Editorial Type: Columns/Opinions

Nerrrddd!

Michael Cornnell

Internet confession time: I’m pretty nerdy. This may not come as a surprise to those of you for who have been following this blog for a while, but for new readers, let me bring you up to speed.

I just recently moved, and I had to pack up about 1,500 comic books*. One of the  best gifts my girlfriend has given me is an Xbox 360, which I don’t use to play sports games or shooters, but usually old Genesis games like Altered Beast and Shining Force. And maybe most tellingly, when my girlfriend first met me, she asked why there were so many toys in my room. In my defense, they were awesome “toys,” like old Transformers and classy Marvel Legends figures, but I suppose her point still stands. 

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Answer-mania!

Michael Cornnell

I’ll get to the correct answer to last week’s question in a bit, but first I thought I would run through some of my favorite miss-guesses I received via e-mail. Though incorrect, I feel they are definitely still worth sharing. Arranged in no particular order, here are my top three:

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Fun with FlashForward

Michael Cornnell

Based on my love of Lost, I decided to check out FlashForward last Thursday. It was okay I guess. Overall I wasn’t too impressed. The pilot seemed overly expository and character dialogue was a bit clunky and forced. Still, it was just the first episode, so I suppose I’ll give the show a few more episodes before I cross it off the list.

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Lessons from Indie Rap

Michael Cornnell

Today I bring something interesting from the music world. One of my favorite musicians, P.O.S. (which I’m told stands for “Plain Ole Stefon,” despite the other more obvious acronym), released his new album a few months ago with a pretty cool promotion behind it.

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Scavenger Types

Michael Cornnell

There are the fun and cool scavengers that get to be in nature documentaries, like the hyena and remora. Then there are the creepy and much-hated scavengers, like the rat, vulture and weird guy with glasses straps and stained monochrome T-shirt you always see in the bargain sections of bookstores, studying huge hardcover books like “Gulches: Long Holes of the Southwest.” Me though, I’m going to go with the zombie as my favorite scavenger. Partly because they’re awesome (I sure do love a good zombie movie), but also because they make their living off the brains of others, which is just what I’m about to do. Below are few links to articles I’ve found,  accompanied by neat little summaries.

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Art Exhibits, Black Holes and Laughter

Michael Cornnell

I wasn’t too sure what to write about this week, my poor pea brain being otherwise occupied with proofing August and planning out my Sept. stories. I managed to dig up a few links though that you might find interesting: 

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A Challenge For The Ages

Michael Cornnell

Greetings loyal readers,

I have a challenge to issue. I have thought of three instances where a person or company is in desperate need of advertising, yet using promotional products to help them would be extremely difficult. Your challenge is twofold: think of an actual working promotion, or come up with a funnier disastrous instance than I have suggested here.

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“Sell Out With Me”

Michael Cornnell

I had the pleasure of attending the Vans’ Warped Tour this weekend, which is weird I know, since I’m a 26-year old writer for a business magazine and not a 17-year old girl who loves eyeliner and sneaking cigarettes behind the bleachers. But, I basically never go to shows anymore, and my girlfriend had never even been to a punk concert before prior to this weekend, so I figured why not check out Warped Tour? There’s something like 50-plus bands that play, and the people watching is excellent, ranging from hulking brutes in combat boots and red suspenders, weird pasty guys who look this is the first time they’ve been able to tear themselves from World of Warcraft in months, and 15-year olds with foot-tall pink mohawks who are very clearly there with their parents. Basically, it’s like 100 punk concerts mashed into one.

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Proofreading Vortex

Michael Cornnell

Greetings loyal readers,

We’re finished with the July issue right now, and I thought it would be fun to share with you a little bit of my last few days in the office, which, until I started writing this week’s blog, have been entirely devoted to proofreading the issue. If you’ve never experienced the utter joy that is reading the same material over and over again, looking for the tiniest mistakes, let me paint you a most wondrous picture of what a single day of proofing is like. Remember, to get the full effect, imagine you’ve been doing this for at least four days straight.

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