Donation

If you don't have a spare 30 minutes to watch that video, the crux of it is the company DaVita, one of the largest government-contracted kidney dialysis companies, is scamming the government out of money, and providing substandard treatment to patients.

The charges (and settled cases) include firing workers who tried to unionize, rushing treatments to squeeze in more patients, throwing away vials of half-used drugs to bill for more vials, and not informing patients of transplant options, thus keeping them on dialysis longer, aka killing them.

Most of you know I'm signed up to be an organ donor. If you do, you also know my father was on dialysis, and was a kidney transplant patient before I was born. I literally wouldn't be here if not for organ donation and dialysis.

 So I'm a little upset.

The negligence is so bad, one person involved in DaVita's 'Kidney Education' program said this:

John Oliver went on to talk about how these issues run rampant within the for-profit dialysis sector, and how settlements are still coming forward. What it comes down to, is that we need to combat the kidney shortage.

You can be like me and sign up to donate when you've died (try tweeting #WhenIDiePleaseTakeMyKidneys) , or even signing up to be a living donor here.

I'm not above begging on this issue. Please, save a life. You'll be dead anyway, you don't need your organs. It's a small box on your driver's license renewal, or here for Michiganders.

I literally wouldn't exist without organ donation. If you care about me at all, if you know me as a person or just as these words typed across this screen, sign up. Save a life. Save future lives.

I'll just leave this here.

The IT Spot: Rereading part 9

Eddie's childhood self has arrived!

This is another section that is significantly different from it's mini-series counterpart. You may remember Pennywise accosting Eddie in the showers.

The scene, while wonderfully showing off Tim Curry has zero resemblance to the book. The only similarity is the 'won't do any good to run' bit. That is cribbed from IT's book counterpart. However there...

SPOILER

 ...IT chases Eddie in the form of leprous a hobo offering  blowjobs.

When Eddie can't find someone (IE Bill or Ritchie) to play with, he often ends up by the train yards. One day he sees a hobo with syphilis, and a rotting nose. Eddie, a budding germaphobe thanks to his overprotective mother, thinks the man is a leper. Said leper/hobo offers to blow Eddie, first for a quarter, then for a dime, then for free, eventually chasing the boy down the street.

That brings us to Eddie's encounter with the house on Neibolt street. You'll remember me freaking out about that house during my last few trailer reviews, as it plays a big part in what the kids do to defeat IT.

It's also why I think this is Eddie.

Some time after the hobo incident, Eddie is drawn under the house, very unwillingly. This speaks back to when Mike was unwillingly drawn to the place he saw the bird: IT exudes some sort of lure. Using fear, or fun masking the stench (much like with Georgie) IT draws children. And when Eddie crawls under the porch, spotting debris from former hobos, he also sees IT peering from the cellar.

Here IT is a half-rotted corpse hobo that causes plant life to die. He introduces himself to Eddie as Bob Gray (you may recall this is also how he introduced himself to Georgie in addition to the Pennywise moniker), and stated he'll blow Eddie as well. Eddie manages to get away, but is of course terrified.

We find this out as Eddie is hanging with Ben, Bill, Stan, and Ritchie. Bill relates the story of the bleeding pictures, which brings out Eddie and Ben's tales. Stan freaks out, insisting he's seen nothing (as usual, Stan has the hardest time believing, and spends more time in denial), and Ritchie seems genuinely baffled by the stories (seems being the key word).

SAFE

 The main difference between the book and the miniseries here is that in the book IT is legitimately trying to get Eddie. In the series IT seems more interesting in warning Eddie and his friends off: almost as though IT can sense the Ka-Tet forming, and is reluctant to touch any of the members, for fear of the power they already hold. There's more evidence of this later (which I'll go into), but it's really weird.

The concept of the Ka-Tet/group power is barely even referenced elsewhere in the miniseries. Why create this dynamic for IT (aside from not wanting to show a rotting leper offering a kid a blowjob)? IT isn't afraid of the kids. Not yet.

Join me next time Ritchie is brought in on the horror.

Pop-Culture roundup

Time to discuss pop news!

There's an upcoming documentary title Looking for Leia about being a female Star Wars fan. As a woman who is a fan (but not a fanatic), I will say it's harder to find other female fans than male fans. Not to mention the lack of women IN the films themselves.

As Family Guy so helpfully pointed out.

I didn't see Star Wars until the 'updated' ones came out (yeah, yeah), but I saw them in a theater, and they BLEW MY MIND. I still have my VHS trilogy version, and one day I'll transfer them to DVD. I'm really interesting in seeing this film, especially with the context of the new movies, and having a female lead.

In other news, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is slaying the box office. If you haven't seen it, go see it.

Try saying no to that face.

I'll avoid spoilers, but if you've seen it click this link for some really funny memes involving Yondu and another Disney property.

I really liked the movie, and most of the characters had a reasonable arc that worked really well. I'm excited to see the crew unite with other Marvel properties in Infinity War. I'll try not to get my hopes up, but...

Speaking of future films, there's a rumor circulating that Will Smith will play the Genie in the upcoming Aladdin movie helmed by Guy Ritchie.

Not sure how I feel about this, at all. Smith is a great actor, and an okay singer, but nobody can follow Williams. Though James Monroe Inglehart did a fine job making Genie his own on Broadway.

 There's also a rumor that Sir Patrick Stewart may play Jafar, which I'd be in favor of. That man can play anything.

To close, here's an unofficial animatic from audio announcing the upcoming Invader Zim movie. Enjoy!

The IT Spot: Rereading, part 8

In the wake of Eddie Cochran's death, we meet Mike Hanlon's child self. You may remember his character's entrance into the club in the miniseries ending with a huge rock fight. He was also the black kid.

Mike has one of the more stable family units, in that his dad isn't blind to the evils of Derry (and tells my favorite aside later in the book). The series doesn't delve into his home life, were he works a farm down the road from the Bowers family (who hate him, of course). Mike encounters Eddie's bloody tracks, which is how we're led into his POV of his home life, and farming. It's a much-needed break from the relenting horror...

SPOILERS

For a few pages. Then we're introduced to The Tramp Chair.

It's a short segment, and nothing like the horror of Mike's forthcoming encounter with IT, but worth mentioning. Mike's dad takes him on historical tours occasionally, and once stopped by the police office so Mike could see the tramp chair. It's also a lesson on human cruelty, and how Mike's dad dislikes the local police force (and righftully so).

The chair, unlike traditional (and real) tramp chairs isn't a cage, but is is covered in knobs that dig into the back, leaving the offender a screaming wreck after 24 hours. It's striking in that it's a wholly human cruelty, and a real one, made worse by IT's influence over the town.

Speaking of IT, Mike is stalked by IT in the form of a massive bird. He manages to escape by blinding IT in one eye (and being helped by an outside force to do so, either the ghosts of the kids haunting the ironwork, or more likely the Turtle or Ka). The sequence is short, but well done, and sticks beautifully in the mind after it's done. Mike just goes back to normal after events that would have driven an adult insane.

The bird is compared to Rodan several times, another tell-tale sign of the monsters of film influencing the kids. More on that later, though.

SAFE

I'm enjoying my re-introduction to the Losers club members. For such a large book, I remember quite a lot, but I by no means have the thing memorized. It's nice to sit back and see how human and real each child is, and how they're not just generic 'chosen ones' or downtrodden sad sacks. Each has their own struggle, and it's related wonderfully.

Happy Monday

Here's some fun stuff culled from my time on Reddit. Have a good Monday.