Project365 day 151

Project365 day 151 2007 05 31, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Are you bored of all of these coffee house shots yet? Maybe if I actually

visited more than just two different Internet cafes these pics would be a

bit more interesting. :( Anyway, so in this pic I'm back at the Playa Bean

on me lunch hour. YIPPEEEEE!

EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT TO BE TESTED ON PEOPLE WITHOUT CONSENT

OK, so, there are these tests doctors want to do to determine better ways to resuscitate people after their hearts suddenly stop, due to shock, trauma, etc. The thing is, these doctors are idiots.

"Well, the only way to see if it works on humans is if we try it. But how can we get their permission first if we have to wait until their heart stops to ask them?" is what I imagine Dr. Moron asking Dr. Dipshitz.

"You're right! Let's subject them to a potentially fatal test and not give any further thought to it!" replies Dr. Dipshitz.

"LET'S!"

Of course, they don't bother to even think about an alternative to violating human rights by publicizing that they need people to volunteer for the tests. And by "volunteering" I don't mean they should volunteer to have their heart suddenly stopped. If you thought that you're as dumb as Dr. Moron. What I mean is, publicize the hell out of this and get hundreds or even thousands of people to sign waivers saying "if I'm in a car accident, you can do the test on me."

Car accidents happen all the time--it's highly likely that the doctors would get "lucky." I'd much prefer their research get delayed over them testing something that won't work on me, thank you very much.

Read more about the specifics in [http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/4839234.html|a May 26, 2007 article] from WashingtonPost.com but available at Chron.com.

SHAVING CREAM SONG!

Ah, so, I was listening to the HuckleBug podcast (download it NOW at HuckleBug.Com) and I was reminded of a song I listened to over and over again as a kid that I knew only as "the Shaving Cream song". Some local morning radio show in New York played it a lot and it ended up on a mix tape of mine. Sadly, that mix tape has long gone the way of the dinosaurs. So, I decided to go googling for it. I found it and seeing as Wikipedia.org [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaving_Cream_%28song%29|says it was first recorded 1946 by Benny Bell] and hasn't exactly shown up on MTV's TRL, I'm going to guess it's safe to provide you with said mp3 here.

So have a listen now!

It's silly and fun and is a pleasant departure from the depressing stuff I usually blog about :)

HUZZAH!

Project365 day 150

Project365 day 150 2007 05 30, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Back in LA, at Boba Loca (as usual), this time at the bench by the door with

the Bruin movie theater in the background through the BL's window. When

this pic was taken I was busy working on/testing a script that will

automatically take a picture with my MacBook's built-in iSight AND upload it

to Flickr automatically. Isn't that cool? I'd make the script available to

everyone except it only works on my MacBook--it gets confused on my

PowerBook for some reason. Not sure why.

AMERICAN MEDIA LETS US DOWN AGAIN

So, back on May 25, 2007, I noticed a distinct problem with the way CNN was covering a certain story. Basically, it was not the most important story out there. Check out this screengrab from CNN.com:

So, according to CNN, this extremist guy calling the US evil is the most important story. Meanwhile, Japanese news source, KyodoNews.co.jp reports:

Which do you think is more important? Some Iraqi militia leader guy calling names or NoKo firing test missiles at Japan?

I'm thinking that you know what I'm thinking...

BETTER OFF DEAD (1985)

[asin: B00005JKFA]

Positive Experience/Entertaining? OF COURSE! If you haven't seen this movie GO GET IT NOW! It really is one of the most brilliant comedies of all time.


Technically any good? While far from perfect cinema, this movie knows exactly what it's trying to do and it succeeds in doing it. There are definitely moments in the movie that needed second takes or better sound and even, very rarely, different cinematography. Still, the acting is spot-on, though it's not super challenging to pull off what this movie requires of its actors. Of course the comic timing that is required to pull a lot of the gags off is incredibly important and everyone nails it.


How did it leave me feeling? Incredibly entertained. After a really stressful week of all sorts of dumb, real-life stress, this was exactly the movie I needed to see. Special thanks to the fine folks at the NuArt for screening this movie at their Friday midnight show. If you're in LA, on the Westside and you're looking for a good midnight show, swing by the NuArt on Santa Monica Blvd, just west of the 405 freeway.


Final Rating? GSN!!! GO SEE NOW!! Or NETFLIX THIS PUPPY!

VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ ABRIDGES FREEDOM OF SPEECH

This is more proof that maybe governments aren't always out to protect us.

In the past I've been a pro-Chavez kind of guy. He was elected on a populist platform which means he appealed to the majority of the people and gave them what they wanted. Ironically, the majority of Venezuela are what many of us white folks would call peasants. Poor people with no power. I call them peasants because that's what some guy on CNN called them over the weekend when these riots started. See, Chavez grabbed a corporation-run TV station and turned it all public-accessy and stuff. There were riots by what, I assume, are the rich folks. The CNN guy said something like: "this extends beyond the TV station, though, right? It goes all the way to Chavez seizing people's land and giving it to peasants."

Isn't that neat how the good-looking, white, ethnocentric-as-fuck newscaster suggests there's a difference between "people" and "peasants"?

ANYway, so Chavez nabbed this station and gave it over to "the people". The thing is, the rich folks are right on this one--Chavez is wrong to silence anyone. If he wanted to look like a good guy, he'd leave the corporate station alone and give the poor folks buckets of money to produce their own shows.

Now he just comes off like a big brothery type guy who is only catering to the poor folks because they allow him to avoid fixing elections. As far as I know he's also still got the power to rule by decree. This power is supposed to run out after 18 months (I think) but it's only been like 6, if that.

Since I've been a supporter of Chavez in the past, I knew it was a good idea to speak up and say that I'm not down with taking away ANYone's voice. Like I said if Hugo wanted to do some good, he shouldn't take away the rich guy's megaphone, he should just give a PA system to the poor folks.

So what if this corporate station supported the 2002 coup against you, Hugo? You look really bad now--all Putiny and stuff.

To read some mainstream (ethnocentric/racist) coverage of this story check out [http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PDFHC00&show_article=1bu|this May 28, 2007 article] from AP.org.

Project365 day 149

Project365 day 149 2007 05 29, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Caught in the act!



...of consuming Mother Nature's Soft Drink!



It's bottled Dihydrogen Oxide!! Yummmmmmm!!

DRUDGE: FALWELL NOT A BAD GUY

I meant to blog on this shortly after Falwell died but the screengrab got lost in the shuffle. Anyway, here it is, from DrudgeReport.Com:

So, the guy who said gays, liberals and abortionists were the reason 911 happened gets this kind of positive treatment. The dude was a bastard (my opinion) and a hate-monger (fact). All Drudge (and so many other "news" sources) can do is say good things about him.

As I've been saying for years now, we are living on Bizarro World...

SOFT DRINKS MAY DABBLE WITH YOUR DNA

Yeah, I've got to admit bursting into a Charlton-Heston-in-Planet-of-the-Apes-style belly laugh when I read the following cutting from [http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586652.ece|a May 27, 2007 article] at http://independent.co.uk :

A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

More and more, these days, I am finding that I am feeling more and more like Heston's character in the first PotA movie (NOT the one with Marky Mark). I feel like I'm the smartest one around--even if it's by accident. Hell I've been officially off the sugar-drinks since the spring of 2003 just because I had read that sugar might be reeeally really horrible for you. So, here it is, four years later and it looks like I may have avoided having my very DNA diced and sliced by a nasty chemical in my Mountain Dew Code Red. But what IS that chemical. Well, here's more from the article:

Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.

Zowie. Well, I don't think Code Red is available in the UK, where the study occurred, so after a quick visit to [http://mountaindew.com/about_dew/product_info/cr.php|the Code Red product info page] at MountainDew.Com, I discovered that, yes, in fact, Code Red does contain Sodium Benzoate, which may very well mess with your health on the most basic of levels. Here's a bit more from the above linked article, this cutting refers to the unfortunately named scientist name behind the study:

Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.

He told The Independent on Sunday: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether.

Sheeeit! That does sound pretty horrible, doesn't it? Well, let's not beat around the bush--HOW is it bad for you?

"The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing."

And here I thought that perpetual fatigue I have felt since I was 23 was just a part of having a dayjob. Turns out there's a reason my energy level rose back in the spring of 2003.

So, if you were on the fence about jumping off the soda wagon in favor of the water wagon, good GOD, man! JUMP!! JUUUUMP!!!

JUMP FOR YOUR LIFE!!!