My new record "Since 1972" and the different packages for sale aren't available until March 24th here at Joshfreese.com but I had a press release go out the other day and there's been a lot of talk on the ol' internet about what I'm doing and "if it's real" or if I'm "joking." It is very much real and I am surely not joking. Buy one and see for yourself....but not until March 24th! For now, I just wanted to at least post the menu and prices up here so that there was a definite spot where people could come check it out for themselves rather than just HEARING about it from someone else. Thanks for stopping by. Sign up to be notified when it comes available in a month.
PRICE MENU:
$7
- Digital Download of "Since 1972" (including 3 videos)
$15
- CD/DVD Double Disc Set
- Digital Download
$50
- CD/DVD Double Disc Set
- T-shirt
- "Thank You" phone call from Josh for buying Since 1972. You can tell him what you like about the record that you purchased, or what you thought sucked. Ask whatever you want, like "Is Maynard really THAT weird?" or "Which on of Sting's mansions has the comfiest beds?" or "Are Devo really Suburban Robots that monitor reality or just a bunch of Dads from Ohio?" or "Why don't the Vandals play more stuff off the first record?" It's your 5 minutes to yack it up. Talk about whatever you want.
$250 (limited edition of 25)
- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- T-shirt
- Signed Drum Head and Drumsticks.
- Go on a lunch date with Josh to PF Chang's or The Cheesecake Factory (whatever you're into.)
$500 (limited edition of 15)
- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- T-shirt
- Signed cymbal and sticks
- Meet Josh in Venice, CA and go floating together in a Sensory deprivation tank (filmed and posted on Youtube)
- Dinner at Sizzler (get your $8.99 Steak and "all you can eat" Shrimp on)
$1,000 (limited edition of 10)
- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- T-shirt
- Signed cymbal, drum head and drumsticks.
- Josh washes your car OR does your laundry....or you can wash his car.
- Have dinner with Josh aboard the "Queen Mary" in Long Beach, CA
- Get drunk and cut each other's hair in the parking lot of the Long Beach courthouse (filmed and posted on Youtube of course)
$2,500 (limited edition of 5)
- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- Get a private drum lesson with Josh or for all you non-drummers have him give you a back and foot massage (couples welcome)
- Pick any 1 member of the Vandals or DEVO (subject to availability) to accompany you and Josh to either the Hollywood Wax Museum or the lunch buffet at the "Spearmint Rhino"
- Signed DW snare drum.
- Take 3 items of your choice out of his closet (first come, first serve)
- Change diapers and make bottles with him for an afternoon (after hitting the strip club)
$5,000 (limited edition of 3)
- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- T-shirt
- Josh writes about a song about you and make available on iTunes.
- Co-direct a video with him for the song about you and throw it up on the Youtubes.
- Josh gives you and a friend a private tour of Disneyland
- Get drunk together. If you don't drink we can go to my Dad's place and hang out under the "Tuba tree"
- Stone from Pearl Jam will send you a letter telling you about his favorite song on "Since 1972"
$10,000 (limited edition of 1)
- Signed CD/ DVD and digital download
- T-shirt
- Signed DW snare drum from A Perfect Circle's 2003 tour.
- Josh gives you a private drum lesson OR his and hers foot/back massage (couples welcome, discreet parking)
- Twiggy from Manson's band and Josh take you and a guest to Roscoe's Chicken n' Waffle in Long Beach for dinner.
- Josh takes you and guest to "Club 33" (the super-duper exclusive and private restaurant at Disneyland located above the Pirates Of The Caribbean) and then hit a couple rides afterwards (preferably the Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion and The Tower Of Terror)
- At the end of the day at Disneyland drive away in Josh's Volvo station wagon. It's all yours....take it. Just drop him off on your way home though please.
$20,000 (limited edition of 1)
- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- T-shirt
- A signed drum from the 2008 Nine Inch Nails tour.
- Maynard James Keenan, Mark from Devo and Josh take you miniature golfing and then drop you off on the side of the freeway (all filmed and posted on Youtube)
- Josh gives you a tour of Long Beach. See his first apartment, the coffee shop on 2nd St where his buddy paid Dave Grohl $40 to rip up tile just weeks before joining "Nirvana." See the old Vandals rehearsal spot, the liquor store he got busted using a Fake I.D. at when he was 17 (it was Dave from the Vandals old ID). Go check out Snoop Dogg's high school. For an extra 50 bucks see where Tom and Adrian from No Doubt live. For another $25 he'll show ya where Eric from NOFX and Brooks from Bad Religion get their hair cut.
- Spend the night aboard the Queen Mary and take the "Ghosts And Legends" tour. (separate rooms...no spooning.)
- Josh writes 2 songs about you and it's made available on iTunes and appears on his next record (you can sing back up on em, clap, play the drums, triangle, whatever....)
- Drum lesson OR foot and back massage (once again...couples welcome and discreet parking available)
- Pick any 3 items out of Josh's closet.
$75,000 (limited edition of 1)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
- T-shirt
- Go on tour with Josh for a few days.
- Have Josh write, record and release a 5 song EP about you and your life story.
- Take home any of his drumsets (only one but you can choose which one.)
- Take shrooms and cruise Hollywood in Danny from TOOL's Lamborgini OR play quarters and then hop on the Ouija board for a while.
- Josh will join your band for a month...play shows, record, party with groupies, etc....
- If you don't have a band he'll be your personal assistant for a month (4 day work weeks, 10am to 4pm)
- Take a limo down to Tijuana and he'll show you how it's done (what that means exactly we can't legally get into here)
- If you don't live in Southern California (but are a US resident) he'll come to you and be your personal assistant/cabana boy for 2 weeks.
- Take a flying trapeze lesson with Josh and Robin from NIN, go back to Robin's place afterwards and his wife will make you raw lasagna.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Innovation Weekend
Fair Warning
I hear it's all new material from their upcoming album, currently in the recording stages. 
Thursday, February 26, 2009
derorriM
Non-reversing mirror
This mirror does not produce a "mirror" image, making it possible to read reflected text normally. Hicks used computer algorithms to generate the mirror's bizarre surface, which curves and bends in different directions. The curves direct rays from an object across the mirror's face before sending them back to the viewer, flipping the conventional mirror image. As well as neat tricks like this, Hicks' models make it possible to design mirrors that provide wide angled-views or eliminate distortion.Driver-side mirror
Hicks' take on the driver-side mirror provides much more information than the conventional kind. The new design provides a massive 45° field of view compared to typical driver-side mirrors, which provide drivers with only a 17° field of view. US regulations ban driver-side mirrors with a curved surface, but Hicks is hoping to sell his designs in markets such as Europe where they are permitted.Parabolic mirror
Any shiny convex surface, like a Christmas tree bauble, can reflect a wide panoramic image. But objects are distorted so that they change size as they move across the reflection, even if their distance from the reflecting surface is constant. This panoramic mirror reflects a full 360° along the horizon view without any distortion. As long as an object is at the same distance from the mirror, it appears the same size wherever it is reflected.Perspective rectifying mirror
This mirror reflects a wide-angled view without distortion - straight lines in the real world translate to straight lines on the convex surface. It was made for a stair-climbing robot at the University of Pennsylvania. A camera pointed at the mirror can see a very wide-angled view in which the stairs appear straight, making navigation easier.Infrared mirror
Mirrors may be used for reflecting any wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. This one reflects infrared light using a thin coating invisible to the eye. It is designed for an imaging system that takes wide-angle infrared images of humans, revealing heat loss and even body temperature at a distance.50 Awesome Names For Noir Dicks
Maxwell BumpShepard “Shep” Houndclaw
Eddie Sidearm
Dash Worley, “Privatest Eye”
Smoke McCloud
Johnny C. Lately
Crescenzo “Cup” Pucino
Morris Longfellow
Vaughn von Renssalaer
Rex Abernathy
Rip Turlington IV (NOTE: wears eye patch)
Barnaby Frisco
Roscoe Tenpin
Hector O’Bannon
Chet Studebaker
Oscar Sweetwater
Ephraim Flintlock
Freddie Fong, The Fortune Teller
Elvin Armstrong
Stanley Brubeck (NOTE: Sleeps with and physically abuses all female clientele)
Eddie Gumm
Arnold “Switchblade” Sanders
Tefilio “Tug” Toronado
Riff Hoback
Salvatore “Flatiron” Venuti (NOTE: Knows you’re queerin’ the details, Mister)
Harold Getz
Moe Byrd (“Sorry, honey. This Byrd don’t sing.”)
Bruno “Deep Sleep” Kowolski
Walter “The Walnut” Baines (NOTE: He’ll never crack)
Frank “20/20” Salvatoriello
Jack Dobbins (NOTE: This whole thing’s gettin’ too big for him. He’s just tryin’ to make a living here.)
Puck Darlington
“Pop” Morgan, Sr.
The Hutch Brothers
Cliff Kastle (NOTE: He’ll never let you in)
Thurgood Badd
Mance L. Dinwiddie (NOTE: Plays all the angles)
Bones Goodwin
Sal Mandrake
Butch Longacre
Elroy Hirsch (NOTE: May be actual NFL Hall of Famer)
Harvey Lee Robinson
Nick Barque
Hubbs Lanscott (NOTE: Has midget assistant named Mancha)
Horace Traffort
Grayson “The Shadow” Lawson
Bix Weedmann (”I swear to Christ, Vern. One more reefer crack and I slug him. I don’t give a tinker’s damn how many stripes he’s got on his sleeve.”)
Clarence “Roughhouse” Hopper
More Like "The Reward"!
This fine film was produced by that shadowy organization known as "The Mormons". And, as you can see from this clip, they really know how to write some soaring prose that captures the teenage male mind. On second thought, since Mormons have a history of treating women like nothing more than vessels for their anointed sperm, it's probably closer to the adult male Mormon mind. Let's let the back of the VHS box speak for itself:
They were popular. They were the football team. They decided to choose the ugliest girl in school and give her "The Award" You'll never guess what happens when you see "The Award".
Based on a real-life incident, that bears a strong message for youth about moral values, and about compassion for people who are different from themselves. A warm and moving human interest production. For homes, classrooms, libraries, firesides. Of interest to all faiths.
So, I'm guessing that these jocks spend the first hour of this movie pushing nerds around and calling girls ugly, and then spend the last half hour learning that it's the inner beauty that truly matters. And then, I'm also guessing that they get on their knees and pray to their alien Jesus to smote the crap out of all the nonbelievers...and then marry, like, 50 women.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Stupid-Dumb: Stupid Up The Dumb
When bad news becomes even worse, where can it go next? How about an abortion of a name for the “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark”
Really? Fucking really? "Turn Off The Dark"? What does that even mean? What emo teen won the contest to name this stupid thing? Will Spider-man be fighting an evil lightswitch? Or does it take place in a Hot Topic store? That's the nail in the coffin of any possible goodwill riding on the names of director Julie Taymor (The Lion King) and U2's Bono and The Edge, who provide the music and lyrics.
Producers hope they will have an amazing run beginning with previews on Jan. 16, 2010, and a Feb. 18, 2010, opening night. They won't. The $40 million effort - reportedly the most expensive Broadway production ever, will make its debut in the Hilton Theatre, the only venue big enough to allow the superhero room to spin his way around the sprawling skyscraper sets while duking it out with various bad guys. Yes, that's a huge toilet for this giant turd. According to a previous report, the show would have to run 8,000 years just to break even. I was going to do the math to verify that claim, but then I was like, “Nah”. But for an artist like Julie Taymor, clearly this isn’t about the money. It’s been truly a labor of love. The love of getting washed-up rockstars to write uninspired songs about a movie that came out 10 years ago.
Writing Wright, Talking Writing
Boldtype: You live in one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses; have you been a longtime fan of his work?T.C. Boyle: The house is sort of a lost house. It’s in all the books; it’s the first California house that he built, but it was run down and we’ve been restoring it for 16 years. All during that time, I was thinking that I should explore more about the architecture and learn more about him. And when I began to, I realized that he fits right in with [Alfred] Kinsey and [John Harvey] Kellogg, and other of the great egomaniacs of the 20th century, whom I’ve written about, and who have altered our history in much more subtle ways than, say, presidents.
BT: Are there any other “great egomaniacs” that you’d like to examine?
TCB: There’s always a danger in doing such a thing. There was another novel about Frank Lloyd Wright, which I haven’t read, because I don’t want to be in a position of comparing and contrasting. When I did the Kinsey book, unbeknownst to me, Bill Condon was also making his movie Kinsey. We became friends after we discovered each other, and we did a little talk at the Hammer Museum in LA, about two artists doing the same material. But still, if you’re doing someone like any of these figures, somebody else might be doing it too. Particularly Frank Lloyd Wright, because he is such a cult figure. I didn’t realize until I began to explore him that there are something like 1,000 books about him and his works that have been written already.
BT: Meryle Secrest talked about how Wright was at the mercy of his emotions, describing him as “barely a human being.” Did you find that that volatility came through in your secondhand perspectives?
TCB: One of the things that interested me here was: what is true, what is not, and how do we know? Any account of history, of course, is biased. There will be facts that are fudged, and so too the interpretation of the character of these people, which is why it seems ripe for a novelist, and why I chose the approach that I did. I’m not so interested in giving the full portrait of him in any biographical way as I am in wondering what his relationship is with his followers. This is why I was so obsessed with Kinsey and Kellogg before him. I’m very suspicious of authority figures, of icons, of worshipping other people. I’m an independent operator. I love Frank Lloyd Wright’s work, but that isn’t to say that I’m going to worship him blindly.
As far as his passions are concerned, some people have asked me if he was a womanizer. I don’t think so. As with any powerful, magnetic man, women were attracted to him. These women were each his equals, and in some respects his superiors — especially in terms of their taste and sophistication. Wright remained a farm boy from Wisconsin who had only had two semesters of college, despite his protestations to the contrary. It seems that he was sort of moving up the food chain with these women, going for women like Mamah [Cheney], who was college educated and very free-thinking, to Miriam [Noel], who was this sophisticate from Paris, and finally to Olgivanna [Milanoff], with her fetching accent and her youth.
BT: How did Wright’s relationship with his mother, Anna, affect his relationship with these other women?
TCB: He was a mama’s boy. His father left the family when Frank was 17, so he rejected him and his middle name “Lincoln,” instead adopting “Lloyd” from his mother’s side. His father had three other children when he married, and Anna was so fierce that she became like the wicked stepmother, making those children go live with other relatives. She was extremely protective of her one son. This makes for great fiction, because of the collision of Anna and Frank’s various mistresses.
I’m sort of like that myself. My father was much weaker and not as educated as my mother. She was very dominant, and although she never pushed me so much as Frank Lloyd Wright’s mother did, she encouraged me and told me I could do anything. I come from a working class family, and I’m the first ever to go to college, because my mother envisioned that. So I have some understanding of where he’s coming from.
BT: You’ve published almost as many short story collections as novels — do the two mediums balance and inform each other for you?
TCB: In my life, yes. I don’t know about others. Mostly, the writers that we know from the 20th century either specialize in one or the other, and are stronger in one or the other. I love both forms, and I see it in this way: everything that I do is simply a story; everything in the world that I see and want to know about, or want to interpret, is a story in some way. I always have an idea of how complex that story will be. I sit down in specific periods to write a novel or story. I alternate between a longer, historical novel, a book of stories, and a shorter novel. That keeps me interested. I’m equally committed to the story and the novel.
BT: What stories and writers did you enjoy while growing up?
TCB: A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, is one of my all-time favorites. It’s the one story that woke me up to what literature could be. I went to SUNY Potsdam to study music, but couldn’t hack that, so I became a History major, drifted into English, became a double major in History and English, and, finally, junior year, blundered into a creative-writing class. This is why I continue to teach, and why I love the idea of liberal arts. I wasn’t a very good student in high school or college; I barely got through. I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, didn’t attend the classes I was supposed to attend, and didn’t learn what I was supposed to learn.
I went from being a TV watcher in a working-class household to being an intellectual by surprise, because I was reading what was current then. That is what informed my taste, which is why, when I was at Iowa [Writer's Workshop], I got my PhD to learn about the literature of our language in England and in America. The other stuff that influenced me is what was happening then: Robert Coover, Günter Grass, Gabriel GarcÃa Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Angel Asturias, and all of the absurdist playwrights. What was current and happening just woke me up. I loved the wicked sensibility, the bleakness of some of the writing, and I loved the expansiveness where anything could be fiction. You don’t have to be constrained by autobiography or someone else’s expectations of what fiction is, or what you ought to do. There are no rules!
BT: What is it about being in the classroom as a teacher that continues to stimulate you?
TCB: It wakes me up. I had great mentors all along who acted as coaches. I love literature, I love what I’m doing, and I want to be that mentor for other people. I write books, but I’ve also been teaching since I was 21. It’s an integral part of my life. I haven’t had to teach for a long time now, but I always will, as long as I can do it. On the selfish level, it gets me out of the house one day a week. If I had to write seven days a week and never leave and never have interaction with other people who love literature and can discuss it on the deepest level, which is what happens in my classrooms, I would have gone mad years ago.
BT: Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer poses the question of whether creative writing can even be taught. Having founded the undergraduate program at USC, what is your response?
TCB: I think it can, but I think you must have a great talent and a great desire. Your teacher is sort of your coach, and can make suggestions, but those suggestions don’t have to be followed. You are the artist, and you are going to do whatever you’re going to do. It’s like a conservatory program: you know how to play your instrument at the highest level, and now you’re going to have time to play it and perfect it and see what happens. You have as role models and guides these writers whom you admire. Of course, it’s an art — some people have a talent and some don’t. We all did fingerpainting in kindergarten, but some went on to do a higher form. You can talk about techniques in class; I think it’s great to do interpretations of things and discuss them on that level, but there are no rules whatsoever.
You perfect your own technique in your own way. Maybe your violin teacher teaches you a better way to hold it or use your bow, but no one really can teach you that in creative writing. By the time you get there, that has become integral to who you are, because you’ve read a lot of literature, and it’s all been synthesized and it all comes out. Any given story you write, or anybody writes, can be discussed with somebody, but nothing matters except what you’re going to finally do. In a workshop, everybody will interpret the work and talk about it, but the only value for you is seeing how an engaged audience interprets what you’ve done. You can make adjustments on the basis of that, or you can not. That’s as far as it goes — it’s not going to teach you anything specifically; there is nothing specific to teach. You’re an artist, so you make your art, and you make your art because you studied other artists.
In This Post, We Help Get People Deported
...and if it works, Rybot will be hidden in a suitcase and going along.
Dear friends, family, co-workers, and business acquaintances:
It's that time again when I'm competing in an online contest for a job and need your support! All joking aside, I am currently competing for the Tourism Queensland "Best Job in the World" as Island Caretaker. The Island Caretaker gets to blog and produce video segments on his/her adventures living in the islands of the Great Barrier Reef! The position is for 6 months beginning July 1st, 2009.
Basically, as we speak, the lovely folks in Australia are sorting through over 20,000 videos to pick their top 50 candidates...the competition is HUGE!
So in the meantime, while they're deciding their top 50, I am asking for you to watch, comment, rate, share, post, repost, blog, embed, etc my video so it will rise to the top and significantly increase my chances of making it to the next round!!!
Voting will begin once the 50 have been chosen (which is in 7 days). From the top 50, the panel will pick 11 finalists - 10 based on qualifications, 1 based on having the most views (which they're calling the "wild card"). I feel that I have all the qualifications to be the Island Caretaker considering my background and work experience online!!! I've created a 3 step process for you to follow below...
HERE'S THE DEALIO! 3 Easy Steps ;)
1) WATCH the video on the contest website:http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/z7jD2C2aqc0 *very important you watch here first!
2) RATE the video on the contest website...then,
3) Click through to watch the video on YouTube (if you have a problem clicking through, here is the site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7jD2C2aqc0) watch, rate, and comment!
Now, if you really want to go the extra mile, you can forward this email out to your friends, family and ask them to do the same. Then, you can post the video, links to the video, embed the video on your Facebook, Myspace, blogs, Twitter accounts, etc. This is an amazing opportunity and I really do appreciate you taking the time to support my career!!! The more people who watch and participate, the better my chances are of having THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AGAIN, if I make the top 50, there will be more rating, commenting, and this time - VOTING. So, hopefully you'll be hearing from me again very soon with super good news! Please feel free to email me with any questions. Again, thank you for your time and consideration!
Lots of LOVE and with sincere GRATITUDE,
Leah D'Emilio
Host/Producer/Writer/Actor
http://twitter.com/leahdemilio
http://thedealiowithdemilio.blogspot.com/
Have Faith
Coming off some pulse heightening news, there's a sweet gem hidden in this press release:MIKE PATTON SCORES FIRST FEATURE FILM, CRANK 2: HIGH VOLTAGESeems the PR company feels scoring the latest Jason Statham sequel is bigger news than one of the most inventive bands of the 80's and 90's reuniting after 11 years. Now why won't you come to the states?
Mike Patton (Fantômas, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Peeping Tom and the forthcoming Mondo Cane amongst others) has just completed his first major motion film score for the film “Crank 2: High Voltage” (Apr. 17 release).
While Patton has often dabbled in film whether it was lending his voice to the creatures in “I Am Legend”, his score for the indie film noir short “A Perfect Place” or Fantômas’ film scoring interpretation via The Director’s Cut, this marks his first proper film score.
Created during the latter half of 2008, Patton holed up in a Los Angeles studio and eliminated all other projects during the recording, a point worth noting as he is well known for being one of modern music’s most prolific artists.
Patton has also provided vocals to several videogames including “Bionic Commando,” “Portal,” “Left 4 Dead,” and “The Darkness.” He also lent his voice to Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse (character name: Rikki Kix). Patton just wrapped up a trek across Australia with Fantômas as part of the Big Day Out festival. His upcoming schedule includes a performance with labelmates Zu (Mar. 19 @ Great American Music Hall in San Francisco), the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Apr. 17 with Rahzel (ex-Roots beatboxer) and the highly anticipated reunion tour with Faith No More in Europe this summer.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Partial Immortality
A superdrug that protects against all the most deadly types of flu has been developed by scientists. Could a cure for Paris Hilton's herpes be next?A single injection of the anti-viral medicine can fight off everything from a common winter virus to a life-threatening strain of bird flu, researchers say. The breakthrough brings closer the Holy Grail of influenza treatment - a oneshot vaccine for lifelong protection against every imaginable type of the virus. Researchers believe the new drug, which uses man-made antibodies, could be available in less than five years. A vaccine would follow soon afterwards.
Flu experts say it is only a matter of time before the world is struck by another pandemic like the one which killed millions in 1918. They are most concerned about the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu which has killed 200 people, mostly in Asia. If H5N1 mutates into a form that spreads easily from person to person, it could kill tens of thousands before being managed. The new drug has the potential to save many thousands of lives during a pandemic. Stockpiles could be used to keep influenza at bay during the four to six months it would take to develop a new vaccine.
Professor Peter Openshaw, an expert in respiratory disease at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, said the breakthrough could lead to vaccines within a few years. "I don't think it's realistic to imagine making this antibody as a treatment, but the fact that it is possible for antibodies to be so broad raises the possibility of vaccine that would work from one year to the next - as well against as-yet undiscovered types of flu. We could imagine a vaccine that works against all winter flu strains and also protects against unknown future pandemics. That would be a major breakthrough."
Antibodies work by seeking out proteins on the surface of a virus and attaching themselves to them. The virus is disabled and unable to invade the body's cells to make copies of itself. Most vaccines and antibodies target a part of a protein which mutates very easily - and changes from year to year. That is why new vaccines are needed each flu season. But the U.S. researchers targeted a different part, one that is identical across a huge range of flu viruses. In laboratory experiments, reported in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the antibodies disabled eight strains of virus, including H5N1 and the 1918 'Spanish Flu' strain.
Dr Wayne Marasco, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said, "At-risk individuals, such as medical personnel, exposed family members and co-workers and patients who cannot make antibodies because of medical conditions or age, could all benefit from this new therapy." Clinical trials on people are due within 18 months. If the antibodies are shown to be safe, they could available in five years.
To Protect And Serve High Voltage Shocks
According to the suit, the electrical bursts temporarily knocked the 90-pound boy unconscious during a confrontation at Creekside Middle School. The boy, who was 14 at the time, was taken to a local hospital before being released to his mother. The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, seeks damages for medical expenses, pain, suffering and mental anguish. The defendants are the Carmel Police Department, officer Matthew Kinkade and Carmel Clay Schools. Carmel Clay Superintendent Barbara Underwood declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit. Efforts to contact Kinkade and a spokesman for the Carmel Police Department were not successful Thursday.
According to the lawsuit, on March 11, the boy, who is not named in the complaint, was dropped off at Creekside by his mother, Dianne Bell, who called to tell school officials her son was going to be late. At the end of the day, the boy was told he was going to receive detention. At that point, the boy, who is described as having "affective disorder and has been diagnosed with autism, manic-depressive disorder and bipolar disorder," became "frustrated and began to act out." "During this outburst he is saying outrageous things," said the Bells' attorney, Ronald Frazier, noting that the boy threatened to call members of his gang to retaliate against the teachers. "They know there is no gang there," Frazier said. "They know he has no way of acting on what he is saying. They are taking these idle threats and calling police."
The Bells contend the school district failed to follow the guidelines they had set up to deal with the boy's outbursts -- techniques the family says would have given the boy a chance to cool off. "When a child like (the Bells' son) starts to have emotional problems, the (individual procedure) is supposed to be followed," Frazier said. "It has specific steps that are to be taken in order to keep the child from melting totally down." Instead, school officials dialed 911.
Officer Kinkade arrived, according to the complaint, and reacted to the boy's outbursts by grabbing him and forcing him to a bench in the school lobby. When the physical force failed to control the 5-foot boy, Kinkade drew his Taser and shocked the boy two times until he lost consciousness, according to the complaint. "Officer Kinkade used unreasonable and excessive force by failing to follow policies and procedures that were in place for dealing with autistic children," the suit alleges. Frazier contends in the suit that although school officials say they advised police about the boy's condition, the Police Department says that's not so.
The Police Department has an autism response team, but it was not dispatched. Kinkade is not a member of that team, according to the suit. "Autistic children have a great difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they don't understand social cues," Frazier said. "(The Bell child) gets confronted with violence, with Tasers, and he is flipping out because of his sensory overload." The suit contends Carmel police were "grossly negligent in the training of Matthew Kinkade," who joined the department in January 2006.
Noblesville Police Department Lt. Bruce Barnes, an instructor in the use of Tasers, said officers are trained to use the devices when lesser-force options are not available. "You can use the Taser anytime anybody is punching, kicking or threatening to punch or kick," Barnes said. "We can use it when we tell someone to do something, they refuse, lesser-force options are not available and they are a credible threat to you." Barnes declined to comment on whether the boy could have posed a credible threat to a police officer, saying he did not know the full circumstances of the incident.
Sheila Wolfe, director of the Indianapolis-based Autism Education and Training Center, said the reaction of school officials and the police officer agitated the boy. "You need to step away and leave them alone so that they can decompress," said Wolfe, who has an autistic son in middle school in Carmel Clay. "I have a hard time believing that a trained officer would Taser a child with a disability if they fully understood the situation they were walking into. "I know from experience that the people in Carmel (Clay schools) know better. As a school system, they have the expertise and they have the people available that know better. I'm surprised."
Monday, February 23, 2009
Dress Like A Whoremonger
“Two and a Half Assholes” star Charlie Sheen is launching a new line of retro/rockabilly/bowling shirts. Target demographic: aging white males with a taste for tasteless sluts and a Larry The Cable Guy comedy threshold. The New York Daily News adds: In a fitting twist, “cool, smooth, yet effortless” also describes Sheen’s methods for disposing of dead hookers’ bodies. What a pro! Where does he get all that lye? And I have to say I'm surprised that the words "Charlie Sheen" and "line" are in the same breath and don't refer to cocaine.Agoya shell buttons, retro patterns and contrasting color combos make up the look of the tees. Want one? It’ll set you back anywhere from $59 to $79. Sheen showed off his collection at the MAGIC trades how in Las Vegas Tuesday. “I love the look and feel of the DaVinci pieces,” he said in a statement. “The retro designs exude a sense of cool, smooth, yet effortless style.”
For Your Reconsideration
Biggest Real Life Drug Addict (Past Or Current) In A Major Motion PictureMickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Robert Downey Jr - Iron Man
Joaquin Phoenix - Everything He Has Ever Done
Sean Penn - Milk
Biggest Cinematic Headache For Asian Tourism Board
Tropic Thunder
Rambo
Gran Torino
Kung Fu Panda
Best Glamorization Of Public Suicide
The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke
Slumdog Millionaire - The Brother In The Bathtub
Best Beating The Bejesus Out Of An Indian Street Kid
Slumdog Millionaire
Harold And Kumar Go To Guantanamo
Best Freaky CGI Old Man Baby
Sarah Jessica Paker - Sex In The City
Benjamin Button - Benjamin Button
Best Full Frontal
Marissa Tomei - The Wrestler
Ann Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Synecdoche
Best Product Placement (By Volume)
Sex In The City - Diet Coke
Gran Torino - Pabst Blue Ribbon
Benjamin Button - Confederated Molasses Products Unlimited
Dark Knight - Este Lauder
Best Portrayal Of A Gay Man By A Straight Man
Emil Hirsch - Milk
Sean Penn - Milk
James Franco - Milk
Pierce Brosnan - Mama Mia
Best Portrayal Of A Straight Man By A Gay Man
Emil Hirsch - Speed Racer
Tom Cruise - Valkyrie
Robert Patinson - Twilight
Wall-E - Wall-E
Characters With Whom We Would Least Like To Be Trapped In A Steam Sauna
Philip Seymore Hoffman - Doubt
Nixon- Frost/Nixon
Harvey Milk - Milk
Old (young) Benjamin Button - Benjamin Button
Best Elephant-In-The-Room Racist Performance
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
The Game-Show Host Dude - Slumdog Millionaire
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Samuel L. Jackson - Lakeview Terrace
Biggest Assault On Our Childhood Memories
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Get Smart
The X-Files: I Want To Believe
Best Movie Highschoolers Could Not Find On A Map
In Bruges
Vicky Christina Bacrelona
Australia
Transsiberia
Best Prog-Rock-Band-Name-Sounding Movie Title
Twilight
Defiance
Changeling
JCVD
Best Grammatical Error In A Movie Title
How She Move
Step Up 2 The Streets
The Wackness
What Happens In Vegas
Friday, February 20, 2009
Viva Las Weekend
We're cutting out early and off to Las Vegas!Seems the perfect way to celebrate a year's worth of shenanigans with Scarlett, who would have been happy to go there for no reason at all. I can not say I love the desert city of decadence, but that won't stop me from having a blast. And when I hit the big payday, I'll take you all out for dinner. In my private jet.
Eating Shit, A Photospective
You're dead inside if you see this and don't think it's funny. It totally is. And that gal is so oddly short, it seems she should have had better balance, seeing as she was already so close to the ground.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Back And Forth
A palindrome is a word or a phrase which is the same when read from the start or the end, for example the word wow or racecar. Or how about the phrase "A Toyota’s a Toyota". You would imagine a palindrome is pretty hard to think up - maybe the odd word could be easy enough, and with a bit of effort a phrase. But how about a 224 word poem? Here’s "Dammit I’m Mad" by Demetri MartinDammit I’m mad.
Evil is a deed as I live.
God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
In my halo of a mired rum tin.
I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
Be still if I fill its ebb.
Ew, a spider… eh?
We sleep. Oh no!
Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
Both, one… my names are in it.
Murder? I’m a fool.
A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
A Goddam level I lived at.
On mail let it in. I’m it.
Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
Evil is a deed as I live.
Dammit I’m mad.
Tourgasm
Originally posted on NIN.com:
2.16.09: A note from Trent and a wave goodbye
Towards the beginning of my career in Nine Inch Nails, our biggest break came in the form of an invitation to perform a series of shows with Jane's Addiction. These performances essentially created and defined the term "alternative" rock in the US, created an ongoing festival franchise that is still thriving (Lollapalooza), set the stage for Nirvana to shift popular taste a few months later, and were really fucking FUN to play and attend - truly the best times I've had. The shows were epic. So epic, they propelled NIN to the "next level" (whatever that means), but caused Jane's to implode. The band broke up at the end of that tour.Fast forward to the present. Corporate rock STILL sucks. A friend tells me they saw the original Jane's lineup play a tiny show in LA that was unbelievable. I break out my Jane's records and am amazed by how vital they sound. These guys were the real deal and in this current climate mostly dominated by poseurs and pussies it was refreshing to hear something that sounded dangerous, volatile, beautiful and SINCERE. Emails were sent, phone calls were made, dinner was arranged, ideas were discussed and the next thing I know we're in the studio experimenting. We laugh, we get to know each other, we cry, we yell, we almost quit, we record LOTS of guitar solos, we discuss, we actually begin to all communicate, we yell some more, we become FRIENDS, we laugh again and we do some great things. I get to see first hand why they broke up all those years ago but I also get the chance to see four distinct personalities that become an INCREDIBLE band when they're in the same room.
In NIN world, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our first releases. I've been thinking for some time now it's time to make NIN disappear for a while. Last year's "Lights in the Sky" tour was something I'm quite proud of and seems like the culmination of what I could pull off in terms of an elaborate production. It was also quite difficult to pull off technically and physically night after night and left us all a bit dazed. After some thought, we decided to book a last run of shows across the globe this year. The approach to these shows is quite different from last year - much more raw, spontaneous and less scripted. Fun for us and a different way for you to see us and wave goodbye. I reached out to Jane's to see if they'd want to join us across the US and we all felt it could be a great thing. Will it work? Will it resonate in the marketplace? Who knows. Are there big record label marketing dollars to convince you to attend? Nope.Does it feel right to us and does it seem like it will be fun for us and you? Yes it does.Look for tour dates soon and I hope to see you out there.
Trent
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Environy
Environmental protection of Sydney's beaches and harbor has created a cleaner marine environment, but is attracting sharks closer to shore chasing fish, say marine experts...after two shark attacks in two days!Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise, but marine scientists say while there have been more sightings it is unclear whether there are more sharks off Sydney.
A shark almost severed a surfer's arm in an attack just before dark at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach. It was the first attack at Bondi since 1929. The previous day, a navy diver was attacked in Sydney Harbor near the Opera House, losing his hand and possibly his leg.
Government officials said they would order a survey of shark numbers off Sydney, after the attacks and as a result of more sightings. "I think you'll find that the protective measures that have been put in place by governments in recent years have halted the decline of many species of sharks. Coupled with some improved environment conditions, plus a reduction in fishing efforts in parts of the state, would mean shark numbers could enhance." Which means that cleaner water and enviro-animal protective regulations are likely making conditions better for sharks...and less so for people. "The reports we are getting from people spotting sharks, there seems to be a build up in sharks in the estuaries, as well as along the ocean shore." Many shark species, including the Great White, are protected in Australian waters. There are 30 sharks, including the Great White, on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's threatened species list.
Beach rescue helicopter patrols were increased along Sydney's beaches Friday and Bondi Beach was closed for the morning, but some surfers still ventured out into the waves. "Shark sightings have increased, particularly in the past five to six years," said Harry Mitchell who conducts aerial shark patrols over Sydney's beaches. Mitchell said cleaner ocean waters had made it easier to spot sharks from the aerial patrol. "Shark sightings do not necessarily mean shark numbers have increased," he said. Bondi Beach lifeguard Bruce Hopkins said sharks regularly swam into Bondi, despite shark nets aimed at protecting swimmers. "We usually get all types of sharks come through Bondi. We get hammerheads and the grey nurse ... with the occasional tiger or bull shark. It's nothing out of the ordinary," he said.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said sharks were increasingly common in Sydney Harbor, particularly in February and March as they chase seasonal fish into the harbor. "I guess it's the downside of the environmental controls ... 20 or 30 years ago the harbor was a very difficult place to be for a fish, these days it's actually quite beautiful," said the service's John Dengate. In the past 10 years Sydney Harbor has become a much clearer marine environment due to a reduction in commercial shipping, less foreshore marine industry, a ban on waste discharge and boat paint containing lead, and better stormwater control measures. Sydney's beaches have also become cleaner due to the installation of offshore sewage treatment plants and better stormwater controls. While large stretches of Sydney's coastline are now protected marine sanctuaries to encourage marine life.
Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA), whose volunteers patrol beaches, called for calm. "It is important to recognize that there is always some inherent risk when using an environment inhabited by sharks," said Barry Bruce, a scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization and SLSA shark advisor. "The risk of shark-related incidents varies according to the time of day, time of year, the geographic location and species of shark in the area," said Bruce. The SLSA advises people not to swim at dawn and dusk, when sharks usually feed, or in known shark feeding areas, such as estuaries or harbors. The last fatal attack occurred in December 2008, when a Great White attacked a 51-year-old man while he was snorkeling off a beach south of Perth in Western Australia. There have only been a total of 56 fatal shark attacks in Australia in the past 50 years, or an average of about 1 a year.
Rybirth
Just you wait until we celebrate at dinner and you'll be flippin' that the other way. Happy Bot'day!The Frosting
Bellson died of complications of Parkinson's disease following a broken hip in November. His career spanned more than six decades, performing on more than 200 albums with jazz greats including Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. It was through Ellington that he met Bailey, the great singer and Broadway performer. She and Bellson married in 1952, and when she died in 1990 at age 72, he told the Philadelphia Daily News that "I just lost my best friend."
He was designated as a "master of jazz" in 1994 by the National Endowment for the Arts, which said he "ranks among the foremost big-band drummers of the swing and post-swing eras and is best known for his precise technique and the invention of two pedal-operated bass drums." Bellson wrote more than 1,000 compositions and arrangements in several genres, including jazz, swing, orchestral suites, symphonic works and ballets. As an author, he published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion.
Bellson was born in 1924 in Rock Falls, Ill., son of Italian immigrants whose family name was originally Balassoni. He told Jazz Connection, an Internet magazine, that he was entranced by the sound of drums when his father took him to a parade when he was 3. His father, who eventually opened a music store, taught his son to play drums and other instruments. Bellson was still in his teens when he pioneered the double bass drum set-up, and two years later he went on to win the Slingerland National Gene Krupa drumming contest.
"I've been of the opinion that all a drummer really needs is one bass drum, a snare drum, some tom-toms, a ride cymbal, a crash cymbal, sticks and brushes," Bellson told Jazz Connection. "If you can't do it with that, you better go back to the drawing board. The extra bass drum is frosting on the cake. It doesn't mean that every drummer needs to play two bass drums. For me, it works."
I saw Louie Bellson over 20 years ago at Remo Drum Day, and even then, he was tearing shit up along side the younger players.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Frozen Kinetics
Karmic Elevator
Muzak Holdings LLC, the maker of elevator music, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Apparently, the price of suck has gone up past what they could afford.The company had heavy debt load, and it filed to try to refinance some of its debt. Its total debt is between $100 million and $500 million and it has assets of less than $50,000, Muzak said in a court filing. The company expects to continue to operate as is. A statement said it has "sufficient means" to support itself through a bankruptcy reorganization.
The company got an extension last month on $105 million in debt, it said in a statement. The extension ran out Tuesday. Among its biggest unsecured creditors is U.S. Bank NA, which is owed $371 million according to a court filing. Bank lenders typically are classified as secured lenders. Secured lenders are paid before unsecured lenders.
Other top unsecured creditors include vendors such as Universal Music Enterprises, owed $349,321; EMI Capital Records, $320,323; AT&T, $257,384; and Dish Network, $251,276. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is owed $213,020, the filing said. Sony Music, BMG Film & Television Music, United Parcel Service and Virgin Records were also listed among the unsecured creditors. A list of secured creditors should be filed later.
Working The Speedbag
Sarah Blewden, a 25-year-old hair salon manager and aspiring boxer from England, has been barred from competitive bouts by the Amateur Boxing Association of England because she has breast implants.“International rules forbid anyone with breast implants continuing to box because of risk of damage to the breast tissue,” said Tony Attwood, chairman of the ABAE…
[Blewden] said that the decision was “ridiculous” and said she would be happy to pay for corrective surgery to repair any damage to her 32C breasts.
“My surgeon said they make me no more vulnerable than any other woman. They are not enormous ones - they are in proportion. They are gel implants and not liquid so they won’t burst.”
Monday, February 16, 2009
Etiquette On Target
Drill Sergeant Joe B. Frick's RULES FOR A GUNFIGHT:1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap - life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap - funerals are expensive
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell "Fire!" Why "Fire"? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will.... and who is going to summon help if you yell "Intruder," "Glock" or "Winchester?"
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Stretch the rules. Always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work. "No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy."
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don't drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That's how you live if hit in your "good" side.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don't (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)
19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.
22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.
23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than "4".
25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket." At a practice session, throw you gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.
26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.
27. Regardless of whether justified of not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.
28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, "He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm very upset now. I can't say anything more. Please speak with my attorney."
And finally, Sergeant Frick's RULES FOR UNARMED COMBAT:
1. Never be unarmed.
Court Ahoy!
The much-anticipated criminal trial of The Pirate Bay's operators begins in a Stockholm criminal court today. The men behind of the notorious BitTorrent tracking service known for pointing the way to pirated software, games, music and movies are accused of contributory copyright infringement and face up to two years in prison each, in addition to fines as high as $180,000. The defendants are Hans Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström. Prosecutor Hakan Roswall has summarized the charges as "promoting other people's infringements of copyright laws."
The trial is expected to be closely followed by law enforcement agencies, internet surfers, Hollywood and others. Among other things, it represents the first prosecution of its kind in Sweden, a country once thought of as a bastion of the liberal laws that gave rise to The Pirate Bay five years ago.
"The operators of The Pirate Bay have exploited the creative efforts of others for years by enabling the illegal distribution of audio-visual and other creative works on a vast scale while making a profit for themselves," the Motion Picture Association said in a statement. The association, the international counterpart to the Motion Picture Association of America, added: "It is important that the people responsible for operating The Pirate Bay are dealt with by the appropriate law enforcement authorities in Sweden."
In the United States, eight torrent-tracker administrators and content pirates have pleaded guilty to or have been convicted in an investigation that began in 2005 dubbed Operation D-Elite. But such prosecutions are rare, and usually focus on defendants who specialize in pre-released material. The majority of copyright enforcement in the United States is handled in civil lawsuits brought by copyright owners, including the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America.
Rick Falkvinge, the leader of the anti-copyright Pirate Party, told The Local, an English-language Swedish news site, that The Pirate Bay "scares" the establishment. "They are fighting tooth-and-nail to bring back the good old days, where there was a hard division into approved senders and passive consumer receivers, where the approved senders would compete for the wallet of the consumers. Essentially, they are trying to turn the internet into a cable TV network," he said.
The Pirate Bay does not directly host copyrighted content. Instead, like other trackers, it hosts torrent files that point to where chunks of the music, movies or software lives on uploaders' computers. The torrent files, in essence, act as a locator allowing The Pirate Bay's more than 22 million users to find the content they're after. "That means no copyrighted and or illegal materials are stored by us," The Pirate Bay administrators have argued on their website. "It is therefore not possible to hold the people behind The Pirate Bay responsible for the material that is being spread using the tracker."
Ira Rothken, the California lawyer who is appealing an $111 million civil judgment a U.S. judge levied last year on U.S.-based tracker TorrentSpy, agreed, and said individuals who are supplying the unauthorized content, not the admins of The Pirate Bay, are the ones the authorities should be going after. "The Pirate Bay is not a pirate site. No copyrighted works are touching it in any way," he said. "Ultimately, if you want to look to getting any kind of pragmatic remedy, they would need to go after those who the copyright holder believes is actually hosting the infringing content or who is the source of the infringing content." He suggested Google is more liable for infringement than The Pirate Bay. That search engine provides millions of direct links to unauthorized copyrighted works, he said. "If you're going to indict a torrent search engine, in essence, what you are doing is indicting Google. And everybody agrees with the social utility of Google," he said.
All the while, the public's thirst for pirated material is unquenchable. Movie studios, record labels and software and videogame makers claim they lose billions each year to piracy. A year ago, The Pirate Bay had eight million users. Now it claims more than 22 million. Worldwide, there's countless numbers of tracking services similar to The Pirate Bay. The sites can make money by selling advertising. The Pirate Bay operators say their servers are located outside of Sweden and are therefore out of the government's reach. They maintain that, whatever the outcome of the trial, The Pirate Bay will continue online.
True or not, it likely doesn't matter. "During Prohibition, you could bust people for running a still, but you were not going to take the alcohol away from the people," said Fred von Lohmann, an Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney who specializes in copyright law. "If Pirate Bay goes down, it will be replaced in popularity tomorrow by somebody else."
