Winnipeg, Manitoba — It’s been a while since my last entry and here I am full of expectations for this one. I don’t like Canadians. I have been solid about that for years now. I don’t like them politically, culturally and throw in also economically.
Canadians have been unsubtle about their (except for the Prime Minister I guess) dislike of the United States of America. Canada envelopes the northern part of the US and they are well protected by the US militarily from three directions. Instead of gratitude for this, the Canadians think that what the (US)Americans are doing to keep a civilize world is plain wrong. They are too idealistic for their own good.
Now let’s talk about idealism for Canada. Canada uses two languages — English (British, not [US]American) and French. That means that they are bounded to the British and the French who discovered their neck of the woods. Essentially, Canada has no independence so they should just shut their mouths about the United States and get their shit together first to get away from their monarchs. Trivially, Canada has no president. Instead they have a prime minister because they still recognize the monarchs thousands of miles away in the land called the United Kingdom. If you ask Canadians why they don’t exist as a Republic, they would tell you that they are sentimental about the presence of the monarchy. A stupid thing to say for a could-be-sovereign country.
Culturally, I dislike their attitudes. (US)Americans are liberal, but they at least have manners. Canadians lack courtesy, hospitality and other good manners. Canadians will confirm this. They think they are high up in the food chain to be looking down on people. Here’s a stereotype: if you meet a rude Caucasian in the States, most likely he’s from Canada. One more piece of observation: Canadians look alike. I would like to post pictures, but I won’t. When you visit Canada, pick one face and you’ll find many of them like that…pick the ones with ’stache.
If (US)Americans complain so much about taxes, go to Canada and you’ll wish you can bring your taxes from the States. Generally, they have two taxes: GST (federal) and PST (provincial). Total tax could reach 15% - 20% of your purchase. That’s too much. They even have AST (accommodation) and a GST is also taken from that AST. So if you stay in a hotel, they will charge you two taxes plus an accommodation tax plus another tax off that accommodation tax. What they mean to say is that “pay us double, foo!”
I think that about covers my dislike for Canada and its people. However, I LOVE the music they make. I will also attempt to photographically compare the four provinces I visited when I get back, so watch out for that my dear readers.
June 26th, 2008
“The Children of Huang Shi” is a true story during the Japanese occupation of China. An English journalist’s journey to becoming a great man. George A. Hogg was a British journalist who went to Nan Jing to record a bloody oppression of the Japanese towards the Chinese. He failed to report to the world because he was caught and was nearly beheaded if not for Chen Hansheng. To make the story short, he eventually landed in an orphanage where he took care of “the children of Huang Shi.”
I liked the film not only because of its real nature, but it was an act where one man established a relationship with children who lost everything and learned to love him as a parent. Although there were some who failed, he saved many and taught them many things. I especially applauded the scenes where they journeyed for the silky road and it showed cooperation between these boys through thick and thin. They were helping each other to survive. I thought it was a spectacle.
April 21st, 2008
The last weekend, I wasn’t lucky with the movies I picked. Saturday morning I went to Blockbuster to exchange my two-month-due rental with a couple of “the latest.” I rented “Death At A Funeral” and “Across The Universe” and watched them accordingly. I was disappointed with my choices.
“Death At A Funeral” looks familiar to me, but I can’t remember what this film reminded me of. The whole movie happened at a funeral service in the family house of the deceased located in some countryside in England. There, different characters collided. There’s the insecure son, the cocky son, the widow, and a bunch of relatives and friends with their own problems. I can’t even call most of these people names because their characters are too shallow, underdeveloped and useless to the story. The only thing good that came out of this movie is that the events were perfectly timed to compliment each other. I was even disgusted at one point when Howard tried to pull Uncle Alfie’s trousers and put him on the toilet and he got all the shit all over his hands and face. That was disgusting!
“Across The Universe” is a musical. I’m never fond of musical and I always think that musicals should just stay in theaters and not the motion pictures. I only rented this movie because “Across The Universe” is my all-time favorite Beatles song. The movie is terrible and they even messed up the scene when Jude was singing “Across The Universe” because they mixed it with “Helter Skelter”. I love “Helter Skelter” but don’t mix it with the title track. The characters were terribly developed and the story didn’t have enough conflict to be made into a movie. Again, this movie is too shallow.
I expected more comedy from “Funeral” - British comedy that is. The story was concentrated on how to piece the puzzle of events without thinking about how the characters are doing. “Universe” is the second movie featuring Beatles music. I did not expect anything from it other than the music. They were all good vocalists, especially the lead. Well, I’m biased because I’ll pick British singers over American singers anytime. Good luck to me in the next weekend. I hope to pick good ones this time.
April 9th, 2008
A recent discovery – Gnarls Barkley. I’ve heard of him before, but I thought he’d be another Hip-hop / R&B singer because of his color. Listened to him today while on the plane to Abu Dhabi and he really sounded like Moby or Morcheeba. One famous song that I’ve heard before is Crazy. I wouldn’t have guessed a black man sang that song. Naturally, I would buy his album from the nearest music store, but circumstances have changed. I have now vowed to halt my CD collection, therefore, I apologize in advance to Gnarls because I’ll “torrent” this one when I get back to New York next week.
While we’re on the subject of music, I heard t.A.T.u’s latest album also (I don’t know when this was first released because I’ve lost touch with music news for years). Anyway, their sound didn’t change at all. Another addition on my “torrent” list.
NOTE: I am saying to torrent this and that because I like it, so don’t complain.
March 26th, 2008
