I wish I can watch decent movies

It looks like since we got into the year 2000 you cannot hope to see a decent movie coming out. Last time I was happy to pay for the ticket and a bag of pop corns was when I went to see Ronin with Robert De Niro in 1998. Since then it got downhill. I saw movies with high budget but bad actors flashing my TV screen, with popish previews that can make you salivate. Not me.

It got to a point where the studios started making movies because they somehow were under the inertia of production and quality was an option. You can read on your local paper the listing of the theater playing the latest pop movie, tailored to target the specific age group.

You went to see Iron Man and you got slightly disappointed because, like me, you know the hero and you read the comic book enough to understand who Tony Stark really is. And if you think like me, you probably started to hate all comic-book-movie titles since the first X man movie came out.

But beside the Marvel universe, the film industry took a turn for the worst since we switched into the new millennium. The pop fever managed to infect the silver screen and to produce bad titles for sometimes. The crowd got stupider and childish, and the movie houses kept producing titles that even chickens could understand.

I can say that the 90's where a sandbox decade for corporate producers to see how the public was responding to their titles, and it turned out as the 10-year-long marketing campaign that developed the new generation of crap watcher.

But it got to a point where the spirit of good movies kept coming back, reminding people of their sins committed upon the quality screens. Take for example the 80's and its movies. Now Rocky, Rambo, Die Hard, and Indiana Jones made their comeback with good accolade. Why? Because the rest was shit! Simple as that.

Good movies like Frantic or Black Rain are now a distant memory of an era of the movies, that was dedicated to tell a story in quality, rather than in quantity. And you can see how all the production houses changed their vision. They are now devoted to commercialize anything that is a seller, doesn't matter what it is, rather for how long. Look at Disney and how it changes drastically. From Micky Mouse to Hannah Montana, wtf!?

There is no good movie around, lately. Nothing that can be really called a landmark in the film industries. A few decent flick here and there, but no movie that can be really awarded with a serious prize.

Pollution is key to the Olympic games

One of the first Olympic game took place in Beijing, China, with the marathon that involved various athletes from around the globe. Here some of the pictures of the unhealthy environment the runners had to go through.
The race took place in a hot, humid, and polluted environment, which is the state that China is in right now. Some athletes are concerned of the status of the air that can have a significant impact upon their health, and the result of the competition.


Here a motorcycle from one of the race officials shoots pollution from its engine into the athletes face, how healthy!

















The gray sky that covered the location of the competition is pollution, not fog or bad weather.
















Another shot of the Chinese capital main stadium, where the marathon took place.















One of the athlete from south Korea.















Other participants victim of the poor environment conditions.
















The eye of the military police is upon every aspect of Chinese life.

Our phone companies are spies!

Since we all live under the umbrella of biometrics and mug shots from the airport to some major urban sites, it is common courtesy to come down to Earth and remember ourself that the government is not the big eye over our shoulders. The San Francisco Chronicle published two years ago an article featuring a court case that involved AT&T, where a privacy-right lawsuit was the center of attention. Electronic surveillance of phone records and email was recorded and given to the NSA, in order to spy upon the costumers for alleged safety reasons.
The endless wires that are continuously tapped contains informations that is valuable to market research, so picture a company like AT&T that has great deal of informations on you: what you like, what you don't, your food preferences, rants, secrets, and all those discussions that are handled by more than one organization.
Now we have government institutions that can have any reason to create a case against you using you very own words. Probably you are discussing about a video game that involves shooting, explosions, or more violence, and in no time uncle Sam is putting his shoe on your face.
God only knows what policies are used by those nations that handles sensible and private informations. In the US the Bush administration has made clear that privacy will be compromised upon their discretion, which means whenever they want, how much they want, to whoever they want. Single or multiple targets is irrelevant as long as a database is built by the NSA, CIA, and other intelligence offices all over the globe.
If the US government is collecting all these informations, are there any chances that the data will be kept safe from unwanted purposes, like commercial ones? Probably no, since the Bush administration is way too close to corporation that are ager to lay their paws on those personal records, which are worth millions of dollars.

Don't feed me on board!

Flying is costing more, to the airlines, than a few years ago. To be more precise, it is costing more since September 11th 2001. Ticket prices have actually gone down with the years, but it has become more challenging for airlines to maintain their services and operating expenses, with the oil crisis that is cutting heads left and right, what is there to save more?

You buy a ticket over the internet or in the usual travel agency, you will probably fly an average of three hours, and one or two meals will be served on board. It has always been a nice thing the airlines incorporated in their service, but since the cost of living has gone up, people are trying to save a buck here and there wherever they can, especially when dealing with travel.
A lunch or dinner on an aircraft cost the air carrier a significant amount of money, it is an outer catering business that craft every meal for every passenger, with the usual choice of meat or fish, add to that alcoholic beverages like scotch, whiskey, beer, wine, and the usual juices, pop, and water. Food consumption on planes happens, so the frequent the aircraft travels, the more refreshment must be restocked .

One of the north American airlines that started to chance its food policy is Air Canada, for short routes the passengers are able to pay for their munchies and drink if they are hungry. Sandwiches and other snacks are available for a not so convenient price; but it is a smart way to generate cash in such desperate times.

It would be far more convenient if you could have the choice to buy your meal on your ticket, and to bring along a sandwich or two. Since you are forbidden to carry liquids, airlines can focus on providing beverages as an option.

We got used to expect a meal every time we fly, but recent security restrictions got us to believe that we are not allowed to carry anything with us other than the courtesy newspaper offered by the friendly hostesses.
Aircarriers shouldn't keep avoiding the passengers needs, they are essential and necessary to make an airline successful, rather than just fuel efficient.

All down the drain!

Very quickly and without any surprise, the recession is here. You know it, I know it! Everybody knew it was gonna hit soon rather than later, but we kept piling up debts, and bank kept giving bottomless credits. Too many people that states that this happened without any warning. Wake up!

It wasn't about who or what, but when. Since 2003 we saw how the mortgage bubble soared in north America, having many people buying new homes when the interest rates were low, and affordable. Many investors and economy experts said that when the bubble was going to pop, an avalanche of shit would hit us all. Everybody acknowledge that, few understood. There is not even time to take evasive action because the recession is here, and like I said before "Ignoring it, won't make it go away!".

Sad, true and suffocating. Markets are going nuts, tradings are lawless almost since their principle are now out-of-sync with the economy books. If there was ever a law, or principle where to follow the finance and the rules of the trading, it is now drifting into a death-match situation. The business model that the United States is using, is damaging furthermore the state of the global economy.

When you use your vehicle to do your grocery, no only you paid your gas at the pump more, but you will surely find how simple products are now costing more than they use to be. Bread, cereals, and all the grain products, along with poultry and meat have all had their prices gone for the worst. How far can we survive the increasing cost of life without adapting our salaries?

Why is this happening? Because the people who made the laws of the economy decided that importing a product from another country, as far as south-east Asia, is more exploitable and lucrative than having it delivered from a local distributer or manufactured. This is old and a backlash of the US-globalization style, that is an illusion of a decent business model.

It is sad that there is little that we can do, we look more and more like hostages in the hands of an unstable person that is willing to do anything to save himself, doesn't matter the cost, if it takes lives or the repression of other countries; it will eventually happen. Time to rethink how we want to live now, and how we want to build the future.

Smarties tv ad

Usually tv ads are enough on the tube, and there's no need to chase them beyond it unless you are like me and go after the soundtrack. Few weeks ago a new Smarties commercial appears on television featuring a series of duets made with a piano, violin or a guitar. It is a simple commercial that doesn't show its products until the last few seconds. It has been a while since an ad like this one made me think positively about the advertising world, especially on television.



The last time an ad was worth watching it was when American Express put out a series of celebrities shorts, featuring Robert De Niro and Kate Winslet. After that only empty and stupid messages were displayed under my eyes.
Yes the Smarties commercial is fun. Probably the only one time I would associate the word "fun" with food, because people shouldn't play with stuff to eat, or consider eating an hobby to take when bored. Food is serious matter, that's why I despise the Doritos ad where the word "fun" is the main theme. Have fun while eating! How do you have fun munching a synthetized potato chip? Oh look I'm having fun with a sourcream chip, because it's fun to play! Pew pew pew, the triangular shaped chip reminds me of the Imperial battleship in Star Wars, pew pew pew lazers!!!

The bad image we created

I'm very impressed by the fact that media, and its surrogates, is still not filtered by those bad contents that are making their way in everybody homes. Fact is, that the majority of the recipients are ignorant and like to be fed by whatever is given to them, the passive concept is the easiest and quickest to absorb, with little or no stress. Reality-shows are painting a false image of what the real world is, far harsh and dramatic than the TV packages it. Not everything end in a good way, and the bad guys can win. The drama level of fake stories, fake loves, fake relationships that are portrayed has damaged and traumatized the young audience that are watching the tube, believing it is a beacon of wisdom.

Parents are lost in a labyrinth of questions without an answer, and problems waiting to solve them self. Todays kids are growing on their own, wild and without a purpose or goal to reach because no inspiration has been given to them. What happened to dedication in reaching a common objective that is not auto-destructive? As a society we are failing in all fields. We don't have a common sense of respect, authority, safety, we dance on the brink of harmful without questioning if it is right or wrong.

Media control is a sort of virtual democracy where we are allowed to spend and create more debit in order to increase profits for those corporations who dictate our lifestyle. Go to a grocery store and walk into the dairy section, for example, and count how many brands are on the same products. You will be surprised how you actually have a very small choice between three or four companies; and one of them is always Kraft (owned by Phillip Morris).

Your kids are probably watching right now Mtv, their favorite singer/band video just finished to play when suddenly the commercial break pops in bombarding their eyes with junk-food pitches, soda gallons to swallow, cellphones to buy, and all that translates into having your kids becoming obese, having diabetes before they can reach the age of 18, and at the same time stay connected with friend while consuming minutes talking about how cool the music video was on Mtv.

Society became more alienated to itself in the last 100 years, than in the whole human existence. We are becoming synthetic , cheap, fast, branded and ready to be sold to whatever the media and corporations wants us to consume. As an imploding star that is dyeing, humanity is fading in a fatal collapse upon itself.