I think for a lot of you, panel two will be worth the price of admission alone. But let’s keep our eye on the ball here, people! Kangaroo Jack was the number one movie in the country last weekend! WHAT HAPPENED?!

I swear, you go away to Minneapolis for ONE weekend…

Honestly, I about dropped a stone when I read how this dung heap stole the top spot in box office. $17.7 million dollars in three days. That’s pretty good by anyone’s rule book. Just think of all the quality films that will never see that in an entire theatrical run. The Pianist, for example. Right now, Jerry O’Connell is somewhere laughing at all of us.

I’d like to think people paid good money for this dreck because there was some sort of national amnesia that prevented consumers from remembering other celluloid turkey’s from “Down Under”. The faint recollection of any Paul Hogan movie should have jolted any sensible movie-goer into screaming out of the theater.

Maybe ol’ George Dubya is spiking the water supply in preparation for war with Iraq. This weekend was just a test run to see how well the masses follow orders. Just now I can picture television sets across the nation broadcasting hidden subliminal messages behind an episode of Friends.

“You will see Kangaroo Jack. You will enjoy this fine piece of cinema.”

At this point, all I can muster is a sick shudder.

In other news…

I decided to update the poll there in the upper right hand corner of the blog. In our previous poll, I asked “What Do You Like Most About Theater Hopper?” Of the 153 of you that replied, a whopping 73% like the strip the most. 8% like the blog, 7% like the consistency, other 7% liked the writing, 3% enjoy “other” (care to elaborate?) and about 1% like the art – which is kind of redundant if you like the strip.

The remaining options – the reviews, bonus material and about page – all raked in a fraction of a percent. Meanwhile, the lonely links section scored a big goose egg.

I wasn’t really expecting anyone to say that the links section was their favorite part of the site. So maybe it would have been more scientific to inquire what you like LEAST about the site. It would also seem to make sense that I would run that poll today so I’d know where to trim the fat off of the site. But I’m not doing that, because that would be predictable.

What I was most surprised by was how much writing and consistency was valued. To say you like “the strip” sort of implies that you like the whole package. But to say you appreciate the writing or the consistency says “These are specific aspects of the strip that I value. I want more of this!” So that’s something I’m going to stick to over the long haul.

In regard to the new poll, I’m beginning to explore revenue-earning options. The site is at the stage now where I feel we have a pretty strong following. I’ve exhausted just about every available resource in terms of making the site known to the public (trading links, crossovers, making my presence felt on message boards) and am thinking about producing some extra material for the fans.

How this will shape up, I don’t know. I can say that I like the way Penny Arcade does things with their Club PA promotion. Donate what you think is fair, and we’ll send you something extra. At this point, I’m just asking if you could donate, what would you like in return. Click the link beneath the poll for more information.

Thanks again for making this all worthwhile.