Archive for June, 2008

Everyone loves a good scare, and today in Hollywood the film and television community are bracing themselves for what could turn in to a horror.

At midnight tonight, actors could go on strike if talks breakdown over a new contract to replace the existing on between SAG (the Screen Actors Guild) and film studio owners.

Earlier this year, the writers strike caused Hollywood to come to a standstill. It cost Hollywood $2.5bn (?1.25bn) in lost wages and other revenues. A further shutdown from the actors will hit those in the non-acting trades such as scene-builders, stage managers, lighting engineers and make-up artists.

“If you’re a below-the-line worker, your blood is probably running cold. They’re the ones who took the biggest hit from the writers strike,” said Jack Kyser, the chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.

“Too many people would be put out of work,” said Alexandra Leighton, 28, a TV actress who opposes a strike. “It’s just not worth it. The economy is already iffy.”

SAG leaders are pushing the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who represent the studio owners, for improved pay conditions, particularly for mid-ranking performers, to reflect new income from DVD residuals and replays on the internet.

But SAG has managed to stage its own mini soap opera within the negotiations, after a minority of its members who simultaneously belong to another smaller union, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said they were ready to accept the offer on the table from the studios. The division has set A-list actors against one another.

“Rather than pitting artist against artist, maybe we could find a way to get what both unions are looking for,” George Clooney declared last week in an attempt at playing mediator.

For big screen films, many of which are in the can long before they show up in cinemas, a strike may be a small problem if it doesn’t last too long. However, the stakes are higher for television producers who are getting into high gear to tape shows for the autumn schedules.

Isn’t it funny how clever people can often be so dumb.

When maths ?genius’ Dr Iain Fielden, 41, took a stand against his wife’s ?60 speeding ticket - for doing 36mph in a 30 limit - he didn’t quite work out his sums and now faces bankruptcy.

A physicist at Sheffield Hallam University, Dr Fielden brought in his own experts at a cost of ?5,000 to prove that is wife was innocent.

Dr Daft, was trying to prove the ?Gatso’ camera gave a false reading because it was on a bend, and tried to defend his wife’s honour with a principle called cosine error. He claimed the camera was tricked into thinking she was driving faster than she was.

He took measurements, poured dye on the road to track car motion, wrote equations and even took moulds of kerbstone to argue the case.

The prosecution actually wanted ?25,000 but the judge at Bradford Crown Court showed leniency ordering he had to pay ?just’ ?15,000.

Dr Fielden, of Sheffield, said: “In hindsight, I think we probably wouldn’t do this again. We are going to find it very difficult to pay this. I have spent hundreds of hours fighting this and have not invented anything for a year - I just haven’t had the space in my mind for anything else.”

Philip Gwynne, of West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: “In speeding matters, it is the law of the land not the law of physics that matters.”

I wonder if his wife, Vikki, 49, will ever have the heart to tell him that she was speeding.

“Gimme a six pack of beer, a bottle of wine and a pair of gardening gloves please.”

Shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Wyatt Lewis, 20, from Alaska, was caught driving at the break-neck speed of 5 mph, over a series of neighbour’s lawns in a lawn-mower. Using sirens and flashing their lights at the man, the chase was brought to a halt after a staggering 61 metres when an officer jumped out his cruiser an apprehended the man.

His blood-alcohol levels were twice the legal limit at about 0.18 percent, which constitutes a drink driving offence in the US. The man was also charged with failure to stop at the direction of a police officer.

This story reminds me of the time a man from Michigan drove his lawnmower for 2 miles through a snowstorm last January on a mission to find some more alcohol.

49-year-old Frank Kozumplik was apprehended while merrily making his way back from the off-license. He was caught driving his John Deer tractor mower down the centre of the road with four bottles of wine in a paper bag, having already drunk two bottles, he ran out - which sparked the hunt for more alcohol.

It’s good to know that even in times when you are wholly responsible for your actions, you can still find a way to blame someone else. Kozumplik, in this case, blamed his wife for taking his car and leaving him stranded without booze while she was at work.

Kozumplik, whose blood alcohol level was over two and half times the legal limit, was arrested, and charged with drunk driving.

?With just a day before the gates swing open, Glastonbury festival still has about 3000 tickets left unsold, which means it could be the first time in 15 years that the festival has not sold out in advance. Often blaming the mud in recent years for putting people off, Jay-Z is now the target for the reason of slow sales.

Organiser Michael Eavis said: “There’s a lot at stake. We really do need a good year this year, that’s for sure.”

Last year a total of 137,500 tickets went on sale in April, selling out in an hour and 45 minutes. “There were about 3,000 left this morning,” Mr Eavis told the BBC News website on Tuesday.

“But they are going out slowly. We did about 800 yesterday so we’ll just about scrape home without losing my shirt.”

Scrambling to make himself feel better and those who would normally go, worse, Mr Eavis said the charities that receive money from the festival - Water Aid, Oxfam and Greenpeace - were likely to lose out as a result of any unsold tickets and the rising cost of staging the event.

“The costs have gone up such a lot since we set the [ticket] price,” Mr Eavis said. “The diesel cost has gone up by ?160,000 for the generators and all the tractors.” The event aims to give ?2m to the charities every year. “The charity money will have to be reduced, I think,” he said. “We’ve got ?1m going to charity already, but it’s the second million that’s the problem if we don’t sell out.”

Music fans will arrive at the site from 8am tomorrow, before the music starts on Friday.

Mr Eavis, who founded the festival on his farm 38 years ago, said he was most looking forward to Amy Winehouse’s appearance on Saturday, which was “finally confirmed”. But this year has seen controversy over the choice of Jay-Z to top the bill on Saturday.

Oasis load-mouth Noel Gallagher said it was “wrong” for the event to have a hip-hop headliner. But Mr Eavis responded: “I’m thrilled about it. I think it’s going to be an absolutely brilliant evening.”

The festival had been the victim of the “great British tradition is of kicking down the people who are at the top of their game”, he added.
“We’re at the top of our game, or we have been. So we’re sitting targets for criticism.

“It’s quite natural that we should get a kicking and for some reasons we probably needed it. I’m proving this year that we’re going to bounce back and it’s going to be a vintage Glastonbury year.

“There’s a lot at stake. We really do need a good year this year, that’s for sure, with the weather and everything.”

After mudbaths at the past two festivals, Mr Eavis said the forecast for this year was “fine and dry with one or two spots of rain”.

“We might get 1mm of rain on Saturday, which is just what we need because it is quite dusty at the moment,” he said. “So a short shower from the heavens will be gratefully received.”

An expat has launched an online auction for his ?entire life’ following the break-up of his marriage.Ian Usher, who moved to Australian six years ago, is selling his house, car, job and even his friends on auction site, eBay.

Already the bidding has reached ?350,000.

Mr Usher, who was born in Darlington, County Durham, opended the auction at 5am yesterday. Items included in the fire-sale are his three bedroom house in perth, Australia, all of its contents, his car, motorcycle, jet ski and parachuting gear.

He said: “My current thoughts are to head to the airport and ask where the next flight with an available seat goes to, get on that and see where life takes me from there.”

Mr Usher, 44, decided on the sale because nearly all his possessions reminded him of his former wife.

The couple split over a year ago, although details of the break-up are available only to those who pay a fee via his website.

He is also offering an introduction to his mates (who knows what they think of it all) and a trial run at his job as a shop assistant at a rug store.

Joy Jones, who co-owns the rug shop, said: “When Ian came up with this idea we thought, why not give it a go?”

Mr Usher added: “Everything that I have - the furniture in the house - all has memories attached to it. It’s time to shed the old and in with the new.”

It’s a guilty pleasure for millions of men, women and children all over the world. It is a billion-dollar industry, drawing revenue from ticket sales, television broadcasts, branded merchandise and home video. I am of course talking about pro wrestling.

Wrestling a very brief history

The ancient Greek Olympic Games first put wrestling on the map. Wrestling made its Olympic debut in the Games of 708 B.C. It was a much more violent, punishing sport in the early days, when it had closer ties to military training. Wrestling spread through the Roman world, as well as other early civilizations in India, Japan, China and throughout the Middle East.

This traditional type of wrestling died out in the middle ages, and it wasn’t really till the 19th century that professional wrestling in North America was viewed as a legitimate sport. Through the advent of television in the 1950s, and cable in the 1980s professional wrestling gained powerful media outlets, reaching peaks of viewership.

The nature of professional wrestling was changed dramatically to better fit television, enhancing character traits and storylines. Television has also helped many wrestlers break into mainstream media, becoming influential celebrities and icons of popular culture.

Can I get a HELL YEAH!!

The wrestling we all know and love is a far cry from the traditional style of 708 B.C. For one thing, they didn’t have pyrotechnics, lycra, chairshots, ladder matches, steriods, fancy names or gimmicks. But, very week people all over the world watch grown men kick the crap out of each other over a storyline created by writers to entertain us. Yes I know its fake, and the majority of people -excluding some complete idiots - know its fake, but these guys do get legitimately hurt.

The good old days

When I was a lad, wrestlers from the 1980s were these larger than life super hero’s to me. I remember arguing with kids at school over who’d win a fight out of, Hulk Hogan and Superman, the Ultimate Warrior and the Incredible Hulk, or Macho Man Randy Savage and God. It’s the same for kids today, they have their idols - albeit no where near as awesome - but they give these kids someone to look up to.

I remember wanting to be Macho Man Randy Savage. I used to wander around the house with the cat above my head while shouting “ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!”

Having and Idol is no bad thing

You hear moral America go a bit mad at times, complaining that its too violent, and that it shouldn’t be on television - but if you put it in to perspective; These children are learning to stand up for themselves - like there favourite wrestler has to do, they learn to help others - like when their idol is in a tag-match, they learn right from wrong: John Cena gooooooood - Umaga baaaaaaaad. I really don’t know what the parents complain about. Its no worse than supporting sports stars who get arrested all the time for various crimes.

I for one will be watching wrestling with my kids, I’ll teach them right from wrong, through the medium of TV, just like my dad did with me. People need to accept wrestling for what it is, a fun bit of escapism where you can lose yourself for a couple of hour and wonder why did that bad guy do that other guy. It’s remarkable that the difference between right and wrong can be fun to watch.

I love my Xbox 360, I never tire of its awesomeness. Xbox Live has been one of my favourite pastimes for a few years now - my to my fianc?’s annoyance. Often brutally challenging, sometimes joyfully simple; you’ll always find someone to play, and generally have a good night.

The story of xbox live can be an exciting one; switch on, p0wn some n00bs, frag some more, abuse a few people, get abused, play them again, discover your not so different, form a clan, become uber nerds, win team contest, get sponsorship, get big bucks, fall out with everyone claiming “this team is nothing without me”, retreat to your mansion with ten hot chicks, then repeat.

Ok so maybe not quite that exciting, but you may well get about as far as to form a clan with likeminded chaps/chapette’s and have dweeb-fests where in-between gunshots and ?nades going off are the subtle sounds of cheesy puffs being eaten by some kid, probably with L33T or W00T in his name, whose braces cause him to make a kind off slushing sound when he talks. Don’t even try deny there isn’t someone you’ve played like that.

To ensure you are getting the best out of your gaming experience, here are a few things you should remember…

1. Gaming is not supposed to be fun

That’s right. Gaming is damn serious. I can’t count the amount of times I’m had some wee kid tell me I suck at Halo, or some 35 year-old Kevin Smith look-a-like from Texas calling me a red-kneck because I didn’t see that ?nade coming. According to people like that I should probably just kill myself.

The reason for this aggressive alpha male attitude is quite simple. In the real world, these kids and nerds are the guys who get dumped upside down in the toilet at school or still live in their mums basement and probably are a tad bitter about still being a virgin.

2. N00bs Suck

It’s always tough being the new guy. Just imagine how difficult it is to come in to the world of online gaming where clans run rampant. These clans often employ dirty tricks to boost their scores, like having one weak ?friend’ in their team so that when the game picks out player matches, they end up playing lower ranked people.

Listen up. Listen good. If you can’t beat ?em, join ?em. Turn in to the bad guy - get out there and p0wn some n00bs yourself. Think of it as the circle of life; the strong ones picking off the weaker ones.

Oh, and after the match be sure to proclaim that “W00T (we owned other team), and that N00Bs Suck”.

3. Lag is always to blame.

If you lose, you can rest assured that it was nothing to do with the fact you guys just plain suck. It was definitely Lag. All too often I hear the cry “but I shot him ten times and he didn’t die!!!111!! WTF!!!??111!!?”

4. “For gods sake!!?!11″

God gets blamed a lot too in my experience, but that’s a bit unfair, sure some folk say he created man- but a be-spectacled, acne ridden nerd with a plastic headset on who thinks he was a commando was probably not what he had in mind.

Stop blaming religion, as in number 3, its just more likely you suck like a Dyson.

5. Calling people ?gay’ is always the best policy

A favourite among gamers, this classic insult is hurled so much that the people saying it must be gay themselves.? I remember with fondness as a young man with a brutally prominent lisp insisted on calling the entire pre-game lobby gay. Needless to say it backfired on him as everyone was in hysterics, and he promptly quit out.

Remember though, its ok to use it your self, for example; this lag is gay, this map is gay, your mum is gay, these weapons are gay, Europe is gay…the list is endless but defiantly - if the end was ever discovered - would end in the word gay.

Of course, Xbox Live should be fun for everyone, but if you are prepared to fight back, or even start a fight, then it becomes more fun. We’re not cave men and women any more but the world is all about who has what and who the leader is. Maybe if you assert your n00b-like authority you might gain some respect, until then - I’ll see you at the bottom of the scorecard.

You n00b.

The music known as heavy metal has for years been misunderstood and much maligned by the general public each and every time they see someone in heavy metal clothing.

However, there are heavy metal artistes and bands who are wholly professional about their art, and are known as hardworking musicians who dedicate hours upon hours to their craft and music. Bands such as Dream Theater and surprisingly, Metallica, are serious musicians despite the latter’s famous partying ways often reported in the metal news.

Music magazines that concentrate on specific musical instruments have invited various band members to provide musical and performance advice, and these individuals are very much lauded in the professional music industry for their effort and abilities.

In fact, heavy metal bands can often boast of members who number amongst the top musicians in their specific musical instruments. Dream Theater’s John Petrucci has, for years, been considered one of the most gifted guitarists in modern times, and has been voted in numerous awards and often makes the metal news.

So it is solely the result of the merits derived from the work of these heavy metal musicians that the genre itself has over the years, been taken more seriously in both the music and entertainment industries.

While heavy metal music has its foundations in basic power chords, chugging rhythms and fast paced songs, the many sub genres that has spawned from a free spirited creativity in the community has resulted in it being one of the most versatile musical genre in history. Playthecrowd helps bring metal news?and all genres of heavy music.

There are many camps within heavy metal that swear by its more specialized forms, but these purists also encourage diversity and exploration from their own work. It is not uncommon to find heavy metal bands to have a wide repertoire throughout their discography. The more mainstream bands such as Metallica have one time or another in their career, explored different musical forms such as classical, rock and even pop.

Perhaps to emphasize the influence heavy metal has had on both the industry and the public has been the increasing number of heavy metal acts that have populated the popular music charts, as well as the growing visibility of the genre in commercial marketing and advertising avenues.

Heavy metal merchandise continues to be one of the top selling products in various forms, from heavy metal shirts and CD sales, to other apparel and even tattoos.

Many heavy metal bands, no matter how underground they consider themselves to be, are also keen to include merchandise sales in their efforts to promote themselves and the music. Even the hardest forms within the genre such as black and death metal have been able to break into the consciousness of the public in major European countries, making constant appearances in their musical charts, and you can rest assured - if something happens in the heavy metal news, playthecrowd will report it.

The British hacker, Gary McKinnon?s legal team have said they will take their fight against his extradition all the way to the European Court of Human Rights on Monday, as the high court in England begins deliberation on whether to send him to the US authorities. The judgement on this latest appeal will take around two weeks.

Five Law Lords heard McKinnons? barrister, David Pannick QC, claim that the US had abused the process, by attempting to strong arm his client into accepting extradition and pleading guilty.

Pannick told the hearing: “If the United States wish to use the processes of English courts to secure the extradition of an alleged offender then they must play by our rules.”

It has emerged that in exchange for compliance, US prosecutors offered to withdraw a threat to block any application for McKinnon to be repatriated to serve most of his time in a UK jail. This is central to his lawyers claim.

If accepted, the bargain would reduce his sentence from eight to ten years, to three to four years. Combined with the UK parole system, he may only have to spend two years in prison.

In her evidence, McKinnon’s solicitor Karen Todner said that in their correspondence the US had told her that failure to play ball would mean “all bets were off” and that repatriation to the UK “would not occur”. This threat, charged McKinnon’s team, “sought to impose pressure to accept extradition and plead guilty”, and represented an unlawful abuse of the court process that was “disproportionate [and] reprehensible”.

Prosecutors exaggerated their influence over the repatriation process, said Pannick, and in a bid to secure McKinnon’s co-operation, and that had “made it all the worse”. Edward Fitzgerald QC, who provided supporting intervention at the hearing on behalf of the civil liberties charity Liberty, said: “What the prosecution [was] saying is ‘I have immense powers and I will use them against you’.”

McKinnon admitted to taking advantage of poor security in US systems to install covert software that gave him control of settings and access to files. Bizarrely he claims he was looking for evidence of UFOs. The US government’s claim he has cost the country hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage.

Acting for the US government Clare Montgomery QC, disputed this, saying that even if McKinnon had refused to cooperate he would have still been considered for a return to the UK. “This was very close to the type of plea bargaining that might occur here… this was not a case of ‘we [US prosecutors] can give or withhold the right to transfer [to the UK]‘” she told the Lords.

Montgomery scorned calls for Gary McKinnon to face trial in the UK, saying: “He must have appreciated as he hacked into American computers that he was committing an act that would have had repercussions in America.”

The general consensus among the McKinnon’s team was that the case is poised on a knife-edge., but they remained upbeat

?Defeat would be a major blow, but McKinnon’s team said outside the hearing that it would be by no means the last stand. The precedent set by the European Court of Human Rights in the Babar Ahmad case makes a challenge there likely?, said solicitor Karen Todner.

This driver strike is really starting to get on my nerves. The tankers drivers and their ?huge amounts of responsibility? are just a bunch of greedy, idiots who are not garnering any sympathy from the public.

The British public has got it hard enough as it is - barely being able to afford fuel and when we finally scrape up enough cash to do a weekly fill; there is no fuel in the pumps. Well that?s just bloody fantastic huh.

Haulier chief Bernie Holloway told a newspaper: “I have no doubt it will get worse. We only have three days to replenish supplies before another strike starts. Stock levels will already be below where they were at the start of the dispute.”

Well that?s good news folks.

The worst part about this nonsense is that amount of money these guys want. They have already refused a wage of ?41,500. It makes my blood boil. These guys already earn more than teachers ? who teach our children to read and write, Nurses, paramedics, junior doctors ? who can save your life, bus/train drivers ? who are responsible for driving kids to school, hundreds of people a day. So why the living hell should some guy why drives a truck get more than them?

They claim it?s due to the hazardous nature of the contents. What? People in shops who get ?5.90 an hour have just as much chance to killing themselves in some way while doing their job. It?s pure greed. I know it, the public knows it, hell I?ll bet even the drivers know it.

The Government?s said a total of 647 petrol stations out of the UK’s 8,700, were affected in one way or another, including the Shell garages. Texaco has also said between 30 and 40 of its station had run dry, while Esso also reported problems.

Unite’s chief negotiator, Len McCluskey (and guy who gets all the backhanders) announced that the talks would resume as he visited a picket line at the huge refinery in Stanlow, Cheshire said, “We are pleased that formal negotiations will resume”.

It?s like playground stuff. People have always wanted something they don?t deserve. I for one hope the government steps in at some point and tells them if they don?t like it, quit.