LOS ANGELES - He skewers Hollywood and the cult of celebrity on an anonymous Web log that has spawned a cult following. He claims to be an A-list actor, writing under a pseudonym, but admits he may not be believed.
Who, exactly, is “Rance?”
Could he really be, as some believe, Owen Wilson, Ben Affleck, Jim Carrey or even George Clooney?
The answer may perhaps be found somewhere in the entries on his Weblog — or “blog” — which applies a trenchant wit and jaundiced insider’s eye in chronicling the life of a Hollywood celebrity. Then again, it could all be a hoax.
Though Rance granted an interview with Reuters, he responded to questions only via email, using pseudonymous dead-end accounts for both himself and the reporter and never offering a glimpse into his real identity.
Asked if he was, in fact, a well-known actor, he responded: “Or a well-known actress perhaps. Just not Donald Trump.”
In the blog’s first-ever post last December, Rance introduced himself this way: “Suffice it to say I know what its like to see your picture on the magazine rack every now and again when you pay for groceries.”
Rance’s blog (http://captainhoof.tripod.com/blog) has since spawned a furious guessing game on the Internet and beyond, becoming a regular topic at Hollywood parties.
posted on May 31, 2004 10:00:24 PM new
It'll be amusing to find out who it is I guess, but after reading it, it's pretty much like most other blogs out there. All seem to written by people who are vain enough to think anybody gives a crap about what they have to say.
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When a dog howls at the moon, we call it religion. When he barks at strangers, we call it patriotism. - Edward Abbey
posted on May 31, 2004 10:38:54 PM new
I've been busy working on my website tonight so just looked at the blog now but haven't read any of it. I see the banner ads are for Schizophrenia, Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Maybe it's Robert Downey Jr. or it could be someone that is just posing as a star.
The only time I hear actors talking about themselves is when they are on Leno or Letterman or some show promoting one of their upcoming movies and I don't think I've ever heard any of them mention being online at all.
Some blogs are good depending on the subject matter but there are tons of nonsensical ones.
posted on May 31, 2004 11:57:34 PM new
Hows the site doing Kiara? I've been working on mine most of the day and I am going batty.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on June 1, 2004 06:15:12 AM new
Oh so that's the problem.
He is probably the outspoken Alec Baldwin who said if George Bush is elected he is moving out of the country. The last time I heard he was still around. It must not be such a bad to live in the USA.
posted on June 1, 2004 07:29:57 AM new
Fenix what software are you using? I've had one site going for about four years but used a store-builder site similar to GoDaddy or Yahoo site-builder and it worked fine for a beginner like me and I learned the basics. Last year I started my second site from scratch using FrontPage 2002 and I'm still working on it off and on though it's been up and running for about 6 months. I put a PayPal shopping cart on but since each item is unique I have to put different S&H costs in the code for each one and it’s time consuming.
Learning about site building and search engine placement is a full time job and there are lots of forums about it and I've lurked some of them. There was one where you could show them your site and they would critique it but I never had the nerve to show mine because they were so nasty. It seemed half the board would like a site and the other half would hate it and then they'd all turn on each other. At times they made us at Vendio look like poster children for good board behaviour.
This is the best forum I've found for website help but I haven't been there in awhile.
posted on June 1, 2004 08:19:02 AM new
I have DreamWeaver but rarely use it, mainly just for flash buttons n such. Most of the time I use GoLive. I've been using it since version 1 when it was CyberStudio product. Adobe bought it to replace it's miserable failure PageMill.
Until I can find a merchant account thst accepts payment in GBP and pays in USD I am using PayPals cart too. I am just going to offer customers the option of sending me thier card number and manually entering the charge into my current USD account if they want to bypass PayPal. I'm hoping to take this site live tomorrow since I am meeting with a new client this week about doing site for them. I swore I was not going to take any new clients but I like her product and shes a single mom trying to get out from under a job she hates so that she can spend more time with her son so I couldn't exactly say no.
I've never worked with Frontpage. As a Mac user I hate MS programs on general principle. Is it just a basic drop and drag WYSIWYG type program? If I ever meet the guys that made those possible I swear I'm going to kiss them. Every time I tried html classes my eyes glazed over within minutes.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on June 1, 2004 09:39:48 AM new
Yes, it's a WYSIWYG type program and I know the earlier versions of FrontPage got a bad rap from the experienced website builders but the 2002 got better reviews and works fine for me and I haven't even begun to learn it all and keep discovering new ways to do things. I use the HTML option to do the PayPal cart and just learn things as I go. I'm not the most techie person out there so you probably know lots more than I ever will.
Up until a few years ago I used to design and knit sweaters and sell them in my shop so I want to start doing some of them again and next winter I plan to start a 3rd site to market them and some of my other things on. I'd like to get DreamWeaver in the future because I've heard so many good things about it.
Fenix, you seem to know a lot about marketing and I admire you for that, I admire anyone that works for themselves and learns new ways to do things. Good luck with your site and I hope you get it into the search engines without too much trouble.
posted on June 1, 2004 12:31:29 PM new
Thank Kiara and ditto for you! The search engine thing is going to gbe fun since I need it to show up in UK searches, not US ones. Whole different ballgame than what I am used to.
As for marketing, thanks. I think I have said before that I had the privledge of working under a man considered among the best in the industry who much to my advantage was never greedy with his knowledge. My whole thought process changed thanks to him.
Dreamweaver is a monster of a program that I have yet to figure out. It may be because I was so used to GoLive but skidded out on the learning curve on it. When you get some time - both programs have trial versions you can play with for 30 days and see which you like better.
posted on June 1, 2004 02:00:52 PM new
Thanks lots, fenix. I didn't realize they had trial runs so maybe I'll experiment with them later this year if they're still available.
