The X Factor: Red, White and Why is CeCe Frey Still Here?

If you're here, then you're most likely a fan of big time talent show, The X Factor.  This is my second X Factor entry on this blog; my first featured my favourite UK contestant from season 7, Cher Lloyd.  I'm happy to see that my predictions have been right; although she didn't win the competition, she has been successful after the show.  I love her fun, charming and poppy style and I really believe that she will continue to make waves in the music industry.

The beautiful Cher Lloyd rocking a red pouty lip

As the title suggests though, this entry will focus on The X Factor USA.  I've been following the second season and I've been enjoying it for the most part but find myself frustrated about some others, which I'll get into later.  There are definitely some wonderful acts that I have been rooting for.  At this point of the competition though, I see one act with the undeniable X Factor; that would be the amazingly talented Carly Rose Sonenclar.  At the tender age of 13 she has proven to be a force of nature with a remarkable singing voice.  She is a major sweetheart and never fails to captivate the audience.

America's sweetheart Carly Rose Sonenclar

Britney Spears is a great mentor and I feel she does a great job figuring out what works for her acts and what America wants to see.  Britney is the gravitational force that had me tune in.  The Queen of Pop definitely doesn't have trouble drawing in a crowd.  I'm so glad to see her on the judges panel.  I love Ms. Spears' funny facial expressions and honest feedback.  Her body of experience makes her a great asset to The X Factor team.

The many faces of Britney Spears

I feel the opposite about judge and mentor Demi Lovato.  While I think she's personally talented and very likeable, I feel she doesn't quite understand the competition.  Her acts have not been strong under her guidance.  I've never felt blown away by any of them during the live shows, except when Paige Thomas sang Coldplay's "Paradise" for a survival song (having been in the bottom 2.)  Everything about that performance was brilliant, but unfortunately Paige's talent couldn't be showcased in this fashion during regular live performances and she has been sent home this week.  I really wish the best of luck to Paige Thomas.  She seems like a very sweet person who has the passion and drive to follow her heart and dreams.

Paige Thomas and her adorable daughter on stage during auditions

I feel Demi really needs to start listening to Simon Cowell.  Every time Simon has an opinion about one of her acts, I am in full agreement.  I feel she is doing her acts a disservice by not taking any of Simon's feedback.  He's been doing this show for a long time and understands the perfect formulation for The X Factor.

Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell in disagreement on the X Factor judges panel

Demi makes a lot of bad decisions, but I think there is one decision she should have never made.  I saw a star in one of the acts she didn't put through onto the live shows.  I believe that if Jillian Jensen, whose audition has now reached over 10 million hits on YouTube, had the chance to perform live, Demi would've had an act that would've made it far...maybe even win.  Although seeing how Demi's acts have been doing under her wing, maybe it's in Jillian's best interest to have not made it through this time.  I hope Jillian tries again, because I know she can go far in the competition.  Who doesn't like a good comeback!

Jillian Jensen pouring her heart and soul on stage during auditions

With that said lets get to the nitty gritty.  You may disagree with me, but I can't help but feel this way after seeing so many wonderful acts being sent home. I strongly feel CeCe Frey should not have lasted this long in the competition.  She has been in the bottom 2 far too often, and I feel she gets saved any week that America sees she's in a vulnerable position.  In this season they reveal the rankings of the American vote and her results have been very volatile.  It almost seems she is getting the pity vote whenever she suddenly jumps a few rankings up, from being in the bottom 2 the previous week.

It's so sad that someone like Vino Alan who has been in the top 3 numerous times, is being sent home this week.  What a shame.  Vino Alan has a soulful and powerful voice, so much heart and a loveable personality.  He's an example of not to judge a book by its cover.  With his rough and tumble exterior, inside he is nothing but a big pool of love!  He does a lot of great work spreading joy to the troops with his voice and I really hope that life outside The X Factor treats him well, but I'm sure it will! Good luck Vino!

Vino Alan connecting with the audience

Back to my rant though...I'm going to sound like Gretchen Weiners from the movie Mean Girls talking about "Queen Bee" Regina George, but what's so special about CeCe Frey?  Yes, she's a beautiful girl, but the X Factor is more than just looks (ex. Susan Boyle.)  CeCe misses the mark on all other points.  Her vocals are not technically sound.  While she has a powerful voice, I often find her songs are sung flat or off key.  Watch Demi's facial expressions and you can see even she is not impressed.  Each week I have not seen her progress in the vocal department.  On another account, her personality is seriously lacking.  Demi, who is CeCe's mentor, even said during the judges houses that her personality was unlikeable...and I still find her to be.  If CeCe Frey is not sent home next week, then I will have to say goodbye to another amazing act.

The remaining acts include:

1. Diamond White:  This young diva is like a little Whitney Houston.  I know that whatever happens in the competition she has a future in music.
2. Fifth Harmony:  These wonderful girls have formed a strong and genuine bond over the course of the competition.  Each of them on their own sound amazing and together they are incredible.  It's exciting to see the birth of a new girl group.  Girl power all the way!
3. Emblem3: These boys with their fun and energetic personalities and cool Cali sound weren't always a favourite of mine, but they've definitely grown on me.  They have proved to be a talented group over the course of the live shows and I know they have more musical skills to showcase.
4. Tate Stevens:  To have a country singer in the competition is refreshing.  You may be surprised to hear this, but I happen to like myself some country.  He's definitely a fan favourite and his devotion to his wife is so lovely.  He dedicates every performance to her...doesn't that melt your heart!
5. Carly Rose Sonenclar:  Need I say more?

In conclusion, if CeCe takes out another talented act who is far more unique, loveable and talented than her, then this blogger is going to have a virtual hissy fit haha.  Okay maybe not that bad but I'll be kind of disappointed as a viewer.  Now don't get me wrong CeCe fans, I never said she outright sucked, I just think she doesn't embody The X Factor.  Remember American voters...this show is the X Factor, not season 2 and on of American Idol...no more pity votes please!  And now I leave you with CeCe...

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New Girl on the Block

It's about time that I write up about one of my new favourite shows, New Girl.  It's a sitcom about Jess A.K.A. Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) a very quirky, go-getting elementary school teacher who moves into an apartment shared with three single guys, who are best friends.  The guys are Nick (Jake M. Johnson), a bartender going through the motions of a hard breakup, Schmidt (Max Greenfield), a young professional who is a loveable douchebag with obsessive compulsive tendencies and Winston (Larmorne Morris), a former roommate who returns after playing professional basketball in Latvia for 2 years with no real idea what his next venture is.  There is also Cece (Hannah Simone) who is Jess's very supportive and loving best friend who works as a model.

It's pretty amazing how wonderful and supportive the guys are to Jess as she goes through a bad breakup.  I won't say what happens because I don't want to completely spoil it for you if you haven't watched it. Without further ado, let me describe how wonderful each main character is!

Winston is often the voice of reason in the male trio, although not when it comes to his own life.  When he left for Latvia he forgot about the things he left behind in the US.  Now that he's back he has to deal with his past, which includes old cars, old relationships and old ways.  We see his struggle of being unemployed and trying to figure out what he wants to do in his life.  Winston is a fast learner as we see in one episode called "Bells", but he often forgets how much potential he has.  With his friends' support and encouragement, we definitely can foresee him propel into a great future.

This is bad quality, but one of Winston's best scenes!  Here he is to save the day - he's a super star!

Schmidt is quite the character.  Deep down past all the douchebaggery is a major sweet heart.  To me he's the type of person who knows exactly what they're doing, but doesn't always know why they're doing it.  To explain it better, a lot of the things he does is to try to get the approval of others and he forgets what he wants in the end.  On the outside things look good; great fashion sense, good job, good health and etc. but he has some insecurities to work through and needs to be more honest with himself and less concerned about what others think.  All in all he's a very nice guy just looking for love :P.  

Also this!  Kind of a spoiler...but this is Schmidt way back in the day.




Cece is Jess's best gal pal who lives in another apartment with her fellow model friends.  From what I gather Jess and her go all the way back to high school, and perhaps even earlier.  We still haven't seen exactly how the two met, and I don't know if we ever will.  That would be cool to see some flash backs of them when they were younger, 'cause they've done that for a couple of different episodes already.  Cece is very protective of Jess and helps her through thick and thin.  In her own life she's still figuring out things when it comes to dating.  She doesn't have the best taste in men, but a large part of it may be due to the men that revolve around in her industry.  When the guys meet Cece, it's obvious that they're very attracted to her.  Guys will be guys? haha




Nick is a down on his luck bartender who recently got dumped by his girlfriend.  He's a mess when it comes with dating and women in general.  He's also the groups handy man...although he has a Mickey Mouse way of fixing things around the apartment.  I think he has a unique way of approaching different situations, but in the end he gets the job done.  He often speaks his mind and is very direct.  Out of the guys I think he wears his heart on his sleeve the most, not being afraid to show emotion and spill out his feelings.  His insecurities hold him back from going after what he truly wants, but he's working on it.  I'm rooting for Nick!




Jess has been dubbed as "Adorkable."  What a great word!  She generally has a positive outlook on life.  She sees the best in everything and everyone, although sometimes that gets her into trouble.  She works as an elementary school teacher. When it comes to her students she's very dedicated and does her best to get them to be as enthusiastic about things as she is...even if that means writing a song about it.  She adds a whole new dynamic to the apartment and brings a breath of fresh air that the guys needed.  Her quirky personality and ways are not something you come by everyday, but you can tell the guys taken a great liking to her.  Most of the time she's really nice, but she's not afraid to speak her mind to the people who need to hear it.  When it comes to dating she gets really insecure about what to do.  Usually it just takes the love and support of her friends to set Jess in the right direction and go full force!  She herself is a great friend and will pretty much do anything just to see her friends do well.



Overall I love everything about this show.  It's a half hour long show that I look forward to every Tuesday.  Plus I love saying "Oh a new New girl is on TV tonight!"  Saying "new" twice feels like untreaded speech territory.  Anyways the situations are hysterical, the characters are all loveable, the underlying story is just great!  If you haven't watched this show, I suggest you do and thank me later.  Now I leave you to this awesome music video.



  

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Growing Up With Action Flicks and Looking Up to Kick Ass Chicks

This post is for all the laddddiiiieees...actually you guys will like it too. I don't really know anyone who doesn't like a female heroine, unless they're an evil villain or one of their ex-boyfriends :P. I grew up on a lot of action/martial arts movies, but few of them featured kick ass females. Most of the time if there was a main female role, she played the damsel in distress, but that might be due to the fact I was a little girl and watched a lot of Disney Princess movies as well :P.




I knew from an early age that a princess didn't have to wait around for a prince to rescue her. Anyone recall "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch? One of the greatest children's books ever written...that and "The Very Hungry Catepillar" :P.



There are a good chunk of females who have graced the silver screen or the boob tube who took on great challenges, both physical and emotional but in my case I'm not talking about figure skating scandals, cheerleading sabotage, ballet turned hip-hop dancing switcheroo type of challenges, although those can be entertaining as well :P. I'm talking about super heroines, evil villianesses and overall rough and tumble chica's. Some of my personal all time faves include (in no particular order):


Sarah Connor, the mother you don't want to ever disobey, from The Terminator films, played by Linda Hamilton

The very intelligent and brave Lieutenant Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise, played by Sigourney Weaver

The mystical, quirky, loving and fighting spirit of Leeloo from "The Fifth Element", played by Milla Jovovich

The mysterious, devious and dynamic Catwoman from DC's Batman, in which I LOVED Michelle Pfeiffers performance

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) the strong-willed teenage girl coming into adulthood, from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series created by Joss Whedon

Max Guevara the genetically enhanced transgenic super-soldier, from the TV series "Dark Angel" played by Jessica Alba

(From left to right) Gabrielle (Renée O'Connor) the faithful and quirky sidekick, Callisto (Hudson Leick) the misunderstood and maniacal warrior, and Xena (Lucy Lawless) THE Warrior Princess, from "Xena: Warrior Princess" TV Series created by Sam Raimi

(In order of appearance) Kiddo Beatrix (Uma Thurman), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) from the Kill Bill films from the mind of Quentin Tarantino. Sorry to all you Vernita Green fans, I just thought out of all the characters she was lacking something...I think the suburban life kind of killed her in the end :P.



Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley), the runway model turned bounty hunter from the movie "Domino." This character was based on a true story. How much is true, I'm not sure, but she's still one of my faves :).

(In order of appearance) The powerful and independent Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and the swift and rebellious Jiao Long (Ziyi Zhang) from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

The intuitive, highly gifted and graceful River Tam (Summer Glau) from the TV Series "Firefly" and the feature film "Serenity."

The super slick and kick ass Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) from the Matrix trilogy.

The in-your-face Landlady (Yuen Qiu) with big heart and hidden martial art skills from Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle."

The miraculous and magnificent Quorra (Olivia Wilde) from Tron Legacy.

Here is Nikita (Peta Wilson) in the TV series "La Femme Nikita"

And here is Alex (Lyndsey Fonseca) and Nikita (Maggie Q) from the 2010 version of Nikita launched on the CW network.

There are many other kick ass females I left off the list...but I could be here all night if I keep at this rate hahaha. Right now I just want to focus on Nikita. I used to watch the 90's La Femme Nikita with Peta Wilson, which was created in Canada :). My mother and sisters tuned in one night and got hooked to this character and story. In this version Nikita had been a homeless woman being wrongly accused of murdering a cop, but in fact she was being set up for reasons unknown to her at the time. Although a lifetime in jail seemed like the only thing in her future, Nikita's life was going to change drastically. She had been set up by Section One, a top-secret government agency, who proceeded to fake her suicide in jail and recruit her to be trained as a highly skilled assassin. If she failed to comply she would then be killed. The series was amazing, so I was very sad to see it off the air.

Then 2010 rolled around and I started seeing promos for a remake of Nikita, starring one my fave actresses Maggie Q. I first saw her in a Chinese produced movie that my dad had bought called Naked Weapon. Although the plot line was plenty ridiculous, it was definitely entertaining. Just as a warning, this is not a movie to watch with your parents. I wish someone had warned me as there is one graphic scene in there that is more uncomfortable than just any other regular sex scene hahaha.

So in this remake Nikita has gone rogue, from the secret government agency, called Division. She recruits and trains a young girl by the name of Alex to join in her mission to seek revenge and take down the agency which has both brought destruction to their lives.

I've been waiting for a show like this to come on the air for a good long while. I love action, but I love it even more when the characters and story are multi-dimensional. In some of the episodes they go back in time to help explain more recent events. They give the back story of the characters, so you can see how far along they've transformed and what challenges they had to endure to get where they are today. Plus all the action sequences are very well done. Maggie Q was trained under Jackie Chan and does all her own stunts in Nikita :). If you like action, and a good story, be sure to check out this show.

Here is a link to one of my favorite fight scenes (embedding was disabled, so you're going to have to make the jump to YouTube): Nikita Fight Scene

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Bob's Burgers & Growing Up In A Restaurant

I have come across the great new animated sitcom called Bob's Burgers and I got to say it hit every funny bone in my body. Basically the show is about a family who run a struggling burger joint. The family consists of husband and wife, Bob and Linda and their 3 children Tina, Gene and Louise.

It's been a while since I've tuned in regularly to catch a new episode of an animated series. Some of my favourite animated series include Futurama (which has been kicking ass since it's resurrection), South Park (so ridiculous but truly smart comedy if you can understand the underlying messages)...I have an on and off again relationship with The Simpsons (I appreciate early seasons, but it's slowly making a comeback from it's downward spiral)...those are just a few I can think off the top of my head. I grew to hate Family Guy and it's okay if you hate me for it, but c'mon can you not agree that it lost touch after the first few seasons? And don't get me started on the abomination that is The Cleveland Show...ANYWAYS moving on!


Every episode has never failed to keep me wanting more. Sometimes I wish the episodes would run longer. I think what I love about this show the most is the different types of humour that each character offers and their relationships with one another. Whenever I see a show on TV involving a family, a lot the time it's about a very dysfunctional family. I think the enjoyability of this program is seeing a very cute and quirky family work together to solve the problems they encounter. Plus the jokes are right up my alley - it's almost like a piece of my personality is in each of these characters haha (strange I know.)

I sometimes think that this family reminds me of my own quirky family. My family used to own and operate a Chinese cuisine restaurant. You have my loving dad, my cute mom, my eccentric older sister, my funny middle sister and my carefree young self. I guess I appreciate this show more because I can identify with the feelings of running a family business. I never really worked in the restaurant though...I was just sort of there to entertain the customers, play with my sisters and train my fish named Smorgasboard, tricks.


I have many fond memories and moments growing up in that place like making old fashioned milk shakes, feeding the pacu (cousin to the piranha) prawn or chicken drumsticks, staring at the spot where a bullet bent the window, throwing a time capsule Popsicle stick up into the rafters, pranking Dwayne the delivery boy by sneaking salt into his Sprite, pretending to be a server asking customers if they wanted to sit in the smoking or non-smoking section, watch my oldest sister sing and play guitar of the New Kids on the Block version of Happy Birthday to one of the customers, sitting on top of the deep freeze and feeling tall, celebrating Chinese New Years with real dragon dancers and chinese drums, watching my dad chop veggies like a pro...and much much more.


But enough about me haha. You have to check out Bob's Burgers Sundays on FOX at 8:30 PM PST/7:30 PM C. I can't do the show any justice by writing about it, you're going to have get your butt off the computer chair and onto the couch and see for yourself. That's it from me...talking about the restaurant has made me hungry! Bye for now.

Love,
Carla

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Cher Lloyd Has The X Factor and Bob's Your Teapot!

I always enjoy clips of X Factor that roll up on YouTube's Most Viewed, because they're usually quite entertaining.  They either feature some interesting auditions...

Ablisa need to hug it out

Or some amazing talent :) 

Leona Lewis has a crystal voice

Recently my attention has been captured by young contestant Cher Lloyd of 17 years, (16 when she first auditioned) from Malvern, Worcestershire.  I've been following up with every performance since she had impressed the judges during her wicked audition singing Keri Hilson's version of Soulja Boy's "Turn My Swag On."  She was nervous but definitely had no reason to be as all 4 judges, including guest judge Natalie Imbruglia, passed her on through to the next round.

Ripped jeans are not my thing but Cher pulls them off well.

Cher had then passed X Factors boot camp round with a risky song selection, (an arrangement of Swizz Beatz's "That Oprah" and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida") where Nicole Scherzinger was a guest judge.  It's been floating around that Cher had lied when she stated in a clip mentioning she had written some of the lyrics for the boot camp round.  In the actual performance she stuck to the lyrics of the original artists.  It only looks as if she lied because of how the show was edited.  Cher had decided to change the arrangement and cut out her own lyrics, which was a good idea in my opinion, but that doesn't make her a liar.  I just wanted to clear this up because I really dislike seeing someone being wrongfully accused.

Cher sheds a few tears after her boot camp mash up.  Don't cry for me Argentina...

Next up were the Judges Houses where Cher failed to finish performing Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me" in front of judge Cheryl Cole and guest judge will.i.am due to a case of tonsillitis.  I could imagine how nerve racking and stressful this part of the competition is as it's the last phase before entering the live shows.  What bad timing to lose your voice.

Ricola!

Despite Cher being unable to perform, Cheryl Cole saw something special and selected her to move on in the competition, though the tabloids begged to differ.  People had believed she could not handle the pressure and wasn't ready to be in the limelight.  Cher proved them wrong as she swept the crowd during the first round of live shows singing "Just Be Good To Me" and spitting out some rhymes.

Cher proving them wrong in parachute pants.

I haven't even bothered to look at the other contestants because I like to believe Cher will win the show and become a hit among other successful recording artists.  Why do I like Cher so much?  She has a lovely personality, great voice, rap skills, and is an all around "cross the T's and dot the I's" performer.  She's the whole package bringing her own style to each song.  Most times when I watch a contestant off a talent search show, I often find myself bored.  I'm tired of hearing karaoke versions of the same old ballads.  I want something fresh and modern and Cher certainly delivers.  The competition is nearing towards the end and I wish Cher the best of luck in the hopes of winning this season's X Factor.  Anyways enough of me typing, I'll just end the post with some of my favorite performances from Miss Lloyd :).

UPDATE:  Cher Lloyd didn't win the X Factor, but she did make it to the top four finalists.  She did an amazing job throughout the competition.  She performed a mash up of  "The Clapping Song" and "Get Ur Freak On" and she performed "Where Is The Love" which led into performing a duet of "I Got A Feeling" with will.i.am.  Despite losing the competition Cher won big time by getting signed a record contract with will.i.am.  I'm excited to see where Cher's career goes from here.  Congrats Cher :).

Turn My Swag On Audition (A Great Start!)

It's A Hard Knock Life (Knock Out Rap)

No Diggity/Shout Mash Up (Killer Performance/Energy)

Sorry Seems To Be/Mocking Bird Mash Up (Stunning and Stellar)

Nothin' On You - Full Clip (Tip Top Tailors!)

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America's Next Top Relatable Model: Ann Ward/ Bullying Sucks: It Will Get Better

I never thought I'd be writing a post like this as it exposes one of my "secret shames."  You may be more familiar with the term closet geek, but I am the opposite of that, I suppose I'm a closet girly girl...sort of. I do like to dress up and play around with make-up, hair and nails but when it comes to media related things such as chick flicks, girly shows, womens magazines and "Britney Spearsesque" music I tend to be less open in sharing these things. I guess most of the reason is because most of my friends are guys who don't really care to talk outside games, geekery, sexy babes and sports. I guess this blog is a good place to release that girly build-up...in which I won't refer to as girly build-up anymore 'cause that just sounds gross lol.

So I'm coming out of the girly girl closet hahaha

So I haven't followed America's Next Top Model closely for quite some time. I watched the first two or so seasons and eventually lost interest which was probably due to some bitchiness or cattiness among the contestants or general bad feelings I got when I watched the show.  I then checked in again when one season featured shorter models, but never really followed all the way through.  This season though, Tyra Banks kicked it up 10 notches by offering some huge prizes, which included:

1) A contract with IMG Models, one of the top international modeling management companies in the world.
2) A fashion spread in Vogue Italia and an additional spread and cover of Beauty in Vogue.
3) A $100,000 contract with Cover Girl Cosmetics.
4) And some new found confidence!

It's time to get serious because the stakes are high!

So my closet girliness was intrigued and tuned in to watch the entire season of America's Next Top Model Cycle 15. I was hooked mostly because I was rooting for 19 year old, Ann Ward from Dallas, Texas, who caught my interest immediately. For me she was completely relatable. I once was her; completely shy, bullied in high school, lacked confidence, and was uniquely awkward. Apparently Ann Ward caused some controversy before the season even aired, which I didn't read about until after the season was over. A promo for ANTM had featured Tyra commenting on Ann's small waist. People from all over were flaming Tyra for promoting unhealthy bodies, which was not the case and Tyra defended her case by stating, "As a leader in celebrating and promoting healthy body image, I must admit that I regrettably didn’t see this clip before it was released to the public. But on behalf of the Top Model team, these were not the intentions, and we truly apologize for any confusion, anger or disappointment it may have caused." I guess all that complained didn't watch the "KISS MY FAT ASS!!" Tyra show episode.

Ann Ward had been teased and bullied for being thin and being blessed with a height of 6'2".  It never mattered what any of those bullies said to Ann, because she truly came out on top.  She was the first in ANTM history to receive top photo 5 times consecutively and by the end of the competition was announced the winner of ANTM cycle 15.  This was the first time I was actually overjoyed about an ANTM winner. Ann is very talented, beautiful and has an amazing future ahead of her! (Side note: I also read that Ann plays video games which makes me love her even more!)

Ann Ward's photo from the Matthew Rolston photo shoot

I know how it is to be bullied for being thin from experience and some may think it's not as bad as being bullied for being overweight but in the end bullying is bullying no matter what, where and who does it. I was bullied and teased for a lot of different things and of course this includes things I couldn't change about myself, (like being short or Asian.  How messed up is that?)  My peers were feeding me a lot of negativity and I had grown to believe that there was something horribly wrong with me. I was a thin girl growing up, but it wasn't unhealthy; it was a mixture of my parents genes, a healthy diet, my youths metabolism and a mixture of physical education. I was naturally thin, but it didn't stop girls from accusing me for being bulimic or anorexic.  For me the bullying started in elementary school; I got my first taste of how nasty girls can be, which is not far off from the movie "Mean Girls."

The lamest creation of an evil teenage girl is the 3-way call phone trap...

So I got bullied and teased by boys and girls, some I knew and some I didn't even know at all.  End of elementary and all throughout high school I was pretty insecure with myself, but it wasn't all bad.  A lot of good came from that experience.  I was able to channel all that teenage angst creatively (as seen below.)  I saw the world with different eyes and experienced it in a way that made me who I am today, so for that I am thankful.

Look what I made mom!  Me at 17 once again haha.

I attended college in the fall after high school graduation. It was a new beginning for me as I was moving to a whole new city and could gain a brand new perspective.  I knew I couldn't think so negatively about myself anymore and started transforming all of the negative thoughts into positive ones.  I started to enjoy myself more and worried less of what others thought.  I learned a whole heck of a lot during those years, met some amazingly awesome people who I consider the best people on this planet, learned to love and believe in myself and also found great love at the same time :).  I gradually transformed into someone with higher self-esteem and confidence.  It really is true when they say "It will get better."  Even though that's the message/slogan for the gay rights/anti-suicide campaign, it applies to all aspects of bullying.  I have my family and close friends to thank for being there and supporting me during my young years when I was bullied.  To anyone who is a subject to bullying, don't be afraid to talk to someone about it.  I can wholeheartedly say...it will get better and that's a promise!

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I Love Zombies!

If you've known me for a little while, you should know that I have a love for zombies. The whole idea is terrifying to me, but that's what draws me in. My love for zombies may be confusing to some, but if you're like me you'll totally understand where I'm coming from.

One of the reasons why I started making YouTube videos was to be part of the internet collaboration led by the popular YouTube user Paperlilies aka Bryony. Paperlilies posted a video mentioning she wanted to start this internet collab for a zombie movie, which eventually adopted the title of World Wide Dead. Here's the movie poster I made for this project. It wasn't selected for print, but was definitely well received by fellow collaborators on the project forum :).

The TV network BBC Three caught word of this project and decided to document the whole process. All the episodes and full documentary can be seen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/zombies/. There was an open call for fake vlog submissions to be included in the World Wide Dead promo. I was excited about the project and wanted to take a shot at submitting an entry. When I found about this open call, it was right before I went on my first big trip. I filmed my fake vlog submission inside my cruise ship cabin, which helped me to develop a story for my character named Alice. I didn't expect to get chosen out of all the submissions, as there were a lot, so you could imagine my joy when I saw the final video that was premiering at a special event in London, England!



My all time favourite zombie movie, hands down, is 28 Days Later. In fact it's one of my all time favourite movies period. The story and characters are well written, the acting is superb, the location and film shots are beautiful, the make-up and costumes are outstanding and the music ties it all together perfectly. None of my favourite scenes are posted online, so here's a picture of the character Jim, played by Cillian Murphy, wandering the eerily, empty streets of London.

Moving on to the inspiration of my post, is the new original AMC series The Walking Dead. I first heard about this show through someones Twitter, where they posted a link to a leaked cell phone vid of the trailer. I was very excited to hear about this. The series premiere was on Hallowe'en - how fitting! I was all partied out from the Friday and Saturday leading up to Hallowe'en that I was very much excited at looking forward to a relaxing Sunday. (Side note: Not passed out drunk in the photo below. I actually didn't drink a drop of alcohol that night, I was just tuckered out :P)

I was happy to shed my Little Red Riding hood costume, jump into my PJ's, eat some leftover candy and still be able to join in the spirit of Hallowe'en with some good ol' zombies. My expectations were not met, they had been exceeded! This is probably one of the most impressive TV shows I've seen in a while. The production quality is just wild and the story has me sucked in. This is a series I hope lasts for a very long time and doesn't lose its flavour *cough* Heroes *cough*. Go watch for yourselves. The second episode airs tonight! Speaking of which I should probably get going now :P. Thanks for reading and have a good night!

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