Intellectual Property Rights: Too long?

I'm all for intellectual rights and rewarding those who come up with ideas that revolutionize the world. Water purification systems, solar panels, the human genome. These are just some of the things that originated in the mind of an individual and were engineered and refined over the years. Providing life, energy and understanding to the history of man. But at what point does that person or company get to hold onto the patent right of that creation? At what point does the intellectual property belong to all of mankind and shared freely among the rich and poor? Well, I say 10 years. In that time, the product or idea will be able to reach a large amount of people and the intellectual property owner will be able to earn more money than he can spend. I guess that's the problem I have with patent rights in general. The owner gets to keep the rights for a long long time. Case in point is with Disney. They've managed to extend ownership of Mickey Mouse for over 70 years by hiring lobbyists to keep changing the laws. Same goes for the pharmaceutical industry. They've managed to keep patents by changing the pill from a tablet to a caplet and with a straight face, say that it is a completely different product. These drugs should have gone generic a long time ago, thereby making them more affordable and accessible to many. Eh, maybe I'm a little sour because I keep coming up with ideas for things but don't have the know-how to actually create them. I'd be happy if someone took one of my ideas, created the product and then gave some of the credit to me. I don't need a lot of money or fame. In fact, I don't want fame, a nice house and economic freedom is all I want.

Travel Show: Comedy

I love to travel. But when I can't, I indulge myself by watching tv shows about traveling. There's regular travel shows of the Rick Steves kind but there's also travel shows about food, travel shows about drinking and travel shows about the weird and eclectic. They're all great and I find myself learning more about a culture or a continent by watching them. But what has always intrigued me, is what makes people laugh. We all laugh, by some estimates, we laugh in some form or another every day about 30 times. In fact, I just laughed watching an old snippet of Dick van Dyke playing the piano and trying to scratch an itch. But I wonder if someone from Okinawa would've laughed at that, and if not, what makes them laugh? In short, that's the idea for my travel show, what do people all around the world laugh at? I know we live in an ever connected world, but that doesn't mean people in Ireland understand the references of The Simpsons or Seinfeld. Conversely, I'd bet money that they laugh at stuff I'd find downright odd. That's exactly what the show would be about. Me traveling around the world and finding out what all the cultures of the world laugh at. Is it slapstick? Satire? Fairy tales? I know from living in Prague in the Czech Republic that theater during the communist occupation was allegorical because any blatant criticism of the regime would've been met with death. To this day the Czechs still laugh at it because it is so deeply rooted in history and is a part of their identity. Do Norwegians participate in stand-up comedy? Are Samoans into sketch? Is there an improv troupe in Bulgaria? What I would hope to achieve through this would be to foster some goodwill and help cultures understand each other better. We're all on the same earth. Might as well laugh together about it.

Test for Emails, drunk dials etc...

I've never done it, but it's been done to me. It comes in many forms: emails, texts, voicemails, usually by electronic means, although there has been the stray note taped to a door or scribbled messageleft on a car windshield. What I'm talking about is a relative phenomenon or, I'm assuming it's new to this generation. It's the habit or tendency, when drunk or under the influence to send forlorn messages to exes, often late at night, right before bed. Most are sent hoping for a response from the receiver and many are regretted in the clear-thinking light of day once the influence of alcohol or drugs has worn off. Here's my plan to curtail embarrassment for millions. Right before sending a message after a certain time of the night, say after the bars close, you would have to complete some math formulas. This would give the person time to think long and hard if they really want to send that embarrassing message and give them time to sober up as well. Hey, people are free to do whatever they want, if they want to try and reconnect with a long lost love, who am I to stand in their way? They are usually lost and gone for a reason, yours or theirs, it doesn't matter, either way it's over. I guess people do it to try and get back what they had in the past rather than trying to live in the present and make that time important. Eh, what am I saying? I've done it too.

Hello My Name Is

I've worked a lot of odd jobs in my day. In fact, I still do. Everything from washing jets for the Air Force to being a gardener at an international school in Eastern Europe. At some of those jobs I've had to wear name tags. I still have jobs where I have to wear name tags and it got me thinking about peoples names, what they do and where they might have to wear name tags. Most are for jobs, but one can also wear them for job interviews, class reunions and community parties. I've seen a few funny and humorous ones in my day and I thought it might be nice to collect the best ones and put them on a website. People could take photos of funny name tags that they see and upload them to the site themselves. For example, at one of my jobs my name tag has my name and then my favorite movie from a certain studio in Hollywood underneath. So, it says Joshua and then underneath it says, The Jerk. Now, if someone is just reading this quickly it would seem to say Joshua the Jerk. Come on, that's funny. That's just one example. Have you ever seen funny name tags or badges? Send them to me and I'll post them.

Flowers by subterfuge

The other day I went to the Dollar Store to purchase some cat litter. At regular grocery stores it's three times as much. Don't worry, this entry isn't all about cat litter and its variable pricing structure. While I was at the Dollar Store I walked past a large display of seeds for flowers, fruits and vegetables. I could get 5 packets of my choosing for a dollar. But, I don't have the room for all those flowers and edibles. Where is there ample space? A-ha! Sidewalk planters, medians, and just plain strips of public grass all around my neighborhood. So, I purchased a few flower packets and on my walk home I put some in the patch of dirt and grass by my bus stop, along a sidewalk and in planter boxes that have soil, just nothing in them. These are all in areas next to sprinklers, so they will never go dry, and with the abundant sunshine in Los Angeles, these puppies are sure to flourish. I'll update this with pics as they grow. But that got me thinking. What if we all did this in the vacant spaces around where we live? We could beautify our neighborhood for pennies on the dollar and minimal effort. Who knows, we could even plant more than flowers. Small patches of blackberries, baby tomatoes, and arugula could sprout up right next to our community softball field. Wouldn't that be great to see and be a part of?

Oscar Night Outfits

The nominations for the Academy Awards came out today, otherwise known as the Oscars. The field for Best Picture nominees was extended from 5 to 10. Some would say in order to bring attention to some over looked and well-deserved films. I say, to help the film industry sell more dvds and recoup some of their losses from bit torrent and the wild west of the internet and bootlegs. Putting that aside, I had an interesting idea about the night of the Oscar ceremony. It's usually a fancy, stuffy affair with women wearing expensive gowns and even more expensive jewelry. While the guys wear tuxedos and play arm candy to the women. Well, I had an idea that would turn that notion on its head. How about if the Best Actor, Actress and Supporting categories had to wear the costumes they wore for the film with which they are being nominated from. Think about it. Wouldn't it be cool if Jeremy Renner wore his bomb detecting outfit from the Hurt Locker? Or Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart. Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side? This would add a fun dimension to an otherwise bland and studied affair and remind the fans of the characters that these people portrayed and why they enjoyed them so much. Will it ever happen? Probably not bloody likely. Would it be cool to see actors in their costumes instead of in tuxedos and gowns? Absolutely!

Cat carrier/Cat litter box

I am a man with two cats. One more and I would be a verifiable crazy cat man. Luckily, I don't have to travel with my cats much and when I do I put them in separate bags and crates. Today, as I was cleaning out their boxes I came up with an idea that would combine a travel bag with a portable litter box for when cats have to travel and you don't want to carry a large litter box. The bag would be modeled after the popular Sherpa cloth bag with mesh sides. The top would be pretty much the same but underneath it all would be a hard plastic bottom with rounded sides about 2-3inches high. The litter would be placed in there and the carrier on top with a cloth and plastic base. The litter box would be zippered to the base and when you were ready to let the cat out, just unzip the litter box and the two are separated. The litter would be sealed so as not to allow the odor to leak and the cat would be none the wiser. All in all the litter box would add just a few pounds to the overall carrier and in return you are freed the hassle of carrying an open litter box that could potentially spill. I also just had the idea that if one didn't want to carry litter, they could use the extra space to store food, leashes, collars, toys, or any number of other pet items. I would also try to make sure this new design would comply with FAA rules for size allowance of an onboard pet carrier. How does that sound? Any readers out there with pets who would care to comment? Any non-pet owners inclined to throw in their thoughts?