Supernatural – Season 8

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After a long break I am continuing my tv series season updates. Let’s start with Season 8 of Supernatural, as we are 6 episodes into the 9th season on tv. Ok so when we left off in season 7, Dean found himself in purgatory along with Castiel but just as some creatures start to surround them, Cas disappears. After fighting it out in that realm for a year, with the aid of a vampire named Benny (Ty Olsson), Dean manages to come back and he also smuggles Benny’s soul out of purgatory and resurrects him before they go their separate ways. Dean meets up with Sam, who has been out of the hunter game and has been living  a normal life with a dog and a girlfriend. Kevin Tram has managed to escape from Crowley and is now on the run. The two track him down and learn that he had been kidnapped by Crowley to translate the Demon Word of God tablet. The writing on the Demon Tablet would allow Crowley to open all the gates of Hell, allowing all the demons of Hell out into the world. Additionally, the tablet contained a way to seal the Gates of Hell and banish all demons from the Earth forever. Sam & Dean need to find Kevin’s mother who is guarded by demons, as an incentive to Kevin, and also find that the tablet has been stolen by Plutus and is being auctioned, along with other rare supernatural items.

Sam and Dean are able to save Kevin and Mrs. Tran, but fail to recover the tablet, which Crowley took with him.Kevin takes his mom away in secret, saying that he fears for her life as she is expendable and he doesn’t trust the brothers. Meanwhile, Sam contemplates returning to normal life after the hunt for the Word of God tablet is concluded. Unconnected to the main season arch, there is a great episode about 3 college students who are film makers who are trying to find a mysterious werewolf-type creature who’s been biting and killing students and locals at the college. One of the kids gets bitten and is seduced by the powers & strength he gets so the other guy also gets himself bitten and the two fight for the love of the girl in their trio. The girl kills the boy who bit her in revenge for killing her boyfriend, finishes he movie, leaving a message for Sam and Dean that she will feed off of animal hearts and not harm humans, asking for a chance to live in peace. Benny calls Dean for help and Sam is only told that dean needs some time off to work out some personal issues. Dean helps Benny track & kill his maker who had killed Andrea, the woman that Benny had loved. When they find the maker, who has Amelia, herself now a vampire, they are outnumbered and Dean calls Sam for help. Later, as Sam meets Benny for the first time, and upon realizing that he is not human, Sam has a difficult time not killing Benny. We then learn more of Sam’s lover, Amelia (Liane Balaban) in flashbacks, a woman who had lost her husband Don. We also learn that Dean, while he is under a spell, is actually angry at Sam for not searching for hi while he was in Purgatory.

After Sam and Dean investigate a series of demon abductions, a weakened Castiel appears to them with no memory of how he escaped Purgatory. Dean has some guilt for not saving Castiel. Castiel reveals that he chose not to leave Purgatory with Dean, telling Dean that remaining in Purgatory was his penance for his previous actions. Dean is distressed to learn that Castiel stayed behind of his own volition. The 3 of them rescue Kevin and a few other prophet in waiting from Crowley, who manages to take half of the broken tablet with him before he leaves. Castiel then “checks in” with a higher-level angel, named Naomi (Amanda Tapping), who asks about Sam and Dean and tells him that an army of angels rescued him from Purgatory and that he will not remember these periodic check-ins. Sam gets fellow hunter Martin (Jon Gries) to check up on Benny, who is now in Louisiana. When Dean finds Benny, he is burying another victim and claims that it is a rogue vampire, named Desmond, who is trying to draw Benny back into the fold by killing a victim each time he refuses. Benny is there to look after his great-granddaughter Elizabeth, who is human. Dean & Benny kills Desmond but the unstable Martin takes Elizabeth hostage to get to Benny.  Elizabeth calls Dean who returns to find that Benny is gone and Martin is dead. In flashbacks, Sam is shown leaving Amelia to give her a chance with her husband, who is a good man. Upon returning to Texas, he finds Amelia fine and living with her husband, and realizes that Dean tricked him to get him out of the way. Sam calls Dean, angry at him for what he did, and learns of Martin’s death. Sam hangs up on Dean, only to find that Amelia saw him at her window and has come to the bar to see him.

The brothers will continue to clash about Benny but reunites to fight more cases. Sam and Dean are stunned when a man who claims to be Henry Winchester, their grandfather, suddenly appears in their hotel room demanding to know where he can find John Winchester. Henry has time-traveled to stop a demon named Abaddon and was looking for John’s help. Through Henry, Sam and Dean learn more about their father and the Winchester blood line. Kevin deciphers the tablet and figures out how to close the gates of Hell. He tells Sam and Dean that according to the tablet one person must face a series of three tests designed by God. The first one – kill a hellhound. Sam and Dean argue over who should complete the trials. Eventually Sam is the one who starts the tasks. Meanwhile, Dean receives a visit from Naomi and realizes he must find Benny and ask for a huge favor. The physical toll the second trial took on Sam, Dean benches his brother from hunting until he heals up. The boys now have a safe house, the lair of the Men of Letters, which also keeps them safe from demons. So, when geektastic hacker Charlie stumbles upon a case and finds the boys, Dean decides it’s time to teach Charlie how to be a hunter-in-training. In a casino in Colarado, Sam & Dean run into Metatron, a recluse from heaven who may be able to fill in the holes in Kevin’s research. Castiel tries to elude Naomi and the angels hunting him. Sam and Dean reunite with Castiel. Digging through the Men of Letters’ files, they stumble upon an undiscovered film which could be the key to the third trial. Metatron enlists Cas to mull over problems at home. Meanwhile, Crowley digs into Sam and Dean’s past. Sam and Dean make a deal with Crowley: the brothers give the demon tablet to Crowley in exchange for the angel tablet and the promise to stop killing everyone Sam and Dean ever saved.

Meeting up at Bobby’s old house, the brothers pretend to make the deal, then capture Crowley in demon-binding handcuffs so they can use him for the third trial. They take him to an abandoned church (consecrated ground), where Sam confesses his sins to purify his blood; he then injects Crowley with his purified blood as part of the demon-curing process. Elsewhere, Castiel and Metatron try to complete the second Heaven trial by retrieving the bow of a cupid, but Naomi and her men kidnap Metatron, leaving Castiel behind. Castiel asks Dean for help in completing the angel trial. Against Dean’s better judgment, they leave Sam alone with Crowley and go to retrieve the bow of a Cupid, eventually convincing a cherub to give up her bow. Meanwhile, during his curing process, Crowley bites Sam’s hand and takes a mouthful of his blood, which he then uses to make a “call” to his demons, for help. However, Abaddon arrives, and tries to kill them both, to rule Hell herself. Crowley stalls while Sam douses her in Holy Fire, and Abaddon leaves her vessel and the building. In Heaven, Naomi learns Metatron has been lying, and really wants to expel all angels from Heaven as revenge for his own expulsion. She hastens to inform Dean and Castiel, also telling Dean that completing the demon trials will kill Sam. She also offers Castiel the chance to return to Heaven. Castiel brings Dean back to the church, but then teleports back up to Heaven. Upon arriving, Castiel discovers Naomi’s dead body, killed by her own torture device, and is then ambushed by Metatron. At the church, Sam does not care that completing the trial will kill him, telling Dean that he felt his greatest sin was letting his brother down, multiple times. Dean assures Sam of his love, and they stop the trial before its completion. Back in Heaven, Metatron extracts Castiel’s grace, the final component needed in the spell he is really working. Castiel, now fully human, falls back to Earth. Dean, Sam, Castiel and Crowley look up into the night sky as thousands of angels begin to fall.

This Is The End

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Released in 2013 This Is The Endis an apocalyptic comedy written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their directorial debut. The movie stars comedic actors and friends Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill & Danny McBride as fictional versions of themselves who are at a party in Franco’s LA home when the apocalypse occurs. Also appearing in the movie are Emma Watson with camoes by Rhianna, Michael Cera, David Krumholz, Jason Segal, Channing Tatum, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Aziz Anzari and the Backstreet Boys. Ok that last part made me want to vomit but the rest is good so let’s get on with the movie.

Jay Baruchel arrives in Los Angeles and is met at the airport by his friend Seth Rogen and they hang out at the latter’s house smoking pot, eating and just watching tv. Seth then makes Jay got to James Franco’s house warming party but Jay is uncomfortable as there are a lot of people that he doesn’t know well. As the party goes enjoy themselves, Seth joins Jay when he goes to a convenience store nearby. Suddenly they feel the ground rumble and blue beams of light appear from the sky and carry away some of the store customers. Amid explosions, car & other vehicle crashes they rush back to Franco’s house and warn the others. Everyone rushes outside because of a powerful earthquake and see the Hollywood Hills on fire. A huge crack appears in the ground which leads to a firey pit of lava and most of the celebrities fall in and died (Michael Cera has a hilarious death when a sharp broken pole impales him) and only Seth, Jay, James, Craig & Johan survive and they board themselves up in Franco’s house and ration the food, drugs & drinks. Unknown to the others Danny McBride has sneaked in and was passed out in a bathroom and he wakes up the next morning unaware of the crisis and makes a large breakfast. Initially he doesn’t believe their story but a survivor trying to get in is decapticated and his head rolls in the house, convincing Danny.

There are conflicts within the 6 of them as have little food but to pass the time doing drugs and filming a homemade sequel to Pineapple Express’. Emma Watson, who was at the party, returns back thinking it was a zombie invasion but due  to a misunderstanding, she believes the group is planning to rape her and leaves, taking their drinks. Craig is selected to go out to find more water but gets scared and returns soon, so the group dig a hole to the basement and collect big bottles of stored water. Craig’s experience causes him to believe Jay’s theory of the Apocalypse and that the blue beams are part of the Rapture, taken good people to Heaven. Danny causes friction by wasting some of the water and after a brief fight, he leaves but not before revealing that Jay was in town two months before at a Four Seasons concert, and was asked not to tell Seth, due to their strained friendship. As Seth becomes upset Johan, who till now idolized Jay, is punched by Jay when he tries to tell him that what he did was wrong. At night Jonah prays for Jay to die and a demon comes in and rapes him causing him to become possessed. Craig volunteers to explore a neighboring home for supplies with Jay. Now demonically possessed and supernaturally strong, Jonah chases James and Seth while Craig and Jay flee a demonic bull. The group subdues Jonah, but during an Exorcism attempt, a fight breaks out between Seth and Jay due to their differences which cause’s a fire to destroy the house and Jonah’s body, forcing them outdoors. Outside a huge winged demon stalks them and Craig, regretting some of the mistakes he made in his life, sacrificed himself to save the other 3.

The plan succeeds but, unexpectedly, Craig is taken to heaven by the Rapture because of his good deed, giving hope to the group. James, Seth & Jay take a car and head to the city and are attacked by cannibals led by Danny with Channing Tatum as his sex slave, capture them, James volunteers to sacrifice himself. Once again his sacrifice sees him selected for rapture and a blue beam of light starts lifting him – but James is reject in mid air as he taunts Danny and he falls to the ground and is eaten alive by the cannibals. Jay & Seth run away but find themselves in front of Satan – a huge demon with horns. Faced with sure death the two reconcile and Jay is pulled to heaven without Seth, so Jay grabs Seth and pulls him along. As dragging Seth along is preventing Jay from entering heaven, Seth sacrifices himself to save his friend, and is also taken by the Rapture. Craig welcomes Jay and Seth and explains that Heaven is where anything comes true. Jay wishes for the Backstreet Boys, and the film ends with the band performing “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” for a heavenly party.

Hilariously funny and a bromance movie with a lot of dirty humour and silly stuff,  this is a great fun movie to enjoy. For me personally though, I can’t stand either Craig Robinson or Danny McBride and that did make me lose some of the enjoyment. Oh and the Bacteria Boys – what the fuck! Still a fun must see movie and I can easily give it 8 outta 10!

Iranian Expat Musicians Killed

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Tragedy struck the music world with the shooting & murder of two members of the expat Iranian rock band The Yellow Dogs. The members of the band were from Tehran, Iran but sang in English and played Western instruments, citing Joy Division as an influence. Their music was not approved by Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and was therefore Illegal. On 8-9 December, 2009 the band was interviewed by the U.S. government at the U.S. embassy in Istanbul, Turkey and their comments about the Iranian Green Movement Protesters, Iranian counter-culture, freedom of expression, trends in drug usage and music in the authoritarian state were reported in an unclassified U.S. State Department document later released by wikileaks titled, “Iran/culture: So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star.”  Siavash Karampour (vocals), Soroush Farazmand (guitar), Koory Mirzeai (bass) and Arash Farazmand (drums)

After playing in secret venues in Iran, they finally played their first above ground concert in Istanbul, Turkey and soon after  they flew to New York City to play their second legal concert in Brooklyn. Since then they’ve played mostly in the us around New York and festivals in Austin, Texas and one of their songs has made it to the soundtrack of the documentary on Iranian bands No One Knows About Persian Cats.

On November 11, 2013, a shooting took place in Brooklyn that involved current and former band members. According to band manager Ali Salehezadeh, guitarist Soroush Farazmand and drummer Arash Farazmand, along with Ali Eskandarian, a musician friend who was not part of the band, were killed by another musician named Ali Akbar Mahammadi Rafie.  A fourth person was wounded. Raefa had been kicked out of a different band (Free Keys) the previous year an had a falling out with the members of The Yellow Dogs. The gunman and members of the Free Keys are said to have had an argument over money, though it was unclear why he attacked the Yellow Dogs bandsmen.

My Pet Crow

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Most people have cats or dogs as pets. Some people have love birds, fish, ferrets, rabbits, parrots, parakeets, horses, turtles, ponies or hamsters.

Me – I have a crow! This guy comes to my balcony mostly during breakfast time and mostly when we have dosa for breakfast and “caws” my ears off until I give him a piece of the crispiest part to eat. He takes it and then goes off to eat it in peace. This photo was taken today just before I sat down to eat my breakfast. Saw him on the balcony so before he could cry out I went and gave him a section of the crispiest part of the hottest dosa. He took it, I snapped the pic and 30 seconds later he flew off with it in his beak.

A funny incident happened a few days ago. We had dosa for breakfast and I went back to my room. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks but there he was just outside my window, perched on the pipes that run on the parapet below the window. He kept cawing loudly and it sounded like he was complaining and rebuking me for not saving a piece of dosa for him. As one of the window grill has been removed for repair work he almost came into my room until I went and shooed him away. Then he came to the balcony and started cawing over there loudly, complaining as he was hungry for dosa!

Arsenal 0 Manchester United 1

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Arsenal seemed too nervous and lacked the killer instinct in their biggest match of the season so far as they lost 0-1 at Manchester United. At stake for the game was a a chance to maintain a 5 point gap at the top of the table, bragging rights and a psychological advantage and to cement their chances of being credited as solid front runners for the league title. They faltered at the stage and despite improving their game in the second half and going close a few times they were defeated. What was worse is that former Arsenal top scorer Robin Van Persie was the one who scored the goal for United and then celebrated in exuberant style.

All is not lost and the engaging game, narrow margin or a solitary goal shows signs that Arsenal can reverse the scoreline and more when their hated rivals visit the Emirates stadium later in the season. But they did have a chance to shut out any naysayers who felt that the Gunners were not yet title contenders. On the other side United boss David Moyes knew defeat would have left them 11 points adrift in the title race, a gap which might have proved beyond even the reigning champions. Wenger revealed sickness in his camp had deprived him of defender Per Mertesacker and midfielder Tomas Rosicky, while Mikel Arteta was fit to start despite also feeling unwell. This may have contributed towards a decidedly flat first 45 minutes. And despite a much-improved second half, which included two perfect crosses from full-back Bacary Sagna that somehow went untouched, it was United’s fans who were celebrating a win of great significance at the final whistle.

It was a disappointing end to a week in which Arsenal made major statements of intent against Liverpool in the Premier League and away to Dortmund in the Champions League. Now we go into the international break with a 2 point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table and United climb upto 5th place 5 points away.

Lockout

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Released in April of 2012 Lockout is an English language science fiction-action French film directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, and written by Mather, St. Leger, and Luc Besson. The movie stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun & Lennie James. The science fiction is only the futuristic setting, minor parts of the plot and some stuff – the movie is actually more action oriented.

Alright so it’s 2097 and CIA agent Snow is arrested for the murder of undercover agent Frank Armstrong who had uncovered evidence of an agent selling state secrets about the space program. In truth Snow is innocent of the crime but it only looked that way to the CIA agents headed by Secret Service director Scott Langral. Just before getting caught at the railway station Snow managed to pass on a briefcase containing the secret information to his friend Mace, who hid it before getting caught himself and sent to the maximum security space penitentiary MS One where prisoners are kept in stasis for their sentence. During his interrogation Snow himself is threatened with incareceration in MS One. Meanwhile Emilie Warnock, daughter of the US President visits MS One to investigate claims that stasis might affect prisoners’ minds, leading to psychopathy and dementia. The guards select one of the prisoners, Hydell, take him out of stasis and sent to meet Emilie for questioning as part of her research but the maniac prisoner escapes, takes a gun and kills some of the guards before letting all of the prisoners free and starts a riot, led by his brother Alex.

Emilie and her small entourage are held as hostages along with the surviving tech support and prison crew. The Secret Service alerts the President on the situation and discuss their plans to attack the prison and either kill or capture the prisoners without harming Emilie or the rest of the hostages. Snow’s agent friend Harry Shaw convinces Langral to send Snow to rescue Emilie rather than risk her life in a siege.  Snow is initially reluctant, but agrees after Shaw tells him that Mace is on MS One, and could help Snow prove his innocence. Snow secretly infiltrates MS One. With Alex having realized that Emilie is the president’s daughter, he goes to secure her but she manages to escape along with her her bodyguard Hock and hide in a secure room. A problem with the oxygen supply forces Hock to commit suicide to give Emilie more time. Snow manages to sneak in after being flown to the prison and rescues Emilie and then changes her hair to conceal her gender and appearance after the prison is alerted to her true identity, allowing them to walk through the prison population. They find Mace among the prisoners but the stasis has given him dementia and made him incoherent. Mace is killed as the station starts to break down without the maintenance of the staff & the prison has begun to fall out of its orbit and crashes into the International Space Station. Guided by Langral’s electronic map, Snow brings Emilie to the escape pods but finding only space for one person, he tells her to go ahead and that he will take the ‘next’ one. Emilie however releases the pod but does not go in it, telling Snow that with her there, they have a better chance of rescuing the hostages.

As Snow and Emilie flee, they discover evidence that the prisoners were being illegally used as test subjects. Alex finds them and captures Emilie bringing her back to the control rooms while Snow is left lying in a section below, thought to be dead. When Alex learns that Hydell has killed all of the hostages, he beats Hydell and contacts the President threatening to allow Hydell and the prison population to rape Emilie if they are not released. The President refuses to allow a siege and risk Emilie, causing Langral to temporarily relieve him of his command. Langral orders the destruction of MS One. Hydell is infuriated with his brother who stops his attempts to rape Emilie and kills Alex. Snow recovers and manages to reach them just in time to save Emilie from Hydell and escape to the space suits area guided by the map. Langral has shuttles place a bomb on the prison and it is destroyed while Snow & Emilie escape in the space suits and land safely in New York. Snow however is arrested on landing and taken back for interrogation. While recovering in a hospital, Emilie realizes that Mace’s incoherent babbling was in fact the location of and password needed to access Frank’s briefcase. With the briefcase in his possession Snow meets up with Shaw who immediately opens it with the right combination but finds it empty. Snow notes that he had not given the unlock code to Shaw, and Shaw is revealed as the mole and arrested by Langral. Snow is released and his possessions returned, including a lighter given to him by Frank before his death. Snow finds a memory card containing the real secret information hidden within it. Emilie meets Snow and teases him, having learned his first name is Marion. The pair walk away together.

Good action movie but does nothing to excite me as a science fiction movie as the concepts shown are nothing new and infact seems stake and repeated. The movie is enjoyable as an action flick. It onl made @32 mil on a $20 mil budget and was considered a failure. It’s ok for a lazy afternoon on the dvd or bluray right after dinner. 7 outta 10!

A Dream About A Slimy Monster

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I had this weird dream a couple of nights ago. It was straight outta a mid 80s horror movie – it even looked and the special effects of a horror movie of that era! I actually think this is a horror movie that I have seen many years ago just rehashed into my sleep and dreams. I dunno.

It’s a small city in the mid-western USA (aren’t all 80s horror movies in small towns or cities in the Mid West) and there is a celebration going on as the local school’s sports team (can’t remember which sport it was, either basketball or American football) has just won their 10th game in a row. So the players, cheerleaders, other students are all partying and celebrating by making a lot of noise and drinking cheap beer and honking horns. In the midst of all this, a small tremor occurs near the lake next to the town and a fissure opens up and out comes a horrible looking, stinky mess of dark brown slime with a mouth and two eyes. For the sake of this blog post let’s call this monster the slimo. The slimo is angry that it’s resting place was disturbed and is on a rampage – it sees two teenagers skinny dipping nearby and things these humans are the reason it has been moved out of it’s natural resting place and slowly glides towards them, unseen in the dark. The slimo then attacks the two teens – the effect of the slimo’s touch is a extreme burning off of the skin so that only the human flesh remains while the human is still alive. As the teens scream in agony the slimo then swallows them whole, digesting them as the flesh burns in him in a matter of minutes.

The slimo now feeling more powerful then goes about the town attacking people in the dark – in the streets, in their houses and swallowing up people. A few people manage to escape as they run faster than it can glide. It reaches a big house where the drunk students are partying – and slimo relishes feasting on drunk teenagers who stumble and fall and it manages to kill off 90% of the high school. The local cops and the townsfolks have no idea what to do to stop the slimo as cars, trucks, guns have no effect on it. Finally it enters the local hospital….

and that’s when I woke up.

Items To Put In Voyager

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NASA is building a new Voyager spacecraft that will carry the best of modern human culture. What belongs onboard?

Hmmm good question. If it were upto me:

  • Books – titles by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, the Game Of Thrones books, novels from Stephen King & Anne Rice
  • a laptop, an ipod / mp3 player, a tab and a smartphone
  • recipes & ingredients for hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, some cake (pineapple upside down cake perhaps)
  • tv shows – Star Trek and only Star Trek
  • Some good coffee – Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Illy, Costa whatever
  • Some vodka, tequila, Long Island Ice tea, lots of beer
  • bacon – lots of it and pork chops
  • a comfy recliner
  • a pool table
  • some good quality weed

I forgot, what was the blog prompt about? Who care I just wanna be there along with this stuff in the spacecraft! Add me!

One Man, 29 Wives, 94 Kids, 33 Grandkids

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A guy named Ziona Chana lives in India, has 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren. He lives with all of them in a 100-room four storey house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram, where the wives sleep in giant communal dormitories and his wives take it in turns to share his bed. It takes 30 whole chickens just to make dinner!

Chana says he feels that he is like God’s special child as he’s been given so many people to look after. The family is organised with almost military discipline, with the oldest wife Zathiangi organising her fellow partners to perform household chores such as cleaning, washing and preparing meals. One evening meal can see them pluck 30 chickens, peel 132lb of potatoes and boil up to 220lb of rice. Coincidentally, Mr Chana is also head of a sect that allows members to take as many wives as he wants.

He even married ten women in one year, when he was at his most prolific, and enjoys his own double bed while his wives have to make do with communal dormitories. He keeps the youngest women near to his bedroom with the older members of the family sleeping further away – and there is a rotation system for who visits Mr Chana’s bedroom.
Rinkmini, one of Mr Chana’s wives who is 35 years old, said: ‘We stay around him as he is the most important person in the house. He is the most handsome person in the village. Another of his wives, Huntharnghanki, said the entire family gets along well. The family system is reportedly based on ‘mutual love and respect’

And Mr Chana, whose religious sect has 4,00 members, says he has not stopped looking for new wives. ‘To expand my sect, I am willing to go even to the U.S. to marry,’ he said. One of his sons insisted that Mr Chana, whose grandfather also had many wives, marries the poor women from the village so he can look after them.

The Conjuring

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Released in July of 2013 The Conjuring is a supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad & Carey Hayes. The movie is said to be based on true events about one of the cases that  Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting, investigated and exorcised. The movie stars Vera Farminga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor & Ron Livingston. Set in the 70s it is a really creepy movie.

The Perron family – husband & wife Roger & Carolyn – have moved into a farmhouse in  Harrisville, Rhode Island with their five daughters in 1971. Their first day goes smoothly with the family moving their belongings in but their dog Sadie does not want to enter and stays outside the house. In a hall closet one of the daughter finds a boarded up entrance to an old cellar. Slowly things start going weird first with Carolyn waking up with strange bruises on her body and all the clocks in the house stop at exactly 3:07. One of the daughter Cindi has an episode of sleepwalking, something she hasn’t done in a long time and they find Sadie dead outside. They also find a couple of birds who die after they fly straight into the windows of the house. Throughout the first half of the film we also see some scenes of Ed & his wife Lorraine teaching a seminar on supernatural occurrences, possessions and exorcism. Ed & Lorraine have a young daughter called Judy and they show a restricted room in the Warren household which houses special objects that were used by spirits while haunting someone.

Meanwhile back at the Perron house, while Roger is away for work,  after hearing various clapping, giggling, and seeing the picture frames shattered on the stairs, Carolyn is locked up in the cellar and it is apparent that there is a presence in with her. Right after this, Cindy is awakened after sleepwalking into Andrea’s room and is horrified when she sees a spirit at the top of a wardrobe in the room, who attacks Andrea. The Perrons meets Ed & Lorraine and asks them them to for help and the Warrens visit them and conduct an initial investigation and conclude that the house may require an exorcism, but they needed authorization from the Catholic Church and further evidence before that. Researching the history of the house they find out that  the house once belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba, who tried to sacrifice her children to the devil and killed herself in 1863 after cursing all who would take her land. Originally 200 acres the land was divided and sold off separately to various people and find reports of numerous murders and suicides in houses that have since been built upon parcels that were once part of the property. They then return with 2 other people to the Perron house to gather enough evidence to request the Vatican for a sanctioned exorcism; while Ed can perform one he isn’t ordained. Cindy sleepwalks into Andrea’s room once again and reveals a secret passage behind a wardrobe. Lorraine enters the passage and falls through the floorboards into the cellar, where she sees the spirit of a woman whom Bathsheba had long ago possessed and used to kill her child. Another of the Perron children, Nancy, is violently dragged by her hair along the floor by an unseen force.

Recording whatever they could the Warren have the evidence sent to get sanction while the Perron’s take refuge in a motel. However, using a locket of Lorraine’s that fell in the cellar Bathsheba haunt & attack Judy back at the Warren’s house though Ed arrives in time to prevent her from getting harmed. Carolyn now possessed by the spirit of Bathsheba takes two of her daughters Christine and April, and drives back to the house. Ed, Lorraine and their two assistants rush back to the house, joined by Roger where they find Carolyn trying to stab Christine with the shears while April has hidden in the gaps beneath the house . After tying up Carolyn Ed decides to do the  exorcism himself, though Carolyn escapes and again attempts to kill April. Lorraine is able to help Carolyn fight the spirit by talking to Carolyn and reminding her of a trip the Perron family took to the beach; earlier Carolyn had spoken to her about a photo that they took while there and said that the memory was very important to her. Ed completes the exorcism, sending Bathsehba away & saving Carolyn and her daughter. The Perrons pack up and leave the house happy to survive and after the Warrens reach home they find that the Church has sanctioned the exorcism.

Good scary movie with a lot of well used techniques. Works well to keep you scared and interested in the movie. 8 outta 10!

Tolerance

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TOLERANCE

This was a reader’s ‘Letter to the Editor’ on Tolerance, published in the UK daily “SUN”. Unsure of it’s authenticity and writer but here goes:

“I am truly perplexed that so many of my friends are against another mosque being built in London on the Thames? I think it should be the goal of every Englishman to be tolerant. Thus the Mosque should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance.

That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque, thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque. We could call one of the clubs, which would be gay, “The Turban Cowboy”, and the other a topless bar called “You Mecca Me Hot.”

Next door should be a butcher shop that specializes in pork, and adjacent to that an open-pit barbeque pork restaurant, called “Iraq o’ Ribs.” Across the street there could be a lingerie store called “Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret “, with sexy mannequins in the window modelling the goods.

Next door to the lingerie shop there would be room for an adult sex toy shop, “Koranal Knowledge “, its name in flashing neon lights, and on the other side a liquor store called “Morehammered.”

All of this would encourage the Muslims to demonstrate the tolerance they demand of us, so the mosque problem would be solved. If you agree with promoting tolerance and you think this is a good plan, please publish my letter.”

The First Week Of November

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This search for a new job is not going well. After a long search I’ve only had 2 companies that had a forma interview with me face to face, several interests over the phone and a handful of email enquiries. I must say that the companies do a terrible job of getting back to you or saying “we’ve decided to go another route/way” or whatever. They want you to get to their offices at a particular time and date for their needs but can’t have the decency to inform you in one way or the other afterwards cause now they have no need for you.

The weather had turned much warmed these days. From highs of 26-29 degree Celsius that we were  enjoying for most of September & October, November has become much hotter and sweatier with 30-32 degrees each day. When it rains it doesn’t help much as it just makes things even more humid and hot after it stops. And the mosquitoes are back with a vengeance; having missed us a lot during the monsoon season with heavy rains and cold winds, these little vampires are now hunting for human blood at full throttle. Last night was terrible and I had to resort to using a mosquito bat to kill off a hundred or so of these bastards.

And in other news I am down with a blasted head cold yet again. It doesn’t help my sinuses that there is work going on in the apartment and all that dust and stuff plays havoc with my breathing issues. Today I was ok till about 11am when I suddenly felt a cold coming on and started sneezing like hell. I sneezed like a monster for a few hours. My sneezes were like Black Metal banshee screams! Laid down and slept it for about 3 hours and feel a lot better.

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

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Released last year Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World is a 2012 comedy drama movie about the last few days of life on planet earth. Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, in her directorial debut, the film stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley.

The movie opens up with the radio announcement that the 70 mile asteroid, called Matilda, is on a collision course with Earth and that the space shuttle Deliverance has failed on a mission to destroy it. There are 3 weeks left before impact, which will bring the end of all life on earth. Dodge and his wife Linda are sitting in their car on the road when they hear the announcement and when Dodge has a disinterested response to this news, Linda looks at him and flees the vehicle without saying a word to him. Dodge goes about his own life as the days pass, returning to the insurance company where he works and trying to continue his routine. While his friends seem to be living it up with constant drinking, partying and drugs, his life has not changed. Even his housekeeper, Elsa, continues to show up and clean his apartment despite Dodge’s insistence that there is no further need to do so. It takes a co-worker jumping to his death and falling on top of Dodge’s car to make him stop going to work.

He attends a party at his friend Warren’s house where Dodge seems distant from the wild partying going on, usage of cocaine (and funny scenes of the parents making the kids drink) and even rejects Warren’s wife Diane’s attempts to set him up with a common friend Karen as well as Diane’s sexual pass at him. Dodge returns home to reminisce about his highschool sweetheart Olivia, when he notices his neighbour Penny crying on the fire escape as she missed the last commercial flight and has no chance of seeing her family back in England. She has also just broken up with her casual boyfriend. Returning to her apartment, Penny gives Dodge three years’ worth of his mail that was incorrectly delivered to her, but which she kept forgetting to hand over, and in the process unknowingly tells him that his wife was having an affair. Upset he goes off into the night drinking codeine-laced cough syrup and window cleaner in an attempt to kill himself. But he wakes up in the morning with a dog on a leash tied next to him with a note saying just “Sorry”. Dodge takes the dog, who he names, Sorry, home with him and opens his mail finding a letter from Olivia, dated 3 months ago, in which she explains why she left him and what has happened in her life, concluding with the admission that he was “the love of her life”. That night a riot breaks out in the area and Dodge helps Penny and Owen get out of the building. After Owen uses Penny as a human shield when they hear gunfire, they dump him in the streets and head out in Penny’s car, with Sorry.

Dodge tells her that he knows someone who has a plane and could fly her to England if she promises to help him find Olivia first. She agrees and the two set off for Dodge’s hometown in Delaware. After running out of gas they hitch a ride with a truck driver (William Petersen) who is a cancer patient and had hired an assassin to kill him, before the asteroid about to hit earth was discovered. The driver mistook Dodge to be the assassin but when they stop at a field, he is gunned down by the hit man, who high-tails it down the road in a getaway car. After burying the driver, Dodge & Penny take the truck and continue on their way. They stop at a popular restaurant where there is a wild party with lots of food, drinks and an orgy going on and although the two leave, swept up in the moment they have sex in the truck. They are flagged for speeding by a thoughtless police officer who throws them in jail and impounds their car, although a kindly older cop sets them free and says he will drive them as far as Camden, New Jersey. They then head to Penny’s ex called Speck who, after letting her use his sat phone to contact her parents and she has an emotional talk with her family. They then borrow one of Speck’s Smart cars and drive to Olivia’s old family house. They find it empty so they break in and have a nice meal while listening to Penny’s records. The next day they go to Olivia’s new home but Dodge only leaves a note for her and does not go in to see his old girlfriend.

They join a group of people enjoying an afternoon at the beach and become closer before Dodge says that he plans to help her get back to England and they drive to Somerset, where they pay a visit to Dodge’s estranged father Frank (Martin Sheen). After father & son reconcile (Frank has left his family 25 years ago) the 3 of them sit down to a nice dinner and personal time. After Penny falls asleep, Dodge carries her outside and it becomes apparent that the pilot he mentioned earlier is none other than his father, who is waiting for them in his airplane. Dodge gently places her in the passenger seat of the small plane, whispering to her that she is the love of his life, then nods to his father and watches as the plane flies away. Dodge then head back to his apartment finding a note from Karen and also is shocked to see his maid there. He scolds her and asks her to go be with her family  but in the end when she seems greatly disappointed, he tells her that he will see her next Thursday, as usual. Turning on the tv news he learns that Matilda is due to arrive one week earlier than expected as the news anchors winds down  the final broadcast. There is now only 16 hours left for impact. Taking Sorry with him he goes to Penny’s apartment and spends the next few hours listening to her records until the power goes out. As he lights candles he finds Penny has come back; she woke up in the plane and made Frank bring her back. She asks how he could have possibly left her. He admits that it was the stupidest thing he’d ever done, and the two share one final, tearful reunion.

Saying that her parents have each other and her brothers and their families, Penny lies down on the bed with Dodge and the dog and they talk. As the distant boom of Matilda collision with Earth. Penny panics, telling him that she thought they could have saved each other, but Dodge assures her they did. The final moments the two of them smile as in the distance a bright white  appears behind Penny in the background, which rapidly grows brighter and brighter until it starts to envelop them, at which point it becomes a white fade as the film ends.

I liked the movie a lot even if it flopped at the boxoffice, making slightly less than it’s $10 mil budget. It’s a nice, sweet movie with moments of humour and sweetness. 8 outta 10 for me!

Late-Night Infomercial Narrative For This Blog

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Write a script for a late-night infomercial — where the product is your blog. How do you market yourself? What qualities do you embody that other “products” don’t? What are the benefits of reading your blog?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys & girls – let me introduce you to the one blog that does things better than most. Sit back and give me a few minutes of you time while I explain why you “NEED” to visit this blog regularly and keep coming back!

This blog values truth, freedom or speech and loves people (for the most part, there are some elements of humanity that don’t deserve any sort of love) but isn’t going to take any of your bullshit! It’s a bullshit free zone! This blog like humour in the form of words or images and usually is written (typed) with a big smile on the face of the blogger. This blog has a lot of thoughts, musing and dreams (both while asleep and awake). This blog does not contain anything that the blogger does not feel passionate about – and hence every single post is written up or posted (in case of videos or images) with a heavy dose of enthusiasm and not just because the blogger has to post!

This blog has a variety of categories – sports (football and hockey and the occasional other sports), music, movies, tv shows, some politics and local events, lots of food and drink, coffee, humour, books, other blogs, religion & atheism. Lots of photos of delicious stuff. This blogger also blogs about his loves, hates, family, friends and some of his feelings, happy or sad or angry or whatever.

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Star Trek: TOS Women 14

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As I currently rewatching all 3 seasons of Star Trek TOS I am in the process of documenting more of the TOS women. Yeoman Mears is the one for today. Mears (first name not entered) was a Starfleet yeoman, portrayed as a blue eyed, dusky beauty serving aboard the USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, in the 2260s. Her one and only TOS appearance is in the stellar season 1 episode The Galileo 7. In 2267 (Stardate: 2821.5), Mears was assigned to accompany Lieutenant Commander Spock’s mission to study the Murasaki 312 phenomenon aboard the shuttlecraft Galileo. Their mission is to study  Murasaki 312, a quasar-like formation. Along with Spock & Mears are Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott,  lieutenants Latimer, Gaetano, and Boma.

However while inside the phenomenon, the shuttlecraft encounters rough turbulence, knocking it off-course. The electrical interference generated by the phenomenon makes sensors unreliable and communication impossible for the shuttlecraft, as well as for the Enterprise. The Galileo is forced to make an emergency landing on Taurus II, a lone planet at the heart of Murasaki 312. While Scotty attempts repairs Gaetano and Latimer are sent out to scout the area. The crash survivors are attacked by giant, spear-wielding, “cave man”-like humanoids. Both Latimer & Gaetano are killed in separate attacks and Spock comes under fire for his “cold & distant” approach with just logic while the humans are unable to overcome their grief over the deaths of their fellow crewmen. Mears is one of the 5 survivors who makes it back to orbit in the much damaged ship and they are rescued by Enterprise when they are beamed aboard just in time before the Galileo is destroyed.

Mears was played by the late Phyllis Douglas (24 July 1936 – 12 May 2010; age 73). She also appeared as one of the hippes in the episode “The Way to Eden“. Douglas (daughter of famous assistant director Ridgeway Callow) made her feature acting debut at the age of two in the epic classic Gone With the Wind (1939, photographed by Ernest Haller). She later appeared (again, without credit) in the film Raintree County, which also featured DeForest Kelley. In 1959’s Girls Town she played the character Eleanor alongside Elinor Donahue. She also appeared in two episodes of Batman (both with Lawrence Montaigne). Douglas retired from acting and sold recreational vehicle lots in Palm Springs, California. She passed away on May 12, 2010.