Lin Miaoke lip-synched the REAL singer, Yang Peiyi because Yang's teeth aren't perfect!
C G I Footprints
I promised I wouldn't cover the 2008 China Olympic Opening Ceremony. But I couldn't resist...only because my co-workers were GUSHING about this great ceremony.
The little girl that the world fell in love with was FAKE. The real girl won the contest fair and square but wasn't good-looking enough.
To fill empty seats during the actual games, the Chinese have been drafting large numbers of yellow-shirted 'fans', who clap and cheer equally for opposing teams.
Read here about how China tricked the world. Shame on all of you for giving China the benefit of the doubt.
By the way, I *know* how it's easier to stage fireworks, and how fireworks really did go off" "The faked fireworks were actually set-off at the stadium, but because of potential dangers in filming the display live from a helicopter, viewers at home were shown a pre-recorded, computer-generated shot" blah blah blah blah.
I know what The Apologist says, "28 footprints outside of the stadium were actually lit and real - only the *shot shown on TV* was fake". I find it ironic that many technical oriented people LOVED the ceremony and will defend deception for eternity. If you want to waste time or energy defending it, or minimizing it, or lecture about how China is really good for the global economy blah blah blah blah go right ahead.
F A K E
"After several tests, we decided to put Lin Miaoke on the live picture, while using Yang Peiyi's voice. The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first. We had to make that choice. It was fair both for Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi…. We combined the perfect voice and the perfect performance."
When I was a kid living in New York, July used to mean so much to me.
#1 NO SCHOOL #2 DAY CAMP #3 Can go to sleep whatever time I wanted #4 Went to Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium #5 No winter coats, mittens (!), scarfs, ski caps, or goulashes (!) #6 No runny noses
As an adult living in South Florida? July is just another month. I'm serious. I don't have any kids, and don't go to school, so the whole "July = vacation" thing just doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I keep reminding myself that school's out when I'm driving and see kids/teens walking around during school hours.
At my day job, I just meet production deadlines. I have a white board with red markers indicating job codes and due dates. I rush to gets projects out to meet each month's billing cycle. So July 31 has the same meaning as October 31.
In terms of weather, in Florida it's always hot, sunny, and rainy. (Yet in July, the rain can get pretty bad at times.) In New York, July = beach. In Florida, one is hard pressed to see the season changes.
In many ways, I always associated July and summertime with youthful innocence, excitement, and not having responsibilty. But once one becomes an adult, it's just another month.
In high school, I started to see how July began to lose its luster: some of my classmates who were around 15+ began to get summer jobs or went to summer school to get more credits. I finally gave into the nerd peer pressure to be productive during summer vacations, and that was the beginning of the end for July.
July 4th? Fireworks? ONE DAY OFF? Big deal.
I wouldn't even have known it was July if not for work due dates.
More than 400 city blocks and 3,900 homes were flooded in Cedar Rapids, where early estimates put property damage at $736 million.
Bush is in Paris.
Citizens have evacuated, and volunteers have been stacking up sandbags to preserve the University of Iowa.
The U.S. Coast Guard has deployed 30 people to Iowa City to conduct search and rescue missions.
Levees have broken.
The rest of the country is focused on movie box office results, Iran, sports, Father's Day gifts, California gay marriages, and the death of TIM RUSSERT!
Will Obama or McCain work on rebuilding levees and U.S. infrastructure to prevent this from happening AGAIN? Can we use our MODERN TECHNOLOGY to help? Can we get a break from insurance companies? OR WILL WE CONTINUE TO THROW BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THE WAR IN IRAQ, IRAN, AND NORTH KOREA INSTEAD OF HELPING OUR OWN CITIZENS?
RFK Assassination Was Sirhan Alone? Sandy Serrano Conspiracy
DailySkew contributor R.A.W. managed to get his hands on an old newspaper from 1968 that was in his late uncle's attic this weekend. Attached is a copy of a particular article that we both found very interesting.
It seems like the history books and MEDIA have sold to us that Sirhan Sirhan was not part of a greater conspiracy, and acted alone, without any accomplices. They would like us to think he was a madman who was a lone wolf.
However, Sandy Serrano not only reported her eyewitness account that night to the LAPD, but her story was carried by nationwide newspapers, and the BBC and NBC.
Sandy was a 20-year old youth volunteer for Robert Kennedy, who reported that she saw a woman and man running downstairs. Earlier in the night she had seen a young woman in a white dress with dark polka dots walking up the back stairway of the Ambassador hotel, with two men-one was wearing a white shirt and a gold sweater, the other looking dirty and out of place, short, and with bushy dark hair (Sirhan Sirhan). Shortly after hearing what she thought were backfires from a car (it was RFK getting shot), the woman and one of the men came back down the stairs, in an excited fashion, speaking loudly. Sandy said:
She practically stepped on me, and she said, "We've shot him. We've shot him." Then I said, "Who did you shoot?" And she said, "We shot Senator Kennedy." And I says, "Oh, sure." She came running down the stairs, very fast, and then the boy in the gold sweater came running down after her, and I walked down the stairs.
The police told Sandy to CHANGE HER STORY. Smells like a total COVER-UP to me and R.A.W.:
Although Bill and Hillary Clinton reported making $111 million dollars from 2000-2007 (not to mention what they already made in the past), Bill Clinton’s federal retirement allowance from 2001 through the end of this year will be $8 million.
Some perks for Slick Willie since 2001:
pension staff’s salaries $420,000 phone bill $3.2 million office rent tab (8,300-square-foot Harlem office) $10,000 health benefit “other services” ($751,000) “supplies & materials” ($143,000)
Clinton's Spokesman said:
“Since leaving office, President Clinton has represented the American people at home and abroad, at state funerals, through his work with former President Bush on the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, and through his vigorous charitable foundation work to fight AIDS, climate change and childhood obesity."
I guess Bill Clinton is like Bruce Wayne, using millions to fight injustice, huh? Oh, did I just say "injustice"?
George Lucas' Star Wars fanbase is truly pathetic: they complain, nitpick, and moan about everything but willingly fork over hundreds of dollars (or more!) over their lifetimes to his product each and every time he released more commercialized crap.
The sad part is, pre-Internet, I had no idea that this love-hate relationship even existed, or perhaps it was created by Internet message boards themselves- I don't know. (As a kid, I knew that Trekkies were nitpickers of Star Trek, but were loyal and worshiped Gene Roddenberry and the actors; and they would at least try to come up with Stan Leesque No-Prizes.)
I do know that the first trilogy was not critically acclaimed- only A New Hope is ranked by filmed critics, but still can't hold a candle to 2001 (according to film critics). But the fan base- the kids and teenagers of the 1970's and 80's perceived the three movies as the greatest works of art, and even saw them in a religious sense. The epic films spoke to them. The characters became icons and were lovable. Darth Vader was a villain that was adored. And they were correct, and I was one of them.
Fast forward to the dawn of the new millennium: what happened? These same fans, who willingly contributed so much time, effort, and emotion continued to do that- but in negative ways! They still saw all 3 movies (multiple-showings, too), got the DVDs, boxed sets, video games, and merchandise even though they will swear to us that the movies sucked and Lucas sold out. (I believe I only know one person who refused to see Episode III at the time in came out, and I was pretty frustrated with him.)
Perhaps with the Internet, we know more about Lucas' "issues", and we as fans are exposed to all of the contradictions of the six movies. Perhaps it became more apparent that Lucas has been cashing out all of these years, using geeks as "tools", and made statements that left us confused ("My dream was to make documentaries"). Perhaps we had such an emotional and spiritual connection to the original trilogy that any retroactive additions revealed in the second trilogy were seen as unnecessary or offensive. Perhaps fans got older and saw that the dialog is "comic booky". Perhaps the boys from the past were unable to share these nerdy experiences with their girlfriends or wives with the new movies when they were 30. Perhaps the fans themselves read the novels, fan-fiction, and were actually exposed to better quality professional sci-fi, to realize that 1) Lucas is unoriginal and likes to "borrow" and 2) there are MANY better talented writers than Lucas- some have made "it", and others who are blogging for free. Again, thanks to Internet, everyone can be a journalist (just ask Drudge), sports general manager, franchise owner, President of the United States, pro wrestling booker, scriptwriter, novelist, or director.
In many ways, Star Wars spawned an entire generation of unhappy sci-fan fans who put their money where their mouth isn't. Sure comic books fans have always done this since time immemorial, but as you can see now, the comic book industry has been dying as the prices increased and because they are so many other entertainment options today.
And that's what makes the new trilogy irrelevant to the next generation of fans- the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Spider-Man Trilogy, Disney movies, and other sci-fi and fantasy movies will be seen just as good or better than Star Wars as the years march on. You see, no matter how Lucas tries to restore and modify the original trilogy, the scene of someone from the future watching all six in a row and feeling emotionally rewarded is a pipe dream.
At this point, I personally know only a handful of loyal fans that enjoyed the second trilogy. I am one of them. For those who hate the new trilogy, perhaps there is a nostalgic factor that the original trilogy is held in such high esteem, while the new trilogy is seen as junk. I can see both sides of the argument: that the new trilogy lacked the charm, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, and some things were just best left alone, like Stormtroopers being Boba Fett clones.
As a consumer in this economy, if I don't like a product, I have to send a message and not buy it. I guess the love/hate fans just had to see how Episode III ended, even though they claim they hated Phantom Menace and/or Episode II. And, since they are completists they just had to get the DVDs. I guess they showed their "loyalty". Or perhaps they still had faith Lucas would go out great to their liking in Episode III.
With Lucas announcing a new Star Wars project, so far the Internet message boards have been buzzing and very excited about it; in fact, many 30-year old men loved the original Cartoon Network's Clone Wars animated series, so they'll probably watch this while their wives and girlfriends are doing something else, maybe record in on TiVo, or leach it off BitTorrent. Of course, for those Star Wars geeks who don't have a girlfriend yet, well, Lucas loves you.
I guess at the end of the day, Star Wars just isn't important to me anymore. The Star Trek universe has much more depth to it (although it's not an apples-apples comparison). I haven't watched the Star Wars in two years, whereas Star Trek episodes and movies from all the different franchises are more enjoyable to me at this stage.
I'd like to thank the critics, message boards, parodies, and spoiled fans for tainting my love, and giving me the correct perspective that debating continuity of Star Wars is utterly meaningless, and to do so would be giving George Lucas free advertising. It's just not fun anymore, and they can never truly be pleased. There is no avoiding it, either. I'm not pitching that you, the reader, agree with me. I also don't want to come off like a snob or look down upon a hobby (since millions of people are Expanded Universe fans and are still loyal to the franchise) because I have my own peculiar hobbies, and still get very enthusiastic and obsessive about my hobbies, which are just as "meaningless" as Star Wars. But for me, knowing that there will not be another trilogy set after RotJ featuring the true hero of the story- Luke Skywalker- means the spin-offs, and animated shows just won't cut it. I've seen all 6 movies more times than any other movie. For me, there's not much left to say about them. I had a great time viewing each one at the time I saw them, but I can't help but hear and read (and agree with) very convincing arguments showing that Lucas and his product are overrated and severely flawed. So, this is me, Damian Hospital letting go of the attachment, and bidding farewell to all things Star Wars (for now).
A Walmart employee was covered by their medical insurance. She was hit by a truck, and it crippled her and took away her ability to remember things and walk. She was awarded $1,000,000 from the trucking company. Her lawyers and courts charged her $583,000. $417,000 was put in a trust for her health care.
Wal-Mart paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and sued HER for the same amount. The courts ruled that Wal-Mart IS entitled to whatever she had left in her trust fund. Her family appealed, and LOST again.
The fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy says that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.
Her short-term memory causes her to relive her 18-year old son's death in the war in Iraq everytime she asks for him, and someone tells her.
She is bound to a wheel chair and lives in a nursing home.
She has $277,000 left, and the U.S. Courts will force her to give it to Wal-Mart.
In 2007, Wal-Mart reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion
Thanks, Google, for setting my Google Page Rank to 0, which ultimately kills my IZEA RealRank since most of skew.dailyskew.com's pages are no longer in the index. The slide continues, and this DailySkew blog decreases in rank every day now since you Page Rank Zero'ed it. Every morning, I check my RealRank and watch as it pummels, along with my opportunities to provide for the security of my family.
As Barry Bonds says, "That's fine." For those of you who want the inside story about this, you can click here:
By now, everyone knows about the controversy with the Golf Channel personality (and friend of Tiger Woods) named Kelly Tilghman. In response to her co-anchor's joke that younger players should "gang up" on Tiger Woods during the golf tournament, Tilghman said that they ought to "Lynch him in a back alley". She was innocently laughing during the exchange, and Woods' agent was said he didn't think there was any ill intent.
MEANWHILE, the so-called Rev. Al Sharpton starting making his protests and demands, like he speaks for the black community. Anyone who lived in New York during the 1980's knowns that Sharpton is a fraud, self-promoter, and should be working in the WWE.
So, thanks to the MEDIA, Tighman had to be suspended for two weeks.
Dave Seanor, editor of Golfweek, wanted to use a cover to draw attraction about this controversial story, about how the Golf Channel got "caught in a noose". There was a debate, but he decided to go with the noose. He needed to meet a deadline and forgot to run the final copy by his boss.
Well, once again, thanks the MEDIA and PGA, Golfweek fired Seanor.
If all of this sounds ridiculously oversensitive, politically correct, and bowing to the perception that advertisers would pull from their products, you are correct.
Look-
Kelly Tilghman made a bad joke.
Tiger wasn't offended.
Is there any evidence that black viewers were offended? I mean, did the Golf Channel get phone calls, e-mails, or letters from blacks demanding justice? I doubt it. But the MEDIA ran with it, like it was a big thing. Same with the Golf Weekly magazine cover.
No one speaks for "the black community", especially a scammer like Al Sharpton. Dave Chappelle is more in touch with "the black community" than Sharpton.
What is "the black community" anyway?
Offending blacks (or any other group) is the least concern of the Golf Channel- advertisers are. Let's face it, advertising and commercials make the world go 'round.
Thanks to the MEDIA saying the Golf Channel employs a racist, the Golf Channel had to act to show the advertisers that they respect all demographics. This is all about money. As Batman asked in Identity Crisis, "Who benefits?"
Now, is there anything wrong with bowing to advertisers? NO, of course not! But let's just be honest here. IF...IF an advertiser called the Golf Channel and said, "I'm pulling my commercial now" the Golf Channel should have told the MEDIA that. But I doubt any golf advertiser would pull their sponsorship on the GOLF Channel!!
Now the MEDIA doesn't agree with the suspension even though they CAUSED it! You can never please the MEDIA. The just want a STORY and a SPIN to make money on advertising, too!
As far as the magazine editor getting fired for reporting this event, this whole saga is one sick, sad parody!!! Many WHITE "journalists" like to jump on the bandwagon and say how the noose symbolizes the KKK and racism, and that a noose should never be on a golf magazine, since golf has been a racist "sport" for years. Read the freakin' byline on the cover- in what way is the magazine promoting or endorsing racism? What if TIME magazine ran a cover with a swastika with the byline "Is Nazism dead?" It's just a STORY with a visual image for you to buy the magazine!
TONY VAHL SAYS:
More political correctness run amock. More lies.
It's obvious that the PGA Tour pressured Golfweek to fire their editor, even though they claim they wouldn't pull advertising. What. No one is allowed to cover the PGA in a critical manner? Are they ashamed of the country club racism that only recently has begun to go away? I guess they don't want too many reporters investigating Augusta National in Georgia!
And the announcer on the Golf Channel should not have been suspended for two weeks. The MEDIA give Al Sharpton the power he has, and viewers of said MEDIA.
I went to elementary school, junior high school, and day camp in New York, and my friends were pretty bright and intelligent.
I probably think about them way more than they think of me. I guess I always had a curiosity about how they turned out. I've made contact with a few of them over the years, through various classmates websites, but one thing which I am surprised about is that I'm the only one with a blog. Am I the only one from P.S. 251 Paedergat, Roy H. Mann (I-78), or Broad Channel Day Camp who knows how to use a search engine or blog? I also am amazed that none of these New York schools have official websites. You'd THINK a school intranet or public website would make things so much easier in terms of homework, curriculum, test scores, etc.
I guess the even more pathetic part is that the ones whom I did make contact with (and the few that found me) don't follow up or reply to my e-mail!
Am I attached to the past? Yeah, because as DailySkew poster CCB3 will testify to, seeing the world through the eyes of child hearkens one back to an age of innocence, and a time when there were no worries, and every movie, cartoon, toy, NY baseball player, pro wrestler (which we thought was "real" back then) and comic book RULED! Heck, a child of the 1980's should have certain connection to one another.
The Roger Clemens drama just continues to become even more of a circus, as Roger said he taped McNamee in a phone conversation last week.
"I'll go to jail, I'll do whatever you want," McNamee said during the conversation.
"I need somebody to tell the truth," Clemens said.
During the tape, McNamee never said he lied when he told baseball investigator George Mitchell last year that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
"I'm in your corner," McNamee said. "I'd also like not to go to jail, too."
Clemens was mostly expressionless while the tape played, even when McNamee said, "You treated me like family."
Clemens said McNamee initiated the conversation, which was laced with emotion and profanity. McNamee, a former strength coach for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees, sounded as if he were a desperate man.
"I'm firing my lawyers. I'm getting rid of everybody," McNamee said. "My wife is gone. My kids are gone."
So, there you have it...Clemens says he now has the smoking gun that proves McNamee lied about everything.
So why does this sound suspicious?
Did Clemens threaten him?
Pay him off?
Make him promises?
Create a new reality selling a false truth to McNamee?
It's amazing that Clemens called him up and taped everything without McNamee knowing. Last time I checked it was illegal to tape a phone conversation without permission.
Clemens never said anything like, "I want you to come down to Houston and tell the world the truth - that I never took steroids."
When asked Monday why he didn't do just that, Clemens said, "I would be afraid for him, because my family's very upset. I'm trying to keep my composure through all this."
Clemens has yet to establish why, exactly, McNamee would betray his multimillionaire meal ticket and friend if, as Clemens repeatedly asserted on 60 Minutes, "It never happened." If McNamee knew Clemens never took steroids, and that he himself never injected Clemens with steroids, then what pressure could the feds exert? If McNamee is the only evidence here, how could the feds prove the unprovable? If it didn't happen, how could McNamee be prosecuted for perjury for telling the truth?
Clemens was accused in the recently released Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball of having been injected with steroids and human growth hormone 16 times from 1998-2001 by his trainer, Brian McNamee.
When asked by Wallace if McNamee had ever injected him with any drugs, Clemens responded, according to the release: "Lidocaine and B-12. It's for my joints, and B-12 I still take today."
Clemens then calls the accusation that he used steroids or HGH "ridiculous" and says he "never" used any banned substances.
"Swear?" asks Wallace.
"Swear," says Clemens.
For those of you who don't know, 60 Minutes is a taped show, and Roger Clemens was interviewed today, which will air on Sunday.
Please keep in mind- steroid use doesn't mean jack to me. The frustrating part is that Roger just won't admit he did it, and Roger has a history of being one of the biggest conceited and violent jerks in baseball.
Let's pretend for moment that you were a baseball player who took [vitamin] B-12 and Lidocaine [a pain-killer] injections (perfectly legal). Wouldn't you have TOLD Senator Mitchell and MLB's investigators when questioned originally? Wouldn't you have told the MEDIA this last month when your name came up as taking illegal substances such as HGH and steroids?
If you follow Roger's logic, and use the details from the Mitchell Report this is the logical extension of his lies: ~~Roger told his trainer that the substance he was shooting him with was steroids, not B-12 I guess so he wouldn't look like a pansy? Roger also knew the feds would be after him in the future.~~
Uh-huh.
Does that make any sense?? There is no need to be neutral or give Roger the benefit of a doubt. Those who have followed his career know his history:
He asked his manager to come out of a 1986 World Series game, which the Mets eventually won.
He was ejected in the 1st inning of a 1990 playoffs game for continuing to yell at an umpire, costing his team the win.
He is known as a HEAD-HUNTER in the game (a pitcher who aims for the head).
He twice attempted to murder Future Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza- once with a head beaning, and once with a bat.
He and his agents have always gotten the highest contracts and endorsements, and always played things on HIS terms, not the team's. His ego and cockiness are LEGENDARY. He scammed the Yanks out of millions last year, and then left a playoff game injured.
The guy is a businessman who like to keep his fake image intact all the time, like Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, and The Realtor.
The bottom line is Clemens and this trainer were TIGHT. Real TIGHT. Clemens got this guy a job with the Yanks, after he was traded from the Blue Jays. They remained TIGHT until last year. Roger's best buddy Andy Pettitte already confessed his sin with this trainer, yet Roger doesn't make any apologies- he never had or never will.
Roger's hand-held palm-pilot looks something like this:
-Get up at 4:30 AM and jog 15 miles - Do 100 sit-ups - Eat a hardy breakfast - Call my agent - Call my attorney - Have the kids do chores - Lie to my wife - Lie to the MEDIA - Lie to my fans - Check on new restaurant - Give a speech at a local school about staying off of drugs - Leave Andy Pettitte another message telling him he's a pansy for telling the truth - Do another 100 sit-ups - Check bank account to see if royalty checks from Cingular are still coming in - Meet that Brazilian stripper that keeps calling my cell - Hint to MEDIA that I'm coming out of retirement again - Pay a visit to my restaurant and give a pep talk to the lowly workers - Sign an autograph for a kid, as long as his dad takes a picture, and puts it on myspace.com - Do another 100 sit-ups - Hunt some animals in Texas with some old fishing buddies - Attend celebrity gold tournament - Perform another 100 sit-ups on the gold course
One of the reasons why I was always stand-offish regarding Michael Moore's theories is the way he totally disrespected Charlton Heston at his own home in Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine". Moore thinks he "won" this "debate" with Heston, but he really didn't.
I agree with our constitutional right to bear arms. And it may sound like a right-wing slogan, but guns DON'T kill people, people kill people. Gun control is another unwinnable war, like the war on drugs, and the war on terrorism. It is so idealistic! Criminals will always get their hands on them. It's as simple as that.
We have the freedom to be responsible or irresponsible, that's what makes democracy so great. If Joe Blow puts a loaded gun in his closet, and his little kid finds it- Joe Blow needs to held accountable. Period.
Quite frankly, this interview is a great reason why Moore comes off as a sniveling, deceptive pig. Heston is just being honest here. He comes from a different era.
My grandmother played the role of the Dream Seeker tonight by saying a key phrase that made me remember a great dream that I had forgotten this morning! Thank you, Grandma!
Here it is- one of those REALISTIC dreams that are scary:
The setting- NOW (literally- the Friday before New Years). The employees: Current Tashman roster
The C.E.O. of Tashman Technologies made an announcement in the morning: today was the last issue! End of an era! Done! Final episode! Not even one day's notice! He's closing up shop by 3 pm, so we are to finish whatever work we are doing, and clean our desks up!
My main worry was that we had a few in-house jobs! How are we supposed to finish them? How cocky is it to call them up and say, "C.E.O.'s retiring, so we can't finish your project"????
So I asked Christina, if it was official, or will a skeleton crew hang around and finish these projects. I never got a good answer. All I know is that I felt that my whole life was turned upside down, and as soon as the countdown to 3:00PM occurred, I had to move on with my life. I told my wife about the situation, and acted brave, and felt ready.
Former Yankees World Champion Jim Leyritz (backup catcher) killed Fredia Ann Veitch, who was an ordinary citizen like you and I, working night shift. He was DUI, and he drove his car fast and blew threw a red light down here in Broward County (she was driving home from Fort Lauderdale to Plantation.)
I've followed Leyritz's career since he came up in 1990. I thought he was a great hitting catcher, pinch-hitter, and part-time designated hitter for the Yanks. But according to many baseball history books and autobiograpies I have read, he dubbed himself "King" and wanted to be a full-time player. Eventually, managers Buck Showalter and later Joe Torre grew to dislike Jim.
Jim is highly charismatic, cocky, arrogant, and a joker. Quite honestyly, if he was an African-American player, he would have been labeled a "clubhouse cancer" in 1990. Instead, the MEDIA always referred to him as "clutch", a "New York Icon", and "scrappy". Nice double-standard. The MEDIA and announcers never told us the bad things about "The King", so fans such as myself and my family couldn't help but like him, and awe at his sheer "determination". After Jim finally retired after making a few failed comebacks (and bouncing from team to team) he got an announcing gig for MLB.com, and still continued to give quotes to radio shows and newspapers to run is mouth off. See, Jim was bitter and was opinionated about a lot of things. He'd like to say things against his former teammates and managers.
He also said he admitting taking HGH or steroids during his great 1995/1996 clutch pinch-hitting campaigns, in which he saved the Yankees' post-season dreams. He also admitted being drunk a lot while playing. Unfortunately, his wild baseball antics spilled over into real life. Frieda Ann Veitch was a mother of two, just trying to make ends meat, by working in a steakhouse in Broward County. Her friends told her to switch her shift or to get another job; she was all set to switch- starting in the new year. So here is Frieda, driving home after a rough week, having never achieved the fame and fortune as Jimmy "The King" Leyritz. She goes through the green light, like you're supposed to, but here comes Jim blasting through the red light.
It's a shame that there are questions about if Jim will serve any prison time. I guess because he is a millionaire he can afford an attorney-at-law who will somehow get his client off with probation or timed served, even though he is guilty as sin.
For those of you who do not know about Broward County, Florida- it is one of the worst places to drive in the world. People like Jim Leyritz have taken over the roads and highways. That's why I'm at home bloggin', folks.
DAILYSKEW: "Angel...it took you long enough, but you've finally seen The Transformers, one of the most successful movies of 2007 that exceeded everyone's expectations this year! How would you start off a review of this movie for our blog?"
ANGEL JIMENEZ: "In the movie Transformers, there's a scene where Glen the computer geek is asked to "Hotwire a computer" to transmit Morse Code through an antiquated radio from the 1930's. Of course, he figures it out in five minutes. "
DS: "Right..."
AJ: "What a bunch of crap."
DS: "Now, wait a-"
AJ: "First off -- there's no WAY he can hotwire a computer to do anything. He's portrayed as a software guy in the movie, not hardware.
AND, even if he does know hardware, how in the heck is he going to interface modern technology with something built over 70 years ago? Did he have the right cables? RCA to USB? Did they even have RCA back then?
So, right there, the movie falls apart for me."
DS: "Okay..."
AJ: "Second -- you mean to tell me there was some Air Force cadet who just HAPPENED to be listening for Morse Code at the same time? AND that cadet understands Morse Code? Yeah, right. Talk about UNREALISTIC.
And, what's with Morse Code being used in movies when all other technology fails? Didn't they do that in Independence Day? Give me a break. It's so cliché. You can't coordinate instantaneous military strikes with Morse Code."
DS: "Alright...that being said, did you enjoy the movie?"
AJ: "I'm sick of unrealistic scenes in movies. It totally ruined Transformers for me.
Did AT&T's Bold 1993 Predictions Come True in 2008?
Remember the advertisements where AT&T was showing casually futuristic technology, with the promise that "You will" see it? Although the technology did exist in research labs at the time, the question is- did AT&T predict how that technology would be used in the mainstream society?
Let's review them to see if the scenes (the commentary, technology, and the background settings) ever came true-
In the first scene, we see a woman "borrowing" a digital book in front of a giant (non-flat) screen. She is touching the screen. She has a non-digital pen, and I can't make out it there is a keyboard or mouse around. Anyway, reading a "virtual book" is amusing...people read PDF text files, preferably in a palm pilot, handheld reader, or laptop- not at a library, and certainly not an actual digital replica. So...to be strict: THUMBS DOWN on this prediction. Remember- I asked at the beginning of this post: "Did AT&T predict how that technology would be used in the mainstream society?" The answer for the first shot is NO.
In the second scene, we see a GPS. Although the graphics seem 3-D, and GPS's are still not affordable for everyone in the world (and forget about 2nd or 3rd world countries), I will give AT&T a YES for that scene.
The third scene always seemed so ridiculous and arrogant to me when I first saw it. A portable fax machine as a digital tablet? Why couldn't he just call the guy on his AT&T/Singular/Bellsouth cell phone? Or use his wireless laptop? E-mail anyone? In reality, has anyone ever had positive experiences with fax machines and phone lines? Fax machines are still bulky. I wonder if his receiver ever got his message. Sure, digital pens exist, but the scene itself is a dream that does not exist in 99.99% people's realities on this earth. My answer: NO.
Let's take a look at another:
Okay, the first scene makes you say "Wow"- that's true. However, closer inspection raises some doubts- first of all, we don't need an on-board computer system like that. Secondly, here in Florida, SunPass looks like a small transponder on your windshield or dashboard. It transmits a radio signal. It sure as heck doesn't tell you your remaining balance, either. But you can always go online to find out and buy more time with your credit card. Oh, and how futuristic are those toll booths! No people, no traffic, clean! Wow...sure looks like everyone has one of these devices. But, since I have to give a "Yes" or "No", as much as I want give a YES for the spirit of the scene, I vote NO.
In the next scene, we see girls buying concert tickets from an ATM machine. Huh. Now, if the confident voice-over guy said "buy concert tickets from your home on your PC", he'd be correct. But he didn't. He said "cash-machine". I saw a touchscreen 3-D virtual seating arena. Survey says? BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. NO.
The third scene is funny, as it looks so believable and tugs on your emotions. Too bad phone booths went the way of dinosaurs. Too bad AT&T couldn't predict that cell phones could do this (in a very limited form-STILL). So..what is the baby looking into anyway? NO.
Let's move on to their later 1994 spots:
The first scene shows a self-checkout at a supermarket. That looked encouraging, especially since they exist today (although they seem broken most of the time, the real cashiers outnumber them 5:1, and you're dead if you have fruit, and people still ask for help...sigh). But once you see the woman just placing her cart in some...thing...I'm still scratching my head over that one. I'm with the little boy, Jeremy, who AT&T is trying to insult for looking confused over something so "nonchalant" to his mother.
The second scene is a video conference where a doctor actually diagnoses an injury instantly. Now, webcams exist today, as does video conferencing. I'm okay with that (although in 1994, it wasn't THAT much of a stretch to predict.) But a live doctor making an official diagnosis? Is that an X-ray? Where is that locker room, anyway? It looks like high school, but is so empty. Who's paying for this? Nope. Sorry. NO.
Finally, in the third scene, a guy gets a phone call on his wristwatch, kind of like Dick Tracy. Why can't he just take a picture of the beautiful mountains for his woman? Sure, we have small cell phones now, and I'm sure they make wristwatch phones, but it's impractical. I vote NO.
In other clips I wasn't able to post here:
A man has a business meeting on vacation in the South Pacific. He's using a laptop, and the other members of his office each have a square on his laptop and can see him and each other. The announcer says "have a business meeting barefoot". Kind of a stretch, but I'll vote YES (barely).
A college student is watching his professor at a podium, and he and the other students all interact with each other virtually. NO.
A woman opens her front door with her voice because she has groceries. NO.
A guy carried his entire medical history and x-rays on a credit card. Hell NO.
Kids can watch "any movie you ever wanted to see instantly" on their television with a touch of the screen. My vote...in spirit, you can, but not "instantly", and not "all movies", not on your TV... and not yet. NO. Maybe one day.
I had one of those dreams last night, that just seem so realistic and believable.
Tony Vahl and I were sleeping upstairs in a fictitious house being rented out by Tashman Technologies Hall of Famer Captain Hardware. Tony and I came up with another catch-phrase after having an intense conversation for 10 minutes. We both noticed a pattern in people's speeches. Similar to the phrase that we had Barry Bonds' coin: "that's fine", we came up with a similar quote that symbolizes people's behavior. As much as we were both excited to come to this new revelation, I forgot it when I woke up, of course. It has something to do with "that's true".
It was very late in the dream, past midnight, and we both had work the next day. I tried to get some sleep, but Captain Hardware and his seemingly endless number of family members came in downstairs. Hardware told them not to go upstairs, but didn't say why. I figured out that it's because I'm RENTING upstairs, and that my bedroom is off-limits. It still didn't stop him from walking up the stairs and chatting with Tony Vahl about some DVD movie. Tony was being polite or was unaware of the time. I pretended I was sleeping after he ignored me the whole time. Suffice to say, I felt uncomfortable not having any privacy, so I told Tony pretty loudly: "TDA- He's a CARD-CARRYING MEMBER OF THE TDA!"
The End
Definitions:
TDA: Time Displacement Authority. Ever have someone who "makes" you be late? Don't you ever just want to do your own daily routine without being sidetracked? Did you ever wish you could throw your cell-phone in a river? Well, if you find your time-line getting screwed up by someone over and over, there's a great chance they are members of the TDA. They exist solely to ruin your original time-line. They are the people that call you up and cause you to forget something or kill an hour of your productivity. They are the ones who force you to watch Star Wars marathons when you really need to be going to sleep. They are the ones that keep saying "goodbye" when you try to leave their house, and wind up causing you to be late or get into an accident. Sometimes it's perfectly harmless; other times your time-line can be ruined.
Tashman Technologies: A fictitious office created and copyrighted by Damian Hospital and Tony Vahl that sells teleporters. The Tashman Hall of Fame is a parody of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Captain Hardware: A great friend and a great worker in Tashman.
"That's fine": Barry Bonds said this quote when he was informed that baseball commissioner Bud Selig may not be planning an official celebration for his record breaking homerun, and may not even be in attendance. "That's fine" means that Barry accepted a situation out of his hands, and simply shrugged it off instead of expressing unproductive feelings.
Continuity errors in the world of children's television
Respect Continuity!
A DailySkew Interview with Angel Jimenez
DailySkew had an instant message conversation with Dailskew contributor and poster Angel Jimenez.
DS: "Angel, can you do an editorial about continuity? That's a touchy subject among most of the geeks that read our site."
AJ: "I'm sick of continuity errors. I feel like Pariah sometimes - no matter where I turn, some anti-matter cloud is wiping out what I knew as a child, and I'm forced to live in a new reality where, I don't know, Haydn Christianson appears in Return of the Jedi, or Ewoks play love jazz at the end of that movie." DS: "Wow...did anything happen recently to cause this rant?"
AJ: "Let me just relate two continuity errors I picked up on this week, just to give you a sample of the hell that is my life."
DS: "Go right ahead."
AJ: "ONE- I'm watching Barney with my four year old, and he has a new voice! Barney sounded like someone doing a bad imitation of the original Barney voice!
I was outraged.
Of course, I pointed this out to my son. He didn't believe me.
"This is a new timeline, son," I told him." DS: "Wow!"
AJ: "TWO- I'm watching House of Mouse with my two year old. It was the DVD where the Disney Villains take over during the Halloween episode, led by Jafar.
As dizzying a concept it was to watch Ursula breaking bread with Hook, I let go my usual notions of continuity -- after all, this was a variety show. It was as if these were the actors who had played the roles in the movie, even though they were referred to as the real characters ... anyway, I let it go.
Then, it happened. I could no longer swallow what I was watching.
Sitting at one of the tables was the baby Simba and his girlfriend! WTF?!?
You mean to tell me that this episode of House of Mouse happens during the film Lion King? How is such a thing possible? How did this not affect the actions of Simba throughout the rest of the movie?
I mean, if Simba sees Mickey defeat all the villains, how could he have lost faith in his ability to defeat Scar?
Then again, maybe Simba was depressed because he didn't have the Sorcerer's hat.
DS: "Now..wait a minute, can't you give a No-Pri-"
AJ: "-I don't know, man. The Pariah in me couldn't take it. I shut it off, to spare my daughter the mind-altering effects of witnessing a continuity error. She cried, but it was for the best.
Curt Schilling speaking about steroids: Mind your own business
This how Curt Schilling Repays Clemens- who turned his career around
Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling reminds me of a co-worker of mine that can't seem to keep his nose out of business that is none of his concern (even if he's right). In fact, Curt's nickname (behind his back) is "Assistant General Manager", because he is known for going straight to the General Manager to voice his "concerns" about certain players or policies.
The fact that Curt has a blog and routinely "gives his opinions" about his co-workers by name, and his "suggestions" to "clean up baseball", just adds to his arrogance, holier-than-thou attitude, and hyprocacy. Curt, you are a PLAYER, not an owner, manager, announcer, journalist, or commissioner.
His latest comments are against someone who deserves to get ripped: Roger Clemens. Curt says his opinion of Roger is from a "fan's perspective". Okay...Looks like Curt waited many years to finally find some dirt on Roger, and to finally say this:
"Roger has denied every allegation brought to the table, so as a fan my thought is that Roger will find a way in short order to organize a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared."
"If he doesn't do that then there aren't many options as a fan for me other than to believe his career 192 wins and 3 Cy Youngs he won prior to 1997 were the end. From that point on the numbers were attained through using PED's (performance-enhancing drugs)....(I)f that is the case with Roger, the 4 Cy Youngs should go to the rightful winners and the numbers should go away if he cannot refute the accusations."
Considering that Roger Clemens took Curt aside years ago (even though they were on opposite teams) and "dressed him down" to motivate him to get on the right path of work ethic (this was before Curt found Jesus), this is some "thanks".
Curt fails to mention that
1) Clemens' attorney-at-law already denied the allegations, and 2) just because the Court of Public Opinion found Roger guilty, does not mean that a Court of Law would find Roger guilty.
It's a shame Curt believes we live in a society where citizens have to defend themselves from allegations. In other words, Curt doesn't seem to believe in "innocent until proven guilty". There is PROBABLE CAUSE that Roger did steroids, as uncovered by the Mitchell Report. That probably cause promoted me to rip Roger, but Roger never helped my career, and I'm not his co-worker. The probable cause is good enough for me "as a fan", who is not on the "inside of the game", but Roger has not been legally charged with any crime, and will not be. It's the word of a drug dealer vs Roger Clemens. Is there any way to prove that Roger used PED all of these years?
Baseball is NOT like the Olympics. The 1919 Black Sox purposely lost a fixed World Series against the Cincinnati Reds to help out gamblers. Well, the Reds' World Series trophy and place in the history books was never erased, because to paraphrase the rule book: "Unless a manager files a formal protest immediately following the game after notifying the umpire of his intentions, whatever happened on the field STAYS on the field- and the record books."
Clemens should NOT be stripped of his awards, because it has not been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt it he used HGH/steroids, and even if he did, there is no evidence showing how long he used them, and no evidence showing HOW HGH/steroids can help statistics (there were 50 SCRUBS listed in the Mitchell Report, that even regular fans had never heard of, or if they did, they had forgotten about them).
So as much as I am happy Clemens' REPUTATION is ruined, I am NOT happy that Curt Schilling has to CHIME IN and take this opportunity to rip a fellow member of the Player's Union (I believe players should always have each other's back against owners and the Commissioner's Office). I sure hope Curt has no skeletons in HIS closet. Is Curt perhaps a little envious that Clemens has won SEVEN CY YOUNG awards, and Curt has won...let's see..uhm...ZERO.
It doesn't matter if Curt is right about a lot of things- the fact that he hides behind the facade of moral righteousness, and makes PUBLIC judgments against his fellow players by name is what frustrates me. Be honest Curt- you're jealous of Roger's success, and you want to go into the Hall of Fame yourself since you are "clean".
Until YOU come out and say that, I think you'd have to give back all of your Cy Youngs...all ZERO of them.
1. Always imagine worst-case scenario. Won't be surprised when betrayed. 2. When helping someone, don't expect anything in return. More likely, person you helped will mock you behind your back. 3. Expect nothing. Won't be disappointed. 4. Stand up for yourself. 5. Surrounded by cowards. Don't join them. 6. Traitors everywhere. Trust no one. 7. Guaranteed to be misunderstood, misinterpreted, misread ... the only perception that matters is yours, but beware of the skewed ones who could affect your life.
Lin Miaoke lip-synched the REAL singer, Yang Peiyi because Yang's teeth aren't perfect!
C G I Footprints
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