Archive for the ‘oddities’ Category

Not quite a rule 5 post but it explains something.

Posted: August 14, 2009 by datechguy in oddities
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Glenn’s abortive porn link from yesterday reminded me of two stories I recently read.

The first one is from the LA times concerning hard times in the porn industry.

The adult entertainment business, which was previously in the vanguard of home video, satellite and cable television and digital distribution, now finds itself leading the rest of the entertainment industry in losses from them.

“The death of the DVD business has been more accelerated in the adult business than mainstream,” said Bill Asher, co-chairman of adult industry giant Vivid Entertainment, who estimates that his company’s revenue is down more than 20% this year.

“We always said that once the Internet took off, we’d be OK,” he added. “It never crossed our minds that we’d be competing with people who just give it away for free.”

Apparently there is however one genre that IS making money according to Variety:

Over the last year, Hustler Video Group has without much fanfare trotted out a parade of titles derived from classic TV shows, including the recently released parody “This Ain’t Star Trek XXX.” All the meticulous little details are there, with the exception of moments (spoiler alert!) like the one where Kirk, Spock and Uhura engage in three-way stress-relieving exercise on the bridge, which for whatever reason wasn’t included in J.J. Abrams’ franchise reboot.

The idea of a porn parody of stuff isn’t quite new but the results in sales are:

Nevertheless, Thill says the TV-inspired titles are outselling more conventional counterparts. “It’s actually kind of revitalized the DVD market in the adult world,” he said — a genre deflated, like everything else, by the ready access of free material on the Web

The reporter for Variety couldn’t be more confused by the result if he was describing the failure of an anti troops movie. However I think I understand the appeal.

I was a teenager when I watched those shows and a lot of the comedy came from sexual tension, Gilligan’s Island joked about it, Three Company thrived on it, and Happy days celebrated it. Guys didn’t want to be the Fonz because he was cool, they wanted to be the Fonz because he scored at will. That’s where the cool came from. I can’t speak for the girls but I’ll wager David Cassidy and Scott Baio weren’t on those Tiger Beat covers for their musical talent.

If you don’t get it, check out the audience reaction to this blooper reel from the show:

Now take a look at this still from the parody This Ain’t Happy Days:

notparody

Every person in that audience who laughed at that blooper reel had that still in their mind decades before it was produced. Those people are now the target audience and apparently they are buying. And it’s not just the porn.

“More adults, ages 18 to 49, watch the Cartoon Network than watch CNN.” Allow me to unleash my inner Brent Bozell for a moment, and ask: Isn’t this a sign of intellectual maturity?

Guys never really stop being boys inside. That’s just the way it is.

How do I know the worm has turned…

Posted: August 12, 2009 by datechguy in oddities
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…because I went to Barnes and Noble in Leominster Mass today.

If you went back a couple of years or even as little as 6 months you would have a hard time finding books that supported conservatives in any quantity. I had noted time and time again that they were either in hiding or rarely in stock.

But today Dick Morris’ book Catastrophe is prominently displayed. Where only two copies of Michelle Malkin’s Culture of Corruption (my review here) once stood; a stack sits prominently. And where once Mark Levin was not to be found, there sits Liberty and Tyranny basking in the best seller section for all to see and buy.

If these books are selling in the Fitchburg/Leominster Massachusetts area then this president is in REAL trouble.

John Quincy Adams the Tweets from beyond the grave

Posted: August 8, 2009 by datechguy in oddities, tech
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I’m not much of a twitter person (I don’t even have a facebook account) but I am very into John Quincy Adams and anything that gives more attention to one of the most remarkable statesmen to ever serve America is ok with me.

The micro-blogging site Twitter wasn’t around in John Quincy Adams’ day, but a recent visitor to the MHS suggested he might have found it a very natural addition to his routine. JQA was a prolific diarist, filling fifty-one volumes over sixty-nine years (amounting to nearly 15,000 pages) – and not only did he keep a diary, he often kept multiple diaries simultaneously (there are three different entries for the day he was inaugurated as president, for example: a long entry, a draft entry, and a line-a-day entry).

What started as interesting note is now a project:

when we realized that JQA begins a long series of line-a-day entries on 5 August 1809 as he departs on his voyage to Russia (where he would serve as the first American ambassador), we decided some opportunities are just too good to pass up.

So, beginning on 5 August 2009, we’ll be posting JQA’s line-a-day diary entries on Twitter, one per day exactly 200 years later. You can check out the project at http://www.twitter.com/JQAdams_MHS, and if you use Twitter too we hope you’ll follow along and receive the daily updates. We’ll be posting JQA’s exact words (his entries really do work perfectly as 140-character tweets), and where possible we will augment the posts with maps showing his location (thank him for providing regular latitude and longitude readings), links to longer diary entries, and other information. His short entries are surprisingly rich, full of wonderful details about his reading, meals, weather, and shipboard activities.

“His” twitter page is here.

Remembering these are the days before the common use of steam let alone electricity so this would be heady stuff for people.

One interesting Adams fact. In addition to being President, Sec of State and a Congressman AFTER being president Adams was nominated for the Supreme Court BEFORE all of that and voted in unanimously by the Senate but turned it down because he didn’t consider himself qualified enough.

Amazon Review: Atlantic Wave 1316 CD Tower

Posted: August 1, 2009 by datechguy in amazon reviews, oddities
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My review of Atlantic’s Wave 1316 CD tower (holds 112 cd’s) is available at Amazon.com here.

It took me a while to break down and buy one. I had a vertical CD tower with a wood base that I picked up at a 2nd hand store that I absolutely loved, but couldn’t find one that matched it. I finally settled on the 1316 as the closest match out there at a good price.

If you collect the Big Finish Doctor who line this is EXACTLY the rack for you. Almost certainly you will be importing them to a PC or Ipod so they won’t be taken down much but as a fan you won’t want to part with them. Two of these will hold just about all the Doctor Who lines, a third will hold all the new releases.

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