Upon request

So Kaisa asked me to provide the answers. After much research and sweat, i found this. THE BEST ANSWER OUT THERE!

Sinfest.net is a online web comic that is accessible through the previous link. i have no rights to publish this at all but i hope Tatsuya appreciates the free press and don't suit my pants off. Mainly cause i look crap without pants.

they mystery of life

I initially thought it was because of my age that i was noticing so many women pregnant. I sort of thought that i had reached the age when many women my age were giving birth. Apparently i was wrong. There is a baby boom happening in Australia. Since 2005, women have been giving birth to more children than the previous 10 or so years.

As i watch the stomachs of these women swell to almost unbearable sizes, i can't help but wonder the reason for the sudden increase in births. The previous government was quick to take credit for it, but adding a few more dollars to help cover child expenses doesn't seem like a reasonable reason to have children in mass droves.

I'm sure that finances did play a part in the decision. I mean, no couple would just have sex and produce a baby without thinking it through, right?....well...perhaps there is a flaw in that last statement.

Perhaps the answer lies there. Maybe the government has been putting aphrodisiacs in our water to increase the birth rate of the country. It's underhanded, immoral, and probably illegial...but those things have never stopped them before.

Maybe there is something to be said for the mystery of life. Why are there times when it there are baby booms and why are there baby not-booms. Why do mothers have children in desperately poor countries? Why don't mothers have children in wealthy countries? There is more to the question than economics. There is more to this question than love. I don't know that i believe it can be quantified so easily in terms and quasions. It is simply part of the mystery of life.

Are you influenced?

You probably don't realise how much information you receive during the day. A friend sent me to this video for an example of how product placement can work. It was quite a powerful find!

Do you care?

The following is a rant, brought you by the makers of the DVD rant.

If you've been living with your head in the sand and two fingers up your proverbial butt, you probably have still heard of the ONE Campaign. It is the campaign to end poverty, specifically focusing on developing countries. It is an admirable goal with thousands (if not millions) of supporters.

Apparently, however, not everyone is interested in freeing developing countries from debt. It appears that governments are selling off the debt owed to them by developing countries to companies. These companies are then taking to court and suing them for the full amount of their debt, plus interest.

Prior to the debt being sold off, these countries have had no accruing interest in their debt, (thanks mainly to the ONE campaign). Suddenly when big business takes over, they've got their full debt back, plus interest. This is essentially a death sentence for many of the people who live in these countries. Yet Vulture Funds still exist and seem to be legal, thanks to governments all over the globe.

It seems that governments are happy to appear charitable with the debt collecting and companies are happy to point to all their charitable works which account for a minor percent of their total profits. Between the two of them, they are putting on a front that appears noble and THE PEOPLE BUY IT!

If people were seriously interested in stopping poverty, they wouldn't allow their governments do to this, they'd vote them out of office. They wouldn't buy from companies who extorted from the poor, no matter how cheap their products are. If world poverty was really an issue that was cared about, our personal comfort wouldn't be our first priority.

In a world where we can access a multitude of information, we still rely heavily on corporate news (which lets face it goes through a bit of a spin before production). We allow fashion and gossip magazines to be the prominent form of "news" we buy. We are more interested in the clothes we wear than the true price for which the clothes came. We are hypocrites and proud hypocrites at that.

As our middles expand, our fists get tighter. In the end, it is our greed that will keep us from ever being truly rich.

Welcome

I honestly wasn't sure that Kevin Rudd was going to get into office, but i was pleased that a change in leadership took place. Not because i thought John Howard was the worst Prime Minister that Australia had ever seen, but rather because i felt that his party had become complacent about their role. With members of his party passing out fake leaflets to discredit others, it just made me wonder if they truly understood the gratitude they should feel towards the people they represented.

I was glad to see Kevin Rudd making some bold movements straight away. His statement that we will ratify the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible was an impressive, if somewhat more appearance driven than action. (in other words the Kyoto Protocol has some very interesting loopholes that mean some countries get a "please do nothing for signing this" clause. Although, Australia is not currently one of them)

I really hope that the changes that are going to be made to work places are for the best. I hope that people are more secure in their jobs than they were only a few months ago. I hope that things are more fair and employees better paid.

I have many hopes for this government. With any luck, we'll see one third of my hopes meant and the other two thirds of my hopes dashed to little bitty pieces. (please let Rudd have his own mind and not be a puppet of GWB...please please please PLEASE let that be in the 1/3 part)

Good luck Mr. Kevin Rudd. You'll definitely need it.

and thats not all!

After a prolonged absence i have finally returned to my habit of blogging only to realise that i seem to have left my self in my other pair of jeans. In fact, i haven't seen those jeans in quite some time and i am beginning to wonder if they are still around.

Isn't it odd how people change you? Values can become changed and distorted when you spend a large amount of time with someone vastly different to you. I feel like that is what has happened to me. With so much work of late, i feel like my value system, which was meant to keep family time to a maximum has all but disappeared. Working 45 hour weeks was never part of the plan.

I am feeling less like me than i've ever felt.That can't be a good thing. But if i could only find those jeans that i left myself in, i'm sure things would go back to normal soon...i'm sure of it...

Film review: "I have been thrown far from grace. Now all i can do is fall on it"

Gabriel

My husband took me to the cinema. As we sat, preparing to watch an Australian low- budget film, our hopes weren't high. So it was a great shock to find that this film was so good. With only the tiniest of budgets they managed to make a film that was quite well done. So lets talk specifics.

Technical (cinematography)
Most of the shots are very artistic. They were enjoyable to look at because they were just so well set up. The camera work on the film was quite nice for the most part. There were a few shots at the beginning where i wondered what the director was thinking. But overall, well done.

Script (Dialogue)
Sad, but the dialogue was not the best i'd ever seen in a film. At times the scenes are painful because the dialogue is delivered so 'exact' that it sounds forced. Although, there are scene where the dialogue is exactly what the film needs. So like most things, you have to take the bad with the good.

Script (plot)
The plot was extremely simple. Angel comes down to save purgatory from hell taking over. The big surprise twist at the end; my husband saw coming, although i did not. While the plot is simple, i don't think that is really a bad thing. It meant that more effort could be put into the scenes themselves. Some of the scenes were extremely touching. My favourite was a scene where Gabriel detoxes a fallen angel. "This is going to hurt...a lot". The entire scene was extremely powerful.

Really the entire film is on some level a commentary about human's fight against the darkness. Each shot has something to say about our spiritual battles. Each fallen angel struggles with being so far away from 'the light'. It was nice to see a film where love and forgiveness are the heroes in the film instead of hatred and violence. (which isnt' to say that these things don't feature in the film, but they are not revelled in)

If you get a chance to go see this film, GO! Espcially people who like action films. I give this 3.5 stars out of 4.

Because he says it better than i do

thanks to xkcd.com for this comic

Hehehe..more laughing

thansk to xkcd.com

I laughed out loud and snorted!

Thanks to xkcd.com for the comic

Music review: Rock It

The Gorillaz have released a new single entitled "Rock It". While i've been a long time fan of the group, i've found this song to be as dead as the zombies in the music video. While parts of the song threaten to be interesting they slide back into a slow drumlin of chant. The effect of a chant can be powerful in a song if used sparingly. When the entire song is barely more than a continued chant, the song loses its life and fades into the background of boring elevator music.

I had hoped for more from the Gorillaz

size matters

They also can do the same
Originally uploaded by sanjins

Pop culture uses the phrase a lot. So does men's health magazines. Women's magazine's remind the reader that size really isn't that important at the same time as providing pictures of 'normal' women who've been caught in a time-lock that feature's their age at 16 and their body as anorexic.

Sizes are one of the few things that everyone will *tell* you doesn't matter, but look at any visual media and you're certain to get a completely different message.

From the shape of a woman's hips, to the length of a man's...um...member, the mainstream media is awash in ideas on how to make us look better. "Better" being an arbitrary standard set by people we probably won't enjoy a meal with...possibly because they don't eat.

But we already know that these standards for women and men are ridiculous. We already believe that model's are too skinny and men's jeans too tight. We also believe that we are too fat, too ugly, or too untalented to do much with our lives. After all, those talented people in Hollywood live a life daily on a much bigger level than we could ever do in a life time!...or so the gossip column tells us.

Every day we get spoon-fed morals, self perceptions, and global understandings that we have not learned for ourself. Some of it because we lack time, energy, or money to gain these things on our own...sometimes its just convenient.

In our 90 second microwave dinner world, we hardly have time for anything that doesn't come pre-packaged in a one size fits all category. But one size fits all doesn't work. The more often we try to pre-package everyone into the "western Christian mid-class" package, the more tears the package has as people break out. More and more Muslims are becoming vocal in their native homes in western countries. Christian values are being challenged by new cultures and different religions. The harder the pre-package is pushed, the more holes are found.

The sizes are no longer fitting for entire countries, or even for small communities. Maybe its time to admit that the full colour magazine layout in Vogue is just as misleading as the pre-packaging. Because, size really does matter. It matters because we are not the same size. We are not stalk-standard people with stalk-standard needs. Our needs, desires, and goals come in different sizes with different packaging with different shapes! Size does and should matter. But it matters because of the differences, not because we strive to be the same.

So in the end, the subliminal message is correct: size really does matter.

SINFEST

Thanks to sinfest.net for this weeks comic.

Cruelty to animals

Yoda dog
Originally uploaded by sunrise.seven

There are some things pet owners should refrain from doing. One of those things is dressing their pets up to look like star wars characters. I believe no further proof is necessary than that of this picture.

Top five

Welcome to Friday. Here is your top five things to do this weekend that will make you feel ALIVE!

5. Steal a car. Nothing too fancy, but definitely more fancy than the bomb you currently drive. There is something wonderful about driving something without rust holes in the bonnet.

4. Drive fast. You'll feel exhilarated to be behind the wheel of a car that can go faster than 100k an hour.

3. In fact, Ignore speed signs altogether. Feel your heart pump as you whisk through the school zones, dodging children as you go.

2. See how many police cars you can collect on your tail as you drive. Don't stop the car until you've got at least five and a news chopper over-head.

1. Get arrested. Nothing makes one feel more alive than knowing at any minute Bubba will decide you are better as his bitch than as wall decoration.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

ROFL!

WARNING: this advertisement is rated M for Mature

I don't get it

I love checking out imdb.com for what is the latest and bestest (yes, that is a word. i heard it on Buffy) movie releases. I've noticed in the last couple of years that Torture Porn is almost always number one at the box office.

Torture Porn: It is a genre of film that revels in torture.It uses torture
sequences in the same manner as pornography films use sex.

Now i like pretty weird things. i like some genres of horror. i like suspense. i like drama but i always HATE gore. I see no reason to revel in torture or deaths. It turns me off faster than you can say "please refund my ticket".

I realise that my tastes don't (or maybe shouldn't) be enforced on the rest of the world, but why in the world would movies like this be so popular?

I've suggested before that the reason could be the strange power struggle in people right now. They feel powerless and thus enjoy entertainment where they can be submerged in that feeling yet finally overcome at the end. Thus giving some form of relief to their fears.

Andre Mayer from cbc.ca wrote an article about the use of torture in mainstream
entertainment. Mayer has some very interesting insights that might be worth
checking out. (this is also where the picture came from)

It scares me that many governments around the world are implementing torture. It scares me more that the average person seems to be thinking it is more and more acceptable.Is it because of these movies? or are these movies around because the subject is less unappealing than it was 10 years ago?

I suppose in the end it doesn't really matter why these movies are popular. It really only matter what we're willing to put into our brains and why. But I still don't get the need for Torture Porn.

Top Five Reasons

Top five reasons why its better to have illegially downloaded entertainment than legally bought stuff.

5. You are not forced to watch only things available to you locally. Online you
can watch movies from a variety of different places. Thus enhancing your world
and personal views.

4. You are not suckered into watching an entire
crappy movie just because their preview advertisement was well funded. You can
always decide you don't like something and turn it off without feeling that your
waisting your money.

3. You are able to give a clear indication to the
entertainment industry about what you want them to produce because you can
download it, then only buy the stuff you actually like. They are able to tell
which productions are good...not just which previews.

2. It is easier to
get a full album in the format you want it online, than it is to buy it in
stores.

1. The downloaded movies, shows, etc are all region free. you
don't have to spend extra money buying more changes to your region on your
computer.

Comics

This week's comic is brought to you by Sinfest.net.



and by Cyanide & Happiness


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

World President Job Application

Presidential Job Application

Take this political survey

Full Name (minimum of 3 names required for the job) Kristin Outa-me-Mind Teel
Age definately old enough to know better than the other guy
Gender The ablity to lead a people has nothing to do with my genitals
Party affiliation My party
Have you ever been arrested? not for anything serious
What for? see above
Served jail time? nope. i'm too ugly for them to want to keep me
Have you ever used drugs? only the natural kind
What drugs? the natural kind...weren't you paying attention?
Been convicted of drug possession? nope
Have you ever smuggled something illegal into the country? Yes, but the country needed it there
Do you have a scandalous past? only if you're facinated by the boring
Please explain My life is hardly tabloidishous

Personality/Beliefs/Values

What are your views on world domination? I should definately dominate. i could get the cute leather whip out. put on my plether pants and knee high black boots...
Do you have any religious ideologies? yes
How do you feel about trampling the rights of states within the US? mahahahhahahaha
What about trampling the rights of other countries? lets not talk about rights...instead lets talk about me
Do you think any drugs should be legalized? of course. then they could be taxed and then i could be richer...
Do you believe that you are always right? of course not. But you better say i am anyway
Do you value the opinions of others? yep. they remind me to clean the dungeon out.
Are you able to admit when you are wrong? wrong?? what is this word you speak of?
Do you believe that it is ok to go on vacation during a crisis? no. especially if i'm at the centre of it.
Do you believe in the philosophy of screw the little guy? how little is he?
Do you believe it is the governments responsibility to take care of people? of course. and if you willingly submit to me, i'll take great care of you.
What are your views on the current state of the wellfare system? there are so many welfare systems. maybe we should pick one
How do you feel about the current state of Social Security? i don't believe there is any social security anymore
Do you believe that when you are old enough to collect you will be able to? only if i put my money in stuff that actually returns
What would you do to ease/solve the oil crisis? start making cars that don't need oil!
Would you protect the environment? OF COURSE! you can call me auntie nature (avoiding the mother stuff still)
Would you go to war with countries unprovoked? of course not. i'd find a way to provoke them into provoking me.
Would you make your own decisions or what your parents wanted you to do? I'm the new world dominatrix. of course i'm not taking orders from daddy...thats just too discustin!
Would you travel in the black limos or incognito? oooo! incognito! i love dress up!

Now, on to your experience and qualifications

Have you ever declared war? Why? only against the neighbour and his silly fence offensive.
Have you ever used nuclear force? Why? no... have not had access to nuclear force
Have you had an affair with your intern? no. the intern is too creepy and my hubby is WAY more sexy
Do you have friends in low places to hide your secrets? they don't need to be low places to hide my secrets.
Do you have friends in high places to give you lots of money? once i am the world dominatrix, i'm sure i'll have plenty of money...mahahahaha!
Are you able to have a conversation without sounding like an idiot? Sometimes...[ackward silence]
Do you stutter? nnn no.
Do you use insensitive words in public like crusade and savage? hehehe...savage
Do you have an IQ score about 25? WHAT??? i have to have an IQ!? i'm not sure i want this job anymore
Can you say the alphabet backwards? zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba
Have you ever been caught in a compromising situation? i was on top
Can you count with your shoes on and your hands in your pockets? eeep! more hard questions!
Have you ever had someone taken care of? yes. it was beautiful. gramma was in hospital and i payed the nurse and extra 50 to clean her up and make sure the other patients didn't pick on her.
Did you only marry your spouse because one of you was knocked up? yes. He was definately knocked up.
Do you have grey hair yet? i decline to answer...mainly due to my fashion sense.
Do you wear cowboy boots to work? yuck! no cowboy boots for me. its ug boots all the way baby!
Can you sign your name quickly? yep...watch...kristin
Can you spell your name correctly? um...usually. sometime i type too fast and get the s and t mixed up
Are you able to sit in front of a phone and not push all the buttons? more hard questions!
Do you know how to read? yes...i just finished "see jane run"
Are you capable of having any independent thoughts? yep
Do you know what those are? nope
Do you believe in the freedom of speech? yes...as long as they only say what is good for the country
Do you just want to take a huge crap on individuals civil rights? no. i do that in the toilet...
Would you put your own picture on a new form of money? yes. it would be the thiele currency. it would be stronger than the greenback...although most things are starting to look stronger than the greenback right now so...
Would you attack Canada for the fun of it? no. canada is great at following directions. i'd keep them to set an example for the rest of the world
Would you deport all the illegals? to where?? mars?? that just is silly
Would you institute mandatory sterilization for stupid people? yes. and i'd determine who was stupid
Do you make babies cry? usually
Do you make old ladies cry? not so far