Comic Con update: Terra Nova, Piranha 3-D out of Comic Con 2010

With one week to go before Comic Con 2010, with each "Hallmark"-type announcement comes news of a panel cancellation. This time it's for the series Terra Nova and the movie Piranha 3-D.

Terra Nova is the much-anticipated 20th Century Fox TV and Brannon Braga (24, FlashForward) and David Fury (Lost, Angel) time-travel program favorite of fanboys that was set for debut at Comic Con 2010 in San Diego. But since production's not set to begin until September 2010, producers don't have footage to present to the San Diego audience next week.

But what is Terra Nova?

Terra Nova is a Steven Spielberg-executive produced series that takes place 100 years in the future and is about a family that travels back to the prehistoric era. A great high concept that's a loss for Comic Con 2010.

Piranha 3-D's elimination is due to a different set of challenges.

Apparently the footage Piranha 3-D producers were going to present was deemed "too hot" for Comic Con. More specifically, it was said to be and this is a quote "too racy" and not "family friendly" to the Comic Con San Diego audience. But the question is what was the "it" they were going to show?

According to FirstShowing.net it was described as "Girls Gone Wild" style footage, which means a lot of t-and-a.

But all is not lost.

There will be an "offsite" presentation of Piranha 3-D Thursday July 22nd from 10 PM to 11 PM at the Regal Horton Plaza (475 Horton Plaza San Diego, CA 92101) and a panel afterward according to MovieWeb.com.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Oakland Black Clergy group endorse Harland over Perata

UPDATE: Group has no endorsement according to Don Perata supporter Oakland Pastor Joe Smith.

Don Perata 

At an 11 AM Tuesday morning meeting at The Good Hope Missionary Church on Foothill, of some of the top black clergy in Oakland and the Bay Area, a group loosely called (as in there's no website for them) "The Bay City Pastors Union" endorsed Oakland Mayoral Candidate Greg Harland over the much better known former State Senator and Oakland Mayoral Candidate Don Perata.

Why?

Because, from an unnamed source, Don Perata reportedly said the wrong thing to a pastor who happened to be a high-ranking chairperson in the group. Greg Harland was there, and while he didn't expect it, he enjoyed the fruits of Perata's error.

The problem was that Don Perata was the invited speaker where Harland was in the audience and came at the behest of a friend. A reportedly surprised Perata barely shook Harland's hand.

Greg Harland

Perata spoke for 45 minutes. Harland, who was in the audience but recognized by one of the members of the group as also running for Mayor of Oakland, was invited to speak after Perata. Harland said to the group that since he wasn't the invited speaker, he would just say a few words. He talked for "about 30 seconds" according to the source.

After the talk, the group, which was originally set to back Perata, switched their choice to Greg Harland.

What does this mean? From the perspective of this space, the days are long gone where an African American group will sit down and just endorse a well-known elected official because he or she has a name or is a Democrat. Harland may be inexperienced at politics, but he's a nice, thoughtful, and very humble person.

Don Perata is a friend and always has been. But that doesn't stop this blogger from calling it as he sees it. Don's got to work for every vote in the Oakland Mayor's Race, and as if no one ever heard of him before. We're in a period of time where people, for various reasons, collectively seem to enjoy the fall of the powerful and well-known.

Unless that person's considered "one of the people."

Stay tuned.

Comic Con 2010: Hallmark Cards plans big roll-out at Comic Con San Diego

Hallmark Cards (yes the same company that made the birthday card you just bought) is planning a big presence at Comic Con 2010 and to celebrate its 100th anniversary. While not on the order of Futurama, Hallmark's Comic Con events are big in their own way.

According to their message, Hallmark Cards' "9ft. Hallmark hoops & yoyo walkabout characters" with the voice and animation talents of Mike Adair and Bob Holt were a massive hit at Comic Con 2009 in San Diego. So, Hallmark Cards is bringing them back for Comic Con 2010.

Hallmark will have two booths: #3850 and #2913

#3850 Hallmark Properties Booth
#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion Hallmark Keepsakes Booth

Wednesday, July 21
6 - 9pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)

Thursday, July 22
10am - 11:30am hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
3 - 5pm Maxine character appearance (#3850)
5 - 7pm Revilo artist signing (#3850)

Friday, July 23
9 - 11am Maxine character appearance (#3850)
11am - 1pm Revilo artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
5 - 6:30pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)

Saturday, July 24
10 - 11:30am hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
4- 6pm Asteroid Andy artist signing (#3850)

Sunday, July 25
10am - Noon Asteroid Andy artist signing (#3850)
ALL DAY FREE Rainbow Brite poster for anyone in Rainbow Brite costume(#3850)

Stay tuned for more information from Hallmark at Comic Con.

Comic Con 2010: “Futurama's" Matt Groening, David X. Cohen in San Diego

We're just one week away from Comic Con 2010 in San Diego, and with each day it gets more exciting. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, along with co-series creator and Executive Producer David X. Cohen and stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, and Phil LaMarr, will attend Comic Con 2010 in San Diego to talk about the amazing cult work that Futurama has become.

In 2003, Fox inexplicably cancelled Futurama after four seasons. But high late night TV ratings for reruns, and straight-to-DVD success led to Comedy Central picking up 26 new episodes.

But what is Futurama? It's creators describe it in this way:

"Futurama" follows the life of Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a pizza delivery boy who accidentally stumbles into a freezer on December 31, 1999 and wakes up a thousand years later. In his future home of New New York City, Fry goes to work for the Planet Express Intergalactic delivery company, where he befriends Bender (John DiMaggio), a booze-fueled robot, and sets his romantic sights on Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops who enjoys beating him up.

Given that description, Cohen's statement that "I think we had a lot of stuff to get off our chests" to MTV.com followed by the promise of good episodes to come will lead to an interesting Comic Con 2010 appearance.

Here's Futurama: Bender's Big Score Trailer, which has gained over 1 million views on YouTube:



Stay tuned for more Comic Con-related news here.

Lindsay Lohan is not dead: Rumor started from Wikipedia post By: Nikky Raney

Lindsay Lohan has been the victim of the most recent celebrity death rumor. While there have been two recent deaths within these past few days: Lindsay Lohan is not one of them.

There have been so many blog posts, tweets, videos and e-mails sent "confirming" that Lindsay Lohan is dead and urging all bloggers to post about it. The numerous e-mails from readers asking to post about Lindsay Lohan's death was astounding, because why would readers advocate covering a story that had no evidence.

(Screenshot of Wikipedia post taken from Earsucker.com)

So why cover it if it isn't true? There are enough blogs that have actually "exclusively" reported that Lindsay Lohan is in fact dead, that maybe a couple posts stating that this is a rumor will slip in there. Rechecking from minute to minute it seems like some blogs are DELETING the "exclusive" posts about her UNTRUE death. There are over twelve questions on Yahoo answers asking if Lindsay Lohan is really dead.

Now, without any interviews directly with Lindsay Lohan there is no direct proof that these are false rumors. How do these rumors begin? Well, sources are citing WIKIPEDIA for the finding out Lindsay Lohan's death.

(Screenshot from July 14 at 10:00 am. Google search: "Lindsay Lohan dead.")

Wikipedia also claimed the Rush Limbaugh was dead a while back. Wikipedia should not be used as a source to find complete accurate information. Wikipedia is not considered a credible or reliable source, and to be honest I see more magazines using Twitter as a credible source. There are quotes in Newsweek taken from tweets, and tweets are proving to be more reliable than Wikipedia.

What's even worse? People are using tweets from a FAKE Kim Kardashian Twitter account to justify this - the account doesn't even spell "Kardashian" correctly. Fact-checking and researching before clicking that "PUBLISH POST" button is important.

Never will Wikipedia be cited within a blog post from me - except in circumstances like this where Wikipedia is being exposed for its unreliability. So many readers use Wikipedia as a source for information, and so many believe that Wikipedia is truly reliable. Although there may be studies that claim Wikipedia is just as accurate as other web encyclopedias - the celebrity death rumors and inaccuracies that Wikipedia posts are more frequently discussed and misinforming.

Looks like The Future of Journalism is going to be expecting a post about CREDIBLE SOURCES and how to do research and find credible sources. This is crucial to journalism AND blogging, because bloggers become "citizen journalists," and people actually use blogs (and even Wikipedia or Twitter) as their [only] way to obtain news on a daily basis.

Maybe this post took over an hour to write, but that's due to the fact checking, looking for other sources to confirm, and making sure to get everything straight. It doesn't matter if this isn't the FIRST post confirming Wikipedia was wrong - it matters that this post is accurate and provides the reader with the information needed from reliable sources.

Nikky Raney for Zennie62.com

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By the way here's my latest video. I talk about Zennie62, my plans, and my excitement for vlogging for Zennie62 on youtube: