Saturday, August 20, 2011
TRAILER …. “MACHINE GUN PREACHER”
"Machine Gun Preacher" has got its first trailer which gives a look at the extraordinary journey of Gerard Butler's Sam Childers. A former biker-gang member and ex-drug dealer, he makes a life-changing decision and flies to East Africa in "searching for something to believe in."
In the country which was destroyed by civil war, he witnesses unspeakable and heart-wrenching brutality of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Finding it "something worth to fight for," he leads armed missions to save as many as possible especially the children who were forced to become soldiers.
Based on the inspirational true story of the founder of the Angels of East Africa rescue organization, the movie also stars Michelle Monaghan, Kathy Baker and Madeline Carroll. This explosive, real-life tale of a man who has rescued over a thousand orphans from starvation, disease and enslavement is due for limited release in the U.S. on September 23. Australian release date has not yet been scheduled.
THE HUGE CAROUSEL GAG
A group of pranksters in New York City drew a crowd when they took over a merry-go-round in Byrant Park to create a hilarious fake horse race, complete with spectators, bookies and boisterous commentators.
Puzzled bystanders soon got into the spirit of the gag by serial jokers Improv Everywhere and started cheering the jockeys on and taking photos.
An oblivious young boy was on the animal deemed the winner, with announcers declaring his rabbit-horse had crossed the imaginary finish line first.
"The hare wins by a hair," the commentator exclaimed.
.
TRIVIA BITS
- it takes a plastic container over 50,000 years to start decomposing
- it took Leonardo Da Vinci 10 years to paint Mona Lisa
- it was once illegal to slam your car door in Switzerland
- Italy and France produce over 40% of all wine
- its physically impossible for pigs to look up at the sky
- it's possible to lead a cow up stairs but not down
- Jack is the most common name in nursery rhymes
- Jamaica has 120 rivers
Friday, August 19, 2011
JOHN CONSTABLE ... ENGLISH PAINTER
Born: June 11, 1776
Birthplace: East Burgholt, Suffolk
Parents: Golding, a prosperous businessman who owned Flatford Mill and mother Ann
Wife: Maria Bicknell
Died: March 51, 1837
Constable was a fellow student of JMW Turner at the Royal Academy School, but failed to match the success of Turner in Britain, selling only 20 paintings in his lifetime
Constable's talent was m0re appreciated in France, where he was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal for his works
The area surrounding the river Stour on the Essex/Suffolk border, which includes Dedham, East Berfholt and Flatford Mill, is today known as Constable Country as it provided the inspiration for many of his landscapes
Quote by John constable, "The sound of water escaping from mill dams, willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts and brickwork, I love such things. These scenes made me a painter."
PAINTINGS BY JOHN CONSTABLE
The Haywain
Flatford Mill
Brighton Beach
The White Horse
The Lock at Dedham
Tree Trunks
Valley of the Stour
Cornfield
Willy Lott's Cottage
Hampstead Heath
FOOD AND TRAVEL … INDIA
INDIA
India’s protean gastronomy changes shape as you move between neighbourhoods, towns and states. The basis of all meals is rice in the south, and roti in the north. These are generally partnered with dhal, vegetables and chutney. Fish or meat may also be added. Whatever the ingredients: the dish usually contains a heady cast of exotic spices that make the taste buds stand up and take notice.
MORE MOVIE CLICHES ... KIDS & TEENAGERS
- A kid always knows more than an adult.
- A kid can fend for himself even if his parents have gone to Paris, leaving him with no food, electricity, heat, money, etc.
- No child can ever be killed...even if they're electrocuted on a high-voltage electric fence that could kill a dinosaur (Jurassic Park)
- Eight to ten-year-old kids are the best computer hackers on earth and can break into any system.
- Girls who can't find a date to the prom in high school films are usually the girls that, in most high schools, would have almost every teenage boy asking them.
YOU'RE NOT A KID ANYMORE WHEN...
- You wear black socks with sandals.
- You can live without sex but not without your glasses.
- You point out what buildings used to be where.
- You know all the warning signs of a heart attack.
- You rake the yard without being told to.
- You can't remember the last time you lay on the floor to watch television.
DUBBING DREW BARRYMORE
In Woody Allen's first and only film musical, Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Drew Barrymore was the only actor whose singing voice was dubbed (by Olivia Hayman). The variable vocal talents of Barrymore's co-stars - including Alan Alda, Billy Crudup, Edward Norton, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Tim Roth – can be heard on the soundtrack album.
TRIVIA BITS
- instant coffee was invented in 1901
- instant mashed potatoes (dehydrated potato flakes) were invented in Canadian in 1962
- Isaac Newton invented the cat door
- it takes 1 alligator to make a pair of shoes and 3 for a pair of boots
- it takes 1 week to make a jelly bean
- it takes 1,100 watts to power a toaster
- it takes 110 silkworm cocoons to make an average tie
- it takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown
- it takes 40 minutes to hard boil an ostrich egg
- it takes 5 years for an oyster to produce a medium sized pearl
PLACES TO VISIT
THE PYRAMIDS
Pyramids and wonderful temples are the great things to enjoy in Egypt. Travel to Egypt offers you the nature and desert treks, fishing, golfing, scuba diving and birding groups. You can choose the places like Sinai coasts or red sea to relax.
Winter is the best season to go for a vacation to Egypt. March-May and September-November is the best time to enjoy the warm days of Egypt
Thursday, August 18, 2011
TRAILERS: “PAGE EIGHT” & “THE WOMAN IN BLACK”
Trust and safety collide with spy world in "Page Eight" which has just been previewed in a trailer. It follows a long-serving MI5 officer, Johnny Worricker, who is suspicious about his next-door neighbor and political activist Nancy Pierpan, whom he encounters after the sudden death of his boss and best friend Benedict Baron.
Baron leaves an inexplicable file, which threatens the stability of the organization. Set in London and Cambridge, the story addresses intelligence issues and moral dilemmas peculiar to the new century.
Bill Nighy plays Worricker, starring opposite Rachel Weisz who plays Pierpan. Michael Gambon is cast as Baron, with Ralph Fiennes, Judy Davis and Felicity Jones taking other supporting roles. David Hare directs the TV movie with the script written by himself.
A brand new teaser trailer for "The Woman in Black" has made its way out. Courtesy of Yahoo! Movies, the sneak peek into CBS Films' horror thriller gives an idea how bone-chilling the movie will be. With a background narration by a girl, it teases scenes wherein Daniel Radcliffe experiences spooky events inside a haunted mansion.
Daniel takes on the role of Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer who travels to a remote village to attend to the affairs of the recently deceased owner of Eel Marsh House. He soon discovers that woman in black is terrorizing the locals. When those closest to him become threatened by the vengeful ghost, he is forced to find a way to break the cycle of terror.