balg

A few thoughts. 1. has there ever been, or will there ever be a woman as beautiful as Michelle Yeoh? (Zang Ziyi isn't half bad either). 2. How is it that ever fight scene choreographed by Woo-ping is amazing? You'd think he'd run out of ideas at some point. 3. Why are there shitty martial arts movies? They seem pretty easy to make to me. This scene has two women sword fighting. Its shot perfectly: meaning, you can actually tell what's going on. 4. Why am I not shooting movies? damn

my stupid brain

So... I'm going to start writing daily again... either here or on stuff stephen hates... I miss writing... i think its good for me. Anyhoo... so, I've written about Katie Andrews before. And today I was surfing 1998 grads from Gilmour on Facebook when who do i see, but Kate Andrews. katie is one of those people who I wish I hadn't lost contact with. She was cool and I wish I were still friends with her. So I considered friending her. but I didn't... because it seemed weird to me. Facebook still weirds me out. still don't quite get it; i don't know what the proper protocol is. I found a friend from oberlin the other day, but i didn't friend her because I wasn't sure if it would be fun or stalkerish. hrmmm.. Katie. Kate. someone who i've said I would like ot see again, and I can't bring myself to press click on a superficial "friend" bbs. hrm.

loves it

I love Brainiac. I love youtube

Dear Mike Doughty

Dear Mike, can I call you Mike? I've listened to you so much for so long and seen you so many times that I feel like I can call you Mike. I just want to say, please, please please, for the love of God, drop your fucking producer. I really like your music, but the damn over production just makes you sound less honest. And that's what your music has always had going for it. Your voice especially has a quality that sounds like you are singing to me. And I love your clever lyrics. Please, tho, your album just sounds like clear channel fodder. Then I hear you live, and I remember why I enjoyed you so much for so long. you're full of energy. Spontaneous. exciting. And you sound like you are signing to me. Please, please please... i get that you get more chance for fame, fortune, and radio play with ATO and all... but please... just find a different producer. he's making you boring... I don't want soul coughing back. That's the past... but i know you have great music in you. I know you do... but I don't think stream line, clean sounding is your thing. please... strip it down. Learn to produce yourself... hell... call me up.. I'll find someone for you. But please, be yourself... don't be what your producer wants you to be. Fuck dave matthews. I still love you mike. But I just know there's more to you.

stephen

google-zor

So, i applied today for a job with google. And as much as I keep saying that I don't really have anything invested in this job.... I really do hope they call me. If you're spying on my right now google (as I use your services), I'M a good guy. Funny. Charming. And I could do awesome work for you in Trademark. Awesome. awesome. come one guys! Hire me. call me. call me. I'm just going to keep applying until you hire me. :) It's be pretty sweet to work there... I'd love to actually be part of a company whose product I really like. and whose culture is awesome. rather than rotting in a firm where i want to kill myself every second of every day. Come on google... give me that chance. Of course, as i just realized, if they are spying on this posting, they are probably spying on all my other posts. and my email. ummmm.... yea... about all that bad stuff... ummmmm... *embarassed grin* about that... ummmm.... well, just give me the interview..... forget all that stuff...:)

copyright demo

Ok.... so this won't be interesting to anyone reading this, but I'm going to be doing some copyright hypos over the next couple of posts to prep for my exam. Here goes.

I was sitting in Victorian's Midnight Cafe eating breakfast yesterday morning and I noticed somthing. Well, actually, I noticed a couple of things. First, my waitress was really good looking. She sat down with me to take my order and i was a bit flabbergasted at first. I almost had to say "can you please stand up because I can't concentrate on the menu and form a sentence to order because I can't take my eyes off of you. But I didn't. Anyway, my eggs and toast were pretty good. The eggs were nice and fluffy, as if they were very fresh, and the yolk was perfectly runny...like i like it. Anyway, I also noticed that they were playing the broadcast feed from a satellite tv thing of a music channel. Apparently the crappy 70s rock station. Anyway, it got me to thinking, was this copyright infringement? The first questions in a copyright infirngement case is whether there isa valid copuyright at all. In this case, it is very clear that the songs I heard would qualify as having a copyright. There are 2 requirements for a copyright: fixation and originality. Fixation is not a problem. These were all songs that were written down, cut on wax, and even published to the people. (since these songs may have been out before 1976, there could be public domain issues associated with copyright notice, but i'm going to ignore that right now). Anyway, fixation... not a problem. Second, it would need originality. Under the Feist holding, to have originality can be found by having independent creation and some small amount of creativity. Again, this is pretty clear here. The Songs I heard were probably not copied from somewhere else (tho, i don't know that, and it could be contested) and they are at least a little bit creative. Probably much more so. So, copyright seems to exist.

The second initial issue could be copyright ownership. Here, I don't have enough facts. It is likely that these songs copyrights are owned by the record studio. But I don't know that. Either way, under 201, copyright ownership first vests in th author of the work. This could either be the composer or the studio if this were a work made for hire situation. Again,I don't know, so I'll assume that the studio owns the copyright. For simplicity sake, I will also assume that the studio owns the sound recording rights (because with songs there are rights to the musical work and to the sound recording).

Ok. so we have a valid copyright and it is owned by the studio. Now, under 106(4), the copyright owner has the exclusive rightto public performance of his/her work. Here the playing of the songs is a public performance. Therefore, without some licensing agreement (and I doubt that Victorian's has one--like from ASCAP), they would be infringing the copyright owners right to public performance. However, they may be exempted by 110(5). While this may be a little unclear in some areas, it still appears to be an easy application of this exemption. Under 110(5)(A), the communication of a transmission which is received by a single apparatus of the kind commonly usd in pivate homes is exempt unless there is a direct change made to see or hear the transmission or the transmission thus received is further transmitted to the public. Here, there was no retransmission and no charge made for the performance. Also, this was being played out of a simple, large screen tv-the kind you could easily buy at Best Buy or some retail electronics store. I think these are pretty common today. So, I think they would be covered under 110(5)(a)
If they were not covered under 110(5)(a), they may still be exempt under 110(5)(b). Even if A does not apply, this seems to be an easy case for B. This provides an exemption for eating or drinking establishments to play a nondramatic musical work intended to be receivd by the general public or an audiovisual transmission by a cable system or satellite carrier if the eating/drinking establishment is less than 3750 sq/feet or if larger, then it only has no more than 6 speakers and no more than 4 in 1 room. Here, victorians seemed to be smaller than 2000 sq/feet. However, even if it isn't, there were only 2 speakers playing this: those coming from the tv. Therefore, it would fall under this exemption.

So, it seems that victorians is in the clear. However, I'm a little bit unclear about the digitial performance rights and if the aiken and 110(b) exemption count here. I'm going to find out tho.

NEW BLOG!!!

Hey all... you should go over and read my brand new totally new smells like new blog: stuff stephen hates (stuffstephenhates.blogspot.com). I think its going to be fun.

as previously mentioned, the end is nigh

So... another 2 signs of the apocalypse. First...the snow... or at least, columbus thought it was the end of the world. I hear cleveland had something called a "level 3 snow warning." or something. Columbus had a level 2. or something. I don't really know what that means, but Mike suggested that at the level 3, you're shot on sight if outside of your house. Sounds right down the Bush Administration ally... so, I'm going with that. Second, 10,000 BC was tops in the box office with $35M dollars. What the fuck? I mean, i can believe seeing this movie. I can believe renting this movie. but $35 million dollars for this crap?



I get it. big effects-spoitation stuff. I get it... But seriously, couldn't the 'fans' have waited a week or two just so it wouldn't be tops. Can't we have some substance in our action effects movies? fuck!

http://tvshack.net/

there's a link to tvshack. I don't know if its on there yet, but if it is, please, please, don't go see it in the theater for at least a couple more weeks. Just so its profits look less interesting.

I went to see the bank job. Now, heist movies have a habit of sucking, but i don't really understand why. It seems like a pretty simple sort of movie to pull off. Here, I'll help every director in the world with this. Put the foot on the gas and don't let off until the end. Make your characters fun... let them be either humerous, ruthless or both. Choose either very dark or more light hearted (I think the later works better). Film it... put it in the can. Done. So, i like the bank job. It wasn't the best movie I'd ever seen... but it was good enough. Fast, implausible-yet-based-on-real-events. And I can't help but love Jason Statham. Did you know he's only 5'8". WOOT!!! That's my height!!! But it definitely missed some chances. Like, only most of the characters were good. at least one or 2 were totally undefined. But it had the potential for them to be bumblind, funny, yet still successful. Sort of like a Oceans 11 if the 11 were totally crappy at what they did, but they won anyway. That's how it could have been, and i think it would have been more effective. Instead, it tried at points to add seriousness where it wasn't needed. Oh well.. I liked it anyway. What it really needed was Jason Statham driving a BMW 745i. By the way, why the fuck wasn't he cast as "The Hitman" in "the Hitman"? Because he'd have been perfect... way better than that loser from Die Hard WITH A VENGANCE!!! (how it should be written). anyhoo... out... back to copyright. god i hope i do well in this class... i really like it.

dear Columbus

LEARN TO FUCKING PLOW!!!!!

that is all

yay!

So... as i've said many times now, i've been quite a bit depressed recently... so I realized there was only 1 thing to do. or, i guess, 2.





Wow. I wish everyone I know could understand just how awesome HATP are live. Its just pure fun. nothing else.. pure fun. and, I mean, sometimes i know exactly what harry means. "when you were young and innocent/i saved you from a basilisk/i think that that deserves a kiss/but you're all over dean thomas."

and second.



She's so hot. That video is go good. damn. night. bed.

february (you fucking suck)

So, thank go this fucking month is almost over. Kathryn has been a long time hater of February and I whole heartedly agree. As she says "anything that can go wrong duirng this month, will." I've always called it the Tuesday of months....ya know because tuesday is by far the worst day of the week. Mondays, you still are basking in the afterglow of the weekend. Wednesdays are hump days and you can see friday on the horizon. Thursdays, soooo close... Friday 2 days of freedom upahead. But Tuesdays you are farthest possible from enjoying life again. Like February. Weather sucks. bad shit happens.... and, in the worst case senario, like this year, there is a whole fucking extra day. as if soome cruel joke from the world, ever 4 years I have to deal with 29 goddamn days in February. Fuck. Thank god its done tomorrow

ON a happier note, I had these ricotta pancakes from northstar for breakfast today. they were really good. Very sweet. super fluffy. Now, normally i like my pancakes sour. Like really sour. LIke, i remember this place up in Michigan that had these totally awesome sour pancakes... super sourdough. and northstar's ricotta pancakes weren't that. In fact, they tasted a bit like plain cakey doughnuts. so, really fucking good... mmmmm...

depression

Well, i'm finally writing about this... tho most of you who read this already know. I've been sorta of soul crushingly depressed recently. Mainly what triggered my recent bout with wanting to die is that I was rejected by Brown... Funny think about that is that it was the 4th rejection slip I've received from Brown in my life. I got 3 as an undergrad (1 for myself, 1 from the alumni association, and 1 to mom and dad letting them know that their kid wasn't smart). Then I got an email the other day telling me that I hadn't gotten into their grad program. And I will guaranteedly get a paper letter in a month or so. So that will be 5 rejection slips from one school. Fuck. Anyway, I'm officially at a loss. People have been saying "this is just one school, there is no reason to give up completly" and that's right... but I've just been shaken and scared and I really have no idea about what's happening next year... so I'm scared shitless. I haven't really been able to focus all week because of this. I haven't been sleeping well... I see myself workign at borders again. And while Borders isnt the worst thing that could happen (nothing would make me happier than just stacking cds and dvds again), the pay is a problem. The living at home again is a problem. I feel like I lost the fight. I feel like Ive been preaching about how I dont have to be a lawyer and I'm just going to turn into lawyer scum no matter what. Fuck you life. fuck you. I'm scared.

hrmmm

I was thinking about watching the Oscars, but frankly, right now it would just be painful. and not painful in that normal way because its a bunch of people who are full of themselves and no funny jokes... painful in that I still hate my life kind of way.

where's the nearest building to thro myself from

I can explain in one sentence why im so pessimistic and negative all the time. Because nothing ever ever goes right. One more sentence. Because everytime I get my hopes up, life comes in to crush them back in their place. fuck you life... i hate you too.

fucking cold

It's fucking cold in here. I'm sitting in the room waiting for international human rights law to begin and its so fucking cold that my figers hurt. What that fuck is wrong with this school? Why can't they maintain a livable temperature. its either super fucking hot or super fucking cold. gaaaa...

I worked for about 30-35 hours on journal work since friday at noon and i arive this morning and erin asks for help on doing so last minute spot checking. I said, honestly, I have to work on school work that I've been putting off since friday.... and i get the "i'd love to do school work." well, ya know what? youhad all weekend to do school work.... me not so much. and besides, i'm the only person i know who actually cares about day to day work more than end of the year bull shit. for me, my day to day preparation is what I do best. Its where I learn. And, unlike most mornoic law students, I actually want to learn. And becaus of journal, i haven't been able to prepare like i want to. and i feel like I'm slipping. and I hate that. so, ugh... so fucking cold.

further proof that we have entered the end time. prepare yourself; judgment day approachith

So, Amy Winhouse won 5 grammy's for singing a song about not going to rehab when she was just booted from the country for her crack habit and rehab stay. I don't normally pay much attention to the Grammys. They always come off as more of a popularity contest than a legitimate awards show... then again, I love it every time Kanye West gets snubbed and he whines about how awesome he is and blah blah blah. But I do check the winner, out of curiosity sake. This year, they got at least one correct: Icky Thump by the White Stripes won best alternative album. of course, its not "alternative" like what that words used to mean, but whatever. Anyway the Grammys this year had the single best list of nominees for one category ever: Best Spoken Word Album. Nominees. Maya Angelou "celebrations"; Bill Clinton "Giving"; Jimmy Carter "Sunday Mornings in Plains"; Alan Alda "Things I overheard while talking to myself"; and the winner Barack Obama "The Audacity of Hope." Damn. what a list. 3 world leaders, 1 mega famous poet; 1 Hawkeye.


one more point. Aaron Applebaum endorsed Barry Obama for prez.... I'm coming around, actually. Hilly, you had your shot, but I have the feeling like the movement can't be stopped. and if the movement is that powerful, I think it could do wonderful things.

jaydog

So, Jason has a new blogger blog. http://theartofthedoodle.blogspot.com/ go there. see his awesome art work. love it. then, go to http://pencilsandinks.com/ while you're at it. and tell all your friends. especially those friends who want to buy sell and trade comic art.

i'm in love

I'm in love with Sarah Silverman. I would have cut off my left pinky to have been in that video. Ok, maybe not. I don't really like pain. but I definitely would have flown to LA or something.

slacker

So, first things first. I haven't posted in a while out of pure laziness. and apathy. and... i need a word like apathy, but not apathy. But Im back, baby....

so, above is my picture of Nooree from when we went to the bodies exhibit. As andrew has clearly already noted, this is a classic photo by stephen. Subject to one side. Fuzzy. Barely make out what's going on, let alone who it is... but I love pictures like this. Somehow, I think its more like an actual memory than most pictures. They are fuzzy. unclear.

and, of course, its arty. sorta.

so, Nooree was nice enough to go to the bodies exhibit with me before she went off to jolly old england. and the exhibit was pretty damn cool. ya know, if you're into that whole dead bodies cut apart and turned into plastic kinda thing. And of course, I am. so, it was kewl.

I'm sitting outside of my Int'l Human Rights class waiting for some 1Ls to get the hell out of our room. grrrrr... they don't belong there.

I've been considering emailing the director of graduate studies at Brown to say "hey, am i going to get in or not?" But I know full well that I won't hear anything until March. And I don't want to annoy them or anything. But I'm a bit tense.

I think people are a bit wussy about illness. I hear everyone around here 'gaa... I'm dizzy' 'gaaa' I can't breathe....' 'gaaa...cough cough cough... i'm dying.' I won't pretend that I'm happy when I'm sick... but I certainly don't turn into a sissy just because of it.

boooo

So... school starts up again tomorrow. I was all prepared to come here and make a positive post, but somehow I think is may turn out to be more negative than I'd like. Anyway, i guess a few people were slightly worried after my last post that I may, i dont know... kill myself or something. Well... no... that's not going to happen... but i just don't see a purpose to anything. if i were a god fearing man, I'd say that I need god in my life. however, that didn't work either... so I think that's not the answer. anyway, school is starting. my last sememster. People keep trying to cheer me up about it. but its not soon enough. 15 more weeks of pain. pain pain.
On an odder note, i've been very much feeling like I want to be alone recently. I don't really know why, but not being around anyone sounds more appealing than usual. hrm.
I just read that Burn by the Cure was actually written for the Crow soundtrack. That rules. That song rules... and I always thought that it fit the crow a bit too much to be just coincidence. so there you have it. I love that song.

movies Ive seen thus far in 2008: Juno, the Savages, I am legend (again), Sweeney Todd. I'm really going to try to keep this list up-to-day from now on.

ugh... well... there it is. first post of 2008... lamezor.... I'l try to write more better later, I hope. but this was post 111, apparenlty. that's somewhat amusing. ugh... I need to get my head in the right place. I SOOOOOOOoOOooooOOooooooOoOO am not ready for school tomorrow. blech