about THUR MAY 6 - Found Magazine's DAVEY ROTHBART - $5 - 8:00 - Black Cat

my boy Luke from my graphic deisng class at corcoran.. has this awesome collection of found type stuff.. including this note.

ther is a show at the black cat.. from found magazine.. a bunch of shit just like this.. including a womans list of goals: "1.Go to church. find god.. 2. Party a lot. Meet new people. Start drinking once a week..."






"FOUND Magazine’s
Slapdance Across America tour "2004!"
we’re loading up the van with finds and coming to visit you -- this year, FOUND parties in all 50 states! what happens at a FOUND party?? FOUND madness!! davy shares our favorite finds of all-time and gets rowdy and rambunctious and just generally acts a fool, peter bangs out new tunes based on FOUND notes, and we ask you to share your own finds!

so you want a FOUND party in your town? we’re planning FOUND bashes at bars, bookstores, cafes, art spaces, colleges, prisons, army bases, and an old abandoned train-car. if you’re interested in helping us set up a party in your area, please get in touch! email us at info@foundmagazine.com.

the dates below are pretty much in stone, but start-times and dates could shift around a little, so it’s a good idea to check back here once in a while. and keep checking this events page -- we’ll be updating the tour schedule and adding new events often. see you on the road! "


http://www.foundmagazine.com/events.html

"Thumbing through the pages of Found, the new book compiled by Found magazine's Davy Rothbart (not pictured), I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. The same twisted impulse that draws me to the couch on a beautiful Saturday to watch a Real World marathon caused me to devour the entire volume in one sitting. In addition to providing the freak show of human emotion I so crave, this book allowed me to be a double voyeur: A collection of (yep) found letters, drawings, lists, and other random notations, Found is a portal into not just the sad and sick hearts of our anonymous countrymen, but also those of the finders themselves. The stories behind the discoveries range from hilarious to heartbreaking (one couple mailed some worthless but cherished trinkets back to an elderly woman who occupied a rental car before them), and many who sent their finds to Rothbart provided titles that are as funny as the scraps themselves (an e-mail beginning "Jenn, How are you doing? How was your weekend? And how is Victoria Secrets doing? This is my favorite store" is called simply "Love, Dad"). You'll come for the unbridled hostility (left on a car windshield: "Thanks to you my handicapped wife could not get into our house. I hope you die on the way back to Michigan—Red Wings suck—Fuck you!!"), but you'll stay for the deepest thoughts of people who, themselves, seem a little lost (a woman's list of goals: "1. Go to church. Find God...2. Party a lot. Meet new people. Start drinking once a week..."). Rothbart speaks at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 6, on the Black Cat's Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $5. (202) 667-7960. (Anne Marson)"

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html


THUR MAY 6- Found Magazine's DAVEY ROTHBART & guests $5 backstage 8:00

http://www.blackcatdc.com/schedule.html

about jesse withdraws.

about New Service Offers College Downloaders A Student Discount

One music company is cutting college students some slack by cutting the cost of downloading music.

Ctrax, a joint venture of online music service provider MusicNet and digital video services company Cflix, is similar to services like Napster, Rhapsody and iTunes but is exclusively for college students. Songs downloaded from Ctrax will cost less than the industry standard 99 cents per track, according to a Ctrax spokesperson.

A test version of the service launched Tuesday (April 27) at Yale University, and by the fall semester Ctrax expects to have as many as 20 U.S. colleges and universities onboard. Although a future pricing policy has not been set, for a $2 monthly subscription fee, Yale students can purchase packages of 10 downloads for $8 or 20 downloads for $15.

Ctrax users have access to the 700,000 songs in the MusicNet library, and because the files will be stored on the schools' own networks, it promises faster and more reliable delivery than conventional services.

MusicNet launched in 1999 and is owned by RealNetworks and the parent companies of major-label conglomerates BMG, EMI, Sony and Time Warner. Cflix was founded a year earlier as a portal for college students to access movies, television programs and sports.

Napster 2.0 was the first digital download service to specifically target college students when it struck a deal with Penn State University in November to offer its service to students living on campus at no extra cost (see "Penn State Students To Get Free Napster Next Semester"). A deal with the University of Rochester was struck in February.

A company spokesperson said so far the feedback has been favorable and the company hopes to work with more schools in the future.

about Myrtle.

http://jess3.com/myrtl/





sunsettin at broadway on the beach



D.O.G. and me, this is the cutest/coolest/chillest dogs ever. !



darts with tommy boy



marisa



chillin



the goof troop
marisa, me, sokia, tom, camron



grillin fresh south cackalackiy skrimP!

side note. i asked the guy i bought them from to devein them for me. this mofo said no it takes too long. wtf. sokia to the rescue.. hehe



posin on the pier



bbq sandwich at Mr.Pitt in central myrtle.. very good que



Que goes with a mustard based sauce in NC.. that shit is garbage.. stay away !



the fish at bradway where jumping out of the water for food. it was nutz



what you talkin bout willis'



- BENSON -

dave chapelle at the dc improv was the chronic.

about Myrtle Beach

water taxi




skrimp !




we ate soo much bbq this weekend, ridiQuelis




notice : my arm tan..



i am in myrtle beach. and will get back monday. hopefuly more tanned.

US Marines sleep at a base in Fallujah.

http://www.okflavor.com

about Sokia Mojito

Sokia Mojito (FYI mojito is not her last name ;)

Cpl. Will McDermott from Phoenix, Az., provides security as Marines from the 1st Battalion 5th Marines break down a door while searching buildings for weapons in Fallujah, Iraq

http://mopedarmy.com/

got this in nyc this weekend. its made of nuts and bolts and whatnot.. very cool, very cheap

about flip flop flyin

http://www.flipflopflyin.com

about i am seeing dave chapelle perform this thursday . at the dc improv.

Money Talks in 'Chappelle's Show' Universe
By Andrew Wallenstein (Hollywood Reporter) - Sitting in Comedy Central headquarters for a recent meeting, Dave Chappelle was not happy.

"I ain't makin' no money!" the star complained of the network's sketch-comedy series "Chappelle's Show." "Mr. Hankey makes more than me," he said, alluding to an animated character on the network's "South Park."


The network's response? They replaced the edgy comedian with wholesome talk show host Wayne Brady (news) -- a cruel irony given a past episode in which a cast member sniped, "White people like Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X."


OK, that nightmare scenario didn't actually happen; it's a skit from a recent episode of "Chappelle." But that raucous brand of racially charged humor has made "Chappelle" the highest-rated original series on basic cable in recent weeks, even topping "South Park," Comedy Central's highest-rated program for the past eight seasons.


But a scene much like this -- sans Brady -- might soon be playing out in real life as Chappelle's representatives begin preliminary talks with the network to bring him back for a third season. With his hit status cemented, Chappelle will have considerable negotiating leverage. Sources say he is fielding movie offers and inquiries from rival networks, who are wondering whether Comedy will be able to afford to lavish him with the kind of contract that kept the likes of Jon Stewart (news) and "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker in the fold.


Bill Hilary, executive vp and general manager of Comedy, acknowledged that re-signing Chappelle is "a very high priority. There's got to be a negotiation," he said. "Is it going to be a tough one? Yes. But I think Comedy Central is the place for Chappelle."


"Chappelle's Show" is a streetwise social satire populated by outrageous recurring characters played by Chappelle, including the bewildered crack addict Tyrone Biggums, who was last seen munching on diced pig bladder in a sendup of "Fear Factor." Like "South Park," it is quite risque, with particular emphasis on marijuana and the epithet "bitch." Guest stars have included Carson Daly, Jamie Foxx (news) and Brady, who recently satirized his squeaky-clean image in a skit in which he takes Chappelle on a drive-by shooting spree.


By any measure, "Chappelle" is having an impressive year. As its second season winds down, the series is the highest-rated program in its Wednesday 10:30 p.m. slot on any network among men 18-34 -- the most elusive demographic for any network to reach. Averaging 3.1 million total viewers this season, "Chappelle" has sidestepped the ratings plateau that has cooled off such other hit cable series as FX's "The Shield" and MTV's "The Osbournes" by growing its audience 55% in its sophomore year.


Having "South Park" as a lead-in has helped, but "Chappelle" is hardly riding its coattails. "Chappelle" has posted stronger 18-49 ratings than "South Park" in 11 of the past 13 weeks. Network research indicates there is little duplication of viewers between the two shows and that "Chappelle" brings in new urban viewers while still retaining Comedy's core audience. Even "Daily Show" is getting a lift from "Chappelle," reaching record ratings in recent weeks.


But while Chappelle can be heard exulting "I'm rich, bitch!" at the close of every episode's end credits, the truth is more complicated. Sources familiar with Chappelle's second-season deal at Comedy believe he earns about $90,000 per episode. It's a healthy sum by basic-cable standards, but Chappelle isn't just the star; he also writes and executive produces the series along with longtime partner Neal Brennan.


Chappelle will be seeking a steep pay increase for a third season, which probably wouldn't begin production until next year. But negotiations aren't expected to involve a simple salary bump; Chappelle is looking to become a more equal partner with Comedy on several other fronts.


The comedian, according to sources, is said to be displeased with his cut of DVD sales for the first-season package of "Chappelle's Show." Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, the "Chappelle" DVD has been a big hit in the burgeoning TV-to-DVD category, with 800,000 units sold to date since its Feb. 24 release.


Another source of concern for Chappelle: a pilot he is executive producing for Comedy featuring Paul Mooney, a veteran comedian and "Chappelle" performer who made the infamous crack about Brady. Chappelle will be looking for a series commitment for the project, said to be a sendup of daytime courtroom series like "Judge Judy."


To keep Chappelle, Comedy will likely have to offer the kind of megadeal that has kept Stone and Parker at the network since 1997. The duo recently signed a two-year renewal that will keep them there through 2005, and "Daily Show's" Stewart recently extended his contract through 2008.


"In cable, they're not going to pay you outrageous money" at first, said James Dixon, manager of Stewart, among others. "But in success, they will try to compete as best as they can. I think Comedy Central is generally aggressive about that."


Chappelle has a reputation for taking his time with decisions; he took nearly two years to commit to doing the series with Comedy and agreed to a second season at the last minute.

http://www.computerlove.net/

$9

HFStival featuring
The Cure • The Offspring • Papa Roach • O.A.R. • P.O.D. • Lostprophets • Yeah Yeah Yeahs • motherfuckin Jay-Z • Yellowcard • Modest Mouse • The Living End • Taking Back Sunday • Jah Works • Jimmie's Chicken Shack

@ RFK Stadium • Washington, DC

TIckets on sale Saturday, April 17 @ Noon through Ticketmaster. 202-432-SEAT • www.ticketmaster.com
SAT. MAY. 22
$40.00

last night was fuckin tight. jake and soja played a acoustic set at rockbotom.. it was madd intimate . big up to pat, bob, jake and the soldiers for always showing jess3 so much love.

Yeardley Smith, is currently starring in 'More,'' an autobiographical one-woman show now running at off-Broadway's Union Square Theatre. She is sitting next to a cutout of Liza Simpson, a character who she provides the voice for, in 'The Simpsons

HOMEPAGE
SEARCH RESULTS
BOOK DETAIL


go to universityswap.com to see the functioning version


ajBerni: very nice and clean. well done!

about Teo Design

fuckin nice site..




http://www.teodesign.com

about super mario bros sprite sheet

http://www.smbhq.com

about Winston Smith.

http://www.winstonsmithstore.bigstep.com - hot prints from Winston Smith

about iPod Used In Domestic Homicide

A Memphis woman was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after she bludgeoned her boyfriend to death with an iPod.

Arleen Mathers, 23, was arrested Thursday morning after she called Memphis Police and said she had killed her boyfriend, according to a Sheriff?s Department report.

When deputies arrived at Mathers? apartment at 528 Poplar Avenue, Mathers led them to the body of her boyfriend, Brad Pulaski, 27.

Brad Pulaski had died of blunt trauma to the head after being repeatedly bludgeoned with an iPod, a popular MP3 player produced by Apple.

Police said no motive has been confirmed, although evidence suggested the murder was the result of a domestic dispute after Pulaski erased the contents of Mathers? iPod.

According to law officers, Mathers was hysterical when police arrived and told them that she killed her boyfriend only after he accused her of illegally downloading music and erased about 2,000 of her MP3s. Mathers complained that it took 3 months to build her music collection.

An autopsy performed Friday afternoon at Methodist Hospital showed that Brad Pulaski had been beat multiple times in the face and chest by a blunt metal object, and died of internal bleeding, said Dr. Felix Klamut, deputy coroner.

According to Apple?s website, the iPod is partially made of a hard metal plate that?s been praised for it?s resistance to regular wear and tear, like drops and coffee spills.

?It took him a while to die,? Dr. Klamut said. ?She must have stabbed him 40 to 80 times with that iPod. His death was not instantaneous, that?s for sure?

Arleen Mathers was arraigned Friday night by a video hookup from the county jail. Municipal Court Judge Simon Lambert set her bond at $600,000 and scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 9.

powerpoint design can be very profitable...

about Comments

did you notice that i added comments on every entry ?
this is the beggining of a new era of JESS3.com

about ventilate.ca's Hillman Curtis Interview

1. Can you tell us a little about the design team behind Hillmancurtis.com?

It really varies project to project. I have a very small core team. It starts with me, then it grows depending on the job. I have people I trust with 3D, ActionScript, CSS, html, Design and FCP editing.


2. HillmanCurtis.com has made a dramatic change from a Flash intensive site to one more streamlined and accessible by older technologies. How difficult was it to make this transition?

It?s not hard...the same things that are important to me in motion design remain important in static design... restraint and a focus on the message. I was fortunate in that some big clients trusted me to design entire site systems at a time when I was regarded as mainly a Flash designer.



3. You cite Dziga Vertov's famous notion of "making the invisible visible" in your new book MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer. How much influence has Soviet film theory had on your work?

well...I was a film major back in school so I think film in general has always been an influence. Honestly, I wasn?t aware that Vertov used m.t.i.v. Until recently, but I think the fact that he employed the rapid pairing of disparate images to create a narrative entirely its own isn?t that different from what a lot of Flashers are doing...or new media designers in general. He also was well aware that a large percentage of his audience was illiterate...which is interesting in that for our audience (new media designers - online) text doesn?t have a lot of importance...at least it shouldn?t, simply because we?re communicating globally to many different cultures/languages. I?m a huge fan of motion graphics and I love text...but my challenge is to get the meaning across without text...because who knows who?ll be viewing your work and whether they read English or not.



4. There have been many parallels between the birth of the internet and the advent of film. Both were liberated by experimentation and self-expression. However much of film today falls into a restrictive Hollywood form. Would you say that commercialism may similarly suppress diversity in web design?

Not anytime soon...the beauty of the web is it?s freedom. You don?t really need those archaic infrastructures ? film studios, music industry, MTV ? to express yourselves, or to have your work viewed by a potentially large audience. So long as that freedom lasts there will always be an incredible amount of innovation. We?re extremely fortunate to have such a medium.



5. What kind of political or ideological power do you feel the internet has in today's society?

It?s huge. There seems to be some cynicism surrounding any type of political protest that resembles the protests of the 60?s...with the exception of the WTO protests. But I think the web allows for a different and almost more subversive type of political protest; from info-sites, to email campaigns. I?m not saying that it?s better than taking to the streets, just that it?s an equally, if not more, effective way to spread a message in our times.



6. As you mention in MTIV, you have discovered that technological limitations can be liberating as they force designers to strip away all but the essential elements of a design and focus on the core message involved. Would you say the same of limitations imposed by a brand? How do you approach creative space as a commercial artist?

I think of an ad as a big bucket... A certain percent of that ad should be concerned with the marketing speak..the other is for the invisible. Every product or brand has a theme and these products and brands exist because of their ability to tap into recognizable themes...and make people feel something. So I focus on the theme...on telling a story. If you look at that title ?Commercial Artist? and deconstruct it, you can look at it this way; you have a responsibility to your client and their brand...which is the ?commercial? part of the title...but you also have a responsibility as an artist...and artists have always responded, reflected upon, and hopefully influenced the world.



7. I believe that you are an enthusiastic DVD collector? When DVDs first entered the market, certain directors, including Stephen Spielberg, refused to allow their movies to be produced in the new DVD format because the deleted scenes and alternative endings allowed audiences to view films in a manner unintended by the director, which they claimed breached upon the director's artistic control and therefore damaged the movie's artistic value. What are your thoughts on these special features? Do they deteriorate the artistic value of a movie?s final cut?

Some directors just refuse to have out takes or even a menu. David Lynch?s Mulholland Drive has nothing but the movie...you can?t skip ahead...you have to watch the film as it was released. That?s cool...but I also love to watch scenes over and over...looking at the lighting, the edits and the performances. I hate alt-endings and deleted scenes...with the exception of the deleted scenes from ?This Is Spinal Tap?.



8. Your career has been quite a journey, beginning in the world of Rock and Roll and finding its way into the world of interface design. I am sure there have been many ups and downs. Does any particular moment stand out in your mind as being your greatest achievement?

The Adobe site was great while it lasted...they?ve changed it quite a bit recently and that hurts...but at the time the design reflected everything I believed in design-wise. I?m also very happy with the way MTIV turned out...



9. How was the BD4D London event last October?

Unbelievable. It stands as one of the two or three best talks I have ever given...not from a stand point of my performance, but from the stand point of the energy of the gathering. It was a beautiful space that looked over the river, but the star of the gathering was the gathering itself. I loved it.




10. And of course, what was the last great movie you have seen and what was the last great book you have read?

Adaptation. I wasn?t as crazy about Being John Malcovich as everyone else was...but Adaptation was great. The last great book would have to be ?A Movable Feast?...which is actually a collection of short stories by Hemmingway all about Paris in the 20?s and about his discovery of his craft.



Thank-you Hillman, your work has made many people want to try harder!

about 'World’s Best Flash Designer' to lecture at CCBC ! CANCELLED !

CCBC’s School of Applied and Information Technology (SAIT) hosts Hillman Curtis, one of the world’s leading new media designers, 1-3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24 at the CCBC Catonsville Fine and Performing Arts Center Theatre (Q building).

Curtis is the principal and chief creative officer of hillmancurtis.com, inc., a design studio in New York City. His expert and innovative design solutions have garnered him and his company many national awards such as the Communications Arts Award of Excellence. The Internet Professional Publishers Association named Curtis one of the top 10 designers. IDN magazine included his company in the “10 most wanted” and Create Online named Curtis one of the “World’s Best Flash Designers.” Design conferences worldwide have featured him as a keynote speaker and a variety of major design publications have featured his work.

Hillman’s first book, Flash Web Design (New Riders, USA) has sold more than 100,000 copies and has been translated into 14 languages. His latest book, MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer, was released in June 2002 and is currently in its second printing.

CCBC’s new School of Applied and Information Technology specializes in computer graphics and visual communication, information security, computer science, programming and software development, internet and multimedia, wireless, networking and e-Business. The School also focuses on areas in applied technology such as automotive and construction technology and computer-aided design.

For more information about the lecture, call Erik Miller, coordinator of Computer Graphics and Visual Communications, at 410-455-4324 or e-mail him at emiller@ccbcmd.edu. For more information about SAIT call 410-455-5100.

http://www.livephish.com/

Phish Announce Launch of LivePhish Radio

Phish has announced some upgrades to their music distributing site, LivePhish.com. In addition to some cosmetic upgrades and changes, fans can now stream a mix of Phish songs featured in the Live Phish catelog.

As well, as a song is playing, fans can click on an "info" tab to display information about the show the current song is from, including song debuts, fan reviews and purchase information.

"WHAT IS LIVEPHISH?
Live Phish Downloads offers high quality, unedited soundboard recordings of select shows in standard MP3 and CD-quality FLAC files via a state-of-the-art delivery system. All download files are compatible with Windows, Mac and Unix, allowing for maximum flexibility and ease of use. Once downloaded, shows can be burned to disc, transferred to portable players, or played through your computer. Each show also comes with printable booklets, tray inlays, and labels if you elect to burn your files to CD. "

http://www.ryankerrigan.com

central park !




lombardis. piza is the best in nyc


NYC !
my parents have the digi.. so these are camera phone pics

soja were so good on friday night at whitlows!!

President Bush scratches his head as he speaks at South Arkansas Community College Tuesday, April 6, 2004 in El Dorado, Ark. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

a jesse thomas / nick oneil collabo

http://www.jess3.com/universityswap/index2.htm - the homepage is far from done..

http://www.jess3.com/universityswap/results.htm

http://www.jess3.com/universityswap/results2.htm

http://www.universityswap.com - check out how it works



Biznickman: wow!!! that looks really god
Biznickman: good
Biznickman: great job
Biznickman: we'll be bling blingin on Bentleys with Dubs
Biznickman: you the man

GPdiddy81: damn, its looks pretty cool....and useful...
GPdiddy81: alright cool...i'll get back to ya later though...but "university swap" looks hot man....let me know when its done

WhiteSugarVT: that's hot

MITTY326: did you do that? this is very nice

Eyewake: niceeeee
Eyewake: ;-)
Eyewake: looks good

JaNnAh0042: it looks great so far

Lnm927: i've seen websites with this idea before
Lnm927: and this is much better looking than them
Lnm927: no design problems
Lnm927: just wondering about publicity how would people find out about your site to use it
makaveliblaze: awww, thank you so much
makaveliblaze: nick
makaveliblaze: Biznickman: We'll advertise in school papers and on campuses and shit, tell her that you'll be walking around in a costume looking like a book :-)
Lnm927: hahha
Lnm927: i'd like to see it

http://www.jahworks.com











tonight matt and I meet up with marc and his peeps at neddevines in herndon to see jahworks.. they are sooo fuckin good. !... they are like soldiers of jah army.. i had such a good time. !!!! we were chillin with the band.. it was good times..

Team USA 1 performs in the short program competition at the World Synchronized Skating Championships, in Zagreb, April 2, 2004.

T'wolves Fan Storms Court for Szczerbiak

MINNEAPOLIS - The Timberwolves' otherwise uneventful 91-73 win over the Washington Wizards (news) on Friday night was livened up in the final minute, when a young woman emerged from the corner of the court, tried to block Gary Trent's shot, ran around for a little bit and then raced toward the heart-throb Wally Szczerbiak.
The star-struck fan lunged at him, and Szczerbiak avoided contact and scurried away before security guards finally nabbed the intruder.


"I wasn't taking a charge on that play," Szczerbiak said, smiling rather sheepishly.


Szczerbiak scored 20 points in the win.


Sam Cassell, who had 13 points and seven assists, got a huge kick out of it — scampering over to Szczerbiak and planting a mock hug on his grinning teammate as the crowd chanted "Wally! Wally!"


"World should've given her a hug," Cassell joked. "Lady got arrested for nothing."


Yes, the Timberwolves (53-24) had plenty to smile about after winning for the seventh time in nine games. Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, Szczerbiak led Minnesota's bench to a season-high 50, and Minnesota stayed right behind Sacramento (52-23) and the Los Angeles Lakers (53-23) in the race for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference.

my day

http://www.thinkmule.com/

http://www.thedrama.org/

Beauty a 20-week-old pig flies through the air during a rehearsal for the flying pig show at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, Thursday, April 1, 2004. Beauty leaps off a specially designed dive tower and into a swimming pool - three meters below and is one of the star attractions at the annual agriculture exhibition which helps inspire greater interest and understanding of the rural sector. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Dave Chappelle
at the DCimprov
April 22



i got tickets !~ BLING

Hillman Curtis Coming to Speak at CCBC...

New media designer and author Hillman Curtis will present, "Don't Die on the Subway: Putting Your Heart into Your Design" at CCBC's Catonsville campus on Saturday, April 24, 2004 from 1:30-3:00PM in the Q Building theatre. Follow this campus map. The lecture is free and open to the public, and no tickets are necessary. In the meantime, visit hillmancurtis.com to view some of Hillman's work.

this is my day. today

http://www.eternalsunshine.com/

alexis and i saw this last night.. this shit is tripppppppy


ROLLING STONE article

Don't expect anything standard-issue from this uniquely funny, unpredictably tender and unapologetically twisted romance. Jim Carrey, dropping the goofy faces, has never done anything this deeply felt. The brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), often accused of an excess of cleverness, plumbs new emotional depths. And visionary director Michel Gondry, whose music-video flash for the likes of Bjork, Radiohead and the White Stripes kept his 2001 collaboration with Kaufman in Human Nature on a showoff level, reveals a bracing maturity in his commitment to character. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind chases so many ideas that it threatens to spin out of control. But with our multiplexes stuffed with toxic Hollywood formula, it's a gift to find a ballsy movie that thinks it can do anything, and damn near does.

Carrey stars as Joel Barish, a weary Manhattan wage slave who wakes up one winter morning, calls in sick and takes a train out to a beach in Montauk, on Long Island. Something draws him there; maybe the same thing that draws him to Clementine Kruczynski (a never-better Kate Winslet), a free spirit with dyed blue hair -- she calls it "Blue Ruin" -- whom he meets on the train home. These polar opposites feel a connection they can't explain.

So Kaufman gradually fills us in. Without giving too much away, let's just say that Joel and Clementine have both had all memories of their two-year relationship erased. She had the process done first, having seen a TV ad for a company called Lacuna in which Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (the invaluable Tom Wilkinson) asks, "Why remember a destructive love affair?" Joel, hurt by her actions, follows suit. In his apartment, on the night before the train trip, Dr. Mierzwiak's assistants Stan (Mark Ruffalo), Patrick (Elijah Wood) and Mary (Kirsten Dunst) attach the weird headgear and zap the recollections one by one, the most recent first. It's a botch job, mostly because Patrick splits to make a play for Clementine (he has stolen Joel's memories), and Stan and Mary strip down to get stoned and boogie.

No matter. The core of the movie is what's going on in Joel's head. And it's here that the filmmakers lavish their most creative and insightful notions. As Joel struggles to hold on to the memories of the woman he truly loves, Kaufman and Gondry grapple with the concept of memory itself and how it defines our lives. This is heady stuff -- gorgeously shot by Ellen Kuras -- that might fly off the handle into meta-hot air were it not for the grounded and groundbreaking performances of Carrey and Winslet. Never once do we doubt the bond that holds these embattled lovers despite their crippling flaws. He's recessive to the point of inertia. She's impulsive, with moods that change as frequently as the color of her hair -- the dyes range from blue to green to red mist. They're always hitting a wall. "Just because you talk constantly doesn't mean you're communicating," says Joel.

Carrey burrows far inside the emotionally withdrawn Joel until we see the soul worth saving. And Winslet, one of the best actresses anywhere, is electrifying and bruisingly vulnerable. All the actors have shining moments. Wood, eons away from Frodo, gets creepy laughs but also measures the loss of leading a stolen life. Dunst brings a wounded dignity to Mary's betrayed trust in Mierzwiak, enhanced by the dark melancholy Wilkinson invests in the role. And Ruffalo proves again that he can find dramatic nuance in the corners of comedy. When Mary asks Stan how she looked with Mierzwiak when she first developed a crush on the doc, he takes a beat. "You looked happy," he says, "with a secret."

Unlocking secrets is part of the richness of a fantasy film that grows increasingly real. Even the lyrics of the silly song that bears Clementine's name -- "lost and gone forever" -- take on a poignant resonance as Joel fights to keep Clementine in his head, forcing memories of her into his childhood, where she never played a part. Kaufman, Gondry and the pitch-perfect actors have crafted a remarkable film that can coax a smile about making the same mistakes in love and then sneak up and quietly break your heart.

http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/marijuana/a/420meaning.htm

420


Known 420 Myths

Police dispatch code for smoking pot is 420.
The number 420 is not police radio code for anything, anywhere. Checks of criminal codes suggest that the origin is neither Californian nor federal. For instance, California Penal Code 420 defines as a misdemeanor the hindrance of use of public lands.
There are approximately 420 active chemicals in marijuana.
Actually, there are approximately 315 active chemicals in marijuana. This number goes up and down depending on which plant is used.
April 20th is National Pot Smokers Day.
Well, it is now; but that wasn't the origin.
April 20th is Hitler's birthday.
Yes, it is his birthday. But, as 420 started out as a time, not a date, his birthday had nothing to do with it.
The date of the Columbine school shootings.
This happened after the term was already in use.
4:20 is tea time for pot-smokers in Holland.
Tea time in Holland is at 5:30 pm, or is it 2:30 pm? Seems no one is quite sure when the wonderful people of Holland drink their tea.
The Origin Revealed

According to Steven Hager, editor of High Times, the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who called themselves the Waldos, who are now pushing 50. The term was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. Intent on developing their own discreet language, they made 420 code for a time to get high, and its use spread among members of an entire generation. While our teens feel that they know something we don't, you can let them in on the fact that it was your generation that came up with the numbers.

A quote from one of the Waldos in the High Times article states, "We did discover we could talk about getting high in front of our parents without them knowing by using the phrase 420." Fortunately, your teenagers will not have that same option.

Whatever!

Simply put, 420 is a symbol of cannabis and its culture. Today, April 20th events are international, and 4:20 pm has become sort of a world wide "burn time". It certainly doesn't matter too much where the term came from because for us parents, it's a flag, a warning sign that our teenagers may be into something that could harm their future. When you see the symbol 420, be aware of what it represents.

and a good quote from emily "Next time you're preached to about the dangers of drugs. Just wonder to yourself about how many of those dangers are caused by the prohibition that they are used to justify. Better yet, wonder out loud because that's either called circular reasoning or bullshit depending on your company."

Sharks and fish swim at the Okinawa Chura Aquarium in southern Japan.

Pope John Paul II blesses two dancers at the end of their performance during a ceremony in St. Peter's square at the Vatican




mmhmm