"I don't care about Ryan. Ryan's just a name."

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Posted by Austin Powers from dialupHH198.mpls.uswest.net on August 16, 2001 at 16:08:20:


It seems some of my comments have upset Mr. Ryan, of SW Insider fame. Well, Mr. Ryan, it's a good thing that you're not holding your breath, because I never apologize. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am('Simpsons' fans, nudge-nudge).

It's unfortunate that you feel my comments were "attacks", but it's even more unfortunate that you have NO idea where I was coming from.

I will say, however, that I made a stupid mistake and for some reason or another, I thought that you, Michael G. Ryan, had only written the "Gear" section of the article. Looking at the magazine now, it's clear that you penned the WHOLE thing.

Below, I will dissect my original comments, and I will try and make them as clear as possible, since it seems MANY people have misread them, taking only what they wanted from them. I'm not trying to start any big fued, I'm just gonna try to keep this as civil as possible. Keep in mind, I thought you, Ryan, only wrote the Gear section, the rest of my comments are aimed at "the powers that be" in general.

"I've only read through about half of the 20 or so pages, but am I the only one that thinks he could've written just as good an article himself? I mean ALL of the Lucas/Spielberg quotes come DIRECTLY from the interviews that follow each film in the '99 Boxed Set. It's pathetic. God forbid you actually track down these guys and do your own damn interviews. I could've slapped their quotes together and thrown a couple very common photos in an sold it as new, just as they did."

Okay, this paragraph pretty much speaks for itself. After being spoon-fed the same 'Indy 4' comments for years, one gets a little tired of redundancy. Now it seems we're starting to see other comments being rehashed as well. One can clearly see the same interviews in question while watching the Entertainment Tonight special on Indy. With regard to "doing your own damn interviews", if I had known the article was put together by one man, which I should've, I MAY have said things differently.

"And WHO in the hell is "Michael G. Ryan"? He's the supposed gear expert who wrote the blurbs about Indy's outfit, most of which seems like deja vu after having visited IndyGear. Check out his *tip* on how to make your whip look more like Indy's, now if that ain't plagarism I don't know what is. Ahh but at least the guy has some pretty cheesy gear himself. Take a look at his hat ribbon, can anybody say 'doctored in PhotoShop'?"

This needs no explanation, in my opinion. But, for the sake of argument, I'll indulge you. As Belloq so wonderfully stated in response to your last post, "it would have been nice if the article had properly cited the web sources of the 'Indiana Clothes' section". If this had been done, I highly doubt I would've posted ANYTHING about the article here on the forum. No matter what Lucasfilm said, that information was written by someone else, and it should've been cited, or omitted altogether. That's the kind of stunt that'd get ya an "F" on a high school term paper.

"Oh well, I guess 20 pages in the BACK of a what I can only assume to be a monthly 'Star Wars' magazine is all we'll get. Just another slap in the face of the collective Indy fan."

Again, this speaks for itself. I can't begin to comprehend HOW people miss the meanings of these comments. THAT'S where the "English Classes" comment came from. I could care less about someone's spelling. If you'll read a recent post of mine you'll see me mention how often I make typos here myself. Spelling is something that comes easily to some, and not so easily to others. But when someone reads a sentence and responds to it based on their jaded view of it, then that's what I have trouble with. After reading your response to this paragraph, I felt like bashing my head against a wall. You either put words into my mouth, or mistook someone else's comments to be mine.

Here are your exact words:

"...I feel the need to defend Indy fans to Powers (who suggested that the fan base was particularly weak and overshadowed by Star Wars) by noting that the last of these films was made years ago, yet Lucasfilm still feels it proper to give 20 pages, in a magazine devoted to an ONGOING franchise, to Raiders. Lucas loves Indy; he knows the fans love Indy. I find it disconcerting that Powers or anyone else would choose the fan forum of a franchise to tell the fans that the film they enjoy doesn't have much of a fan base. Odd... and insulting."

Wow. That's all I can say, wow. WHERE did you dream up these words of "mine"? Where did I note that the last of these films was made years ago? Where did I say that the Indy fan base is weak? Dreaming up comments, to me, is what is REALLY "odd and insulting".

If you must reread my paragraph in order to get its "gist", then please, by all means, do so. What I was saying was this, I felt that the 20 pages given to Indy in the very back of a monthly magazine devoted to 'Star Wars' was a slap in the face of Indy fans. Think about it, 20 pages is all that 'Indiana Jones' got, whereas 'Star Wars', Lucas' other creation, has its own magazine, filled from cover to cover, every MONTH. I fail to see how my comments there, in any way, bashed Indy's fan base. It boggles my mind.

"Austin 'Fumin' over $6 magazine' Powers"

Yeah that's right. Six bucks, I didn't want no CD-ROM disk.

"P.S. One good thing, the article was laid out quite well and had a very Indyesque look to it."

It's funny, the one thing I praised you probably had nothing to do with. Regardless, the article DID have a nice look and flow to it.

So, that's it. There are plenty more of YOUR comments that I have trouble with, but I'll end it here.

I will, however, say this. PlagIarism, to me, does not include using someone else's name, that's just common sense, I believe it falls more under impersonation, if ANYTHING. No, plagiarism, again, to me, is the use of someone else's words/ideas without proper citation, for some kind of personal gain. I'm not making any money off the "Austin Powers" name, nor am I impersonating anyone's intellectual property. Can you say the same?

Again, I'm done with this matter. If you still have problems with my comments, then I doubt you're the kind of person who is best suited for working in the public eye. And in that case, I pray to God you never write a play, novel, or movie script.

Austin Powers

P.S. One good thing about this whole fiasco, it allowed me to see who I can really count on, here at the forum. It showed me the three people who have some guts, the three people who don't believe what they're told to believe. To you three, and you know who you are, THANK YOU. I thank you for not being brown-nosing autograph hounds.


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