Random Things

Random Things

 ~Jaden Smith in a dress: Okay, this sounds like a joke, but it isn't. For some reason, Jaden decided to wear a dress for a stupid promotional for Louis Vuitton. I am not sure if this is supposed to be a statement or just shitty way to get people talking about their brand. It should also be noted that Vuitton has permission to use FF character Lightening. Anyway, when your family is connected to a few cults, your son in a dress isn't that special. What the f' does all this mean?

 

~Captain America one: Okay, this movie really holds up. While I think Captain America 2 is a way better film, the first movie does stand up. It is clearly a tribute to those WWII movies from the 60s. And, Tommy Lee Jones is great as the tough leading officer. And, I like that Captain 2 works on the threads from the first movie. I also like that Cap always has a team with him no matter what. (now, it is the Avengers) 

~Bill Cosby Arrested: I am so pleased to see this guy finally get arrested for his evil ways. Cosby has been getting away with this for too long and ruined too many lives. I still don't understand why people defend him. I don't believe there will be anything to come of this new arrest due to the ten years that have passed. Bill will squeeze out of this mess again. I also can't seem to understand what was his wife's role in this whole thing. There are some strange unsaid things that were agreed upon between the two. Bill is such a sad, sad little old man. 

 

2016, Welcome, and have a seat.

2016, Welcome, and have a seat. 

 2016, please be good to me.  

2015 was one of the worst years of my life. My body turned in on itself and I ended up in the hospital. I am still recovering. Then I lost two family members to cancer and lost a very close uncle. One of my former writing friends lost his wife to cancer.

I can't seem to comprehend why people celebrate the end and beginning of a year.

At this point, I just want 2016 not to be shitty. It just feels like this year is going to be bad too. 

You're Fat and Ugly Card on a subway

You're Fat and Ugly Card

Hey, I want someone to hand me one of these things. However, given that I am a tall big black man, I am almost certain one of these hipster douche bags will not give me one.  A young lady in the UK got this card while on the subway, (not the restaurant).

(Now, it does seem strange that this card was handed to a young lady that is in way fat, which seems odd)

I guess these hipsters have been giving out these “cards against fat” all over the place.

From Sean K on twitter, ((Young man just got on train at Oxford Circus, gave printed card saying YOU'RE FAT to overweight girl. He jumped off. She read it, & cried. ))

I at first thought this was just real life trolling. However. you see, this feels like an extreme leftist thing that goes beyond the fat-shaming trend, but leans so far left into “Food Shaming”. Because you eat so much food, you're shaming those that can't afford to get fat like you.

I still get a kick out of this because it takes major dick-age to hand this note out to fat people (weight challenged). Do you not understand we can grab you and eat your hipster ass? We might not be able to run after you, but we can reach for you like a bucket of chicken.  Remember, we're always hunger.  And, Hipster are very tasty.  We love eating assholes in Thundercats shirts and vintage scarfs.  

I mean who gives out cards like this? Just tweet me the insulting note...if I had Twitter.  

It seems this cartoon is causing a bit of an outcry...

 It seems this cartoon is causing a bit of an outcry...

You know what? I actually find this cartoon rather amusing and true. There is no way I'd give my children a BB gun due to the fact they are likely to get shot by some overzealous cops. Besides, this is parody, relax, PD.

It's referencing A Christmas Story, but with a twist. And, I am not even sure any kid would get a BB gun these days.   And, you're only going to cause trouble with a BB gun.  

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Part 2 of 3)

 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Part 2 of 3)

As I wrote before, JJ and the other writers went out of their way to make the new characters as interesting as possible. I really couldn't find one boring or stupid character out of the new batch. Even the smaller villains have something interesting traits right down to some of the Stormtroopers. I think these new characters fit into the newer environment with ease. Remember this is set 30 odd years after ep6. So, the universe they live in is much different.

The old cast is just great in their old roles. Each old character gets a “Hey remember me moment.” I love seeing these old friends I grew up watching finally come back. Plus, there are nice interactions between the old and new cast members. And, I love every minute of these interactions.

BB-8: I truly love this character a lot. He is one of my favorite characters from the new cast. He has as much personally as R2-D2, but completely different. This robot has a lot of emotion, and he really shines in the first two acts of the movie. BB-8 has a great moment where he sees his master again and rolls frantically toward him as a dog does when he meets his owner after period of absence. He's right up there with RD-D2 as far as robot characters are concerned. This robot is great.

Rey: For all purposes, Rey is the main hero in the same manner as Luke in many ways. Yet, she lives a slightly rougher life than Luke because she is a scavenger and deals with people that are shady. I think Daisy does amazing job and she is going to be a great lead actress for the rest of the series. I also like that she is a female lead that can take care of herself. Daisy Ridley is a wonderful addition to the franchise and carries herself among the old cast. That was very good casting, that's a plus given the casting in the prequels. She is the new Luke Skywalker.

Finn: Finn is played by John Boyega is an bright eyed former Stormtrooper. He is literally new to the rest of the world when he defects. He grew up only knowing the First Order and we get to see him view things through free eyes and it is fun. Speaking of fun, I love the way Rey and Finn just think on the fly when trying to solve problems. They're a bit looser with things than the old guard.

Kylo Ren: He's the main bad guy front and center, but he's working for a bigger bad guy. Kylo appears as the total badass villain that knows how to use the force. He has a new bag of force tricks and they're cool. However, Ren is a highly flawed character. He's a spoiled brat that has fits of rage when something doesn't go his way. He is a wannabe Sith lord, but doesn't have the skill like Maul or Vader. He's all power and no true skill, and he wants to be the total badass by dressing and sounding like the Sith guys. He is not Vader, but he has the potential to become like his “hero”.

He's still a compelling villain with an interesting past and a tragic one at that. I won't give away history behind this guy, but you will like it. I know a lot o people had a problem with him being a somewhat weaker villain than Vader, but I like that because he will become a total badass guy in the next two movies.

Poe Dameron : He's part Luke (ep 4) and part Han Solo in his attitude. He has swagger, he's a good pilot and very good sniper too. He truly fits into the franchise. He's relationship with Finn is very cool and almost mirrors Han and Luke's relationship. They're basically brothers. I also love the relationship he has with his droid BB8. It feels like a loving relationship. You can see how much they care for each other just in that opening scene.

Maz Kanata: She is a CGI characters that isn't annoying. She is a bit restrained. And, her voice actress Lupita Nyong'o brings a lot of heart to this wise character. She is a spiritual version of Yoda.

Han Solo: Let's just say that he is very important character to the overall plot of Force Awakens. Han is not the same character he was at the end of Return of the Jedi. He's basically reset himself back to his smuggler days, but without the Falcon. Ford is really energized in this movie compared to his role in Return. Ford is truly remarkable reprising his role and he has the biggest part from the old cast of characters. I loved his relationship with both Rey and Finn. He's almost a father figure to these too. Ford is having a lot of fun.

Princess Leia: She is the driving force for the plot, but you're not going to see her for the first two acts. Her character is the reason the plot moves forward. Carrie is a bit shaky in a few scenes and you can tell she's lived a hard life. However, she looks healthy and good.  

ST. Matthews Mall riot?

 ST. Matthews Mall riot?

Because I am totally out of the loop about local things, I only heard about this incident from a rider I drove from the airport. They were out of town and heard about it in that city they were in. They mentioned it to me and I had no idea what had happened.

They couldn't believe the news stated that 2 thousand teenagers ran amok in the east-end of a Louisville Mall. Now, I could say ST. Matthews isn't part of Louisville, because it has its own police force, but it is a part of Louisville. Jeffersontown, ST. Matthews and Louisville PD had to come in to calm things down.

When I see news reports, I keep seeing black teens running pass the camera and people aren't really addressing it. Remember, we had an incident on the waterfront were a mob of black teens went on a rampage attacking people,cars and stores. Again, people didn't address this factor in reporting it. We had another incident happen in Memphis where a bunch of teenage black kids went on a similar rampage and attack people and caused damage.

When I was a teen, I can't remember things like this happening. It just feels like our black youths (yuts) seem to be more uncontrollable and cause major damage and chaos in their wake. No one from the left-leaning media or even the police department don't want to address this. There is a growing problem in the black community and no one (including Black Lives Matters) want to talk about. I think the problem does start with the parents and the culture we've built over the 30 plus years after the civil rights.

I shake my head every time I see an incident like this.

BTW, NO ONE has been arrested for this thing. Really?

And, let's get into another aspect of this story. Due the large amount of black kids involved in this, there will be some racial blow-back. Being a black person in D'ville, I am willing to bet most of these kids are coming from West and South end and parts of downtown (smoke town). They're entering an area that's upper middle to high class in the Oxmor/Matthews area. Given this incident, these rich people are going to be more likely to push anyone that doesn't fit their demo out of the area, including the two malls, which are almost next door to each other (I'm not making this up. They're 2-3 minutes away from each other.) We'll get an environment similar to the one that happened on Fourth Street, where they aggressively tried to keep the “darker complexions” out of the area. And, you remember the things they did to keep us out. You're going to see these same things applied here. I don't agree with it, but you give the racists the tools they need to segregate us from their areas.

Break into a Taco Joint become viral

Break into a Taco Joint become viral

I love the humor these owners have over a horrible thing that happened. And, who breaks into a closed taco place? That seems like a crackhead thing to do to me. I also like how they make this into ad for their store as well. I am willing to go to this place just because of the clever ad.

BTW, the taco joint receives really good reviews. And, the cash boxes they stole didn't have any money in them. What a bunch of stupid people. 

Do people still use Machinima?

Do people still use Machinima?

I remember a bunch of partners leaving the network after all the bullshit that came out about them. Are they even as strong as they were before? I just haven't heard about them in years.  

The New Geek/Nerd

“Back in high school, you and I wouldn't have gotten along very well.”

I said this statement to a guy I was friendly with at work. He was a bit dismayed by that statement, but it was true. He was a sports guy that generally had a lot of girlfriends in school and was very popular. I wasn't trying to be mean, but we would have never gotten along in high school due to the social structure during the 90s. Now, given the way geek-culture has become popular, I actually get along with people that I would have otherwise hated and been jealous of back in the day.

Things have changed.

Because of the new Star Wars movie, I seeing people who otherwise would beat the shit out of the kid that wore or played with Star Wars merchandise. And, it sort of got me upset because these are the same people that would tease and beat the shit out of these nerds and geeks, and now they fully embrace it. Heck, you have “normal” folks talking about geeky things like Marvel's civil war. (My Little Pony, TMNT and TF)

I was going to write this post, but Samurai Frog wrote a good post about this very subject, much better than I could. He gives us a more of a progressive view of why we need to be more forgiving of the way things are in geek culture. We do need to be more open to our culture, but we shouldn't forget that literally many of us got beat up and made fun of due to our awkward and nerdy ways.

While there is still bullying going on in school, there isn't as much, because we've fought hard to make it a mainstream thing. Nerds have created technology the cool kids rely on to send out their stupid tweets and duckface pictures. And, the geeks are the ones that make all the movies,video games, and TV shows they consume. I get asked about franchises and stories because I am well versed in pop culture history.

I still can't get over the isolation and taunts for being different, and I watched more nerdy . It hurt a lot. And, now I see how mainstream all this nerd/geek has become. And, my petty side says the people that claim to be geeks and nerds (the ones that now have the hot girlfriends and social statuses) don't have it as bad makes me a bit jealous and mad. I have a hard time forgiving people and the past tends to remain with me. Just like others, we need to forgive and be open to letting these people embrace our culture, even I need to remember this.

Yes, we've created this new geek/nerd world, but the scars from the past are still there.   

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Part 1 of 3)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Part 1 of 3)

I grew up watching Star Wars and had some of the toys. I fondly remember having a X-Wing toy and I would play with it for hours. I was that kind of Star Wars fan. When Disney announced that they bought the rights the franchise, I was excited. Some new creative people could be given the reigns and breath new life into a franchise that creatively was trapped under Lucas. If Star Wars was going to survive, it needed a change.

Wow, J.J. Abrams somehow managed to make a movie with some more compelling characters than most of the ones from the prequels. This movie outshines most of things done in the prequels by light years. From the opening pan down from the crawl to the ending, The Force Awakens truly feels like a Star Wars movie, an old school movie. TFA is a lot of fun and had me in tears when I witnessed old characters reconnecting for the first time in years. This movie carries all the fun chase and action scenes we've come to love from all the SW movies. With the SW Rebels and this movie, Star Wars feels new, fun and interesting again.

JJ managed to take out of the goofy and stilted dialogue from prequels, but managed to keep the wonderful world building background elements that I was fond of during Episodes 1-3. The character interactions and the actions scenes are frantic and full of life with some good editing.

The planet Jakku feels like living place with tons of things going on at a certain time. I also like all the Empire/Rebel wreckage buried around the planet. The planet has character. And, I was a little worried it would feel a bit too much like an updated Tatooine, but it certainly isn't that planet. You can see all the old movie ships and walkers from the old series buried throughout Jakku. I hope we see this movie again and this will be our new Tatooine.

The movie clearly has the same story structure as A New Hope and some of the beats are the same (BB-8 has the plans/maps, and the bad guys want it). Heck the movie even pans down to a star destroyer just like Episode IV, yet it kind of feels like Empire Strikes Back with that opening and the bad guys dropping drop-ships. Some might say the movie tries too much to rehash the old movies, but I see it as a tribute and homage to the old movies. However, this new movie also changes up the old SW tropes as well. They'll set up familiar things and go in a different path. I really enjoyed that.

BTW, the Disney logo doesn't appear at the beginning in any shape or form. It actually just opens up on the Lucasfilm logo and Bam! It goes into the crawl and the music. Why not piss off FOX by having your shiny logo replace theirs and sticking it to that studio one more time? It would have felt right to have the main studio at the beginning of the movie, if you're trying to capture the old SW movies.

Since this is set 30 odd years from Return of the Jedi, it must cover a lot of back story. For the most part, it does it far better than the Prequels ever could imagine. However, there are some wobbly bits involving the back story leading up the film that were fleshed out. I am sure these points were filmed, but deleted from the movie. I am almost certain of it due to the fact JJ tends to delete things that would fill in plothole because he wants to help move the pacing along. As a former fictional writer, I feel this is problematic sometimes (like when he deleted the Klingon subplot from his Star Trek movie). I'll get into that later.

Like I've stated before, the creative team behind this movie are people like you and I that have grown up watching SW movies, because there seems to be care given to the characters and this is where the movie honestly shines. The best parts of this movie are the characters.

Every character has his or her moment...

James Update

I've been extremely busy due to the long hours working at my real job (not career), so I can't write as much.  However, I did see the new Star Wars movie and plan on writing a super long review.  I can get a lot of writing down when I rideshare (between request).  So when I get a break there will be more posts.  

Star Trek TNG: The Most Toys

The Most Toys

Mission Log just covered the TNG episode The Most Toys, which is one of my favorite episodes from the series. Basically, a Collector of rare things fakes Data's death and kidnaps him. I love the interactions between Data and his kidnapper(s). Kivas Fajo and Data have some great moments together. Data also has some good moments with Fajo's companion/lover Varria.

The episode is just all around very entertaining.

-Saul Rubinek is brilliant as the asshole Fajo. He's character is entertaining because he's goofy yet also cold blooded. He turns his weapon on her when Data doesn't sit in his chair. I also like how giddy he behaves when he shows his collection to Data. What a great character.

-Jane Daly as Varria: Fajo's companion is another great actress that has a “face-turn” in the episode and it is justified because Fajo is a really bad guy. Then she has that creepy moment where she gets ripped apart by the deadly disruptor. That scream is creepy.

-Was Marvel's The Collector (Guardians of the Galaxy) created before this episode's Fajo? They are so similar that you can't hide it. They collect living things and artwork and they both act strange.

-David Rapport was the original Fajo that they cast. You might remember him from Time Bandits and many other things. They actually filmed two days with him, before he attempted to commit suicide. He had a really bad bout of depression. The producers had to quickly recast the role and brought in Sal . And, his take was completely different. BTW, David did end up killing himself later I believe in a park. The footage of Rapport as Fajo is out there. I haven't seen it though.

-There is a great moment where Fajo orders a “drink” and raises the glass to his mouth, but tosses it on Data's uniform. He faked out Data, and it is a nice touch that only a good actor could bring like Sal.

-Did Data pull the trigger out of emotion or logic?: Whereas I would have pulled the trigger out of rage of seeing Varia being ripped apart by that weapon, I think Data used logic to justify killing Fajo (attempted). Now, the “emotional” part was Data (sort of) lying to Riker after being transported back. He didn't lie, but merely kept some of the info about the distruptor firing close to his vest. This was really good writing.

The Mission Log guys do mention that Data does seem to gloat toward Faja when he's in his holding cell. I have to agree that seems rather emotional in a cold sort of way. Plus, I love how the episode ends with the defeated Fajo in a cell and Data getting the last word in. Damn, Data. 

Random Things

 Random Things

~Re-watching Dexter: Showtime ha dumped the entire series of Dexter onto its on-demand on cable. I love the sheer zany nature of that first season. James Doakes is also my favorite character on the show. He hates Dexter and seems to know he's a bit off. I also like how Doakes is rude and crude to everyone. I really am not a fan of Rita and her side story stuff. I just can't get into the domesticated junk. I understand it is a cover for Dexter, but damn they spend a lot of time on it. It is also funny to see how much technology has changed since the mid-2000s. Surprise MF'er.

~Putin and Trump would get along well: Well, that makes sense. Both like to clamp down on personal rights. Both have big and shitty personalities. And, love that Putin calls Trump “Bright and Talented”. Having these two in power would make this planet a terrible place. Could you imagine the chaos around the planet with these two egos in power? How about a reality show with these two fools. You can't make this shit up.

~The New Star Wars movie: I am going to try to watch this movie sometime this weekend. I want to avoid most of the fanboys. Right now, the movie is hovering at 95%. It looks like people are really liking this movie, and JJ has out Lucas-ed Lucas. The cast seems to get the major praise from the critics. I will probably have my review up in a few days after I watch it. (in parts) I'm sure Lucas is disinterested in this movie because they ignored all his suggestions.