3.59 - The One with the double standard

ever heard of Viacom? They are the parent company of MTV, VH1, Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, etc. Pretty big in the entertainment world...and obviously a big player in the copyright infringement front. Recently they have filed a lawsuit against YouTube for $1 billion...that's a lot of cash. Here's the kicker...

Christopher Knight, an avid Star Wars fan made a video for his Rockingham County Board of Education campaign. He posted it on YouTube and it was also aired on his local TV station. Then the brilliant people over at Viacom's VH1 took his clip without his permission or notification, and broadcast it on their Web Junk 2.0 show. Knight then put the VH1's clip of his video on YouTube prompting YouTube to send him a letter stating that Viacom claims that the material is infringing on copyright.

So in a nut shell...Viacom took Knight's non-profit video without asking permission and then uses it for profit. Then when he put it up on YouTube...Viacom made them pull the video claiming copyright infringement. I think if anyone should claim copyright infringement it would be George Lucas...

3.58 - The One with the jerseys

Is this the last image that we'll see of Michael Vick in the NFL? The once 1st pick overall by the Atlanta Falcons plead guilty to dog fighting and all the other stuff that doesn't need to be repeated. This story has be written, scrutinized over and over and I'm sure we'll hear more of it as time goes on.

But here's my issue...Vick has been my favourite player in the NFL since he was drafted. I even bought his jersey a couple years back and wore it with pride. Now...it sits in my closet. I've seen other people have their dogs chew Vick's trading cards, pee on his shirts/jerseys, etc. I'm not about the have a dog rip up something that I paid a good price for. I thought about selling it on eBay...but who wants to buy a Vick jersey now? If I didn't already own one...I would be avoiding them like a plague. So what to do?

Speaking of jerseys...have you seen the new Vancouver Canucks one for this year? ouch...who approves these things? The colours are nice...back to the original...the re-colour of the orca logo I can live with...but the word "Vancouver" in big block letters on the front? What happened there? Someone dropped the ball on that one...

3.57 - The One with the beauty pageant

I don't understand why they have beauty pageants...at least why they make the girls answer thought provoking questions. Case and point right here with 2007's Miss Teen USA pageant where Miss Teen South Carolina...well...uh...

Question: Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a world map. Why do you think this is?

Miss Teen South Carolina: "I personally believe the U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh...people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our education like such as South Africa and, uh, the Iraq everywhere like, such as and...I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., err, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our...

3.56 - The One where I can't login

I think I have a problem...I will admit to it...I am addicted to Facebook. I tried to login this morning just to see what's going on...and I was greeted with :

Hey, your account is temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance. It should be available again within a few hours. We apologize for the inconvenience.

dang...

3.55 - The One with another re-design

I haven't had much time to blog this week...but I'm sure you've noticed the change in the look of my blog.I just felt it was time to change it...I was getting kinda bored with the previous look. I think I'm going to tweak this one just a little more but it's pretty much done. What do you think?

3.54 - The One with hammer time

translation: "You Can't Touch This! Stop! Hammer time!"

3.53 - The one with the barricade

Last night I was driving home from Naomi's and I came across a police barricade. The street I usually drive down was blocked off so I had to turn around and go a different way. I was curious so I drove around to get closer and I saw a bunch of local police cars and some OPP cars. Turns out there was a guy who locked himself in a house after a domestic incident with his girlfriend. Crazy stuff...

Cobourg police and Northumberland OPP officers set up a command post in a school parking lot at Elgin and D’Arcy Street in Cobourg Tuesday evening.

Photo: Nesphotos.ca

Police arrest man barricaded in Cobourg residence

Mandy Martin- Cobourg Police
Local News - Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A domestic incident escalated to emergency response status in Cobourg Tuesday evening.

Around 8:30 p.m., Cobourg police received information a female resident was assaulted by her boyfriend.

The woman made her way to a neighbour’s residence for safety from where police attempted to make contact with the boyfriend. Several attempts were made to contact the man by phone, with no response. The male locked the residence and there was evidence he might be armed with a knife.

As a result, the OPP were contacted for assistance for a barricaded person. Members of the OPP Emergency Response Team, Tactics and Rescue Unit (TRU) and negotiations units arrived.

After further attempts to contact the male, and his continued refusal to exit the residence, TRU set off explosive distraction devices and entered the building.

The man was located upstaitrs of the residence. He was taken into custody without further incident.

The male, a 32-year-old Toronto resident, was charged with assault, threatening death and breach of probation. He was held in custody for a bail hearing in Cobourg today, Aug. 15.

3.52 - The One with the lights

I was watching an episode of 'Friends' last night...and have you ever noticed that when the characters come back to the apartment and no one is home...no matter what time of day...the lights are always on? All of them...including the bathroom.Not very cost effective when you live in Manhattan. But then again...it is a tv show and they are actually walking on a sound stage...still something to think about...flick off

3.51 - The One with the airports

I've been through my fair share of airports over the last year, and to be honest...my favorite one is Pearson International in Toronto. LaGuardia in NYC is old and extremely cramped. JFK is amazing...but seems too big and disconnected. Detroit's NWA Terminal is pretty sweet with the monorail that goes above the gates. SeaTac (Seattle/Tacoma) is also disjointed but effective. Atlanta's Delta Terminal is super busy all the time, and Bermuda's International Airport is nice...but the girl at the Delta desk was on some power trip and I just wasn't in the mood for her ignorance. I coulda smacked her...she just added to my frustrations with Delta and I will never fly with them again.

But back to Pearson International...it just doesn't seem as cramped at the check-in desks, the people that work there want to help you, and going through security is painless...unless you're an idiot. The one complaint is the Canadian Customs officers who basically have too much power...but I suppose that's the price you pay to live in a safe country like Canada.

3.50 - The One with the beach

I've been to the beach before. We have a nice one in our town...but swimming in the water is a little sketchy. Swimming in the ocean in Bermuda...WOW!!

3.49 - The One in Paradise

Bermuda is such a beautiful country...so much to see and do on an island that is only about 20 square miles. The only problem is getting from one end to another. There is no road that goes straight across...all of the roads are curve every which way and the speed limit is 35km on the entire island. It's easier getting from one place to the other by boat...but then you need a boat and a place to dock it. But all of that just adds to the fun of traveling around the island. Here are some photo highlights thus far...

Welcome to The city of Hamilton


Bermuda Hibiscus - these are everywhere


'The Cathedral' in Hamilton


a Royal Carribean cruise ship at Dockyard


The Royal Naval Dockyard


Crystal Caves


Fantasy Caves


Naomi driving the Boston Whaler


a shipwreck off the coast of Somerset Island


Fairmont Southampton Golf Course


Me golfing in Bermuda

for those of you on Facebook...click here to see the pictures. I'll upload the rest soon enough