…and now, the story of one Larry Barnett, who wanted an acquaintance killed…only he “butt dialed” his would be victim who subsequently overheard Mr. Barnett as he planned out the criminal deed:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/larry-barnett-arrested_n_4340122.html
As they say, sometimes truth is far, far stranger than fiction.
I’m driving home Saturday and, by chance, notice one of those many -at least in these parts- employees standing at the side of the road advertising a store. There were two of them, actually. One was carrying a banner for Little Caesar’s Pizza, advertising the new “Deep Deep” dish pizzas.
Next to him was another man, carrying a sign for the soon to go out of business Blockbuster, and the “final sale” of all stock and inventory.
Though the above isn’t a photo of the particular store I went to, it looks very, very similar, complete with the “Store Closing” sign in front of it.
Having nothing much to do at the moment, I turned into the strip mall, parked my car, and was inside the store. It occurred to me this was the first time I set foot into a Blockbuster in many, many years. Perhaps as many as five. Perhaps even more.
I was surprised by this as well as the fact that so little changed within the store. You had the “new arrivals” sections and walls of DVD films, BluRay films, and videos. Toward the front you had the “snacks”, including plenty of chocolates and candies along with various microwavable popcorns.
I approached the “new” section and picked up BluRay copies of The Heat and Pacific Rim, both selling at closeout (ie non-returnable) prices of $12.99 each. I liked The Heat quite a bit and was willing, especially for the extras and “unrated cut”, to pick up the BluRay, though I didn’t have that much of an intention of getting the film for my personal collection (some films you enjoy and want to have them for your personal collection, others you may like quite a bit but don’t necessarily want to own them…The Heat fell in that later category). I hadn’t seen Pacific Rim yet, so that was a “new” feature. I then examined the video games section but I suspect I was a little too late to take advantage. The games that remained held little interest, and were still priced rather high.
I then went through the TV on DVD section and, though there were some intriguing works to be found, none were worth pursuing. Most were relatively new and popular shows, from 24 to Lost to The Big Bang Theory.
Lastly, I looked over the BluRay section and there, I wound up picking up two more BluRays, Cabin in the Woods and Star Trek: Into Darkness. Cabin cost me $6.99 while Star Trek was $12.99. If you’ve followed my reviews, I wasn’t all that impressed with Cabin, especially the ending, but for that price I was willing to give it a second look. As for Star Trek: Into Darkness, I’ve noted before that I enjoyed seeing it in the theaters but wasn’t all that wild about it afterwards. Again, for that bargain price I was willing to pick it up.
All that was left to see were the snacks and candies. There, I wound up buying some microwaveable popcorn for less than a buck each.
By this point my search through this fresh corpse was effectively done and I gave the store one more -one last– look. I didn’t think I’d be back, and memories of past years, when Blockbuster mattered, came back. There was a time a good friend of mine worked in the store. There was a time I frequented the place every few days, looking for not just new films but films from the past.
Blockbuster, like Borders and Circuit City before them, fell prey to being too large in a time when the internet simply murdered their product. Why go to a Blockbuster when you can stream a film? Or order it through Netflix? Or simply buy it as the prices of movies have become pretty reasonable.
Blockbuster remained Blockbuster even when the world found a better way to get her services. And now, she was done.
I felt bad for those four or five employees -all with pleasant smiles on their faces- behind the counter. Every one of them were about to lose their jobs, and in these tough economic times, that is a big problem indeed.
I walked out and headed to the car. After opening the door, I took another look at the store. Soon, there would be an empty space there, and I wondered what would come next.
Fred Kaplan at Slate Magazine offers a short -and fascinating- article regarding the main reasons he turned from being a “conspiracy” theorist regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to a believer in the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone:
While the notion of a conspiracy around the killing of President Kennedy is one of those tempting wormhole-like theories one can look into for one’s entire life, I’ve always felt that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
Even ignoring, for the moment, most of the important points Mr. Kaplan notes in his article (and he does offer solid evidence to conclude Oswald acted alone), this is the one element of this whole thing most people seem to forget: A mere forty five minutes after the assassination of President Kennedy, a police officer named J. D. Tippet attempted to stop Lee Harvey Oswald (by then, the police were looking for him in connection with the assassination) and was, according to nine witnesses who saw him subsequently flee with a revolver in hand, gunned down and killed by Oswald.
That action alone indicates to me that Oswald, at the very, very least knew the police were after him because of what he did/what they suspected him of doing and the cold blooded brutality of his actions against the police officer were hardly those of an “innocent”/patsy. I suppose one can fabricate all kinds of theories to explain why Mr. Oswald gunned down the policeman, but isn’t the most logical one the one that Mr. Oswald killed President Kennedy and knew that the police were going to get him for his crime and didn’t want to be captured?
Interesting little video, found on Slate.com, regarding a startup company marketing a 360 degree camera you toss in the air and get images from all around. Pretty interesting stuff:
From Cracked.com, 29 Insane Pastimes That Prove History Was Terrifying:
http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_692_29-insane-pastimes-that-prove-history-was-terrifying_p29/
If your interest isn’t piqued -or, alternatively, grossed out- with the very first entry (blowing tobacco smoke up people’s rectums being thought of as a way to save someone from drowning), then this list isn’t for you! 😉
Secondly (I always find more than one humorous/horrifying list from Cracked.com at a time), check out their second list of 10 Great Songs by The Worst Bands of All Time…
http://www.cracked.com/blog/10-great-songs-by-worst-bands-all-time-part-2/
Now, I can’t quite agree with all their choices. At least one of the bands/artists presented I find better than they do (though they are hardly a favorite), while others I simply cannot stand to listen to at all. Of the choices presented, however, there is one that I strongly agree with and that admission…well, its a hard one to make but here it goes: I really, really like Brittney Spears’ song “Toxic”.
Mind you (oh the shame!!) I was never a fan of Ms. Spears’ music even in her heyday and that’s putting it kindly. Her brand of bubblegum pop, while I can certainly see what many others liked about it, never appealed to me.
So the years pass and Brittney Spears’ star sets a little (OK, perhaps quite a bit) and then, one day, I’m driving along down the road and the radio announcer on a local radio station comes on and states that he’s about to play the latest Brittney Spears song and its called “Toxic.”
Just as I’m about to change the station I hesitate. Perhaps I was coming close to a red light or perhaps someone driving beside me nearly drifted into my lane…whatever it was that happened, I was forced to focus on the road rather than on changing the radio station and the song starts playing. And I’m listening to it.
And I’m not changing the channel.
When the song eventually ends, I smile and shake my head.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Your mileage, as the saying goes, may certainly vary!
Interesting article by Dana Stevens for Slate magazine regarding the news that the owners of Blockbuster are closing all remaining retail centers, effectively ending the era of the big video rental stores:
When Blockbuster first came along, there were more than a few “Mom & Pop” video stores around renting those pre-historic VHS tapes for film fans to watch. Those who weren’t around back then don’t remember the way the film market used to be. Recent movies took forever to be released to the home market and, when they were, they cost a lot to buy. It wasn’t unheard of to see “new release” films go for as much as $50-85. Further, that “new” film often took over a year -sometimes much more- before it even reached the home video market. I distinctly recall the amazed reaction by many when the original Tim Burton directed Batman film was “quickly” released to video. I can’t recall the exact time it took for the film to be released, but it was perhaps three to six months or so after its theatrical release, a turnaround that was completely unheard of back then but not so much now.
But this was the exception that eventually proved to be the rule. Again, at the time and given the high price of films, video stores were a necessity. If you didn’t rent and only bought the films you wanted, you would very quickly go quite broke. When Blockbuster showed up, the Mom & Pop stores in my area were doomed. These small stores couldn’t compete against the sheer bulk of material Blockbuster offered.
Even then, one had to be quick as even if Blockbuster had a large number of the latest “new” film available for rent, there were plenty of others trying to get their hands on it as well.
But for me the greatest thing about Blockbuster wasn’t so much the new and desired films, but their vast library of older classic films.. It was thanks to Blockbuster that I became aware of the movies of Stanley Kubrick. It was also where I discovered Metropolis (the Giorgio Moroder version, which of course lead me to eventually want to see the original, uncut version) and Orpheus, two of my all time favorite films.
I could go on and on…
For all its flaws (and there were many) Blockbuster was a great place for its time. The first big signs of trouble for the company probably came from the arrival of the DVD and the significant lowering of movie prices. You could rent a film from Blockbuster for about $5 for three nights, but for another ten dollars or less you could purchase the DVD and own the film outright.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was likely the same as the one that killed music stores (and, sadly, looks to be doing the same to bookstores): computers and the internet. Not to mention more choices in general.
Why would one go out to a Blockbuster to rent a film when you could Netflix it or stream it or Pay on Demand? For those far less honest, you could steal a film via downloading it through one of many torrent sites.
So no, I’m not at all surprised Blockbuster has seen its end. It was expected and, if anything, the only surprise one feels is that it lasted as long as it did. Yet like Borders, like Circuit City, and like Peaches, I’ll miss her and the era she inhabited.
The world moves on and all that remains are the memories of what once was.
Well, not quite, but still, a fascinating way of bending light and making an object “disappear”. Only problem, of course, is that the object it disappears behind is pretty plainly visible…for now!
The full article, as well as a video example of the cloak can be found here:
…other than, of course, at destroying the environment and your health:
That’s right: Heavy smog is very effective against surveillance cameras, especially in a country (China) that relies on them to watch their citizens.
There’s that, I suppose.
…at least according to an article at AOL autos:
http://autos.aol.com/gallery/dumbest-cars-all-time/
Many of the “usual suspects” are present. I figured the #1 dumbest car was going to either be the Pinto or the Edsel. Spoiler: It turned out to be one of them, though the other wasn’t on the list at all!
Back in High School I had a first hand experience with the Pinto as a friend of mine at the time had the vehicle and we drove around with it now and then. What I remember the most about the car was a) it was ugly as hell in its brown/gold interior and exterior color, b) it wasn’t a comfortable car to sit in, and c) it was really noisy.
At least we shared some good laughs regarding the car…my friend was anything but enamored with his vehicle.
But my favorite “Dumb” car has to be the #14 entry, the infamous 1899 Horsey Horseless. Words alone can’t describe this idiotic concept so, ladies and gentlemen, the 1899 Horsey Horseless:
Your eyes are not deceiving you. We have a car with a Horse’s head strapped onto its front. The theory its creator(s) had, one imagines, is that because some people might be reluctant to switch from their horse drawn buggies and “move up” to automobiles, the manufacturers had to do something to create a sense of familiarity to something new. So, like training wheels on a bicycle, we have a horse’s head bolted to the front of this car so people take comfort in the fact that…
Hell…it makes no sense at all!!!!
Still fun to look at , though! 😉
Interesting article regarding a group of three people who broke the “Cannonball” record for driving (illegally) cross country, from New York to Los Angeles:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-los-angeles-cannonball-speed-record/index.html
A small part of me admires the thought put into their escapade, from considering the best time and conditions (weekend, full moon) to the modifications made to their car (extra gas tanks and bedpans so they wouldn’t have to make as many pit stops) to having spotters look out for police (naturally).
It’s a very small part, however. The part that as a younger person enjoyed the whole “car chase/crash” movie genre that was quite popular from the mid to later half of the 1970’s and into the early 1980’s (it probably died around the time Cannonball Run 2 and Stroker Ace, both Burt Reynolds -ahem- vehicles, flopped). I loved Ron Howard’s directorial debut, Grand Theft Auto and the mayhem it featured (saw the film recently aaaaaannnd….it doesn’t hold up). Loved -and still love- the original Smokey and the Bandit. Loved both The Gumball Rally and Cannonball (1976) though the later film had a pretty brutal climax that really twisted the movie away from being a “comedy”. As for the first Cannonball Run movie, apart from a couple of chuckles it didn’t do all that much for me.
A larger part of me finds the fantasy versus the reality of what the gentlemen above accomplishing…scary. In the article, Ed Bolian, one of the trio driving the Mercedes cross country, mention the following:
“Apart from a FedEx truck not checking his mirrors before he tried to merge on top of me, we didn’t really have any issues.”
Oh, really? The FedEx driver, at least in the quote above, was in the wrong even when you’re traveling at an average rate of 90 mph while at times moving as fast 158 mph (their top speed)?! Though the quote doesn’t give details of this merging vehicle, one can’t help but wonder just how fast the trio were driving at that time. If they were doing high speeds (70+), one can hardly blame the FedEx driver for not noticing a car barreling down on him/her.
Regardless, the story worries me more than anything else. Now that these three have a speed record in this illegal activity that surely put others on the road at risk (not to mention the drivers themselves), how long before others try to break that record? Will they be as “cautious” and well planned as this trio were, or will they be even more reckless?
And even if they are as cautious as can be, accidents can -and sadly do– happen.
Watching those old car race/crash movies as a kid was fun. But it was also fantasy. Even then I knew this wasn’t something that should happen in real life. Having people driving around this recklessly for such a long distance in the real world makes me more than a little nervous.