There was a whole lot of shaking going on around here yesterday, and it wasn't just the 5.4 magnitude earthquake rattling ... more »
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Wednesday, July 30
Monday, July 28
SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2008
by
Suzette Valle
on Mon 28 Jul 2008 10:00 AM PDT
A Little Hollywood in San Diego Requires Much Patience It's nice to have Hollywood visit our fine city for Comic Con; Fox, Nickelodeon, CBS, NBC, Lionsgate, Disney, Warner Brothers, and other major studios were here to promote upcoming films and television shows. If you were after celebrity sightings, this was the place to be this week-end. The annual comic book convention had something for each of the 125,000 people there; Uglydolls and Yo Gabba Gabba for the younger set, plenty of blood and action figures for the older teens, and an endless collection of geeks, cooks and Storm Troopers to delight one and all.
To really take advantage of everything available for families at Comic Con you needed the same strategy used for a theme park; a lot of patience, and to choose your lines and attractions carefully.
Cast members for TV shows like "Heroes", "Pushing Daisies" and "The Big Bang Theory" were on hand to sign autographs and pose for pictures, but actually getting these was quite a different story; long lines to get tickets entitling you to an autograph or photo, another line to get it, pushing and cutting in line were all necessary tactics to get the coveted moment with a star. Amidst all the celebrities and movie hoopla, Paul Pope, an 'alternative' comic book artist voted Best Writer/Artist at the 2007 Eisner Awards (the comics industry's equivalent of the Oscars), and who's latest graphic novel, Batman Year 100 (DC Comics), won Best Limited Series, sat quietly at the Kidrobot booth signing the Comic Con 2008 exclusive Masked Karimbah vinyl figure he designed, and which sold for $125.
When I asked Pope if the large crowds attracted by the movie studios was a good thing for his industry he replied, "Comic Con's gotten too big. It's like a really good [Wall Street] stock. It's ready to split". We really enjoyed Comic-Wood this year. Let's just hope the San Diego Convention Center is able to keep this bit of Hollywood glamour from splitting elsewhere!
Saturday, July 26
Jonas Brothers: Mainstream Music or Disney Fantasy?
by
Suzette Valle
on Sat 26 Jul 2008 12:29 PM PDT
Does the cover of Rolling Stone make you a serious musician?
With the on-going debate whether teen bubblegum pop bands are considered serious musicians or not, the Jonas Brothers have boldly gone where few adolescent music groups have gone before: the cover of Rolling Stone. ‘The Clean Teen Machine’ -- so dubbed by Rolling Stone Magazine due to the absence of gossip, sex and drama in Kevin (20), Joe (18) and Nick Jonas (15) -- has captured the attention of the music industry’s influential magazine, and supplied enough information to quell doubts about their serious musical abilities: writing, playing and singing their own music.
For any musician, landing on the cover of this iconic magazine is a sign they've joined the mainstream music world. For the Jonas Brothers, this is an especially sweet accomplishment since they’ve been able to maintain a foothold in both the fantasy and realistic musical spheres while simultaneously being brought up by Disney. Making the rounds on TV morning shows, late night shows and just about every music related television broadcast, the boys are getting more exposure to a broader audience than just the Disney family of TV networks. But the weening process is not complete yet. With a few projects still in the works for the boys and Disney; a TV show called J.O.N.A.S., Camp Rock 2, and a 3D concert movie, this balancing act is far from over. In its debut issue, founder Jann Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone "is not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes that music embraces." In the case of these young brothers, the attitudes embraced in their music is hitting teen girls hard right where it matters; emotions, dreams, relationships and hope are all delivered through innocent lyrics and common teen situations their listeners can relate to. And all of this is music to a parents scrutinizing ears. The Jonas Brothers’ music is also selling like funnel cake at a state fair. EOnline reported the record sale of the legally downloaded single Pushing Me Away reached 116,000 this week “making the group the first act ever to sell more than 100,000 online copies for three straight tracks”. But wait, who exactly is this Rolling Stone article suppose to reach? According to USA Today, “at a time when some younger readers wouldn't know Sgt. Pepper from Dr. Pepper, RS [Rolling Stone] still attracts them to its slick pages: The magazine's rate base of 1.4 million readers, its highest ever, has a median age of 27”.
Well, maybe RS just found a way to broaden the age group of their readership. My thirteen year old daughter ran to the newsstand to buy RS’s latest issue because her idols were on the cover. She read the entire article, which she found a little difficult to understand (and to read in that minuscule font!), and, admittedly, it was the first issue to cross our home's threshold. And, who knows, maybe it won’t be the last … Wednesday, July 23
Jonas Brothers Trio Three Times Better in 3D
by
Suzette Valle
on Wed 23 Jul 2008 09:13 AM PDT
JoBros Productions, Inc. sure knows how to keep their fan base happy and hooked on their latest Disney prodigies: the Jonas Brothers. Fans are continually informed of the band's up-coming activities, appearances and ITunes releases by pre-recorded personal phone calls through Say Now, text messages, e-mails and fan club bulletins. The Jonas Brothers reached out to their fans once again, and invited a few hundred of them to be part of the filming for their upcoming concert movie in 3D.
Like many households with teen girls right now, ours is all about these
Last week-end, about three hundred teen-aged followers got the opportunity of a life time to join director Bruce Hendricks (who also directed the Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds Concert Movie in 3D), and the Jonas Brothers for rehearsals and filming which included meals and floor tickets to both concerts in Anaheim, California.
Confirmation notices for those lucky to have been selected as part of the volunteer casted audience were sent out Saturday morning before the first of three concerts scheduled for
“I waited over a year to meet Nick, Kevin and Joe, and kept telling myself my time would come. I never imagined it would come in such a big way,” said thirteen year old Bianca Valle of her experience meeting the siblings and becoming part of their first big screen movie.
This fan-exclusive experience at the Honda Center started at 2 PM on Sunday, July 13th, with check-in and lunch for the ‘casted audience’ while watching the crew set up the stage for the concert that evening. All three brothers, and the ever-present Mr. Jonas, AKA ‘Papa Jonas’, could be seen supervising the set. Nine cameras surrounded the stage and the teenagers on the arena floor that evening. “The girls were on the floor right up against the stage. They were so close that Nick held Lili's [Strasser] hand and Bianca [Valle] grabbed Kevin's leg -LOL! And Celeste [Alvarado] protected Bianca from fainting as the crowd of joyful fans began to push against the stage to get closer to the boys", said Javier Porras of Laguna Niguel, father and chaperon for the “Jonas Sistas 4 Life” team of casted teenagers. “The excitement was overwhelming and the anticipation well worth it - the concert was amazing. We still can't believe the girls were part of this historic moment”, he added.
While taking a break from filming, the boys played Burnin’ Up, the single from their new album A Little Bit Longer to be released August 12th, and led the girls in a memorable sing-along which prompted Nick Jonas to quip “you are very good!”
During this intimate moment with fans, the three siblings chatted and let their small audience in on some 'confidential' information about them and their song S.O.S. (Sorry, I’m not at liberty to say what this information was. I was sworn to secrecy by my daughter!) “Nick even wished Jennifer [Porras] a happy birthday next week. Jennifer also asked Nick to homecoming and he smiled”, added Mr. Porras.
Monday night’s concert decibel levels tripled as the Jonas boys introduced a surprise guest, Taylor Swift, who performed the same number twice for the cameras. It was a long and exhausting day, and made longer by the need to wrap filming of the special 3D effects in time for the concert that evening. This meant a total of about 10 hours on their feet – for the casted audience and the band!
The Jonas’ exhaustion became noticeable when Nick forgot a few of the lyrics to “Play my Music”, and instead smiled for a moment while he recovered the tempo. Nothing escapes the attentive eyes and ears of their hard-core fans!
Thursday, July 17
Light posting everyone. I'll be traveling a bit, but not too far!
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 17 Jul 2008 03:44 PM PDT
I'll be taking some one-gas-tank trips this week, and attending the filming of the upcoming Jonas Brothers 3D movie. I ... more »
Josh Peck
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 17 Jul 2008 03:05 PM PDT
Is this Josh Peck pictured just a few months ago at the 2008 Kids Choice Awards? My daughter took this and ... more » Friday, July 4
Privileged Fourth of July!
by
Suzette Valle
on Fri 04 Jul 2008 12:50 PM PDT
On this busy day full of patriotic activities with friends and family, it behooves us to take a step back ... more » Thursday, July 3
SAT Prep Course + Summer Job + Staycation= Smart Kid!
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 03 Jul 2008 09:48 AM PDT
While summertime is in full swing in our sunny southern California corner of the world, our teenager is having his own version of summer; preparing for tests, working and vacationing at home will be all the summer fun under the sun he'll be having! As a junior in high school this fall he faces the most challenging time of his academic life. Once referred to as "the best time of your life", the high school years are now full of extra tests, extra course work (AP anyone?), and extra expense. Long gone are the days high school students could just get a summer job and forget about school for a couple of months. The prospect of preparing for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for college, along with a slue of other tests kids will take during this third year in high school, is enough to make anyone shiver in the middle of July! Deborah Collins, a counselor at our son's high school, gave an example of the test-taking schedule most high school students will have as juniors: "They take the PSAT (Pre-Scholastic Assessment Test) in October, and then take the SAT reasoning test in March, the ACT in April and the SAT subject tests in June. Students have an opportunity to retake these tests in the fall of their senior year." Preparing for the SAT is essential to obtain the high scores needed in today's competitive college admissions process. Instead of paying for a private tutor or class to prepare our child for this important college pre-requisite, we purchased a 600 page SAT test-prep book published by a well-known scholastic company complete with seven, yes seven, practice tests. At the end of the seventh test, the last page exclaims: "Don't stop now. We've got even more great info on line". It also includes a DVD with even more material to cover, and an additional suggested list of books to read over the summer (this sure takes care of any summer leisure reading!). The good part about this type of course is that it can all be done at home. A couple of weeks before school was out, our teenager went to a job fair and a series of job interviews; he filled out applications for the all-important character-building summer job, and passed the drug screening test. Two interviews later he got a job as a pool concierge at a local resort near our home. The resort is located within walking distance from our house, and just being there feels like a vacation. Sounds fun! We sure hope he sees it this way too because this was not a coincidence at all, but a very calculated move: no commuting involved! Though our teenager drives, the fact that a tank of gas now costs more than $65 would mean that a good portion of his wages per week would go to pay for his transportation alone should he have chosen to work further away. When he considered this expense was close to the cost of a new video game, and almost the cost of a college application, walking to work won by a landslide. As many families are doing this summer, we are also embracing the 'staycation' (vacation+stay=staycation). The de rigueur family summer road trip depicted in movies such as National Lampoons' Vacation, is closer to becoming just that: a movie! With our economy deteriorating, and the cost of gasoline now reaching $5 per gallon, it looks like the staycation will be popular with families this summer. Jeff Brown, a contributor for MSNBC.com wrote: "In its annual summer vacation survey, the American Automobile Association said the average North American vacation will cost $244 per day for two people for lodging and meals." I'm glad our son will be procuring the towels and beach balls for those who can afford this per diem! Adding to the staycation's appeal is the realization that for college-bound teens everything they do from now on really matters; what they participate in, how they spend their free time, and the jobs they choose are examined as something that could potentially help them or hinder them in an application to their dream college. So, how could a job as a pool concierge look good on a college application? Perhaps if described as follows: "I chose a job as a pool concierge because it was close to home so I could have more time to study for my PSAT, ACT and SATs, and also save the money I would have spent on gas to pay for my college application fees." All this while getting a tan? ... Smart kid!
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I asked him what he thought about Hollywood's invasion of Comic Con, and he told me he liked the influx of money to the overall event, and added "for me, it's a value-neutral situation since I already work with a few Hollywood directors." (Referring to The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay, from Paramount Pictures). 
The detraction from comic books to movies and TV shows at this year's convention was overwhelming; the spectacular logo-ridden studio and network displays overshadowed other artist's curtain-lined cubicles. Welsh actor Gareth David Lloyd of "Torchwood", a Sci-Fi British TV program, calmly sat signing pictures as the crowds mobbed studio booths to get free posters or buttons to carry in the Con's popular, larger than large bags!
