Sunday, August 10, 2008

Con Considerations

Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter agrees with me that the Comic-Con International oughta stay in San Diego, and comes up with some other good reasons why.

But I will quibble with one thing. I've been going to these cons since they began and watched them morph from primitive events where the attendees were all teenage boys and the big topic was who should be in the Legion of Super-Heroes. The con has turned into a place where major filmmakers and stars and writers and artists and the movers 'n' shakers of the entertainment industry converge, and the hall is full of adults and families and even attractive women. Isn't it about time we drop this stupid "geek" talk, like everyone there is sexually retarded and living in their parents' basement?

It's bad enough that every video news report trains its cameras almost wholly on the half-a-percent of folks roaming the halls in bizarre costumes. I mean, I understand that slant. It's the first and only approach that would occur to a really shallow, go-for-the-easy-story reporter...but I've largely come to expect that on the news.

What I don't get is why no one seems to have grasped that the real story is that the attendees aren't geeks; that they're the target audience for mainstream entertainment for all ages and probably a lot smarter and hipper than you'd find at the average shopping mall anywhere in this country. The comic book industry is catering to a more adult crowd and defining much of Hollywood's future...and journalists are recycling all the old jokes about Star Trek fans of the seventies not being able to get a date.

I'm not even sure what the word "geek" means in this day and age but it has something to do with being outta-sync with the tastes and interests of the majority. Which does raise the question of how long movies like Iron Man and The Dark Knight have to be Number Uno at the box office before it dawns on some people that it's all popular culture, emphasis on the word "popular."

• Posted at 9:09 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Here's thirty seconds of very odd animation...an anti-drug commercial produced by Hanna-Barbera around 1970. Do we think this caused any kid anywhere to hesitate one second before using drugs? I don't. It might even have made some think that drug use looks like fun.

• Posted at 5:07 PM · LINK

The Beat

Sergio and I were just over at the Farmers Market (this place), a great spot for lunch in Los Angeles. We were finishing our meals in the upper patio when we suddenly heard interesting, energetic music from below and wandered down to see what it was. Turns out it was a group called the Masanga Marimba Ensemble...a troupe of young folks who bang away on seven Guatemalan and Zimbabwean marimbas while one of them plays rather traditional drums. The Market had engaged them to play for a few hours this afternoon and they were quite wonderful, attracting a large crowd that stood there, clapping along and occasionally dancing to their infectious rhythms. During their break, I bought a CD that they had for sale. That's how much I liked them.

You can hear a few samples of them if you prowl around on their website and even order the same CD if you like what you hear. I'm going to keep an eye on that site to see where and when they're performing again.

• Posted at 4:36 PM · LINK

Before Bedtime

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday but I've been busy for about the last twenty-three hours. Got up at 7:30 yesterday, worked on a script for an hour. Got dressed and left the house around nine. Stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast and arrived at the funeral for my pal Greg Burson at ten.

It always seems odd to say that a memorial service was nice or well-done, but Greg's was. His two sons and his brother spoke. Gary Owens spoke. Greg's one-time agent, Jeff Danis, spoke. I spoke. Voice actress Sharon Mack spoke. Burson would have been amused that two voice actors who are often confused with him — Gregg Berger and Greg Berg — were both in attendance.

The service adjourned to the gravesite up the hillside. Getting from where we were told to park our cars, walking down a slope to the burial spot, looked to all like a plot by Forest Lawn to drum up business. One of the older woman there was thinking aloud that she should not bother trying to make the long, hard walk back up to the road. "Maybe I'll just stay here and let them dig me a hole," she said.

But she was in the caravan that then drove over to the Tam O'Shanter, a fine nearby restaurant, for post-funeral eats. Then I drove over, picked up my friend Carolyn, and we went up to hike around Griffith Park for a while. Then I took her to a Korean grocery store to buy vegetables and Miso. Then I took her home. Then I sped to my house to meet my contractor to discuss what men are going to do to my home in the coming weeks. Then voice actress Laura Summer came by to pick up a CD I'd made her of her work on Garfield. Then I drove over to a nearby hospital to see someone. Then I drove over to my mother's house, stopping at a Gelson's Market on the way. Then I drove back to the hospital to deliver something from Gelson's to my friend there.

Then I came home, sat down here to write and apart from food breaks (for me and to feed cats out back) and bathroom visits, I haven't done anything but work on a script and write this. I think maybe I oughta go to bed, don't you? Good night, Internet. See you in the morning. Oh, wait. It is morning...

• Posted at 6:42 AM · LINK