A Thorn and Some Tweezers

So in a starting effort to begin typing things on here, I decided to try something new. (Gee, I sure haven't tried doing this before.)

I take that back. I'm not trying anything new. Matter-of-fact, I'm trying to finish something I started a long time ago. In my current pattern of "fail and fail some more," I figured this would be an interesting way to (yet again) attempt to break the cycle and yank this throbbing thorn that's been in my side for ages now. Yesterday's entry was a sign of this, and today you'll see what it was exactly that I rebooted.

Goodbye, Number Four

It's rare for me to make an entry that involves politics. Seriously, take a look at the "Politics" tag - as of April 4, 2013, there are only three entries marked with the aforementioned label, including this one.

Part of it is due to personal ignorance because of my personal view on politicians (where I believe 93+% of them are self-serving idiots sharing loyalties to those willing to financially back them as opposed to the people), while most of it is due to the fact that speaking politics on a personal blog and then posting a link to it on Facebook would only start a flame war that doesn't need to be held.

Nevertheless, whenever I get myself involved, it's because I heard of something so putrid and corrupt that my brain demands me to say my piece about it. Publicly. But what has gotten me repulsed at the government, you ask? Let's find out.

Apocalypse in the Mists

So, since the world didn't end today, I thought I'd give you a bit of a "welcome back to reality, idiots" gift* in the form of a cool entry today.

Yeaaaaaaaah, we're not exploring there today. *flees*

What are you waiting for: me to explode on you guys? Frak that; dig in on the entry already!

Wander, My Friend

Today's been one of those days where I decided to take a look at a lot of things. While I focus on things going on around the world, I had to take a look at myself, because I realized something. Despite some good times and things, the rest of my life... well, haven't been so great. Things have forced me to take a left turn into the middle of nowhere (quite literally, might I add).

Maybe I'm a little frustrated a tad over my head with all this frustration. Said frustration stems from how some things in my life are going. That's normal for a lot of people - myself included. Between the sudden spike in gas prices last month (yay for California's ineptness involving the distribution of winter-blend gasoline), the notion that things seem to be falling apart for some people, and the most stable of situations seem to be imploding upon themselves, it's hard to disagree if someone says they're (somewhat) frazzled.

I say all this because in the journey of life we've been traveling, we've all lost our way somehow. For some, they've recovered and they're out there doing something. As for me... well, I don't know where I am or where I'm going. I've deviated from the path I originally had mapped out - and now, I'm lost in a forest of illusions (and I'm not talking about World 5 from Super Mario World). October was a pretty sure sign that I got myself confused and wandering around... but I think now's the time for me to find my way out.

You know it's a bad sign when you receive a list of tasks to finish that's taller than you.

Now before you leave in disgust and think, "Oh, great; this entry's going to be some lame-o one where Josh rants on and on forever about how (some) things in his life suck," let me tell you that it's NOT. (Okay, let me rephrase: "it's not going to be over 25% should I start ranting about my life.") Yes, I'm a tad over my head with some of my stress, but life isn't 100% down the crapper right now. (I mean, do you even see a "flash vent" tag up there? ... ...oh, yeah. that "flash vent" tag. Surprisingly, this is not why it's up there.) Besides, I've found things that have made this otherwise trite life of mine somewhat bearable, and to me, that's worth a lot.

However, if you're going to leave because you're under the impression that this entry's going to be a long one: then I have to say you suck, you illiterate doof you're completely correct. I have to make up for the crap-fest of "entries" that was October, so as such... expect a long and (hopefully) good entry for once. I'm kind of overdue for one, no?

HI I'M RACING

In a deviation from the norm, I decided to dust off an old GameCube classic so I can do some research for my next Top Ten list. That classic? Mario Kart: Double Dash!! So, before we begin, I just have to ask you one thing.

If the Mario franchise had to vote for "top trollers," these two characters would definitely make the top five.

Expecting me to throw a "HI, I'M DAISY!" joke on here?
TOO BAD! WALUIGI TIME!!!

The Top Ten: Video Game Bosses

Yes, folks: you're reading that right. After a long drought, there's finally another Top Ten list here on The White Knight Chronicles! I told you I'd have something cool for you today! (Just ignore the fact that this was supposed to be up yesterday and everything will be peachy. *winks*)

This time, we'll reminisce over some of those amazing/harrowing/nasty/tense video game (mini-)boss fights that really impressed me. Remember, this is not just focusing on the gameplay of the fight itself (although it is a decent factor I consider). Again, as mentioned with my Top Ten lists, feel free to (dis)agree with my choices or wonder why I chose whoever I chose. It's my list after all, so I'm obviously going to have differing tastes than you.

As some of these fights are driven by the plot, there are bound to be spoilers. I won't black them out. You have been warned, so read at your own risk!

Anyway, who are they, you ask? Well, keep on reading this entry and find out for yourself!

CENSORED

I think it's time I give you an informal education about some things that could very well threaten our online lives from here on out... if we don't do anything about it.

Main headlines for today, I'd say. Screw sports and stupid celebrities - this is important.
(Obviously, I didn't make this image.)

Serious mode on.

Josh Blanco's Lottery Plan

The age-old question: "What would you do if you won the lottery?"

My response to said age-old question? Read on below.





CURRENT MUSIC:
Barenaked Ladies - "If I Had $1,000,000"
Gordon

Quite fitting for today's entry, if I may say so myself. As one of the most-known songs by the Barenaked Ladies, their silly song on what they'd get with a million dollars is a staple at their live performances.

But what would I do with a million dollars... or more...?



"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory."
William Hazlitt
(Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners - "On Great and Little Things")

Hehehehe... that, it does. That, it does. Maybe that's why the ones who achieve the greatest of victories usually have some kind of high-spirited determination. Be it originating from religion or iron will or what have you, it doesn't matter - the fact that they had it in the first place makes them stronger than most others.

A Great Disturbance in the Force

Good night, everyone. How goes this fine Sunday of yours? I hope you enjoyed it - as today's the last Sunday (and therefor the last weekend) of summer, it'd be sad if you foolishly decided to be like me and miss out on a nice and sunny day (at least it's sunny here in my part of California) by spending it at work and making less-than-living wage. Of course, that's not the only thing depressing about this weekend...



Now, as most of you are already aware, the Star Wars saga is now available on Blu-Ray at retailers across the galaxy. Each trilogy (I-III; IV-VI) is priced at $44.99 each, but there's a special collector's pack as well. At a suggested retail price of $89.99 USD, the six-pack also contains three bonus discs filled to the brim with additional bonus content - documentaries, outtakes, deleted scenes from the original trilogy (something rarely seen), and the like.

The question that has been asked by fans across the galaxy is this:
Is the Star Wars Blu-Ray release worth it?

I'm going to be honest with y'all here: nothing came to mind when I began writing an entry today. For about an hour I found myself looking at the screen, wondering what in the world I'd be typing. Add the fact that I needed to compose something consisting of over one thousand words and you'll have a dilemma: a writer who, at the current rate he's going for the day, won't make deadline.

Before I started this entire blog, I went through some of my old work - posts on past blogs I liked, old papers I wrote (of which only a few were actually for school), poems and scripts I composed over the years. Of these, I grabbed what I believed to be the cream of the crop and copied them into a folder that I labeled "In Case of Emergency" - only to be used when I've spent a considerable amount of time staring at the same screen because I honestly could not compose anything to slap on here.

From what I looked through in the archives, I've broken into this folder... ...well, if you count today, I think only twice now. Considering how today's post will be the 252^nd, I'd say that's pretty good non-usage of this emergency folder - it's only been used for a little under one percent of the time!

Anyway, as I looked through the "In Case of Emergency" folder, I found this little gem I wrote one fateful Halloween back in 2008. As most (if not all) of you know, back then I was... well, less optimistic and more emotional than I am now. Granted, I still have moments like that (we all do), but lately the only reasons I've regressed is because I was pushed to that point. I decided to post this document for three reasons:

1. It's inspirational. Some of my friends who've read this were touched by its words, so I decided, "Hey; let's throw it on the Internet! Maybe I'll affect someone else's life in a great way with today's entry!"
2. Let's face it: I'm a hopeless romantic, no matter how much I deny it tooth and nail. I was in the past, and I still am. It makes sense for someone like me to write this, and who am I to deny what I truly am?
3. It was the only document in the "In Case of Emergency" folder that went over 1,000 words. *nervous laugh*

Some of you might have already seen this (particularly anyone who's gone through my notes on Facebook), so apologies for making you read something you've already read. However, it is pretty nice (and somewhat sappy, I'll admit) and it does give off inspiration.

So, enjoy this ol' favorite of mine, and I'll see y'all tomorrow! Star Fox 64 3D, food and work await! *flies off*

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"Maybe Love Is…"

Josh D. "Whitey" Blanco
31 October 2008
(revised 02 Oct 2009)

When it comes to understanding love, it is something none of us will ever fully and truly reach alone. But if we share the love with each other - and should we find someone in particular to share its warmth with - we can get pretty damn close.

Before, I've made it no secret how much I loathe and pine for that poisonous quartet of letters. Longtime readers of my blogs will remember my (mostly) unenthusiastic opinions on love – that it was a vile and atrocious man-eater, making heroes out of stagnant liars and villains out of honest gentlemen. As a guy who is single and has never had a girlfriend (at least at the time of writing this), it seems hypocritical of me to even attempt to give the world some definition of this downright tricky four-letter-word. Yet here I am, doing it anyway as an attempt to find my heart reprieve in this maddening world that is 2009.

Truth be told, I don’t think anybody has even come close to finding a proper definition of love. Many have tried; many have failed - and today, the world is filled with numerous quotes about this seemingly simple word.


Now, I’m not claiming to be the go-to guy in this sort of matter, but maybe I can shed a little more light with these petite theories that might just get us closer to answering the infinitely-asked question, "What is love?"


Maybe love is finding someone to share a clear night sky with - someone to whisper their deepest wishes to instead of the distant stars, someone to confide the most heartfelt truths to in lieu of the moon, and someone to help sow one’s hopes across the heavens when a shooting star flies by.

Maybe love is being able to lie on the green grass, head empty of worry and soul fully at peace.

Maybe love is that dark void in your heart, longing to be filled with the compassion of another.

Maybe love is right in front of you and you don’t even know it.

Maybe love is that silver platter of an opportunity you've been too blind or prideful to take.

Maybe love doesn’t have to exist in the land of dreams… maybe it can be real.

Maybe love is connecting to a song that captures the romantic essence of your soul. Maybe that song is only for one singer and the song is meant to be sung to that special someone. Maybe it can be made into a duet that this distinct person can join you in. Maybe the song is romantic in the first place and its lyrics need no explanation. Maybe the piece is an instrumental whose home-hitting melody speaks to you wordlessly. Or maybe it’s just what your heart desperately wants to say to them when your mind is too stubborn and/or shy to admit the truth and when your lips fail to mutter anything coherent.

Maybe love can save someone’s life when mere words and actions can’t.

Maybe love is knowing "How to Save a Life" (and I don’t just mean the Fray song, either).

Maybe "Love Comes Again" - even to those that Tiësto and BT weren’t singing about.

Maybe love is that guilty pleasure of a romantic song you sing along with on a lone drive home.

Maybe love wants you to be like Journey and "Don’t Stop Believin'" in it.

Maybe love prioritizes quality over everything else. It doesn’t require the high-end, lavish luxuries that the flauntingly rich can pompously toss about. Such a complex emotion needs not a high-quality dinner from a five-star restaurant, a cruise down a long road in a silver convertible BMW and first class seating in a major game or performance. Maybe all it needed was an inexpensive trip to a local sushi bar, a serene stroll through the waterfront and a lot of meaningful conversation. (Then again, love knows no boundaries. There are honorable people who can afford extravagance on dates and those who cannot. To me, it matters not how much one invests on the outing with money, but rather how much one invests with their soul.)

Maybe love is that magical thing that makes all money worthless and one sweet smile priceless.

Maybe love is the Chekhov’s gun that ends the night with a soft, genuine, romantic midnight kiss.

Maybe love is (according to Dr. Perry Cox from Scrubs) "...mainly about pushing chocolate-covered candies and [...] in some cultures, a chicken."

Maybe love is when the nice guy - who, after an eternity of playing fair yet finishing last against the many cheaters in the race - finally places first.

Maybe love is that botched plan of a date that ends up being an amazing night to remember.

Maybe love is taking precedence of their feelings rather than your own. It can be as simple as granting space when needed and offering shade in the sweltering heat of stress, even when they fail to ask for it. It can be the act of remaining steadfast for them in the face of adversity, or being oneself, knowing that "those who mind don’t matter while those who matter don’t mind." It can also be an act of selflessness – being there to wipe the tears away, offering company and a reassuring hug and asking for nothing in return.

Maybe love is sacrificing your happiness so theirs may flourish, knowing full well that they may never thank you - and still being okay with it.

Maybe love is proof that chivalry isn’t dead.

Maybe love is that honorable hero(ine) we wish we were instead of the shadowed being we currently are.

Maybe love means taking the hit if you really care for someone, no matter what the outcome is.

Maybe love takes a bite even when the shine’s off the apple.

Maybe love takes form of all emotions, of all actions, of all words, of all people. While it is the prince of happiness, the messenger of euphoria and the gateway to Utopia, love is also the harbinger of vulnerability, the summoner of timidity and the door to any black hole in one’s heart. Its sheer power forces one to perform actions never intended to happen and bestows emotions that overwhelm the psyche. Love can provoke unnecessary aggression, impulsive behavior, bitter melancholia, troublesome contemplation, chaotic anxiety, sheer ignorance, abrupt speechlessness, fluttering elation and heart-sinking depression. And yet, while one can acknowledge the existence and aftermath of their actions and thoughts, they can never locate the source of its appearance, even though it is blatantly obvious what triggered it all.

Maybe love turns the confident into the shy, the prideful into the humble, and the apathetic into the caring.

Maybe love forces us to do both smart and stupid things. (Mostly stupid.)

Maybe love is silent - maybe it needs no words to be expressed.

Maybe love is saying "I love you" without the "I love you."

Maybe love is just looking deep in their eyes, saying nothing, and having the greatest conversation ever.

Maybe love hurts. "It gets inside you," Rose Walker from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman states. "It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain." (But as Incubus sings: "Love hurts / But sometimes it’s a good hurt / And it feels like I’m alive / Love sings / When it transcends the bad things / Have a heart and try me / ‘cause without love I won’t survive.")

Maybe love forces you into staying up all night and getting caught up in your mind. In the morning, you claim the ordeal as mere insomnia... when you really know better.

Maybe love is that icy void - that vulnerable feeling in your heart that yearns to be filled.

Maybe love is dramatic irony incarnate - those involved are blind to it, and everyone else around them knows exactly how the play will finish. (Of course, they can be wrong, too.)

Maybe love is star-crossed. Then again, maybe it isn’t, either.

Maybe love is an example of a famed mathematical thought: chaos theory.

Maybe love is the ultimate paradigm of yin and yang. No other emotion can muster such a delicate equilibrium of duality. Love is serenity and pandemonium, reciprocation and rejection, subtlety and flamboyancy, pleasure and pain, bliss and misery, forbidden and accepted, harmony and discord, aspiration and despondency, intimidation and confidence, unity and separation. (The irony of it all is that understanding love is also a balancing act of clarity and ambiguity - one can comprehend its meaning but still be lost in its perplexing definition.)

Maybe love can’t be described at all.

Maybe love possesses no actual definition of its own - rather, love’s meaning is the very one held within our own hearts.

Maybe love is the act of you reading this, trying to use my words to formulate a definition to call your own.

Maybe love is what you make it to be. "To each their own" when it comes to happiness, so why not love?

Maybe "love" and "believe" are two words that go hand-in-hand.



Maybe love will someday come to me...

How (NOT) to Feel Miserable as an Artist

Every once in a while a person is moved deeply by something they experience. No kind of person runs into a situation like this more often than the world's oldest idealist: the artist. The experiences can and will vary - it could be a movie they find inspirational, a song that touches the heart and soul, a paragraph of governmental statutes that triggers an organized (peaceful) reaction, some dream that jump-starts their muse(s), or even a giant plate of maple syrup-drenched buttermilk waffles that motivates them to cook something amazing for dinner. While things like this exist in ordinary life and are encountered by everyday people, it is the artist who takes it a step further and adds some "extra" to their "ordinary."

The Selection for Societal Sanity

Friends of mine who are gamers are very well aware of my love for Konami's famous Metal Gear franchise. One of the first games I was exposed to when I was young was Metal Gear Solid for the Sony Playstation. I think I first played it around the year 2000, back when I was eleven.

Yeah, an eleven-year-old playing a game that's rated "M" for "Mature" - sounds waaaaay responsible of my parents. Honestly, I think I already was mature enough to understand bits and pieces of it. Obviously I wouldn't get the complex plot and everything right then and there, but it was my playthrough of the game that got me to realize a few things that I still believe or support to this day:

• Nuclear proliferation is horrible. It needs to stop.
• The right kind of music can make any situation stand out even more, fueling the experience with raw emotion that's just unbeatable.
• Video games, when made right, can be more than just entertainment - it can be an art form that spurns intellect and deep thought within the right people.

The genius writers behind the Metal Gear Solid series have craftily executed the last point, and in my book (as well as others') the franchise has transcended into something higher than just a tactical espionage series with an engaging storyline.



When I first finished Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, I'll admit I was one of the many people who found the plot to be confusing. Well, I'm not sure if "confusing" is the right word - "mental clusterfuck" seems to describe the first general opinion most gamers had when they finished the game. Then again, I was 13 at the time (I obtained the game late in 2002), and for a plot that complex and seemingly convoluted you had to be a bit older and more mature than that to digest it properly. (Or, you know... possess a genius-level IQ or something.)

After a few years passed, I did another playthrough in order to listen to the story again and to see if my high school education (and the important discovery that is Wikipedia) would help me understand the intricacies of Sons of Liberty.

It did. Gravely.

What I found was a social commentary on life and everything that eerily made sense. Granted, the entirety of the Metal Gear saga is a work of fiction, but what happens when a work of imagination clothes itself with the very fabric of reality? What happens when enough fact is meshed into the fiction, blurring the line between what is false and what is true?



(Author's Note: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT! If you intend on following the plot of the Metal Gear series (hopefully through me), then I strongly suggest reading the rest of today's entry with caution.)



What follows here is a speech from Metal Gear Solid 2. Raiden, the protagonist of the second half of the game, is contacted by an Illuminati-esque cabal known only as the Patriots. What he listens to is a rather spooky take on modern sociopolitical views. In-game, it's just freaky to notice how badly you've been controlled, but when you apply what they say to real life, it's just bone-chilling in how the world could be like this. Again, I know it's all fiction, but... *shivers*

Here's a snippet of that speech (or as you lamer readers call it, a "wall of text" - even though this is far from the (accurate) definition of "wall of text"), edited to make it flow more like sociopolitical commentary aimed towards you, reader. Apart from anything Raiden said in interjection and the responses the Patriots smacked back at him being removed, no part of the text has been altered.

If you want to listen along or hear the speech yourself (plus the interjections and counters I removed), here it is on YouTube. (WARNING: SPOILERS!)



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To begin with, we're not what you'd call... "human." Over the past two hundred years, a kind of consciousness formed layer by layer in the crucible of the White House. It's not unlike the way life started in the oceans four billion years ago. The White House was our primordial soup, a base of evolution. We are formless. We are the very discipline and morality that Americans invoke so often. How can anyone hope to eliminate us? As long as this nation exists, so will we.

Don't you know that our plans have your interests - not ours - in mind?

The mapping of the human genome was completed early this century. As a result, the evolutionary log of the human race lay open to us. We started with genetic engineering, and in the end, we succeeded in digitizing life itself. But there are things not covered by genetic information.

Human memories, ideas, culture, history - genes don't contain any record of human history. Is it something that should not be passed on? Should that information be left at the mercy of nature? We've always kept records of our lives through words, pictures, symbols - from tablets to books. But not all the information was inherited by later generations. A small percentage of the whole was selected and processed, then passed on. Not unlike genes, really.

That's what history is.

But in the current, digitized world, trivial information is accumulating every second, preserved in all its triteness. Never fading, always accessible. Rumors about petty issues, misinterpretations, slander... all this junk data preserved in an unfiltered state, growing at an alarming rate. It will only slow down social progress, reduce the rate of evolution.

You seem to think that our plan is one of censorship. What we propose to do is not to control content, but to create context. The digital society furthers human flaws and selectively rewards development of convenient half-truths. Just look at the strange juxtapositions of morality around you:

• Billions spent on new weapons in order to humanely murder other humans.
• Rights of criminals are given more respect than the privacy of their victims.
• Although there are people suffering in poverty, huge donations are made to protect endangered species.

Everyone grows up being told the same thing: "Be nice to other people - but beat out the competition!" "You're special." "Believe in yourself and you will succeed." But it's obvious from the start that only a few can succeed. You exercise your right to "freedom" and this is the result: all rhetoric to avoid conflict and protect each other from hurt.

The untested truths spun by different interests continue to churn and accumulate in the sandbox of political correctness and value systems. Everyone withdraws into their own small gated community, afraid of a larger forum. They stay inside their little ponds, leaking whatever "truth" suits them into the growing cesspool of society at large. The different cardinal truths neither clash nor mesh. No one is invalidated, but nobody is right. Not even natural selection can take place here. The world is being engulfed in "truth." And this is the way the world ends - not with a bang, but a whimper.

We're trying to stop that from happening.

It's our responsibility as rulers. Just as in genetics, unnecessary information and memory must be filtered out to stimulate the evolution of the species. Who else could wade through the sea of garbage you people produce, retrieve valuable truths and even interpret their meaning for later generations?

That's what it means to create context. You lack the qualifications to exercise free will.

Does something like a "self" exist inside of you? That which you call "self" serves as nothing more than a mask to cover your own being. In this era of ready-made "truths," "self" is just something used to preserve those positive emotions that you occasionally feel. Another possibility is that "self" is a concept you conveniently borrowed under the logic that it would endow you with some sense of strength.

Do you feel lost? Why not try a bit of soul-searching? Don't think you'll find anything, though. Ironic that although "self" is something that you yourself fashioned, every time something goes wrong, you turn around and place the blame on something else. "It's not my fault." "It's not your fault." In denial, you simply resort to looking for another, more convenient "truth" in order to make yourself feel better, leaving behind in an instant the so-called "truth" you once embraced.

Should someone like that be able to decide what is "truth?" Should someone like you even have the right to decide? You've done nothing but abuse your freedom. You don't deserve to be free!

We're not the ones smothering the world - you are.

The individual is supposed to be weak, but far from powerless - a single person has the potential to ruin the world. And the age of digitized communication has given even more power to the individual. Too much power for an immature species.

Building a legacy involves figuring out what is wanted and what needs to be done for that goal. All this you used to struggle with. Now, we think for you. We are your guardians after all.

We rule an entire nation - of what interest would a single soldier, no matter how able, be to us?

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Again, here's the actual in-game speech in case you want to watch and listen to all of it. And again: spoiler warning if you click it.



Anyway, what caused me to look at this speech with interest right now (as it did back then) is how this particular train of thought looks like sociopolitical commentary from the view of the creator of the Metal Gear franchise, Hideo Kojima. While this is just insight weaved into a game, there are points to everything the Patriots have said. Considering that this game was released just under a decade ago (November 13, 2001 in North America), the fact of the matter is that this game's views (and Kojima's, by extension) surprisingly hold true to what is going on in the world right now.

A worldwide disillusioned sense of truth... the control and censorship of information for personal interests... society believing every spoon-fed bit of "information" they receive... defining right from wrong, purity from corruption, truth from lie... ...and the irony is that the Patriots make it sound like my blog (among others) needs to be filtered off the Internet!

*hearty laugh* What, I'm not allowed to throw in a joke?

Anyway, I'm not saying I believe in some kind of Illuminati controlling the world (much less the United States) or that there is some kind of government conspiracy. (I don't go around wondering if the world really is controlled by a shadow government of some kind.) I'm saying the Patriots noticed the glaring obviousness of human fallacy and corruption that's swept the globe. We lie, cheat, perform tasks in "off-the-books" manners, abuse the system, create our own sense of "truth" and deny anything that doesn't fit the form, create a façade to mask ourselves from fear - and those who deny that they do any of this are full of it. Not far from actual reality, is it?



Again, I heavily stress that this speech is from a work of fiction and my words here are opinions formed on that text. It's just a game, after all. However, that doesn't mean we can learn a little something from it, whether we learn something about ourselves, about our friends and co-workers, about society at large - about anything, really.

I'll admit: what I did for today's entry pretty much looks like something I pulled out of my own ass. At least that's what it looked like.. Originally, I was just going to put up the speech and some commentary in an attempt to break 1,000 words, but I got carried away and ended up putting actual commentary anyway. And guess what? When you take out the speech (which tallied up to 898 words), the total word count comes up to 1,168! HAH!



I have something to request from you, readers. It'd be interesting to see your take on this. Go ahead and leave some commentary - your responses to the speech or the entire conversation. I wonder what kind of insight this might spark.

I'll catch y'all tomorrow. I got work to do tonight. Yay, work. =D

Fighting Evil by Moonlight (and Words)

Every once in a while you come across something that riles you up. Well, lots of people do. Today was one of those "once in a while" days that inspired me to rant about something - "S. 978." Be prepared to face a wall of text.

And yes, the title's a direct Sailor Moon reference. =3

End? Um. No.

In light of today's (supposed) current events, I figured I might as well join in the "festivities" that I think will be going on.
If that sentence confused you (or at least boggled your perceptions of me), then good - you might get something out of this post today.





CURRENT MUSIC:
Halestorm - "I Get Off"
Halestorm

I remember first hearing about Halestorm (and then listening to them very soon afterwards) at last year's Rockstar Uproar Festival. They had a great sound, and sure enough I ended up

Anyway, moving on from expository background. This song's just brimming with energy. Lots of it. While the lyrics may seem sexually charged (with the less-intelligent and closed-minded thinking this), I saw something else embedded within the song - a metaphor for (the singer) being on stage, giving an amazing show to the fans (who Lzzy is singing to) and feeding off of each other's positive energy.

In that same regard, I can relate to this song. Artistically speaking, I kind of do the same thing when it comes to my literary work. I feed off of the positive reinforcement that I get from comments and constructive criticism, and the readers in turn get something fun to read.*

* = If we ignore all those short entries I post almost every other day on here and the occasionally-depressing poems I touted off back in high school, then this statement is true. =3


Muse - "Uprising"
The Resistance

The opening track to Muse's most current album is actually the song that got me into listening to them in fervor. (Yeah, I know - what the hell took me so long to like them?)

Truth is, I heard a few songs by them in the past back in high school and I thought they were just "pretty decent." Then last year I was exposed to The Resistance and I ended up purchasing a copy. Some time later I found myself parked in a car underneath a shady tree with time to spare, so I popped in the album as I sat there reading. Ended up repeating the album because I loved it so much.

Anyway, I found this fitting with today's entry because a good portion of the world is so wrapped up with today that it's snuffing out the more important aspects of life - like, oh, I don't know... LIFE? Enjoying the day anyway? Not giving a damn what anyone says or judges about you? Disregarding negative and untrue comments about your performance? Taking pride in the fact that common sense exists in your level of rank while it runs scarce higher up in the chain of command?

...wait, we're not talking about work? Oh. OH... *clears throat* uh, well. "We will be victorious," anyways. =3


R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
Document

Something tells me I'm going to hear this song being blared by somebody on my way to work, assuming we don't hear strange alien signals first. *snerk*



"In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal - or at least wildly inaccurate - it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important aspects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover."
- Douglas Adams
(The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Strangely appropriate for today, don't you think?
Sadly, though, I have yet to read this book. I really want to, though.





So, good day to you ladies and gentlemen! Today's a bright and sunny day, which contradicts with what some say could be the start of "the end of the world" - otherwise known as "the rapture."

To those who, like me, don't really pay attention to current events or just say "I don't give a damn"* about the news, here's the nilly-willy:

Today - Saturday, May 21, 2011 - is supposed to be the day of rapture. According to Christians, God's chosen people (the believers) will ascend into heaven while the rest of us normal folk will get hit with a worldwide chain of earthquakes.

...what.

* = Oh, that's our shortstop!





Now, some of you are wondering what I'm doing relaying current events to you readers. A few of "some of you" are probably even more perplexed due to the fact that you know I'm an empirical and apathetic agnostic.

Truth be told, I wanted to share my two cents on the matter, and I know that if I did so on Facebook, I'd end up looking like some sort of (counter-)troll who's metaphorically slapping the faces of every devout Christian friend I have on there.

So I decided to post here - not only would it count as an entry, but at least here I can say what I want with little repercussion. But just in case...



DISCLAIMER:
Now, as a person who believes that anyone and everyone - including myself - is a fool (or will be if they aren't yet - as if), I will do my best to not express my true opinions. By that, I mean that I'm censoring myself from sounding truly offensive, because at last analysis, my opinions on this supposed rapture were half-insult, half-research - all parts lampooning Christian beliefs. In short: THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT TODAY'S SUPPOSED RAPTURE. If you don't like it, then don't accept it. If I offend you, I apologize, but hey - this is what I think of this whole spiel. That's all.



So, like I summarized up above, today is yet another supposed rapture. Devout and faithful Christians will be taken up into heaven as a reward while the other non-believers will be left on Earth to either repent and hopefully ascend as well... or suffer the impending doom that the apocalypse will bring - starting with a precise chain of earthquakes hitting each area at roughly 1800 hours local time. All this has been predicted by radio evangelist Harold Camping*.



Now, I say "yet another" primarily because in the past, there have been numerous raptures that have come and gone. Predictions have been made since the days of modern Christianity, with the earliest rapture "occurring" in 1844. Since then, numerous people and groups have touted off years or days for "the beginning of the end."

1844's rapture was touted off by William Miller).
Jehova's Witnesses claimed that 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1942 were rapture years.**
And more notably, since the 1980s numerous people have said that those years would be the promised rapture (1981, 1989, and virtually every year of the 1990s - thank you, televangelism: you've created sheep out of men).
Even famed physicist Isacc Newton made a prediction that a rapture will occur - albeit that his calculations ended up pointing to 2060.

Now, with all those years coming and going and their respective predictions being proven untrue (minus Newton's***), I have to ask the Christian community: "Do you REALLY think it's going to happen today? Do you REALLY believe that Harold Camping is right?" Seriously, if each of these past "raptures" already occurred, then I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be over six billion people on this planet by now. (At worst, we'd probably be down to about 300,000 or so.)

As of today, there is no scientific proof that there will indeed be millions of people suddenly rising up and earning eternal life in the heavens and stars above. The only "proof" that these false prophets have been claiming comes from some little holy book that says that judgment is coming. This "Judgment Day" doesn't exist anywhere else but in theory papers and publications by Christian groups.



Of course, with today being what it supposedly is, skeptics and disbelievers living in time zones far ahead of me (GMT-8) have been a very good resource in terms of debunking the crap out of this. New Zealand isn't in a state of post-earthquake emergency, Londoners seem to be tweeting that nothing has happened, and the New York Police Department isn't even expecting a mass panic.

Of course, my friends who aren't buying this prediction are hosting rapture parties, with some of my Facebook friends joining in a "post-Rapture looting" that'll occur... if the rapture indeed happened.

Now here's a fun fact for you: even other Christians are denying any truth to Camping's claim. Level-headed believers cite Matthew 24:36 (KJV: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.") by stating that there is no possible way anyone would know an actual date for any (pre-/post-) apocalyptic event. Christian-operated website RaptureFail calls Camping yet another false prophet as its users and friends report in worldwide that nothing has happened to them. (If I wasn't going to be at work, I'd be reporting in as well.)



I've been quoting others' views on today's "rapture," but I've yet to voice MY response. (Brace yourselves, easily-offended Christians.) I'm sorry to say this, but to you Christians ditching work and friends to go off and pray and prepare for your ascension: you are blind, petty fools who were easily swayed and swindled by a crazy and potentially-megalomaniacal and zealous Christian. I hope you get fired or suffer some horrible sickness or hangover or get some punishment that seems fitting for your transgression.**** Perhaps one day there WILL be a rapture, but it will claim you when you're not even expecting it. I only hope you're not driving a vehicle that anyone I care for's riding in.



So, to those of you who, like me, aren't buying this crap: let's just continue our lives as normal. We'll probably end up getting beers or something later and talking trash about everyone else.

To those of you who did: the rest of us will be making SO MUCH FUN OF YOU over a few rounds of beers. Fair warning, because I'm sure there's a few messed-up individuals who'd do far worse to you.



* = I would have linked Camping's official biography on Family Radio, but it wasn't loading. Hell, Family Radio itself was having problems loading for me. I checked my connections and found that my Internet is operating normally - which leaves me to assume that traffic's getting higher due to the numerous people who're now debunking this and lampooning Camping. Go, Internet!

** = I suppose this could be true. I mean, look at the numerous amounts of God-fearing people who lost their lives during World War I, the Roaring Twenties and WORLD WAR II. *scoffs sarcastically*

*** = Who's got a DeLorean with a flux capacitor? Go to 2060 and see if the world is gone for us, will you?

**** = I could have said "Die in a fire," but that just seems too mean - especially if one of my friends actually believed in this.





Now, I'm not sure if you read all of that. Fortunately (for you bastard skim-readers out there), I fashioned a TL;DR for you that will easily summarize this whole spiel:

DON'T PANIC