{"id":16906,"date":"2026-02-25T20:57:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=16906"},"modified":"2026-03-15T23:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:12:27","slug":"20-years-on-cublog-defies-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=16906","title":{"rendered":"20 years later, CUBlog defies odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Are you still out there, dearest readers who have a vested interest in the movie history and related film culture of Champaign, Urbana<\/strong>, and the cities beyond, spread far and wide throughout the state of Illinois<\/strong>? We certainly hope so, because we<\/em> are still in here at the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters<\/strong> and would like to share with you, in some fashion or another, our continued purpose as we\u2019ve reached this point on the calendar today, Wednesday, February 25<\/strong>. It\u2019s the twentieth anniversary of the moment we went live with the first post from yours truly, the forever editor and publisher, on Saturday, February 25, 2006<\/strong>, in which a simple question was posed<\/a><\/span> \u2013 \u201cWhat is C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong>?\u201d \u2013 that really couldn\u2019t be answered at the time, even though a precedent was explored in the pages of our flagship journal, MICRO-FILM<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

By all rights, a singular forum devoted to the particular thrills of cinematic pursuits, in and adjacent to a pair of specific Midwest college towns, should not<\/em> have had legs over such a long stretch, never mind a prayer to exist in the first place, during which the faces, places, creations, and achievements of a local pedigree might be covered at length and in knowing detail. CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> could<\/em> have been shut down at several junctions for various reasons, especially during the last few years when my personal challenges and family responsibilities ramped up to an extreme, yet I\u2019ve chosen to continue on for various other<\/em> reasons and, in the coming months, we\u2019re going to get chatty about how we plan to change our approach to movie coverage and chronicle in east central Illinois. My personal skin in this game is tougher and less elastic than in the past, and middle-aged sweat equity can have dry spells. It\u2019s time to flex different muscles.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Until we expand on where CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> goes from here, there is no harm in celebrating the longevity of a DIY pet project that has more or less maintained that very character. If nothing else, it\u2019s a way to say that CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> has never been conformed to corporate interests or blunted by outside pressures \u2013 it\u2019s central voice and conscience have always been my own, warts and all \u2013 while the definition of its \u201csuccess\u201d is probably way more subjective to define than one might think. I often let out a sigh of relief that I still find value in doing CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> and (usually privately) bemoan how it is probably destined to never become a viable business entity, a beloved local institution, a fashionable presence in the current C-U zeitgeist, or a cult classic with a devoted following that willingly seeks you out instead of the other way around. It\u2019s just \u201chere\u201d until it\u2019s not anymore. And it won\u2019t<\/em> be here anymore if I say it\u2019s time to flash \u201cThe End\u201d up on the screen. Our scene du C-U will keep going no matter what, so I\u2019m good with choosing my own ending.<\/p>\n

I plan to share further thoughts on CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> so far \u2013 watch this space around or on March 3<\/strong> \u2013 and constructive blather on what CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> will be \u2013 look back for more on or around March 15<\/strong> \u2013 so this is as deep as I want to tap the well for today. Even though my comments here may seem a bit deflated in spirit, it doesn\u2019t mean we haven\u2019t been active; every single month since it launched, CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> has posted content and there is plenty<\/em> of it for you to catch up on, we\u2019d bet. Another level that CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> has never unlocked is \u201caward-winner,\u201d so I decided to make the 20-years graphic that you see above and on our social media accounts<\/a><\/span>; we\u2019ll call it a \u201cbadge of honor\u201d and, if you are so inclined to help spread the news, you can right-click on either image and download a larger file to share in your spaces, hopefully with a kind word and a link directing your circle back to us. Thank you, friends and neighbors. We will C-U at the \u2018blog, then!<\/p>\n

Jason Pankoke
\nEditor & Publisher
\nC-U Blogfidential<\/span>
\nChampaign, Illinois
\n& Mendota, Illinois<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

[This post #1800 + 1 on CUBlog<\/span><\/strong>. Is post #2000 within reason?]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s official. C-U Blogfidential hits the big two-oh on February 25. Why, that would be today! So, then … what happens tomorrow?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,2125,114,16,1769],"tags":[1705,3102,1890,2502,3103,3105,1751,3104,331,2683],"class_list":["post-16906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c-u-blogfidential","category-cinema-discourse","category-happy-places","category-jp-confidential","category-secret-mfhq","tag-c-u-blogfidential","tag-c-u-blogfidential-20","tag-champaign-il-film-history","tag-champaign-urbana-il","tag-digital-opteryx","tag-do-it-yourself","tag-independent-cinema","tag-independent-media","tag-jason-pankoke","tag-local-filmmaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16906"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16933,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16906\/revisions\/16933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}