Ever wonder where Disney keeps getting all the new toolboxes for their stupid shows? The Onion reveals!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Movies and Maps!
First off, I got an email from a reader who wanted me to put a link in my blog to his website. It's a tourist info site for the city of London, and after looking it over myself, I will definitely admit that it's pretty neat. It gives you a Google style map of the city, with certain historical landmarks marked directly on their corresponding location on the map. The coolest part is that you can click on these landmarks, and an audio file describing the landmark will start playing, giving you a brief description. You can also download the audio files for a small fee. It's perfect for if you are planning a vacation in London, or if you're doing a school project on the area. Take a look-see.
The link is www.ComeAwayWithMe.co.uk/LondonAudioGuide
On another note, I went and saw Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A couple of colon movies (Please forgive the horrible pun).
NatM was very funny. Ben Stiller is really good at family comedies, and he proves it again here. It doesn't quite shine as well as the first one, but there are definitely some good laughs to be had, even for the adults. My main problems with the movie stemmed from great talent being completely wasted. Robin Williams is in the movie three times. Brad Garrett, less. Heck, Clint Howard got more screen time than Brad Garrett. Clint Howard! A lot of the characters from the first movie are downplayed to make room for a whole lot of new ones this go around, and it's kind of bad for the movie.
Good new characters, like General Custer and Amelia Earhart make up for it in spades, as well as the Bobble Head Einsteins (Played by Eugene Levy). And all in all, the movie may not be extremely exciting until there's only a half hour to go, but that last half an hour has enough action to make up for it. Also, props to whoever decided to put Amy Adams in aviator pants. That guy deserves a Bud Light: Real Men of Genius commercial.
Wolverine was also kick ass. I only have a few things to say about this as far as what I disliked. First off, who did the special effects? There's one scene where Wolverine walks away from an explosion and it looks like someone photoshopped the explosion in behind him. Second off...Deadpool had better be much different in his own movie than he turns out to be in this one. While it was a good final confrontation for Wolverine and Sabretooth...it's not really Deadpool and they better not keep him that way. Otherwise, the movie rocked my effing socks off. Not quite Star Trek or Dark Knight good...but one of the best movies of the summer, guaranteed.
Doc out (again)
The link is www.ComeAwayWithMe.co.uk/LondonAudioGuide
On another note, I went and saw Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A couple of colon movies (Please forgive the horrible pun).
NatM was very funny. Ben Stiller is really good at family comedies, and he proves it again here. It doesn't quite shine as well as the first one, but there are definitely some good laughs to be had, even for the adults. My main problems with the movie stemmed from great talent being completely wasted. Robin Williams is in the movie three times. Brad Garrett, less. Heck, Clint Howard got more screen time than Brad Garrett. Clint Howard! A lot of the characters from the first movie are downplayed to make room for a whole lot of new ones this go around, and it's kind of bad for the movie.
Good new characters, like General Custer and Amelia Earhart make up for it in spades, as well as the Bobble Head Einsteins (Played by Eugene Levy). And all in all, the movie may not be extremely exciting until there's only a half hour to go, but that last half an hour has enough action to make up for it. Also, props to whoever decided to put Amy Adams in aviator pants. That guy deserves a Bud Light: Real Men of Genius commercial.
Wolverine was also kick ass. I only have a few things to say about this as far as what I disliked. First off, who did the special effects? There's one scene where Wolverine walks away from an explosion and it looks like someone photoshopped the explosion in behind him. Second off...Deadpool had better be much different in his own movie than he turns out to be in this one. While it was a good final confrontation for Wolverine and Sabretooth...it's not really Deadpool and they better not keep him that way. Otherwise, the movie rocked my effing socks off. Not quite Star Trek or Dark Knight good...but one of the best movies of the summer, guaranteed.
Doc out (again)
Yawn
Currently it's a quarter after three in the morning here in scenic Chamberlain/Oacoma. I'm sitting behind the front desk at a slightly prestegious hotel and resort, awaiting for the magic hour of seven o'clock to roll around. Sleeping sounds like a lot of fun right now, but I'd say the biggest draw to get home would be not having to deal with Michael anymore. He's the porter on duty with me tonight, and he's a bit annoying. Mainly because I am deaf, and would have trouble discerning his accent even if he was speaking loud enough for me to hear him at all (which he isn't). While I am writing this post, I am nodding slowly and saying, "Yes, sure, yeah," a bunch of times hoping those are the right things to respond with to whatever the hell it is he's saying. I have informed him of my hearing loss, and reminded him too. He just seems to have confidence issues and doesn't speak much louder than a murmur. Sunlight is a long ways away.
Doc out.
Doc out.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Movies I'm Excited For
I am incredibly excited for two movies that will be releasing in the year or so. The first is “A Christmas Carol.” It is a computer animated movie using motion capture technology, in the vein of “The Polar Express,” and “Beowulf.” The reason for doing this is so the casting directors can justly turn Jim Carrey into the roles of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three spirits of Christmas without having to waste a lot of time on different make up for the actor. There is only one little clip so far, and it already looks promising. Not to mention that Jim Carrey is my favorite actor, and has been since I was a young child. He’s my idol, and if I can reach even half of what he is, in terms of success and accomplishment, then I will be extremely happy with my life.
The next movie I am excited for is “M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender,” (which I believe will be shortened simply to “The Last Airbender” upon release). It’s an adaptation of a children’s cartoon that aired on Nickelodeon. For a children’s cartoon, however, the story was greatly complex, the characters were well written and had real emotions and moral dilemmas, and the premise itself was completely outstanding. Unlike most, I am not worried about M. Night Shyamalan directing, because this is a movie he is making for his children, so he will be keeping it as close to the cartoon as possible. The story had enough twists in it to cover his need for twists without him having to alter the ending anyway. The fact that he brought in new talent for the title character is a plus, meaning rather than just go with some Hollywood teeny bopper who would have probably raked in more money at the initial box office, he held actual casting calls in high schools, and found a young man named Noah Ringer from Texas. Noah has never been in a movie before, probably never dreamed he would have the opportunity. And now here he is, the main character in one of the biggest movies of 2010. That’s really saying something about the commitment to the source material that Mr. Shyamalan has.
Funny how the only image I could find of Jim Carreys' Scrooge model has some guys reflection in it. It looks like a watermark, does it not?
Doc out.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Another Big Issue Deal.
I was thinking about racism, and its apparent, if not reprehensible, role in our society. Racism exists on multiple platforms. It’s no longer a hatred reserved and implemented by Caucasians only. The white male is very much the largest minority in America. It’s a weird thing to say considering that most of the people in power in this country happen to be Caucasian, but that isn’t the point I’m making. Barrack Obama proved that this country isn’t racist enough to prevent a colored person from becoming the most powerful man in the country, so while others may try to use this as an argument and say that the African-Americans are prevented from advancing in society, I say that simply isn’t true, and our president is proof. Whether or not I am a fan of President Obama, which I’m not.
What I mean by the Caucasian male being the largest minority is this. Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia are to stand up comics, African and Hispanic respectively. And they utilize the same mechanics in their jokes and skits on television. They degrade their own people, as well as white people, and anyone else. They play on discriminations and make crude and rude jokes that should be viewed as extremely offensive. A white man, Michael Richards, was doing stand up, and tried to go for some shock jokes in the vein of Chappelle and Mencia, and said the word Nigger multiple times. He did not say it in any less offensive manner than Chappelle or Mencia, yet he was punished and ridiculed immensely for it. Why? Because he is white. That’s it, the only reason.
In Living Color was a skit show run by the Wayans brothers (who are African American). One skit they performed made fun of Star Trek, which they called “The Wrath of Farrakhan.” In it, Farrakhan boards the USS Enterprise, and convinces the rest of the crew to mutiny against Captain Kirk, portrayed by Jim Carrey. At one point, Farrakhan addresses Uhura, telling her that, “All I can see of you is the back of your nappy wig.” This apparently is not offensive, because it was stated by a black person. Fast forward a few years, and Don Imus, a white radio broadcaster, makes the comment, “Nappy headed hoes.” He is fired from his job, and like Richards, publicly ridiculed for it. How is this ok? Why are we allowing this to happen.
This wouldn’t even be an issue in my mind if white people could retaliate in any manner. But for some reason we do not get the rights do declare that something is racist to a white person. There are just as many stereotypes against the white male (white female gets out of it for the sole fact that they can play their own race card, having been greatly discriminated in the past as well). For example, that we are all geeks who can’t play basketball, can’t dance, and by default, just aren‘t very cool. There are pictures online of white people dressed up in a gangster style, and the caption underneath says, “You’re white, get out of those clothes and deal with it.” Yet if I were to upload a picture of Barrack Obama in his business suit, and caption it with, “You’re black, get out of those clothes and deal with it,” I would be labeled a racist for sure.
If people (white people included) do not want stereotypes against them, then they should not enact the stereotypes, and they certainly should not make jokes about the stereotypes under the motive that it is fine for them to do, so long as they are of the race the stereotype is set against. But considering that there are people who fit the stereotypes (whether or not that is even a bad thing) that is unfair to them. The simpler solution would be admitting to ourselves that stereotypes exist, there is not much we can do about it. And then completely ignore the people dealing out the stereotype. Like a childhood bully throwing a tantrum, if no one is listening to him/her, they will stop, because they aren’t receiving attention. That would be a huge step towards gaining true equality of race in this country.
One thing to consider is this. The differences in race is the same method of distinguishing different breeds of animals, ie, the difference between a Saint Bernard and a Mastiff. Races are different in a physical status, they use different languages and dialects. Some races are shorter or taller. If we want to stop racism, one of the first things to do would simply be to abolish the idea of different races and consider us all a part of the human race. But that would be taking away a great majority of individuality from the people of the world, so maybe distinguishing ourselves in this manner isn’t quite as bad as we think.
For all of our technological advances, our world is still surprisingly in a very primitive state. The fact that we still have things like racism, corruption in our governments and the like is proof that we may have made ourselves new toys over the years, but we haven’t advanced as a species in terms of sociality. Our species were facing the same problems back during the time of Christ and before, that we are now. Whether or not this is something that can be changed consciously by us, or if it is something that will just happen naturally over the course of time, is undeterminable, but one thing is for sure, the fact that we can even envision a world where we don’t treat each other with hatred is a good indication that we are taking the right road to reaching that place.
What I mean by the Caucasian male being the largest minority is this. Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia are to stand up comics, African and Hispanic respectively. And they utilize the same mechanics in their jokes and skits on television. They degrade their own people, as well as white people, and anyone else. They play on discriminations and make crude and rude jokes that should be viewed as extremely offensive. A white man, Michael Richards, was doing stand up, and tried to go for some shock jokes in the vein of Chappelle and Mencia, and said the word Nigger multiple times. He did not say it in any less offensive manner than Chappelle or Mencia, yet he was punished and ridiculed immensely for it. Why? Because he is white. That’s it, the only reason.
In Living Color was a skit show run by the Wayans brothers (who are African American). One skit they performed made fun of Star Trek, which they called “The Wrath of Farrakhan.” In it, Farrakhan boards the USS Enterprise, and convinces the rest of the crew to mutiny against Captain Kirk, portrayed by Jim Carrey. At one point, Farrakhan addresses Uhura, telling her that, “All I can see of you is the back of your nappy wig.” This apparently is not offensive, because it was stated by a black person. Fast forward a few years, and Don Imus, a white radio broadcaster, makes the comment, “Nappy headed hoes.” He is fired from his job, and like Richards, publicly ridiculed for it. How is this ok? Why are we allowing this to happen.
This wouldn’t even be an issue in my mind if white people could retaliate in any manner. But for some reason we do not get the rights do declare that something is racist to a white person. There are just as many stereotypes against the white male (white female gets out of it for the sole fact that they can play their own race card, having been greatly discriminated in the past as well). For example, that we are all geeks who can’t play basketball, can’t dance, and by default, just aren‘t very cool. There are pictures online of white people dressed up in a gangster style, and the caption underneath says, “You’re white, get out of those clothes and deal with it.” Yet if I were to upload a picture of Barrack Obama in his business suit, and caption it with, “You’re black, get out of those clothes and deal with it,” I would be labeled a racist for sure.
If people (white people included) do not want stereotypes against them, then they should not enact the stereotypes, and they certainly should not make jokes about the stereotypes under the motive that it is fine for them to do, so long as they are of the race the stereotype is set against. But considering that there are people who fit the stereotypes (whether or not that is even a bad thing) that is unfair to them. The simpler solution would be admitting to ourselves that stereotypes exist, there is not much we can do about it. And then completely ignore the people dealing out the stereotype. Like a childhood bully throwing a tantrum, if no one is listening to him/her, they will stop, because they aren’t receiving attention. That would be a huge step towards gaining true equality of race in this country.
One thing to consider is this. The differences in race is the same method of distinguishing different breeds of animals, ie, the difference between a Saint Bernard and a Mastiff. Races are different in a physical status, they use different languages and dialects. Some races are shorter or taller. If we want to stop racism, one of the first things to do would simply be to abolish the idea of different races and consider us all a part of the human race. But that would be taking away a great majority of individuality from the people of the world, so maybe distinguishing ourselves in this manner isn’t quite as bad as we think.
For all of our technological advances, our world is still surprisingly in a very primitive state. The fact that we still have things like racism, corruption in our governments and the like is proof that we may have made ourselves new toys over the years, but we haven’t advanced as a species in terms of sociality. Our species were facing the same problems back during the time of Christ and before, that we are now. Whether or not this is something that can be changed consciously by us, or if it is something that will just happen naturally over the course of time, is undeterminable, but one thing is for sure, the fact that we can even envision a world where we don’t treat each other with hatred is a good indication that we are taking the right road to reaching that place.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Creation of Evolution
The debate is long standing, do you believe in creationism or evolution? Personally, my view on the matter is this: What's so wrong with both?
I believe in God, and the fact is that whether or not the bible says it or not, we can date fossils of bipedal man back before the bible says Adam and Eve were created. So what gives? Who's wrong? Who's to say anyone is? God created a galaxy and a solar system so vast and diverse that the million different pulls of gravity, and the million different alignments allow for life on this solitary rock. It worked out perfectly for this. If he could do that, then I have to admit that he probably could have created a creature so diverse that all of the little pulls of nature and its environment could cause it to change over a vast amount of time into what we now call homo-sapien.
Basically, if Charles Darwin was smart enough to think of this, why wouldn't God be?
Maybe God understood that to give man the experience he (and she) would need to survive in the world he created they would need time to develop the instincts they would use to keep themselves alive. Maybe he knew the evolutionary process was necessary, but decided that we didn't need to understand it until we were smart enough to. Quite possibly, God created the foundation for man long before Adam and Eve, and merely perfected it with them. If you ask, "God can do anything, why not just make them the way the bible says they were?" Why did God not just make it so the souls of men could escape limbo without the death of his son? Anything worth doing is worth doing right. That's not to say that this is factual, its merely a theory, but it's one that helps explain evolution in God's plan. We are finally able to grasp the concept, tens of thousands of years later...and we the creationists may just be missing the big picture all because it's not recorded in the big book. There are a lot of lifes mysteries not recorded in the big book, but we see them every day and accept them for fact, why not this?
As far as the Evolutionists go, the only thing I have to say to them is this. As stated above, the universe, and the evolutionary cycle are a very diverse bunch. And as stated previously, if Charles Darwin was smart enough to think up evolution then I'm sure the all powerful God probably thought of it first. The concepts of evolution and even the universes complexity are just too precise and perfect to think that they just happened by chance and were not designed that way.
Doc out.
I believe in God, and the fact is that whether or not the bible says it or not, we can date fossils of bipedal man back before the bible says Adam and Eve were created. So what gives? Who's wrong? Who's to say anyone is? God created a galaxy and a solar system so vast and diverse that the million different pulls of gravity, and the million different alignments allow for life on this solitary rock. It worked out perfectly for this. If he could do that, then I have to admit that he probably could have created a creature so diverse that all of the little pulls of nature and its environment could cause it to change over a vast amount of time into what we now call homo-sapien.
Basically, if Charles Darwin was smart enough to think of this, why wouldn't God be?
Maybe God understood that to give man the experience he (and she) would need to survive in the world he created they would need time to develop the instincts they would use to keep themselves alive. Maybe he knew the evolutionary process was necessary, but decided that we didn't need to understand it until we were smart enough to. Quite possibly, God created the foundation for man long before Adam and Eve, and merely perfected it with them. If you ask, "God can do anything, why not just make them the way the bible says they were?" Why did God not just make it so the souls of men could escape limbo without the death of his son? Anything worth doing is worth doing right. That's not to say that this is factual, its merely a theory, but it's one that helps explain evolution in God's plan. We are finally able to grasp the concept, tens of thousands of years later...and we the creationists may just be missing the big picture all because it's not recorded in the big book. There are a lot of lifes mysteries not recorded in the big book, but we see them every day and accept them for fact, why not this?
As far as the Evolutionists go, the only thing I have to say to them is this. As stated above, the universe, and the evolutionary cycle are a very diverse bunch. And as stated previously, if Charles Darwin was smart enough to think up evolution then I'm sure the all powerful God probably thought of it first. The concepts of evolution and even the universes complexity are just too precise and perfect to think that they just happened by chance and were not designed that way.
Doc out.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Went and saw the new Star Trek movie a couple of nights ago. It was really outstanding. I've never really been a huge trekkie, but I followed enough of it to get all the little throwbacks to the fans, and I have to admit that this movie was better than any Star Wars movie, especially the prequel trilogy. Looking forward to sequels. Live long and prosper \\//_
Friday, May 1, 2009
Ergh
I work a night audit job for a hotel (just started that shift, anyway) and over the last three days have gotten 3 hours of sleep. I got off work at about 7 AM this morning, had to meet up with the Army Recruiter so I could go back to the MEPS and get my hearing retested. I failed that again, and a future with the Army seems nonexistent. I got home at 6 pm, to find my younger siblings arrived home before me, and guess what? My sister decided to bring her fucking trombone so she can practice up for band next year. But hey, apparantly God loves me, right?
Doc out.
Doc out.
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