Bailout...

I'm not that financial savvy (and please correct me if I'm wrong), but from what I could tell the $700 billion bailout yesterday would have been a good thing. Right? I mean the sole purpose behind it was to help people out in the long run. I don't know all the details to it because the bill was 104 pages long, but from what I gather it was supposed to help people to spend more thus nourishing the economy. Some people would have preferred the money went straight to the people to rejuvenate the economy themselves, but the problem I have with that is that it wouldn't do any good. Most people, myself included, would take that money and spend it on paying off their debts. Mortgages, loans, credit cards, bills. That's what I would do and that doesn't really help the economy.

The bill would have made it easier for people to get things like cars, homes, groceries or whatever, despite poor credit. It also did not bail out top execs and high grossing companies. It seemed like a good thing despite an increase in taxes. Now I don't make a lot or at least I don't plan on making a lot so any more taxes is really gonna dip into any disposable income I might have. But the whole point of this is to increase the ability to spend. People aren't going to spend unless a bailout happens (again correct me if I'm wrong) so why didn't this pass?












It didn't seem to be just one party, though there were more Republicans who opposed it than Dems. I think I read that members of the House were worried that if they voted for the bailout their constituents would not reelect them. How selfish and cowardly can people be. They are elected to make these tough decisions. That's the reason people vote for them; to do the right thing. How can it be that they are worried about themselves and not the welfare of the people they supposedly represent.

Hopefully another bill comes up, one that is a little easier for people to digest because if it doesn't who knows what will happen. Obviously I don't know what it was like before the Depression, but if the fear mongers are right and we are headed toward another Depression, it would suck that it happened because people were too scared to pass a bill. I don't condone bailing out these companies that don't care about people and exploit every penny they can out of us, but sometimes you just gotta say what the f*ck.

Anyways, that was just on my mind so I thought I'd see what other people think. I'm not sure exactly what needs to happen but something does because from what I learned in my couple years as an Econ major, we are not headed in the right direction. I would not be surprised if we went into another Depression. It's been heading that way for years and it seems like all it needs is another big thing to happen (or not happen) to make us fall into a Depression. High prices, low wages, no jobs, no credit, foreclosed houses, etc. I mean if that doesn't say Depression I don't know what does.

Go big

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - remember just a few weeks ago when McCain said the economy was healthy and in fine shape. God help us if he wins...

Bears...

This is pretty funny.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

-M, p, z & shredder

Still Searching...

So I've started my new life as Future Me. It's pretty much the same as Old Me actually. But I've started applying for non-profit jobs and it seems everything I'm interested in has to do with kids on some level. That and overall social well being. Apparently it's impossible to get a job at a non-profit to help with AIDS or anything science related without an extensive background in it so I'm pretty much f-ed there. It's also very apparent that I don't want to do phone calls or door-to-doors. I never have and probably never will. Mostly because I know how much it pisses me off. And I don't want to do that to other people. I do think it's a somewhat effective way to do things, I just don't have it in me to anger so many people.

I've also come to acceptance with my current and future income bracket. I had a friend in town for most of last week who was crashing at another friends place. When people come visit in a city like this there are pretty much two things to do at night: dinner and drinks. I don't eat out a lot. I don't really like to and I prefer the taste and cost effectiveness of cooking for myself. I also don't drink when I stay home. Which is nice. Anyway, my friend was staying at another friends place who lives in a 2 bedroom apartment in a high rise in Times Square. His apartment cost $1.5 million. I will never have enough money to purchase anything of that magnitude. Sure I could have a 40 year mortgage on a home like that, but it would drain almost all of my income. And what's the point in life if you can't live it. So this apartment is pretty nice. It's not much bigger than mine but it's a great location and it's clean. I don't mind living in the hood. I really don't. But after crashing at this lavish apartment twice over the weekend, I was definitely envious. But then I came home and it felt more natural. Slightly ghetto but still comfortable. I will never be able to afford to eat out every single meal, nor would I want to. But if I only make 30k a year right now, I'm fine with that. I don't spend a whole lot and I don't need a whole lot. All I need is money for rent, food and I'd like to fly places at least a few times a year and if it takes saving money by living in the ghetto to do that, I'm fine with that. there are too many people in this city making 25k and spending 80% of their income on rent just so they can live in a 'cool' neighborhood.

In other news, I think I almost killed my liver this weekend. Since I prefer to stay in and watch movies or go out and watch movies on the weekend, the only time I drink is when I go somewhere or when people come to visit. For example last weekend in Baltimore I drank my face off for three days. Then my boy came in on Wed and we drank until early Sunday morning. My life is comprised of binge drinking. Next up is back to East Lansing for Homecoming this weekend. Then the next weekend my brother and another friend are in town for another wedding. I want to find a month to take off from drinking but I don't think I'll get a chance until November. The only good thing about my drinking is that I still keep it cheap, 40s and 22s until I'm drunk enough to only buy one or two drinks at the bar.

This was a very boring post. Sorry. I'll do better next time. Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - this blog was infuriating to write. It feels like someone moved all the keys on my keyboard over just one letter. I can't even tell you how many times i misspelled words here.

Revelations...

I consider myself to be a very positive person, especially when it comes to my life. I always try and see the glass half full and assume that the best will work out for me. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work that way. I've been back in nyc for over a month now and I'm still unemployed. That doesn't bother me so much. Aside from the boredom and tedious monotony of having nothing to do but get rejected by seemingly every industry, I still had positive vibes about my prospects and that I would find a job eventually.

Over the weekend, well just yesterday actually, I kind of had a shocking revelation about my life and the kind of life I want to lead. I was in Baltimore for a wedding of a family friend and naturally there were many other family friends there. Talking with people about their lives, or specifically their careers, was mind blowing. It's no so much what people are doing but the general notion behind their careers. They all seem to be helping people. Making the world a better place. Doctors, nurses, scholars, lawyers, engineers, whatever people did there was a direct positive effect on someone else. As an aspiring filmmaker you could argue that movies and tv makes people happy. But so do drugs and last I checked they weren't good for you. I think I realized yesterday that I live a really selfish life and for all the rhetoric I spew about helping people and making the world a better place, I don't really do anything substantial about it. Sure I recycle, reduce and reuse and give homeless people my change and sign petitions and write emails, but there is so much more that I can do.

I decided that I need to change gears a little bit and focus on finding a job that has a positive influence on people. The only problem is that I'm not sure what I can do. I want to dive into something but as it's never been something I've researched a whole lot, I'm not sure where to begin. I'm sure a non-profit would work but how do I get involved on a level other than handing out fliers and calling people for donations? I don't need to make a lot of money but obviously it's a factor. Anyways, if you know something give me a call/email/comment/facebook message/text or whatever but I could use the help!! I know a lot of you are doing things along these lines and would love some input. As far as film goes I think I'm just going to focus on writing for a while and still do freelance productions but I don't think I'm going to keep sending out resumes to the Trya Show or MTV or NBC. When I look back at my life in however many years, I don't want to regret anything. I want to be able to say I did something good and made people's lives better.

Dr. King said, "Make a career of humanity... and you will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in," and, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?" Indeed.

Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

McCain is Senile...

It happens to a lot of old people. They start to lose their memory. They start to remember things differently. They are unable to answer questions that they are asked and instead go off on some tangent about nothing related. It's like on the Cosby show when Dr. Huxtable would try and tell a story about something but inevitably it would end up about his days at Hilman and when he was a kid. So it doesn't strike me as odd that it happened to McCain. He's an old dude and that's what happens to old people. They lose their minds. You ask them a simple question and you get a ridiculous answer.



I stole this from that guy over at the Revue but it's worth a repost.



Recently though, he has gotten out of control. Remember back in 2000 how McCain wasn't crazy? I remember thinking that I hope Gore wins, but McCain isn't the worst that could happen. That was almost a decade ago. Since then he crossed into his 70's and lost his mind. This guy is over 70 years old. I don't even want my parents to work in the yard too long or do anything too stressful because they're old and they are a decade younger than McCain. He has gone senile. He forgot everything he used to stand for and has lost all of his principals. I used to respect him. Remember when people wanted him to come over to to the Democrats? People thought he could transcend party lines. But he stayed on the Dark side. He's kind of like Darth Vader. He used to be good but then got too tempted by power. Then he became everything the Sith represented: power crazy and loyal to people who only cared about money and power. Right now he is at the point where he cuts off Luke's hand. He's got Han Solo frozen in carbonite and we are all just shocked at what is happening. Hopefully the rest of this election process goes like Star Wars did and the good guys win, but so far we haven't gotten to the good part when he comes to his senses and he throws the Emperor (George Bush) into the main reactor of the Death Star.



Anyways, I'm out. Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

26...

26 years old. It's kind of crazy. Mostly because I have accomplished nothing so far in my life. But I'm hopeful that this is going to be the year of accomplishment. Or at least I am going to wish it is. I'm not a huge fan of birthdays. I'm not sure why. I love celebrating other people's birthdays but not my own. When it's your birthday I'll be the first to start poring shots. But for me, it sort of feels like a big sham actually. I mean I can understand that people would want to celebrate my birth because I'm so awesome, but the general idea of celebrating it is kind of silly. Perhaps it because I feel unaccomplished that I don't think there's a whole lot to celebrate. Whatever the case may be, I appreciate the birthday well-wishes and thank you.

Also I just realized that my birthday is rarely on a weekend. Obviously it's the case for most people since there are many more weekdays than weekends, but I feel like my birthday is always on a Monday or a Tuesday which might be my two least favorite days of the week. No one wants to celebrate anything on a Monday. Which is why much of today will be business as usual. Laundry, gym, job hunting and then at 5 I am being surprised with my plans for the night. Not sure what I'll be doing but I assume it will be fun. I just hope there's cake...

-M,p,z & shredder

Uh...Um...

I can't speak for everyone here, but I can remember growing up and being told not to use the word 'um.' Not like it was a bad word, just that it made a sound that evokes an absence of thought. By saying 'uh' or 'um' you were decreasing the value of your words. I used to agree with this theory. It sounds silly coming out of my mouth. Mostly because I don't have a simple 'uh' or 'um.' I tend to say, "ummmmmmmmm uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Basically I sound like an idiot.

Never before has someone made the words 'uh' and 'um' sound so smart as when Barack Obama does it. It's actually strangely refreshing to hear those forbidden public speaking words. I have grown so used to the idiotic chuckle of Bush that I forgot what it was like when someone important speaks. W literally turned my brain into a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup. But hearing Obama use the words 'uh' and 'um' brings tears to my eyes. To think that there is actually someone out there who doesn't have every thing planned out is incredible. Someone who actually thinks about the words that are going to come out of his mouth. Listening to him answer questions is real. He takes his time to think about it and answers them with careful insight. As opposed to Bush who would make a joke about something that could possibly be slightly related and then move off topic.

Also, with less than 55 days to go, this election is getting real. I can't wait for the debates and I especially can't wait for the VP debate. Actually any debate. McCain is considerably outmatched when it comes to being able to answer questions and provide a real answer other than quoting some stump speech and Palin is gonna do about as well against Biden as I would. It's going to be interesting.



Is it just me or was he almost Michael Douglas a la The American President here. I feel like Obama has almost covered all of these areas in the last week or so. He's said about McCain recently, "It's not that he doesn't care, it's that he doesn't get it." "Let's talk about the issues." "Say what you want about me..." It's like the Obama camp called in Aaron Sorkin to write a few things down for them but Sorkin just told them to watch his movie...



Anyways, I'm out. Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

North Korea...

They don't play with toys. Are you serious? Whatever happened to the good old fashioned guns with bayonets. Kim Jong-il doesn't mess around. He went straight for the rocket launchers. It's like he's playing a video game like Command and Conquer. He's got a bunch of people up front with rocket launchers and then behind them it's the tanks and then behind them it's the bomber jets. This dude is crazy and anyone trying to mess with him knows it. Sources say he suffered a stroke. One can only hope.

Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

This Summer's Best...

So this was a pretty successful summer as far as movies go. There were some misses, but overall I kept going back to the theater week after week and was not disappointed. Now that Labor Day has come and gone, the summer blockbusters are also sadly done. We will have to wait until next year for what could possibly be even greater than this year, with the new Harry Potter, Transformers 2, Watchmen (!!! I hope...), G.I. Joe, Dragonball, Akira (maybe?). Too many to name but it could be insane. Before I can look ahead to next summer, I have to reflect on this one. The best movies of the summer. Another top 5 list...a couple honorable mentions are Hancock (I continue to believe that Peter Berg is one of the best working writer/directors) and Step Brothers which was hilarious. Much funnier than the two other big budget comedies, Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder.

#5 Hellboy 2
Great follow up the the first one. I thought the story was great but really, it was the visuals that did it for me. It might be one of the most imaginative, colorful, alive atmosphere I have ever seen on film. I have seen some great special effects before, but Del Toro is a master at them and really gave this movie every thing he had.

#4 Hamlet 2
Just barely got in before Labor Day, but this movie was hilarious. Not actually a sequel to Hamlet, but about a guy who writes a musical called Hamlet 2. Steve Coogan is hilarious throughout and the rest of the cast is just as funny though I can't help but wish my boy David Arquette had more lines. Probably the most fulfilling comedy of the summer. Definitely should be this years little Indie that could. Go see it! It's still expanding into more theaters and should be out for a while.










#3 The Dark Knight
I know, I know... #3? But the more I see it, the more I like Batman Begins better. Don't get me wrong. I loved the movie. I think Heath Ledger gave one of the greatest villain performances (or any performance for that matter) of our generation. He was The Joker. It was crazy good. But the story had so much going on, and yet not a whole lot at all. I thought they could have almost made two different movies out of this. I think the Two Face story line suffered a little bit because of the need to end that one and The Joker. No need to explain or recap, I'm sure you've all seen it at least once. I loved this movie, but it wasn't the best of the summer.


















#2 Wall-e
WaaaAAAAAAllll-EEeeee, indeed. What a great movie. In my book this is an oscar contender for best movie, not just best animated. It was great. Kind of amazing actually. If you haven't seen it, it might be playing in some theater near you. Go see it. Pixar continues to blow me away with great movies. I actually can't think of another studio that only puts out classics every time they release something. It's insane. Great characters, great story, great everything.




















#1 Iron Man
My favorite movie in forever. I was so hyped for this movie it was almost impossible to live up to my expectations, but somehow it surpassed them. It was perfect. I could have had a little better final battle, but I can't complain. The rest of the story was amazing. It held true to the comic even though it updated a little. I thought Terrance Howard could have done a little more to be like James Rhodes but hopefully he'll have that chance in Iron Man 2. Much better story and acting than The Dark Knight. I thought Robert Downey Jr. was as much Tony Stark as Heath Ledger was The Joker. Probably not an Oscar nod for Jr. but it was still something special. It comes out on dvd in a few weeks so if you never saw it in theaters, pick it up on dvd.

Anyways, I'm out. You probably don't agree but I've seen about every movie worth seeing this summer (though I lived in Michigan for most of the summer so I missed some indie releases that I feel would have made this list like Son of Rambow or The Promotion). Well, that's it. Go big...

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - Entourage ruled last night. I like where it's headed. I was worried after last season but it seems to have gotten back on track. Also that new series True Blood is awesome.

Double Standards...

Brown Guy posted this on facebook but in case you aren't friends with him (because he's a loser) or you just didn't see it, it's worth a repost. It's bananas.



-M, p, z & shredder

200 / Finally...

For a while I had been wondering what I would do as a celebration of my 200th post. Not really a huge milestone, but I like to celebrate all the little things in life. I was wondering if I should do a best of list, or a best pictures list, or even have someone else guest blog. But politics stepped in and gave me a gift.












(The artist formerly known as) Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick admitted to lying and resigned. Finally. After years and years of debauchery, he is gone. The times had a good article summed it up pretty well so rather than rant about his failings, i'll just quote them, "He agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice, pay restitution to the city of $1 million, give up his law license, forfeit his state pension and serve 120 days in the Wayne County jail. His resignation is to take effect within 14 days. All other charges were dismissed, and the judge scheduled sentencing for Oct. 28.

“He understands fully the agreement and agrees to be bound by it, judge,” a lawyer for Mr. Kilpatrick, Gerald Evelyn, told Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David A. Groner.

Judge Groner asked Mr. Kilpatrick, “Is this something you are ready to do today?” He added, “Do you have any questions?”“I have no questions about what’s going on today,” Mr. Kilpatrick told Judge Groner. Later, he said, “I lied under oath.”

It's finally over. Thank god. I'm out. Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

Here's a better picture of Kwame

Zack and Miri...

New red band Zack and Miri Make a Porno trailer. I'm not a huge fan of Kevin Smith. I like Chasing Amy alright, and Mallrats is pretty epic, but I really hate Clerks and the rest of his stuff. But I read an interview he gave a while ago about how he thought Seth Rogen was hilarious in all the right ways; unassuming, self-deprecating, comfortable and relatable. He's a guy's guy. He also loves the Altman inspired improv filming Apatow seems to have brought back. So I was excited for Zack and Miri, if for no other reason than I thought Seth could make it hilarious. That and I love everyone else in the cast (including and especially Elizabeth Banks). But this trailer almost made me pee laughing. I officially can't wait. After the somewhat disappointing Pineapple Express, I'm hoping this gets back to Seth making me laugh.



3 blogs in less than 24 hours? Who am I? Go big...

-M, p, z & shredder

Tetrachromacy...

So occasionally, when I'm bored, I'll leaf through some old blogs and examine my life and how little I've accomplished in it since I started this blog a few years ago (if you take it all the way back to my friendster-blog days). Sometimes I'll see something I've written and wonder why I'm such an idiot or why I thought anyone would care about the topic, but, more often than not, I just compile more evidence proving how much I rule. Sometimes though, I'll look back at comments and find links to people that have made comments that also have blogs that I wasn't aware of. Today I found one such blog. A friend of mine has apparently been blogging since last October, unbeknownst to me. So I decided I would read all of his posts. Luckily there was only 7. And they were pretty short. But one of them was great. I imagine that's the ratio for most blogs. 1:6. For every 1 awesome blog, there are 6 not so awesome ones. Not necessarily lame ones, but just ones that don't inspire thought. I try and evoke some sort of break in monotonous cognition, but I'm pretty sure a lot of my blogs are fairly inane. My point is, my boy had a blog that opened my eyes to something I had never thought of before and probably never would have if not for his post.

It was about Tetrachromacy and how we see things. How we actually interpret what our retinas relay to our brain. He is in dental school so I'm not actually sure if this is the right terminology or anything since my spellcheck is yelling a red squiggly at me. But essentially he says that our eyes aren't truly seeing what is out there in nature. We as humans are Trichromatic. Wikipedia says that, "Trichromacy is the condition of possessing three independent channels for conveying color information, derived from the three different cone types... The normal explanation of trichromacy is that the organism's retina contains three types of color receptors (called cone cells in vertebrates) with different absorption spectra." My friend essentially wonders if perhaps things aren't as they appear. He talks about the possibility of colors not being what we see them as but as completely different. He doesn't mention this, but I would imagine that it's comparable to the way dog's see things. Dogs are dichromats. It's the equivalent of having a red-for-green color blindness. Now what if we, as humans, are only seeing what we can with three color receptors. What if we could see things with 10 color receptors. What would Fall look like? Would people still match? Would everything change? Would anything change?
















I don't think I've ever even thought about this possibility. On the contrary, I've always secretly felt superior to people that are color blind (despite my obvious lack of eyesight (my contacts are like 3 inches thick)). It's assumed that there are species out there that have more than three color receptors, but what do they see? Could our brain process it if we were ever able to isolate the receptor and harness it into our own vision? Could we make polychromatic glasses? Would they be as lame as 3-D glasses? I'm kind of blown away right now. I've never thought of this before and it makes me wonder what else I'm not thinking about.

Anyways, go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - HS - blog more. the more you do it, the better you get at it. I suck at getting my thoughts across as well but over time, people get used to it. Everyone should blog. It might have been a passing thought to my boy, but it blew my mind. If all of you do that we can all blow each other's mind (that's what she said). Gross.

In a World...

Sad news in the world of voiceover today. Don Lafontaine, the legend, died yesterday. For those who don't know who he is, you've heard his voice before. He's the guy in the previews who says, "In a world where..." It hits hard to those of us who live for those words and see ridiculous movies that take place in random 'worlds.' He'd done over 5,000 movie trailers and 300,000 TV and radio commercials. It's kind of insane actually.

Go big.

-M, p, z & shredder