Saturday, November 2, 2013

Marketers who’ll do anything to get your attention!

  Good Day World!

 It isn’t easy getting our attention these days.

 There’s so much stimulus around that advertisers have to go to great lengths to sell a product, or an idea.

You never know when some viral urban campaign will come around the corner and whack you with some bizarre message.

More interesting ones may even capture your thoughts long after the first visual shock subsides. More often than not, it's just a smart product placement / promotion, but in some cases - truly subversive and genuine urban art.

Streets in Portugal seem to be the most often visited by creative mayhem:
(once you approach these stabbed victims, they will hand you a promo flyer.)

                                              In The Bathroom

                                              At The Bus Stop

In your local park protesting hippies stuck forever, due to a certain look

Well, you get the point. Nothing is sacred when it comes to advertising and getting a point across!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Friday, November 1, 2013

Breaking news! Shootout at LAX! 1 dead, 3 wounded!

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Tweets and more…

On the scene after shooting at Los Angeles International Airport

Following complete coverage on the reaction, via social media, to the shooting incident Friday at Los Angeles International Airport.

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9:20 a.m. This morning

A gunman shot and killed a Transportation Security Administration worker Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, federal authorities told NBC News. At least two other people, including a second TSA employee, were wounded, they said.

The authorities told NBC News that the gunman was in custody. It was not clear whether the shooter was among the wounded.

The shooting happened at a screening station where fliers show their IDs and boarding passes, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. The agent was shot in the leg, he said.

Federal authorities told NBC News that the shooter appeared to have a rifle or other long gun.

Witnesses and police said that the shooting happened at about 12:20 p.m. ET at Terminal 3, which serves Virgin America, among other airlines. Nick Pugh told NBC Los Angeles that he was waiting in line for security on the upper mezzanine when he heard eight to 10 shots.

“We were just standing there in line and somebody started shooting,” he said. “Everyone dropped to the floor and started crawling along the ground, abandoning their suitcases.” (Source)

Related:

LAX shooting: TSA worker dead after gunman opens fire inside Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 3

LAX Shooting Leaves TSA Agent Dead, At Least One Other Injured

RIP George Thorton: The Man who Blew up a Whale on the Oregon Coast

  Good Day World!

 I just returned from Vietnam in November 1970, and was watching television when I saw a news story that made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

(screen grab: reporter Paul Linnman - 1970)

Note: I was a combat engineer - Enemy Ordinance Disposal (EOD) – and knew my way around explosives. When I saw a sudden news break that some guy was going to blow up a whale with dynamite nothing could have dragged me from the room!

Eyes riveted on the tube, I watched reporter Paul Linnman (KATU-TV) standing near a dead whale on the Oregon coast as he explained how the country was going to get rid of the carcass. It was November 12, 1970. As I watched incredulously, there was a sudden boom and sand sprayed upwards with whale bits that covered the entire area – people, cars and buildings!

It was a miracle no one died.

The man who blew up the whale, George Thorton, died yesterday. I was surprised to find out he passed here in Medford, Oregon. I’ve only been a resident of Medford for six weeks, but I wish I would have known he lived here. I would have tried to see him. Not to interview him, but to ask him questions like how he arrived at the figure of 20 cases of dynamite?

George Thorton, for better or worse will always be remembered for the biggest bang of his career, and he will live forever in YouTube infamy. I think he got a bad rap and was left holding the bag on the whole incident. Sure would of liked to ask him if that’s what happened.

About the reporter Paul Linnman; after the news report aired, Thornton did not stay in touch with him. He’s now 66 and working as a news talk radio host. Linnman reached out to Thornton when he wrote a book entitled "The Exploding Whale and Other Remarkable Stories from the Evening News" in 2003 and on various anniversaries of the explosion, but the only response he got from Thornton was: "No, it seems like whenever I talk to the media, it blows up in my face." 

His words still echo:

"I'm confident that it will work. The only thing is, we're not sure just exactly how much explosives it will take to disintegrate this thing so the scavengers  — seagulls, crabs and whatnot — can clean it up," Thornton, wearing a hard hat, told Linnman on-camera minutes before the explosion. 

It didn't go as planned.

Bystanders were moved back a quarter of a mile before the blast, but were forced to flee as blubber and huge chunks of whale came raining down on them. Parked cars even further from the scene got smashed by pieces of dead whale. No one was hurt, but the small pieces of whale remains were flecked onto anyone in the area.

"The pieces that went into the air were of all sizes. The piece that flattened the car was about coffee-table size. But blubber is so dense that a piece as big as the tip of your finger can be like a bullet and kill you," Linnman said. "I'm so happy and so thankful that nobody got hurt, nobody got killed, because I don't think this thing would have lasted all these years had it been a more serious incident than it was."

To make matters worse, a large section of whale carcass never moved from the blast site at all. In the end, highway crews buried all the pieces and particles of the whale.

RIP George Thorton

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, October 31, 2013

School District Fumes at Rulings: Are 'Boobies' Bracelets Battle Bound for Supreme Court?

 Good Day World!

 The Supreme Court takes on the most burning legal questions of the day and makes decisions – often partisan because we do have a conservative court right now – on every imaginable issue.

 Serious stuff right?

 After all, the justices are the law of the land and their words are written into history – regardless if their decisions are about really important stuff, or really ridiculous stuff. The latter is the case here:

The court battle between two girls and their Pennsylvania school over "I (heart) Boobies!" bracelets could be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Easton Area School District board voted 7-1 Tuesday night to appeal a federal appeals court's decision that rejected its claim the bracelets are lewd and should be banned from school.

The case started in 2010 when two girls, then ages 12 and 13, challenged the school's ban on the bracelets designed to promote breast cancer awareness among young people.

The students, Brianna Hawk and Kayla Martinez, said they merely hoped to promote awareness of the disease at their middle school. They filed suit when they were suspended for defying the ban on their school's Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

In August, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision in favor of the girls, saying also that the district didn't prove the bracelets are disruptive.

Superintendent John Reinhart told The Express-Times of Easton he supports the board's decision.

"The Third Circuit Court has compromised administrators' abilities to intervene in what is and what is not appropriate in school," he said.

In court sessions, Reinhart had called the bracelets "cause-based marketing energized by sexual double-entendres."

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped the girls challenge the rule, said Tuesday night the school had been hinting that it would petition the Supreme Court.

"I'm just really surprised that they're so determined to fight this speech case of all speech cases," said Mary Catherine Roper. "(The bracelets) didn't cause any problems in the school."

School district solicitor John Freund said the district had the backing of the National School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania School Board Association. He said they and other organizations are "concerned about the implications of a hyper-sexualized environment," The Express-Times reported.

The lone board member to vote against the appeal said the district should just drop the matter.

"I think we should be done with it. Let it go. We lost 20, 30 times, I don't even know anymore," Pintabone said.Easton is one of several school districts around the country to ban the bracelets, which are distributed by the nonprofit Keep A Breast Foundation of Carlsbad, California.

article via US News

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Lakers Start Season With Big Win Over Clippers

 Good Day World!

 It’s my favorite time of the year again – basketball season! My favorite team (for over 50 years) is the Los Angeles Lakers, and I watched them play the Clippers last night on television. What a game!

The fact that they won without Kobe Bryant blew my mind. The Clippers are no longer a joke in the NBA and finished among the elite teams of the West last season. Chris Paul is one of the top guards in the league and no one can really stop him when he’s hot.

BUT….

 Lakers 116 – Clippers 103

 Fact: Last season the Lakers were swept by the Clippers (first time since 1975). This is how to start a season. Sweet revenge.

The odds-makers had the Lakers underdogs in the game. Big time. Some hoped the Lakers wouldn’t get beaten too badly.

Some surprising numbers from Laker’s bench last night: 76 points!

Henry led all scorers coming off the bench with 20 points. Farmer looked great with 16 points. Gasol looked confident and comfortable with a double-double. Young with 13. Kaman with 10. Big 3s from Jodie Meeks. Jordan Hill looked great. The starters didn’t play the last 15 minutes of the game. And Nash…well he looked old.

Here’s the 2013-14 LA Lakers Roster

#5 Steve Blake     Guard 6-3
# 24
Kobe Bryant Guard 6-6
#1 Jordan Farmar Guard 6-2
#16 Pau Gasol Forward/Center C 7-0

#2 Elias Harris Forward 6-8
# 7 Xavier Henry Guard  6-6
#27 Jordan Hill Center  6-10
#11 Wesley Johnson G-F 6-7
#9 Chris Kaman Center 7-0

#4 Ryan Kelly Forward 6-11
#20 Jodie Meeks Guard 6-4

#10 Steve Nash Guard 6-3
#50 Robert Sacre Center 7-0
#3 Shawne Williams Forward 6-9
# 0 Nick Young G-F 6-7

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Parts of Texas abortion law ruled unconstitutional – implementation halted

  Good Day World!

In the ongoing saga of Republican Texans against women, the score is 1-0…women.

Despite Gov. (what was that 3rd agency he’d get rid of if he were elected president?) Rick Perry’s efforts a judge called bullshit on the abortion law he rammed through the state house!

The entire law wasn’t struck down, but key portions of House Bill 2 were. But do you think Perry and his posse are going to sit back and let the Constitution win this battle? Hell no. He just promised to keep on trying to subvert it.

As we all know, this has become one of many recent GOP tactics…ignoring laws, like the Affordable Care Act. At least Perry isn’t a representative in Congress to add to the polarization – Texas already has the Once and Future King in Ted “shut the government down” Cruz, a regional extremist fouling up the House of Representatives.

The sad thing is these GOP wackaloons will continue to waste everyone’s time and money because they seem to have a never-ending supply coming from king-makers like the Koch brothers. I can’t help shaking my head at the irony of the whole GOP, Patriot, Christian God, propaganda machine that isn’t even close to being in touch with what the majority of American women want.

Look at who is leading the charge…men. 

In the news:

In a stunning move, a federal judge Monday ruled that abortion restrictions authorized by Texas lawmakers in July are unconstitutional, and will not be implemented as scheduled on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel decided Monday that the regulations requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital impeded on the rights of physicians to do what they judge is best for their patients and would unreasonably limit a woman's access to state abortion clinics.

"The admitting-privileges provision of House Bill 2 does not bear a rational relationship to the legitimate right of the state in preserving and promoting fetal life or a woman's health and, in any event, places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her," Yeakel wrote in his decision.

Although Yeakel ruled that Texas could regulate how a doctor prescribes an abortion-inducing pill, he said the law did not allow for a doctor to alter treatment taken in order to best safeguard the health of the woman taking it.

Therefore, he barred the provision of the law mandating that doctors abide the Food and Drug Administration’s procedure for drugs in all cases, according to the Associated Press.

He wrote: "The medication abortion provision may not be enforced against any physician who determines, in appropriate medical judgment, to perform the medication-abortion using off-label protocol for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.”

Yeakel's decision comes four months after Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis, now a candidate for governor, staged a dramatic 13-hour filibuster against the proposed restrictions, widely considered among the most stringent in the country.

The filibuster forced Gov. Rick Perry to order a second special legislative session for the Republican-dominated Legislature to pass the controversial law.

In a statement, Davis said she was “not surprised by the judge’s ruling.”

In a statement, Gov. Perry said that Monday’s ruling “will not stop our ongoing efforts to protect life and ensure the women of our state aren't exposed to any more of the abortion-mill horror stories that have made headlines recently. We will continue fighting to implement the laws passed by the duly-elected officials of our state, laws that reflect the will and values of Texans.”

via NBC News

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, October 28, 2013

Fundraiser to save endangered black rhino auctions the right to kill one!

Group Auctions Off Chance to Hunt Endangered Rhino

 Good Day World!

 This is not a tough quiz.

 What do you do when you want to save an animal that’s nearly extinct?

 A. Hold a fundraiser and auction off original art displaying the animal you’re trying to save?

 B. Put the last of the species in a zoo and hope it’ll reproduce?

C. Find one of the last survivors of the species in the wild and hold an auction to “legally” hunt it down, kill it, and mount it on the highest bidders trophy wall?

If you said C you’re right…there’s actually people this stupid in the world! Let me introduce you to the Dallas Safari Club. It’s preparing to auction off an opportunity to hunt an endangered black rhino in Namibia -- to benefit the Save the Rhino Trust.

"This fundraiser is the first of its kind for an endangered species," Ben Carter, DSC executive director, said earlier this month in a statement announcing the auction.

Hard to believe. This is reality. This is where we’ve come in the 21st century. Killing off each species until the day comes to raffle the last of it’s kind comes. Elephants, apes, and lions. One-by-one. Smiling wealthy hunters sharing stories of the old days when animals were once plentiful.

Pretty damn sad, isn’t it?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Meet the Treehopper ‘Helicopter’ from the Steamy Jungles of your Mind!

Good Day World!

Don’t you love bugs? Especially weird looking ones? I’ve gathered up a collection of the little creepies just for you!

Meet The Treehopper "Helicopter" from the Steamy Jungles of your Mind

Sure, Salvador Dali came up with some lovely surreal forms in his art, but this thing blows them all out of the water!

Seen in Berlin's Museum of Natural History, this is the Brazilian Treehopper, or Bocydium globulare - a real living insect, which only pretends to be an alien helicopter.

(image of Treehopper: Nick Currie)

Other insect replicas by Alfred Keller were damaged or lost during the Second World War, but this sculpture was preserved by Berlin's Naturkundemuseum - a perfect find for modern concept artists and game designers!

Here’s some bizarre insects (see Best Bugs in the Universe for example), but seeing Bocydium globulare may very well re-define your concepts of what constitutes "weird" in nature.

(images: Vera Wald)

Patrick Landmann shows some more of these weird cicada-related creatures (below)

(images credit: Patrick Landmann/Lightmediation)

Orchid mantis is shy... but pleased to meet you.

(image credit: Igor Siwanowicz,)

Offer it bits of a banana, it loves to nibble on bananas. (more info)

 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Blog Break Until Presidential Election is Over

I finally hit the wall today. I can't think of what to say about all of the madness going on in this country right now. I'm a writer...