Mel Gibson launches 'low-violence' Passion

Feb 11, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood mogul Mel Gibson, will release a new, low-violence version of his 2004 surprise mega-hit The Passion of Christ next month, Daily Variety reported on Thursday.
The star, dubbed Hollywood's most powerful figure since the huge success of the low-budget, graphically gory film, is trimming five to six minutes of violent scenes ahead of the film's March 11 reappearance on US screens.

The original film raked in US$370.2 million in its North American run that began on Ash Wednesday one year ago, but Gibson noted that many people had avoided the film because of its grisly portrayal of Jesus Christ being tortured by Roman troops.

'There has been quite a demand by the religious community to bring (the film) back for Easter,' Mr Bruce Davey, Gibson's partner at Icon Productions, told Variety.
'And there has been a lot of discussion about the violence. Mel wanted to try and accommodate those people by making a version that is softer and gentler,' he said.

The Passion Recut, will be beamed onto 500 to 750 screens by distributor Newmarket Films, Variety said, adding that the new versions would not be lumbered with an audience age restriction.

The new less violent version of the film goes easier on the brutal details of the last days of Christ.

'There are no new scenes, and the cuts are limited to the more violent aspects of the film, if that's the right term. The scourging scene in particular has been substantially adjusted.'

The film caused huge controversy in the United States, with Jewish leaders accusing the devoutly-Catholic Gibson of anti-Semitism by portraying Jews as responsible for Christ's death, a charge he denied.

But instead of keeping audiences away, the controversy at the bloody religious epic helped draw people into theatres, despite a mimimum of traditional publicity. -- AFP


Taken from: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/latest/story/0,5562,300289,00.html?

SUBstandard tees? Definitely not.

If
you are a vain and broke shopaholic, where can you shop?
I found this shop located on the second floor of Queensway
Shopping Centre called "Sub". It sells cool T-shirts
at below $30 and they all looked awesome.

The best thing
is that the owner imports only about 10 T-shirts of
different sizes per design. So, you probably will never
bump into somebody wearing the same T-shirt. Not unless
it's somebody as stylish.

Shopping Agent 1943 hates school
kids that dress like Ah Peks!

Taken From: http://sin.asia1.com.sg/apparel/apparel_agent.php

Idol dreams

Feb 6, 2005
Idol dreams

Teenagers hoping to be the next singing sensation are flocking to a studio to record their very own album
By Serene Luo

SINGAPORE Idol may be over for now, but many people are keeping their singing dreams alive by immortalising their voices in a cover track from their favourite singers.A steady stream of teenagers has been going to a shop in the Century Square mall in Tampines, hoping to be the next Stefanie Sun or Jay Chou.

Discovery Studios opened less than three weeks ago, but already more than 120 people have come in for a free trial to record and listen to their own voices.

Of these, about half have signed up for packages to record a cover of an existing pop hit, which will be edited and made into a CD.

The other half say they will be back after the Chinese New Year, said the 32-year-old manager, Mr Lye Ray Sen.

'They're the younger crowd, who say they are waiting for pay day or their hongbao money. But so far, the most impressive thing I've heard is that they want to go home and practise singing before they record their voices.'
Apple Wong, 14, is one of those who tried a variety of songs in the recording studio before deciding to plonk down her pocket money to record a track.

'It's my dream to be a star,' said the Secondary 2 student, who idolises Taiwanese singer-composer Jay Chou. 'I'm quite emotive in my singing but the first time I went, I was having the flu so I sounded bad. I'm trying to learn more and practise before coming back to record.'

The no-frills basic package costs $38 until the end of this month, and will cost $68 after that. Customers can pick one of more than 100 tracks from both English and Mandarin artistes, the most popular being Jay Chou and Malaysia-born Fish Leong.

They record the song with instrumental backing and can pick up the CD about half an hour later. Usually, professional recording studios charge hourly rates starting at about $60.

The most expensive package at Discovery Studios costs $1,888, which buys you 10 professionally edited tracks, vocal training to polish your voice, a makeover, a professional photo shoot, a customised cover and 50 duplicate discs to give your family and friends or even prospective artiste management agencies and record labels.

Discovery Studios pays music rights and royalties on all the songs it offers. Mr Lye, who set up the business with sound engineer Gabriel Yeo and a silent partner, says there are another 24,000 songs on the way, pending copyright clearance.

And these youngsters' dreams of hitting the big time may not be just stardust.

At the end of each month, vocal trainers listen to all the tracks customers have recorded and pick the best. Discovery Studios will then pitch the selected demos to big music publishers and record labels. The company also intends to expand into talent management in the future.

Mr Lim Sek, the chief executive of artiste management company Music & Movement, said many more young people are encouraged to give stardom a shot 'compared to pre-Stefanie Sun days many years ago'.

'In the past, if you wanted to be a singer, there was a social stigma of being perceived as a dreamer,' he said.

'But after Stefanie Sun became a big hit, people realise it's not impossible. There are also more music schools and the technology has improved, so it becomes easier to get a decent demo done.

'We might have a lot of hidden talent in Singapore and because of all these factors, we may discover them now.'

Not everyone is recording a CD for fame. ITE student John Yang, 20, thinks a $200 recording will make a terrific gift for his girlfriend of over a year on Valentine's Day.

'She's mentioned that she enjoys listening to me sing, so I'm going to record two songs and get a makeover for the CD cover.'

He has picked two Mandopop numbers, The Edge Of Loneliness by Zhang Dong Liang and Forever Love by Lee Hom.

It has not been easy. When he recorded one song last week, he was very nervous because he had never stepped into a recording studio before.

'But for my girlfriend's sake, I will overcome my awkwardness,' he said.

Besides the initial embarrassment, Sheryl Tang, 14, recounted the time she and Apple tried singing a duet but were not familiar with the music.

'We both started singing at the wrong time and just burst into laughter in the studio,' she said.

'Luckily, only Gabriel the sound engineer heard us, not everyone in the shop.'

Undergraduate Cindy Chan, 24, said she was so caught up in her song that she 'kept on singing and singing without realising the song was over'.

But all the people interviewed agreed that recording their own CD is 'a terrific experience'.

Said Ms Felicia Ang, 18, who is waiting for her O-level results: 'When you're recording, people walk by and look at you perform.

'You feel like a real star.'

Taken from:Straits Times,GEN Y, 06/02/2005
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/geny/story/0,5562,299609,00.html

Decision Process

"What Makes Me Tick?" is another way of asking why and how do I make the decisions I make. Several factors come into play including my spiritual condition, the design of my soul (personality) and my circumstantial environment.

 

Ready to start?

• Take the quiz


• More about personality


• Related resources

Right click and open the links in new window for better view! http://www.lifetime.org/local/equipped/wmmt

Is God Big Enough?

Is God Big Enough?
By Preston Gillham

For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me (Isaiah 46:9b-10).

I was on my way to the Exxon station to get a cup of coffee and realized my God was too small. In the general scheme of life, this is a problem on the large end of the spectrum.

My fairly normal routine is to arrive at the office after my morning bicycle ride, turn the computer on, and make my rounds through the hallways saying hello to the staff. I return to my office, launch Outlook, grab my coffee cup, and exit by the back door for the gas station.

As I walked across the parking lot, I began to consider God’s identity according to the file folder in my office labeled, “God’s Character.” The study was a thorough one and contains numerous qualities, with large words and concepts describing God: omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, holy, just, merciful, righteous, King of kings, Lord of lords, magnificent, etc. It is a thick folder! However, in spite of all the pages in the file, God was still not big enough, although I couldn’t articulate why. I just felt it!

In a candid moment of frustration I said out loud, “I have three-quarters of an inch of information about who God is stored in my file cabinet and I still don’t have a concept of His character that is big enough for my condition. I think I better start over.”

I know what the theologians say about God, but what do I know about Him from the Bible?

• It says His eyes roam to and fro, which means He looks around.
  


• He collects my tears in a bottle. Evidently He is sentimental.


• On a number of occasions His anger burned. That’s plain enough: He gets ticked.
  


• He decided to forgive, Isaiah writes, for His own sake. It seems He chooses to forgive because it is in His best interest to do so.


• He sought solitude to think, pray, and ponder.
  


• He cried when Lazarus died, so He obviously let His emotions show.


• He gathers His people like a mother hen does her brood. He feels a protective obligation.
  


• Earth is His footstool. Apparently He kicks back and takes it easy.


• Revelation says He is going to return to Earth riding a white horse. He must like animals and have them in heaven.
  


• He leads us in His triumph. Sounds like He enjoys a big parade .


• A sparrow does not die without His notice. Watching birds is a pastime of His I suppose.


• He taught with parables. Obviously, a great story is something He appreciates.


• He came to the disciples walking on the water. What a great joke! No one could pull this off except Him. I’ll bet He was laughing almost uncontrollably.

(Ref. 2 Chron. 16:9; Ps. 56:8; Deut. 29:27; Is. 43:25; Mk. 1:35; Jn. 11:35; Lk. 13:34; Is. 66:1; Rev. 19:11; 2 Cor. 2:14; Mk. 10:29; Mt. 22:1; Mt. 14:25)

At first I was thinking to myself, then mumbling, then speaking out loud as my enthusiasm grew with the vision unfolding before me. I cannot comprehend omniscient and omnipotent. I can’t really grasp merciful and just, but I can relate to forgiveness, sentimentality, compassion, relaxation, birds, stories, and parades.

God leaped out of the theology of my file folder and painted a new vision of who He is and what makes Him tick. He became large. Larger than life. Larger than theology. Larger than the characteristics attributed to Him in my study. Larger than my concept. Said another way: God became large enough for me to see myself in Him by making Himself simple enough for me to understand Him. In this is the true genius of Someone omniscient and perpetual.

Instead of another unsuccessful attempt to squeeze myself into the insecure smallness of what I could not comprehend in the file folder, God introduced me to a vision of Himself as broad as the horizon, opened His arms and said, “Get your nose out of the file. Lift your head toward the light. Run to me, Pres. Run from any direction. I’m large enough for you, your dreams, your failures, your successes, your miscues, your passions, and your stutters. Run! And I will run with you.”

I thought I had lost the joy of running. But I have found it again!

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