life imitating art

Ever seen the film The Truman Show? Well, it seemed like the type of movie that would be “in” on our times today, considering the vast success currently being experienced by reality shows on television. Reality TV has managed to dissolve the line separating reality from TV. This was most especially true to some people, as reported by CNN, that suffered from some kind of delusion. These victims thought they were part of a reality show where their private lives are being documented for the rest of the world to see, indeed very reminiscent of the 1998 film The Truman Show. The news report cited the following cases involving two separate individuals:

…[one] showed up at a federal building, asking for release from the reality show he was sure was being made of his life. Another was convinced his every move was secretly being filmed for a TV contest.”

A third one,

…believed everything — the news, his psychiatrists, the drugs they prescribed — was part of a phony, stage-set world with him as the involuntary star, like the 1998 movie “The Truman Show.”

Scientists who have worked on these cases regarded them as delusional behaviors, and they aims to understand just how much culture and mass media penetrates the minds of the people who accept them as part of their daily lives. Some people might find these cases humorous, others strange, while for some it is an issue that requires to be addressed. Especially when such cases cause a direct threat to the lives of the people involved, such as this one:

“[A] man profiled in the British journal was diagnosed with schizophrenia and is unable to work. One of Gold’s patients planned to commit suicide if he couldn’t leave his supposed reality show.”

Another, yet stranger, case involved a patient from Austria who “believed she had become a walking webcam.” As the line between reality and TV has been blurred, it now enables researchers to examine the link between our culture and a person’s mental capacity to interpret them.

It was more interesting to me than anything. Reality TV, even mass media as a whole, has managed to purge people’s emotions and establish this two-way process of communication. Art was previously referred to as imitating life, or mimetic as Aristotle would put it. But in this strange circumstances, it was the other way around. Hopefully, more studies are done and I am curious to see how it would spell out.

how do i write my blog?

Here’s another one of those blog analyzers I found over the net. Try yours. It’s fun to learn some insights into how your blog is created.

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ENTP – The Visionaries

“The charming and trend savvy type. They are especially attuned to the big picture and anticipate trends. They often have sophisticated language skills and come across as witty and social. At the end of the day, however, they are pragmatic decision makers and have a good analytical abilitity.

They enjoy work that lets them use their cleverness, great communication skills and knack for new exciting ventures. They have to look out not to become quitters, since they easily get bored when the creative exciting start-up phase is over.”

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By the way, here’s a picture to indicate which muscles or sides of my brain were functioning when I wrote my blog, probably including this one.

Have time to spare? Try the Typealyzer here.

thoughts on rainy days

Think of rainy days and the upcoming holiday season, and it makes a deadly concoction of wanting you to go wanderlust yet again. It’s difficult to get too excited but this season is the perfect season to be lazy. A few times over recent weeks, er rainy weeks, I found myself scrambling out of bed thinking it was only around 4 in the morning, when in fact it was way past time to get the hell out of bed.

I just wish the rain would froze up and turn into ice. I think I’d prefer snow better, not only because we don’t have it here but it is so much more inviting to go out and play with the snow, something of which you cannot do with the rain, lest you want to catch cold and be forced out of work. Wish granted! But only for reasons you did not prefer.

Hopefully, the several spurts of holidays for December would give me enough satisfaction. I badly need a break, and I need not reiterate it further. With only a day left to my leave credits, I had to be wise on how to spend that remaining day. Of course, I would not want to spend that lounging on my bed at home or watching TV. Or else, it’d feel like just another weekend. I want to go out somewhere, face this rainy days that I’ve been dreading for years. I guess I’ve finally been able to cope with this love-hate relationship I had with rainy days. Instead of accepting defeat and cowering myself in bed with a hot choco in hand, I want to go out and experience the rain.

The thought of the holidays just reminded me that it’s almost my birthday. It’s so weird how I anticipate whole year for the holiday season and there’s my birthday to welcome me, it’s like a rite of passage of sorts. I need to get through that stage first before you could proceed further. But, birthdays has become so hyped up nowadays. I’m more excited over the anniversary than my turning 22. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dread birthdays.. So, I’m also willing to accept gifts! You know where to find me.

he got served!

Randy's furious over the 'fake' idol gaffe

I wish there was a better way to describe Randy’s exit in Survivor. If you’re such a fan of this show, then you’d probably know about the monumental blunder that involved the hidden immunity idol, which is what Jeff Probst himself described to be one of the smartest elements they have included in the game. The power that is within the immunity idol can be overwhelming sometimes that having it can either be advantageous or disadvantageous to the person concerned. However, when a ‘fake’ idol is involved, it’s an entirely different story.

For all we thought, players have learned from the ranks of Jamie Dugan (Survivor China) and Jason Siska (Survivor Micronesia). Humorous as it is, I felt for Randy when Jeff announced the idol he thought could save him in the game was a fake one. Randy’s face was all red when Jeff tossed the ‘fake idol’ into the fire and said that all votes against Randy will count.

I mean, this was supposed to be a look-back of Episode 10 but the scene during tribal council alone has managed to overshadow all other events that transpired that night.

Oh well, Kenny’s impressive win during the IC was deserving of mention since it was one of the tightest and most exciting challenge so far in this season. In the back of my mind, I was actually hoping that Matty wouldn’t win that one, at least to take away the idea of him being a threat during the challenges, and consequently a lesser target for the boot.

Back to the tribal, Randy’s arrogance served him right. Hate to be rude, but this is one of the most satisfying votes for the season (for me, at least).

Merge at last!

Matty lives to see another day!

Just when I thought the game was becoming quite cruel, it’s gotten more ugly by the day – in a strategic kind of way. Charlie’s ouster was a surprise, especially for Charlie himself. In an interview following his being voted off, he exclaims not realizing the personal vendetta that Ken had against him, which proves just how much manipulative power Ken had in him. Well, it was for the advantage of my favored remaining castaways, especially Matty. Charlie was too cunning and with him gone, it has basically cut off another limb to the Marcus-Charlie-Corinne alliance, leaving only Corinne to fend for herself. (grinning)

I wasn’t entirely against that threesome alliance, but it makes for an entertaining view! It is so dramatic how the game has witnessed a complete 180-degree turn with power players now scrambling to stay in the game. Thanks to most of Ken’s efforts, both him and Matty now has a fighting chance – to be exact, a 1 of 8 shot for the million dollars.

This was an epic episode, to say the least. Here are the top highlights for the episode:

1. Can there be any player in Survivor history more arrogant than Randy is? I mean, Richard Hatch was. And yet he had the first ever Survivor title under his belt. As for Randy, his future in this game looks bleak (thanks to his over-the-top sarcasm) despite self-proclaiming himself to be the new King of Gabon. Oh, bless your soul!

2. Bob’s fake idol maneuver. This one was a good move fueled by desperation, kudos to Ozzy. After all, we’ve seen Jason from Micronesia (yes, a real student of the game) fall into the bait. Now I’m anxious to see who’d be the next dummy to find and play it. (rubs chin)

3. Matty and Ken switching to the power side. Ken is certainly the puppet master and it is incredible how he has formulated moves that enables him to take out anyone he deems is a threat to his position in the game. So, buh-bye Charlie for screwing him on the individual immunity clue from last episode!

every vote counts

So, Obama was declared the 44th President of the United States. Several political analysts claim that the mass media has contributed largely to Obama’s win, and on the contrary, has also led to the downfall of John McCain and Sarah Palin’s (refer to the much hyped about SNL appearance) campaign.

A few celebrities also joined the campaign to vote for this election. One of them is Sean Combs, better known as P.Diddy to the hiphop world, whom has always been a strong proponent in getting young people involved in the elections. Democrat Diddy shared his thoughts on the power every single vote cast by the American people in choosing the US’ next leader.

“I felt like my vote was the vote that put him [Obama] into office. It was down to one vote, and that was going to be my vote. And that may not be true, but that’s how much power it felt like I had.“

*image courtesy of Us Magazine

Dethrone the King

Marcus’ game in Survivor: Gabon was the perfect epitome of how one power player can go from being in control to getting blindsided. Although I was rooting for Marcus in the beginning, I have to admit he got way too cocky for his own good. And commendation is fitting for Susie, proving she is really in it to win. Susie was smart enough to realize that she had a better fighting chance if she sided with Crystal and Kenny, as opposed to being a ‘filler’ to the alliance involving Marcus, Charlie, Corrine, Bob, and Randy. I mean seriously, I was even flabbergasted listening to Marcus promising Susie the final three! Even Susie did not take Marcus’ word for that, leading to his own ouster.

So I guess that reflects my lack of disappointment in Marcus being the latest castoff from Gabon. This was indeed an interesting (sorry for the understatement) turn of events. With physical power players gone, it now sets the stage for the scheming action.

Back to the episode, Gabon castaways rejoiced in what they were expecting to be the merge. Only to find out it was the 3rd switch up in this season. All these Survivor producers are really keen on testing the castaways’ alliances and how fast they adapt to new groups – which is really what Survivor is about.

The real winner for this episode? Hands down, Matty. Jeff was indeed right. He single-handedly won it for Fang, the only original member of Fang left.

As Marcus sits down to the jury, the game has reached the next level. Now, castaways will have to take responsibility for their own actions as they respond to the jury once they reach final two. A merge might be coming or not, but I can see a quick change of power with every single episode. Hopefully, my favorite players Matty and Ken will hang on tight, especially Matty – like he did in the recent immunity challenge.

Body of Lies

Since Dark Knight, I saw a major lull in the film industry. Not claiming to be one of the best film critics there is, since I barely watch any movie, I was more than elated to witness what I think (only after watching the film) is one of the must-see movies of this year.

Indeed, Leonardo Di Caprio has managed to impress over the years. Since Titanic, Leo has appeared in several highly acclaimed movies. And Body of Lies is the latest of his artistic offerings. Playing alongside Russell Crowe, Leo was the frontrunner of this film.

Playing as CIA agent Roger Farris, he is sent out on a mission in the Middle East to uncover the plans of a terrorist group. To do this, Farris (Di Caprio) must work together with the officials of the Jordanian government, whom he does not fully trust to work with him. Indeed, the film has established itself firmly into the atmosphere that has plagued Middle East for decades, without clearly knowing who to trust and whom not to. Thus leading to the famous tagline from the film: “Trust no one. Deceive everyone.“

This adds a whole new dimension into the conflict-laden plot that leads to moral and cultural clash among the film characters. Body of Lies has successfully touched the different levels of subject matter – from political, moral, religious, ethical, and even racial. There is even a clash between Roger Farris (Di Caprio) and Ed Hoffman (Crowe), which are two CIA agents supposedly working together in plotting ways to save the world from terrorism; only that Farris is the one who gets a first-hand experience of how terrorist acts has altered the lives of the people in Middle East while Hoffman is seemingly devising his own plans from halfway across the globe.

A pleasing touch to the film is the inclusion of a mini love story angle that pairs Farris with Aisha, a female nurse. More than just a side track from the major plot itself, this contributed to making Leo’s character more humane, despite having to deal with talks of CIA plans and eliminating terrorist leaders all throughout the film.

If you want a film that is more than just entertaining, Body of Lies is a winner for its compelling themes and riveting plot twists.