Archives: October 2007

In today’s Morning Call Time, Bob Yari and Nicolas Cage get tangled up with the Police, James Vanderbilt gets caught in Spiderman 4, and Jerry Buckheimer tries to get pucked in Vegas.

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An open letter to “Hollywood,” published on the site hollywoodscabwriter.com introduces “Hollywood” to Alex Perez, a supposed screenwriter who is pledged to “helping Hollywood in its time of need.”

It’s funny stuff … at least, we hope it’s a joke.

Wired EIC Chris Anderson posted his own list of ghouls–his Outlook blocked list. The addresses of those who sent him unwanted press releases, added his name to distribution lists, and so on are all posted, although we didn’t see Shirley Fitzpatrick who regularly tries to entice us by promising:

she will love a massive meat in her back door!

Commenters range from innocent photographers who bought some list from a shady PR service to outraged public relations professionals.

Cyrus Afzali, commenting in the mb.com forums, suggests:

A good compromise to me would be if he’d publish a complete index of every correction Wired ever issued.

Tyra Banks is expanding her brand. If that doesn’t send you screaming from the room, you must be a network exec. or a zombie. (See above.)

She’s got a deal with Warners Television to develop scripted television (as ANTM isn’t written, remember?) and more reality ventures with Warner Horizon. She will also move into film, working on direct-to-DVD projects for Warner Premiere including adaptations of the Clique series of teen novels which will be produced with Alloy Entertainment.

Just to make sure that she won’t die penniless, Tyra also has a series development pact with The CW, which is half-owned by Warner Bros. which includes both scripted and non-scripted projects. Laura Armstrong is joining Bankable as VP/Development and Production and Bradford Sisk moves up to to VP/Production.

FBLA wants to like Tyra, but face it, she’s in need of a good long rest. Her treatment of Ebony on ANTM was dreadful.

Regina Schrambling, the LA Times Food section’s favorite freelancer, turns in another not-about-LA piece. Today’s treat is how to be a food blogger, with no coding or cooking experience required. You don’t need a sense of humor or story, either, judging by the results.

Schrambling’s own blog can be furious and funny, but the SoCal suburbanites must not deserve her real writing. Maybe her LAT editors have never read any of her other work, and this is her best stuff.

While her story isn’t as trite as it might be, it’s pointless–she learns how to download photos, sort of.

The Food section used to be one of the gems of the paper, and editor Leslie Brenner seems determined to erase all memories of past glories–maybe she’s figuring if she can’t duplicate the successes of former editors, at least she can put her own stamp on on the flabby, nearly lifeless form.

And we’re not alone in our dismay at Schrambling–The Knife agrees.

Want Fries With Your Funny? Reporter Robert Welkos surfs YouTube and finds this gem — laugh while you still can.

Robert Goulet died: From the obit: “The strikingly handsome singer with the rich baritone who soared to stardom on the Broadway stage in 1960 playing Lancelot in the original production of the hit musical Camelot, died Tuesday morning. He was 73.”

All Together Now: This weird little page packages together a bunch of loosely related Halloween stories. We could see how this would work for, say, fire coverage. But Halloween? Nice trick, but it’s no treat.

Hyperfactory, the mobile marketing company, is getting a boatload of cash from former president of Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Television Group Rich Frank (not to be confused with Frank Rich, who, we’re guessing, doesn’t keep cash by the boatloads).

No one is saying how much money Frank is giving Hyperfactory, but it’s apparently enough to help the company launch an entertainment division aimed at record labels and film and TV studios, according to Online Media Daily.

“This is a strategic move on our part as an indicator of one of the new areas we’re going into, and where we see the [mobile] space headed,” says Hyperfactory CEO Derek Handley. Previously, the company worked indirectly with entertainment brands and talent via Madison Avenue; now it will now seek to partner directly with Hollywood.

So, if you get in a car wreck because some jackass couldn’t take his eyes off the Hoobastank video on his iPhone, you know whom to blame.

*Photo stolen from picturephoning.com.

The Huffington Post takes Jerry Seinfeld to task for doing Bee Movie cross-promotions with McDonalds, all while shilling his wife’s supposedly “healthy” cookbook.

Indeed, Jerry. Who’s the marketing genius that came up with that one?

Win two tickets to Damn Yankees for opening night November 6th at the Freud Playhouse on UCLA’s campus.

Be the first with a correct answer to this question:

Damn Yankees, the musical, is based on what novel?

A middle aged man finds himself endlessly frustrated that his beloved LA Dodgers are constantly thwarted by those….well, damn Yankees. In desperation, he makes a deal with the devil to sell his soul in exchange for becoming a youthful baseball star, who is quickly adopted by the Dodgers.

This production, presented by Reprise! is directed by Jason Alexander. Tony Award winner Cleavant Derricks stars along with Meg Gillentine, Jackee Harry, Lesli Margherita, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, Ty Taylor and Lillias White.

Tickets available at Ticketmaster.

CNN is launching a virtual news bureau on Second Life. Reuters uses a real journalist/avatar on the site, but CNN is extending its i-Report concept by asking Second Life residents to contribute news, photos and videos. CNN-branded kiosks will be scattered throughout the community, so avatars will never be far away from their news fix. And user generated content may be supplemented with advice from CNN personalities such as Larry King, who looks like an avatar in meatspace.

Do avatars report fake news? Isn’t an avatar already user-generated? Isn’t Second Life kinda over?