Game

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

The RIAA is killing internet radio

Once again, those great visionaries at the Recording Industry Association of America have come up with a brilliant plan. Since their corporate members are losing money, they instead devise a royalty fee structure for internet radio stations that increases them to the point that it becomes almost economically impossible for them to survive.

I mean sure, the lost revenue from the previous royalty scheme is a small price for the record companies to pay to ensure that potential customers feel alienated and that their marketing departments are going to work that much harder to entice people to buy their products, because as everybody knows, FM radio, a medium with is not being saddled with these fees, absolutely adores the midlist artist and people absolutely love being treated like thieves after buying some music.

I guess the RIAA's members have all their eggs in the music video basket... oh wait, the major music channels don't really show them anymore, and the places where they would be welcomed and given a lot of exposure are the very same places that get those nasty cease and desist letters for showing them.

Well this is a fine mess you boys and girls at the RIAA have gotten yourselves into, isn't it? I for one can't wait until I have to sign my name at the counter when I buy a CD. Now that is going to be a day to remember.

Corporate Copyright Fundamentalism. You gotta love it... or else the RIAA will kidnap you and take you to one of their special camps for re-education.

Monday, March 5, 2007

The Geico Cavemen ink deal for sitcom pilot

I knew Geico ads were clever, but I didn't they would end up potentially spawning a new television series.

Now this isn't the first time a advertising personality has made the leap from commercials to a full-length show,(Baby Bob was the first), but I still don't feel entirely comfortable with this turn of events.

In addition to the whole promotional aspect of the show, as it would essentially be a 22 minute advertisement for Geico every week, I don't think it will work too well conceptually either, and that is my real concern.

I mean, when Phil Hartman played the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, it was comedy gold, but it had two things going for it: the sketches were short and the premise was that the character had actually lived like a caveman before becoming frozen. When you watch the commercials, the first advantage is there, but the second is most certainly not.

Since the Geico cavemen are thoroughly modern individuals who only look like an early stage in the development of man, I just don't think there will be much of a premise for the sitcom here. It is a gimmick that can't possibly last and have legs... at least the way I foresee them writing it, because the funniest angle is also the most controversial.

The show is supposed to deal with the prejudices they face in Atlanta, Georgia, and I doubt that the producers are going to be gung ho to take on the powerful enemies of the cavemen/evolution... the fundamentalist Christians. That would be bad for Geico, and perhaps poison for ABC and Disney as well. But that is where the best comedy would probably be. So in the end, it is probably going to try to be bland and inoffensive to everyone, and it really won't last.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Puppy Envy: A Culture Kills Comic

I feel a little dirty after putting this one together because after doing the work to post it, I realized that it could be possibly be taken in a way that I had not originally intended, and could be a little more offensive than I thought.

I am prepared for the worst here.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Week 42: Pageant of the Transmundane

This week's award is being broadcast from the deck of the S.S. Heart of Gold, and really nothing could be more Transmundane than that this week, especially when I push this little button.

Now I just have to figure out why there are naked clones of Queen Victoria are throwing figs and what appear to be chinchillas at a platinum statue of William H. Macy while chanting the lyrics to "Thick as a Brick" in Esperanto on the main viewer.

With that startling and frightening image in your minds, the winner of the terrestrial Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award seems like a good place to segue to. Now there were a few entries which were in the running this week but Angela Gunn at Tech Space managed to get a late entry in for this award this afternoon after she found a tasty clip posted at Salon.com of an alternate take on the new season teaser for HBO's The Sopranos and it tickled the pop cultural archivist in me.

And since it is an award for something based on pop culture and The Sopranos, well, this image seemed to be the most appropriate expression of the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award.

Congrats Angela on nabbing award Number 42. You must admit that it is fitting.

So Long and thanks for all the... how does that go again?

The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

New York State and City bans a certain six letter word

You know when political correctness is going to far when the concept of Language Police doesn't seem that far off.

I am presented with a challenge here because I want to talk about this story while at the same time, I am not going to say the specific word in question.

If you haven't already read or heard, New York City, following in the steps of the state legislature, has issued a moratorium on the use of a specific racial slur. You know, the one that got Michael Richards in so much trouble. Yeah, THAT one.

Breaking it carries no penalty, so it is largely a symbolic measure, but still, it is just bizarre. This isn't something like an FCC measure to remove it from the airwaves or something that is being suggested to just employees of the state or city... this is a measure which is supposed to discourage anyone saying the word. What is that?

I am not advocating the use of the word in question, but at the same time, the anti-censorship zealot in me burns with a fiery intensity when I think about the greater implications of such a move. It is the slippery slope, for who knows what word they may target next... and what if the measure does get some teeth? What happens to media that feature that language? Would they be exempt?

And considering that New York is a major center for both hip hop and comedy, do these legislators really think that the threat of arrest for saying a word is going to really stop these artists? I mean, Chris Rock, while fighting rumors that his marriage is in trouble, thought the issue merited discussion.

While I do think the ensuing discussion about the word's place in modern society this has cause is a good thing, I don't really like the direction this is all going.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Odd Stumbleupon finds: February Edition

I know this is a little late, but February was a month jam packed with finds and I had to sort through them to give you the quality finds.

Comics/Images:

Tainted Food
The Cast of Futurama as Anime Characters And here is Charlie Brown
Broccoli Dog
Joe and the Monkey: Wiki-What?
Karla, Stealth Nerd
Newspaper WTF? Moment

Videos/Cartoons:

Classic Video Games in Stop Motion animation
Thief Gets OWNED
How to Be Employee of the Month

So a lot of comics and images and not so many videos this month. Hope you enjoy what I found.

'Knights' the true heir for TV thievery

Before the new television season started, I was very keen on the premise behind CBS's Smith, a series that followed the exploits of gang of master thieves as they readied themselves for one last big job. Alas, that show did not really work out too well, as it seemed like the producers were trying to cram an HBO show into a network series package, and it suffered from a slow pace and a set of really unlikable characters.

At the time of its cancellation, I thought the prospects of seeing a well-conceived heist series this season were very grim indeed. But then in January, ABC started showing episodes of the comedy series The Knights of Prosperity, a series that was at one time titled the very descriptive Let's Rob Mick Jagger. And you know what? It has become everything that I had hoped Smith would be.

Just as the comedic take on SNL, 30 Rock, ended up being a better fit for telling the story of a sketch comedy show than the morose and self-indulgent Studio 60, so too has Knights proved to be a wonderful venue for telling the tale of a gang trying to better themselves by robbing from the rich.

The series has the heart and pacing that Smith just couldn't match. I mean, when you look at the gang, every member is on some level likable, and you can relate to their reasoning for wanting to pull off this robbery. And the fact that they are amateurs figuring out how to actually scale the mammoth tasks before them makes the struggle on that is compelling to watch, and you can see them gaining confidence and competance week after week.

But what really sticks out for me is there truly is a sense of honor amongst this motley gang of thieves. While they are plotting evil deeds to get ahead, there are certain lines they won't cross. It has come out on more than one occasion that when it comes down to it, they will not willfully and intentionally get another working class person in trouble. The seeming contradiction of burglars having a set of ethics is half the fun of the show, and it keeps it fresh, at least for me.

I look forward to watching more of the kooky schemes of the Knights of Prosperity, and I have a feeling that their plans are going to continue to get more elaborate and expensive as the weeks and months go on.