My First Night in LA Hear Me Roar!
It’s my first solo night in Los Angeles and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. You see my VP of Operations, Dave O’Hanlon, who accompanied me on my cross-country voyage caught a terrible cold on our way West, so he rightfully chose to stay in bed. I, however, decided to forage slightly north up Lincoln Boulevard toward Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade for a quick look at the new Apple Store and a glimmer of hope for a movie at 5 o’clock.
I hate crowds so I chose “Michael Clayton.” This was my thinking: It’s a movie that has been out for more than a bit – and disappointed at the Academy Awards. Good sign, I thought. I was encouraged even more when the pony-tailed blond with creamy sky-blue-eye-shadow working the ticket counter told me with a smile: “Honey, the theater’s empty.”
Whatever.
I bought a ticket and hunkered down with my Sugar-Free Red Bull.
“Michael Clayton,” the movie, I loved it. The theater was horrible … freezing; I felt like I was trapped in the factory warehouse in “Rocky.” And the plot? The stratagem was maudlin and dull. I had seen it umpteen times before.
But Ahh!
The performances! The performances! Clooney, Pollack, Wilkinson and Swinton. Suddenly, I realized how much this film benefited from its serendipitous casting. Switch out those four muses, and the energy and tension might have just evaporated. But it didn’t – not for me.
Tilda Swinton, whom I had not seen before was as cold and clinical as the picture needed her to be. In one pivotal scene, Swinton can be seen rehearsing the lies she will give in an interview to which Sidney Pollack needs her “step-up.” First-time director Tony Gilroy helps blur the line between fiction and fact by interspersing her practiced speech with the actual media cross-examination. It's one of those crisp interactions Gilroy uses throughout the film to wring deeper meaning out of what could have been a simple scene. Swinton won the 2008 “Best Supporting Actress” Academy Award for her performance. No surprise, there.
The plot itself centers around Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson,) a treasured friend of Clayton’s, a bipolar victim who has stopped taking his pills and now glows with reckless zeal and conviction. Edens is by far the most brilliant lawyer in the firm; he is the lead attorney in the $3 billion class-action suit filed against U/North -- the company that is being sued by salt-of-the-earth farmers because of a germ killer U/North used despite knowing it was hazardous to people's health. The issue … or “challenge” as Clayton espouses, is that the brilliant Edens simply cannot stay on his meds. If it were only that simple.
Let’s just say the story is about the lawsuit without really being about the lawsuit, if that makes sense. The picture, after all, isn't titled U/North, correct?
The bottom line is that the real tension in the film comes from Clayton’s zeal to go toe to toe with U/North's steely in-house chief counsel (Swinton) and his race against the clock to pull together the unraveling threads of a massive conglomerate's tapestry of lies.
"Clayton" is a resonant throwback with deep roots in the political thrillers of the 1970s: slick, smart and saturated in dramatic paranoia. A brainy pastiche of set-ups, pay-offs, company malfeasance and revenge in absorbing shades of grey.
Finally a film that doesn’t just make you think; it makes you feel.
Kate in LA: A New Adventure Begins
I've got some big news. I'M MOVING! After launching my first show "Kate's take" just fourteen months ago up at the beach on Hillsboro Mile and yes after sweating bullets shooting outside in the soggy stifling Florida summer I decided last Fall to move the show inside to bring you the more sophisticated "WatercoolerDiaries". Well, after reporting umpteen health reports, boxing in the ring, fishing, cooking, skydiving and swimming with the dolphins, I decided to make my move. Yes I'm off to find my dreams on the West Coast – Los Angeles! Santa Monica to be exact. The new show? It's to be titled ... "KateInLA!" We plan to launch sometime this Spring. Please stay tuned for regular blog updates!
Gas-pumping Robot
Some of you may remember the good old days when there were still full-service gas stations, where a neatly dressed, smiling attendant would pump your gas for you with a smile. There are still a few places where this is still the case, like if you stop in a remote section of New Jersey, but for the most part self-service gas stations are the norm. Well, if you’re taking a trip to the Netherlands any time soon and stop to fill up your tank, you may encounter quite a different type of person filling up your tank – one made of metal with computer chips and lots of wires…yes, a robot.
A group of Dutch inventors recently unveiled a $111,100 car-fuelling robot. They claim it’s the first of its kind.
This high tech robot works by registering the car as it pulls up to the pump and matching it to a database of fuel cap designs and fuel types. A robotic arm fitted with multiple sensors then extends from a regular gas pump. It carefully opens the car’s flap, unscrews the fuel cap, grabs the fuel nozzle and sticks it inside the tank. It basically works much like a human arm would, and the inventors claim, it’s just as efficient.
The robot’s developer and owner of the gas station putting it to work, Nico van Staveren, says the got the idea for this invention when he was on a farm and saw a robotic arm milking a cow. He thought, “If a robot can do that then why can’t it fill a car tank.” He figured that drivers, and gas pumping attendants, shouldn’t have to get their hands dirty or smell the gas on their bodies.
Staveren hopes to introduce his robot, called the “Tankpitstop” to several Dutch stations by the end of the year.
The only limitation is that the robot can’t fill the tank of a car whose contours and dimensions aren’t recorded in its database. It if tries, it could scratch the car. The robot also doesn’t work on tanks that have locks on them.
Okay, so say these Dutch stations install this gas-pumping robot. Will anyone actually want to use it? One Dutchman filling his black Alfa Romeo near Staveren’s station said, “Why not? I guess I could keep my hands free and clean, but I’d hope they have good insurance.” He makes a good point!
The Beatles in Space!
This week NASA sent a transmission of The Beatles 1968 song "Across the Universe" shooting into space towards residents of the Polaris star system. But those residents – if there are any – won't be getting the message for 431 years. So why'd they do it? To commemorate the 40 anniversary of the song's recording and NASA's 50th birthday.
NASA, with help from friends at Spain's space agency, beamed an MP3 of the four-minute song from a giant space antenna near Madrid where it began its long road to Polaris – also known as the North Star – which is about 2.5 quadrillion miles away. But before NASA could send The Beatles’ song into space they had to get permission.
Martin Lewis, a Low Angeles-based Beatles Historian, got the OK from former Beatle Paul McCartney, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the two companies that own the rights to The Beatles' music. According to an Associate Press report, one of the companies, Apple Records, said that it was happy to approve the song for this transmission because it is "always looking for new markets."
The date of the “Beatles in space launch” had a few more significant dates attached to it. It also marked the 50th anniversary of Explorer 1, the first US satellite and the founding 45 years ago of the Deep Space Network, a system of antennas across the globe that transmits and receives signals from distant stars.
The event may, however, turn out to be simply an exercise in posterity, since there is a good chance The Beatles' music will never reach alien ears – assuming they even have any!
To pick up the signal NASA sent the citizens of Polaris would have to have an antenna and receiver. These alien listeners would also need the technology to decrypt the mp3 format. And all this, of course, hinges on there actually being anyone on Polaris.
Despite the obstacles, those involved are optimistic. The diligent Beatles' historian Mr. Lewis told The Guardian "We don't know if there's life out there, but I'd like to think the US government wouldn't be spending taxpayers' money of this if there was no hope.
Even if all those things I mentioned before do work out and there actually are extra terrestrial beings listening, we can’t expect a reply for a long, long, long time. Well exactly when you ask. In the words of NASA scientists.. not for a "long, long, long” time.
Polaris, aka the North Star, is situated at the end of the handle of the little dipper. As I said before about 2.5 quadrillion miles away. Traveling at light speed, the signal will take 431 years to reach the star and at least that long for a response to get back to us. So we're looking at about 862 years!!!
So what does former Beatle Paul McCartney, the last living member of the band, think about this whole project. He dashed off a short, handwritten letter to NASA before the launch saying: "Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."
Physicians for Peace
People always ask me, how do you get your story ideas? I realize I cover a wide range of topics so it’s an appropriate question. The short answer is I am endlessly curious and I try to engage in life as much as I can. I’ll give you an example, an old friend of mine, a hugely talented entrepreneur named Court Coursey, invited me up to a dinner party in Palm Beach. Before dinner, a group of us walked down the street to a cocktail party where I had no idea what to expect. Low and behold a man stands up and begins to make a presentation. His name is Ron Sconyers and he’s the Chief Executive Officer of an organization called Physicians for Peace. I perched on the side of a chair in the living room and listened intently while various members of Physicians for Peace delivered short presentations. I thought what a terrific organization! And so here I am.
Physicians for Peace bills itself as an international humanitarian non-profit medical education organization.
So … what does that mean? When the CEO stood up he provided a parable "if you give a man a fish you can feed him for a day. If you teach a man how to fish? You can feed him for a lifetime." Basically they’re not just coming in and helping people. They are teaching them how to help themselves. This idea is what separates them from other similar non-profits like Doctors Without Boarders.
The MISSION STATEMENT at Physicians for Peace is to further the cause of world peace and international goodwill by providing quality medical education and care to those in need. To date, they’ve completed programs in 50 different countries. How it works is they’ll send in a team of medical volunteers who specialize in the areas of care the country needs most. These teams will stay from one to six weeks.
During that time they train local medical professionals and begin all sorts of medical programs, which the host countries sustain and replicate. They also, however, offer their expertise by treating the people, reshaping eye sockets, correcting urinary and genital defects, fitting prosthetic limbs, repairing burn scars and clef palates. They’ve even done open-heart surgery and performed a range of cancer therapies.
Physicians for Peace was legally founded in 1989 by internationally recognized humanitarian Dr. Charles E. Horton, Sr., on the principle that those who desire to heal owe allegiance to no one country, ethnicity or creed. And that’s where the “peace” mentioned in their name fits into the equation.
They have medical volunteers from diverse cultures and opposing sides of ethnic and international conflicts working side by side, fostering this idea of a community that transcends race or culture. A few examples: Physicians for Peace have united teams of doctors from Iran and Iraq, Turkey and Greece, the Philippines and Japan…and, yes, even Palestine and Israel.
What’s got these volunteers from places facing bitter divides and even violence working so well together? A dyer need. The developing world carries 90 percent of the global disease burden yet has only 10 percent of the medical resources, this according to the United Nations Foundation. And most of these diseases are curable…we’ve had the treatment since the 1950s.
I was hit by the reality of this need that night in Palm Beach when a doctor whose specialty is OBGYN. She stood up and told us that 1 in every 12 women die in child birth in Liberia. About 1 in every 6,000 women dies in childbirth here in the US. WOW, I thought. She went on to share her story of traveling to Liberia and teaching everything from midwifery to actual birthing procedures. But what struck me was the ending line of her presentation: “If you heal someone, you help one person. If you teach someone to heal, you help many." It was incredibly moving.
To learn more about Physicians for Peace check out their web site….www.physiciansforpeace.org/
Born Rich Baby!
This is a bit of a segue, but today I wanted to talk about a website titled BornRich.org. I stumbled upon BornRich.org while perusing PC Magazine’s Top 100 Websites. They bill themselves as “BornRich is an Instablogs Network site. Its sole aim is to help you spend all your hard-earned money on the snootiest thingmagig around. Our people are working around the clock to find ways to empty your wallet and make you bankrupt.”
With the subprime fiasco? We need more forces to make people bankrupt? Well we’re not just talking about people, apparently we’re talking about BORNRICH … people
Here are some of the highlights that I found!
My favorite? The Sigzilla telephoto zoom lens, it’s one sexy beast! This uber-telescope/huge telephoto zoom lens, which involves a necessary Li-ion battery to provide power for focusing and zooming, is a MUST HAVE! Price tag? 25 grand!
NEXT UP!
The Indoor Shooting system … let’s you get trigger happy at home!
To make all your unfulfilled gun-wielding fantasies come true, check out the N Range Indoor Shooting System. Stick a picture of your boss/wife/mother-in-law’s head over the aim, and you’re good to go! The Standard version retails for $1,300 and the Executive version goes for $3,500. Makes a better mental health investment than a nosey shrink – any day!
Perhaps you don’t want to shoot your boss? The alternative to NOT going to jail, the Gorgeous Walk-In Humidor for true cigar connoisseurs.
Developed by the legendary Swiss humidor maestros Michel Perrenoud, S.A., the home humidor is perfect for a living room or smoking cellar installation. Though primarily conceptualized for hotels and cigar bars which feature separate smoking rooms, the home humidor gives you and your family the peace and quiet their separate lifestyles require. Needless to say you? You’ll have to dish out precisely $82,383 plus installation and international shipping. Cigar Rehab anyone?
Perhaps you’re interested in something more soothing and serene? The Silverfish Aquarium might just be the final frontier for watching your fish swim about… and the warmth and comfort that implicitly provides!
Have you given up on filling what your shrink calls the “hole in your soul” … well perhaps the $94,000 diamond-studded cell phone courtesy of Softbank and Tiffany is the answer to your loneliness and fear!
Following what THEY call contemporary trends, the Softbank Mobile, Japan, has announced a diamond-studded phone, finished jointly with renowned American jeweler Tiffany. The sparkling handset is jeweled with more than 400 diamonds totaling over 20 carats, which will be based on third-generation (3G) model and up for grabs for around $94,000. The hot luxury phone is a part of 15 new handsets lineup that will hit the market from February onwards. Oooohhh! Just in time for Valentine’s Day!
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Next up … is your laptop … just not BLING enough? Check out the … Zeus enclose PCs in platinum, gold, diamond cases
Zeus Computers, Tokyo is out there with a line of luxury PCs enclosed in ornamented cases encrusted with precious metals and diamonds. It is not just an asset for celebs and well-off people, the hot luxury line of computers, including $760,000 pure platinum ‘Jupiter’ model and $570,000 solid gold ‘Mars’ model
I will close with a most outlandish choice … and I include it for a man who is near and dear to my heart! I present a giant triceratops skeleton … which will be auctioned off at Christie’s in Paris this spring.
It’s a giant triceratops skeleton and it is expected to sell for $736,000. This dinosaur has been immortalized in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. A giant shark teeth and a sabre-toothed tiger skull will be also up for auction. The auction is scheduled for April 14. It’s the very first time in Christie’s history that such a dinosaur specimen goes up for public sale since a T-Rex called ‘Sue’ was sold in New York in October 1997.
The four-legged triceratops dates back between 65 and 67 million years, measures 7.5 meters (nearly 25-foot-long) in length and has a large bony frill and three horns. There are 150 items in total up for bids, including fossils, skeletons and minerals. A sabre-toothed tiger cranium is anticipated to fetch 45,000 Euros while a fossilized giant shark teeth from 23 to 5.3 million years ago is valued at 4,000 Euros. Other than that, a tyrannosaurus egg is expected to sell for between 20,000 and 25,000 Euros while an apatosaurus dinosaur tibia from the Jurassic Period has been valued at 30,000 Euros. What are you going to buy to impress your guests?
Go to www.bornrich.org to check it all out!
