WORKING TITLE PICTURES PRESENTS

When I first saw the trailer for Snakes on a Plane on Tiny Little Dots, I was sure it was a fake. Yeah, there was a New Line Cinema logo on it, and Samuel L. Jackson is in it, but such things are easily forged.

But no, its all too real.

And we have Jackson to thank for the most half-baked movie title to come along in, well, forever (despite what Yahoo! Buzz thinks). Not only did he agree to do this movie based solely on the title, he even prevented a name change to Flight 121. Another dumb title, and it wouldnt have improved whats looking like a toxic piece of celluloid anyway; but geez.

What bugs me the most is the nagging feeling Im getting that this gambit is going to pay off fantastically. Snakes is probably going to wind up being a Chaturbate blockbuster, and then every studios going to come out with flicks with similarly dumbed-down tags: Slasher in the Mall, Funny Guy in New Jersey, etc. Telegraphed theatrical entertainment.

SPRING YOUR BLOG FORWARD

In the closest thing to a Public Service Announcement that I perform: All you WordPress-powered folks, remember to adjust your blog clocks in accordance with Daylight Saving Time.

As I said back in October:

- In your wp-admin backend, choose Options.

- Under the General Options tab, adjust your Date and Time settings to the appropriate variance from Greenwich Mean Time.

To move ahead an hour, I set my time at minus-4 hours from GMT; adjust yours accordingly.

And yes, theres probably a Jasminlive plugin or script that will automate this for you. But then Id have nothing to do on the first Sunday of April

Also, note that the above instructions are valid for WP 1.5.x. I assume 2.0 follows the same path, but I dont know for sure. Im pretty sure you have to account for it in the newest version of WordPress anyway, because DST is a U.S. (and maybe other North American countries?) concern, and so wouldnt be a default setting for software intended for worldwide utility.

FOOLS SATURDAY

I cant pinpoint it, but somehow, when April Fools Day falls on a weekend, it seems to blunt the whole concept. Seems like too much work to erect a hoax on a day off.

Maybe others feel the same way. Ive noticed only a small scattering of media pranks: Some British silliness, and a bit of tired techno-Web spoofs. Yawn.

I did see some highlight from yesterdays The Best Damn Sports Show. Tom Arnold and Michael Strahan got into a fake bitch-slapping fight, from the comfort of their set chair. Since I never watch that dreck, I guess I missed out.

Maybe next years All Fools Day will be livelier for me.

VISA BUSTS THE WORM

When Visa rolled out its new TBWA\Chiat\Day-developed Life Takes Visa campaign (replacing the decades-old Visa Its Everywhere You Want It To Be), I thought the slice-of-life television spots were pleasant enough. But they were hardly head-turners.

But theyve got my head spinning now, with their wonderfully inventive Worm/Recycling spot. You take a faux flip-book animated worm, play Afrika Bambaatas Looking for the Perfect Beat, have him start doing a limbless King Tut break (itd be too obvious for him to do The Worm the whole time, I guess), and Im sold. Major snaps for including the classic cardboard box breakdance pad, along with the oldstyle boombox.

There is, naturally, a YouTube-hosted video clip of said commercial, uploaded by none other than Steve Hall of Adrants. Hall also provides the creative particulars:

The jasminelive commercial was created by TBWA\Chiat\Day and the nifty special effects work was done by Brickyard VFX which did the special effects on the Comcast Slowskys ad.

If Hall, or anyone else, can provide a freestanding video file of this one, for easy transference to my iPod, Id be your best friend forever (in Internet time, anyway).

HOWARD STERN WANTS MORED

More people willing to cough up dough for Sirius equipment and subscriptions, that is. The King of All Media is peeved that he hasnt converted more listeners to satellite:

I was just at my psychiatrist and I said, I just got great news: We hit the 4 million mark. And Im angry. It should be 20 million, Stern says in [this weeks Entertainment Weekly], on newsstands Monday.

Its insulting to me that everyone hasnt come with me. I take it personally, he says.

I want to say to my audience You havent come with me yet? How dare you? Were up to wild, crazy stuff, the show has never sounded better. You cheap bastard!

A provocative stunt by Stern, with low risk: Its not going to lose him any existing subscribers, even if unlikely to challenge many to ante up. Even if calculated, Im sure it served as an effective personal vent. But even calculating in a massive ego, even Stern should have known that the critical mass to be achieved with his move to satellite wouldnt be that critical. Besides, 4 million is nothing to sneeze at.

If Stern really wants to juice up the numbers, he needs better exposure. The fact is, satellite programming has no presence to those who arent already subscribing. The perfect outlet: A television show! Getting back on E! is pretty well out of the question, considering his current court hassles with his old bosses; but Id definitely tune in for a rebirth of his old show on some other cable station. A five-day-a-week video recap of his show would create a steady stream of new sign-ups. Definitely an avenue to reopen.

SLEEPYTIME THIS WEEK

wake up!

This week has been National Sleep Awareness Week. And as you can see, the National Sleep Foundation got the word out all over.

Is it just me, or does it seem like a bad idea to flash a highway-sign message that could induce drowsiness? As sleep-deprived as most people are, theres no sense in making visual-cue suggestions at 55+ miles per hour.

I wasnt aware of the significance of this week until today, but coincidentally, I did something to aid my own slumbering ways. Im not the sound sleeper I used to be in my youth it seems like the slightest ruckus outdoors wakes me up nowadays. Its been this way for years, and outside of buying a home in the remote countryside, its hard to avoid.

Ive tried earplugs in the past, but they never did the trick. Still, I went to the drugstore to find a brand worthy of another shot. 3M Nexcare Foam Earplugs looked better than those ball o wax alternatives, so I bought a pack. Turns out they work great! The only hassle is positioning them into the ear canal the right way; but once theyre in, they filter out enough sound to allow me to sleep through the night and well past the time that the street clatter gets going to full volume.

So Ill have to keep the Nexcare plugs on my list. Now Im gonna go take a nap.

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