A YouTube video entitled “Red – Painting with a Basketball – Yao Ming Portrait” by a Malaysian girl from Sabah has gone viral.

Malaysian architect Hong Yi posted the video of herself creating a painting of Yao Ming using a basketball about 3 weeks ago. The video was featured by Gizmodo on its website on 25th Jan and quickly became viral, spreading to other online sites such as ABC, CBC, NBC, Hufftington Post,ESPN and NBA. The Taiwanese newspapers picked up the news, followed by the West Malaysian Chinese papers who gave her front page coverage. The Phoenix Channel in Hong Kong also posted the video.

Hong Yi nicknamed Red

Hong Yi goes by her arty nickname Red because in Chinese ‘Hong’ means red. She has always loved to draw, especially cartoons, and even when she was studying architecture, her secret ambition was to work for Pixar. She has been attached to the Shanghai branch of Australia’s largest architecture firm since last year.

Red with her painting of Yao Ming

She loves to paint, but according to her YouTube channel, she “loves to paint, but without a paintbrush!”

Below is the video of her creating her red painting of Yao Ming, using a basketball. Amazing talent!

Click here to view the embedded video.

William Hung is undeniably the most memorable “American Idol” reject. So what has Hung been up to since leaving the show?

William James Hung Hing Cheong (Traditional Chinese: 孔慶翔, Simplified Chinese: 孔庆翔,; born January 13, 1983), commonly known as William Hung, gained fame in early 2004 as a result of his off-key audition performance of Ricky Martin’s hit song “She Bangs” on the third season of “ American Idol.”

William Hung auditioning on American Idol

Originally from Sha Tin, Hong Kong, Hung moved to Camden, New Jersey in 1993 and graduated from the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles. He was a student at University of California, Berkeley, and later dropped out to pursue his music career.

While studying civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Hung auditioned for the third season of American Idol in San Francisco in September 2003. He was the final auditioner on the January 15, 2004, installment, the coup de grâce of an hour-long episode that showcased other would-be pop stars, mostly lacking in talent.

“I want to make music my living,” said Hung, before he started singing and dancing to Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs”. As judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul tried to restrain their laughter, judge Simon Cowell dismissed Hung’s performance, remarking “You can’t sing, you can’t dance, so what do you want me to say?”, to which Hung replied, “Um, I already gave my best, and I have no regrets at all.” Jackson and Abdul applauded his positive attitude, with Abdul remarking, “That’s the best attitude yet.” Hung’s response to Cowell’s criticism starkly contrasts with the often confrontational rejoinders of other contestants. Hung added, “…you know, I have no professional training of singing and dancing,” eliciting mock surprise from Cowell, who replied, “No? Well this is the surprise of the century.” Hung was not admitted through to the next round.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hung’s “She Bangs” audition went instantly viral and he gained a cult following. He incredibly ended up with a major record deal. He even ended up selling more records than some legitimate singers from “Idol,” as his first album, Inspiration, actually shifted almost 200,000 units (please note that’s 50,000 more copies than Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze’s post-”Idol” album sold). William has since released two more albums, starred in commercials, and acted in two Hong Kong films

A William Hung fan site, set up by realtor Don Chin and his wife Laura, recorded over four million hits within its first week. Hung subsequently appeared on several television programs including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Entertainment Tonight, The George Lopez Show, The Late Show With David Letterman, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Radio Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dateline NBC, Arrested Development and CBS’s The Early Show.

William Hung

Hung was featured in several national magazines and newspapers; he was parodied on Saturday Night Live and appeared on Celebrity Deathmatch.

Remixes of Hung’s audition performance topped song request lists at a number of radio stations. An online petition to get Hung back to American Idol included more than 100,000 signatures by late February. Hung was brought back to American Idol as part of a mid-season special titled Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented, airing March 1, 2004. The special documented what it was like to experience the audition process and, in Hung’s case, emerge as an inadvertent celebrity. Hung was crowned the Artichoke King of 2006 in Castroville, California’s Artichoke Festival; an honor previously bestowed on Marilyn Monroe.

It is most interesting to note that Hung is now working for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department as a technical crime analyst.

“My passion has always been math. It just took a while to end up as my career,” Hung told the L.A. Weekly.

But while William may be giving up his musical crimes to focus on actual ones, his “Idol” legacy remains intact. In fact, the L.A. Weekly just put him at number one on its top 20 list of all-time musicians.

“He is the greatest musician of all time because he epitomizes our highs, our lows, and our struggles to make ourselves heard,” wrote journalist Ben Westhoff, insanely.

Hung apparently still bangs after all these years.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A YouTube video of a father quizzing his baby daughter over who is her favourite parent has gone viral, garnering over 2.5 million views since it was uploaded on January 3.

The video of Australian Mick Tippett quizzing his adorable young daughter Maddie is truly hilarious.

The adorable Maddie

When Mick first poses the question, Maddie blurts out ‘Mum’ before Mick can even give her both the options.

Then Mick calls for a recess and tries “bribing” her with something to eat.

After the recess, Mick asks Maddie to repeatedly says “Dad” five times before asking her again about her favourite parent hoping to catch Maddie off guard.  But Maddie still replies ‘Mum’, causing an exasperated sigh from her father.

Mick then tries to trick her by asking her who her least favourite parent is, but the little girl is not fooled.

Enjoy the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lana Del Rey is a name you’re going to hear a lot of in 2012. She’s the internet sensation whose debut song Video Games is already the ‘Single Of The Year’ pre-release, having attracted almost 17 million  views on YouTube. Her first UK concert in November sold out in about 30 seconds.

Lana Del Rey

Her husky voice makes her the “It” girl of 2012. She calls her shtick “Lolita in the hood” or “the gangster Nancy Sinatra”. Music bloggers agree almost unanimously: the voice, lyrics, arrangements, melody – it’s all there.

25-year-old Lana Del Rey, real name Elizabeth Grant or Lizzy Grant, was born on June 21, 1986 in New York City and grew up in Lake Placid, New York. When she was fifteen, she left Lake Placid to go to boarding school in Connecticut. She is the daughter of domain investor and millionaire Rob Grant.

Lana Del Rey aka Lizzy Grant

Grant’s management chose her stage name, “I wanted to be a band but the label I was with and the team I had around me absolutely wanted me to be a solo artist. Lana Del Rey came from a series of managers and lawyers over the last 5 years who wanted a name that they thought better fit the sound of the music.”

Del Rey tried to make it as a mainstream artist with the release of an album titled “Lana Del Rey” in January 2010. It was the singer’s first professionally produced album, released under Lizzy Grant on an independent label with producer David Kahne. Del Rey stated that “David asked to work with me only a day after he got my demo. He is known as a producer with a lot of integrity and who had an interest in making music that wasn’t just pop.”

Her father, Robert Grant, helped with the marketing of the album, which was available for purchase on iTunes for a brief period before being withdrawn for unknown reasons.

In June 2011, Del Rey was signed with Stranger Records, to release her debut single “Video Games”; in October 2011, she was signed with Interscope Records.

The song Video Games put the 25-year-old American singer into the public eye. Her YouTube video for the song is heavy with nostalgia, filmed like a home movie with stills from old films, classic motorbikes, skateboards and 50s fashion.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lan is scheduled to release her debut album Born To Die in January 2012. The second single and title track “Born to Die”, a string-laden torch song oozing with high drama, is set for release on January 22, 2012. The music video for it leaked on December 14, 2011, and was based on a concept created by the singer, under the direction of Yoann Lemoine. The music video received generally favorable reviews from contemporary critics and has received more than 9 million views on YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

More tracks from Lana’s highly anticipated album Born to Die have hit the web – National Anthem and the infectiously poppy This Is What Makes Us Girls .

Lana cites Britney Spears, Elvis Presley and Kurt Cobain as her musical influences and her music has been described as “cinematic dark pop” by thedailytransmission.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Samsung has taken its battle with Apple for market dominance a notch higher by copying Apple’s advertising campaign, raising a lot of criticisms from tech bloggers that Samsung stole the face of Apple’s iPhone 4S — and copied the tone and feeling of Apple commercials, too.

In Apple’s new campaign advertising its iPhone 4S, an adorable little girl was the star. Two months later, the same little girl is now the face of the South Korean company’s campaign for its Galaxy Tab.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Samsung ad has aired only in Korea, making the copy-cat tactic particularly strange because there are no Koreans in the commercial.

The two tech giants spent the better part of 2011 warring over patents for their devices, with both companies suing each other to try to keep their rival’s products out of certain markets.

‘Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab TV ad feels a lot like an Apple iPad ad,’ the Apple-watching blog MacRumors said.

Samsung recently came out with an ad in the US that poked fun at iPhone users for having a slavish devotion to Apple. It offered the Samsung Galaxy S II as a better alternative.

I have a stressful day in the office today and to make matters worse, my gum which has been swollen for the last few days seem to have taken a turn for the worse. I had no choice but to see a dentist.

After dinner, I felt tired and stressed. I decided to look for some funny jokes online to cheer myself up. And I came across this “Lord Of The Ring” joke….had a hearty laugh and decided to share with you all.

Lord Of The Rings

An old, white haired man walked into a jewelry store one Friday evening with a beautiful young girl at his side. He told the jeweler he was looking for a special ring for his girlfriend.

The old man and his young girlfriend

The jeweler looked through his stock and brought out a $5,000 ring.

The old man said, “No, I’d like to see something more ‘special’.”

At that statement, the jeweler went to his special stock and brought another ring over. “Here’s a stunning ring at only $40,000,” the jeweler said.

The young lady’s eyes sparkled and her whole body trembled with excitement. The old man seeing this said, “We’ll take it.”

The jeweler asked how payment would be made and the old man stated, “By check. I know you need to make sure my check is good, so I’ll write it now and you can call the bank Monday to verify the funds and I’ll pick the ring up Monday afternoon,” he said.

Monday morning, the jeweler phoned the old man. “There’s no money in that account,” he said.

“I know,” said the old man, “But let me tell you about my weekend!”

To all the readers of my blog, I wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012. Since you are from all around the world, let me express my season’s greetings in 100 different languages, with the hope that this covers the native language of all of you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012

African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Milad Majid
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Sheng Dan Kuai Le
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri’cho o Rish D’Shato Brichto
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto (A Happy New Year). Kurisumasu Omedeto
Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Lao: souksan van Christmas
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar
Luxembourgish: Schèine Chreschtdaag an e gudde Rutsch
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese:Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele or Craciun fericit
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Serbian: Hristos se rodi.
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Tamil: (Tamizh) Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym or Z RIZDVOM HRYSTOVYM
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!

It is Christmas again. It is time to pause and reflect on Christmas. What has Christmas meant to you over the years?

Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of “Merry Christmas” to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas?

Many of us have become so swept up in the commercial aspect of the holiday that we’ve strayed a bit from the true meaning of Christmas, forgetting what the meaning of Christmas really is.

True meaning of Christmas

So what is the true meaning of Christmas? Simply put, Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birthday. His birth meant that the Messiah that Isaiah spoke of had come into the world to save us. People knew even then that the child was special.

Take a step back, take out your Bible, and turn it to Luke. Follow along with Linus as he recites the true meaning of Christmas to Charlie Brown. This is the real story of Christmas.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 LUKE 2:8-14

Christmas literally means the Mass (celebration) of Christ. “Christ” is a Greek word and title, meaning “anointed” or one set apart by God for a special purpose. “Christ” is equivalent to the Hebrew word “Messiah.” Based on the words of ancient prophets, the first century Jewish people expected the arrival of the Messiah promised by God as a great deliver of the people.

Christmas is the festival of the human heart. It is a time of year when all the universe conspires to raise the vibratory level of consciousness on earth to one of peace and love toward ourselves and one another. This season resonates to the sweet, childlike innocence that resides in all of us. A time when the heavenly forces inspire us to shift our focus away from fear and toward one of joy, and healing.

No matter who you are, your heart cannot resist the beauty of an ornamented Christmas tree or the glow of a mysterious menorah. Cynicism gives way to the celebration when carefully preparing holiday sweets or stringing colorful lights around the entrance to your home. Any heart warms to a rousing rendition of “Joy to The World”.

Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child.

The true meaning of Christmas

Jesus was born so we might live. Jesus, the son of God, came to earth so we may be set free. The Christ child, the child of light came, so the darkness that covered this world would become extinct. What a beautiful thought we have when we think of this precious sacrifice of His life so all men may have this gift of new birth in each one of us. Without Jesus, we would all die in our sins.

Through the sins of Adam and Eve, we have all inherited that sin nature. We need to have that removed. The only way is through Jesus. Jesus came so He could die on the cross for ALL of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us. Then, we are clean and made whole.

We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day.

Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! Rejoice!

Will you give Him a room in the Inn of your heart this year?

Bless you and Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas To You All!

By the way, I am baffled by the translation of Merry Christmas into Mandarin in the above picture.  It shows the Chinese characters for “Kong Hee Fatt Choy” (which essentially means wish you prosperity) which is what the Chinese wish each other during Chinese New Year. It has nothing to do with Christmas. I purposely chose the above picture to illustrate how commercialized Christmas has become.

A madcap YouTube video “North Korea Party Rock Anthem ft. Kim Jong Il” by error606 has gone viral after the death of North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il.

The video was uploaded on September 16 this year and matched footage of parades in honour of the tyrant to the upbeat electro soundtrack of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem which was a No 1 hit in April this year.

With the footage sped up, the hilarious video shows Koreans performing marching, gymnastic routines, traditional dances, and clapping — seemingly in time with the tempo of the hit song..

Enjoy the video!

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was supposed to be a pep rally prank to bring laughter and cheers at Rosemount High School in Minnesota but it has instead stirred up a lot of controversy after parents of some senior student athletes took the practical joke too far. Some detractors even went as far as saying that some of the very inappropriate antics smack of incest.

The prank featured a comedy skit which took advantage of unknowing captains of the various winter varsity squads. After the team captains walked into the gym blindfolded, they were told that they were going to be kissed by a special someone, and then were asked to guess who it was that kissed them.

Rosemount High School pep rally kissing game

It turns out that the person who kissed the athletes — in every circumstance — was their own opposite sex parent. A lot of criticism has been leveled not at the student athletes, but at some of the parents for what they did in executing the practical joke.

Some of the parents during the 59-second YouTube video are seen holding the kisses for several seconds, cupping their child’s faces or embracing and swaying.

One mother moved her son’s hand down to her behind during the encounter. Another mom has her son down on the gym floor to the delight of two male students nearby.

You can see full video footage of the pep rally incident below but be warned that some of the parents took their roles as “special someones” to a level that left many onlookers feeling offended, uncomfortable and even queasy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rosemount Principal John Wollersheim insisted that the school wouldn’t repeat the comedic routine, despite the fact that a similar routine had been a huge hit at a prep rally at the school years earlier.

“There is no question that people were offended,” Wollersheim said. “I apologize to those who were offended, and we won’t do it again.

“Anything that happens at this school is the principal’s responsibility. I take full responsibility. … There shouldn’t be an event in a school that we offend people with.”