Russell Crowe Needs a Math Lesson

Mr. Russell Crowe said last night on the Tonight Show that his perfect solution to the financial crisis here in the U.S. is to take the $700 billion and give each of three hundred million (300,000,000) Americans one million dollars ($1,000,000) "with the first three hundred billion dollars ($300,000,000,000) of the bail out money" to which the crowd roared by the way. So...One million x three hundred million = three hundred trillion (300,000,000,000,000).... ...I won't beat this horse...

The New New Deal

So I haven't been following this $700 billion bailout much but the premise seems like the following: people asked for bigger loans than they could afford, banks said yes and paid huge sums for inflated home prices, economy tanked, people faulted, banks foreclosed and screwed themselves out of the principal, gov now wants to step in and pay for banks' big time greedy mistake. Uh, excuse me... wants US to pay for it. What I'm still missing here is how this makes any sense economically.

Let's just say that the gov has already thrown the $700 billion on the table... they're GOING to spend it. Wouldn't it make more sense to put that enormous sum of money into the hands of people who could reinvest in the banks? Finance cars, houses, boats, etc? Call it Trickle-Up Economics. I mean if unemployment is up, along with gas/food/housing/living prices, why can't we "bail out" the people who really need it (and who didn't cause their dire situation with their own selfish interests). And in this "welfare to work" society, what better way to help out those in need than to make them work for it... by rolling out the New New Deal.

Let's build some schools, refurbish state colleges, repair roads and highways, and create some good, government jobs (and contracts) to help stimulate the economy back into good standing. If the government were to fund public works again and enacts reforms for the banking system again, wouldn't we see some progress toward a healthy economy? One where our dollar doesn't rival the Peso? Where a gas tank doesn't rival a paycheck? Just a thought.

Congrats to Ovation Nominee Katrina Lenk!

On behalf of all of us here at Mutiny Universe, I would like to offer heartfelt congratulations to actress Katrina Lenk, who plays the part of Christine in Mutiny Universe's Elan Vital, for her well deserved 2008 Ovation Award nomination!

The prestigious Los Angeles theatre award ceremony will be held on November 17 at the Harriet & Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State Los Angeles. The show will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Katrina has been nominated in the category of "Lead Actress in a Musical" for her portrayal of Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago, produced by Jeremy Lucas, Bonnie McMahan, Justin Baldwin, Mindy Rouff, and Mark Espinosa for the Musical Theatre of Los Angeles Alliance.

Eight Mondays of "Élan Vital" Music

We are releasing virtually all of the music I wrote/arranged and produced for Élan Vital via our podcast at mutuni.com - about three songs every Monday until November 10. To prevent the plot of the film from being spoiled, we're releasing the soundtrack in alphabetical order (more or less).

Today, we have the following songs (click on the links to download or right-click to save as):
All's Well That Ed's Well
The Blue Lady
Christine

The entire soundtrack will be released again, in its proper order, around the beginning of next year. Stayed tuned to Mutiny Universe for more information.

The Iceman Cometh

It's always awesome when actors are open to parody the characters they've played in the past (those DirecTV commercials, Harry Hamlin allowing his Perseus to get his ass kicked in God of War II, and George Clooney's open remorse for Batman and Robin). Anyway, I just remembered this Top Gun "sequel" from the turn of the millennium:

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Crazy Christian group:
"Dinosaurs on Noah's Ark."
T-Rex ate the boat?

The scary future

Veep Sarah Palin
I'm moving to Canada
If she gets sworn in

I AM ED

I am. Trust me. And if you get a chance to see ELAN VITAl, my new movie, you'll understand. Or, maybe you won't understand, but you'll certainly see that I am, in fact, ED.

It won't be on the world-wide interweb for a little while, as it's off to Festivals right now, but you should definitely check it out. As an actor, I am incredibly insecure about my performance and the fact that I look ugly and overweight in this movie. As an Associate Producer, I love how Ed has a definitive and pivotal role in the grand scheme of things. Plus the fact that Ed is surrounded by some amazing lighting and great scenery, courtesy of the Monsoon Cafe Lounge and some Jason Loya artwork.

What does it mean to be ED? It's an awakening of sorts. It's trying to see everything for what it is, but bring the contradictory parts of this world together into some kind of harmony. It's bringing your wombmates out of their shell and letting them express themselves in a way that is scary to them but ultimately will save them and make them happier in life. It's being the lynchpin... the crux... the guy who never gets more than a sip of whiskey, but is looking less for the alcoholic stupor and more for the Boogie Woogie.

Trust me, ya gotta see this movie.

Light Bulb of the Future?

I was completely baffled when the power company in my city mailed me 2 free CFL bulbs. Why am I baffled? Those are supposed to be good right? Save energy - longer lasting - better for the environment...right? Sure - whatever. Along with the CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) - in the "free" box from the power company (for which I will surely pay somewhere in my monthly bill) came two green plastic bags for use in the disposal of the CFLs when they burn out. It turns out these "green" bulbs pollute the environment with mercury when they break! So I am supposed to hang on to these plastic bags for several years so that I can safely dispose of these "environmentally friendly" bulbs - these "green" bulbs??!

Oh - that's the other thing - I should not have put green in quotes there. The color temp of these CFLs is no different than that of any other fluorescent bulb (think library, bleak hallway, prison, school, place of 1000 cubicles) - literally GREEN. Ugh. It is the ugliest quality of light imaginable. Give it a coating like a Reveal Bulb to closer resemble daylight and perhaps we're getting somewhere but that still hasn't happened and certainly doesn't change that little mercury issue.

So what options do we really have if we're not supposed to use incandescent bulbs and these CFLs BLOW? A friend of mine brought up the idea that LEDs should be the standard. I agree with that - for now. They last longer, give off less heat, and save money and resources across the board. For the time being, LEDs make the most sense of anything widely available on the market.



However, I recently stumbled upon Luxim's new technology - the plasma light bulb. It is the size of a Tic Tac, has the color temp of daylight, lasts far longer than anything else - and apparently can be powered wirelessly! It is a brand new technology and cannot be expected to be in every one's home overnight but if the public can move to LED technology and then to plasma technology, skipping the fluorescent stage altogether, we shall see some real progress in energy efficiency and quality as we venture further into the new century.