The Crazies

There have definitely been alot of horror remakes out in the last couple years. Everything from great (My Bloody Valentine) to the not so great (Wolfman), but this year perhaps the best horror remake has arrived. I am talking about non other than the new release starring Timothy Olyphant and Rhada Mitchell, The Crazies. This is a remake of a George Romero horror movie made in 1973. The original was made during the time of the Vietnam war and the public outcry about our governments activities and that backdrop was used as juxtaposition to tell the story about the unraveling of society. The remake directed by Breck Eisner deals with the issues of government surveillance and how far the government would go to cover-up and hide a disaster.
The story deals with a small Utah town where the residents seem to be going crazy and killing each other. Without giving to much away, it is traced back to a government engineered biological weapon aboard a plane that crashed nearby. One by one the townspeople start to act weird and the government comes in to quarantine. The Crazies is a very intelligent horror movie, with top notch performances. Unlike many of todays horror movies, The Crazies is violent, bloody and gory without reveling in the bloodshed and becoming horror porn (like the Saw movies). Not that I'm complaining, being a big fan of the Saw series but it is a refreshing treat to see a horror movie that relies on the tension of the situation to creep you out and send shivers down your spine rather than extended, cringe inducing gore to make you uncomfortable. The movie starts out with a bang, and never lets up. The pacing is brisk and you never question the actions of the characters or the progression of the story. In this day and age of technology and unauthorized government surveillance the story never seems unbelievable and part of the scares from the movie. I can't say it enough, go see this movie.

Scratchers.....

I just wanted to rant about something that annoys me. I'm talking about going on craigslist and finding adds for not only tattoo machines and kits, but for people advertising tattooing out of their house. As a professional tattoo artist, this really pisses me off. Our industry has fought really hard and long to be respected as legitimate art. We have also fought long and hard to educate the public about tattooing and the safe way to do it. Home scratchers give our industry a bad name, not only by creating substandard work, but creating it in an unsafe environment. Many of these people don't know anything about sterility, or cross-contamination. These home scratchers are harming the business that they are trying to get into. They need to realize that learning from a professional is the only way to learn. You learn the correct way of doing things and don't scar people up. The public is also to blame for the abundance of these home "artists". For every person tht gets a fucked up tattoo out of a house, it sheds an unwanted and unflattering light on professionals that take their art seriously. You wouldn't go to a doctor out of a house, or a plastic surgeon out of a house, so why would people go to a house to get a tattoo? This is something that's going to be on your body forever and requires puncturing the skin, therefore you have the potential for a serious infection or blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis. The public at large needs to get their head out of their ass and do some research before they choose someone to do their tattoo. Take a look at the artists portfolio to see what they are capable of. Ask to see their sterilization procedures(especially if they work out of their house, and make sure that everything is clean and they know what they are doing.

Hooray for New Jersey

The state of New Jersey is the latest state to get it right......sort of. I'm talking about New Jersey's Latest law signed into affect by the Governor before leaving office. That's right boy's and girl's I'm talking about the new Medical Marijuana Law. New Jersey is the latest state (1 out of 14) to allow medical marijuana for sick patients. New Jersey law states that if you have AIDS, Glaucoma, MS, or any one of the other illnesses that the state put on the bill, you will be allowed to receive up to two ounces a month. You may posses and smoke without fear of prosecution. While it's great to see that more states are following California's lead in medical marijuana, New Jersey was not quite as easygoing about the law as California. Lawmakers fearing a repeat of what has happened in California(there laws are so lax that it's more or less de-criminalized)have put some stipulations into the bill. Patients in New Jersey originally in the bill would be allowed to grow their own marijuana, with the way the bill is written now though, they have to go to state dispensaries to get their medicine. This is presumably done so a better eye can be kept on those using the medicine, having to show a card at the dispensary. This however raises a question about access to the drug. If someone is sick enough to need marijuana under the state guidelines,then I would assume they may not be healthy enough, or mobile enough to trek on down to the dispensary to get their medicine. Unless the state of New Jersey is gonna run a marijuana delivery service (which would be pretty sweet)I would imagine quite a few patients are just not gonna be able to get the medicine they need. So why not allow sick, home-bound people to grow their own medicine. Are politicians that scared that everyone is going to turn into a pothead? Could be, but i doubt it. More people smoke pot than they realize. I have a feeling it all comes down to money. If they have dispensaries and that is the only place that you can get your medicine, they can charge whatever they want. If you allow a provision in the bill so patients can grow their own, the state won't get as much revenue. They will still get a good amount. People that are sick may not be able to, for one reason or another,grow their own. They will have to rely on the state for their medicine. While I am glad that New Jersey lawmakers have, somewhat, come to their senses, I think that every other state needs to at least follow the leads of these 14 states. If not de-criminalize pot altogether.