90210

Turns out the CW is rehashing an old, popular television series, Beverly HIlls, 90210, and calling it 90210. Unfortunately, they did this without completely thinking this one through, as they're only now starting to realize that what might have been a really popular show in the past does not translate to a really popular show in the present. First off, the cadre of people who loved the show has grown up. The people they are trying to attract for the show are young people who have never, or rarely, ever seen the show, and certainly never watched it while it was airing. So, you don't have a new generation of people just dying to know whta happened to Dylan and others (I think that was one of the characters...to be honest, I never watched it, so I'm just going on memory of a show that aired during my time but never attracted me).

So, CW is now just realizing it needs to attract young people to its show. Then, once they realized this was not going to be an easy task because unlike the old 90210, this show is competing directly against some pretty popular shows that do exactly what their show is going to try to do. First off, you have shows like Gossip Girl that seem to attract that demographic they are seeking, and unlike the past when Beverly Hills, 90210 aired, you have a ton of reality shows that ironically have the exact plot lines that you'd get in a 90210 show (that's kind of what made those reality shows where people live in the same building for a year so attractive).

Therefore, CW is trying to attract its old cadre of fans by bringing back some of the heroes of the old show. They say the show will be about both the kids and the adults, unlike last time when it was just about the kids. Well, I got news for them, but that's a really bad idea. The show takes place around a high school and involves very, very wealthy kids who seem to have the world handed to them on a silver plate. That means that in order to really place an old character into this environment, they have to do what they're planning to do: Make them a teacher. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was a fan of the old show where it was all about one-upping the others and showing how wealthy you are, coming back to a show where you're now a high school teacher seems like a pretty low blow for your character. In other words, you didn't make it big, you weren't the great success you were planning to be, but you're in one of the most disrespected occupations in US history. You're a high school teacher. Even if actors came back as city leaders, it woiuld still be akin to watching someone play one of the joke leaders in Weeds, where Kevin Nealon probably has mastered that role of someone in city government who really shouldn't be there.

So, what's to see in 90210 that's going to attract anyoine? Literally, they're selling the idea on the actors/actresses coming back without realizing that people aren't there to see the actors, but to see the characters, and if those characters are placed in the positions that they're already claiming, they're going to have a hard time selling this show.

I'm not saying they can't succeed, but they have a lot of work ahead of them. What they really need to do is focus on the question: Why would someone in high school TODAY feel a desire to watch this show? And what makes this show any better than the numerous alternatives that are already available?

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It's going to be an interesting election

McCain announced his choice for vice president, and it's pretty obvious that his decision took practically everybody by surprise. What's been fascinating is the amount of double talk that has occurred since then as Democrats try to explain away why this isn't significant and Republicans who act as if the Republicans just nominated the Second Coming of...oh, I don't know...Hillary?

The truly interesting thing is to study the interjection in political impetus this has caused without wearing partisan blinders. Not only does it make the choice interesting, but it also makes it even more interesting to study the people who are going off all nutso because they are convinced that somehow this decision will somehow serve their own side, even if they have to manufacture the reasons that only they believe because they've repeated the ridiculous conclusions to themselves over and over again.

The real ramifications of this choice will come towards the middle of the Republican Convention. To be honest, which no one ever is during an election, NO ONE has a clue what kind of an effect Palin's nomination is going to have until events start to play themselves out. Will she attract former Clintonites? No one knows, although "experts" just love to pretend they know, even though they're pretty much full of crap whenever they open their mouths. Will it hurt the Republicans with women? No one knows, but all sorts of people are already acting as if they're experts on this answer, even though they have zero evidence, zero experience and zero idea what it is they're talking about.

That's what makes politics so interesting to follow. It isn't the "who is going to win?" attitude that comes throughout the election season. No, it's the ridiculous mannerisms of people who take politics seriously, even though politics rarely have anything to do with them unless they're really the winners (the people running, the people being paid by those running, or people who will be given a cushy job by those who won...all others are just horse race watchers who are convinced they are getting rich, even though the track doesn't let them put any money on the horses, and if it does, it doesn't allow them to bank any winnings if they by some chance actually call the right horse).

I had someone tell me today that she believes that McCain's choice was a massive blunder because Palin has to answer for some illegal activities while she was governor in Alaska. I asked what those illegal activities were, and she couldn't tell me, but said they had to be important because she heard someone on the news talking about it. Yep, our elections have finally come down to "scandals" that may or may not be scandals but are obviously important because someone mentioned it on the news, but not in enough detail that we might actually remember what the scandals are. God, I love this country.

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Decadent Pizza Hut

There's this recent commercial where Pizza Hut supposedly supplies its food to some upscale restaurant to fool people into believing the food items come from an expensive restaurant. Well, every time I see this commercial I'm frozen at a spot where some woman is eating Mac & Cheese with bacon and says "How decadent" before she discovers it comes from Pizza Hut. Really? Decadent? Mac and Cheese? Yeah, that's why I freeze every time I see this commercial.

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Um, has Michael Moore finally just gone nuts?

It appears that Michael Moore has a solution to what is ailing America. Stop reading. Don't read any books. Any. Instead, spend ALL of your free time getting candidates elected. Yes, he really said this. Now, don't get me wrong; I like Michael Moore, and I still think Bowling for Columbine was a brilliant documentary, but whenever he digs into politics, he starts to turn really stupid. I mean, honestly, reading? Don't read? You can find the article here.

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Don't tell anybody, but I think I've become a Vegan

It's not that I hate meat or anything. I just discovered it's kind of killing me. So, I've started to stock up on mainly Vegan foods. I think they're Vegan. I never really did figure out the difference between vegetarian and vegan, so cut me some slack. Instead of my Philly Cheesesteak for dinner, I had split pea soup, a banana and some grapes. I did some grocery shopping today and bought mainly vegetables and fruit. Couldn't believe how much food has animal products in it, cheese or various types of milk.

So does going Vegan mean I have to become a liberal? And do I have to take up smoking, too, because I use to see nothing but smoking Vegans when I lived in San Francisco? Part of the "allowable" foods was beans, lots of different types of beans. I'm not ready to go there yet. I can't stand beans, and I might just starve first.

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Tropic Thunder is a brilliant movie

I saw this the other day with Kat, and it was a great movie. Honestly. It takes a really critical look at movie stars and their self-centered Narcissism. Up until this year, I really wasn't that much of a Robert Downey, Jr. fan, but I am now. His portrayal of the drunk, self-tortured Iron Man was something I thought was just a wonderful fluke. His character in Tropic Thunder completely steals a movie that was so good that I never would have thought anyone could have stolen it.

The funny thing (well, one of many things) about Tropic Thunder is that there is this whole protest thing going on because Downey's character refers to Ben Stiller's character's previous role as "Simple Jack" by accusing him of having gone "Full Retard". Of course, the mentally-challenged corps have come out in droves to protest this usage, but the joke isn't even on them. The joke has nothing to do with the mentally-challenged, nor does it even make a slight at them by using the word "retard". The insult is waged at actors who play mentally-challenged characters, like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, or Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, or even Sean Penn in Sam I Am (or something close to that). It's actually a brilliant criticism of actors and how they handle such roles. There's a lot of self-directed criticism in this movie that the main characters continue to use to poke fun at their own profession. Some of the ad libs in the movie are brilliant, and are done so well that you'd think it was originally written into a well-written script.

I highly recommend this movie.

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Turns out TV stars don't actually watch TV themselves

The CNN story can be found here.

I remember when I was sending out short stories, and every now and then some magazine I sent a short story to would send me a nasty letter, stating that they have no incentive to publish me if I don't actually subscribe to their particular publication. Some years later, I came to the conclusion that actually subscribing to their publications didn't EVER win me a publishing success, so I decided they could fend for themselves like every other magazine out there. I'm a writer, not a subscriber. And pretty much the ENTIRE writing population tends to feel the same way.

That's kind of what came to mind when I read this article that indicates that TV stars don't actually watch television. I don't mean just their own shows, but ANY television. Supposedly, they're above television, and they don't want to be caught in any circles that might hint they're part of the low brow Americans who would be stupid enough to admit they watch television. This would be more like me stating that not only don't I read a particular magazine, but I don't read at all, because I wouldn't want anyone to think I was stupid enough to be caught reading ANYTHING.

And supposedly, TV stars don't care. They want us to watch their shows, but they don't "have the time" to watch television themselves. There's some kind of communication paradigm here that needs exploitation, but as I'm an unemployed writer these days, I'll have to leave that to the currently being educated folk.

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Missed Connections on Craigslist

One of my recent vices is to read Missed Connections on Craigslist just cause I'm curious who tries to appeal to other people they've never met through a Craigslist ad. If you've never read these things, usually one is titled something like: "You were the hot bag guy at Safeway who smiled as I threw up on you cause I was drunk--w4m--23". That sort of thing.

First off, I used to get kind of depressed cause there are no hot women stating: "Want to meet the hot guy who orders breakfast every day at Carls Jr". Okay, I can live with that. But then as you read more and more of these ads, you start to notice a pattern, and you begin to wonder, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH WOMEN IN THIS CITY? I mean, I'm reading stuff like "Hot unemployed guy missing front teeth...you smiled at me as I was released at the police department--w4m--27". Others are like: "Even though you abused me and put me in hospital, I want you back--w4m--23". Then they go to the absurd: "Hot asian girl eating a bagel at Bagel Stop--Call me cause I think I love you."

Okay, I need sleep. Really.

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Holding pattern means having nothing to do

As most people know, I'm in a holding pattern for Korea, meaning that I am awaiting some paperwork before I can complete my visa paperwork to send to the place where I'll be working in Korea. This wasn't so bad when I had a thesis to write. Or when I had actual things that needed to be done. But I'm in a holding pattern, meaning I have absolutely nothing to do. Nothing. Zip. And looking for things to do is like looking for busy work that no one really wants to do. All of my acquaintances are working with the new Forensics people. I'm in my studio apartment with nothing to do. This leaves more time to think negative thoughts, and that's never helpful. I really hope some positive news comes soon because I don't think I can really wait that much longer.

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Paperwork and red tape really sucks

I'm having a lot of trouble getting past one hurdle of the application process for Korea, and that's the background investigation. Stockton Police Department states they don't actually do it, that such a thing is initiated by employers, and they don't do background investigations for people who request them. Called Lodi Police Department, and I got pretty much the same reaction. So, I'm not really sure what to do here.

At the same time, I ended up having a telephonic interview with Missouri (Truman State University), and that went really well. It doesn't pay anywhere near what I want to even really consider it, but with this red tape situation with Korea, it may actually force me to seriously consider it. They are well aware that money is a concern for me with what they normally offer for a one year, temporary position, so if they end up increasing that amount, it would be hard NOT to keep it a consideration.

But I'm anxious to go to Korea. But being anxious doesn't mean anything if I can't actually finish the paperwork to actually be able to go.

At the moment, I'm still completing the paperwork preparation for Korea (having to drive to San Francisco to get official transcripts from my undergraduate institution...apparently they don't care about the master's degrees when it comes to paperwork). If I can somehow get past the background information part of the application process, my paperwork will be essentially complete. Already did the rest, including passport, passport photos and all that.

Anyway, trying to move forward....

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