Baby Got Theft: Glee and Intellectual Property Violation

Yesterday morning, I was checking Twitter like I do and noticed a tweet from Jonathan Coulton, one of my favorite artists posted this on Twitter:

Hey look, @gleeonfox ripped off my cover of Baby Got Back: bit.ly/WME9Ho. Never even contacted me. Classy.
— Jonathan Coulton (@jonathancoulton) January 18, 2013

Hmm? I thought as I clicked on the video to which he had linked:

 

 

I must say that I've been defending Glee to the haters, particularly to people who have given up on the series now in its fourth season. I've tried to maintain my identity as a Gleek through it all, but honestly, this is the last straw. On Coulton's blog, he says that he was initially alerted to an unofficial Glee Wiki with the listing for Baby Got Back. The wiki, of course, does not give credit to Coulton's cover, rather it gives full rights to Sir Mix-A-Lot. Could this be because people are not familiar with Jonathan Coulton's work? Perhaps, but the powers that be at Glee and Fox would have been aware of him to have specifically picked his version of Baby Got Back.

Coulton's cover of Baby Got Back is extremely unique and true to his artistic style. Not only did Glee swipe his cover, but it's believe that they actually used his audio and stripped away his vocals. There are aspects of his song that they included however. At 2:17, he says "Johnny C's in trouble" instead of "Mix-A-Lot's in trouble." Johnny C? Jonathan Coulton! They didn't even change the lyric! There's a duck quack for [expletive deleted as well.] That's just complete and utter crap.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of Coulton's original recording and the Glee recording, which will premiere on the eleventh episode of the season "Sadie Hawkins." It is to be sung by Kurt's new love interest Adam.

As you can see, the resemblance is uncanny. Really, this just pisses me off. Coulton maintains that Fox did not contact him for permission to use his cover. I have no doubt about that. Honestly, I think that someone heard his version ... somewhere... who really knows where and came into the planning meeting saying, "I have a brilliant idea! I heard this great version of Baby Got Back that we might be able to pull off as unique and fresh!" "A RAISE FOR YOU!" said his/her boss. Yes, I'm sure that's exactly how it went.

For more updates, check out Jonathan Coulton's blog and his Twitter account. You can support him by buying his music at CD Baby! Some of my favorite songs by him include Creepy Doll, Still Alive (of course),  Code Monkey, which was the first song I had heard by him.

I'm going to be following this story closely. I'm on the fence about watching this episode of Glee at all, but I think I will... for science!

Help Bring a TARDIS to LCTC in March!

At Lexington Comic and Toy Convention 2012, con-goers were privileged to a visit by the DeLorean, with proceeds from photo ops going to Parkinson’s Research. As discussion of LCTC 2013 progressed during the year, many, myself included, thought that inclusion of the TARDIS would help round out the convention experience. David Endicott of Ashland wants to make that happen. He has started a Kickstarter project to help pay for some of the TARDIS related expenses and to help expedite the process.

Endicott, who has an interest in prop making, says that he has been research TARDIS plans since Christmas and has enlisted the help of a local carpenter to help with the construction. The money from the Kickstarter project will go toward labor, building expenses, and transportation only. Endicott has said that because he already has tools, he can use the money strictly for construction necessities rather than a large piece of equipment. 

The TARDIS will be full scale, 10ft x 5ft, which is based on the version seen from 2005-2010 on BBC’s Doctor Who. Endicott expressed that TARDIS plans were extremely difficult to find, but I’m confident that he will be able to put together something fantastic, brilliant, and cool. Those who contribute to the Kickstarter project will be privy to in-progress updates and personal thank yous. I think that it would be awesome if we could get a local photographer to do professional photo ops in the TARDIS for a nominal fee (HEY PHOTOGRAPHERS – CAN WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN?!). 

At the very least, I hope that con-goers can take their own pictures with the TARDIS. I also hope that a big group of Doctor Who cosplayers can gather together for photo ops. (I’m looking at you, Jason Knopp, you David Tennant looking fella) I wish David the best of luck with the build and I look forward to hearing more about the updates. With space already allocated on the convention floor, now all we have to do is wait for the vworp vworp and the TARDIS to materialize inside of Heritage Hall on March 16.

Be sure to make your pledge now, the Kickstarter ends in 9 days! It's now at $335 of its $200 goal. Congratulations!

Lexington Comic and Toy Convention

Lexington Convention Center, Heritage Hall

430 West Vine Street, Lexington, KY 40507

Saturday, March 16, 2012 10am-6pm 

Sunday, March 17, 2012   10am-4pm

Admission: 

22.50 in advance

$30.00 at the door! 

VIP admission - $45.00 in advance

Kids under 10 are always FREE!

Cookbooks Are Cool: Dining With The Doctor

So, I'm kind of obsessed with cookbooks. I love to collect them and if I had a bigger budget I would own a lot more. I like taking recipes and figuring out how to make them more healthy. Specifically, I like cookbooks with a theme. I have a vampire themed cookbook called Love at First Bite: The Complete Vampire Lover's Cookbook and the wonderful folks from Inn at the Crossroads sent me A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook, which I will be reviewing soon. I want to pick up Alan Kistler's Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook as well, among countless others.

Today, I stumbled upon a cookbook that is FREE on Kindle! Dining With the Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook features recipes that relate to every episode of the first six seasons of the new Doctor Who series. Yes, every. single. episode and even the specials. That's definitely some dedication. The cookbook's author, Chris-Rachael Osland, is dedicated to her craft, as she not only provides recipes for each episode, but includes interesting prose within the cookbook.

Hello, Doctor. It’s been awhile. You’re looking very modern in your black t-shirt and leather jacket - and if you don’t mind me saying so, kind of sexy with those high cheekbones and that sparkle in your eye. You’re trouble. I like it.
Oseland, Chris-Rachael (2012-12-01). Dining With The Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook (p. 9). Kindle Edition.

Because each recipe is centered around a specific episode, there will be spoilers included. The author notes that she doesn't think that anyone who would be reading the cookbook wouldn't already have watched all of the episodes. The cookbook stops with the Christmas episode from Season 6. I hope that she may do a follow up for Season 7 and beyond. I'm thinking sno-cones for The Snowmen or something related to a governess in a pond.

To be honest, some of the recipes really do not sound appealing at all. River Song (S4E10 - Forest of the Dead) incorporates a hard-boiled egg on a bed of angel hair pasta. Sure, it looks like River, but who wants to eat eggs and pasta? It looks like a lot of the recipes are all about the presentation. Sontaran Soldiers (S4E5 - The Sontaran Stratagem) instructs you affix small blueberries and almonds to a peeled potato. This is obviously for aesthetics rather than taste, but there's something offputting to me about blueberries and potatoes. I do however, like the idea of Weeping Angel Wings (S3E11 - Blink), which are essentially chicken wings.

It looks like this is a neat cookbook for any Doctor Who themed get-together. I hope to whip up some of these treats when Doctor Who returns in April!

Dining With the Doctor is free today for Amazon Kindle, but is also available in print.