*The information
that follows is from PETA's website.*
The following product is made from animal:
"Leather. Suede. Calfskin. Sheepskin. Alligator Skin.
Other Types of Skin.
Subsidizes the meat industry. Used to make wallets, handbags,
furniture and car upholstery, shoes, etc. Alternatives: cotton,
canvas, nylon, vinyl, ultrasuede, other synthetics."
According to PETA, this is an animal-friendly company. "Those marked with a dot (·) meet the Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals (CSCA). Those marked with an asterisk (*) manufacture strictly vegan products:
"Adrien Arpel, Inc., 720 Fifth Ave., 8th Fl., New York, NY 10019; 800-215-8333"
As you know, the IPS is dedicated to bringing attention to charitable organizations everywhere.
This Month's:
Southern Poverty
Law Center
400 Washington Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36104
Racism sucks, and these guys know it, so they work to eliminate it in our "modern" world. Donations go towards things like defending the victims of hate crimes and their Teach Tolerance programs which targets school-age kids and teaches them that hate is not cool babeh. If I recall correctly, I think R.E.M. supports them, and the IPS supports R.E.M. So help SPLC out man. Acronyms rule!
Whad up wid dat?!:
*This article is from a flyer that Doctors Without Borders sent me a while back. P29*
"...Since 1991, Sierra Leone has reeled under brutal civil warfare. Health, water sanitation and housing facilities are strained beyond capacity, threatening epidemics and widespread malnutrition. Worse, brutal tactics of war have resulted in torture and murder of innocent families. Doctors Without Borders strongly believes that many more casualties never reach our hospital teams. Armed men roam the countryside, raping women and small children, torturing defenseless families, hacking off arms and ears of unarmed civilians, and brutally gouging out the eyes of women - for the sole purpose of spreading terror. In this report, our volunteers and patients tell what they have seen firsthand. In April, groups of armed men attacked several villages in East Sierra Leonne.
"One young mother described to our volunteers how many of her fellow villagers hid under their beds, only to be shot while hiding. She found herself in a room with a group of villagers. The attackers opened fire and killed four of her neighbors. She and her baby survived by hiding beneath their dead bodies until the attackers left."
If you would like
to learn more, contact Doctors Without Borders:
Doctors Without Borders
6 East 39th Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
email:
doctors@newyork.msf.org
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Information is taken
directly from the ICT website, which you should visit, if possible
(http://www.savetibet.org).
"NGO Statements Criticize China At UN Commission On Human
Rights (TB)"
...
"29 March, Geneva - The 56th UN Commission on Human Rights
is now debating one of the most important items of its agenda,
"The question of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
This is the item under which resolutions tabled on country situation
will come for vote on 18 April.
"A large number of NGOs strongly criticized China for its human rights failures in China, Tibet and Eastern Turkestan. More NGO statements are expected to be delivered before the Commission concludes its debate on this topic. Earlier during the day a number of government statements also expressed concern on the human rights situation in China. We will publish the references on China and Tibet from these statements in the next update."
The following episode of a t.v. show is worth taping:
The Drew Carey
Show where
Drew has to take a physical and Kate is in love with him.
"I don't believe this. You're taking advice from Oswald,
the man who swallowed a sponge, so he wouldn't get drunk."
"Did I get drunk?!"
Last month's quote was from "Frank Costanza" Seinfeld. First one to guess the source of this month's line wins a prize!
"Alright. Everybody get in a line so I can whoop all yo asses."
No poem this month, but there will be one next month. Sorry!
Kurt Cobain was supposed to write the soundtrack for Grosse Pointe Blank.
The following article
is from Mysteries of the Unexplained. Pleasantville, New
York: The Reader's Digest Associated, Incorporated, 1982.
Now then, imagine some ominous mystery music in the background.
As usual, believe or don't folks.
"Flesh and blood fell for three minutes and covered some two acres of Mr. J. Hudson's farm near Los Nietos, California, on August 1, 1869. The day was clear and windless, and flesh fell as fine particles as well as in strips from one to six inches long. Short fine hairs also fell with it. In the article on this phenomenon in the San Francisco Evening Bulletin dated August 9, 1869, it was also reported that flesh and blood had fallen in Santa Clara County some two months earlier."
"That Old Black Magic," Kevin Spacey, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Soundtrack. I know that you guys won't get this until April, but I start to compile these way in advance. Today is February 24, 2000. Kevin Spacey was on 60 Minutes last Sunday and there was a clip of him recording this song and ever since then it's been Hello Old Black Magic! I loved the song anyway, then Kevin Spacey did it, then I saw that clip and that reflamed my obsession with the song. Did you see the way he moved when he sang? Yowza, yowza, yowza!
Visit Blocking the Wall Online: http://www.geocities.com/btwonline
The Jack Bull
starring John Cusack, John Goodman, and more horses than should
usually be in a movie.
I went through a lot of emotions while watching The Jack Bull. First I was casually bemused, then I was horny (cause, you know....damn, John Cusack with stubble...), then I was sad, then I was hungry so I got up and got some Froot Loops. Then I came back and I was confused. Concerned. Then back to bemusement. Finally the winning emotion was "sad" in a neck and neck race with "confused", though horny also showed well. The first shot you get is of horses, the last shot you get is of horses, and not a lot happens in between. People die, people get cheated, lied to, stolen from, and misunderstood, and even though you'd expect justice to come riding through at the end...it never does. For a Western, it's delightfully schmaltzy. For a drama, it's a bit too contrived. Any film that includes what I like to call a "blue-light special" (that being a night scene obviously shot during the day time, just developed in dark blue tint) cannot be labeled a towering cinematic achievement. Adding to its discredit, the movie takes place in pre-statehood Wyoming, which I always thought was just a myth anyway. To reference an old episode of 'Garfield' (hey!), Wyoming is really Latin for 'No State Here.' It was written by a Cusack (I forget which one, and it wasn't John), it co-stars John Goodman as an awesome judge, and then when you think the film can't get any more depressing you get to literally SEE somebody get hanged at the end. It's not even as pleasant as it sounds. And throughout the film I was more concerned with how things could go from crazy snowing Winter to lovely Springtime travel weather in the space of two days.
It's just too weird. In all fairness, though, The Jack Bull teaches a valuable lesson: love your horses. And don't forget lamp oil!
I know this month's "Blocking the Wall" is a little shorter than usual, and I know you're all probably thankful for that, but when I get the chance to go Public Forum with my frustrations I take it to the full extent. So now I present to you a Supplement for "Blocking the Wall":
THE TOP FIVE STUPIDEST QUESTIONS VIDEO CLERKS GET ASKED ON A REGULAR BASIS...
5. "Yeah, um...what
do you have?" (Movies, dumbass)
4. "Do I hand you the cover box or the box behind it?"
(I've stopped dignifying this one with a response)
3. "So you have that 'Here. Now. Guaranteed.' deal. Is that
for every movie?" (Oh, yeah, we're not interested in making
money at ALL.)
2. "Oh, do you need my card?" (Nope. Just standin' here
lookin' at ya for my health)
1. (as they are looking at a video box that says, clearly, '1
NIGHT RENTAL' on the front) "So how many nights do I get
with this?"
For those of you who have met me, you might be aware of the fact that I have an affinity for plaid. That's because it rules! Yeah it rules! Of late, I have purchased another pair of plaid, cotton pants. They are pink, purple, and white, and they rule! I want some red plaid pants that I can wear with my maroon plaid shirt. That would be cool. Actually, I don't have any plaid socks, so I really need some of those. Yeah. One of my roommates in Boston, Georgia, thought it was weird that I liked plaid so much, but I had never really thought about it before she mentioned it. You guys like plaid right? I know Olga does. Especially kilts. Especially on Ewan McGregor. But that's a whole other story that I do not care to delve into right now. She's right though! Whoo! Yeah! Push on! See what I mean about always acting 2, 12, 30, or 80?
No advice this month. Sorry!
Dude: Michael O'Hare (nominated by Noel) was the original commander of Babylon 5,and was also in Keefer and several other movies that are not locatable. Also, he was in an episode of Law and Order and has done many plays.
Chick: Angelina Jolie. She's a brilliant actress, and she seems quite bright. She's really really pretty and I hate her. Anyway, the thing that I dislike about her is actually just the studios always making her get naked for all her films. It's like, oh, so I have to look at her boobs all movie long, but I don't even get to see John Cusack's chest?! Whatever. But that's the studios; she's just trying to make a living.
Aries (3/21-4/19) -This month, open up your
mind and let the dreams fill a few cells; outer space is waiting
on your spic and span brain.
Famous Aries - Claire Danes (4/12/79), Ewan McGregor (3/31/71),
Ashley Judd (4/19/68), Sarah Jessica Parker (3/25/65), & Robert
Frost (3/26/1874)
Taurus (4/20-5/20) - A simpleton admires your freshly exfoliated skin. Beware of the rickety niches of your so vivid memory.
Gemini (5/21-6/20) - Bubbles are out thick this month; see the fear of disappointment as the cannibal's burden and have fun.
Cancer (6/21-7/22) - Don't let designer jeans rob you of your survival or of your disturbing piece of cake.
Leo (7/23-8/22) - The freedom you seek is not in the wall you love to plow yourself through; open up the door and let the moon shine in.
Virgo (8/23-9/22) - The inmate of your lonely tissue box nabs several shreds of self-assurance before scurrying off to your sun-dried cupboard.
Libra (9/23-10/22) - Black socks are props on the coffee table and a stranger you know all too well comes through the lines of your phone. Even though things can't get any worse, the sun still shines ever so brightly through the living room windows; I suggest you sleep this month.
Scorpio (10/23-11/21) - It wouldn't take an emery board to file down your camouflage: I'd say that's not exactly a bad thing. I think you'll manage to wobble through your groove thing.
Sagittarius (11/22-12/21) - A scavenger trots on your territory like it ain't no thing, while photographing the corpses that lie on your cellar floor; grin and bear it.
Capricorn (12/22-1/19) - The foxy and seemingly flirtatious sex doll blowing your mind leaves you frazzled and shaking, but trust me when I say it's worth your while.
Aquarius (1/20-2/18) - Clowns dance in gay fashion around your sixteen seas of despair; ignore them.
Pisces (2/19-3/20) - The pawn broker might
seem like God, but God is actually the broken guitar on the pawn
shop wall. And since no one will buy it, it is growing dust and
developing a rather moldy disposition.
email:
Leave us comments, suggestions, and replies to contests. Let us know if you'd like a monthly column of some sort. We love member involvement at the IPS!
Last month, Shenarka joined the IPS. Welcome Shenarka!
If you have your newsletter mailed to you, remember to send in your yearly fee of $1 to lighten the burden of printing and shipping. I swear I would never try to milk you for money, but all of this stuff comes out of my own pocket, so be a sport and send in your fee ASAP!
Don't forget that if you know somebody worthy of joining the IPS, let us know and we'll set them up with an application and stuff.
Remember to feel free to nominate stuff for any article at any time. Got a song stuck in your head that deserves the Song of the Month title? Send it in. Avid about a worthy cause? Tell us about it. You may not see your suggestions immediately because I write these so far ahead of time, but I promise I'll put it in sooner or later. This is your newsletter so let me know what you wanna see in it and I shall do my best to please you. So it is written; so shall it be.
Back to the Top | News 13 | Home | Email the IPS | News 15