Followers of my blog (all two of you!) may remember my previously voiced criticism and discontent over news of the live-action adaptation of Alvin and the Chipmunks. I understand the dilemma of trying to remold something that was popular many years ago to something that bears relevance to the culture and society of today, while still trying to keep the “essence” of that thing in tact. But what can I say? It’s a segment of my childhood that is so ingrained into my memories that the mere thought of Hollywood potentially ruining the formerly popular franchise was just exasperating and yet, I’m guilty to admit, somewhat intriguing. I wanted to see what they came up with and if my worst fears would come true.

Comedy Central’s Motherload is like the “interweb mecca” for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report fans. It offers a fairly large archive of clips for both shows, streamed for free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whenever you wanted a Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert (or *insert your favourite correspondent’s name here*) fix, you knew where to go. Because we all know with the recent Viacom (Comedy Central’s parent company) versus YouTube lawsuit, it’s pretty much the only source for video clips for these shows.

Then there was news of a better, more spectacular and centralized new site set to be revealed in October for fans of The Daily Show. The new TheDailyShow.com was trumpeted as “the ultimate online destination for ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ fans”. No longer would The Daily Show have to piggyback off the main Comedy Central website and, most exciting of all, the new site would feature video clips from every episode dating back to 1999, the year Jon Stewart took over the reins of The Daily Show, and would be expanded to include the show’s entire video history, totaling well over 13,000 high-quality clips [ source ]. It was a TDS fan’s dream! (The Colbert Report currently does not have plans to have a similar video archive centric website of its own)

Unfortunately, and quite sadly so, us TDS fans up north are being left out. We’re just on the outside, looking in, whimpering and greatly irritated by the fact that when we now click to either ComedyCentral.com or TheDailyShow.com, we are greeted by this lovely page seen on your right… before being redirected to thecomedynetwork.ca. Thanks a lot CTVglobemedia.

Pushing Daisies: Wednesday nights at 8:00/7:00c on ABC

Pegged as a “forensic fairy tale” and acclaimed by critics, Pushing Daisies is easily the best new television show of fall 2007. It’s not very often I become instantly enamored with a new show, particularly with the way network execs love to toy with new shows and cancel them at the drop of a hat, thus devastating those who were starting to become invested in said shows. This show, though, I think has real potential (worthy to note: I am writing this a few minutes after its first broadcast on ABC so the ratings have not yet come in).

Child labour has never been this entertaining!

Lordy, the epic comeback performance of Britney Spears has been talked about to death all over the media outlets. Or shall I rephrase that, the epic mess of a performance. Nonetheless, I can’t let this magnitude of an event in pop culture history go down without adding my own commentary.

A three part “photoblog” on my October 2006 visit to Tokyo. Continuation from Part II. More pictures ahead!

A three part “photoblog” on my October 2006 visit to Tokyo. Continuation from Part I. More pictures ahead!

In October of 2006, I had the opportunity to visit Japan, a country I had wanted to visit for awhile now. So, as part of my post-graduation travels, I booked a trip to Tokyo to experience the unique Japanese culture meshed with urban life. I also got to visit such popular tourist spots as Mount Fuji (Fujisan), the Ginza district, Takeshita-d?ri street in the Harajuku area, Tokyo Dome City, etc. Picture heavy post below!

As a continuation of this post, this is second in a series of posts documenting the drudgery of job hunting in today’s job market as a new graduate.

After a temporary stint working at my alma mater, performing duties that I did not find entirely challenging nor aligned with my career goals, I’m again back in the job market and attempting to land my first “real job”. My career goal is not necessarily set in stone because, frankly, it’s kind of hard to know whether something truly is your calling if you’ve had zero experience in that industry. Nonetheless, I’ve trudged on with optimism and learned some things here and there.

The Bridge is a controversial film that documents the “suicide phenomenon” at The Golden Gate Bridge. In the span of January through December 2004, filmmaker Eric Steel continously filmed this bridge, known to be a mecca of sorts for those who want to end their lives, and was able to capture 23 of 24 suicides on film. It features real footage from these real suicides and suicide attempts, along with interviews with grieving family members, friends and witnesses to those suicides. The keyword here is “real”. It’s unlike comfortably watching a Hollywood movie with its professional stunts as a detached viewer, knowing it is all “just for show”. At first glance, it sounds kind of morbid and in many ways, it is. We are, after all, witnessing the final moments of someone’s life and this is all presented as a form of entertainment. But there seems to be some morbid curiosity innate in all of us, a curiosity about death, and this film really addresses that curiosity.