London 2012 Summer Olympics

   The 30th Olympic Games have begun this past week and what a show has it been thus far! There is a very real symbolic meaning found within the games, a time where (for the most part) countries set their differences apart and come together to compete in various challenges, all in all to determine who is the best athlete within each challenge. Besides the "World Cup" (Soccer), there is no other event that brings blood seeking rivals together within the same field and makes them have a fair match against one another, besides the Olympics and the World Cup there is no other world event that causes such a rare and beautiful spectacle, this is significant, truly a spectacle worth taking seriously and having a watch, specially to cheer your home country on as well.

     There are many rituals that have come about since the games first started, we're talking 30 games, a lot happens in 30 games. A crowd favorite event is the opening of the games, which generally is a big show displaying the host country's roots, something about peace in the world, and generally some random funny moments in order to provide the audience with some laughs. This can include various performances by artists and musicians from the country, dance crews and special effects crews come into effect as well, basically the opening is a country's attempt to entertain the world and show how awesome they are in the process, which brings us to this year's performance.

     London is hosting this year's Olympic games which means that we got what one could expect from a British opening ceremony, a random spectacle of some of the stuff that has made England "great". The show was fun, but super random, let's be honest, hospital beds, Voldemort being defeated by Mary Poppins, no Elton John but we got a Beatle (no Ringo though, figures), and even including a performance by the one and only Mr. Bean....yeah, it was a random show. Though the show was decent I for one wasn't completely entertained, I can't be the only one that grew bored 2/3 through it and was like "ok, so what's the point?". Not saying that this was the worst opening ever, in fact I thought it rather fun, let's just say that Rio will blow this joint out of the water for sure.

     There is no time that swimming is a bigger deal in the news than the Olympic Games, people don't usually care about swimming any other time throughout the years before the event and after the event, there are competitions don't get me wrong but they generally aren't broadcast or made a big deal of till the Olympic Games come about, thus the importance of said event, and why these matches mean so much to the individual swimmer, cause he knows that after this competition is over that it'll take another four years before he becomes relevant again, that's gotta mess with your head big time. In fact almost every athlete within the games feels a similar pressure, except our basketball, tennis and soccer players of course, those we love year round.

     The point here is that if you are not watching the game that you should do so, that these athletes have been training for four years nonstop in order to represent our country and win us some gold medals, they have given up dreams, desserts, and a future of no medical complications due to pushing their bodies too far, just to bring home the medal and make us proud, I say that's a game worth watching, an all out battle to determine who is the best in the world scale, who is the greatest of us all. Thus let us give these athletes the respect they deserve and cheer them on for gold, for after this the only time they will get our love again will be in 4 years from now, so show a little love and support the games.

    Let us come together and cheer our athletes to victory, they deserve our respect and love for their continued hard work in trying to represent us the best way they can, and that's always worth respecting.

  Love from your humble blogger,

Why "The Watch" Is Watchable

  "Why you shouldn't watch 'The Watch'", that was the title that came to mind prior to going to see this film, the movie looked silly on its many trailers and the movie itself is essentially a rip off of the British film "Attack The Block" which brought on some feelings of annoyance. Watching another comedy where Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn play their usual selves and come back with the similar jokes we always get by them, did not seem like a fun evening, in fact there was no reason why this movie should have been entertaining, at all, but when you add all the elements of this movie together, including bad acting, you get a final work that surprises and entertains all the way through. I recommend you get yourself in the right mindset though, understand that this isn't a good movie, and yes it is a reboot of a way better film, but in the end it really was entertaining, so if you need a dumb comedy to watch this weekend this is the movie for you, not a great one, but fun.

    The movie is made worse not by the content itself but due to the fact that some of the funnier moments in the film were in the trailer ruining pivotal moments within the movie, this did not help the movie at all. Can we talk about this for a second? This isn't the first time a comedy has been ruined by poorly cut previews, there have been countless other movies that have suffered like "The Watch" has suffered and still bad previews are released, why can't this atrocity just stop, who do we have to talk to about this? Just imagine if a horror movie trailer had 3/5 scary scenes in the movie in it, or if in a thriller trailer you got a really good hint of who the killer was, it would injure the movie right? Same concept within a comedy, the question here is who cut that preview and why didn't someone in his team say something to help him?

    It is difficult to praise the cast in this film, not because they did a bad job but because they just played themselves, well, they played the roles we have come to love from them from other movies. Ben Stiller did a classic "Meet The Parents" performance, just a loser who thinks he is doing really well in life but is in fact living a very well constructed play of a life, through what he will face in the movie he will grow as a man, as a friend and as a husband, evolving into someone we can all relate to and like. This is his role, it's Ben Stiller's universal role, not that this is bad in all cases but when it is applied to a mediocre movie it makes the movie ten times worse, lucky for him this was a decent film thus it just brought the movie down to mediocre status which wasn't bad overall.

    Vin Vaughn, well, played himself, classic "Old School" performance, if you liked him there then you'll like him in this film. To put this simply, Vince plays his overbearing, over the top, "bro", role that we have seen in most of his films, this isn't a bad thing, the man is funny and so it works, but just know this is not his academy awards debut, this is just good old Vince. Although, there is an element added to the picture here that makes him different from other characters he has played, in this film he is a parent, with a teenage daughter, yeah, just imagine Vince Vaughn and a teenage daughter trying to rebel against his rules, classic performance, providing tons of laughs. In the end though it boils down to "Are you a fan of Vince", if yes you'll enjoy the movie even more, if no then don't go watch this movie for surely you will hate it.

    Richard Ayoade though, there's the comic genius within this film, it's not even that he's got a ton of lines, which he doesn't, it's about the fact that combined with the performances by the actors around him, his performance is hilarious, you'll laugh in almost every scene he is part of, a job well done for sure. Jonah Hill's role is the weird one, it feels like he went from being fat overbearing and funny to always playing a psycho now, and the scary thing is that it fits, it legitimately fits his look. Not saying here that him losing weight was a bad thing, what I am saying though is that we learned to love one actor and now he's no longer that actor so this new relationship will take more time till it feels concrete again, as long as he doesn't decide to change his image again in 5 years I think we'll be just fine.

     If you go into the theater thinking "this movie is going to be horrible, what am I doing here", then you will really like this movie, but if you have any expectations at all for it then you will hate it for sure. Never a good sign when this is the case, so consider yourself warned. I would be lying if I said I didn't laugh various times throughout the movie, the movie does have entertainment value, so if you are in the mood for a fun comedy with characters you are familiar with or leaning to love again then this is the film for you. If you decide that you don't want to watch this film no matter what then do yourself a kindness and pick up "Attack The Block", you'll love it for sure.

  Love from your humble blogger,

What Matters Most In Life

  Life is short, too short, we don't think about that much, it's not something we ponder on a daily basis but it is a very real concept that regardless of us acknowledging it or not, guides many aspects and decisions we make in our lives. The more one is aware of death and the eventuality of it coming the more one can truly begin to live. Being aware of death doesn't mean living scared of what tomorrow might bring or giving up on the world and doing nothing, being aware of death means living life to the fullest everyday, waking up and facing life head on with new expectations and the readiness to pursue your dreams. Being aware of how little time we all have on this Earth opens our eyes to the things that truly matter, the things that will make our lives grand and allow us to live a life worth re-living.

   Family is the first thing that should pop into your head as we engage this topic, family is one of the most important aspects of life, it's a beautiful, complicated mess that brings rewards with it that nothing else in this world can bring. Maybe some of you don't have a biological family but have built your own group that serves as a family, people that love you and will forever be there for you, these people make life worth while. These are not the people that you don't have fights with, no, these people know you, they lived with you, they understand who you are and love you deeper than anyone else in the world loves you, so yes, there will be fights.

    There is no true friendship either in family on between close friends that is ever truly real without at one point there being a sharing of hatred between you two. At one point a decision had to be made, hearts were hurt and prides were shattered, and both of you were thrown against a wall and told to make a decision, fight to make this friendship work or give up and break this friendship forever. In family 9/10 times you have no choice so you forgive the other person and through this process you grow closer, conflict brings people together, even personal conflict, but with friends outside of family this forgiveness isn't mandatory hence why when it is done both friends share a love and respect for one another that is unique in it's own way, a respect that will last a lifetime.

    It is through truth that real relationships are made, this might seem like a simple concept but it isn't, most friends aren't honest with one another. You might have thought before "man, my best friend and I have never had a really big fight", yeah well, when honesty is not part of a friendship you definitely won't fight. Truth here is meant as one person being honest with the other about his or her own feelings, this is not about offending one another but being able to call each other out on your flaws, true friends help each other grow, that does not happen without a few fights along the way. This is the same concept about family, true growth comes from families helping each other grow, this is why one fights with parents a lot, because till you find a friend that call you out on your crap it is your parent's job to make sure you know you are not perfect, its not an easy job to say the least.

    Look around yourself today and acknowledge the people that have been there for you during your life, guiding you, inspiring you, challenging you, helping you grow, and tell them thank you, thank them for being there, most people never get a chance to thank their close friends and family for always being there. It's not a malicious sense of non-gratitude that causes people to not be open, it's just a sense of not seeing what's in front of you, not recognizing the blessings within your own life. So hug your family and tell them you love them, phone your close friends and do the same, sit down with them and have heart to heart conversations about life, for life is short, and this, in the end of the day is what matters most, loving the people around you, and living in a lifestyle of love.

  Love from your humble blogger,

A Time For Silence And Prayer

There are moments in life where words don’t cut it, where there is nothing one can say or do in order to try and make things better, this is one of these moments. Words can be a powerful tool when dealing with hard situations like this one but so is silence, there is a time for words and those that have the power are already using their talents to bring this matter to justice, but there is also a time for silence and mourning, this is where I and many out there are at right now, a time for prayer and mourning for the families and everyone that was involved in this tragedy. My prayers go out to everyone involved in the Colorado tragedy and their families.

 This is it for today, anything more just seems wrong. Remember to hold your loved ones close everyday and treasure the people you hold dear for you never know what tomorrow might bring.

   Love from your humble blogger,

The Dark Knight Rises Review "Mind Blowingly Awesome"

    Leaving the movie theater and processing this movie is no easy feat, your legs don't want to move and your head is spinning with amazement and curiosity, your heart is pounding with excitement and the lingering emotions brought on by the movie are still ever present, this movie is just that impacting. Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" changed the Batman game forever, there is no going back after this one, of course when adding this movie to the other two preceding it this statement becomes even more true, but honestly after seeing this trilogy reach its end one can't imagine a better combination of movies put together by any other director, in fact there is a part in all of us that saw this movie that wish that Nolan will continue this story, that he'll change his mind and take the project further, the movie is just that good.

     Prepare yourself though before going to watch it, if you couldn't tell already by what they showed us on the previews this movie is dark, very dark, not Joker dark, but very human dark, mental even at times. The movie messes with your psyche and your understanding of not only how Bruce embraces the world but how you yourself look at the world. This movie moves you to ask some tough questions, it's as if Nolan is including some personal truth time between you and him within the movie, there has not been a more engaging movie than this one in a long time, and yes saying that about a superhero movie was something many would never have said in the past but those days are over, this movie is just that amazing.

    The first person that needs to be praised is Tom Hardy for his performance as Bane. There will never be a better representation of the psychotic mercenary, Hardy hit the target in every way possible, he was fearsome, loathsome, and represented pure evil in such a pure and crude way that you couldn't help but to look away whenever he was on screen, in fact some people within the theater would place their hands to their eyes whenever he came on screen for fear of what he might do next, here's the kicker though, nothing he did was overall too gruesome or barbaric but he did it in such a raw fashion that you couldn't help but be scared of him, there is something in him that just brings out that emotion. Bottom line, Tom Hardy was a boss, no lie, this man did what many thought no one could ever do, he successfully captured the Bane of the comics within a movie.

    Anne Hathaway is delightful throughout this flick, she is everything we all want her to be, she is seductive, she is fierce, she lies like a villain, but expresses care for those around her like a saint, she is a master thief and the way Nolan spun her story is freaking amazing, no one was expecting a Selina Kyle the way that Nolan depicted her, many even brushed her off as some side character before seeing the film, but Anne Hathaway would not have things be that way, Anne stole the show in many scenes throughout the movie, she was so good at playing Selina that it made some people want a Catwoman movie to come from this flick, meaning, her performance was so good that it made people forget how bad the last Catwoman movie was, that is quite a feat indeed.

    And finally how can we not mention the great Christian Bale finally giving us the performance we have been wanting to see from him since the beginning, don't take me wrong Christian Bale did well in the first two movies but he wasn't great, it was in this film that he really pulled through, he pulled no punches in his performance as the Bat and kicked some serious ass. This movie was a lot more challenging of a role for him for he needed to play a broken bat who gets even more broken before coming back to evolve into something new, it was a masterful performance and one cannot help but wish an encore performance by him in the future. Though Nolan and Bale have both stated that this will be their last Batman movie one cannot help but wish that this is not the case, that they change their mind and bring us another film, this film was just that good.

    Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, and Morgan Freeman were fantastic as well, especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I've purposely not talked much about these characters in order to not give anything away, anyone who spoils this movie for another person should be punished, this movie is just that good.

  Love from your humble blogger,

The Comic Books That Inspired Nolan's Trilogy

The reason behind the Nolan films being so good is that all the movies are based off of some of the greatest Batman comic books ever written, most people are not aware of that but if you were to read the books prior to watching the flicks you will actually learn to appreciate the movies even more than you had before. As it turns out the last installment in the series is coming out this Friday and it is hosting Bane, one of the most infamous Batman villains, though most people have no idea who Bane is and thus I've had to sit down often with people and explain the significance of his character and why this movie is going to be amazing, thus inspiring this post. It felt wrong to not mention the first two movies as well thus we'll be focusing on the three comic series that inspired Nolan and changed the comic book movie game forever.

Batman: Year One

     The first Nolan film set the scene for what was going to be one of the best concepts ever, basing a comic book movie off of a comic...yeah, one would imagine that more directors would have thought of this sooner but Nolan was the first and by sticking to the comic he created the best Batman film at that time. Batman Year One follows more or less exactly like the movie did, the comic is obviously better but Nolan did do a good job illustrating the main story on the big screen. It doesn't matter if you love comic books or not, every comic book that inspired the series is fantastic, this one is equally great, one you should definitely think about picking up and giving it a read.

  The Killing Joke

     There are a ton of Joker stories out there, a ton no joke, but none of them are as good and as well presented as The Killing Joke. This was the comic that inspired Heath's performance in "The Dark Knight", the movie is not necessarily based off of the comic but it is inspired by the comic, which was a pretty cool deal being that this was by far the most "real" presentation of the Joker in the series. Most of the time directors have done the Joker in the past has been a more carefree silly villain and not his psychotic self that we see in the comic books, the feared and maniacal Joker, it was refreshing to finally see the infamous villain being played correctly on the big screen. Needless to say "The Dark Knight" was the best Batman film ever made so far, it blew every other Batman film out of the water.

    Kightfall

    So finally we reach the third movie where we are introduced to Bane who was made famous by the great "Knightfall" series. The Knightfall series has three parts, Knightfall, Knightsquest and Knightsend, there is a ton of speculation going around about how Nolan is going to join all three epic arch's together into one movie, but we do see various elements of each one of the comic books within the preview, thus enforcing that Nolan did in fact decide to follow some of the core elements found within this story arch. Keep in mind that we're talking about the comic books so this is not a spoiler to what is going to happen in the movie but it is a guide to what might happen in the movie and why it is a big deal that Bane is going to be the villain within it, so take this as your warning, if you are worried that knowing what happened in the comics will spoil the movie then stop reading this post now.

    Knightfall opens with Bane getting a group of villains together to take over Gotham, he explodes the entrance of the Arkaham Asylum (as seen in the preview) and lets loose the scum of Gotham into the city. He later makes brilliant moves in order to strike fear into the people of Gotham and not only fights Batman but wins and breaks his back leaving Batman half-for-dead in the streets of Gotham City. The second volume is Bruce choosing Azrael as being a suitable replacement to go and take on the mantle as Batman in order to clean up the city a bit, this seems to be working well but in the end the mantle goes into Azrael's head and he goes crazy. The third volume is Bruce recovering, picking up the mantle of the bat once again and reclaiming himself as the one true Batman by defeating Azrael and then Bane.

    The movie will obviously not have all that in it, but a few things will probably follow from the comics, things we see in the preview, first Bane is a feared criminal mastermind just like in the comics, he will defeat Bruce and humiliate him, Gotham will fall, and Bruce will have to evolve as a man in order to rise and defeat this threat. If you are interested in more details on Bane and his background I recommend that you pick up the graphic novel and give it a read, it's a good read for sure, and will give you a better appreciation of what Nolan is trying to do for the last movie, more or so bringing it to life. All we can hope is that this movie will not disappoint and that it will live up to its hype, you never know, but personally I can't wait to watch this flick.

  Love from your humble blogger,

Remembering The Batman Films Of The Past

   Dark Knight Rises is due to come out this Friday the 20th of July 2012, this will be the last Nolan Batman and is expected to be the one to top them all, this is a big promise being that the last movie with the Joker was just simply jaw-dropping. There has been a long history of Batman films, mostly they aren't that good, and when in comparison with the Nolan films they all fall short, none can really stand up to the last two movies, the Friday release looks amazing and hopefully will follow suit, blowing all our minds again. There has been a long history to the Batman movie franchise though, and its about time we recap them all starting with the Burton films, those were the ones that really attempted a serious movie in my opinion.

  Batman

    Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and was directed by Tim Burton, that's about all one needs to say about the movie for you to understand where the movie is headed and what kind of quality to expect from it. It's not a great film but it isn't a bad film either, out of all the 4 Batman movies preceding the Nolan films, this one was certainly the best. Jack Nicholson here did a fantastic Joker, he was out-shined later on by Heath Ledger's performance for sure, but this was a more cheesy comic approach to the villain, it was a job well done. This is a movie you should check out if you ever have the time, it's not one you should pay more than five dollars for though, if you find this at a Wallmart then do yourself a favor and add it to your movie collection.

   Batman Returns

    Michael Keaton again returns in his amazing performance as Batman but a very poor Bruce Wayne, can't fault the guy there, he just doesn't have enough swagger to play the role. This movie is defined by its villains though, Christopher Walken as Max Shreck, Danny Devito as The Penguin, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, simply a great cast and a solid choice in villains. Though Penguin could have been played better as more of the mobster we see him being in the comics, this was still a great flick, definitely a great Tim Burton film and one of the better Batman films preceding Nolan. It was after this film that everything went south, what was said about the previous movie applies to this one as well, if you find this movie at a Wallmart be sure to pick it up for it is a great addition to your movie collection.

   Batman Forever

    You should know by the title itself that this movie is going to be horrible, when paired with the fact that Val Kilmer is playing Bruce Wayne, well, the movie just doesn't even stand a chance at doing well, there just wasn't any hope at making this good from the beginning. Jim Carrey as "The Riddler", Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, and Nicole Kidman as a random love affair for Batman attempt to make this movie a little better but fail at every turn. One would imagine that this movie could not get worse but then it does by adding Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson, or the first Robin, it was just a mess from beginning to end. Even if you have nothing better to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon I wouldn't recommend you watch this movie, in fact only watch it if you haven't been able to appreciate any of the Nolan films, watch this one and understand how much better Nolan's work is.

   Batman & Robin

     Kilmer only lasted one movie though, apparently after the previous movie came out the producers finally understood how horrible of an idea the whole thing was, so they brought George Clooney to take his place, one would imagine this would be a great idea but no, this was horrible, Clooney is a very good Bruce Wayne but it a horrible Batman, he has one voice "The Clooney" so that was pretty stupid but the movie really fails due to poor writing, horrible directing, bad casting, and just plain absurdity everywhere. I have no idea what Joel Schumacher was thinking as he directed this movie, it's as if he wanted to make a bad movie, it's just that bad, bat nipples included (George's Batman suit's got nipples O.o). To make matters worse we have Arnold as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone playing Batgirl, one would imagine Alicia and Uma would save the film somewhat but no dice, the movie falls as the worst Batman flick ever made. Save this one for a "bad movie night" if you have them.

   So as we anticipate Nolan's epic conclusion on Friday let us brace ourselves for what looks like to be the best Batman film trilogy ever produced coming to a close. The movie is sure to be amazing, and of course we will have a review here for you as soon as we can on Friday so stay tuned.

  Love from your humble blogger,

Ignored Almost Forgotten Amazing Talent Of The Past

  To conclude this segment of our music experimentation the only way to properly finish in a worthy fashion would be for us to remember some of the actual obscure bands, some brilliant artists that have gone overlooked, that have been forgotten by time, those that did not have the success that others might have had but still blew our minds and impacted our lives in ways that artists today did not and could never not. If you are into the retro scene, a fan of folk music or a huge fan of obscure old music this is the post for you. I tried to make a selection of the top 10 most overlooked artists of the past, I hope you'll find this either a blast from the past or a brand new taste to something older, sometimes aged music just hits a spot in our soul that new music just cannot.

  Laura Nyro

  Phil Ochs

    Kingston Trio

  Woody Guthrie

  Arlo Guthrie

  The New Christy Minstrels

   The Weavers

   The Chieftains

    New Riders Of The Purple Sage

    Smothers Brothers (think "Flight of the Conchords", just brilliant stuff)

  There are many more music segments to come, there is just so much music out there that is being forgotten about that should never be, thus I hope these posts have been refreshing to some seeing your favorite artists being displayed and informative to others learning that there is plenty of music out there from the past that is amazing. Hope you all had a fantastic week and that this weekend might be a great one.

  Love from your humble blogger,

4 70's Female Artists That Should Never Be Forgotten

  Continuing with the theme of good music through the ages and how there are always fantastic artists to be found no matter what generation you talk about this we'll be talking this week about a few other artists you should know about, but this time the theme is 70's, not your regular 70's goodness but more obscure stuff that everyone should listen to from time to time and be aware of, people that made a significant impact on music and life. I use the word obscure loosely here, many will read this and think that these bands are huge names, but unfortunately in the world we live in today these fantastic artists have been forgotten, even though that to some these are still kings of music within our hearts. Keep in mind that there are a ton of other artists that could be included within this list, but here are 4 female artists that are usually overlooked that should never be forgotten. Without further ado here are some artists that will blow your mind.


Joan Baez

Janis Joplin (still has a decent following but definitely couldn't help but to include her)

Emmylou Harris

Johnny Mitchell

   And there you have it, I hope you enjoy and maybe either refreshed your memory to artists you know and love or introduced you to some amazing talent. This is a part of a larger "educate the next generations" project when it comes to good music from the past. Not really a post where we talk about the great "knowns" like The Doors, or Pink Floyd, but a place where we remember the talent of often forgotten talent like that of Johnny Mitchell. I hope you all appreciate these artists, they changed the world.

   Love from your humble blogger,

A Defense Of The 80's Music Scene

  There has been a lot of talk recently about how there were no good songs in the 80's, people continually knock the 80's as the worst music period to ever come about and thank God that they did not get to live through it. All this negative talk exhausts me,  there is no way that a decade of human history can go by and no good music be produced, thus a venture was set out, a quest to find some of the best almost uncontested best music from the 80's, an adventure that spawned this post. While doing research one thing became clear to me, that there are a ton of good artists out there, but a selection of artists had to be made in order for this post to not be 10 pages long, thus here is my defense of the 80's, 6 artists that prove that good music was being made during that time. 1 or 2 artists would be an exception, 6 good artists prove that there were probably way more than that, thus begins my defense of the 80's music scene.

Peter Tosh

Bob Marley

 Violent Fems

The Clash

Dire Straits

 

Stray Cats

     And there you have it, consider the 80's defended, if there is still doubt in your minds that there was good music in the 80's then I might do another post hosting 6 more bands that you should be aware of while you attempt to diss the 80's music scene. And next time someone decides to crack a joke about the 80's you'll have ammunition against them, no way a decade will ever go by where no good music is produced, that's just silly talk.

   Love from your humble blogger,

D.W.P.O Part 3 "Keep Calm And Don't Drop The Soap"

   To recap everything we went over this week prior to us hitting the last topic in this conversation, first you should understand that ensuring the officer that his safety is guaranteed will make your whole interaction with the officer a better one. Secondly you should always show respect to an officer, be him good or bad, for in the end of the day he's the one with the gun and the one that can send you to jail, jail's no fun, you don't want to go there. Thirdly, for more detailed instructions on one and two go read the first two blogs, it'll fill you in to what we've covered this week. Ok, so today we'll be talking about the very bottom situations, the worst of the worst situations, what to expect, what not to do and so forth, just some things people don't talk about or teach you but might aid you in life, you never know, sometimes you find yourself at the wrong spot at the wrong time.

 The Arrest


   You can be arrested for a variation of reasons, some of these are serious and will cause you to land some jail time, but for the most part the majority of infractions are small ones dealing with you being in jail for a few days or just overnight, knowing the difference in what crime you committed is important, be it possession, battery, drunkenness or whatever else you did to get you into this pickle you should be aware of the punishment for the crime, especially if you have the propensity to do these things, sometimes knowing the punishment before you break the law will keep you from breaking the law, or being more discrete on how you go about it, anyway ignorance is not bliss, ignorance is stupidity when it comes to gambling with your life.

  For most small cases you will spend about a day in jail and be let out, here are some simple scenarios that will land you a night in jail: 1. Being drunk and obnoxious publicly, 2. Assaulting someone, or even quicker jail time, a bouncer, 3. Possession of Marijuana, 4. Talking back to a police officer when being pulled over, 5. Home abuse, paired with overall disrespect of officers. There you go, here are five ways to land you a night in the cell, be it the drunk tank or the bail sell, being in jail is no fun and it does not make you feel good about life. One thing to understand before we progress forward is that the 5 things listed could land you a day in jail if they are your first infraction or if we are dealing with a smaller scale crime, but if you have multiple of any of these or commit these crimes to the extreme then you will receive real hardcore "no messing around" jail time, these are serious crimes, know that from the start please and be smart in your decision making skills.

    Here is how things will play out if you are arrested, firstly you will be handcuffed and it will hurt, never have I heard someone tell me that the officer was worried about hurting their wrists when the cuffs were put on, again the officer is worried about his own safety so he won't be too concerned with you until he realizes that either you are not a bad person or you are just a harmless fool, either one will land a police officer to start being nicer to you. The cop ride is the eventual conclusion of whatever happens while you are handcuffed, some police officers will want to talk to you and question you on everything that took place, sometimes they'll have to question other people so you'll just have to sit on the curb and wait, the scenarios are endless really.

   The key thing to remember is that you should always "Keep Calm", always use your head, keep your mind clear and your mouth shut, cooperate with everything he tells you to do even if your wrists hurt from the handcuffs, this is the wisest course of action, always. When you respect the officer and keep calm things will play out pretty much by the book, you'll get thrown in a cell and will wait out there till they let you go because someone payed your bail or they just decided your a nice enough person and they think you learned your lesson. The latter is generally caused by one being nice to the officers and showing respect, not being crazy while in the cell and maybe even attempting small talk with the officer, not pleading your case mind you but just trying to establish some type of mutual respect or understanding between you and the arrest officer.

Never underestimate the power of nice actions, being kind will always get you far in life, showing respect to those above you in dire situations is the best course to take to ensure that everything goes better for you regardless of your situation, no one wants to help a jerk. A true example of someone being an idiot through this process is my friend St, he was arrested for taking a swing at a bouncer (which he missed because he was too drunk) which is a legal charge of battery, meaning he gets to spend a few nights in jail and has to appear in court to fight the case. He decided that being obnoxious was the right response from the beginning so from the club to getting cuffed to being in the cop car he was yelling obscenities at everyone claiming that the bouncer swung first and so forth.

  While in the police car St decided to not only start dissing the police officer but to start swinging a slew of racial slurs his way, which further put him in a bad spot. We could hear him from the outside so we drove to the jail thinking we could help him somehow but when getting there and hearing his continual loud cursing the clerk wouldn't even give us a chance, he just looked at us and gave this little smirk, it wasn't a good smirk, it was a "we're going teach this guy a lesson smirk". Long story short instead of spending a few nights in jail St spent over a week, he got "lost in the system" and had to endure various days of jail life, all due to not only the stupid nature of his crime but the fact that he choose to be a complete fool about the whole process.

  The story does have a better ending, St did go to court and the bouncer did not show up, so he appealed the case two more times and got the charges dropped, he was still in "probation" for a little while but he didn't have any serious charges put on him, he escaped on luck alone, but I'm sure that his behavior had a big part to play on his sentencing and on him being "lost in the system". A lesson to learn from his stupidity is this, if you are going to be doing stupid stuff and getting arrested, don't be an idiot when talking to police officers, because if you are then you will be messed with and taught a lesson, don't get "lost in the system" and be wise about your decision making, especially if you find yourself in the back of a cop car.

    There is a ton more that can be said on the topic, I think I could write 20 pages on it easily, but honestly who wants to read 20 pages on this topic....anyway, just be smart about what you do, be wise in your decision making, and if you are not then at least try to not make matters worse by not being respectful of those that have power over you. Seek to live life by respecting everyone around you, specially those with authority, a little respect will take you far in life, especially when you get into trouble, respect goes a long way.

   I hope this has been helpful to some of you, and that maybe this might dis-sway some of you from breaking the law, in the end I just hope that I stop at least one person from behaving like St did, never a good idea. Hope you all have a great and safe weekend.

 Love from your humble blogger,

Dealing With Police Officers "The Ticket And The Beast" Part 2

    Some of you might think this post weird, you might be asking "Why is he talking about cop etiquette instead of talking about America and the 4th of July?", well the answer is simple, the amount of atrocities that occur every year between people and police officers during this day are astounding, thus the importance of this post. This is a great day where we celebrate our liberties, our freedom, our pride of being Americans but it is also the day many get drunk and cause accidents, where people do really dumb things with fireworks and basically the 4th has become to some a "green light" day to do whatever craziness they can think up, which can backfire two ways, the first is that you might get arrested and that if you are one of the people not being crazy, you might get in trouble just because police officers are on edge. This will be part 2 of 3 posts on this topic, dealing with the proverbial ticket and jerk police officers, I hope this might be informative. 

   The Ticket

 Sometimes regardless of what happened, regardless of what steps you took, of how much you cried, of how much you pleaded, you will get the proverbial ticket. There is no way to hide from it, we all get one, at least one, the amount of drivers out there that have never gotten a ticket is very small, the amount that has never been pulled over is even smaller, so prepare yourself for both. Remember that the police officer is not your enemy, he isn't, he is there to protect the people and so even though you are mad at him he has to do his job, if you break the law he can choose to look the other way but the right thing is for people to get what they deserve. Next time you get a ticket remember that it is better for the law to be upheld then for all cops to just look the other way.

   I'm not saying that getting a ticket doesn't stink, oh it does, but in the end of the day you can't really be angry at the officer for doing their job, that's just unfair, it's like looking at a doctor after surgery and being like "why did you heal me? why? how dare you do your job!". I also understand that this scenario only works if we are talking about good police officers, the ones that actually take being an officer as a big deal, as a responsibility to keeping the peace and being awesome. The scenario changes if we are talking about bad cops, which brings us to our next topic, the eventual pain in the rear cop.

  The Bad Cop

     When reading this post understand that I'm attempting not to curse, when "bad" is said the vulgar word for "rear" is being used, now that the picture is painted let us begin. There will be times where you won't do anything wrong, or when your infraction will be so small that getting a ticket will annoy you to the core. These times are generally heightened by the fact that there is a "bad" cop going through the motions with you, except instead of just going through the regular motions he treats you horribly, like you're the worst person in the world, he'll egg you on and try to get you to lose your temper, he'll push you to the limit till you are full to bursting, here is the key element to dealing with these cops, don't buy into their game, keep calm and bite your tongue. 

Think "Training Day" Denzel "bad"

    These are the cops that will make your life a living hell, all they want is for you to have a panic attack and retaliate, this will be the point where they will pull you out of the car and manhandle you, even to the point of handcuffing you and placing you on the curb. Your infraction could have been minuscule, but this guy doesn't care, he just loves to abuse his power, he loves pushing you down and elevating himself, so don't be that poor soul on the curb and bite your tongue, calm yourself, dealing with this "bad" as "by the book" as possible, trust, this is the best response.  Even during the worst of it, just keep calm, there is no talking to these type of cops, so the best response is silence and respect.

   On Friday we'll be talking about what to do in case you are ever arrested, we'll be talking about the worst case scenarios and true stories of people that just weren't wise with how they handled themselves and the disastrous consequences of following their example. Hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July, enjoy yourselves and watch "Independence Day" while you are at it, definitely my favorite 4th of July movie. And please, please be safe, be smart and don't drink and drive, never a wise decision.

 Love from your humble blogger,

"The Amazing Spider-Man" Lives Up To Its Name

      As the credits rolled up and the lights began to be turned back on in the movie theater, there was only one word that came to mind, wow. This movie was not only really good, it exceeded every expectation that had been previously been put on it, this is by far the best Spider-Man movie ever made, even when in comparison with "Spider-Man 2". As a nerd some things need to be said first, the movie does take many liberties, so if you are a comic book purist just prepare yourself right now, I'm not a purist so it didn't bother me too much but various people around where making remarks after the movie, it doesn't take away from the epicness of this movie, but the warning had to be made.

     This Spider-Man movie is not concerned with being an "action only" movie, this movie was concerned with telling a story, the story being what made Peter Parker become Spider-Man. The evolution from being weak to gaining strength, from being immature and beginning to gain some wisdom, that was where the movie shone. The film took great effort in depicting this process carefully and meticulously so that you understand as a viewer that becoming Spider-Man was no cake walk, that it took days of exercise, of testing out powers, of personal tragedy, that made Peter Parker be able to finally grow up and become the hero we have all come to love.

    The greatest thing about this movie is that throughout the flick you can't help but get giddy at seeing the Peter Parker from the comics get put on the big screen, this is the Peter we love, the trash talking tragic hero who is but a boy in the end of the day. That was a huge critique of the first Spider-Man film that was done with Tobey Maguire, the fact that he did not look, act, behave, or resemble an awkward high school student, that was a major flaw, but on this movie we get to experience his evolution, him coming to his powers, him understanding the responsibility he possesses and the fact that in the end of the day he's a young immature teen trying to do some good while making mistakes all along the way, these are all depicted brilliantly in the flick.

   Mad props should be given to Rhys Ifans who played Dr. Curt Connors, depicting The Lizard and not making it look silly is a tough tough thing to do. Rhys is a brilliant actor and it was awesome to see him play this very difficult role so well, selling the whole experience to the audience. The director's choice of going with the character Gwen Stacy instead of Mary Jane was awesome, it follows the original story well and made me happy, but her being played by Emma Stone was legendary, Emma is amazing, not only does she play the role well but she is also very important in Peter's evolution, the casting of Emma Stone here was a fantastic move.

   Andrew Garfield also deserves tons of praise for his performance as Spider-Man, he was quirky, goofy, and sold the character ridiculously well. Peter Parker is not a cool kid, he's always a tragic hero who gets burned over and over again even though he's doing his best to save the world and while this all is going on he is still filled with witty banter and aided in his journey by good friends and the women who push him to be better than he is. This is where saying that this is the best Spider-Man movie ever made is no stretch, for this is the most "real" out of all the films, this one is the one that sells the character and truly shows Peter Parker's personal growth, his personal evolution, so brilliantly.

      In more than one scene I got goosebumps all over and in one particular scene I almost broke into tears, this movie will move you, it will inspire you and it will make your day. When you leave this movie you'll come out of the theater with a new perspective on the Spider-Man story, especially if you have never read any of the comics, which you should if you get a chance for they are awesome, this was a successful reboot for sure. Ah, I could talk more and more about this movie, it was just so awesome. For the sake of brevity this post will end here, but do go watch this flick, it fully deserves your attention.

    Love from your humble blogger,