Rock Hall adds more fossils to its collection, needs more 'modern era' acts

The paleontologists at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recently added several more fossils to their museum.
On Oct. 19, the Rock Hall added a bunch of ancient acts to its inductee list. Key members of some acts are deceased and others were too old to perform at the induction ceremony.
The Rock Hall has a tendency to choose older acts over newly eligible acts. The thinking is that you can’t induct so-and-so before some older act is enshrined.
I think the hall should have two inductions per year: one for the “modern era” and another for a “classic era.” This would be similar to how the Country Music Hall of Fame chooses inductees with its “modern era” and “veterans era” selections. The Baseball Hall of Fame has “contemporary” and “classic” eras for inductees.
This year, the Rock Hall inductees were Mary J Blige, Jimmy Buffett, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, MC5, Ozzy Osbourne, Suzanne de Passe, Big Momma Thornton, A Tribe Called Quest, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield.
Of those, only Mary J Blige and Dave Matthews Band could be considered “modern era” acts.
The rest would be considered “classic era” acts or early influences.
Of the 11 individual inductees, five are deceased. Of the groups, many had lost key members over the years or were simply too frail to perform at the ceremony.

Consider this: The R&R HOF snubbed @ForeignerMusic for so long that Mick couldn’t be there, the founding member. @jimmybuffett snubbed so long that he’s passed. @peterframpton so long that he had to sit and play. @OzzyOsbourne solo so long that he had to sit & couldn’t sing. And…

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 21, 2024

So the induction ceremony consisted largely of tribute performances by “modern era” performers such as Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Dua Lipa, Jelly Roll and Keith Urban.
The ceremony itself was a five-and-a-half hour-marathon. Vulture writer Devon Ivie called it “a really long ceremony with really long speeches.”
The solution for such a long show: break it up. One show for “classic era” and early influencer acts and a second show for “modern era” acts.
Once the Rock Hall deals with its ridiculously long backlog of eligible artists. It can go back to one show.

Photo: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum plaza. (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame).

Why no porn parodies of the 2024 presidential election?

The adult entertainment industry used to like to parody political figures with X-rated videos. But porn producers seem to have lost their nerve to mock powerful figures.
There have been no political porn parodies this election season, even going back to the primaries.
Four years ago, there was just one political porn parody and it mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
But there was a plethora of porn parodies during the 2016 race, lampooning both major party candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
But this election cycle, the adult entertainment industry has not touched the presidential race with its content.
I asked Brian S. Gross of BSG Public Relations in Woodland Hills, Calif., why this might be. His clients include companies in the adult entertainment business.
“All I can do is speculate,” he said. “The industry is in a completely different place post-pandemic. The business has changed, and the industry produces a far less amount of parodies than it used to. There was little to no desire to create parodies around this election is another possible reason.”
Or maybe all that content produced for the 2016 election was not very popular with viewers.
Another reason could be possible negative consequences for the adult entertainment industry and/or sex workers if either Trump or Kamala Harris is elected.
Trump is believed to be aligned with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. And Harris is anti-sex work.

Related articles:

2020 presidential race gets its first porn parody (May 3, 2020)

Why are there no porn parodies yet of President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris? (April 19, 2021)

Top real-life targets for porn parodies and exploitation (March 30, 2024)

Photo: Trump 2020 campaign sign updated for 2024 in Chatham County, Georgia (photo by Jud McCranie via Creative Commons)

Sexy Halloween costumes in 2024 say ‘Beetlejuice’

This year’s sexy Halloween costumes from Yandy.com include a lot of getups inspired by the hit horror-comedy movie “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
Popular movies always feature prominently in Yandy’s Halloween costume lineup. Last year, the big theme was “Barbie” and in 2022, the big theme was “Top Gun.”
As usual, Yandy dances around trademarks with clever naming. Some costume names include “Beetle Bombshell Costume,” “Got the Juice Costume” and “Beetle Bride Costume.”

Photos: Yandy.com.

The Failed Promise of Digital Content: a recap, part 6

We were promised exhaustive libraries of digital content available anytime and anywhere, but those promises have come up short.
Since May 2009, I have written about the shortcomings of the internet and digital media when it comes to content –music, video, news articles, archived information, etc.
Here is an index of parts 76 to 100 of the series “The Failed Promise of Digital Content.”

Part 76: Poof! More disappearing websites
Part 77: Movies not available on DVD – Quentin Tarantino edition
Part 78: The Netflix DVD library is slowly losing movies
Part 79: Twitter needs to archive more than just accounts of deceased users
Part 80: The TSA has outlasted its critics
Part 81: Netflix DVDs: ‘We’re in the endgame now’
Part 82: Disappearing online content is like a David Copperfield act
Part 83: Many movies likely skipping DVD release as physical format fades
Part 84: Qwest was wrong; You can’t access every movie ever made online
Part 85: Vanishing online videos
Part 86: More ways videos disappear online: Content moderation, business deals
Part 87: The ephemeral internet: Disappearing journalism, personal photos and President Trump’s tweets
Part 88: Netflix is taking away the ability of subscribers to reorder their streaming lists
Part 89: Rotten Tomatoes is the best review aggregator, but it needs improving
Part 90: 15% of top movie musicals are not available online
Part 91: 15% of top film noir titles are not available online
Part 92: 7 movies recommended by Quentin Tarantino are not available online
Part 93: More notable movies not available online: filmmaker and critic picks
Part 94: Link rot problem: Why bother using weblinks anymore?
Part 95: The most-wanted movies that aren’t available online in any form, according to Reelgood
Part 96: The most-wanted TV series that aren’t available online in any form, according to Reelgood
Part 97: Missing Movies: Many movies are unavailable for streaming, rental or purchase
Part 98: Locating movies and TV shows online is becoming a major hassle
Part 99: The end of movies on disc is nigh
Part 100: Disappearing web services due to changes at X, aka Twitter

Photo: “Internet” photo by Flickr user Fisakov via Openverse.

The internet is awash in broken links

It’s an unfortunate truism that nothing is permanent on the internet. This is a shame for anyone who values information and entertainment on the web.
Websites regularly disappear along with their content. Sometimes publishers purge older content from their websites. This leads to a lot of “broken links” when web surfers click on a hyperlink to find information but get an error message instead.
A study by the Pew Research Center showed how bad the problem of “digital decay” is. Pew said a quarter of all webpages that existed at one point between 2013 and 2023 are no longer accessible.
The older the content is the worse the “link rot” problem is. Some 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are not available today, Pew said in its May report.
The study also showed that 11% of all references linked on Wikipedia are no longer accessible.
The issue of disappearing content also applies to social media sites like X, formerly Twitter.
Meanwhile, an important repository of internet information, the nonprofit Internet Archive, is fighting copyright lawsuits that threaten its future.
It’s not a pretty picture.

Related articles:

When Media Outlets Shutter, Why Are the Websites Wiped, Too? (Slate; Feb. 24, 2024)

When Online Content Disappears (Pew Research; May 17, 2024)

The internet is full of broken links (Sherwood, May 22, 2024)

The Internet Archive’s Fight to Save Itself (Wired; Sept. 27, 2024)

Photos: Illustration produced by Dall-E 3 (top); Chart from Pew Research Center.

Who is behind the ‘Macaroni & Beef in Sauce Standard’?

I recently purchased a Stouffer’s Macaroni & Beef frozen meal. The box cover advertises “30% More Meat” with an asterisk. The asterisk leads to small print that says “Required by the Macaroni & Beef in Sauce Standard.” The what?
A standard that requires more protein in a dish sounds like a good thing. But what entity is behind this “standard.” Well, the box doesn’t say.
So, first, I searched the internet, of course. The only thing I could find that was even close to relevant was a March 14, 2023, commercial item description (CID) of “macaroni and beef in tomato sauce” from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The fact that we have CIDs for food items seems like an overreach by the administrative state. Requiring a detailed list of ingredients on the packaging is one thing. Banning certain unhealthy chemicals and ingredients in food also is good. And having general requirements about freshness of food items and things like that also are fine. But having to describe noodle types and other aspects of macaroni and beef in tomato sauce doesn’t sound necessary.
However, one thing that the CID for “macaroni and beef in tomato sauce” doesn’t have is a “sauce standard.”
All the document says is: “The sauce shall contain tomato puree or tomato paste. The sauce may contain diced tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms, sweeteners, thickeners, salt, and spices, including garlic and other spices common to tomato-based sauce.”
It doesn’t say how much meat it needs.
So, next I contacted Stouffer’s, a unit of conglomerate Nestle. They never responded. So, the mystery continues.

The end of movie discs is troubling for cinema fans

The end days are fast approaching for movies on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. And I’m saddened by what that means for cinema fans like me.
Blu-ray Discs in particular are great for getting the best quality picture and audio. Plus, they come with extras like deleted scenes and making-of documentaries.
I recently watched “Lethal Weapon” (1987) as a pay-per-view movie from Amazon.com. It was an OK viewing experience but the video and sound quality weren’t the best.
I don’t mourn the loss of physical media and all the storage issues that brings. But there’s not an adequate digital alternative like there is for music.
Spotify has basically any album or song you want to listen to. And it’s all available for one low monthly subscription price.
With movies, you have to subscribe to multiple services to watch all the films that friends and critics recommend. And then there are the TV series. I currently subscribe to Netflix, Max, Disney+ and Apple TV+, as well as Kanopy from my public library. And I subscribe to cable TV for live news and sports. That’s a pretty expensive bill.
Signs of the decline of movies on disc are easy to see.
In October 2023, Netflix shut down its DVD-by-mail service.
That same month, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy announced that it would stop sales of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs by early 2024.
In April 2024, discount retailer Target announced that it planned to stop in-store sales of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs by 2025.
In July, the Redbox rental kiosk business shut down after its corporate parent Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.
Movie lovers unfortunately will have to roll with the changes.

Photos: DVDs and Blu-ray Discs on sale at Target during holiday season 2023. (Patrick Seitz)