Archive for September, 2009

Roman Polanski Arrested…Finally

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Roman Polanski Arrested… Finally

Apparently Roman Polanski, a famous film director, was taken into custody in Switzerland. Thirty years ago, Polanski fled to France after pleading guilty to statutory rape with a 13-year-old girl. He of course fled the U.S. so he couldn’t be sentenced. The Swiss authorities have been working for a while on arresting the director.

All I can say is, it’s about time! It’s one thing to plead innocence and want to escape a sentence that isn’t deserved. However, it is completely different to admit to committing the crime and still flee the country to miss out on punishment that is obviously deserved.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/27/roman-polanski-arrested/

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32969604/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

5 family members found slain in Illinois home

This article described a recent murder of a family in Illinois.  The crime took place sometime on Monday afternoon and authorities were contacted by neighbors after gun shots were heard from the house.   For some reason, that could not be disclosed at this point in time, the local police station did not release information on the atrocity until this morning.  The Logan County Police would not give any information regarding the crime scene.  The only survivor was a three year-old-daughter.

This is a horrible story.  One that you don’t like to hear about.  You would think with all of the evolving and productive changes humans have been making, that the basic rule to not kill one another would be common knowledge .  Obviously this is not the case.  I am rather curious as to why the police refused to release information until the morning after the incident.  Also, I want to learn more about this case.  I plan on researching more to find out what could have been a cause of this tragedy.  What would cause someone to murder an entire family?  Children included?  Furthermore, my heart aches for the surviving child.  Hopefully, since she is so young she will not remember much of this incident.  Unfortunately the guilt  she must feel of being the sole survivor of a horrible mass murder will follow her for a lifetime.

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

From where I am sitting, the sun is barely peaking above the trees and hitting my face. I look out the window and see a man in a charcoal shirt morosely riding on the back of a lawn mower. The sun becomes shy and hides behind the trees. In the shade, the temperature of the area in which I am located drops. This relief only lasts a short while however, soon the sun has returned. The new brightness shimmers through the towering windows in this long hallway, decorating the marble floors with diagonal lines. The gray-checkered sofa that I am sitting on grows warm. Behind me, I can hear a young child chuckling, destroying the silence that once surrounded the building.

If only I knew where I was…

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/14/ultra-d-bag-kanye-hijacks-taylor-swift/

At the VMA’s, Taylor Swift won the award for best female artist video.  Unfortunately for her she  was unable to accept the award properly because Kanye West ran on stage, stole her mic, and proceeded to declare that Beyonce should have won.  Meanwhile, the entire crowd sat in shock and Beyonce looked horrified.

Okay, that’s enough.  Kanye West needs to stop.  He should have stopped a long time ago, but this time he has gone WAY too far.  Seriously, it’s one thing to act like a complete butt-head after South Park makes fun, but its another thing entirely to walk up on stage,  snatch the microphone away from a 19 ear old girl, and declare someone else deserving of an award.  Now, I hate Taylor Swift as much as the next person, but no one deserves that.  Apparently Kanye has issued several apologies, but none seem to be directed towards Swift.  I think Jay Leno put it best by asking him, “What would your mother think?”  I’m pretty sure she would think her son has gone too far also.

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009


http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=430034&GT1=28101

Article: “Annie Leibovitz risks losing copyright to images”

The article I read focused on the current financial crisis that famed photographer Annie Leibovitz is facing.  According to msn.com, Leibovitz took out a loan last year and used all of her photography and her home as collateral.  Apparently, she owes $24 million and may not be able to pay back the loan.  The due date is tomorrow.  If she is unable to pay back the loan, she will lose her home and all the copyrights to her work.  Leibovitz is a very well known and respected photographer who has captured quite a few controversial images of famous individuals.  She is most remembered for her Vanity Fair covers.

I found this article to be interesting but it also made me slightly frustrated.  I realize that nearly everyone is impacted by this current financial crunch, but with someone who makes so much money as it is, I thought that maybe this would not be an issue.  Furthermore, why would someone with such valuable and famous work as Leibovitz use it as collateral on a loan unless she was absolutely sure she could pay it back?   According to the article Leibovitz needed the loan to pay back mortgage payments and other undisclosed overdue bills.  However, no matter how frustrated this article makes me, I am also rather nervous as to the results of this current crisis Leibovitz is undergoing.  It would be a tragedy if she were to lose the rights to her photos.  Not only are those images timeless and some controversial, they are also worth a large sum of money.  However, maybe that would be the wakeup call Leibovitz needs.