Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Dear Ashton Kuchner Fans:
I know this page wasn't quite what you were looking for when you searched for "Ashton Kutcher" on Google. But sometimes life and fate work in mysterious ways, and I'd like you to give us a chance.
You accidentally found Ricochet--and we believe it has more to offer you than Ashton Kutcher gossip. So please would you keep reading?
What's Ricochet? It's a website for discussing politics from a right-of-center perspective:
If you're anything like us, one of your favorite ways to spend your free time is talking about the world we live in. On your back patio. On your front porch. Over drinks. On the internet. In a way, that's what the internet is -- one big conversation, where anyone, anywhere, can chime in at any time. But not everyone on the internet is interested in a good conversation. At Ricochet, a good conversation is more than our interest. It's our mission. We live for the collegial spirit, the taste for frankness, and the foundation of mutual respect that inspires the fastest-paced, widest-ranging, and most relevant of exchanges. That's why we've created a place that's built to fulfill the promise of banter at its best. Informative. Entertaining. Never boring. Addictive in all the right ways.
Like any great conversationalists, we've brought our experiences, our personalities, and our predilections to the table. Politically, we're spread across the right of center. Culturally, we're spread across the whole range of human endeavor -- with distinguished careers and rich lives in politics, music, law, medicine, movies, industry, finance, and more. Some of us are familiar faces. Some of us you'll be meeting for the first time. All of us have come together to foster the kind of unpredictable, crackling back-and-forth that's worth our while and yours.
In the comment thread below, Ricochet members are kindly invited to introduce themselves to Ashton Kutcher fans--who may, I remind them, be young and impressionable--and take their best shots at persuading them that joining a lively conversation about the political issues of our age would be even more fun and rewarding than reading about Ashton Kutcher.
Please make them feel welcome, Ricochet members, and remember, our ideas are not worth much if we cannot make our case compellingly to young Ashton Kutcher fans.
I'm quite serious.
Best wishes,
Dr. Claire Berlinski, Small-Hours-of-the-Morning Editor
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Wodehouse would tut at your deployment of the title Editor.
But why is it whenever I play Zoo Tycoon, and have a mountain lion exhibit, the mated pair are always named Ashton and Demi?
Aug '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
A person must be extremely bored to give Ashton Kuchner even a first thought, let alone a second one.
Jul '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Claire: Um, the Kutcher fans. Are you sure you want this? The Lady Gaga people would bring higher intelligence to the table, not to mention more youth and style sense. Or what about the guys always building a motorcycle on cable.
Edited on Dec 30, 2010 at 6:12amRe: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
And you call the left elitist? You live in a democracy, you might want to think occasionally about how to communicate with young people who like movie stars. The people who think Obamacare's a terrific idea certainly do.
May '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
True, true. Scorn and disdain somehow fails to swing chunks of the electorate. But never talk down. That's pure voting poison (looking at you, John Kerry).
Let us be shining exemplars of hip witty repartee, like Rob Long on Red Eye.
A PS: hey, and doesn't Lileks devote much of his worktime to looking up nude pics of Demi Moore? Compared to his rates, I'm cheap.
Edited on Dec 30, 2010 at 6:54amSep '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Edit: Ok, ok, I rethought my post and took 6,000 IUs of Vitamin D this am, so I'll play along.
Edited on Dec 30, 2010 at 6:54amJul '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
The reach should always exceed the grasp, but hoping to beguile the Kutcher fan base into the pleasures of ratiocination seems a bridge too far. That said, your plucky optimism deserves a sizeable bonus from Ricochet's bottomless chest of pirate treasure.
May '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
I'm with Kennedy on this one. When I saw this post I was psyched because it's a light, humorous intro to the Rico concept. Would like to link to it on Facebook with a suggestion for friends to check out the site.
The first few comments are pure Rico at its funny, snarkiest best, but aren't exactly great for marketing the site, though. I have a good friend who's left-leaning but open-minded, and I made the mistake of sending her the link to Trace Urdan's Letter from a Liberal Friend (there are no comments attached to the post now, but some were pretty insulting to liberals). First impressions matter - my friend hasn't responded to my invitation to join for three months for free.
Can we step back and make this a great forwardable conversation to help market Ricochet? Consider it a challenge - I'll edit my post if you will!
Edited on Dec 30, 2010 at 7:45amMay '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
What I've found, Diane, is that most of those who call themselves liberals aren't really. They're basically Libertarians. Which means, "gummint, get offa me!" So clearly, they're good little conservatives. All it needs is a little South Parky wit, and a thick skin.
PS, and a welcoming environment to duel like nobody's bidness, and to reassemble each evening like Valhalla, with a keen schlup-schlup sound.
Edited on Dec 30, 2010 at 7:56amRe: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
How about giving it a real shot? Explain to someone who was looking for Ashton Kuchner--for whatever reason--that there is in fact something even more interesting going on here. How would you go about making that case?
May '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Well, you could start by not misspelling the name frequently.
Aug '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
I think that Claire is lonely in her age group.After all, she is the youngest person here probably.
Edited on Dec 30, 2010 at 8:22amMay '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Also we got gangs of lesbian catburglars, murders aplenty, the Leg Chair for hot chicks, and cellphones rigged to either detonate or manipulate currency markets.
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
I'd just like to add, as a Hollywood professional, that Ashton Kutcher is a well-known nice guy around town.
And he's also hugely talented. Always made me laugh on "That '70's Show" and I have to confess when I'm flipping through channels and "Dude, Where's My Car?" pops up, I stop flipping.
May '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Bingo, Rob. Why none of us really could land a punch on the guy, except for Claire, who seems to serially confuse him with Nestor Kirchner for some reason best left to professional psychologists.
Aug '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Not to poke fun, but the Ashton Kutcher milieu is a demographic that uses facebook and twitter (Ashton has one of the world's highest twitter follower counts) . My 14 yr old daughter knows of him, but he is pretty old for that group. He's a constant actor in mostly crummy movies. His may-december relationship with Moore is looked at bemusedly by most and his following Agassi as a camera spox seems to be a road to eventual obscurity.
Isn't your callout a bit like Tiger Beat asking Paul Johnson whether he likes Beyonce ?
Credibility for these actors is created by their publicists , who are now an interconnected group of media companies that use cross-selling to replace all cultural icons with their stable of actors. I wonder whether the ubiqutious presence of Sean Penn and Glee cast members spouting off on politics isn't a conspiracy to sell popcorn. They appear everywhere, and the owners of the magazine, the newspaper, the movie production company are often the same company. Sony, Bertelsmann, et al all have a stake in making some actor either appear to be your friend, your fantasy lover, or your counselor.
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
And he likes Muay Thai, yoga and disaster planning. We are all about Muay Thai, yoga, and disaster planning here on Ricochet.
Aug '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
And Demi Moore is from Roswell, New Mexico..............hummm.....coincidence ?
I think not.
Dude, where's my spaceship ?
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
You're right--no reason to talk to young people who use Facebook and Twitter. They'll never have much influence in this world.
(Note to 2012 presidential campaign: Maybe we don't use Flownover as our chief adviser?)
May '10
Re: Welcome, Ashton Kutcher Fans! Don't Leave Yet!
Disaster planning? Where's Jonah Goldberg? My place is crawling with the walking dead, and need some handy tips.