No longer Taboo
> Jimmy Gomez has gone from being a Black Eyed Peas star to cancer survivor, and now an unapologetic anti-cancer warrior
is the tumour, it scarred me psychologically, emotionally, inside and outside.”
The idea that dealing with cancer is a ‘battle’ has come in for criticism lately from some, who resent the violence of the analogy, and the implication that those suffering from the disease just need to ‘fight harder’.
But Taboo is an unapologetic anticancer warrior.
He is intensely defiant when he talks about the disease.
“I’m living, dude,” he said. “I’m alive. See this face? I can actually smile and say: ‘Look, I beat the hell out of cancer’.” He spoke to AFP decked out in black, his bald head crowned by a wide-brimmed ‘zoot suit’ hat evocative of his Mexican roots, and sporting turquoise-andsilver jewellery in a nod to his Native American heritage on his mother’s side. He cited his maternal grandmother as his biggest influence. “She’s a Shoshone Native American woman who had a warrior instinct,” he said. And his own warrior instinct kicked in after he was diagnosed. But you need both love and fight to deal with cancer, he added. At the American Cancer Society, he wants to be an “ambassador of love”, he said, breaking into the chorus of one of his biggest hits, Where is the Love? Last year, as a fundraiser for the Cancer Society, Taboo recorded a song called The Fight. His message today to others is that they can defeat cancer, too. “I beat it down. And now I’m going to use this gift of life to give people hope and to say: ‘Look, I went down that path too, I was there lying on that bed, you’re not alone. I am one of you and you are one of me. Let’s get charged up for life’.” Maybe that will be the title of his next hit song. – AFP-Relaxnews
is BBC Earth Film’s sequel to its popular 2007 film Earth, and it depicts the wonders of the natural world over the course of one day.
Yes, this is a nature documentary, but it is a darn good one. In fact, it is way better than most of the movies I had to review recently.
There are some pretty good action shots, a few nail-biting moments, some potential romance, and even high-speed chases.
The way this documentary is presented allows us to view nature from different parts of the world, beginning from the moment the sun rises till it sets.
Covering the different continents, this documentary film features several scenes that will just blow you away.
Some of my personal favourites include watching cranes dance as the sun comes up, fast-moving snakes working together to hunt down a baby iguana (there is even a great escape in this one), and giant sperm whales taking a nap.
Others include a sloth waking up from its slumber when it hears a female sloth and and swimming quite a distance to get to it, a mother zebra stopping a leopard from attacking her foal, cute pandas doing cute things, and a winner-takes-all fight between giraffes.
Included are some spectacular shots of insects and nocturnal creatures in all their splendour.
Watching this will make you appreciate Nature in all her glory, and somehow, things male stop being spectacular when humans come into the picture.
Redford is a decent enough narrator, but someone like Sir David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman would have done better.
It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is worth a watch. Narrator: Robert Redford Director: Richard Dale, Peter Webber and Lixin Fan Cinematography: 8 E-Value: 8 Story: 7