Working in IT akin to 'prison sentence' - Former BT technology chief tells

Cochrane, who was speaking at the launch of a Star Technology report From basement to boardroom; recognising the business value of IT compiled by the Yankee Group, said that the way that IT departments were run was �stupid� and that working in IT was more akin to a �prison sentence.�

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Roman Mythological References in

Aquatic Symbolism and Roman Mythological References in "Leave it to Beaver": An Evolutionary Analog
The aquatic symbolism and Roman mythological references are obvious. Before we get to those, we have to set the foundation. The family's surname is "Cleaver." ...

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DVD Review: Lovedolls Superstar: Fully Realized

Lovedolls Superstar: Fully Realized, the sequel to Desparate Teenage Lovedolls, is a Low-Budget, Post-Punk period piece that draws its inspiration from the Los Angeles punk subculture. This film is a tongue-in-cheek stab at the establishment, Rock stars, slimy record label types, religious cults, pimps, and 70's cinema. This film leaves no stone unturned in it's covertly intelligent commentary of the underground Punk Rock scene, feminism, and drug abuse. As this sequel unfolds we find lead vocalist Kitty Carryall (Jennifer Schwartz) has descended to living a delusional, hazy existence, fueled by alcohol. Alexandria (Cheeta Punkerton) is a skanky, Hollywood Boulevard bangtail, and Patch Kelly (Janet Housden) is now the leader of a troupe of mindless, acid-head, commune misfits and has transformed into a religious cult leader going by the moniker of Patch Christ. Their major objective is to stage a Lovedolls comeback. They don't settle for the usual media blitz methods, but decide to resort to swift and blinding violence, coercion and gang-knifing record company execs.


The charm of Lovedolls Superstar: Fully Realized is that Director, David Markey, had no grandiose intentions for the film, except to create a lo-fi, satirical, attack on a laundry list of societal issues and pop figures in the spirit of mid-80s, D.I.Y. Post-Punk, underground mindset. One of the more humorous elements was the continous parody of the 1971 film, Billy Jack (that attempted to make a statement about racism as far as pertained to Native Americans in the 1970s) and the hippie movement. Other funny moments include an attack by a possessed Gene Simmons (ala Kiss) doll, a swipe at religious cults and cult leaders (specifically Jim Jones and the People's Temple), and a parody of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In the Dark" video with the chorus lyrics changed to "Somebody just shoot me in the dark" that ends in the assination of Springsteen.

Lovedolls Superstar: Fully Realized primary appeal is in its first-rate list of 80's Alternative/Post-Punk, heavy-hitters including: Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Steve and Jeff McDonald (Redd Kross), the Meat Puppets, Vicki Peterson (The Bangles), Sky Saxon (The Seeds), and Sonic Youth. A nod goes to The Lovedolls performance of "Love Machine", which rocked more than a lot of 'real' bands, who currently try to exist in this musical space. The bottom line is that this film is an enjoyable, albeit goofy, piece of nostalgia from the burgeoning Post-Punk underground music scene of the mid-80's that will is best viewed with a bunch of your Indie music afficianado friends, a couple of cases of cheap beer, while wearing your Black Flag t-shirt. This flick will either make you want to drag all of your vintage, 80's Post-Punk vinyl down from the attic or obsessively search Web for their mp3 equivalents.

Matt "SST" Largo





    

DVD Review: I'll Bury You Tomorrow

The Beech Funeral Home is the setting for a carnival of weirdness in I’ll Bury You Tomorrow. Mr. Beech’s employees, Jake (Jerry Murdock) and Corey (played by the Director, Alan Rowe Kelly, in drag) are secretly running a black-market organ business. Mrs. Beech, who is gradually losing touch with reality, adds to the insanity of the situation with her hopes that their dead daughter will come back to her. Meanwhile at the Port Oram train station, Dolores Finley (Zoe Daelman Chlanda) arrives sporting a circled ‘Help Wanted’ newspaper ad for a position at the Beech Funeral Home. At first glance she looks fairly normal, but her arrival scene is spattered with vignettes of carnage and visions of bloody body parts that could possibly be hiding in her luggage. She gets directions from the train station porter and lands on the Beech Funeral Home doorstep. She subsequently impresses Mr. Beech with her knowledge of the funeral business and her expertise with embalming tools. Dolores seems like a perfect fit for the job and is hired on the spot even though her references are lacking. Little does Mr. Beech know that Dolores transforms into a mask-wearing (ala Paula Sheppard in Alice, Sweet Alice), slutty, schizophrenic, necrophiliac. This film picked up a total of 6 International Film Festival Awards:

• Feature Film Winner – Telluride IndieFest 2002 and Key West IndieFest 2003
• Best Horror Feature – New York Int’l Independent Film & Video Festival 2002
• The GORE-GORE Award – Festival of the Macabre
• Best Make-up Design – The B Movie Theater Film Fest

Although the premise of I’ll Bury You Tomorrow is ideal fodder for a B-Movie, Horror flick, it fails to provide enough momentum to push this film into the realm of “Campy but Cool.” I wasn’t expecting to see Oscar-quality performances or cinematic breakthroughs, but I my expectations were set a bit high after reading the laundry list of awards this film garnered during its original theatrical release. Besides a running time one minute shy of two hours, one major problem with this film is that it doesn’t effectively capitalize on the basics: fear of abandonment, anxiety of being lost, fear of the unknown, etc. (See The Hills Have Eyes, Evil Dead, and more recently, The Blair Witch Project). The best performances by far were turned in by Chlanda as Dolores and Murdock, who played a dual role as Jake and Sheriff Mitch. I didn’t even realize Murdock's dual role until I scrutinized the credits went back to view some scenes to verify it. Kudos go to make-up artist Kari Arthurs for helping to pull off Murdock’s dual role, Kelly’s gender-bending role as Corey, and the realistic look of the stiffs on the mortuary slab. I also think that Chlanda may have a shot at feature films if she can hook up with the likes of Wes Craven, George Romero, or Sam Raimi. The bottom line: I’ll Bury You Tomorrow was gory and amusing, but not outright scary. I’ll probably develop an I’ll Bury You Tomorrow drinking game and add it to the roster of movies I watch the week of Halloween.    

      

The Electron Sea is Near...

Visit the ElectronSea.com the future home of Matt Largo’s Cerebral Vortex.

Discussion about new robot designer life-forms, the Twilight Zone episode "The Lonely", Pilotdrift's new release "Water Sphere", The Voom Blooms' new single "Politics & Cigarettes" to be released on March 20, 2006.


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