Share Your Numbers Transparently

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My book sales are abysmal.

This week, I gave away another short story called The Last Portrait. I only shared the link on one specific social media profile to see if it would make any difference. It didn’t. As of today, I’ve had only two downloads — for a free book!

I started from zero, so I expected the numbers to be low in the beginning — and maybe for quite a while. Still, I decided to put my numbers out there.

And I’m doing it for two reasons:

1. It creates an authentic record of my progress.

Two downloads are terrible, sure — maybe even embarrassing to share. But ten years from now, this will be part of my story: how a beginner author with no audience tried to make something happen. Maybe I’ll fail completely. But if I do, at least this blog and my transparency will show what didn’t work.

2. It builds trust.

Most things online are fake. People claim all sorts of things on their profiles. How many “lifestyle influencers” out there are actually broke — just faking it until they make it? I’d guess a lot more than those who truly live the lives they portray. What they never show you is how they failed. No, they always succeed at everything. Sure…

With me, you get the real, authentic version — including the failures. That’s why, when I finally succeed at something, you’ll know you can trust me.

My YouTube tutorial channel now has over 11K subscribers. After my first year, I only had 59 subs. It’s still far from being life-changing, but it pays a few bills nowadays. I’m finally in a position where I can teach something about YouTube with real experience — and you can be sure I didn’t fake my way there.

The same will happen with my writing. Maybe in seven years, I’ll be able to say that my books help to pay the bills — maybe it’ll take even longer. But when that day comes, you can be sure I’m telling the truth, because I’ve been sharing my failures from day one — by sharing my numbers.

New York Finally Falls for Communism

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So, Mamdani has won.

Congratulations to everyone who doesn’t pay taxes in New York—including all government workers. For those who do, things are about to get ugly.

When 9/11 happened, I was actually serving in the German military. It was a shocking event that sent ripples all the way to Berlin. Back then, we were ordered to double all security measures—days off were canceled, controls were tightened, fear was spread.

Twenty years later, New York has become a place that has actually elected a Muslim mayor. Travel back two decades and try telling that to New Yorkers. Immigration certainly played a massive role in this. Some claim that Mamdani received heavy financial backing from Islamic interest groups. There is also a high probability that all elections in the West are rigged.

But it’s also the foolishness of the liberal upper class that made this possible.

In their attempt to appear morally righteous, many Western loonies are now voting for socialist measures that will inevitably pave the way toward totalitarian communism. They fail to grasp that they’ll be the ones footing the bill, while only the politicians grow rich and powerful.

The lower class will be hit hardest—as always under communism.

At first, they’ll be gaslit into believing that everything is now “free.” But nothing is ever free when it comes from the state—it’s just taxpayer-funded. And the moment the biggest taxpayers realize this, they’ll flee to protect the fruits of their labor. History has shown time and again that people will go to great lengths to escape communism once the money runs dry, while nobody ever faucht to escape towards a communist country.

Who will pay for all the “free” stuff once your taxpayers are gone?

Exactly—no one.

And that’s when everything collapses. Public housing, transportation, medication, welfare—eventually, it will all grind to a halt. Once the communists admit that it’s no longer viable to offer these services for “free,” those who used to provide them for a fee will already be gone. The result? You won’t be able to get anything—neither for free nor for money. It’ll all be gone for good.

I feel sorry for the sane New Yorkers who didn’t vote for this. They do exist. But like in every major Western city—Berlin, London, Paris, Los Angeles—the power-hungry communists sink their teeth into the hardworking population and drain them dry like the parasites they are until nothing is left.

All they can do is to run away and watch the inevitable collapse from a safe distance.

Monster: Season 2 – The Menendez Brothers (Movie/Show Review #5)

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The second season of Monster feels a bit lighter than the story about Dahmer. In some ways, it’s almost comical. You’re not supposed to laugh at what’s portrayed—but I did. The way the Menendez brothers hoaxed their way through a made-up story turns what should be a drama into something closer to a dark dramedy.

The soundtrack plays a big part in that. Using Milli Vanilli as the main musical motif is a clever choice—after all, those two became the poster boys for how the entertainment industry fakes fame into existence. It’s just like the Menendez brothers tried to fake their way out of prison.

The production value matches the first season. The set design, acting, and direction are all solid and well-executed.

There are still some racial undertones sprinkled in, but compared to Dahmer, they’ve thankfully toned it down. In exchange, we get a bit more of the familiar “hate the rich” narrative—criticizing how wealthy people supposedly get preferential treatment from the system over the working class. Fortunately, the message is not hammered into your head like it was in Season 1.

Overall, Monster: The Menendez Brothers was received well by audiences, though slightly less than Dahmer. Personally, though, I enjoyed the Menendez story a bit more.

Week 45/52 YouTube Videos

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Another week has flown by, here are the two main videos I’ve produced for Monday.

StoryLines

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would’ve done with George Lucas’ Star Wars if I was given the reigns when Disney bought it. Here is the answer:

BRIG

I’m still in the process of figuring things out with this channel. For now, it’s a place to ramble:

Hollywood isn’t cool anymore — and the movie Amsterdam proves it.

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I didn’t even know this movie existed, but apparently, another A-list celebrity ensemble film was released in 2022 — and it bombed terribly.

The movie, Amsterdam, not only features some of the most famous actors in Tinseltown today, but it also had an established writer and director at the helm: David O. Russell, the man behind hits like Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle.

The cast is massive: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Robert De Niro, Taylor Swift, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldana, Rami Malek… This is an Ocean’s Eleven-style project with a staggering $80 million budget and Disney behind it.

So what happened at the box office? In the U.S., it has grossed only around $14 million and $31 million worldwide. If you factor in marketing cost, this movie must have lost more than 100 million.

For comparison, Ocean’s Eleven had a similar budget in 2001 and made $180 million in the U.S. and $450 million worldwide.

Amsterdam is just another example of the era of the Hollywood moviemaking coming to an end. Sure, we still have Christopher Nolan, Tom Cruise, and Leonardo DiCaprio, but beyond these three, no one seems able to draw audiences by name alone anymore.

They are trying to give us new stars, basically pushing them down our throats. But the audience isn’t swallowing it.

Social media has given us independent content creators and a glimpse behind the Hollywood mask — and the reality is grim. Most of these movie stars are not just misguided ideologues; many come across as outright arrogant and condescending toward fans. Opening a Twitter account may have been the worst career move most of the Hollywood people ever made.

I remember a new mid-budget hit coming out every month in addition to the big budget blockbuster every quarter. In my youth, I went to the video rental store every week to get the newest releases – and I always found something I couldn’t wait to see.

Today, the only movies that reliably make money are superhero films, animated features, or franchise installments (Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park, Top Gun). Nobody rushes to see mid-budget films trying something new. I am not waiting for the next Margot Robbie, Zendaya, or Chalamet movie, and even Steven Spielberg’s projects no longer guarantee big money (or big entertainment).

The magic is gone. Movie stars aren’t cool anymore. James Dean was, Marlon Brando was, even De Niro was at some point. In the ’80s, Tom Cruise could make everyone want to wear a Top Gun jacket. The Matrix influenced an entire fashion movement in the late ’90s. Today, the youth simply aren’t looking to Hollywood to see what is “cool”.