Thursday, December 31, 2009

My 2010 New Year's Resolution - Move My Money!

An article posted yesterday entitled "Take Your Money Out of the Hands of the Banking Oligarchs" says it much better than I, but the general idea is to remove your money from any of the big banking conglomerates and place it in a bank highly rated by the volunteer service group, Institutional Risk Analytics or into a local credit union (IRA is looking to offer a way to rate CU's, coming soon in 2010). Over a holiday dinner discussion, writers Arianna Huffington & Rob Johnson, political strategist Alexis McGill, filmmaker/author Eugene Jarecki and Nick Penniman of the HuffPost Investigative Fund, concocted a way that everyday folks like you and I, can help create a more stable financial system. Shortly there after their ideas became the "Move Your Money" campaign. From the article:

"The idea is simple: If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it's meant to be. It's neither Left nor Right -- it's populism at its best. Consider it a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest. It's time for Americans to move their money out of these reckless behemoths. And you don't have to worry, there is zero risk: deposit insurance is just as good at small banks -- and unlike the big banks they don't provide the toxic dividend of derivatives trading in a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose fashion."

As I write, the bank finder widget at the article link above and the one at http://moveyourmoney.info/, both don't seem to be functioning correctly (hopefully a sign of swarming interest), but until it's back up, here is another way: Go to www.IRABankRatings.com, register and start taking advantage of their local bank finder; just click "demo" next to banks in your area to see their rating. You'll notice the info reported is often a couple years old but, the trends that get some banks A+ ratings, while others get F's are not something that has probably changed anytime recently.

I am moving my money out of Chase next week. I hope for all our sakes, you will choose to do the same.
Happy New Year! Enjoy!


Thursday, December 17, 2009

Avatar - The Perfect Movie

How can I say what I need to get off my chest without being understated. I have seen a lot...A LOT...of films in my life. I used to have trouble finding things to watch with friends that I hadn't already seen once, or twice...or more. Among those hundreds..maybe thousands of films there are definitely only a distinct few that really stand out. I mean the ones that touch you in ways that evoke memories for years to come.

Perhaps not even just the movie itself, but perhaps the movie is so good it reminds you of the very time period it was released. Star Wars and Indiana Jones aren't just classic series', they remind me of my youth. I remember being in the theaters, receiving the toys at Christmas. I remember building wooden guns and pretending to be space marines from Aliens, tree forts became the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and halved broom handles became light-sabers.

I also remember movies as I grew older, for other reasons. I remember being touched to tears by Schindler's List while all alone in a $2 cinema. I remember seeing Jurassic Park in the first all digital theater to pop up in my neck of the woods. I remember people I went with, the places I was and like music; movies oft take me back to those days and have me reliving the same feelings again. And so on and so for forth. But those films I listed above aren't always considered the "greats" (with the exception of Schindler's List & maybe the original Star Wars). The term "greats" comes out when you mention The Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven, Forest Gump, The Usual Suspects, Saving Private Ryan... How about older? Blade Runner, Full Metal Jacket, Empire Of The Sun, The Godfather, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange...and that's only going back to the early seventies!

Each of those films had particular pieces of greatness though. Some had great special effects or modeling thats looked real. Some had incredible actors with equally well written scripts. For others it was a musical or an orchestral score so powerful, the music would become an actual co-star. Others still could be enthralled by the epic vistas or cinematography. Even fewer among these may contain several of these aspects, yet none seemed to ever really contain them all. Can one single movie contain it all?

I am writing this today, a mere hour after leaving the film, to let you know that James Cameron's Avatar is The. Greatest. Movie. Ever. Made. I'm gonna let you soak that in for a moment......................

You ready? OK, here we go; and I promise not to give away anything:

It's a complete film, perfectly executed in every way. As a student of film, I can tell you teachers will be using this film for years to come, to show how to make a movie right. The only flaw you could possibly bring attention to in this movie is the fact the the story elements could be said to have been ripped from the pages of many greats before it. But that's my point, Cameron has taken the best ingredients of many stories and cooked up the finest five star dish ever laid before you. Check that...it's not just a dish, it's a three course meal.

The story is very thought provoking, the over arching theme being the strong or the have's taking advantage of the weak or the have not's. Dances With Wolves comes to mind when looking for comparisons. But there is also clever bits of comedy, the inevitable ill fated romance, the horror of mass destruction and genocide (in this case maybe xenocide would be more appropriate), and let's not the forget the action. The script is smart, not cheesy or overly cliched. The conversations feel real, honest and appropriate. The pacing is immaculate. And the research! The amout of study that must have gone into development! They created an entire world! A complete ecosystem! The anatomy of creatures, from huge to insect size, is frankly striking. The language of the alien people is as deserve as what we have got from the years of development of Elven and Klingon.

The acting is superb. Let's forget the main stars, although they delivered the script as eloquently as one would expect of a well healed theater group. The director really coaxed excellence out of his performers. The actors chosen to play the alien race, made the their invented language sound poetic. It didn't sound halting or forced. It was immersive and inflected with emotion, like real languages are. Not like the stale tongue weaving of LOTR's Elves or the guttural bursts that is Star Trek's most famous fake dialect. There were were, of course, obvious stand out moments; like the inevitable troop rallying, reminiscent of Braveheart.

The music is also outstanding. It's James Horner, I shouldn't have to say anymore. Can you hum the music from Willow or Star Trek II or Aliens or Titanic or The Rocketeer or Apollo 13 or Braveheart...yeah, he did it again. That aside the sound mixing, the sound effects and the foley work is incredible. The creature sounds alone should make other sci-fi movies ashamed of themselves and the sound field is so acute...it all added to the feeling that you were there in the forests with the actors. Not watching it on a screen; although some credit for that must be given to the 3D effects.

So let's talk about the 3D for a moment. The version I saw tonight was in "Real D 3D" and after this weekend, I will be able to compare it to the "IMAX 3D" experince, but until then I can say that it was a resounding success. This was the fourth movie I have seen in 3D, the other three were all animated: Coraline, Monsters Vs Aliens & Up. Those were all great in 3D, but I'll admit I was tentative about seeing real live action displayed that way. I just didn't expect to like it. I stand corrected. The 3D experience was half this film. I walked out wanting to return to the forest. Like I had visited there on vacation and couldn't wait to look at all the photos I had taken just hours earlier. The were scenes where bugs flitted across the camera, like I could reach out and touch them. I felt the unease and queasiness hit me as characters on screen dared to look over cliff edges from great heights. And I sucked in my breath as flying creature borne riders, took mind numbing dives from on high. I miss it already.

Let's talk action. While the story is full bodied, the action is the shot glass of hard "A" at the bottom of this Jägerbomb. To say the least, when the action comes, it's intense. As towering structures fell I felt a twinge of flashbacks to the twin towers and held my breath as debris and smoke billowed. During one scene aboard an aircraft mid battle, I found myself actually biting my tongue. That has never happened to me from a movie before.

The world. The environment, the vistas, the water, the foliage, the animals, the gas giant in the night sky...the floating frakkin' mountains! You have never witnessed anything like this world Cameron has dreamed up. It's surreal. Yet familiarities with our own world's biology make it seem so plausible and visceral. It is awesome. Not "dude that's awesome" awesome....but awesome like the Great Wall and the pyramids awesome. Awesome like that famous photo of Earth, taken from the moon. Aurora Borealis awesome. AWESOME!

And finally let's talk about the animation...although that word doesn't seem to do justice to CGI in this movie. There is no way to distinguish between computer graphics and camera-shot images in this movie. According to Cameron, the movie is 60% CGI and 40% live action and miniatures...but I couldn't see it. I caught my mouth hanging slack-jawed several times throughout the nearly 3 hour movie. The attention to detail is astounding. You cannot tell where reality ends and fantasy begins. There are none of those scenes where you can just "feel" the green screen, despite how good it looks. Each frame of this movie, could hang in an art gallery as testament to the greatness of the handiwork and artisanship of the animators involved.

In closing I'd like to share that up until now, my favorite movie of all time was James Cameron's The Abyss. It too is one of those films I felt "had it all". Humor, story, romance, action, sadness, frightening, special effects, music, etc... But again, nobody has every really made a film quite like this one. As the credits rolled I felt dumbfounded. I just kept saying "wow" out loud, over and over. I was in complete disbelief. How is it possible? How could one movie do, what Avatar just did? How can you top that? I felt like just wandering outside into the night, in a daze, occasionally pausing to shout out to my fellow citizens of Seattle, "go see this film; it will change your life".

Well maybe not change your life, but it will move you. Whether it be to tears, to the edge of your seat, to stand up and cheer, or laugh heartily with the crowd...it WILL move you. It's even moving me to spend another $14 to see it aging this weekend. Be prepared for this movie to sweep the Oscars and any other meaningful award show too. Place your bets now. I think I am out of things to say. Now it's time to sleep (if I can) and dream of the Na'vi and of the planet called Pandora. I can't wait to get back.


Thursday, December 10, 2009

Ink - What Indie Film Dreams Are Made Of

When was the last time you saw a movie that really broke ground, stood apart from the pack and surprised you in ways you weren't sure movies could do anymore? Let's face it, there are a lot of good movies out there. Well made, talented actors, beautiful sets, amazing cinematography; but usually they are just reiterations on a theme you've seen before. I have just finished an independent film called Ink. To say the least, I was blown away. I had seen a quick trailer for this film some time ago and added to my list to see, but it wasn't until today, after a word of mouth recommendation to see it, that I forced myself to sit down and give it a chance.

Ink is many things. At it's heart, it's about redemption, but that's just the creamy filling. The candy coated exterior is packed with dream worlds, creepy looking villains, well choreographed action scenes, surreal shoot locations and hypnotic special effects. I don't even really want to elaborate on the story any further than the trailer does. Half the enjoyment of this film was in the journey of discovery! The first 20 mins of the story is almost frustrating in its complexity and apparent disjointedness...but like any good puzzle, it all starts to come together quickly and fall into place.

And the music! The music is so good. In fact I just saw a link to buy the soundtrack on the YouTube page while I was looking for the trailer embed code. There are several segments of the film, that evoke emotion like a good music video, there is actually very little dialog compared to your average flick. The film makers do a great job of getting points across without needing to have those odd scenes where two characters talk about plot points. You know, like they are talking specifically for you to overhear what the are saying as opposed to carrying on an actual conversation, often starting with a line like "so let me get this straight..." or "so wait, you mean that..."

I will say that Ink is not complete without flaws. For all the wow moments and dream-like sequences...there are a few spots where you can tell that this was a low budget independent film and a couple actors are noticeably noob-eriffic. But if you can get your expectations of flawless & polished film making to relax for just a bit, you will find a diamond in the rough. There is actually a 10 minute "making of" in the DVD extras that shows how many of the costumes, back drops, stunts and make up were done on a limited budget. And though I have yet to listen to it yet, there is also a full length commentary that I'm interested in.

To sum this up; this movie has all the right elements of a great film. You may even find yourself ready to shed a tear near the end. It's a cult hit in the making. You will never regret the 2 hours you spent watching or the 5 bucks you spent on the rental. Although you also wouldn't regret buying it. I think this is going to be added to my list of odd but awesome films that I will watch over and over again in the future. Story-wise, there are no similarities, but it kinda reminded me of Dark City or maybe Donnie Darko. It's got odd, quirky characters. Dark & disturbing villains. Great props, a touch of sci-fi, tons of atmosphere and a surprise twist in the end that leaves you whirling.

Get this film, grab some popcorn, dim the lights and get ready for a movie that really has no peers. You will be raving to your friends, as I am now and I guarantee this film will be in your top ten of 2009...if not all time. Enjoy.


Monday, October 12, 2009

All Americans Should Be Proud

As I listened to the rants of the ignorant last week, I was appalled at how many people people were ready to stand up and say Obama didn't deserve his Nobel Peace Prize. To those haters and detractors, I ask: When was the last time you had any interest in any of the Nobel prizes? Do you know any history about why the Peace Prize is awarded or whom it has been given? No? I didn't think so. So why don't you show just a modicum of decency and patriotism and shut your ignorant pie hole. Rachel Maddow sums it up perfectly in the video below, "The American President just won the Nobel Peace Prize. By any reasonable measure, all Americans should be proud". However Rachel didn't even touch on any of the humanitarian & civil service work Obama has been part of before he was even a Presidential contender. Educate yourself. Enjoy.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Proselytize this!

So after Keith Olbermann's fantastic and touching full hour Special Comment last night regarding Health Care Reform & his father's diminishing health, I decided that since I cannot afford to donate any money to the National Association of Free Clinics, that maybe I could volunteer and donate some time instead. On the NAFC website, I found one local free clinic: Haller Lake Christian Health Center. There site has a volunteer page outlining the varied types of volunteer help they could use and an application form. I opened the application form to find that, not only is the entire document written annoyingly in Comic Sans font, but it is laced with Christian "ideals" and propaganda. Here are a few nuggets:

"Mission Statement: To show Christ, the Great Physician, to the community of North Seattle, Washington through a church-
based health clinic for the medically underserved"
"...providing them with quality compassionate health care and asking the Holy Spirit for opportunities to share the Good News of the Great Physician
with them."
"HLCHC’s foundation for establishing an ethics policy is based on our understanding of the Bible."
"HLCHC Statement of faith: I. The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God. It is the only infallible authori-
tative Word of God. There is only one God. He is infinitely perfect..."
"VIII.The second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth is imminent.—Hebrews 10:37"

And Then my favorite:

"Have you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Yes or No?" & "Describe your relationship with Jesus Christ (continue on back if more space is needed)."

All I want to do is volunteer some time in hope that my effort in some small way may help the Health Care Reform deciders come closer to universal care. You can name your center "Sacred Heart" or "St. Mary's", or whatever you want and I won't care, but the moment you start asking about how my life is or isn't affected by Christ on a application form...I get the feeling you may turn me down if you find out that I think you are ridiculous for believing in said god.

Am I off base here? I think it's really inappropriate.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

A Samurai Western To Rule Them All

Just got done watching this for the third time; it just looks too awesome for words. The trailer Warriors Way has my mind swimming with fond memories of Six String Samurai, Kung Fu Hustle and even Ghost Dog.
Watch. Drool. Enjoy!

Monday, June 8, 2009

IG-88: The Dancing Robot [video]

This music video by Mixmaster Lobot was winner of Best Animated Movie in the Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge 2007. Enjoy!

**Extra credit if you can name the non Star Wars film that a certain sound effect in this video is from. Hint: the sound only occurs once in the video during the fight sequence.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Richard Dawkins - Frontline Soldier In The War Vs. Religion

Went on a Richard Dawkins binge the last couple days an decided to post a few things for anyone interested to watch/listen. I'd like to highlight the Christian organized debate between Dawkins and Dr. John Lennox; moderated by former federal judge William H. Pryor Jr. It was extremely interesting to me and I'm sure that many believers would enjoy it simply because Dr. Lennox teaches on Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He is one of the very few celebrities of faith you will ever hear carrying on a (semi) rational and educated discussion about the coexistence of religion, science and reason. I mean he's still suffering the delusion of Christianity, but at least he isn't just proselytizing. Anyway, enjoy.

The God Delusion Debate [audio only, via Dawkins' website]

Root Of All Evil - The God Delusion










The Root Of All Evil - The Virus Of Faith










Enemies of Reason - Slaves to Superstition


Part 2 [embedding disabled]
Part 3 [embedding disabled]





An Atheist Call To Arms


Royal Institution Christmas Lecture for Children - Growing Up in the Universe (one for the kids)








Friday, April 17, 2009

What You Wish You Could Say; Introducing the Comic Genius of Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin is my new favorite comic find; his work all seems to be in songs (mostly on piano) and he is Aussie. He's basically the thinking-man's Weird Al Yankovich (and that is a very poor comparison mind you). The first video below is a 9 minute beat poem by Minchin called Storm (which I thoroghly intend to memorize), followed by several other funny songs of his that I stumbled accross.  Enjoy!

Storm


If I Didn't Have You


Inflatable You


If You Really Loved Me


Taboo


Some People Have It Worse Then Me


There are tons more on YouTube, go check 'em out.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Honoring The Fallen

It has been 18 years since we as a nation (via the media) have been allowed to view the homecoming of fallen servicemen. The following is a video of the short transfer ceremony of Air Force Staff Sergeant Phillip Myers at Dover Air Force Base. Myers, now a recipient of two Bronze Stars, was killed while dismantling a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. The family was asked if they would like to allow media and they agreed. I found this video extremely moving.

I highly recommend muting the volume of the commentators and just watching the procession:


This clip is from an episode of Countdown, which can be viewed in it's entirety here.

For a more complete story on the original ban on media at Dover, check out this clip from NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams:

I hope I am not the only one who would like to see more public displays of respect like Canada has done with it's Highway of Heroes:

Friday, March 6, 2009

World Builder - Man builds holo world for woman he loves.

World Builder is one of a couple videos posted by Bruce Branit available to view on Vimeo. This award winning short film is not only a fantastic display of computer graphic effects from Branit VFX, but is also a very touching story. More people need to be connected to films like these. This is a re-post from DorkMuffin.com, go check out her site, it's a big wad of awesome. Oh and if you can, I recommend full screening this one. Enjoy.

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Watchmen Saturday Morning Cartoon

This is of course a joke...there is no Watchmen cartoon for kids. But that didn't stop author Harry Partridge from purposefully , in his own words, "totally and unironically misinterpret[ing] the source material". Anyway, on the eve of seeing the finally realized live action Watchmen film, I hope all you longtime fans love this I much as I did. Sorry no embed, just a link (click on 'watch this movie' after the jump). Enjoy.

Saturday Morning Watchmen

UPDATE: Someone posted it to Youtube and I highly expect it to get pulled down soon, but if you are too lazy to click through to the authors site, here is a poor quality embed...while it lasts.



Watch the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts Online

Oscar nominated animated shorts are always a little confounding to me, because it's not like you can just run out to any theater and see them for yourself. Sure some show up at the begining of other animated features, but other than that, you are lucky if you can even find them later in a compilation DVD (and that's if you even remeber to take the time to look). So I went out and hunted down the 5 animated shorts that were nominated for a 2009 Oscar: Lavatory Love Story, Oktapodi, Presto, This Way Up and the winner La Maison en Petits Cubes. They are all fantastically drawn and most are quite funny. La Maison en Petits Cubes is kinda sad, might wanna watch it first.  Enjoy.

NOTE: If any of these videos aren't working or are otherwise pulled down, please message me so I can find another source to embed.








Monday, March 2, 2009

Sita Sings the Blues - Gorgeous Combo of Animation & Music

Wow...after having watched this film last night, I am still stumped at how to best describe it. It is funny, it is sad, it is dramatic, it is...nothing short of beautiful.

Sita Sings The Blues is, at it's heart, a simplified adaption of part of the ancient Hindu allegory Ramayana. Interspersed throughout the film are scenes from the artist Nina Paley's own life and experiences, that parallel the story of Ramayana. On top of these are added two more layers. The first is the oft irreverent narration breaks that provide comedy and contrast between the two paralleling storylines (these moments have an almost Mystery Science Theater 3000 quality to them). The second is the musical numbers which are animated in sync with the luxurious voice of 1920's jazz artist Annette Hanshaw to emphasize Sita's (and Nina's) plight.  As for the award winning animation itself, there are four unique animation style changes throughout the movie!

Yet there is another separate, but equally interesting, story revolving Nina's struggle to get the film made and the permissions to release it. You see, Sita Sings The Blues is available to watch in it's entirety online, but cannot be shown commercially in theaters. In fact, due to our country's ridiculous copyright laws, Paley is restricted to selling only a limited run of 5000 DVD's. After that she can only release it as a free download (available March 7th, 2009) under a Creative Commons license. The copyright issues as well as radical fundamentalist threats on her life, are addressed and discussed in an interview with Paley, about the challenges of getting the movie made. I highly recommend this interview, as she touches on a lot of issues that commercial artists tend to avoid.

The following link will take you to the Sita Sings The Blues official website.

If you are interested in obtaining the music by Todd Michaelsen, you can purchase songs direct from the musician's page.

Below is a trailer for the movie, one of the musical scenes from the film and a compilation reel for music by Michaelsen. Enjoy.







Saturday, February 28, 2009

Humanity Is Coming For Your Planet

What a great idea for a thought proving movie.  Earth has been destroyed, the last survivors of humanity are searching for a new home (nod to BSG)...and they have found a new planet to inhabit.  Except the planet is already inhabited by a peaceful race of beings.  Now pack it full of breathtaking animated visual action and you have Battle For Terra.  You might have to watch this trailer twice!  Enjoy.



Friday, February 27, 2009

He CAN Do It - Eddie Murphy To Play Richard Pryor in Biopic.

Let's face it.  Other than his voice work in animated classics like Shrek and Mulan, Eddie Murphy hasn't made a quality film in the better part of 2 decades.  I cringe every time I see a preview for anything new he is in (Meet Dave anyone?).  But it only takes a few seconds to goggle some clips of Murphy's stand up to remind us that he was once a great comedian. Delerious and Raw are assuredly on most comedyphile's top ten list of greatest routines of all time.  He can be that great again if he wanted, but he has been rutted in the family-film genre too long for most to remember anything else.  All of that may be about to change.  Fox Searchlight has announced the bipic Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said and Murphy is set to play Pryor.  If there is any doubt about Murphy's ability to fill the role, one need look no farther that Raw where he describes wanting to be Pryor from a very young age and does an entire bit as Pryor (see vid below).  This will be Eddie Murphy's time to shine.  Failure is not an option and likely, not even a possibility.  Enjoy.



Thursday, February 26, 2009

Lingering Impression - A Tale Of Personal Embarrassment

So last night my friend Scott and I stopped by a gas station in Tacoma that another friend of ours, Mike, works at. After picking up some things we said "later" and headed out. There had been a nice looking woman behind me in line, that was now at the counter as we were leaving. We exit the doors and Scott turns to me, "Dude, did you see the milf behind you?" Then after acknowledge I did, he adds, "She was totally checkin' you out."

"Rrrriiight...cause she just can't find all this, any where else," I answer gesturing to my appearance, which consisted of baggy sweatpants, unkempt hair, two days unshaven face and the shirt I had slept in. Not to mention the weight issue.

I had parked the car right in front of the station doors and as I climbed in, I glanced up...and sure enough, she was looking out at me. She even looked away and back again with a smile on her face. At this, I am momentarily stunned. To Scott I say, "You weren't kidding. She really is checking me out." Scott begins to elaborate about how he wasn't kidding as I start the car and begin to drive out of the lot.

"You should go back and talk to her" Quickly recoving from my amazement, "There is obvious something else at play here. She could not have been looking at me. There is no way..." We continue to joke back and forth a bit about it on the ride home, but the event is quickly forgotten.

Fast-forward to this morning. Mike arrives at the house to hang out, and as I'm helping him bring his PC in from his car he asks "Dude, were you blowin' ass by the register last night? Cause that chick in line behind you said she could barely stand there to pay. We were laughing about it..."

It was at that moment I remember the spicy teriyaki earlier that evening. I do seem to recall being a little...gassy.

Enjoy.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Don't Divorce My Friends - Courage Campaign Video

I was perusing Felicia Day's blog and found this wonderful video that I just had to re-post. This is a very moving video to the music of Regina Spektor entitled Fidelity, that highlights the Courage Campaign's efforts to raise awareness of Ken Starr's recently filed legal brief seeking to invalidate same-sex marriages in California. Please give it a watch and if you feel moved to do so, visit the Courage Campaign website and sign their letter to the state supreme court before March 2nd, 2009. Enjoy.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Credit Crisis Explained - a simple video

For all of you who feel like you have heard a lot of words thrown around describing entities within the credit crisis, but still don't feel like you fully grasp the process of how the banks and lenders and others...do what they do...this video is for you. It's short. It's sweet. And most imporantly, it's very cool looking (read: entertaining). Enjoy.



The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Crazy is as Crazy Says

Today was the straw that broke the camels back. Today I heard Rush Limbaugh tell his audience Democrats "have reformatted the [economic recovery] bill -- they've made it a PDF file when they posted it. And, so, you can read every page, but you cannot keyword search it. It's not a text file as legislation normally is as posted on these public websites. They don't want anybody knowing what's in this."

Gods forbid that anyone actually read a bill cover to cover aside...apparently Rush is so ignorant, that he has never heard of "Ctrl-F" or even bothered to check out the tool bar for the option to search a PDF document for keywords.

Why do people still listen to this douchebag? Like others in his clique (Bill O'reilly, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, etc...) I can't understand how they are allowed to remain on the air waves and why people still take what they say, at all seriously. These men and others like them prove to us, time and time again, that they are out of touch with reality, society and rational thought.

My biggest peeve about Rush and his buddies is the lack of respect for their own listeners/viewers. When you speak with the intention of informing people about any topic, you should be knowledgeable in that subject. If you ever make a mistake, you should apologize to anyone whose opinion or thought process you may have affected due to your error(s). But most of all, you should never make up facts, or deliver concocted information intentionally, as if it were fact. If you don't know something...do not just make up false facts or conclusions in lieu of doing some research.

I watch a lot of Keith Olbermann and recently, Rachel Maddow. I get flak from a lot of my conservative and/or republican friends that he is just the Liberal equivalent of Rush and Bill-O. Here is why that is not a correct analogy; Keith Olbermann doesn't lie to his viewers.

Find me some clips or transcripts of Keith Olbermann lying or voicing an inaccuracy. Now IF you find some, separate all the ones where he didn't do one of the following: share in advance that he wasn't sure if he was right, acknowledged he was guessing/interpolating known facts or apologize afterward that he broadcast an error. I will be very, VERY surprised if you still have any clips left. If you do manage, somehow, to have found one of these rare clips...keep in mind that I can compile you a list of inaccuracies and lies from almost everyday or every broadcast, from fools like O'reilly and Rush.

So I am announcing my intention to do just that...compile, all that I can find, an archive of the blatant inaccuracies, lies, misleadings and down right horribly unethical statements these guys have broadcast to the masses. I'm not sure how I'm gonna do this, it will obviously be too big for this blog, but I'm gonna start with this one by good ol' Rush. Thanks for the laugh you pill popping fat ass. Enjoy.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

How To Add Your Own Custom Button To Firefox Toolbar

There are tutorials already out there for this, but it took me awhile to find them, so I thought that blogging about it couldn't hurt. Below is an example photo of what kind of custom buttons I am talking about. In my case I wanted a button for the couple of places I use the most (Facebook, Hulu, Gmail, Hotmail, etc...) without having to go all the way into my bookmarks.



First go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5066 and click the big green button that says "Add to Firefox"

Next go here http://custombuttons2.com/forum/buttons/buttons-database/make-bookmark-button-makondo.html and click on the "Make a Bookmark Button". I don't think you need to register, but it's quick if it forces you to. The image below shows what you need to click on; should be smack dab in the middle of the page.



Next you will right click on an empty part of your toolbar bar and choose "customize". Scroll down and find the new button (called Make a Bookmark Button") like in the pic below. Click, hold and drag the icon to wherever you want it to be on your Firefox toolbar.



Now you can hover over your new icon and it will display how to use it: First right-click the icon and choose how you want any new buttons you make to react to your clicks (left-click, right-click, center-click, double-click). Now go to a page you want an icon button for, like Facebook, left-click the "Make a Bookmark Button" icon and it will create a button for Facebook directly next to it.

If you want to move around the order of the buttons after you have created a few, right click on the toolbar blank area again to bring up the "customize" option; now you can grab the buttons and move them around as you like. To delete a button you have created, hold down shift, then right-click the button you want to delete.

Blow is a video posted by the "Make a Bookmark Button" creator nicholasalipaz. You can follow it instead if you like (which is what I did), but there was a couple things I added above that weren't obvious to me and took awhile to figure out. Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Keene Act & What It Means To You

BE Vigilant. DON'T Be a Vigilante.



Who watches the watchmen?

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Thundercats Movie Fan Trailer

Can you believe the quality of this?  For fun, try naming all the movies you see being used in this.  Enjoy.

Characters & Events Depicted In The Bible Are Fictitious...

"The characters and events depicted in the bible are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."

I love Penn & Teller. Enjoy.

Penn & Teller: Bullshit - The Bible






And for fun...here is the starting link to their creationism episode.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.

Oh snap. I smell a potential t-shirt.



BTW: the author of this great slogan is Victor Stenger; physicist and author of several books on physics, quantum mechanics, cosmology, philosophy, religion, and pseudoscience. I am looking forward to reading his book God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist You can also watch Dr. Stenger's presentation he gave in support of this book on YouTube (or rather you can listen to it, cause the camera work is daffy).

Sunday, February 1, 2009

New Will Farrell Movie Trailer - Land Of The Lost

Another pre-Superbowl trailer. Enjoy.

ATHEIST!!!

There are no words to explain how great this is...

Senator Kelly Warns Of Mutant Agenda

Soon all our secretarial, transcriptional and pianist jobs will be taken by mutants!  Support anti-mutant legislation.

Transformers 2 Superbowl Trailer

You will be seeing this later today during the game...but why wait? BTW, it's called Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen...yeah kind of a lame title. Enjoy.

**Frakin' studio are trying to ban these pre-superbowl trailers left and right. Drop me a message if they stop working and I will find a new one to post.**


UPDATE: Just for fun, added this bowl trailer for G.I.Joe: The Rise Of Cobra too.

Amazing Trailer for Batman Arkham Asylum!

Wow does this game look great! After years of failed after failed attempt to make a decent Batman video game...could they final have done it? Although Lego Batman was pretty fun. Enjoy

Friday, January 30, 2009

Antarctica Time Lapse - A Year On Ice

This just blew me away.  Jaw dropping time lapse video from Antarctica.  I highly...HIGHLY...recommend viewing it in its high resolution form at antarcticimages.com and don't forget to full screen it! The music is fantastic too! The first track is a favorite by Afro Celt Sound System. Bonus geek points if you can remember what movie the second song is from; there is even a hint at the end. Enjoy!

Past & Present Photos Blended Into Ghostly Images

I love finding stuff like this.  Environmentalgraffiti.com has a wonderful article showing off the artistic talent of Sergei Larenkov, who visited the exact locations from some old photos of Leningrad, took new photos from the same angle and then married the two, resulting in some amazing images if not a little eerie. A couple favorites are below; jump to the article for all the rest.  Enjoy



Thursday, January 29, 2009

The End Is Still Nigh

Someone posted an hour long phone call between industry big wigs to Wikileaks & my favorite news website HuffingtonPost.com wrote a story on it. In spite of the detestable behavior we already know these men from the participating companies are capable of (including Bank of America, AIG, Rick Bergman & Bernie Marcus), they have this time reached a new low...the idea of using bailout money to lobby congress against the Employee Free Choice Act. Huntington has portion of the audio or you can listen to the entire call at Wikileaks.

During the call, there was a comment made by the co-founder of Home Depot regarding how the EFCA bill could effect America...ironically, it sounds like a statement made by someone like...well...me, looking in on their economy killing practices and principles. It went like this:

"This is the demise of a civilization.  This is how a civilization disappears.  I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

Monday, January 26, 2009

2009 Year of the Fro

2009 will be the year of the fro, with the triumphant return of our favorite sword wielding bad ass, Afro Samurai. Not only does he have a new season of animated goodness entitled Afro Samurai: Resurrection that premiered last night on Spike, but there is also Afro Samurai the video game due in stores Tuesday, just in time to take advantage of the rebirth of the animated series. The new season is really just a animated movie-length sequel to the original series, being shown on TV first and to then be released on DVD in February. Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Pearlman and other original voices are back for both titles. Below is a trailer for the new series, the game and the original series from 2007. Enjoy.

Resurrection

The Game

Original Series

Friday, January 23, 2009

Thursday, January 22, 2009

1474-Megapixel Panoramic Photo Of Obama Inauguration

What more has to be said than the title? I couldn't embed it here (honestly it wouldn't do the photo justice), but there is a flash player after the jump that allows you to zoom in so close, you can almost read the notes on the bands sheet music. The final image consists of 220 images taken with a Gigapan and it took over 6 hours for the software to construct them into one image. Enjoy!

The photographers name is David Bergman and I highly recommend reading about how he made this image at his blog. You can even request to be notified when a print becomes available for purchase. If you just want to see the picture in all its glory, you can skip right to the full screen viewing by clicking on the photo below. Enjoy!

Obama's First Executive Orders!

President Obama has issued his first executive orders...forget taking steps forward, today our new leader took a couple of flying leaps down the path of righting the capsizing boat that is our country. Here is the low down:
  • He froze salaries on all senior staff.
  • He imposed tough lobbying restrictions. If you are part of the senior staff, no lobbying for 2 years. If you are a lobbyist, no working in departments you have lobbied for 2 years. If you are part of the current administration and leave, you cannot lobby the current administration as long as Obama is in office.
  • Re-stated that the current administration will be transparent and abide Freedom of Information Act requests. Request to withhold info will be subject to review by Justice Dept.
  • Most importantly the Former Presidents claim of executive privilege to withhold his records will be up for review too! (see my previous post for why).
Way to hit the ground running President O! Keep up the good work. You can read the orders in full at the White House website.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Bush Confesses To War Crime On Video

Once again, one of the finest media personalities alive, brings us a special comment regarding Bush. This time he is speaking directly to President Obama (it feels great writing those two words together) and urging him to act appropriately. Enjoy.

What Should Be The Punishment For Illegal Abortion?

One of my new favorite blogs is "Unreasonable Faith - a former Christian's thoughts on faith, science and skepticism" (which I mentioned previously in a December post).  The writer Daniel Florian has a very interesting back story worth reading.  Anyway, today he posted a great video asking anti-abortion protesters one simple question: "If abortion becomes illegal, what should be the punishment for women who have illegal abortions?".  You will be surprised at how little thought has been put into the ramifications of illegal abortion, by the very people promoting it.  Enjoy.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Obama Full Inauguration Speech (and other goodies)

If you missed it, below is the entirety of Obama's amazing inauguration speech (and some other goodies below that). Enjoy!



Satellite image of the capitol during the inauguration.


Lego inauguration (full story at Gizmodo).


Word cloud of Obama inaugural speech (other prez speeches here)

Star Wars Retold By Girl Who Hasn't Seen It

Monday, January 19, 2009

8 Years of Bush In 8 Minutes

This is of course just the frosting on the layer cake that is the atrocities committed by the Bush administration, but it's a pretty good representation of all the ways in which he and his cronies have wronged or hurt us throughout the better worst part of the last decade. Olbermann FTW again! Enjoy.



If the YouTube video stops working use the (tiny) version below supplied by MSNBC.

Follow Obama Inauguration Online

Stumbled across this great post from Gizmodo about how to follow the inauguration online if you are stuck at work or elsewhere. FYI: the actual swearing-in happens at 9am Pacific Time.


At Least You Know One Man Is Thinking Clearly

I have mentioned before how much I like Representative Dennis Kucinich and how I supported him for President before Obama. It's to see he is still speaking his mind and "attempting" to do his job. Below is a collection of his recent addresses to Congress. Enjoy.

No more Federal Reserve


Bailout questions


The system we're saving


What will bailout accomplish


Impeachment


Israel & Gaza

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Songs I Can't Get Out Of My Head

Funniest serious song I've heard in a long time:



If you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, it's just recently been released on DVD. It's an absolute must-see by the people who brought you Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, etc...



...come to think of it, that Chromeo video reminds me of a funny remake; Take On Me (the literal version):



Enjoy!