The first in a long time
May 24th, 2009 by park
Wow, been awhile since I spewed my angst ridden and troubled mind onto the byways of the interwebs. I’ve been busy dear reader, with something I never thought I would want, much less enjoy. Back in April, my wife gave birth to my son. Since that time I’ve been on combined roller coasters of “I work too much to tend to my family” and “I can sleep enough to make anything feel normal”. Apparently, the wife is much the same. Probably more so since she gets up with the little fella all night. And stays up.
I shouldn’t complain. He’s a great kid. Sleeps alright, eats good, all 20 digits and so forth. But I find I have new worries. Instead of “what am I going to do to feed myself if the economy continues” it has become “how do I provide for my family as things slowly get worse”? Looking back though, it appears this has been the way parents have felt since the beginning of time.
I will spare you from the parental-speech everyone eventually gives into. “Your world changes” “Priorities shift” yada yada. I figure that was a given. What no one really seems to get is that whether or not someone spews it into your ear, it just happens. We’re programmed to be this way. So if you’re scared of having kids, let me be the first to tell you…everyone is. There is never a good time. Just do it, or not, the world will continue to spin. At least for another 15 million years, give or take.
Speaking of the world. I posted a video recently from a place called “Playing for Change”. Now, if you know me, you know that I am pretty much done with society as a whole. The way we live our lives is so counterbalance to the way the world should be I have just given up. This means people like Bono…bother me. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an alright musician (yeah, I said ALRIGHT) and his heart is definitely in the right place. But people who work that hard at an image of altruism just bug the hell out of me. At least Bradgalena have the decency to do good, and still somehow come off as that kooky cat lady down the street. Bono though…I just don’t get. I digress.
Playing for Change was started as a way to use music to unite people. The world, really. Which is not like “your” world, I mean THE world. Alot of what they do is inspired by Bob Marley’s work toward peace and unity, and the spirit lives on in their work.
Galileo once said “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.” If that is true, then surely music is the tapestry upon which God designed his greatest masterpieces.
Music touches us in a wordless way. It can convey love, war, peace or hate with but a few notes. I once heard the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili, set to music and said “That is possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” Even though I did not know what was said, I knew that is was lovely. If you’ve ever heard the Lord’s Prayer, it’s pretty dry. Not precisely what I would call man’s greatest poetry. After all, it was just a template for prayer. The point is, music can transcend languages, it can touch your heart when you didn’t know it was open, and it can sneak in when you least expect it and communicate the will of God.
Once, I got into a fight with a friend. Had a big ol’ argument. I got onto an elevator to go someplace and heard the MUZAK version of “Three Little Birds”. When I left the elevator, I had the tune stuck in my head. By the time I got home I was singing it. And before the day was over I had called and apologized for being so angry. (I was still right, but I should never have gotten that angry.)
Maybe it’s just me. But pay attention to the music you listen to. When everything is quite, and it’s just you and the Almighty sitting around…what song plays in your heart?
Have a VERY happy Memorial Day. And remember those who have gone to war so that we may enjoy the brief times we spend with one another in peace.
It can be done
April 27th, 2009 by park
World of Warcrap?
December 18th, 2008 by park
As anyone who knows me, knows…I play video games. It’s a condition I am fairly certain at this point. My new wife however has dragged me back to an old nemesis, World of Warcraft. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Blizzard for years. On one hand, they make some fantastic games, with cinematic scenes that have single-handed changed the way I see video games as a story telling device. But ever since they moved into the MMO market with World of Warcraft, something has been lacking. Mostly, the story.
With the new expansion Wrath of the Lich King many new promises have been made. A compelling storyline, a new class with a detailed history, a soundtrack that’s actually worth standing on its own; and that compelling writing that made the original games worth playing.
Well, 2 outta 3 ain’t bad I guess. Yea, the storyline for the new Death Knights starts out hot. I mean, it’s everything you wanted to be. Powerful, a single-handed weapon of pure rage and destruction. But the story isn’t yours. And it ends…well…rather stupidly. So we start off wondering what to expect.
So you finish up what you’re doing, go on to Outland, level to close to 70 so you can get back to the new promised content. Fantastic. The first thing you notice is the new soundtrack. The moment you set foot on the new Zepplin, you get a taste of what’s to come. And the music is truly epic. You really can listen to it in your car and people will ask “Oh cool, what movie is that score from?” Apparently my friends know I buy movie scores on a regular basis now, so it has become expected I suppose.
Then you hit the new zone. WOW. The visuals are astounding. Immediately you are thrust into action, a storyline. You follow one of two initial tracks, helping out the Forsaken or starting from Warsong Hold with the Orc forces. And that, my friends, is an epic area. You feel compelled to complete quest lines to find out just what the chaos around you is. You escort turncoats back home. You meet strange new races who inhabit the foreboding cold north. You even learn to pilot the new PVP created siege engines to battle your NPCs and get a taste of what’s to come. Yea, this part gets you. It sinks its teeth into you and hangs on like a pitbull.
At a certain point you hit a cinematic in the quest chains. All action on your part ceases, and a short movie plays. They use the in-game graphics, but pull it off very well. So well, in fact that you can overlook it for the REALLLLLY neat turn of events that leaves your view of the world completely in shambles. It’s just…that cool.
Immediately following this, you join Thrall in Orgrimmar to complete the quest chain which involves the taking of an entire city. (I will leave the surprise for you.) And beginning here, the game turns to slag.
The quest that you run has your character joining the epic heroes of the Horde in a city take-over. During this time, however, you can literally get up, go make a pizza, come back, eat it and still have time to go to the store for more soda. You do squat. Oh, you’re impossibly powerful during it with Thrall’s blessings on you, sure. But honestly there’s just no point in your being there. It’s essentially a cinematic that you stand around in and watch unfold. And it takes FOREVER. Apparently, you run automatically. Thrall…strolls. VERY VERY slowly.
After this whole craptastic let-down you go back to your regularly scheduled quest chains. Back to the fun, right? Well, it really is I suppose. But now you’ve got this taste in your mouth. The Death Knight intro quest, the Cut-scene quest…it is the storyline, yes. But it’s not YOUR story. It doesn’t feel personal. It doesn’t feel…heroic? You’re like Jimmy Olsen. You’re there, you see Superman, you take great pictures and even shake his hand. But then Clark Kent (who vanished) gets to steal the limelight and write the article…you meanwhile have a bi-line of “Photos By-”
I will say this, it’s compelling ENOUGH for what it is. Some new technology is allowing the stories to change the environments around you. So your actions can have lasting impact on your surroundings, meanwhile your friends get to experience the same story. So while YOU save the giant king, and for you the giant king is thankful and no longer where you first found him (as though you did nothing) your friends will still find him there, ready to respond for their chance to shine.
So, insofar as MMOs go…this expansion paves the way for us all to enjoy games more than we’ve every had the opportunity to in the past. This in itself is amazing. Since their beginning Blizzard hasn’t done much that I consider “original”. Most of their art assets are ripped directly from Warhammer, even the big rift in the middle of the water. Starcraft was just a retelling of Warhammer 40k. The difference is that while it’s painfully obvious where they draw influence, they make it distinctly their own. And now, they’ve moved past what other games have done, and created something whole cloth new. I, for one, am rather excited about what the future holds now for gamers.
So, if they continue their ways, let us hope the storylines gets sharper, the stories become more personal, and we see this kind of innovation from Blizzard for some time to come. They may yet warm my heart back to them.
In the meantime…death to the Alliance and their gnome lapdogs.
The Day the Earth Went “Whoa”
November 12th, 2008 by park
So, as everyone knows by now, they’ve remade “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. Starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connolly, they’ve decided instead of the original story about a newsman who stays overnight to see what the visitor is doing to go with a more “the environment is dying, and you have to die” idea.
Okay, first off, it’s The Day the Earth Stood Still. It’s a classic that lives and breathes even in today’s environment. The original film, made in 1951, was about our exploration into Atomic Energy and how it could someday tear us apart if we kept acting like complete asses to each other. A brilliant story that begs us to look at one another not as enemies, but as one race. I like to think in my small little brain that this reverberation of warning went on to pull us out of the dark cold-war status we were in for so long. Probably not true, but it’s my fantasy so back off.
Secondly, it’s important to note that this is a remake of a classic. And while I detest remakes, this is the lowest form of that flattery. Inspiration, sure, I can buy that. But a remake it is not. The original film is so far off the basis of the story it was based on as to be shocking. This follow-up remake is so far off…well it’s just damned sad is what it is.
See, in the original story “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates it explores what kind of strangeness can happen when our limited understanding of sentience is dwarfed by the revelation that not everything from a strange-far-off world would fit into our little paradigm. You see, Gnut (the robot they call Gort in the film) is not the servant, but the master. It’s a very revealing story about how we try to place our limits onto others.
In the original film from 1951 Klaatu is a visitor who is shot, but then heals miraculously and calls a summit of all earth’s greatest thinkers. There, he tells them that our tinkering with forces outside our understanding could be the potential downfall of our planet or make us a threat to our other galactic neighbors. Therefore, we either learn to get along, or our neighbors will put a stop to the bickering. It’s a great warning about the cold war, and how we could so easily destroy ourselves playing with nuclear weapons. It was a warning that was so far outside its time I think the entire country was a bit shaken by it.
The changes made to the story between the written short story and the film where drastic, to say the least. I understand this new telling is supposed to be about environmentalism. Gee, didn’t see that coming, did you? Let’s hope no one goes, it flops and maybe we can stem this tide of remakes and poor excuses for film making. Seriously. Enough.
Scientology Just Wants to have fun
October 28th, 2008 by park
I was thinking. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on the more…fringe religions. Mormons, Scientology, 7th Day whosit, Pentecostal. Then I remembered, that would go against MY belief system. And therefore not a good thing. Because heck, even if they are wrong, they stick to their guns.
Why am I so fixated on my dislike for Scientology? I mean, aside from it not actually BEING a religion and all. At least the Mormons used to let you marry more than one woman! But Scientology doesn’t even deserve the respect of having been…anything. They aren’t a persecuted minority, they do that themselves. They aren’t an empire spanning, cultural changing state church. They are dogmatic about…insofar as I can tell…nothing. In fact, emptying your head seems to be their biggest draw.
Just wait, someday we may yet see this:
Samuel Clemens should be hung!
October 19th, 2008 by park
Well, that’s what they say in this day and age. I had forgotten who said this, until I read an issue of Spider Man. Yep, Spider Man. And it comes from Captain America himself. You see, in the Marvel comics they’ve been fighting a war among themselves over the government’s decision to take away a masked hero’s right to privacy. Whoever they are, they must come under the sway of the government. Well, Iron Man (who no one knows is Tony Stark) says they should all signup and follow along. Captain America (who EVERYONE knows is Private Steve Rogers) decides it goes against what is right.
So Captain America defies his government. I was blown away by that, only because he never put down the shield and uniform. He never stopped being Captain America. I mean, I can believe he’d defy a government…heck he’s done that before. But he removed his uniform, stopped being “Captain America”. Not this time though. And the whole event has had me wondering “why?”. Better yet, HOW.
Then I read Amazing Spider Man #537.
Pete says: C’mon granpa Steve. Tell us a story. When the whole country is against you…when it’s all bearing down on you like some kind of ten-ton weight, and you don’t know your own heart anymore sometimes…how does someone like YOU deal with it? I mean, you practically ARE the country.
How does the man who is the country react when the country goes a different way?
You know what he said?
Cap turns away and says, “I remember the first time I really understood what it was to be an American…What it was to be a patriot.”
“I was just a kid…A million years ago, it seems sometimes. Maybe twelve. I was reading Mark Twain.
And he wrote something that struck me right down to my core…something so powerful, so true, that it changed my life. I memorized it so I could repeat it to myself, over and over across the years.
He wrote –
‘In a republic, who is the country?
Is it the government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the government is merely a temporary servant: it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. It’s function is to obey orders, not originate them.
Who, then is the country? Is it the newspaper? Is it the pulpit? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it, they have not command, they have only their little share in the command.
In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country: In a republic it is the common voice of the people each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak.
It is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catchphrases of politicians.
Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man.
To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.
If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have your duty by yourself and by your country. Hold up your head. You have nothing to be ashamed of’.”
Cap continues, “Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.
This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences.
When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree besides the river of truth, and tell the whole world–
–No you move.”
Read it. Seriously. That one scene is frickin incredible. And this is what proves that comics are more than funny pictures. It shows the depths these writers look to when writing this stuff. Anyway, for those of you who want to read Samuel Clemens’ original quote in its entirety, it goes like:
Papers of the Adams Family
* Against our traditions we are now entering upon an unjust and trivial war, a war against a helpless people, and for a base object — robbery. At first our citizens spoke out against this thing, by an impulse natural to their training. Today they have turned, and their voice is the other way. What caused the change? Merely a politician’s trick — a high-sounding phrase, a blood-stirring phrase which turned their uncritical heads: Our Country, right or wrong! An empty phrase, a silly phrase. It was shouted by every newspaper, it was thundered from the pulpit, the Superintendent of Public Instruction placarded it in every schoolhouse in the land, the War Department inscribed it upon the flag. And every man who failed to shout it or who was silent, was proclaimed a traitor — none but those others were patriots. To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, “Our Country, right or wrong,” and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation?
For in a republic, who is “the Country”? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant — merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is “the country?” Is it the newspaper? Is it the pulpit? Is it the school-superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in the thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn’t.* In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country; in a republic it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of politicians. Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country — hold up your head! You have nothing to be ashamed of.
Only when a republic’s life is in danger should a man uphold his government when it is in the wrong. There is no other time.
This Republic’s life is not in peril. The nation has sold its honor for a phrase. It has swung itself loose from its safe anchorage and is drifting, its helm is in pirate hands.
It’s important. We’re not Democrats, or Republicans or Libertarians. We’re a country. WE the people. And I think we’ve completely lost sight of that fact. And I hope we someday find our way back before it’s too late.
HEY STUPID!
October 16th, 2008 by park
And because of this, I just wanted you all to know I talk to people like this all the time. And if you don’t, come do what I do!
“What you just said, is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling ,incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul. ”
And for the record, I love this as well:
One for the books!
September 29th, 2008 by park
Read this
Okay, here’s the thing. The kid was illegal. The kid now going to be legal. But still underage. The outrage…is it because he’s a kid, but could POTENTIALLY be 16? Or because he’s an alien? Or because…ARRRRG! *head splode*
Maybe I am just tired. But it struck me as somewhat funny. This woman took advantage of a youth, no doubt. But she ran to MEXICO. A place I would never never wanna be in prison.
Wow. Yeah I am tired, my head hurts.
Hallallujah!
August 26th, 2008 by park
I want you to understand, I am a walking hypocrisy. I grew up on a massive overdose of Star Wars, and when the new films came out I lost my faith (so to speak). Jar Jar Binks was a devil, Lucas lost his chops, and there was far too much demand placed on him to direct, when someone else should have taken over. And what the hell man? Midi-chlorians?!! Seriously. It just ruined the whole mystical vibe that I was jivin’ on.
Then some asshat came along and says to me “you may not get it, but Ewoks were the same way.” I despaired. Ewoks, those cute fuzzy little guys…OH MY GOD I WAS SETUP! I was a kid, and because of that I was out of focus on the whole issue. They were cool man! Little primitive pygmies living in tree huts are cool to this day! Everyone says they were made to appeal to children, well I have news for ya brother, they STILL appeal to me, and JarJar is still an idiotic caricature of a simple island folk! So take that, Mr. Ewok hater. I may hate Lucas and Star Wars now, but I will defend an ewok to my death bed.
Anyway, watch this…there is a surprise toward the end. Amen!
Ernie Kovacs
August 25th, 2008 by park
When I was a kid, I watched a lot of Nick at Night. Honestly, I just enjoyed the shows more. The humor was more out there, and they were still doing wacky things and experimenting with the medium.
Possibly one of the greatest minds of “classic” television was Ernie Kovacs, a man who was imbued with both great intelligence, good taste (the man smoked Havanas!), and incredible comic timing. He died far far too young. And before you get started on cigar smoking ya nazi, it was from a car crash. He had just finished working on some stuff for the show, headed home and had an accident. A tragic loss for the entire world I fear. But he left behind some fantastic moments. This is my particular favorite, and I cannot stop myself from laughing everytime I see it. In point of fact, it probably influenced my choice in online handles more than any other. So here’s Ernie, his wife, and a guest star (this might have even been Frank Sinatra, though I am not sure) with Nairobi Trio: