magic world of dragons

Minggu, 17 Juni 2007

WWE - Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

A True Showman

The Rock Image Courtesy: jagdish.blogs.com

A third generation wrestler from an illustrious wrestling family, Dwayne Johnson has been able to make a mark in the world of entertainment be it pro-wrestling or the movies. His success as an entertainer is illustrated by the fact that he has managed to seamlessly transcend into the world of movies. The only other person who may have managed to do it must be Hulk Hogan. However his screen persona of ‘The Rock’ has been able to capture the imagination of audiences worldwide.

Early days

Rocky Miavia Image Courtesy: areavoices.com

It is ironic to think that when he first started off the crowd hated him. His lineage was always played up and he was even given the ring name of Rocky Miavia (a combination of his dad’s and granddad’s name). The crowd however found him to be boring and sometime even gave chants of “Die Rocky Die”. In keeping with his character Rocky had to smile and bear these cheers even though he was raging inside. This was also the time when Steve Austin became the epitome of the bad boy hero image.

Success!!

The Rock Image Courtesy: drock.net

His fortunes took a turn for the better when he switched to being a heel and took up the ring name of The Rock. From then on there was no turning back. He began to use the opportunity that a heel character would provide to pour out his real life frustrations on the crowd. He would unleash absolutely venomous verbal attacks on the audience and would insult anyone he could lay his eyes on. But amazingly instead of hating him the crowd began to like him and his popularity began to surge aided in no small part by his superb mic skills.

Memorable Quotes

The Rock Image Courtesy: areavoices.com

He began to refer to himself in the third person whenever he was in the ring. He also spewed forth many quotes, which became a rage with every WWE/WWF fan of the time. Some of them were

"If you smell, what The Rock is cooking!"
"Finally, The Rock has come back to (city name)"
"The Rock will take your object, turn it sideways, and stick it straight up your candy ass”
"Just Bring It"
"Layeth the Smacketh Down!"

Unforgettable Rivalries

The Rock v Triple H Image Courtesy: slam.canoe.ca

It was not just his mic skills that helped him win the hearts of the fans at the time. As part of the attitude era he had some really unforgettable rivalries with some of the biggest name in sports entertainment. His feud with Mankind was absolutely brutal. They would go at each other with everything they had and with everything they could lay their hands on. Their ‘I Quit’ and ‘Empty Arena’ matches were truly memorable. Also unforgettable were his feuds with Stone Cold and Triple H. The feud with Stone Cold was interesting mainly due to the great war of words that the two would indulge in. Here were two superstars who no qualms about spouting profanity laden dialogues at each other and the crowd just enjoyed every moment of it. His feud with Triple H was more physical than verbal but it was never found lacking in intensity. It must be said that these three superstars were incidental in helping the WWF win the Monday night wars against the WCW.

Transition into Movies

The Scorpion King Image Courtesy: areavoices.com

The Rock’s first big break in the movies came when he enacted the role of the Scorpion King in ‘The Mummy Returns’ which was a success. This along with his successful stint at ‘Saturday Night Live’ helped him in reprising the role of Scorpion King in a movie by the same name. As his movie career became more and more active his appearances in the ring became more and more sporadic. He would return once in a while to start a new feud (like the one with Hulk Hogan) or as a special guest in some of the matches. He went on to star in movies like The Rundown, Walking Tall, Be Cool and Gridiron Gang. He has since stated countless times that he is done with wrestling.

Whether as a movie star or as one of the most popular sports entertainer of all time, The Rock continues to capture the attention of the masses all over the world. He is one of those rare breed of wrestlers who has the looks, the charisma, the talent and more importantly the brains to make it big. His fans will be hoping that they can smell whatever it is that he is cooking for some more time to come.

Sabtu, 16 Juni 2007

Emiliano Zapata

Emiliano Zapata – The father of agrarian revolution.

Emiliano Zapata image courtsey: antorcha.org

A rare phenomenon.

‘The slight and swarthy man with the unappeased dreamer’s eyes’ Emiliano Zapata was an illiterate but in guerilla strategies there was none to excel him with a small rag-tag army he rose to power a to reckon with yet lived away from the comforts of power and lead a life dedicated to his cause. All the land grabbers, corrupt governments and its cruel army failed to defeat him. They had to resort to the path of deceit to dispose him off. Zapata remains role models to all revolutionaries and one of the rarest form of martyrs world has ever seen.

Horses far better off!

Emiliano Zapata was born in September 8, 1879 in a village by name Anenecuilco in Mexico. His family thrived on keeping livestock but did not own any land. At the age of 16 he was orphaned but survived by doing various trades. He was well known in the locality for his horse training skills and a rich planter hired him to manage his stables. One fact that struck Zapata was that these horses were accommodated in far better surroundings than majority of ordinary people of the locality lived.

Go to the army!

Emiliano Zapata image courtsey: vallartaonline.com

Those were times of extreme corruption on the part of government and utter helplessness on the part of the peasants; rich planters with the active connivance of government were in an expropriating spree and peasants were being driven out of their holdings day by day. Zapata joined the defense committee in his village, an array of protests and campaigns were to follow he was elected as the president of the village council, The officials lobby was all out to dispose him off sending him to the army was just a part of the conspiracy to keep him away so that they could keep their work uninterrupted.

Catapulted in to action.

The absence of Zapata made the authorities bolder and they planned to make a hospital at Anenecuilco wanted to occupy the entire cornfield owned by the peasants and asked them to vacate. When Zapata came on leave the entire villagers were in a state of shock; and there was no one to lead them. Zapata was getting catapulted in to a world of guerilla leadership, however the first operation turned out to be a bloodless one, seeing the Zapatistas (as his army came to be known) the government guards fled; the land was again to the villagers. Peasants of the neighboring villagers also started to approach him with similar issues.

Call for joint action.

Porfirio Diaz image courtsey: nndb.com

The dictatorship rule by Porfirio Diaz was ideal for the growth of a revolutionary movement as people had lost all hopes in government as a justice rendering machine. A call for joint-rebellion against the regime was received from none other than an exiled landlord Fransisco Madero, which was not acceptable to Zapata as a shrewd man he knew that they were not strong enough for an open war. He was engaged in liberating the looted lands and mediating disputes among peasants.

Chief of revolutionary movement.

Emiliano Zapata image courtsey: escuelas.edu.ar

He better chose to hide on the hills and when need arose came down as a whirlwind with well armed horsemen enacted instant justice and returned. He was like god to the poor peasants who had nobody else to look upon, some rebel leaders elected him as the ‘Chief of the revolutionary movement of the south’. Town after town fell before the Zapatistas, when the key town of Cuautla fell, president Diaz had to resign and leave the nation in disgrace.

Old friend in new role.

Whole of Mexico was in disarray landlords were a terrified lot, people were engaged in killing and looting each other as law and order became a thing of the past. Madero who formerly asked Zapata’s participation in the rebellion came back to the nation and was later elected as the president. But President Madero who had a dialogue with Zepata was not his former self, he refused to heed to Zapata’s demands of immediate action, somehow an agreement was reached in a conciliation move Zapata disarmed his men and sent them to the fields.

Ayala and nothing else!

It was just a false dawn, Madero instead of honoring the agreement sent his army under Victoriano Huerta (the most cruel and ruthless commander of the army) to exterminate Zapata for once and all. Zapata had to withdraw to his old abode - the hills; and started to assemble his army again. There in the hills he proclaimed ‘Ayala’ (the land woods and water which have been usurped will be restored).

Like master like servant!

Francisco Ignacio Madero González image courtsey: uen.org

General Huerta was doing whatever he could do torture the peasants, their fields and huts were burnt unarmed people were taken in to concentration camps, ultimately he turned against Madero –his god father himself. Madero was thrown out of power and later executed by Huerta. By this time Zapata was calling shots remaining in the hills most of the hinterlands fell before his army; in fact the actual power was with Zapata, he captured big plantations owned by planters and divided among peasants.

In Mexico city as a winner.

In November 26,1914 he entered in the Mexico City, he just lived there in a rented room and never resorted to throwing his weight around, he entrusted his political responsibility to his old ally Pancho Villa and returned to Morelos to take care of his villagers. There were coups taking place in the capital and all the governance fell in to utter disarray. This time it was Carranza on the helm who did all he can do to destroy a nation in five years but the limiting factor was the presence of Zapata who stood for the peasants.

The final deceit.

Venustiano Carranza image courtsey: wikipedia.org

A plot that was hatched out by Carranza worked while at a ceremony Zapata was on his horse-back his back facing the army in a hacienda (large estates with residential colony) soldiers as planned fired at him he was dead before his body touched the ground. “Zapatismo is dead, Once the dog is dead, there are no more rabies” It was the exultation of Guajardo after dumping the body of Zapata in to the Cuaulta. He was mistaken the “rabies” spread after the death of the “dog” and finally took the life of none other than Carranza who was murdered while he was trying to escape out of the nation.

‘Died in peace’

One American observer comparing the situations in the Zapata ruled Morelos with other parts of Mexico reported that ‘true social revolution can be found among the Zapatistas’ hearing this Zapata remarked “Finally they (US) have done us justice, now I can die in peace”. Zapata was a rare breed among politicians and rarer still among revolutionaries.

Jumat, 15 Juni 2007

Vince Mcmahon Death

On Vince Mcmahon's Death

On June 11, 2007, WWE aired a segment at the end of RAW that featured McMahon (in character) entering a limousine moments before it exploded. The show went off-air shortly afterwards and WWE.com reported the incident as though it were a legitimate occurrence, proclaiming that McMahon was "presumed dead." Although this was the fate of the fictional Vince McMahon character, it is believed that the stunt was a kayfabe and no harm came to the actual person (that is, his death was part of a storyline).

Kayfabe

Vince Mcmahon's Car Explosion image courtsey wwe.com

kayfabe refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. Referring to events as kayfabe means that they are worked events, and/or part of a wrestling storyline. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to an actor breaking character on camera.

Kayfabe is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non-wrestling aspects of promotions, such as feuds, storylines, and gimmicks, in a similar manner with other forms of entertainment such as soap opera or film. In the past, kayfabe was strongly adhered to in order to preserve the illusion that pro wrestling was not staged. With the advent of the Internet Wrestling Community and the sports entertainment movement in pro wrestling, the maintenance of pro wrestling's backstage secrets are more difficult to keep than they were in earlier decades. Today, kayfabe is sometimes broken to advance storylines, to explain prolonged absences due to legitimate injury, as a tribute to a wrestler, or even for comedic effect.

Through kayfabe, wrestlers often quit or get fired, or are said to have been booked to lose a match where their jobs are on the line (e.g., a "loser leaves town match"), only to return at a future time.

However, such "departures" may also be used to advance a feud between two wrestlers. A classic example is the "masked man", where the wrestler (usually a face) who has supposedly lost his job makes appearances at subsequent events while wearing a mask, and then interfering in his heel opponent's matches; eventually, the masked wrestler's identity is exposed by his foe and the feud intensifies. . – source wikipedia

Kayfabe’s of the past

Dusty Rhodes/Kevin Sullivan feud - 1980s

Feud between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan - 2003.

On the August 22, 2005 edition of RAW, WWE Champion John Cena successfully defended his title by defeating Chris Jericho in a "You're Fired!" match. Though the match had been conceived to cover for Jericho's departure from the company, Jericho was not truly "fired," as his release was a mutual arrangement, and he continues to have a civil relationship with the company.

Another recent example is the May 2006 match between Rey Mysterio and John "Bradshaw" Layfield in which JBL said if he didn't win the match for the World Heavyweight Championship he would quit the SmackDown! brand. When he lost the match, he said he quit. However, he returned to SmackDown! as its color commentator, replacing Tazz after he went to the ECW Brand. In actuality, JBL was forced to retire from active competition due to a serious back injury.

What the fans think of all this

The following are some interesting logical thinking expressed by our readers in response to our earlier articles on Vince Mcmahon Death. Via comments and Mail.

Let's do some elementary deductive thinking.

1. Vince lost the "hair match" and thus, his hair.

2. Vince has lost some weight (especially noticeable in his face)

3. Vince hasn't really been very active until just a week or so ago when he lost to Lashley

4. Vince hasn't been talking as much as he normally does

5. Vince suddenly just "disappears"

Conclusion (at least mine):

Vince has cancer or some other catastrophic disease that has required chemotheraphy or some other radical medical treatment that would result in the loss of his hair medically. And the car blew up so that he could get even more radical, maybe even invasive treatment for his catastrophic medical problem. (Just a hunch)

The Federal authorities are only involved as part of the kayfabe to make people think that the WWE is real. He did not really die. Here are 2 facts that show he couldn't have died.:

1. If he had really died on television, the camera wouldn't have still been on him.

2. If he had really died on television, they wouldn't keep on broadcasting the explosion everywhere including WWE.com. The WWE hasn't showed any footage of Owen Hart's death except for a 15 second video taken by a fan.

3. We as WWE fans hate Mr. McMahon but that doesn't mean he's not a rich multi-billionaire. If he had really died, his death would've headlined atleast 5 newspapers which it didn't.

If you're still not convinced, notice how Vince McMahon strolled really slowly to his limo. The camera shouldn't have been on him if he was..

For more please refer the comments to our earlier article Vince Mcmahon Dead ???

Vince Mcmahon image courtsey: pwtorch.com

Now whether or not Vince Mcmahon Death was a Kayfebe will hang in uncertainity until its confirmed by some credible authority or till the time Vince reappears in some fashion. Till then we could only guess and really hope that it is just a stunt. if it were really a stunt then i sincerely hope people in the entertainment industry will show some judgement in the future and refrain from performing such stunts just to grab the attention. And as we conclude we need to do some serious thinking on the topic - Are we crossing moral boundaries ???

Vince Mcmahon Death

Vince Mcmahon Death Video

Been through the video what's the impression that you get, was it real or was it fake. Tell us what you think by way of comments to this post.

Related Reading.

Sivaji Review

Sivaji Movie image courtsey: movies.sulekha.com

Its june 15th today and it sure is a big day for the millions of fans of the Super Star Rajnikant who virtually rules the Tamil Movie Industry. His much awaited movie Sivaji has finally hit the theaters with a bang. The tickets were hard to come by as all the tickets were sold out in advance reservations. So please don’t be surprised if you happen to live somewhere in south India and don’t find the usual long queues in front of the counter that extend for miles often causing traffic blockades and a state of utter chaos. Well I was one of the lucky ones who’d been fortunate enough to get the tickets for the premiere.

Sivaji Movie image courtsey: movies.sulekha.com

Before we dwell into the actual movie itself there are certain things the I think should be mentioned. First of all Sivaji comes after a long gap since the last Rajni movie and the kind of hype it received from all sorts of media was tremendous. Sivaji has the credit of being the Costliest venture ever undertaken in the Tamil film industry so far. Sivaji is the first Indian film to incorporate the latest 4K resolution technology that so far was used only in big-budget Hollywood films. In India, the set standard for digital intermediate (DI) is presently 2K resolution. The AVM has not contributed much to the suspense and had let the movie speak for itself. But all were anxious to see how best Sankar could use the excellent talents of Rajnikant in a movie like Sivaji. The Chennai city rights for the movie have gone for a whopping Rs.6.5 crores and this is the highest bid so far for any movie for City rights in Chennai.

Sivaji,s Songs Lyrics is penned by Vairamuthu. And Music comes from none other than A R Rahman the most celebrated music director of India and sivaji has been ruling the top of the music charts over the last few weeks. Both 'Balleilaka' and 'Vaaji vaaji' are the present craze among Rajnikant fans, but the pick of the album is 'Sahara Pookal', sung beautifully by Vijay Yesudas and Gomathishree.

The early release of Sivaji in Bangalore without observing the seven-week moratorium has indeed created some problems in Bangalore. scores of pro-Kannada activists staged a demonstration outside the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) premises yesterday opposing the release of the Tamil film in Karnataka.

No wonder even the Super Star Rajnikant was a bit worried about this entire affairs he’s quoted to have said

“Rajnikanth: Actually, I wasn't nervous before. But the media and the press have hyped about the movie so much, that I'm tensed now. The picture is a great picture, it's a complete commercial family entertainer. It entertains and caters to all the classes. But definitely, I have to see how big a commercial success it will become.”

Sivaji Movie Review

Sivaji Movie image courtsey: movies.sulekha.com

As in most Tamil movies the story mostly revolves around the hero – Rajnikant (Sivaji) an accomplished businessman who returns from the US with high ambitions to build his business in India and help bring India into a developed country. But he's tricked by some till he loose everything he have,still sivaji works hard and finally achieve the goals that he had set successfully. How he manages to achieve his aim is the story line.

The movie is very captivating and evenly paced making sure the viewer never loses interest. The first half is filled with humour mostly handled by Rajni and Vivek. Second half sees the Superstar in a different cast. The scenes are action-packed with Rajni at the helm of affairs.

Sivaji Movie image courtsey: movies.sulekha.com

Shriya does her part well and so does the glamorous Nayanthara who does an item number in Sivaji. Vivek was simply superb with his comic dialogues but I strongly felt Suman’s role as a villain could have been a lot better. Rest of the supporting cast also deserves mention coz they did their job well.

Although the story line is similar to most Tamil movies or rather Rajni movies, where in the protagonist overcomes all the hardships that life throws at him and builds his fortune. and it all ends up going to the benefit of the poor. Shankar has done all that he can to make the script look as unpredictable as possible and his efforts has defenitly yielded resulsts. The climax is easily the best and the most exciting part of the movie.

Some Interesting Facts

Sivaji Movie image courtsey: movies.sulekha.com

Sivaji is AVM production’s 168th venture. For Superstar RajiniKanth, Sivaji is his 9th movie with AVM productions and for director Shankar this is his 9th movie in his directional career and first movie with AVM productions.

This movie bears the title Sivaji after the name of the legend of Tamil cinema Shivaji Ganesan.

Rajinikant has sung a song in this movie which is his second attempt of playback singing.

Things I liked about the Movie

Sivaji Movie Trailer

Shanker’s Screenplay and direction
AR Rahman's music.
Art direction and the extremely lavish Sets by Thotta Tharani.
Rajnikant – Especially in the scene where he does a Sivaji, MGR and Kamal Hassan

Rabu, 13 Juni 2007

What is entertainment?

Are we crossing moral boundaries?

Paris Hilton Arrested Image Courtesy: imageshack.us

On Monday, at the end of WWE’s broadcast of RAW, it was implied that the WWE chairman Vince McMahon was killed in a car bomb. Even though people were stunned and shocked at the time, it now looks increasingly like another of WWE’s gimmicks rather than any actual explosion. The reason? To increase the ratings of the show!!! Some must have found that entertaining but many others found that sickening.

More than anything it is the timing of the gimmick that needs to be questioned. Everyday scores of people die all over the world due to the menace of car and suicide bombings. Even considering the argument that maybe we are taking WWE and its numerous gimmicks too seriously, their effort to trivialize the menace of such attacks just doesn’t make any sense. It was utterly thoughtless and insensitive on the WWE’s part to have come up with such a storyline.

Mr. McMahon Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Some might say that it is part of a great storyline and hence we should not be too concerned about it. Agreed it is entertainment and agreed it is fake. But the line between reality and entertainment has always been very thin in the WWE. The thing is, most of the viewers of WWE are kids who idolize their stars and take most of the action to be real. They are sending the wrong message if tomorrow WWE comes out and say that Stone Cold or some other superstar did it. It would imply that Mr. McMahon was a bad guy, so what’s the harm in blowing up his car? In this day and age of campus shootings, that is a dangerous message to send out to the kids. Not to mention the moral and ethical implications of such gimmicks. So then why did they show it? Because we as audience asked for it.

The word entertainment has been acquiring some strange meanings these days. In the name of reality television we are beamed even the mundane activities of people participating in that show. I am not panning all reality shows here. There are some really good ones too, but there are also others which have been pushing the envelope just a bit too much. They are feeding on that most deplorable of vices in mankind; poking their noses into other’s business. The recent BIGG BOSS TV show in India was just an example of this.

Celebrities have endured and suffered a lot due to this very intrusive nature of ours. It is another matter that some of these very celebrities actually encourage such intrusions and come up with so shocking scandal or the other just to stay in the limelight. But there has also been cases when the privacy of a person is violated repeatedly just because that person is a public figure, sometimes even leading to tragic circumstances; most notably as in the case of Princess Diana and her boyfriend. The reason given? We the audience demands it!!!

Princess Diana Car Crash Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

I have always believed that morality needs to be defined by time and culture that we live in. What is considered to be moral in one society at a particular time may not be the same in another. But still even considering that, shouldn’t there be a line drawn somewhere? Aren’t we pushing the boundaries what is acceptable and what is not? I feel that the line should be drawn by we the audience. Otherwise there could be a day when we see real life murder on TV in the name of entertainment. Would that be entertainment? After all it is nothing more than a show! right?

Selasa, 12 Juni 2007

Ecuador

Republic of Ecuador

Ecuador image courtsey: dollardaze.org

Ecuador, The knee-cap of Peru and Columbia.

Republica del Ecuador.

Squeezed between Bolivia in the north and Peru in the south-east, this small South American nation has much to offer not only for the biologists who flock to its exclusive animal and plant varieties but also for the historians who do research in the ancient Inca civilization that existed centuries ago. Ecuador is only 256,370 sq. kilo meters and population is about 14 millions. This nation though small in size is endowed with biodiversities no other nation in the world.

Quite a city with a three thousand year old history.

Cotopaxi Volcano image courtsey: wikipedia.org

South America as a whole and Ecuador in particular was seat to a very ancient culture and there are evidences to prove that there existed a rich civilization since 3500 B.C. The Valdivia civilization was confined to the coastal area where as the Quitus and Canari flourished in the inlands. The ‘Quitus’ mentioned is the present capital Quita. This ancient culture has made the City of Quita known as ‘Luz de America’ meaning the light of the American Continent.

The Galapagos Archipelago.

Ecuador itself is endowed with a rich biodiversity but the Galapagos Archipelago islands located about 600 miles away from the mainland is a virtual museum of biodiversity where Charles Darwin stayed and did elaborate research on the rare animals, birds and plants living in this group of islands.

Greed and deceit.

The history of Ecuador is not much different from other third-world nations, where the greed and deceit of heirs to rulers work to their own destruction. The Inca Emperor Huayne Capac had two children (one each in two queens). The emperor divided his kingdom in equal parts, but the problem did not end there, Atahualpa who got the northern portion invaded the other half ruled by his half-brother (Huaskar) and there was war going on between the two.

Spain Cometh.

Monument in Guayaquil image courtsey: wikipedia.org

It was a god-given chance for the Spanish to interfere they acquired some territorial rights from Atahualpa for helping him to kill his brother! Finally as the story goes the Spanish became the rulers and the natives were forced to their servitude. These all had happened in the sixteenth century, and the Spanish were able to rule this land for about three centuries.

August 10, 1809 is a land mark in the history of South America when for the first time call for independence from Spain started to fill the atmosphere (Primer Grito de la independence). The Criollos (people of the pure Spanish descent) like Carlos Mentufar, Eugenio Espejo etc were in the forefront to lead the struggle which lasted until the Spanish were expelled from the land.

In the grips of the clergy.

The Spanish had long gone were but for years Ecuadorians had to live under the clutches of the church which had their iron grip even on all political affairs of the nation, Ecuadorians had to fight yet another battle to get liberation from the clergy. Eloy Alfaro led a revolution and reduced clergy’s power within the church. This movement is known as Julian Revolution (1925) which gave ultimate political freedom the Ecuadorians.

An unfortunate war

Wars between nations are a rarity in South American continent, but Ecuadorians had to fight one with their immediate neighbor; Peru with disastrous consequences. Peru could easily overwhelm the ill-equipped Ecuador. Interference of the regional big brother USA some how saved Ecuador from losing its identity, but in the process it lost almost all the disputed territories like the Amazon basin to Peru to save its face.

A Coup D’etat.

It was in 1972 ‘The Revolutionary Nationalist Junta overthrew the ruling government and came to power adding to the woes of the people. The regime conducted elections in which Jaime Aguilera was elected they remained in power till 1979. It has been a curse for the unfortunate nation that most of the rulers resort to un-abashed populism thereby ruining the economic health of the nation. The present president Raphael Correa is no exception.

Oil rich.

The populist policies keep Ecuador far from the fast track of progress; much of the South American nations never emulate Brazil or Chile for economic policies but follow Cuba as role model. Ecuador’s Amazon basin is endowed with oil deposits and it is the second exporter of oil which transported to the coast through the Trans-Andean pipe line. With a little bit of wisdom this oil money could be harnessed and Ecuador could emerge as one of the riches nation in that continent.

As a nation.

Ecuador Map courtsey: lib.utexas.edu

Ecuador has a population of 14 millions, its literacy is 93% and more than 90% belongs to various churches of Christianity. Its National Anthem is ‘Salve Oh Patria’ (We Salute Our Homeland). Its capital is Quito but the largest city is Guayaquil.

Ecuador Football Team

As it is the case with every South American nations foot-ball is a weakness to the Ecuadorians also; they can live a day without food but at least without a discussion about some foot-ball news life is dreary and dull perhaps not worth living at all!

A tourism hotspot.

Tourism Hotspots in Ecuador - image courtsey: ulyssesguides.com

Its exclusive locations like hot springs ice clad mountains (The Andes Ranges) give it all paraphernalia for attracting tourists all over the world. Galapagos Archipelago alone is capable of giving the visitor a unique thrill. Tourism contributes significantly to the nation’s economy.

Immigrants.

Ecuador is a member of the ‘CAN’ The Andean Community of Nations (it has the role of a mediator in the EU (European Union) deal with South American nations). The CAN is actively engaged in finding solution for the burning issue that is the movement of illegal immigrants between countries in search of greener pastures. They in this process smuggle drugs, as well as create law and order problems to the host nations.

It is hoped that the ‘CAN’ can emerge as a strong bondage that can solve most of the issues raging between the nations in this continent through friendly negotiations. A strong bondage is good either between individuals or among nations let CAN rise to such a level so that the nations can look forward to it as a facilitator for progress.

Senin, 11 Juni 2007

WWE – Vince McMahon Dead?

Vince McMahon - Is he really dead?

Mr. McMahon's car exploding Image Courtesy: wwe.com

Vince McMahon is the truest definition of a showman. He is also a very shrewd businessman who has rescued his business from a crisis countless times. Which is why everyone is taking the events at the end of tonight’s RAW with a pinch of salt. But it has to be said that regardless of whether or not Vince McMahon is dead (and I really hope he is not), there is no doubt that he has successfully managed to bring a lot of attention and interest back to the WWE which seemed to be losing its hold over the wrestling fans.

If it is true that he is dead (WWE.com proclaims that he is presumed dead) then this will be one of the most shocking news ever. It would be a news item everywhere and not just on wrestling sites and channels. At the time of writing this post I have not seen or heard anything about this in any of the other popular news channels or other media. This in the day and age, where Paris Hilton’s jail term for a DUI is sensational news. So any sane and reasonable person would have to believe that McMahon is alive and kicking. So it is a wonder that people haven’t already caught on to it.

Mr. McMahon Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Other things too point to this being a kayfabe. Tonight was supposed to be a Vince McMahon appreciation night. He just rambled on some crap about smoke and premonitions. Then ‘coincidentally’ his car blew up and the camera was waiting there to capture it…yeah right!!! And on top of it all his body is not found!!! This goes to show the lengths to which some people might go to shock people. Well McMahon has certainly achieved that and more.

McMahon has always pulled off some stunt or the other to sustain his business. Be it the Montreal Screwjob or his many feuds with the other superstars in WWE as his in-ring persona Mr.McMahon. But this one has surpassed all the shocking gimmicks (and I really hope it is one) that he has done so far. The morality of it all though is up to each individual’s discretion. Some would take it as a sick thing to do while others may just shrug their shoulders and move on. But the more serious question would be: Is this entertainment?

Mr. McMahon feuding Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

There is no doubt that people who saw it at first were shocked. I think realization that it might be a kayfabe may have only sunk in a few minutes later. The initial reaction must surely have been for his welfare. This soap opera-yish style of the WWE may put off some really hardcore wrestling fans. But then again, as MR. McMahon has once said, he is in the sport entertainment business and not in the wrestling business. So maybe these hardcore wrestling fans are barking up the wrong tree.

But whether what happened today is entertainment or not will depend on each individual’s perspective of the subject. It is debatable whether he should have played around with car bombs and explosions considering the times that we live in. Many people all over the world, including here in India, has suffered greatly due to car bombs and suicide attacks. If this is a gimmick then it is belittling the sufferings of those people. But then again maybe we are all taking it a bit too seriously. I certainly wont be surprised if I hear that Mr. McMahon has made a miraculous recovery and is in perfect health. Wonder where it all might be leading to though…