Do Technology and Magic Mix?

As fans of Marvel comics know, Dr. Doom's origin is rooted in the aphorism that technology and magic don't mix. When Reed Richards walked into his friend Victor von Doom's dorm room and discovered that Victor was in the middle of an experiment combining the two Reed had to intervene. Thus began one of the great thesis/antithesis (or hero/archvillain) narratives of comic book history.

Thus proving that while combining technology and magic may be immoral, it does lead to long term profit and comic book sales.

J.K. Rowling had long been on the side of Reed Richards and had avoided offering her cultural phenomenon Harry Potter novels to be sold in digital format. But it looks like the Mighty Marvel Marketing Maxim that combining technology and magic equals massive profit. Rowling has made all six Potter novels available for digital download.

Take a deep breath before you get excited about the prospect of printing multiple copies for your grandmother, neighbors, and random people you meet on the street. The Potter books are only available as digital MP3 downloads at iTunes. The "box set" download does include "digital booklets" which contain descriptions of each novel and if you order the box set you get a 20GB "special" iPod (all for a mere $548.00).

So now all of you who own the books can pay the same price again for audio copies and double the price if you want an iPod. Given the iPod's stict protocols which, while not making piracy impossible, make piracy too annoying for your average user, I don't expect that Rowling will do anything other than count the money pouring in from Apple.

Now if only we could find a Reed Richards...

TiVo is Almost Free-Vo

According to the Los Angeles Times TiVo Inc. is reducing the cost of its recorders by almost 50%. Adding the service increases your cable bill by approximately $12.95 a month.

The story reports that TiVo Inc. will give a $150.00 rebate to purchasers who sign up for a one year subscription to TiVo service. Looking at the action on the stock market, it appears that this move may have had a slight positive effect on the value of TiVo shares. Though the $5.17 value does seem underpriced to me given the technological revolution that is TiVo, but it is understandable when you consider two things. First, the market's reluctance post 2000 bubble burst to trust tech stocks, and second the lack of a successful "advertisement delivery system" on TiVo limits its earning potential to sales and subscriptions entirely. None of this takes into account the rise of competitors and cable companies co-opting the technology.

Sadness

Bob Denver passed on. Props to the writers for mentioning Maynard G. Krebbs along with Gilligan, I must say. Bob Denver was a fun guy... hilarious, and really memorable. R.I.P.

Screaming for Viewers

The WB is trying a truly innovative advertising campaign for one of its new Fall shows. In a bold move they will be promoting Supernatural by allowing potential viewers to watch the show one week early via the Yahoo! website, on Tuesday, September 6th. The WB, who also brought us Buffy and Charmed, is relying on the internet because of the hugely competative nature of television marketing today.

"You have to scream really loud and really compel the audience to choose your show over the array of other shows being presented to them at the same time," said WB Entertainment President David Janollari. "You have to find nontraditional ways to reach the audience."

I am pretty excited about this show and the opportunity to see it early is one that I will be happy to take advantage of. It was enough to peak my interest that the show is supernatural in nature and focuses on the story of two brothers who encounter evil forces as they search for their missing father. In a way it is a kind of live action version of Full Metal Alchemist (at least in theme though not in imagery). Alchemist fans may disagree, but the hunt of the Elric brothers is indeed to search for their "missing" mother and they do struggle against the supernatural.

But more than the basic lure of supernatural narratives this show is produced by two filmmakers who have really entertained me over the past couple of years. The first is McG whose Charlies Angels film was fun (if trivial), but his O.C. is one of my favorite television shows in a long time. In fact, after watching The O.C. and seeing both its reverence for comic books and the actor McG would have cast as Superman, I almost wish that McG had stayed on as the Superman director. Almost because I am very happy with Bryan Singer. The second producer is Eric Kripke who was a screenwriter for Boogeyman (see editor note at bottom) which I thought was a very fun ghost story.

I have high hopes and a high speed internet connection, so I'll let you know what I think shortly.

[ed. note: Eric Kripke was erroneously credited with directing Boogeyman in the original post. The director of Boogeyman was Stephen T. Kay who also directed the Stallone version of Get Carter.]

In a Horrifying Darkness, a Spark of Light

According to Unlocked Wordhoard, who is an English Professor on the campus, Troy University is accepting as students those whose academic careers have been interrupted by the catastrophic events following Hurricane Katrina.

Troy University is committed to assisting those students whose fall semesters may have been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. Students who are enrolled at colleges and universities which have been closed for the fall semester due to the storm may contact the Troy University Office of Admissions at 334-670-3175 no later than September 7 about possible fall enrollments.

The response to this tragedy will be a part of our culture for a large part of the forseeable future. I am sure there will be electoral impacts, but I think that it is best to highlight the noblest among us. Troy University is answering the very important question, "What can I, a small and helpless individual, do to make a difference. I can't solve everything, but I can help some."

Karate Kid Waxes On as Television Producer

UPDATE: Links corrected per David N. Scott's comment at 6:33pm.

Ralph Macchio, not to be confused with Ralph Macchio, has signed a development deal with the teen targetted network "The N." According to Variety he will be developing shows for a network whose average viewer age is 15.

Does this strike anyone else as odd? I mean, come on! Ralph Macchio is the Karate Kid, not to be confused with the Karate Kid (whose name was used with permission by the film)! The target audience of The NTV weren't even born when his movie came out and the last show Macchio worked on was "The Ralph Show!"

Of course, maybe I am wrong and his new "Thelma and Louise" for teenage girls show will take off. Maybe he will be as good a television producer as Shaun Cassidy (I personally thought American Gothic was genius).

One thing is for certain...if he wants to be successful he needs to make sure that he keeps his focus: "Whole body...One Inch!" and if he does it right there is "no defense."

But given that The N shows Sabrina the Teenage Witch, a show I enjoy very much but that appealed to 15 year old girls almost a decade ago, I am skeptical.

Karate Kid?

Or...

Karate Kid?

Only the Legion of Superheroes can decide!

Sigh.

Now, as I've mentioned before, I often have Really Neat ideas for posting here. In this case, I had decided to post a detailed, piece by piece review of the modern dance show my sister was just in. I was going to talk about the dances, the themes, and how the choreographer's homosexuality was such a big part of the show, in odd little ways.

But, I never got around to it. I still have the program, so maybe sometime soon. Instead, I'll talk about D+D! Now, readers of Pererro and this blog already have some awareness of the epic story... Number One posts about the new edition, I respond bitterly, he tenderly but insistently convinces me to see her, er it, again...

And then, we found some extra money we'd forgotten about, and one of our favorite local game stores went under. So, we got a bunch of books.

And...

They're really great. It seems like the writers are really pouring themselves into the product, from four cool varieties of magic weapons, all with neat stories, to every new class having sample characters with little stories and hideouts... It's really great stuff.

The class books are oriented less mechanically now, around character themes (skills, combat, arcane or divine) instead of base classes. There are gallons of neat story lines and customization ideas, including two books (Dungeon Master's Guide 2 and Unearthed Arcana) devoted to them.

Oh, and Stormwrack is a lot of fun. There are really cool Corsair and Legendary captain classes, and gorillas that fly like flying squirrels.

OK, bye.