Soapbox - Comics and Death

This is probably going to be a rather quick soapbox, but who knows, I may end up writing a book.  This one is about the state of comic books as I see it right now, specifically with an event that just happened in DC Comics.

Without anymore fanfare...

I've read comic books, on and off, for most of my life.  I've seen the rise and fall of the Phoenix.  Had a "Death in the Family".  I witnessed the birth of Image Comics and many other startup brands.  Lived through the "Crisis".  And even saw the cosmic power of the Infinity Gauntlet.  Among so many other events.  I have pretty much my entire family to thank for this.  My mom and dad who saw it as reading and to an extent artwork.  And my older brother who enjoyed them before me.  He and I, to this day, will send random texts to each other just to clarify something from our childhood which, thanks to ret-conning, no longer matters.

I love comics, I think it is safe to say, though I do not throw down the cash that I (read as 'my parents') used to on them, but I still try to keep abreast of what is going on in the greater world of "funny books".  

Once upon a time it was considered a shocking event when a superhero would die.  "They killed Robin?! How could they do that?"  It didn't happen that often, but it did happen.  The death of a super-villain was much more common, as, well, they were villains.  Eventually their nefarious plots would catch up to them.  But a hero?  The men and women (and aliens) that are supposed to stand up for the "little guy" in these modern-day fairy tales?  But, that's the thing.  These characters ARE heroes.  And, though they are fairy tales, they are supposed to be grounded a tiny bit in reality.  In reality, heroes die.  It's a sad fact of life.  Hell, it's how a lot of them BECAME heroes.  By sacrificing themselves for someone or something else.

For the most part, and I am by no means a comic book historian, in the earlier days of comic books when a superhero was killed off, they stayed dead.  The thought of them dying was such a traumatic thing to readers that the writers, appropriately, thought that bringing them back was a bit of a heel.  That changed dramatically in the 1970's and on through to today.  It basically became a way of sparking interest in a comic book or a specific character.  "Hey, let's kill of Superhero X because his comic isn't selling right now.  In a year or so, we will bring him back, saying that he wasn't really dead or that it was her clone or that it was a doppelganger from another Earth."  Because of this we, as readers of comics, have become immune to when almost any "big name" comic character is killed in a book.  We know that it just won't stick.

For a LONG time in comics there was a joke.  It went basically like this:

No one stays dead in comics.  Except Captain Marvel.  He's dead.

Earlier this week, DC Comics killed Superman.  

Again.  

Not for the 2nd or 3rd time.  More like the fifth.  And no one really cares.  Why?  Because it is impossible for us to have sympathy for this character any longer.  I was a huge Superman fan growing up.  The "Man of Steel" was the best.  I probably would be putting it lightly if I said that I was just heartbroken in 1992 when the alien killing machine named Doomsday killed Kal-El of Krypton.

But...he didn't.  He apparently just beat him so badly that he basically went into a life-preserving coma so that he could heal.  I'm pretty sure that was the end of me being a hard-core comic book reader.  I still LOVED comics.  But I didn't have any pathos for the characters any longer.  How could I?  How could any of us?  No matter how good the writing or artwork is, if the character can't really die and STAY dead (at least for a decade or two) then we can't see any real growth in the character.

Just a quick re-cap of "dead" comic book heroes:

• Superman - dea...nope, already another Superman, who is actually the old Superman, taking his place (yeah, my head hurt saying that one).
• Robin (Jason Todd) - nope, he came back as the Red Hood
• Jean Grey - dead-ish.  While most comic book readers know, how couldn't you, that the Phoenix wasn't really Jean, it was just a Jean-shell while she was healing.  Jean was actually killed a while ago for reals...but now she is back as a teenager...again.  
• Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) - Hahaha, yeah, no.  Hal got possessed.  Killed a whole bunch of other GL's (including Kilowog, that didn't stick either), died reigniting the damn sun, got to be the new Spectre, and then go to be alive again.  Also, got to be YOUNGER than before.  Of course he did.
• Bucky Barnes - I assume most of you have seen Captain America, Captain America 2, and Captain America 3 by now.  I'll let that answer that one.
• Captain America - Dead in the 40's.  Killed in the 00's.  Now a Hydra agent (as of this week), so the character is dead to me no matter what.

Yeah, time to burn the ol' soapbox.

Best Director of All Time That You Never Really Knew

Warning, this post may be one of my longer ones, apologies in advance.

While this is a purely opinionated post, aren't they all, I thought I'd do a write-up on one of, if not THE, best directors of all time: John Carpenter.  Even if you can't place the name, you've said it because a good number of his movie's titles begin "John Carpenter's...".  This post may come off as something from a fanboy, that's because it is.  So sit back, relax, and let the man with eerie ability to make awesome theme music for all of his movies take you away.

John Carpenter has almost 30 directing credits to his name, over 40 writing credits, and 40 soundtrack credits.  While a good number of these overlap, that's still a lot of damn work for one man to have done, especially when you consider that a lot of the "big" directors only do that, direct.  They don't write a script or edit it.  They don't make any additions to the  score of a movie.  They just direct (which isn't to say that is a small thing, but when compared with someone who wears so many hats during a movie...yeah, it's kind of weak). 

A brief history of the man.  He was born in 1948 in Carthage, NY to a music professor father and moved to Kentucky in 1953 as his father became the chair of the music department at Western Kentucky University, where John first went to college.  He later transferred to the University of Southern California to pursue his film career, though he never graduated.

While at USC he made his first film, Captain Voyeur (yes, I know it sounds like a bad porno film, but it's not).  While this first film was only 8-minutes long it showcased a lot of things that would be in one of his later hits (more on that particular hit later).  He dropped out of USC and teamed up with John Longenecker to make the short film The Resurrection of Broncho Billy, a film that he actually got an Academy Award in 1970 for best short subject film.

In 1976 he directed the original version of Assault on Precinct 13, which was remade in 2005 starring Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne, which was, in my opinion, a beautifully artistic movie with an amazing score (also done by Carpenter).  The movie is often considered Rio Bravo meets Night of the Living Dead.  Give it a watch and you can probably see bits of both movies coming together very well.

1978 is where Carpenter finally got some of the recognition he deserved.  Halloween, a horror movie, or as we would call it today, a slasher-flick, was released.  Made on a shoe-string budget of only $300,000 it would eventually go on to make $47m in the US alone (which, adjusted for inflation, is almost $150m and would make it one of the highest grossing independent films of all time).  I won't go into the full details of the movie, as I'm hoping that most know it, but in brief:  

Halloween is about a man, Michael Myers, who, as a 6-year old, killed his older sister on Halloween and was then sent to a asylum.  He escapes 15 years later the night before Halloween and returns to his hometown where he kills people because that's what he does and stalks Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who is the daughter of the original "scream queen" Janet Leigh.  Only Dr. Loomis, played by the absolutely amazing Donald Pleasence, the psychologist at the asylum that he was locked away at knows why Michael has returned home.

Carpenter wrote, directed, had a brief voice-appearance in, and composed the score for Halloween.  The level of suspense that he was able to give in the movie is widely considered the hallmark for a suspense/slasher and even horror movie to this day.  We are led to believe that the "monster" in this film is a human, one who has some serious issues yes, but still human.  However, how he moves, slow and methodical.  There one second and gone the next.  This gives Michael Myers a place in cinema history as one of the creepiest bad guys out there.  As for the score, there is hardly a person who has seen Halloween and not been effected by that simple 2-note theme for Michael Myers.  I even had it as my ringtone for an old boss once.  The legacy of this movie is amazing.  From the score, which was already mentioned, to catapulting Jamie Lee Curtis from the occasional television appearance and into movie stardom, to creating a villain who is often listed as one of the most horrifying of all time.  John Carpenter was finally here, and all thanks to Halloween.

The 1980's were truly the decade of John Carpenter.  He made 8 movies during the decade, each one of them an immediate classic or a cult classic.

• 1980 - The Fog
• 1981 - Escape from New York
• 1982 - The Thing
• 1983 - Christine
• 1984 - Starman
• 1986 - Big Trouble in Little China
• 1987 - Prince of Darkness
• 1988 - They Live

I'm not going to sit here and do a synopsis on them all, just realize that all of these movies have a large fan following. Two of them have already been remade, while another is in the works.  One, Escape from New York, had a sequel made of it.  And one had "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in it.

Escape from New York began one of the best (theatrical) actor/director collaborations in movie history.  Kurt Russell has been the one-eyed mercenary Snake Plissken in both Escape movies, R.J. "Mac" MacReady in The Thing, and the one and only Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China.

*Technically they have worked together 5 times.  Russell also played Elvis Presley in a made for TV movie directed by Carpenter amazingly called Elvis.*

While I love all of these movies, Big Trouble in Little China is one of my favorite movies of all time.  My girlfriend does not understand this, luckily for both of us she has other amazing traits (I kid, my love).  Again, it's not something I can put my finger on.  The acting isn't the best in the world, though it has some great talent in Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrall, as well as the great Victor Wong who played Egg Shen, it really doesn't matter.  The elemental warriors, Thunder, Rain, and Lightning, along with the multitude of Chinese gang members and Jack's bumbling attempts at bravado make the movie.  Add to that some of the best special effects that you know had to be aimed at young teens and pre-teens, how could a kid of the 80's not love it? This film is all about the action and the fun.  It also has some of the best lines in any movie ever made.

• Jack - When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
• Jack - Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it.
• Wang - Here's to the Army and Navy and the battles they have won; here's to America's colors, the colors that never run.
  Jack - May the wings of liberty never lose a feather.
• Egg - Oh, the six-demon bag!
  Jack - Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What's in it, Egg?
  Egg - Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!
•  Jack - All in the reflexes.

Even though Mr. Carpenter has not been as active in the last 20 or so years, mostly due to his personal distaste for what he calls the "Hollywood business machine", it doesn't mean that he has completely gone away.  The sequel to Escape from New York,  titled Escape from L.A., was critically panned but really is a fun, campy movie, especially if you liked the original.  Vampires, in 1998, another financial failure, had James Woods in it being a true bad-ass against the undead, how can this really be that bad a film?  One of the great things about him though is that he has become very selective in who uses his theme music, as he was very smart in making sure he kept all the copyrights on them.  Hopefully, he will return one day and a make another awesome movie so that more people will put his name up there with Spielberg, Cameron, and Howard (probably not, but a guy can hope eh?).

And here at the end I'll leave you with the man himself playing the theme from "Escape From New York" from a recent live performance in New York (trippy).

GoT: Season 6 Episode 5 "The Door" Review

Figured I'd start reviewing some shows as I watch them.  These may come out late as I do work for a living, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want to.  Any thoughts or opinions you have, please feel free to leave them in the comments or on the Facebook page.  If you haven't seen the episode being reviewed then here is a little warning for you...

This week's episode of "Game of Thrones" was titled "The Door".  We will get to the title a in a little bit as it really isn't relevant until the final scene.  Just know this...FUCK YOU BRAN!

Now that I have that out of my system I can get to the actual review.  These reviews are going to be a work in progress as I decide how I want to truly do them, so bear with me.  This first time, as it is GoT I think I'm going to break the recaps down into WHO or WHERE as much as possible.

Also, another warning, as this is GoT, and people, including me, tend to get emotional over this show, there will *most likely* be a lot of cursing in the recap.

Sansa, Brienne, and Littlefinger

So Sansa is sewing something, that we get to see later in the episode, and is brought a letter by Captain Phasma...I mean Brienne.  The letter turns out to be from her former "protector", Littlefinger, who wants to have a little chat over in Mole's Town just down the road from Castle Black.  The summary of this meeting is below:

LF: Sansa, I'm so happy you're alive!

S: Fuck you.

LF: I can't imagine what was done to you.  I will protect you like I was supposed to.

S: Fuck you. I was raped. A lot.

LF: If I had had any idea.  I swear, this time really, I'll protect you.

S: Fuck you.  Like a lot, a lot.

LF:  Oh, well your uncle, the Blackfish, has an army.  Just thought you should know.  I'm sure this will in no way benefit me as I'm not a scheming bastard.

S: Thanks.  I don't need you to protect me anymore. I've got a former Lord of the Night's Watch.  A shit ton of Wildlings.  And the biggest woman this side of a giant, who really wants to put "Oathkeeper" through your stomach right now.  Fuck you.

Arya...err the girl with no name...

Back in Braavos, The Girl With No Name Formerly Known as Arya Stark (can we get a Prince-like symbol made for this chick already?), is getting her ass handed to her again by the other Girl With No Name Bully Chick in the House of Black and White, at least this time she can kind of see it coming?  After getting beat up a couple of times, the Man with No Name Formerly Known as Jaqen (again, symbol please?), shows up and agrees with the Bully Chick that Arya isn't ready.  So what can make her ready?  Going to kill someone in the name of the Many-Faced God.  Sounds like a great idea.  Not a big job, just go poison an actress.  By the way, Former Arya, I'm sure you'll love the play. Be sure to get extra popcorn.

Oh, look, it's some guy playing Robert Baretheon, and there is the boar that ran his guts through.  Oh, it's a recap of the first season.  Arya should really like this.  In all honesty, aside from the way Ned Stark was treated in the play, it was pretty spot on if you thought about it.  Yeah, Arya wasn't too pleased with how her dad was portrayed either.  Anyhow, she goes back stage with her new ninja skills and figures out the way to kill the actress.  Of course, then she goes back and acts like a normal kid and asks a million questions to Jaqen...still not understanding that whole "we got paid, the Many-Faced God demands we do it, do it" thing.

Bran

Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven taking another jog through the history of Westeros, always ends well.  What's that? A copse of tree people whispering conspiratorially, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.   Hey, what's that one doing with what looks like a Dragonglass dagger...oh, just stabbing it in that guy bound to that tree, no big deal. Well, now you've done it. You went and created the Night's King.  Way to go stupid tree people (yes, I know they are children of the forest, I prefer stupid tree people).

Iron Islands

Woohoo!  Looks like Yara will be the first Queen of Pyke!  She has Theon's support, who else could possibly stand in her way?  Oh wait, it's Uncle "Pushed My Dad Over a Rope Ladder" Euron.  Who not only admits that he killed his brother, the king, but now wants to be king himself.  Then he attacks Theon's manhood, or lack thereof.  What a prick.  Yeah, this isn't going to end well.  And it doesn't.  And now, to quote Doctor Who, "Run!".  Euron is being drowned, err crowned, in as the new king and Yara, Theon (can we still call him Reek?), and her loyal men are making a run for it.  Gotta say, the lady has some balls to go and steal the best ships while her uncle is being christened king.  Too bad it doesn't phase King Euron at all and he just says, "go build more".  

Dany, Jorah, and Daario

What a surprise, Dany is torn about making a decision.  And more of a surprise, it's about Jorah Mormont.  Nevermind, you have greyscale, which Dany has never heard of it seems (which seems odd), more points to Daario for moving in to gut Jorah if Dany had gotten too close to him.  "I've decided I need you, don't die, and find a cure."  Sure, ask for something simple dragon lady.  Have fun with your horse people...again.

Tyrion and Varys at Mereen

So there is a temporary peace in Mereen between the Sons of the Harpy and Dany's people.  But Tyrion wants it to be known that it is Dany that brought this peace and continues to bring it, even though she is off with her equine-riding friends.  So he decides to meet with R'hllor's people, because, as even Varys points out, that always works out so well for everyone when they throw their lot in with a ruler or potential ruler (see Stannis Baratheon and his entire family).  Kinvara, yet another very attractive high-priestess for the Lord of Light (man knows how to chose his priestess doesn't he?), says that she'll give her god's support because "obviously" she is fire-born and will be the one to lead the people against the darkness to come.  See, this would have been good, but good old eunuch-man couldn't keep his mouth shut and had to be reminded about when his man bits were cut off and thrown into a fire.  I'm trying to remember if we have ever seen fear on Varys' face in the past 5 seasons, because it is definitely there when Kinvara offers to remind him what he heard that night as a boy.

F***-boy Again (Bran)

I'm bored (must be GoT's version of a milennial).  I'll just go look back in time without the Three-Eyed Raven helping me.  Hey, look, it's the tree I'm under, and a lot of zombie people.  I think, yup, that's Night's King back there.  I need a closer look, that sounds like a great idea!  Oh, no, he can see me!  Creepy old guy is coming for me!  No, means no!  Good job, Bran.  Now he knows where you are, sure nothing bad will happen here either.  You'd be wrong, now you gotta leave cripple boy.

Castle Black

We all love badly drawn maps of the North.  Jon Snow (actually he is a Stark, Robb made him a Stark, why does no one remember this?), is reminding us all that they are up shit's creek and don't have enough people to get Winterfell back.  The Karstarks and Umbers have gone over to the Boltons, Sansa can forgive the Karstarks but not the Umbers (poor Rickon and Shaggydog). Davros, the onion man himself, reminds us that Karstark was beheaded by Robb, so no luck there probably (though Sansa tries to disagree and is promptly put back in her place by the Onion Knight).  Jon jumps in again and reminds them all that there are over a dozen smaller houses that equal what they need and Sansa speaks up again about remembering the Stark name.  Davros, good old optimistic Davros, reminds us (incorrectly) that Jon is not a Stark.  To which Sansa basically says "No, but I am bitch.  Oh, and while Jon IS a Stark, I'm also a Tully and my uncle, you may have heard of him, the 'Blackfish', has reformed the Tully army." *mic drop*  Everyone looks a little surprised and happier, even Davros (wow an onion DOES have layers).

Brienne and Sansa have a little heart to heart about how Jon is a good man...but then why did Sansa not tell Jon about how she got the information?

We get to see what Sansa was working on at the beginning of the episode.  A pretty little direwolf-head embroidered dress for herself and a new cape, also with the direwolf of House Stark on it, just like dear old Ned's.

By the way, Edd, you're the new Lord Commander.  Congrats?...\

Under That Damn Tree

A lot of action in this scene.  The Four Horsemen, I mean the Night's King and his White Walker homeboys, along with a cadre of lesser white walker zombies, show up at the tree.  The Children of the Forest, Leaf and her buddies, try to hold them off by, I shit you not, throwing small cannonballs of fire at them.  Now take that part of the scene apart again.  These "people" are basically living TREES.  You'd think balls of fire would be a bad choice in weapon, no?  Yes, it works well against the zombies, so good on ya there, but fire and wood, typically not good bedfellows.  Anyhow, the fire doesn't stop the Night's King and his buddies, it just kind of fizzles around them while the rest of the army starts digging through the tree to get to the juicy bits inside.  Hodor, poor Hodor, has gone into a rocking fit from fear and Bran...who is back in Winterfell in the past with the Three-Eyed Raven.  

One of the Night's King's main guys manages to get in and guts a child of the forest which gives good old Meera Reed the chance to grab a dragonglass spear and kill the guy (well, actually she made crushed ice out of him).  She then finally, kind of I guess, get through to Bran in the past to take over Hodor and get them the hell out of there.  They start to leave, but someone isn't with them...Summer, Bran's direwolf.  He is last seen taking on about 20 of the lesser white walkers before vanishing under their superior numbers.  Hodor, or actually Wyllis at this point, goes into a seizure and starts flaying about on the ground.  While in the present Hodor is leading them out through tunnels towards the door that got them in there like 3 seasons ago.  Through the race in the tunnels, hundreds of the lesser white walkers are after them and Leaf, the lead child of the forest, buys them time with one of those little fireballs, taking out herself and a bunch of them.  Hodor manages to get the door open and all of them out it back into a blizzard, but...the door locks from the other side.  Hodor shoves himself up against it, while Meera starts dragging Bran off into the storm.  As she goes away she yells to him "Hold the door!  Hold the door!".  Back in the Winterfell of old, Wyllis, still thrashing about, is yelling "Hold the door!" over and over, and he starts to slur it...almost as if as his body in the future is getting beaten, he can feel it and he is wearing down.

"Hold the door....Hold the door...Hold door....hold...door....hodor...hodor...hodor...."

Fuck you, Brannon Stark.  

Thank you, Hodor.

Summary

Well, of course, once again, fuck you, Bran.  Other than, and I guess including that, another solid episode.  Since the show doesn't have to follow G.R.R. Martin's books so much, especially since he is being a slow old man and hasn't finished the next one yet, they can go at a much faster pace.  No season long treks from point A to point B.  No slow, well as slow, build up to something we already know is going to happen.

While learning what "Hodor" finally means was a little traumatic for all of us (be happy we don't truly know he is dead, and this is Game of Thrones after all), it was rewarding in seeing that realization in grown Hodor's eyes right at the end.  HE finally knew why he had been saying it all these years.  Maybe part of Bran had been in him since that point?

Other take aways and thoughts:

• With Yara and Theon stealing the best ships from the Iron Islands, all of the fleets in the world are pretty much all controlled by women now.
• Arya still has a lot of doubt.  Will she go through with it or will she run?
• Wondering who Yara and Theon will throw their lot in with.  Sansa still respects him for saving her, but he did kind of help in her imprisonment to begin with...
• What name?  Waht did Varys hear?  Was it the Lord of Light's name?  Was it Dany?  Was it the secret recipe to making Valyrian steel?
• Are the Carstarks and Umbers really on Bolton's side?  I don't think so personally.
• Down to 2 direwolves left...Ghost and Nymeria
• Tormund still wants a big old piece of Brienne, and I think we all want to see it too.  That look he gives her before they ride out.  Imagine the size of those strawberry-blonde children!!

Very Very Cool Podcast Network

I mentioned this on my the Facebook page, but wanted to link it here as well.  A couple of friends of mine are part of this new podcast venture called "Very Very Cool Podcast Network".  They have a few different podcasts up there and a video podcast (or are these still called VLOGs?) too.  Give them a listen/view if you get the time.  I can only attest to the ones that I've listened to and watched and so far I enjoy what I have seen.

Short Post - Baseball

Why only a short post on baseball?  Mostly because I think it is one of the more boring sports.  You can go 9 innings (or more) without anything happening at all besides a pitcher throwing a ball past batter after batter.  Sure, I'll go to a game once every few (10) years if I've had a few, and have a few more while I'm there, but that is about it.  It is NOT America's sport.

But yesterday during the last game of the season between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers something happened that not only made me wish I had seen it on TV but really made me wish I had been there live.  A good old-fashioned brawl!  I won't go into the details, you can read and watch them in the link at the bottom, but it seems to have stemmed from another event last year.  This brawl literally cleared the benches, 8 people were ejected from the game!  I've always said if there was more stuff like this in baseball I'd watch more.  I also think they need to have randomly placed, hidden, spring-loaded jumping boards and smoke bombs.  It would definitely take away from the pure boredom of the sport.

Love to hear what you think about the brawl or baseball in general in the comments.

Blue Jays and Rangers Brawl

Short Post - Pop Warner

So apparently Pop Warner, the governing body of a lot of youth football leagues, is putting a ban on kickoffs for it's three youngest divisions, everything ages 10 and under.  Well that has to be the stupidest damn thing I've heard in a while.

I realize that it has become a growing concern in this country that our children be SHELTERED from every little thing that we can possible shelter them from, but this is ridiculous!  If you don't want your kid to possibly get hit by another kid, then don't put him/her in a CONTACT sport.

And I'm sure some of you who know me personally are going "But UA, you don't have kids so why is this a concern to  you?"  Well, since you asked, here is why:

1. I do not have kids, but want to have them one day and I want them to be able to do things as they were meant to be done, not some watered down, extra padded, version of them.
2. I do not have kids, but I have several who I care for a lot.  2 nieces, 3 god kids, and a host of others.  I want them to grow up in the "real" world, not a sugar-coated lie.
3. Getting skinned knees, bike rashes, going through poison oak, and a host of other things BUILD CHARACTER.  If our kids can't experience these things because they have been sheltered or things have been banned then they aren't humans and longer, they are sheep.

The Soap Box - Short End of the Stick

**The Soap Box is my series of pure ranting posts.  If you think I'm being personal in some of these...well it's because I am!**

So while I love living in the East Side of Orlando, with it's close access to just about everything in the world shopping-wise that I could ever need within a 3 mile radius, there are some shortcomings to the area.

I live in the zip code with the single largest population in the greater Orlando area.  It is larger than entire cities that are near by in fact.  While it is not in the Orlando city limits, it is considered Orlando and my address says that on it.  All of that having been said it makes absolutely no sense to me why the area is treated like it is by certain companies.

Amazon

I'm a huge fan of Amazon.  I have been a member of Amazon Prime since the year that they came out and continue to be a loyal member.  The savings in 2-day shipping alone has paid for the $99 cost itself (yes, I order a lot of crap).  Throw in Amazon Prime Video and I'm a very happy fat man.  In October 2015 it was announced that Amazon would be adding "Same-Day Shipping" to the "Greater Orlando Area".  Well, that is unless you live in 32828.  That little zip code with a lot of people in it.  And it sucks even more now because Amazon has just announced one and two-hour shipping on some products.  Not saying I ever need something THAT fast usually, but it would be nice.  Jeff Bezos is a jerk and I hope  his space craft blow up on the launch pad (with no people in them of course).

Cable

While cable television/internet prices are typically high and no one likes their provider for longer than the initial reduced-price year or two, at least most people have a choice on who they can get cable from.  Not in lowly 32828.  We are stuck with Dim...err...Bright House Networks.  And thanks to recent mergers if we COULD get Time Warner or Charter they would actually be under a larger umbrella with Bright House by year's end.  For television we could get a satellite, but that would still mean that we would be stuck with Bright House controlling the internet (which is appalling on it's best days).  We can't get Xfinity.  We can't order Uverse.  We can't have Fios.  We are stuck with Bright House.  It sucks.

Closing Thoughts

While I love living in the area that I do, it definitely has it's drawbacks.  As I stated earlier, we have some of the best shopping opportunities in all of Orlando.  Thousands of people come from other areas of the city to shop here and then return to their homes, sometimes just a couple of blocks out of 32828, where they get better cable service and can have Amazon send them something later in the day that they may have just looked at over at one of our shops.  Am I bitter, yes perhaps I am, but I think that companies should treat an entire area, especially when they list "Orlando area" for something, the same.

What About Bob?

This is the Levinson family (well, to be more specific, these are the seven grown Levinson children).

I've been lucky enough to have known several of them since I was in my late teens and an undergraduate at the University of Central Florida.  The oldest of the girls, Susan, was even my date to my first formal for my fraternity.

This is Robert Levinson, better known as Bob (pictured with his with Christine).

I have not had the chance to meet Bob personally, though I hope that one day this changes.  Why have I not had the chance yet?  Because, Bob is currently the longest held hostage in American history.  Back on March 9, 2007, yes, you read that right 2007, Bob was doing some work on Kush Island in Iran when he suddenly disappeared.  Besides a few proof of life videos and photos almost nothing has been seen or heard of him.  Other prisoners held by the government of Iran have been released, but not Bob.  The United States government owes this to Bob, a former DEA and FBI agent, and his family.  They owe it to every single person who knows and loves the Levinson clan.  They owe it to all of this country.

There is no way that I can say enough in this post to convey how much his family misses him.  How the grandchildren he has yet to meet want to be held in his arms.  How his wife wants to kiss her husband again.

I admit that I write a silly little blog, but this is not a silly little topic.  Please visit the sites below and read more about Bob and his family.  After you have been there, please call the White House and your government officials and demand that something be done to find out more about his current whereabouts and what is being done to bring this man home to his family.

http://www.helpboblevinson.com/
https://www.facebook.com/helpboblevinson/

Short Post - Invictus Games

This is going to be a very short post for me, but I don't want the importance of it to be lost.

The Invictus Games are currently going on at Disney World here in Orlando (where I may or may not be employed).  The Invictus Games, for those that don't know, are a Paralympic-like competition held every 2 years created by Prince Harry (yes, THAT Prince Harry).  The way that they differ from the Paralympic Games is that the competitors are ALL members of the armed services of the country that they represent.

Watching these events while working I am just in awe of how these people, who lost so much defending their countries, still manage to give so much back.  Showing that just because they lost an arm or a leg or an eye, they can still fight.  And not only that, it's not rare to see the winner of a competition go back down a lane or around a track to cheer on a competitor or teammate, or even give them a hand.  These heroes show us all what a human being truly has inside of them.

Invictus means "Unconquered" or "Undefeated" in Latin, and watching these men and women compete I truly have hope for our world knowing that those so many consider "broken" can be so badass.

Return of Short Posts

At one point, when I first started this thing, I had planned on posting more.  But what to post when I don't really have something to say?  Well, a short post obviously.  So here goes again, let's see if I can do this for more than a week without vanishing...

Earlier this week Donald Trump became, effectively as everyone else has dropped out, the Republican party candidate for the highest office in the land, the President of the United States.  And unless something really strange happens it looks like Hillary Clinton will be his opponent.  The funny thing is here is how many people are upset that Trump is getting the appointment by his party.  People are burning their voter registration cards saying that they are changing party affiliation among other idiotic things.  My only big thing here, and I'm still not sure who the hell I'll be voting for in the end, is obviously a MAJORITY of the registered Republican's in the United States of America want him to run for President and to win.  Yes, he has some crazy ideas (oh wait, that is all politicians).  Yes, he doesn't know what the hell he is talking about at times (again, all politicians).  Yes, he has a tribble living on his head that he borrowed from William Shatner's "TJ Hooker" days (OK, he owns that one).  But despite all this, he will still get the nomination.

The last thing I'll say is this; He is rude, he is crude, but he speaks his mind.  His opponent is boring, either a liar or an idiot (or both), but she has political experience that he lacks.

Screw it, I'm voting for Cthulhu.

Star Wars Day Thoughts

Well today is a day that many geeks, nerds, freaks, and any other term you can think of, look forward to during the year.  It's Star Wars Day!  So called because May the fourth, when said aloud, sounds very similar to the good luck saying in the Star Wars franchise of "May the Force be with you" (I am sure 99% of those reading this knew that but I felt I should give some background).  The "holiday" started in 2011 when the details for the complete blu-ray box set of the first 6 Star Wars movies were released.

While I enjoy this day, and will be forcing my very understanding girlfriend to watch "The Force Awakens" again this evening, the whole day got me thinking about some things.  20 years ago, though millions of people loved and still regularly watched the original Star Wars trilogy, if an idea like "Star Wars Day" had been brought up in a group of 10 people by one of them, most likely the other 9 would have looked at him/her funny and made jokes about it.  Now, thanks to the overwhelming acceptance of "geek culture" in this and many other countries, it is an accepted event.

Gone are the days, thanks in no small part to the wildly popular Marvel Comics-based movies, where a grown man can't walk down the street proudly wearing a shirt emblazoned with Captain America's shield, the Spiderman logo, or Superman's "S".  Comic books are almost back to the popularity that they were in the early 90's, when Stan Lee was a young 70-year old!

Video games, once thought to be a fad and for a specific type of counter-culture, are now mainstream, with nearly half of the United States having some kind of video game system in their homes.  And they aren't just for the pre-teen/teen-aged sons.  Soccer moms play games on their phones while waiting for their kids to get out of school.  Some companies even support "civilization-style" war games because it encourages team building.  We've come a long way from playing "Joust" and "Galaga" in a shopping mall arcade or neighborhood pizzeria.  One of the most acclaimed novels in the last couple of years, "Ready Player One", has to do with video games and the legacy that they have and will have.

Once upon a time the idea that TENS OF THOUSANDS of people would converge on a convention center in a major metropolitan area, dressed as their favorite comic book superhero, video game star, television character, or a storm trooper would have been considered ludicrous.  Now it brings in MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to an area in just a few days.  Even my hometown of Pensacola has gotten in on the act with Pensacon, which sells out within days of the announcement of when it will occur.  For reference, the area of San Diego that hosts San Diego Comic-con, by far the largest convention in the world, brings in roughly $140 million for that week.  THAT WEEK.

But, not all elements of this world have been so greatly accepted.  The stigma of role-playing games still abounds.  The idea of five or six pimply-faced teenage boys playing a pen and paper game with dungeons (oh no), dragons (oh my), and demons (oh Christ!), while scarfing down large amounts of pizza and sugary soda still scares people (we won't even get into LARPers).  Why?  Is it because unlike something on a movie or television screen it requires one to think more?  By the way, some pretty famous people have at least TRIED to play role-playing games: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Smith, Stephen King, Joss Whedon (ok, we knew that one), Stephen Colbert, and even Tim Duncan.  Hopefully one day this will go away as well and more people will give it a try.  Until then, my girlfriend will continue to clutch my arm tighter as we walk past those rolling around a D-20 when I make her go to a comic book store with me.

I guess what I am trying to say is, while yes, all "geek culture" is not the same, I admit this, but a few short years ago almost none of this would have been looked at favorably or even acknowledged.  I think that if more people sat down and watched some people playing D&D or Rifts or even Warhammer 40K and saw the work that goes into playing one of these games then their opinion may change some. 

Maybe the modern "geek" has changed.  Maybe the world has also changed a little as well.  And maybe it could stand to change a little more.  All of that having been said, May the Fourth be with you and have a fun day no matter who you are.

Oh yeah, May the 5th, while known to most of us as "Cinco de Mayo", or the day we all drink a lot of margaritas, Coronas, and Dos Equis and pretend we are Mexican, is apparently also known as "Sith Day"...something I admit I didn't know.  Either way, be safe and have a strawberry margarita for me for "Sitho de Mayo".

Wackadoo's

This past week it was revealed that the student union at my alma mater, UCF, would be closing down a school tradition to put in a chain restaurant.  The tradition is a restaurant called "Wackadoo's".  Wackadoo's has been at UCF since 1995 (originally called Loco's) and was opened by a UCF alumnus named Scott (who despite being a brother of TKE is actually a pretty chill guy).

The restaurant, which takes up a section (can't say corner as the SU is a mostly round building) of the first floor of the student union just off the main atrium, is what you would expect from any bar/pub style restaurant anywhere in the country, mostly.  A good-sized bar with televisions for watching sports.  A lot of durable, polyurethand-covered, stop-signed shaped tables for the beers that will inevitably be spilt.  And a couple of pool tables and other video games to entertain those who don't just want to eat and drink.  However, for any fan of the UCF Knights it is a mecca of history.  Jerserys and other sports memorabilia adorn the walls while those previously mentioned tables have years of photos from UCF Knights sports, events, famous visitors and students sealed forever for the patrons to look at while enjoying that Fat Ass draft beer.

Wackadoo's has always been a great place for students, visiting parents, and alums to drop in and have something a little different than the normal chain food that is offered in much of the rest of the student union.  The wings are perfect, the burgers are huge, the beers are always cold, and the buffalo chicken sandwich is one of the best you will ever have.

There is a limited time to try and go get a meal there (end of May at the time of this posting), and if you live in the Orlando area and have never been, or haven't been in years like myself (up until this past weekend), I urge you to stop in, have a chat with Scott (as he is sure to be there), order a Fat Ass beer and a buffalo chicken (or if you are feeling really brave be one of the last to try "The Challenge", 2lbs of beef, 9 slices of cheese, 9 slices of bacon, a pound of fries, and a pound of smothered BBQ pork).  You'll either be filled with memories or create some new ones that you won't be able to repeat any time soon.

Also, if you happen to like those tables, Scott is selling them for $150 each.