My 50th Post!!

This is my 50th post on this blog. I really don't have anything to say, I just thought you should know. Oh, and I broke 1000 visits to the site. Why? BECAUSE I'M AWESOME!

At the risk of being embarrassed by no one responding, I'm still going to throw it out there that, if you are a reader of my blog, leave me a comment and let me know! You don't have to be a registered blogger to do it but I'm interested to know who you all are! Here are examples of what you could say in your comment:

David, I really enjoy your blog. It gives me inspiration and gets me through those tough days. Thanks for providing the world with this immaculate spectacle of writing. Love, Mom.

David, you suck.

What would Jesus do? He would read your blog, thats for sure

David, there are times when I think the world has just gone down the tube and there's absolutely nothing worth while on the internet anymore, and you go and write something like this... AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!!


David, I read your blog because I myself have a blog titled "Blogs that I enjoy making fun of" and you often times provide me with worthwhile content. So thank you, David, for giving me an eternal well to draw inspiration from for my blog.

David, your blog is great... FOR ME TO POOP ON!

Feel free to use any of the above or write your own!

And as always;

Thanks for bein my friend,
David

Sex Tests Mandated for Olympics

When a woman looks a little too manly, we usually assume steroids, right? Well, have you ever considered it actually is a man? Beijing officials have been designing special laboratories for well over a year to determine the sex of any athlete competing in the games. "Suspected athletes will be evaluated from their external appearances by experts and undergo blood tests to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes for sex determination," according to Professor Tian Qinjie who has helped to develop some of this testing. Though, not everyone will be inspected, anyone can be.

This comes to the biggest surprise and may hurt most the American Men's soccer team who will now be without their star forward, Amanda Bynes.

Link to the full article here, which also has a list of famous past Olympians who were literally "playing for the wrong team."

This One's For You Hubbs

My friend Andy at bloginyourface.com posted a blog yesterday about his Sunday filled with equal parts testosterone and estrogen. It made me think of the MANtage video from Barats and Bereta. You might know these guys from their "Mother's Day" video of the two brothers fighting while trying to take a picture for Mother's Day. They've got a lot of other hysterical videos (and some not so funny ones.) I've been a longtime fan of these guys so here you go Andy. The MANtage! YOU'RE WELCOME!!

Prison Dance Rave

I realize I haven't been keeping up on my blogging duties as of late, and for that I am sorry. I don't have any excuses, I just really haven't had anything to write about, not that my content is usually all that riveting. But thank you to those who continue to come back. In the less than 3 months I've been posting (entries before May are posts from a previous blog I had) I'm well over 700 hits, which makes me happy. I wouldn't say I was stressing, but I was genuinely disappointed in myself for not being better at my blog as of late.

I hopped on youTube this morning to catch up on some videos andcame across a video of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC). Known as "the dancing inmates," you've probably seen them dance to Thriller by Michael Jackson, but I didn't know they have routines to several other songs including Low by FLO Rida, Soulja Boy, and Do the Hustle. Once a month, they have a public appearance, that, if you happen to be in the neighborhood of Cebu, Philippines, you can go to the prison and watch their performance.

I guess the point of this post is to more get your opinion of what they are doing rather than to showcase their amazing prison dance skills. Although its fun to watch, the CPDRC's recreation time is met with some opposition. A statement on the youTube page for Byron F. Garcia, a provincial security consultant with the Filipino prison system, and the uploader of all the CPDRC videos, says: "Some even suggest that these prisons don't deserve this humane method coz they feel there is too much recreation and inmates are to be treated severely. There are also sick people who think that dancing is a form of cruel punishment! Since when was dancing categorized as punishment? My fellow citizens of the world, CRUEL and VIOLENT forms of punishment are a thing of the past. If we make jails a living hell for the prisoners, then, we might just be sending out devils once they are released and re-integrated to society."

Let me now tell you of another e-mail I recently received about Sheriff Joe Arpaio (from my friend who is a prison guard by the way). Arpaio created what is known as 'tent city jail' to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex. He has jail meals down to 90 cents a day (the guard dogs consume about $1.10/day) and charges the inmates for them. He started chain gangs to do free work on county and city projects. He also banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but 'G'movies. He says, "They're in jail to pay a debt to society not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave... Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves."

We're basically looking at two opposite ends of the spectrum here as far as complaints go, in the former people think they are too nice allowing them to dance and receive mild fame with their public exposure. The latter is met with opposition that what they are doing is inhumane.

I'm kinda torn with where I fall on this issue. I like some of the ideas of 'tent city' but overall I think it goes a little too far. I agree with the removal of any and all "luxury items" such as cable, weights, porn, and TV, but not necessarily with denying them basic needs such as food and shelter. I pulled up another article about tent city that talked about these prisoners being denied medical attention at times and guard brutality. As for the statement that if we make jails a living hell, we'll be sending out devils, I don't fully agree. When I did something wrong as a kid my parents spanked me. It didn't make me angry and go out to do it again, it made me second guess myself the next time I thought about doing it. "Is watching TV instead of cleaning my room really worth a red bottom?"

I don't think having recreational time is all bad though. I have no clue if this is the purpose of the dance program or not, but to have something like that, that all the inmates want to be a part of and having a strict behavioral incentive behind it could be great. I recently helped out at a kids camp and we had one boy in particular who was an "attention getter." One night, he started pretending to mumble and talk in his sleep. He was bunked a few beds down and was right next to one of the junior councilors who tried silencing him. He assumed the boy was genuinely talking in his sleep so after a few tries to silence him he gave up. After a few more minutes of the kid's increasingly louder mumbling, I walked over and whispered "I know you're awake and if you continue to make these noises I'll start taking away activity time." I never heard another peep.

Well, I certainly made up for not blogging in a while, but let me know your thoughts. Are the prison systems too soft? How tough is too tough?

Here's the original Thriller video if you haven't seen it.

Batman vs the Dark Knight

Its been a while since I've done a comparison blog and also a while since I've seen the original Batman, so I decided that since I just saw Dark Knight again for the second time, it'd be a good time to do both.

The Dark Knight vs. Batman

Gotham City: This point has to go to the '89 Batman. Anton Furst did the production design for the first Batman film which was directed by Tim Burton (whom I absolutely love). Furst's set designs for the Batman movie were a take on New York City had there been no planning and had it been run by pure extortion and crime. Hence, there were no height restrictions, the skyscrapers hung over the streets, and there were lots of bridges over streets. This creates an extremely dark and claustrophobic look to the city. Burton is quoted as saying his take on Gotham is "as if Hell came sprouting out of the concrete and kept right on growing."

The Dark Knight Gotham is more modern and based mostly on the city of Chicago, which is where much of the movie was shot (you can even catch shots of the Sears tower in Batman Begins). The Gotham of Dark Knight may look more realisitic, but the reason I like the original creation better is because of its the symbolic portrayal of Gotham as a dark and foreboding metropolis rife with crime, grime, and corruption. The way nature intended.

Batmobile:
The '89 Batmobile is simply iconic to me and truer to the orginial comic. I'm not quite old enough to picture the '60s Adam West-mobile so when you say "Batmobile" this is and always will be the one that comes to mind. That being said, the Tumbler from the Dark Knight is simply this: badass. Its basically a tank on speed. It absorbs bazooka fire, overturns dump trucks and has two modes; loiter and intimidate. And if you do manage to incapacitate it, it splits off the Batpod which is like a hybrid between a motorcycle and a waverunner.
So points for this round have to go to the Dark Knight.

Joker: No contest. Heath Ledger gave the greatest performance of his life. Jack Nicholson was great as the Joker. Heath Ledger was legen... wait for it ...dary. Jack played the Joker as a mastermind villian while Ledger played him to the full psychopath that he was intended to be. I've even already heard about Oscar consideration. I-I... I don't even know what else to say about it. It was unforgettable. One point the Dark Knight.

The Batman: Christian Bale is a more believable Bruce Wayne. He kinda embodies the playboy, billionaire, adventure-seeking type. I liked him in Batman Begins which is more of the story of Bruce Wayne becoming the Batman. As Batman, however, I'm going to go with Michael Keaton. I'm sure I'll get some disagreements, but I'm sticking to my guns. I think they tried to make too much of a superhero out of Bale's Batman, but Batman is, in fact, not a superhero. He's just a hero. Sure, Bale has the better suit, but to me, Keaton is that Hero.

Overall: The only thing I think I missed that the 1989 Batman beats out the Dark Knight in is this: Lando Calrisian. Yes, Aaron Eckart did amazing as Harvey Dent/Two Face. I got really into that part of the story line and liked their spin on the "Harvey Dent/Two Face creation story, but it all boils down to this. Billy Dee Williams could beat Aaron Eckart in a light sabre fight any day. However, the action, story line, toys, explosions, *cough*Maggie Gyllenhaal*cough*, from Dark Knight are all superb. One point. And one more bonus point for Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Final Score: The Dark Knight-4, Batman-2

The Ultimate How-to Guide

If you're like me, you're a real DIYSer. Why pay someone to do a job you're fully capable of doing yourself. Sometimes its simply because you don't have the knowhow. So what do you do if you need answers quick?

Or here's another situation: you're friend invites you to a party on the weekend where they are going to have the ultimate flip cup tournament and they're counting on you to bring your cards to the table. One problem; you don't have a clue to the rules of flip cup and you're too embarrassed and proud to ask.

I stumbled across this website today and it can solve both problems. Its called HowCast and its a giant collection of How-To's.

The site is broken down by category and covers virtually everything, some serious topics such as "How to Invest in the Stock Market" or "How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver", to crazy off the wall subjects such as "How to Kiss Like Angelina Jolie" or "How to Find Out a Girl's Name After You've Slept With Her".

Each video contains a list of things you'll need to get the job done, as well step by step instructions. It usually completes with a little Did You Know bit of relevant, yet needless information.

The Dark Knight Review

This week has been very busy and there is much to blog about, but honestly, you probably don't care much about my time helping out at a kids camp, or my weekend setting up craigslist appointments. You probably don't care as much about the amazing Pillar show I saw tonight that they did acoustic (the band's first acoustic show ever) as you do about the highlight of my week:

The Dark Knight

I was offered a pre-screening by a local theater, along with several other media people. And since today was a concert day and I was able to go in late, I decided to take advantage of it. I would have loved to have captured some snapshots or vid clips for you but this 80 year old security guard was on me like white on Jamie Kennedy before I could even finish reading a text message I originally pulled my phone out for. I told him I had to have it on for my job for the e-mails and they could check it before I left if they wanted to make sure I didn't record anything, but he still insisted I turn off my cell phone. (I had 24 new txt, emails, and VMs when I turned it on at the end of the movie by the way.)

So, seeing the previews has made me really excited for the release of this film, but I will admit I was a little nervous it wouldn't live up to expectations. First, let me start out by saying I saw it in an IMAX theater, which if you get the opportunity, its worth it. The movie was 2 1/2 hours and I wasn't bored for a second. The amazing performance Heath Ledger put on has not been overly built up either. He was simply outstanding. I was, however, a little less of a fan of Christian Bale in his second appearance as "the Bat". I think it was his voice while he portrayed the Batman. But this is my only negative comment.

Another surprise was by the villians in this movie. I don't feel the need to really place a spoiler alert here, however, if you really don't want to know anything about the movie, don't read on. In the previews, I saw the character of Harvey Dent, played byAaron Eckart, with the divided face. They don't actually show the other side, but you can see he has become his alter ego, Two-Face. And if you're a fan of Batman, which I was to the degree that I watched the cartoon when I was a kid (and as recently as last week) you know that former District Attourney, Harvey Dent, is burned in an accident and left complete scarred on one side of his face. My thought was they would develop the story line up to the point of the accident and allow him to be the featured villian in the next installment. He was more of a secondary villian though, and had his own story line, which climaxed to him fully embracing his villainous half.

I still haven't decided if I liked it better than Iron Man. There are pros and cons for both to me. It was nice having the fresh character of Tony Stark portrayed. Batman has been done. Again and again. And that turned out so well, they did it again and again and again. Don't get me wrong, Batman Begins was a great revival of the character, and saved the series, but we must not forget its predecessors and what happens when money takes over the love of the character (case in point, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze). Iron Man also set up the future Avengers movie that Marvel has made very apparent is coming, so I think my enjoyment of Iron Man may have been greater, but The Dark Knight was the better movie.

This movie get the DavidWage stamp of approval.

Well, if I continue to talk about the movie, I'm bound to start giving stuff away, so for the sake of not having to type "Spoiler Alert", I'll end my blog here.

The Miracles of Craigslist

So lets just get right down to. I'm broke. I'm pretty sure I've got a job secured at a 5 diamond hotel down here that will have me working a few nights a week, but in the mean time I decided to go the way a friend of mine did to earn some extra cash for his wedding. He posted an ad on Craigslist that said he was available for odd and end jobs if needed. I did the same and within 24 hours I already had 4 e-mails asking for help.

So my question is, whats a reasonable rate to charge? One of them wanted me to put together an 10x10 metal shed. (gravel for the floor, assemble the frame, put metal up on the outside). Another gal needed help unloading a small rental truck. There's a good amount of stuff, but nothing extrememly big. She thought it would only take 2 hours or so.

So what do you all think?

Conquering my fear

I have a little confession to make. I've had a fear of Blockbuster for quite some time and I finally tackled my fears and signed up for a membership thanks to a "movie date" I had. It all came down to what I wanted more I guess.

It all started about 4 or 5 years ago when I had a movie weekend with a girl I was dating at the time. We rented about 5 movies and settled in for the weekend. I gave them to said girl to take back to Blockbuster which was of course, before their "No Late Fees". About 6 months later I got an angry phone call that I owed them 5 movies and like $100 in late fees. What the heck!?! I didn't even know what movies I had rented by this point! People mock the "no late fees" campaign because they still charge you, they just change the name to "restocking fee" or just sell you the movie. If you're like 2 days late or a week late, yeah, its kinda bogus but for guys like me whose girlfriends say they will take 5 movies back and then don't, you begin to understand the concept a little better. So, I approached said ex-girlfriend and, oh, guess what! They were STILL in the back of her car. I took them back in and explained it hoping I could reach a settlement, looking for the cashier most likely to understand the girlfriend card. He basically told me to pay up or he'd call the police. I knew he couldn't really do that so I just left and haven't walked back in to a blockbuster since.

I honestly was a little nervous going in there because the first time I signed up for a Blockbuster Membership it was like applying for a car loan. They took my soc number, DL#, and all kinds of other stuff. I thought they'd run my soc# and tell me I owed them like $800 or something. It was pretty painless and now I'm a card carrying member of Blockbuster Video. (except they don't give you cards anymore)

Videos From My Vault

I was cruising around on my myspace and kinda forgot about these. The first is from high school and an annual variety show we did. It started out intending to be a complete spoof and intentionally ridiculous but ended up just being a lip sync and dance. We called ourselves the Back*Sync Boys. The second video is a college video project I did with my bud Nicholas Petersen and a band he had at the time called Stereophone. I love the idea of the video, I just look back and wish I had done a better job shooting it. Oh well. Still fun. The third video is also a college project I did in the style of the old-time melodramas.

Happy Independence Day!

So I've got the day off and my sister is out of town, so until tonight, I'll probably spend a majority of the day hanging out at the house. Those who know me know how much I love movies, so I thought I would share my love with you and give you a list of movies to watch to get you in to the spirit of Independence. I'm not much into film noir so some of the older movies that probably should be on this list (Yankee Doodle Dandy[1942], or Stars and Stripes Forever[1952]) won't be. If you have your favorite Independence Day movie, leave it in a comment!


The Sandlot[1993]

New to the neighborhood, Scotty Smalls seeks the friendship of a team of outcasts who meet at the local sandlot to play baseball every day. The team star, Benny Rodriguez teaches him how to play and Smalls becomes an integral part of the team, as well as part of this group of friends.

To me, this is one of those great American movies that everyone should see. I've come to love baseball over the last couple of years and the themes of the game, comradery, and responsibility make this a great movie. The standout scene for me, and the reason its on my 4th of July pick list, is the one that takes place on Independence Day. You hear a Ray Charles rendition of America the Beautiful playing over scenes of a neighborhood celebration and the kids playing baseball. The fireworks start and all the kids just forget all about the game and just stare up wide-eyed and mystified at the fireworks.


Rocky[1975]

Rocky Balboa, a second-rate boxer, is offered the opportunity to fight the world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, for a shot at the title.

Why is this a Fourth of July pick? Well, the title-fight takes place in Philidelphia on the 4th. That and Apollo Creed's Uncle Sam outfit and American flag shorts. Rocky is a great underdog story that you also get to see two guys beat the crap out of each other.


National Treasure[2004]

Ben Gates has spent his whole life searching for a treasure that has been passed down through the centuries and hidden by our fore-fathers over 200 years ago. After also becoming a fugitive from the FBI, he puts his whole career and life on the line to find the treasure.

This movie makes a great pick because of the historical figures and locations about our nations history that are weaved in to the plot line. As a friend of mine said after living in DC for a few months, "I felt like I was living the National Treasure movie."


Independence Day[1996]

When aliens invade and are intent on destruction and domination, Captain Steven Hiller and scientist, David Levinson may be the only hope. After Hiller is able to bring one of the alien crafts down and Levinson is able to crack the alien countdown their knowledge may save the world and make the 4th of July and Independence Day for the world to share.

The title alone should make this movie holiday worthy. The countdown to the end of the world ends on July 4th so when they save the day and destroy the aliens (sorry if i spoiled it because I'm sure you didn't see that coming) Independence Day takes on a new meaning, and not just for the US, but for the whole world.


Thats all for my movie picks. Here's something to end this blog of freedom on. Thanks to joMAMA for pointing me in the direction of this video. God bless America.

Sibling Rivalry

I'm watching Wimbledon today and heard that there have only been 2 years during this decade that one of the Williams sisters' names haven't appeared on the championship trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish. And with the sisters competing against each other for this year's title, this year will be no different. You have to wonder if its in the genes or if its just two outstanding individuals who have pushed themselves to become 2 of the greatest female tennis players in the world, and who happen to be sisters.

I began thinking of other famous families and wondered the same thing. When thinking of famous sibling athletes, such as the Williams sisters or Eli and Payton Manning, or famous sibling musicians, such as Donny and Marie Osmund, Kevin and Michael Bacon (in the words of one writer, the Bacon Brothers are secretly successful with 11 years touring and 5 albums), or the newly famous Jonas Brothers, you have to think good genes play a major role in their success. There are times, however, that its not all about talent, and more about the opportunities having a famous sibling creates (i.e. Ashley Simpson).

This can especially be argued when the fame siblings share is that of movie stardom. A lot of people have the talent to at least reach a low level of stardom but it takes that big break to get them in the spotlight. Sometimes a brother or sister who has already made their mark can be that break, like Elle Fanning (Deja Vu, Babel) sister of Dakota Fanning. Or what about the Smith family? You've got mega star Will Smith (iRobot, I Am Legend, Hancock) and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith (Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions) and they have Jaden (Persuit of Happyness) and Willow (Kit Kittridge: An American Girl). The list goes on: Hilary and Haley Duff, John and Joan Cusack, Alec Billy St... all the Baldwins, Maggie and Jake Gyllenhal, Hanson.

Of course, not all blood-relations are destined for greatness. In fact for some the only "fame" these black sheep enjoy is the fame of embarrassing their families. Jimmy and Billy Carter, Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears... ok, so maybe the latter both get to enjoy the embarrassing spotlight.

Are parents pushing these kids to become famous and that's why it becomes a "family business"? According to Debbie Glasser, a clinical psychologist and editor for NewsForParents.org "parents who are really pushy and controlling really do undermine kids' underlying motivation. The best strategy, is the old tried-and-true: nurturing. The majority of famous siblings will say they were nurtured, not pushed."

New blogger address!

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone who checks out my blog. I'm in the process of integrating it with my website, www.davidwage.com and it will soon take on a layout to match my site (to which I will probably be changing the whole layout to.)

The first step in this changeover is the URL. Blogger.com will still host my blog, however, if you have it in your blogroll or bookmarked, please change the address to http://blog.davidwage.com

Thanks!