Boomdiada, The World is Just Awesome

Te he he, one of the Discovery Channel AD songs I like very much. Fell in love with it the first time I heard it. Finally, I found the lyrics.

Umm…I don’t love really dirty things; I don’t love tornados; but I definitely love the world. The world is just awesome. :)

In case you wonder what boomdiada means, here is the definition from Urban Dictionary - An expression coined by The Discovery Channel used to express love for the Earth.

  

I love the mountains
I love the clear, blue skies
I love big bridges
I love when great whites fly
I love the whole world
and all it’s sights and sounds
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
I love the oceans
I love real dirty things
I love to go fast
I love Egyptian kings
I love the whole world
and all its craziness
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
I love tornados
I love arachnids
I love hot magma
I love the giant squids
I love the whole world
It’s such a brilliant place
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada
Boomdiada

The World is just awesome.

Discovery Channel: Out of Egypt

这两天的Discovery
Channel真正精彩，周日晚放了3集Planet
Earth，是我热爱的自然和动物；周一晚则是两集Out of
Egypt和一集Cleopatra:
Portrait of a Killer，也是我很感兴趣的人文景观、文化比较加考古。等这个周日的Planet Earth结束再说Planet Earth吧，先说说昨晚的Out of
Egypt（一共6集）。

我鲜少有盯着电视看电视的，一般都奉行multi-tasking的原则，不过Out of
Egypt确实让我看的目不转睛。原因很简单，实在是不能错过世界各地pyramid的介绍，因为我想有朝一日，这些地方我都要走个遍。

埃及的金字塔自然是大名鼎鼎众所皆知了，不过我还是第一次知道原来古埃及人认为神的重生是伴随着太阳的起落，朝生夕亡，也因此金字塔中法老棺木摆放的位置也对着旭日东升的方向。另一个有趣的事实是关于金字塔的建造，显然到了Khufu金字塔的时候，金字塔的建造技术已经相对成熟。他的父亲古埃及法老Snefru的时候就不是这样了，他先后建造了3个金字塔以追求金字塔的完美建筑，居中第一个建造的金字塔外墙面坍塌（尚不可考证到底何时坍塌），bent
pyramid在角度构造上不够完美，从52度角变成了顶部的43度角，直到red
pyramid才完成了比较完美的43度角斜体金字塔。

墨西哥的玛雅古建筑里也包含很多pyramid风格，这个是我以前就知道的也是很想去实地一睹为快的。Mel
Gibson导演过一部反应玛雅文化的影片Apocalypto（2006），其中就有一段反映当时的统治者如何在玛雅神庙上用战俘祭奠神灵的场景。血淋淋啊，不过我个人以为蛮真实的再现了玛雅神庙的用途之一。除此之外，有些神庙也被用来作为对自然崇拜的象征，比如Out of
Egypt里面介绍的一座用来崇拜火山的神庙Popocatpetl。

好吧，我所以为的pyramid就这些了，其实我也压根没把墨西哥的神庙归到pyramid里面，不过似乎Out of
Egypt把很多尖塔型的古建筑都归为pyramid。比如，柬埔寨的吴哥窟（Angkor
Wat）。我对吴哥窟最形象的认识是从Tina的blog上读来的，她去年刚去过那里，拍了很多很赞的照片，那种古代文明给人的震撼不是一个美字可以形容的。吴哥窟的塔群是建筑在三层高的pyramid之上，庙宇上雕刻了各式的图样和人物造型，可以说是集建筑和雕刻为一体的经典。当然，我还没去过那里，只是看图说话，发表感叹而已。

除了柬埔寨的吴哥窟，秘鲁的马丘比丘（the Incas）、斯里兰卡的舍利塔等等等等古pyramid建筑之外，Out of
Egypt还 覆盖了不同文化中人类对鬼神的崇拜和通灵，呵呵，这部分我认为有些可是比较迷信的说，尤其是其中还有越南人为死去的亲人烧纸钱、衣服、鞋子之类的（和中国
一些地方异曲同工），估计这也体现了文化差异之所在了。比较有趣的一段是关于十六、十七世纪埃及木乃伊被盗运至欧洲不同国家之后被磨成粉末瓶装在药店出 售，呃……不知道是什么口感。

总体来说，我觉得Out of
Egypt是一部很值得一看的系列片，对我这个世界历史文化盲来说起到了很好的扫盲作用，也推荐给大家。

The Broken (2008)

是哪个家伙说这部电影是“绝佳”的惊悚片来着？绝对的不绝佳啊，我个人以为。其实我压根从头到尾没能深刻理解其中的含义。既然不是psycho，那是什么呢？总之要么是我的理解力下降，要么是这部电影压根拍的就是so so。 呃……我是坚决不会承认我没有理解力的，所以结论自然就是这部电影不够好咯。

我承认刚开始我还以为这部电影会是靠音效来制造恐怖气氛的电影，后面完全不是那么一回事。没事就别看了吧。我也就是电影列表满了，来这里发点评论而已。

伊丽莎白镇（Elizabethtown）

电影我就不想多介绍了。起初我是准备消磨时间的，所以很随机的点了这部Elizabethtown来看。多半看电影以消磨时间的时候，我都是一心多用的，所以边看电影边读小说。整部电影的上半部都甚少惊喜，很平淡的故事情节。真正吸引我开始认真看的是从Drew（Orlando Bloom）的母亲（Susan Sarandon）在父亲葬礼纪念仪式上的那段有些诙谐、搞笑又让人小小尴尬的讲话开始。然后就看到了后面的那段很有意思的road trip：Drew在Claire(Kirsten Dunst)精心准备的road map指引下从肯塔基、田纳西一路南下的一段路程。原来中部也是小有风光的啊，呵呵，让我对Memphis有了更直观的一些了解。

好吧，我这里最想说的，让我突然觉得这部电影有些吸引我的是片尾在世界第二大农场的那段音乐，实在是很赞啊，很田园，很乡土，让人沉浸于其中，久久不能回神。也很喜欢片尾的那段励志。因为这两点，我对这部可能过目即忘的电影有了个新印象：从可有可无变成值得一看了，尤其最后那20分钟，又尤其尤其最后10分钟的那段。

The ending quote of Elizabethtown (love, love, love it!)

“No true fiasco ever began as a quest for mere adequacy. A motto of the British Special Air Force is: 'Those who risk, win.' A single green vine shoot is able to grow through cement. The Pacific Northwestern salmon beats itself bloody on its quest to travel hundreds of miles upstream against the current, with a single purpose, sex of course, but also... life.” (Drew Baylor)

Thanks to Daniel, I finally found the music I like so much. It's Nancy Wilson's "River Road."

Michael Jackson

The following are some of my favorite M.J. songs. Don't ask me why I didn't include his Thriller or this and that. I said, "some," and I like his slow songs more. The picture was taken during our 2003 California trip.

Ben
Cry
The lost Children
Earth Song
Heal the World
We Are the World
You Are Not Alone
Speechless

Rest in peace, M.J.

Nature’s Most Amazing Events

周末播放的Nature’s Most Amazing Events是我在Discovery Channel看过所有节目中最最精彩的系列片，自然的美让你真正的感觉breathtaking，以致于我不愿错过其中的任何一个瞬间，认真的在电视机前坐足6小时观看。

Episode 1: Arctic Summer 北冰洋的夏天让你在洁白的冰雪世界中感受北极熊、极地狐、鲸鱼以及海鸟的生活，从初生到成长。

Episode 2: Grizzly Wilderness 三文鱼洄游产卵给夏季的棕熊和狼提供了充足的食物资源，阿拉斯加的Katmai国家公园不愧是熊的天堂（我的7月Katmai看熊啊～，期待）。

Episode 3: Surviving the Serengeti 非洲永远是描绘自然不可缺少的色彩，坦桑尼亚的Serengeti平原上饥饿的狮子猎食各类食草动物，让你体验自然界适者生存的法则。

Episode 4: Army of Predators 陆地如此，海洋亦是如此。非洲南部海洋沙丁鱼洄游也为大量的海洋生物带来了丰富的食物资源，各种动物独特的捕鱼方式：海豚的包抄、塘鹅的俯冲式捕鱼、以及鲨鱼的加入，让沙丁鱼陷入了重重包围。

Episode 5: Kalahari Food 镜头转而到非洲西部的Kalahari的干旱与洪水，大象、水牛，草食性的动物为了获取水源不得不长时间迁移直到抵达Botswana的Okavango Delta，一路随行的还有见缝插针攻击幼小动物的狮子，充分的水源让动物享受了一季的清凉，直到蒸发消失，再来年重新进行新一轮的迁徙轮回。

Episode 6: Pacific Feast (Finale) 如果说非洲是陆地动物的天堂，那么阿拉斯加海域就是海洋动物的乐园。每年夏季，humperback whale都要带着幼鲸从遥远的夏威夷穿过整个太平洋不远万里来到阿拉斯加和British Columbia海域，海狮可以说是阿拉斯加的常驻了，它们和鲸鱼以及逆戟鲸（killer whale）一样享受着这片海域，陆地上强者生存的故事同样也在海洋中演绎，落单的海狮会被逆戟鲸群起而攻击，夏天海洋中丰富的鱼群也成了各种鸟类、鲸鱼的丰富口粮。

神秘的北极、广阔的草原、蓝色的海洋、奔跑的动物、自然世界精彩瞬间的完美展示。我实在是很佩服能拍摄出这样系列片的摄影师们。如果你热爱自然，那么错过了这部系列片你一定会后悔。买DVD珍藏吧，我强烈推荐！

American Idol (Season 8)

Who will be tonight's winner and get the American Idol
title? My prediction is Adam Lambert. The DialIdol
website announced "Predictions are too close to call." Eunice said the winner
might be Kris Allen because he’s now leading over Adam, although only 1.1% separates
the two guys.

Well, I still think the winner will be Adam Lambert. Love love love how he
performed "Mad World." I even think his version is better than the original
singer's. My ex-colleague Donna downloaded it to her cell phone after Adam performed
this song a few weeks ago.

Kris is never one of my favorite singers. I actually
didn't think he can make this far. His first song (a Beetles' song, I forgot
the name) last week was not good at all; his second song was original, though. Some
people thought the second song made him win that week. Too bad Danny was sent
home that week. He's also a good singer─another singer I like besides Adam
Lambert. (Well, Eunice thought I like him because of his story. Not true.  More for his singing)

Let's wait and see. Don't miss tonight's season
finale.

Btw, last night's Dancing with the Star season
finale was BORING. Nothing impressive.

Go Susan Boyle!

Just watched Susan Boyle's singing on YouTube.

Who's this woman? A 47-year old contestant on the Britain's Got Talent 2009 show. Where did I dig her out? Well, she's on tonight's NBC Nightly News. I was watching the Nightly News, and suddenly Brian introduced her. (Surprise! I seldom see NBC Nightly News reports any entertainment news). Not only me, a lot of other people were introduced to watch her performance on YouTube through nightly.msnbc.com. Nobody would believe a woman like her has such a beautiful voice. An excellent excellent performance. I am deeply touched.

I dreamed a dream, originally sung by Les Miserables and performed by Susan Boyle. Go take a look. You will like it. (I mean her performance. You may still think she looks and acts a little bit weird.)

So You Think You Can Dance, Again

Don't blame me for my verbosity. ^_^ Just want to share with you my pick of this season's favorite dancers and routines.

Favorite Dancers

My first Pick: Katee Sheen - Such a fabulous choreographer, who is gift to dance. I am glad she's not sent home in Vegas weeks ago. Judges surely feel the same.

My second Pick: Joshua Allen - A great hip-hop dancer with flexibility and strength. Although Joshua is not trained as much as some other dancers, he really has the talent of dancing and grows so fast during the season.

My third pick: Will Wingfield - I actually like Will a lot. Pairing with Katee, he shined in both Pas De Deux and the Broadway routines. His contemporary routine with Jessica is fabulous, too. Personally, I hope it's Twitch who had been voted off that week. (grin~~)

Kind of disappointed that Katee didn't win the title. Joshua won, though, which is also acceptable. Both of them are my favorite dancers.

My Favorite 10 Routines

1. Katee & Joshua's contemporary routine - Hometown Glory
2. Katee & Will's Pas De Deux
3. Katee & Joshua's contemporary routine - All by Myself
4. Katee & Joshua's Hip-Hop routine - No Air
5. Katee & Joshua's Bollywood
6. Katee & Joshua's Part Deux
7. Katee & Twitch's Fox Tort
8. Joshua & Twitch's Russian Trepak
9. Chelsie & Joshua's Argentine Tango
10. Katee & Joshua's contemporary routine - Lyrical

Hehe, it's interesting to know that some of these dancers will come to Mobile in the following weeks. Apparently, that's the routine for shows like SYTYCD and American Idol:  Compete, Win, and Round-of-America Shows.

Mamma Mia!

I am looking forward to watching the movie Mamma Mia!, co-starring by Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, two of my favorite actors and actresses.

Forgive my ignorance; I didn't know Mamma Mia till sometime this May (or June?). Tina told me that she would go watching this show in Vegas and my first impression is like……ok……is this one famous?  

I have to accept that I am not a big musical fan, not to mention musical films. Watched Moulin Rouge (2001) and Chicago (2002), loved songs in Moulin Rouge but not those in Chicago, and felt the plot for the first one is ok: at least it's a love story, while the second one is not good: I didn't even finish that one, to be honest. Maybe this can be used as an excuse for my lack of knowledge to the Mamma Mia musical.

You may ask me: Where does your enthusiasm to this movie come from, considering you don't really like this film genre? Ok, let me count the reasons: 1) ABBA's songs; 2) Greece, where the movie is set; 3) Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan; 4) their singing and dances; and 5) incredible media coverage on this movie, which proves that advertisement is really effective, at least to me.

Can't wait to watch it, Mamma Mia! in theaters July 18.

So You Think You Can Dance

I love love love the Joshua & Katee couple. They are just fabulous, nailing down every dance they did. To be honest, I am not a big "So You Think You Can Dance" fan. This is the first time I ever watch this show. Hate the judge Mary's voice and don't really like some of those judges' comments during auditions. But when it came to the top 20 performance, I began to love this show. And among those 10 couples, Joshua and Katee are definitely my favorite dancers. Every routine they performed was awesome, no matter it's contempary, samba, BroadWay, Hip-Hop, or bollywood. Can you imagine that? This week, their last dance is a totally Indian style routine - bollywood. Love Joshua's adorable smile, Katee's cute face, and of course their dancing most. Gorgeous! If you haven't watched their performance, take a look on YouTube, you would love them too.

Go Joshua and Katee!