₦airaland Forum

Ah. Some Bollywood movies are entertaining o. Yeah, the plots are often mediocre, but once in a while you come across real gems. If you haven't, please check out Munna Bhai, MBBS; It's one of my fav Bollywood thingies, and you'll see why. Ashwaya Rai couldn't possibly win a Best Actress Award on this planet. Maybe you meant Kajol.She was a former Miss World, though.

You don't like Crowe? Why'd you pick 3.10 to Yuma then?

Thanks FL, Salsera & Vesc. I truly appreciate that.

mohawkchic:
[color=#550000]~Yes! Yes! & Yes! To all three Q's . . .here's why . . . . .

~I totally understand you feeling telling the child will create "unnecessary,avoidable psychological barriers between you and the child" but not telling the Child will be a [b]"Secret" . . .whatever you look at it!! As much as your intensions for Not telling are well founded,those same feelings you fear will create barries if the child becomes aware they're adopted & you've been keeping it a secret,i think it will be much worse if the child by then has grown up to be an Adolescence/Adult![/b]

~The way i see it,its a double edge sword between telling the child & in some cases having to deal w/ the child ask Questions about their birth parents,the constant reassurance you'll have to give that child to make them understand they hadnt done nothing wrong or their Birth parents didnt want them. . . .

. . . .And not telling the child & having to deal with mistrust issues,defend your reasons for not telling etc Having said that tho,every Individual is differnt so you wudnt likely have to deal w/ scenarios listed!

~I'll Suggest You read up on the Pros & Cons of Not Telling/Telling the child,see what challenges lies ahead,you should be able to make a decision . . .

~Ideally,On the basic of telling the child,if the child isnt already at an age wherein they're aware they are adopted,some Experts suggest 2-4 yrs . . .i have to say tho the Experts cant agree on when's the best age to tell the child . . .


"Many experts believe the child should be told at the youngest possible age. This approach provides the child an early opportunity to accept and integrate the concept of being "adopted." Other experts believe that telling a child too early may confuse the young child who can't really understand the information. These experts advise waiting until the child is older.


In either case, children should learn of their adoption from the adoptive parents. This helps give the message that adoption is good and that the child can trust the parents. If the child first learns about the adoption intentionally or accidentally from someone other than parents, the child may feel anger and mistrust towards the parents, and may view the adoption as bad or shameful because it was kept a secret. "

"Several excellent children's story books are available in bookstores and libraries which can help parents tell the child about being adopted. [b]Children have a variety of responses to the knowledge that they are adopted. Their feelings and responses depend on their age and level of maturity. The child may deny the adoption or create fantasies about it. Frequently, adopted children hold onto beliefs that they were given away for being bad or may believe that they were kidnapped. If the parents talk openly about the adoption and present it in a positive manner, these worries are less likely to develop."[/[/b]color]

What an eye-opener. I've been worried about what happens when we have biological children, and other things. I don't want a 'their real kids' and 'us' psychological split. I figured if none of them know we'll all integrate better, and by the time they do know we can't un-integrate; it wouldn't mean a thing. There really isn't a difference;biological or adopted, they're ours. But the thought of 'secrets' and having someone else let it slip is awful. We can't live like that.

vescucci:
First, I like Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson. JeSoul, oif course Jack is evil, that's why he predominantly plays evil roles. Can't remember any good role he's played but I don't wanna go to court.

As Good as It Gets, with Helen Hunt.

@JS
Saw a Bollywood thing. Ashwarya Rai was as terrible as ever. That woman cannot act.
You do not like Foxx. I'm indifferent to the guy, though I admire his Ray performance; he nailed it. You're a serious fan of Crowe, right? Which means you've seen all his movies? Did you see his Hollywood debut with fellow Aussie Guy Pierce, L.A Confidential?

Gbawe:
I think those who argue in favour of an ulterior motive of the USA over her President's visit to Ghana , rather than Nigeria, do Obama a disservice. Pertinent to factor in also is an intrinsic need of Nigerians to always defend Nigeria even when the actual truth is inescapable. No one can deny that the USA is self -serving - and cunningly so. Obama , even as I am not a complete fan , is an emotional man who has already made it obvious that , within the constraint of putting the interest of the USA above everything else , he will attempt to do the right thing.

He has spoken against corrupt African leaders from day one. As a direct descendant of an African it is not surprising he is passionate about the continent and prepared to go beyond the lip service and hypocritical posturing previous American Presidents have deployed in dealing with vile leaders regressing Africa.

Obama appears prepared to show , with his actions and nuances , that he will not tacitly support or diplomatically endorse overtly corrupt and despotic leaders like Yar Adua.

As the leader of the largest black nation , with that positions attendant importance for the progress or retrogression of Africa and the black race, it is clear from 'events' , for those who want to view things dispassionately, that Yar Adua has been singled out by Obama for subtle humiliation much like how most of us will fail to appear with the village LovePeddler in public !!!

Yar Adua solicited a meeting with Obama. The Nigerian President was curtly rebuffed. Still, skilled Nigerian Spin doctors spun away.

Obama is visiting Ghana rather than Nigeria. We are seeing the various spins ongoing from AFRICOM to Ghanaian docility and 'malleability'.

Well can anyone deny that Obama is , to say the least , 'unimpressed' with Yar Adua from the oft- missed snub he dished out to the President of "the Giant of Africa" at the inception of his presidency as quoted below :

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200905193435557

Spot on,man. It's a heavy responsibility he bears, being black and the most powerful man in the world. Not only must he do the right thing, he must be seen at it and, hopefully, admired and respected for his stances, his occasional grandstanding. As Abeem rightly pointed out, Yar Adua is out of his depth and the presidential office is run by committee; our leaders lack the integrity and commitment to a unified vision present in Ghanaian and South African leadership. They are, and have long been, an embarrassment. Obama's humiliation of the Nigerian president is not subtle, and is perhaps a tad overdone, like he wants to be certain no one misses it, and it is painful to every Nigerian to observe,but it is not undeserved.

We're adopting. You know how you meet a kid and know he's your son or daughter, even if you're not the biological parents? Well-
The problem is, do we let the child know he's adopted or not? I'm not in favour of letting him know, I think it's irrelevant and might create unnecessary,avoidable psychological barriers between us and our kid. There are differences between how kids relate with their parents, and with people they might come to regard as just playing 'mom' and 'dad', like trustees or something.

We're really torn up about this. We really love him, and no doubt we'll meet his brothers and sisters in other places and bring them home too. Should they be told they're adopted?Does it matter? I really need good advice about this.

Yeah. Seen anything good lately?
Trying to find time to see Dances With Wolves, though a friend rubbished it. I want to see what stole the Oscar from, I think, Goodfellas.

@JS
What are Jamie Foxx's sins?

ThiefOfHearts:
Havent seen 3:10 yet. Not a fabn of westerns

Yeah, westerns are unrepentantly stupid in the main, but not all. If I see anyone I like on the billing, I watch it. I saw the The Quick and The Dead because of the cast, and had sneaky fun. No way am I saying nay to Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, even if it's a Western.

At least they're not as bad as Chinese films. Good lawd. They deliver a killing blow to the 'boss',or stick him full of spears and the guy will take an eternity to die. He'll stagger about and clutch himself and groan mightily and stagger out and go to the market and visit his family and go sight-seeing and build a new house and have a dozen more kids before he finally collapses to the ground, arch, get up, fall down again and finally die.  So annoying.

@Owen
"You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake"
"Prepare to evacuate soul"
"Self-improvement is masturbation."
"The IKEA nesting instinct."
"You met me at a very strange time in my life."

That movie is so terrific on so many levels, I can't even begin to say. Great directing,great script, great cine, great editing, great sound, fantastic acting. After I picked my jaw from the ground at that surprise ending, I sat there and saw the whole thing all over again, and then appreciated just how clever the movie really was.

Oh you. How have you been? You like Russell Crowe, don't you?
Ehn, he shot the guy for killing his friend Christian Bale na. The 'poor' creature must have died confused; after all he'd done to 'rescue' Crowe. Who didn't need rescuing for even a second and went along from the beginning only cos he wanted to. You like The Mask, yeh? Almost all the movies on the comedy nominee list are just as funny, and a few just as insane. Have you seen Kung Fu Hustle?

Haven't seen Soloist. But, you know, there's one way to save yourself movie disappointment:
Select movies that have, over the Oscars 80-year history,been nominated for either Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film or Best Animated Feature. That's almost 2000 titles already. Life's too short for mediocre movies or books or anything else jare. Why 'settle' when somehting extraordinary is available? Of course, after years on a steady diet of those, you'll become snooty and impossible to please like you-know-who.

*Owen*:
Talking about Edward Norton,you should see Fight Club, he co-starred with Brad Pitt in the film,Brad was absolutely amazing in the film.how he didn't scoop any award for that performance totally beats me.

Owen, it's official. You have great taste in movies!!!!!!!
To hear those words from another human being with an excellent pair of eyeballs to point at a screen. Fight Club's a freakin MASTERPIECE. I am Jack's slack-jawed amazement both he and Norton weren't nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting actor oscars. Both of them were bloody fantastic. Look at Norton's complex,multi-faceted performance. And he makes it look so easy.

You don't find anyone making a fuss about it here, do ya?
American History X's the movie with Edward Norton, right? Yeah, I think so. Someone was raving about it to me but I never saw it, which is strange, cos Norton is simply brilliant. The very first movie this guy appeared in, alongside Richard Gere, as an altar boy accused of murdering a priest, earned him an oscar nomination. His first movie! I must remember to see it, if only for his performance. Excellent actor.

wirinet:
No we are not deviating from the issues. You are saying the same thing i am saying. If terrorists us Kano as a training ground, the world would say Nigeria (including your home village) is a terrorist training camp.
The reason Kano can owe more allegiance to Niger or saudi Arabia is because the people of Kano has closer cultural Links with Niger including same language and religion than say Bayelsa, Warri and Imo. The only thing linking Kano to the southern parts of Nigeria is Federation Account.You cannot force allegiance, it happens naturally.

Closer cultural links to Niger and Saudi Arabia. What are those? Nigeriens and Saudis speak Hausa? They used to have groundnut pyramids? They eat tuwo shinkafa? Kano indigenes are of Arabian descent?What aspect of Kano culture is similar to those people's? The only thing they have in common is Islam, imported from Arabia. Some aspects of Indian culture is similar to Northern Nigeria's; perhaps they should pledge allegiance to India too?

Nigeria is a country, and it is insane and unbelievably crass for any state in it to profer allegiance to another country. Is there some sort of precedent elsewhere? The Nigerian Govt is utterly irresponsible. When the first state declared Sharia in a secular country of a federalist character, it should have fought that nonsense to a standstill,and put an end to it. Religion and state has always and will forever be, an unhappy mix; the mixture almost always results in tragic consequences.  They proclaim sharia, they meet in mosques, plot riots and execute them,murdering thousands of innocent people. and they do these things without fear of consequences because they have not been held accountable for a single misdeed. Won se won se gbe ni yen.  Now they're telling you their allegiance is to a foreign country, and have religious police that considers itself above secular law? My God. Next thing you know, 'smart' Muslim fundamentalists from the middle east would come over there covertly and turn their stone-age,ignorant brains to mush with fiery religious rhetoric, and Kano would start sheltering and helping them in the name of 'brotherhood' and 'allegiance'. I don't even want to think about it. Sharia should never have been allowed in the first place, but the asses in charge and their cronies were too busy herding taxpayers monies into private accounts, like the thieving squirells they are, to think of what was best for everybody in the country.

My, they are stunning. Absolutely gorgeous.

The incredibles isn't a kiddie cartoon. But I haven't come across a PIXAR animated movie that isn't entertaining yet.

boliatiepa:
But folks, I might not be the most popular member in this parts, but I do implore you, nay, I admonish you, no, I encourage you to watch ''LET THE RIGHT ONE IN'' by Tomas Alfredson. Best film of 2008

Funny.
Who's in it and why's it good?
And Mad Detective; did you mean Singing Detective, the noir thing with Downey Jr and Mel Gibson?

Pastor AIO:
Now you are probing too deep, and I'm actually a coy guy. There were other distractions too, but I'm not going to go in to them.

. . . Sooooooo what was it that we were saying about christians and the Pharisees . . . . ?

Yeah, maybe I am. Sorry about that. I was sort of pretending the questions were academic. Nosy me.

tpiah:
Wall E's a very good movie though it got a bit predictable towards the middle. But the special effects are great. And that female robot was awesome.

EVA's lovely. I loved WALL-E himself . So timid and so brave and so lonely and so romantic and so 'typical guy' and so adorable. It was heartbreaking to see him alone on an entire planet, with Michael Crawford's singing to keep him company, and the loneliness and longing in his huge eyes while his hands sought to hold another's. Honestly, Pixar outdid itself with this movie, managing to hint at darker themes while giving the whole thing the magical aura of innocent old romantic movies of the fifties and sixties.

tpiah:
Some of my Nigerian friends/family consider animation a "kiddie" thing? I wonder why.
A lot of animation is far from childish. Most of them are actually quite deep. Egyptian hieroglyophics look like cartoons too.

lol.
WALL-E isn't a kiddie movie.Animation's just another storytelling format na. Tarantino and Oliver Stone sometimes use manga to drive the plot in some of their movies.

Brothers and Sisters season 1 on DVD;Gay themes and sexuality is openly explored. Don't like Sarah, she's miscast; Holly and her horsey teeth irritates, as does Kitty with her collagen-puffed blowfish lips. Sally Field is great.

Now starting Weeds on DVD

It's a public thread. Anyone can post here, and they're welcome to.

If you don't 'get' WALL-E, your loss. Really. It's beyond awesome. Vesc, you're on the side on Dreamworks? Pixar nvented computer animation, man. Remember how freaky Toy Story was when you saw it for the first time? Notice how both animation houses copy each other? It's a Bug's Life/ Antz. Monsters Inc/Shrek & Aliens vs Monsters (awful). Madagascar/ The Wild (truly awful). Finding Nemo/ Shark Tale, etc. But Pixar is ahead, man. Everything they touch turns to gold. They're amazing.

I find your answers answersory.
You were set to follow a career in the church?Interesting.As a priest? And you were distracted by global religion and man's spiritual experiences. How so? I'd think these would re-enforce your commitment to pursuing your career. Or you felt dedicating yourself only to Christianity would be too confining in the light of all the religions out there?

spikedcylinder:
I don't know why I forgot to add this.
Max, that guy that acted as Rachel's husband, why in the hell did he look like that? All his movie family members had plenty teeth and nerdy looks. I hope it was make up sha. He is Nigerian but I don't want people thinking thats what we look like. Chineke!

Plenty of teeth, Lol! You make it sound like they were auditioning for Jaws or something. I loved Hathaway's performance, and that of her father. Apart from the wedding reception, which Demme let drag on and on, the movie wasn't bad at all.

Saw In Bruges again. "I'm going to die now, I think." So murderously funny. Priceless from the moment Fiennes butts in. Flawless closing scene.

That actress is gorgeous. More Penelope than Jolie though.

JeSoul:
Max,
I think you'd mentioned your deep love for Wall.E at some point I finally watched it and almost turned it off after the first 20 mins, it seemed like it was dragging, but I hung in there and I'm glad I did. It turned out to be pleasant and cute, though for me it is not top 20 material. By the wayside, robots are not supposed to have emotions right? lol I'm all for fantasy and fiction but for some reason it just disturbed me the whole time to see two metal heads romancing. But its still a nice watch.

WALL-E was the best thing I saw last year. I think you thought you were watching an ordinary animated feature. It's much,much,much more. It won many many awards,sometimes tying for Best Picture with Slumdog Millionaire. There were several attempts to get it nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It was nominated for six oscars in total. For me, it's raised the standard for animated features. It's Pixar's best,and they simply cannot top this one.

@Vesc
The only thing I haven't seen on your list is Lassie. Is it good?You liked Fight Club and Braveheart?In my Top Twenty, along with The Matrix, LOTR, Sin City, E.T and Silence of the Lambs. Doesn't Braveheart have one of the most beautiful scores ever?

Talk which thing o? Unrealistic of her to smirk. Loved every second of her performance but those.

Meryl is beyond gifted. I've seen far better performances from her. Jolie in Changeling outdid her. And yes, Winslet should have won and did, for all the near-misses. She's a fantastic actress, the only woman in film history to have been nominated for 5 oscars before the age of 30. She's earned it na.

Yes. 20.
Mr Henley's replied your mail.
Going out now. When we return we'll going to read, do a few things and then watch some Naruto. Sasuke's on his way to Orochimaru, and Naruto's trying to stop him. Great showdown, where Sasuke sees the nine-tailed demon fox for the first time. Everyone's choosing sides. I want to know what happens next.

Pastor AIO:
Diverse religions do have a great deal in common and this is why I keep saying that if religion was a mere invention by lying clerics then not only are they liars but altogether they show very little imagination. There are too many similarities that if these people were making it up surely there should be a lot more diversity in the religions.
Every language had a word for cloud. Why? I would imagine it is because clouds exists and not because they invented the idea of clouds independently.

Nirvana or Nibbana is a Buddhist concept. Karma is just the Law of Causality. Cause and effect. It is the belief that every event, every action is connected to every other event in a fixed relationship called the Law of Karma.
Both Buddhists and Hindus belief in Dharma.from here:http://www.hinduism.co.za/dharma.htm#What%20is%20Dharma?

And what are your religious beliefs? Yes, I know people ask that and the moment you answer they put you in a box and think they know everything about you. I'm merely curious. Are you a Buddhist?

I've gotten so absorbed in the 'book', I think I'll sign off now and do some in-depth reading.

Where is that Top Twenty list, by the way?

Then it's just as well they nominated her performance for Best Actress and not the movie.
Anne Hathaway was incredible.Simply flawless. I'm happy for Kate because she's been nominated five or six times before and did not win. But I would have been overjoyed if Hathaway had won. Jolie simply didn't stand a chance.

ThiefOfHearts:
Sheesh. Took you long enough. I wish she won.

No you don't. You merely feel sorry for her character and wish to compensate her in some way. There were times I was so horrified by events I almost couldn't breathe. But I've seen every nominated performance now, and it should go to either Winslet or Hathaway for Rachel getting married. Jolie was great, but it was a mistake for director Eastwood to have a woman who'd just discovered her beloved son gruesomely murdered smirk several times in court at the police captain's embarrassment.She might be grieved, or full of rage, or simply facially unreadable, but smirk- NO. A tiny blot on an otherwise outstanding performance.

No. What's it about?

It's war, and this is what soldiers do when no one's looking. Man, what's this?There are far worse atrocities to be recounted. But at least they're on trial for their lives now. When Iraqis, and other victims, react to what they observe, they're branded terrorists. Yes to the death penalty, if it is deserved. Unregenerate evil should itself meet with evil, and be terminated. Compassion's shifting from the victim to the perpertrator; don't kill little Luke for raping and murdering a dozen little girls. Let the Ted Bundys of this world keep breathing fresh oxygen while you worry about their hair and if they're eating well in prison.
If they deserve it, death penalt the bastards.

Take a look through this True Crime Library, and then talk again about letting insanely evil people walk away with their lives after dispossesing others of their own.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/index.html

Saw Changeling: Angelina Jolie. John Malkovitch. Good.

duduspace:
the evolution in morality can be seen in recent history in issues varying from Slavery to sexual orientation.

Morality has evolved? How do you mean?

Bastage:
If a man has the inherent capacity to sin, does that make him a sinner?
I'd particularly like to hear the atheistic view on this as well, so let me rephrase it in another way.
If man has the inherent capacity to commit immoral acts, does that make him immoral?

Interesting. You know, of course, there are no universally acceptable standard-issue answers to such questions. If a man has an inherent capacity to sin, does that make him a sinner? I'm wary of the word, 'sin', as there are different interpretations as to what 'sin' is. Some think it's to do something morally unacceptable, some think it's a state of spiritual alienation from God, even if the person in question did no evil, he would still be a sinner.

If a man has an inherent capacity to do something immoral, does that make him immoral?
I don't think so. If a man has the capacity to steal,I don't think he's a thief until he actually does steal. I don't think he's 'immoral' until the latency translates into an immoral act. But 'immoral' isn't merely what we do, is it? Doesn't it include what we think and feel as well?

I know Judaism and Christianity shared the same historical backdrop. I didn't think they had anything else in common. What doctrines did Judaism and early Christianity share?
I see you've gone from wondering if Christ was a Pharisee to concluding that he was. How did you know he was one? If he was, why does he speak about the pharisees from the outside looking in,why did they have to meet him in public or ambush him to challenge; why isn't there an instance where his departures from standard doctrine were addressed in the council to which he belonged? If he was one of their own and he erred, surely they would deal with him first as a pharisee subject to the laws of the council?
Even if he were, the ramifications would be-?

Yeah, religion is man's moral compass in most societies, and I don't think a single irreligious culture exists. They know there's 'something' out there, and each culture's history is littered with various sincere attempts to find and understand it. There's an interesting event in the NT, when Paul comes across just such an attempt.Athenians in Greece have built shrines to 'an unknown god' and worship him there. Not a temple or a church or anything 'conventional'; but shrines shrine. Paul knows whatthey are seeking and tells them,"I see you have built shrines shrine to an unknown god.I am here to introduce that god to you so you may worshiphim intelligently.' Acts 17:22-23.

Because we know a little science it's the pastime of some to acribe all religion to ancient superstition and laugh it to scorn.And of course, there is superstition. But there's also far more than that. One cannot tell a Yoruba shaman that his 'gods' does not exist; he would rightyly consider one foolish,superior and ignorant,because he knows better. You cannot tell Shirley Mclane and her New Age friends there isn't an extra dimension, because they're adepts at separating their body/ brain from their spirit/brain. You can't tell Tibetan monks nothing survives bodily death, because they travel out of their body, and are adept mystics. You can't tell the myriad of Princeton,Stanford and Harvard professors,initial atheists who changed their tunr after self experimenting with the occult (they self-experiment because they didn't really expect anything to happen but it did) and discovered the ancient Babylonians had it right.

So yeah, one would expect diverse religions to have layers in common;they're human attempts to connect with 'god', and each interperetes his own experiences differently, something founding religious philosophy on nothing but.

I'm not sure, but I don't think Hinduism teaches reconciliation with God. Isn't it karma and Nirvana for the happy Hindu?

Saw Passengers:Anne Hathaway, and the guy in Little Children with Kate Winslet.Survivors of a plane crash solace each other while the cause of the crash is gradually determined. A 'twist' ending. Shameless ripoff of a far superior movie. The leads are hopelessly miscast, the plot incoherent and the acting trashy. Not a good movie.