- And you thought the lines were long when the iPhone was released last year. Those lines were nothing compared to the ones formed by Cuban citizens after they were offered the chance to spend on average half of their annual salary on cell phone service for the first time. After new Presidente/dictator Raul Castro made the token concession of allowing ordinary Cubans to sign up for cell service, the response to his offer was overwhelming and more than a little disturbing. With one basic rate plan available for $120 a year, lines stretched for blocks outside of phone stores. Amazingly, those lines full of people waiting for fork over what are for them massive sums of money are also full of people who are just buying a phone plan. That’s right, no phone is included in the deal nor do they have credits to make or receive calls. They’re paying half of their annual salary just for the right to purchase a service plan. Heck, that makes the outrageously high price of the iPhone seem almost tame by comparison…almost, but not quite.
- Even when they’re not doing anything dangerous or gang-related, rappers can't seem to get away from shootings and death. At a party this past week in Tukwila, Wash. for the writers of a biography about rapper and producer Dr. Dre, a shooting occurred outside the restaurant where the party took place and resulted in the death of one man and the wounding of another. Police have determined that there is no direct link between either Dre and the two authors and the shooting, but still, you have to be amazed at how often death and violence continue to be around rap music. The party was held in honor of Dre’s friend Bruce Williams and Donnell Alexander, who joined forces to pen Rollin’ With Dre: The Unauthorized Account. Police also claim that there is no history of violence at this particular establishment, yet it pops up on the night a book about legendary rapper is being celebrated. Just to be safe, I’m staying as far away as possible from any and everything related or linked to a rapper of even the most minimal notoriety from here on out.
- The most erratic season of Smallville to date resumed last night. By erratic, I don’t mean the show itself; this season has been consistently great. No, I mean the schedule for new episodes has been more erratic than a drunken bathroom-floor rant by David Hasselhoff. New episodes have come one or two at a time, often following breaks of varying, inconsistent lengths. But enough about that, on to the episode itself. For once, a teaser actually turned out to be true. As tvguide.com has been hinting at and previews for this week’s episode indicated, Lionel Luthor met his untimely death in the first two minutes of the episode when his own son Lex threw him out the window of his top-floor office at LuthorCorp. Lionel crashed onto the pavement below, creating a spectacle all of downtown Metropolis came out to see. Lex did it to get his hands on Lionel’s key to the safety deposit box in Zurich containing the secrets about the identity of the Traveler (a.k.a. Clark Kent). Unfortunately for Lex, Lionel didn’t have the key on him and so killing his father turned out to not only be a tragically bad decision, it didn’t even net Lex what he was after. For that, he went on a rampage of his own, retracing Lionel’s steps before his death with the help of Lex’s assistant/lackey Gina. With her help, Lex found his way to the basement of the Daily Planet to question Chloe, who Lionel visited just before his death. Chloe, in one of the best examples of bad timing you can imagine, found the key Lionel had left in her desk, hidden in an envelope marked with a Kryptonian symbol, right as Lex showed up. He quickly found the key in her desk, accused her of hiding it and fired her on the spot. The bad timing continued for Chloe, who was escorted from the room right before her cell phone rang with a text message from Jimmy Olson, alerting her to the fact that a photo he had taken in Lex’s office as he and Lois searched for clues linking Lex to Patricia Swann’s murder showed Lionel Luthor being pushed out his office window by a mystery man. After forwarding the picture to the Isis Foundation server so it could be digitally enhanced using Lana’s vast computer resources, Jimmy and Lois were waiting for Chloe to go to the foundation’s office with them to work on the pic. Unfortunately, Gina got the text instead and took Jimmy and Lois prisoner in the freezer in the DP basement, but not before shooting Lois in the shoulder. She then headed to Isis to delete the last copy of the picture linking Lex to his father’s death. Unfortunately for her, Chloe and Clark beat her there. Clark came in a hurry after sneaking into Lionel’s office and finding a hidden message Lionel left for him in the event of his death. The message, in some sort of Kryptonian gadget/projector, was displayed on the wall once Clark lined up all of the symbols on the outside of the metallic cylinder. Lionel’s voice also spoke the message, telling Clark about the two keys and the vault in Zurich that would give whoever accessed the safety deposit box the ability to control the Man of Steel. When Clark arrived at Isis, Chloe filled him in on the details of Lionel’s visit and they both agreed that Lex had murdered him. They had already visited the crime scene outside of LuthorCorp and when Clark tried to confront Lex there, Lex wanted no part of him. This time, Clark visited the Luthor Mansion and x-rayed every inch of the building for the key that Lex took from Chloe. He didn’t find it but did find a bitter argument with Lex, who suggested that Clark’s own father Jonathan died because of the strain Clark put on him and also mused about why Lionel developed such a strong bond with a simple farm boy. In turn, Clark fingered Lex for Lionel’s murder and said he had proof before storming out. However, that proof went poof when Gina ambushed Chloe at the Isis offices, knocked her out from behind and destroyed the picture just as Chloe clarified it enough to ID Lex in it. Clark returned to the office and found Chloe unconscious, but Gina was still around, hiding in a closet. She overheard Clark and Chloe talking about the key and about its danger to Clark if Lex used it to find out the truth. When Gina called Lex to tell him she knew who the Traveler was, any true Smallville fan knew she would be dead by episode’s end, and so she was. A mystery man jumped her in a dark alley outside the Isis offices, hit her with a neurotoxin sprayed from an inhaler and placed her inside her car to die. Also during the episode, Lex continued to be plagued by Alexander, the version of him as a young boy that lingers in his self-conscious, encouraging him to find the good in himself and do the right thing. At episode’s end, just as he readies his jet for the flight to Zurich following Lionel’s funeral, Alexander makes on last plea for Lex to do the right thing. This time, Lex seizes the boy, drags him to the fireplace and holds him there. It turns out to be some sort of epiphany, a catharsis that frees Lex from the troublesome “good angel” on his shoulder. As for the fate of Jimmy and Lois, after Clark and Chloe realize what happened to them, Clark rescues them from the freezer and zips off before they know he was there. At the end of the show, Clark ignored Lex’s decision to close Lionel’s funeral to everyone but Lex, showing up at the graveside as Lex stood by himself, alone in his thoughts. Without a word, Lex walked off, brushing right past Clark. Clark sprinkled a handful of dirt on Lionel’s gravesite, then mouthed a few final words. Heavy on Clark’s mind were thoughts that LL became the third man that considered him a son (first, Jor-El on Krypton, then Jonathan Kent, now Lionel Luthor) who died protecting his secret. So all in all, a dark episode, not much humor and also not a single screen appearance for Lana, who remained in a coma at the mental hospital. Also no signs of BRAINIAC and Kara, who disappeared in the previous episode for a mystery project. Thankfully, we’ll actually have back-to-back weeks with a new epsidoe, so more answers forthcoming next week, including Lex’s discovery of the Fortress of Solitude. So until then…..
- As a lover and supporter of riots, protests and demonstrations of all shapes and sizes, I couldn’t be happier about recent concessions made by police in the state of New York. As part of their effort to settle lawsuits brought by anti-war protestors (the best people in America), police there have agreed to put a tighter leash on mounted patrols and also adopt other policies designed to reduce the chance for violent conflicts with people who are simply trying to exercise their right to free speech and make their voice heard about the biggest debacle of a war in U.S. history. The New York Civil Liberties Union, fighting on behalf of the wronged protestors, announced the measures this week as lawsuits from anti-war demonstrators dragged on. Amazing concept, isn’t it? Police allegedly adopting rules and policies designed to protect the rights of people with dissenting views instead of engaging those people in conflict and looking for a reason to get physical with them. Maybe next cops can adopt polices to stop degrading practices like hassling motorists in nice car simply because they happen to be black and in the wrong part of town….doubtful though.
- I’m torn on a new bill that the lower house of the French Parliament adopted this week. The point of the bill is purportedly to crack down on those who support extreme thinness, especially anorexia. That much I agree with, especially given that the focus of the legislation is websites that advise individuals on how to starve themselves in order to be über-thin. The goal is admirable, but I also agree with its critics, who say that the bill is too vague in its scope, isn’t clear about who it targets and doesn’t define what “extreme thinness” is. That would probably be because it’s a subjective term, one that everyone has their own definition of. Now if you want to say you’re going after people who advocate anorexia and/or bulimia, I’m with you. But by attaching the term “extreme thinness” to the bill, you’ve muddied the waters and I really can’t get behind it. Worse still is talk that the same lawmakers who pushed this bill could be looking to target the fashion industry, where models are often pushed toward eating disorders to achieve the desired look for the fashion world. That’s just going too far, because unless someone is openly advocating eating disorders and diseases like anorexia, then something like the three-year prison sentence this bill provides for is just wrong. Personally, I advocate people being thin too, so do that make me a criminal? I may not condone eating disorders or other unhealthy practices to become thin, but I would still encourage everyone I know to be thin instead of being obese, rotund, chubby, cherubic, fat or whatever you want to call it. Too many people are portly and unsightly, many of them to a disturbing extent. So lay off, Frenchies, maybe focus a little more on how not to surrender any time a hostile nation or enemy approaches your borders with anything more powerful than a squirt gun.
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