The Internet vs Television The War Wages On

      In the last month CNN has lost close to 50% of their viewership, that is a lot to lose in a month, unheard of almost. CNN is not alone in this loss of ratings for there are many shows out there struggling to keep people interested in what they have to say and what they are doing. This accounts for the radical growth of reality TV shows and their absurdity, due to the decreasing amount of viewership networks have begun to adopt the philosophy that the more absurd or shocking a show the better, and thus we get some of the more absurd reality TV shows out there. This is not a new trend but it is one that has finally hit most channels, except Fox News (Bill O still has a following), and will continue to happen more and more often, which begs the question, what is the future of television going to look like and can anyone beat the Internet?

     The first thing we need to realize before we progress further is that this whole decrease of viewership has started to occur due to two things, news channels being bias, doing blackouts of articles and such, and the increase of news sites like "The Huffington Post" which basically do everything that CNN does for free and in almost every way they do it better. The overall concept here is not that its free but that they are offering better content for less, so who wants to go and pay for something inferior when they can get something better for free online? What really needs to happen here is that networks that are losing their ratings need to learn from these sites and one up them, paid services should always be way above their free counterparts, that is the only way to stay in business. If CNN does not step up their game big time then the future of their network will continually look more and more grim.

      There are a few networks that are stepping up their game though, Cartoon Network, MTV, AMC, ESPN and some others have begun to think of new ways to stay relevant in this ever changing world and for the most part have succeed. Cartoon Network has even decided to bring about a new segment called "Cartoon Planet" where all those shows we used to love as children are now coming back, like "Powerpuff Girls", "Dexter's Lab", "Johnny Bravo" and so on, and it'll be hosted by Brak and Zorak from "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast", if this is not a brilliant idea the we don't know what is. MTV has stepped up their game big time with shows like "Have You Seen My Pants?" which is basically a combination of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Friends" and its a brilliant show, this show and the bringing back of "Bevis and Butthead" was MTV's way of staying in the game, if they want to spike their rating even more they should consider going really old school and bringing back some music video segments, that would blow the world's mind for sure.

    How could we talk about relevant television and not talk about ESPN? Shows like "Sports Center" have taken everyone by surprise in their continued evolution and good content. ESPN knew what they were going to be facing in this new world and they stepped up their game big time in order to compete with it. In every show we have a group of people disagreeing with one another, so no "one" opinion on everything, we get small segmented stories that tell us just what we want to hear instead of spending 10 minutes per story, they host hosts that are fun to watch and that you respect, usually retired professional athletes, which is brilliant for they already have a fan base thus increasing your own fan base in your network.

    ESPN is the E! of sports, it is entertaining even for those that are not really into sports at all, there are top 10 best and worst moments which everyone loves, there is good commentary and for the most part you stay in the loop. It isn't hard when you look at the big picture seeing how ESPN has stood far beyond their competition, they are constantly evolving adding channels like ESPN 3 which is free in your Xbox 360 or your computer, and ESPN U where we get a ton of University games going on, ESPN has so many channels and all of them follow the pattern of growth every year. This is what the other networks should be doing as well, this is the example that is being set that shows us where television is headed.

    If you are a fan of television but don't want to spend a lot you would get ESPN and maybe ESPN 2, if you want to spend a little more you get ESPN U and some of their other services. If you have an Xbox or PS3 or comp and want to watch the game somewhere else you can do that, if you want to watch in your phone or Ipad you can do that, and so on. This is what we're talking about, this is evolution, giving the public the content they want when they want it in the medium of their choosing, this is why ESPN will not die anytime soon.

   So to answer the question in the beginning of this post, ESPN's example is what the future looks like, this is the system that will beat the Internet. As long as networks keep everything simple the public will continue to watch them. We've talked about this before but it merits mentioning again, cable companies should step up their game as well in allowing us to choose specific channels we want instead of having 1000 channels to choose from. We would rather pay for the 30-50 that we actually watch, in truth it's more like 5-10 channels that we actually watch, than to have to scroll through tons of channels in order to find what want to watch (which 9/10 times resides within those 5-10 channels). The age of having a thousand channels has come and gone, the age of cable is dying, there needs to be an evolution in the market or cable will not survive in the years to come.

    The Internet is an ever changing thing, if you are not growing and being a step ahead of it then you will be left behind, eventually becoming obsolete. The time of the Internet will forever be upon us now, there is no going back, so please networks step up your games and keep up, follow ESPN's example and stay in the game, if they can do it so can you.

   We hope your week was fantastic and pray that you all will have a safe weekend,

Love from your humble blogger,

America's Favorite Passtime Going Global, Why That Matters

      Even 20 years ago if someone had talked about baseball or American football being spread all over the world we would have looked at that person skeptically, the thought being impossible because the means of communication and spread of information at that time was so low. We are now living at an age where the spread of information is mammoth, we can stay in touch with friends and family in different countries with relative easy via Skype, email, Facebook and so forth, this is the age of the spreading and expansion of information. Being that this is the case, it comes to no surprise to us that America's goal of spreading their top two sports around the world as begun to get some spark, positive feedback and a very real possible future.

      Baseball is way ahead of football when it comes to uniting the countries for sure, so much so that there was a tournament already crafted for all the teams around the world to compete in, "World Baseball Classic". Much like the "World Cup" (soccer tournament for those that don't know), this tournament meets every three years (instead of Soccer's four) and hosts a variation of teams around the world competing to determine who is the best. There have only been two of these tournaments so far, it's still very young, and Japan has won both tournaments, baseball was received really well in Japan. This is the kind of thing we hope happens more and more between countries in a variation of sports.

   We know what you're going to say here, the Olympics, yeah we can't disagree that the Olympics already holds some of that swagger, but what we are referring to are tournaments like the "World Cup" and sports like basketball or American football (and so on), and also incorporating in season competitions between countries. It could be a competition that out-weights other competitions, a culmination of teams coming together to compete for the gold. Soccer already does this, we have Latin America teams facing European teams every year or so, this is a concept that should be adopted to other sports, specially now with the rising of technology, the spread of information and our ability to communicate with one another becoming easier and easier.

     We say this to point out a very real future where we focus on peace between nations and friendly competition being a reality. Did you know that the "World Cup" has stopped civil wars before? Yeah, a sporting event made a country stop a war, that's how powerful a sporting event can be, that's how important the spread of competition between nations can be. This won't solve the world's issues, nor will it end war, but it will begin to build respect between countries, if only at least for that team. Can you imagine an American cheering for his favorite Italian team while an Italian cheered for his favorite Brasilian team? The possibilities are endless, thus being that we already apply these things to soccer maybe it is about time we apply these things to baseball and football as well, growing our leagues and having world wide competitions.

     All this to say that MLB is starting this week and the first game is taking place in Japan, which surprised us and made us happy at the same time. This is not a world league but the American league playing some games in Japan because of the fan base that exists there. This could bring about a good future for all mankind, one where we are more united and come together to respect one another. Sporting events might not be your first pick when it comes to changing the world but they do have a significant impact on how the world operates, this is a tool we must be able to harness and use for good. Thus the MLB's move to have this game in Japan in order to spread the love of the game further is one that brings a smile to our faces.

     When it comes to dance we have seen this already taking place with Y.A.G.P. and other competitions, where the world of dance stops to see the incredible talent that resides in other countries seeking to compete with them, learn from them, laugh and cry with them, celebrating the ability to come together and though in some cases communication between dancers is impossible they still find a way to touch each others hearts by the medium of dance. The dance world in many respects is way ahead of the sporting events throughout the world, the love between teachers and students alike from different countries is palpable, it truly is an overall beautiful event. We long to see this occur with other competitions and wonder what sort of impact that that will have in the world we live in.

     So Wednesday is finally here, if you feel like this week has been a slow one we are right there with you, we pray for you and us that this week might finish well and that this coming weekend is a great one.


Love from your humble blogger,

March Madness Final Four And ME3 Story Update

        This last weekend we finally got to see who the final four teams are going to be and without a doubt more brackets were destroyed in the process. This coming Saturday we will have two great games occurring between Kentucky vs Louisville and Ohio St vs Kansas. We here can't help but to be rooting for the underdog in the Kentucky game, specially due to their everlasting rivalry, which rivals that of Duke and North Carolina, this game is promised to look fantastic, we sure are looking at an intense finish for this year's tournament.

       Since the tournament's beginning many have stated that Kentucky was going to win it all, they are the top choice to win for sure, but this tournament has been so bizarre at times that there is no telling what will happen next Saturday, these teams have all bleed on the court, they have given their all to get their schools this far and now we get to see what college ball is all about, the give it your all or go home mentality we only find in college sports. It doesn't matter if your team is playing the final or not, the final is always a fun game to watch, it's always an all out battle and very rarely has it not been a good game to watch, this is the beauty of college finals.

       We couldn't help but to cheer for Baylor this past Sunday even though we knew that there was a very small chance of them taking the win, it's nice to see the underdog win, but going home at this time is no loss, there is no shame in leaving this tournament at this point, specially when playing against one of the best programs in the country, so well done Bears. This goes out to all the teams that broke the odds this year, the teams that would not give up, the teams that we all thought were going to leave on the first round and not only proved us wrong but wowed us in the process, this tournament was reminded of the beauty it possesses due to your victories, we tip our hats to you.

      Ohio St vs Kansas will be a good game to watch for sure, some here are speculating that Ohio St is going to take it all but there is no real answer here, if Kansas plays like they did on Sunday then there is a good chance that they'll be able to show up again on Monday for sure. Both teams are no push overs, these are the four teams that have fought and won over hundreds of teams in the United States, thus these games should both prove to be fantastic to watch for sure. We're still a little bias against the tournament game being on Monday, we understand the reasons behind it but still, Monday is just never a good day for a final, this is something that needs to be reconsidered one of these days.

      Another thing that was beginning to get to us are the commercials that surrounded the tournament, there were so few of them, like 15 or so, and they just cycled between those for the entire thing making even the best of commercials become "that annoying At&t" commercial. Though this was occurring there was one commercial that took us by surprise, this Powerade commercial is so absurd, like a direct punch in Gatorade's mouth absurd, that we couldn't help but love it and laugh about it for quite some time. The whole thing is so brilliant that it surprises us that we never saw it coming, it definitely deserves a spot here for best commercial in this tournament, besides the "here we go" dog commercial.

     An update for the Mass Effect 3 people here, Bioware has announced that this next week (beginning of April) they will release new additions to the story, an alternative ending is rumored but not officially announced yet. If there is another ending that does get released you'll have to purchase it and rumors say it'll be close to $30 or so (more than regular DLCs). We'll def know more about this as the week progresses, but Bioware has heard your complaints and will be solving these issues very soon, starting another character in preparation for it might be a good idea, if not a fun one. This whole mess with creation of a new ending has brought on some concerns from artists all over the world, we'll give our opinions in this matter next week for sure.

     We hope your weekend was fantastic and though it is a Monday and they are generally rough we pray that it might be a great one for you,

Love from your humble blogger,

The Hunger Games Review

     Some of us last night got to watch the first installment in The Hunger Games series and for the most part we have to admit that the direction they took was brilliant. The movie isn't perfect, if you are an avid lover of the books then you might be annoyed at some elements that they chose to leave out from the overall story, and though some of these were important in the books they did not take away from the overall experience of the movie, books will forever have more detail then their movie counterparts, that's just a fact that will never change. Let's begin by addressing some of the brilliant moves the director took in order to make this movie the success that it is.

     It's no mystery that this movie's theme is a dark one, and it's no surprise that this book has been accepted by both guys and girls in a variation of ages, specially high school. Which brings us to the "motion cam" usage within the movie, this was a brilliant move for it answers the question of how does one create a movie about high school students killing each other and not make it rated "R". If the director had sought to follow the book to a T then yes there would have been no way for this movie to be anything other than "R", but doing so would leave out a good half of the audience that loves the book thus the inclusion of the motion cam is a brilliant move for all fight sequences are masked and though while watching you are aware of the gruesome nature of what is going on, you are not being faced with all the gory details.

    Another brilliant move was the soundtrack, the whole movie is either accompanied with an instrumental track or no track at all, in fact there are periods in the movie where there is no background music, just the awkward sounds of real life. What this does is make you nervous, it makes you understand the density of the story, it makes you feel uncomfortable a little thus giving off the very real emotion of "this is wrong" that this movie should give while not relying on shock factor or violence to bring that emotion about. Plus its so nice to have a movie that doesn't have a cheesy pop song in the middle of it, it would have taken away from the whole experience if they had included one in there.

      Another huge deal was the casting for this movie, the casting director should be awarded a medal here the picks were brilliant, well except for Cinna, but even there we all fell in love with his character midway through the movie. Jennifer Lawrence was magnificent, she portrays Katniss perfectly, the nervous girl who gets thrown into a nightmare but rises out of the ashes through willpower and courage. In some sense Katniss is the anti-Bela, she doesn't need a guy to save her, she is independent, she is a hunter, a loyal friend, she holds to her morals and so forth, we could write a whole essay on this topic alone. Woody Harrelson proved to us again why he's amazing and should be in more movies, he plays the role of Haymitch perfectly. There was concern about the casting for this movie when we first heard who was picked, but after seeing the movie we have to admit that the director knew exactly what he was doing.

      This was not a perfect movie, in fact many of the critiques going around about it are valid critiques, while some critiqued the "motion cam" use we found that to be brilliant, that and the soundtrack did not bother us but enhanced our enjoyment of the movie, but if we could critique one thing though we would talk about the the fight scenes. Though we understand the need to keep them PG13 in order for high school students to be able to see the movie as well, we felt like there needed to be more emphasis on the combat, some of it felt forced and did not hold the impact that it should have held, we don't know how one would go about doing that without going to an "R" rating, but some kill sequences just felt lacking in some ways. This is something that could be perfected by the next movie's release.

     The scene with Rue was the one we were the most nervous about (no spoilers promise), it is a delicate scene and a very important one, here we felt the director struck gold. The movie slows down quite a bit during this whole sequence and we feel the whole impact of what is going on through this relationship, the whole construction of this scene was brilliant. We specially liked the fact that they kept switching from "the games" to behind the scenes commentary, to Haymitch and others responses and so on, this was a great addition to the story and made the whole sequence in the arena a fluid one, and filled everyone that did not read the books in to important details in the story.

    "The Hunger Games" is not an easy book to adapt to a movie, and this end result is more than most could have achieved, thus we cannot help but give this movie an B+, there is room for improvement for the sequels that's for sure, but the overall experience was dense and fantastic, the story telling was fluid and the gruesome nature of the story is told without there being tons of gory details along the way. Overall we were satisfied with the end result and look forward to the other two additions to this series, we can't wait to see how they adapt those two to the big screen.

     We recommend that you check this movie out, this might just be the best movie that has come out this month, in fact we would say that yes this is the best movie of the month. We hope your week went well and pray that this coming weekend might be a good safe one for you.

Love from your humble blogger,

Mass Effect 3 "A Change In The Gaming Paradigm"

     Originally we weren't going to cover this story, we don't usually do articles on video games except for in passing and in collaboration articles, to imagine that a game is deserving of its own stand alone article had never crossed our minds until now. The first thing we should mention is the striking phenomenon that this game has caused, from ESPN to Forbes to CNN everyone has either covered the release, the impact or the fun they had while playing Mass Effect 3, and thus we decided that it was about time we did our own article filling you in as to why this game is such a big deal and why there is so much controversy circulating around this game. (No worries there will be *NO SPOILERS*)

     For those new to the series you play as Commander Shepard of the Normandy (name of your awesome ship) and its basically up to you to save the universe from calamity. Without giving too much away the first two games deal with you discovering this threat and meeting all the other alien races around the galaxy making a name for yourself and dealing with business while you're at it, but the third game deals with the big threat of the fist two games hitting everyone in mass and you having to deal with it, you having to go around and try to get the universe to join together and face this threat, this Reaper threat. That's the best we can do without giving too many things away, there is something to finding out the details while you play the game so we're not about to spoil that for you.

     The game is a mix between a real time role-playing game and a third person shooter, strategy is necessary when fighting the alien races who seek your demise, specially in the higher difficulties. The element that makes this game rise above its competition is the ability to mold the story to your liking, the game emphasizes the importance of choices and the result of your choices teaching you what the outcome of bad choices are and what good choices are. Every choice you make in the game affects the outcome of the story, so if you decided to save a character instead of killing them, they might come back to help you later on, or give you items and so on. The concept here is simple, in real life your choices have consequences, good and bad, and thus in the game you should have those as well, this is where the Mass Effect series shines, not to mention that your character is entirely customizable meaning you can play a guy or a girl and you can make them look however you want making the experience your own, unique to you.

   Not only do your choices matter while playing through the game which is not new but the choices you make in each game is imported along with your character to the next game and that is revolutionary. Meaning, if you play the first game and not worry about making friends and making good decisions then on the second and third games people will respond to you differently, where they could have been an ally now there is only contempt. What this means is that it places a very real concern on each choice you make while playing through the game, a wrong choice could cause a whole race of people to die out, which causes you to pause while playing the game and think about your choices, think before acting, this game in many respects can be a teaching tool about the importance of thinking before acting, about the effects of bad choices and their negative future consequences.

    This gigantic project started in 2005 with the humble announcement of the game and has now come to a glorious close in 2012, let us explain to you why the dates are important, in 2007 the first game came out and everyone loved it, in 2010 we got the sequel and our Shepards got to live again and save the universe and now in 2012 our Shepards got to do his or her thing again. What this means is that all that played the first game in its release have had an investment on this game for 5 years, that's a 5 year commitment to a storyline, this whole project was a brilliant move by Bioware. This means we have had a 5 year relationship with this story and its characters causing us to care about what happens to them, 5 years will do that to you, it's like reading a book that you have waited 5 years for where your choices affect the ending, the concept is brilliant.

   Bioware is the company responsible for this game, in the last few years Bioware has not disappointed us with their continual brilliance and creativity in the gaming world. There is a controversy about the ending of Mass Effect 3, we're not about to talk in detail about it but in short some people have found the ending to be lacking, after 5 years the public was expecting a massive incredible ending and thus the riots and letters began to be written, complaints that Bioware does take seriously, and has announced that it will make it up to all those aggrieved but that they want to wait a little bit until everyone has had a chance to finish playing the game, which we find to be a fair request.

    Overall Mass Effect 3 is a brilliant game, it hosts amazing graphics, great voice acting, fluid combat simulations and a good RPG balance within the gameplay experience, and of course the storyline is epic. This is the type of game where you become so invested on a character that you feel compelled to help them and be by their side as if they were your actual friend, you gotta give props to a game designer when he causes you to feel guilty when betraying a fictional character within a videogame. With graphics improving more and more being the "bad guy" in a game is going to be more and more difficult, which causes the games to be more and more relational and better at teaching moral lessons about life, love, war, and death. Mass Effect 3 has brought on a new paradigm in gaming, one where your choices in one game might affect the next game, and thus sequels take on a new meaning all together, this is a great influence on the future of gaming.

    For those that have finished the game we hope you enjoyed the experience and if you are dissatisfied just wait a little bit, Bioware has not let us down yet, we're sure they will pull through. For those playing through the game right now, enjoy the ride. And for those that have no idea what Mass Effect 3 is, we promise that you know at least one person who is playing it or has played it, it's just that big of a deal. We hope your week has been going well, and pray that it will continue to do so.

Love from your humble blogger,

March Madness 2012 "The Destruction Of All Brackets"

      There is something to March Madness that separates it from every other sporting event in that you never know who will end up winning each game, specially when we're talking about the first two rounds. This year was no exception when it comes to surprises, we saw a ton of upsets this tournament, some greater than others but in the end no one's bracket was found unharmed by the many surprises that have hit us this year. This is the beauty of March Madness though, the fact that you never know what is going to happen, you never know who is going to show up and who is going to play the worst game of their lives, the pressure upon these young men is overwhelming and so nervous shoots and bad calls are to be expected, some of which might even cost a game. Now we could talk about the girls as well, but let us be honest here for a second, the way Baylor is playing this year, being undefeated and all, it just seems like an obvious guess on who will win, or at least get to the final, so it is different in that there is little mystery behind who will reach the end.

       If we counted correctly there were about 10 upsets so far, that is a lot of upsets, and two of those surprised us all, the last time a team placed at 15 beat a 2 was about 11 years ago. This tournament we had two teams do this and not against small fish but two very large and talented fish, we're obviously talking about the Lehigh vs Duke and Norfolk vs Missouri games. Who would have thought that Duke would be out on the first round? This is unheard of and to get out by Lehigh at that, it surprised us all. We feel for Lehigh though, regardless of their loss to Xavier they are walking home as champions, for not only did they go farther than ever before but they beat Duke in the process, that is something any emerging basketball team should be proud of. We could say the same about Norfolk, here is a program that keeps pushing every year and this year it knocked over a giant, Florida did defeat you, but your previous victory is commendable indeed. Both these games were awesome games to watch, both had us intrigued, and both destroyed all brackets in existence.

      For those not in the know, it is tradition that every year people all over the United States come together and make their predictions for the tournament or "pick their brackets". These are generally done among friends or colleges as a competition, for some money is even involved, hence the big deal about some people and their brackets. We've always found it amusing how even those that do not place bets take their brackets being right so seriously, it is a fun tradition, one that has been around for a long time now. Generally everyone's bracket is based on their experience from watching the teams play over the season and generally this experience counts for something, hence why this year being filled with upsets destroys everyone's brackets. Sports Center said something like out of the 1.5 million brackets within their network that none survived this weekend, there will be no perfect brackets this year it seems.

      After the Super Bowl, March Madness is the second most watched tournament in the United States (disputed by the lovers of the World Series), here we have the top college teams from around the country facing each other to prove who is the best. It isn't a perfect tournament but it is one of the most fun tournaments to watch, even more so than the NBA finals, the reason behind this is simple, the college players play their very best all the time, they have to play their best all the time in order to get recruited to the NBA, which means that all games are fun to watch, even those that have teams you don't like. March Madness this year is proving to be very interesting indeed, we can't wait to see what surprises await us this coming weekend.

    We hope those returning from spring break were safe and had a good time, for those recovering from St Patrick's day we pray you recover well, and for those that had a restful weekend we pray this week will continue to be as restful.

Love from your humble blogger,

The Lorax Loves Trees And So Should You

     Every year or so we get a movie about protecting nature, about 20 years or so ago this was a norm, we used to have a ton of movies about how mother nature is dying and we need to stand up and do something about it, we even had a TV show who's soul purpose was to raise awareness of this fact "Captain Planet". For this new generation though the whole "save the trees" movement has toned down quite a lot, which is good in a sense for it has allowed for other issues to surface as well and make themselves known, but bad in the sense that saving trees is still a big deal and something we must always teach the next generation, hence the importance of the movie "The Lorax".

     "The Lorax" has stolen the box office from "John Carter", to no surprise, it is a great movie about a town that doesn't have any more trees, about the fight between materialism and greed versus nature and moderation. The "Lorax" is the one who speaks for the trees in the movie he is the one who educates our main character of all the things that have occurred in his town. This is a cute movie, it isn't the most fantastic animation ever but it is a good movie with a good message. It's no "Wall-e" for sure, but it is still a movie worth watching.

     The "go green" movement was an interesting thing to us at So Danca, for we have always gone green, since we first built our factories we have always cared about the environment, so when we heard about the "go green" movement our hearts were warmed for now more people were beginning to see things like we and others had thought for a long time. Caring for nature is an extremely important thing, if we do not care about mother Earth then what will be left of it when our kids are growing up?

     Technology and nature can co-exist, isn't that the true meaning of being an advanced technological society, taking care of Earth while progressing in our inventing? There are dreams that we must always keep intact, dreams that we must always pass on to the next generation, for if we do not then the chances of the nightmare returning are high. We must not let the mistakes of the past repeat themselves, so we must educate the next generation about what was happening to our world when we weren't taking care of it properly and how long it took for us to correct some of the atrocities that we had committed. We must always speak about respecting nature, about loving where we live and preparing it for the next generation, we must prevent history from repeating itself, and education is the key to it all.


    "The Lorax" is in theaters now and we recommend that you go see it, it was a cute movie, one worth checking out. We hope this week has been amazing, and pray that this coming weekend will be even better,


Love from your humble blogger,

"Bully" Is Being Bullied, Oh The Irony

      We've gone to great lengths in previous posts describing the horrors of bullying, it is a real problem within schools, it's a problem that has existed for a long time and has been ignored for a long time. It is interesting how bullying has become a norm, how we just accept it as a fact of life, something that cannot be changed and therefore we rarely address or even attempt to do something about it. If we were to make a list of all the movies that include bullies within them this post would go for quite a while, there have been a ton and only a few talk about change, a movie like "Charlie Bartlett" does cover both the bully and the process of change for a bully, but that is one movie among a list of few that do take it to the next level.

      In the last few years we have seen a shift occur, it is no longer the bullies that rule over society but those that were being bullied, hence the shift in attention towards bullying, this has been a fight that many ignore still, but it is a fight that has been brought to light, raising awareness to this horrid ignored problem. There is hope, there are some out there who are fighting for change, and though it is a tough battle, through the power of technology we can raise awareness, and maybe one day we can end bullying. Recently a team got together to do a documentary on bullying called "Bully", it is directed by the great Lee Hirsch, and depicts the lives of various youth who go through bullying and their struggles, he puts the truth out there right in our faces in order to raise awareness to this problem, in order to do something to try to end this disease.

     But, yes there is a but, the MPAA decided to give this movie an "R" rating, when fought on it they threatened with a "NC17" rating, here is a movie that all teens should watch, a movie that needs to be passed around in order for the problem to be understood, for teens' eyes to be opened, and see what bullying really does and the MPAA decides to bully the movie that is trying to fight bullying, no wonder the world reacted negatively to this. So a fight broke out, it has been a very interesting few week, how countries have stood up against the MPAA, Canada for instance gave it a PG13 rating, Europe the same, and more countries are standing up and defending this movie, the reason is simple, bullying is universal, it is a universal problem, an epidemic that needs to be fought and this movie is one of the few ways by which this can be done.

    For more information on "Bully" you can click on the picture above which will lead you to their site, or click here and you'll be taken there. This is a documentary that we recommend to all, that we feel everyone should watch and learn from, this is a cause we all should be aware of and fight against. We should stand up against those that are trying to hide the problem, and educate the future generations of this epidemic, the dream of a world with less bullying is no illusion, but a reality, in a sense some will always be bullies, but in another sense we can reduce those numbers. Evil can always be fought, though it may always remain present it can be reduced and that is something worth fighting for.

    We hope you have been having a great week, and pray that your week finishes well. For all those that are in Spring Break right now we pray for your safety, have fun, enjoy yourselves but please be safe.

Love from your humble blogger,

Joseph Kony 2012 Raise Awareness!!

     Sometimes the internet comes together to fight a cause or to raise awareness about a cause, these are times where we see what the internet could be, the tool it can become, and it brings a smile to our faces. Joseph Kony is not a name known to many, those that had political science in college might have heard of him, he is a modern day terrorist, the worst kind of terrorist, preying on kids and families. Here is a man who must be stopped, but has had years of bad deeds go unanswered by the world. Part of the problem is that most people do not know who the man is, another is that there has been no outcry about this massacre by the people and therefore no action has come, thus the importance of this movement, a movement that will raise awareness and tell the people that can do something about it that we, the people, care and want this guy taken out. Here is the video that has been circulating with this movement, we recommend you watch it and pass it on:

      There comes to a time to stand up and raise awareness for a cause, there are some out there that have begun to focus on "Invisible Children", who is the company that released this video, and have begun to deface the group "Invisible Children" with all sorts of accusations. We are not here to defend "Invisible Children" , you never know who is doing what is this world, but what we are here to do is defend the cause, the cause here is simple "Raise Awareness on Joseph Kony", that's the cause, that's the fight, not who put out the video and whatnot, the point here is that we need to be united and remember that together we can accomplish great things and that Kony must be stopped.

     It has warmed our hearts to see the amount of people that have come together to fight this cause, it is always a beautiful thing when the world stops and joins hands to accomplish what was thought impossible to accomplish before, we hope that this is just the beginning, one of many causes we all fight against together.

Love from your humble blogger,

The Hunger Games who is Brave and loves Snow

    It saddens us a bit to report that there are just a few movies coming out (that have been announced so far) that contain a strong female role within it, but we are happy to report that these movies all look amazing. This year we are blessed to have various interesting characters making an appearance or re-surfacing with a new look, did someone say reboot? Yeah, not all reboots are bad, let us hope that more great titles surface as the year progresses and we see more movies like "The Help" or even something like "Columbiana" surface, both of which, in their own styles, hosted strong female characters and were good movies overall.

     Starting with the reboot, or should we say the competing reboots, one cannot start a post about changing the scene without talking about "Mirror Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" which both look promising in their own way. "Mirror Mirror" is taking the more light hearted approach but still offering a different take on the story, one where Snow White isn't helpless and weak but knows how to hold her own, this movie not only has an amazing cast but is attempting to change the game a bit by offering a new perspective and bits of fun in between, a sure one to look forward to. Our other contender is "Snow White and The Huntsman" which is appealing to the mature ambiance of the story, still hosting a very strong female role and keeping a dark atmosphere about itself. Both these movies will give us a new twist in the story, but the most important part is that both of these movies are hosting a strong female figure instead of the helpless princess, it's about time, we were starting to think that "Mulan" was going to be the only one.

         We know we covered this already but it bears mentioning again that Pixar's new movie "Brave" will be coming out this summer and it will surely blow our minds. A point that we felt we should make about our post on Monday is that we are not saying that being a "stay at home" princess is a bad thing, no, what we are saying is that we as a society should support all roles of women in society, we should affirm everyone by what they choose to do, but at the same time we should encourage people to strive for excellence. So we felt that the latter side, have not really had a lot of movie inspiration going their way, thus the importance of pointing out that "Brave" is doing just that. We should always strive to affirm all people and everyone deserves a voice, we should strive to encourage people to pursue their dreams, whatever that might be, and hence the importance of the message of the movie "Brave" which is exactly that, that we should strive to aid one another to reach our goals instead of putting each other down, encouraging one another to aim for the sky, and be all that we can be.

   This brings us to the last movie that you should check out, this is one that we are very excited about, "The Hunger Games". We mentioned "The Hunger Games" in December and boy does it deserve to be talked about more and more, this movie is pushing the boundaries, it is giving us something we have never seen before, and is showing us a strong "everyday" girl who through willpower overcomes great obstacles. We were excited about this movie months back but with the recent previews that have been coming out for it, our excitement tripled if not quadrupled. Here is a story of love and loss, of courage and fear, of pain and regret, of courage and cowardice, this movie has it all and more. If you didn't have this movie in your "must watch" list before then do yourself a favor and do so now, this is the "must watch" movie this month, and if you find yourself with some free time do pick up the books, you'll love them, they will surely entertain you intensely.

     We hope that you have had a good week and pray that you have an even better weekend,

Love from your humble blogger,

Reality TV Shows That Are Ruining The Next Generation

    No matter how you spin it, TV shows do influence those that watch it. This can be a negative influence or a positive influence depending on the show. For guys we have had great male role models and some horrible ones as well, but the balance is towards more good guys than bad. Think every major TV series, most are lead by good standing guys, thus boys grow up looking up to these figures, while understanding the difference between what is success and what is not. When it comes to lead female roles within television we have seen a shift happen, and more lead female inspired shows are coming out, which we think is awesome, but the dark side of the matter is that for every good TV show influence that comes out, there are five bad influences that surface, this is a cause we must begin fighting against.

   Let's start with an obvious show, "16 and pregnant", here girls learn that having  a baby at 16 might be tough and the guy that you slept with might leave you, but you can do this and it is accomplishable, and that bad guy might just come around  and become a good guy, do give it a shot yourself. Ok, maybe we're exaggerating a bit, but this show is not about preventing girls from getting in this situation, at best it is giving an example of someone who is doing it and surviving, so providing someone with the justification to go through doing such a thing. The point here is, that the show should emphasize the reality of the situation, attempting to spread a positive message of abstinence, and encourage teenage girls to have a future, be successful and aim to the heavens, instead of their message right now which is "aim low, you can do it, she just did, so can you :)", it's sickening when you realize the kind of garbage the next generation of women are being influenced by.

     Where is the TV show that hosts the successful women in the world, where is the show where we have good messages being sent out? We're not talking about having a reality show with "perfect" people in them, no we're talking about putting a cast together of women who are making a difference in this world and providing the next generation with positive influences, with women they can look up to. No one is perfect, that is truth, so the show would be funny, and there would be drama, and fights, but it would be hosting a series of accomplished women, women who's goal should be encouraging fellow women in the world to succeed and rise to the top.

    Think about all the reality shows about wives even, which one of those actually hosts a decent human being? It's sickening, the equivalent for guys is a gladiator match, this is what these shows are, these shows are basically featuring the scum of the earth, the worst type of people, the people you don't want to be but enjoy watching, fighting against one another to determine who is the worst of them all (i.e. gladiator match). We love watching people self-destruct on television, every year there is a celebrity we follow that does so, and every year we all watch it with eyes open, be it Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Charlie Sheen, we love it all. This in a sense is another conversation for another time, but the point here is that for every bad guy role model there are five good guy role models pushed upon us by television, but when it comes to women those numbers are reversed, and that is a disgusting fact.

    There is so much that could be going on there, from TV networks trying to manipulate girls into becoming the people they are watching in order to continue the cycle that the TV networks originally initiated, to men being scared of a female take over and therefore trying to pass on the false message of "non-success" in order to encourage the next generation of women to accept defeat and not strive to reach the heavens. God knows what is going on behind the scenes, no one does really, but one thing is for sure, we need to start fighting for more shows displaying successful women, in order to encourage young girls to succeed in the word. A good example of a strong female character in a mostly men show is the character of Joan Holloway in "Mad Men" played by Christina Hendricks, here is a successful woman who holds real power in the office and over most of the men she comes in contact with, there are many other examples we could site here, specially if you take "The Closer" into account.

     This goes both ways of course, the next generation of boys also needs those good influences, the argument here is that they have them, and have them in abundance, but the girls do not. Think with us for a second about every movie that is coming out this year, for every 10 guy lead role based movies there is one girl lead role based movie to counter it, this is the reality we live in today, one we must fight against. Isn't it about time that we started to get closer to equality? Isn't about time that we at least start hoping for it and fighting for it? We believe so, we believe that we must constantly be thinking about the future and striving to bring one forth that all of us can be proud of. 

    There are many ways that we can all fight this, one of the most important things you can do is raise awareness of the problem, talk with your friends, spread the word, and maybe soon we'll see change occur. We need to start thinking about the future and we need to start fighting to bring about one that we are all proud of.

 We hope you have been having a fantastic week, and pray that it may end well,

Love from your humble blogger,

Pixar's "Brave": Why It's A Big Deal

    We all love Pixar's films, from Toy Story to Up Pixar is constantly wowing us with their amazing story telling and masterfully crafted animation, but even though all their movies have been epic they have never had a movie hosting a female main character, there have been female side characters but never main characters, this is something we are glad that they are finally redeeming. Its about time that we saw more movies come out that features female characters leading the story, thus "Brave" is a big deal, the first Pixar film centered around a girl instead of a boy.

    The newest preview for Brave has just recently come out and it looks great, we are all looking forward to Pixar's latest original work with anticipation. From what we can tell from the preview this is a reversed princess story, here is a princess who does not wish to be a "stay at home princess" but wants to be able to venture into the world, go in adventures and fight, instead of staying home and learning to be miss perfect and wait for some prince to come take her away. Of course her parents oppose it, specially her mom, but she will go out anyway and prove to the world that a girl adventurer can be more qualified than their male counterpart, this is a good message, one that needs to be shared more, the restrictions placed on people because of them either being male or female is prejudice and something we should constantly work on fighting against.

  We live in a world where there are more girls going to college than guys, where women have become presidents of corporations and countries, where we have more female workers than men in various parts of the United States, this is a big deal, it is something that  needs to be broadcast to the new generation, telling them that it doesn't matter what you see in magazines or TV you are good enough, you are smart enough and you can accomplish anything no matter what your gender is, so don't let the media fool you into thinking you can't be successful in the world.

   Think about all the animated movies that have come out as of late, now try and remember which one of these movies was lead by a female character, maybe one or two, and to take this thought even further, think about those movies that had leading female roles, which one of those was targeted towards everyone versus the ones that were targeting only the female population? What we mean to point out here is the fact that Pixar is releasing a movie that has a female leading character that is being targeted to all audiences and not just the female population, this is a big deal. Here is why, this is Pixar making the stand in saying that its about time we embrace the female lead character and stop being scared to have a girl win the battles instead of a guy.

    This is not a new thing here, even in other movies we see this phenomenon happening all the time, think "Transformers" the only reason there is a girl included as a character is sex appeal, that's about it, in a sense it sells, but in another sense the whole formula is disgusting. Let's think of another movie, how about "Lord Of The Rings", notice there are no female characters within the party that sets out to destroy the one ring, and don't say "that was another time, he wrote it forever ago" cause we can always counter with "Narnia" which hosted some strong female lead characters and was written around the same time, C. S. Lewis is the man, let's be honest. 

   The point here is simple, we need more movies with strong female characters, we need to encourage the new generation of women to aim for the heavens, to surpass their male counterparts, and achieve that which we have thought to be unachievable. This year we do actually have some good movies coming out hosting strong female roles, we'll be featuring a few of those on our Friday post, so stay tuned for that. On Wednesday we'll be talking about some reality TV shows that are nothing but negative influences on the next generation and how we need to start fighting against such shows.

     We hope you are as excited as we are about "Brave" and hope that this Monday will be a great one for you. To all the Mass Effect 3 people out there, be sure to get some sleep tonight.

Love from your humble blogger,