Of what it is Updates.

ofwhatitis.com has been a success so far. What started out as 1 website for everything soon became 3 different sites.

http://ofwhatitis.com

Creative commons record label and home base for a network of sites.

http://underthedog.com

Webzine quite similar to this one.

http://pickyourbattles.net

Political commentary from a non partisan slant.

ofwhatitis.com is now live and online...

http://ofwhatitis.com


I have a hideous splash page of only text right now with a link to my blog and the template of my blog incomplete but with a small amount of functionality.

http://ofwhatitis.com

Blogger has been a good experience but being an actual webpage master makes it a little harder to shirk responsibility... So update your bookmarks and feedreaders...

If you found this from a link somewhere, lemme know where that link was so I can get it changed...

Of what it is is moving...

To real hosting yall! I just sent off the order for my domain and a year of hosting. So you will see some changes around here. 1st off, I'll probably leave blogger for the greener pastures of wordpress. 2nd, a template change will occur. For the time being, I will be doing the bare minimum posting with box office, new crap Tuesdays and opening this week only getting done for now. I try to c and p a few new stories here and there but I can't make any promises though...

New Crap Tuesdays 3/27/07

DVD

Children of Men

Clive Owen stars as a burned-out activist in a hopeless future plagues by infertility and the spiritual devastation of a world with now future in Alfonso Cuarón's gripping adaptation of the P.D James novel. When his long-estranged wife (Julianne Moore), now the leader of an underground revolutionary group, enlists him for a mission, he finds hope and responsibility again when he is trusted to save the first pregnant woman (Clare-Hope Ashitey) in almost twenty years. Nominated for three Academy Awards, including one for Emmanuel Lubezki's magnificent cinematography, it co-stars Michael Caine an aging hippie hiding out in the forest, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Danny Huston, and Peter Mullan. Details: Color, 110 mins, Universal, Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1. Supplements: Deleted Scenes; Featurette: The Possibility of Hope; Featurette: Under Attack; "Children of Men" Comments by Slavoj Zizek; Theo & Julian; Futuristic Design; Visual Effects: Creating the Baby. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1) and Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional Spanish, French and English subtitles.

I'm considering owning this. I watched it twice in the theaters and I enjoyed it both times. Lots of goodies on this release...

Forget the trailer, watch these scenes and then tell me you don't wanna see this movie... Safe for work these clips are not...

The Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith earned an Academy Award nomination starring opposite his real-life son (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) in this drama inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman and single father who endures eviction and homeless shelters to complete a competitive unpaid internship for a long-shot at a big paying career. Directed by Gabriele Muccino, it co-stars Thandie Newton, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta, and Kurt Fuller. Details: Color, 117 mins, Sony Pictures, Widescreen anamorphic. Supplements: Father and Son: Onscreen and Off ; The Man Behind the Movie: A Conversation with Chris Gardner; Making Pursuit: An Italian Take on the American Dream ; Inside the Rubik's Cube ; "I Can" Song (audio only) ; Audio commentary with director Gabriele Muccino . Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1) and French (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional Spanish, French and English subtitles.

Rent this one, it's worth a watch but dear lord don't waste your money owning it.

Curse of the Golden Flower

(China) Chow Yun-fat is steely as a scheming Emperor and Gong Li fiercely determined as the Empress he's slowly poisoning in Zhang Yimou's spectacle of court intrigue, royal assassinations, and private wars in the 10th century. As the conspiracies develop, the loyal sons become forced to choose sides. Yimou directs it more like a lavish theatrical pageant than action movie, though the martial arts scenes are impressive. Jay Chou, Liu Ye, and Chen Jin co-star. Details: Color, 114 mins, Sony Pictures, Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1. Supplements: "Secrets Within" behind-the-scenes featurette; Los Angeles Premiere. Audio: Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1) and English (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional French and English subtitles.

I came into this movie expecting a movie with lots of action. There is a small amount of action but what this movie ended up being was "Marie Antoinette" with ninjas. Awesome use of color and damn good cinematography all around. Zhang Yimou directed "Hero" FYI. I recommend everyone watch this once...

Ha ha Chinese "rap metal" video with a song that is not in the movie but has footage...



Proper trailer...



MUSIC

J Dilla: Ruff Draft

I Haven't heard this one yet, but for those who don't know who J Dilla was, he was a very respected producer in the hip-hop community and he died recently. This is his third post humus release. Apparently there is a really rare ep of the same name and this is a VERY expanded version.

Adult. : Why Bother?

Sassy electro. I don't really like it. Sorry...

Box Office Report 3/26/07

USA Weekend Box-Office Summary
23 March 2007 (Sunday Estimates)
Rank Title Weekend Gross
1. TMNT (2007) $25.4M $25.4M
2. 300 (2006) $20.5M $162M
3. Shooter (2007) $14.5M $14.5M
4. Wild Hogs (2007) $14.4M $124M
5. Premonition (2007/I) $10.1M $32.2M
6. The Hills Have Eyes II (2007) $10M $10M
7. The Last Mimzy (2007) $9.5M $9.5M
8. Reign Over Me (2007) $8M $8M
9. Pride (2007) $4M $4M
10. Dead Silence (2007) $3.47M $13.2M

TMNT wasn't @ my theater, so dunno what the crowd was like, but I though the top movies would be mimzy or reign over me. I haven't seen any of the new releases yet so I dunno if they are any good. Oh well, it did better than pride...

Shutdown Day

I have planned to make Saturdays "editorial day", but this week, I'm just pointing you to this one site...


http://www.shutdownday.org/

Here is a pretty darn good one to share...

POLITICS: How Much for That Baby in the Window?

Mar 22, 2007 22:00:00 GMT


File this one under "unlikely to become law--riiight?" Texas state Senator Dan Patrick (R, as if you needed to ask) plans to introduce a bill to, get this, pay women $500 for their babies. No, I am not shitting you.

The bill proposes to create an "Adoption Incentive Program" which would give

a $500 payment to each woman who is a resident of this state and a citizen of the United States who places a child for adoption rather than have an abortion.


Once you get over the "did they just say pay women for putting their children up for adoption?" shocker, the practical--and, sadly, probable--reasons this won't pass start to come into focus. Obviously--obviously--the state of Texas doesn't want to just throw money around! And certainly not to birth mothers. So the money is only for women who place babies for adoption instead of abortion. But how would you ensure that? Obviously women who put babies up for adoption are unreliable sorts--they might just lie and say that they had chosen adoption instead of abortion in order to get the money. So the bill goes on to declare that

The department may only distribute the application forms to abortion providers.


So you're pregnant, you decide you cannot keep this pregnancy, you make an appointment with an abortion provider and you show up and there's a parental consent law (if you're under 18) and a mandatory 24-hour waiting period just to make sure you've thought about this, missy, and now they're also going to try one last ditch oh, hey, but would you reconsider if we offered you $500?

Honey, $500 isn't even going to pay for the extra groceries you'll eat during a pregnancy. Let alone the prenatal care, if you're not insured or on Medicaid, or the cost of the birth.

Senator Patrick, would you agree to take care of a neighbor's dog for nine months for a measly $500? Where the fuck do you get the balls to offer women $500 to rent out their uteruses and sell their children?

Bitch_PhD is pleased to find that we've advanced beyond the era when Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal; at least now a boy or a girl before twelve years old is a salable commodity.

Cross-posted at Bitch Ph.D.

(Written by: Bitch_PhD)

Bilboard for the movie captivity taken down.

I made it small because it is kinda gross...

They were put up in the morning and lasted till 2 pm.

A lot of people say the movie captivity is a torture porn movie, but when I saw the director also directed and produced the super mario bros movie, I knew it should be a little tame...

Either way I probably won;t watch it...

Opening this weekend 3/23/07

Stupid blogger screwed up the posts again....

What a busy weekend! 5 national releases for americans to spend their hard earned 6.50 matinee or 9 dollars regular. 2 childrens movies are coming out this weekend when there hasn't been much aimed at kids since 2 flops(Happily Never After and Arthur and the Invisibles).



Reign Over Me



Mike Binder director of "Blankman" is directing a feelgood movie starring Adam Sandler playing a very depressed person because lost his family to 9/11. I'll letcha know when I see it but I wouldn't take my chances on it.



&lt;object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U6H4oetp7p8"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;</param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U6H4oetp7p8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;</embed></object>



Shooter



Forgive me because I haven't seen tears of the sun and I love war movies. Who doesn't. I have heard that tears f the sun was awesome but I wouldn't know. This is big budget Hollywood for sure, Mark Wahlberg getting framed for the crime he is trying to stop and solving the mystery of the government conspiracy and clearing his name.



From the IMDB boards...

After viewing this movie tonight I have to give

an honest opinion. To sum everything up, Shooter was mediocre at best.

The whole plot was almost parallel to the movie 'Most Wanted' and

several others. The action sequences were fair, but were intertwined

with scenes of poor dialog and 'cheap humor'. By this i mean making

references to people like Anna Nicole Smith and other references that

seemed completly out of place within the context of the film. There is

also an undercurring theme of anti-americanism felt from this film.

Many times during the movie, there are quotes pertaining to the

'incompetence' of our government. Shooter tries to portray anyone

invovled with the government as a heartless, half-minded, cruel

individual. The acting by mark Whalberg and the rest of the cast was

again, mediocre at best. All in all, I would rate this movie a 5/10,

and if it wern't for a free screening I would not adivse paying 8.00 to

see this. Wait a month and a half for a DVD release.

In the movies defense there were people that liked it too...



&lt;object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5FLJPVMxCXg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;</param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5FLJPVMxCXg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;</embed></object>







TMNT



CGI, PG. Need I say more?



&lt;object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qTIEpH0inHs"&gt;</param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;</param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qTIEpH0inHs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;</embed></object>







The Last Mimzy



I never knew so much controversy could be in one movie. New Line is the studio putting this film out and apparently the Bob Shaye director is a real douchebag. Apparently he fired Peter Jackson from the hobbit. Who the hell fires Peter Jackson from the hobbit?



&lt;object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Osgk17NEBSI"&gt;</param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;</param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Osgk17NEBSI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;</embed></object>



Bohemian Rhapsody apparently syncs up with the trailer...



&lt;object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ghXPD7qXkMA"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;</param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ghXPD7qXkMA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;</embed></object>





The Hills Have Eyes II



I'm boycotting this movie because it has a rape scene. I don't like watching rape or torture in movies. That is all I care to say on the subject at this time

Powered by ScribeFire.

LOL Modest mouse is EMO and Issac Brock cuts himself

Issac Brock was seen cutting himself on stage at a show in Sioux Falls.

Video proof



Source

Speechless

Disclaimer: Jehovah's Witness' do not condone abusing children.

Source

Sadistic foster mother's 19-year reign of terror





















20.03.07

A

foster mother was found guilty today of subjecting three young children

to a "horrifying catalogue of cruel and sadistic treatment".

Eunice

Spry, 62, routinely beat, abused and starved the youngsters in her care

over a 19 year period. The devout Jehovah's Witness forced sticks down

their throats and made them eat their own vomit and rat excrement.

Eunice Spry regularly beat and starved children in her care

As

punishment for misbehaving, she would beat them on the soles of their

feet and force them to drink washing up liquid and bleach.

Spry,

a pillar of her local community in Gloucestershire, staunchly denied

all the claims made against her and insisted the only physical

punishment she ever used was "a smack on the bottom".

But a jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted of a series of charges.

During

the four-week trial the jury heard some harrowing evidence detailing

how Spry had subjected the children to a regime of abuse.

The

three victims, known as Victim A, B and C, all gave evidence describing

how their daily routines were punctuated by random acts of bizarre and

sadistic violence at the hands of their foster mother.

Kerry Barker, prosecuting, told how Victim A, now aged 21, was imprisoned in a wheelchair by the woman following a car crash.

The child's hand has been rubbed raw with sandpaper

Spry had tried to stop Victim A from trying to walk again following the crash so she could get more compensation money.

Victim B, also 21, told how her foster mother would pull her hair and shove her face in her pet dog's faeces as punishment.

Victim

C, now 18, described how his foster mother held his hand down on a hot

electric hob until it was left looking like a "gooey mess".

He

said he had been force-fed so much washing up liquid by Spry that he

could now differentiate between the brands on taste alone.

The

offences took place in two of Spry's homes in Gloucestershire between

1986 and 2005. Mr Barker, had told the jury: "On hearing the indictment

the word that probably sticks in your mind is cruelty.

"That is

what this case is about. It is a history of cruelty by Eunice Spry who

was an adoptive mother over a long period of time."

Face injuries of Victim A

The abuse was finally discovered after another Jehovah's Witness

secretly confronted the wheelchair-bound Victim A about marks to her

head caused when Spry rubbed sandpaper over her face.

Victim A finally plucked up the courage to report her foster mother to the police who quickly interviewed Victim B and C.

Mr Barker added: "The outcome of the interviews was a horrifying catalogue of cruel and sadistic treatment.

"Most of the acts were carried out as punishment; others were inexplicable acts of cruelty."

He said the children would be regularly punished for minor acts of misbehaviour.

Mr Barker explained: "They were made to eat lard and drink washing up liquid poured down their throats.

They called it home: Spry's foster children lived in squalor, with little in the way of comforts

"If they were sick (she) would make them eat the vomit and they were made to eat rat excrement."

He said that Spry would regularly beat the children on the soles of the feet with a "variety of sticks".

They would be "punched kicked and strangled", and if they cried the sticks would be forced down their throats.

Mr Barker said Spry used unusual punishments such as making the children lean against the side of a wall.

The bedrooms in which Eunice Spry's foster children slept were strewn with rubbish

If they moved, the soles of their feet would again be beaten with the sticks.

Full

cans of food would be thrown directly in their faces and they would

have their heads forcibly held under the water while in the bath.

Victim

A told how when she was a young girl her foster mother had fixed a sign

to the back of one her dress to cause embarrassment in public. The

message read: "This child is evil. Do not look at her or talk to her.

She wets the bed and is an attention seeker."

Victim A was

involved in a serious traffic accident in 2000. Doctors told the girl,

who suffered horrific injuries, that she would be confined to a

wheelchair for up to six months after the crash.

But medical experts who examined her soon found there was no physical reason why she could not walk.

Spry

refused a series of tests to find out what was behind the girl's

mysterious condition and deliberately hindered her recuperation in a

cynical bid to maximise the compensation payout she could get from

insurers.

In 2004, Child A fled from her foster mother and walked

on the very same day. She later confessed that Spry had forced her to

remain in the wheelchair since 2000.

Mr Barker said on one occasion Spry had forced Child C to place his hand over an electric ring on a cooker causing blistering.

He added that Spry was able to conceal her alleged reign of abuse as the children were home taught and not sent to school.

She has also terrified the children so much with her ritualistic abuse that they were too frightened to alert the authorities.

Spry

covered her tracks by forbidding them to be examined on their own by

doctors or dentists. She maintained her innocence throughout police

interviews and during the subsequent trial.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Band of the Week- 3/21/07-Jarvis Cocker

I heard a song in the credits of "Children of Men" and I could not believe my ears. It had the word "c___"in it. Granted people in Britain use it more often in different ways than Americans do, it still plays loudly and anybody walking by on their way to see "The Pursuit of Happyness" might be subjected to hearing the word "c___" at least once while the song played with multiple times possible should the person decide to investigate. Some people think it's a gimmick but I can't help but kinda agree with Jarvis Cocker when he says that they're "still running the world".

http://www.youtube.com/v/e_M22STINYw

Jarvis was the singer of the band Pulp. I think the thing they will be remembered for the most was the song on the "trainspotting" soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/v/1ukcPaOu804

Here is another video...

http://www.youtube.com/v/1ukcPaOu804

Powered by ScribeFire.

Technorati Tags: Band of the week, indie, music, review, video,

New Crap Tuesdays 3/20/07

Disclaimer... bl;ogger is being weird and I can't figure out why my post looks so funny...

Good week for music, not so much for DVD...

DVD

Blood Diamond:

I watched this movie in a sneak preview at my theater, it was pretty good. A lot of people were turned off by Leo DiCaprio's accent but I thought he nailed it. Plenty of action and blood plus plenty of downtime for the ladies. Some people called it heavy handed, I call it a good rent if you've seen evrything else.

Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave

Ha ha another ROTLD, the 5th in the series, I'm not sure if this is strait to video or what but I'm sure it'll suck... In a good way... Here is a crappy homemade trailer...

Music

I'll Sleep When You're Dead by El-P

By far the best Hip-Hop album so far this year. Lots of unconventional guests like cat power and trent reznor. Cop this one for sure...

Drums And Guns by Low

Pretty good stuff, these guys are pretty consistent and I have listened to it a bunch...


We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse
Well, I'm sure everyone knows by Jhonny Marr of the Smiths fame is an official member of the band lending his guitar and songwriting talents. I personally haven't liked this and the last record but if you are a fan of "good news" then you will love this one...

Living With The Living by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

I didn't like it... I think I already deleted my advance copy.

Box Office Report 3/19/07

USA Weekend Box-Office Summary

16 March 2007

Rank	Title	Weekend	Gross
1.	300 (2006)	$32.9M	$129M
2.	Wild Hogs (2007)	$19.1M	$104M
3.	Premonition (2007/I)	$17.6M	$17.6M
4.	Dead Silence (2007)	$7.84M	$7.84M
5.	I Think I Love My Wife (2007)	$5.67M	$5.67M
6.	Bridge to Terabithia (2007)	$5.19M	$75M
7.	Ghost Rider (2007)	$4.18M	$110M
8.	Zodiac (2007)	$3.29M	$29.1M
9.	Norbit (2007)	$2.77M	$92.4M
10.	Music and Lyrics (2007)	$2.27M	$47.4M

No surprises here, 300 is now 205th in all time box office scores. I did expect "I think I love my Wife" to do way better as well as "Dead Silence". Wild Hogs wouldn't be doing so well except for the fact that nothing else is out right now...

Opening this weekend 3/16/07

I Think I Love My Wife

Could be funny, one of the writers is Louis C.K. who has a pretty impressive resume...

Louis C.K.: Shameless (2007) (TV)
"Lucky Louie" (4 episodes, 2006)
"Saturday Night Live" (1975) TV Series (unknown episodes)
"One Night Stand" (2005) TV Series (unknown episodes)
Saint Louie (2004) (TV)
"Cedric the Entertainer Presents" (2002) TV Series (unknown episodes)
2002 MTV Movie Awards (2002) (TV)
"Comedy Central Presents" (2 episodes, 2000-2001)
- Louis C.K. (2001) TV Episode
- Dane Cook (2000) TV Episode (stand-up material)
Pootie Tang (2001) (written by)
Down to Earth (2001) (screenplay)
... aka Einmal Himmel und zurück (Germany)
Best of Chris Rock: Volume 2 (2001) (V)
... aka Best of the Chris Rock Show (USA: video box title)

Pulp Comics: Louis C.K.'s Filthy Stupid Talent Show (1999) (TV)
Tomorrow Night (1998)
The Legend of Willie Brown (1998)
"The Chris Rock Show" (1997) TV Series (unknown episodes)
"HBO Comedy Half-Hour" (1 episode, 1996)
- Louis C.K. (1996) TV Episode
"The Dana Carvey Show" (1996) TV Series (unknown episodes)
... aka The Dana Carvey Show Sponsored by Pepsi (USA)
... aka The Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show (USA)
... aka The Mountain Dew Dana Carvey Show (USA)
... aka The Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show (USA)
... aka The Szechuan Dynasty Dana Carvey Show (USA)
... aka The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show (USA)
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993) TV Series (unknown episodes)
"Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) TV Series (unknown episodes)
... aka Late Show Backstage (USA: title for episodes with guest hosts)
... aka The Late Show (USA: informal short title)

Trailer...



Dead Silence

Writer and director of Saw has a new movie about ventriloquist dummies that kill people... I might watch it but I am not going out of my way...



Premonition

Stay away from one till you hear from some other sucker who went to see it...




Still out...

300

Daaaaaaamn! 70.9 mil made last weekend! You must be under a rock if you didn't see it. I thought it looked like a video game or music video and I was personally unimpressed, don't get me wrong, I had fun but the editing was way too much for me. 




You might just wanna wait for never weekend as it will be a busy weekend with TMNT, Reign Over Me and Hills Have Eyes 2...

The Vagina Monologues Makes People Angry.

I love words. I thank you for hearing my words.
I want to tell you something about words that I think is important.
They're my work, they're my play, they're my passion.
Words are all we have, really. We have thoughts but thoughts are fluid.
then we assign a word to a thought and we're stuck with that word for
that thought, so be careful with words. I like to think that the same
words that hurt can heal, it is a matter of how you pick them.
There are some people that are not into all the words.
There are some that would have you not use certain words.

George Carlin^^^

Source

Imagine your daughter, junior in high school, active drama student, takes honors classes comes home one day and tells you that she and 2 other friends auditioned a reading of the vagina monologues for an event sponsored by the literary magazine at John Jay High School in Cross River, a New York City suburb. Among the other readings was a student's original work and the football coach quoting Shakespeare.

Now lets say that the teachers asked your daughter specifically not to read what she auditioned because small children could be present and let's say that your daughter agreed not to.

On the day of the event your daughter performs the forbidden monologue and the community goes into an uproar over free speech. What do you do?

A. Join the community and fight for your daughters right to say the word vagina in front of small children.

B. Punish your daughter for disobeying an adult...

C. Praise your daughter for being strong willed and fighting for what she believes in?

D. Don't give a shit cause you have to be at your second job because we can't all live in New York City suburbs?

I believe in free speech, but in a school type forum, you should keep things g rated. If you want to perform the vagina monologues, set up your own event and warn people so they know what they are getting into. What do I know? They probably sucked anyways...

Here is a video of part of the show(not the performance from the news story but someone else doing a completely different part).

Geez...

Freakin creepy pedophile...

New Crap Tuesdays 3/13/07

Not too much coming out this week in the world of film or music...

DVD


Short Bus 64(metacritic)

John Cameron Mitchell follows up his debut feature, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with an erotic drama about criss-crossing characters - male and female, straight and gay - who live in New York City and converge at a weekly underground salon called "Shortbus," a celebration of art, music, politics, and polysexual carnality.

This does look promising and maybe even something to watch just to say you have seen it. Was Hedwig very sexual? I never watched it cause everyone I knew that liked it was kinda strange.

Casino Royale 80(metacritic)

A critical and commercial success, this reinvention of the James Bond franchise introduced Daniel Craig as a gritter, tougher 007.

I watched it, I talked to my girlfriend the whole time. The movie was ok.

Harsh Times 56 (metacritic)

Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez star in a drama about an ex-Army Ranger who falls into a life of crime when he returns home to Los Angeles.

I wanted to watch this but I never got around to it. Doesn't seem like the type of role bale would do but w/e...

Music


Sound of Silver
Artist: LCD Soundsystem

I'm going to download this and review it cause I don't like it, but might so as a service I'm putting it down anyways...

Inhuman Rampage [CD/DVD]
Artist: Dragonforce

Ha ha powermetal is funny for a track or 2. Tons of talent in the guitar dept... Just watch the video and ignore the album...





Making Love
Artist: Shiner

Apparently all live tracks, I like the band but I haven't been able to secure a copy of it...

A little something I found on myspace...

Last summer I watched Ira Glass from "This American Life" speak at Willamette University. He played part of an audiobook by David Sedaris and then read the FCC law and then the fines. Then he played the David Sedaris story again and counted on his fingers the number of FCC violations. Then he took out a calculator and multiplied that number the number of stations This American Life played on and explained how easy it is for the government to censor people.

The story contained not a single cuss word, drug reference, sex reference or really anything offensive. It was about using the bathroom at a friends house and someone before him didn't flush.

Anyways, I kinda liked this essay thingy...

Date: Mar 12, 2007 9:09 AM
Subject On Nudity
Body: On Nudity by Ryan Rogers (www.myspace.com/ryanrogersrizzo)

It was not too long ago that our country was gripped in panic and fear over something they saw on television. Something that happened accidentally (or perhaps purposefully) that gripped our country in fear. Congressional hearings were called. Massive fines were handed down. People were fired. It was bedlam. Parents were forced to contend with a horrible, overwhelming moral collapse of everything they had worked so hard to create. We were on the verge of anarchy.

Janet Jackson showed a nipple.

Yes, my friends, Janet Jackson, pop star and general gyrating flesh factory was performing with Justin Timberlake, and as if this were not embarrassing enough, had a part of her bodice removed during a choreographed dance number, exposing her right breast and nipple (I should say that she exposed her nipple, considering the bodice was already showing off a large portion of her breast already), not to mention perhaps the most tasteful and sexy nipple ring I have ever seen.

Of course, most of us know the rest of the story. Congressional hearings were, indeed, held, and massive fines were levied against the networks. Massive restructuring of the “allowed” images and words on the radio were put into law. Heck, even Howard Stern quit amid the turmoil. Parents were outraged. Family groups were outraged. Church leaders were outraged. And all this because of…a nipple.

Let’s put this in perspective. This was something that happened during the half-time show of the Super Bowl, a sport akin to Roman Gladiator bloodsports (but with padding), complete with perhaps the most violence allowed to be seen on Sunday afternoon television. Because after all, the violence is ok. But when the darkened nipple of a woman’s breast is exposed (the very same nipple which, if exposed on Justin Timberlake, would have been considered part of the act) the country is an uproar. Something tells me that our priorities are a little askew.

We live in a very unsafe and frightening time. People we know are getting killed, murdered, shot, tortured, or more. We fear for our lives. We fear for our children’s lives. We are afraid. So why is it that a film can be simply lauded with blood, gore, and violence, and television watchers seem to not balk at all (and perhaps enjoy it) but if a sexual, sensual or (good heavens) humanly anatomical image is on screen, we decry the decaying morality of our society.

It’s just a breast people. Many cultures seem to have very little issue with exposing the female breast. After all, it is beautiful. It is soft, sensual and aesthetically pleasing. It is part of the beautiful addition that gives a woman their heavenly curvaceous shape. Artists of the highest (and most religious) order have captured these breasts for centuries. They are not to be feared. And in a time of great turmoil in the world, shouldn’t we be far more sensitive to the violence that we constantly see, and far more lax and welcoming to the images of love and sensuality and beauty.
We are human beings. Just because we have chosen to drape ourselves in clothing does not mean that underneath this clothing we don’t all have the same beautiful parts (just in different colors, shapes, and proportions). So what’s to fear. Clearly Michelangelo did not fear the male penis when sculpting David. And heaven forbid I start to detail the famous authors that have paid great reverence for the human female form. It would take me all day.

I realize that we are the descendants of a puritanical legacy brought forward by our great ancestors, but perhaps it is time that she shake off the shackles of our ancestors and realize that our even greater human ancestors were not afraid of the human form. I am surrounded by art, sculpture, drawings, photography, all detailing this human form. The nipple, the breast, the penis, the vagina…these are not things to be feared, but celebrated. When a film tastefully presents these body parts, it is not obscenity, it is art. Heck, even if a film untastefully shows the female breast or the male penis, it is still not obscene. It’s just a body part. People do far more terrible, horrible, nightmarish things with their hands than they do with their sexual organs, yet we do not cover those up.

I am tired of the demonization of human body parts. Breasts are beautiful, and should be appreciated as such. Bodies in all their forms are poetry. The poetry of nature, and we should respect them as such. Nudity is not to be feared or frightened of. It is to be celebrated. And perhaps we would be in a far, far better place as humans if we spent more time worrying about the violence, hatred, and anger that is presented to us daily than the occasional viewing of a bare breast.

Opening this weekend update...3/11/2007

On friday I posted this... (see post directly below)



Since then I have worked 23 hours of 49 possible and I have pretty much cleaned up after the messes of 5250 people (that is only for the movie 300 alone, we were busy for the movies wild hogs and bridge to terbithia and amazing grace) the worst being a toss up of the discarded underwear in a handicapped stall in the mens restroom or the vomit on the floor in a showing of "wild hogs" that the customer never told any staff about so it was a pleasant surprise. I'm not too mad about the customer not telling any staff that they puked, I would be quite embarassed myself but I am the type of person to offer to help clean it up. Fortunately we have something that deodorizes and solidifies any liquid/chewed-up food so that problem was easily solved.

1 thing I noticed alot of this weekend was people taking there small children to see rated r movies. The last time I noticed alot of that was the movie "apocalypto". I don't really have an opinion on wherther small children should watch something like 300 or "apocalypto" but I do wonder if people even think about what their children will think of it. Considering I usually observe one small child a day freaking out and crying and their parents having to explain that "it's only a movie and the girl in 'bridge to terbithia' didn't really die", I just don't ever wanna have to explain to my kid the concept of war and violence to a small child untill I'm ready.

To play the devils advocate, I work in the box office and I oftentimes see fathers and sons going to the movies and the father always asks me "do you guys have any horror or war movies"? I always assume in my head that the father hasn't always been around that the father is trying to make up for it by taking his son to a movie that mom would never let him see. I imagine them planning to tell mom they watched something animated and a couple years too young for for them and mom totally buying it and the kid going to school and telling all his friends that he got to see a rated r movie in the theater and all his friends being wowed by his story about how the guy in "apocalypto" beheads people and then rolls the heads down the steps of the pyramid.

I then imagine the kid in a few years not even wanting to been seen in public with any member of his family and how dad won't be able to get his sons admiration by taking him to see a movie where people get dismembered. I think if I have children I will want them to stay 8 forever so I can still impress them by taking them to see die hard.

But I digress, I watched "Wild Hogs" and I think it will be worth a rent, I laughed out loud and wished I could fall asleep as I knew after that I had to clean up after thousands of people.

Opening ths weekend 3/09/07

300: This movie should pretty much rule. Frank Miller story done in the "Sin City" and "Sky Captain" style about an epic greek battle... The visuals are pretty cool but some of the editing is a lil bit flashy for my tastes, kind of like a music video. Everyone who I observed coming out of the theaters when I worked the midnight showing was very happy with it but they were die hard geeks.

A little plot background...

From Wikipedia: Battle of Thermopylae

Size of the Persian army

Fleet crew 517,610
Infantry 1,700,000
Cavalry 80,000
Arabs and Libyans 20,000
Greek puppet troops 324,000

Total 2,641,610


Size of the Greek army

Spartans 300
Mantineans 500
Tegeans 500
Arcadian Orchomenos 120
Other Arcadians 1,000
Corinthians 400
Phlians 200
Mycenaeans 80
Thespians 700
Thebans 400
Phocians 1,000
Opuntian Locrians 13

Total 5,200+

Trailer...



In Spainish...(moderately funny)



In German(More funny than the Spainish one).


Should be a pretty damn good movie. I watched at least 15 mins of it while I was working and there was 3 sold out midnight showings. I predict TONS of teenagers trying to sneak into the theaters since it's a rated r movie. Should be a pretty packed weekend, I'm guessing 300 will make at least 20 million this weekend with "Wild Hogs" Making 10 or so.

Zodiac: David Fincher film covered last week. It's almost 3 hours long.





Black Snake Moan: Covered last week





Reno 911!: Miami: Last weekend I said:

Reno 911!: Miami: Was alright. Worth a matinee ticket.

Free Proxy So Easy Even A Baby Could Do It...

http://www.unblockr.net/

You don't even have set it up you just type in your destination and your surfin myspace at work.

Dunno how long this will stay up, but uncut 5 minute 300 trailer...

Special thanks to the folks over at geeks are sexy for finding this...

Oh, and it's actually 2 and a half mins...

Battles The Band

The new (and first proper)album by Battles comes out May 15, I have a copy of it and it's some of the freshest stuff in instrumental post rock whateverness. Some of the songs could almost be on the radio. Some of the songs are very long and downright epic requiring multiple listenings to fully grasp the tracks. Every track is different and has elements not present on the ep's. Melodies are present which is uncommon for this stuff often times. I like the track rainbows, probably the most. It's crazy. Oh, and it's not fully instrumental though I can't make out a single word. It seems like they are using effects or he's doing the sigur ros thing and just making up a new language.


From Wikipedia:

The group's lineup is composed of well-known musicians, including ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier, ex-Don Caballero guitarist Ian Williams, ex-Lynx guitarist Dave Konopka, and Tyondai Braxton (son of Avantgarde Jazz musician Anthony Braxton), who also plays guitar and keyboard and creates live voice samples.

Here is a video for their song(atlas)...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Colon Movie Film for Theaters Trailer

Like! oh my god!, a movie from my favorite 10 minute cartoon after Metalocalypse, Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo, Squidbillies and Morel Orel. If you don't know the Aqua Teens by now, you probably would not like it.



While were at it...

Lets check out Dana Snyder, the voice of Master Shake's IMDB profile.

A little more snooping on IMDB shows that the writers of ATHF also wrote Sealab, Squid Billies and Perfect Hair Forever.

But the biggest news about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie is that ol Bruce Campbell is top billed in the cast.

New crap tuesdays 3/6/07

Dvd

Borat: If you haven't seen this movie and you aren't easily offended, rent it now...

Fast Food Nation: Worth a rent if not only for the fact that bruce willis is in it. It's very heavy handed but worth a view regardless.

Let's Go to Prison: Bob Odenkirk's directorial debut. I was a lil dissapointed, but still worth a watch.

Southpark Season 9: has the Ginger Kids episode... If you must own a southpark season, this one was pretty solid.

Music

Well it looks like I put the wrong week into the billboard website and I reviewed this week last week, so it looks like I am going to just cover some stuff I didn't last week...

Air:Pocket Symphony

Revolting Cocks: Cocktailmixxx

RJD2: Third Hand

White Flight:White Flight I listen to this one a lot.

Television Maquee Moon Re-Released

5 Depeche Mode albums are getting re-released

A couple Magazine albums are being re-released

2 Stooges albums re-released

Total Chaos: 17 Years Of Chaos

Modern life is war

Modern Life Is War is a hardcore band in the sense that fugazi is a hardcore band. They almost never do the double time beat. They singer screams in way that sounds like he really means what he's saying, but not fake to sound tough or snotty. I would say it's accessable to people who don't listen to hardcore. I listen to the album "witness" once a week.

Good news for fans...

First and foremost we are proud to announce that we have signed to Equal Vision Records. We will be recording our third album during the month of April at the Magpie Cage in Baltimore with J. Robbins. It will be out in late summer or early fall of this year. We will continue working with Lifeline Records and they will be releasing the vinyl LP version of our new album on the same day. The layout will feature artwork by an Iowa man of mystery who goes by the name Qojak. We will keep you updated on the details as they come.

Well, J. Robbins could make hootie and the blowfish sound good. Nuff said. Release date is 9/4/07 .

Opening this weekend 3/02/07

Before I start


Zodiac

David fincher is one of those directors that movie snobs love to hate. His "cuts are too quick" and he is "too flashy" are the the most common complaints.








Black Snake Moan


A good 99% of the people who go to see this movie are not going because of the director or the artistic merit. They are going to see Christina Ricci naked... Shit, 75% are going based on the posters alone....




Movies worth seeing...

Bridge to Terabithia: I haven't actually seen it, but I think it will be decent.
Reno 911!: Miami: Was alright. Worth a matinee ticket.
The Astronaut Farmer: Haven't seen it yet, everyone likes it.
Amazing Grace: Haven't seen but everyone also likes it.

Don't see: Ghostrider and The Number 23

1 human life = a couple grand

Source:http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/27/baby.downpayment.ap/index.html

Woman accused of using infant as car down payment

PUEBLO, Colorado (AP) -- Three people were arrested on charges of swapping a 5-month-old boy for a down payment on a used Dodge Intrepid and cash, police said Tuesday.

Nicole Uribe, 23, is accused of trading the baby to Jose-Juan Lerma, 47, and his wife, Irene, 27, in exchange for the down payment and an unspecified amount of cash.

All were arrested on suspicion of felony trafficking in children and were being held at the Pueblo jail under $50,000 bail each.

The baby was placed in a foster home, Police Sgt. Brett Wilson said. Wilson said he could not speculate on the motives for the alleged deal.

He said police found the child and arrested Uribe within hours of getting a tip on Monday. The Lermas were arrested on Tuesday.

Wilson said all three were Mexican nationals and federal officials had been asked to investigate their immigration status.

I think I'll let this story stand alone.

Short 5 minute documetary on circuit bending...

Circuit bending is taking old toy instrument and messing with them to make them do things the OEM never intended you to do with them...



Edit: Check out this response!



Apparently, this guy takes off his shirt in every episode ha ha...

12 second clip of Mark Mothersbaugh form DEVO...

new crap tuesday 2/27/07

Music

"Explosions In the Sky" "All of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone": More of the same instrumental crap that sounds good when I'm stoned, not so much when I'm not. I think there are enough instrumental bands out there and this one kinda get lost in the fold. No radio singles here(which is a good thing mind you). Try it out, maybe you'll fall in love.

!!!"Myth Takes": !!!(chick chick chick) is a band I have ignored for quite some time, mainly cause of the fans. I didn't realize they were a dance band(hey I can't keep track of every group). I was pleasntly surprised when I played it for the first time. They sound like a more dancy version of gang of four. Yes they play the forbidden drumbeat(un tiss un tiss un tiss un tiss) but they do some good things with it unlike the other bands that rely on it. Lots of multi-instrumentalization is present. The strangest track to me is "Must be the moon"...

Green Day "1039/smoothed out slappy hours": Good old fashioned pop punk from before green day was a huge successfull band selling out stadiums and stuff.

Ladytron "604": Haven't actually checked this one out yet, though I'm sure it's more of the same... For the uninitated, Ladytron plays electronic pop stuff...

Sisters of Mercy "A mecifull release": Well that was all the information given at billboard.com. I'm guessing it's a re-release of an old album. Check out the wiki for more info


Arcade Fire "Neon Bible" Yaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnn.... I tried it, I want my bandwidth back...

DVD


stranger than fiction: This movie did poorly in the theaters. Good for a movie theater employee, bad for the business. This film could have been so much more. I did laugh out loud more than once and overall I think it deserves a rent.




Well, I'm already behind so hopefully next weeks one cometogether better...

Literature-Map and listal.

I have a del.icio.us account for letting people know about websites and stuff. But every once in awhile there is something so amazing that I'll have to post about it. Here is one of them.

Listal is a catalouging website/social network. Yes, social network ala myspace. While I won't go on a full scale tirade about how much myspace sucks I will say that I secretly wish my friends would all migrate over to listal. You can keep track of all the books, dvds and cd's you own and also the movies you watch. You can also see other members collections which is always fun and it can help you keep track of what you loan to people.. It has a ton of features like groups and voting/rating of stuff. Everyone should join up.

The next site is http://www.literature-map.com/ . It's just a neat lil recomendation site for authours. Just check it out. It's unique.

Another Phillip K. Dick story adapted for screen.

The guy that did the screenplays for Total Recall and Navy Seals adapted a PKD story called "The Golden Man".  The guy who directed xXx: State of the Union (2005)Die Another Day (2002) Along Came a Spider (2001) "The Sopranos" (1 episode, 2000) The Edge (1997) Mulholland Falls (1996) Once Were Warriors (1994) Thunderbox (1989) is making this one and (sit down this is big news....) it's going to star Nicholas Cage!!! I know, I can barely contain myself.

But seriously, what is the deal with Cage being in action movies???

trailer...




Other PKD stories turned into film...

• A Scanner Darkly (2006)
  
• Paycheck(2003)
  
• Minority Report(2002)
  
• Impostor (2002)
  
• Total Recall(1990)
  
• Blade Runner (1982)
  

When I thinkof baseball, I don't think of indie rock...

Some of the songs for the MLB 2007 video game are...

• 311 "Down"
  
• Bishop Allen "Middle Management"
  
• Cities in Dust "Emergency"
  
• Death From Above 1979 "Little Girl"
  
• Dixie Witch "Set the Speed"
  
• Editors "Munich"
  
• Five Horse Johnson "I Can't Shake It"
  
• Greatdayforup "Man's Ruin"
  
• Les Savy Fav "Hold On To Your Genre"
  
• Nerf Herder "High Five Anxiety"
  
• Nirvana "Breed"
  
• Sublime "Summertime"
  
• Tapes 'n Tapes "Insistor"
  
• The Jealous Sound "Naïve"
  
• The M's "Plan Of The Man"
  
• The Pixies "Mr. Grieves"
  
• The Specials "A Message to you Rudy"
  
• The Stooges "I Feel Alright"
  
• The Thermals "A Passing Feeling"
  
• The Walkmen "The Rat"
  
• Wolfmother "Woman"

Hmmmmm. Apparently the 2k6 game had all matador records artists...

I wish I woulda done this when I was a kid...

Dateline : Santa Fe, New Mexico

Some damn kids thought it would be funny to take some  and record some  with a lot of    on them and place them under the  of the . 

I think it it is very  


Proof it happened

It's funny because it's true.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/22/wwgwbd_flow_chart.html

For the Salem readers...

The Painted Veil is playing at Salem Cinema... I want to see but dunno if I can find the time. Lemme know if I really should "make the time" cause I can't tell by the trailer...

Just so you know... I watched ghostrider... and yes, it sucked...

Really, what more can I say? I get to see free movies and I took someone to see it who likes comic books alot. I wanted to see Bridge to Terbithia. I've seen everything else at my work. Norbit sucked as well. But we won't get into that.

There is a special sneak preview of "Wild Hogs" this weekend. I'll try to act all smug and say I won't be attending for obvious reasons. But for people who know me IRL, they already know I'm working. But I still won't see it when it comes out unless I get REALLY bored. I don't care if William H. Macy is in it.

At the movies today...

The number 23... Joel Shumacher. Original screenplay by a first time writer. I'm gonna see it but I don't have high expectations. Jim Carey in a completely serious and I think comedy free thriller about a guy obssesed with numbers.



The Abandoned... Writer Director Nacho Cerdà's 1st feature length film I think, don't quote me on that. It's a spainish director but it says it's in english??? It looks like it has some style.



Reno 911: Miami... No brainer, if you are reading this you probably know what it is and probably already have an opinion formed as to whether you will like it or not. But come on, old school "the state" crew. Need I say more? Showalter is credited for crying out loud. I'm gonna support it as long they don't eat babies alive.



The Astronaut Farmer... Writer Director Micheal Polish newest about a retired astronaut who builds his own rockets much to the chagrin of "the man". It's PG, Billy Bob Thorton is the lead. It's at my work so I might watch it but I'd have to be bored unless I hear a ton of rave reviews.



Amazing Grace... Michael Apted director of at least 1 bond movie(I'm too lazt to see if he directed more than 1) and has directed TON of television. Inspiration tale about emancipation in Britain a couple of centuries ago I think. Some church group pre ordered 50 tickets from me one day.

Also out right now maybe worth seeing...

Bridge to terbithia... I haven't seen it yet but it looks better than ghostrider.

Breach... looks promising

WTF is up with night at the Museum still running?

Essential Oil Wars!

I recieved a comment on one of my previous articles about manboobs (a common subject here at of what it is) with a link to web-site that says something different is going on with the Scientific American study. Something about flwaed research? Maybe it's damage control from the essential oil industry...

Anyway, heres the site... http://www.aromaconnection.org/. And the study. You decide...

Lavender/Tea Tree Study Debunked

Neither lavender oil nor tea tree oil can be linked to breast growth in young boys
Robert Tisserand
Background

In a recent report, a correlation is alleged between commercial products containing lavender and tea tree oils and breast growth in young boys. Three cases were seen in boys aged 4-7, who had all been using such products. In each case, the breast growth reduced to normal parameters within several months of ceasing to use the products. Subsequent laboratory testing showed that both essential oils had estrogen-like properties (Henley et al 2007).

In the report, no information is given about any of the constituents of the products used. The information given about product use is sparse, and we do not know for certain whether any of the products contained lavender or tea tree oils, since they were not analyzed by the researchers.
The cases

Case one
In the first case, "The patient’s mother reported applying a "healing balm" containing lavender oil to his skin starting shortly before the initial presentation." No further details of the product or its use are given, but a healing balm sounds like something that might only be applied to a small area of skin. If so, then it is unlikely that any ingredient could have entered the boy’s blood in sufficient concentration to cause gynecomastia within a short time period.

Case two
In the second case, a styling hair gel was applied to the hair and scalp every morning, along with regular use of a shampoo. Both tea tree and lavender oil are cited on the ingredient list of both products.

In a subsequent website report, it is claimed that the two hair products used in this case were manufactured by Paul Mitchell, and that these were analyzed by a competitor. The shampoo was said to contain "very low concentrations" of tea tree oil, and the content in the hair gel was "virtually undetectable". Lavender oil concentration was not checked (Neustaedter 2007).

Dermal absorption of fragrance from shampoo application has been estimated to be 80 times less than that from body lotion (Cadby et al 2002). If the website report is genuine, considering that shampoo is a wash-off product, and that there was only a negligible amount of tea tree oil in the hair gel, tea tree oil can be ruled out as a possible cause of this boy’s gynecomastia. However, liberal use of a hair gel rich in lavender oil could result in moderate dermal absorption of lavender oil constituents (Cal 2006).

Case three
The third case involved "lavender-scented soap, and intermittent use of lavender-scented commercial skin lotions". This sounds as if there may not be very much natural lavender oil present. Further, soap is a wash-off product, and the use of lavender lotion is described as "intermittent". Whether any absorption of genuine lavender oil took place at all seems doubtful.

Since dermal absorption of soap fragrance is some 266 times less than that from body lotion, it is virtually impossible that the fragrance in a soap could be absorbed in sufficient quantity to cause any physiological effect (Cadby et al 2002).

Of great interest is the statement that, in this third case, a fraternal twin used the same skin lotions, but not the soap, and did not develop gynecomastia. It would be reasonable to assume that, since the soap could not be responsible for the effect, and since the twin used the lotions without any problem, the gynecomastia in this third case must have been due to some cause other than essential oils.
The in vitro testing

The in vitro evidence shows weak but definite endocrine disrupting effects for both lavender and tea tree oils. The second case was the only one in which tea tree oil was involved. Tea tree oil was tested because it was deemed to be "chemically similar" to lavender oil. However, apart from the fact that both are essential oils, they have little in common chemically.

The composition of the essential oils tested is not given, nor is any other information about them, apart from the supplier. Since they do not appear to be organically grown, biocide content is a possibility.
Discussion

It is unusual in such reports not to name the products suspected as being responsible for the effects under discussion. In the circumstances, it is also curious that the labeled ingredients were not cited. It is even more surprising that no attempt was made to ascertain, retrospectively, whether any constituents of lavender or tea tree oil were detectable. If the products are not named, no one else can test them either.

Even assuming that one or both of the essential oils were present at some level, we do not know what quantities of essential oil constituents may have penetrated the skin, but we do know that transcutaneous absorption from fragrances takes some time. The amount that could find its way into the blood from a wash-off product such as a shampoo or soap is negligible, because the time of skin contact is so short. Skin absorption from tea tree and lavender oil constituents is measured in hours, not minutes, in and some instances even leave-on products result in minimal dermal penetration (Cal 2006, Reichling 2006).

The Henley et al report mentions that none of the boys had been exposed to any known endocrine disruptor, such as medications, oral contraceptives(!), marijuana or soy products. However, no mention is made of other known endocrine disruptors, such as organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, polychlorinated dioxins, alkyl phenols, pthalates and parabens (Darbre 2006). Both pesticides and phthalates have been found in essential oils, and both phthalates and parabens are commonly found in cosmetic products.

It is, therefore, entirely possible that other ingredients in the products caused the gynecomastia. Pesticides, PCBs and dioxins are found in the environment, often in food, and it is also possible that some local surge of environmental hormone disruptors caused these cases in Colorado.

No attempt was made to identify the constituent(s) responsible for the in vitro effect, but it is reasonable to expect that any hormonal action in an essential oil would be due to one or two constituents, or even contaminants. It is noteworthy that, while in vitro hormonal effects from essential oil constituents have been previously reported, these are generally very weak, and have been estimated as being at least 10,000 times less potent than 17β-estradiol (Howes et al 2002).

There is no evidence that the effect seen in vitro would take place in vivo, and much more research would be needed before any definite determinations could be made. Many estrogenic substances have previously been identified from plant sources, and very weak activity is typical of these phytoestrogens (Chadwick et al 2006, Howes et al 2002).
Conclusions

As the report states, breast growth in pre-pubertal boys is extremely uncommon, yet three cases are reported within a short period of time, and all in the same clinic. Considering that some 200 tonnes per annum are produced of both lavender and tea tree oil, that most of this goes into personal care products, and that very little of the evidence presented for these 3 cases is convincing, the press reports of caution are premature.

Even if one or more of these cases was linked to product use, any connection with either lavender or tea tree oil is unproven. Other known endocrine disrupting ingredients in the products could have played a role. Furthermore, we do not know what other factors, such as dietary or environmental, may have played a part.

The in vitro work reported by Henley et al (2007) does indicate a hormonal effect. However, this cannot be extrapolated to estimate actual human risk, especially without knowing more about the essential oil constituents causing the in vitro effects seen. No connection was established between the in vitro work and the three cases, and the case for tea tree oil having an effect on prepubertal gynecomastia is especially weak. Phytoestrogens generally have a very weak hormonal activity, and it is implausible that the amounts of essential oil that enter the body from product use would have a significant effect. Further research will hopefully clarify these issues.
References

Cadby PA, Troy WR, Vey MG 2002 Consumer exposure to fragrance ingredients: providing estimates for safety evaluation. Regulatory Toxicology & Pharmacology 36: 246-252

Cal K 2006 How does the type of vehicle influence the in vitro skin absorption and elimination kinetics of terpenes? Archives of Dermatological Research 297: 311-315

Chadwick LR, Pauli GF, Farnsworth NR 2006 The pharmacognosy of Humulus lupulus L. (hops) with an emphasis on estrogenic properties. Phytomedicine 13: 119-131

Darbre PD 2006 Environmental oestrogens, cosmetics and breast cancer. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 20: 121-143

FMA 2007 http://www.fmafragrance.org/sub_pages/020107henleyresponse.pdf


Henley DV, Lipson N, Korach KS, Bloch CA 2007 Prebubertal gynecomastia linked to lavender and tea tree oils. New England Journal of Medicine 365(5): 479-485

Howes M-J R, Houghton P J, Barlow D J et al 2002 Assessment of estrogenic activity in some common essential oil constituents. Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacology 54:1521–1528

Neustaedter R 2007 http://www.cureguide.com/Natural_Health_Newsletter/Lavender_Dangers/lavender_dangers.html

Reichling J, Landvatter U, Wagner H, Kostka KH, Schaefer UF 2006 In vitro studies on release and human skin permeation of Australian tea tree oil (TTO) from topical formulations. European Journal of Pharmaceutics & Biopharmaceutics 64: 222-228

Contact: Robert Tisserand

Email:rtisserand@onepost.net

Buttocks in the history of art.

What a great website.

Live video of Against Me!

A video of Against Me! playing live has surfaced and I found it on one of my favorite blogs, "Late Night Wallflower". No word on whether the blog was named for the Jakob Dylan band but my suspicions say no.




The track is high energy and very punk rock. I like it though I hope the album has some ballady stuff. Did I mention they are on a major label(sire).

Here is the video for problems...

Lavender and tea tree oil makes man boobs!

Scientific American says 

The lavender and tea tree oils found in some soaps, shampoos, hair gels and body lotions can produce enlarged breasts in boys.

Holy crap.

Dinosaur jr. album preview

Dinosaur jr. has a couple tracks from the new album entitled beyond that you can stream on myspace. The tracks are pretty high energy and see on par with previous albums. Check out their pictures as they look like they should be older. But they do look kinda old in this video. Sometimes I think James Iha and Billy Corgan stole the over the top shredding from J. Mascis.




Here is the video for "Feel the Pain " directed by Spike Jones though I couldn't find anything on the net to verify that.

Children need to know what scrotums are...

"The New York Times" alerted me to this interesting little news story. The Newberry Medal winning book this yeah has the word scrotum on the first page.

there it is on the first page of “The Higher Power of Lucky,” by Susan Patron, this year’s winner of the Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in children’s literature. The book’s heroine, a scrappy 10-year-old orphan named Lucky Trimble, hears the word through a hole in a wall when another character says he saw a rattlesnake bite his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.

“Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much,” the book continues. “It sounded medical and secret, but also important.”

I don't see what the big deal is, except I'm sure parents and teachers don't really want to go through explaining what a scrotum is. If I had a kid I wouldn't care. I think children should be informed of body parts and know what they are so that they aren't scarred for life when they see 
them for the  first time. 

Suicidegirls News had a pretty funny article about the whole debacle.

Stop illegal downloading!

Celebrity Endorsed PSA

Add to My Profile | More Videos

I just came up on an advance of the new Poison the Well album "Versions"

I was checking the oink top 10 today and was pleasantly surprised to find a leak of the new PTW album "versions". After an initial listen I must say it's the most unique album of theirs so far.

It has electric piano and lots of mellow stuff. Gone are the riff riff chugga chugga breakdowns and it now has a kind of Hope Conspiracy and American Nightmare feel too it with maybe a little bit of the Converge's "You Fail Me" album feel as well. So strange...

Gone also is the clean whiney singing and the outright growls back an forth. Don't get me wrong, there is clean singing and screaming, but the vocal style has changed up a TON.

Here is a fan video of them doing Smashing Pumpkins "Today"



And here is the video for "botchula"...