I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails recently asking me what’s going on with Brian Carroll and his excellent comic Instant Classic. If you’ve tried to access the site the last couple of days, you’ve noticed it isn’t there and is actually pointing you to another site completely.

Since Brian and I are pals (and since it’s kind of pointless to answer the same questions through e-mail over and over), I thought I would take the initiative to explain the situation here to the fans who read BOTH Instant Classic and Theater Hopper.

Basically, Brian’s web hosting server has been screwed ever since that myDoom virus struck a little while ago. The hosting provider has been working to install new security measures and in the meantime, has disabled the server on which Instant Classic resides. Brian is basically at the mercy of his hosting provider until he gets his ducks in a row.

You might be asking yourself “Why doesn’t Brian switch hosting providers?” Well, let’s put it this way. Brian, like many hard-working college students is a bit strapped for cash. His current set up isn’t costing him a dime, so it’s difficult for him to gather the monetary resources to stake a claim with someone else. Brian’s hinted at offering advertising through the site to cover costs, but I think he’s waiting to see how the current situation pans out.

That’s pretty much all I know at the moment. I hope this helps everyone who’s been freaking out over Brian’s absence. Believe me, I’m in the same boat with you! Hopefully we’ll catch up with Kate and Author soon!

I regard to Brian’s message which I posted in today’s blog, a new topic has been created in the THorum. It fleshes out the information a little bit more for those of you who had questions.

If you need a little extra incentive to donate, would it bolster your spirit to know that Theater Hopper shares a server with the awesomeness that is Joe and Monkey? So by donating, you’re not only helping TH, but another excellent web comic as well.

By the way, Zack is kicking around t-shirt ideas for his site. He came up with a great design based off his Kleptobot character. You can view it here.

I just wanted to take a moment to call attention to a new advertisement we have running next to the comic. It’s called R8 IT and it’s a polling application sponsored by NCM.

Basically, it asks you questions about current movies and you rank them. Questions like “Rate Megan Fox’s foxiness” or “Optimus Prime on the big screen versus the original toy.” from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Fun stuff. The great thing about the app is that you can submit your contact information for a chance to win FREE MOVIE TICKETS FOR ONE YEAR!

There are other features as well. From the app you can access showtimes, trailers, photos and more information about current movies.

NCM is kind of a big deal when it comes to delivering relevant content to movie related web sites. So I encourage you to check out the application, explore a little bit and take advantage of the promotional information they’re serving up through the site. It’s very cool.

Thanks and talk to you soon!

Back in the day, something we used to do in the THorum every Friday was play a game called The Friday Five. The game was introduced to us by the LiveJournal community of the same name and the goal of the game was simple – to learn more about each other.

I was Twittering the other day, and someone who used to frequent the THorum reminded me of the fun they had playing The Friday Five. So I decided to introduce it to the blog.

The way it works is simple. I ask you 5 questions and you answer them! Since this is on the home page, I’ll ask that everyone keep their answers clean of language. But you guys do a really good job of that anyway, so I’m not too worried.

Anyway, since Inglourious Basterds is in theater this weekend, I thought we’d play a Tarantino-themed version of The Friday Five. Here are your questions!

1. What’s the first Tarantino movie you ever saw?
2. How old were you when you saw this movie?
3. Tarantino has a resuscitated the career of several Hollywood actors. What down-and-out actor would you like to see him cast in his next movie?
4. What’s your favorite line of Tarantino dialogue? (keep it clean, if you can)
5. What’s your favorite Tarantino film?

There you go! Leave your answers in the comments!