Do You Need Anything Else?

...This video was linked to in my previous post's video; however, I thought it was so great that I would give it its own post.

Is it any wonder Barack Obama inspires so many people? There are things about him that I don't agree with...his faith...his attempts to bow down to the right in many of his policies...his attempts to prove that he'll be a war president, even if we don't particularly need it...

But, in spite of all of this, his campaign is about HOPE, CHANGE, and resurrection of this country. I think he'll make the right decisions...

...and I HOPE he knows what he's doing.

I've never seen such a Spirited campaign.

Though this is just another celebrity infested promotion, I still think it's exciting and heartwarming and real.

I just browsed through a gallery of Obama fan art and some of it looks like 1960s-1970s inspiring posters. I've never seen such a campaign as this one...It is full of sincere people with actual faith and devotion in a candidate that they feel that they can believe in.

Maybe we can believe in Obama. I think that I can believe in Barack Obama...I Want to Believe.

Please don't let us down, Mr. Senator. We believe in you...and we will continue to hold out hope until the very last vote is counted.

One suggestion: Lose Your Religion.

Joe Biden is VP. Yay...surprises!

YOU JUST GOT BARACK ROLL'D!

Faith and Politics--The United States of Whatever.

At the Saddleback Civil Forum yesterday, Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain were individually interviewed by Pastor Rick Warren before an audience of Evangelical Christians.

They were essentially asked the same questions. Obama went first and he was pleasant to listen to. He has high hopes and I agree with his approaches to many things...not everything...but lots.

When the show started, Pastor Warren claimed that McCain was sealed off backstage so that he would have no prior knowledge of the questions asked.

When it was McCain's turn to come out, Warren's first statement was to ask McCain how he felt in the soundproof chamber. McCain made a joke about trying to listen to the walls. Not a bad joke...but, it turned out that McCain was never IN a soundproof booth...he was in his motorcade the whole time and upon arrival was set up in a green room backstage.

McCain answered all the questions almost before they were even asked. Seems a bit unfair...but here's the big question:

WHO CARES?!

It shouldn't matter if Obama or McCain knew or didn't know what they were going to be asked. Why would EITHER of them have to have a prepared answer? Can they not simply be honest with the American people? I suppose not.

If anything, McCain SHOULD know what's going to be asked. He probably needs a hell of a lot more preparation time than Obama does. But, this is the BIG issue...this element of the discussion. I don't feel this is an issue at all, but there it is.

Today on Sean Hannity's radio show, a caller claimed that McCain was straight forward and steady in his beliefs. McCain stated everything matter-of-factly, and THAT is the quality of someone who everyone should vote for.
I disagree...for one reason...why would you vote for someone who matter-of-factly stated ridiculousness that only narrow-minded dumbstruck people would find appealing?

Maybe I'm being too harsh...
And I'm totally getting away from my MAIN grievance.

I have several strong issues with this debate:

1. It was held in a church for the purpose of appealing to EVANGELICAL Christians.

2. It was conducted by a famous PASTOR who shaped many of his questions around the idea of Faith and Religious beliefs.

3. McCain plagerized a story, claimed it happened to HIM, and won praise.

4. The candidates are both basing their policies on the words of an imaginary sky-monster who wrote a book and they think is talking to them.

5. OF COURSE MCCAIN WON THE DEBATE!! All he had to do was say: "Overturn Roe v. Wade", "Gays don't have the same rights as us straight people", and "I'm a Christian" and the crowd melts. And with the exception of Roe v. Wade, Obama did the exact same thing.


Why does no one in the media talk about the issue of faith and religious beliefs as a bad thing? Not for votes (of course), but for policy...and for its combination with politics.

I don't want my president taking foreign and domestic policy advice from his imaginary friend!
Is that too much to ask? I don't think it should be...

I still hold out hope that Obama is an Atheist (or at least not as religious as he claims to be). I think this is a plausible idea. If it were true, I wish he would come out and say it...but I understand why he doesn't.

I'll end this post with one thought...look at the image above. If it disturbs you, for whatever reason, as it does me, then you know what this country is all about. You know the basis on which this country was formed.

If it doesn't...then I tremble for the fate of my country.

(PS: Larry King currently in a discussion with Pastor Rick Warren.
Larry King: "I imagine you didn't know that McCain wasn't actually in his secluded room. Pastor Rick Warren would never tell a mistruth."

What? Religion is the biggest mistruth that has ever been told.)

We Demand To Be Taken Seriously!

After a pleasant conversation with the head of a new production studio that is under development on Cecil B. Moore street, I am more optimistic than ever about working more in depth with the television industry. I suppose I am working slightly backwards, but I have my completed Pilot--edited and edited (and probably due for some more editing)...

Now I am working on preparing a Treatment for both the Series, and the Pilot itself. I think they are finished now, but I may have to edit them down. I'll post both here when I'm satisfied. After that, I will have to register the treatment with the Writers' Guild East. Tomorrow, most likely, I will begin work on the Project Proposal. Perhaps there is a small chance that I will be able to have a show!

Also, if you read my twitter posts, I am feeling extremely under-the-weather. If this illness continues, it's going to be a long and terrible week...

...oh my, yes.

Picture that I found on my web travels...

I <3 Facebreaker's Shizz

FACEBREAKER IMAGES OF MY FRIENDS!!

Swift Kids for Truth.

Barack Obama...

The Dark Knight--for kids!

Not necessarily...same amount of violence and adult content...just kids playing all the parts. Very funny!!! Awesome trailer!

Pineapple Express.

See any good movies lately?
I did!
"PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" was everything that I had hoped it to be and more. Written by the scribes responsible for "SUPERBAD" (Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg), this movie follows almost the exact same story structure:
Two friends have a specific goal,
that goal gets turned upside down,
they find themselves running away,
the two friends get into a fight,
and then end up saving one another and realizing what their friendship really means.

Now, even though the same structure is followed (and it IS a safe structure), the movies are vastly different. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS is an action-packed buddy movie that may, in fact, exceed all others. It is hilarious throughout, though not as quotable as SUPERBAD (but that is probably a good thing). I don't want to have any spoilers in this review, so I'll have to be cautious.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS was SUPERBAD grown up and on steroids. We even kindof had a FOGEL (aka McLovin) character in there for an extra dose of comedy. All of the characters were extraordinarily funny. Dale Denton, played by Seth Rogen, seemed to be more of the straight-man as Saul Silver, played by James Franco, almost stole the show.

If you were asking yourself "Hey, what ever happened to Rosie Perez?" You'll have your answer. It's almost as if she disappeared from the public eye to save up the energy and power for this film. In PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, Perez plays a corrupt police officer on the side of the drug dealers that are hunting down Dale and Saul.

There is a surprising amount of graphic violence in the movie that seems to come almost out of nowhere at times. When I say "graphic violence", I don't mean "SAW 5" graphic violence, but still things that you wouldn't expect from a Judd Apatow comedy. The movie also contains an abundance of drug use (which is something you WOULD expect from a Judd Apatow comedy) which, according to Apatow, is something that he never really got into. Apatow claims that the film is actually an anti-drug movie...which becomes clear about 2/3 of the way through. That being said, the stoner comedy and dialog makes the movie what it is. I recommend that you DON'T see this movie high (at least the first time). It's much too awesome to be forgotten 5 minutes later.

The film is funny throughout, completely suspenseful and surprising, action-packed, emotional, and ranks high at the top of the list of films in its genre (as well as films by the Apatow Crew). If you liked SUPERBAD, this movie may not have you repeating the lines every five minutes, but it will have you laughing from start to finish. If you HATED "Superbad", this movie is completely different as far as setting, genre, story, and power; but the comedy is somewhat similar (perhaps more adult). I recommend anyone who likes comedy, action, or both, to check this movie out post haste.

...additional: Can't WAIT for the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg version of ...wait for it..."THE GREEN HORNET"...time for Mr. Rogen to flex his SUPERHERO muscles!

Recommend:
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Knocked Up
Superbad
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Freaks and Geeks (tv)
Undeclared (tv)


REVIEW: A+

DRAGONBALL movie?! With Chatwin? Chow Yun Fat?

You wouldn't think something like this would be allowed to happen, but it IS, in 2009...I don't understand. I'm not an anime nerd or anything, but I used to watch Dragonball Z...I think it would make a pretty cool movie, too...but this doesn't look right at all.

I think what I'll do is just continue to think that it's just some kind of joke or straight-to-DVD experiment.

I didn't see SPEED RACER, but I heard it was really bad. The previews made it look pretty awesome, and I think when it comes out on Blu-Ray, I might give it a watch. Even though they didn't use Japanese actors in Speed Racer, I thought they did an amazing job capturing the cartoon. I guess I shouldn't judge it before it's released, but DragonBall looks bad. There are just as many real posters on the internet as fake ones, so we'll see how it turns out. As of now, my hopes are low...but hey, I thought that the "Super Mario Bros." movie was pretty sweet...for what it was.

Don't Go There Zargon!

a trailer of a rip-off of a film within a film

spaced. again?

a scene from the mockumentary.

Facebreaker! Coming Sept. 5

So, I downloaded the demo of EA Sports' FACEBREAKER for PS3. Not a realistic-looking boxing game. You play with caricatures with varying looks and personalities. The gameplay and graphics are a lot of fun.


Now, there is something extra about this game that makes it extremely cool...the "Create a Boxer" feature (which all boxing games probably have) goes one step further to the point where you can actually upload front and side photos of yourself and the game will morph your face onto a CGI image. You can make appropriate adjustments, but for the most part, none are needed. It is almost 100% spot-on.


Not impressed yet? Well, you should be! Having only played a demo, I don't know the complete ins and outs of the game, but it is a lot of fun, and this face-capturing feature makes it a lot cooler than simply designing your own character from scratch.

Your body is sculpted based on the body of one of the other boxers in the game (but, again, this may only be in the demo).

I'm not aware of any other titles that have embraced this technology yet, but it is very cool and very exciting.

Check out FACEBREAKER at www.easportsworld.com

The Montauk Monster

Recently, the internet and tv news channels have been on fire (okay, maybe just smoldering off in the corner somewhere) over the pictures from the Hamptons of the so-called "Montauk Monster".

What could this thing that is obviously a male mammal be? Well, let's try to figure it out...

Is it a publicity stunt?

No, probably not...It is a strange coincidence that Cartoon Network's new show, The Secret Saturdays, about a family that seeks out mythological creatures called "Cryptids", is airing. This kind of thing seems like a prank of Cartoon Network proportions (i.e. AquaTeen Hunger Force). However, as far as I know, this new show is meant for children and probably wouldn't be throwing a fake animal with its cock hanging out on the beach. So that's out.

Is it a Hoax?

If it is, it is an elaborate hoax that would yield absolutely no result...and it would've been declared a hoax already.

Is it a genetic mutation brought on by an Animal Testing Facility?

That doesn't even make any sense. This animal has obviously been dead for a long long time. And what testing facility is just fucking around, making non-descript freak animals for no reason? I feel like I'm having an argument with myself, so I'll move on.

If it's not a Monster, what is it?

First, there's no such thing as a Monster. This dead animal has captured the imaginations of many people (myself included), but the more rational of us attempt to seek REAL answers in things that may be weird and kinda creepy...

So, what is it? Well...

We know that something washed up on the beach early that day. More than a few people saw this thing, and many many people took pictures. With that much coverage, some experts MUST HAVE stepped forward and said "I know what this is." And what do you know? They DID!

But here's the thing: some disagree.

Possibilities:

A Dog? many people have seen multiple angles of this thing and said that it clearly looks like a decomposed dog. In another picture, the animal appears to have a beak, but it's clear that it is just the front of the skull poking through the skin. Could be a dog...but wait, there's more!

A Skinned Ram? I heard this online...still doesn't make any sense.

A Whale Fetus? Whales ARE mammals...but they usually don't have four legs, fur, and floppy ears...

A Possum or Otter? I think we might be getting warmer, but...wait!

A Demon?! (...)

A Raccoon? Makes sense, but some experts say that the paws are a bit too long.

A Sea Turtle? It has teeth.

A Rodent? Could be. Actually, this may be the best answer...And you're thinking: Hey, that's a pretty fucking big rodent...but look at the picture again. There's a fly on its back leg, indicating that the picture is WAY close up, and this "Monster" is no bigger than a baby. It could be a dog, a medium-sized one...or...

One website (http://gawker.com/5032170/montauk-monster-vole-or-satan) presents a reasonable argument that the dead animal is a Dead Water Rat. The pictures look similar, and it's pretty logical to make the connection.

FOX's experts say: Dead Raccoon. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396182,00.html)

Venom energy drink created a blog/contest to capture a "Montauk Monster" here (http://capturethebeast.blogspot.com/).

My best guess: Dog or Water Rat.

If you look at the new pictures, it appears that it's almost certainly a dog (possibly skinned or just really decomposed). No one can check out this body scientifically because someone "took the body", so at this point, no one can know for sure. But one thing's fore sure, it IS a real animal. A real dead animal.

My expert opinion: Not a Monster.

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