I took a week long break from the Ringling tour to visit NYC's Horse Drawn Carriages. I will not bore you with the details of what I was doing there - but you can read about it on 'The PETA Files' and check out the fruits of labor with a fun Youtube video. - don't forget to read about how you can help NYC's horse drawn carriages- here
March 2008 Archives
Happy Anniversary!
Zombie Popcorn has gone through several changes over the years. Zombie Popcorn TV, Zombie Popcorn Radio, and what you know now - Psychosomatic Rants - The Text Side of Jason Bayless and Mylie T.
So to celebrate the anniversary of Psychosomatic Rants - We present you with Psychosomatic Rants. Volume One: March 28, 2007- March 19, 2008 (The Anniversary Edition)
Now you can get all the wonderful stories from the blog plus additional photos to add to your collection.
(just click on the box above to order the book)
Thanks to everyone of our readers and the people who helped make Zombie Popcorn/Psychosomatic Rants what it is today!!
Charlotte, N.C.--Following discussions with PETA about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' long history of animal abuse, including citations and fines by federal authorities, Charlotte-based grocery chain Harris Teeter has confirmed that it will not enter into future partnerships with the circus. Fred Morganthall, president of Harris Teeter--which is owned by Ruddick Corporation and operates 200 supermarkets in seven states--told PETA via e-mail this week that while the company must honor its current contractual promotion, "[g]oing forward, we will not be supporting circus promotions. ... I know we already have turned one sponsorship down." As a token of appreciation for looking out for the best interests of real elephants, PETA sent Morganthall a vegan chocolate elephant.
Ringling's animal care record is riddled with animal deaths and U.S. Department of Agriculture noncompliance notices, investigations, warnings, and penalties, including a $20,000 fine for the death of a baby elephant who died after Ringling forced him to enter the ring repeatedly while he was sick and a formal warning for inflicting painful injuries on two baby elephants. Former Ringling employees have reported shocking abuses, including that a chained elephant bled profusely following a violent 30-minute beating with steel-tipped bullhooks, terrified elephants who urinated and defecated in fear at the sound of their trainers' voices, a lion who died in the desert heat in a boxcar, a horse who died without receiving veterinary care, and horses who were tethered and beaten.
Harris Teeter joins Denny's, General Mills, Burger King, Liz Claiborne, MasterCard, Ford Motor Company, and Sears, Roebuck and Co., all of which ended their sponsorships of either Ringling or UniverSoul circuses.
"We salute Harris Teeter for distancing itself from the whips, chains, and loneliness that define circuses like Ringling," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "A trail of dead baby elephants is something that any business concerned about its public image can do without."
I got sick of waiting for the perfect time, the perfect moment. I was beginning to regret ever getting caught up in tradition and wanting to be asked and regret is certainly not a part of the love that we share. We are perfect and it is always the perfect moment and time because it is us.
We always said we would have to ask each other so we would know that it was real...so the day after I sent the text, I received this on my sidekick:
Because I love the boy who wrote this and because I love snow, of course I said yes! (even though the lack of a question mark makes this technically not a question...I will just chalk that up to excitement and getting caught in the moment...hehe).
All the love in the world to you bebee.
forever.
<3
I have a special announcement to make to all the readers of Zombie-Popcorn/Psychosomatic Rants. As you know Psychosomatic Rants is the text side of Jason Bayless and Mylie T... and not too long ago Mylie T wrote about marriage here in a post entitled, 'Chaos and Love Are Taking Over the World'
In this post Mylie T. starts off by saying, "Marriage is just a piece of paper." These are the words I found myself muttering as I was faced with questions surrounding my long term relationship when I was all of 20. I had been in a serious relationship for a couple of years, and to my surprise I did not want to get married and couldn't ever see it happening.'
She may have never seen it happening, until Friday, March 7, 2008 when she sent me a text message that read.....oh wait, let me give you some background first. For the past two months Mylie T and I have been talking about going to Scotland as soon as I am finished with the 'Ringling Beats Elephants Tour' in November. We have been making plans to visit Edinburgh, Scotland. With its great history and folklore we are bound to have a wonderful Winter Solstice.
Any way, back to the text message she sent me. The message read, "Will you marry me this December in Scotland?" (For those of you who know me - know that I am never home - I am always on the road, traveling. So, a text message is not uncommon for something so serious.) At first, I didn't know if she was asking me to marry her or if she was 'telling' me to ask her to marry her in Scotland.
So, I played it safe and replied, 'Yes' and at that moment Mylie T and Jason Bayless became engaged to be married in Scotland, December 2008.
Tomorrow night is the first Ringling protest here in Youngstown.
There has been so much going on here - It seems that the fine folks of Youngstown are against having Ringling Bros in town. Everywhere we stop people come up to us and say they support what we are doing.
Today, we were invited to be on the Louis Free Radio Show. If you missed the show no need to worry, I will post a link to the archive show once it is up and I have been invited back tomorrow to be on his show. - I will keep you posted.
Also, if you have not seen yet, a letter was sent to Chester A. Gipson, deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) animal care unit, urging him to immediately remove from the road several elephants traveling with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus because the elephants could pose a grave danger to the public. (To Read the letter)
The video related to the letter
To view more Ringling videos, please visit circuses.com
The prototype Tangible 3D system created by Japanese firm NTT makes it easier to see and touch your beloved girl/boy friend or family member.
That is right, The "tangible 3D" system allows users to be connected and transformed into 3D images in real-time. If you're holding hands with the virtual representation of your spuse and he or she walks off screen, apparently your hand will feel the tug as s/he leaves your pseudo-grasp. The developer, NTT Comware, is reportedly exploring commercialization options including video phones, but there are limitless possibilities out there for this kind of technology.
NTT engineer Shiro Ozawa, who developed the system, envisages various applications. "You would be able to take the hand, or gently pat the head, of your beloved grandchild who lives far away from you," he says.
The system can also translate real-world objects into virtual representations. Two cameras image the items in 3D so that they can be displayed on the screen. A connected computer then processes the 3D image to generate a tactile representation of the object.
This set up means that if the object being filmed is moved, the three-dimensional image also moves in real-time and the user will feel the movement with their hand.
Check out NTT's website for more information about this project
Great News!!
Sensio has just released Jaws 3D - so if you have the Sensio 3D processor (Yes, I do) you need to buy this now!
Jaws 3D
Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale and Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr. star in this Universal Film Classic, the most terrifying Jaws adventure ever.
Everyone at Florida's Sea World is thrilled with the new "Undersea Kingdom", a maze of underwater plexiglass tunnels that permits visitors to get closer to marine life than ever before. The opening ceremonies include many important guests... and one uninvited baby shark who accidentally enters the park's lagoon through a faulty sea gate and subsequently dies. The young shark's 35-foot mother soon follows her offspring, creating the most horrifying tale of terror ever filmed in the water.
Directed by original Jaws designer, Joe Alves, written by Richard Matheson and Carl Gottlieb and filled with heart-pounding special effects, this Jaws will have you screaming for your life!
I am so excited- I already have my copy!
On a completely different subject - I am in my final days here in Cincinnati so I crossed the river into Kentucky to grab a bite to eat before the next Ringling Bros protest. It was 15 till 6:00pm, The sun was out and a very bright day. We were parked at a parking meter next to a paid parking lot. about 5 mins before we pulled out of the parking spot to head to the arena. I noticed a blue truck pulling into the paid parking lot. The driver, who was a guy, opened his door and turned his body to face us. Since he had his door open all I could see of him was from the mid-chest up. He just sat there looking at us - I thought it was a little strange but people stare at the van all the time so I brushed it off. Then when I was pulling out of the parking spot I looked over at the guy in the truck and I got a full length view of this guy - he had his pants and underwear pulled down to his knees and he was, uh... how should I say this nicely.... he was aggressively touching himself. It was insane!
