shoshido

shoshido

67p

99 comments posted · 1 followers · following 1

12 years ago @ Big Hollywood - BH Interview: Adam Bal... · 0 replies · +2 points

Politics aside, you cannot overstate the added value Adam Baldwin brought to "Chuck" in terms of bringing, building and connecting online to a fan base. In 2012 we take a lot of that for granted, but you have to remember that "Chuck" first aired in 2007, and was nearly killed by the writer's strike.

Back all those years ago, twitter was barely a blip on the radar. But Baldwin had already spent years connecting with "Firefly" fans online, and understood the power of a fan base to create a swell of support and demonstrate a proof of audience, independent of studios or networks.

It's also easy to forget that the core of Chuck's socially-networked, internet-enabled fans were Browncoats, who had followed Baldwin to "Chuck". And when those fans saw that a favorite show might be cancelled, they were prepared as no other fan base to take fast, aggressive and creative action to save it.

So yes, the first two seasons of the show were amazing. Yes, Scooter Rosenbaum, Matthew Miller and others brought amazing writing talent to the show. But still, the show would have been cancelled if not for the fan base, and the fan base would not have been what it was without Adam Baldwin continuing to feed it, trolls and all.

Baldwin doesn't get hired for his social media outreach. But credit where credit is due: there would not have been a season 3 (or 4 or 5) of "Chuck" without him in the cast.

12 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Liberal Film Critics P... · 0 replies · +1 points

"...British subjects taxed into poverty to support the bloated behemoth of cradle-to-grave socialism on that sinking island..." Oh, do continue. Oh, please do. :-)

12 years ago @ Big Hollywood - 'Straw Dogs' Blu-Ray R... · 0 replies · +1 points

The last time a writer accurately portrayed himself as a hero, bullfighting was still a thing.

However: you can have my MacBook Air when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. ;-)

12 years ago @ Big Government - Faith in Big Governmen... · 0 replies · +5 points

With all due respect, it was not Mr. Corzine's faith in big government that doomed him: it was his end-run around government regulation, when it served his purpose.

As detailed in today's NYTimes, Corzine used his political influence to get the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to back off from instituting a proposed rule that "would have restricted a complicated transaction that allowed MF Global in essence to borrow money from its own customers." The firm then went on to borrow that money, found itself in trouble, and at some point actually dipped into client accounts to cover their positions.

Whether those client funds are actually missing or end up being found in the system somewhere, clients were first locked out of trading, and now find themselves in the position of having to come up with the cash to re-cover their margins or else have counterparties sell their positions out from under them.

Meanwhile the SIPC & bankruptcy court seem to be prioritizing the protection of large broker-dealers ahead of small investors in their every decision. So don't believe the nonsense about, "The system worked, we let MF Global fail." This disaster has already cost the taxpayers, and will continue to cost us more.

12 years ago @ Commentary Magazine - The End of Corzineā€™s... · 0 replies · +1 points

"The state’s educational institutions are a mess, since the recipients of Corzine’s contract negotiations–the teachers unions–were awarded the funds that should have gone to textbooks, computers, and after-school programs."

Funny you should say that: one of the pension funds that appears to have been defrauded by Corzine's MF Global is TIAA-CREF. You know, the teachers' union's pension fund. Oops.

12 years ago @ Big Government - Rape, Gropes, and Assa... · 0 replies · +6 points

The women assaulted at #Occupy are experiencing exactly what happened to Western women assaulted by Palestinian "activists" in Bil'in. They first suffer the violence, and then suffer a second time when their protest-tourist compatriots pressure them into silence so as not to detract from "the movement".

12 years ago @ Big Government - Police Arrest 30 at #O... · 0 replies · +1 points

We tried to recall Mayor Sam Adams, twice. HIs supporters pulled dirty tricks like going to businesses to "collect" our signed petition forms, so we didn't have enough signatures to get it on the ballot. In any case, he knew better than to run for reelection; Commissioner Randy Leonard, the power behind the throne, is also retiring; and many of us who genuinely like Amanda Fritz are tired of her nonsense. So we have a good chance to see a much-improved city hall voted in next year.

12 years ago @ Big Government - Police Arrest 30 at #O... · 1 reply · +3 points

It's actually more to do with our weak system of government. It's easy for everyone to evade responsibility when there's no "here" for the buck to stop.

12 years ago @ Big Government - Police Arrest 30 at #O... · 5 replies · +12 points

As a Portland resident, I can tell you, we're tired of Occupy Portland and want them to leave, but only two members of our city council are with us on that, in spite of the fact that they've done $18,000 damage to the two parks where they're camping, cost the city $186,000+ (so far) in police overtime, left trash to pile up, made a mess in some local businesses' bathrooms, vandalized and stolen from others, and chased away customers.

The rest of the city council "have supported the protest 'despite a storm of criticism from nearly every economic class within and outside of Portland,'" said Councilman Randy Leonard (in The Oregonian), and my question at this point is, Why? Why are we allowing this clearly illegal activity to continue? Since when is camping in public spaces a First Amendment right?

This part of downtown Portland is already full of empty storefronts, because shoppers were chased away by aggressive panhandlers that the city has failed to police. We're all just hoping that the upcoming elections will give us the chance to make a clean sweep of city government. We're a soft-hearted bunch and we're willing to do a lot to help get health care and other services to the chronically homeless, but Occupy Portland has finally exceeded our limits.

12 years ago @ Breitbart.tv - #OccupySanDiego Media ... · 0 replies · +38 points

Dear Officer Alan Pollok (sp?) Thank you for that impressive display of patience. You're a credit to the SDPD.