I saw WALL•E Friday night and loved it. It was an innocent enough story that kids will love the robot characters but it had so many more layers.
Besides the obvious "green" issue about saving our planet so we don't need a robot to clean up Earth there were some other adult themes that were dealt with. The writers issued a warning of Corporate America taking over the nation and our democracy becoming a business. Another warning the writers touched upon was how we are taking technology so far to make life easier that people will become lazy blobs.
WALL•E is my fourth favorite Pixar movie but I think it was the smartest movie they have made yet. I will be seeing it again in the theaters and hope it stands up just as well with a second viewing.
My new rankings of the Pixar movies are this:
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story
3. Finding Nemo
4. WALL•E
5. Ratatouille
6. Monsters, Inc.
7. A Bug's Life
8. Toy Story 2
9. Cars
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Winehouse Is New Poster Child For Harm Drugs Can Do
Amy Winehouse is exactly what parents have been waiting for since Elvis Presley’s hips first gyrated on television screens in 1956.
Rock and roll music and musicians have always been at the forefront of arguments between rebellious youth and their uptight, out-of-touch parents.
Whether swinging provocatively to the beat, giving intoxicated or drug-laden performances or recording the “devil’s music” so that when played backwards it expresses Satanic messages, musicians have been under the parental microscope for generations.
Although the music industry has lost some mighty fine artists due to drug use and debauchery, it hasn’t produced many icons whose drug-crazed antics have been as prolonged as those of Amy Winehouse, the appropriately named British pop star now angling for an early grave at age 22.
But the possibility of dying hasn’t deterred her. To fast-living youth who hang on their musical idol’s every words –– and acts –– the prospect of death is also just part of the appeal of the “lifestyle.”
Of course, Winehouse isn’t the first horrifying example of drug use by musical heroes. We have had the members of the 27 Club, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of The Doors and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.
But none of them lived on the edge long enough to cause such widespread negative reaction as Winehouse has inspired.
Strangely, the loss of a Presley, Hendrix or Joplin hasn’t been enough to steer all kids to the path of good. Instead it has taken Winehouse, sitting on top of the world only to come crashing down due to drugs, to make teens and parents alike sit up and take sober notice.
While Winehouse is no Presley, she was on her way to becoming a superstar. Her album Back to Black sold more than 1.5 million copies in the UK and more than 1.3 million in the U.S. The multi-platinum album spent 57 weeks in the top UK album chart.
Back to Black was the biggest-selling record in the UK for 2007, quite a feat considering it was released in October 2006.
Going into 2008 Winehouse was a rising star with loads of potential and an ever-widening fan base. She had suffered a hiccup or two along the way with show cancellations due to “exhaustion,” and paparazzi photographs of Winehouse and her husband in an alleged domestic disturbance. But it wasn’t until the past few months that she experienced –– and we have had to witness –– the brunt of what excessive drug use can do to a person, and to a singing career.
In and out of hospitals and rehab facilities, Winehouse has started a downward spiral of health and legal issues.
As recently as Sunday, it was reported Winehouse had been diagnosed with early stages of emphysema, resulting in her lungs operating at 70 percent capacity. She also reportedly has an irregular heartbeat. The singer’s father stated these problems were caused by chain cigarette smoking and crack cocaine usage.
It’s been rumored that if Winehouse keeps up her downward trek she may be forced to wear an oxygen mask to live. Although the singer is worth an alleged £10 million she is quickly fading away – literally and metaphorically. The constant controversy is not only firing up the usual conservative groups who would veto the woman’s music, but it’s causing some of her most loyal fans to disavow her.
As long as Amy Winehouse continues to destroy her life and career with drugs she will remain the poster child for a human train wreck across the globe.
Rock and roll music and musicians have always been at the forefront of arguments between rebellious youth and their uptight, out-of-touch parents.
Whether swinging provocatively to the beat, giving intoxicated or drug-laden performances or recording the “devil’s music” so that when played backwards it expresses Satanic messages, musicians have been under the parental microscope for generations.
Although the music industry has lost some mighty fine artists due to drug use and debauchery, it hasn’t produced many icons whose drug-crazed antics have been as prolonged as those of Amy Winehouse, the appropriately named British pop star now angling for an early grave at age 22.
But the possibility of dying hasn’t deterred her. To fast-living youth who hang on their musical idol’s every words –– and acts –– the prospect of death is also just part of the appeal of the “lifestyle.”
Of course, Winehouse isn’t the first horrifying example of drug use by musical heroes. We have had the members of the 27 Club, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of The Doors and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.
But none of them lived on the edge long enough to cause such widespread negative reaction as Winehouse has inspired.
Strangely, the loss of a Presley, Hendrix or Joplin hasn’t been enough to steer all kids to the path of good. Instead it has taken Winehouse, sitting on top of the world only to come crashing down due to drugs, to make teens and parents alike sit up and take sober notice.
While Winehouse is no Presley, she was on her way to becoming a superstar. Her album Back to Black sold more than 1.5 million copies in the UK and more than 1.3 million in the U.S. The multi-platinum album spent 57 weeks in the top UK album chart.
Back to Black was the biggest-selling record in the UK for 2007, quite a feat considering it was released in October 2006.
Going into 2008 Winehouse was a rising star with loads of potential and an ever-widening fan base. She had suffered a hiccup or two along the way with show cancellations due to “exhaustion,” and paparazzi photographs of Winehouse and her husband in an alleged domestic disturbance. But it wasn’t until the past few months that she experienced –– and we have had to witness –– the brunt of what excessive drug use can do to a person, and to a singing career.
In and out of hospitals and rehab facilities, Winehouse has started a downward spiral of health and legal issues.
As recently as Sunday, it was reported Winehouse had been diagnosed with early stages of emphysema, resulting in her lungs operating at 70 percent capacity. She also reportedly has an irregular heartbeat. The singer’s father stated these problems were caused by chain cigarette smoking and crack cocaine usage.
It’s been rumored that if Winehouse keeps up her downward trek she may be forced to wear an oxygen mask to live. Although the singer is worth an alleged £10 million she is quickly fading away – literally and metaphorically. The constant controversy is not only firing up the usual conservative groups who would veto the woman’s music, but it’s causing some of her most loyal fans to disavow her.
As long as Amy Winehouse continues to destroy her life and career with drugs she will remain the poster child for a human train wreck across the globe.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Can I Just Say...
I am so excited about WALL-E coming to theaters on Friday. Like almost every self-respecting human being on the planet who has a heart, I adore everything Pixar releases. Since they captured our attention with Toy Story the animated features released under the Pixar name have continued to exceed the viewer's expectations.
I consider every movie they release a hit, but obviously I like some more than others. Here is my rankings for all the Pixar movies.
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story
3. Finding Nemo
4. Ratatouille
5. Monsters, Inc.
6. A Bug's Life
7. Toy Story 2
8. Cars
I will re-post this list later to add in WALL-E once I've seen it.
I consider every movie they release a hit, but obviously I like some more than others. Here is my rankings for all the Pixar movies.
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story
3. Finding Nemo
4. Ratatouille
5. Monsters, Inc.
6. A Bug's Life
7. Toy Story 2
8. Cars
I will re-post this list later to add in WALL-E once I've seen it.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
It is a geek’s world
Not too long ago according to the popular standards set by the media and our own ways of thinking, growing up there was almost nothing worse than being a geek.
You might have called this person something else, such as nerd, dweeb, creep, twerp, dope, jerk or, maybe, just a plain loser.
Today’s age is quite a different story though. In fact, one could say the geek will inherit the earth.
With comic book movies ruling the summer box office, television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Lost and The Office being the new water cooler talk and businesses embracing the tech-savvy movement by creating departments, like the Geek Squad at Best Buy, dedicated to installing and repairing household computers and entertainment centers, to be a geek is divine.
Whereas 20 years ago the world of a nerd was idolized as getting revenge on the jocks that tormented them, such as Revenge of the Nerds, today’s films show nerds as not just getting the best of their popular counterparts by seeking revenge, but rather by besting them in competition, as seen in Napoleon Dynamite.
Napoleon and his socially challenged friends created a cult following throughout 2004 as Pedro was able to achieve greatness as he beat the popular cheerleader in the school’s student body presidential election. They achieved this not through some popular method of beating up the mean jock or humiliating the cheerleader, but rather with Napoleon executing a one-man dance that emphasized his geekiness.
It is no secret that characters from Marvel and DC comics’ vaults are raking in the money, These characters who are web-slinging across Manhattan and leading double lives at night as a caped crusader were once considered nerdy to be interested in. Comic books for children were okay, but if you didn’t grow up and let those graphic novels go you were the nerd of the group.
Production companies have latched onto the geek movement by casting sexy women and dreamy men in nerdy, space shows. Women like Tricia Helfer, Jeri Ryan, Ali Larter and Kristen Bell have been the topics of plenty of forums for the uber-geek, but those women have also brought in audiences who would not have normally been interested in the Star Trek world and other space/fantasy programs.
In May, David Tennant, the latest star of Doctor Who, was named sexiest man on television, according to dailyrecord.co.uk. David Boreanaz now plays a FBI agent, but throughout the late 90s and early 2000s he was a reformed vampire fighting evil on the Buffy spinoff Angel.
Another hunky star that convinces the ladies to tune into a geek’s show is Nathan Fillion, who starred as the captain on the short-lived space series Firefly. These guys make the language of geek sound sexy.
Another sign that geeks are taking over is that nerd paraphernalia is becoming sexy. One such item would be glasses on a woman. The Aphrodite of glasses-wearing celebrities would be Tina Fey, who has created a new category for wearing geek clothing that is called geek chic.
With the release of the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone, Apple has started a revolution to own the latest piece of technology that shows how geek-greedy we really are.
We live in a geek paradise now and it is so much nicer to be able to embrace your inner-dork than to keep running from its inescapable clutches.
You might have called this person something else, such as nerd, dweeb, creep, twerp, dope, jerk or, maybe, just a plain loser.
Today’s age is quite a different story though. In fact, one could say the geek will inherit the earth.
With comic book movies ruling the summer box office, television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Lost and The Office being the new water cooler talk and businesses embracing the tech-savvy movement by creating departments, like the Geek Squad at Best Buy, dedicated to installing and repairing household computers and entertainment centers, to be a geek is divine.
Whereas 20 years ago the world of a nerd was idolized as getting revenge on the jocks that tormented them, such as Revenge of the Nerds, today’s films show nerds as not just getting the best of their popular counterparts by seeking revenge, but rather by besting them in competition, as seen in Napoleon Dynamite.
Napoleon and his socially challenged friends created a cult following throughout 2004 as Pedro was able to achieve greatness as he beat the popular cheerleader in the school’s student body presidential election. They achieved this not through some popular method of beating up the mean jock or humiliating the cheerleader, but rather with Napoleon executing a one-man dance that emphasized his geekiness.
It is no secret that characters from Marvel and DC comics’ vaults are raking in the money, These characters who are web-slinging across Manhattan and leading double lives at night as a caped crusader were once considered nerdy to be interested in. Comic books for children were okay, but if you didn’t grow up and let those graphic novels go you were the nerd of the group.
Production companies have latched onto the geek movement by casting sexy women and dreamy men in nerdy, space shows. Women like Tricia Helfer, Jeri Ryan, Ali Larter and Kristen Bell have been the topics of plenty of forums for the uber-geek, but those women have also brought in audiences who would not have normally been interested in the Star Trek world and other space/fantasy programs.
In May, David Tennant, the latest star of Doctor Who, was named sexiest man on television, according to dailyrecord.co.uk. David Boreanaz now plays a FBI agent, but throughout the late 90s and early 2000s he was a reformed vampire fighting evil on the Buffy spinoff Angel.
Another hunky star that convinces the ladies to tune into a geek’s show is Nathan Fillion, who starred as the captain on the short-lived space series Firefly. These guys make the language of geek sound sexy.
Another sign that geeks are taking over is that nerd paraphernalia is becoming sexy. One such item would be glasses on a woman. The Aphrodite of glasses-wearing celebrities would be Tina Fey, who has created a new category for wearing geek clothing that is called geek chic.
With the release of the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone, Apple has started a revolution to own the latest piece of technology that shows how geek-greedy we really are.
We live in a geek paradise now and it is so much nicer to be able to embrace your inner-dork than to keep running from its inescapable clutches.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Arlington Vehicle Accident Hits Close To Home (Part 3)
I’ve never done a three-part column before, but if this is your introduction regarding a truck driving through my cousin’s house I would suggest checking out the previous entries to catch up on the action.
After giving the rundown on what happened in part one and talking about how fast street talk can spread – inaccurately at that – in part two, today I will focus on a more private facet of this bizarre story, and that would be my spot on the nightly news attempting to give an account of the event.
While standing across the street from my cousin’s house helping with the kids and trying to keep things calm, I noticed a female reporter with a camera guy speaking with my cousin (Kristyn). The reporter didn’t get anything from Kristyn, partly due to the fact that she was still shaken up from the crash and partly that the responding officers telling her to not speak with the media because she could give some false information that would hinder their investigation.
Being in the business I am, I sympathized with the reporter and asked Kristyn if she cared if I spoke with the reporter as long as I didn’t give any information that we weren’t sure about, to which she gave her blessing. I promised to stick with only her tale of the events and stay away from speculating on what could be going on involving the police department’s case.
I spoke with the reporter and told her I would give her a sound bite from the family of the victim. Going into this I had one goal and one goal only: not to end up on YouTube with the heading of “You’ve got to see this idiot!!!”
Things didn’t start off well as the reporter asked if I wouldn’t mind pulling my shirt up to reveal the white undershirt I was wearing. All that ran through my mind was the YouTube title change to “You’ve got to see this redneck hick!!!”
The woman noticed my reluctance to undress for the camera (that’s how it starts for celebrities and then three years later there is a naughty tape available for $29.95 at some seedy website) but explained it was only a temporary costume change, as she needed a white balance for the camera.
I asked if we could do a run through of the interview before taping, but she assured me it would seem forced and unnatural if we didn’t go with the first take. I wasn’t happy about it but I agreed to no rehearsal.
Things went pretty smooth after that. She threw some questions at me about Kristyn and where she and the kids were in the house at the time of the accident. I felt somewhat natural with my answers, that is until she started asking questions I had promised not to answer.
The reporter asked about what we thought had taken place to lead up to a truck driving through my cousin’s living room. I should have just stuck with “I don’t know,” but instead I tried to get fancy and say things like we weren’t at liberty to guess what was happening outside of the home prior to the crash. On paper it sounds like an educated answer that gives her nothing, but that is because I’ve had 90 seconds to think it through and type it out. With a spotlight shining on my face and the knowledge that a large amount of the metroplex would be watching I stumbled on my wording and threw in a lot of “uh’s” and “well’s.” Not exactly my finest hour.
I never got to see myself on the news but I heard I did make it on one of the networks. I haven’t heard any rumors that I was terrible and made a complete fool of the family, so I guess I achieved my goal and got the information out to the masses without ending up on YouTube.
Mission accomplished!
After giving the rundown on what happened in part one and talking about how fast street talk can spread – inaccurately at that – in part two, today I will focus on a more private facet of this bizarre story, and that would be my spot on the nightly news attempting to give an account of the event.
While standing across the street from my cousin’s house helping with the kids and trying to keep things calm, I noticed a female reporter with a camera guy speaking with my cousin (Kristyn). The reporter didn’t get anything from Kristyn, partly due to the fact that she was still shaken up from the crash and partly that the responding officers telling her to not speak with the media because she could give some false information that would hinder their investigation.
Being in the business I am, I sympathized with the reporter and asked Kristyn if she cared if I spoke with the reporter as long as I didn’t give any information that we weren’t sure about, to which she gave her blessing. I promised to stick with only her tale of the events and stay away from speculating on what could be going on involving the police department’s case.
I spoke with the reporter and told her I would give her a sound bite from the family of the victim. Going into this I had one goal and one goal only: not to end up on YouTube with the heading of “You’ve got to see this idiot!!!”
Things didn’t start off well as the reporter asked if I wouldn’t mind pulling my shirt up to reveal the white undershirt I was wearing. All that ran through my mind was the YouTube title change to “You’ve got to see this redneck hick!!!”
The woman noticed my reluctance to undress for the camera (that’s how it starts for celebrities and then three years later there is a naughty tape available for $29.95 at some seedy website) but explained it was only a temporary costume change, as she needed a white balance for the camera.
I asked if we could do a run through of the interview before taping, but she assured me it would seem forced and unnatural if we didn’t go with the first take. I wasn’t happy about it but I agreed to no rehearsal.
Things went pretty smooth after that. She threw some questions at me about Kristyn and where she and the kids were in the house at the time of the accident. I felt somewhat natural with my answers, that is until she started asking questions I had promised not to answer.
The reporter asked about what we thought had taken place to lead up to a truck driving through my cousin’s living room. I should have just stuck with “I don’t know,” but instead I tried to get fancy and say things like we weren’t at liberty to guess what was happening outside of the home prior to the crash. On paper it sounds like an educated answer that gives her nothing, but that is because I’ve had 90 seconds to think it through and type it out. With a spotlight shining on my face and the knowledge that a large amount of the metroplex would be watching I stumbled on my wording and threw in a lot of “uh’s” and “well’s.” Not exactly my finest hour.
I never got to see myself on the news but I heard I did make it on one of the networks. I haven’t heard any rumors that I was terrible and made a complete fool of the family, so I guess I achieved my goal and got the information out to the masses without ending up on YouTube.
Mission accomplished!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Arlington Vehicle Accident Hits Close To Home (Part 2)
Last week I described a shocking scene that took place on my cousin’s street after a truck drove into her living room and then attempted to drive off. Things ended with one man hospitalized and another in jail, and as I write this column the man is still in custody on charges of criminal mischief, deadly conduct and assault with bodily injury.
For part two of this story I think I’m going to talk about how quickly rumors are spread on the street after an event like this, which in turn will show how hard reporters and news anchors work to separate fact from exaggerated street talk.
When I arrived nearly every neighbor and many passersby were standing around asking one another what was going on.
We’ve all been a part of that group. Down the street we see fire engines and police cars and start trying to gather all the information we can from the most irrelevant people that know as little as we do. Whatever inconsequential piece of trivia we happen to get from one person is linked with another portion of the story – whether it’s true or not – we heard from some other random guy we’ve never met until that moment in time, until finally we have an incoherent story that makes about as much sense as an Ed Wood film. Somehow what really turns out to be a smoke scare from a grease fire morphs into a story involving a bomb placed in the home because the housewife is really a drug dealer who is giving the local Chinese mafia too much competition in this Dallas suburban neighborhood.
Okay, maybe that story was a little too half-baked to be spread around the neighborhood while smoke is barreling out of the house and firefighters are dousing the home with water, but you can certainly understand the sort of embellishment that I am talking about.
So you can see why it would be problematic for a reporter to speak with a witness about what they know, because honestly they probably know more fiction than they do fact.
Obviously the reporter is going to speak with the fire chief or police officer at the scene, but for some reason we think some commentary from an unknown face in the crowd regarding what they think is happening will confirm any lingering questions the television audience or readership might have.
With my cousin’s particular situation, what really was a fight over a girl inside a truck between the driver of the vehicle and a man hanging from the side of the truck was told among the neighbors as both men inside the vehicle fighting with the girl between them and one of the men fled the scene, jumped over some fences and police were still looking for him.
Clearly the truth didn’t turn into something involving turf wars between the Jets and the Sharks, but it was exaggerated somewhat by the ill informed spectators.
Because of where I work I like to make sure the public is aware of the truth and that is why I volunteered myself to speak with a news anchor on the scene. I will go into more detail about my experience in front of the camera for my three-second sound byte in next week’s column, but I can say I avoided spreading any false information by simply telling the reporter that our family wasn’t sure of what had happened prior to the truck being inside my cousin’s living room and I couldn’t give any possible details regarding that part of the incident.
Next time you are standing outside a house on fire or watching an arrest take place in front of some restaurant, you might want to wait until that night to watch the news or read your local newspaper and get the facts before calling the people in your five and blabbing some falsified story that turns out to be anything but true.
For part two of this story I think I’m going to talk about how quickly rumors are spread on the street after an event like this, which in turn will show how hard reporters and news anchors work to separate fact from exaggerated street talk.
When I arrived nearly every neighbor and many passersby were standing around asking one another what was going on.
We’ve all been a part of that group. Down the street we see fire engines and police cars and start trying to gather all the information we can from the most irrelevant people that know as little as we do. Whatever inconsequential piece of trivia we happen to get from one person is linked with another portion of the story – whether it’s true or not – we heard from some other random guy we’ve never met until that moment in time, until finally we have an incoherent story that makes about as much sense as an Ed Wood film. Somehow what really turns out to be a smoke scare from a grease fire morphs into a story involving a bomb placed in the home because the housewife is really a drug dealer who is giving the local Chinese mafia too much competition in this Dallas suburban neighborhood.
Okay, maybe that story was a little too half-baked to be spread around the neighborhood while smoke is barreling out of the house and firefighters are dousing the home with water, but you can certainly understand the sort of embellishment that I am talking about.
So you can see why it would be problematic for a reporter to speak with a witness about what they know, because honestly they probably know more fiction than they do fact.
Obviously the reporter is going to speak with the fire chief or police officer at the scene, but for some reason we think some commentary from an unknown face in the crowd regarding what they think is happening will confirm any lingering questions the television audience or readership might have.
With my cousin’s particular situation, what really was a fight over a girl inside a truck between the driver of the vehicle and a man hanging from the side of the truck was told among the neighbors as both men inside the vehicle fighting with the girl between them and one of the men fled the scene, jumped over some fences and police were still looking for him.
Clearly the truth didn’t turn into something involving turf wars between the Jets and the Sharks, but it was exaggerated somewhat by the ill informed spectators.
Because of where I work I like to make sure the public is aware of the truth and that is why I volunteered myself to speak with a news anchor on the scene. I will go into more detail about my experience in front of the camera for my three-second sound byte in next week’s column, but I can say I avoided spreading any false information by simply telling the reporter that our family wasn’t sure of what had happened prior to the truck being inside my cousin’s living room and I couldn’t give any possible details regarding that part of the incident.
Next time you are standing outside a house on fire or watching an arrest take place in front of some restaurant, you might want to wait until that night to watch the news or read your local newspaper and get the facts before calling the people in your five and blabbing some falsified story that turns out to be anything but true.
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