So one of my favorite movies of 2009 was 500 Days of Summer (thanks to Desi's influence). I think Zooey Deschanel is Fabulous! If she wasn't married to Ben Gibbard I am pretty sure she'd be married to me. In the movie she does do a little singing and I thought she did a phenomenal job. Since I loved the soundtrack to the movie I had to download it. One of the songs on the soundtrack is by a band named She & Him. Friday I learned that Zooey is in that band along with M. Ward (who I've been a fan of for a while). Since I am secretly having an affair with her I was shocked to find out she was hiding such a thing. When Taylor told me that Zooey was in that band I had to check out her music. Well I instantly fell in love with this album, check it out.
For years Sea World has been my happy place. My family has this great love for Sea World. We are not huge fans of places like Disneyland, I think it's because we have weak stomachs, ok I know its just Disneyland, how bad can the rides be. I think the teacups have scarred me for life. Well anyways we have always enjoyed a relaxing day watching the dolphins and other marine life do tricks and entertain us. Until I watched the movie "The Cove" I had never asked myself are the animals there actually happy? Is it moral that we keep these animals caged up practically for our own personal enjoyment? How selfish can we be? If we enjoy marine life so much why don't we take a small cruise out in the ocean and see these amazing animals in their natural environment, their home. One can take fairly inexpensive 2 hour cruises out in the ocean and see marine life.
Well I strongly suggest that you rent "The Cove". It's at red box for your convenience. The first step to solve any problem is to educate yourself about the problem. Here are a list of facts about what is going on in Taiji, Japan.
• About 23,000 dolphins, porpoises and other small whales are killed in Japan every year, making it the largest scale slaughter of cetaceans in the world.
• About 2,500 dolphins and other small whales are killed in the so-called dolphin drive hunt that takes place six months out of the year.The rest are killed with handheld harpoons out at sea.
(lovely dolphin blood bath)
• Operating with 13 motorized boats, the fishermen go out to sea at early sunrise and look for migrating dolphins. Banging on metal pipes submerged into the water, they terrorize the dolphins with a "wall of sound," causing the dolphins to panic.
• Terrorizing the dolphins with underwater sound, the fishermen herd the dolphins into a secret killing cove close to Taiji Town.
• Often times, dolphins die during the chase that can last eight hours or more.
• The Taiji fishermen claim that dolphins eat too much fish and therefore must be exterminated.
• Operating with a permit from their government, the Taiji fishermen have referred to the dolphin hunt as "pest control."
• The majority of people in Japan have no knowledge about the annual dolphin blood bath.
• The fishermen kill the dolphins with spears, fishermen's hooks and knives. Trashing about in their own blood, the dolphins emit high-pitched screams during the massacre. (As seen above)
• The slaughtered dolphins are processed into meat and distributed to supermarkets throughout Japan for human consumption.
• Dolphin meat from drive hunts in Taiji proved to be highly contaminated with toxic chemicals such as mercury, methyl mercury and PCBs.
• Repeated chemical analyses have shown that the level of mercury in dolphin meat is much higher than the maximum allowable level set by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan.
• Some of the dolphin meat is given to children as part of their school lunch program.
• The Japanese government and the supermarkets issue no warning that dolphin meat is mercury-contaminated.
• The fishermen of Taiji have told us that the Japanese people have no right to know about the dolphin hunt or the high levels of mercury found in the meat.
• Concealing this information from the public is a violation of Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution.
• Some members of the international aquarium and zoo industry are strongly connected to the Japanese dolphin slaughter, in that they pay top dollar for dolphins deemed suitable for commercial exploitation in dolphin shows and captive dolphin swim programs.
• Dolphinariums throughout the world, including Japan, repeatedly make the claim that captivity of dolphins promotes dolphin conservation and protection. (yah right)
• Several of the hundreds of captive dolphins in Japan's 50 dolphinariums were obtained through the dolphin drive hunts; yet the dolphinariums do nothing to educate the public to the hunt.
• The World Association for Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the world's largest network of zoos and aquariums around the world.
• Dolphinariums that have conducted business with the dolphin killers of Japan have been welcomed into WAZA's network, although the trade in these dolphins clearly violates WAZA's Code of Ethics.
• The dolphins that are purchased by members of the dolphin captivity industry represent a much higher commercial value to the Japanese dolphin hunters than the ones that are slaughtered for meat.
• Live dolphins captured in a Taiji dolphin drive hunt recently sold for $154,000 per dolphin.
• The Japanese dolphin hunt will continue for as long as members of the international dolphinarium industry continue to reward the hunters for show quality dolphins, thereby making the hunt tremendously profitable.
• The most sought after dolphin species for public display are bottlenose dolphins, orcas, white sided dolphins, Risso's dolphins, pilot whales and Pseudo orcas, all of which have been targeted in the Japanese dolphin drive hunt.
Ok sorry for the long list, but it breaks my heart to finally know the truth. Next I want to quickly relate about the atrocity of capturing dolphins. These captured dolphins go to perform in places such as Sea World.
Captures of dolphins are traumatic and stressful and can result in injury and death of dolphins. The number of dolphins that die during capture operations or shortly thereafter are never revealed in dolphinariums (sea world) or swim-with-dolphins programs. Some facilities even claim their dolphins were "rescued" from the ocean and cannot be released. This claim is almost invariably false.
Training of dolphins is often deliberately misrepresented by the captive dolphin industry to make it look as if dolphins perform because they like it. This isn't the case. They are performing because they have been deprived of food.
Most captive dolphins are confined in minuscule tanks containing chemically treated artificial seawater. Dolphins in a tank are severely restricted in using their highly developed sonar, which is one of the most damaging aspects of captivity. It is much like forcing a person to live in a hall of mirrors for the rest of their life - their image always bouncing back with no clear direction in sight. (how would that make you feel seriously?)
Ok so the next time you think of going to Sea World or any place like it, think of what it takes for it to get there. Think of how these animals are taken from their homes and families to be confined in tanks to entertain us.
Well sorry for the novel, but I think it is a very sad thing what is happening and has been happening. The sad thing is that I had no idea that this was occurring.
So I am in class. Extremely ticked off at my employer, not my boss, but the freakin company. Well to take my mind off how much I want to send a bomb in the mail. I will distract myself from all the anger that I am feeling via blogging during my boring political science class.
Lately I've been looking back at the spring/summer fashion shows. Here are a list of my favorite looks for this season.
First off these are my 2 favorite looks for Chanel.
If I were you girls, the next funeral you attend pick up one of these classy chic Chanel looks! You'll be the talk of the funeral!
Next, here are my favorite 2 looks from the Marc by Marc Jacobs show.
I love the colors. It's refreshing to see such vibrant colors!
And for my favorite men's look I of course have to show my fav men's designer Antonio Azzuolo.
Its all about short shorts mixed with business wear! I wish I could go to work looking like this!
Ok I feel a little better now that i've blogged, but I still have an hour of class, snooze!
Disgusting! Ok the past week I swear I have seen this hideous duo twice, when I say duo I mean the turtleneck with the blazer. Last night I was at Chillis for a work party and we ended up waiting a whopping full hour. To keep myself from drop kicking the staff at Chillis I decided to people watch and critique their style, in other words "what I do best". While waiting, a guy about my age walked right past me wearing something extremely similar to what is seen above. Good thing this was before my meal or my dinner would have been on the floor. Luckily I have the best gag reflexes on planet earth to prevent me upchucking the delicious carrot cake cupcake I had earlier. For all those men who happen to read my blog which is probably only my Dad, please do not ever go out in public like this. Women, please never allow your significant other or any man for that matter wear something so appalling out, seriously, seriously. As my friend Ashley said, "if you wear something like that you are just asking to be called a douche bag." Oh and for some reason I just think of Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite when I see this duo, not a good thing. Like I mentioned before, we had a work Christmas party last night. We have the tradition at The Fargo to have the ol White Elephant gift exchange. I spent approximately 2 months devising up a plan to having the funniest/most creative/unwanted gift at the party. After weeks of fasting and deep meditation the greatest idea dawned on me. As many of you know I spent the summer in AZ with great company, namely DJ, Bethany (for 2 weeks), Janae, and Devo. For the last outing before returning to UT we completed my very last life long desire to take classy photos at Wal Mart. Devo and I practiced what we had learned best from years of watching "What Not To Wear" and selected the best sweaters for the photo shoot. Below you can see the family photo with our awe-inspiring sweaters. (I know the photo was previously posted) Well from the infamous photo shoot the most divine photo that has ever been taken was in fact taken at Wal Mart. (SEE BELOW) I know it's beautiful right? My Mom commented on this same photo on facebook and asked, and I quote "Where did I go wrong?" I really don't understand her self doubting. This photo is so genius, the finishing touches, i.e. the frosted edge, by the lovely lady at Wal Mart are exquisite to say the least. I don't know why my Mother would not take any pride in this. Back to the story. Well the idea came to me that I should give away a framed 8x10 photo of me and DJ. Not only did I give away one from my behalf but my guest at the party also generously sacrificed her own gift idea to give the best gift ever away. Well two lucky individuals received their gifts, joy radiated from their faces, it warmed my heart to know someone else was going to find such a treat every time they would admire the masterpiece. A Few minutes passed by and I felt so disheartened as my co-worker returned the gift bag with the picture inside. Luckily my dear pal Robin was anxious to take it off my hands. I am glad someone will appreciate my gift. She informed me that she wants to hang it from her ceiling so she can admire such a work every night before going to bed.
Ok i've lived in Provo for 2 years now. Initially it was a shock. If I wasn't white or Mormon I would feel extremely uncomfortable living in Provo. Provo is 88.52% white and 98% Mormon. Once the shock wears off, you just get used to it and it becomes normal.
So today I thought I was going to have a heart attack, literally. So to save money on gas I decided to take the trax to campus in Salt Lake. I've done this a few times and I guess i've always gotten lucky and ended up on the right train. And for the most part on this particular route that I've taken has always been fairly empty. So the train I took today turned onto a street that was not part of the normal route I had taken. So I quickly decided to get off at the next exit. Once exiting the train, I almost panicked, I thought I was in the heart of the ghetto. I was the only clean looking person around (and that's not saying much), and maybe I'm crazy but I swear everyone was staring me down. I instinctively put my hand in my coat pocket that had my ipod and the other hand on top of my school bag that had my laptop in it. When ever I saw a shadow move I looked nonchalantly to see what it was. I tried not to appear like the paranoid white guy that got off on the wrong stop, but I think it was obvious. Ok its not like I've never been in the ghetto, shoot I lived in the ghetto in Panama and there were some areas where I'd go to sleep listening to gun shots. Well it seemed like the train took forever to get to our stop. Well it arrived and the train was packed. I got on and the first thing I heard was the F bomb, that woke me up alright. So I sat across the aisle from a white trash family. The boy kept on saying he hated his mom. His mom kept on telling him there was no Santa Claus and he wasn't getting any presents. I wanted to slap the wench, but I was afraid she would shank me. Well I survived!
Overall this was a good wake up call. Provo is not the real world, granted I like the place (sometimes), but I think sometimes I forget how cool and diverse people are. I also had to remind myself that just because they obviously came from different socio economic statuses it doesn't mean they are criminals for crying out loud!
Since being at BYU one thing that has bothered me is everyone's constant obsession with academic perfection. I have seen people cry over a B and even an A-, ok where I come from a B is a good grade. These people think that a B is basically the end of the world.
Ok to illustrate how ridiculous some people get over their grades, here is a true story that was in the BYU newspaper:
Nov. 13: At 5:30 p.m. a woman was walking up Maeser hill to the testing center when a Latino male walked up behind her, asked her the time, then grabbed her buttocks. The suspect then ran westbound on the path and the female began chasing him. The suspect then stopped, turned around, and yelled obscenities at the victim. The female reported the incident to the police two and a half hours later, after she took her test.
Ok seriously, who reports something like that 2 1/2 hours later, come on. These people are not living in the real world, this BYU bimbo was obviously more concerned about taking her precious test than reporting something so serious to the police.
The reason I tell you this, is because I have a confession. I have spent two years making fun of these fanatical students who value their grade over pretty much everything else. I fear that I am becoming one of these imbeciles. The other night in one of my classes, we took a test and then waited for everyone to be done then we graded them as a class. I found my self arguing over one question with the teacher for 5 minutes so that I could get an A instead of an A-. Did he budge? no. But I am pretty sure the rest of the class now wants to jump me for being such a moron, because I did end up getting the best grade on the test. On the drive home I had the revelation that I was becoming one of those ridiculous BYUers that argues over one point, one point, who does that?
So this semester I am taking an adolescent psychology course at BYU and thus far I have been disgusted to say the least. I do have to be honest I haven't laughed this hard in a class since my brother crapped his shorts at scout camp. So let me tell you about my teacher. He's a 65 year old overweight man that could eat off his belly, no joke. He loves to tell stories and talk about sex. Well the good news from taking this class I am confidant my gag reflexes are still working.
So throughout the semester we have talked more about sex than any other topic. So we eventually made it to the chapter "Dating, Love and Sex". I am almost positive Prof. R could not sleep the night before we were going to go over the chapter (just like a kid does not sleep the night before Santa comes). So he starts off by giving the best comparison to sex of the century. He said "sex is like bowling". (In all of our heads we were just pleading that we would not vomit). He continued, "sometimes you get lucky and you hit all the right PINS! at the right time!" I wish I could have recorded how he said it, he said it with such vigor. Prof. R continued, "but sometimes sex is a disaster and a let down just like when your bowling ball ends up in the gutter". At this point I think I was on the floor hyperventilating from laughing too hard.
(Next paragraph I warn you, you may get a bit nauseous)
Next comment that almost landed me in the hospital from shock was when he began talking about elderly sex. First of all, this is an Adolescent Psychology class why the hell (pardon my french) would he be discussing elderly sexual habits? I don't know. He began to inform us, that although people who are elderly (what ever that means) don't have sex as much as younger people, it is a lot better because years of experience allows them to know how to hit all the right pins. Ok shoot me! Ok you may be asking yourself, wait this is a BYU professor, oh yes it is. I don't know how he is still teaching there. Grant it I like the guy, he's entertaining to listen to and his test are very easy but the constant urge to puke is not so pleasant.
