Tights or rubber?

Or, simply:


Which looks more badass?

This:



Or, THIS:


I think the choice is obvious, really. Okay, another example.

This is Batman in rubber (note the little nipples):


This is Batman in tights (note the real muscles):



Really, this is the essential fallacy of the universe that Nolan has set up in his bat-films. In trying to distance himself from the old Burton/Shumacher franchise (of which three of the films were quite good), he missed the opportunity to do something markedly different. I mean, there's no real difference between the suit in the latter half of "Batman Forever" and "Batman Begins' " 'Nomex' combat suit. Look at these two:





Now, don't get me wrong. I 'get' the reasons for the rubber look, and chief among them is the name of one man: Adam West. His portrayal of Batman in tights in the sixties gave the impression that tights just didn't work. And, I see why. The guy was pudgy, and not fit enough for the role to make the tights work for him. So, for Burton's Batman, the suit was rubber because Keaton wasn't a muscular dude, and because the sixties show gave the impression that (say it with me) tights didn't work.

But, in 2003, Sandy Collara's "Batman: Dead End" showed us that, among other things (like Batman fights Predators and Aliens) that tights do work, and they work extremely well, with the right actor, who was Clark Bartram. Following this were fan-films from Bat-In-The-Sun that affirmed this point with American Gladiator Tanoi Reed.

As far as logical reasons for tights or skintight material goes, one only has to look at where the costume came from in the first place, which is circus acrobats of the 1920's and 30's. And there you are. And as for 'body armor,' I'm either way about it, but really, that's always been one of the cool things about the character, was that he could be shot and hurt, that he bled. He wasn't Superman, or Spider-man. He had a drive, and insane intelligence and strength, but still, all it would take is one bullet. To take that element away is to ruin a part of the character; to paraphrase a popular geek-meme, Batman don't need no body armor. He's got prep-time.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Batman Begins (sans costume), and I think I'll say the same thing about The Dark Knight, when I see it. But, still, when I see this, I wanna punch somebody.


I have given a name to my pain.


And it is Lindy Hemmings.

Scientology kills. Like crack, but worse.

Found this on one of the boards I frequent. Damn, Cruise.

"By now you may have come to learn not only of our existence, but the existence of the Church of Scientology and the corrupt and evil methods by which their leaders conduct themselves. Through their malicious litigious practices, and the exploitation of the weak and vulnerable, the leaders of Scientology have crafted a palace of lies on which they preside.

If you are unaware about the practices of Scientology; this is designed to educate you on the tactics of brainwashing, paranoia, and numerous violations of human rights performed by the leaders of Scientology.

If you are ambivalent to the cause of Anonymous, or the suffering and suppression of those within Scientology caused by their leaders, this will show you a small part of the practices and methods of Scientology. If this video is taken down by Scientology lawyers, you may also find it on http://www.ytmnd.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCGP-0545EU

Graphic content at points listed, watch these portions at your own discretion
3:18-3:3
She was pronounced dead after being restrained against her will for 17 days by Scientology. She showed signs of being severely dehydrated, had shown signs of being forcibly restrained, and was severely underweight she also have over 100 cockroach bites on her body all while under the ?care? of Scientology.

She had $151 in her bank account the day she died.

4:23-4:23
The water in his bathtub at the hotel was so hot that it had boiled most of his skin off his body.

All Scientologists are not created equal, for a brief lesson on the disparity, and thus exploitation of the lower class of Scientologist (who has no hope of ever affording the higher level ?courses? the Church will teach you, for a large sum of money)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elw9e9LJIwQ&NR=1

To Scientology, we are all:

Fair Game

Anyone who is not a Scientologist: May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_%28Scientology

- Fair Game Continues to this day and ample evidence of it can be found at every corner where any person has dared to criticize Scientology.

Learn more about Operation Snow White, Scientology Infiltrated the IRS, some 5000 Scientologists engaged in forgery, blackmail, leaking of government secrets, and gathering information on potential enemies of the Church while attempting to remove any records or information that would be harmful to them.

Learn more about Operation Freakout where Scientologists attempted to suppress an author who and written a book on L Ron Hubbard, the churches founder, and the scam that is Scientology,. Their tactics included, framing her for bomb threats, death threats, harassment, attempting to destroy her reputation?.

To the suppressed followers of Scientology....

Testimony from a former Scientologist:

Quote:

Summarized Experiences From Within the Cult Scientology 1. Not allowed to see my mom but once a day when I was six. Was only permitted to see her at dinner for one hour. 2. My mom was made to work 12 hour days and was only paid $50.00 a week and given room and board. 3. I was made to live in a dorm at the age of six, separate from my mom or dad, with three other girls my age. 4. I was made to believe from a very early age that Scientologist were the better than other people, and if you were not in it, you were not good enough. 5. I was told to only tell my grandparents good things about myself when I visited, to not let on if I was behind in school, but just make them think I am a great student. 6. Scientologists constantly refers to people outside of their 'religion" as "Wogs". A derogatory term used commonly by members in it. 7. I was made to join staff when I was 14. I had to sign a billion year contract because of their beliefs in reincarnation. 8. I had to stop attending school when I was 14, to join staff. I could only attend school one day a week on Sunday for about 10 hours. 9. I was made to live in a two room apartment with seven other women when I was 14. Overcrowding is commonplace. I live like that for most of my seven years on staff. 10. I had 30 minute lunches, breakfasts and dinners. If I was late back to work I would get in trouble. 11. I was working 10 hour days, six days a week, from the age of 16. I was not getting paid overtime. I was only making $50.00 a week. 12. The only time I would have off, was every other week, if my production was good enough. Sometimes I would go a month without even one day off. 13. When I joined, I would not see my mom for days at a time. She lived in a different dorm than I did, and had a different eating schedule than me. 14. At the age of 15 I was made to stay up until 12 pm every Thursday and Friday to attend Scientology meetings and clean their facilities with all the other staff. 15. After Scientology events we were all assigned a number of books or tapes we were suppose to sell to the public. We had to make our quotas before we were allowed to go home. I started selling books when I was 15. Sometimes we had to call from lists we were given to make our quotas. Most of these lists were to Scientologist who were out of the state or out of the country. 16. The staff was not aloud to eat the nice food put out for public after events. It was only for the public, we would get in trouble if we were caught eating it. 17. The staff was not allowed to socialize with the public after events, only to sell books, we could not join them on the dance floor, or in the auditorium. 18. The Hacienda (apartment complex where the staff live) is set up so that staff can not just get up and leave when they want to. The Premises is surrounded by a large gate and bushes so that people cannot see in easily. There are several cameras around the complex to keep an eye on the staff. There is a security guard at the front gate at all times to let people in and out. Staff may not leave without first explaining where they are going and what they are doing to the security guard. 19. Sea Org staff are not allowed to own televisions, mine was confiscated when I was 14 or 15. Staff are not aloud to watch TV ever. Movies are only allowed on the weekend if you get approval to have time off. Movies are not allowed on weekdays. 20. Most staff do not have cars or cell phones because it costs to much money to own them. If you have a car, you have to check with the security guard if you want to leave, if he is suspicious he will not let you leave. 21. The only days staff are allowed to celebrate and dance together is the Christmas party and Beer and Cheese party. Twice a year. Don't ask, neither of these celebrations make much sense. 22. I was forced to cut all ties with my dad when I was 15. He was declared a Suppressive Person by Scientology, and that meant I could no longer talk or associate myself with him at all. 23. My mom died of cancer when I was 16. She was still on staff at the time, and she wrote in her will she wanted my brother and I assigned the guardians of Rusty and Linda Hilton, both on staff at Flag. 24. Once I joined staff I could no longer visit my relatives or grandparents for even a weekend without prior approval. At times my once a year request was denied for whatever reason, or no one had the time to look at it. 25. I was not allowed to socialize with anyone outside of the staff. If I did I was reported on and pulled in for questioning. 26. I was put on the e-meter once a week, along with all the other staff, to see if I had a clean or dirty needle. Clean meant I was OK, dirty meant I was hiding something. If it was dirty I was pulled in for questioning, and made to write up stuff I thought I was hiding 27. After each live success story we were suppose to stand up, clap, and say hip hip hooray three times to LRHs picture. This was daily. After each course completion in Scientology we had to tell everyone in our class our successes, once we were done we had to clap and say hip hooray to LRHs picture. His pictures are everywhere in their buildings. It was not optional you had to do it. 28. I had to get a divorce while I was in Scientology because my husband wanted out, and I did not. I was actually not told he was leaving until the day he left. He didn't even tell me, I was told by someone who knew him. It is against their rules to speak or mention to anyone in Scientology you are leaving staff. If you do, you can get kicked out and never be able to talk to your friends in it again. 29. When I finally decided I wanted to leave because I missed my ex husband too much, I was not allowed to just go. They made me work in the galley scrubbing pots and pans. They said I could not mention to anyone I wanted to leave, but everyone pretty much knew what I was doing. It took me three months of being separated from the group, all my friends, being put on the e-meter (lie detector) for two weeks straight and asked if I intend to contact my dad when I leave. I finally was aloud to leave, but was told I was moving to New Mexico to work for a Scientology school. I was told I could not return to Clearwater at all. 30. They made me sign a 10,000.00 waiver, promising that I would never talk out about my experiences with Scientology. I had to sign it before they would let me leave. 31. I was assigned handlers when I wanted to leave. I could not leave any of the buildings or walk outside without one of them. There are security guards assigned to each building, video cameras at each building entrance and exit, so if I wanted to leave without my handler, they would know. 32. I returned to Clearwater about a year after they sent me away. I was approached by one of their security guards and asked what I was doing here. I was on a public street on my lunch break. I just ignored him and walked away. They still thought they could control me, even though I was no longer on staff. 33. When my brother found out I was talking to my dad again, he refused to talk to me anymore. Now that I have associate myself with my dad, I am also declared, which means my brother can't talk to me. 34. Once I left, my "legal guardians' have never contacted me or spoke to me, even before I was declared. 35. I do not have one single friend I knew before I left Scientology (2002). They have all chosen to write me off because I no longer am a Sceintologist. Once I was declared, I was deleted from about 15 peoples myspace page. I did not delete them , they deleted me. 36. I am not allowed to talk to my Scientology school or teachers. They will also no longer talk to me. Once I left staff, they no longer thought it necessary to associate themselves with me. 37. I did not have a High School diploma when I left in 2002. I was 20 years old. Once I was married, they said I was now considered an adult and I no longer needed to attend school. I was only 17 when I married. 38. I never learned to drive, I now have a car, but driving was something they did not think was necessary.

http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?p=57816#post57816

If you yourself are a Scientologist: and have come to realize how you have been exploited and abused by your leaders, we urge you to remember that You are not alone!. They will never let you Cross The Bridge; if you are thinking of leaving Scientology, Anonymous recommends you get in contact with others who can help you.

The most dangerous individual at this time would not be any member of the Church itself, but those who are ambivalent to the goals of Anonymous in the face of the 'alleged' crimes of Scientology.

Our power is in our ability to manipulate the flow of information that they, the Church leaders, have sought to control. Search the internets, the secret documents and tenants of the church can be found, and exposed. Without their secrecy, Scientology would be unable to extort money from its 'followers'. These are not the traits of a religion, but a pyramid scheme designed to prey on the weak, and exploit them and the rich, in kind.

If you know of places where this can be posted to reach an ever greater number of individuals, Anonymous urges you to do so. If Anonymous can improve upon this message, Anonymous urges you to do so.

This is only the Beginning."


Well, it was gonna end sooner or later. L. Ron Hubbard wasn't that good of a writer anyhow. "Battlefield Earth," my ass.

Record industry finally gives up. 'Bout time, I say

"From Today, Feel Free to Download Another 25 million Songs - Legally

After a decade fighting to stop illegal file-sharing, the music industry will give fans today what they have always wanted: an unlimited supply of free and legal songs.

With CD sales in free fall and legal downloads yet to fill the gap, the music industry has reluctantly embraced the file-sharing technology that threatened to destroy it. Qtrax, a digital service announced today, promises a catalogue of more than 25 million songs that users can download to keep, free and with no limit on the number of tracks.

The service has been endorsed by the very same record companies - including EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music – that have chased file-sharers through the courts in a doomed attempt to prevent piracy. The gamble is that fans will put up with a limited amount of advertising around the Qtrax website’s jukebox in return for authorised use of almost every song available.

The service will use the “peer-to-peer” network, which contains not just hit songs but rarities and live tracks from the world’s leading artists.

Nor is a lack of compatibility with the iPod player expected to put fans off. Apple is unlikely to allow tracks downloaded from its rival to be compatible with iPods, but, while the iPod is the most popular music player, it has not succeeded in dominating the market: sales of the iPod account for 50 million out of 130 million total digital player sales. Qtrax has also spoken of an “iPod solution”, to be announced in April.

Qtrax files contain Digital Rights Management software, allowing the company to see how many times a song has been downloaded and played. Artists, record companies and publishers will be paid in proportion to the popularity of their music, while also taking a cut of advertising revenues.

The Qtrax team, which spent five years working on the system, promised a “game-changing” intervention in the declining recorded music market when the service was presented at the Midem music industry convention in Cannes.

The singer James Blunt gave Qtrax a cautious welcome. “I’m amazed that we now accept that people steal music,” he said. “I was taught not to steal sweets from a sweet shop. But I want to learn how this service works, given the condition the music industry is in.”

Qtrax, a subsidiary of Brilliant Technologies Corporation, has raised $30 million (£15 million) to set up the service, which is available in the US and Europe from today. Allan Klepfisz, president of Qtrax, said: “Customers now expect music to be free but they do not want to use illegal sites. We believe this . . . has the support of the music industry and allows artists to get paid.”

Ford, McDonald’s and Microsoft are among the advertisers signed up to support what is thought to be the world’s largest legal music store. The service says that adverts will be nonintrusive and will not appear each time a song is played. As with iTunes, customers will have to download Qtrax software. They will own the songs permanently but will be encouraged to “dock” their player with the store every 30 days so it can gather information on which songs have been played.

Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of Vivendi Universal, said the crisis in the music industry had been overstated despite EMI’s radical cost-cutting. He said: “Look at Universal – we have double-digit profit margins. But we would like strong competition from the other major record companies to help the industry grow.” Universal has poached the Rolling Stones from EMI and Mr Levy said that others could follow as thousands of staff and artists are made redundant.

On the appearance of Qtrax, Mr Levy gave warning that the lack of compatibility between competing digital music players was as big a problem as file-sharing. And Paul McGuinness, the manager of U2, said that the sound quality of MP3 downloads was becoming an issue for bands and fans. “There is a growing consumer revolt against online audio quality,” he said."

Link here

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3261591.ece

Review - Happy Feet soundtrack

Happy Feet
The Soundtrack








* * */* * * * *






So, sue me. I bought me the soundtrack. I liked the film (obviously), so I figured 'eh, why not?'
Really, it's surprising, because even though I liked the film as much as I did, there are some sour notes here.

Let's run through:

1. Prince - "Song of the Heart" - Prince's song is much in the vein of 'Starfish and Coffee' and 'Housequake' from 'Sign of the Times,' in that there's a brazzy background to it, and in the way he sings the song. All in all, a nice little ditty. Won an award.

2. Gia - "Hit Me Up" - Really, I suggest watching the music video for this song instead, because the girl's cute. The song itself is poppy, and upbeat. What confused me was, in the video, all these guys were wearing pink leg warmers. It was like gay "Flashdance" in there.

3. Pink - "Tell Me Something Good" - Eh, it's okay. I've never been a big fan of Pink.

4. Brittany Murphy - "Somebody to Love" - Ah, this is a great track. Here, we actually get the entire song, and that Murphy can sing! Woo! Freddie Mercury would be proud.

5. Patti LaBelle; Yolanda Adams - "I Wish" - I liked this a lot in the movie, specifically in the scene it was in, and it works great here too. Awesome.

6. Jamalski - "Jump 'n Move" - This song's a trip. It's a long political rant by a guy who sounds like the Jamaican Urkal about Nancy Reagan feeling horny, about LSD, and just on and on and on. I wish we heard more of it in the film, heheheh.

7. Beach Boys - "Do It Again" - Eh, it's Beach Boys.

8. Jason Mraz and Ms. Hynnde - "The Joker" with "Everything I Own" - One of my favorite tracks on the soundtrack, but whenever I see Mraz in an interview or something, I just wanna punch him in the face. What a douche. Sigh.

9. Robin Williams - "My Way" - Get's good near the end.

10. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman - "Kiss" and "Heartbreak Hotel" - This sounded much better in the film. It just sounds really artificial here without the lead in, and all the substitute throw out voices where other songs were. Hugh Jackman can sing though, boy can he.

11. Brittany Murphy - "Boogie Wonderland" - Another good track, but this is just a scene in the film you HAVE to see.

12. K.D. Lang - "Golden Slumbers/The End" - This one really gets going about two minutes in, but before that it's kind of blah. Never really dug K.D. Lang, so meh.

13. John Powell - "The Story of Mumble Happyfeet" - Another really good track, especially near the end. It's one of the more inspiring instrumental tracks I've heard in a while.


So, all in all, it's a good sound track with some bugs in it. What're you gonna do? I bought it.

Titles are gay

Welcome to my snazzy new blog. It's where I write things. I'll review stuff, post up a short story or two, maybe even go on a drunk rant once in a while.



So, stayed tuned.