Let's Get Green, Fools!!!

Word up to Jim Anderton - easily my favourite person in the current NZ Government - for this bold but necessary move:

New Dolphin Protection Measures

But what I wish was in the article online, was all the backlash printed on the front page of today's paper. Comments like "Jim Anderton may well go down as the man who took the fish out of fish and chips" and how now people will have to "go without fish in their diets"

Seriously, I am sick of humans and their ignorance to the plight of other species - a plight that WE have caused. Without serious action like this, this would be the end of another 2 species of Dolphins. That means we would never see them again, people! They can't come back once we've wiped them out. If that means that people have to fish more sensibly, then so be it. Fishing nets cause a complete waste of marine life that is totally unnecessary, especially considering how 'advanced' our culture is supposed to be - yet these people are still using the same technique they have forever. Why? Because it is cheap and causes the least amount of hassle.

I realise this also means some people are going to lose their jobs - and I do feel bad for that. But I am in the same boat, and I will get to that in a minute...

Anyways, this Dolphin issue very much reminds me of the plight facing the Big Cats - you know, Lions and Tigers and the like. They are being wiped out at an alarming rate, and purely because humans are encroaching on their habitats for themselves. And before anyone tries to justify that sort of thing to me by saying we need more room for people to build homes, let me ask you this: if I knocked down half your home, built a new home on your property and moved my family in, and then shot you when you complained and tried to defend yourself, how would you feel?

OK now on to Kyoto It is so sad to see how little this world is willing to make changes to try and keep this world together, environmentally speaking. It's bad enough that countries like the USA refuse to join and now Canada are considering pulling out because of the cost it is going to mean (i.e. loss of jobs and such), but for the Wall Street Journal to ridicule New Zealand for moving to implement it starting next year is just disgusting. I work for a forestry company and have sat through many a meeting about Kyoto, so I know what it means for this country... as best as I can, anyways. I mean, things still are quite up in the air about this stuff right now. But quite frankly, we've left it late enough to start worrying about how much we are destroying the environment and if we don't get our shit together soon then it is going to be too late to do anything about it. This planet's resources are infinite, and with the population ever increasing our natural resources are dwindling away. Not to mention the fact that we are killing off every other living thing on the planet without the slightest concern. That has always been my biggest gripe with religions (not just Christianity) and why I could never align myself with any of them; they are all based on the fact that man (that is 'man' - not just humans in general) is superior to everything on the planet. But why would God put us in charge of everything and everyone when we can't even take care of other humans???

I have no doubt that if the Kyoto treaty is adhered to in this country, then I - like the fisherman who can't fish without killing dolphins - will not have a job in a year or so. But the fact is there are other jobs out there. And losing a job is a small price to pay to see some improvement in the way we think about the environment. I can think of so many people that have given their lives for so much less.

So stop whining, people! Change needs to be made and they need to start now. If it means you can't kill some dolphins, then so be it. If it means you can't move into land that is occupied by Lions, then by all means stay where you are. And if it means we all have stop using so much of everything then let's hope people can find a way.

A Good Sign

May is now officially my most blogged month this year!
Still only managed to get the average up to around 1 blog every 2.5 days.

Remember when I used to blog everyday about something in a humorous way?

Me neither

Who is More Important?

I was thinking the other day, and while that sounds scary, try and figure this one out for me:


There are 2 continents that use the name 'America' - North America and South America

South America contains 12 countries.

North America contains 23 countries (jeepers I didn't know that! I always just thought it was just Canada and USA - forgot Central America is really a part of the Northern continent)


Yet, only those from the United States of America - 1 country out of the 35 that occupy the American continents - are called Americans.

Random Notes from My Day at Work

I thought it might be fun to jot down some things as I think of them today. And not just because I have nothing to blog about. Not at all.

So anyways, here are some of my random thoughts from the day, which seem to relate mostly to my poor typing skills. But considering that was pretty much all I did today, we are all pretty lucky I managed to keep my composure and not go on a kill-crazy rampage on the 12th floor.

• I get so confused having to enter dates in the American format.
  
• SK isn’t a valid tax code? Curses to you, FAS Asset Accounting!
  
• Every time I enter the ‘OC’ code, I just picture Jason Bateman looking at me and saying “Don’t call it that”
  
• Gilchrikst does sound a lot cooler
  
• Sno is also not a valid tax code. I look forward to playing in the sno sometime this winter (with luck – not too hopeful considering I move close to the beach in 8 days)
  
• On a related topic, isn’t it odd how if you say to people that you like the snow, they automatically assume you ski or snowboard?
  
• For the record, I can’t do either and don’t care if I ever do. I just want to make snowballs and throw them at old people

Anyone else get the feeling my typing is pretty lousy???

Me and My Lousy Typing

Everytime I have been typing From Dusk Till Dawn, it has been coming up as From Duck Till Dawn.

I think someone needs to make a spoof


but what's worse?
how about going to type From Duck Till Dawn, and instead typing From Dick Till Dawn.
Seriously.

I'm going back to bed now

And Speaking of THAT Wonderful Vampire Movie...

Given my love for From Dusk Till Dawn, I can't figure out why I was so surprised by Planet Terror.

I mean, I just did NOT expect it to be that cool. It was almost like someone had erased my memories of all previous Robert Rodriguez films so I wasn't going "Damn this movie is sure to ROCK!"

Let's recap:
The man is responsible for the aforementioned From Dusk Till Dawn, El Mariachi, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (undoubtedly the weakest of the trilogy), The Spy Kids trilogy, and of course the amazing Sin City. So how in the blue hell would the knowledge of him making a crazy zombie action/horror movie cause me to suffer mass indifference and not an incurable case of excitement? It would be like Brian May putting out a new solo album and me wondering if there would be any good guitar solos on it.

Someone times I wonder what goes on in my head.

No Romance for the LOGMAN

I seem to be cursed.

When I first moved back to NZ about 4 years ago, I was just beginning to start buying DVDs. Of course, my first purchases were only necessary items, such as the complete original Transformers cartoon series, but I soon realised that in order make my life complete I needed to replace my Quentin Tarantino video collection with all the special edition DVD versions available from the US. My first purchases were (of course) Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. All fantastic 2 disc sets full of all sorts of goodies. After that, I placed an order for the 2 disc sets for From Dusk till Dawn (one of favourite Tarantino related movies and probably my favourite Robert Rodriguez film) and True Romance. These were very exciting for me, because not only is True Romance chock full of bonus features, but BOTH boasted commentary from QT himself - something that was quite unheard of at the time as he doesn't do that for any of his movies.

Alas, dues to some stupid snaffu with Amazon that I will never understand, I never received that last order. I was pretty bummed and it pretty much stopped me buying Tarantino movies, as well as from Amazon (though I later resumed because DVD Empire stopped giving me discounts. Cheap bastards).

Until a few weeks ago, I finally got my butt and ordered the 15th Anniversary Edition Reservoir Dogs. Now I know some people will be like "But LOGMAN, you are awesome and everything, but do you really need 2 different versions of the same movie?" to which I reply "Of course I do, you simple fools! The transfer is reportedly vastly improved from the 10th Anniversary Edition that I currently own. AND it comes in a gasoline can-style case - LOGMAN doesn't ignore cool packaging for one of his favourite movies. At least, not for too many years anyways. Now go polish my chucks!"

And so, to make ordering this DVD worthwhile with the shipping, I also finally got around to replacing True Romance (even though I should never have had to)

But then of course what should happen? Like the Spice World DVD before them, they were stolen from my letterbox. Alas, no super cool Reservoir Dogs of supremacy. And once again, no True Romance for me to listen to Quentin Tarantino talk about how brilliantly funny his script was.

sigh

Oh well, I guess 3rd times the charm. Time to get me that darn From Dusk Till Dawn set too.

We Should Live in a Yellow Submarine

A big THANK YOU to The Louminator for sending me some special presents.

My second beautiful Yellow Submarine envelope contained some wonderful things, like this bookmark...

and this postcard, combining my two favourite Beatles (as Lou so aptly put it, "George & John - it just seemed perfect for Logman"

And a rather funky John Lennon pick, which also happened to be the cause of an amusing blog of Lou's. All very wonderful items that have brightened my day. It is a nice reminder to know that I do some pretty awesome friends - even if they do all seem to live in London.

Also is a sad reminder that I seem to be lacking in people who fully appreciate the greatness of groups like The Beatles. Notice to anyone wanting to be my friend (I'm looking accusingly at you, people of Christchurch):

BE MORE LIKE LOUISE!!!

It's not that I want presents, but being able to discuss the finer points of George Harrison and John Lennon is a very special quality indeed.

In saying that, I did have a long conversation with Koia last night, where we discussed the latest offerings from the hip-hop community (and just how much the world needs a new album from Missy Elliott)

Resuming Relationships with My Old Friends...

Aaaaahhhh I love it when dear old friends come back. That's right, I'm talking about George Lucas and Paul McCartney

Firstly, the most amazingly brilliant movie ever - Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I accidentally saw the trailer yesterday. Seriously. It was tagged on the end of the latest episode of impact! that I downloaded. And for something made with "state of the art CGI", it sure looks like one crappy video game.

I thought the CGI in episodes 2 & 3 were bad, but I have to congratulate Mr. Lucas on making this look even dumber than I had thought possible. I honestly believe Lucas Films code these things using an Amstrad. I have a Return of the Jedi game for my Commodore 64 that looks better. Well, I HAD that... my mother through out my Commodore 64 and all my games when I moved to Melbourne. Not fun to come home and find out your mother killed your best friend.

And secondly, I was having a good laugh at the last Paul McCartney live DVD (it's kinda old, but I was bored in Whitcoulls this morning) when I finally realised - in the last few years he has only released live material from the US. Does that mean he doesn't play live in the UK? Or that people don't like to go see him in the UK? Or that people are just more willing to spend money to see him in the US and therefore prove to me that these people are dumber than George Lucas?

Hmmm... not feeling overly witty or creative today.
George Lucas and Paul McCartney are a couple of stupid heads

There is a Time For Giving...

Did anyone else notice that the week or 2 before ANZAC Day, many other charities started running collections as well? I mean, outside my office alone I saw people collecting donations for guide dogs, the deaf, and the Salvation Army (how rude of another defence force to seek donations at the time of remembrance - I don't know how many troops THEY lost in the World Wars)

Now I'm not saying ANZAC Day is sacred or anything, but since there are 52 weeks in a year, why would you choose to time your collections at the same time as another organisation?

Obviously I do see why they would do it; the general feeling of New Zealanders actually giving for ANZAC Day and hoping that while they are in a generous mood they will give to their cause too.

But my issue is, a lot of people don't really think like that. Most people are really only going to choose ONE charity to give to at a time, and therefore they are losing the real spirit of charity and putting themselves in competition with each other.

And before people say I don't know what I'm talking about, please remember that I worked for a charitable organisation before I moved to Christchurch - competition CAN manifest when seeking contributions at the same time.

And it's not that I don't think people should be generous. Not at all. But I do live by the Gene Simmons theory of 'You should give to charity, but don't give and then go around telling everyone because then you are just doing it for the glory'. It's why I've always had a real problem with churches and the whole keeping a record of your "tithes" thing so at the end of the year you can see how much you gave and then claim it back in your tax return. It's conceited to say the least.

So yeah, if you are looking for donations from Logman - or kid ego (because according to blogger we are two different identities) - then don't run your campaign at the same time as another charity. It is like when 50 Cent and Kanye West released their albums at the same time - you know one of them had to miss out.

Wow I actually just compared charitable organisations to millionaire rappers!

More of the Old News

Due to my lack of blogging over the last few weeks, there is a build up of things I was supposed to write about. I'm getting there, back off!

But I figure today is the day to do it; the person who sits behind me is away today, and my work is boring. So, with the King singing all his hits and some peanut butter toast on my desk, let's see what obnoxious things I can say today.

On a side note, after offending Louise, I finally thought about something I could write about that wouldn't offend anyone... but now I've forgotten.

How To Start Your Birthday Well

It was my birthday a short while ago, and thought I would share the two highlights of the evening before:

1. I bought a coffin

2. When getting on the bus, the driver called me "Young fella"


As you can imagine, the second one made me happy for the rest of the night