MY FAVORITE THINGS

THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN PICK

Comments by ZingerBug.com

We don't celebrate Halloween here in Nigeria- no scary decorations outside our house and trick-or- treating yet some us mark the occasion in the little way we can. I for one do the same thing every year; read a scary book e.g Tales from Edgar Allan Poe, Ghost Stories and some of Stephen King's stuff- Skeleton Crew, Pet Sematary and The Shinning. And then the scary movies; I've gone through Hell Raiser, Interview With The Vampire, Evil Dead, Friday the 13th and last year was Child's Play. This year (and I hope I'll be able to sleep!) my selection is the scary and unappreciated 1995 Tales From The Hood.

A cross between Night Gallery and Creepshow with some elements of Twilight Zone and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction- it features a mostly African American cast, written and directed by Rusty Cundieff with Spike Lee as executive producer. Apart from the supernatural undertones; each story in this anthology movie deals with contemporary issues like child abuse, racism, corruption and trying to find redemption; grittier than any horror movie I've watched over the years and while it had good reviews from some; others gave it bad ones, which I don't understand- it's not like violence and strong language isn't present in other horror movies and when it first came out it was called a 'black horror' movie, which disgusted me; this is a movie where the focus is more on African Americans and then it's just dismissed as a 'black horror movie'. It's not like there's been a lot of African Americans in the horror films of the past- lead characters that is. And so far the few horror film with a dominant African American cast include Blacula and Vampire In Brooklyn(and this one had some comic elements in it); instead to just embrace it , they just diss it.
I've always like anthologies so I chose this movie as my Halloween pick for this year. It's a shame it's now out of print in DVD, mine is an old, old copy but still clear in picture. Maybe next year, by God's Grace, my pick would be The Ring; I'm yet to see that. But seriously I do wish we celebrated it her, I would've dressed up as maybe Tina Turner or Little Eddie Beale or maybe even Lil' Kim!

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Writing Books

When it comes to writers my idols include Danielle Steel, Stephen King, Enid Blyton, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Chiamanda Adichie, Chinua Achebe , J.K Rowling, Barbara Cartland and Dan Brown. When I was a young child, I developed an interest in writing and spent half the time trying to put something worthwhile on paper. Looking back, I realise my interest wasn't out of the blue; it was through reading and watching book adaptations on T.V- The adventures of Tom Sawyer, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Ivanhoe, Alice in Wonderland, The Legend of King Arthur, The Prince and The Pauper, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Folktales came to me through Nigerian programmes like Storyland and Tales By Moonlight and books like Cinderella and Beauty and The Beast and stories from Enid Blyton. I spent most of the time over the years trying to put something worthwhile on paper and in 2006, my current books were published.
Right now I'm working on my first novel and more stories for kids; but right I'm discouraged and unmotivated because of distractions, obligations and lack of money. Also; I'm not satisfied with my approach and I wind up having to start all over again! But a writer I chat with on Twitter says it's not unusual but I shouldn't be overly concerned with how I sound, I have to leave that to the readers to judge; so I'm struggling to do just that.
A friend approached me today asking me to 'teach' her how to write. My reply was: everybody has a story to tell, I can't teach her to write- nobody taught me. Besides, writing is a matter of interest, not talent; if you aren't in a habit of reading a lot, you can't put anything on paper. But another friend disagreed with what I said. As far as she was concerned, writing came from talent; not everybody had the skill to write books. After my own struggles and reading about other writers' struggles, I know better; it is interest and determination. It took four years for Barbara Taylor Bradford to complete her first and most famous book "A Woman of Substance", Stephen King's writing career started by writing short stories for magazines and manuscripts that were ignored until his first novel ''Carrie'' was finally published.
Maybe I'm being impatient about it all- I want to be in King's and the other writers' level; to be a best selling author overnight; more for the recognition than the money- which I also want. But I also want to leave a legacy behind, something I'll always be remembered for. I don't see writing as a thankless, hopeless task because it's my true calling. But if I'm going to be a successful writer I have to be more focused, more determined, more optimistic and believe in myself. Luckily I'm not one to wait for inspiration; I do what I call 'practice writing' by writing fan fiction and posting it on the internet and then I turn to the 'real' work and try to improve on it. It's been 6 years since my first publications so my determination has to remain strong. And by God's grace; I will succeed.

"When inspiration comes; let it find me working."- Pablo Picasso

BULLIES, JUST STOP!!!

During my secondary school days I was bullied, nearly every day from my very first day. It was an all girls' school and a public one for that matter. There was a handful of nice girls that I got along with, too bad the rest of them were the most horrible set of spiteful, dirty mouthed bitches I ever had the misfortune of being exposed to. I experienced it all; verbal and physical abuse- the more cowardly of them slipped poison-pen letters in my school bag; the bolder ones touched me and insulted me in my face- I still get angry just thinking about them. In my senior year I went to another school, also all girls' but private. The bullying there was more verbal than physical and I got a lot of novels I spent my hard saved allowance on stolen, I never got them back and they all ganged up on me by not revealing who stole them. I wonder if it is a very serious crime to prefer reading a book instead of gossiping in class because that's what I did.
Why do bullies feel the need to inflict pain and harm on others in the first place? Do they actually derive satisfaction and delight when a person crumple up and cry and fight back? Do they like the look of frustration on the victims' face and wait for them to hit out so they could begin the physical part of the
bullying ?
Bullying is NOT harmless at all; it is psychologically harmful as it is degrading- verbal or physical- and these days it leads to tragedy. Where I come from, if a child is bullied, the child is expected to report to a teacher or FAR BETTER his or her parents and the matter is firmly handled from there. I keep on hearing about bullying cases in the States where victims of bullies actually commit suicide; the first time I heard it, I wept and kept on going over over why the parents and the school authorities did not know about it; the victim was far too young to die! I just heard about a poor girl Amanda Todd, a bully victim who took her own life and I wonder if her tormentors will show some remorse over her death, if they don't they are just pure evil!
There was a case some months ago where a bus monitor, a woman in her 60s who was verbally bullied by the students in the bus and it was caught on camera. The students were made to apologize after it got to the news; here in Nigeria where it is a taboo to insult your elders, those bullies would have been flogged! I've never heard such nonsense in my life where a woman old enough to be their grandmother would be treated like that by a bunch of mannerless brats!
I don't know what bullies are trying to prove. If they are being mistreated at home themselves it doesn't give them the right to inflict pain and humiliation on others. If they simply want to see their victims' reaction, to have a sense of power then they are simply evil, wicked and heartless, or basically pure cowards- I'd like to see how they would like it if they come up with somebody bigger than them or with a filthier mouth like them.
I HATE BULLIES and the ACT OF BULLYING; always have, always will. How many more suicides and traumatized victims will it take for bullying to stop all together?
Please, a child reporting a bully to a teacher or his or her parents is NOT a weakling and the parents and school authorities should regard it as a VERY VERY SERIOUS ISSUE! And Bullies deserve punishments for what they do and learn a HUGE lesson that they have NO right to torment their fellow man.

“When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sand paper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless.”
― Chris Colfer

FRESH FROM THE FILM MAKERS...

   HITCHCOCK

Movie about legendary film maker, director and ultimate 'Master of Suspense' Alfred Hitchcock whose legacy includes Psycho, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Rebecca and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Portrayed by Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins; the movie details his relationship with his wife (played by Dame Helen Mirren) and the making of the 1960 horror/ psychological thriller Psycho (the movie that caused people to take sponge baths after the scary shower scene and don't get me started on the very eerie soundtrack... the scratching violins).

Trivia: 'Psycho' starred Janet Leigh; mother of Jamie Lee Curtis who starred in horror films The Fog and the Halloween movies.

   RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

Milla Jovovich returns once again as Alice in the fourth sequel of the 2002 movie Resident Evil and the fifth movie in the Resident Evil Franchise.

     HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

Dracula( voiced by funny man Adam Sandler) is not biting necks in this computer animated movie; here he is a hotel owner and an over protective Daddy!

CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Bo was going through a case file when he heard a knock on the door. ‘Come in.’ He said, not looking up and stiffened at the sound of Daniel’s voice. ‘Hey there, Bo.’

What the hell is he doing here? Bo thought, feeling his anger boil up all over again. it’s bad enough he was touching Carly, now he was about to rub his face in it. ‘Hey, Daniel.’ He managed to say. ‘What do you want?’

Chapter 5

When Carly got to her sixth month, many people finally noticed her condition. At the supermarket she saw Caroline, Kayla and Maggie staring at her bulging stomach but kept on walking. Their opinions didn't matter to her nor did she give a damn what they thought.

TO MY READERS/VISITORS

RIGHT NOW I'M SICK SO IT WILL BE SOME TIME BEFORE I UPDATE THIS BLOG, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME, THANK YOU