Bloggy-blogging

Dunkin’ Donuts approaches!

After years of rumors, the Massachusetts-based doughnut and coffee chain Dunkin’ Donuts might finally arrive in Los Angeles!

It’s been theorized that there was some kind of unspoken or unknown agreement between the predominantly east coast Dunkin’ Donuts and North Carolina’s Krispy Kreme chain that they wouldn’t step on each others’ toes. The sugar-dense Krispy Kreme has held California and other west coast areas for years. But it appears Dunkin’ Donuts may instead consider Starbucks their true competitor due to the majority of DD sales coming from coffee instead of donuts, and they are planning on ramping up their store count. And that the real reason they’ve avoided California is because it’s widely considered a largely impenetrable stronghold of independent coffee shops (which doesn’t really explain the obscene proliferation of Starbucks or the reasonably health of Coffee Bean, an LA-based chain). Whatever the case, it appears the lay of the land is about to change.

As a Massachusetts transplant now living in Los Angeles, I have considerable nostalgia for Dunkin’ Donuts. I remember my father coming home after getting the Sunday morning paper with a “surprise” box of donuts for all of us. Sunday comics and a donut or five are a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. My east coast friends on Facebook tell me Dunkin’ Donuts ain’t what it used to be. Truth be told, it was seldom amazing. But it was the right kind of good. Mix with a dash of homesick memories, and you’ve got success waiting to happen. And Los Angeles is full of transplants.

So where is Dunkin’ Donuts opening in California first? Los Angeles? San Francisco? How about… Camp Pendleton. Yes, that’s right. According to the Boston Business Journal, the Marine Corps base located in the northwestern corner of San Diego County is where it’ll all start. Or it could just be the first one we know about, because according to this interview, they are definitely eying California in their plan to double their store count and become a global fast food chain now that they’ve gone public.

Of course, usually that kind of expansion leads to a drop in quality. Nostalgia can only distort reality so much.

(via LAist and LA Snark)

Too Many Ideas, Too Little Time

As I’m looking through the catalog of RiffTrax, the online continuation of the hilarious Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV show from the ’90s that so brilliantly snarked through bad movies, and wondering if I could set up regular private viewing parties, the title of this blog occurs to me. And not for the first time.

Having an idea doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good idea, but it feels like a good idea for at least a little while. And regardless of the quality, random ideas of new projects are always imposing themselves on me. If I didn’t have a day job, three or four websites, and a few career aspirations on the side, I could probably do quite a few of them. But I know that I would just fill that new free time with more projects, and I’d be right back to where I am now.

Maybe my Rifftrax viewing party idea will be realized, maybe it’s the seed of a future idea, or maybe it dies here and now. That initial burst of an idea sure is exciting. It’s like that first blush of new love. It’s like the anticipation of Christmas morning. It’s the hope of a new beginning. It’s that feeling of untapped potential you feel when you hear an undiscovered band that you just know will be as big as The Beatles one day.

OK sure, the survival rate of sperm is higher than the odds of an idea coming to fruition, but creativity can’t be denied. It’s our most valuable commodity. So dream on! And even try to make a few of them come true.

Ideas racing to reality - which will survive?

Oh and let me know if you ever want to come over and watch Mike Nelson point out how a lot of movies are pretty ridiculous.

Oops… Things Change Fast on the Internet

So yesterday I teased the debut of a new column by Dig Comics director Miguel Cima at The Comics Observer. It’s still coming! But I decided to push it back to Friday so that a post could go up today about a comics conference (or colloquium, as they’re calling it) about race and comics that’s happening tomorrow.

Because my bandwidth is stretched pretty thin these days, I’m just not able to make The Comics Observer one of those high-volume sites with 5-10 posts a day. Maybe some day but not right now. So bear with me as I juggle when things come up.

It’ll be worth the wait. Miguel’s column should make for good weekend reading and debating.

Dig Comics director Miguel Cima speaks out

I’m very excited to announce the launch of a new column at The Comics Observer starting tomorrow. Director/writer/host of the award-winning documentary Dig Comics, Miguel Cima, will be contributing a new installment every month, where he’ll be looking at what excites him about the art form found in comic books and graphic novels, and what he feels is holding it back. He starts off with a doozy where he challenges readers and publishers alike to step up.

Disclaimer: I helped produce the two Dig Comics shorts that can be seen on DigComics.com, and continue to serve as a consultant and more as we talk with production companies to launch a TV series, feature-length film or web-series. To follow our progress and join in the crew’s comics discussions, check out the Dig Comics Facebook page.

This Saturday’s Tag Team Comedy Show with In Rare Form

Our monthly Tag Team Comedy Show features us pairing with a different improv comedy act. This time, we’re hitting the stage of the Mary Pickford Studio with In Rare Form. Like us, they have been performing at M.i.’s Westside Comedy Theater recently, as well as venues in Burbank, Hollywood and beyond.

The show starts at 8 PM. Tickets are $7. Don’t miss it! RSVP on Facebook.

The above was cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for nearly 3 years, performing well over 100 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.

The Day Job Revealed

Even when I’m in a company video, I can’t be normal.

Introducing The Comics Observer

Tomorrow morning, The Comics Observer will go live. I hope you’ll check it out if you have any curiosity about comic books, graphic novels, manga or the like. I’ve put a lot of work into structuring a site that will hopefully be more unique than the standard comics news site or blog. My aim is to post content for people with differing levels of interest in and experience with comics. Some of what’s up there now will give you an idea of what I’m talking about, but it will hopefully be more evident going forward.

The Comics Observer also has its own Facebook and Twitter accounts. Please like and/or follow, respectively.

Everything that I’ve posted here under the Dig Comics category will be there as well, along with accompanying comments and what-not. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll remove them from here. It’s kind of redundant to have them in both places, but there are a number of sites linking back here to specific articles and I haven’t figured out a way to automatically forward/redirect visitors without redirecting the entire CoreyBlake.com site to ComicsObserver.com. Since CoreyBlake.com will remain active, that obviously won’t work. So I guess for now, doubles is what we get.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has visited and followed my comics writing so far and I hope you’ll enjoy the new site. See you over there!

Cynical Musical Snob Says…

Did you see that an over-produced remix of a Shania Twain song is up for a Grammy? Oh wait, that’s a Lady Gaga song. Well, at least she’s moved on from imitating Madonna.

(Disclaimer: Actually I don’t mind Lady Gaga, but when I first heard this song, I couldn’t believe how much it felt like a ’90s country/pop song with modern flourishes. I didn’t even notice that it samples Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and even features Brian May on electric guitar.)

Corey Blake protests SOPA/PIPA

If you stopped by here yesterday, you might’ve noticed that the whole site was blacked out to protest some pending legislation.

Here’s yesterday’s statement:

Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to giants like WordPress and Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking you to help stop this dangerous legislation from being passed. Please watch the video below to learn how this legislation will affect internet freedom, then scroll down to take action.

While the activism got a lot of sponsors of the bills to switch positions or agree to rethink their strategy, the fight is not yet won. SOPA will be reintroduced next month.

You can write Congress here and here. I also highly encourage calling your representatives, as that type of input can make the biggest difference.

Sorting Some Things Out

Yes I actually took a weekday off from blogging yesterday. Were you lonely? Did you miss me?

I converted CoreyBlake.com into the current blog format back in April 2008. For a while, I mostly blogged on a “whenever” schedule (sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, sometimes a few times a month). But thanks to the encouragement of my friend and coach Cindy Marie Jenkins, I committed to blogging Monday through Friday. Since November 2010 that’s just what I’ve done (OK, with the exception of a couple days off for Thanksgiving in November 2010, the lost week in January 2011 from a computer crash, and yesterday). A little over a year isn’t really that long, but for the Internet, I think it’s worth mentioning.

If you follow this site, you know that a good percentage of my blogging shifted to covering comic books, graphic novels and the like. My ongoing work with Dig Comics inspired a new direction in my career(s) that has included comics punditry, journalism, consulting and generally spreading the good word of sequential art in its myriad forms. It’s an area that continues to fascinate me. So I’m creating a new site/blog that will be dedicated to what I’ve been doing in that realm here and more. Right now, it looks to be on track for a February 1st launch. I’m very excited and have lots of ideas for the site’s future. I’m starting at what I’m hoping is a manageable level and hope to build up as I’m able. So as I continue to work behind-the-scenes on that, comics coverage here at CoreyBlake.com will take a breather and then resume at the new site next month.

Meanwhile, my performing with the comedy troupe Magic Meathands continues. We do fully improvised shows in and around Los Angeles, and also do community outreach shows for audiences that aren’t able to come to us. I perform with them every chance I get and am also running their blog, which generally updates every Monday. In between posts about upcoming shows (we perform at least 3 times a month), I’m hoping to start spotlighting members, some of the groups that do shows with us, and some of the non-profit organizations that invite us to do shows for them.

Earlier this month, I also launched something for music fans. Ten on the Tenth had a great first month for an idea that popped in my head 5 days before it went live. Based on some feedback I’ve gotten, I’ll be tinkering it a little for February. If you missed it, how it works is I announce a theme (January was “new”) and then on the 10th of every month, people post their list of 10 songs within that theme. Watch for February’s theme to be announced around the 8th.

So with all of that (and more ideas still percolating), what happens with CoreyBlake.com? The frequency of blogging here will probably drop to two to three times a week so I can juggle the other stuff. There will be some self-promotion but that gets boring (for me too), so I’ll also talk about things that catch my eye, and maybe getting back to some of the silly blogging I was trying out in 2008. Otherwise, we’ll just have to see what catches people’s attention. Heck, I’ll even take requests. If you’d like to see me blog about something, let me know.

I’m excited to see where all of this will lead. If you’re still reading, thank you very much for being so interested in what I’m doing. I stopped reading after the first paragraph, so kudos to you.