Archive for August, 2003
26 items.
Aug01
Alright, it’s the first of the month, and I want to put this up front and center:
PLEASE VOTE FOR THEATER HOPPER AT TOP WEB COMICS!
Last month, we climbed all the way up to number 11 and we were within a handful of votes to the Top 10. Let’s see if this month we can actually do it. I know you have it in you. As a matter of fact, why don’t you click that link above you right now and take care of it before finishing the blog. That’s it. Thanks.
To help increase our odds of crakcing the Top 10, don’t forget to come back on Saturday and Sunday to vote again. I would really appreciate it. Thank you for your support.
Anyway, onto the movies!…
So I’m taking another dig at American Wedding and what of it? Frankly, I think it’s one big gimmick that they’ve made a wedding between two of the characters the “finale” (yeah, right) of the franchise. It’s like something a soap opera would do – a cheap grab for attention to boost ratings. Or, in this case, ticket sales.
I got a lot of interesting feedback from Wednesday’s strip. There were several supportive e-mails telling me I nailed what high school is really about. I even got an e-mail from a guy who went to school with American Pie screenwriter Adam Hertz. He said apparently a lot of stuff in the first movie was true (excluding the pie) and that he hated high school, too.
There were some people who took me to task for my insecurities – basically attacking a movie for rekindling grudges. That’s fine. I just make the point that if you ever break up with someone and you hear a song on the radio that reminds you of them, chances are you aren’t interested in listening to that song over and over again.
Probably the weirdest reactions I got regarded the comments I made about lacrosse. Several people told me that where they’re from, it’s a big deal. Even a few people said their high schools didn’t have a football team, but had a lacrosse team. I guess it must be an east coast thing…
Frankly, none of this has changed my opinions about high school or the franchise. I still hate both as much as ever.
The sad thing is, I’ll probably go to American Wedding tonight. Cami is really interested in seeing it, and we haven’t been to the movies in a while, so I’ll probably just bite the bullet and go. I’ve got my fingers crossed, hoping it’s somewhat tolerable. Even though it’s cheap, the wedding gimmick might play closer to home for me. THAT was an event in my personal life I happened to enjoy a great deal, and don’t mind reminiscing over. I’m older, the characters are older. Maybe this time things will be different…
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First up, major props to everyone for helping put Theater Hopper into the TOP 10 AT TOP WEB COMICS! There are simply no words to express my sincere appreciation for your support. I put out the call, you guys answered. You rock.
Second issue. I saw American Wedding last night. It sucked. I didn’t laugh once. Stiffler was really getting on my nerves. Every time he popped up on screen, I keep thinking “He needs to take it from a 10 to a 5.” More on this later.
Lastly, I stumbled across a link to a LiveJournal site from my referral logs called Grammar Whores (replies and comments can be found here). Although complimentary to the comic, I’m basically being called to task for the horrible grammar and spelling in these blogs. In fact, the author goes so far as to suggest you skip reading these blogs altogether.
I’m calling your attention to this for a couple of reasons:
One. I happen to really enjoy these blogs and I think they are an important component to the site. They compliment the strips, and I think they’re fun to read. I don’t want anyone skipping over them if I can help it.
Two. Having your poor grammar and spelling pointed out in a public forum is a lot like someone telling you your fly is down at a big party or broccoli in your teeth when you’re meeting the President. It’s embarassing, it shouldn’t have happened, but there it is.
So here is what I propose. If you spot any spelling or grammar errors in these blogs, PLEASE NOTIFY ME. I would rather go back and correct it than have my stupidity hanging out on the internet for all to see. I think it’s important to be proactive about this. It’s far more effective than talking behind someone’s back.
Just so everyone understands how I work, I often don’t write my blogs until after I’ve completed the strip. I’ve probably been sitting at my computer for the last two hours doing so, and anything that comes out after that is usually very hurried and off the cuff – largely because I just want to go to bed.
Again, it shouldn’t happen that way, but there you go.
Let me know where we’re at, and the site will be better for it. Thanks.
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Just because it needs to be said; Thanks to everyone for helping to put Theater Hopper into the Top 10 at TWC!!!
It happened sometime over the weekend, and I am on cloud 9! You guys are too cool for words. Thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it. Let’s make sure we don’t slip down the list – be sure to vote every day!
The timing of this achievement couldn’t be better. Why? Because tomorrow is Theater Hopper’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
The whole thing kind of snuck up on me. I kind of wish I had something planned. But now that I’ve made myself aware of it, I’ve been re-energized!
I have a giant “to-do” list for the site that I am planning on taking care of soon. It includes an advertisement system, updates to the forum and new merchandise. I’d like to do some t-shirts, but pre-orders are going to have to happen first.
Anyway, I’m just saying that after kind of plodding along for a little while, I’ve got another shot of juice to keep me going.
Thanks so much to everyone who has helped me along the way. I never really thought I would make it to one year, mostly because I abandon these kinds of projects in favor of something new.
But the interation with people has made this so rewarding and I don’t want this to stop. For the first time, I really feel like I’m doing something that is communicating with a lot of people. I love talking to you guys, sharing ideas and debating with you. It is by far the largest perk of doing this site.
Thanks again. You guys are the best.
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Sometimes I get e-mails asking me for favors because people seem to think I have some sort of influence over people. But I figure it can’t hurt to try, so here we go.
It may come to a shock to some of you, but Disneyland has torn down the Country Bear Jamboree Playhouse in favor of a new attraction. One of my loyal readers asked me to pass out a link to an online petition to save the Country Bears. So here it is: http://www.petitiononline.com/savebear/petition.html
It seems odd that Disney would remove the attraction after just releasing a live-action movie based on it the year before, but there you go.
The other request I received was from Chris Cantrell asking everyone to check out Asylumantics. Chris is taking pre-orders for his very first book – “JOYGASM!” and it looks like it’s going to be really cool. You guys should be checking out Chris’ site anyway because it has great art and the writing is whip-smart.
But yeah, that’s everything. Karma points for the day secured! 🙂
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I don’t want you to think I’m vote-whoring, but I am very interested in keeping Theater Hopper in the Top 10 at the TWC. Yesterday we were at number 6 and today we are at number 8.
Please remember to VOTE EVERY DAY! Otherwise, this fantastic achievement will slip through our grasp!
Be sure to check back later in the day. I’ll have a few items I’ll be adding to the site…
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Today’s strip was stripped almost verbatim from a conversation Jared and I had at lunch earlier in the week. He wasn’t as blunt as he is in the punchline, but I could tell he was thinking it!
The strip might give the impression that I’ve grown tired of Samuel L. Jackson’s choice of characters or that I don’t want to see S.W.A.T. this weekend. Nothing could be further from the truth. I actually enjoy his performances a great deal. It’s fun to watch an actor who seems like he’s really enjoying himself.
Still, you can’t deny the observation. There seems to be less carefully crafted character work in his cannon post-Pulp Fiction than there was before it.
Sure there are some interesting stretches like The Red Violin or The Cavemen’s Valentine, but most of his mainstream work stays close to the Jules Winnfield template.
I wonder if a breakout role like that is more of a luxury or a burden? Does the public expect a certain level of outlandishness from Jackson having come to be familiar with him through that signature role? Is he anything like that in real life, or is he more even-tempered?
Either way, I enjoy watching him on screen and find him a fascinating actor. Much like Christopher Walken or Jack Nicholson, we let him get away with so much more because his charisma is more interesting to watch than anything he could craft on screen. It’s rare and a real treat.
I wanted to thank everyone again for keeping Theater Hopper in the Top 10 at TWC. I’m thankful we’ve been able to make it last. The competition has been really stiff the last few days.
I also wanted to thank all the people who sent me congratulations for Theater Hopper’s first year. Stepping back for a minute, it really is an accomplishment. But the thanks should go to you guys for being so supportive.
Brian Carroll from Instant Classic sent me an excellent piece of artwork to commemorate the occasion and it has found a home on the Bonus Materials page. You should really take a look at it. I’m very proud of it – mostly for what it symbolizes: The great friends I’ve made from doing this strip.
There are also three new pieces of fan art, sent in from a week or two ago when I was asking for guest strips. I ran out of spots to display them on the front page, but that’s not a reason to hide this work away from the public! All three strips are quality and appreciate the effort that went into every one of them!
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Did you know the forum recently accquired it’s 100th member?
Do you realize all the cool stuff you’re missing out on if you don’t sign up?
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Calling all PHP wizard! Theater Hopper needs your help.
I’m try to implement a script called AdMentor. It’s a handy-dandy administrative panel that will allow me to sell advertisements through the site. The people I sell ads to can then look at their ad statistics – how many impressions the ad has made, click throughs, how long the ad has been running and what not. If you’d like to download the script to view for yourself, it can be found here.
Anyway, I’ve set up a database through my server and I think I have everything hooked up correctly, but I’m still having problems.
View this page and try logging on with Username: administrator, Password: test. I get a funny error message am totally at a stand-still.
If anyone can help me, please contact me directly. If anyone has suggestions for replacement scripts, I’m interested in learning about those, too.
Thanks!
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I was kind of disappointed with how Wednesday’s comic turned out, so this time around, I decided to give the characters an actual environment in which to reside. It’s much better than having them float around in space with crazy shapes around them. I mean, it looks like I spilled a box of Lucky Charms over that last one! Geeze!
If you like the extra effort I put into today’s strip, maybe you can give me a little vote love? We seem to have fallen off the TWC Top 10 radar.
I fear Cami and I may have to flip a coin for our movie-going excursion this weekend. She wants to see Freaky Friday and I want to see S.W.A.T. I fear I’m going to lose because my sister-in-law has chimed in expressing her interest in Freaky Friday as well. Hmmm…
Either way the coin lands, I think it will all turn out okay. Both films are getting surprisingly good reviews. I happen to like Lindsey Lohan. She made that Parent Trap remake from a few years ago actually tolerable!
I guess I worry that if I don’t stand my ground for S.W.A.T., I won’t see it until it comes out on video. I lost the battle for Terminator 3 and still haven’t seen it. Shameful, I know.
Under normal circumstances, Cami and I would agree to disagree and see each other’s films over the weekend. But our Sunday dance card is already full. We’re volunteering at the information booth of our alma mater at the Iowa State Fair.
I don’t know what State Fairs are like where you come from, but around here, it’s a big deal. Last year, the fair had over 1 million visitors over a two week period. That’s a hell of a lot of deep-fried Snickers!
Anyway, we’re volunteering. Basically, we’ll be handing out information while wearing bright purple Polo shirts and applying fake tattoos to the foreheads of small children. Afterwards, we’re getting loaded at the beer tent and plan on tipping all of the cows at the 4-H tent.
I can’t think of a better way to spend the Sabbath!
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You guys know that I think you’re cool, right? Well, I do. And it’s time to start showing a little bit of that love.
Over on the reviews page, you’ll notice that I’ve posted not one but TWO movie reviews for your reading pleasure.
Just click the link and find out just how SEVERELY I hated American Wedding and The League of Extraordinary Gentelmen.
You’re so cool…
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