Ah, the lure of travel

Hotel Reservations.com is set up pretty much like you would expect from an online travel deal site. They have the obligatory front page set-up, with plug in forms to quickly find a good deal on your next travel plans. Most people might say that it's just a knock-off of other sites that do pretty much the same things, but I have to step up and say that I don't care. If something works, use it. Frankly, I hate sites that take forever to get where you need to be. I want everything I need right on that front page and easy to find. No cryptic link avatars, no cutesy animated gifs or flash buttons to wait for. No Flash site at all. Sure, Flash is pretty, but it's a big waste of time when you have places to be, and honestly, if you're going to a travel site, that's exactly what you've got - better places to be.

Now, all that is pretty much blasphemy for a designer, which is what I am. It's my job to make things look cool or pretty, but there's one thing I've learned in my years surfing, and it may be that I'm submarining my own profession, but all the bells and whistles don't mean doink if the site is a pian in the butt to navigate.

Hotel Reservations.com is just that - easy to navigate. Quick, easy and everything at your mouse-tips. On top of that, they offer great discounts, world wide, on accommodations ranging from hotels, condos and bed and breakfasts. Check em out next time you're thinking of travelling.


Hotel Reservations

This post sponsored by Hotel Reservations.com

"FCC OKs Media Consolidation" or "Corporations Get Gov Handjob Again"

In yet another move to make the ownership of our hearts and minds easier, the FCC has approved the plan to allow media groups to own a television or radio station as well as a newspaper in any of the 2o largest metropolitan areas of the country.

I'm sorry, but corporations have proved over and over again that they cannot police themselves and should not be allowed the leeway to do so. The Republican mantra calling for a deregulated marketplace has left us with the worst economy in the developed world, the most corporate controlled media in the free world and the most corrupt governmental process this side of Russia. When you have corporate media heads the likes of Rupert Murdoch and his "fair and balanced" propaganda machine and you give them more power, you are on the brink of unleashing Big Brother (as if he's not here already).

FCC chief defends media ownership plan

WASHINGTON - The Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is disputing Democratic assertions that a new rule loosening restrictions on media ownership is full of loopholes and will lead to a wave of mergers and fewer choices for consumers.
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Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps described the commission's decision approving the measure as "one that would make George Orwell proud," referring to the English author best known for his novels critiquing totalitarianism and for popularizing the phrase "Big Brother is watching you."

The full story from Yahoo and AP

Giant Spider Attacks Space Shuttle!

From our old buddies at WKMG in Orlando.

The Golden Compass and Religious Nutbags

It's gone beyond ridiculous to the point of hostile stupidity. The religious conservatives attacking Phillip Pullman's book and the film adaptation coming out continue to exhibit their blind ignorance and irrational stupidity by calling for a ban of this film, on the basis that it is atheist propaganda. It's one thing to hold certain beliefs, it's another thing to scream and cry for the rest of the world that they must hold the same beliefs, but you're a complete friggin moron if you stand on those beliefs based on lies and ignorance.

Both Pullman's books, His Dark Materials, and the movies, the first installment of which, The Golden Compass, releases today are neither atheist nor guilty of the sins the whackjobs claim.
How can a work that professes that there is a God, an afterlife, Angels and Demons, be atheist?!

The main complaint seems to stem from the fact that the villains in this book are a group of religious zealots, who also happen to be the government, and who are involved in experiments on young children. This, they claim, is atheist propaganda designed to show religion in a bad light. In this they might have a case, as the villains are indeed representative of "organized religion". However, the mere fact that the author implies that there is a God, in the example of Daemon's, the existence of Angels and the fact that the anti-hero/villain is actually trying to destroy God, defies the Atheist label.

The final complaint, and perhaps the most retarded of all, is the claim that the attempted removal of the characters' daemons, which are spiritually attached to their owners, represents castration. Again, morons. Read the book instead of just parroting spastic, reactionary preachers and stay at home moms with nothing better to do than scour the book shelves for objectionable reading material supposedly designed to indoctrinate your children to become evil satan worshippers. The Daemons represent the souls of the humans in this ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE (read the book!), and the attempted removal of these is a metaphor for the removal of the souls of children by cold and calculating cynicism in the form of power hungry despots. Sorry it had to be a religious organization that does it, but that brings me to my final rant.

One reviewer that I read decried the Atheist agenda of indoctrinating our children early. Gee, I wonder what those classes and church excursions I was forced into from the time I was 5 were all about?

Revenge is a dish best served cold...

Shakespeare. Titus Veronicus to be specific. In her film adaptation of one of Shakespeare's more obscure, earlier works, Julie Taymor created an amazing visual (yeah, he's gonna say it) tour de force. The film is very difficult to watch, as there are some very strange liberties taken with setting and characters. There are Romans and cars, for example, and the plot itself is long and bleak with many horrific events throughout, not the least of which is the one central theme: revenge.

The titular character, Titus, played amazingly by Anthony Hopkins, suffers horrors and humiliations through the entire length of the film, but it is his revenge on his tormentors that is even more horrific. I won't spoil it, but suffice it to say there are echoes of an earlier Hopkins character, one that launched his career from accomplished actor to cult status.

Revenge is also the impetus of the main character in Tim Burton's new film, Sweeney Todd. I'm not really a fan of Burton's work. With the exception of Sleepy Hollow, which this resembles in look and feel, he seems far too obsessed with the look of the sets and makeup than with production values, and his writing leaves much to be desired. Upon viewing the trailer for Sweeney Todd, I have to say that I'm intrigued enough to put my prejudices aside and see the movie. It looks like it might be very good.

The film stars Johnny Depp, who is nearly always excellent, Helena Bonham Carter, equally so and Alan Rickman who rounds out the cast nicely.

Check out the trailer for yourself. Visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site.

You can also visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace

Implants Gone Wild

Wow!

The story is kinda messed up and you feel for the woman, but the video is ridiculous and the news anchor's reaction is hilarious. "Wow!"

Gotta see it for yourself. Too odd to explain.


http://view.break.com/409510 - Watch more free videos

Asleep on the Job

I miss The Kids in the Hall.

For all those who discounted them because they seemed gay or the humor was too odd, these guys were like the new Monty Python. Weird, offbeat, and they dressed in drag almost as much as the Python guys did. Strangely, this video has made the rounds lately, and it's not even remotely one of their funniest skits.