Visions of Light

I'm sitting here, still getting over my cold, watching a great documentary called "Visions of Light," about cinematography through the years.  As I watch I am madly adding movies to my Netflix list, some of which I've never seen (Day of the Locust) and some I haven't seen in a long time (Out of The Past -- photo above).  Some movies not available on Netflix (Magnificent Ambersons).  Shame on you Netflix!  Anyway Visions of Light is a fascinating doc, featuring lots of great cinematographers talking about how much they admire the work of their predecessors, how they accomplished some of their own achievements, and most fun, how a random accident turned into a beautiful shot.

Meanwhile Ellen's busily writing away in the office -- very good work ethic.  Later, we'll watch our most recent Netflix receipt -- Where the Sidewalk Ends, a classic film noir that I haven't seen in a million years.

The documentary is on Ovation, so there are commercials.  You know what I hate?  Scams.  For instance, I just saw a commercial for Kinoki Foot Pads.  What bullshit!  They tell you that if you simply apply this pad to your feet when you go to bed, in the morning you'll find the pad has gotten dirty with "toxins" drawn out of your body through your foot.  They show this in the commercial, and quite frankly it looks disgusting, like someone wiped their ass on the pad.  But the model/actress couldn't be happier that this shit-looking-stuff isn't in her body any more! Yay!  If you then subsequently use the pads over and over again, you'll see less and less brown goo on the pad in the morning.  The pads are getting rid of the toxins in your body, right?

They even have the audacity to compare this process to the way a tree draws air in through its leaves and draws the toxins down and expels them through its roots.  Really?!! What school of botany did these guys attend?  ITT Tech?  Last time I checked, plants draw water and nutrients IN through their roots.

Anyway this kind of scam always makes me mad so I did some simple online research, where of course I found out exactly how this dumb product fools innocent people.  The pads have some sort of mineral in them that turns brown from the difference in pH with your foot!  And this process actually leaves a deposit on your foot, so the more you wear the pads, the less the stuff turns brown.  Thus, you are being rid of those nasty toxins.

Why do people fall for this crap?  I wish I could have a TV show just debunking this stuff.  or a newspaper column.  But I think these TV shows and columns already exist, right?