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Apr062011

Overdue Reviews: "Save the Cheerleader- Save the Genre!"

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 10:55AM

Were you on the list Friends and Neighbors? Today we explore the cultural contributions of the epic television show that is no longer with us, "Heroes."

Television is an ever changing medium, ever evolving and forever finding new and innovative ways to act as a window onto the world. Television programming needs to evolve and adapt along with the technology in order to maintain viability in the market that fuels the consumption. Not simply a tool for viewing of stories, television is a sign post for the ideas of the times as much as it is also a showcase for merchandise and a major force in the economy. Through advertising and storytelling, writers are able to express their views and ideas about society and the world at large. Social messages are distributed to establish and promote the hegemony. Advertising dollars are king, however, and as such the programming must often bend to the will of the consumer. This often lends itself to fear, uncertainty and doubt by producers as to what programming to show. Mistakes can cost millions of dollars; therefore, few chances are taken. Still every now and then a show comes along that is granted the chance to take a risk. One of these shows was “Heroes.”

The summer of 2006 Comicon, a comic book and geek culture convention, was held as it has been for many years. The attendees were able to see a pilot for a new television show. For the past several years the television stations had been inundated with so called “reality television.” After the success of “Survivor” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” the networks realized how much cheaper they could create programming. It would seem that aside from a few procedural dramas such as “Law and Order,” fiction based television was few and far between. “Heroes” was widely accepted at Comicon and thusly developed a fan following. It was this fan following that helped to get NBC to accept “Heroes” as a show in their fall lineup. “Heroes” would go on to not only be widely successful but the show would also innovate new methods of promotion and even go so far as to reinvigorate a genre of television, that of the scripted drama.

Season one of Heroes debuted in the fall of 2006. The first buzz came about with the use of a tag line that would be on the lips of people around water coolers everywhere- “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” This tagline would outline the events that would be happening for the next eight weeks of programming. The mysteries in the story, involving use of cliffhangers and cryptic symbols became an all encompassing topic on fan forums. 9^th Wonders was created and serviced the fans need for discussion. Every character was dissected and each plot point was inspected to discover clues as to what would happen. Fans were rabid to get information about the show and to express their theories about it. Fans were of all ages, multiple demographics were represented beyond the traditional scope of the genre. NBC had a hit.

As the mythos grew about the show, so did the fan demand for clues. Wiki fan sites emerged that espoused theories as to who was on “The List.” The list was an in-show roster of those characters that might have super powers. Fans would gather screen shots of episodes and try to decipher picture based clues to see what was being shown to them. Other fans would try to find codes in the meaning of the mysterious symbol that would appear in some places on the episodes. One of the ways fans influenced the show was to begin giving pet names to events on the show. These events were later picked up and became part of the show mythos. One such example is that of the character known as “HRG.” Originally a small part intended for a few episodes, the character known on screen as “Bennett” was even started to be called HRG on the aired episodes. Fans created slash fiction about the characters, often wildly derisive from the show itself as mysteries were solved. Fans were so avid about the presumed sexuality of one of the characters, that letter writing campaigns were initiated to get an answer.

NBC fed the fan demand greatly by offering comics online after every episode that expanded the universe of the show. The comics were soon augmented by heavy product integration. The Nissan Versa was a prominent product placement item in the first season. Nearly every character drove a Nissan; however two of the characters took it further as to take a Versa on a cross country road trip. The Versa was displayed in every comic. They even had an episode wherein after a heavy gun battle the only car not riddled with bullet holes was the Versa. The comment on screen was that the Versa was invincible. Nissan Versa commercials were right before every return from commercial break, in order to catch those zipping and zapping along. Product integration continued with Nissan in the second season. A new year meant a new model and the Nissan Rogue became the featured car of the Bennett family.

It was due to this level of fan involvement and product placement that the producers put together a heavy content, feature packed DVD of season one “Heroes.” The special edition DVD contained artwork postcards from the show’s plot point involving the character Isaac who could paint the future in cryptic paintings. The DVD also was rife with deleted scenes, commentaries and examples of mysteries from the show. Now fans could watch and re-watch this new content to discover things that they missed the first time around. DVD product integration is a hugely growing industry. “DVD box sets are changing both the cultural use of television programming and the creative choices made by producers. Many viewers have been so taken with the freedom, flexibility and lack of advertising enabled by DVD’s that they wait for video releases to follow their favorite series. … Television writers have latched on to the possibilities of DVD viewing to redefine the way they tell stories – because DVD viewers are more likely to watch series with smaller gaps between episodes and frequently will re-watch favorite series, shows such as Lost, Arrested Development and Heroes feature more complex storytelling strategies that demand regular viewing with close attention, supplemental commentaries and extras, and the ability to rewind for details.”

Another huge leap forward in “Heroes” came in the form of the ARG, or Alternative Reality Game that accompanied the airing of the show. Fans that were adept enough could notice particular clues and join in a game made by the producers of the show in order to feed and cultivate the fan base. Upon going to a website that was flashed on a business card on screen, fans were able to enter their information as an application to join the Primatech Paper Company. Primatech was one of the mysteries in the show, thus fans were now immersed in the world of the show. Soon however things got even more interesting. Some people were sent text messages by an unknown person claiming to test them in order to get their help. After a series of challenges in which players had to test their knowledge of the show and other new puzzles, the text sender revealed herself to be “Hana Gittleman.” This character was never seen on the show at the time but would text before events were to happen and after successful completion of a puzzle, the player was rewarded with information that would be shown on screen. Sometimes the player’s actions were set up to actually affect the events on the show.

The ARG character of Hana Gittleman appeared in multiple comics. Some of the prominent posters on the forums were featured by screen name in the comics as the character put out a call to arms to help stop the rigging of an election that was happening on the show. Once in the show Hana Gittleman actually made an on screen appearance, which was unheralded and mysterious to those who were not playing the game. The player’s actions were commented about by the characters later in the show when the election tampering was uncovered. Players became ever more enthralled with the show because they felt that they were part of the universe. They were agents helping take down the enemy and they got real texts on their real phones, their actions seemingly made an effect in the world, as seen on the show. Later studies showed exactly what effect that the ARG had. “Between January 22 and March 22 of 2007, the Heroes 360 Experience had more than 48 million page views and 27 million video downloads … Since launch, the “Heroes” WAP site has seen over 200,000 page views, followed by the Primatech Paper WAP site with over 150,000 page views … Heroes even gained the award for Outstanding Interactive Media Programming, 2008 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.”

It can be shown by this level of fan demand that a show such as “Heroes” when properly cultivating a Fan base can become very popular. The number of spin off shows that resulted from this level of fan commitment was large for a first season show. “Heroes: Origins” was scheduled to debut directly after the second season ended. Other online webisodes were also produced that chronicled smaller characters that never made it to the television screen. It was clear that the fans liked the mysteries and puzzles. They sought out little clues in order to be closer to the show. This even spawned a huge amount of imitation shows that would follow the formula. The genre of scripted drama had reemerged as a dominant force to challenge reality television.

Not all of the fan demand was created by fans, however. As “Variety” points out, some fans are created by the studios. “Dubbed "Zeroes," it's a roughly two-minute send-up of the Peacock's hugely popular Monday night drama "Heroes." The spoof has been widely passed around via the Internet, racking up more than 1.5 million views over several platforms, including You Tube and Break.com. But unlike most other network-created viral videos, "Zeroes" contained not a trace of evidence that it came from NBC. No Peacock logo. No "Tune in Mondays at 9" message at the end. No credits whatsoever. "It was an experiment," Manze says. "We wanted to see how far we could go, and we wondered if (auds) knowing we did it would be a detriment." Project, made for about $17,000, was so clandestine that Manze says he didn't even tell "Heroes" creator Tim Kring about "Zeroes." Keeping the clip's origins a secret was a means of building up its credibility with potential viewers. The "Zeroes" clip is just one of dozens, if not hundreds, of NBC-created viral videos the network has unleashed over the past year.” This is an increasingly popular way of attempting to both survey fan demand and in a way control it.

“Heroes” was in so many ways a groundbreaking television program. While the ratings began to taper off after the Screen Writer’s Guild strike of 2007, the show did continue for some time. The fans were avid followers of all things related to the show, from the alternate reality game to the web content and the DVD purchases. Even after being cancelled there is still a demand for “Heroes” information. Sites remain active with fan fiction and theories, as well as the requests to bring the show back to the air. In the wake of “Heroes” is a new breed of scripted dramas to keep the torch going. The super hero specific genre torch in particular has been taken by similar shows such as “No Ordinary Family” and “The Cape” who owe quite a bit to “Heroes.” New shows out of the genre are adopting alternate reality games to promote such genres as procedural drama and even some situation comedies. In the end, “Heroes” helped to show the public that television, like the characters on “Heroes” knew how to adapt and evolve into the new and changing environment.

Be Excellent to Each Other,

~BAT

Stupidity of the Week : Cyclists don't need tickets for running a stop sign.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 1:24PM

Hi there Friends and Neighbors. Today we talk about bicycles. You know them. Bike riders are all around us. They ride on sidewalks, in the streets and on their own bike paths. Society has deemed it not only acceptable for them to ride where they like but also as they like in the roadways. These are the same roads that are used by the rest of us that is where cars are.

So usually this type of thing goes by fine. Responsible bike riders, or cyclists as they seem to prefer, usually keep to the sidewalks or get out of the way when a car comes through. But far too often we see them taking full advantage of their ‘rights’ and standing fully in the middle of the road. This is quite annoying, as they are a traffic hazard. They stop at stoplights in the middle of the road.

So this brings us to today’s stupidity. This article came my way wherein cyclists are looking for more set asides and special treatment. The problem arises when officers are found ticketing bike riders for riding through stop signs in the road. The same way that cars are expected to stop at a stop sign or risk a ticket.

The article states that “Ultimately, we need to tailor a set of laws based on cycling as its own form of transportation, rather than hold on to today’s commonly-held belief that “the bicycle is mostly the same as a motor vehicle.”

The fact that a bike is less weight has nothing to do with the law. If you want to use the road, you follow the rules of the road. Seriously how much do you people want? You already clog up traffic when you make a nuisance of yourself. You should always yield to the motor vehicle. Why do you think we built bike only paths? Stay off of the road if you want no stop signs. But if you still wish to remain on the road – at least follow the law!

Be Excellent to Each Other.

~BAT

Source: http://momentumplanet.com/articles/street-cents:-the-mistake-of--ticketing-cyclists

Mr. Bat |

Tulsa Rules: Mad Dogs and Tulsa-men

Friday, April 1, 2011 at 1:27AM

Hear that Tulsa Sound Friends and Neighbors? Today's installment of Tulsa Rules focuses on that musical great Leon Russell. He is a Tulsa legend and truly a gift to the whole world.

Music has always played an important part in human carnival. This circus was viewed once again in 1970 for all to see in all of the pleasure palaces of America. Music is an integral part of the communication between people that bonds all mankind. This bond is an epoxy that works primarily because of a shared experience. From the church hymn to the blazing tracks on the radio, nary a soul is devoid of the cultural adhesive that is rhythm and melody. It is this connection that allows strangers to share common ground and be as brothers in the presence of a communal understanding.

Through music all men are alike, each playing their own part in the show. Some players are merely there to experience the spectacle, to listen to the music. Others are the music makers; those who perform with voice or instrument in order to produce sounds to evoke emotion. Still others find their role in organizing and finding the pieces of the puzzle. To these latter fellows, nothing is more exuberating than to gather together a mixture of elements and seeing how wondrous the concoction will become. Their art is in blending these pieces to make the pleasure makers. The greatest of these players are renaissance men, having aspects of all three archetypes above. They find themselves not only consumers of the music, but music artists and collaborators who seek out others to bring together in new ways that will stand out as an amazing phenomenon; a forever lasting impression. One such alchemical artist is the Master of Space and Time himself, Leon Russell.

Leon Russell was born Claude Russell Bridges, in Lawton Oklahoma. Aware of his desire at an early age, Leon Russell was performing while still at Will Roger’s High School. At fourteen years old, Russell was playing night clubs with his group “The Starlighters.” The Starlighters would consist of many of the artists that would be held responsible for creating the “Tulsa Sound.” The “Tulsa Sound” is perhaps best described by John Wooley in the article ‘You know it when you hear it- Put that dictionary down: The Tulsa Sound is hard to define but easy on the ears’ “Countless times, I've used the term Tulsa Sound to describe a certain kind of laid-back, blues- and country-influenced rock 'n' roll sound, one that began with the men profiled in this series and reached full fruition in the '70s, when Leon Russell returned triumphantly to his hometown, and Tulsa -- for a brief, shining moment -- became a rock-world nexus.” Leon Russell would not only be a part of the band, but would create his own innovations to the style that proliferated into a new sound. Gerald Goodwin, who was a bassist for many of the club bands in the fifties, is quoted as saying “Then, Leon sort of single-handedly put the keyboards into the picture. You could never hear the piano in any rock band. They didn't have amplification. But through his vision and his talent, he made that a big part of the sound, along with a good clean guitar by somebody like Cale.” Clearly Russell was in league with greatness from an early age.

Moving away from Oklahoma, Leon Russell set up shop in Los Angeles and became well known playing backup music with many of the superstar bands of the 60’s. Bands such as ‘The Byrds’ of “Turn, Turn, Turn” fame, Bobby “Boris” Pickett who was well known for “Monster Mash” and Phil Spector’s studio group who’s acts featured such classics as “The Righteous Brothers”. Russell’s musical aspirations also turned toward production. In 1967 he had his first recording studio built. It was at this time that he recorded his first album, “Look Inside the Asylum Choir.”

In 1969 Leon Russell came across the next big phase of his career. It was this point that would help to cement him as a masterful alchemist of music. He achieved success with arranging and song writing with the rotating rocker himself, Joe Cocker. As noted by the liner notes in the “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” DVD, “As things have turned out, a half year after finishing Joe Cocker’s album, for which he had written the hit song ‘Delta Lady,’ Russell was asked to put together a group for Joe Cocker. To do so, he not only drew upon the concepts he had worked on with Delaney and Bonnie, but he used some of the same musicians as well. And by then, the ‘family’ had grown to include the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Dave Mason. They weren’t a part of <ad Dogs, but they were a part of the Leon Russell Controversy… Whether the winner was Cocker, Russell or the audience is up to those who feel obliged to render a judgment.”

The cavalcade epic of his work would become apparent in Joe Cocker’s 1970 tour “Mad Dogs and Englishmen,” wherein Leon Russell did organize the vast majority of the music and events. “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” brought together Joe Cocker, Leon Russell and 42 other musicians in a communal touring company. An example of the Okie sense of camaraderie and fellowship, this group worked together and helped each other out along the way, singing and writing as well as introducing new members to the public. Russell’s arrangements of the music and organization of the events would make it quite successful, in so much as to bring it to the level of “Woodstock” and “Gimme Shelter.” This piece would become part of a trinity of concert films that epitomized the times in which they lived and played; all the while serving as part of an end cap to the age of the hippie revolution. Of course while the “Altamont Free Concert” as chronicled in “Gimme Shelter” would be the final note of the trilogy, “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” is much the appropriate bridge of sentiments from the ‘Woodstock’ to ‘Altamont.’

The Russell’s spirituality and ‘Okie’ flair is apparent throughout the “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” movie filmed on the tour. He regularly calls upon the group to join hands in a circle for a moment of silence. This coupled with his arrangements and use of organs and back up choirs gives the music an almost holy level of magnificence. To add to this sound, imagery is also utilized greatly by Russell. Often seen with a large cross around his neck and sporting a t-shirt saying “Holy Trinity” on it, Leon Russell expresses a level of reverence befitting of the master of space and time. This imagery was perhaps culminated the greatest in his acquisition of the Church Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s and 1970s.

Leon Russell was truly a magician of music. He has worn many hats, served the community of the human carnival in bringing innovation all along the way. He worked as backup, lead and producer of some of the greatest music. Today he is still about, recently on tour and writing songs with Elton John. The circus continues, and Leon Russell remains right where he belongs, up on the tight-wire, flanked by life and the funeral pyre, putting on a show for all to see.

Be Excellent to Each Other,

~BAT

Mr. Bat |

Ms Bat's Musings- Lets talk Financial Aid

Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 10:07AM

Hey blog readers!!! Are you or have you ever been a college student? Do you use federally funded financial aid? (Whoa, say that three times fast!) As students, we rely on the Pell Grant to make college a feasible reality. If left to our own devices, most of today’s college students would not be enrolled. So how do you feel about our political representatives voting to cut that funding that our college attendees rely on?

Personally, it makes me very mad to think that my state representatives believe I would be pro funding cuts to my education money. I worked out in the big bad world for several years, and paid my share of this money to the government. I would hope that the funds would be available to ensure my educational future is secure. For me; if I don’t have my Pell grant and school loans, then I am forced to drop out and go back to work 40+ hours a week. I know that if I go back into the workforce, I will not be able to go to class. Not only will I not have time to focus on classes, but I would not be able to afford them. Financial Aid allows me to pay my bills and keep food in my fridge while going to school to learn.

In the article “Potential Cuts to Pell Grant Could Affect Students in 2011” on the USNEWs.com website about the proposed cuts to Pell grant funding, writer Katy Hopkins says:

The Pell Grant Program, widely considered to be the backbone of financial aid to the country's most needy students, was subject to a decrease in funding as part of a Continuing Resolution (H.R. 1), which cleared the House last month and cut about $60 billion from the federal budget. The changes would take effect for the 2011-12 school year, decreasing the maximum amount of aid for the neediest students from $5,550 to $4,705, a difference of $845. Plus, about 1.7 million students who receive smaller Pell Grants would become ineligible for the program.

The average community college has our future nurses, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and interpreters just a few college credits away from filling the gaps in the various industries they will work in. There are palpable needs in our communities that can only be filled by degreed employees and cutting funding will setback the needs of these industries for years.

If you want more information, google search Pell Grant cuts or you can go to the link: http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/mar/30/federal-finaid-grants-question/

~The Lady Bat,

Ms. Bat

Source:

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for college/articles/2011/03/02/potential-cuts-to-pell-grant-could-affect-students-in-2011

You as a voter can do something about this travesty! Contact your State Representatives and Senators. Send them letters, emails, faxes, and make phone calls! Go to your local community college and sign the petitions! If you are a more active person, arrange a protest! Make your voices heard!

I’m including the contacts for our Tulsa Senate and Representatives in the blog with the hope that people will take action to stop the cutting of our Pell grant funding.

The Honorable Jim Inhofe

United States Senate

453 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

DC Phone: 202-224-4721

DC Fax: 202-228-0380

Email: ryan_jackson@inhofe.senate.gov

www.inhofe.senate.gov

The Honorable Tom Coburn

United States Senate

172 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510