Nu när jag sitter här och läser i effing Massmedier så har jag även TVn på (måste ha ljud och saker som händer), och har zappat mig fram till SVT1 och Debatt... Tänkte att det kan vara intressant... Och så är det väl inte så långt heller så att man fastnar i flera timmar direkt... :P Men vem sitter där och ska debattera om inte Blondinbella? (Jockes favorit va?! ;) hehe, eller inte...) Och måste bara säga att det var nog inte det bästa hon gjort direkt... Hon repeterade ju bara samma mantra om och om igen! Det här om att hon dricker väldigt lite och väldigt sällan... Hmm...? Det är inte direkt den bild hon förmedlar genom bloggen direkt! Att det skulle vara alkoholfritt när hon är på mingel? Mjaa... Vet inte hur trovärdigt jag tycker det är... Aja, det var väl hennes fortsatta 15 minutes of fame...

Men nej! Nu ska jag fortsätta läsa om nyhetsflödet inför uppgiften som ska göras till på torsdag... Uppgiften kommer inte att göras förns jag är tillbaka till Jönköping, men är ju bra att kanske ha läst in sig lite innan jag, Lotta och Ellen sätter oss ner för att göra analysen... :)

Hello anime fans,
We do understand your concern regarding the future releases of these two series in which you have already invested so much time and emotion. I won't bore you with the long explanation as to how we came to the decision we did as to how to package these series nor rattle off the many factors that led to that decision.

That being said, we have taken your comments to heart and here's what we are going to do: in addition to the box sets we will ALSO release Red Garden Volumes 4 and 5, Pumpkin Scissors v.5, and NHK v.5. They will be available through The Right Stuf in December -- though street dates have not yet been finalized. Volume 6 for all three of these series will be available at a later date, still to be determined, and will also be available via The Right Stuf.

Best regards -- Official FUNi Rep

That's great news for fans of Pumpkin Scissors, Red Garden, and Welcome to the NHK, including me, since I went and bought all the singles for Red Garden and NHK a couple months ago.

Bara det att nästa tenta inte lär gå lika bra... Men vad fan... det får bli ett senare problem! ;) Ska väl inte förta glädjen ur det här?

Skönt att få resultatet idag då jag fortfarande är lite sorgsen efter besöket till Joe. Har ju lovat Grammie att gå till hans grav varje gång jag är i Stockholm och säga hej. Jag trodde inte det skulle bli så svårt, att det skulle bli lättare nu att tänka på honom och inte alls särskilt svårt att svänga förbi graven... Att det är svårt att tänka på honom och alla minnen visste jag sedan innan, men har väl alltid försökt tränga bort tårarna då. Men att gå ner i columbariumet och gå fram till gravplatsen och veta att där inne vilar Joe var svårare än jag någonsin trott! Tårarna började rinna på en gång! Och de bara fortsatte att rinna. Jag saknar verkligen min Joe! Ett speciellt band som vi hade ändå... He's my Joe! And he will always be my Joe! (Joe är en benämning på han som person, inte det han är döpt till heller... Svårt att förklara... But he was my Joe!)

Och inget pluggande har jag fått gjort heller... :( hur ska det här sluta?!

A couple of weeks ago, I went back up to Timnath again and spent the bulk of the day with Ann. My intent was to take photographs of her horse, Galen, but the photographs turned out including so many other horses where Galen is boarded. I know virtually nothing about horses other than the fact that they are gorgeous creatures to photograph. I know a bit more now but I still have a lot to learn.

Ann explained Galen's lineage but, for the life of me, I can't remember all of the names and places his lineage runs back to, all I can tell you is that he has one impressive set of fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers. (See Ann's explanation in the comment to the post, below; for those of you who know horse lineage, I'm sure it would be as much of a treat to read as it was to hear her tell it!)

Upon arriving where Galen lives (for the time being), we brought him up to a spot where Ann could remove bandages from his hind legs, an injury he had had the previous week which left the bottoms of his legs raw from getting tangled in his lead rope. Watching Ann remove the bandages, wash them clean, apply a cleansing/soothing cream, then try to wrap them again was interesting, to say the least.
A friend helped try to keep Galen in place (not move skittishly) during this process by holding up a front leg opposite to the hind leg Ann was holding up. This proved to be a bit much for either of them, especially since Galen is a good-sized fellow at, I believe, 14 hands. In other words, he's pretty big...even for 2 very experienced horsewomen to keep under control. When he moved, wincing I expect at his hooves getting messed with, these two women moved pretty fast, as did I. He was a bit more docile once the soothing salve was applied.

Salve applied, Galen spent the rest of the afternoon in a stall that kept him contained in order for his wounds to be less likely to get worse in the more open areas.
And on we went to see the rest of the horses.

I simply can't remember what types of horses I met that afternoon, I just know I met some very personable and interesting new friends!

Many of the horses at Lynchland Stables are horses that the owner, Jackie Lynch, has rescued from auctions. These auctions are, basically, places where anyone can buy a horse...but most of which are not being saved for anything other than to be processed into something other than horses (I won't explain that but you get my drift, I expect, by the way I put it). Frankly, spending the time I did with these noble creatures, I simply can't think of what some folks would do to them...instead of letting them be who they are...and until their days are over!

This horse, a small sort that is Irish by lineage and used, classically for pulling small carts, is white with an orangey-cream color, and very friendly. At 6'2", I towered over her. No matter, she came right over to the side of the stall she was in and wanted to get to know me.
As you can see here, I like taking pictures of horses' eyes. Just as human eyes are expressive, so are horses' eyes. I love looking into them and trying to imagine what they see from their perspective. Ann told me, of course, that horses don't see in color but in shades of white, black, and grey tones.
Their range of vision starts about 3' out in front of their bodies because of the way their eyes are situated, which also adds another dynamic...that off the blind spots they have and the reason for their need to turn their heads so far around to see what is happening back there behind them (one of the reasons you are told, when approaching a horse from the rear to tap its' rear to let it know you are approaching). On the other hand, their range of vision is wider than any other being on the planet BECAUSE of the way their eyes are situated!

And they L-O-V-E to have their noses tickled and their bottom lips jiggled. Pretty funny to watch them react when Ann played with them!

Then we found ourselves over with a group of them and, frankly, I could have spent the whole rest of the afternoon over with these horses. All sorts of dynamics showed up which Ann had previously mentioned, most specifically WHO is in charge! And this guy definitely characterized this attribute:

However, he's really just a sweetie at heart: Mr. Personality (not his real name).....along with several other personalities who are just as cool and dynamic and friendly. They all have their own ways of getting into the action, whether they are right up front or laid back and simply taking it all in.

These horses, obviously, knew Ann. And I was someone they were just a bit unsure about. However, the vying-for-attention calmed down and we all settled into some nice getting-to-know-each-other. They had no problem with my rubbing their lower lips, scratching their ears, and generally enjoying their great beauty.

I watched as Ann rubbed this big guy's lips and played with his nose....and then just treated him as if he was just a little puppy dog, nuzzling his nose and jowls. He simply could have fallen asleep right there in her arms as she kissed his nose. I think this is one of the best photos of the day. It is pretty much all right there!

That one pretty much says it all! These horses may be huge but when you get right down to it, they are just great big puppy dogs. Of course, rolling around on the carpet would prove to be a bit of a task! They love getting their love just like the rest of us.

So, I'm going to close here and just let you look at the rest of the photos. Some of them are reworkings of others, which, of course, you'll figure out, but each reworking has its own "tone" (other than the tone shift).

Enjoy! (And don't forget to click on an image to see a larger one!)

Subscribe in a reader

This film is very much anticipated for three reasons: 1) the movie is made by Regal Films - a film company that gave us the best Filipino films for the past few years; 2) the cast is very porwerful (Judy Ann Santos - best actress and Dennis Trillo - best actor); 3) and three, the movie was made almost a year. So with these ingredients, one will probably expect a quality horror film... NOT!

The movie opened with Mira (Judy Ann) driving a car, and having a road accident. Because of this, she will have amnesia. The movie starts its conflict when Mira was dreaming walking in the hospital alley, and seeing blood all over the walls. She then wakes up. The next scene, they returned home from the hospital. Before she entered their house, she saw an old lady looking at her from afar (inside the house). Then, the movie builds its conflict when Mira's business partner went to their house. He and Mira had a private conversation. In that conversation, he said that they were suppose to elope but she never came. Surprisingly, this business partner of her is also her lover. But Mira can't remember anything.

The next scene was the "scare scenes".Blah blah blah...

Dennis suggested to her that she goes to see a doctor coz what she has been seeing (ghost) is probably caused by her accident. In the hospital, Mira's lover came from out of nowhere, and told her that she has a twin sister, Maria. He then left the premises telling Mira that if she wants to know her past, she will just have to call him.

When Mira and Dennis arrived at their house, she was very bothered with the information she just knew. In the middle of the night, while Dennis was asleep, she looked for the contact number of her lover.

They decided to meet, and her lover took her to the mental hospital where her sister was confined. She didn't mention anything about her sister to Dennis because she loathed her sister. When they met with the doctor of her sister, she was informed that her sister died. The doctors have no one to inform so they decided to donate the body in one of the med schools. Because of this, Mira was furious. When they went outside the hospital, Dennis comes in the picture. He will think that Judy Ann is having an affair with her business partner. Dennis and her business partner will have a fist fight. Then Judy Ann and Dennis will leave. Mira explains to Dennis why he never told him about her sister. Interistingly, her mother was a witch (mangkukulam). She and her twin sister was being taught of the craft. Mira however was reluctant. She left their home and went to Manila leaving her sister. One day, her mother died. Her twin sister became crazy causing Mira to put her to the mental hospital.

The following day, Mira opened her sisters luggage bag which the doctor gave to her the day they went to the mental hospital. She then saw her sister's wiccan book. After touching it, she remembered everything. The day before the accident, she went to visit her sister. Maria was very angry with her. She attacked Mira and pulled her hair. When Mira left, Maria performed a soul transfer ritual using Mira's hair that she pulled. That was the cause of Mira's accident. Maria's soul was transferred to Mira and Mira's soul to Maria's body. Because Maria didn't know how to drive, she had the car accident. Unfortunately, she suffered from amnesia.

After her memory returned, she became evil again. She wanted to kill Dennis and their daughter. Fortunately, before Mira went to see her sister, she left a video of herself telling Dennis how to vanquish her sister.

To make the story short, Dennis did what Mira said in the video. The END.

The movie was a little boring. I was able to predict what will be the twist (soul switching) in the story even before the first half ended. The scare scenes wasn't scary at all. There was only one scene that was scary for me. The scene after Mira's lover committed suicide, Dennis saw and old lady inside their house, looking at him, and laughing. That scene was a little freaky. Aside from that, the other scenes were a little dull. Kris Bernal and Mart Escudero were useless to the movie. Removing them would've made Regal saved more money. Kris and Mart were as important as the sofa in one of those scenes. Pathetic.

Overall, I was very disappointed. This film is only  2/10. If you're planning to watch this film, you should consider it again. If you are looking for real horror movie, try something else.

Enligt mig? JA!
Herregud! Har precis tittat på "The Kite Runner" på vägen upp till Stockholm, och herregud! Okej att den inte följde boken exakt, men de mest hjärtskärande ögonblicken var kvar! Allt jag kände när jag läste boken kom tillbaka. En riktigt bra filmatisering ändå... Fast sen kanske jag inte hade tyckt likadant om jag precis läst boken..? Det är ju ändå nästan ett år sedan jag läste den... Om inte mer?

Men där försvann ju i alla fall två timmar av en fyra-timmars resa... :P

"The Kite Runner" kommer i alla fall lätt upp bland mina favorit filmer! (Som förövrigt alla får mig att gråta...) Boken var ju bara fantastisk! Och det är klart att filmen inte är lika bra, men it's pretty close! ;)

Och jag svek mitt löfte till Jocke... :( Det var ju inte bra förståss!
Borde ha pluggat hela resan upp, men det är svårt att plugga när det är mörkt! (Dålig ursäkt jag vet...)
Får bli plugg på stadsbiblioteket imorgon innan sushi-lunchen med Kusin Vitamin tror jag... Och plugg efter det... Och plugg innan lunchen med Bianca på torsdag, plugg sedan emellan lunchen och fikan med Pippilotta. Och plugg plugg plugg hela fredagen eftersom Långa Farbrorn tagit fel på dag, fram till kvällen då det blir Mosebacke med Lisa... Sen inge plugg alls på lördag eftersom jag ska träffa Lisa, Rebecka och Ida (?), och sedan på söndag blir det fika med Långa Farbrorn! Och sedan åker jag hem!
Hjälp! Vad fort tiden kommer att gå...
Och snart är det dags för tenta igen! :(

Men aja... Är snart framme vid Centralen där pappa ska hämta upp mig, och sedan mycket sömn tror jag så att jag orkar med den här veckan!

(Och LottaPotta ska jag ju försöka träffa på fredagen också, kanske när vi drar ut på kvällen...? Och Jocke med om han kan slita sig från Muffarna ett tag... :P )

5 Exposure HDR. Click image for larger size, click again to zoom.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jag tror att Sushi-lunchen med Kusin Vitamin på onsdag kanske reder ut de sista frågetecknena. Men jag är lite rädd för att visiten till Sthlm även kommer att skapa en del frågetecken kring en annan sak... Eller jaa... Det är väl redan ett frågetecken, men... jaa... jag vet inte riktigt vad som händer i den frågan ALLS så Sthlm kanske kan reda ut lite av den frågan, men samtidigt blir det väl komplicerat i vilket fall som helst... Så som det brukar bli alltså.

Hmm...

i was counting down since the first day i came to KL & couldn't wait for the production to end..& now, i'm all choked up! tsk..

alright, let me share those wonderful moments with you. enjoy!

to be continued...

Behöver nämligen lite tid för mig själv för att reda ut en del saker... Och jag tror det går lättast genom att inte ha någon stress på att umgås eller hitta på något... Utan att bara vara ensam kanske jag kan räta ut allt som hänt den senaste tiden och förhoppningsvis komma till några bra insikter som kan göra att jag slipper slösa energi på oviktiga detaljer. Förhoppningsvis kommer jag nog även fram till hur jag ska agera i de "situationer" som uppstått på senare tiden... Få lite klarhet i hur jag känner.

Kände att det verkligen behövs nu och det passar bra med att Roomien är uppe i Storstaden över helgen...

Lägenheten är all mine och jag behöver bara ta hand om mig själv!

Och jag har precis fått två böcker jag beställt från AdLibris och en Cosmopolitan jag inte hunnit läsa ännu! Så blir jag trött på mina tankar finns det ju annat att syssla med! ;) haha

Så, jaa... Bara så ni vet... Så bli inte arga/oroliga om ni inte får nåt livstecken från mig på söndag! ;)

Men idag? Naah... Not so much.
Var verkligen sugen på utgång när Lotta kom över och vi lagade mat och pratade om allt och inget! Världens bästa Lotta! :D Så himla skönt att få ur sig en del... Innan vi drog vidare till förfesten hann vi med två glas vin o en massa prat  :)

Förfesten hos Frasse kunde väl ha börjat bättre. Det börjar med att jag och Lotta kommer uppför trappen och möter en viss person, i och för sig inga problem med det men det fick ju humöret att svikta lite. Sen i med mer alkohol och humöret var på topp! Mycket som hände under tiden, men som egentligen inte är relevant. Men sen plötsligt när jag står och pratar med D1 försvinner all energi och jag känner att ögonen tåras och jag måste ut ur rummet. D1 är snabb på vad som sker och hjälper mig ut, till toa-kön... Som dock är så himla lång så jag tar min tillflykt till balkongen dit D1 också tagit sig och där Jocke står. Jag ställer mig hos dem och försöker få in så mycket frisk luft som möjligt i lungorna och andas lugnt. D1 och Jocke ser att allt inte är OK, och D1 springer snabbt iväg och hämtar vatten medan Jocke försöker hålla mig lugn med små peppande ord som "Det är lugnt, vi står här bakom dig". Synd bara att folk vill få det till att jag mår fysiskt illa (vilket inte var problemet), och försöker stjäla ens koncentration. Det är då Jocke kommer bra till pass! Jag lyckades hitta ny energi och kraft för att fortsätta kvällen ett tag. Men ojj, vad nära jag var att dra hem då på en gång!

I alla fall... Energin tog slut ganska snart då alkoholen försvann ur kroppen, och kvällen på Kåren blev kort. Synd, men det var nog lika bra det... Även om jag gärna hade sett hur vissa saker hade utvecklats under kvällen, inte bara för min del utan även för en viss annan person... :P haha

Men jag vill i alla fall säga TACK! till D1 och Jocke som verkligen hjälpte mig där på förfesten! You're amazing guys! :D Hade inte orkat till Kåren utan er! (Och toalettbesöket på vägen till Kåren fick ju sätta en helt ny nivå för toalettbesök överhuvudtaget D1! HAHAHHA [o tolka inte in något i det heller förresten])

O självklart till min Lotta! Som jag absolut inte hade klarat mig utan här i Jönköping! <3

(O för att Matte, D2, o Alex inte heller ska känna sig glömda... Tack för att ni står ut med mig! :D )

(Okejj... Jag kanske fortfarande inte är helt nykter men ändå... Jag tror nog jag menar allt i nyktert tillstånt med! ;) )

edit: Ja, jag menar allt! :) Bättre vänner får man ju leta efter! Tänk att en del vet vad man behöver utan att man själv vet det?!

Last night I looked at the ANN Skip Beat TV page and saw that they had updated it with information on the voice actors. Now, because of the whole Skip Beat main voice actors controvacy last Augest it is best to be skeptical at any information on ANN about Skip Beat, that hasn't been confirmed by another source first. So remember this is only a rumor and don't quote me on the information.

So here's the list on ANN under the voice actor category for Skip Beat:

Taishou (Kyoko's boss at the Darumaya she works at): Haruo Satou

Maria Takarada: Hiromi Konno

Takenori Sawara: Kenji Hamada

Lory Takarada: Kouji Ishii

Taishou's wife: Midori Komi

Shouko Aki: Rio Natsuki

So that's what they have listed. Being fairly noobish I don't know any of these voice actors. Apparently Rio Natsuki is voicing Yukari on Shugo Chara! (it amused me to no end that she's voicing a manager of a pop star on Skip Beat too), and Hiromi Konno voices Iru on Shugo Chara and voiced Kogami on Lucky Star. '

Like I said, before I don't know how real this list is since the Japanese Website doesn't have information confirming it yet. I guess no one will know for sure until the show actually airs.

Finding this information made me pretty happy. Now I just need the anime designs for Yashiro and Kanae...

Also, there is now a subbed verison of the Skip Beat anime trailer.  If you don't understand Japanese or if you having read the skip beat manga, but are interested in seeing the anime, I recommend watching this.

The Progress of a Movie Icon

Out of the many great movies of cinema history one stands out of having the perfect amount of everything. Horror, romance, action, and comedy (not so much of it)- King Kong has it all. After the amazing success of this first event in what would soon be one of the worlds greatest franchises, many remakes and sequels have been made. The King Kong franchise has seen many ups and downs, greats and horribles, and some results that are just plain hilarious (King Kong Lives anyone!). To fully respect the King Kong series you have to know the full history, starting with a man named Merian C. Cooper. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a brief history of one of the cinema's finest icons.

The Creation of Kong

 King Kong started out with a man named Merian C. Cooper. Cooper was born in 1893 and joined the military to become a pilot during World War II. During the war he was shot down and captured where he spent the entire rest of the war in a POW camp. When WWII started he enlisted himself even though he was old enough to avoid it. He led many missions and was awarded the status of brigadier general. In between and after the two World Wars, Cooper led movie production for RKO Radio Pictures. Cooper was known for his documentaries featuring the 1925 silent movie Grass(about the Bahktiarai tribe in Persia), the 1927 drama Chang (about a farmer in Thailand's daily struggle for survival), and The Four Feathers (filmed among the fighting tribes of the Sudan). Cooper then moved on to King Kong, which he co-wrote, co-directed, and appeared in. Edgar Wallace, a popular writer at the time, was hired to write a screenplay but soon died before actually writing anything down. I should probably have a picture of the other director, Ernest B. Schoedsack, but I'm definitely too lazy to do that.

King Kong (1933)

King Kong is one of the all time greatest movies. If you haven't seen it buy it right now, it is definitely worth it. If you don't have enough money to buy it, rent it. If you still don't have enough money to rent it, borrow it from a friend. If you don't have any friends, I WONDER WHY YOU KING KONG HATER!! The film was directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. The major, MAJOR, reason why King Kong was so successful was because of the special effects. The movie had Willis O'Brien, the special effects technician for the 1925 dinosaur movie The Lost World, worked with stop-motion animation to movie King Kong around. If you don't know what stop-motion animation is click here for a great description. Special effects like the ones in King Kong had rarely been seen and people were amazed. The movie centers around a filmmaker, Carl Denham (played by Robert Armstrong), who sets out to make his new picture on an ancient island with a pretty actress, Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). On the sea voyage to the island (happily named Skull Island), Ann falls in love with the first mate, Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot). I don't particularly like Jack in this version of the movie even if it is the original. When they get to the island Ann is captured by natives and sacrificed to a giant gorilla, Kong. The crew then sets out in search of Ann where they are attacked by many... dinosaurs. Will they rescue Ann? Will Ann and Jack be together? Does the ending have something to do with the Empire State Building (woot!)!?! YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FRICKING WATCH THE MOVIE!! WATCH IT!

IT WASN"T THE AIRPLANES, IT WAS BEAUTY KILLED THE BEAST!

The Son of Kong (1933)

Because of the success of the first Kong movie, guess what?... sequel!! Why does every horror movie have to have a sequel called "The Son of...". Was it some unwritten law back then. Here is a sampling:

• The Son of Dracula
• The Son of Frankenstein
• The Son of Kong

Maybe there aren't as many as I thought there were but remember that these movies also had "The Bride of...", "The Curse of...", "The House of...", and "The Ghost of...". Anyway this movie is nowhere near as good as the original King Kong. It feels rushed even though Willis O'Brien's talent is still put to good use. Again, Robert Armstrong plays the director Carl Denham. It picks up about a month after the end of King Kong where Carl meets the same skipper who gave him the map to Skull Island in the first place. If I saw him again I would punch him in the face and feed HIM to a giant brontosaurus. Instead they listen to him talk about treasure on Skull Island. Treasure? This is not Treasure Island! Believing him, they set off to go find some nonexistent treasure, bringing along the good-looking stow-away girl Hilda (Helen Mack). When they get to Skull Island they find and befriend Kong's nice son, Kiko. Oh yeah, he happens to be ALBINO! If the movie takes place a month after the first movie why didn't they notice Baby Kong on their first expedition. And where could King Kong get a son from!! There's no other giant apes on the island!! Together the trio has great adventures and lots of fun.

Toho Productions: Kong

 After the release of Son of Kong about 30 years passed. Nothing was happening in the King Kong franchise. That needed to change, even if it did mean having two Asian actors in rubber suits battling it out. Willis O'Brien proposed in 1960 an idea for a new King Kong movie: King Kong vs. Frankenstein. The idea was soon dropped due to prices of making a stop-motion animation film. Instead, Japanese movie company Toho decided to make their own movie. It wouldn't use stop-motion animation but a guy in a gorilla costume. The worst gorilla costume I've ever seen. Who better to have King Kong face off against with then native Japanese movie monster Godzilla. That means they needed another rubber suit. In 1962 King Kong Vs. Godzilla was made. The movie starts with the head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals wanting something to gain publicity and boost his ratings. What better then a 25-foot tall ape. Sorry guys, its been done before. It didn't work out well. Meanwhile, Godzilla, who is trapped in an iceberg breaks out and starts heading towards land where he can destroy everything. Meanwhile (there's a lot of those in this plot) on Faro Island where the supposed monster island is,  a giant octopus is attacking the village. King Kong rushes out and defeats the monster. He then drinks some red berry juice, gets drunk, and falls asleep. THAT WAS EASY! Godzilla meets up with Kong and they have a monstrosity of a fight. NOT-SO-PUN!!! The rest of the movie is them fighting pretty much. After King Kong Vs. Godzilla was made, Toho wanted to do another movie with Kong. This one is worse than the last one!! In 1967 King Kong Escapes, an all new low for the franchise was released in theaters. An evil genius named Dr. Who (actually Dr. Huu) creates a robotic Kong. Don't they also have a robotic Godzilla? He uses it to dig for an element called Element X. Why he had to make a giant gorilla instead of a drilling machine I don't know. They fail in their task so they capture the REAL King Kong and hypnotyze him to work for them. Yes...I said hypnotize.  King Kong snaps out of it and swims to Tokyo where a fight to the death occurs between real and mechaincal Kong.

King Kong (1976)

Another ten years passed so of course another movie was made in the King Kong franchise. This one was produced by Dino de Laurentiis and directed by John Guillerman. It was yet another King Kong movie that had a (better) suit. Although it has the same name as the original the plot is very different. Instead of a film crew Petrox Oil Company leaves for an unidentified island rumored to have large amounts of oil. Jack Prescott hops aboard the ship to warn the crew of a danger on the island. He also happens to be a primate paleontologist...that could be useful. Jack spots a raft in the water which happens to have a beautiful girl, Dwan, on it. She was on a yacht when it exploded, killing everyone but her. Jack and Dwan then fall in love because thats how it has to go. Duh. On the island they can't find any oil but they can find a tribe of natives. Woot woot! They kidnap Dwan and sacrifice her to a gigantic beast. Dwan quickly tames Kong because she is a female. The crew sends out a search party to rescue Dwan but they all fall off of a log when Kong tips it. Of course, Jack is the only survivor. The crew later captures Kong and the movie goes on and on. Don't watch this crap. At least the next one is better.  

King Kong Lives (1986)

I could only find one good picture for this very not-good movie. So instead, I am going to show pictures of things that I would rather do than watch this movie again.

Now that that's over I'll tell you about the actual movie. Ten years after King Kong 1976 was released the makers had a great idea to make a sequel. This film would be greatly named King Kong Lives. The same director is used from the previous movie. It seems like if one movie was bad a new director could fix the problem. Taking no notice the film races on hiring Linda Hamilton as Dr. Amy Franklin. You might notice her from a popular series called... The Terminator. The movie takes place ten years after Kong is shot down by helicopters from the World Trade Center. BUT WAIT...he's only in a coma kept under the care of Linda Hamilton/ Dr. Amy. The doctors need an artificial heart to bring back the monster that smashed almost about everything in its way until it got to the highest spot it could find so it could fall and make a giant depression in the road. However they don't have enough blood to transfuse the heart correctly. Meanwhile, Hank Mitchell (Brian Kerwin) captures a similar giant gorilla in Borneo. This one is a female as you can tell by obvious reasons. Hank brings back Lady Kong and the heart operation goes on. Lady Kong is taken away but Kong wakes up, smells the Lady Kong, and smashes out to find her. A giant chaotic warehouse battle ensues between Kong and the humans which consists of the people running around blowing up their own cars while Kong calmly walks around. Kong stomps off with kis new love in his arms. Disgusting. How can the franchise stoop this low? Ronald Shusett and Steven Pressfield, the writers. Kong and his girlfriend have many adventures including facing off against a furious colonel, Colonel Nevitt. If only the movie was as awesome as the poster.

King Kong (2005)

 King Kong has never looked this good since 1933. The movie this time was directed by a man with a reputation. Peter Jackson had just finished the critically acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy when he started making this remake. It was a project for him in 1996 but was dropped until it surfaced again later. The new Kong is colorful, realistic, and features some good acting from all actors. Jack Black is sheer genius as Carl Denham acting selfish and arrogant. Jack Driscoll gets a new twist as a theater writer who goes along on the trip to write the screenplay for Carl. Jimmy and Preston are the coolest characters to ever enter the wonderful franchise. The story follows the original pretty well. Carl Denham hires Ann Darrow for his new movie and takes a long sea voyage to an uncharted island. When they get there they are met by much scarier, violent natives. Ann is captured to and sacrificed to Kong who looks great in this flick. Again the crew searches for her in the darkly lit, mysterious jungle. The rest is history. The movie looks great and IS great. Perfect.

Animated King Kong

The mighty beast has also seen a fair amount of animated versions. In 1966-69 an animated children's show named The King Kong Showwas released the show was based on the original story and was the first anime series produced in Japan for an American company. The series was about how Kong befriends the Bond family (no relation). Kong protects the family from monsters and other dangerous criminals. A musical adaptation of the original plot was also made in 1998. It was called The Mighty Kong and featured original songs by the Sherman Brothers. The movie follows the plot but there is NO VIOLENCE! KING KONG SURVIVES FROM HIS FALL!! WHAT THE HECK! Another animated series was released in 2005 right before the movie came out. I have never seen this series and never plan to. It looks like horrible Jetix crap and I would rather eat a baconator and have heartburn.

King Kong in Video Games

King Kong has also seen some video games. One was released the same year as King Kong Lives and two were released with the Peter Jackson movie. The 1986 game was released only in Japan as King Kong 2: Megaton Punch of Anger. You play as King Kong and you must pass through multiple maze like levels. There are also bosses but this game sounds boring to me. MOVING ON!! King Kong: The Official Game of the Movieis probably the only King Kong game worth looking at. You play as Jack where you must survive in the jungle using guns and spears which you can light on fire. Occasionally you play as Kong, fighting V. Rexs and other dinosaurs. These levels are particularly fun. Another game is Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World. It's pretty much the Gameboy version of the other Peter Jackson game.

King Kong in Other Media

 Other forms of media have also presented their own King Kong related works. Several books have been written, comics have been made, and fan videos created. Universal Studios has even made their own Kong rides. I encourage you to check these out.

KONG WILL BE WITH US...FOREVER.

Vía Javahispano, me enteré la existencia de ésta librería Encog, programada en Java. La misma permite trabajar con redes neuronales Feedforward, Hopfield y mapas auto-organizados, el entrenamiento de las mismas se puede realizar mediante backpropagation, alineamiento simulado y optimizaciones genéticas. Además posee un bot (araña) multihilo para explorar HTTP, pudiendo almacenar los resultados en memoria o en base de datos, adicionalmente posee un parser HTML y manejo de cookies.

El link del proyecto (se distribuye bajo licencia LGPL) ]]> http://annikasunmountain.wordpress.com/?p=145 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:46:31 +0000 Ann Ika http://annikasunmountain.nl.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/flashbacks/ Herregud!!!

Så det har hänt igen!

En skolskjutning i Finland!

Herregud! Herregud! Herregud!

Jag känner ångesten sprida sig. Rädslan som infann sig för cirka ett och ett halvt år sedan kommer tillbaka...

Den där ödesdigra 17 april 2007. Dagen efter Virginia Tech. Tre dagar innan årsdagen av Columbine (20 april).

Att inte veta något, men att höra rykten sprida sig mellan stolsraderna och samtidigt se på nyheterna och se all rörelse utanför skolan. Snipers på taken runtomkring. Skottlossning i närheten av Grand View Elementary. Vice-principal mr Murphy skjuten. 8 personer skjutna i en naturkunskaps-sal. Hela staden nedstängd. Hela STATEN i höjd beredskap.

Och sedan väntan... Att sitta och lyssna på alla rykten, försöka behålla sitt lugn. Visa sig stark utåt. Inte bryta ihop. Försöka prata om något annat. Försöka få tag på de närmaste vännerna genom sms. Höra sig för så att de är OK.

Att sedan efter flera timmars väntan bli evakuerad. Genom tysta, tysta korridorer. På rad. Händerna på varandras axlar. SWAT-team som följer oss. Framför, bakom, bredvid. Poliser som går i korridorerna. Paniken i anhörigas ögon utanför skolan. En helikopter cirkulerande över skolan. Journalister i väntan på kommentarer.

In i Civic-centret. Mer väntan. Rykten som sprids. Men nu av annat slag. Det är inte på riktigt. Det var ett skämt...? A hoax.

Rektorn som kliver fram. Bekräftar de senaste ryktena. Det var aldrig på riktigt. En hoax av en freshman.

Men trots att vi fick reda på att det inte var på riktigt, var paniken och ångesten kvar. Efter det kan jag ALDRIG klaga på för höga säkerhetskrav på en skola. Jag vet att det kan behövas och varför det är så.

Helt klart en upplevelse som jag aldrig kommer att glömma. Oturligt nog. Men samtidigt har jag väl en större förståelse för all säkerhet på de amerikanska skolorna. Och jag kan ärligt talat inte förstå varför det inte är likadant i Sverige! Men jag ska väl inte gå in på det nu...

Jag hoppas bara att jag aldrig mer behöver genomlida samma situation igen. Oavsett om det är på riktigt eller inte...

(För er som inte känner till historian jag refererar till kan läsa mitt dagboksinlägg på resedagboken från händelsen här.)

Sen tentan i fredags (som förövrigt gick sådär) har jag inte gjort något vettigt alls! Eller joo... Jag har diskat o städat i lägenheten. Men vad ska jag göra nu då? Lägenheten ÄR städad o fin! Jag kan ju inte hitta på mer saker som måste göras! Eller sätta upp tavlor o sånt, men jag har ju inga tavlor att sätta upp! :(

Sitter framför TVn nu... Inget kul går... Är väldigt seg i kropp o knopp... Hmm... Jag kanske borde ta en promenad trots allt? Tog ju en tidigare idag med Roomien o Lollo. Vi gick till IcaMaxi o tillbaka...

Och alla mina vänner här har åkt hem över helgen... Roligt för dem, men trist för mig... :P
Förhoppningsvis kommer de alla tillbaka imorgon, för jag orkar inte med en till dag i den här tristessen alltså!!! :(

When my new friend, Ann, who I mentioned in a previous blog about Timnath, saw this photo, she sent me one of her favorite haiku, by Basho, considered one of the fathers of haiku:

It is deep autumn
My neighbor
How does he live, I wonder.

The fallen leaf is from a massive Honey Locust in Denver Botanic Gardens.

Thanks, Ann, for sharing.

Subscribe in a reader

Do marketers need new rules and new ideas?

I do not agree with the conclusions he DRAWS from what he knows. Absolutely not. But I do think he is well-versed. And intelligent.

Palin. I do not think that Palin is smart. And when I say that she is dangerous, I speak of her ignorance. I don't think that she has malicious intent. I don't think that she seeks to do harm. But her ignorance and her limited life experience have led her to support views that I believe would hurt, rather than help, America.

Ann Coulter is both ignorant and malicious. She says the craziest thing possible to gain attention. Then she calls her critics petty names to keep her spotlight unopposed.

McCain and Palin do not deserve a pie-ing. But they don't deserve your vote either.

Register to vote.

Vote for Barack Obama.

Pie Ann Coulter.

Olivia: The Golder Girl of Jazz

I received an invite from a photographer friend to accompany him for a shoot to the "Golden Girl of Jazz", Olivia. The shoot was in Q.C specifically "The Heirloom Manila" as it was called by the owner of the house. The house was antique-built. When I came there, I feel like I'm in Intramuros, Manila. The house was built by the father of the owner with perfect artistry and flawless intellect in architecture.

Shoot was done late afternoon. We just did a couple of sets with Olivia as I need to get home early evening. Even the shoot was a bit short, I did established a good friendship with my subject. I can say that she's down to earth and very friendly. I can see a bright future in "Jazz" for her.

My photographer friend took over on shooting Olivia and I just did a couple of shots with my model friend Ann, who was also there.

Simple yet elegant. An improptu shoot resulting to a timeless classic image.

For more pictures of Olivia and Ann. Please visit my gallery in Multiply and Flickr.