Six Decades of the Colour Bar

In the early beginnings, television was meant to be a form of informative media. People can watch what’s happening in the world, without going to the extent of actually being there. It was effectively rendering the world into a square box available in almost every modern living room in the late sixties. 

The next ten minutes or so, you will see how colour television actually managed to change our lives and play fate-changing roles in the history of human civilization.

Ever since colour television was developed in 1966 with General Electronics’ first ever full colour television set,the Porta-Color,people were finally able to view the world in the comfort of their living rooms.

In America, broadcasting stations such as CBS and NBC began offering news programs and light entertainment shows. During the night time, dramas and soap-opera series would entertain families throughout the nation. Programs such as The Lucy Show, Get Smart and Days of Our Lives were the earliest shows to be filmed in colour.

Across the waters in Britain, the BBC was already the broadcasting standard. It had two television channels and four radio channels. BBC1 broadcasted news and factual programs whereas BBC2 would focus on entertainment and drama shows. As the years go by, so did the Revolution of Pop, the Cold War and the Fall of Communism. Television began to take a modern turn. By the 90s, commercial TV was available in more than 140 countries. And it was steadily growing.

During the turn of the century, developments in mass-production have made new and improved standards of broadcasting and higher quality TV screens at a lower price. Television became more than just an institution, it became a way of life.Today, whether or not you are a couch potato, much of our lives revolve around the TV screen. Quoting Homer Simpson: “Ahh~ TV – mother, teacher, secret lover…” It is no surprise either; the average adult spends almost 30 hours in front of the TV per week. 

Nowadays, TV has moved from simple one-sided entertainment to a highly interactive medium. Some shows even get a global following, with fan clubs around the world. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is estimated to have over 800 million viewers across the globe.

The news world has also changed much for TV. Real footage from everywhere in the world manage to find their way into the living rooms of households worldwide. Global channels such as CNN, BBC World News and Al-Jazeera gripped us as we see the strife and turmoil tear through numerous war-torn countries.

It has been hardly 60 years since colour television began impacting our lives. Since then it has already played the roles in propaganda, entertainment and information. With each recorded footage waiting to be broadcasted to change our lives. It is both powerful and hard to comprehend how it would be like if the cathode ray tube was never invented.

The next time you turn on your TV, try to think about the things you can do with your TV screen that you cannot manage without.

Doom's Day " The world is coming to an end" !

HER BEAUTY HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY… HER ENERGY HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY… THE LAST TIME I SAW HER SMILE WAS 3 MONTHS AGO… I’M SITTING NEXT TO MY PARENTS DEAD BODY AND WRITING THIS ON MY DIARY. EVERY ONE IN THIS TOWN IS DYING AND I KNOW THAT I WILL BE TAKEN AWAY SOON TOO…

(FOUR YEARS AGO, FEBRUARY 1928 IN VINNYTSIA, UKRAINE)

VINNYSTIA, AN URBAN TOWN LOCATED IN UKRAINE AND THE MAIN INDUSTRY HERE IS FARMING AND EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY. MY NAME IS ANTON. I’M 15 THIS YEAR. EVERYONE IS GOING TO SCHOOL AND I SAT UNDER A HUGE  TREE A FEW METERS AWAY FROM THE MAIN ENTRANCE LOOKING AT OTHER STUDENTS GOING TO SCHOOL. I ALWAYS WISHED THAT I COULD GO TO SCHOOL BUT MY FINANCIAL SITUATION FORCE ME TO WORK TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN THE FARM. EVERY MORNING I WILL GO ON THE TREE AND WATCH THEM ENTERING THE SCHOOL. ONE DAY, I SAW HER… ANASTASIYA, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL I’VE EVER SEEN IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. SHE STAYS ABOUT THREE KILOMETERS AWAY FROM THE TOWN. ONE DAY AS I WAS SITTING THERE, SHE CAME UP TO ME AND ASKED ME, “WHY AREN’T YOU COMING TO SCHOOL”… THE NEXT THING I DID WAS, I RAN AWAY QUICKLY. I WAS JUST SO SHY AND SCARED BECAUSE SHE IS THE GIRL WHOM I REALLY WANT TO BE WITH. I CAME BACK THE NEXT DAY, NOT TO SEE HER GOING TO THE SCHOOL BUT JUST TO SEE MY ANASTASIYA.

EVERY DAY I WILL HIDE BEHIND THE TREE AND WATCH HER GOING TO SCHOOL. IT HAS BEEN A DAILY ROUTINE FOR ME THEN. AFTER A WEEK, I DECIDED TO TRY STARTING A CONVERSATION WITH HER. I WORE MY BEST CLOTHES AND APPROACHED HER LIKE A BOSS. I WALKED STRAIGHT AND STOOD NEXT TO HER. AFTER TAKING A FEW GASPS OF AIR, I SAID HI AND IT ALL BEGAN… WE STARTED TALKING EVERYDAY SINCE THEN AND SHE TAUGHT ME A LOT IN LIFE. LOVE STARTED GROWING BETWEEN US. IT GREW EVEN MORE DAY BY DAY. IT’S THE FOURTH YEAR BEING WITH MY ANASTASIYA. THIS FOUR YEARS WAS JUST MORE THEN PREFECT. SHE EVEN SHIFTED CLOSER TO ME WHICH WAS LIKE FIVE HOUSES AWAY FROM MINE. THERE WAS LOTS OF PROBLEMS IN OUR COUNTRY AND ALSO OUR TOWN. EVERYONE IN THE TOWN WAS TALKING ABOUT ‘HOLODOMOR’. I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT WAS IT BUT IT WAS THAT ONE THING THAT CHANGED MY ENTIRE LIFE.

‘HOLODOMOR’ IT MEANS EXTERMINATION BY HUNGER IN UKRAINIAN. IT’S A MAN-MADE FAMINE IN THE UKRAINE SSR. ALL I KNEW WAS, JOSEPH STALIN  THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOVIET UNION, REPLACED THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY WITH A HIGHLY CENTRALIZED COMMAND ECONOMY AN FIVE YEAR-PLANS, LAUNCHING A PERIOD OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. BASICALLY, HE WANTED TO EMERGE AS THE WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY AFTER THE WORLD WAR TWO. HOWEVER, HE SENT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO CORRECTIONAL LABOUR CAMPS, DEPORTED AND EXILE TO REMOTE AREAS OS SOVIET UNION. THE INITIAL UPHEAVAL IN AGRICULTURE WAS DISTRUPTED FOOD PRODUCTION AND IT CONTRIBUTED TO THE CATASTROPHIC SOVIET FAMINE. IT WAS A WAR AGAINST US…

NOW, WE WERE GIVEN DIFFERENT GRAINS TO FARM AND WE CAN’T DO IT. IT WAS NOT WORKING. THEY HAVE STOPPED GIVING US OUR RASIONS. IT’S CHRISTMAS 1932, I’VE NEVER SEEN HER IN A WEEK. NOW THERE IS NO FOOD. WE HAVE STOPPED FARMING BUT WHEN I SAW HER BEAUTIFUL FACE IT WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. WE HUGGED AND KISSED EACH AND OTHER LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW. A MONTH PASSED BY WITHOUT ANY FOOD. ALL OUR RESERVED FOOD HAS FINISHED IN JUST A WEEK. EVERYONE IN MY TOWN WAS STARVING AND SOME EVEN DIED BECAUSE OF VARIOUS DISEASES. I ALWAYS GO TO HER HOUSE AND MEET HER. SHE WAS BECOMING SKINNY AND SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO TALK OR EVEN SMILE. ALL I COULD SEE IN HER EYES WAS HUNGER AND SADNESS.

TWO MONTHS HAVE PASSED; TODAY WHEN I WOKE UP, MY MOM DIDN’T WAKE UP TOGETHER WITH US. SHE DIED! I DID NOT CRY BECAUSE SHE WAS RELIEVED FROM THE TORTURE THAT WE WERE GOING THROUGH. I WAS SAD; I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I FELT LIKE MEETING ANASTASIYA. I DIDN’T HAVE THE ENERGY TO EVEN TAKE A STEP BUT I WENT TO HER HOUSE. AS I WAS WALKING TO HER HOUSE, THE FARM WHICH USED TO BE ALL GREEN HAVE BECAME ALL DRIED UP AND THE TOWN WHICH USED TO BUSY FILLED WITH PEOPLE WAS EMPTY.AS, I WAS WALKING I SAW A SKINNY MOM TRYING TO BREAST FEED A CHILD BUT SHE COULDN'T,SHE WAS IN PAIN.IT WAS A HORRIBLE MOMENT FOR ME. I EVEN SAW DEAD BODIES AND CORPSES ALL OVER THE STREETS. WHEN I REACHED HER HOUSE, I HEARD SOMEONE YELLING AND SREAMING. IT SOUNDED LIKE HER. I QUICKLY RUSHED TO THE DOOR BUT IT WAS LOCKED. I DIDN’T HAVE TO ENERGY TO BREAK THE DOOR SO I RAN TO THE WINDOW TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

IT WAS THE MOST HORRIFYING THING THAT I SAW IN MY LIFE… SHE WAS TIED UP TO A TABLE AND HER LEGS WERE CHOPPED AWAY. HER AUNT HAD CHOPPED HER LEGS TO FEED HER CHILDREN. I SHOUTED AND SCREAMED BUT I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING. I FELT SO HELPLESS. AFTER A FEW MINUTES SHE DIED AND BECAME A FEAST FOR HER AUNT’S FAMILY. I COULDN’T ACCEPT THE FACT THAT SHE WAS GONE. I CRAWLED BACK HOME AND I SAW MY DAD LYING DEAD AS WELL. EVERYONE IN THIS TOWN IS DYING AND SOME EVEN BECAME CANNIBLES…… ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TO WRITE THIS ON MY DIARY SO MY STORY WOULD BE REMEMBERED. HOURS LATER…….

(ANTON MADE HIS WAY TO THE KITCHEN AND CUT HIS OWN THROAT… HUNGER COULD PUSH A MAN TO ANY EXTREAM AND IT HAPPENED IN UKRAINE IN FEBRUARY 1933 TO JULY 1933. 1.8 TO 7.5 MILLIONS WERE KILLED IN JUST A FEW MONTHS )

  

GAGA going ZERO ?

Guys, today I would like to share something with you which triggered my heart recently. It kills to know that things like this are occurring in this world of technology. A few weeks ago, my Intro to Mass Comm lecturer, Ms Jenny, was lecturing on false advertising. She then showed us this picture which caught my eye from the September issue of Vogue magazine. It was a portrayal of Lady Gaga in size zero. I was pretty much shocked to see that cover photo because I am a very big fan of Lady Gaga and seeing that photo of her made me so upset. It is so obvious that the photo has been completely altered.Well, it's photoshopped. Vogue has been doing this for years and is famous for it.By taking a closer look at this picture, I realized that anything is possible with Photoshop, but is the picture on the right really the original material for the final image on the left? Or is it another shot of her from the same photo shoot? The angles of her body and face are just so different.

Speaking about that, it would be a big deal when a young impressionable girls see these people on cover of the magazine that have been retouched. All they will see is the skinny body , the body with no flaws and these may make them want to look like them.This will lead the youth to have eating disorder or other way of trying to get the "Ideal Look".

Lady Gaga once said that, "Weight is still a struggle. Every video I'm in, every magazine cover, they stretch you - they make you perfect. It's not real life, I 'm gonna say this about girls: The dieting wars have got to stop. Everyone just knock it off. Because at the end of the day, kid's your age and its making girls sick."

Relating to her quote, her fans out there would be totally disappointed with the cover photo.They will be wondering , why doesn't she tell them to stop over-photoshopping her ? It was not a small retouch that has been made there. It was one hell huge alteration that was done.

No matter what , "Remember each of us have our own beauty". ! !

Wish Upon A Star

Everyone has a dream they want to pursue in life.Ever since you are a little child you grow up to have a dream in which you are focused on and set goals in order to make it come true. It may feel like its a fairy tale in which we live day by day until the day we achieve it. Basically, I have a song with my own voice, being a singer that can be known by many people out there, that's my dream ever since I was a kid. Being a SINGER it is. 

How do I reach my dream ? 

Well, I am currently going for vocal classes to improve my singing voice. There's a lot more to singing than just being able to match pitches and sing words at the same time.By, attending vocal classes, it taught me how to use the proper breathing support, how to shape my vowels, and how to keep my voice healthy. Keeping it healthy is one hard thing, I am not allowed to drink coffee , iced water , and alcohol drinks in order to keep my voice healthy. It really made a huge difference in my tone quality and my ability to project sound that helped me in my struggling while singing. I can say I am improving.  

Yes,my dream is to be a singer , but at first my mom was 100% against it. She was hard core against it. On the other side,my dad was very supportive of the fact that I loved singing because he was also head over heels in love with music back then when he was young.However,it has been my life time dream and goal to become a singer and to perform in front of thousands and thousands of people.Just that feeling is amazing for me.When time passed by my mom started realizing that I actually have it in me.She finally got to see the confidence in me when it come to singing so she began to support me even more now. I started off performing in school and I have also won several state competitions. One of my biggest achievement was during a concert held in Kuala Lumpur.It was organised by my Music Academy, they had a singing competition. A few of them were selected for the competition. Surprisingly, I was one of them and I could not believe that I actually made it to the finals. It did not stop there because I managed to get first place and it was the best feeling I ever gotten in my life. 

Besides that,the types of songs I sing.I have some favourite jazz standards, and I also have easy listening jazz and I also like many other song from various music genres such as Pop,Blues,Rock and R n B. The song I sing are often in a variety of occasions. My favourite artist are Celine Dion,Adele,Christina Aguilera,Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, and so many more.Takes me forever to name them all. 

Seeking a golden opportunity is very difficult. I will maybe pursue my dream , but I make sure to have back-up as well.My motivation in this will be the wind beneath my wings that will move me to practice,move me to perform,move me to learn more and move me to keep going. I believe I can ! 

Say Cheese :)

For our assignment 2 , we were required to do a video project. Everyone in class we looking forward for this particular project because it’s our first video project. We all knew its going to be quite challenging but it would be so fun at the same time. We were told to form  a group of not more than 5 members. My group members was Shamini , Darrveena , Lilian , Ming and myself . We as a team were to work on to produce a 10-minute video. It might sound a little easy but trust me its NOT ! The content of the video had to be Sitcom ( comedy ). 

We were asked to add in a few of those camera shots and also angles that we learned during one of our tutorial classes. These a a few if them :- 

Examples of shots:- 

Long Shot

A long shot shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some connection to it's surroundings. This is also called a 'full shot’.

Close-up shot

A close up shot is where a certain feature of part of the subject takes up the majority of the frame. Close up shots are a close up of a person’s face.

Medium Shot

A mid shot is shot from a medium distance.Medium shots are relatively good in showing facial expressions but work well to show body language.

Examples of angle:-

Low angle shot

Low angle shot - A low angle shot is a shot from a camera positioned low, anywhere below the eye line looking up. These types of shots are often used to make the character seem powerful and in control.  

 \

High Angle Shot

High angle shot - A high angle shot is usually when the camera is located above the eye line. With this kind of angle,the camera looks down on the person. High angled shots are often used to make the figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless.

Birds eye view

The bird's eye view is viewed from a distance high up. 

Getting back to the topic , before we started off with the video , we had to come up with a story line so we had a group discussion and shared all of our ideas. Finally , we decided ! We all had a clear picture of the story line on our heads. Well, all of us thought it was a great idea. Unfortunately, it was not. During the next tutorial we were suppose to give  a short brief about our story line in the class. The feedback given by the classmates were bad. They all said it was "predictable". I truly do appreciate their honesty. Thank you. After all that ,  my group members and I decided to change it to a whole new story (not saying a word about it). SURPRISE ! 

When, we  were about to start shooting our video.One of our close friend, Ming had lost his dad. The news was very devastating for all of us. Our mood's were all down because we really understood how it feels like loosing a dad. Moreover , we the video supposed to be full of comedy , it was pretty hard to fit that in. Then, we left a few gaps in for things to get better. Later on, we had a week of. It was during the Deepavali week so Sham , Darrveena and myself had to celebrate it since it is a tradition in our family every year but we all made sure to be on the weekend itself to get started. 

Thank god, everything went on well. It is all done now. Proud to say we manage to get it done on time without any delay even though we had tough times in between. Just want to say thanks a bunch to all my group members, without your cooperation nothing can be done. Not forgetting, staying back at the campus till 12.00 am editting the video. ( HAHA) . It was one hell great experience for all of us. 

Last but not least , we did our best and hope we had fulfill our lecturer , Mr. Hardip. :D

Baking Obsession

As you all know, I have got a huge passion in baking and cooking which started way back when I was in primary..maybe it's in the genes !! ( my mom loves to bake as well).I would also like to have my own bakery in future. I have attended numerous workshops and courses here in Malaysia. I have also attained a certificate in Cake Decoration (1). Two more to go. Six months ago before I started college, I got to learn more about baking and experienced different recipes. I enjoy pampering my loved once to a treat of my baking or cooking recipes and seeing their satisfied faces gives me a sense of contentment and joy.

Well getting back to the topic,the main purpose for the blog post is about a book that made baking easier for me. This book can never be found in bookstores. It's one of  a kind. You only can get this at certain bakery supplies.In this Course 1 (Decorating Basics), it taught me the easiest and best way to learn cake decorating.The thing about this book is its prepared and presented with great expertise and in detail. The method was shown step by step, how amazing is that. After trying out this book , I quickly signed up for the course. The course was about a month. 

What I learned from the book to be specific :
-How to fill and hold a decorating bag ( very important ! )
-Decorating bag pressure control
-Icing consistency
-Dimensional Decorating
-Drop Flower

-Pompom Flower
-Shell
-Shaggy Mum

 -Ribbon Rose

 -Rosette

-Printing and writing on a cake.

Not to forget , the decorating basics student kit-by Wilton was also given in a box together with the book. 

Kit includes : 

-12 decorating tips

-4 standard couplers

-Two reusable decorating bag

-6 disposable decorating bags

-6 parchment triangles

-flower nail and cupcake nail.

-decorator brush

-12 flower template stickers

-9 inch spatula

-practice board

Cake decorating was something I always admired, but was never able to do. Now I can :) 

This is the outcome of my cakes and cupcakes. More to come, stay tuned. 

Malaysian Couple Unleash Their Sex Blog

Malaysia Latest Sex Scandal ( Alvin and Vivian) 

Okay , we have a little sex scandal steeping in Malaysia. This interesting episode is starring two Malaysian by the name of Alvin and Vivian who are apparently exposing their sex life on tumblr blog which is disgusting and interesting enough is the fact that they appear to be using their real names linking to their Facebook pages ! 

Since the news is so fly high famous in the press ad cyberspace , I decided to check it out as well. The blog, Scrumptious Erotica gained reputation that it was required to be shut down by the couple.If you asked me if I would do something like that, I would definitely say NO because I think its ridiculous. But,its just me. Should they have done it, well that is up to them.If they are comfortable with it, then, fine go ahead. Well, I still totally disagree on their actions.

The wanted attention,they got it. Mission accomplished !!!!

Sex blog duo speak out here

                      Bold and unafraid : Alvin and Vivian fielding frequently asked questions about them in this screen grab from the YouTube Video.