In this vlog entry, I share my impression of the new TV series, 'Jericho' and what I think of the deaf character featured on the show. I also share my opinion on the clichés and characteristic traits of the deaf character, Bonnie.
Wow, I just cannot believe how great the responses to my first vlog were. Quite a large number of people sent me all sort of messages with nothing but praises. Nearly left me speechless to see quite a large audience who are deeply interested in vlog entries. Not only did I get great responses from this blogsite, I also got a lot of them from some deaf forums where I posted the link to my vlog. Not only is it a great concept, but also it’s even greater when we are able to subtitle these video clips. Google Video has done a great favour to the deaf and yes… the hearing too as well. After all, quite a lot of these people are “signing impaired”.
I’m also deeply grateful for the existence of DeafRead.com; they’ve done a great service to the deaf & hard-of-hearing blogosphere by unifying all of us and reach out to where no men has gone before. DeafRead.com is an amazing success as far I am concerned. There has been a few websites where the same goal was made but failed for some reasons. I believe the reason why it’s a successful site is because they made the html codes allowing any sites to list the latest entries listed on DeafRead. A lot of credits must be given to them for paving the road to expanding the blogosphere with a strong sense of diversity.
I want to thank all of these people who took the time to give me some constructive criticisms about my first vlog and I appreciate them very much. I’m going to take these and work on them for my next vlog. I don’t know when, but I hope it’ll be soon. I’m thinking of covering just one subject, but I don’t know which one yet. Till I posted it, I had absolutely no idea what a big deal it would be among the blogosphere. I showed it to a co-worker yesterday, this co-worker isn’t a signer and she ended up being blown away by it. I believe a lot of hearing people would find themselves blown away by the signing especially when it’s subtitled.
Oh yes, some people asked me about subtitles and how I made them. It’s quite easy to make. There’s a PC freeware for it, it’s known as “Subtitle Workshop”. Click here to access the page. There are some for the Mac, there’s one named “Miyu”. I haven’t gotten around to using it, so I’m not sure how easy it is to use. I have several, but I’ve used Subtitle Workshop on several occasions, mainly to tweak some subtitles I’ve downloaded. Just to remind you, Google Video recommends that you save your subtitles in either two formats, SRT (SubRip) or SUB (SubViewer). I hope that was helpful enough for most.
Have a grand day.
My first vlog entry and used to introduce my readers and the new readers to my new blogsite, 'Banjo's World', formerly known as Banjo's Space at MSN Spaces.
Originally posted on April 27, 2006
‘Battlestar Galactica’, the reimagined TV series is such a gem. Prior to the airing of the mini-series back in 2003, I was familiar with the original TV series. I never watched an episode of it, but I was aware of it. They also released the original onto the DVD format as a part of the big promotion for the new series. I never bought the set due to the clunky packaging design. I hope they will re-release it in a standard DVD packaging shortly so I can watch them. I’m sure the costume design and special effects are badly outdated, but it has to be popular for a reason. It has a large cult of followers.
So far, I’ve watched the mini-series and the first nine episodes from the first season. I got to say, I am impressed. The special effects are unbelievably amazing for a TV series. Sure, I’ve spotted some imperfections in the special effects on the series especially when they show the robotic cylons, and I swear they use the same shot of the flight fighters several times already, but you have to think of what a burden the financing situation rest on a TV series like this. Just amazing what they have been able to achieve so far.
Character development is also a crucial part of keeping a TV series going. If there were no character development, the show wouldn’t last. Far too many shows have been killed because of that flaw. One may say that the show features far too many characters, maybe there are a couple too many but I believe it’s what keep the show going. As you know, special effects is no longer a factor in keeping a show alive, it’s always the characters that does. ‘Veronica Mars’ and ‘Lost’ has a large amount of characters, and ‘Lost’ is quite popular with the TV audience these days. ‘Veronica Mars’ is on a low-rated TV network, but that may change when WB and UPN merges into the CW this fall. ‘Veronica Mars’ is a personal favourite of mine.
The storylines are enough to keep me hooked. Good storylines are also crucial in my opinion; they keep the show fresh and interesting. I do have my concerns about how many seasons this show is capable of, but it’s a natural concern to hold because I’m familiar with how the quality of most TV series declined in their last few years. All I can say is that I hope that the chance of that happening is quite dim because I want to see this show rock everybody’s socks off.
‘Battlestar Galactica’, I’m looking forward to watching the first part of the second season as soon I’m done with the first season. I’ve been told that only half of the second season is now on DVD, I certainly hope they will release the other half soon.
‘Battlestar Galactica’ frakkin’ rock!
Originally posted on April 26, 2006
There are so many activities you can do to keep yourself entertained instead of entering the world of boredom. One of them would be the media industry; they provide entertainment to the public. There are a large variety of concepts in the industry. The media industry is incredibly powerful; they’re everywhere you go, even in the public washrooms.
The movies are obviously my favourite part of the industry, as you can tell from reading my blog on a frequent basis. They can be found to be quite entertaining and something to pass the time by. I will be the first to admit that there are more awful movies being pumped out of Hollywood than the gems are. It has become a standard in the industry to provide mediocre and horrific movies, it is part of doing business. They want to make big bucks, but they don’t always succeed at it because they do blow a large amount of it on advertising their products quite often. Still, that doesn’t justify the blaming game.
The sad part of reality is that the media industry especially the video game developers and film producers often get blamed for the violence in our society these days. Parents set up lawsuits against the media industry for what their children did. The media industry includes a large number of established industries such as television, magazines, newspapers, advertisements and more. The reason why parents try to lay the blame on the industry is because they cannot handle the responsibility of their children’s horrific actions against the society. It is easier for them to blame someone else other than themselves. The parents have a legal and moral obligation to be responsible for their children till the age of eighteen, and they often ignore the importance of educating their children about life and responsibilities. Especially when their children are in their teenage years, for many, it is a hard time to go through with all the changes both emotionally and physically. The minute it becomes too late to take action with a child’s personal conflict is when they commit a murderous act; for example, a school shooting. The parents’ reaction to a school shooting on several occasions resulted in a multi-million dollars lawsuit. Of course, all or most of them ended up being dismissed from the courtroom.
To err is human, but to lay the blame on someone else is more human. It rings true when the parents attempt to lay the blame onto the others for their children’s actions. It is dead-on wrong to blame someone else for something that you know you are responsible for. Children are responsible for their actions too, but they do look to you to guide them through the journey to adulthood.
You would think that some parents would have an ounce of common sense when it comes to watching movies. If a movie has a warning label on it saying it’s not suitable for children, that’s exactly what it means. It doesn’t mean anything else. Yes, it is your decision on what to allow your children to view and what they can’t. That’s your responsibility, and if you see signs of the negativity from the movies influencing your children, take action, don’t blame the movies, and blame yourself. You allowed them to watch it in the first place; the movie producers don’t come to your doorstep and beg you to let your kids watch their movies. It’s all up to you; you have the absolute power when it comes to what movies they can watch in your household. The movie ratings are there for a reason, it’s to suggest what inappropriate contents are featured in the movie and how age-appropriate it is. God forbid you allow your children to watch ‘Debbie Does Dallas’! My father once said to me, “These parents whose blame the media industry should realize that the parents should be the one to be blamed in many ways because they are supposed to take care and watch over them”. I agreed firmly with him on his opinion, the media industry shouldn’t be blamed. It’s just business, nothing personal.
Peer pressure is common among all schools, and they can be a powerful influence on your children, mostly negative. As I grew up, my parents educated me on the dangers of some certain activities and the fact that they are illegal. They didn’t want to see me fall victim and ruin my future by getting involved. Thankfully, I was given the information I needed and I resisted the peer pressure, which is surprisingly easy to do if you know what to do. Education is the key, and having the parents commit to guiding their children through their life greatly increases the chances at being successful. Life is short, but children grow in a flash and will be out of your grip before you know it. So don’t wait, spend time with your children and teach them about life.
The media shouldn’t be blamed for the violence happening in this world. Violence is everywhere. You don’t need the media industry to cause problems; people already are doing a good job of it. We aren’t exactly a peaceful society; we have rapists and murderers on the roam every single day traumatizing and killing the innocents. Long before we had violent movies, Romans used to watch gladiators fighting each other and being eaten by the lions. The horrific wars between the American Natives and the American settlers, the slavery in Egypt, the two World Wars and many more barbaric events to go over in the history books.
The media industry is not responsible for the violence in our society.
It’s us.
Originally posted on April 23, 2006
There are so many different mysteries and phenomena that are still unexplained in this world. Spiritual activities continue to be one of the most unexplained mysteries because there are no physical evidences, and this is still just a big theory today. To many, it’s real and they’ve seen it. The reason why I’m sharing this with you is because I strongly believe in this subject. I believe I have seen so much that I could barely explain and I have no way of proving it. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Many people don’t want to believe in ghosts because they have a fear inside of them. Or they’re just skeptical due to the lack of experiences. Human beings have a tendency of being afraid of subjects that they don’t have a strong grip on to understand. It may seem to some people that I have more courage but I know that courage is being the only one who knows you’re afraid. If somebody who has a fear of ghosts saw some of the things that I have seen, it would really turn their hair white. Some of my stories about my early childhood are featured here. These experiences did make a big impact on my whole life just because of what happened in my childhood. As far I can remember, I was just 3 to 4 years old when these paranormal activities began occurring in my bedroom. I know this kind of strangeness wouldn’t happen to most people when they are young. It’s either that or they just keep it to themselves.
It took place in the middle of the night, I was sleeping gently in my bed; all of a sudden, the ceiling light in my room came on causing my body to react by waking up. I looked around; I knew that nobody was up at the time. My family wouldn’t dare to play tricks like that on me, as that would be a cruel practical joke to play on a 4-year-old child. I got back into the bed after turning off the light, then a few minutes later; the light came back on its own. Naturally, I began to get scared a bit. My eyes suddenly widen and looked at my closet door as it began to open slowly and that terrified me so much. I felt the urge to panic and ran to my parents’ room. I pounced onto their bed to wake them up. I dragged them by hands to my bedroom. They quickly inspected the room by their eyes. They proceeded to tell me, “It was just a bad dream”. At that time, our communication wasn’t as fine-tuned as it is today, I and both of my parents just had began to learn sign language, naturally I was already far ahead of my parents.
After being tucked back into my bed and my parents went back to bed, I was still terrified by what I had seen. My father already had shut the closet door wide shut and turned off the light. Shortly after dozing off, the light came back on once again. I turned my head to look and I saw an image on the ceiling, it has been burnt into my head forever and I’ll never be able to push it out of it. The image appeared to be an icy blue face. I recognized the face; it was one of the illustrated faces from a childhood toy of mine. It was a Ghostbusters Proton Gun; it had some slide images that you could project onto a surface. You could make the jaws of the characters featured in the slide images move. The face was moving its jaws but I wasn’t sure if it actually said something or not due to my deafness. I do believe that the spirit may have made the attempt to communicate with me; it wasn’t a success. Through the next several years, I’ve encountered and experienced a large number of paranormal activities, but I kept it to myself because I didn’t believe my parents would believe me after what happened in my bedroom that night.
One day in the year of 1993, everything changed. The first sibling in the family had been staying in a hospital in the city of Toronto for three months. My mother stayed in the city to keep her company as any loving mother would do. My father stayed home with me and my other two siblings. During my mother’s absence, it isn’t very common for my parents to be apart for more than a night or two. One evening when he went to sleep in his big empty bed, something strangely happened. It was as if somebody was walking onto the mattress in a slow motion. Suddenly, he felt a set of hands rubbing his feet and they slowly went up to his knees, he saw with his own eyes, the skin on his knees were moving as if they were being rubbed. Quickly, he exited his bedroom after being spooked by the experience. After a while of being awake, he decided to go re-enter the bedroom and go back to sleep. He couldn’t go through with it as it had reoccurred. The same activity started night after night in the bedroom, he ended up sleeping onto the couch in the living room.
The day my mother came home from Toronto, she was heavily exhausted after all the stress of being in the big city for months. She decided to take an afternoon nap while my father was out doing errands. My father did not inform her of what had happened to him in the bedroom. He was too worried his own wife wouldn’t believe his story. Shortly into her nap, the same paranormal activity occurred as it had to in my father’s experience. She was startled and terrified. In fact, it was a more amplified version in comparison to my father’s, her legs were being pulled and lifted into the air screaming for help. My older brother and his friend immediately ran to the room and aided her out of the bedroom. They had caught a glance of what was happening to her, they were also terrified. My father instantly knew he wasn’t just imagining it as it had happened to his own wife in the very same room. In fact, they ended up sleeping onto a mattress on the floor in the living room for months before finally being able to sleep in the bedroom in peace.
One of my sisters also had some particular experiences, one evening when she had some of her friends sleeping over. They were all sleeping except for my sister; she saw a sphere entering her bedroom that had a glowing green aura around it. It was floating in the air and heading toward her. It stopped into a corner and frozen while still glowing for a few minutes or it may had felt that long to her and only had been a few seconds instead. Being terrified can make the time seems slow or fast.
I think I’ve shared enough stories for tonight. I wouldn’t want to be held responsible for keeping you up at nights.
Originally posted on April 28, 2006
Today, Universal Studios released the movie based on the true event that took place on September 11, 2001. Four airplanes were hijacked and three of them reached their targets. United Flight 93 did not. The passengers on flight 93 turned to each other for support and to form a plan to thwart the terrorists' plan. Click here to access the official site. The movie has been receiving a lot of praises from both the Liberals and Conservatives, 9/11 was where the Americans truly became united for a while till they went back to their old ways of hating each other's guts.
When a movie like this come out. We have to put all our politics aside and take the time to remember the heroes of 9/11. The passengers of flight 93 did the right thing and saved hundreds of people's lives by sacrificing themselves. Suicide and sacrifice are two entirely different concepts. Suicide is a concept where one intentionally kill itself and sometimes to take other people with them to cause pain and grief. Sacrifice, it's when you give yourself up in order to save the others from dying. That's when you become a true hero, when you put yourself into peril in order to help someone out.
How quickly people have forgotten the impact of 9/11 made on every soul. It wasn’t even 5 years ago that it happened. Yes, people may remember that it was such a horrific event to remember how you and everyone else felt that day and scars it placed into people’s lives. However, Americans have forgotten how to get along like they did on that very day. Everybody were hugging each other and crying over the massive losses.
Does it have to take another 9/11 to unite all of you all over again? The answer should be a definite no, but what will it takes to unite the people of America once again?
Well, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own. I don’t have the answer for it.
It’s really sad that I have to see people foaming at their mouths over some ridiculous politics. Is it absolutely necessary to refer to each other with crudely made names like Moonbats, Repukes, Unhinged and many more? Yes, I would have expected some 4th graders to hurl some names toward each other, but not from people in their 30s/40s. To tell a child to grow up would be like insulting them because the adults aren’t doing any better either.
Only if people could see the simple truth of life and that the reality doesn’t have to bite as hard as it does now.
Paul Greengrass directed the film, United 93. His previous directing gigs included ‘The Bourne Supremacy’, ‘Bloody Sunday’ and more. With all the great reviews this movie has been getting, the movie may be potent at the box office or it’ll just simply flop. The moviegoers have been known to be unpredictable at times. Especially when it comes to controversial movies. It’s really hard to tell what will happen with this one over the weekend because of the subject and politics surrounding it.
If some of you have seen the movie and would like to share your thoughts, feel free to share it here in the comments section.
Personally, I don’t believe it’s too soon or too late for a movie like this to come out. People may find it hard to stomach, especially the New Yorkers since they were there to see it. I think it's great that we are paying tribute to them in this way.
May the heroes of United Flight 93 rest in peace and be remembered for their unforgottable sacrifice to save America.
How quickly people have forgotten the impact of 9/11 made on every soul. It wasn’t even 5 years ago that it happened. Yes, people may remember that it was such a horrific event to remember how you and everyone else felt that day and scars it placed into people’s lives. However, Americans have forgotten how to get along like they did on that very day. Everybody were hugging each other and crying over the massive losses.
Does it have to take another 9/11 to unite all of you all over again? The answer should be a definite no, but what will it takes to unite the people of America once again?
Well, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own. I don’t have the answer for it.
It’s really sad that I have to see people foaming at their mouths over some ridiculous politics. Is it absolutely necessary to refer to each other with crudely made names like Moonbats, Repukes, Unhinged and many more? Yes, I would have expected some 4th graders to hurl some names toward each other, but not from people in their 30s/40s. To tell a child to grow up would be like insulting them because the adults aren’t doing any better either.
Only if people could see the simple truth of life and that the reality doesn’t have to bite as hard as it does now.
Paul Greengrass directed the film, United 93. His previous directing gigs included ‘The Bourne Supremacy’, ‘Bloody Sunday’ and more. With all the great reviews this movie has been getting, the movie may be potent at the box office or it’ll just simply flop. The moviegoers have been known to be unpredictable at times. Especially when it comes to controversial movies. It’s really hard to tell what will happen with this one over the weekend because of the subject and politics surrounding it.
If some of you have seen the movie and would like to share your thoughts, feel free to share it here in the comments section.
Personally, I don’t believe it’s too soon or too late for a movie like this to come out. People may find it hard to stomach, especially the New Yorkers since they were there to see it. I think it's great that we are paying tribute to them in this way.
May the heroes of United Flight 93 rest in peace and be remembered for their unforgottable sacrifice to save America.
'Finding Forrester' DVD Packaging@2000 Sony Pictures. All Right Reserved
Originally posted on March 24, 2006
Recently, I was sent an e-mail regarding the blog entry titled, ‘Bitterback Mountain – Ungracious Losers’. The reader had made the attempt to post it in the comments section, but
it didn’t work for some reasons that I cannot explain. My blog is set to allow all of my readers to post their opinions and feedbacks. If you cannot, click here to send me an e-mail.
I felt that a misunderstanding had taken place and the main point of the article I had written was overlooked. I need to make a clarification regarding the blog entry I had written and hope that the misunderstanding will be cleared up.
I did not make fun of any movies. The title, ‘Bitterback Mountain’ was a metaphor in describing Annie Proulx’s reaction to the upset victory of ‘Crash’. To me, it made perfect sense, as she was the author of the original short story. As you may recall, I did not make any jokes regarding the homosexuality theme in the film. Nor did I make any jokes about the racial theme in the movie, ‘Crash’. In fact, I found most of the jokes to be heavily juvenile. I don’t care too much for Jay Leno or any talk show hosts; they aren’t what they used to be.
In today’s society, people find it easier to make a mockery out of homosexuality rather than using a racial theme. It doesn’t mean it’s right what they are doing. It’s a condition in the society. It has more to do with mind programming from the families and the mainstream media, which does make a large influence in how we think and react to social issues. However, I would have note the irony because I've seen people made fun for wearing a turban when they’re in fact, Sikh instead of Muslim. Turbans are mostly worn by Sikhs. Yet they are so intimidated by people of different backgrounds and not the Islamic terrorists. It’s a social condition that evolves to different themes through the ages and we always are fighting to break the barriers. People are like a flock of sheep, it’s easier for them to believe the negativity than it is to believe the positive perceptive of life.
The point of writing it was to show how I disapprove of people who react to their losses in such an ungracious manner. It’s a strong sign of being a poor sport, if I was nominated for an award and I didn’t win, I will not write an article and send it to a major newspaper saying how I should had been recognized for my works. It's just tacky. The best way to achieve a global recognizance is to not ask for it.
Had it been Paul Haggis, the director of ‘Crash’ who lost to ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and wrote a similar article to Annie Proulx’s, you can bet that I will react in the same way. Ungracious losers easily turn me off. It’s all about sportsmanship when it comes to victories and losses. I’ve seen ‘Crash’ and I do plan on seeing ‘Brokeback Mountain’ once I get the chance to. I never vow to not see a film, some people are just being ridiculous when they vow to not see a film simply because they find the storyline to be offensive. Some of the Jewish followers tried to accuse ‘The Passion of the Christ’ of spreading anti-Semitism only to end up looking like fools because it wasn’t. The movie was decent, not fantastic in my opinion. It was pretty over hyped.
An important reminder to my readers, my opinions is my true opinions. Any one will not sway my opinions. You are free to speak your mind here and be immune from any patronization. I don’t tolerate patronization here at my space. I treat all of my readers as my equals, no matter what. I will not treat my readers as if they have an I.Q. of 9. I strongly disapprove of the bloggers who does patronize their readers.
You are my equal and I will treat you like one, even if you don’t treat me like one.
Originally posted on March 14, 2006
Annie Proulx, the author of 'Brokeback Mountain', a former Best Picture contender at the Oscars slammed the recent upset victory for 'Crash'. The voters spoke and they will not be swayed by the reactions, not even from a sore loser. 'Crash' is still the winner, like it or not. It doesn't mean you have to agree, you have your preferences, they have theirs'.
Here's an excerpt from the article at Chicago Tribune,
"And rumor has it that [Lions Gate] inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of `Trash' -- excuse me -- `Crash' a few weeks before the ballot deadline. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves and the debate over free silver."
To read more, click
here.
It's not everyday that you hear about a Oscar loser being so bitter. Sore losers aren't too appealing, they take everything for granted and act as if they are owed something. Sheesh, some people are just so ungracious these days. Just when you thought somebody would be just happy enough to be nominated for an award. By the way, Annie Proulx won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for 'The Shipping News'. A novel that was also adapted into a film starring Kevin Spacey.
Update: Here's the complete raving rant of hers on Guardian Unlimited. All 1,109 words of them. Get this; she's 70 years old. Quite a grumpy old woman, I'll say!
I guess some people just never stop wanting more.
Hat tip: Kokonut Pundits
Originally posted on March 5, 2006
Every year after the Oscars telecast, there's a bunch of "viewers" whining about the so-called politics. For your sake, you aren't being forced to watch the Oscars. You're only watching it to make some complaints to get attention and feel better about yourselves.
The Academy Awards members watch the movies and vote, not you. You get to watch the awards being awarded to the nominees, but you don't get to vote. So why whine? That's what People's Choice Awards are for.
I find it amusing when I see somebody making a fuss about a certain win being "politicized" when they are in fact politicizing it themselves. If you think they're all out to get the President; you're being paranoid. Last time I checked, the President has a 34 percent of the nation's approval on his performance and it's still sinking. As I recall, some people tried to say that Bill Clinton suffered the same problem, which is completely untrue.
Bill Clinton was at his lowest during his first year in office and suddenly, it spiked and never came down near to his lowest point since then. His lowest was at 36 percent in May of 1993 and it lasted barely 2 months then it went above 40 percent and never went any lower ever again. In fact, he has the highest approval rating for any outgoing president in history. President Bush's approval rating has suffered for a good while. Will President Bush be able to get a good rating when he finishes his second term? Click here to read a blog entry I made back in November on the presidential job performance ratings.
I doubt it. They're on the losing side. No need to be a sore loser about it. There may be some jokes that may not reflect the President too well, especially when he has such a low approval rating. Maybe the late night talk show hosts wouldn't be making fun of the President if his approval rating were high. I wish the best luck to Jon Stewart on his hosting gig tonight at the Oscars. He probably won't be a screamer like last year's host, Chris Rock.
By the way, I predict 'Crash' will achieve an upset victory over 'Brokeback Mountain'. Though I do predict the Best Director award going to Ang Lee for 'Brokeback Mountain', after all he does deserve it. Most of the times, both Best Director and Best Picture are awarded to the same movie. Though back in 2003, the Best Director went to the U.S. fugitive, Roman Polanski for The Pianist and the Best Picture award went to the musical, 'Chicago'. In 2001, Steven Soderbergh snagged the Best Director award for 'Traffic' and 'Gladiator' was declared the Best Picture. 'Shakespeare in Love' had an upset victory over 'Saving Private Ryan' in 1998, Spielberg was awarded the Best Director but they felt that 'Shakespeare in Love' was a better film. Nobody has talked about the movie in ages, I wouldn't be surprised if people barely remember it while they recall what a great movie 'Saving Private Ryan' was.
It doesn’t happen very often, it has only happened 20 times out of 77. Click here to view the database of "Picture and directing winners not from same film".
Hey, if I end up being wrong about 'Crash', at least it's just a prediction. I highly recommend the movie, it's a well-done film made on a budget of 6.5 million dollars. The only big budgeted film is Steven Spielberg's 'Munich' at 70 million dollars. Both 'Capote' and 'Good Night, and Good Luck' had $7 million each. 'Brokeback Mountain' was produced at a low price of $14 million. Just because the average moviegoer may had not seen them doesn't mean they are flops. All of them has made back or exceeded the budget enough to make a profit.
No need to politicize it. Repugnance isn't necessary. It's like listening to a spoiled 3 years old on a sugar high and throwing a temper tantrum. It's a simple task, just don't watch it if you don't support them. Otherwise, just shut up and enjoy the show.
To the Oscar nominees, good luck on winning the awards.
Originally posted on March 11, 2006
With all the people screaming about how all the illegal immigrants should be arrested and deported from the USA. Don’t they realize that it’s pretty much impossible at this stage now that the population of illegal aliens is now in double digits?
There has to be a different solution to this problem, it’s out of control and it isn’t getting any better. The USA has a large deficit and it’s growing, even though they swore to God that it’d be butchered in half by 2008 but will that happen? We’ll have to wait and see. With the deficit, it will be more difficult to use more resources to capture and deport the illegal residents. The public schools are already suffering due to poor funding and with the expensive costs of the wars; it won’t be easy to fund the agencies to chase these people.
There need to be a different solution, the USA cannot risk any more than it already has to use more resources to chase people around while the population keep on exploding. It will cost you even more in the future, somebody need to come up with a plan. I don’t know what can be done, we don’t have this kind of problem in Canada, we do have illegal aliens but we are able to keep it under control. We even do kick the refugees out of the country after a lengthy stay. It’s sad because many of the refugees have proven themselves to be law-abiding tax-paying civilians of Canada. With all the bureaucracy, it’s bound to drive me absolutely bonkers.
As of now, there’s an estimated population of 12 million illegal aliens from 8.4 million in 2000. What a difference 6 years can make. Yet they try to point fingers at countries like Canada and more for “harbouring” terrorists. They can’t even stop the Mexicans from entering the USA illegally. It’s amazing what blame games they resort to, they only have themselves to blame, and we didn’t encourage anybody to do it to the USA. The truth is, the President of America has a soft spot in his heart for the illegal aliens. Whether you want to admit it or not, do you remember his “Temporary Worker Program” proposal for the illegal aliens that got shot down back in January 0f 2004? It cannot be denied that President Bush is pushing for the illegal aliens to become legal residents of the USA.
It’s a great danger to the people of America economically wise. There are millions of unemployed Americans and it’s bad enough that they lose these jobs to these people. Not only that, there’s a large number of legal immigrants who went through hell to be granted the permission to reside in the country. I imagine they must feel quite insulted when they see these who are undocumented granted the freedom to reside wherever they wish to after breaking the law.
I wouldn’t be surprised if most people are able to “vaguely” recall it, it was swept under the carpet so quickly that one wouldn’t had the time to listen to the plan. Though there were good intentions in it, but the flaw was… it takes the job opportunities away from the legal US residents. Our-sourcing jobs isn’t helping much either, there’s even rumours of Apple setting up a call centre in India.
I do have great concerns for the welfare of the legal residents of any countries, they shouldn’t be denied the job opportunities and be given to illegal aliens who are willing to work for less. Wal-Mart has been guilty of hiring quite a number of illegal aliens and there is an occasional big bust at a big-box retailer for hiring undocumented civilians. Many, many American employers are hiring undocumented civilians because of the lower costs, I don’t think enough American employers are being arrested and sent to the prison. In fact, I believe American employers should be held on a higher account and be sought by the Federal agents because these people are encouraging and funding the illegal population to expand at an unstoppable rate.
The conclusion is, go after the employers and slap them with severe punishments. I believe it will slow down the population growth because not so many employers will resort to such a tactic after seeing all the harsh punishment being laid onto the people of their kind. In my opinion, none of them has to do with moral values; it's an economical problem. People should be held accountable for deliberately sabotaging the economics of the USA.
Punish the employers, not the illegal aliens. It’ll only cost the government more. This is an alternative solution and a potential reduction in costs to fight the ongoing illegal immigration problems. It's just an idea, there are many more ideas with a lot of potential. With the nasty deficit breathing down their necks, they should go back to the drawing board and go over more ideas on how to fight it.
Originally posted on April 6, 2006
I watched a movie last night, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. All of you had heard of the controversy surrounding the film concerning the strong push for acceptance of homosexual relationships in the society. I do have to say that Ang Lee is good at directing a film, but there's more to say. Though I must warn you that there are some heavy movie spoilers in my review.
The thing is, this movie started out as an 8-page short story that appeared in a magazine a few years ago. Then it was adapted into a thick screenplay, an 8-page story into a 2 hours and 15 minutes long movie. It's an incredibly difficult task to pull off in most cases. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ and ‘The Cat in the Hat’ suffered greatly as full-length movies. The short books were highly entertaining for the children, but the adapted movies weren’t.
Brokeback Mountain got sort of lucky here, but the story does drag on a lot. Not a lot happen between important moments of the movie. Exceptional performances stand out in this movie. Great cast, everybody deserved the nominations they received. The movie could had been better paced if at around 15 to 30 minutes were cut out of it, maybe more. Jack Twist's death at the end of the movie was pretty short and under detailed. You didn't have any time to feel anything for his death because you suddenly learn of it and it isn't done with a lot of emotions. Though the love relationship between the two actors seemed very real with some emotional struggles because of Ennis’ fear of the homophobic society due to an unforgettable moment in his childhood when he saw a dead body of a gay man in a ditch with his genital pulled off. He feared that it would happen to one or both of them. Though Jack Twist fell victim to a hate crime in the end, as Ennis always had feared.
The movie was overall decent, maybe a 6 to 7 out of a 10. The quality of the movie suffered greatly due to the over hyped marketing and politically fuelled debates among the politicians, religious activists and more. The beef I have with the Oscars is that they don’t pick the best movies to nominate, they rarely do.
To the Oscar voters, don’t pick movies solely based on your political beliefs. Base it on the quality of the stories, performances and the technical aspects.
Brokeback Mountain was decent, so was Crash. But were these two some of the best movies of the year?
Not really.
I enjoyed the heck out of ‘A History of Violence’ by the Canuck director, David Cronenberg more than these two nominated movies combined. David Cronenberg is a highly entertaining and skilled filmmaker; he deserves more recognition. One of the most underrated storytellers ever.
Originally posted on April 20, 2006
I stumbled upon a website the other day, it has a bunch of sketches and drawings. Largely based on the Harry Potter novels along with some brewed up storyline ideas to go with it. One of my favourites from the site is one of sky being used as a battlefield for the wizards. Click here to view it.
There’s also another one that I’m a fan of. Art Dungeon, it has a large amount of sketches. Greatly drawn, I’ll say. There’s tons of Harry Potter fanarts out there on the Internet.
I’ve seen some pretty bad ones though, but I’ve seen a lot of good ones. I also have one on my blog, you can find it in the photos section. It’s a sketch of Severus Snape. I also posted one of Mad-Eye Moody a while ago; it was a sketch of the Mad-Eye Moody we all saw in the movie. I enjoy looking at the pictures, and I’ve drawn quite a few. Maybe I should draw more and post them.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
Originally posted on April 17, 2006
Child pornography has always been a problem. But what people don’t understand is that an enormous world of danger to the children was opened more than a decade ago and not enough has been done about it. The Internet itself is the most powerful form of communication and distribution of child pornography and it has been proven many times over the years. Yes, they are fighting it but it’s not enough if the problem is not shrinking. Politicians have far too much self-interest and other political issues to focus on making themselves unable to fully commit to the war on child pornography. Children are being lured onto the Internet by the child predators every single day right under their parents’ noses.
This is also a problem in Canada, people are getting arrested and prosecuted for possessing such materials; which I applaud. However, the core of the problem continues to be complicated, that would be the photo developers and distributors of the materials. It’s not everyday you get to read about a photographer/distributor getting arrested and prosecuted.
Millions of child pornographic materials are being downloaded off the Internet
every hour around the world. That means more and more children are being molested and forced into performing sexual acts. It is an issue that continues to be heavily neglected despite the media coverage in our daily newspapers, TV News programs and more. Parents need to be made aware of the dangers of allowing minors to use the Internet with total freedom. A 14-year old girl may not like being supervised, but she’ll end up thanking you at her high school graduation for being a parent with a lot of love and concerns for his/her children.
It's a subject I don't like to discuss, but it's part of the reality. Reality bites.
I have 3 nieces and an either nephew or niece on the way this May. The oldest being 18, I'm proud of them and I do worry about the choice they make because of the potential consequences, but it's a natural trait in my family to care and worry for the others more than ourselves because we want to see each other succeed.
It is a problem that is very likely to be never eliminated, but it can be fought and reduced to a low number. One is too many, but it's better than having millions of children be used as sexual pleasures for the adults. Especially in countries like Taiwan where children are being rented as sex toys. People need to pay for what they're doing to the children.
They don't deserve this at all.
'Cool Hand Luke' DVD Packaging@1967 Warner Bros. Studios Entertainment Inc. All Right Reserved
Originally posted on April 15, 2006
Emma Watson is rumoured to play the role of the Pink Ranger in an upcoming Power Rangers TV series? Is IMDB.com really that dense?
That appears to be the case. It was a good laugh though but there's no way an agent would screw Emma Watson over like that especially when she's a part of an enormous franchise like the Harry Potter movies.
Emma Watson the Pink Ranger... it's not going to happen. IMDB need to stop accepting submissions like free candies. They have to check these sources out before putting it on their website. They often end up looking like fools.
IMDB used to be reliable but it isn't anymore. Emma Watson's IMDB page can be viewed by clicking here. I just can't believe they actually posted this!
Originally posted on April 18, 2006
The mainstream media sure know how to ruin a good joke. Earlier today, I saw a ton of article