Tag: pulp media

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‘Finding Vivian Maier’

For some reason, last night, YouTube’s algorithm suggested a not-so-interesting video about a street photographer with whom I had limited knowledge. My watching some portion of the vid generated suggestions for others and finally the gem: Documentary “Finding Vivian Maier“, which I watched in its entirety this evening.

Quick backstory: A large portion of her collection of media—including more than 150,000 negatives, hundreds of undeveloped film rolls, audio recordings, and home movies—were auctioned in 2007; she had failed to keep up payments on a storage unit. Vivian Maier was an unknown, unpublished photographer at the time; she died in April 2009, following a fall, unaware that her street shots had started to draw attention after some were published on Flickr.

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When Comic-Con was Fun

San Diego Comic-Con is still six months away (July 25-28). Late last year, I missed the first chance for a 2024 pass and skipped the second opportunity. My attendance days long ago ended when the convention chose not to renew my press credentials (and when I was still a working journalist). Subsequently, I wasn’t (supposedly) randomly chosen to purchase a pass.

On this fine Thursday evening, for no particular reason, let’s peek at what was SDCC before the culturally woke put to sleep my interests in participating. The Con is gone, or at least as I remember it.

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Fatman Returns

In February 2014, a researcher from The Graham Norton Show contacted me about licensing one of my costumed portraits from San Diego Comic-Con 2010. She explained: “Our terms are all media worldwide for 5 years, and we would normally pay £175 (about $285) for these. We would pay upon usage of the image, and I would be able to let you know on Monday whether it has made the final cut of the show. If it is included, then we will arrange payment. Would you be happy with this?”

My reply: “I love the show, and, of course, you have my permission to use the photo—and the terms are agreeable. Can you let me know if the pic makes the cut and, if so, when the show will air?” The photo did indeed make the “final cut”, and I was paid for the privilege.

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When Did You Last Go to the Movies?

I can’t remember.  SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns pretty much squashed my movie-going, coupled with too-high ticket pricing. The theatre is pretty much always better than streaming at home, so to be clear: couch-potatoing isn’t my reason for abandoning an afternoon show.

I used Google Pixel 3 XL to capture the Featured Image five years ago today: Dec. 21, 2018. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 70, 1/50 sec, 28mm (film equivalent); 12:10 p.m. PST; composed as shot. This AMC is located at Westfield Plaza Bonita in National City, Calif.

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Not This Stingray But Another

To the owner of this Corvette, Stingray is a classic car. To me, it’s a kids TV show (circa 1964). Developed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the British sci-fi, underwater adventure combines sophisticated puppetry and models in a production style/technique known as Supermarionation. Stingray is a program most Americans of any age wouldn’t know, nor its contemporaries like Captain Scarlet or Fireball XL5—although the latter was broadcast on this side of the pond by NBC.

But many of these same people easily could know Thunderbirds, which popularity extended beyond the 1960s into the modern era, with several follow-on series and even a live-action feature film. As a kid, I watched all the Anderson Supermarionation shows. You might wonder how, seeing as I am American and, with the exception of aforementioned Fireball XL5, none of them was broadcast in the States.

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Herbie Wannabe

It’s called popular culture for a reason. I don’t recall ever watching any of “The Love Bug” movies and yet have absorbed enough osmotically over the decades to know the basics: Animated Volkswagen Beetle—with personality, no less. Road race. Clueless adult protagonists. Oh, perhaps most revealing: I am familiar with the vehicle’s number and racing decals.

So unsurprisingly, I immediately recognized the Herbie detailing of the Toyota Scion parked on a street in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, today. If I were going to pick a modern, non-VW, that is close enough to the vintage vehicle, this coupe compact would be near top of the list.

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Don’t Be Angry

San Diego Comic-Con commences with Preview Night, on July 19, 2023. Early buzz isn’t so much about what attendees will see but what they won’t. The Writer’s Guild of America is on strike and could be joined by SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors, as early as tomorrow.

In the midst of the mayhem, Hollywood studios suddenly are pulling presence from this year’s Con. The infamous Hall H, where some of the best panels and previews take place, is suddenly an unpopular presentation venue. Pick any number of reasons, among them: Nobody to be on stage for fans to gawk at; picketers parading placards outside the convention center.

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Bon Appétit!

In April 2016, I started to write “Why is Hollywood Obsessed with Viral Armageddon?” In June 2017, I shot a photo to illustrate the post, which wasn’t finally finished until March 2021—nearly a year after the World Health Organization declared  SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 to be a pandemic.

San Diego’s Museum of Us exhibit “Cannibals: Myth & Reality” must be ongoing because I came upon the same sign still in place six years later—as you can see from the Featured Image, captured using Leica Q2 Monochrom, on April 20, 2023. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/160 sec, 28mm; 3:23 p.m. PDT.

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The Mouse House

Almost every holiday, the residents of this house located along Campus Avenue in San Diego neighborhood University Heights bring out decorations galore. My wife and I passed by on Christmas Day. Walking on without taking a photo would have been absolute negligence. The Featured Image, composed as shot, comes from Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 10:17 a.m. PST.

I am not an overly enthusiastic fan of all things Disney. The Magic Kingdom lost its spell about the time I reached adulthood. That’s not a criticism. We all grow out of something.

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Some Things are Better in Black and White

In late-May 2022, we cut the cord for good—and for real—this time. Our first attempt was during June 2013, and we reconnected not long later. Streaming services couldn’t compare for video quality or, when aggregated, price compared to AT&T U-Verse. Each subsequent effort to cord-cut ended with the Wilcox household returning to IPTV or cable connection.

But recent launches of AMC+, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Paramount+, to name a few, along with content improvements from standard-bearers like Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix, make streaming not only appealing but overwhelming. There is too much content. We had opportunity to switch to a local, 5G wireless Internet provider—and ditched U-Verse at the same time. Now we’re cord-cutters in the purest sense since we no longer have wired Internet.

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Return to ‘Game of Thrones’

Over the last couple of weeks, I watched the original “Game of Thrones”, all eight seasons, streamed from HBO Max. My overall impression is much better—with respect to the final, tumultuous episodes that had many fans screaming loud criticism. Continuity is stronger storytelling viewed as a flow from first to the last—stark (no pun intended) difference during the final airing in 2019, when weekly nail-biting waits created so much anxiety and animosity about how the show runners chose to end a story that had advanced beyond the source material (In 2022, George R.R. Martin has yet to catch up the books).

I have two major complaints, though, and both are with the last episode. (Spoilers start here, so stop reading if you haven’t watched the series.) Jon Snow asks Tyrion Lannister about murdering the Dragon Queen: “Was it right? What I did. It doesn’t feel right”. Her death feels wrong. Whoever wrote the dialogue was right to ask the question. Daenerys Targaryen had overcome so many obstacles to reclaim the Iron Throne, only to have everything snatched away so carelessly by a wimpish hand. If Jon Snow had been a fraction of the man that Daenerys was woman, maybe the betrayal would have been better received—or better storytelling, if not at all.

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We Say Sad Goodbye to AT&T U-verse

The Wilcox family was an early adopter when AT&T U-verse arrived in our San Diego neighborhood in February 2008. The IPTV service came with 18Mbps DSL Internet, which we upgraded to 24Mbps in May 2010. During July 2014, we switched off the service in a cut-the-cord experiment that failed; we still needed wired Internet and streaming options turned out to be cumbersome and not cost-savings enough. U-verse returned until November 2015, when we tried all-streaming once more. But AT&T IPTV won us back, not long later.

In October 2017, we moved to a different apartment in University Heights, where seven blocks changed everything: AT&T offered 18Mbps Internet (rather than the 75Mbps we then had) but no U-verse. Cancellation was the only option and switch to competitor Cox. By June 2019, the company could deliver the previous Internet speed and IPTV. We gladly returned to being customers. At Midnight tonight, the relationship ends—and I feel nostalgic about the necessary change.