Tyler Perry must be uber successful now, because that is the only time you get lawsuits filed against you claiming copyright infringement and other such claims of fraud, abuse, and misrepresentation.

Earlier this month, Tyler decided to answer claims of coonery, launched by Spike Lee against Tyler’s work, that were never discussed between the two directors in private, or the many years that Tyler performed the plays that are the subject of his movies,which is just jealousy on the part of Spike, but a sign of Tyler’s success.

He recently donated a million dollars to the NAACP,http://www.afro.com/tabId/551/itemId/5398/Director-Tyler-Perry-Makes-Largest-Individual-Dona.aspx , making it the largest single donation to the organization from an individual.

He is truly reaching back and supporting our communities, as well as hiring a multitude of black talent , in front of, and behind the cameras. It was what we hope that all of our black celebrities would do for the audience that supports their product, and should be celebrated rather than torn down.

Today, TMZ.com is reporting that a lawsuit over copyright infringement has been lodged against Tyler Perry.

Tyler Perry used too much of the goodness of Jesus in his movie, “Madea Goes to Jail,” at least according to a new federal lawsuit obtained by TMZ.

The suit, filed by the personal representative of deceased gospel singer/songwriter Bertha James, claims Perry lifted an entire verse from a song James wrote in 1950 — “When I Think of the Goodness of Jesus.”

The suit claims Perry pilfered the verse and used it in “Madea” — specifically, “incorporating the entire Chorus in a monologue delivered by the main character in ‘Madea” referencing her deliverance from a jail sentence and leniency for repetitive criminal conduct, in a staged court proceeding presided over by ‘Judge Mabeline.’”

Bertha’s estate, which is also suing Lionsgate Entertainment, wants unspecified damages for copyright infringement.

I have fought tirelessly to protect and maintain our current copyright laws, as well as to strengthen them in order for future generations of family  to benefit off of the exploitation of our artistic creations.

I feel that in life, most artist never attain financial security from their work, so I stand on the fact that the inherited value of ones art that is gained after death, is the financial gain that we, as artist must protect for future generations of our family, in perpetuity.

The downside of that , are nefarious lawsuits such as this one, that appear to be an attempt to loosely tie in a phrase of words, into an infringement case.The standard of substantial similarity is clear, and any competent attorney could connect the dots of what is actually a protected element in a creation, and what is not, quite easily, before going to court.

In this case, it is a phrase from a song, that was not performed in the movie, but Madea may have said…”Prasise God”…in the movies.

This case will not meet that standard, and the launching of the case is whimsical at best.It will be dismissed summarily, which means that it will be thrown out of court, mark my words.

It appears to be a bid for public relations, but probably more like a sad attempt to extort money from Mr Perry, and to sully his pristine public image.

Stay strong  Tyler, the more successful you get, the more idiots will creep out of the woodwork to try to get at your wallet, no matter how good you are to our people.

Tyler Perry is the producer, along with Oprah Winfrey, for the new movie that is gaining Oscar buzz,”Precious”,that is in theaters now. Run out to see it and support Tyler against this ridiculous lawsuit.

Read the full story on TMZ.com, by clicking the link below…

http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/26/tyler-perry-lawsuit-copyright-infringement-bertha-james-jesus-praise-jesus-madea-goes-to-jail-lionsgate-entertainment/2#comments

The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, the bride and I returned to the scene of the crime. The crime being the totally fractured left ankle she sustained whilst running through the woods during an orientation meet. We took JR the bus back to Tyler State Park.

The fracture was nasty, requiring plates, pins and screws in three places. The recovery was just as challenging, requiring almost ten weeks of immobility. I can only imagine the physical pain that she must have endured from the moment of the break onward. But the real challenge has to have been the mental one. If I put myself in her place, those weeks of confinement had to have long moments of doubt of ever resuming the walking, hiking, and biking that she loves. We have planned our whole life after work and kids around the concept of touring the country, hiking the wilderness areas and biking every state.

The possibility of physically not being able to do that would have crushed me. The largest crane in the world could not have pulled me out of that depression. Somehow, my bride managed her way through that morass. It had it’s moments, but she kept her strength.

I watched as she has worked extremely hard at rehab, and regaining fitness. Watched as the daily walk went from living room to bathroom, living room to front door, front door to mail box, front door to end of street, front door to around the block, and then 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, 4 miles, and now 5 miles. The true remaing test was to hike the uneven terrain of trails.

There had to be much trepidation on my bride’s part to return to the trails where the accident occured. There had to be much trepidation on not being able to handle the terrain. I am happy to say that the hiking went well. And in the most perverse way, I was happy that she even fell a couple of times. Huh? Yep, I would never have wished that on her, but her response after the fall tells it all. Her first words “It’s not broken”

And my feelings?   It’s not broken. My hat’s off to you baby. Your personal mettle, and the medal the good doctor gave you held. And that’s a good thing.

I think we’ll start planning our trip to Yosimite.

Tyler writes:

One spot I definitely remember was the elevator up to the concrete structure. As soon as the doors open… a spitter should spit in the doorway, forcing them out of the elevator as well as distracting them, while a charger and jockey attack together as they exit and push them off of the ledge.

Please add…

Tyler writes:

Obviously we were beat by a bunch of twelve year olds who have been playing the game since it came out. We also don’t know the maps and were being hit from key angles to be destroyed. Okay, since when has Deft 4 Lead / G I Joe Momma not chalked up a loss. Let’s not get discouraged just because we were beat.

We need to play the campaign and pub matches so that we can learn these spots… C’mon queers! We are better than most teams out there and can only get better by playing the maps.

We are officialy 0 – 1  as the “A” team. We were Left 4 Dead and left to drown in the flooding town of “Hard Rain.”

Tyler writes:

So, the release of Left 4 Dead 2  has not blown anyone’s hair back…

“What do you think the… pros… are… here ?” (<– Jan Levinson)

1. New Infected

2. Much better map pack

3. Phenomenal melee weapons

4. More team oriented

5. Diverse variety of weapon selection

How bout the cons?

1. Infected tend to dominate

2. Spitter takes way too much damage

3. There is now swallower – courtesy of Michael (thanks mike)

4. Lag due to crappy dedicated servers

5. Much higher learning curve

There may be more or fewer pros / cons from one “A” team member to another, but do the cons out-weigh the pros ? Not in my opinion ! I think the “A” team, needs to get back at it! At the very least, we should play a team match once a week. We just need learn the maps and keep in mind that the more of the strategy revolves around the infected classes now.

Thoughts….

Now, it’s time for work. Work is just an extended vacation from vacation. Glad to be back at work.

December is a great month. There is no better time for believers to come together than at Christmas. It’s the one time of year that we all focus less on the small groups, Beth Moore studies, best new worship music and focus on the one thing that should unite us – Christ and his coming.

I’m looking forward to our next Lunch – put Dec. 10 on your calendar. We’ll be talking about Christmas.

“It’s Only the Beginning”

November 24th, 2009

“Is this the real life / is this just fantasy … open your eyes / look up to the skies and see”

In addressing the fall finale of ABC’s science fiction series V, I quote Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody for two reasons. The first is an excuse to link to the gleeful and wondrous Muppets version of the song released to YouTube today (if you need a better justification, let’s go with corporate synergy). The second is that the opening lines of this classic song feel like they capture the basic condition of most of V’s characters when these spaceships descended upon them. The very nature of science fiction that is roughly set in our own world is the question of whether the supernatural elements are “for real” in the sense that they should be trusted, which is perhaps what V has been missing since it debuted a mere three weeks ago. For a show about a race of aliens descending on humanity, the show has jettisoned the period of reflection in favour of drawing a line in the sand between skeptics who form a resistance against them and believers who freely choose to walk among them.

The logic behind the relative speed at which this has been accomplished is found within “It’s Only the Beginning,” which lives up to its cheeky title by confirming that, yes, this four-episode premiere event of sorts hasn’t actually managed to accomplish much of anything. In the show’s haste to define the characters quickly in order to bring in enough plot to tide people over until March (when the show is most likely to return), they forgot to show these characters struggling to come to terms with the Vs and the promises they offer to the world, and as such this finale has nothing to fall back on. The plot twists we see are intriguing (as the premise has not been the show’s biggest problem) if we care about the characters, but by separating the interesting individuals from the interesting stories (outside of Morena Baccarin’s Anna) the show has never tapped into the binary between these two cultures and the potential that lies within this premise.

Accordingly, it’s a good thing for the show’s creative future that it is only the beginning, although whether the series’ ratings future will be able to survive a rocky start is yet to be determined.

The purpose of the “X Hours Earlier” Chyron is to create suspense, wondering both how the episode gets to the moment in question and wondering how the moment is resolved. It’s meant to make an episode feel more exciting by providing an immediate sense of suspense, or showing a character acting in a way that makes you really curious just what we’re about to see. So, when V is trying to take what would normally be just a simple episode and turn it into a fall finale that will need to sustain the show for months, it makes sense for them to use a device like this (likely instituted in post-production) in order to manufacture some additional interest.

However, this particular example is over in only eighteen minutes, and it ends up more a sort of narrative shortcut than anything else. The episode partly resolved around a lack of trust between the members of the resistance, in particular Erica and Ryan, so the brief glimpse of Ryan apparently shooting down Erica previews this theme. However, this early in the show’s run, we don’t care enough about these characters to find this overly concerning, and we certainly weren’t overly concerned about whether Georgie was going to die. This device is potentially effective, sure, but it requires that we care enough about the characters and that we see enough plot to make it worthwhile. And this example failed on both of these fronts, as there wasn’t enough surprising about Ryan and Erica’s situation (they barely know each other) to make it really stand out, and the rush to get to that moment made it even more worthless.

That’s how I felt about a lot of what V offered in these first four episodes, sequences that would be far more compelling if we cared about the people taking part. I think the idea of an impressionable teenager being sucked in by the aura of the Vs would be compelling had they cast an actor with range and given them realistic scenes to play with the characters around them, as opposed to simply falling in lust with a P.Y.V. I think the idea that there are traitors within the V, forced to turn against each other to maintain their secrecy, would have been far more effective if we hadn’t just met those characters last week and this week respectively. And the idea of a LIZARD BABY would be intriguing if it wasn’t the only interesting thing to come from a character who I refer to as “Ryan’s wife” because even remembering his name is a relative challenge.

In an interview I read earlier this week, new producer Scott Rosenbaum indicated that he intends to maintain the general trajectory of the series when it returns in the new year, but that how it is executed will be significantly darker. And I think this is the right trajectory, as the problem with the show is more in how these stories are being executed than in the basic premise. The idea of the Vs using our paranoia over vaccines to their advantage is an intriguing idea, but it was so poorly executed that it had almost no impact. The storyline made no sense: as I understood it initially, the idea was that the Vs were infiltrating the flu vaccine supply in an effort to stir paranoia that would drive people to get their own vitamin shot instead (which laid some sort of groundwork for future research or something). However, instead, the show argued that the vitamin shot was a placebo, a smokescreen to keep health officials distracted while the R6-tainted vaccine went out into the public and created chaos. The former is a bit overly complex, but it at least feels like a necessary means towards an end. The latter is a small scale attack when we know a large scale attack (see: the collection of Flying Vs in the conclusion) is possible, which makes it convoluted to the point of frustration.

There are scenes here that are quite effective, but almost all of them surround Morena Baccarin’s Anna and the V’s technology that the show isn’t interested in really investigating that carefully. While we’re watching Scott Wolf get checked out, it’s obvious that he’s going to have some sort of medical condition, but when they eventually announced that they have added the fourth dimension to the medical process (time) it made me imagine more enjoyable applications of that technology within this world. It’s not a good sign for a show when I’m wishing that we could have a Minority Report-style medical procedural, but I kind of wish we had more time there and less with the FBI-style investigations. The elements of the show that have the most potential interest are to this point out of the reach of every human character but Tyler, and considering he is the least interesting character that does the show very little good.

Any show that deals with a duality as clear as human/V is going to need to investigate the differences between them, and the problem right now is that the middle ground (the point of conflict or convergence) is a long-term goal for Erica and a convoluted grand scheme being kept a secret for Anna. And while it might eventually be really engaging, the show is currently not situated to actually show us that conflict, spending too little time amongst the V society (where Baccarin is the show’s strongest link) and not working enough to connect the humans together in a compelling fashion. Learning that Tyler is Ryan’s wife’s patient is the sort of thing that the show tried to play as a reveal, but was just a contrived way to pretending as if the show really had its ducks in a row, a point which I would most likely contend.

This is not a terrible show, nor is it one without redeeming qualities. “It’s Only the Beginning” features some legitimately compelling scenes, like the great sound design in the skinning sequence, but it never feels like it stops on them long enough to really make a difference. In all fairness to the show, the four episode opening meant that it would likely have never had enough time to really get me involved with the show and its characters, but those four hours were not particularly well-executed even within that context. If this was a four-hour long presentation pilot, designed to convince a network that there is potential here with some production changes, then I’d call it a success. As it is, though, it’s a show that never quite understood its appeal, and has no clear sense of identity to fall back on.

As such, when we leave on a cliffhanger of a series regular bleeding out, the suspense isn’t in whether he’ll live or die but rather whether the show will sink or swim.

Cultural Observations

• There was a lot of talk about how the show is becoming more overtly political, with health care being used as a weapon much as critics of Obama’s health care stance argue it will be should the bill before Congress goes through, but I thought that the V strategy is so convoluted that even their dabblings into human society seem hokey and supernatural to me.
• The sequence of Anna offering “Bliss” to the Vs around the world (and some humans as well, it seems) was sort of just “there,” which makes me think that it, like LIZARD BABY (must always be written in all caps), was a callback to the original series.
• Personally, at this point, I would have made Tyler’s role in the larger V plan apparent so that a) we can figure out what it is that they see in him that we as an audience don’t and b) so that the character can have something interesting associated with him, as opposed to just some vague strategy.
• The idea that the V ships fly in Flying Vs immediately made me think of another more interesting story about V/Human integration: The Mighty Vs. Make it happen, people.

I really don’t know how I went these past few years without seeing a true classic, Erin Brockovich. You see, it’s really all my fault; I’ve had my chances. I’ve seen it pop up while I was surfing channels, but my gut never told me to feast my eyes upon it. I’ve read the reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, but I remained uninterested. Maybe I’m just admittedly sexist when it comes to my taste in film; I literally cannot think of a single movie with a female protagonist that I enjoy (edit: The Changeling is amazingly good) – I know that’s sad, so feel free to send me some recommendations that showcase leading lady talents. On the other hand, maybe it’s because I’ve always lumped Julia Roberts into the same category I place Sandra Bullock in, and I’m no fan of her at all. For whatever reason, I never gave the movie a chance, and for that I was clearly a douche…but not anymore. Erin Brockovich changed me. I know it’s trivial, but I consider myself a film buff, so it really is a milestone for me. Let me ramble here for just a second. Throughout the years I’ve acquired a modest, but respectable, movie library. Genre wise, I’m drawn mainly to comedies, dramas, and thrillers; my tastes do stray from those given genres, but you get the idea. Actors that catch my attention are George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Viggo Mortensen, and Matt Damon (take that how you want to). Given this information, you can probably see why Erin Brockovich just didn’t appeal to me – it was outside my range of taste. Sure, it may fit into my given genres, but c’mon…cut me some slack.

I’m not sure if my rambling made any resemblance of a point, but here it is: I looked outside of my entertainment comfort zone and was presented with a nice surprise. I suppose that’s how it is with all art, really. My musical tastes were formed by straying outside what I would normally listen to, and my appreciation for literature has naturally increased upon the introduction of new and exciting works; it only took the help of Julia Roberts to help me realize that. I know, it seems stupid (or, maybe, I just seem stupid), but I’ve been a stubborn boy for a while now, but there is hope. I mean, if Julia Roberts can essentially become a successful lawyer with no schooling, surely I can learn a few more lessons in the coming years.

by Tyler Marsahll

LOS ANGELES (Milken Institute) – Texas metros, led by number one Austin–Round Rock, claimed four of the top five spots and nine of the top 16 in the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index.

Also making the list were Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood (2), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (4), Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown (5), San Antonio (11), Fort Worth–Arlington (12), Dallas-Plano-Irving (13), El Paso (14) and Corpus Christi (16).

Austin–Round Rock was the first metro to ever be ranked number one twice on the index, the last time being in 2000.

But it doesn’t stop there. Nine other Texas metros made the top 25 out of the 124 smallest metros that were studied.

Those were Midland (1), Longview (2), Tyler (4), Odessa (5), College Station–Bryan (14), Texarkana (17), Waco (18), Laredo (20) and Abilene (21).

Leaders in this year’s index, which ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, are all metros that succeeded in avoiding the worst of economic declines driven by falling housing markets and job losses in manufacturing and global trade.

Regional economic factors also strongly influenced the rankings this year, with the oil and gas sector, technology and alternative energy providing stability among metros in Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Louisiana.

Another factor helping Texas metros move up in the rankings is the state’s favorable business climate and its ability to attract jobs and corporations away from higher-cost states.

For more information on building, buying, selling or leasing commercial or residential property anywhere in the world, contact Nicole Tucker, licensed agent with Keller Williams, Dallas Preston Road office at 972-992-8204 or visit my website at http://www.NicoleRE.com.
Nicole Tucker ~ Making Real Estate Real Easy!

Trip.

Trees.

Walking. By Melikamp.

Night. By Melikamp.

Chalky Hands. By Self-Timer.

Pancakes.

aylor Lautner More at IMDbPro »
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Date of Birth
11 February 1992, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Birth Name
Taylor Daniel Lautner

Height
5′ 10½” (1.79 m)

Mini Biography

Born on February 11th, 1992 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Taylor Daniel Lautner has shown he was destined for a successful life from a very young age. He began studying karate at the age of six, training at Fabiano’s Karate School, and by the following year, he was already winning tournaments. He was soon invited to train with seven-time world karate champion Mike Chat and, when he was eight, he was asked to represent his country in the twelve years and under division in the World Karate Association where he proved himself by becoming the Junior World Forms and Weapons champion, winning three gold medals. He continued to flourish in the martial arts circuit; in 2003, at only eleven years old, he was ranks number one in the world for NASKA’s Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms and and, by the age of twelve, he had three Junior World Championships under his “black belt”.

Transcurría 1993 y yo terminaba la primaria; los que estuvimos ahí recordamos al bocón de la imagen a la izquierda y ese disco con la ubre perforada de una vaca (get a grip) que incluía algunas de las baladas mas cursis de la década.

Yo ya era un fan devoto de Aerosmith para entonces y Livin’ on the edge era MI canción.  Empezaba mi día con ella y ¡Cuidado con que se me atravesara un espejo mientras la escuchaba! pues aquel cuarto se convertía en mi escenario donde quiera que estuviese; mala idea…

Aquel día me encontraba ya terminando el solo de guitarra, podía sentir cada nota y era delicioso… hasta que escuché cuando giraban la perilla… era el esposo de mamá ¿Y yo? En posición estelar con un bate de béisbol azul rey por guitarrón. Era mi canción –Como dije en el párrafo anterior- pues no la escucho igual desde entonces. ¿Te ha pasado algo así?

Ok, so to all my readers out there who are twihards, or even those who are just sightly interested in the series, this post is for you.

As I might have mentioned in a previous post, I have only been introduced to the series for about 3-4 weeks. In that time frame, I have read all the books, watched Twilight, and then went to see New Moon at the midnight showing. All that is to say, that I might be slightly obsessed and a huge fan.

So, me and 5 other friends got tickets for the midnight showing of New Moon, and eagerly counted down the days until Thursday night 11/19. (I even downloaded a app for my ipod that was a New Moon countdown) We decided that we wee going to leave around 9:30 to get good seats for the movie that started at 12:01. It was a good decision since by the time we got thee around 10, there was a line to get into the theater, and there was not 6 seats together to be found anywhere. We ended up having to sit 3 and 3 which wasn’t that bad. So, for the next two hours, we hung out, ogled over some posters that were in the lobby, and stood in line for popcorn and pop for 20 minutes.

Finally it got to where we had twenty minutes left. We decided ahead of time that we were going to play the final countdown song as soon as it got to the last 6 minutes left, and then verbally countdown the last 30 seconds.

Finally the movie started..

What can I say about it as a general statement?

Epic!!!!!

So you want to to know more details? Well here is what I liked and didn’t like in the movie. I might choose to pass over things that other people might make a huge deal about, but hey, this is my opinion right?

Likes:

Opening scene-this scene totally shows that Chris has read the book and totally understands what it is about. The first thing you see following the Summit icon, is a full golden moon. then you see the moon startig to wane and as it does, the new moon title appears in the blackness left behind by the disappearing moon. What you end up seeing is the gold colored New Moon title.

Minor changes to characters- Alright, there are a lot of things in this category. First thing in my mind is that Rob Pattinson has totally nailed Edward’s iconic smirk. The wigs are soo much better than in Twilight. They look alot more natural and are just better in general. Also on the topic of hair, Rob’s hair is so much better because he doesn’t have a wig, but uses his usual hair. But if you have been watching any of the interviews with him, then you already know this.

Volturi- ok one word to say about these guys…AMAZING!!!!!!! They are exactly as I pictured them, and each of the actors, when they are on screen or delivering lines totally owns the shot. Oh yeah, and to get more specific, Michael Sheen as Aro…! Yeah I am still in shock of amazement over what he did with that character. He totally played up on the fact that Aro, at least used to be a gentleman, but no has this evil nature that he attempts to cover. All I know for sure is that whenever he came on screen, the red eyes, the black cape, and the way he talked gave me chills down my spine.

Flashback to Carlisles past: Ok, so if you have read the book, you know that Edward shows Bella the different pictures in Carlisle’s office. Well to portray it in the movie, this is what they did. You cut to a scene where you see Bella and Edward in front of a painting that looks like it is from the 17th century. As you hear Edward telling Bella about the painting, the camera zooms toward it, and you get sucked into it. Inside the painting, you get a little bit of a back story of the Volturi, and a little bit of Carlisle’s background with the Volturi.

Charlie/Jasper/Emmett’s lines: So, in Twilight these were definitely not prominent characters. They take a bigger role in this movie and totally take over the shot whenever they are on screen. Charlie is amazing in this movie, sorry I am not very good with remembering actor names unless I am totally into them. Jasper in this movie is amazing! He doesn’t have that that many lines, probably only like 3-4 lines in the entirety of the movie, but they way they were delivered, and the lines themselves were very epic. And last but not least, Emmett. Like Jasper, Emmett does not have a lot of lines either, but they are genius

cgi: So since the movie basically centers around shape-shifters, you have to have a good element of cgi elements. I personally think that they did a great job on this aspect. Especially the scene when Jacob Black changes in the air. It is a very amazing affect.

Dislikes:

Car: Ok, so what about stupid shiny Volvo owner do the people at Volvo not understand? Why does Edward have a  black SUV Volvo? I know it does not have a lot of screen time, but still, Edward needs to have his shiny volvo. I mean c’mon, if you have read the books, you know that Edward loves his sports cars, so why would he be driving a SUV?

Alice’s costumes: Isn’t she supposed to be shopping in Paris and not her Grandmother’s closet? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Alice, but her costumes in this movie…..yeah just look at the pictures

Edward’s eyes: So, I thought when the Cullen’s didn’t eat, their eyes turned black…Why are Edward’s eyes still golden when he was in Volterra. If you have read the book, then you know that he was starving himself because he was going to die anyway so his eyes should have been black.

Alice’s vision: Bella as vampire: What to say about this scene. We see this scene in the Volturi’s tower just before Alice, Bella, and Edward leave. Aro touches Alice, and is therefore able to read her thoughts. She chooses to show him a vision of Bella and Edward running through the forest to show him that Bella will eventually be a vampire. My problem with this scene, is the costumes. I don’t see either one of the characters wearing these clothes.

Ending: I am glad that they had the proposal in the movie, but where was Bella’s answer?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I am ll for the dramatic ending, but did it really have to cut to black that fast?! I was honestly hyperventilating when the credits started to roll.

Well that is my review. Feel free to leave comments, they would be appreciated.

For anyone who wants to have a more professional review about the movie, you can go to one or both of these blogs. Some of the point are the same, since we all watched the same movie, but they both bring up different things or flesh out the point I made.

http://www.twilightlexicon.com/2009/11/20/alphies-review-of-new-moon/#more-12525

http://www.twilightlexicon.com/2009/11/19/new-moon-pels-review/#more-12487

Why is the CW full of hot boys with chemistry…but they refuse to follow thru to the inevitable (and sexy) conclusion?

Sigh.

Check out Ash’s page: http://www.youtube.com/user/ashdoode25

Today sucked, in so many ways. I feel like many of my blogs will say that same thing.

First of all, I had to give my speech today.  Stupid speech class.  It’s getting old really fast.  Anyways, we were assigned to find a Grim’s fairy tale then tell it to the class in 6-10 minutes.  I chose Rapunzel. When I read over it, I read it in about 6 minutes and 30 seconds.  I figured I was in the safe zone.  I was wrong.  I gave my speech and went 2 minutes over! Doesn’t seem like a big deal right? No, wrong!  You see, my speech teacher counts 5 points off for every 30 seconds that you dont make your time.  So.. 2 minutes over is equivalant to 25 points off.  So.. I automatically made a 75.  Fuck my life.  Speech class is full of stupid rules.  5 points off for every 30 seconds is so stupid.  I mean, if you miss your time by 1 second, you get 5 points off! Someone who misses their time by 29 seconds also gets 5 points off.  That’s not fair! Ugh.  Also, if you miss a day.. you have to double the time limit.  Maybe I should start doing that.  I should start skipping a day so i can get more time.  I always go over my time.  ALWAYS! I have not made my time a single time during this stupid storytelling chapter.  It’s killing my GPA.  I wish i could drop that stupid class.

I never realized how stupid fairy tales were by the way.  My story said that the witch locked Rapunzel up in a tower with no door.  How the hell did Rapunzel  get up there in the first place? D<   Did she fly or something?  Seriously.. stupid.

Secondly,Wes said he was gonna come visit me tomorrow.  I was super pumped to hear that he was coming over, until i realized that my rents weren’t gonna let me leave the house tomorrow.  I got so frustrated in trying of ways to hang out with him.  Nothing seemed promising, so he decided to not come at all.   It bummed me out, big time. However, Wes was able to reschedule so .. It’s fine now.  Hopefully, we’ll have better plans next time and it won’t be a spur of a moment thing.

Also, I talked to Tyler today.  I went off on him bad. Really BAD.   I’m not even sure why. For some reason, I got really mad and just started saying nonsense.  I feel really bad now cause I said some things I never should have said.  Like .. “I hope you die from cancer.. soon.” You probably think that was a silly comment, but .. Tyler has cancer..  I don’t even remember saying that. He’s such a sweetheart and I totally just .. bashed him today.    I’m turning into a monster :|

Lastly, I procrastinated all afternoon.  I know its the weekend, but I still had some things I should have done.  Like.. clean the center tables and write some news stories.  I did nothing.  I suck.  Bad. :[

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  My brother has a game tomorrow against Monette.  I hope they win, but it’s definitively gonna be a struggle without their best player. I’ll cheer my brother on tomorrow to the best of my ability if i manage to get up early enough.

As the stupid Grim’s brothers would say: A mouse did run, my story is done (for today)

Eu me lembro de quando estava cursando uma disciplina do sexto período na faculdade e tinha um colega que conversava bastante comigo sobre literatura. Sempre trocávamos dicas de livros e, sinceramente, sempre tive um pouco de dificuldade em encontrar pessoas que tenham esse mesmo interesse que eu. Ele comentou que tinha ido a uma livraria no final-de-semana e havia comprado um livro (“Crepúsculo”) que estava em lançamento, sobre vampiros. Ele achou a história muito interessante e me indicou dar uma olhada. A princípio não me interessei muito, mas fui procurar pelo livro. A história não despertou totalmente a minha curiosidade. Mas comecei a ler e tive uma surpresa muito agradável.

Pensei que o livro fosse dedicado ao público mais velho, mas a medida que avaliei a história, a linguagem e as descrições, percebi que atingiria mais diretamente aos jovens e, principalmente, às garotas. Afinal os meninos, geralmente, gostam de uma literatura com um ritmo mais rápido e com menos romance. Edward, para eles é retrógrado com todo aquele amor romântico e, para as meninas, um sonho de consumo e o protótipo do príncipe encantado da era moderna. Fiquei ainda mais curiosa quando soube que havia a especulação para uma produção para o cinema.

“Crepúsculo” é o primeiro volume da saga vampiresca escrita pela autora americana Stephenie Meyer. O ponto de vista da história é narrado pela protagonista, Isabella Swan, que cresceu com pais separados, morava com a  mãe, Rene e o padrasto, mas muito a contragosto, teve que ir morar por um tempo com o pai, Charlie, um policial na cidadezinha mais chuvosa dos Estados Unidos, Forks, em Washington. Bella é descrita como uma adolescente tímida e desajeitada, mas ela desperta a curiosidade e atenção de toda a cidade assim que chega. É bem recebida e faz novos amigos, como Jessica, Tyler, Angela, Eric e Mike, mas mesmo assim, ela sente que não se encaixa e considera a cidade um tédio. Apesar de Bella detestar a cidade e não se sentir a pessoa mais confortável do mundo em ter que morar com Charlie, ia levando a vida numa boa, sem maiores problemas, até frequentar as aulas de biologia.

Já na primeira aula, Bella percebe que o seu colega de mesa de estudo é um dos garotos descritos como estranhos da família Cullen, mas que para ela ele é descrito como “perfeito”. No entanto, ele demonstrou sentir um verdadeiro desprezo por ela assim que ela se dirige à mesa. Assim que Bella se senta ele sai e a sua expressão a deixa atordoada e, ao mesmo tempo, arrasada. Ele parecia detestá-la. Bella descobre que ele havia se dirigido a coordenação da escola solicitando que o trocassem de turma nas aulas de biologia, deixando-a ainda mais perturbada. Recebendo um não como resposta, Edward teria mesmo que assistir as aulas próximos a Bella. Mas nas aulas seguintes ele, misteriosamente, se ausenta. O que chama a atenção de Bella, que percebe não apenas a sua ausência, mas a de todos os Cullen. Curiosa, ela descobre que eles saíram para para um passeio a campo aberto, atividade que todos da família faziam juntos nos raros dias ensolarados da cidade.

Ao regressar, Edward se mostra mais aberto e mais simpático a Bella, chegando até mesmo a pedir desculpas pelo seu comportamento anterior. Eles começam a se dar bem e despertam curiosidade em alguns alunos da escola. Mike não se mostra muito satisfeito com esse relacionamento, mas não passa de ciúmes, e os outros Cullen a olhavam com uma distância reservada.

Um dia após o término das aulas, Bella estava no estacionamento indo em direção a sua velha caminhonete quando surge um carro desgovernado em sua direção. Do nada Edward surge e evita que aconteça uma tragédia. Consegue parar o veículo que ia em direção a Bella e ela sai ilesa do acidente. Mas nota que o local do carro onde Edward colocou a mão impedindo o impacto, ficou uma mossa profunda. Ela achou aquilo muito estranho e quando tentou conversar com ele a respeito, ele diz que ela estava confusa e não fez nada demais, desconversando e pedindo que ela esqueça o assunto.

Os novos amigos de Bella a convida para um passeio na praia. Bella comenta com Edward e pergunta se ele não quer se juntar ao grupo. Quando Edward descobre para onde ela vai, declina ao convite de forma estranha. Na praia ela reencontra o amigo de infância, Jacob, pertencente a tribo indígena local, Quileute. Curiosa sobre Edward e sua família, Bela se aproveita do interesse que Jacob demonstra ter por ela, para tirar do garoto as informações que precisava. O menino revela a ela que os Cullen não podem entrar em território da reserva, pois os seus ascendentes Quileute tinham um acordo firmando com os vampiros de respeito pelo território um do outro. Porém Jacob revela que tudo isso não passa de lenda. Mas Bella fica com uma pulga atrás da orelha.

Após isso ela pensa em quem os Cullen realmente sejam. Relaciona todos os acontecimentos anteriores e chega a conclusão de que eles eram vampiros.

Bella vai com as amigas a uma cidade vizinha, chamada Port Angeles, para fazer compras. Entediada com as amigas provando vestidos, sai pela cidade a procura de uma livraria e diz a elas que as encontraria para jantarem. Bella acaba se deparando com um grupo de homens que a perseguem. Quando a alcançam, Edward aparece num carro salvando-a, mais uma vez. Bella fica intrigada com a chegada inesperada de Edward e ele demonstra estar com muita raiva dos homens e acaba desabafando dizendo que eles pensaram coisas muito ruins para fazer com Bella e estava com vontade de matá-los.

Eles se dirigem ao restaurante da cidade, onde Bella encontraria as amigas, mas eles chegam muito tarde, já quando elas estavam indo embora. Mas Bella fica para jantar com Edward e depois ele a levaria para casa. Bella nota que ele nunca comia, nem na escola e nem lá no restaurante. Bella, na volta, no carro discute com Edward a respeito das suas teorias. Ele então a leva para a floresta e confirma o que ela pensa que ele seja. E mostra a ela todas as suas capacidades como vampiro. Confessa para Bella que sentiu muito desejo de beber o sangue dela e, com isso, justifica o seu comportamento no primeiro dia da aula de biologia. Diz que o sangue dela tem o cheiro mais gostoso de todos que ele já havia sentido.

Edward releva também a sua história e o seu poder especial: ler mentes. Mas conta que nunca conseguiu ler a mente de Bella, o que sempre o deixou curioso. Os outros vampiros também tinham poderes especiais e individuais. Ele destaca que sua irmã Alice era capaz de prever o futuro, o outro irmão Jasper, o de controlar e equilibrar as emoções humanas. Edward conta que a sua família é diferente dos outros vampiros, pois Carlisle é muito pacífico e estabeleceu como regra para toda a sua família que os Cullen não beberiam sangue humano e sim sangue dos grandes animais da floresta. Explica que quando eles estão com “sede” a coloração dos olhos fica mais vermelha e quando saciados eles ficam com os olhos caramelados. Bella, realmente é uma menina diferente, se fosse qualquer outra adolescente da cidade, ficaria aterrorizada, mas ela ficou apenas cada vez mais fascinada e curiosa a respeito da família de Edward, sua história e a respeito dos vampiros.

Diante de tantas diferenças e problemas que essa relação poderia significar e ter, eles assumem o namoro. Edward então leva Bella para conhecer a sua família, os pais, Carlisle e Esme e os irmãos, Emmet, Rosalie, Jasper e Alice, que se tornou uma grande amiga de Bella. Por outro lado, Rosalie demonstra ficar incomodada com a presença de Bella e com a relação que ela constrói com o irmão. Ela fica muito encantada com a grande casa branca e aberta na floresta, onde a família morava. Com o fato de Bela ter ficado curiosa com o fato de não haver caixões, Edward explica que isso tudo não passa de mito e lenda, afinal os vampiros não dormiam, não havendo necessidade de caixões para dormir.

Concomitante as descobertas feitas por Bella, alguns acontecimentos estranhos acontecem em Forks. Montanhistas estavam desaparecendo e aparecendo mortos e um amigo de Charlie foi assassinado. Comovendo a toda a cidade e também despertando os institutos protetores dos pais. Charlie dá a Bella um spray de pimenta para ela se defender. Mas ele ainda não sabia quão pouco uso o spray teria para os reais causadores de tanta confusão.

Após algumas semanas, a família marca um jogo de beisebol na clareira da floresta. Todos estavam se divertindo quando no meio do jogo aparecem três vampiros intrusos. Apesar de toda preocupação e planos da família para Bella não ser notada nem sentida, um vento contrário estraga tudo e Jasper, um vampiro caçador fica enlouquecido de vontade de beber o sangue de Bella. Edward e os demais preparam um plano de defesa, eles lutam e Edward foge com Bela.

Um plano foi feito para proteger a menina e a sua família. Bella teve que mentir para o pai dizendo que tinha rompido com Edward e queria ir embora, para ficar com a mãe. Charlie fica arrasado e também com muito ódio de Edward.

Bella volta para sua cidade natal, Phoenix, no Arizona, na companhia de Alice e Jasper. Eles se hospedam em um hotel enquanto o resto da família tenta localizar e matar James. Como um bom vampiro farejador, James percebe que os Cullen tentaram despistar Bella e ele consegue descobrir onde ela está. O telefone celular de Bela toca e ela vê que a chamada foi feita de sua casa, preocupada, atende. Sua mãe parece estar desesperada e o tempo inteiro chama o seu nome. James fala com Bella e diz que sua mãe será morta se ela não for ao encontro dele na antiga escola de Balet que a menina frequentava. Em um momento de distração de Alice e Jasper, Bella foge e vai ao encontro de James, mas quando chega lá descobre que tudo era uma armadilha. O vampiro pegou uma antiga fita caseira em que Bella se escondia e sua mãe ficava desesperada a sua procura e utilizou as frases de Rene para arrastar Bella para a morte.

James investe contra Bella, faz um vídeo enquanto a tortura. Em uma queda, Bella se corta em cacos de vidros, sangrando e despertando os desejos mais sombrios de James que não resiste e morde a mão da garota. Alice nota a ausência de Bella e usa seus poderes para descobrir onde ela está. Consegue falar com Edward e eles vão em defesa de Bella. Quando James estava mordendo a mão de Bella, os Cullen chegam e Edward a salva mais uma vez. Suga o sangue dela para retirar o veneno que a transformaria em vampira. Parecia que ele não conseguiria parar de sugar o seu sangue, tamanho o frenesi que demonstrava estar sentindo, mas Carlisle o desperta do seu transe e Bella é levada para um hospital.

Após após dias no hospital, Rene volta de viagem para ver como estava a filha e Edward finge estar dormindo próximo a cama de Bella para ouvir a conversa dela com a mãe. Bella retorna a Forks e vai, contra a sua vontade, ao baile anual da escola. Lá, a sós, ela insiste para ele a transformar em vampira, idéia que Edward rejeita e é enfático na sua decisão.

“Crepúsculo” é um sucesso de vendas, traduzido para 37 idiomas, tendo uma grande aceitação e receptividade dos leitores, principalmente do público jovem. O romance foi escolhido como o melhor da década pela Amazon, ganhou diversos prêmios, incluindo o “Top 10 Livros para Jovens Adultos” da American Library Association, entrou na lista de Best sellers do New York Times e Best seller de 2008, no USA Today. No Brasil, os livros de Meyer emplacam há meses, as primeiras colocações nas posições de mais vendidos em diversos veículos de comunicação diferentes. O primeiro e o segundo livro da série ganharam uma adaptação para o cinema. Para mim, é um livro que recomendo a todo adolescente ler, pois está repleto de angústias e incertezas típicos da juventude, além de garantia de muitos momentos de diversão e lazer.

Teorias da conspiração, eu curto! Ainda mais quando envolvem muitos alienígenas e muita tecnologia de ponta. Essa é a deficiência da resistência aos V’s. Erica, padre Jack e o “reptiliano” revoltado Ryan usarão o cérebro e a maior das virtudes humanas para poder conseguir forças e se unir contra os aliens: A força de vontade, ou o desejo de vencer. Nesse segundo episódio vimos como será difícil encontrar pessoas que desejam saber a verdade, ou que já lutam sozinhas contra os V’s.

É interessante notar como o padre Jack aos poucos vai abrindo os olhos para a verdade. Mesmo sendo padre e o padre Travis o dizendo que os V’s também são criaturas divinas, Jack não acredita. Ele não consegue conceber que mesmo fora do planeta Terra possa existir uma raça pacífica. E ele está certo. Por mais correta que uma pessoa seja ela não pode ser correta para sempre. Pelo menos não nessa galáxia, nesses tempos críticos. E nada tira da minha cabeça que o velho padre Travis também é um V.

O melhor do episódio vai para Erica e a mentira sobre ela estar investigando Dale no caso das drogas. Uma atuação de gênio. Toda a cena foi muito bem construída, incluindo os detalhes de ela ficar de costas para o Paul e cobrir a boca ao voltar de frente, mostrando estresse emocional por estar envolvida com Dale por sete anos e descobrir que ele é um traidor, sendo que na verdade o estresse pelo qual ela está passando é por saber que seu superior também é um alien! A experiência de nossa eterna Juliet é que fez essa cena ser a primeira de muita tensão na série. Espero ver mais cenas do tipo e não só interpretadas pela atriz  Elizabeth Mitchell.

O dilema de Ryan ter que deixar Val é bem chatinho. Eu não gosto muito desse tipo de clichê em filmes/séries de ação, mas pelo menos até o momento eles estão tratando de modo não muito desgastante. Estão dando mais atenção ao fato de Ryan ser um alien rebelde que já tentou criar uma célula de resistência antes, e no meio do caminho acabou se apaixonando por uma humana. Como sua tentativa de resistir aos aliens foi frustrada ele resolveu entrar de vez no amor humano. Achei interessante a Val entregar o anel de noivado de volta para o Ryan. Ela entendeu que tem algo errado e o grandão não está preparado para assumir tal compromisso. É, eu sei que isso só foi uma maneira que os roteiristas acharam para que mais tarde o Ryan possa deixá-la para que ela não corra riscos quando ele for lutar contra os V’s. Agora eu só quero saber se ela vai deixar barato ou vai se juntar a resistência também. E quando ela souber que ele é um alien rebelde?! Sim, estou empolgado! Mas presta atenção que ela é bem safadinha. Dane-se quem é Cyrus, bora pra cama, negão! Além do que o tal Angelo que o Ryan contatou é um V rebelde do bom, hein? Já invadiu a casa do colega rebelde, sabe tudo sobre a mulher dele…

Tyler é o mais fraco da série. Nesse segundo episódio nem o soco que ele deu no tal menino que o chamou de namoradinho do amigo gordo me convenceu. O ator Logan Huffman tem uma cara blasé, de adolescente que não pensa. Talvez eu é que esteja exigindo demais, ou ele que esteja atuando bem demais, afinal a cena em que ele mostra a moto no iPhone para Lisa foi o único bom momento do candango. Morno. Espero que ele evolua, porque na série original uma alien fica grávida de um humano. Nos resta saber se é o casal Tyler e Lisa ou Ryan e Val. Ou até um terceiro, ainda estamos no segundo episódio da série, né? Menos, Rafael XD.

Eu gosto muito da atuação de Scott Wolf como Chad Decker. Nesse segundo episódio ele dá o tom exato da arrogância jornalística. Como se ele fosse o detentor da verdade, o porta voz de Anna para a humanidade. Gostei que logo nesse segundo episódio mesmo o castelo de cartas dele se desfaz, recebendo apenas uma ligação de “obrigado”, e ainda tendo a ligação desligada na cara! Será que ele vai se juntar a resistência?

Gostei bastante desse segundo episódio. Só acho que as coisas estão acontecendo um pouco rápido demais. Na verdade eles só exibirão 4 episódios, depois a série entra em hiato por causa dos Jogos de Inverno. Acho eu que eles estão preparando “O” cliffhanger para não perder a audiência. Oremos para que tudo dê certo.

Solange Covers Dirty Projectors – MP3 – Stereogum.

Check this out! I have mixed feelings about this…on the one hand it seems a bit contrived (I can just picture her singing this song onstage alone to backing tracks) but on the other it’s just plain catchy! It also reminds me how blessed I am to play with such amazing musicians that value originality and authenticity! The Dirty Projectors have been on constant rotation on my Ipod and if you haven’t heard them before my favorite album is Bitte Orca.

OMR, the big debate:  watch the clip online or wait to see it in the theatres.  I guess, once you see the screencaps below, you’ll know my decision!

What are your thoughts based off of this trailer?  Are you excited?  Do you care?  Will you see it?  What’s up?! LOL

Click here to watch the trailer!

Special Thanks:  RobPattinsonLover

Pizza and Pie.