So help me almighty gaaaawd, this will be the week I finally catch up on the Lettercol, It Came From The PO Box, and maybe even produce a World of Nolan video. I'm mad as hell at getting so far behind, but it really, really, really couldn't be helped.
Youth Nation: Two New PCR Columnists in One New Column
Long-time readers are well aware that while the PCR spends considerable ink on baby-boomer nostalgia ('cuz that era's where most of us hail from), and our senior staff of writers are the best on the planet (I sincerely believe that), I have also always been very bullish on trying to discover young talent. I encourage them to try their hand at column-writing so I can feature them here and watch them develop. Will Moriaty (La Floridiana) and I talked about this in our e-zine's infancy, and he was an early influence as far as up-and-coming filmmakers go (and obviously I followed), but I also kept an eye out in particular for burgeoning journalists-in-the-making. It hasn't always been as successful as I would've hoped, but for every few that washed out (e.g., Ashley's Hollywood, Black Dog, The Drow) I kept a few gems that stayed at least for a while (Brandon Herring, Drew Reiber, the irreplaceable Terence Nuzum, and most recently, Chris Munger).
That said, I'd like to introduce our newest columnists I'm privileged to know, two talented 17-year-olds I met through work who impressed me enough to offer them column space. Bobby Tyler and Jake Tipton ("Bob + The Band" on the Message Board) are going into their senior year in high school, and will be contributing a music review column called Music Emporium, debuting with this issue of PCR. While we are largely targeting a youthful demographic, we hope everyone will be interested in finding out what they listen to and why. They will be writing it together, pretty much head-to-head, the only column like that at this time.
While they're getting used to the weekly format (and the discipline we all know it requires) it will not necessarily be limited to new releases, but those will be featured as often as practical. (I'd love for this to become as ground-breaking as The Digital Divide, but those are pretty big shoes to fill). While they settle in on where they want to go with it, they decided to start with an album that profoundly influenced them, Mr. Bungle's California. Check it out.
Mission Statement Update Cancelled, but Editorial Guidelines Clarified
I know I promised a Mission Statement Update for a few weeks now, but I lost the inspiration and ambition to proceed with it once I realized I was doing it for the wrong reasons. It was becoming a punitive tactic to control isolated editorial anomalies that have occurred lately, but have been discussed and corrected. Lisa Ciurro helped me realize that it wasn't the mission I was concerned with so much as I was enforcing the editorial guidelines.
While the original mission statement from 2001 is kind of naive-sounding in retrospect (see "Blasts From the Past" in the Classics links section, pagetop), it is still basically what we do here, and is still valid enough to work for now, along with the necessary addition of the terms on this page's title bar, "Media Fandom and Commentary" to reflect the shift in emphasis over the years.
The BIGGEST thing that the writing staff and the public have to keep in mind:
1. Nolan's Pop Culture Review is OP-ED only. We are not obligated to promote anything. Anything sent for promotional purposes will be considered for publication if it's part of a review and not a stand-alone plug. If there are exceptions made, they are made at the editors' discretion and should not be taken as rescinding the aforementioned rules.
(Example: Many reviews published in PCR have had quotes used for promotional purposes with the permission of the reviewer, and that's fine. There is an upcoming IT CAME FROM THE PO BOX column I'm writing that will cover many books and DVDs sent to me for review recently. The reviews posted can be used in whole or in part for promotion by the artist, if desired. While I encourage this, I also ask my name stay attached. That is wholly different from simply publishing linked movie poster JPEGS on the homepage for free.)
2. We are not a link farm. If you consider us important enough to advertise on, there are ad banner rates available (see appropriate link, pagetop). Even these are considered case-by-case and can be refused.
3. Readers' Comments and the Message Board are for discussion of current pop culture topics only. All other posts will be edited for content or deleted.
I hope this has clarified any confusion. If there are any questions, write me.
Please consider making a donation to help support Crazed Fanboy! Click on the "donate" link below and give whatever you can. I sincerely thank you for any and all consideration.---Nolan
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