moovie ignrantce, aaight?
If you are in a movie theatre and you check your mobile phone every five minutes for a text message, your not only an asshole, you are so not that important. Yes, the glow from your screen is friggin' annoying to the people around you.
If your phone rings and you answer it and start up a conversation, your a special level of needy asshole. Wow, look at you! your beeing seen on a mobile phone in a public place. You indeed have friends. Welcome to 1996. Glad you could make it.
If you keep talking to your pal next to you at full voice about what is going on in the movie, your an asshole. Yes, the cross-gendered X-men villain was a little giggle worthy but you went on and on about it. YES, mention it three more times. That is SO funny.
If you don't give a crap that your home made sammich you brought in was done so in tinfoil and is loud as hell opening up as well as dropping your empty aluminum can several times, your a special level of cheap bastard asshole. I understand a coke here is $9.50 but could you at the very least be somewhat discreet with your aluminum mother$%&% can?
If you laugh or clap at every single little thing in the movie, your not an asshole, just really annoying. It's not required to share your level of enjoyment with everyone else in the theatre. Plus, it would help a little if you were consistent in which side / team / hero / villain you were rooting for.
Memorial day brought all the fun people out to see a movie this weekend.
Countries, Principalities and other things you may have been confused about over the United Kingdom at a bar at 1am on a Sunday night
A recent conversation about geography and politics discovered there is some confusion about the UK, Great Britan, and it's parts. There was a winding down late-night discussion about it last night at the underbar with some brits who didn't really have a definitive answer to the question themselves either.
The Question: If England, Wales, Scotland, and North Ireland are all individual countries, then what would you call Great Britain to which they all belong? Are they countries within a country? How can that be possible?
First off, the question itself is incorrect, Great Britain referes only to the island itself which doesn't include Northern Ireland. To correctly speak of the union as a whole, you would say the United Kingdom (UK) which technically is correctly called The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Second, Ireland consists of The Republic of Ireland which covers five-sixth of the Ireland land mass. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and has it's own devolved (currently suspended) government. Residence of Northern Ireland can have an Irish passport and/or a UK Passport. The divide was part of an uneasy compromise in Ireland's fight for independence from British rule.
Third, it was suggested that Wales is not a country but a Principality since it has it's own prince; Charles, the Prince of Wales. This isn't true either. It does have a prince but it enjoys the status of Country like the other three making up the UK. The Prince of Wales has no role in the governance of Wales and this term is unpopular among many of the people there.
While we are on the subject, What the hell is a Commonwealth and who belongs to one?
A free association of independent member nations and their dependencies that once were part of the British Empire. Canada, Australia and New Zealand were given equal status with Britain (or Great Britian which really is refering to the United Kingdom) under the Statute of Westminster of 1931. Since then most of the British colonies have gained independence and have voluntary stayed within the Commonwealth. The (appointed, not hereditary) head of the Commonwealth of Nations is Queen Elizabeth II. She also reigns as monarch directly in a number of states, known as Commonwealth Realms, notably the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and others.
Another fun fact; Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are not states. They are each self described as a commonwealth. Puerto Rico and of the Northern Mariana Islands have a commonwealth relationship to the US as well.
So to sum up. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all in fact, Constituent Countries and refered to as possessing distinct nationalities of their own but no distinct citizenships to themselves. The United Kingdom to which they all belong is also a country which means that despite my beliefe and objection last night, a country can reside inside a country. The British Prime Minister seems to agree with these facts as well.
somedays you feel like..
you didn't even see it coming, and that makes it even harder to take.
The Longest Day
Yes, I know. I seem to be slacking in the blogging these days. It feels sometimes like even when I have something to say, it's something that is meaningless unless you have me to interpret it so I just have been keeping it to myself.
Scotland was a beautiful trip. Much more colorful than I remembered when I first saw the place in 2004. I met much more Scots this time around too. All welcoming and enjoyable people.
I'm not as enthralled by traveling anymore. Maybe I have just gone to a lot of places and all of them are starting to seem like the same place. Or maybe, I am just re focused lately. I dunno. Maybe perhaps I am even growing up finally.
I am sure it's just a phase. Traveling has always been a thing in me.
UPS sent my framed prints of Australia from Oklahoma while I was away. They are now reduced to broken glass, wood, and paper. Who knows how long that's going to take before it is resolved.
29 hour day today with the traveling back against the rotation.
Seems like a waste to sleep off the extra hours that should be a gift.
New York to Edinburgh
Heading to the UK for a few days of work and hopefully a little sightseeing if time permits. It looks like a little rain is heading for the fine city of Edinburgh, Scotland, and by little, I mean at least a 60% chance of it every day I am there. (sigh)
Before I go, tomorrow I get to do my work outdoors, walking all over the city of New York taking photography of some iconic sights with an emphasis on the crowds and commuters. This officially makes two projects in a row where I am utilizing my photography into the media budget. Yay me.
Little Sophie
A few years ago when I was living in Sydney, I wrote about a little Australian girl that had suffered a horrible ordeal when a car drove into her daycare center causing her massive burns and injuries that no person should have to ever go through. It happened in the same suburb of Manly I was living in at the time and while reading the paper one morning about little Sophie at my Saturday morning coffee shop. I became very emotional.
Maybe it was a connection to thinking about the what-if's with my own son, but it was mostly just this innocent and happy picture of Sophie they had (pre accident) placed in the article and reading about the horrific things she was going through just to stay alive. But as with the rest of the world we have the luxury of going on with our lives and putting the tragedy behind us. It's been some time since I have even wondered about Sophie and how she was doing. It was my greatest hope that she was doing remarkably better than expected and had a full life ahead of her to recover from the pain she went through.
A few days ago, Sophie was hit by an elderly driver in northern Sydney while crossing the road in a pram. She suffered broken ribs and head trauma. She will recover but honestly, I really think this girl needs to be handed the next winning lottery ticket and everyone just be okay with it.
In Soviet Russia, Jokes Tell on You!
My one and only viewing in the Tribeca Film Festival this year was Hammer and Tickle, the Communists Jokebook. It was billed as a Monty Python-esque type of documentary that looks at Soviet history and how political jokes had a part in keeping people connected through a state controlled media atmosphere. It gets billed as Monty Python-esque only because when they have Russians being interviewed, the translator talking over them in English is either using a very overly obnoxious Liverpool or Cockney British accent.
Not a bad film over all but some parts ran long and some of the film quality seemed like it was filmed on my old Hi-8 mm and stored in a dank warehouse over the last 40 years. Admittedly, the director said the jokes were a bit stale and the budget was painfully small.
I can't believe this movie was made and not once did it mention the comedy of Yakov Smirnoff. Seems like this was the role he was born to have starred in. What a country!
On the subject of communism, today is May 1st which happens to be an international workers day known as Mayday. This holiday is no longer celebrated in the United States thanks to McCarthyism and the red scare but it's origins start in Chicago, Ill during the Haymarket Riot of 1886 where demonstrators demanded an eight-hour workday in the United States to come in effect as of May 1, 1886.
