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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!
Bill Looked and Then Read Excellent Adventures
A picture says a thousand words. What’s the harm in a few more?
Bill Hader is comedically astute in a way few others are by escaping into a wide variety of characters who fully exercise an engaging set-up with a hilarious punchline. While that sounds easy, it’s difficult to achieve at the level of Bill Hader. Add in his consistency–on display in the video above–and you’ve got a skilled comedian with endless possibilities.
Bill Hader’s comedic prowess has everything…
The Wild West of Writing
‘Westworld’ is a television enigma for the modern era, or whenever the show takes place in the 21st-century future.
Aside from Reddit users who routinely dissect each episode with a scalpel, sometimes to the playful annoyance of Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy, who are the head writers, co-creators, and husband and wife duo of the critically-acclaimed HBO-adapted series. There was a moment at Comic-Con between the first and second season of ‘Westworld’ when a fan at a large panel asked Mr. Nolan about “Samurai World,” and the famed screenwriter dryly replied with his eyes staring downward, “Do you want there to be a Samurai World?”
It was all in good fun, of course, as he enjoys the constant conversations Reddit users engage in concerning ‘Westworld.’
Mr. Nolan recently gave insight into his digital relationship with Reddit users, as well venturing into the risky contortion act in moviemaking known as high-level casting from a writer’s perspective with a familial connection.
FYI – There are a couple f-bombs dropped in the following Hollywood Reporter interview
Jonah Nolan is no joke yet he is a joker in the way fans want him to be as a writer and storyteller.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 
RIP Charles Krauthammer
Jun 21
Posted by jimmy11lentz
Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, has died at 68 years of age.
He was a towering figure in the journalistic community and equally so in conservative circles. Perhaps the only person who could hang with Mr. Krauthammer in a conversation regarding politics, policy or baseball–which was most important to him–is George Will.
I remember seeing Charles Krauthammer as I was preparing to board a plane in D.C. The famed commentator sped by as he quickly departed from his flight into America’s political capital. And even though there was no opportunity for a personal introduction or moment to thank him for his reasoned yet pointed perspectives, just seeing him in-person was special and memorable.
RIP Charles Krauthammer.
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Tags: Charles Krauthammer, commentary, conservatism, death, journalism, tv, writing