Self-Indulgent and Overstated Nerdrage: Xbox One

Where do I begin?  The reveal of Microsoft’s latest system could not have possibly gone down worse.  For real, I have been trying to think of ways that this could have been worse.  Not much is coming to me.  For a company that has already been making poor choices with the Xbox 360, this was a disaster.

Let’s start with the very small criticisms.  Don’t worry, I intend to take a giant shit all over the bigger ones soon enough.  The first criticism is that this next system isn’t backwards-compatible.  That is so dumb that it hurts.  If memory serves, Sony has made this same mistake with the PS4.  Why?  With the PS3, I kind of got why the system wasn’t backwards-compatible.  The games were formatted differently.  So that would have been a problem.  But with this latest system, it makes no sense.  They are both playing high-definition games that truly only differ in terms of the quality of graphics.

Next, the graphics for the PS4 are amazing.  On the level of a high-specs PC.  With this latest system from Microsoft, the Xbox One…oh, and that’s another thing – the name.  This is the most uninspired name that I have ever heard!  It bores me just thinking about it.  But the graphics on this system are not impressive at all.  They are a bit of a step beyond what we see now, but that’s it.

Another totally stupid thing is that this system is marketed as an entertainment center.  It showed off how, with this device, it can play TV, on your TV, where you are supposed to have TV.  Oh yeah, that makes sense.  And now it has Internet Explorer!  Wow.  That’s impressive.  Oh, wait, it’s not.  Because what we all have Internet Explorer for now is to download Chrome or Firefox.  Because Internet Explorer is their retarded cousin.  This system has a ton of features.  That’s cool.  Oh, wait, it’s not.

What about the games?  Well, we didn’t get to see much of them.  In fact, there was almost NO gameplay footage!  They showed off the new Call of Duty and NFL games.  That was exciting.  Well, not exactly.  Since there was almost no gameplay, we were just watching the tailored visuals that showed us nothing.  Almost NO emphasis was put on the games.  But that’s not the worst thing.

The very worst things about this system is that Microsoft’s war on used games has come full circle, and the public will be paying the price.  See, while they don’t demand that you have a constant internet connection, you will have to have some semblance of one for this console.  The reason is that the system hooks directly in to Xbox Live.  The reason that it does this is because they will be forcing players to register their games on Xbox Live before they can be played.  Just like a PC, there will be a code for the games.  What’s more, the system will then know if the game has been downloaded more than once.

And if the game has been used more than once, of the player bought a used game, then guess what – you have to pay a fee!  That’s right, if you have already bought the game once, then you have to pay a fucking fee again.  This is beyond bullshit.  This is money-grubbing.  This is a cash-grab, and it disgusts me how this is actually allowed to stand.  It’s like Microsoft is crying, “used games give us less money!  So we’re going to get it!”  It should come as no surprise that Microsoft is already doing PR damage control.  For good reason.

The other annoying-as-fuck thing about this system is that the games are on the disc and then you download them on to your system.  That’s how this whole anti-used game thing works.  It has all the properties of a PC.  So, here’s a question – if this system is going to function exactly like a PC, why wouldn’t I just use my PC?  The decisions surrounding this system are so dumb, because they are now trying to appeal to a wider audience.

Sony must be cheering right now.  This is the best thing that could have possibly happened to them.  When they debuted the PS4, they came out guns-blazing.  They made their debut all about the games.  It was the exact opposite of what they did back during the debut of the PS3.  Care to guess what they did then?  Well, they talked about the features, all the neat gizmos and they barely even touched the games.  Sound familiar?

This debut of their latest system was a disaster.  And it can only get worse from here.  Sony already has the upper-hand.  Nintendo is fighting for its survival at this point.  Unless the Wii U starts to own in a pretty serious way, it isn’t looking good for them.  Microsoft, however, has decided to not only spit in the faces of gamers, but also business in general.  You just KNOW that Gamestop has to be pretty pissed right now.  Used games are their bread and butter.  If players aren’t compelled to buy them, then why sell them?  Gamefly also has to be feeling jilted right now.  A lot of corporate interests are going to be pissed, and this is what Microsoft is touting as the next best thing.  Fucking genius.

I was hoping that Microsoft wouldn’t do this.  I wanted to believe in their new system.  I was just starting to actually like the Halo series, now that they took a more personal look at the main character.  With Bungie having a new IP coming out that doesn’t look half-bad, there was a lot to like about a new system.  Alas, they have squandered all of what could have been great potential, right out of the gate.  This was so stupid that it’s kind of brilliant.  As I said, Sony must be cheering right now.  As they should be.  With their dedication to Indie gaming, along with trying to make good games, Microsoft is going to be losing money, in a big way.

Until next time, a quote,

“Who is more foolish – the fool or the fool who follows him?”  Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Hope

Peace out,

Maverick

Life on Autopilot

Haven’t done one of these posts in a while.  Posts about my own existential view on the world.  There is something about not being wanted, sexually.  Something about being a titan who isn’t all that much in the looks department leaves me getting almost no interest in fooling around.  Who knew?  But there is an upside to it all.  It offers one a chance to see things with a good deal more clarity than most people will ever have.  It’s not their fault that they don’t have clarity.  It’s just biology.

It’s quite simple, really – the human mind is programmed to want sex.  Because we want sex, when we have the chance to have it, we don’t want to lose that.  I know how strong that pull is.  However, House was right when he said that there are two things that people get stupid for – money and sex.  So, when one doesn’t have any interest or options in that department, it opens up an entirely new dichotomy of thought because one doesn’t have to worry about what it all means.

I have figured out why women tend to go for jerks over nice guys.  Don’t worry, ladies, this isn’t going to be me attacking you.  In fact, the reasons that you go for jerks isn’t mean-spirited at all.  I’ve always been of the belief that women are practical.  They like things to work in an efficient way.  They like things to be very direct and straight-forward.  I’ve always admired that.  They generally tend to take the most direct path to get what they want.  The most direct is not always something that required brute force, metaphorically speaking.  The direct path is the path that gets them the most gain for the least amount of effort.  Don’t think I’m calling you lazy.  I’m calling you smart.  Women generally tend to act with their logical processes.  Men, on the other hand, tend to just run in and care about the problems later.

Here’s the difference between nice guys and jerks – jerks get things done.  There is this really enlightening book called “Assholeology.”  It is a comedy book, but if you read it, the real-world applications are actually kind of profound.  Jerks is another word for assholes.  This book has some pretty smart reasons why assholes get ahead.  Jerks have very clear goals.  Jerks have a plan to get those goals.  Jerks don’t care what the consequences are.  Jerks will pursue that goal, regardless.  That is something that I naturally can see why women gravitate toward.  Guys who have a clear direction and are determined is going to be a group that they will get along with, by nature.  It’s the way of the world.

For those ladies who think that I am still attacking you, don’t.  Your reasons aren’t bad ones.  If anything, they’re logical.  They make sense to me.  That doesn’t make it any easier, because I am a nice guy, but I am starting to understand.  With understanding comes peace of mind.  I now understand my role in the world.

Nice guys are the guides to those that they care about.  They are those who give of themselves, knowing that they will never get what they give back.  They are the ones who try with all their might to make others happy, with the understanding that they cannot have that in kind.  The world is just too mean-spirited of a place for that.  This role is thankless, in every sense of the word.  Nice guys are the ones on the bottom who are perpetually kept their by the people who run the world – jerks.

Jerks are powerful.  Jerks don’t let the little issues like whether something is right or wrong stop them from doing whatever the fuck they want.  It is an admirable trait, in many respects.  Part of me wishes that I could be like that.  Life would get a LOT easier.  But it’s not who I am.

So, I continue one.  I keep going down that road, waiting to see what tomorrow has.  Like Urdnot Bakara, I am sustained by hope.  Hope that tomorrow will be better.  And if tomorrow is not better, there is always the next day.  It will be like this until we are ash that has spread across the winds and been forgotten by the world.  Never to be in the minds of the people we worked so hard to save, forevermore.

Being in love taught me something.  When Camille was still alive, her and I were a strange couple.  We both hated the world so much.  Our mutual hatred of it was a common talking point between the two of us.  We fed each other’s depression.  Maybe that is why her death has damaged me as much as it has.  We both were feeding the very worst qualities of the other, and now we are both irrevocably tainted by this.  Well, just me, now.  She has passed on from this world.  If there is something after all of this, I mean to find her again.  I mean to say sorry.  Sorry that things got so bad between us, toward the end.  Sure, she lied to me, betrayed my trust.  But why be angry, in the end?  Not worth it.

I live life on autopilot.  No particular direction.  No particular destination.  I see my life as a highway across a natural landscape.  Though the landscape changes from time to time as I walk down it, this road continues onward.  I have no idea where this road will take me, but I keep going.  Sometimes the landscape is beautiful, and I sit and enjoy it for as long as I can.  Other times, it is lifeless and I feel very alone.  But the road continues, and we continue on it, as that point inevitably comes where we no longer continue.  Where our ability to go on living ceases.  I do not lament that.  My morality is not something that frightens me.  It is the score that all of us get to settle up with after a while.

So, when I go, I tell people – do not mourn for me.  Life is too short for that.  Instead, when that day does come that my end approaches, take a moment and remember what I did.  Then, let me slide from your memory as the thoughts of living take over.  I am one of those people who is somehow very easy for people to forget, even though I am a titan.  I take that for what I will.

Until next time, a quote,

“Wheel of life.  Popular Salarian concept.  Similar to human Hinduism in focus on reincarnation.  Appealing to see life as endless.  Fix mistakes in next life.  Learn, adapt, improve.  Refuse to believe life ends here.  Too wasteful.  Have more to offer.  Mistakes to fix.  Cannot end here.”  -Mordin Solus, Mass Effect 2

Peace out,

Maverick

RE: The Thaw

Well, a bunch of Christian kids has decided to make a video about how Christianity is under attack in America, and how they need to stand up to it.  The name of the video is “The Thaw.”  Ugh…

I am going to do this post like I have done others.  We will do a hit for hit with their words, where they say something and I respond.  Let’s get started.

Christianity is being completely frozen out of America.

Since 70% of Americans identify themselves as Christian and you can’t get to office in this country without sucking religion’s dick, I’m going to call BS on that one.  But let’s hear more.  Oh, by the way, there are a lot of people who talk in this video, so when I make a point about different people talking, take it in stride.

Why can’t I pray in school?!

Who’s stopping you?

Why do I have to check my religion at the door?

So many speakers, so many questions.  None of them smart or right.

Why can’t I write about God in my school papers?

Again, who’s stopping you?  You all talk about this stuff but have NO sources to back your claims up.

Why do I have to tolerate people cursing my God, but am not allowed to talk about my God and my faith.

Okay, fuck it.  Let’s just get this all out in the open.  Everything that these kids said was bullshit.  You are allowed to pray in schools.  Nobody is stopping you.  Here is what is not allowed to happen – you are not allowed to have teacher-led mandatory prayer.  Public schools cannot openly support a religion.  The fundies have been throwing this lie around for as long as I have been alive.  If a student wants to pray or talk about God or whatever, they are allowed to do that.  My school had a couple of bible-study groups who met after school.  I knew a girl who wrote a paper on why God is so awesome and we are so bad.  It got a bad grade, but that wasn’t because it was about God.  I read her paper.  Her grammar was awful!  For real, I guess that God didn’t give this girl good editing tips.  Oh, and she didn’t use any quotes from any other materials.  Any good essay should be backed up by sources.  Last I checked, the Bible is a source.  It has been used well, in several religious papers.  And before you call foul because I am an atheist, I was an English major before becoming a journalism major.  I’ve read a lot of essays.

But yeah, nothing that these kids say is true.  You are allowed to pray.  You don’t have to leave your religion at the door.  You can talk about your God all you want.  But at a public school, funded by public money, the faculty cannot endorse a religion or require religion to be mandatory.  Can we please stop pandering this bullshit to the Christards who want to think that they are some kind of oppressed minority?

Why are they taking God out of my history books?

Uh, I don’t know.  Maybe it’s because of the fact that God is not real, and we want ACTUAL history being taught to students.  For real, America already doctors the shit out of history for their curriculum.  Like how they make Christopher Columbus seem like a great guy, when the truth is that he has more in common with Hitler than any of us.  So yeah, that’s just dumb.

Why do they teach every other theory in science except creation?

Gee, maybe it’s because the Theory of Evolution is actual science with a metric ton of data to support it, while the belief that a magical sky-wizard created the universe has absolutely NO evidence to support it at all!  If you want to learn about pseudo-science, some schools offer religious courses.  But don’t demand that your bullshit be taught as something that has actual basis in reality.  There was no creation.  The “Theory of Creation” is nothing but a crackpot theory that doesn’t even count as pseudo-science.  It isn’t science at all.  I mean, think about it – he spends seven days creating this one planet and all the things on it, but an entire universe, with a googleplex of stars and planets, organized into trillions upon trillions of galaxies, that was just an afterthought.  Does that sound like science to you?  Of course not.  And that is why it isn’t being taught in public schools.

Why am I called names because I believe in marriage the way God designed it?

I don’t know.  Maybe it’s because you’re a bigot.  And the kid who says this looks like he is at that point where puberty is a new thing.  And when he discovers internet porn, and is jerking off to two chicks having sex, I will feel so good pointing out that he is also a hypocrite too.  But for the Christian, that means nothing.  They will impose their values onto others because Gawd tells them to.  Yeah, I could have swore that Jesus said something about loving your neighbors and your enemies and not trying to ruin their lives.  Consistency, what’s that?!

Some even call us hateful.  Hypocrites.  Unloving.  Close-minded.  Bigots.

I have yet to hear a term that doesn’t apply to you, so yeah, that’s accurate.

Why can’t Tim Tebow praise God after making a touchdown without causing a national uproar?

What the fuck are you talking about?  Last I checked, most people thought that that guy was just the most awesome thing since sliced bread.  In what universe is he this hated guy who prays to the guy that an overwhelming majority of people worship?

The football coach at Ridgeland High School, in Georgia, was investigated by the school board.  Did he abuse a student?  Is he a terrorist?  He allowed local churches to feed his football team.  *group gasp*

Wow, what ego-stroking bullshit.  So, I looked this story up.  This story is such a non-issue that it is kind of amazing.  There was no “investigation.”  A group complained and it ended there.  A complaint was issued, it was dealt with and there was no big investigation.  Not to mention, are you saying that there are people who are with the idea that the government is cracking down on religion?  For as much as politicians suck religion’s big fat cock, that REALLY doesn’t hold water.

At public school, I’m called ‘lesbian,’ or ‘gay’ for not kissing or for wanting to save myself for marriage.

Wait…what?  What school do you go to where this is the case?  Back in my days at a public high school, girls who didn’t “save themselves for marriage” were slut-shamed and harassed by the other girls who believe that Gawd just loved them.  Never mind that they weren’t slutty at all.  They were just honest about who they are.  And the biggest sluts in high school had the Bible at the top of their beloved-books list.  Not to mention “save myself for marriage”?  What the fuck is this, the 17th century?

Abstinence doesn’t work.  It has never worked.  The reason is simple – we are human beings.  We have urges.  Deny that long enough and your mind finds ways around it.  That’s the reason that SO many religious girls in high school get pregnant.  And don’t even compare yourselves to the trouble that actual gays and lesbians face from you religious zealots.  My friend Zero got the shit kicked out of her by a bunch of girls who knew that she was a lesbian.  Zero knows how to fight, but the girls got their boyfriends to help.  It was “god’s mission.”  I don’t feel bad for having my own people beat the shit out of their boyfriends’, slash the tires of all their cars and isolate each of them, with the express understanding that if they hurt my friend again, I would be taking parts off.  I was young, immature and angry, but nobody hurts my friends.  So yeah, fuck you.

In public school, people are rude and disrespectful toward Christians.  Bullying is common.

Okay, stop right there!  I call bullshit!  I cannot begin to tell you how many of the bullies at my school counted God among their best friends and called him their “lord and savior.”  Whenever a gay kid got bullied, it was a Christian.  When my lesbian friend got beaten, they thought it was a mission from God.  A girl who got pregnant in high-school, I guarantee you that it was Christians front-and-center slut-shaming her.  There was this kid whose family was Muslim, and he got bullied and harassed in ways you can’t imagine.  I took that kid into my fold after I saw how bad it got.  Nobody, and I do mean nobody, fucks with the friend group of a guy like me.  I am a titan.  I was a titan back in high school.  Nobody messed with my in-crowd.  And I made sure that people knew that this kid was a part of it.

The Christians absolutely love this narrative that goes that they are somehow the victims of oppression, when it is they themselves who are oppressing others.  LGBT rights aren’t being blocked by atheists.  It is being blocked by Christians, Muslims and especially the Mormons.  Some of the most hardcore activism against gay rights has been by the Mormons.  This narrative makes Christians feel good.  America loves to be the victims.  We love to have a narrative we can tell ourselves that makes us feel like we are the victims of some horrible crime.  Sadly, it isn’t true.  But let’s continue.

What we see in our health classes. ‘Sex education.’  4th grade and up.  Is pornography.

Wow, when the posters in a sex-ed classroom are viewed as pornography, then I am starting to think that Christians really are afraid of their own reproductive organs.  I mean, this is just pathetic.  I bet half of Christians don’t even like saying the words “penis” or “vagina.”  Can we make a deal, Christians?  I will work harder not to attack you, if you will please just TRY and be a little more mature.

People make fun of me because I don’t believe in abortion!

What universe are these kids from, exactly?  I mean, really?!  Because, again, in my experience in a public high school, it was the Christians picking on the people who weren’t against abortion.  And god-help you (pun intended) if you were a girl who got outed when you had one.  The wrath of the Christards was almost…biblical.  Again, pun intended.

In public school, people believe Christians are goodie-goods and boring.

Okay, they have finally said something that is true.  Among my in-group, anyway.  Since Christians were never really bullied and were instead the bullies, it was an idea we kept to ourselves.  But still, yeah, they are goodie-goods and boring.  Well, those who aren’t like the people in this video, that is.  And those who think like them.  The people who are spewing this bullshit are bigots and hypocrites who want to play themselves off as victims.  But for the rest, who aren’t in my face, then yeah, I am down with that thought process.

Dirty jokes fill the hallways between classes.  During class.  Before school.  At lunch.  After school.  On the bus.  Off the bus.

Boo-fucking-hoo, you little crybaby.  If you don’t like people telling dirty jokes, here’s a radical thought – don’t listen!

Get the idea?

Oh.  So this is meant to say that we should all moderate our behavior so that you don’t have to feel offended.  Well, I got news for you, Christard kids – you don’t get to make that demand!  You don’t control my behavior!  It’s a free country, and we are allowed to joke about what we want, when we want.  Don’t like it, go somewhere else.  It’s not like we are holding a gun to your head and saying, “listen to this fucking joke, bitch!”  So yeah, another mute point made to show how you are the victims.

Despite modern popular belief, America WAS founded as a Christian nation.

No it wasn’t.  Almost none of our Founding Fathers were Christian.  Thomas Jefferson was a deist.  Thomas Paine was a deist.  John Adams was a Unitarian.  Ben Franklin was a  deist.  And not one place in the Constitution does it say that this country is a Christian nation.  You Christians have been rallying this point to death!  And you are wrong!  When I point out the 1st Amendment, people often come back at me with this line -

It’s freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion!

Wow, it’s like you all can’t stop to think.  Two words, so similar in their meaning.  And they didn’t say that we have freedom of religion.  The 1st Amendment says that government “shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  That clear enough for you?  If America was founded in support of Christianity, then I figure that Jesus or his baby-daddy would be mentioned somewhere.  But they aren’t!  This point is dumb!  But back to the video.

No one would dare not to stand, place their hand over their heart, and recite the pledge.

The kid who says this puts his hand over his shoulder.  So smart.

America was founded as a force for good.

Tell that to the millions of Native Americans that the Europeans slaughtered.  Or how about we tell it to the millions of civilians in the Middle East who have been victims of George Bush II and his newest crusade into their countries, killed by our soldiers.  Or maybe we could ask the slaves that we brutally took from their homes and absolutely ravaged in this country.  Let’s ask them how much America is a “force for good.”

America was once the force for hope in the world.

And now we are being left behind by the rest of the Western World, because we can’t get our shit together.  This post has gone on a little long already, so let’s skip ahead to the end.

We are an army.  Christ is our commander.  His will is our charge.  We are impacting our friends.  Our family.  Our community.  Our state.  Our country.  We’re in a war for the hearts and souls of our generation.  And we know it.

Since there is no God, no Christ or any of that, you won’t be taking your orders from him.  Instead, you’ll take it from other people.  People who are corrupt, have a stake in holding society back and are living like kings because of it.  Oh, fuck, they are living WAY better than the king’s back in Jesus’ day ever did.  You are weak, weak-minded and stupid.  But thanks to the internet, who is not at ALL a nice animal, your bullshit is being taken apart.  People are too informed to buy into your crap.  And that is all the better.

Until next time, a quote,

“Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it’s wonderful when someone says, ‘I’m willing, Lord! I’ll do whatever you want me to do!’ Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don’t. How can I be so sure? Because I don’t know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not.”  -Bill Maher, Religulous

Peace out,

Maverick

What is Love?

Before you ask, no, I am not going to do the ‘Baby Don’t Hurt Me’ pun.  It’s been done to death.  Even if it is an obscure reference.  I have asked what really controversial topics are, like what is God? (fake) What is Faith? (Ignorance) and I am even working on a post called What is Death? (the end) But probably the most talked-about thing that has ever been in the history of the human race is this – what is love?  From the shitty pop artists of today to the great poets of the past, it seems like love is the just the awesome thing in the history of ever.  All of humanity imbues love with sacrosanct status.  The idea is that all of life is designed for the express purpose of this chemical interaction in the brain.

Speaking of the brain, let’s start there.  The reality is that love isn’t one thing.  We like to think that it is, but it’s not.  There are multiple aspects to it that need to be addressed.  The first is lust.  When you see somebody who you are sexually attracted to, your relationship may start there.  Unless you are a genuinely nice guy.  In which case, you will be friend-zoned and passed over for jerks.  Life’s a bitch.  But the basis of all romantic love is lust.  There is not a single piece of romantic love that hasn’t started there.  And I can see so many of you already commenting that I’m wrong.  You will talk about how that doesn’t matter.  Well, let me call bullshit and pass you off.  If it didn’t start there, then the human race would have died out long ago.  We are programmed to be sexually attracted to certain things.  I hear a lot of women say that intelligence is sexy.  Yeah, I have yet to hear any of those women say that Steven Hawking is hot.

So, it starts out with lust.  But then there is another part of human behavior that is programmed into us – bonding.  Romantic bonds are formed due to another primal behavior for us to find mates and carry on our genetic code.  I am one of those people who says that the primal instincts to have as many mates as possible affects men and women equally.  Women will say that guys only want one thing, but the truth is that they are just as sexually open-minded as men.  They just won’t admit it.  Their loss.  We were programmed to have as many mates as possible.  The idea is that we find the best mates to continue our genetic code.  It is one of the many reasons that I think that monogamy is outdated.  We fight against our primal nature because of 2,000 years of “moral” guidance for western society.  Namely religion.  Hence the quotes around “moral.”

A romantic bond cannot remain as strong as it started forever.  That’s the cold truth.  Again, I can already hear so many of you who are getting ready to refute this.  But the cold truth about this is that since we are designed to seek multiple mates, we will start to want something new.  We are constantly fighting against our nature to have the romantic structure that we do have.  To overcome our natural tendency to want something else, people have to do a simple action – no longer see the person they are with as a romantic partner.  Instead, they become a best friend.  That is how marriages last.  It all comes down to brain chemistry.

For all the grandiosity that we try and bestow on love, the reality is that love is nothing more than brain chemistry.  But why does society want to believe that love is so wonderful?  Well, as I see it, the reason is simple – life sucks.  It really does.  Life is a giant grinding pain in the ass that we all have to suffer through.  Love is an emotion that makes one feel so amazing.  It raises people up.  It makes days brighter.  It makes the entire world seem like a better place, even if only for a little while.  Love is the emotion that gives so much to so many.  When you have to go to a shitty job and deal with shitty people, what is better than coming home to a person who cares?  That is the reason that logic goes out the window when people fall in love.  People will do whatever it takes to keep love in their lives.  So many horribly bad choices are made for love.  The reason is because people want to believe that it means something.

I was once a very profound romantic.  That part of me is dead and buried.  I have no part of me that believes that love is worth all the effort that people go through to have it.  I talk to people who are head-over-brain in love, and so many bad decisions are made.  I see train-wrecks that are coming, but do they listen?  No.  Of course not.  Tell somebody that they are on the wrong course and they will naturally rebel against it.

So, what is love?  Is it brain chemistry?  Is it a profound philosophical concept?  Is it the fabric that keeps our world together?  Is it all you need?  Is it everything?  The answer is that it is none of those things.  Love is the thing that keeps people from slipping into despair.  Love is the way that people avoid hurting.  Love is the thing that gives people’s life purpose, because they have nothing else.  Love is a means to an end.  Love is the way that people can deny that life hurts them.  Love is how they will see that things are better.

Love is ignorance.  The same way that religion and faith are.  It feels good, but that’s it.  It feels good.  Beyond that, why do we care so much?  Don’t think that I am insulting you by saying that it is ignorance.  Lies are what keeps the world running.  The lies that we tell others, and the ones we tell ourselves.  I won’t shame that on anyone.  It’s how we survive.  And that’s all I have to say.

Until next time, a quote,

“I imagine John Watson thinks love’s a mystery to me, but the chemistry is incredibly simple and very destructive…I’ve always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof.”  -Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock

Peace out,

Maverick

The Mother’s Day Dissonance

Dissonance, that is the word that I would use to describe my thoughts on this holiday.  Don’t think that I am going to be criticizing it on its merits or just saying that it’s dumb.  Far from it.  And I also want to point out that I am not in any way criticizing your mothers or what they have done in your life.  There are a ton of amazing mothers in the world who have done great things for their kids.  But at the same time, it must be recognized that there are also a ton of deadbeat moms who mess their kids up and are a detriment to their kids’ lives.  But here is the thing that gives me dissonance about this holiday – why is somebody just being a mother celebrated?

For those among you who want to do the knee-jerk reaction that they gave birth to the kid, don’t.  So do dogs, cats, snakes, sharks and army ants.  If anything, the queen of an ant colony should get a lot more respect if simply bearing children is why this is a celebrated holiday.  They bear thousands of them.  Most queens bear hundreds of off-spring per day.  So yeah, that is not a good criteria for why there should be a special day for them.

Perhaps it is being a parent.  That reason does make some sense to me.  Honoring the parents in your life who make your life what it is is a wonderful thing to do.  But why one parent in-particular?  Since I won’t be making a post about it, I should point out that this post is also a commentary on Father’s Day.  Another day that has the same problems as this one.  Though it can’t be defended as easily as Mother’s Day can.

However, the problem in celebrating this day because of the good mothers doesn’t hold up because as I have pointed out, not all of them are good.  Some of them are pieces of shit.  My late fiance was abandoned at a group home with her little sister because her mother couldn’t take care of them.  Part of me still wants to find their mother and kick the shit out of her for abandoning her kid, because she couldn’t get clean off of drugs and look after them.  But let’s not drill into the past.  I am hashing this out because I am trying to look for a good metric to have this holiday be what it is on merits alone.

When I brought this up to a friend of mine, she pointed out that religious implications.  In most religions, the mother has a special place that is supposed to be honored.  Most religions see them as sacred because they can create new life.  I guess the writers of their text didn’t know that it takes two, and that the father is equally-important to provide both the genetic material but also in creation.  While the mother may carry the offspring, it cannot be denied that the father is just as important in the creation of it.  Not to mention that I am not a religious person.

Since religion means nothing to me, as I am a man of science, how am I supposed to accept that one parental-unit should be honored exclusively for that reason?  Similarly, how can I accept that the other parental-unit should also be given a special day as well?  There is no direct correlation between a holiday and a group of people existing.

So, what do I think should happen?  Well, to be honest, I think that we should scrap both Mother’s and Father’s day.  Instead, since there are some mothers and some fathers who are worthless sacks of garbage who do nothing but bring pain and misery, I have a different idea – Parent’s Day.  A day that honors the contributions of your parents and all that they have given you.  A day that recognizes that you are who you are because of what they gave you.

For those who want to call foul because the same problems that I said before are prevalent here, I think that this holiday undercuts them, to an extent.  If one of your parents suck, then you can recognize the other.  If both of them do, then you only have one day to have that point ground home in your mind.

Like I said, I’m not criticizing your parents or saying that this holiday is worthless.  Recognizing what your parents have done for you is something that we all should do.  But a parent isn’t worth recognizing because they exist.  This is tied into my thoughts on respect.  Respect is earned.  It isn’t given just because of who somebody is, or their relation to you.  Whenever somebody tells me to respect my elders, I want to almost laugh.  Why?  Because they’re older?  That does NOT entitle them to respect.  Similarly, a parent just being a parent doesn’t mean that we should treat them with some sort of unearned respect.

Don’t take this personal.  I mean no offense to anyone.  Just think about it.  That’s all I ask.

Until next time, a quote,

“Get to know your parents.  You never know when they’ll be gone for good.”  -Baz Luhrmann, Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen 

Peace out,

Maverick

Self-Indulgent and Overstated Nerdrage: The Transformers Movies

When I bring up my reasons for hating these movies with people in conversations, a lot of people try to play it off.  There are a lot of excellent reasons not to like these movies.  The rampant racism is one great reason.  The blatant objectification of women, combined with the blatant sexism is another.  Or we could talk about how these movies pretty much butt-rape the source material.  But for me, that isn’t why I hate these films so much.  The reason that I hate them as much as I do is because, in the movies, Optimus Prime is pure evil.

Before you go off on me, hear me out.  In the first film, him and his cohorts get to Earth.  They are tracking down the Decepticons.  Okay.  But why are they here, anyway?  Well, they’re here for the Allspark.  They want this device for the express purpose of rebuilding their home.  They don’t seem to care if they kill us to get it.  Though that brings up the point – we are holding it.  Something I didn’t think about in the film is that this whole problem could have been amended if humanity had thought to strike up a deal with the Decepticons.  We give you your gizmo back, along with some of our machines and you can go home and make nice with rebuilding Cybertron.  For real, that would have made the entire situation SO much easier.  We even had the Decepticon leader in our custody, using liquid nitrogen to keep him frozen.  The Decepticons wanted their gizmo and their leader back.  Now, Megatron had nothing but contempt for us, but what he wanted, at heart, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

So, his people attack our forces, to get their device back.  The only device with a chance of saving their people and rebuilding their home.  You know, from an outside perspective, that doesn’t sound so bad.  But let’s take a look at the Autobots in contrast.  The Autobots come here to destroy them.  They say it is to protect us, but Megatron and his forces don’t want to stay here.  They want to go and rebuild their home.  Sure, his methods are extreme, but at its heart, it is not THAT bad.  Meanwhile, think about this – how many Autobots did Megatron kill?  One.  That’s right, just one.  He only destroyed one Autobot.  Meanwhile, how many Decepticons did the Autobots and Optimus personally kill?  Well, the numbers aren’t totally clear, but it is at least over 5.

Not only that, but for somebody who seems to be all about peace, Optimus sure does embrace killing his enemies without mercy, doesn’t he?  Don’t believe me?  Well, let’s look at the second film, Revenge of the Fallen.  In this one, it opens with the Autobots hunting the Decepticons down.  For real, they aren’t hurting anybody.  They are just hiding out, trying to go unnoticed.  You find out that they are also looking for their fallen leader at the same time, but still.  The Autobots attack them relentlessly and without mercy.  If you think about it, all of the unbelievably huge amounts of collateral damage and god-knows how many civilians kills in their little mission (which is in China.  I guess killing innocent people in America isn’t cool with Michael Bay), in a ruthless hunt to destroy their enemy makes them look like the aggressor, doesn’t it?

But it gets better.  Megatron has lost the single-best chance he had to bring back his home.  His forces are being slaughtered by the Autobots, without their side taking a casualty.  Optimus Prime even does a suck-America’s-cock move and drops out of a plane to lay the beat-down on one of them.  Now, he reaches out to another.  Somebody who he is sure can lead to bringing his people back.  Oh, and this is after they bring him back from the dead, after Shia LaBitch killed him.

So, a plan is set in motion.  Since they can’t rebuild their numbers without a proper energy source, a drastic plan is called for.  This plan is to blow up our star and harvest the energy crystals that would be created by it.  This plan is a little insane, but think about it – what other choice did Megatron have?  By destroying the Allspark, he now is having to resort to tactics that are repugnant because he doesn’t want to see his race die.  The Autobots stop his plan, but then you see Optimus.  The hero that kids are supposed to look up to.  He appears at the last minute and not only brutally and ruthlessly kills the Fallen but he also mutilates Megatron, who you are told is his brother in this universe, in the process.

Now we get to the last film, Dark of the Moon.  In this one, we get to see how truly evil Optimus is.  Megatron is beyond desperate.  All of his chances to save his people are gone.  So, he strikes up a deal with Sentinel Prime.  He is going to bring Cybertron to Earth and enslave humanity to get them to work to restore his planet.  This isn’t a good plan.  But it’s all he has left.  Meanwhile, you have the Autobots doing what, exactly?  Well, instead of their last mission, which was to exterminate the Decepticons, they have decided that they are going to go and kill America’s enemies instead.  For real, the Autobots charge in to a Middle Eastern base and open fire on an enemy who isn’t shooting back!  They basically decided to simply kill people instead of just using their size and being intimidating to get them to surrender.  I know that I wouldn’t raise my gun to a giant mech with blasters.

The Autobots stop the Decepticon’s plan and then you have Optimus.  Sentinel is kicking his ass.  He is pwning him completely.  Right as Sentinel is about to destroy him, who saves him?  Megatron!  Acting as a good brother, he goes in and saves a man who has done nothing but stop his efforts to rebuild his home and murdered his people, often in cold blood.  Megatron saves his life and then tells him that he wants to talk truce.  He wants there to be peace, because at this point, their home is now destroyed and this is the only thing he can do.  What does Optimus do in response?  He takes an axe and decapitates Megatron without mercy.  But it gets better.  He then takes the gun of Sentinel Prime, who you found out was seen as a father-figure by Optimus, and kills him too.  And he doesn’t just shoot him.  He shoots him twice, to make sure that he was really dead.

Both of these character, Megatron and Sentinel Prime, were no longer a threat to Optimus.  He had no reason to kill them.  He just does it anyway, because he can.  That is evil on a staggering level.  But if you look at the films that Michael Bay makes, it makes sense.

This is the kind of thing that Michael Bay thinks that kids should look up to.  A character who will kill his own brother and father-figure in cold blood when they both mean him no harm.  I won’t pretend like the original cartoon was a masterpiece.  It was corny and silly fun.  But at least that cartoon had characters who had values that we can look up to.  These movies have characters who will kill their enemy without mercy, claiming that it was their enemy who was hostile.  They have a simple solution to get rid of a problem and they don’t take it.  And their leader, Optimus Prime is a man who kills not only his father-figure, but also his own brother in cold blood and without a second thought.  What is there to look up to in that.

I could almost forgive the sexism, racism and homophobia in those movies, because they aren’t made to be anything but dumb action films.  But when you butt-rape a show like this and make the characters in it into amoral monsters, that just pisses me off.  And now I hear that Michael Bay is making a fourth movie.  What will be the plot of this one?  Optimus paints an American flag on his armor and makes the world America’s slave?  I mean, if these movies didn’t go so far out of their way to suck America’s cock, one might miss that.

Until next time, a quote,

“Movie Optimus is a terrible person.  Beyond terrible, really.  Throughout these movies, Optimus has pushed Megatron to the point of desperation.  All he’s ever wanted is to rebuild Cybertron.  Sure, he’s had some horrifically misguided methods, but Optimus has killed more Decepticons in these movies than he has Autobots.  And now, Optimus has murdered not only his own brother in cold blood, but his father-figure as well.  All while both of them showed no intention whatsoever of doing him further harm.”  -Alex Christ, Transformers: Dark of the Moon [FRANCHISE FAILURE]

Peace out,

Maverick

Abercrombie & Fitch won’t sell Plus-Size Clothing. So What?

The most recent scandal that the internet has seen fit to go ape-shit over is the new fact that it has been revealed that Abercrombie and Fitch is not going to be making clothing for plus-size women.  Turns out that the only reason that they made slightly larger clothing for men was to get football players and the sort to buy their boring-ass brand.  Apparently it is on record that they don’t want heavier women to wear their clothing.  And naturally, this has all the equal-rights advocates for this sort of thing up in arms.  Uh, question, why do you care?

Has anyone who reads this blog ever seen an Abercrombie and Fitch ad?  This is a brand who doesn’t sell clothing.  They sell a personal identity.  Well, the identity they sell is – we have no personal interests that are worth anything, so we might as well be attractive!  For real, have you ever seen anything even approaching an identity that this brand sells?  Their logo is the ONLY recognizable thing about their brand.  But that’s a logo.

Think about this – goths.  Goths wear all black, lots of chains and usually have black makeup.  For how silly a look that is, at least it is a look.  It is a unique look.  Or there is the vampire night club scene.  Yeah, I have been to some of those.  Met some WEIRD-ass people there.  But again, each of them had their own individual identity.  Some took themselves WAY too seriously.  Some were just having fun and getting to be weird with their friends.  Either way, it was a unique look.

What identity, per se, does Abercrombie and Fitch sell?  Well, since their clothes are boring-as-fuck, aside from sporting their logo, they support a rather common-place identity here in America – the “I’m going to blend in because I’m too afraid to stand alone” identity.  That’s how they can justify selling a shirt for $60.  I mean, why would people pay that much for something boring?  I pay a lot for shoes, but that’s because I am a titan.  I can’t afford normal shoes that you get in the store.  Because I’m not drowning in money, if I could, I would be buying much cheaper shoes.  But they don’t make titan shoes for cheap.

And another thing – when has Abercrombie and Fitch ever sold plus-size clothing for women?  For real, at what point did this label actually sell anything for women who aren’t stick-figures?  Never, to my knowledge.  So why is this now becoming such a big issue?  I ask because if this company sells the brand that you should fit in with the rest, why do you want to be a part of that?

I think that this ties into a larger issue – people’s need to belong.  It is a part of human nature.  We’re pack-animals.  We want to find places where we can fit in.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  After all, our pack mentality is the reason for our success as a species.  It is also a reason that ants should scare the shit out of us.  But at the same time, we choose to find packs, even when those packs aren’t working for our betterment.

The reality here is that this shouldn’t be an issue.  If this company doesn’t want to have a certain kind of clothing, that will reflect in their profits.  If Abercrombie & Fitch wants to only have their brand associated with skinny women and muscle-guys, then the public will choose whether or not to buy their clothing.

And at the end of the day, remember – the people who like this crap are losers who have no ability to be on their own and no ability to stand apart.  While our pack-mentality has gotten us where we are, innovation comes from thinking outside the box.  This brand represents the box.  In every single sense of the word.

Until next time, a quote,

“He was a funny man with a certain flare for life. Epictetus compared people who ‘fit in’ to the white threads of a toga. Indistinguishable. He wanted to be the purple thread. ‘That small part which is bright, and makes all the rest appear graceful and beautiful. Why then,’ he asked, ‘do you tell me to make myself like the many? And if I do, how shall I still be purple?’”  -Alan Shore, Boston Legal

Peace out,

Maverick