Archive for the ‘Bloggery’ Category

The Kleptocrats v. Kleptomaniacs

An international media conference has been held in Beijing—a choice of venue apparently made without a shred of irony. In attendance and speaking were Rupert Murdoch and Tom Curley (chief executive of AP), who had some scathing words about what the future held for the internet.

This paragraph, of course, is where I would quote from the story—but the AP has previously announced they don’t want to be quoted on blogs. More to the point, at least a few words in the final sentence of the above paragraph should have been a link to the story so that you could read it yourself. However, it was part of Murdoch and Curley’s presentations that people online should get used to the idea that they will be charged for linking to a story from now on. So, you’ll probably have to find the story the same way I did—follow a link from a news aggregator to a search-engine sponsored page (that pays a fee to AP for access to their content) and read it there.

That is, if the AP and Newscorp will let you. Unloading on their own dwindling revenue stream with both barrels, their presentations specifically targeted search engines and news aggregators, while also snarking at bloggers (whom they prefer to refer to as “plagiarists”). Along the way, they listed such offenders as Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook. All of which allow you to post links to articles on money-making websites so that you can drive your friends to the websites where the AP and Newscorp (and other concerned attendees) can cash in on advertising revenue.

Murdoch even went so far as to call all of these venues and the people using them “content kleptomaniacs” (only two words quoted so far—still well under AP’s 5 word quotation licensing threshold). Apparently, having and sharing an opinion on the news and encouraging people to check the story out for themselves at the original publisher’s website is tantamount to compulsively slipping a stapler and fifteen pencils into your pocket when they aren’t yours to take.

Once upon a time, I thought it would be a good strategy to simply not quote any further AP stories. Given their new agenda, however, I think it’s time to ramp up the strategy.

All people who are reported on by the news media—in particular the AP and Newscorp—who are not being reported on for the commission of a crime should respond to said reporting by demanding a payment for their story. By all rights, any story told in the news media could be sold by its participants for adaptation into a book, television special or series, and/or movie. If search engines and aggregators steal value from news media, then news media steals value from these people’s life stories by pilfering them and publishing them without payment to their originators.

Demand damages for publication of your story without payment. Demand personal image licensing fees before they can take your picture. Sue for copyright infringement when they quote you or your writings without your express written consent. And never accept that simply having your picture in the paper/on TV is “payment enough.”

Further, anybody acquitted of a crime that is reported in the news media should also demand payment. After all, it is only if convicted that the law prohibits you from turning a profit on a crime. If you’re acquitted, you’re perfectly free to make a buck off the story. And who are the news media to go reporting all of the details of your case before you have a chance to profit off of it?

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Bring Back Midnight Movies…

If you haven’t subscribed to my pulp movies blog over at bringbackmidnightmovies.com yet, then now might be a good time to do it. I’ve got some killer updates planned soon, including news on the Suspiria project and some upcoming contests featuring fabulous prizes!

Friday, August 14th, 2009

io9 Points at Kettle, Laughs

io9 decided recently to report on the rumor that Christian Bale might be replaced as Batman. Note that they didn’t report the rumor, but reported on the rumor. Big difference.

According to “industry gossip” (which means: lots and lots of papers got excited about something they read, but can’t remember where), Bale may be damaged goods after his on-tape melt down.

That’s mighty funny coming from io9 – a blog that routinely reports its own bloggers’ idle speculation and pipe dreams as “the industry buzz.”

But, see, this is why they can decry the rumor mill – because this particular rumor goes completely against what they want to happen. They either want Bale to remain in the cape and cowl, or for an actor in his 50’s to be cast to play in a direct-from-the-page adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns (a comic I like and respect, but which would make an absolutely horrible movie).

With all their talk about how sexualizing and abusing men makes Battlestar Galactica a feminist series, and their near-constant backhanding of Heroes and all of its remaining fans, io9 is the type of organization that makes me completely understand why Russell T. Davies would make it a policy to ignore what the fandom tells him to do with his work. It’s… it’s like Andy Kaufman decided after his wrestling career that he wanted to start a sci-fi fanzine.

And they remain in my Bloglines… well, frankly, I’m not sure why.

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Picking up the Meme

Fred over at Occasional Fish snagged this meme, and thinking it was a pretty interesting experiment I decided to run with it. Here are the rules.

Go here and see what was on the top of the charts on the day you were born and every birthday thereafter. Learn just how astrologically-musically lame your life has been. If you want, add in your own favorite Hot 100 hit single of that year, wishing that your birthday had been cool enough to have that song be #1.

All right. I’ll bite. Of course, a lot of my answers wound up being the same as Fred’s – which is how I learned Fred and I were born somewhere around the same date a few years apart. So – show me how astrologically-musically lame my life has been.


  • 1980: “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” by Pink Floyd
    Favorite: “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” by Pink Floyd

  • 1981: “Rapture” by Blondie
    Favorite: “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield

  • 1982: “I Love Rock n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
    Favorite: Um, “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, I guess.

  • 1983: “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
    Favorite: “Down Under” by Men At Work.

  • 1984: “Jump” by Van Halen
    Favorite: Oh, Come on. “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.

  • 1985: “One More Night” by Phil Collins
    Favorite: “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears For Fears

  • 1986: “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco
    Favorite: “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel

  • 1987: “Lean on Me” by Club Nouveau
    Favorite: “With Or Without You” by U2 (which has the same chord structure as “Numb” off of Zooropa. I always wanted to mash those two up)

  • 1988: “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson
    Favorite: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns n’ Roses

  • 1989: “The Living Years” by Mike + The Mechanics
    Favorite: “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Bill Joel

  • 1990: “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles
    Favorite: “Black Cat” by Janet Jackson

  • 1991: “Coming Out of the Dark” by Gloria Estefan
    Favorite: “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” by PM Dawn

  • 1992: “Save the Best for Last” by Vanessa Williams
    Favorite: I don’t think I can possibly answer anything but “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot

  • 1993: “Informer” by Snow
    Favorite: “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by UB40

  • 1994: “The Sign” by Ace of Base
    Favorite: “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

  • 1995: “Take A Bow” by Madonna
    Favorite: “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal

  • 1996: “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion (yeek!)
    Favorite: “How Do U Want It/California Love” by 2Pac and a whole buncha other folks

  • 1997: “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” by Puff Daddy feat. Mase
    Favorite: Oy. Slim pickings that year. Ummm… I have to say… “Mmmbop” by Hanson.

  • 1998: “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It” by Will Smith
    Favorite: “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies

  • 1999: “Believe” by Cher
    Favorite: “Smooth” by Santana feat. Rob Thomas

  • 2000: “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child
    Favorite: “Maria Maria” by Santana feat. The Product G&B

  • 2001: “Butterfly” by Crazy Town
    Favorite: “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast (“Forevah. Forevah-evah? Forevah-evah.”)

  • 2002: “Ain’t It Funny” by Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule
    Favorite: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem

  • 2003: “In Da Club” by 50 Cent
    Favorite: “Hey Ya!” by Outkast (horrible Grammy night performance notwithstanding)

  • 2004: “Yeah!” by Usher feat. Lil John and Ludacris
    Favorite: Geez. Talk about slim years. So it’s “Hey Ya!” for a second year in a row.

  • 2005: “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent feat. Olivia
    Favorite: “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani

  • 2006: “So Sick” by Ne-Yo
    Favorite: Ehhh… “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira

  • 2007: “Glamorous” by Fergie feat. Ludacris
    Favorite: No. I categorically refuse to pick one from this year. None of these songs are worth the headache.

  • 2008: “Love in This Club” by Usher feat. Young Jeezy
    Favorite: “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry – and even then, I’m disappointed that it’s not Jill Sobule’s song.

Here’s what I notice. The pickings get slimmer and slimmer as time goes on, and I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with my taste – but rather with the fact that it was unusual in the 80’s for a song to last more than 2-3 weeks at the top of the charts, while by the late 90’s you’re having whole years with practically 4 songs each on the charts. Hey, radio – variety is the spice o’ life, donchaknow?

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Tomorrow on Popcorn Theater: Elske McCain!

The lovely and talented Elske McCain will join Popcorn Theater tomorrow at noon (EST) for a full hour of chatter!

The vivacious star of screen and smaller screen will be joining us to talk about a career that has seen her turning up in such films as Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Gimme Skelter, You’re Next 3: Pajama Party Massacre, Killer Biker Chicks, and the upcoming Jessicka Rabid. You can catch the show live at the episode’s page, and/or you can download it in mp3 form from blogtalkradio following the show. Help me kick off Popcorn Theater with a bang!

And if you haven’t added Popcorn to your blogroll yet, stop by the website where you can see news about who and what will be on each show, and catch episodes of the tv series uploaded for your viewing pleasure!

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

Sarcasm away!

Just a brief video of me and my brother.

Hey – it was either this or find a clip of Frasier and Niles.

Friday, July 25th, 2008

With Sprinkles!

Jed’s Report carries a story on the Associated Press-hosted luncheon where Obama was grilled and McCain was given Dunkin’ Donuts doughnuts (with sprinkles!) and coffee. Barack Obama was asked if he would increase troop levels in Afghanistan where “Obama bin Laden” was still operating. McCain’s moderator, in the meantime, waxed eloquent about the wonderful times reporters spent with McCain on the Straight Talk Express, declared the luncheon a chance to invite everybody else to share those great times, and then offered the doughnuts to McCain, noting that she knew they were his favorite snack.

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Above is the point where I would usually put a quote from the original article – which, in this case, might be a good thing for them, since it might contain some pearl of wisdom that I had missed that would completely justify the difference in how the two candidates were treated.

The AP, however, has decided that the thing they truly hate is having their own words quoted when people critique their journalism. To that end, they have created a bizarre, counter-intuitive, and definitely counter to fair use policy that they will license quotes of more than five words for a fee – a license which they reserve the right to revoke if they feel it shows the AP in a bad light. Given these new guidelines, I can in good conscience only give the AP four or fewer words to state their case – and that’s three quoted words in the first sentence. Tsk. Too bad.

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

Politics Break!

Just taking a moment out from worrying about the next President to enjoy a kitten, instead.

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Vote early!

Tomorrow’s the primary in Virginia.

But if you’d like to vote today… I’m running for political pundit.

My recent political videos got somebody’s attention on MySpace, and now I’m registered in Project Breakout’s political pundit competition.

So I’d appreciate it if some of you would click the banner below and go vote for my video – and see if I can get some work ranting about politics on television.

Monday, February 11th, 2008

Special Report

To see John McCain’s reactions to Giuliani’s speech isolated from the rest of the video, see YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCTSRa0XGYg

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008