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Dec
15
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Oh, boy, am I excited for the film version of Marley & Me. But what I am even more excited for is this thing at the Inquirer! From a memo sent to employees titled “FW: Marley Mania”:
Activites will include:
- The first 100 readers who come to the Inquirer with their dog will receive a pass for two to a special preview of Marley & Me.
- Join 92.5 XTU for great Marley giveaways & “Pooch Pictures With Santa”
- Enjoy a sampling of delicious hot chocolate & munchkins courtesy of Dunkin’ Donuts
- All will be eligible to win a “Marley” replica – straight from the film! Provided by Doggie Style, with locations in Center City & South Philadelphia
- Philadelphia SPCA Adoption Van On Site
What’s a “‘Marley’ replica”? (Are they going to be selling stuffed Marley puppies? Aww, so cute!) What, for that matter, are “great Marley giveaways”?
Unfortunately for employees over at 400 N. Broad, they can’t compete in the dog contest: “Unfortunately employees cannot bring their dogs to work so instead bring a picture of your dog to the public room between 11:30 – 1:30. We’ll post them outside and vote who has the cutest dog! Winners will receive a special doggy prize.”
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dmac | 11:22 AM | 4 Comments
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Jun
24
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Oh, yes, but will it sell without a puppy on the cover?
Author of the bestselling Marley & Me John Grogan’s new memoir, THE LONGEST TRIP HOME, has been announced for publication on October 21 by William Morrow. “From his troublemaking childhood to his courtship of a fiery blond named Jenny, Grogan writes about how he came to terms with who he is and what he believes.” It’s called the “story of a son in the making, and of growing up in a loving, but comically old-school Catholic family.”
Grogan says in the announcement, “Even before Marley & Me was published, I knew this was the story I wanted to tell next. The Longest Trip Home is a story very close to my heart.”
How well will it sell? Who knows, but A Very Marley Christmas will be out on Sept. 30, in case you’re wondering if John Grogan will be able to eat this winter.
Apocalypse Now [The Doree Chronicles]
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dmac | 2:57 PM | 3 Comments
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May
15
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Okay, yeah. This has been on Philly.com front all day. And, um, yeah: As usual, anytime somebody tries to tell you how Philadelphia is a big city, you can just show them this. Something like that.
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dmac | 1:26 PM | 1 Comment
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May
14
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Yes, Center City is abuzz today with tons of activity. At Broad and Walnut, you have Marley & Me filming at one corner and, uh, a McDonald’s-sponsored “Chicken Dance Down South” at the other corner. Apparently, McDonald’s thinks you’re going to stop what you’re doing and dance with corporate tools and, uhm, some Mummers, of course. Or maybe this is the part of Marley & Me where the dog mauls Ronald McDonald to death.
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dmac | 11:19 AM | 4 Comments
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Aug
21
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Know what I said when I heard they were making a movie out of Marley & Me? “Hey, how about they get Rocky Dennis and whatshername in all that makeup from Monster to play the leads?” Bada-bing! Unfortunately, Rocky Dennis is dead so they decided to get Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston to play Mr. and Mrs. John Grogan instead.
David Frankel, who last directed “The Devil Wears Prada” for the studio, will helm; Scott Frank is working on the latest draft of the script. Plan is to begin production next year. Gil Netter and Karen Rosenfelt are producing.
According to IMDb, Frank wrote Little Man Tate and had a part in writing Minority Report and The Interpreter. The film’s going to commence shooting early next year, and will hopefully include the scene where John Grogan and his family go to Disney World while leaving their old dog in a kennel.
John Grogan will also be getting indentations put along each side of his nose to match the freakish nose of Owen Wilson.
Wilson, Aniston fetch Fox feature [Variety]
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dmac | 1:25 PM | 0 Comments
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Jun
8
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John Grogan, the ex-Inquirer columnist and Marley & Me author, has a new book coming out in addition to his two new Marley books for kids. The only problem — for him, at least — is the book was done without him knowing anything about it. Even worse, it’s a column collection. One can only imagine the “AOL disks are annoying” column from last year will make the cut.
As awful as a collection of John Grogan’s columns sounds — for the record, Marley & Me was infinitely better than any one of his columns — it actually gets worse: The Inquirer agreed to the collection, from Vanguard Press, and then sent a letter to the author letting him know this book was coming out.
Grogan, in response, has his agent fire off a letter to the publishing community (or whatever) and saying he wouldn’t be doing anything to promote the book.
“I was totally blindsided by it,” Grogan said. “It just seems like common courtesy, and basic professional behavior, to at least give the writer a phone call to say, ‘We’re thinking of doing this.’” Grogan also believes the book, which features an image of a puppy on the cover, is shamefully trying to piggyback on the success of his smash bestseller. “This has nothing to do with wanting to publish my columns and everything to do with [Vanguard and the Inquirer] getting a piece of this very large audience I have with Marley & Me,” said Grogan
Gee, you think, John? Brian Tierney sent Grogan a letter he received a few days after the deal was struck, where he offered a share of the profits for helping to promote the book. Grogan said the deal wouldn’t allow him to have any say over the content and packaging. Tierney, though, says he’d still like Grogan to help out with the book (though that’s not going to happen now) and that this book isn’t all that important anyway.
Nonetheless, the newspaper executive, recently rumored to be interested in buying Dow Jones, has bigger worries than Grogan’s feelings. “This is a $500 million company… and while we’re excited about this book, it’s not as if it’s going to be a significant revenue stream.”
Hey, you never know: People like doggies. Aww, puppies!
Grogan Dogs Vanguard’s Book of His Columns [Publishers Weekly]
Thanks, Joe
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dmac | 1:40 PM | 0 Comments
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Apr
10
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• You may have hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk, but you still have to trek outside of Atlantic City to find a supermarket. The only one on the island is closing soon. Isn’t it nice how much casino gambling worked out for the city? [AP/6 ABC]
• Bryan Curtis at Slate says you should read Marley and Me, the doggy Inquirer columnist John Grogan — and, remember, if you criticize him, you’re just jealous! — but only when the doggy’s little. When he gets older, put it away and kick it to the curb. (The book, not your dog.) [Slate]
• Service journalism: How to recycle your computer so it doesn’t end up in a landfill. Seriously, go to the front page of Salon and there’s a photo of a kid surrounded by thrown-out wires and such in Asia, since apparently we outsource our computer trash removal, too. [Salon]
• A town councilman in Upper Darby is accused of shoplifting sneakers from a store. Let’s see if we can get him in a cell with Rick Mariano. [Bucks County Courier Times]
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dmac | 11:51 AM | 9 Comments
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