It’s episode 16… Scattercast is going through its rebellious teen years!
Little bit of everything in this one folks!
- I beg, again, for feedback on the podcast.
- A brief history of my relationship with Halloween and the costume industry.
- A very long winded rant about the state of horror films.
Only three subjects this week, but my rant is lengthy!
Here’s a link to the MP3 for those who wish to download it.
This controversy over Cheryl Burke’s weight has officially become ridiculous.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Louis van Amstel, two male dancers from Dancing With The Stars, have come out with quotes over the fact that Cheryl Burke put on five pounds this past summer. Not only now is it Ms. Burke being targeted, but also the new female dancer Lacey Schwimmer is being targeted as she is curvier than some others.
When I first saw these women this season, I said, ‘Guys, you know the camera adds 10 pounds. You have to do something about this.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy
This was followed by
[People] look at this show to be inspired and think, ‘If I just work hard enough, I can look like that. If they watch someone who’s dancing her butt off and she’s still heavy, they can be discouraged.”
Louis van Amstel
First off, van Amstel has a reputation for being a pain in the ass, and has been rumored to be a problem with the dancers during the tours. He isn’t even an official professional on the series this season though he has floated through some of the showcase dances. As for Chmerkovskiy, who is he to make such comments?
If it sounds like this makes me angry, than you are hearing correctly. I have known many people with eating disorders, and there are many deaths related to such disorders each year. True, people also die from being overweight, but Ms. Burke and Ms. Schimmer are far from being overweight. For these men to say anything of this nature is just irresponsible, uncalled for and unnecessarily vicious.
If these women are happy with themselves, then more power to them, and to suggest that they are of unhealthy weight levels does nothing but further the idea that women must be model thin at all times. The wisest thing for these men to say about the situation would have been either a) to support their fellow dancers or b) not say a thing at all about it. Any guesses which option I think is the better choice?
I would hope to see this issue just die and go away, but so long as people continue to say such nasty things about a women of a perfectly healthy weight and size, then I feel compelled to say something about it.
For shame Mr. Chmerkovskiy and Mr. van Amstel, for shame.
It’s official: David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who.
I’m surprised to find I have never discussed my love of Doctor Who before on this blog, but it is true, I have been a fan of the series since the Tom Baker years in the late 1970s. For those of you unfamiliar with the basic premise of the British series, the Doctor (they have never revealed his name) is a rogue Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He travels through space and time in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) that looks like an old English police call box. Through out the years he has had many companions that travel with him, but the only constants are the Doctor and his TARDIS.
One thing about the series that has allowed it to run for decades is that Time Lords are able to regenerate. At the time of their death, they focus energy and they can regenerate into an entirely new body. They retain all of their memories and knowledge, but their personality and quirks change, along with their signature outfits. In other words, it is an easy way for a show to run for years with different actors in the same part.
After a lengthy break, the show returned a few years back with Christopher Eccleston in the part, whom I quickly dubbed the best Doctor yet. He left after only one season and was replaced by David Tennant whom I quickly warmed up to, and liked for totally different reasons.
Now the news has come that after the four special episodes to air in 2009, Mr. Tennant will be leaving the series. Who will replace him is unknown at this time, but this has become a huge media storm in England every time they get ready to switch the actors out. I will give the new actor a fair chance, just like I have every other person to play the role, but it isgoing to be pretty difficult to fill Tennant’s Converse All Stars. (luckily the new Doctor will be in the previous Doctor’s outfits briefly until he has time to hop in the TARDIS and change)
So, bring on a year of speculation as we wait for the 2010 debut of the new actor to pick up the part. Oh this is going to be painful to wait through.
Dear Hollywood,
Okay, fine, I shook my head when you decided it was a good idea to let The CW start a new version of 90210. I thought it was a bad judgement, but, hey, what do I know?
As the show started up, I started joking with people that next we would be seeing a remake of Melrose Place.
So you’re allowing The CW to do this, Hollywood? Is it really time to start pumping the well for bad 1990’s shows? Is Doogie Howser M.D. next? How about Saved By The Bell? I mean, if we’re just going to give up anything resembling an original idea any more and just go back to the well to revamp old ideas, may I suggest a revisit to My Mother, The Car? Hey, it was a classic example of bad television, so why not just cut to the chase and get that one ramped up for next fall.
Where did we go wrong, Hollywood? You used to give me passable entertainment, but not you just keep smacking me with tripe… and I keep coming back. We have to get over our co-dependence, Hollywood, this isn’t healthy for either of us. Consider this your introvention, you need help, I want you healthy again!
Please, Hollywood… take that first step, get help. I look forward to the step where you make amends with those you’ve hurt… America is wating for the step, and remaking Melrose Place isn’t the way to do it.
Still love you,
Sean
I have gone on and on about how hard it is for a movie to be considered profitable, but yet the top two films this weekend did it in their opening weekends. What lesson is there here?
High School Musical 3, the first of the popular franchise to be in theaters, has a reported production budget of a mere $11 million dollars and it grossed $42 million dollars domestically this weekend. Saw V, reportedly the last film in the series, had a budget of $10.8 million and grossed $30.5 million dollars this weekend. As I have told you all before, a movie must double its budget to be considered profitable, so on paper, both of these films made well over double their budgets and are completely in the black already.
Hello. Hollywood? Are you paying attention?
If this weekend proves anything, it is that films don’t have to have huge budgets with insane special effects to make money. True, both of these films had built in audiences from the preceeding installments in their respective series, but this also shows if you keep budgets under control, then you can make a quick buck. Both films star smaller name actors, a major chunk of a film’s budget these days, and concentrate more on the story and plot than catering to some huge actors fan base. I love Johnny Depp, but he is reportedly getting $54 million to star in a rumored fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, kudos to him, but a huge slap up side the head to the Disney executives for agreeing to it.
Think these are flukes? The first Saw film was made for $1.2 million dollars and went on to gross $55.1 million domestic. News has just come out that the Saw series is now the highest grossing horror series ever with a cumulative domestic gross of $145.8 million on an estimated cumulative budget of around $30 million. (the budget for Saw IV is unknown, so I took an average) This particular series is not my cup of tea (I like actual horror, and not “horror porn” as some call this), but there is denying that this series is insanely successful.
As for High School Musical 3, well, I don’t get the success of the first two on television, so this one doing so well is also beyond me. Teenagers seem to love them, so more power to them, and what teens love will always do well.
This does just tell me that Hollywood, for the most part, is broken. Why should any movie cost $150 million or more? A large portion of the problem is that they have given in to the insane salaries of stars. I’m sorry, but no actor is truly worth a $20 million dollar plus paycheck for what amounts to three or four months work. Stop paying these outrageous paychecks, focus on actually telling a story, and you can turn a profit. Sure they may not be gigantic profits, but perhaps you could pay your executives less and then you wouldn’t need to turn such huge profits.
Oh, I know, there I go talking all crazy again with sensible talk. I’m wacky that way.
I was looking through the recent traffic to my website, and it concerns me…
People are looking up way too many pictures of Heath Ledger as the Joker.
While I certainly have sung the praises of his performance in The Dark Knight,it doesn’t mean I’d dress up as him. The number of searches I’m seeing this close to Halloween tells me everything that I need to know that there are going to be legions of Jokers out there at parties and bars this year.
As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up in the costume industry, and every Halloween there was some costume that everyone thought they were being smart doing, but it was the same idea 2 dozen other people had that same day. The problem with the Joker is just some green hair coloring, some white and black makeup, add a little ruby red lipstick and you’re complte with some ratty clothing.
Please don’t.
Sure, sure, you loved the movie, but could we please not do this? There are going to be a lot of people dressed up as the Joker that just shouldn’t do it. It’s like The Crow and The Matrix all over again, “Oh sure other people are doing it, but no one will do it as good as me!”… believe me, they will not only be as good as you are, but more than likely better.
You have a few days, start thinking of something else… please?
You know, it fascinates me how airlines and companies like UPS were so quick to adapt to the higher fuel prices this summer, but where are the cut backs now that fuel prices are dropping?
Over the past few months I received numerous updates from UPS for my shipping software of new fuel surcharges. We were getting one or two of these weeks, tacking on more expenses to our shipping costs, raising them to unheard of levels.
In a more common every day effect on people, airlines have been doing the same. Fuel surcharges have been added to tickets, not to mention that some airlines are now charging you for checked luggage, which was also supposedly due to the rising cost of gas.
So, prices have plummeted, oil futures are even lower… where are the cut backs? All of these companies were extremely quick to raise their prices, but I sure don’t see them doing the reverse. With the economy dropping, don’t you think you might want to encourage people to travel more and do more online shopping? Or, could it possibly be that these companies used this as an excuse to raise prices and it had no real connection to what was going on with gas?
Nah, it could NEVER be that… could it?
It’s episode 15… by next week, Scattcast will be old enough to drive!
Little bit of everything in this one folks!
- I actually get political for a moment about campaign promises and how silly they are.
- A very long winded rant about Internet Service Providers (ISPs), how they are ripping off American citizens, and their greed is going to lead to problems down the road.
Only two subjects this week, but my rant is lengthy!
Here’s a link to the MP3 for those who wish to download it.
While I am known for being harsh in movie reviews, one movie I have heaped endless hate on over the years is Dirty Dancing.
Most bad movies are quickly forgotten. You see them, you say, “Wow, what a trainwreck” and move along. However, Dirty Dancing is one that has stuck in my mind for years because I can remember when it came out on video, and I couldn’t go to any female friend’s house without that movie being in their VCR on an endless loop. Honestly, the movie is mostly forgettable except for what is possibly one of the most excruciating lines of dialog ever written… yeah, you know which one I mean…
Nobody puts Baby in the corner!
-shivers-
I hated this line from the moment I heard it (actually, I burst out laughing, much to the anger of the girl sitting on the couch with me at the time), and this was long before Conan O’Brien picked on it relentlessly on his talk show. I truly consider it six of the most insipid words ever strung together in a sentence. Perhaps it was Patrick Swayze’s delivery of the line, but I really think it is just a horribly written line.
I remember hearing a few years back about some sort of live stage version of this abomination on celluloid, but quickly pushed it out of my head. Now comes word via Variety that the stage production may be making its way to Broadway in the near future. “Dirty Dancing — The Classic Story Onstage” (’classic’? seriously?) may be taking up the theater with its tripe where Hairspray hasbeen playing for six years. Nothing is firm yet, but that’s what has been reported.
This bring up a conversation I had with M (for newcomers, my best friend who shall only be known by an initial) not long ago about the “Disneyfication” of Broadway. With things like “Little Mermaid” going on at the moment, and “Spider-Man” inching closer to being a reality, we wonder what has happened to classic storytelling on Broadway. Where are the shows like “A Chorus Line”, “Evita”, “Damn Yankees” and so on? Instead we get things like “Dirty Dancing” which, by the way, doesn’t even feature a singing cast, they just dance to the music from the movie. Essentially it is the movie just done on a stage.
Why?
You know, here’s part of my problem with this whole “Oh it’s a classic!” and “It’s so romantic!” schtick with this property: Does no one realize that Johnny, the dance instructor, is significantly older than Baby? Were there no statutory rape laws in 1963, the year the story takes place? No no, everyone is just horrified that the hired help of the resort slept with a guest, not that she is an underage girl having sex with a man in his mid to late 20’s. True, their ages are never stated, but it is fairly obvious. I guess it’s okay though because it’s “romantic” and “sweet”.
Never mind the whole sub-plot about the female employee of the resort who has an illegal, back alley abortion and nearly bleeds to death. Really, this movie was sweet and perfect for teen girls in 1987!
So come on folks, pack up your kids, specifically your young daughters, and take them to see the “sweet” and “romantic” story of illegal love between an adult male and a teenage girl on Broadway!
Remember back when I said Dr. Pepper had issued a challenge to Guns N’ Roses? For those who don’t, the deal was that the soft drink company was offering a free Dr. Pepper to every person in the United States of America if Guns N’ Roses would release their long awaited album, “Chinese Democracy“, by the end of 2008.
Well, since it looks like the album is actually going to come out on November 23rd, Dr. Pepper has announced that they are going to make good on their end of the deal! Kudos to them, though I do wonder now if this was all planned, but whatever the case is, people everywhere will be getting a free soda out of the deal. (I no longer drink soda, but more power to everyone else!)
Here is the press release with all of the details on how you can get your free drink:
Don’t cry, Guns N’ Roses fans.
The agonizing wait for the 17 years-in-the-making masterpiece Chinese
Democracy will finally be over (fingers crossed) on Nov. 23, 2008. Sure,
there have been more rumored release dates than the 23 flavors of Dr
Pepper, but if Chinese Democracy hits stores as announced today, it’s going
to be so easy, easy for every American to get a free Dr Pepper as promised.“We never thought this day would come,” said Tony Jacobs, vice
president of marketing for Dr Pepper. “But now that it’s here all we can
say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.”Dr Pepper is ready to give out free soda coupons to every American when
the album releases on Nov. 23, 2008. If you’re out to get a free Dr Pepper
just follow these simple steps:HOW TO GET YOUR FREE DR PEPPER
1. On the Nov. 23, 2008 release date, go to http://www.drpepper.com
2. Register your information to receive a coupon for one free 20-oz. Dr
Pepper.
3. When your coupon arrives, redeem it wherever Dr Pepper is sold.
4. Drink your Dr Pepper slowly to experience all 23 flavors. Dr’s
orders.
Coupons will be available for 24 hours, starting at 12:01 a.m. Eastern
Time on Nov. 23, 2008. Allow 4-6 weeks for coupon to arrive. Coupons will
expire on Feb. 28, 2009. Limit one coupon per person. Full terms and
conditions available at http://www.drpepper.com .
It looks like you won’t have much time to use them once you receive them, but go for it and enjoy the fact Dr. Pepper held up their end!
Yesterday Alex Carnevale over at io9 brought up a story about how some science fiction writers are calling for a boycott of the Borders chain of bookstores overthe fact the store had skipped ordering their book.
As I have dug down deeper into the back story of what was going on, it makes even less sense than it did at first blush. Going backwards, sci-fi authors such as Tobias Buckell and Pat Cadigan are saying that authors should boycott Borders for their recent trend to skip titles in hardcovers or expensive trades.
The Borders chain has been in financial trouble for a while now and is trying to get itself back on track by tightening their belt. Add in the recent economic news and you will probably find chain stores in numerous industries trying to find ways to cut back on expenses, and that will mean tighter constraints on orders for new products.
The idea of authors withholding new titles because previous were skipped is just asinine, and also probably impossible. Is anyone in their right mind going to turn down an order of a few hundred copies of a new book because their previous one was passed over? Get over yourself and get your ego in check. Add in do you really think the publisher, who is the ultimate say in things like this is going to say to a bookseller, “Oh no, sorry, we aren’t selling this book to you because you hurt the author’s feelings on their last book, and what they say goes!”
Yeah, that isn’t happening.
Andrew Wheeler, a Marketing Manager for John Wiley & Sons, has an incredibly in-depth blog post about how book ordering works and how “skips” suck, but they are part of the nature of bok selling. All of this is extremely easy for me to relate to from my comic book selling days, and if comic creators had wanted to boycott me for not ordering their previous works, I would have had nothing to sell. You only have so much budget to work with, so much shelf space and only so many resources to devote to promoting a given project. Worst of all, unlike book stores, direct sales comic stores have no return capabalities, so it was always a huge risk for us to order, so every book had to earn its way on to our shelves.
In short, I think I am just awe-struck by the ego and entitlement these authors are showing. While I realize every author wants to sell copies of their books, they should also remember all those authors who can’t even get their books published. So you didn’t make it in to Borders, fine, you just work that much harder to help promote the copies ordered by other sellers. However, to punish a book seller that is already in financial problems is just stupid. Say they ordered 900 copies of your previous book, skipped the next, you boycott them on the next one, they go out of business in the meantime, just how many copies of the project after that one do you think they will order? Yeah, that’s right, 0.
Your biggest concern right now should be keeping your industry afloat so you have future work, not your bruised egos. Pull yourself up by your boot straps, put a smile on, and keep your industry going. Don’t act like tantrum throwing children.
UPDATE: Okay, okay, I get it, I misread the situation! The authors did NOT, I repeat, DID NOT call for a boycott.
I’ve started using a new analytics program called Woopra that is fascinating. As opposed to systems like Google Analytics that updates ever few hours, Woopra shows your stats in real time, and in far more detail.
Well, one of the side effects of this is seeing in real time when people arrive at my site after having done on a Google search on my name. I imagine this is something that happens with working at a well known site like Mashable, but sometimes you just have to kinda go, “What did I do, and why is this person looking for me?”
Call it being a nervous ninny if you must, and I know it is part of leaving such a connected life, but it’s still kinda creepy feeling some times! (And if you just surfed in from searching on my name… -waves-)
