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(x)

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Soon to happen :x

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“It’s amazing how one day someone walks into your life and you can’t remember how you ever lived without them”

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Here’s a picture of a bumblebee butt and it’s little legs hanging out of a flower just in case you needed it today. 

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*sigh* the world is going to hell in a hand basket...

I’m dusting off the cobwebs here to not necessarily rant, but more to get some things off my chest about the current American president... Donald  Trump.

It seems that Mr. Trump has forgotten the position of president is that of an elected official, and thus, a position where he should answer to the entire population of the United States of America.  Not just to those who voted for him. He also should realize that in his position, he needs to think about the well being of an entire nation. He isn’t there to do what he wants in order to benefit himself and those who pander to him. While I understand that the US is a republic, it doesn’t mean that the person who is commander in chief has the right or the power to do as he pleases. There are supposed to be checks and balances to ensure (at least in theory) that the best interests  of their nation are ensured. Which makes the word ‘democracy’ apply to the US. Criticizing those checks and balances  only makes Mr. Trump look like bully throwing a fit because he can’t get his way.

Attacking the press and calling them unfair, biased or “failing” only because they’re not reporting anything flattering about him is about as productive as asking a toddler to read a dissertation on nuclear physics. In case Mr. Trump has forgotten, he lives in a country where freedom of speech is protected by their first amendment in their constitution. Controlling what they report and how they report should be a big no-no.

I admit that the press isn’t innocent. Some outlets are vicious and will report fake news, rumours and lies, there are some that will do their job and report facts. No one is perfect. It would be extremely naïve of me to think that every media outlet is unbiased. I know that depending on which one I choose to read and follow, there will be slanted towards either the more liberal side of politics or the more conservative side. But being slanted does not mean being completely biased. They still report the facts. As sentient and intelligent human beings, it is up to us to read such facts and interpret them accordingly. It is also up to us to call them out when they’re not being honest. Those are reputable will acknowledge their mistake and go as far as print a retraction or offer one on the air.

If and when Mr. Trump is accusing one or several media outlets of being unfair, of failing to report on the truth or real facts, then please present us and them with proof to back up those claims. Just because I want the moon to be made of cheese does not make it a fact. No matter how much I wish it were so.

And lastly, Mr. Trump should be thankful that he lives in a country where he can freely speak his mind and not be afraid for his life for doing so. Even before he was elected as president. 

Oh, for those saying that as a Canadian I should stay out of American politics... sadly, I can’t and I won’t. What happens in the U.S.A. will affect what happens here in Canada and pretty much the entire world.

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I’m done believing the hype about groundbreaking shows.

As the title says, I’m done. Time after time after time television executive producers, regular run of the mill producers, writers and the rest of the PTBs keep sucking us in with the promise of change, inclusion of minorities, less use of clichés and less use of over the top tropes. And time after time after time it all amounts to nothing more than a bunch of lies.

It now feels like unless you’re a white male, there isn’t much to look forward to when catching the next movie, the next episode of a tv show or a comic book. Females, visible minorities, LGBT characters are all used to move forward the story line of white, alpha males. Those leads that are basically carbon copies of each other. They’re the brooding, reluctant heroes that have suffered a great deal in their early childhood. Oh, poor, poor guy. Yet, somehow, they have a trust fund that allows them to live in the lap of luxury. But, don’t you know? Money isn’t everything. Poor white, alpha male was probably called names and he grew up in boarding schools not knowing what a real family life is like. His role model was the nanny, the butler, the house chef. Then the poor white, alpha male found out that his birth right was nothing but a lie. His parents stole everything/were/are nasty criminals in the underground. For some, their parents were so good, they’re waiting for the pope in their universe to grant them sainthood. They were killed because they spoke against oppression. They fought evil.

So white, alpha male vows to avenge their death. Cue in the long list of token females, minorities and sidekicks used for nothing else but to get poor, white, alpha male out of his brooding long enough for him to save the world from the save evil that either claimed his parents, or the same evil his parents belong to/used to belong to. Time passes. The love of his life (the token female) dies a horrible death because she was used to lure him out of hiding. More brooding. More self-pity. More vows for revenge. Cue in some visible minorities as sidekicks. Oh look, we’re so inclusive. Don’t you see how progressive we are? Poor, white, alpha male’s BFF isn’t white but he’s *fill in the ethnic group of choice*. Don’t you see how groundbreaking we are? Oops. Visible minority BFF died a horrible, painful death? Well, you see, it was all for the sake of advancing our ‘oh, so original’ story. We needed more reasons for poor, white, alpha male to brood.

Shit, we’re losing viewers. Got it. Let’s put in a lesbian or two. Have them dance around each other. We’ll let people assume things. We’ll play coy.  We’ll hint that they’re into each other, but not directly. Wait for the fans to come to that conclusion themselves. Oh, look! It’s working. They love lesbian 1 and bi woman who came out of nowhere, but we needed her to be, so now she’s bi. Look, as an added bonus, we’re being called progressive and we’re being praised for looking beyond normal, gender roles and normal, sexual orientation. Because you know, that’s us. We’re all about inclusion. We’re all about equality. Okay, poor, white, alpha male is brooding some more because the new love of his life who is now suddenly bi is giving him a sexual identity crisis. Let’s have the girls shag and kill off the lesbian. The suddenly bi girl/woman will realize that in the end, she’s head over heels in love with poor, white, alpha male. Oops, but now it’s her turn to die because you know, she’ll be used as a trap to get to poor, white, alpha male, just so we can show he’s strong not just physically but emotionally as well. Because you know, he’ll have to overcome yet another death of a loved one.

Rinse, lather, wash, repeat.

The differences? The visible minorities, the LGBT characters, the token females? They’ll cycle through horrible, painful deaths. Some of those deaths will have a semblance of plot advancement. Most? Most of those deaths will be useless and senseless. Most if not all will die after some moment of self-discovery of epiphany. If the LGBT character happens to be female? She’ll die after admitting to being in love with another woman. She’ll die after kissing another woman and exchanging words of love. Or she’ll die after consummating her relationship and there’s hope for a happy ending.

For whatever messed up reason, only poor, white, alpha males are allowed  the chance of a happy ending. Anyone else is pretty much cannon fodder.

So I am done. I will go back to watching television movies the way I used to when I was a kid. I will never believe in the empty promises of change. I will never believe that I’ll see anyone who may resemble me in any way, shape or form. I know that if I see someone who isn’t white, or male, that person/character will be a token one added to be diverse. The white, blonde, blue eyed woman to fawn over the male lead. If, heaven forbid, it’s someone who is non-white? Well then, fill in the blank with your favourite cliché for whatever ethnic group that non-white minority happens to belong to.

Heaven forbid I’ll ever see someone who looks like me who will be a professional who is fluent in English and a productive member of society. Those roles are only reserved for white males. So yes, I’m done. I won’t acknowledge the game changing, groundbreaking, progressive shows we’ll be stuck with from now until the end of time, because in the end? They’ll all be the same drama filled bullshit as always. Something to prop the poor, white, alpha male, and I’m sick of it.

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Political Correctness will destroy our world...

It’s been a long time since I’ve ranted here. Hell, it’s been a long time since I’ve ventured in the land of tumblr, but here I am, with another rant.

I’m a bit stumped. A little bit a go, I retweeted the following link: http://www.therebel.media/university_of_ottawa_bans_free_yoga_class_because_of_cultural_appropriation

At first, I thought it was funny. After reading it, I’m left with these options: Laugh, cry, shake my head in disbelief, or a combination of all.

My own reaction got me curious enough to actually google “cultural appropriation” since I have yet to find a definition that isn’t vague, or contradictory. It seems calling someone on “cultural appropriation” depends on their own political agenda. At least that’s what I believe.

Why do I think that way? One of the articles (I’d link it, but I’m too lazy to find it again) openly cited performers such as Madonna and Miley Cyrus as some of the many celebrities guilty of “cultural appropriation” based on their videos, songs and dances. Madonna for her “voguing”, and Miley for her twerking. That got me thinking. Does that make me guilty because at one point in my life I learned different types of ballroom dancing AND eventually I made a living as an assistant instructor to one of the instructors of the dance studio I used to go to while in college? Does it make all those who learned the different styles of dance taught in said studio guilty as well? I mean, none of the students and instructors were of Latin American descent, but the majority of the classes taught there were dances common and popular in Latin American countries. I mean, should all of us been shamed publicly because we enjoyed dancing Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha Cha, and Argentine Tango? Should we have been called out for being racists and for stealing someone else’s culture when we were learning the Paso Doble when none of us were Spaniards? How about dances like the Fox Trot, Swing, Lindy Hop, Waltz when none of us had roots from the cultures associated with those dances?

How about food? Should we all feel guilty because we enjoy cuisine from different ethnic groups? As someone who is of Chinese descent, should I be banned from eating anything that isn’t considered Chinese food? Am I guilty because I like authentic Italian, Indian, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese (to name a few) cuisines and I’m not very fond of the North Americanized versions? Should one of my friends feel guilty because he insists on eating Asian foods with chopsticks instead of the fork, knife and spoon some servers automatically gives him when we eat out? Should non-Asians feel insulted when their take-out orders include disposable chopsticks and the Chinese style plastic spoons instead of plastic forks and the traditional spoons used in the western world?

How about those who aren’t Chinese and decide to give acupuncture a try because traditional western medicine and therapy aren’t working for them?

Is enjoying music that originates from other cultures a big no-no now?

I could cite many more examples, but you get my point. We are so afraid of being accused of being insensitive, of being racist, of having prejudices, that we have taken political correctness to a ridiculous point. We’re so used to complaining and to always find a proper cause to get outraged in that we’ll look for problems when there is none.

Enough is enough, people. Now we can’t enjoy yoga because of where yoga originates from? Good God, soon, someone will say that those who are not of African descent won’t be allowed to breathe, since according to a few evolutionary theories and fossil remains humans originated in Africa. I mean, after all, how dare those of us who aren’t originally from Africa have the gall to consume oxygen when we originated in other parts of the world?

I’ll end the rant with this final thought:  Is supporting someone who is of a different race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation now considered “cultural appropriation”? If so, how on earth are we supposed to show support to those we think are being oppressed? How are we supposed to simply enjoy what life and the world have to offer us without insulting anyone?

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History

Hi there. It’s been a long while since I’ve taken to this blog to actually write something, but given the events of the last couple of weeks, it would be remiss of me not to.

As many of you know, I am currently working on a Broadway musical, Allegiance, alongside actor, activist, co-Tumblr blogger and all-around badass George Takei. At the intermission of a performance of the Broadway production of In the Heights, he spoke with Allegiance co-creators Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione on the helplessness felt by his own father during the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War 2. That was the genesis of what has become our show. I guess that means Lin-Manuel Miranda can watch us whenever the heck he wants (I don’t think we can thank him enough).

In 2009 when I became involved with Allegiance, never did I believe that our show would become as politically and historically relevant as it is proving to be today. I thought, this would be something of a history lesson, showing one family’s fortitude in the midst of harrowing circumstances in this shameful chapter of American history. 120,000 Japanese-Americans, majority of them American citizens, had their constitutional rights egregiously violated. At gunpoint, they were rounded up taking only what they could physically carry. This was the case with George’s family. His mother, with tears streaming down her face, carried the youngest child in one arm and a filled-to-capacity duffel bag in the other while wearing many layers of clothes. There was a massive land grab. Property, businesses and income were taken. Homes and belongings were sold for pennies on the dollar. And when these Americans were released from the camps, they were each only given a bus ticket and $25. Whoops.

When I learned about this dark and embarrassing chapter of history, I thought that there would be no way… no bleeping way this would or could ever happen again. I mean, this was America. Lady Liberty herself welcomes the tired, poor, huddled masses, raising her torch high with the promise of a better life for them. America, where all men were considered equal, and all citizens of this country were protected under the constitution.

Well, it’s starting to look like some people are more equal than others.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, every Japanese-American was looked upon with suspicion. What was once this peaceful community suddenly became the enemy, simply because they looked like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor. The old man playing hanafuda (a Japanese card game) was suddenly a spy. The sweet lady hanging laundry was now plotting against Americans.

There was political rhetoric hurled against the Japanese-Americans. The governor of Kansas declared that no Japanese-American was welcome in his state, and the governor of Wyoming threatened that any Japanese-American that made it to his state would be found hanging from every pine tree (interesting… Heart Mountain, where much of Allegiance takes place, is in Wyoming).

Never again, I thought. There was no bleeping way this kind of blatant racism and political rhetoric would ever see the light of day. Not in America, and certainly not in 2015.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

I once naively thought Allegiance would be somewhat escapist art, harkening back to a time long ago and far away, taking us – the actors and the audience – on a journey to a place in time that we would never dream of seeing in our lifetimes. But we were wrong.

That wasn’t lost on me at one performance of Allegiance. As I looked across the Kimura kitchen table to co-stars Chris Nomura and George Takei and looked up at Telly Leung, it dawned on me that this family could’ve been one from Lebanon or Pakistan or Mexico, listening to the president declare war on their homeland. “This will not be good for us. We must keep our heads down.”

As the play went on, more lines and lyrics began to ring like a death knell. “We look like enemy, they see disloyal. They talk of liberty? All empty words. They promise justice for all people? Look around! We are dirt upon the ground.” That’s just from one song, titled Allegiance.

Allegiance is no longer a journey back in time to somewhere now far removed. It is a searing look into what actually happens when fear and racism are fed. It is prescient, and because of that, it is frightening. At least it is to me.

Take a good, hard look at what’s happening now. We can see the signs. It’s happening again. The racist rhetoric? The fear? The lack of political leadership? This is what happens when we bury all that is shameful in history.

We are doomed to repeat it.

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Found this by sheer accident...

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This proves my point. Birds are EVIL

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"Sara’s relationship wasn’t about being gay. It was about being in love. Man or woman, it’s about love."

Caity Lotz at the Wizard World Comic Con[x]

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#Arrow Panel | Caity Lotz at Wizard World

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Perfect angel Hayley Atwell napping where she can on Agent Carter’s set.

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via ScienceAlert

Titanium dioxide breaks down smog particles in the air, and students in the US have shown that in one year, one roof coated in it can break down the smog from a car that’s driven 17,000 km(10,500 miles). And every day, 21 tonnes of smog could be eliminated by one million treated roofs.

http://txchnologist.com/post/88500055810/students-show-common-compound-breaks-down-air-pollution

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Uderzo est Charlie