Month: February 2022

Is the 21st of December 2012 Something to Worry About?

Many unrelated sources are all pointing to an event or events occurring on the 21st December 2012, the impact of which will result in a major catastrophe engulfing the Earth. Possibly one threatening human existence, an Extinction Level Event or E.L.E. – remember the movies Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and, more recently, 2012. More later on the, possible, significance of these movies!!

Putting 2012 aside for a moment, there are those who believe we are already in ‘the end times’ and that every second brings us closer to ‘Gods’ promised times of change for the world!

If this is indeed the case then public awareness needs to be raised of what awaits, what the consequences might be and what, if anything, can be done.

There are those who would even claim that public opinion is being manipulated, subliminally, to prepare us for major changes in human affairs. An example of this is cited as the spate of movies and web sites that bring these possible upheavals into the public consciousness – movies of natural disasters, alien invasion or asteroid impacts. This was claimed to have happened back in the 1940’s and 50’s as well when there was a huge output of movies which featured monster encounters, alien visitations and worlds in collision together with the peaking of UFO sightings

Then there are the ‘extreme’ sects filling the net with prophecies and predictions of doom in 2012 – some of whom claim to give you guidance on how to survive any catastrophe, which may occur!

There are many resources on the internet which discuss the prophecies surrounding ‘the end days’ which you can research for yourself and come to your own conclusions. A starting point could be my blog which discusses the Mayan prophecy and points to its sister page The Prophets of Doom which has links to a number of which sites discuss the thoughts of many past prophets.…

Paranormal Activity – Movie Review

The tagline asks: What happens when you sleep?

The plot is simple: After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

The film, given its simplicity, a cast of just four and a single setting – the couple’s house – is a victory for director / writer Oren Peli. Obviously filmed on a fairly low budget, this movie was a box office smash, and we watched it “on demand”.

I love scary films, and I love being scared. I love the heart thumping, heart stopping moments that directors lure you into, just to release it all with a single JUMP as the unexpected (or sometimes expected) thing happens at just the right moment. And this film does that in droves! Excellent.

A little slow to get moving and filmed in a style similar to that of The Blair Witch, the film begins with the boyfriend setting up his recording equipment throughout the house, giving just a hint as he does it of what has been going on in the house at night. The film shows what happens as the couple sleep, and to start with it’s nothing quite tangible.

Through a series of days, the visitations get more frequent, and more scary, until about 45 minutes through, the director and excellent main characters have you jumping out of your seat. A psychic is called and is visibly scared to be there, but here we learn the history of the couple’s troubles and the ever sceptical boyfriend is left trying to figure the problems out scientifically.

Many impossible things happen along the way, that have your skin crawling with goose bumps, and you screaming at the couple to “GET THE HELL OUUUUUUT!!!!” All of this builds to a thrilling climax that has you wondering what you would do in the same situation. This movie had me truly spooked.

About an hour in, I paused the movie to go to the bathroom – my wife laughed as I left the room switching on all of the lights as I went up our dark stairs. Having had the experiences I’ve had with the paranormal, I wasn’t taking any chances!

Many people like Micah, the boyfriend in this movie, are sceptical of the existence of the paranormal. I am not, I believe completely, and this movie just fed my beliefs. This movie should not be watched in the dark or alone, but it should be watched, because it is horror at its best. Don’t miss it!!…

New Year, New You, New Path

Devotion to your ‘use’ is the best thing anyone can develop in this lifetime. Whether it be being a devoted mother to her children, being present when they need a helping hand, offering your own words of wisdom or reminding them how important and valued they are in this Universe, or being a chef and creating great food for others to enjoy, all of it is meaningful if you love what you do!

I have heard it said before that your ‘use’ is the main way you express yourself in this life. Why then are people stuck in jobs they hate? Why do some choose to go for the ‘safe’ career, something that may have a steady paycheck in it, but doesn’t make them happy, does not create joy or get them excited about what they have to offer those around them, vs. discovering their passion? It’s a valid question wouldn’t you say? Why do the masses flock to concerts or the movies if not to see people doing what they love and expressing their gifts with the world?!

When you think back to what you loved to do as a child you are on track for discovering what you are meant to do as an adult. For me, I loved teaching. I thought being a teacher in some capacity would be loads of fun! But I also wanted to be my own boss, I never liked the idea of being told what to do or having to cow-tow to the big man. I wanted to have more control in my life and direct where I wanted to go. I knew I didn’t want to be a ‘teacher’ per-say because that was too restricting. But how does one be their own boss and teach? By the time I was 26 years of age, about 4 years out of college, I remembered another thing I loved as a teenager…personal growth. You see, i was one of those people that didn’t have a very fulfilling or happy family life; so I turned to books for inspiration.

My first inspiration came when I was in English class in the 10th grade and we began our study with a period of time in the late 19th Century, known as the Transcendental Movement, IE: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt became my new mentors. Thus began my obsession with looking deeply into my own soul and being, for how to create a NEW LIFE for myself! I knew I didn’t have ANY desire to repeat the same pattern my parents showed me. Thus, I began looking at ways to improve my own self-worth and esteem.

Your ‘use’ is the way you express your love and wisdom to those around you. Your thoughts and feelings no longer need to be hidden from view, or tucked away into a secret hiding place for when the time is ‘right.’ The right time is right now! And how you express your love for your life is through your ‘use.’ It makes you think, “Who and what am I devoted to right now?”

Is it my job, money, sexual satisfaction, power, control, or is it happiness, imparting wisdom, the law, etc? Pure evil/selfishness is caring only about yourself even if that means hurting others. Now that the new year has arrived make a decision to discover your passion in life, your loves and how you express these loves in through your ‘use.’…

Red Riding Hood – Not So Good

Catherine Hardwicke, the woman behind the mega-successful Twilight series, turns one of the world’s most loved fairy tales into an unabashed daily soap adaptation. She could have waited for the Twilight prequel and happily revisited the werewolf-vampire-doe-eyed-gal territory rather than making Red Riding Hood look like the unofficial fourth installment of the werewolf-vampire-doe-eyed-gal series.

In a sleepy little village Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) loves Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) but her mother (Virginia Madsen) wants her to hook up with Henry (Max Irons), the richer one. The lovers decide to make a dash for it but the cursed werewolf that troubles their existence decides to kill a human, Lucie, Valerie’s sister. By breaking years of truce the village decides to kill the werewolf but in the bargain Henry’s father dies and Henry holds Peter responsible for his loss.

Enter the werewolf hunter Father Solomon (Gary Oldman on a roller-coaster) who tells them that the werewolf is actually a human who turns into the deadly killer at night. Later that night Valerie is attacked by werewolf who talks to her and spares her.

Suddenly Valerie starts looking at the people around her rather suspiciously and everyone right from her sinisterly motivated grandmother (Julie Christe) to her father (Billy Burke), Peter, Henry, even Father Solomon give her reasons to believe that they could be the werewolf.

Red Riding Hood tries to build a certain mood in order to impress upon you that it’s a horror film and you should be scared but this is far from anything that could scare you. Shot like a dream that has been dreamt far too many times in films like Twilight or any fantasy laden Hollywood film, Red Riding Hood takes itself a little too seriously. The characters look worried on cue, they run in fear when demanded; they indulge in merry making by drinking and dancing the night away and yet end up looking like cardboard cut-outs.

The acting also looks very school play like; Seyfried’s huge eyes do most of the talking as she just doesn’t care to emote; Shiloh Fernandez is a complete disaster thanks to his Robert Pattinson hangover and Max Irons’ Henry is the made from the same mould that created Prince Caspian from the Narnia series–nothing new there. Christie and Oldman just have one motive–to swagger as much as possible and then a little more.

The screenplay is a cesspool of stupidity in the name of substance–Valerie loves Peter who hates Henry who loves Valerie but was the object of Valerie’s sister’s desire but in reality Henry’s Lucie half-brother…after a little while you just don’t bother. Rather you look at the obviously stupid things in the film–all of Solomon’s henchmen are tough multi-racial men–Blacks, Asians, and what have you; Valerie drinks and dances with her best friend Prudence to make Peter feel jealous who to get over her is dancing with a girl he doesn’t even like.

A few moments later Peter gets in the mood and just can’t keep her paws off Valerie; whoever said it’s these days that boys got happy looking at some ‘girl-on-girl action’! Avoid.

Red Riding Hood Rating: 1/5

Red Riding Hood Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen, Lukas Haas, Julie Christie

Red Riding Hood Written by: David Johnson

Red Riding Hood Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke…

Why Anime DVDs Are Better Than Anime Downloads

Anime which is short for Japanese Animation has captivated audiences across the globe. Many fans experience anime through manga books, movies, video games, and countless Anime Conventions held worldwide. This is evidence enough that this genre shows no signs of slowing down. Most fans make anime apart of their collection through purchasing anime DVDs however anime downloads are on the rise. Why would anyone resist downloading some of their beloved anime shows? It is faster, more efficient, free, and with the click of a button, people will be watching their favorite anime in no time right? Think again. There are several reasons why people should be skeptical when approaching sites that offer free anime downloads. The purpose of this article is to explore those reasons and show why owning an Anime DVD is a better choice than Anime Downloads.

The first and most serious problem when downloading anime from free websites is that it exposes the computer to viruses, adware, and spyware. All these programs do great harm if the computer becomes infected. As a result personal information is compromised. Adding further to the frustration, the irritation of multiple pop-up ads causes a significant reduction in the computer’s performance and speed. Perhaps the scariest thing of all is that once these malicious files are on the computer it may be difficult to impossible to remove them. Three other issues that can occur with free anime downloading are poor picture quality, incomplete downloads, and bad translations.

I am sure we are all in agreement that quality is everything when watching our favorite anime shows. No one wants to be stuck with a picture that is out of focus or a watermark image obscuring the view throughout the entire episode. Unfortunately most of these free sites offer just that. If poor image quality was not enough to endure, most of the time fans cannot even view the full episode because the download does not contain the complete version. Plus the translations and subtitles are more than likely inaccurate. What good is the anime if you cannot even understand what they are saying? All of these factors lead up to a complete waste of the consumer’s time. With paid sites, one may be able to avoid some of these problems but not all paid sites are genuine and must be approached with caution. With all of this in mind, why pay for a download site, when you can purchase an anime DVD and get all the awesome features associated with it?

One reason owning an anime DVD is better than downloading is that it is tangible making it the perfect addition to one’s anime collection. More importantly an anime DVD offers special features that go behind the scenes and explore the making of the anime. The commentary feature presents in depth knowledge from the director as well as voice actors giving the anime enthusiast the vision and concepts behind their favorite show. Last but not least the amazing gallery of art work that can be viewed is reason alone to own a DVD over downloading.

In Conclusion, purchasing a legitimate anime DVD gives the consumer a sense of satisfaction because they have invested in good quality. The consumer gains not only a collector’s item but a better choice compared to potentially harmful downloads that only take up storage space on the hard drive.

Make your favorite Anime DVDs a part of your collection today. Don’t miss the opportunity to take home the latest release or some of your favorite classics. Go to your nearest anime store today.…