Sleepless Beauty

Film: Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
Director: Nicky Phelan
Written and Performed by Kathleen O’Rourke
Rating: 4/5



Hailing all the way from Ireland, Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty is a 6 minutes animated film. The plot revolves around a deranged grandmother telling her already traumatized grandchild a bedtime story. Living up to its title, Granny O’Grimm managed to tell her version of the Sleeping Beauty, twisting the supposed fairy tale into dark-overemotional proportions. Taking its viewers for a ride, the character managed to shed a fascinatingly realistic light into the classic tale with a mixture of dark humor. The animation did not only succeed in focusing the world’s attention to Kathleen O’Rourke, it also managed to land a nomination for the Best Animated Short Film in this year’s Oscars.

The Good
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty used a creative blend of 2D and 3D animation to make sure its audience eyes were glued to the screen throughout the film. Apart from that, the creative team skillfully used a wide palate of colors enabling the viewers to follow the feel of the plot with ease. Granny O’Grimm herself manages to steal many hearts as being one of the best emotionally loaded character to appear on animation in a while.

The Bad
The weakest aspect of this short film would most probably be its plot. Despite the great use of characters and animation, the plot leaves a short trail of question marks at the end. Many felt as if there was no firm ground on where the story stands and did not appreciate the mysteries that both director and writer tried to instill into their audience.

Verdict
Overall, Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty holds a never before seen Irish potential in the short animated film arena and is a must-watch. Even though it did not win the Oscars, it still managed to win the hearts of many. Al though first timers should keep their expectation on a thoroughly explained plot low, the characters and animation are still strong enough to sweep you off your chairs.


Farah Ashraff.

Granny O'Grimm's Distorted Tale

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty is an Oscar nominated Irish short film written and performed by Kathleen O’Rourke and directed by Nicky Phelan.

The animation centers on a grandmother – Granny O’Grimm – telling her visibly freaked out granddaughter a warped and overly personal interpretation of the classic fairy tale ‘Sleeping Beauty’.

Granny O’Grimm gets more erratic as she narrates, inserting her own hilariously twisted views on society while being completely oblivious to her granddaughters growing terror.

This short is enjoyable because fairy tales are about as shallow as it gets so it’s always interesting (and most of the time funny) to watch social commentary woven into them to dispel that shallowness.

Although it’s along the lines of Shrek it’s much cruder in a sense – definitely not meant for kids, but it will put a smile on your face.

Rachelle

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty film is a dark and twisted version of the fairytale, Sleeping Beauty. Directed by Nicky Phelan, produced by Darragh O'Connell and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke, the Irish animated film was nominated for the Best Animated Short Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.

The interesting part of this film is the values it relates to life and also in the modern 21st century. She mentioned that beauty does not take you very far in life, which is true (brains are important!). The definition of beauty was also touched in the film. Slim figures, long legs and big boobs are the 'ideal' model portrayed to women in this era. I was quite entertained by Granny O'Grimm's antics and her exaggerated expressions.

Granny O'Grimm tells the story as if that she's the Elderly Fairy itself. It portrays her as a person who is revengeful and does not easily forgive and forget. In this film, it is as if Granny O'Grimm characteristics and personality is represented by the general perception of the senior citizens where they are old, cranky and slightly off in the head.

This film content is clearly not suitable for children but watch this if you’re looking for a good laugh!

Li Chuen
DMC09

For The Love Of An Octopus

People do crazy things in the name of love. But who would’ve ever thought that even octopuses would too!

Oktapodi is a 2007 French computer-animated short film about two love stricken octopuses (an orange male and a pink female) who are separated from one another when a chef comes to collect the female. In despair, the male gives chase as the chef drives off and a battle between human and octopus supremacy breaks lose on the roads of a small Greek village. Will the octopuses succeed in this adventure?

Well, you’d have to watch it to find out.

One reason why this film is fairly entertaining is due to the clever use of colours and the designs present in the film – mainly the two octopuses. You can’t help but feel for the two sea creatures as the directors manage to instill emotions through the eyes and (partial) facial movement of the octopuses face. Even at the beginning, you can tell how in love the couple is.

On the other hand, however, you’d need to push aside your conscience to be able to fully enjoy this film as it does turn out to be a tad sadistic while all the misfortunes happen to the octopuses, as those are the primary humour in the film.

If you are able to do so, though, you’d find yourself surprised at how enjoyable this two minute film can be. Definitely worth giving a watch!

-by Jc-

OCTOPI (2007)

Taking over Oscar short film award in 2009, Oktapodi, a 2 minute computer animated film from France is about two Octopi who fall in love in the fish tank in Greece. It runs headfirst into disaster when the female Octopi is snatched by the humans and being brought into a truck – to be made food. Never one to be daunted, the male Octopi jumps out the tank to save his other half. Determines to save her from the jaw of death, he clamp to the beeline of the truck. His efforts then propel both Octopi to a wild journey through the village. In land and water they struggle for love.

This fast moving story is full of emotions right from the very start. Eventhough it is without narration, the animation successfully tells the story of the Octopi who would die for love. The characters are so full of life, including the truck driver himself. What is more interesting is that the viewers will be constantly excited and looking forward along the whole film. It is funny and cute.

Octopi is fun to be watched, but it lasts short. The ending is pretty interesting, however it ends soon where it begins. It could be made longer, and if it is, they could be the next Pixar competitor.

This animation is flawless, but more voice overs would be catchy. The viewers will be able to communicate with the characters more and undertsnad the emotions being potrayed better. Overall, Octopi, a short film made in year 2007 deserves the Oscar and let’s hope they come up with more animation for us!

FILZAH SOBRI (DMC10)
for feature writing

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (full film) review

Granny O’Grimm, strange and somehow spiteful in nature loves telling bed time stories in her own notch to her terrified granddaughter. The story goes like this.. Little Sleeping Beauty was born to the world, and the many beautiful fairies were excitingly planning a christening party for the little one. Imagined or not, the old crippled fairy was not invited to the party because she is old, crippled and very ugly. Enormous rage sets upon her and the only way for a little relief was to teach the youth and beauty obsessed beings a good ol’ lesson.

The film is a nice breakaway if compared to the typical Sleeping Beauty story, it might be pretty dense at times, but it has managed to bring out the essential vengeful emotions immaculately. The ambiguous, twisted way of story telling is also a plus point in making the story highly captivating.

If at all, the film should go a little longer. Perhaps it is the peculiar way of story telling that makes me crave for a longer entertainment, but the ending of the Sleeping Beauty story was a little too abrupt to put a nice seal on the tumultuous build up along the way.

I do recommend highly the film to anyone who loves a little break from mainstream broils.

Oktapodi 2007

Oktapodi(2007) OSCAR 2009 Nominated Short Film

Being nominated in the Academy Awards 2009 as the best animated short film, Imagina 2008 best show animation, just to name a few, Oktapodi definitely gained its fame with its cute three minutes long animation.

This short film talks about a pair of loving octopus and their journey when the lady octopus was caught and sold to a man, the remaining one fight its way to rescue her. Throughout the film, you'll see the octopus bounce his way through in chasing for the van that had his lover. Although this is a no dialogue short film, it is still a recommended one, for the characters were animated in full expressions and the music that blends well to suit the pace of the animation.

This fast paced animation is nice to watch but three minutes ain't long enough. The ending part gives viewers rooms for imaginations and a lot might be hoping for the next episode of Oktapodi!

Seow Li (DMC10)

Granny from Hell?

Have you ever wondered how your bedtime stories would end up if it was told by your bitter, disgruntled old grandmother? Wonder no more as this Oscar nominated short film titled Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, portrays exactly that when and old woman tells her own interpretation of a story to her granddaughter, with such strong emotions.

The scary potrayal of Granny O'Grimm

This short film definitely had graphics in a class of its own as the attention to detail was quite clear throughout this film. The drawing style in the story sequence had good colour composition to go with it and it made the viewing experience really pleasurable.

The colours used showed great depth in graphic details

However, the ending of this short film was rather disappointing, although it had an interesting catch phrase by the old grandmother in the end. Still, it was kind of a let down when compared to the whole bulk of the story.

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty would be a short film you would rather watch in between breaks of a cartoon. On the other hand, there is a potential of making more sequels to do with other bedtime stories Granny O’Grimm would tell to her terror-stricken granddaughter.

Rating: 6/10
Film: Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
Director: Nick Phelan

-Abdullah Izzudin-
DMC09

Oktapodi Love Story

Oktapodi is about a love story of two octopuses that were for sale at the fish shop who were both in love. Yes Octopuses! They were separated as the female was taken out to be sold and the male gets out of the aquarium to save the love of his life. They then fought for their lives to get back together again. Will they succeed?

Oktapodi is a 2007 French computer-animated short film which was a graduation film created at Gobelins L'ecole de L'image. It was directed by 6 of them. It didn't lose your attention as it was definitely entertaining throughout the 2 minutes. It was humorous, short and sweet. It is a unique and no ordinary film. Everyone should watch it and I would be sure you would like it!

There really isn't a bad thing to say about this movie as I think it was a pretty good short animation film. Oktapodi was well received and won a number awards including a nomination for Best Short Film (Animated) for the 81st Academy Awards.

-Jacqueline-
DMC10

Oktapodi Review

A short animated film about 2 octopuses which are in love with each other. Yes you read that right. And how the female is taken away and the male goes out of the aquarium to rescue his lover. As typical as it may sound, it was done with just the right amount of humor and excitement to keep us entertained throughout the 2 minutes animation.

Here's what that makes it not so typical, the 2 main characters are octopus, and the villain's a man. We've seen good guys take on the forms of robots, fishes and other odd beings but I have never seen an octopus being the "good guy" in a film as they usually are the villain. What makes the film interesting is that there's not a pause which makes you feel that a particular scene is draggy nor does it kills your attention.

There is not much to critique, this animation is short and sweet and if you were to look at it from a technical point of view, the animation, camera angles, and transitions were nicely done.

This video is definitely worth your 2 minutes of attention.

Rating:














Jared Lee :D

Granny Turns Ugly

Granny O'Grim's Sleeping Beauty is a short animated film directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Darragh O'Connel. The story was written by Kathleen O'Rourke. The story focuses on the granny herself, who seems like a sweet and caring nanny but when her granddaughter showed a terrified face as she was about to tell a bedtime story, we could all already expect the kind of story that would be told. It was her very own version of Sleeping Beauty.

What I find interesting about this short animated film is the beautiful CGI that made it pleasant for my eyes. I also liked the fact that the the beginning of the film kept me interested to find out more on what this story is about.

Although the beautiful CGI was really good, I think it would be better if they did the 2D part a little better. Funny segments didn't sounded funny at all. As this film was categorized as a comedy, the granny was yelling at the kid most of the time as she was telling the story. Children who watches this might end up being afraid of their grandmothers as well.

In short, I find the pros of this film not being able to make up for the cons. Suggestion, do not set high expectations for this film. You might like this, or maybe not.

By: Kai-Loon

Review on short video

Synopsis
Oktapodi (2007) is a French computer animated short film that originated as a graduate student project from Gobelins L E'cole de L I'mage. The story is about a pair of octopuses saving each other from a restaurant cook. The beginning of the film shows the supplier grabbed and weigh in the female (pink) octopus and kept it in the truck. The middle part of the video displays the process on saving the male (orange) octopus.

The male octopus went out from the aquarium, determined to save the female octopus. At the end of the video, the male octopus was grabbed by a seagull bird, is time for the female octopus to save the male octopus.

Interesting
The characters in this video looked lively and cute. The octopuses are behaving like humans. This makes the story became interesting because the characters showed a lot of expressions. The beginning of the video quite catchy and contained a small climax (eg: The female octopus was grab out from the scene).

A lot of real-life action scenes inserted in this video like punching and chopping for example.

This video shows the octopuses are stubborn, and this act might giving a hint to the viewers that there will be 2nd part for this video (?)

What's not so good
The video contained inappropiate contents for some viewers especially children. The scenes of punching and slashing the octopus are bad influence for children. The children might want to try it for fun since there were no blood stains in the video.

Suggestion
Everything is okay to me, in terms of graphics and how the characters reacted. I think it would be much better if the chopping octopus scene can be replaced by other elements. Direct showing it into the video can bring bad influence to certain viewers.

Ng Min Kim
DMC08

Not So Sleeping Beauty After All

Tired of going through the same old storyline in Sleeping Beauty? Well, why not spice it up with a tinge of black humour instead!

Directed by Nicky Phelan, Granny O' Grimm's version of this classic fairytale is not like what you have in mind. Twisted between the genres of comedy and satire, the plot focuses on Granny O' Grimm, an old lady who turned this popular fable into her own as she intergrates her personal narrative while telling it to her aghast granddaughter.

The fact that this short film is infused with black comedy makes it engaging to watch. Maybe this is my kind of humour but I do find it enthralling whenever fairytales like these are given a modern twist. Aside from that, I also like the fact that this story portrays how society is really like in the real world,where they do judge you based on your physical appearance whether you like it or not. Furthermore, the use of vibrant colours brewed together with the upheaval of 3D and 2D animation adds on to its intriguing factor.

Despite all that, this story closed on a low note. The ending was too abrupt in the sense that the audience only have a certain amount of time to inhale Granny O' Grimm's boil of emotions before it was over. The healthy pace of the climax they built as the story unfolds was destroyed with a hasty end.

Overall, this short film is definitely something you won't want to miss. How could you resist watching a crazy old granny terrifying her granddaughter with a contemporary revelation of a classic fairytale?

Not me!

- Lizzie (DMC09)

Logorama- A city of ads.

With mass production and mass media on the rise, corporations are competing to attract the attention of the world's population. Through branding, these corporations have created a generation engineered to consume without making conscious decisions. However, we are becoming more aware of the amount of advertising and branding around us.

"Logorama", winner of the Oscar 2010, best animated short film award depicts a city where its infrastructure and people are represented by 2500 logos. The 16 minute video written and directed by H5 and produced by Autour de Minuit features Los Angeles - a world center of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology and education.

While "Logorama" can be seen as a blatant representation of what our world is fast becoming, the video actually shows us how these brands are leading to destruction. Creatively executed, "Logorama" provides a lesson on consumerism. Upon watching the video, one realizes that we are so familiar with brands to the point that we can automatically associate icons, symbols and signs to products. It basically shows us how absorbed we are with brands. Certain logos are also portrayed in the video as villains. Through this, "Logoroma" tries to connote that these brands are actually doing harm to consumers. The graphics are also capturing and the team has managed to incorporate 2500 brands into the video without confusing audiences.

However, portraying some logos as villains may result in tarnishing the image of those brands. Some other people may also find the video boring at the beginning as it is a big draggy.

Overall, "Logorama" is a highly recommended video as it provides people with a lesson and helps people realize the consequences of branding and subconscious consumerism through an entertaining storyline. Graphics and digital art enthusiasts will definitely enjoy this video!

Susanna Ng
DMC09

Eighth-legged Love

How does an octopus show his love to another octopus? By fending off a human who is trying to eat his love! The video follows the thoughts and emotions of a male and female octopus as they race through a small town similar to Italy, by the shoreline.

The one thing that is very prominent is how the octopuses emote so humanly. Scenes of big round teary eyes, moments of fright and anger fill our thoughts as the sound of fast-paced violin tunes gives us a rush, fitting the overall pace of the video.

On the other hand, the place it was set it did not have any inhabitants except for the shop owner and the buyer. It was more like a ghost town than town filled with people, but then again it could be the fact that its early morning as fish mongers go about their business.

While it's an entertaining video indeed, it gives us a thought of what an octopus feels. It also shed light on the thought of love conquers all... until the end? I assure you it is a fun video to watch.

Granny's Grimm Twisted Tales

When you were little, tucked into bed,
do you remember when your grand-mama would read you to bed?

Well not in this story!
A twist on the tale of Sleeping Beauty in this animation is bound to get your heart's skipping a beat.
Think of modern 20th century Sleeping Beauty. Directed by Nicky Phelan, it is brilliant.


The fairies aren't curvy, no-uh! Far from that. This tale brings you into a world of busty faeries and 24inch waistlines and enchanted forest with low cut dresses all through the eyes of grandma.

So lets get down to the nitty gritty aye?
The good,.. Well its twisted enough to make you want more. It'll cause you to hold in your breath and it feels exactly like having a grandma who's an awesome story teller try to spook you out before bedtime. Plus visually its a treat, between 2D and 3D imagery, portraying a different realm of story. Also, the little kid's hair is just adorable. Expressions on both Granma and grandchild's face are stories on their own.

The bad,
lets see you sleep tonight! I don't remember my grandma spooking my fairytales out. *eeks*

I say, watch it IF you can handle it. Remember, just cause its an animation, doesn't mean its all kids play. Grandma's bound to spook you out of those sheets!

A Laugh A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

So there's a saying which everyone knows of, "An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away" but I am sure no one has heard of "A Laugh A Day Keeps The Doctor Away" unless you know Dr.Matan Kataria who invented the concept of laughing to a healthier life.

Dr.Katan Mataria on the right.

People do question his methods, but as his number of followers increase, well maybe there is some truth in what he does. Dr.Matan Kataria is a health doctor and also a writer for a health magazine, he says that it was one of those days when he was under a lot of stress he created the laughing yoga. He was juggling jobs between treating patients and writing for a health magazine which was really really tough and at one point he just started laughing which made him feel all better. The sudden realization of how laughter cured his stress at that moment gave him a thought, if laughter was such a good medicine why not share it? He then started a laughter club.

It started with just 5 people in a room sharing jokes, but as time passed, the club grew to what it is today.

Still finding hard to believe? Well, start laughing and figure it out.

Watch his interview with CNN here: CLICK!
-Jared Lee-

**I missed class and I hope this is right**

The Not Relevant Post

Hello classmates, I am who you want me to be but not what you expect me to be so if it is meant to be, everything will surface and what will be shall be visible to thee.

ehy stop reading other people's work and do your own la.





-The Be Be Person-

How To Be Dumb 10-Year-Olds

One day, all of us are going to be stupid. Thanks to all the advances in our technology today, which are creating a more “comfortable” life for us, it seems as though we are helping nurture our younger generation to be, well, stupid.

With a new recent study on the effects of watching too much television on toddlers, it now seems that those children who indulge in too much TV watching will become less focused in classrooms and have a higher consumption of junk food by the age of 10. Yes, all those because they watched, say, an extra hour or two of television than the recommended daily dose.

I mean, if you can get all these just from watching too much television, imagine the kind of effects you would get from playing too much PSP or by indulging in a luxurious lifestyle, full of technology. It’s ironic to see how all these “advances” that are supposed to complement our lifestyles are really just making us lazier and stupider.

With so many children now embracing the life of technology, can all these problems really be avoided? What is to be the future then? I guess the only option now lies in our ability to not be excessive.

-By Jc Lam

Horror House? Museum? No, Dormitory!

Located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Higashiyama and Kanoe Streets in Kyoto City, Yoshida-ryo dormitory has been in existence for almost a century.

A striking example of how bad the need of repairs in Yoshida-ryo.

This run down, tree-shrouded, sprawling dormitory built in 1913, houses many students affiliated with any Kyoto universities in that area. These students have almost been accustomed to living in such poor conditions as the amenities in Yoshida-ryo clearly are lacking.

This is where the students play mahjong.

So what exactly is the attraction of this dormitory to students in Japan? Well, the facilities of Yoshida-ryo might be sub-par by modern standards, but the unbelievably low rent of ￥2,500 (approximately RM85) per month makes is a suitable living place for financially challenged students there.

Although the plumbing works, it looks like a horror scene.

Though it is very cheap to stay in Yoshida-ryo, but I’m of the opinion that the basic facilities of this dormitory should be drastically improved as it could be a breeding ground for many diseases, due to the lack of hygiene there.

Food is left scattered on the floor.

Sources:

Berman, Rob (2010), Yoshida-ryo: Dilapidated, decrepit and downright dirty, CnnGo,http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/sleep/yoshidaryo-japans-most-famously-decrepit-dormitory-179885?hpt=C2 – last accessed 04/05/10

-Abdullah Izzudin-

DMC09

Women in Japan Face Day Care Deficit

Survival of the fittest starts young for Japanese babies, well literally. Writer describes the competition to get her baby secured in a daycare home (nurturing homes in Japan are called hoikuens), tougher than her globe trotting, dangerous, and gut wrenching assignments. Depending on income, public hoikuens are rather affordable at US600-800$ a month. But if luck is not in favour, failing to secure a position at the hoikuens could means financial suicide as mothers have to give up jobs just to take care of their offsprings. Back then, writer's mother was one of the pioneer working women in her company, and she too faced the dilemma of finding a chilcare provider for her while she goes to work. Surprising enough, things barely changed even after four decades.
As much as the Japanese government encourages its citizens to have more children, lack of effort in providing sufficient daycare services have definitely deterred young mothers from giving birth. In the long run, the population growth of Japan might have to take an avalanche ride.

-sharmayne cheng

Execution does not stop Chinese knife attacks

The recent attacks by individuals in China at kindergartens and schools have shocked the Chinese nation. The 23rd March attack by Zheng Mingsheng who stabbed 8 children to death, lead a series of copycat attacks by various individuals in China. Altough Zheng was executed, it did not prevent others from following the same footsteps as Zheng. 3 school attacks happened in 3 days. There were various attacks in the year 2004, but the latest incidents has led to further upgrade the school's security.

My opinion: As this case was covered extensively by the media in China, it posed as an influence for other individuals to commit similar acts to vent out their frustrations and anger. I think some of the citizens feel pressured due to the strict country regulations. Due to that, perhaps they feel bounded and has no place to project their true feelings.

Besides that, China is one of the high population country, it's quite hard to control every citizen. This attack has proven that China still has a long way to go in terms of educating and shaping the citizens. China should also start controlling the possessions of large knives as it can be a threat. What I like about this incident is they were quick to take action of those responsible for the incident to be prosecuted. This serves as a warning to the citizens and it also shows that the judicial system is strong in the country.Every system has a flaw in it. I'm sure that as time goes by China's system will strengthen.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/china.attacks/index.html

Li Chuen (DMC09)

Prisoner Chose Freedom Over His Ear.

Would you attempt to cut off your ear just to be free again? Well, that was exactly what a convict did in the news titled "Prisoner Cuts Off Ear In Escape Bid", as accounted by BBC.

Imprisoned for being involved in a robbery plot, Michael O'Donnell planned his escape through a sequence of "calculated" events, where he was taken to a hospital after having a part of his left ear hackled off. As the ambulance took him and three prison guards to the infirmary, the vehicle was blocked by a stolen BMW. Four masked men then ambushed the ambulance with baseball bats and bolt cutters, which aided in O'Donnell's getaway.

Personally, I think that this situation could have been avoided. O'Donnell may have sustained an injury but it was only a minor injury therefore it is not necessary to transfer him out to the hospital . I may sound cruel for saying this but only a part of his ear was hackled off! It is not as if he mutilated his whole entire ear or something. Aside from that, the prison should have an infirmary at the venue itself. With that, the prisoners can be treated within the compound, hence the probability of them escaping using O'Donnell's method can be lowered.

Lizzie - DMC09

German man weds,.... his cat?

Yes thats right, German man Uwe Mitzscherlich, 39 weds his cat.

The German man paid actress, Christin-Maria Lohri 300euro's to officiate the ceremony. As marrying an animal in Germany is illegal.

Why? All because the feline fell ill and vets had told him that it might not live much longer.

Mr Mitzscherlich said he had wanted to tie the knot before his asthmatic cat Cecilia died. - taken from www.news.bbc.co.uk

"Cecilia is such a trusting creature. We cuddle all the time and she has always slept in my bed," Mr Mitzscherlich, a postman from the eastern town of Possendorf, told Bild.

Actress Christin-Maria Lohri, who officiated the ceremony, was quoted as saying: "At first I thought it was a joke. But for Mr Mitzscherlich it's a dream come true".


-----
This author says:

Honestly, I don't think anyone should or would want to marry his pet.
As much love as there is, its just plain weird. Plus it defies the laws of nature. Poor cat! For now we hope that this marriage is just as it is, no consummation please. Much too much to handle.

Bestiality at its best perhaps?
All the best Cecelia.
May her last days be,... peaceful?

What caused illness in girls at 3 schools

The choosen news is picked from CNN.com with the title [What caused illness in girls at 3 schools].

It was a fine day at northern Afghanistan's schoolgirls until the school smelled beautiful, lika a flower, as if someone sprayed perfume into the school. And that’s when the girls started to drop one after the other.A 16-year-old student, Soodaba said. “That’s when we noticed the crowd at the door and this strong perfume like fragrance hitting our sinuses and suddenly we started getting dizzy ". The people who affected by the smell was sent to hospital. They returned to school after the week of the attack.So far there were only three schools smelled such dangerous smell.

According to toxicologist, it was not clear how the smell was released.

In my opinion : The toxicologist should investigate and quickly find the source and the content of the smell to prevent more schools to be harmed by it. At first it produces nice smell and ended up feeling dizzy. It might be another type of poisonous gas. According to the news, the students are not willing to return to school eventhough the incident passed since a week ago. One of the parents said they still have to go to school for the sake of education. To me, the parent is giving a risk to their daughter. What if more worst thing happen to her again? They can bring their children to tuition centre meanwhile until the school confirm they are accident-free from this issue. If a person do not have a healthy mind and body, he/she cannot produce a good performance in education.

(Min Kim - DMC08)

Child Bride?

I was going through BBC News and I found this article about Nigeria's Senator marrying a minor. The girl, aged 13 year-year-old, is from Egypt. He had apparently paid a dowry of $100,000 (£66,000) to the girl's parents and brought her over to Nigeria. Whether or not the girl was accompany by her parents or guardian is not known. It is said that apparently the senator has also previously married a 15-year-old girl in 2006. (Link)

My Opinion: What is wrong with the people in this world nowadays? It is ridiculous that even the parents of the girl would allow such a thing to happen to their daughter. Don't they have any love for their daughter? She's only 13! Let the poor girl live her teenage life like any normal teenager. I'm sorry to say but I don't understand how this kind of people can be a so called 'leader'? Plus, don't their religion teach them anything?Think about the child's future. She has the right to her own life and who she wants to be with in future. Even as parents, I personally feel that they have no right to tell us or force us to be with a certain person. I'm sorry to say, the senator is an inconsiderate, horny, non-religious idiot. Whereas for the girl's parents, they have no love in their hearts for their daughter at all. Period.

ALVINA (DMC09)

PMS-ing over the iPad?

How news came out that the Apple iPad sold more than 1 million after its release 28 days earlier has all the latest buzz and hype in the technological world, reported by CNN.

The iPad, an enlarged version of the iPod Touch is certainly catered to the average consumer market - no tech knowledge needed to operate. Is this new iPad really worth the hype? From my perspective, Steve Jobs can sell almost anything borderline ridiculous. In the days not so long ago, Apple provided good quality products and over the years, it has been declining.

I believe Steve Jobs is not an excellent inventor, but more of an excellent sales person. He can sell you innovative designed products that his team developed effectively, making almost anyone salivating over his latest creations. Although I dub him Steve "The Con" Job, I do not deny the fact that his company still paves the way for groundbreaking innovative ideas.

Cover up or risk an acid attack.

"Acid attack on Pakistani sisters in Balochistan" reports how three sisters in Pakistan became victims of an acid attack.

Many countries around the world have been trying to advocate gender equality. However, for some countries like Pakistan, culture overrules law. Besides reporting an incident, this news also highlights the abuse of women in more conservative countries where religion and cultural extremism are apparent.

By highlighting this situation, readers (especially those from more liberal countries) will be educated and made aware of the need to advocate against, and address the issue of gender inequality.

~Susanna Ng (DMC 09)

YouTube to let users charge rental fees

In reference to this article, this feature will be a great addition to YouTube users especially when they are able to make some revenue out of it. This will also benefit upcoming producers as they might be able to gain fame as well as to earn from their videos.

Details on the program are scarce -- for example, we're not sure if just any user can partake, or if the program is only available to industry professionals.

However, YouTube has to managed this well or else many will start to charge for their videos and there won't be free videos anymore. Should the videos be charged, it will only be a matter of time before existing YouTube users find for alternative video streaming sites.