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C. loves to tell me about her job. Some days she deals with good patients and some days she has deal with the type that aren't so agreeable. This week she was working up a patient that had just the right answers... or not.
"My head hurts," he says.
"Where?"
"On Earth."
Starting in April people will be able to legitimately download a digital copy from a small library of movies for a fee. Buy the movie, download it, watch it as many times as you want, and your hard copy will come via snail mail shortly. The catch is that it's loaded with digital rights management software preventing the buyer from sharing his/her new purchase with friends and family. After all, everyone is a thief.
Listening to: Los Fabulosos Cadilacs - El Matador
I finally realized what it was about that new show Miracle Workers that made me grimace everytime a preview came on the set. It wasn't the music, though to be honest that much mushiness made me wonder if ABC was trying to make even the most bitter of people sniffle with such contrived melodies. No, it was the actual stories and the way they seemed to be portrayed.
I haven't seen the show. I'm probably being extremely unfair. The people chosen to be fixed probably deserved it. My question is did the show take the time to explore their hardships in society? Or were they just portrayed as freaks? Did they highlight what these people could do? It's not a death sentence, but shows like these love to portray a disABILITY as such a life-ending situation that society feeds into this ignorance. Why not report on how limited we are by business who still refuse to follow ADA guidelines? Or a government who keeps cutting back on benefits sorely needed?
It's so easy to say, "Voila! You're fixed," on television. I don't need to be fixed. I want an equal chance to enter a building as an able-bodied person without the pity stares or the misconceptions that I'm missing out.
In the first test of its kind, a court in Norway has ruled that a Creative Commons license is legally binding. Apparently a gossip magazine took some pictures off Flickr that belonged to a former MTV VJ without permission. They thought they could get away with using the images, but since the use was commercial it violated the license and infringed on his copyright, and now there's growing caselaw for CC.
The Irish lose again in overtime, or rather double overtime, to Michigan in the second round of the NIT. Do not pass GO, go not collect $200. Why can't they win the overtime matches? This is the next one among many. ND could have received an invite to the NCAA tournament had they held it together, but no. They just can't handle it. Grr.
Last night I was reminded of one of the negatives of San Antonio. Tornado watches. There I was huddled in my bed gawking at my tv set as the weather gal calmly announced that funnel clouds had been spotted in Uvalde, and the storm was headed my way. All I could think about was why I had placed my bed so close to the window!
I'm so brilliant.
In other news I have a job interview as a law clerk, so maybe those storm clouds sent good mojo. It's set for April, so my fingers are crossed.
The Japanese care so much about their peeps! And no there's not a theme here (below).
Always innovators when it comes to technology, our friends on the other side of the world have created a robot that can carry the elderly. It can hear, smell, and see. Can it replace a man?
That was a joke.
Ever so worried about the growing population that can no longer take care of itself, this robot is aimed at performing tasks that a personal assistant would normally do... like lifting! Eventually they hope to program it to detect health problems.
Via Boing Boing.
Bleach has been licensed by Viz, and the news frightens me. I should be thrilled. I can finally buy the DVDs of this wonderful anime that is funny, angsty, and action-packed. Every week my brothers will have mini discussions on the latests episodes (though currently it's in filler hell so it's not as enjoyable except that the Bound storyline is getting interesting). Now Viz has it.
What does this mean? All fansubbing must stop. No more downloads and no more episodes till they are released on DVD. I always support japanese animation, so it's not a problem. Waiting, well... The concern of many anime viewers occurs once a show becomes licensed, specifically when a company decides to broadcast it on television. Sailor Moon is an excellent example. It's not a little kid's cartoon. It deals with adolescent themes such as sexuality and death, and when it was broadcast on Cartoon Network the anime was so poorly edited that the charm of the show was lost. When people sought the unedited DVDs only the edited ones were available without the Japanese language track. Anime released today that are edited and advertised for children don't have the unedited DVD option, which is a shame because shows like Digimon and Shaman King are probably a lot better than they seem.
Here's a better example, Naruto.
Naruto is the coming of age story of a ninja in training and his friends. They are all young teens dealing with the first signs of adolescence and evil. Naruto has it all. Comedy, sexual humor, angsty, and wow is it violent. When it was licensed it was slotted for CN's Toonami programming. Why? Because the characters are tweens. The Toonami block is for tweens? Violence is ok, but they had to edit out a hilarious accidental kiss between Sasuke and Naruto. Have I mentioned the show tends to get very violent? There may not be a lot of blood, but what happens to the characters is harsh. It gets to a point where one has to ask, how much should be edited and still keep the integrity of the show, or wouldn't it have been better to move it to Adult Swim. Oh, and I don't think there will be any releases of unedited versions of Naruto on DVD in the near future.
Then there's Bleach.
Rumor has it that Bleach is destined for Adult Swim. This would be great news. It deserves the exposure, and it certainly doesn't need to edited. I just can't picture it. Not with some of the gags, and well if anyone is up to date like I am, the whole Renji/ Ichigo undress moment was to die for. Toonami would edit that out!!
The FCC seeks to fine CBS around $3.6 million for depicting an orgy on television. There was no actual nudity, but since the scene involved teenagers it borders on pornography. In the meantime shows like all the CSI's, which tend to be gratuitous for their violence (and sex cases), don't receive complaints for the gunshots or guttings. One would think that such things would be just as indecent.
The FBI has issued a warning stating that future NCAA basketball games may be the target of suicide bombers thanks to the post of an unidentified extremist. Oh joy, another threat. I'm trembling. Here I thought Notre Dame's latest loss and failure to reach the tournament this year was the end of my world.
I just spent an hour writing out an ad on this nifty website. I even had a funny example. If you're Hispanic you'd totally get it too. So what happened? I moved to save, and my touch pad went beserk. Instead of going foward it went backwards. It deleted everything, so now I'm on strike! Craigslist be damned as well.
My father is a doctor. Ever since he learned how to use the 'foward' function on email not a day goes by that I receive jokes of every variety and color. He revels in sending me lawyer jokes. Some of them are good, and well some of them are...
A man walks into a bar. He sees a good looking, smartly dressed woman perched on a bar stool. He walks up behind her and says, "Hi there good looking, how's it going?" She turns around, faces him, looks him straight in the eye and says, "Listen, I'll screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, your place, my place, it doesn't matter. I've been doing it ever since I got out of college. I just flat out love it." He says, "No kidding? I'm a lawyer too! What firm are you with?
Gee, doctors and lawyers just hate each other with a passion, don't they? I think I'm going to start this guerilla campaign where I find good cases. Where a lawyer does an amazing thing that doesn't make my dad start sputtering in Spanish that he/she is the soon to be spawn of Satan. There are millions of good, ethical lawyers out there.
::cricket:: Hello.
And to think, his own daughter went to law school! He's uber proud of me, but the minute I receive my license I become the enemy. It doesn't matter if I've sworn up and down, here and there, to heaven and hell. Doctors and lawyers don't mix. The jokes are amusing, but wow. Feel the wrath!
Anyone know any good doctor jokes?
And it's all sad.
I can't believe Dana Reeves is gone. She was only 44. That woman was so strong for her husband. Now she's with him I guess. I just feel bad for their son.
In conclusion....
So the rest of my choices last night for the Oscars were hit and miss at best. I was thinking that "Brokeback Mountain" would win though secretly my fingers were crossed for "Good Night and Good Luck." Suddenly "Crash" is the love child of Hollywood, and well I'm not surprised to be reading this morning that a bunch of people are disappointed. What a great Oscar moment. The underdog wins.
I personally loved "Crash" when I saw it oh so many months ago. My roommate told me to go see it, and I remember just being floored. There are so many scenes in the film that are downright raw, yet it deserves a second and third viewing. Why don't I own this yet?!?!?
As for reactions to the telecast, well it was fun. I really liked Jon Stewart as the host. The audience in the auditorium hated him, but I was laughing hard everytime. I missed that. I hope they ask him back. My only qualms with the telecast were the dvd bashing (subtle much) and the producer's need to cut off the winners' acceptance speeches. The speeches were actually decent this year, but apparently ABC had the need to start the music before the winners even got on stage! They did this to Robert Altman.
Now for the snubs. I mentioned A History of Violence in a previous post, but I forgot about Sin City. It needed to be included for Art Direction and Editing, and a bunch of other things. Technically the movie was seemless. The actors looked like carbon copies of the comic book characters, and the background scenes were amazing.
I wonder what this year will bring.
Wow, what an upset.
Mas mañana.
The third song...and it's being censored, but apparently a few things are coming through on the East Coast. Is she saying witches or bitches. She's saying witch...and at the end there's the key word.
And the winner is...HUSTLE AND FLOW!!! Sweet. Everyone needs to see this movie. I'm so glad that hip hop isn't being shut out, but I didn't think it would. Eminem won a few years ago, so it's possible.
Now all this evening needs is an upset. It was supposed to be Amy Adams, but I'm going for another George Clooney Oscar.
Sound Editing: Jennifer Garner looks so pretty. King Kong is going to win, and I'm right.
Here comes the montage respecting the dead. Let's see how many times I say "Aw."
Foreign Language: Will Smith - Bwah ha ha. It's going to be "Tsotsi." Ha!
Film Editing: I chose Gardner but "Crash" won.
Here comes Swank to present Best Actor. Go Heath!! Damn Howard was good too, and Hoffman's a favorite, but his voice sounds gimmicky. Strathairn gave me chills. They all deserve it. Hoffman wins.
Original Score: What I loved about the music from Munich was that it was subtle when it had to be, yet powerful at those moments when you knew everyone in that movie theater was squirming with you. I chose Geisha, but I wouldn't be surpised if Brokeback wins it's first award here. Gee, I should have gone with my gut. Brokeback begins with the sweep. I really need to see this movie.
Maybe it's just me but it seems wrong to have the music from "The Lord of the Rings" playing during the tragic scenes of "Titanic." I could just be used to Horner's music.
Sound Mixing: Go "King Kong" Woo-hoo.
So here comes the break. The special award to Robert Altman. Streep and Tomlin are hysterical.
Lauren Bacal just introduced a segment on noir, which is going to explode in Hollywood with "Brick" once it's released. It's supposed to be a really, really good movie. I wish they'd release it already.
Next up is Documentary Short. I chose "The Mushroom Club." And "A Note of Triumph" wins.
Documentary: "Murderball" should be a winner, but I chose Penguins and it wins.
I just had a "OMG it's that song!!!" moment. The song has been used on some tv show, and it's very moving. Now I know where I'd heard it before. I still believe "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" is the better song. The music in Hustle is such a huge part of the movie, and that song in particular is really the story of the pimp.
Oh, "Speed" music and Art Direction. "Memois of a Geisha" and yes.
I need to see "Network."
I'm wondering if now is a good time to make some kettle corn.
Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell are hysterical with the makeup. Narnia should win, and it does. Wow, the Star Wars people are going to be even more upset.
Oh! Supporting Actress. Go Amy Adams. And I'm going to get a phone call telling me how wrong I was. Yay Rachel Weis. "The Constant Gardner" was a brilliant movie. I'm surprised it didn't receive more nominations along with "A History of Violence."
Alright, so it's Oscar time. Watching the show is a tradition, and my family and I watch it religiously. We try to see who guesses the majority of the winners, and for the mother and me it's all about the fashion.
Tonight, I'm raving about Felicity Huffman's dress. She looks incredible in it. Sandra Bullock looks like she's wearing a balerina costume. Michelle Williams: pretty.
So, now the Oscars are starting, and I'm thinking John Stewart will be back.
George Clooney just won for supporting actor and his speech was so touching. He honestly didn't expect to win, but I'm glad he did.
Ben Stiller is on now. His shtick on Visual Effects is dumb but funny. My choice is for "King Kong." And yay, it wins, which it deserves. Kong was amazing, and one of these days Serkis is going to get the recognition he deserves.
Animated Feature. I chose "Wallace and Gromit", but I loved "The Corpse Bride." Surprise, surprise Wallace wins. Methinks Clooney will have the best speech of the evening.
Live Action short. My choice "Six Shooter" but I had no clue, and oh gee I was right.
I chose "Jasper Morello" for Animated Short and "The Moon and the Sun" took it.
Costume Design: "Memoirs of a Geisha" Same.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that parents can sue their doctors if a genetic screening misses a really bad flaw leading to the child's severe disability or death. Basically, the parent's would have aborted the fetus had the genetic defect been detected, or so they say, but in these cases it's all about the money. Money to support the child who can't crawl, but can probably hear them cry about how they didn't want it. It's so expensive.
Here's the irony. Ohio could hypothetically become one of the next states to outlaw abortion, and the whole "wrongful birth" argument will become null and void. It can't work both ways.
A geography teacher has been suspended after he compared President Bush's current State of the Union to Hitler's speeches. One of his students recorded him as he was pointing out the similarities, and now the school is in uproar because of the administration's actions.
No one wants to be compared to Der Fuhrer, but unless it's against school policy, it seems to me that the administration has no choice but to reinstate the teacher. Unbalanced, yes. He can still say it. He can throw out an idea and make his students think. They're old enough to agree or disagree. To punish a teacher for criticizing the president is censorship and violates free speech.
I do have to wonder though, it's high school geography. Shouldn't he be teaching them about rivers, mountains, tigers, and bears (oh my!)? Bush? There are bigger fish in the sea.
The police in Orange County, Cali have been stopping buses and issuing citations to people wearing headphones. They aren't citing the drivers. They're citing the riders because apparently listening to music is a hazard to the bus.
If there were a law like this in SA I would be broke!
