Harlem Shake

How can we stop this monstrosity?

Submit your ideas below. Thx!
-- MGMT

Masks

"Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask."
-- Bane, Dark Knight Rises

I got to thinking about this quote from The Dark Knight Rises. It was spoken by the now infamous super villain, Bane. The extremely powerful masked man who is hell bent on the destruction of Gotham City and Batman, also known as playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne. If you aren't familiar with the story of Batman you're in luck, you don't have to be to get the main point of this post. Read Batman 101 if you want to know more about the story of Batman, if not simply read on.

Batman 101:
Basically for all of you non-batman fans out there all you need to know is that after losing his parents to a violent crime in the alley of a theater, young Bruce Wayne grows up without a mother and father, still very rich but he would trade it all for just their love again. As an adult he joins an organization called the League of Shadows where he learns under the tutelage of Ras Al Ghul (pronounced Ray-sh Al Ghoul). When asked to execute a man to prove his loyalty to Ras, Bruce refuses, turns against the League and narrowly escapes with his life. He goes on to become Batman, our favorite dark and scary caped crusader. With the help of fancy gadgets, his trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and friends like Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman in the movies), he dedicates his life to fighting crime ensuring that what happened to him as a child never happens to anyone else.

So I got to thinking about this quote and it's connotations to real life. Until we become something other than just ordinary, nobody cares who you are. I'll use a good example and a bad example:

Good:
You somehow come up with a cure for cancer in your basement and suddenly you're a savior, a God, you've been blessed from on high with a gift and you're using it to help people. Who is this person? Where did he come from? How did he grow up? They'll run television shows about your life, about your family, about your hardships and struggles. Articles will be written about you and your name will forever be immortalized in stone. But is that you? In a sense you had to become something more than what you were to get people to even notice that you share the same space as them.

Bad:
You've had it with evil mega banks taking advantage of you. They're threatening to take your house so you decide to get even. You burn the house that you're about to lose to foreclosure down but you don't stop there. You're an arsonist and go burning every house owned by that bank just to spite them. Naturally you get caught and arrested and you're now facing a massive jail sentence. But just like the person who cured cancer suddenly everybody wants to know your name, who you are, what you did, what caused you to become a serial arsonist? Was there something in your past that made you go bad? Bad parenting, surely they must be monsters etc. Again, you've become something far removed from what you were and suddenly people notice...

Now this blog in no way is encouraging anyone to become a serial arsonist for attention, or go out and do something awful to get recognized... if you're going to cure cancer, do that please... but anyway, it seems that like Bane and Batman, nobody cared who they were until they put on their masks and became the figures they were. Batman represents the light (or darkness sometimes he walks a fine line) and Bane represents the darkness...

Why is it that nobody cares who you are until you're front and center? Does our society have it backwards? What could we learn from each other if this wasn't the case? Who's story is out there that you may need to hear but can't because this person isn't something other than what they are?

The Male Stereotype Intro

In the universe, there's something called "Dark Energy".  No, this isn't a physics blog, but let me explain.

If you subscribe to the Big Bang (and lets not discuss that here) it says that the energy that initially caused this huge event is driving our universe apart.  In other words, all the "Stuff" in the universe is moving away from our galaxy.  

Physicists blame something called "Dark Energy" for this effect.  We can't see it but it's there and it's having huge effects on our universe.  

Geekdom aside, lets get to the meat of the matter:  We've all heard of, and are aware of the female stereotype in media, but is there a male one in the background having huge effects on our society?  In another post I'll attempt to bring some compelling evidence and links to studies done on this (If there are any that I can find).  

Stay tuned. 

The Narcissistic Poet: Must Every Poem be about your Crappy Love life?

"Poetry is Narcissism."  
-- Loose Quote 


A friend of mine said that, and I'm misquoting a bit but it's pretty close.  When you read most poetry out there do you ever ask... "I wonder what the poet was thinking about when he/she wrote this?"  Consider the selection below.  
__________________________________________________________________

I Love You

I see her in the distance

A place afar off

Her beauty ever present

Her skin so soft

My heart begins to race

With the passage of time

As I behold her grace

And wish she were mine

My lips are sealed

My legs grow weak

Only my mind

Is brave enough to speak

I Love you.

She grows closer

A place so near

She fills my heart

And soul with cheer

She is close now

A place so nigh

I could reach and touch her

Though I dare not try

So I whisper the words

With a weak voice of fear

A sound so low

Nobody could hear

I Love you…

She is past me now

A place far away

My mind goes numb

My heart led astray

She secretly killed me

When she walked away

She secretly killed me

And she didn’t even see

It’s a price I pay

As I stand all alone

For daring to say

Words not condoned.

I Love you…

__________________________________________________________

As embarrassing as it is to admit I wrote that in high school (circa 2001) what was I thinking?  Well I was head over heels in love with this girl (Name concealed to protect the innocent).  I couldn't get her out of my head, I would think about her all day every day.  When she passed by my heart skipped blah blah blah all that love stuff.

She inspired me to write poem after poem, most of which was lost because I didn't care as much about poetry as I do now.  

"Who gives a F*** about your love life?"

-- Loose Quote

Good question...

I'm quoting my friend again but why should the reader care if you're hurt, or if you have an intense love for somebody?  Why should the reader care that you asked your high school crush out and she mercilessly shot you down with a chain gun?

Should others care, and why?  Must every poem be about your crappy love life?

NBA or WNBA? (Not Another Sexist blog post)

When I say NBA multiple names come to mind: 

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Isaiah Thomas, and my personal favorite Reggie Miller.  

I can go on and on and rattle off the names of greats that have come and gone through the National Basketball Association more commonly referred to as the NBA.  There are so many legends in this sport alone that it can make a sports enthusiast giddy with excitement just thinking about the flashy dunks, beautiful passes and clutch 3-pointers from down town.  

Rebecca Lobo taking it to the hoop

Now I know what you're thinking... you're thinking I'm going to say that I can't name a single WNBA player worth their salt and you'd be wrong!  Completely wrong.  

Ladies, a shout out to you... some of you can ball.  Like seriously ball with the skill and precision of any of the greats I mentioned previously.  Greats like Diana Turasi, Rebecca Lobo, and Cynthia Cooper are just some of the stars in the WNBA that could most likely take good old MJ to school (Those names were non-google aided by the way).  Actually I wouldn't mind seeing the ladies go toe to toe with the guys in a good game of one on one.  

Reggie Miller, most likely taking a 3-pointer
from another area code.  Of course he'll make it...
he always does

You know... Pandora had a box a lot like this but I'm going to open it anyway.  I want to know what would happen if the NBA and the WNBA were integrated?  Yes you heard me, have both women and men on the same court side by side, teammates.  Sounds crazy?  Perhaps...

Ok, so the differences between women and men are obviously huge just in the way they're built alone.  And I can hear you saying it now.  "But Josh!  Women aren't as physically built as the men, they'd get hurt playing with them."  Or some might take this angle "Josh you're crazy it would never work, nobody would go for that... just leave things alone."  

Nate Robinson (left) at 5'9" next to
Shaquille O'Neal (right) 7'1"

I ask why can't it work?  If it's an issue of the physical differences there are small guys all over the league.  Need I bring up Mr. Nate Robinson?  For those of you who don't follow basketball, Nate Robinson currently plays for the New York Knicks.  What's so unique about Nate?  Well he's one of the shortest players in the league standing just 5'9" and weighing in at 180 lbs.  For reference, I also happen to be 5'9" (ok more like 5' 8.5"... I'm not ashamed) and weigh just 145 lbs.  

Don't feel sorry for Nate though, he's a formidable force on the basketball court averaging 11.2 points per game (ppg) and 4.5 assists per game (APG).  Hardly helpless if you ask me.  There have been other such examples like Spud Webb, most famous for his work on the Atlanta Hawks stood a tiny 5'7" and who could forget tiny little Muggsy Bogues?  Best remembered for his role on the Charlotte Hornets (Currently the New Orleans Hornets)  Standing at just 5'3" tall!  These pint sized ballers have (And had) great careers despite their physical limitations.  

So why bother doing this? Well for one I think it would add the "history" factor that I believe WNBA lacks in it's brief 15 year history, it would also give exposure to some of the league's brightest stars.  But that's just my opinion...

I want to know what you think.. so here are the questions:

Do you think the WNBA and the NBA should be integrated?  Why or why not?  

Are you really a Hockey fan and not care about basketball?  

Why does everything rotate counterclockwise?!  (Seriously it does, try flushing your toilet and watch which way the water flows)

Disclaimer:  When responding be respectful, lets not offend ladies or gentlemen commenting on this blog.  Thanks!  

Kiss Rhyming Goodbye: Non-Rhyming = Angry Rant?

Consider this poem that I'm going to make up off the top of my head.

I think rhyming can be cheesy.

-- If they're supposed to have the best pizza...
why do they keep changing their recipe?

like a pizza that's greasy
It comes from Domino's
Yellow like cheerios
Just under five bucks
but I think it kinda sucks.

Ok awful right?  Now consider this poem I'm going to make up with even less thought put into it.

Domino's pizza sucks
because it does
I hate it because its so greasy
and you never get enough cheese
it's just under five bucks
I hate it.

(Special thanks to Dominoes Pizza for being a good sport.  Seriously I love you... well maybe not "Love" but I don't hate you.)

Equally awful, I highly doubt either one of these guys would win an award in a poetry contest.  But hey the second one doesn't rhyme so the author must have taken more thought and have some profound deepness to his/her words right?

I've noticed in the world of poetry there seems to be this... higher esteem put on poetry that doesn't rhyme.  I've submitted my work to contest and I constantly see the disclaimer "NO RHYMING POETRY" my question is... why?  Can a writer be just as profound and skilled in rhyming as one who does not?

Months later I see the winning entry in this contest that I've been barred from and it's like some 500 line rant with an "F" bomb or two in it with no attention paid to structure and a meaning so abstract that it's impossible to grasp why the poet is so angry or what he/she is even angry about in the first place.

Don't misunderstand me.  I appreciate all poets and their unique writing styles.  I enjoy reading work that's vastly different from my own and have even written non-rhyming pieces myself.  But personally I enjoy bringing a sense of order or rhythm to my poetry and I blame the engineer in me for demanding this out of my work... but I don't see rhyming as the devil.

Sure rhyming can bring along some cheesy lines... (Who rhymes cheesy with greasy anyway?) but if the writer is crafty enough it can make for some pretty profound and clever works of art.

So here's the question:  When it comes to Non-Rhyming poetry what keeps it from being just an angry rant?  

Question 2:  Why do people seem to look down upon rhyming in poetry?  


Feel free to deviate from these questions.

Also feel free to share your Domino's horror stories... (Just kidding Domino's!  Seriously your pizza isn't half bad!)  = )

The business of being... Homeless?

I saw this sign today, I had to stop and take a pic.

Look at this thing, it looks as if a college art student were advertising in a faux product showing.

This colorful work of art belonged to a man who was homeless... or so I assumed just by his appearance.  I have a friend who says, you can't judge a book by it's cover but you can get a pretty d*mn good idea.

I stop and say... "Well this is an elaborate homeless sign sir."  And he laughs, I asked him if I could take a picture of it and gave him $2.00 for his time... it just felt like the right thing to do.

As I walked away I realized something.  This man just advertised, got me to stop, inquiring about his sign and he made a sale.  My next thought was... well what did he sell?  And that's what I realized... he sold himself, his condition, his entire being was his product and this was his advertisement.

Time out here, I'm not saying he is scamming people, he looked for all intensive purposes homeless, and I could tell his condition was very real.  He was probably somebody who had gotten laid off and fell on hard times... poor guy.  However he learned to survive and adapt to his new life on the streets by collecting money from curious on lookers who would see his sign and say... Hmm what's this about?   So how is that different from what Walmart does?  Or what Microsoft does?  All have widgets they want to sell and they advertise using fancy commercials designed to peak your interest and say... hmm what's that all about?

Is there a secret code amongst the homeless in terms of how to advertise?  Is there a formula one can follow to be the most successful?  This sounds crazy but I guess what I'm really asking:  Is there a true business model for being a successful hobo?