Check out Dead Exposure - Photo Project. That is, if you like to see people pretending that they're dead. Carol hates it when I do that and knows that grabbing my wrist to check my pulse will drive me snakey.

Check out SkyHigh Airlines. Perhaps Air Canada should take a hint or two from this airline. Challenge Seating looks like an attractive option.

No, it's not a real airline. It's a viral marketing campaign from AlaskaAir, but you know, an airline with a sense of humor just might work.

WFTV.com - Entertainment - Band Vows To Defy New St. Pete Law With Onstage Suicide
One less idiot?

Too bad about this, but it is rather rampant. I watched an Oscar screener copy of The Two Towers on DVD last February.

Can't affors a Segway? Why not build your own?

Watch it right here!

Kat T (who I believe is Japanese) sent me this. Perhaps it's a photo of her lunch. Who knows?

He's the Peanutiest! ICv2 News - Fantagraphics To Reprint The Complete Peanuts

NATURE: Orangutans: Just Hangin' On
Apparently these beautiful animals may be extinct in 10 - 20 years. That would be sad.

Who can forget Clint Eastwood's "Right turn, Clyde!" (12kb wav audio) from 1978's Every Which Way But Loose?

I had another great few shifts driving for the Vancouver International Film Festival. On Saturday morning I drove a dishevelled, party weary, Michael Cowan, the golden boy brit producer extraordinaire, back to the airport to fly out to London. We yacked a good deal and he told me to send him any scripts I finish. After that I picked up Rachel Rosen from the airport. Ms Rosen is one of the programmers for the LA Film Festival (which I may go to). On Sunday I picked up David Gordon Green the writer / director of All the Real Girls, featured at the Sundance Film Festival this past year. On Sunday afternoon I drove Bill Siegel the producer / director of The Weather Underground. We talked at length about Michael Moore, his antics at the Oscars and documentary film. I'm learning tons and do not regret spending a few hours of my life doing this.

The icing on the cake that was my weekend at VIFF was Carol and I seeing The Event co-written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald (seen at left in a photo I took last night as he was introducing his film), the director I drove from the airport on Wednesday.

John Cooper, a reviewer from Sundance said the following:

The terrific ensemble cast of indie veterans in The Event work in sync to maximize the impact of this highly moving film. Director Thom Fitzgerald is firmly at the helm, guiding an intricate, interwoven patchwork of relationships, friendships, and family ties that unfolds with sharp insight and dramatic flair.

The Event is driven both emotionally and politically by two opposing truths. Truth No. 1: Matt wants to die; his AIDS cocktail no longer works, his health is failing fast, and he wants to leave this earth with his friends and family around him. Truth No. 2: Choosing to die is illegal; Nick, a district attorney investigating the most recent series of unexplained deaths in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, is pushing hard to get to the bottom of the apparent suicides.

As with Nick's investigation, The Event raises as many questions as it answers. What is the responsibility of those left behind when a terminally ill person takes his or her own life? What good are laws and bureaucracy that don't serve us? Fitzgerald's response is to lay it bare and let all the voices be heard, leaving us to find it in the anger and discover it in the tears. The Event works on all levels, but none greater than the depth of emotion this beautifully rendered piece evokes about a man and the people who love him enough to help him die.

What a moving film and happily, one of the better ones that I've seen. It was an interesting experience being only 4 rows away from a film's director during it's showing. What an odd feeling that must be for him to see a crowd reacting to your work.

After the film the witty, but obviously shy Mr Fitzgerald took questions from the audience. He first mentioned the category 1 hurricane in Halifax, how the power was out there and that his car had been squished under a fallen tree. He was very candid about his choices in the writing, directing and casting of "The Event". I'm glad I stayed out waaaaaay to late to do this. What a gas.

CBC News: Hurricane Juan cleanup begins
I called Mom and Dad this morning and they're not at home. My bet is that they've gone out for a drive, Dad with his camera, to look at the devastation from the storm. I can probably expect to see some interesting photos in the mail.

According to my friend James people are driving the 30 miles from Halifax to Chester just for coffee due to the blackout and that there were hundreds of people in Peggy's Cove and on the Halifax waterfront watching the storm last night. He said, "Oh it's a hurricane, we'd better find a good place to watch it". LOL.

Blissfully unaware of injustices.

Thanks again to Jackson who must be extremely bored.

That's a big ship. Thanks to Jackson for pointing this out.His quote "very Titanic=esque....biggest ship in world....James Cameron call your office"

Yahoo! News - 'Whitey' from 'Leave It to Beaver' Dies
Thanks to Jackson for the heads up.

The Brits are the ones having all the fun. Now you can join in. Shoot him. He deserves it. You must kill him to see the full flash movie. Tee hee!

Anyway, if he's doing this as part of a 'spiritual quest' why does he feel the need to share it with the world. Since when did self agrandizement become a spiritual principle? I call rip off.

CNN.com - Writer George Plimpton dead at 76 - Sep. 26, 2003
Plimpton was best known for his writing of 'Paper Lion', awesome voice and self deprcating humor. One of my favourite pieces of his writing is the Sports Illustrated - 1985 April Fool's story of Sidd Finch the guru / one workboot wearing MLB pitcher who's fastball was recorded at around 167 MPH. Here's the story.

Yahoo! News - British Singer Robert Palmer Dies in Paris
Another 80's icon has passed away.

Check out 1cat.

You think your job sucks? Try these. Number one says it all.

I bought on of these. Let the games begin!

Last night was my first full shift as a driver for VIFF. I am so glad I did this. What an amazing experience I had. The BMW's I had the pleasure of driving last evening were fine automobiles to say the least. The 325i was a peppy little sparkplug that shot up Granville St to the airport like a cheetah with its ass afire. The X5 (I must own one of these) was the most luxurious ride I've ever been in. I loved all the gadgetry on the console especially the 5" x 7" LCD screen that displayed all the vehicle's vitals including GPS information.

The first person I met was Michael Cowan, a british producer who appeared to be a hybrid Fabio and Kato Kaelin type. He and his friend Peter, who has worked with Dario Argento, one of the great Italian horror directors, were nothing short of hilarious from the moment I emt them until I dropped them off at their hotels. They shared a variety of decadent move party experiences with me. There were tales of blackmail around XXX rated photos of famous actresses (names excluded of course) and talk of who's done what in the 'biz' and what I need to do to make my mark. First of all I have to tell people who ask if I am in the business that "Yes. I am a writer, an actor and a director", not that I'm a wannabe. LOL!

The last pick up of the evening was Thom Fitzgerald coming in from Halifax. Mr Fitzgerald is pictured at left with notables Olympia Dukakis and Parker Posey who starred in his film "The Event" that will be playing on Sunday the 28th in Visa Screening Room @ the Vogue at 8:00 pm. I am definitely going to go. He actually asked me to come!

I was shy at first and didn't want to irritate him with questions, but he said that Canadians are strange in that we seek permission to talk to people about things they like to talk about. After he said that I felt more at ease. We had a great discussion about zombie movies like Night of the Living Dead, directing film, writing and film budgets, and other movie business related banter. He's a man who chooses his words carefully, so I learned a lot from him during the trip from the airport to downtown. Especially interesting was that, if you want to and are creative enough, you can shoot a feature using any kind of video camera using your own cash. He told me I need to shoot some shorts (as was my plan) before I shoot my feature, but to go for it no matter what people say. I guess I'm headed in the right direction. I hope to buy my camera sometime this week or next.

I'm happy I volunteered already, and it's only been one shift.

Take a look at Zombie Pinups. I guess it was just a matter of time before there was zombie porn as well.

World Beard and Moustache Championships Carson City 2003
My hat is off to the efforts of these rather hirsute gents yet I must say that personally facial hair is not for me. I've had a goatee and moustache before but felt like I was dirty all the time so I shaved it off. Tasting the soup you had for lunch in the evening is gross.

Of course, beards are better than back hair but I suspect some of the guys at the link above are sporting both.

Oh look it's another movie based on a video game about zombies that will probably suck but I'll pay to see anyway.

A pompous preacher was seated next to a Newfie on a flight to Toronto. After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken. The Newfie asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him.

The flight attendant then asked the Minister if he would like a drink. He replied in disgust, I'd rather be savagely raped by a dozen brazen whores than let liquor touch my lips.

Thanks to Big Al Mac for the giggle.
The Newfie then handed his drink back to the attendant and said, "I didn't know we had a choice."

Injured David Lee Roth Cancels Shows
Poor Dave. What an awful time he appaears to be having. The guy got kicked out of Van Halen for being a jackass (twice), he's losing his signature main of hair to male pattern baldness, he's been busted in New York's Central Park buying heroin and has gone from rock star to lounge act. Now he's taken to beating himself with samurai staffs during shows that no doubt are playing to only 3 or 4 people wearing Van Halen T-Shirts and screaming for "Jump!". It's truly sad how far down you can go.

Gordon Jump of 'WKRP' and Maytag ad fame dies at 71
Thanks to Bill G for the link.

Here's a picture of a stoner who used to love to listen to Stoner Rock (He still does but now because he likes the music not because he's stoned). Rick here at work reminded me of a great site called StonerRock.com this morning. You can listen to K666 Radio or download tons of legal MP3z from the MP3Jukebox. He also turned me onto a band called Fu Manchu (their stuff is on StonerRock in the MP3 section) specifically the song Squash that Fly. There's nothing better to wake you up in the morning than a little acid rock. I think I'm having flashbacks listening to this stuff.

Play with a Lite-Brite for the first time since the 70's.

In the words of Chuff who sent the link, God help us all it's Ginger the CIA Bear.

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the 22nd Annual Vancouver International Film Festival as a driver. Above is my ID and festival pass (it's altered and numbered so don't bother forging one). It was office move day so I was driving a cargo van rather than a BMW (that will be for the rest of the festival). Tonight I'm going to the volunteer orientation meeting at the new VIFF office digs in the Crowne Plaza - Hotel Georgia. This promises to be an interesting few weeks. There'll be a gaggle of movie star types wandering into town for the festival and it's my job (as well as 45 other drivers in total) to pick them up. Possible well known Hollywood calibre attendees include, Barry Pepper (from Saving Private Ryan), Ian McKellen (Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films), Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet is one of my faves), Woody Harrelson (from Cheers of course) and many more. Other guests will include filmmakers from around the world. My bet is I'll be trampled by a group of Korean girls trying to get to a guest whom I've never heard of.

The people working and volunteering are pretty cool so far. I've met some interesting folks already. Volunteering are two lawyers (one finished school and unemployed and the other in her last year) and a 26 year old dentist from Mexico City. It only takes 5 years to become a dentist in Mexico! Eric, the dentist, is here to study 3D Animation and Film Making part-time at VFS. Here in Canada I'm fairly sure you have to have a Bachelor of Science degree, your MD and the a few years on Dentistry school. It should take no less than 10 years. NOTE TO SELF: Toothaches in Mexico can wait until you're back in Canada.

I'm really looking forward to this. Not being trampled but the rest of it. I'll do my best to document this here on my blog in pictures and words. As this week is also bonus week at work I hope to me buying a MiniDV cam so you may see some video later on as well.

Lorno the soon to visit Edmontonian sent this along.

Carol leaves the door open and they come in. She sent me this link where I can practice killing them.

Prove for yourself, whether you are in control of your right foot. It's worth a try... This is too funny! It works!!
While sitting at your desk make clockwise circles with your right foot.
While doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will rotate the opposite direction .

Thanks to Big Al Mac for the experiment.

CBC has done an interesting site on the Halifax Explosion.

According to this article ATI and NVidia are finally going to have some competition in the Grapics Card market. Hopefully S3 will enter at extremely lower prices as the are usually wont to do. As Chuff, who sent me the link said, "This could be good for all gamers". A little healthy competition sure can't hurt the consumer any.

Talk Like a Pirate Classic Thong | Powered by CafePress.com

Lance and Jackson passed this along (of course).

Dixie Chicks aircraft in scare An aircraft carrying the American country rock band the Dixie Chicks has been involved in an accident at Glasgow Airport.

Thanks to Lance for the link. And yes, I know I spelled the name wrong in the title.

Bill G sent a new slogan for the Ag Bank of Mongolia. "Your Money's Safe With Us."

Har Har Mateys! Avast! 'Tis Talk Like A Pirate Day this day. 'Ar. We hopes you find treasure in all you do this fine mornin'. Trim the sails, batten down the hatches on the poop deck and sail toward the sun.

Punk 77! Punk Rock In The UK 1976-1979 - Punk Music Lyrics Punk Bands Fashion Girls Pictures audio punk.

This one's for Carol who likes bands like 999 and of course the Sex Pistols and The Clash. And also for Pauly, a punk of the lowest order. Oi!

I want a Scuba Bike. That looks fun!

Check out The All-Natural Prank: Eating All-Natural Soap, Cat Food, Deodorant, and Aphrodisiacs.

This guy does it for you presumably so you don't have to, but I suspect there is some underlying mental illness or emotional scarring from a traumatic childhood present here.

Are you just plain stupid? Need help making change? FunBrain.com's Change Maker is a great place to practice. I'm so retarded when it comes to math it's a great place for me.

Murder charge in tomato-chucking case
Thanks to Kat T for the link.

Goes right for your mouse


Thanks to Pauly for the pic.

Poor David Blaine. He's publicly starving himself for your entertainment and those bloody rude brits won't leave him alone. Laser pens keeping him awake and food items tossed at his plexiglass box hanging over the Thames must be making him insane. Oh right. He already was. Never mind.

I think the funniest is the remote control toy helicopter sent to dangle a cheeseburger in front of him.

He's going to need a little time away in the country after this stunt.

Thanks to Kat T for the link.

Making a video screen out of thin air

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- In a museum in Tampere, Finland, Ismo Rakkolainen's fog machine conjures up the Mona Lisa on an invisible sheet of water particles.

HBO: Carnivąle starts tomorrow on Movie Central at 8:00pm Pacific. Looks like another winner from HBO.

Perhaps it is true that violence and video games go hand in hand. After hearing about one guy I play online games with I'm not too sure any more. Damon Weston Bates, who goes by the nickname Evil Scrub gaming, and another man are being held without bail in Auburn CA on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in the beating death of a man near downtown Auburn. Apparently the whole incident occured over a purse allegedly being stolen by the victim.

Here's the original story and the follow-up.

Frankly, I'm rather unsettled by the whole thing. To think that someone I've chatted with online a number of times may be a murderer is really freaky. Another online friend who actually knows the guy 'face to face' was surprised that this happened, saying 'I've know him for just under 2 years or so... you would think long enough to really know someone... but I guess not.'

Like my buddy said none of us really knows anyone else or what they're capable of, no matter how long you've known them.

According to this article the typing mistakes I constantly make don't matter as long as the first and last letters of an English word are correct the word is still legible. The post itself is written that way and was surprisingly easy to read.

If you can't bring yourself to type like me, type out your text correctly and let this word scrambler make a mess of it for you.

Ins't tihs fun. I cna't bleevie how cazry tihs is.

Ever need a quick rundown of all the fonts on your computer? As a designer I use different fonts everyday. The STC :: fontBROWSER :: is a really cool way to see what fonts I have installed and quickly see samples.

Check out the latest Star Wars Kid movie right here. It's a 3.4mb WMV file. It's well worth the download. I'm still giggling.

For other Star Wars Kid flicks and updates go to starwarskid.com.

Newsday.com - Amy Fisher Weds, Calls It 'Happy Ending'
Thanks for the link Lance.

Tommy Chong was thrown in the clink for nine months for selling boings on the Internet. Bongs? That is the most retarded thing I have heard today. Nine months for selling bongs? That's ridiculous. You might as well throw the board of directors for Zig Zag in the slammer forever.

My work buddy Jackson wrote a piece for MensNewsDaily.com. Some intersting thoughts. Nicely done Jackson.

Some friends asked this question today in a forum I read. So, I went looking for the answer. I found a great definition here with some links. To quote:

blog

Definition
A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.

Information
A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.

People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.

Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files.

Synonyms
web log

weblog

If you want to create a blog for yourself according to news.com the popular blogging site, Blogger.com, is giving users their advanced features for free. It was for fee up until this announcement.

Yahoo! News - FCC Says Shock-Jock Stern Qualifies as Newsman
I think this is great leap forward for the FCC. Especially consdiering their extreme conservative tendancies in the past. Hooray for Howard!

It's OK to rub your crotch on a security guard's head. Thanks goodness for Marilyn Manson and his free-speech activism.

OMG! This makes me feel seasick.

My inner child is older than I am by 11 years. How sad. How old is yours?

I'm really busy today. Crazily so. I thought I'd throw you out a bone in the form of Stealth Disco. Remember, the 70's are right behind you.

The brazen airport computer theft that has Australia's anti-terror fighters up in arms - smh.com.au

Thanks to Liam for the link.

Man killed in roller coaster accident at Disneyland

ANAHEIM, California (AP) -- A locomotive broke loose on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster Friday, killing a man and injuring 10 other people, officials said.

I abhorred roller coasters before this. Now? Not in a million years.

Speaking of farts. Check out Pull My Finger Farting George Bush Doll from Prank Place.com.
Thanks for the link Lance.

As a driver the Vancouver International Film Festival. I got my Class 4 Unrestricted (chauffeur's licence) when I was working with mentally handicapped folks so I could drive folks around in the van. I thought it would never come in handy again. Now it has. I get to drive people from the airport to their hotels, around to events and other things. I get to ride in style as well. BMW is sponsoring the festival this year and drivers will be touring around in BMW X5's which just happens to be my dream car! Look at this vehicle and the specs:


Too bad I have to give it back, but oh well. It's going to be fun. I may get to meet attending celebs and film industry mucky mucks. A couple of examples are Barry Pepper of Saving Private Ryan fame and Spiderman creator Stan Lee. You can be sure I'll post some of my escapades and (of course) photos on this blog. Weeee!

Web company erases parts of Maritimes Thanks to Donnie Mac for the update.

Yahoo! News - Ohio Amish Community Shaken by Shooting
Apparently, one vigilante motorist didn't take too well to having his car pelted with tomatoes.

Thanks to Lance (the birthday boy sharing his big day with Beyoncé Knowles who's 22 today) for the link.

Above is a picture of the bank robbing pizza man who was blown up by a necklace bomb while waiting for the bomb squad to come diffuse it. Police are still baffled by the case.

By the looks of this map Cape Breton and PEI have sunk into the sea.

Thanks to Big Al Mac for the link.

Was it you? The sheriff wants to know who put poop in the chili.

Kat T sent me this link and this link about more whacky wedding hijinx. Maybe Mars' being extra close has had some weird effect on those attending nuptials this summer.

ISLAMIC JIHAD are in Haiti recruiting a zombie army to invade the United States in a nightmarish reprise of 9/11, intelligence sources in Washington have learned.

Thanks to Jackson for the heads up on this important piece of news.

I remember Goofus and Gallant from the Highlights magazines my sister and I subscribed to and read in dentists offices as kids. Gallant was nice and polite, Goofus was rude and inconsiderate.

Looks as though my suspicions about Bowling for Columbine were right on the money.

It's true according to CNN. Have a nice day.

Jackson has turned me on to ( Dead Like Me ) A TV series from Showtime.

Here's the plot summary from IMDB:

"Meet Georgia Lass (who prefers to be called George). She is a young Seattle college dropout who is unhappy with life. She is always at odds with her mom, Joy. One day coming back from her temp job as a filing clerk, she is hit by the toliet seat of the re-entering Space Station Mir. Finding out she is now dead, she is recruited to become a grim reaper. As in life, she is a pain in the butt in death. She does not like the details of her job, and is always at loggerheads with her boss Rube. Her fellow grim reapers don't really take much of a liking to her either. She also learns grim reapers don't even get a free ride in death, as they must hold down regular jobs along with their death duties."

The Pilot is playing again on Movie Central here in Canada at 6:30 pm on September 4th.

PCWorld.com - Answer Line: How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data "It's a big job, but it can cure Windows' creeping decrepitude; plus, sudden reboots revisited."

Just so you know.

Want some Free PDF eBooks? Click here to get such classics as Heart of Darkness and Ulysses.

USATODAY.com - Co-worker of Pa. bank robber found dead
This is getting weirder and weirder.

Kat T sent me the CNN link with this story, but as you may know you have to pay to see video at that site, so here's the FOX news story with video. Eek! I wonder if this really was a murder or a bizarre suicide plot. I guess we'll find out over the coming days.