Klatu verata niktu: Entertainment

Microscopic Art

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:02:49 GMT

Another one of those "too cool not to share" finds...

Willard is a resident of Birmingham, England and has a learning disability (Dyslexia) but has talented hands. He makes the sculptures out of dust particles, sugar crystals, etc.

Apparently, Willard works only around midnight, and can only do some of the work between heartbeats.

Some samples of Willard's wonderful art...

The Thinker on the head of a pin	Elvis on a pin head
Boxing ring next to a match head	The royal court in the eye of a needle
Snow White & The 7 Dwarfs in the eye of a needle (Note the wicked witch on top)	Girl with balloon is standing on an eyelash glued to the top of a needle.
The Statue of Liberty in the eye of a needle	Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, etc. on a small fishhook
Visitors view exhibits through a microscope

Simply Amazing

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 05:05:42 GMT

These videos are just so damn impressive, I had to share them with everyone...

George Harrison's "As My Guitar Gently Weeps" performed on Ukulele

by Jake Shimabukuro

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=829401773913198414&q=label%3Askillz

Breakdancing: Popping and Locking done right!

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-8787098659578544445&q=label%3Askillz

Are TV Characters' Salaries Realistic?

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 03:31:10 GMT

This article is lifted from MSN. I thought it was interesting enough to share with you, and it is apropos of yesterday's blog about wealth distribution in America. Since that post enflamed so much passion and raised the ires of a few, I thought shifting to a more emotionally distant context might be a good reprieve. :)

Are TV Characters' Salaries Realistic?

By Laura Morsch, CareerBuilder.com

Think back: When was the last time you saw Carrie Bradshaw chopping vegetables or preheating an oven to cook herself dinner on “Sex and the City?” How about shopping on the clearance rack or setting foot inside a discount store?

Nope, Carrie is a Prada-buying, cosmopolitan-drinking, Manolo Blahnik-collecting kind of girl. She eats out constantly, resides in a roomy one-bedroom Manhattan apartment, and never seems to think twice before slapping down her credit card for more designer duds.

Even her job – sex columnist for a New York City newspaper – is glamorous. But don’t let the “Sex and the City” writers fool you: Carrie’s annual columnist salary wouldn’t come close to affording her that luxurious lifestyle (trust me). According to Payscale.com, a New York City journalist with 10 years of experience earns a median annual salary of about $57,000.

This kind of income-stretching isn’t unique to HBO. The “Friends” crew on NBC did some fancy budgeting of their own. For example, consider Jennifer Aniston’s character, Rachel Green. In the early seasons, the cash Rachel earns serving lattes – badly – at the neighborhood coffee joint manages to pay rent on an enormous New York apartment and feed her shopping addiction so well she becomes a style icon.

From Orange County to Wisteria Lane, TV characters always seem to be well-dressed, debt-free and driving expensive cars up to their pristine homes. But despite their alluring jobs, most of these characters would be solidly middle-class in the real world.

Here’s a look at how much your favorite TV characters would really be bringing home each year:

The Rich…
Even in the real world, these characters would be in the upper income brackets.

Simon Cowell, American Idol – Judge/Talent Scout
Salary: $34 million, according to the London Daily Mirror. Even though Cowell is a real person, his stratospheric salary is far from typical. According to Payscale.com, the average Hollywood talent agent with 25 years of experience would make $30,600.

Christian Troy, Nip/Tuck – Plastic Surgeon
Real-life median salary: $156,500, according to Payscale.com. Although Troy’s partnership is considered to be the best private practice in Miami, he would need a loftier-than-average salary to afford his fast cars and expensive suits.

Michael Bluth, Arrested Development – Acting Company President
Real-life median salary: $140,350, according to the BLS. Top executives can bring home the big bucks, but thanks to Bluth’s father’s dubious accounting practices, his paycheck might be a bit paltrier.

Sandy Cohen, The O.C. – Lawyer
Real-life median salary: $94,930, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). While a nearly six-figure median salary is nothing to scoff at, the typical lawyer can’t afford an oceanfront mansion and pool house.

The Posers…
Want a home, wardrobe and car like these characters? You might not get them with these jobs:

Homer Simpson, The Simpsons – Nuclear Safety Inspector
Real-life median salary: about $64,000 for nuclear power reactor operators, according to the BLS. So that’s how Homer affords all that beer…

Elliot Stabler, Law & Order: SVU – Detective
Real-life median salary: about $54,000, according to the BLS.

Sydney Bristow, Alias – CIA Agent/Investigator
Real-life median salary: around $50,000. The CIA keeps its salaries top-secret, but About.com estimates the typical starting salary for a CIA agent is between $34,000 and $52,000.

Gil Grissom, CSI – Forensic Scientist
Real-life median salary: about $44,000, according to the BLS.

Grace Adler, Will and Grace – Interior Designer
Real-life median salary: about $40,700, according to the BLS. Maybe Grace should be working for her rich, lazy assistant Karen, instead.

Susan Mayer, Desperate Housewives – Children’s Book Illustrator
Real-life median salary: $38,060, according to the BLS. Money might be a little tight for this single mother on Wisteria Lane.

John “JD” Dorian, Scrubs – Medical Resident
Real-life median salary: $37,000, according to an American Medical Association Report. If you break his salary down hourly, it just gets worse.

Laura Morsch is a writer for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

Where are the toons now?

Sat, 13 Aug 2005 18:17:46 GMT

Remember the cartoons of your childhood? All those colorful, quotable characters? Those heros of our youth that showed us a sarcastic, sassy, fun side of life that made you feel like you wanted to be a cartoon yourself and live in their little world?

You know, the ones that aren't "risque" or "anime" enough to make the cut these days

For those of you old enough, you know which ones I'm talking about:

- Bugs Bunny and friends

- The Smurfs

- The Flintstones

- Scooby-Doo and the gang (before that yappy Scrappy came along!)

- He-Man, Master of the Universe

- Superfriends

- Spiderman

- Batman and Robin

Well, it had to happen. These had to be replaced by crappy anime. Who in the hell likes anime anyway? Where's the humour? Where the wit? Is it all half-naked school girls and sexually deranged tentacled villains? And how about the jerky frame rates and the barely distinguishable facial features and huge soccerball eyes? What's up with that? Who in the hell likes this stuff? Obviously a lot of people who are not like I was when I was a kid.

Nay, the cartoons of my generation would not make the cut today. They are not filled with enough skin and inuendo to twist and distort the minds and perspectives of little boys and girls; to desensitize and program them into good little over-sexualized, materialistic, possession-hoarding consumers: a living support system for a wallet that can be dipped at corporate and government will.

No, indeed the purpose of my generation's cartoons was to stimulate the imagination and humour of children's minds... to present fun for the sake of fun, without trying to distort the viewer's self-image and instill them with a feeling of inferiority and desire of conformity.

Beware parents. Subtly and imperceptibly, your children are being programmed by all the messages and images that bombard them on a daily basis. I have noticed this trend for the last 15 years or so. I am not claiming some big evil conspiracy here. I'm just saying the obvious: "Sex sells". The only bad part is that now they are going after our children with this message. All this has an effect of destroying individuality by forcing our children to think that the only way they can be accepted by their friends and peers is by conformity to the image and ideals that are being presented to them.

From the perspective of having and raising children, do you think we are better of as a society today than we were a decade ago? Two? Three? Four decades ago?

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

And just to end on a lighter note, check out what's happened to our old favourite toons:

http://www.starterupsteve.com/funny2.html

The Wedding Crashers

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 07:24:23 GMT

I went to see this movie tonight. It is super funny. There are a lot of really great lines and comical situations. I'm not sure I'm a big Owen Wilson fan, but I thought Vince Vaughn stole the show in many parts of this film. Also, Rachel McAdams has a real genuine screen presence. I'm looking forward to seeing her in more films.

The comedy in this movie rocks. Go see it.