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shadowkat1. R.I.P Twitter Logo...it's now well, X. (As if we didn't already know Musk was a stupid wannabee super-villain with a really bad marketing firm. Honestly these tech billionaires - you'd think they'd hire better marketing firms - considering they created marketing platforms.)
Musk has officially changed it to "X" now, and well..John Scalzi details what the idiot is up to fairly well HERE - in a post stating Preparing My X-it.
Overnight, not unlike an NFL owner silently absconding with a whole football team to move it to a new town, Elon Musk decided to change the name of Twitter to “X,” which, for those of you not in the know, is a long-dormant domain name Musk had in his early days when he was busy being fired from PayPal. It’s resurrected now because Musk has a grand idea of creating an “Everything App” under that title, of which the functionality of microblogging will be a part. Basically, he wants to create a Western version of the Chinese “WeChat” app, despite the fact that the Western regulatory environment is drastically different from what it is in China, and also, inasmuch as Musk was railroaded into purchasing Twitter by people smarter than him, and then proceeded to lose billions through his incompetence in managing the site, only a fool would trust him with either their money or their information. But, dream big, I guess.
We could go on about how Musk will be an immediate business school case study for taking the value of a unique, universally-known and globally-appreciated brand and absolutely trashing it in exchange for a symbol best known for porn and/or the button you press on your computer whenever you want to leave something, but… well, actually, I kind of want to talk about the latter! With the switchover in name, I think this is a fine time to start disentangling myself from Musk’s Folly, whatever it is called, and manage my presence there differently than I have over these last 15 years when it was known as Twitter.
Well, I deleted Twitter from my phone. Not sure how to delete the account. It's a lot harder to get rid of social media than it is to get on social media platforms. I'll probably not entirely delete the account. Just not spend time on it.
I'm jumping off - because it's become an increasingly toxic platform. It's back to where it was from roughly 2016-2018, before they kicked the Doofus off the platform.
There's a lot of toxic people on this planet. Unfortunately we can't get rid of them, so I just try to avoid them as much as possible.
2. Mother and I have decided that its best that I avoid trying to visit her during the big holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving, and try to do it at other times instead. Take the monkey off my back. The stress of trying to get time off at Christmas the last three years has been harrowing. I had to go to my union last year to get it approved. I literally had to get the union to contact my manager and force him to approve my vacation. And it was dumb, because I was covered. (I'm not covered this year.) I don't want to go through that again this year. It's not worth it.
Work wise, it will be impossible to visit her during either Christmas or Thanksgiving. I have three huge projects, two do not appear to be able to be awarded until the end of December - and there's nothing I can do about it. Not one thing. And I'm tired of fighting a losing battle with practically everyone. No one is helping me.
Plus there's the weather, threat of strikes on the horizon, and fear of getting stuck. I've gotten stuck a couple of times already. The last two weeks of December are a horrible time to travel. Mainly because everyone is traveling. (It's better to travel when "everyone" isn't traveling.) So, I'll decorate my little trees. And put up little decorations here and there - like I did in 2020. And maybe for the first time in forever - go to all of my church's Christmas celebrations - they have several. I don't go to mother's - she's Catholic, I'm Unitarian Universalist. And I despise the Catholic church. She goes.
Plus the weather, and the travel snafus - have made it difficult. It works best if I can do two weeks, and give myself plenty of cushion. But I really don't want to spend two weeks with my mother, nor can I get them off at the end of the year - since we have to make all our commitments at the end of the year, and have no coverage. I tend to get sick when I visit at this time of year as well.
I told my co-workers that visiting my mother over Christmas was out because of Scrooge McDuck.
AA: Who's Scrooge McDuck?
AM: Really? You really mean to say that?
SM is rolling his eyes.
Chidi: Looks confused. Who is Scrooge McDuck?
ME: Duck Tales?
Chidi: You mean as in Scrooge and a Christmas Carol? Who are you referring to?
I may tell Babs, she'll get it.
I've decided to nickname my management Scrooge McDuck because it amuses me and they quack a lot. BYT is now Scrooge McDuck.
Although, I made the decision for other reasons as well. Mother and I made it together. This makes it easier. And I'm already thinking of fun things I can do in the city.
Me: So, I told my co-workers I wasn't going to visit you at Christmas because of Scrooge McDuck. I could maybe make it work but -
Mother: We've discussed this - let's just take that monkey off your back. You can see me at another time.
ME: I'm thinking October, even though that's hurricane season - I figure I'll take my chances. August - I can't. September...not happening. But maybe October.
Mother: August and September - you run into a lot of tourists still. October though may work.
Me: Thinking of coming for your birthday.
So, I'll put in for maybe two-three days at the end of August. Four days in October or thereabouts. And maybe two days in December (Friday before, and maybe the Tuesday after). Then schedule a trip in January-February or see mother for four days in the late Spring.
3. Last night the Sunday Scaries were getting to me, but I listened to this little Wake Up Mediation on my phone - admittedly at the wrong time (11:30 pm as opposed to 11 AM, but whatever). It got across to me that instead of striving to meet multiple goals and impossible tasks, I should just set one goal to accomplish. And focus on one goal for today. Finish that one, do the next. Focus on one at a time. And feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish each one.
It worked. I got two things done today, and felt accomplished. Also work wasn't so bad. And the task I was worried about completing - was easier than I expected and I completed it in three hours.
4. Making my way through the oral narrative Blood, Sweat, and Chrome - the Making of Mad Max Fury Road - which is told by pretty much everyone on the film. The author interviewed all these people, then wisely hired a bunch of voice actors to play them. I do get confused as to who is talking sometimes, but other than that, it works.
* The reason Mel Gibson wasn't cast as Mad Max in Fury Road - is he was told old for the part. When they first approached him, back in 2003, he told them they had a narrow window - since he'd just turned 50. Miller mentions that Gibson is an odd dude. He's that insane package of incredibly attractive, charismatic, and a good actor. It's rare to get all three at once. Also, he is kind of off, and always has been. Miller never had any issues working with him, but he knew there was always that dark side to Mel hiding underneath all of the good natured charm. In a way it really worked for Mad Max. Because the camera picked up that dark edge, which Max had.
About a year before they started up again in 2008 or thereabouts, Mel torpedoed his career with the DUI and worse the nasty things he said about his girlfriend, add to that the domestic violence. But that's not the reason they didn't cast him, it played into it, sure, but it really was the fact that he was too old to play the role.
* The film was kind of horrific to make - everything went wrong. They had trouble getting funding - it kept getting yanked right out from under them. At one point, Miller was trying to do Happy Feet 2 (which the studio really wanted - since it was a sure thing) and Mad Max Fury Road. While Spielberg always does this - Miller couldn't. Miller asked Spielberg how he did it - and Spielberg said, he sees one movie as a break from the other, keeps him from getting too obsessed with either one. Miller and Spielberg are very different directors.
* Also the Broken Hill - the desert in Australia they were going to film in - got flooded. So they couldn't film there. I think it was called Broken Hill or something similar. This pushed back filming. Two weeks from when filming was to start - their location got flooded. They had created all the vehicles, had the cast, it was all ready to go - and wham. So they waited, and it wasn't getting any dryer. They considered using blue screens and CGI, with an airport landing strip at an old abandoned airport outside of Sydney.
Listening to this book makes me kind of want to re-watch the film.
5. Barbieheimer
According to NY1 this morning - both were sold out in theaters, and people dressed up as Barbie and Oppenhiemer for the films. It was considered event viewing.
My social media - FB and Twitter are awash with Barbie posts. (My Mother's is Oppenheimer). Damn the Barbie movie has been marketed to death and beyond. Also apparently there's "death" imagery in Barbie, and the Indigo Girls song, Closer to Fine makes an appearance? (I happen to adore that song.)
I'm curious how much money Mattel and the Film Studio/Distributor spent on marketing that film. Toy Tie-ins do help with marketing. It always helps if you have something other than actors and directors to market a film.
Ah, found it - "Warner Bros. reportedly spent $150 million on marketing for "Barbie," according to a new Variety report. Per the publication, rival studios estimated that the "Barbie" marketing campaign cost $150 million, which is more than the $145 million budget used to produce the movie in the first place."
Okay to put this in perspective? Barbie made $155 Million this weekend. But, it cost over...$295 Million to make. $150 M for marketing, and $145 M for the movie.
And Mattel spent $100 Million on Barbie Marketing this year. [So, I'm right toy-tie-in's boost marketing dollars.]
The marketing blast is insane - it was the screen saver for Optimum, Google is doing funky things with it, there's memes on social media generated by the marketing team. Social media is a marketing platform.
Oppenheimer in stark contrast is $100 Million dollar film, with a marketing budget slightly below that. "Variety previously quoted Christopher Nolan as saying Oppenheimer's budget was $180 million. This was a misquote, with Nolan referring to the film's 180-minute runtime. Universal has confirmed that the previously reported $100 million budget is a more accurate figure."
Weirdly, Oppenheimer's Rotten Tomatos Score is higher than Barbie's, but not by much. It's 94% (Critics and Audience) vs. 90% (Critics and Audience).
Both broke records - and broke one together, they made a combined $311 Million opening weekend. And I honestly think Barbie boosted Oppenheimer. And vice versa. Oppenheimer did far better than expected for an R rated film, and is the best opening for a Nolan film since Batman. (See Marketing counts.)
****
Oppenheimer is using its director and stars to market the film. Because the subject matter doesn't market that well. To show you how dumb our culture truly is? More people know who Barbie is than who Oppenheimer is or what he did.
In short people didn't teach their kids any history. But they did buy them Barbie dolls. I was lucky I got both. I no longer take that for granted.
My parents were frustrated history buffs. And my mother collected dolls, because she felt bereft as a child for not having any - although Barbie never did anything for her. Madam Alexander, yes. Barbie, no. I liked Barbie - I could tell stories with Barbie - although I was rather rough on them. Barbie did not survive me and my cats.
There's actually people asking on social media:
* Did Oppenheimer really invent the atomic bomb? (Yes. With help.)
* Is the Oppenheimer film based on reality? Did he actually exist? (yes.)
* Did they really set a bomb off in the desert in the US? (Yes, John Wayne and various other got cancer as a result of Bomb testing in the Us. You may actually have cancer because of it - if you live anywhere near there.)
Here's a quiz?
Which movie is based on reality? Barbie or Oppenheimer?
Barbie - is a doll created by Mattel.
Oppenheimer is the creator of the atomic bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagaski.
Mother only sees marketing for Oppenhiemer (she's mainly on Instagram), and interviews with everyone involved on Oppenhiemer. Meanwhile all I see is the Barbie stuff. I want the Oppenheimer stuff.
Musk has officially changed it to "X" now, and well..John Scalzi details what the idiot is up to fairly well HERE - in a post stating Preparing My X-it.
Overnight, not unlike an NFL owner silently absconding with a whole football team to move it to a new town, Elon Musk decided to change the name of Twitter to “X,” which, for those of you not in the know, is a long-dormant domain name Musk had in his early days when he was busy being fired from PayPal. It’s resurrected now because Musk has a grand idea of creating an “Everything App” under that title, of which the functionality of microblogging will be a part. Basically, he wants to create a Western version of the Chinese “WeChat” app, despite the fact that the Western regulatory environment is drastically different from what it is in China, and also, inasmuch as Musk was railroaded into purchasing Twitter by people smarter than him, and then proceeded to lose billions through his incompetence in managing the site, only a fool would trust him with either their money or their information. But, dream big, I guess.
We could go on about how Musk will be an immediate business school case study for taking the value of a unique, universally-known and globally-appreciated brand and absolutely trashing it in exchange for a symbol best known for porn and/or the button you press on your computer whenever you want to leave something, but… well, actually, I kind of want to talk about the latter! With the switchover in name, I think this is a fine time to start disentangling myself from Musk’s Folly, whatever it is called, and manage my presence there differently than I have over these last 15 years when it was known as Twitter.
Well, I deleted Twitter from my phone. Not sure how to delete the account. It's a lot harder to get rid of social media than it is to get on social media platforms. I'll probably not entirely delete the account. Just not spend time on it.
I'm jumping off - because it's become an increasingly toxic platform. It's back to where it was from roughly 2016-2018, before they kicked the Doofus off the platform.
There's a lot of toxic people on this planet. Unfortunately we can't get rid of them, so I just try to avoid them as much as possible.
2. Mother and I have decided that its best that I avoid trying to visit her during the big holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving, and try to do it at other times instead. Take the monkey off my back. The stress of trying to get time off at Christmas the last three years has been harrowing. I had to go to my union last year to get it approved. I literally had to get the union to contact my manager and force him to approve my vacation. And it was dumb, because I was covered. (I'm not covered this year.) I don't want to go through that again this year. It's not worth it.
Work wise, it will be impossible to visit her during either Christmas or Thanksgiving. I have three huge projects, two do not appear to be able to be awarded until the end of December - and there's nothing I can do about it. Not one thing. And I'm tired of fighting a losing battle with practically everyone. No one is helping me.
Plus there's the weather, threat of strikes on the horizon, and fear of getting stuck. I've gotten stuck a couple of times already. The last two weeks of December are a horrible time to travel. Mainly because everyone is traveling. (It's better to travel when "everyone" isn't traveling.) So, I'll decorate my little trees. And put up little decorations here and there - like I did in 2020. And maybe for the first time in forever - go to all of my church's Christmas celebrations - they have several. I don't go to mother's - she's Catholic, I'm Unitarian Universalist. And I despise the Catholic church. She goes.
Plus the weather, and the travel snafus - have made it difficult. It works best if I can do two weeks, and give myself plenty of cushion. But I really don't want to spend two weeks with my mother, nor can I get them off at the end of the year - since we have to make all our commitments at the end of the year, and have no coverage. I tend to get sick when I visit at this time of year as well.
I told my co-workers that visiting my mother over Christmas was out because of Scrooge McDuck.
AA: Who's Scrooge McDuck?
AM: Really? You really mean to say that?
SM is rolling his eyes.
Chidi: Looks confused. Who is Scrooge McDuck?
ME: Duck Tales?
Chidi: You mean as in Scrooge and a Christmas Carol? Who are you referring to?
I may tell Babs, she'll get it.
I've decided to nickname my management Scrooge McDuck because it amuses me and they quack a lot. BYT is now Scrooge McDuck.
Although, I made the decision for other reasons as well. Mother and I made it together. This makes it easier. And I'm already thinking of fun things I can do in the city.
Me: So, I told my co-workers I wasn't going to visit you at Christmas because of Scrooge McDuck. I could maybe make it work but -
Mother: We've discussed this - let's just take that monkey off your back. You can see me at another time.
ME: I'm thinking October, even though that's hurricane season - I figure I'll take my chances. August - I can't. September...not happening. But maybe October.
Mother: August and September - you run into a lot of tourists still. October though may work.
Me: Thinking of coming for your birthday.
So, I'll put in for maybe two-three days at the end of August. Four days in October or thereabouts. And maybe two days in December (Friday before, and maybe the Tuesday after). Then schedule a trip in January-February or see mother for four days in the late Spring.
3. Last night the Sunday Scaries were getting to me, but I listened to this little Wake Up Mediation on my phone - admittedly at the wrong time (11:30 pm as opposed to 11 AM, but whatever). It got across to me that instead of striving to meet multiple goals and impossible tasks, I should just set one goal to accomplish. And focus on one goal for today. Finish that one, do the next. Focus on one at a time. And feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish each one.
It worked. I got two things done today, and felt accomplished. Also work wasn't so bad. And the task I was worried about completing - was easier than I expected and I completed it in three hours.
4. Making my way through the oral narrative Blood, Sweat, and Chrome - the Making of Mad Max Fury Road - which is told by pretty much everyone on the film. The author interviewed all these people, then wisely hired a bunch of voice actors to play them. I do get confused as to who is talking sometimes, but other than that, it works.
* The reason Mel Gibson wasn't cast as Mad Max in Fury Road - is he was told old for the part. When they first approached him, back in 2003, he told them they had a narrow window - since he'd just turned 50. Miller mentions that Gibson is an odd dude. He's that insane package of incredibly attractive, charismatic, and a good actor. It's rare to get all three at once. Also, he is kind of off, and always has been. Miller never had any issues working with him, but he knew there was always that dark side to Mel hiding underneath all of the good natured charm. In a way it really worked for Mad Max. Because the camera picked up that dark edge, which Max had.
About a year before they started up again in 2008 or thereabouts, Mel torpedoed his career with the DUI and worse the nasty things he said about his girlfriend, add to that the domestic violence. But that's not the reason they didn't cast him, it played into it, sure, but it really was the fact that he was too old to play the role.
* The film was kind of horrific to make - everything went wrong. They had trouble getting funding - it kept getting yanked right out from under them. At one point, Miller was trying to do Happy Feet 2 (which the studio really wanted - since it was a sure thing) and Mad Max Fury Road. While Spielberg always does this - Miller couldn't. Miller asked Spielberg how he did it - and Spielberg said, he sees one movie as a break from the other, keeps him from getting too obsessed with either one. Miller and Spielberg are very different directors.
* Also the Broken Hill - the desert in Australia they were going to film in - got flooded. So they couldn't film there. I think it was called Broken Hill or something similar. This pushed back filming. Two weeks from when filming was to start - their location got flooded. They had created all the vehicles, had the cast, it was all ready to go - and wham. So they waited, and it wasn't getting any dryer. They considered using blue screens and CGI, with an airport landing strip at an old abandoned airport outside of Sydney.
Listening to this book makes me kind of want to re-watch the film.
5. Barbieheimer
According to NY1 this morning - both were sold out in theaters, and people dressed up as Barbie and Oppenhiemer for the films. It was considered event viewing.
My social media - FB and Twitter are awash with Barbie posts. (My Mother's is Oppenheimer). Damn the Barbie movie has been marketed to death and beyond. Also apparently there's "death" imagery in Barbie, and the Indigo Girls song, Closer to Fine makes an appearance? (I happen to adore that song.)
I'm curious how much money Mattel and the Film Studio/Distributor spent on marketing that film. Toy Tie-ins do help with marketing. It always helps if you have something other than actors and directors to market a film.
Ah, found it - "Warner Bros. reportedly spent $150 million on marketing for "Barbie," according to a new Variety report. Per the publication, rival studios estimated that the "Barbie" marketing campaign cost $150 million, which is more than the $145 million budget used to produce the movie in the first place."
Okay to put this in perspective? Barbie made $155 Million this weekend. But, it cost over...$295 Million to make. $150 M for marketing, and $145 M for the movie.
And Mattel spent $100 Million on Barbie Marketing this year. [So, I'm right toy-tie-in's boost marketing dollars.]
The marketing blast is insane - it was the screen saver for Optimum, Google is doing funky things with it, there's memes on social media generated by the marketing team. Social media is a marketing platform.
Oppenheimer in stark contrast is $100 Million dollar film, with a marketing budget slightly below that. "Variety previously quoted Christopher Nolan as saying Oppenheimer's budget was $180 million. This was a misquote, with Nolan referring to the film's 180-minute runtime. Universal has confirmed that the previously reported $100 million budget is a more accurate figure."
Weirdly, Oppenheimer's Rotten Tomatos Score is higher than Barbie's, but not by much. It's 94% (Critics and Audience) vs. 90% (Critics and Audience).
Both broke records - and broke one together, they made a combined $311 Million opening weekend. And I honestly think Barbie boosted Oppenheimer. And vice versa. Oppenheimer did far better than expected for an R rated film, and is the best opening for a Nolan film since Batman. (See Marketing counts.)
****
Oppenheimer is using its director and stars to market the film. Because the subject matter doesn't market that well. To show you how dumb our culture truly is? More people know who Barbie is than who Oppenheimer is or what he did.
In short people didn't teach their kids any history. But they did buy them Barbie dolls. I was lucky I got both. I no longer take that for granted.
My parents were frustrated history buffs. And my mother collected dolls, because she felt bereft as a child for not having any - although Barbie never did anything for her. Madam Alexander, yes. Barbie, no. I liked Barbie - I could tell stories with Barbie - although I was rather rough on them. Barbie did not survive me and my cats.
There's actually people asking on social media:
* Did Oppenheimer really invent the atomic bomb? (Yes. With help.)
* Is the Oppenheimer film based on reality? Did he actually exist? (yes.)
* Did they really set a bomb off in the desert in the US? (Yes, John Wayne and various other got cancer as a result of Bomb testing in the Us. You may actually have cancer because of it - if you live anywhere near there.)
Here's a quiz?
Which movie is based on reality? Barbie or Oppenheimer?
Barbie - is a doll created by Mattel.
Oppenheimer is the creator of the atomic bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagaski.
Mother only sees marketing for Oppenhiemer (she's mainly on Instagram), and interviews with everyone involved on Oppenhiemer. Meanwhile all I see is the Barbie stuff. I want the Oppenheimer stuff.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-25 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-25 08:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 02:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-25 10:30 pm (UTC)So true.
Historically, social media sites get sold twice, first for a whole lot of money, and then for very little. When they’re sold for very little, it’s understood they’re damaged goods, unlikely to rise again to the prominence they had before.
This. Not just LJ, but Compuserve, so many moons ago.
Thanks for the link. Musk thinks he's fifty times brighter than he is, and the obsession with "X" is just plain nutty.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 02:44 am (UTC)Yeah, I remember Compuserve. Also Napster. Yahoo. And sigh, Voy forums. So many have been bought and killed. Have you ever seen the series Halt and Catch Fire? It's basically about a start-up Dot Com that envisions the internet, and fails miserably at it. It's about the beginning of the internet. It's excellent if you can find it.