Why is (blank) on the Blogroll? (part 1)

That's a good question. From time to time, I am swamped with email from people wondering why I have selected the blogs I have for my blogroll. The short answer is that it's pretty random. A slightly longer answer is that these are either sites I read somtimes, or whose "users" (that's a Tron term) have visited/linked out site. Some I read for fun, some I read because they are filled with useful advice (hopefully the advice is as useful as that in this Strong Bad Email about Death Metal, some just because.

The longest answer follows:

A Knight's Blog (which I can't get to load today) is on there because it is a medievalist and modern politics blog written by a Dragonlance fan.

Advice Goddess is the blog of Amy Alkon a syndicated advice columnist who Fritz likes to read in the way people who like to yell at the radio listen to talk radio. Amy has spoken at some events I have organized and has prompted some interesting discussions among the students I work with.

Annika's Journal -- I have no idea. It might not be linked tommorrow.

Barone Blog -- Michael Barone's blog, if you can call what is essentially an online opinion column by a Mainstream Media Outlet a blog, especially when it is attached to their formal website.

Blogging LA -- I live in Los Angeles. Actually, I used to live in Los Angeles, now I live in Glendale.

Cathy's World -- If I only linked one other blog this would be it. I read it as much for the comments as the actual posts, maybe even more for the comments.

Da Goddess is there because she is a blogcritics editor and because, at one time, she linked us. Now that she doesn't link us...

Daily Kos -- because it's Daily "I hate Peter Beinart but isn't it cool he recommended my book" Kos.

Daly Thoughts linked us but appear dead in the water.

Day by Day is an online cartoon that is conservative in nature and includes a blog-esque section.

Delicious! Delicious! is my struggling, and hopeful, screenwriter friend Caryn's food blog. She was a classmate of my wife's at USC.

DISContent -- because he is a mad pulp bastard who writes about, and for, the direct to DVD industry and where the film industry is headed.

Fruits and Votes is a very well written analytical blog by a San Diego Professor. His comments on current politics might make him seem liberal, but his ideas for election reform models show a more complete picture. Oh, and he writes about fruits I have never heard of before.

Gaze Theory -- SoCal blogger who used to link us, but who has probably written us off due to geekitude.

Got Medieval is a Medievalist blogger who likes to look at uses of the word medieval in mass culture and then pick them apart.

Okay, that's it for now. Jeesh.

First Time Friday Q&A Solicitation

David Scott, over at Pererro, has a neat tradition going on over at his website. Actually, I think it's his wife who has the tradition, but I like it and I want to adopt it.

So, for the first time ever (dum-dum-duuuum) I will take questions from all comers that I will answer on Friday. You can email the questions to me at imjaygatz at aol.com. You can ask me any question and I will try to respond.

Thanks again.

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn! Movie Based on Lovecraft's Writing Has Trailer on Internet...Madness Ensues.

There have been many movies based on the writings of Howard Philips Lovecraft, most of them lacking the truly eerie qualities of Lovecraft's weird tales. In fact, horror films and science fiction films with little or nothing to do with Lovecraft have often done better at representing the themes Lovecraft addresses in his writings.

Lovecraft fans have had to endure:

Die, Monster, Die -- a theatrical version of Colour Out of Space.
The Dunwich Horror -- Roger Corman AIP Production.
Reanimator -- A cult classic, and fun sure, but not exactly horrifying.
The Unnamable -- The less said the better.
From Beyond -- I wish it had stayed there.

Sure there are many more, but I have seen the films above and they have played their little games with my psyche. Surely nothing could be as Unspeakable as Unnamable

Now Lovecraft fans have Cthulhu. All I have to say is that my first glance at the trailer made me think the film might be enjoyable, but then I saw the madness bringing work of the Old Ones had indeed infected this film. For the film's cast includes Tori Spelling. If that doesn't require a Sanity Check...nothing does.

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

The Adventures of Doctor McNinja

It has often been asked whether Pirates were cooler than Ninjas (even on Bones, but we now know that we no longer have to ask which is cooler Doctors or Ninjas. That is because we can read the Adventures of Doctor McNinja!

Who knew?

Ba-bada-bahhh, bup-badda-bah, whooom-whooom: Knight Rider Coming to the Big Screen

According to Movies Online the Weinstein brothers have acquired the rights to produce a big screen version of the early 80s television show Knight Rider.

While there has been a trend of late to turn 70s and 80s shows into films, the current trend has been to make them into spoofs of the original shows. While I enjoyed Starsky and Hutch by the time Dukes of Hazzard came out the spoofing had gone too far. Sure the car chase in Dukes is great, but about 1/3 the movie was unwatchable. I'll leave it to you to decide which 2/3 were watchable. I hope the trend of spoofs doesn't continue with Knight Rider or the eventual Six Million Dollar Man. I know the ideas behind the film are "high concept." Knight Rider was like the Fugitive meets Magnum PI, but with a talking car, and the Bionic Man was superspy with bionic limbs. I know that the shows seem silly by modern standards of production. I know all that.

None of that means that the movies can't be played "straight" or that they may even be better for it.

Trying to Figure Out What to Write Today

While I am waiting for some muse to beam thoughts into my head...I believe I have discovered David Chute's favorite game. David C., as you might recall, hinted that he may not actually have a favorite game. Hogwash!

David C.'s favorite game is Scene It!: The Shaw Brothers Edition. His favorite "game" within the game is when you have to unscramble PinYin sayings and translate them into ideomatic English. He does have the caveat that you must buy the subtitled and not dubbed version of the game. Five Deadly Venoms with wierd New Zealand accents is a little goofy, but when seen in Cantonese/Mandarin audiences can pay attention to the story.

Warner Bros. to P2P Users: Viva la Revolucion!

According to DISContent and the Wall Street Journal, Warner has announced that it will sell and rent television shows and movies using BitTorrent technology.

To see how Warner looks at the situation, let's have them speak for themselves. According to the WSJ:

"We've always known peer-to-peer technology represents a huge opportunity for us," said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros.' home entertainment group. "If we can convert 5%, 10%, 15% of those [illegal peer-to-peer] users to become legitimate users of our product, it can have a significant impact on our industry and Warner Bros."

Prices haven't yet been determined, but they could be less than physical DVDs. "We're working with a user base that is accustomed to not paying for content," said Ashwin Navin, president and co-founder of BitTorrent, who says TV shows might sell for as little as $1.