Llais Ifanc Reloaded

Friday, December 24, 2004

Christmas

Merry Christmas. I hope to start up blogging again in the start of 2005.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Crowned with Glory

The Apprentice finale was ten times better than last year. There were a few changes. Regis Philbin was the MC for the show. There also seemed to be more of a town-hall meeting angle to the show after the tasks were completed. With all the changes, the finale was pleasant and fun.

The intensity of the tasks, however, was unchanged. When the show ended last week, Jennifer M. has Chris Webber had cancel on them. That was solved by drafting the NBA commissioner to be preside over the event. Other problems followed. The X-box was a sponsor of the basketball game. As people were playing with the console, it went blank due to a circuit breaking. A generator was brought in to fix it. Even with all the problems, Jennifer M. made a very fatal flaw. She failed to spend time with Trump, the NBA, or the insurance company putting on the game. It was up to Pamela to do that. The failure of Jennifer M.'s strategy of being behind the scenes was made clear when Trump's helicopter flew off to the Polio match Kelly was holding. At that minute, I felt that Jennifer M.'s chance to be the Apprentice flew away as well.

Kelly wasn't without problems. When we left him last week, the polio match was in the air due to the weather, which ended up being stable. However, the team was not stable. Raj and Elizabeth fought, with Elizabeth proclaiming herself dictator. I thought this ironic and laughable, since Elizabeth was the indecisive one during the show itself. Other problems included driving though Connecticut lost trying to find a print shop and some team members getting drunk.

When the tasks ended, a few things emerged. Jennifer M. made a massive mistake not meeting with Trump or the sponsors. She had the passion, but that had the side effect of being aggressive. In contrast to Kelly, her team got along. Kelly, on the other hand, do really well. However, he seemed wooden and did nothing to motivate his team. No wonder they didn't care. All the people Philbin interviewed - from season 1 candidates, Kelly's friends, and average joes - all saw Kelly as the one for the job. The only people to stand up for Jennifer M. were her friends and John.

Needless to say, Trump hired (read: crowned) Kelly. I wish him well as he works in NYC.

Roll on season three!

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Let's Work Together

A lot of people (including me) were very unhappy with the President's reelection. Some of these people have decided to pick up sticks and move to Canada. While people who want to do this act have the right to do that, I hope they stay in our country. Together, we can change the nation for the better. We also keep the other side accountable as they exercise their oh-so-laughable "mandate".

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Then There Were Two

The Apprentice this week was amazing. Trump asked the four remaining candidates to meet him in Trump World Tower. They were then put though the gruelling interview process. Last year, Trump used members of his staff for interviews. This year he outsouced the interviews to his corporate buddies. Kevin came off as full of knowledge, but unsure were to he wanted to do; Kelly was a winner to all concerned; Jennifer M. seemed the best to adjust to corporate life. Sandy, on the other hand, seemed unable to cope with corporate life. It also came out that she had dropped out of college to start the bridal shop. That hurt. This caused rows between Jennifer M. and Sandy.

Needless to say, Kevin and Sandy were fired.

After Kevin and Sandy were fired, Kelly was charged to run a Polio match. Jennifer M. was asked to do the same for a charity Basketball game that was to feature some NBA players. Last year, the last six candidates who were fired were used as employees. This year Trump used a mix of the previous 16 candidates as employees.

Kelly picked a team who didn't care about him, feeling that they had already been through the ringer. Jennifer M.'s team worked well, but had problems when Chris Webber told them he would do their event, then backed out. Besides having a team who didn't care, Kelly faced problems with the weather not being the best for the polio match.

I feel like things are getting good!

More next week!

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

They love me!

Recently I sent some tidbits about the history of Navassa Island to Flags of the World. (For those who can't be bothered to click on the links, Navassa Island is a very small speck in the Caribbean Sea filled to the brim with bird poopie. The USA has owned Navassa for 125+ years. Nobody cares about the island except for Haiti and this guy.)

This is what I wrote:

Haiti's claim to Navassa Island (called La Navase by Haiti) starts when Columbus discovered Hispanola in 1493. Later in 1627, Hispanola was split between the French and the Spanish. Navassa Island was included in the spilt. According to the Haitians, Navassa Island became a part of Haiti in 1804 and this fact was recognized by the French in 1825. The US claims that the Island was up for grabs until 1859, when Peter Duncan made a claim on the island under the Guano Islands Act. The US also claims that Haitan claim is invalid since Haiti never bothered to enforce tax laws on tne island. Haiti's claim remains unresolved.

There is a private claim on the island. Californian businessman Bill Warren expressed an interest in the island in 1996 intending to find treasure, but later found out about the Guano. He made a claim on the Island under the Guano Islands Act. Warren has brought Navassa Island from the heirs of the people who owned the island in the 1850's. He has even sued to have his claim enforced. He has been unsuccessful in his suits so far. In 1998, an environmental survey was done on the island and this could upset any claim that Warren has.


They love me, They really love me!

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Sometimes it Be That Way

Thursday's Apprentice was odd, to say the least. The teams were asked to design a candy bar for M&Ms. The bars were the same. After the making of the bars, they were inspected. After that Apex had more bars than Mosaic (which was down to Jennifer M. and Sandy). After the inspections were finished, the selling began.

Apex was in complete shambles as selling began. Kevin went his own way on pricing. Ivana seemed a little off for reasons I shall get to. Mosaic was pretty amazing. The week before they were fighting like cats. Now, they were the best of friends. Such is life. They resorted to the age old technique of using sex appeal. For this, they sold their bars for 5.00 USD (Apex was going for 1.00 to 2.00 USD). When Ivana heard of this, she took matters into her own hands. She offered to take off her paints if people paid 20.00 USD for a bar. One person did this. Kelly and Kevin were were not impressed. In the end, they lost.

The boardroom was soft towards Kevin and Kelly. They got off with being rebuked over pricing. Ivana spun out of control. She branded the entire striptease as a gimmick. Her losing record was brought up. She tried to escape that by saying that Jennifer M. had a worst record than her, but was still in.

In the end, the spin cycle failed Ivana. She was fired. Here's to the final four. I have only three words for them...

BRING IT ON!

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Thanks for the Memories - In More Ways Than One

Tonight NBC showed something good for a change. The first was Tom Brokaw's farewell on the NBC Nightly News. Brokaw is a true legend. He delivered the news with gusto and grace without bias. I will miss him. I hope Brian Williams will do well in his shoes. NBC also showed highlights from the Apprentice. It was delicious. It was also interesting to see the women (when they were fuller) tear themselves apart with bickering. It just confirms that Maria and Jennifer C. were the meanest so far. Maybe they should go to Nauru and start a bank! :)