On Hoaxes

The threat of filtering nude pictures of Emma Watson turned out to be a viral campaign to close down 4chan.

Watson was threatened after giving a speech about gender equality at the United Nations. 

The threat seemed to come out after pictures of other female celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Gabrielle Union came out. 

I guess it’s a good thing it was a hoax, but do you really have to try to shut down 4chan using another human’s body as bait? I really don’t understand the craze about nude pictures. We all have intimate parts, so what’s the big deal? Also, if you see these pictures you are violating the privacy of a person. Point blank. And I don’t care what anyone says, this surge of nude pictures only target women. I wonder how Watson, a woman who has been sexualized by the media since she was very young, feels about this whole ordeal.

What do you think?

On Fall Films

I’m the kind of person who can watch the same movie over and over without getting bored, which is very annoying to others I’m sure. With the coming of fall there are several films that I watch and re-watch. Most of them are sappy (hello fall weather blues), but this is a list of movies I re-watch every fall.

1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

A story about love that transcends obstacles, it has great performances from Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey.

2) 500 Days of Summer

For the masochist in you. It’s the perfect transition film from summer to autumn. 

 

3) Lost in Translation

This movie is up there for me as one of my top 5 films of all time. Scarlett Johansson pre-action movies is always a treat for me. Bill Murray is as loveable and funny as always. This movie also triggered my dream to travel to Japan one day.

On Homesickness

 

This week was hard. Most of the time I feel fine just doing my thing and working my butt off. But this Monday was Independence Day for my country, Honduras. For one thing, we take the whole week off to celebrate Independence. Not the case here. 

Obviously no one cares here and why should they? There’s only one other person from my country here, so we were really the only two who cared about it. But it really got me thinking. I haven’t gone home in almost a year, and I really miss it. I thought that being a senior I would get over my feelings of homesickness. It makes me feel almost childish. But I miss my family, the warm weather, the food, the language. I miss everything. Don’t get me wrong, I love Plattsburgh, but there’s just something about your home that doesn’t compare to anything else in the world. 

I didn’t get to celebrate Independence at all, and it makes me sad. I was here for July 4^th, but I felt isolated from the whole experience. 

When will I get to go home? 

On New Technology

I really, honestly, do not understand the craze about technology sometimes. Of course I enjoy my smartphone just as anyone does, but I think it’s gotten to dimensions of fanaticism in recent years. Just last year I remember people in my classes talking about the newest iPhone and how it would be golden or whatever. A year later, nothing has changed. 

Today is the release of the iPhone 6, and with it will come the endless lines filled with Apple-crazed fans. It is truly Orwellian. 

The iPhone has already been released in Australia. Jack Cooksey was the first costumer to come out of an Apple store with his new iPhone in Perth. As a television crew filmed the unveiling of his phone, he opened the box and dropped it. Reportedly, the phone received two cracks and a scuff marks after the drop. 

Yes, its technology may be of the highest caliber, but at the end of the day, it still cracks. People, please realize that new technology is meant to be shiny and pretty, but it’s not designed to last.

 

Look at this and tell me it's not the most glorious yearbook picture you've ever seen. I saw this picture somewhere on Facebook yesterday. With the internet's obsession with cats and cheesy pictures, I knew it was only a matter of time until it went viral. 

Draven Rodriguez, from Schenectady, is petitioning his school so he can have this picture as his senior portrait. His petition has already gained 3920 signatures. His original goal was of 500. As cute and absurd as this story is, it does have something to say about the importance of interactivity and making a compelling argument by knowing your audience. A teenager who loves cats? Definitely has an appeal. And besides it makes me laugh just looking at it.

Undoing Terrible Decisions

We can't turn the past and change it. The only way that we learn as humans is by doing which oftens ends up with making mistakes. Luckily for TV writers and producers, they can have a magical undoing of their terrible decisions in the form of DVD releases.

There's an alternate ending in the newly released DVD for the last season of the show. Video below.

It's a vast improvement even though it doesn't feel very real. But I'll take it, especially compared to the real ending which was a disappointment to say the least.

I don't think I've ever been as angry at a TV series finale than How I Met Your Mother. It was a brilliant show for the first few years filled with lively characters and charming comedy. The latter seasons proved to be stale in comparison as --I pressume-- the network tried to squeeze every last drop and ended up giving as half-assed, deflated show. I'm the kind of person who can't just abandon a show after watching all of their season. So like a creature of habit, I complied and continued to watch. Let me tell you though, those last few seasons were painful. And the series finale was just the cherry on the crap sandwich. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good unexpected plotwist, but this is not Breaking Bad. HIMYM is a sitcom. I'm not watching it to have some philosophical debate afterwards. I'm watching it because I can't abandon shows halfway and because I'm really bored after a day of classes, and I just want to paint my nails and watch TV. And either way, it was worth it just to watch Mr. Big Fudge, Jason Segel.

Intercultural Grieving

While the United States grieves the recent loss of Joan Rivers and Robin Williams, Latin Americans everywhere are experiencing the same pain. Death is always a sad event, and although I wasn't as familiar with the work of Rivers or Williams, I can understand the pain that comes with an unexpected and sad loss.

Since I've been living in the United States, I've had my share of cultural miscommunication. When Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian musician and rock en español legend passed away this Thursday, I felt disconnected from the world. Cerati had been in a coma for the last four years after he suffered a stroke at one of his concerts in Venezuela.

My friends at home all know about it. My social media feeds were flooded by responses of people all over the world remembering Cerati and his work. Thinking about it took me back to those days in high school hanging out with friends and listening to Soda Stereo.