Archives for 2010

As most of you already know, Oprah Winfrey dedicated the whole hour of her show today to The Twilight Saga. Now, I’ve been a fan of Oprah’s since she came on the air. I watch her show pretty much every single day. I’ve always wanted to attend a taping of one of her shows. So being able to go to the show on the day she was talking to the stars of the Twilight Saga was pretty much a total dream come true!

When we arrived at the studio, of course there was a huge line of fans! I don’t think there is ever a Twilight related event where you won’t find a huge line of fans. And true to form, there were Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts, posters, buttons, and everything else a fan could decorate to show their love of the saga.

The wait wasn’t very long to get into the theatre and the Harpo staff did everything possible to make sure you were comfortable, that you understood any regulations or directions, and that you had a clear idea of where to go and what to do. It was so well organized and efficient. I can’t rave enough about the staff and how well they did their jobs today! So here’s a big thank you to the staff at Harpo!

Now, I want you to know that my excitement over the taping of the show was always there, but it didn’t really, REALLY hit me until we were actually guided into the studio to take our seats. We came around the corner and saw the stage set up, which gave me my first jolt of “Oh my gosh, this is really happening!” But it was when I saw the Oprah logo written out in the Twilight font that I actually squealed a bit.

We were seated just right of center in the back section, with the front center section reserved for the participants of the show that Oprah was going to talk to. There was a family group that had all dressed up as the various characters, girls in t-shirts that had dozens of lines from the books written in tiny hand writing all over the shirts, and yes, even a few guys. Just to my right was a fan who first read the book Twilight in October of 2005!! We always find that impressive given that we don’t meet many people who read the book before we did!

Before the show started, an audience crew came out to get us pumped and to talk to us about the series. They asked all kind of questions – the obvious “Who is Team Edward?” and “Who is Team Jacob?” They even found one gentleman who claimed he didn’t know a thing about Twilight other than the fact that his wife loved it and he came to support her.

My favorite moment of the pre-show was when they singled out a gentleman and asked the audience if they knew who he was. Now, this is just a regular guy. He wasn’t all dressed up and he was sitting alone. But I recognized him. I searched my brain until it hit me! It was Taylor Lautner’s father! There were some humorous thank you’s given to Taylor dad for having such a good looking son!

And then Oprah came out! She looked great, as usual, and said to audience that she knew none of us were there to see her! She had a few ohhh and ahhh moments with us before they began taping the show.

I don’t want to spoil what was in the episode by giving too many details, but I will tell you that you definitely want to tune in! You’ll see some perfectly wonderful fan reactions to big surprises as well as a few things from Eclipse that haven’t been shown before. Robert, Taylor, Kristen, and Dakota each have some great memorable moments that you won’t want to miss. So, be sure to set your DVRs for May 13!

Lots of round and round good discussion today with several people on rumor, gossip, the role and future of online media, and where it may all go in the future.  So here are my thoughts in true Generation X style (AKA bullet-pointed because I was raise on MTV Sesame Street, which means I have a short attention span, I multi-task, and I skim until engaged by content).

~Newspapers in the US are closing at an alarming rate

~Magazine readership in hard print copy is down

~Online sites are reaching more and more people daily

~Whatever content you chose to put out there and in whatever form you chose to put it comes with the knowledge that people will love it, hate it, or could care less. Blogs are like children, as long as you aren’t breaking the law, no one should tell you how to run yours. At the same time, if people aren’t happy for whatever reason, they will vote with their feet and move to their own media to express their discontent. It’s basics rights and responsibilities.

~For years the New York Times has existed as well as The Weekly World News
Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons existed at the same time as Edgar R Murrow and  Walter Cronkite

~Today blogs exist from the Huffington Post, CNN, the Drudge Report to TMZ, The Awful Truth, and Lainey Gossip

~TV has everything from PBS to the Playboy Channel

~Movies have everything from Gone With the Wind to Debbie does Dallas

~Social media is so named because it reaches out and connects with people it has been used to reunite earthquake victims, fight the Iranian government, let the world know when I’m getting a latte, and sadly even tweet a famous author’s personal flight details

~For all the vast changes in technology over the last 100 years, basic human nature probably hasn’t changed that much, just the methods by which they receive their information has

~People still gossip, discuss, have opinions, get hurt by words and actions

So what am I saying? Even us lowly fansite bloggers have our range, let’s not throw all of us out with the proverbial bathwater because without us the fans wouldn’t be congregating the way that they do, connecting with people across the globe, meeting up with friends at conventions, and a million other positive things.  Without social media I wouldn’t have ever met four of the people I consider to be my best friends in the world. Thank God for forums, blogs, and for people who take the risk of putting themselves out there to see if anyone else is listening and to comment back.  It’s hard work, and the rewards for most of us aren’t ones you can put a price tag on.

Final thought as I wear my blogger badge proudly
Illegitimi non carborundum