Disinfo Rehab

The din of idiocy surrounding the so-called "controversy" over the most popular video game on the market, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has finally reached a point I thought it could not.

It's bad enough we have Sen. Hillary Clinton trying to make herself over into a Paragon of Moral Values (this, a woman who had had ethics problems throughout her career) with her media-based crusade, but now we find out that some grandma is suing the company, claiming she was "misled."

Folks, it's time we took a look at this non-controversial controversy through the lens of Reason and Common Sense. For example, when one reads the story at Yahoo News, a key fact comes out that makes Swiss cheese out of said Grandma's lawsuit, and of much of the hoopla.

In this case, it seems the box, which had a big "M" rating, meaning "not for kids under 17" was ignored by Concerned Grandma, when she bought the game for her little grandson, Zutroy. Fun fact: Grandson Zutroy was 14.

Yes, you read that right. Moral Values Grandma was buying a game, loaded with violence, guns, and mayhem, with a big ol' rating that said "this ain't for your young 'uns under 17" for a 14-year old. I guess buying the kid a book, or say, a documentary from National Geographic was out of the question. Grandma got the kid what he wanted - and he wasn't old enough to play it. Hmm. I guess the parents were too busy to read the box, or pay attention to the game either, and take note of the violence. Oh, and he never downloaded the "patch" either.

And of course, here's the kicker: the much maligned piece of "code" only works on the PC based version of the game. Most youth of America play games on Playstation or Xbox or GameCube, so they can download the bit o' code all they want - it won't work on their game systems.

Even funnier, now that the game is "Adults Only," it has gone from being a game to be sold only to people 17 and older to...a game sold to people 18 and older. The fact that parents made this thing a best-seller amongst kids, buying this for them, without even bothering to read what the hell it was they were buying, I guess makes it tough for the li'l ones to make a decision about whether God would allow them to read this. Where's the stadium church when you need it the most???

It's time for assorted partisans of all stripes. politicians, judges, and government regulators to take a healthy dose of Clue Pills and shut up. If parents are too stupid to read a label that says "don't buy it for kids under 17" then they should not. If the media would point out the technical speficics how this can't be hacked on a Playstation, that would help. But I suppose with another Clinton forcing herself on us as our next president (which is about as likely to happen as Saddam Hussein being elected President), we'll have to endure a media hyped crusade that will hurt an American company, and lead to more regulations of our personal lives.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to forgo rent this month and buy 1000 copies of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, just to piss Hillary and the conservatives off. Even though I don't own a game console, a PC, or really play games, I don't care. Heck, I'll drive around town giving them away to adults, 18 or older, just to really get the Nanny-staters' panties in a knot.

For more information on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, consult your local library, or read Maddox's take, from earlier this month on the issue.

One other thing: though not perfect, I did think BILL Clinton was a great guy, and had the fortune of meeting him twice. Nice guy, and back in the old days people got paid better. But it is just simply foolish to think that Hillary Clinton will be elected President of the United States in this universe. So her crusading to try and remake her image, all for the sake of More Power for Hillary, wrapped up in values, is really just plain sick.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

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Today (July 21st) marks the official Two Year Anniversary of my contribution to the great store of knowledge online. I suppose it'd be a bigger deal if I was a regular on CNN's "On the Blogs" crap-fest or was part of some great big media conglomerate (or wannabe conglomerate), but so what?

When I first started this, I really never thought I'd be keeping up with it for very long. I had just moved to Los Angeles with a vague sense of dissatisfaction with my then-current state of affairs, and wanted to live near the beach.

But after a couple of months I was getting bored, and I was getting more work as a writer. Which was fine, since that was what I programmed to do for my entire life, except for one thing: I hadn't worked as a professional writer in a while, and it was taking me too long to get my pieces done on time.

A friend suggested a "blog" as a way to get back up to my old speed and here we are, two years later. Back in 2003 a "blog" was a bit of a novelty - today the word "blog" is so overused, and the nature of "blogging", once a grassroots, informal network of folks offering their opinions for the hell of it, is now becoming a messier, less classy version of the media behemoths it claims to be against. The famous Maddox opines more thoughtfully than I do about some of the inanities of some bloggers - you can read that here.

A year ago I was still having fun with this site, as you can read here, but a year later a lot's changed. I'm finding myself less and less interested in debunking mythology and the BS we're getting jammed in to our living rooms every day by the mass media and the political system - the BS is too much, too fast, and frankly, I'm not as interested in it any more.

Plus, the nature of my work has changed. Whereas, I used to work as primarily a political consultant offering training and direct mail consulting, and spent a lot of time out and about, now I work primarily as a copywriter to other firms, and I'm also working in collaboration with award winning film director William Gazecki on a feature documentary about the Screen Actor's Guild, which has been a lot of fun to contribute to.

Had it not been for my brief stint helping out with a friend's SAG signatory production, Four Weeks Four Hours, last year in the hot desert (which you can read about here!) I might not have been able to work on this project. Just goes to show no effort put forth is wasted. And the movie came out OK too!

But I digress. I like in general the direction things are taking, as I enjoy the kind of work I do a lot more than having to deal with multiple, lazy, stupid politicians like I usually do. The only downside is that after a day of studying, reading, writing, and researching, I find myself less interested in sitting down for another couple of hours researching, reading and typing up a decent, non-craptacular blog entry.

So at this point I'm starting to re-think the whole concept of the site. I like publishing something online, if for no other reason than to make sure I stay on the first page of a Google search of my name. I do plan on offering some tools online for those who'd like to get involved in politics - a delayed announcement is coming next week. Really.

However, to make this something worth my time to invest in, and something worth anyone's time to read (vs. the zillions of crappy blogs, big and low budget, that are out there now), it's clear that one has to assess the changes in "blogging" and online publishing that have occurred so far, and try and look ahead and adapt and overcome as needed. If there is one thing I'm learning a lot about right now, it's the importance of being able to evolve, vs. staying stuck doing one thing for one's entire life, careerwise, or otherwise.

So if you've been reading, thanks, and if this is your first time, peruse the User's Guide and the archives, and I'm sure you'll find something you like. And if you've landed here from a Google via The Doofinator's office, all I can say is, you really should have listened to me two years ago. I would have worked for a lot less, and you'd not be in such a mess.

Oh, but that's another column.

PS: Feel free to make contributions via the PayPal Button on the left, or send cases of Schlitz Beer, or DVDs, comics, or other merchandise. Email me and I'll tell you where to send the loot!

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's no secret I've not been posting nearly as much as I normally did. Even as I approach my two year anniversary (!) on Journalspace, I'm finding that I'm really starting to lose interest in trying to comment and write on politics when all of the news is just so f_cked up. Every time I think we've hit a plateu in lying, groupthink, and the spectacular nature of lying and deception these days, something new comes along to top it. At this point, working on documentary films that have nothing to do with current events, or writing books on Anything Else starts to have a real appeal.

Take for example the latest in a string of fibs and obfuscations the People's Doofinator has been pulling lately. (The others have been in the headlines plenty - this is the latest!)

First it was the fibbing about the million dollar payments from the supplement advertisers - saying at first the money was going to a charity, then finding out of course it wasn't.

Now we find out the Governor is raising money for his PACs, and then taking money back to his personal pocket in the form of rent at his offices at 3110 Main St. in Santa Monica.

Sure, it's not "him" it's his company, Main St. Plaza, which is owned by The Doofinator, but I suppose Clinton/Bush-like hedging of rhetoric is the standard of politicians these days, so it's OK. And, as always there's a legion of folks who have the political discipline of the Soviet Politburo to defend these shenanigans because He's Their Guy.

Whatever. It'd be nice to think that the declining poll numbers for Doofinator, et al would mean that Californians are finally realizing it's time to take the circus tent down and find someone else who is less prone to lying and cheating to take office, but I would not bet on it.

However, if you, or your assorted friends, allies, and whatnots are tired of it, and would like to make a real stink about it, why not visit the Governor's restaurant and have a nice, good old fashioned hippie sit-in to protest the guy?

Sure, it's probably a surefire way to go to the can for a few days, but you'll at least know you made someone's day as miserable as the rest of ours. Or something.

Meanwhile, here's the Doofinator's "Death Star" on Main st. by my old house:

PS: I am getting all sorts of young people asking me about how to "get into politics." My advice - stay out of it. Unless you want to become an election law attorney. There are so few out there now, that if you were to specialize in election law, you'd make a fortune. Even if we had 10x the number of election lawyers, there'd STILL be enough work for everyone, and then some. If I was wiser when I was smarter I would have done so myself ages ago and saved myself a lot of hassle (and have a lot more cash in the bank as well). Sure the alka-seltzer bill would be high, but so would the Retire Early and Move to Panama fund.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While reading the Los Angeles Times politics section, I found this interesting article about the themes in Battlestar Galactica that touch on current events in a way unique to television programming of today.

It's worth a read, since it's a great way to acquaint yourself with this series, if you've not already checked it out, and also to see how people tend to project on to a piece of programming as much as the programming tries to project out.

Meaning, that there is a tendency today by people today, especially hyper-active partisans on all sides of any issue, to imediately "see" in a TV show what they want to see, regardless of the original intent of the author. People who want to watch a piece of sci-fi programming like Battlestar Galactica will immediately draw simplistic parallels to Our World of Today, and then start assigning blame or praise to the writers and producers, fitting their MoveOn or FoxNews pre-salted interpretation of world events.

(To be fair, I engaged in a wee bit of this myself for fun's sake last year when I wrote about the series beginnings, and about Gen. Wes Clark. It was fun and all, but I didn't make the mistake some of these fans do, and get all militant about things that do not exist!)

People are free to watch TV how they like, but I think doing so denies a viewer a chance to really see what it is the creators are trying to do. Plus it shows a simplistic thinking - i.e. "we" are the "Colonials" so therefore President Roslin is a 1 for 1 stand in for President Bush - which isn't really the way to watch something like this. (I had to grimace when I read that someone called it "The West Wing in Space" - that show is so pompous and overblown I literally get ill when I hear the theme music while flipping channels).

Better instead to enjoy it for what it is - a new kind of sci-fi that can address issues, but in an alternate continuum not bound up by the world of Today and Now, and a great way to develop solid characters and explore their actions and responses to extraordinary events. Such TV writing is not easy, nor is it common in an era of reality show dreck and methodic repetition of scientific terms set to bad rock music.

Which is why I'll be taping/watching/bittorrenting/whatever-ing the new series when it starts on July 15th. Woo hoo!

PS: I've had Comcast digital cable + Comcast OnDemand for 3 months now, and am going to write a review of my experience with the service vs. Netflix...If anyone out there has had experiences with Comcast, good or bad, I'd be curious to hear them. Send me a message if you've got any suggestions or comments. Just be sure to leave your name so I know you're a real person, and not a spam-bot.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite the fact I dislike large, faceless, hopelessly bureaucratic corporations like Comcast, SBC, Halliburton, the entire Health Care Industry, et al, who devote legions of troops to the cause of ripping off the consumer, I have a confession to make.

I like advertising. I like marketing.

Now, I'll qualify that. I don't like the majority of ads on TV, or at the movies, not because I dislike ads - it's because most of them are so dumb, and so useless, they just take up space in between things I want to actually watch.

No, what I like is smart advertising and marketing.

For me, I enjoy seeing the rare moments in advertising when someone in the industry figures out a new way to sell something old, or someone else finds a way to get the word out about something they like - and for a rare moment the corporate battle droids don't just step on it.

For example, while doing a Google search trying to find a Photoshop tutorial on how to convert existing photos into iPod style ads, I came across an old article in Wired Magazine about a home-brewed iPod ad that had its 15 minutes of prime time a while back. You can watch the ad at Wired or see it at a mirror site that is hosting it.

This is not the first time I've seen or heard of such a thing - the idea that someone Out There likes a product so much, they make their own homage to it. What's unique is that Apple didn't send a telegram to the Lawyer Brigade to shut the guy down.

Instead they let it go - and within weeks it was seen by thousands of people likely to buy an iPod. Best of all, they didn't have to spend a dime to get all sorts of good press about the iPod, or pay for ad space - the consumers did all the work themselves.

True, this was a fortunate case of someone talented enough to pull such a thing off - one can imagine the consternation of Apple if someone made something that, while meaning well, sucked. When you consider just how bad most ads are, though, one has to ask - could Joe or Jane Average do any worse than some of the mindless drivel we tune out thanks to the remote, TiVo, DVR, and DVD?

A more macro-level example of this concept is that of the "fan sub" movement devoted to bringing foreign programming to the US and other countries that otherwise might not get it. It's interesting to watch how American producers have responded to technological advances in distribution - rather than learn and adapt to a new model, they spend more time in court, and on attorney's fees, instead of figuring out new ways to get their product to people who want it, and get both themselves, and the writers, directors, actors and others paid.

For years now, enthusiasts of Japanese animation and other foreign language programming have been taking it upon themselves to acquire the latest programs, translate and insert subtitles in English (or other languages) and distributing them on BitTorrent and other networks. What makes these folks unique in the grey area of "piracy" is that they deal almost exclusively in programming that has not yet been licensed for distribution in their own country, thus making what they are doing somewhat illegal - but somewhat not illegal, if that makes sense.

Personally, I would never have discovered Samurai Champloo, now being shown on Cartoon Network, had it not been for a fansub group's original distribution of the series online. I now watch it on TV, and will most likely buy the DVD set once all DVDs in the series are released.

Likewise, there is no way I'd ever get to see the Japanese live-action drama GTO had a group of volunteers not started translating and posting said files. There is little to no chance this will ever see any sort of distribution in the United States, so the producers aren't losing any money with this stuff out there. More to the point - should they ever release this series on DVD, I'd be the first to rent it. Best of all, the producers did not have to pay a dime to tell me about it - and I'm already hooked.

Now, you'd think that as more and more people started doing this, the owners of said programming would hit everyone with lots of lawsuits. But as the technology advanced, and the increase in popularity of "fan subs" grew, Japanese media companies realized what they were dealing with.

Thousands of people were spending their own money and time putting out content, making a point of inserting in said video files that they were not to be sold, and in essence acting as a test market for their products in the US.

Japanese producers took note, and started to send people to conventions and fan clubs to promote their work. All they asked that once a series was licensed by a US distributor, that groups passing along the files stop, and for the most part, they do. Rarely does anyone get sued for putting out copies of video files they should not.

The rest is history. Go to Netflix or Blockbuster and see how many Japanese DVDs now for rent. Go to any chain bookstore, and see the 100s of Japanese comic books taking up shelf space. A whole new market is now available to Japanese producers, and all they had to do was come on over and put the stuff on the shelves, and it sells. Instead of spending money on the Lawyer Brigade, they spend money on bean counters, who now have more beans to count.

It's not perfect, and in any situation there are those who are dishonest, but let's be realistic - dishonesty and cheating people is something all sides of the entertainment industry engage in - there are no knights in shining armor in this business anywhere.

More importantly, there's an opportunity to hold off on the big guns of the Lawyer Brigade and think for a moment - in a world where people really want to see good quality programming, how do you find new ways to get it to them in the way they want, and do so in a way that is not ripping either a) the consumer b) the artists or c) the producers?

Surely there's someone out there who can put the pieces together, and make money for everyone. Or have American business schools beat any sort of creativity out of our MBA squads?

Perish the thought. What are yours?

PS: For a provocative read, check out this article that discussed the case history of Battlestar Galactica and its effect on SkyOne, SciFi channel, BitTorrent, and the world of broadcasting.

It makes for an interesting read. I'll say this - had it not been for a chance to see the show on BitTorrent, I would never have been able to see Season 1 aside from a few episodes. Now that I've seen it , I plan on watching it on cable this summer, and will buy the DVDs. I went from being a non-consumer, to a fan who has promoted the series here. And I'm not the only one.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

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