Politikin'

Okay, I'm not really one to toot the horn on political agendas and what-not. I'm pretty content on just flowin' with the currents of life. But I saw (twice) "Sicko" over the last week. Apart from the film, which was amazing, I felt... ... ...oppressed. Not quite the right word, so let me explain. For the first time in my life I really feel like the man is keeping me down, and that man was all of us. We are doing this to ourselves by allowing this to happen. Greed and pride have driven us into the dirt and we take it, we think "Oh well, that's life." When it isn't! I was aware of this, sure, but not this aware. I encourage (look at me, I'm encouraging people, who would have thought) you to go to the web sites. Find a way you can help get bill H.R. 626 to get passed. If it doesn't get passed, then we don't give up. There is no reason I should feel that I have to leave my country to get good health care.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/

In addition to my semi-rant above, I fully support this site in everything it stands for and is trying to do...thanks AngelKris

http://www.freerice.com/

I'm crashing...

I was jonzed to see that National Treasure 2 had a midnight movie. i just happen to have a 7.00 dollars off ticket fot National Treasure 2 (you get them with a copy of Pirates 3 two-disc edition from Target only...apparently). So I got about 3 hours of sleep. My boss isn't in today, which is cool since I kinda have very little to do. But, man, am I crashing. I popped a No Doze; I've always been curious to see how my body reacts to it. Caffenine in genral does very little for me, and I seem to have a weird tolarance to medication. So pills have a double effect on me (meaning I need to take half as many for normal effect). And others are half or less strength. Like pain meds, I need to chew down close to half a bottle of Advil for any effect it seems (usually a double dose....not really half the bottle).

Anyway, I'm gonna see Sweeny Todd right after work and then see Golden Compass again (friend wants to see it for their first time). Then Saturday, Sunday, and Christmas I spend about 3 hours a day with my mom so she can get the full effect of the Pirates triology. Also, a dinner at my favorite Korean Resturant on Christmas eve. Its not chockedful of events but enough to make me tired when I think about it.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

So I saw this film this past weekend. And I am not ashamed to say that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Problems: Jason Lee is an okay actor, but this was over the top (he has been playing Earl to much). Dave Cross is funny as always but again, over the top (though I suspect that was encouraged). Weak plot, what else, though, for a kids film; kids become superstars, fame takes over, they can't handle the pressure of touring and new songs enforced by their record company.

I loved Alvin and the Chipmunks when I was a kid, and still do. They had Alvin and Theodore right on but Simon was a little lacking in his condescending tone. Otherwise, it was awesome. It was unbelievably great to hear those voices again; laughing, singing, and arguing with each other. Just bear in mind that there were chipettes too so a sequel could be near.

Review
The Bully: Rockstar's filler between GTA3: San Andreas and GTA4. Sucked balls.
Tomb Raider Anniversary: Other than a complete revamp of the original game it was boring. The controls were beyond awkward.
God of War 2: Still going strong on this one. The game froze, though, because there is a barely noticeable chip in it. Replacement is on its way.

Finished Arrested Development. It got loads funnier by second season (obvious build up from first season), then by third season, it looked like they knew it was ending to it kinda took a nose dive in comedy (repetitive). The ending was a little disappointing too. Everything wrapped up all nice and neat and with a few plot twists that were lame.
Kekko Kamen Returns: This is more sexplotation from Japan. Basically, plenty of manga and Anime have been made about this martial art heroin who fights perverts that are forcing there pervery ways upon uncooperative women. She is completely naked accept for a mask, boots, a long red scarf (for posing effects) and nunchucks (spelling?). Her strategy is that her exposed body is her true weapon since she doesn't fear revealing it in order to stop the perverts. Also, a great distraction when beating up perverts. Well, they made some live action films to this famous manga. Her super final move is her leaping at your face, spread eagle, and smothers you. It is call muffification. It was a decent time. Funny, very typical comedy of Japanese culture.

I am X-mas Pickel

So we have these monthly meetings where they do stupid stuff with prizes and updates on the company. This time they gave us some story of the X-mas Pickle. Then at the end of the meeting they told everyone to look under their chairs and low and behold, I found the X-mas Pickle. I won a 20 dollar gift certificate to Hy-Vee (which is where I was going after work anyway...score) and the shame of holding a glass-blown pickle ornament in the air.

I saw the midnight showing of 'I am Legend" last night. Overall...worthy of matinee prices. However, there are some of the most spectacular scenes I have ever witnessed. There is a moment (I won't give anything away) where you can actually see the shear desperation of Will Smith's character wanting nothing else but to go insane so he wouldn't be so lonely anymore. He wanted to hear the voices; anything to break the silence of the world. I felt that moment, and it was powerful. Not just in the film. That small taste of solitude and separation I had in Korea pales in comparison but with that small sense I could imagine how much more difficult it was for him.

Not for the work place

I probably mentioned an awesome calender I got a while back of nude girls interacting (not in a dirty way) with retro-video game memorabilia or traditional video game playing scenarios; my favorite is still the naked girl who fell asleep while playing Nintendo, any gamer worth his salt has been there...probably not naked...then again.... Well, the people at nerdcore have made another calender for 2008. Some of the same models but the theme for this calender is super heroins and vixens. Although not my favorite nerd aspect, I will still get one.

www.totallynerdcore.com/Enter/index.htm

M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H was on the air for 11 years, 1972-1983. Very few series make it that far. For good reason; great writer, great cast, and a great premise. Also, M*A*S*H has been in syndication the past 25 years in every country. It is said that there isn't a time of day that M*A*S*H isn't on somewhere in the world. M*A*S*H is the most popular television series. The broadcast of the final 2 and half hour episode broke the record of the most watch show ever. Millions of people tuned in to watch it.

It wasn't always like this though. In its first season it got ranked number 48. It was going to be cancelled if it wasn't for the wife of the head of FOX. She absolutely loved the show and no one could beat pillow talk. So it ran a for another season and became the hit it is after that.

I case you didn't realize, I finished M*A*S*H. I laughed, I cried, I made sandwiches...

I also finished Wonder Showzen. A lot of shows in the second season I hadn't seen before, like an entire episode devoted to 'Horse Apples', a show within the show similar to 'Laugh In' only with white trash, rednecks and hillbillies.

I finished Zelda: Twilight Princess. Disappointing ending for my taste but pretty good for someone younger. They touched on the dark side of the video game genre but it just kinda faded away and became childish again...symbolic of the Asian culture again. I think that will be my last Zelda game that I play, I'm just not into a game that cuts out some of its target audience for the quick buck.

I also received the first season of Man vs. Wild. Miss Lynn laughed at me when I wanted first to keep all the episodes on the DVR. She something to the effect of why would I need them, do I plan to be stranded in the wild anytime soon...something like that. I collect survival shows, like real survival shows, ones that teach. I feel more at home when I watch these and learn from them. Why, I don't know. I have 2 visions of when I look to the future of my life. One is I have a daughter and I'm raising her alone. The other is I travel, I survive on my own means. These vision don't coincide, just these are what I see when I'm asked. Granted, these may be ideal in my mind, or how I want my life to turn out, but I can't shake the feeling of what I see. So, I watch every honest survival show I can find. And if you are going to retort with Survivor Man, don't. That is a reality show of a guy surviving, he doesn't teach like Man vs Wild does if you get into a trouble.

I started God of War 2 and it is about as I expected. Frelling awesome.

My 2 coppers...

Okay, I live here, so I might as well as talk about it.

School shootings, Mall shootings, gang shootings, terrorism... ... ...it is all senseless violence... ...and I don't care. I don't really know anyone who would shop at Von Maur around lunch hour so I wasn't worried if I knew anybody. Every radio station and News station was covering it because this town has little to report...so why not take our chance and saturate every chance we get about terrible and evil things. Seriously, every report jumped at it like jackals on a fresh kill...like it is world news. Anyway...so it was on every radio station, so I turned it to classical which had a small report and then back to music. I watched some stuff on the DVR and some netflix that showed up, went to the laundr-o-mat, cause I didn't want to get stuck with dirty clothes after the storm hit today, and watch a little more netflix, then went to bed. I get to work this morning and my boss asks if I'm okay. I said 'Yeah, I've requested to keep out of the loop, but informed every now and then to know how he is doing," (thinking she was referring to my dad). She says, "no, no, no, I mean, I'm glad everything is going well with your dad. I was talking about the shooting." I had completely forgot about that. That is how much I care. It happened, It hasn't effected directly in any way, I have nothing at stake, it was a tragedy, I move on. I'm not mad, pissed, upset, frustrated, etc. at the shooter. I do feel a bit upset with the people he knew. People don't do this on a whim, their environment leads them to it, the people they interact with (not necessarily bad people, maybe hard life, hard upbringing, hard times, maybe he saw how things and people treated his friends and family and felt angry and useless), the stories they hear and experience. He didn't do this... ... ...we did, society did, his parents, his friends, his environment, his medication (if he was taking any) or lack thereof, not the lessons he was taught, but how he learned them. They all had a hand in it. He just fired the gun. Speaking of, AK-47?!?!?! Well, he wanted to go out with a bang, that's the gun to use.


You can't stop tragedies like this, you can't protect yourself from them, there are bad eggs out there. True, you may not have a chance to say good-bye, to hold your loved ones close, you may not be ready to die yet. Tough, Death is gonna find you, he always does, so kiss your loved ones, love them like it is your last chance,... ... ...cause it could be.

My recommendation is to make your peace with what you need to. Don't fear death, fight the fear that you may die at any moment with acceptance. Enjoy the beauty in everything, even in the process of life moving on without you. Truly realize the effect you have on the world even if it is your little corner of it. All other worries seem to melt into minor inconveniences, and if you fret over minor inconveniences, then you worry to much about things beyond your control. Life is about living it. So live each day, not as if it were your last, just live it. Find that small piece of enjoyment and hold on to it. Any day is worth enjoying even a bad one. How else are you gonna enjoy the beauty that much more if you don't remember how ugly things can get. Things like this bring out the best and worst in people. And it is sad that it takes things like this to remind us to cherish what we have in our lives and that we are still experiencing it. But that is how our society has evolved. It takes things like this to shake the awareness of the public out of their zombified comas of everyday life, and to see the world again refreshed. Take it from someone who woke up 12 years ago, if you hang on to that feeling of awakened-ness nothing will come as a shock anymore; the world will have death and life all over it and you will see how organized all this chaos is. And it is a thing of indescribable beauty. You will feel like you are one with understanding. You will feel bright. I won't embellish to much; after all, I have succumbed quite often since then, kinda like nodding off in class, but I snapped out of it myself every time.

So there is my 2 coppers,... ... ...he can have 'em... ... ...the ferry man needs to be paid.

Update of ulimate power...

First, I would like to apologize. I have been extremely distant. I like it that way when I get depressed; although, I do appreciate company, if you have something else you need/want to do, then do it and don't waste my time. If you think you are helping by just hanging around, you're not. This message is not directed to anyone for this certain bout of depression. No one bothered me this time around (I thank you for that), and if you had the good fortune to call at a time I was home, I was more than willing to talk if you were interested in listening. And for all those that minded their own business but probably gave me well wishes in the privacy of there own mind, I thank you for that as well...even though that was kinda of lazy of you ;). I kid, I kid. To be honest, when I get depressed, I don't want pity, I don't want sorrys, I don't want people feeling bad for me. I am doing more than my own share of that. There are plenty of people in the world who are worse off than I. I can handle it, I'll deal, and I'll pull through. Physician heal thy self, right? Well, a few vacation days with work spliced in, few distractions, and hole to dig myself out of is all that was needed ( the metaphoric 'hole' is excessive eating of nasty foods for my body, i.e. milk products and apples).

Anyway, is my dad doing better? That is a difficult question. The reason his was admitted to the hospital has cleared up. But he is still an extremely long way from recovered, so far that he may not make it. It is his decision though. He has to want to get better.

Okay, well, I have 2 seasons left of M*A*S*H. I am going to miss watching it every night. I've laughed, I've cried, I've sat in amazement at what has been cut from today's broadcast compared to then. Nearly 25 min shows, where today's is closer to 20 mins and 10 mins of commercials. Anyway, there is still the finale and hours of DVD extras.

Stuff I've seen and played:

Games: Shadow of Rome
Eh, it runs on a similar engine as God of War. Caesar is killed. Your father is blamed and you're on the run. Not very enthralling.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - no, I don't have Wii. It is also on GameCube. Eh, at first it was like any other Zelda game. And then it got dark. It was real interesting for awhile. But the interesting has worn off and now it is a typical Zelda game again. More and/or different things to do. For instance; there are a lot more Japanese cultural signals than before. Also, a few side questing things like normal but not nearly as difficult and time consuming. They also really up-ed the fishing part. It is kinda like fly fishing now.

I just got God of War 2, I'm close to finishing Zelda so I'll wait on this one.

Movies/Netflix:

Most recent: I just saw No County for Old Men. To be honest the whole film caught me by surprise. I was edge of my seat one minute, and relaxed the next. It felt like a long journey to blue balls, but I was tricked into thinking that I was satisfied enough. Kinda like my ex use to do. I did enjoy it though, very well done and well scripted.

My brother told a while back to watch Arrested Development. I finally have seen some of it (I will see all of it eventually) but it isn't living up to the standards he set for me. It's good, just not as good as he said. But, I give his opinion the benefit of the doubt so my final judgement will hold til then.

Wonder Showzen on DVD. I can't explain this show if you have never seen it. It is like Sesame Street on Heroin and Meth...yeah. Anyway, with extended footage and deleted/outtake scenes, makes this experience all the more... ... ...eventful. It ran on MTV for 2 seasons and 16 episodes. All are just as demented as the next.

I also finish Season 1 of Seaquest DSV. I love this show. Can't wait til season 2 is available.

Drawn Togehter: Season 2 - eh, ain't missing much.

Season 2 of Hercules - this is were Bruce Campbell makes his debue as the King of Thieves. He is always entertaining.

And finally, Steven King's The Mist - not to be confused with John Carpenter's The Fog :). I love it. I usually don't get that into Steven King film adaptions. I love Shawshank, I thought Green Mile was good. His others, besides It, are alright, not my kind of stuff, but I watch them. This, though, was awesome. The movie is basically, which doesn't do it justice, SciFi. A mist rolls into a small town that happens to contain creatures from another dimension, trapping 40 some people into the local grocery store. The creatures aren't aggressive, just looking for food as any other animal does. Again, his story revolves around what humans do in dire circumstances. But what really shot this one home for me was the end message. This movie is good all the way up to the end, which is where it turns to frelling awesome. The end will have you going "Oh ...my ...gawd, ... ... ...that is a fucking kick ass story." I can't ruin this ending, it just isn't in my nature to tell you what happens. This is one you have to see for yourself.

And on that note, g-day...