Vincent - A short by Tim Burton

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Creative Short Story - The Room

This is a short story I did for my creative writing class. The genre is horror/sci-fi... hopefully. Any advice welcome :)

The Room

She sits in the room with her mirror, folding it, crumpling it, laying it flat. It springs back into form, never torn or creased. Her mirror can be used as a picture on the wall, or a blanket that keeps her warm, or a canvass ready to be painted.

Dragon Age II: Rise to Power Trailer

Lookin' good Hawke.

Sadly, this trailer doesn't contain that much added info since the Destiny trailer and the stuff already posted on BioWare. But still, the game seems to be turning out nicely - and we get to hear more VO work. Wish they showed us female!Hawke and her love interests though (and more of the badass looking Cassandra). Let's see female!Hawke macking her love interest next time. (Question: Is male!Hawke's love interest Isabela the same from DA:O? They look quite different... but back-stories seem to line up.)

Still, really looking forward to Mach 2011 :D Right now, I need more information to sate my DA hunger.

The New MacBook Air

Yesterday, I received an email from Apple about the new MacBook Air.

Dear Kalaya,

We are happy to announce our new MacBook Air, resized for your convenience in 11 or 13 inches. We know you can't afford either, or own a regular sized MacBook Air, but we thought you might want to feel inferior to our multibillion dollar corporation.

We realize that the starting price of $1049 might be too much for your broke student wallet, but we wanted to give you an incentive to reach for the stars. And even if you don't make it to Proxima Centauri, you may one day land on the moon buy a regular MacBook.

We sincerely hope one day you'll become part of our high-class patronage.

Your beloved frenemy,

Apple

Thanks Apple! I hope to one day be a part of your elite patronage as well. <3 (Jokes aside, if any one wants to get me a MacBook Air, just leave a comment below. :D Please... ;_;)

3DS Game: Time Travelers Trailer

Time Travelers reminds me of Time Hollow, 24, and Final Destination all rolled into one.

Macs and Apps

Macs are gonna be getting Apps. In the Mac OX S Lion preview, Apple revealed the Mac App Store, an application like the one people can get on their iPhones/iPods/iPads. Apple expects that the App Store will be released in 90 days for all Mac users.

This is insanely great news and one more thing Apple has made me salvate and beg on my knees for. (Maybe when Lion comes out in the summer I'll get one... and when I win the lotto.)

More info @ 1UP

New Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Video - The Story

Be still my assassins heart. I demand you stop looking so fine Ezio game.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY NINTENDO!

The Social Network - Thoughts

The Social Network is a movie that chronicled the founding of the Internet social networking site, Facebook. It stared Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook and his friend (and financial benefactor/co-creator) Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield.

Jesse Eisenberg played Zuckerberg as a socially awkward loner, who did not always seem to know when he had done wrong. Zuckerberg in the movie is ruthless when it comes to creating and maintaining Facebook, but there is a certain innocence in his motivations when he backstabs his friend Saverin in the back, or steals social networking ideas from Harvard twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

Einsenberg invoked sympathy from me for his portrayal of the soon to be billionaire. It seemed like Zuckerberg got caught up in the moment, dazzled by the flash of his position and the ideas of Napster co-founder Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake), when he betrayed Saverin. He might have seemed calm and detached when Saverin found out he had lost his shares in Facebook, but he also saw it as a business transaction that went wrong  - and Saverin had screwed up by not reading the fine print when he signed the legal documents regarding his ownership over his Facebook shares.

Now, I’m not saying I felt any great sympathy for Zuckerberg when his friend sued him (he made a bad call when he let Saverin’s shares be sold), or the twins, but Zuckerberg’s personality in the movie made me think of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. How horrible Sheldon is too his friends, but how he doesn’t know how to think any differently. Sheldon and Zuckerberg are socially awkward nerds who think and react differently – they think in the way of numbers and science. Zuckerberg in the movie didn’t seem to want to destroy Saverin or rob the Winklevoss's for their idea; Saverin messed up on his own terms (which than seemingly Parker and other shareholders took advantage of), and although the Winklevoss twins created an idea for a website like Facebook, they never claimed the idea outright. Zuckerberg merely took some of their ideas for ConnectU and made them better, integrating their ideas with his previous project FaceMash. People made mistakes that benefited Zuckerberg and Facebook. I never thought that in the movie Zuckerberg was a true evil to end all evils.

It is also good to realise that the screenplay for the movie based its facts on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich; which was written with input from Saverin, which would lead the book/movie to be more biased by his views of how events unfolded.

After reading the article “Zuckerberg, Hearst and Hollywood: PR Lessons Learned From the Past” by Tiffany Gallicano, my opinion on real!Zuckerberg and movie!Zuckerberg hasn’t changed much.

When interviewed on the Oprah Winfrey show, he said that the movie is “fun” and “the last six years have been a lot of coding and focus and hard work, but maybe it would be fun to remember it as partying and all this crazy drama.” It is a layback response and in the interview with Oprah he seemed good natured and relaxed, not like awkward movie!Zuckerberg (of course the man is rich enough to buy media relation PR lessons… or a firm). However, later on when he donated $100 million to his new foundation, the Newark school system (on the same say the movie came out), the action seemed a little shady.

The timing for his donation seemed too perfect and made him seem like a little boy billionaire with too much money who wants to buy friends (allusion to movie!Zuckerberg perhaps?). But, in the end, the donation might have just been badly timed, he could just have been looking for loving approval from fans, or he could be a rich guy doing something stupid that seemed great at the time. In the end, only Zuckerberg, some possibly fired PR people, and his bags and bags of money, know the truth behind the donation. Either way, I don’t think Facebook has been feeling Zuckerberg’s faux pas.

With The Social Network getting lots of attention by media and movie goers, I believe that The Social Network has done more to help Facebook’s popularity than hinder it. The Social Network is a good movie romp that entertained me and made me want to know more about the creators of Facebook. After I saw the movie, I went onto the Internet and tried to separate the truth from fiction in the movie myself. The Social Network isn’t going to stop me from using Facebook and as my friends list hasn’t dwindled down to two people, I’m guessing the movie hasn’t changed their opinion either.

A story told in three pictures

Taken from Gamefreaks

Buyer Beware

My groups Buyer Beware project was on organic food. We set out to compile evidence on whether or not organic food tastes better than conventional food, and if organic food and farming was better for the consumer and environment.

We first started out with a taste test, pinning organic apples against non-organic apples. We surveyed a small portion of Red River students in a blind taste test to find out which taste they liked better, and if they thought apple "A" or apple "B" was organic ("B" being organic and "A" conventional). The results were startling, as most people who said they preferred organic apples, picked conventional apples for taste. The people who didn't care for organic/liked conventional apples, were more likely to realise which apple was organic.

For people who eat organic, finding out that they liked conventional apples better was a shock. They thought that they would like organic apples more as a certain calibre is associated with the term.

My part in the group was to interview John Hollinger, an Organic Agriculture Specialist from Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI). Hollinger explained the differences between organic farming and conventional.

The biggest differences between the two is that organic can not use any chemicals, pesticides, or conventional fertilizers. Without the help of chemicals or pesticides to keep away pests, Hollinger explained the three ways organic farmers keep their farm pest free:

1. Organic farmers use compost to enrich the soil. They take straw compost (leftover crops) from the previous season and put it over the fields, letting it decompose. This creates healthy soil rich in nitrogen phosphates, potassium, and sulphur.

2. They use green manure. Green manure is a crop that is ploughed back into the soil, halfway through its maturity.

3. Farmers also use legumes. Legumes are nitrogen fixing plants that increase nitrogen levels in the soil.

To make sure their land is kept organic, farmers are put through a rigorous task to ensure that they will be certified. The process of certification is monitored by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, from the first time a farmer puts down soil to the final product that hits store shelves.

When asked about the reason for such a large price difference between organic and conventional food, Hollinger said that organic farmers usually charge 30-40% more for their goods because of the way organic food is grown and because of the market.

My other group members interviewed a consumer of organic foods, a man named Penner, and did store research on organic prices vs. conventional prices.

My groups aim for our Buyer Beware project was to see if their was any true difference between organic and conventional food. Through the taste test we found out that conventional apples are slightly taster for consumers, even if they are organic shoppers. We realised that the term "organic" is a brand that tells consumers that they are getting a higher quality product, therefore telling them that organic food has to be better tasting. We found out that there is in fact a rigorous process to certify organic food; ensuring that no Plain Jane farmer can become organic at any time.

After completing the Buyer Beware project as an organic consumer, my thoughts on the benefits of eating organic has been solidified. I will continue to eat organic, knowing that I am being socially conscious, and helping to create an environmentally friendly world.

Supernatural Episode 1 Overview - Spoilers Ahoy

After a long summer break, Supernatural is back and kicking ass - for the most part.

When we last saw the Winchester boys, Dean was moving in with Lisa and Ben, and Sam had jumped into Hell's black vortex with their brother from another mother Adam; Sam magically popping out of Hell before the credits roll, peering into Lisa's house like a jilted lover - alive.

One year later Dean is still playing house, trying to fit into Lisa and Ben's normal life. Sam on the other hand has joined up with not so dead grandpa Samuel and Sam and Dean's supposed cousins.

In the first episode, Dean is struggling with visions of Lisa's death and his urges to hunt and have a normal family at the same time. Lisa and him have a few heart to hearts when Dean has an emotional breakdown - she tells him the past year had been the best year of her life, you know, besides the drinking, the mental freaks, Dean's battle with depression, his search to find Sam, and the scare that demons might attack at any moment. Good times.

Episode 1 really is a starter, showing the distance between the two brothers and their fight to live with what they have. When Sam comes back, there is a short hug reunion, Dean not trusting of Sam, and Sam being shady towards his older brother. The rest of the episode follows Dean introduction to Samuel and the cousins, him being distrustful of them and then resenting Sam when he finds out the Sam had been out of Hell for a good year (no mention of Adam), and never bothered to say hi. Oh, and good old yellow eyes and some supernatural creatures make an appearance as well.

I found the whole Sam not telling Dean about his resurrection for one year stupid. Sure, Dean wanted a white picket fence life, but at the cost of losing Sam? No. I also wish they had made Lisa a more integral part of season 5 as well, and not just a perfect supporter of Dean to be used for some lameass drama in season 6 (overview of episode 2 will delve into this more).

In all, I liked the first episode, but didn't love it. It was missing the jokes and the love between Sam and Dean that fueled previous seasons. Like Dean in season 5, season 6 episode 1, seemed a little dead inside.

Supernatural the Animation

I love Supernatural. I love anime. Supernatural + anime = mind explosion. The news has been around for awhile that Supernatural would get some animated love, but there have only been some sketches and nothing else. Thankfully Warner Bros released a trailer: http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/supernatural/#/animeTop Look to the right and you'll find it. Or look below.



The animation is slick and the trailer even has a Japanese cover of Kansas's Carry On Wayward Son (which is slightly hokey, gotta admit). It's odd to hear Dean & Sam with Japanese voices, but if the rumor mill is true, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki will be dubbing the first two episodes. Awesome.

Dreams do come true.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Miles Edgeworth

I loved the first Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Miles Edgeworth. I played out my thumbs and only got shut-eye between two second DS load screens. Edgeworth brought logic to the table and real time cross examinations, which were a brilliant innovation. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Miles Edgeworth is once again re-innovating its cross examination with a strange looking chess setup. I'm not the best chess player in the world, so I'm interested to see how chess is integrated into this out of court, courtroom drama.

The Great Debate

On October 6th my CreComm class sat in plastic chairs for two hours while mayoral candidates Judy Wasylycia-Leis and Mayor Sam Katz debated. Newscasters from the Winnipeg Free Press and CTV crowed around the chairs, and a few of our classmates got interviewed for their political views on the radio and TV (me excluded, but I am in the background of Pam's interview - does that count?).

I thought the mayoral debate was interesting. It was one large argument that kept on coming back to the same issues: inner-city community problems, gangs, police, and transit. Katz was sharp-tongued and slightly arrogant, throwing insults at Wasylycia-Leis. At one point he called her "mom". Wasylycia-Leis insults were less noticeable, below the radar, the two candidates in a caged cat fight for two hours.

Wasylycia-Leis talked (sometimes rambled) about how she wanted to change the polices that Katz had made as mayor. And Katz talked about how he would continue on the same course. I found that I didn't learn anything new from Katz. He was just defending his standpoint.

In the end, neither candidates won me over 100%. They both had similar view points, only arguing on the smallest of issues. I wish I had learned more about the other changes they wanted to implement in Winnipeg. Not just about how communities need more resources or how rapid transit would be liek so awesome, bb. (Katz has been talking about it for years - where is it Mr. Mayor?) Where was the actual debate in the debate?

Picard Rap

Feeling sick, so here is the Star Trek famous Picard Rap.

Always cheers me up. You da man Picard.