Farewell 2011, Welcome 2012! My Thoughts, I Guess.

 
Well, well...it's that time of the year again. Don't know what I'm talking about?

Where have you been, living under an rock?!

Just pulling your leg(s)! I know you all know what time it is, and, once again, like every year we sit back and reflect on what we've been through during the last 12 months. Yeah, it may be boring, tedious or an unnecessary waste of time, but we still do it anyway to remind ourselves of the good times or bad times that we have encountered. I personally don't reflect or like to partake in the whole end-of-the-year wrap up thing; I just move on. I mean, tomorrow will be Sunday--it's no different than last weekend, just that it will be 2012.

Oh well, enough of me babbling about nonsense.

I guess this will be the last blog post of 2011, and starting sometime after today, I will post up a new entry that will represent what will become of me and this blog for 2012.

So many things to be grateful for as this year comes to an end. First, my greatest accomplishment, academically, is completing my M.F.A. in creative writing at Stonecoast. For me, it was a long hard but well fought battle and in the end my endeavor has made me into a better writer with a better sense of what I want to create and put forth for others to read. I'M A DAMN POPULAR FICTION WRITER AND I HAVE THE CREDENTIALS TO PROVE IT NOW!

All kidding aside, this is something that I am very proud of, and I know that everyone in my graduating class also feels the same way about their own individual battles and accomplishments. This final residency, we will all walk through the stonehouse or the Harraseeket Inn soaking up every last detail that we will take with us as memories of a glorious two years that we all spent bonding. It's funny but I know most of you in my graduating class will read this, and all I want to say is that I proud of our group and am honored to be a part of it.

STONECOAST WINTER CLASS OF 2012 RULES!

I know, corny! I had to do it though! ha! :)

Enough of the mushy stuff and let's get on with what the future holds for my blog: It's All In My Head. I honestly don't know. Go figure. I have some ideas of what I would like to post up as future blog entries and they involve more movie reviews and top personal video compilations. I meant to do this a while ago, but I may also start reviewing video games. I am a gamer, always have been, but I want to balance the blog with other resourceful commentary on my writing as well and things that I encounter. Again, this blog is about my what floats around in my head, hence the title.

I recently purchased a microphone, Bwahahahaha! (That's supposed to be me sounding very sinister.) I'm thinking that I may incorporate podcasts to the blog, or to compliment certain entries. I have many artist friends, and I was talking with them recently; I discovered how many similarities we share when it comes to creating our work. Even though we choose different outlets for self expression, the process still has some likenesses. There are lots of ideas rolling around in my cranium right now and I'll have to flesh them out at some point and see where I can do with those thought clouds. Of course, just getting to together with friends and talking about random nonsense is always good.

I'm excited about the podcasts and the possibilities that it could present. I'll definitely let ya'll know what I come up with.

A couple of surprising statistics and data I discovered recently about this blog! I have two followers now! I know who you are, of course! My initial apprehension with this blog was whether anyone would read it, but I have had readers, so I am happy about that. Since it went live about two years ago, I have had about, somewhere in the ball park figure, of 1500 visits! WOW! I'm not sure if that's average or not, but I'm satisfied that people are finding it and reading. Back to my two followers! I glad you're on board, and I welcome others to follow me or to continue reading--I won't bite...hard at least. ha!

Another idea just crossed my mind. I was thinking about possibly creating another blog for podcasts rather than just putting them here? Hmm, don't know yet. I've thought about creating another blog but the thought of maintaining two, AAAHHH! Then I thought maybe it could be a partnership with another blogger or writer(s). Hmm, who knows because I haven't decided yet. My mind floats in and out of ideas, it's weird, but I'll make sense out of all of it at some point.

Back to stats! I noticed a while ago that most of the searches that led to this blog involved: squirrels, the anime convention I went to two years ago and zombie stuff. Strange. However, the most surprising statistic I found yesterday was that my "Braidesmaids: Movie Review" blog post got *184* page views. That's insane; I raved about the movie because I liked it, for a chick flick, but I didn't think I said anything about it that was amazing. Hmm... maybe I am doing something that is working.

I think I'll stop here. This entry is already pretty long. I guess it wasn't much of a reflection, it is what it is. Geez, I'm so random even when it comes to my own thoughts. Ha! Rest assured that I will continue to deliver on the random and quirkiness. From here on out, I'm putting my 5OUL ON D!SPLAY. A little bit at a time, at least.

The words "5OUL ON D!SPLAY" are actually a song title. If you know this song and/or enjoy it, you ROCK!

Again, have a great Happy New Year and make the most out of 2012! I'll see you on the flip side.

Until then.

Bitter Wintery Blues

Hey all,

So, can you believe the north east got hit with a freak (I might be exaggerating) winter storm and it's only October, and Halloween's tomorrow! It's crazy that a storm like this hit so early. In all my years of existence, I have never seen snow this soon. The earliest at least here in NYC is early to mid-November. Of course, we get cold temperatures, so most of us here are bundled up or in the first stages of winter preparedness. However, this year, it seems as though we been preparing a lot sooner as cold temperatures arrived faster, and then this snow storm!

And here's the kicker! It's sunny today, as I am sure it is over the rest of the north east, and there's practically little or no snow left on the ground! The only indication that anything happened is the snow still on the roofs of buildings and cars. It's still pretty cold out, so that there. Whew! If it were 90 degrees I might go crazy!

But seriously, yesterday was the beginning of wintery discontent. I don't enjoy the winter, or the summer, no, let me restate that. I hate the extremes of both seasons. I always prefer a nice mid-combination of both; although, if I had to choose, I prefer summer temperatures and climate. Some place tropical though.

Despite the ugly weather yesterday, I still went outdoors - first to downtown Manhattan then to the Bronx. What a trip! Freezing temperatures that my hands were freezing even after I put on gloves. The snow came down in large clumps and stuck to ever thing. I honestly didn't think it would be this bad, but I guess I was wrong. But, the snow didn't last for long as it turned to sleet then pure rain! I was miserable during my excursion downtown. People were out in full force though and that's what you have to love about New Yorkers, we don't really give a damn! We'll complain but we'll get stuff done no matter what conditions are like. However, personally, I hate being cold!

Then I get to the Bronx to visit a good friend of mine, and unfortunately, I was still freezing. The best part, wouldn't you know it, there was no heat in his building! That sounds just about right because there was no heat in my building as well. Damn it! We sat around, talked politics, and how freakin' crazy this weather had gotten so suddenly. All the while, my feet and hands were icy cold.

I got home later that evening and the heat was still absent. No surprise there. What the hell Mr. Super? Why don't you turn on the heat? Why is it that you only turn it on for an hour at a time and/or only at odd hours of the evening? Ahhh, winter is such a great, bone-chilling, miserable time of the year, don't you think so? I know that further upstate and up north the storm has been much worse then what I'm complaining about here. I hearing story of power outages in certain areas and that is just horrible. With no electricity or running water in some cases, the conditions are literally below standards. Yet, I envy and admire those who endure under such undesirable extremes. Real troopers!

Well, that's it for now. Stay safe and warm out there!

The Calm Before Irene!

Hey people!

How are ya? As most of you know out there, Hurricane Irene is moving up the north east as I write this post. I live in New York City, and we are not expecting Irene until tomorrow morning (Sunday).

We should be expecting stronger winds and heavy rain starting later this evening. Every news channel and meteorologist is painting this storm to have a major destructive impact on the city. So far the hurricane is still a category 1 and winds exceed 80 mph. That's still pretty serious. With tall skyscrapers, the wind will most likely reach higher then 80 mph.

The mayor has order evacuations of certain parts of the city in anticipation of flooding. On top of that, there is also a possible risk of power and water loss. So, people are preparing and stocking up on provisions as they should. However, there are those that are taking this advisory too seriously and buying goods as if they were preparing to take shelter in a bunker for a month!

Come on people! Think more reasonably. I mean, yeah, this storm is a real threat for the fact that we are not used to, or know how to prepare, for natural threats/disasters if they were to strike. I mean, we all freaked when that earthquake from Virginia reached us here in NYC and further up the coast. Sure, the west coast laughed at us for how we reacted, but how else were we supposed to react? Stuff like this doesn't happen here!

The mayor has also suspended train and bus service until possibly Monday! WOW! No mass transit at all. that is a first. But Bloomberg is over-compensating for that fact that he screwed up in January when we were buried in several feet of snow. To some degree it is understandable, but sometimes I feel like we are going way overboard. The other thing is the fact that the news media keeps "reporting" or how I view it "hyping" this situation to the point that people begin to believe that Irene will be far worse then what is expected. Mayor Bloomberg keeps having news conferences every hour, practically, and it doesn't really add anything to the situation. It's still the same. Irene is coming and nothings going to stop it. Maybe I'm being too optimistic in thinking that this will get here and things will be fine after, but who knows now!

I'll be fine, rest assured. I live near one of those "zones" but there is no need to evacuate my entire neighborhood. I'll keep you posted on how things go or change. I will hopefully have some pictures after and I'll try to put some video up on my youtube channel and link them here.

So, stay safe or I hope you are doing fine, if you live in the north east! Post comments and thoughts and this storm and the situation.

Take care people. Until next time!

Conan the Barbarian (2011)...I'll Take A Pass.

I wish I had taken a pass on this, but I saw it and I can never get those 2 hours back.

I've been away from here for a bit. I know, I know. Before you start complaining that I don't spend enough time with you let me just say.... Yeah, you're right!

Anyway, here I am again to bring you a short review, or more specifically, my thoughts, on the remake of Conan the Barbarian. Remake?! Yeah, that seems to be the trend these days in Hollywood. Either remake something from the 80's or make a movie out of some TV show from the same time period.

Firstly, let me start by saying that I never really listen to what critiques say in their movie reviews, but they were right to give this 1 star!

Back to the movie! I have to say that I was really disappointed with how this film turned out. I was expecting more of a competent story but instead received a film where Conan seemed to juggle between seeking revenge for his father's death and getting caught up in some other distraction that served as plot. I use the word "plot" loosely just to give the actions that happen in this film a title, but in reality an actual "plot" ceased to exist after Conan's father is killed. Well, he actually kills himself! OOPS, spoiler!!! Sorry, but I don't give a damn at this point!

I mean, don't get me wrong, the film did follow the traditional movie formula of beginning, middle and end. Father gets killed, son seeks revenge, becomes ruthless conqueror/killer, meets girl, loves girl, girl gets captured by arch-nemesis... you know where this is heading! And that is exactly it! The original 1982 Conan followed a similar formula, but I felt there was more meat to the story compared to the 2011 version. Yeah, how can I compare the out-dated 1982 version with the superior modern approach and special effects of the 2011 version?

Simple. The original Conan had a story which showed us how Conan grew to become the savage barbarian that we know. Viewers saw the child put into slavery and become the monster that conquered all later. More importantly, young Conan witnessed his mother get killed before his eyes. That traumatized him and gave us a reason to sympathize with him. Granted that Arnold's portrayal of Conan is tamer compared to Jason Momoa 's more savage portrayal of the character. Now, while I understand that the more savage approach is accurate for this type of character, I felt no sympathy or connection to him in Conan 2011. It just felt like this was a movie that showed us - this is Conan, now watch him go berserk in the name of vengeance.

My friend and I both felt that there were many unanswered questions that could have provided some clarity to what and why certain things were happening. Why was Khalar Zym and his daughter Marique searching for the mask? Maybe the movie did explain it, but I missed it because I became comatose after the first 20 minutes. Seriously the movie dragged at first and never seemed to pick up after that. At one point, Conan's first encounter with Khalar, it did seemed like things got exciting but that must have been because I needed someone to get killed already. However, after that it went flatline again. I also thought this version would follow the original's storyline. I wanted and was hoping to see a more modern version of Thulsa Doom, the snake king played by James Earl Jones, but this version followed a different storyline entirely.

Either way, I was expecting a climatic end fight between protagonist and antagonist. The fight was intense but the pay-off was so anti-climatic. Khalar just falls to his doom. WTF! However gruesome the original's pay-off was (Conan decapitates Thulsa's head after a few hacks) it was more satisfying compared this version's conclusion. Oh! Speaking of conclusions. The remake didn't even have the infamous scene of Conan sitting on his throne pondering his next course of action, which "is a tale for another story." I think that's how it goes. My friend and I thought this movie was so bad that maybe it needed Red Sonya to appear and maybe add some more intensity to the movie. Hey, it would have been fun to see a red haired amazon cross blades with Conan.

Man, I would've loved to see Red Sonya appear that way she would have been captured and Conan would then have to rescue her. He would've gotten his ass handed to him and maybe his arms cut off in an uber ridiculous battle.  All that just so I can say:

"Yeah, you know what? There was a point where he would had his arms all cut off, and he was on a hospital bed, and he was flaying around these little useless fucking knobs, and he was screaming and crying his fucking ass off going, 'aarrgh, aarrgh, put that Lin Kuei robot shit on me! I need to go save Sonya!'"

***$20 to whoever can guess where the above quote comes from!***

Hmm... I may have to think about the $20, but if you can figure it out then you and I are on the same wavelength or something. Ha! I just love where that line comes from and it fits right there so nicely that I couldn't resist. Have fun with that!

Well, honestly, I felt disappointed and confused at times as to where Conan the Barbarian 2011 was getting some of its references from, where it was going, how is he getting there, etc., etc. I felt like I lost almost 2 hours of my life watching this and I'll never get them back. Well, maybe if I watch the original I can reverse the damage. It's a thought.

Okay, that's all of now. Feels good to post a new entry! I guess I just needed to ad my two scents on Conan the Barbarian 2011. I'd pass on it. Save your money. Unless you want to see a mindless tale of revenge.

Until next time!

Happy New Year 2011!!

Well, another year has left us, and in its place a new year begins! I have a lot of hopes and desires that I want to accomplish, and I hope I can meet those challenges.

With hard work and commitment I know that I will accomplish those goals.

I wish the best for all of you out there who venture and read my blog entrees. Aim high in everything that you do, and don't settle for less.

Happy New Year from me to you!!

Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

明けましておめでとうございます!!! (I'm going to start learning Japanese too!)


Until Next Time!