nightmare on bora bora way

"The body of Mostafa Mahmoud Zayed, 75, an apparent suicide, sat decomposing on his Marina del Rey balcony for days because neighbors thought the lifeless figure was a dummy and didn't call police." -LA Times

I came across this rather chilling article posted in the LA Times. Mostafa's body lay decomposing over a chair on the balcony of his third floor apartment on Bora Bora Way in Marina Del Ray. His body sat there for three days from a gun shot wound to the eye. Local cameraman, Austin Raishbrook noted, "the body was in plain view of the entire apartment complex and they all didn't do anything. It's very strange. It did look unreal, to be honest". What an eerie start to the Halloween holiday season.

"i'll eat you up, i love you so"

Where was I at twelve am last night? Sitting in a movie theatre watching the release of Spike Jonze's much anticipated film, Where the Wild Things Are. Based off the classic childhood story, this movie takes everyone, young and old, off to a world of imagination and adventure. Movies are always more apt to be at the forefront of scrutiny when they are adaptations of literature. We are so quick to judge, we instinctively draw comparisons and pick out flaws. This film didn't skip a beat, it maintained a vintage mood to an already beautiful and classic story. The puppeteering of Max's Wild Things, added an overwhelming sense of greatness. This film keeps you thinking about it long after you've left the cinema. There is something truly magnificent about it.

television guidelines

We've all come across that little black box posted at the top left hand corner of the screen, with a [TV-Y7] or [TV-PG], although at our age we don't pay much attention to it.Television guidelines enable parents to screen appropriate shows for their children. This filtering system is designed by producers and television networks. But what does it all mean? Well I've found the answer at, of course, http://www.tvguidelines.org/. It goes into detail over each rating, breaking that little black square into two segments: audience and content label. The content label seems like common sense, I sort of assumed Y7 was in reference to children seven years of age and older. But what I didn't realize was exactly what elements in a [Y7] show set it apart from a television show rated [Y]...

"It may be more appropriate for children who have acquired the developmental skills needed to distinguish between make-believe and reality. Themes and elements in this program may include mild fantasy violence or comedic violence, or may frighten children under the age of seven."

This is the difference between Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob Square Pants.

creative advertising

I envy the creative genius behind a rare sum of advertising campaigns. You know those ones you seldom come across. They aren't obnoxious or boisterous. They are subtle and clever. In many ways it's a sigh of relief. You don't feel cheated or abused. You're drawn in to a product that seems valuable and worth your time. Yves Bahr once said, "advertising is a price companies pay for being unoriginal." Isn't this the truth! I'm always coming across advertisements that are such a waste of time and money on products that are so unnecessary.. (Snuggie™).

I present to you, a breath of fresh air..

movie-a-minute

Lately, it seems that the one thing we are running out of is time. We strive for efficiency in everything we do. Cooking, cleaning, working, entertaining... with almost all of our routine tasks we struggle to save time. We assume that the more we can fit in during one day, the better our lives will be. I recently came across a website that is allowing even the simplest of pleasures to take us a mere minute! Welcome to Movie-A-Minute. That's right. For those of you who hate sitting in front of your television or driving all the way to the theatre to catch a two hour flick--you're problems have been solved.

Yes, of course, this website is a farce. I found it delightful and I love the way it pokes fun at some of my favorite films. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate films for what they are. But, I can't help but to laugh at the fact that we've become a society obsessed with cramming it all in.

Btws, I particularly enjoyed their minute synopsis on Reservoir Dogs, Notting Hill, Lost in Translation, Speed and Erin Brockovich.