Response to Paul’s Challenge
I decided to respond to Paul’s challenge. He is challenging his readers to review his blog in order to receive a free linkback. So here I am. There are three criteria’s I use to measure whether or not I will come back or subscribe to a blog. And they are: content, design and frequent updates.
- Content is the most important factor in a successful blog. Paul’s blog provides you with valuable content from his personal point of view. I find his content original, universal, short and without the over use of links. I rate him 4 out of a possible 5 in this category.
- His layout is clean with a good color scheme which makes it easy on the eyes. The one flaw I dislike about his lay out is the menus, which are located at the bottom of the page. This can either be a good or bad strategy. I personally don’t like to scroll down to get a summary of his blog. I rate his design 3 out 5.
- Paul’s blog is consistent with updates. He roughly has an average of 3 posts per day, which is great for frequent viewing. Therefore I give him 4 out 5 in terms of frequent updates.
His total score is 11 out of a possible 15. Overall his blog is one that should be checked out and visited, as there is always something for everyone. I’m sure you will enjoy it as I have. So that is my review on blogpaul.com.
Now I’d like to turn this challenge over to my readers. Review my blog and you’ll also receive a free linkback, there are no criteria’s such as including links to my blog or post, I just want feedback on what you like and don’t like about the site. You can email me the url of your review at ce@peogles.com. I look forward to reading some of your thoughts.
And The Oscar Goes To…
The 79th Annual Academy Awards has arrived. Here are the nominees and winners. I only listed the categories for leading and supporting role, as well as best motion picture of the year. You can find the complete list of winners and nominees by visiting oscar.com
Best Actor In A Supportin Role
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children
Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed
My Thoughts: Although Alan Arkin did a fine job in Little Miss Sunshine, I thought Eddie Murphy or at least Mark Wahlberg would have won this. This was definitely a surprise.
Best Actress In Supporting Role
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes On A Scandal
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
My Thoughts: No surprise here. Jennifer Hudson cleaned up all year at the awards including a Golden Globe win last month and now the Oscar. Her Cinderella story just keeps getting better.
Best Actress In A Leading Role
Penélope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench – Notes On A Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet – Little Children
My Thoughts: I actually didn’t see any of the film, so I can’t judge. But based on preference and past performances, I would have given it to Kate Winslet.
Best Actor In A Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole - Venus
Will Smith – The Pursuit Of Happyness
Forest Whitaker – The Last King Of Scotland
My Thoughts: This was a tough category and all the actors probably deserve to win. I was rooting for Will Smith, but Forest Whitaker truly deserves this one. Congratulations on his win and his heartfelt acceptance speech.
Best Motion Picture Of The YearÂ
Babel
The Departed
Lletters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
My Thoughts: This was probably the least predictable category and the right film won. Congratulations to The Departed on the win for Best Motion Picture of the Year.Â
2007 Oscar Preview
The 79th Annual Academy Awards take place this Sunday, and while many of the major categories are extremely predictable, it is the night’s biggest award that has most prognosticators scratching their heads. Five films (four of which failed to make a huge splash at the box office) are vying for the Best Picture trophy which had all but been promised to Dreamgirls months before that film’s release. Pundits everywhere found themselves slackjawed when Bill Condon’s lively but lacking musical failed to earn a nod for Best Picture (as well as Director and Screenplay), though it still managed to snag more nominations than any other movie.
Having seen all five Best Picture nominees, I agree that they are all superior to Dreamgirls. However, none of them can be considered obvious front-runners. There is no Titanic or The Return of the King this year. After last year’s surprise victory for Crash over the heavy favorite Brokeback Mountain, the Academy seems to be telling folks that they still have a few tricks up their sleeve. So it is with excitement and great deliberation that I tentatively unveil my 11th-hour predictions for this year’s Oscars.
Best Picture: As stated earlier, this is one of the tightest Best Picture races in years. With Martin Scorsese poised to finally take home a Best Director Oscar, many feel his film The Departed also will take home the top prize. It certainly was the most popular and widely seen of the five nominees, but its graphic violence and profanity may prove a tough sell to the more conservative voters. If so, this leaves Letters from Iwo Jima, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen fighting for that top spot. The only film in competition with virtually no chance at winning is The Queen, which was a wonderful but incredibly small picture. Babel has a very devoted following, but many critics (myself included) felt it was missing something. Little Miss Sunshine was this year’s “Little Picture That Could,†but it may have to settle with the joys of simply being nominated. After all, the last full-blown comedy to walk away with Best Picture was Annie Hall in 1978. Finally, we have Clint Eastwood’s “other WWII film,†Letters from Iwo Jima, which tells the tale of that famous battle from the Japanese perspective. If it were to win, it would be the first primarily subtitled Best Picture winner.
Prediction: Letters from Iwo Jima
What Should Have Been Nominated: United 93
Heroes: Episode 17 Sneak Preview
Last weeks NBC’s hit show Heroes was taken to another level. We saw some incredible things from the characters and the story of their lives just keeps getting more and more complicated.
Get a sneak peak at Episode 17 titled ‘Company Man’, scheduled to be aired on Monday February 26, 2007. HRG and his secrets are revealed to Clair.
Chinese clinic treats teen internet addicts with hypnosis, shock therapy
Normally we don’t really like covering this whole theory of “internet addiction,” mainly because it makes us nervous about the 12+ hours we spend online each and every day, but a recent look by the Washington Post at one of those clinics for PC-lovin’ teens is interesting enough to warrant a mention. As we’ve seen before, China — never one of the more progressive countries when it comes to encouraging online participation — has followed several other East Asian countries in attempting to diagnose and cure netizens and gamers of their “unhealthy” dependence on computers, but what we didn’t know were some of the rather extreme methods used to achieve this. According to the Post, one clinic in the Beijing suburb of Daxing keeps some of its 12 to 17-year-old patients locked in rooms with barred windows for most of the day, treating them with a combination of counseling, medication, and military-style discipline. While some residents clearly have no need for such a facility — one young man who only surfed four to five hours a week said he came to Daxing to “get away from my parents” — there do seem to be more hardcore cases of lonely individuals spending all their free time online at the expense of their careers and social lives. At the Daxing clinic, these troubled teens whose “souls are gone to the online world” are housed together on the third floor of the building, where they are subjected to hypnosis and even mild shock therapy in an attempt to rid them of their love of surfing. It’s not really clear from the article what the success rate is for veterans of the clinic, but we imagine many of them find the conditions so distasteful that they swear off technology altogether simply for fear of being sent back. As for you, since no one will be sending you to internet rehab anytime soon, just continue reading all of the posts on this page while occasionally glancing over at and clicking on the bright, colorful ads.
American Idol Results
Last night was the first live result show of the semi-finalist. And surprisingly America got it right. Say goodbye to Paul Kim, Rudy Cardenas, Amy Krebs, and Nicole Tranquillo.Â
 
 
It’s sad to say that they’re music career ends here. Although the judges encourage them to continue to move forward with what they love to do, reality is they will not even come close to making it in this tough business, especially if you only made it as a semifinalist.
Next week the top 10 guys and girls will battle it out again for a chance to remain in the competition and make it to the finals.