The Trouble with KONY

Doesn’t KONY2012 suddenly feel like KONY2011?

I finally broke down this week and watched the video that apparently 3 billion people had watched last week.  In case you have managed to avoid the tsunami of media manipulation, I have decided to break down the video into much smaller pieces: 

THIS IS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

Really cool music that makes you think something important is about to happen. 

Introduction of Gavin, the filmmaker’s son.  It’s not clear why this kid is in this video except for middle aged mothers to say, “damn, I wish my son was that cute”. 

Cut to brutal interview of scared African teenager wishing he were dead.  This is serious folks.  YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION so get off your damn playstation for two seconds (actually 30 minutes) and listen up!  But the cute blonde SoCal kid will be coming back in a minute so don’t fret. 

Cute kid is back!  Dad says that Kony is a very bad man.  Kinda like Darth Vader from Star Wars.  When dad asks him what cute kid should do about the situation, cute kid replies, “we should stop him”.  This is the implication; if a seven year old can figure it out (even though he was probably coached by daddy to say everything), then all you morons watching this video can figure it out too.  KONY MUST BE STOPPED!  

The details of how, when, why and all that crap will be explained later—all in vague but exciting terms.  The point is to keep the message simple for easier ADD teenage digestion. 

Lots of cheering.  Young people.  Ra Ra Ra.  Kinda like a cheerleading squad on Capitol Hill.  If we are going to do something, we must make a lot of noise and do it together.  A bunch of littles can make a big difference!  And it worked (kinda).  Special forces were sent to help the Ugandan Army (with their own questionable history) in an attempt to find world criminal #1. 

At this point, the filmmakers should have inserted some porn.  Because I’m pretty sure that some of the 14 year olds stopped watching, clicked the share button and went back to their playstations. 

But for those still watching…this isn’t enough.  We are going to “target” (a word which seems strangely inappropriate considering the subject) celebrities and policy makers.  Really  important celebrities like Rhianna who sings about rough sex and Angelina Jolie whose name is always mentioned when the international community needs help.  This will bring AWARENESS and make KONY a CELEBRITY –even though the actual victims of Kony desire no such thing. 

More young people running around and cheering.  An introduction to the awesomely cool ACTION KIT that was funded from all those heartfelt donations.  It includes STICKERS and POSTERS and a cheap bracelet that probably cost 5 cents for you AND a friend so you can pass it on.  Because this is all about passing it on.  And then on April 20^th, all these do-gooding 14 year olds are going to blanket their cities in KONY 2012 posters (God help us all) so that everyone can be even more aware that KONY exists. 

Cut back to cute kid.

“ I’m gonna be like you dad.”

“In what way son?”

“I’m gonna make millions by asking teenage kids for their lunch money while travelling the world AND making use of my USC film degree.” 

“Dare to dream, son.” 

I think we can all agree that Kony is a very bad person and has done some very evil deeds and deserves to be punished.  The problem I have is that the filmmakers are building awareness and raising some SERIOUS cash so that they can raise more awareness and raise more cash and raise more awareness … and well, at least they are consistent with their mission statement.  But as a CEO of a third world foundation, it makes me a little sick to see that so much money is squandered on making films and paying salaries and transportation costs and building “ACTION KITS” and making people aware without any real consequence.  It all just seems like a slick Hollywood machine and the people who really need help—the victims of Kony’s atrocities—are given a disproportionate percentage of money and support.  And after watching the video, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that the film was as much about smugfaced Jason Russell and his cloying kid as it was about the plight in Africa.    

 I have watched several of the interviews with the filmmakers over the past week and they are in a very intense spotlight.  To answer their critics, they have even made another film but quite frankly, I think they are digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole.  I’m sure they didn’t expect THIS much attention and I’m curious to find out whether the momentum will carry through and make their “Cover the night” party a success.  Will Kony be caught because of this?  I’m not sure it really matters.  There will always be evil people in the world.  The focus should be on helping the good. 

FILTER FORGE

It's amazing what kind of crap you can find when you're surfing the internet.  In some cases, it is worthwhile crap or at least, interesting crap so I usually find myself exploring further and at least giving the crap a 30 day trial.

Today, I came across filterforge and to be very fair, this program is not garbage and I highly recommend it if you use photoshop.  As you may know, the filters in photoshop are very limited (and most of the time a complete waste of time) but with photoshop, the filter possibilities seem endless and most of the time, they are pretty freakin' cool.

I played around with a couple of them this afternoon and turned some photos into tricked out wonders.  I decided to make a collection of some countries that I have visited.

First up, we have Cambodia of course, my latest obsession.  I have always loved this photo.  It came together at the end of the day when two monks were wandering around the famous Ta Prohm temple.  The original photo isn't quite in focus so the photo is improved when it is "disguised" with a little filter magic.

Next up, we have Canada.  This is Lake Belwood situated about an hour outside of Toronto and on a warm August morning, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world--in my opinion, of course.  Summer doesn't last long here; by the middle of September, it's all over till the following June.  

The DR, as most people like to call it.  An island paradise where the people are friendly, the beers are cold and the music is hot. If you come here, you'll spend some lazy days unless you get diarrhea and then you're running a lot to the bathroom.  Bring some pepto and don't drink the tap water!  

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I really miss France.  I lived outside of Paris for a year just before I entered University and I fell in love with the whole country.  One of my favorite spots is Mont St. Michel which is the large Abby situated in the northwest corner of France in an area called Normandie. In the picture below, the large red splotches are actually poppies.  Not the best use of filterfoge (it looks like an impressionist painting that was left out in the rain) but it took me quite a while to do so I'm putting it here.     

You can check out filterforge at www.filterforge.com.  And yes, they do have a free trial.  

POPWATCH: At the Oscars

This year, I attended a very swanky Oscar event at Universal Studios.  It was very very exclusive but as long as you could afford $200 and a suit or a dress (whichever was appropriate), then you were exclusive enough.  

The money raised went towards MEND which helps people get out of poverty in Los Angeles so you didn't have to feel too guilty about spending an evening oogling stars who are much better looking than yourself.  

I had a great time and I would do it again.  

So here's my rundown of my random observations about the event and the movies that surrounded it.  It was a depressing year for movies, wasn't it?  Except for Bridesmaids.  I'm sooooo looking forward to some good ol' popcorn movies.  Anyone going to see The Hunger Games?  

Anyhoo, here we go ...

*Have you seen The Artist?  I think most people are saying that it’s a good but not a great movie.  Is it Best Picture material?  Well, if you compare it to The Descendants, then you’re comparing Godiva chocolate to shit-on-a-stick. 

*Yes, I will admit it that Angelina’s posturing was a little strange but in my books, she can do no wrong.  She is talented, beautiful and a great humanitarian and she can stick out any body part she wants wherever she wants.  And as someone else said, maybe she was just trying to air something out. 

*Meryl Streep had the funniest line of the night with her “whatever” acceptance speech.  She obviously has a great sense of humor even if “Iron Lady” didn’t. 

*Billy Crystal is a great host.  Everyone knows that.  He is far better than Ricky Gervass who is a mean-spirited fat British unfunny dwarf.    (You can dish it out Ricky but can you take it?)  I think Billy should host every year but occasionally let NPH do it for variety’s sake. 

*For the first time ever, I watched the shorts.  Most of them were good but I can’t understand why something like “Time Freak” made it onto the list.  It looked like something a bunch of drunk college students put together which, I suppose, is not necessarily a bad thing.  My choice for the Live Action Short was Tube Atlantic about a dying guy shooting up seagulls.  No, it definitely wasn’t PETA friendly but it was very bizarrely amusing. 

*Hugo is a little overrated.  I know I’m being picky when I say that it didn’t make any sense that NO ONE in this PARISIAN movie spoke French.  They all had British accents and sometimes very bad ones.  And Hugo didn’t know whose story it was telling.  Was it about the old man?  Or was it about the little kid?  It wasn’t a family movie.  If I were eight, I would have fallen asleep after the first ten minutes or peed in my pants so I got to go home.  In fact, at my age, I nearly did the latter but I didn’t want to clean up the mess. 

*Okay, I’m going back at The Descendants.  Not sure what the point of this movie was except give me the desire to stick needles into my eyes.  And if they wanted to make it more depressing, they really couldn’t have.  They even threw in a confused old Iady who thought she was off to visit Queen Elizabeth instead of her daughter who was in a coma.   I did like the stoner surfer dude.  He made the movie watchable. 

*Mara Rooney should have won for Best Actress.  This was a very complex violent role and she pulled it off perfectly.  And she wasn’t afraid to really bare it all (literally).  The movie was good too but I have a hard time believing that you can put on a wig and sunglasses and waltz into a bank and withdraw several billion dollars no matter how tech savvy you are. 

*Bridesmaids.  Yep, it was a good one and actually ENTERTAINING which a lot of the Best Picture nominees failed at.  Potty humor is really undervalued in our society.  We should have more films where women do disgusting things.  And I think Kristin Wiig is pretty damn amazing.  I was first introduced to her in Knocked Up and she had the funniest five minutes even with very few words.

*They really should have had the dog from The Artist up on stage at the Oscars.  Hollywood people are suckers for animals and in my profession, that’s a good thing. 

*Why does Jennifer Lopez always think she is attending the Miami Beach Hot Body contest?  As much as I admire the heavy lifting that her dresses do, I still don’t think it’s appropriate to pull that kinda shit at the Oscars.  Cover up a little bit, there J.Lo.  We know you have the boobies but you’re distracting us from what comes out of your mouth.  (Is that the point?) 

*The older kid from The Tree of Life should have won something.  I don’t care what they needed to call it.  Young Actor’s Award or something?  I don’t know how old he was but he did a remGarkable job in a very haunting movie that everyone seemed to love or hate.  I loved it but I think I could have done without the dinosaurs and the cosmos and other ridiculous imagery that only made the movie feel pretentious. 

*I don’t think anyone got “played off” by music at the Oscars this year.  I wonder what the Academy told the winners so that they kept within their allotted time.  They must have threatened them with winged monkeys or something.  I was impressed that they kept the show running right on schedule. 

*Doesn’t it suck when you defy million to one odds and receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actress and then you show up on the red carpet wearing something that looks like a billowing tent?  Melissa, you really needed to talk to Joan Rivers before you made that choice.  That plastic old bitch would have told you like it is. 

*How many times did the cameras cut to George Clooney during the telecast?  Yes, he is good looking but so are the hundreds of other people in that room.  

*My favorite for Best Picture was the quirky Midnight In Paris.  It had a quiet charm and I thought it was far more magical than the heavy handed Hugo.  I didn’t entirely trust the set-up; there is no way that the main characters would have ever gotten engaged in the first place (he was a dreamer and she was a raging bitch) but I was carried away about the romance and Woody Allen did for Paris what he has done for New York in his previous pictures. 

*Whatever happened to the musical numbers?   Sometimes it’s good to have something really disastrously bad so that people have something to talk about the next day other than the women who tried too hard on the red carpet. 

*I like Emma Stone.  I really really like her.  She looks like she is enjoying her time in the spotlight and she isn’t afraid to act her age.  The Help was just a so-so movie but perhaps the fact that I watched it on an 8 inch screen while flying over the Pacific had something to do with my attitude.    

And last but not least, I didn’t do very well with my voting ballot.  Trying to think like an old white guy is actually very difficult.    

Can't wait till next year.  

Until then, we should all make love in the firmament.  

Ciao baby!  

The incredible street art of San Francisco

On a recent trip to the city by the bay, I did a couple of walking tours and snapped a couple of pictures along the way.

I can't really remember where I walked.  I think I was down in the Mission District and the Haight-Ashbury area.  I do remember how painful my feet were at the end of the day.  Six hours of straight walking in lousy athletic shoes takes its toll.

So here's my portfolio.  

The opening of the Savong Student Center!

I'm very pleased to announce that the students are finally moving in!

The Savong Student Center (or Centre if you're English, Canadian or Cambodian or pretty much anything else besides American) will be a home for ten older students who are attending the local high school or university.  These are great kids and they are blessed to have such an opportunity.

Only five out of the ten students have sponsors to cover their living expenses so we are still looking for generous donors.  $40/month will cover the basic expenses such as food.  If you are willing to donate more, then we are always looking for sponsors willing to cover the cost of education which is about $360/year for a high school student and about $400/year for a university student.  The university students are also given a laptop which costs about $600.

But I assure you, even the smallest donation will be put to good use.

The best way to donate is through the Razoo page:

www.razoo.com/story/savongfoundation

Here is a video which was taken of the center while it was still under construction in November 2011. 

Thank you everyone.  The Savong Foundation is very pleased to be a part of these students' lives!  

In San Francisco

For a couple of days, I'm up at the city by the bay.

Today I walked three billion miles. No exaggeration. My feet are tingling and my knee hurts like hell. Where is the Advil damnit.

I'm not sure why homeless people enjoy talking to me. Maybe it's because I stop and listen when they call out. Even though I don't give them money, they wish me a good day and sometimes I get a "God bless" which is really funny coming from them.

I saw a homeless person dragging a suitcase. I thought that was much more tasteful than a shopping cart. And it's probably easier to organize all that homeless stuff. How did I know she was homeless? No one that dirty is gonna be taking a trip. And even if she had a ticket, there would be no way that Southwest Airlines would let her on a plane.

I made it to the Haight-Ashbury district. This place has really seen its day. Tourists and wasted looking poseurs with dreds. Get a freakin' job. The hippie life didn't work. And no, I don't want a bud.

I did like the Red Victorian though. The universal center of peace love and happiness. Maybe one day I'll stay there and listen to "me and Bobby McGee". Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.



Overall I like San Francisco. I don't like the fact that the museum of modern art is closed on wednesdays but that's because I tried to go there on a Wednesday.

The gift shop was open. You can browse books and buy artistic egg holders. And I learned about Banksy.

Exit through the gift shop.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The BEBE Billboard

I was out walking my dog and I came across this bus billboard advertising the clothing line bebe.

Strangely enough, the two women started talking to me.  I know, weird huh?  But strange things happen in North Hollywood.

And this is what they said.