Laid Off!!

One can say being laid off from your job is like breaking up with a significant other. You devote your time and energy into this relationship and hope that the benefits out number the downfalls. You wake up in the morning and spend your time with this "person" in the hopes of getting laid. Or in the case of a job the laid would be paid every one to two weeks. (Though in a personal relationship, that may be grounds for "quitting" your job.)
But when your job lays you off rather suddenly, one can only feel a sense of "Wow! I should have seen that coming." Or "Did I do or forget to do something?" Or "I can't believe their just throwing me away like this!"
But that's what happened. Just like in the movie Office Space, it was the fire them on a Friday ploy.

So now, my wife and I are among the unemployeed popping up all over the country. What a time to be unemployed too. No one's hiring and its a constant stress about money and bills and the kids needing to be fed and diapers and formula. Oh, man! what a time!
I'll keep you all posted.

Obama the Next President of the United States...

The Democratic National Convention is in full swing.
Last night we heard Hillary Clinton giving her full support to Barack Obama and denouncing John McCain. Yes, we all know its about money and fundraising. But maybe this time, the optimist in me hopes, its there real thing.
I have watched the slow decline of the dollar since Bush has come into office. I have seen the civil rights and liberties, of the American people, thrown away in the name of National Security. I have seen families go from being happy and successful to desperate and poor. The price of gasoline has sky rocketed to over $4 a gallon. The value of houses has plummeted and people are losing their homes. Businesses are collapsing. We are borrowing money from the Chinese to pay for the war in Iraq. The military is being asked to fight but on the same hand their benefits are being denied and even taken away.
Then we get someone like John McCain. Talk about four more years of the same thing. He openly announces that he will ask the youth of America to join the military and fight. He jokes about attacking Iran.
How much more can we take?
I'll be honest. I voted for Hillary. But at the time I knew next to nothing about Barack Obama. But over the past few months he has shown a face that is different from the political clones that have been running for a long time. There are days where it is too expensive for me to go to work. As of late, it costs me $10 a day to drive to and from my job. That's $50 a week just for work alone. Factor in grocery shopping and other errands it can sore to $70 - 90 dollars a week on gas. The price of groceries, basic staples has soared as well. Milk, $3.50 to $4.25 a gallon. Bread $2.50 a loaf. Its insane, and I'm sick of eating Mac and Cheese because we have no money. I am long overdue for a raise and with two babies at home, there are times where is seems as if the whole world is against you. Diapers can get very expensive when you have barely enough money for food and formula.
Change.
Its what Obama and the Democrats are promising. I really hope that it is true and not just a campaign.

Daily Distraction #1

How come the all powerful Darth Vader couldn't tell that Palpatine was lying to him about his killing Padme?

China's Glittering Image Slowly Unraveling

Taken From the Canadian Calgary Herald:

Beijing twists reality in quest for perfection

Focus on ideal image makes China look bad

Cam Cole, Canwest News Service

Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The skies may be clearing up over Beijing, but the face China tried to paint on the 2008 Olympic Games is breaking out in blemishes.

Main Street of Happyville turns out to be a collection of expensively built facades, with nothing behind them. Or worse, something awful behind them: a series of very large lies -- and the worst of it is that the Chinese hosts don't even appear to realize how bad they may end up looking to the rest of the world.

The opening ceremony we all gushed over was not what it seemed. Those blazing footprints of fireworks that "walked" in the sky from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest stadium? Pre-recorded and digitally inserted into the telecast.

Fireworks were also digitally enhanced.

Herald Archive, Agence France-Presse, Getty Images

The "sold-out" Olympic events, every ticket gone? An illusion, exposed only when reporters began to notice the squads of identically dressed and thunderstick-equipped cheer squads filling whole sections of seats. Even if some of those were seats designated for Olympic family members -- dignitaries and IOC members who leave seats unused at the lesser sessions is a chronic problem at all Games -- using fake fans to fill them is, at best, a comical notion and at worst an attempt to create a false picture of attendance.

Any minute now, we'll find out we're really in Japan. But the piece de resistance, the most cynical of all of the pieces of fakery at the Beijing Olympics: Agence France-Presse revealed Tuesday that the darling little girl in a red dress who charmed the audience by singing Ode to the Motherland -- a hymn of the revolution -- during the ceremony wasn't singing at all.

Lin Miaoke was lip-synching to the voice of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was rejected by a senior member of the Communist Party's politburo at a rehearsal because she had a chubby face and crooked teeth.

"He told us there was a problem, that we needed to fix it, so we did," said the ceremony's musical director, well-known contemporary composer Chen Qigang, in an interview with a state broadcaster that aired Tuesday.

AFP reported that the interview with Chen appeared briefly on the news website Sina.com before it was apparently wiped from the Internet in China.

"Little Yang Peiyi's failure to be selected was mainly because of her appearance," were among the Chen comments that were made to disappear.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed."

The French news agency interviewed the director of the China Internet project at the University of California-Berkeley, former dissident Xiao Qiang, who said the substitution of the pretty girl for the unsuitable one "illustrates an important aspect of these Olympic Games. It is all about projecting the right image of China with no respect for honesty or for the audience.

"I do not think the Chinese state realizes how unethical this is, they don't understand what kind of values they are reflecting."

Defenders of these "minor misdirections" say they are hardly unique to China, and the media is just picking on the hosts.

Didn't the late Pavarotti lip-sync his signature Nessun dorma aria from Turandot at the opening ceremony in Turin? Yes. But at least it was his own voice.

Nobody said, "Listen, Luciano, you've kind of let yourself go, and there's not enough time for you to go on the South Beach diet. Julio Iglesias over here is still a good-looking man. We're going to have him lip-sync your song."

All kinds of artists lip-sync their performances. OK, we understand that.

And we got over the Internet censorship. We've accepted that there are certain things on the Net that the Chinese populace is not allowed to see.

We accept that a 21-point censorship plan allegedly distributed to all state media probably exists, even if the spokesperson for Games organizing committee (BOCOG) claims to know nothing about it -- as he also knows nothing about plain-clothes officials reportedly shadowing some reporters, taking pictures of them, and notebooks being confiscated, or why two armoured personnel carriers suddenly appeared, parked outside the media centre, front and back, on Tuesday.

Fine. We're not supposed to know these things.

And maybe, in the larger sense, it's good that however bad the news is about the fakery surrounding the Games to date, at least the news is getting out.

There was some question as to whether that would happen, before the Games began, and so far it has not been an issue.

So, China's defenders say, this is really no big deal.

And that's probably true, as long as you're not Yang Peiyi, who at seven years old has already discovered a hard truth about physical appearance -- and had it drilled into her brain unequivocally, by her government no less, that she may be able to sing, but she's too ugly to represent her nation in public.

Cam Cole is in Beijing as part of the Canwest News Service Olympic Team

© The Calgary Herald 2008

Its all coming out! I love when false ideals are exposed by their own publicity! It smells like...fireworks and burning LCD's!

This Just Found On The Internet...

In what appears to officials as a case of “unprovoked rage” is now seen by others as a “zombie attack”. After the July 30th multiple stabbing attack of seatmate Tim McLean by Vince Weigaung Li, he severed his head and began to “consume his flesh” as heard by leaked Canadian Police tapes that made their way onto You Tube.

No memorial service has been announced at this time for McLean who has been described as “quiet, polite and kind”.

Vince Weiguang Li, 40, is led into the Manitoba Provincial Court in Portage La Prairie on Friday
Source: Msnbc.com

The Dark Knight / The Crow similarities

The Crow - Synopsis:
Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) comes home to fine his beloved soul mate Shelly being brutally raped on the floor of their apartment by a gang of mob rats who where sent to scare them out of their apartment. The mob rats turn on Eric and he is tortured and thrown from the window to his death. The police officer on the case takes a personal interest and develops a close relationship with the young girl who was a close friend of the tragic pair. A year later, when a strange man clad in black and harlequin painted face starts to kill off the mob rats one by one, the two friends work together and uncover the incredible truth that will lead them on a haunting and beautiful journey.
Tragic Victim: Brandon Lee
"On March 31, 1993, while making The Crow, the crew filmed a scene in which Lee's character walked into his apartment and discovered his girlfriend being raped by thugs. Actor Michael Massee, who played one of the film's villains, was supposed to fire a gun at Lee as he walked into his apartment with groceries.
Because the movie's second unit team was running behind schedule, it was decided that dummy cartridges (cartridges that outwardly appear to be functional, but contain no gunpowder) would be made from real cartridges. A cartridge with only a primer and a bullet was fired in the pistol prior to the scene. It caused a squib load, in which the primer provided enough force to push the bullet out of the cartridge and into the barrel of the revolver, where it became stuck.
The malfunction went unnoticed by the crew, and the same gun was used again later to shoot the death scene, having been re-loaded with blanks. Nevertheless, the squib load was still lodged in the barrel, and was propelled by the blank cartridge's explosion out of the barrel and into Lee's body. Although the bullet was traveling much more slowly than a normally fired bullet would be, the bullet's large size and the extremely short firing distance made it powerful enough to fatally wound Lee.
When the blank was fired, the bullet shot out and hit Lee in the abdomen and lodged in his spine. He fell down instantly and the director shouted "Cut!", but Lee did not respond. The cast and crew filming rushed to him and noticed he was wounded. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, Lee’s heart had stopped once on the set and once in the ambulance on the way. Following a six hour operation to remove the bullet and despite being given 60 pints of blood, Lee was pronounced dead at 1:30pm on March 31, 1993.
His funeral was held several days later; he was buried next to his father in Lake View Cemetery, Seattle. The following day, a memorial service was held in Los Angeles.
The shooting was ruled an accident, although many fans suspected foul play. The theory of the Lee "family curse" was also carried over from Bruce Lee's death to Brandon's, as he had died almost 20 years after his father and before the release of the film which catapulted him to stardom." -- Wikipedia

The Dark Knight synopsis:
"Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) continues to eliminate crime in Gotham City with the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). The Dark Knight wants to finally get rid of organized crime for good and be free of their corruption. Batman soon finds that a new psychopathic mastermind known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) has taken over organized crime. After the fall of Carmine Falcone, the remaining crime bosses try to pick up the pieces. However, the Joker is killing them off one by one. The Joker's plan is to terrify the citizens and throw the city into chaos, and then kill Batman. Batman takes the fight with the Joker personal, which makes him confront his own beliefs. The Joker is the most dangerous criminal that Batman has encountered, and he will need all his strength and vigilance to defeat him." -- IMDB
Tragic Victim: Heath Ledger
"At about 2:45 PM on January 22, 2008, Ledger was found unconscious in his fourth-floor loft apartment, at 421 Broome Street, in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Emergency crews arrived soon after but were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 3:36 PM, and his body removed from the apartment, while crowds of onlookers began gathering outside throughout that night.
After two weeks of intense media speculation about possible causes of his death, on 6 February 2008, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York released its conclusions, based on an initial autopsy of January 23, 2008, and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis. The report concludes, in part, "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." It also states definitively: "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications." The medications found in the toxicological analysis are commonly prescribed in the United States for insomnia, anxiety, depression, pain, and/or cold symptoms. The Medical Examiner's Office also announced that it would not be publicly disclosing the official estimated time of death. The official announcement of the cause of Ledger's death heightened concerns about general "abuse of prescription medications." Late in February 2008, a still-ongoing DEA investigation of medical professionals "cleared" two American medics, who practice in Los Angeles and Houston, of "any wrongdoing," determining that "the doctors in question had prescribed Ledger other medications – not the pills that killed him."" -- Wikipedia

Was the added popularity of The Dark Knight at the box office due to the untimely death of Heath Ledger? One can only speculate as the box office earnings of The Dark Knight had Ledger not over-dosed on prescription meds. Batman Begins took in over 448 million at the box office on its opening weekend. While The Dark Knight took in $75.6 million on its opening weekend. Was the added attention of Heath Ledger's death and possible psychological issues with the character an incentive for prospective movie goers?
After the media blitz, in 1994, regarding the accidental shotting of Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow many viewers viewed the movie merely because of the then speculation of where in the movie Lee was murdered. Report of the exact scene was later released months after the movie left theaters.
So what was the draw? What led millions of viewers to movies that contained scenes of an actors last moments of life?
Death. Plain and simple. People are fascinated by it. People will always be fascinated by it. What makes it ever more appealing is that it happened to someone in the prime of their life. Joe Everybody. And it haunts people.
In Twilight Zone - The Movie, produced by Steven Spielberg and individual segments directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller, the film is perhaps best known for the helicopter accident which took the lives of actor Vic Morrow and two illegally-hired child actors during the filming of Landis' segment. The deaths led to high-profile legal action, although in the subsequent trial no one was held criminally culpable for the accident. It was the same media blitz and the same reports of a movie set "curse."
While the truth is, there is no "curse" to speak of. Accidents at work and deaths related to work are not that uncommon. According to a report put out by the American Journal for Public Health in 2000, "in the United States, approximately 65,000 workers die each year of work-related illnesses and injuries, a total of more than 180 work-related deaths each day. Work-related death remains a pressing public health issue in the United States and throughout the world."
So what do we take away from this?
Heath Ledger was not killed by the Joker, like a lot of quick press tabloids will point out. He was killed by stress and possible poor judgment on mixing prescription medication. We've all been there. Sick, with no-one to take care of us, medication and high stress level. It can be a potentially fatal cocktail.

Who Watches The Watchmen?

The Watchmen are coming. The visionary comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is coming to the big screen March of next year. So far the previews look fantastic. We'll see how it turns out.
So far I am hopeful, it will be a great movie.