Gorgeous
Sunday, October 31, 2010
You're Not Really Offended
In another example of a company caving into allegedly "offending" a consumer (or potential consumer, I guess), we have a brewing company being informed by some overly sensitive individuals that their label was offensive and contained am image that should not be tolerated in our society anymore. Note: The person was a Wiccan astrologist and "healer". (Translation: She fancies herself a witch.) Side note: The image on the beer bottle was of a "witch" being burned at the stake. Wait. What now?Correct. According to the delicious folks over there at Slashfood, the Port Brewing Company concocts a "...wheat beer, spiced with grapefruit zest, orange peel and coriander" called Lost Abbey Witch's Wit. Yummy. But it wasn't the deliciousness of the beverage that sparked the outrage of a one Vicki Noble. She is the aforementioned "witch" from the paragraph above. She saw the label on the bottle and flew off the proverbial broomstick handle! (That means she wrote a strongly worded email to the company.) Behold! Said label!
Huh. Cool. Kinda creepy. Good for Halloween sales, I would imagine. Sadly, 
capitalism isn't the focus of this tale. No, it's that there was a drawing of a person seemingly being burned at the stake with throngs of onlookers gathered 'round. THAT was the nugget of contention that Ms. Noble had with the beer. In her email she wrote: "Can you imagine them showing a black person being lynched or a Jewish person going to the oven?...Such images are simply not tolerated in our society anymore (thank the Goddess) and this one should not be, either." Oh, for cryin' out loud.
capitalism isn't the focus of this tale. No, it's that there was a drawing of a person seemingly being burned at the stake with throngs of onlookers gathered 'round. THAT was the nugget of contention that Ms. Noble had with the beer. In her email she wrote: "Can you imagine them showing a black person being lynched or a Jewish person going to the oven?...Such images are simply not tolerated in our society anymore (thank the Goddess) and this one should not be, either." Oh, for cryin' out loud.
You know what the difference is between showing a black person being lynched or a Jewish person "going to the oven" and the depiction of someone being burned at the stake? The difference is that the first two might stir up some outrage because they actually happened. Witches being burned at the stake did not happen! You'd think that someone who claimed herself to be a witch would know that.
Are we really supposed to allow fake outrage at something that is
allegedly offensive when it isn't even real? First of all, it's a drawing. It's not like there was a really nice color photo taken at the fiery event that was plastered on the bottle there. No, someone drew that. Second of all, witches that were tried during the Salem witch trials (which is what I'm assuming that she is wrongly referring to with all of her misplaced outrage) were generally hanged. I think that there were only around sixteen of them (not the gazillions like people have been led to believe) and they weren't burned at the stake. They were hanged. And finally, witches aren't real! Good Lord.
allegedly offensive when it isn't even real? First of all, it's a drawing. It's not like there was a really nice color photo taken at the fiery event that was plastered on the bottle there. No, someone drew that. Second of all, witches that were tried during the Salem witch trials (which is what I'm assuming that she is wrongly referring to with all of her misplaced outrage) were generally hanged. I think that there were only around sixteen of them (not the gazillions like people have been led to believe) and they weren't burned at the stake. They were hanged. And finally, witches aren't real! Good Lord. 
But what do you think the Port Brewing Company, of which Lost Abbey is a division, did? You got it. Instead of saying, "Tough witches teats" they instead will "...spend thousands of dollars to change the label." ::: sigh ::: What is wrong with you people? Why would you do that? According to the article, a one brewery 
spokesman, a one Sage Osterfeld, said that "complaints flooded the brewery, accusing Port Brewing Company...of "inspiring violence against women. . . . We have been compared to the violence in Darfur." Oh, for Christ's sake! Are they burning people at the stake in Darfur? No? Then that's not a very good comparison then, is it? And it isn't crap like the labels on beer bottles that inspires violence against women. There are plenty of things that do inspire violence of all sorts, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say that beer bottle labels are NOT one of them. And I'd really like to know how many complaints "flooded the brewery". Ten? Regardless, if these people weren't loyal consumers of your brand, who gives a fat rat's ass? They can complain all they want; it's not like it's going to hurt sales or anything.
spokesman, a one Sage Osterfeld, said that "complaints flooded the brewery, accusing Port Brewing Company...of "inspiring violence against women. . . . We have been compared to the violence in Darfur." Oh, for Christ's sake! Are they burning people at the stake in Darfur? No? Then that's not a very good comparison then, is it? And it isn't crap like the labels on beer bottles that inspires violence against women. There are plenty of things that do inspire violence of all sorts, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say that beer bottle labels are NOT one of them. And I'd really like to know how many complaints "flooded the brewery". Ten? Regardless, if these people weren't loyal consumers of your brand, who gives a fat rat's ass? They can complain all they want; it's not like it's going to hurt sales or anything. 
Port Brewing Company, I am deeply saddened by your actions. There is no reason why you should have had to change your awesome label. Why couldn't you have just told those who were all fake outraged that you were sorry? What did you think was going to happen if you didn't change the label? Were you afraid that they would cast a spell upon you? Psst! I'm going to let you in on a little secret. That doesn't work! It's a shame, Port Brewing Company. Had I heard about this and heard that you did not cave in to
fake outrage over a non-existent issue, I would have been tempted to go out and buy up your wonderful beverage by the truckload. But now? Now, not so much. Now I just see you as another cowardly company (not that I had ever heard of your before today, mind you, but I'm just saying) who would rather give power to the undeserving rather than stand up for what is right. I won't be buying any of your beverages in the future. Do you think that changing your label is going to make all of those "witches" flock to buy your product? I think not. Good choice, though. Reeeaaaalllly good choice.
fake outrage over a non-existent issue, I would have been tempted to go out and buy up your wonderful beverage by the truckload. But now? Now, not so much. Now I just see you as another cowardly company (not that I had ever heard of your before today, mind you, but I'm just saying) who would rather give power to the undeserving rather than stand up for what is right. I won't be buying any of your beverages in the future. Do you think that changing your label is going to make all of those "witches" flock to buy your product? I think not. Good choice, though. Reeeaaaalllly good choice.Saturday, October 30, 2010
Sundaze 1005
Hello, after a week of comedy shows projecting Halloween in mostly bland fashion, though " It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" concept was rather clever, "Community" was by far the best..worth watching even if you don't follow that show. Enough about that or Halloween, something that was originally called Samhain and was the celtic new year where the old and dead was respectfully guided out of earthly life, the christians usurped it and surplanted it with All Souls and left Halloween as a negativly distorted version of Samhain. Time to be a pagan and revert to Wicca the only somewhat sane religion that is out there (safe Buddism perhaps).
Todays post is about the struggle of good and evil.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
I ripped this from vinyl because at the time there had only been a 2003 limited edition of the soundtrack on cd, amazing considering The Dark Crystal had been the biggest ever foreign film box office succces in Japan until Titanic came along...go figure. Unfortunately at the time i ripped this 3,5 years ago, i had just 80 gigs so i kept it to ogg 7, cdr's still cost money too at that time, so from all the vinyl rips i did my first year only a handful were burned..by far the most wave files were converted to ogg 7 and then deleted, much to my regret now..c'est la vie.. That said this soundtrack is still rare on cd..best option for a digital copy is rip it from the dvd which is available at amazon for a fiver very cheap for a (cult) classic..the movie is kinda inbetween..it aint exactly a family movie..too dark and philosophical and adults in the west at least, weren't that comfortable with being adressed by puppets ( clearly deeper embedded in asian cultures).
xxxxx
the story goes..
The narrator explains at the beginning of the prologue that the film takes place on "another world, another time... in the age of wonder". The setting is Thra, a biodiverse planet featuring creatures, environments, and magic inspired by common folklore. Thra has three suns; the Greater Sun, the Rose Sun, and the Dying Sun. Many creatures and races inhabit the planet, but the dominant race is the urSkeks, who came from another world and are the guardians of the Crystal of Truth. The Crystal harnesses the forces of nature, especially the light of the three suns, for the benefit of all inhabitants of Thra.
One thousand years before the beginning of the movie, during the Great Conjunction of the three suns, the urSkeks cracked the Crystal of Truth, and split into two races; the hunchbacked, gentle beings known as the Mystics and the vulture-like tyrants known as Skeksis. In that moment the Crystal became the Dark Crystal. The Skeksis then drove the Mystics from the castle where the cracked crystal resided and instituted a reign of terror over their world. Their wrath was particularly directed toward the elf-like Gelflings, due to a prophecy that promised the restoration of the crystal and the end of the Skeksis' power. The prophecy, rediscovered in an ancient Gelfling city, read:“
When single shines the triple sun,
What was sundered and undone
Shall be whole, the two made one,
By Gelfling hand, or else by none.
Right from the start comparisons were made with the Lord Of The Rings saga but that's a rather light comparison, a better one would be that Tolkien could have written it, though in his time setting it on another planet would have labelled it sci fi which it isn't. It's a moraality fairy tale. ”
Trevor Alfred Charles Jones (born 23 March 1949) is a South African orchestral film score composer. Although not especially well known outside the film world, he has composed for numerous films and his music has been critically acclaimed for both its depth and emotion. His first big moviework Excalibur brought Jones to the attention of Jim Henson, who was making The Dark Crystal, and looking for a composer who was young and eager to work in the experimental, free-wheeling way which Henson preferred. The resultant score is an expansive, multi-faceted work, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, augmented by inventive use of Fairlight and Synclavier synthesizers, as well as period instruments like crumhorn, recorder, and the unusual double-flageolet, which Jones came across by chance in a music store.
Dark Crystal Soundtrack - Trevor Jones (82 60mb)
01 - Ouverture
02 - The Power Ceremony
03 - The Storm
04 - The Mystic Master Dies
05 - The Funerals - Jens Journey
06 - The Skeksis Duel
07 - The Pod Dance
08 - Love Theme
09 - Gelflin Song
10 - The Gelflin Ruins
11 - The Landstrider Journey
12 - The Great Conjunction
13 - Finale
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Bo Hanson died earlier this year age 67, he was well known in Sweden, in the rest of the world his Lord Of The Rings album had been all but forgotten certainly after the magnificent movies came out earlier this decade. However at the time in the late sixties when the Tolkien books had become very popular, he was the first musician that decided to make a concept album inspired on these books and he managed to capture the atmosphere so well that after the 70 swedish album "Sagan om ringen " reached Britain he signed a contract with Charisma, the progressive rock label at the time (72) . Bo Hansson's Rings can be seen as an early example of multi-instrumentalist rock, "an early classic of space music" with strange, otherworldly music that sometimes transcend their source material (the trilogy).
Bo Hansson - Lord Of The Rings (70/02 102mb)
01-leaving shire (första vandringen)
02-the old forest - tom bombadil (den gamla skogen - tom bombadil)
03-fog on the barrow-downs (i skuggornas rike)
04-the black riders - flight to the ford (de svarta ryttarna - flykten till vadstället
05-at the house of elrond - the ring goes south (i elrondas hus - ringen vandrar söderut)
06-a journey in the dark (en vandring i mörker)
07-lothlnrien
08-shadowfax (skuggfaxe)
09-the horns of rohan - the battle of the pelennor fields (rohans horn - slaget vid pelennors slätter)
10-dreams in the house of healing (drömmar i läkandets hus)
11-homeward bound - the scouring of the shire (hamfärden - fylke rensas)
12-the grey havens (de grl hamnarna)
13-early sketches from middle earth (tidiga skisser frln midglrd)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Todays post is about the struggle of good and evil.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
I ripped this from vinyl because at the time there had only been a 2003 limited edition of the soundtrack on cd, amazing considering The Dark Crystal had been the biggest ever foreign film box office succces in Japan until Titanic came along...go figure. Unfortunately at the time i ripped this 3,5 years ago, i had just 80 gigs so i kept it to ogg 7, cdr's still cost money too at that time, so from all the vinyl rips i did my first year only a handful were burned..by far the most wave files were converted to ogg 7 and then deleted, much to my regret now..c'est la vie.. That said this soundtrack is still rare on cd..best option for a digital copy is rip it from the dvd which is available at amazon for a fiver very cheap for a (cult) classic..the movie is kinda inbetween..it aint exactly a family movie..too dark and philosophical and adults in the west at least, weren't that comfortable with being adressed by puppets ( clearly deeper embedded in asian cultures).
xxxxx
the story goes..
The narrator explains at the beginning of the prologue that the film takes place on "another world, another time... in the age of wonder". The setting is Thra, a biodiverse planet featuring creatures, environments, and magic inspired by common folklore. Thra has three suns; the Greater Sun, the Rose Sun, and the Dying Sun. Many creatures and races inhabit the planet, but the dominant race is the urSkeks, who came from another world and are the guardians of the Crystal of Truth. The Crystal harnesses the forces of nature, especially the light of the three suns, for the benefit of all inhabitants of Thra.
One thousand years before the beginning of the movie, during the Great Conjunction of the three suns, the urSkeks cracked the Crystal of Truth, and split into two races; the hunchbacked, gentle beings known as the Mystics and the vulture-like tyrants known as Skeksis. In that moment the Crystal became the Dark Crystal. The Skeksis then drove the Mystics from the castle where the cracked crystal resided and instituted a reign of terror over their world. Their wrath was particularly directed toward the elf-like Gelflings, due to a prophecy that promised the restoration of the crystal and the end of the Skeksis' power. The prophecy, rediscovered in an ancient Gelfling city, read:“
When single shines the triple sun,
What was sundered and undone
Shall be whole, the two made one,
By Gelfling hand, or else by none.
Right from the start comparisons were made with the Lord Of The Rings saga but that's a rather light comparison, a better one would be that Tolkien could have written it, though in his time setting it on another planet would have labelled it sci fi which it isn't. It's a moraality fairy tale. ”
Trevor Alfred Charles Jones (born 23 March 1949) is a South African orchestral film score composer. Although not especially well known outside the film world, he has composed for numerous films and his music has been critically acclaimed for both its depth and emotion. His first big moviework Excalibur brought Jones to the attention of Jim Henson, who was making The Dark Crystal, and looking for a composer who was young and eager to work in the experimental, free-wheeling way which Henson preferred. The resultant score is an expansive, multi-faceted work, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, augmented by inventive use of Fairlight and Synclavier synthesizers, as well as period instruments like crumhorn, recorder, and the unusual double-flageolet, which Jones came across by chance in a music store.
Dark Crystal Soundtrack - Trevor Jones (82 60mb)
01 - Ouverture
02 - The Power Ceremony
03 - The Storm
04 - The Mystic Master Dies
05 - The Funerals - Jens Journey
06 - The Skeksis Duel
07 - The Pod Dance
08 - Love Theme
09 - Gelflin Song
10 - The Gelflin Ruins
11 - The Landstrider Journey
12 - The Great Conjunction
13 - Finale
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Bo Hanson died earlier this year age 67, he was well known in Sweden, in the rest of the world his Lord Of The Rings album had been all but forgotten certainly after the magnificent movies came out earlier this decade. However at the time in the late sixties when the Tolkien books had become very popular, he was the first musician that decided to make a concept album inspired on these books and he managed to capture the atmosphere so well that after the 70 swedish album "Sagan om ringen " reached Britain he signed a contract with Charisma, the progressive rock label at the time (72) . Bo Hansson's Rings can be seen as an early example of multi-instrumentalist rock, "an early classic of space music" with strange, otherworldly music that sometimes transcend their source material (the trilogy).
Bo Hansson - Lord Of The Rings (70/02 102mb)
01-leaving shire (första vandringen)
02-the old forest - tom bombadil (den gamla skogen - tom bombadil)
03-fog on the barrow-downs (i skuggornas rike)
04-the black riders - flight to the ford (de svarta ryttarna - flykten till vadstället
05-at the house of elrond - the ring goes south (i elrondas hus - ringen vandrar söderut)
06-a journey in the dark (en vandring i mörker)
07-lothlnrien
08-shadowfax (skuggfaxe)
09-the horns of rohan - the battle of the pelennor fields (rohans horn - slaget vid pelennors slätter)
10-dreams in the house of healing (drömmar i läkandets hus)
11-homeward bound - the scouring of the shire (hamfärden - fylke rensas)
12-the grey havens (de grl hamnarna)
13-early sketches from middle earth (tidiga skisser frln midglrd)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Halloween Candy From Hell
And Happy Halloween. Halloween is a weird-ass holiday if you're 
asking me. It's like the ultimate in contradictions when raising a child. You drill things into your child's head (Not literally! Yes, I know it's Halloween, but cranial drilling of one's offspring is never acceptable.) to keep them safe. Things like the old "Don't take candy from strangers." Then, after the kids think that they're clear on the concept, along rolls Halloween and BAM! Confusion runs amok. Not only are they going to be taking candy from strangers on Halloween, they're going to be encouraged to do so. AND they don't even have to wait for the strangers to come to them! No, they can randomly go to people's homes, knock on their door and ASK them to give them candy! And the strangers comply!! OH, but wait! There's a catch! You must ask strangers for candy only if you are dressed up in some sort of scary-ish garb. That's it? That's the catch? Deal! And the merriment begins!
asking me. It's like the ultimate in contradictions when raising a child. You drill things into your child's head (Not literally! Yes, I know it's Halloween, but cranial drilling of one's offspring is never acceptable.) to keep them safe. Things like the old "Don't take candy from strangers." Then, after the kids think that they're clear on the concept, along rolls Halloween and BAM! Confusion runs amok. Not only are they going to be taking candy from strangers on Halloween, they're going to be encouraged to do so. AND they don't even have to wait for the strangers to come to them! No, they can randomly go to people's homes, knock on their door and ASK them to give them candy! And the strangers comply!! OH, but wait! There's a catch! You must ask strangers for candy only if you are dressed up in some sort of scary-ish garb. That's it? That's the catch? Deal! And the merriment begins! Now if you're a grown-up, or you play one on TV, or even if you stayed at a Holiday Inn Exp
ress last night, it is your job to get candy for these small people that you do not know. My advice is simple: Don't screw it up. You must remember what it was like when you were a child and you went Trick-or-Treating and ended up with horrible candy at the end of the night. It's not pleasant. And as a child, you really feel like you were ripped off somehow by coming home with a bag full of crap. You need to remember that feeling and make sure that you don't continue to pass it around to the hopeful and unsuspecting youngsters who will trample your flowers instead of using the perfectly good walkway as they traipse to your door in search of sugary handouts.
Thus, here are several items that you need to avoid distributing to jovial children who have donned bedsheets for the evening.
- First up are the inexplicable Boston Baked Beans. These are not good. Why someone thought that they could make a candy that looks like and is named after a picnic side dish is beyond me. No one wants candy that is pretending to be a bean. Beans aren't all that fun.
- Next up are the Dum Dums. First of all, Dum Dums are way too small for any good use. Second, they never taste like the flavor that the wrapper says. And third, you almost always, for some reason, end up with the cream soda flavored Dum Dums or the pineapple flavored Dum Dums. Probably because the folks handing them out took out all of the good ones. If you're going to hand out lollipops, go with a Tootsie Roll Pop. You can't go wrong with those
- Necco Wafers. From what I can tell, Necco Wafers are Tums antacid tablets that have been flattened out and dusted with sugar. They do not taste good. Contrary to what the waxy wrapper says down there, they are not "an American Classic" and the "flavors" are not "great." Avoid at all costs.
- The general assortment of hard candies. As a rule, if it is a candy that is typically found in a grandmother's purse, you really want to avoid handing those out on Halloween. Especially the butterscotch ones. Children to not like butterscotch. Adults do not like butterscotch. Those elderly women with the candies in their purses? Right, even they don't like butterscotch, that's why they're always giving it away.
- One of the more perplexing candies out there, the Idaho Spud. This is a candy that is supposed to look like an Idaho potato. The thing is, it doesn't really look like that. It looks more like....well, um....OK, fine I'll say it, the thing looks like poo! And no one wants poo on Halloween. Ever. Hand out Necco Wafers before you hand out poo-like treats.
- Now we arrive at the Tootsie Roll. If you must give out Tootsie Rolls, give out a bunch of them to each kid. Those of you who give A Tootsie Roll to A kid are just angry, angry individuals who should probably seek counseling. You'll feel much better about things if you toss a handful of Tootsie Rolls into a kid's bag and watch them shriek with joy (until they realize they were just Tootsie Rolls). It's a lot better than watching them stare at you as you drop A Tootsie roll into their bag. Much better.
- Another candy that is not for children and is barely for adults is the Big Hunk. Big Hunk of what has always been my question. This thing is disgusting. It's like some sort of conglomeration of leftovers from another candy making process. Look at it! No one wants that.
- You want to see how close you can get a kid to crying on Halloween? Hand out raisins. What a waste of a walk from the sidewalk to the front door only to be given a very tiny box of raisins which you will not eat. You will use them as ammunition for torturing siblings. You will also use them as a counting aid when trying to figure out how many of them will fit up the dog's nose. You will not eat them.
- Finally, we arrive at the "feel good" treats. Oh, but they're not making the kids "feel good". No, they're making the smug, sanctimonious treat giver "feel good". Those kind of people like to be "practical" on Halloween. (Liking to be "practical" also seems to equate to "liking removing rolls and rolls of toilet paper from the front yard foliage the next morning." Go figure.) There is no place for anything "practical" when a bunch of people under four feet tall and running around the neighborhood, anticipating free candy AND getting it. Nothing practical about that and that's how it should be. Thus, no pencils, erasers, or any other type of school supply. If that was what the kids were after, they just would have gone over to Office Max and knocked on their door.
- The only folks who are allowed to hand out dental floss, toothbrushes or toothpaste are dentists and other professional individuals who do business inside of the mouth (preferably those with degrees and licenses, not hanging out on street corners under neon blinking lights that say "Massage"). But even then, they can only hand out those things at their office! At their home, they're not a dentist, they're a candy guy. So keep your floss to yourself and fork over the Snickers.
See? It's very simple. Avoid the stuff on this list, hand out stuff that kids want, and you'll be fine. Most importantly, whatever you do, just have a good time and just have good candy. 
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