Tracking news media coverage of Trump presidency through magazine covers

I thought I was doing a pretty good job documenting all the magazine covers featuring President Donald Trump, then I stumbled on a website that has a more comprehensive collection.
My coverage of Trump on magazine covers since his election has been periodic and not very well organized. You have to click on the Donald Trump label or any related links on Tech-media-tainment to see previous coverage.
Media Literacy Clearinghouse has a website called Donald Trump Magazines that features thumbnail images of scores of magazine covers of the 45th president of the United States. It includes magazine covers from before the 2016 election and afterwards. It has many covers that I hadn’t seen before.
The website is the work of media education consultant Frank W. Baker.
The Trump magazine website isn’t perfect, but is the best compilation I’ve seen of Trump covers in one spot.
On the plus side, the website is comprehensive and is being kept up-to-date.
On the negative side, the organization could use some improvement. Some pre-election covers are in the post-election section. There also are some duplicates.
You can click on some thumbnails to get a larger image of the cover. Others don’t have that option or don’t lead to the right cover. It also would be nice to see the name of the magazine and its publication date clearly stated with each image.
Still, the website is definitely worth checking out and I applaud Baker’s work.

Photos: Included here are some magazine covers I missed in my roundup of Trump coverage just before and after the election.

New physical halls of fame coming for soccer, bluegrass music, sports mascots

In the U.S. and Canada, there are more than 425 halls of fame that you can visit. Some are for major national sports and music genres; others are for niche interests and regional accomplishments.
Some halls of fame are opening new facilities, while others are building their first halls.
Here’s an update on the latest physical halls of fame:

National Soccer Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame is scheduled to open next month at the newly renovated Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The hall is holding an induction ceremony weekend Oct. 20-21.
The hall includes a 19,350-square-foot “experience” with such technology as virtual reality, gesture controls, and interactive digital video boards. The museum contains iconic soccer memorabilia and interactive exhibits.
The NSHOF comes to Frisco after not having a home for the past eight years. It was previously located in Oneonta, N.Y., from 1979 to 2010. That facility closed in February 2010.

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, is scheduled to open on Oct. 18. The new facility is dedicated to the history and preservation of bluegrass music.

Mascot Hall of Fame

The Mascot Hall of Fame is scheduled to open before Christmas in Whiting, Indiana. It will celebrate famous sports mascots, including the Phillie Phanatic, the Famous Chicken, Mr. Met and Bucky the Badger. The attraction is billed as a 25,000-square-foot interactive children’s museum.

Since my last roundup of new physical halls of fame, several new facilities have opened.

Canadian Football Hall of Fame

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum relaunched at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, on June 1. The hall had been without a home since closing its previous location in September 2015.

Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame

The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience opened in Meridian, Mississippi, in April 2018. It features the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame, which includes such luminaries as Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Henson, B.B. King, James Earl Jones, William Faulkner, Morgan Freeman, John Grisham, Muddy Waters and Tennessee Williams.

Burlesque Hall of Fame

The Burlesque Hall of Fame moved to a larger venue in downtown Las Vegas in April 2018. It is the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving the history of striptease.

Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame

The Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame memorial building in Lawrence, Indiana, opened in April 2018. It is the first of its kind in the nation, providing a physical space to honor its inductees from all branches of the armed forces. Inductee names are displayed and military memorabilia line the walls and fill showcases. Touchscreen monitors allow visitors to toggle through and read notable veterans’ biographies.

Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame

The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum opened at its current location at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City in April 2018.

The Funk Music Hall of Fame

The Funk Music Hall of Fame opened in Dayton, Ohio, in February 2018. Visitors can tour the exhibits and artifacts by appointment only.

Fishing and archery halls of fame

The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, International Fishing Hall of Fame and the National Archery Hall of Fame moved to Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. The attraction opened in September 2017.

Texas Aviation Hall of Fame

The Texas Aviation Hall of Fame opened as part of the new Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston in September 2017. It previously was located in Galveston.

Eastern Snowmobile Racing Hall of Fame

The Eastern Snowmobile Racing Hall of Fame opened in Crane’s Snowmobile Museum in Lancaster, N.H., in May 2017. The hall recognizes racers from New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and New York.

Related articles:

3 new physical halls of fame open with Wonders of Wildlife (Sept. 27, 2017)

Halls of fame planned for railroads, bass fishing, bobbleheads, skydiving and luge (July 9, 2017)

Music halls of fame in the works: R&B, pop, funk, heavy metal (July 8, 2017)

New halls of fame opening soon for burlesque, mascots and hip hop (July 6, 2017)

There’s a hall of fame for everything (July 5, 2017)

Newest hall of fame museum opens, honors professional wrestlers (May 21, 2016)

14 more unusual physical halls of fame (Feb. 28, 2016)

19 hall-of-fame museums in the works (Feb. 16, 2016)

The 10 most unusual halls of fame you can physically visit (Feb. 15, 2016)

Halls of fame for interior design, affordable housing and hydroelectric plants

Continuing my exploration of halls of fame, here are 11 more virtual halls of fame.

Interior Design Hall of Fame

Interior Design, the global publication and website serving the interior design, architectural and facilities management fields, established the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1985. It recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the design industry, in areas such as architecture, interior design, furniture design and product design.

Affordable Housing Hall of Fame

Affordable Housing Finance magazine created the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame in 2006. To date, it has inducted 56 pioneers from different sectors of the industry and the federal government.

Marketing Hall of Fame

The New York chapter of the American Marketing Association created the Marketing Hall of Fame to celebrate brilliance in the marketing profession. It inducted its first class in 2014.

Truck Driver Hall of Fame

The National Private Truck Council inducts four drivers per year into its Driver Hall of Fame. To qualify, a driver must have 3 million miles, 20 years or 50,000 hours of consecutive driving without a preventable accident. Since the program began in 1987, NPTC has honored 128 drivers from a broad spectrum of the nation’s top private truck fleets.

3D printing hall of fame

TCT Magazine has created a 3D printing hall of fame. The hall recognizes people who have made significant contributions to the 3D technologies industry through research, development, innovation and promotions.

Specialty Food Industry Hall of Fame

The Specialty Food Association created a hall of fame for the specialty food industry in 2015 and has been inducting industry leaders ever since. The Specialty Food Industry Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made a lasting impact on the industry.

Clean Cities Hall of Fame

The U.S. Department of Energy has a Clean Cities Hall of Fame. It honors individuals involved in advancing alternative fuels and fuel economy to improve transportation.

Hydro Hall of Fame

The Hydro Hall of Fame honors hydroelectric plants that have been operating continuously for 100 years or more. Hydro Review has been inducting legacy facilities in the Hydro Hall of Fame since 1995.

Florida Inventors Hall of Fame

The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame recognizes Florida inventors whose achievements have advanced the quality of life for Floridians, the state and the nation. It was founded in 2013 and is housed in the University of South Florida Research Park in Tampa, Florida.
The 2018 inductees included Sara Blakely, a graduate of Florida State University and the inventor of Spanx, and the late Edwin Link, the man who invented the flight simulator in the 1920s.

Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame

The Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame honors musicians, entertainers, venues and individuals who have had a significant impact on the musical and entertainment culture in the state of Arizona. It was formed in 2002. Inductees include Wayne Newton, Alice Cooper, Dick Van Dyke, Glen Campbell, Gin Blossoms, Steven Spielberg and Stevie Nicks.

Music Business Hall of Fame

The Music Business Association created the Music Business Hall of Fame this year. It inducted Tower Records founder Russ Solomon, who died on March 4, as its first member during its annual Music Biz conference in Nashville.

Halls of fame for hot sauce, Kentucky bourbon, foosball and wakeboarding

If there’s a passion or pursuit that has an active following, somewhere along the line someone is going to propose celebrating the best of the best. Often that means honoring those people or things in a hall of fame.
Most halls of fame don’t have a physical presence. But thanks to the World Wide Web, they can exist virtually.
What follows is a list of interesting virtual halls of fame. This is the latest in a series. Links to previous articles are located at the bottom of this one.

Hot Sauce Hall of Fame

The best hot sauce makers are inducted annually into the Hot Sauce Hall of Fame. Honorees are given a hall of fame ring and a red crested blazer at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo, held each April.

Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival created the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2001 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact on bourbon’s stature, growth and awareness. The induction ceremony takes place during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival each September.
Bourbon is an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash.

Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame

Whisky Magazine has a hall of fame for all types of whiskey. The Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2004. The hall honors individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the whiskey world. It includes distillers, blenders, company owners and writers.

Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame

The Appalachian Trail Museum, located in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Pennsylvania, created the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame to honor people who have made exceptional and positive contributions to the historic trail.

Foosball Hall of Fame

International Foosball Promotions created the Foosball Hall of Fame in 1986 to honor the best table soccer players. It is also called the U.S. Table Soccer Hall of Fame.

Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame

The National Wheelchair Basketball Association enshrines the greatest athletes in its sport in its hall of fame. The first class was inducted into the Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame in 1974.

Hawaii Waterman Hall of Fame

The Hawaii Waterman Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed an enormous amount of energy and passion to the ocean. Inductees include surfers, canoe racers, kayakers, swimmers and others.

Wakeboarding Hall of Fame

The Wakeboarding Hall of Fame celebrates the best athletes in the history of wakeboarding sports. Its first class was inducted in 2015.

Related articles:

Halls of fame for curling, Jacuzzis, heavy metal, intellectual property law (March 28, 2018)

Halls of fame for caddies, baseball park groundskeepers, Christmas tree growers (Feb. 4, 2018)

Halls of fame for barbecue, advertising and immigrant entrepreneurs (July 15, 2017)

10 more unusual virtual halls of fame, including pizza, hamburgers and die-cast cars (Feb. 25, 2016)

12 unusual virtual halls of fame, including Hooter’s girls, White Castle cravers and porn (Feb. 20, 2016)

Drowning in video in the age of ‘peak TV’

In this “peak TV” era, there are simply more TV shows I want to watch than I have time to watch.
Recently I binge-watched the first two seasons of “Travelers,” a time-travel, science-fiction series, on Netflix. I loved it and I’m happy that a third season is coming.
It’s not unusual for me to come into a TV series late. Such was the case with “Dark Matter.” I watched all three seasons of that space adventure show on Netflix instead of its original home, the Syfy channel. I suspect Syfy canceled the show after underestimating its viewership numbers. Netflix doesn’t share its viewer data.
Outside of streaming video channels, TV series still rely on third-party viewer ratings for their survival. TV measurement leader Nielsen uses “live plus 7” numbers for its ratings. It adds those who watch a show live with how many watched it as much as 7 days later on digital video recorders.
Ratings from people like me aren’t captured by Nielsen’s L7 metric. That’s because I often wait weeks to start watching a new season of a show on linear TV. I like to store up several episodes on my DVR and then binge-watch. Fast-forwarding through commercials is a time-saving bonus.
One Nielsen study showed that viewership for some shows can rise as much as 58% after the L7 window, depending on the genre of programming.
This year more than 500 English-language scripted TV shows are set for release, according to FX CEO John Landgraf, who coined the term “peak TV.” I pity professional TV critics who have to keep up with all this new content.
As a fan of the medium, I know I can’t keep up. My DVR still has the premiere season of “Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” on Freeform and second season of “Westworld” on HBO.
I only recently finished the fourth and final season of “12 Monkeys,” which had been on my DVR since the series concluded on July 6.
To enjoy the embarrassment of riches brought by peak TV, I’ve had to quit subpar shows such as “The Walking Dead” on AMC.
On Netflix alone, I have 19 series that I have yet to watch that are in my queue. Plus, there are 15 more shows that I’ve watched and plan to watch new seasons.
I also have several series I’ve been meaning to watch on DVD from Netflix’s separate disc-by-mail service. And there are shows I could watch on Amazon Prime Video, but I just don’t have the time.
I recently read some glowing reviews for “Sharp Objects” on HBO. How am I going to squeeze that one in?
And the fall broadcast TV season is just getting started.

Photo: “Travelers” on Netflix.

Post-apocalyptic scenarios explored in X-rated movies

Movies, TV shows, video games and other media like to explore post-apocalyptic worlds for interesting stories. The same goes for porn movies.
This year, there have been at least five post-apocalyptic porn movies released. They include “Don’t Panic!” from Pure Taboo and “Wastelands” from Girlsway.
A search of online resources such as the Internet Adult Film Database uncovers at least 17 porn movies set after apocalyptic events. Most take place in a desert landscape like that of the “Mad Max” films. (By the way, I haven’t seen any of these movies, I’m just going by the descriptions and cover art.)

Updated Oct. 20, 2018.

List of post-apocalyptic porn movies: 

Mad Jack Beyond Thunderbone (1986)
The Load Warriors (1987)
The Load Warriors 2 (1987)
Mad Jaxxx Beyond Thunderboobs (2002)
Post-Apocalyptic Cowgirls (2008)
Apocalypse Angels (2009)
Return of the Post-Apocalyptic Cowgirls (2011)
Walking Dead: A Hardcore Parody (2013)
Beyond Fucked: A Zombie Odyssey (2013)
Apocalypse X (2014)
Bound for the Apocalypse (2016)
This Ain’t Fallout XXX (2016)
Squirtwoman: Wasteland (2018)
Anal Apocalypse (2018)
Future Darkly: Don’t Panic! (2018)
Fantasy Factory: Wastelands (2018)
Invictus (2018)

Let me know if I missed any.
For a censored gallery of post-apocalyptic porn movies, check out this Flickr page.

Post-apocalyptic TV show trend on the decline

Despite gloom and doom in some quarters about the state of the world, Hollywood entertainment has turned more optimistic in one regard: The number of TV shows set in a post-apocalyptic world is in decline.
Perhaps viewers are tiring of stories about people struggling to survive after an apocalyptic event.
This year will see the end of four post-apocalyptic TV shows: “12 Monkeys,” “Colony,” “The Last Man on Earth” and “The Last Ship” (the fifth and final season premieres on Sept. 9).
Meanwhile, the longest-running post-apocalyptic show, “The Walking Dead,” is fading fast in the ratings.
No new post-apocalyptic themed shows are set to premiere this fall.
Fox will start airing “The Passage” in early 2019, but the first season takes place before a viral outbreak leads to a vampire apocalypse. The show is based on a series of novels by Justin Cronin.
One wildcard for this fall is “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” on FX. The show’s producers haven’t released many details about the latest season of the anthology series.
Hollywood hasn’t completely given up on the post-apocalyptic drama genre. Other shows coming include “Y: The Last Man” on FX, “Snowpiercer” on TNT and “Black Summer” on Netflix.
But with only nine such series now airing, and one of those set to end soon, it appears we are past the peak of post-apocalyptic TV series.
By comparison, there were 13 such shows airing around this time last year. The trend of post-apocalyptic themed TV shows peaked in 2016 when there were 16 such genre shows airing.

Related articles:

Comprehensive list of post-apocalyptic TV shows

8 new post-apocalyptic TV shows in the works (Sept. 6, 2017)

Photos: Poster for the final season of “The Last Ship” (top), scene from “The Passage”

‘Manifest’ has most potential among new fall TV shows

For fans of science-fiction, fantasy and horror TV shows, the pickings look pretty slim for quality new shows from the major TV networks this fall.
Most of the good new genre shows are moving to Netflix (“Stranger Things,” “Travelers,” etc.) and other streaming video services. The broadcast networks, except for the CW, lately have had a pretty poor record of supporting sci-fi, fantasy and horror shows.
Cable channels had been a reliable home to such genre shows, but even they’ve been pulling the plug on good shows. In the past year, Syfy canceled “Dark Matter” and USA Network axed “Colony,” both after three seasons.
Of the upcoming shows scheduled to premiere in the fall TV season, “Manifest” on NBC looks the most interesting to me.
Here’s the official description:

“When Montego Air Flight 828 landed safely after a turbulent but routine flight, the crew and passengers were relieved. Yet in the span of those few hours, the world had aged five years, and their friends, families, and colleagues, after mourning their loss, had given up hope and moved on. Now, faced with the impossible, they're all given a second chance. But as their new realities become clear, a deeper mystery unfolds and some of the returned passengers soon realize they may be meant for something greater than they ever thought possible.”

“Manifest” counts Robert Zemeckis as an executive producer. He directed the “Back to the Future” trilogy, “Forrest Gump” and “Cast Away,” to name a few.
“Manifest” premieres on Sept. 24. The first 10 minutes of the pilot episode are available to stream online.
I’m also looking forward to watching the science-fiction series “Nightflyers” on Syfy this fall. A premiere date hasn’t been set.

Related article:

Major broadcast networks can’t be trusted with sci-fi, fantasy or horror shows

Song of Summer 2018: ‘In My Feelings’ by Drake

Another summer comes to an end this weekend, so it’s time to crown the “song of summer” for 2018. This year the choice is easy: “In My Feelings” by Drake.
Drake dominated the summer with music from his “Scorpion” album. And “In My Feelings” was the biggest hit track. It also inspired a dancing competition meme that made headlines.
Drake also had top 10 hits this summer in “God’s Plan” and “Nice for What.”
The song of summer celebrates the music that was most ubiquitous during the season. It encapsulates what was popular on the music scene in a given year. In 2018, that was bounce music and trap music.
Rapper Cardi B was the true breakout star this summer. She was on two huge tracks: “I Like It” with Bad Bunny and J Balvin and “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5.
“In My Feelings” was named song of summer by Billboard magazine and Spotify. Rolling Stone picked Cardi B’s “I Like It” for its more subjective list.
My personal favorites for song of summer 2018 would include “Better Now” by Post Malone, “Friends” by Marshmello & Anne-Marie, “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer, “Back to You” by Selena Gomez, “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa, and “I’m A Mess” by Bebe Rexha.