Friday, June 17, 2011

Crushable

Crushable

LOLJerseyShore: Captioning The Gang’s Last Night Out in Florence

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 10:50 AM PDT

The Jersey Shore gang came, they saw, and they probably didn’t conquer. They’re filming their final scenes in Florence, and we have helpfully provided some loltastic explanations of what they were doing.

But wait! There are more…

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

LOLJerseyShore: Captioning The Gang’s Last Night Out in Florence

‘Teen Mom’ Farrah Abraham Would Like to Talk To You About Human Trafficking

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 10:05 AM PDT

Crushable Presents: Popper Minus the Penguins

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 09:44 AM PDT

Garfield Minus Garfield is Dan Walsh‘s brilliant webcomic that characterizes Jon Arbuckle as a lonely and depressed suburban guy through the simple act of digitally removing Garfield from the comic strips. With GMG in mind, we got to thinking about Mr. Popper’s Penguins, the upcoming Jim Carrey adaptation about a man who inherits a bunch of goofy Antarctic birds. What if the penguins were never really there? Is Mr. Popper simply a man struggling against schizophrenic delusions? What if his bizarre acts are completely unjustified by the existence of a flock of wacky ‘guins? Hollywood, we assume our check is in the mail.

“This is how I walk down my hallway. Like this! Hey, guess who I’m on the phone with? God! He says hello. In Swahili.”

“The world is my ice skating rink. I’m in the Olympics. People are throwing bouquets of roses at my feet. And now, if you’d excuse me while I got attack Nancy Kerrigan.”

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

Crushable Presents: Popper Minus the Penguins

Am I Right Ladies? Dust Off Your Daddy Issues

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 09:10 AM PDT

But we just recovered from Mother's Day, amirightladies? Well, the Gregorian calendar says tough luck toots, tell it to someone who cares. Spoken like a true man, Greg(orian). But what do we do when life hands us lemons? We make lemontinis and get wasted with our girlfriends! Or our cats. So suck up the hardship and suck in your stomachs, it's time to honor the man singly responsible for all our terrible relationships.

And what better way to get gift ideas for dear old dad than by looking at some dear old ads? #GailedIt.

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

Am I Right Ladies? Dust Off Your Daddy Issues

Fan Service: Why Can’t Fans and Creators Get Along When It Comes to Fan Creations?

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:45 AM PDT

Lionsgate’s legal department has shut down two of the biggest Hunger Games fansites, Hunger Games Tesserae and Welcome to Panem. As you might remember from a few months ago, these sites were what really spurred the fandom into action (right before all the casting announcements) by sorting users into one of the twelve districts, putting in their names for the Hunger Games, and sending cryptic messages from the capital. We had suspected that Lionsgate was running some sort of ARG (Alternate Reality Game — a great way to build buzz and draw in new fans), but it’s clear now that these sites, though ARGs, were fan-run.

The Gamemakers in charge of the two sites got in touch with the head of The Capitol Is Watching, another in-character site, and explained the situation:

The take down is not in-character and in fact, very much a surprise. They have no idea if they are coming back and they are waiting to hear from Lionsgate's legal department. They'll keep me updated on the issue, and in turn, you guys. This was a very sudden event and they were NOT anticipating it at all.

While I’m not a huge roleplayer, it’s fun to go along with this game and to witness people getting immersed in Suzanne Collins‘ world: Declaring district loyalties and planning to overthrow the Capitol. We even had the Mockingjay, the symbol of the Panem rebellion, call in to the Fireside Chat one night. It’s harmless fun, so why do the studios need to clamp down on it?

Maybe because they think that fanon (fans’ opinions on or additions to canon material) is infringing on intellectual property or dilutes the brand. Perhaps Lionsgate, like J.K. Rowling with the Harry Potter encyclopedia, was planning its own Hunger Games simulation and thought that fans were stepping on its toes.

The thing is, in most cases, any ARG or promotion that comes from a studio is going to feel canned and more like an advertisement than a game. The exception, of course, would go to the Cloverfield ARG, which was either J.J. Abrams‘ direct doing, or something that his team hired an outsider to produce. The deliciously cryptic clues in posters and trailers and on websites inspired the creation of Cloverfield Clues, an entire site dedicated to puzzling out the mysteries of Abrams’ monster movie. Never did his people or the studio try to shut down the site; they coexisted nicely and complemented each other, ultimately making the moviegoing experience so much more fun for the fans who had been along for the ride for months beforehand.

Unless they’ve hired fans, Lionsgate’s viral marketing can’t rival the #panemoctober craze that’s been sweeping Twitter and Tumblr. Here’s hoping they come to their senses and restore Hunger Games Tesserae and Welcome to the Capitol — if only because inquring minds want to know what the hell is happening in October!

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

Fan Service: Why Can’t Fans and Creators Get Along When It Comes to Fan Creations?

Wow, Vanessa Hudgens’ Candie’s Ads Sure Are Offensive

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:59 AM PDT

Do You Pattersonize? Craigslist Ad Seeks Writer Who Can Rip Off James Patterson

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:48 AM PDT

New word alert: a New York Craigslist ad is looking for a writer who can “Pattersonize” a book. That would be a reference to James Patterson, the bestselling author of books like the Women’s Murder Club series. The ad is looking for someone who can take existing – and presumably unpublished – novels and turn them into Patterson-style bestsellers:

Do you understand pattersonization?

James Patterson has sold over 200 million novels–more than Stephen King, John Grisham and Dan Brown combined–largely because his brief, open, explicit style mimics popular TV.

It’s so easy on the reader.

Help us pattersonize our novels–editing, punching up the prose–cutting to the core of the emotion.

$5 to $10 per page, quality–revisions required–dependent.
More than 2000 pages existing work to be edited at present.

If you’re an aspiring author who is interested in doing this kind of literary bitch work, here are a couple of ways you can Pattersonize something:

  • Make every chapter one page long
  • Write incredibly cringeworthy sex scenes
  • At least half the book should be from the killer’s perspective, and feel free to use generic pronouns to keep the killer’s identity “a surprise”
  • Switch tenses repeatedly
  • Keep titles short so they can fit in size-92 font on the cover of a book

[Via Marty Beckerman]

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

Do You Pattersonize? Craigslist Ad Seeks Writer Who Can Rip Off James Patterson

Gary Shirley Set Up An Email Address for Amber Portwood Following Her Suicide Attempt

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:22 AM PDT

After troubled Teen Mom star Amber Portwood tried to kill herself earlier this week, she and on-again boyfriend Gary Shirley were being inundated with Twitter messages of support or people asking how they could help. Gary took some time out of his busy T-shirt hawking schedule to set up an email address just for people who want to send their support to Amber. That email address, thinkingofamber@gmail.com, is being checked by Gary, who will give Amber some of the messages to read as she gets better.

Here’s the thing: I despise the way that Amber has behaved and treated people on camera. She lost custody of her daughter, and she has no discernable skills other than being a bitch on TV. But depression is a real thing, and suicide is never something we should laugh at. So, thinkingofamber@gmail.com, here’s what I’m thinking: I hope you get better, and I hope this experience affords you some time to reflect on what your life has been like so far and come up with ways to improve your life as well as that of your beautiful little girl.

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

Gary Shirley Set Up An Email Address for Amber Portwood Following Her Suicide Attempt

J.K. Rowling Is Possibly Planning a Pottermore Brand and/or a ‘Harry Potter’ Encyclopedia

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:39 AM PDT

When we theorized yesterday about what J.K. Rowling‘s Pottermore website and June 23 announcement could be, commenter Carolynn suggested two very convincing possibilities: What sounds like a brand encompassing books, playthings, games, and even an online forum; and the long-awaited Harry Potter encyclopedia. Let’s tackle these in order.

Carolynn led us over to Trademarkia, to the discovery that Warner Bros. has trademarked the term Pottermore, with intent for using it for advertising and communications but also specifically Christmas decorations, photos, bookbinding, and even scientific tools. Here’s the quote that Carolynn found on Facebook, that most interests us:

Providing multiple-user access to a global computer information network; providing on-line chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among users in the field of general interest; providing on-line communications links which transfer the web site user to other local and global web pages; providing on-line facilities for real-time interaction with other computer users concerning topics of general interest.

I’ve heard rumors that Pottermore would include an online community where fans can talk about the series and Rowling herself might even share some in-world content like short stories. Speaking of new bits of canon, the other theory is that Rowling is finally debuting the Harry Potter encyclopedia that she’s been working on for years.

According to the Potter wiki, Rowling has always staked her claim on this project, even though she needed some time after the last book came out in 2007 to simply get over the exhaustive process of writing all seven books. In 2008, she took legal action against fans who had been compiling their own, unofficial encyclopedia, though the site doesn’t say which fan project this was.

There seemed to have been an encyclopedia housed at MuggleNet that’s since been taken down, but there’s also the Harry Potter Lexicon, which includes an atlas of the wizarding world, a potions guide, and and even a section on Muggle studies. It seems to be more of an in-world piece of fan literature, while Rowling’s is supposed to exist for the fans, outside of the world of the books. The encyclopedia will allegedly include steps for making a Horcrux, the process by which Peter Pettigrew transferred Voldemort into a new body, and other explanations.

So there you have it: Two more theories to chew on until early morning of the 23rd.

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

J.K. Rowling Is Possibly Planning a Pottermore Brand and/or a ‘Harry Potter’ Encyclopedia

Mark Your Calendars, ‘Spinal Tap’ Fans, 11/11/11 Is Nigel Tufnel Day

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 07:55 AM PDT

Turn it up to eleven! A bunch of people have decided that November 11, 2011 (aka 11/11/11) is going to be Nigel Tufnel Day in honor of the This Is Spinal Tap character played by Christopher Guest. A Facebook group has been set up for supporters, if you want to show your appreciation – or just make sure that it’s on your Facebook calendar.

Miniature Stonehenges are not included.

Related posts:

Post from: Crushable

Mark Your Calendars, ‘Spinal Tap’ Fans, 11/11/11 Is Nigel Tufnel Day
Brought to you by: at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)