To help kick off our 2oth anniversary, how would you like to win 4 tickets to a Sunday evening Pistons game courtesy of Bubbles Galore Car Wash? It’s our way of starting off 2010 with a bang, and what better way than to show all of our fans how much we appreciate you guys for sticking with us and helping make us the best car wash in Davison!

All of our fans on our Facebook Fan Page have the chance to win tickets to the Pistons Friends and Family Fun Days! This package includes:

• 4 tickets  to the Sunday, February 21 game vs.  the Spurs
• 4 hot dogs
• 4 sodas
• 4 t-shirts

Here’s how to win….

If you are currently a fan of our facebook page you have already been entered into the drawing, any new fan to the facebook fan page between now and January 31st will also be entered into the drawing. Pretty easy, huh?

Want more chances to win?  Once you are registered on the facebook fan page, come and visit us on Irish Rd. in Davison and use your Visa/MC to wash in our Super Bay.  Each time you visit Bubbles Galore Car Wash and you use your credit card throughout the month of January, you will receive an additional entry in the drawing.  Your chances of winning increase every time you wash in our Super Bay!

WASH THE PLANET!!!

John

Revelation 13:16-18

“ He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom.  If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.”  

I am writing on this subject in hopes of giving some insite to those who have no understanding of this prophecy,  as well as  for those who are being misled by those who those who are false teachers, as well as for those who have just not studied this subject at all. 

We are that last generation, the only generation that could have any understanding of what the  “mark of the beast” represents, because it has to do with our current technology.  Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when the first ATM machines and UPC codes were  introduced, I knew that this technology was going to have  relevance with that coming mark. At first, people were only able to withdraw cash from the ATM’s, but as the years and technology progressed, we began to see the POS (Point of Sale) devices appearing in all places of business, allowing you to purchase your burger and fries, fill up your gas tank or buy food at the grocery store and then, with the swipe of your debit card, making your purchase and having  your bank account  automatically debited.  Today, you are able to purchase gas by simply waving a key fob past a scanner and your account is debited in the same way as with the debit card.  

Currently at Ikea and Home Depot (to name a few),  you are able to bring your merchandise through an unstaffed check out line, scan the UPC code on each of your purchased products and then slide your debit card through the POS reader and your account is debited and you’re done. Recently, I have noticed that the POS devices are now built right into the air and water recepticles at the service stations, so that if you  need to fill your tires with air or put water in your radiator, you can just swipe your card, fill up your tires and the 75 cents is deducted right from your bank account.  

But now, arising from this POS technology, they have taken the next step and that being Radio Frequency Identification or RFID chips, which are smaller than a grain of rice and work in the same manner as the strip on your debit card. The idea is the same in that, you make your purchase and the chip is scanned and the amount is debited from your account. What is the difference between the POS/debit card verses the RFID? The RFID chip technology is subdermal, i.e. to be used under the skin.  The technology for this  chip is meant to be implanted under the skin, so that when you make a purchase, the RFID chip when scanned, debits your bank account. Sound familiar? This technology first appeared about 7 years ago and has been progressing ever since.  Some establishments are already experimenting with this technology, to name one, the Barcelona Beach Club in Spain, where the patrons have the chips implanted so that they can pay for their drinks by simply waving their hands across the counter and debiting their accounts and therefore, no need to carry around  wallets or purses.  The point is that, the technology for the mark of the beast is here and staring us right in the face! As time goes on, this technology will continue to progress just as the POS system did for making purchases with the debit card. However, the actual fulfullment of this prophechy will not come into being until that antichrist and his side kick, the false prophet make the mark manditory, which will come about during the middle of the last seven years before Christ’s return.  As the word of God makes clear, he, the false prophet, will force all people to receive that mark in their right hand or forehead.  How will he force the people of the earth to receive it? It won’t be done by physical force, but it will be done by making all the other forms of buying and selling obsolete, such as cash, checks, debit and credit cards, money orders, etc and therefore,  the people of the world will be forced to receive it in order to be able to buy or sell.  When that time comes, the only system of buying and selling will be through the use of this  mark and therefore, without it, no one will not be able to pay their bills, buy gas, groceries or make any kind of purchases or even have a job for that matter, because all purchases will be done through electronic credit and debit, by use of that chip via computer transaction.  By removing all of the other options of buying and selling, it will force the inhabitants of the earth to recieve his mark and thereby, they will be worshiping him because, it is the beasts mark.  The following is a warning to those who would receive this mark:

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice:

“If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” (Rev. 14:9-11)

Jesus said, “Whoever loves his life more than me is not worthy of me.”

 He also said:

“Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my name sake and the gospel will gain it.”

The reason that people during that time will receive the mark, will be to save their lives, for without the mark they will not be able to buy or sell or even be apart of the world system of that time. But by recieving the mark, they will be saving their lives only at the expense of losing their eternal life, reason being is that they will have turned away from the creator who saved them, by worshiping a man who will be proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thes 2:9-12). 

Now, the other reason for this posting, as mentioned above, is because there are those who have been lead astray and who are believing and teaching that the verse mentioning the mark of the beast is to be interpreted symbolically and not literally. They say that the mention of the “right hand” represents “doing”, as in “taking action” and the ”forehead” represents “The mind”, as in “making a decision.”  Then, they merged these with the fact that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) changed the observance of the sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday and therefore you have the “forehead” as in making the decision to oberserve the sabbath on Sunday and the “right hand” equals the  act of  “doing”, which is the actual act of observing the sabbath on Sunday and viola, the mark of the beast equals, observing the sabbath on Sunday.  It is amazing to me that anyone would follow after this belief, especially when we have a literal fulfillment of God’s word regarding the mark,  which is being developed to go into the literal right hand or forehead and will literally be used for the purpose of buying and selling, just as it is plainly written in God’s word.  Make no mistake, this is not just a matter of  ”this is my interpretation and this is yours.” This is dangerous because, those who have and continue to teach this, say that “anyone who believes that the mark of the beast is anything other than the observance of the sabbath on Sunday is a deceiver.” So, when someone like me comes along and teaches about a literal  mark in the right hand or forehead, I’m a deceiver and not to be listened to, which means that no matter what kind of proof I have from the written word God, they will not listen. The other danger is that, they have made the statement that if a computer chip does come out for the purpose of buying and selling, they will receive it, because they are convinced that their interpretation is correct and therefore, as far as they are concerned, a literal device in the right hand or forehead is not the mark of the beast. I can just see it now, these people standing before God and them saying,

“You mean your word means exactly what it says?” 

Further more, there are some who are teaching that the book of Revelation and the related verses are to be labeled under hyperbole, symbolism and poetry.” Hyperbole is defined as, “exaggerated, not to be taken literally.” There is no poetry in the book of Revelation, whatsoever. However, while there is definitely symbolism in the book of Revelation, that symbolism is either explained within the book of revelation itself or is revealed in the other  books  throughout God’s word. Right in the very first verse of Revelation, it states:

 ”The Revelaton of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.”

So, God the Father gave the revelation to Jesus to show us what must soon take place and these people are claiming that the book of revelation is to be considered exaggerated and not to be taken literally. Seems to me that their claim has a conflict of interest with God’s purpose, as his purpose is to make known the things that are soon to take place, while according to them, everything is exaggerated and not to be taken literally. Somebody is lying and it isn’t God, for God is not a man to lie nor the Son of Man to repent. What he says, is what he means!

I have previously mentioned that this mark becomes manditory during the middle of that last seven year period spoken in Daniel 9:27, which says:

“He will confirm a covanant with many for one ’seven’. In the middle of the ‘ seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” 

The “one seven” that is mentioned,  is actually a one seven year period. So, as we see from the verse above, there is going to be an abomination of desolation set up on a wing of the temple, which is specified in Mt. 24:15 as the “holy place”, which is within the temple that will be rebuilt in Jerusalem.  The mention of this abomination is also mentioned in Revelation 13:14-16, but only by description and not by name. 

“He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to  be killed.”

Now, my reason for saying that the mark will become manditory during the middle of that seven years is because, immediately following the announcement of the “image” (abomination) in the verse listed above, is the description of the mark of the beast and therefore, since we know that this abomination is set up in the middle of the seven and the mark is mentioned immediately after, this would put the mark as becoming manditory at the middle of the seven as well.  Further more, I also believe that the abomination and the mark will have some relevance to one another. For a fuller explanation of this, please do a search from Google Blog on “The Abomination of Desolation” and look for my post, which has the same title.

In case you were wondering, from my personal studies, I don’t believe that we, the church will be here during that last seven year period. In fact, I don’t believe that we will even see the beast, also called the “man of lawlessness” and the “antichrist.” For a detailed explanation of this event, please do a search on “The Resurrection and Catching Away” and look for my post having the same title.  We have been witnessing the technology for this system of buying and selling via computer transaction for some time and now we are seeing the actual prototype that will be used in the near future.  I say ”near future” because, if we are witnessing the technology for the mark now, it will not take long for it to be implimented, seeing that the basic system for it is already set up. All that will be required is to have a device put under the skin that performs the same function as the debit card and now you have your own personal mark that will allow you to credit and debit your own  bank account via computer transactions.

Thank you for reading my post. My prayer for you is that God would bless you and strengthen you in your faith, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.

For those of you who have not yet believed in Christ, I pray that God will reveal the truth of His word and confirm it in your hearts by His Holy Spirit. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, for whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

Yours in Christ – Don

by Hans Eisenbeis

WHAT’S HAPPENING

• It’s a trend we’ve been watching: Some businesses are no longer accepting bills and coins, only plastic. First the airlines discontinued cash for onboard service, then a restaurant in Manhattan. By 2011, a section of the Florida Turnpike will have its tollbooths torn down and replaced with EZ-Pass-style readers and surveillance cameras (MiamiHerald.com 10.26.09).
• Out-of-states and other drivers who don’t subscribe to SunPass, Florida’s automated toll system, will still be able to drive the 47-mile segment of highway between Miramar and Florida City. They’ll just have photos taken of their license plates and receive a bill in the mail (plus a servicing upcharge, naturally).
• The main reason for the switch? Safety concerns, as full-stop tollbooth accidents have been both costly and deadly.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

• In most cases, limiting payments options to convenient, high-tech systems still does one bad thing: limits options for consumers who may prefer to pay in cash for a variety of reasons, including privacy.
• Safety is a significant benefit that will require some public education.
• Going cashless could punish low-income drivers who can’t afford SunPass nor the extra cost of the pay-by-mail option.

RESOURCES

• SunPass is Florida’s prepaid toll program

At Bubbles Galore Car Wash, we are going to reward you for washing your car!

Wash your car in our Super Bay using your Visa/MC anytime throughout the month of November and you could win big! There are no limits or restrictions to how many times you are allowed to wash or a minimum amount you must spend. You can wash every day in November if you would like (and we would love you for it ). Your car will need washing anyway, why not get rewarded for it? It doesn’t get much more simple than that.

At the end of November, we will draw a random winner from those of you that washed in our Super Bay using your Visa/MC. You will get your choice from one of the following:

• $25 fuel card from Speedway
• $25 gift certificate to your choice of a Davison Restaurant
• $25 gift certificate to NCG Trillium in Grand Blanc 

Best of luck to all of you!

WASH THE PLANET!!!

John

We just received a new shipment of products from our supplier! Woohoo! It’s like Christmas time One thing that I stand firm on is that I try out every product or service that we offer. In this shipment we received the normal batch of little trees and towels and such, but I decided to try out a few new products since we are heading into the fall/winter months. The first product that I wanted to try out was the Anti Fog wipes from Rain -X

Here is the manufacturer’s description of their product: “…Cleaners, reduces interior fogging and removes smoke residue.” Not the best product marketing I have ever seen, but it gets the point across. I decided to try these out on my 98 Chevy W/T with 260k miles on it. Seeing as how my old truck has been around the block once or twice, the defroster doesn’t always work as intended and these wipes (if they work as advertised) could possibly be a life saver (mine)!

The other product that we got in from our supplier that I wanted to try out is from Green Earth Technologies and is called Rain Repellent. This manufacturer came up with a little better description than Rain-X did: “…is a patent pending hydrophobic glass treatment made from American grown base oils that now puts the power of nanotechnology into the hands of the consumer. G-GLASS™ Rain Repellent’s nano-sized particles penetrates deep into the windshield and forms a chemical bond, repelling rain, ice, snow, bugs and road grime for months. Best of all, G-Glass™ Rain Repellent does not rinse off…eventually it wears off during the wiper cycle lasting up to 6 months.”

A little wordy, but a much better description than what Rain-X came up with! The Rain-X is intended to be used on the interior glass to prevent fogging, whereas the Rain Repellent is used on the exterior glass as a protective layer. Let’s visit my 98 Chevy W/T with 260k miles on it again. Sometimes the truck can be a little touchy and when I turn the windshield wipers on, they don’t always come on like I would hope. Thankfully, I had this on my windshield this past weekend when I drove through a rainy patch and my wipers were being a little touchy

As it began to rain, I reached to turn my wipers on and big surprise they didn’t work. After a quick moments panic, I realized that I wasn’t having any issues at all with trying to see out of my windshield! Awesome! I can and will vouch that this product works as intended, I give this one 2 thumbs way up!

For those of us that are vehicularly challenged, these types of products can keep us from getting into all sorts of trouble. It doesn’t matter whether your vehicle is old or new, “challenged” or not, both of these products can make your day-to-day driving experience that much more enjoyable! Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Wash the Planet!

John

//

About a year and a half ago, or perhaps a bit more I began to be intrigued by a guy called Saoirse who was planning to walk to India in a kind of pilgrimage to spread the word of the ‘freeconomy’ where people give things to one another without using the usual trading mechanism of money.

Poor old Saoirse you may remember got as far as France, where unfortunately his caper came to a sad end when he realised he couldnt speak French, and the French realised he had no money to travel with. I always thought this plan was a bit thin, I couldnt see how he was going to get Visas for one thing, but anyway, he came back to the UK.

Not one to be daunted by a knock back of this sort Saoirse reverted to his old name of Mark Boyle and began a year long experiment of living with no cash. Admittedly there was a bit of compromise involved, he lived off the cast offs of a cashfull society, food thrown away, land that belongs to someone, an old caravan and so on, most controversially of all he used a mobile phone and a laptop, to allow him to publicise his adventures. The truth is of course that living in a truly money free way, is, like living in a truly vegan way, basically impossible in this society.

To a degree I am now a bit suspicious of Mr Boyle, not that I’ve ever met him, but I recognise in him the trait I’ve seen in others, of a strong self publicist who will use stunts to get attention. I agree that his cause is an interesting one, and I am as you know very much pro the anti consumption/simple life message, busy living it as best I can in fact.

However, aside from being a good publicity stunt, do I think there’s much value in what Mark’s done? I dont know, but I think perhaps not. The good thing is that he’s stirred up a lot of people, his two posts  (1& 2 )on the Guardian Blog have got lots of comments from people defensive of thier own lifestyles, well that’s to be expected.

But the evidence shows that those people arent likely to be converted to a lower impact way of living by Mark’s efforts. There are understood to be three groups of people, a minority of people who are ‘true believers’ who will do everything in their power to live according to their beliefs, in this case, they will live on as little as possible, consume as little as they can and so on.

Then there’s another minority of people who are really anti – who will argue against this or that, in this case they will slate the very idea of living on less or nothing. The sight of someone doing something extreme like this will not help or encourage them to change their opinions.

The majority of people sit in the middle, they are largely ready to live more ethically, but will only do so if it is easy and uncomplicated, the prospect of living on nothing is neither of these. Most people are in the system, they arent able to opt out completely, they may have families or debts which they have to consider, its too simplistic to expect them to change radically.

What would be more welcome are more straightforward role models of alternative lifestyles, living a lower impact lifestyle in a quiet way, chipping away at the man rather than batting him in the face with a hammer.

I now feel a bit flat by the Cashless man thing, I feel like its a bit of an empty stunt, an interesting if tame (no real danger) experiment perhaps. I’d like to see more people doing ordinary things in a radical way, lets have more people living on much less, giving more away, being more committed to simplicity as a virtue, and fewer publicity stunts.

From the Wall Street Journal:

At the Greenwich Village restaurant Commerce, cash is off the menu.

In the latest encroachment of credit and debit cards onto the greenback’s turf, the high-end New York City restaurant said goodbye to dollars and cents this week. The message to diners: Tip in cash if you wish, but otherwise, your money is no good here.

Americans these days are swiping their cards to pay for taxi rides, donate to Salvation Army kettles, even tithe in some churches. And at Commerce, more than 90% of customers had already made the switch to plastic.

“If you don’t have a credit card, you can use a debit card,” said the restaurant’s co-owner, Tony Zazula. “If you don’t have a debit card, you probably don’t have a checking account. And if you don’t have a checking account, you probably shouldn’t be eating at Commerce to begin with.”

Will this be a growing trend?

CASHLESS has been selected for the 14th Portobello Film Festival 2009 – UK’s biggest Independent Film Competition!

CASHLESS will be screened under World Cinema at the Tabernacle in London on 19 Sep 2009. Do drop by if you are nearby and share the responses with us as we will not be able to make it there.

For more screening details, visit here.

Melinda had the chance to visit Hong Kong for the 5th InDPanda International Short Film Festival.

A big thank you to festival directors Jonathan & Henry for their kind hospitality!

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t
• 

ELYRIA — For lunch Monday, Elyria High School served up pepperoni pizza to the students who came back for the first day of classes.

But instead of students handing over cash, some placed their index fingers on small scanners and walked away with their lunches.

“I’m just really glad I don’t have to remember a number every day or have a card or something,” said 14-year-old Korey Gallaher. “All you have to do is put your finger down and go.”

Read entire article

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/no-cash-elyria-high-students-can-pay-with-their-finger/

For anyone that reads LosingFace and doesn’t actually know me, I am not a shy person. Nor am I afraid of drawing attention intentionally or otherwise. I wear ridiculous socks, deliberately rolling up my trousers, I don’t own a ‘typical’ suit, I will occasionally refuse to whisper at inappropriate moments striking up a conversation with a stranger is an integral part of my day.

It isn’t a natural personality trait, far from it; It is part-and-parcel of being a 6foot 2inch, lanky, quasi-ginger… if it is difficult to blend into a crowd, why not try your hardest to stand out?

Quite a simple philosophy.

So with that in mind, please don’t take this lightly when I say, I have had the most embarrassing two weeks of my life.

What has made my life so mortifyingly awkward? Living without cash and relying on two cards that have both been disabled.

Two weeks ago I was in Tesco, buying my lunch as usual, and made my way to the robo-tills. After scanning my bread roll, my humus and a decadent sized chocolate bar I shoved my debit card in the PDQ machine and tapped my PIN number in.

Wrong PIN number.

Now, I thought this was odd, I have had the same PIN number since my first current account 10 years ago and, beyond that, I’ve used the same 4 numbers to buy almost everything for the last 18 months. I know my PIN number better than I do my own middle name.

I entered it again, in case I’d caught another button by mistake.

Wrong.

Last chance. I start to doubt myself. I really want my god-damned lunch. I decided to go for it again.

With the accuracy of an autistic neuron-surgeon I went for it one last time. Tapping each button with unparalleled accuracy and care. Speaking the numbers at the same time. This time I had to be right.

Wrong.

DAMN IT!

In a matter of moments I had wiped out my main tool for consumption knowing that I’d have to wait 7 working days or longer to receive my new PIN. Fuming, I resorted to taking out the credit card, usually reserved for particularly fancy purchases in which my grubby 3 year old debit card just won’t do.

I entered in the PIN and blam! – Wrong!

I decided to not chance it again, I moved robo-till and tried again, it worked. The PDQ machine was broken… it had cost me my debit card. I was so frustrated I barely wanted my chocolate treat any more, let alone my bread roll.

I trudged back to the office in a mood and scoffed my lunch whilst whinging to anyone that would listen. This was the first time in a long time I’d faced real difficulty living without cash.

“That isn’t that embarrassing!” I hear you cry. It wasn’t – it was simply setting the scene for the past fortnight – for which I will continue.

So, one card down – not the end of the world. I’m pretty good with my pennies; I can live in credit for a month and know I can immediately pay it off at the end. I decided this would be OK.

I was right for two days; I managed just fine. Better than OK actually, I’d got to use the Paywave functionality on the card almost every morning with my daily coffee on my way to work. It just doesn’t get old…!

After the two days, however, things took a turn for the worse.

I’d waltzed into Pret, like I do every morning, to buy a coffee and a croissant from the same beaming woman that serves me on every single occasion… she can unwittingly dig you out of the darkest of moods – an absolute wonder!

Anyway, without even ordering, my coffee and croissant was put in front of me, all I had to do was pay. I used my credit card and tapped in my new favourite 4 numbers.

Beep. Refused.

Fuck.

My poor coffee lady friend person looked devastated; like she was breaking the news of a loved ones death. I asked, humbly, if I could try again. She agreed.

Refused.

Double fuck.

It was too much; I was embarrassed for her more than I was myself. I conceded, made up some silly excuse and went to leave. She kindly offered me the coffee on the house and I couldn’t have been more grateful (that’s why I love Pret a Manger!)
When I got back to the office, perplexed and worried about living the rest of my month as a free loading hermit, I rang the customer service for my card. It took 3 minutes on hold and two separate attempts at inputting my card details in the phone keypad before I got to speak to anyone.

I wanted to know why my card had been refused.

This is what the nonchalant woman on the end of the phone said.

“You’ve hit your credit limit.”

What?! How?! I hadn’t used my credit card for ages! What the hell was wrong?! Was this fraud!?!  I asked how.

“You’ve spent too much. You’ve hit your limit.”

A valuable insight. Not what I was looking for by way of an answer. I ask what my limit was, sure that it was at least £1000.

“£260.” She said.

“What?! Why is that?” I asked, increasingly frustrated.

“Because there was a late payment in April. We reduced your credit limit.”

“But I set up a direct debit in February for that card. There shouldn’t have ever been a late payment.”

“Yes, you did. I can see that. But it takes three months to process a direct debit, so it didn’t go live until May.”

“So if you could see I’d put in place a direct debit to always pay the full amount, why didn’t you think it was a bit ridiculous to then reduce my limit?”

“Policy, sir.”

Livid, I paid off the remaining £256 on my account so I could continue using it immediately. I needed to.

Naturally, an electronic payment from one computer to another takes 48 hours, naturally I had to rely on my brother to bail me out. Naturally I was pissed off.

Well, if you’d please excuse my language, what the fuck are they playing at?! When, in the name of all things holy, does it take 3 sodding months to process a simple direct debit from my current account and my only credit card?

With all this technology, with all this singing and dancing contactless transactions, at the end of the day, it is some mindless button basher that holds the entire process up.
And what now? My credit rating is fucked. All because I am trying to live without cash. To anyone else that obviously doesn’t know me, another auto-bot that will decide, without prejudice, that I am unreliable, that I can only be trusted with a £260 credit limit.

I am seriously looking into getting on the property market, it will be a struggle already even before an organisation that has benefitted from me wafting their product in an almost-full-page picture in The Telegraph for piss all has systematically declared me untrustworthy with credit.

This is, singlehandedly, the most frustrated, the angriest, and the closest to giving up I have been so far in over 18 months.

I’ve lodged a complaint, I’ve written to them, I’m even trying the backdoor route through anyone I’ve spoken to by way of affiliation over the last year and a half; hopefully this will get flagged up by their Google Alerts.

Maybe, just maybe, it won’t take them 3 months to process this. Here’s hoping.

CASHLESS will be screening on 11 Aug 2009 in Hong Kong for the 5th InDPanda International Short Film Festival!

CASHLESS will be screened alongside with other short films around the world. We are programmed under “Never Forget” – We suddenly recall someone or something important in certain moment. Then, we understand what we really should cherish. It certainly speaks well for our film.

For more screening details, visit here.

Yesterday NatWest and O2 announced the launch of their new Load&Go card, which is primarily aimed at children of 13 and older.

The card will all kids to use ATM machines and to buy stuff online but does not have an over draft facility. Effectively, parents will load the card with a predetermined amount of money or set up a direct debit for an allowance/pocket money every week or month and the child will then be responsible for their own budgeting.

Learning about this on the Daily Mail website, I was itching to finish reading the article so I could get to the comments – knowing how terribly ‘right’ they would be.

By the way, I don’t mean ‘right’ in a correct sense… I mean, out of touch middle income, middle England loonies with too much time on their hands ranting about how ALL kids cant be trusted, they’re all scam artists, all the banks are up to no good and don’t deserve to get paid, how could the government possibly allow such a hennas proposition?! Etc… Etc…

I wasn’t disappointed.

But, as much as Carol B, from the Cotswolds, thinks this is a “ridiculous idea” and how fed up she is to “the back teeth of kids being treated as adults and being given a free rein to so exactly what they like, that is why they are so badly behaved nowadays.” There is merit in some of the comments.

Whilst it is obviously a good idea that kids learn to budget properly like they will in adult life but without the ability to monumentally screw up and wind up in all sorts of debt; does this expose 13 year olds to the debauch online world of sex toys and prescription drugs?

That’d be rubbish.

Again, on the positive side, this Load&Go card will provide a new safety to a kid wanting to go any buy something with his or her pocket money. Instead of waltzing down the high street with however much money in cash only to then walk back the other way with a new possession of equal worth to the original cash – at least this way the little whippersnapper is only at a heightened risk on the return journey.

…I’d like to think I still have enough faith in society for a 13 year old to remain unscathed as no one will both mugging him, tourturing the PIN number out of him and hightailing it to a ATM to withdraw about £20. If I read The Daily Mail comments much more, I will begin to think otherwise.

Last night I found myself in a new predicament. After months of happy cashless existence; I got in a pickle over the bill for dinner with friends. It got awkward.

After a typically slow-paced Sunday, it got to about 6pm and my two housemates and good friend decided it was time to eat. Due to the wonderfully frustrating and odd Sunday shopping laws in the UK we were unable to cook for ourselves and forced to leave the house in search of nutrition.

Never failing to impress, our only real considered choice was the local Vietnamese restaurant further up the road in Victoria Park. (It is really, really good by the way, if you are ever in the area go to Namo).

By the time we got there we were bloody ravenous and I could have quite easily found myself picking off strangers’ plates if we’d been sat closer.

Due to said hunger, we all put mid-month budgets aside and went crazy with a starter and a main course… renegade, I know.

Fortunately, an in depth and ethical debate kicked up amongst the four of us about the sustainability and conservation of sea life, especially the mass fishing of critters like prawns. That meant that, by the time the prawn crackers (18% of which is prawn by the way) arrived, two of our diners had talked themselves out of being able to eat them leaving twice as many for myself and another less moralistic co-patron.

Awesome, apparently absolutely unethical, tasty but utterly satisfying; I was looking forward to my starter.

My starter was a equally exclusive, [100%] prawn summer roll or four. Strike two but the scornful looks from across the table were no deterrent against the almighty rumble of my stomach.

One of the things I like most about Namo is how quickly one course will follow another. It is crazy-fast. The moment we had all put down our choice of eating utensils (chop sticks for some, spoons for others) down our plates were cleared only to be replaced immediately with our main courses.

Round two. Go!

Whilst no one had a problem with my ginger and lemongrass chicken with coconut rice beyond the odd combination, they all had their own food and I noshed my way through another helping of eastern-themed goodness.

An executive decision was made that dinner would be adjourned before desert and we’d pick up a couple of pots of Ben and Jerry’s on the way back to mine to be enjoyed in front of a good movie.

The bill arrived in as little time as each of our courses and, thankfully, the four-strong diner party aren’t the type to quibble over £1 here or £2 there and would rather just split the bill fairly and be done with it.

Three cards and a £20 note found their way onto the little tray thing. (I still smirk to myself when the number of cards out number the cash in these situations!)

Without going into why, suddenly it became two cards and a £20 as one guest was picking up the tab for two. When the waiter came to settle up the bill was split by four and the first card was charged for twice that sum.

As I was in the middle of a conversation I hadn’t even realised that I’d handed the waiter a card that was recently blocked after I managed to submit my PIN ‘wrong’ three times in a row.

By the way, whilst we are on this, I didn’t. Tesco screwed up. I have no way of backing this up other than saying; I’ve had the same PIN for over 10 years.

There was a mild kafuffle and standard embarrassing remarks from the rest of my table as I made the above excuse and handed the waiter, PDQ at the ready, another card.

Still in a flap, it wasn’t until the payment had gone through that I realised he had charged me for two people’s share as well as the other cardholder. He then strolled off with the £20 only to return, red-faced and apologetic, moments later.

To him the problem could be resolved easily; I take the £20 and we are all even. Little did he know I was a far more awkward client than that! The entire situation broke down into fits of giggles and quasi-explanations from the four of us whilst the poor man stood, confused wanting to give the bloody £20 to anyone that would take it.

Finally, as one of my housemates already owes me for a night out a week or so prior, it was decided that she would take the £20 and would then transfer it and the rest of the outstanding money by Internet banking when she gets a moment.

That, by all accounts, is quite a long way round to resolve a pretty simple problem. The only thing that bugs me is that it really wouldn’t be if I used cash!

But what would have happened if we all paid by card? I have absolutely no idea if a restaurant can reimburse a card transaction there and then. Can they?

On Saturday night I took a dear friend to see La Roux at the Camden Round House. It was one of the nights during the iTunes Festival that happens every year in London.

Despite not really rating La Roux, I was quite excited; I love the Round House and, better still, the tickets for the festival are free – instead of buying tickets you just add the iTunes Festival application on Facebook and apply for the tickets for the nights you want to go to.

Even further up my street, the tickets are an emailed PDF with two of those square barcodes on it (one for each guest) so you just rock up with your confirmation, one of the many Apple-clad door staff fire a barcode reader at your print off, a MacBook beeps in confirmation and they give you a wristband and a little credit card token thing that gives you 10 free downloads from the iStore.

From application to entry – not even a suggestion of cash, not even a traditional transaction; at no point did I let go of anything I owned, I just showed a barcode and walked in. Perfect.

Saturday night unfortunately followed Saturday daytime, like usual, and that particular Saturday saw me haul myself and a gang of another 5 or 6 colleagues around East London flyering all the markets to death in the name of our agency’s huge public event the following day (see below).

I was tired, sodden and impressed I had managed to drag myself out of the house in the first place – if I was going to make it through an entire gig, I wanted a drink.

We went to the bar at my suggestion, queued for quite a while and, when we finally got to the front I did my usual recognisance, “you take cards, right?”

I say it so blasé these days, I am so used to, “yeah of course,” or “yeah but you have to spend a £5er.”  It is so rare to hear anything else, especially at a bar… like this time…

“Nope. None of our bars do. There is a cash point around the corner in the foyer. Get cash out there.”

Brilliant.

A venue that doesn’t allow re-entry under any circumstances has completely cash bars and a private cash-point that stings its users £1.50 per transaction. It is like it is 2002 again.

For the first time in a long time I had that embarrassing situation of having to rely on my friends (despite my final ‘don’t’ in the hung-over video) and I didn’t like it one bit. Especially as it was my idea in the first instance!

It has been so long since I’ve found myself caught out like this and I didn’t think for a second it would be somewhere like the Round House… one of London’s leading cultural venues?!

Further more, despite our best efforts of getting ruined and numb to whatever the performance would be like, La Roux finally waltzed on stage and failed to wow just about anyone than her hardcore fans in the front two rows. She sang like she personally hated every one of us in the audience, that playing this show so unbelievably inconvenient for her and we were just in the way of her and her bed.

Beyond her attitude she also sang like she was on a hen-do karaoke.

It might just be me but I’d be phenomenally grateful for even the slightest attention I received after a DJ took one of my averagely bland tracks and made it good. Not a monosyllabic, obstinate child-in-a-huff.

Oh, and this is the footage from our big dance stunt on Sunday, we got the best part of 1000 people down to Shoreditch to act out the street scene from the 1980 film, FAME.

I got sun burnt. But it was one hell of a day!

CASHLESS will be screening next in Durban, South Africa for the 30th Durban International Film Festival! We will be competing with other short films and packaged under “… of Love, Life & Debt”.

Screening details:
24 Jul 3pm (Royal), 8pm (Spiga);
26 Jul 6pm (Ekhaya);
30 Jul 11am (Royal);
31 Jul 10am (Luthuli)

More details here

As you’re all well aware, I love giving stuff away! This time we are giving away a biggie and you, the loyal fans of Bubbles Galore Car Wash have complete and total control over who the winner will be.

Here is how this contest will work. Let me preface this by saying that I WISH everyone kept their vehicles all nice and clean, but I understand that it’s not always easy to find the time.  Alright, down to the details. I want to find the fan with the dirtiest interior! If you know someone that has a dirty interior, tell them to become a fan and then enter the contest. To enter, I want you to post a picture of the interior of your car in our contest album on the facebook fan page (don’t be embarrassed, we’ve all been there). Only one picture is allowed, so make it a good one. I am going to allow picture submissions for the next 2 weeks (until July 20) and then I am going to open it up for voting by you the fans! To vote, all you have to do is post a comment on that picture (let’s play nice btw) and that will  be counted as one vote. You only get one vote, so make sure that it is a good one!

Now, on to what the winner will receive. The winner of our dirtiest interior contest will get a full interior detail that will include: full interior vacuum, full interior steam cleaning, vinyl surface protectant on dash, doors, etc…windows inside and out and we’ll even wash the outside for you. You get all this for FREE!!!

So, let’s put our pride in the backseat along with all that other junk and see if we can’t find a winner for our Dirtiest Interior Contest.

WASH THE PLANET!!!

John

It’s the day after our final screening session for the CASHLESS Premiere and what an amazing ride it’s been!

Thank you all for being a part of this journey with us and for allowing us to share the film with you!

We are heartened by your kind words for the film as well as grateful for your constructive feedback to help us improve.

We’ve made so many new friends and reconnected with so many more through the entire process of working on the film – from production through to screening. Let’s not let it stop here because we would love to keep in touch!

In so many different ways, this is not the end but only the beginning…

Warm regards,
Melinda and Derek

27th June 8pm: Danny is honored, respected, encouraged and rewarded. It’s your night =)

27th June 4pm: We met Desmond & Ric from The Lilac Saints! Their songs “Nightfall” and “Happy Song” are featured in CASHLESS. “Nightfall” takes another interpretation from an original love song to include a mother-son relationship.

Special thanks to Lilac Saints for giving out their music single, “Give Me Love On Xmas Day”, to our audience that day! =)

We are pleased to announce that tickets for the CASHLESS premiere this Saturday 27 Jun are all SOLD OUT!

Thanks everyone for your overwhelming support!!!