abc

Ah, a "Fear and Loathing" fan. Wait till you see those goddamn bats....

I like this video, mostly because I look forward to watching a video of your reaction while re-watching this video in a few months.

Again, my hat is off to you for having the courage to post these videos. The only minor piece of advice I'd give is to mention that TSM doesn't have a 100% cure rate, and that it appears to take the better part of a year in practice. Don't want to oversell it...

It's interesting what we think of while under-the-influence, such as your Carl Spackler rendition of Steve Miller's "The Joker". (I think that's what you were going for there). Oh, and "pompatous" is a neologism, like you said. I never knew that.

Thanks for your bravery at allowing us to see your cure in progress!

BTW, that is still quite a tame video. Of course, some of my sessions long ago were tame, some not so tame, and everything in between. Plus, it's is not intended to be a "Ben's Gone Wild" video, just a typical session.

Bob

PS I agree with Tito. Careful about over-selling TSM (78% effectiveness, which is still really good) and the time-span in the book is shorter than our collective experience of 5 months or longer.

PPS Thanks for mentioning our website several times!

Ben is showing a slice of real life, not the fantasy world of treatments that don't work.

Yes, the cigarette distracts me too at times, but that is the real Ben that we are seeing. The real Ben smokes. There's is no reason to hide it. Plus any AA meeting I've ever been to has been a health nightmare with people hopped-up on gallons of coffee, eating cookies and candy, and chain-smoking before and after the meeting. I suspect that after Ben is cured, he may tackle his smoking habit... maybe, maybe not; his choice, his life.

I like his videos because they are real life, he uses logical convincing reasoning, and it is a unique video blog/diary of his journey through TSM.

Bob

Thanks for your comment. What I am going for is a serious message with some humor thrown in for entertainment value. Some people like it and some people don't. I genuinely appreciate your honesty. My other videos are much more serious than this one. The reason I made it was that I made one before on which I got a little buzzed and acted a little ridiculously, then thought maybe it was a bad idea and deleted it. Several people who saw it told me they wished I'd left it up, and others who missed it but heard about it expressed disappointment that they couldn't see it. So I made another one. I'm going to leave it up.

As for my smoking. It helps me focus while I'm recording, and I see no point in pretending I don't smoke anyway. Most of the alcoholics I've ever known smoke. Also, I live in Seattle where the anti-smoking mentality is so pervasive they've outlawed it in some outdoor public places. My favorite thing people do is the fake cough as soon as they see my cigarette. I sometimes amuse myself by walking down the street with an UNLIT cigarette to see how many of these jokers will pretend to cough. Juvenile of me, but fun.

You rock Ben and including us in your videos,...Awesome.

No, keep doing em. Drunk and sober or either. Anyone, especially on this site, that would judge a drunk needs to run to an AA meeting. That ain't cool around here buddy (judging you). I hate to use the kids phrase but its appropriate. "Keep keeping it real" buddy. My Best, Jim

Thanks again for the great comment! I have added a time-delay annotation to the beginning of the video with the information about TSM's success rate. I'd be grateful if you check it out and tell me if you think I've stated it effectively. Thanks for the suggestion. In the video, I do say that it takes as long as 15 months for some people to be cured, but I forgot to state the success rate. I did mention it in my other videos, but not this one.

Thanks for the great Thompsonesque comment! And thanks too for reminding me about the success rate. In the video I did mention that TSM takes as long as 15 months in some cases, but you're right that I did not mention the success rate. I have rectified this with a time-delayed annotation at the beginning of the video. Check it out and let me know if you think it's stated well enough. I like to have fun, but getting the straight facts about TSM to people is always job one!

Thanks for the most excellent comment! I plan to make a video about once a month until I am cured. No point in making them more frequently since the extinction curve represents a gradual reduction measured in weeks and months, as you know.

Thanks again, man!