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[04 Sep 2006|10:00am] |
Well, not that my little addition matters but......damn. I liked Steve Irwin. He was crazy and over the top and a bit of a showboat, but damn if he also wasn't one of the most enthusiastic, passionate, daring and energetic guys I've ever seen. And he meant it all. He DID love those critters enough to wanna kiss them. He dedicated his life to animals and nature conservation and he fucking cared.
God, poor Terri. I can't imagine hearing your spouse is dead and then having to tell your 8 year old daughter that daddy's gone.
First time I saw him I remember thinking that any guy who'd rather chance getting his head bitten off by a croc than even consider doing anything that might endanger the big lizard was okay in my book.
So long mate. You were one in a million...
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[02 Aug 2006|09:01am] |
You know, this whole 'Mel Gibson is Nuts' thing is cracking my shit up. None of it really a surprise by now, but still funny. And MAN do I wish there would be a COPS episode on his arrest! Now, Mel's alcoholism as well as his views on a lot of things have actually been apparent for quite some time if you check old interviews (and everyone's digging that stuff up again now of course) but what's really funny is the attempts at defending this.
First off, Mel's own defense seems to be "You know all those years you said I was a jew-hating bigot? Well, I really wasn't! Never! I just became one last friday for a few hours! And now I'm not one anymore!" Okay Mel.
But what was even funnier was this article in Newsweek "Mel: True Views or just the Booze?" where the writer and others try to defend Mel by blaming it all on the booze. Funny thing is that they really don't actually wind up doing that. (I accented the key words here):
"Yet despite widespread rage over Gibson's comments, Dr. Marc Galanter says alcohol can often cause people to say things they normally wouldn't—and doesn't necessarily mean those statements should be taken at face value. "When people are heavily intoxicated, they often say things that relate to issues that may be on their mind, but don't necessarily reflect their true attitudes as they'd express them when sober," says Galanter, director of the alcohol and drug abuse division at New York University Medical Center. "You end up with a person whose judgment is compromised, who has trouble thinking clearly, and whose memory may be affected."
""It's certainly possible that this was in the back of [Gibson's] mind," Galanter says of the "Lethal Weapon" star. "But there are a lot of things in back of people's minds that they normally wouldn't act on or talk about ... I don't think you can judge Mel by exactly what he said when he was drunk."
"Certainly possible"?? For pete's sake! He was being arrested for DUI. Why the hell would the TOPIC of Jews even come up, if not from Mel's mind?? But what they're basically saying is that while drunk, you may start saying things that are on your mind, and that you normally would be smart enough to not say in public.
Okay. Well, they answered their own question then: clearly his true views. Not sure how this defends him all that succesfully, but.....Ah well, as we say in Holland, the only people that tell the truth are children, the dying, and the drunk.
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[27 May 2006|05:30pm] |
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Some thoughts on ( X3 )
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[18 May 2006|09:15am] |
Ok, this cracks me up: You know the upcoming date of 6-6-06? Well everyone’s going nuts with that one of course. (Well, everyone nuts is) and here are some ( funny examples. )
And of course as others have pointed out, the day is hardly 666 is it? It’s 06-06-2006. Which is nowhere near the same thing. We already had a 06-06-1006 and the actual year 666 a while ago and I do believe no antichrist type fella took over. But hey let's not ruin things by, ya know, thinking about them....
Well, okay, there's one thing truly evil to do with the upcoming date: Ann Coulter will launch her latest anti-liberal book on that day.... *brrrr*
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[12 May 2006|03:07pm] |
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Swiped from Gingersomething. Been a while since I've done one of ( these. )
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[12 May 2006|01:47pm] |
Just saw this on Ebay: someone is selling Vamp Willow's complete leather-goth outfit. Which is of course a cool prop. Definitely up there. But the asking price?
$17,500.00!!! (She says she's willing to talk about a 'payment plan')
WTF?? I can buy a car for that! Hey, for THAT kinda money Alyson Hannigan better be IN the suit when it arrives at my house!
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[02 May 2006|10:40am] |
Okay, I gotta get it out......
I mean, there have to be some type of laws in place for immigration, right? Don't we all agree on that? Then why are these the only laws that are apparently okay to break? That somehow 'should not really be enforced'? When's the last time anyone saw a crowd of tax-dodgers or credit card fraud-committers in the streets, protesting for their rights? Illegal is illegal.
Why are so many people on both sides of this divide acting like there is no difference between legal and illegal immigrants anymore? "Anti-immigrant laws", "Immigrants want their rights". No...illegal immigrants! Isn't that a vital difference? And of course the companies that employ these people for under minimum wage are criminals too, and of course they should be caught. That doesn't change anything. If you break the law, you're a criminal, even if someone else breaks the law too. That's how it works.
Hell, I'm an immigrant. I'm originally from Holland. I've been living in LA for 4 years now. And I did it legally. Or rather, am still doing it legally. The latest batch of forms went out last week. That's 5 years and going. Yes, it's a lot of work and hassle and traveling and money.(And I wasn't rich to begin with either) But I think it's only normal that when I come to a different country, and I ask it to accept me as one of its residents, that I obey the laws! And I did. And I expect others to do the same.
And yes, I speak english. If I'd moved to Russia, I'd have learned russian. That's not only polite to the country that you move to, it's smart for you. There is no excuse for living in a country for 20 years (as some do) and still barely speak it's language. When I was a kid and we'd go to France, Italy or Spain in the summer, with a little lingo-book my parents got around better in those few weeks than some people here in LA do after years. So you have an accent. So maybe you're not 100% fluent. But to still barely speak a word after years....no excuse.
I just find it odd that you can apparently say:'Hey, I want better economic opportunities, so I'll come here illegally. My first act is a criminal one. Then I'll stay here illegally, work illegally, not pay my taxes, showing that I don't care about your laws, and place myself outside of your system wherever it suits me.....Oh, and now I'm marching in the streets because I want that same system to give me my RIGHTS. And I want what the legal immigrants have, that I didn't bother to try and get, except I want it handed to me on a silver platter. And everything illegal I've done must be forgotten. I demand it. Or else!'
Really, what am I missing about this? How on earth can that be considered right and just on any level?
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[24 Apr 2006|10:09pm] |
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Couple of thoughts on ( Silent Hill. )
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[30 Mar 2006|11:39am] |
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You know those annoying religious/political forward mails we all get? ( Rant... )
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[18 Mar 2006|07:55pm] |
Ok so much for my decision to update more often...
Anyway, I saw ( V for Vendetta today. )
Overal it's a bold, daring, powerful piece of work and it works on many levels. I suspect it will be highly discussed. Oh and on the terrorism aspect, I think it's very brave to remind people in these overheated, rather hysterical times, that EVERY government has dubbed freedom fighters who are against them as terrorists, and EVERY terrorist in history considered him/herself a freedom fighter. This is simply true. If England had won the American Revolutionary war, every US school child would be learning today about that 'evil terrorist George Washington'. And if the catholics had managed to overthrow England's king in the early 1600's, Guy Fawke's Day would be remembering a 'great hero and martyr'.
'V for Vendetta' wants you remind you that you always need to think about those concepts and ideas, and take none of them for granted. And I think it's very correct in its assumption that people need this kind of a reminder...
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[14 Feb 2006|10:20pm] |
Writer Warren Ellis referred to Valentine's Day as 'Horny Werewolf Day'. Something about its Pagain roots. I realized I didn't actually know anything about that so I looked some stuff up. Turns out he was kinda right:
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"Valentine's Day and its traditions originated in two separate Roman feasts: Lupercalia and the feast day of Juno Februata.
Lupercalia:
The Roman "Festival of Sexual License." Its origin has been lost to us, although it might have been associated with protection from wolves (lupus in Latin). Even the Pagan Romans in the 1st century BCE had forgotten its source.
The celebration was held in the Lupercal cave on the Palantine Hill in Rome. Here, it was believed, Romulus and Remus had been sheltered and fed by a she-wolf before they founded Rome. Two naked young priests, assisted by Vestal Virgins, would sacrifice a dog and a goat. Blood from the animals was spread on the two priests' foreheads and wiped off with some wool dipped in milk.
The priests then clothed themselves with loincloths made from the skin of the goat. They ran about the city, scourging women with februa (Latin for "means of purification"). These were strips of skin taken from the sacrificed goat. The Romans believed that this flogging would purify them, and assure their future fertility and easy childbirth. (People would actually volunteer in the streets)Feasts and parties were later celebrated throughout the city. ('s where that sexual license thing came in)
Juno Februata:
The month of February was sacred to "Juno Februata, the Goddess of the 'fever' of love" in ancient Pagan Rome. She was also the goddess of women and of marriage. FEB-14 was her festival day. At that time, a box was provided from which single men could draw a "billet" -- a small piece of paper on which a woman's name was written. The couple would then form a temporary liaison for the erotic games to follow. They would remain partners for the following 12 months. Sometimes marriages resulted from this practice.
Later the christian church was opposed to this display of open eroticism and sensuality. They tried various ways of changing the festival. One method was to replace the women's names with those of saints and short sermons. The young women and men were expected to emulate the life of the saint whose name was on the billet that they had drawn. However, it was soon apparent that the public preferred the old ways."
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So.... is it me or did those christians just take the fun out of everything??
I'm with Warren Ellis. Let's dub it 'Horny Werewolf Day' from now on.
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[18 Jan 2006|08:10am] |
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It's been brought to my attention Im wasting a perfectly good LJ here. Fine, can't argue. Most interesting stuff that happens to me, happens to my wife as well and she's a daily updater so my posts just kinda feel pointless to me. But there are the daily thoughts and things I suppose I will be happy I wrote down a year from now. Which is why I started this anyway. Fine.
SO let's recap. New Year. My site 'Whedon's Way' about Joss' work is no more. Updates died down and if I did any, it was mostly news lifted straight from other sites like Whedonesque. Which is not a good reason to keep a site. Joss now moving into movies leaves what, 1 project a year? Not enough to keep a site. The fact that many links and mouseovers had somehow been corrupted made it even easier. Fun while it lasted. Time to move on.
Have a lot of plans this year, most of which probably won't happen, but what the hey. Re-creating my professional art site is top of the list right now. Of course I run into one of the few sites of other artists that I think is truly great. It inspires me to greater heights, with more flash and stuff. Great. It means this will take even longer than I thought.
Doesn't the universe care that I'm a lazy bastard??
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[23 Nov 2005|11:06am] |
Am I the only one who feels caught between extremes a lot?
I can be equally tired of rappers tossing 45 women's butts per minute into their vids or commercials trying to sell me beer by suggesting women will fuck me if I drink it, as of people who feel everything should be censored, that all entertainment should be like '7th heaven', who freak out over the slightest bit of nipple, but are fine with violence, blood and gore.
I'm sick of uber-religious people who ignore every bit of scientific evidence there is, because some primitive morons (who had barely invented the wheel and thought the world was flat)wrote some stuff down thousands of years ago. I'm also sick of scientific people with closed minds who toss every philosophical/spiritual notion or original idea out the window because it's not what we think we know now. (We always think we're correct *now*, even though we were proven wrong sooo many times) Science and spiritual matters are actually two completely separate subjects and only cross each other when they try to get in each other's way. Say, when religion, instead of discussion spiritual matters, claims to explain the origin of the world and it's species better than science. Which is like solving a murder case by ignoring finger prints but reading tarot cards instead. Science can't disprove purely spiritual notions and religion sure as shit can't disprove science with 'cuz it says so in *fill in name of holy book of choice*'
I'm very sick of the general mysogyny of our society. (And we're actually one of the better ones in the world where that is concerned) On almost all levels, women are still second-rate citizens and the ease with which this is accepted is unbelievable once you really see it. On the other hand, little things can also piss me off in the other direction. Tiny example: on those talk shows where a DNA test just proved a guy is 'is the father', the woman will stand up and yell and scream in the guy's face like a gloating banshee. If however, the test proved he was right and he's not the father (in spite of the woman being '100% sure') she will start bawling and 'obviously' needs to be held and comforted. Usually she actually is held and comforted, if not by the guy, then by the talk show host. Not saying she should be screamed at too, but this type of double standard is just never a good thing. Sorry.
I don't particularly like drugs. I don't like how normal it already is for many kids to try extacy and such, as if it's sipping a beer. I don't like smoking. Hell, I don't even like the smell of coffee. However, the fanaticism and irregularity of American views on drugs baffles me. In terms of health damage, money troubles, crime rate and death toll, the greatest addicitive substance problems this country has are alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs. (Really, look it up.) Marihuana is actually less bad for you (how it affects your driving, long-term desease, and addictive properties) than alcohol and tobacco. Yet many dads love beer, consider it manly, wholesome and normal, but tear at their hair and clothes at the mere mention of pot, the 'devil weed'. Hey, I don't like pot, but the only reason alcohol is legal, (re; that prohibition was repealed,) is because too many people *wanted* to booze and it was considered 'normal'. Through circumstance of history, pot never got that status in culture. So you can get drunk and sleep on the kitchen floor in your own puke in front of your kids....but terminal cancer patients can't have a drag of a joint to ease their pain because politicians feel that people have it in their heads that a brewski is all-american, but a joint is for satanists....or something.
Eh, just some random thoughts I had...
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[07 Oct 2005|04:09pm] |
Swiped from sassykat59. I googled "[my first name] needs" and here's the results. :
"...needs help in the following fields: Medical doctors, PhD's, environmental
attorney, printer, psychologists, audiologists or researchers"
And I need them NOW dammit!!
"...needs to develop a plan to “Excel” at."
Uh, sure...
"...needs to do more to get its message across in the community"
True. GO SEE SERENITY!! Wait, I'm an 'it'??
"...needs high pressure. "
Uh, got plenty, thanks.
"...needs to be different not only today but also for the rest of the season"
Ah....I'll do my best.
"...needs a new editor if they haven't caught the mistakes in the many editions of this book's release."
I have a book? Does that mean I have royalties too?
And my very favorite:
"...needs a tech inspection to determine if he's human"
My secret's out...
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[05 Oct 2005|04:57pm] |
Actual church sign. You can't make this shit up.....
Notice how concepts like "freedom" or "thinking" are apparently not God's domain. Turns out Satan's the guy for that kind of stuff. Well then the poor feller's been getting a bum rap for a while now! Good to know I guess....
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[28 Sep 2005|11:15pm] |
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Okay, the net is abuzz with Serenity, and official reviews are trickling in. (I am actually nervous about the opnening weekend. I can't imagine what Joss or the cast feel.) So far, most reviews are good. Which is good. Of course, I can't resist reading the negative reviews as well, and while some are honest and decently written, pointing out strengths as well as weaknesses, there are those that are not only extremely misinformed and badly argued, they get down right nasty. Here's what Steve Rhodes from Internet Reviews opens with:
"Suffering through, I mean watching SERENITY...."
Okay no matter what movie you're writing about, if you think that line is either clever or funny, I'm not sure you chose the correct profession. What really got my goat though is this bit:
"Our packed audience of rabid fans burst into thunderous applause when the words "Feature Presentation" came on the screen. Various characters from the series got similar but smaller accolades. As a non-fan, it made me appreciate the wisdom of TV executives who aborted the show.
In other words, the movie has barely started so there's nothing really he can comment on yet, but him seeing the fans happy and cheering makes him gleefully comment how happy he is that the show got canceled!
WTF??
That has nothing to do with the quality of the movie! He's basically admitting resentment at the fact that fans are enjoying themselves! Then consoles himself with the thought they at least don't have their show anymore. I've read quite a few crappy reviews in my lifetime of movie watching. But this disgusting, petty, and unnecessarily nasty paragraph pretty much beats it all.
I swear, sometimes people 'shouldn't write words'...
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