Please note that this site has been shut down by its owner, in order to use his <a href="http://del.icio.us/jasonpettus">del.icio.us account</a> to post the same type of material much more quickly and efficiently. The site is being left up for archival purposes, but it should be considered as a "dead" one, with no plans for new content to appear here again.noreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Wed, 13 Mar 2024 16:39:52 -0500Blogger http://www.blogger.com297125http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/en-ushttp://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/chicagoans-meet-guy-maddin-for-free.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 11:06:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435880964370004<b>+</b><br />Chicagoans - want to meet Guy Maddin for free? You know, the celebrated experimental filmmakers whose last movie was the critically-acclaimed <I>The Saddest Music in the World</I>? The University of Chicago will be showing this movie for free this Wednesday, in fact, with a Q&A session with the director afterwards. The next evening, then, Mr. Maddin is delivering a free lecture at 5 pm as well, entitled "Goat Glands, Carpet Underlay, and Cinema Sat Backwards." All events are at the <a href="http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/directions.shtml">Max Palevsky Cinema</a> in Ida Noyes Hall; needless to say, seating is limited, and I imagine there's going to be quite a fight just to get the few that actually exist at that little campus movie theatre. (Thanks to Chicagoist.com for <a href="http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2005/04/22/movies_of_songs_of_love.php">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/whole-pile-of-new-stuff-for-palm-treo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 11:06:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435880477490048<b>+</b><br />Okay, so <a href="http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/">PalmAddicts</a> puts out like 60 damn updates a day, and runs a large-memory photo with each one too, making sometimes for a very frustrating RSS experience (especially while reading on a mobile device, like I do). But man, just look at all the cool things one can discover on a random day: A <a href="http://www.treomobile.com">Treo news and link site</a> designed specifically for the "Blazer" mobile browser; a <a href="http://mobile.wunderground.com">great weather website</a>, also designed specifically for mobile browsers; a <a href="http://www.agilemobile.com/agile_messenger.html">new free IM client</a> (AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, etc) specifically for the Treo; a <a href="http://sourceforget.net/projects/palmfiction">new eBook reader</a> for Palm with changable skins; oh, the list just goes on and on! And meanwhile, <a href="http://www.mytreo.net">MyTreo.net</a> had news this week about a <a href="http://mhgo.com/InHand.jsp?siteId=368">new stand-alone application</a> from Handango, that lets Treo owners connect with the site without the need of a browser, and download software straight from the site to their device without the need of a ZIP deflator. What a great week to be a Treo owner!http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/michael-moore-establishes-rebel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 11:06:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435880020257936<b>+</b><br />Go, Michael Moore! The eternal troublemaker announced this week the establishment of the "Michael Moore Freedom of Speech Scholarship" at California State University, San Marcos - a total of $5,000 will be given out each year to students "who have done the most to fight for issues of student rights by standing up to the administration." CSU-SM, for those who might not remember, was the school which abruptly revoked Moore's invitation to speak last year, because of pressure from school-related conservative groups. Moore ended up holding a rally off-campus, attended by over 10,000 people, and announced then the upcoming creation of a "hellraiser" scholarship; the news this week is simply Moore following through on the promise.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/lbc-gets-yet-more-press.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 10:47:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435767053438163<b>+</b><br />My friends at the <a href="http://lbc.typepad.com">Lit Blog Co-op</a> have scored yet another article in the mainstream media, this time at <a href="http://thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/community/commentary_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000891656&imw=Y">The Book Standard</a>. I'm still trying to figure out whether they've got some amazingly effective secret PR person in their midst, or if this is simply a case of Victor Hugo's quote coming true - that "nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come."http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/much-neededpraiseof-ee-cummings.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 10:47:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435766706628300<b>+</b><br /><I>Slate</I> has a well-deserved critical examination of poet e.e. cummings <a href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2117098/fr/rss/">up this week</a>, a writer I believe more relevant right now than ever before, given the experimental, online days in which we live. Poor e.e. cummings - once revered as a Modernist giant, his reputation recently has become one of "that dude high-school students like because his lines look all funny and shit." There's a lot, <I>lot</I> more to cummings' work than simply funny-looking lines, and I especially encourage bloggers, hyperfiction authors and other online writers to check out the ways the man manipulated language for the benefit of his readers, and blurred the lines between the artistic and the scientific that in some ways are still ahead of their time.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/order-photos-online-pick-em-up-at.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 10:47:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435766285011456<b>+</b><br />Pretty smart: Physical retailer Target has announced a partnership with Yahoo Photos. Basically, you can now have your local Target print any photo found in your Yahoo Photos account for 19 cents apiece (as well as specialized gifts as mugs, bags, calendars and mousepads), then simply stop by your local Target later that day to pick them up. The genius, of course, is that it requires no extra work on the part of any current Yahoo Photos user, stlil gives all the same online benefits it was before (sharing photos, slideshows, etc), but adds a whole new benefit as well (basically, letting any other visitor, like a grandmother or a sibling, order physical prints of the photos as well, and to pick it up at their own local Target). <a href="http://www.target.com/yahoophotos">Click here</a> to get started yourself. (Thanks to "Online Marketing Blog" for <a href="http://toprank.blogspot.com/2005/04/target-yahoo-photos.html">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/stamp-out-slacktivism-sign-this-online.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 10:47:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435765745511209<b>+</b><br />The UK's <I>Times</I> <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1550935,00.html">coined an interesting phrase</a> last week - 'slacktivism,' or (from the article), "the counter-intuitive idea that you can somehow change the world and topple its complacent political classes without even rising from your chair." Liberals, of course, are long familiar with slacktivism already; think of the dozen online petitions you receive from your well-meaning friends on a weekly basis, urging you to sign and to help release this third-world prisoner, and to protest that right-wing leader, and to support the erasing of debt of that other emerging nation.<br /><br />Let's face the ugly facts - it was slacktivism that was directly responsible for Howard Dean losing the nomination during the 2004 presidential campaign, and slacktivism that directly led to Bush getting re-elected later that same year. Getting press and publicity are fine things, and definitely should be used during any activist campaign; but when an issue is ultimately decided by people pulling a lever in a polling booth, unfortunately you have to actually get people to the polling booth to make a difference. Many of us were shocked in early 2004, when Dean's supposedly insurmountable lead in the Democratic race suddenly dissolved like a paper kite in a rainstorm, when it came time for the first actual primary out in New Hampshire; once many of us learned the cause (that the thousands of young people out there screaming on the internet for Dean didn't bother to actually vote), it was the start of the long, depressing farce known as the 2004 Presidential Election. A little advice for all those would-be slacktivists out there, who actually are interested in making a difference - put down that online petition, shut your screaming mouth, get off your ass and actually do something. Republicans, censors and anti-choice nuts seem to understand this lesson just fine; <I>why can't you</I>? (Thanks to "The Artful Manager" for <a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/artfulmanager/main/000740.php">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/publishers-get-blogs-publishers-dont.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sun, 24 Apr 2005 10:47:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111435765120015723<b>+</b><br />The good news? The mainstream publishing industry seems to finally be noticing bloggers a little more, and are starting to publish a series of books by them. The problem? As Scott Esposito <a href="http://esposito.typepad.com/con_read/2005/04/disappointing_l.html">points out</a>, most of the bloggers being picked suck, and <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050418/d_bottomstrip18.art.htm">the majority of the books being published</a> are not much more than paper-based versions of old blog entries. And man, I can barely stand most blogs as they are, even when they're being delivered to me one tiny piece a day; why I would pay money to read a bunch of these blog entries at once in paper form is simply beyond me.<br /><br />For what it's worth, I myself have been approached a total of four times over the years by various mainstream publishing companies, about doing a book version of my <a href="http://geocities.com/jpettus.geo">personal blog</a>. Like I said, I can't see much of a point in publishing a paper version of something as naval-gazing and uninteresting as a personal journal, so have always suggested to these people that perhaps they might print one of my books that are meant to be read as books - one of my <a href="http://www.jasonpettus.com/novels">novels</a>, perhaps, or one of my <a href="http://www.jasonpettus.com/scheisse">travel books</a>. In all four cases, though, the truth quickly came out: none of these people actually considered me a good writer, or at least good enough to publish one of my books meant to be a book, but had simply heard that I have a big audience at my personal journal and wanted to find a way to quickly cash in on that notoriety. Writers who think a "blog book" will lead to more deals and opportunities in the publishing industry should be warned - it won't. At least in my experiences, editors at publishing houses are merely looking at bloggers right now as yet another disposable form of quick income, not as writers unto themselves worth publishing and reading.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/those-fing-germans.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:12:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111428037141318959The recent elevation of Cardinal Ratzinger of Munich to the office of Pope has been having a lot of people in the media talking about Germany - its history, its culture, and the complicated way Germans fit both within the fabric of the EU and among themselves in a once-fractured, now-uneasily-unified society. (As a sampler, <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/22/news/globalist.php">here's one</a> from the <I>International Herald-Tribune</I>, and <a href="http://www.exile.ru/2005-April-22/germany_my_germany.html">here's another</a> from the Moscow-based ex-patriate publication eXile.ru [which is where my own entry gets its title].) As regular readers know, the complexity of the modern German is <a href="http://www.jasonpettus.com/kool">an obsessive subject of study for me as well</a>, so I have naturally been enjoying reading such a larger amount of articles on the subject than one usually sees in the international press.<br /><br />This is as good a time as any, I guess, to mention that my latest travelogue concerning Germany, <I>Ach Du Heilige Scheisse!</I>, will be published in electronic form in a mere two weeks, and ready for your online readership and/or eBook purchase. <a href="http://www.jasonpettus.com/scheisse">The site where the book will be found is already up</a>, for those who would like to go ahead and look through the several hundred photos I took while there last autumn.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/citizen-journalism-grows.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:03:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427992769477574Well, the "citizen journalism" movement seems to be catching on, a little bit at a time at some various places around the web. (In a nutshell, it's a movement to combine the ethics and professionalism of traditional journalism with the excitement and power of amateur blogs.) Unsurprisingly, those who are first embracing the idea are already starting to run into problems.<br /><br />First, a frustrating article from Wired: <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,67286,00.html">How Wikinews.org is finding it much harder to exist than they expected</a>. The problem? Who knew that such things as confirming sources and maintaining authorial neutrality would be so difficult to achieve? Yes, I know, it's hard to believe, but journalists actually learn a few things while in journalism school, that people not in journalism school don't know!<br /><br />And second, an encouraging article from Chris Nolan at the media watchdog site Pressthink: <a href="http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2005/04/21/nol_stnd.html">How the web is encouraging the creation of stand-alone journalists</a>. Stand-alone journalists, Nolan is quick to point out, are <I>not</I> bloggers; they are instead people who are simply using the power of blogging tools to deliver traditional journalism (and all that comes with that - confirmed multiple sources, an objective voice, etc), directly to their audience, without the need of a media organization to actually distribute this journalism. He argues that these will be the real saviors of citizen journalism; the freelancers, the self-employed, the unemployed, and all those other formally-trained journalists who will bring a sense of ethics and professionalism to all those amateur citizens who wish to be reporting "the news." Anyway, both articles are fascinating; anyone with a fellow interest in citizen journalism should check them both out.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/commandment-number-one-dont-talk-about.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:00:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427935268654833My friend Greg Gillam of the literary website Fengi.com has <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/fengi/284875.html">a pretty hilarious entry up</a> at his personal journal right now, reimagining the Ten Commandments as if written by conservative Catholics. My favorite is Number Seven: "If whitey's so bad, why he in charge?"http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/leonard-cohen-for-nobel-prize.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:56:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427920019804758Paul Kennedy, a radio DJ with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is campaigning for singer/poet/novelist Leonard Cohen to be the recipient of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. Unsurprisingly, the Brits are all over this as well - both the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4466115.stm">BBC</a> and the <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1464023,00.html">Guardian</a> wrote up articles on it this week, and not just a little blatantly reiterarted what a good idea they think it is. Should be interesting to see what comes of it... (Thanks as always to Bookslut for <a href="http://www.bookslut.com/blog/archives/2005_04.php#005222">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/new-web-based-rss-reader-but-will-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:53:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427893704186250Steve Rubel <a href="http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/04/rojo_enters_pub.html">pointed me today</a> to <a href="http://www.rojo.com">Rojo</a>, a brand-new web-based RSS aggregator and reader. So far, though, I haven't been able to get it to work on my mobile device's browser ("Blazer" for the Palm Treo), which in my opinion kind of defeats the entire point of having a web-based RSS aggregator. More updates as they become available.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/ugh-ive-turned-into-my-simpering.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:47:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427878423160270Over the the UK newspaper <I>The Guardian</I>, Zoe Williams <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/sciencefiction/story/0,6000,1463196,00.html">has an essay up</a> about the new <I>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</I> movie, and the growing realization that it is her own generation (i.e. mine as well) that has turned into those annoying a**holes who are constantly regurgitating nostalgia for the sake of turning a profit:<br /><br />"Naturally, realising that you're suddenly the nostalgia generation is strange and unpleasant - you get used to being too young for culture to take your nostalgia needs seriously, and then suddenly you get Hitchhiker's, Doctor Who and Live Aid, all aimed directly at your heart. If you're old enough for your formative years to be the focus of all cultural retro-thrusts, then the chances are that you're the ones in charge, and it's your fault, not your parents' at all, that everything's going wrong."<br /><br />Reminds me of the reaction I have every time one of those car commercials comes on featuring the Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" - "What insufferable money-monger sold out my generation this time?" When I was younger, it was easy to blame the generation before me, and to detest the way they crammed "classic rock" down our throats in an attempt to prove that their generation's music was better than ours; now, though, I unfortunately have no one else to blame but people my own age. It's disquieting, to say the least. (Thanks to Jessa Crispin over at Bookslut.com for <a href="http://www.bookslut.com/blog/archives/2005_04.php#005217">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/access-rss-google-maps-through-tivo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:42:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427838271691402Two cool apps for TiVo owners to check out: one that will <a href="http://hme.pvrblog.com/node/92">deliver your Bloglines RSS feeds to your television screen</a> (thanks to Steve Rubel for <a href="http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/04/read_rss_feeds__1.html">pointing it out</a>); and one that will <a href="http://www.artfahrt.com/products.html">deliver Google Maps (both line-art and satellite-image) to your television screen</a> (and thanks to Gizmodo this time for <a href="http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/software/google-maps-on-tivo-100614.php">pointing it out</a>). Man, they really make me wish I had a TiVo, just to try them out.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/hack-google-local-results-onto-cta.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:38:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427804733007735Chicagoans, check out this cool hack from Adrian Holovaty: <a href="http://www.holovaty.com/blog/archive/2005/04/19/0216">Use Google Local as usual, but have it display results on a CTA transit map</a>. You'll need to be on the Firefox browser to use it, and to follow some simple instructions first; other than that, though, go nuts. (Thanks to Gapers Block for <a href="http://www.gapersblock.com/news/archives/2005/04/index.php#008074">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/overview-of-mobile-search-sites.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:34:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427786122780614SearchEngineWatch.com has <a href="http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3498296">an excellent overview</a> up right now of the various search engines available in special mobile form (besides Google's, that is, whose recent popularity inspired the article). Of special interest to owners of Palms and PocketPCs should be <a href="http://pda.maporama.com">Maporama</a>, which delivers some of the best and most readable mobile maps I've ever seen. (Thanks to Threadwatch for <a href="http://www.threadwatch.org/node/2315">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/sorry-for-delay-and-im-still-seeking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:06:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111427617303634788Sorry you haven't heard from me in awhile; I was one of the those people getting affected this week by Blogger.com's continual brown-out problems. Anyway, the simultaneous good and bad news is that I've still been archiving interesting things to point out this week, even with the blog being down; I'll be trying to get all 25 or so items up by the end of the weekend.<br /><br />By the way, I'm actively seeking fellow members of Yahoo 360 who wish to be listed as friends at <a href="http://360.yahoo.com/jasonpettuschicago">my own account</a>; I'm interested in trying out the social-networking tools there more, especially since I can access them through my mobile device. I have plenty of invitations to give away still, for those who don't yet have accounts; just drop me a line at <B>ilikejason at hotmail dot com</B> and I'll send you one.http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/tips-for-taking-cellphone-camera.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:30:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383820730256738<b>+</b><br />An electronic zine called "Digital Photography Hacks" has <a href="http://hacks.oreilly.com/pub/h/1807">an excellent article</a> up right now, leading amateur photographers step-by-step through the process of creating panoramic photos with their cellphone cameras. The first half of the article gives some great tips on how to actually shoot the component parts (including ways to move your physical body so that it duplicates the actions of a tripod); the second half is an overview of the various "stitching" programs that exist (that is, programs that take all these component photos and stitch them into the final panorama), although you should be aware that you can easily do it manually in Photoshop yourself as well. (Thanks, surprisingly enough, to MAKE magazine for <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/04/camera_phone_pa.html">pointing this out</a>. Oh, and <a href="http://www.jasonpettus.com/scheisse/panos.htm">here's a page of cellphone panoramic shots</a> I myself took last autumn, during a trip to Germany and Amsterdam.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/turn-photos-into-comic-book-art.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:30:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383820249760163<b>+</b><br />Shazam! <a href="http://www.macmerc.com/articles/Graphics_Tips/209">Step-by-step instructions</a> for turning photos into comic-book images, using Photoshop. The instructions are <I>ridiculously</I> complicated and long - but take it from me, they actually work! (Thanks as always to MAKE magazine for <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/04/make_photos_loo.html">pointing this out</a>; by the way, the article says to use Photoshop 7.0 or higher, but I just used 5.5 and it worked just fine as well.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/future-of-pdas-thumb-based-interfaces.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:29:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383819939145145<b>+</b><br />Tired of using your tiny little stylus on tiny little links to navigate your PDA? Microsoft is developing two brand-new interfaces as we speak, both based primarily on using your thumb instead. Read the full article <a href="http://www.brighthand.com/article/Microsoft_is_All_Thumbs">over at Brighthand</a>. (Thanks to PalmAddict for <a href="http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/2005/04/microsoft_propo.html">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/nin-releases-multitrack-song-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:29:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383819506009036<b>+</b><br />Trent Reznor, also known as the industrial band Nine Inch Nails, <a href="http://www.nin.com/current/">has released a multitrack version</a> of his new single "The Hand That Feeds" (that is, where each layer of audio is recorded on a separate track, and can be independently manipulated without affecting the other layers). And even better, Reznor designed the file so that it can be directly imported into Macintosh's "GarageBand," a popular piece of software among musicians and DJs. Let the special 12-inch remixes commence! (Thanks to MAKE magazine for <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/04/make_your_own_n.html">pointing this out</a>.)http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/wheaton-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:29:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383819135276435<b>+</b><br />Every so often I like to throw up a reminder here at my blog of the brilliance which is Wil Wheaton dot Net. Here's another good excuse to do it again...<br /><br />It all started when Wheaton read about these Star Wars losers who have already been in line for weeks in front of Graumans Theatre in Los Angeles, waiting for the opening of Episode III and raising money for charity in the meanwhile. Except that the movie's not showing at Graumans, it turns out, but at another theatre about half a mile away. But instead of packing up and moving to the right theatre, the Star Wars losers have decided to just remain camped out in front of Graumans, as some sort of self-styled protest against Graumans not showing the movie. Wheaton thought it was hilarious that not only were these geeks waiting for a movie in front of the wrong theatre, but also refused to go to the right one, much less that they were holding a "political protest" concerning a theatre not showing Star Wars. So, he wrote as much at an entry comment at blogging.la. And, it turns out, the Star Wars losers in line were not very happy about it.<br /><br />Then, it turns out that there's a whole group of the Star Wars losers who <I>do</I> want to pack up and move to the right theatre, but they're being trumped right now by what they describe as the "popular" clique who are also in line, who are demanding that they stay at Graumans. And Wheaton thought it <I>really</I> hilarious that not only were these losers all waiting in front of the wrong theatre, but that there'd be a "popular" clique and an "unpopular" one within this group of losers. So he again posted an entry at blogging.la saying as much. And the Star Wars losers in line got even angrier at him.<br /><br />So then Wheaton tried to smooth things over between himself and the Star Wars losers, by designing and distributing t-shirts for them that says, "I lined up at the wrong theatre for Star Wars, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt." Which, needless to say, the Star Wars losers did not take kindly to at all. And then...<br /><br />The story just keeps going on and on, and gets funnier and funnier with each new development. But don't take my word for it - <a href="http://www.wilwheaton.net/#003246">go read it yourself</a>, and just see if you can stop from peeing in your pants in laughter by the end. Danger, Wil Wheaton! Danger!http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/behind-scenes-at-kingdom-of-heaven.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:29:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383818610821934<b>+</b><br />STUDIO EXECUTIVE: So, Ridley, what you got for us this time?<br /><br />RIDLEY SCOTT: Well, my marketers keep telling me God is hot right now. How about a heroic epic action flick about the Crusades?<br /><br />STUDIO EXECUTIVE: Well, aren't the Crusades actually one of the most shameful moments in all of human history? When millions of innocents were slaughtered in the false name of a vengeful, bloodthirsty God? Shouldn't we be abhoring the actions of the Crusades, and constantly fighting against a return to those days, instead of making a heroic epic action flick about them? Isn't making a heroic epic action flick about the Crusades kind of like making a heroic epic action flick about Nazis?<br /><br />RIDLEY SCOTT: Orlando Bloom is attached.<br /><br />STUDIO EXECUTIVE: Ka-ching!http://ilikejason.blogspot.com/2005/04/chicagoist-red-survey-scam.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jason Pettus)Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:29:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913990.post-111383818094908508<b>+</b><br />Eyes have been rolling all over Chicago this week over a recent survey from the University of Central Michigan, which claims that about half of all young Chicagoans find the city's two competing "young tabloids" (the Tribune's <I>Red Eye</I> and the Sun-Times' <I>Red Streak</I>) as having "high" or "medium" value as a news source in their lives. Local hipster guide Chicagoist.com, however, <a href="http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2005/04/15/breaking_chicago_young_adults_actually_readskim.php">rightly points out</a> that not only was the total sample size of the survey a measly 112 people, but that the vast, vast majority of them were journalism students, making the survey results...well, maybe a little less than indicative of the population as a whole. (And they forgot to mention, by the way, that both publications are free on college campuses, meaning that the people in this survey don't even pay for the papers they're reading.)<br /><br />Why are people making such a big deal out of this? <I>Because both Red Eye and Red Streak are patently offensive to anyone who considers themselves intelligent</I>. Designed by a tableful of middle-aged suburban executives who (frankly) are exasperated by declining newspaper sales here in Chicago, both 'Red' tabloids are supposedly designed for "what young people really want from a newspaper" - or at least what a tableful of middle-aged suburban executives think young people really want from a newspaper. The results are so insulting and patronizing as to become a joke among those of us the papers are trying to target - one page of international news, one page of national news, three pages of local news, nine pages of sports and fourteen pages of fashion and entertainment (and not even good entertainment, either - none of the usually excellent articles from the Tribune's "Tempo" section, for example, are reprinted in Red Eye, merely an endless series of articles about Jessica Simpson taking a dump or whatever).<br /><br />Hey, 'Reddies,' you really want to appeal to young people? Start by ditching these patronizing examples of just how much contempt you actually have for young people. People my age and younger haven't stopped buying your newspapers because they're "too challenging," or "are filled with yucky stuff we don't want to read about, like politics and international events." <B>We're ditching you because you suck</B>, and because it's a hell of a lot easier anymore to simply get the news we want from the internet. Your 'Red' publications are a joke, a pathetic joke to anyone who actually understands youth, and it's time that you people finally woke up and realized it yourselves.