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

E-mail with suggests, comments, and feedback.

Watch Journalism 101 on Youtube.com/NikkyRaney

Keep up with tweets at Twitter.com/NikkyRaney

Keep up with The Future of Journalism at Nikkyraney.com

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

California Wants Pricier Parking Fines

As if they weren’t already high enough, California is now considering raising the fines for parking tickets by an additional $3. However, due to already pricey tickets, state officials are facing serious resistance. Nevada City (which is actually in California), for example, has already seen $9.50 tacked onto parking tickets, and some say the costs are reaching a tipping point. “Parking citations statewide are now that much closer to the point when drivers stop paying their parking tickets altogether,” wrote Gene Albaugh in a letter to legislators. The League of California Cities is “urging members to oppose the fees, especially because they hamper cities’ abilities to attach local surcharges to tickets.”

Mel Gibson's racist misogynist rant career ending? by Suzannah B. Troy

The New York Post article seems to imply that Mel Gibson's career is over and out.  

If you have not heard the first rant here is the link on Radar Line and you click on the video posting.  It is disgusting.

It does not have the violent threats about burning down the house but first raping her mouth or as he puts it making her blow him.

Read The New York Post article to learn about Jodi Foster's movie with him in post-production.   There is no point in releasing this film but I am sure she will and it will fail at the box office.  Lenoardo DeCaprio may back out of a project and the odds are high he will.

Here is my comment posted on The New York Post article:

Mel Gibson's "Jesus" film was as dishonest and manipulative as he is. It is estimated a quarter of a million Jews were crucified by the Romans and he not only refused to acknowledge that horror but he went with the hate propaganda that even Rome finally rejected of blaming the Jews. Why would you need to blame the Jews. You take our Bible and you want to convert us -- than blame is very effective and big business as well. Gibson prospered from the film as honestly as the Nazis. Gibson has to blame innocent people and always minorities and he can no longer suppress is "inner Nazi". Why is that. Some of his own violent impulses he projects on to African American men but the rant taped by his ex-girlfriend exposes very violent impulses. He has always charmed his way out of everything and used his good looks. Now his outsides match his insides. He betrayed his wife and children - do you think the first time -- and  for a gold digger but she does not deserve the violence actions in word and misdeeds by this hate monger, anti-Semite, misogynist, racist, homophobe that projects his violence on to minorities.

Journalism 101 with Zennie62's Nikky Raney & Josh Grattan

This video is about the difference between blogging and being a journalist:

Oakland News: ZZA's Enoteca closed; Grand Avenue Monday ghost town

ZZA's Enoteca in Oakland 

This installment of Oakland News, or news about what's going on in Oakland, California from very reliable sources, is a sad one.

ZZA's Enoteca at 550 Grand Avenue in Oakland's Adams Point District and next to Lake Merritt, the popular food and wine bar next to ZZA's Restaurant on Grand Avenue, was closed down by the Oakland, California representative of the State of California Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC).

The reason that this blogger was given was that it "had something to do with a change or 'unraveling' of ownership" according to a very good, but unnamed source. ZZA's Enoteca has been closed since last Friday.

ZZA's Enoteca was a welcome addition to not just the ZZA's space, but the growing Grand Avenue restaurant scene. It offered something rare: an ability to work online on your computer over a glass of wine. The free WiFi aspect of ZZA's Enoteca made it a must-be-at for this blogger, but the wine offerings at reasonable prices were a plus.

Moreover, the owners and managers of ZZA's Enoteca took great pains to make sure patrons followed the rules regarding wine outdoors, and it has a nice, enclosed area just beyond the door for eating and drinking while enjoying the nice weather of late.

But now that ZZA's Enoteca is closed, and Sidebar is closed on Mondays, that stretch of Grand Avenue from just past Gold's Gym to Euclid Avenue looks like part of a dark ghost town. Let's hope ZZA's Enoteca gets its license back and soon.

What's bothersome is the ABC doesn't care that people need work and were providing a welcome establishment. I know there had to be an alternative; the ABC just didn't want to do it.

Stay tuned.

YouTube Partner Support changes not communicated to YouTubers

It's one thing to know the rules, but quite another when it seems the rules are changed without your knowledge.

In this case, the entire YouTube Partner Support staff has been changed without notice to this YouTuber or any online news.

Erik Brown, who this blogger came to see as a benevolent enforcer, has been replaced by...someone. And this happened without a word or email or blog. Nothing at all.

Brown paid an instrumental role in making sure my case was understood as I was negotiating with TMZ.com for the right to use their Miley Cyrus video. Erik Brown was a steady, reasoned, yet firm hand.

But now, for reasons not known, Brown is gone. Indeed, it seems that many of the YouTube Partner Support Team that existed and I met are gone.

If YouTube does not want video-bloggers and is favoring people who do "shows," it should just say so. It's an abrupt change to see YouTube "just do" without explanation.

I'm now beginning to understand why some YouTubers like Renetto don't do YouTube any more. Something's wrong. Something's missing. And they're not talking about it.

But I am.

Plus, I get the impression someone at YouTube didn't like the fact that Erik Brown was helpful.  I hope I'm wrong; I was a fan of the old YouTube, but this new one's not feeling so good at all.  

YouTube and News Organizations

The impression here is YouTube is not as focused on really building news organization partners, nor does YouTube Partner Support understand the unique DMCA rules afforded to news organizations.  More news blogger should be YouTube Partners, but does YouTube even want that?

I'm not convinced this is the case, anymore.

Stay tuned.

Harvey Pekar and David Letterman had classic moments

Harvey Pekar, the famous writer of American Splendor who died Monday at the age of 70, was not just famous for his writing, but for his at times incendiary television relationship with talk show host David Letterman.

In fact, Harvey Pekar so annoyed David Letterman on August 31, 1988 that he was banned from the show for life, even though he returned for two more appearances since that time.

Here are the videos of Pekar's totally funny and at times cringe-producing exchanges with David Letterman:

Harvey Pekar on David Letterman: July 31, 1987:



Harvey Pekar on David Letterman 1987 for "Live at Five":



Harvey Pekar on David Letterman, August 31, 1988:



Harvey Pekar was a true American Legend who will be missed by many. As this is written, Harvey Pekar is the number one Twitter Trend. Here are a few of the tweets:

enigmagg - From the outrageous Harvey Pekar to the insightful Harvey and everything he was in-between will be missed.
less than 10 seconds ago via web

ruhlman - very sad to hear the news of Harvey Pekar's death. An American Original.
about 5 hours ago via TweetDeck

EDouglasWW - True story: One of the first events I covered for ComingSoon was a reading/QnA with Harvey Pekar for American Splendour, the movie.
half a minute ago via web

Harvey Pekar, R.I.P

Does the FEC have any teeth?

Attorney Burton Odelson, a veteran at helping political candidates get their paperwork in order, said it's significant that Republican Joe Walsh failed to file the required personal financial disclosure report with the FEC before the Illinois primary.  Traditionally it's filed almost immediately, but candidates can file up to 30 days after the first quarter in which they have $5,000 of fund-raising activity, or at least 30 days before an election (including primaries.)

Now others within the Republican party are calling for him to get out because he's broken election law, because in a district that's in play (the Illinois 8th) they've got a guy running who even staunch Republicans don't want to vote for.

You'd expect Democrats to be using this, to draw attention to disorganization at a minimum, and call into question where the money came from in cases such as this one where a candidate loans substantial amounts to the campaign despite having outstanding financial judgments going unmet.

Check this out:

"It's the document that creates a transparency as to the Congressman or the nominee's holdings to let the public know who he is, what he has, and do you want to vote for him. If he's voting on things in Congress that he has a conflict with.”

~Burton S. Odleson

Despite Walsh’s apology, Fox was reporting that calls for his resignation were growing more intense in some corners even before more staffers quit. Let's face it, staff quits in almost every election, it's a stressful job, but these latest two sound like pretty solid GOP supporters engaged in more than ordinary angst.

According to Jeff Goldblatt of Fox Chicago, Mark Cramer, a Precinct Captain with Schaumburg Township Republicans, repeated his call for Walsh to get out of the race.

“The law is there for a purpose. This is the second time he’s run for Congress, and to not know it, it’s unconscionable"

“Do we want somebody in Congress who is going to forget to file official paperwork? He broke the law. He can make any excuse in the world, but fact of matter is, he knew he should do it, but he didn’t do it.”

~Mark Cramer

Can you imagine if Obama had failed to file this fundamental a piece of documentation? Never mind the whole birth certificate uproar, this is the chance for voters and the media to examine the finances and look for conflicts of interest before casting their ballots. It's our chance to see the assets, debt, and recent income of people we send off to vote on how to manage and spend vast sums of tax-payer money, but Walsh wants to quietly pay the late fee, plus whatever civil fine (a maximum of $50,000) the Attorney General's pursues in a civil case - and tell voters it's all OK, no big deal?

Was Walsh even eligible to run and/or hold the office having failed to comply FEC regulations? If this had emerged after the election itself would it result in just a slap on the wrist, or would his eligibility to serve in the U.S. Congress be nullified?

Only in Illinois

What is the point of FEC regulations if they don't apply to every candidate? I realize this is Illinois, and that means the focus is on Rod Blagojevich, and people just accept a certain amount in politics, but -- who enforces this stuff?

Voters have a right to expect our elections are conducted fairly. How does a guy who hadn't met the FEC filing deadline even make it on the ballot?

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, Democratic political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.