Calendar post

[shapinglight]

No, not the calendar post. A post about calendars.



Was just snatching a few moments in my lunch break to look at calendars on Amazon. Was wondering if there was a BtVS calendar for 2010 and if so, would I dare buy it sight unseen after what happened with the 2009 one. Couldn't see one, and anyway nothing is ever going to compare with my sueworld2003 fanart calendar, next to which other calendars just look - not very desirable. Still, there's a BSG one I might get (though if it's anything like this year's there'll be way more pics of Six than of any other character). There's also a Mad Men one, which is a distinct possibility. Sadly, no sign of a Being Human one, but then the BBC always were rubbish at merchandising.

Fine, I thought. That's two ideas anyway. So then I decided to see what lighthouse calendars there were (lighthouses being one of the non-fandom things about which I have a bit of an obsession, like birds), only to discover when I typed lighthouse calendars 2010 into the Amazon search engine, a bit of a mixed bag came up on the page. Yes, there were lighthouse calendars, mostly of American lighthouses, as in Gulf Coast Lighthouses and Pacific Coast Lighthouses. But interspersed among them are a bunch of calendars primarily (as it seems to me) aimed at gay men, including 2010 Butch Bear Calendar, 2010 All About Boys Calendar, 2010 Boy Next Door Calendar and 2010 Naked and Exposed Calendar (with a very naked, exposed young man on the cover). Okay, there are a few concessions to het men, with Penthouse Pets Wall Calendar, but basically it's all about the hot young (male) things.

Why these are all mixed up with the lighthouse calendars escapes me, unless it's something to do with phallic symbolism.

Comments

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

The "Naked Men posing by Lighthouses" calendar would be a big seller :)


I confess that I have two calendars this year a horribly cutesy one with hamsters and a "A Year Of Revenge" Desk calendar with a different horrible way of taking revenge on your enemies for each of the 365 days .

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Hm, a BSG calender sounds pretty great, if it has enough Starbuck :)

As for the Buffy one...I don't know, for some reasons I think practically all of Joss shows and Buffy in particular have terrible promotion pictures. They just have this group shots that look like they come from some sitcom.

I blame them for never getting me interested in Buffy before I saw Firefly. I used to read these magazines about scifi and fantasy shows and I distinctly remember skipping articles concerning Buffy, because of the horrible Buffy/Angel bleeding heart imagery paired with those boring stand around group shots.

Now if they had some of Sue's pictures in there, my obsession might have started a lot earlier.

The lighthouse/gay men amazon connection is mysterious to me, but then most of their marketing is.

[whichclothes.livejournal.com]

I think it's a message from the Powers That Be. Forget about lighthouses--you need a calendar with naked men. ;-)

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely going to hold off buying the BtVS calendar until I figure out whether they're repeating last year's disaster. Of course, when I heard about the calendar you have for this year, I made one of my own... so I've been enjoying sueworld2003's artwork all year, as well! Might just look at doing the same thing next year, too.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Sue can come up with the perfect naked-Spike/lighthouse with birds image for the coming year? *anticipates*

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

You can kinda sorta see it here.

http://www.calendars.com/Sci-Fi-TV/Buffy-The-Vampire-Slayer-2010-Wall-Calendar/prod122649/?categoryId=cat00079

[shapinglight]

Hey, thanks. If that's really what's on it, it doesn't look too bad this year, though I see they've avoided any Spike/Buffy pictures at all.

[yourlibrarian]

Sadly, no sign of a Being Human one, but then the BBC always were rubbish at merchandising.

At least BH is only a few episodes in. After 4 seasons of SPN, which is on a network (such as it is) the only calendar is made by Creation cons, and the first one sold on Amazon for $50 ($25 at the cons themselves). At least Buffy was well marketed -- maybe it's a matter of FOX milking the cow and Warner's having less of a stake? No idea.

And bzuh on the lighthouse search? That seems like a peculiar (and to some people, potentially upsetting) search result for an innocuous term.

[shapinglight]

The "Naked Men posing by Lighthouses" calendar would be a big seller :)

It would. People could make comparisons and point and mock. :)

[shapinglight]

Hm, a BSG calender sounds pretty great, if it has enough Starbuck :)

This year's didn't. :( I think February was Starbuck month, but I'm not sure.

Some of the BtVS calendars haven't been too bad. When they use action shots from the show it works better (provided they choose the right ones, and not offensive ones like they did this year). When it's all publicity photos, it doesn't work as well.

The lighthouse/gay men amazon connection is mysterious to me, but then most of their marketing is.

It must makes sense in their little brains, I suppose.

[shapinglight]

You could well be right.

[shapinglight]

Good ides. Looks hopefully in the direction of the person who made this one for me.

Also, I wonder if any of the pictures you chose are the same as the ones in mine?

[shapinglight]

You never know. Looks hopefully in Sue's direction.

[shapinglight]

And bzuh on the lighthouse search? That seems like a peculiar (and to some people, potentially upsetting) search result for an innocuous term.

I agree. It's very, very odd.

And I can hardly believe there's never been a SPN calendar. Marketing opportunity missed there, I feel.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I went back to check and it looks like none of them are the same! (Although I couldn't find the entries for January or March, so it's possible one of those could be the same.) Of course, all the ones I chose feature James Marsters (either as Spike or Capt. John).

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Huh. Nowhere near as bad... although not particularly interesting to me, either (they went from being offensive to avoiding using Spike anywhere except on his spotlight month). I see that they've also avoided the problem they had last year by only including one "couple" photo for Buffy... and that one being for the month that's supposed to be Angel's spotlight (judging by the smaller screencaps with it).

[shapinglight]

Most of mine are Spike ones, but not all. And no Captain John. Bit of an oversight, but still - there's always next year. :)

[shapinglight]

I see that they've also avoided the problem they had last year by only including one "couple" photo for Buffy... and that one being for the month that's supposed to be Angel's spotlight (judging by the smaller screencaps with it).

As per usual, in fact. :gloom: Really not sure I can be bothered.