Archive for May, 2014

May 2014 Exercise Results

I think that I’ve found a winning exercise routine.

Remember last month when I was planning on doing my cardio and strength exercises every other day?

I used that strategy for the entire month of May.  On one day I used my strength training machine, and the next day I used my exercise bike.  This wasn’t exclusive though.  On my cardio days I also did a minimum of a hundred sit-ups and *some* strength training as well.  It’s not the full strength routine but rather a limited set of a few exercises.

One of the plans of splitting my exercises was to keep the exercising each day to around an hour.  In reality it’s still taking me about 70-90 minutes to exercise each day.  I can speed up this process by a little bit, but as long as this time is not exceeded, then it’s still okay with me.  This is still better than the over two hours it took to do my previous exercise routine.

As a result, these exercise numbers for May of 2014 are some of my best numbers yet after about a year of exercising.  The next goal is to reduce my number of off days . . .

May of 2014 exercise results:

Exercise bike totals (cardio):

– 10 sessions; 45 minutes each

– 405 minutes (6.75 hours)

– 90.3 miles

– 4,521 calories

– furthest distance during a 45-minute bike ride – 10.2 miles

Total Bodyworks 5000 totals (strength):

– 10 sessions; ~ 90 minutes each

Total number of sit-ups:

– 2,875

There we go.

May of 2014 was a great month for exercising.  Now it’s onward to June!

Movie Review – Maleficent (2014)

In 1959, Walt Disney Productions released Sleeping Beauty, a full-length animated film that did a wonderful job of telling a classic fairy tale.

In Sleeping Beauty, the character Maleficent was not only one of the most evil and powerful villains in the history of Disney animation, but she was also one of the most mysterious and unknown of them as well.  Very little was told about her in the animated film.  You just know that she must have some sort of fantastic tale on why she is so vicious and hateful towards King Stefan and Princess Aurora.

Maleficent (2014) – movie poster

Those questions and more are answered in the 2014 live-action film Maleficent.  Directed by Robert Stromberg, Maleficent stars Angelina Jolie in the title role of Maleficent.  Supporting her is Sharlto Copley as King Stefan.  That’s probably as far as it goes when it comes to famous people in this film, not that that’s a negative issue.

Maleficent begins with a brief introduction to the fantasy land, a kingdom of humans and a wooded area (called the moors) where fairies and other magical beings live.  Although the two lands border one another, both the humans and the fairies keep their distance.  Apparently the two groups have fought wars in the past.

Young fairy Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy) is a magical being that loves life and nature.  She is flying around the woods one day when she learns of there being a human being nearby.  He was caught stealing from the land, and the human is hiding in a small cave.  Maleficent goes to the cave and convinces the human to emerge.  He does so and we see that it’s a young man named Stefan (Michael Higgins).  No harm comes to Stefan and the item that he stole is returned to a pool of water.

Maleficent and Stefan begin to talk and realize that they share quite a bit in common, from their young age to both of them being orphans.  When they part, Stefan extends his hand and Maleficent touches it, but she suddenly pulls it back.  She was burned by the iron ring on Stefan’s hand.  She tells him that steel is harmful when it touches her skin.  Knowing that, Stefan removes his ring and throws it away so that they may touch hands again in the future.

As the years pass, both Maleficent and Stefan continue to see and grow closer to each other.  But all of that ends when Maleficent (Ella Purnell) reaches her sixteenth birthday.  Suddenly Stefan is no longer part of her life in the woods.

King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) has learned of Maleficent and her powers, and he’s determined to crush every evil creature in the woods.  He leads an attack against Maleficent and her forest creatures, but the attack is repealed and King Henry is seriously injured.  Back at his castle, King Henry gathers his closest advisers and tells them that whomever can defeat the evil will become the next king, as King Henry does not have any children to inherit his kingdom. Read more…

Book Review – Lincoln Child’s “Utopia”

Summertime is here for many school children, and a popular activity is going to amusement / theme parks, such as the Disney and Universal theme parks in central Florida.

Of course, heavy crowds, overbearing heat, and ridiculously high prices for food and beverages can make going to a theme park a rather hellish experience, and that’s without dealing with a small group of terrorists who will gladly kill everybody.

Lincoln Child – Utopia

That’s basically the premise for Lincoln Child‘s thrilling novel, Utopia.  At one of the most advanced and high-tech theme parks in the world, a small band of terrorists infiltrates the computer systems to cause “glitches,” and they also use explosives to add to the terror.  It’s up to a computer specialist and his assistant to figure out what is happening and how to stop the terrorists before they kill everybody in the theme park.

Located in the deserts of Nevada, Utopia is one of the most high-tech theme parks in the world.  The entire theme park is covered by a massive dome that protects people from the outside environment, as well as providing additional effects and theming to the park.  Utopia is divided into four themed areas:  Camelot (medieval Europe), Gaslight (Victorian England), Callisto (a moon of Jupiter), and the Boardwalk (a New England-style turn-of-the-century Boardwalk).  A fifth land, Atlantis, is currently under construction and scheduled to open in several months.

A series of portals connect the various lands to the central area, the Nexus.  The portals provide a gentle transition to allow for park guests to “decompress” and better adjust to the highly themed lands, enhancing their visit to Utopia.

The workers at Utopia use a series of underground levels to operate the park and see about its day-to-day business.

Utopia opens with a prologue where a family of four is riding Notting Hill Chase, a thrill ride / roller coaster located in Gaslight.  Suddenly part of the ride breaks and the ride vehicle is thrown off the track, seriously injuring the riders.  Fortunately, nobody is killed.

Two weeks later, Dr. Andrew Warne, a computer and robotics specialist who has done work for Utopia, arrives at Utopia in response to a request by the park’s management.  He’s there to diagnose the system and try to determine why the computer programming led to a safety failure which caused serious injury to some riders.  Tagging along with Andrew Warne is his young teenage daughter, Georgia Warne. Read more…

Movie Review – X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Released this weekend is X-Men: Days of Future Past, an X-Men film that brings together almost all of the main characters that we’ve seen in the six previous films.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a science-fiction film that involves time travel to save the future from an oppressive society where mutants are actively hunted by Sentinels, a series of killing machines that can adapt to better defend themselves from mutants.  Wolverine is sent back in time to try to stop a key event from occurring, causing a chain reaction that will change the future.

This film takes place after the events in X-Men: The Last Stand as well as X-Men: First Class.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) – movie poster

Directed by Bryan Singer, X-Men: Days of Future Past stars Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine, James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, and Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme / Mystique.  The film also features a bunch of other actors in the X-Men universe including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender, Halle Berry, Ellen Page, Nicholas Hoult and Shawn Ashmore.  New faces in this movie include Peter Dinklage and Evan Peters.

X-Men: Days of Future Past begins nine years from now in the year 2023.

In a dystopian future, killer robots known as Sentinels actively hunt and kill mutants.  Those mutants not killed by the Sentinels are rounded up and placed in internment camps.  In addition to hunting and killing mutants, the Sentinels also hunt for human beings who carry the X-gene in their system.  Although those humans are not mutants, the X-genes can be passed down to their children.

In the film we see a small band of mutants hiding from Sentinels.  The mutants include Peter Rasputin / COLOSSUS (Daniel Cudmore), Bobby Drake / ICEMAN (Shawn Ashmore), Kitty Pryde / SHADOWCAT (Ellen Page), BISHOP (Oman Sy), Clarice Ferguson / BLINK (Bingbing Fan), Roberto da Costa / SUNSPOT (Adan Canto), and James Proudstar / WARPATH (Booboo Stewart).  When the robots discover the mutants, the mutants fight back and delay them until Kitty Pryde can send another mutant’s consciousness back in time to warn the group about the approaching danger.  By the time the Sentinels reach Kitty, she and the other mutants disappear as if they were never there in the first place.

A short while later Kitty’s group of mutants meets with Eric Lehnserr / MAGNETO (Ian McKellen) and Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart).  Also with them are Ororo Munroe / STORM (Halle Berry) and Logan / WOLVERINE (Hugh Jackman).  The mutants know that they cannot keep fighting the Sentinels, and it’s just a matter of time before they’re all killed by the killer robots.  In order to end this war, they’re going to have to travel back in time to prevent them from being created.  Thankfully Kitty Pryde can send a person’s consciousness back through time.

Charles Xavier believes that the turning point was back in 1973 when Mystique assassinated Bolivar Trask, the military scientist who designed the Sentinel robots.  His assassination sparked an anti-mutant hysteria which led to the government authorizing the Sentinel program, which eventually led to the war against mutants.  Mystique would also be captured by the government, and her blood would be reverse-engineered and adapted to the Sentinels, giving them the power to change and absorb any type of an attack. Read more…

Movie Review – The Wolverine (2013)

In 2009, Hollywood created a stand-alone Wolverine film called X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

As we know, Wolverine continues to be one of the most popular of the X-Men characters, and his origin could have made for an interesting story.  The problems though were that the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine failed to tell a good story and refrain from cheesy clichés.

Despite the flaws and other problems with the story, the film still made a ton of money, and Hugh Jackman did an outstanding job of performing as the comic book character.  This was a sign that the audiences wanted more of the character, something better than what we saw in the 2009 film.

The answer was resolved in the 2013 film, The Wolverine.

Set after the events in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine is a film that takes Logan to Japan to meet with an old acquaintance from World War 2.  This quickly proves to be Logan’s most difficult challenge yet as not only is he stripped of his power of regeneration, but he also has to battle with the Yakuza as well as ancient warriors that date back hundreds.  It’s Logan versus the ninjas, samurai, and the warrior way of life as he battles to save lives, starting with his own.

The Wolverine (2013) – movie poster

Directed by James Mangold, The Wolverine stars Hugh Jackman in the lead role of Logan / Wolverine.  Co-starring in the film are Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida, and Rila Fukushima as Yukio.  The film also features Famke Janssen as Jean Grey.

The Wolverine begins in 1945 in Nagasaki, Japan.

Logan (Hugh Jackman) is a captured American soldier being held in solitary confinement.  In other barracks near him are hundreds more American soldiers being held prisoner.  Suddenly the Japanese guards go on alert when they spot a B-29 Superfortress bomber flying over the city of Nagasaki.  The guards think that it’s another air raid.

The Wolverine (2013) – (c) 20th Century Fox

One of the Japanese guards, Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), frees the American prisoners at the anger to his superiors.  Logan notices this, so he tries to warn Yashida that the bomber is carrying a nuclear bomb, something that will destroy the entire city.  Just as the bomb is dropped and Nagasaki is destroyed, Logan gets Yashida to hide with him in his underground prison cell.  Logan uses his body to shield Yashida from the nuclear fire.  Afterwards, Yashida watches Logan’s body regenerate and heal itself from the horrendous burn scars.

Fast forward to today. Read more…

Movie Review – X-Men: First Class (2011)

In 2009, the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine gave us an origin tale that was mediocre at best.

While the film was a financial success, many of the fans of the X-Men series were disappointed in the film’s story, some clichés and plot holes, and the repeated action scenes.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine could have been a significantly better film.

Fortunately, this opened the door for an X-Men origin film to be created correctly.  That bring us to the next film in the X-Men series of movies, 2011’s X-Men: First Class.

Primarily set in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, X-Men: First Class is a prequel to the main X-Men films and tells a story about how the X-Men team was formed.  This includes the origin stories of Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr, and the first members of Xavier’s team of mutants.  Working with the CIA, the mutants help stop an evil plot by Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club as they push the U.S. and Soviet Union to nuclear war.

X-Men: First Class (2011) – movie poster

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, X-Men: First Class stars James McAvoy as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Eric Lensherr / Magneto, and Kevin Bacon as Dr. Klaus Schmidt / Sebastian Shaw.  Supporting them are Rose Byrne as CIA agent Moira MacTaggert, Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme / Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast, and Oliver Platt as Man in Black Suit.

X-Men: First Class begins in Poland in 1944.

X-Men: First Class (2011) – (c) 20th Century Fox

After teenage Eric Lensherr is separated from his family in a concentration camp, Dr. Klaus Schmidt (Kevin Bacon) witnesses the boy use a magnetic power to bend the metal gates in the camp.  He orders the boy to his office and demonstrate his power, but he cannot reproduce it.  To make him try harder, Klaus brings in Eric’s mother and threatens to shoot her unless Eric and use his power to move a coin.  When he does not make it move, Klaus shoots and kills Eric’s mother.  This enrages Eric and causes his power to significantly grow, allowing the teenager to bend and manipulate all the metal in the room. Read more…

Movie Review – X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

In the highly successful X-Men films, one of the most popular characters is Wolverine.

We know that Logan has retractable metal claws, he can smell enemies approaching, and his body can regenerate his health and recover from injuries.  Not only is Wolverine deadly but he’s practically unstoppable.

But what is his origin?

How did a person become the Wolverine?

Those questions and more are answered in the 2009 Marvel action film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  This is an origin film that focuses on Wolverine, from how he became a mutant to his associations with Colonel Stryker and Sabretooth.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – movie poster

Directed by Gavin Hood, X-Men Origins: Wolverine stars Hugh Jackman in the title role of Logan / Wolverine.  Liev Schreiber co-stars in the film as Victor Creed / Sabretooth.  Supporting them are Danny Huston as William Stryker, Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau / Gambit, will.i.am as John Wraith, and Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine begins in 1845 in Canada.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – (c) 20th Century Fox

James Howlett (Troye Sivan) is a young boy who is frequently ill.  One night he sees his drunken father killed by a groundskeeper named Thomas Logan.  This hostile action infuriates the boy and causes a freak mutation to occur.  We see a set of bone claws extend from his arms.  James rushes forward and uses his bone claws to kill Thomas Logan.  As he’s dying, Thomas tells James that he is his real father, and not the drunk man who was killed.

Fearing the response from everybody else, James flees from the house along with Victor Creed, his half-brother.  Victor has also mutated and grown a sharp set of claws in addition to a growth in strength.

The opening credits of X-Men Origins: Wolverine roll across the screen and we see James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) as soldiers in the U.S. Army.  We see them fight as Federal soldiers in the American Civil War, fight in the trenches in World War 1, storm the beaches of Normandy in World War 2, and then continue their lifestyle as American soldiers in Vietnam.  Even though the men are “killed” in the battles, both James and Victor are able to regenerate and heal themselves, allowing them to continue living and fighting.  As the years pass, James notices that Victor becomes more and more violent towards people in general. Read more…

Movie Review – X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

The 2003 film X2: X-Men United was a smash hit with both the audiences and critics.

The film ended with Magneto betraying Charles Xavier and escaping with Mystique and Pyro before the dam broke.  Jean Grey then sacrificed herself to save the lives of the X-Men, helping them flee before being crushed by the wall of water.

It was natural to expect a sequel to the film, perhaps a film even bigger and better than what we experienced in X2: X-Men United.

The next X-Men sequel was released in 2006 in the film X-Men: The Last Stand.

X-Men: The Last Stand was written to make the X-Men films a trilogy.  The first film introduced us to the characters, the second film had a killer plot, and the third film was meant to tie all of the stories together and finish the story.  This third film does so, but it’s not an epic of a film that you may be expecting.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – movie poster

Directed by Brett Ratner, X-Men: The Last Stand brings back pretty much the entire cast of characters from the second film.  The movie stars Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Jansse and Rebecca Romijn.  Also in this film you’ll find Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast, Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde / Shadowcat, and Vinnie Jones as Cain Marko / Juggernaut.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – (c) 20th Century Fox

X-Men: The Last Stand begins twenty years ago as Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Eric Lensherr (Ian McKellen) visit the childhood home of Jean Grey.  They are there to recruit the young girl with telekinetic powers to Xavier’s private school in upstate New York.  Jean demonstrates her telekinetic powers by levitating all of the cars in her neighborhood.

Ten years later, industrialist Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy), the head of Worthington Labs, discovers that his young son, Warren Worthington III, is a mutant.  The boy is caught while trying to cut a large pair of wings off his back. Read more…

Movie Review – X2: X-Men United (2003)

Back in 2000, the film X-Men was a huge hit with the audiences.

Not only did the film showcase some of Marvel‘s biggest super heroes, but it also proved that, when done correctly, comic book films mean big business.  Really big business.  It can be argued that the success of X-Men paved the way for the Marvel comics to be a major player in the film industry, including today’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While the first X-Men film was good, it still had a few drawbacks from parts of the story to the special effects to some of the characters as well.  Fortunately, those areas were *all* corrected in X-Men‘s first sequel, the 2003 film X2.

X2, also known as X2: X-Men United, brings back all of Charles Xavier’s X-Men plus Magneto and Mystique.  We also see a few new characters in this film as well.  The story for X2 involves a renegade army colonel who embarks on a personal crusade to ride the world of ALL mutants, whether they’re good or evil.  The X-Men have to band together with the Brotherhood of Mutants to defeat their common foe.

X2 – X-Men United (2003) – movie poster

Directed by Bryan Singer, X2 has a strong cast including Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.  New faces in this film include Alan Cumming, Brian Cox and Kelly Hu.

X2 begins in the White House in Washington, D.C.  It seems to be a normal day when suddenly a person disguised as a visitor begins attacking the security guards.  This mutant, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), easily moves from room to room, teleporting himself to always keep the Secret Service guessing.  He makes it into the Oval Office and defeats the last of the President’s Secret Service guards.

X2 – X-Men United (2003) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Nightcrawler tries to assassinate the President of the United States (Cotter Smith) with a knife, but he’s shot in the arm.  He drops the knife and flees.  As we see, attached to the knife is a message that says “mutant freedom now.”

Meanwhile, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is investigating a dam and old military compound at Alkali Lake in the Canadian Rockies, but he doesn’t find anything.  The dam is still functional but it looks like nobody has been there in quite some time. Read more…

Movie Review – X-Men (2000)

In anticipation of the upcoming Marvel film, X-Men: Days of Future Past, we’re going to be reviewing the previous X-Men films.

Since September of 1963, the X-Men characters have been fascinating comic book fans and leaving them craving for more.  Animated television shows have followed as well as video games.  But that transition to the big screen wouldn’t occur until the year 2000.

The 2000 film X-Men has a world where mutants live along side of regular humans, but most of them remain in hiding for fear of exposing their powers and being treated as freaks or threats to the human race.  The film follows along as the mutants Wolverine and Rogue are caught in the conflict between two mutant organizations:  Professor Xavier‘s X-Men, and Magneto‘s Brotherhood of Mutants.

X-Men (2000) – movie poster

Directed by Bryan Singer, X-Men stars Hugh Jackman in the role of Wolverine.  Co-starring in the film are Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Ian McKellen as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto, Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm, Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey, James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops, and Anna Paquin as Marie D’Ancanto / Rogue.

X-Men begins in German-occupied Poland in 1944.

At a Nazi concentration camp, 13-year-old Eric Lehnsherr is forcefully separated from his parents.  He tries to fight back and get to his parents, but the prison guards hold him back.  He reaches out and tries to grab the metal gates, and the gates mysteriously bend back towards the boy, as if by magnetism.  It’s a pulling contest between several guards and Eric’s “grip” on the metal gates.  This suddenly ends when a guard hits the boy on the head, knocking him unconscious.

Fast forward to the near future.

X-Men (2000) – (c) 20th Century Fox

In Meridian, Mississippi, 17-year-old Marie D’Ancanto (Anna Paquin) dreams of taking an adventure across Canada, starting at Niagara Falls and trekking west to Alaska.  She shares this dream with her boyfriend, David.  When Marie gives David a kiss, she’s shocked that he nearly dies and goes into a coma.  She learns that she can absorb the life force or mutant abilities of anyone who touches her.

Now knowing that she’s a mutant, Marie runs away from home and eventually works her way to northern Canada. Read more…

Book Review – George R. R. Martin’s “A Dance with Dragons”

Today I finally finished reading A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book in George R. R. Martin‘s widely acclaimed series, A Song of Ice and Fire.

Although this is the fifth book (and so far the final one published) in the series, about the first 75% of it coincides with the events in the fourth book, A Feast for Crows.  The original version of A Feast for Crows was going to be too long to publish, so the book was split in half with each book focusing on some characters.

While A Feast for Crows focused on events in King’s Landing, central Westeros, the Iron Islands, Dorne and across the Narrow Sea in Braavos, A Dance with Dragons focuses on pretty much everywhere else from the Wall and northern Westeros to the Free Cities and Slaver’s Bay.

George R. R. Martin – A Dance with Dragons

SEVEN KINGDOMS – THE FAR NORTH:

Bran Stark has continued his quest north to find the “Three-eyed Crow,” a mystical creature that he has been seeing in his dreams.  He’s joined by Hodor as well as Jojen and Meera Reed.  As the gang continues north they find it more and more difficult to find food, and soon they begin to starve.

When they take shelter in a secret cave they meet the last surviving Children of the Forest, the original inhabitants of Westeros.  The people take Bran to meet the “Three-eyed Crow,” a person that the Children of the Forest refer to as the “Last Greenseer.”  This “Last Greenseer: is really a former member of the Night’s Watch.  After he abandoned his post at the Wall, the “Last Greenseer” chose to sit on an underground weirwood throne.  He’s been sitting on the throne for so long that the roots have fused into his body, establishing that final connection between himself and nature.

The “Last Greenseer” tells Bran that he has been the person appearing in his dreams as the “Three-eyed Crow,” and he intended to lead Bran there so that he could teach him in greensight, an advanced level of his psychic ability.  It turns out that the sacred weirwood trees really are the eyes and ears of the Old Gods, and they are capable of seeing and hearing everything around them.  The trees are able to record those sights and sounds in their memories for centuries.  A greenseer is not only able to access these weirwood trees and view their history, but that person is also capable of communicating through the trees. Read more…

Raising Awareness on Facebook and Twitter — Does It Really Accomplish Anything In The End?

On May 7, 2014, First Lady Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of herself holding a sign with the message “#BringBackOurGirls“.

The hash tag was created as a response to the kidnapping of 276 Nigerian school girls on April 14-15, 2014, by the Islamic terrorist organization Boko Haram.  Since the kidnapping almost a month ago, 53 of the girls had escaped, but 223 of them were still being held captive.  It’s said that Boko Haram is converting the girls to Islam and preparing to sell them as slaves, a practice that is still alive and well throughout the world.

As news of the massive kidnapping has been spreading, so has the verbal response around the world.  There have been protests in Africa as well as London, England, and Los Angeles, California.  In a situation where timing is critical and urgent military action is needed to kill the terrorists and save the innocent girls, instead we’re seeing people taking to social media sites to spread the message and raise awareness.

First Lady Michelle Obama () – #BringBackOurGirls

In a situation like this, does spreading the #BringBackOurGirls message actually accomplish anything?

The sad truth is that Boko Haram should have been eliminated years ago.  The terrorist organization was founded in 2002, and since that point it’s estimated that they have killed 10,000 people.  The organization has also been using violence to intimidate girls into NOT going to school.

Boko Haram has been growing over the years, and it’s just a matter of time before they link with other terrorist organizations and take their fight to the highly sought after western targets and U.S. interests.  Give them time and resources, and they *will* strike us.

It’s been reported that U.S. forces are helping with the rescue of the kidnapped girls.  Then again, this is also something that should have been handled by the United Nations.  Oh, wait a second.  The United Nations sent Boko Haram a strongly worded message telling them to release the kidnapped school girls.  Yeah, I’m sure that’ll do the trick. /s

These are violent people who will abduct and kill innocent victims, and our First Lady simply holds a sign supporting the kidnapped girls?

That’s it? Read more…

Today’s Kids and the Decline in Reading

There was a recent that brought to attention the decline of children reading for pleasure.

It was also reported that children are struggling with literacy, and large percentages of them have below “basic” reading skills.

Perhaps the most alarming part of the report is the percentage of “proficient” reading skills across the racial lines, and how there has been no real improvement for the past twenty years.  The article states, “About 46 percent of white children are considered “proficient” in reading, compared with 18 percent of black children and 20 percent of Hispanic kids.”

It was said that those numbers have been relatively unchanged for the past twenty years.

The questions about this information are simple:

1) What were those racial reading proficiency numbers before the mid 1990s?

and,

2) What has changed in society between then and now?

My belief that this all comes down to each child’s home and their parents.

The joy of reading.

You cannot rely on public education to teach children.  That is NOT true in any case.  If you want your child to have a good education, then it’s up to the parents to step up and make sure that their kid(s) are learning the material correctly.  It’s also up to the parents to add whatever material is necessary so that said child has a good shot at having a successful life.

It’s no secret that schools have been “dumbing down” their material to ensure that more students are able to pass and continue to the next level of school.  Of course, this allows more stupid children to continue to advance when they should have been held back for additional classes at some point.  This removes the challenge from the educational experience, and it produces an inferior product in the end.

And what happens when you allow for inadequately “educated” students to graduate from high school? Read more…

Michael Sam and the St. Louis Rams — LGBT Politics At Work

It was major news when defensive end Michael Sam was selected in the 2014 NFL Draft to play football for the St. Louis Rams.

He was selected in the 7th round of the draft, the 249th overall pick this year.  The 2014 NFL Draft had a total of 256 college football players selected to advance into the NFL.

So why would somebody picked 249th out of 256 slots make the news?  After all, many players selected that late into the draft won’t make the final roster to play on the team.  The odds of them playing on Sundays are pretty remote.

The reason that Michael Sam made the news yesterday is that he is going to be the first openly gay player in the NFL.  The news footage went so far as to showing Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend after receiving news of being selected to play for the St. Louis Rams.

Michael Sam announced his homosexuality to the world on February 9, 2014, after he finished playing college football for the University of Missouri.  However, Michael’s college teammates knew about his homosexuality when he told them back in August of 2013.  He chose to keep the media out of it until he finished playing college football.

This is LGBT politics, plain and simple.

If Michael Sam was not gay, it’s doubtful that he would have been drafted into the NFL at all.  From what I understand, he didn’t preform that well at the NFL Combine and didn’t impress the scouts.  The fact that he’s a homosexual is what focused the media on him, and that’s what got him drafted at the end of the NFL Draft.  If he was a good player and did well at the Combine, then he most likely would have been drafted sooner.

But he wasn’t.

Drafting Michael Sam near the end of the draft is making a statement.  It’s the St. Louis Rams deciding to play along with politics and get extra positive attention from the media, political organizations, celebrities, and even government officials as well.

Now St. Louis is stuck with Michael Sam whether he’s any good or not.  Should the Rams decide to cut him for any reason, the media is going to strike back with a fury.  It’ll be viewed as a hate crime since Michael is gay.  There will be boycotts and serious negative attention on the Rams, from the coaching staff to the team’s owner.

Nope.

St. Louis won’t dare cut him from the team. Read more…

Movie Review – Sleeping Beauty (1959)

In 1959, Walt Disney Productions released Sleeping Beauty, the company’s sixteenth animated film.

Based on a French fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty tells the story of a young princess who is cursed by an evil sorceress.  If the princess pricks her finger on a spinning wheel before her sixteenth birthday, then she’ll die.  Fortunately for the princess, a good fairly is able to alter the evil spell and change it so that instead of death, the princess will simply fall asleep.  All she needs to do to wake is to receive a kiss by her true love.

Sleeping Beauty (1959) – movie poster

Sleeping Beauty would mark the end of a series of Disney animated films based on fairy tales.  Throughout the 1960s, 70s, and most of the 80s, the Disney animated films focused on other sources for stories.  Disney would not return to making animated films out of fairy tales until the release of The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Sleeping Beauty (1959) – (c) Buena Vista Distribution

Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty begins with the opening of the fairy tale book, Sleeping Beauty.  The narrator (voiced by Marvin Miller) begins reading from the story and we learn about King Stefan (voiced by Taylor Holmes) and Queen Leah (voiced by Verna Felton), and how they finally received the gift of the birth of a child.  They name their little princess Aurora (Latin for “dawn”).  In honor of the birth of their daughter, the king and queen declare a holiday so that everybody in the kingdom can pay respect to the princess.

The illustrations in the book transition into the animated film.

One of the honored guests is King Hubert (voiced by Bill Thompson) and his young son, Prince Phillip (voiced by Bill Shirley).  It’s announced that day that Prince Phillip will be betrothed to Princess Aurora, and the kingdoms of Stefan and Hubert will finally be united. Read more…

Movie Review – Godzilla (1998)

Back in 1954, Japan surprised with world with the release of Gojira (Godzilla), an epic monster movie.

Born from the side effects of radiation from nuclear weapons, Godzilla was a monster of terrifying proportions and sheer power.  The monster could easily destroy an entire city and fend off almost any conventional type of an attack.  It was easy to see why Godzilla was named the King of the Monsters.

While the Godzilla film franchise dominated the Japanese market, the films tended to have a cult status here in the U.S.  People in the U.S. know about the monster and its destructive capabilities, but a small percentage actually know the Godzilla films created in Japan.

But what if there was a big-budget Godzilla film created by Hollywood, and full of familiar faces for the American audiences?

Godzilla (1998) – movie poster

Released in 1998, Godzilla is an American telling of the classic Japanese monster.  Instead of destroying Tokyo, Osaka or Yokohama in Japan, this time the monster would terrorize and destroy parts of New York City.  Directed by Roland Emmerich, Godzilla stars Matthew Broderick as Dr. Niko Tatopoulos.  Co-starring in the film are Jean Reno as Philippe Roaché, Maria Pitillo as Audrey Timmonds, and Kevin Dunn as Colonel Hicks.

Godzilla begins by showing a series of images of nuclear weapons being tested in the tropical setting of French Polynesia.  At the end of the testing we see that a lizard’s egg was left exposed to the fallout and radiation.

Fast forward to today (1998).

Godzilla (1998) – (c) TriStar Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

In the southern Pacific Ocean, a Japanese cannery ship is suddenly attacked by a monster of incredible size.  The attack on their vessel is deliberate.  The ship is easily crushed by the beast, and it looks like everybody is killed in the attack. Read more…

Movie Review – Dumbo (1941)

In October of 1941, Walt Disney Productions released Dumbo, the fourth full-length Disney animated film.

Dumbo is a simple story that tells the story of Dumbo, a circus elephant who was born with very large ears.  The young elephant faced teasing and ridicule from the circus’s visitors and his fellow elephants.  Dumbo finds an unlikely companion in that of a mouse named Timothy, and the two of them show the world that Dumbo is indeed a very special elephant.

Dumbo (1941) – movie poster

As you’ll see in the film, Dumbo revolves around simplicity in telling its story.  Dumbo himself has no lines of dialogue, and his mother, Mrs. Jumbo, only speaks one line.  The animation itself lacks the levels of detail in previous films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio.  And with a running time of only 64 minutes, Dumbo is one of Disney’s shortest animated films.

Dumbo (1941) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures

Dumbo begins on a stormy night as a flock of storks are delivering babies to circus animals at their winter quarters in south Florida.  The song “Look Out For Mr. Stork” is heard as all sorts of circus animals receive their babies and start their family.  All of the animals except for an elephant named Mrs. Jumbo.  She is saddened as no baby arrives for her. Read more…

The Nigerian E-Mail Money Scam — Do People Still Fall For It?

Last week one of my e-mail accounts received an e-mail from somebody allegedly in Nigeria.

The e-mail never addresses me by my name.  It’s just a generic greeting followed by a .jpg image of the actual message.

Here is the message in its entirety, grammar errors and all.

Morgan Chambers

Attorney at law, Barrister&Solicitor

Head office: ,

Festac town Lagos Nigeria

Tel:: +

 

Attention,

I must first apologize for this mail to you as I am aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to starting a relationship, but as time goes on you will realize the need for my action.  My name is Barrister Morgan ibekweoru, a solicitor and the personal attorney to a citizen of your country, who owns a construction company in Nigeria.  Here in referred to as my client, on the 26th of December 2004, my client, his wife and their two children were involved in the tsunami Asia disaster.  My client and his entire family unfortunately lost their lives in the disaster.

Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my client’s extended relatives, which has proved abortive after these several unsuccessful attempts.  my main reason for contacting you is to assist me in repatriating the money and property left behind by my client before they are confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where the funds redeposited/lodged particularly, the Eco Bank of (Nig) Plc.  Where the deceased has an account with an approximate sum of eighteen million (US) dollars.  The said bank has issued me a final notice to provide the next of kin of my client or they will be left with no other choice than to confiscate his funds, a copy of the said notice i will fax you on getting your reply.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating my client’s relatives, now I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of my client to the bank, going by the fact that both of you has the same nationality, so that the said funds as stated above can be paid to you instead of leaving it for the Eco Bank of (Nig) Plc.  we can take part of it and leave the rest to charity.  I have the necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make.  All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this arrangement through I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Finally kindly give me your confidential Phone/Fax numbers so that I can fax to you all the correspondence between the bank and me.

Best Regards,

Barrister Morgan ibekweoru (Esq.)

Tel:: +

Let me get this straight.

Allegedly an American owner of a construction company, along with his wife and kids, were killed in the 2004 tsumani that hit southern Asia.  Since this solicitor, Barrister Morgan ibekweoru, was unable to locate the company owner’s extended family through the American embassy, the solicitor was forced to look elsewhere for a next of kin of the company’s owner. Read more…

Movie Review – Gojira / Godzilla (1954)

When it comes to monster movies, it’s hard to top Godzilla, the towering, dinosaur-like lizard with an atomic breath who likes to destroy Tokyo, Japan.

The 1954 science-fiction / horror film Gojira tells the story of how a monster known as Godzilla rises from the sea and goes on a destruction rampage, destroying much of Tokyo, Japan, and killing an untold number of innocent people.  This is a monster that was born from the testing of nuclear weapons.  Godzilla is partially radioactive himself.  How do you stop or defeat a monster more powerful than an atomic weapon?

It’s up to the scientists to find a way to defeat Godzilla before he destroys the rest of Japan.

Gojira / Godzilla (1954) – movie poster

Directed by Ishiro Honda, Gojira was produced and distributed by Toho, a film and production company that would later go on and release over twenty-five sequels to the original film.

Gojira / Godzilla (1954) – (c) Toho

Gojira begins near Ohto Island off the coast of Japan.  The fishing vessel Eiko Maru is out sailing when it suddenly encounters an underwater explosion and a tremendous flash of bright light.  The ship manages to send out an emergency S-O-S message before it sinks beneath the water.  A second ship, the Bingo Maru, is sent to help the Eiko Maru, but it also disappears.

Not everybody on the Eiko Maru was killed.  Three survivors are found and are taken to nearby Ohto Island for emergency treatment.  The survivors don’t know what happened except for the tremendous explosion.  Coincidentally, the survivors also have radiation burns. Read more…

Samsung’s LeBron James App

Just when you’ve thought that you’ve seen it all in the world of ridiculousness and stupidity . . . . along comes the LeBron James app for Samsung devices.

I kid you not.  Such a thing really exists.

Samsung’s LeBron App

Samsung actually created and released an application so that extreme fans of the basketball star LeBron James can keep track of his stats, follow his tweets, look at pictures that he shares, see what he has for breakfast, look at his family life off the court, and so much more.

This LeBron app is available right now in the .

Future versions of the app will probably keep track of his bowel movements, giving you his average bathroom visit time, weight of the fecal matter, and how many flushes it takes to clear the bowl.  Hopefully it’ll also include photos so that we can analyze his crap and try to determine if he’s eating healthy meals.

But the LeBron app?  Really?

How lame and desperate for you have to be to know absolutely everything about a sports celebrity of all people?  We’re not talking about a famous explorer traveling to exotic or remote destinations, a bomber pilot flying hair-raising bombing raids, or a scientist making exciting breakthroughs in research.  We’re talking about a basketball player here.

A freaking basketball player.

Have we advanced to a point in society where such apps are being created for the sole purpose of following everything that a celebrity does?  Are people really that lame that they *need* to know that kind of information?

The LeBron app is incredibly weak and useless.

People who are that obsessed with Lebron James really need to get a life.  There’s so much more in the world than sports and following celebrities.

Congratulations to Samsung for being a laughing stock thanks to the LeBron app.