John Masters, Author at Deep Something

Monsters vs Aliens – A Movie Review

November 2, 2009 B. John 439 Views 1 Comment Action, Adventure, Comedy, Reese Witherspoon, Animation, Seth Rogen, Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon, Keifer Sutherland

When California girl Susan Murphy is unwittingly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk on her wedding day, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall. Alerted to the threat of this new monster, the military jumps into action and Susan is captured and secreted away to a covert government compound. There, she is renamed Ginormica and placed in confinement with a ragtag group of other monsters. I would give the movie 7/10. It is an animated movie that you can actually volunteer to take your kids to and enjoy it just as much as they can.

General Culture Movies

Paranormal Activity

October 29, 2009 B. John 608 Views 2 Comments Fantasy, Horror, Oren Peli, Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat

After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban “starter” tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to. The concept was OK, but it’s been done before to much better effect. Overall, neither one of us found the movie scray at all.

Society Gay Issues

Paul And Jeanette – A couple more Mainers who get it

October 28, 2009 B. John 370 Views 0 Comments Gay Marriage, Maine

Paul explains he’s a bear protecting his cubs as he talks about his two daughers, one of which is gay. He talks about being a Catholic family, and how they love both their daughters equally. Paul talks about his service in Vietnam, and how if people don’t think equal rights are important, they should have some of their’s taken away sometime.

Featured Politics Congress

Need An Insane Congress Person – There's a Rep For That

October 19, 2009 B. John 387 Views 0 Comments Lies, Glenn Beck, fundies, death panels, deceit

Republicans sound like they’re conducting a giant experiment in saying whatever they can get away with, and I suspect they’re surprised as any of us by some of the results. That’s probably too harsh, though. What’s worse is that a good chunk of them might believe the stuff they say.

Culture Entertainment

Because Sometimes You Never Know What Someone Can Do

October 12, 2009 B. John 364 Views 0 Comments Autism, Glory, New York, Hope, Basketball

I saw this story of New York High School student, Jason McElwain, when it first aired and was touched by the story. After serving many seasons as the team manager, Jason, a person with autism, was allowed to play the last four minutes of the last game, and wound up scoring 21 points, most from outside the three point line. It’s kind of old news, but someone posted it on Facebook, which brought it back to mind, so I thought I’d link to it here. So this is your chance for a nice feel good story for the day.

Politics Congress Society

Olbermann's Special Commentary on Healthcare Reform

October 8, 2009 B. John 318 Views 0 Comments Keith Olbermann, Universal Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Health care reform

As usual, Keith Olberman does a good job of explaining the need for healthcare reform, and explaining the public option. Olberman cites a comment by Winston Churchill: Churchill’s argument was this, “I have heard it said that the government had no mandate such a doctrine is wholly inadmissible. The responsibility for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate!”

Featured Politics Congress

What's Wrong With Baucus Care

October 6, 2009 B. John 325 Views 0 Comments Public Option, Health Care Insurance Reform, Max Baucus

There’s no public option in Senator Max Baucus’ Healthcare bill. Instead, we are forced to buy private insurance. This is a major step backwards for the healthcare reform movement! Watch the video and call your senator at (202) 224-3121.

Politics Congress Featured

United Health Care's Extreme Profits

October 2, 2009 B. John 347 Views 0 Comments Sick for Profit, Health Care Insurance Reform, UnitedHealth Group, United Health Care, CEO Salaries, Stephen Hemsley. Brave New Films

What does UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley have to lose if Congress passes real healthcare reform this year? Brave New Films is launching a major new campaign to reveal the truth about the health insurance industry, and we need your help to do it. Contribute $25 today so we can create more campaigns exposing the obscene wealth of the CEOs of Aetna, CIGNA, Humana and WellPoint and the policyholders they’ve abandoned for profit.

Culture Technology

Shift Happens

October 1, 2009August 10, 2015 B. John 330 Views 0 Comments

This is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist.

Entertainment

Scuba Diving in a Flooded Meadow

September 30, 2009 B. John 327 Views 0 Comments SCUBA, Diving, Australia, Meadow

This is an amazing film of Scuba Diving in a Newly-Flooded Meadow.Hiking trails, picnic tables, benches and signs all under water in this very relaxing video filmed in Austria.

General Featured Places Tampa

Crazy Crash Sunday

September 28, 2009 B. John 398 Views 0 Comments Traffic, Howard Franklin

I am glad I was not on the road for most of Sunday, and even then, we stayed on surface streets and around the neighborhood. Three crashes (I-75, I-4 and I-275) all had major accidents within a two hour window Sunday afternoon that involved over 100 vehicles, and sent 14 people to the hospital. Fortunately, no one seemed to have life-threatening injuries.