h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If it comes to that, I'll join the picket lines with the actors. That smacks too much of plastic flowers.

In Canada, there is a government agency called the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommuncations Commission (CRTC); which, although it poses as a cultural watchdog, is really a peddlar of political and corporate propaganda. One of its fundamental tenets is that we can watch as much US television (Radio, magazines, etc...) as we want, as long as we are exposed to a predetermined level of Canadian advertising. They achieve this, in part, by allowing Canadian broadcasters to carry US programming... with Canadian commercials (which is infuriating on Superbowl sunday, when the US network is running what amounts to 30 second feature movies). Anyway, to swerve back on topic, a new advertising gimmick used during sports presentations is to play a 15 second (or so) clip of the stadium, at the end of the normal commercial break, with sneaky CGI "billboards", "blimps", and so on carrying the logos of Canadian advertisers. This effect is so well done that it is often difficult to distinguish from real, actually, at-the-stadium stuff; and, unless you surmise that the Canadian company in question would almost certainly not have access to actual stadium advertising in Arizona, for example, it's easy to be deceived... unless you're wise to the swine.

JTG

Hey, at least you don't live in Quebec with the language police.
(I'm guessing.)

"People used to make records, as in a record, of an event
The event of people playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing, it's about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs - you choose."
Ani Difranco

Nowhere is that more evident than in the summer movie releases: The recipe for success seems to be Movie/Toy/Restaurant (in no particular order).

Good call! The verse continues...
"And I wonder who's gonna be President: Tweedledum or Tweedledumer?
And who's gonna have the big box-office blockbuster next summer?"

I'll stop with the Ani now, but commercialism sucks.

On the bright side, there's another John Cusack movie coming out in a few months.

... But sadly no more Klaus Kinski... or Vincent Price... or Peter Cook... It makes a fella feel old.

JTG

...or Peter Sellers...

Apparently, it's still possible to reach Peter Sellers via Shirley MacLaine.

I've been toying with the idea of hosting an obituary page. Is that too morbid for h2g2, do you think? A well crafted obit is quite an art.

JTG

If you think so, go for it.

There was an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer a couple days ago about the "Sing-a-Long Sound of Music" where everyone comes to the theatre in costume, the lyrics are displayed on the screen, and during the intermission they have a competition for costumes. It's coming across to America, too... when it gets here I will go see it.

I think Asteroid Lil told me about that... It sounds like great fun! There is a hotel still owned by the Von Trapp family in Vermont, I believe, that would be a marvelous venue for something like that.

JTG