Friday, October 26, 2012

Drive Slowly and Carry a Big Shotgun.....

*****Due the the sensitive nature of the information disseminated in the blog post, not to mention the fact that it contains details pertinent to national security, all names will be concealed for the protection of those involved*****


"If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."
If a deer stands in the middle of the road, you simply step on the brake and hit them with the cart.

There is a storm coming; no, the storm has already arrived.  The leaves tremble as fear travels down their delicate veins.  Our worst fears have been realized, A fire is rising, a revolt is coming.  Deer have begun to commit acts of terrorism against the United States of America due to what they believe to be incorrect interpretations of their character in Disney movies.  GASP!!!! 

Please, contemplate the gravity of what you have just read.




Please, stop contemplating the gravity of what you have just read.  

I too, was skeptical when a reliable source gave this information.  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, my ignorance did not last. Last night I came face to face (or at least body to front of car) with my doubts.  My father was boldly navigating the perilous I-64 with its long straightaways that can lull a man to sleep easier than the sound of rain gently hitting the roof, like millions of tiny marbles dropping on a lane in a bowling alley.
Me and my brother were doing our best to counter the hypnotic powers of the blacktop.  Then, we saw an unusual sight. 

A deer, was walking across the road, just crossing into the right lane which we happened to be driving in.  Seeing as the deer didn't know we would be driving back so late, we decide to forgive his intrusion and we calmly slowed down and moved into the left lane.  It was here that we encountered the ugly truth.  This deer, this "poor innocent" deer, KNEW (aka was aware of, found out, was not surprised by, etc.) we would be coming.  Just as we had settled into the left lane, the deer stopped, turned around, and leaped into the left lane! Inconceivable, unacceptable, unconstitutional, and downright "retributionable"!! And you better believe we got retribution.

I know "retributionable" is not a word. It was added for humorous purposes. A little artistic license, if you will. Pretend I'm a poet if it makes you feel better.
**** This comment was added after the post was originally published****

The story resumes now.

We hit that sucker full on and it was a unholy impact. He (it was a buck with a full rack of antlers) bounced off the front of the car, hit the ground, then tried to bounce on the the hood of the car to inflict maximum damage by hitting the windshield but Michael (with impeccable timing) flew down and slammed him back to the ground. The car hit him again, he rolled a couple of times as he was pushed by the car (although by this time he was probably closer to being venison than a deer) and then he shot like a rocket into the grass next to the road.

Me and my brother, like all decent, self respecting, humble men, were silent in shocked stupor as Dad pulled the car off the road.  If others had under gone this experience I'm sure an accurate account of their experience would be filled with these particular characters: #,$,%, and * and I would not condemn them for it.  After all, not many people know what to do when the abyss looks back.

As Dad promptly called the insurance company to report the accident I, being cognizant that we probably wouldn't be able to drive home, had the presence of mind to text my sister and inform her of our current predicament (seeing as she was already in town digging into the Word with her college fellowship).  Unfortunately, she had turned her cell phone off so she wouldn't be distracted and neglected to turn it back on until after she had passed us on the highway (a mere twenty minutes after my text).

Eventually, the tow truck arrived but we couldn't leave until we had given our statements to certain agencies with three letter abbreviations.   While Dad was giving his statement, I thanked the tow truck driver for showing up.  He said no problem and then, with the promise that I would not reveal his name, told me that this was the FOURTH attack he had visited in two days. Not 1, not 2, not 3,  but 4 attacks, all within seven miles of each other.  Imagine how many attacks have occurred across the nation.  Thankfully, the Lord had stirred several people to pray that night and I believed it played an integral part in the partial failure of this mission.  For while no one was hurt, our vehicle was injured in the attack. I know my father  would appreciate it if you could keep him in your prayers.

These are serious times we live in.  It has become clear that the deer you see in your backyard are actually advanced recon troops hacking into your Wi-Fi to gather critical intel   They are examining human behavior so they can better understand our driving patterns.  I believe that they have accidentally begun to eat marijuana plants which explains their brazen attitude.

While these developments are dire we must remember the words of John F. Kennedy when confronted by a Zombie attack in the Pentagon. "Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Lock and load!!"

As all ways, this is T.M.B.H.G.W.I.N.S. signing off.  Remember, if you follow my advice, success shall follow you like a stray dog chasing cars.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Not the Batman Movie We Deserve, But The One We Need Right Now

Christopher Nolan has once again shown us what a real movie looks like.  If the Avengers was a comic book The Dark Knight Rises is a work of literature. This isn't the movie to take little Jimmy to for his birthday.  This movie is brutal, violent, epic, emotional, intense, suspenseful, and ultimately a fitting conclusion to Nolan's Batman Trilogy.

Christian Bale earned his cowl in this movie. The dude knocked it out of the park. Like, into the next state out of the park.  The range of emotions he displayed were just of the charts.  I would say more but I will save it for my spoiler heavy review.

I had two dreams about Bane before I saw TDKR and one after I got back from the movie.  Needless to say, they were borderline night terrors (if you don't know what a night terror is search Daffy Duck Night Terror on Youtube). Tom Hardy was a bad you-know-what, ruthless and intimidating. I wouldn't want to be caught in the same state as him, let alone the same room.

Anne Hathaway was better than I expected as Catwoman, her very first scene displays the diversity of her acting skills.  She also gets some of the funniest, and best, lines of the film along with having a mean roundhouse kick.

Michael Caine was fantastic as Alfred.  He has some of the most emotional scenes of the movie and he nails every one of them.

Morgan Freeman was very good as Lucius Fox and Marion Cotillard was pretty good in her role as well.  

Gary Oldman was great as Commissioner Gordon. His guilt at hiding the secret about Harvey Dent's true character emanates from him.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt owns the screen as Police Detective John Blake.  His optimism is extremely refreshing in a movie this dark and depressing.

Hans Zimmer delivers his greatest score yet, the music is an integral part of the film especially with the musical themes that fit the characters so well.

The fight scenes are the best of the trilogy.  The camera is away from fighters, which enables you to see everything that is going on.   There is a lot of action but it always has a reason.  Nolan never blows something up without a reason and the fights are always extremely personal (not to mention brutal).

The final act is just 35 minutes of pure adrenaline rush during which I didn't move.  I stopped eating, I stopped drinking, I may even have stopped breathing I was so caught up in what was going on.

I really can't say much more without spoiling the film, so I will right a spoiler heavy review after I see it again.  I will say this, The Dark Knight Rises is the best movie, By Far, that I have ever seen and it should be required watching for every U.S. citizen.  Go see it as soon as you have 3 free hours and you will not regret it.  

As one character says in the movie, "Oh boy, you are in for a show tonight, son". 

The Amazing Spider-Man Review - No Spoilers!!!

Let me start off by saying that I am a fan of the Raimi Spider-Man series especially the first film.  A lot of people like Spider-Man 2 the best (while Spider-Man 3 is universally criticized) but I only watch it for the action scenes which are incredible considering when the movie was made.

Let me start the review. First of all, The Amazing Spider-Man is the best Spider-Man movie to date. TASM is much more of an origin story than the '02 version and is closer to the comic book origin in some ways.  Peter Parker is in high school for the entirety of this film which is cool considering he is high school during the early comic stories.  Some of you may recall that PP graduates from high school after about 2/5ths of the '02 version.  Keeping PP in high school allowed them to do some really cool things with the plot of the story especially with one really cool action sequence that happens there (keep your eyes peeled for the Stan Lee cameo).

The plot is pretty simple.  Peter Parker is an orphan whose parents left him with his aunt and uncle when he was very young.  However, even though his parents are not physically present they do play a large part in the movie.  Peter also has to deal with the school bully, Flash Thompson, the girl he likes, Gwen Stacy, and a scientist who used to know his father, Curt Connors.  Peter gets bitten by a spider and the movie takes off from there.

Andrew Garfield is fantastic as Peter Parker, if I had not known he was British, I would have thought he was American.  The most impressive thing about his performance was how he physically approached the role.  His ability to express how Peter is feeling just by titling his head a certain way or by looking uncomfortable was great. Plus he did is own stunts which is always a bonus.

Emma Stone was great as Gwen Stacy, who I liked much for than Mary-Jane from the previous series although my dislike of MJ has more to do with how the character was utilized than Kirsten Dunst's performance.  There is one bad thing about Emma Stone playing Gwen Stacy.  Most of you don't know this but Gwen Stacy dies in the comics. And doesn't come back. EVER.  I personally have no desire to see Emma Stone die, so I am hoping that if they decide to kill her character in a future film, they will cast another actress to die in her stead. OR they can die her hair red and let her play Mary Jane when they introduce her to the story.  That's my best case scenario.

The rest of the cast is pretty good, and I liked Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May better than their previous counter parts.  The action is really great and Spider-Man is extremely creative with all of the different ways he can use his webbing.  The only thing that didn't wow me was the music.  I didn't dislike the music, but it wasn't nearly as memorable as the score for the previous series.  Despite that little nitpick, I really liked the movie and I am eagerly anticipating seeing it again.

My score is currently a 8.5/10 for the first showing but I will update the score after I see it again.  In my opinion, this is definite must see.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

How to Catch Vermin: Special Edition: The Dark Side of Free Will

I'm sure that many of your are thinking that this post will discuss the moral degeneration of America.  You are 14.5632656462626% correct. I am actually writing about a disturbing phenomena that I recently heard about.  Apparently, some fine Floridians  have bought several species of snakes that are not indigenous to the U.S. and released them into the wild when they got to big to care for.
My first question is this, if a person likes snakes enough to buy one, how big would it have to be for that person to believe it is to big to care for. Well in several articles I read today, these snakes have grown to be around 13 feet long (think about this, if it were standing on its tail, its head would be at the TOP of the backboard of a basketball hoop) and can get to be 20 feet long and up to 200 frickin' pounds.  These snakes are so big that they can go toe to toe with alligators and panthers. ALLIGATORS AND PANTHERS. Uh, Houston, we have a problem.  


Why in the name of all that is good and civilized on this earth, would someone KNOWINGLY release a creature that can swim and has tremendous stealth skills into the wild.  Which leads us back to the title of this article.  Free will allows people to be really stupid. Like, releasing animals that can eat the neighbors' kids kind of stupid.  You think I'm exaggerating? One South Florida python ate a 76 pound deer and that, ain't no lie.  We all know that the zombie apocalypse is not real. But to be frank, if I had to choose between fighting a zombie or anaconda invasion (another one of the breeds that has been released in Florida) I would probably flip a coin.

Finally, researchers discovered that these snakes can survive very cold temperatures.  In fact, it wasn't until temperatures dropped below freezing for several nights in a row that the snakes died. 

But there is some good news.  These creatures can be killed by modern day fire arms like shotguns, missile launchers, and flamethrowers.  I would also recommend investing in a couple of gallons of liquid nitrogen for good measure. In addition, the Florida government has begun to take efforts to eliminate these creatures, eggs and all.  If you want to read exactly where I got this information from, I will include the links to all four articles at the bottom of this post.

Remember Genesis chapter three, these snakes want to bruise our heels, but we shall crush their heads (with a concrete block if need be).

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The Editor recommends that everyone watch Aragorn's speech at the Black Gate or Theoden's speech at the Fields of Pellenor from The Return of The King before confronting these creatures in mortal combat. I'll post it here for your convenience.

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