Episode 101: Perhaps I Was A Bit Too Prejudgmental...

I feel I was wrong and I feel that I have to say so. Sometime ago I posted my doubts about the new Rambo and Indiana Jones movies. It seems that George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and ol' Sly have given me a huge shitburger to eat. The good thing about eating a massive pile of failure in judgment is that it's only the first couple bites that are the worst.

The new movie out in theaters Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of The Crystal Skulls was especially impressive but with one huge mistake. While I haven't studied up on The Crystal Skulls beyond the fact that there's one that sits in The British Museum and The Mitchell-Hedges Skull is travelling the world with the supposed discoverer's daughter (believe me when I say this...the story of The Mitchell-Hedges skull is convoluted to say the least), I have studied up on the mysterious lost city allegedly located in Brazil and it's not called Akator, as erroneously stated in the movie. It's called Akakor. This city has not been completely documented in the least and while it does seem to be a fact that it does, indeed, exist, no one's really made it in that deeply to the heart of the Amazon Jungle to document and verify it's existence aside from those Amazonian natives who claim to know of it's whereabouts and it's existence. Really, it was the only small fact that I noticed in the film that was completely off-base. There are other parts of the movie that I can't talk about because I don't want to ruin the film with spoilers but I will say that Harrison Ford's age was played upon in the script as a point for comic relief. As well, the character of Marion Ravenwood is back though you might remember her being portrayed by Karen Allen in Raiders of The Lost Ark though it's not the only reference to the first film. By the way, for those of you who actually did buy the Indiana Jones Adventure Pack which was the boxed set in slim cases of the original trilogy, take out that first one again. Check out the title. They didn't bother changing it when they remastered the film but it's there. On the cover, it now reads Indiana Jones And The Raiders of The Lost Ark. Call me a bit of a nerd but I thought it was fine at the original title.

Rambo was another that was equally as impressive and I was dead wrong again. Stallone didn't kill the bad guys with bad one liners. He managed to keep bad one liners from killing his audience as well. Matter of fact, Stallone barely talked through the whole film. I will say this though, even for his age, he still proved to be in pretty damned good shape running all over the place through a hotter-than-hell jungle in Thailand. Now, I've said that the first film was the most realistic. Let me revise my previous statement to now include exculpatory information that is NOT hearsay. The first and fourth films were the most realistic. Again, like the others, this film was made and released independently and it brought up a situation I'd only ever heard of. As most of my friends know, I grew up Catholic. Our local priest, Father Bluum, had mentioned Burma to us quite a bit but never went into specific detail (unless you count the story in which a Burmese soldier had held a gun to his head) and this was a situation that was VERY near and dear to him. Apparently, it's an issue of importance to Stallone too and, even though the atrocity of the situation in Burma is toned down for the movie...this is still one of the most violent movies ever made. Did I like it? Damned right I did!

Now, off of Rambo for a minute and on to Burma or what's known as the Union of Myanmar. Burma had become independent of the UK on January 4, 1948. From there, an oppressive, military regime took over and began literally brutalizing it's own people. Young, able-bodied boys were simply snatched from their home towns in the dead of night and drafted to become soldiers in the Burmese army. Entire villages were burned. The government began also treating the Buddhist Monks as though they were sub-human. What we would consider the most minor of offenses here are punishable over in Myanmar without trial or charge by lengthy prison sentences or even death. Numerous Christian Missionaries who go there are sometimes never seen nor heard from again. Their offense? Helping Karen Refugees. There is a rebellion over there in the form of the Karen Rebel Army but it seems that the huge government regime is much too powerful for now. These people have even made killing their own people a sport. The two links that the movie espouses are http://www.usacampaignforburma.org/ and http://www.freeburmacoalition.org/ and now, I'm somewhat happy that Stallone made that film. I don't see it as something commercially successful. I think Stallone had something he really believed in and took action on it. Now, I know what you're thinking...What Can I Do? I'm Just One Person and blah, blah, blah.

Well let me fill you in on a little something. The Myanmar Government is SCARED SHITLESS of the new Rambo film. Simply Viewing a bootleg copy can land you in prison for 10 to 20 years and distributing a bootleg copy of it will get you automatic life. No trial, no charge. Just snatched up and in a bamboo cage you go. Do not pass Go, Do Not Collect Jack Shit. Now, if Stallone can WRITE something (let's not belabor the fact that he directed the thing) and scare the shit out of them that way...then YOU can do a little something...even if it's minor. Doesn't have to be huge.

Now, why did I save the most important part for last? Because...IT CAN HAPPEN HERE! The fact that you may think it can't is bullshit...it's wishful thinking. Today alone we hit a huge and historic landmark ruling with people in Washington D.C. now being able to own handguns for home defense. I say it's time we started taking full advantage of this. It's the only thing that's kept our own government in check for so long. Though many unjust laws are passed and even more unjust rulings are handed down each day, I ask you, don't you think that a criminal with a history of violence (and how many of those do we have in congress alone? The estimates might surprise you) would think twice about breaking into a home where he knows or even thinks a gun resides? I know one thing. If I were a violent criminal and I knew that, by law, you couldn't own a gun...you're a prime target if not a repeat target.

Digression from my previous argument aside, sure, no one needs a full-auto SKS or AK-47 to go hunting but our own military is equipped with the latest technology that would rival even the Predator from the movies. They, like the Predator, have thermal imaging, nightvision, Electromagnetic Resonance Imaging, powerful ordinance, etc. We as states and individuals have the right to form militias and train, regulate ourselves and have access to the same types of ordinance that these guys have. Why? Well, the framers of our Constitution asked the same question after we kicked The British back across the pond. Who Will Protect US From The "Protectors?" We hear about it every day, police brutality, crooked cops on the take, dishonest career politicians and, though we like to think that we have moral and ethical obligations before all else...money is to what people are truly loyal.

While I do not advocate violence as a solution to our problems, I say that it's damned nice to have an insurance policy lying around. That old "Ace In The Hole" so to speak. Same principle as having a rubber in the wallet...better to have it and never need it than need it and never have it. If you still want to settle the old handgun debate, I say see the first Indiana Jones film again. You know the scene. Egyptian dude comes out of the crowd, whipping around a huge Scimitar...that's a sword, to you, and Indy shoots him dead with a revolver. End of story. Threat - Equalizer - Survivor...three-step process.

Before you start spewing out statistics at me, let me ask you if you know what types of questions are being specifically asked in order to get those statistics? Furthermore, there's the old saying by Mark Twain, "There are three types of lies in this world; Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics."

Episode 100: It's All In The Posting...

At first, I was going to post about all the past stuff. I was going to blow out some type of musing that read like some year-end review.

After many attempts, I've decided not to do so.

We've finally done it. Episode 100 is here. What's happened since The Misadventure In Shreveport? Not much to tell, really. Work has been the usual bunch of stuff going on. Same old, same old, and nothing really changing but the date.

I do, however, bring news. A friend of mine for 10 years, David Seitz, passed away, finally giving up his battle with cystic fibrosis. The news was particularly devastating to me and to his wife who informed me. He and I had been working on a music project. We were collectively known as Vile Illusion. His end was the music, my end was vocals and lyrics. The saddening thing was that he had wanted to complete some songs and get these songs on a CD before he died. Sadly, it was a dream he never realized. It hit me hard on that one. Two years ago, he and I had started to really put our heads together on the project when he'd become sick. Two years, our project remained shelved and I can't say I blame him...he was sick and battling that. The last thing he needed was the stress of a music project. Seems like he never could get out of that and all the other things mounting on top of him. Over those last two years, when I talked with him, he and I joked about death. Hindsight being what it is, I think it was his way of telling me he thought the end for him was in sight. I think he was trying to prepare himself. That's the hardest part. He left with so much left undone and at the young age of only 34. It's still hard to accept. I feel the most horrible that he never did get to see his dream made reality. I would like to finish it and release it online as a free download but I'm not sure that the production would be worthwhile for some musicians. I have some lyrics finished that he helped write...they total maybe about five songs. I'm currently writing a sixth for him. Perhaps one day, I can get that finished, play it a little on the show and offer it to people for free download so that people can remember him for his total passion and devotion for music.

Goodbye, Dave and thank you. Thank you for teaching me the stark reality that we really don't understand how short our time is and how much our dreams truly mean to us. How hardly I knew you. Catch you on the flipside, my man.

I ended up working the night of March 30th and 31st. No homegoing happened. I travelled through thick patches of fog on those mornings but nothing ever signified that I'd returned home. The world was as it is now. I wouldn't have made it anyway.

Why, you ask? Well, seems that there was this electrical problem with the truck. While I regarded it to be a minor problem (popular consensus was that the problem was a bad ground somewhere) I didn't want it to become a major problem. That was always a habit with me. When I drove any vehicles, I'd drive them hard. That means that minor problems would go by the wayside until they became major problems and, by that time, they were either too costly to fix or too fouled-up to fix. I would not take that problem with Pearl. I took her to Will straight away. As it turns out, it was the damned alternator. I had two choices. Drop $160 on a brand new alternator AND shell out for the labor while I'm trying to keep enough money to put back or drop $50 on a decent one ripped out of a Nissan like my own. Since he had three already, I opted for the "better of two evils" and spent the $50. Now, she's running like a dream again. Thank goodness for that. The thing that ultimately sucked beyond belief is that I stuck around to watch this happen.

Now you know I don't like sunlight and I had debated over whether or not I should pop the boonie hat on. I'd decided against it. Why...I don't know but it's a completely stupid thing to debate. Hot day + Blazing Sun = Sunburn X Skin Crawling Squared. Old enough to know better, too stupid to care, I guess. So my head and the back of my neck are hurting like hell and still crawling. I've got a thick coat of Lubriderm all over my damn skull and to make matters worse, I've got a school of guppies swimming in my underwear...nobody believes me. Long story, don't worry about it.

So, with the truck running properly and my skin feeling like it's undergoing a typical reptilian molting, I'm wondering where the hell the next episodes are going to take us. I mean, we've marked this one with three bits of bad news, one good and one that's going to remain decidedly indifferent.

One bit of good news I do have though. The workouts are still going pretty well. I've also spotted my next sensation...Parkour. For those of you who are unfamiliar with parkour, it was developed by the French as a means of getting emergency workers who are on foot to get to where help was needed in the fastest and most efficient manner possible. The movements can seem almost superhuman but the truth is, they're simply the most natural movements you can make. There's a lot of running involved and you have to be able to think on your feet. You have to be quick, agile, strong and, most importantly, safe. Let's face it, if you can't help anyone if you smash yourself all to hell. The development of these techniques had a truly altruistic intention.

One thing I will not be taking part in is Free Running. It's a variation of Parkour in which you have a bunch of useless movements like backflips and the like. It looks a lot like Jackie Chan style stuff but with Parkour, every movement is useful toward getting to your destination. Why would I need to do a backflip from something high up? That's just asking to jump into a big old pile of FAILURE. Not my bag, thanks.

I've also been spending time on www.i-am-bored.com and www.crazyshit.com looking at the videos. If you've never been there, I highly recommend these two sites. There is literally something for everyone there. You get FreeRunning accidents, martial arts accidents, things blowing up, streetfights, banned commercials, messed-up puppets, cartoons, games...hell, it's all there, including forums. I never truly attend the forums. I would but, hell, I don't feel like doing anything other than just passively watching the videos and when you can watch movies about Iron Man getting wasted at a bar where The Hulk is the bouncer...that's just well worth the time to sit back and have a laugh. Let's face it...MySpace is boring.

While I'm on that subject, I have to ask you all one thing...Please, PLEASE Stop Sending The Invitations To Join Other Online Communities That Resemble High School. I'm sick of these things crossing my inbox. Look, it's really simple. When the site is called My Yearbook, features things like lunch money, popularity ratings, owning people, "selling" pictures, Autograph books, battles over cutest couples or pets or who you'd fuck, high fives, gold stars, flirts, messaging, quizzes, etc...it's like fucking high school. Haven't you people really had enough of that? The social hierarchy in junior high and high school were not forgiving. Now, somehow you need a goddamned web site to do it all over again? Ladies and gentlemen...there IS a world outside your door. That's that thing in front of your place...has a knob on it. All you have to do is walk up to it, grip the knob firmly, twist it, pull and walk outside and go do something. Go outside and do something! I'm not interested in repeating high school. If I did, I'd fuck off every popular moron in the graduating class by venomously reducing them to the sub-scum types they've become. That's right, I'd tell them what their goddamned popularity is going to be worth in the world beyond high school. People, high school is over and done. If you didn't like the way your high school career ran, hey, it's over, don't worry about it anymore. If you liked it and wish you could go back to it, then, obviously you weren't wise enough to make something of yourself once you actually graduated. You're watching the nerds make all the money, you're watching all your jock friends get bloated and lose their hair, you're watching that popularity bullshit shrink in the distance like it never mattered in the first fucking place and the truth is, it doesn't. I am appalled at the sheer gall of people that can't figure out that IT'S FUCKING OVER! DEAL WITH IT!

I know that there are people who treat the internet as though it were high school and that's why I spend large portions of my time watching videos, snagging music or ebooks and doing just what I did in high school...writing and keeping to myself. I do my broadcasts and then that is a wrap. I know what it's like, people. I used to spend hours heaped upon hours at this damned contraption but I found that it's not the only thing out there to do. Get involved with something useful! Grow up, leave high school behind and your college days as well. You're in the mainframe of it now. You're right in the middle of the datastream. Let it help you, not hinder you. That's why there are those of us that write blogs. We know things, we share things, we're one of the last honest-to-God neighborhoods on this planet and, for all our technology, we're not using it to connect...we're using it to isolate ourselves.

If you've got a phone, call someone...quit texting them. Go visit some family instead of sitting at this thing. Turn it off, unplug it, go find out what those in power are doing to you while you're so isolated you can't afford to think. Turn it off now as you read this. Unplug from the machine and go connect.

Dave already taught me how little time we have with each other...quit wasting it, for fuck's sake!

I'm not wasting any more time. I suggest you do the same.

Just turn off the propaganda.

Thank you and goodnight, everyone.

"So as you read this
know my friends
I'd love to stay with you all
Please smile,
Smile when you think about me
my body's gone, that's all..."

-Megadeth "A Tout Le Monde"