SATELLITE OF TAO: GOODBYE TIROL!

Bad news, Peoples!

Today I bring you a rather tragic edition of my on again/off again feature celebrating all things MST3K.


I rarely find myself writing about the glory that is this incomparable program with so heavy a heart, for you see friends--Tirol9's YouTube Channel has been pulled for copyright violations.


Perhaps I should explain in depth:

Yesterday my MST3K-themed TR Daily List was published, and thus I was in the mood for a bit of MSTie goodness. I proceeded forthwith to my Youtube account, where I have (or had) literally dozens of eps saved in playlists. As I have mentioned in the past, early in my online career, before becoming so wildly popular and successful (and delusionalXD), I spent the majority of my time watching MST3K on Youtube. Not only did I get to recapture treasured memories of my dissolute youth, I also got a chance to catch up on the Sci-Fi Channel seasons. SFC wasn't available in my area back in 1997, and I never had the chance to make up for the time I subsequently lost...Until now.

This miracle is largely due to the wonderful folks at the Digital Archive Project (originally known as the MST3K Digital Archive Project) . These diehard MSTies have put uncounted hours and incredible effort into locating, cataloguing, restoring, and downloading as many MST3K episodes as possible: From the pre-Comedy Channel KTMA shows, all the way to the end of the SFC run. They started in 2001, just after SFC had canceled the show, but while they were still showing it in rerun. Oddly enough, the DAP was started for exactly the OPPOSITE of what I uesd them for: See, SFC didn't have the rights to any of the Comedy Central shows, so MSTies who didn't get into the show until it's last 3 seasons were denied ANY exposure to the first 7! They started out simply doing what every episode suggests at the end--that is: "Circulating The Tapes", and eventually started transferring and uploading the shows, many of which would then end up on Youtube, which brings us to Tirol9.


I don't know him or her, we've never met or corresponded. All I know is of all the users who took the time and effort to upload MST3K for the benefit of MSTies the world over,Tirol was the most dependable and prolific. He had scores of eps uploaded, the sound and picture quality was always excellent, the 9 to 10 minute chunks the shows had to be cut into for uploading were always expertly edited--never cut mid-sentence, and never more that a second or two at most would be lost between chapters. We, the MSTies of the Youtube communtity, honored and apreciated his/her efforts, and will miss him dearly.

For you see, as always, if one person on Earth is having a good time there's another wondering why they're not making money off him. NBC/Universal, who apparently hate joy and spit upon all that is good and pleasant (a bit much? I don't think so) threw a shit fit. Already they had successfully blocked certain eps from being downloaded--or made others only downloadable if you cut out the intros--or had episodes blocked if anyone in the comments says the name of the movie (seriously, try to find Gamera on Youtube, and see what happens)

In poor Tirol's case--they managed to get his entire Channel pulled. Not only does this mean I lost about 75% of the episodes I had saved, but I also lost nearly ALL of my Joel episodes! I've got maybe 3 left...What would he say about such a cruel injustice?




Indeed!


Yeah, sure...They own the copyrights, they can do what they want...But was having a few episodes of a show that's been off the air for a decade available for the perusal of fans really hurting anything? Is it any different essentially from recording a program on DVR or tape and sharing it with others? Only the scale is different. Furthermore, no one's making a profit here, and I seriously doubt if having the shows on Youtube is discouraging anyone from buying the DVDs--there's no comparison as far as picture and sound quality, no clicking the next part every 10 minutes, and Youtube won't get you special features and other extras.

In other, more succinct terms:

Fuck you, NBC/Universal.

Seriously, Fuck you in the ear.



We'll miss you, Tirol9:

This is a musical tribute and send-off I found. I very much wanted to find a clip of "Clown In The Sky", but my search proved fruitless (and even though they had nothing to do with it, I'm gonna go ahead and blame NBC/Universal for this, too). Fortunately, I found this utterly sublime remix of every MST3K Theme throughout the show's entire history.

If you're anything like me, you'll need to watch it with a box of Kleenex.




KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES!!!


Scootbot

THE BREAST COUNCIL, IN ASSOCIATION WITH TTOS, PRESENTS: THE BEST OF TWILIGHT "RIFFTRAX"

Bleah, bleah!


It's after 5 AM here, so I'll be succinct.


Behold! 10 minutes of the only possible way to view Twilight with your self-respect intact:




Enjoy, and then treat yourself to a GOOD vampire flick: Fright Night, Dracula's Daughter, and Blood And Donuts all come to mind.

Nitey-nite!

The Primogen of Clan Scoot

I AIN'T DEAD!

'Sup Peoples!


The Rat-Bastard did it!


My roomie's brother, owner of the computer that had been my second home for the last six months(give or take), finally ended my access as I mentioned he might a few posts ago. Only the Rat-Bastard didn't take it to his room, he just put a password on it that only he knows. So it sits here, in the living room, dark and inactive--MOCKING ME!!


So now I'm on my roomie's laptop--and while it functions 500% better than the old shitbox, I only get to use it when he's at work or watching tv or on the PS3. Plus, since it's a laptop, he takes it into his room with him every night, so no more chatting til the wee hours with my beloved Superfriends.

Well--ok, that's not entirely true...I can still use the PS3 to go online, which is a galactic pain in the ass since it means not only do I have to use a game controller to type on a virtual keyboard, I have to deal with the PS3's inefficient web browser--the thing just wasn't built to surf the net.

So, I won't be posting as much as I used to.

Sorry! :(

Anyhoo, gotta go--Scott Pilgrim is on Comcast OnDemand.

I'll try to have something of interest for you folks later in the week.


Peace out,

The Elusive Scoot

Aw... I'm a jerk

Hey guys

I feel like a jerk because I have been a little neglectful as part of the Super Friends. I'm sure you are all forgiving with how things catch up to you but just like Zortt, I feel like some explanation is deserved!

- I am a MMORPG jerkface. I love them because I get so bored working from home, and I don't go out much because I live in the country. I used to play FFXI, WoW and Aion but quit when all my friends stopped playing and I was tired of soloing like an idiot. My best friend asked me if I wanted to play again, and I decide to give it a whirl again. So... sadly that has been occupying most of my evenings.

- Work is being a pain in the ass. Remember how I told you guys I was collecting all those stupid e-mail addresses for a newsletter campaign? Well now I had to deal with figuring out how to mail merge them, send them out, and then go through every single friggin e-mail to find out which ones went through, which ones didn't, and why they didn't go through. My boss has been riding my ass on this one, and it's frustrating, especially when I'm not even the one sending out the newsletter. At this point it is a waiting game, but I have to make myself look busy during the day when he's around. I've pretty much only visited Topless Robot out of all the websites I used to visit daily.

- The biggest horse show of the year is almost here. We're only taking one pony but because of my mom's insane work schedule, it's up to me to make sure she gets pampered and taken care of like crazy. I've already ahd the farrier out twice to look at her feet, we shipped her two hours away and waited around while she got clipped out, and on top of everything else I do around here chore wise, she gets groomed daily, and has ointments applied to her like crazy. I'm actually supposed to be bathing her 2-3 times a week as well but the weather has been less than inviting. I will probably get on it soon. There have been other things I've been doing towards this show, and it seems like it's taking forever to get here (it's November 12th haha).

- I haven't really been inspired to write anything post wise. Lame, I know. I am thinking about doing a review of a six issue comic series but it is only at issue #4. That probably won't be happening until December, sadly.

- Lastly, HALLOWE'EN! I finally got a party invite, so I've been mucking around with my hair to figure out how exactly I am going to pull it off. Luckily my best friend is doing a trade off with me - I'll do her outrageous Pamela Anderson make up (She's going as knocked up Pam and her boyfriend is going as Kid Rock) in exchange for her to coat my head in hair spray and figure out bumper bangs and victory rolls. I do promise pictures from this, though I don't know if I will be as awesome as Captain Cold there.

So yes, I am still alive, and hopefully popping in more often. Like I said, I feel like a jerk for just kind of vanishing like that after Thanksgiving.

To make it up to you guys, here's a picture from 2004 (I think), of my friend and I going out for the Trent Anthropology Society's screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show.