E3, Comic-Con, VidCon: Why They Are Awesome

    With E3 behind us there are a few conventions left that you should be aware about, and some that have already occurred that you should be aware of. The first big bit of news that happened recently was that Apple just had their own press conference unveiling new devices and showing the improvements to some of the older products we know and love. The conference was fantastic and many people have covered it intensely, though we are aware that many of you don't care about computer specs and so forth so for a good recap of the show you can view it HERE, keep in mind that Phillip D Franco does curse a bit in his videos so if you are offended by that then don't watch that link. PhillyD also did coverage of this year's E3 and will be covering some of the conventions we will be talking about today, so if you are interested in following them as they go PhillyD is a good choice. We're going to give you a brief overview of said conventions here, but we'll be covering it fully as the conventions approach, so no worries, this is more of a "raise awareness to the existence of these cons" post not a "here is everything you need to know about them" post.

    The first big con you should be aware of is the upcoming Vidcon, which is basically a gathering of YouTube celebrities where you have all the big names within YouTube come together to learn from one another and have a good time. Last year's Vidcon had a lot of good surprises come out of it, and the videos that circulated from the event were rather funny and educational. If YouTube is your thing then this con is for you, Phill will be covering the con so you can follow the happenings through him or most other entertainment sources, IGN will surely do a piece on it as well, so if you are more of a reader than a vid watcher maybe that will be a better medium for you. Vidcon this year will take place in LA on July 28th -30th.

    The big convention that is coming up shortly on July 12th through the 15th is Comic-Con 2012. Comic-Con started as a more comic centered convention but has now become much much more. This convention is big news to everyone for here we learn about new TV shows that are coming out and movies that Marvel and DC are putting together, to comics, a much more. There is no telling what will be unveiled every year at Comic-Con but speculations are high this year on what Marvel and DC have in store for us for next year. The convention is famous for the massive amounts of fans that flock there every year, and of course the great costumed fans that show up keep the show interesting and entertaining.

    Some of the big news circulating is that we'll get some more feedback on what's going on with "The Amazing Spider-man", we wouldn't be surprised if some information about "The Avengers" came out there as well. There are also rumors circulating about a possible reboot of the "Green Lantern" series, which would take us by surprise being that the latest movie wasn't necessarily all that bad. A full list of what's to be expected in this year's Comic-Con will be made public as we near the event, but mentioning that this convention exists was the main goal here, many are not aware of the conference and frankly being that this is a big deal we figured we should pass the word along. For more details on this year's Comic-Con visit their main site HERE.

Proof that YouTube's got a lot of talent, MysteryGuitarMan

     We all have passions and sometimes great minds get together to put on a convention where great minds that think alike can come together to bond, exchange ideas, share their work with the public and try to make a name for themselves. These conventions, E3 included, are fun for we learn about what the big dogs in the industry are doing and generally get pleasant surprises about what to expect for the coming year, but there is another side to these events, the fact that upcoming artists, programmers, vloggers, and so forth can display their work, network and try to make a name for themselves, and that is an awesome thing. We're all about supporting the little guy, we think that pushing upcoming talent is the future. Sometimes people forget that without these guys the industry would die, and therefore though these events are a lot of fun and a lot of information is passed along, there is also another more beautiful element present, and that is of giving people a chance to show their talent and blow the world's mind.

     As these conventions draw nearer we'll fill you in on what is going on, what is being announced and all that fun stuff. We hope your week has been going well, and pray that it might be a safe one.

  Love from your humble blogger,

"Bully" Is Being Bullied, Oh The Irony

      We've gone to great lengths in previous posts describing the horrors of bullying, it is a real problem within schools, it's a problem that has existed for a long time and has been ignored for a long time. It is interesting how bullying has become a norm, how we just accept it as a fact of life, something that cannot be changed and therefore we rarely address or even attempt to do something about it. If we were to make a list of all the movies that include bullies within them this post would go for quite a while, there have been a ton and only a few talk about change, a movie like "Charlie Bartlett" does cover both the bully and the process of change for a bully, but that is one movie among a list of few that do take it to the next level.

      In the last few years we have seen a shift occur, it is no longer the bullies that rule over society but those that were being bullied, hence the shift in attention towards bullying, this has been a fight that many ignore still, but it is a fight that has been brought to light, raising awareness to this horrid ignored problem. There is hope, there are some out there who are fighting for change, and though it is a tough battle, through the power of technology we can raise awareness, and maybe one day we can end bullying. Recently a team got together to do a documentary on bullying called "Bully", it is directed by the great Lee Hirsch, and depicts the lives of various youth who go through bullying and their struggles, he puts the truth out there right in our faces in order to raise awareness to this problem, in order to do something to try to end this disease.

     But, yes there is a but, the MPAA decided to give this movie an "R" rating, when fought on it they threatened with a "NC17" rating, here is a movie that all teens should watch, a movie that needs to be passed around in order for the problem to be understood, for teens' eyes to be opened, and see what bullying really does and the MPAA decides to bully the movie that is trying to fight bullying, no wonder the world reacted negatively to this. So a fight broke out, it has been a very interesting few week, how countries have stood up against the MPAA, Canada for instance gave it a PG13 rating, Europe the same, and more countries are standing up and defending this movie, the reason is simple, bullying is universal, it is a universal problem, an epidemic that needs to be fought and this movie is one of the few ways by which this can be done.

    For more information on "Bully" you can click on the picture above which will lead you to their site, or click here and you'll be taken there. This is a documentary that we recommend to all, that we feel everyone should watch and learn from, this is a cause we all should be aware of and fight against. We should stand up against those that are trying to hide the problem, and educate the future generations of this epidemic, the dream of a world with less bullying is no illusion, but a reality, in a sense some will always be bullies, but in another sense we can reduce those numbers. Evil can always be fought, though it may always remain present it can be reduced and that is something worth fighting for.

    We hope you have been having a great week, and pray that your week finishes well. For all those that are in Spring Break right now we pray for your safety, have fun, enjoy yourselves but please be safe.

Love from your humble blogger,

Joseph Kony 2012 Raise Awareness!!

     Sometimes the internet comes together to fight a cause or to raise awareness about a cause, these are times where we see what the internet could be, the tool it can become, and it brings a smile to our faces. Joseph Kony is not a name known to many, those that had political science in college might have heard of him, he is a modern day terrorist, the worst kind of terrorist, preying on kids and families. Here is a man who must be stopped, but has had years of bad deeds go unanswered by the world. Part of the problem is that most people do not know who the man is, another is that there has been no outcry about this massacre by the people and therefore no action has come, thus the importance of this movement, a movement that will raise awareness and tell the people that can do something about it that we, the people, care and want this guy taken out. Here is the video that has been circulating with this movement, we recommend you watch it and pass it on:

      There comes to a time to stand up and raise awareness for a cause, there are some out there that have begun to focus on "Invisible Children", who is the company that released this video, and have begun to deface the group "Invisible Children" with all sorts of accusations. We are not here to defend "Invisible Children" , you never know who is doing what is this world, but what we are here to do is defend the cause, the cause here is simple "Raise Awareness on Joseph Kony", that's the cause, that's the fight, not who put out the video and whatnot, the point here is that we need to be united and remember that together we can accomplish great things and that Kony must be stopped.

     It has warmed our hearts to see the amount of people that have come together to fight this cause, it is always a beautiful thing when the world stops and joins hands to accomplish what was thought impossible to accomplish before, we hope that this is just the beginning, one of many causes we all fight against together.

Love from your humble blogger,

Reality TV Shows That Are Ruining The Next Generation

    No matter how you spin it, TV shows do influence those that watch it. This can be a negative influence or a positive influence depending on the show. For guys we have had great male role models and some horrible ones as well, but the balance is towards more good guys than bad. Think every major TV series, most are lead by good standing guys, thus boys grow up looking up to these figures, while understanding the difference between what is success and what is not. When it comes to lead female roles within television we have seen a shift happen, and more lead female inspired shows are coming out, which we think is awesome, but the dark side of the matter is that for every good TV show influence that comes out, there are five bad influences that surface, this is a cause we must begin fighting against.

   Let's start with an obvious show, "16 and pregnant", here girls learn that having  a baby at 16 might be tough and the guy that you slept with might leave you, but you can do this and it is accomplishable, and that bad guy might just come around  and become a good guy, do give it a shot yourself. Ok, maybe we're exaggerating a bit, but this show is not about preventing girls from getting in this situation, at best it is giving an example of someone who is doing it and surviving, so providing someone with the justification to go through doing such a thing. The point here is, that the show should emphasize the reality of the situation, attempting to spread a positive message of abstinence, and encourage teenage girls to have a future, be successful and aim to the heavens, instead of their message right now which is "aim low, you can do it, she just did, so can you :)", it's sickening when you realize the kind of garbage the next generation of women are being influenced by.

     Where is the TV show that hosts the successful women in the world, where is the show where we have good messages being sent out? We're not talking about having a reality show with "perfect" people in them, no we're talking about putting a cast together of women who are making a difference in this world and providing the next generation with positive influences, with women they can look up to. No one is perfect, that is truth, so the show would be funny, and there would be drama, and fights, but it would be hosting a series of accomplished women, women who's goal should be encouraging fellow women in the world to succeed and rise to the top.

    Think about all the reality shows about wives even, which one of those actually hosts a decent human being? It's sickening, the equivalent for guys is a gladiator match, this is what these shows are, these shows are basically featuring the scum of the earth, the worst type of people, the people you don't want to be but enjoy watching, fighting against one another to determine who is the worst of them all (i.e. gladiator match). We love watching people self-destruct on television, every year there is a celebrity we follow that does so, and every year we all watch it with eyes open, be it Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Charlie Sheen, we love it all. This in a sense is another conversation for another time, but the point here is that for every bad guy role model there are five good guy role models pushed upon us by television, but when it comes to women those numbers are reversed, and that is a disgusting fact.

    There is so much that could be going on there, from TV networks trying to manipulate girls into becoming the people they are watching in order to continue the cycle that the TV networks originally initiated, to men being scared of a female take over and therefore trying to pass on the false message of "non-success" in order to encourage the next generation of women to accept defeat and not strive to reach the heavens. God knows what is going on behind the scenes, no one does really, but one thing is for sure, we need to start fighting for more shows displaying successful women, in order to encourage young girls to succeed in the word. A good example of a strong female character in a mostly men show is the character of Joan Holloway in "Mad Men" played by Christina Hendricks, here is a successful woman who holds real power in the office and over most of the men she comes in contact with, there are many other examples we could site here, specially if you take "The Closer" into account.

     This goes both ways of course, the next generation of boys also needs those good influences, the argument here is that they have them, and have them in abundance, but the girls do not. Think with us for a second about every movie that is coming out this year, for every 10 guy lead role based movies there is one girl lead role based movie to counter it, this is the reality we live in today, one we must fight against. Isn't it about time that we started to get closer to equality? Isn't about time that we at least start hoping for it and fighting for it? We believe so, we believe that we must constantly be thinking about the future and striving to bring one forth that all of us can be proud of. 

    There are many ways that we can all fight this, one of the most important things you can do is raise awareness of the problem, talk with your friends, spread the word, and maybe soon we'll see change occur. We need to start thinking about the future and we need to start fighting to bring about one that we are all proud of.

 We hope you have been having a fantastic week, and pray that it may end well,

Love from your humble blogger,

Reflection, Action and Honor

    What does it mean to honor someone? What must one do to truly demonstrate that they honor a great figure, or a movement? These are questions generally glossed by, generally ignored for some reason, and thus the case is made that many times when people think that they are living a life of honor towards a person or cause they are actually not. It is not their fault though, in a sense they are responsible on some primary level but when one is never taught how one should honor another he/she should not be held responsible for not knowing how to go about doing so. We've broken down what it means to honor, and hope that this might be helpful to some and encourage others to live a life of honor.

  Reflection

     We celebrated Dr. King this past Monday, within this celebration we remember all that he did, his struggles, his speeches, his fights, and his death. We pause from all that we do and reflect on who the man was, thinking about his flaws, his strengthens, and learning from them. Reflecting on something while honoring it means that you not only gloss over information about a figure, no, you truly meditate on a person, on his/her life, on their accomplishments, and learn from them. In doing so you honor their life, you honor their memory and hard-work. Reflection becomes a tool of honor only when you reflect on the past in order to improve yourself, only when you sit down and think "what would this person want me to learn from them?", this is what it means to meditate and honor a past life.

    Reflection can take place many different ways, one could simply buy a biography of the person you wish to honor and learn about that person's life, one could watch a video, read a magazine, study a history book and so on as well. The mediums that we have available to us now-a-days are many, thus there is little to no excuse as to why we should not know who these revolutionary men and women were. To truly honor someone is to know who they are and were, meaning, knowing who they were as a person and knowing what they are to the people today, knowing both who the 'man' or 'woman' was, in order to better understand what the 'movement' or 'cause' of today means.

  Action

    The first part of honor is simple, reflection, most people accomplish this task easily, though true honor does not end there, true honor has action accompanying it. Action is a simple term that carries a heavy meaning with it, to honor someone through action one must understand what actions would be considered honorable toward that person or cause, meaning, one must meditate on it first prior to acting on it. The previous paragraph might seem like a repetition of the previous few but the repetition is warranted, it is due to that fact that we have many who seek to honor another without understanding what that person thought or believed, this usually only brings trouble and unavoidably becomes a clink in the armor of the movement. Thus we implore you, prior to seeking to honor someone, please take the time to understand who that person was first.

     Action does not mean drop everything and fight for the cause, action does mean living for the cause, meaning, devoting your life to the cause. Some of us cannot drop everything and join a protest movement right now, in fact if we all did so society would not be able to function, this is not the only meaning of action. Action can also mean just upholding a cause, standing up against racism, fighting against inequality, with your words, with actions, with reprimanding people, with just taking a stand. The world is not changed by the big things, though they help, it is the application of those big things in the small ways a society functions that brings change. In short, by taking a stand and being the difference you become part of what is truly going to change the world, thus truly living a life of honor.

   We challenge you to not only celebrate and reflect on Dr. King's life, but to also take action and raise awareness to racism and prejudice, the small things are the things that impact the world the most sometimes, so never think that a small action by you will go unnoticed, no action ever goes unnoticed, this is a simple rule, all actions bring about change, be it good or bad, thus we urge you to live a life of honor, seeking to bring about a better tomorrow for the generations to come. Reflect on what was, in order to bring about a new and better now, this is what it means to honor.

Also if you have not heard of the "SOPA Act" please follow this LINK and get acquainted with it. This is a cause that is happening now that we must all fight to prevent. Google has done a great job summarizing everything and providing you with good links, sign the petition at least, every little bit helps. For those that are unaware SOPA is a bill attempting to censor the internet, so please follow the LINK and sign the petition against it.


We hope you all have a good rest of the week, remember to smile more and be kind to those around you.

 Love from your humble blogger,

Something Worth Thinking About

An old classic

     Do you remember all the movies you used to watch as a kid, or books that you read? Have you ever gone back to watch them again and see either how terribly bad they were or how heavy on adult themes they were and were surprised? If you haven’t yet you should, it’s quiet an experience. 

Great movie though, very funny

 

    This is not news for anyone really, take a recent movie, I say recent loosely here, “Bee Movie”. This is a great kids movie, heavy with laughs, cute animations and good themes, but on the outskirts of the movie there are tons of adult themes all throughout it. From jokes on religion, to racism, to oppression, to love, and so forth. This is a common theme among children’s movies, there are many theories as to why this happens. The prevailing theory is the movie producers creating something that the child and the parent will find funny and enjoy….but it begs the question, is this a good thing?

Oh Awesomeness

    When I was young the big movie for our time was “The Goonies” which I thought was epic, love it then and still do now, it’s a classic among classics. Though I was surprised when I re-watched it the other day how heavy it is with adult themes, racial profiling, and just simply full of mature situations that my 5 year old brain could not comprehend when I first saw it.

or is it?

    The question here is one of morality, and of when is it ok to introduce this type of content to children. I do not have any kids of my own, so it’s not like I’m the best person to speak on the subject, but it is something to ponder, something to think about and wonder how much of a subliminal influence those movies we saw as children affected us now that we are adults, or young adults. 

     This even applies to books, specially books really, which rely on your imagination. I saw a young girl waking out of a Barnes and Noble with a copy of Twilight the other day, and it made me laugh, the first thing I thought was “Man that conversation with the parents is going to be ackward, specially when she gets to the forth book”. We’re talking a 10 year old girl at most, being introduced to well, quiet graphic material. It’s a strange world we are living in these days.

     Now I’m not being critical or anything, I merely think that this is something that should be thought out and carefully by parents, and surely by us that suffered through the influence of these movies. Where did we learn about bullying, about social norms, about what’s cool and what sucks, television and movies of course, thus further enforcing the point that we ought to consider this topic more closely.

           

    Fun Fact: Dolphin's Tale is the only movie that is specifically coming out in the market that is directed towards children, in the next 4 months, crazy right? I think it’s important that we consider the future generations, it doesn’t matter how young you are, it’s important to consider the impact you are making on those around you and the impact they are making on you. We should strive to create a better world, and seek to provide all new generations with the best possible world for them to grow up in. Thus the nature of this post, a call for us to consider what we watch and what we let others watch, is there any harm, why or why not? And if there is then how may we go about fixing it?

We’ll never know unless we ponder these matters and strive to create a better future.

        Let me know what you think,

   Love from your humble blogger,