Fallen Angel

On June 2, 2016, at 3:01PM ET, an Angel fell.  A Blue Angel to be more precise.  Captain Jeff Kuss, USMC, was a member of the Navy's Flight Demonstration Team, better known as the "Blue Angels" or simply "The Blues" to those of us have watched them since before we can remember.

It is not yet fully known what happened to the F/A-18 Super Hornet that Capt. Kuss was piloting in Smyrna, TN during a training flight.  However, what IS known according to witnesses, is that Capt. Kuss managed to maneuver his jet away from an area with civilians and towards tress, thus saving lives in his final act.  A true American hero.

I was born and raised in Pensacola, FL. NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola, if you didn't know, is the home base of the Blue Angels.  Over the years I have lost count of how many times I saw them fly, and no matter how many times I see them it always amazes me, and probably always will.  My most recent chance to see them was on July 4, 2015 when the girlfriend and I went to Pensacola to see my parents and take part in the annual "Red, White, and Blues" festivities at Pensacola Beach.  There are no words to describe a Blues air show (especially at Pensacola where they are loved the most).  Seeing "Fat Albert", the Blues C-130 bank and turn like nothing that size has a right to do and then having it fly right over your head to start the show.  What follows is an absolutely amazing display of precision group patterns.  The nail biting near misses when two jets fly towards each other and twist at the last second.  And, my favorite, the slow (relative term for a jet) fly-by of a single jet barely a couple of hundred feet off the waters of Pensacola Beach.  The final maneuver is always heart-wrenching for me, seeing the "Missing Man Formation", when the Blues come in from one direction in the classic Delta-formation, and then one of the pilots pulls up towards the sky, representing those who have fought and not made it home (an example of this is above this paragraph).

A friend of mine gave me this prayer for pilots and I wanted to share it:

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty ocean deep,
Its own appointed limits keep,
Oh hear us when we cry to those in peril on the sea.

Lord, gaurd and guide the men who fly,
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair.
Oh hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.
Amen

At the end of this I wanted to thank Capt. Kuss.  For being a member of the USMC.  For being a Marine Corps Aviator.  For being a hero.  And I want to thank his family.  We lost a member of the best flight demonstration team in the world.  They lost a son, a husband, and a father.  God speed, Captain Kuss.  

"Second Star to the right..."

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.