Well, here’s another general update, in the form of a video blog entry. You’ll notice some lag in the video/sound timing; that’s because I was running too many applications on the computer. Also, the CamTwist app that I use for some effects is an unbelievable resource hog! Hopefully I’ll make more vids soon! (Side note: I may have to expand/organize my video section of this site!!)

Cheers!

Lemme get this straight… I buy an album from my favorite band. Or it’s a gift for Christmas. Whatever. I want to have the music on my iPod. It may not be available for download from iTunes or Amazon or wherever you get legal paid downloads. So I rip the songs from the CD to the computer to put the songs on said iPod.

And that makes me guilty of breaking copyright law!!!???

The songs aren’t even in any folder that can be accessed by a file-sharing network, FTP application or even the one other computer that’s connected locally! How the heck can having a personal copy of a CD I bought or rightfully acquired, somewhere where only I have rightful access to it, be considered copyright infringement!?

It seems that the RIAA are hell-bent on making enemies of the entire United States music consumer base. I hope a ruling comes soon that will rule in favor of the consumer, and the fact that the consumer spends their hard-earned money to do what they please with music they bought, within reasonable limits of fair use!

In other words, making a copy for the act of listening on a portable device that the same consumer owns should be considered very fair use! I know that they are talking about files stored on the computer, and not necessarily a portable device, but it’s the same difference when the RIAA is saying any copy is illegal!

That’s all I can say or stomach for now!

I don’t have the time today to pick apart this article. I will endeavor to do this tomorrow.

I will say this… after reading the article, it brought me one step closer to contacting any congressman I can find and trust. I will NOT stand for what Director Donald Kerr is proposing.

Here’s the revenge of the Esoterik News Of The Weekâ„¢:

Lindsay Lohan Gets One Day In Jail (Drunk Driving and Cocaine Possession)

Nicole Richie Serves 82 Minutes in Jail (Driving While Under Drug Influence)

I saw these articles yesterday. At first I couldn’t believe it, but then I thought of Paris Hilton’s recent “brush” with the slammer. Actually, if I were Paris, I’d be rather pissed off that my fellow celeb girlies got less time than I got, which wasn’t much really. In fact, ABC.com just made my blood boil by releasing this article early this morning:

Celebs Get Off Easily… Just Like Everyone Else?

“Some say they’re getting off easy, but as it turns out, drunk driving sentences across the country may be more lenient than many think…”

“…After all, legal experts say, famous or not, getting off easy is the norm across the country when it comes to driving under the influence. ‘If you really want to deter this conduct, they’re going to have to make the penalty part more serious,’ said Mary Fulginiti, ABC News’ legal correspondent. ‘You can have three D.U.I.’s in the state of California and it’s still not a felony. So it’s really a little outrageous, and things do need to change.’”

WHAT??!! All I saw in that article was about California’s legal ease! They talk about the whole country being lenient, and all they mention is California?! BULLCRAP!! I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find anyone else in this country, who is not a celebrity, who got off doing time as easily as these chicks did. (I use “chicks” in the sense that they don’t deserve to be called “ladies”) If anyone else got caught doing what they did, they’d most likely be looking at sentences ranging from 90 days to a year. Not including all the fines, fees and community service. I know Lohan got sentenced to community service too, but I betcha she won’t even be required to serve much or any of that either!

Recently, I got a ticket in the mail. A camera caught me, in June, making a right-hand turn at 12 mph, against a red light. I remember this incident, because it was one of the very few times in my life I had ever blown a red, and I DID try stopping. It was 10:20 at night, no one on the road but me and the wife. I couldn’t succeed in stopping in time, so I figured “nobody else coming, might as well go through”. Go back to now. You know what I got for this simple infraction? I had to pay $195 USD and I also have to go to Traffic Survival school for a day in October. With love, The Avondale AZPD. I also should mention that I haven’t had so much as even a parking ticket in more than five years. I betcha, if the three previously mentioned “ladies” (upchuck) had done the same as I, they wouldn’t have to pay a red American cent!!

As someone put it recently, The American legal system is just about legalities, loopholes and payoffs. There are exceptions, but it’s not about justice anymore!

Side note: As I typed that last sentence, I was listening to “Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams” by Threshold. The line that was playing is the kicker for this rant:

“… But now, I’m disenchanted. You endure my disaffection. All my systems running red, the radio is down and there’s trouble ahead!”

How very well put! Cheers!!

Now… excuse me while I pass out!

Big deal… Officials have found more than that in Keith Richard’s system over the course of his lifetime!

My mind had a ball with this one! Um… sorry for the bad pun. This is one off-the-wall delicacy that I don’t think I’ll try anytime soon. And I’m known for being adventurous.

For those times when you have that “special urge”, and a live animal just won’t cut it… There are other stories, from this week, that gave me the creeping horrors worse than this one. But this deserves the offbeat label, with a rating of 11.5/10 on the Mark Foley scale of creepiness (thanks, Wil!). They want to put the guy through treatment! Newsflash, guys: if he killed a horse in 2005 with sexual intent, and he did something similar now, he’s far beyond any curing. Just lock him in a room with nothing but a bed and a slightly insane pit bull terrier. I guarantee the dog won’t take his advances with anything approaching kindness! Let ‘er rip!!

My advice to this couple is a simple solution: GET A CAT!! It’s either that, or you’ll be doomed to relive scenes straight out of “Tom And Jerry” cartoons until that mouse finally eats the big cheese. Sheesh!!

And finally, one for the video gamers everywhere…

This just shows the power of original thinking on Nintendo’s part. The Wii game system is something that makes video games more accessible to the older generation. And it breaks down more barriers than just that one: it’s also the most inexpensive game system out of the big three and it get kids to finally come up off the couch and move!

Well, that’s all I have for now. Tune in next week wherein, in addition to offbeat news, I get to interview a squirrel with really big cojoñes!

Wait!! I said last week that I’d tell a sad, sad tale of a bunny with a pancake on its head. Ok, ok… I’m sorry. I really don’t have a sad tale to tell. However, a picture is worth a thousand words of that tale, isn’t it?

Enjoy! Until next time, be assured that I’ll continue writing, even if both arms and all ten fingers are broken. Hey, where there’s a will and a nose, there’s a way! Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Esoterik, ABCNews, CNN, Bunny, Pancake, Deer, Dead Animals, Sheep, Cocaine, Wii, Nintendo

Really, there wasn’t much breaking in the world of offbeat news and downright silly things. However, I will make do with what I have. Hey, someone has to get people off the “Anna Nicole and Britney Spears” news kick that’s permeated the body of media like the smell of a raunchy Pepé LePeu! These things can’t be forced and it’s not a good post if it’s not spontaneous, y’know what I mean? So, without further ado, I bring you:

Now, there’s several different ways I can go from here. It serves the guy right for having chugged “two big beers” right before getting on a plane. At the same time, to be fair to him, the airline policy and safety procedures need to lightened for cases like this. Not allowed to go to the commode… because of a light being out?! Come on!

Hey! Everyone that knows me knows how big of a Trekkie I am. I may not go to the conventions like a good little tribble, but I can recite some episodes like they’re chapter and verse. But I sure as heck am not going to expect anyone visiting this blog to know orthodox Klingon! Or Bajoran, for that matter (the other favorite Trek race of mine).

Next thing you know, he’ll be asking for donations… in gold-pressed latinum!!

I love the “unexpected surprise” stories…

Good morning, sir… It’s the police with your wake-up call! Like others, if I’m at someone else’s house for a sleepover, I can’t sleep all that well. Nice to know that some people find it easier if it’s a complete stranger’s house. What a creep!

And finally, the award for “Most Uptight State” goes to Utah for this story:

Hello, Utah! That’s why they call them “vanity plates”. I’m sure it’s just a personal statement, not an ad for drunk driving!

Well that’s all I have for now! Tune in next time as I tell the sad, sad tale of a bunny with a pancake on it’s head.

Cheers!

Man, those moose can be scary when you call them Bullwinkle, huh?

According to his lawsuit, the farmer claims that fireworks set off by the boys made the previously lustful Gustav both apathetic and depressed, and thus unable to perform for a half-a-year with his two female breeding partners.

I think I should take a cue from this and sue anyone who blares rap music around my vicinity. It has the same effect on me.

What they didn’t report was that, around the country, thousands of atheists went on shopping sprees. (ba-dum-bump!)

Here’s one from CNN for a change…

I have few words for this one; just too surreal! For me, it would be like payback for all those burgers chosen over chicken sandwiches in my lifetime.

And finally, an invention with a link to a video:

The big suprise here is that he didn’t become a millionaire in, like, 10 freakin’ minutes! If I were more of the beer swigging, football watching type, I’d pay good money for this. Watch the video!

Well, that’s about wraps it up for me tonight. Tune in next week, as… well… ehhh… erm… heck, you’ll find out anyways. Just come back for more!

Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Esoterik, News, Moose, Ostrich, US Currency, Cows, Beer Fridge

I’m talking about the Esoterik News Of The Weekâ„¢. Every Sunday, I’ll endeavor to post a few interesting, rather offbeat things that happened in the news. Most of this will be coming off of ABCNews.com and some of the tech sites I frequent. I’ll be sure to stay away from the news rumours and stick to just the factual stuff.

Well, since I don’t have any good tidbits saved up from this week (but wait ’till you see the article I worked on for tomorrow!), I’ll post some older, more obscure news ramblings and my comments on them. I have to better remember to save the good stuff in my “Blog Me” bookmarks!

First, the Law Enforcement Criminal Darwin Award goes to:

Also…

If I were her, I would have gone back and demanded a refu… no… wait, I take that back. She has no right to a refund for being that stupid.

This sounded scrumptious… not!

Let this be a lesson to all iPod-carrying truckers! Could you just imagine driving through this mess!? I know what it would make me think of… Burgers!!

Yet another reason why stupid, self-absorbed people shouldn’t procreate. I say payback is in order here. During the summer, the kids should go to a waterpark for an hour or two, while the moooom stays in a locked car around high noon. To be fair, since the kids were bundled up, the mom should have the windows rolled down just enough for air, and plenty of cool water given. Am I being unfair? I don’t think so.

And finally:

I love it when people get loved ones back, human or animal. This one tugged at my heart. I hope they find the dogs next!

I read the news every day, not just from ABC, but from other sources as well. I’ll try and pick some good ones next week!

Cheers!

Technorati Tags: News, ABC News, Offbeat, Funny News, Esoterik