Hollywood2020

TIMES SQUARE EARTH CAM VS HOLLYWOOD2020 CAMERA --REAL OR REEL?

HOLLYWOOD2020 on-location...at TIMES SQUARE NYC... this blogger Joyce Schwarz, Hollywood2020.blogs.com, Hollywood columnist was so excited about sharing her great pictures with her readers from Times Square this week.

COKE BILLBOARD @ 2 TIMES SQUARE, NOVEMBER 2005 courtesy of HOLLYWOOD2020 ON LOCATION IN NYC.

SAMSUNG PIX FROM TIMES SQUARE COURTESY OF HOLLYWOOD2020, on location..

So we checked Google for Times Square info to find out the latest that was happening that our camera did not show us and darn if we didn't find LIVE PICTURES OF TIMES SQUARE FROM THE EARTHCAM people here's the link:EarthCam - Times Square. There's even an Apple Quicktime movie of Times Square events...check out those Earth Cams....one only 10 feet from the ground sponsored by TGI FRIDAY's of course...another sponsored by the DOUBLETREE HOTEL showing a view from a 45th floor hotel room-- awesome...

SEEING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF SIGNS.. .according to Wikipedia.com "In 2000, it was reported that the building's (1 Times Square) 26 signs bring in monthly rent checks ranging from $40,000 to $250,000."

1 TIMES SQUARE -- a tower of powerful branding for those that can afford being the center of attention.

DESIGN TIMES SQUARE COMPETITION
“It's really about celebrating creativity and making sure that Times Square stays distinctive, and saying thank you to the people that have invested in good design that really makes a statement about the creativity and the energy of New York,” said Tim Tompkins of the Times Square Alliance. A jury selected 26 finalists from more than 50 entries, ranging from unique security barriers at 7 Times Square to the JP Morgan Chase sign at 1530 Broadway, manholes made especially for the new millennium, and the Coca Cola sign at 2 Times Square. One of the finalists is Phil Lenger, whose company Show & Tell Productions designed the wrap-around, screen-within-a-screen LG sign. VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE TIME SQUARE SIGN: You can log on to the Times Square Alliance's website to vote for your favorite Times Square gems. Just go to www.timessquarenyc.org.

HEADS UP FOR MACAU BEER AT TRENDY EVENTS ON EAST COAST

DRIFTING WITH MACAU BEER...after just blogging about the Suicide Girls trendy Video iPod downloads, my client Ted O'Connor president, Brooklyn, NY based Aladdin Beverage, importers of Macau Beer  tells me about another trendy event Macau Beer is sponsoring at Gigantic Artspace in New York city. http://www.giganticartspace.com/current.html

DRIFT, a collaboration between musician/poet Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth and visual artist Leah Singer. This exhibition features a one-hour installation version of DRIFT, an immersive sonic/visual environment consisting of music, sounds, and texts by Ranaldo in response to Singer’s dual projection 16mm analytical film system. The exhibition also includes collaborative and individual works on paper, films, and sound works. DRIFT has been performed live in museums, galleries, concert halls and performing arts centers worldwide since 1991, most recently at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the Robert Smithson retrospective. A DVD and 112-page, full-color book, published by Gigantic ArtSpace [GAS], will be released by Plexifilm in November 2005. Lee Ranaldo is an original member of the group Sonic Youth, formed in 1981 in New York City. Recent solo recordings include Music for Stage and Screen. and Text of Light. His books include Lengths & Breaths, Jrnls80s, and Road Movies. Visual works from the HWY SONG series, made from deconstructed acoustic guitars, have been shown at the Hayward Gallery, London, The Sydney Musuem of Contemporary Art, and the Vienna Kunsthalle.

ADRIFT IN MACAO : Macau Beer also drifted into Philly this week with preview tastings at special events for the Philadelphia Theatre Company world premiere of Christopher Durang's new musical  " ADRIFT IN MACAO".

Watch this blog for photos from more about Macau Beer at the VIP Philadelphia Theatre Company events.

Adrift in Macao Don't miss this hilarious and irreverent new musical parody of film noir!October 19 - November 20 www.phillytheatreco.com

500,000 Suicides: Suicide Girls Video iPod Downloads Number 1/2 million in 1st 24 Hours!

1/2 million downloads in the first 24 hours for Suicide Girls Video iPod content is making headlines around the world online and in mainstream media ranging from AP to Forbes: Playboy and Hustler were beaten to the punch by by the Suicide Girls - a punk, pin-up band/community out of NYC. Suicide Girls slogan for the downloads is: “Free 3 minute sexy videos of the lovely SuicideGirls set to music and showing off their pin-up appeal. Show your friends, your mom, the girl next to you on the bus…“ Most news reports are quick to point out that the SG downloads are not porn but rather adult-content aimed at the 18 and over. An AP story that seems to have gotten pick up around the world because of it's profile of the naughty new Video iPod downloads says that the SG girls site posted 500,000 downloads of their 'sexy videos' within the first 24 hours. 

BUSINESS LEADERSForbes - Nov 4, 2005
... Suicide Girls, which specializes in an updated (piercing and tattoos) take on pinup girls, has put free clips of its offering on its Web site. ...

SUICIDE GIRLS -- MERCHANDISING PUNK & FUNK: As if the video downloads and the outrageous popularity of their web community were not enough, the SG are branding a closet full of merchandise including DVDs and more: And they are on tour, probably headed to your favorite club soon.  The Suicide Girls: Black Heart Retrospective Aversion - Oct 7, 2005 Following the nudie site’s summer burlesque tour and an R-rated DVD documenting it and it the Suicide Girls site, the Girls get busy merchandising their name ...

AS MTV SAYS: "SG ISN"T JUST A LIFESTYLE BRAND --it's a lifestyle" at least according to the quote on their website which is www.suicidegirls.com of coursse-- and why the name --well,the creator, founder is none other than Missy Suicide.

SG RUMORS DEBUNKED? Heard some stories about SG girls leaving and lots of other funky stuff -- well see what the blog Boing Boing has to say about all this : Boing Boing: Suicide Girls: rumor-debunking time

APPLE SELLS 1 MILLION VIDEOS IN 20 DAYS

1 million videos in 20 days-- APPLE TAKES BIG BYTE IN ONLINE VIDEO (VOD) MARKETPLACE...Video2GO - video snacking is "IN". Reuters reports: iTunes, the most popular online music store, began selling about 2,000 music videos and episodes of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" for $1.99 (1.12 pounds) on October 12.The debut coincided with the launch of a new generation of Apple's iPod digital music player that can play video on its 2.5-inch color screen.

APPLES BIGGEST BYTES: Topping the list of big sellers according to Reuters were music videos by Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West, as well as episodes

At the service's launch, Walt Disney's ABC was the only nonmusic programming provider aside from Jobs' Pixar Animation Studios, which is also providing short films for the service. Hollywood2020 blogger Joyce Schwarz notes that this does not include any other Apple Quicktime videos that are being positioned for the Video iPod such as SUICIDE GIRLS online porn2go...many experts including Podcast pioneer Adam Curry...Podcasting News: Adam Curry Predicts Podcast Porn Explosion

SPRINT WANTS BYTES TOO....Sprint in challenge to Apple's iTunes
MSNBC - 9 hours agoSprint Nextel is hoping to bite into Apple Computer's core by launching the first US music download service direct to mobile phones. ...

iPod market heats up for Apple...Apple's new IPod performs solidly
Washington Times, DC - 7 minutes ago Apple Computer Inc.'s latest IPod, $299 with 30 gigabytes of storage, has a 2.5-inch LCD display screen sharp enough to bring a tear to the eye of our ... 

WILL APPLE GET SHINIER WITH MEDIA CENTER: Speculation: Apple's Foray Into the Media Center Marketplace tuaw.com, CA - 7 hours agoOver a year and a half ago, I wrote on my personal blog about the AirHub, a fictional Apple device that was a sort of upgraded Airport Base Station...(TUAC) stands for The Unofficial Apple ..here's the TUAC prediction of the day " If Apple releases a Media Center device of some sort in January as I believe they will, its centerpiece will be a Mac mini with an iPod dock. And I believe all the components of Apple's media center will be sold as modular units...."

MOVIEFLIX 13 SCARIEST MOVIES SEIRES STARTS WEDS, OCT 19

SCARY 13-DAY COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN STARTS WEDS, OCT 19 ON MOVIEFLIX.COM WITH HORROR SERIES ...get ready to scream!!!!

Start the countdown to Halloween with 13 days of scary horror movies courtesy of MovieFlix.com who will treat us to a classic Halloween movie everyday for 13 days starting October 19. "Horror fans are among the most loyal movie fans...we're excited to offer them 13 truly frightful movies" says Opher Mizrahi, CEO and co-founder of MovieFlix.com.

Apeman is one of the 13 classic Halloween movies to be featured on MovieFlix.com as the countdown to Halloween begins with streaming screams!

The 13 classic Halloween movies include: Apeman, Vampire Bat,

Bride of the Gorilla,

 

Theatre of Blood, Face of the Screaming Werewolf, Nosferatu,

NOSFERATU...

Synopsis:

The first film adaptation of Bram Stokers"Dracula" remains one of the creepiest and most atmospheric versions

the rest of the 13 are:

Lady Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, Monster Walks, Evil of Dracula, Crawling Eye and The Terror.

Check out MovieFlix Plus their premium movie subscription service, a companion to MovieFlix free movies. As a subscriber you can cash in on such cool goodies as exclusive online movie screenings, personalized movie recommendaitons, celebrity and filmmaker interviews.

BBC ANNOUNCES PRE-PAY BROADCAST DEAL WITH GREENGRASS

BBC World to broadcast over the Internet on GreenGrass: looking at the new format/business model: From Colin Mann in Cannes (FROM www.advanced-television.com) comes this news:

Pre-pay broadcast network GreenGrass has revealed that BBC World, the 24-hour international news and information channel, is the latest channel to sign-up for its service. The channel will go live in the next few weeks, becoming available in high quality video to broadband subscribers around the world. The move supports BBC World's objective to reach as wide an audience as possible through both traditional and new media platforms. Until now BBC World has predominantly been available through traditional cable and satellite platforms.

GREENGRASS ALTERNATIVE TO DIGITAL TV NETWORKS:

GreenGrass offers broadcasters and rights holders an alternative to digital TV networks, enabling them to distribute and sell their programming via the web, direct to the 150 million broadband subscribers worldwide. BBC World will join news broadcaster ITN, motor sport channel Revs TV and a number of other channels that are participating in the beta trial of GreenGrass ahead of a full consumer launch in January.

GREENGRASS COMPLEMENTARY TO TRADITIONAL TV

Jeff Hazell, BBC World's distribution and business development director of sales and distribution, said: "We see broadcasting on GreenGrass as complementary to traditional television. Broadband access and wireless hot spots are now widespread, so people often have access to an internet-connected PC when there is no TV in their control. Our viewers can now catch up with the news while they wait at the airport or during breaks at work."

TAKING THE RISK OUT OF INTERNET TELEVISION:

GreenGrass co-founder and CEO Alex Taylor added: "GreenGrass will bring BBC World to viewers in great quality, wherever they are, without the commitment of a monthly subscription. We worked long and hard to bring a service to the market that took the risk out of Internet broadcasting, making it a viable proposition for operators such as BBC World. Judging by our initial success it looks like we have got the model right."

RED HERRING HAS THIS TAKE ON GREENGRASS www.redherring.comGreenGrass Launches Web TV

English firm offers pre-pay TV service over the Internet.
September 21, 2005 English webcaster GreenGrass on Wednesday launched a pre-pay TV broadcast network over the Internet in a beta trial featuring news content from ITN and auto racing from Revs TV.

GreenGrass said its service gives broadcasters a new way to distribute their content and reach a worldwide audience.“There are quite a few problems stopping broadcasters from going into Internet broadcasting in a big way,” said GreenGrass CEO Alex Taylor. “Streaming to broadcast over the Internet has an associated cost. If they start looking at monetizing their content, the subscription model doesn’t really add up.”He points out that subscribers could leave their stream going all day even if they weren’t watching, and the connectivity costs would keep going up to the point where the broadcaster would be streaming their content at a loss.

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BUSH &TROOPS VIDEO TELE-CONFERENCE HOLLYWOOD2020 BLOGGER COVERAGE

HOLLYWOOD2020 COVERS BUSH WHITE HOUSE VIDEOCONFERENCE WITH U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ LIVE... the headline that I just wrote sounds a lot more impressive than it is. You see I am covering it LIVE via CNN. Why? Well, you just try to find it LIVE on the web. This continuing challenge to find live coverage of major breaking events via the web is a frustration to more people than this blogger Joyce Schwarz. WHY NO LIVE ONLINE COVERAGE? YOU TELL ME.

Digital photo of CNN "live" coverage of White House video conference with US Troops in Iraq

ASSOCIATED PRESS QUICK RECAP CLOSEST TO LIVE COVERAGE ON WEB

This quick update from Associated Press is the closest to live coverage that I could find via the web.

AP UPDATE closest this blogger could find to "LIVE" coverage of the White House Bush/US Troops in Iraq video tele-conference.

NEVER GOING TO BACK DOWN.....BUSH SAYS

"As long as I lead the U.S. is never going to back down in" President Bush says during his live video-teleconference with a hand-selected group of American troops in Iraq.
The video tele-conference is part of an effort by Bush to rally troops and world support ahead of Saturday's vote on the country's new constitution. Maybe I'm still fascinated by how fast technology is moving but it was amazing to see fairly clear video coverage of the exchange between the President of the United States and the crew of American troops in Tikrit, Iraq.  Especially touching was the one soldier who appears to be talking improv and says "I like you" to the President. Bush even kids with one female soldier by saying that she looks familiar from her service at the site of Ground Zero New York City where he visited with her home troop previously. I had to chuckle when he says to the team "I bet I look familiar too" and they all snicker yes. Staged yes, at least according to CNN's news team who says the Q&A was scripted in advance with the team practicing their queries before the video tele-conference began.

SCRIPTED Q & A VIA VIDEO TELECONFERENCE

HOLLYWOOD2020 blogger's digital photo of White House video tele-conference with U.S. Troops in Iraq on Thursday morning. Photo taken of blogger's TV set showing live coverage via CNN.

Bush thanked troops serving in Iraq. He told an officer in Tikrit, "There's nobody more proud of you than I am."

CNN anchor reporting immediately after the video teleconference with US troops and President Bush ends.

Okay, so this blogger is frustrated with not having a special feed available for her to use in her 'live' coverage of the event. BUT in retrospect -- 1 hour later it is indeed fascinating to be able to blog about it almost in real-time. To take digital photos that are immediately transferable (okay via a cable) to the desk-top computer. And to screengrab a JPEG of the AP coverage. Okay so I am not happy I have to screengrab their coverage but I'm making sure to at least attribute the coverage to them with the exact JPEG.  WHERE IS THE BLOGGER news service from the White House -- I would subscribe. If I had some advertisers for my blog I might even be willing to pay a junior reporter to cover it LIVE. Or better still let me pull off of the feed from the press room there. I'll even settle for a pool reporter. I know they just had a Blogger video-conference earlier this morning that I missed...but what I want is to be able to cover it live.  And not to have to take pictures of my TV SET ....What's a TV set -- oh yes, soon I'll be able to cover this on-the-go with my new Video iPOD -- oh that's right the video on the iPod isn't live either is it?  So much for progress...