On this day, forty-eight years ago, Barack Obama was born. Who knew that a African American born in such a turbulent time would one day be sitting in the Oval Office celebrating his birthday. In those 48 years he has been alive America has made great progress. We left behind the backwards thinking of the 50s and lived through the revolutionary era of 60s to enter the 70s, 80s, and 90s. We are now living in the 21st century, a time that has seen more equality and acceptance than many others. However, we still have a long way to go to become the nation we have dreamed up.

]]> http://yovia.com/blogs/lgrenville/2009/08/04/the-44th-president-turn-48-happy-birthday-obama/feed/ 0 http://yovia.com/blogs/lgrenville/2009/07/31/lets-have-a-laugh-at-twitter/ http://yovia.com/blogs/lgrenville/2009/07/31/lets-have-a-laugh-at-twitter/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:55:05 +0000 lgrenville http://yovia.com/blogs/lgrenville/?p=187 Everyone who is anyone is on Twitter, tweeting away about their live. As its such a big thing, you know comic writers will poke fun at it. Start this Friday with a few laughs.

But people seem to need to exclude those not like them. They feel the need to cling to past wrongs that they weren’t even there for. What is gained in a conference for young black women of America? Why not a young people’s conference of America where the youth of every category can unite and learn to see people as a whole? As long as we perpetuate a divide world so will we be. As long as we hate and blame others for what they have done we will never know anything but hate.

The 911 caller from Cambridge has been portrayed as a racist because people are so quick to anger. They expect to be belittled and discriminated against so they look to see it even when it is not there.

Every culture everywhere has suffered from racism and been enslaved. I see no problem in learning and remembering the past, but to hold on to the pain of our forefathers and blame the descendants of our persecutors will never right a wrong.

Going forward is where we will see change. Let the past stay behind us and let us change our mindset towards what is to come. Only then will we forever tear down our divisions.

Under the username @abonnen Amanda Bonnen complained about her Chicago apartment owned by Horizon Realty. The apartment at 4242 N. Sheridan is just one of about 1,500 other properties owned by the company. This one tweet that only reached about 20 different followers has landed the women in court being sued for $50,000 on charges of libel.

Horizon’s Jeffrey Michael told the Sun-Times, “The statements are obviously false, and it’s our intention to prove that”, adding that Horizon has a good reputation to protect. Bonnen wasn’t contacted before the suit was filed or asked to remove the Tweet. He continued to say, “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.”

Where is the line between freedom of speech and libel? It seems to be a very easily blurred line. Did Amanda Bonnen have the right say what she did? If she had worded it differently would it not have been taken as libel?

What do you think? Should she be sued or exonerated?

Its Monday everyone and we all know this is the slowest dreariest day of the week. The weekend has just ended and we are now back to the grind. So take a moment on this Monday and liven it up a little with some music. I promise Lille will brighten any Monday, no matter how dark.

Finally we have been given a glimpse of the fantastic world that Tim Burton is creating for Alice in Wonderland. From the few short minutes ( a minute and 34 seconds to be exact) we can already see what to expect in March of 2010. Dear, sick, twisted, Burton has his claws all in this beloved tale and is sure to make it darker, creepier, and more enjoyable than has ever been done before.

I have but one bone to pick with the cinematic genius. Has he made the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) the main character, not poor little Alice? After all it is called Alice in Wonderland not the Tale of the Mad Hatter. But I suppose I will jut have to wait and see what he does…

Take a peek!

Well I had the trailer for about an hour, but then Disney pulled some strings and claimed copyright infringment.

Now you can only watch the trailer on youtube…

So here you go

Alice in Wonderland

~

Bo Burnham everyone! Isn’t he great?
My friend and I sung this song last night while dancing on the beach and watching the sand light up with bio-luminescent jellies.

Fun…Fun…Fun

Listen to more.

I

Combining good southern courting and light weight porn, this show seems to have everyone asking for more. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say, “OMG did you see the last episode?” or “True Blood is the best show on Tv!” How can so many people  be so enthralled with such a corny show. I am not sure what it has that is lost on me, but whatever it is it has both boys and girls swooning over it.

Sookie’s southern accent and morals plus her constant twitchy-ness made watching almost nauseating. If you then add on the nymphomaniac brother and the constant parade of bare breasts, True Bloods becomes impossible to sit through.

So I ask, you avid fans of True Blood, What makes it so great?

Contrary to the reviews of most newspapers I have read, I found the sixth movie to be just as bad as the 3rd and 5th (the 4th was tolerable.) My problems with this film begin with its lack of information and ends with it’s failure to capture the beloved characters that make the books.

If you hadn’t read the books than you would honestly have no idea what was happening. Each scene appeared completely unconnected to the last. They jumped quickly from one to another leaving only questions and confusion. I have read all the books and so obviously understood what should have been happening, but I could only pity the poor souls who went to the movie blind, having not every cracked open the book. How lost they must have been.

Even from a cinematic point of view this movie was less then passable. Sure it was visually stimulating with the intense scenes of Quidditch and computer generated destruction (the London Bridge, Diagon Alley, etc.) But looks can’t carry a movie. You easily become bored with flashy appearances, after all every other movie made in the 21st century uses them. A movie needs some substance, which Harry Potter 6 was obviously lacking.

So our favorite wizards are getting older and that opens a whole new area for the exploration of romance. But this movie took it to the extreme. The sexual innuendoes were off the scale. In the books the romance has something pure and adorable, but in the movie it was about as basic and sex oriented as they could make it. The seductive way that Jinny tied Harry’s shoe, with just her and his crotch in frame, was nauseating. And Ron running up to Harry saying “So did you guys do it?” meaning: “Did you guys throw away the potions book?” Its quite clear what reaction that line was intended to get.

Finally the characters, which they butcher every time. My dear Dumbledore, what did they do to you. I know that J.K. Rowling announced that she always thought of him as gay (personally I was going for asexual) but I can see that orientation too. However this movie really latched on to that description and made him quite a bit to familiar with Harry. Not to say in an inappropriate manner, but in the books he kept his distance. Overall the only characters I really enjoyed were Hagrid and Ron. Both underwritten and under-used in the story, but definitely the most interesting and unique.

However it wasn’t all bad. I will end with a few complements. The scene with the horcrux and the inferi captured the haunting darkness of the situation and was perhaps my favorite part of the film, excluding Ron of course. The inferi especially were terrifying. I jumped near out of my seat when they first appeared despite the fact that I knew they were coming.

So go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood there isn’t really a way to avoid it. Its going to be talked and you wouldn’t want to be left out of the discussion. Maybe you will like it more than I.

Hopefully the seventh is better (after all it comes in two installments.) But my hopes aren’t high.

Adios…