The goings on with #Occupy inspired me to pull out my Adobe design tools once again. The first two designs are parodies of classic wartime posters. The third is a spin-off of the old “war on drugs” campaign from back in the 80′s. The fourth is a parody of the “4 out of 5 dentists recommend” sugar-free chewing gum ads from many, many years ago.

Printable Versions:

KEEP CALM: @CloudApp.com @OccuPrint.org

I WANT YOU: @CloudApp.com

YOUR BRAIN: @CloudApp.com

99 OUT OF 100: @CloudApp.com

In order to escape the life-sucking monotony of constant work, I managed to break away for the late showing of a few movies. Sadly, most were so unmemorable as to not even warrant the time to review in full. So I’m going to just lump them together here.

IMMORTALS (2011) — Rating:

They should have named this one “Immordulls.” It’s as if someone said: “Hey, lets make a bigger-budget version of ’300′ – people will pay to see that.” Because that’s all this flick really is. It has the same ambiance of ’300′, without the script, acting, or direction. When Mickey Roarke (who plays the evil king) is the best actor in a movie, you have a problem. He does a good job, actually but … come on … it’s Mickey Roarke.Technically, it’s a gorgeous piece of work. So I’m giving it a decent rating more on technical merit than on entertainment value. The ending is kind of…

Click for full-size image.

The recent pepper-spray attack on UC Davis students got me motivated to break out my trusty Photoshop again and render Officer Pike more true to his inner self.

Here’s what I find amazing.

The OWS (“Occupy Wall Street”) folks were evicted in 40 cities today in coordinated pre-dawn raids. Reporters on the scene were either denied access or arrested – credentials be damned. News helicopters were not allowed overhead. People were gassed and beaten. Homeland Security and the FBI were involved in coordinating these raids on unarmed US citizens engaged in peaceful protest.

And what’s on the front of CNN’s home page? PSU and Coach K.

Are you freakin’ shitting me?

How is what happened today not news? Screw if some network or paper is left or right – this is a bigger story in a democracy than a pederastic football coach or college hoops.

And this happened right after Veterans Day weekend. So much for the freedom that our troops fought and died for over the last couple of centuries. What an insult. I am so completely disgusted. Not out of sympathy for one side or the…

Rating:

This isn’t “Wall Street” … or the sequel … or any of the other hot-shot money-flinging investment scumwad movies. This isn’t a flashy Tom Cruise-esque glorification of greed. There’s no sex, no wild parties, nothing that will make for a good TV commercial. This film will likely fly under the radar and, to a younger audience, probably appear quite dull. The power of this film is it’s understatement and calm.

This is a smoothly flowing look at what happens when a major investment brokerage on the brink suddenly discovers they’ve gone past it. The entire movie covers 24 hours of real time. At the start of the film, they’re in the middle of a “blood bath” of layoffs. By the end of the movie, they’re more or less scuttling all their investors in order to save the company for the few who will remain.

The cast is amazing. Kevin Spacey as the head of the risk assessment…