Miley Cyrus and her Hannah Montana alter ego first appeared on the scene as the lovable and innocent Miley Stewart of Disney’s Hannah Montana.  The Tennessee native just happens to one-hit wonder Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter.  If you don’t remember him, he sang “Achy Breaky Heart” and whoo’d all the early 90’s teenyboppers.

At 16, young Miley has already seen her lion’s share of scandal.  In a photo shoot for Vogue, famed photographer Annie Leibowitz “coerced” Miley into posing nude and rather seductively.  The Cyrus clan claim that Miley opposed this, but was told it would make for better photos.  When the photos surfaced, Miley won over many tween and teen boys, adding to her mostly tween girl fan base.

Miley has also been the centre of a bitter and public break-up between her and the youngest Jones Brother, Nick Jonas.  Allegations swirled that Miley wanted to have sex, but Evangelical Nick kept true to his purity ring and they broke up.  Nick later started to date Miley’s Disney arch-rival, Selena Gomez.  Miley and Mandy, Miley’s best friend who is two years her senior (the M&M crew), threw insults Selena’s way; prompting Selena and BFF Demi Lovato to hurl them right back.

It’s funny how Demi Lovato and Selena are best friends and Demi just so happens to land a starring role in the Jonas Brothers hit movie, Camp Rock.  The Jonas Brothers, who got their start with Miley Cyrus, have certainly stolen the hearts of many tween girls.

They, too, have had a bit of scandal in their fresh careers. Self-proclaimed Evangelical Christians have publicly made promises not to have sex before marriage, which is actually a pretty positive message that may help to prevent teen pregnancy.  Too bad, Disney star Jamie-Lynn Spears of Zoey 101 didn’t follow in the Jonas Brothers footsteps and don a purity ring. 

The publicity the Jonas Bros. have gotten from their promises to God to remain pure has probably been a good thing for them.  Concerned parents will most likely let their impressionable tweens listen to their soothing melodies and upbeat jams without worrying about the sexual influences that saturate much of today’s media. 

Miley sure seems to be all about the sexual influences in her life.  Not only is she dating a 20-year-old underwear model, but she apparently had a pregnancy scare back in early 2008 and has been photographed making lewd and crude gestures to the boyfriend while he models the newest Calvin Klein’s.  I guess Miley and the boyfriend forgot that 16 will get you 20 in California.

What a great role model that Miley Cyrus is turning out to be; who wouldn’t want their tween following in her shoes?  At least, tweens have a couple suitable role models to look up to in their current music and movie scenes.  Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez haven’t gotten into too much trouble, the Jonas Bros. are promoting abstinence and well, Miley Cyrus isn’t exactly a positive role model, but she shows that if you use your daddy’s name, you can a house in Hollywood too.

Thank God, there will still be plenty of that good ol’ Chicago presidential heart throb to look out for every morning at the White House. 

That’s right. The United States of America (my home and native land) has finally given me something to look forward to when I visit make the journey to Washington. 

In case you weren’t paying attention, Obamamania has hit the White House.  Barack Obama and his adorable family will soon call the White House home.

But enough about Obama’s amazingly historic and emotional win; let’s get on with the show; take a walk down memory lane with me.

Remember when Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain’s VP running mate; they really should have changed the term running mate to wheel-along-with-me mate.  No one at McCain’s feeble age should be doing physically exerting themselves. Anyways, a glass ceiling was shattered; Oprah should have been on her soapbox giving Palin a week’s worth of shows.

If only Palin weren’t taking the women’s movement back a couple steps, Oprah’s soapbox wouldn’t have gotten put back in storage with Stedman and Gail. 

You see, the self-proclaimed Versace and Dior clad hockey mom didn’t break the ceiling for women in politics; she added a couple ventilation ducts and some nice pine shingling keep us in the house.  The she-maverick apparently symbolized the American woman.  Funny though, some American women have had abortions, which Palin is against; some American women are lesbians, which Palin will not tolerate; and some American women are actually men, but don’t tell Palin that she’ll have to exorcise the Devil out of them.

Oh! And I almost forgot, most hockey moms don’t spend $150,000 on Dolce & Gabana, Dior, Versace and Louis Vuitton mittens and ear muffs to keep themselves warm at the diamond-encrusted ice rink.  I guess every hockey mom in America should ask the Republicans to pay for their ice rink ensembles.

But enough about the catastrophe that is Sarah ‘Nailin’ Palin, let’s get to her Presidential wanna-be wheel-along-with-me mate, John McCain.

Well, really I want to talk about his wife, the rather youthful Cindy McCain.  The thirty-somethin’ looking 54-year-old has aged oh-so naturally and gracefully; her doctors can’t even believe how good her genes.  Soon, they will want to take DNA samples and create a new anti-aging cream called Republican Youthfulness.  Perhaps the Surgeon General’s warning could be “May cause hospital stay involving scalpels and botox/collagen injections.”

Oh, the Republican woes sure did make me laugh.  The Democrates had their issues, but none of those provided hours of hilarity and SNL material.

But on a serious note, it was great to vote and be a part of the history-making election that gave America its first African-American president.  Now to rejoice with some of my celebrity loving voters and laugh at the mavericks.

This video chronicles my journey. It’s also my final project for Online Journalism.

While I do not like to think of my own death and that I will one day die; I can’t help but form an opinion of what death really is.

One philosopher, the great Albus Dumbledore (yes, I know he is a fictional character, but of merit none the less) says that death is just another great adventure.

Yet another philosopher, the genius Stewie Griffin has this to say:

Now from these two philosophies and many others, I have concluded that while physically you may die, you will always live on through the individuals you connect with while alive.

And how do we really know that there isn’t life after death? Has anyone ever come back to tell us what goes on?

Whether you believe the philosophy of the great Albus Dumbledore and Stewie Griffin or some other great (and legitimate) philosopher, please remember that no one really knows when their time is up, so cherish you seconds as if they were the last.

Virgin Territory takes place in the time of the Black Plague in Florence. Despite this era being portrayed as rather depressing and dark in other films, director and writer David Leland portrayed Florence as the plague-ridden city it was, but took the viewer out of the city into the Italian countryside, where hilarity, sexuality, and romance ensue.

Narrated by “angel-bum” painter-turned-Priest Tindaro (Craig Parkinson), the tale weaves between three main groups of characters. First, there’s the gorgeous Lorenzo (Christensen), a gambler running from a sore loser, Gerbino della Rata (played by Tim Roth). Lorenzo “miraculously” ends up in a convent, where he is assumed to be deaf and dumb. He plays to this idea and becomes the sought after gardener to a group of young nuns.

Amongst these nuns is the beautiful and virginal Pampinea (Barton). Pampinea comes to the convent to protect her virginity while she awaits the arrival of her pre-arranged husband, Count Dzerzhinsky (played by Welshman Matthew Rhys). She also happens to be hiding from della Rata. While there, she learns of Lorenzo (who she knows from Florence) and his “gardening” skills from the other nuns.

It is this same convent that Tindaro turns to for his turn as gardener. Tindaro was traveling with Pampinea’s friends; Panfilo, Dioneo, Ellissa, and Lauretta. This group is on the way to Pampinea’s wedding to one of three men; Lorenzo, Gerbino or Dzerzhinsky. On their way, they stumble across a series of awkward and embarrassing obstacles, but they are not deterred from getting to the wedding.

Laced with comedic innuendo, romance, and sword fights, Virgin Territory is based on historical literature of the medieval pre-Renaissance era. These writings were The Decameron, which is also used as the film’s working titles in the United States and Italy.

The Decameron is a tale of a group of people telling each other stories while escaping the plague-ridden Florence. The original tales were written by Giovanni Boccaccio around 1350; this collection of 100 tales have influenced many pieces of great literature that have since been published. This includes: Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well and The Merchant of Venice; Moliere’s The Confunded Husband; as well as many other works by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Voltaire, Martin Luther, Petrarch and a plethora of ancient authors.

Not only does Virgin Territory bring historical literature into modern comedy and romance, but it depicts a dreary era as a time to escape and explore new territory.

Virgin Territory has been released in France and Greece and will be released on DVD in North America in the coming months.
It does contain sexuality, nudity and profanities and is rated “R” in the United States. The trailer below also contains nudity and sexuality, you have been advised.

As an art enthusiast, I often find it hard not to appreciate a child’s drawing, an old masterpiece, or a random act, as a work of art; because to me art is an all-encompassing term that applies to anything that some one has put thought and effort into.

Today, I was browsing the youTube and found a video that I found hilarious at first, but as I thought about it, I concluded that it was art. It’s kind of a social statement on life, and also, just a really funny stunt.

Set in a rural, seaside village in Australia, Maps is faced with his first love (and subsequent, heartbreak) and the disintegration of the only family he has ever known.

The December Boys (so named for sharing a birth month) are sent from their orphanage to the seaside village for holidays, it is there where they learn that a village couple will adopt one of them. The family that they once were, quickly turn on each other and what could only have been called love turns into animosity.

While Spit, Spark, and Misty make all attempts to be the boy adopted, Maps meets a young girl, Lucy, and falls in love. It is his first love and first sexual experience that leads to his first heartbreak, and sets the course of his life.

Laced with religious imagery and themes, December Boys illustrates the value of one’s beliefs and how they shape our actions and experiences as we stumble through life.

It is a story of familial love enduring through life’s turmoil and strife, and of entering a new stage in one’s life. The December Boys is a vision of the poignant transition in life and the struggles one faces in such transitions.

It is also a tale of life’s special moments and how they come to us so suddenly, leaving us with experiences and memories that change us forever.

A pleasant tale of coming of age and life’s many changes; a cinematic classic and marvelous transition for Daniel Radcliffe.

This montage shows what can be seen on TV and in newspapers that contribute to the trend of desensitization.

I created this montage for a presentation in my Communications class in November 2007, with the help of Laura Szakacs.

All images were found using Google.
The soundtrack is from the motion picture, Requiem for a Dream.