You’ve probably heard the phrase that serves as the title of today’s musing at some point, whether or not you’ve actually worked in a field that emphasizes its utility and understanding. None other than Mark Twain is credited at least with the introduction of it into mainstream America, at least per Wikipedia: Twain popularized the … Read more
It’s difficult enough for the folks that still have jobs in American media to figure out a path to success that motivates consumers to engage and placates their employers and, most of all, their board members. Now throw into the mix the draconian and seemingly haphazard actions of the leader of the free world that … Read more
The entertainment industry desperately needed good news this weekemd. Hell, AMERICA desperately needed good news this weekend. Hence the performance of MINECRAFT: THE MOVIE was seen as downright heavensent, as among others THE ASSOCIATED PRESS–because they at least are still invited press members of this industry–reported: In its first few days in theaters, the … Read more
The executive whom his longtime friends and colleagues adoringly labeled “The Blur” was back in the news this past week, finally memoralizing a position he’s essentially had for a while with an actual title and press release. THE DESK’s Matthew Keys was among the many who reported it on Friday: Dr. Phil McGraw’s media company … Read more
To many of my more impassioned followers, today is Way Better Than Good Friday. Because at long last a particular independent movie that’s been on their radar since last fall’s Toronto Independent Film Festival finally hits the theaters and they’ve already secured tickets to a showing this weekend–not that it would have been impossible to … Read more
Yet another old-fashioned media bacchanal is going on this week in Las Vegas, in this case the gathering of the National Association of Theatre Owners, pretty much the only worthwhile use of the acronym NATO these days. To say that there’s more than a little concern that their fate may be headed in the same … Read more
I needed some warmth last night and I was fresh out of chicken broth. So I binged a few episodes of what was getting an awful lot of positive critical reviews, the just-dropped MID-CENTURY MODERN on Hulu. It’s gotten quite a bit of attention from folks like me that lament the near-passing of the traditional … Read more
I’ve always been far more fascinated with the “whys” of research versus the “whats”. While I fully concede that in an industry where the bottom line IS the one with the “$” sign, the value of knowing what the underlying reasons for those results more likely are is eminently greater than merely being able to … Read more
This weekend is yet another personal milestone for me, one I honestly never thought I would reach and of late prayed nearly every chance I got that it would not come to pass. It’s the 40th anniversary of my relocation to Los Angeles. Whee. I’ll confess that the last weekend of 1985 was perhaps the … Read more
If you’re looking for positivity and good cheer this morning, I’d suggest you stop reading right now. Having an overdrawn bank account and being threatened with losing the one job you’ve been able to have gotten, and one of the few I was even allowed the chance to interview for, in what is now more … Read more