It's a sad day when actual news reminds me of a Simpsons episode-- though maybe that just means that The Simpsons is educating the public between familial spats?-- in any case I just read an article on "Toad Day Out" in the Australian province of Queensland. Apparently there is a crazy overpopulation of toads in the country which threatens the livelihood of farmers and many native species [Marge discusses it with Australians]. The official solution has become an evening event where residents hunt the toads and bring them to officials the following day for weighing and euthanasia.
The article can be viewed here for more specific information. It's worth a quick read if only for the perspective of those involved. For instance, a city official had this to say about the event:
"To see the look on the faces of the kids as we were handling and weighing the toads and then euthanizing them was just...," Townsville City Councilman Vern Veitch said, breaking off to let out a contented sigh. "The children really got into the character of the event." (The Associated Press@ctv.ca)
There are no words for how disturbing that statement is in view of the fact that they are performing the euthanasia on perfectly healthy animals and en masse. That said, I'm not sure I can condemn an initiative in which the local population attends to a problem together and in which the animals are humanely killed. Based on The Simpsons I was expecting something a little bit more like this:
In the most recent example of how high school politics follow us into adulthood, NASA held a contest to name one of the rooms in the new international space station. Although four suggestions were provided, after several hundred thousand votes a clear winner was chosen...
...Stephen Colbert.
That's right, although NASA still reserves the right to "choose an appropriate name" (variety.com) the name "Colbert" won the contest by nearly 40,000 votes more than "Serenity" (one of NASA's suggestions). The write-ins were the result of Colbert imploring his viewers to write his name in the ballot box instead of the choices provided, which they did to the tune of nearly 240,000 votes.
AV clubs of the world take note: popularity contests never end well for you...stop insisting on conducting them! Let's see how NASA plays their hand. They are, after all, the ultimate AV club. If anyone can outsmart the popular kids it's these people!
EDIT: (May 4th) Sorry Steven, they decided to call it "Tranquility." Better luck next time!
I noticed this opinion piece on Variety.com and found it intriguing enough to bring to everyone's attention. Apparently there are tools being developed which are designed to weed out opinions which differ from your own and prevent them from arriving in your inbox or popping up on your favourite news source. The idea is that you will never have to read something that doesn't "jive" with your personal views.
The article is interesting and can be viewed here but it essentially suggests that while we each choose which resources we're getting our news from, even one news source can have opposing opinions presented on any given day (though most seem to stick with one point of view). By preventing the alternative perspective from being presented to us aren't we effectively stiffling any hope of dialogue?
Sounds like having a fight with someone and then covering your ears and singing when they want to talk about it. I have never found that to be a particularly effective way to solve disagreements... Besides, if I never read or watched anything that I disagreed with I wouldn't get the opportunity to be angry about things like the Fox News opinion piece below....
EDIT: (March 26th) There has been an official apology made for this segment and the CBC story about it can be viewed here.
I just want to point out that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is probably always going to look like he's in his early twenties. Do you remember when he was on 3rd Rock from the Sun and he WAS in his (very) early twenties? He looked eight.
I'm pretty sure he's secretly made of magic and camera tricks...and that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was actually based on his life. But they set it in the past and sent him to war instead of a sitcom because everyone knows the Oscars like them some angst and death.
Stumbled across this little item which I'm sure is not news to as many people as I'd like to believe. Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali (in the upcoming feature Little Ashes). It continues to surprise me how many people think it's a good idea to cast outside the country for national celebrities and heroes...
At any rate, check out the trailer and let me know what you think...and because I care I've linked the official movie website where you can see it in all its fullscreen potency. Oh la.
