Goodbye, Sir

I hate to be the one to tell anyone who reads this blog...

Adam passed away this past weekend. He is gone. I thought it was all a joke, a prank he was pulling on all of his friends but it was not. I rushed to his apartment when I heard the rumor and found his brother and sister packing up his belongings.

There will be a service for Adam on the 22nd of December in Cleveland at Blessings Cremation Services. More specific details will follow shortly.

Feel free to contact me for more information not covered here.

Kevin

baristacmh AT gmail DOT com

Local Adam B. Memorial

Hello All-

I have arranged a small memorial service for Adam B. here in Columbus for all of us that will not be able to attend the final service in Cleveland.

It will be Monday, Dec. 17th at 6:00pm at the Drexel Gateway Theater in Columbus.

Please feel free to contact me for any info not mentioned here.

Kevin

baristacmh AT gmail DOT com

Age-Restricted clip from WALK HARD

If you don't feel like going through Moviefone/New Line's hoops, you can download the whole thing via Mediafire.

Stephen Chow's CJ7 trailer hits Yahoo (Singapore)

via AICN:

More imaginative fun from Stephen Chow, hopefully.
If you simply MUST have this for your own (ie, put it on your iPod, etc), you can download the .flv file from MediaFire.

IMAX Featurette: THE DARK KNIGHT

The IMAX version of the sequel to Batman Begins is gonna be SPECIAL.

Giving thanks...

This is one of those personal posts that would usually end up on someone's myspace page. Usually marked PRIVATE or FRIENDS ONLY or whatever they do. So, if you don't care about the personal stuff, hit the BACK button now. Or go watch the BME Pain Olympics. It'll brighten your day.

You know...I have a lot to be thankful for.
I ruminate on this every year. Even years I don't get the requisite turkey dinner and nonsense. I've come to take Thanksgiving seriously in my advanced age. No, seriously. I do.
I've set aside the day each year to think about what I really am thankful for. And every year, it comes down to two things: family and friends. They're the two things I'm most thankful for every year.
My family might be spread to the four winds. We might not get together nearly often enough. But...we are a family. The love is still there, and always will be, no matter what. I'm grateful to have what family I have. My sister and brother. My aunt and uncle. My niece and nephew. Even my Republican-in-name-only brother-in-law. Even if I haven't gotten to visit any of them this year (which totally sucks), I still feel close as can be to all of 'em.
My friends are the same way. They're the family that's grown up around me. Each of them might only cruise in to my life every six months, but the hour or two we get to spend together is precious time. I'm appreciative that they give of themselves to me every single day and, like the family, I try and let them know that.
Life is good. I feel I'm at the exact spot where I'm supposed to be, knowing what I need to know and who I need to know. That's satisfying in a way that the simpler definitions of success never can be.
I give thanks for all this, and all that is to come.

Canadians take their workplace safety SERIOUSLY

Jamieson showed me some graphic and disturbing Canadian PSAs about workplace safety.

These commercials are downright horrifying.

They certainly get their point across.

I mean...damn. I'm going to worry every time I get on a ladder for a while after that.

That one's the worst, at least for me (I feel for burn victims, bearing some scars myself).
Thing is, I can see why they'd play ads like this. Workplace safety is a heavy responsibility. One we all need to pay more attention to. And if you're not paying attention by the end of these ads...you're NEVER going to.

And now...a moment with the producers

I've been posting so much pro-writers propaganda, I figured I'd include something pro-producers. Here's some of the bigwigs from the AMPTP stating their case:

A simple primer on the writers' strike

via Mark Verheiden:

They lay out their case simply and very effectively. Of course, the AMPTP folks don't see it that way. They'd like to continue making money hand over fist while the people who made them money in the first place get both jack and squat.
I do love some of the arguments that internet idiots have posed. Writers are "greedy" and "should be happy with what they have". Yeesh.
McDonalds employees should be happy with what they have too, huh? Which is why most people won't work at fucking McDonalds (and why we NEED undocumented aliens to fill menial jobs like that). People stuck in the ghetto should be happy with what they have, too. Yeah. Economic empowerment is bad. KNOW YOUR PLACE, POOR PEOPLE.
Internet trolls are funny.
I could spew more invective, but it's hardly worth it. Responding to morons doesn't work. Isn't that right, rexcase/Anonymous? Responding to you hasn't enlightened you one bit, has it?

So you say you don't understand the WGA strike...

Well...being writers, they have a blog. Imagine that. New media.
And they even posted some videos explaining their position. Also in new media.
Here's Damon Lindelof (that pesky Lost show) and Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives) stating their case:

Here's Greg Daniels and Paul Lieberstein from The Office. Damn they break the issue down in an easy manner.

If you need a more personal angle, might I suggest the anecdotes from Mark Verheiden's blog.

After all of this, I actually feel bad for having purchased shows via iTunes.
I promise I'll only steal shows until writers get a fair deal.