Friday Night Catch-up

Wyclef
Heat Ray
Avatar
The Walking Dead
Chileans Trapped in a Mine 

I haven't been able to get a chance to really sit down too much these last few days. My 9-5's been kicking me around this week, and I've had some personal moves that had to be moved. So now they're moved, and I'm back. By now its probably only my lady and my mom that still read this, but here I go anyway.

Wyclef
Now I'm not one to say that I know what it takes to run a country, but I don't think Wyclef Jean has what it takes to run a country. He couldn't even keep the Fugees together. Though I can't fully blame him, I mean Lauren Hill went kinda... off.

Anyway, Wyclef is apparently upset that the Haitian government won't let him run for president. Turns out Haitian law stipulates that in order to run for president you need to live there for five years. Wyclef says he has been holding residence for longer than five years. He doesn't say that he's lived there in the LAST five years, he just says he's held residence there. Is it the same thing? The Haitian electoral council doesn't think so. Me, I tend to agree. I'm not saying Wyclef's been mostly in the U.S.. But if he has, then I don't think he should run. Its easy to point out problems, but fixing them is a completely different beast.

Sean Penn's even called out Wyclef on "Larry King Live". Now before you ask, "what the fuck does Sean Penn have to do with Haiti?" I'll let you know that this cat's been there for the last 6 months trying to help earthquake victims. Now I know being in a place for 6 months does not in any way equal living there, but I will say this:

In the six months that Sean's been there he has been doing everything he can to help earthquake survivors try to piece their lives and their land back together. For six month's he's been working with rescue groups, hospitals, side by side with the people there just trying to do as much as he possibly can. Do you know who he never ran into? Wyclef.

Here is a video interview he did to announce his intention to fight the ruling (I couldn't put the actual video up).

Now I hear things are pretty corrupt over there, so I'm not going to jump to any conclusions; but after seeing that video, I'm kinda leaning away from Wyclef. Its looking bad for him. This interview made it look like this guy can't even hold his life together, let alone run a country. It also seems like this cat doesn't even live there. If you listen to the video, he never answers as to exactly how long he's been in Haiti in the last five years. That lady really let him have it though. Shit, I won't even buy his next album now (though I've never bought a Wyclef album and wouldn't anyway, but you get my point). I don't know how Hatians feel about Wyclef, but if they think he's a good idea, then fuck, things are REALLY messed up over there. I mean, I know he knows what's wrong with Haiti. I'm not arguing that point, I just don't think he knows how to fix it. Or you know... run a country.

Anyway, Wyclef released a song about it.Its called, “Prizon Pou K.E.P.a”. I don't know what it means or what the song is saying, but it sounds ok.

Wyclef-jean-prizon-pou-k-e-p-a by jozenc

Heat Ray

No I'm not going into comic book talk (yet), but the government developed a heat ray. That's right a fucking heat ray. As some of you know I'm somewhat of a nerd with a dash of geek, so when they actually finished this thing a while back it was a little exciting. I mean, what kind of King Nerd came up with this? I envy you, my friend, I envy you.

Now, this isn't something you carry with you, as you can see from the video below, you put this thing on a truck and operate it with a joystick. They created this thing to break-up 'unruly' crowds in Afghanistan. Funny thing is that the forces over there sent it back. They did not want it there. So then as to give it some use, they decided to put this thing in in prisons in order to help maintain control. And now some people are complaining that this could lead to torture. I could see that happening. I can see somebody getting carried away with it. Or the super crazy mofo's not moving despite the immense pain, and have permanent damage or die. I don't think that it will, but I won't disagree that its possible. The video below calls it a 'pain ray' (she describes the pain as being scolded by hot water) but as you can tell from the links, you'll find it in YouTube under 'heat ray.'

A fucking Heat Ray.

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Avatar

Because it didn't make enough money the first time, Avatar is back in theaters. Have you seen the movie? In 3D? If not, now is your chance. Its not like you're going to buy a 3D TV anytime soon, so the opportunity is open. This is the 'extended version' with new creatures and 'never before seen scenes'. That's right, they've managed to squeeze 9 extra minutes of footage, because the movie wasn't long enough already. This won't just be random footage, this has new hunting sequences (some at night), a lot of action, a touchy scene towards the end, Grace at the school, and a couple of new creatures, 'Stingbat' and 'Surmbeast'. Oh and they added to the love scene.

I liked this movie (original). I saw it in 3D and I have to say that it did really take me into that world. Yes, the plot is the same as 'Dances With Wolves' and 'The Last Samurai', but hey it kept me entertained and the visuals were fucking amazing. Is the movie overrated? Probably. The hype over the records the movie broke is almost too much. This is not the best movie in the world but it was an entertaining one.  I have to say that I'm curious about these extended scenes, so I would probably see this in 3D again. This movie is a classic example of 3D done right.

The Walking Dead

How do you guys feel about your Zombie movies? How about a Zombie TV show? AMC is going to debut a TV show based on a guy looking for his family after a Zombie infestation. That's right AMC. I'm not even sure what channel that is, but they're doing it.




Now if you know your Zombie movies you will see a similar hospital scene in the movie 28 Days Later. However don't think that they just ripped them off. This may most likely be just coincidence. This show is based on a comic book of the same name (by an American, Robert Kirkman) that was being written at the same time this movie was being filmed. With no finished product out there was no way for a comic book writer could have that kind of access to a movie being shot in England. I've only read the first chapter of the comics and its not bad. I do hear great things about the comic book series and I hope this show does well. I'll give it a try (unless I forget when it comes on).




The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye (v. 1)

Chileans Trapped in a mine.

This is definitely one of those last but not least moments. 33 Chilean miners have been stuck in a mine 22,00 feet below the ground since August 5th. I have no love for Chileans. I am Peruvian after all, and lets just say that Chileans and Peruvians have had our spats (Peruvians and Ecuadorians aren't best friends either). However, its still a tragedy when this kind of thing happens. I hope to god they get out of there soon, but estimates put their rescue at around four months. That's right 4 months! Chileans are digging as fast as they can, but they are digging through solid rock, which slows their pace down to about 65 feet per day.

4 Months. Do you know what that is? Its from now until Christmas. Think about it, if they fall behind at all these guys could be stuck there past the new year. They'll have to say they spent the last quarter of 2010 in a hole. For us it would be Halloween, Thanksgiving, and hopefully you're out by Christmas. But they are a different country. Outside of Christmas and New year, Chileans do not celebrate the same events as Americans do for the rest of 2010.

First they will miss the 'Assumption of Mary'. This is a religious public celebration and if you didn't know, South America loves their religion. Next they will miss their "Fiestas Patrias' (Sept. 18th). This is their national holiday. And hey guess what, this is the year where they hold their special bicentennial celebrations. Yes, this year they're making a weekend out of it, celebrating Thursday, Friday, and Monday. What would you do if we ever celebrated the 4th of July like that? Next is their Columbus day, 3 more religious public holidays including the 'Immaculate Conception' (Dec 8th). They won't be with their families, they won't be with their friends. They'll be stuck in a hole, 22,000ft underground until they are rescued. Their families have to camp out near them and try to talk to make sure they don't go mad.

I will let you know that its not like they're in a ditch with barely enough room to move. They're actually in a 540 square feet with adjoining tunnels of space that go on for almost a mile. This isn't great space but it is better than being on top of each other the whole time. Not to mention that they are still UNDERGROUND. Luckily the Chilean government has managed to get tubes to them so they can send food, air, medicine, batteries, even a camera. Crazy thing is that even though they can send food, these miners have to watch how much they eat. The rescue hole that the government is building is only about 26 inches in diameter, so the miners have to stay slim. How many of us could make that?


I can't begin to imagine what they are going through, but I just wish them the best. You can see from the video that it looks like they're in good spirits and will hopefully be able to keep sanity until their rescue. In the mean time, they just have to get through being burried alive with 32 other guys. Hope they get out soon.





I gotta say, after seeing the video, they seem to be in good spirits, but fuck man, four months? Those of you who pray, should pray.

Showtime's Dexter

*I will not give away any spoilers to this or any series. I won't give away anything you wont learn in the first couple of episodes. I'm not only doing that out of respect of this incredible series, but also because I believe all great shows should be an experience on its own. So feel free to read on without any fear of spoilers.*

Jump to conclusion:

As most of us do, I consider myself an excellent judge of entertainment. Though I will admit that if anything, I am a lazy watcher. Its rare that I jump on a show as it starts. I do jump on some shows from the start, but it is very rare. This was not one of those few shows I jumped on. I missed this one completely. I didn't even hear about this show until at least halfway through the first series. In its most simple description, its about a serial killer trying to live a normal life. Its premise was not unheard of, I imagined bad movies of people who do wrong, repent and try to do good with 'disastrous' results. I expected a lot of cliche soliloquies about our protagonist 'trying to quit killing'.

I wasn't even close.

Dexter:



This series, which debuted in October 2006, follows a serial killer who is not trying to do good. He is just following his programing. He is very methodical in the way he stalks his victims. He learns their patterns, finds an opening subdues them and brings them to his 'kill site'. He is very good at getting away with it, as a matter of fact he is almost flawless. But to appear normal and avoid suspicion he attempts to fake emotions, relationships and has a day job which he is very good at as well. Dexter's day job is a blood-splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. Uhuh, the fucking Miami Police Department. He actually helps the police find and capture murderers. And though he never became a cop like his adoptive father, his 'sister' did.

Yeah, this show has some twists and turns. So a little background on this complex individual.

When he was a boy, Dexter went through a traumatic experience when he lost his mother. He was orphaned and was taken in by a cop. This cop, Harry, felt a kind of sympathy for the kid and with the help of his wife and daughter, raised him as his own. He was a son and a brother in rather loving family. Harry began to notice odd things in Dexter's behavior, he eventually found out that Dexter was killing little animals. He approached the kid about it, and the kid promised to stop... But he didn't.

Harry discovered and confronted him a second time, Dexter began to explain why he does that, and acts rather disconnected most of the time. He told Harry about his urges that he gets, that get stronger and stronger until he succumbs to them. He calls this his 'Dark Passenger'. Harry, a veteran cop who has seen his shared of murderers and crazed killers, knew that Dexter was slowly becoming something very, very dark. He realizes Dexter does not kill because he wants money or power, instead because his trauma killed a very important part, the part that feels emotions. Harry knows that Dexter is going in this direction no matter what. So he decides that it would be best to channel it.

He decides to first teach Dexter to blend into society and appear as normal as possible. He then instills in Dexter a code. A code that would allow him to kill. His victims would have to be killers themselves. He would need solid proof of this. And he would have to be certain that they would kill again. He then teaches Dexter everything he knows about crime scenes and forensics.



So there is our little maladjusted protagonist, who has to fake all emotions and sense of friendship, going about his life keeping his dark passenger satisfied as well as trying desperately just to blend in.

That's all I should really say about this show. That is the 'starter kit' for this show. I would mention the fact that he has somehow found his way into a relationship with a woman. But then I would have to explain what makes this weird is that he is not really interested in women or sex, only his next victim. I would also have to mention that he knows the only chink in his armor is intimacy with women. He knows he is not good at faking that, to the point where he ends up 'freaking women out'. I would have to mention that she has two kids from a previous marriage. And (I admit there is a little sarcasm in my voice) I'd feel bad without mentioning how prim and proper his 'sister' has grown up. She is a very delicate flower who Dexter tries to look out for. But I don't want to get into all that. I have the background of the show to write.

Its kind of funny that after giving all that information I never got past the first couple of episodes in the first season. I have also not mentioned the acting (a topic I love). Michael C. Hall plays Dexter perfectly. There is no higher praise that I can give him other than, "Michael C. Hall IS Dexter". If I ever saw this guy in an elevator I'd think twice about getting in. I'd go over my sins in my head and see if I would make Dexter's list. He plays him very demented when he has to, and even plays his 'confused about normal people' scenes just as masterfully. Rightfully so, Michael C. Hall is the standout of the show in my eyes. Jennifer Carpenter who plays his sister gives an interesting performance. I say interesting not because she is bad, but because she can make me care for her character and then completely annoy the shit out of me in the same episode. Not everyone knows this, but, in real life Michael C. Hall fell in love with and married Jennifer Carpenter. Now don't give me that stink face right away, you have to remember that they are not brother and sister in real life. They're not even blood related in the show!

Julie Benz who plays Dexter's girlfriend, Rita, is also pretty good in this. I've seen her before in other shows, and I have to say that she does not dissapoint. She plays the 'single mom with issues' role well and eventually becomes more than just a 'plot device' as the series progresses. The rest of the cast do well in their roles with no real complaints. A standout among them would be C.S. Lee who plays Masuka. Masuka is hillarious; his character is just MESSED up and C.S. Lee plays it beautifully. Dexter may not have any feelings, but Masuka has no tact whatsoever. I have to say that it is one of my favorite characters on the show.


Darkly Dreaming Dexter:



The series is based on a character created by Jeff Lindsay in his 2004 book, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter". This is his first of five books (so far). The first book follows the first season closely (according to Wikipedia). I have unfortunately not had the pleasure of reading any of them, but I'm sure I would not mind reading it eventually. Wikipedia does tell me that after the first season, the book and the series went on their separate ways.


Dexter and Me:

 

I am ashamed to say that I did not see the actual airing of this show. As a matter of fact I haven't had Showtime since like '94. Yeah, I was more of an HBO guy. Anyway, I remember that I when I used to listen to Z100 and Elvis Duran would sometimes mention this show and how great it was. I heard about it before, but was not overly interested in its premise.

One day, out of curiosity I looked it up and even had my friend, 'Pookie' give me a downloaded copy of the first couple of episodes. I was kind of hooked, but it was during a bit of a busy time in my life and in addition to that, 'Pookie' was finding it hard to find more episodes. It wasn't until 2009 when I was in my 9-5 a friend of mine suggested that I try Netflix. I've heard of Netflix but did not see any reason to join it. At the time, I'd just buy the movies that I really wanted and considered the rest disposable. But she told me that she had a free month, so I said, "what the heck".

It was a good time to try to get into Dexter as I was unsure about dropping good money on a series that could easily go into the toilet. It showed great promise, but sometimes promises get broken. So Netflix seemed to be a great solution for this. Dexter became the first DVD I ever ordered and 'streamed' from Netflix. It blew me away and the second and third seasons quickly went on my Netflix Queue.

Dexter is currently in its fifth season, though I am only catching up on the fourth season. I am behind for two reasons:

1. I am not a member of Showtime. I am sorry to say that besides not being caught up to the day on Dexter, there is really no reason for me to watch Showtime when Netflix is so good to me. Weeds is a good show, but I never really got too into it. 'Premium channels' also tend to overplay movies.

2. Showtime only released season 4 this past week... So I'm on season 4, thanks to Netflix.





Season four has started out nice and mysterious. This new killer he is hunting is a little weird. That's saying a lot for a show who once had a killer completely drain his victim's bodies of blood. And I mean completely drained their blood.

This show has been 'deliciously thrilling' throughout the first three seasons, I hear that season four is quite the season. I recommend this show to anyone with a pulse and a few people without. Character development is very key for me, and this show has plenty of it.



In case anyone is interested, I'm attaching Blu-ray links to a package for the first three seasons (in one package), the fourth season, and the first book:

Villanization of Islam

Now, I did not want to get heavy handed this early on, but as I was looking for something to write about, I came across the ongoing persecution of Muslims. More specifically, of course, the whole Park51 controversy. Or as its better known, 'Ground Zero Mosque'. First of all, I want to make it known that I do not necessarily follow any particular religion. I was raised, baptized, and confirmed as Catholic. As a matter of fact, I think my only two sacraments that I have left is to get sick and die. In part of my childhood I was very much into religion, I looked at the bible as the word of God and what he wants us to do in this world. However, somewhere along the line, I fell off that wagon and now do not follow this or any other religion. Will you ever see me at church? Yes, whenever my family or my lady asks me to go for any special church event that she would like me to attend. And I will admit that I have been there a couple of times in search of a message. Not that I was expecting Jesus to speak to me himself, instead I was hoping I could get something from the sermons. Though I disagree with a lot in the Catholic religion, I completely agree with the positivity that it is intended to bring and that some parishes still bring. So that is my religious background.

Now I know its been obvious that certain media outfits have tried to make us as scared of Muslims as possible in the last couple of years. Yes I understand that a crazed faction of them were the cause of incredible act of terrorism on 9/11. But you know what? It wasn't just 'Muslims' that did this, it was rich and powerful figures that used religion to get some poor Joe Schmo (or whatever the Middle-East version of this is) to give his life for their gain. Its people who see a man suffering and figure that he would be a great pawn they can sacrifice. All they have to do is to convince the man that he will have salvation, that all of his pain will end. They talk to him about how this suffering really is for some greater purpose in which he will be important. That he will live in divinity forever as long as he continues to make sacrifices for them. They tell him that his God would not allow him to suffer if not for a specific reason. They tell him that God will bless them and give him happiness like he cannot even imagine. Religion is not the reason behind these wars. Religion is the biggest weapon the enemy has. I mean listen to those reasons that I've written, they could be used for many religions, and are. I guess its easier for the media to not tell us what this war is really about. The people who would tell you what this war is about are usually ignored, stuck in low rating television because their explanations are too complex for 'normal (or prime-time)' audiences. Well, this is a complex war and there are many things going on at once. This war has been going on for so long and for so many reasons that it is a little crazy to me that most just think it because they're Muslim and 'we' are not.


So now in the land of the free, Muslims cannot have a prayer room near ground zero. Because the nut-bags knew that using religion is the best way to get someone to sacrifice their lives in mass murder. Would we oppose a church going up near a school after all those priests molested little boys? No, we would just say that it was those particular crazies and move on. The KKK is a crazy perversion of Christianity, but we do not consider them typical members of the Christian faith.

Have we learned nothing from what we did to Japanese-Americans during WWII? Sure this isn't as bad, but you must consider that people are opposing something small and almost insignificant that would have gone under the radar had right-wing fear-mongers not perverted this story early on.

Lets also not forget that the 'Ground Zero Mosque' is NOT A MOSQUE. It is a community center that happens to have a prayer room. Hell, there is a similar type of prayer room in the Pentagon. It is a 'Non-Denominational Chapel' but, "daily Muslim prayer sessions are held there weekday afternoons, and weekly Muslim services are led by an imam from a local mosque every Friday, uses which have drawn no complaints" (Wikipedia). This is just a room for people of that religion to be able to practice their religion in that center. Is this a great crime? Are the people fighting and killing each other for power thousands of miles away going to consider one room a major victory? Could they see one room in NY, one of the biggest cities in the world, as a major victory for their perverse version of Islamic teachings? Even if the Muslims here (and behind the Park51 center) are themselves ashamed and embarrassed by how their religions has been prostituted? I personally do not think so. This is purely a political tool to get votes. Osama Bin Laden doesn't give a shit about one room in NYC, he's rightfully worried about a drone being shoved up his ass. But the American politician who your fear will donate to, gives a shit. Mainly because he can scare you into giving him money because 'on his/her watch' this would not happen.

Newt Gingrich has gone on record saying, "...Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca." Well Mr. Gingrich I have to ask, "Why do you think America shouldn't have more rights than fucking Saudi Arabia?" I don't know about him, but I think America should NOT base their level of religious tolerance on a Middle East country known for its lack of religious tolerance. Mosques in this country are not built for Middle Eastern people, they are built for Americans who wish to practice their religion. I know you say that you want to protect the constitution, but please, pretty please read the first amendment. And the part about separation of Church and State. Its a fucking wild part of the constitution. I'm sure you'll pick up a thing or two about how the founding fathers really wanted this country to be.

I do not completely disagree with the protests for Park51. Not because I believe they are in the right, but because of my belief in that same first amendment that I was writing about earlier. If you want to protest anything, I believe you have every right to. I just completely disagree with the fact that any politician should create any legal hurdle for this center. It is a place of worship, near a place where many of its members also died. Lets not forget that the terrorists did not go into it to kill Christians, they went to kill Americans. The twin towers were not Christian buildings, they were American buildings. Christians were not the only ones that died in that building. Many Muslims perished trying to escape the tower and many of them also perished as first responders who died trying to save fellow Americans, not fellow Muslims. These victims and heroes deserve more respect than what they have been getting.

I hope the government stays away from this and that the protesters don't get too out of hand. After all, there are politicians using their religion to help create this controversy. If these pawns do decide to do anything to that community center, they would have more in common with the terrorist, than most people of their same faith. After all, chances are, they will only hurt fellow Americans because of their religion. They will persecute based on religion, something the very first Amendment in here, America, should protect.

So, This is Blogging.

Well, this is my very first blog. Sure I've put down my little views and tidbits of information on other sites, but I've never had a blog. I'm popping my cherry right now. How does it feel? Not too bad to be honest with you. I guess I don't expect anybody to read this, which takes the pressure off. I do have to figure out how I would get people to read this. I'm actually thinking about having videos in here, but first lets see if people would read me before we ask if they want to see me. I just got that monetize thing and it sounds... cute. I don't know what to make of it yet, but we'll see.

So what can you expect from this blog? Well, for one you can expect to find links to stories here and there and some commentary about them. I like to comment on just about anything out there. Anything interesting, like for example Julian Assange, the founder of the 'whistle blowing' website 'Wikileaks', recently had his rape accusation dropped by the Swedish government. Now i tend to believe a conspiracy theory here and there, but I don't get too deep into them. However, what almost happened to this guy is crazy. He was almost accused of rape. No details are available just yet, but it sounds SUPER fishy. If I was him, I'd look over your shoulder for a bit, because someone is out to get you! I don't know why someone in Sweden is out to get you. I do have to say that he should be expecting this kind of attack. I don't condone what is being done to him, but I don't poke a beehive without expecting a bunch of bees to try to tattoo their names on me ass. This guy is leaking some crazy classified ish, that is making governments look bad. Expect some 'crazy little coincidences' to come to your door. I do hear that he is a bit paranoid (rightfully so it seems) and travels a lot, so he'll be hard to pin down. If you want you can check out this small story about this.

I can also put up news on the entertainment business. Now this is a specialty of mine as the entertainment business is what I'm trying to break into. If you have looked at my profile you can see that I have 'Actor' as my occupation. But I must admit I barely qualify. I was an extra in a Matt Damon movie coming out called, "The Adjustment Bureau", and I was in a short film (which I'm sad to say has not yet come out) called, "The Martyr". I filmed this almost a year ago and have still not received the finished product. I've emailed the people behind the movie, but they just tell me that its not ready yet. Which sucks ass because I'm actually acting on that. I want to see how I fit into a narrative. But alas that is where I stand. I just didn't want to give you the wrong impression. If anything, I'll always try to be honest with you. Anyway, my entertainment stories will deal with interesting movie news. Like in the next Spider-man movie, which is a reboot, the character of Mary Jane will not appear in the movie. Now this is great for my fellow comic book geeks who know that MJ was not Pete's first love, but this may confuse some people who only know of the character from TV or the movies.

I will also post reactions to little odd stories and the such. I am leaving my first blog with a couple of questions. Was this blog too long? Will there be a comments section where my mom can tell me how great I can spell? I would appreciate any feedback I can get.