There's a statement online that's circulating on Facebook and Reddit stating an opinion on the shooting that happened Friday in Connecticut. The statement is being linked to a well known Hollywood actor, Morgan Freeman. The statement, in actuality, comes from a man by the name of Mark from Vancouver. Even though the statement doesn't come from a well respected Oscar winner, it still rings true. This is what Mark had to say about the shooting and why the news reports primarily focuses on the killer rather than the victims:
"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.
It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and
watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall
shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household
names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine?
Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their
basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and
going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because
he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.
CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as
the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics
somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video
interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and
heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the
killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news
stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity?
None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations,
sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this
and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.
You
can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering
the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental
health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You
can help by turning off the news.
Now isn't that advise that every news corespondent, anchor, and television station should take into consideration? I totally agree with his statement, and even though I know his advise will probably be overlooked, the majority of the public probably agrees with him as well.
If your wanting to know about the names of the victims and read about them individually, go to: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/15/us/connecticut-shooting-victims/index.html
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Need a Photographer?
I just recently made a page on Facebook for my photography. Are you in need of a Photographer and not sure exactly where you can find one? Well if your in need of a photographer then I'm your guy. I specialize in event, wedding, product, model, and portrait photography. I also work as a graphic and creative artist, and I'm able to create murals, portraits, logos, t-shirt, and Photoshop designs. I also have a website you can check out at Livingstonoden.com. You can find my facebook page here, and while your at it like my page. Take a look at a couple examples below.
This was taken at a wedding, last year in October.
A Photoshopped picture for a musician to post on her website.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo. Edited in Photoshop.
This was taken at a wedding, last year in October.
A Photoshopped picture for a musician to post on her website.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo. Edited in Photoshop.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Thorns of Passion
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Its A Good Day To Die Hard
It's A Good Day To Die Hard Trailer
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The World Isn't All Bad...It Just Feels Like It Is.
I hear things all the time that the world is in total chaos, the end is near, and doomsday is upon us. It's true that things are looking dismal lately, but I seriously doubt that the end of the world is just around the corner. In reality nobody knows exactly when the end of the world will happen, it's not even stated in the Bible. Things seem bad in the world. Our government spends money as if we have an endless supply of it, while our deficit grows with every passing day. Terrorist's want the U.S. to burn, while we fight a war that's very unpredictable with no end in sight. Bombings happen daily overseas, and random shootings at schools and movie theaters are plastered all over the television. After all I have mentioned and with the upcoming ending of the Mayan calender, people seem to get the idea that everything will end soon, and honestly I don't blame them.
Lets go back about seventy years and take a look at how the world was then. World War 2 was just beginning for the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Our government was in debt, people were poor, and things were looking grim. The Nazi's were slowly taking control of Europe. There were even random shootings happening in schools, city streets, and anywhere else you can think of. Now if you compare what was happening then with whats going on now, doesn't the comparison almost parallel each other?
Now go back another seventy to eighty years. Our country was split into two parts, the civil war was in full force, slavery was welcomed in the south, the government was slaughtering Native Americans, and a president was assassinated as the country was slowly falling apart with no hope for the United States. Doesn't it almost look as if a pattern is forming here? The farther you go back into our history, the worse things seem to get. Before the civil war we had the Revolutionary War as the U.S. fought for independence from England. Things were even worse in the century where Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. The Black Plague killed close to 75 to 200 million people in the four years that it was at its peak, which is close to sixty percent of the worlds population at that time.
Today the argument that things are bad in these modern times because of how rapidly the environment is changing around us still arises. It's true that the polar ice caps are melting and even some weather patterns around the world are different than they were twenty years ago. The devastation the record setting outbreak of tornadoes caused last year in the south east of the United States made religious fanatics go in a tizzy, stating it was Gods wrath at work. What most don't seem to remember is that a record setting outbreak of tornadoes also struck the south east in the early seventies, killing quite a few people. The same goes for hurricane Katrina. One of the worst hurricanes in the last twenty years, but go back to the early nineties and you get hurricane Andrew. What made Katrina so bad were the levy's that broke, killing most of the population that stayed behind. As a storm goes though, hurricane Andrew was a worse storm in terms of strength. One hundred years prior to Katrina, another hurricane hit the east coast of the U.S. killing thousands. Bad weather happens all the time and like anything else it comes in phases. Our National Weather Service has only been keeping records for the last 150 years. There is close to a couple billion years before records were even kept that we have no idea how bad weather patterns might have been before a human being was able to comprehend his surroundings. There is scientific findings throughout the history of the world were the earth went through drastic climate changes, either getting very hot or very cold in a short amount of time. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the earth has gone through at least three ice age's in the last one-hundred thousand years. Things change!
What I'm basically getting at is the world seems to be in a bad place right now, and a lot of it should be blamed on our technology. The internet, television, and cell phones feed us all of this bad information from around the world, which gives us the impression that everything is going straight to hell. In World War 2 we had no idea how bad things were over seas until the solders were sent back home and they told their families and friends just how bad things were. Today we see people dying on cobble stoned streets on CNN and a daily death toll of our solders through internet postings. Its sad to see the statistics and the news reels, but its true that we're constantly fed bad news on a daily bases. Sometimes its nice to just turn off your television, close your laptop, put you cell in your pocket, and just walk away from the bad news from time to time. As for the weather and how things are changing, its happened before just as its happening now. The world isn't ending just because the temperature has risen a few degree's or a major storm kills hundreds; these things happen and will keep happening. Just go with the flow, and don't worry so much.
Lets go back about seventy years and take a look at how the world was then. World War 2 was just beginning for the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Our government was in debt, people were poor, and things were looking grim. The Nazi's were slowly taking control of Europe. There were even random shootings happening in schools, city streets, and anywhere else you can think of. Now if you compare what was happening then with whats going on now, doesn't the comparison almost parallel each other?
Now go back another seventy to eighty years. Our country was split into two parts, the civil war was in full force, slavery was welcomed in the south, the government was slaughtering Native Americans, and a president was assassinated as the country was slowly falling apart with no hope for the United States. Doesn't it almost look as if a pattern is forming here? The farther you go back into our history, the worse things seem to get. Before the civil war we had the Revolutionary War as the U.S. fought for independence from England. Things were even worse in the century where Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. The Black Plague killed close to 75 to 200 million people in the four years that it was at its peak, which is close to sixty percent of the worlds population at that time.
Today the argument that things are bad in these modern times because of how rapidly the environment is changing around us still arises. It's true that the polar ice caps are melting and even some weather patterns around the world are different than they were twenty years ago. The devastation the record setting outbreak of tornadoes caused last year in the south east of the United States made religious fanatics go in a tizzy, stating it was Gods wrath at work. What most don't seem to remember is that a record setting outbreak of tornadoes also struck the south east in the early seventies, killing quite a few people. The same goes for hurricane Katrina. One of the worst hurricanes in the last twenty years, but go back to the early nineties and you get hurricane Andrew. What made Katrina so bad were the levy's that broke, killing most of the population that stayed behind. As a storm goes though, hurricane Andrew was a worse storm in terms of strength. One hundred years prior to Katrina, another hurricane hit the east coast of the U.S. killing thousands. Bad weather happens all the time and like anything else it comes in phases. Our National Weather Service has only been keeping records for the last 150 years. There is close to a couple billion years before records were even kept that we have no idea how bad weather patterns might have been before a human being was able to comprehend his surroundings. There is scientific findings throughout the history of the world were the earth went through drastic climate changes, either getting very hot or very cold in a short amount of time. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the earth has gone through at least three ice age's in the last one-hundred thousand years. Things change!
What I'm basically getting at is the world seems to be in a bad place right now, and a lot of it should be blamed on our technology. The internet, television, and cell phones feed us all of this bad information from around the world, which gives us the impression that everything is going straight to hell. In World War 2 we had no idea how bad things were over seas until the solders were sent back home and they told their families and friends just how bad things were. Today we see people dying on cobble stoned streets on CNN and a daily death toll of our solders through internet postings. Its sad to see the statistics and the news reels, but its true that we're constantly fed bad news on a daily bases. Sometimes its nice to just turn off your television, close your laptop, put you cell in your pocket, and just walk away from the bad news from time to time. As for the weather and how things are changing, its happened before just as its happening now. The world isn't ending just because the temperature has risen a few degree's or a major storm kills hundreds; these things happen and will keep happening. Just go with the flow, and don't worry so much.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Kicking Rocks With Opened Toed Shoes, Lets Help In Getting The Story Told.
In 2008, she was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, and even had to battle it two more times after going into remission. She works as a model and is also making it her mission in life to inspire others to never give up no matter what.
Kicking Rocks with Opened Toed Shoes, the title of her book, needs help in getting the funds so that she can spread the word about her story of hope, faith, and living life to the fullest. Please go to her kickstarter to read further about her story and hopefully donate what you can. If you can't donate, tell your friends about this article and maybe we can help make a difference. Below is the link to her kickstarter. Thank you.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/32433901/kick-rocks-with-open-toed-shoes?ref=email
Monday, September 24, 2012
Top Five Time Travel Films
Looper, a film starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt about hitmen in the past who kill people sent back from the future, will be released this Friday and it makes me wonder what is the greatest time travel movie of all time? Now my top five choices are primarily based on how good the story is and, in all honesty, my opinion on the films. My opinion is something you may or may not agree with but, this is just a blog. So if you have an opinion about what your favorites are, please comment. Now on to the countdown too my top five time travel films of all time.
5. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
The second film in the Terminator franchise and arguably the best in the series, with a box office take of $204,843,345 or $390,000,000 after you adjust for ticket prices. The film surpassed expectations when it was released in 1991 and paved the way for James Cameron to literally get what he asks for in Hollywood. Schwarzenegger returns as the unstoppable Terminator, but this time as the hero. The special effects were a break through for Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and made it possible to create movies like Jurassic Park and the newer Star Wars trilogy.
The film centers on John Conner, the future leader of the resistance against the machines and his protection from an indestructible force sent back in time to kill him. T2 still holds up in look and feel, still able to produce thrills and nail biting action that many modern day action films try to recreate. There's talks of a fifth film with Arnold back in the title role. Its unknown as to when or if the film will be made but the thought of a possible sequel is still exciting.
4. The Final Countdown (1980)
An oldie but a goodie, The Final Countdown is about a naval air craft carrier that's torn from present day 1980 to December 6, 1941, the day before the bombing on Pearl Harbor. Its a great film with a premise that makes you ask, what would have happened if modern day technology existed in America's greatest time of need?
Kirk Douglas stars as the captain of the U.S.S. Nimitz, which is thrusted through time by an unexplained black hole that forms out in the middle of the Pacific. Soon the entire crew is baffled by there position and also the radio signals their intercepting. It doesn't take long for them to realize where they are, whats going to happen, and poses the question if they should intervene in history or let it unfold as it is written.
The film was a success at the box office but had mixed reviews from critics. The films special effects are dated, but as I said earlier, this is primarily about story not effects. Its a well written film and worth a watch if you ever come across it.
3. The Time Machine (1960)
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The oldest film on this list, and possibly the oldest movie I've ever written about. The Time Machine, based on H.G. Wells classic tale of a scientist and his journey through time is a classic in every sense of the word. Time lapse camera's captured his trek through time, which was something new to audiences at the time.
A scientist witnesses the rise and fall of man in a matter of decades, and is forced to travel to the year 802,701 by a massive lava flow that traps him and his time machine within the earth. When the earth finally erodes away, he sees that man has survived but with dramatic consequences, something he must change.
The film was a great success and even won the Academy Award for best special effects.
The Time Machine also had an unofficial sequel at the end of the documentary Time Machine: The Journey Back, which reunited the characters from the film played by Rod Taylor and Alan Young. The film also had a remake in 2002 starring Guy Pearce and directed by Simon Wells, the great grandson of H.G. Wells.
2. Somewhere in Time (1980)
Another film from 1980 starring the late Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour in this timeless love story about a man who will stop at nothing to find the woman he's been longing for his entire life, the only problem is he's 68 years too late in finding her.
The story centers on a playwright who travels out of town for vacation, making his way to the Grand Hotel. There he finds a picture of a woman, taken in the year 1912. He soon becomes fixated on the photo and begins looking for a way to get to her as he falls in love with the image.
I won't go into detail as to where the movie goes next, but he does find a way to go back in time, which is where the movie really picks up.
The film was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office. But time does heal some misfortunes and it soon developed a cult following and even changed most critic's minds, even if it was a couple decades later. The film is now considered a great masterpiece in some circles and remains as one of Reeve's best works in cinema.
1. Back to the Future (1985)
The biggest box office hit in 1985 still considered, by most, to be the greatest time-travel movie of all time. It produced two sequels and two years ago celebrated its 25th anniversary by re-releasing the film back into theaters during its jump to blu-ray.
Back to the Future centers on Marty McFly, a normal high school student who just happens to be best friends with a nutty professor, Doc Brown, who creates a time machine out of a DeLorean. Marty is soon sent back to 1955 by uncontrollable circumstances and meets his mother and father, who are still in high school and not at all what Marty envisioned.
Originally the role of Marty McFly went too Eric Stoltz, but two weeks into production he was fired from the role, which subsequently went to Micheal J. Fox. The role of Doc Brown was originally meant for John Lithgow, who turned the role down due to conflicting schedules. Christopher Lloyd was brought on board after turning the role down, but was soon told to take the role by his wife.
Notable Mentions" Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home, Twelve Monkey's, Source Code, Deja Vu.
Well there you have it. My list of the top 5 time traveling movies of all time. Who knew Back to the Future was going to be number one? If anyone has a different list of favorites, I would love to hear what you have to say.
5. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
The film centers on John Conner, the future leader of the resistance against the machines and his protection from an indestructible force sent back in time to kill him. T2 still holds up in look and feel, still able to produce thrills and nail biting action that many modern day action films try to recreate. There's talks of a fifth film with Arnold back in the title role. Its unknown as to when or if the film will be made but the thought of a possible sequel is still exciting.
4. The Final Countdown (1980)
Kirk Douglas stars as the captain of the U.S.S. Nimitz, which is thrusted through time by an unexplained black hole that forms out in the middle of the Pacific. Soon the entire crew is baffled by there position and also the radio signals their intercepting. It doesn't take long for them to realize where they are, whats going to happen, and poses the question if they should intervene in history or let it unfold as it is written.
The film was a success at the box office but had mixed reviews from critics. The films special effects are dated, but as I said earlier, this is primarily about story not effects. Its a well written film and worth a watch if you ever come across it.
3. The Time Machine (1960)
+1.jpg)
A scientist witnesses the rise and fall of man in a matter of decades, and is forced to travel to the year 802,701 by a massive lava flow that traps him and his time machine within the earth. When the earth finally erodes away, he sees that man has survived but with dramatic consequences, something he must change.
The film was a great success and even won the Academy Award for best special effects.
The Time Machine also had an unofficial sequel at the end of the documentary Time Machine: The Journey Back, which reunited the characters from the film played by Rod Taylor and Alan Young. The film also had a remake in 2002 starring Guy Pearce and directed by Simon Wells, the great grandson of H.G. Wells.
2. Somewhere in Time (1980)
The story centers on a playwright who travels out of town for vacation, making his way to the Grand Hotel. There he finds a picture of a woman, taken in the year 1912. He soon becomes fixated on the photo and begins looking for a way to get to her as he falls in love with the image.
I won't go into detail as to where the movie goes next, but he does find a way to go back in time, which is where the movie really picks up.
The film was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office. But time does heal some misfortunes and it soon developed a cult following and even changed most critic's minds, even if it was a couple decades later. The film is now considered a great masterpiece in some circles and remains as one of Reeve's best works in cinema.
1. Back to the Future (1985)
Back to the Future centers on Marty McFly, a normal high school student who just happens to be best friends with a nutty professor, Doc Brown, who creates a time machine out of a DeLorean. Marty is soon sent back to 1955 by uncontrollable circumstances and meets his mother and father, who are still in high school and not at all what Marty envisioned.
Originally the role of Marty McFly went too Eric Stoltz, but two weeks into production he was fired from the role, which subsequently went to Micheal J. Fox. The role of Doc Brown was originally meant for John Lithgow, who turned the role down due to conflicting schedules. Christopher Lloyd was brought on board after turning the role down, but was soon told to take the role by his wife.
Notable Mentions" Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home, Twelve Monkey's, Source Code, Deja Vu.
Well there you have it. My list of the top 5 time traveling movies of all time. Who knew Back to the Future was going to be number one? If anyone has a different list of favorites, I would love to hear what you have to say.
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