2 to 3: A Superhero based movie becomes the highest grossing individual film of all time within the next decade.
2 to 1: within 3 years, there will be a movie starring either Steven Seagal, Wesley Snipes or Jean Claude Van Damme released direct to DVD called Death Panel.
5 to 2: At some point in the next 3 years (if it hasn't come to pass already) someone will make a pornographic movie featuring a parody of either Billy Mays or Vince Offer.
3 to 1: One of the celebutards (Lohan, Hilton, Richie etc) gets indicted for fraud or some other financial related manner within the next decade.
4 to 1: Someone receives a lead actor Oscar for playing a comic book superhero within the next decade.
6 to 1: A major film critic or other cultural leader declares that indeed a video game that was released for a console was worthy of being called art within this console generation.
7 to 1: A movie based on a comic book wins for best picture in the next 15 years.
10 to 1: A new cable channel is founded in the next decade which shows only mashups and other materials which are of questionable copyright status.
18 to 1: Video gaming becomes so mainstream that within 5 years there will either be An Apprentice-style reality show for a job at a hot studio, or a video game playing competition series on a major network (which includes one of the surging cable networks).
25 to 1: In the next decade, all of the following films are remade: Casablanca, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shawshank Redemption, Dementia 13, The Breakfast Club, The Ten Commandments and Easy Rider.
40 to 1: A movie will be made and released for wide distribution of a human being filming their entire life with some form of cybernetic camera within the next 15 years.
100 to 1: A major A-list celebrity will murder another A-list celebrity within the next 15 years.
200 to 1: There will be three major motion pictures made from the work of Terry Pratchett within the next decade and a half.
400 to 1: Someone will film a fictional war movie during the next major American war on the ground while it is happening.
1000 to 1: A reality show wins an Emmy for Best Drama.
2000 to 1: A series is filmed entirely on an airplane in flight within the next 10 years.
3000 to 1: Jack Thompson becomes a lobbyist FOR the gaming industry.
8000 to 1: Uwe Boll produces a feature length movie that is nominated for an Oscar.
140000 to 1: Uwe Boll writes and directs a feature length film that wins an Oscar.
3 million to 1: Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton are nominated for Oscars in the same year.
50 million to 1: 3 reality show stars win the top prize in a lottery.
500 trillion to 1: Uwe Boll wins the lotto after winning an Oscar for his adaptation of Lumines and subsequently marries and divorces the Academy Award winning leading lady in that epic, Paris Hilton, after she goes to medical school and cures herpes.
1 googolplex to 1: I somehow discover the secret of the Infinite Improbability Engine and making all these things within the realm of possibility in the same year.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday Video: A Porno I would Watch for the Jokes
Categories:
movies,
videos
2
Contributions
OK, this one is a little weird for me, but aside from the title and a little bit of swearing, this is safe for work.
This week, Semaj wrote an entry regarding a list that the Huffington Post put together of recent pornographic movies that were based on sitcoms, one of which was a Triple X version of 30 Rock, and you know what... I actually want to see it because for the most part, it seems they sort of went for towards actually trying to make it funny. I don't want to see the sex so much as I want to see actual plot and writing (wow, that look weird in writing).
I mean, the dude playing Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy really sounds like him, while Bishop, who plays the character based on Tracy Morgan/Jordan, seems to really run with the character too. It is like they actually thought this whole thing through and tried to make something that is almost an homage to the show (granted, it could be like most other movie trailers where the best parts are shown).
Of course, even from this nudity free trailer, there is some porn acting (Amy Reid, I am looking at you). And that dude who is playing the character based on Pete/Scott Adsit has hair that is just messed up. I mean, if you are in for a penny for something like this, you should be in for a pound. OK, my commitment to verisimilitude in parodies is a little too strident I admit it.
And the woman playing the character based on Tina Fey/Liz Lemon is also the woman who played Sarah Palin in porn, so it is funny how this worked out.
I wonder how Tina Fey feels about all this. I am hoping that she takes it with good humor like Zach Braff did about the Scrubs XXX movie this same company produced.
This week, Semaj wrote an entry regarding a list that the Huffington Post put together of recent pornographic movies that were based on sitcoms, one of which was a Triple X version of 30 Rock, and you know what... I actually want to see it because for the most part, it seems they sort of went for towards actually trying to make it funny. I don't want to see the sex so much as I want to see actual plot and writing (wow, that look weird in writing).
I mean, the dude playing Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy really sounds like him, while Bishop, who plays the character based on Tracy Morgan/Jordan, seems to really run with the character too. It is like they actually thought this whole thing through and tried to make something that is almost an homage to the show (granted, it could be like most other movie trailers where the best parts are shown).
Of course, even from this nudity free trailer, there is some porn acting (Amy Reid, I am looking at you). And that dude who is playing the character based on Pete/Scott Adsit has hair that is just messed up. I mean, if you are in for a penny for something like this, you should be in for a pound. OK, my commitment to verisimilitude in parodies is a little too strident I admit it.
And the woman playing the character based on Tina Fey/Liz Lemon is also the woman who played Sarah Palin in porn, so it is funny how this worked out.
I wonder how Tina Fey feels about all this. I am hoping that she takes it with good humor like Zach Braff did about the Scrubs XXX movie this same company produced.
Tags:
Friday, August 28, 2009
Week 16: Pageant of the Transmundane
Categories:
transmundanity
1 Contributions
A man in Sweden was arrested for trying to sell some jewels. What? Not bizarre enough for you? How about this added fact: the man who the goods were offered to was a jeweler whose house had been broken into the previous night, and those gems were in fact, his property. Naturally the nimrods involved got busted. So I guess the moral of the story is to fence things outside of town.
This week's winning entry comes for the blog Turksville, a blog I found through No Smoking In the Skullcave.
The winning entry is something that looks very Victorian, and it is sort of freaky looking to me. It is the front cover of a book. Yes, the book has a title which is risque now, but it is the illustrations that made this entry a winner.
And like last time, I am presenting the Homer Simpson image without commentary, as I want the entry to be seen first, rather than me really indicating what it is.
So congratulations Phil Turk for freaking me out a little bit this week. Not a lot, just a little bit. ;) Here is your badge.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
This week's winning entry comes for the blog Turksville, a blog I found through No Smoking In the Skullcave.
The winning entry is something that looks very Victorian, and it is sort of freaky looking to me. It is the front cover of a book. Yes, the book has a title which is risque now, but it is the illustrations that made this entry a winner.
And like last time, I am presenting the Homer Simpson image without commentary, as I want the entry to be seen first, rather than me really indicating what it is.
So congratulations Phil Turk for freaking me out a little bit this week. Not a lot, just a little bit. ;) Here is your badge.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Tags:
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Smack Down: Me vs. A Troll
Categories:
blogging
6
Contributions
It is such a rare thrill for me to have someone hurl invectives at me, so when it happens, well, I respond with great vigor, because frankly, I am an asshole.
Last night, someone was looking for the Discworld MUD and after doing a Yahoo search, they discovered my blog entry regarding what I called a former addiction to online gaming. The person in question was so incensed by what I wrote that they just had to tell me about it, and since such correspondence is such a rare occurrence, well, I just had to share it with you. Of course, you know there will be snide commentary on the whole thing, but I have not changed the spelling, punctuation or grammar of any part of the comment, nor did I edit out any phrase.
It begins with 4 simple words:
Coming from someone who is semi-anonymously leaving a message on my blog 3 years after I wrote the post, this really hurts. I mean, how can I go on after this scathing insult. I guess I'll have to manage because you seem to have more to say.
Yep, you nailed me right there. I know it isn't heroin or crack, the latter of which you seem to be an addict of, so I am willing to concede that you are in fact the Bob Saget to my Dave Chappelle in this Half Baked scenario. Of course, this means that in the end, I got some sweet lovin' from Rachel True and you, well, you sucked dick for some coke while another dude watched... so I think I win this round.
Apparently, you were mudding during those oh so important English classes. Now, I know I am not a grammarian, but wow, proofreading is your friend. Then again, the crack and the anger may have just been getting to you, so I will forgive you, especially since it is generally poor form to criticize someone's (mis)use of language when there are other, more glaring reasons to find fault. In your case, it isn't even the easiest stone to throw.
Why didn't I think of that? I guess it took your keen insights and condescending tone for me to realize that. I am sure that attitude would go down well at, say, a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. Try it out and tell me how it went. Well, after you have you teeth fixed, because I think someone might hit you for something like that.
That was never my worry, though it is strange that somehow that thought occurred to you. I guess when you act like such a strident asshole, people have a tendency to run away from you at great speed.
Somehow I have a feeling this subject has been brought up to you before, because really, this is an unhealthy amount of anger. I mean, really, why are you so angry about this very subject? I mean, the phrase touchy comes to mind. Admit it, you are the kid in this video.
At the end, no it wasn't fun. It was a compulsion, so 4-6 hours a day wasn't fun at all. You understand compulsion right? I mean, you felt compelled to leave an angry comment at my blog, and I am sure that it wasn't the first time you had felt the need to do a hit and run blog comment in the heat of the moment. And you notice that I don't do the thing you are ripping on me for anymore. And think about it, with me not playing anymore, well, that is less burden on the server, isn't it? So tell me again, why you are getting so bent out of shape about this? I mean, disproportionately so. I mean, if I was insulting your mother or perhaps slapping a family member around, I could see it, but I am talking about a game that I don't play anymore, a game that I didn't really say anything bad about. What are you really projecting? Oh, I know, you are a Scientologist, and you won't admit it, so you decided to instead lash out at me about this... I mean, what you wrote above sounds like it is right out of their playbook. I mean, that has to be it. No one could be so legitimately upset about something written 3 years ago that has nothing to do with them unless there was some ulterior motive, or they were merely a little dense in the head, but if you are indeed a Scientologist, than that second part is a given.
It is likely not the first time you and annoyance have been linked. I have a feeling that you and annoyance have a high correlation, especially when other people are involved in that equation. But I do have to tip my hat to you for the effort. I mean, it must have been a lot of work for you putting all those words together. But I do agree that you did waste your time, and it is a good thing that you agree with that sentiment. I am sorry your pitiful attempt at trolling did not gain you the satisfaction you were looking for. Wait, I take that back. I am ecstatic that it failed to meet your meager standard of self-fulfillment.
Well, you have a much larger audience then you would have had if I would have just left it alone, but I don't think this is really the way you wanted it presented. Then again, no matter how someone came across your semi-literate stab at profundity, you wouldn't have come off very well. You didn't need any of my help, though I was glad to assist, and maybe someday you will get help for your crack addiction, anger issues, literacy and your adherence to the tenets of the Church of Scientology, but I gravely doubt it.
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out, because frankly, you might get a concussion based on where your head is currently located.
Last night, someone was looking for the Discworld MUD and after doing a Yahoo search, they discovered my blog entry regarding what I called a former addiction to online gaming. The person in question was so incensed by what I wrote that they just had to tell me about it, and since such correspondence is such a rare occurrence, well, I just had to share it with you. Of course, you know there will be snide commentary on the whole thing, but I have not changed the spelling, punctuation or grammar of any part of the comment, nor did I edit out any phrase.
It begins with 4 simple words:
Your such a joke.
Coming from someone who is semi-anonymously leaving a message on my blog 3 years after I wrote the post, this really hurts. I mean, how can I go on after this scathing insult. I guess I'll have to manage because you seem to have more to say.
How weak willed and lame can you be to consider yourself addicted to a online game?
Yep, you nailed me right there. I know it isn't heroin or crack, the latter of which you seem to be an addict of, so I am willing to concede that you are in fact the Bob Saget to my Dave Chappelle in this Half Baked scenario. Of course, this means that in the end, I got some sweet lovin' from Rachel True and you, well, you sucked dick for some coke while another dude watched... so I think I win this round.
1 if you skip classes its not cause the game is holding a gun to your head, I have mudded in class and never had it effect anything.
Apparently, you were mudding during those oh so important English classes. Now, I know I am not a grammarian, but wow, proofreading is your friend. Then again, the crack and the anger may have just been getting to you, so I will forgive you, especially since it is generally poor form to criticize someone's (mis)use of language when there are other, more glaring reasons to find fault. In your case, it isn't even the easiest stone to throw.
2 You were having fun, all you needed to do was figure out that you had your whole life to play the game.
Why didn't I think of that? I guess it took your keen insights and condescending tone for me to realize that. I am sure that attitude would go down well at, say, a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. Try it out and tell me how it went. Well, after you have you teeth fixed, because I think someone might hit you for something like that.
It's not like it was gonna run away why you were at class.
That was never my worry, though it is strange that somehow that thought occurred to you. I guess when you act like such a strident asshole, people have a tendency to run away from you at great speed.
3 What the hell is addiction anyway, but a way to make someone feel bad about doing what they like. Discworld mud is a never ending game no matter how much you play, so you can advance to the day you die.
Somehow I have a feeling this subject has been brought up to you before, because really, this is an unhealthy amount of anger. I mean, really, why are you so angry about this very subject? I mean, the phrase touchy comes to mind. Admit it, you are the kid in this video.
There's no reason in playing 8 hours a day, unless you wanted to because it was fun. Addictions come in two ways, mental and physical, physical can be beat by quiting the substances and replacing them with healthy ones. Mental can be beat by you thinking cleary, and if there is something that prohibits you from doing that it can be treated with medication.
At the end, no it wasn't fun. It was a compulsion, so 4-6 hours a day wasn't fun at all. You understand compulsion right? I mean, you felt compelled to leave an angry comment at my blog, and I am sure that it wasn't the first time you had felt the need to do a hit and run blog comment in the heat of the moment. And you notice that I don't do the thing you are ripping on me for anymore. And think about it, with me not playing anymore, well, that is less burden on the server, isn't it? So tell me again, why you are getting so bent out of shape about this? I mean, disproportionately so. I mean, if I was insulting your mother or perhaps slapping a family member around, I could see it, but I am talking about a game that I don't play anymore, a game that I didn't really say anything bad about. What are you really projecting? Oh, I know, you are a Scientologist, and you won't admit it, so you decided to instead lash out at me about this... I mean, what you wrote above sounds like it is right out of their playbook. I mean, that has to be it. No one could be so legitimately upset about something written 3 years ago that has nothing to do with them unless there was some ulterior motive, or they were merely a little dense in the head, but if you are indeed a Scientologist, than that second part is a given.
Since the fact that I wasted my time writing this message, is already starting to annoy me.
It is likely not the first time you and annoyance have been linked. I have a feeling that you and annoyance have a high correlation, especially when other people are involved in that equation. But I do have to tip my hat to you for the effort. I mean, it must have been a lot of work for you putting all those words together. But I do agree that you did waste your time, and it is a good thing that you agree with that sentiment. I am sorry your pitiful attempt at trolling did not gain you the satisfaction you were looking for. Wait, I take that back. I am ecstatic that it failed to meet your meager standard of self-fulfillment.
Hopefully someone will read this,not be bs'd by your crap, and have fun doing what they love whether it be muds, mmorpgs, etc.!
Well, you have a much larger audience then you would have had if I would have just left it alone, but I don't think this is really the way you wanted it presented. Then again, no matter how someone came across your semi-literate stab at profundity, you wouldn't have come off very well. You didn't need any of my help, though I was glad to assist, and maybe someday you will get help for your crack addiction, anger issues, literacy and your adherence to the tenets of the Church of Scientology, but I gravely doubt it.
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out, because frankly, you might get a concussion based on where your head is currently located.
Tags:
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Midweek Video: Foamy goes off on Comic and Game based movies
Categories:
movies,
video games,
videos
4
Contributions
A rant after my own heart, though it doesn't have any magical lines like "Mark my words, this lollipop will be up your butt by week's end". I mean, I agree with everything that is said here.
Hey, it needed to be said.
Hey, it needed to be said.
Tags:
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Katherine Heigl may be with Spawn
Categories:
celebrity
7
Contributions
There are rumors that Katherine Heigl may be pregnant. Seth Rogen is unfortunately not involved, so there will be no laughs (or humility, let's be honest), but somehow she will come up with a way to slam someone a few months down the line because of this. I mean, I am just waiting for her to make a sanctimonious statement about her pregnancy in the same way she has made snide remarks about so many other things and people. Part of me thinks this song was prerecorded just for this occasion, because she is just so smug already, and I don't think we are fully ready for the hell on earth a doubly smug, hormonally charged Katherine Heigl is capable of unleashing.
And you know this baby will be smug too... the only way it could be more smug is if somehow it was secretly fathered by Kanye West. And for those of you who are taking offense to me ripping on a celebrity's hypothetical baby, imagine the lessons such a child would learn from its mother... that baby is going to become the next Paris Hilton or her male equivalent... a kid who feels entitled to everything and expects deference when they haven't earned it.
I mean, Katherine Heigl acts like she is as accomplished as Meryl Streep or something. And when you think about it, even Meryl Streep doesn't act like that, and she's earned that. You don't think Katherine Heigl's hypothetical baby would be a diva, and one we will likely have to hear about for decades.
We're doomed... we are all doomed. Maybe by the time this comes to a head, reality tv will finally have the balls to have a celebrity child version of Battle Royale. OK, I admit that one was a little mean.
P.S. Feel lucky I didn't make a Knocked Up pun in this entry.
And you know this baby will be smug too... the only way it could be more smug is if somehow it was secretly fathered by Kanye West. And for those of you who are taking offense to me ripping on a celebrity's hypothetical baby, imagine the lessons such a child would learn from its mother... that baby is going to become the next Paris Hilton or her male equivalent... a kid who feels entitled to everything and expects deference when they haven't earned it.
I mean, Katherine Heigl acts like she is as accomplished as Meryl Streep or something. And when you think about it, even Meryl Streep doesn't act like that, and she's earned that. You don't think Katherine Heigl's hypothetical baby would be a diva, and one we will likely have to hear about for decades.
We're doomed... we are all doomed. Maybe by the time this comes to a head, reality tv will finally have the balls to have a celebrity child version of Battle Royale. OK, I admit that one was a little mean.
P.S. Feel lucky I didn't make a Knocked Up pun in this entry.
Tags:
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday Video: Weird Video Game Ad
Categories:
video games,
videos
2
Contributions
The Japanese make a lot of weird ads, so it makes sense that they would also make some rather strange spots for video games as well.
This ad for God Hand is a perfect example of that. I mean, it has nothing to do with the game, but it is certainly memorable, and with only six seconds of in-game footage, it certainly sells the sizzle rather than the steak.
An ad like this for a mainstream video game would definitely not be acceptable for the North American audience, and I don't mean because it is weird. The spanking would have made it a no-no.
But the weird thing is, even though I don't understand a word that is being said, I get everything that happened (in the context of the commercial).
I also have to respect the game in question... in the first North American trailer, it tells you it is going to kick your ass... and the game is so hard, it actually does.
This ad for God Hand is a perfect example of that. I mean, it has nothing to do with the game, but it is certainly memorable, and with only six seconds of in-game footage, it certainly sells the sizzle rather than the steak.
An ad like this for a mainstream video game would definitely not be acceptable for the North American audience, and I don't mean because it is weird. The spanking would have made it a no-no.
But the weird thing is, even though I don't understand a word that is being said, I get everything that happened (in the context of the commercial).
I also have to respect the game in question... in the first North American trailer, it tells you it is going to kick your ass... and the game is so hard, it actually does.
Tags:
Friday, August 21, 2009
Week 15: Pageant of the Transmundane
Categories:
transmundanity
1 Contributions
A woman was arrested this week for getting into a fight with a 13 year old boy in a wheelchair wearing a medical halo. And yet, there were even more classless acts this week, and I am sure a lot of you have seen the Youtube videos.
Anyway, Jeremy Barker from the blog Popped Culture is this week's recipient of the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award.
He discovered a particularly wondrous Threadless T-shirt which mashes two cultural phenomena into one striking image.
And I picked the below image just because I could. Sometimes I should have the luxury of doing that... or was that the real reason? You decide.
Congrats Jeremy. Here is your badge.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Anyway, Jeremy Barker from the blog Popped Culture is this week's recipient of the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award.
He discovered a particularly wondrous Threadless T-shirt which mashes two cultural phenomena into one striking image.
And I picked the below image just because I could. Sometimes I should have the luxury of doing that... or was that the real reason? You decide.
Congrats Jeremy. Here is your badge.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Tags:
Friday Favorite: Man, I Miss Zines
Categories:
blogging,
favorites
0
Contributions
It again has been one of those weeks, so I thought it would be a good time for another Friday Favorite column.
And those of you who remember previous trips back in the vault can probably surmise that this is yet another entry from the formative days of this blog... back in mid-2006.
Yes, I still miss zines and the zining phenomenon. I admit it.
--
Last night I was going through my box of zines and thinking about how much I missed that phenomenon. I know, a lot of people have said that blogging is the more accessible and more mainstream version of zining, but on many levels, it just isn't the same.
I miss looking through Zine World, MaximumRockAndRoll and Factsheet 5, looking for oddities and quality, substantive journalistic work.
I miss entering into that strange bond of trust with ziners that if you stuffed a buck or 5 into an envelope, that it would get there in one piece and you would be given a little piece of their mind in turn.
I miss the smell of xeroxed covers, each one showing a black and white image of an individual world, one that was unique to its writer and the dualities within.
Happy Not Stupid, Murder Can Be Fun, Temp Slave, McJob, Guinea Pig Zero and so many more either gone or very minimalized now. I wonder how many of their authors went on to create new works... how many Pagan Kennedy's emerged from those folded pages to become larger figures in the publishing or writing world, and were the mirror for the bloggers who are finding wider spread acceptance and book deals nowadays?
I think I guess being able to hold a copy of a unified work rather than an ever-changing array of opinions and articles. That and the fact that those who zined loved it so much that they did it at a loss and with a lot of effort, and I think my own failures in this department makes me admire those who were out there every day pushing their own little piece of the publishing pie. I mean, I would have loved to have brought out even one issue of History Is a Nightmare: A Neomodern Review, but alas, it wasn't to be.
I do have a lot of hope that blogging with continue the spirit of zining in an electronic body, but I still wish more people were still into zining. As a sidenote, I have to say that Gimme Your Stuff sort of reminds me of a few issues of Beer Frame, and I appreciate the good memories that site brings back for me and I thank them all for that.
And those of you who remember previous trips back in the vault can probably surmise that this is yet another entry from the formative days of this blog... back in mid-2006.
Yes, I still miss zines and the zining phenomenon. I admit it.
--
Last night I was going through my box of zines and thinking about how much I missed that phenomenon. I know, a lot of people have said that blogging is the more accessible and more mainstream version of zining, but on many levels, it just isn't the same.
I miss looking through Zine World, MaximumRockAndRoll and Factsheet 5, looking for oddities and quality, substantive journalistic work.
I miss entering into that strange bond of trust with ziners that if you stuffed a buck or 5 into an envelope, that it would get there in one piece and you would be given a little piece of their mind in turn.
I miss the smell of xeroxed covers, each one showing a black and white image of an individual world, one that was unique to its writer and the dualities within.
Happy Not Stupid, Murder Can Be Fun, Temp Slave, McJob, Guinea Pig Zero and so many more either gone or very minimalized now. I wonder how many of their authors went on to create new works... how many Pagan Kennedy's emerged from those folded pages to become larger figures in the publishing or writing world, and were the mirror for the bloggers who are finding wider spread acceptance and book deals nowadays?
I think I guess being able to hold a copy of a unified work rather than an ever-changing array of opinions and articles. That and the fact that those who zined loved it so much that they did it at a loss and with a lot of effort, and I think my own failures in this department makes me admire those who were out there every day pushing their own little piece of the publishing pie. I mean, I would have loved to have brought out even one issue of History Is a Nightmare: A Neomodern Review, but alas, it wasn't to be.
I do have a lot of hope that blogging with continue the spirit of zining in an electronic body, but I still wish more people were still into zining. As a sidenote, I have to say that Gimme Your Stuff sort of reminds me of a few issues of Beer Frame, and I appreciate the good memories that site brings back for me and I thank them all for that.
Tags:
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Is it just me?
Categories:
movies
2
Contributions
Is it just me or does anyone else think it is weird that the movie Shorts is being marketed as from the director of Spy Kids, but not mentioning Robert Rodriguez at all.
I wonder if the use of his name indicates that the movie is full of Danny Trejo, gunplay, blood, gore, murder and all that other wonderful stuff that he is known for and the use of the line "from the director of" is meant to indicate that it is indeed a film for the kids, which he is also becoming known for.
I guess the point where the rubber meets the road is going to be when Machete is released and if it is marketed as "From the director of Planet Terror and Sin City".
I wonder if the use of his name indicates that the movie is full of Danny Trejo, gunplay, blood, gore, murder and all that other wonderful stuff that he is known for and the use of the line "from the director of" is meant to indicate that it is indeed a film for the kids, which he is also becoming known for.
I guess the point where the rubber meets the road is going to be when Machete is released and if it is marketed as "From the director of Planet Terror and Sin City".
Tags:
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Midweek Video: Walking with Thee
Categories:
music,
videos
2
Contributions
Warning: If you find mannequins creepy, this is not the video for you.
So basically we have a band whose gimmick is wearing hospital attire and masks (Clinic) making a video featuring the relationship between two mannequins. It is as weird as it sounds.
There are weirder videos out there... but this one is somewhat strange.
So basically we have a band whose gimmick is wearing hospital attire and masks (Clinic) making a video featuring the relationship between two mannequins. It is as weird as it sounds.
There are weirder videos out there... but this one is somewhat strange.
Tags:
Express Checkout: Time Travel, Emmys and Dirty Dancing
Categories:
express,
movies,
television
4
Contributions
Insta-Fail? ABC and Friends creator Marta Kauffman are teaming up to bring The Time Traveler's Wife to television as a weekly series. If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I've sort of documented the fact that if you are introducing a show that is based on time travel, it has to be pretty spectacular to make it past its first season these days, as it seems that the American viewing public can't really get into new series like these anymore. So, despite the weepy sentiments of a generation of film goers, I still don't think this one is going the distance.
Family Guy Emmy videos: I am sure some of you have seen those videos Seth MacFarlane and company have been making mocking their fellow nominees for the Best Comedy Show award. I don't know about you, but if I was an Emmy voter, that would definitely make me want to vote against them. And I would say that even if another show was doing the same thing. It isn't edgy... it is just sort of sad really, so as a strategy, it is poor at best.
Dirty remake: I've recently read that now there is a Dirty Dancing remake on the table. Seriously, I think it is ice floe time for the group of executives that are just greenlighting all this stuff, because if this is the best they can come up with, well, we deserve better. I mean, this irks me more than the reported White Chicks sequel that is also in the works.
Family Guy Emmy videos: I am sure some of you have seen those videos Seth MacFarlane and company have been making mocking their fellow nominees for the Best Comedy Show award. I don't know about you, but if I was an Emmy voter, that would definitely make me want to vote against them. And I would say that even if another show was doing the same thing. It isn't edgy... it is just sort of sad really, so as a strategy, it is poor at best.
Dirty remake: I've recently read that now there is a Dirty Dancing remake on the table. Seriously, I think it is ice floe time for the group of executives that are just greenlighting all this stuff, because if this is the best they can come up with, well, we deserve better. I mean, this irks me more than the reported White Chicks sequel that is also in the works.
Tags:
Monday, August 17, 2009
Correct Me if I am Wrong...
Categories:
celebrity,
movies
3
Contributions
...but isn't it customary to remove stories which may not be accurate?
I mean, I thought that's what happened. Maybe that's just me.
There is a reason the entertainment news media is on my enemies list.
I mean, I thought that's what happened. Maybe that's just me.
There is a reason the entertainment news media is on my enemies list.
Tags:
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday Video: Wind Song
Categories:
music,
video games,
videos
3
Contributions
As I said at the end of my last video posting, I was going to do something a little geekier this time out. And I think I've found something that is both cool and demonstrates my geekish tendencies. I found someone playing Wind Song from Chrono Trigger on bottles. It is a lot better than that sounds. I mean, it is totally awesome.
I admire not only the fact that the dude in question chose a song from Chrono Trigger, but the editing work involved in taking all those disparate filmed notes and turning them into something that is worth watching and listening to.
And if you've never played Chrono Trigger, here is the original piece of music, which shows just how close this gentleman got to it.
I admire not only the fact that the dude in question chose a song from Chrono Trigger, but the editing work involved in taking all those disparate filmed notes and turning them into something that is worth watching and listening to.
And if you've never played Chrono Trigger, here is the original piece of music, which shows just how close this gentleman got to it.
Tags:
Friday, August 14, 2009
Week 14: Pageant of the Transmundane
Categories:
transmundanity
1 Contributions
In the world of wacky news, a balding penguin was given a wetsuit to a) stop it from getting sunburn and b)to help it swim. My guess is someone was watching swimming and noticed everyone wearing skull caps and put two and two together.
Anyway, while this week's winner can be related to the above story in some rather odd ways, it also stands alone as a rather disturbing and odd glimpse into a corner of handicraft I never really wanted to explore, but now I feel compelled to look at.
But this isn't sexual. No, that would be too easy and frankly, given that almost every other winning entry in the Pageant of the Transmundane was clearly not sexually motivated, well, again it will not be that.
Instead it is a view into Taxidermy. And not just any kind of taxidermy... Crappy Taxidermy.
I can't make a decision on any particular entry, so following in the footsteps of other winning entries, the entire blog wins the award.
And since this week's winner has to do with stuffing animals, well, it seemed appropriate to show Homer sitting amongst a large number of them. As I've said before, you can find an image to celebrate almost any Transmundanity win on The Simpsons.
I don't know who on the site to congratulate, but I would like to note that friend of Culture Kills and multiple Transmundanity award winner Maven was the one who brought this shudder-inducing blog to my attention.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Anyway, while this week's winner can be related to the above story in some rather odd ways, it also stands alone as a rather disturbing and odd glimpse into a corner of handicraft I never really wanted to explore, but now I feel compelled to look at.
But this isn't sexual. No, that would be too easy and frankly, given that almost every other winning entry in the Pageant of the Transmundane was clearly not sexually motivated, well, again it will not be that.
Instead it is a view into Taxidermy. And not just any kind of taxidermy... Crappy Taxidermy.
I can't make a decision on any particular entry, so following in the footsteps of other winning entries, the entire blog wins the award.
And since this week's winner has to do with stuffing animals, well, it seemed appropriate to show Homer sitting amongst a large number of them. As I've said before, you can find an image to celebrate almost any Transmundanity win on The Simpsons.
I don't know who on the site to congratulate, but I would like to note that friend of Culture Kills and multiple Transmundanity award winner Maven was the one who brought this shudder-inducing blog to my attention.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Tags:
You better watch out, Stephen Colbert
Categories:
blogging,
movies,
television
0
Contributions
Last week, I wrote about the marketing strategy the producers of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra to avoid movie critics while marketing the film to a certain segment of the population, in a move I called the Red State strategy.
Well, me and Semaj were further discussing the matter over at his blog, and in his comment section, I thought it would be interesting to try to think about how that could be spun. So I wrote what I thought someone at Fox News or a right wing website would say about that story.
And it was only after I had posted the comment that I realized that I had unintentionally pulled a Stephen Colbert. I mean, that could have been pulled from one of his "The Word" segments. I wasn't trying to be funny, but in a weird way it was.
In essence, I invoked Poe's Law on myself. Which was excellent and most triumphant.
Well, me and Semaj were further discussing the matter over at his blog, and in his comment section, I thought it would be interesting to try to think about how that could be spun. So I wrote what I thought someone at Fox News or a right wing website would say about that story.
Critics are elitists, so why would the studios play into their game? It is a movie for the people, so why should the studios allow some movie critic from a liberal newspaper in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago tell the people that they will or will not like a movie based on some ivory tower intellectual basis. The only question the people need to know is if it kicks ass and is patriotic. Other than that, why analyze it?
And it was only after I had posted the comment that I realized that I had unintentionally pulled a Stephen Colbert. I mean, that could have been pulled from one of his "The Word" segments. I wasn't trying to be funny, but in a weird way it was.
In essence, I invoked Poe's Law on myself. Which was excellent and most triumphant.
Tags:
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I'm Not a Doctor, but I Nitpick One on TV
Categories:
television
4
Contributions
I am going to say something which defies conventional wisdom: Dr. Gregory House is incompetent.
As I said in an earlier post, House MD is basically a police procedural with a medical setting. And you know what, I get a perverse thrill in pinpointing the exact moment in an episode of House where the case should have been solved.
What I mean is there is usually a moment where all the symptoms House or his team would need to see to solve the case have presented themselves, but those determining treatment take a wrong turn and end up clouding the issue by causing a bunch of additional symptoms because of their mistake. I know that I don't have the medical know how of even a first year med student (or, frankly, a med school drop out), but I do have an eye for drama and background in watching docudrama series on disasters like plane crashes and such, so I can tell what sounds like the thing that is going to be the problem.
Everyone on the show acts like Gregory House is the second coming of Sherlock Holmes (or third given that character's history), but what I've noticed is what ends up happening is House and his staff going down a lot of dead end roads, and usually almost kill the patient with their treatments. I am sure he has to pay a lot for his malpractice insurance. I would expect that might be a reason why there are some tensions between House and Dr. Cuddy as well... a small factor mind you, but it is probably in the top 10.
I mean, if he was a cop and every wrong diagnosis was a different suspect he arrested for a crime, he would have been thrown out of law enforcement so fast, it would make your head spin.
I am sure that now that I've mentioned it, a lot of you out there might start doing the same thing I am... nitpicking it to death... but it is fun.
And this is one of the myriad reasons why I don't want David Shore to remake The Rockford Files (you all probably thought I forgot about that, didn't you?).
As I said in an earlier post, House MD is basically a police procedural with a medical setting. And you know what, I get a perverse thrill in pinpointing the exact moment in an episode of House where the case should have been solved.
What I mean is there is usually a moment where all the symptoms House or his team would need to see to solve the case have presented themselves, but those determining treatment take a wrong turn and end up clouding the issue by causing a bunch of additional symptoms because of their mistake. I know that I don't have the medical know how of even a first year med student (or, frankly, a med school drop out), but I do have an eye for drama and background in watching docudrama series on disasters like plane crashes and such, so I can tell what sounds like the thing that is going to be the problem.
Everyone on the show acts like Gregory House is the second coming of Sherlock Holmes (or third given that character's history), but what I've noticed is what ends up happening is House and his staff going down a lot of dead end roads, and usually almost kill the patient with their treatments. I am sure he has to pay a lot for his malpractice insurance. I would expect that might be a reason why there are some tensions between House and Dr. Cuddy as well... a small factor mind you, but it is probably in the top 10.
I mean, if he was a cop and every wrong diagnosis was a different suspect he arrested for a crime, he would have been thrown out of law enforcement so fast, it would make your head spin.
I am sure that now that I've mentioned it, a lot of you out there might start doing the same thing I am... nitpicking it to death... but it is fun.
And this is one of the myriad reasons why I don't want David Shore to remake The Rockford Files (you all probably thought I forgot about that, didn't you?).
Tags:
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
My Enemies List Addendum #2
Categories:
enemies
3
Contributions
Putting these posts together is sort of fun. Thinking about entries that you would put on your own personal and ever expanding enemies list... it has a certain charm to it.
But this one... yeah, this one is a little more controversial than I have been in the past. On my earlier lists, I picked some fairly easy targets, people who were pretty self-explanatory, but this time, I have to expose a little more of myself to explain why some of these groups and individuals are on my list.
But enough gilding the lily... let's get on with the show.
Intelligent Design proponents: I should preface this one with the admission that when I was in university, my specialty during my history degree was the intellectual development of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, so I am very familiar with the competing arguments in this. I would also like to say that I don't care what people believe, as long as it doesn't have a wider, deleterious effect on things in general. Intelligent Design is one of those belief systems which indeed has a negative effect, because let's be frank, it isn't science. No matter how hard these people try to spin it as a scientific theory, it doesn't hold up. They know this for a fact. When held up to scrutiny in the case of Kitzmiller v Dover, even the legal system acknowledged that Intelligent Design is just creationism in new clothing. And I for one certainly don't want someone working in virology, oncology or various other disciplines where understanding the mechanisms of natural selection and the current theories in evolution to be ignorant of this necessary knowledge because someone with a religious ax to grind was so challenged by scientific fact that they denied children this education, thus radically altering my life and the lives of millions of other people. I don't want kids to learn things in science classes which won't help them be the best they can be in the subject, because that is truly dangerous. But the ID proponents try to cloud the issue and say that the scientific community is afraid to debate them, but it isn't like that. It is more like Verne Troyer drunkenly challenging Mike Tyson in his prime to a fight, and when Tyson says no, Minime calls him chicken and tries to punch him in the junk. If it held water at all, it would feature prominently in peer reviewed articles, but that isn't happening. And that isn't happening because there is a conspiracy amongst scientists to suppress it... it is happening because it isn't science. And one particular ID proponent is such a tool he earned himself a place all by himself on this list.
Ben Stein: I know what some of you are thinking... that boring economics teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off who made a career in Hollywood by playing a particular kind of low key character? How can he be your enemy? Well, it boils down to the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and the media blitz he did when it was released. I had to make this a separate entry from other ID proponents because Ben Stein went above and beyond to me in making himself an ass. With his movie, he proved himself to inflammatory and lacking even the most rudimentary sense of intellectual honesty (because he set up a lot of people in this movie by telling them they were going to be in a more balanced film... he Verne Troyer'd the entire 1986-9 Heavyweight division). I also don't believe for a second that Ben Stein doesn't fully understand the basics of evolutionary science... he would just rather sell the controversy. Do you know how I know he is full of shit? He is an economist by training, and guess what one of the major influences on Darwin was? Classical Economics... Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus and David Ricardo, the very same people who were instrumental in the development of Stein's own discipline. Basically, he knows what that particular audience wants to hear, so he tailored his film to rile up those people. It doesn't add anything to the public discourse, but rather it is a blatant attempt to advance the Teach the Controversy movement. And when he said the following on the Trinity Broadcast Network, well, it really was over for me with him: "Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people." He is also the living example of Godwin's law, as he seems to compare everything he doesn't like to Hitler or the Nazis. Let's go down the list, shall we? Obama, Moslem Extremists and Environmentalists are like Hitler, evolutionists, scientists, critics of the response to Hurricane Katrina are Nazis, and the Minneapolis police were like the Gestapo regarding the Larry Craig arrest. And according to Stein, gay males are all pedophiles. So yeah, even beyond my own misgivings about his evolutionary stance, there is a lot more vile crap in Ben Stein than meets the eye. He spins himself as this affably hip guy, but he is just a petty hatemonger.
Keith Olbermann: I admit that I used to watch Countdown a lot. I mean, almost daily for a long period of time, mainly because many of the people he would relentlessly go after were people who appear on my enemies list, in particular Bill O'Reilly. However, I started to have a falling out with him after his attacks on the show 24, which showed a remarkable lack of knowledge about the series, instead relying on a single idea that the show was propaganda for Fox and the Republican party, when the larger plotlines ended up being very critical of his administration, and was one of the few shows, news or otherwise during the run up to the Iraq War which had the United States entering a war in the Middle East because of bad intelligence and due to some ulterior motives. And as the months went by, Olbermann began acting like the very people he attacked, and he continued to do so as I continued to watch, while not having guests who had opposing viewpoints. And in that echo chamber, his dickish qualities were amplified and I lost a lot of respect for him, despite some of his good Special Comments. Basically, I grew tired of his shtick and I can't watch him anymore without feeling dirty.
Birthers: I have to say this. If you believe in your heart of hearts that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and somehow he made it through his entire public life with all the scrutiny that comes along with it while maintaining that illusion, or worse still, you use what was once a conspiracy theory from the fringes the the right wing to advance either a personal agenda or your career, then I am sorry to say but you are a complete and total amoral asshole. I mean, think about what a scoop it would have been for someone, anyone to have proven that story true during the last presidential election... and yet, no one did. In fact, evidence to the contrary was presented and accepted by everyone but you. And those of you reading know that if it was John McCain and the fringes of the left were doing something like this to him about being born in Panama, well, they would be ridiculed and mocked without mercy by these very same people.
But this one... yeah, this one is a little more controversial than I have been in the past. On my earlier lists, I picked some fairly easy targets, people who were pretty self-explanatory, but this time, I have to expose a little more of myself to explain why some of these groups and individuals are on my list.
But enough gilding the lily... let's get on with the show.
Intelligent Design proponents: I should preface this one with the admission that when I was in university, my specialty during my history degree was the intellectual development of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, so I am very familiar with the competing arguments in this. I would also like to say that I don't care what people believe, as long as it doesn't have a wider, deleterious effect on things in general. Intelligent Design is one of those belief systems which indeed has a negative effect, because let's be frank, it isn't science. No matter how hard these people try to spin it as a scientific theory, it doesn't hold up. They know this for a fact. When held up to scrutiny in the case of Kitzmiller v Dover, even the legal system acknowledged that Intelligent Design is just creationism in new clothing. And I for one certainly don't want someone working in virology, oncology or various other disciplines where understanding the mechanisms of natural selection and the current theories in evolution to be ignorant of this necessary knowledge because someone with a religious ax to grind was so challenged by scientific fact that they denied children this education, thus radically altering my life and the lives of millions of other people. I don't want kids to learn things in science classes which won't help them be the best they can be in the subject, because that is truly dangerous. But the ID proponents try to cloud the issue and say that the scientific community is afraid to debate them, but it isn't like that. It is more like Verne Troyer drunkenly challenging Mike Tyson in his prime to a fight, and when Tyson says no, Minime calls him chicken and tries to punch him in the junk. If it held water at all, it would feature prominently in peer reviewed articles, but that isn't happening. And that isn't happening because there is a conspiracy amongst scientists to suppress it... it is happening because it isn't science. And one particular ID proponent is such a tool he earned himself a place all by himself on this list.
Ben Stein: I know what some of you are thinking... that boring economics teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off who made a career in Hollywood by playing a particular kind of low key character? How can he be your enemy? Well, it boils down to the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and the media blitz he did when it was released. I had to make this a separate entry from other ID proponents because Ben Stein went above and beyond to me in making himself an ass. With his movie, he proved himself to inflammatory and lacking even the most rudimentary sense of intellectual honesty (because he set up a lot of people in this movie by telling them they were going to be in a more balanced film... he Verne Troyer'd the entire 1986-9 Heavyweight division). I also don't believe for a second that Ben Stein doesn't fully understand the basics of evolutionary science... he would just rather sell the controversy. Do you know how I know he is full of shit? He is an economist by training, and guess what one of the major influences on Darwin was? Classical Economics... Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus and David Ricardo, the very same people who were instrumental in the development of Stein's own discipline. Basically, he knows what that particular audience wants to hear, so he tailored his film to rile up those people. It doesn't add anything to the public discourse, but rather it is a blatant attempt to advance the Teach the Controversy movement. And when he said the following on the Trinity Broadcast Network, well, it really was over for me with him: "Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people." He is also the living example of Godwin's law, as he seems to compare everything he doesn't like to Hitler or the Nazis. Let's go down the list, shall we? Obama, Moslem Extremists and Environmentalists are like Hitler, evolutionists, scientists, critics of the response to Hurricane Katrina are Nazis, and the Minneapolis police were like the Gestapo regarding the Larry Craig arrest. And according to Stein, gay males are all pedophiles. So yeah, even beyond my own misgivings about his evolutionary stance, there is a lot more vile crap in Ben Stein than meets the eye. He spins himself as this affably hip guy, but he is just a petty hatemonger.
Keith Olbermann: I admit that I used to watch Countdown a lot. I mean, almost daily for a long period of time, mainly because many of the people he would relentlessly go after were people who appear on my enemies list, in particular Bill O'Reilly. However, I started to have a falling out with him after his attacks on the show 24, which showed a remarkable lack of knowledge about the series, instead relying on a single idea that the show was propaganda for Fox and the Republican party, when the larger plotlines ended up being very critical of his administration, and was one of the few shows, news or otherwise during the run up to the Iraq War which had the United States entering a war in the Middle East because of bad intelligence and due to some ulterior motives. And as the months went by, Olbermann began acting like the very people he attacked, and he continued to do so as I continued to watch, while not having guests who had opposing viewpoints. And in that echo chamber, his dickish qualities were amplified and I lost a lot of respect for him, despite some of his good Special Comments. Basically, I grew tired of his shtick and I can't watch him anymore without feeling dirty.
Birthers: I have to say this. If you believe in your heart of hearts that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and somehow he made it through his entire public life with all the scrutiny that comes along with it while maintaining that illusion, or worse still, you use what was once a conspiracy theory from the fringes the the right wing to advance either a personal agenda or your career, then I am sorry to say but you are a complete and total amoral asshole. I mean, think about what a scoop it would have been for someone, anyone to have proven that story true during the last presidential election... and yet, no one did. In fact, evidence to the contrary was presented and accepted by everyone but you. And those of you reading know that if it was John McCain and the fringes of the left were doing something like this to him about being born in Panama, well, they would be ridiculed and mocked without mercy by these very same people.
Tags:
Monday, August 10, 2009
Delay
We're having some sketchy power grid disturbances in my neck of the woods, so today's scheduled blog post is being rescheduled for tomorrow.
Thank you for understanding.
Thank you for understanding.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Sunday Video: Here's Where the Story Ends
Categories:
music,
videos
2
Contributions
Yeah, I think it is obvious that for all intents and purposes, the Sunday and to a lesser extent Midweek videos are my attempt at remembering songs from the 1960's through 1990's. I've accepted that.
Though perhaps my upcoming entries for this will show a little more of my geekish side.
Anyway, this is Here's Where the Story Ends by The Sundays. I remember back when my nation's music video network used to show Spotlights for various artists, and I happened to catch one for The Sundays, which is where I first encountered this song. Then I loved it again on Launchcast and it resulted in me buying the CD. And now I am sharing it with all of you.
See, the thing I like about this is the fact that as the song goes on, the chorus subtly changes, changing the original version of how the events that were recounted were remembered.
Though perhaps my upcoming entries for this will show a little more of my geekish side.
Anyway, this is Here's Where the Story Ends by The Sundays. I remember back when my nation's music video network used to show Spotlights for various artists, and I happened to catch one for The Sundays, which is where I first encountered this song. Then I loved it again on Launchcast and it resulted in me buying the CD. And now I am sharing it with all of you.
See, the thing I like about this is the fact that as the song goes on, the chorus subtly changes, changing the original version of how the events that were recounted were remembered.
Tags:
Friday, August 07, 2009
Week 13: Pageant of the Transmundane
Categories:
transmundanity
3
Contributions
This week, a meth lab was discovered in an unusual place... next door to a Sherriff's Department in Virginia. A meth lab, well, I have to assume it creates quite an odor, especially given the fact that they have to send people in hazmat suits in to clean it up. The fact that one at a motel next to a Sheriff's Department should tell you how bad the average motel resident smells in general.
Anyway, this week's winning entry comes from This Blog Rules
Now, once again this is one of those winning entries that has the potential to scar you for life a little bit, so be forewarned. This time out it is a rather disturbing set of jewelry made from Barbie Dolls. It is creepier than it sounds.
And since this week's winning entry has to do with Barbie, I thought a picture with Malibu Stacy and Homer would be the most appropriate image for the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award this week.
Congrats to the staff at This Blog Rules.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Anyway, this week's winning entry comes from This Blog Rules
Now, once again this is one of those winning entries that has the potential to scar you for life a little bit, so be forewarned. This time out it is a rather disturbing set of jewelry made from Barbie Dolls. It is creepier than it sounds.
And since this week's winning entry has to do with Barbie, I thought a picture with Malibu Stacy and Homer would be the most appropriate image for the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award this week.
Congrats to the staff at This Blog Rules.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
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Thursday, August 06, 2009
Ashton Kutcher Can Kiss My Ass
Categories:
celebrity
5
Contributions
"If the fat people just gave the skinny people more food, we could all just eat... We could solve obesity and hunger at the same time."
Ashton Kutcher, showing why he is so well known as a sensitive and thoughtful advocate for the science of nutrition and Nobel laureate.
Wait a minute... he isn't that. He is just someone who not only played an idiot on TV, but is one in real life as well.
And correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Ashton Kutcher also a proponent of the organic food movement? You know, the kind of farming that according to the father of the Green Revolution, can only support 4 billion people? I don't think me eating an extra Twinkie now and then is going to consign 3 billion people to death.
I mean, I don't really care if you eat organic, because that is consumer's choice... as long as you don't start talking out of your ass about how other people are screwing things up.
So I think I speak for every person with obesity issues when I say "Fuck you Ashton Kutcher!"
Ashton Kutcher, showing why he is so well known as a sensitive and thoughtful advocate for the science of nutrition and Nobel laureate.
Wait a minute... he isn't that. He is just someone who not only played an idiot on TV, but is one in real life as well.
And correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Ashton Kutcher also a proponent of the organic food movement? You know, the kind of farming that according to the father of the Green Revolution, can only support 4 billion people? I don't think me eating an extra Twinkie now and then is going to consign 3 billion people to death.
I mean, I don't really care if you eat organic, because that is consumer's choice... as long as you don't start talking out of your ass about how other people are screwing things up.
So I think I speak for every person with obesity issues when I say "Fuck you Ashton Kutcher!"
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Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Midweek Video: A Zombie Musical
Categories:
videos
2
Contributions
I found this video strangely enough when I was looking for a male gay-friendly version of I Kissed a Girl last week, and I thought it was worth sharing.
Harvey Fierstein certainly sells it, I'll tell you what.
Harvey Fierstein certainly sells it, I'll tell you what.
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Tuesday, August 04, 2009
G.I. Joe... A "Real American" Marketing Campaign?
Categories:
movies
4
Contributions
Well, I've been reading some interesting things about the current marketing campaign for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
What I am gathering is people like me, the slightly pretentious, pop culturally obsessed geek/blogger, are not the ones being targeted by the current advertising/marketing initiative, because let's face it, our community is predisposed to not like this movie. We have our memories of G.I. Joe from when we were kids, and a lot of us hold them sacrosanct (not me mind you, but I am sure I have readers who know these people online... I've certainly run into them), and even if it was an adaptation of the same quality of say Iron Man, well, there would still be a lot of carrying on about how it doesn't live up to expectation. The fact that the movie didn't have a presence at the most recent Comic-Con is evidence of this as well.
Indeed, it seems that another segment of the population is being targeted instead... middle America. I know most blockbusters are supposed to target these people anyway, but what I've been reading is the focus is almost entirely on these potential movie goers, with segments inserted into Lynyrd Skynyrd concerts, the Country Music Television Awards and various other entertainment venues which skew to a particular segment of the population. If I was going to really overgeneralize, I would say that they are trying to make this a Red State phenomenon, which would be sort of funny given the fact that for the international market, the ads are really downplay the Team America mindset, which doesn't really seem like something that would play well in the Deep South).
And having the movie have a sneak preview showing at Andrews Air Force Base also seemed inspired with this in mind, as that is some good press right there both in general and for that particular demographic... though I think that the movie would have been high on the list of summer movies that servicemen wanted to see anyway.
I know this whole exercise is designed to produce the maximum amount of money at the box office, but part of this makes me feel like, I don't know, I won't like it, or that it is a bad movie. When the most prominent critic to see it so far is Harry Knowles, it raises some red-flags. It almost feels like despite all the money they are spending on marketing, everything about this movie is standoffish. And trust me, I want to like this movie, but all signs are pointing to a no on this one for me.
What I am gathering is people like me, the slightly pretentious, pop culturally obsessed geek/blogger, are not the ones being targeted by the current advertising/marketing initiative, because let's face it, our community is predisposed to not like this movie. We have our memories of G.I. Joe from when we were kids, and a lot of us hold them sacrosanct (not me mind you, but I am sure I have readers who know these people online... I've certainly run into them), and even if it was an adaptation of the same quality of say Iron Man, well, there would still be a lot of carrying on about how it doesn't live up to expectation. The fact that the movie didn't have a presence at the most recent Comic-Con is evidence of this as well.
Indeed, it seems that another segment of the population is being targeted instead... middle America. I know most blockbusters are supposed to target these people anyway, but what I've been reading is the focus is almost entirely on these potential movie goers, with segments inserted into Lynyrd Skynyrd concerts, the Country Music Television Awards and various other entertainment venues which skew to a particular segment of the population. If I was going to really overgeneralize, I would say that they are trying to make this a Red State phenomenon, which would be sort of funny given the fact that for the international market, the ads are really downplay the Team America mindset, which doesn't really seem like something that would play well in the Deep South).
And having the movie have a sneak preview showing at Andrews Air Force Base also seemed inspired with this in mind, as that is some good press right there both in general and for that particular demographic... though I think that the movie would have been high on the list of summer movies that servicemen wanted to see anyway.
I know this whole exercise is designed to produce the maximum amount of money at the box office, but part of this makes me feel like, I don't know, I won't like it, or that it is a bad movie. When the most prominent critic to see it so far is Harry Knowles, it raises some red-flags. It almost feels like despite all the money they are spending on marketing, everything about this movie is standoffish. And trust me, I want to like this movie, but all signs are pointing to a no on this one for me.
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Monday, August 03, 2009
Pop Culture Q and A #2
Categories:
q and a
2
Contributions
So, who should just go away?
Megan Fox. Gone. I thought the goal of being a celebrity that was supposed to open movies was that you were on some level likable and barring that bare minimum, at least you had some talent that made watching a performance worth overlooking your less than desirable personality traits. She fails both of these criteria. This is the first and last time I am ever going to say this, but I am pleading with the entertainment media.... please talk about Paris Hilton some more instead of interviewing Megan Fox, because at least the former has some sense that their fame is an artificial construction and has some sense when giving interviews that you don't have to say everything that comes to mind. Part of me wonders when Megan Fox and Billy Bob Thorton are getting together, because those two would likely have a lot to talk about, and if they are talking to each other, well, then I don't have to hear either of them.
What about news that Michael Moore is thinking of starting a comedy festival in his adopted town Traverse City, Michigan?
Well, as you know, Michael Moore is one of those people who is on my enemies list because of both his unethical and somewhat shoddy work as a documentarian and his history as a less than stellar person. I know Traverse City could use the increased visibility as a town of the arts (as Moore also have a film festival in that town), but there is a firsthand story about a store mentioning that festival in a way that Moore didn't like and getting some legal attention from him because of it, so I could see a few more businesses in that kind of situation again. And let's face it, Moore is such a target for a particular segment of the political spectrum that any comic who did perform there would at least get chewed out on Fox News or certain websites and at worst, could find their careers put on hold, even if they themselves are apolitical, just because they are now associated with Michael Moore.
Simon Cowell had Botox?
I don't give a shit. I know the plastic surgery selling community does, but if it doesn't turn a personality into a zombie-faced goon like Nicole Kidman, then it doesn't really concern me.
Speaking of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson has put on weight?
And?
Well, aren't you disgusted by that. That is what the weberazzi indicate you should feel by that news?
I don't like her music, but if she put on weight and she doesn't look like some wafer thin mint of a woman like those same people rip on for being anoxeric or drug addicts, then more power to her. If she is comfortable with whatever weight she is at, then those other people can go fuck themselves. It is as simple as that.
Corey Feldman, asshole or douchebag?
Douchebag.
Care to explain?
Do I really have to? OK, I will in a later post.
Don't you think it was weird that Mark Wahlberg and Ali Larter both got married on Saturday (to different people naturally)?
The only thing I wonder is if Entourage is going to suddenly turn into a different show now. But seriously, I would have thought it was weird if the former Ms. Larter got married in a whip cream bikini and Mark Wahlberg was actually convincing in the role of groom and not wooden like he usually is. But I did hear he said hello to everyone's mother after the ceremony.
Speaking of weddings, what do you think of Demi Moore taking Ashton Kutcher's last name?
I think Bruce Willis must be pissed... I mean, she didn't commit to their marriage like that, did she? And it isn't like she is doing a lot of movies at the moment, so there will be less confusion for everyone involved in the future.
Megan Fox. Gone. I thought the goal of being a celebrity that was supposed to open movies was that you were on some level likable and barring that bare minimum, at least you had some talent that made watching a performance worth overlooking your less than desirable personality traits. She fails both of these criteria. This is the first and last time I am ever going to say this, but I am pleading with the entertainment media.... please talk about Paris Hilton some more instead of interviewing Megan Fox, because at least the former has some sense that their fame is an artificial construction and has some sense when giving interviews that you don't have to say everything that comes to mind. Part of me wonders when Megan Fox and Billy Bob Thorton are getting together, because those two would likely have a lot to talk about, and if they are talking to each other, well, then I don't have to hear either of them.
What about news that Michael Moore is thinking of starting a comedy festival in his adopted town Traverse City, Michigan?
Well, as you know, Michael Moore is one of those people who is on my enemies list because of both his unethical and somewhat shoddy work as a documentarian and his history as a less than stellar person. I know Traverse City could use the increased visibility as a town of the arts (as Moore also have a film festival in that town), but there is a firsthand story about a store mentioning that festival in a way that Moore didn't like and getting some legal attention from him because of it, so I could see a few more businesses in that kind of situation again. And let's face it, Moore is such a target for a particular segment of the political spectrum that any comic who did perform there would at least get chewed out on Fox News or certain websites and at worst, could find their careers put on hold, even if they themselves are apolitical, just because they are now associated with Michael Moore.
Simon Cowell had Botox?
I don't give a shit. I know the plastic surgery selling community does, but if it doesn't turn a personality into a zombie-faced goon like Nicole Kidman, then it doesn't really concern me.
Speaking of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson has put on weight?
And?
Well, aren't you disgusted by that. That is what the weberazzi indicate you should feel by that news?
I don't like her music, but if she put on weight and she doesn't look like some wafer thin mint of a woman like those same people rip on for being anoxeric or drug addicts, then more power to her. If she is comfortable with whatever weight she is at, then those other people can go fuck themselves. It is as simple as that.
Corey Feldman, asshole or douchebag?
Douchebag.
Care to explain?
Do I really have to? OK, I will in a later post.
Don't you think it was weird that Mark Wahlberg and Ali Larter both got married on Saturday (to different people naturally)?
The only thing I wonder is if Entourage is going to suddenly turn into a different show now. But seriously, I would have thought it was weird if the former Ms. Larter got married in a whip cream bikini and Mark Wahlberg was actually convincing in the role of groom and not wooden like he usually is. But I did hear he said hello to everyone's mother after the ceremony.
Speaking of weddings, what do you think of Demi Moore taking Ashton Kutcher's last name?
I think Bruce Willis must be pissed... I mean, she didn't commit to their marriage like that, did she? And it isn't like she is doing a lot of movies at the moment, so there will be less confusion for everyone involved in the future.
Tags:
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Sunday Video: Dancing Bear
Categories:
music,
videos
2
Contributions
The Mamas and The Papas released a lot of hit songs, and memorable singles. However, I happened to come across a particular single on one of their greatest hits collections that really resonated with me.
The song was Dancing Bear.
The sound is just so mythic... and the imagery is sort of weird, even for a song that is contemporaneous with the age of psychedelic rock, and I sort of appreciate that.
The song was Dancing Bear.
The sound is just so mythic... and the imagery is sort of weird, even for a song that is contemporaneous with the age of psychedelic rock, and I sort of appreciate that.
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