Any Publicity Is Good Publicity

Christopher Null, the founder of Filmcritic.com, uses my site as an example in his new book Five Stars! How to Become a Film Critic, the World's Greatest Job. Of course, it's as a demonstration of how all the good film critic site names are already taken:

...there aren't any great and obvious domains like Filmcritic.com left any more, which is why you see so many websites with names like Goatdog's Movie Reviews.

I've actually considered changing it, and I wish I hadn't picked that name when I started, but it's a little late now. I'm sometimes encouraged by people who have heard of the site, and the rest of the time I tell myself that the name is eye-catching enough to make people click on my reviews.

Fun with George

I got this game in my inbox today (thanks, Gaia!), and it's fitting, because I spent the morning protesting George Bush outside the Museum of Science and Industry (that's me squatting with the "LIAR" sign). Today is Georgie's birthday, and I guess he wanted to play with the children's installations. There weren't many of us there: at first just me and my favorite art historian, who made a bunch of signs. Eventually people started straggling in, and our merry band grew to around ten people. Yeah, I know, not many, but you have to do what you can. Lots more people were expected downtown for a rally later today.

It was actually fun. Dozens of cars beeped their horns in support as they drove by. The museum was closed while Bush took his tour, and the Chicago Police, as well as the secret service, were herding everyone who wanted to go to the museum into our little patch of grass across the street from the museum (I wish we had a sign that said "Free Speech Zone"). In the end, it looked like there were more people protesting than there actually were. Several families brought their kids, and the general feeling was one of support for our actions. One young African American man in a suit sat with us dejectedly; he had come because he wanted to meet his president, but they wouldn't let him in the museum. For a while, a little kid sawed away on his violin for us, playing the Star Spangled Banner at least twice. It was a nice touch.

A few minutes before Bush was scheduled to leave, a final protestor came to join us, which finally made us outnumber the police. Just before Bush and company drove away, the secret service started searching backpacks belonging to some of the onlookers. They didn't approach any of the protestors; they seemed to target parents with children, and Bush made at least one baby cry when they searched her carrier. Maybe she'll grow up to vote Democrat.