of that fin is directional stability. On an Orca, the dorsal fin serves the same purpose, it stabilizes the Orca from rolling over in the powerful currents and allows sharp turns in those currents. An Orca can swim at a top speed of approx 30 mph, an incredible feat when you consider that they are fighting strong ocean currents.

There's an old saying, 'use it or loose it'. Perhaps this is what happens with the Orcas dorsal fin. When an Orca is in captivity, it is in perpetually calm shallow water. It no longer has the ability to swim against raging ocean currents, diving for food, jumping and swimming at top speed for miles at a time. Instead it is place in a 'fishbowl' and the dorsal fin is never really used. When astronauts are in space, they are required to exercise because in a weightless environment they don't use much of they're muscles and would suffer from sever muscle atrophy if they didn't. Though dorsal fins are not muscles, perhaps this is the same situation. With lack of use, the Orcas body tells itself that the dorsal fin no longer needs its normal nutrients, causing the collagen to weaken til eventually the dorsal fin completely collapses.

2) Has anyone ever considered that the diet of an Orca has something to do with it. In captivity an Orca eats about 240 lbs of fish each day. I have to ask myself, are these frozen fish? Does a fishing trawler go out every morning and bring back a varied heaping pile of live fish for there captive Orca? Of course not. Now maybe, just MAYBE, they will feed their captive Orca fresh fish... but LIVE fresh fish daily. I doubt it. So you're asking yourself, so what if its live, fresh or frozen, does it matter? That is a big YES on 2 counts. First, Orca are not HUMAN... there nutritional intake is far more complex than just 'fish'. When an Orca goes hunting for food, perhaps they have a particular fish in mind. But that doesn't mean they always get it, Orca have been known to eat sharks, dolphins, seals, shrimps, tuna, crabs... the list goes on. Their diet is vastly varied, which means the daily nutrients they receive are vastly varied.  Now replace that daily 'buffet' with a daily can of 'pork and beans', do you think that can of 'pork and beans' is going to be sufficient?

Or maybe its as simple as them eating a particular fish type that is high in some nutrient that helps the production of or maintenance of collagen? Something that their trainers aren't feeding them? I'm not saying they are being starved, only that MAYBE they aren't eating what they would eat if they were in the wild.

So this is my final thought on the whole thing: I want to be clear, I'm not an activist, when I was young I loved the Shamu show at Sea World. But we didn't know much about Orca then, we didn't know that by bringing them into captivity we'd be changing them, even unintentionally and unknowingly hurting them. I don't believe we should harp on the past and reopen old wounds. But rather learn from the past and prevent from causing new wounds. Perhaps we shouldn't have Orcas in captivity. Perhaps we should just leave these animals alone to do what they do, live, have families and keep the oceans food chain in balance.