Dear Susan Boyle – It’s Not You, It’s Us

Much has been said about Susan Boyle’s performance on the variety show “Britain’s Got Talent” and of our initial summary judgment of her based solely on her appearance before she even began to perform.  But there’s a new chapter to this story that hasn’t be addressed as of yet.  In the last few days, word has come out that Boyle has recently undergone a makeover – nothing really dramatic unless one considers a woman getting her hair done and buying a new outfit significant.  What is noteworthy, though, is the public’s perception of Boyle’s decision to pamper herself.

Within hours of pictures being released on the web showing Boyle’s new look, people were either expressing dismay or cynicism regarding her ‘transformation’.  It was clear that many people were disappointed that she decided to make such a change in her appearance.  And yet, Boyle’s makeover sheds some light not only on how this whole situation has impacted her, but what it says about us. Click to continue reading the rest of this entry

A Guide to Understanding the Current Economic Crisis

With the ongoing uncertainties of when the global and regional economies will pull out of this deep recession, I think it’s important that all consumers understand what exactly led to this situation rather than simply relying on economic forecasters and politicians for their stance on the matter, which seems to change on an almost weekly basis.

To that end, I want to share this video Click to continue reading the rest of this entry

BSG “Daybreak, Part 2” – My Final BSG Review, The Conclusion

And now comes the last part of my review of the BSG series finale “Daybreak, Part 2″ and I can’t think of a more fitting way to complete this review than to focus on the principal characters of Bill Adama and Laura Roslyn, as well as the much discussed final scene that ended this formative series.  It’s taken me some time to sit down and finish this review, so let’s get right into it.

Bill Adama – His life fulfilled and his honour intact

In the first two parts of my review of “Daybreak, Part 2″, I noted how valuable the flashback scenes have been for allowing us to appreciate the full scope of the journey these characters have been on since before the series began and that’s certainly been the case with Adama and Roslyn. The interchanging scenes showing what their separate lives were like back on Caprica shows us that they’ve started this journey in the same boat, of leaving behind lives where they felt trapped into accepting the choices they were being given. In the scenes of Adama and Tigh partying in the bar, it’s clear that while Tigh has a better life waiting for him outside of serving the Colonial Fleet, Adama is being corralled into a job he clearly doesn’t want. Watching Adama outside the bar, slumped on the ground covered in his own vomit gazing wistfully at the stars above, it’s not hard to appreciate that the stars were where he felt he belonged the most and yet, it was never as far away from him as it was at that moment. In some ways, Adama is reminiscent of Ishmael in “Moby Dick”, Click to continue reading the rest of this entry

Of Fathers and Daughters

Over this past long weekend, there were two events that had me thinking about the impact being a father has had on my life. The first was the news of a good friend of mine welcoming the birth of his baby daughter while the second was my family celebrating our oldest daughter’s birthday. Although they’re disparate events, they serve to highlight what I’ve experienced so far being a dad and what I expect will come around the corner in the years ahead.

Near the end of last week, my good friend Matt and his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Talking to him mere hours after the birth of his daughter and hearing him struggle for words, I couldn’t help but smile and remember how the birth of my daughters had had the same impact on me, of how seeing my newborn daughter for the very first time brought to light the reality that our family had now grown by one. You see for men, the idea of there now being this new little person sharing our life doesn’t really sink in until  Click to continue reading the rest of this entry

Food Network’s “100 Mile Challenge” – A return to simpler times?

It’s been a few days since I watched Food Network’s newest program “The 100 Mile Challenge” and yet there’s some lingering thoughts that the concept of the show has brought to mind. For those who didn’t watch it, the premise of the show is following a group of families who have volunteered to only eat produce that was grown/bred within a hundred mile radius of their home for a period of 100 days. To give you an idea of what this implies, for those living in North America, this would mean no coffee, no sugar, and no chocolate to name just a few. Although there are tangible benefits to such an approach to food consumption, there is an interesting sociological implication that arises from this in regards to what our society’s relationship with food might be down the road. But before I get into that, let’s look at this concept and the benefits it derives.

The idea behind this show stems from the “100 Mile Diet” experiment created by Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon in 2005 where they only consumed locally grown food for a whole year. While they took this on as a personal challenge, it has since become a source of inspiration for others in taking a closer look at what they were eating and especially where it came from. As the plan’s creators pointed out during the premiere episode of “The 100 Mile Challenge”, there are numerous advantages to taking on such a lifestyle approach to what foods we eat. Click to continue reading the rest of this entry

And now for something completely different

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, my blog is sporting a new and completely different look now. And while it’s easy to assume that this is just a reflection of the buoyancy we all feel with the arrival of Spring and the impressions of renewal and rejuvenation, I can assure that this was a change I’ve been considering making for some time.

When I first dove into the world of blogging just under a year ago, it was my intention to use it as a literary outlet to give voice to whatever issues or topics were chaffing under the collar. I also saw it as a great medium to ploy my skills in the art of expression through the written word, to be able to write simply for the sheer pleasure of it.

And yet, over the course of the last few months, I’ve begun to realize that this blog has grown beyond these simple objectives, that it’s been a source of enjoyment for those who love to read and even of contemplation for some of the topics being addressed here. I suppose that’s only natural; after all, it is a common reality that the more you nurture something, the more it grows and evolves beyond whatever initial boundaries it started off in.

So, with this in mind, I decided to introduce a new look to my blog, one that I think helps to make it not only cleaner and easier to navigate, but also more visually pleasant to read. Of course, rest assured that while I’ve changed the look of my blog, I haven’t changed the way I approach it, how I will write it, nor what subject material I will write about. Rather, this ‘image’ change is merely meant to reflect the growth and evolution of this blog has undergone and with it my own experiences in the blogosphere.

BSG “Daybreak, Part 2” – My Final BSG Review, Part 2

In the first part of my review of the BSG finale, “Daybreak, Part 2”, I examined the conclusion of the story arcs for some of the characters that we’ve been following for a good part of the series run. To start this next part of the review, I want to take a look one character whose internal driving force was only revealed to us in these final episodes of BSG to see whether we got the necessary closure for this particular plot line.

John/Cavil – The Cylon with a plan

In the episode “No Exit”, in addition to the information dump provided by the reawakening of Anders’ original memories of Cylon Earth, we were also given some interesting insight into the John/Cavil character and his unmistakable hatred for both his Cylon creators and the inherent limitations imposed on him thanks to their encasing him in a human body. In the scenes between Ellen and John/Cavil, we learn that John/Cavil is driven in large part by his rage against his creators and the subsequent desire to make each of them endure as much pain and hardship as he can create. The ideas presented in that episode carried on into “Daybreak, Part 1” where we see that John/Cavil clearly relishes how his plan to kidnap Hera would inflict much pain on Ellen to the point where he wishes he could have been there to witness it first-hand. While we’ve always understood that the Cylons saw Hera as being the key to their future – even more so in light of the loss of the Resurrection Hub – these scenes help us to understand that John/Cavil’s drive is also fuelled by his seeking revenge against those he believes have wronged him.

It’s for this reason I found something noticeably lacking in the showdown scene between John/Cavil and the Colonial/rebel Cylon alliance in the CIC. Click to continue reading the rest of this entry