22.5.04

Humanitarian woes 

Humanitarian aid agencies informing the media are once again the only source of our news into the 3rd world.  The government, if left to themselves, would scarcely report on human suffering outside of our 1st world - why would they bring up issues in the 3rd world, when they can talk about the latest union strike?  The international community has reacted very slowly to the slaughter of a million people in Sudan.  Our governments focus on winning the latest election and get around to doing other items after someone wins a seat.  Why can we not see that improving life all over the world has a direct impact on the health of not only our country and economy, but also creates a willingness in other countries to support our efforts.  'Leading by example' is not some quote that learned men and women throw around lightly.

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/22/2004 03:38:44 AM

Canadian Supreme Court Concerns 

2 concerns, each of them rulings by our highest court. 
 
Ruling 1: Gag law in effect for 3rd parties advertisements during elections - so parties can say what they want, but there are no 3rd party influxes - what if the First Nations want to push rights or land ownership issues?  What if veterans want to speak out against a policy?  People in this coutry deserve to know what others are thinking about politicians running for office - sure there are other methods to get your point across, but most people watch, listen or read the newspapers to get this information - and don't trust the media to publish every point raised by interest groups.  People in this country are not sheep - they can think for themselves.
 
Ruling 2: Plants that are modified via gene therapy can be patented and the owning company can sue farmers for growing it.  Unfortunately, we have gone patent crazy - patents have taken over every day life - whether or not the seeds from Monsanto actually blew into Schmeiser's field, patenting genes leads us down a dangerous road where any genetic combination could be patented and then used against companies doing legitimate work to reduce strife - either in feeding third world nations or in such simple things as growing local food.  Farmers will never be able to ensure that their crops or livestock are genetically identicle - nor should they have to.  Only the banning of patenting on genetically modified organisms from the five kingdoms will halt this trend.

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/22/2004 03:27:45 AM

19.5.04

Canada's hopes riding on the Calgary flames 

Another amazing win puts Calgary into the Stanley Cup for the first time in 16 years - not only this, all of Canada (except Toronto...they're still drowning their sorrows from losing out in the center of the universe contest) remains interested while 999 out of 1000 Americans lose interest (if they had any at all).
// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/19/2004 11:32:27 PM

BlogThis! and Google 

Never realized that Google owned Blogger - an interesting fact that I learned while looking at the options on the Google Toolbar. Another useful feature from these guys - click a button and post a blog...
// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/19/2004 11:31:28 PM

Gas and New Alternatives 

Why isn't our government looking farther than 4 years and creating a vision for this country?  Gas prices, although nowhere near Europe, are hitting new highs every year.  This will not change.  It is time for governments here to start funding high tech industries that will produce better, environmentally friendly, and non-internal combustion engines that run on gasoline.  Start enforcing dates for switchover, help lead the world into the 22nd century and create the industries here that will power that switch.

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/19/2004 02:52:17 AM

Something is foul in the province of BC 

Of course, its not the fowl - because they're all dead.  As a result of a mass kill due to the evidence of the (previously asian) avian flu, the federal and provincial governments ordered mass slaughters.  But will it really stop the outbreak?  Surely some of the local wildfowl must have now contacted the disease - and this new version mutates fairly quickly, so who knows...I predict within another year we will see a new outbreak - how many birds in the bush can the government kill, before the the one in the hand is no longer viable?  Many people have already lost their livelihood - wouldn't it be better to let nature take its course and come up with a natural antibiotic?  Although in an unnatural setting, where birds are forced into a cage, are forcefed, and then head off to slaughter for some chicken wings, may nature doesn't have time to do the right thing....the government should really look at putting free range as the only way to raise food stocks (chicken, cattle, or anything else).

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/19/2004 02:48:26 AM

Leave Iraq and risk civil war? 

Even though my comparisons to Greece were not that far off, I would prefer to see the US or a UN force remain in Iraq until things settle down.  Much harm has come to the Iraqi people during this conflict, but I fear that if a force does not stay to 'keep the peace', Iraq will be much worse off even in the short term.  The degeneration into civil war is very close and it is likely that it would end up not only splitting the country but we would also end up with a more tyrannical ruler than Saddam.  Woman's rights and education need to be brought to the forefront - as this is actually the one of the main driving force in a peaceful, democratic nation.

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/19/2004 02:25:31 AM

16.5.04

CIA Factbook 

And despite the fact that paranoid people probably won't go to this site, the CIA Factbook is a great resource for looking at coutries of the world and their general facts (not that I've checked for inconsistencies in what the factbook says and what other people say about the facts listed).
 
CIA Factbook

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/16/2004 03:40:29 AM

Michael Moore vs Disney 

An interesting battle playing about in media relations - isn't conglomeration vs publicity vs free press grand?
 

When You Wish Upon A Star... by Michael Moore

May 7th, 2004

Friends,

Thank you for all the incredible letters of support as my film crew and I once again slog our way through the corporate media madhouse. Does it ever end? Are we ever going to get control of our "free press" again? Can you wish upon a star?

The Disney spin machine has been working overtime dealing with this censorship debacle of theirs. I don't think they thought they would ever be outed. After all, they know that all of us are supposed to adhere to the unwritten Hollywood Code: Never tell the public how business is done here, never let them have a peek at the man behind the curtain.

Disney has been hoping for nearly a year that they could keep this thing quiet. As I promised on Wednesday, here are the details behind my sordid adventure with the Magic Kingdom:

In April of 2003, I signed a deal with Miramax, a division of the Walt Disney Co., to finance and distribute my next movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. (The original financier had backed out; I will tell that story at a later date.) In my contract it is stated that Miramax will distribute my film in the U.S. through Disney's distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution. It also gives Miramax the rights to distribute and sell the movie around the world.

A month later, after shooting started, Michael Eisner insisted on meeting with my agent, Ari Emanuel. Eisner was furious that Miramax signed this deal with me. According to Mr. Emanuel, Eisner said he would never let my film be distributed through Disney even though Mr. Eisner had not seen any footage or even read the outline of the film. Eisner told my agent that he did not want to anger Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida. The movie, he believed, would complicate an already complicated situation with current and future Disney projects in Florida, and that many millions of dollars of tax breaks and incentives were at stake.

But Michael Eisner did not call Miramax and tell them to stop my film. Not only that, for the next year, SIX MILLION dollars of DISNEY money continued to flow into the production of making my movie. Miramax assured me that there were no distribution problems with my film.

But then, a few weeks ago when Fahrenheit 9/11 was selected to be in the Cannes Film Festival, Disney sent a low-level production executive to New York to watch the film (to this day, Michael Eisner has not seen the film). This exec was enthusiastic throughout the viewing. He laughed, he cried and at the end he thanked us. "This film is explosive," he exclaimed, and we took that as a positive sign. But "explosive" for these guys is only a good word when it comes to blowing up things in movies. OUR kind of "explosive" is what they want to run from as fast as they can.

Miramax did their best to convince Disney to go ahead as planned with our film. Disney contractually can only stop Miramax from releasing a film if it has received an NC-17 rating (ours will be rated PG-13 or R).

According to yesterday's New York Times, the issue of whether to release Fahrenheit 9/11 was discussed at Disney's board meeting last week. It was decided that Disney should not distribute our movie.

Earlier this week we got the final, official call: Disney will not put out Fahrenheit 9/11. When the story broke in the New York Times, Disney, instead of telling the truth, turned into Pinocchio.

Here are my favorite nuggets that have come out of the mouths of their spinmeisters (roughly quoted):

"Michael Moore has known for a year that we will not distribute this movie, so this is not news." Yes, that is what I thought, too, except Disney kept sending us all that money to make the movie. Miramax said there was no problem. I got the idea that everything was fine.

"It is not in the best interests of our company to distribute a partisan political film that may offend some of our customers." Hmmm. Disney doesn't distribute work that has partisan politics? Disney distributes and syndicates the Sean Hannity radio show every day? I get to listen to Rush Limbaugh every day on Disney-owned WABC. I also seem to remember that Disney distributed a very partisan political movie during a Congressional election year, 1998—a film called The Big One... by, um... ME!

"Fahrenheit 9/11 is not the Disney brand; we put out family oriented films." So true. That's why the #1 Disney film in theaters right now is a film called, KILL BILL, VOL. 2. This excellent Miramax film, along with other classics like Pulp Fiction, have all been distributed by Disney. That's why Miramax exists -- to provide an ALTERNATIVE to the usual Disney fare. And, unless they were NC-17, Disney has distributed them.

"Mr. Moore is doing this as a publicity stunt." Michael Eisner reportedly said this the other day while he was at a publicity stunt cutting the ribbon for the new "Tower of Terror" ride (what a pleasant name considering what the country has gone through recently) at Disney's California Adventure Park. Let me tell you something: NO filmmaker wants to go through this kind of controversy. It does NOT sell tickets (I can cite many examples of movies who have had to change distributors at the last minute and all have failed). I made this movie so people could see it as soon as possible. This is a huge and unwanted distraction. I want people discussing the issues raised in my film, not some inside Hollywood fracas surrounding who is going to ship the prints to the theaters. Plus, I think it is fairly safe to say that Fahrenheit 9/11 has a good chance of doing just fine, considering that my last movie set a box office record and the subject matter (Bush, the War on Terror, the War in Iraq) is at the forefront of most people's minds.

So what will happen to my movie? I still don't know. What I do know is that I will make sure all of you see it by hook or crook. We are Americans. There are a lot of screwed up things about us right now, but one thing that most of us have in common is that we don't like someone telling us we can't see something. We despise censors, and the worst censors are those who would dare to limit thoughts and ideas and silence dissent. THAT is un-American. If I have to travel across the country and show it in city parks (or, as one person offered yesterday, to show it on the side of his house for the neighborhood to see), that is what I will do.

More to come, stay tuned.

Yours,

Michael Moore


// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/16/2004 03:34:18 AM

Cheesy recipes 

If I'm going for fluff, here's where I begin...
 
Cheesy Salmon Casserole
 
Ingredients:
2 tins salmon
1 tblsp lemon juice
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup soft bread crumbs or rolled oats (I use oats)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dill or parsley flakes
1 tin cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk to dilute soup
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Empty tins of salmon with juice into large bowl.  Mash skin and bones well and flake salmon.  Sprinkle with lemon juice.  Add remaining ingredients except soup and milk.  Blend thouroughly.
Spoon mixture into 4 1/2" x 8 1/2" x 3" loaf pan (although I used a glass casserole dish and it worked fine).  Back 30 to 40 minutes until edges are browned and centre firm.  Unmold onto warmed serving platter: keep hot.
Optional:  Dilute soup with milk, heat and pour over salmon loaf.

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/16/2004 03:27:38 AM

Email publishing...and site metering pitfalls 

Here goes for my first email publish.
 
Site metering is fine if you have a constant flow of people to your site.  But what if you never update your site (for instance, me), and you get no people looking at your site?
 
Depressing is one word that comes to mind...but should this make me more proactive?  Or should I give up?

 
Footnote:Email publishing is grand...I'll have to see whether this coerces me into publishing more often...way to go Blogger

// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/16/2004 03:23:38 AM

Blogger has changed...kind of... 

Blogger.com changed their site recently (ok I don't know when, because I haven't published anything in the last month or so). But I'm not really sure what changed, other than a different look. And apparently, I can publish via email now...have to give that a try. And publishing takes longer than before...but there's a cool icon which lets you know how far it has progressed.
// posted by BlasterBaby @ 5/16/2004 03:11:23 AM

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