REPORT FROM THE WEBSITE:
PRETTY WOMAN Released about the time Epinions got going; there were some 85 reviews posted! I examined every one of those reviews to see if it had drawn outraged reactions: Some 'members' did that and fizzled out after a single review. Of those 85 epinionators from Y2K, only 2 were still aboard at the end of 2008.

THAT'S EVIDENCE OF A LACK OF MOTIVATION AND INCENTIVES TO RETAIN epinions MEMBERS!

Fellow epinionator eplovejoy is ailing: Stroke. http://www99.epinions.com/content_5192196228 See his (interrupted) list of Groundbreaking Movies.

3/1/09 Why do all ratings contain the word HELPFUL? --- Who Else Uses Dialup? Anybody using Satellite Internet?

"Asourdough"= native born Alaskan (Juneau). Commemorates bread mix "98ers" carried on the Yukon trail.

20 NOV 08 Starting a museum of surplus PC and AV Cables. Includes rare VGA and Component Video specimens.

10/30/08 - Swamped by a blown PC (Hers) and a new one (Mine) - between them I am not much longer for this world. For the new PC, just downloaded the entire Open Office Org Office Suite. Only 8 Hours via Dialup! Why? Because it's there. And it beats the Big Guy's Bloatware.

10/28/08 - Preparing for "South Pacific" retrospective. Will be pulling the 2003 Soundtrack Review and republishing it in a more contemporary place. - Mc

10/28/08 - New Editor seems to be good enough for the public to see once again. Check out the thread being published by HQ - No acknowledgment of Member input.

10/22/08 - New Editor. Spent the weekend working on the HP Monitor review - got to redo it 4 times. Since it was a review of PC Hardware and not of the EDITOR, here is where you'll hear about it if it eats more reviews.

10/16/08 - Re: The New WYSIWYG- It looks as if the worst is over. My, how that clumsy introduction stirred up the crew.

8/4/08 - Having fun with FOX FILM NOIR series.

8/1/08 - Working on "American Experience" DVD copies are cheap at ALIBRIS. Overnight delivery - sometimes.

GREETINGS EIGHT YEARS AND COUNTING ***

4/30/08 - Project Preminger is underway. I had hoped to present reviews on every one of the 33 movies he had directed and/or produced but those older copies are hard to locate. Then, I discovered that there were actually 37! Ouch! To date, I have found copies of his final 20; which were produced after Preminger left the Fox Studio System and became a semi-independent. It was a good time to try the $10-for-10 thing but it was too difficult to enjoy and the $10 was not enough. By dozens of dollars, that is.

It is more and more important to have a copy to view as the review is being prepared. Repeatedly, what I thought I knew about, say, Man With the Golden Arm, was far different from the actual movie today. What I saw 50 years ago is not what I see today.

SUMMARY, SO FAR: Too much of anything is, well, too much. And too much of Preminger is really TOO MUCH. Epinionator member visits have stabilized at about 25 regardless of the subject matter or title of the movie. So, BonJour Tristesse, a flop, is as attractive to Epinionators as is Anatomy of a Murder, a hit.
Still, I appreciate the ongoing support from all of you.

11/19/07 - The EPINIONATOR Reading&Rating function seems to have picked up lately. I am finding many visitors well after the publishing date; something that never used to happen. I apologize for not looking back often enough to pick you up sooner. THANK YOU all again and again.

-------- 7/14/07 - Problems with Microsoft again. Life with Vista is tolerable; the OS is stable - a pleasant change. The 2007 versions of Word and Excel are difficult to learn. Or, rather, relearn. The Style Craziness is overwhelming and mostly unnecessary.

A special greeting to Macresarf1; who so graciously showed me around his town in April.

1/18/2007 Made it through another year - Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see what I have been up to. Not much this year, I fear.

Hello, patsyv, a long time supporter of this reactionary fellow. Long muted by circumstance, she has found her voice again and reveals a talent for writing not seen on these humble pages. The roaring crowd did not miss her latest effort.

It is 6 years since I signed up with Epinions. The tentative first review was posted. There was much apprehension as one awaited the verdict of peers who could scorch hopes with a NH rating; hoping someone, just one even, would deign to "TRUST" another. Then, it happened. I was so unutterably happy. Since April 2000 the community has waxed and waned, warred and wept, praised and vilified, and kept grinding out amazing amounts of content. Some practiced reprisal for a bad (albeit, Deserving) rating; others invented a program that could award "Attaboys" by the hundreds. Total hits hit astonishing highs - 10,000 of them? Not enough? how about 100,000? Really, that was preposterous and some of us resisted the temptation to inflate hits. Nowadays, there is real exposure and we have come of age. Do you believe Mi$$ions of hits?

Although Epinions was a dreadful experience at times; there were giants among us - many long gone but some survive to lead the way. In my way, I wanted to send a message to the captains of consumerism - the view from the user and reality unveiled. With just a bit of humor - we need to laugh at ourselves and often. If something is a lousy product; then let us proclaim it. And some did. Unfortunately, some succumbed to arm-twisting; fear of being disenfranchised made some fearful and their muse abandoned them. The pressure to be useful and judged to be so was fierce. So, we learned to be objective or, at least, honest in a nice way. Some of us even learned how to be enthusiastic.
Some writers among us are talented to a surprising degree. Their pseudonym is so well constructed that one might never penetrate to the real person beneath. One of us certainly fooled me for a couple of years or more until I acquired a DVD release of "A Star Is Born". Only then, did this I realize the truth.
The greatest part of Epinions remains, to me, to be able to look up a novice and surprise that person with a "Trust" rating. The works had to be good, however. Frankly, at first, I used that "Trust" list to keep track of the BEST of us and of impressive newcomers who needed support and encouragement. In early days, some of us were snobs and relished disappointing anyone. One brilliant writer became so exasperated that she flamed out and committed exodus. To our great loss. Maybe she was on the way to being the next Willa Cather? Or Madame Curie? From this great distance, I miss her - even though she was dangerous.
My pursuit of novices is fun; some of them are impressed that some "lofty muse" has reached out and given encouragement. I cringe from any of that - I just knew how much that first pat on the back meant to me; and I pass it on to more deserving folk.

So you need a username? OK, we'll allow "Asourdough4" and you are on your way. The name comes from the fact that I am a native of Alaska; although I missed the Klondike Gold Rush by 38 years, I have borrowed the nickname of those who faced incredible difficulties getting over the pass. Edna Ferber wrote about that effort - amazing effort and motivation.
Charlie Chaplin made a movie called "The Goldrush" that only hints at what those pioneers of 1898 did so long ago. And so, I hang around, hoping to be useful to some consumer who gropes in the dark and believes what TV orders us to do. I, too, flourish with encouragement and, in some of my darkest hours, a fellow writer, currently muted by events, stands out in my mind and on my feeble efforts to scribble something useful:

...Thank you, and all the others, so much for everything.
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