For a split second today I contemplated not posting. After all, coming up with witty things to say each day isnt' easy. However, something happened today that moved me to post because I know everyone will eventually ask my opinion, so here is my official stance on the Walt Disney Co acquiring Marvel Comics.
I think it's absolutely fantastic.
Trolling the message boards after the announcement today I was reminded there's a reason most comic book geeks are considered basement-dwelling virgins. It's because they resist change in a way that makes them seem as if though they have no true grasp on reality. The truth is if you think Disney's acquisition is going to result in the Avengers lining up for a first name roll call, you're quite frankly a moron.
Maybe it's a result of my marketing background but what I see is quite honestly one of the best opportunities for Marvel in a long time. The sad truth is with each passing year comic book readership dwindles as the average readership age continues skewing older and older with kids turning more and more to electronic devices. The average comic's price point doesn't help either with $3.99 being the norm and not the special edition exception. Close inspection suggests this is no longer a hobby aimed at bringing in new younger readers. And I'm one of those who argues comics can be made for all ages, but the truth is that to survive a business needs constant new consumers. Disney can help make that happen.
This is a company that has managed to infiltrate the farthest regions opening up countless distribution opportunities. There now exist possibilites for Marvel's characters to be available in areas where money just didn't allow before and I'm not just talking about countries. Let's face it Disney is more often accepted in places than the X-Men are, talk about being feared and hated, right? Oh yeah and a few years from now when other studios are no longer interested in licensing super-heroes, Disney will be able to keep our favorite heroes on the screen, whether silver or small. Creatively Marvel's also in a better position to foster it's lower selling titles that are more creative experiment than blockbuster seller.
Don't think I've forgotten about the House of Mouse. They stand to gain as much as the House of Ideas if not more in this venture. Thanks to smart mareketing on Marvel's end B.M. (Before Mickey), the share holders now collect the profit off the ventures and expenses of others. Fox and Sony push the movies, Disney gets a cut. Mattel stocks the shelves, Disney stocks their coffers. Not to mention the sheer beauty of making money off souveniers selling at their theme park competition.
All in all I see both companies reaping benefits of this union. Lest people forget that DC Comics is part of Warner Bros. and from cartoons to toys to movies it's a 30+ year strong marriage that's given both parties much to love in their joint account.
So I say welcome to the Marvel Universe Mickey, Donald, Minnie and the rest. Just one piece of advise, watch out for Norman Osborne ok? I'm pretty sure not even Disney magic could make that man pleasant.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Do You Have Change For a Dollar and Fifteen Cents?
Lately I haven't been much for going out. I could say times are tough or I'm just over going out, but the truth is I'm just plain lazy. I do love going out, but getting dressed, driving, paying for parking, fighting my way to a drink...ugh, it's enough to make me want to just blast the i-pod in my living room while creatively making drinks from the remnants of bottles from parties past.
With that said, I'd been itching to go dancing more than a tap dancer with restless leg syndrome (seriously, when did this even become such a big deal that to garner a name and a pill to boot!). So after getting gussied up, yes gussied, sometimes Wild West slang just works, we ventured to the land Bravo made me want to set ablaze, South Beach. Once there we made our way to quite possibly the coolest bar/lounge not only on Lincold Rd but all of South Beach. Buck 15.
Describing Buck 15 is to know it. Nestled atop Miss Yip's chinese restaurant this place can possibly accommodate 12 people comfortably. This of course translates into finding upwards of 300 people crammed together on an average night. Then there's the fact they've either no real discernible air conditioning or just can't be bothered to pay the electric bills because it is HOT in there. And not "oh it's a little warm in here sir I may just get the vapors" kind of hot. No, no, I'm talking "Holy Hell by way of a lava pit I think my blood may just be congealing as we speak where it not for the fact that our words turn to vapor as they hit the air."
And yet I completely love this place.
Aside from being a cardio class with liquor, which I understand is the actual description of most Bally's aerobics classes, the music in this place is phenomenal! Last night alone the mix ran the gamut from Blur, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gwen Stefani and The Cure. A truly ecclectic blend that brought out just as ecclectic a clientele.
South Beach isn't exactly known for complacency or uniformity, but when I find myself literally laughing myself into a fit, it's definitely the result of seeing a man just clearing 3'3" staring up a man easily 3 feet taller. And please note this was a shockingly short man, none of that weirdly proportioned midget stuff here, no sir. Then there was the Eastern European sounding woman who bumped into me for what I still think was the sole purpose of advising me that the next song was by Lisa Stansfield. Now I enjoy the spit-curled singer as much as the next guy but well, no it wasn't the next song was Kelis' "Milkshake." Damn her and her iron curtain tongue setting my expectations up only to be dashed!
While the night ended prematurely at about 3-ish, maybe it was the right time. After all there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Well, at least until the next time I get the hankering to sweat while dancing, which is always welcome...unless Richard Simmons is there.
That'd be weirder than an Eastern block, Lisa Stansfield loving non-midget.
With that said, I'd been itching to go dancing more than a tap dancer with restless leg syndrome (seriously, when did this even become such a big deal that to garner a name and a pill to boot!). So after getting gussied up, yes gussied, sometimes Wild West slang just works, we ventured to the land Bravo made me want to set ablaze, South Beach. Once there we made our way to quite possibly the coolest bar/lounge not only on Lincold Rd but all of South Beach. Buck 15.
Describing Buck 15 is to know it. Nestled atop Miss Yip's chinese restaurant this place can possibly accommodate 12 people comfortably. This of course translates into finding upwards of 300 people crammed together on an average night. Then there's the fact they've either no real discernible air conditioning or just can't be bothered to pay the electric bills because it is HOT in there. And not "oh it's a little warm in here sir I may just get the vapors" kind of hot. No, no, I'm talking "Holy Hell by way of a lava pit I think my blood may just be congealing as we speak where it not for the fact that our words turn to vapor as they hit the air."
And yet I completely love this place.
Aside from being a cardio class with liquor, which I understand is the actual description of most Bally's aerobics classes, the music in this place is phenomenal! Last night alone the mix ran the gamut from Blur, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gwen Stefani and The Cure. A truly ecclectic blend that brought out just as ecclectic a clientele.
South Beach isn't exactly known for complacency or uniformity, but when I find myself literally laughing myself into a fit, it's definitely the result of seeing a man just clearing 3'3" staring up a man easily 3 feet taller. And please note this was a shockingly short man, none of that weirdly proportioned midget stuff here, no sir. Then there was the Eastern European sounding woman who bumped into me for what I still think was the sole purpose of advising me that the next song was by Lisa Stansfield. Now I enjoy the spit-curled singer as much as the next guy but well, no it wasn't the next song was Kelis' "Milkshake." Damn her and her iron curtain tongue setting my expectations up only to be dashed!
While the night ended prematurely at about 3-ish, maybe it was the right time. After all there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Well, at least until the next time I get the hankering to sweat while dancing, which is always welcome...unless Richard Simmons is there.
That'd be weirder than an Eastern block, Lisa Stansfield loving non-midget.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Picking Up Where MySpace Left Off...
So the other day I was sitting at work as I'm wont to do for what feels like approximately 30 hours a day or so at times when I started mentioning to my delightful co-worker how I was feeling the jones to start writing again. She then suggested I start a blog, or rather continue one since I used to write pretty often on MySpace.
Which brings us to the here and now of it all. Much like, well at this point, everyone in the universe I've decided to cop a squat on my own lil' blog area. It's not going to change any minds, start any trends or create any degree of an uproar, but it just felt like time for me to put my unique perspective down on digi-paper. Particularly since Facebook is just all kinds of user un-friendly when it comes to things like posting blogs. Seriously, I'm still not 100% sure why we all decided to jump the MySpace ship so quickly in favor of the Facebook rocket. It's just too uniform really, I mean blue and white are nice colors and all but what if I wanna put a background of Sandy Duncan dressed as a milkmaid skiing down the Alps with Gorbachev? Depriving anyone's followers of that is just plain wrong bordering on sadistic if you think about it.
And as if some bizarre self-propelled carousel, that brings us back to this blog. No promises as to this being an actually entertaining blog, not that I'm un-entertaining there's pretty much a small island of people who'd attest to the opposite. Sometimes I'll be entertaining, other times funny, hell I may even be insightful, but I don't recommend holding your breath on that one since aside from having a cool name that could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Confucious and Plato, I'm way more apt to just make an observation about how all the female leads in Jesscia Simpson's "Private Affair" video end in the letter 'A' than I am to make some sort of world shattering pronouncement. Unless...that whole 'A' thing is part of a larger plan....hmmm
Basically, I'm saying thanks for reading this and I promise to make this cyber verbal road trip as fun as possible.
But I totally control the music selection, ok?
Which brings us to the here and now of it all. Much like, well at this point, everyone in the universe I've decided to cop a squat on my own lil' blog area. It's not going to change any minds, start any trends or create any degree of an uproar, but it just felt like time for me to put my unique perspective down on digi-paper. Particularly since Facebook is just all kinds of user un-friendly when it comes to things like posting blogs. Seriously, I'm still not 100% sure why we all decided to jump the MySpace ship so quickly in favor of the Facebook rocket. It's just too uniform really, I mean blue and white are nice colors and all but what if I wanna put a background of Sandy Duncan dressed as a milkmaid skiing down the Alps with Gorbachev? Depriving anyone's followers of that is just plain wrong bordering on sadistic if you think about it.
And as if some bizarre self-propelled carousel, that brings us back to this blog. No promises as to this being an actually entertaining blog, not that I'm un-entertaining there's pretty much a small island of people who'd attest to the opposite. Sometimes I'll be entertaining, other times funny, hell I may even be insightful, but I don't recommend holding your breath on that one since aside from having a cool name that could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Confucious and Plato, I'm way more apt to just make an observation about how all the female leads in Jesscia Simpson's "Private Affair" video end in the letter 'A' than I am to make some sort of world shattering pronouncement. Unless...that whole 'A' thing is part of a larger plan....hmmm
Basically, I'm saying thanks for reading this and I promise to make this cyber verbal road trip as fun as possible.
But I totally control the music selection, ok?
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