So I get an invitation from my buddy Chris Z. to link to him on LinkedIn, a business-based social networking site. Okay. But then I took a good look at the invitation link, and couldn't stop laughing.
Got this in an email from my college friend Emily. Check it out (seems legit):
Autism Speaks created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, "World", which features images of autistic children and their families.
It is a truly moving video and was the work of Bill Shea.
The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed - the funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.
The Glenlivet Society will donate money to charity if you display the tartan and show your knees on Wear a Kilt To Work Day, April 5th. Men only, I'm afraid.
Ever since I phased out my career as a Broadway
arranger and
conductor, I've tried to keep my toe in the showbiz
world in
my own peculiar way: I write new, tech-industry lyrics
to old
melodies.
Here's my very latest. It's a special tribute to the
R.I.A.A., the Recording Industry Association of
America - the
organization of the record companies who've decided to
fight
music piracy by filing lawsuits. It goes to the tune
of the
Village People song "Y.M.C.A." Ready? Cue the disco
drums!
"R.I.A.A."
Young man,
You were surfing along,
And then, young man,
You downloaded a song,
And then, dumb man,
Copied it to your 'Pod,
Then a phone call came to tell you:
You've just been sued by the R.I.A.A.!
You've just been sued by the R.I.A.A.!
Their attorneys say, you committed a crime,
And there'd better not be a next time!
They've lost their minds at the R.I.A.A.!
Justice is blind at the R.I.A.A....
"You're depriving the bands! You are learning to
steal,
You can't do whatever you feel!"
Thanks to the suggestion of the talented Jeph Jacques over at Questionable Content, I gave last year for the first time to an imaginative new charity called Child's Play which encourages gamers of all stripes to donate toys, games and books and cash to children's hospitals around the world "to help make life a little brighter for a sick child".
As someone who spent more time in hospital's as a child than she would have liked, I have found this a worthy charity. And easy! Each hospital has created a wish list at Amazon.com, so it's just a matter of ordering through them. The hospital acknowledges your gift. You can also donate cash via PayPal. Easy!
This documentary sounded interesting - I just read about it in my Bustline newsletter from Bust Magazine. Have you discovered Bust yet? No? Well go out and buy one! It's a hip women's magazine. I feel hipper just reading it...
September 1: "This Film Is Not Yet Rated"
This investigation into the Motion Picture Association of America's secretive movie-rating system got standing ovations at Sundance. The film highlights the disparities in the board's rulings on Hollywood and independent films regarding gay and straight sexual situations, and violence and nudity: the latter in each pair more likely to garner a film the NC-17 rating that spells commercial suicide. It's revealed that raters receive no training, are deliberately chosen without expertise in media literacy or child development, and are most often either movie theater management or studio bigwigs. The film itself is currently undergoing appeal for its own NC-17 rating. See the movie, sign its online petition, and stand up for the art-house!
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, AUGUST 17: Airports across the country, already reeling from the liquids ban of just a few weeks ago, were again thrown into chaos today, as local agents of the FBI claim they have uncovered evidence of a widespread terrorist plot to plant thousands of venomous snakes on commercial airliners all over the country. According to Jim Jameson, FBI Agent, "this plot is really widespread, and very far along. When we cross-checked the first solid rumor we got against our newest terror-detection tool, the Government Operated Online Global Link Extractor .com, it instantly returned well over 17,300,000 hits."
