jail
08/29/2007
Jim Carrey: A Call to Arms on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi
Overearnest celebrity PSAs are certainly not new or rare things. You can't get through a commercial break these days without some marginally famous person telling you the planet is dying, or reading is FUNdamental, or hey, it's okay to be gay. All of them seem sincere, and most of them are probably worthwhile. But few are as deeply moving as this one. And it's from Jim Carrey, of all people.
Sure, it may take a second for the more cynical among us to get past Carrey's Jesus hair and his intense, "NO SERIOUSLY, GUYS, I'M BEING SERIOUS" face. But give the funnyman his due: when he's talking about Burma, about the abuses its military regime has heaped on the people, and the brutal and tragic imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, his message is anything but amusing.
Even the most aware of us can sometimes forget just how much is going on outside of our little corner of the world. Hopefully, Aung San Suu Kyi will not have to be imprisoned for another eleven years before the world starts paying attention to her and the Burmese people.
07/31/2007
CPDRC: Behind the Music with the "'Thriller' Prison"
Since we last covered CPDRC, the Philippine prison where inmates perform "Thriller" and other eye-popping routines, public interest has skyrocketed. So we were very excited to find this video, which goes behind-the-scenes to explain the progressive but strict policies that go into running this state-of-the-art facility.
Don't go thinking this place is a candyass Shangri-La with about as much penal punch as theater camp. Jazz hands or no jazz hands, CPDRC runs a tight ship, with an absolutely-no-gangs policy, plus and an intricate system of guard teams that heads off personal politics and corruption at the pass by preventing inmate/guard familiarity. While job training and other programs keep the focus on the end goal of rehabilitation, make no mistake -- this is still hard core hard time.
But if you're just interested in the dance program, you can skip ahead to about 5:12 or so.
07/20/2007
Prison Inmates Perform "Thriller"
The 1500+ inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Cebu City, Philippines, do a lot more than just languish in a cell. They have livelihood programs and personal savings accounts, allowing them to earn and save money for legal fees or the families they left behind. Perhaps even more impressive is what they do with the rest of their time: rehearse and perform elaborate parades and dance numbers, like the recreation of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" seen here.
The choreography, the coordination, and the precision are insane. The Rockettes have nothing on these guys. And they don't just do Michael Jackson numbers -- there's stuff from "Sister Act", a Black Eyed Peas number, even something called "The Jumbo Hot Dog."
Watch these guys in action, and you'll realize those guys from "Oz" were just... lame.
06/27/2007
Paris Hilton is FREE!
Yes, we can all breathe easy once again. Just past midnight, everyone's favorite madcap heiress left jail for good, or at least until she misplaces God again. (She found Him in prison, but you never know; He might make a break for it.)
Paris looked chic, sassy, and upbeat as she strolled the runway... um, sorry, crossed the jail courtyard past a throng of photographers and ran into her mother's waiting arms. Up next? An interview with Larry King, a proposed halfway house for female ex-prisoners trying to make a fresh start, and no more orange jumpsuits -- ever!
