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Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Speechless
Disclaimer: Jehovah's Witness' do not condone abusing children.
Source
Sadistic foster mother's 19-year reign of terror
20.03.07A
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.
Spry had tried to stop Victim A from trying to walk again following the crash so she could get more compensation money.The child's hand has been rubbed raw with sandpaper
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.
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Band of the Week- 3/21/07-Jarvis Cocker
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
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Technorati Tags: Band of the week, indie, music, review, video,
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
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 GraveHa 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.Monday, March 19, 2007
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...
Friday, March 16, 2007
Opening this weekend 3/16/07
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...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Vagina Monologues Makes People Angry.
I love words. I thank you for hearing my words.George Carlin^^^
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.
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).
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
New Crap Tuesdays 3/13/07
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...
Monday, March 12, 2007
A little something I found on myspace...
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.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Opening this weekend update...3/11/2007
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.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Opening ths weekend 3/09/07
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...
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...
Oh, and it's actually 2 and a half mins...
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Battles The Band
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
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.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
New crap tuesdays 3/6/07
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
Monday, March 05, 2007
Modern life is war
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 .
Friday, March 02, 2007
Opening this weekend 3/02/07
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
Thursday, March 01, 2007
1 human life = a couple grand
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.
