See I would talk about The Last Airbender but the aka for that movie is how to completely suck at making a movie and completely waste everyones time. There are people who are giving this movie a chance because they just like seeing a character on screen but to say this movie sucked is an insult to sucky movies. I mean most of those movies the people actually tried their best but honestly there were way too many holes in said story to gain the audiences attention or hearts.
I think The last Airbender is going to make money, it's going to make money due to the "Howard Stern rule", what is that you ask, simply put the people who love Howard listen to hear what he is gonna say next, the people who hate howard listen to see what he is gonna say next. The Last Airbender Fantastisucked, the term has been used by me before look it up in a previous blog if it isn't on here it's on multiply. The last airbender took a cake walk and turned it into a rushed, yet grueling, waste of good martial arts performances, lousy bending but great martial arts.
Wait what? How could it be great martial arts but lousy bending, simply part of the beautiful thing about bending is that your element followed you as you made you motions. If you watched the show it kind of gave you a tactile feel for chi flow as they talk about it in martial arts. Its almost like he only watched Aang bend(not Ong as M night decided he wanted to do its almost like he was making a bad parody of a good show) when he first started learning each of the elements past air(hell his airbending took too damn long).
If you look up avatar the last airbender the cartoon you will see some marked differences, wait let me take that back EARTH BENDING IS THE ONLY BENDING HE GOT SEMI CLOSE. The way he made the earth seem to fight against its benders before it finally bowed to their will was right, everybody elses bending HE SCREWED THE POOCH. First and foremost FIREBENDERS CREATE THEIR OWN FIRE. It is created from their chi, and in all honesty for them it made sense, why might you ask.
Think of the Greek gods for a second, who are the big three Zeus Sky, Poseidon Air, Hades Earth/the underworld. There is of course another fire spirit there Apollo god of the sun. The only really free flowing bit of flame in our little solar system. Whats the funny thing about the sun if it was closer it would scortch us. Thus while we all use fire and admit its value and power we keep it restrained. So Air plentiful, Water plentiful unless you are in the middle of the land, and Earth PLENTIFUL. Those benders would have plenty of their element around them and have free access to it, because in nature those elements are plentiful and usually not too restrained, ESPECIALLY AIR AND EARTH. Fire on the other hand needs so much to get going it needs fuel, it needs air and then you would have to constantly transport it. I mean Their machines run on fire which means they would burn massive amounts of fuel so by the time you made it to an enemies camp you ordinace should be damn near used up. So if as was explained in the show you allowed fire to be created by your chi and your emotions your passion, your anger, you desires then it would be strong bright and free flowing. You wouldn't have to worry about always having fire with you(which would make it hard for you to sneak up on someone and capture them since you would be carrying a damn torch).
What M night should have done was told this story in 6 parts 2 parts per book(the books are Water, Earth and Fire in the order that Aang must learn them to fully master being the avatar) the beginning of each book developing the characters and their abilities showing why they came to the decisions they did and what mistakes made them better benders, tactitians or people.
Okay lets start with story and character errors:
Story error one:How the Avatar was discovered; in the movie there is this big bubble sitting there that Katara hits with a hammer or something and breaks it open and Poof there lays the avatar. Lame because it basically defeats an important part of the story that you will discover later. Katara is a very strong WATER BENDER. In the show you later learn that she is so strong and gifted that she can Heal using water and that she can even bend the water in your Blood.
In the cartoon, Sokka(not Soaka or Souka, the hell there are ways to screw things up and then there are ways to show its just an obstacle in the way of what you really want to do) and his sister are out on the water and they start having an argument. During the course of the argument katara angered by sokka's sophmoric and condescending ways starts screaming and giving in to her emotions while on the raft. As she does not yet realize she is a water bender nor the strength of her bending as Sokka tries to calm her down she gets more insensed she will be heard she will not be shushed and she will not calm down. The water around the craft is reacting to her emotions churning, splashing and during all of these splashes up comes Aang's bubble containing him and Appa, Oppa, or Opa(dunno how its spell but it sounds like Op Ah, Sokka sounds like Sock ah or Socc ah, Katara is Kat ar ah, and and is Ang like in freaking Tang you know the orange drink or freaking WU TANG) as she continues to rage the ice which is also made of water starts to crack. Up shoots a beam of light out fall Aang and Opa and our adventure begins.
Another story error and lets be real about this the races of the characters, they matter in the story and the fact that you whitewashed then tanwashed most of them makes no damn sense. As many have claimed the cartoon does have asian overtones, yes it is a cartoon but the characters are all asian, if you read the signs in the cartoon they are done in Kanji(thus you get subtitles for what is on the doors when you see the signs). Call it a mistake in the artists rendering, call it a minor faux paux call it caucasians do not need to be the focal point of every damn story. But sokka and katara are clearer of a darker hue than Aang, I don't mean an hour in the sun I mean like a month in the sun darker(you know like the girl who comes back after two weeks in the islands and just has to rub her tan in your face even if it just comes from a tanning booth or a spray bottle). And any claims to the contrary are foolish simply because they diminish the importance of being factual to the source material just for personal preference or connection. Every one in their village and of the water tribes appear to either be Inuit or Eskimo ALL not Most except for Sokka GAM GAM and Katara. As a matter of fact it appeared that every speaking character from the water tribe was caucasian. By the way anybody who claims that the water tribe or earth tribe is in anyway shape or form scandanavian is smoking the same pipe M night smoked to make this movie and think it wasn't going to be a cryingstock(this movie is so sad you cry at what it SHOULD HAVE BEEN). Neither tribes were pale, and the earth kingdom people had slanted eyes and FU MAN CHU mustaches, Fu man chu's not viking beards. And again unless you are saying that both water tribes had a serious case of sunburn(though they were not red) again is an idiot, if you cannot accept a character in a live action movie to be exactly how he was in the cartoon then you know what don't watch either because you can't handle it.
Now the earth tribes APPEARED to be chineses, korean, or mongolian. But the fire benders umm how can I put this nicely They all appeared to be indian(and I mean indian not native american). In the show if you asked me I would have said they were either Mandarin chinese or japanese, by their dress, mannerism and actions. I have heard many laughable denials of the Asiatic base f this story and its sad, because you can tell they are just saying it because while they know better they cannot help their white centric view on how things should look.
They were ALL asians: Inuit waterbenders, Tibetan/Shaolin Airbenders, Korean, Chinese, Mongolian earth benders, and Chinese, Mandarin, Japanese fire benders. It almost looks like it was a representation 3 kingdoms period in china towards the end as was shown in the move Hero staring jet li. Except in avatar they gave each kingdom an element(thus requiring a fourth kingdom) and instead of the fight ending in one huge nation it ends with each nation controlling itself but striving for peace between themselves. Yes each bending style mimiced a martial art air soft style wushu(sort of like snake), water taichi, earth bending hard like tiger or crain, and fire kind of like monkey style lots of flips, kicks and aerial maneuvers. So casting fantastisucked, its almost like he had a cast in mind that he wanted to work on for his next film this became his next film and he used that cast anyway.
Next problem sokka, he's a loveable pest. Again he is somewhat immature, very sophmorice, basically he's a kids version of Ryan Reynolds in any movie he plays in. Yes he's smart, yes he has good ideas he makes jokes all the time, teases but you love him because he's constant. And the journey sokka goes on to become this great strategist and better warrior well I can't see how M nights brooding, sulking, BORING stiff could pull that off. I mean Not ONE JOKE. Unless you count that he's the only one that said KATara's name right. already discussed the name moving on.
Prince Zuko was like prince zuko in the series except his hair was wrong, in the beginning LIKE IN CHINA Zuko ONLY had a pony tail. His sides were bald, he wore his hair up as did IROH(not eroh, the hell with the names Asian saying pffft liar I can look up any other anime and show them saying similar names to these without a freakin problem he has mental problems he screwed it up to screw it up on purpose). Iroh actually had his hair in a sort of courtiers single loop bun like you used to see in old Kung fu movies. Oh and Iroh was fat, I say this not to disrespect the character but to kind of respect who the character was. Iroh was an old general, and he had the body like one, a body that you could tell had seen many years and was starting to go to seed as he stopped the rigors of a strick military life. SO this thin EROH, while he like his tea didn't seem as introspective and comtemplative. I mean technically the cartoon Iroh was FREAKIN CONFUCIUS, he always had words of wisdom and mild mannered yet educational anecdotes to pass on. And he seemed like a man tired of war, he was always trying to cheer zuko up, make him see that there were better things in his future then just being another lackey to his overly ambitious father. There was a bond between Zuko and Iroh that you aren't seeing in this movie. And Iroh's hair what the hell, whats with the I don't know if those were dreads or ratty braids.
Though Zuko's scar, hmmm it should have been the whole side of his face. Yes if you looked closesly parts of the skin look slightly marked from the blistering, but it should have been a big blatant scar not this afterthought that M. Night tried to pull off to make it I guess more kid friendly. And whats with the mispronunciation of asian works its KAI, Agnekai or Agnekai AG NUH KAI. I know asians say Kai all the time because I watch bleach and BAN KAI is when one of the characters takes his ZanPakTo to pretty much its ultimate level, Their swords have a SkiKAI form(which is an unreleased for), a released for(don't remember if that form had a name) and then the BANKAI form. So for M night to have it called Ah Nee Kee the lies for his asian pronunciation keep getting weaker and weaker. We are americans we watch anime, we know what words we hear the ASIAN voice actors say. So if in Hindi, or arabic, or whatever dialect from india that he speaks that he is trying to pass off as asian he should have just said so, cause his words didn't sound REMOTELY asian. I mean they sounded like bad 1950's translations of asian terms and words.
And by the way there are like 2 Agnekai's shown in book 1 water. Agnekais are pretty much Honor battles, and Zuko being so much about Honor these should have been shown, every chance to get even a piece of his honor back zuko would have held firmly too.
Katara getting the waterbending scroll SHE STOLE IT FROM PIRATES. And why were the pirates important, because those same Pirates were the ones used by the admiral from the fire nation that Zuko didn't get along with to attempt to ASSASINATE HIM. Not only that but it wasn't until Book 2 Earth that Aang found out that Zuko was the blue spirit. The complicated relationship between Zuko and Ang, Zuko's quest to regain his honor, Zuko and Iroh, Zuko and Azula and Zuko and firelord Ozai is also sometimes told using the mask of the blue spirit. Admiral Jin didn't Suspect Zuko's treachery until he saw the twin swords zuko likes to use in his uncles bunk.
And AVATAR KYOSHI hello that damn statue is on KYOSHI ISLAND, the land that Sokkas future Girlfriend comes from. The island is the place where an important battle between Aang and Zuko is fought, man just whew. The ignorance of that whole scene and the Speech Aang gave belonged to Katara. It showed you how rumors, messages and stories of the battles against the fire nation have traveled the world. It showed Kataras passion and how she was more then just the bossy younger sister, the one who had dreams of the strong Earth Benders finally overcoming the fire nation.
And where was Aangs playfulness. They weren't making stops on the way to the northern Water tribe to fight battles Aang had a list of goof off side trips he had planned. He still saw the world as it had been 100 years before when there hadn't been a lot of fighting. To make matters worse they allowed Aang to be trapped in a room that was supposed to have a door that ONLY A MASTER AIRBENDER COULD OPEN.
There were rumors that M nights kids made him watch the show, I think he knows how to sleep with his eyes open cause dude. I mean so much is rushed, the characters are so wrong, the constipated way he treated all bending, the botched casting, the holes in the story, the ignorance of the character growth.
I mean the best Water bender did not want to teach Katara because she was a girl, but come to find out she is not just any girl but that necklace she always wears, her pride and joy that Gam Gam gave her, that necklace was made by that great water bender for her grandmother when she was his betrothed, She ran away from the Northern Water tribe because she did not like it's rigid structure. Hell the Princesses father wasn't dead he is the one who held the feast in the AVATARS Honor. He showed them that Magic Garden THAT WAS NOT IN A CAVE, I mean he stole a scene from the cartoon and screwed it up. Those two koi the white with the shiny blackish patch and the black with the shiny/glowy whitish patch circle the MOON in the cartoon it was part of how Aang saw the Yin Yang symbol in the pull and learn to better understand water bendings push and pull. It helped him better connect water bending in his mind. He just through it off in a cave some wear as an afterthought.
Avatar touched on so many adult themes in a way that children could understand them and take notice of them that the fact that a SUPPOSED adult could screw it up so badly. I mean it isn't even a old cartoon that current generation children may have only seen reruns of and possibly out of order, its a freaking current cartoon. It's been getting Marathons with Extra info since a month and a half before The Last Airbender was due to premier. I know it's like I keep harping on the guy but it's almost as if M night wanted to be ridiculed after this movie came out. Like this was his cry for an intervention, its a current story, like Harry Potter EVERYBODY HAS SEEN IT. That's why it got a movie, and instead of taking the lessons from the good harry potter movies it's like he fell in love with the "directorial vision" of the guys who basically had turned the fans off so badly I often wonder if J K Rollings doesn't sometimes say to herself why did I agree to this hack again PUBLICLY! You do not cut improtant MAIN STAY characters out of a story just because they do not fit your directorial vision.
I mean I know I usually say I want to give a movie a chance because some reviewers could care less about the subject matter of a comic/cartoon/adaptation movie such as this, but I hate to say it they are right, this thing has gone so far past Craptastic that it almost has to be viewed just to see how badly Hollywood does not respect our money. Somebody had to show up during the filming of this thing and say, "ummm dude what are you shooting? The death of my profit margin this movie SUUUUCKS."
On Think Hero's Youtube channel he talks about all these pregnant pauses in the movie between lines, and what I'm wondering is were those T bag pauses? I mean was he having the actors pause at those instances to say here, these are my testes I want them all in your mouth for watching this trainwreck of a movie, and actually paying for it. Is this M nights cry for an intervention, has he lost his muse and is just churning out crap until somebody says dude here, this is the good weed, or here this is a project you can actually wrap your brain around to work out the kinks, because this should have been a cake walk. It's not like a comic book movie with a character that has been around for 50 years so there has been a million costume changes, character updates, artists, inkers, adaptations, successes, failures, favorites, most hated. He had the CGI budget(even if Opa's face looked like somebody ripped it off from Where the wild things are) which if all you were looking for was the elements moving around okay the elements moved, but at least to me it looked like it was an afterthought. Like even though this was the entire thing that made them distinctive from other martial artists(and even in the world of Avatar: the last airbender there were other types of martial arts) he still found a way to focus solely on the martial arts and damn near completely try and ignore the powers.
I mean I blame this on Hollywood completely I see a lot of movies lately where they completely ignore what it is we like about the characters to try and tell us some story based on some wet dream they had when they got somebodies money to make a movie. It isn't the subject matter they are trying to bring THEIR VISION to life, to hell with the subject matter without them IT doesn't exist. Yeah well without the viewers your ability to make a sequel doesn't exist.
So yeah once again Fantastisucked, it's a word introduced by marvel in the Ultimate Universe and it DEFINITELY describes this Travesty
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The plan for the weekend
I rarely do this for an important reason:my plans usually get shot quick, I'm talking high noon in the old west quick. But I as usual wanna see if I can write something down and then bring it to fruition.
I plan to go see The Last Airbender M.Night Shamalan's movie based on the cartoon Avatar:The last Airbender. I have always been of the mindset that you will see the doorways into our future with the entertainment the kids watch. Lucas, Roddenberry, Cameron they all grew up on those old flash gordon serials. And look at how far they pushed imagination and movies. And if JJ abrahms Star Trek remake is any indication Roddenberry hasn't done a half bad job of inspiring the future either. Also Animation has really gone to new heights I didn't have a problem with the astroboy movie I thought it was pretty good. DRAGON BALL SUCKED, Speed racer was pretty good. I've done reviews for many of them(Yeah Yeah I owe yall a karate kid review, may have to go watch it again to make sure I don't misrepresent anything) again my review is not like anyone else's I'm not going to say the movie gets X amount of stars did I like it yes or no, why and do I think it's worth the price of admission.
My main problem with professional reviewers is it rarely seems to be about the movie and a lot of times to be about their own personal egos if they couldn't do or imagine better it sucked, if they could Oh it was great. And you'll watch them and basically want your money back because they have no integrity, I remember that old John Lovitz cartoon called the critic lets not say he was making fun of them all but he was making fun of them all and the only movie he liked had really no plot, no story it just followed a balloon around. It was supposed to be an art film but honestly how many of us really want to watch an art film not a drama, or action movie, or comedy? oh well time to make the martini if I feel froggy I'll post on ply or else traipse back here
I plan to go see The Last Airbender M.Night Shamalan's movie based on the cartoon Avatar:The last Airbender. I have always been of the mindset that you will see the doorways into our future with the entertainment the kids watch. Lucas, Roddenberry, Cameron they all grew up on those old flash gordon serials. And look at how far they pushed imagination and movies. And if JJ abrahms Star Trek remake is any indication Roddenberry hasn't done a half bad job of inspiring the future either. Also Animation has really gone to new heights I didn't have a problem with the astroboy movie I thought it was pretty good. DRAGON BALL SUCKED, Speed racer was pretty good. I've done reviews for many of them(Yeah Yeah I owe yall a karate kid review, may have to go watch it again to make sure I don't misrepresent anything) again my review is not like anyone else's I'm not going to say the movie gets X amount of stars did I like it yes or no, why and do I think it's worth the price of admission.
My main problem with professional reviewers is it rarely seems to be about the movie and a lot of times to be about their own personal egos if they couldn't do or imagine better it sucked, if they could Oh it was great. And you'll watch them and basically want your money back because they have no integrity, I remember that old John Lovitz cartoon called the critic lets not say he was making fun of them all but he was making fun of them all and the only movie he liked had really no plot, no story it just followed a balloon around. It was supposed to be an art film but honestly how many of us really want to watch an art film not a drama, or action movie, or comedy? oh well time to make the martini if I feel froggy I'll post on ply or else traipse back here
Friday, June 18, 2010
Am I my brothers keeper
Now I know this line has been used in two movies and neither of the people using it were very good guys. When Nino Brown answered G money about this he shortly thereafter put a bullet in his brain (New Jack city). When Julien said it he was basically about to kill you. But what happened to this sentiment? I mean I remember when I was a lot younger we actually used to try and look out for each other. You could trust a neighbor to watch your kids, you could trust an associate at work to either pay you back or lend a helping hand when you were in trouble.
But now, oh hell no people are too ready to let you take you licks, their licks, stomp on your heart and then laugh in your face. I keep seeing more and more instances of minorities spitting on minorities, of people who may for all intents and purposes be mostly the same on the outside except maybe political affiliation, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic group at war with each other in instances where just looking at it objectively you would think a sane person would say no way I couldn't treat another person that way. I mean we complain about PC all the time(politically correct) but when you look at it the advent of PC seems to have also been the precursor to a lot of pent up animosity. It's like now that you are expected to talk to someone civilly you are going out of your way to be abusive, spiteful and vindictive. I mean if there is a devil he has to be on the longest unemployment streak ever because who needs an embodiment of evil when many of us are fully willing to let loose the evil in our hearts without much coaxing.
I mean is there a shelf, is there a shelf that when you see a situation that most would agree if you were in it you would like a little compassion that we say hmm, I don't like this person too much or hell I don't even know them so they should get all this excess punishment so that when it's my turn "the barrels will be empty and maybe I'll get off with a lighter sentence" which is immature at best self destructive at worst. The saying is all black people look alike, actually to be honest all people of color look alike to some folks. So if you allow that person to wail on one person of color, it becomes acceptable and once it becomes acceptable exactly why are you safe now? People in law enforcement are human, they have bad days, they get frustrated, hell they even have ulterior motives. I am not requiring them to be perfect because I myself am not, what I am requiring though is they follow the rules, and just like anyone else if you let them bend or break the rules "because they have a hard job" where does it stop? Exactly when have they gone too far?
Now as a person of color of course I have good and bad memories of police officers, in my current occupation I deal with them a lot. I have known some good cops, I have also know officers who you can tell they are just doing this because they love the power the job gives them. Before they got the badge and gun they may have been a door mat, but now walk over me if you want to, I'll put a bullet in you. And that isn't why they were given the badge, I believe there is a need for police officers and law enforcement I also believe that to be in law enforcement you have to have the compassion to understand in certain situations I not only have to be impartial I also have to guard my temper well. Because I represent something larger then myself and most times if people see me it isn't a good time for somebody.
I mean being in law enforcement isn't an easy job, but then again is that the ONLY hard job out there? To coddle officers because "they have a hard job" when they break the rules (and mainly against minorities) are we really saying they are having a hard job or are some people saying yeah do what I myself can't do to so and so because I'm scared, I don't think I would win so as long as I have the threat of calling the police and they see the police as executioners or bully's and not impartial stewards of the law IF I ever get a chance to call them we both know what they will get.
Again the minorities with no compassion I think are sad, because I really do believe in Karma, and Karma isn't cute or kind. It almost always has a chance to come back and bite you when you act like yeah so and so DESERVED to get that, or if only they didn't act such and such a way. There are plenty of ways to excuse bad behavior but it is still bad behavior, if I'm not allowed to something take a persons life, restrain them and beat them to a pulp, gang up on them and "give them whats coming to them" then neither are the police. Not only that but as the police are law enforcement they already know that, as I have often said they should be punished more harshly not given leeway. Of course they are only killing minorities like that, we all see stories where whites are given so much leeway that its like wow, pedro, raheem or mustafah would be in a body bag 5 minutes ago. And I hate to remind you but if you aren't white all they see is PEDRO, RAHEEM and MUSTAFAH so it would be in your best interest for them to get a fair and impartial response from the police then a boot on the neck because you turn or a family members turn can and will come and you really don't want that type of rage release coming your way. Been at the end of those it ain cute, it's really painful and the amount of hassle you have to put up with especially if you don't have proof on your side is best not experienced.
And those who wanna say just obey the law please, there are so many While Minority offenses out there that there is no defense. There is no way to avoid police interaction because then they wouldn't be doing their jobs they are supposed to keep "the people" safe, except to most folks that means WHITE PEOPLE. and it is sad that we have allowed ourselves to still be bogged down like that. There are now so many cracks and gray areas for criminals to hide in because sections of the community don't trust the cops. I mean how are we safer if we have created places where criminals can exist without fear of punishment?
I've said my peace for now(but I'm sure I will again) you can agree you can disagree but the really is a simple question, would you want that to be you?
But now, oh hell no people are too ready to let you take you licks, their licks, stomp on your heart and then laugh in your face. I keep seeing more and more instances of minorities spitting on minorities, of people who may for all intents and purposes be mostly the same on the outside except maybe political affiliation, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic group at war with each other in instances where just looking at it objectively you would think a sane person would say no way I couldn't treat another person that way. I mean we complain about PC all the time(politically correct) but when you look at it the advent of PC seems to have also been the precursor to a lot of pent up animosity. It's like now that you are expected to talk to someone civilly you are going out of your way to be abusive, spiteful and vindictive. I mean if there is a devil he has to be on the longest unemployment streak ever because who needs an embodiment of evil when many of us are fully willing to let loose the evil in our hearts without much coaxing.
I mean is there a shelf, is there a shelf that when you see a situation that most would agree if you were in it you would like a little compassion that we say hmm, I don't like this person too much or hell I don't even know them so they should get all this excess punishment so that when it's my turn "the barrels will be empty and maybe I'll get off with a lighter sentence" which is immature at best self destructive at worst. The saying is all black people look alike, actually to be honest all people of color look alike to some folks. So if you allow that person to wail on one person of color, it becomes acceptable and once it becomes acceptable exactly why are you safe now? People in law enforcement are human, they have bad days, they get frustrated, hell they even have ulterior motives. I am not requiring them to be perfect because I myself am not, what I am requiring though is they follow the rules, and just like anyone else if you let them bend or break the rules "because they have a hard job" where does it stop? Exactly when have they gone too far?
Now as a person of color of course I have good and bad memories of police officers, in my current occupation I deal with them a lot. I have known some good cops, I have also know officers who you can tell they are just doing this because they love the power the job gives them. Before they got the badge and gun they may have been a door mat, but now walk over me if you want to, I'll put a bullet in you. And that isn't why they were given the badge, I believe there is a need for police officers and law enforcement I also believe that to be in law enforcement you have to have the compassion to understand in certain situations I not only have to be impartial I also have to guard my temper well. Because I represent something larger then myself and most times if people see me it isn't a good time for somebody.
I mean being in law enforcement isn't an easy job, but then again is that the ONLY hard job out there? To coddle officers because "they have a hard job" when they break the rules (and mainly against minorities) are we really saying they are having a hard job or are some people saying yeah do what I myself can't do to so and so because I'm scared, I don't think I would win so as long as I have the threat of calling the police and they see the police as executioners or bully's and not impartial stewards of the law IF I ever get a chance to call them we both know what they will get.
Again the minorities with no compassion I think are sad, because I really do believe in Karma, and Karma isn't cute or kind. It almost always has a chance to come back and bite you when you act like yeah so and so DESERVED to get that, or if only they didn't act such and such a way. There are plenty of ways to excuse bad behavior but it is still bad behavior, if I'm not allowed to something take a persons life, restrain them and beat them to a pulp, gang up on them and "give them whats coming to them" then neither are the police. Not only that but as the police are law enforcement they already know that, as I have often said they should be punished more harshly not given leeway. Of course they are only killing minorities like that, we all see stories where whites are given so much leeway that its like wow, pedro, raheem or mustafah would be in a body bag 5 minutes ago. And I hate to remind you but if you aren't white all they see is PEDRO, RAHEEM and MUSTAFAH so it would be in your best interest for them to get a fair and impartial response from the police then a boot on the neck because you turn or a family members turn can and will come and you really don't want that type of rage release coming your way. Been at the end of those it ain cute, it's really painful and the amount of hassle you have to put up with especially if you don't have proof on your side is best not experienced.
And those who wanna say just obey the law please, there are so many While Minority offenses out there that there is no defense. There is no way to avoid police interaction because then they wouldn't be doing their jobs they are supposed to keep "the people" safe, except to most folks that means WHITE PEOPLE. and it is sad that we have allowed ourselves to still be bogged down like that. There are now so many cracks and gray areas for criminals to hide in because sections of the community don't trust the cops. I mean how are we safer if we have created places where criminals can exist without fear of punishment?
I've said my peace for now(but I'm sure I will again) you can agree you can disagree but the really is a simple question, would you want that to be you?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
What is it about the mirror
As usual as I read blogs on the internet, twitter posts, online articles(I haven't picked up a magazine to read in quite some time), watch TV interviews, or even read newspaper articles I am noticing the continuation of an alarming trend. Black people really can't stand each other. Oh there will be plenty of those fake smooches, hey homey hugs, and fake caked up grins but the look in the eyes is soulless. And I am calling it a continuation not a new thing because the battle lines have always been there since the beginning of our time here in the Americas. I mean back in Africa like any other society yes there were tribal/sovereign wars. I say sovereign because at the times of the Greek and Roman city states you had people fighting. I mean Athens vs Sparta, were they not all Greeks, while no longer what we would consider tribal because of their advanced infrastructure and instruments really what is the difference between the people of Sparta and a tribe in South America, or Africa(or even France, Germany or England/Britannia at the time) honestly not much except technology. So yes the tribe of Sparta did not like the tribe of Athenians and they fought for superiority, land yadda yadda. Oops going off on a tangent let me get back on topic.
I say here in the Americas because when we got here those tribal bonds were stripped from us, our initial languages, knowledge of who and where we originally came from, ancestry, everything. So if I'm originally a Bantu and your a Mandingo and we have so old cultural animosity we probably don't know about it. No the fights we have here were from perception, you were in the big house so you must have gotten better treatment then me in the fields. You know how to read and write, and how to count I just know how to trick master into thinking I have more in my basket then I actually do. This should be allies against each other trick while old as time was really used to perfection here in America. Rich land owners convincing poorer settlers to fight for their rights to own slaves because they were better then the slaves, even though if the slaves were being paid like those poor white settlers wanted to be paid there would be no need for slaves because the only benefit to owning a slave was FREE LABOR. By pitting the House Negroes vs the Field Negroes you had a black person who might be family to someone outside or else at first might have been trusted giving you valuable intel on the goings on outside because they see a black face and figure hmm he probably wants to escape like me. Only for the House negro to be under the misconception of the house belonging to both of you(yes a common delusion).
You move forward you have those who decided to be share croppers versus those who decided to become tradesmen. When they get their freedom some resort to all they have known(the fields) while others want nothing to do with their former oppression and go off to learn what it is they are allowed to in this world. Then you had the bougie versus the more down to earth. Those who only believed in the benefits of mental pursuits:being doctors, lawyers, professors while others saw the need and honor of being engineers, craftsman, architects. Neither side was wrong in their beliefs but as if the other side was trying to twist a dagger in their ribs they took it personally like ONLY their way of thinking was the right way. Fast forward again my favorite stupid arguments of Light skin vs dark skin, natural hair vs straight hair, short low cuts vs high afros or dreadlocks, corn rows or braids. Oh yeah weave/wig/lacefront vs regular relaxed or pressed hair vs natural short or bald hair and of course skinny/petite vs thick/fat.
Honestly what is really the point in these fights? I mean do you really feel that threatened by another person expressing their individuality that it makes you doubt or question your own? When did it become a requirement that to feel good about "me" that everybody had to be like me, everybody had to agree and hop on the bandwagon of my sensibilities. I read a blog recently where a woman decided that she wanted to go after big women, she herself was either petite or just skinny, and the kinda part that made me laugh was she said "the guys who date big/fat women have low self esteem" of course she had admitted before hand that the guys weren't looking in her direction. Black men like fat chicks and because they liked fat chicks not her THEY had low self esteem, yeah nope not how that works. If you are the one left out, it's your self esteem that is taking damage not theirs because I am sure if they are happy as the saying goes why am I even worried about you.
A few days before that I read a blog about an entertainer who, as seems to be the norm lately, decided he wanted to take some black women to task for being materialistic, not deciding to give him any before he became rich and famous, and not submitting to all his wishes yadda yadda before he had the dough. Now he did not ONLY go off on black women, but he did start it out that way and to make matters worse he also committed the death sentence sin of REPEATING the feelings of a relative who regaled him with the joys of dating a more submissive white woman. Now I have no problem with interracial dating if its based on love, but if you love the white woman why you bashing sistas, I mean did they clown you that badly. Sheesh if the only reason you are with me is because you can't have so and so to act like you want them to then bye. That's really how I feel I love black women, I love chocolate black women, I always have now do I find some caramel women attractive yes. But if you asked me who I am going to ask out first you will see a long line of chocolate with some caramel sprinkled in. Now if you ask me if someone is pretty yes I will say yeah so and so is cute, doesn't mean I would ask them out but I can appreciate their beauty. The majority of my conversation when I talk about what I like is not going to include them UNLESS YOU ASK ME A QUESTION SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THEM, and then once I'm done answering that questions it's back to what I like. The entertainer also mention how black men needed to step up and how black folks had screwed up priorities. But the author of the blog ignored those because she had an agenda. She wanted to bash a black male, who happened to be a rapper(I mean I don't like his rhymes either but as I said if I ain into your offerings I just don't deal with them I will only voice my displeasure when asked about you specifically), as well as go off on the exact same females that he was. But her complaint was because HE went off on the females. Exqueeze me? I mean how can you complain that a dude is going off on black women and then join the chorus of going off on black women that you yourself do not deem worthy?
Of course there are blogs on the state of black women on welfare, the constant stories about us black males and our wayward natures and our absenteeism during father hood yadda yadda yadda. And most of these problems stem from some pretty simple things: I don't want to admit what I myself screwed up on, or that choices I make are not in my best interests. Lets be real here if you have a man, got that ring on it, and are really that stable in your relationship exactly why are you taking joy in rubbing it into the faces of females who have yet to reach where you are? I mean are you only happy if other people are miserable and if so does that mean that the person you are SUPPOSEDLY in love with really ain doing it for you? I mean I do get mad about things sometimes(mood swing are horrible when you are a Capricorn and rage comes so easily) but I get mad about things that effect me, I may feel for your situation but I gain no joy out of your misery, I mean if you committed some ultimate act of stupidity I may laugh at it, but I will feel empathy to your situation and move on. Past some swift venting my life and day is not improved by constantly harping on your deficiencies. But that's me I have somewhat a sunny disposition when it comes negatives(well I do now before whew was I a gloomy soul).
And the big versus skinny debate man, now maybe it's just the women I see but most big girls I see have rings on their finger not all but a larger portion then of their skinnier buddies. Now with all those stories of these highly educated, slim, "GOOD" women out there who are single and can't find a mate the fact that many of their BBW friends are getting not only dates but rings has to be a huge ego shot. Does that mean that BBW women are not educated nope, I know plenty of large women with degrees. Does that mean as was posited in the blog that those black men have low self esteem nope, they may just like bigger women, I mean I personally do. And while I myself ballooned up to like 300 and something, when I was a stocky 245 I loved me some thick or big girls I just did. I like thick thighs and big butts, you have to have a nice sized chest too but Mix-a-lot was my theme song. Me and BBD used to have problems because I always trusted a big butt and a smile, quit calling my baby "Poison" or else we gon fight. So what is it about not being my personal choice that makes you so special but me so wrong, oh wait I know what it is, because now there must be something wrong with you. I mean I have a friend mike back in the mid 90's we used to have a running joke, for a while chocolate brothers would be in especially if Wesley Snipes or Denzel Washington had a hot movie out, but for a while all the hot new singers coming out were light skin: Al B sure, Christoper Williams, and of course you had Prince. So a couple times a year yeah us chocolate brothers would be in, but you know radio gets air play all day. So light skin brothers would be cheesin hard because the ladies would just be loving them. So the running joke, oh I guess chocolate's in huh or hmm looks like they want yall undercooked bruhs(red bone, light skin whatever I wanted to call him).
No we were friends and as such messing with each other was part of the landscape. But I wasn't jealous of my dog because just like some ladies loved him, some also liked me I may not have always gotten the lady of my choice but hey maybe I was just more adult then others but does her opinion not matter, I mean must everyone cow tow to my little chocolate desires for life to work right? If so exactly what is wrong with me, I'm no psyche major, psychiatrist or psychologist but it doesn't take a degree to see when something is extremely wrong with a persons mindset. You are mad at someone else because you do not like the type of people who like you. Hell even more to the point maybe you don't like you, and because of this you want someone else not to like themselves. Call me Mr. Sensitive(anybody laughing and choking right now trust me, I will find you and the side you are more used to will give you exactly what you want) but when I listen to my friends of all shades of the female persuasion I notice one very important thing. Many of them have been convinced that somehow who they are isn't good enough. I mean yes if you look even half good, have a little booty on you and some cleavage the hounds will be on the hunt. But oddly enough if THAT guy, you know the one who just melts their entire essence with a single touch isn't looking their direction instead of saying oh well his loss they actually take it as a fault within themselves. And it appears to be a common theme with most, and I blame it on the rest of us society as a whole.
As a guy for the most part if you don't like me, I flip you off and keep on with my day. If you are gonna do something bring it, somebody will win somebody will lose but we will respect each others position at the end of the day. If you don't bring it back again until you feel it's settled granted that seems old school but it's better then the current alternative, one of us brings a gun because we want to "steal" someone else's respect not earn it. It takes a lot of courage to put ya hands up whether you know you will win the fight or not and give it all you have. If you don't like who I'm dating you can voice you dissent until you start getting disrespectful and then we have a problem. Again it's what I want, like and desire. I can't live for you or by your likes and dislikes we may not agree.Women on the other hand seem to be forced to have to live by some consensus. The lies they tell themselves and others to try and gain acceptance is sometimes comical, and I say lies because by some of the men these women date if they are looking for a good man they are blinder then Stevie Wonder. Now if they are looking for a cute man, tall man, built man, rich man yadda yadda hey they have 20/20 vision because they always seem to be able to find somebody who meets those characteristics. Which if you care makes you wonder are they just saying what they think people will accept? The answer is yes, you want who you want. Period, you really don't need to explain it, especially if you're grown.
And another thing women always claim that "you can't trust a woman", which if true means that all these "girl power" moments are just traps that they are falling into because in actuality their "so called" friend is just out to eliminate the competition. Which is sad, now this is not all women hell some are completely willing to be a genuine friend they hope you are happy, that you find the person of your dreams and have few major hardships(not none of course because hardships build character and strength). There are so many of the devious ones though, people who entire existence is only fueled by your misery. They bash you behind your back, use "constructive criticism" as a means to rip you to your face. There are way too many women like this, they care not for their sisters they care only for themselves and the pedestal they hope you will build for them because THEY are the alpha female, the important one the predominant one in the group. Rarely are they actually the alpha female because when push comes to shove once you get past their bluster they have nothing to offer, which is why they scream so loud, they hope that they can get a large enough crowd to make the fight to get to them so daunting that you never undertake it.
Now guys aren't innocent in the devious machinations but once we figure out what ya goal is, we know where and when to let you in. Male relationships are all about positioning are you me ball till we fall dog or just the one where if you can get something you desire out of it you've got my back but once your needs are fulfilled I'm on my own. Are you the type who is smiling in my face but is just waiting for me to turn my back so you can attempt to slit my throat? *Devilish grin* as men we learn all these types early and learn different ways to deal with those many layered relationships.
There is also this crazy "hate/hater" thing going around. Ladies and gentleman you do not have to like what I do, you really don't not liking what or how I do what I do is not hating. Spending the majority of your time talking down to me or ripping what I do is hating. I do not like the majority of the music played on the radio today. If asked about it I will voice my displeasure, but that's the only time I will mention the people who get the majority of spins on commercial radio. When I talk about music, again, I will focus on the type of music I like. That's not hate, do not be so thin skinned that you can not accept someone not thinking like you do there is nothing wrong with their being a dissenting or even differing opinion. If nothing else you should enjoy talking to that person because sometimes it allows you to see a new angle of your own ideals. People also need to understand that somebody can actually be hating on you while patting you on the back, those are the real haters. People who do not appreciate or accept what you do but because there are spoils that you are willing to share run to the front of the line and trip others to make sure they get their and possibly someone else's share. Their greatest joy is becoming you're most trusted compatriot because then they know they will be taken care of even while they help others to either restrain you or work against you.
I have this motto, silly to some but one of the truest things you can ever learn "You will either love me or hate me in between people will get you killed". I say this because if you love me, I know what you will do for me, you know what I will do for you and we understand what our relationship entails. It isn't about who gives the most but that if I have it I know you will get it and if I don't I will give what I can to make sure you can at least make it a little further until things improve. If you hate me hey I don't like you either, lets do what we gotta do if we have to work together fine lets get this over with and get back to where we need to be.
Those they ain sure folks though MAAAAAAYNE they are a trip. See when times are good they will be all up in ya face, they will be hanging around getting what they can get, glad that your resources not theirs are being spent. Now if times get hard, oh they may still hang around if it's the light hard if it's just a drizzle because you know if the sunshine pops right back out well "hey it's party time again, let's get it in". Let those clouds get really dark though, man they are gone you will have a hard time keepin ya eyes on them they are running away so fast. Which if you had falsely lead yourself to believe they had your back you are about to be sadly mistaken. I don't like sometimey people, most likely you will get in my way while I try to prepare for what is ahead, you want to talk alot you want attention but you have no clue what to do with it when you get it. You may be a great distraction if I can position you where you have no clue the position you are putting yourself in. But if I am required to clue you in on the plan I would prefer you were gone. Most likely the second you feel threatened you would give us up and hope that they leave you alone. Your only use is that as Sun Tzu's false spy, the agent who is given all the wrong information so that when captured he can lead your enemy into the trap because in all their heart they believe they are telling the truth. And sincerity is a great commodity when you are trying to fool an opponent.
I often tell my brothers that they need to play chess not checkers, or even poker. And all the best poker players will tell you:YOUR CARDS MEAN NOTHING. you cannot make a single dime with the cards in your hand. Simply put if you have a royal flush to start yes you will win but if everybody knows it they will fold and the tops you might get is the pittance that is the blind. which is rarely a lot of money, and if it is it isn't to you because if you have that high a blind you obviously have enough money that it is pocket change to you. You have to play your opponents hand, you have to make them think their hand is either better or worse then it is so that you can control how they bet, how long they hang around and how much they will bet in the next hand. It's an interesting ballet to watch even on TV, you will see the subtle fakes and flourishes to get their opponents to second guess themselves, to say hmm naaah he wouldn't hang around if he didn't have crap would he? Would he? Never be the first to show your strength, it allows your opponent to plan better then you, never let your opponent know your weaknesses than better allows him to lead his attack, never allow your opponent a free breath, it gives him a chance to think.
Too many people(doesn't matter what color you are) are so worried about what someone else might have that they ignore that which they already own. The fail to appreciate the joys that some of them have attained that others are still working for. I laugh when I hear tales of what"ONLY BLACK PEOPLE DO" you know like the lies that only we focus on sports, when I look at see just as many white kids at football camps as I do black, if white kids did not focus on football how is it that the NFL is still filled with mostly white quarterbacks, and offensive lineman? Still plenty of white linebackers out there and tight ends. I don't notice a lot of high school chess tournaments on TV. How only black people think music is the way to greatness, yet I see all those old men with guitars and garage bands with their long hair and surfer attitudes.
Are there prejudices all around and stereotypes yes. The important thing though is to use your eyes and not someone else's see the world for what it is and decide for yourself what you path is. Some people may or may not like you, they may see you as a threat not because you in any way shape or form chose to harm them but because they cannot see how they can defeat you or achieve what you have with the same amount of effort. Respect what other people like, them not liking you is not a knock against you it just means they themselves have different preferences. Hell do you even like them? Learn to love yourself enough that someone else not appreciating the beauty that is you is not such a knock you your confidence that your entire world comes crumbling down.
I say here in the Americas because when we got here those tribal bonds were stripped from us, our initial languages, knowledge of who and where we originally came from, ancestry, everything. So if I'm originally a Bantu and your a Mandingo and we have so old cultural animosity we probably don't know about it. No the fights we have here were from perception, you were in the big house so you must have gotten better treatment then me in the fields. You know how to read and write, and how to count I just know how to trick master into thinking I have more in my basket then I actually do. This should be allies against each other trick while old as time was really used to perfection here in America. Rich land owners convincing poorer settlers to fight for their rights to own slaves because they were better then the slaves, even though if the slaves were being paid like those poor white settlers wanted to be paid there would be no need for slaves because the only benefit to owning a slave was FREE LABOR. By pitting the House Negroes vs the Field Negroes you had a black person who might be family to someone outside or else at first might have been trusted giving you valuable intel on the goings on outside because they see a black face and figure hmm he probably wants to escape like me. Only for the House negro to be under the misconception of the house belonging to both of you(yes a common delusion).
You move forward you have those who decided to be share croppers versus those who decided to become tradesmen. When they get their freedom some resort to all they have known(the fields) while others want nothing to do with their former oppression and go off to learn what it is they are allowed to in this world. Then you had the bougie versus the more down to earth. Those who only believed in the benefits of mental pursuits:being doctors, lawyers, professors while others saw the need and honor of being engineers, craftsman, architects. Neither side was wrong in their beliefs but as if the other side was trying to twist a dagger in their ribs they took it personally like ONLY their way of thinking was the right way. Fast forward again my favorite stupid arguments of Light skin vs dark skin, natural hair vs straight hair, short low cuts vs high afros or dreadlocks, corn rows or braids. Oh yeah weave/wig/lacefront vs regular relaxed or pressed hair vs natural short or bald hair and of course skinny/petite vs thick/fat.
Honestly what is really the point in these fights? I mean do you really feel that threatened by another person expressing their individuality that it makes you doubt or question your own? When did it become a requirement that to feel good about "me" that everybody had to be like me, everybody had to agree and hop on the bandwagon of my sensibilities. I read a blog recently where a woman decided that she wanted to go after big women, she herself was either petite or just skinny, and the kinda part that made me laugh was she said "the guys who date big/fat women have low self esteem" of course she had admitted before hand that the guys weren't looking in her direction. Black men like fat chicks and because they liked fat chicks not her THEY had low self esteem, yeah nope not how that works. If you are the one left out, it's your self esteem that is taking damage not theirs because I am sure if they are happy as the saying goes why am I even worried about you.
A few days before that I read a blog about an entertainer who, as seems to be the norm lately, decided he wanted to take some black women to task for being materialistic, not deciding to give him any before he became rich and famous, and not submitting to all his wishes yadda yadda before he had the dough. Now he did not ONLY go off on black women, but he did start it out that way and to make matters worse he also committed the death sentence sin of REPEATING the feelings of a relative who regaled him with the joys of dating a more submissive white woman. Now I have no problem with interracial dating if its based on love, but if you love the white woman why you bashing sistas, I mean did they clown you that badly. Sheesh if the only reason you are with me is because you can't have so and so to act like you want them to then bye. That's really how I feel I love black women, I love chocolate black women, I always have now do I find some caramel women attractive yes. But if you asked me who I am going to ask out first you will see a long line of chocolate with some caramel sprinkled in. Now if you ask me if someone is pretty yes I will say yeah so and so is cute, doesn't mean I would ask them out but I can appreciate their beauty. The majority of my conversation when I talk about what I like is not going to include them UNLESS YOU ASK ME A QUESTION SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THEM, and then once I'm done answering that questions it's back to what I like. The entertainer also mention how black men needed to step up and how black folks had screwed up priorities. But the author of the blog ignored those because she had an agenda. She wanted to bash a black male, who happened to be a rapper(I mean I don't like his rhymes either but as I said if I ain into your offerings I just don't deal with them I will only voice my displeasure when asked about you specifically), as well as go off on the exact same females that he was. But her complaint was because HE went off on the females. Exqueeze me? I mean how can you complain that a dude is going off on black women and then join the chorus of going off on black women that you yourself do not deem worthy?
Of course there are blogs on the state of black women on welfare, the constant stories about us black males and our wayward natures and our absenteeism during father hood yadda yadda yadda. And most of these problems stem from some pretty simple things: I don't want to admit what I myself screwed up on, or that choices I make are not in my best interests. Lets be real here if you have a man, got that ring on it, and are really that stable in your relationship exactly why are you taking joy in rubbing it into the faces of females who have yet to reach where you are? I mean are you only happy if other people are miserable and if so does that mean that the person you are SUPPOSEDLY in love with really ain doing it for you? I mean I do get mad about things sometimes(mood swing are horrible when you are a Capricorn and rage comes so easily) but I get mad about things that effect me, I may feel for your situation but I gain no joy out of your misery, I mean if you committed some ultimate act of stupidity I may laugh at it, but I will feel empathy to your situation and move on. Past some swift venting my life and day is not improved by constantly harping on your deficiencies. But that's me I have somewhat a sunny disposition when it comes negatives(well I do now before whew was I a gloomy soul).
And the big versus skinny debate man, now maybe it's just the women I see but most big girls I see have rings on their finger not all but a larger portion then of their skinnier buddies. Now with all those stories of these highly educated, slim, "GOOD" women out there who are single and can't find a mate the fact that many of their BBW friends are getting not only dates but rings has to be a huge ego shot. Does that mean that BBW women are not educated nope, I know plenty of large women with degrees. Does that mean as was posited in the blog that those black men have low self esteem nope, they may just like bigger women, I mean I personally do. And while I myself ballooned up to like 300 and something, when I was a stocky 245 I loved me some thick or big girls I just did. I like thick thighs and big butts, you have to have a nice sized chest too but Mix-a-lot was my theme song. Me and BBD used to have problems because I always trusted a big butt and a smile, quit calling my baby "Poison" or else we gon fight. So what is it about not being my personal choice that makes you so special but me so wrong, oh wait I know what it is, because now there must be something wrong with you. I mean I have a friend mike back in the mid 90's we used to have a running joke, for a while chocolate brothers would be in especially if Wesley Snipes or Denzel Washington had a hot movie out, but for a while all the hot new singers coming out were light skin: Al B sure, Christoper Williams, and of course you had Prince. So a couple times a year yeah us chocolate brothers would be in, but you know radio gets air play all day. So light skin brothers would be cheesin hard because the ladies would just be loving them. So the running joke, oh I guess chocolate's in huh or hmm looks like they want yall undercooked bruhs(red bone, light skin whatever I wanted to call him).
No we were friends and as such messing with each other was part of the landscape. But I wasn't jealous of my dog because just like some ladies loved him, some also liked me I may not have always gotten the lady of my choice but hey maybe I was just more adult then others but does her opinion not matter, I mean must everyone cow tow to my little chocolate desires for life to work right? If so exactly what is wrong with me, I'm no psyche major, psychiatrist or psychologist but it doesn't take a degree to see when something is extremely wrong with a persons mindset. You are mad at someone else because you do not like the type of people who like you. Hell even more to the point maybe you don't like you, and because of this you want someone else not to like themselves. Call me Mr. Sensitive(anybody laughing and choking right now trust me, I will find you and the side you are more used to will give you exactly what you want) but when I listen to my friends of all shades of the female persuasion I notice one very important thing. Many of them have been convinced that somehow who they are isn't good enough. I mean yes if you look even half good, have a little booty on you and some cleavage the hounds will be on the hunt. But oddly enough if THAT guy, you know the one who just melts their entire essence with a single touch isn't looking their direction instead of saying oh well his loss they actually take it as a fault within themselves. And it appears to be a common theme with most, and I blame it on the rest of us society as a whole.
As a guy for the most part if you don't like me, I flip you off and keep on with my day. If you are gonna do something bring it, somebody will win somebody will lose but we will respect each others position at the end of the day. If you don't bring it back again until you feel it's settled granted that seems old school but it's better then the current alternative, one of us brings a gun because we want to "steal" someone else's respect not earn it. It takes a lot of courage to put ya hands up whether you know you will win the fight or not and give it all you have. If you don't like who I'm dating you can voice you dissent until you start getting disrespectful and then we have a problem. Again it's what I want, like and desire. I can't live for you or by your likes and dislikes we may not agree.Women on the other hand seem to be forced to have to live by some consensus. The lies they tell themselves and others to try and gain acceptance is sometimes comical, and I say lies because by some of the men these women date if they are looking for a good man they are blinder then Stevie Wonder. Now if they are looking for a cute man, tall man, built man, rich man yadda yadda hey they have 20/20 vision because they always seem to be able to find somebody who meets those characteristics. Which if you care makes you wonder are they just saying what they think people will accept? The answer is yes, you want who you want. Period, you really don't need to explain it, especially if you're grown.
And another thing women always claim that "you can't trust a woman", which if true means that all these "girl power" moments are just traps that they are falling into because in actuality their "so called" friend is just out to eliminate the competition. Which is sad, now this is not all women hell some are completely willing to be a genuine friend they hope you are happy, that you find the person of your dreams and have few major hardships(not none of course because hardships build character and strength). There are so many of the devious ones though, people who entire existence is only fueled by your misery. They bash you behind your back, use "constructive criticism" as a means to rip you to your face. There are way too many women like this, they care not for their sisters they care only for themselves and the pedestal they hope you will build for them because THEY are the alpha female, the important one the predominant one in the group. Rarely are they actually the alpha female because when push comes to shove once you get past their bluster they have nothing to offer, which is why they scream so loud, they hope that they can get a large enough crowd to make the fight to get to them so daunting that you never undertake it.
Now guys aren't innocent in the devious machinations but once we figure out what ya goal is, we know where and when to let you in. Male relationships are all about positioning are you me ball till we fall dog or just the one where if you can get something you desire out of it you've got my back but once your needs are fulfilled I'm on my own. Are you the type who is smiling in my face but is just waiting for me to turn my back so you can attempt to slit my throat? *Devilish grin* as men we learn all these types early and learn different ways to deal with those many layered relationships.
There is also this crazy "hate/hater" thing going around. Ladies and gentleman you do not have to like what I do, you really don't not liking what or how I do what I do is not hating. Spending the majority of your time talking down to me or ripping what I do is hating. I do not like the majority of the music played on the radio today. If asked about it I will voice my displeasure, but that's the only time I will mention the people who get the majority of spins on commercial radio. When I talk about music, again, I will focus on the type of music I like. That's not hate, do not be so thin skinned that you can not accept someone not thinking like you do there is nothing wrong with their being a dissenting or even differing opinion. If nothing else you should enjoy talking to that person because sometimes it allows you to see a new angle of your own ideals. People also need to understand that somebody can actually be hating on you while patting you on the back, those are the real haters. People who do not appreciate or accept what you do but because there are spoils that you are willing to share run to the front of the line and trip others to make sure they get their and possibly someone else's share. Their greatest joy is becoming you're most trusted compatriot because then they know they will be taken care of even while they help others to either restrain you or work against you.
I have this motto, silly to some but one of the truest things you can ever learn "You will either love me or hate me in between people will get you killed". I say this because if you love me, I know what you will do for me, you know what I will do for you and we understand what our relationship entails. It isn't about who gives the most but that if I have it I know you will get it and if I don't I will give what I can to make sure you can at least make it a little further until things improve. If you hate me hey I don't like you either, lets do what we gotta do if we have to work together fine lets get this over with and get back to where we need to be.
Those they ain sure folks though MAAAAAAYNE they are a trip. See when times are good they will be all up in ya face, they will be hanging around getting what they can get, glad that your resources not theirs are being spent. Now if times get hard, oh they may still hang around if it's the light hard if it's just a drizzle because you know if the sunshine pops right back out well "hey it's party time again, let's get it in". Let those clouds get really dark though, man they are gone you will have a hard time keepin ya eyes on them they are running away so fast. Which if you had falsely lead yourself to believe they had your back you are about to be sadly mistaken. I don't like sometimey people, most likely you will get in my way while I try to prepare for what is ahead, you want to talk alot you want attention but you have no clue what to do with it when you get it. You may be a great distraction if I can position you where you have no clue the position you are putting yourself in. But if I am required to clue you in on the plan I would prefer you were gone. Most likely the second you feel threatened you would give us up and hope that they leave you alone. Your only use is that as Sun Tzu's false spy, the agent who is given all the wrong information so that when captured he can lead your enemy into the trap because in all their heart they believe they are telling the truth. And sincerity is a great commodity when you are trying to fool an opponent.
I often tell my brothers that they need to play chess not checkers, or even poker. And all the best poker players will tell you:YOUR CARDS MEAN NOTHING. you cannot make a single dime with the cards in your hand. Simply put if you have a royal flush to start yes you will win but if everybody knows it they will fold and the tops you might get is the pittance that is the blind. which is rarely a lot of money, and if it is it isn't to you because if you have that high a blind you obviously have enough money that it is pocket change to you. You have to play your opponents hand, you have to make them think their hand is either better or worse then it is so that you can control how they bet, how long they hang around and how much they will bet in the next hand. It's an interesting ballet to watch even on TV, you will see the subtle fakes and flourishes to get their opponents to second guess themselves, to say hmm naaah he wouldn't hang around if he didn't have crap would he? Would he? Never be the first to show your strength, it allows your opponent to plan better then you, never let your opponent know your weaknesses than better allows him to lead his attack, never allow your opponent a free breath, it gives him a chance to think.
Too many people(doesn't matter what color you are) are so worried about what someone else might have that they ignore that which they already own. The fail to appreciate the joys that some of them have attained that others are still working for. I laugh when I hear tales of what"ONLY BLACK PEOPLE DO" you know like the lies that only we focus on sports, when I look at see just as many white kids at football camps as I do black, if white kids did not focus on football how is it that the NFL is still filled with mostly white quarterbacks, and offensive lineman? Still plenty of white linebackers out there and tight ends. I don't notice a lot of high school chess tournaments on TV. How only black people think music is the way to greatness, yet I see all those old men with guitars and garage bands with their long hair and surfer attitudes.
Are there prejudices all around and stereotypes yes. The important thing though is to use your eyes and not someone else's see the world for what it is and decide for yourself what you path is. Some people may or may not like you, they may see you as a threat not because you in any way shape or form chose to harm them but because they cannot see how they can defeat you or achieve what you have with the same amount of effort. Respect what other people like, them not liking you is not a knock against you it just means they themselves have different preferences. Hell do you even like them? Learn to love yourself enough that someone else not appreciating the beauty that is you is not such a knock you your confidence that your entire world comes crumbling down.
Da dit duh Daaaa duh duh DAAAA
So the a-team movie was awesome. Yes it was, Rampage jackson(who even looked a little kimbo sliceish for a while in the movie) was as close to the cartoon character Mr. T had created himself to be as he could be, and it worked. Big explosions, mad cap humor, 2 hours of complete insanity. I mean was it perfect perfect no(I mean no Mr. T and no George Peppard those two just wow you tuned in to see them just be them. How was Mr. T gonna whoop somebody next and what insane costume was George gonna meet the next potential customer in) it was always gonna be impossible for this movie to be perfect because like many other ensemble casts you had magic and lightning in a bottle when you put George Peppard, M R that period T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz together. I don't think I missed an episode, they were the original Macguyver's the former army soldiers (rangers in this movie) being chased by the government for a crime they didn't commit(actually let me look up the real intro):
Col Hannibal Smith- originally played by George Peppard. Hannibal is a white hard, strategic genius his plans are always so intricate and detailed that even when you THINK you have his A-team surrounded and defeated this cigar chomping old man is smiling and waiting for you to turn your back which is right where out come their impromptu weapons and you left wondering exactly how you just lost. Liam Neeson, as this is the "intro movie" this shows you exactly why they become soldiers of fortune(and I liked the update it went from the Bank of Hanoi mission in vietnam which would have worked for the 80's to stealing back the printing plates from Bahgdad in the current gulf war). Hannibal can somehow get this ragtag band of soldiers who except for BA you would think wouldn't be worth a damn in a fight to be the most successful unit in the Army Rangers(they were green berets in the show). 80 successful mission over 8 years, so good that the body count on the american side on their mission is always negligible(actually since it's usually just his 4 man team it's non existant, they may get a few bullet wounds but they are all walking talking and laughing). He had his cigar, he was hard nosed, he was jovial and he lulled you into a false sense of security right before he snapped the trap shut. But hey it's Liam Neeson, he was the safest pick for this movie there was no way Qui-Gon Jin was gonna mess this up. And yes big cigar in his mouth lit, with a pearly white smile "I love it when a plan comes together"
Lt. Templeton "face man" Peck-Dirk benedict played the always charismatic, slick, smooth, could sell an eskimo a fan, refrigerator, and bikini/speedo while getting the prettiest woman in the village into his bed. I don't care what attitude you came into the show with about the a-team by the time you met Face you loved the team. Now the original face REAAAAALLY tried to stay out of the fisticuffs yes he would pick a gun up but when it came to a fist fight, hey he had his pretty face to protect. Great conman you kinda didn't want him in a fist fight though. Bradley Cooper did he have the constant tropical tan: check, was he cool as the other side of the pillow: check, did panties drop around him like snow, in green bay, in the winter:check, was he pretty much useless in a fistfight:crickets. This army ranger isn't afraid to take a punch, and in this movie they seem to have a new catch phrase (they still have the original) Alpha, Mike Foxtrot. Just watch the movie the translation breaks the rules of this blog. The fact that face has turned his prison stay into basically a resort in the movie is comical.
Hector M(Howling Mad) Murdock-Dwight Schultz played the insane genius pilot if it went in the air Murdock could fly it.I mean it's murdock he was completely insane from the puppets, to his improv moments where he would be standing there acting like some historic figure and trying to find new ways to get BA to kill him. He's kinda what made this show so different from the others, every mission you had to go get him from the psych ward of the VA hospital. And the way he would go from straight looney tunes to saying something serious and actually on point, HILARIOUS. Sharlto Copley I mean yes this role could have made or broke this movie only because you really had to enjoy being insane. Murdock used to take a lot of damage in the show because he was crazy so the crazier it was the more likely Murdock was completely down to do it. In the original Vietnam drove Murdock crazy he was shell shocked thus always in the VA hospital, they really don't go into why murdock is crazy in this movie he starts that way and stays that way. But he is a great pilot the stuff he does in the air, and just like in the show the way he talks to BA, it's like dude you're a little wispy looking talking to these being mean pitbull looking guy. It looks like he's gonna rip your head off, and yet there murdock is every time messing with BA.
Bosco Allen (B.A./Bad attitude/Bad Ass) Baracus- though the TV show said bad attitude, it was TV at the time you couldn't call him what we all called him in our living rooms. Mr. T was larger then life, the roles you saw him play he was what everybody thought of when they said Big tough black man. He was the reason you hid your daughters and said "baby don't go to the black neighborhoods". While a really likeable guy, that voice, that demeanor, just that character that was MR. T was wow. I mean I don't know if you could really call it acting because BA seemed to just be Mr. T being himself on screen, he wore tons of gold chains, had that trade mark snarl(except for around kids BA's heart always seemed to melt around kids), and the amount of fools he pitied "I pity the fool" I swear you couldn't get past pity before you had a crowd of folks joining you to finish it out. Didn't matter what you were pitied for, we just pitied the fool. Okay the character BA was a master mechanic and machinist. If you gave BA a plan and some parts he could build you a howitzer out of some old pipes and a leaf blower. I won't lie this was the character I worried about. There was just something about MR. T that we all fell in love with. I mean even in his word of warcraft commercials it's that scowl, the mohawk, the big arms, that I pity the fool attitude like he's still about to throw you out of the door. Quinton "rampage" Jackson had the unenviable task of trying to be the on screen version of a real life larger then life entity. Now I applaud them for getting somebody who was actually a fighter, not an actor who was built but a guy who spends the majority of his time training to kick someone else's behind. You can't fake the attitude it takes to really want to physically dismantle someone, you can tell when somebody is trying to look like they know exactly how to take you apart and when they know and are about to take you apart. I like how they explained away an airborne rangers fear of flying, It's all Murdock's fault, now he may not say "I pity the fool" as often as the original character did but with the "pity" and "fool" tattoos on his knuckles many fools got pitied.
This movie was a wild ride, from beginning to end yes as you see in the trailer they do pancake the trade mark van but they also do everything else you expect from the A-team. Big explosions, bullets flying, over the top antics. The director has earned his cigar and his "I love it when a plan comes together" I don't know how they will top it in a sequel (and I hope they will try) but "I pity the fool, who don't go see the A-team movie and you better stay after the credits fool". This may not be my childhood A-team but these soldiers of fortune, if you can find, are definitely gonna take you on a fun filled 2 hour ride
In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.So lets break down the characters(because this one is going to be hard as hell not to give out the plot points if I actually talk too much about the movie):
Col Hannibal Smith- originally played by George Peppard. Hannibal is a white hard, strategic genius his plans are always so intricate and detailed that even when you THINK you have his A-team surrounded and defeated this cigar chomping old man is smiling and waiting for you to turn your back which is right where out come their impromptu weapons and you left wondering exactly how you just lost. Liam Neeson, as this is the "intro movie" this shows you exactly why they become soldiers of fortune(and I liked the update it went from the Bank of Hanoi mission in vietnam which would have worked for the 80's to stealing back the printing plates from Bahgdad in the current gulf war). Hannibal can somehow get this ragtag band of soldiers who except for BA you would think wouldn't be worth a damn in a fight to be the most successful unit in the Army Rangers(they were green berets in the show). 80 successful mission over 8 years, so good that the body count on the american side on their mission is always negligible(actually since it's usually just his 4 man team it's non existant, they may get a few bullet wounds but they are all walking talking and laughing). He had his cigar, he was hard nosed, he was jovial and he lulled you into a false sense of security right before he snapped the trap shut. But hey it's Liam Neeson, he was the safest pick for this movie there was no way Qui-Gon Jin was gonna mess this up. And yes big cigar in his mouth lit, with a pearly white smile "I love it when a plan comes together"
Lt. Templeton "face man" Peck-Dirk benedict played the always charismatic, slick, smooth, could sell an eskimo a fan, refrigerator, and bikini/speedo while getting the prettiest woman in the village into his bed. I don't care what attitude you came into the show with about the a-team by the time you met Face you loved the team. Now the original face REAAAAALLY tried to stay out of the fisticuffs yes he would pick a gun up but when it came to a fist fight, hey he had his pretty face to protect. Great conman you kinda didn't want him in a fist fight though. Bradley Cooper did he have the constant tropical tan: check, was he cool as the other side of the pillow: check, did panties drop around him like snow, in green bay, in the winter:check, was he pretty much useless in a fistfight:crickets. This army ranger isn't afraid to take a punch, and in this movie they seem to have a new catch phrase (they still have the original) Alpha, Mike Foxtrot. Just watch the movie the translation breaks the rules of this blog. The fact that face has turned his prison stay into basically a resort in the movie is comical.
Hector M(Howling Mad) Murdock-Dwight Schultz played the insane genius pilot if it went in the air Murdock could fly it.I mean it's murdock he was completely insane from the puppets, to his improv moments where he would be standing there acting like some historic figure and trying to find new ways to get BA to kill him. He's kinda what made this show so different from the others, every mission you had to go get him from the psych ward of the VA hospital. And the way he would go from straight looney tunes to saying something serious and actually on point, HILARIOUS. Sharlto Copley I mean yes this role could have made or broke this movie only because you really had to enjoy being insane. Murdock used to take a lot of damage in the show because he was crazy so the crazier it was the more likely Murdock was completely down to do it. In the original Vietnam drove Murdock crazy he was shell shocked thus always in the VA hospital, they really don't go into why murdock is crazy in this movie he starts that way and stays that way. But he is a great pilot the stuff he does in the air, and just like in the show the way he talks to BA, it's like dude you're a little wispy looking talking to these being mean pitbull looking guy. It looks like he's gonna rip your head off, and yet there murdock is every time messing with BA.
Bosco Allen (B.A./Bad attitude/Bad Ass) Baracus- though the TV show said bad attitude, it was TV at the time you couldn't call him what we all called him in our living rooms. Mr. T was larger then life, the roles you saw him play he was what everybody thought of when they said Big tough black man. He was the reason you hid your daughters and said "baby don't go to the black neighborhoods". While a really likeable guy, that voice, that demeanor, just that character that was MR. T was wow. I mean I don't know if you could really call it acting because BA seemed to just be Mr. T being himself on screen, he wore tons of gold chains, had that trade mark snarl(except for around kids BA's heart always seemed to melt around kids), and the amount of fools he pitied "I pity the fool" I swear you couldn't get past pity before you had a crowd of folks joining you to finish it out. Didn't matter what you were pitied for, we just pitied the fool. Okay the character BA was a master mechanic and machinist. If you gave BA a plan and some parts he could build you a howitzer out of some old pipes and a leaf blower. I won't lie this was the character I worried about. There was just something about MR. T that we all fell in love with. I mean even in his word of warcraft commercials it's that scowl, the mohawk, the big arms, that I pity the fool attitude like he's still about to throw you out of the door. Quinton "rampage" Jackson had the unenviable task of trying to be the on screen version of a real life larger then life entity. Now I applaud them for getting somebody who was actually a fighter, not an actor who was built but a guy who spends the majority of his time training to kick someone else's behind. You can't fake the attitude it takes to really want to physically dismantle someone, you can tell when somebody is trying to look like they know exactly how to take you apart and when they know and are about to take you apart. I like how they explained away an airborne rangers fear of flying, It's all Murdock's fault, now he may not say "I pity the fool" as often as the original character did but with the "pity" and "fool" tattoos on his knuckles many fools got pitied.
This movie was a wild ride, from beginning to end yes as you see in the trailer they do pancake the trade mark van but they also do everything else you expect from the A-team. Big explosions, bullets flying, over the top antics. The director has earned his cigar and his "I love it when a plan comes together" I don't know how they will top it in a sequel (and I hope they will try) but "I pity the fool, who don't go see the A-team movie and you better stay after the credits fool". This may not be my childhood A-team but these soldiers of fortune, if you can find, are definitely gonna take you on a fun filled 2 hour ride
A few blogs rattling around
This may be another multi post night, it would have been a multi post about the A-team and Karate Kid but they were both sold out when I could have done both tonight so I got A-team in tonight and Karate Kid I will watch tomorrow.
I also have a blog in my head about the animosity I see between black folks some times. I mean I would act like I didn't know where it came from but I've been alive too long to ignore it, the "cries" may change but it really is as old as our stay here in these United States. Some of us are light skin, some dark, some of us are skinny some fat, some of us have natural hair some none or straightened. The battle lines really aren't important the fact that we are still fighting is. And the worst part about it is the people fighting not only should know better but half the time are talking out of both sides of their mouth because one side fully admits they do know better. Now with who I am and how I like to go off sometimes the latter will be the harder blog to do here in no cussville, but I want to try and fight it out.
So if I am successful I hope you enjoy
I also have a blog in my head about the animosity I see between black folks some times. I mean I would act like I didn't know where it came from but I've been alive too long to ignore it, the "cries" may change but it really is as old as our stay here in these United States. Some of us are light skin, some dark, some of us are skinny some fat, some of us have natural hair some none or straightened. The battle lines really aren't important the fact that we are still fighting is. And the worst part about it is the people fighting not only should know better but half the time are talking out of both sides of their mouth because one side fully admits they do know better. Now with who I am and how I like to go off sometimes the latter will be the harder blog to do here in no cussville, but I want to try and fight it out.
So if I am successful I hope you enjoy
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Insanity
There is this thought pattern that always drives me nuts. "I can say it but you can't", or "I can do it and you can't and if you do I'm gonna complain that you are doing it, while acting like I'm not". Now I am as human as the next person, so there are times that while I know I need to be calm in a situation my emotions get the best of me, and once you cross a certain imaginary line(or sometimes well delineated line) I am in full attack mode and I dare anyone to try and stop me.
Unless you are completely blind I am pretty sure you can see I am black, black from where you may not be sure but at least darkly complected nonetheless as such while I may not like somebody white saying the n-word (grr I hate that phrase but we all know that word is unacceptable and in my grown blog we do not use unacceptable words and yes I am mentally saying that like 100 times to stay within the freakin rules, did I mention I HATE RULES), there are contexts where I have to accept in. Say in a movie where the role calls for them to say the N word. Fine it's something the character would say, it's repulsive and probably meant to be repulsive gotta let it go. Maybe they are reciting a song, and if it is a rap song, well nine times out of time yup gonna be a few N-words dropped. F-bombs, B's, H's, and other colorful metaphors to help paint a picture. I used to reflexively scream hey, but now if your feeling a song and rolling with it they said it, your repeating it word for word who am I gonna be pissed at him or you? And in all honesty anger tends to cloud the issue anyway doesn't it?
I mean yes I use the word, and sometimes more often then others because it definitely does describe some people to a T of all shades, economic levels and ages. And some of the worst folks for this type of activity are "intellectuals" MAAAYNE do they do some of the most n-wordish crap. They just put on elegants suits to do it with, can I tell you how I really feel about all the words that have been buried? How about the pleas about the national debt now that a non republican is in office, or a republican complaining about the state of education when everytime one of them gets in an executive position of power the walk into work each day with a "how can I cut educational spending today" list. Not gonna make this a conservative bashing thread, Women complaining about not being able to find good men, but telling the nice guys if only I could find a guy like you when he's single. Let him be married though draws raining down in his face(well some guys faces, I don't even get a drizzle). My favorite statement women can't be trusted, umm excuse me but are those breasts and a vagina I see on you?
It seems like the only person allowed to engage in the "Sin of choice" is of course the "detector" you know that "moral" person who is pointing out everyone else's shortcomings because they themselves are such a bastion of perfection. (We will not curse we will not curse) Man I swear I knew this blog would be hard but this is getting brutal, notice how no names are mentioned maybe political affiliation, gender or .... yeah dunno how I am gonna be obtuse going forward so just roll with a bruh. I love flawless people just something about them brings out the most visceral parts of my jersey nature. I see all their veins, all their bruises, all their weak spots and I am coming for them(yeah yeah you thought I was a nice guy, I am nice not a push over, wimp or fool). Because flawlessness rarely goes past the very top of the surface, even in polishing something if you look close enough you can still see the smallest amounts of the either polishing liquid or the fibers of the polishing cloth. Maybe you see the direction in which it was polished when you tilt the object in the light. Then again thats why the flawless tend to be flashy and distant. You know you have to have exclusive privileges to get up close and personal to flawless. And by the time you get there most likely you have already drank enough of the kool aid to call those blemishes "distinguishing marks", see how quick that gets flipped. You go from being flawless to having distinguishing marks, you know a mole on ones face(yes it's a mole) becomes a beauty mark depending on the height. I mean I captain scar tissue have a few moles(at least I think they are moles, hell I have so many scars mostly healed scars, never healed scars long story I'm digressing BADLY) they are in weird places I think(I mean is there a such a thing as a weird place for a mole?) I mean on my face some of them might be deep black heads but the one between my toes is definitely maybe a mole, and the one on my shoulder
Slight digression: What is it with blackberry's lately it's almost like every one of them is on the fritz the last couple of weeks my battery won't charge it keeps locking up even if I clear the cache it decides to ignore signals even if it had 2 or 3 bars one second then all the sudden SOS like WTF. I want sooo bad to blame it on T-mobiles jankey shake tail self but it's blackberry's across the board almost every carrier. It's like may 2010 was the millenium for blackberry's. Grrrr
Back to the topic yeah got moles. Now I would LOOOOVE to call myself flawless, if I could get rid of this acne I have had since I could get acne(yall just don't know the crap I have tried) I would love to lie and say I wouldn't know what to do with my self but I would, I would just be me without the acne. I'm only intellectually vain, and slightly gaming vain(SHUT IT UP you deserved to get merced with a shottie at close range, between the eyes, while you thought you was safe and if you caught the C4 next time sweep the room or enable sitrep), but physically vain nope, never had it all together at any one time to be physically vain.
And in essence thats what it is though, vanity. "I'm that(big your ignorant sounding word here) you can't see me but wanna be me" you just mad because. And oooooh god will everybody quit swearing somebody is hating on them. I can disagree with you without hating on you(though sometimes I might hate you because you dumb as a bag of something bricks, not cursing DA's and no that doesn't stand for Dan Akroyd, or Dark Arts, or Death Adder, District Attorney none of that you know what it means)
Unless you are completely blind I am pretty sure you can see I am black, black from where you may not be sure but at least darkly complected nonetheless as such while I may not like somebody white saying the n-word (grr I hate that phrase but we all know that word is unacceptable and in my grown blog we do not use unacceptable words and yes I am mentally saying that like 100 times to stay within the freakin rules, did I mention I HATE RULES), there are contexts where I have to accept in. Say in a movie where the role calls for them to say the N word. Fine it's something the character would say, it's repulsive and probably meant to be repulsive gotta let it go. Maybe they are reciting a song, and if it is a rap song, well nine times out of time yup gonna be a few N-words dropped. F-bombs, B's, H's, and other colorful metaphors to help paint a picture. I used to reflexively scream hey, but now if your feeling a song and rolling with it they said it, your repeating it word for word who am I gonna be pissed at him or you? And in all honesty anger tends to cloud the issue anyway doesn't it?
I mean yes I use the word, and sometimes more often then others because it definitely does describe some people to a T of all shades, economic levels and ages. And some of the worst folks for this type of activity are "intellectuals" MAAAYNE do they do some of the most n-wordish crap. They just put on elegants suits to do it with, can I tell you how I really feel about all the words that have been buried? How about the pleas about the national debt now that a non republican is in office, or a republican complaining about the state of education when everytime one of them gets in an executive position of power the walk into work each day with a "how can I cut educational spending today" list. Not gonna make this a conservative bashing thread, Women complaining about not being able to find good men, but telling the nice guys if only I could find a guy like you when he's single. Let him be married though draws raining down in his face(well some guys faces, I don't even get a drizzle). My favorite statement women can't be trusted, umm excuse me but are those breasts and a vagina I see on you?
It seems like the only person allowed to engage in the "Sin of choice" is of course the "detector" you know that "moral" person who is pointing out everyone else's shortcomings because they themselves are such a bastion of perfection. (We will not curse we will not curse) Man I swear I knew this blog would be hard but this is getting brutal, notice how no names are mentioned maybe political affiliation, gender or .... yeah dunno how I am gonna be obtuse going forward so just roll with a bruh. I love flawless people just something about them brings out the most visceral parts of my jersey nature. I see all their veins, all their bruises, all their weak spots and I am coming for them(yeah yeah you thought I was a nice guy, I am nice not a push over, wimp or fool). Because flawlessness rarely goes past the very top of the surface, even in polishing something if you look close enough you can still see the smallest amounts of the either polishing liquid or the fibers of the polishing cloth. Maybe you see the direction in which it was polished when you tilt the object in the light. Then again thats why the flawless tend to be flashy and distant. You know you have to have exclusive privileges to get up close and personal to flawless. And by the time you get there most likely you have already drank enough of the kool aid to call those blemishes "distinguishing marks", see how quick that gets flipped. You go from being flawless to having distinguishing marks, you know a mole on ones face(yes it's a mole) becomes a beauty mark depending on the height. I mean I captain scar tissue have a few moles(at least I think they are moles, hell I have so many scars mostly healed scars, never healed scars long story I'm digressing BADLY) they are in weird places I think(I mean is there a such a thing as a weird place for a mole?) I mean on my face some of them might be deep black heads but the one between my toes is definitely maybe a mole, and the one on my shoulder
Slight digression: What is it with blackberry's lately it's almost like every one of them is on the fritz the last couple of weeks my battery won't charge it keeps locking up even if I clear the cache it decides to ignore signals even if it had 2 or 3 bars one second then all the sudden SOS like WTF. I want sooo bad to blame it on T-mobiles jankey shake tail self but it's blackberry's across the board almost every carrier. It's like may 2010 was the millenium for blackberry's. Grrrr
Back to the topic yeah got moles. Now I would LOOOOVE to call myself flawless, if I could get rid of this acne I have had since I could get acne(yall just don't know the crap I have tried) I would love to lie and say I wouldn't know what to do with my self but I would, I would just be me without the acne. I'm only intellectually vain, and slightly gaming vain(SHUT IT UP you deserved to get merced with a shottie at close range, between the eyes, while you thought you was safe and if you caught the C4 next time sweep the room or enable sitrep), but physically vain nope, never had it all together at any one time to be physically vain.
And in essence thats what it is though, vanity. "I'm that(big your ignorant sounding word here) you can't see me but wanna be me" you just mad because. And oooooh god will everybody quit swearing somebody is hating on them. I can disagree with you without hating on you(though sometimes I might hate you because you dumb as a bag of something bricks, not cursing DA's and no that doesn't stand for Dan Akroyd, or Dark Arts, or Death Adder, District Attorney none of that you know what it means)
Monday, May 31, 2010
You cannot get constructive thought in a vaccuum
If you have seen me on any other site, internet venue whatever you will notice that I also talk about political or social issues there. But here on my page where I have free reign to do with as I will I don't think I have done more then one, why the reasoning is simple:if I am going to have a discussion on politics, society, social ills or upheavals, and or policy I actually want to have a discussion. I want a few people involved so that we can bounce ideas off of each other.
Maybe we will agree maybe we won't doesn't matter politics requires a free flow of ideas and a decent amount of hashing to come to a consensus. Since as of yet this blog doesn't really have a lot of interaction I ain doing that here. I mean yes I could unobstructed write out my umpteen point plan to how to reclaim something for the edification of this and that, but again I kinda like bouncing ideas off other people. I like seeing where compromises can be made, other angles tried, even reproportioning in case what I see in my little part of the world isn't what someone else sees in theirs.
I mean I have no problem with controversy, or taboo subjects, or even wild conspiracy theories but all of those require folks to talk with about them. So since I haven't had much back and forth here yet, well what can I say no back and forth no topics that require back and forth(even though at the moment I ain really too topic oriented I just say whats on my mind and move on to the next subject). Oh and woohoo the next blog I do on this fair site will be my 50th blog, I mean half a hundred ain alot unless we're talking birthdays but then again with a blog especially one that has been around as long as this one has without a lot of entries simply put the closer you start getting to 100 the more likely you will get to 100. Hell sometimes that drive for the 100th posts fuels the brain by itself. I do need to do a blog about the current state of my portfolio it probably isn't check in time but hell why not go ahead and do a check in blog. There have been a few upheavals lately in the stock market and as I mention on twitter (twitter.com/primaldata) I do need to reweight my porfolio, sirius has done pretty good and has kinda thrown the portfolio all in a tizzy. Haven't decided WHO I will buy yet to add more diversity, time to start doing research(yippee I actually like researching companies. The more you delve into them the more confident you can be in your investment).
If you're reading hope you enjoy if you are clicking through every once in a while, why hello and if you just stumbled over her by mistake oh well just turn the lights out when ya leave
Maybe we will agree maybe we won't doesn't matter politics requires a free flow of ideas and a decent amount of hashing to come to a consensus. Since as of yet this blog doesn't really have a lot of interaction I ain doing that here. I mean yes I could unobstructed write out my umpteen point plan to how to reclaim something for the edification of this and that, but again I kinda like bouncing ideas off other people. I like seeing where compromises can be made, other angles tried, even reproportioning in case what I see in my little part of the world isn't what someone else sees in theirs.
I mean I have no problem with controversy, or taboo subjects, or even wild conspiracy theories but all of those require folks to talk with about them. So since I haven't had much back and forth here yet, well what can I say no back and forth no topics that require back and forth(even though at the moment I ain really too topic oriented I just say whats on my mind and move on to the next subject). Oh and woohoo the next blog I do on this fair site will be my 50th blog, I mean half a hundred ain alot unless we're talking birthdays but then again with a blog especially one that has been around as long as this one has without a lot of entries simply put the closer you start getting to 100 the more likely you will get to 100. Hell sometimes that drive for the 100th posts fuels the brain by itself. I do need to do a blog about the current state of my portfolio it probably isn't check in time but hell why not go ahead and do a check in blog. There have been a few upheavals lately in the stock market and as I mention on twitter (twitter.com/primaldata) I do need to reweight my porfolio, sirius has done pretty good and has kinda thrown the portfolio all in a tizzy. Haven't decided WHO I will buy yet to add more diversity, time to start doing research(yippee I actually like researching companies. The more you delve into them the more confident you can be in your investment).
If you're reading hope you enjoy if you are clicking through every once in a while, why hello and if you just stumbled over her by mistake oh well just turn the lights out when ya leave
Sunday, May 30, 2010
If I could turn back the hands of time
Prince of Persia, the sands of time.
Now yes this is a movie based on a video game, and if we look at past game to movie send offs there really isn't much hope for this one now is there. Weeeeell not so fast. Now I will be honest, I have not played a single prince of persia game. I just didn't have the time I knew for a fact that those were long platforming games that for the most part unlike RPG's were gonna be long hauls between check or save points. But the storyline I completely understood. This was the story they started on the cd/dvd generation of platforms. I remember seeing the game trailers the visuals were stunning, the game play was less straight forward and added the puzzle solving into the game play without making it the central focus of the level, sometimes it was just how you got from point a to point b.
Now I know some of you will say well it's just another in a long line of movies that uses free running, and well to be honest no it isn't this is actually the beginner of all that free running. From the first Prince of persia game on the mac this was about free running. You had to pay attention to where you were going and consider how you wanted to get there or else ya butt was toast. Again never played them but I did like an aspect they added to the gaming genre, not just causality but pathfinding.
Okay enough about the game on to the movie. The movie is about Dastan, a young orphan boy from the streets who because of an act of supreme nobility captured part of the heart of the king so he was adopted and grew up in the royal palace. As the younger brother of the two blood princes he often(as is often the case when heroes in most movies) rushes in head first to prove to both himself and others that he is worthy of the blessing he was given. Dastan is a formidable fighter but is less of a bruiser and more athletic think more ninja or jedi like that knight or barbarian. In a battle to take the Holy city of Alamet Dastan comes into possession of an interesting artifact with the ability to turn back time, no more then a minute(which if I am not mistake was the maximum amount of time the game would allow you to run back). But in this minute only the holder of the dagger would know what happened. Now while at first you might think this is kind of useless, in a fight this could be the difference between life and death. You would know exactly what your enemy had in store for you, where a potential trap might be, where an ambush was coming from. And the best part, because only you knew what was about to happen you could pretend to be caught unawares and while exposing a true enemy for what he is and yet would take little to no damage for it.
And yes Dastan has many instances of using it for just those purposes. You see many in the trailer but there are more. And while I am thinking of pointing out a couple of cultural miscues, then again they really don't take away from the movie. It gives you a look into a bit of the culture of what is now the middle east that we have heard similar tales too but really haven't been told(at least in a real life movie) with as many stunning visuals. I think if Disney ever decides to also do Aladdin in a real life movie Prince of Persia will be their blue print because Dastan shares many similarities to Aladdin both street urchins, flexible, acrobatic, quick witted. The real main difference is Dastan seems to be tongue tied around women and Aladdin he ain got that problem. I did not check the box office for this movie yet(I might) and as I am not a huge fan of the game my expectations were not as.... wait let me stop and put out a brief disclaimer
And I really love the ending, damn um hmmm well see this is tricky I can't talk about what I loved about the movie because if anybody reading this(yeah yeah what are the odds but just in case somebody googles Prince of Persia reviews and my blog comes up) before they go see it I don't want to spoil it. The entire cast did a great job, and whats up with doc ock being in like almost every movie coming down the pike this year. I'm loving it I think him and Zoe must be having a contest to see how many movies they can get out this year.
Now yes this is a movie based on a video game, and if we look at past game to movie send offs there really isn't much hope for this one now is there. Weeeeell not so fast. Now I will be honest, I have not played a single prince of persia game. I just didn't have the time I knew for a fact that those were long platforming games that for the most part unlike RPG's were gonna be long hauls between check or save points. But the storyline I completely understood. This was the story they started on the cd/dvd generation of platforms. I remember seeing the game trailers the visuals were stunning, the game play was less straight forward and added the puzzle solving into the game play without making it the central focus of the level, sometimes it was just how you got from point a to point b.
Now I know some of you will say well it's just another in a long line of movies that uses free running, and well to be honest no it isn't this is actually the beginner of all that free running. From the first Prince of persia game on the mac this was about free running. You had to pay attention to where you were going and consider how you wanted to get there or else ya butt was toast. Again never played them but I did like an aspect they added to the gaming genre, not just causality but pathfinding.
Okay enough about the game on to the movie. The movie is about Dastan, a young orphan boy from the streets who because of an act of supreme nobility captured part of the heart of the king so he was adopted and grew up in the royal palace. As the younger brother of the two blood princes he often(as is often the case when heroes in most movies) rushes in head first to prove to both himself and others that he is worthy of the blessing he was given. Dastan is a formidable fighter but is less of a bruiser and more athletic think more ninja or jedi like that knight or barbarian. In a battle to take the Holy city of Alamet Dastan comes into possession of an interesting artifact with the ability to turn back time, no more then a minute(which if I am not mistake was the maximum amount of time the game would allow you to run back). But in this minute only the holder of the dagger would know what happened. Now while at first you might think this is kind of useless, in a fight this could be the difference between life and death. You would know exactly what your enemy had in store for you, where a potential trap might be, where an ambush was coming from. And the best part, because only you knew what was about to happen you could pretend to be caught unawares and while exposing a true enemy for what he is and yet would take little to no damage for it.
And yes Dastan has many instances of using it for just those purposes. You see many in the trailer but there are more. And while I am thinking of pointing out a couple of cultural miscues, then again they really don't take away from the movie. It gives you a look into a bit of the culture of what is now the middle east that we have heard similar tales too but really haven't been told(at least in a real life movie) with as many stunning visuals. I think if Disney ever decides to also do Aladdin in a real life movie Prince of Persia will be their blue print because Dastan shares many similarities to Aladdin both street urchins, flexible, acrobatic, quick witted. The real main difference is Dastan seems to be tongue tied around women and Aladdin he ain got that problem. I did not check the box office for this movie yet(I might) and as I am not a huge fan of the game my expectations were not as.... wait let me stop and put out a brief disclaimer
Around last year sometime there was a trailer out for a movie that ended up being prince of persia that was unpolished, gritty and basically looked like it was a fan film or a soon to be straight to video flick. When I saw that trailer if you asked me then how was PoP gonna do I would have told you it was gonna be wack and another blow against good video game movies, not unlike some of the early comic book fare was to that genre.Okay now that I have said that I did not have high expectations for the movie last year, again not a big fan of the game and while I do love cultural stories that have more to do with just europeans and western mythology I was worried that this game to movie translation would not live up to its calling. Ladies and gentleman I stand up to applaud the cast and director it proving me wrong and sticking my big foot in my fat mouth. This movie rocked(notice how I ain really brought up much along the lines of plot points there is a reason for that, if I did it would really ruin the movie. This is one of those stories where you really have to pay attention to every single detail or else you will get turned around and lost), while I figured out who the main bad guy was early in the film(mainly because well um 9 out of 10 times in his last like umpteen movies if ben kingsley is in it he is the damn bad guy) I was not sure who if any his accomplices were amongst the other main characters. I mean usually in these movies the main bad guy never acts alone, he always has some powerful accomplices. And in this movie his accomplices or lack of certain accomplices was a big surprise(wait did I just not tell you a damn thing, watch the friggin movie what I just say, did I not just say if I give out plot points it ruins the film yeesh).
And I really love the ending, damn um hmmm well see this is tricky I can't talk about what I loved about the movie because if anybody reading this(yeah yeah what are the odds but just in case somebody googles Prince of Persia reviews and my blog comes up) before they go see it I don't want to spoil it. The entire cast did a great job, and whats up with doc ock being in like almost every movie coming down the pike this year. I'm loving it I think him and Zoe must be having a contest to see how many movies they can get out this year.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Peeking in
I'm just in here to update this blog. Not really saying much but if I start forcing myself to show up I will also be more inclined to write, the more inclined I am to write the more often this blog is updated, the more often this blog is updated the clearer my head becomes and the more alcohol will probably be consumed. Not because I have dependence issues but because I like to drink. Simple as that I don't have to drink I have had a drink in probably about a week, so while I will admit to being a drunk it has never been to the point that without alcohol my life is diminished.
I often welcome people to the randomosity train whether it is here, twitter, where ever you you see my favorite nom de plume (PRIMALDATA if you haven't figured it out by now) because I am random, maybe it comes from being a water sign who knows(and I'm sorry but a goat with a fish tail if that ain a water sign I don't know what is) but I can and will talk about anything, not to the lengths on here as in other place because while I may have a vast vocabulary I tend to express myself with expletives more then with long flowery words that just take up characters. If you're a jerk you're a jerk, why beat around the bush. My grammar is lousy always has been, I'm human I will fully admit it. But I will never use grammar to defeat someone else's argument I will use their lack of argument to defeat their argument. The art of debate has been lost on most people, they have been told something told to repeat it passionately and if you point out the errors in it their brain freezes. They try to tell you the exact same thing but with different words and then wonder why you laugh at them.
And yes I laugh at parrots, they are for entertainment are they not. Anybody who lies and say you get an animal that mimics what you say is for companionship is a sad, sad soul. You want a companion go out and meet somebody or get a dog, or if you must a cat. You want to be adventurous go get a Burmese Python and let it sleep outside of an enclosure. This was just a peek in blog so if you are expecting structure or some kind of outline, seriously what part of poppin my head in and forcing myself to type in a few paragraphs do you not understand.
Oh by the way Gary Coleman died yesterday, a guy who lead a life that started out great and turned into a cautionary tale about people living vicariously through their children. And today we lost Dennis Hopper what can I say about that guy he was awesome he saw life and certain way and tried his hardest to bring his vision and everybody else's to your eyes
Out for now I will be back later, I saw prince of persia last night so my version of a review is upcoming
I often welcome people to the randomosity train whether it is here, twitter, where ever you you see my favorite nom de plume (PRIMALDATA if you haven't figured it out by now) because I am random, maybe it comes from being a water sign who knows(and I'm sorry but a goat with a fish tail if that ain a water sign I don't know what is) but I can and will talk about anything, not to the lengths on here as in other place because while I may have a vast vocabulary I tend to express myself with expletives more then with long flowery words that just take up characters. If you're a jerk you're a jerk, why beat around the bush. My grammar is lousy always has been, I'm human I will fully admit it. But I will never use grammar to defeat someone else's argument I will use their lack of argument to defeat their argument. The art of debate has been lost on most people, they have been told something told to repeat it passionately and if you point out the errors in it their brain freezes. They try to tell you the exact same thing but with different words and then wonder why you laugh at them.
And yes I laugh at parrots, they are for entertainment are they not. Anybody who lies and say you get an animal that mimics what you say is for companionship is a sad, sad soul. You want a companion go out and meet somebody or get a dog, or if you must a cat. You want to be adventurous go get a Burmese Python and let it sleep outside of an enclosure. This was just a peek in blog so if you are expecting structure or some kind of outline, seriously what part of poppin my head in and forcing myself to type in a few paragraphs do you not understand.
Oh by the way Gary Coleman died yesterday, a guy who lead a life that started out great and turned into a cautionary tale about people living vicariously through their children. And today we lost Dennis Hopper what can I say about that guy he was awesome he saw life and certain way and tried his hardest to bring his vision and everybody else's to your eyes
Out for now I will be back later, I saw prince of persia last night so my version of a review is upcoming
Sunday, May 23, 2010
You have a god in you
The new clash of the titans
What can I say I loved this movie(wish I had gone to see it sooner), if you are going to try and combine reality with mysticism this is the way to do it. I mean if you are between 27-40 I am sure you remember the first clash of the titans it was good, it was damn good for the technology we had at the time. Yet at the same time it was kind of lame, it had this air about it of yes the Hero is in trouble but meh not really he doesn't really need any training this is handed too him easily and with no real cause for his concern.
Not this new clash of the titans, oh no Perseus you are about to take some licks, not one or two oh no you are gonna hate me so much that in the end it's only because you see the method to my madness that you come to love me. Zeus is not the doting father he appeared to be in the first movie, oh nooo zeus is a harsh God he demands obedience, respect and loyalty. When the humans begin to rebel against the gods(yes in this movie it isn't just a loud mouthed queen or two it's all of humanity) Zeus isn't care worn oh no he is pissed and lets loose.
The gods involved in the old one: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Thetis(played by maggie smith who went on to play the head nun in Sister act and Mcgonagall in harry potter), Athena, Hephaestus and Aphrodite. For the most part the gods were on the side of the humans in the first movie, yes Thetis was the main desenter, in clash one Calibos was the son of thetis. Now he was in trouble because he had the grand idea in his head to hunt down Zeus' Pegasi now I don't know about you but shooting the prize horses of the king of the gods ain really the smartest thing to do in all of greece. So zeus punished him by making him disfigured thus putting the kaibosh on his marriage plans with princess adromeda. So thetis in a rage at her sons misfortune decided to take Zeus' pampered child and put him out in the world. Adventures ensure, gifts are given, Kraken defeated. And for the 80's yes this fairy tale story did meat the criteria of movie goers.
This ain the 80's baby so in the new one, while all the gods are seen, only Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and Hades speak, and in essense the story is only really between Zeus and Hades. Now as for Young Perseus he is not enthralled with his father Zeus, first off Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants but he wasn't just falling for a pretty passing maid no he purposefully chose Acrisius' queen as punishment for his revolt against the gods. And as for his punishment lets just say Thetis does not play a role this movie. So Perseus is found in a fishermans net, raised by said fisherman and family and comes into contact with the gods completely by accident. See this Perseus has no love for the gods, he did not live an easy and pampered life but he was happy with his life. This movie shows that while Perseus may be part god his human side is the side he values more, he just wants to prove himself and get a shot at Hades, his journey is not to save his love Andromeda no, the Kraken is made from Hades flash and if he destroys the Kraken he weakens Hades and can get his vengeance on Hades for the blow he struck him. And the non Demi god humans in this movie aren't just cannon fodder no they train him, they have valuable skills, they prove to be fine companions or annoying obstacles. Perseus tries to ignore the gifts he is given by the gods because he wants to prove what a man can do, he wants to show the type of man his father raised because that is what he valued.
In the trailer for the movie there is a scene between Zeus and Perseus where in his rage at the problems caused by the gods Perseus claims Zeus knows little about them and yet by the end you have to wonder if it wasn't so much that Zeus and the gods knew little or nothing about the humans or if they just realized the humans may have needed a little reminder that yes they were there and that there were more things in heaven and earth then what you might see in your average day to day life. I like this more menial quest where Perseus isn't just perfect all the time, he makes mistakes, he earns his scars, he grows to appreciate just how big the world really is.
Another thing this movie really benefited from the upgrade in special effects Medusa was more looming and menacing, the Scorpinoks were more believable, the Kraken more terrifying and Charon's barge more befitting his eerie chore. Now I do have a small gripe Hades was awful comfy in the Sea, every time you turned around Hades had something to do in or around the water, that of course is Poseidon's domain and I think they should have respected those boundaries a little more. Other than that I think the movie was great. As usual I try not to give any spoilers, As for Perseus and Percy Jackson there actually were a lot of probably unintentional similarities between the two characters. Neither wants to be special, neither asked for the pressures or pain associated with being the child of a god. They value their friends and the people they meet more then they do the mantle DEMIGOD, and while they may grow to understand the problems the gods may see they aren't exactly enthralled with how the gods usually try to go about solving them.
As is said the gods usually don't directly interact in the human world unless there is just an egregious violation, that is why they have heroes
What can I say I loved this movie(wish I had gone to see it sooner), if you are going to try and combine reality with mysticism this is the way to do it. I mean if you are between 27-40 I am sure you remember the first clash of the titans it was good, it was damn good for the technology we had at the time. Yet at the same time it was kind of lame, it had this air about it of yes the Hero is in trouble but meh not really he doesn't really need any training this is handed too him easily and with no real cause for his concern.
Not this new clash of the titans, oh no Perseus you are about to take some licks, not one or two oh no you are gonna hate me so much that in the end it's only because you see the method to my madness that you come to love me. Zeus is not the doting father he appeared to be in the first movie, oh nooo zeus is a harsh God he demands obedience, respect and loyalty. When the humans begin to rebel against the gods(yes in this movie it isn't just a loud mouthed queen or two it's all of humanity) Zeus isn't care worn oh no he is pissed and lets loose.
The gods involved in the old one: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Thetis(played by maggie smith who went on to play the head nun in Sister act and Mcgonagall in harry potter), Athena, Hephaestus and Aphrodite. For the most part the gods were on the side of the humans in the first movie, yes Thetis was the main desenter, in clash one Calibos was the son of thetis. Now he was in trouble because he had the grand idea in his head to hunt down Zeus' Pegasi now I don't know about you but shooting the prize horses of the king of the gods ain really the smartest thing to do in all of greece. So zeus punished him by making him disfigured thus putting the kaibosh on his marriage plans with princess adromeda. So thetis in a rage at her sons misfortune decided to take Zeus' pampered child and put him out in the world. Adventures ensure, gifts are given, Kraken defeated. And for the 80's yes this fairy tale story did meat the criteria of movie goers.
This ain the 80's baby so in the new one, while all the gods are seen, only Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and Hades speak, and in essense the story is only really between Zeus and Hades. Now as for Young Perseus he is not enthralled with his father Zeus, first off Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants but he wasn't just falling for a pretty passing maid no he purposefully chose Acrisius' queen as punishment for his revolt against the gods. And as for his punishment lets just say Thetis does not play a role this movie. So Perseus is found in a fishermans net, raised by said fisherman and family and comes into contact with the gods completely by accident. See this Perseus has no love for the gods, he did not live an easy and pampered life but he was happy with his life. This movie shows that while Perseus may be part god his human side is the side he values more, he just wants to prove himself and get a shot at Hades, his journey is not to save his love Andromeda no, the Kraken is made from Hades flash and if he destroys the Kraken he weakens Hades and can get his vengeance on Hades for the blow he struck him. And the non Demi god humans in this movie aren't just cannon fodder no they train him, they have valuable skills, they prove to be fine companions or annoying obstacles. Perseus tries to ignore the gifts he is given by the gods because he wants to prove what a man can do, he wants to show the type of man his father raised because that is what he valued.
In the trailer for the movie there is a scene between Zeus and Perseus where in his rage at the problems caused by the gods Perseus claims Zeus knows little about them and yet by the end you have to wonder if it wasn't so much that Zeus and the gods knew little or nothing about the humans or if they just realized the humans may have needed a little reminder that yes they were there and that there were more things in heaven and earth then what you might see in your average day to day life. I like this more menial quest where Perseus isn't just perfect all the time, he makes mistakes, he earns his scars, he grows to appreciate just how big the world really is.
Another thing this movie really benefited from the upgrade in special effects Medusa was more looming and menacing, the Scorpinoks were more believable, the Kraken more terrifying and Charon's barge more befitting his eerie chore. Now I do have a small gripe Hades was awful comfy in the Sea, every time you turned around Hades had something to do in or around the water, that of course is Poseidon's domain and I think they should have respected those boundaries a little more. Other than that I think the movie was great. As usual I try not to give any spoilers, As for Perseus and Percy Jackson there actually were a lot of probably unintentional similarities between the two characters. Neither wants to be special, neither asked for the pressures or pain associated with being the child of a god. They value their friends and the people they meet more then they do the mantle DEMIGOD, and while they may grow to understand the problems the gods may see they aren't exactly enthralled with how the gods usually try to go about solving them.
As is said the gods usually don't directly interact in the human world unless there is just an egregious violation, that is why they have heroes
We ain the A-team
"the Loser's"
When I went to go see this movie I will admit, I thought it might be an A-team rip off. I mean You have a guy who basically walks around with a little charm, is constantly changing outfits seems to be Mr. Charisma(like face), You have the Tall Brooding Badass(like BA), and you have the Cigar chomping brain(like Hannibal). But don't let the smooth taste of the trailer fool ya, yes there are big explosions, yes the actors appear to be the best team there is for a job you just can't do. But the loser's aren't the A-team. The loser's just want to clear their names and get back to their normal lives(those that have them).
I went to go see this movie because I like 3 of the actors who play some of the main characters in the movie Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, and Chris Evans. If I have the time and the cash I like to go support folks who's work I enjoy. The first time I saw Zoe Saldana of course was in Star Trek(the new one) she had some big boots to fill but she did it well. Idris Elba I first saw in Daddy's Little girls, which I only watched because I love Gabrielle union's fine chocolate self. But I like the way he played the part of a father working hard to try and take care of his children in a world that basically worked against him because of a mistake made when he was younger. It highlighted not only the struggles of a single black father(a demographic that while I do not belong too gets ignored a lot in the stereotypical world where black men don't care for their kids), but how life has jaded even black people against each other. If you haven't seen Daddy's little girls go check it out. Chris Evans, well I mean who didn't like the Human Torch except for hack movie critics who obviously never read a Fantastic Four comic. There are guys born to play certain roles Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool highly skilled deadly assasin(that had to be like the easiest casting job ever too, hmm is ryan available hey ryan make fun of Hugh jackman real quick cool you're hired), and Chris for Johnny Storm he really does remind you of the bratty kid brother, the one always running around playing pranks, never really seems to want to be serious and is the master of the party.
Okay enough about my reasons for going to see the movie on to the movie. Now are their similarities to the A-team yes. They are an elite Army unit, the go on a mission the mission begins to go off without a hitch until an invisible hand bends them over and takes them forcibly. No kisses, no hugs, not even a good job little lady just an oh well now on to the next job. So after their not so gently screwing they are stuck in Bolivia as they try to figure out a way to get stateside. In pops Zoe's mysterious character who appears to also have it in for the invisible hand who's neck they would all like to break. She gets them in to america(in an ironic fashion), starts setting them up with equipment as they go after Max this super spook who is the cause for their current situation. Now there is a mad dash to get a face to face and summarily gun in the face of max. There are betrayals(something you will rarely see amongst the A-team members, I mean techinically tranqing BA before you stick him on a plane or helicopter is a betrayal but this ain about them), ultimatums, gun fights, knife fights, some sweet close combat stuff(think Mr. and Mrs. Smith), and lots and lots of explosions:Clay, Pooch, Jensen, Roque and Cougar are gonna take you on a ride to get Max it ain gonna be pretty, but then what do you expect? You are riding with The Losers after all
When I went to go see this movie I will admit, I thought it might be an A-team rip off. I mean You have a guy who basically walks around with a little charm, is constantly changing outfits seems to be Mr. Charisma(like face), You have the Tall Brooding Badass(like BA), and you have the Cigar chomping brain(like Hannibal). But don't let the smooth taste of the trailer fool ya, yes there are big explosions, yes the actors appear to be the best team there is for a job you just can't do. But the loser's aren't the A-team. The loser's just want to clear their names and get back to their normal lives(those that have them).
I went to go see this movie because I like 3 of the actors who play some of the main characters in the movie Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, and Chris Evans. If I have the time and the cash I like to go support folks who's work I enjoy. The first time I saw Zoe Saldana of course was in Star Trek(the new one) she had some big boots to fill but she did it well. Idris Elba I first saw in Daddy's Little girls, which I only watched because I love Gabrielle union's fine chocolate self. But I like the way he played the part of a father working hard to try and take care of his children in a world that basically worked against him because of a mistake made when he was younger. It highlighted not only the struggles of a single black father(a demographic that while I do not belong too gets ignored a lot in the stereotypical world where black men don't care for their kids), but how life has jaded even black people against each other. If you haven't seen Daddy's little girls go check it out. Chris Evans, well I mean who didn't like the Human Torch except for hack movie critics who obviously never read a Fantastic Four comic. There are guys born to play certain roles Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool highly skilled deadly assasin(that had to be like the easiest casting job ever too, hmm is ryan available hey ryan make fun of Hugh jackman real quick cool you're hired), and Chris for Johnny Storm he really does remind you of the bratty kid brother, the one always running around playing pranks, never really seems to want to be serious and is the master of the party.
Okay enough about my reasons for going to see the movie on to the movie. Now are their similarities to the A-team yes. They are an elite Army unit, the go on a mission the mission begins to go off without a hitch until an invisible hand bends them over and takes them forcibly. No kisses, no hugs, not even a good job little lady just an oh well now on to the next job. So after their not so gently screwing they are stuck in Bolivia as they try to figure out a way to get stateside. In pops Zoe's mysterious character who appears to also have it in for the invisible hand who's neck they would all like to break. She gets them in to america(in an ironic fashion), starts setting them up with equipment as they go after Max this super spook who is the cause for their current situation. Now there is a mad dash to get a face to face and summarily gun in the face of max. There are betrayals(something you will rarely see amongst the A-team members, I mean techinically tranqing BA before you stick him on a plane or helicopter is a betrayal but this ain about them), ultimatums, gun fights, knife fights, some sweet close combat stuff(think Mr. and Mrs. Smith), and lots and lots of explosions:Clay, Pooch, Jensen, Roque and Cougar are gonna take you on a ride to get Max it ain gonna be pretty, but then what do you expect? You are riding with The Losers after all
Through the haze and the fog
I have been lax in my blogging mainly because a bruh has been tired as hell from working the last couple of days I have had a chance to recoup so let me get off my butt and do the blogs I was supposed to do last week, blog number 1 is of course on the movie "the losers", blog number 2 is on "clash of the titans", now I have seen both of the Perseus offerings and I may compare them in the clash blogs, may no guarantees here.
If you're reading welcome aboard I hope you have enjoyed the chaos that is both my way of thinking and my blogging pattern and hang on even more fun ahead
If you're reading welcome aboard I hope you have enjoyed the chaos that is both my way of thinking and my blogging pattern and hang on even more fun ahead
Monday, May 10, 2010
The good, The bad and the Iron Men
Okay I was supposed to do this review two days ago(granted I have no deadline who reads this blog, me and well me) but here it goes.
Yes that is a play on an eastwood movie title, and yes I am gonna go through and do my usual what I liked what I didn't like and what was awesome. A few things, this will be the hardest do not give out any spoiler blogs for me ever simply because this movie rocked, rocked like an early 80's metal band, and then went out and tore up the hotel room. Was it perfect no, a few things could have been either further delved into or left out completely and had absolutely no impact on the movie whatsoever.
The glimpses into Tony's dad Howard stark(while some might mistake this as an attempt to link tony to Howard Hughes Tony is Howard Hughes his dad just got the first name) were interesting and yet, I mean its was jumbled, kinda rambly almost like it was thrown in at the last minute. Now yes it seems that Jon was admitting that tony may have hereditarily gotten his alcoholism. And that like many kids we don't know our parents all day like they don't know us. But past the wow this is just what I needed, this is the case breaker(My cousin vinny reference) moment it could have been done better maybe there will be more on the DVD deleted scenes. Continuity wise they get a gig for the Terence Howard to Don Cheadle change, I know you can't control who the studio decides to hire and fire I know that but thats still a gig. Justin Hammer while I love the actor playing him and he played the part well TECHNICALLY Hammer is older then Tony he is between Tony's age and his dad's age. In Essence Justin Hammer was the up and comer in the game while Tony was a kid and Howard was building Stark International into the power house that it was going to become. Hammer always looked at Tony as an upstart not a rival, as an inexperienced brat interfering with his plans of corporate domination.
The age is the only thing I will complain about Hammer would have hired Vanko, would have been naive enough to let Whiplash paint him into a corner, as well as tried to sweet talk his way out of any problems that arose. So too young but otherwise spot on.
For those wondering what this movie's connection to the "iron man timeline is" this is technically linking us to Armor Wars. There was a time when Tony during the height of his alcoholism started running into villians powered by tech made by AIM, Hydra and one other organization that was basically based on Stark Tech, and by stark tech I mean Tony's Iron man Armor. Upon defeating a villian(it was either whiplash or titanium man I forget which and you know what google it, well maybe I will later and edit this post) Tony studying his armor was struck with grief because he realized all the pain caused by that villain was his fault(yes for like a year Tony stark had Peter Parker syndrome "it's all my fault god I have to fix it"). So Tony creates a virus or a device(I forget which it's been retold a few times since and both have been used) that basically completely disables anything based on his tech. Which you know would be okay if Tony hadn't of gone overboard. Any and EVERYTHING based on his tech his was taking out, so he took out the government guards at the vault, he took out super villians, he took out Heroes INCLUDING his good buddy War Machine AKA James Rhodes yes Roady is wearing stark tech(given to him by tony stark) and in his depressed/remorseful state not even his good friend is above his penance.
As for War Machine, they slightly jumped the gun in the telling of how James Rhodes becomes War machine. Because actually James Rhodes was Iron Man before he was War Machine, wait what James Rhodes was Iron Man. Yes a few times when tony was either sick, or unable to put the armor on himself James Rhodes his best friend and confidant would don the armor to either save Tony's butt, deflect suspicion away from Anthony Stark himself as being Iron man, or just come save the day when Tony was not available. There was an interesting occurrence where James Rhodes ran into the Mandarin while in the Iron Man armor and the Mandarin mentioned he always thought his Nemesis Tony Stark was the man under the helmet.
As for War machine I loved everything about how War Machine looked save the missing Missile launcher. Yes all that high tech that tony stark invents and War Machine really does look like a walking flying tank. With that huge Gattling gun on his shoulder, bullets flying from his wrists, yes the whole nine. If the two of them show up yes you know Iron man is going to kick you butt but war machine is the one who makes you wanna change your shorts. And yes armor wars(save Rhodes was fully war machine and tony took a few gattling and chain shots to the tuckus before he disabled his friends armor) did have tony fight against his friend in full armor. So the Two Tony vs Jim Rhodes armor fights were awesome.
This movie is full of hints to future Marvel projects, that I refuse to reveal here. The other Marvel Holy Grail metal is inferred but never mentioned by name, I guess that project has yet to be green lit. Pay close attention to the object tony uses to prop up his particle accelerator. If you see it and wonder whats so special look at the center again and the overall shape.
There are 3 avengers seen in Iron Man 2 and 3 hinted at, to see the third one you have to stay after the credits. For those wondering who the three are: War Machine, Iron man and Black Widow the red head from the trailer in the black suit. Granted that widow doesn't show as much cleavage as her comic book counter part, and her "accessories"/utility belt isn't silver but she is just as good a fighter. Technically widow is a russian Weapon Plus/nick fury super spy attempt. Depends on which timeline or telling you are talking about. She has been said to be highly trained in some and physically enhanced in others whether it be bionically, cybernetically, or "super serum". There are to my flawed memory 4 serums that have created super beings in marvel usually 1 shots save of course the green goblin formula because harry, Norman and one of the later goblin/hobgoblins have all gotten their hands on it. The super soldier serum that was given to cap, the centennial/whatever soldier serum given to fury, and whatever the russians injected into black widow. Because nick fury is actually older then captain america they both fought in WWII cap is still alive due to being frozen in ice fury due to his formula which slowed down the aging process in him and keeps him in pretty much top physical condition.
Now as for the villain(s) yes whiplash is an iron man villian, he does have those arc power "whips" and he did give Tony fits the first time they fought. But like Peter Parker for tony stark the first is the only free one. Because once you smack tony around the first time he goes back to the lab and cooks up an Armor especially made to beat the brakes off you. I wanna say it was nice to see the brief case armor, tony has life 4 of those. Like his DC counter part Tony Stark believes in being prepared, in the Movie it shows you 4 suits on display which are of course the four he wore in the last movie(for those who did not realize the suit from the iron monger fight was not the same as the suit from the tank fight) so yes you had the mark I, the Mark II(soon to become war machine), the Mark III(the first one to sport the Iron man Gold and Red) and the Mark IV. In actuality Tony and Bruce Collect suits like it's going out of style because they fight so many varied villains they never know what they are going to need. The only thing Jon hasn't delved into much is attachments. All the iron man(and even War Machine) suits are modular you can take off, add on and mix and match pieces if the armor you are wearing isn't fully prepared for the fight you are in. Granted this was only the second movie and as of yet tony really hadn't met anyone (before whiplash) who could at least stay in an extended fight with him. Now he has and of course he will be more prepared in the next movie. While Hammer may not in a sense be a "villain" in the sense that he never goes toe to toe with tony on the battlefield he does tend to supply some of tony's villains later in the story line. And yes the Hammeroids(hammer droids) are actual stark enemies too, but yes tony usually beats them up like he did in that fight scene in the trailer.
As for Nick Fury yes I like Samuel L as fury and I like the way he is playing fury: hard nosed, cocky, deceptive, bossy and while respected by some of the big kahunas of the marvel universe he also annoys the hell out of them. The Fury Stark interaction is perfect, Fury respects starks abilities hell most of the tech Fury uses for shield comes from Stark enterprises because it works period. He has known stark was IM for years(yes calls him shell head), has turned his head sometimes when tony has fallen off the wagon but has come to believe tony is a valuable hero. Doesn't stop him from steppin on his toes or spying on him from time to time. Tony respects what fury is and what he does he just can't stop the spoiled playboy in himself sometimes. Tony stark does not make as many weapons as he used to but when he does, he makes them for one Colonel Nick Fury. The shield Helicarrier developed by stark industries, the weapons they use, some of their ships/air craft all stark designs.
Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are the founding members of a few Marvel Teams the first of course being the Defenders, the most memorable being the Avengers. Now as the Avengers movie is due out in either 2012 or 2014 I can't wait to see who else they introduce us to in the next few years.
Yes go see Iron Man 2, go see it a few times, because me and the baby bro are probably heading back this weekend.
Yes that is a play on an eastwood movie title, and yes I am gonna go through and do my usual what I liked what I didn't like and what was awesome. A few things, this will be the hardest do not give out any spoiler blogs for me ever simply because this movie rocked, rocked like an early 80's metal band, and then went out and tore up the hotel room. Was it perfect no, a few things could have been either further delved into or left out completely and had absolutely no impact on the movie whatsoever.
The glimpses into Tony's dad Howard stark(while some might mistake this as an attempt to link tony to Howard Hughes Tony is Howard Hughes his dad just got the first name) were interesting and yet, I mean its was jumbled, kinda rambly almost like it was thrown in at the last minute. Now yes it seems that Jon was admitting that tony may have hereditarily gotten his alcoholism. And that like many kids we don't know our parents all day like they don't know us. But past the wow this is just what I needed, this is the case breaker(My cousin vinny reference) moment it could have been done better maybe there will be more on the DVD deleted scenes. Continuity wise they get a gig for the Terence Howard to Don Cheadle change, I know you can't control who the studio decides to hire and fire I know that but thats still a gig. Justin Hammer while I love the actor playing him and he played the part well TECHNICALLY Hammer is older then Tony he is between Tony's age and his dad's age. In Essence Justin Hammer was the up and comer in the game while Tony was a kid and Howard was building Stark International into the power house that it was going to become. Hammer always looked at Tony as an upstart not a rival, as an inexperienced brat interfering with his plans of corporate domination.
The age is the only thing I will complain about Hammer would have hired Vanko, would have been naive enough to let Whiplash paint him into a corner, as well as tried to sweet talk his way out of any problems that arose. So too young but otherwise spot on.
For those wondering what this movie's connection to the "iron man timeline is" this is technically linking us to Armor Wars. There was a time when Tony during the height of his alcoholism started running into villians powered by tech made by AIM, Hydra and one other organization that was basically based on Stark Tech, and by stark tech I mean Tony's Iron man Armor. Upon defeating a villian(it was either whiplash or titanium man I forget which and you know what google it, well maybe I will later and edit this post) Tony studying his armor was struck with grief because he realized all the pain caused by that villain was his fault(yes for like a year Tony stark had Peter Parker syndrome "it's all my fault god I have to fix it"). So Tony creates a virus or a device(I forget which it's been retold a few times since and both have been used) that basically completely disables anything based on his tech. Which you know would be okay if Tony hadn't of gone overboard. Any and EVERYTHING based on his tech his was taking out, so he took out the government guards at the vault, he took out super villians, he took out Heroes INCLUDING his good buddy War Machine AKA James Rhodes yes Roady is wearing stark tech(given to him by tony stark) and in his depressed/remorseful state not even his good friend is above his penance.
As for War Machine, they slightly jumped the gun in the telling of how James Rhodes becomes War machine. Because actually James Rhodes was Iron Man before he was War Machine, wait what James Rhodes was Iron Man. Yes a few times when tony was either sick, or unable to put the armor on himself James Rhodes his best friend and confidant would don the armor to either save Tony's butt, deflect suspicion away from Anthony Stark himself as being Iron man, or just come save the day when Tony was not available. There was an interesting occurrence where James Rhodes ran into the Mandarin while in the Iron Man armor and the Mandarin mentioned he always thought his Nemesis Tony Stark was the man under the helmet.
As for War machine I loved everything about how War Machine looked save the missing Missile launcher. Yes all that high tech that tony stark invents and War Machine really does look like a walking flying tank. With that huge Gattling gun on his shoulder, bullets flying from his wrists, yes the whole nine. If the two of them show up yes you know Iron man is going to kick you butt but war machine is the one who makes you wanna change your shorts. And yes armor wars(save Rhodes was fully war machine and tony took a few gattling and chain shots to the tuckus before he disabled his friends armor) did have tony fight against his friend in full armor. So the Two Tony vs Jim Rhodes armor fights were awesome.
This movie is full of hints to future Marvel projects, that I refuse to reveal here. The other Marvel Holy Grail metal is inferred but never mentioned by name, I guess that project has yet to be green lit. Pay close attention to the object tony uses to prop up his particle accelerator. If you see it and wonder whats so special look at the center again and the overall shape.
There are 3 avengers seen in Iron Man 2 and 3 hinted at, to see the third one you have to stay after the credits. For those wondering who the three are: War Machine, Iron man and Black Widow the red head from the trailer in the black suit. Granted that widow doesn't show as much cleavage as her comic book counter part, and her "accessories"/utility belt isn't silver but she is just as good a fighter. Technically widow is a russian Weapon Plus/nick fury super spy attempt. Depends on which timeline or telling you are talking about. She has been said to be highly trained in some and physically enhanced in others whether it be bionically, cybernetically, or "super serum". There are to my flawed memory 4 serums that have created super beings in marvel usually 1 shots save of course the green goblin formula because harry, Norman and one of the later goblin/hobgoblins have all gotten their hands on it. The super soldier serum that was given to cap, the centennial/whatever soldier serum given to fury, and whatever the russians injected into black widow. Because nick fury is actually older then captain america they both fought in WWII cap is still alive due to being frozen in ice fury due to his formula which slowed down the aging process in him and keeps him in pretty much top physical condition.
Now as for the villain(s) yes whiplash is an iron man villian, he does have those arc power "whips" and he did give Tony fits the first time they fought. But like Peter Parker for tony stark the first is the only free one. Because once you smack tony around the first time he goes back to the lab and cooks up an Armor especially made to beat the brakes off you. I wanna say it was nice to see the brief case armor, tony has life 4 of those. Like his DC counter part Tony Stark believes in being prepared, in the Movie it shows you 4 suits on display which are of course the four he wore in the last movie(for those who did not realize the suit from the iron monger fight was not the same as the suit from the tank fight) so yes you had the mark I, the Mark II(soon to become war machine), the Mark III(the first one to sport the Iron man Gold and Red) and the Mark IV. In actuality Tony and Bruce Collect suits like it's going out of style because they fight so many varied villains they never know what they are going to need. The only thing Jon hasn't delved into much is attachments. All the iron man(and even War Machine) suits are modular you can take off, add on and mix and match pieces if the armor you are wearing isn't fully prepared for the fight you are in. Granted this was only the second movie and as of yet tony really hadn't met anyone (before whiplash) who could at least stay in an extended fight with him. Now he has and of course he will be more prepared in the next movie. While Hammer may not in a sense be a "villain" in the sense that he never goes toe to toe with tony on the battlefield he does tend to supply some of tony's villains later in the story line. And yes the Hammeroids(hammer droids) are actual stark enemies too, but yes tony usually beats them up like he did in that fight scene in the trailer.
As for Nick Fury yes I like Samuel L as fury and I like the way he is playing fury: hard nosed, cocky, deceptive, bossy and while respected by some of the big kahunas of the marvel universe he also annoys the hell out of them. The Fury Stark interaction is perfect, Fury respects starks abilities hell most of the tech Fury uses for shield comes from Stark enterprises because it works period. He has known stark was IM for years(yes calls him shell head), has turned his head sometimes when tony has fallen off the wagon but has come to believe tony is a valuable hero. Doesn't stop him from steppin on his toes or spying on him from time to time. Tony respects what fury is and what he does he just can't stop the spoiled playboy in himself sometimes. Tony stark does not make as many weapons as he used to but when he does, he makes them for one Colonel Nick Fury. The shield Helicarrier developed by stark industries, the weapons they use, some of their ships/air craft all stark designs.
Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are the founding members of a few Marvel Teams the first of course being the Defenders, the most memorable being the Avengers. Now as the Avengers movie is due out in either 2012 or 2014 I can't wait to see who else they introduce us to in the next few years.
Yes go see Iron Man 2, go see it a few times, because me and the baby bro are probably heading back this weekend.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Why education should never be financed
I made a statement on twitter the other day :the only things that should be financed are a house and a NEW car. Now I just happened to check my responses and somebody added in education, now while I guess they thought I was shorting education I'm not it should NEVER be financed. The reasoning is simple normally you have 18 years(at least) to prepare for your child's educational funding.
I mean think about it, even before you know if your child is going to go to college you know you have a child, that you would LIKE to go to college, start socking away the cash. Will it take some sacrifice yes, but then if your child's education is important to you then I'm sure you'll believe it's worth it, on top of that you can use the process to teach your child(ren) about savings, and possibly investing. Most peoples problem with paying for education comes in the fact that they always worry about the big chunks late, the earlier you start the less you have to start with. You can start with $100-$150 a month, and no that is not a lot of money 25-37.50 a week you probably blow that going to lunch each week. Now you could put that into a money market account and let that grow over the period of you child's public/private school education up to 12th grade at minimum with no interest compounding that's $20,400-30,600. That's a nice amount of money, as school tuition is constantly getting more expensive thats not 4 years in college but it is at least 1 or 2 depending on the school(or possibly the full tuition at say a specialty school culinary arts, devry, ITT, etc).
Now I said that was without interest, I suck at the interest calculations I would have to basically add up month by month over the span of the 17 years to give you what that would be like with the interest added it. Most of us suck at long term planning because mentally we have a "well that can wait til later attitude", if it's important the planning and saving for it can't. You don't have to do it all today, but you damn sure need to start not only thinking about it but saving for it and formulating a plan for how you're going to make it happen.
Just like you can run and check your bank account to see how much is in it when you wanna splurge and buy something if you have a dream, wish, hope whatever then the second you get that gleam in ya eye you need to put some dollars away for it. If you wanna use some of that growing nest egg to invest and take a chance on a stock growing over that time to help accelerate the value of the funds in the account fine, plenty of books on investing pick one up and be my guest.
But honestly if you have something you want to do, and in your heart you really wanna do it then prepare to do it. If you look into something far enough out that you want and break down how much it will cost you for it, the further out you start the better off you are.
And by the way at the top I said houses and NEW(yes I'm emphasizing new if you finance a used car you are financing someone else's problem that they could either no longer afford or didn't wanna deal with anymore) car, but that's something you should also be saving for. you should walk into the bank, or finance persons office with at least 35% as a down payment again if you know you want something that far out SAVE UP FOR IT. People get stuck in these endless cycles of debt because at the last minute they realize "Oh you know I want one of these too" shit if you dream is home ownership sock some money away, a car sock some money away. The more you have saved to put down on it, the less you owe on it over the time of the loan and the smaller your payments will be.
Lots of people have been sold on the credit, credit, credit ideal and not including saving with that credit. Which is why debt levels are so high and savings rates so low, nothing beats cash, not even a good credit score. Why because your credit score says you SHOULD be able to afford something and can be reasonably expedited to pay off said debt, having the cash for it guarantees that you can afford it and there is either no or very little debt to pay off. Your credit score is your enemy high or low, it just says how much somebody is going to allow you to owe them, be owed don't owe save up for what you want.
I mean think about it, even before you know if your child is going to go to college you know you have a child, that you would LIKE to go to college, start socking away the cash. Will it take some sacrifice yes, but then if your child's education is important to you then I'm sure you'll believe it's worth it, on top of that you can use the process to teach your child(ren) about savings, and possibly investing. Most peoples problem with paying for education comes in the fact that they always worry about the big chunks late, the earlier you start the less you have to start with. You can start with $100-$150 a month, and no that is not a lot of money 25-37.50 a week you probably blow that going to lunch each week. Now you could put that into a money market account and let that grow over the period of you child's public/private school education up to 12th grade at minimum with no interest compounding that's $20,400-30,600. That's a nice amount of money, as school tuition is constantly getting more expensive thats not 4 years in college but it is at least 1 or 2 depending on the school(or possibly the full tuition at say a specialty school culinary arts, devry, ITT, etc).
Now I said that was without interest, I suck at the interest calculations I would have to basically add up month by month over the span of the 17 years to give you what that would be like with the interest added it. Most of us suck at long term planning because mentally we have a "well that can wait til later attitude", if it's important the planning and saving for it can't. You don't have to do it all today, but you damn sure need to start not only thinking about it but saving for it and formulating a plan for how you're going to make it happen.
Just like you can run and check your bank account to see how much is in it when you wanna splurge and buy something if you have a dream, wish, hope whatever then the second you get that gleam in ya eye you need to put some dollars away for it. If you wanna use some of that growing nest egg to invest and take a chance on a stock growing over that time to help accelerate the value of the funds in the account fine, plenty of books on investing pick one up and be my guest.
But honestly if you have something you want to do, and in your heart you really wanna do it then prepare to do it. If you look into something far enough out that you want and break down how much it will cost you for it, the further out you start the better off you are.
And by the way at the top I said houses and NEW(yes I'm emphasizing new if you finance a used car you are financing someone else's problem that they could either no longer afford or didn't wanna deal with anymore) car, but that's something you should also be saving for. you should walk into the bank, or finance persons office with at least 35% as a down payment again if you know you want something that far out SAVE UP FOR IT. People get stuck in these endless cycles of debt because at the last minute they realize "Oh you know I want one of these too" shit if you dream is home ownership sock some money away, a car sock some money away. The more you have saved to put down on it, the less you owe on it over the time of the loan and the smaller your payments will be.
Lots of people have been sold on the credit, credit, credit ideal and not including saving with that credit. Which is why debt levels are so high and savings rates so low, nothing beats cash, not even a good credit score. Why because your credit score says you SHOULD be able to afford something and can be reasonably expedited to pay off said debt, having the cash for it guarantees that you can afford it and there is either no or very little debt to pay off. Your credit score is your enemy high or low, it just says how much somebody is going to allow you to owe them, be owed don't owe save up for what you want.
Monday, April 26, 2010
I guess I shouldn't be surprised
In essence I've been jacked, see that name up top, yeah PRIMALDATA that's mine. It's been mine since that fateful day waaay back in 1995 when I first plucked it out of the air from my own twisted mind. I'm kinda partial to that name, I mean it's been me for over 15 years. Yes I have a real name(which I may put in another blog), but out here on the net I don't use it, IRL(In Real Life) I'm that guy, on here I'm primal. Oh yes I have used a few other names but for the most part if it is me and only me I use primal. I may put the year so you can check and see how long I have been a member of said group(my XBOX 360 name was PRIMALDATA 2005 signifying that I got my 360 in 2005), there is a current one for this year for something else my 360 is busted so now I'm rockin another system.
So doing my google yaself to see where ya at and make sure it's all straight I have found what do you know PRIMALDATA pops up, on a site I have never heard of, joining a clan, for the 360, for a game that I do play, but didn't play at the time. And reading the syntax of the person, I'm wondering if it was innocent(I have shot a lot of people in rainbow 6 vegas, a lot of people my name may have stuck in their heads) or if it was deliberate. I don't know about you but identity theft whether real life or online is never kosher. Because we all tend to put parts(or in my case all, I'm me whether real life or online I just didn't use my name I used my online name) of ourselves into these persona's. I know why I picked that name, I know what it signifies. I know what others think it has signified over the years and when I am asked I do correct them, simply because you are who you are and while if the legend becomes the truth print the legend, if you control what is printed print the truth. Because then you control the story not some writer, or editor.
Yes I'm pissed, I mean who dares use my name? My name did ya ask, what you didn't see me on 360 for a minute a figured hell that was a cool name why not use it. Which just like in real life the answer is simple, it's not your name. You have no claims to that name, you never did. I didn't realize in this digital world that we had to go out there and start registering and copyrighting our names but it seems we just may have to. I mean I'm used to trolls, you embarrass them in a chat room, a news group(on twitter) wherever and they decide to parody your name and use it for their own purposes. Usually said purposes are the smearing of your good name by having folks report you, because as far as they can tell you did them wrong.
A name like mine the normal trick depending on how I have it spelled on the site is to spell it PRIMA1DATA but lower case so that that 1 looks like the l like so prima1data or do it in all caps but with the first I being a lowercase l like so PRlMALDATA the human eye rarely picks up the difference. And of course since your probably pissed your not gonna wanna hear me claim I never said a word to you. And most moderators or quick with the ban hammer and are lazy when it comes to checkin up on those things.
So there is a gamer out there using my moniker to play shooters just like I do, whether or not we have to have an argument about my name we shall see, I hope not I hope that if it was in omage he will switch it to a close translation or else that we can come to some civil understanding of him NOT USING MY NAME. Not to be rude but, I've been using it longer and personally don't want to share it. I've only used the translation once and personally he can have it. I want me though because thats me, it's a second skin who I log into when I enter the digital world, and I'd like to think it stays that way
So doing my google yaself to see where ya at and make sure it's all straight I have found what do you know PRIMALDATA pops up, on a site I have never heard of, joining a clan, for the 360, for a game that I do play, but didn't play at the time. And reading the syntax of the person, I'm wondering if it was innocent(I have shot a lot of people in rainbow 6 vegas, a lot of people my name may have stuck in their heads) or if it was deliberate. I don't know about you but identity theft whether real life or online is never kosher. Because we all tend to put parts(or in my case all, I'm me whether real life or online I just didn't use my name I used my online name) of ourselves into these persona's. I know why I picked that name, I know what it signifies. I know what others think it has signified over the years and when I am asked I do correct them, simply because you are who you are and while if the legend becomes the truth print the legend, if you control what is printed print the truth. Because then you control the story not some writer, or editor.
Yes I'm pissed, I mean who dares use my name? My name did ya ask, what you didn't see me on 360 for a minute a figured hell that was a cool name why not use it. Which just like in real life the answer is simple, it's not your name. You have no claims to that name, you never did. I didn't realize in this digital world that we had to go out there and start registering and copyrighting our names but it seems we just may have to. I mean I'm used to trolls, you embarrass them in a chat room, a news group(on twitter) wherever and they decide to parody your name and use it for their own purposes. Usually said purposes are the smearing of your good name by having folks report you, because as far as they can tell you did them wrong.
A name like mine the normal trick depending on how I have it spelled on the site is to spell it PRIMA1DATA but lower case so that that 1 looks like the l like so prima1data or do it in all caps but with the first I being a lowercase l like so PRlMALDATA the human eye rarely picks up the difference. And of course since your probably pissed your not gonna wanna hear me claim I never said a word to you. And most moderators or quick with the ban hammer and are lazy when it comes to checkin up on those things.
So there is a gamer out there using my moniker to play shooters just like I do, whether or not we have to have an argument about my name we shall see, I hope not I hope that if it was in omage he will switch it to a close translation or else that we can come to some civil understanding of him NOT USING MY NAME. Not to be rude but, I've been using it longer and personally don't want to share it. I've only used the translation once and personally he can have it. I want me though because thats me, it's a second skin who I log into when I enter the digital world, and I'd like to think it stays that way
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wow over 2 months
I've been busy, I don't mean oh I've just been laying around goofing off no I have actually been busy. Most nights I get home get a bite try to relax for a sec and off I go, tonight not so much.
I hit 10k on twitter and kinda disappeared, again BUSY. Quite a few things I wanna touch on(wouldn't mind touching on a few people either) but while I have wanted to blog, have had subject matter to blog one I don't have the follower base on this one(the non cussing randomosity does not come as freely as the cussing randomosity does) Plus my mind has been on other much more important(to me) things.
Luckily things have come up smelling kind of rosey, Sometimes just getting news is good news to hell with whether it's the news you wanted or not.
So hi again it's primal I am still around, and no I have not been blogging anywhere, period. I need to fix that, like seriously but we shall see
I hit 10k on twitter and kinda disappeared, again BUSY. Quite a few things I wanna touch on(wouldn't mind touching on a few people either) but while I have wanted to blog, have had subject matter to blog one I don't have the follower base on this one(the non cussing randomosity does not come as freely as the cussing randomosity does) Plus my mind has been on other much more important(to me) things.
Luckily things have come up smelling kind of rosey, Sometimes just getting news is good news to hell with whether it's the news you wanted or not.
So hi again it's primal I am still around, and no I have not been blogging anywhere, period. I need to fix that, like seriously but we shall see
Friday, January 8, 2010
WHy I wouldn't recommend being a nice guy/good man
There is absolutely no benefit in it. Let's be honest most women are the queens of the listen to what I say don't pay attention to what I am actually doing mindset. I mean from personal experience most who know me will admit yes I am a good guy, no that is not to say pushover yes I can be overly opinionated, strong minded, picky and determined(trying to find a way to say butt hole in a nice way to stay within the guidelines of the blog). I am still a good man though never cheated in my life, I go out of my way to help you hell sometimes out of my way, I am loyal to a fault, and as long as your with me you don't have to worry about being scared that I won't be in your corner.
And all that and 3 bucks might get me a cup of coffee on a saturday night ALONE. Why is this, because most women while to "protect their image" will claim that they are looking for a guy with my general characteristics I'm not who they are looking for. Now I'm not the handsomest cat on the planet, or the tallest(I'm 5'10 so I'm average height), I won't deny that I have added a good 50 pounds since high school, but I know I'm not the ugliest cat and I know as long as I feel you are worthy there is no such thing as me being a tight wad. I may not throw my money in everybody's direction but I will spend whatever on a cause or person who I feel is a worthwhile investment, period. I mean lets be honest, there are a lot of guys out here like me, intelligent, hard working, compassionate, kind, understanding and humble. As I have said before the names for us are usually Herb, Cornball, Punk, Square, and Lame. The reasons are simple we believe in looking deeper then just ya bra size and your measurements and believe that you deserve to be respected if you have earned it.
Most guys like me feel that if I'm with a woman I think is beautiful and she loves me I am the luckiest man on the planet, I'm not trying to run out and prove I can get 50 women just like you I'm trying to find ways to spend more time with you and maximize the memories. What good is that I guess I mean if your not the top choice of a guy with a harem I guess that ain good enough. It appears that most women would rather have a guy string them along for years because he makes their girlfriends jealous(or wet cause he may just be with you because you and your crew of friends he is planning to hit are pretty) then be with somebody who actually wants to share the rest of their lives with them. Oh I know "successful" women can't find a man, no while some of these women MIGHT be successful some of them are overstating their station and current value. Not only that but they can't offer half of what they are asking for so really how you expect to be given a home run when you may only be giving a double is beyond me ie how you expect to get someone who will fulfill your wildest dreams when you may not even be able to meet that persons expectations halfway is foolish and immature.
I know I often fight with women on this subject for a simple reason, you want me to take you seriously as an individual yet you want to lump me into a group with your ex, some dude who you gave the time of day and wasn't worthy of your time, or the other "top choices" you decide to deal with but are constantly leaving you wanting for more. As has often been said the common denominator going forward in any relationship you are involved in IS YOU. Thats right ladies if you can NEVER find a man that meets your qualifications sit down and figure out if you meet your own qualifications.
Most relationships are about balance and give and take. While the "classic" role definition may not be necessary role definition is necessary. If you make more fine, you make more but if you don't want him rubbing your nose in how much more then you he makes, and how he is big time and your small potatoes remember that when your in the big dog position. If you don't want to cook and he doesn't have a problem with it you better have something you can bring to the table in it's place, make a mean martini, love the same team as he does something. Most women fall into a trap of they have a set resume they want their man to meet up with yet when it comes time to see what dude wants "well why can't he just accept me for me" and the answer is simple "because you want him to live up to your expectations". And that isn't a bad thing, or a petty thing at all that is as long as you can reciprocate.
If you like long walks in the park, quiet evenings, and a foot massage after a long day when he talks about wanting to go to a ball game even if it's in the snow you better wrap ya behind up and go with him. If he is willing to sit through a chick flick, you better go see at least one action movie or comedy. If while you know you want him close you know you want girl time, if you expect him to trust you until otherwise proven you better trust him. Because honestly the only person you are showing is untrustworthy is yourself, yeah I said it if your saying basically that when out of your sight he would cheat the only way you could think that way is if out of his sight you are doing stuff you know he wouldn't like. And don't present some ideal woman you think he wants, be willing to find a man who loves the real you flaws and all. Somebody who you ain got to worry about taking your mask off and him feeling betrayed. If a man can't like you for who you are he isn't worth your time anyway, ever wonder how guys can constantly get told no yet continue to ask women out. Simple we know when we find the right one it will be magical(if we're looking for the right one, if we're just looking for draws it will still be magic just for a shorter period of time, what would you rather I lied to you? Too bad I ain got time for that).
All this being said who still gets the majority of the phone numbers? Who when you ask them are women constantly making excuses for why they date instead of making excuses as to why maybe you just aren't there type? And it's kinda funny because many of the reasons given if a guy were to turn it around on a woman on she would be pissed. Because it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with what you think she will be like because of how she looks, and that is the same way she's looking at Mr. Nice guy. Because he isn't disrespectful he must not be strong, if you think about it though what takes more strength pushing people around so you don't have to listen to them or finding a way to get along and work with them even if you might disagree? Yet not realizing it is a condemnation of themselves women will complain oh well I will just walk all over him, yeah um that isn't a fault on his part if your like that you need to go work on you. Patience is the virtue not an overblown sense of self.
Well bad boys know how to "do it better" yeah okay, if you still ain getting off and he has a long list of things you want to try that he don't is it that he does it better or that he just takes you more forcefully and for that few moments he's there it's raw passion yet your still not fulfilled. Sometimes you have to respect that it takes time to learn what your partner does and does not like, just like it takes time to learn what you like. And if you are unwilling to show that person your probably don't want to be fulfilled, I'm just saying.
Oh yeah nice guys are too shy, well actually a real nice guy is trying to get to know you first, before he goes all out and lets you in he wants to make sure you are worth the time he is gonna dedicate to you, and yes I said dedicate. Because those bad boys who are running their mouths usually forget about you once they get what they want, I mean how often do you complain about a nice guy not calling you back and checking to see how your day is? I mean yes your still going to argue doesn't matter who you are in a relationship with you are gonna have a disagreement and you need to. You have to see if you can work it out with someone when you disagree maybe your right maybe he's right but right ain gonna keep you warm at night. Nor will it hold you as well as the other person will so you have to be willing to come to an agreement and stick to it. You have to be willing to weather a storm or two together to see how you are gonna deal with the long haul.
I know I know it's a lot to think about, but then again if you want the best how are you just gonna walk in the door and get it without doing any research yes if you blind fold a monkey and give him a dart sooner or later he will land on the name Tiffany, Saks, BMW, or Mercedes but wouldn't you rather take you time and find it yourself and save a lot of time, hassle and heart break?
And all that and 3 bucks might get me a cup of coffee on a saturday night ALONE. Why is this, because most women while to "protect their image" will claim that they are looking for a guy with my general characteristics I'm not who they are looking for. Now I'm not the handsomest cat on the planet, or the tallest(I'm 5'10 so I'm average height), I won't deny that I have added a good 50 pounds since high school, but I know I'm not the ugliest cat and I know as long as I feel you are worthy there is no such thing as me being a tight wad. I may not throw my money in everybody's direction but I will spend whatever on a cause or person who I feel is a worthwhile investment, period. I mean lets be honest, there are a lot of guys out here like me, intelligent, hard working, compassionate, kind, understanding and humble. As I have said before the names for us are usually Herb, Cornball, Punk, Square, and Lame. The reasons are simple we believe in looking deeper then just ya bra size and your measurements and believe that you deserve to be respected if you have earned it.
Most guys like me feel that if I'm with a woman I think is beautiful and she loves me I am the luckiest man on the planet, I'm not trying to run out and prove I can get 50 women just like you I'm trying to find ways to spend more time with you and maximize the memories. What good is that I guess I mean if your not the top choice of a guy with a harem I guess that ain good enough. It appears that most women would rather have a guy string them along for years because he makes their girlfriends jealous(or wet cause he may just be with you because you and your crew of friends he is planning to hit are pretty) then be with somebody who actually wants to share the rest of their lives with them. Oh I know "successful" women can't find a man, no while some of these women MIGHT be successful some of them are overstating their station and current value. Not only that but they can't offer half of what they are asking for so really how you expect to be given a home run when you may only be giving a double is beyond me ie how you expect to get someone who will fulfill your wildest dreams when you may not even be able to meet that persons expectations halfway is foolish and immature.
I know I often fight with women on this subject for a simple reason, you want me to take you seriously as an individual yet you want to lump me into a group with your ex, some dude who you gave the time of day and wasn't worthy of your time, or the other "top choices" you decide to deal with but are constantly leaving you wanting for more. As has often been said the common denominator going forward in any relationship you are involved in IS YOU. Thats right ladies if you can NEVER find a man that meets your qualifications sit down and figure out if you meet your own qualifications.
Most relationships are about balance and give and take. While the "classic" role definition may not be necessary role definition is necessary. If you make more fine, you make more but if you don't want him rubbing your nose in how much more then you he makes, and how he is big time and your small potatoes remember that when your in the big dog position. If you don't want to cook and he doesn't have a problem with it you better have something you can bring to the table in it's place, make a mean martini, love the same team as he does something. Most women fall into a trap of they have a set resume they want their man to meet up with yet when it comes time to see what dude wants "well why can't he just accept me for me" and the answer is simple "because you want him to live up to your expectations". And that isn't a bad thing, or a petty thing at all that is as long as you can reciprocate.
If you like long walks in the park, quiet evenings, and a foot massage after a long day when he talks about wanting to go to a ball game even if it's in the snow you better wrap ya behind up and go with him. If he is willing to sit through a chick flick, you better go see at least one action movie or comedy. If while you know you want him close you know you want girl time, if you expect him to trust you until otherwise proven you better trust him. Because honestly the only person you are showing is untrustworthy is yourself, yeah I said it if your saying basically that when out of your sight he would cheat the only way you could think that way is if out of his sight you are doing stuff you know he wouldn't like. And don't present some ideal woman you think he wants, be willing to find a man who loves the real you flaws and all. Somebody who you ain got to worry about taking your mask off and him feeling betrayed. If a man can't like you for who you are he isn't worth your time anyway, ever wonder how guys can constantly get told no yet continue to ask women out. Simple we know when we find the right one it will be magical(if we're looking for the right one, if we're just looking for draws it will still be magic just for a shorter period of time, what would you rather I lied to you? Too bad I ain got time for that).
All this being said who still gets the majority of the phone numbers? Who when you ask them are women constantly making excuses for why they date instead of making excuses as to why maybe you just aren't there type? And it's kinda funny because many of the reasons given if a guy were to turn it around on a woman on she would be pissed. Because it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with what you think she will be like because of how she looks, and that is the same way she's looking at Mr. Nice guy. Because he isn't disrespectful he must not be strong, if you think about it though what takes more strength pushing people around so you don't have to listen to them or finding a way to get along and work with them even if you might disagree? Yet not realizing it is a condemnation of themselves women will complain oh well I will just walk all over him, yeah um that isn't a fault on his part if your like that you need to go work on you. Patience is the virtue not an overblown sense of self.
Well bad boys know how to "do it better" yeah okay, if you still ain getting off and he has a long list of things you want to try that he don't is it that he does it better or that he just takes you more forcefully and for that few moments he's there it's raw passion yet your still not fulfilled. Sometimes you have to respect that it takes time to learn what your partner does and does not like, just like it takes time to learn what you like. And if you are unwilling to show that person your probably don't want to be fulfilled, I'm just saying.
Oh yeah nice guys are too shy, well actually a real nice guy is trying to get to know you first, before he goes all out and lets you in he wants to make sure you are worth the time he is gonna dedicate to you, and yes I said dedicate. Because those bad boys who are running their mouths usually forget about you once they get what they want, I mean how often do you complain about a nice guy not calling you back and checking to see how your day is? I mean yes your still going to argue doesn't matter who you are in a relationship with you are gonna have a disagreement and you need to. You have to see if you can work it out with someone when you disagree maybe your right maybe he's right but right ain gonna keep you warm at night. Nor will it hold you as well as the other person will so you have to be willing to come to an agreement and stick to it. You have to be willing to weather a storm or two together to see how you are gonna deal with the long haul.
I know I know it's a lot to think about, but then again if you want the best how are you just gonna walk in the door and get it without doing any research yes if you blind fold a monkey and give him a dart sooner or later he will land on the name Tiffany, Saks, BMW, or Mercedes but wouldn't you rather take you time and find it yourself and save a lot of time, hassle and heart break?
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