Bad Medicine

First off, Community is a great show.  What started off as a pretty boring concept that had no chance of keeping my attention & was only being viewed by me due to it's very-convenient time slot very quickly evolved in my most anticipated show on Thursday night (& believe me, that's a list with some very steep competition).  It might have been around the GoodFellas spoof (and "Annie's Boobs") that I first realized that something very special was going on here.

Unfortunately, I have been in this type of position before:  Firefly, Veronica Mars, Perfect Couples (shut up, you just don't know), etc.;.....it's almost guaranteed that the next thought I have after opening my eyes to a great piece of entertainment is the one where the realization that "Oh, this isn't going to last".  It's.  All.  So.  Very.  Cliched.

But to be honest, I had been enjoying Community consistently for so long now that I had simply not been paying attention to whether or not this joy of mine was being viewed as a "success" or a "failure" in the eyes of the PTB;  I've got way too much OTHER important shit to worry about with that part of my limited brain space.  So when NBC announced that they were putting the show on hiatus, it would have gone completely off of my radar had I not seen the deluge of outrage over the action on Twitter & other sites (but....let's be honest, mostly Twitter).  It seems that there are way more people who will no longer have a reason for living in a world without Community than NBC's numbers-that-it-uses-to-sell-ads-at-prices-that-keep-the-donuts-churning was showing them on paper.  Go figure.

And this is where I usually get lost & start feeling like I'm alone in this world with only the corporations* to sleep with at night because we share the same POV.  No matter how much I may love something in corporate entertainment, I never lose sight of the fact that this IS a business and it is the shows that go around the commercials, not the commercials that go around the shows.  Creators, actors, directors can all do public speaking and tell us fans what we all want to hear all day, but shit, nobody is working for free.  Nor should they.  And seeing how I *ahem* work inside one of these big huge corporate models 5 days a week, I have faith that The Beast will not shut down my Gmail account (=My Life) if I share something that is Gospel in the inner workings:  Growth is King.  If something is steady, then it is failing.  No, stop, none of this makes sense, but you NEED to believe & understand this.  If something is NOT growing in a expected capacity, or in ANY kind of capacity, then it's time is limited as fuck.

And this is why everything that's cool in this world is usually a "failure".  Most nerds** of culture are usually pretty insulated people, in that they're not very much with the whole "sharing" thing;  at least in the way that a normal person will be able to attract other people outside of their clicks to something.  When you create a product that you're heavily invested in, for the most part, you can't control who your fan base is going to be. But whoever they are, you're going to need them to talk good about your product to people who aren't already buying your product.  If you see your fans only Tweeting about your performance to others who are already in that particular circle, then you know it's pretty much it's a wrap for you.

People in society value loyalty like no other quality.  Smart people with skin in the game know this is all a bunch of bullshit;  loyalty doesn't keep you afloat, addiction that can easily spread from contact does.

......So why don't we ALL get some skin in the game & even the odds?

*******************************************************************************
The way we view TV is changing rapidly.  We have widely different options than simply being at a said space at a said time.  We can view it any different time, any different pace, any different setting that we choose nowadays, and yet, the way "our" actions are being viewed is still through the old, outdated, inaccurate measure that has been used for all this time.  And yet, I can't disagree with this.  Ads are THE thing that powers The Machine & if I were an advertiser, they would be no way I would accept any results from a DVR as an appropriate indication of the audience I will have at my disposal to sell my wares.  The truth is that the price for the advancement of our convenience is the death of any long term quality.  In order for this trend to balance out, we may need to bring some inconvenience back into the equation.....

Nielsen ratings are fucked and that's never going to change, including bitching about it.  So what can we do? Well....we can BUY it.

A majority of TV shows are now being sold on iTunes & Amazon (that Hulu & Netflix shit ain't helping nobody) and while it's public knowledge that any profits from these purchases are being split with their respective distributors, a buck for something without any sponsors is still a buck.  Nobody for one second thinks that the average online sales on any given TV show is fucking with the numbers of it's public showing, but THAT.  HAS.  TO.  CHANGE.  If advertisers are not going to invest in a TV show, then it's time for it's fucking fans to.

Take a paycheck & buy the DVD sets.  Order all the episodes online.  After you view it on your DVR, buy that episode as soon as it's available, whether you plan on rewatching it or not.  OWN the show.  If this is done with the same passion & commitment that it takes to Tweet or write a half-ass blog, then do THIS instead.  At a certain point, you can't tell me that taking THIS action is not going to get noticed by the people who control whether or not we get more episodes.

#OccupyGreendale all you want, it'll probably just get you pepper-sprayed. #sixseasonsandamovie doesn't happen on love alone.

If Community goes off the air for good, then I will be sad; but make no mistake:  my life will go on & be just fine.  If you can't say that with such ease, then you need to do something about it.  And now.

This is your burden, not mine.  And don't let anyone fool you, you are alone in this.  The only actions that you will know for a fact to make a difference with be yours, not anyone else.

Fuck me, don't let yourself down.  Peace.

#saveCommunity






*Which have been ruled by The Supreme Court to be people & I should legally be allowed to marry them;  unlike another man or something, I guess.

**Basically anyone who is a smarty-pants about any given subject.  Ex. Music nerd, TV nerd, Font nerd, etc.

My Last Word....

For Amy.

May you finally have found peace.

DC: A New Beginning...(Again)

As it stands right now, we have just a bit of information about DC's plan to re-number & start fresh with their line of super-hero comics in September.  But since it's always fun to speculate, then why the Hell shouldn't I get in on the fun?

1. Marvel will have no choice but to also Day-And-Digital:  I just don't see any other option.  There is no doubt in my mind that DC will get a huge bump in their market share strictly by making their comics available to the quite-a-few-million people who just will not go to a comic shop.  Advertising that these comics will also feature some familiar faces, but have none of the previous baggage of continuity will be the main ingredient to this particular audience.  Once that happens, while I don't see Marvel scrambling for a massive reboot (despite opinions, their continuity has never been quite as convoluted as DC's), they will have to turn their backs on the retailers and make their comics available digitally ASAP.  This might see the (sound ominous drum roll...) end of the comic shop as we know it, UNLESS....
2. Comic fans will have to put their money where their internet mouths are:  in this small family of comic fans that we seem to have online right now, there seems to be quite a bit of talk about how "if more titles were available digitally, I'd be more inclined to try them out."  Well, here you fucking go.  Clean backgrounds, yet familiar territories, it's going to be up to the hardcore base that we have right now to put aside all their previous reservations and at the very least, take a look at what is going to be offered.  Oh, and we need to pay for it, too.  #notorrents And if we find something that we like, let's not be afraid to recommend it to friends & family.  There seem to be quite a few people out there who have no problem going to super-hero movies that start on the level playing field, so we should have no problem with a) not sounding like a douche comic know-it-all  to "outsiders" and b) being actively excited about the stories/art/packages that are going to be for sale & more available to purchase.  Lord knows the last time DC gave the fans exactly what they "wanted", the flock didn't quite turn out the way they said they would....
3. The Price Question:  As I Tweeted earlier, I gotta imagine that in the middle of all this "NEWNEWNEW", DC will be letting the 2.99 price point go byebye; or at least, more it over to the digital side, which will make it look like the cheaper/better version (since you can't hold it in your hands and it can be taken from you for whatever lawsuit/reason that pops up, I wouldn't call it the better version myself).  Yes, if they want to capture the valuable market share piece that this is all really about, then they will have to drift away from the highly-published Holding The Line plan.  Also, it's the only way to smooth things over will the retailers who are not going to be too happy with one of the Big 2 (soon to be all) selling these things themselves, sans middle man.
4. Finally getting the Reboot Right:  When the original Crisis ended way back in 1985, the plan was to start all their books (which was a much lower count now that what it currently being published any given month) with new #1s to go along with their new adjusted continuity.  But they got cold feet & it didn't happen.  All their reboots limped along, one character at a time and by the time Peter David was getting around to giving us the penultimate Aquaman, the new car smell on the New DC had an 8 year stink to it.  Then they did Zero Hour, which famously did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to change any problems they may have previously had, although they did use that opportunity to put forth new staus quos, new villains, new story lines, etc.  Their hearts were in the right place, but the execution didn't hit with the expectations that were given at the time, and well, let's just say thank God for Kingdom Come, shall we?  But I gotta say, with Geoff Johns running the show (he & Jeph Loeb are the 2 main conspirators the past 10 years to making sure that just about every heroes back story included all the pre-Crisis history, too), I have hard time believing that this may go through the way it's being presented, at least at this moment.  Why would he go through all the trouble of writing Superman: Secret Origin just so he wipe it away a year later?  And I say that as recognizing him as one of the guys "running the show".

Above all this, I believe the main goal of this is working:  People are talking.  People are excited.  People are scared.

Let's just hope they can take this kinda big, huge knots in comic fan's stomachs and carry it 'till September.....

Eargasam (Or My Lack There Of)

This shit is just crazy....

Oh course, my dude Skyzoo is doing the damn thang, rhyming like he don't have a fan in the world & have nothing to lose, but I really think it's this beat (for the lack of a better word) that's got me playing this non-stop for the past few days.  At the start, it seems as though it's like an Advent guard song, with all the different instruments coming with a few notes and apart from each other, then coming to together to create a symphony, almost mimicking the Superman theme from the movies at the end.  Especially those horns hitting those notes, followed by the few piano taps.  Those sounds are haunting me a bit.

Got no solid source right now on who's behind this production, but I think I read Mr. 9th Wonder-ful Tunes name thrown somewhere.  If so... #tippingmyhat

This is the type of thing that gets me a bit excited about music that's coming out, and I ain't felt that way in quite a while.

The thing is, I don't know if it's me or the music.  I WAITED for quite some years before Saigon was able to drop The Greatest Story Never Told;  thinking to myself the whole time "can this guy really bring out the kind of classic that's been lacking in hip-hop nowadays?"; and when he finally drops it earlier this year, I did what a loyal fan did & bought the album.  But I'll be damned if I know if it was worth it....since I STILL haven't sat down & listened to it yet.

My Twitter buddy Shawn Pryor gave me a heads up for this former Kells fan, telling me Love Letter is the return of R. Kelly.  When he told me that, you would think such a announcement would send me running to iTunes, ready to download this bitch, but you'd be wrong.  Jumping into unheard music is one of the things old school Chuck E was known for (hell, it was my middle name), but now the shit just scares me away.  Never the money aspect;  there isn't an album out there that usually doesn't cost less than what I'm spending on lunch today #scarystatement #perspective; but the idea of having yet another huge body of music art-work (see what I just did there?) laying in my hard drive, never to be listened to by my ears causes me to be sad at no end.  Especially when you think of all the different ways to achieve such a goal nowadays.  I'm not limited to making sure I bring my tape Walkman everywhere with me, is what I'm sayin'....

So what is the enemy?  WHAT IS EVIL FORCE THAT DRIVING SUCH A HUGE & MOTIVATING PLEASURE OUT OF MY LIFE?!?....

...well, a normal person on the outside would point to me and blame my total lack of discipline & need to prioritize.  But I'm not going to take that.  No, I'm going to blame time.

I have a job.  And that job requires me to interact with other actual human beings 100% of the time.  And I no longer have a car stereo in my work truck, just the huge amount of noise that comes from actually running the old piece of shit.  That, in itself, may be music to some one's ears, but I prefer a little more DJ Premier in my mix.

Oh, and I bought the new Musiq album the other day & I still haven't listened to that yet.  Sigh.

So when I saw I'm looking forward to the new Skyzoo, what am I saying?  Can't wait to download and not listen?  Ready to give money out so willingly to own, not enjoy, new music? 

Or should I just stop worrying, drop out, tune in & listen? 

The Beginning?

Sooooooooo.....where do I begin?

I have to start this new blog from the old blog (which I'm not going to link to since I'm probably going to delete it after this) because I got a new phone.  The great thing was that phone was the Droid X, which I have now decided is so awesome that it now completes me in a way that I had no idea I was lacking until it was in my medium sized man hands & downloading the Twitter app.  The worst thing in the fucking world not so good news was Google was going to make me open up a gmail email account just to use this Joy From God.

Now, I'm not one of those people who's big on having all these different things floating around the web full of my info & password;  I try to keep them all in the column of "things I actually use".  Should I decide that I no longer will be using certain account for whatever reason, I make it a point to delete said account.  Simple as that.  So if I'm going to be forced open up a email account that is going to be the one I use on the item that I will be taking with me to bed every night my new phone, then I might as well make sure that's the one I'm going to using in my-oh-so-eventful lifestyle. (Yeah, I know I'm jumping the shark with that, but sue me; I love to do it) #wordtoyaMutha

Well, it turns out that Google is really picky about letting multiple accounts out there for the same individuals (hey, kinda like me!) and long story short, they won't let me use my new email address (which is their email) for my old blog w/ Blogger ( which is their domain).  So I have to start a whole new blog here....which I guess is fine;  I never really took the old one off like I really had intented to, honestly, there's really not much there that I had actually written; and with the new comic related podcast that I intend to start soon with this guy that I think is really cool, maybe starting over is a pretty good idea, clean slate wise.

As a side note: I do like the new title that I've decided (on a whim) to go with here; having a bit of unique meaning to me.  The 1st blog that I had a few years ago on MySpace (which is all now deleted, natch;  I jumped off the Titantic waaaaaaaay before the rest of ya'll did) was pretty heavly used; some great, some not-so-great; but one of my personal favs, and proof to myself that I do have the ability to write something great whenever I sit down, focus, and stop being afraid, was a blog I wrote about an experience I had out in San Diego from Comic-Con '07 & the thoughts that came along with it.  "Table For One" is pretty much a summery of how I've seen life for most of my adult years, for the good & the bad of it.  Hoepefully I bring that to the blog in creative & entertaining ways  that will be much less sadder than it sounds  that will at the very least make me want to read back what was written.  We shall see....

The Huck Finn Thing & Why It's Not The End Of The World

Earlier this week, news broke of a publisher planning to print new copies of Huckleberry Finn without the N-word and all Hell broke loose.



I mainly refer to the opinions expressed by the majority white representatives of the media (to be fair, usually strategically backed by someone professional of African American decent who shares their opinion, but for different reasons) that this is PC at it's worst; that it's completely unnecessary & stupid; that it's a major plot by "others" to destroy our past by replacing it with something that is false and misleading....and then some of these people tell you to go read the Bible. #irony

I have my own personal history and view of the N-word & it's uses and the key word there is personal. Every body's pretty much entitled to their own opinion..except when they're forced to listen to somebody else's afterward that may effect their own view of said subject. You know, the whole purpose of Debating.

The main point I'm lacking in hearing out there is a very basic and fundamental fact: the word nigger is a very uncomfortable word in our society. Period. Yes, I'm very uncomfortable simply just typing that there; but I'm not afraid to admit that. It seems like a majority of people are afraid to admit it's use is controversial and that's the "whitewashing" going around right now that makes me unsettled.

There are plenty of corners of the internet & the real world where the word is thrown around in conversations, observations & personal statements with others with no unpleasantness whatsoever because everybody involved with the exchange is fine & on the same page, so to speak, with what is being discussed. And that is fine. I just find it a bit suspect whenever those same people choose not use that same language in a public setting while trying to defend it's full use in a public setting. If teachers in classrooms were to replace the term with "The N-word", like many of these defenders seem to be doing, when using it in their school work, you can't tell me that would change the very situation of why this book is not being taught in schools right now: because the term and the thoughts associated with it are controversial.

And they know it. That's why they don't use it in their reporting, their terminology & their defense of it. Because they don't want to take the heat; they don't want to have to answer the questions people might ask of them if they used it; they don't want to have to burden the same responsibility that teachers would have to when being presented with these choices.

This new printing is not changing history. There are millions & millions of copies of this book lying around this world that are not going anywhere (I missed the part where the publisher is holding a giant book burning to destroy the evidence of the past) and at the very least, someone is making a Wikipedia entry right now that will forever let future generations know that the book that they read in school was not the original writing. Isn't that true of all books?

P.S. Also: yay for me for finally figuring out how to make links on Blogger! #fuckingupallthegoodwillibuiltforthisblog