Brad Barrish

Visiting The Skaters

Nearly two weeks with out sun light really sucks. At least I know I would never be able to live in Seattle, not that I’m thinking of leaving Los Angeles. Anyway, after a visit to the bank, I took the long way home and stopped by to watch the skaters on Venice Beach. The kid you see in the photo was amazing! He couldn’t have been much older than 12, but he was all over the place, landing some pretty amazing tricks.

Over-Blogged Bands

Coolfer vents about the most over-blogged bands of 2004. Some of it is pretty genius, like this bit about U2:

A breather would be nice, but with their virtual box set coming out soon on iTunes, the band is going to claim more bandwidth. Good thing they're relatively old, otherwise we'd probably hear a lot more about them.

My brother was saying something the other day about how Bono is the biggest cheese ball in the world. I think Bono is a fine elderly statesman, but seriously, what the hell was he thinking with the whole kicking and shaking thing he does in the iPod commercial?

Abuse Is Like Cheerleading

Everyone else is talking about this, or rather they are posting links with very few words. I mean, let's face it, there's just not much you can say when you read something like

"Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year. Is that torture?" Guy Womack, Graner's attorney, said in opening arguments on Monday to the 10-member U.S. military jury at the reservist's court-martial.

What the hell is wrong with people? Namely, what the hell is wrong with Mr. Womack? As if the abuse scandal itself wasn't enough.

I Believe, But Can't Prove

The Edge asked some of the greatest minds of our time, "What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it." There are some incredible answers. Jason Kottke even has a few great answers. Here are a few of my own:

  • All living things are connected in a web of life. That is to say that each living organism is part of a whole. And therefore, I believe that when we do rotten things to one another, we are harming ourselves as well.
  • I believe that we, as human beings will ultimately destroy ourselves through our destruction of the environment, proliferation of war and disease that is resistant to modern medicine.
  • Like Jason, I too believe that technology will become uncontrollable by most humans. There will likely be a handful of people who are smart enough to control the technology. I'm not sure about the outcome either, but I don't think it will be a good thing.

Happy New Year

May you all have a happy, healthy, safe and peaceful new year. May we all be a little more conscious, compassionate and tolerant in 2005.

Letter to CNN

I was so disgusted by a CNN.com story that I wrote an email to Honkybitch, who then suggested I write a letter to CNN. I wasted no time.

To Whom It May Concern,

Since the tsunami in South-East Asia occurred, I have been glued to my computer because, let's face it, getting real news is pretty hard to do on the television these days. I was amazed by the outpouring of support from the internet community. Within hours of the tragedy, people were launching informative websites, places for missing people and their loved ones to connect and later, easy ways in which people could donate money in support of the relief efforts.

When I checked CNN, I happened upon an article with the headline, 'Tsunamis shatter celebrity holidays.' I was shocked by the insensitivity of the headline, to say nothing of the story. You should be ashamed of yourself for running such complete garbage disguised as "news." You set a terrible example by placing such emphasis on how a bunch of celebrities' vacations were ruined. It's no more tragic than those who lost their lives and don't have the luxury of boarding a plane and going back to their fully intact homes. My heart goes out to Ms. Nemcova and her boyfriend's family no more than it goes out to the others. How about writing a story on the thousands of people who posted their names, qualifications and phone numbers on web sites so they could be reached for relief efforts? How about the doctors and psychologists who have offered a year of their lives to help with relief efforts? There are many fantastic stories that haven't been told. Stories that people care about. The kind that touch your heart. The kind about everyday people.

CNN used to be a name I could depend on for real news. Over the last couple of years, you have brought discredit to your name and have only helped fuel the sensationalism that seems to be sweeping across other news agencies and organizations. I would think that perhaps you would take the high road and set yourself apart from the rest. Clearly you have chosen the low road during this most challenging time in the world. Shame on you, CNN.