Are You F***ING Kidding Me?

I am so p.o'ed about the new restrictions on young drivers that state "...under the new rules, teens with newly minted G2 licences will have to deal with restrictions on how many young people can travel in the car with them" (http://www6.autonet.ca). Like that has to be the most ageist thing I have ever heard. First of all, my friends aren't a bunch of immature idiots (all the time) and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be distracting in the car. Second of all, the law says you have to follow this rule untill you are 21, yet it keeps mentioning "teens". Since when are 20 and 21 teenage years? They say we will only be allowed 1 passenger at a time. That's such b.s, I don't even want my G2 anymore... I might as well keep driving with my mom. Nobody I know has one friend. Plus, what if you're at a party and your friends are drunk and you're not and you need to drive them home so that they won't drive themselves... now you can't? Do they honestly think anyones going to actually listen to this... and even if it is serious, kids are just going to pile their friends in and tell them to duck or go in the trunk, like some already do.

Canadian Identity& Culture in Mass Media!

Okay so, this is my collage and I will explain what every picture on it represents to me, in being Canadian. But first let me just say that I am an idiot and I put the media representations on the right instead of the left. So first in the middle I chose a multi-coloured maple leaf as apposed to the traditional red one because to me it represents the many colours of the scenery, and the citizens of Canada. On the media side I chose to show all of the pictures on a newspaper print because the newspaper was invented by Charles Fenerty in 1838. There are pictures of various Canadian celebrities like Keanu Reeves and Kim Catrall. There is a picture of a hockey player because the sport hockey is very important to many Canadians. There is also a Tim Horton's logo, because Tim Horton's was originally a Canadian company and is enjoyed by Canadians. On the other side there is a painting of poppies. These represent the poem In Flanders Fields which was written in the first world war by a Canadian named John McCrae. There is a poster for the Toronto Film Festival because I believe this event is very important in Canada because it shows the world that Canadian films have something to offer. There is a picture of several differently coloured hands each displaying: peace, harmony, friends, team, love, hope, and unity. I believe that these words do express some of the opinions Canadians have of Canada. Finally, there is a painting called Mount Lefroy by Lawren Harris, who was a member of the Group of Seven. The Group of Seven was a group of extremely successful Canadian painters, who painted Canadian landscapes. This picture, to me, represents Canadian culture and art, and the love that citizens have for this country.

Coffee Junkies

So I was working on my Canada flag collage thingy assignment and I was thinking: What if all of the Tim Hortons were closed down? Better yet, what if coffee was made illegal in Canada. I think at first there would just be outrage. Petitions, marches with signs, rants, and so on. Then I think things would get ugly. Those people that drink like 8 cups a day just to stay awake would go absolutly nuts. I honestly think people would be killed. There would be arrests for illegal coffee grow-ops. People would be put in jail for smuggling coffee from Mexico or the states. Then I was thinking that if it could be this bad just for coffee, what about if smoking cigarettes was made illigal, and the distribution of smokes. It would be 10000 times worse. I work at a variety store and I must sell like 100 packs a shift its so rediculous. No matter what the price is raised to for smokes, smokers will pay it. Some brands have reached 10 bucks. Its rediculous; that 10 bucks could go towards groceries or charity!

Borat-Attack

I just want to make a post on how much I love Borat. I really disagree with the people that say that Sasha Baron Cohen is strictly racist. First of all, he’s Jewish, and makes fun of Jewish people, in a way that I think, highlights stereotypes other ethnic groups have for them. I think it’s weird that we can say its okay for Russel Peters to base humor off stereotypes of East Indian people (he is of course East Indian) and that it’s not okay for Sasha Baron Cohen to do the same thing. I think the film is actually very smart, as it points out the stupidity and pride of Americans (Especially the scene where Borat's at the rodeo signing the anthem HAHA). As well, this may make me sound like a very ignorant North American, but before Borat, I had never heard of Kazakhstan. Now I actually know it exists, which brings me to my next point. I think that anyone who actually believes that Kazakhstan is actually how Borat portrays it is extremely naïve and kind of dumb. If those things Borat says about Kazakhstan were true, would we really be laughing, and would the film really have gotten the go-ahead, even in the U.S.? Clearly not.

Les Poissons (Comment on Lincoln's Post)

I really liked Lincolns post on the copyright issue involving 'Wall-e' and 'Finding Nemo'. I totally understand his point of view on the issue and I agree with it as well. If your job is to create an animated character, the product will be from your imagination. If you sat 5 people down in a room and asked them to each draw a cartoon character like a bird, it is almost garanteed that the five birds will be very dissimilar. This is why I don't understand how the two clown fish look so similar, as well as the two robots. I think it’s obvious that Disney was influenced by the original familiars, especially if the concept of the two was to find the fish or… trouvez le poisson. P.S. I thought the French fish was hilarious. He looked a lot like Nemo only he wasn’t cute at all, and I didn’t even feel bad that he was lost..

"Still in Pain" After Listening to These Songs!

The Royalty Network has sued Beyonce for copyright infringement. The Royalty Network sued Beyonce because they are in control of ‘Des`ree’s’ music royalties, and they believe that Des`ree’s song “I’m Kissing You” was interpolated to Beyonce’s song, “Still in Love (Kissing You) without permission. To interpolate is to “introduce (something additional or extraneous) between other things or parts; interject; interpose; intercalate.” (www.dictionary.com) So, in the case of this copyright infringement case, the interpolation related to segments of Des`ree’s song being put into Beyonce’s song without been given credit or without attaining permission from the original artist.
The Royalty Network claims that Beyonce’s representatives approached Des`ree’s representatives to ask for permission for the song. When their question was answered, they were unhappy with the restrictions to the dong. For example, Des`ree`s representatives asked that the song title not be altered, which it was. It seems as though because Beyonce’s representatives did not receive the answer they had hoped for they went ahead and used they song anyways, also altering the song title.
A ‘cease-and-desist’ letter was sent by the Royalty Network to Beyonce’s record label on March 27th 2007, yet “Still in Love” was featured on Beyonce’s album ‘B`Day’ which was released in April 2007. The damages filed by the Royalty Network are approximately $150, 000. The company has also requested that as well as the fee, that there is an injunction of the selling of the song “Still in Love”. An injunction is “a judicial process or order requiring the person or persons to whom it is directed to do a particular act or to refrain from doing a particular act.” (www.dictionary.com) So, an injunction of the distribution of a song relating to this case would be the request to have the opposing company cease to distribute the song. Beyonce’s representatives have not yet responded to the claims. I’m sure this case will be big once Beyonce does respond to the claims made by the Royalty Network, but it will take more time for this case to unfold.
Okay so enough with all the legal stuff, I have my own opinion of this case. First you have to listen to the two songs. So first is Beyonce’s “Still in Love (Kissing You)”. Now, I know it’s really hard, but try and listen to the WHOLE thing. Okay so now that “Still in Love” is “still” fresh in your mind, listen to “I’m Kissing You”. So I know what you’re thinking because you’d have to be insane not to agree with me: The songs sound EXACTLY the same. They are equally as painful and boring to listen to except Des`ree sounds a tad more manly in her version. The only thing that is really different about the songs is they have only similar lyrics, but Beyonce fools you by changing the title. It only SEEMS like you’re going to be listening to a different song, but really you get to waste 5 more of your 2 million minutes you have left until you graduate. The melody, tempo, rhythm, and instruments are BEYOND COMPARISON.
I really hope that Beyonce loses this case, and is forced to pay the fee because it is plain to see that she copied a song. In my opinion, it’s almost like she made a cover of “I’m Kissing You”, changed a couple of the lyrics and the title, and made a video of her body all over the place, but didn’t give the original performer any credit for it. If Beyonce gets away with this case, then I don’t believe there is any hope for any of the rightful owners of songs involved in copyright infringement cases anywhere.

Avril Lavigne: 'The Worst Damn Writer'

Avril Lavigne is a talent less bum. She can’t sing, she can’t dress, she can’t design clothes, and now she can’t even write her own music. Another thing she has no idea how to do is lie.
I can’t believe she actually got away with stealing ‘Girlfriend’ off the Rubinoos. Anyone who can’t see that this song has been ripped off has no idea what they’re talking about. Avril actually tried to claim that she had never heard the song ‘Boyfriend’ before being accused of copyright infringement. I find this impossible to believe. Also I totally disagree with her comment that many songs have the lyrics “Hey, hey. You, you”. I don’t think that this is very common. Maybe in the 60’s or 70’s, but besides ‘Girlfriend’, how often do you hear these lyrics now a days? I also do not believe that Avril copied this song subconsciously. She wasn’t just sitting in her car one day when she was ten, and heard the song on the radio, and now she just made it her own by accident. That just doesn’t happen. There’s this thing called a memory that maybe she doesn’t know about, but most people have one, and would remember the song is someone else’s. Let’s just imagine, as a hypothetical, that the song ‘Girlfriend’ has the same lyrics as it does now, but the melody was different. We are imagining that ‘Boyfriend’ and ‘Girlfriend’ have similar lyrics (as they do) but sound completely different. If this were TRUE, I’m afraid I would believe Avril's comments. But it is far from true. The melody, the instruments, the lyrics, and the rhythm are so similar. In my opinion, the only thing that’s really different is the tempo, and the point of view of which the song is sung (‘Boyfriend’ is written in a boy’s point of view, whereas ‘Girlfriend’ is written from a girl’s point of view).
Avril should just go back to singing songs written out of her diary.