Like a thief in Trincity Mall in broad daylight, Google launched Chrome without warning. Unlike a Thief in Trincity Mall, Chrome was a very pleasant surprise. If you were not aware of Chrome until now then you must either be off-line or on Yahoo.
Chrome is Google’s latest attempt to not only dominate the web but help the world. Google is now a household word but is more useful than other household words. The phrase “Google it” has become the second most common expression in the World with the first still being “Not tonight” in which case then you do “Google it.”
Without realizing we, the citizens of planet Earth, are being Googlized. We depend on Google to provide information on things like how to tie a tie or even how to pluck a chicken in a small bathub. Google gives us directions, help us send our mail, blog, calculate our taxes, draw our sketches, analyze our websites and provide us with new ways to ignore our friends. Google makes billions every year from advertising and the more Google becomes a part of our lives the bigger and more powerful Google will become.
I find all this to be fascinating and wish Google success. Google has become the giant it already is by listening to customers and trying to help them and not by forcing the whims and fancies of leaders with fragile egos down the users’ throats. Google has moved beyond simple democracy and gone into something called Googleocracy. We can all learn something from Google’s success because Google never stopped to ask, they only stopped to listen.
Baygon and Bop were not good friends and often battled for shelf space. Though both contained some of the same active ingredients, each claimed to be the better and baddest insecticide. Nevertheless, both were equally feared by flying and crawling insects. Baygon came in a green and red can and was considered the BMW of the insecticide world with its non-suicidal spray head, sophisticated scent, and high price. BOP, on the other hand, came in two flavors, regular and citronella. Bop was however cheaper and smelt that way. Bop had the standard low-cost spray nozzle that was not idiot proof but was still favored by both idiots and smart men on a budget.
It was never clear how these insectcides got their names but one rumor suggested that the name Bop came about when an excited insecticide scientist, eger to impress his boss, ran straight into a wall on discovering the formula. The boss was impressed with the sound of the impact. Another rumor claimed a scientist named Bob created the formula for Bop but his name was misspelled during the haste to get it on the shelves for dengue season. The rest was insecticide history. It was never certain how the name Baygon came about but insecticide historians believe Baygon is the German word meaning Bop.
Blogging has taken the world by storm and changed the way we mumble to ourselves. Blogging can be described as photography in words. Like good photographs, blogs are more interesting when the subject is revealing, the composition is clever, and the exposure just right. Blogging is a way in which we let the world know we exist and are pissed off at that point in time. It is our way of speaking to ourselves so that others can hear if they want. It is our own private radio station.
Not being able to write a proper sentence has never stopped someone from saying something, and being understood. Why should it? We are not prime time but one of the countless billions of stars talking at the same time hoping a radio telescope somewhere will call us random and intelligent. But just because the radio telescope didn’t focus on us doesn’t mean we do not exist or our ramblings are meaningless.
In hindsight it seems blogging is an inevitable part of our evolution since one characteristic of being alive is to be noticed in as many ways possible. The more ways we express ourselves the more alive we feel and the less we feel like a Dinner Mint wrapper - useful until the sweetie is sucked. A blog is now like a cell phone and everybody has more than one. In the future, blogs will replace obituaries, and it will be our main legacy until something better comes along.
It is no longer necessary to hide in the wheel well of a private jet or jump on the back of a sea turtle to get to Tobago from Trinidad as Caribbean Airlines now runs an amazingly efficient air bridge between the two islands. On the down side, airport security checks are still annoying but are in place for our safety and inconvenience. If you have a good camera bag the x-ray machine will only serve to confuse the security officers more. It appears that through the eyes of an x-ray machine a zoom lens looks like a bazooka and a four-pack of AA batteries is the splitting image of four sticks of dynamite.
Where to stay:
Crown Point Hotel is my favorite place to stay in Tobago because it overlooks Store Bay and girls in bikinis. According to pictures on the wall in the reception area, in 1966 Queen Elizabeth II stayed at Crown Point Hotel with a married man. The man was her husband and she was on her honeymoon. I doubt she wore a bikini back then since the royal g-string wasn’t invented until the 90s. Maybe she would return one day and grace us with that sight.
Dove - Tobago
What to eat:
Crab and dumpling, the trademark Tobago dish, is still holding at $45TT or about $7.25US but the current crabs have thinner legs and the dumplings are on a diet. Still, there is nothing like Tobago crabs.
If you are the type of person who is into boneless lamb, and money I recommend Bonkers located just down de road from Churches Chicken, Sheppy’s Car Rental and The Iguana pub in Crown Point. Last year I tried the seafood restaurant, Pelican Reef (sounds strangely like Pelican Brief starring Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington and Sam Shepard) but their prices are not as attractive as their waitresses.
There is a genuine Italian pizzeria, La Cantina, in Crown Point with dozens of different thin-crust pizzas made in a brick oven made from bricks. To put it bluntly, you will never taste better pizza in Trinidad and Tobago, or most parts of the US. One pizza can cost around $75TT but taste like $95TT. There is even a pizza with raw beef.
Where to go:
I was again disappointed that Pigeon Point, the best beach in the world after Englishman’s Bay, had no topless bathing except for a few old men. On this trip to Tobago I went to Castara and Englishman’s Bay for the first time but didn’t sample the water since drinking saltwater and driving should never be mixed. Englishman’s Bay is smaller, more rounded and easier to pronounce than Castara making it better liked and cozier. On my visit, the bikini content on both beaches was miniscule, but can change drastically with the arrival of one tour bus or two rented cars.
Avoiding suspicion:
Tobagonians are suspicious of long-lens camera people because of past experiences. Most, if not all, Tobagonians welcome the photographer but want to make sure he or she gets the name of their boat and island right. A photograph of Pigeon Point once ended up in an ad for Jamaica, I was told. The locals become suspicious if the photographer looks professional but acts like a point-and-shooter.
Pigeon Point
Nude Bathing:
Nude bathing is only allowed in an enclosed, non-transparent bathroom.
Sitting in the waiting room of a Dentist who is an old high school friend I came up with these thoughts - these ten things he probably doesn’t want me to know.
1. He is more terrified than I am
2. Flunked Fillings 101 three times
3. Does his receptionist’s fillings for free
4. Is recycling needles in order to save the planet
5. Is afraid of dentist
6. Has cavities
7. Regularly forgets to change his surgical gloves
Titanic is a water based love story and also a monster movie. Since its release in 1997 Titanic has grossed $1,848,813,795 worldwide and that is a titanic performance. Though I am a straight man I do like Titanic, both as a movie and a submersible. Titanic is a movie which, to this day, appeals to a wide cross-section of people and has a bit of everything. Titanic contains good looking people, ugly people, good people, cruel people, rich people, poor people, Irish people, musicians and even an engineer. Titanic appeals to all ages and sexes and even has a sex scene, or maybe it is just nudity, I can’t remember.
Titanic - Censored by this blog
The question being asked today is whether The Dark Knight will equal or better the box-office performance of Titanic. After seeing The Dark Knight, I will have to say I am doubtful. People went to see Titanic two, three, and four times because it was a bucketful of emotions. It made people happy and cry at the same time and the characters were easy to relate too. The Dark Knight is an action-based, superhero movie that is not as emotional as Titanic and lacks staying power.The Dark Knight, though powerful from a moralistic point of view, and has good special effects and a motorcycle, is simply not as charming as Titanic. Sadly, The Dark Knight had no romping in the hay and there were no trademark memorable scenes as there were in Titanic. At least I can’t remember any. There was scarcely any bonding between screen characters and the non-psychotic members of the audience. I don’t have the urge to go back and see The Dark Knight for those reasons.
The Joker Claps
Very soon, I think, the euphoria over The Dark Knight will settle and just as the Jedi eventually returned for financial reasons, so too will The Dark Knight. With the Titanic there was never any possibility of a return; the end was always meant to be final.
The Dark Knight was a good movie because during the movie I wasn’t distracted by the fact Heath Ledger was no longer alive and Christian Bale was recently arrested by London police for allegedly assaulting his 61 year old mother, a former circus clown, and his sister. Good movies are always full of distractions.
The Dark Knight was an intense movie which never let up for the 152 minutes of screen time. It was a good versus evil movie and I am beginning to wonder what the movie industry would do without evil, or good for that matter. As everybody said, The Joker stole the show from Batman but he always did and in every incarnation as that is the nature of evil. This movie was filled with moral dilemmas such as does the good of the one you love outweigh the good of the masses. Or can evil exist simply for evil’s sake or does evil have a plan that is more attractive than Batman’s. Naturally the movie suggested that Batman made the right decision which was probably the wrong one in the end. I find The Dark Knight to be disturbing for that reason but little children and young teens may not find it so since munching popcorn and texting requires concentration.
The Dark Knight - The Joker
Batman is a better superhero than Spiderman, Ironman, and Hulk, and is on par with Daredevil, and Hancock. Batman is better as he bleeds easier than most superheroes which makes him more human but is extremely wealthy which makes him a bit of an idiot for wanting to dress up as a bat in order to fight crime. However, I was made to understand that some women are attracted to Batman because he has a private jet (or missile), wears a black cape in bed, and has a mask with needlessly protruding ears. It’s difficult for the ordinary man to compete with that.
The Midnight Meat Train is a new horror movie being released in Trinidad and Tobago today but is accidentally being listed as All Ages on Movietowne’s website. The Midnight Meat Train is based on a 1984 short story from the master horror writer Clive Barker. The movie already received rave reviews on IMDB based on its premier showing in the US but will only be widely released on 1st August. I can’t wait to see The Midnight Meat Train but I will have to since plans are already in train for The Dark Night starring Batman and The Joker. The Midnight Meat Train is directed by Japanese director, Ryuhei Kitamura and I hope he is as good as they say. The movie stars Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb and the scary Brooke Shields.
I am interested in The Midnight Meat Train not because the name sounds suggestivebutbecause it’s an R-rated horror movie based on a Clive Barker story featuring a photographer and his camera. It looks like a rangefinder film camera and not a digital SLR. Somehow, memory cards and computers are not as scary as darkrooms and chemicals.
The first time I heard the word backhoe I was a teenager and had a distorted knowledge of the world so I misunderstood what a backhoe really was. All I knew was one of our neighbors rented backhoes even though he was happily married. Eventually, I did see what real backhoes looked like and that was the start of my fascination with the backhoe. That boyish fascination continues up to today.
A backhoe is a notorious creature in Trinidad and Tobago and became infamous for causing long lines of traffic on back roads and highways. With its jiggly digger, a backhoe at maximum speed is frightening and unstable at best. Maybe in the sixties a backhoe was considered a fast moving and steady vehicle, but by today’s standards for reckless driving and endangering life and limb of the innocent, a maximum speed 30 km/h on the highways shouldn’t be tolerated. I dislike backhoes for this reason but I dislike backhoes even more because WASA has adopted the backhoe, along with the jackhammer and incompetence, as their main weapons for the mass destruction of roads.
Another Backhoe
But backhoes are not all bad and when in action a backhoe can be a joy to watch. To see a bright yellow backhoe skillfully place its digger into the earth and carve a trench that signifies the start of a new pothole can only be matched by seeing dump-trucks offload gravel in the middle of a road in a residential area, then speed off.
Despite its bad reputation, humans are fascinated by backhoes probably because backhoes share some human characteristics such as they can be useful at both ends. Like people, backhoes are also unstable when handled incorrectly and are prone to blowing a hose if the ground is too hard. That is where the jackhammer comes in, I suppose. In some construction catalogues a backhoe is also called a rear actor or back actor which has been know to be confused with actors from a certain misunderstood, but highly appreciated, segment to the movie industry. Now that The Joker is out of the way I think Batman’s next villain would be The Backhoe. Maybe the backhoe has been unfairly vilified by us humans but I am still certain I do not want to return as a backhoe in my next life.
I decided to write this post because I didn’t know what else to write and I felt I should write something. It’s these voices next to my head.
Introduction
This Beach Called Life - The aka_lol’s Blog was imported from Blogger into WordPress just over one year ago and I think it was a good year for the blog compared to a bad year. It was a good year, and not just for visits, but for poor grammar, disjointed paragraphs, and nonsensical post. As you may not have realized there is no theme for this blog other what goes on in my mind and keyboard. I am not nuts but some say insanity becomes me. Despite my self-proclaimed sanity, sometimes this blog goes crazy and attracts many visitors who become speechless on entry. Nevertheless, it’s nice when the visits go up on my stat counter and I am always curious to know what brought visitors here.
The Actual Superficial Content
This blog has been visited 27,826 times since July 16th, 2007. The most amount of visitors in one day occurred on February 7th, 2007 with 641 visits because of Carnival. More recently, the peak of 428 on the 17th July was due to the Trinidad Storm entry, Halle Berry and The Happening. Carla Bruni has been some help in keeping the stats above 100 per day and Everything You Wanted to Know About Aka has become popular and I think I figured out the glitch that made it so. Bikini Carnival continues to plod along but barely.
Friends of this Blog
I would like to thank those who commented and I would also like to thank those who commented more even more. You know who you are. The Blogroll on the side bar has a list of good bloggers who may have commented and some who are the silent type. Don’t be afraid to say what’s on your mind but just remember I offend easily.
The Future
One day I hope to sell the movie rights to this blog and finally make aka_lol a pronounceable household word.
Liane Spicer, a friend to this blog, will have her first novel, Cafe Au Liat, released by the international publishing house, Dorchester in late August or early September. You can read Liane’s profile here and you can order the book on Amazon by clicking the next word, Amazon. I pre-ordered the books months ago and will not be lending my copy for at least a few months because there are too many people out there who believe in borrowing and not buying. I will not be encouraging this slackness. You can check out her perpetually interesting, author-friendly, blog at Wordtryst and tell her aka sent you.
For the second year straight, the Miss USA contestant at the Miss Universe competition fell in front of a billion people. I see a dangerous trend emerging. This year, Miss USA, Crystle Stewart, tripped on her skirt that was either poorly designed or which she was poorly trained to negotiate in a competitive environment. I have said this before, and I will say it again, a long skirt will get a girl into more trouble than a short one. A short skirt will always get a man in trouble though. I don’t think Miss Stewart should be too embarrassed since she placed in the Top 15, unlike many of the other more stable contestants.
I am happy that the name of the competition is carded to be changed shortly to The Miss Universal Body and Brains Competition. Not only would the competition be renamed but contestants would be subjected to mandatory drug test to determine if contestants have been taking any IQ enhancing drugs and if not, why.
Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2008 Anya Ayoung-Chee
Miss Trinidad and Tobago, the really beautiful Anya Ayoung-Chee, probably placed sixteenth in the random political process of selecting the fifteen. Like all the contestants, I am sure Miss Ayoung-Chee believed the Miss Universe franchise developed a system that selects the best candidate to stand like a statue in foreign countries and endorse layer after layer of makeup on face after face.
Miss Universe 2008 - Dayana Mendoza
As much as I prefer our own Miss Trinidad and Tobago to win - just compare the photos above- it was about time our beauty-obsessed neighbor, Venezuela, produced a winner from their beauty factory. The next challenge for Trump would be to get Chavez to host the next Miss Universe competition while he builds a Trump Plaza in Sabana Grande.
Female Ticket seller: The name is Hancock not Handcock.
aka_lol: Pleased to meet you Handcock, can I have two tickets please?
Female Ticket seller: Wait here sir while I get security.
aka_lol: That won’t be necessary, I feel very safe here.
Hancock scene
Off screen Entertainment
After a brief scuffle with security, I was eventually allowed to see Hancock, Will Smith’s latest offering. But, even before that I was entertained by looking at the four Venezuelan girls in the line of people who support the concession stand with their outrageous prices. - The concession stand’s prices. Each girl was more beautiful than the next with their leader appearing rather wild and young for a leader.
Venezuelan Girl: cuatro perritos calientes, por favor.
Concession Stand Seller: Waahh?
Hancock whale scene
The Review
Hancock is not your average superhero movie and there is a twist which I saw coming from early. Hancock is a very good movie because it confronts the reality of the consequences of having a superhero operating in a big US city, and the effects of the indiscriminate damage to public property in the pursuit of justice. Hancock also explores the taboo subject of superhero depression and alcohol abuse.
Everybody knows superheroes normally wear a costume to hide their identity from their girlfriends, aunts and bosses for theatrical reasons plus it distinguishes them from the general public, who only wear costumes at Halloween, Carnival and one night stands. Hancock points out that a costume might look gay with its tightness around the pelvic area but it is necessary if the superhero wants to create a better public image. The movie, Hancock, was loosely based on the movie Unbreakable as both had nearly unbreakable superheroes in nontraditional roles. Unbreakable certainly had more of a twist but Hancock was funnier with a surplus of remarkable special effects. To describe Hancock as a simply a funny movie is to miss the point that in order to make it big at the box-office serious themes must be hidden among special effects and humor. Hancock is much more than a summer popcorn cruncher. I am going to rate Hancock much better than Iron Man because I enjoyed it more since it had a decent amount of obscene language and an original theme. Aka’s rating for Hancock is 8 out of 10.
Hancock at the beginning
Epilog
Hostage Taker: [Hancock arrives on the scene] Oh shit, Handjob! Hancock: Yep, now just tell me what you need. Hostage Taker: Well I need them to put those guns down. Hancock: [to the cops] All right fellas just put the guns down. Hostage Taker: Now I need you and that tight ass Wolverine outfit to get me outta here asshole!
Welcome to Trinidad and Tobago, welcome to paradise…
Over the last seven days I had three friends who were victims of crime. One was robbed of his car and valuables in Chaguanas in broad daylight on a busy street. Another one was held up at a small, newly-opened fruit stall in Curepe, and the other had his car broken into in St. Augustine while he and his family were asleep. In the last case, the bandits fired two shots at my friend, with one of the bullets lodging into the wall, about one foot from my friend’s face. The bandit fired at him because he had the nerve to look out the window to see why his car alarm went off. The police are yet to either make any headway or visit the crime scenes in all these cases. But then again, criminals don’t investigate their peers.
If you read the crime accounts above you might think that crime is out of control in Trinidad and Tobago. You wouldn’t be wrong. The amount of murders so far this year is just over 260, up from about 150 the year before and it is already one of the highest murder rates in the world. The Prime Minister’s answer to this crime epidemic is somewhere between silence, ignorance and hosting two useless and completely unrelated conferences which will greatly inconvenience the population but boost his fragile ego. Regrettably, there is no end to the crime spate outside of calling Batman to battle the Joker.
However, all is not lost since out of crisis comes opportunity and here is one the Government should pounce on. Trinidad and Tobago can start something called crime tourism. Crime tourism can target two types of tourist. The first is the brave and daring tourists who want some adventure in their lives that is not easily found in their country. Adventure in the form of holdups, kidnappings, muggings and rapes can be offered by tour operators. The other class of tourist can be the criminals themselves who are fed up of being caught and brought to justice in their own country and want to practice their craft without obstruction. With eco tourism on its way out and polluted rivers and streets losing its charm, crime tourism is not only the way forward but an opportunity of a lifetime. The Government should waste no time on this new and innovative form of tourism remembering that the only thing they can do with the lemons they planted over the years is to make sugar-resistant lemonade.
An optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. Not everything is what it seems and you only have to look long enough and sometimes hard enough to see something else. It is well accepted that people’s perception of themselves is not how others see them. For example, a politician sees himself as smooth, intelligent and caring while the population sees him as a lying, heartless, crook who should be in no less an institution than a maximum security prison.
Everything and everybody is not what it or they first appear to be and politicians are the best example of this. Another example is a beautiful girl since she may not necessarily be as good as she looks but, with a little luck, she would be actually quite bad. The one thing the human mind is adept at is ignoring facts and going along with what they want to believe. It takes a great effort for someone to even want to examine the facts of a situation because the facts may destroy a comfortable illusion. But ignoring facts don’t make them any less true. Some truths are nearly impossible to prove and to date no one has been able to prove there are no restaurants at the end of the universe or that humans are an intelligent life form.
I don’t have any advice to people whose minds are happy in their illusionary comfort zone and maybe we all need to achieve that level of comfort even if it is just an illusion. Perhaps the secret of life is finding your comforting illusion and then living it to the very end. However, I am not content with illusions even if they appear comforting since illusions can be fragile and can break when challenged by the truth.Time is better spent with things that don’t break and not with things we pretend to be unbreakable.
If something cannot be questioned it is probably just an illusion.
Most people would ask why don’t songwriters write good song any more and up to 2007 I was asking the same thing. But out of the blue, without warning, like a bolt of lightning on a cloudless day came the song to change all that. The song was Umbrella sung by the unbelievably gorgeous Rihanna who comes from our not so friendly neighbor, Barbados. I know you might be saying a song that calls itself Umbrella cannot be taken seriously but you only have to listen to it once or, better yet, look at the uncluttered Yahoo and Pepsi video version.
When you think about it, an umbrella is a very romantic device, and like many other romantic devices, it comes in several colors and sizes. Both lovers, and bedfellows can huddle under an umbrella in the rain, or they can use it to sneak a kiss pretending no one is secretly photographing the moment on a cell phone for blog purposes. Umbrellas have also been featured in many romantic movie scenes which I can’t remember the names of right now.
If you remain skeptical about the song just Google umbrella. If you want the lyrics just click this link. If you are in the mood for steamy romance I strongly recommend you try the Step 2 Naturally Playful Umbrella.There is nothing more to say about Umbrella other than just continue singing these infectious lines:
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella (Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella (Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)
George Carlin died on June 22nd, 2008 from heart failure at age 71. He would be missed by many, not missed by a few, and the rest perhaps did not know about George Carlin until the news of his death appeared on Yahoo and MSN under the entertainment section. George Carlin graced many stages, made HBO worth paying for and won four Grammy awards for comedy albums, which I am ashamed to say I did not buy any of because I thought both he and I would live forever. Now I will have to contribute to his estate.
George Carlin was a brilliant American standup comedian, actor and author who spoke bluntly about the quirks of pop culture and life. George Carlin’s style and frankness made people laugh but offended those who needed to be offended. His motto was “I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”
I am sure there would be hundreds of tributes paid to George Carlin both in print and in blog. This blog is paying tribute to George Carlin not because his death reminded me he was once alive but because it reminded me I have one of his books to read, which I will only identify as ISBN 1401301347. I will start the book tonight because death generally reminds me what time is all about and why saving the best underwear for that special occasion is a mistake.
I will end with some quotes by George Carlin:
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
“I am” is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that “I do” is the longest sentence?
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him… is he still wrong?
If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
When someone is impatient and says, “I haven’t got all day,” I always wonder how can that be? How can you not have all day?
Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
I credit that eight years of grammar school with nourishing me in a direction where I could trust myself and trust my instincts. They gave me the tools to reject my faith. They taught me to question and think for myself and to believe in my instincts to such an extent that I just said, “This is a wonderful fairy tale they have going here, but it’s not for me.”
At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.
Why do so many people love to hate M. Night Shyamalan is more a mystery than why trees want to kill people in Philadelphia. Some say Shyamalan is hated because he is different, and that could be true. Some say he is hated because his movies are lousy, but that will always be debatable.
As detractors predicted, his latest movie, The Happening, did not get the blessings from most critics since the movie’s main character couldn’t turn green, fly with a suit of amour, or even spin a web between two buildings. Critics of The Happening took note of this abnormality and made sure to condemn M. Night in their reviews as if he was the cause of the war in Iraq or for Obama beating Hillary. Unfortunately, M. Night is not in the habit of blowing up things or having actors and actresses show more skin than character, which can be exasperating for those who have come to expect otherwise. It appears that M. Night does not conform to the rules of Hollywood and for this his critics and hate wishers want him to pay. What is interesting is that there are probably an equal number of people, not critics, loving as well as hating M. Night, which production studios have noted.
Critics have an important role to play in forming public opinion on movies and are the unsung heroes of the popcorn industry. However, last weekend, these critics’ vocal and premeditated dislike for anything Shyamalan spiked public curiosity to the point where The Happening made over $30 million on its opening weekend in the US plus an additional $32 million internationally, thus causing his critics to throw even bigger tantrums.
This is my second attempt at a flash photo album with the first being in 2005 and best forgotten.
Most of the photos in this “something new” album are recent Trinidad and Tobago photos but one or two are about eight months old. Remember, this is just an experiment in entertainment and flash.
Please excuse the music and I will make changes along the way.
The Happening opened today, 11th June, 2008 in Trinidad and this is my incomplete review that may seem a bit disjointed.
Walking forward out of the cinema, as opposed to walking backwards, I came up with some alternate taglines for The Happening:
Froward Ever, Backward Never
The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind
If you have to see one movie for the summer you must see The Happening. That sounds like a marketing line from a biased reviewer but it is just my opinion. The Happening was a haunting movie that was fun, gruesome, intense, dramatic, sad, chilling, disturbing, intelligent, believable and yet sprinkled with humor. Though The Happening is an R-rated movie you would love, it is not for the squeamish regardless of age. I am not sure if Shyamalan wanted to prove something to his critics but he wasted no time in getting to the point. It was pure cinematic efficiency. As usual, Shyamalan’s characters were mostly believable except when there was a need or two for an unbelievable one. The atmosphere created was one of suspense and hope. You will jump, believe me, you will. The cinematography by Tak Fujimoto under Shyamalan’s direction was once again outstanding so please, finish your popcorn early. But that wasn’t all as Shyamalan called on James Newton Howard once again to settle the score, and settle it good.
Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, Betty Buckley and M. Night Shyamalan pulled it off and pulled it off in style. Mark Wahlberg was outstanding with Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo giving good support. Ashlyn Sanchez has a bright future ahead. Betty Buckley was simply bloodcurdling. M. Night - spoiler ahead - did not appear; at least physically.
I can’t figure why, but The Happening is a movie that is strangely satisfying in an unsettling way.
But in the end they wanted more.
Wednesday 12th June, 2008 - update: - I want to see this movie again and who is this Joey character anyway.
Friday 13th June, 2008 - further update:I just had this thought - People and critics are once again going to end up reviewing Shyamalan and not The Happening which will be an injustice to the movie.
With the exception of a contractor bulldozing a strip of land on the lush green mountainside and leveling a couple dozen 100-year-old trees, World Environment Day was uneventful in my neighborhood.
In 1972 the UN created World Environment Day to make governments aware, on the 5th June every year, of the need to strike a balance between clean air and civil unrest. From the start, policymakers at the UN agreed that destroying the environment in order to provide employment and wealth was like smoking a cigarette to relax. Every Year World Environment Day has a tagline and this year the tagline is, CO2, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. Basically the theme suggest to countries they should work towards reducing carbon emissions in amounts that would make Al Gore proud but without starving the people.
Countries emit carbon gases to please the Carbon God, who, if pleased, will shower these countries with jobs, wealth and tall buildings. The need for jobs and the addiction to wealth and elevated structures makes it difficult for any carbon-emitting country to reduce emissions without causing mass unrest and the installation of a new leader. Carbon is not only the stuff people are made off but also the stuff the wealth of a nation is measured by. Unfortunately, the the happiness of the people cannot be measured using carbon.
Trinidad and Tobago is currently listed as the 5th largest emitter of carbon dioxide per capita in the world, a fact that has made our Prime Minister blush with pride and our trees to die without dignity. Luckily, the total emissions from Trinidad and Tobago is not large since the population is small and preoccupied with the ridiculously high levels of crime and the availability of rice.
Experts and Al Gore predict if the levels of carbon gases emitted are not drastically reduced in a hurry the World could die sooner than expected. To reduce the carbon footprint of the planet people must consume less since this will cause factories to reduce production and thus emissions. Consuming less means not only eating less but also it means recycling more. It means reducing your electrical energy consumption by using compact fluorescent bulbs, hanging clothes out to dry and by not paying your electricity bill. Consuming less means driving less and walking more. Think about it, we can help save the Planet by not only doing what comes natural like showering in the rain, we can save the Planet by enjoying the simple things in life.
Today is the 8th June, 2008 and Movietowne is advertising on their website, and also on the newspapers, that Karaoke night at the Movietowne mall is June the 6th. But this is not the first time Movietowne has outdated information on their website. Their lapses are frequent and this is just the latest. About a year ago Movietowne’s website ran an ad for a sidewalk sale at the mall for several months after the two-day sale ended. This is sad since it doesn’t give site visitors much confidence in the information available. I have become very doubtful about, not only the show times for movies, but even which movies are being shown. Sometimes I call just to be sure. I emailed Movietowne about these lapses on at least two occasions but I never received any acknowledgement other than being repeatedly put on their mailing list for show times. Maybe next time I email them they may invite me to a back-in-time karaoke night. What is even more worrisome is that the errors weren’t even fixed. Needless to say, the show times being emailed are sometimes different from the newspaper ads. This is not an all out criticism of the way the Cineplex is run since the Cineplex is first class, but I only wish the management could appreciate how important accurate information is to customers who are willing to help them make their loan payments.
People can be divided into three major categories; dog lovers, dog haters and those who are indifferent to dogs. I am a dog lover and I can’t understand why there are the other two types of people. It’s not so much I am intolerant to people who don’t like dogs but I am bewildered by these people’s bizarre nature just as they are about my indifference to ice cream. Even though I find dog-indifferent people to be odd, I accept the fact they do exist and are probably just like me except they don’t share my love for this fine, furry and irrespirable animal. Dog haters, on the other hand, I am wary about and won’t trust them with my pet cockroach much less the second best reason for living.
What I have discovered over the years is that you can tell more about somebody by their attitude to dogs, and by extension animals, than their attitude to money, sex or butt tattoos. Some people believe that because humans can make land mines, cluster bombs and touch screen phones they are superior, more deserving, and in charge of deciding which creatures live, which creatures die, and which creatures end up as road kill. Having intelligence doesn’t mean being superior, it doesn’t even mean being happy, it only means being powerful. Every superhero comic book reminds us that with great power comes great responsibility and that is a given. But when those with great power claim no responsibility or act irresponsibly then the end result can only be the tragic end. What is certain is that dogs are our unconditional friends and our intelligence our lifelong curse.
—
I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren’t certain we knew better. They fight for honor at the first challenge, make love with no moral restraint, and they do not for all their marvelous instincts appear to know about death. Being such wonderfully uncomplicated beings, they need us to do their worrying. ~George Bird Evans
aka_lol is not my real name and it isn't even a name. I am a male, self-taught blogger with aspirations to become better over time and with counseling.
Bio
aka_lol was born in Trinidad and Tobago and blogs from the island of Trinidad. He is a friendly blogger with no blog-purpose other than self-amusement and immortality.
aka_lol's hobbies are photography, writing wrong things, reading good books, trans-Atlantic swimming, and meteor dodging.
aka_lol is an engineer by profession and by choice. As hard as it is right now, aka_lol supports the West Indies Cricket team.
About Engineers
Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.
~ James A. Michener - Space, 1982 ~
Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been. ~ Albert Einstein ~
Electrical Engineers do it with less resistance ~ Unknown ~
copyright
aka_lol thinks it should be obvoius that the original content of this blog is copyrighted by the owner, aka:aka_lol and may not be reproduced without permission. The content not created by aka_lol belongs to its owners. Maybe you are wondering who in their right mind will ever want to copy anything from this blog. I am wondering that as well, but having the right mind isn't as common as you may think.
