"I Do... Let's Eat" - Agnes Gielas and Mauriece Dalupang

What's more important than the wedding party? The food. I've always enjoyed going to my cousin's wedding and eating a lot of traditional food that they have decided for all of their guests, family and friends. Food was not only delicious, but sometimes, it was always a work of art. Each dish was very special.

Like my mom, I always love to try new things. Up top this date, I haven't hate anything I've eaten so far. I remember when I was young that I hated to eat green peppers and eggplant. After a few years, I've tried different dishes with those ingredients, and I didn't mind eating it at all. Usually, when you don't like something, you'd avoid eating it or putting in into your dish. Whenever we have dinner with family, they would ask me, "What would you like to eat?" and every time, I would answer, "You guys decide, I'd eat anything." I guess you can say I'm flexible when it comes to people deciding on what we eat.

When I was watching this, I felt that I was behind-the-scenes when it comes to preparing the food for the wedding. Of course, when I was watching, I was hungry. This relates to my other blog, "Rich Bride, Poor Bride". It seems we're always a part of the crew of the wedding, but this time, we're with the chefs. It was always a surprise to the guests what kind of food they'll expect at a wedding. Most of the time, I wonder if we'll have Chinese food at the wedding or something else? Of course, I definitely wouldn't mind as I would like to eat anything. During the wedding, we're in the kitchen seeing how the chefs deal with the preparation of the dishes and when we're in the party, we're with the waiters serving them their food. The reaction of the guests varies, a lot of people like the dish, some don't, but they'll still enjoy eating it. Some are picky eaters, they expect more of this or less of that.

For more information: http://www.foodnetwork.ca/video/index.html

"Murder Most Forgotten - Investigating a cold case

No where on this Earth is considered "safe". Everyone is living in fear. The most scariest thing happens when you're asleep and people come and break into your home.

My mom and I live in an apartment building, so I can definitely relate to this. I remember when my next door neighbor on our floor was broken in to and robbed. At the time, I didn't hear anything, such as a tool used to break the door and enter. Luckily, at the time, they both were on vacation. After that horrific incident, my neighbor hired a locksmith to get a better lock for their door and for their security.

The mother of this case really wanted to remember the night of the incident. Because of her injuries, she lost memory of what really happened. I remember when my computer had crashed and I lost all of the data from the hard drive. After learning my mistake, I now back-up everything important on an external hard drive. Technology happens to fail on us. I remember a tip that when we're filming indoors and we reveal the ceiling, it shows that the character or our main subject in trapped. She felt trapped, living in fear and the reality that her daughter isn't alive. When I was watching this, I felt it was like an America's Most Wanted show, except not knowing who the killer/murderer was. The police and the mother pleaded for the public's help with a reward of $50,000.

For more information: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20100129/w5_cold_case_100130/

"F For Fake"

In the beginning of the film, the magician has his film crew record him while he conducts tricks for the child. It reminds me of when we're shooting for our projects and the crew is there with the main subject. 

The opening had lots of film containers, sort of telling the viewers that there was lots of footage used to edit. What is the truth? Actors are acting the chracters that are made-belief. They are so real that we can relate to. Magic plays a huge role in this doccumentary. It's just an illusion to play with the human's mind and imagination. 

Elmyr de Hory was known to be an art forgery. He's known to make fake art into famous pieces. Teenagers, epspecially, follows the latest trends and fashion. This makes them very "fake", they're not being themselves but acting as their favourite artists. When watching this film, I felt that I was with the narrator in the editing suite going through all the footage shots and seeing which ones we like to edit and which footage to remove. Talking about art fogery, it relates with plagiarism. Instead of copying art, people copy text for their projects and make it their own. Today, we now have to quote everything we've used and create a bibliography page. When the fake art was given to the museum to examine, they thought that it was a genuine piece. At one point of the doc, someone bought de Hory's fake painting through a fake cheque. It was definitely karma. The War of the World was the best example used in the documentary. People missed the beginning of the broadcast stating that the broadcast was a fake, but people tuned in the broadcast at the wrong time. A lot of people believed that it was real.

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_for_Fake

"Rich Bride, Poor Bride" - Season 1, Episode 26

When you meet the right girl, the next step is that you want to get married. Open another chapter in life and just start a family, spending the rest of your life with the one you love. After you get engaged, lots of time and preparation are needed for the wedding. Not only that, but money was always a problem. This is where the wedding planner steps in. Once you have the budget set, you need to figure out if it'll match with the overall party.

When I watch this show, I feel that the groom are usually comfortable with whatever gets planned, but when it comes to the bride, they want certain things to make their wedding "perfect". I can understand where this is coming from, because wedding is an once in a lifetime thing that we'll want to remember the rest of our life.

I thought this episode was entertaining. The bride is Chinese-Cambodian and the groom is Jamaican. I love to watch weddings of different races, because I feel that it is more fascinating to watch when it involves the different cultures and traditions and what they'll do to "please" them both. What was outraging was their dog, Pebbles was wearing more costly outfits than the groom. In my opinion, I think it's cute when you dress up your pet, but on the other hand, the pet might not like the idea of being "dressed up". Humans does not know what the animals are thinking. The bride and groom's vows are always so touching to me, makes me want to think about what I would want to say to my future wife on my wedding day. In the end, the wedding is always way over budget than what you originally proposed.

For more information: http://www.slice.ca/Slice/Watch/Default.aspx?categoryID=1219351672

"As Advertised"

I thought this would be something really interesting to do. Usually after 12am, lots of channels advertise these certain products, known as "As Seen On TV". These commercials are known to be infomercials. When we're channel surfing at night, trying to find a show we can watch, we would usually stop and watch an infomercial. In this documentary, they mention the 4 most popular infomercials on television:

Slap Chop

Snuggie

ShamWow

Loud 'n Clear.

After watching these infomercials, they persuade you to purchase their product. What was advertised, didn't work in real life when people have these products in their hands. In my opinion, everyone wants to have a product to "make their lives easier". To be honest, I wouldn't fall into their traps. As a smart consumer, I would like to see the product and be able to test it before I can purchase it. I would also do a little research about the product to further my knowledge and to see whether or not this would be the right product to buy or if there's a better one. Don't fall into their traps!

For more information: http://www.globalnews.ca/16x9/video/as+advertised/video.html?v=2165001798&p=1&s=dd#video

"Koyaanisquatsi"

This documentary has no story/plot behind it. It was basically a lot of footage and images of nature put together. The mountain-like landscape made me feel that there were obstacles to face. You must start from the bottom before reaching to the top.

Time is passing us by. The use of shadows, darkness and time lapse made the shots very effective. In my opinion, it felt like it was something you can watch to make you go to sleep. The shot comparing water and clouds was very interesting, made me feel I was in a very comfortable environment (even floating in mid-air). There were no living creature.

We go back to people's everyday life, where during rush hour, everyone has a destination to go to. Seems like I was on Bay street of downtown Toronto, wearing a suit, waiting for a TTC streetcar to go to a business meeting. When I saw a shot of the sun rise, I felt it was a start of a brand new day with tasks that needed to be finished.

At this point, when I saw this part of the footage, I felt that I was part of the bystander watching this or even an amateur videotaping this footage. The space shuttle was launched and before leaving Earth, it explodes. I knew at that point that no one could've survived and I couldn't do anything about it but to have continued to watch and have the "Oh my God" feeling.

For more information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/

"DIY Disaster"

This is my first time watching DIY Disaster. In this episode, Bryan Baeumler (host), interviews Wesley who is disabled and in a wheelchair. It seems that he's an only child in a single-parent family, because his father wasn't mentioned. I'm also an only child raised in a single-parent family, so I can relate. Being the male in the family, you have to "be the man" who has more responsibility to help take care of the family. It's hard for Wesley because he's in wheelchair.

His mom, Donna tried to build a wheelchair-accessible washroom for him, but the bathtub is in one room and he has to go through the living room and kitchen in order to use the sink and the toilet in another. I felt it being difficult to be the single-parent because you have to play the roles of 2 (the mother and/or father). Brian was put into a wheelchair to feel how it's like in Wesley's shoes. Similar to how you think of the situation. For example, saying a joke. If you're the person saying the joke, you have to think of the people listening. Will they be laughing or be offended by it? You have to know the overall outcome. Watching this show, Bryan was in the role of the teacher and Donna was the student. She was learning how to use the tools and to professionally build a bathroom for her son.

This relates to college/university because our professors are teaching us the knowledge we need to gain for the working industry we want to pursue in. My overall outcome about the show wasn't what I expect it to be. I thought they would show people building something completely wrong and see who's the worst. My thought was Canada's Worst Driver. Instead, it shows how Donna have already made a mess in building a bathroom and Bryan is there with a team to show her how to built it correctly so that it is wheelchair accessible. Similar to any other show, the person (in this case Wesley) would love the overall result. You would never see someone at the end of the show saying, "I hate it, rebuild it, I don't like it, looks awful, what is this?" etc...


For more information: http://www.hgtv.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=112229

"Truth & Lies: The Last Days of Osama bin Laden"

Osama Bin Laden was the man who created fear all around the world. As footage plays back September 11, 2001, many are still in shock. 3000 people lost their lives that day. The entire world was watching the news as it covers live footage of the planes crashing and exploding in the twin towers. I will always remember this date because it was also my mother's birthday.

When the Navy Team, Team Six prepared for the raid, it reminded me of how we prepared for a shoot. We had to check and make sure that our equipment was fully functional before executing the project.

By the time they showed a picture of Osama Bin Laden dead, I was shocked. The following photo shows how the deceased picture on the right was manipulated/photoshopped with Bin Laden to show how he was killed. Which, in my opinion, I thought was an accurate image of how he died. In the documentary, it mentioned that one of the navy seals first shot was towards his chest and the second shot was towards his left eye.

'Til this date, we all suspect Bin Laden was killed and buried in the seas. Though there was no proven evidence, footage/images that he'd died. There was a photo shown in the documentary of Obama and the other important executives watching their screens off frame before it was announced that he was killed. This image reminded me of how we watch television series. Especially during the last episode, we pay very close attention to it. This ties in with Obama's speech that Bin Laden was killed. Many have tuned in the same way people tuned into 9/11. 

Would you want to see the final image of Bin Laden just to prove that he's been killed? 

Overall, this was one amazing documentary that I loved to watch. Although there's still some questions that are unanswered, the host of the show asked some excellent questions during the interviews to make it very interesting and effective.

For more information: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/binladen/

"Exit Through The Gift Shop"

Graffiti is a type of art that is enjoyed by many around the world, though most graffiti are known to be illegal due to the "spray" on private property. The filmmaker of this documentary, Thierry Guetta, kind of reminds me of us students. At some point in our life, something has inspired us to choose the career path we follow today. Take me for example, I'm currently in this Broadcasting and Film program at Centennial. What inspired me was the roles I've played in my school, including extra-curricular activities and school-work. Photographer, Designer, Tech Crew leader, etc. Guetta wanted to become a filmmaker when he picked up he camcorder and started to shoot everything he sees, which in this case was his family and graffiti artists. Seeing how he had thousands of video tape footage in boxes relates to an assignment we had to do for class. Shooting our footage on film for the first time and learning the meaning of archiving. Digital copies such as DVDs and hard drives could corrupt or crash. Guetta then later successfully found Banksy for his documentary. Banksy is a well-known graffiti artist all around the world.

Being inspired by the art, risks and culture within graffiti, Guetta decides to become a graffiti artist. He was dedicated to get his name known around the city by putting this signature on buildings...

All he needed was an alias, which is very similar to a nickname that people know you by. I remember one of my friends in elementary school called me Baby K. Although it is rarely used now, it was great to be known and to "stand out" in the crowd. Guetta was known as, Mr. Brainwash. His exhibition of his art made more profit than he did when he was a filmmaker. It was interesting and rare to see someone who was filmmaker turned out to become a graffiti artist. This relates to another assignment in elementary school when the teacher asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" At the time, I remember I love to sing, it was one of my strongest passions and still is. I wanted to become a singer. Growing up, I learned all the difficulties to become one. There was not a lot of job opportunities to pursue this. Looking back now, I'm glad I made right path and decision. I now want to be part of the television production team.

For more information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/

"Dirty Jobs"

This is the first time I've watched an episode of Dirty Jobs. In this episode, we witness Mike Rowe as a crawfish picker. As I watched throughout this part, it reminds me of another show, How Its Made. Through the process, it surprised me of how many people are working on the job rather than having machines to it for them. The crawfishs are hand-picked, boiled and cleaned. I thought he was an amazing host for the show, because he tries his best to make it entertaining. Especially when he was making jokes in between interviews; before the crayfish were cooked, seemed like a funeral. The crayfish tails are kept for packaging, while the rest of it gets processed to become fertilizer which I thought was interesting. The only two machines used for this job was to clean them, boil them and vaccum-pack them. All the other jobs are done by hand. There was lots of B-Roll footage of Mike Rowe on the job used to keep the viewer's attention, rather than just having a long interview of how the job is done. I believe that this show is not scripted, because he interviews his interviewee on the spot while the scene is being shot which I think is very effective.

For more information: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/dirty-jobs-crawfish-catcher.html

"Fighting terrorism in New York"

After September 11, 2001, New York police officers were all over the city and heavily armed. They were on land, in the air, and in the water. New York was one of the main targets for terrorists because its home to the stocks and major businesses.

All over the city, there are 2000 cameras that feed into an undisclosed location control center. Everyone is seen. In my opinion, I think this has a large impact to peoples' privacy. Everyone in the city is being watched 24/7, similar to having a cameraman follow you wherever you go. What really amazed me was the amount of technology they use and rely on to protect against terrorism. The cameras that feed into this super computer have artificial intelligence. It can detect if a package is left at a certain location too long, which I thought it was cool. One time, a lunch bag was dropped and it was picked up by one of the cameras. Bomb squad was called in and the area was locked off. They take everything very seriously. At one point of the interview, Ray Kelly mentioned of having New York police officers all around the world. I was very confused of why that is, since they were "New York" police officers. Turns out they were used to act as "trip wires/listening posts" to protect New York. An example shown was the Madrid subway explosion, New York's subway station were closely monitored. Technology was being relied on too much to help against the terrorism. As we all know, technology can fail upon us. The citizens in New York are living under fear, not knowing if they'll live today or die tomorrow. Terrorism has now been known and defined. Everyone is being watch/monitored by someone else without their consent.

For more information: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7382308n&tag=contentMain;contentAux

“Bowling for Columbine”

When we open a bank account today, we usually get something out of it. (eg. digital picture frame, tablet PC, etc.) In the States, where you can open a bank account and in return get a gun, that's ridiculous. What I got out of this documentary was that guns were used to promote violence. Violence seems to be the "solution" to your problems.

When Chris Rock mentioned about having bullet control rather than gun control, I agree with him. People are more easily accessible to guns. It shows how the police were unreliable and that we're all here to defend ourselves. Violence is caused by various reasons of issues. We need to find a solution to how we deal with our stress. In my opinion, violence is never the answer. It never solves the problem but escalates to another one. After the shooting the columbine, I feel that there are more shootings/lockdowns all around the world. Many people lost their lives to crazy maniacs that create emotional shock into students and staff. Time will never heal what was experienced. Watching the security videos with the calls to the 911 dispatch used as voiceover, I felt disgusted of what I'm witnessing. I felt that the students in these clips were helpless and didn't know what to do/react. How are we going to prevent this from happening in the near future? Schools were used to known to be a safe environment for kids and teens to learn. Nothing is usually done unless something significantly occurs. For example, if a certain intersection that does not have any traffic lights have significant amount of crashes, the city then decides to put one up. Nowhere in the world is considered "safe". The generations and society has changed due to the face that violence is now taken seriously to another level. But who/what is to blame? Media? Parents? It was interesting to see how the Columbine news story along with Marilyn Manson took all of the attention while it was taken off of the President of the bombings. It is understandable that news stories have to be prioritized for the viewer's attention. I felt that the media has played a significant role in society. The media and news were used to create the fear in people's minds. News stories were always negative and dangerous black males were accused for some crime.

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_for_Columbine