New Sunshine Trailer
Okay, i personally love Danny Boyle’s films. How many directors can actually talk an anti-industry band like Godspeed You! Black Emperor into letting him use on of their songs in his film (28 Days Later.) His new film is called Sunshine, and the second and even more amazing trailer was just released on the film’s website. The film takes place in the very near future, where the sun is about to die and with it, mankind. A crew is sent on a one-way mission to the sun to reignite it, when…well, just check out the trailers, yeah?
Here’s the first trailer:
Now here’s the even better second trailer:
Looks incredible to me. The last scifi epic i saw and really enjoyed was The Fountain, and it’ll be nice to see a piece of intellectual film making these days. The film has been pushed back to Fall, while it’s coming out in April everywhere else in the world. Lucky Bastards….
At any rate, what do you think of the trailers and are there any upcoming films your psyched about that maybe i don’t know about?
Warren’s Photo Heaven & Crazy Religious Zealot Depot
Ellis loves to use his blog to showcase the art of his friend, specifically female photographers. Whether other members of the comicbook community or just someone who lives in Iceland who has a nikkon, the site has plenty of strange weekly filler to make your day strange.
The most prominetly displayed example of this is Katie West, who does almost nothing but take naked/half-naked pictures of herself. For whatever reason, Ellis has been showcasing West’s work for years now, and as i understand, she makes a living selling prints of her work. Here’s a few examples:
Lovely, yes?
Ellis (much like myself) has a fascination with strange religious shit. Cults, psycho-christians, gay evangelic priests who buy meth from male prostitutes….the usual stuff. It serves as an almost alternative news site for people who don’t want to deal with CNN’s increasing effort at making their news clips humorous.
Warren Ellis: You are mine
So the blog i’ll be tracking this semester is WarrenEllis.com which is sorta kinda the reasearch site of graphic novel/comicbook writer/author, you guessed it, Warren Ellis. The site, which runs through WordPress(Fuck Yeah!) stems from his old research blog he used to maintain, titled DiePunyHumans.com, which if you check the window, is now a site dedicated to the watch for future technologies.
As of now, WarrenEllis.com has a lot of crazy ass shit on it. He uses the site to showcase everything from his own works, the photographic work of his friends, his friend’s work, and what i enjoy most, nutty shit that he uses in his reasearch. A good example of how the author uses his reasearch blog in his comics was from an article he linked months ago about a drug called BZ.
In this issue of Fell (cover to the left,) the main character, coupled with a DA, try to charge a suspect with murder one. It turns out he’d stolen a box full of the BZ from a warehouse, which was shot, exposing him to the drug. He then killed a local woman who rejected his advances and got off the murder charge because he was under the influence.
The bottom line here is that by following his blog you can understand the process behind the writing. And that, I happen to think it pretty cool.
Veronica Mars
Cited by the likes of Stephen King and Joss Whedon as one of their favorite TV shows, Veronica Mars is currently wrapping up it’s 3rd season and kicking up a lot of dust with its fans. Possesing a simular fan base to that of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (teenage girls and “geeky” boys who enjoy sharp witted dialogue,) the show has a nitch within the flood of reality and call-in shows that plague the American networks these days. It’s the story of a girl who investigates mysteries in her fictional hometown of Saturn, California
On this week’s episode, one of the show’s regulars, Sheriff Don Lamb(Played by Michael Muhney left,) was killed during a routine arrest. The sudden death of what was a main character in the show has been received by fans with both positive and negative feelings. On one side, Lamb’s death maintains the “twist” aspect of the show which it’s viewers have enjoyed since episode one. Also, Veronica’s father, the former Sheriff, got his job back in what seemed like moments after Lamb was diagnosed as dead.
According to the Veronica Mars message boards on TV.com the shocking death of who was admittingly an asshole 0f a character has disenfranchised many fans of the show further. Said one blogger:
On the other hand, fans such as myself and my girlfriend, thought the episode was amazing. For most VM fans, this season has been shitty. It started with a rape mystery, and now is moving it’s way into a murder mystery, which is much more appropos for the show’s “noir” tone. Luckily, this view is being shared by much of the TV.com community, who loved this week’s episode. One viewer said as much, giving the episode a 10 out of 10:
Of the 12 posts about the aforementioned episode, titled “Mars, Bars”, 4 gave the episode a perfect 10, one gave it a 9.6, one 9.5, one 9.4, two 8.5s and two 7s. The show it’s self has been in limbo of being cancelled since season one, with the current plans for what will happen next season still in question. One fan saw the death of such a pivitol character as a sign of the show’s end:
Personally, i think that the show is finally on the up and up. It sucks for fans of the show who have been anxious about the possibility of it ending abruptly like so many other great shows (e.g: “Over There”, “Angel” and of course, Pauly Shore’s sitcom “Pauly”). As of now, the show has been confirmed for a 4th season, but how long that will last is a matter of opinion…
Skip Gridskipper.com?
Gridskipper is a self proclaimed “urban travel guide,” which exhibits a plethora of various posts about cities and city life.
Among it’s posts for the day is a story shitting on the city of Cleavland, Ohio, which the site apparently regrets giving a good review to recently.
Like most brogs to date, it’s semi/faux/whatever-hyperlink(esque) text is laden with links, so much so that you can get to a review of Dustin Diamond’s (Screech of “Saved By the Bell” fame) sex tape in less than 3 clicks (I just beat them at 1 click.) That’s sorta cool, i guess.
Mention of stuff that has really nothing to do directly with cities is promently posted on the site. Information on Guiness’s new beer, titled Guiness Red, is on the site for example. I mean, i get that cities have pubs and pubs have beer, but isnt that more appropos for something like RealBeerBlog? It makes for a site that’s damn aggrivating when it struggles to find its center.
On the other-side, it does have a lot of cool info on various city restaurants, hotels, events to go to and shit like that. You want to go to an overpriced restaurant that serves small servings of undercooked food, then they can help you. Want a random article about Vespa scooters (which Fuck You, i still think are cool) then they got you covered. But why in the 5 hells they have an article posted where random people on the street get to hold an Oscar statue and comment on it, i have no friggin idea. I know it’s damn hard to find fresh content, but stay within you lines, bro! Otherwise, look what i do to it…
Why ibrattleboro.com Sucks Badly By Devon & Caleb
Brattleboro’s community site, ibrattleboro.com, is a cornucopia containing everything from city council meeting info, over-opinionated news stories, meaningless surveys and reports on the local economy. Although the layout of the site is pedestrian and uninspiring, the information contained within is a very homey representation of the things that matter in this sleepy Vermont town.
The overall lack of cencorship of content allows the everyday putz to say basically whatever the hell they want on the site. Everything from a local playhouse director’s call for props to a random and pointless critique about the state of Israel are prominently displayed on this glofified messageboard, and it takes away from what could maybe, possibly, but-probably-not be an okay community centered site.
Although categoriezed and documented thoroughly within the site’s mainframe, there isn’t much content or substance to allure even a local reader to frequent the site. The interest that I had for it was only contained within the brief moment that I was assigned the task to review it. It died shortly after I logged on to the domain and noticed the lack of ANYTHING REMOTELY APPEALING. When the highlight of the last 5 posts is the period at the end, you know something is wrong.
Unless you are an avid member of the Brattleboro city council (and who isnt!?) skip the site, and go read fucking Gawker or something.
What is a blog?
A blog, as defined by some putz with too much time on his hands on wikipedia is:
But blogs maybe a little more than this wide definiton. Blogs are an outlet for people to be heard, where no one controls their content but themselves. They can say what they want, when the want, with whatever motives they want.
It’s damn American is what it is.
Blog Kick Booty
Blogging in general has changed the face of journalism uncontrollably, and that’s without question. It places the tools of simple online publishing in the hands of anyone, meaning no matter how bad or good of a writer you are, you can share it online.
It’s obviously greatly changed journalism as an industry, which is now quickly falling from grace due to the addition of this new tool. It’s certainly not change for the good in every regard. Take the use of blogger’s posts as credible, which has gotten many people within the journalism industry in trouble because it’s mearly heresy. I could go ahead and make a blog saying I’m Ed Murrow’s ghost and that Bush is actually a reptilian monster, and even though David Icke could back that up, it doesn’t make it viable enough to broadcast on the national news and get away with it. It brings into question what exactly is a reputable source and what makes it so, in order to prevent such gross mistakes of reporting as those that are now beginning to plague the journalist’s community.
Blogs can further dispersion of the truth as well as lies. Both CNN and the KKK have blogs a plenty, but just because it’s in print, doesnt make it true.
Blogs do serve good in the effect that they give the everyman an outlet to express themselves. Aspiring writings and journalists don’t need to send out query letters in troves to get some published, they need only set up an account and start publishing. But this cutting out of the middleman (AKA the publisher) has helped take away the credibility that print had before, because again, anyone can do it. It’s up to the individual writer to express themselves in such a way that it sets them apart from the crowd.
Old school reporters that i’ve personally spoken with often hate the “blogger’s revolution.” They worked so hard to get where they are now, and now some “kid” with a keyboard can report the news from his house. It’s empowering to the individual, but crippling to the industry. TV was already kicking print’s ass before blogging came along and joined in wearing steel-toed boots. Why buy a newspaper when you can read it online, for free, as it’s happening?
Like any technological revolution, you got to take the good with the bad. Blogs make it damn-near impossible to censor content, so every opinion will get out there, just not necessarily read. With that said, it’s best to just accept its existence and go along with it. Enjoy your blogs like i enjoy mine, but take them with a grain of salt. Every blog has mistakes sooner or later, so until they are somehow magically ironed out, keep reading The Times, for G-d’s sake.
Scott 2.0
Professor Scott Brodeur is somewhat of a mystery to his Covergence Journalism class. After finding no wikipedia page for him, and shuffling through Google for twenty minutes, the identity of the man who will be ruling their Thursday evenings for the next 4 months finally comes into focus.
Broduer was born in submarine base in Connecticut, as his father had a career in the Navy that spanned twenty years. Among his favorite journalists are the recently deceased Molly Ivins and Hunter S. Thompson. Brodeur’s favorite eats are Thai food and his mother’s stuffed artichoke. He’s interviewed the likes of Slick Rick, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Red Man when he working for The Source magazine. The first blogs he checks everyday are Gawker and Romanesco.
Brodeur is the managing editor for Web Site Development at Advance Internet, a site creates local news and information websites for many newspapers as well as centralized sites for such states as Michigan, Orgeon, Pennsylvania and New Orleans. It is on one such site that Prof. Brodeur is the founding Editor-In-Chief of MassLive.com, which is also the website for New England’s “The Republican” newspaper.
When setting up MassLive.com 8 years ago, Brodeur visited the Pioneer Valley area with his wife and decided to settle down in Northampton. He is the father of two boys and one girl.
Brodeur also maintains a blog, titled “Blog Beat,” on MassLive.com, where he showcases local blogs worthy of note, as well as other internet postings that catch his eye.
Dubbed “the Godfather of Western Mass Blogging“, Brodeur has spent much of his time educating people about blogging and encouraging them to make their own. In an age where journalism is quickly moving from paper to monitors, Brodeur is helping make the transition more seemless for the technologically challenged.
Great Scott! Who is this guy?
Professor Scott Brodeur is somewhat of a mystery to his Covergence Journalism class. After finding no wikipedia page for him, and shuffling through Google for twenty minutes, the identity of the man who will be ruling their Thursday evenings for the next 4 months finally comes into focus.
Among his many postitions, Brodeur is the managing editor for Web Site Development at Advance Internet. The site creates local news and information websites for many newspapers as well as centralized sites for such states as Michigan, Orgeon, Pennsylvania, New Orleans and many others. It is on one such site that Prof. Brodeur is the founding Editor-In-Chief of MassLive.com, which is also the website for New England’s “The Republican” newspaper. Brodeur also maintains his blog “Blog Beat” on MassLive, where he showcases local blogs worthy of note, as well as other internet postings that catch his eye.
Dubbed “the Godfatherof Western Mass Blogging”, Brodeur has spent much of his time educating people about blogging and encouraging them to make their own. In an age where journalism is quickly moving from paper to monitors, Brodeur is helping make the transition more seemless for the technologically challenged.
