OK, this may not make much of an impact of a lot of people, but I do feel I need to write about Geraldine Ferraro. For those of you who haven't seen news articles about her life and death, former Vice Presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro, died on Saturday morning from complications with her blood cancer.
I don't know much about Ferraro's career aside from her run for Vice President in the 1984 electoral campaign. That's right, you thought that McCain was the only guy to try to cash in on the women vote. Walter Mondale did the same things on the Democratic ballot in his failed attempt to become the President of the United States of America.
I don't remember much from the 1984 campaign, but I do remember Ferraro's nomination being a big deal even if it didn't make any difference in the outcome of the election. Quite honestly the parallels between Ferraro and Palin are quite strong with the exception of their party affiliations.
It's part of the political machine to try to appeal to as many voters as possible. That's the main reason that Obama balanced out his ticket with Joe Biden. It seems to be the political plan to provide some balance to the ticket even if it isn't in the best interest of the party.(* see below for my ranting) This can be similar to what happened when a young George Bush was placed on the ticket with Ronald Reagan, or an older Joe Biden was place on the ticket with Barack Obama. It also happened when Walter Mondale used Ferraro to balance his ticket.
Regardless of how Ferraro got on the 1984 ticket, she was still the first woman to be on a Presidential ballot for a major political party. This makes a small change from the message I was hearing from news reporter that Hillary Clinton was the first woman to run. In fact there have been quite a few. In 1964, Jo Freeman was the first woman to run for President and have her name appear on ballots. You can get a little history lesson on the matter by going here.
Ferraro was a native of New York and served the state in the House of Representatives of Congress from 1978 until her run for Vice President in 1984. She also ran for Senate twice but did not win those campaigns. she was appointed as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Ferrao continued to be involved in the Democratic party even after she was diagnosed with blood cancer.
In the 2008 campaign, Ferraro was attacked while a part of Hillary Clinton's finance committee. This came because of her comments on the racial issues that were surfacing in the campaign. Ferraro also supported Sarah Palin as a candidate, not directly, but Ferraro said she was pleased to finally see another woman following in her footsteps as a Vice Presidential candidate.
That's about all I have to say about Geraldine Ferraro. She was an important part of New York and the political world. Her impact won't be forgotten.
*I'm not really a big fan of either party at the moment, but it would be in the best interest of the Democratic party for Obama to drop Biden for the 2012 campaign and pick up someone who won't be too old to run in 2016. Give the new person some political exposure to get ready for the next campaign. That's one of the biggest mistakes the Republicans let happen with the second Bush.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Top Twelve X-men-Number 10
When it comes to the X-men, there isn't a figure with more importance to the book than Magneto. Sure there's Charles Xavier and all the other team members, but what good is the book without the most important villain in the mutant world. If there wasn't a Magneto threatening to blow up the world at the beginning to X-men #1 (either series of the book) there would not be an X-men comic today. There may be plenty of other enemies out there, but this is the one who defines who the X-men are.
But we're not here to talk about Magneto as a villainous would-be world conqueror, we are here to talk about him as an X-man. Those of you following the X-men at the moment (and I am not closely following the X-men at the moment, but I keep up with the story lines) will know that Magneto is currently working with the X-men, but you may not know that this is not a new story line. There have been several other times this has happened.
Now before you start giving me a hard time about Magneto being so low on the list let me explain. If I were writing a Top 12 list of X-men enemies, Magneto would be at or near the top. (I just realized I might actually write such a list so I should give myself some space to work.) However, as an X-man, Magneto is not nearly as important. In fact, we'll talk in just a moment about his shortcomings as a hero.
The first time we get to see Magneto as a good guy is in the "Days of Future Past" storyline. This is a massively significant storyline that has shaped X-men comics since it happened. In the storyline, a future version of Kitty Pryde switches places with her younger self to stop the newest version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from killing a senator. In the future, we get to see a world overrun and dominated by Sentinels. the Sentinals aren't new to the X-men, but the idea of the Sentinels actually winning is. Mutants are locked up in concentration camps and humans are ruled by the Sentinels. In the story line, Magneto is old and confined to a wheelchair. He uses the last of his powers to distract the Sentinel guards to allow the other X-men to escape.
In the 80's, the writers decided that Professor X needed to go away so different story lines could be addressed. They also decided that it would be great to add Magneto to the mix just to make things interesting. Before Professor X takes off for space with his lover, the Empress of the Shiar Empire, he asks Magneto to take over as the headmaster of the school. This leads to a lot of conflict. Cyclops ends up leaving the team because of his past history with Magneto, and Magneto is always facing consequences of his past actions.
 |
| Magneto's promise. (You can click on the image to see the full size if you can't read what they're saying.) |
Eventually, Magneto's change of heart changed again and he was back with a vengeance. That is until Professor X's son Legion went back in time to kill Magneto and accidentally killed his father instead. That led to the Age of Apocalypse story line where Magneto and an alternate group of X-men try to save the world from Apocalypse and his attempts to take over the entire world.
In the 90's, there was a great storyline where Magneto was missing and a stranger with no memory and the face and powers of Magneto appeared out of nowhere. This character ended up calling himself Joseph and had a wonderful angsty time trying to figure out who he was and if he was destined to wake up one day as Magneto. Joseph was the hero that Magneto could have been. In the end it turned out that he was just a clone created by one of Magneto's enemies to draw Magneto out of hiding. Joseph died in the final show down and proved himself a hero to the end.
I don't really want to talk about the current storyline of the X-men, but I have to if I'm going to talk about Magneto as a good guy. Magneto has recently joined the X-men in their attempt to create what I have to call a new mutant nation to replace Genosha. I think it's just an opportunistic power grab for the Master of Magnetism, but it did provide the storyline for Shadowcat to come back for her exile in the super bullet. I won't get into how wrong it is that the moment of her return was so poorly done, but it was.
Anyway, that's Magneto. He's definitely better as a bad guy, but he's had his moments. Feel free to comment below. Hopefully, I'll get part 9 done a lot sooner.
Anyway, that's Magneto. He's definitely better as a bad guy, but he's had his moments. Feel free to comment below. Hopefully, I'll get part 9 done a lot sooner.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Forget you is better than nothing
The other day I was driving home and listening to the radio when a certain profanity flinging song came on. You've probably heard the song at some point in one of it's many incarnations. I knew better than to expect the original version of the song, that has only found air time on YouTube and I'm sure plenty of other websites, but "Fuck You" isn't a song that's going to hit many mainstream venues. I'm sure the Cee Lo Green wasn't too worried about that point when he put the song together. He had a message he wanted to get out to the world, and it's a lot easier to get that message out to the public.
I'm not here to rant about the song, or the word choices, or any of that, I'm here to complain about the radio versions of the song. More accurately, the FU version. You see, there's two versions of the original song that are acceptable for the radio and other monitored public airwaves. The first version is called "Forget You" and replaces the F-bomb with forget. It's a pretty easy fix that works well with the song. The other version is called "FU" and simply blanks out the inappropriate words leaving dead air in their place.
Now back to the story. I was driving down the street when the song comes on the air. I've only heard "Forget You" on the radio so I'm expecting that to be what I'll be hearing, but instead the DJ opted to go with the "FU" version instead. It's his job to make those kinds of decisions, but personally, I'd rather have something than nothing. "Forget you" works well as a song. When I listen to it, I only think about the original lyrics less than half of the song. It feels like a natural fit and it is enjoyable to listen to, but the "FU" version always makes me think about the other versions. Every time there is that moment of silent air, I think about one of the other two options.
A similar thing happens with movies on cable television. You can have two options with swear words. You either blank them out or fill them in with something else. It's hard to decide which one is better. I think it depends on the skills of the dubber. As a general rule, I prefer to have something over nothing, but there's a fine line between something and something that makes no sense at all. Fudge may make sense as a replacement word in "A Christmas Story," but not in "The Godfather." (And that's a nice example.)
An example of a good replacement choice is "Frack" from the new run of "Battlestar Galactica." Everyone knows what Frack really means, but as long as the actual word doesn't slip out, everyone looks the other way. Or on "Firefly" when the characters swear in Chinese, you know they're saying something bad, but you let it slide because you can't understand what they're saying.
I guess I should get back to my original topic and talk about my preference on the Cee Lo song. In my previous example, I would much rather have a perfectly acceptable and enjoyable complete song in "Forget You," than suffer through the continual interruptions in the flow of the song. You may want to disagree with me on that, and that is fine. Just leave a comment below and let me know how you feel about the matter.
 |
| Cee Lo Green wants to either FU, or Forget You |
I'm not here to rant about the song, or the word choices, or any of that, I'm here to complain about the radio versions of the song. More accurately, the FU version. You see, there's two versions of the original song that are acceptable for the radio and other monitored public airwaves. The first version is called "Forget You" and replaces the F-bomb with forget. It's a pretty easy fix that works well with the song. The other version is called "FU" and simply blanks out the inappropriate words leaving dead air in their place.
Now back to the story. I was driving down the street when the song comes on the air. I've only heard "Forget You" on the radio so I'm expecting that to be what I'll be hearing, but instead the DJ opted to go with the "FU" version instead. It's his job to make those kinds of decisions, but personally, I'd rather have something than nothing. "Forget you" works well as a song. When I listen to it, I only think about the original lyrics less than half of the song. It feels like a natural fit and it is enjoyable to listen to, but the "FU" version always makes me think about the other versions. Every time there is that moment of silent air, I think about one of the other two options.
A similar thing happens with movies on cable television. You can have two options with swear words. You either blank them out or fill them in with something else. It's hard to decide which one is better. I think it depends on the skills of the dubber. As a general rule, I prefer to have something over nothing, but there's a fine line between something and something that makes no sense at all. Fudge may make sense as a replacement word in "A Christmas Story," but not in "The Godfather." (And that's a nice example.)
An example of a good replacement choice is "Frack" from the new run of "Battlestar Galactica." Everyone knows what Frack really means, but as long as the actual word doesn't slip out, everyone looks the other way. Or on "Firefly" when the characters swear in Chinese, you know they're saying something bad, but you let it slide because you can't understand what they're saying.
I guess I should get back to my original topic and talk about my preference on the Cee Lo song. In my previous example, I would much rather have a perfectly acceptable and enjoyable complete song in "Forget You," than suffer through the continual interruptions in the flow of the song. You may want to disagree with me on that, and that is fine. Just leave a comment below and let me know how you feel about the matter.
Monday, March 21, 2011
How smart are computers getting?
I've been doing a lot of writing, not only for this opinion blog, but also a creative writing blog and as a contributing writer for This or That. Well the other day, one of the writers for This or That posted an article about lessons he learned playing rock-paper-scissors with his computer. (Follow this link to try it out for yourself)
I tried it and I have to warn you that the computer cheats, a lot. OK, it doesn't actually cheat, but it uses it's superior computing powers to review all of your past moves and uses your paterns against you. It's so not fair, but you can click on a button to see into the computers brain and watch it review your move history. Let's say your last four moves were rock, paper, paper, scissors. The computer reviews all your moves to see if you've ever followed that pattern before. If so, it looks to see what you threw after that pattern and moves accordingly. If not, it will look for the pattern of paper, paper, scissors. This computer model isn't far off from what we go through when we decide which of the three to throw when we play, but we don't have such an extensive and exact memory.
So how did I do? After two hundred rounds I basically broke even. I managed to win, lose and draw about a third of the time for each. It wasn't easy to reach this mark either. I had to continually change my thinking. If I didn't change my strategy, and conciously think about my strategy, I didn't stand a chance. It was by having a pattern, but keeping it random that I was able to keep the computer from beating me. If you've got some time, it's a good exercise to try and outsmart the computer.
See if you can do better than I did, and leave a comment below to let me know how you did.
I tried it and I have to warn you that the computer cheats, a lot. OK, it doesn't actually cheat, but it uses it's superior computing powers to review all of your past moves and uses your paterns against you. It's so not fair, but you can click on a button to see into the computers brain and watch it review your move history. Let's say your last four moves were rock, paper, paper, scissors. The computer reviews all your moves to see if you've ever followed that pattern before. If so, it looks to see what you threw after that pattern and moves accordingly. If not, it will look for the pattern of paper, paper, scissors. This computer model isn't far off from what we go through when we decide which of the three to throw when we play, but we don't have such an extensive and exact memory.
So how did I do? After two hundred rounds I basically broke even. I managed to win, lose and draw about a third of the time for each. It wasn't easy to reach this mark either. I had to continually change my thinking. If I didn't change my strategy, and conciously think about my strategy, I didn't stand a chance. It was by having a pattern, but keeping it random that I was able to keep the computer from beating me. If you've got some time, it's a good exercise to try and outsmart the computer.
See if you can do better than I did, and leave a comment below to let me know how you did.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Music and learning
So what are some examples of where music could come in handy for parents of preschoolers who are trying to help their child get ready for school?
Well, let's start with some of the songs you used as a child to help you learn. You can't think of anything? What about the Alphabet song? You probably forgot about it because you don't remember learning it. It's been such an important tool that you take it for granted. Think about what letter comes after T. Are you singing the song in your head to come up with it? More than likely the answer is yes.
This same process is being used in classes all around the United States. When I did my student teaching for Kindergarten, we worked on a color each week and there was a song for each color as well. (We used the songs from the CD collection which you can find using the link to the left.) One song, BLUE, used the tune for the "Farmer in the Dell" and another, YELLOW, used the tune for "If You're Happy and You Know It." These were great tools to learn how to spell the color, and recognize it in the larger world. There were several kids who were still singing the RED song four weeks down the road while they were working on their PURPLE books.
Music can also be used effectively for older students. One of my favorite examples is a song called "Why Does the Sun Shine" by They Might be Giants. This catchy song talks about this inner working of a star in a way that makes sense, but also is easy to remember.
There are many opportunities to use music since there are many educators and musical artists that have taken on the task of providing educational music. Sure some of it may be more than your child is ready for, but one of the beautiful things about music is that it has the ability to stick with you and come back when you need it. I'll just give one more recommendation here of a CD to check out. Dr. Jean has a mission to help your child learn about every topic under the sun. I haven't seen all of her CDs, but I've seen quite a few of them, and there doesn't seem to be a topic she won't try to make a song about. Do you want to do a lesson on the seasons? She's got a song for that. Do you want to teach about the life cycle of a butterfly? There's a song for that too.
There are plenty of musical artists that are working to provided music to help with your child's education. Do some looking around, and I'm sure you'll find exactly what you're looking for.
Moving at the speed of the internet.
Sometimes it's hard to see just how much technology has taken over our modern life. I've adjusted to my current home in the middle of nowhere in terms of extremely limited cell service, but I'm still adjusting to the less-than-wonderful internet service we recieve from a certain satellite company I won't name right here. Anyway, there was a fairly big storm that passed through our part of New York State and I was without internet service for over 16 hours. (As far as I can tell, the service at home is still down. I'm currently writing this at work.)
That wasn't all though, we were also having trouble with the land line phone not working so I had quite a bit of trouble getting in touch with my sister about her plans for the weekend. So, it's no big deal to be without a decent cell phone or land line or internet, right? Well, There were a few other things I was trying to sort out, but it still shouldn't have seemed that that big a deal, but it was.
Technology has definitely taken over our lives and makes if difficult for us to face a simpler existence. I often think about what it would be like to go back in time and enjoy the world a little bit more, but then I realize that I might miss something on Facebook or Tumblr. There are definitley times that I realized just how dependent I've become on my technology.
So with all of that, will I make a change? Maybe, maybe not. It really depends on so many things. First off, I've really enjoyed writing and blogging so I can't completely give up on the technology, especially since I get paid for some of the writing that I'm doing. (Let me take a moment to shamelessly plug my writing on This or That)
Well, that's my two cents on the matter. Feel free to comment below, and share your own perspective on the matter.
That wasn't all though, we were also having trouble with the land line phone not working so I had quite a bit of trouble getting in touch with my sister about her plans for the weekend. So, it's no big deal to be without a decent cell phone or land line or internet, right? Well, There were a few other things I was trying to sort out, but it still shouldn't have seemed that that big a deal, but it was.
Technology has definitely taken over our lives and makes if difficult for us to face a simpler existence. I often think about what it would be like to go back in time and enjoy the world a little bit more, but then I realize that I might miss something on Facebook or Tumblr. There are definitley times that I realized just how dependent I've become on my technology.
So with all of that, will I make a change? Maybe, maybe not. It really depends on so many things. First off, I've really enjoyed writing and blogging so I can't completely give up on the technology, especially since I get paid for some of the writing that I'm doing. (Let me take a moment to shamelessly plug my writing on This or That)
Well, that's my two cents on the matter. Feel free to comment below, and share your own perspective on the matter.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
DC's latest animated release-Superman/Shazam!
I didn't have high hopes for this animated special. I've seen a lot of the DC animated comic book movies, and they've been decent. A few of them have even been good, but I was extremely impressed with this DVD. Of course, I should add that this DVD will still disappoint you with what it isn't, but we'll get to that in a minute.
So based on previous DVDs put out by DC, I was expecting to see the entire length of this disc devoted to Superman and Captain Marvel fighting with Black Adam, but about half an hour in, I was very disappointed to see that the story was coming to an end. Before I move on to the rest of the disc, let me tell you that the main reason I was disappointed was because the quality of story and art was so high that I didn't want the story to end at that point. Let's talk for a minute about what's happening in the story.
So the basic storyline is that Billy Batson is just a kid trying to survive alone on the streets. He's lost his parents and he ran away from foster care. He's trying to make it the best he can. Somehow he still has a positive attitude about the world and is even willing to stand up for a homeless man who is getting robbed by a group of kids. (Being a foot shorter than the shortest of the trio means he doesn't last very long.) Billy is also meeting with Clark Kent, who is doing a story on the foster care situation in the city. At the same time, Black Adam has made his 5000 year voyage back to earth after being exiled, and want to kill Billy because of what will happen next. (Billy gains super powers based off the ancient gods and is the replacement for Black Adam.) Super powered fisticuffs ensues, but you'll have to see the DVD to see what happens next.
The story ends and you realize two things: first the story was way too short, and second there's still a lot of time left. That's OK, the rest of the disc is going to blow your mind. There is an assortment of short features of a variety of DC heroes. It's a great idea even if the DVD is mislabeled. (It should have been called DC Showcase or something like that.) So what else do you get? The Spectre, The Green Arrow (with Black Canary cameo) and Jonah Hex all get short story treatment. Each special is done with it's own temporal and emotional treatment. The Spectre feels like an old film noir detective story, Jonah Hex has a wild west feel, and Green Arrow is more of a modern adventure.
If you have any interest in comic books and characters, you will want to watch this DVD even if you don't follow DC very much. It will be worth your time.
So based on previous DVDs put out by DC, I was expecting to see the entire length of this disc devoted to Superman and Captain Marvel fighting with Black Adam, but about half an hour in, I was very disappointed to see that the story was coming to an end. Before I move on to the rest of the disc, let me tell you that the main reason I was disappointed was because the quality of story and art was so high that I didn't want the story to end at that point. Let's talk for a minute about what's happening in the story.
So the basic storyline is that Billy Batson is just a kid trying to survive alone on the streets. He's lost his parents and he ran away from foster care. He's trying to make it the best he can. Somehow he still has a positive attitude about the world and is even willing to stand up for a homeless man who is getting robbed by a group of kids. (Being a foot shorter than the shortest of the trio means he doesn't last very long.) Billy is also meeting with Clark Kent, who is doing a story on the foster care situation in the city. At the same time, Black Adam has made his 5000 year voyage back to earth after being exiled, and want to kill Billy because of what will happen next. (Billy gains super powers based off the ancient gods and is the replacement for Black Adam.) Super powered fisticuffs ensues, but you'll have to see the DVD to see what happens next.
The story ends and you realize two things: first the story was way too short, and second there's still a lot of time left. That's OK, the rest of the disc is going to blow your mind. There is an assortment of short features of a variety of DC heroes. It's a great idea even if the DVD is mislabeled. (It should have been called DC Showcase or something like that.) So what else do you get? The Spectre, The Green Arrow (with Black Canary cameo) and Jonah Hex all get short story treatment. Each special is done with it's own temporal and emotional treatment. The Spectre feels like an old film noir detective story, Jonah Hex has a wild west feel, and Green Arrow is more of a modern adventure.
If you have any interest in comic books and characters, you will want to watch this DVD even if you don't follow DC very much. It will be worth your time.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Top Twelve X-men-Number 11
 |
| Old school Beast- right after graduation. |
I first became connected with the Beast when X-factor got started. The idea of that comic was to bring together the original X-men in an attempt to keep Professor X's dream alive. They did this because of a variety of odd circumstances. First, the Professor had gone of into space to hang out with his love interest the Empress Lilandra. It had something to do with his clone body needing to stay with the alien technology or something. Next up, there was also the unexpected return of Jean Grey who had supposedly died quite a while back in the comics, but it turns out she'd been replaced by the Pheonix force and left in a recovery cocoon at the bottom of the bay. (Yeah, I'll explain more about all that nonsense later.) Anyway, all these circumstances came together for X-factor where the original X-men pretended to be mutant hunters in order to collect mutants and help them learn to use their powers. (Yeah, it was a stupid idea, but it led to some worthwhile events.)
Wow, so that ended up being more of a detour than I intended. What all of that was supposed to get to is that the Beast has gone through many transformations. (See most of them on the left.) Henry McCoy started off as an almost normal looking boy with larger hands and feet. He was able to use his feet as extra hands when he was a baby. As the storyline of the X-men continued, Hank graduated (partly because he was super smart) and moved on to work with the Avengers. At some point, he was experimenting with something and unlocked a further mutation giving himself blue fur. While he was with X-factor something odd happened and he lost the fur and later lost his intelligence for a period of time. (The more he used his strength the stronger he got, and the dumber he got.) After some plot contrivance, he got better and bluer again. Recently he got another mutation that changed him from a furry human to more of a cat.
OK, now we can talk about why he's on the list. The Beast is a powerful ally who bring a lot to the team in terms of raw power and scientific knowledge. More importantly to me, he brings humor and wisdom to the mix. He can be pummeling an opponent and quoting Aristotle at the same time. I love the combination of the beast and the brain. Hank has recently left the X-men again. This time because of differences he has with Cyclops about the direction the team is taking. (Including leaving the blue fur ball at the mercy of Norman Osbourne and his Dark Beast from another reality.) It was a good move for the character and hopefully for the book.
Well, that's all for the Beast for now, but be on the lookout for the #10 X-person coming soon. Feel free to comment below.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
How to make a Top 5 list (or whatever size list you want)
Well, I've certainly done a lot of lists since I started this blog, and I'm sure to do many more in the future. I thought some of you out there might be interested in how it's done. (Also, I'm applying for eHow and thought this would be a good topic to share with them.) So here are some basic steps to help you make your own listing of your favorite things.
- Pick a topic. You should start with something you know pretty well. Don't bother with lists about the top ten weird atomic particles unless you actually know anything about atomic particles. Also work with something that speaks to the audience you are trying to reach. Here are a few examples of topics I've used: Doctor Who, MASH, and Weird Al. (Links included so you can check them out.)
- Decide how big your list is going to be. There's no law that says it has to be top 10 just because that's how David Letterman does it. I got into the habit of doing twelve when I did my Doctor Who list. This allowed me to talk about all the actors in the role. However, when I started a list for the best X-men characters, I stayed with twelve instead of jumping to 50. Regardless, pick a number you can work with without being overwhelmed, but that you think is fair to your topic.
- Decide how many parts you want to make your list. You may want to drop them all in one list or you may want to dedicate a post to each number. It's really up to you. I try to keep each post from being too long or too short. That's part of why I like to work with a top twelve list. Twelve can be done all at once or broken down into 6s, 4s, 3s, 2s, or single posts. There's lots of options.
- Do some research. Even if you know your topic you should still find out what you don't know. There is something interesting about your list that your readers will love to know, you just have to find it.
- Put your list in order. I always find this to be the hardest part. You have to decide the criteria and justifications for your ranking. You'll still get some arguments about placing Superman above Batman, but at least you can explain why you did it.
- Start writing. Sorry, but you can't avoid this part of the process. It won't magically happen on its own. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar. If you don't, you will get lots of messages complaining about it.
- Publish it. What's the point of making a list of your top 5 favorite put down lines from NCIS if you don't share it? Put it on a blog or on your Facebook. Just put it out there for people to enjoy even if it's just a poster you hang up somewhere.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Fake rules for being Irish on St. Patrick's Day
So you want to be Irish this St. Patrick's Day? Well, here are the basic rules for you to follow to meet all of the qualifications:
- If you are already Irish, stop reading the list. If you aren't Irish, then move on to step 2.
- Green must become your color of choice for the day. The more green you are wearing, the more Irish you will be. Shirt, pants, underwear, socks and shoes. Bonus Irish points if you have green hair too.
- Continue with the green trend by eating and drinking green things. That's why corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patty's Day tradition. You can also add Shamrock Shakes, green beer, and all those nasty veggies you usually avoid. Yes, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are just the sort of thing you need.
- Make sure you are also wearing one of those "Kiss Me I'm Irish" items, pin, button, t-shirt, etc.
- Get a kiss.
- Live up the Irish life for up to 8 hours. (disclaimer-all Irishness expires at 8 am or your local time.)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Top Twelve Weird Al Parodies-Number 1
For our top pick of Weird Al parodies, I have picked two songs of lament. What's a song of lament? Well, it's basically a fancy way to describe a song that is upset about something that is happening in the life of the singer. In the case of Ridin', Chamillionaire sings/raps about racial profiling and police brutality. The song is better know as Ridin' Dirty because the phrase is used so many times in the song. It refers to being in a vehicle with drugs and other contraband in it. The song definitely addresses a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The video attempts to show situations of police brutality with varying success.
The Parody-White and Nerdy
What could Weird Al possibly have to lament about? Well, I think based on his other songs, the answer should be obvious, Weird Al is one big white nerd. That's the brilliant basis of my number one pick of parodies. Look at what happens with this song. Not only does Weird Al get to embrace his total nerdiness and make fun of it, he also gets to lament how his condition separates him from rollin' with the gangsters.
This song pulls out all the stops and the whitest and nerdiest people Weird Al could find. Seth Green makes and appearance as well as Donnie Osmund. I don't know how Yankovic managed to cram so many nerd references in this song. It's just crammed with them including all the stereotypes that go along with the NERD label. The Star Wars Christmas Special, fanny packs, mayonnaise, and the unending debate over which Captain of the Starship Enterprise is better are just a few of the nerd stereotypes that are thrown into this song.
The video makes the most of the visual side of nerdiness. There's a great scene where Yankovic rolls up on his Segway and a couple of 'gangsters' flip him off. Another great shot comes with the line "I wanna bowl with the gangsters." It's shot at a bowling alley. The 'gangsters' definitely look out of place and shoo Yankovic off to bowl with the other nerds. Yankovic also pulls out a second character who does the rapping
This song is Yankovic's most popular song and his first platinum song and album ever. In case you're wondering about Chamillionaire feels about the song, he not only put the song on his MySpace, he also said in an interview that Weird Al was actually a pretty good rapper.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Top Twelve X-men-Number 12
 |
| Samuel Gurthey is the X-man known as Cannonball. |
The team was made up of interesting but very limited powers that had some potential but were included more for uniqueness and variety. They were trying to avoid having the same old powers and they did this but that didn't make the characters all worth creating. Since Sam's the only member of the New Mutants getting on the list (Sorry to ruin the surprise) I should give you some details about who Sam started out teamed up with.
Karma had the power to possess other people's minds. She could only do one mind at a time and she had to struggle with most minds in order to make them do what she wanted.
Mirage had the power to reach inside a person's mind and make a realistic image of either the thing they loved or feared the most.
Wolfsbane is pretty self explanatory-she was a werewolf, but a mutant werewolf.
Sunspot absorbed solar energy to fuel his super strength. (it often gave out when he needed it most.
Cypher was a mutant with the awesome power of understanding any language, perfect for a pitched battle. He died trying to be a hero and eventually came back as the annoying and unending Douglock.
There were others, but I'll cut off there for now. Cannonball was with the team for it's entire run and was part of the group that ran off with Cable to become X-force where Sam had a very weird storyline where he was an immortal, but he got over that. He later became a full-fledged X-man. I guess it's about time to talk about what exactly Cannonball can do. Well, I think the guys that thought him up understood that a balanced team needs to have a flier, but they didn't want to make him too much like Rogue or Superman, so they didn't give him the usual strength/invulnerability. Instead, he gets to be invulnerable thanks to a field that surrounds him when he flies, but if he isn't 'blastin' then he's just a target.
Sam is the kind of hero that is refreshing to see. He's a good ol' country boy who comes out the the big city to see what he can do. He's a hard worker who is willing to put in the effort to overcome his limitations and make the most of his abilities. I know antiheroes are great too, but that doesn't mean they all have to be jerks.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Royal wedding or royal pain?
This is a tricky post for me. I'm not a huge fan of the royal family. I'm not against England's royalty. I think that Queen Elizabeth is a wonderful person, at least from the little that I know. I really don't care for Prince Charles and I not-so-secretly hope he gets passed over for the throne in favor of his son William. Also, Princess Diana was a wonderful woman, but I'm hoping this marriage of William and Kate will take some of the attention off of William's mother.
Side note to talk about why I'm rooting for William over Charles: There are several reasons why I'm hoping that Elizabeth chooses her grandson over her son when the matter of succession comes up. First, I'm a William, and I think it's been way too long since there was a William on the throne. Next off, I may a bit of an elitist and a snob, but I think England would benefit from a younger king who is better connected to his people. Also, Kate will be a more attractive and accessible queen. OK, enough of the side track.
The real reason I'm writing this post is to say that I'm already sick of hearing about all the details of the wedding. I don't think I'd care anyway, but does there really need to be a news story every day about all the small and insignificant details of the wedding? I don't care if President and Mrs. Obama were on the guest list. Actually, I would have thought less of the royal couple if they had invited the President and First Lady. I expect that the list is filled with people I don't know and many that I've never heard of as well.
I'm not saying that I have no interest in the wedding, but I don't need all the details ahead of time. I like a little suspense and surprise in my life and right now no one is getting that.
Side note to talk about why I'm rooting for William over Charles: There are several reasons why I'm hoping that Elizabeth chooses her grandson over her son when the matter of succession comes up. First, I'm a William, and I think it's been way too long since there was a William on the throne. Next off, I may a bit of an elitist and a snob, but I think England would benefit from a younger king who is better connected to his people. Also, Kate will be a more attractive and accessible queen. OK, enough of the side track.
The real reason I'm writing this post is to say that I'm already sick of hearing about all the details of the wedding. I don't think I'd care anyway, but does there really need to be a news story every day about all the small and insignificant details of the wedding? I don't care if President and Mrs. Obama were on the guest list. Actually, I would have thought less of the royal couple if they had invited the President and First Lady. I expect that the list is filled with people I don't know and many that I've never heard of as well.
I'm not saying that I have no interest in the wedding, but I don't need all the details ahead of time. I like a little suspense and surprise in my life and right now no one is getting that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)