Want To Make A Difference? So Does The UN.
I have had many conversations with friends, colleagues, peers of mine in regards to controversial topics like malnourishment, poverty and such. These conversations usually led to the conclusion that being so far away from it all doesn’t give you the perspective you need to do something about it. I believe that this, however, isn’t the case.
Across the years, centuries, millennia even, greed is part of the typical human’s nature, at some point in everyone’s life, they will be greedy. Whether it be in regards to money, taking that last muffin in the bakery when a young, saddened child wanted it so dearly. It might just be that at the end of the world, you’re going to steal someone’s car in hopes of aimlessly away from it all, much like in something such as 2012. We can’t help it, we’ve been raised in a society which thinks greed is okay, a society in which we think that greed is the norm. That is why hardly anyone ever does anything against greed.
But hey, aren’t you fed up of being in the somewhat 6.5-billion person, crowded bandwagon? Jump out already, do something to go against greed. Give something. That’s the beautiful thing about what the United Nations are doing, you can give something, without actually giving something. Except a few minutes of your time, or be it a few hours if you really want to make a difference. You see blood drives, food collection, charities knocking on your door? No, you wouldn’t see that here. Because all you need is a little grasp on something called basic knowledge, and an internet connection.
The UN has, for a while, since 2008 to be exact, evoked the help of the public, individual citizens like you and me, sometimes people who feel like they will never make a difference, and well.. They want you to do exactly that. Make a difference. I assume you’re asking, How? It’s easy. There are two websites on the vast world wide web, which require you to answer questions on basic trivia (with increasing difficulty if you like a challenge.) What happens if you answer correctly? The UN donates 10 grains of rice/a spoonful of flour, to malnourished and starving citizens throughout the world. Said sites would be found at www.freerice.com and www.freeflour.com. You really didn’t expect that, did you? For it to be that easy? Well it is. If you ever find yourself to be bored, and in the vicinity of a computer, you now have no reason to not provide someone with their dinner, which will cost you absolutely nothing. The world needs it. For the first time in history, the number of exceedingly hungry people this year will reach 1 billion, almost one seventh of our entire population. Also if you’d like to go one step further and donate an extra 5,000 grains of rice just from browsing the web, you can install the freerice toolbar. Who knows, you may even learn something.
Video Of The Week #7
How about this as a video of the week? Nothing better than enjoying a chilled, wholesome bottle of Coca Cola. Admit it, you know you want to. These insects definitely don’t seem to mind the sweet taste.
Review: Pandorum!
You’re going to have to excuse the rather frightful poster if there ever was one. It is however entirely relevant to its morbidity, Pandorum definitely lives up to the hype of its horror, especially with a tagline such as ‘Don’t fear the end of the world. Fear what happens next.’ The German/American sci-fi horror was one of the better films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing within the last couple of months, and definitely worth a look at. But why?
Pandorum is one of those fist-clenching, mind-warping, jump inducing films where you are literally on the edge of your seat for a good minute at a time. Directed by newcomer Christian Alvart, whose only earlier works include ‘Curiosity & The Cat‘ and ‘Antibodies‘, but who will also be directing the upcoming ‘Case 39‘ featuring Renée Zellweger. Filming staff also includes Paul W. S. Anderson, director and writer of ‘Alien VS Predator‘, and Jeremy Bolt, both the producers of the ‘Resident Evil‘ trilogy. Stick AVP and Resident Evil in a blender and what do you get? Pandorum. Throw in a little sprinkle of ‘Sunshine‘, and you have the complete movie smoothie. However, was it a good idea to put all of their eggs in one basket? I’m afraid it wasn’t entirely. Many gamers are calling it a Dead Space wannabe.
The plot of Pandorum, a rather nice one at that for sci-fi fans, is set around the human race overpopulating the Earth. As a result, the first sleeper ship to head for Earth’s replacement, Tanis, holds 60,000 humans, except as the film opens up… You can’t see any of them. It is notably a unique blend of psychological thrills combined with action packed sequences filmed in classic, sci-fi grated-floor corridors. At times, Pandorum forces you question your OWN sanity, and explores some of the deep-rooted fears within its viewers. Specifically some of the more frightening fears which often take host, such as; a fear of the dark, loneliness, claustrophobia, lack of memory and it definitely plays upon those fears throughout the film. However whilst it was excellent in provoking thought, it was not exceptionally well constructed, despite the fact there was a plot (unlike most films these days!). This, alongside its lack of publicity, marketing and such may have been why it didn’t even make half of it’s $40 million budget.
A good film if you’re a sci-fi-aholic, or even if you enjoy video games, harnessing a strange familiarity to a first person shooter. However if you’re not that into chasing and racing in space, this isn’t the film for you. A possible DVD buy.
Family Guy: Something Something Something Darkside!
Is finally released today in theatres! So make sure you go see the sequel to Blue Harvest.
Masdar City – Welcome, To The Future.
There is a world, a world in which we live in, where not everything is as perfect as we wish it was. But the folks over at the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company want to change that. They will be in charge of the creation and production of Masdar City, the world’s first city to have a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology. The area, will cover 2.3 square miles, and will be powered by a 40-60 megawatt solar power plant, photovoltaic modules will be stationed on all roofs producing another 130 megawatts, with wind farms built just outside of the city’s borders powering the city with another 20 megawatts.
Masdar also intend on hosting the largest hydrogen power plant in the world, stationed in the United Arab Emirates. It’s water supply will be roughly 60% less than similarly sized communities and will still be enough for all 50,000 inhabitants, 80% of that water will be recycled, with the other 20% being waste water being used for crop irrigation. They also have a nice little waste plan, attempting to reduce it to zero, they will use waste for fertilizer and if an extra power source is needed they will use waste incineration. Metals and plastics will be re-cycled or re-used for other purposes.
As for travel, automobiles are to be outlawed within the city borders, instead the inhabitants of Masdar City will accomplish travel through public mass transits and podcars (personal rapid transit). The city will also be surrounded by a perimeter wall channelling out hot desert winds and instead allowing cooler breezes to roam through it’s streets. Educationally, Masdar City will have the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), the little sister to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Below are some pictures of what’s to come.
Fifty People, One Question | Short Film
A short film created by Deltree.org and Crushlovely.com
Watch in (HD) – You’ll enjoy it more.
Review: District 9
When I say Peter Jackson, what do you think of? Hobbits? Giant Apes? Maybe if you’re confused, one of the long-lost Jackson 5? Whatever you may be thinking, I wonder if it matches up to the critical acclaim of his newest film alongside Neill Blomkamp, ‘District 9‘. Now I know you’re wondering what this is about, that is, if you haven’t seen the trailers; movie posters, or heard of the hype from your friends. This somewhat of a masterpiece is a unique blend of E.T, Crank and Transformers, in the sense that the film’s focal point is primarily regarding an alien race, dubbed ‘the prawns‘ hunted by humans after years of being chained to earth and the realization that they’re the good guys. Let’s not forget the intense blood splatters and giant alien powered robots, shall we?
After countless alien renditions over the years, none have the attributes which District 9 so proudly shows, with it’s irresistible to watch docu-faux start, following on through to its comic genius turned crushing storyline and the underlying essence of E.T and Blade Runner crushed up into an original crazy cocktail of consumers desires. With enough scenes to keep you on the edge of your seat, cheering inside, or flinching in fear, its to be said that District 9 is one of the more anticipated and impressive films of 2009. In fact enough excitement has been caused that fans are flustered at the thought of a sequel, which is heavily hinted throughout the film. Everything a film lover could want is encapsulated within this gem of a sci-fi, from radiating blue lightning explosions to the projectile decompresser built into the kick ass biologically powered alien robot suit, or if you’ve failed to notice, a huge, hulking alien mothership over a city. Anything else? Yes actually, a lot of historical background. Whilst District 9 may or may not have been a real event, there were events that inspired it, such as the forced removal of over 60,000 inhabitants of Distict Six, Cape Town. Not only that, the film explores varied controversial issues including xenophobia and social segregation.
In all the films glory, stars Sharlto Copley and Jason Cope have been thrown into the limelight where anyone can identify the fact that District 9 has ignited a forest fire of potential for their future careers. Throughout the film, Copley showed a tremendous ability to improvise dialogue and Cope took on more than 4 separate roles, giving grand performances of the films protagonists Wikus van de Merwe and Chistopher Johnson. Most notably out of everything is the dedication they showed to perfecting their characters, making their performances both realistic and full of panache. After watching District 9, I was admittedly one of the fans that were hoping for a sequel, with several theories as to how they go about it already fresh in my mind as the credits started to roll, Blompkamp expressed much enthusiasm as the thought of a sequel and he stated in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes: “I haven’t thought of a story yet but if people want to see another one, I’d love to do it.” District 9 is an alien epic, worthy of a place on any collectors or conspirators shelf, a must see.
Review: 9
Whilst I impatiently wait for my Christmas pre-order of Pandorum, I thought I should review the highly anticipated ‘9‘, directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. Which subsequently brings me to my first point. Many people thought that this was a direct piece of work from Burton, meaning they thought he was directing. Unfortunately that isn’t the case and as a result, many individuals were slightly disappointed by the film primarily due to the shoes which Acker, never in fact had to fill.
It is fair to admit, however that Acker did an amazing job considering ‘9‘ is his first feature-length film in which he played the role of director. Acker, who may be known for his CG animation in ‘Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King‘, took the role on head first and came out with some surprising results. Astonishingly, something that no one truly appreciated was the script, although to be fair, it was not that entirely illustrious and because of that, the actors voices weren’t really appreciated also. On the other hand, 9 proved positive amongst critics for it’s CGI.
The plot, whilst fairly original, lies within a post-apocalyptic world where the only questionable living things are a series of 9, doll-like creatures who are referred to only by number. It’s safe to say that this has hardly be attempted before, with a pretty impressive execution at that, but despite all this, I found the way the film was made less favourable. For a start, even though I severely enjoyed the trailer for ‘9′ I didn’t expect the quality of the CGI of the characters to be as it was. The landscapes and lighting on the other hand, were genius with an impressive amount of detail. After re-watching the film it appeared that the simplified CGI wasn’t so much as a bad thing as it was good, not being constantly distracted from the character profiles, or plot line, or the film score allowed me to focus especially on those things. Whether this was intended or not, I was still moved by the 79 minutes of film.
As I already mentioned the film score, I can say that it is uniquely poignant and similarly nonchalant, as if the score doesn’t need to live up to the film, as if in fact, the other way around. In some ways it’s similar to ‘‘The Dark Knight’s‘ score, in my mind, but during the actions scenes, it’s some of the better compilations I have ever heard; if you can comprehend a mixture of the awesomesauce of ‘Star Wars‘ and some random epic film with an equally representative epic score, then you’ll have a measurement of what I’m referring to. Kudos to Danny Elfman who pulls off yet another amazing soundtrack, only on the action part however, Deborah Lurie was brought in for the more orchestral sounds and her luscious work pulls you in from the start. Admittedly, it did take me re-watches to fully appreciate the entire score, as I do with many of the films I review, I re-watch them to focus on different aspects of its creation. Quality over quantity, right? Overall the film was rather good, however if you’re looking for a Tim Burton experience, this isn’t it.
TV: Doctor Who Is Back!
Fans of the hit British television show ‘Doctor Who’ will be glad to know that it’s back, and it’s bigger than ever. Actor David Tennant, who is widely regarded as the most popular doctor so far is set to go out with a bang before handing the famed role over to Matt Smith. Fans of Tennant may or may not know there are indeed three episodes left featuring him, two of which is the two-part Christmas special, so the other episode ‘Waters Of Mars’ will be featuring on BBC one tomorrow night on the 15th November 2009 at 7pm.
For those outside the UK who are Doctor Who fans, you can watch the episode on BBC America on the 19th December 2009, or in the US on the 2nd February 2010.
The ‘Waters of Mars’ will be followed by the two-part Christmas special (entitled TBA and The End of Time respectively.) After ‘Planet of the Dead‘, back in easter, which was named the most aired program on the BBC of all time, it’s estimated that ‘The End of Time‘ will bring in the most viewers the program, the series, and the channel has ever seen with the departure of David Tennant, who is expected to bow out with tear-inducing lines.
Tennant has stated in an interview with The Guardian;
“I remember how exciting it was starting out on this kind of a journey and nerve-racking. I’m jealous that he’s going through that now – but it couldn’t happen to a nicer chap. I’m looking forward to not knowing what happens next. I’m looking forward to being a viewer again.“
Just a little something to do my part for the environment. Also, if you’d like to see the rest of my artwork, you can go 
