The Politics on the Outside

This is gonna be a post about that word that starts in ‘P’ and ends in ‘OLITICS’ so BE WARNED….

More to the point, this is about my political views and how they have led to me feeling isolated in life and social media. I’m far to the left of Bernie Sanders and am no fan of either party and two party politics in general. It’s devolved into our leaders’ best-only-quality being “not something”. But not being something isn’t what we need.

We need a leader who makes precise decisions, who knows what needs to be done and will use the bully pulpit to get shit done.

In other words? We need something.

And I don’t see anything happening with the geriatric rich people who hold the reins. Seems we are just drifting from one oligarchy rep to another. And I don’t see Biden being any better. Everyone wants to forget how he told a plant worker “I don’t work for you”, or all the footage of children that he fondled ON CAMERA (which begs me to ask what does he do to them when there is no camera?) which all magically disappeared once he was inserted in office for not being something.

He isn’t any good at getting what we need done-Manchin proves that every freaking day. His poll numbers show it. And his people know it. So what to do? Maybe put pressure on Manchin to get out of the goddamn way and let crap get done? Nah, then we would be something!!! How about pushing a war with McCarthyist overtones instead?!

Yeah, I am no fan of war. Funny how the rich old people are, you’d think they were gonna fight it or something… and while I am NOT NOT NOT a fan of the Russian oligarch who wants to emulate our policies so bad, I am no fan of our oligarchs either. In fact the sooner they all die the best.

And those are my beliefs that have gotten me exiled from Reddit, banned from posting on Facebook multiple times and without a voice. Sorry for the rant. I just feel so hopeless these days…

Return of Disability Blues

Back has been hurting me progressively worse for weeks. Had to call off the weekend (they have me scheduled on Sunday even though they want me back at work after-sneaky lol bosses!) and even now I hurt

It mostly happens in the mornings. I can barely get out of bed! Went to the doctor only for them to say they can’t help me due to a surgery I had in 2017. I would be less angry about that had the surgery been more successful.

Anyway I just wanted to let everyone know in case I put up a post from the hospital or something. Not sure what to do… till next time, everyone.

Movies That Move Me Part 3: Don Bluth Special

Don Bluth has to be one of the greatest animators of my time-perhaps of ALL time. Two of my earliest movie experiences were the Land Before Time and An American Tail-both movies he is responsible for.

Don Bluth among his creations

He has done movies, video games, MAYBE a tv special(?)… he is someone who stands with the likes of Walt Disney and Hayao Miyazaki in my humble opinion.

He worked mostly in the 80’s and 90’s back when kids movies were allowed to scare children, which is a good thing because it taught us that bad times often make us more grateful for the good times. I still remember the dream sequence from All Dogs Go to Heaven and it makes me shiver!! He is a master storyteller who I feel has become forgotten in these modern times.

A few of the films Don Bluth worked on

He left Hollywood after his last feature film (Titan AE) flopped HARD. How hard? Well, it kinda killed WB Animation Studios. But that was due mostly to management malfeasance and had nothing to do with the work Mr. Bluth put into the film. He tried getting back into it with a crowdfunding project meant to bring Dragon’s Lair to Netflix as a series, but it fell through (I donated to that campaign and have some swag from it. I’ll have to look for it sometime.)

I don’t know if Mr. Bluth does anything on WordPress but if he does, I hope he sees this and it brings a smile to his face. The man brought so many to mine.

Thank you Don Bluth!

Movies That Move Me, pt. 2: Robocop

The 1980’s one, naturally

I first watched this movie when I was 8 years old. It had come out four years prior and my family had a Beta tape of the movie. Remember BETAVISION? If you do, take your daily multivitamin with pride, cuz you, like me, are in need of some vitamins…

Anyway, the movie revolves around the idea of “what if we took a cop movie and made the cop a robot?” Only in this case the cop is in fact, a cyborg, not a robot.

The movie benefited from a good director (Paul Verhoven) and a script that was deeper than its initial idea would garner in modern times. The movie takes a look at humanity and what makes us, us. The title character is given a brief backstory before getting “upgraded” and follows his arc from normal cop to corporate tool and finally back to humanity. The movie also gives us a parodic look at 80’s corporate life, with Omno Consumer Products corporation at the center.

Officer Lewis asks Robocop if he remembers his name.

The movie spawned two sequels (one with a script by Frank “Sun City” Miller) and a 2014 remake that was a watered down imitation of the original. In my book the first one is the best, and not because of nostalgia. It is the one movie that beat utilized the effects of its time, especially the blood squibs.

OUCHIES!!

I’ll see you guys next week. Till next time!

Movies That Move Me

Part 1: the Last Unicorn

I first saw this film when I was in my single digits. I was lost in the throes of Kindergarten and as such had no real grasp of animation per se, but this film stuck with me in the back recesses of my childhood mind.

It centers around the titular character, who ventures outside her forest to look for others of her kind. Along the way, she gathers companions (a magician named Schmendrick and Molly Grue, the old maid). Together they seek the Red Bull (who drove the other unicorns into the sea) and its master King Haggard.

I stumbled upon this film again at my local video store (DVD copy) and instantly remembered it. I bought it right then and there, and it went into my video backlog for a year or two.

Eventually I gave it a watch and was instantly enchanted! The animation is top notch, songs by America (the band, not the nation) and imaginative and memorable characters like Schmendrick and Molly Grue… can’t rave about the film enough!!

The film is based on a book by Peter S Beagle, which I admittedly have never read. There’s also a graphic novel that I do own (I skimmed it but haven’t given it a dedicated read)

In summation, I recommend the movie, book and GN to fans of fantasy, animation and romance. I will try to check in next week with another inspiration of mine…

Eroticism is beyond my understanding

Maybe it is because I gave up on romance to build better relationships with my friends or because I’m just not good at it, but the art of being romantic and even (gasp!) sexy is beyond me.

To be fair, I don’t look like a sexy beast at all. I look more like a taller love child of Danny DeVito and Robin Williams. At 5’8” with thinning hair and a profound gut, I won’t be winning any beauty contests unless the only participant is Steve Buscemi. And it would be too close to call confidently.

I wasn’t always this resigned; I was a prowler in my younger years and a shameless flirt. It didn’t work for me as a strategy or as a lifestyle-Johnny Bravo is not who I wanna be!

At one point I took stock of my life and found it wanting, so I decided to turn my attention towards other matters; being a good son, a good friend, and trying my hand at writing. It has been more fulfilling than hopeless flirting could ever be.

Till next time, everyone!