Well, I found a way to trash Christmas, can anyone be surprised if I have a problem with Valentine’s Day? The most made-up, corporate, “let’s have a holiday for no reason but we’ll make it popular by making it about a competition between women who will subsequently pressure their men into spending money to prove their love.”
Screw this faux “holiday”. The corporations are just feeding us commercials preying on insecurities and people are eating it up. I heard one great one while I was driving: “If you haven’t gotten her flowers yet, you don’t deserve her.” Not to mention, how much can you really appreciate it when you KNOW you’re getting flowers on a specified day? Isn’t it more romantic if you something like that on a random day for no reason?
It just blows my mind how easily people let themselves be led along. Instead of standing up and saying, “I’m not going to be part of the hype,” they just go with it and empty their wallets in the process.
There is a commercial on the radio that really gets under my skin. Some guy–speaking in a really annoying surfer accent–talks about bullying in schools and how some teachers have a few ideas on how to put a stop to it. He then goes on to add that: “it’s gonna cost a few bucks.”
Oh well gee. Now we’ve gotten to the point haven’t we? You want money. Because money is the solution to all problems. Bullying can’t be fixed with proper parenting, school discipline, or the victim choosing to either ignore or stand up to the bully. Oh no, none of those things work. Instead we need to form a committee designed to tackle a problem that always has and always will exist.
Kids are mean and insecure. They pick on those who are different. Facts of life, people.
Why don’t we just wrap out kids in bubble wrap before we send them out of the house?
I got bullied when I was younger. Every day I walked to the bus stop in absolute terror wondering how a group of kids was going to go at me that day. Would it be mental? Would it be threats of physical violence? Or would they just give me a reprieve for the day and let me stew in my fear.
It sucks, but it’s part of life. It forces you to develop a thicker skin, confront your tormenters. It’s a part of life. I’m so sick of natural processes into adulthood that make some people uncomfortable or may seem less than ideal morphing into society threatening issues. They’re not. They’ve always been there and they do serve a purposes. It’s very unfortunate that some kids can’t hack it, but if they can’t take the abuse in high school, how would they ever learn to take the confrontations of adulthood? Are we doing them a favor by placing them in a bubble free from any situation that may cause them pain and discomfort?
It’s always a big moment for a young athlete when he gets to declare on national television where he intends to play college football. Landon Collins, one of the premier players at his position, was fortunate enough to be a coveted prospect by premier programs such as LSU and Alabama (currently ranked number one and two respectively in the BCS standings).
So when Mr. Collins declared (rather incoherently) that he intended to roll with the Alabama Crimson Tide it should have been a happy moment right? Surrounded by friends and family, it should have been a celebratory occasion for all as the young man declared his intention to play under football guru, Nick Saban, while pursuing a degree in communications he likely won’t finish because he’ll be heading to the millions of dollars the NFL can offer as soon as he is eligible for the draft.
Well it wasn’t. Collins’ mother quickly jumped in to voice her opinion on national television that she did not agree with her son’s verbal committment. She felt LSU was the better option and made her unhappiness rather clear when she stated: “LSU Tigers number one. Go Tigers!”
I’m sure this is a conclusion reached after hours of painstaking research on which university would offer her son a better life. Regardless of her motivations, perhaps at that moment she should have just been a good mother and supported her son’s choice. Instead she sounded like the mom who views her own child as a commodity to be financially exploited. After all, there is no wrong decision when you have to choose between playing football at LSU or Alabama. Collins is going to win either way if he plays to his full potential. I just can’t believe a mom could not support her son’s choice and then to voice her dissent publicly is just adding salt to the wound.
Parents should support their children. If and when the time comes when they feel they need to speak up it should be done privately and in an adult manner. Calling out your own kid’s decision-making on television and in front of a stadium full of people isn’t exactly the right move. I don’t have kids and I know this. So why doesn’t Ms. Collins?
Out of courtesy to anyone who may stumble on this blog, I waited a few days before discussing the surprising season finale to HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. If you haven’t seen the show yet, know that it has a big spoiler and it’s up to you to stop reading now.
Jimmy Darmody, the popular young gangster portrayed by Michael Pitt, exits the show when he is personally executed by his pseudo father. The backlash to the move is not the least bit surprising as Darmody was an integral part of the show to this point. He possessed a number of conflicting layers in his personality. He loves his son, he befriends fellow World War I veteran, Richard Harrow and gives him purpose, albeit a murderous one. Many viewers have stated they found him far more interesting than Steve Buscemi‘s Enoch Thompson. With Jimmy’s death so too did the sole reason to watch the show for many viewers.
I'll miss the badass suits.
My friend’s declaration as he sat beside me was the same general sentiment I’ve seen from the online commentators: “I’m done with this show.”
I don’t understand all the vitriol over the departure. Jimmy’s troubled story, while absolutely stellar, had run its course. With his wife dead as a consequence of his choices and his biological father slain by Jimmy’s hand, is it any wonder why the character was ready to knowingly march to a meeting he knew would end with a bullet to the brain? After all, he was already dead.
“I died years ago in the trench.”
It’s only fitting the character dies in the rain and mud. It was the ending he was supposed to have in Flanders. After the act of incest he committed with his disturbed mother all Jimmy wanted was oblivion. When Nucky finally gave it to him, he accepted it peacefully because that was the only way it could have ever ended for him.
From Nucky’s standpoint, how could he not shoot Jimmy? Despite the pain etched on the character’s face at having to put down the boy he raised, he could not forgive all the trouble Jimmy had caused. As a gangster such mercy would only invite further attempts on his life and empire.
People who are angry over the ending should not mock the writers and quit on the show. Gutsy, risky writing is what keeps a show fresh and entertaining. It’s better to have a character like Jimmy flame out after two seasons instead of sticking around and getting stale. I will definitely missing Jimmy. His brooding nature, the way he cruelly dispatched people with his army issued knife with the brass knuckle grip. He bore all the scars one would expect in a young World War I veteran. It was these scars, both physical and psychological, that made the bond between Jimmy and Richard Harrow so captivating to watch.
I’m excited to see what next season brings. Everything appears to be wrapped up for Nucky, but who knows what will come across the horizon?
I have been in London for well over a year and all my efforts to make friends (and influence people) have fallen flat. I tried with my academic peers to no avail. My forays into the London dating scene were rather disastrous to say the least. Now—when the last days of English living are staring me right in the face— I start making friends? Well that’s just perfect isn’t it? Can someone please tell me why it always works out that way?
The past few years have taught me a lesson in the beauty of temporary. I learned it in Seattle and perfected it here in London. We are all travelers. Some people touch bases with you briefly before continuing on their path while others fall in sync and stick around for the long-haul. People come into your life for a reason or at the very least to provide you with a fond memory and a good story. I try to be aware of that as I keep my eyes open for the tale I can one day relate down the road.
Although I ascribe to the belief that temporary contacts with others is a beautiful and rewarding aspect of life, this is a bit much. I would have been fine if I had left London a week ago. Now, I have a feeling I’m going be stuck missing people. It’s a feeling I had wanted to avoid as I really can’t say if I’ll ever return to the U.K.
I suppose I should be grateful. They say it’s better to have loved and lost than not loved at all. I figure it’s better to have met interesting people I can resonate with for a brief moment than never at all. At the very least, they have left me with new stories and the memories of one amazing final week in London.
“If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower. You’ve got it, you’ve got it!” Talking Heads
Allow me to add my unoriginal conclusion full of not-so-groundbreaking observations to the glut of blogs announcing their hatred of Christmas.
Personally, I’m more of a Thanksgiving kind of guy. It’s a simple holiday spent stuffing your face with good food in the company of family and then watching the Detroit Lions get their asses handed to them on national television. More importantly, it allows us to wage our righteous genocide against mankind’s true, unseen enemy—the turkey. We must keep their numbers low, people. They’re definitely planning something…
As for Christmas, it is astounding the amount of stress people place on themselves for this holiday. Somewhere a CEO is laughing at the sheep killing each other in the fight to consume the latest deals on Black Friday. He laughs as he lights his Cuban cigar with a couple of rolled up hundred-dollar bills and remarks how easy it is to manipulate the herd. “They bitch and moan,” he muses to the blonde bombshell blowing him at some Eyes Wide Shut level party, “but they always come back!”
Dumb.
People love to rail against greedy CEOs and bankers, but they’re completely fine with the level of avarice that has permeated our society at even the basest level. Why would you expect the top of the pyramid to be any different from the bottom? It reminds me of the occupier I saw with an anti-corporation sign held proudly overhead while he was texting something on his iPhone. Next to his Nike shoe, a Starbucks take-away cup. No, I’m not making that up either.
The holiday is just gross. It’s a last push by companies to finish the year out on strong note. They play on insecurities and greed. If you don’t give and give well then you don’t care. Prove your affection by spending money. Get little Timmy that (insert overrated Chinese made gift here) or he’ll resent you for life and his childhood will be scarred. It will make you a failure as a parent.
It can all be forgotten if people would just step out of the game and wash their hands of it. Make the holiday about family and simple pleasures. Cook up some good food, put in a good movie and just relax. The old saying: “less is more” rings true here.
I’m not interested in playing that game anymore. I truly enjoy giving gifts to the people I care about, but I won’t be shamed into giving nor do I care to receive anything from a person who was. Besides, what do any of us really need? Ask yourself that question and you’ll discover (I hope) that most of it can’t be bought in a store.
“There was a shopping mall. Now it’s all covered with flowers. You’ve got it, you’ve got it.” Talking Heads
This has become the popular nugget fans like to throw around when someone criticizes their favorite band/celebrity/athlete. You can present someone a thoughtful argument with numerous valid points and it will be met with: “Whatever, haters gonna hate”. To which I now respond:
“Enablers gonna enable.”
Because enabling is exactly what it is. I think fans tend to hope that if they defend their celebrity hard enough on Twitter the famous individual might take notice and they’ll end up becoming friends. Before you know it they’ll be building a classic car together, searching for that missing carburetor. Or maybe driving down the coast on a motorcycle with arms swung around their hero as he drives down the empty freeway.
To block out any form of criticism and scoffing it as mere hate for hate’s sake suggests a deluded world perspective and an inability to debate with any shred of intelligence. Criticism can be a good thing. It can help point out our mistakes so we can correct them. It acts as a barrier to filter out the bad from the good. Without it, we’d be stuck with even more artists who are deaf to criticism than we are now.
It’s amazing what people will defend. An athlete sexually assaults a woman and the fans of the team he plays for are quick to defend him even though it’s a crime they would quickly condemn if committed by anyone else. How can anyone still wear a Ben Rothlisberger jersey? A celebrity allegedly cheats on his wife *cough*AshtonKutcher*cough* and his fans are up in arms against his critics with nuggets of wisdom like: “Who hasn’t made a mistake?”and “Haters gonna hate. I love 2.5 men, bro.” I recently saw a video on Youtube where Jackass (in every sense of the word) star, Steve-O, nearly gets his head ripped off by a lion while filming a commercial for Nintendo DS. I read the comments and someone wrote: “That was very stupid. If you don’t respect the power of animals, you’re lucky you don’t get killed.” The response was numerous personal insults launched by fans to the commentator saying that he was a “nobody” unlike Steve-O who is a “somebody.” Does this change the fact that what Steve-O did was incredibly stupid?
Well obviously we have all made mistakes. If only flawless people could criticize nobody would ever get called on their shit and we’d be stuck with a lot of assholes running around being utter scumbags. We’d also be stuck with a lot of pseudo-art. Besides, when you choose to live your life in the public eye you can be held accountable for your actions. When a celebrity chooses to get married for the PR boost, they have to take the hits that go with it. Just because you like the work the celebrity or athlete is producing, doesn’t mean you have to blindly support them. I’m still amazed to hear women who are fans of Chris Brown. I thought if a man beats a woman he is branded and shunned as scum. What does someone have to do for the apologists to finally admit that perhaps their devotion was misplaced? Judging by the people still supporting Paterno despite the extra information on years of cover-up under his watch coming out this week—quite a bit.
I finally got around to picking up a copy of a book that caught my eye months ago. Marc Morris’ latest effort, A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain, was well worth the nine pounds I spent on it. My area of focus has always been the civil wars of medieval England in the late 15th century, but it was refreshing to branch out to the middle of the 13th century and learn about the king commonly known as ‘Longshanks’ due to his impressive height (6’2”). It was also interesting to compare him to his grandfather, King John, who I became quite familiar with while studying at King’s College.
Part of the reason I picked up this book was to see how it clashed with the portrayal of Edward I in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. Marc Morris does a superb job of providing a very readable account of the king who saw Britain, not just England, but Britain in its entirety as his birthright. Having just visited Wales recently and seeing two of the castles that form up the iron ring Edward established after conquering the Welsh, I can say I’ve seen the evidence of division that was created and still exists from his reign.
Massive castle at Caernarfon in Wales.
Edward’s life covers so many tumultuous moments. From the baron’s rebellion led by Simon de Montfort during the inept reign of his father, Henry III, to leading a crusade to the Holy Land, Edward was a warrior king without a doubt. He is widely criticized for his harsh tactics to conquer the Welsh and the Scots. His expulsion of the Jews from England has not helped his public image as he is denounced as an anti-semite in a time when almost every Christian was an anti-semite. Morris tends to excuse these actions and I for one agree with him as I am not fond of condemning the actions of men hundreds of years ago. Their worlds were so different from ours we cannot judge them correctly. Our perspectives are colored by the passage of time and we are biased by the values of our society. To judge with a presentist lens is a poor tactic when studying history.
Morris, like Richard III author Paul Murray Kendall, manages to tell a story when writing his history. He does not get too bogged down with numbers and facts. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty in there, but the story from birth to death is kept intact. It is the perfect history for the layman who wants to start from scratch and not get the useless detail that would only fascinate an academic. It is not various chapters covering certain aspects of his personality and rule. It is the story of his boyhood and youth chafing under the care of his over-protective King Henry until his last years spent battling the Scots and repeating the sins of his father with his own son, the weak and effeminate Edward II.
The book ends with the divisions created under Edward I that still exist in the UK today. Any historian worth his salt has to find a way to connect events that occurred centuries ago to our ‘modern’ world of today. Otherwise, what is the point of studying the past if it lacks any sort of applicability to the world around us?
My book, Loyalty Bound, is now for sale on Amazon!
Thrust into kingship in order to protect family and country, Richard Plantagenet finds himself locked in a constant struggle to keep the English crown from forces bent on usurping the kingdom.
The tenuous peace of 1483 England is threatened with the sudden death of King Edward IV. The king’s successor, a mere child, is to take the throne under the care of his uncle, Richard.
A pious man bound by duty, Richard obeys his brother’s commands to become Lord Protector despite the strains the title brings to his honor and family. Aided by childhood friends and the ambitious Duke of Buckingham, Richard faces threats from cunning rivals and treacherous allies as sleeping rivalries stir once more. The situation deteriorates further when an old secret is revealed: King Edward’s sons are illegitimate.
Left no choice but to take the crown, Richard strives to rule with justice in a world that views mercy as weakness. Despite his desire for a prosperous and peaceful reign, Richard’s life begins to deteriorate amidst growing opposition to his rule. An opposition that is flocking to the banner of a previously unknown Welsh exile—Henry Tudor. With the security of his realm at stake, Richard must take up arms as the Houses of York and Lancaster meet upon the fields near Market Bosworth to once more decide which dynasty will rule England.
Buy it for $1.50 here. For the UK, buy it here.
There is nothing the American public loves more than a massive fall from grace by a prominent figure. Joe Paterno, the 84-year-old coach of Penn State football, is the latest example of falling down to earth in an ugly and massive way.
For far too long, Joe Paterno was God in his small part of rural Pennsylvania. He enjoyed all the hero-worship that iconic football coaches receive, especially in small towns. Paterno and his family answered to nobody at Penn State. He was Penn State. The university, lacking any sort of spine, refused to release him a decade ago when he was clearly past his prime and the program had begun to erode.
Now they will pay for allowing one man to become a deity as a sexual abuse scandal has rocked the program. Jerry Sandusky, Paterno’s favorite assistant coach, was spotted by a janitor giving oral sex to a child of 10 years in the team showers. He was later caught sodomizing a boy by other assistant coaches who ran out of the building instead of stopping the assault or calling the police.
Sandusky: Facing 40 counts of sexual assault.
Paterno was told and he reported it to his superior. That’s it. There was no follow-up and Sandusky was on campus just a week ago. This is a man who admitted to taking inappropriate showers with little boys and touching them. Penn State stone-walled journalists for years over this issue as there were rumors of sexual misconduct. There is no question that it was a culture of cover-up. Paterno could have done so much more. It’s no secret that he wields authority that goes far beyond his position as head coach. So his excuse that he passed the information along is lame at best. Male sexual predators rack up 104 victims on average before they’re caught. As of now, we know of 14 victims. How many more will come to light before this ends? How many could have been prevented if ol’ Joe Pa had given a damn and done something instead of worrying about the image of the university and football program.
The man was rightfully fired. He should have been let go two decades ago. Frankly, coaching at 84 is rather sad and pathetic as it suggests an empty life filled with nothing but football. Too many people in the U.S. like their lives and love sports. I think it’s safe to say this is the case for Paterno as well. Sports comes first. This is only enforced when football and the health of the sports program were put before the safety of children.
The morons rioting on this man’s behalf are exactly that—morons. Anyone who reads the grand jury report can only leave with one perspective: the right one. Paterno is not solely to blame. Sandusky primarily and a handful of other men who also did nothing are also at fault, but as the face of a franchise Paterno cannot walk away from this clean. He was either so negligent and clueless to what was going on under his very nose, or he knew and didn’t bother giving it his full-time and energy. Either way he deserves to be canned.
The PEP RALLY he held on his lawn the very night suggests he still doesn’t get it. His statement downplays the victims’ trauma so severely you would think Paterno is still living in a culture of the 1950s where such things are known but never discussed. He should have thanked his supporters, say a prayer for the boys who will be scarred for life and retreated back into his house. Singing the school fight song makes it clear he doesn’t get it, the world has passed him by and he shouldn’t be leading much of anything these days.
