VampireS Sumo

I’m in love with an ape. A twenty-five foot ape to be exact. Peter Jackson did the impossible: he managed to make a re-make of King Kong that didn’t suck and not only did it not suck it is arguably the best King Kong re-make ever and can rival the original as the best King Kong movie ever. This is more Kong then you ever thought you’d need but in the end Jackson keeps you wanting more.

King Kong takes place in depression era New York, we’re given a glimpse of slums that resemble refugee camps, forced evictions and protestors that are marching against the deplorable living conditions. . A young actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is employed, if you call performing in a low budget vaudeville show, in a theatre where the rent is due, where she hasn’t been paid in two weeks. Eventually the bottom falls out and Darrow is as unemployed as the rest of the populace.

As Ms. Darrow tries to figure out what she’s going to do about food Carl Denham (Jack Black) is underwhelming his producers with the footage of his latest film. Just as they let him no how they are not pleased, Denham informs them that not only is he in need of a ship to continuing filming but the ship will be taking the cast and crew to Singapore. The producers eighty-six the idea yet Denham hijacks the film, commandeers a ship only to find out his leading lady has pulled out of the project. Now he needs an actress who can wear a size four. You see where this is going.

Add to the cast a kidnapped writer (Adrien Brody), an egotistical actor (Kyle Chandler) and a skeptical, secretive crew and the stage is set for a lot of action and confrontation. While heavy on the exposition for the first hour King Kong turns into a wild rollercoaster ride of action and emotion and makes you feel like you’re a kid again, watching whatever cartoon or movie that made you lose all track of time and completely engulf you in whatever story was being told.

Some might argue that it’s all too much. As soon as you get over one heart stopping ride, Jackson cranks it all up again as the cast of characters finds themselves in yet another life threatening situation. Yes, it’s a bit over the top, but so is the idea of a twenty-five foot monkey falling in love with a blonde, blue eyed, willowy woman. Since the premise of the story is so over the top then the resulting film should be too and Jackson doesn’t disappoint. You get what you pay for and more. Yes it’s three hours long but I promise you there’s no better way to spend three hours.

T.S. Johnson is a Florida Based Freelance Writer for Hire, Providing Nation-Wide, Professional, Freelance Writing Services. For All of Your Writing Needs Visit prologuezine.com prologuezine.com Today. Or Check out the blog tlkbck.blogspot.com tlkbck.blogspot.com

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mentaldimensions.blogspot.com/ mentaldimensions.blogspot.com/
A weblog for people who enjoy mental health and observational humor, political farce, comedy editorials, satire and spoof, along with occasional doses of non humor

Sir,

Sub: Application for an English-teaching position

I am given to understand that your esteemed institution has a vacancy for an English Teacher and that you are offering a good remuneration package. In fact, I think, I will be happy to work for a little less than you’d like to offer if you will agree to turn a blind eye to my passport.

See, the problem is that I am really an American and a little British, too….but unfortunately, my mother neglected to go to America when they were issuing passports there. Some other people were faster and got there before my Mom could and then they almost stopped giving out those beautiful passports. Later, she could have tried for a Canadian or an Australian/New Zealand one but I was growing up and she thought traversing such a distance would be a very difficult task with a heavy baby in her arms. Moreover, she had another baby inside, so she thought instead, of spending all that time and effort on providing me with an education that she believed would be more useful than just the pages of a passport and she stayed on.

I do have a bachelor’s dregree and some teaching experience in China, too. Unfortunately, most universities/schools have turned down my application on another plea viz. the colour of my skin.

I took up the matter with my Mom and asked her why she did not make me white and she said that people around her were not so white so she thought it wouldn′t matter that my colour was tan and not white. I pleaded with her to put me back inside her and tinker with my skin and then turn me out all shining and white. She looked up toward the skies, a tired, exasperated _expression clouding her face.. “No, I can’t…you’re too big,” she said, “you’re past 46 now and you should know better…”

Yes, I admit I am 46 but what can I do if the colour of my skin is not white? I would love to bleach it like Mr. Jackson but I lack the resources he commands. I can dance a little, but my sons turn away when they see me dancing (please don’t ask me if they’re white and what passports they have) and when I sing, a chorus of asses joins in and people say we make a wonderful choir but my teenage sons look disgustedly at me and that, I think, means something! I even invested in a CD and when I went to a recording company they were kind and said if I continued trying hard, very hard, over a few generations I might be able to sell a few hundred copies. But, Sir, that will take a long time and I cannot change the colour of my skin until then. So, please, will you consider me for a position despite these obvious ‘lackings’?

Yours, in truth,

I remain,

An Eager Applicant

PS: I am consulting with my lawyers to haul my Mom before the courts to sue her and claim damages for giving me a dirty tan colour when she could easily have made me white (I have a sworn and notarized affidavit from my father, saying the colour of the sperm he impregnated her with was white).

E N D

A short explanatory note on what inspired this application ‘template’:

I tried finding a teaching position in Asian schools for many months but my application was turned down everywhere on account of the colour of my skin and the passport I hold. This is true despite my degree in English Literature from a top Indian College, nearly three-years’ English-teaching experience in China and years of writing (with some publishing credits, including a book of short-stories). I wonder when discrimination will end…when racism, passportism and colourism will die…I wonder…

securebar.secure-tunnel.com/cgi-bin/nph-freebar.cgi/110110A/http/securebar.secure-tunnel.com/cgi-bin/nph-freebar.cgi/110110A/http/www.writingup.com/blog/oneinabillion writingup.com/blog/oneinabillion
o3.indiatimes.com/kjack/archive/2005/05/19/117921.aspx o3.indiatimes.com/kjack/archive/2005/05/19/117921.aspx

Rajesh Kanoi (Jack) is a published writer, now living and working in China. Many of his short-stories, poems and articles have been published, including a book of short-stories, ‘Tales From China’ (Lipstick Publishing).

Many people of our society do seem to be starry eyed when it comes to celebrities. They want to know everything about them, want to get to close them, be like them and some of us develop unhealthy obsessions with them.

Myspace is one of the online gatherings that allow fans to gain a closer access to celebrities. I have a myspace page – www.myspace.com/thebondbykarenmagill and that time I am writing this I have 191 people on my friend’s list and approximately 25 of them are celebrities. But I know of people that the majority of their friends are celebrities. That may make them feel like they are privileged but I wonder if they realize that all they have done is join fan clubs.

The Internet has opened a whole new world for the voracious public to learn about their favorite celebrity. And a whole new avenue for gossip to flourish. With the advancement in technology and the public’s insatiable thirst for more and more information (or scandal) on their idols, it is getting very difficult for a star to live their lives with any sort of normalcy.

I must admit that I don’t have a lot of sympathy for stars and their hassles with the paparazzi. A lot of celebrities play the paparazzi then cry foul when the cameras don’t go away when they want them to. And if it is such a harrowing experience, quit. Move somewhere, quit making movies or CDs or whatever made you famous, stay out of trouble and guess what? They’ll be forgotten. It’ll be one of those things like ‘whatever happened to…?’ but no one is irreplaceable. The only reason that people like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Dorothy Stratten, James Dean etc. remain in our memories is because they died before their time or died mysteriously and/or dramatically. If a star is still alive but not doing anything, the public will just transfer their attention to someone else. Aren’t I a cynic?

But back to the original point. Take a moment and look at how many celebrity gossip rags there are on the newsstands and how many celebrity news/gossip TV shows are on daily. The public makes stars out of those reporting on the stars themselves. It is crazy and where is going to end? Is it going to end?

Then we have stalkers. Those fans who go over the line. Those that have an obsession with their idol that is dangerous. Actress Rebecca Schaeffer was shot dead in her home by a fan that felt he knew her because he had seen her on television. Steven Spielberg apparently spoke of fears of being killed when a “sexually obsessed” stalker attempted to break into his home. And the list goes on and on of weird people doing strange and dangerous things. Sometimes it makes a person wonder if going into show business is worth it. It truly must be a labor of love considering what a person has to go through.

Confession time. I have my own obsessions. They come and go and I learn what I can about the star, collect their movies or CDs. But I would never consider stalking them or invading their privacy. I can’t afford it. I am a self-published writer so my money goes on promoting my work. But even if I could, why would I?

I don’t think that there is anything wrong with developing crushes on celebrities or wanting to know more about them. As long as you keep it in control. Remember that they have lives too and so should you. Why surround yourself with memorabilia of a TV show or a celebrity? I’ve seen cases where people have actually had plastic surgery to look more like their favorite star. Yuck. Get a life. Or ran up credit cards to buy everything their favorite celebrity has. First of all, how much did that star get free? Secondly, don’t put yourself into debt being something you’re not. Find who you who you are and be happy there. Not to sound to corny but we all have something unique to offer. Celebrities are great to watch and listen to but we have to remember that they are just people. So don’t place them too high on a pedestal because one day they might fall off.

Karen Magill

Author of ‘The Bond, A Paranormal Love Story′ and the soon to be released ‘Let Us Play, A Rock ‘n Roll Love Story′.
karenmagill.com karenmagill.com,
lulu.com/karenmagill lulu.com/karenmagill,
myspace.com/thebondbykarenmagill myspace.com/thebondbykarenmagill

So I was on the train from Mexico City to Veracruz. The day before I had decided it was necessary to flee the city because the smog was terrible. I mean really bad…if you licked your lips it felt gritty. Yuck. I was 21 and visiting my Mexican girlfriend at the time. Yeah, she was hot. Anyways Barely a couple of days had passed since I got off the plane, grabbed my car rental and headed into town.

But with the smog so bad, my sinuses were on fire… so taking the train overnight to Veracruz seemed like a good idea. The Mexican peso was so screwed back then, that I had an old Pullman sleeper cabin to myself for less than 40 bucks. Two bunks and a toilet…still, not exactly luxury!

It was the next day; I had woken up and we had come through the mountains overnight and we were now in the lowland jungle. The train was pretty slow because people were always walking on the tracks. We come to this little one horse town, and I ask the guy in my decent Spanish how long we’ll be stopped. ‘”Two hours”, he says. I figured it was a good chance to go check out the town, so I walked around a bit, stopped by a store and chatted up a couple of girls. This guy working in the store with the girls invites me over to his folks place for lunch. People sure were friendly in that place! Anyways, after lunch I bought the guy a couple of beers at the brewery where he worked (good beer too) and headed back to the train. Yeah the train. What train? I got to the platform and it was gone! Oh was I pissed….the train had left without me, and all my stuff (video camera etc) was still on the train!

Yikes. I told a guy at the ticket office what happened. The train had just gone up a siding a few miles nearby to wait. But it was not going to stop in the town again.
Now this is where something happened that would never happen at home….the ticket office guy radioed the train, and it stopped in the town again just for me!
Wow. What a break…

That kind of thing is typical of most of my travels stories - a lot of people you meet are really friendly and helpful. International Travel is truly one of the greatest adventures in life.

The author gets great air fares at cheap-airfares-1.com/ Really Cheap Airfares For car rental deals see carrental.weight-chart.org/ Car Rental Gateway Also good is squidoo.com/expidia/ Expidia Tickets

What is the easiest way to give your next event or fund raiser that finishing touch? The best events companies use costumes to put their events into the big league. Here are some helpful ideas.

The easiest way to tie in costumes to your next event is to select a theme where costumes are predominant. Popular themes such as Carnival, Mardi Gras or Venetian Ball are the most obvious. But there are other themes that can lend themselves to costumes, food and decor. Your party attendees will love cultural themes like Brazilian, Hawaiian, and Mexican, or era themes such as the Roaring 20’s, Dirty 30’s Prohibition, Swing, 50’s Rock′n’Roll, Disco and so on. Other popular themes can come from movies, T.V. and Pop Culture: Moulin Rouge, The Godfather, Superheroes, Grease, Gilligan’s Island, Austin Power, and more recently Pirates of the Caribbean.

The next step is to use costumes in the theme. For example, if your theme is Mardi Gras, use beads, masks, feather boas and coins to decorate. Place these items on the dinner tables and receiving tables. Have staff and catering staff dress in costumes and ask guests to come in costumes. Just make sure that the “dress″ is clearly written on the invite so there is no confusion about what they are to wear. Have incentives for guests by offering door prizes for best costumes.

Another way to include costumes is to have grab bags full of costume accessories tied into the theme that can be left in the guests hotel suite prior to the event or when they arrive at the front door. A disco theme could have funky glasses and an afro, Mardi Gras theme elaborate mask and beads, and a Woodstock theme peace necklace, tinted sunglasses and a flower child wreath. That way, if guests haven′t arrived with any costumes, a few accessories can easily create the look for the event.

If the event has karaoke, you can even have small groups have a dress-up table where they can select costumes that tie in with their song, such as “Summer Lovin’” from Grease or “Love Shak” by the ᧼′s. Another popular idea is to have a dress-up photo booth. Guests can select costumes and accessories from racks and have pictures taken by a photographer as a souvenir of th evening. The costumes can be tied into the theme such as saloon costumes for a cowboy theme or groovy 60′s costumes for an Austin Powers theme. A bonus is to have a painted backdrop and photo printer on hand for immediate prints!

Whatever you do, don′t pressure your guests to wear full costumes. It’s supposed to be fun, so let them express themselves how they want to. Remember, the idea is to create a memorable evening that your guests will talk about for days and months to come.

Heidi Loney has worked as a costume designer and wardrobe stylist for theatre, film and television for the last 10 years. She currently owns Ms. Dress-Up, a Toronto based retail and on-line store offering quality kids and adult dress-up clothes.

Check out her website: msdress-up.com/home/home.htm msdress-up.com/home/home.htm

Would Cartier-Bresson Be Accepted at Getty Images….?

History shows us that all aspects of creative expression go through phases as styles and public preferences change. Sure, fads and crazes come and go, let alone approaches in art. And as the ability to gain new information speeds up, thanks to the Internet, we’ll see art preferences change even more rapidly, whether it’s in women’s fashions, men’s hairstyles, or photography.
Here at Photosource International our customers require photos that reflect (in a real-life way) the world around us. We aren’t photojournalists, whose customers are usually news outlets, TV, and websites that pay high fees for disaster pictures (the kind we see nightly at the news hour); nor are we paparazzi who get paid well for photos of celebrities and their doings.

DROWNING IN WISHFUL IMAGERY

And especially we are not commercial stock photographers who specialize in wishful imagery (the world according to Getty, Jupiter, iStock, and Corbis). The Internet is now drowning in this kind of imagery. Check out any of the on-line agencies. They’re all there, the generic lovely blonde with green sunglasses; a suit throwing documents in the breeze; day-glow chartreuse tennis balls; a close-up of a wind-swept fashion model and of course, the cell phone guy.
Ho-hum, yawn. Is this the kind of subject matter that attracts an emerging photographer to the field? In the majority of instances, people decide on a photographic career because of their love of capturing something meaningful or poetic with their camera. They win a prize, they take a photography course, and then they search for ways to make money with their talent, to provide for themselves or their family.

They encounter a fork in the road. They learn about Royalty-Free and Rights-Managed images. They embark on a career of supplying generic images, copying the style and content of the major stock houses.

Are these generic stock images the easiest pictures, to take for emerging commercial stock photographers? Next to snapshots, they are, if the photographer takes the copycat approach. Most commercial stock shooters have found that the effortless way to produce a bunch of commercially acceptable stock images is to capitalize on the ideas of the leading stock houses that have done the market research and know the trends.

This has always been the formula for the fashion industry, the music industry, and most other industries where taste and trends guide production. The recipe in the stock photo industry is to keep the successful concept the same, and add favored locations, clothing, hairstyles, preferred tones and tints.

Am I being too critical? I’m asking, “Is this how you want to spend your creative life?” It seems to me that this kind of photographic activity takes not much more talent and creativity in photography awareness, than photographing fireworks, or hot air balloons, or sunsets and rainbows.
Check out the advertising photographic awards of the year before last, or ten years ago—this’ll give you an idea of the shelf life of such commercial stock.

Dig deeper. If someone can easily copy your idea, then it’s not much of an idea.
Don’t be the stock photographer who wakes up one day and asks, “What have I been doing?” Have you followed the wrong track?

Sure, some of the major stock agencies call attention to real-life editorial images, or even historical images. Getty Images, for example, features the TIME-LIFE Magazine collection; Corbis features the Bettmann Archives. But these are not contemporary images.

Contemporary “editorial photographs” are usually interpreted as disaster pictures or photos that are newsworthy. Everyday-life photographs are left to be produced by individual photographers who choose to interpret the world around them, void of any influence by art directors or monetary pressures.

Would Getty Images accept work from Henri Cartier-Bresson in today’s stock photography climate? Probably not. “Too narrow, too focused in subject matter…” an art director would say. “Incapable of selling product.”

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE?

Can you wear two hats, that is, take meaningful, long-lasting photos, and also engage in stockschlock to put bread on the table? Probably not. A few have tried, but speaking two languages at the same time is near impossible.

But you can make money in editorial stock. Worldwide, $700 million is spent annually for “editorial stock photography.” Three fourths of that is “commercial editorial” stock, and about a quarter of that is what I define as true-life editorial stock, $17 million. That translates to about $50,000 a day spent on non-commercial editorial stock.

Some publishers (of coffee table books, textbooks, etc.) spend $150,000 a month for photography. They’re not interested in Royalty-Free images. They need appropriate editorial stock that reflects the quality of the word content in their projects.

In short, if you follow the big money trail in stock photography, you’ll land at the major agencies and begin producing a commodity for them. But there are plenty of alternatives in today’s visual society. The choice is yours. You can follow your original dream.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes

Blackjack, is a game that can be beat. A good blackjack player with solid blackjack strategy can reduce the house odds to zero or even get them in his favour. However the growth of online casinos has led to more people playing Blackjack with mixed results.
Back in the good old blackjack days a player like myself could walk into a single deck casino and make a nice dent in the casino bankroll. A good basic strategy player who could count cards would give himself a big advantage over the house at single deck games which at the time were in abundance. As casinos fought to remove card counters, (although it is not cheating), new measures were introduced. Casinos went to multiple decks, introduced more shuffling. They also started dealing the cards face up from a shoe so that, firstly hands were completed quicker meaning more profit for the casino, and secondly the cards were not touched by the player meaning no card swapping could take place.

A good casino blackjack player though, may still struggle online as the online blackjack game is vastly different from the live blackjack game. Here are 5 strategies to help make you a winning blackjack player.

Online blackjack makes card counting impossible, each hand is dealt from a freshly shuffled deck and this cannot be overcome. Card counting is impossible. To be a winner online, bankroll management and good strategy are imperative. Using a blackjack strategy which avoids busting your hand will give you a huge difference to your bankroll. The casinos major advantage is that if you go bust it wins, irrespective of whether the casino busts or not. Try and avoid busting at all costs.

Offline always try and get the dealer on your side. Tip regularly, involve him in conversation and treat him as your friend not your enemy. If the deck is in your favour the last thing you want to do is get the dealer against you so he shuffles the cards more frequently taking away your advantage. If you are winning and paying him, he wants you to keep winning.

Online remember you will play far more blackjack hands than you would live. make sure that you have a set bank target, both up or down. If you sit down with $100 at a $5 table I would make $130 my profit figure and $60 my walk away figure. This strategy is good offline as well, but imperative at an online blackjack table because of the speed of play.

Offline blackjack, learn a simple counting strategy, with variable betting the game can be crushed. Taking your time to learn when the deck favours you is well worth it for the results it produces.

Never take insurance. there are very rare times when insurance against a casino blackjack should be taken. Online never take this bet. Offline if you are new to the game follow this advice, if you are competent counting cards only take insurance when well through the deck and it is 10 rich.

Whilst not easy, learning a good blackjack strategy is like learning to ride a bicycle, once you have it you never forget it and it does not need altering. To fast track your black jack learning and become a winning blackjack player taking the casino money for a change visit the website below

Get your FREE BLACKJACK report instantly downloadable at superblackjacksystems.com superblackjacksystems.com The author is a professional gambler and gambling author who has amassed over $2,000,000 in online casino earnings.

Time goes by to quickly
to hold your feelings inside
Especially when their so strong
even if they don’t abide…

By all the accepted rules
most people live by
because this one time in your life
You should not wonder why?

Why you didn′t act
on what you felt in your heart
when no one could change
it since the very start…

The first time I saw you
and our eyes connected
I knew my life would be
dramatically effected…

I do not regret our choices
nor do I feel unworthy
of your love and affection
that makes me sincerely…

Elated and alive
in ways I never knew
I could begin to feel
that are so truly…

Breathtaking and consuming
in my every day life
with blissful power that
cuts like a knife…

Right into my soul
and touches my heart
In such a positive mode
it tears me apart…

To think of my world
without you in it
tomorrow or ten years
from now you fit…

With me like a glove
glued to my body
holding me together
in a way that’s oddly…

Familiar and so natural
it almost scares me
to wonder how you
and could actually not be…

Together for a lifetime
if nobody else existed
We would live a world
of pure blissfulness…

Resource Box - © Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine - A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more. Read it online at - bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp

If one song is all we sing however will we find magic?

If we lock ourselves inside someone else and their box, how do we know what is outside or even how it was wrapped?

If we never notice the fragrance of a flower without someone telling us to smell it, why plant a garden of our own?

If we rely on someone else to point the way, ‘any’ way, how do we know other ways are possible?

If we take someone’s word without thinking for ourselves, can we be sure their word is right?

If we accept boundaries to our thinking how will we know the full dimension that we could have, if we had allowed ourselves questions.

Take a child…. deep within… and let that child free.

The song below is about the questions I did not allow my own self and the tragic fate thereof. I have come to a place in my life where I ALLOW ALL QUESTIONS and respect my own hesitations. It is in those moment I understand my own intuitions. The song below is dark I suppose, but life is darker without recognition and a lifting of artistic boundaries.

“Reality”

a song:

Magic motions used to set my soul ablaze,
until I noticed in the most spectacular form
that little heartbeats
are most easily swayed
and had most certainly swayed me.
My only restitution being
the crudeness of reality.
A springboard to what I thought would be
the very end of me
turned out to be
the very depths of me.
Oh… unkind blow
vexation of my heart
the knife that penetrated ever so deeply
gave me reality.

——————————

About the Author:

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen
Hawaii, United States

Aloha! I am a figurative artist and Illustrator. If you check out my website you will see that I am very prolific in oils. My paintings are collected worldwide. I also do sculpture; images available upon request. I have illustrated for Hay House Inc. , Neil Davidson, who was considered for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, and several other publications. I also enjoy story writing and poetry. All of the paintings,stories and poems on my blogs and website are written by me.

Check out my website kathysart.com kathysart.com or one of my blogs at: kathysart.blogspot.com/ kathysart.blogspot.com/

Aloha