Mmm, sweet, sweet controversy. There's nothing quite as amusing and entertaining as the latest flair on the horizon of needless emotion and futile protesting. Well, I'm out of high school, thank God, now, so I have a much more muted apathy about these sort of things now, as I would have then. On that note of thanking God, might as well go into the issue at hand, the pledge of allegiance.

One Nation Under God

I remember when there were certain movements to eliminate the "moment of silence" from the morning announcements of public school. That, itself, was such a ludicrous and idiotic notion that I vividly remember laughing out loud at it when I first heard. I mean, the faction or type of faction that calls for such a passing of legislation already has gotten the satisfaction of expunging the old tradition of morning prayer, but now they don't even want to allow for the option of praying? One minute and thirty seconds of silence, where a child is instructed to do whatever may please their personal religion or belief system silently, which was shortened to one minute and, eventually, thirty seconds, by the time I graduated. There's nothing even remotely religious about silence, unless one chooses to, by his or her own whim, to think inside their head of a prayer, chant, oath, or whatnot. Silly extremists and their lack of logic, who are now clamouring to eliminate the "under God" portion of the pledge of allegiance. The main defense for this seems to be the "separation of Church and State" clause of the United States Constitution, derived from everybody's favourite amendment, number One:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Pretty black and white, that is. It's hard to really argue whether or not it's unconstitutional to lawfully require children to learn or recite anything religious. God forbid that happen.
I can't take this very seriously, myself. To think that there is any kind of uproar over two words of the pledge of allegiance induces much laughter from me. How exactly are they going to change it? Reword it, perhaps to "One nation under a deity of one's own personal choice if any such supreme being happens to exist within the context of one's belief system or lack thereof." Not very catchy, if you ask me. I suppose the implications of this court ruling on the pledge is that the school's can no longer force children to stand up and pledge. Now, in the public school system I attended, nobody was being forced, anymore, by about ninth grade. Adults figure that by the time somebody has turned fifteen, they possess enough common sense to make a decision regarding such a trivial matter on their own, or they've simply grown apathetic and weary of yelling at students who refuse to stand, in the first place. Again, I imagine what the issue here is that people will attempt to completely erase the presence of the pledge from the classroom. The Constitution forbids any law regarding religion or a religious institution to be passed, it doesn't say we should forget completely about the existence of such things. The reason why I was so appalled by those who wished to remove the moment of silence was that it was a meager suggestion to pray, or honour whatever religious practices one . . . Uh, practices, not a mandate to get on your knees and worship God. It was an order to shut the hell up and respect those who may do so, however, which I can't see why anybody would have a problem with. "Oooh, we can't let the little kiddies start to respect their peers and the varying forms of religion which are present in today's day and age, no, no! If Johnny wants to beat up Ahmed the Muslim for praying in the bathroom, or yell noisily over Jimmy the Baptist while he attempts to partake in a morning prayer, let him!"
If you can't tell already, I'm somewhat of a cynic and a pinch bitter. Stupid wastes of times like this make me sick, when there are such more urgent issues floating around, like the slow and painful murder of our planet and, I don't know, starvation and poverty everywhere, but, I guess, if you want to dwell on a tiny, insignificant issue like the word "God" being spoken in school, go ahead. After that, why don't you go destroy the heathens who are having us put our hands on the Holy Bible when testifying in court, or those crazies who voluntarily send their progeny to the Hell-spawn institution of Sunday School. Pfft, morons. To paraphrase the comic Gary Fitzsimmons, you sure must have a concrete system of morals and beliefs if me standing up on stage for thirty minute making jokes crumbles it to the ground. In the same way, if your little . . . Whatever-religion-follower . . . kid all of a sudden denounces his previous religion because he's being asked to say the word "God," then I have to wonder how well you instilled that religion in their head very well, and I doubt it would've lasted that long in the face of an argument over the existence of God with an agnostic.
Do I believe it should be law to say "under God" in the pledge? No, not really, I don't. Do I believe it should be law to say the pledge at all? Not really, no, I don't. I stopped standing for the pledge in eighth grade or so because I realised how silly it was to have to reiterate my loyalty to the country on a daily basis by mindlessly and repetitively reciting memorised lines while facing a colourful rectangle of cloth. I love being born in America, living and thriving within a country where I have such freedom and opportunity laid before me thanks to the death and struggle of many, many Americans before me. I appreciate that fact, but do I need to say that every day of my life for it to be true? No, not really, I don't.
When you are within the boundaries of an institution which upholds different beliefs than you do, it is common courtesy to respect those beliefs, not to spit in their faces and tell them they're wrong. I'm not implying that you should believe what is upheld there, either. Just shut up and realise that it is respectful to not question the surrounding customs and traditions for no reason other than to piss them off. I spoke the Lord's Prayer at a friend's high school graduation a few weeks back because he went to a private, Christian school and it was their way to do so. I may not be a Christian, but when I am drowning in them, I don't kick and scream and cry about it, because you can't expect to go somewhere Christian and not be exposed, somehow, to those ideals. No shit, people, the majority of this country follows a monotheistic religion in some form or fashion, from Judaism to Catholicism to Christianity and sects ranging from Southern Baptist to Korean Baptist (that was a new one to me) to Lutheran, Protestant, and Presbyterian. You have the freedom to not follow those religions, and, by law, nobody can deride or refute you for doing so, but when you are in a room with a 20:1 ratio of religious people to atheists, expect to, perhaps, be asked to mumble the word God, in turn, and get over it. I said the pledge for numerous years of my life, but I don't think that is any factor whatsoever in my belief in a God. I don't sit back at night and think, you know, out of everything that constitutes my own religion, I think that having to say the word "God" everyday for eight, nine, ten years is the most influential portion of it. Nobody is questioning your personal beliefs when they ask you say to "one nation under God," or to observe thirty seconds of quiet time while some kid on the other side of your aisle prays, they're performing their own rituals. If I cross my forehead in front of you, and you happen to be . . . I don't know, Buddhist or Hindu, I'm not spitting in your face and thinking, "Your religion is wrong and evil, evil I say!" I'm not even thinking about you because you are irrelevant to my religion. And, no, I don't think Buddhism or Hinduism are evil, it was sarcasm, before someone gets pissy about that.
It could be pointed out that if "one nation under Buddha" had been the line, it would've been questioned a lot sooner. Well, duh. Of course, the first thought to pop into my head is that Buddha is not necessarily considered a deity in all forms of Buddhism, rather an enlightened teacher of how to live your life to attain what he referred to as Nirvana, or a state of all-knowing. But, whatever, it's an example people use arbitrarily to make a point completely departed from what Buddhism actually is, and I find it amusing to be an ass about it just to make them angry. If the national religion of Britain was suddenly changed to Taoism, I do believe, for some reason, that the majority of that country would be upset about that, since they don't practice that religion. I'm struggling to find any real substance in the argument that if it had been Shiva or Zeus or Jupiter or Odin or Isis or Anubis or Medusa instead of God, there would've been action taken earlier. That point is moot in the face of the fact that the majority always tends to muffle the cries of protest from the minority. It took centuries for women to get more liberties. Why? Because the majority of people in power were always men. People point out things like "If it had been Buddha," to try and attempt to make Christians look evil for wanting their deity of choice to be the one in the pledge, as though, if it had been Buddha and not God for fifty years, Buddhist would just kind of shrug and go "Eh, that's cool," when people decided to petition for the removal of Buddha from the line. Yeah, sure. Everybody prefers their way of thinking, because it's their's and not somebody else's, this isn't a behaviour reserved for Christians or any other section of society.
It's popular belief to accept that the foundation of the colony of William Bradford on Plymouth Rock was to provide religious sanctity for him and his Puritan comrades. Of course, most of the colonisation of America was funded by companies who believed that there were some mystical cities of Gold waiting to be discovered somewhere in the New World. Many of our older laws were based on the Bible, and the Bible Belt still exists with the lingering of certain Blue Laws. It's hard to say whether or not America was ever united by God, or by economy and the greed of humans. It's nice to think that we all get warm, fuzzy feelings in our stomachs, hold hands, and share a mutual happiness in the solace of God's name, but that's pretty far from the truth, in ignorance of other religions and those lacking religious leanings. Is this "One Nation Under God?" Not anymore, not with all the corruption in politics, the murders in the streets, and those who cringe at the thought of allowing someone to openly practice any sort of religious ritual. It's wrong of fundamentalist Christians to condemn those who believe in other teachings than their own, and it's wrong of hard-left liberals to condemn any religious person for showing any sort of religious tendencies. I am not against a moment of silence, I am not against a pledge of allegiance. In the end, they are unimportant rituals that most children take with a grain of salt. Focus on something more worthwhile, like the suppression of creativity in writing classes via the use of standardised methods, or the heavy influence SATs and ACTs have in the judgement of admission to college, despite being flawed processes to measure intelligence. For the record, I didn't score low on this tests and am rebelling against them out of embitterment, I scored a 1200 and 34, respectively. How about the fact that the exploration of any obviously present, religious or spiritual significance in literature is being ignored in the English classroom? There are many holes in our educational system that need filling more urgently than anything dealing with the two to three minutes of morning announcements, like low funding, insufficient resources, a lack of qualified teachers, and the effects of the bureaucracy on the upper echelon of the educational system. Get over it, God damn it.

Adios.

Currently Playing Song: Lungfish - Indivisible. (Heh, coincidental.)
Quote of the Moment: "I pledge allegiance / to the flag / of the United States of America / And to the Republic / For which it stands / One nation / Under God / Indivisible / With Liberty and Justice / For all / Amen." (Yes, the original Pledge ended with Amen, until that was deemed too "religious," despite simply being a Hebrew term for the termination of things, such as "and that is all," or "that's that." I used to end the pledge with Khattam-Shud, instead, just because it made people either laugh or angered.)

Having people incessantly attempting to pry into my skull is bothersome. In today's society, there's this mentality that everything should be out in the open, that we all have this obligation to lay our cards on the table for the world to see. Communicate our feelings, our emotions, every, single fleeting glance of anger, hate, frustration, stress, negativity, and aggravation. For the sake of irony, let me outright state my disgust and annoyance with this human policy of exploitation. Yes, I consider it exploitation.
Therapy, counseling, guidance, psychology, psychiatrics... You can hardly set foot out the front door of your house without someone bombarding you with questions about how you feel about this, that, and everything under the sun. Nobody seems to be asking what you think or what you believe, it's consistently "How do you feel . . . " or "What are your feelings on . . . " There almost seems to be more value placed on our emotion than our judgement, intellect, wit, and sense. Politicians are elected based on them, murders occur over them, and, everyday, somebody cries because of them. How did it come to be this great emphasis on something so fueled by, in many cases, ignorance, paranoia, and schizophrenia? I'm not trying to say that all emotions are irrational and baseless, but the ones that people ask about are.
I am not a subscriber of the philosophy that the ultimate state of being is some universal and all-enveloping "oneness." I enjoy the fact that a barrier exists between me and everyone else, it gives me the chance to forge my own personality, concepts, ideas, and life. When I imagine a world where we're all melded together in some unison of flesh and grey matter, I can only think how boring and monotonous life would become. No need to argue, no need to explore our souls for answers, no need to speculate, not to mention the total lack of secrecy and mystery. People deserve some things to stay hidden, if you ask me.
I'm not an open person at all. When I stop and think about it, there may be two people who know me in my entirety, and that would be my parents; not surprising–they gave me life. I don't share what goes on in my head to very many people. Sure, my friends are probably familiar with some of my ideologies, philosophies, political standpoints, personal preferences, taste and whatnot, but as for how I feel and operate, that's something I leave unsaid. There are those who put everything out on their sleeve to view, are verging to break down and confess the happenings of the darkest portions of their mind with virtual strangers. I'm not one of those people. Outside of my nuclear family, there's possibly a maximum total of five people who have, on one single occasion, known exactly what was coursing through my brain. It can be problematic, especially when around people, but I've eliminated every friend I ever made who didn't accept me for who I am. "Stay out of my fucking head," is my outlook on life.
It could be interpreted that this makes me some grunting, machismo brute who never says anything beyond what needs to be, and won't let people know what they think. The truth is rather far-flung from that image. I may let slip some things in my head, but, in the end, never everything, never the whole picture. I'm not emotionally dead, either, I just don't narrate the reasons behind all of the ones I experience. You can find me furious, stressed-out, content, or mellow and may very well not be exactly sure of why. If you can't get over that and move on, or, worse yet, not make assumptions based on the little you do know, then I'm not your type of person. Fuck if I care. I also never refrain from letting it known how I feel, if not through words than action. Getting up and walking away without a word is nothing I'm afraid to do, without concern over how bewildering it may come across. I oscillate between talkative and quiet, often, and without rhyme or reason ever mentioned, so be it.
I don't care about offending people. I'm never directly condescending or mean, I don't purposefully say things that are cruel and malicious. Therefore, anytime someone takes offense to what I may say or do, it means they're breathing in their own feelings and definitions. If I refer to an Asian as Oriental, I'm simply thinking in terms of the fact that they are from the Orient, which is true because it's far east from where I am; moreover, in no way am I even considering that the term harkens back to older times and standards, when white people used the term condescendingly. Yet, the term Oriental can be used for the food from there. So, Asian people eat Oriental food and design Oriental furniture and rugs. . . Right, whatever.
Coincidently, halfway through writing this entry, I left and watched Comedy Central Presents: Carlos Mencia, and he mostly focused on people being overly sensitive and politically correct about stupid things. I'm not alone on this, apparently.

Adios

Currently Playing Song: The Pillows - Blues Drive Monster
Quote of the Moment: "Oh, fuck it, I'm going to just start calling everybody Frank, Jesus, and Tyr: Norse God of War." - Me (When I quote myself, that means I can't think of anything decent to put here.)

People are insane. I mean it, man, everybody is frickin' nuts! Especially the female gender. Yeah, you, I'm talking to you, one with the estrogen in the corner. You're CRAZY, crazy in the head.
It's not that I dislike people, it's not that I find people repulsive and annoying (Only sometimes), it's that people are too fragile, too sensitive. That, and completely cracked in the head. People carry expectations and standards by which they judge you. I feel like I can't start a conversation without offending somebody because of my differing views, or an idea I have that just doesn't appeal to them. Many, many times have I had somebody give me a strange look or an upturned nose because I don't swallow what mass media and popular culture wants to shove down my throat. "Oh, I can't stand MTV, the music is god awful and contrived, the other shows are just garbage and intentionally controversial to try and stir shit for no reason." Things like that have made me more of a loner than most.
People are touchy. Contradiction seems to be a weapon, a red-hot poker just poised to scorch someone's flesh, it seems. Women and emotions are like binary chemicals: separate, they're docile and harmless, but, when mixed, the result is a volatile compound ready to explode at any moment. In fact, a lot of people are like that, despite their gender. I mean, God forbid, I have a different method for doing things that is just as effective as your's. Nooo, that's like jamming a knife in someone's eye and twisting it around your skull, apparently, because that's the kind of reaction I get for that, whenever I suggest it. "No, why not just leave the grill on medium instead of juggling the settings? It'll get to 350 and stay around there, in time." Yeesh, sorry for being innovative or explorative!
I kill time, occasionally, reading online journal-type things, and it's no mistake that I intentionally try and steer this Blogspot away from the same kind of material you can find in those. Droning on and on about daily, irrelevant matters is boring, if you ask me, and that's not what I'm aiming for here–It's just my own way of venting my writing itch, with meandering ranting on whatever's on my mind, hence the title. "The Unconscious Ramblings of a Madman," is actually a theme and title motif I've used more than once on my works: Madman At Work Studio is what I label my art as originating from. Insanity is a topic I find intriguing, how to define it, what it means and implies; moreover, it seems to be an adjective thrown around quite often–"Are you nuts/crazy/insane?" Difference, based on that notion, is what defines and makes one mad: Dr. Frankenstein was a mad scientist, for example, and many people considered Galileo a madman (his own government, in fact, who went so far as to suppress his work). Any kind of radical or deviating path from the normal is insane. Fine, I'm a madman, I don't agree with a lot of ideas which are popular in these days in age, suits me fine.
Profanity is such a taboo subject. Kids are taught not to use those "dirty words," and, as a direct result, go out and use them whenever they can and no authoritative figures are about to inflict punishment. It's funny, really–If we made no big deal about this set of words, nobody would care, but, since we do, it's a controversy. Once, while standing around in a Toys'R'Us, I looked at an Akira action figure and was reminded of the movie. Turning to a friend, I commented on it and, for whatever reason that has slipped my mind, I went into the difference between the dubbed version's dialogue and the original, and a specific example I had was that in the English dub, a character says "Don't make me tell everybody wants in your drinks," to a bartender, where the actual line is something to the effect of "That's because you've got piss in this shit, old man." Of course, I had said this out loud, and the other friend with me immediately told me to shut up, because some kid was standing there with his mother (In a toy store, imagine that!) After the realisation of what I had just said hit me, I just shut up and we slowly and casually strolled off. Nothing was said of it, even if the kid did hear me. They're just words, after all, is my philosophy. The Bible, the source for which we condemn these collection of "evil" syllables, specifies that we don't speak the Lord's name in vein, or curse someone on his behalf, as I recall; however, it is kosher to go "God!" in an exclamatory fashion after kicking something and stubbing your toe, in today's society, or "Jesus Christ!" That's not censored on the television, it never has been. Seems contradictory logic, to me.
What this all circles around back to is that people are easily offended, by ideas that aren't their own or condoned by their own schools of thought, by words which we are simply told not to say and that are wrong. Why? It seems that, for the majority of the time, nobody is up to being challenged intellectually to support what they believe. Just today, a bit earlier, my father and I were bantering on about the Moon, Sun, gravity, the seasons, and we were going back and forth about why things are the opposite in the Southern hemisphere, and, eventually, my mom spoke up with "God just wants it that way." It may just be how I see it, but that's like a cop-out, the "we can't know so let's just forget it" approach to the world. Now, to a degree, I'm nihilistic and suffer from a case of fatalism, but that comes and goes and, in the end, as a whole, I'm all for exploring theories, philosophies, and experiments about life, the world, and the way things are the way they are. Sure, there are cases of subject matter beyond the comprehension of the human race, but that's not always true, so I don't believe in giving up before trying. There is a difference between spending your lifetime attempting to prove the existence of God, and being a scientist trying to cure various ailments–from blindness to cancer to genetic defects. Those are the extremes, I suppose. There's always an inbetween.
What I'm saying is that human beings are all totally insane, in some way or the other. I mean, if we weren't, we'd all march along identical and homogenous. That'd be boring, right? Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you, MTV, Tommy Hilfiger, and all those other corporate institutions rallying for us to become clones on behalf of their merchandise.
There you go, I made an entry without resorting to the simpler method of reviewing something. Wait... I give the band Lungfish a 2% Failure Rating. Damn, couldn't resist.

Adios.

Currently Playing Song: Jawbox - Nickel Nickel Millionaire
Quote of the Moment: "Sometimes I sits and thinks, but mostly I just sits." - Unknown English yokel.

"And if I stop to catch my breath, I might catch a piece of death. I can't keep your pace, if I want to finish this race. My fight's not with you. Long distance runner, long distance runner, long distance runner, long distance runner. . . . " - Fugazi, "Long Distance Runner" off of Red Medicine.
Yeah, life can definitely feel like a cross-country twenty kilometer race uphill, in balmy weather, underneath the midday sun, sometime in the apex of summer's torture. Or, of course, it could also be a casual, invigorating walk in the midst of a light drizzle, with the cool, refreshing wind blowing across your face, and the soft dirt under your feet of the forest trail you're blazing. I'm not in a rush, very much, so I have a tendency to experience the latter analogy, moreso than the former. Ah well, "the farther I go, the less I know, one foot goes in front of the other. It all boils down to not hanging around, to keep moving, in front of the gravity, gravity, gravity. The answer is there, the answer is there, but there is not a fixed position. It keeps moving along, so I keep coming along, and that's why I'm a long distance runner. . . . "

Critical Analysis Of My Exacerbating Oasis

Some may feel that I've shown a bit more favour to the multimedia of the animated elk, so I decided to speak on two of the more notable movies I have viewed recently, which featured real people and all of that fancy, physical reality jazz. Some may also have noticed I've done more reviewing than rambling lately, too; the explanation for that is that I have begun my summer English class, therefore most of my creative writing is being funneled towards that, and writing reviews is both entertaining and simpler than elaborate rants.
First off, there was Vanilla Sky. Okay, remember how I said that if you throw something off-the-wall and different at me, I'll almost always catch it and play with it for endless hours, contentedly (although, not in so many words)? Well, that still holds true with this movie masterpiece. (Well, a "masterpiece" may be a hyperbole, but I loved it that much.) An exploration into matters ranging from the degeneration of music to the subconscious, dream-state to sex to death, Vanilla Sky didn't disappoint in the field of intellectual content, nor was it a boring, sleeper a la Citizen Kane. (Classic or not, I detested that bit of cinema.) Superb acting, an intriguing, deep plot, romance that didn't make me retch like certain Portman/Christensen scenes, and a rather well put together score, I'd have to say that this movie only racks up a measly Failure Rating of . . . . Actually, 0%. I've probably been a bit too generous in my scoring, as I don't take my entertainment overly serious nor am I being wined and dined for the favour of ratings by movie studios. If I watch something and know I can watch it over and over, that's usually what it takes to earn a total lack of any Failure Percentage at all.
Secondly, I had fun playing "Guess which side of the DVD is full-screen and which is wide," followed by a rousing round of "Clean the DVD so it doesn't become unbearably skippy,, with The Mothman Prophecies. Despite the trouble I had with the disc itself, the movie didn't turn out very badly at all. In fact, for what it was, it was quite a success. When my father brought it in, he described it as a "horror/drama/suspense/science-fiction" flick, which told me absolute jack, nor did I even recall the trailers being run for The Mothman Prophecies, so I was completely unarmed with any prior bias when the room darkened and the DVD spun up, for the fifth time after getting it set up right. The story of a Washington D.C. reporter whose wife unexpectedly loses control of the wheel and ends up in a fatal car accident, after having supposedly "seen something," and made cryptic, demonic sketches in a book, before her death. Afterward, the man sets out to drive to Richmond, Virginia (the capital of my home state) to interview the governor, but ends up in a tiny, obscure town in West Virginia on the border of Ohio, known as Point Pleasant. Much insanity and mystery ensues, including, but not limited to, a crazy farmer waving a shotgun, UFO sightings, reports of a giant moth-like creature, voices in many heads, whisperings telling of horrible, future disasters, and much, much confusion. The Mothman Prophecies is based off a true story, as the movie notes, which mainly adds a pinch of incredulity and interest factor to it, leaving one to wonder how much of it was reality and how much was fiction. The plot is rather involved, with an ending twist that I didn't see coming, and I doubt the average Joe would have, either; however, I felt there were some holes that needed to be filled, mostly pertaining to the theories of the Mothmen presented by the writer in Chicago and his life. Although, after watching that movie, I felt somewhat the urge to go out and research what was presented within, but not overwhelmingly so. Still, a very interesting endeavour full of suspense, I give The Mothman Prophecies a Failure Rating of 9%.
Among the slew of anime I have been getting and viewing late at night when I should be asleep, I did manage to complete one series, namely: DNA^2. A very cute, touching, science-fiction comedy about a bumbling, nervous boy, Junta Momonari, and how a future Time Police agent-type woman, Marin Aoi, has come to try and prevent him from becoming a "mega-playboy" who impregnates 100 women and causes overpopulation in the future. If anything, unique, eh? This anime is chock full of the teenage love-love indecision, anxiety, and overflowing emotions which you can find in many animes, such as Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo, but vomit and farting definitely puts a slightly odd twist on it all. (Trust me, you have to watch it to understand. Ever wonder why Stan from South Park started off barfing everywhere? Yeah, this anime is where Parker and Stone take that premise from.) The first half of this anime is pleasant and humourous, which I didn't find dull very much. However, like many other comedies tend to do and end up ruining the experience, the second half starts to focus on the flimsy, mediocre plot, putting a spotlight on the glaring weakness of the anime. It nearly goes over the top at some points, with a DNA-absorbing, shape-shifting nemesis and time-travelling conspirators, but it doesn't completely lose its footing on the ledge, I think. However, it's difficult to conclude a zany series like DNA^2 without going overboard, I suppose. (Slayers the Movie, however, is a classic example of comedy-gone-bad, but I'll save that for another time.) Overall, I'd give the 15 episode TV-series DNA^2 a ranking of approximately 20% Failure. Not bad, but not great: cute, in other words.
Okay, I decided that it may appear that I give too much favour to anime over other forms of film media, so I'm going to do a couple, quick retrospective reviews of awful, awful anime. First, we have Fist of theNorth Star. Take a typical kung-fu/action movie plot involving competing brothers, a shared love interest, add horrendously done animation, utterly despicable character design, unmentionable music, uninteresting, flat, static characters, stir in a lot of badly drawn blood and gore, and you end up with a heaping, frothy cup of Fist of the North Star, a la comode. (Forgive the pun.) Please, please, please, do not watch this anime, ever. Not the movie, not the TV series, not any form of it whatsoever, don't even play the games, because I can not forewarn you enough of how plain bad it is. This heap of garbage clocks in at the highest Failure Percentage yet, 99%.
Have you ever though to yourself, "Gee, you know, Street Fighter is a really nifty game, I wonder what it'd be like if they took it and made it into a show or movie?" Well, there've been an American cartoon and an anime TV series to answer that question, neither of which I've seen much of. However, what I have had the distinct displeasure of viewing, in entirety, was the Street Fighter Alpha anime movie. Uuugh, the dialogue--I saw this dubbed, so the voice acting may not be as bad in the original form–is so cliché, so badly scripted, so repetitive. Watch as Ryu struggles to withstand the creeping tendrils of the Dark Hadou, which you will get to hear him say, at minimum, 70,450 times during the running duration of the film, in case you missed the name the first 70,449 times, as it tries to infiltrate his spirit and corrupt the poor, unwitting karate fighter. Witness Chun Li as she, amazingly, speaks from her breasts, pelvis, and ass for the majority of the time, simultaneously defying biology and arousing pathetic, desperate fanboys who force themselves to enjoy this hunk of rejected material from the studio which made the Tekken anime. (Which isn't that much better than Street Fighter, I hear.) Be moved by the sad tale of what's-his-name who poses as Ryu's brother by the orders of some demented bad guy, but, during the process, grows close to Ryu and regrets betraying him. Yeah, or don't be moved, one or the other, it doesn't matter. I've already wasted enough words on this anime, let's just say it's shit and registers a rating of 85% Failure, barely being saved from the fate of Fist of the North Star due to halfway decent animation and not possessing bottom-of-the-barrel character design. Zangief does make a cameo, and big, burly, deep-voiced Russian men who throw their weight around are more fun than a barrel full of Ryu-angst.

EOF

I had more zeal to write when I opened up my word processor program, but it has been drained out of me, due to the writing I did in my "Writer's Workbook" and Formal Summary #1 for English class I was juggling with the contents of this entry this whole time. So, I promise, the next entry will not contain any reviews, simply pure and unadulterated lunatic raving.

Adios.

Currently Playing Song: Fugazi - Forensic Scene.

Time is but a measurement of how fast we're all deteriorating into nothingness.
So, does it really matter that I've been very lax in keeping this Blog fresh? No, I guess not, right? Onward.

Opinionated Bitch, Ain't I?

I saw Star Wars, Episode Two: Attack of the Clones for the second time a week or two ago, and I enjoyed it just as much the second go-around. Even though, I hadn't slept for over a day beforehand, and was on the verge of dosing off in some points. Some who may have read my review from the previous post might have thought to themselves, "Gee, he slams Portman, but what about the guy who played Anakin, Hayden Christensen?" Yes, his acting was quite awful, in parts, but, in all honestly, I thought he played the role of the confused and cross-crossed Skywalker as well as Hammel portrayed the naivé farmboy Skywalker. Granted, the romance scenes are quite horrible, but Star Wars has never been known for its whirlwind, pristine romance. All in all, since he was next to Portman for most of the movie, his acting looks much better than it would have independently. I stick to my old guns, still a failure rating of 15%.
I am an avid hobbyist, with many, many vents for all of my emotions, ranging from art to dramatics to meditation, so, it should be no real big surprise that I watch a lot of anime. I get my grubby paws on as much as possible, and the best possible, on DVD and from the internet, however it comes, I'd like the stuff on tap in my bathroom, if it were possible. Lately, I've watched small samplings of about a dozen animes, and have completed three new series: FLCL, Love Hina Again, and Read or Die.
First off, I'm a huge fanatic when it comes to the strange and demented. If something's way departed from the accepted norm, throw it my way and I'll probably absolutely love it. This goes for all of my tastes, music, anime, art, you name it. Crazy is the name of my game, and Gainax delivers in full with FLCL. A 6 episode OVA chocked full of pure insanity. The tale of a city where a gigantic factory is ever-looming in the background, a boy named Naoto whose brother has gone to America to play baseball, his brother's girlfriend, Mimiko, and an entire cast of nutballs, especially the moped-riding, guitar-smashing Haruhara Haruko. This anime starts you off thinking, "What the fuck?" and it leaves you saying, "WHAT THE FUCK?" So, in other words, it's absolutely great. Some of the best animation I've seen, interesting characters, a twisted and twisty plot, this anime just doesn't fail in any way at all, except I wish there was more! 0% failure percentage for this one, baby.
Secondly, I have a special place in my heart for throwbacks to some of the older decades, call it nostalgia or a desire to have lived in those days. Old detective movies, spy movies, cowboy movies, and other such relics of times long gone, they're all intriguing to me, in some inexplicable manner. It's the reason I wear a trenchcoat and fedora, it's one of the many reasons I loved Cowboy Bebop so much, and it's one of the aspects of Read or Die I dug. A story revolving around an espionage and strategic library agency, specifically, the agent Readman Yomiko, or the Paper, a bookworm in every definition of the word, and the mission she's been given, accompanied with the mysterious agent, Miss Deep. Drake, another agent prominent in R.O.D. reminds me very much of Batou, from Ghost in the Shell, on a side note. Dissapointly, this is even shorter than FLCL, half the length, in fact, as it is a 3 episode OVA, the main downside of this anime. Still, I found myself greatly enjoying the cute, absent-minded antics of Yomiko, as she floats through, surviving mainly with the assistance of others. Quite admirable animation, great and very fresh takes on fight scenes, and the plot of the evil madman in this is just so perfectly reminiscent of the ones in all spy movies, you can't really dwell on its hockiness and implausability. A meager failure rating of 5%, not quite a perfect scoring piece, but damn close.
The third most recent series I've completed was Love Hina, with the 3 episode OVA Love Hina Again. I had already seen all 25 episodes of the TV series, and both the Winter and Spring Specials, so this was all I had left to see, anime-wise, to have finished off the Love Hina adventures. Quite a pleasurable adventure Love Hina was, too, as I got to watch Keitaro get the shit knocked out of him by Naru, Motoko, Kaollu Su, Sarah, Haruka, and almost all the other cast members. A series revolving around Urashima Keitaro and his continually-failing attempts to get into Toudai (Tokyo University), in order to fulfill a childhood promise he made to a girl, whose name and face he has forgotten. By coincidence ending up as the kanrinin (manager) of an all girl's dormitory owned by his Grandmother, Hina, Keitaro struggles with his prep-school studies while he has to deal with the duties and hassles presented by a group of varying and interesting girl residents. From the innocent and ever-polite Shinobu to the aggressive kendo-practicing priestess Motoko to the indecisive and violent Naru to the mischievous and conniving Kitsune, you can't help but love almost each and every character in this anime. The TV series covers two years at Hinatasou (Hinata Inn, the dormitory), and a slew of events, dealing with all the characters, individually, but mainly focusing on Narusegawa Naru and Urashima Keitaro's growing relationship, with Keitaro always trying to find his promised girl and get into Tokyo U. All in all, I'd give the TV series, episode 1-25, a failure rating of about 3%, as it's splendid, but, still, not quite a perfect score. The Winter or Christmas special sort of stands alone, not really being essential to the series but adding on to it, a bit, which I'd give about a 17% failure rating, due to being a slight bit boring and predicable. The Spring Special is meant to be the end to the TV series, and is very fun, so I give that a failure rating of about 5%. The OVA introduces Kanako, a character you can't help but detest, and further confusion and indecision (On Naru's account, of course) to the series, and is quite well done. As it is newer than the rest, some of the characters have a slightly different, albeit still nice, design. This OVA ranked in at approximately a 8% Failure, for me. Overall, the Love Hina collection clocks in at a mere 8% Failure score, and is one of the most replayable animes I have ever watched, seeing as how I've on, many occasions, just picked a random episode to watch while eating or just when I feel the need for a cheerful, uplifting anime.
As I said, I've watched the start of about a dozen other animes, but I won't rate any of them until I've seen the rest, to get a complete picture, but I might as well list them: Chobits, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Rockman.exe, DNA^2, Detective Conan, Konan, and more. So, of course, more reviews to come. I also saw the Chronicles (?) Of Crystania, the sequel to Record of Lodoss War, sort of, at a friend's house, along with Sprite. The former was dubbed, so I don't want to rate it, just yet, and, suffice it to say, the latter was too awful to bother writing a review just to give about a 99% Failure rating. So, let us not speak of this anymore.

You Speak in Circles, Eh?

I was mulling over my principle regarding art and expression, and it occurred to me, especially after seeing a documentary on those loony Christian Identity people, that there was sort of a hole in my ranting. I failed to really discuss those violence-inciting type of expressionists, and the effects they have on society. When a man stands on a corner and shouts out propaganda about how the Jewish and black are parasites on the Supreme race, I can't help to think, first-off, how nuts these sort of folks off, and, second off, how much I can't believe anyone would even listen to that kind of shit long enough to absorb it. I realise perfectly well that there is a small, very small, luckily, percentage of the population that does listen to that kind of bullshit, nodding as the lunatic spouts on about how the Bible instructs us to hate and kill, and then going out and doing it. Unfortunately, this happens, and people suffer for it, people die for it. These lives should never have been lost at the hands of such morally dead and idiotic, clueless bastards, and the knee-jerk reaction is to blame the ideas that influenced him. However, as per my own opinions, if you silence one man because of his personal ideas, which he is only sharing and expressing, is it not hypocritical to speak of the freedom of speech and human right to be left alone?
Yes, it is. I can't blame the person who spreads the ideas of Neo-Nazism, white supremacy, Christian Identity, or all of the other forms of hatred and genocide media, without actually carrying out any intrusion upon another's rights. Who I can, easily and quite willingly, blame are the people who listen to it, and, moreover, follow their words. These are the people who have the real problems, because, quite frankly, if someone falls for that kind of blasphemous silliness, that person has some serious, psychological problems going on in their heads, beforehand. They've completely lost the concept of what is right and wrong, what is sane and insane, what is logical and illogical. They are the ones who need to be helped, before they ever become murderers or arsonists, there's something lacking in their lives, something horribly wrong with them, and it's almost always obvious, somehow, in the first place. If these maniacs have no audience for their blathering, then there is no need to have to censure them.
I abide by a strict code of respect. Respect others, respect their rights, their world, their bodies, them. Respect is the root of all good notions: love, honesty, responsibility, valiance, bravery, etcetera, etcetera. In no way is it respectful to hurt, steal, murder, rape, or defile in any manner, whatsoever. If everybody just understood and lived by that one mantra, then there would be a lot less hate and crime in this world of our's, and there would be a lot more productive, intelligent members of society. Of course, before I go on and begin to sound like a hippy, I should make it known I fully acknowledge how dismal an outlook I have on this ever happening, as humanity is verging on a completely and utterly lost cause. So, I just keep the idea of respect alive in my own heart, and hope the world doesn't beat me down to the point where I ever lose it.
It came to me awhile ago that some of my ideas are a bit self-contradictory. I am against drug testing in any job where you are not behind a wheel or driving, or, in other ways, have the lives of others to worry about. One of my friends immediately pointed out that the reason for testing was because it's illegal. Well, I thought up, at a later time, unfortunately, a scenario where it was perfectly legal but would still fail the test: Imagine that a man took a week-long vacation to Amsterdam, Holland, where it is perfectly fine to buy and use marijuana, then comes back to work the next week, after having smoked a few blunts or spliffs or whatever lit his fancy. If he had to pee in a cup, the weed would show up on the scale in a heartbeat, but he wouldn't have been forgiven for the situation, and would, most likely, be fired. Also, the first thought I had in my head when my friend mentioned that was, despite it being illegal, even when a positive test comes up, I've never heard of a business having their employee arrested. One hundred percent of the time, the only repercussion is being suspended or fired, having your pay docked or something along those lines. If the test was there to enforce the law, you'd think that wouldn't be the case.
However, in the continuation of the same strand of thought, I am for the legalization and taxation of marijuana. It is probably the single-most harmless drug in existence, it is less unhealthy that cigarettes and alcohol, a man stoned out of his mind has the thought of going out and axing someone to death behind a gigantic cloud of other thoughts, a lot of them involving food, sex, or the colour of the paint on the wall and the texture of the doorknob in his hand, or whatnot. Sure, a stoned driver is dangerous, but anybody inhibited in any way is dangerous behind the wheel: drunk, stoned, or sleep depraved. It's only logical I don't support people in fucked-up states of mind behind the wheel. The only harm to come from marijuana all deals with the trafficking and underground sale of it, the smuggling, drug and crime lords, deals gone wrong, and all that. If it were legal and available in stores, then that wouldn't exist. Nobody would need Paco the Druggies on the corner of 5th and Main to slide him a baggie of pot if you could get it at the 711, a lot safer and conveniently.
However, as a friend pointed out, I am also against the destruction of one's own body, via drugs and abuse, or whatever. It's true, I am concretely set against the use of mind-altering drugs of any sort, even prescribed depressants or stimulants. But, still, I am also conscious of the fact that the prohibition of alcohol failed, in every aspect possible, and that if something is illegal, if people really want it, they're going to get it, no matter what. So, let them have it, let the pathetic losers get stoned off their asses on the weekend and waste away counting dots on the ceiling, let the smokers rot their lungs and teeth, let the alcohols slowly dissolve their livers and kidneys, whatever. I gave up on trying to tell people how they should run their lives a long... Well, I never really did, because I was always acutely keen on the fact that it's a futile gesture. People will make their own decisions, in the end, despite rationale or common sense. Human beings are a screwed up creature. So, in closing, if humans want to do something, nothing is going to stop them, so why not make it as safe and profitable for the rest of us, as possible?

EOF

Alrighty, then, that's definitely enough writing for one night. I've decided to start working on a lot of different things, and writing this was one of the things I wanted to get done, so it's been productive, although another method by which I screwed up my sleep schedule. I'm not overly sure if I'm going to update this, again, soon, but, look out for it, anyway, if anyone actually reads this and cares. I'm semi-worked up, now, so I think I'm going to draw, after this. Woof.

Adios.

Currently Playing Song: Sevendust - Beautiful
Quote of the Moment: "Nothing is amazing, everything's the norm." - Naoto, from "FLCL."