Charles Carreons vs The Oatmeal/the Internet

To tell the truth, I had never heard of The Oatmeal until last week.  Out of the two of us, Dan is all over internet memes/funny posts, pictures…whatever funny thing I ever see on the Internet I go to show Dan and the response is always “Yeah I saw that a while ago..”

If there are others out there like me who don’t know who the Oatmeal is, he is this guy who writes pretty freaking hilarious comics about pretty much anything (I have read through some of them now and had a good giggle) and I recommend that you had him to your reader.  

Anyway, about a year ago the Oatmeal made this post about another funny site known as Funnyjunk.com hosting a heap of his comics without his consent or proper attribution.  A week ago the Oatmeal received a letter from an American lawyer Charles Carreon who acts on behalf of Funnyjunk.com threatening legal action and demanding the payment of $20,000US if the Oatmeal did not remove that post about Funnyjunk hosting a heap of his comics.

Lesson #1

Do not mess with the Oatmeal, or he will post something like this on his website.  Instead of paying $20,000 he ripped Charles Carreon’s letter to shreds and started a fundraiser on IndieGoGO which has now raised over $200,000 which he will be donating to four charities.  The Oatmeal was originally only donating to the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society, but since the campaign has been so successful he has picked another two (unknown) charities to split it between.  The campaign is called “Bearlove Good. Cancer Bad.” mostly because he loves bears and hates cancer.

Lesson #2

Don’t mess with the Oatmeal or the Internet will rage against you!  As a result of the Oatmeals name and shame, Charles Carreon says his website, twitter and facebook were flooded with harrassing and abusive emails/tweets/etc.

You can read the Oatmeals official response by his lawyer to Charles’ letter here.

Lesson #3

Okay, if you haven’t learned anything from Lessons 1 and 2 I don’t think there is much hope for you.

Instead of just letting it go, Charles Carreon has actually now initiated legal proceedings in the US against the Oatmeal, IndieGoGo and two of the charities the Oatmeal named who would be receiving the proceeds of his fundraiser.

If you are interested (like me) you can read Charles’ statement of claim (the reasons and grounds for the court action) here.

Internet rage commence.

The Oatmeal has since posted an update here about Charles lawsuit.  I think this Charles Carreon guy has some pretty brassy balls, taking on the Oatmeal like this!!  Also I think it is pretty terrible joining the recipient charities in the legal action…these are charities dude.  Shouldn’t the money be spent fighting cancer and saving bears rather than wasting that money on legal fees defending themselves against your lame ass legal action?!

There is some pretty interesting legal commentary available from popehat.com – Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V and some interviews from the man (Charles Carreon) himself here and here which all explain the situation in much greater detail.  Because I have no idea what American internet/copyright/defamation law is like I am going to be keeping my eye on this to see what happens.

You should check out how much money the Oatmeal has raised for his chosen charities by clicking on this GIANT BUTTON (courtesy of The Oatmeal.com)!! I am amazed, and I hope that this money will not be tied up in endless litigation for the next upteen years.  BearLove GOOD! Cancer BAD!

What do you think about it all?

R.I.P my little friend 11.07.00 – 11.06.12

To Hollie,

My little friend,

I will never forget the day that I first met you.  I was 12 years old, bullied and in desperate need of a friend who would love me.  I had just come home from a whole week away at school camp, and I had no idea that when mum opened the door, she would be bringing you out with a big pink bow tied around your neck.

It was love at first sight.  I had wanted a puppy for so long, and finally you were here.

I’ll never forget how tiny you were, and how much I loved to race home from school and just cuddle you.  Yes, I dressed you in dolls clothes because I was really bored one day while I was sick, but you didn’t seem to mind too much.  You were always just happy to be near us, and to be part of the family.

You were just the happiest and cutest bundle of fluff I’ve ever seen, even when you gave me sad puppy eyes while you were being groomed (you hated it! let’s not even get started on nail clipping) and many cuddles followed such grooming sessions.

You had a thing with Magpies/birds in general, and one of my favourite things to do was say “Where’s the birdie?” and watch you go completely nuts running around the backyard doing your special guard dog duties.  Somedays, when I lived at home I liked to study outside to get some fresh air, and you could never sit with me for long.  I loved that you would always be off doing patrol duty to make sure I was safe from “the birds”.

You had such a strange love of cheese, you would dance and jump and be perfectly obedient, sitting and staying and laying for as long as we gave you cheese and the second it went away poof! you pretended not to know what we were saying.  We didn’t mind for the most part because you were so lovable and never misbehaved badly

I will never forget how much you hated the water!  It started when you were still a puppy and we put you in the water to teach you how to swim, but I’m glad one of us was there to help you because you couldn’t get up on the step.  I think we just imbued a never ending fear of the water in you, which is probably the reason you avoided the pool like the plague! (Except for that one time you were chasing a bird around the edge and you accidentally fell in..lucky we were home to fish you out!)

I will also never forget how I was able to coax you onto a floatie one hot summers day, and how you were happy to just float around with me on the water for twenty minutes.  It was a lot cooler I’m sure, but I could still tell that you hated it!

Even though you hated the water I loved taking you to the beach because this is where you smiled the most.  We never went into the water, but you loved to run along the beach.

 I will be forever grateful that I managed to take so many beautiful photos to help me remember you and your precious doggy smile when my memory fails.

I loved that you still felt the need to perform your “guard duty” when we were at the beach, with no birds in sight.

Nothing made me happier than seeing that little tail perk up and wag madly from side to side.  I will always remember the joy I felt when you finally learned that taking the lead off did not in fact mean you were allowed to run madly and freely along the beach until I caught you, and instead you would just trot along happily by my side.

I will forever be grateful for the love I saw between you and Dan.  Although he only knew you for a third of the time I did, he loved you as much as I did, and I think you loved him just as much as you loved me.

Moving out of home was hard because I knew that you wouldn’t understand why I wasn’t there every day, and where I had gone.  I knew that mum, dad and aaron would still be there to love you, but we always shared a special bond and I hope that the times I came home made up for all the times I wasn’t there.  I worried about this more than I probably should have, but I will never forget how sad your eyes were that time we  left you with Grandma and Pappa for six weeks while we all went away on a holiday.  It took six months for you to get back to your normal happy self!  I’m sorry we left you for so long, but I hope it taught you that we would always come home for you.

Then you got sick, and had to have surgery.  I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to you then, but luckily I didn’t have to because you bounced back amazingly quickly.

Moving to Melbourne was harder, because I knew the times I would get to see you would be few and far between.  You were getting older, and I was worried that every I saw you could be the last especially since we didn’t know if your illness would come back.

Whenever Dan and I would come home, we would always make sure to take you for big long walks along the beach as often as we could.  You didn’t really understand “fetch”, but you definitely understood the game “chase”.  You just lit up, and your sweet little grin would come out to play when you were chasing after one of us along the beach (sometimes me, but Dan is definitely the runner of the two of us!), or having us run around after you trying to catch you while you ran around with the ball.

Seeing your smile always makes me smile!!!

You were the most loyal little friend any girl could ask for.

I’m so glad that I always took extra time to cuddle you before I left, because my fear came true and the last time I saw you really was the last time I would ever get to see you.  The night when we had to say goodbye to you was one of the saddest nights of my life.  You had come down with a cold that you just couldn’t shake, your anemia came back and you were on all kinds of medication which knocked the socks right off you.  You put up the good fight until you just couldn’t anymore.  I’m so thankful that mum was there to care for you and cuddle you right up to the end, but not being able to be there for you was so unbelievably hard for me.  I’m sad that I could not be there to cuddle you and tell you how much I loved you, and that it would all be okay – even if you couldn’t understand what I was saying, I know you would have understood anyway.

But at the end of it all, I am just grateful that you are not sick anymore.  I am grateful for the twelve long and beautiful years I knew you, and could call you my friend and more than anything I am grateful that I was able to take so many beautiful photos of you to ensure your beautiful little soul and smile are preserved forever.

Thank you for being there for me, for licking and cuddling away my tears, for having fun with me and for loving me when it felt like no one else did.

Love always,

Lecinda.

RIP Hollie.

11.07.00 – 11.06.12

Sunset Date Night

Living in south east QLD, you don’t really {at least I never did} notice the movement of the sun, it’s always risen over the water (in the east) and set over land.  Watching the actual sun set is something I don’t think I’ve ever done, because it always disappears behind mountains or trees.  For me, it’s always been about enjoying the way the light changes and shifts across the sky, the fact you never know what colour your sunset that day will be.

Up north, they were mostly a pink-orange-blue colour, and down in Melbourne I’ve noticed that the sunsets are mostly just yellow and blue, sometimes with a dash of pink after the sun has disappeared below the horizon.  

One thing on my bucket list has been to watch the actual sun set over the ocean.  I’ve seen so many beautiful magnificent photos of it over the years and I’ve always wanted to see at least one.

It was back in January that our friend Debbie took us on a big road trip down the east coast of Port Phillip Bay that I saw something that blew my mind.  I found somewhere where the sun sets over the ocean.  My brain couldn’t compute.

Since that day I have really opened my eyes to the movement of the sun during the seasons…one day on the drive to the train station it’s shining in my face and then three months later its not.  One day it doesn’t bother me on my drive to work and then three months later it’s shining in my face on certain roads it never used to.

So I did some research into it and while I am mostly able to learn by reading, there are some situations where I need visual guides to fully understand what’s going on.  Although I knew that the sun is not really moving (it was still confusing!!!) I had no detailed understanding until I found some helpful diagrams that show how the sun’s path changes based on the axis of the Earth at certain points.  This diagram actually shows the movement of the sun over Melbourne:

These images make the situation a bit more clearer…they show the path of the sun over Victoria at solstice times…no wonder I am so confused down here!  It’s the winter solstice here soon, which means the sun will rise north of east, and set north of west.  Confusing!

spring solstice -> summer solstice -> autumn solstice -> winter solstice

I also hear people talk about the summer or winter equinox, and while kind of being interested, for some reason I just never looked into it more.  I didn’t even realise that the longest day/shortest night and shortest day/longest night are actually an equinox.  Dur.  I feel so silly.  I love this stuff!

Here are the equinox dates I found {just in case you are windering, there’s more than two.  People actually know when we have equal day and night, another of my questions answered!}

• The Autumn Equinox, usually on March 21, is when the Sun rises exactly east, sets exactly west and we have approximately equal day and night.
• The Winter Solstice, usually on June 22, is when the Sun is furthest north and we have our shortest day; and longest night.
• The Spring Equinox, usually on September 23, is identical to that of March 21, except that the Sun rises 16 minutes earlier on September 23.
• The Summer Solstice, usually on December 22, is when the Sun is furthest south and we have our longest day and shortest night.

This post was going to stay in my draft queue until summer, when I drove down to the East side for a spectacular sunset over the water, but I decided to share it early.  Dan and I had a sunset date night on the weekend, right before my little friend passed away.   We tried a different beach this time, because I knew the sun would have moved position since last time, but we really weren’t expecting this…

I think his compass is broken, don’t you? Funny thing is, we checked the compass on my phone too and it was saying the same thing!  Dan and I were thoroughly confused, but then we kept driving and ended up seeing the sun somehow miraculously back in it’s beautiful westerly position.

We enjoyed the sunset, but it was a bit disappointing as there was a big layer of smog that kind of ruined things a little bit, and I’m looking forward to getting down to the east side of Melbourne in the summer to see the sunset over the ocean.

But it’s always fun making a mad dash down to the beach with this guy, no matter where we go.

Life’s Little Wisdom #51

How to make a padded Camera Bag Insert

I didn’t really think the next step through overly much, I just thought that I could get away with it by making “pillow cases” with a little bit of excess to sew all the pieces together.  While it kind of worked, it was messy and I couldn’t take any photos of it step-by-step without cringing.

Even though it doesn’t look great on the outside, I reasoned that it’s going to be in my handbag and no one is going to see the seams or anything, they are only going to see the inside.  I am really happy with the end result!  A pretty and safe home for my new camera

While I was at it, I also decided to cross off another item on my to do list, which was to make a cover for my camera strap (mine was old and gross!).  I used this tutorial for inspiration

…and here is my end result…