Morality in Media: A Porn Joke We Can all Laugh To (Part Deux)

Well, I just found out that the woman who I attacked in a previous post by the same name has made another video, this time saying that we all need to vote Republican, to get rid of porn.  And I felt that it was only correct that I go after her again.  After all, I am nothing if not fair.  So, with that in mind, here is a link to her absurdity, and let’s do this.

Hi, it’s Dawn from Morality in Media and Porn Harms.

Hey Dawn, how ya been?  I hope there are no hard feelings from me calling you out for the racist that you are.  I mean, it was all from an innocent place, ie. wanting to call out a bigot for saying bigoted things.  I’m glad that you are talking to me again.  What do you have to say?

I’m really excited about something that happened today.  So, I wanted to make a quick video and let you know.

That’s awesome.  What are you excited about?  Did you change your mind about your stupid ideas about porn being harmful to society?  Did you amend the idiotic belief that you have of porn somehow being linked to the practice of sex trafficking?  Or rather, that porn is a direct cause of it (which she has alluded to, so don’t say I am making this up)?  What has gotten you so excited?

So, the Republican Party, I found out, is changing their platform to not only cover child pornography, but also hardcore pornography or obscenity.

Uhhh, yeah, that’s been a big point of the Republican Party for years.  Rick Santorum, when he was running for the Republican nominee was promising to get rid of porn.  Christine O’Donnell promised that she would get rid of all porn, abortion, women’s rights, and even said that she would make laws against masturbation in her run as governor.  Almost all the big Tea Party Republicans have had this position.  So, your knowledge is out of date, but given the last video you made, and what you said, I am not surprised.  You aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed.  But let’s see what her thoughts are about this.

I know that everybody has their political views, and I’m not trying to push any one political party definitely.

But…

But I think anybody who is anti-pornography will count this as a victory.

How?  Really, how is this a victory?  Think about this – the Republican Party has NOTHING to offer the American people.  Mitt Romney’s polling numbers are abysmal.  He has given up on the minority vote, which is good, because as Bill Maher said, he couldn’t get black people to vote for him if he “gave them a Lincoln.”  The only, and I do mean only chance that Romney has of winning this election is if he can get the vast majority of the white vote.  And that is simply not going to happen.  How is the Republican Party’s support of this idiocy a boon for you?  If you could explain that to me, Dawn, I would really be pleased.

So, the platform is now going to read current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need to be vigorously enforced.  The GOP is not advocating for any new laws, it’s important to understand that.

Actually, that’s a problem.  If they are serious about getting rid of porn, the only way that they could do that is with new laws.  The current laws we have regarding pornography are very much in defense of the industry, provided that they adhere to very strict safety regulations.  For those who don’t know, the porn industry was recently put in hold until a problem with and STI outbreak was identified and dealt with.  So yeah, this isn’t going to help them, it’s going to hurt them.

They are just saying that they want the existing federal obscenity laws to be enforced.  And those laws prohibit the distribution of hardcore pornography, or obscenity on the internet, on cable, satellite, on television.  In hotels, motels, retail shops.

What?!  Wow, you cannot possibly be this stupid!  That isn’t true at all!  The current laws prohibit the sales of these things to minors, along with making sure that the industry has strict adherence to all the aforementioned safety regulations, along with making sure that underage models are not used in videos.  Dawn, this is bullshit, and you are telling these people outright lies.  I’m curious, what laws in-particular are you talking about?  What section of the legal code do you use to back this up?  You going to fill us in on that?

Yet, pornography is all over those places, that’s because the laws are not being enforced at all, and haven’t really been vigorously enforced for a while.

Well, you didn’t answer my question.  You just talk about these “laws.”  Yeah, never mind that you are full of shit.  The reason that these places do this is because they legally can.  Otherwise, all the sources you mentioned would have legal hell to pay.  You are lying, straight-up lying to people, and I find that interesting.  Especially since you are endorsing the Republican Party.  They are pretty big on that too.

About two years ago, we started efforts called “The War on Illegal Pornography Coalition,” to get these laws enforced again.

What laws?  Where in the legal code do you justify this?!  For real, if you can’t answer this, then how do you expect your dim-witted audience to take this bullshit seriously?!

We work with 127 national and state and local groups.

Which she doesn’t name.

We’ve got almost half of the Senate and many members of the House working with us too.

Whose names she never gives.

And it’s people on both sides of the aisle.  Both Republicans and Democrats.

Of course it is…

So, again, I want to stress that I’m not pushing the Republican Party, I’m just very excited that they’re addressing the issue “officially” (she used hand-quotes, not me).

Yet you are using the same tactics of lying and using emotional manipulation that the Republican Party does.  Interesting…

You know, our current President, the President of our organization, Patrick Truman, he used to be the Chief at the US Department of Justice, who was responsible for enforcing these obscenity laws.

Well, he must have been doing a bad job of enforcing these laws that you never give reference to.  I mean, we all can still find porn really easily.

And when he was there, they never lost a case against the major producers and distributors of illegal pornography.

And you give what case references?  US vs…who?  For real, where is your evidence?  This is a pretty big thing, so why are you not throwing data at us?  Could it be that you are feeding us lies?  Could it be that you are not talking about how the producers of porn (by the way, to her, all porn is illegal.  She’s not just talking about child pornography) still had plenty of business over the last…well, forever.

And because of that, the worst types of pornography, which was rape-themed chat pornography, and child-themed pornography, it was pretty much wiped out.

Again, no evidence.  No case files, no case data, no triumphant data of any kind that you could reference to.  We just have to take this on your word.  Wow, you and the Republican Party will get along.

Because people were afraid to make and sell it!  So many others were going to jail and losing their assets because of it.

Which you offer as what to evidence…oh never mind.  This is getting dull.  I’ll just keep going.

So, if those laws would just be enforced again today, the worst type of pornography would be decreased.  A lot of the harms would be decreased in our society.

Such as?

I don’t have to spell out the harms for you.  Most of you already know that adults and children today are developing lifelong addictions to pornography.

With what studies as evidence?

There’s now a huge problem of child pornography.  Bigger than ever before!  It’s not that, all of the sudden, there are a bunch of pedophiles that are around, it’s that we’ve been grooming these people for years.

Oh, her comments about this should be rich.

People who are regularly viewing pornography find that they can no longer be satisfied by the same times of images.  So, they’re deviating to harder materials.

WHAT?!  Where is the evidence for this?!  For real, this is a HUGE leap of logic to make!  I mean, this is epically huge!  So, let me see if I got this right, just so I can understand.  If somebody looks at porn, any kind of porn, even if it is just a girl sitting there, looking pretty, while naked, they are going to want harder and harder stuff.  Are you talking like S&M?  Are you talking rape-porn?  If so, that is such bullshit!  I know plenty of people who think that S&M is something they wouldn’t even consider, and they look at porn on a fairly regular basis.  This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!

Including child-pornography to kind of just get off on it.

That is such bullshit.  Everyone I know who likes porn, even if they REALLY like it, find child pornography disgusting and morally wrong, and would never look at it.  They find it demeaning and as offensive as you do.  What you have said is bullshit, plain and simple.

To find satisfaction.  We know that 56% of divorces cite internet pornography as a major factor for the divorce.

And this came from what source?

Internet pornography is leading to increase in demand for sex trafficking.

Bullshit!  Again, almost all of the porn that people are watching is made by legal companies, who have women who are paid good money, who are out in the open, have Twitter accounts, and who are legally bound making these.  How is this increasing the demand for sex trafficking?

Um, recent studies (which she never references) are now talking about how men in their 20’s are reporting, uh, they’re developing porn-induced sexual dysfunction.  There are so many articles about that in the last few months.

From what source?  Oh, you’re not going to tell us?  Okay.  Never mind.  I thought you were actually somebody who cared about the truth.  My mistake…

So, I’m really excited about this development.  So many people are suffering because of pornography, so it’s important that our leaders do something about it.

Yeah, people sure are suffering.  All those men who are sexually awkward, and can’t find anybody to be with them, romantically, are now finding that they have an outlet for their sexual frustration.  Those people sure are suffering.  I mean, think about it – if we got rid of porn, we could have these sexually frustrated people walking the streets!  Who knows, maybe they could find an actual woman to vent their frustration on!  Doesn’t that sound better?!  Doesn’t rape sound so much better?!

We already have the tools, the laws are already on the books.  They’ve been upheld by the Supreme Court.  It’s not a Republican or Democrat issue.

You got that right.  It’s not an issue at all.

But, we’re grateful, and we’re grateful that the Republican Party has made this an official stance.  If you want to learn more about what you can do, go to our website, pornharms.com.  We have a lot of research listed about the harms.  A lot of resources listed if you’ve been struggling with addiction, or if somebody in your family is.  And we have a lot of advocacy efforts available there.  Thanks for your support, I hope you are excited with me!

And that is how this woman ends her video.  Yeah, I went to her site, and I guarantee that they have NOTHING of substance that backs up any of her bullshit.  Dawn, you are so ready to be with the Republican Party.  You have already perfected how they argue!  Lie to people, and use fear tactics!  Good for you!

Until next time, a quote,

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”  -Albert Einstein

Peace out,

Maverick

F*ck Square Enix!

Ugh, what is it with these people?!  This is going to be a rant purely for a rant’s sake, so if that isn’t what you are interested in, you might want to skip this post.  What I have just seen is so pathetically dumb, and so off-pissingly stupid that I am really needing to vent this.  What I have seen today is just so stupid, and I am not getting how Square Enix is not ashamed right now.

For those who aren’t total nerds, there was a new Final Fantasy XIII title announced.  It was a title that, just like XIII-2, NOBODY asked for!  I mean, seriously, what the fuck?!  This is so fucking stupid!  They are making another Final Fantasy XIII game, and here’s the kicker – it isn’t Versus XIII.  The one game that everybody has been waiting for for 6 years, and that isn’t the game we are getting.  On the 25th anniversary event for the Final Fantasy series that is going on, there are no events even talking about this game!  What the hell?!

For the longest time, this game had been declared vaporware by the few people left who actually care.  I have been trying to hold out hope for this game.  It is supposed to be a dark fantasy realism game, with a giant open world, Kingdom Hearts style combat, and a premise that is both dark and engaging.  It was supposed to be the total opposite of XIII.  But Square Enix’s people have swore that the game is still in development.  What?!  After six years, it is still only in development?!  I am starting to think that calling bullshit on that is perfectly understandable.

So, when they could have been finishing this game that they swear they are finishing, what did they give us instead?  They gave us XIII-2.  This game was a boring, lackluster, shoed-in game that did nothing for the story, added nothing to the story, nothing to the universe.  It added nothing.  It was a cash-in, in every single sense of the word.  I hated that game.  So much so that I couldn’t even finish it.  By the end, I literally didn’t care anymore.

And now, when they still could be working on this game that they swear isn’t dead, and that we are all going to be so jealous of, what are they giving us?  Another fucking XIII title!  It isn’t XIII-3, thank god, but it might as well be!  It is a story that simply involves Lightning, and she has to save a civilization before a doomsday clock runs out.  That’s it.  Man, enough!  I am done with these characters!  If you are going to give us anything, here’s a thought – give us the game that we all asked for!  We asked for Versus XIII, and that’s the one thing you have failed to deliver!

I am starting to think that this franchise has no future, and should just be stopped.  Square Enix keeps making more and more of these games, hoping that we are going to not be annoyed the next time.  Either that, or they are just cashing in on die-hard fans.  So, either they are incompetent bastards, or money-grubbing whores.  Either way, this hurts me.  This franchise once stood for something.  It stood for fantasy game designers being able to flex their muscles, try out new ideas.  It was a place to create new an imaginative worlds.  And now, instead of having that, all we have is hackneyed writing, hackneyed ideas, and a company who is choosing to waste money and player’s time with more bullshit, when they could be giving us what we asked for.

They could be remaking VII and VIII right now.  They could be finishing Versus XIII right now.  They could be doing any number of things, and now, they are simply giving us a game that was made to cash in, and it hurts me a little inside.

Fuck you, Square Enix.  Fuck you…

Peace out,

Maverick

“The Black Cat” Preview

Well, I am working on a new novel, entitled – The Black Cat.  Here is just a small excerpt.  Hope you enjoy!

Prologue: The Claw Marks

            The car came to a stop.  This was the fourth night in a row that rain had been pouring down.  Taking out his umbrella, the man in the car got out slowly.  This was the fifth case.  The fifth case of untold amounts of destruction, and no people around to witness it, no source of destruction, and the few witnesses there were talking about screams, and screeching roars.
The scene was covered in other police officers.  Some were wearing ponchos, others had umbrellas.  Like any crime scene, there were lots of little markers on the ground with numbers on them, each indicating a piece of evidence.  The area was blocked off.  The problem here was – the area was huge.  Almost two city blocks, but all in the space between buildings.  The run-down apartments that looked down on the madness in the alleys were a testament to how ruined this city was becoming.  Garbage was blowing in the wind and rain.  Were it not for the massive chunks of brick torn out of the wall, you would never know that something had happened here.  The special flood-lights that the police had for these nights were set up, shining on the scene.
The man’s partner, a young woman who had her bleach-blonde hair tied back in a ponytail nodded in greeting.
“So,” he began, “is it just like the others?”
The woman nodded, looking over a chart under her own umbrella.  “Yeah.  Walls smashed to pieces, windows wrecked, huge chunks of mortar ripped out of the buildings.  It’s a complete mess.”
Looking over the ruin, he nodded, taking it all in.  From the looks of things, whatever had happened here, it was everywhere.  The marks were on the street, in the walls, through windows, inside dumpsters.  If he didn’t know better, he would swear that a couple of dinosaurs were fighting it out.
“This if the fifth case, Gloria.  People are starting to get scared.  They are saying that there are rampaging monsters on the loose…” His voice trailed off as he looked at the scene.  Something drew his gaze.  There was a large black mark on the pavement.  He walked over, crouching down.  “What is this?”
Looking at the report, she then looked down at the mark.  “Unknown.  It looks like something was scorched into the pavement.  Damned if I know what.  The forensic people are saying that all trace evidence of it is ruined in the rain.  It’s washing away.”
The man nodded, standing back up.  “Something isn’t right here, Gloria.  This is five cases.  Each of them is the same MO.  Tons of destruction, almost no witnesses, and there are no cameras anywhere that can catch anything.  What is big enough to do this kind of damage?  Better question – what is big enough to do this kind of damage that can come in unseen, and leave unseen too?”  He knew that asking this was rhetorical.  There were no answers.  None that either of them hadn’t thought of already, and then dismissed because they just didn’t make sense.  He just needed to get it out in the open.  He just needed to say something.  It was then that he noticed a very small sound.  Amidst all the rain and wind, he almost didn’t notice it.  It was the sound of mortar falling.  Keeping his head under the umbrella, he looked up.  True enough, there was falling mortar.  He couldn’t see into the rain.  Taking out his flashlight, he shined it up on the walls.
He shined the light on the wall, until something caught his eye.  On one of the awnings, untouched by the rain, there were marks on the wall!  They were going up.  Underneath another awning, there were more.  And the one above that.  And the one above that.  Up and up they went, until they were at the very top of the building, going over.
“What the hell is that?” the woman asked, her eyes wide.
Smiling, the man looked over at her.  “That, my dear, is a new clue.  Another piece of the puzzle.”  He didn’t need to say what that piece was.  Whatever had done this, it could move quick and fast.  The claw marks were also massively smaller than the ones that were on the street and in the buildings.  This was something small, fast, and with claws.  There was another piece.  There were two parties involved in this, and that helped put more things in place.  It was a fight.  That made sense, given the destruction.  But if the claw marks went up, it seemed obvious that the smaller party either won, or escaped, with the bigger unable to follow.  The man’s eyes again went to the rapidly deteriorating black mark on the ground.  It was big, really big.  Two parties, one big, one small.  The small one gets away, and there is a giant black burn mark where something big was.  The two looked at each other.  The look on both of their faces was clear – whatever the larger thing was, it was defeated, and burned to cinders.  It vanished.  That was how it didn’t get noticed.
“Mike, what is going on?” the woman asked.
“I don’t know, but I know this much – we’re getting close.  Ever closer.  Each piece has a meaning.”  He turned, heading back toward his car.  Indeed, he could feel part the picture starting to come into focus.  Not much, but it was finally starting to.

Until next time, a quote,

“A reading man and woman is a ready man and woman, but a writing man and woman is exact.”  -Marcus Garvey

Peace out,

Maverick

The City Night

I look out the window, at the wind that passes through the trees outside of my dorm room.  The rain has passed, and now only the wind remains.  The raindrops glisten as they blow away in the endless gale that is the night here in the city.

Looking up, I see the auburn sky.  The endless, ceaseless lights of the city reflect off of the clouds.  This is a city that never truly knows night.  There is forever light.  Forever a source of it that reflects off of the sky.  Do they know of the stars?  Have they seen the beauty of the silent ocean of stars?  Part of me doubts.

Night here is filled with noise.  The endless processions of cars, though they dwindle in number, do not stop in flow.  It is an eternal river that cannot be dammed, cannot be halted.  Even the most dedicated forces of Mother Nature can halt them for but a while.  The cars do not stop.  There is the sound of talking.  The creatures of the night here go out, stalking the night.  Whatever do they look for?  For myself, I was cursed with the night.  Cursed to never know rest.  Cursed to never be able to find solace.  Well, not entirely true.

I have found solace in the arms of another.  Whenever love has graced me with its presence, or somebody who I could be physically intimate with, I have gotten the best nights of sleep in my life.  My late fiance.  She was such an amazing woman.  Her and I could talk all night.  But when we didn’t talk, when we just held each other, it was the happiest I have ever been.  There was another.  A recent person who held and still holds a special place in my heart, just for those few nights of intimacy we shared together.  For those nights when we were both able to forget our troubles and be in each others presence.

Night in the city has so little solace.  It is a place of endless noise, endless light, and endless activity.  Are the people afraid?  That seems to be a common theme, among those who consider themselves “normal.”  They don’t like the darkness.  If the lights go out, they get scared, and unsure.  Why?  Perhaps that is one of those questions that nobody will ever answer.

The night here brings us no peace.  Our friends are far away, you see.  So few are here.  They are all so busy.  We are not who they want to see.  We are…inconvenient, I guess.  So, we are cursed, condemned, to remain in this night, listening to the wind outside.  Such a peaceful sound.  If only we could join it.  Be carried off into the eternal breeze, and to know the peace that comes with that.

So much of this is just something that doesn’t make sense.  So much of this is just loss and loneliness that we can’t understand.  The night is a place of confusion.  We hate it, but we love it.  Society hates it, but they love it.  They fear it, yet they bask in it.  Their greatest passions flow in it.  They scream in ecstasy as the orgasms build.  They cry out in joy as they share a kind laugh with the one they love.  Yet they also fear its dark embrace.  Why?  Perhaps, these are questions that are just never meant to be answered.

Never, meant to be.

Until next time, a quote,

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”  -William Shakespeare

Peace out,

Maverick

RIP, Neil Armstrong

A truly great man has died.  At the age of 82, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the surface of the moon, has passed away.  The words he spoke, the first words ever spoken from the surface of the moon, have gone down in human history as some of the greatest words of triumph over the human spirit –

That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.

Such an amazing thing to say.  So many people, for all the years that those words held meaning.  The people of this world came together to dream about the future.  We united behind an idea with those words.  The idea that the future was just around the corner.  That we could come together and that anything could happen.

What the people who spoke that idea didn’t know is that despite the wondrous accomplishment that happened, the reason for it was so much less wonderful.  We were working so hard to get to the moon because we were trying to beat the Russian.  When Russia launched Sputnik, we freaked.  As a nation, we came together, but if you look at the purpose, it was to prove how superior we were.  Our accomplishment doesn’t look so grand, when looking at it that way, huh?  No, it does not.

But the astronauts who accomplished this wanted to see it become something.  Despite the reasons, the accomplisments that were done are incredible.  We got to the moon!  That is an amazing achievement.  It took us 10 years to get there.  After how well that worked, everyone was saying that we would have established colonies there, be and have colonies on Mars by the end of the century.  But alas, five years later, the Apollo program is scrapped.  By the end of the century, NASA has been horribly downsized.  Today, they are a part of the country that is castrated.  Their budget is barely noticeable.  This is the part of the country that gave us the computer, the base structure for the internet, so much technology.  It all came from here.  The space program brought our country ahead, in so many ways.  It in no way set this nation back.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson made a very interesting point – the $800 billion bank bailout was larger than the entire 50 year budget of NASA.  NASA has done so much, and with less money than it took for this country to save the criminals who got us into the economic mess we are currently in.  That should shock people.  Yet I cannot tell you how many people think that funding NASA is a waste of time.  The people who make real dreams come true, and funding them is a waste of time.

What did Armstrong think of this?  When he watched stuff like this happen, when he watched the economy fall apart, and we paid more to the people who ruined than to NASA.  What did he think of that?  What went through his mind when he saw the utter ruin that we left our nation in after this?

The dreams of the astronauts in the Apollo program, and the huge culture behind them, was to see the future come today.  To see a better world than could have ever been imagined come today.  What have we done with these dreams?

The reality is that we have squandered them.  We have become a culture of acceptance.  We don’t want to dream about tomorrow, we just want to accept what we are given.  To hell with trying to make things better, we just have to make the best of what we are given.  Nobody, and I mean Nobody, is dreaming about the future anymore.  In this culture, when you do that, people get all annoyed.

Get your head out of the clouds, you fucking hippie!

So many times, that is what I hear.  So many times, that is the legacy of what the dreamers of the past have.  In reality, that is the legacy of what our species has.  Our species’ legacy is that we have become a culture that accepts mediocrity, and won’t stand up for anything.  Whenever we do, the people are brutally put down, and now, they are gone.  Those who stood up, a year ago, and told those on Wall Street that we aren’t going to take anymore are not totally silent, but getting there.  More and more, the people just accept what is, and don’t dream for tomorrow.

And of course, the government at large endorses this.  A people who dream as a people who try.  A people who try are a people who demand.  A people who demand are a people who won’t let them walk all over them, the way that people do now.  Why would this government want dreamers?

The truth is that all the hope, and all the passion that drove Neil Armstrong has been forgotten.  Forgotten amidst the corporate wasteland that America has become.  Forgotten by the apathetic public who is so tired of being lied to and ignored by their leaders that they just don’t care anymore.  They work to forget that, and simply try and do the best for themselves.  Forgotten by the people who are so dumb, with an education system and an infrastructure so bad, that they are being left behind by the rest of the world.

Neil Armstrong was a great man.  He did something that few other people can even imagine.  His legacy will live on, but the greatest tragedy of all is that his legacy should be living on now.  Right now, we should be naming the first colony on the Moon after him.  We should be giving him a special statue there, where his memory can be respected for all time.  And that’s not what we’re doing.  Sure, government authorities and people of importance will come out and say how great Neil Armstrong was, but until I hear this President or any government official give me a good explanation for why we have butchered NASA, and not kept the dream going, here is my response to all of them –

Shut the fuck up.

Until next time, a quote,

“I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.”  -Neil Armstrong

Peace out,

Maverick

My Illness

I thought about doing this as a status post on my Facebook page, but here seemed a lot better.  I have a problem.  It is something that I have had for a long time, and it is something that I am going to have for the rest of my life.

It is a kind of depression, but it isn’t like other depression.  This kind of chronic.  Incredibly so.  It comes and it goes.  When it comes, it comes hard.  It has come at me tonight, and I am feeling it bad.

Why not take anti-depressants?  Well, that’s the rub – with this kind of depression, meds are shown to more often make things worse than better.  It is that hardcore.  So, I just have to push through it.  But man, it is getting harder and harder.  Nights like tonight are just so hard, and I am feeling that there is nobody out there who would be there if I fell.
Well, there is one person.  And I really haven’t been giving her the credit she deserves.

She is such an amazing person.  In another universe, maybe her and I would have had something.  Every time I feel bad, she is there, reaching out, trying her damndest to make me feel better.  I know that it can’t be easy.  I am a very negative person with this, and I can often make her feel very bad, because she can’t help, even though she is trying.  I have taken for granted how hard she tries, and I feel awful about that.  Especially with what is happening tonight.

I feel like I am wandering the darkness.  Like I am lost, and the lights that I comes across are so few, so fleeting, that it is like they aren’t even there.  I am lost in an ocean of darkness.  But there is a river of light below me.  Problem is – if I stare into that river for too long, then I will risk getting taken away by it.  I will lose myself to it.  But I want to do that so damn bad.  I want to just get lost, to not have an obligations to this world.  Wouldn’t that be a better life.

But I can’t.  I have to keep going.  If for no other reason, it is for that aforementioned friend.  I love her, with all my heart.  Part of me wishes that her and I could have been something.  I squandered that as well.  But I am not going to just leave her alone in this world.  She is such a child at heart, that this ugly world of grown-ups can be a little much for her.  I won’t do that to her.  She means more to me than that.

Perhaps the most tragic part is – that’s the best reason I can come up with.  I’m miserable, lost, lonely, and feel trapped.  The best reason I can think of for continuing to live is because I want to make somebody’s life better.  That’s it.  Beyond that, what’s the point?  My blood is toxic and slowly killing me.  My heart is slowing coming apart.  My legs are slowing wearing away, to the point where they are going to have to be cut off.  I don’t see the bright side in all of this.

And I am totally, 100% alone.  Romantically speaking, of course.  I gave up on dating, because it was more pain than it was worth.  There was a girl who actually said to me that if I were more attractive, I would get more dating opportunities.  She cited that the culture is completely superficial and that I might as well roll with it.  As heartless and as unpleasant as that comment was, you know what, I actually admire her for it.  I admire the honesty.  At least she says, up front, that I should just embrace being shallow.  It is amazing.

Paying attention to politics, I have seen how shit is going to hell in a hand-basket in this country, and all because in the war between smart and stupid, stupid is winning.  The future is a horribly ugly place.  Man, what do I have to look to?  The more I look at things, the worse the picture gets.

But I have this one connection.  This one person who tries so hard to see me happy.  To see me smile.  That’s all she wants.  And that is enough.  It is so hard, but I guess, if that is all I can look forward to, I gotta say, it does look a lot nicer.

Until next time, a quote,

“I start to think there really is no cure for depression, that happiness is an ongoing battle, and I wonder if it isn’t one I’ll have to fight for as long as I live. I wonder if it’s worth it.”  -Elizabeth Wurtzel

Peace out,

Maverick

The Republican Mask is Off?

You know, it is getting almost too amusing to watch the modern Republicans and conservatives who are running for office.  This is so ridiculous, yet at the same time, so horrible, that one must actually pause and legitimately think about what it all means for the future of this country, and that causes worry.

Take Frank Szabo, for instance.  He is a New Hampshire candidate running for sheriff.  When asked what his opinion was about abortion, he replied that he would go so far as to use deadly force to stop the abortion from happening.  Let me say that again, because it bears repeating – if he sees a doctor performing a procedure that is completely legal in this country, he would used deadly force against this person.  He would kill them.  A sheriff candidate of New Hampshire wants to murder doctors.  Straight-up, no BS, murder.  In other words, he wants to take what is legal, and make it illegal, at the threat of violence.  He is a protector of the law who wants to make the law.  Think about that for a few.

Next up, we’ve got Tennessee senator, Stacey Campfield.  This guy had some rather interesting thoughts on AIDS, and how it is spread –

Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community. It was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men.  It was an airline pilot, if I recall.  My understanding is that it is virtually – not completely, but virtually – impossible to contract AIDS from heterosexual sex.

Yeah, that’s why there are massive amounts of cases of it in Africa, right?  Take another moment, and take this in.  This is a United States senator, saying something so stupid, and even admitting that they don’t know any better, and saying this on the record.  How stupid can you possibly get?

I mean, for one thing, it is incredibly unlikely that AIDS made the jump from chimps to humans.  That story has been debunked over and over again.  And the fact that this disease is a global pandemic, which has been helped along in Africa thanks to the zealotry of Catholics who refuse to supply condoms to villages where this disease is so bad that 1 in 4 people have it, obviously means nothing to you.

Next up, there is Rep. Steve King.  He has decided to add another point to the laundry-list of stupidity that has come from his mouth.  In a recent interview, he said that he hasn’t heard of a case where a girl got pregnant from statutory rape or incest.  This was in solidarity with the completely idiotic nonsense coming from Todd Akin, and his belief that if a woman gets raped, her body will be able to shut it down.  A statement that he has apologized for, yet hasn’t said is wrong.  Remember that.

This is the same guy who has said in the past that gays should just stay in the closet if they want their jobs, and not be open at all.  Basically saying that all the hate and bigotry of society shouldn’t be something that they get protection from.  They should just hide, and not be honest about who they are.

What interests me about all of these people is this – why are they being so openly evil?  I mean, we all knew that the Republicans were bought and paid for by the banks and Wall Street.  The Democrats are no better in that regard.  But the Democrats are still able to actually convince people that they are the good guys!  That they are on your side.  Heck, they have a huge cabal of liberals who are cheering for Health Care Reform, which, without a public option, is a huge birthday present to the private insurance companies.

I mean, look at Obama.  He has lied, time and time again, and he has massive support all over this country.  He has continued, and even grown the Bush doctrine, both foreign and domestic.  He promised that we wouldn’t be doing the same things with Wall Street and the financial institutions, yet he is taking his cues from the same people who destroyed our economy.  He said that he would go easy on people growing their own pot, yet he has expanded the drug war.  He promised tough reforms on Wall Street, yet he has given us beyond toothless garbage.  He said that he would push for tough health care reform, yet he dropped single-payer and the public option almost in the first day.  He has continued, and even grown ALL of the Bush Tax Cuts.  He swore that he wouldn’t give in to Republican demands on the debt ceiling, yet in the end, he gives them everything they want, and then some.

But all over this country, he has liberals coming out and chanting for him.  For some, it is the reasoning that Mitt Romney would be worse.  The evil they know over the evil they don’t.  For others, they actually seem to think that he is going to come back in the second term and really play hardball (cough*bullshit*cough).  And there are some who think that he has actually done some really good stuff, even though the evidence is massively stacked against him, and Mitt Romney, if he was actually a smart politician, could be beating the stuffing out of him right now with his own policies.  That is grade-A manipulation and lying.

Yet these Republicans are so evil, and wear it so much on their sleeves that I almost expect to see them do the pose that Dr. Evil did in Austin Powers.  I mean, they aren’t even hiding it!

So I guess the question is – how do we satire this?  For real, I am almost feeling bad for the people who write for The Onion.  Their job must be getting so difficult.  This nation and it’s electoral politics is becoming such an entertainment experience that part of me wonders if there are actual issues being talked about anymore.

But you know what interests me more – that half of this country actually wants that.  Half of this country actually will vote for people like this.  And yeah, the party lines are that tight.  Half liberal, half conservative.  Not exactly, but close enough.  They want this.  Why don’t we see the problems?

So, is the Republican mask off?  Hey, when you’ve got Ann Coulter, a prostitute for the conservative line, saying that Todd Akin has crossed the line, part of me has to think that, yeah, they have.

Until next time, a quote,

“Hey America, we live in a country where lying will get you elected, and telling the truth will get you called a ‘fringe crackpot.’  If you ever want this country to get any better, you might wanna reverse that.”  -TJ Kincaid, HONEST REPUBLICANS? 

Peace out,

Maverick

Fan Service – Right or Wrong?

Well, since I’m not feeling in a horribly serious mood, and I feel like pissing off people on both sides of an aisle today, I thought I would write about something that I see a lot of debate on – fan service.  For those who aren’t aware of this term, here is the definition from Urban Dictionary –

In general, fan service refers to scenes designed to excite or titillate the viewer. This can include scantily-clad outfits, cleavage shots, panty shots, nude scenes (shower scenes especially), etc. Some broader definitions also include things like cool mecha, big explosions, battle scenes, etc. Basically, if it has little plot-redeaming value, but makes the viewer sit up and take notice, it’s probably fan service in one form or another.

Take not of that “in one form or another” part, because we will come back to that.  But yeah, the point of fan service is to titillate the audience.  It is all over the anime genre.  Now, I love a LOT of anime, because I am an insomniac and I need something to occupy my nights, but I admit that a LOT of what I watch has scenes that were made specifically to feed the sex drives of the male part of the audience.

But it goes far beyond anime.  Fan service is something that you see all over the TV, all over the world.  And I bring this up because my opinion about this topic may surprise many of you.

In the interest of pissing everybody off, here is my opinion about fan-service – I don’t really mind, especially much, because (and pay attention here), both sides do it.

That’s right, both sides do it.  Women will come together and scream about how objectified women are in this or that, saying that it is all the evil male scheme to only make women sexy.  Okay, if you are going to make this argument, then let’s look at a different angle – Grey’s Anatomy.

Before you ask, I hate this show.  It’s boring, insipid, and was one of a million medical shows that came out after House M.D., riding on the popularity of it.  But there was a character on this show called, and I’m not kidding here, “McSteamy.”  That is literally what the primarily-female cast of this show referred to him as.  And before him, there was his nemesis, and supposed to be the nice guy, “McDreamy.”  Both of these characters were written and played to be sexy, one good, the other the bad boy, and for sex appeal.  For real, there was nothing more to their characters than the fact that they both are nice to imagine naked.  And you can bet your ass that that is fan service.

For every ridiculous titty shot that I can think of from anime, there is another show like “Sex and the City.”  That show is 100% made for female fan service.  You can’t even begin to argue that.

And it goes beyond that.  There isn’t just male and female fan service.  Let’s look at the Twilight novels.  Those stories are 100% Mormon fan service.  Anybody who knows Mormon beliefs and knows the Mormon mindset, along with knowing that the author, Stephanie Meyer, is a Mormon can see that this series was written deliberately as fan service to the Mormon church.  Because it became so popular among the increasingly stupid teenage girls of this country (an education system problem, not a gender problem.  Men are getting just as dumb), it was obviously very good fan service.

Hell, thanks to the creation of the show “The L-Word,” even lesbians get fan service now!  Not only do both sides do it, but all sides do it.  All sides have programming that is made deliberately to excite the viewer and make them all warm and fuzzy inside for their own little niche.

Now, having said that, do I like fan service shows for guys?  Not really.  But I don’t wag my finger at them too much, either.  And not just because of the fact that women do it too.  We all already knew that.  I don’t wag my finger at them because I have my own little bits of fan service.  You see, my problem with fan service shows is when they are blatantly deliberate, and have nothing else going for them.  There are a lot of shows, and for both men and women, that have the fan service not as a plot element, but as a central gimmick.  And people are supposed to enjoy this?

My problem with this concept is just that – when it is so blatant that it literally takes away from anything else that might have been in the story, or if there is no story at all to go with it.  There have been shows with a lot of fan service that has done their job very well.

So yeah, that’s where I stand.  And now, to wait and see what comments about how much of a misogynist I am.  Good times!

Until next time, a quote,

“If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.”  -Oscar Wilde

Peace out,

Maverick

Top 15 Deliciously EVIL Villains

When we watch a movie, read a book, or play a video game, we want to root for the hero.  It’s only natural.  We want to enjoy their triumph, and to believe in the cause that they fight for.  And we also want to hate the villain.  We want to find them horrible, repulsive, disgusting, imposing and threatening.  That way, when the hero triumphs over them, we feel the desire to says, “yes!  You get the son of a bitch!”  But then there are those other villains.  The ones who are just so malevolent, so horrible, and so vile, but who just make it look so damn cool!  They are suave, clever, cunning, crafty, and in their own twisted way, very likeable.  You have an affinity for these characters, and have a lot of confusing feelings about them and their motives.  So, this is my list of the top villains who never made evil look like so much fun.

I hope you enjoy

15. The Riddler
Batman: Arkham City
When I first saw this character in the game, I feel immediately in love with him.  I just LOVE what an egotist this guy is!  He is so sure of his own genius, so egotistical and full of himself that he just loves every single moment of what he does.  Sure, he does lose, a lot, but at first, he just thinks that it is so much fun.  He mocks you, he berates you, he has so much fun.  His mission is to kill you, and to kill you in the most elaborate way, so that you know that it was him who did it, and that it was him who outsmarted you.  And bless for every hateful moment of it.  This guy was so fun to listen to.  The voice-work on this was perfect.  This character was dripping with ego, narcissism, and a need to prove how much better he is than Batman.  My only regret is that they didn’t make his puzzles particularly challenging, and I wish they had.  This is the Riddler.  He tests you to the limit.  That’s the point of his character.  But yeah, he was so much fun to listen to, and I loved every minute of it.  Hopefully you did too.

14. Maurice Levy
The Wire
You know, for a show that is supposed to be centered in realism and reality, and for as good as it is, I just love how evil this guy is.  Levy is a lawyer.  He represents the worst of the criminals in the city of Baltimore.  He has no qualms about legally representing whoever will pay his bills, and man does this guy own it!  There is no low that this man will not sink to.  While he doesn’t outright say that the drug dealers he represents should do horrible things, he isn’t against implicitly hinting that they should “clean house,” or “find out who can still hurt you.”  Even knowing that his clients are thugs and murderers, he will represent them without a second thought.  My favorite bit in the show is where he is called out on this.  Omar, my favorite character, is on the witness stand, and when Levy says that he is contributing to the violence of the drug trade, Omar throws it right back at him.  It is both funny and telling that he seems legitimately shocked by this.  Like he never considered himself part of the problem before.  But yeah, this character is such a horrible person, and bless his disgusting heart, because you love every minute of it.

13. Shere Khan
The Jungle Book
You should know, up-front, that there are going to be a lot of Disney villains on this list.  They just have a gift at making some of the most endearing villains.  I love so many of them, but these ones on this list are the ones who stuck with me the most.  And among them is Shere Khan.  I LOVE this character.  He is a tiger who is known throughout the jungle for how evil and what a vicious killer he is.  But what I love about him the most is that Shere Khan isn’t posing.  He is the biggest badass there is, and he knows it.  He knows, beyond a doubt, that he is the most badass ass-kicker in the jungle.  Because he knows this, he had a charming and terrifying smile.  Even when he knows that he is being lied to, he will still smile and still be like a gentleman.  Voiced by George Sanders, there is a gentlemanly and charming quality about him.  Even at his worst, you just love this guy.  I can’t say that I am a terribly big fan of this movie, but this villain is just great.  He makes the character all by himself.

12.The Sheriff of Nottingham
Robin Hood
Well, another Disney villain.  As much as I love Prince John, this was the villain who made me just fall in love with how evil he is.  This guy is such a bastard!  He finds all the incredibly ugly and often beyond mean-spirited ways of ripping people off.  He will smack on the broken leg of a man to find the money hidden there, use coins to bounce the other coins out of the cup of a blind man.  He even steals the money a kid gets on his birthday!  What an asshole!  But man, this guy just loves every minute of it.  He thinks that it is all so wonderfully amusing to watch the people’s reactions to him.  You can’t help but love this guy, despite how awful he is by seeing just how much fun he is having with his own inventiveness with his job.  He isn’t a particularly complicated villain, but honestly, he isn’t a very stupid villain, either.  This guy is genuinely imposing when he wants to be.  The scene ascending the tower where he and Robin Hood are fighting is legitimately frightening, so you can be a little bit afraid of, hate, and love this villain all at the same time.  What’s not to love?

11. Claire Stanfield
Baccano!
Man, this guy is one of the creepiest villains of all time.  What I love about this character is how good his motivation is, but how absolutely, 100% awful his tactics are.  His motivation is simple – to get the passengers of The Flying Pussyfoot to their destination.  There is a lot of crazy shit happening, and is killing off the people perpetrating it, often in the most gruesome way possible.  And he loves it to death.  He is philosophical about his killings, tying them in to the views on his life.  I won’t say what they are, but man, once you know, it is impossible to not to be in awe of how nuts and how strange this guy is.  This guy is one of the strangest characters that I have seen in anything, but how he goes about his business is just great.  I love every blood-soaked and gory minute of it.

10. Ladd Russo
Baccano!
I didn’t want to put two characters from the same show side-by-side, but in this case, it couldn’t be helped.  There is a saying that when you stare into the abyss, it stares back at you, and never has that been more true when looking at two characters on this list.  The first is Ladd Russo.  This character is almost a study in what it means to be evil, truly evil.  This character is violence incarnate.  He cares about nothing, absolutely nothing, beyond violence.  He wants to kill, tear apart, and destroy in ways that he finds amusing.  His own mortality seems to not interest him in the slightest, since he is totally assured of his own superiority before those he kills.  This guy views killing and mutilation has his first, last, and only reason to exist in this world.  Beyond that, it is just him enjoying every minute of it.  It is almost kind of surreal how much you like this villain.  Like I said, he is a monster.  He does horrible things.  He takes so much pleasure out of killing people that you can’t help but think of this guy as more than a little sick.  But at the same time, he just loves it so damn much!  He jumps around, he laughs, he just derives so much pleasure from it that it is nearly impossible not to find it so entertaining, even if it is horrible beyond words.  Right up to the gruesome end.

9. Ratigan
The Great Mouse Detective
Man, not only is this character great, but the voice work for it is just perfect.  There is an incredible charm about Vincent Price that wasn’t understood during his time, and still isn’t understood now that he is gone.  This man has a gift with voice and inflection that only one other voice-actor I have ever been able to see has been able to accomplish.  This character is just great.  Every minute of him on screen is just wonderful to watch.  He is narcissistic.  He is self-loathing.  He hates when people call him a rat, but that is exactly what he is.  He’s clever.  He’s charming.  He’s trying so hard to be something that is socially acceptable and loveable, even though his character is a disgusting and deranged lunatic who is completely incapable of escaping his nature.  But every scene with him on the screen is so incredibly enjoyable.  You love every minute of it.  Sure, the guy’s plan is so weird and so dumb, but you can explain that away.  It’s Disney, after all.  Watching him sing, watching him dance, watching him revel in the deliciousness of his own plans, which he is 100% sure that he is going to get off without a hitch, it is impossible not just love this guy.  He might be a rat, but the voice work is one of the best that has ever been done.

8. Vicious
Cowboy Bebop
Remember how I said that Russo only cared about killing for the sake of killing?  Well, flush that down the drain for this guy.  Vicious really doesn’t care…about anything.  He has no relationships that he won’t end in the most violent way possible if he sees it as more advantageous.  He has no loyalty to anyone but himself and his own ambition.  He will kill anyone, often in the most gruesome way possible, seeing it as just a means to an end.  So, how can such a thoroughly awful character be deliciously evil?  Well, honestly, because you really are entranced by how horrible a character Vicious is.  There is just something so halting about his cold voice, his cold outlook on life, and his endless obsession with power and killing those who have hurt him before, and those who stand in his way.  It makes one think about real life.  The powerful have never seemed to care about throwing lives away.  It is just as true in America as it is everywhere else.  I guarantee you that President Truman hasn’t lost a wink of sleep about blowing up Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  It was just what had to be done.  So in a way, that is what Vicious symbolizes – our capacity to be pure evil, and be totally uncaring.  And from beginning to end, you are entranced by it.  A great villain, from a truly amazing show.

7. Fuhrer King Bradley
Fullmetal Alchemist
Now, before you ask, I am not including the reboot of the series.  It is no secret to people that I am not a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.  It was an action series, didn’t flush out anything, and to be honest, I was more disturbed by this character in the original series.  On the surface, the Fuhrer appears to be a kind man who cares deeply about justice, and who has a very nice smile.  Sure, he has an eye-patch, but he is just so kind that you can’t help but like him.  But then you start to notice that there is a darker side to this character.  You can’t quite put your finger on it, but there is something a little strange about the Fuhrer.  He is starting war after war after war, with no clear reason why.  He gets very angry, yet then turns around and acts like is all just business, and like he isn’t phased at all.  This character is very, very off-putting.  And it leads to one of the most disturbing and amazing reveals that I have ever seen.  I won’t spoil it for the five people who haven’t seen it, but man, it is so dark, so unbelievably disturbing that you can’t help but be in awe.  Once his evil is on, this man relishes it with a kind of passion that you can’t begin to understand.  He will kill anyone, destroy anyone who gets in his way, and he doesn’t feel the least bit bad.  It is a really awesome character, and I guarantee that at least one of the scenes with him will leave you amazed.

6. Sebastian Michaelis
Black Butler
Wait, how can one of the main protagonists of a series be a villain?  Honestly, it is pretty simple.  You see, Sebastian does good things.  Sort of.  His master does occasionally have him do the right thing, but not because it is good.  It is the means to an end.  Sebastian is a demon who made a deal with Ciel Phantomhive that if he helps him get revenge against the people who tortured and killed him, along with his parents, he will get the boy’s soul.  He will do whatever the boy asks, but at the end of the day, he cares for no one.  He cares about nothing.  He will kill whomever, destroy whatever, or beat anyone who his master commands him to.  But man is this guy likeable.  For being a horribly evil monster, Sebastian definitely takes his role as the butler seriously.  His voice is charming, regal.  He has a face that is passionate and dignified.  But every so often, you get to see that other side to his existence.  A side that only wants that sweet, delicious soul.  He describes it in one scene as “ambrosia,” saying that he got tired of the feast of unworthy souls he took to Hell.  That dialogue is so dark and so creepy that you do feel rather disturbed by this character for the rest of the show.  But at the same time, you can’t help but love watching him do his thing, and loving every minute of it.  He is, as he would say, one Hell of a butler.

5. Frank Fontaine
Bioshock
This character is totally unique among those on this list, for a number of reasons.  The first is that you never, and I mean never, see this guy.  Well, up until the very end.  Throughout the entire game, all you know of this guy is what you hear about, over the intercom.  Your first actual introduction of the character is through audio logs that he did.  Before coming to the underwater city of Rapture, Frank Fontaine had been a grifter.  A simple thief who happened upon a gold-mine of potential.  When, by chance, he happens upon the discovery of the substance of ADAM, and it’s potential to reshape life as we know it, he immediately works to develop this.  Eventually, his business becomes so massive, and his product becomes so addicting, that he becomes one of the most powerful people in Rapture.  The rest, is history.  I don’t want to spoil it, if you don’t know.  This guy is just so cool.  He has a very New York accent.  He is a criminal to his core.  But more than that, it is just the presentation of this guy that makes him so cool.  Most of the conversation about his character comes from other characters.  People who are affiliated with him.  And how they speak of him is with fear and reverence.  They acknowledge his brilliance, but are afraid of him because he is a thug, and he will fuck you up, if you cross him.  It is a really cool portrayal.  And when you finally get to meet him, yeah, it is just as big and booming as you expect.  It’s a great performance, from a very odd, and very cool game.

4. Lex Luthor
Superman: The Animated Series
You might think that this is a little cliche, but yeah, it had to be on this list.  I don’t have to tell you about who this guy is.  You already know.  But man, this delivery is just awesome.  From the very beginning, Luthor is totally unafraid of Superman.  When the two meet, Luthor just comes right out and says that he owns Metropolis, and he owns the people of the city, hinting that in a way, he owns Superman too.  That takes balls.  Major, major balls.  I love this performance, and I love this character.  It’s like Donald Trump, except Luthor knows that he’s evil.  I don’t really have much else to say but, he’s loads and loads of fun.

3. Ali Al-Saachez
Gundam 00
One of this series’s problems was that it had a TON of characters, and very few of them got that development that they deserved.  But this guy is not among them.  Man, this character is cut from the same cloth as Russo.  He is a killer.  He loves to kill.  War and killing is all that he knows how to do.  In the opening to the very first episode of the very first show, he is on an intercom, telling his child soldiers to kill the enemy, while they are getting slaughtered.  This character is so evil.  So why do I find him deliciously evil?  Well, because he is just so entertaining!  A lot of it has to do with the voice acting.  It is Scott McNeil, and man does this guy shine in this role.  He makes the villainy of this character just seem so much more disturbing.  There is sadism and menace in every word he says.  But because it is delivered so well, you can’t help but just enjoy the performance.  It is that good.  You love to hate this guy.  Right up until the end, you can’t wait for this bastard to die.  I remember seeing him finally get what he deserves, and man, I was cheering!  He was just the kind of villain that this show needed.  A metric ton of fun.

2. Yagami Light
Death Note
I said in a previous review that I view Light as more of an anti-hero than a villain.  After further reflection, I can’t say that I see it that way anymore.  Light is the main protagonist of the series.  The story is told through his eyes.  But at the same time, look at what he is doing.  He finds the Death Note, and given that he is a brilliant mind, motivated partially by his desire to see justice done, he starts killing the world’s criminals.  He then decides that he is going to be the new god of this world.  He wants to remake it in his own image.  With this in mind, he begins a genocidal campaign, killing hundreds, if not thousands of people, all in the mission to prove how brilliant and how just he is.  But man, it is impossible not to like this guy!  And disgusting and morally bankrupt as his mission is, watching this man match wits with the detective L is such an enriching experience.  Not to mention listening to the insane monologues that he details his ideals for the world.  It is so impossible not to love this character to death.  He’s smart, he’s cunning, he’s so sure that he is going to win.  But at the same time, he’s charming, he’s presentable, and he looks so trustworthy.  You do want to like this guy.  It is when you see his private side that you see how foul a person he truly is.  I love this character, and I love this show.  It definitely was a show that lived up to all the hype.

And the most delicious villain that I have ever seen is…

1. The Joker
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham City
Now look, before you go off on me, I LOVE both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger’s performance with this character.  Both of them were awesome.  But here’s the thing – this is the one that felt like the Joker to me.  For real, when I close my eyes, and I try to imagine what this character would actually be like, the fact that pops into my head is this one.  Specifically the characters from Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.  If you want to know the reason why, it’s simple – the voice work.  This is another character who the voice makes, 100%.  Mark Hamill, who will probably be known for the rest of his life just as Luke Skywalker, is an AMAZING voice actor.  One of the best.  He brought this character to life in a way that will never, EVER be topped on the small screen.  Ever.  He is funny, he is insane.  He can let out that amazingly amused laugh, then turn around and be manic and angry.  Not only was this character funny, but he was frightening.  I think of the scene from The Animated Series, where he is going down a conveyor belt.  He gets these beams of light over him, and it is always the same – the smile.  The evil, twisted, disgusting smile.  I am so completely grateful that they kept his character in the two games I mentioned above.  But the one I truly want to focus on is the latter.  Arkham City, put simply, is the single best superhero story that I have ever seen played out.  Ever.  I won’t spoil it if you haven’t played or seen it, but man, what happens between Batman and the Joker in that finale is simply incredible.  I love every minute of it.  This game is awesome.  There is nothing that I do not like.  This character will probably be forgotten, but to me, this is Mark Hamill’s greatest role.  This is the role that he will always have in my mind as his magnum opus.  I just hope he gets the respect he deserves.  Along with a fucking award!

Until next time, a quote,

“You’re making me late for my spa treatment! I mean, it’s not like you’ve got a girl to save anymore!  Ooh, I’m sorry!  Too soon?”  -The Joker, Batman: Arkham City

Peace out,

Maverick

Teenagers Don’t Know What Vowels Are?! Are You F*cking Kidding ME?!?!

I came upon a neat little graphic.  There is a hashtag that is going around Twitter.  It goes like this – #TweetYourNameWithNoVowels.  I kind of dig that, because here is my given name with no vowels – L.  Oh yeah, I love that.  But when that hashtag went out in the online sphere, there were many people who took issue with it.  But not for reasons that even approach good.  I will let this graphic speak for itself.

Did you get that?  There are at least six people here, and I know that they aren’t all youth, but I guarantee you that for every one of them, there are thousands more just like them, who have no idea what a vowel is.  1st grade knowledge, and they don’t get it.  Good god this country is fucking stupid!

This physically paining me, it is that dumb.  This literally doesn’t get any stupider.  Watching some idiot redneck try to jump his car over a dirt pile and having the undercarriage bust out isn’t as dumb.  Watching some dumbass redneck try to light the British flag on fire in protest of the Olympics (this was a real video), and then having the fire chase him and his gas-can around isn’t that dumb.  Watching a person who tries to be like Altair from Assassin’s Creed and ends up busting their nuts on a pole isn’t that dumb.

These are youth, in this country, who are too fucking stupid to know what a vowel is.  How we are all not horribly ashamed at this to the point of wanting to commit seppuku is simply beyond me.  And these are the people who we want picking leaders for this nation’s future?  These are the people who we want to be in control of our society?  These are the people that Eliot Spitzer wants to bribe to get to the polls?!  Hey, I have a thought – how about NO!  How about we keep these dumb shits as far from our government and our society as humanly possible.

Ron White had a point – you can fix any part of a person’s anatomy, but you can’t fix stupid.  And that is what America is becoming, more and more – stupid.  We have stupid people who aren’t smart enough to realize how the system is fucking them, and don’t even care as they are being robbed blind by the sharks who run this country.  Stupid is our entire culture.  In the war between smart and stupid, you can bet your ass that stupid is winning.  Stupid is winning by leaps and bounds!

Ain’t life in America grand?

Until next time, a quote,

“Yeah, boys and girls, this culture is very fond of telling you that the sickness is the cure.”  -TJ Kincaid, grunglebunt 

Peace out,

Maverick