Here’s a clip of the most recent episode of The Cleveland Show. The point here is not the relative merits of Family Guy or American Dad! versus this MacFarlane project, but this clip is a classic rule of three with a nice button at the end.
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Filed by Lance at 2:45 pm under General, Pop Culture, The Arts, The Media
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I’m gonna say it up front: I have no idea who this blog’s audience is. It is entirely possible that we have NO audience, and that the hit counter is just making shit up so that we don’t fire it.
That being said, I still take it as bad news that teenagers and pre-teens are reading fewer and fewer blogs these days:
In light of the fact that it’s going to get harder instead of easier to pull an audience, I think it’s time to ask myself: what do I want from this blog?
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Filed by Bil at 8:01 pm under Love, Pop Culture, Religion, Shameless Plugs, The Media
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Let’s be honest; this is not an industry blog so much as a personal blog with contributors who happen to be part of the Chicago theatre community. As such, this is not really the place for theatre reviews. It’s inappropriate, especially when friends and peers are involved, because nobody asked me for my criticism and it’s a public article for anyone to see. Even if I wrote only positive reviews, one could infer by the absence of a review of a show they know I attended that a negative opinion existed. So, generally, I will happily see a show and then happily keep my online mouth shut.
However, every so often a show will blow my mind just enough that I can’t shut up about it, so I tend to break my own rule here. My apologies in advance if there’s anyone out there who was NOT a part of Awake and Sing! at Northlight Theatre. I mean no offense to the rest of you.
In a nutshell: go see this play. See it as soon as possible.
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First things first:
Click to help bring an independent film to theatres!
I want to say right now that I don’t know any of these people. I have only a vague idea of what the movie is about, and I have absolutely no idea at all if the film is any good. However, this is just such an ingenious marketing idea that I want to see it succeed. If nothing else, it’s an interesting experiment in the usefulness of social media and internet marketing.
Building off of that, I want to turn your attention now to an earlier blog post from this same blog:
Must Filmmakers be Businessmen?
One of the ideas that drives me to marry entrepreneurism with my creative interests is the observation that studios are becoming so risk adverse, that the rewards of producing original content will soon be exclusively in the hands of individuals with the vision and the cajones to take the risk on themselves.
According to this article in the Hollywood Reporter, the same is becoming true in the distribution market - even for wide releases!
This process will only continue, as shareholders drive the studios into more and more conservative investments and social media changes the marketing landscape. What we’re seeing now is only the beginning.
Filed by Bil at 8:08 pm under Fightin' Words, Shameless Plugs, The Media
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Tip Your Waiter has the good sense to organize itself as an RSS feed. Some other groups, like New Colony, have an RSS feed built right in to the main page of the site, and broadcast news and information regularly. I’ve been wondering, though, if there’s an easy way to keep in touch with other groups on a regular basis. There are so many groups in Chicago to keep tabs on, some of which don’t regularly send out newsletters or don’t publicize smaller events as heavily. In a busy environment like Chicago, there’s a lot of stuff that gets glossed over if it isn’t screaming for attention.
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Filed by Lance at 10:59 pm under General
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Well this is just incredible:
For 5 days, 5 Journalists will only source news from Twitter and Facebook to test quality of news.
This is bound to be a fascinating little experiment, and I am eager to read the results.
>> Update: you can follow the journalists here.
Speaking of breaking news via Twitter, I’ve been sitting at my computer for like half an hour now just watching the real-time tweet feed come in on the Prop 8 trial in California. For all of you on Twitter, just search #prop8 (or click this link) and sit still for ten seconds. You’ll see. They won’t stop coming.
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Filed by Bil at 10:20 pm under Fightin' Words, Homophobia, Politics, The Media
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Coming off of the artistic high of Infamous Commonwealth’s marvelous 24-hour fest at the Vittum Theatre down in Wicker Park this weekend, I find myself once again at odds with technology. The organic flow of creative thoughts and human connection has ceased, and in its wake you see me, here, struggling to find a way to get the massive video file condensed into a web-appropriate file size and uploaded for the general public’s pleasure.
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Filed by Bil at 8:36 pm under Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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If you haven’t already donated money to help Haiti (or even if you have, but want to donate more), I recommend one of two things:
A) Text the word “HAITI” to 90999. This will give $10 to the Red Cross. The $10 will show up on your cell phone bill. You’ll probably never even notice the $10, but every little bit will help get them through this disaster.
B) Go to the We Can Build An Orphanage homepage (http://wecanbuildanorphanage.com/) and follow the links to donate. This is a charity that was already in the process of building a home for AIDS orphans in Haiti when the earthquake hit.
If you’ve already helped Haiti and are now looking to help yourself, I strongly recommend the INFAMOUS COMMONWEALTH THEATRE’S 5TH ANNUAL 24-HOUR PROJECT going on Saturday night (the 16th) at 8 PM. I will be one of four playwrights on the bill, and Trevor will be one of the musicians. The theme is REDEMPTION, so this will probably make you a better person if you come and watch it.
Saturday, January 16, 8PM
Vittum Theater
1012 N. Noble St
Tickets are $20 (student discount available).
Call 312-458-9780 or email info@infamouscommonwealth.org
for ticket reservations.
Filed by Bil at 12:40 pm under Love, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Ordinarily, I don’t like to post articles here on tipyourwaiter.org unless I feel that I have something of accessible importance to say, or else when I have a show to promote.
But this is just too magnificently geeky to pass up. One of my favorite aspects of my young life (prior to college) was my time in marching band. And one of my increasingly favorite bands, coincidentally hailing from my current home city of Chicago, is OK Go.
Like Voltron, these two separate elements have fused together to create an ultra-powerful super-robot of a music video. Behold…
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.
Filed by Bil at 1:27 pm under Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Nothing flavors a meal quite like your waitress delivering your food to your table, checking to see if you need anything else, then making a beeline for the bathroom while muttering a little too loudly to herself that she’s going to weigh three pounds less by the time she comes out of there.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Start the year right for us, Little Dragon:
Filed by Bil at 10:19 am under Shameless Plugs, The Arts, The Media
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