Kony 2012

Kony 2012 Campaign Poster

A video released by the charity Invisible Children called Kony 2012 has received a lot of attention on social media and across the world. The 29-minute video revolves around Joseph Kony a Ugandan warlord; the video has gone viral attracting more than 100 million viewers. The video looks not to make Joseph Kony famous, but to create awareness around the crimes he has committed.

It is said that Kony has abducted over 60,000 children and made them become soldiers in his rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army. Although the Lord’s Resistance Army is not longer active in Uganda, they still advocate for brutal crimes against civilians. For 26 years, Joseph Kony has tortured, killed and mutilated people so Invisible Children is pushing for his arrest. They want him to be an example of international justice.

The group raised $5 million in less than 48 hours. However there is controversy as to where that money will go. Last year of the $8.6 million raised only 32% went directly to Uganda.

Although the issue runs deeper than can ever be expressed in words the Kony 2012 video aims to bring justice and awareness. Here is the video.

Trending Today - #TopChefCanada

Top Chef Canada Season 2 Premiere

On March 12, season 2 of Top Chef Canada

will be premiering. Top Chef Canada is a reality show that features contestants (who are all chefs) who compete against each other in culinary competitions. A panel of renowned chefs judges the contestants’ food creations, they eliminate contestants every week until there is one left standing. The winner gets $100,000 and is crowned Canada’s Top Chef.

The premiere is over a month away, but the show is trending because the names of the contestants were released this morning. There are contestants from all over Canada including Toronto, Calgary, and Ottawa. People are already tweeting and cheering for contestants from their hometown.

Although the show is a remake of the original American version, the Canadian version is doing well for ratings. The first season of “Top Chef Canada” was the top-rated show in Food Network Canada’s history.

Here is the Top Chef Canada Season 2 Teaser.

Overall I think it is important to have Canadian television shows to demonstrate Canadian culture. It is important to give talented Canadians, such as the chefs featured on the show an equal opportunity (as Americans) to make it in the culinary world.

Do you think it is important to have shows featuring Canadians? Or do you think Top Chef Canada is just a simple rip off of American culture? 

Trending Today - #FerrisBueller

Matthew’s Day Off: Super Bowl 2012 Commercial

Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

With the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday there is a lot of buzz around the commercials that will be played during the game. In particular there has been a lot of buzz around a commercial featuring Matthew Broderick who is the star of the 1986 flick “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. The commercial features Broderick skipping out on a day of work and living it up with his Honda CR-V. There are over two-dozen references to the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” within the commercial.

My favourite part of the Super Bowl is the commercials; every year the commercials find a way to out do the ones from the previous year. The 2011 Super Bowl attracted more then 163 million viewers making it the most watched program of any kind in American television history. This one event allows for organizations to hit a mass audience with one advertisement, so the commercial must stand out in order to be remembered. I feel that this Honda commercial will stick out because the play off Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is funny and many people will remember the humour.

The only bad thing about watching the Super Bowl in Canada (which is where I will be watching) is that Canadians do not get to see these commercials. Canadians usually have to wait until the day after the Super Bowl to see these American commercials. I know that I will be on YouTube the day after watching the highlighted commercials.

What do you think about Super Bowl commercials? Do you think they deserve this much buzz?

Here is the extended version of the commercial. Enjoy :)

The Beginning of Twitter Trends

 Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that was launched in 2006. It has since skyrocketed and attracts more then 300 million users. Just like many other users Twitter has become a second home to me. I am constantly online tweeting, retweeting and following trends. I would say that I spend about 99% of my online time using Twitter. I love Twitter so much that it was even my Halloween costume in 2011.

To me Twitter is so much more than a social media site, it is an outlet for breaking news, a chance to voice your opinion and connect with people who have interesting things to say. One of my favourite things to do on Twitter is to follow trends. To be more specific Wikipedia states that a trend is: "a word, phrase or topic that is tagged at a greater rate than other tags is said to be a trending topic. Trending topics become popular either through a concerted effort by users or because of an event that prompts people to talk about one specific topic".

The most frustrating thing about Twitter is seeing something trending, but having no idea what the subject matter pertains too. Not everything can be summarized in 140 characters, which is the maximum length of a tweet. So – this blog will not only clarify and show different trends on Twitter, but I will also give my own personal thoughts on the subject matter.

As a student, people do not always take me seriously or listen to what I have to say, but I have thoughts and ideas that I want to share with the world. I want to educate people on things happening around the world and give them an outlet to share their opinions and thoughts. So if you're ready, come along for the ride and follow trends on Twitter with me!