02 May 2008

Friday Follies...
This is one of those "doors to the weekend" that's got us looking at tons o' stuff to talk about. So let's toss caution to the wind and take a stroll through, shall we?
**Glenn Beck had a sobering show on last night, and it started off with (of all things) a video game. Grand Theft Auto 4 is predicted to sell over NINE MILLION copies, but there is something insidious about the game. It is teaching our children to murder, plain and simple, however "vicarious" that may appear on the surface. It worked well enough in WW1 when the military painted silhouettes on targets; the accuracy/kill rate went UP close to 50%. With video simulations for warfare in military training NOW, our kill/accuracy rate is tickling 100%!
So sims DO work...and work damn well.
In Grand Theft Auto 4, you can sleep with a whore, and then kill her in a number of ways, You can cut a policeman in half with a chainsaw, or set him on fire when he chases you, among other (equally violent) things. And this is called "fun"?
Now my wife will tell you that I really LIKE video games, but I never spend all day and night playing them. And the games I choose would be appropriate for my son or daughter (if I had children). My real estate tycoon of a wife loves Monopoly as well as Jade Cocoon. I prefer Armored Core, Air Combat and Rainbow Six. I also like the NASCAR racing games and the Crash Bandicoot games (lots of laughs).
But there are some games out there I find just creep (even) me the hell out...like Silent Hill, and the Grand Theft series. If I ever want to view impulsive, rampant mayhem, all I have to do (most days) is look out my damn WINDOW, so who the hell NEEDS a video game?
Freedom of speech and expression is ONE thing. Freedom to act irresponsibly and produce such "games" for kids to play is quite the other. It's interesting to note that since the advent of TV, homicide rates DOUBLED, and that was when we had GOOD shows to watch, and good parents to make sure we didn't watch TOO MUCH of it.
How times have changed.
**Graffiti comes to the Northeast-

Residents are still cleaning up their homes, properties and vehicles today after some young vandals tagged their neighborhood (the Village at Buckingham). Most "tags" included the initials GTR (and the only thing I thought of was GUNS, THUGS and ROSES...don't ask me why). The police say they have two in custody (I guess CANING the little bastards is out of the question?) and expect possibly more arrests. In a neighborhood that is SO different than the hellhole I have to call "home" (aka the Ghetto at F$ckingham), it's disturbing to find such activity going on. These are the type of people I WOULD feel good living among...not the trash that blight my area.
Then again, I've said all along, that crime left unchecked WILL spread like the disease it is.
Now call me funny, but I think getting some of those prisoners out of the ACSD lockup to clean up the graffiti around the city would be a damn good idea. And maybe we can teach them to fix some BRIDGES along the way?
**Local hockey team in finals-
The Fort Wayne Komets (I know, wrong spelling for COMETS) are in the TURNER CUP finals, and while it doesn't receive NEARLY the attention the STANLEY CUP does, it's still noteworthy to a well-played season for our team. It sure beats the snot out of watching basketball at ANY level here (btw, I can see THAT any time I want too...by looking out another window).
**Indy Teen Suffers Road Rage -
An Indianapolis teenager pulled an elderly woman from her vehicle and beat her to a pulp...all because the woman wasn't going FAST ENOUGH for the teenager. Jessica Vasquez (19) was arrested and faces charges of felony battery of the 81 year old woman (Evelyn Page).
Page suffered cuts, bruises, and her leg was broken in FOURTEEN places!
Now since I'm rapidly becoming one of the "whitehead brigade" myself, I do have a certain "bias" for the elderly woman, but I also have to admit there were times I've gotten behind the "Slowpoke from Hell". There ARE some drivers that go too slow on our roads to be considered safe. Go around them and call it done. Most highways have MINIMUM speed requirements, and just because the streets have speed LIMIT signs, that doesn't necessarily mean you can creep along at 3 MPH (unless it's rush hour traffic congestion...like in L.A.) for the hell of it.
Conversely, this teenager needs some SERIOUS counseling (and a well-placed boot up the ass) for HER behavior. A car is as lethal a weapon as a gun, and a level of responsibility HAS to be maintained, or the result is injury or death. This teen practices none of that. I say ban her from HAVING a driver's license for the next FIVE (or more) YEARS. Vasquez did show some remorse in a profanity-laced interview yesterday. Time to put down that Vigilante 8 video game sweetie, tend to your children, and learn to act like a respectable HUMAN BEING in the REAL WORLD.
** IRON MAN movie to kick off summer blockbusters-
Now here's a case of art imitating life imitating art.
I've had an affinity for the IRON MAN character from marvel comics since the mid-60s,and I have the "stash" of back issues to PROVE it.
My first issue was TALES OF SUSPENSE #78, and I have all the issues up to IRON MAN #1 (which I have doubles of). THAT is a collector's item, friends...and is NOT for sale (but you're welcome to make an offer anyway). I remember when we were teens doing chalk drawings in our street (back in Philly)...I did some Iron Man ones, and passersby would stop and look at them (I also did Captain America and Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four). Ah, those were the days. Too busy doing artwork to cause trouble...that was US.
Getting back to the character...
Here was this UBER-RICH guy who has everything imaginable, BUT also suffers from a heart condition (due to injury), and creates this armored suit to not only help him LIVE, but to fight the bad guys.
Suh-weet!
I've just GOT to get me one of those!
Having Robert Downey Jr. portray Tony Stark / Iron Man is brilliant, as HIS own life mirrors the comic book counterpart so well. And since Downey seems to have turned his life back around, what better way to acknowledge this than by playing a "flawed" character like Stark, who also manages to overcome HIS "demons".
Initial revues are looking quite good, and I think this movie could be on par with the Spiderman or X-Men Series. It's got all the right things going for it, and even more with the fact that you have a "superhero" who is OVER FORTY.
Nice to know the world will be "safer" with some of us "older folks" behind the mask...or is that under the helmet?
**Philharmonic homage to Warner Brothers-
Carl Stalling probably doesn't ring a bell to most people. But the next time you watch a BUGS BUNNY cartoon, take a look at the "credits" during the opening, and you'll see his name. He was the person responsible for the "music" in that cartoon. He borrowed liberally from the classics quite often...and deftly so.
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic is presenting a show called Bugs Bunny on Broadway this weekend. It's a tribute to all the classical music that Bugs and Elmer were privy to as they traded barbs of wit and exploding shot shells.
Some of the funniest cartoons were "The Rabbit of Seville" (Bugs runs a "hare" salon - much to the dismay of Elmer Fudd), and the marvelous "What's Opera, Doc?", highlighting the Wagnerian tales of heroes and villains.
It's good, funny stuff, and it's for ALL ages.
And the best thing about it, you'll find out you listened to CLASSICAL music LONG before you discovered Stone Temple Pilots,Led Zeppelin, or Ted Nugent!
So get out there and enjoy , because there IS something for everyone.
And DO Have a safe weekend.

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