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For a while now, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 has become my source of daily news fix (everynight 10pm ET, lol). I've developed my habit of following news closely after taking my favorite course at Ryerson - International Relations & Cold War History (HST500).

I didn't do particularly well in it (I got B), but this course, and the prof of the course Arne Kislenko, has changed my view on the world. I care about it. I pay attention to it. I like learning about the relations between countries and religious groups. Most importantly, I want it to be better, safer.

Anderson is a really charming person. Smart, good looking, reported from war zones and sites of natural disasters, travelled all around the globe. After reading his book "Dispatches From The Edge", I find his life incredibly interesting... not just another shallow blow dried anchor.

I also like his way of handling news. He doesn't take sides, doesn't wear his opinions and views on his sleeves. He believes in FACTS and presenting them accurately. Viewers are smart enough to make their own decisions on what they see and hear.

I also enjoy watching AC360's co-anchor Erica Hill. I think she's quite a pretty lady. She appears nightly at the webcast during the show, delivers news bulletins, often handles her own segments, and always have funny chit-chats with AC for "The Shot of the Day" and Beat360...

I wish she can sit in more often when AC is off or even get a bigger part in the show. She's again and again shown her ability to hold down the fort... it was incredible to see her delivering Mumbai Attacks news last Wednesday night... she's definitely NOT just there because of her looks...

By the way, I won the Beat 360 t-shirt last month from the show! hahaha, here's my winning video!

Pictures from ATA

珠光寶氣 (The Gem of Life)

The first TVB drama I really like since 金枝慾孽...

I've not watched any TVB stuff for quite a while, the scale of production and plot of HK TV shows is never comparable to U.S. TV series... LOST, MAD MEN, or even GREY's.... Too spoiled by the real good stuff...

I think 珠光寶氣 is the first show that's able to reach the level of 金枝慾孽. The production is quite grand, filming locations include China, HK, SE Asia, Europe... The plot is interesting, especially the stories of Ada Choi (Jessica), Gigi Lai (Constance), and Maggie Shiu (Sylvia)... the three sisters in the focus of the entire story. However, it's way too early to tell if the goodness will carry on, TVB shows have a track record of having endings that make no sense at all.

I think Ada Choi is a really good actress (HK TV standard). She has a very versatile look and is able to play goofy, serious, elegant, complicated, and this time, a rich woman who likes to show off and save face.

I love the way her character drops to rock bottom when her husband ran away with all the money and had to declare bankruptcy. I think the plot is now preparing her for a huge comeback by marrying another rich dude... stay tuned!

Gigi Lai plays Constance, the most innocent, least calculating sister of the family. At first, I thought her character was really annoying, I doubt there's anyone that dumb in real life. But now it's getting better, after she actually found a job at the jewelry shop. Her customer service attitudes reminds me of my own ;)

Maggie Shiu plays the big sister, Sylvia, the most calm and collected one in the family. I like her the least so far cuz of the predictability of the character. But for some reason, and it's not just me who think this.... SHE LOOKS LIKE MY MOM. hahaha.

An Obama Nation.

Congratulations to The OBAMA Family.

It must be such an emotional night for Americans from coast-to-coast, Barack Obama, the first African American President of United States, has been elected.

There's been a lot of talk going on about how the rest of the world would view America if Obama, a colored man, wins the election. Well, I think no matter what race you are, where you're from, everyone must be so proud of this choice. It can happen.

A well managed and successfully executed campaign (enormous size of motivated ground staff, innovative fundraising, unified message, smart use of technology) was probably the key reason for Obama's well deserved victory.

Let's hope his strong leadership skills and clear judgement will stay with him throughout his term in the White House. Let's hope he keeps his promise and will bring reform to Washington. Let's hope he'll take appropriate measures to resolve this huge financial crisis and restore prosperity in U.S. and abroad.

Don Draper, Mad Men.

I really enjoy watching Mad Men.



First of all, I love the setting - Manhattan in the early 1960s. Everything was so glamorous, yet so depressing at the same time. The unstable political situation at home and abroad mixed with the booming US economy creates a tension and contrast... which is very well expressed in the show through the backdrops and characters.





A lot of drinking, a lot of smoking, a lot of fine dining, a lot of lustful relationships, it's so fun to watch, but I also feel sad for these people who are numbing themselves from the reality... There's always a dark overtone surrounding the show... Love it.






Secondly, there's the protagonist Don Draper, Creative Director at Sterling Cooper, a fictional ad agency.

He's who I wanna be ten or twenty yrs from now. Draper's smart, successful, confident, charming, mysterious, has beautiful women all around him... who doesn't wanna be him? But he seems to be always in a troubled, depressed state of mind... like an injured soul waiting to be healed. And, tobacco, alcohol, and sex are his medicine.



There's this self-destructive quality to him... infidelity, chain-smoking in every scene, a dark past in his childhood... He's such an interesting character to watch, almost REAL. A sense of loneliness and emptiness always looms around him at the end of each episode, despite all his achievements... which is how I'm always feeling these days so I really like Don Draper (or Jon Hamm's portrayal of Draper)...

I also love all the ads and slogans they come up with in the series. As a marketing major, I love learning more about the history of advertising in this format. The slogans, the artwork, the client meetings, the sales pitches... they are so retro and fun to watch... and I learn from it too.

LOST: My Favorite Character - Sun

SUN (白善華)

Sun (played by Yunjin Kim) is definitely my No. 1 favorite character on the show. She's very hot and I really like Kim's portrayal of a multi-layered Asian woman. Not to mention, her always Emmy-worthy performances. It's a shame she hasn't been nominated yet. Here's a heartbreaking clip of when Sun witnessed Jin's apparent death.....

WHO IS SUN?

Sun is one of the 48 crash survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. She was introduced as a stereotypical submissive Asian married woman. Later, we find out she's actually a very deceptive person who would do anything to protect herself.

On the outside, she's nice to everyone, loves her husband Jin, helped her friends on the island in many different ways.

But, she lied about not being able to speak English. She kept her own affair with another man a secret from her husband. She shot and killed an unarmed "Other" when the woman was deemed a threat to her own safety.




MAJOR EVENTS OF SUN

On the Island, she found out she was pregnant but was not sure who the real father is. When it's revealed that the father is indeed Jin, she has to face the reality that she will die from the pregnancy like all the other women on the Island before her.


At the end of the 4th season, pregnant Sun escaped the island with Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and baby Aaron (in the outside world, they are the only 6 survivors of the crash and they have to lie to keep their friends safe) moments after Jin "seemed to have died" from the freighter explosion.

In the future, Sun gave birth to her daughter Ji Yeon in Korea and has taken some control of her father's shady company, which is believed to be linked to the bigger Island conspiracy. She has also contacted Charles Widmore, one of the main conspirators in order to locate the island.



MY PREDICTIONS OF WHAT'S NEXT FOR SUN

We now know that season 5 will focus on the OCEANIC 6 and why they must or why they want to go back to the Island.

I don't believe for a moment that Jin is dead. The writers must keep him alive because that's the only reason for Sun to want to go back.


Right now, she is the only one who seem to have no ties at all back there and would definitely be the hardest to convince. She blames Jack for the "death" of Jin and she has a daughter to raise in Korea. Logically, she would ignore Jack's request to go back.

Unless, of course, Jin is still there....

The Outrageously Funny Comedian... Kathy Griffin

(Paris Hilton, a horseatula, a horse fucked a tarantula in a good way XD)



Kathy Griffin is the most inappropriately funny redhead! She calls herself a D-list celebrity and she has tons of fun making fun of the A-listers! For that very reason, she has been banned on most talk shows in the US.

Her comedy materials are based on imitating and calling out other stars's crazy behaviors, inappropriate pussy/dick jokes, topped with loads of profanity.


Since I'm now jobless and out of school, I've been spending hours per day watching Kathy's comedy specials and her reality series My Life On The D-List on youtube!


And holy fuckballs, watching her shows and stand-ups sure do make me happier.

Party of Unity.

CNN's Larry King Live and AC360 are all about Obama's VP pick tonight. The final answer will be texted to supporters on Saturday morning. So... now we know Tim Kaine and Evan Bayh have been checked off the list and it makes Joe Biden, former presidential candidate and Senator of Delaware, the most probable choice.

But wait.

What about Hillary? Although all along she has expressed she's not interested in the job but isn't she the most obvious and most fitting candidate for the VP spot? Wouldn't her being Obama's VP easily bring the 18 million Americans who voted for her in the primaries on the Obama wagon? It seems like a easy solution to unify the currently split in half Democratic Party.

Or, is the "Hillary is not being considered" message all a smokescreen put out by the Obama campaign? Guess we'll know tomorrow.

Just for the record, I'm all for Hillary being VP!




(Update @ Aug 23 11am): Joe Biden it is!

6 Faces of Bob Dylan... I'm Not There

Just finished watching the first of the two DVDs I bought today, in celebration of my streak of A's in all 3 summer courses I took (GPA shoots up now!!).

I'm Not There is the story of the singer-songwriter/protest singer/folk-rocker/modern poet ----- Bob Dylan. However, instead of presenting his legacy chronologically, Bob Dylan is portrayed by 6 different actors and the story happens in parallel to , but separate from, each other. Just like Richard Gere's character said in the ending monologue, "it's like yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all in the same room."

I love Cate Blanchett's portrayal of the substance-abusing, diva-attitude rocker side of Bob Dylan (during the mid-60s). Her imitation of his incoherent answers to dumb questions from the press was truly humorous.

Heath Ledger, who plays the "family-man" side of Dylan who ultimately fails to keep his family together was also satisfying to watch. There's something about Heath Ledger that I feel familiar with personally, don't really know how to put it into words.

I first got to know Bob Dylan's music in an American Pop Music elective course I took earlier this year (which I got an A+ in, haha). I wrote my essay on Folk music of the 60s and how it tied in with Vietnam and Civil Rights movement of the time. Of course, Dylan was a major figure at the time because his lyrics and music very bluntly points out the current situation and people's emotions, which connected with the young generation who overwhelmingly opposed the war and unfair treatment of Black Americans.

My favorite song of Dylan is The Times They Are A-Changin':

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize what you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command

Your old road is rapidly agin'.

Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'.

Basically, it tells the old generation to fuck off and let us take over cuz their ideology is wrong and outdated, causing people to suffer at home and abroad. I think young people of all generations and backgrounds should listen to Bob Dylan's songs. During our rebellious years, these are words of wisdom. Perhaps I'm still a teenager, perhaps I still got that flame of anger in me, perhaps.