Blog Archives

Seven Years Later & I’m Still Looking to the Storytelling Horizon

After logging into WordPress this morning, I had a new — yet expected — notification:

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 7 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

Seven years ago today, I attended a WordPress conference here in Columbus, OH inside the Ohio Union on the campus of THE Ohio State University. My interest in blogging, which I had dabbled with a bit in the past, took on a whole new dimension and meaning by discovering the online publishing platform WordPress. After listening to a few panel discussions, I immediately went up to the open-aired, impromptu customer service lounge on the third floor of the Ohio Union and sat next to an expert (I knew this person wasn’t a genius because I wasn’t in an Apple store) and asked him to help me set up my blog that would be called Jimmy’s Daily Planet.

One of my first blog posts published here — of which there were two I wrote on July 13, 2012 — was titled ‘Eight Years Later & We Look to the Horizon’ that focused on what would be the next societal game-changer. Hence part of the inspiration for today’s title. The other half of the title will be revealed in the second half of this blog post.

FYI – I explained the name of my blog in a post four years ago today. Here’s that summary.

Paying homage to the greatest (albeit fictional) newspaper of all-time, The Daily Planet, this blog was founded on my love of my favorite superhero and disguised human of all-time: Superman and Clark Kent. The scene from Richard Donner’s 1978 classic ‘Superman’ that showed us Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent walk through the bullpen of The Daily Planet for the first time was the moment I knew I wanted to be a journalist. The chaos, palpable energy, and big city, skyscraper setting flew from the screen and landed directly into my impressionable imagination.

These few minutes showing reporters preparing to get the scoop, watching exciting individual and group dynamics (papers scattered, people typing, talking and moving) and hearing creative storytelling pitches is arguably my favorite journalistic hook.

Plus, my name is Jimmy.

And here’s that aforementioned scene.

This ‘Superman’ clip resonates as much today as it did when I saw it for the first time as a kid.

Breaking News: I’m going to step away from publishing new blog posts on Jimmy’s Daily Planet. While Jimmy’s Daily Planet and all of the blog posts — written about a wide range of topics and current events — will remain available online in its exact current form with this same web address, there are other pressing writing projects that I am excited about that I need to commit more time and energy towards. As a matter of fact, it’s been my self-imposed Monday-Friday schedule of having to come up with and write new content on this blog for so many years that has given me the time management skills and confidence to now apply to new storytelling projects.

I wish I had the time to keep writing my daily blog — I really do — but the inspiration for my future projects will be rooted in and connected, in some way, to my writing style, experience, and association with my favorite headline/title I’ve ever come up with: Jimmy’s Daily Planet.

Here’s TV producer, writer, and storyteller extraordinaire Chuck Lorre with the right words at the right time.

I’ve loved writing Jimmy’s Daily Planet. I’ve had so much fun. And now everything that’s been put into this creative storytelling venture throughout the past seven years will be used to tell new, exciting stories that I hope people will connect with and like as much as I do.

Dr. Ian Malcolm, the fictional chaos theorist in ‘Jurassic Park,’ famously said that perfect turn of phrase — by way of the late author Michael Crichton — “life finds a way.”

I’m hoping that brilliant literary and cinematic adage can be amended to “writing finds a way.”

Thank you to everyone who read Jimmy’s Daily Planet and supported me along the way! 

Advertisement

‘I Have the Power’ to Transport Us Back to 1987

‘Masters of the Universe’ is a superhero movie released in 1987 that told the story of He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) and his skull-faced enemy Skeletor (Frank Langella).

Yes, that’s really acclaimed actor Frank Langella underneath that costume!

Mixing actors and practical effects with (then) state of the art graphics, this movie became a cult classic. Not exactly admired by critics yet some of our favorite movies have received similar (unfair) treatment.

What may surprise people is that this ’80s superhero classic featured young up-and-coming actress named Courtney Cox.

Again, that’s really true. And she delivered a great performance.

Oh, and the actor who played the principal in those ‘Back to the Future’ movies, James Tolkan, was in this movie too.

For this Throwback Thursday, let’s relax and enjoy the trailer for 1987s ‘Masters of the Universe.’

While a new live-action He-Man movie is set to be released in March 2021, it’ll be very difficult to match the ’80s superhero nostalgia and soundtrack of ‘Masters of the Universe.’ While it’s a movie that was made before its time, we should still be thankful that it was made when it was in 1987. It has a unique feel and cast that modern superhero movies just can’t match.

You can call it the differentiating (cosmic) key for ‘Masters of the Universe.’

Happy Monday!

What do I want my wish to be for my birthday?

Wishing that USWNT soccer star Alex Morgan was single…

Wait. I need to think more realistically about this. Alex Morgan isn’t single. What else do I really want that’s both fully achievable and would create an incomparable feeling of rejuvenation?

Oh, right. Dinosaurs eat people.

Maybe something with fewer teeth instead.

Have a Better Week Than Last Week. 

The Origin of ‘The Big Bang Theory’

‘The Big Bang Theory’ ended its popular 12-season run last month. While the CBS primetime hit could have continued for at least another season, show co-creator Chuck Lorre was probably right not to force it forward by strong-arming Jim Parsons.

At least we still have ‘Young Sheldon’ with Jim Parsons narrating on CBS for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of Mr. Lorre — the veritable sitcom (though he hates the word sitcom) king of the modern era — I thought I’d throw it back to an interview he gave about seven years ago in which he described how ‘The Big Bang Theory’ came to be for its TV premiere in 2007.

For 12 years, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was — to quote a memorable expression of optimism by Leonard in the pilot involving his crush on beautiful new neighbor Penny — smart and beautiful…

and, thankfully, not imaginary.