My maternal grandmother is the sole reason why I am a soap opera fan. When I was a child, my grandmother was my primary caretaker while my parents worked. I feel pretty confident that as a baby, my grandmother cradled me in her arms and had me watching “her stories” right along with her. As I grew up a bit and entered my pre-school years, I remember my grandmother bringing me home early. After fixing me something to eat, she would place my little mini rocking chair next to her own rocking chair. We would then watch the CBS soap operas together. Like many children who grew up with a soap opera watcher, I didn’t like to watch soaps. I would rather watch PBS programming (i.e. Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, etc.) than the soaps. Granted, my grandmother would turn on the educational TV programs for me to watch, but she had to see her stories. As a result, I watched them right along with her. I have many vivid and fond memories of soap operas as a child. Many of those came from the Guiding Light.

My earliest memories of the Guiding Light came from the 1980s. At that time, I was old enough to understand the characters and stories being told. I started identifying who the families of Springfield were such as the Spauldings, the Bauers, the Raineses, the Lewises, and the Reardons. Naturally, I gravitated towards the characters I liked, and during the 1980s, I specifically loved watching the Four Musketeers – Phillip Spaulding, Rick Bauer, Mindy Lewis, and Beth Raines. The Four Musketeers were some of my favorites of the younger cast members, but I also liked Brandon “Lujack” Spaulding and later on, Alan-Michael Spaulding. Nevertheless, I primarily loved the older characters on the Guiding Light.

Several iconic Guiding Light characters made a huge impression on me as a child, and they include Alexandra Spaulding, Reva Shayne, Josh Lewis, and Vanessa Chamberlain. (more…)

The week of May 4 was an interesting roller coaster ride for Otalia. I was “buckled up” in my roller coaster harness, and I was ready for the twists, turns, loops, joy, thrills, and fear that Guiding Light would offer me with my favorite couple. I’m glad I was ready because the week of May 4 was everything a roller coaster ride should be.

After watching the Guiding Light episodes for the week of April 27, I knew that Olivia and Natalia would finally have a confrontation with Frank Cooper this week. Once Frank was alone with Olivia in the hospital room, he made it clear who was responsible for his aborted wedding to Natalia. Basing his assessment on Olivia’s past behavior, I found it completely believable for Frank to think she stole Natalia away from him, that she’d clouded Natalia’s mind with her sensuality. Unfortunately, Frank’s mind is clouded with pain right now because he’s hurt, and he’s been emasculated over Natalia’ and Olivia’s betrayal. At the moment, all Frank can see is the “bad Olivia” and not the person she has become. Even he acknowledged in past episodes that Natalia had a good effect on Olivia and that the lifestyle at the farmhouse had changed her. Olivia has become selfless, and Frank just doesn’t realize how much she was willing to give up just for Natalia’s happiness. Even though his “just like Olivia” point of view is understandable, it bothers me that Frank thinks so badly of Olivia. After all, she is 100% responsible for any successes he’s had with Natalia. Lest we forget, it was Olivia who clued him in on Natalia’s needs and desires since late 2008. Moreover, to be quite “frank,” he wouldn’t have ever gotten any of Natalia’s goodies if it weren’t for Olivia. I am positive that Natalia slept with Frank to prove her growing feelings for Olivia weren’t real. Olivia has been nurturing his courtship with Natalia from beginning to end, and he wouldn’t have ever made it anywhere, much less to the alter without her. Even when Natalia became a runaway bride, Olivia still encouraged the marriage. Regardless of what he did and didn’t know about Olivia’s role, Frank was on a one-way path. Everything was Olivia’s fault, and Natalia was just another one of her victims. That’s why I was relieved when Natalia walked in on their conversation and stopped him because I was getting angrier with Frank to the point of disgust. (more…)

I’m a big documentary fan who has grown to love Netflix’s collection of documentaries over the past few months. With the availability of the streaming service, I often “pull up a chair” to my PC and watch films/documentaries. In fact, I’m a sucker for documentaries, and after watching Overnight (great film) and another documentary recently, Netflix recommended Fall From Grace. After quickly reading the description, I became curious, added it to my instant queue, and began to watch something that totally blew my mind.

Fall from Grace discusses Fred Phelps (and his family clan) who is a fiery “old school” Baptist minister that preaches against gays/lesbians in Topeka, Kansas. And believe me, the word “preaches” is putting it way too nicely. Phelps, cocks, locks, and continuously reloads a giant bazooka gun filled with anti-gay messages – one that he fires off at every opportunity he gets from the pulpit of his church, Westboro Baptist Church. As the film unfolds, I’m surprised and often appalled at his ranting and raving, dropping the word “fag” in his hate-laced sermons as often as other ministers use “Jesus” or “God” in their sermons. But it gets worse…a lot worse. (more…)

I have been staying tuned to the constant news of an economic bust where people are losing homes, jobs, and retirement savings. In my city, there is a definite squeeze where costs are being cut to try and avoid some job losses. In some cases, it isn’t because of a lack of revenue; it’s to save money for a nuclear winter in the event that money is not available in the future. It’s a mode that many businesses are operating under, and from my radar, it’s most visible in the tech sector.

While I don’t pay attention to tech blogs like I use to, I still hear about the effects of the down economy on tech companies, primarily Silicon Valley startups, via my regular tech podcasts. One company that was recently affected was Revision3, a new media company that focuses on IPTV shows. On October 27, Revision3’s CEO, Jim Louderback, announced show cuts and layoffs, which included axing popSiren, Internet Superstar, and Pixel Perfect. Later, the GigaOm Show and The Revision3 Gazette were also canceled from Revision3’s lineup after the original blog post. Revision3 also ended its distribution deals with Wine Library TV and EPIC FU and laid off approximately 10 of their staff, which included popular hosts Sarah Lane and Martin Sargent. This wasn’t a surprising move to me since many startups are announcing cuts. What also wasn’t surprising was the comments left by Revision3 “fans” on the blog post and message boards. (more…)

For months, I have watched the media and the masses badmouth China on everything from Internet censorship, lead-filled consumer products, and most recently, China’s treatment of Tibet (complete with Olympic torch protests). I have been staying attuned to the coverage of China in western media over the past several months, and I have reached a verdict: we are being brainwashed into thinking China is bad. This is similar to how we were brainwashed into thinking Russia was bad when they were a communist nation. This is something that concerns me because it seems like we’re heading towards a new cold war era thanks to mainstream media’s propaganda.

First, I want to say that I’m not some communism-loving fanatic. I love democracy, even though I don’t think a democratic government can work for some countries and cultures (Iraq, for instance). Like most kids, I was taught that communism was a bad form of government in school, which is not surprising since I grew up during the height of the Cold War era (the Regan years). My classmates and I were taught that the U.S.S.R. along with any other country with a communist government was not our friend. However, I have also learned not to believe everything you read in textbooks because history is often not reflected accurately. I have applied this method of thinking when it comes to items I read in the news, hear on podcasts, and watch on TV. As a result, I am instantly inclined to believe that much of what I’m hearing or reading is not entirely accurate. Someone is pushing an agenda to brainwash millions into believing something that may or may not be true. After all, something must be true if you repeat it enough, right? This is why I look at the news coverage of China doing “bad things” with a side eye.

Do I believe China is doing some outlandish things to its citizens? Of course, they are, but tell me, what country isn’t? I’m absolutely positive that many of the western countries pointing fingers at China are doing bad things to their citizens on a daily basis. But our faults and problems in the western world are not as important as what China is doing at the moment. To me, it’s a hypocritical way of thinking that we, as westerners, should sit back and evaluate before casting stones at a glass house. (more…)