we waste too much money and too much of natural resources for space exploration. people like richard branson need to find better money grubbing gimmicks. by 2009, branson hopes to launch civilians into sub-orbital space on Virgin Galactic. tickets will be $200,000. and the sickening part is that people will pay that. "RICHARD BRANSON is in negotiations with British television networks to launch a talent show for aspiring astronauts." branson built a huge spaceport in upham, new mexico... an area coined as "uninhabited," yet 30 miles away lies a resort spa town with natural hot springs. years from now, the surrounding towns will be scratching their heads, wondering why cancer rates have skyrocketed (pun intended).
"According to the Virgin Galactic website, Branson has plans for orbital space tourism and proposes putting a hotel in space. It is expected that some of the future spacecraft will be able to dock with a space hotel." ~wikipedia
why can't rich people invest in cleaning up the environment instead of producing more waste and garbage on earth and now in space??? i shouldn't tear branson into too many shreds, he did offer a $25 million prize to first person or company who removes billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases from the earth's atmosphere. what a humanitarian!! and he did "pledge" $3 to "fight global warming." a greedy billionaire who owns an airline company and rocket company couldn't possibly want to gain public approval by seeming concerned about the environment, could he??? and he certainly couldn't be wanting to promote fuel alternatives to allevate the high costs of gas/diesel so that his companies would be paying less at the pump...
"Branson's $3 billion wasn't philanthropy by any definition: The Virgin conglomerate chieftain promised to invest profits from his transport operations for the next decade in different types of nonpetroleum fuel — especially ethanol, most often made from corn — in the process scooping up hundreds of millions in federal corn-ethanol subsidies, profits, and political advantage. The supposed anti-global warming benefit of Branson's commitment, meanwhile, is false: Distilling ethanol from corn consumes more fossil energy than what's contained in the final bio-fuel product.
Tad Patzek, a professor in UC Berkeley's geoengineering program, has published studies showing that when one accounts for the petroleum used to produce fertilizers, corn seed, transportation, waste-water disposal, and other farming, refining, and delivery tasks, it takes six times as much energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than that gallon creates when it burns in your pistons. And all that excess energy consumption exacerbates, rather than reduces, global warming and U.S. energy dependence." ~matt smith editorial seen here.
i'm all for alternative fuels and cleaner emissions, but what i am concerned with is our water supply. fertilizers and waste-water from the crops alone will significantly contaminate our water supply. i hope scientists are working as hard to develop plans for waste-water reduction as they are for sending tourists in space. demand for clean water already exceeds supply in many countries. at this rate, i bet we will run out of fresh water in our lifetime. some alliance needs to formed between countries to better conserve and protect our water resources. think of this: only 3% of the earth's water is drinkable. our bodies are made of 70% water and there are 6,706,529,744+ people in the world. that's a huge demand. (if you want a better idea of how drastic our overpopulation problem is, go here).
here is a fact that is easier to digest: If all the world's water were fit into a gallon jug, the fresh water available for us to use would equal only about one tablespoon.
water issues aside, biofuel research and production would be great if every one wasn't so damn greedy. right now...
"In Malaysia, the production of palm oil for biodiesel is a major industry. The development of oil-palm plantations was responsible for an estimated 87% of deforestation. In Sumatra and Borneo, 4 million hectares of forest have been converted to palm farms. Now a further 6 million hectares are scheduled for clearance in Malaysia, and 16.5 million in Indonesia. Thousands of indigenous people have been evicted from their lands, and some 500 Indonesians have been tortured when they tried to resist. The forest fires which every so often smother the region in smog are mostly started by the palm growers. Hundreds of thousands of small-scale peasant farmers are being displaced by soybeans expansion. Many more stand to lose their land under the biofuels stampede. The expanding cropland planted to yellow corn for ethanol has reduced the supply of white corn for tortillas in Mexico, sending prices up 400%. In the development of biofuels... they do not pay attention to long-term effects. The economy is broken up into competing units of capitalist control and ownership over the means of production. And each unit is fundamentally concerned with itself and its expansion and its profit. The economy, the constructed and natural environment, and society cannot be dealt with as a social whole under capitalism." you can read the entire article here.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Sunday, April 1, 2007
i want to start using the word "holiday" as a verb.
"...one of the most enjoyable holidays i ever had! a really great place to holiday." ~something someone from england would say.
rick went to a friend's house to watch a movie and then stayed over his parent's house so he could get up early to go to church with his sister and niece. i stayed at the apartment and had myself a little chick flick night. i watched The Holiday and ate a lot of chocolate pudding. i thought The Holiday was really cute... i'd say it runs along the same lines as Love Actually. it's an intertwined story that splits into two separate stories and then rejoins... so it's actually TWO chick flicks in ONE!!
Kate Winslet's character is my favorite and her performance seems the most genuine. Cameron Diaz wasn't bad, but whatever movie i see of hers, i feel like i'm just watching the same character experience a different day. maybe it's because she adds her own goofy, alluring quality into EVERY character she plays. Jack Black's character was charming and of course Jack Black sings goofy songs and does his little "doodley-dee" sounds in this movie too. i haven't been a Jude Law fan lately, but he thoroughly surprised me in this film. he's extraordinarily believable in this role. so if you're not a fan of his, don't let that stop you from seeing this film.
the premise/story is cute and improbable (is it really THAT easy to house swap with someone living abroad in less than 24 hours?!) but the improbability will make you want to keep watching. i cringed when Diaz and Winslett were messaging each other online... why does nearly every writer have their characters read aloud while they are typing?!! we can SEE the text. you know the charactors' setbacks are going to be resolved and that the movie will end happily, but there are enough small plot twists to keep you on your toes and prevent the movie from being terribly predictable.
overall, i'd actually recommend this one.
rick went to a friend's house to watch a movie and then stayed over his parent's house so he could get up early to go to church with his sister and niece. i stayed at the apartment and had myself a little chick flick night. i watched The Holiday and ate a lot of chocolate pudding. i thought The Holiday was really cute... i'd say it runs along the same lines as Love Actually. it's an intertwined story that splits into two separate stories and then rejoins... so it's actually TWO chick flicks in ONE!!
Kate Winslet's character is my favorite and her performance seems the most genuine. Cameron Diaz wasn't bad, but whatever movie i see of hers, i feel like i'm just watching the same character experience a different day. maybe it's because she adds her own goofy, alluring quality into EVERY character she plays. Jack Black's character was charming and of course Jack Black sings goofy songs and does his little "doodley-dee" sounds in this movie too. i haven't been a Jude Law fan lately, but he thoroughly surprised me in this film. he's extraordinarily believable in this role. so if you're not a fan of his, don't let that stop you from seeing this film.
the premise/story is cute and improbable (is it really THAT easy to house swap with someone living abroad in less than 24 hours?!) but the improbability will make you want to keep watching. i cringed when Diaz and Winslett were messaging each other online... why does nearly every writer have their characters read aloud while they are typing?!! we can SEE the text. you know the charactors' setbacks are going to be resolved and that the movie will end happily, but there are enough small plot twists to keep you on your toes and prevent the movie from being terribly predictable.
overall, i'd actually recommend this one.
photo outing
sneak peek at the new polaroids:
don't forget about the instant gratification tees too!! (please excuse another shameless plug, but i'm just really excited about them).
don't forget about the instant gratification tees too!! (please excuse another shameless plug, but i'm just really excited about them).
Saturday, March 31, 2007
never again.
today i met up with my friend hal to take some photos. we met at a place known as "top of the world" which is basically a road on top of a mountain. the road there wasn't too bad -- very windy and desserted, but nothing treacherous. there were a few "rough road ahead" signs that could be taken with a grain of salt. i took some kewl polaroids that i will post within the next few days. the plan was to hike around for a bit and then go pick up hal's girlfriend from her job interview for the Getty. everything was going good... we trespassed (if you wanna get technical), took some good photos, we could see the smoke from the hollywood hills fire. (my beloved sign was unharmed, thankfully). hal was using his NEW 5D so let me use his Rebel. we saw some AMAZING views and awesome houses. one dark-colored gothic-ish house in particular that my dad would have loved to live in. i pet a white horse and fed it grass and i saw thee largest prickly pear cactuses ever (i hate the word cacti).
there was even this girl who was driving ahead of us, stopping at the same spots we were to admire the view. she drove off then drove back to where we were just to tell us there was a better spot up the road with a nicer view and better parking. i was impressed. that was really thoughtful.
so i made friends with the white horse and then i followed hal down the mountain. (here comes the NEVER AGAIN PART...) the road back down was THEE MOST WINDIEST ROAD I HAVE EVERRR BEEN ON. if you look at the road on google map, you wouldn't believe it. hairpin turns, falling rock, landslide warning signs everywhere, one lane road, alllll downhill. i felt like i was downhill skiing... in a car!! i couldn't tell whether it was my car that smelt like burning or hal's (i think it was hal's) but by the time we finally reached the bottom, my brakes BARELY wanted to stop my car. and i was driving in low gear!! so i freaked out and pulled over to the side of the road and bailed out of the rest of our photo adventure. never again will i let hal take me down a mountain or a "short cut" or both. i felt bad for cutting our adventure short, but after that incident, i didn't want to drive any further away from the apartment.
soooo... next time, i am driving to hal's neck of the woods (read: relatively flat land) and we will embark on another, longer photo adventure. perhaps even rick will want to come along. :)
there was even this girl who was driving ahead of us, stopping at the same spots we were to admire the view. she drove off then drove back to where we were just to tell us there was a better spot up the road with a nicer view and better parking. i was impressed. that was really thoughtful.
so i made friends with the white horse and then i followed hal down the mountain. (here comes the NEVER AGAIN PART...) the road back down was THEE MOST WINDIEST ROAD I HAVE EVERRR BEEN ON. if you look at the road on google map, you wouldn't believe it. hairpin turns, falling rock, landslide warning signs everywhere, one lane road, alllll downhill. i felt like i was downhill skiing... in a car!! i couldn't tell whether it was my car that smelt like burning or hal's (i think it was hal's) but by the time we finally reached the bottom, my brakes BARELY wanted to stop my car. and i was driving in low gear!! so i freaked out and pulled over to the side of the road and bailed out of the rest of our photo adventure. never again will i let hal take me down a mountain or a "short cut" or both. i felt bad for cutting our adventure short, but after that incident, i didn't want to drive any further away from the apartment.
soooo... next time, i am driving to hal's neck of the woods (read: relatively flat land) and we will embark on another, longer photo adventure. perhaps even rick will want to come along. :)
Thursday, March 29, 2007
JENA ARDELL PHOTO TEES!!!!
introducing NEW merchandise!!!!
now you wear your favorite jena ardell photos!! i created a line of photo tee shirts which feature one of my polaroid photographs in the center. there are many different styles and colors... each is fully customizable. CHECK EM OUT!!
ALSO, there's only a few days left for voting for JPG MAGAZINE issue 10 you can vote for my submission here. you have to sign up for an account first, but it's quick and painless (and free)!!
as of now, the photo has 408 Views and 90 Yeahs and 10 people call it a favorite. my goal is to break 100 Yeahs!! so please help me out. :D
now you wear your favorite jena ardell photos!! i created a line of photo tee shirts which feature one of my polaroid photographs in the center. there are many different styles and colors... each is fully customizable. CHECK EM OUT!!
ALSO, there's only a few days left for voting for JPG MAGAZINE issue 10 you can vote for my submission here. you have to sign up for an account first, but it's quick and painless (and free)!!
as of now, the photo has 408 Views and 90 Yeahs and 10 people call it a favorite. my goal is to break 100 Yeahs!! so please help me out. :D
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
work and movie review.
tuesday i worked as assistant for dave. the shoot was in pasadena in a bike shop for a magazine article. it was thee easiest job... one light. one person. one hundred shots. quick and painless. dave and i were talking about movies and i mentioned that rick and i saw Shooter and dave said, "you know mark wahlberg is my neighbor, right??" i accused him of lying because i thought he meant next door neighbor, but really dave meant mark lives RIGHT NEAR his house. so on our way back to his house, dave showed me mark wahlberg's compound and demi moore's house too. then i organized dave's photo equipment shelf in his garage and he showed me some photo programs (photoshop cs3, bridge and aperture). i'm not quite sure what new features photoshop cs3, but i bet the upgrades from cs2 are insignificant (at least, to me).
monday night: rick and i watched the movie Thirteen and it was HORRIBLE. yes, the point is that the main character is "growing up" too fast but the plot jumps ahead waaay too quickly. one day the main character is shunned by the popular, bad girls at school and then the next day they talk to her because she's wearing "cool" clothes. that wouldn't happen. i was expecting to learn that the main character was raped by her mom's boyfriend by the way she'd freak out and have mini flashbacks every time she saw him. the dialogue is lame and the story becomes unrealistic at times. whenever the bad-influence best friend wanted sympathy and didn't want to get kicked out of the main character's house, she'd just say her uncle burned her and pushed her into a fire. VERY UNCONVINCING both in the way the lines were delivered and the fact that the character only had one odd scar on her back. i'm not sure why this film won awards and nominations especially in 2003 and 2004 because seemed outdated. i think i'd be more understanding (and less critical) had the movie was made in the early 90s... it seemed cheesy enough.
bottom line: you can tell a thirteen-year-old co-wrote the screenplay.
monday night: rick and i watched the movie Thirteen and it was HORRIBLE. yes, the point is that the main character is "growing up" too fast but the plot jumps ahead waaay too quickly. one day the main character is shunned by the popular, bad girls at school and then the next day they talk to her because she's wearing "cool" clothes. that wouldn't happen. i was expecting to learn that the main character was raped by her mom's boyfriend by the way she'd freak out and have mini flashbacks every time she saw him. the dialogue is lame and the story becomes unrealistic at times. whenever the bad-influence best friend wanted sympathy and didn't want to get kicked out of the main character's house, she'd just say her uncle burned her and pushed her into a fire. VERY UNCONVINCING both in the way the lines were delivered and the fact that the character only had one odd scar on her back. i'm not sure why this film won awards and nominations especially in 2003 and 2004 because seemed outdated. i think i'd be more understanding (and less critical) had the movie was made in the early 90s... it seemed cheesy enough.
bottom line: you can tell a thirteen-year-old co-wrote the screenplay.
Monday, March 26, 2007
steve martin and loquats... two of my favorite things.
this weekend was pretty mellow. on sunday rick and i went to his parent's house and did laundry. we hung out with aldrin, picked up magoo food and checked out head units because mine is busted. i ate A LOT of loquats because they are amazing. for those of you who are unfamiliar with the loquat, it is a small, fragile fruit with the most indescribable taste!! they have a semi-fuzzy skin that needs to be peeled off and about six smooth seeds in the center. the seeds feel really kewl in your mouth when your teeth slide across them. the fruit that you need to eat at least a half dozen in one sitting. my boyfriend's parent's have a loquat tree growing in their back yard. i tried to start one in NJ, but no luck.
one spring, my best friend andrea and i were visiting rick and we raided his loquat tree while he was at work. we ate THIRTEEN of them... EACH!! we were savages!! you should have seen our fingernails!! they were so gunky. we scouted the biggest and best in the tree and i stood on andrea's back trying to reach them. after we told rick about the lengths we went to get the good ones, he asked "why didn't you guys just get the ladder that's sitting right alongside the house???" hahaha.
rick and i wound up eating dinner at chilli's with aldo, tim and his girlfriend morgan who is on spring break right now. we all are going to go hiking this week and aldo and his friend jen want to go to the griffith observatory. i've never been there but i've seen it in the movie Bowfinger, hehe. of which, i had no idea steve martin wrote the screenplay to Bowfinger!! he never ceases to amaze me. he's an amazing writer. i love his voice, his talent and his movies. he's timeless. he's a good looking man and i bet i'd even enjoy watching scary movie 3 (my least favorite movie) if steve martin narrated it.
some facts (from imdb.com) you may not know about mr. steve martin:
*He was chosen as #6 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
*He was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
and... *drum roll*
*Contrary to popular belief, Martin was never a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" (1975). However, he holds the records for guest appearances (25) on the show, hosting (14 times), and hosting in a single season (3). He is also the only person to have hosted a season premiere, a season finale, and a Christmas show.
"All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work." ~steve martin
one spring, my best friend andrea and i were visiting rick and we raided his loquat tree while he was at work. we ate THIRTEEN of them... EACH!! we were savages!! you should have seen our fingernails!! they were so gunky. we scouted the biggest and best in the tree and i stood on andrea's back trying to reach them. after we told rick about the lengths we went to get the good ones, he asked "why didn't you guys just get the ladder that's sitting right alongside the house???" hahaha.
rick and i wound up eating dinner at chilli's with aldo, tim and his girlfriend morgan who is on spring break right now. we all are going to go hiking this week and aldo and his friend jen want to go to the griffith observatory. i've never been there but i've seen it in the movie Bowfinger, hehe. of which, i had no idea steve martin wrote the screenplay to Bowfinger!! he never ceases to amaze me. he's an amazing writer. i love his voice, his talent and his movies. he's timeless. he's a good looking man and i bet i'd even enjoy watching scary movie 3 (my least favorite movie) if steve martin narrated it.
some facts (from imdb.com) you may not know about mr. steve martin:
*He was chosen as #6 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
*He was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
and... *drum roll*
*Contrary to popular belief, Martin was never a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" (1975). However, he holds the records for guest appearances (25) on the show, hosting (14 times), and hosting in a single season (3). He is also the only person to have hosted a season premiere, a season finale, and a Christmas show.
"All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work." ~steve martin
Saturday, March 24, 2007
is it my birthday or something?!
friday night was pretty awesome. rick spoiled me rotten. i got home and he had done the dishes and bought me fruit... lots of fruit. a cantaloupe, strawberries and grapes. Mmmm!! i was pretty exhausted so i took a little nap while rick cooked dinner for me. then we went to the movies to see Shooter and rick bought my ticket. and then rick said...
rick: damn, i am hooking you up to-night guuurl!!
jena: i know!! is it my birthday and i just don't know it?!!
rick: no, but when your birthday rolls around and i don't get you a daaamn thing... remember this night.
jena: hahahaha.
the funny part is right before rick and i went to bed i realized that it sort of was my birthday... it was my half-birthday (on saturday)!! so i am officially 22 1/2.
anyway, rick and i both thought the movie was really good. i was thoroughly entertained. the plot kept me intrigued from beginning to end. mark wahlberg is fantastic... he's like a modern day McGuyver, but better looking and more sarcastic. his character is cunning and smart. i'm not a huge fan of action movies, but this movie was so packed with plot that i just kept moving along with it. i bet most of the naysayers of the film are going to be people who believe every word their government tells them. yes, this film depicts government officials in a bad light, but what or who doesn't? i'm sure in reality it's much worse. don't let political beliefs interfere with seeing this film; it's a good time no matter what side you are on. it's intense but not overbearing. easy to follow but complex. and you'll be impressed with wahlberg's character. wahlberg excels in playing characters who are determined to make an impact. after seeing i heart huckabees, mark wahlberg has quickly become one of my favorite actors. he totally kept that movie alive. i added Fear to aldrin's netflix queue after rick explained what a psycho his character is that movie.
so after our little "date night" was so successful, rick and i decided we need to have more "date nights" and i proposed a "craft night" since i am having withdrawls because my best friend andrea and i always would always get crafty when we were together. that girl needs to accru more vacation time faaast so she can come visit meeee!!!! i miss her damnit!!!! i need to keep in touch with my friends from high school more because i had no idea my friend lindsay was going to mexico until she texted me about it the night before. i am so out of the loop!! i'd say 80% of my friends are people i met in middle school/high school. 15% are people i met in college. 5% are friends of rick's. i need to meet some kewl chicks around here to hang with and do girly stuff with like go shopping or sit by the pool reading magazines.
rick: damn, i am hooking you up to-night guuurl!!
jena: i know!! is it my birthday and i just don't know it?!!
rick: no, but when your birthday rolls around and i don't get you a daaamn thing... remember this night.
jena: hahahaha.
the funny part is right before rick and i went to bed i realized that it sort of was my birthday... it was my half-birthday (on saturday)!! so i am officially 22 1/2.
anyway, rick and i both thought the movie was really good. i was thoroughly entertained. the plot kept me intrigued from beginning to end. mark wahlberg is fantastic... he's like a modern day McGuyver, but better looking and more sarcastic. his character is cunning and smart. i'm not a huge fan of action movies, but this movie was so packed with plot that i just kept moving along with it. i bet most of the naysayers of the film are going to be people who believe every word their government tells them. yes, this film depicts government officials in a bad light, but what or who doesn't? i'm sure in reality it's much worse. don't let political beliefs interfere with seeing this film; it's a good time no matter what side you are on. it's intense but not overbearing. easy to follow but complex. and you'll be impressed with wahlberg's character. wahlberg excels in playing characters who are determined to make an impact. after seeing i heart huckabees, mark wahlberg has quickly become one of my favorite actors. he totally kept that movie alive. i added Fear to aldrin's netflix queue after rick explained what a psycho his character is that movie.
so after our little "date night" was so successful, rick and i decided we need to have more "date nights" and i proposed a "craft night" since i am having withdrawls because my best friend andrea and i always would always get crafty when we were together. that girl needs to accru more vacation time faaast so she can come visit meeee!!!! i miss her damnit!!!! i need to keep in touch with my friends from high school more because i had no idea my friend lindsay was going to mexico until she texted me about it the night before. i am so out of the loop!! i'd say 80% of my friends are people i met in middle school/high school. 15% are people i met in college. 5% are friends of rick's. i need to meet some kewl chicks around here to hang with and do girly stuff with like go shopping or sit by the pool reading magazines.
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