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The Perfect Primer: Urban Decay’s Pore Perfecting Complexion Primer Potion

Most people don’t know what a primer is, let alone have one. A primer is used to prepare the skin for makeup, increasing coverage and the length of time the makeup lasts. Oftentimes, people layer on foundation, attempting to achieve such an effect. What they don’t know is that it can be reached much easier, and more effectively, through the use of primer.

Recently I bought Urban Decay‘s “Pore Perfecting” primer. Carried at Sephora, this primer smooths and softens skin to the touch. When applied on top my foundationIMG_6056 went on thinner and more evenly; not only creating a more natural, less “cakey” look, but also saved me product. So although yes, it is yet another product to put on your skin, it actually creates a look of less, rather then more. Another bonus; my foundation lasted much longer, and looked virtually freshly done for hours. The primer itself spreads thinly and evenly across skin, and did not create a sticky surface while still absorbing, unlike other brands. Also, the primer does not have a strong scent, which I like, as strong perfumery odours oftentimes can become overwhelming.

The only downside to this product is the price, at $37 it is not a bargan. However, very little needs to be used and quality is always worth the price.

Upcycling: how to make an hourglass from things around the house

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There’s something magical about watching the time slipping by in the form of sand – I think hourglasses have almost the same mesmerizing effect as an aquarium or a fountain.

I love making things, so I found a way to make my own hourglass (all from things I already have!)
This project turns old glass containers that might otherwise be tossed away into a work of art. This is what’s called upcycling.
(which is great because it lets you be a tree hugger and an artist at the same time 😀 )

Here’s how you can make yours:

 

hour glass 2                    hour glass 1

Sand (because buying craft sand is actually so expensive! :O )
Materials

  • white sugar
  • food colouring
  • corn starch

Tools

  • Ziplock bag
  • funnel

Steps

  1. Fill 1 of the glass containers used for the hourglass body around 3/4 full with sugar. This is how much you’ll need.
  2.  Pour the sugar into the Ziplock bag (it’s safer with a funnel)
  3. Add 1 drop of food colouring.
  4. Push out as much air as you can, and seal bag tightly.
  5. Knead bag to spread food colouring. Be careful you don’t break the sugar crystals!
  6. Repeat step 3 until the sugar is the colour you want!
  7. Add a pinch of cornstarch and mix like above to prevent sugar from sticking/clumping. Repeat as needed.

Extras:

  • make different colours to create layers of colour in your hourglass
  • mix in small seeds or clumps of cornstarch for “polka dots” in the sand

I found the instructions here – this site has pretty pictures of all the steps 😀
Alternatively, you could make coloured flour.

 

 

Hourglass body
(This site has pictures of the steps. I modified their instructions to make it easier, but the general process is the same)

Materials

  • 2 glass bottles/jars with the same size opening
  • 1 disposable plastic box / cardboard
  • twine/ribbon/string
  • packing tape / hot glue gun

Tools

  • funnel
  • scissors
  • thin marker
  • single hole punch
  • skewer/needle / pointy object

Extras

  • tape/tie small origami or your favourite figurine to string/dental floss, and tape the string/floss to the bottom of the glass containers
    (NOTE: it’s better to suspend things than to leave them roaming free in the jar, as they could block the hole and prevent sugar from passing through)
  • draw on the jars with permanent/glass markers, or draw on clear tape and stick it onto the jar

Steps

  1. Place 1 of the glass containers upside down on a piece of the plastic box or cardboard, and trace the opening with marker. Cut out what you traced, and punch a hole in the center of the piece.
  2. Add any decorations! (see Extras section).
  3. Pour sand into 1 of the glass containers (use the funnel! Trust me on this.)
  4. Tape the plastic/cardboard piece from step 1 onto the opening the container. Make sure it’s secure! Use a skewer or other pointy object to puncture the tape where the hole is, and cut out the tape covering the hole using scissors.
  5. Place the other (empty) glass container on top of the plastic/cardboard piece and the first container. Ensure the openings are aligned. Wrap packing tape a few times around the two jars to join them.
  6. Carefully turn the hourglass over so the container with sugar is on top. Check to see that the sugar flows smoothly through the hole.
  7. Join containers completely together by using more packing tape to wrap around the part where the two containers join.
    Or, rip off the tape used above to quality check and use a hot glue gun to join the two jars together.
  8. Shake and try to bend the containers to ensure they’re securely joined. If they move, your tape job wasn’t tight enough!
  9. Wrap ribbon or string around the middle of the hourglass where the containers join to cover the tape/glue.
  10. Sit back and be mesmerized by the sheer wonder of what you’ve just made – wasn’t that easy?

Dream On

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yaaNever once did anyone tell me I could not achieve. Never once did anyone tell me  I would not make it…so why the hesitation? Was it the deceiving negative remarks or dead energy around me? Or was it the fear of failing…? Today I am going to share a story with you, that a lot of people may be able to relate to, a story that is dear to my heart.

Once upon a time….there was an outgoing and bubbly girl named Veronica. At least that is who she thought she was. She was brought up to believe she had the power within her to make a change in the world around her. She was brought up to think that dreams do indeed come true.  One regular summer afternoon she and her best friend went to watch a movie called Monte Carlo featuring Selena Gomez, and that was when everything changed. A paradigm shift occurred in her thinking, it wasn’t like any other movie she had gone to see. Yeah she would connect with the character and pretend to act like them for the next two weeks or so but never had a movie made her reflect upon her own life.

The movie Monte Carlo was about a girl named Grace dreaming to leave her small town in Texas, fly to Paris, and find herself. Well that was the part that kind of stood out to Veronica the most. She was dying to find herself, she was dying to get out of her confinement and fly to freedom, to who she was. But in reality adolescence is the journey of finding out who you really are.  So technically it wasn’t possible, but Veronica was a dreamer. She dreamed of who she would become, personality wise and career wise. She came out of that theater believing that anything could happen if you worked hard for it. She always had a knack for the arts, especially performing arts. She wanted to be an actress, but the reaction to her dream wasn’t positive. It was negative feedback it was manipulative feedback. The type of feedback that sounds sweet but is a stab to your heart. She didn’t know if she should follow her dream but her parents were by side through it all. And one day……. she had an emotional breakdown. That is when she began to write her dreams down on sticky notes and she put them in her wish jar. Her dreams were a secret no one could judge but remained alive in her heart. Every night from then till today she writes her dreams, she spends a half an hour per day simply just letting her mind free from all the chaos around her. To be honest that was the best thing that she could have ever done, because she feels motivated to achieve every time she looks at her jar. She had adopted the jar idea from the internet and today the jar is full with 104 sticky notes. Today she has performed in various locations and is growing as an artist and a human being.

I would like to share with you something she wrote on one of her sticky notes:

I dream to wake up and go to set every morning, I dream to inspire others with my work. I dream to set up charities, I dream to make difference on screen and off screen. I dream to touch someones heart. 

The moral of that story is that dreaming is what keeps us alive …and no one and I repeat no one should stop us from living the dream. It didn’t stop Veronica, it shouldn’t stop you. Your dreams are worth it babe…let NO one bring you down!

Veronica’s name is fictional but her story is real. I guarantee it, because I have lived to play the role of Veronica, with no cameras or a spotlight, just passion and fervor streaming through my veins.

DREAM ON <3dreams

Funny Video-Hair Tutorial Gone Wrong

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While Tori’s hair tutorial isn’t helping a lot of people, the video itself was surely a huge hit because it was SO FUNNY. Check out Tori and her hair tutorial on Ellen and have some lol moments!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x4rRb8IMU0

Video(s) of the Day: Bloom & Featherstone by The Paper Kites

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This lovely folk band from Melbourne Australia has some amazing tracks, especially from their EP Woodland, which you can download for FREE on their site!  They recently released their new EP, True North in September.

Watch this gorgeous music video for the track Bloom from their Woodland EP:

And this music video for Featherstone which has a very “Where the Wild Things Are” feel to it.

[youtube M0IDiVQxZYg]

 

 

 

Favourite Podcasts!

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Podcasts are my best friend whenever I’m in that dreaded situation where my music options are far from satisfying, and I am in desperate need of something to listen to while multitasking or procrastinating. Plus, podcasts are great for simply learning more about stuff and keeping interested during times of absolute boredom. I listen to and love podcasts across all genres and types, but these never fail to keep me entertained (just a heads up- my taste in podcasts will probably not appeal to everyone…. I can be a bit of a boring person):

 

1)      This American Life: a cool and strangely calming podcast featuring stories surrounding many topics. This is the one podcast that I get really excited about each week (for me, it’s basically the podcast equivalent to Jenna Marbles). Listening to this podcast has become something of a hobby for me and no, this podcast is not restricted to only American content.

http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/app_this_american_life.jpg

 

2)      Coffee Break Languages (by the Radio Lingua Network): I used to be (and still am) a bit of a language freak. I discovered this podcast after wanting to desperately learn Spanish after watching the World Cup (I don’t really know why). After a long search, I came across this podcast and was pleasantly surprised. When I finally got the opportunity to take Spanish in high school, I jumped on the chance and became extremely grateful for this podcast. Simply because I had listened to a few episodes, Spanish in school has so far been going pretty smoothly. I highly recommend this podcast if you’re looking to learn a new language.

http://blog.therealcostarica.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/cbs-official-final.jpg

3)      howstuffworks Podcasts: I always turn to howstuffworks.com podcasts  when I’m feeling the need to learn something new. My favourites of these podcasts include Stuff You Should Know, The Stuff of Genius, and Stuff You Missed in History Class. Occasionally, I’ll listen to Stuff Mom Never Told You, though it does sort of have parental warnings and explicit content advisories written all over it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/StuffYouShouldKnow.jpg/300px-StuffYouShouldKnow.jpg

4)      TED Radio Hour Podcast: If you’re like me and love all things TED, you will enjoy this podcast for sure. There’s not much to say, other than that this podcast is really thought-provoking and inspiring.

http://media.npr.org/images/podcasts/thumbnail/icon_510298.jpg

5)      The Ellen Show: A really convenient fix to any obsessions you may have with the Ellen Show (psh, who has those? Not me). I kind of have to admit that I’ve stayed up all night watching Ellen’s monologues via this podcast. I don’t really know if that’s a good thing or not, but on the flip side, it’s a sign of a successful podcast, right?

http://a2.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Podcasts/v4/27/37/a4/2737a42f-b7f0-5e9e-f7e3-2b69c86b328f/mza_230509947234575461.170x170-75.jpg

Demographic Cliff: A Sequel

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UntitledYou, are old. I’m old. Right now, right this second, we’re the oldest we have ever been in our lives. And becoming older is representing a serious problem in Canadian society today.

Recently, the United States recently almost fell down an economic crisis called the fiscal cliff. It would have resulted in economic recession throughout the US and would have affected many parts of the world. Yet Canada doesn’t have the fiscal cliff to worry about. We have something much more grave and serious: the demographic cliff.

We don’t have enough workers to support the aging population of Canada, especially as the baby boomers are starting to retire. Every one minute and two seconds, someone in Canada turns 65 years old. So what does that mean? It means that less people are going to be in the work force, therefore, less people are going to pay more taxes and more people are going to receive social services from the limited amount of taxes that the government has.

Within the last couple of decades, our country and world has had tremendous amounts of economic growth thanks to the work of the baby boomer generation. That generation had supported previous generations with their taxes, and now they’re in a position where they’re going to be the ones who need the social services – and Canadians like you and I will have to foot that bill.

But it’s harder for the younger generation to keep up with the amount they need to pay, not because of the large number of people in the baby boomer generation, but because they aren’t having enough children. The average birthrate in Canada in 2012 was 1.59 children per woman, while during the baby boom period it was 3.7 children per women. Furthermore, with medical advancements and a better quality of life, people are living longer. They are using social services longer than ever, and as many of you know, it has put a major strain on health care. We have to wait hours upon hours before we can see the doctor for 5 minutes at the emergency room.

So, how do we solve this issue of maintaining a healthy demographic in Canada while ensuring that all Canadians who have worked hard will receive equal and plentiful benefits?

I believe that there are two plausible solutions for this:

  1. Open borders to let any and all immigrants come in, excluding those with criminal records, contagious diseases, or those who are enemies of the state.
  2. Give incentives for people to have more children.

Right now, there are industries that lack new workers. By altering the point system, we would give more points to people who have specialized knowledge in the sectors we have a lack of workers in, whether it be urban planning, construction, or agriculture. Immigrants who have wanted to come to Canada will now be able to do so in an easier and expeditious way, benefitting both themselves and Canada as a whole. With this, it will provide a short-term relief through being able to ensure that Canadians will not be overburdened with taxes.

 

 

Author’s note: this was a topic inspired by the debate topic from a couple months back, and is solely the author’s humble opinion.

 

Never give up, never surrender.

~Ian

Poem: the life of living on the streets

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Hi everyone.

In my spare time, I decided to write a poem about the thoughts that run through my head during these cold winter days! Essentially, all I can think about are the homeless people that wander around our city looking for a warm and cozy place to live… something we take for granted. Today, you can help make a difference by volunteering at a homeless shelter or even providing the shelters with warm blankets or clothing. You should know that while you’re turning up the heat, someone else is trying to protect them self from getting frost bite.  Without further ado, here is a poem called “The Life of Living on the Streets.” It’s quite short, except I believe this poem is powerful. Enjoy!

My world consists of living on the streets,

The life of always taking a back seat.

No voice, no opinion, no thoughts matter,

No physical strength to climb up the ladder.
People around look at me as if I’m dead,

“Its his fault, he’s the one to the blame.”, the people said.

The truth is I lost my job and ran out money.

Everyone’s just laughing, thinking living in poverty is funny.
This cruel world believes I planned my life this way,

Let’s be honest, I make a wish to die everyday.

All I’m asking for is a miracle, someone can you hear me?

I want to have a home. My kids, I want to see.

 

I rely on finding used cans from pollutiohelping_the_homelessn.

Maybe one day I’ll find the essential solution.

You should be grateful for the life you are given.

You have warmth, love and prosperity.

While I have to rely on charity.

 

Dear world, hear my voice.

Living in poverty was never my choice.

I lay here on the street, waiting for bills,

The icy weather giving me the chills.

 

I never wanted life to be like this.

The life of not knowing how to feel bliss.

You can help save people like me.

Make a difference in the world, you’ll see.

Legend of Zelda OST

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Soundtracks can make or break a game. In the case of the Legend of Zelda, it’s a sure make: the soundtrack for each game in the series is beautiful and fits perfectly into the gameplay. Paired with its awesome plot and graphics, the Legend of Zelda series definitely falls into the category of “Favourites” for me.

Game, movie, drama or anime soundtracks are usually great study music because of the lack of lyrics or distracting noises that pop music sometimes has now. This week I’ll be sharing with you the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess full soundtrack. It’s three hours long, so it’ll definitely take you through all your studying for a day 🙂

 

 Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Full OST (3:41:40)

Nintendo celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda with a symphony concert (Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses), which was the first ever video-game themed concert to feature a four movement symphony. It is spectacular study music, and is definitely worth a listen. Taking themes from all of the Legend of Zelda games, the arranger creates a breathtaking amalgamation of the old music and puts a new spin on it. It’s full of  great dynamic contrast and articulation, and does the original composer justice. Personally, I think the idea was amazing enough already, but what they have done with it is beyond what I imagined.

The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD (45:18)

Enjoy the music!

Kathy(:

Rohingya: a forgotten people

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Rohingya refugees waiting in Thailand to either be deported or transferred to another country offering asylum. (Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/01/201311184320327355.html)
Rohingya refugees waiting in Thailand to either be deported or transferred to another country offering asylum. (Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/01/201311184320327355.html)

Often deemed the most persecuted minorities in the world, the 800,000 Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and 200 000 that have fled to neighboring Bangladesh face one of the most prodigious plights of human rights violation in the world. The Rohingya people were once a part of the Arakan state, until it was invaded by the Burmese, who now treat families that have lived in there homes for generations, as foreigners. Massive conflict is erupting between the Muslim Rohingya and the Buddhist Rakhine resulting in the burning of homes and religious sanctuaries as well as the death of countless Rohingya and displacement of over 100 000 people from their homes. The Burmese government refuses to accept the Rohingya as one of their 135 ethnic minorities and the Bangladeshi government considers them illegal immigrants. The refugees that have fled to the Banglashi-Myanmarese border live in “refugee camps”, where they are mostly forgotten. These camps have no electricity, water, and the refugees are not allowed education, health care, and the vast majority of women must prostitute themselves for money.

Myanmar's current president Thein Sein. (Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121114102511809369.html)
Myanmar’s current president Thein Sein. (Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121114102511809369.html)

The Rohingya are a stateless people. The president of Myanmar, Thein Sein, stated that he would not recognize the Rohingya as legitimate members of the country and does not take responsibility for their suffering. He proposed that the only solution would be to send the millions of Rohingya to another country or to have the United Nations care for them. Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for government action and the aegis of Rohingya lives. Even Myanmar’s opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has turned a blind eye to the repression of the Rohingya, siding with Thein Sein that the Rohingya should be refused citizenship.

Current UN Secretary-General: Ban Ki-Moon. (Retrieved from http://www.green-blog.org/media/images/uploads/2011/03/ban-ki-moon.jpg)
Current UN Secretary-General: Ban Ki-Moon. (Retrieved from http://www.green-blog.org/media/images/uploads/2011/03/ban-ki-moon.jpg)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spoke out on October 25, 2012 that the Myanmarese government must “take urgent and effective action” to bring an end to the sectarian violence. He is right, but sufficient action has not yet been considered, and I think that the UN must be the actor that instigates recourse for the Rohingya. In my opinion, we must address this issue by uniting nearby member states to supply humanitarian aid to the Rohingya and by limiting the control over this aid by the Bangladeshi and Myanmarese government. There needs to be an aggressive solution by the UN and this will ultimately provide the long term panacea that the world’s most forgotten and abused people desperately need.

 

 

Richard Chen, 2013.

 

The featured image was retrieved from here.

Our freedom to read and express ourselves

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Did you know… even in Canada today, books including Harry Potter, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Shine, the Hunger Games, and sooooo many other young adult novels are being challenged because of their content! There are individuals and groups who believe we shouldn’t be choosing what we read!

Last week (February 24-March 2, 2013) was Freedom to Read Week, and so I guess I should have posted this last week, but in a way this is better, because its important to remember that these messages are everlasting and shouldn’t just be limited to one week a year!

Anyways… Freedom to Read Week celebrates Canadians’ freedom to read and chose what they want to read. It also highlights our freedom of expression, which is stated by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As Canadians, we are super lucky to have such vast freedom to do as we please, and express ourselves how we want. Historically and in other countries and cultures, people haven’t been given this choice. Book burnings, book bans, and even persecution of those who express themselves has occurred and continues to occur all over the world.

What we gain from our freedom to read and express ourselves is vital. For many, books are a place to escape to, to make new friends, to visit fantastical places, and to live a life that makes them smile a bit more :). Unfortunately, even in Canadian schools and libraries today, books are challenged for the target they contain. Most of these books contain mature subject. But for youth, this means reality. These books guide youth through the harsh parts of life, and bring them face-to-face with real problems, so that the right solutions can be found.

The Calgary Public Library held a contest for Freedom to Read Week, and it challenged youth to share what their life would be like without being able to chose what they read. My friend and I entered a 3 minutes video we made, and we won 🙂 So I’ve decided to share it with you!

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH9bbFnlUWs

 

For more on Freedom to Read Week: http://www.freedomtoread.ca/freedom-to-read-week/

For more on Freedom to Read: http://www.freedomtoread.ca

Some lists of challenged books:

About the CPL contest:

 

Hope you enjoyed 🙂

DIY: Creative ways to give flowers to someone

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Tired of ordering plain ol’ flowers from the flower shop? Bouquets are nice, but expensive; so what should a person do?

Well, if you have the time, here are a few alternatives:

1. Using food coloring on flowers

With reference to a blog post by Anne Osterrieder, and simple science, you can change the color of a flower! When you slice the ends of the flower up, you can stick them into a jar of food coloring and watch the magic unfold!

DIY flower2. Ribbon flowers

Julia wrote an awesome blog about creating ribbon hair flowers. You can use a similar technique and attach it to a ‘stem’ instead of a clip!

3. Tissue paper flowers

This awesome Pinterest post has a picture guide of how to create a flower using tissue paper! Another post has a guide for coffee filter flowers!

4. Felt flowers

Another awesome guide has been created for felt flowers!

The silver lining to Silver Linings Playbook

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Spoiler alert,  don’t read this first paragraph if you’re gonna watch the movie. Okay, lemme give you a semi-comprehensive summary of Silver Linings Playbook. Mind you, some of the themes are mature, so if you’re not tall enough to ride the bumper cars, chances are this isn’t the right blog post for you.

Okay, so Pat (Bradley Cooper) was a teacher at this school and he was newly married to Nicky. She’s a total pooface seeing as she cheats on him with one of the old wrinkly history teachers from the school. Pat has amazing timing and walks in on this terrible scene. Being a devoted lover, he beats the old guy up so badly that it lands him 8 months in a state mental facility. He gets out on a plea bargain and also because his mother just really loves him and fought for him to get out. Then he goes back to living with his parents as a grown man. He tries to get back into shape and smarten up, all of which is to win back Nicky. To most people, it’d be common knowledge that she moved on…but nope, not to Pat. Okay, so skipping to the important bits. Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) and they hit it off right away. Why? Well because Tiffany is insecurely depressed because her husband just died and she’s just not dealing well with it, so what she really needs is a good cry and a good friend. So the pair of “crazies” become good buddies…but it’s a chick flick, nothing ever just stays in the friendzone. Pat wants to get back with his cheater-face of a wife, and Tiff says she can help him only if he does this dance gig with her. Pat drops his masculinity (this would only ever happen in a movie unfortunately) and agrees to this dance thing that’s important to Tiff. All this spending time together culminates into something. Not gonna say what, but if you haven’t been able to guess by now, you seriously have never seen a chick-flick. In that case, go watch the Notebook, your girl friend will appreciate it.

Enjoy the nice trailer. Also, Excelsior — Look it up. My wise word of the day.

This was definitely one of the better thought out chick flicks I’ve seen. The acting was real and I invested some emotion into the characters because they dealt with some tough obstacles such as overcoming mental illness and not-so-fun past experiences. I wouldn’t say that the movie was deserving of all the Oscars it was nominated for just because near the end, the storyline sort of diverged from the charm of Tiff and Pat’s interaction and went off into this football bet. I’m also a girl and I don’t like football, so it was big turnoff for me. However, the ending was so satisfying and gosh, there are some unpredictable quirky moments that you just want to savor.

Beautiful people aren't they?
Beautiful people aren’t they?

Rotten Tomatoes gave it 92% in terms of fresh tomatoes, and IMDB gave it 8/10. These numbers are convincing, therefore you should go watch this movie. Also, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes provide vague enough summaries that you can still go an enjoy the movie. So yeee, it’s safe to click on those links for a quick low-down on the movie. If you enjoy this movie, I’m positive you’ll also love The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

BUT if a couple of fractions and percentages aren’t enough to convince you, the characters were a pleasure to watch. An all-star cast with Robert de Niro, Chris Tucker, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence (whom I have the biggest girl crush on now). I’m honestly not sure why Chris Tucker was in the movie, but I’m always intrigued by his voice and bulging eyes, so I wasn’t complaining. Bradley Cooper plays an attractive determined angry lover, and Jennifer Lawrence plays an attractive passionate depressed lover. They couldn’t have done a better job, which is why Jen’s Oscar for Best Actress is completely deserved. Also, like she said, Meryl Streep wasn’t in the category this year, so everyone else had a chance at winning haha.

The big thing about this movie is the way it targets mental illness. It promotes an awareness about the normality of the condition and how people often treat it as some frightening foreign disease. Like Jen Lawrence said, “people take medicine for diabetes, and people take medicine for asthma, but as soon as you take medicine for the mind, there’s such a stigma to it”. This blog post is turning into a Jennifer Lawrence worship session more than a movie review. DOESN’T BOTHER ME.

SO HERE’S MORE ABOUT HOW WONDERFUL SHE IS. There needs to be a Jennifer Lawrence appreciation moment because she handled everything at the Oscars with such grace or with enough humor that everything else just didn’t matter. She fell going up the stairs for her award, but no big deal, she’s so awesome that she got a standing ovation for just that. There’s some iffy language in this video, so just be warned.

Former political strategist Tom Flanagan nose dives from influence after disturbing remarks

University of Calgary Professor Tom Flanagan Photo by: Todd Korol for National Post

Tom Flanagan, a successful man with an illustrative political and academic career, a professor at the University of Calgary, and a former top advisor and mentor to Stephen Harper, has nose dived from influence while giving a lecture at the University of Lethbridge.

In response to a comment raised about child pornography, Flanagan expressed “grave doubts” about “putting people into jail because of their taste in pictures.”  Flanagan also incites intense opposition from the audience when he made the remark that viewing child pornography did no harm. “It is a real issue of personal liberty, to what extent we put people in jail for doing something in which they do not harm another person.”

These remarks were recorded and posted in a video on Youtube, subsequently leading to the condemnation of his remarks by many federal and provincial politicians, including Danielle Smith, Stephen Harper’s spokesperson and the University of Calgary. Also, his remarks have caused the recent announcement of his retirement as a professor and being dropped as a panelist from the CBC program of “Power and Politics.”

This is not the first time Flanagan’s remarks have caused a public outcry and stirred considerable controversy, after he called for the murder of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, on the CBC.
Flanagan contends, “I think that Assange should be assassinated, actually. I think that Obama should put on a contract and maybe use a drone or something,” as he remarks to CBC Host Evan Soloman. Soloman responds with, “Tom, that’s pretty harsh stuff,” to which Flanagan replies back, “Well, I’m feeling very manly today.”

I represent and speak solely of my own personal views. As a widely respected academic, with 45 years of experience as a university instructor, and a senior political strategist for the Canadian federal government, his responses were disturbing and appalling. The issue of  irreversible harm being inflicted upon children is one that finds absolutely no support. One’s freedom of speech and personal liberty should never come at the expense and suffering of another human being, especially a child’s.

More articles that discuss this controversial issue I have read are by the CBC News, Calgary Herald, National Post.

[youtube LqS4qKkE_SY]

 

Acting Tips

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So I’ve realized that I am good at giving tips and you seemed to like my photography tips so here’s some on acting!

1. Don’t be shy: Actors are not shy people. So just give it all you’ve got, especially during auditions, that way people will notice that you are confident and willing. Don’t be afraid of making a fool of yourself, everyone else is too!

Acting

2. Practice your lines slow: This is a very important tip. You should always practice your lines slow, unless the director says otherwise. Just don’t go so slow or you will sound awkward. People tend to talk fast when they are nervous. If you are used to talking slow, when you perform and you start to get nervous, you won’t be talking fast, you will be talking at a pretty much normal speed.

3. Develop your character: Think of it this way, when you are acting you are not yourself, you are a completely different person with a whole backstory and personality to them. If you take some time and create a small backstory to your character, you will act more realistically and confidently.

actors

4. Know your comfort zone: If you are not comfortable doing something, for example stage kissing or wearing a more revealing costume, don’t be afraid to say so! Ask for a compromise but, don’t wait last minute right before you are supposed to go on stage to tell someone. Say right away!  If you are uncomfortable on stage, it shows. The director may be a little upset that you don’t want to do something, but it’s more important that you are actually enjoying yourself while on stage.