Vegan Outreach - Help End Animal Cruelty

i was walking on campus today and a man handed me a pamphlet to read. handing out flyers or pamphlets is a common scene at school or colleges. most of the time, i just got flyers about religion and faith, which i always threw away afterwards. this might give you the impression that i am not a believer. no, i am a believer, but a Buddhist one. reading about Christian/Catholic teachings is not of my interest. anyway, back to the story. today, i got the pamphlet that earnestly asks people to help prevent animal cruelty. the pamphlet really touches my heart and i will definitely follow their advices and requests. i suggest you to take a few minutes of your precious time to read the following, & who knows, your perspective might change for the better ^__^

EVEN IF YOU LIKE MEAT
YOU CAN HELP END THIS CRUELTY

"If everyone just cut their meat consumption in half, billions of animals would be spared from suffering. As you read on, please bear in mind that opposing the cruelties of factory farming is not an all-or-nothing proposition: By simply eating less meat, you can help prevent farmed animals from suffering."

“In my opinion, if most urban meat eaters were to visit an industrial broiler house, to see how the birds are raised, and could see the birds being ‘harvested’ and then being ‘processed’ in a poultry processing plant, they would not be impressed and some, perhaps many of them would swear off eating chicken and perhaps all meat.
“For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better. If true, is this an ethical situation? Should we be reluctant to let people know what really goes on, because we’re not really proud of it and concerned that it might turn them to vegetarianism?”
Peter Cheeke, PhD Oregon State University Professor of Animal Agriculture
Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 2004 textbook

"In the past half-century, most Canadian livestock production has moved from small family farms to factory farms—huge warehouses where animals are confined in crowded cages or pens or in restrictive stalls. The competition to lower costs has led agribusiness to treat animals as mere objects, rather than individuals who can suffer. Hidden from public view, the cruelty that occurs on factory farms is easy to ignore. But more and more people are taking a look at how farmed animals are treated and deciding that it’s too cruel to support."

“[It is] more economically efficient to put a greater number of birds into each cage, accepting lower productivity per bird but greater productivity per cage.… [I]ndividual animals may ‘produce,’ for example gain weight, in part because they are immobile, yet suffer because of the inability to move.… Chickens are cheap, cages are expensive.”
Bernard E. Rollin, PhDFarm Animal Welfare, Iowa State University Press, 2003

Please click HERE to read the full pamphlet. i promise it wont be a waste of your time. credits to Vegan Outreach

Kenix and Chilam reunited after 12 years

Kenix and Chilam first collaborated in a 1994 series called Remembrance. at the time, both were still newcomers in the showbiz. even though they only acted as lovers once, their chemistry left a lasting impression on fans. ever since, fans were anticipated for their second collaboration and it finally came in 2002: Take My Word For It. however, it pissed fans off, especially Kenix's fans, myself included, when they found out Kenix and Chilam would have no romance at all. Kenix was paired with Bobby and Chilam was paired with Annie Man. a big disappointment for those who love this couple. but fans were still hopeful...

in showbiz, there are always chances for artists to work together. fans were satisfied when Kenix and Chilam got back together in a mainland series titled Redtask, and this time, they played lovers. during the filming process, there were hundreds of pictures taken by both fans and reporters. many were anticipated for this reunion after so many years. the series took about 3 months to film and approximately 2 months to edit, and was finally aired in mainland in February, 2007. Redtask was aired several times in several places in China, Shanghai included. i'm not sure how well the ratings were because there seemed to be no report about it. however, when Sina conducted a poll to choose the best series for 2006 (or 2007), Redtask was able to make it to the top 5. as i remember, it was in the 3rd place. even though its votes were way far behind the top 2 series, it managed to beat Huang Xiaoming's Shang Hai Bund. as this was only Kenix's 2nd mainland series (her 1st one being A Matter of Life & Death Brothers in 2000), and she's still new to mainland audience, i'm happy with the viewership.

Chilam-Kenix Then and Now

Remembrance was Kenix's 2nd TVB series after a mini series with Michael Tao titled Glittering Moments. in this series, Kenix played a girl (Nanxing) who grew up in France and when she came back to Shanghai with her father, she began to lose everything she had. her father was accidentally shot by Chilam (Hong Fei) during an assassination (Chilam being an assassin) in a ball room, which led to his death and caused Kenix to become blind. feeling guilty, Chilam decided to take care of Kenix and gradually fell in love with her. when Kenix had surgery and could see again, she recognized that Chilam was the person who shot her father, she hated him so much but did not have the heart to kill him, she ran away. she wanted to forget everything and get revenge on life by joining a brothel and becoming a prostitute. she was lucky when her first customer was a good man who loved her truly. seeing Kenix ruining her life because of what he did, Chilam became depressed and unmotivated in life. all he wanted to do was to leave Shanghai to go back to his homeland. at the same time, Kenix started to realize that life at the prostitution was not what she wanted, she also left Shanghai and went back to her homeland. coincidentally, the lovers met again and Kenix told Chilam that she had forgiven him.

Kenix had a younger sister named Tong Yue Bai (played by Chow Jing) who was also in love with Chilam. she worried and followed Chilam to his hometown and Chilam made the mistake by sleeping with her. even though Kenix forgave him regarding her father's death, this still prevented him from getting back together with her. Chilam had to marrry Chow Jing and Kenix married the man who was her first customer and left for France. she came back 3 years later and the couple realized their hearts still had each other. the war between China and Japan came and went and after many obstacles, Kenix and Chilam were able to get back together. Chow Jing realized that her husband and the happiness she had were truly of her sister, so she left Chilam and found her true happiness by becoming a nun and helping war victims. Kenix's husband also realized that his wife's heart had someone else, so he let go of her and concentrated on his duty of fighting for China's freedom from Japan. Chilam and Kenix met again in Shanghai and the couple hugged in front of the house that Chilam bought for them years ago.

Redtask has not been released in Vietnamese yet, so i only watched it in Mandarin. of course, i had no clue what the characters were saying *__^. however, i could still guess that the series was about how Communism could bring happiness to people, a theme that i take no interest in whatsoever. the series took place during the Nationalism period, i believe. regarding Chilam's and Kenix's relationship, i could make good guesses. Kenix seemed to be raised in a brothel and eventually became a prostitute. Chilam came from a well educated family in which he was the only son. Kenix were able to go to school and it appeared that was where she met Chilam. he often rode his bike to school to pick her up. however, she did not tell him who she was and never allowed him to know where her house was. one day, he asked her why couldn't he walk her to her house, she reluctantly told him that she lived in a brothel. he was shocked and even dropped his bike while Kenix ran away full of shame. however, he was able to accept her and the two started to date. he often dressed up nicely and went to the brothel to see her, despites his mother's disapproval. on the same day that Chilam proposed to Kenix, the Communists came to take all the prostitutes away to camps where the girls would be reeducated. however, Kenix was able to escape the camp after a few months and she ran to Chilam's house. the Communist soldiers went to find her at his house because the chief knew they were lovers. Chilam's mother wanted to turn Kenix in, but Chilam held a knife on his neck and told her he would kill himself if she did that. Kenix was able to hide in Chilam's house for some time.

during her stay, Kenix found out that Chilam's mother were arranging for Chilam to marry another girl, who the family knew for quite some time, i think. while Chilam were trying to explain to Kenix, his mother said something about her not deserving him. she got mad and ran away. while running, she crossed the street without seeing that a car was approaching. Chilam ran out to get her and both were hit by the car. Kenix broke her ankle so Chilam took her home. the two were able to share some sweet moments for a few days before Chilam's mother thought of another trick to get rid of Kenix. she put some kind of medicine in Kenix's soup and so Kenix's face started to have blemishes. not wanting Chilam to see her like this, she left the house and came back when her face recovered. however, Chilam was not home and his mother called the soldiers to capture her back to the education camp. Chilam was depressed for not knowing why Kenix left and where she was right now. one day, he overheard his mother's conversation with the house maid, he knew his mother arranged for Kenix's recapture. he was angry he decided to move out.

after being at the education camp for a while, for some reason, Kenix was transferred to another place where she had to work so much harder by carrying rocks. i guess because she escaped, she was punished while her prostitute friends at this time were released for their good behaviors. Kenix's best friend (played by Luo Hai Qiong), who was also a prostitute, became the chielf's wife and was pregnant with his baby. however, after some arguments, she left him and met Chilam. they knew each other so Chilam took her home because she was fainting on the street. Luo, being very dependent and needy, started to see Chilam as a perfect man to take care of her and her baby. when Chilam was drunk, she had it set up so that he would think he had done something to her and so he'd take responsibility. Kenix knew that the two were living together but she trusted her friend and her boyfriend. after a few months, Luo and Chilam went to visit Kenix at the camp. seeing Luo's big belly, Kenix was shocked and looked at Chilam with questions. he didnt dare to look at her eyes and Luo explained that the baby was Chilam's. deeply hurt, Kenix left the room. the next day when Chilam visited her again, she refused to see him. feeling extremely guilty, Chilam decided to have his own plan. he waited until Luo delivered the baby safe and sound, helped Luo raise the baby boy for some time, then he left all his money and his house to her. he did something for the soldiers to capture him and sent him to the same camp Kenix was staying in. the couple's relationship was reconciled. after a few years, Chilam and Kenix were released and they were able to stay together until old age.

even though i do not fully understand the plot, i could still tell that all the politics and Communist teachings in here won't be liked by many viewers. nonetheless, Kenix's and Chilam's sweet moments are able to make up for the rest. this is a series that fans must not pass up. the couple was romantic in Remembrance, but they are even more intimate in Restask with all the kisses and hugs. Redtask is the first series after Kenix left TVB and is her last one at the moment. hopefully she'll film more for mainland and i'd love to watch another collaboration of her with Chilam. i just cannot get enough of them ^__^.

pictures credited to Sina and respective owners.

Idy Chan hosts an ATV's program

Idy Chan and Athena Chu attended the press conference of ATV traveling programme "HK top ten natural landscapes" yesterday and announced they would be the guest-hosts in the show. They chatted unstop in the function and it seemed they clicked very well. Athena said she wanted to collaborate with Idy from long time ago and they exchanged phone number.

Idy smirked she is a freelance right now so she can work for TVB, ATV or RTHK without hindrance. She also revealed that she had refused the invitation from TVB for shooting "On the Road" in Nepal. But she did hope to visit some special places like Xin Jiang, Kashmir or North Korea. However, TVB rejected them all since they thought it is difficult to arrange shooting in N. Korea and Kashmir is in war now.

When asked if she will irritate TVB for filming a similar programme for ATV? Idy said, "I haven't thought about it. I will take any job which suits me. I'm discussing some other projects in different genres with TVB, just that nothing has confirmed. I'm also waiting for a drama from RTHK which the director told me he'd tailor write a script for me. I phoned him earlier but he said he was busy for the HK return anniversary. Now the event has already gone so I think he might meant the next return anni."

Idy will go shoot at Ng Tung Chai. Originally she's asked to go to Lantau Peak for the sunrise and she's excited. But later some family member reminded her that she would look ugly and half-dead when she reaches the peak after a good climbing, plus she'd need to go there at midnight so she changed the idea. She afraid she won't look good on screen and will scare the audience away.

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Thanks to Kit from Idy Forum for the English translation.

Source: Mingpao

Ex-Lovers: Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder

WINONA Ryder was banned from marrying Johnny Depp by her father.
The actress - who met the heartthrob actor on the set of 1990 film Edward Scissorhands and was engaged to him for around three years - has revealed her dad Michael Horowitz forbid the pair from tying the knot because she was only 17 at the time.
In a joint interview with Vogue magazine, Horowitz recalled: "They were the hottest couple in the US at that time, like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are now. They were cool."
Ryder said: "But you stopped a wedding."
To which Horowitz replied: "We loved Johnny but you were 17."
Ryder, now 35, split from Depp in 1993.
During their relationship the Sweeney Todd actor had a tattoo etched onto his arm which read "Winona Forever".
However, after their separation he had the body art changed to read "Wino Forever".
Ryder - who was arrested for shoplifting in 2001 - has since dated Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner and actor Matt Damon.
Depp is now in a long-term relationship with French star Vanessa Paradis.
The couple have two children together, five-year-old son John Jack and eight-year-old daughter Lily-Rose.
Meanwhile, Ryder is the latest Hollywood fan of Aussie cosmetics king Napoleon Perdis.
"I love Napoleon Perdis make-up, the products are amazing!" she says in a note on her personal stationery.
Her favourite products are Lip Lacquer in Pink Patina, China Doll eyeliner, Ultra Pearl and Color Disc eyeshadows.

source: www.news.com.au
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it's a shame that Depp & Ryder were unable to tie the knot. i always love them together & wish that they could still be a couple. their chemistry in Edward Scissorhands were undeniable. Ryder is the most beautiful American actress in my opinion. if only they had collaborated more than once...