Month: June 2005

Verrrrrry Interesting.

(You’re RIGHT JD! It was Arte. Obviously it’s my mind that’s going. Thanks! -ed.)

Be very, very afraid.

I’ve never been a big fan of these. I bought one once when I was out of the country and needed to take some tourist shots. The camera was one of those basic types – 32 pictures in a plastic black box covered with that annoying yellow colored cardboard. When I ran out of available film, I had to drop off the camera at a store and wait for a few days to get your pictures back (of course, I could have paid through the nose to have them developed in an hour). All a big hassle in my opinion.

I heard about the disposable camcorder the other day and I wasn’t immediately excited. The concept is intriguing, but the realities are not. The thing costs $30. That’s not a bad price I guess, but you only get 20 minutes of video. If you’re the type to film long shots of a room with multiple people talking for a lengthy period, this isn’t for you.

The other thing that turns me off is the ‘processing’ fee. Your $30 expenditure isn’t all inclusive. You’ll pay an additional $12.99 to get a DVD of your video. Worse yet, you have to go to a CVS store to do it. You can’t take it to KITS or any place else. 

From what I read, the video quality is good, not great. But, you’re not going to film an academy award winning epic with this thing either.

Here’s a review from a guy at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Your mileage may vary.

If it’s a slow news day, the main stream media will always pull one of these stories out of the ‘lack-o-news’ drawer.

Count 1: Conspiracy to Commit Child Abduction – Not Guilty
Count 2: Lewd Conduct – Not Guilty
Count 3: Lewd Conduct – Not Guilty
Count 4: Lewd Conduct – Not Guilty
Count 5: Lewd Conduct – Not Guilty
Count 6: Attempt to Commit a Lewd Act – Not Guilty
Count 7: Plying with Alcohol – Not Guilty
Count 8: Plying with Alcohol – Not Guilty
Count 9: Plying with Alcohol – Not Guilty
Count 10: Plying with Alcohol – Not Guilty

I wonder…

Michael Jackson supporters form a human chain Monday as a caravan carrying Jackson to court leaves the singer’s Neverland ranch.

Reporters in Santa Maria and others throughout the main stream media are wiggin out just about now…

Via AP: Sheriff’s deputies say the jury has reached a verdict in the Michael Jackson case.

More: I’m listening to KFI radio in Los Angeles and I’m blown away by the coverage. To these people, this story is bigger than 9/11. They have their own reporter who won a lottery to be inside the courtroom during the reading of the verdict. She is going crazy. They’re broadcasting her every move; going through security, talking to courtroom officials, general giddiness with other reporters who won a spot, etc. They’ve got another guy outside the Neverland Ranch, and he’s coming on every two seconds saying things like, “the gates to Neverland Ranch are now opening”. Unbelievable.

That’s what the main stream media does, but not Arthur Chrenkoff. It’s Monday, and he’s got good news from Iraq.

Al needs a vacation.

AIR AMERICA’s Al Franken became “The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave” after receiving an award at a talk-radio convention in New York over the weekend.

NY POST’s John Mainelli reports Monday: The liberal talk-show host was finally forced off the stage — amidst shouts from supporters and detractors — after an acceptance speech became a nearly half-hour rant against Bill O’Reilly and the Iraq war.

“Al, hurry up,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of TALKERS mag, the convention sponsor.

“It’s freedom of speech,” said Franken, referring to the Freedom of Speech Award he’d just been given by the magazine.

“It’s not freedom to kill everybody’s evening, so why don’t you wrap it up,” Harrison argued.

“I’m talking about the war in Iraq and I have about two pages left, and I think the people in Walter Reed [Army Medical Center] who’ve been injured deserve the last two pages of my speech,” Franken countered.

“There are people walking out,” said Harrison. “We gave you the award and it’s time to leave.”

“Everyone who wants to leave can leave,” said Franken, addressing hundreds of talk-show hosts and radio execs at a cocktail reception in a downtown hotel.

“Now don’t leave!” Harrison urged the attendees. “We honored you. Now honor us. Don’t kill our party.”

With that — while some shouted “keep going, keep going” and “let him finish” — the Air America star wound down his rant by talking about his visits with Iraq-war vets.

“The soldiers were so magnificent,” Franken said, appearing to suppress sobs.

What a performance.

Just how could this guy could go from being on the bullseye for elimination to being re-elected is beyond me.

VIENNA, Austria (AP) The board of the International Atomic Energy Agency has approved Mohamed ElBaradei for a third term as the agency’s head.

 Back room deals are what make the world go round…