According to the Milwaukee Sentinel, this grandpa is now finding out how mean those money-grubbing movie moguls can be.
I imagine the poor fella is a good-hearted, hard working kinda guy. He doesn't know how to use a computer and is pleading ignorance as to how his then-12 year old grandson downloaded four movies, but gramps says that his grandson didn't know that downloading the movies was illegal and that once the four movies were downloaded out of curiosity, the 12 y/o deleted them from the computer and that was pretty much that.
Now enters the MPAA on their raggedy - uh, I mean their shining steeds, gold and gems glistening in the sunlight. Let's not slap granddad on the wrist, or have a Very Serious Conversation with the young lad, no. First, lets tell gramps that he can settle the issue by giving us ohhh, whaddayasayyyyyy $4,000. Yeah, that sounds good.
What?!
Grandpa doesn't HAVE four thousand dollars to wipe our sweaty palms with?
Harrumph. FINE.
We're taking our marbles and we're shuffling home to Hollywood, but not before we leave our bill for $600,000. Because ..... (whispering to co-steed-riders) 'why are we suing him for this much now?'
Oh yes! Because we can!
Now I can understand the effects of millions of folks playing on peer-to-peer file sharing programs. I've used them, in part to try to grok what the heck was such a draw to them. I found the couple I've tried very confusing and hard to manuever, which may be saying more about the antiquing of my brain than anything else. But for a megamillion industry to come after a retired grandpop who has no idea how to *work* a computer for the sins of a 12 year old? That steps right over the line from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Admittedly, I have a teen child of my own, one who I am aware has an Ipod full of tunes that he could not possibly have purchased out of his own pocket money. So chances are very good that he may possibly have looked into peer-to-peer file sharing at some point. Or it is also possible that his friends have loaded tunes onto his Ipod, who knows. In our home we've taken an unspoken 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. Today I emailed the article about grandpa and his 12 yr old grandson with the subject line 'LET'S NOT SEE THIS HAPPEN NEARBY, EH?!'. That's about as close we've come to an actual conversation.
No, wait. That's not exactly true.
I hollered down the stairs to him a few moments ago that whatever he might be doing online on his portion of our shared networked connection HAD to be stopped or paused or something because I could not access web sites and I would stop it myself in my own special way if I had to keep yelling.
There, that's closer to an actual conversation.
No?
Well, if he responded ('okayyyy.') would you count it as a conversation then?
03 November 2005
31 October 2005
Fi'ty Qs
1. Your name spelled backwards.
- htebcm
2. Where were your parents born?
- m-in Iowa and d-in Wisconsin
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
- a plug-in for Photoshop (that didn't work, grr)
4. What's your favorite restaurant?
- I don't have a favorite. Lao Laan-Xang, I guess.
5. Last time you swam in a pool?
- It would have been this year because I know I've had my swimsuit packed several times but I'll be dipped if I can remember where I was.
6. Have you ever been in a school play?
- School and community theater, yes.
7. How many kids do you want?
- I got more than I expected and yet just enough: one beautiful weirdo manchild.
8. Type of music you dislike most?
- Ganstsa rap. Bleeahhhh.
9. Are you registered to vote?
- Yeppeedoo.
10. Do you have cable?
- Nope, I've never had cable. But if one of these questions was 'what do you not-so-secretly covet?' that would be the answer.
11. Have you ever ridden on a moped?
- Yes! What a riot that was!
12. Ever prank call anybody?
- Lots of times! My son doesn't like it when I make him do the dialing anymore though. (kidding. only a joke.)
13. Ever get a parking ticket?
- Sure enough, have two of them to be paid right this minute.
14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
- I'll probably do both eventually, but I'm guessing I'll enjoy the skydiving more.
15. Furthest place you ever traveled.
- Melbourne, Australia
16. Do you have a garden?
- Every year I plant annuals and cross my fingers for the perennials. And veggies and herbs too. Oh yes I do.
17. What's your favorite comic strip?
- I don't have a favorite. Oh wait, yes I do or at least as close as I come to having a favorite: 'Life in Hell'.
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem?
- Oh, say can you see that I really do know all the words? And I don't shoot for the high note at the end unless I'm fooling around.
19. Bath or Shower, morning or night?
- Showers during daytime hours, baths at night. Unusual for me to bathe daily, though. I think daily bathing is an unnecessary waste of water because I don't do that much stinking to require a daily wash.
20. Best movie you've seen in the past month?
- Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit (great grown-up humor)
21. Favorite pizza topping?
- oooooooo! Sauerkraut + canadian bacon
22. Chips or popcorn?
- Yes please.
23. What color lipstick do you usually wear?
- Currently either 'fig' or 'pomegranite' by Burt's Bees.
24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells?
- Was this an important step in every teen's emotional development?! Should I have smoked peanut shells? How exactly is this done?
25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
- Uuh...yeah, right. Cos that'd happen.
26. Orange Juice or apple?
- Apple CIDER, please.
27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine?
- KD and I had breakfast (not dinner) Sat. morning with a long-time friendly aquaintence of hers. As we were finishing our tasty meals, a stranger approached our table, asking 'Are you staying at the hotel?'. We looked at one another, shaking our heads 'no'. He handed us a certificate good for two free breakfasts (which, apparently, was one of the perks given to guests staying at the hotel which, apparently, he had been though for some unknown reason he wasn't able to use the several certificates he'd been holding). So three meals cost us $7. Yay.
28. Favorite type chocolate bar?
- Cowgirl Chocolates for the cayenne & frou-frou factor; Butterfinger for cheap n'fast.
29. When was the last time you voted at the polls?
- That would have been during the last local and presidential election.
30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
- Last week. *burp*
31. Have you ever won a trophy?
- Several times, yes. 6th grade, for a book I wrote. In high school, the Optimist Club's 'Student of the Something or Other' award. Many medals for musical competitions past. Chronic silent overachieveritis. Don't worry, I've come a long way in super-underachieving where I once couldn't stand to look lazy. (hmm, the more I think about that, I don't exactly sound healed yet do I.)
32. Are you a good cook?
- While we might have to more narrowly define "good", I'd say yes. When I try.
33. Do you know how to pump your own gas?
- Oh for goddess sake, yes.
34. Ever order an article from an infomercial?
- You bet! The little steam cleaner thing and pilates DVDs. At 4:13am anything can start to sound absolutely necessary.
35. Sprite or 7-up?
- Sprite.
36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work?
- Yep, at the security job I worked and at Hardee's.
37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy?
- Flashing LED bat pin, masks, superglue.
38. Ever throw up in public?
- Oh yes, much to everyone's dismay.
39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?
- Well, let's see. First of all, I got the lovin' stuff so if this was real-time and reality-based decision making, I'd go for being a millionairess. Then I could proceed with the KD 'When I Win The Lottery' plan (plus or minus a few details of my own choosing - which I guess would make it the MCB. PLAN.)
However talking merely rhetoric here ... If someone external to me was offering me the choice of one or the other, I'd prefer to take the money off their hands. With someone wiser than myself to help me manage that concern, I wouldn't have to focus on the day-to-day financial matters and I could set about finding the true love on my own without an external presence offering it to me. And besides, if some stranger offers you either of those items you'd best take a look at the goods before you make a final decision anyway. Cash is cash but how could someone else possibly know what my true love would look like?
40. Do you believe in love at first sight?
- I do, yes.
41. Ever call a 1-900 number?
- I did. Thought for a spell about getting into the phone sex biz and spoke with one of the operators about it. (I decided not to, in the end)
42. Can ex's be friends?
- Given that one of mine IS, I'd say yes. We weren't very nice to one another during the first year or so post break-up, but eventually hurts were healed and we both found our ways beyond self-importance to embracing the other in a supportive way.
43. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital?
- My older sister, who just gave birth to a daughter.
44. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby?
- Not so much. I made up for that later in the time my sibs and I refer to as "the bad perm hair years".
45. What message is on your answering machine?
- "Hello. You've reached 123-4567. Nobody is able to take your call right now but if you'll leave your name, your number and a brief message we'll return your call as soon as we can. Thank you." I'm told that the most recent recording of this message could give the 'time & temperature' lady some stiff competition. Hee.
46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character?
- Four-way tie: the "hot tub" intellectual lovahs, Colonel Angus, the Brothers Gibb and "can I pierce my ears pleassse Rick?" girl
47. What was the name of your first pet?
- 'Bulgy Eyes'. One of those black fish with - well, figure it out.
48. What is in your purse?
- a lipstick, my miniwallet, allergy eyedrops, the end of the Lifesavers roll, a receipt, a mouth insert (fits underneath the top row of teeth, flashes neon colors)
49. Favorite thing to do before bedtime?
- Sex. Or reading. Or cat snuggling. It depends.
50. What is one thing you are grateful for today?
- I'm grateful for having been reminded of some strange and unexpected things that have happened over the years. So much happens, so much rolls right on by. Its good to stop and re-remember. yeah.
30 October 2005
tunnel vision
"People are capable of good and bad. As long as we continue perpetrating these absurd two-dimensional stories that everything is black and white - you're either good or bad - then the longer we'll misunderstand how many interesting stories you can tell in the space that exists between the two."
-Sam Mendes
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