Iron Man 2 Trailer

Sustainability

"...someday people like me will end up in jail."

Megan Fox needs to go back to obscurity

This is highly amusing...

Lucky you if you don't know about Megan Fox and Michael Bay. The former is famous for her roles in the heavy-hitting dramas, Transformers and Transformers 2. The latter is the director of such masterpieces.

Well, it turns out that the two of them have had a falling out, and it may or may not be because they screwed. We'll probably never know for sure.

The proverbial shit hit the fan when Fox upped the ante and called Michael Bay "Hitler." At that point, even crew members had to intervene and post a scathing letter on Michael Bay's website.

Some excerpts from the letter (read the whole sordid thing here):

Yes, Megan has great eyes, a tight stomach we spray with glycerin, and an awful silly Marilyn Monroe tattoo plastered on her arm that we cover up to keep the moms happy.

Michael found this shy, inexperienced girl, plucked her out of total obscurity thus giving her the biggest shot of any young actresses' life. He told everyone around to just trust him on his choice. He granted her the starring role in Transformers, a franchise that forever changed her life; she became one of the most googled and oogled women on earth. She was famous! She was the next Angelina Jolie, hooray! Wait a minute, two of us worked with Angelina – second thought – she's no Angelina. You see, Angelia is a professional.

We know this quite intimately because we've had the tedious experience of working with the dumb-as-a-rock Megan Fox on both Transformers movies.

*****

When facing the press, Megan is the queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star. And yes we've had the unbearable time of watching her try to act on set, and yes, it's very cringe-able. So maybe, being a porn star in the future might be a good career option. But make-up beware, she has a paragraph tattooed to her backside (probably due her rotten childhood) easily another 45 minutes in the chair!

*****

She compared working with Michael, to "working with Hitler". We actually don't think she knows who Hitler is by the way. But we wondered how she doesn't realize what a disgusting, fully uneducated comment this was?

*****

On our first day in Egypt, the Egyptian government wouldn't let us shoot because of a permit problem as the actors got ready in make up at the Four Seasons Hotel. Michael tried to make the best of it; he wanted to take the cast and crew on a private tour of the famous Giza pyramids. God hold us witness, Megan said, "I can't believe Michael is fucking forcing us to go to the fucking pyramids!" I guess this is the "Hitler guy" she is referring to.

So this is the Megan Fox you don't get to see. Maybe she will learn, but we figure if she can sling insults, then she can take them too. Megan really is a thankless, classless, graceless, and shall we say unfriendly bitch.

2009 Medal of Freedom Recipients

The full list (and biographies) are here. Some of the recipients:

Stephen Hawking
Sen. Edward Kennedy
Joseph Medicine Crow
Harvey Milk
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sydney Poitier
Mary Robinson
Desmond Tutu
Muhammad Yunus

Happy June!

Summer is here (it's 100+ degrees daily now) and it's looking to be a good one.

I finished all five seasons of The Wire and plan to go back and re-watch them again. If you haven't seen The Wire, check out this video with the show's creator, David Simon. They show some clips from the show but nothing too revealing plot-wise.

Since finishing The Wire, I started reading the Harry Potter series (2 down, 5 to go) and watching True Blood - which I already love. Wowsa, vampires are HOT. I can almost tolerate the Southern accents because this show is already so good (I've only seen 2 episodes).

Today is the first installment of the David Lynch Interview Project, an online video series with new episodes released every three days for a year.

Last but not least, I'm going to start writing about places to chow in Phoenix (since I can't talk about my job, other than saying that I love it, which I do). Such post forthcoming!

This American Life

You already know how great this show is, but in case you've missed either of these programs I highly suggest downloading the podcasts:

"Bad Bank" (#375 from 3/1/09): Where the economic crisis is explained in layman's terms. One very poignant moment came when Columbia business school professor David Beim stated the following:

What is happening to us is something that goes way beyond toxic assets in banks. It's something that has little to do with the mechanics of mortgage securitization, or ethics on Wall Street, or anything else. It says the problem is us. The problem is not the banks, greedy though they may be, overpaid though they may be. The problem is us. We have over-borrowed, we have been living very high on the hog. Our standard of living has risen dramatically in the last 25 years and we have been borrowing much of the money to make that prosperity happen.

"Scenes from a Recession" (#377 from 3/29/09): Where they focus on odd stories stemming from the recession, including how condo owners are banding together despite the problems caused by vacancies in their building (like feral cats, sinking foundations and leaking roofs) and how the FDIC takes over a bank.

I was able to catch up on all of these during my road trip from AZ to CA. Listening to a bunch of them at the same time can be overwhelming, but they are so well done that they often build on themes raised in other programs creating a multi-layered reflection on current events.

David Lynch's Interview Project

You may have heard about DL's latest opus, Interview Project. The project feels like one part Studs Terkel, one part Richard Avedon.

Beginning June 1st, and continuing every few days for a few months, you can watch each 3-5 minute interview of the 121-part series at the project's website. One installment is located here (I had trouble embedding it or else I would have posted it directly). Enjoy!

New Francis Ford Coppola film!

In case you're in da club and have to get those dudes off your jock

Fake engagement rings from Mstaken.com! Hilarious...

Of course, you could go the cheaper route and do what a law school friend does: just tell guys you have genital herpes. Enjoy:

Another day, another cat video

Pearl

I'm sure you've seen this... oldies but goodies:

The Landlord from Will Ferrell

Good Cop, Baby Cop from Will Ferrell

Ted, sweet Ted

My friend and former co-worker Ted (not Teabagger Ted, but another Ted) is featured in an ad my former employer made... Hilarious:


Meet the Visual QuickStart Guide Bunny from Peachpit TV on Vimeo.

The little web radio station that might

I recently read an article in a local mag about a new web radio station, Radio Phoenix.

They are only broadcasting online right now, but are seeking a license to broadcast on the airwaves. Here's a link to connecting to them online.

I've listened to them a bit and I like it - kind of like a poor man's KCRW but a little more leftist, so we'll see how it goes.

There is certainly nothing like this station on broadcast radio in Phoenix, so I hope they are successful!

Bloomberg report on "phantom shares"

"Why should a group of over-zealous short sellers - and, frankly, they are mostly hedge funds - why should they be allowed to destroy the American dream? It's a matter of fairness. I think what you hear among all of the critics is: let's just be fair, there's no need for this."

"Everything is amazing... nobody is happy"

Thanks to Ren for the tip!

Great speech about wisdom and morality in our modern era

In the speech he mentions Ray Anderson of Interface Carpets, who was featured in the documentary The Corporation:

The International

I just learned that this film is directed by Tom Tykwer, director of Run Lola Run and The Princess and the Warrior. Yay!

Painful

Oh what a difference three years makes:

2006:


2009:

Guess who?

Click here for the answer.

Shepard Fairey

The artist for the now iconic Obama image was recently arrested for outstanding warrants related to graffiti, but here's a happier article about him, and how the Smithsonian acquired his poster: